Chapter 8: One-Eyed Devil Vampire
Long ago, villages were ravaged by a powerful threat--an eyepatched vampire was spotted to be the culprit of this incident, accompanied by their henchman who followed their master's orders. More and more villages were destroyed, and soon, the shrine maiden's help was needed. Her name, Lucia Vlad Scarlet, commonly known as the One-Eyed Devil Vampire, sought to defeat the shrine maiden in order to reign over Densetsu, but Riku managed to put a stop to her. "And the shrine maiden had spared the vampire's life," Noel concluded.
Upon hearing the story, Kotaro was intrigued. His brows raised with an opened mouth. "Woah, I didn't know Riku fought a vampire." Kotaro exclaimed. The forest road slowly became a path of hedges bordering the sides, and dirt slowly converted into concrete. A silhouette of a largely built mansion awaited them over yonder. A few more walking the two had spotted a guard seemingly asleep on the job, so they both walked carefully. Kotaro shivered from the unknown coldness, his vision blocked by the dense fog that appeared out of the blue, and the extremely loud snoring echoed across the concrete roads. The more steps they took, the snoring only grew louder. At one point, Kotaro could hear it right up to his ears.
"You two aren't planning to rob us? It'll be foolish to do so." Both Kotaro and Noel stopped their tracks as a silhouette among the fog came their way. "You're going to need more training if you claim yourself as Yuuki's disciple, Noel. You should've sensed this active Illusion Skill."
The fog depleted as the two were approached by a woman in a traditional scarlet Chinese clothing, her strands of ebony hair was under a crimson beret, and she began adjusting her leather gloves. Kotaro and the guard met eyes who both had the same eye color.
"Who's this?" the guard wondered.
"An outsider," answered Noel.
"What? This is my first time seeing one. They look so much like us, except maybe the clothes..." The guard giggled to herself; Noel joined her, yet Kotaro faked a smile to maintain composure. "Oh, where are my manners? I didn't properly introduce myself," she cupped her left fist with a flat right hand, and she bowed to the new face. "My name is Tao Ying, the mistress' gatekeeper."
His heart raced briskly, his cheeks flushed in scarlet, and her greeting posture gave him goosebumps. He couldn't stop observing her, anticipating her capabilities as a gatekeeper, and it was a wise decision not to mess with her. "It's just like in the movies!"
"I'm sorry?"
"N-Nothing. You're just super cool!" he complimented.
Tao chuckled lightly, scratching her head. "Oh please, I'm not that special. I'm just a gatekeeper, nothing cool about that."
"Sure it is!" he approached her closely. "You can fight right?"
"With my fist, yes. But in a Skills Match? Definitely not." She harrumphed to retain her status as a guard. "Sir, I must ask you to leave. That includes you too, Noel."
"Hey, Riku said there's a vampire that'll help me!" Kotaro mentioned.
"Until stated by the shrine maiden herself, I cannot allow you to enter the gates."
"But--," Instantly, a maid in a french-style outfit with bright white, snow-like hair, eyes shining blue like the color of the sky, stopped Kotaro's path. Spooked by the sudden tension from the new face, he landed on his bottom. "Where did you come from?"
The maid bowed formally to the startled man. "Greetings, Kotaro Nishiki, my name is Victoria te Viola. I have been tasked to lead you to the mistress."
"Victoria, you can't be serious? Were those the mistress' orders?"
"Are you challenging to disobey the mistress' order?"
"I think I'll pass," the gatekeeper chuckled lightly.
"Good. Now, I ask that both Kotaro and Noel are permitted to enter the gates. And you, do your job well and I'll cook some dumplings for you!"
Tao gasped in excitement, so she rushed to the tall gates. With her concentrated strength, she slowly pushed them. The large doors creaked hoarsely, causing neighboring avians on top of the gates to flee from the disturbance. When fully opened, the visitors detected the fields of plants. Child-sized creatures hovered above the ground as they watered the greenery, and the maid guided them straight to the scarlet mansion.
"These are the mistress' worker fairies. With them around, my job becomes so much easier. Girls, say 'hello' to our guests!"
The ten fairies within the mansion's porch waved their hands at Kotaro and Noel. Their wings which continuously flapped every few seconds dropped a visible dust, and Kotaro could hear the soft twinkling sounds from the fairies' wings. They approached the door. Upon opening, a young lady in an ebony dress hung upside down, screeching harshly in high-pitched and revealing her fangs to the guests.
