A Basis

Carmilla sends swarms of bats after me. I use my Angelus Frame to fend them off. Then a large claw comes from above. With my wings, I dodge to the side. She transformed her right arm into that size. That's the first I've seen that. And she can retract it very fast.

Using that same power, she launched a giant punch at me. The way to escape is up but then she chases me using her more powerful wings.

I can't beat her alone! "Nisha!" I scream as I hide behind the pillars. "I need your help!"

Carmilla laughs as she destroys the pillars. "She won't listen to you! We belong to each other. Isn't that right, Nisha?"

Upon flying higher, I see Nisha's hopeless face as she sits and whimpers on the ground. I understand that losing Algron is a lot for her to take in but she has to gather herself and don't let his sacrifice be for nothing! "He died for your freedom, you know!"

I'm certain that she can hear me from this distance but she's acting as if she can't. Ugh! What a crybaby! I dive down, landing in front of her then lift her to stand up.

"GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!!!" I roar. She flinches but my words could not reach her. For she has gone deep in the sea of sorrow. "Nisha!" No matter how I shake her, she won't listen.

"Keep your hands off her!" the witch squeals.

I grab Nisha as I dodge. She could've been crushed if I didn't. Then I throw her away to a safe place and make a run for it. Carmilla is pursuing me everywhere in the castle. She gets angrier because more and more things in her castle get decimated even though she's the one who's doing it! What a stupid bitch!

Alright. . . We now have a chance to beat her. I have one grenade with me and two magazines with eight bullets each—that counts as sixteen shots. They can be automatically replenished but it would take hours. The odds are barely working for me but I'll take it no matter how small. The plan I have in mind is risky but the only one I could think of. Let's get started.

Striking the ground with my feet, I brake and turn around. Then I duck, punch her face with the muzzle of my pistol, and destroyed her face with a single shot. It buys me time to turn around to get back to the throne room. While I'm at it, I overcharge the grenade with my Angelus blood. Okay, that'll do it.

"Why you!!" she curses, catching up to me.

I have arrived now and it irritates me so much that Nisha is still in that state. No worries. The thing I'm about to do is gonna burst her eardrums. Let's see if she can keep weeping like a baby then. I just gotta say, this is a tough job you left me with, Algron.

The nearest Darken stone is my target. I fly there and then punch it using Algron's Frame. It falls into the glass throne. My fears of it floating back to where it sat didn't come true. It's there, sitting on the throne as if it belongs there. Carmilla sends her bats after me. Argh!!

She used them as a distraction! I'm too late to dodge her! The consequence is I get smashed deep into the tower, destroying the spiral staircase until I hit the ground.

*Gasp*

My ribs are broken! Argh!!

Up above, she descends. I hurry picking myself up to run away. I'm already out of the tower but the blast still makes me trip forward. Then I see Nisha deep in her sorrowful thoughts again. My anger is gathering and I channel them to my legs and wings to launch myself to the next Darken Stone. The pain I feel from that blow is numbing. However, not enough to ground me.

<>

**

"The most beautiful things are found out there, my little one," said a woman to her daughter as they sat on a chair near the window. The daughter was sitting on her lap. "When you get big enough, I'll show you my favorite places."

The waves of the sea are shimmering from the fiery volcanoes in the distance. The volcanoes let out low rumbling sounds that sounded like the growling belly of a beast. The wind was entering through the window slowly like a cold unwanted visitor. It reeked of ash and salt.

"We have to cross the sea?" the daughter asks as the faint lights of the erupting volcanoes shimmered in her eyes.

"Yes, and it's a long way. Sea monsters sometimes will rise to the surface and voyage with you. But don't you fret. We're too small to be considered as a meal for them."

Still, the little girl shivers, "Scary. . ."

Then the father entered the room through the door. "Very scary, indeed," he smiled. "They will gnaw you!" She laughed as she was being tickled. "And bite your head!" He kissed her head a lot of times. "And devour your mom!" He kissed his wife on the lips.

While their daughter was giggling so loud, the wife whisperingly asked, "Is it ready?"

