章 12: 12: Resolve
[AN: "Looks like goth girls are back on the menu, boys!"
So I promised, so it has returned. I realize it's been a while since I paid this story any attention. Feel free to reread the previous chapters but be warned that my writing has improved since then. I'm leaving them up as a sort of monument to progress. Also, a full rewrite would take more time than I have to commit to this story at the moment. I have another story running right now titled "A Gacha-Grimoire System's Fae Gamble". The first chapter of that will be going up soon enough (probably around the end of next week. This week? Whatever, Friday. It'll be going up Friday).
As always, early chapters are available on my Patreon (patreon.com/dryskies_btb). I welcome you to support me. It helps make everything I do possible. With this post, there are two more chapters of this story (GGG) with one more likely to come out sometime tonight. And five whole chapters of Fae Gamble (longer chapters, more in line with my Dead End story).]
Quick refresh of character pics (the ones relevant to this chapter):
Adam Prince
Ruby Rose
Mavis Dracula
Dimitsrescu Daughters
Lady D
IIIII
An almost indescribable aura surged to the fore around Adam. The air itself hung heavy with his intent, sharpened as he embraced his 'wholeness of self' truly for the first time. The doubts of this morning — the doubts of self, of change, of fear, were forcefully pushed to the back of Adam's mind.
Things had suddenly gotten uncomfortably serious for Adam. The supernatural side of the world — a side he knew next to nothing of — had slapped him on the face and told him to pay attention. Worse, he wasn't alone. He'd dragged Ruby into this danger as well. Now, they were both facing off against a trio of potentially powerful, unknown vampires in their own territory. They'd all but stepped into the vampire's mouth as it bore its fangs around them. Their only lifeline was a friendly but painfully recent ally in the form of Mavis.
In Adam's mind, the time for doubts had passed. He didn't know what he and Ruby had gotten themselves into. The vampire trio had unknown designs on him. Designs furthered by a preexisting feud with Mavis, it seemed. And personally, Adam was extremely exhausted with not being in control.
He'd never been in control. Not for a single moment in his life. The depressive, half-broken state he'd been in before Inky ensured that much. He'd basically drifted through life, never able to truly affect anything. Even Inky — the Shadow that restored him to all he should always have been — had been forced upon him. And Adam was TIRED of it.
At that moment, faced with unknown fangs and a lifetime of passivity, Adam decided there was only one thing he could-… no, should do. He embraced himself. He let his Shadow in. None of the bitch-made beatings around the bush of this morning, none of the fear of change that plagued him since last night.
He accepted the Shadow of himself and something MORE, not just relegating it to a scarred-over hole in his soul. It was his. Not because Inky said so. Not because some ancient Eldritch darkness was shoved into him by a fucking CULT of all things. But because Adam himself wanted and needed it that way. He CHOSE for the first time in his life and his choice was nothing more than to be the best self he had to offer. A legacy of primordial masculinity grinned, and Adam grinned with it.
The shadows in the secured and secluded backroom of the Pump darkened. Adam's eyes seemed to pulse and glow in the flickering darkness of the room. His grin naturally morphed into a smirk, almost lazy and self-assured. It was a strange feeling for Adam, this confidence. Not like he was a passenger in his own body. More that he finally knew the power that let him act his way. From there, it seemed to come out naturally.
Adam's revelation, choice, and change didn't go unnoticed by the others in the room. The brunette's eyes — Bela — darkened with sudden interest, practically smoldering in a calculating, coveting manner. Her blonde sister — Cass — licked her lips as if Adam had just laid the finest feast out before her — a worrying prospect for a vampire. The third sister of the vampire-ly trio — Dani — simply smiled a smile that could have been mistaken for airheadedness, enjoying the new sensations in the room that she didn't bother worrying about or identifying any further than that.
