Kapitel 1335: Resolute : Indecisive
Though Arcueid didn't like to speak much herself, she still enjoyed listening to people, especially when it didn't require her to contribute to the conversation.
Once, in what now felt like the distant past, she had started to open up to others but, just as she found something that made her happy, it was almost immediately taken from her. This was due to her status as a True Ancestor, an entity that required the blood of others to sustain themselves.
There had been a time when Arcueid was immune to these Vampiric Impulses but the schemes of Michael Roa Valdamjong brought an end to this. He had taken advantage of her loneliness to trick her into drinking his blood, the first of many tragic events that plagued her life. After that, she had gone berserk and, for several years, ended up as nothing more than a tool to slaughter other True Ancestors.
To make matters even worse, Roa stole most of her power and, as a result, became one of the most powerful Dead Apostle Ancestors in existence by the time she regained clarity. It was then that she chained herself inside of the Millennium Castle for the first time and, from that moment onward, her mission in life became the destruction of the Dead Apostle Ancestors, chiefly Michael Roa Valdamjong himself.
Unfortunately, by the time she managed to track down and imprison Roa's spirit, the malicious Vampire had worked with his cohorts to either kill or imprison nearly every other True Ancestor. They had even made a game out of it, seeing who could assassinate their creators and steal the most power in the shortest period of time.
What the Dead Apostle Ancestors hadn't realized was that, with every True Ancestor they killed, the more powerful Arcueid became. In turn, Roa's own power increased and, by the time anyone even tried to stop him, none were his equal. Only Arcueid herself had the power to kill him as, if he tried to kill her in turn, his own power would be greatly reduced. This led to a cat and mouse game that lasted for decades, one which only came to a stop after the deaths of millions...
Despite all of these happenings, Arcueid found it hard to believe Vahn's own tale was true. The things he had experienced in his lifetime sounded like a work of fiction, one so fantastical that she couldn't even imagine how mad the author must have been to write such a thing.
Not only were Vahn's origins exceedingly tragic, but his meteoric rise to becoming an Emperor, his pursuits as a Blacksmith, the various trials he had faced, everything was just so 'extreme'. He even recounted some of the information about his various lovers to her, a happy smile on his face as he recalled some of the trials they had faced, the children they had produced, and the lives they had built together...
Overall, it was an overwhelming amount of information but, with the way Vahn explained things, combined with the [Memory Orbs], Arcueid found herself enjoying his story. As farfetched as everything sounded, she got the distinct impression he was telling the truth. After all, her own story had a fair number of unbelievable occurrences yet, in spite of that, each event had taken place in reality. She had even experienced several 'end of the world' scenarios so, while it was a little hard to believe, it wasn't impossible...
What Arcueid really struggled to understand was Vahn's reasons for taking such drastic action. He had explained his reasoning to her but, no matter how she looked at it, his decision seemed to be a little rushed. He didn't come off as the type that would force suffering onto people so, for things to have developed to this point, 'something' must have been pushing him forward.
Ultimately, Arcueid's curiosity got the better of her so, after twenty hours of a largely one-sided conversation, she asked, "Are you going to leave this world soon...?"
Since Vahn seemed to have, at the very least, a similar degree of immortality as her, Arcueid knew he should be able to live forever. She couldn't understand why he was putting so much pressure on humanity to change in such a short period of time as he clearly had far more important things on his mind...
As Arcueid had said less than a dozen sentences during their entire conversation, Vahn was a little caught off guard by her sudden question. Still, it wasn't really a difficult one to answer so, after a brief pause, he nodded his head and explained, "Remember what I said previously, how I came here from another world? Well, I want to return to my own world someday. Since I can't just leave this world behind and treat it as someone else's problem, I want to do everything I can to make it into a better place before I leave. How long that takes is something I cannot even begin to fathom so, rather than put it off until later, it is better to start now. Besides, the current state of the world is something I simply couldn't agree with."
