AN: As always folks, thank you for reading thus far. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to voice them.
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"The barrier seems to be rather annoying, My Lord God," spoke up Brutus, as I crossed my scaled legs over one another upon sitting against a tree trunk, "When will you be taking it down so that our army may wipe them out completely?"
"Why should I do this, Brutus? Let them believe their barriers will keep us out, as their despair will be oh so sweet once they realise the futility of such a thing." I asked as lines were etched into the ground around my body. These lines were carved by my will, whilst the pair of vampires stood nearby with their heads bowed low. Both of them had the standard looks of a vampire. What with their pale skin, eyes of blood, and ruby red lips coupled with high cheekbones and a sharp nose and chin. The hairs upon their heads were as dark as pitch, and flowed gracefully towards the small of their backsides.
As to their genders, they were both husband and wife. The male wore a suit of dark silk over a frilly, red shirt he called a blouse. The cuffs of the suit also held a frilly fabric, whereas his pants were creased well enough to show off his regal looks. Yes. He word a pair of shoes upon his feet, as opposed to the rest of my servants wearing very little in terms of footwear.
The female, on the other hand, had her own frilly garment about her person, but in the form of a dress. No. Such a thing was not overly large, as it revealed almost too much of her slender figure. Nevertheless, it was still a rather odd spectacle to see her dance and move across the battlefield. Almost mesmerising, in fact.
The reason why they were with my person at that time was to simply explain a spell I had acquired upon their world, but have never touched it until now. "Possession is dangerous, Lord," spoke up the male, of whom is called Alucard, "Once you leave your body, any number of spirits may try to take possession of it."
To this, I simply chuckled and waved such concerns away. "The spirits of your world could not find purchase within my body, Alucard, I doubt there is one here who could trouble my person. However," I held up a single foreclaw to stall anymore of his complaints, "I shall be taking precautions to avoid such an occurrence. No need to fear, as Brutus will be guarding my body from any and all who may try to take such a thing away from us."
"Me, My Lord God?" The Lich cocked his head towards his right shoulder with curiosity.
"Yes, you. For you are the only one amongst my servants that could stop a spirit before it even set its sights upon my empty shell of a body. In this instance, you shall be the one to guard it from the world until my return. No one is allowed near it, unless they have your instruction to do so. Understand?" My eyes flared crimson, bathing his metallic skeletal self in its glow upon my question.
Of which he merely nodded to, as his lesser clawed hands rubbed together slowly. "May I touch your person, My Lord God?" His voice quivered with anticipation at such a prospect, which caused my mental self to sigh with exasperation. For you see, my Lich's past self was... not quite in love with my body, but very close to such an emotion. If he were perhaps a female with a living body, he would perhaps throw himself upon me at every given chance. At the time, he could do nothing beyond pining for my person.
Yes. many have found it to be a tad disconcerting, but I did not allow my person to be bothered by such antics as this. No. I did not sharing the same hollowed emotions as he, but I did not dissuade him. Perhaps I should have, but one cannot change the past. No matter who may claim otherwise.
Returning to the matter at hand, I gave my permission for him to do so. Of which caused the other to become quite pleased, and reach for my person before remembering the audience of the two vampires. To this, he stepped back without a word, and summoned up a great host of his ghostly servants to stand guard over my person. Embarrassment does not come often to we who are Undead, but when it does, it is quite comical. This caused the vampire pair to chuckle and smile beneath their own hands, whilst the other's eyes flared with anger for a brief moment before that which was within us stole such an emotion away.
"Everything is prepared, Lord," spoke a high and melodious tone coming from the female, of whom was called Morticia.
"Very well," my voice rumbled softly, as my back hunched forward whilst my clawed fingers lightly touched each other in a cup shape. "<
*
High above the battlefield soaked with the blood of my servants and those of whom they believed were enemies, I felt free. Free of the chains that bound me to this struggle for our world of Terra, and believed that if I so choose, I could leave them all to journey elsewhere without worry. However, they were mine, and I had a duty to see this through to the end. For you see, though I could end it all, and remove their memories of our world, I chose to continue to strive forward until we stand where we are to this day. Yes. I've had such thoughts of abandonment, and have been tempted many a time. At this point, however, the allure of freedom was far stronger than before, but still I resisted such an urge.
Though you look upon my person with disgust and horror, know that such thoughts purveyed through my servants on many occasions. As many grew tired from the constant fightings through the countless worlds we traversed. They desired a home to call their own, just as I desired a family, and would have taken any number of them if I merely said, "This is Terra. Welcome home." No. I did not say such words, but have been sorely tempted due to the fact that a handful of such worlds reminded us of our world of Terra many a time.
Ah, but this is not part of the story at hand.
As I was merely essence at the time, the world around my formless self was filled with brilliant colours which only become dull once one gains a body. Certainly, there are times when the world is beautiful, but I was simply in awe of the majesty before my being. Every colour and hue imaginable, and not, danced before my self, as I surged towards what I assumed was the barrier. For you see, such a thing was an ugly, ever expanding blot upon the world of beauty.