On Adam's side of the table, Mavis' eyes widened. She glanced at her new friend in shock, trying to figure out how he'd done that with how unfamiliar he and Ruby had seemed with the supernatural before now. Very quickly though, a spark of desire bloomed in her eyes. Even the daughter of Dracula couldn't help but be attracted to masculine power~…
Ruby straight-out gaped at Adam. Wha-huh-how-wha?! Why'd Adam get all cool and dark and mysterious all of a sudden? Not that he wasn't always cool and dark and mysterious! But he was never all of those things like this! Power practically poured off him in her magesight and something in Ruby's core did a tingly little flippity-flip. Oh, crackers! She so needed new panties after this! Ruby whined to herself mentally. Why did her bestfriend have to be so gosh-darn hot?!
Adam paid the sudden attention he'd garnered no mind, simply raising a single unflinching eyebrow at the vampire trio's rudeness, "Shouldn't we at least introduce ourselves first?"
Bela's eyes narrowed but she conceded to decorum, "Very well. I am Bela Dimitsrescu. The brunette is my sister, Cassandra, and the redhead is my other sister, Daniela. You will call us by our full names or 'Mistress' if you are so inclined. Nothing. Else…"
"That's a rather clumsy and forceful rule," Adam noted. "Almost as if you're trying to seem more in control than you really are. Really, it's almost shameful. I thought a noble vampire would be much more… classy…"
Bela's eyes flashed and her fangs glinted in the low light with a momentary scowl, "Watch your tongue, man-…!"
"You can call me Dani~! I don't mind~!" Daniela perkily interrupted her sister's attempt at intimidation.
Adam gave the friendliest (by far) of the vampire sisters an honest smile, "I think I'll take you up on that, Dani. It's nice to see that Mavis isn't the only one of your kind with a heart."
Dani smiled back at him happily. Bela simmered with barely concealed rage and indignation. The third sister grinned, sitting back and watching with malicious amusement. Mavis couldn't contain her giggles. It was so refreshing to see her bitchy cousins not getting their way for once!
Adam purposefully acted as if Bela's malice was beneath his concern, never letting his aura's hold on the room lapse as he introduced his side of the table in turn, "Adam Prince. Charmed. At least, by Dani and Mavis. The wonderful little cinnamon roll beside me is my best-… my girlfriend, Ruby. I'm sure I don't need to introduce you to Mavis."
Ruby froze at Adam's introduction of her. Her eyes went as wide as dinner plates and she stared at him, despite how she tried to school her reaction. A sweet, flustered, bubbly hope bloomed in her chest. She squashed it quickly, bringing her expression back under control as she rationalized his words. H-He wasn't serious. He couldn't be! He was probably just trying to protect her and make himself unavailable. Yeah! Y-Yeah… Oh, how Ruby wished it was true though…
"It's a pleasure… to meet you both," Bela growled.
"I'll say~," Cassandra chortled. "The way he's playing you is simply precious, sister~."
Bela glared at her sister, eyes flashing red with bloody power. Cassandra simply smirked back at her. That bitch! Bela couldn't do anything other than fume as her own sister undercut her. Dani was bad enough but she and Cass were supposed to present a united front!
"Trouble in vampire-dise?" Adam asked pointedly, picking at the weakness the sisters had shown.
Of course, the manthing wouldn't let the weakness lie, Bela groaned to herself. She'd brought this on herself, making this into an interrogation… She shook her head, "No. My sister merely likes to tease."
"Among other things~," Cassandra singsonged. "Especially with a prime manthing like you in front of me~. Why don't you leave the little girl and come let Momma Cass ~tease~ you dry~?"
Adam didn't get a chance to shoot the vampiric seductress down wholesale. Not a moment after she said her 'piece', Cassandra found herself with a miniature scythe hovering above her open cleavage, the sharp, silver sickle aimed straight through her ample bosom to threaten her heart. Rose petals drifted down to rest on the table. No one even saw Ruby move.
"You… don't get to touch him," Ruby said, her tone deceptively soft. Her eyes glared deep into the bloodied soul of the slut who would dare to steal her future hubby, glinting the same silver as her scythe.
