Suta POV
He exhaled a deep breath, resting his head back against the ship's edge whilst he pondered the positives and negatives of his discovery.
"Two steps forward... four steps back, as they say, heheh," he chuckled childishly before folding his two hands behind his head.
Suta's spirited gaze peered into the blanket of cyan doused with swashes of blue above him, feeling as though he owed it to himself to take a few moments of respite. Just long enough to allow him to revel in the discovery of these new skills and abilities. His eyelids begun to softly fall, and darkness slowly encroached across his vision from all angles. A rare sense of peace fell upon young Suta, who was beginning to think that perhaps his luck was finally changed.
Suddenly, a glaring horn wailed terribly into the peaceful air shattering Suta's very brief calm.
His eyelids shot open . He sprang to his feet in haste, casting a searching look around the empty skies. The whimsical fairies were also filled with a shrill of worry, all the muttering suddenly ceased as the ship was covered in an unnatural silence.
He glanced expectantly towards Anak, but the vampire's mask was also filled with an agitated glare, his scarlet eyes remaining fixed on the heavens rumbling as though a storm beckoned.
'Wh-what the hell was that...?' Suta heard something behind him. He twisted around and beheld the peaceful emerald waters. He found nothing short of the norm here, but that only stirred his anxious heart even more.
'Did I imagine it?' His brows slightly furrowed, but then something caught the corner of his eye. A distant stone of some kind floated to the surface of the sea.
The waters waded quite heavily, so he couldn't make a clear understanding of what that platform was. Whilst his gaze remained fixated on the platform, the sounds of bubbling water filled his ears. He traced the disturbance and noticed the sea was bubbling as though something hot was burning from beneath.
Suta twisted his neck around again, casting a worrisome look at Anak.
"Hey! Wh-what's going on now?" He asked with fear laced in his voice.
Without saying a single word, Anak walked softly toward the center of the ship's deck. Shedding away his dark long cloak as ethereal as the shadowy night, his shoes, and the leather wrappings covering his chiseled torso fell. Now he was practically clothed the same way Suta had first met him.
There was an air of seriousness surrounding him now, one which Suta hadn't felt until now. Anak then placed a thumb beneath one of his sharpened white fangs and bit down. Suta grimaced, hearing bone being broken, but Anak remained unmoved. Instead, he held out his thumb and allowed the dark, glimmering carmine to fall and splatter against the ship's deck.
"Cycle wheel of tempest and bring me the hellish iron— [ Blood Weapon ] Come forth!" Anak commanded.
Suta stood dumbfoundedly idle as he watched the splatter of blood conjugate into a hardened material likened to a grotesque pillar of carmine crystal. The blood hardened and crackled under his intense stare. Anak formed a fist and smashed down.
BREAK
The pillar of carmine shattered beneath Anaks hammer fist, the vampire snatched at something in the middle of the broken pieces. Much to Suta's utter dismay, it was a short, curved, carmine-infused dagger with rigid edges. Anak observed the dagger in his hand for a few moments before he slowly moved his gaze towards Suta, who had almost swallowed his spit twice as hard feeling the intense stare bearing into him.
"Here..." Anak tossed the dagger his way, he was almost a second slow in catching it. Luckily, the dagger's hilt landed perfectly in his grasp. Suta beheld the strangely warm but glittering weapon that fit right into his shaking palm. He lifted his gaze towards Anak for questions, but instead, he saw the vampire lowering his body into a prone position. He crossed his two arms over the other and closed his eyelids, bending his knees before rocking back and forth against his heels.
He was muttering something.
Strange black veins began pulsating and writhing beneath his pale, unblemished skin, Suta noticed the veins started streaking across his two arms like living worms.
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Anak raised his sunken head, his scarlet eyes started to glow like crystallized blood. And just when Suta was assured things couldn't get any crazier, Anak leapt up like a shooting star, creating an aftershock of wind that swept across the ship's deck. Suta heard the sounds of flesh being contorted, followed by a bellowing scream erupting. He struggled to remain poised, and was left breathless by the sight of Anak. The Vampire was suspended against the air, with a pair of black bone wings flapping behind his back.
He pirouetted through the air dancing amidst the falling droplets of carmine raining down from the gaping wounds made from the wings of bone.
Suta watched on disbelieving, torn between the thin veil of sheer horror and marvel.
"W... what the hell is g-going on?" Suta muttered beneath his breath, his grip unconsciously tightened around the carmine dagger in his hold. He felt its warmth pulsing against his palm like a living heartbeat which might've freaked him out under normal circumstances. The shrills of panic forced him into twisting around towards the trio of fairies. The trio were huddled together, he could see them trembling from afar, but just like he was, all anyone could do was watch the vampire soar through the silver skies, with his black wings cutting through the air like a knife through silk
A second horn quaked erupted against the skies. He heard and saw the fairies swiftly making haste to scurry into the lower decks, although he noticed the mischievous trio, chose to remain at the top of the ship's mast, staring at the skies in horror.
Suta couldn't take this anymore. He jogged towards the center of the deck and tilted his head back. Anak was descending slowly, those bony, scale-like wings flapped gently until the vampire finally landed against the ships deck. Suta had already sensed something terrible was happening, which spurred Anak's transformation in the first place.
"Hey! What's happening?" Suta called out desperately
Anak lowered his scarlet glare, his cold exterior had melted away, replaced with a look of deep concern.
"Remember what I told you about Lysann's spell? A spell like that wasn't just for Candy alone. It spread across the entire world, transfiguring the demonic essence into its polar opposite. A feat that only a Shinjin could perform."
Realization surfaced across Suta's foggy mind.
'D-demonic essence? Wh-what does that even mean.'
Suta somewhat guessed an incantation this powerful would've carried its own fair share of drawbacks Which means... 'Lysann managed to change this entire world.' The sheer thought of someone being that strong left him shuddering slightly. But then, that roused the other side of his question.
'Demonic essence? did he...change them back to normal? And if so, what kind of world is this place'
"W-wait... since this was an incantation... does... does that mean..." Suta was suddenly reminded of the little rabbit wearing the top half of an iron armor. Ser Ector,
'The eclipse? He said it appears every few years. So I'm guessing that must mean Lysanns spell wears off for a short while. So that's what this eclipse is about?'
"Oh no!" Suta tossed his frantic gaze towards the ethereal heavens.
Suddenly, the entire sky was drenched in a dark, reddish glow. The atmosphere changed almost immediately. He heard a disturbance across the seas. This time, however, once he turned around, he could hardly contain the sheer look of horror plastered against his face. Rising from the depths of the ocean were countless oval-shaped platforms. Only now that so many had appeared at once, he got a closer look at what they were.
'F-faces? ' Grimacing, strange faces made out of stone. Tears of blood rolled down the stone features. But the most disturbing thing about them, was the howling voices all singing the same deathly thing in unison.
"Abbra! Abbra! The traitor has come! All hail the traitor! All hail the traitor!"
Suta quickly took a few steps away from the edge of the boats edge. Retreating away he unknowingly knocked into the sturdy frame of Anak.
The vampire held him in place with a single arm,
"Heh, what kind of sordid luck do you carry, boy! To think this fresh hell would once again be unleashed at this very moment. Tsk! No matter, So the world wishes for us to dance in blood before we make it to the promised land? Heh-heh, fine! Come! let's welcome this Hell, hahahaha!"
Suta's felt a chilling sensation running through his body. He stared into the crazed glowing eyes of the vampire wondering if this was the same aloof fellow who barely cracked a smile. 'H-h-e's...He's finally lost his mind?' He thought.
A second roar suddenly thundered from the expanse of hellish red above them all. Suta could barely remain on his feet before his eyes slowly moved towards the heavens again. This nightmare proved to be only beginning as he started to horrifyingly see a gigantic hole coming into focus.
Gradually the dark expanse widened and through its gaping mouth Suta saw something he would've never expected to see. A gigantic, demonic eye. Staring down upon them all, as though a dreadful titan of hell had finally been awakened.