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Once I penetrated such a thing, I did find muted colours scattered about the darkness, along with a multitude of flickering yellow lights running to and fro. I came to the conclusion that such lights were the populace with which we attacked, and flowed towards one in particular. Of which seemed to flicker quickly as though it were about to fade beneath a great storm wind. This allowed my person to flow within such a light, which then seemed to scream as my own essences devoured the light within.
The first sensation to come into being was pain. Yes. I felt pain, which was odd because I have never felt such a thing in all of my days. Yet, this is what others will tell me, as my new mind faded in and out as fire flared through it quite rapidly. It was as though someone had taken a red hot poker, and shoved it into the base of my new skull. It was debilitating, yes, which caused the body's limbs to spasm with enough force to alert others within the body's location.
"Someone grab a cleric," I heard an individual yell amongst the cacophony of roars, howls, and the dull beatings of a bell, "Regoth," this voice then grabbed onto my new body, doing its best to try and still the flailings whilst I was slowly integrating my being into such a small body. No. Such a process was not instantaneous, as the vessel I had chosen was far too small to contain the whole of my might.
Imagine, if you will, trying to force a river into a skin for water or wine. Such a thing is not possible, correct? Yes, and the body showed this by slowly disintegrating before the horrifying eyes of the one who called this new body "Regoth", and an elderly bear-kin who wore a crimson and dirt stained white robe.
"What is happening to him?" The former demanded, as a crowd of flickering lights gathered about us. This voice, was feminine, and I was able to make such a distinction once my essences connected to the body's hearing sensors within its brain. "Is it a spell? A curse? Can't you do anything?"
The elder shook his head quickly, and placed his old, clawed hands upon the body's chest and head. Slowly, it closed its eyes and forced its will into the body. It was here that I realised the old creature held a much larger container for my essence. Upon such a realisation, I surged through the connection it forcibly applied upon the body, and devoured that which was its own.
Luck was on my side, it seems, as this old body did not spasm nor flail upon my entering it. Instead, it simply stayed still, as I resumed the process of taking control as I had with the other. As to the body upon the ground, once I left it, its disintegration increased until it became naught, but ash and dust. This action caused the female to scream, as my new and old body collapsed upon the ground.
More sensations assaulted my being as this occurred. The feel of the hard ground, the soft texture of the robe it wore, and the sticky feeling associated with too much blood upon one's skin. Even the air about my person, as I could smell the scent of urine, feces, the tang of blood. All of it, and it was disorienting for one such as I. For if you can recall, I am an Undead, and we do not have any other these sensations. What is more, a torrent of emotions flooded my mind, causing the body's eyes to widen from shock, whilst its mouth hung open.
Yes. Emotion. That which is foreign to my kind assaulted my new brain, as I struggled to quell each and every one that cropped up. The most prevalent of these emotions was fear. I felt it as I have never done so before.
Fear. A yellow and sickly cloud hung about this mind, slowly seeping into the weary bones which were slowly disintegrating due to the strength of my might and will. It was disgusting, and I desired to forgo such a feeling by silently plying a spell of fortitude upon this new mind. Almost instantly, this feeling vanished from my presence, which allowed my person to sigh with relief.
Of course, I also had to remember to breathe, as this body had an actual pair of lungs. Whereas my own body had only a pseudo pair. This was so merely to allow my true self to use my acidic breath more accurately. As opposed to my skeletal self, which is able to use such a thing until the whole of my energy has been depleted.
"Elder, are you okay?" Asked a small voice coming from before my person. It seems that while I was being assaulted within my new mind, someone had lifted my person to my feet, and was now walking us with my new left arm draped across the shoulders of a burly bear beastman. Of which wore a simple and crimson stained white tunic and trousers. The voice, however, came from a female tiger-kin wearing a very odd outfit about her person.
Such a thing made my new eyes blink a few times, before the head shook slightly. "I am just tired," it whispered in reply, "This old body is not what it used to be, you know?" A wry smile stretched itself upon the face, of which was echoed by the other.
"You need to rest." She turned towards the one who helped this old body, and directed it to take my self towards one of the smaller tents about the large one so that the old body may rest. As this was occurring, I failed to spy the Kin's eyes, of which were filled with suspicion as the body walked away.
The journey to an unoccupied tent did not take very long, as the barrier surrounding such a place was not very large, even if it was slowly expanding. Upon entering such a place, the beastman bid the new body of mine to rest upon the shabby cot in the corner. Of which was the only piece of furniture within the entirety of the small space. Once it situated itself upon such a thing, and the eyes closed, did the other leave whilst securing the tent shut.
Afterwards, I sat up and pointed towards the centre of the small space with an open palm. "Come to me," I growled, "O Lords of Darkness," and watched as my vampire servants slowly rise up from the ground below with a grimace about their features.