Niflheim's abode
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FoJ: Chapter 4
🕑 Added 2024-04-13 18:56:46 +0000 UTCAlex sat in the backseat next to Cillian, caressing the chair’s leather with his hand. “It’s a really nice car you got here.”
“Thanks, it’s based on the Aston Martin One-77.” Thellsa responds from the driving seat. “You’ll find the lack of a brand indicative of its supernatural make, it’s magically fortified and enchanted to be as safe and comfortable and possible.” She says. “It also has four seats instead of two, and the trunk is larger than it should be, so it’s also convenient.”
“That’s really impressive.” Alex says.
He turns his gaze to the window, noticing the shifting landscape. “So, the Karnsteins, they’re vampires?”
“Yeah.” Thell answers. “Keep something in mind Alex, vampires are all racist assholes, any signs of the contrary are either an act or the exception.”
“And the Karnsteins are considered tame amongst them, and even they suck.” Aiko says.
Thellsa nods. “The Karnsteins are actually based in Transylvania, and are one of the major members of the Carmilla faction, one of the two main factions of Vampires. That also means they’re matriarchal.” She explains. “They got in early with the early American settlers, so they are in charge of all Carmilla Vampire operation within this continent. Their lucky break allowed them to disallow the other faction, the Tepes, access to most resources in South America.”
Cillian surprisingly lets out an amused huff.
“Anything’s better than the Tepes.” It seems that he felt obligated to explain himself.
Alex just ignores him. “So I know we’re supposed to make them pay, but how exactly?” He asks his boss.
“I’m nothing if not magnanimous, so I’ll meet their local leader and demand an explanation, if they give a very convincing excuse or pay the necessary reparations for their actions without prompting, then fine.” Her eyes turn steely in their determination. “If not, then we’ll take it by force.”
She looks at the sidewalk, noticing a lavish old-style mansion. “We’re here.”
As they get out of the car, Alex flexes his Observation Haki. The Vampires to his sense have a certain dark taint, giving them a sinister feel. Their life-force is much more potent than the average human that’s for sure.
The Vampires obviously employ some humans, as he could feel that the majority of the people in the manor are simple mundanes with no special qualities, however, amidst the rabble and the bloodsuckers, he could feel a faint presence, it was similar to a vampire’s, but more grounded, more human, but most importantly, more potent.
‘Is that a child?’ He thinks to himself.
Indeed, the peculiar signature originates from a child sized silhouette, not only that, but the actual size of their inner flame is also quite small, which points more to a special kid rather than a loli-sized powerful vampire.
‘Gotta keep an eye on that.’ He muses.
As they approach the entrance, they hear a male voice in a refined British accent echo from the telecom. “Ma’am Thellsa, what can the Karnsteins help you with?” It says.
“There’s an urgent matter I want to discuss, let us in.” Thell answers.
“I’m sure if you just mention the reason of your visit, the mistress will allow that at once.” The voice echoes again. “So please, what is the cause of your visit?”
“I said let us in, butler.” Thellsa’s voice was anything but pleasant when she answered, and so after a short period of silence, the metal doors opened to them.
As they walk to the main door, Alex frowns.
“What’s the matter?” Thellsa asks.
“There’s a human kid inside, he’s isolated in a small room at the back of the manor.” He looks at her, worry in his eyes. “What emotions I can feel from him aren’t positive.” He says
Indeed, the boy wasn’t the only humans on the estate, but the others didn’t have the gloomy depressed aura that the child had, now, sad emotion from a child are not a sign of abuse, but it made Alex worry nonetheless.
“If something happens, I will save him.” He says to his boss with a sense of finality.
Thellsa looks back at him strangely, she wants to say something but hesitates.
She sighs. “Let me try to do something about it before you go apeshit, alright?”
Alex nods in gratitude, he knew that he had no right to make demands like that, they only knew each other for a day after all, but he has morals that will not be intruded upon, especially concerning children.
The wooden doors open with a heavy creak, showing a tall, slender handsome man with red eyes and a butler’s attire greeting them with a shallow bow.
“Madam Thellsa and guests. I welcome you to the New York Karnsteins Manor.” He says. “If you’d follow me, I’ll lead you to the Mistress right away.”
Through his sense, Alex was assured that the Butler was actually the most powergul man on the premises, he had both the most life-force and mana amongst the vampires here, and he’d peg him to be somewhat equal to Thellsa in terms of strength.
‘I guess he’s not the boss since the Karnsteins are matriarchal’ Alex muses to himself.
The butler leads them to a spacious reception room, just like the manor, it had that luxurious Victorian era style to it, giving it a sense of elegance.
A woman sat at one of the uncomfortable looking chairs, she was undoubtedly beautiful, with a slender frame, fair skin, red eyes and blonde hair, but her face was perpetually pinched in distaste, marring her beautiful visage.