Somehow, Ruby had managed to make a vampire pale in fear. Cassandra looked into her eyes and saw only her death, guaranteed if she encroached on Ruby's declared territory. Bela froze, unable to help her sister with that damned silver so close and ready to fall. Mavis stared at her new friend (and maybe potential comrade-in-lust-and-love?) in shock. Even Adam was left stunned, blinking at Ruby's uncharacteristic actions.
"Call off your attack dog…!" Bela hissed at Adam, her eyes darting between him and the near-deadly scene with her sister.
Adam hummed, recovering his wits, "No, I don't think I will. Your sister brought this on herself and we seem to be negotiating from a position of strength now. I wonder how that happened?"
Bela bristled at his blatant sarcasm but she couldn't truly do anything about it. Anything other than… apologize… She swore to herself. Mother would have their heads for letting a fresh manthing and his attack dog — more of an attack puppy, really — beat them.
Bela was not so proud that she would throw away her sister's life… but it was a near thing, "My apologies, man-… Adam Prince… My sister has overstepped her bounds. I will ensure it does not happen again."
"So noted," Adam nodded. "You'll apologize to Ruby too, of course."
"Of… course…" Bela smiled through gritted teeth. "As will my sister, I'm sure. You have my deepest apologies for our transgression, Miss Ruby."
Cassandra couldn't nod fast enough, the silver so close to her skin making it start to lightly smoke and smolder, "Y-Yes! I'm sorry I tried to take him from you! I was wrong! You're the alpha female here!"
Mavis cackled at seeing her 'dear' cousins put in their deserving place and Bela grumbled at Cassandra, "You didn't have to go that far…"
Ruby accepted the apology with a nod. An instant later, she was back in her seat next to Adam as if she'd never moved. The instantaneous change — of both the situation and Ruby's mood — was enough to give the rest of the table whiplash.
"Good. NTR is a trash fetish," Ruby pouted adorably.
Adam glanced at her with incredulous amusement, "And how exactly do you know what that word means, Ruby?"
"I-I read!" Ruby squeaked. "Wait! I mean, I don't! Not that! I-I've just come across it while searching for good vanilla doujins! Y-You know, the ones with handholding and post-marital honeymoon-night stuff and childhood frie-! Eep~! I-I'm going to stop talking now…"
Cassandra gasped for air she didn't need, gaping at the terrifying little cinnamon roll across from her, "What the fuck are you…?!"
"Adorable," Adam said, completely serious as he gave her a pointed look. "She's adorable."
"Y-Yep!" Cassandra squeaked in her hurry to agree, nodding hard enough to take her own head off. "Adorable! Definitely not terrifying! Definitely not the scariest fucking bitch I've ever fucking come across! Just adorable!"
"I'm glad we could agree on that," Adam nodded casually. "Now, I think this meeting has already been rather productive. But I still have some questions."
"We should be the ones asking questions here," Bela scowled.
Mavis' face was overtaken by a manic grin, "Do you really think you're in any position, cousin dearest~?"
"Nope~!" Dani cheerfully answered, unbothered by the tension in the room. "Adam's kinda come in and taken over~! I'll bet he could get Cassie to touch her toes if he asked~!"
"Fucking Draculas… Fucking Dani…" Bela grumbled. "This is so fucking unfair. What even ARE you?!"
"I'd tell you but I don't actually know," Adam admitted with a shrug. "I'm still rather new to all of this."
"H-How new…?" Cassandra asked shrewdly, only now beginning to recover her wits about her.
"Hmm," Adam hummed nonchalantly. "Well, I didn't know the supernatural truly existed until last night."
Bela and Cassandra openly gaped at him, trying to reconcile that information with the power and confidence he'd shown. Even now, his shadowy aura ruled the room. Adam himself hung heavy enough to set the powerful young vampires' blood on edge. Something about him was primal and ancient in a way that they almost wanted to bow. A ridiculous thought, bowing to a manthing… But this manthing had at least proven his worth.