Hearing Vahn's answer, Arcueid couldn't help but frown as he didn't actually seem to put all that much thought into his response. While she could understand what he was trying to convey, her intuition told her that he was still hiding something, something extremely important. At the same time, however, she felt that no amount of questioning would allow him to reveal this hidden truth so, after several moments of silence, she muttered, "Billions of people will die as a result of the choices you have made..."
Vahn, obviously, didn't need Arcueid to explain this fact to him but, understanding she was just looking for a way to convince herself, he ultimately sighed before explaining, "Even if I never came to this world, billions of people would die. Eventually, all life on this planet, including the planet itself, would cease to exist. I will not pretend that my choices do not have consequences but, in the end, everything that is happening is the result of human nature. Though I may have crippled their infrastructure, their economy, and other conventional systems, I am not taking any action to persecute or harm them. Instead, we are working hard to provide food, water, and even shelter to those in need. Almost everyone dying right now is a victim, not of the Empire, but of other humans. I even used a wish to decrease the number of innocent lives lost so do not blame me for the actions of others, Arcueid Brunestud."
Compared to the jovial, almost easy-going, atmosphere that had surrounded him during the recounting of his life story, Vahn's aura became heavy and solemn when he responded to her question. This caused Arcueid to shrink away instinctually and, after hearing his reasoning, she wondered if her remark was inconsiderate. She, of course, knew how corrupt human society could be so, while she didn't exactly agree with his methods, she couldn't deny the logic behind Vahn's words...
Arcueid was the type that needed to mull over things on her own so, after she averted her eyes from him, Vahn released a heavy sigh before slouching in his chair. Truth be told, everything that was happening around the world already weighed heavily on his heart and mind so, hearing her bring it up had ruined his mood. He constantly had to remind himself that his decisions were for the best as, without this, and the support of many others, he would spiral into the self-doubt he was prone to during trying times.
More so than his words, Arcueid was convinced more by the changes in Vahn's aura. The moment he slouched into his chair, she snuck a peek at him from the corner of her eye and, while he may be putting on an act, she could practically feel the pressure he was under. This caused her to fall into even deeper thought and, after nearly twenty minutes, she ultimately muttered, "I am sorry...I didn't think about your position properly...it must be hard on you..."
Hearing Arcueid's apology, Vahn released another tired sigh as it almost felt wrong to have her, of all people, apologize. She had experienced a lot of tragedy throughout her life and, while her words were indeed a little insensitive, so too was his reaction. Thus, after catching Arcueid staring at him, Vahn offered an apologetic smile and said, "I should be the one apologizing. Had I chosen my words better, this could have been avoided. Please, forgive my thoughtlessness..."
In response to Vahn's apology, Arcueid just stared back at him, her blood-red eyes glimmering like rubies in the low-light of the library. Since he wasn't the type to break eye contact with others, this resulted in the two staring at each other for several minutes until, as if the previous tensions had been nothing more than an illusion, Arcueid began to laugh, her voice echoing like a bell in the vast chamber.
Vahn was a little surprised by Arcueid's reaction but, rather than allow it to show on his face, he simply smiled in response until she calmed down. This caused Arcueid to act a little embarrassed, her fingers twiddling with her hair as she muttered, "I accept your apology..." in a sheepish voice.
This time, Vahn was tempted to burst out laughing but, fearing it would have the opposite of the desired effect, he continued to smile, nodding his head as he said, "Thank you, Arcueid...it means a lot to me." Then, before silence could take hold once again, he closed his eyes, leaning back against his chair as he added, "As much as I enjoy conversing with you like this, I'm afraid my time is rather limited. Now that we have come to understand each other better, I believe it is time for us to discuss our respective intentions."
Arcueid was at a loss as to how she should respond to Vahn's prior words so, when she heard his follow-up, her thought process ground to a halt. She only just now remembered the reason they had gathered in the library and, with this realization, Arcueid also realized that Vahn would soon have to leave. For some reason, she had started to believe their conversation would never end so, hearing his reminder, she felt as if the loneliness that had plagued her for centuries was starting to creep back up on her...
