| Alucard |

Alucard and Elvin reached the castle. Once they dismounted their horses, the beasts wandered over to the grass by the white marble fountain.

"These vampires aren't gonna try to eat me, are they?" Elvin asked, walking beside Alucard as he led the way to the castle's door.

"No."

The bard frowned. "Okay...and we're just here to see how they settled in?"

"Da."

He nodded as Alucard opened the door. "Okay...."

Alucard stepped into his castle expecting to find the entrance hall empty, but despite the room being filled with sunlight, Ben was standing by the table.

Ben smiled at him and said, "Good afternoon."

Perturbed, Alucard slowly walked over. "The sunlight? You are...fine?" he asked, looking at the windows. No vampire other than himself and those turned with his blood could walk in the sunlight.

Ben took and shook Alucard's hand. "Oh, we would have told you last night, but you seemed pretty tired, so I thought I'd save it for today. We can all walk in the sunlight—all us from Eltaria...uh...my world."

Letting go of Ben's hand, Alucard nodded and frowned. "Hmm...Janus did take off with my blood a long time ago; he created many vampires with it, so it doesn't surprise me that he made some with the ability to walk in the sunlight."

Ben's face flickered with intrigue. "Well, we're all linked to you one way or another."

"Who is this?" Elvin then asked with a curious look as he tapped his notebook with his pencil, having just written down details of Ben's appearance: 'Scruffy big man, a lot of muscle'....

Alucard shook his head slowly, stifling a facepalm.

"Ben," the new vampire said, holding out his hand.

Elvin noted down his name before shaking his hand. "Elvin—I'm Aleksei's friend," he said proudly as though it was an honourable title.

"Familiar," Alucard corrected.

Elvin pouted sadly.

"Oh, well, I, too, hope to call myself Aleksei's friend," Ben said, looking at Alucard.

Alucard ignored him as he looked around the hall. "Where are the other two?"

"Upstairs," Ben answered. "I need to ask, how do we feed? You told us the humans here are off-limits, correct?"

"Until the treaty is in place. For now, you can drink what we have here. I'll show you where we keep the blood," he invited but then looked back at Elvin. "You stay here."

"Aw, why?" the bard complained.

"Because I said so."

Pouting, Elvin pulled out one of the chairs tucked under the large table and slumped down.

"This way," Alucard said, leading the way to the kitchen door. "I have it kept where the newer vampires can't get to it; otherwise, I'm sure they would tear through the entire supply in a few hours."

"Do we have to ask for it?"

"No," he said, leading Ben through the deserted kitchen and towards a wine cellar. "It just needs to be kept away from the younger vampires until they can control themselves. I have sentries to guard this part of the castle at night—to protect the human workers and the supply on the off-chance that a vampire disobeys me," he explained, heading down into the wine cellar.

Following him, Ben looked at the shelves of differently shaped and coloured wine bottles. He took a moment to stare at the huge barrels, assessing the huge apparatus they were attached to in the middle of the room; Alucard was sure that he wanted to examine everything closely, so he waited for him to inevitably ask his questions.

"Do you make your own wine here?" he asked—the question Alucard had been waiting for.

"Sometimes," he mumbled in response, stopping in front of an oak-wood cabinet that stretched across the entire back wall. The wood was black and engraved with white runes. He tapped the glass, and as Ben set his eyes on the rows of bottles inside, Alucard leaned back against the cabinet. "This is where we keep the blood. This cabinet is enchanted to keep it from rotting. It won't taste the same as feeding off a human; you won't feel the euphoria, but it will sate your hunger."

Taking his eyes off the cabinet, Ben looked at Alucard. "Where do you get it from?"

"It's probably best I don't tell you that—unless you want the job," he said with a smirk, opening the cabinet and taking a bottle out.

Ben smiled. "I certainly would," he agreed, watching as Alucard opened the bottle.

Having not been expecting him to offer, Alucard frowned. "It was a joke, but sure." He placed the bottle down as he pulled his flask from his blazer pocket. He had been the one bringing blood to the castle, and it would be a relief if he didn't have to do it anymore. He refilled his flask with the blood from the bottle before returning it to the cabinet. Then, he put his flask back into his pocket and headed for the cellar's exit. "This sort of thing would usually be an Adherent vampire's job, and considering your age, I trust you'll manage."