She was also weaker than all the people in the room.
Alex shifted his gaze to the walls, looking straight at the many vampires hidden within them, there were roughly a dozen, and each one of them was more powerful than the woman sitting there.
“Miss Thellsa.” She said, her voice was ever so slightly nasal, unpleasantly so. “What is the purpose of your visit?”
‘That’s rude, not even a hello?’ Alex thought.
Aiko at his side visibly reacted though, her face scrunched in anger.
“You know why I’m here, Karnstein, to deliver a warning.” Thell answered.
"Oh?" The lady fanned her face with an embroidered fan. "And what would that warning entail?"
“You broke your contract with the Remulus clan, that’s a no-no.” She says. “My warning is so: You either stop your activities promptly and compensate Don Renato for his losses, or we will make you.”
Alex head had drifted elsewhere when the tense conversation began; he noticed that one of the vampires –a very weak one- had gone to the isolated room housing the human kid, once he entered the room, the child’s negative emotions increased dramatically.
“And what makes you think-““Thell.”
He interrupted the woman, urging everyone to look to him.
“What?!” Thell exclaimed, angered by the interruption.
“I think they’re doing something to the kid, I’m going.” He says.
Thellsa stares at him for a moment, then the lady, then back at him. “Do it.” She says.
“Hey! What’re you talking about! What kid? What-“
Alex MOVED.
____________________________
Cyrus hated his life.
“Mom..sniff I don’t wanna be alone…”
He sat on the stiff uncomfortable bed, his knees covering his face, crying his heart out.
It has been several days since the bad men took him; he was going on a trip with his schoolmates, when vampires of all things attacked him, killed both his teachers and the other students, and kidnapped him away to an unfamiliar place.
His mother was adamant that he shouldn't go. She said that New York was off-limits and that she'd take him to Disney Land instead. But nooo... He wanted to go to New York with his friends! They were all going, so he should go too.
He should have said yes to Disney Land, always say yes to Disney Land.
The door opened suddenly, letting in the emaciated form of a male vampire. His cheeks were sunken in, and not only were his pupils’ red but the whites as well; he was barely able to walk, limping toward him in a glacial pace.
“Just one bite…” His voice was raspy, like he was severely dehydrated. “Just one little sip.” The vampire rasped.
“No!” Cyrus backed up away into the wall as fast as he could. “Get away from me!” He screamed.
But the vampire was ignorant to his pleas. “Just one bite, mistress won’t even notice.” He murmured to himself like a crazed maniac. “Mistress won’t know.”
The vampire already reached Cyrus, his withered claws extending toward his face, unknowing to what horrors they’ll commit to him.
“No! Help!” Cyrus screamed. “Please, somebody help me…” His voice tapered out with a sob, finally realizing the futility of his actions.
He closed his eyes, wishing that it’d somehow make his troubles disappear.
But the pain never came, what did happen instead, is that he heard a deafening boom causing his ears to ring.
He opened his eyes in shock, only to see a muscular young man grabbing the vampire by the throat, lifting him off the floor.
The wall –where the door was supposed to be- was completely demolished, the man had ignored the door and just bulldozed through it.
“Ghark-“ The thrall groaned and choked at the same time, scratching and punching at the man’s hands in order for him to let go.
“Everything’s gonna be fine, kid.” His smile was the widest Cyrus has seen, carrying with it a joy that he wanted to experience. “The heroes are here.”
“Thank… God.” Those were the last words before he finally succumbed to his fatigue, falling unconscious.
________________
Meanwhile, with Thellsa and co.
The undoubtedly expensive furniture was littered all over the place, paintings fell off their perches on the wall, and Alex’s burst of speed left a human sized hole in several walls straight to his destination.
‘He broke the sound barrier with that!’ An astonished Thellsa thought as she stared at the crater that was Alex’s previous position.
But she was a professional, so she forced a calm and collected expression on her face. If anything was to come of this, then at least this would help in intimidation.
There were no remarks nor warnings for what happened next, Alex’s stunt had also blown several of the hidden vampires back, who along with the rest charged toward the three of them in blurs.
The butler was the fastest of the bunch, and the closest, so in split second his face almost touched hers, his right hand outstretched back in preparation for a blow.
Cillian was the first to react, his thin sword appearing on his arm, swiftly coming to her defense and striking the butler before he could touch her.
In a split second, the butler ignored the attacks initially, but he instinctively retreated back when he felt the holy nature of the blade.
He stared at the burn in his arm and hissed like a snake. “You will die for that, ingrate.” He taunted.
Cillian wasn’t one for words thought, as he just ignored his opponents words and surged toward him again.
Aiko wasn’t a slouch either, by the time this byplay was over she had already threw four talismans around the four of them, creating a white forcefield-like barrier that impeded the rest from reaching them.
She stepped next to Thell, another talisman perched between her index and middle finger. “We have to retreat.” She stared at the hole in the wall. “And wait for Alex to come back.”
Thellsa nodded in assent, she noticed the vampires were still striking the barrier, and were bound to break it within seconds.
So she whipped her arms around, causing a small tornado to blow them away in bright green light.
Another and she blew them back to the opposite end of the room, all bunched up together.
Aiko took advantage of the situation, throwing her talisman right in the middle of the crowd, in its path the paper turned into a yellow bright projectile, set to explode against the vampires.
Three of the bloodsuckers stepped forward, biting their own arms like an anime, causing a torrent of blood to flow out of them into a solid looking crimson wall that took the attack head on.
The projectile blew up as predicted, but its impact was mitigated by the blood barrier.
Cillian and the butler were still locked in a duel, the vampire was faster than the human, but Cillian was skilled enough to predict his blows, and Claiomh Solais was a holy sword, nullifying the bloodsucker’s inherent advantages, causing him to be much more cautious in his actions.
At the same time, a couple of other vampires were dragging the young lady away from the scene while she was screaming in anger at the group.
“What is the meaning of this you fucking insects!” She cried. “You will pay for your actions, that painting was worth fucking millions!”
“You will pay for this! Remember me!” That was the last thing she said before her voice was muted by the walls.
But the group gave her no heed, they were momentarily in a stalemate, Cillian was easily able to deal with the butler as long as there were no unforeseen circumstances, but while Thellsa and Aiko were easily contending with the rest, they were quickly getting more and more outnumbered.
Thellsa stomped her foot to the ground, causing a pillar of earth to surge up and shield them from another group of vampires, whilst she created a blade of wind that decapitated three others.
She clicked her tongue as she saw the decapitated bodies heal to completion. “Tsk. We can’t hold on like this for long!” She complained.
Aiko landed next to her from a previous jump, throwing another projectile talisman that completely evaporated another vampire. “My talismans can kill these guys, but at this rate I’m going to run out.” She looks to her boss. “We have to leave, or do something big enough to make them surrender.”
Thellsa sighs, cutting up another group with more wind slashes. “Tell me about it.” She says.
Cillian however was having the time of his life, whilst he looked more exhausted than the powerful butler, he could feel the sword’s healing energy revitalizing him, eager at the prospect of fighting against an evil foe.
His cuts were getting increasingly faster and more precise, pushing the vampire back more and more. But he never got too eager, careful enough not to create more openings.
“You filthy human!” The butler screamed while sending a kick his way that Cillian blocked with the flat side of his sword, causing him to be blown back toward an intact wall.
“You will bow before the strength of a superior species!” As the vampire spoke, a shadowy smoke began to emanate from his body; his eyes had that crazed look in them while his muscles bulged with sudden strength.
‘He’s sacrificing his blood for temporary strength.’ Cillian bent his body slightly, preparing for a tougher experience. What he didn’t prepare however was one of the many vampires in the compound to sneak up to him and attack his to his back.
And that is exactly what happened, one of the bloodsuckers had sneakily crept up to him, and with a violent scream attempted to kill him with a single blow.
But then a translucent barrier formed around him, one of many traits of his sword is the ability to shield its healer from sneak attacks.
Cillian turned his face to the wannabe assassin in annoyance, and with a single swing of his sword he cut up his head, causing his whole body to suddenly turn to ashes.
But the butler just grinned at the opportunity, as he stomped his foot to the ground with such strength that it cracked the floor.
Cillian was able to react, just too slowly. His sword’s shield was depleted in defending against the previous attacks, and he realized that he was just too slow in order to parry his blow in time.
He turned his body as fast as he could from his opponents claws, if he was going to get hit; he’d rather it’d be a non-lethal area.
But all his worries were in vain, as lifeless body skyrocketed out of the many holes in the walls straight into the crazed butler, sending him alongside it straight into the last pristine wall, creating another hole.
A split second later, Alex appeared right in the middle of the room, holding a white haired unconscious kid under one arm.
“I guess you’re going to need some help.” He said.
The butler was already slowly getting up from the small mound of rubble created by his impact, pushing away the corpse of the previous thrall out of his way.
His mouth opened, prepared to spout his usual drivel, but before he could do that an overwhelming pressure seemed to mount in his body, causing him to kneel down.
From the side of his eyes, the butler could barely see the rest of the vampires falling unconscious due to the same pressure, foaming at the mouth.
“You’re still standing, huh?” Alex commented.
Comments
Primordial_Will
I didn't know I needed a Garp in DxD until I read this. Please do not drop this.