"You know…" Bela offered, her ambition rearing its head within her mind. "We could help with that. Help you get a… lay of the land. Teach you, even. The Dimitsrescu Clan has an abundance of resources. Aside from the Draculas, we are the leading clan in Hallow. And even then, Mother and Uncle Dracula are close allies."
Mavis scowled. Her cousins were trying to steal what was hers again! They always did. The worst part was they weren't even wrong! The Dimitsrescu sisters would be able to offer Adam so much more than Mavis alone could. She was almost as new to Hallow as he and Ruby were, having been stuck in the castle all of her life. The sense behind the offer didn't make it sting any less though.
Adam noticed Mavis' disgruntlement and answered to soothe it, "I don't think I'll be able to take you up on that offer. Mavis has been more than good to us so far. Abandoning her would leave a bad taste in my mouth."
Mavis glanced at him nervously, "Are… you sure, Adam? Bela's right. They can offer you much more than I can. It'd be much more prudent for you to take them over me. Plus… Three vs. One… H-How am I supposed to compete?"
"I'm sure," Adam nodded firmly. "You were the first vampire to approach us, Mavis. It's only right we honor that with a touch of loyalty."
"Y-Yeah!" Ruby agreed, blushing slightly. "And I kinda like you anyway… I've never gotten to dance with anyone like we did tonight."
Looking at both of them, their show of ill-advised loyalty warmed Mavis' undead heart, "Aww, you guys~…"
A slightly malicious grin came across Bela's face as she saw the opportunity to swing the negotiations back in her favor, "A shame. Still, I don't think we can leave it at that. You are still unknowns intruding on our territory, after all~. Some concessions must be made."
"Well put, sister~," Cassandra immediately hopped on her sister's 'attack'. "Isn't it only right to give the rulers of the land you sit on something of a gift~?"
A cackling giggle bubbled within her chest. She simply couldn't help it. Adam had certainly piqued her interest tonight. A manthing-… no, a male like him didn't come along often. She'd certainly never heard of any man like Adam in her 70 years of unlife. The chance to get him in her debt was too great a temptation to pass up. Even the terrifying cinnamon roll beside him couldn't completely curb her desire. Mother always said it was her worst trait.
"Oh, I like gifts~!" Dani clapped happily, for once playing into her sisters' schemes, even if not on purpose. Her happiness and cheer were often very hard to deny.
"Well…" Adam hesitated, showing his first hint of weakness. No matter how confident he was to be whole, he was still new to these games of supernatural power.
"Nothing major, of course," Bela 'reassured', pressing the advantage. "Merely… a way to stay in touch. I'm sure Mother will be quite interested in a newcomer to Hallow such as yourself~."
Mavis worried at her lip. She couldn't argue that her cousin's request wasn't reasonable. They weren't asking for any promises or favors. Just an opening of ties. Still… She didn't like it. Neither did Ruby, frowning fiercely at the thought of her boyfriend and future hubby having any further contact with these sluts (other than maybe Dani…). She didn't even notice herself thinking of Adam as her 'boyfriend', such was her frustration with the vampires' perfectly reasonable request.
Adam nodded slowly, "I suppose… that doesn't sound too bad…"
"Wonderful~," Bela purred. "And, of course, know that our offer of aid is always on the table. For the right price~."
"Ehehehehehe~ Price-eep~!" Cassandra's involuntary, almost drooling giggle was cut off by a silver flash from Ruby's eyes. She quickly backtracked from there, her fear of Ruby overwhelming her suicidal desire, "P-Purely platonic price! There are lines we wouldn't dare cross!"
Ruby scowled adorably but relented, "Fine… But you're getting my number! Not Adam's! If you want something from him, you can go through me!"
Bela blanched at that, quickly trying to recover, "A-Ah, ah, that wasn't the deal. Mother would accept nothing less than a direct line."
"Tough," Adam backed up Ruby and reasserted control. "I trust Ruby completely."