"Yeah, you can count on me," Ben said as he frowned curiously. "Actually, I was hoping to see the city—or would that have to wait until the treaty is in place?"

"I don't have time. I'm going to get one of my subordinates to show you where the blood gets picked up from, though, so I'll get them to take you through the city on the way," Alucard explained.

"All right sounds good. Thank you."

"Mm-hmm."

"It must have taken a while for you to set up a treaty with them," Ben then said.

Alucard sighed. "Not really. Kill the wolves, keep people from dying, that was the deal."

"The werewolves here are the enemy, then?"

As much as didn't feel like it right now, Alucard knew that he should tell Ben what he'd need to know. "I was in Drydenheim six months ago looking for Ada; she was the first werewolf like I was the first vampire. The gods hoped that we would fight—Janus and Kardos loved conflict. But I grew tired of the constant wars between my people and hers, and I tried to form peace with her. She wasn't interested. I didn't find her during my search, so things are still the same. Werewolves try to kill me and my people, so we kill them."

Ben nodded slowly. "I see. Makes sense. So, any werewolf I see...I kill?"

"No." He looked at him as they approached the door to the hall. "I have some werewolf allies that you will meet soon. Until then, don't kill any wolves unless you see them trying to kill humans or vampires. I don't want to find my allies dead."

"Noted."

Then, they continued in silence.

⤝❖⤞

| Elvin |

Elvin waited as patiently as he could. Today had been odd already. He didn't understand why Alucard didn't want to know where he lived; it didn't make sense. Why didn't Alucard want the same things as him? As much as he hated to admit it to himself, there were things even he didn't understand about Alucard. The vampire was just so closed off and private.

But he was determined to get closer to him. After all, they'd been travelling together for years, and Elvin liked to think that he was one of the very few people Alucard actually liked. If the vampire didn't like him, then why would he be keeping him around? Anyone Alucard didn't want around would surely know it.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

He sighed, trying to dismiss his thoughts. Alucard was his friend. It didn't matter that the vampire kept a lot to himself. They helped each other...and that was all that really mattered. Elvin understood what he needed to and that was enough, right?

The moment he saw Alucard and Ben emerge from the kitchen, Elvin jumped to his feet. "Are we going now?" he asked as they headed over to him.

"You are," Alucard said. "I have to get ready to meet Tobias," Alucard answered, leading the way out of the castle.

"What about me?" Elvin asked as he followed, doing his best to keep up with them. Why did they walk so fast?

Setting his ice-blue eyes on the bard, Alucard frowned. "What about you? I said you could come here, and that was it."

He scoffed. "So, am I to walk home?" he asked as the horses made their way over and stopped in front of Alucard and Ben.

"Da," he confirmed vacantly, handing the black stallion's reins to Ben. Then, he turned to face the castle and waved his hand the way he did when summoning a vampire.

Moments later, one of Alucard's daylight vampires flew down from the closest tower in his bat form, and when he landed, he morphed into a red-eyed, blonde-haired man. "Yes, My Lord?"

"Take Ben to see the prison. He wants to see Dargamoore, too, so take him via the city," Alucard instructed. "Bring Ben back here after and call for my groundskeeper to come and collect my horses."

With a nod, the man mounted the horse Elvin rode there, and Ben mounted Alucard's stallion.

Elvin pouted angrily. He often spent close to all of his day with Alucard; why should today be any different just because there were some new vampires here? "Can't I just hang out here until you get back?"

"I'm not coming back here tonight," Alucard answered. "Go home, Elvin. I will see you tomorrow."

"But...I don't want to." He frowned sadly. "I don't really have anything else to do."

"That's not my problem," the vampire muttered as Ben and his subordinate rode off, leaving the castle courtyard.

He wasn't going to interrupt Alucard's work. As much as he hated cutting his time short with the vampire, he didn't want to annoy him. So, he rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine. Just...be careful with those werewolves, Aleksei."

Alucard grunted in response and then dematerialized into vermillion smoke. He raced into the sky, leaving Elvin alone.

