Nine Years Later

The lakeside town of Croix de Lune was once a beautiful village that graced the rural countryside of France. However in recent memory, the town had slowly began to deteriorate in light of the disastrous droughts and weathers that ruined their produce and farms while heavy taxation laws issued by the King himself drove the townsfolk into debt and poverty.

Though the town had lost its grace and soul, the townsfolk were stirred to life by uplifting news about a revolution standing up against these injustices. These news inspired hope and change within the people, driven toward the local pub in secret nightly gatherings to rally the people to a noble cause.

"It was the natural order, they claimed." A young man spoke among the townspeople gathering around the pub's fireplace. "They're born rich, and we're born poor. And that's just the will of God. It's the natural order for them to get rich by milking us dry with impossible rents and unpayable taxes. Just a week ago, the Marquis issued a series of ridiculous taxes in Croix de Lune and for what? To continue funding his elaborate parties with the other nobles from the cities. I've seen some villagers who are unable to pay off their taxes at all because they are just too poor. And you know what he did? Sooner or later he'll send around his uncultured thugs, disguised as debt collectors, to squeeze what few cents they have left against their will. And it will happen again and again. And here they thought it would remain like that until the end of time."

The young man in question had hair as bright and red like the fire in front of him. It crackled with the intensity of the ember in his eyes, peering through a wooden mask that he was known to never take off. The villagers eagerly listened to him, for he spoke a truth that was needed to be heard. Whereas the people around him held muskets, on his hands was a long halberd, with a makeshift cannon attached to the hilt, which he had no problem wielding.

"Well, the king thought it was his divine right to be king, but do you know what happened to him? He's been arrested, along with the royal family. The government in Paris has overthrown the monarchy and declared a republic of the people. To hell with the natural order! This... This right here is our time! The Marquis and his merry men had been hiding in luxury and delusions behind their high walls for far too long! In three days time, we shall march to his Chateau and make an example out of their unsurmountable greed. Gone is the time of kings, and so shall be the aristocrats! The time of change is nigh and we shall make it a reality! Vive la Révolution!"

"Vive la Révolution!" The people chanted and cheered along with him.

"Vive la Révolution!" said a young girl known as Maria, chanting alongside the crowd. Amongst the group who hid under dark cloaks to conceal their identities, she simply wore a bright pink dress without a care in the world. Her long blonde hair was exposed to the winds and her green eyes gleamed with inspiration and excitement. "You were excellent, Sebastian!"

Just as they celebrate, the group of revolutionaries were interrupted by a loud screech from afar. The group froze into a halt as they saw a group of misshapen-looking creatures approach from outside. As they near the pub, more of their distinguishing features came into view. They were nothing but huge beasts that look like undead direwolves. They growled terribly as their saliva senselessly dripped from their mouths. Their eyes were glowing red, the same color as their lust for blood. The world has a name for them: night creatures.

As the first among the horde of wargs leapt against the group, another young man tore off his green cloak and from his belt, he pulled out a whip and cracked it at them. He swung the whip with such force, that the creature's head was cut in half cleanly. The man kicked the dismembered head out of the pub and onto the clearing just as it pruned just seconds after. The other beasts visibly flinched as the young man left the pub and approached them without fear.

The strong winds of the night burst forth, and the leaves gave way for the moonlight to shine through. His dark brown hair was short yet danced along with the wind. He wore a blue coat strapped with daggers, his family crest sown onto his back. He opened his eyes, and a quaint fury loomed behind his turquoise stare.

"Go get 'em, Richter!" Maria cheered him on, clapping.

Richter managed a grin at his adoptive sister before he charged upon the horde of night creatures, with the family whip in his gloved hands, ready for a massacre.

Meanwhile, another group of beastly wargs appeared from behind the villagers, blocking their way out through the back. The villagers began to panic, but Sebastian and Maria swooped in to protect them.

"Everyone, stay together and hide somewhere safe!" He told them before turning to Maria. "Maria, if you will?"

Maria nodded with a mischievous smile on her face. A faint light appeared between her fingertips and quickly drew a bright circle with it. She managed to create a portal and out came two birds with feathers of red and gold, which she could control through moving her hands.

