Kings of Awakening Vampires and Purebloods (67 page)

Axil had never met King Henry before. On the way there, Sonia explained how wicked and devious he was. When they made it inside his throne room,
King Henry looked delighted to see them.

“Sonia, w
hat a surprise that you’re here!” said King Henry blissfully.

Sonia wondered why he was extra happy today. Maybe it was because his kingdom had become more powerful.
She didn’t bother bowing down to him as she stood firm and said, “I’m not here to see you Henry; I’m here to see the one you made an alliance with!”

Henry understood whom she meant and immediately ordered all in the room to leave. “I don’t know what you mean, the only one h
ere is you, your friend, and me,” This time his tone was mellow.

“I know you’re here, Aleister! I know the two of you are allies!” she said.

Henry got off his throne and walked up to her. He circled around them with an intense look. “I could kill the two of you right now.”

“Henry! That’s enough.”

They all looked by the window, to see Aleister had teleported himself in the room.

Aleister
, Axil examined him.  This was the first time he met Aleister. Just like everyone he had heard rumors only about him. Axil saw that he was just a bit taller than him. He was not intimidated by his presence; he had fought criminals as tough and deviant as Aleister.

Aleister walked closer to Sonia, “How brave of you, co
ming all the way here to see me. Most people choose to stay away from me, but you are different, very persistent aren’t you?” He was dazed by her bravery, it wasn’t too long ago she was afraid of him. He had put fear into her eyes but Albedo had taken it out of her with his courage. He looked at the king and said, “Henry, leave us now, I have unfinished business with them that does not concern you.” 

King
Henry left the room with resentment. The idea of Aleister giving him orders sickened him.

“I’m not most people, Aleister; yo
u no longer put fear in my eyes,” said Sonia.

Aleister looked at Axil, and then back at Sonia, with a slight smile on his face, “Oh really now? Now, I wonder what brings you here. You’re not still chasing after me now are you?” His eyes were fixed on hers, but she was firmer than ever.

              “It’s Albedo; he needs your help… His power is becoming unstable.”

He circled around her. Axil kept his eyes on him.

Aleister smirked, “Now do you see why he belongs with me? And yes, I am aware of his power causing havoc; it was only a matter of time. This power cannot be controlled by a weak mind, without his memory, it will be difficult.”

“So will you help us or not?” asked Axil unexpectedly.

Sonia saw the bravery in Axil’s eyes, not even flinching in Aleister’s presence. She fed on his courage as she did from Albedo. He wasn’t a least bit of terrified of Aleister.

Aleister looked at Axil who had showed no fear towards him;
this one is strong and brave
. “This power took a hundred years for each and every one of us to fully control and comprehend it, physically and mentally.” He looked at her. “As you can tell, I don’t have a hundred years to teach him,” he said sarcastically. “Albedo has never felt a power like this before. It’s overwhelming him, without the proper training or his memory, the power will take over his mind, that’s why he needs me to keep him safe.”
Something is coming, and Albedo must be ready for it, he must be by my side. I fear the ones who freed us will eventually come out of the shadows and continue what they started
. Aleister sat on Henry’s throne now. “Have you ever wondered why Albedo loves to stare at the moon so much? Well, it’s because we and the moon are connected.”

The Kings of the moon
, thought Sonia. Sonia now understood the way Albedo saw the moon. For others, it was only a moon, for them it was something different.

“Right now, he’s in a battle with himself. The Excitaret Quad is known to be the greatest power a Pureblood could wield; sitting on top of its throne is the Reawakening. I’m sure the two of you know about the Bloodhounds’ power, it has a way of turning you into a savage animal. The same can go for the Reawakening, and if that happened, it will be too late to bring him back. Without a proper training, I promise you he will become a living Phantom.”

Just like a Phantom
? “Why are you telling us all this willingly?” asked Sonia.

“Because, if we’re going to help him; you need to know of this knowledge.”
And besides, for some reason your voice can reach him within his darkness. It’s just as I thought, I might need this girl after all
. He stared his evil eyes in Sonia’s. “I will help you, but you must understand one thing; when all is done, he will become Dawson once more.”

We will see about that Aleister
. Sonia was relieved that Aleister would help her, she hated joining forces with him, but she knew there was no other way to save Albedo. 

“Your King has pu
shed his mind into a dark place,” said Aleister.
I must once more go inside his mind and retrieve him. The reason that that girl is still alive when I first encounter her is because he loves you, you can be the one to help me bring him back.
 

They left the castle after a short talk.

“Aleister, can I ask you a question?” said Sonia as their horses made their way to the woods.

He replied, “What is it?”

She looked at him, and thought he was not much different to Albedo. “Why do you kill for no reason?” she asked him.

Axil too was waiting for an answer to this unexpected question.

“I kill because fear controls this world, without fear, there would be no order,” he answered.
And I have the perfect weapon to control it.

If she had asked Albedo  this question, why he protected people, he would tell her love controls this world; they were both the same, and yet so different from one another, each

had different ways of seeing the world.

“It’s funny how life can change wouldn’t you say?” He looked at Sonia. “A few of months ago, I was trying to kill you, but Albedo’s heart would not permit me to, and now we’re allies.” 

