Chapter 34: The bird's symphony
Reaching the narrow path that he had to crawl once again, he said to the gryphon hatchling.
"Hey Aerius can you go ahead and exit this narrow path? Because if I have you on me, it might get to narrow and collapse all the path on us. You're small, there's no need to worry about anything on your way out. Just wait for me before I get out."
Staring at the narrow path that looked big enough for his small body, Aerius nodded his eagle head. "Well, see you on the other side. Don't get killed Vlad, or I will really not know anyone on this world."
"Don't worry little guy. You'll see me out in no time."
Aerius extended his small wings slightly and stretched his cat-like body as he walked around the narrow path. Then he suddenly stopped and tucked all his wings close to his body, and stepped on the path.
With careful steps, the small creature started to disappear from Vlad's view. He waited 2 minutes, and with the small chest on his right hand, he dropped to the ground.
Getting down, he started crawling on the narrow path. Slowly like a snail, he began to make little progress. His tall frame was unsuitable for crawling. Even when going at a slow pace, he touched the stones. And so creating a disturbance with how the rocks held all the load of the pathway's roof.
"Slowly, don't you dear collapse on me now when I'm this close!" even when saying that the rocks kept on trembling, seeming to not take long before collapsing. "Ohh noo. I need to hurry. I'm almost close to the path I made by removing the rocks."
With that said, Vlad turned a gear up while crawling. He moved faster than even when entering inside. When Vlad touched the stones when passing, it resulted in the trembling of the rocks. As a conclusion to his rushed way of trying to exit the temple, the stones built up from the pathway's endpoint started collapsing, engulfing everything in their path.
A chill ran down Vlad's spine when hearing the commotion occurring at his back. Every nerve on his body tensed up. Even Vlad's eyes turned from the panicked state they initially were when rushing out to a chilly cold glare. When sensing that his life got endangered in these moments, his mind got influenced by the dark energies inside of his body. Quickly shutting down all harmful emotions that could put him in harm's way, only leaving a composed self that was cold as a frozen world, facing the problems at his tail.
When the rock got closer to Vlad's legs, the tension was at its climax. However, instead of being scared and slowing down as a response, he pushed forward, not thinking about anything, and only tried his best to crawl using a rhythmic pace. With the stones collapsing at this leg's end, Vlad finally managed to get out of the narrow pathway, now entering the path created by removing the stone debris. Even when getting out of the narrow path, that didn't mean the collapsing stopped. It didn't. Following a chain reaction, even the path Vlad made for himself to enter inside the temple collapsed, taking example of the narrow path.
Not expecting that, a stone almost dropped on his left leg, crushing it. Fortunately, he managed to get it out of harm's way when moving forward. That close moment was his second encounter with death in a single day.
Seconds passed, and finally, Vlad was out of the path. Following behind him were the collapsing stones. Rolling to a safe distance and getting up, he looked at the mess behind him. Rocks collapsed on the pathway. With that out of the way, it was unknown to say if he could enter again in the temple, but one thing was for certain, he was glad that he escaped by a hair's length the collapsing stones.
As he stared coldly at the stone rubble in his path, he suddenly felt that something jumped on his head, yelling in a young voice.
"What happened with you Vlad? I almost thought that you got killed inside." tapping Vlad's head with his paws, Aerius continued. "What now? Are we going out of this place?"
Recovering a bit from the sudden impulses that he had to curse at someone, he looked at the creature and thanked it for the worry. "Thanks for the worry, but I'll stay here a bit to take a break and calm down. I'll take you to a nice place inside here."
"Ohhh, let's go. You made me curious, it feels like I'm again with Louis exploring all kinds of things, especially in his father's palace."
Nodding his head at Aerius and replying to him, "It will be fun. There's even some birds here, who know maybe you might understand them."
"Birds? What kind of birds? The cute kind or the ugly kind?" asked quickly, Aerius having his attention all on the subject.
"They are about your size, colorful feathers, they can mimic humans, but with you here, who know maybe I might understand what's going on with those birds."
"Hmm, I should be able to understand other creatures talking. So if we meet them you can ask them what you want."
