Kings of Awakening Vampires and Purebloods (70 page)

The King and the others came
as well.

“Albedo, are you doing better?” asked Dante, not knowing what to say.

He smiled at them and said, “Much better.” All he could think about was how soft and sweet Sonia’s lips were.

              “How sweet!” said Aleister in a sarcastic tone.

They looked over to see Aleister.

“You would still love him even though you know what he is. A King of Awakening in love with a naïve girl, if only the others could see this,” said Aleister. “Can you feel it Dawson, slowly our full power is returning to us?”

Albedo stepped forward towards him, “My name is Albedo, not Dawson!” He now hated being called Dawson; it was now a name that reminded him of Aleister.

“It’s time for us to go, Dawson, soon our brethren will awaken,” said Aleister.

“No!” said Albedo, “This place is my home, Dawson is gone and he’s not coming back.” He had a look of hatred upon his face.

Aleister was not pleased with his answer. Albedo and the others surrounded Aleister along side with the King and the Black Knights. Strong as Aleister was he knew there was no chance of him fighting a High King along with Albedo and his gang. 

“You truly think you can kill me?! If an army of a thousand couldn’t, what chance do y
ou weak mortals have against me?!” said Aleister.

The Ki
ng had his black-light around his hand. Angelione with his sword, Sonia and Albedo with their Crimson Flames, Dante and Axil ready also.

“No,” said Albedo smilingly, “For today let’s end this fight.”

Aleister started to laugh. “Do you truly think you’re in any position to give me mercy? How ludicrous, what do you suppose will happen when the others awaken?! Let me tell you something you might not know Dawson, out of all five of us, I am the third strongest. The two above me are even more ruthless than I am; they will not show your friends mercy like I have been consistently.”

The thought of someone even more powerful than Aleister rung
widely in Angelione’s mind, how strong are they?

“When that time comes,
my friends and I will fight together,” said Albedo.

“Just remember one thing,”
Aleister had that evil smile on his face once more as he extended his right hand towards Albedo. “A King will never reach a God!” Aleister’s body slowly turned to ashes. Then he was gone.

Axil walked up closer to Albedo, “Welcome back.”

Albedo looked content. “It’s good to be back.”

The king walked towards him with a discontent look upon his face.  “Can you ever forgive me?”

Albedo had already forgiven his King.

Clear mind

Albed
o
was now back home with his parents; resting from the horror he’d gone through. A week had passed since he last saw Aleister. His mother was content he was home now; she had long worried for his safety. Albedo wanted to be alone for a while, away from fighting. He hated being away from his beloved Sonia, but he needed to clear his mind. The death of Jarvis was harder on him than any of the others. The King had told him not to blame himself for the incident. Jarvis made the choice to die, to save Albedo. He was having a difficult time getting over his death. He decided it was time to go see Jarvis’ wife. She opened the door, he had his head bowed, a gesture of seeking forgiveness. She invited him in and made him sweet lemonade. Inside Viper was there; Albedo had never meet Viper before but had heard of him from Sonia. He was the head of the Black Knights Division. Sonia had told him about the Black Knights before he left the castle.

              “You have to understand. No one blames you for what happened. Jarvis died a happy man, protecting the ones he loved. You have to find a way to forgive yourself, or all he did would be for nothing,” said his wife.

Her kind words made him feel less guilty, she was nice. He drank her famous lemonade that he so loved, and thanked her.

Viper sat there staring at him, but with admiration. “Now that my brother is dead, I guess it’s up to me to guide you young ones.” 

Albedo could swear he was staring at master Jarvis. Both men looked so much alike. “It will be an honor, Viper, master, sir,” not knowing what to say.

“Nonsense young man, master was Jarvis name. You can call me council Man Viper or Master Viper, which ever you prefer.”

Albedo was curious, the man reminded him so much of Jarvis. After a long talk with the old man, Albedo bowed his head and left. He concluded that he liked him. He had not seen Natalia for a while
, so he decided while he was out of bed to go say hi to her. She must be worried about him. She was aware of the horror he had gone through. He wondered if she would see him the same way.

Sitting in front of the house was her father, playing with his knife. Albedo always thought he was a strange man, he hardly said a word. Natalia had once told him that he used to be a member of the Special Humans’ Division, keeping his family safe from vampires. But he had
witnessed his wife’s murder, since then his mind had collapsed. Albedo thought he was no different from himself; his mind also could not accept the truth. Unlike Natalia’s father, he had friends who helped him find his way back to reality. Natalia was his caretaker; the only treasure he possessed was her and that old house. A house he had built for his late wife, and now hoped to pass down to his daughter. She was truly his world, sacrificing her life to take good care of him. He was very happy when Axil was around. He took much of the burden off her shoulders and he made her smile. Although Natalia never mentioned to him that Axil and his friends were vampires, he knew somehow. The way the man moves furniture without even trying, no normal human could dare do. As much as he hated blood suckers, these ones were different, so there was no need to go get the guards and tell them there’s a vampire living in his house, and besides, if he tries to tell anyone, who would believe him? He was thought to be a crazy old man. His daughter’s happiness was all he wanted. He’d grown to like Axil and his friends; after all, they were kind.

Albedo walked closer to him. “Is Natalia home, may I see her?” said Albedo with a nervous face.

The old man met his gaze for a second, and said nothing; he continued to play with his knife, with a piece of wood in the other hand, sculpturing the image of his wife, rocking back and forth in his chair.

Axil opened the door, “Come on in, Albedo.”