He nodded, touching both of his ladies' cheeks. The daughter was confused when her parents all of a sudden stared at each other for a while.

After that, they went outside. The mother and daughter rode on the boat on the shore. The father pushed it forward to meet the sea. Although shabbily-made, it floated well enough for the three of them to ride on.

"Where are we going?" asked the daughter.

"Somewhere beautiful, my little Nisha," she answered with a soothing voice. It helped eased the little girl's fear. "Can we do a pinky promise?" the mother asked.

"Mhmm!" Nisha nodded.

"I want you to remember these words, so repeat after me. 'I will always be a vampire no matter what.'"

"I. . .will always be a. . . uhmm. . ."

"a vampire," the mother reminded.

"a vampire. . ."

"no matter what."

"no matter what."

"Now, you say it."

"I will always be a vampire no matter what."

"That's my girl!" They laugh and the mother hugged Nisha so warm and tight as if it was the last time.

For it was. . .

Upon arriving at the shore, little Nisha has fallen asleep. Her mother carried her all the way to the dry land. The father spread a blanket and they put her there, comfortable on the softer sand. And at her side, a wooden bottle containing the last Anthropa blood in all of Shannia. And it was for Nisha to have alone. They kissed her cheek before leaving.

The father pushed the boat back to the water while his wife was on it. She was looking at where they left their daughter. It was too much to bear. Her tears gushed out and she could not wipe them all with her hands. Her husband stopped rowing just to embrace her. He too shed a tear.

"I want to go back," she sobs.

"No, we have to do this. Remember that this is all for her—our beautiful Nisha. One of us might go mad and could hurt her over one cup of blood. You saw this happen to others."

"I know, but I still want to go back and tell her how much I love her! She might think that I don't because we abandoned her!"

"No, she'll understand, my love. She'll understand." He held her tighter until she calmed down. Then he continued rowing.

They arrived at a volcanic island and climbed to the mouth of the volcano. The fires and ashes welcomed them too warmly. Rivers of lava and clouds of ashes cover the entire island. And right at the crater, they saw a vast lake of boiling lava.

Holding each other, they jumped. The volcano became their grave. Though their corpses will never be found.

**

<>

That's the last of the Darken stones. Now, they're all piled up right on the throne.

*Guhh* It cost me a lot. I'm all drained and injured. . . But I'm this close! Not a time to be lazy!

"YAAARGH!!!" the bitch wails, tailing me as I descend closer to the Darken Stones.

Then this annoying set of words keeps running in my mind and fuels me to push through my limits. Nisha said to me a while ago, "Come back to me when you finally have a basis for your confidence, then I'll be convinced."

I turn around and shoot all of my remaining bullets at Carmilla's face and shoulders. Then with my Angelus Frame, I give the last of my strength to this one last punch. It sends her crashing through a wall over there. Now's the time!

"NISHA!!!" I yell as I pull the pin of the overcharged grenade. She's still fucking lost in her mind and it infuriates me! Well, this better wake you! "You want a basis? THEN HERE YOU GO!!!" I throw the grenade inside the heap of Darken Stones.

"NOO!!!" Carmilla screams as she charges at me too late.

What an idiot, chasing me around instead of scattering the Stones. Well, this is your loss!

The grenade explodes at the same time Carmilla reaches me. It is an enormous explosion, so bright that I can't see anything but white light although my eyes are shut. All I feel is something piercing my stomach. But this pain is nothing great. I have felt more pain than this. . .

<The Seven Darken Stones: Completed>

<New Objective: Kill Carmilla>

<Description: Carmilla is now vulnerable and weaker. It is now possible to kill her.>

Later, I see Nisha's worried face as she pats my cheek. She saying something that I can't hear. I turn my head to the left and see that Carmilla has turned into a gargoyle-like creature. So old that her skin and face are so crumpled. She's desperate to piece together the Darken Stones. They have been shattered into millions of pieces. . . it is impossible. . .

I think I'm gonna faint but I still have something to say to Nisha. Striking a smug, I say, "Are you convinced now?"