"Good, very good Aerius. You're not useless in this young form of yours. Ahem, don't take to heart when the side effects are solved."
"Who are you saying is useless? I'll show you soon what I can do, arrogant Vermilion." said Aerius, a bit angry, tapping Vlad's head hard with his claws.
"Sigh, I don't know Aerius. I'm really a Vermilion as those people said? Maybe the one inside me is a lost Vermilion, but I'm not one. I'm just the remains of unfortunate ruler who got stuck somewhere unknown to him. My name as I said to your older self, is Vlad Dracula, the ruler of a small country in a bigger world."
"I see, but even if you're not from this world, that's your soul and mind. But from how I see you, your smell is that of a Vermilion, just like Louis. Look, I might not remember what happened in the past, but I'm not an idiot. I can smell that you have the scent that Louis and maybe his father did, which that's what matters. You seem a decent person and even passed Louis's test.
Do you think that those generals of his were there to watch the temple just for a show? Or that my older self offered himself to get turned to stone for this moment? Some things must have happened in the past that made Louis prepare for his future descendant, and that would be you, Vlad, or whatever you would call yourself in the future.
But while you're inside this body of a Vermilion, it also makes you a Vermilion from the start. The blood of the Vermilion clan runs in you. The powerful bodies of theirs are also yours, which means that there's nothing wrong in you taking Louis' inheritance."
The hatchling words made Vlad to pounder on his identity. Was he just Vlad Dracula the ruler of Wallachia, the Impaling Prince, or at the same time a Vermilion of this word? In a sense, Aerius's words made sense. He had all of Zagreus's memories turning him when entering his body the boy himself.
His only problem with this aspect was his inability to accept this sudden change. The fact that he wouldn't be able to use his first life identity gave him a lot of trouble.
Exhaling hard, with a calm face that looked more like a peaceful one, he said to the bird on top of his head. "You're right Aerius. You can also call me a Vermilion since I entered the little boys body taking over his body after he died. But if I combine my identity it gives me this chill on my spine Vermilion Vlad Dracula. Let say I drop my first life title, but it's still weird for me."
"What's weird man? Your name is nice, I've heard even weirder ones. Vermilion Vlad is just nice, once you become a king you can even use the rest of your names together with the unfortunate Vermilion that died before he could taste life."
"Indeed, even in my world the royalty had this weird naming sense of gifting to many names to their child. Glad I wasn't born in those places because I would get dumb from only trying to remember my own name."
The little gryphon chuckled and settled down on Vlad's head in a peaceful manner. "It could be worse. Ahh, even if I don't remember much from my life, the feeling of breathing this air and my instinct to look at the clean sky still remains in my blood. This makes me want to spread my wings high and fly to the clouds."
"Hehe, but can you do it? You tried to fly inside the temple but failed? Don't try it here, we're very high. What if you fail? Would I kill someone that I will need in the future?"
Poking him with his small beak, Aerius said from the top of his head, "This doesn't help me one bit you jerk. If I poop on your head, you know the reason. I can't fly. So don't blame me if you find something warm on your head."
Hearing that made Vlad laugh heartily and replying with something evil but done casually. "If you ever do that while sitting on my head, I'll pluck all the feathers on your head, I'll shave your feline body clean, all leave you butt naked. Don't try me, it will be long before your body gets on his adult form. I can embarrass you as much as I want and run for dear life when you recover."
After saying that, he dropped down. Sitting on his back, he started laughing evilly, still continuing. "I'll make a coat with your fur, and slowly will pluck your feathers and make a hat out of it." his laughter was still there to accompany him.
"Later I will give you a break and after that pluck you and shave you again, until you learn your lesson. Ahem this is as long you don't shit on my head."
This made Aerius fur to get tense. "Okay, I get it, I'll not shit on your head. Don't you do that, I'll be an embarrassment for my race if you do that."
"No worries, now let me rest for a bit." Ended Vlad while calmly looking at the sky, and sometimes even seeing Aerius lion tail moving around his eyes.