Ruby's face quickly reddened to match her cloak and namesake. But even as she blushed and went 'awawawawa~!' inside, her glare at the vampire sisters never wavered. She could get all flustered about Adam being sweet later! This was important!
Bela and Cassandra were loathe to back down. Strangely enough, that made Dani the voice of reason, "Oh, just take it, Bela. It's hardly proper to ask for a boy's number and completely cut out his girlfriend."
When Dani got serious like that, her sisters knew to listen. Bela begrudgingly nodded, "Very well. We shall agree to compromise. You know where to find us anyway. You'll return. And when you do see reason, we'll welcome you with experienced hands, Adam Prince…"
Keeping a focused silver gaze on the sisters, Ruby scribbled out her number on a napkin. She assured herself that this way would leave any conversation they started on the back foot. Really though, she just didn't want the vampire sluts to see how few people she had in her contacts… That wasn't Ruby's fault! Friends were hard, okay?! And no one could ever measure up to Adam anyway! Adam, Yang, Dad, Yang's Mom Raven, and Zwei (yes, the perfect puppy buddy DID know how to text!) were all the contacts she needed!
"Right! Now, it's getting late! I've gotta get the humans home and tucked into those bed-things of theirs! Dani, it was good seeing you again! Bela, Cass… Well, bye!"
The moment that now-numbered napkin was exchanged, Mavis shot up out of her seat. She quickly took Adam and Ruby's hands and began dragging them away from her cousins. As she led them out of the room, she peeked back over her shoulder to stick out her tongue at the bitchier two-thirds of her cousins. Amused and flustered respectively, Adam and Ruby allowed themselves to be pulled along for the ride.
"Bye, Mavi~!" Dani cheerfully waved as her sisters bore their fangs at Mavis. "Bye, Adam~! Bye, Ruby~! It was nice to meet you~!"
"It was nice to meet you too, Dani-…" Adam called back a reply that was cut off by Mavis slamming the door to the club's backroom.
She just about collapsed against the solid wood for a moment, the usual exhaustion of dealing with her cousins catching up to her. No, it was worse than usual. Tonight had been one heck of a first outing from the castle. Having her new friends brought to her thieving cousins' attention was stressful! Still, her blood raced whenever Mavis thought about how Adam and Ruby had chosen her over the Bitches Two. Having loyal friends that she made for herself, how new and exciting~!
"Gosh~…" Mavis exhaled as if she were speaking to the door, a grin fluttering at her lips. That single, not-swear (Dad would have a heart attack…) word summed up her contrasting feelings on the meeting quite well.
"Okay, Mavis?" Adam asked.
"Peachy~!" Mavis spun around and beamed at him. "Especially now that I got you two out of there without being stolen~!"
"Stolen?" Adam raised an amused eyebrow.
"Hehe… Yeah," Mavis chuckled sheepishly. "Bela and Cass aren't too good about respecting my personal boundaries. I swear, they like taking everything I want!"
Adam nodded, "Well, that just makes me sure we made the right choice to stick with you."
"They really rubbed me the wrong way," Ruby bristled, puffing up her cheeks in a pout.
"Really?" Adam drawled with amused sarcasm. "You don't say? Yeah, I might have figured that out when you nearly cut out Cassandra's heart for making a move on me."
"O-Oh, God…!" Ruby paled and squeaked. "I-I did do that, didn't I?! Oh God, oh God, I almost killed someone! You're gonna think I'm some sort of violent woman! Oh no, you probably hate me now!"
Ruby moved to bury her face in her hands. Adam stopped her, taking hold of her hands in his and soothing her worries, "Hey, none of that, Rubes. I always knew you had a bit of spice hiding behind that cinnamon roll-ness. It's in the name, isn't it? Cinnamon? The point is, I'm hardly going to hate you for coming to my defense."
Ruby's eyes went wide at their sudden proximity, handholding, and Adam's words (T-Triple threat!), "Y-Yeah…?"
"Yeah," Adam confirmed. "So don't let yourself freak out over things that'll never happen, okay?"