Sebastian aimed his spear directly upon the floor and, with one foot against the hilt and a flick of the trigger placed at the pommel, shot out a gust of wind from the cannon that sent him flying across the room and face to face with the night creatures. Still in mid-air, he fired the cannon once more as the strong recoil drove him toward the warg. With a swift strike, he cleaved the warg's head off and narrowly avoided the other one's claws. He began to quarrel with the night creatures, keeping in the distance with his spear while Maria's familiars attack them from the air, slashing them from the flanks whenever they can.

One of the bird familiars managed to slash a warg in its eyes, blinding them long enough for Sebastian to drive his spear straight into its temple, but it did not kill it immediately. Another night creature, a giant ogre wielding a hammer, tried to attack Sebastian from behind. But Sebastian was quick enough to swerve out of the way, as the hammer only hit its own kin in the face, leaving a messy impact against the floor.

Outside on the town square, Richter spun his whip around him to fend off the horde of night creatures charging upon him. He danced gracefully as he dodged their every move and cracked one hard hit upon their heads that managed the kill them instantaneously. He smirked the entire time as the thrill of the battle overtook him, with nothing ever coming close to harming him.

Eventually the night creatures were all dead but one. A greater warg with an assortment of blades and tree branches protruding from its blackened fur. The beast roared as it spewed fire upon Richter, who dodged it as he sprinted toward the beast like a hare. Before the beast could unleash another, the young hunter swiftly cracked the whip at its head, leaving a terrible gash on its face and blinding it.

Without giving the warg time to heal, Richter dove underneath the creature's belly and with his sword, he disemboweled its stomach as its innards spilled out at will. Weakened, the warg collapsed under its own weight as Richter climbed upon it from behind and faced the creature in its bright blue eyes.

"You may have won today, Belmont, but that victory won't last long!" It roared like a human. "The Lord of Blood will make the world rain blood and hellfire upon this feeble world and he will kill you along with everyone you hold dear!"

Richter raised an eyebrow as he unsheathes his sword from his belt. "As expected of a beastie, to babble about nonsense to save their own skin." He simply replied before decapitating the warg with the blade.

"Richter!" He heard Maria from afar. It seemed as though they were in trouble.

For Sebastian and Maria, the ogre was the hardest to take down. Not only did he embed Sebastian's spear deep into his own body so he couldn't pull it out at all, but he was also unfazed by Maria's constant slashes through her familiars despite being blinded and already full of deep scars. "It's a tough one!" She said, having fun throughout this entire ordeal.

As Richter couldn't get to them in time, he threw his sword in the air and kicked it in the direction of the ogre, stabbing and killing it in the head. The last of the night creatures crumpled to the floor dead, slowly fading away in a puff of smoke.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen," Sebastian told the crowd as he tore his spear out of the carcass. "... is how you stand against the monsters of the night. Let's give it up for Richter Belmont and Maria Renard, friends of the Revolution!"

The crowd managed to cheer again, this time for the heroism of the trio. Richter bashfully waved with an awkward smile over the unexpected applause while Maria openly bowed in a somewhat playful manner, her familiars were perched onto her arm.

"All right. That's all there is to this meeting. I'm sure some of you learned something today. But for now, we must take to our homes and get a good night's rest." Sebastian told the group.

At once, the people collected their things and began to leave the pub with better spirits. Maria summoned a portal for her familiars to return to and held onto Richter's hand soon after as they fix the damages in the pun.

"To be frank, I'm quite fascinated by your speech, Sebastian." Richter told his friend. "But I have to be honest, the pub is a terrible place to hold these meetings as wild night creatures easily find us here.

Sebastian merely sighed. "You're right. We'll just have to start holding them in the forest. But I'm just worried people won't come at all."

"Sebastian, these people are already scared enough by the constant taxations and night creature hordes." Richter replied. "Give them a rest, some time to ease their minds. They deserve that much."

Richter felt Maria tug on his shirt. "Yes, Maria?"

"Richter, what did the vampire mean by the 'Lord of Blood'?" Maria asked. "I overheard that big bad wolf talking about it and I wonder why."

"I've been asking myself the same question too, Maria." Sebastian butted in. "What did it mean about that, Richter?"

