Aegis is also the name of the world the story takes place in~
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Winds blew strong and hard on a cliff, a dense forest several meters below. Perched at the edge of the cliff stood a semi-large black and grey, worn-down mansion that felt devoid of any life. A thick fog covered the whole of the cliff, and part of the forest that lead to it, completely undaunted, even by the harsh winds.
A single young man walked out of the forest leading to the mansion, he wore a long leather colored coat, a pure white shirt underneath. Black pants with the legs slightly rolled up so they didn't cover his feet, leather hiking boots, and a hat on his head, the same color as his coat. One hand holding his hat, his short golden hair blowing with the wind, his almost glowing golden eyes straight on the mansion before him, as if the fog did not matter, a bright smile on his face, not a single sign of fatigue from the long trip it would take to get to such a remote location.
He walked up to the large door to the mansion, which looked like it could very well lead to the home of the devil himself. He had not a hint of fear on his face. Rather, he seemed to be beaming, as if in anticipation. The shifting of shadows could be seen from the windows as he looks over the house, before grabbing the cold metal of the door knocker.
He knocked once.
Nothing.
Twice.
Sounds of whispering could be heard from within.
On the third knock, a booming, somewhat hissing voice burst out.
"WHY DO YOU COME HERE. WHY DO YOU NOT COWER, YE OF LIVING FLESH!?"
A calm reply flowed from his lips, as natural as if answering the question of a less than intelligent friend.
"I'm here to meet your Queen. A refusal will not be accepted of course~"
He then proceeded to grab the door's handle, and smash open the door, breaking the lock, but leaving the hinges and door itself perfectly intact, then casually waltz in. The whispers got louder, a bit more frantic.
As the whispers settled a minute after, the voice resounded once more, as if from the mansion itself.
"YOU MAY MEET THE QUEEN, LIVING ONE. MAY YOU JOIN US SOON."
A single hall of the mansion, previously devoid of light, blazed to life. The largest hall, the one right in from of the entrance, was lit by black flames, which granted strange illumination. The young man with golden hair that shined even in the black light walked forward with no reservation.
He walked through the seemingly unending hall for a long time, the whispers his only company. He did not question, his expression did not change, he simply walked with a happy smile. What ever horrors lay in this place seemed to be of no consequence to him. As if he were going to meet an old friend. Or maybe, to meet a new one.
He eventually came to a large, grandiose doorway. This doorway, unlike the entrance, was terrifying, and beautiful at the same time. It was truly quite a sight. Any normal person would have stopped to both gape in terror and awe, and rethink even setting foot within this cursed place.
The young man however, continued forward, not stopping to even look at the sight before him. The doors burst open before he got close enough to touch them, seemingly afraid they'd suffer the same fate as the doors of the entrance. The room within was bathed with nothing but pure darkness.
"Hello, Your Highness. I have been anticipating meeting you for quite a while now."
The young man stated to a figure sitting on a vaguely visible throne at the very back of the pitch black room. The only reason the throne being at all visible was due to the large window right above it, which let in the tiniest bit of light through the dark fog.
He continued with a beaming smile, and a slight bow, his hat in his right hand, as if a magician about to announce the beginning of a grand trick.
"I have a proposition I'm sure will delight you, Your Highness."
The figure in the dark seemed to shift, the metallic sound of chains echoing throughout the room.
"A proposition? One that I would take delight in? I have not known joy in centuries. Let us hear what it is that a foolish child thinks could possibly bring me delight. Quickly, before I decide to let the lesser ones indulge themselves."
Came a cold, weary, yet youthful sounding female voice. It was a voice that, as impossible as it may sound, would put someone at ease, as well as strike terror to their soul at the same time.
The young man seemed undaunted however, and rose from his bow, to continue with this mysterious proposal.
"It is quite simple Your Highness. In exchange for your aid, I shall release from your curse, you an-"
"IMPOSSIBLE. If that is all that you had to say, I shall allow the lesser ones to have their new food source"
The whispers became louder, excited. The young man, however, had no changes in his expression.
"But it is quite possible, Your Highness. I am also afraid feeding on me would be... bad, for your kind."
A barely visible hand seemed to be raised, and the whispers quieted down.
"Very well. I have all the time in the world. Let us hear what you have to say before we end you. Before you join us."
The young man seemed pleased, his sincere smile widened.