He expected her to have the features of an actual vampire such as having pale skin--this one didn't. Like Noel mentioned, she wore an eyepatch covering her left eye; her right eye was scarlet. And, her hair was wavy and sapphire.
The maid sighed heavily. "What are you doing upside down, mistress?"
Landing perfectly on her two feet, her bat-like wings spreading up to a six feet wingspan shrunk and tucked away behind her. Twirling around to see the new face in person, the childish vampire approached him closely. To match his height, she even hovered from the ground.
"Hello there, I-I'm Kotaro Nishiki! Riku said you can help me?"
Her index finger laid under her chin, evaluating the idea to help this new face. Then, her only eye returned to him. "What do you think about me? I know it must be your first time meeting a vampire, and you don't look so scared about it!"
He kept his eyes away from her. "I'm pretty scared. After what Noel told me about you, you sound like a scary person. But something inside me excites me to know that I get to meet one in person, you know?"
"Define your excitement. What's so exciting to see someone who is capable of crushing you at this second?" Her scarlet nails grew larger, much like a cat with its retractable claws, yet he hardly fret from the puny threat.
"Uh, vampires! Will a stake to the heart kill you instantly? Why do you hate garlic so much? And, the sun, will you die if you stay under the sun?"
The mansion remained silent with all of the girls locking their eyes on the only male, their face in shocked, and the vampire killing the silence with a hoarsely wave of laughter. "You're an odd ball, Mr. Kotaro! Of course a stake to my heart will kill me! And garlic, it has a strange magic that repels me! I just hate it when I see it. A fully grown vampire such as myself can only stand under the sun for about three hours before I get cooked alive."
"Oh my? How rude of me, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Lucia Vlad Scarlet! You may choose to call me by 'Lulu' for short." Her cheek muscles carved a smile, and her sight were locked on the young outsider. "Have you wondered why Riku sent you here?"
"So you can help me?"
"Partially true, but I have the power to see one's future. Yours, for instance, a secret is awaiting to be unveiled by your hands. You'll come to meet many faces, but make sure to befriend them because you never know when they'll have your back. Another thing, you're also welcome to come here anytime if you ever need help. I'll inform Tao Ying to allow you to enter those gates without any resistance."
"Wait, that's it?" said Kotaro.
"Well, I can't spoil it. It's no fun that way!" argued Lulu. "Now, now, it's already dark. Victoria will escort you two to your bedrooms."
"Oh no, I got school tomorrow. I need to go back home," Kotaro declined. Although, he was well aware time ran differently between both worlds. Deep in his conscience, he worried if he slept in this world, school might've already started without him which would've resulted in a tardy in his attendance.
"There's no need to fret! This is why I have my best maid at my side. Do you know why Victoria is my favorite servant? She can manipulate time and space itself, so by the time you get yourself some rest in our world, she can use her powers to safely send you to your world without worry. Besides, have you forgotten I have the power to see the future? I can see your future."
"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm with Kotaro too. It's kind of you to offer us a room to stay, but we have to get going," said Noel, floating in the air. She picked up Kotaro from the ground, and they began flying towards the shrine.
Lulu raised her head, watching the two flying straight to the round moon as their figures shrunk until they were no more. She smiled. "Those two certainly make a good couple. I can feel it."
Her servant joined her. "I agree. I think they'll be married in the future too. I hope they have a wonderful life together, probably having a child one day."
"Woah, Victoria! You don't have to go that far. I didn't think about their children. I mean if I could give their child a name, I might as well name it...Menma!"
"Menma? As in fermented bamboo?" Victoria asked.
"Of course, Menma! Menma Natsuki, that'll be their child's name!" Lulu claimed.
"That begs the question. What did you see in him?"
"He's going to walk the path of heroes..."
"You're lying. What did you actually see?"
"Some very dumb stuff..."
"Tell me the truth,"
"Well, you know me too well," a droplet of tears overwhelmed her facial image. Victoria didn't understand this unknown sadness. "Everything I said about him were actually lies...because before he even learns about his past, he's going to be murdered."
The maid's eyes opened wide, witnessing her mistress dreaded in sadness. A vampire lied to a human to save him from his upcoming fate. "Murdered? By who?!"
"The one who loves him..."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone