Chapter 98: Eveline The Tyrant
A month before The Serpent's and Berdek's advance on La Guardia, on April 15th of the first year, Scitus was preoccupying himself with training his armies. The process had slowed ever since the ordinary leaders of his kingdom were sent off to their trials. Sia had gone to Mern's territory to advise Thoth on the finer details so that he wouldn't accidentally destroy peoples trust in him. She had disguised herself as a human for that purpose. This left Eveline as the only true powerhouse in his kingdom.
Eveline had calmed since her initial arrival. Her thirst for mana and blood was seemingly quenched, and those mana orbs he had given were dearly cherished by her.
Her skills in close combat were incredible and so Scitus had put her in charge of training the armies while Thoth was away. She was oddly affectionate towards all the monsters in the kingdom and some had even dubbed her everyone’s big sister.
"you don't seem to mind any of the monsters here." Scitus had asked her that day. She sat on a hill overlooking a vast beautiful landscape of trees. From what he understood, monsters of different races rarely intermingled and vampires most of all segregated themselves from other monsters. Eveline was smiley and yet the cold aura that surrounded her was like a bucket of ice being dropped on top of someone's head. The sheer frigid nature of her happy expression was completely contradictory, and in those frigid eyes, Scitus saw pain.
"I was born human." She softly said to him; they were overlooking a vast landscape of trees that swayed with the wind, atop a large hill, the lizard hill that had been a battlefield some time ago. The breeze was like the embrace of a loving mother. "And then I become a vampire. People I knew then didn't treat me the same, and when I found a new home, I discovered that they only wanted me because of what I represent." Scitus was quiet for a moment before suddenly turning to leave. "Hey!!!" Eveline's left lip curved upward into a smile, she was surprised by his suddenness. She thought Scitus was callous at times, but she had also seen him get emotional when it pertained to the people in his kingdom.
"You smile when you're uncomfortable." Those words were like a punch to the chest. Scitus left Eveline on her own. She looked at her surroundings as she hugged her knees. The beauty she saw there was the most wonderful thing she had seen in many years. Thinking back on what had led her to that point, thinking on the fact that she was no better than a prisoner to Scitus's mana, she cried. She cried for the first time in decades, she had held it in for as long as she could.
“I want to be free of this curse.” She whimpered.
“I miss you dad, mom...” She tried to remember all her most painful moments, intentionally stabbing herself with the memories she had locked away.
After the hour was done, she picked up those horrible memories and locked them back into that small chest she kept at the center of her heart. She tightly shut it and her cold smile returned, her frigid queen's aura exuded as naturally as the sun gives out heat. She clenched her fists and quietly returned to the kingdom. It was a small respite, but at least she could live vicariously through the innocent happiness the monsters of Scitus's kingdom had. She yearned for that almost simple life of having children, living with a lover, spending their lives, going to work, and then sleeping at night. But those things would always be foreign to her, she was dead, that dream would never come true.
There were secrets Eveline had buried, she never talked about her past. She acted as if her life began after she awoke from her bloodthirsty stupor. Scitus had never asked her to join him and had even initially turned her away a few times but in the end, she would randomly help him. It was some time after Scitus saw her crying, he had been using his divine sight to check his kingdom for enemy external threats. It was only then that Scitus realized, she was harmless, or rather she wanted to be. Her thirst for blood was nearly impossible to quench and that sensation of fulfillment only ever lasted a moment.
Her history was a mystery, and Sia had advised against it but Scitus was oddly compassionate about certain things and oddly brutal on other things. "We'll keep her on a short leash. We can't have her rampaging about." Sia coldly said. Scitus was of the same mind. Although he pitied her, she was a danger to his people.
Scitus had begun to trust Eveline, she was very passive when outside of combat, gentle even. However, although she hid her history, that did not mean “it” would hide from her.
"what great place you have here." A strange young boy strode into down. His age was somewhere between 12 and 13. His hair was a vibrant red and a small sharp tooth exposed itself on one side. His walk was more of a hop; the child appeared to be jumping over the stone bricks, seemingly trying to avoid the cracks between each stone. Scitus easily spotted the anomaly, the boy had no intention of hiding himself.
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His presence startled the other monsters, not because the boy looked human, but rather because they could sense what he truly was. Some of the ogres took a step forward to guard the weaker races from this young boy, some of the stronger ones even putting their training into good use and casting a few barrier spells.
The young boy seemed oblivious to this, continuing his self-made game, quickly approaching the castle at the center of the city.
