After their baths, John and Camila were greeted with plump chicken, the aroma of which stirred their most primal instincts. They tore into the meal, and if Saoirse didn’t know any better, she might have mistaken them for a pack of ravenous hounds. When they finished, they sat unabashed by their gluttony, for what is a heart’s worth if it does not want?
Saoirse smiled warmly, and John and Camila felt her radiance. Suddenly, they blushed, becoming aware of their own sincerity.
“Now that you’re all fed and content,” Saoirse said, “I’m going to have a meal of my own.” Her tone shifted to seriousness. “Camila, I believe it's time we addressed what you are.”
Camila wiped the blood from her mouth and smiled innocently. Saoirse looked at her. “I’ll be blunt—unbecoming of myself, but necessary for the situation. The original vampire was a parasite that had washed up on the shores to the west some time ago. It possessed its host, merged with it, and then assumed control.
Camila, this process happened to you when you were a fetus. Everything about you is completely ethereal. Vampires are smarter, stronger, and can achieve resonance far easier than the average human due to their seemingly closer ties to the seven pillars of reality. But because of their nature, they cannot reproduce their own blood.” She paused. “And thus the nature of the conflict between humans and vampires. Naturally, humans won in the end, being more self-sacrificing due to their larger numbers and empathy. We made advancements and eventually hunted your kind to near extinction.”
“Any questions?” Saoirse asked, returning to her usual warm smile.
Camila, her resolve set, addressed Saoirse. “I’ve come to the conclusion, after the last five weeks, that I am a vampire and not a human, and I am content with that.” Camila felt a sense of closure, knowing that whatever she once was was now a part of a greater whole.
Saoirse smiled with understanding. “Very well, but for your own good, I must ask you to wear a veil . The less you are seen, the better.” Camila nodded in agreement.
Saoirse looked at Camila as if her heart were gutted and laid out on the table before her. “So,” she asked, “if I asked you to kill and hunt your own kind to prove your loyalty to humanity, would you do it?”
Camila turned her gaze away, a look of shame crossing her face. “I’ve never killed anyone before, not even an animal.”
“You will need to serve many years before the king and the clergy recognize you as a citizen,” Saoirse replied. “But I believe in you, Camila. Although your kind is extinct in this country, they run rampant, terrorizing the land in less developed vassal states. You’re the only one of your kind I have seen who isn’t, for lack of better terms, animalistic. But I see you for who you are as well, not just what you are.”
Camila nodded. “Thank you.”
“We will begin training you and your brother in the martial discipline of this nation tomorrow.”
John says with his eyes glazed to saoirse “will i have to see what relive what happened at the village again” The silence loomed over them, harbringing the world's malcontent. Saoirse reciprocated John's inner turmoil “Every day… every day,” she whispered.
Looking down, he asked himself if he had the correct constitution for this lifestyle, as he looked to Camila to ease his distress, but where he expected relief, he found hatred, for she reminded him of the cosmic indifference towards humanity
In the morning, The halls echoed with the weight of Saoirse's steps mirroring the desolate expanse of her heart; which no song or jest can fill. It was a muted strength, her heart sung, with the pitch of a bird that was once free but now delegated to the confines of bureaucracy. Thus she sung
Symphony of a broken heart, which was betrayed by its own innocence, saved by its own corruption. One possesses a squalid soul, illuminated by the spark of divinity, which is perceived through my inner world, allowing me to gaze upon the shadow of my heart. Trapped between my roots and the leaves that sprout, I grapple with none other than myself.
At breakfast, Camila and John sat there awkwardly. Camila tried to break the silence. “I heard you singing this morning as you were walking through the hallways, Saoirse. It was beautiful.”
the silence did not waver. I hope you kids are ready for your lessons, Saoirse said, resuming her enthusiastic demeanor as she clapped her hands together, her hood veiling her puffy eyes. “You have reading, arrhythmic, and my favorite, alchemy.”
Clashes of swords and the wails of men interrupt the heartfelt moment. “It appears our guests have arrived,” she says, her malice hidden behind her warm smile.
In the courtyard of the administration building, bodies lay seemingly chained together. At the head of this coiled hydra stood four men. Saoirse muttered to herself, “I hope the incantation they’re doing works.” She removed her robes, revealing a web of intricate tattoos. On her forearms rested vambraces, and on her hip was a sleeve containing talismans. The men stared at her, the tension between them palpable. Saoirse broke the silence with a playful tone, “Hello there. The nearest whorehouse is in that direction. I’m sure if you ask around, you’ll find your way.”
The men remained silent, which Saoirse took as an indication of their stature. Finally, the tension was released, and the men charged toward her. Saoirse knew she had 30 talismans, but her spells would likely be disrupted at least ten times before she could fully cast them. This left her with only ten spells to divide among the four men, with no guarantee that more enemies wouldn’t appear.
As they approached, Saoirse began chanting to activate the seals on her body. She pulled out a talisman, and the seals projected around her arms, merging with the paper talismans. A blazing inferno contained within a disc erupted, but without the incantation, the spell wouldn’t be fully effective. Saoirse, by activating her taotoes, spewed fire from her feet, igniting the ground and burning her shoes. The men backed away, and one pulled out a bow, beginning a chant. Saoirse assessed the chant’s nature and realized it was a rudimentary homing spell.
She could counter it with her own chant, but she needed to control the disc through a spell. As the men circled her, they recognized her strategy and rushed her. Saoirse held the disc with one hand, weaving and blocking with her vambraces while switching the disc between hands and chanting.