“When Alan was trying to kill Albedo, a word came out of his mouth. He said, get away from him or I’ll kill you, was that you talking?” asked Sonia.

Aleister look at her as if she had figured something out.

“And all those nightmares he had, it was you. That time when we first meet, when you had your hands on my throat, ready to kill me, you stopped, because Albedo took control of your body,” said Sonia.

              “It’s because he and I are connected. I don’t know how to explain it but our hearts are intertwine with each other,” explain Aleister.

So I was right
, thought Sonia. “Promise me you won’t change him back to his old self, Dawson. Promise me you won’t turn him into you.” 

Aleister looked into her eyes, “You ask too many questions
foolish girl... It’s up to him to be who he wants to be, I cannot force his memories to return.”
Even if I wanted to
.   

                                                                    ***

             
“
He’
s
really gone, isn’t he? It’s hard to imagine,” said King Victor.

“Yes, he is,” replied Angelione. 

The King had summoned Dante and Angelione to come see him.

“Any news from Sonia and Axil?”

“No, her words made it pretty obvious that she was leaving us. Axil and her had come to the same conclusion, that’s why he left with her, that’s the only explanation?” said Angelione.

“Do you s
uppose they will ever come back?” asked the King. He wondered if they were gone for good.

“The basic motive why they left is that it was too hard on them. Watching a friend changing who might not ever be the same is difficult to comprehend.”
 Angelione himself was a bit confused, why would she leave in a critical moment like this?

Dante felt the same way as they did, but following his King was a must.
How could you Axil, we sworn an oath to protect this kingdom, and one day become a Reaper. So why, why would you throw all that away? I value Albedo’s friendship as much as you do, but he’s a King of Awakening, the enemy of this world.

“I want the two of you to pay a visit to Jarvis’ wife
for me,” said the King.

              Angelione and Dante made their way to see Jarvis’ wife. She was out in front of her store and tending to her flowers. She invited them inside and made them tea.

“He died protecting his favorite student, just what you would expect from him. Jarvis loved that boy the way he loved Dragan and Cecelia.” She looked joyous in spite of her lost. She smiled, she was happy about Jarvis’ decision. She too had admired Albedo. In the end, he died protecting
his student son.

After an hour of talking
Dante got up and told Angelione he needed some air and he would see him later. This was his excuse to go see Natalia; he felt that she needed to know. He made it to her house and wasted no time explaining.

              “I know Axil and Sonia; they must have a good reason for leaving. They would not give up on their friend without trying,” said Natalia.

Dante thought, maybe Natalia was right; maybe they did have a plan after all, a plan to bring their friend back.
He put his hand on his face, looking mystified and discontent. “I don’t know what I should do, Natalia, follow my King or follow my heart. I made my brother a promise, to lift up our names once again. But he’s my friend. I don’t know what to do.”

Natalia put her hand on Dante’s shoulder, and told him he must do what he thinks is right.
Dante was baffled. This was the first time Natalia had seen him showing real emotions. “Dante, you took an oath to protect your King, but one deeper within your heart to protect your friends. You know where I stand if this was my decision, but it’s not.”

The Door of Consciousness

             
“
Aleiste
r
wait, we can’t go through the woods, by now they’ll be expecting you or Henry. Allow me and Sonia to go and distract them,” said Axil. He had a hand on Aleister’s shoulder, as if they had been friends for a hundred years.

This made Sonia wondered why she was so afraid of this man when she was alone with him.

“That won’t be necessary, but then again, if the two of you are afraid of being discovered for treason I comprehend completely,” he replied calmly but yet sarcastically.

“We’ve already come this far, we finishing this,” said Sonia.

As they went deeper into the forest, Aleister could sense a man jumping down from above him. He quickly teleported as his body turned to ashes. The man’s sword went straight through the ground, before he could remove it; Aleister reappeared behind him with a kick that send him to the other side. Aleister teleported in front of him now,
and he grabbed his short sword ready to kill.

“That will be enough; we didn’t come here to kill Black Knights!”
said Sonia angrily.

Aleister had a look of aggravation instead of rage on his face.

“No more killing, please!” she pleaded to him.

Aleister
looked into her eyes. “Fine,” he said calmly. He walked towards the two of them. “I sense more are ahead the deeper we go, we don’t have time to deal with them. Hold on to me, I’m going to teleport.”

Axil and Sonia each had their hands on his shoulder, and they were gone. Teleporting for the first time felt inquisitive and exhilarating at the same time. For a second everything went black, and then the light came back as they reappeared in a different place instantly. As much as Sonia hated his teleportation, even she had to admit this was an envious ability that one would be lucky to possess.

Aleister’s teleportation had reached its range as he teleported in front of the gate.

              “Aleister!” shouted one of the men who spotted him.

Aleister didn’t even bother hiding his presence as
they were gone once more. The alarm was sounded and made loud noises, royal guards scattered to find the King.

***

“
What’
s
going on out there?!” King Victor could hear the alarm. He looked grieved; it had not been long since Jarvis had passed away.

“My lord it’s Aleister and he’s not alone,” said one of the royal guards.

              “I see he’s not even trying to hide himself,” said the King.
That’s weird, why would Aleister not bother hiding himself
?

“My lord, there’s something else, young Axil and Sonia are also with them.”