9Ascension 15.
Matt stared. "You're joking. He's like what, your husband?" The Vampire paced; his body completely rigid. A loud growl left his throat as he threw his hands up. "How could you just let him go, you—you idiot!" Matt stopped his pacing if only to glare at the military man, kneeling before him.
"As I said, King, I am sincerely apologetic," his voice came out in near whispers. "Please, you must understand that he snuck away of his own accord—"
"Silence!" The Vampire roared. He smacked at a few of the pictures Kain had set along the walls. "You should know better, you are from our god-forsaken kingdom." A light sigh left his lips as he fixed his posture; regaining his composure. "And you follow up by assaulting me, no less."
Conrad couldn't bow his head any lower. "A million apologies, King. A million and more." The guilt couldn't weigh any heavier on his mind. As the established leader of his own cause, he was already failing miserably.
Matt then took a seat on the couch; it definitely was Kain's. The obnoxious upholstery reminded him of Kain's home. He truly did miss that Cliffside house. Yet, even with Kain's scent, Kain everywhere, it couldn't make him happy. Not even a small lip curl of satisfaction. No, he would not be satisfied until he could lay eyes on Kain once more, feel him once more, have him once more.
"So tell me….er," he began.
"I am Wheller, sir. Conrad. I have a cause I need to fulfull in your name." The lies. "I didn't believe in Ezekiel. I remembered you, the true King. Your father—"
"Don't even mention that bastard in front of me," Matt near hissed. "Tell me. If you knew about him, you knew to protect him, why go so far as…marrying him? Why make a family with him, if you knew all of that information?"
Conrad swallowed hard. "Yes, King, I know it was not the best choice." A lie. Conrad knew it was a lie.
"Best choice." Matt stood, eyes trained on the hand he was repeatedly balling into a fist and undoing. "Wheller."
"Sire?"
"Stand."
And so Conrad did, only to receive a full-on first to the face, sending him staggering a few feet back. The man immediately brought his hand to his jaw as if holding it would make the pain go away, or save him from the bone just falling from his skull. No, he wouldn't dare lie, it hurt. Horribly so. So much that tears were starting to form in his eyes.
Wide-eyed, he moved his hand away from his mouth. "Averni—"
"That's for letting it go on that long. You got too involved into whatever it was you were sent to do, and damn it you know that."
Conrad couldn't pull his eyes away from Matthew's amethyst. "I—King—"
"Enough. You're lucky you're even living right now," Matt snapped, lithe legs pacing the length of the sofa and back. "Cherish every moment from now, for I shall not ever forget this. I may just be having a bad day, one day, and who knows. I could all of a sudden remember the bastard that slept with my boyfriend. How bad does that sound to you, Conrad?"
"Sleeping with the Vampire Lord's boyfriend…" Conrad spoke up, the metallic tasting liquid was definitely pouring from his lips now.
"Does that sound like something someone would want to do?" Matt stopped his pacing.
"No sire."
"Get yourself ready. We're getting Kain."
"My lord, he could be anywhere by now—"
"He's going where his destiny is supposed to take him, you idiot. You know just as well as I. You have heard the story. You heard about the Devil King and the fallen angel." Matt's purple hues watched the military man as he nodded. "Then you know where he is headed, given that we are near the coast."
"The Academic city."
"If he makes it to Altair, I won't be able to defend anything. I'm not allowed. You, you might be. You're not like us, are you? You feel mortal."
"Yes, sir."
Matt looked around, watching as the land around him began to deteriorate. "Yes, Hubris will always be the same mound of dirt, won't it…" He made his way back out onto the street. "We're in a hurry. We need to catch him before he sets off anywhere."
Conrad clenched his fists and stood. He took a moment to look over the walls, the house—as it deteriorated.
"Now." Matt said; his voice more stern. "As King, I command it."
Conrad nodded and stepped out into the street. And just like that, the illusion that Hubris cast was no more. Matt's already established guard ran from their spots to their King.
"King, what, what, are you all right? Have you been injured in any way?" Sorphell asked, eyes scanning the vampire King. Never mind the bloodied soldier beside him.
"I'm fine." An irritated hand waved the man off. "We need to move. Now. Kain is headed towards Altair. I know that from where we are now, and the lead Kain already has, that we'll never reach him before he actually makes it there." He sighed, the same irritated hand raising itself to rub at the bridge of his nose. Matt knew who Kain was at this point, knew well. Every step he took was just a danger after danger. "NOW!" His voice came out louder, sharper. The subjects nearly jumped, running towards where they had left their horses. "Conrad, you're heading there. You…I already know your deal," he said, purple glare pointed in the man's direction.
"Ah." Conrad returned the look he was given. "As you wish."
Matt's eyes went to the hand he had used to punch Conrad. The slightly skinned knuckles actually burned. It made the Lord…nervous. He was feeling this weak already? This pathetic loss of 'flesh'? This would barely even hurt a human, let alone…He balled his hand into a fist and unfurled it once more, wishing the pain away. "Move. Time is short and I know that your damned boss can basically…" Matt was harboring hate now. It was starting to eat at him. "Just go," he said before jogging to his guard.
Conrad remained stationary for a mere moment; watching as Matt ran his fool's errand. Why did the vampire even bother? Why did he continue to bother? And judging from that look Matt had just given him…it appeared that Matt too knew that he was destined to fail. Fail, whether he believed in destiny or not. It was already written. He looked down at the dirt that was Hubris, kicking the toes of his boots into it a few times.
"Damn it. I've failed."
Kain sighed, watching as the same water pass him over and over. Running a hand down his face, he groaned, getting more than irritated at how slow the pace was. Sure, he could see the next continent looming closer and closer in the distance, but the boat. Holy fucking shit this god damn boat went too slow. For such an amazing world, and the cool technology they seemed to have, this was rather lackluster. Perhaps Kain had just chosen the wrong boat? Still. Ugh. Too. Slow. Groaning and pinching the bridge of his nose, he wondered if they could possibly go any slower. Slow enough to rip a hole in this dimension.
"Any more tense and your bones will get locked into place, you know," came in the form of Maddi's voice.
Kain turned to scowl at her. "You have no idea." He pushed himself away from the railing and walked aimlessly around the deck; he swore he was going to go insane if he stayed on the floating piece of wood any longer. Surely making his own raft would've been more effective.
Maddi followed after the male, her hands behind her back. "So Kain," she started, looking the male over, "…your…new haircut looks awfully pretty. I really like it."
"Do you?" He asked, looking at his now neatly trimmed hair. He had missed having his hair looking like—well—boy hair.
"I really do," Maddi said.
Suspicious. Kain stopped his walking and turned to look at the female. "What is it."
She blinked, looking at the male. "What is what, Kain?"
"What did you do that you're trying to make up for by kissing ass now?" He asked once more.
She was quiet for a moment. "Fine then."
Kain continued his walking, wondering what it could possibly have been that she had ruined.
The moment the docked, Kain couldn't be any happier. That was the worse month of his life.
"Honestly, that was the worst month of my life, you have no idea." Kain told Maddi as he led his horse by the reigns.
Maddi was quiet for a moment. "But we were only at sea for about a week."
"Just shut up. Quiet. Shh." Kain brought a finger to her lips, obnoxiously forcing her silence. "See. You're so mentally drained because of that long trip that you can't even tell what reality is anymore. Madison, a whole month has passed. A whole entire dreadful month."
"Honestly, Kain. You're such an overdramatic boy. It's silly," she laughed, batting Kain's hand away. "Now, come. We have a lot of ground to cover." She turned, grabbing her horse's reins from a deckhand.
Kain furrowed a brow and watched her. He couldn't recall what he had or hadn't mentioned to her. That…was slightly perturbing, to say the least. Plus her ultra-niceness was creeping the shit out of him. Lovely. He just started a journey with someone, and…he already basically disliked them. If not dislike, he sure was aware of her presence now. Her demeanor…all of which, creeped him out.
And that in turn just made him more irritated. This constant irritation was beginning to nag at the back of his mind. With each day that passed, that nagging feeling pricked at his spine as if it were trying to remind him.
But that was just the thing that bothered him. Remember what? Remember who?
A sigh left him as he hopped onto his horse and kicked at his sides. "Come on, Bal. We've got a ways to go." Kain pointed in a direction. The direction his mind told him to go in. Another of the many things that were beginning to bother him. Too many things, he noted. Little did he know that the road there to Altair would be just as boring as the boat ride across the ocean.