He stayed like that looking at the sky in silence, taking deep breaths of air to relax a little bit. "Hah, that's more welcoming. The chilly water that splashes around sure is helpful to calm down. I'll stay a little bit more, right, Aerius?
"Hah, this air is really good, can we stay here all day long?"
"I can't there's an annoying old man waiting for me from where I came. But a little bit more it's fine. It is not like the old man will suffer waiting a bit more. Also there's some fruits we can eat in our way. Giving the old man some of those fruits will solve his waiting problems, I guess."
"Fruits? You said fruits? What kind of fruits, take me to them." as Aerius said that some of the water from the waterfall splashed him, giving him a great sensation and calming him down. "Maybe a bit later."
"Right, I should fish some to eat while preparing to go back to the mining camp. At least lets hope that the fruits are okay."
Thinking of his next steps going forward, he now closed his eyes and let the sound of the waterfall pass by his ears. The same thing was done by Aerius, who moved to sit on Vlad's chest. After long minutes, the waterfall did its job in treating Vlad's tired body.
Signaling to Aerius to get on his head, he rose on his feet after his small break. He started descending the stairway. His descent went without problems, same as when he ascended the stairway. The only thing that changed this time was Aerius, who talked about the views he saw from his head. The view of the forest was getting closer, and the sounds of the birds intensified.
"It's so far I can't understand what those birds are saying."
In contrast, the sound of the waterfall became a distant reminder of a peaceful moment of his life.
After reaching the stairway's end, he found himself even closer to the annoying birds. Walking around the forest, he went to find the fruit trees he once passed when coming. It didn't take long for Vlad to reach the fruit trees presenting him with oval and circular fruits of different sizes. Their color was closely related. Climbing on the trees, he started eating some of them while giving some to Aerius to taste.
The gryphon was instantly drawn by the taste of the pulpy fruits and started devouring as many of the fruits he could get his beak and claws upon.
"Little guy eat slowly because if you're going this way you either pass out from having to much food in your stomach, or you'll shit on my head."
"Don't worry Vlad, I'm a mighty gryphon, the king of Gryphons, I can handle some of those fruits without any problem."
Some time passed, about six minutes, and Aerius devoured as many of the fruits he could, getting back on Vlad's shoulder and puking while he was on the trees. Fortunately for Aerius, he didn't puke on Vlad.
"A mighty gryphon you say? More like a sick cat that eat to much. I told you to take it slow." said Vlad while eating some fruits without hurrying, and similarly placing some fruits in the shirt he removed to make a bag for the small secret chest and the fruits.
*Puking sound* "Bleahh, I'm sorry." (Puking sound)
"Sigh, are you alright? Can you continue the journey back?" asked Vlad to check on Aerius in a slow manner.
Hearing the question, and after puking for a bit more, the gryphon turned his head to look at Vlad while at the same time, some of the puke on his beak dropped on Vlad's naked chest.
"Sorry for the leftovers. Yes, I can continue now. Let's get going, I don't want to be near any of those fruits."
Vlad was a bit disgusted by the puke that got on his skin, but he didn't get angry at the poor little guy. He took another fruit on his mouth, and when biting on the fruit's flesh, the first feeling he got was of biting into a soft cloud. That would be the best description of the fruit texture. It had a white pulp that was juicy enough that, combing with its taste, gave Vlad the feeling of eating once again apples. High on the fruit tree, he was like a monkey serving himself on the fruits. After a while, he got his fill. He also started to gather more fruits for the old man and to have a late snack for himself at the camp.
"This is enough to last us until I get out of the mining camp. The boys would love the taste of those fruits."
"Do you have more friends living with you on the other side?" asked Aerius as he heard Vlad say that.
"Right, I forgot to tell you, but I'm technically a slave." clarified Vlad to the gryphon hatchling.
"How can a Vermilion be a slave? Did you hit your head by accident? What in the world happened to Atlas?" screamed Aerius, surprised at what Vlad just confessed.
"There's no Atlas where we live now. Instead this kingdom is called Kaysang. I don't know much about the outside but I know someone who knows. Maybe we can find more about what's going on."