Elvin frowned sadly and dragged himself along the path, trying to figure out what he'd do for the rest of the afternoon. He could write...or...well, he didn't have anything else to do, did he? All he wanted was to hang out with Alucard, but the vampire was busy—he always had something to do every day. Elvin wasn't sure how he managed.

With another sigh, he focused on the fact that he'd still get to see Alucard tomorrow.

That was...if nothing terrible happened with the werewolves. But he trusted Aleksei; he knew how to handle himself, and these wolves would be no different.

Right?

⤝❖⤞

| Alucard |

The moons were rising, and soon, Alucard would find Tobias. He moved away from his study window and refilled his colt barrels with explosive rounds. Then, he slipped them into the inside pockets of his blazer. Once he ensured his sword was securely sheathed, he headed for the door—

"Off somewhere, are we, Aleksei?"

That creature's voice stopped Alucard's heart. His entire body tensed up in response to his dread, and the look of vacancy on his face became something of a haunted stare. Why was he here? What could he have done this time?

He slowly turned around and set his eyes on Damien, who was sitting behind his desk with his legs resting on it. The Daegelus had the same condescending look on his face that he would always adorn when looking at him, a look which told Alucard that he should only speak when spoken to. So, he remained silent, staring at Damien, waiting to be told why he had come.

Damien tapped his long, black claw-tipped fingers on the table as a malevolent scowl twisted his strangely pale face. He glared with a demeaning expression as he eyed Alucard up and down, and after a few moments of tense, ominous silence, the Daegelus scoffed and asked, "Are you going to stand there like the moron you are or are you going to tell me how last night went?"

"I started moving vampires from Eltaria," he answered. "They are staying at my castle. I went through the portal, and I brought three vampires back with me. I plan to bring more next time; it was the demon's choice to have me bring as many as I did."

"Good..." Damien mumbled. "I assume you came up with a plan...well, I say you, but I suspect if there is one, it was probably Zalith's idea—right?"

Alucard didn't want to tell him he was wrong, but he was tired of this man constantly thinking of him as some useless child-like idiot. He wasn't stupid; he could plan, he could achieve what the Daegelus asked, and he always made sure to do it to the best of his ability. He just wanted Damien to see that.

He frowned slightly as he prepared to answer. "I will move a specifically organized group of vampires once a month; it was my idea to do so, and the demon agreed."

A cruelly astonished look plastered itself onto Damien's face. "You?" He laughed. "Come up with a plan? On your own? We both know that isn't possible; your mind is far too inferior. You wouldn't be lying to me now, would you, Aleksei?"

"No," Alucard answered with a confused frown.

Damien then stood up, watching as Alucard flinched the same way he always did when he made any sudden movement. He then dug his claws into the desk. "We both know what happened last time you tried to fib your way out of something...don't we?" he growled, folding his feathered wings against his back.

The vampire didn't take his eyes off him as his dread worsened. "Yes."

"So, tell me once more: what...is the plan?"

"The demon organized the vampires into specific groups for me. I will take one group back once a month," he said, his angst becoming overwhelming as the room's tense atmosphere increased with each passing moment. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but he could assume, and what his mind told him wasn't in any way what he wanted.

"Just as I thought." Damien smirked, pulling his claws from the wood. "You? Coming up with a plan—don't try to amuse me, you insolent brat. I know what you are and what you are not capable of; don't ever think you can fool me," he warned, pointing one of his clawed fingers at him. "Now, these groups: how are they organized?" he asked, resting his hands in his lap.

Despondency gripped Alucard tightly. Would there ever come a time when Damien would see him as more than just some worthless, useless child who couldn't ever do anything properly? He tried to the best of his ability to pull himself from that condescending part of Damien's eyes, but it didn't seem as though that would ever happen. No matter what he did, and no matter how many tasks he completed, Damien would never thank him.

But did he deserve to be thanked? Damien was his superior; it was Alucard's job to serve him, whether Damien showed him appreciation or not. He should do as Damien told him, and that was all there was to it.

He stared vacantly. "The vampires in each group have total ages to my own, plus half, as taking any more at once would weaken me too much."

"Weaken you?" Damien laughed, moving from behind the desk. "As if you aren't already weak enough."