Scitus approached the boy cautiously, making sure to cast several defensive spells beforehand. "and who may you be?" The boy suddenly stood upright as if startled. "wha!!! You're a really quiet guy." The boy looked genuinely surprised but Scitus wasn't a fool. The boy was a vampire, a lesser high monster, even so, his power was extraordinary. The boy put his fists on his hips and proudly proclaimed, "I'm TALE!!!! SON OF GALTON!!!" Scitus was unamused.
"Why are you here." The boy suddenly became timid. In a low voice, he mumbled some inaudible words. "louder." Scitus demanded. Scitus had already grown accustomed to making displays of authority in front of his subjects. It certainly had the desired effect. Although he was human, a lot of monsters had begun to admire him. Some monsters still didn't know he was human however and so Sia had made some measures to prevent his true linage from leaking out. His disguise was comprised of two parts, the first was a pair of graceful horns that extend from the sides of his and curved alongside his head before shooting upwards before the two horns touched. These horns gave off the appearance of a natural crown and in actuality, it was a crown. The crown was enchanted to both give off a regal aura and to camouflage the wearer's bloodline. When Scitus had first laid eyes on this crown he had even said, "this will certainly be useful, in a kingdom with so many different people, it's good that this thing can hide your bloodline." The other's in attendance at the time didn't like the implication that Scitus had made with his comment.
The boy spoke a little louder. "I'm here for Eveline. She has to return to the colony." Scitus raised his brow. "She is a valuable member of my kingdom. If it's for a short visit, I may allow it." The young boy suddenly grew bolder. "This is not for you or your weak subjects to decide. This is an order from my father."
"Listen. This is my territory, and you'll not be making threats here." Scitus strengthened his arm many folds and grabbed the little boy by the collar of his fancy clothing. "judging by your age, you people don't respect me enough to send a proper diplomat."
“hey, I’m already a 100 years old, I’m way older than you!!!” the little boy struggled to escape Scitus’s grasp. “he’s really strong!!!!” the little boy thought as he quickly began to panic.
"let him go." Eveline's cold voice shot from behind Scitus. Scitus calmly but the boy down. The young boy saw her and his eyes opened up like giant golf balls. "Elder sister!!!" the boy hopped towards her, still avoiding the floor lines. When he reached only a few feet from her, he bowed in an obvious gesture of respect.
Scitus held his surprise and Eveline nearly broke her normally crystal-clear calm. Her left lip curved upward into a wry smile. "Forgive me. I didn't realize you were an elder." The boy went on and on about his respect for Eveline. He spoke about her beauty and her graceful calm.
"What are you doing here?" she finally managed to say, forcibly cutting in between one of his flatteries. "Yes. Father has asked me to bring you back home."
The temperature noticeably dropped at the mention of the boy's father. Her expression was calm, but her smile had become even more radiant than before. "I suggest you leave." Her change did not go unnoticed. The boy quivered in fear as he saw the image of a vicious monster behind Eveline. He was certain she would torture him if he didn't leave.
"I’ll bring someone stronger next time ok!!!” he said running away, not even bothering to play his game anymore.
The path was silent for a short while. Eveline saw Scitus looking at her and she felt that he needed an explanation. She would have to tell him what had happened that day they met. The circumstances that had forced her into such a pathetic state.
"so your older 100 huh." He said as he calmly walked passed her; he acted as if that was the only question that had been lingering on his mind all that time. Eveline revealed a small smile and for the first time since she had come to that place, it was warm. "What, you no longer want of a piece of me."
“I already have a girl I like.”
“oh?” Eveline raised a brow as if she was genuinely interested.
“is it Sia. Or that little goblin girl that follows you around.”
"So how old are you really?" Scitus casually returned to the initial subject.
“I’m 118.”
“is 18 years really worth all that respect?” Eveline chuckled a bit.
"No, he probably thought I was 600 years old. Vampire custom is, starting at 12 years, to age your body 1 year every 100 years until you reach 60. So, in vampire years, I'm considered a 13-year-old."
“Then why did you choose 18?” he said as he looked at her, her age was roughly around 18 years old.
“Maybe I wanted to seduce you, get that yummy god blood out of ya.” She was far more coy than normal, Scitus was happy she could express herself a little more but the mood quickly soured when she revealed the truth.
“Truth is.” Her cold smile returned; however, it wasn’t as cold as it had once been before.
"I became a vampire at 18. For around 10 years, I looked like this, and those 28 years were some of the happiest in my entire life."
There was still a lot Scitus didn't know about Eveline, but he had finally begun to fully trust her.
“let me show you something…”