Interlude: Walter

There was a certain time on the brink between the next day and today that often left many a person stuck in their abodes with their loved ones, and yet for a certain man, that was not the case.

Stuck in his office because there was nothing for him at home, he encountered someone who would change his life forever.

"You would have to sacrifice everything to achieve what you desire. Are you willing to pay the price, mortal?"

A creature of darkness, what could have been a demon, met with him in his lowest moments.

"I've already sacrificed everything–what more is there to take away from me?" he laughed and eyed the Vampire with a rancor of bitterness. "If I could give you my wealth, if there is any to be given, but your fortune is greater than mine. I'd offer my family–but they are already gone. Friends? Betrayed and stabbed in the back by a lot. Lovers I had none, given it all up for my lifelong work. So–yes, sure, do your worst, you fiend–try to strip me of something, because you'll find nothing but emptiness and only a desire to live."

"Hmmm..."

"Is that not enough?"

There was a frantic edge to his voice, a small quiver that he despised so much. Even more that he approached this one–or perhaps he had been found, but it didn't matter anymore.

He was running out of time–so limited, so mundane that even the most brilliant mind, the greatest and brightest fire, would succumb and end in the darkness.

There were methods to increase longevity, but even they could not stop the grasp of time on his person.

He was a mere Human.

Limited.

And so, despite his ascendance to fame because of his knowledge and humble beginnings–Walter F. Stein was going to die.

All of his works, both completed and uncompleted, would be stolen, grabbed by his rivals and distributed to the others, and everything would be for naught.

There would be no legacy, he was sure of that–and that was why it was up to him to ensure it.

Even if he had to make an actual deal with a Devil–or in this case, a Vampire.

Lord Cassius Blackwell sat down in the small office that belonged to Walter, a multitude of paper sheafs littered all across his unruly desk. Some clothes haphazardly disposed of in the corner, along with rats and other pests and vermin.

"You know, it is indeed quite a shame that humanity–your people fail to see how outstanding your work and research is," he said as he read one of the simple dissertations. "I'd say that this work is merely ahead of its time."

Walter could tell that it was laced in sweet poison, praises without any actual meaning behind them, and yet somehow he relished it. Wanted it. Recognition and validation–it was taken away from him.

"It is. The people are not ready with my ideas," Walter said as he rubbed his weathered beard. Only the dim light of a lantern shone on them, from actual fire, he couldn't even afford a single mana stone.

"Well, you clearly didn't know how to sell them." Cassius chuckled as he leaned back against the wooden, slightly misshapen chair.

Walter's gaze narrowed, and his nostrils flared. "I may have invited you–"

"And you did, splendidly so." the Vampire Lord clapped his hands and looked at him, eyes alight with mirth. "Not much I can do unless you let me in–or so they say, my friend."

It was tiring to go back and forth. Walter was already at his wit's ends and did not appreciate this Vampire Lord's carefree attitude, and yet he needed to do this.

"I just want to live more, I..." Walter's face broke down a little.

The weariness in his eyes, the dark circles underneath them and the wrinkles... betrayed his age more and more.

"Have many regrets?" Cassius Blackwell offered.

"Many mistakes." Walter corrected. "In my youth, I thought that if I took the right path, the straight path–"

"The golden way?"

Walter frowned at the Vampire but nodded slowly. His choice of words was sometimes peppered in with odd expressions, but Walter took them in stride.

"To summarize, because of my decisions to take the path that is just too slow and difficult–I've seen peers of mine succeed where I did not, even if they were less brilliant, but they succeeded where I was not because they knew people. They were born from rich families, had connections both in the nobility and realm of politics and which is why... I am in this decrepit state that I am now." Walter sighed and extended his hand slightly to gesture at their surroundings.

"Yes, you could actually call this place an outhouse."

"I would have thought that you would be more polite and formal–there's also a reason you agreed to approach me, right?" Walter folded his hands and looked at the Vampire seriously.

"Care to bring to the light what exactly you surmise?" Cassius Blackwell tilted his head, lips curling into a grin. "I don't need you as much as you need me."

"I've researched Vampires, and know why you need someone like me." Walter repeated.

Cassius' expression didn't shift, but he waved a hand. "Go on then. Try to surprise me with your human ingenuity once more. I still have to visit my Alchemist after this, so you better make it quick."

"The First of the Kind, Progenitor, was said to have all the powers of a Vampire... but the Vampires of today, even that of someone at your level, are more diminished than ever."

"Better be careful with your words, mortal. I have little patience and won't take it lightly if you displease me," The Vampire said with a smile.

"You're from the Blackwell House, and when you compare it to other more many and powerful Vampire Houses, like that of the Elaris, Apollos and Rune, you need all the support that you can get—"

Cassius Blackwell slammed a hand on the table, the fine porcelain flying off in all directions and then shattering its contents on the floor as laughter echoed out of his throat.

Walter's eyes widened as his perfectly palatable tea and the biscuits he prepared for the occasion were wasted.

"Listen here. I've heard similar tales of woes countless times now–and you lie well." Cassius Blackwell gave him a smile. He stood up and then reappeared at Walter's study table.

Walter's gaze widened, and he tried to protest, but it was to no avail.

The Vampire Lord skimmed over the notes with a modicum of a smile.

"I see most of your research notes pinned all over your walls like a madman, some crumpled and beyond compare, but there's one there in perfectly pristine condition, as well as a clean parchment and a terrible attempt at a reply."

Cassius Blackwell picked up the letter, glanced at a candle, and then let the flames eat up the parchment and turn them into dust.

"You try to paint a portrait of a man who's given up everything, and yet you cling to your pathetic mortal bonds like most of your kind."

Walter's expression flickered behind him, his hand curling into a fist and yet he knew very well what the Vampire was speaking of and tried to deny it despite wishing to save the letter.

"That–that's just a letter from my old friend in my hometown. There's nothing to it. She's just… checking up on me, so of course, since she's one of the few–I have to give a proper response."

"I'll give you a free two decades of increased lifespan and an additional youthfulness if I'm wrong, but I have every reason to believe that you're also a love-struck fool. Pfft… 'remembering ever so fondly the days in our youth'? Even someone like me can feel the longing written here. It's so palpable that it's embarrassing. Are you actually eighty years old or eighteen?"

Walter's face turned red, whether in anger, shame or both–he couldn't tell.

And yet the Vampire Lord didn't stop as he tore through the countless research papers and threw them into the ground.

"Research? Bah! You've wasted your life and you've come crawling to me for a chance to live again. To feel alive. Maybe it'll involve your research–maybe it won't. You don't actually care, you just care about making your life feel like it wasn't as worthless as you thought it was. To prove to yourself that it was worth it–and that this Mary who's now happily taking care of her grandson is someone you gave up… and that it was worth it because there's meaning to your sacrifice."

"That's preposterous! You can't just make assumptions out of nowhere–they're without substantial proof!"

"Well?" Cassius chuckled and sauntered over towards the man. He looked directly into Walter's eyes. "Shall we agree on the fact that I'm wrong? I'm too busy to validate my statement, so perhaps I can give you these extra years–all you need is some of my blood."

"Wait. Really?" Walter's tone took on incredulity.

"Sure, why not–I've taken pity on a hapless fool or two. However, if you wish to move past these dark thoughts that haunt your head? I may give you a far more enticing deal, if you'll embrace it."