Chapter 27: Returning Your Immortality (Part II)

Ignoring my protests, he continued to tell his story.

A tale of a peerless prophet and a young vampire lad's romance... I was left speechless.

"That blind youth trusted no one, yet he depended solely on me. He said... I was the kindest person in the world to him. But I only took him in because a long life is far too lonely; I simply needed a diversion..." Malachi smiled faintly, crimson beads of blood sliding down one by one, falling like tears.

"Sol was a strange child. He possessed all the traits of the Blood Kind, so I taught him how to be a true vampire..."

"Thinking back now, those few short years were actually the happiest times of my life."

Watching those slowly dripping beads of blood, my heart grew increasingly heavy. "Aren't you a prophet? Why didn't you foresee your own future?"

"I did foresee it," Malachi curled his lips into a smile, one so tragically beautiful it was blinding. "I foresaw that the child would die... and so, I abandoned him..."

My eyes widened. Abandoned him?

"Why? Why would you abandon him? He trusted you so much; he had nothing in this world except you. You were the closest person to him, so why didn't you want him? Why did you cast him away?" My words came faster and faster, nearly hysterical.

I thought of Gareth. I didn't understand why he left me five years ago, nor did I understand why he treated me the way he did five years later. I simply didn't understand.

But Sol—Sol had been searching for four hundred years. Four hundred years... what kind of concept was that? Four centuries...

"Because... I never expected that the youth I picked up on a whim would be a Daywalker, a rarity not seen in a thousand years. He is a vampire who does not fear the sun... To be unafraid of sunlight is the ultimate dream of every member of the Blood Kind. Over a hundred years ago, Her Majesty the Queen issued a decree to find a Daywalker... I foresaw that if he stayed by my side, the Queen would kill him to extract the Daywalker's blood... He would die, dying just as I had foreseen..."

"So... I let him go..." Malachi laughed softly. "By then, the strength of that stubborn youth was no longer what it once was. That foolish child hated me for abandoning him; his temperament changed completely, and he drenched the Demon Realm in blood..."

"Before the Queen discovered he was a Daywalker and destroyed him, I offered to purge my own house... Right before Her Majesty's eyes, I killed him."

"...And then, I locked his soul within my own body. That way, I would never... never abandon him again..."

"But too much time has passed. So long that... I forgot Sol was inside my body... and I just kept waiting, and waiting for him... It's better now. I don't have to wait anymore."

Malachi’s smile was enchanting.

I, however, wanted to cry.

"This is a very touching story." A clear, crystalline voice rang out somewhat abruptly.

Startled, I spun around to find Her Majesty the Queen standing behind me.

That tiny girl—yet her glass-like eyes were utterly cold.

"Just as you said, release Sol. I want to know how to use the Daywalker's blood," the Queen spoke indifferently.

Malachi shook his head with a light laugh. "That child is afraid of pain. Being hung by silver hooks like this... it hurts too much."

"What a joke. The Grand Justice of the Sabbat—that monster is afraid of pain?" The Queen smiled.

"Yes. Sol is not a monster. He is afraid of pain." Malachi’s expression was like that of a father speaking of a cherished, spoiled child.

Her Majesty shot me a cold, sideways glance before looking back at Malachi. "The greatest prophet of the Demon Realm—can you foresee your own future?"

Malachi’s smile remained bright. "I will die, because you have found someone with even greater utility."

"It truly is a bit of a pity to kill you." The Queen blinked, her innocent smile stained with a trace of bloodthirsty cruelty.

Before her words even landed, a beam of light struck straight toward Malachi.

"No!" I screamed and lunged forward. The Queen seemingly hadn't expected me to be bold enough to push him aside. The blade of light swung wide, instead slicing through the silver hooks holding Malachi. He collapsed to the floor.

I looked back at the clean cut on the silver hooks, breaking into a cold sweat. If that light had hit Malachi, he would have been sliced in two by now.

"Who gave you such audacity?" The Queen frowned in displeasure.

I stood before Malachi, determined to protect him at any cost. In Malachi and Sol, I saw reflections of myself; I saw the same waiting, the same obsession. I wanted to see them have a happy ending—only then could I have any expectations for my own happiness.

I had never felt such a powerful urge to protect someone. It turns out that once you have someone you want to protect, you become fearless.

I wanted to protect Malachi. I wanted to protect Sol.

Slammed to the ground by a massive, invisible hand, I scrambled back to my feet, still blocking Malachi.

"You think I won't kill you?" Her Majesty tilted her small face, smiling at me.

That clearly innocent smile was chilling to the bone.

With a sudden flick of her hand, roses filled the sky like sharp arrows, piercing toward me. I had seen this move before; Sol had used it when he kidnapped me, and that time Alastor had blocked it for me. But this time, I would block these lethal roses for Malachi!

Instinctively raising my hand, the ring on my right index finger suddenly blazed with light. The roses charging like arrows vanished into nothingness in mid-air.

Staring at the silver ring on my finger, the Queen’s expression shifted. The surroundings suddenly turned frigid, as if the temperature had dropped several degrees in an instant.

"Die," she said. Her pale, cherry-blossom lips parted slightly as her feet slowly left the ground. Her tiny body floated in mid-air, her long black hair dancing wildly as if it had a life of its own.

In a daze, the breath of hell rushed toward me. Countless evil spirits seemed to be gnawing at my marrow. I was rooted to the spot, unable to move a single inch.

Pain. It was agonizing.

Those evil spirits—they were feasting on my flesh and blood.

Suddenly, my mind went completely blank.

I saw the Queen; she lunged through the air and gripped Malachi’s throat, a blade of light about to descend.

"DO! NOT!" I opened my mouth, but the wooden voice that emerged didn't seem to belong to me.

I felt my body becoming light and ethereal. Everything around me was stained blood-red. My lips curved into a strange, involuntary arc as I spread my arms.

I heard my own voice say, "Die."

Blood-red light overflowed from between my hands, enveloping the Queen within it.

Terror appeared on her face.

I could see nothing, hear nothing. I only felt myself floating in the air as other vampires rushed in.

I slowly raised my hand. With a wet "thud," the first vampire to break in was crushed into fragments by my grip, drenching me in dark red blood.

"Rory!"

"Rory, stop!"

"Rory, end this!"

Who? Who was calling?

Rory... who is Rory?

Who is it?

"What is your name? Do you not remember?"

"It doesn't matter if you don't. We'll call you Aurora, alright? Aurora—the dawn, a new beginning."

Who? Whose voice was that, so gentle?

Gareth...

I slowly lowered my head, looking down in a daze. Through the haze, I saw a pair of deep blue eyes, the color of a clear afternoon sky. He was looking up at me.

"Rory, don't be afraid. It’s over now. I’m here." He opened his arms and called to me softly, as if afraid of startling me.

Those arms looked very safe.

Alastor?

I looked into those blue eyes. Reflected in them was a woman with dark red pupils, flying black hair, and blood splashed across her face—like a seductive demon crawled out of hell.

That woman... was me?

What... happened to me?

I closed my eyes and, without warning, fell from the air, plunging straight into Alastor’s arms.