Chapter The Coming Calamity
Only a handful of people knew that ‘something’ was coming and among them only two outside of the King and Queen knew of it. Progressively they were sent out further and further to more remote locations, all long lost or forgotten places of history. Many were caves.
To his naive-ity when he locked away his mother’s body he did not know where exactly it was sent. At the time it seemed wise for no one to know, but from his grief he did not want to know. He sent the coffin away with the childish hopes that it would fade from his mind and and their problems. Many things he has done in his past Alucard looks back on with hindsight.
It acted as a switch. The moment their union was made global knowledge a force began to poison the air. The shadows were no longer safe for vampires and now it seemed that they were watching. Every person felt this uneasiness, this dread that came from all around and each felt the same.
Suffocating. As though all the air was unbreathable, this pressure coursed throughout all their bodies, weighting them with an invisible hand. The longer time passed, the more this force seeped into ‘life’ draining it of all energy and light. None could truly describe this feeling, but it caused tensions, uneasiness from nations to family members. When dawn came, it provided just enough relief to make it thru the day before night fell.
Alucard was the least affected by this poison--he had built up a resistance to it for centuries and had finally become numb to it. He was not the only one, he ‘friend’ from across the sea had also known this same evil. Often Alucard wondered when she would appear again, obviously killing Kira was not enough and knowing her she would aid in their mission. She was likely nearby, waiting, standing in the shadows searching for that feeling’s origin.
His daughter took it the worst, she was not used to this feeling she had been shielded from it by her father and late mother all her life. Eona shielded her the best she could, a times Elisabeth had grown ill (the fact a vampire could become ill was surprising) and would spend time over the toilet.
During this time Adam and Jake kept together. They organized human and vampires into a military force, one many human countries were taking as an act of aggression. They were assured of otherwise, but words did little to sway their closed minds and thus they were simply ignored. Others took the series of events seriously and aided the vampires in the building of this grand army. This was the union the Nightravens sought, that the First Reign once possessed on a scale. What they were preparing for still remained a mystery and once that was able to be looked over seeing how old Alucard was and the favorable relations the Nightravens have had with humans.
Cooperating with humans nonetheless was not desirable in Alucard’s opinion, but he gave no objection. He had long lost any idea of how to cooperate with a vast number of humans without using them and having the end result being their elimination. He continued to believe them inferior, untrusting beings who would turn the moment they saw something to suit their own means. They ‘always’ have and ‘always’ will. Just as vampire will kill to feed, its the undeniable nature of things. Fortunately for Eona, Elisabeth had not inherited her father’s pessimistic attitude.
'I suppose its good that you and I can now see eye to eye.'
Alucard leans over the table that displays the holographic projection of the next sector of terrain they search.
'I would not have asked humans for ‘help’, but you have figured out the means that they could be useful nonetheless.'
This cave was one in the Himalayas, a large and vast underworld with numerous dead ends and pathways. They had searched for years, going thru each break in the earth with the hopes to find ‘the’ path to the coffin’s location. Now it was easier, Syndicate no longer hid in the shadows and could cover ground will more people and speed.
Eona finished her conversation with a human colonel and shifted to Alucard. She two looked at the projection and then shuffled thru information collected over the years.
Eona did not look up, “If you try to communicate, you will find we have a lot in common. True some things are different, but nothing is black and white like you believe.”
Elisabeth was with the team of explorers. Aided by Jake they found that it Elisabeth could dive into people’s consciousness then she could likely locate them as well. It was not Sierra’s they were searching for, hers had shifted to the furnace, it was whatever resided within her...if it had a conscious. With nearly all of the heart’s ‘pieces’ back in the furnace there was an idea that perhaps they could speak to mother directly. The idea was thrown out when the risk of losing the furnace’s power out-weighted the chances of success.
'First time I tried to ‘communicate’ peacefully with humans my brother, mother, father, and lover died.' Alucard shot out aggressively
The Queen rebutted, “You need to stop blaming everyone for what a few did ten thousand years ago. Besides wasn’t it Dracula who killed Natas? And your lover was also a human wasn’t she?”
'As was yours, both whose lives were destroyed by humans or formerly.'
Eona shot him a dirty look after his last remark, which Alucard apologized towards seeing as that was partly incorrect. They continued to work without speaking to the other for a time, until the king made an out-of-character comment.
'Humans are so frail, perhaps that is why I find their inperfections so beautiful...'
Eona had not heard those words in time for an alert went off near the furthest end of the searching cave. From the Purebloods’ position they saw the feed from the helmets worn. From their position they could do nothing to save anyone.