"God damn it," Matt said, kicking at a wall beside him. "How the hell are we going to get across? We're literally a month behind at this point."
"My King, please…" Sorphell tried to calm the other down. He was correct, of course, but still, there was no need to be so enraged about something they had no control over. They all knew, even Matthew knew who the one in charge was. As irritating as it was, and as many king's and rulers this world had, there was one King that would rule over them all entirely.
"It's unfair," Matt then said, as if he knew exactly what Sorphell was thinking. "It's unfair that He can do this. Just because…argh, that's his own daughter's kid." The brunette paced back and forth in front of the shoreline. No boat wanted to venture outward as a storm front blew in. Of course. "Wonder who could be the dick who keeps slowing us down," he muttered.
A loud sigh left him as he tilted his head up towards the sky, watching as heavier clouds rolled in. "You know what's going to happen to him just as much as I know and you let him keep going. He's going to lose and you're going to lose because of that…He will fulfill that prophecy and you will lose everything you worked so…" The Vampire King trailed to a pause. Rain. Really. "And here I was, trying to reach out to you, you stupid…" bastard. He began to pace again, hands at his hips, the male fearing hurting someone else. His Holiness, or whatever the hell he was called was grinding on his last nerve. 'This is why no one even bothers to follow your scriptures anymore, you ignorant fool,' he thought, his pacing becoming more and more irritated.
This man was supposed to the be the all forgiving one, the one who accepted everyone for their faults—yet…he shunned everyone that was not of his own kind. And even then, there was a fine line. He lowered his view to the ground and quit his pacing as he remembered Celestine. He would even turn against his own kind if they weren't up-to-par.
"Ha." The laugh left his lips abruptly. 'He's disgusting…I'd always pledge my allegiance to Nero a million times over. He's a fantastic King, unlike you.' Matt, oh Matt, it was like he was still taking his sweet time to realise that he indeed was a King himself. It was then he turned to Sorphell who was calling his name in increasing pitch. "I hear you, I hear you," he said, his tone almost apathetic. "You don't have to yell at me. I was just thinking, is all." The disappointment was obvious.
Sorphell smiled. His King was quite an interesting man, his views were…strange, if anything. All those many years of living with the mortals must've been something completely profound, right? "Let us get you indoors, King. Your guard will take care of these manners. We will find you a way across, if it's the last thing we ever do." Sorphell patted his shoulder; trying to reassure Matthew that he wasn't alone in his endeavors, even if the King continued to enclose himself into the bubble that was his mind. Perhaps he'd be able to get a moment—
"No, it's raining. Let us all rest. It's been days, anyway. You guys can take a break too. We're not going to get anything done right now. No one's going to want to take us anywhere with this storm front. He's always going to win against me." The Vampire King made his way towards the closest room and board, being led by Sorphell himself.
"You, perhaps, my Lord, but not a King and his Kingdom," Sorphell laughed, continuing to lead the man inside and out of the rain. His chance came sooner than he had anticipated as the two stepped onto the porch. "Dear King, you are young and have more power in you than you think. But if you do not allow yourself to rely on the combined power of all your people, then you will not be able to even find your way around the castle." He smiled and fixed Matt's hair, parting it for him. "Especially when your Kingdom aches to aid you."
With that, he turned on his heels and headed into the boarding home.
Matthew remained there, amethyst eyes trained on the door. "King."
So wow I haven't updated in years, but I wanted to let you all know that this story still exists.
I've just had a lot happen in my life, and essentially, I lost any sort of spark I had.
Thank you for the constant reads though. I felt that if I stopped updating, everyone would stop reading.
Haha, and it was really surprising, logging on seeing how many views there had been.
I'm really really sorry that it's taking me so long, but please hold on a tad longer as I take a while to get into the swing of things. If anything, I want to say that I shall update once a month? But...yes, I hope you enjoyed. Please please please pass my story on and send me some reviews! You guys help me out more than you know. It's like having this little cheerleader squad-yes.
Thanks a ton~*~*~*~
-Alex
PS I hope you don't mind typos and all that blarghargh. I just literally typed and posted after adding this. FFFF. Also, make sure to read/pass Vermilion Tears around in case some of you want to remember the first part!