Understanding Arcueid would take a while to organize her own thoughts, Vahn decided to make his intentions known first. So as not to overwhelm her, he adopted a calm and soothing tone of voice and, speaking at a much slower speed than normal, explained, "My dream is to make the world a happier place. To that end, I wish to help you remove the influence of Crimson Moon and alleviate the symptoms of your Vampiric Impulse. I don't know your full story but, from what I've heard, you are deserving of a chance at happiness. Please, allow me to help you, Arcueid."
To further emphasize his words, Vahn lowered his head towards the stunned Vampiric Princess. In truth, his desire to help her wasn't solely the result of his nature. Though this played a large part in his final decision, the fact she appeared within the Optional Objectives of his World Power Quest had a fair amount of influence over his decision. It was a Quest that rewarded 5,000,000,000OP as a base reward so the completion of Optional Objectives all but guaranteed something incredible in turn...
Arcueid was obviously unaware of Vahn's Quest but, as a result of his sincere desire to help her, she couldn't help but feel a little flustered. She expected things to reach this point after learning about Vahn's existence from Zelretch but, to be put on the spot like this, her heart felt like it was about to explode. Since she couldn't really voice her own thoughts on the matter, however, the only thing she managed was asking, "Do you...do you like me...?" in a demure tone.
Hearing Arcueid's question, Vahn was certain that some kind of misunderstanding had occurred. He looked up to find Arcueid staring at him with an anxious expression on her face and, as soon as their eyes met, she even looked away from him. This made it pretty clear that she already had a few thoughts in mind regarding how he could help her, likely relating to a similar ritual to the one he had carried out with Gray.
Since he had already made up his mind previously, Vahn wasn't going to miss the opportunity to leave an impression on Arcueid's heart so, in response to her question, he calmly answered, "I do." in a soft tone. This caused the golden-haired maiden to inhale a deep breath but, rather than say anything in response, she ultimately buried her face into her hands.
It was a little awkward seeing Arcueid behave in such a way but, in much the same way as before, Vahn simply waited for her to organize her thoughts. Regardless of what she chose, he would still do his best to help her. He could never ignore women with a tragic past so it didn't really matter if she decided to be with him or not. Rather, it would be more convenient for him if she fell in love with someone else as he wasn't exactly starved for the affections of others. In fact, there was a line of women waiting to be with him as a result of Ilya's incubation, something he would need to deal with in the very near future...
As Vahn was mulling over how irresponsible he had been with his relationships, Arcueid's mind was plagued with thoughts of its own. She was actually afraid to be involved with anyone as, the only time she ever fell in love, he ended up falling in love with someone else before ultimately dying years later. This was due to the fact that, as a result of her love, she adamantly refused to drink his blood and turn him into a Vampire.
Now, a stark contrast to her past experiences, Arcueid was faced with a decision that may very well decide how she spends the next few centuries, if not longer. Vahn was an immortal existence on a similar level so, no matter how much time passed, there was no chance that he would simply die. At the same time, however, he already had a rather large harem and, while she didn't really mind this all that much, Arcueid had experienced her fair share of drama related to love. At one point, she was even prepared to kill the person her first love had fallen, keeping him for herself by locking him away in the Millennium Castle...
Remembering these past experiences, Arcueid was reminded of all the things she regretted the most in her life. She had already worked through most of these things in the past but, now that she had to make a decision, the past suddenly weighed heavily on her heart. Still, it was infinitely better than returning to the Millennium Castle and experiencing an eternity of loneliness so, after the better part of half an hour, Arcueid peeked up through her fingers and said, "I'll be in your care from now on...please treat me well..." in a quivering voice.
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Roa is a cunt','"You wanna know how I got these scars...?" -Vahn','I wonder how many relationships are actually the result of a series of misunderstandings...?')
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