              As Natalia saw Albedo, she quickly hugged him. He was the first friend she’d ever had. With her father keeping her on her toes, she had no time for a social life. Try as she did, no one wanted to be her friend; she was “different.” It was that same “different” that drew her to Albedo. They had become friends very quickly, so much so that people thought they were in love once.

“I wanted to come and see you, the others told me to give you some time alone,” said Natalia.

Albedo saw the anguish on her face, she hugged him once more. As usually the house was clean spotless, smelled good as always. She baked them bread, cakes, and sat down to eat it.

“How are the others doing? I haven’t seen them for a while,” asked Albedo as he stuffed his face with more cake. It was good that he was eating like there was no tomorrow, this was a good indication that he was getting back to his old self.

              Axil looked outside the window as he sat to check on the old man. “They’re doing ok; Sonia has been missing you a lot. As for Dante and Angelione, they were asked by King Victor to go to the border and make sure King Henry doesn’t do anything unexpected.” He wondered if Henry would eventually wage war against them.
What to do
, he thought. A war would eventually drag the humans in, and they would stand no chance.

“It’s good to see you, Albedo, we were scared we might never see you again!” said Natalia, this time her face looked joyous. 

“I’m not going anywhere,” he answered. The breads she made were delicious.

They continued to chat for a couple more hours.

Albedo left to go see King Victor in one of the horse-carriage, as he yet to learn how to ride a horse. The King looked tenacious as always. Albedo admired how he brought order to his people. He thought about how hard it was for a King to rule with an iron fist and yet be loved by his people.

“Albedo my boy, it’s good to see you’re feeling better!” said King Victor.

His adviser Dory quickly left to give them privacy.

“I hear Angelione and Dante are protecting the border,” said Albedo.

The King offered him a seat and all the food he could eat. He wasted no time in going after the roasted pork. It had caught his eyes the minute he walked through the door. He could care less about the fruits and vegetables, he wanted the pig.

The King watched his eyes as he stared at the foods, “Go ahead have as much as you can.”

Albedo had no
other thoughts in his head as he stuffs his mouth with the food.

“They wanted to get their mind off things, so I sent them there. As you know, they felt guilty for going against you.”

Albedo laughed, “Well at the end they did change their mind, but following their King is number one priority.” He wondered were Sonia was hiding, he wanted to see her.

“Albedo, I’m sorry for lying to you. I…”

Albedo shock his head gently, “I think it was for the best.” He had an understanding face, which eased the King a bit.

“If you’re looking for Sonia, she’s waiting for you in her favorite place.”

He knew exactly where she was, on top of the castle, where the view of the moon was beautiful to look at. After finishing eating he went up to see her.

              “Hey,” he said.

Sonia turned around with the brightest smile he’d ever seen, and kissed him.

“It’s good to see you too!” said Albedo.

They sat on the roof all alone, he lay down, she lay on top of him, and the moon was just magnificent to look at. She fell asleep in his arms, they had long forgotten about what happened.

The next morning he asked her to stay with him in Inferno for a few days. She agreed and his parents saw marriage for the two. Albedo had asked her about her parents, she never once mentioned them to him. He wanted her to tell him when she was ready. Maybe her parents were like Axil? This was a mystery he was curious about.

Sonia and Dante had long been trying to make her talk about her parents. She never did give them any answer, only to tell them, “I don’t know! Now can you two idiots leave me alone
?!” Dante had a theory that her parents had died. He had tried to get answers from Angelione, but he did not know either.

Albedo and Sonia had made plans to double date with Axil and Natalia. He was exited to go to the beach, another one of his favorite places to go and clear his mind. Not many people knew about the beach location, it was the perfect place to get away from the world.

“Don’t stay in the sun to long. I don’t want you to get sunburn,” said Cecelia.

“We won’t!” they answered simultaneously.

They left the house and planned to meet Axil. Albedo had his shorts on and Sonia wearing a white bikini that she looked good in. Natalia and Axil were waiting for them, with them was her father. She had long wanted him to get out of the house, to get some air, to stretch his legs. They thought it was a good idea; fresh air was good for everyone.

“Sonia, it’s nice to see you again!” said Natalia with a thrilling face.

They had become good friends, Natalia reminded her of Albedo somehow.

“Hey Albedo, let’s go for a dive,” said Axil.

Sonia helped Natalia with the food, while the boys went for a swim.

The water felt good, warm. A perfect way to relax, Albedo closed his eyes under the water. His troubles magically disappeared. Axil’s troubles were still in his mind, he wondered how his family was doing back in Conalian, were they all right?

“What’s the matter, you seem to have something on your mind?” asked Albedo.

“It’s nothing, I’m just thinking of the others, wondering if they’re doing alright. It’s been a while now since I’ve seen them,” said Axil.

“Angelione and Dante saw them, they’re doing fine, and beside they left a couple Black Knights there to watch over them,” said Albedo.

“Yea I know, but I would like to see them for myself,” worried Axil.

“I’m sure they are doing fine, the chaos is gone now. You have to remember, they chose not take you, to protect you,” said Albedo.

              He still wished he had known, maybe there had been something he could have done to help.

              “If they had told you, you might have done something foolish,” said Albedo.

Sonia was helping Natalia arrange the food while her father stared at the ocean. How peacefully it moves with the wind, the birds flying above.

“I wonder what those two are talking about over there,” said Sonia.

“Probably us, you know how boys are!” answered Natalia with a smile, and soon they both laughed.