Like this, a young man with jet-black long hair that had a cat-like creature on his shoulder started walking in the forest. Shirtless and with an improvised bag full of fruits, he began his journey back to the mining camp. Getting out of the zone full of fruit trees, he returned to the space filled with the weird birds. When the birds saw Vlad back, they cheered in their own way and started flying above his head, crying out with their annoying sound. One more daring bird even went as close as facing Vlad's face yelling "You bastard" or "Little buddy" when passing by.
"Hey Aerius, can you silence those pesky birds?" said Vlad with some annoyance in his tone
The gryphon laughed a bit but nodded his head in agreement. Jumping on Vlad's head, he released an eagle cry that stopped all birds in the forest from even saying a single thing.
Then with a human speak said. "What do you want from this human?"
The birds understood Aerius and cried out some things to the gryphon. "They say they want to know from where you came, since they have never seen someone different than them."
"Tell them that I came from the underground, a place full of water that lead to here."
And so Aerius started translating for Vlad what the birds asked and said until he grew tired.
"Sigh, Aerius, I understand what's going on with those birds. They reacted like this because I'm the first human that they ever seen. So they are curious about me, understandable. Ahem, some even asked me to take them with me, especially the one talkative, but I doubt he can make it on the path I took. Tell them that at one point in time I will come once again to this place to recover it to his former glory. Until then, they will be my guardians here."
Finally, after Aerius said that the birds understood what Vlad was saying, and nodded their heads while flying in circles around him, and gave a beautiful song as a farewell to him.
Listening to the bird's song, he asked Aerius to translate what they were chirping about.
"I remember this song. This is what Louis hummed when he was a young kid. The song is called Spirit of the Sun God. I'll never forget it. It was like Louis radiated in radiant energy like the sun when he started humming this song.
[The sun eclipsed by the moon on high
We welcome you in from the wild.
With red and black flags unfurled
You are born into love and blessed with sacred gifts
We praise the power of the sun god
But worry not, your the destined one to end everything]
Hearing each of the song's verses, Vlad recited in his mind along with the bird's cover, and as he got in syncron with the birds, he felt like they were really singing along verses.
'So this Louis even got such talents to write poems and song from a young age? This isn't even bad, it has a encouraging spirit on it.'
"Let's get going Aerius, I will remember this gift from those little birds."
Ending saying that, with a shirtless body, a cat on his shoulder, and a made-up bag full with things in his right hand, he started moving along the forest. But still, as he walked forward, the display of talent coming from those red birds was spectacular. Yet, he didn't stop again, continuing onward. Still, while doing so, the birds moved along with him continuing their recital, making Vlad smile and laugh at the funny situation he was in.
The birds stopped following Vlad when he reached the end of the forest. Seeing the kind person leaving after they talked with him with the help of the great being on the person's shoulder, they gave a great cry in a union that resounded in the entire forest. After no longer seeing the man figure, the bird turned around to go back to their home.
"They said farewell and take care." said Aerius on Vlad's shoulder.
After walking for some more minutes, Vlad arrived at the lake's body but stopped suddenly at Aerius' cries of help.
"Don't worry little guy. Can you hold your breath underwater?"
"I don't know, I never tried. Also, I don't like to get wet, can't you take me with you in other method?"
"I can't. You have to get brave little guy, what's there some water for a mighty Gryphon King? Come be brave, or other creatures will laugh at you if they found that you got scared by some water."
Not knowing what to respond, Aerius looked a bit at Vlad's face, who was calmly looking at him and later at the water body with a disgusted face.
Taking his time to decide, Vlad already entered inside the lake and started swimming to the spot he first exited from the depths.
"Aaaaa, it's cold. Come on, Vlad, can you not splash my fur? Aaaaa, there's water around me. Get me back, back. I want to get back inside the temple.
"Sigh come on little guy be brave. It will not take much. I'll do my best to make it as fast as possible. You only need to take a deep breath of air and stay calm. Don't release your breath."
"Want some time to calm yourself or get used with the water?"
The young hatchling only responded in a short manner, "Yes please."
"Good, then lets get you used before we get to dive." said Vlad as he used his left hand to pick Aerius from his head.