"Thank you Your Highness. Then I shall explain how I can release you from your curse."
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"The curse of the Vampires, originati-"
"I do not need to know the origin of this wretched curse. On with it!"
The Vampire Queen's voice commanded, impatiently.
"I apologize. Then continuing on. The curse operates by forcibly ripping the life force of the body away, and forcibly binding the soul to the body, and locking the body in time, which is why the Vampires wounds immediately heal, because time for the body reverses to the point in time when it was first cursed. Also explaining the permanent bite marks on Vampires napes."
"....."
While not visible to any, the Queen actually had quite the surprised face. She was never aware of exactly HOW the curse worked. Just what it entailed.
"T-then why do we lust for the blood of the living?"
She squeaked out, completely different from her cold and composed usual tone. So different in fact, that the whispers themselves seemed confused and shocked.
The young man's smile widened once again.
"Yes, I was just getting to that."
"As the body is still 'alive' it still feels the need for life force. As the only way to obtain any amount of life force that it sees is the blood of the living, it hungers for it. However, as the life force is quickly ripped away by the curse, the Vampires hunger eternally. The reason Vampires bodies perish in the sunlight is because the sunlight carries a much larger amount of raw life energy than blood. Similar to the reaction of an unfit, obese person would have to sudden, intense exercise, multiplied by a few times, the Vampires, whose bodies are completely unused to the life energy, are unable to sustain the onslaught of the life energy and disintegrate. The curse itself is unable to sustain against the onslaught, and cannot reverse the body's time to allow it to regenerate. It instead then binds the soul to the earth."
The whispers were completely silent. The Queen was completely silent. The only sound, the sound of the wind roaring outside, clashing against the walls of the mansion. A minute passed. Two. The Queen snapped out of her trance-like state.
".....The Vampires who were... Destroyed... Do you mean their souls are... still bound to this land...?"
"Those that were ended by the sun's light are, certainly still bound to this world, wandering aimlessly. Some are even present within this home of yours."
"......"
The Queen was silent for another moment. Within the darkness, she was biting her lip.
"Then how would you, Living One, remove this curse of ours?"
The young man, whose face had turned deadly serious whilst he explained, became a wide smile once again.
"It is simple, Your Highness. I will infuse your bodies with Life Energy. Life Energy in it's rawest form. The Life Energy from the sun has light and fire energy mixed within, and is not completely pure. However, completely raw, pure Life Energy will perfectly be absorbed into your bodies, your flesh, and eliminate the curse, restoring you to life."
"......That... how would you-"
A golden energy escaped out of the tip of the young man's finger, as if some kind of thick liquid, the glowing golden energy illuminated the room. A girl with long silver hair, and a pure black dress, which looked like it might have originally been white, sat on an incredibly large silver throne. The girl looked to be around 12 years old, with a completely stupefied expression. Her arms and legs were chained to the throne.
"H-how..."
"Not important at this moment, no? Do you accept my proposal?"
"....."
"Yes."
"Alright then."
The accumulated golden energy that was floating at the center of the room shot at the Vampire Queen, and, as it approached her, the whispers grew louder and louder, evolving into screaming in concern for their queen.
Then, the golden energy struck her forehead, and began spreading throughout her body. Her pale white skin became vibrant and smooth. Her ghostly white hair became a shining silver. Her dull blue eyes regained their former energetic gleam. The shackles that kept her chained to the throne shattered and turned to dust, and her body rose into the air. A bright flash blinded all that were watching.
As they regained their sight. Every being that was watching saw a young woman on her hands and knees in the middle of the room. As she raised her head, there was a very obvious resemblance to the doll-like girl that used to sit chained to a lonely throne. She sat up a fleshed her fingers, then stood up and looked herself over.
"I figured you wouldn't very much enjoy being in the body of a little girl after all this time"
The young man said with his sincere smile as he tilted his head. The room was now lit by the light of dawn. The winds had stopped roaring. The unnatural fog, which was held in place by the Vampire Queen dissipated. The Queen- or rather, the former Queen of the Vampires gave out a genuinely happy smile for the first time in centuries. They stayed smiling at each other for several minutes.
"and now for the rest of you!"
The young man broke the silence with an energetic yell.
|-Chapter 1 ->
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May or may not be a bit episodic for the first few chapters....
Abrupt ending and lack of information provided to readers intentional~