"O-Okay…!" Ruby stuttered, jerking her head in a blushing nod.
"You two are so freaking cute~!" Mavis squealed excitedly, grinning at both of them.
"Well, Ruby certainly is~," Adam chuckled.
Ruby's mouth worked open and closed in shock but no words came out, "A-Awawawawa~…!"
"Still," Adam sighed. "I think that's enough excitement for tonight. We should probably be getting back and getting to bed."
"Oh, cookies and milk!" Ruby swore, pulled from her embarrassment by the reminder. "We have classes tomorrow!"
"Aww…" Mavis deflated slightly. "We'll do this again though, right…?"
"Definitely," Adam confirmed, nodding. "You're one of the only links we have to the supernatural world right now, Mavis. Certainly the only one we feel we can trust."
Ironically for a vampire, Mavis' smile lit up her face like the sun, "Heck, yeah! C'mon, I'll escort you back! No one's touching my new friends! Did I tell you two that you're my only friends?! Dad's friends and the stuffy old servants in the castle don't count. You're the first friends I made for myself! So I'm really glad you didn't get stolen away! Humans are so interesting~! I can't wait to learn more about you~! Did you know-…"
To Adam and Ruby's amusement, Mavis rambled on and on the entire way back to their dorms. She had so much energy that it was impossible to get a word in. But not unpleasant because of that. Especially considering how drained Adam and Ruby were both starting to feel from the rest of the night. By the time they got back to campus and parted ways with Mavis (exchanging contact info, of course), Ruby was practically dead on her feet. Only the Shadow kept Adam going strong. Otherwise, he was sure he'd be under similar strain.
Deciding there was nothing else to do and that Ruby wouldn't make it to her dorm on her own, Adam simply scooped Ruby into a princess carry. It was extremely telling that she couldn't even muster the energy to squeak or fluster at his intimate embrace. Yeah, she was going to spend the night with him. Adam wouldn't hear any arguments to the contrary, even if Ruby had been able to argue at that moment.
Of course, he wasn't about to take advantage of Ruby in her exhaustion. All he did was remove her cloak and shoes as he settled both of them into bed. It was a tight fit but they made it work. It helped that Ruby was small enough to lie all but on top of him comfortably. And tired enough to not raise any pointless protests. He'd deal with her inevitable embarrassment in the morning. For tonight, he just needed to cuddle with his best friend.
'What a night, eh, self?' Inky spoke up from the shadow of Adam's soul.
'Yeah…' Adam sighed mentally. 'It went… well though, right…?'
'About as well as could have been expected from your first foray into another world,' Inky agreed. 'There were some things that could use shoring up but they'll come with confidence and experience.'
Adam nodded to himself, '… So. Are we going to address the merging elephant in the room?'
'What's there to address~?' Inky chuckled. 'Feels good to be whole once more. It's as simple as that.'
'I suppose it is," Adam agreed after a moment of thought.
That thought settled his conscience for the moment. There would be other considerations, of course. He'd likely have a whole discussion with his Shadow tomorrow. But for now, all that mattered was that he was whole. It was a shockingly nice feeling to fall asleep to.
On his chest, Ruby had stirred with their sudden shift in positions. She'd come around just enough to recognize that she was now practically lying on top of Adam and hugging him like the world's bestest teddy bear. Her body didn't even have the energy to stiffen in shock from the realization. All she could do was accept it.
'Oh, pooh, how am I supposed to fall asleep like this…?!' Ruby sleepily worried to herself. The answer, as it turned out, was… 'quite easily'.
Just before dawn, a towering, statuesque vampire mistress heard tell of the unique newcomer to enter Hallow's supernatural scene. Alcina Dimitsrescu licked blood-stained lips and fangs as plots and plans sprung into her mind surrounding her daughters' retelling of their night. Lady D of Hallow, Mistress of the Night, had taken an interest in this… 'Adam Prince'…
"My my, I certainly don't find a good reason to say this often but… What a ~fascinating~ little manthing~…"
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