When the man with the bow finished his chant, Saoirse pivoted, positioning the disc behind her back so the homing arrow struck him instead. The three men who had attacked her saw their blades melt against the flaming disc. With their lethality reduced, Saoirse decided to conserve her resources for potential future battles. A brief moment after, her men's incantations were completed, and all the men she was fighting dropped to the ground unconscious. After the brief encounter, the men were rounded up; They were then placed in prison for interrogations.
While a pungent eeriness choked them, Camila and John Were hidden; In their room in the closets; As they heard footsteps, Desolation began to permeate their consciousness; it was a fog that obscured and consumed all.
The closet doors opened; They cowered before their fear as there were a bright sun; however, they were greeted with warm arms and Outstretched; Sunrays peeking over the horizon, scaring the beast that dwelled within the night away
“Camila…John.” Cornelius says, his face shrouded by the weight of his dead men, “It's safe now;” He stands there, his compassion shining through the congealed blood on his face.
One day, Saoirse told John and Camila that, as a reward for their hard work, she would grant them a day in the town without her supervision. She could sense they were growing weary of each other's constant company. She gave them 100 copper coins each and told them to enjoy themselves in the town, but Camila had to wear robes and a veil.
As John was walking out of the administration building, Cornelius pulled him aside the door and asked, "How's the weather down there? Dry as the arid desert, I assume?"
He chuckled. "You remind me of myself, boy. Probably had a good mother who took care of you, but what about the mother within your heart? How much of her do you neglect because you can't see it in the mother without?
“ It's why you have no compassion for what you deem to be evil, boy. I notice how you look at people when confronted with their darker aspects—a hatred possesses you. Hatred.” John glances down to the side a pang of shame wrenches his gut
Well, today, John, I invite you to connect with the mother within, as it's the greatest beauty to participate in the cycle of life." Cornelius spat and chuckled, "Unless you're scared the girls will laugh you out of the whorehouse, boy."
John's pride was piqued. His Determination sewn together on his face.
John and Cornelius walked to the brothel and had a discussion. The snow decorating their cloaks; the cold air igniting their throats and piercing the edges of their ears
"I would have done the same, boy, I would have done the same," Cornelius said. But I wouldn't have taken it that far. Human life is sacred, but it needs sustenance, which is finite; hence, we take human life. John pauses for a second, then nods his head in agreement, fighting his way through the crowd of people in the marketplace.
Do well to remember that, boy. It’s just hive minds fighting other hive minds, each with their own god. But an old man who lived long ago asked whether an action is good because God dictates it, or does God dictate an action because it is good?"
"That sounds like something Saoirse would say."
"These are things I've learned through hard days of war. Saoirse is a warrior as well. No, no, Saoirse is far scarier. I fear the day when I get on her bad side."
"You make it sound like you're lovers."
Cornelius rests his shakes the top of John's head and ruffles his hair;the snowflakes dance around his angular face
Cornelius gave a mischievous grin. "I wish, boy, but some days she almost gives in. But to see her betray her beliefs, her life's work, for me... would crush my heart. So, I remind her of herself."
"So the Arbiters dislike the flesh?"
"No, John. They're against the overindulgence in the mother at the expense of the father. Does it apply in the opposite way? Yes, it does."
"Why?"
"It knocks the soul off balance, boy. It's one of the laws that govern this world. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. An indulgence in the material or the immaterial creates tension in the soul that launches it in the opposite trajectory with force equal to its displacement; at least, that's what she tells me.
However, Saoirse, your maternal figure, used to belong to this very whorehouse." John looked up. "When she was but a young lass, far too young to be exposed to such a thing. She's working hard to restore the balance of her soul. You see, she got sick of it; she became disgusted and stabbed the man who was her regular.
The man was a noble, so one day, the court decreed to burn her at the stake. When it came time to burn, she remained unscathed, without any talismans or tattoos. The clergy took this as a sign of great spiritual power, but despite this, her past is the only reason she's not of a higher rank within the clergy.
John paused for a second, letting every single word Cornelius said sink in,everything Cornelius told him. As he bumped into Cornelius, he was broken out of his thoughts.
Here we are
When Cornelius and John walked into the brothel, Cornelius chuckled, "You're not getting cold feet, are you, boy?" John's heart was racing, but his face betrayed nothing. "No," he said coldly.
"Hello, John, my name is Meridia." She grabbed his hand eagerly. "You don't think Saoirse would feel bad about this?"
"She's the one who told me to bring you here."
And so John lay with Meridia, and he felt as if his soul, his very essence, was bound to her as they joined. When they were done, they lay there, bathing in the warmth of each other's presence. But the warmth was replaced with coldness as an image of John's mother and sister flashed before him, alongside the two girls he murdered. He threw up on the side of the bed.
“John, are you okay?” Meridia asked. John quickly got dressed and began to clean up his mess. Meridia stopped him. “I'll clean it.” John put on his cloak and abruptly walked out.
"Do come back," Meridia said shyly. With a muted determination, "I…really enjoyed you." John paused, his hand hovering over the doorknob, he contemplated embracing her once more, but he steeled and walked out
In the bustling street, Cornelius sat there, resting against the wall. "Minute, man," John said while softly punching Cornelius on the shoulder, In jest; But a tear bubbled up from John's eyes." that
He begins sniffling. "She was sweet. She was sweet." He whimpers. “I see now that through killing those girls, I not only robbed a man of the chance to love them, but now I shared a heart with my sister and my body with Meridia.”
his crying intensifies Cornelius comforts him with a hug, and this time, unlike in the woods, he accepts, "I understand, son." I also realize I have been unfair to Camila. And
"I used to see her as an angel, John says; and holding her to the standard of a god is the cruelest thing I could have done to her."
Cornelius says, "Humans are not things to be cast out of your graces because they rebelled against the will you have for them." John says "yes" once again, and his sniffling ends just as fast as it began.
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