Darkness From The Past

Shin opened his eyes and looked down, seeing Ase asleep on his chest and curled like a cat. She is indeed a cat and would act like one. He might've told Arachne off, but he can't do anything about Ase for now.

He reached forward with his hand, patted her head, and rubbed her back. "A cat indeed. Rest well, the past few days have been exhausting and painful." He smiled, "And scary, it had a lot of water, you must've been terrified."

"You deserve a good night's rest." he closed his eyes, letting her remain asleep where she chose. Right now he wasn't much of a fighter, unlike beasts he had no claws or fangs, magic was a thing, but he couldn't have survived this long if not for her protecting him.

Two hours into the night, Mary walked out of her room with a candle in her hand. She looked around the dark hallways, awaiting something as the candle fire flickered.

"I'm here." A voice whispered from outside the window, "Can I enter?"

"You can." Mary approached the window and Asrin walked in wearing a tight black combat suit and a dark mantle. "I got the Freddy moving, we'll set off tomorrow."

"Who's Freddy?" Mary lifted an eyebrow but it only took her a second to realise who Asrin was talking about. "The prisoner…I never asked about his name."

"I usually never do as well, but this time I wanted to know where he comes from, his family and connection so we can use some as hostages." Asrin leaned on the wall, "Sadly we got nothing, he's probably an orphan picked up by the empire."

"What do you mean?" Mary glared at her.

"I tracked his lineage, apparently his mother is a citizen from out kingdom, and his father was a soldier of the empire." Asrin growled, "She lived in a village that was plundered thirty years ago and disappeared."

"Those bastards…" Mary growled.

"What happened with you seem to have been going for far longer than we would've ever expected. I came to get a blood sample from the woman you keep with you, I want to check her as well." Asrin approached Mary, "Where is she?"

"Down in the basement…" She walked with her, "If you want to check her…"

"I've seen some reports when I took my position ten years ago, they were old and forgotten but they talked about a certain noble called Flion from the empire." She looked at Mary, "He suggested a plan to use the kingdom's children against it."

"What?"

"Kidnapp women from the border, get the kids and raise them in an orphanage and say the kingdom killed their families, and then put those kids as soldiers in the border when they grow up to pillage the empire through sheer hatred." Asrin, looked out of the window at the blue moon, "A soldier driven by such emotions won't need orders to raise hell. For all he knows we pillaged and violated his family, he's just doing the same to us, not knowing that it's all planned by that bastard Flion."

"The empire's people are suffering so they won't make good soldiers, they often flee the battle and seek refuge with us, so he's making soldiers fueled by hatred who can fight to the death." Mary scratched her head, "We must put a dagger in his heart and end this."

"Killing Flion alone won't fix the problem. Since this has been going for so long and seems to be working, I bet the empire fully backs the idea." Asrin sighed, "The old reports looked far too outrageous to be believed, but now with what evidence I've found, it's most likely my predecessor was right on the money."

"I can't blame who dismissed the idea thinking it's too disgusting to be true…What will you do with him?" Mary looked at her.

"For a starter, I showed him the old documents and where his mother came from. Of course, I used truth magic to prove the documents weren't forged." Asrin and Mary reached the basement door, "He refuses to believe it, but it's already getting into his mind. He should make his mind by the morning."

The two walked into the basement and looked inside the woman's cell, finding her curled on the hay and sleeping. "Had to use a sleep dart on her. She shouldn't wake up." Mary opened the door and Asrin walked inside.

Asrin lifted the woman's wrist and her fingernails suddenly elongated into claws, which she used to draw a few drops of blood into an empty potion bottle. "Should be enough,"

"I thought you'd need more blood." Mary looked at her with a smile.

"I'm a vampire, I know how to work with blood better than anyone else." She then looked at Mary with a smile, "And speaking of blood."

Mary giggled, "Want some of mine? Again?"

"Just a bit. Your blood is not something I find every day." She approached her, "A virgin ex-nun blessed by the goddess Mira, you're young as well, never had any broken bones, and the cherry on top, you're willing to give me your blood."

Asrin then gasped, "Wait! Don't tell me you're not a virgin anymore, damn it, that bastard you've been hanging with." She growled, swearing she'd make Shin regret messing with her favorite snack.

Mary giggled, "I'm not that easily done for. I'm still a virgin." She extended her hand to Asrin, "You can fill a whole potion bottle if you want. For your help."

For some reason, Asrin looked a bit disappointed, "You know…I'm happy that I'll still get your blood at it's best but…as your friend I find it quite concerning that even with your beauty you couldn't score one man yet."

"Make your mind and stop messing with me…" Mary sighed.

"Me being happy or not doesn't matter." Asrin stared at her, "I'm an immortal vampire, you're a mortal human with a short life. You might as well die in tomorrow's mission so make the best of your life while you're alive."

Asrin approached Mary's hand and grabbed it with both hands, she then pushed it back to Mary's chest. "I'll not drink your blood any longer. Go get a life, he's upstairs, right?"

"What are you talking about?" Mary sighed.

"Life is short, so live today as if it's your last day, eat your food as if it's your last meal, and make sure to treasure the people around you for they might not be alive tomorrow." She patted her back and walked away, "The only ones allowed to fool around are monsters like me… not fair maidens like you."

Asrin disappeared into fine red mist, leaving Mary alone.

Mary closed the woman's cell and went upstairs, making her way to Shin's room.