The little guy clinched to Vlad's long hair hard, not wanting to separate from Vlad's safe head.
"Let go of my hair, little guy. If you keep acting like that we will remain here forever. So get used already to the water, you're a Gryphon, not a little chicken."
"Fine, fine. Take it slowly, it's my first time. Not even Louis treated me like this."
As Aerius let go of Vlad's long hair, Vlad sent the little hatchling flying straight into the lake. After some seconds, the little gryphon splashed out from the water, trembling like a cat that got wet.
"Screw you. Argh, the water is so cold." Vlad only stared calmly at the hatching as it got used to the water temperature.
"Much better?" asked Vlad when he saw that Aerius started splashing some water on his body with his little wings. Turning to look at Vlad, he replied shortly after, "Much better." (Take a snicker)
"Ok, if things are prepared. Come next to me, you stick close to me, grab my hair or whatever you can do to not drop your grip on me. After that take a deep breath, and don't get scared. Everything will be fine, little guy."
Aerius started swimming like a cat towards Vlad, and with his claws, he dug himself tightly on his hair, making Vlad give a slight cry of pain.
"Prepared?" asked Vlad for the last time before hearing Aerius's voice behind his head. "Ready."
Hearing that, he dived down and found himself right beside the stairway leading to the flooded pathway.
Diving down, he entered the flooded stairway leading to the pathway. His descend went without problems. The little guy also didn't make any sudden movements, keeping himself calm while hanging on his hair. After diving for some minutes, he reached the pathway filled with carvings safely. The little guy was looking with his sharp eyes around himself with an amazed expression. This time Vlad didn't stop to look at the carvings, already remembering almost all of them. It would be a waste of resources to stay longer, staring dumbly at the walls. Also, he was starting to worry about the little guy stuck in his hair.
Vlad not mingling too much with the pathway. After some minutes, he found himself seeing the figure of the stone guards. It was a good sign having the guards in his vision. Furthermore, taking note of his current air resources, he was sure that he could reach the opening to the surface to refill his lungs. Passing the giant stone guards, he started ascending to the surface.
When he and Aerius reached the opening, he heard the small guy saying. "Phew, I thought I would get drawn in no time. Hey Vlad it wasn't half bad diving down. To think that those pathways would get so flooded with water. I remember that this place was the most sacred place in Atlas. Now it become this, it's quite sad when I think about it, but at the same time it also gives you this mysterious feeling. Especially the guardian guards. I heard from Louis that the carving of those statues took his grandfather 20 years to complete."
"I see, so this place actually holds quite great significance to Vermilions."
"Indeed, the place around the temple and mausoleum is the place where Louis first ancestors first rose to power, and started gathering power in their hands."
"Ohh, so the Vermilions didn't start powerful from the start?"
"Of course no, they were just some common people with a slight blessing that each generation had great leaders. Well, I know only about Louis father and what Louis told me. If you want to know more, wait to recover my memories."
"It's good enough. It's not like I'm even bothered by those guys history. Right, prepared for another diving."
"Wait, wait. Let me get my grip tightly." Saying that, he grabbed yet again Vlad's hair and said with a satisfied tone, "Ready."
Ending his little break, taking a deep breath, he restarted his journey back. Swimming underwater for 6 minutes as it initially took him to reach the safe surface zone. Still, a problem did appear when going back. He couldn't find the hole made by himself and old Nius. The air in his lungs started rapidly to deplete. He felt it much harder to stay underwater.
Meanwhile, the little guy already started having trouble and stabbed Vlad's head harder in panic. Vlad panicked a little but for some seconds. Some more seconds passed, and still, Vlad couldn't find the opening. With only some moments of remaining of air in his lungs, he was calmly looking around the zone he made the zone.
Finally, he spotted the opening he was searching all along, and in a quick manner, he ascended to the surface. Entering the hole, he pushed himself up and jumped out of the hole, splashing whoever was next to him.
Before suddenly taking the little guy who stopped giving signals to him with some seconds before he ascended, overlooking who was next to him, he started giving assistance to the small creature.
...............
A/N: Don't teach your bird friends to swear. It will backfire.
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