"Who knows?" Richter told them both, seemingly shrugging it off. "For all I know, that is a ridiculous concept."

"That would explain why there are more night creatures recently." Sebastian commented, rubbing his chin with his hand. "There must be something stirring them up somewhere. The Chateau, most likely."

"But why would they come here though?" Maria asked. "What's so special about a small town by a lake that's already in ruin?"

"Well, Maria. They must be here for Sebastian's lovely ham and beans." Richter smirked playfully. "They're pretty sensational and on top of that, it makes the local blood nice and smoky."

Sebastian could only make a face that was both horrified and impressed by such a joke. "Richter, you're still a branleur."

"Sebastian, what's a branleur?" Maria asked, tugging on Richter's shirt again. "You always say that around Richter, but I don't know what it means."

Richter and Sebastian looked at each other with flabbergasted eyes. "Well um... it means..." Richter panicked. "It's a thing you say to a friend like a funny nickname of sorts. It's... absolutely nothing vulgar, I promise you, and it's certainly something you shouldn't say to your sister. She's gonna kill the both of us if she finds out."

"Speaking of which, how is Annette?" Sebastian asked upon hearing her name. "I barely see her here lately. She doesn't even deliver our weekly rations herself anymore."

"Oh, she's terribly busy with her work nowadays, so she barely leaves the house." Richter told him. "She asked me to deliver the grain and wheat for her nowadays."

"That's just too bad. She's been of good help to the town. I really expected her to come with both of you tonight." Sebastian said. "But if any of you have time, do tell her that she's always welcome to join our meetings."

"Will do!" Maria replied.

"Let's not." Richter refuted. "She isn't fond of any talk or news related to the Revolution. I mean... after what happened."

Sebastian lowered his head as he remembered. "I understand. Just tell her I said hi when you do see her."

The villagers leave the pub in groups as Richter and Maria take their leave from the town. A few minutes into their stroll around the giant lake, they turn away from the road and into a path of silver stones leading into the dark forest. They follow the trail to where it ended in front of a pair of nearly-identical trees. On each side was a rune of concealment carved deep into the bark.

Richter reached out his hand between the trees to pull away an invisible curtain blocking the path. Maria went through first while Richter checked to make sure they alone before he joined her inside.

"What sort of excuse are you going to say to Annette this time?" Maria asked. "I'm curious, Richter."

When the mere thought of having to lie to Annette again came to him, Richter immediately went pale with fright. All the vampires he had slain until now could not compare to the utter madness in her eyes if she ever confronts him.

"Let's just say we went out alone for a walk around town And when she asks, we did NOT talk with Sebastian and we did NOT go to his revolutionary meetings, just an old-fashioned vampire hunt in the open. Got it?" He told her.

Maria nodded gleefully. "Sounds good!"

At the meadow beyond the thick forest was a large field of flowers gracing the grass. A flood of fireflies swarmed the land, scaring the darkness away. At the middle of the meadow was the Renard family home, a small stone house with only one floor and a red roof, stood alone by the lake and surrounded by flowers. The chimney was smoking, and the faint aroma of turkey and sweets filled the air.

Arriving at the porch, Maria was the first to knock on the door. "Annette, we're home!"

They hear footsteps approaching the door, followed by the lock opening. Richter gulped as the door opened. In front of them was a dashing young woman, around the same age as Richter.

She has her long blonde hair tied with a white bow. As usual, she wore a simple green dress, a dark corset decorated with gold floral patterns around her thin waist, and a pair of black boots underneath. On her neck she wore a necklace with a cross.

Her eyes, an emerald gem just like Maria's, met Richter's blue the moment she saw them. Despite what Richter initially expected, Annette Renard had the most beautiful smile upon seeing them and she greeted them with a welcoming hug.

"Quite the late hour, Richter. Where were the two of you this time?" Annette asked them.

"We uh..." Richter stammered as Annette stared deep into his eyes whilst waiting for an answer. All that preparation went out the window. "There's a..."

"We fought a terrifying vampire!" Maria stepped in. "Oh and it was splendid, Annette! You should've went with us!"

Annette diverted her attention back to Maria, whose hands were still wrapped around her. "Did you now? Well, you both must've had quite a day. Who's ready for dinner?"