Alucard felt the urge to back off, but it would be a mistake if he moved even an inch. "I need to make sure I don't become too weak so that I may be well enough to keep up with the things I do here."

Damien then scowled impatiently. He grabbed Alucard's collar and glared into his horrified eyes. "You don't decide what you need; you're utterly incapable of anything—even the simplest of things. Are you forgetting who you are?" he snarled. "Must I remind you of your lowly place?"

"No."

"I don't care what you've got going on here in this ugly, revolting world. You live to serve me; therefore, what I tell you to do is of the utmost importance—is it not?"

Alucard stared into his eyes, sure that he was about to be made to pay for his insolence. But if he were punished, he'd deserve it. He knew better than to speak out of line and of his needs. "Yes."

"Never forget that. I could care less if you were dying of some mortal sickness; you do what I ask until the day you die, whether it be by my hand or not."

"Yes," he agreed once more.

Damien then skeptically asked, "Who is the vampire I have seen you with today?"

"Ben, one of the vampires who came here."

"Is he your friend, Aleksei? You don't have friends, do you?"

"No. He's just a subordinate. I have no interest in becoming his friend."

"Good," Damien snarled, tightening his grip on the vampire's collar. "I've warned you about getting close to people."

Alucard nodded.

"They will only ever use you. I'm the only one you can trust," he drawled, losing his condescending scowl. "Everyone will leave you eventually, but not me—you'll never be without me." He took his eyes off the vampire and fell silent for a few moments. But then he frowned and let go of him, pushing him away so that his back hit the wall. "Don't ever lie to me again, or you'll lose something else you value so dearly," he warned, raising his hand to point at the vampire.

"I'm sorry," Alucard said, hanging his head in shame.

"You did, however, do well bringing those vampires here, so I won't punish you this time. I will, however, alter Zalith's plan."

The vampire looked at him.

"Once a month will become twice a month. I have another mission for you, one that must be done after these vampires are moved. Don't take too long, Aleksei. I will be back here at this exact time next month. Make sure there are more than three measly vampires here."

Despite knowing this change would make it even harder for him to deal with the werewolves, Alucard obediently replied, "Yes."

The Daegelus smiled condescendingly. "If it kills you, know that it won't be hard to find someone to replace you." Then, he turned around, walked out onto the balcony, and took off, disappearing into the sky, leaving Alucard alone.

The vampire looked down at the floor. Twice a month? He suffered immensely from the first transferal; how was he supposed to do that twice? His waned strength still hadn't fully returned since, and he still felt exhausted. He couldn't refuse, though. Damien ordered him, and if he had only kept his mouth shut, then it might not have happened. Another mission was lined up for him, and if he failed to do as Damien asked, he knew he'd suffer something worse than death.

Alucard turned around and walked through his empty house and out into the garden. He couldn't hide the fact that he was tired of the people he worked with seeing him as weak and inferior. He was far from either of those things, but it seemed as though Damien would never see that. He'd always be a disappointment, and he'd never impress the Daegelus. He could only keep trying his best.

The vampire stopped by the gates and frowned hesitantly. He didn't have time to meet Tobias now. He had to contact Zalith as soon as possible to discuss the change, and he knew that if he waited, Damien would somehow find out and punish him.

He had no idea where Zalith lived, and he wasn't willing to go searching for him. The demon hadn't left him any means of communication, had he?

Ben. He had to know how to contact him. But would Zalith even come? Alucard was sure that he resented him just as much as Alucard despised him. However, these were Zalith's vampires; he was the one who wanted them moved as quickly as possible, and Alucard was confident that he'd be content, if anything, to hear that he would be making two trips a month.

Then he wondered...what could this other mission be? If Damien was making him rush an important mission like this, then it had to be huge. Whatever it was, though, Alucard knew it would either hurt, belittle, or degrade him as a person—everything Damien made him do was degrading. That creature treated him like a slave. But the fact was, Alucard would never be able to rebel. Damien was a Numen, one of the most powerful, influential beings known to man, and he was a lowly vampire whose father didn't even want him. What was he next to an eternal God? Nothing. He should appreciate the fact that Damien chose to care for him. Without the Daegelus, he would have died a long time ago.