CHAPTER 188

Noshiko softly smiled to herself when they all stood behind the table and listened to what she was saying as she started making dinner from the ingredients they prepared.

"But I guess the reason why Bloodborns are much more widely known than the Nosferatu is because the Nosferatu were so much fewer in number than any other vampiric species out there."

"So what started the extermination of vampires?" Tristan asked curiously.

Noshiko smiled wryly. "It was a lot of things actually. Fear, jealousy, greed, weakness, chaos; these were all reasons why they targeted the vampires, not that the vampires were the innocent victims in this – far from it. The vampires had an easier time multiplying their numbers than any other supernatural did and every single one of them were strong. And so they started building empires in different parts of the world – An action that blew up the already lit fuse."

With how malevolent and oppressing they were, enemies became allies and they started attacking any spearheading incoming vampire group around them.

"I don't think any of you will understand what it was like back then… how brutal the world was. Both worlds."

"Yeah, I can imagine. Some type of medieval/magic/horror era. What I would give to live in a time like that." Malia murmured dreamily and missed the stern look Noshiko sent her.

"To give you a picture; general Alpha werewolves were like Deucalion back then, and even some were more terrifying than he was."

"Who's Deucalion?" Kira was curious as she observed the look on Tristan's face.

"How do you know Deucalion?"

Noshiko snorted. "How wouldn't I know when a decent Alpha starts making moves in the supernatural world?"

She might not be anywhere as strong as Deucalion but she was once used to Alpha werewolves being that dangerous and more. A very very long while ago.

"That aside, from what I know, this started from long before I was even born. From the time history called the Dark Ages, before the climax that was the Middle Ages."

Ken, the history teacher/nerd, suddenly perked up at the beginning of a forgotten history lore.

"The beginning of the Dark Ages was when the supernatural world started coming to light… or rather the emergence of the mythical creatures was what started the Dark Ages." Noshiko's voice grew more melancholic as she started speaking that she was able to convey her emotions as a sensation to her listeners. "They were the purest of nature's extremes."

"Everything was at its purest back then; magic, arcane, werebeasts – they were the strongest of their species, even till date. Back then the human empires, those that prevailed anyway, did so with the help of these 'abnormalities' of nature. And if the humans fought each other for dominion, then you can already imagine the type of war the supernaturals fought. And that was when everyone became aware of THE vampire. Even after centuries after I was born, there was no documented writing concerning the First Sire as he was called, only stories from the older generations that were eerily consistent regardless of which part of the world you heard it from."

"I never knew the history was so far back that it dates to a thousand years. I was under the impression that it was a few centuries at most." Tristan said. The little information they got from Alan Deaton gave him the misconception that it was probably around the 1600s to 1800s, but Noshiko's next sentence explained why it was so.

"You're not exactly wrong in your assumption because at the end of the Dark Ages and the beginning of the Middle Ages, the history detailing the beginning 5th century and further down were completely lost and forgotten. And conversely, coincidental even, that was when everyone wanted to get a piece of the vampires."

"You have to know that during the time I was born, vampires were so few, less than a hundred in total, even after being in existence for over two centuries. In fact, it was during the 13th and 14th century that their numbers exploded that they became the most populated species after humans, which was also around the time the last bit of knowledge about the First Sire died away. Like even vampires then knew nothing about their originator."

"That sounds an awful lot like a conspiracy." Ken said, receiving rounds of nods from everyone, including his wife. "I mean, the timing is awfully convenient. Sure it's happened in the span of a few centuries but that wouldn't matter much with long-lived races."

"And you would be right in that, dear. Unfortunately, even I had no idea what was happening at the time. I was still a mischievous fox you see."

At this point, the food was already set and they were all sitting around the table, listening and patiently waiting in silence as Noshiko served them and slowly continued her tale after they started eating.

"The Nosferatu were the first species to fade out. I said fade out because even with their small numbers it's still impossible that they were the first to be killed off or driven to hiding – no ifs, ands or buts. They were just that terrifying."

Kira and her father gulped, totally immersed in the story as it satisfied every fantasy and history crave they had.

"With the Nosferatu gone, the Bloodborns rose up so fiercely that entire kingdoms were turned into craters of blood upon their passing. Only death and blood followed them. Without the Nosferatu, their only equal, holding them back, this single species singlehandedly caused the greatest bloodbath in the history of mankind. I guess the only saving grace everyone else had was that the vampires weren't united under one banner as they fought themselves just as they fought other, which was probably why they weren't quick to realize that they were being hunted by everyone else."

"But with everything you've said, it wouldn't have meant too much after they figured it out, right? Take the Bloodborns for example; if they were stronger than me as you say they are then they could have easily killed everyone coming after them, especially if they were in groups, or clans rather."

"Clans huh? It's been a long time since I heard that word being associated with vampires that I've forgotten about it. And yes, Bloodborns wouldn't have had problems with their persecutors if they weren't werewolves like Deucalion and stronger druids than the Darach, along with humans and other races. And you conveniently forget that even vampires, daywalkers and nightcrawlers both, have their own specific weaknesses."

Tristan groaned as he was forced to remember a very unpleasant memory relating to said weakness.

"… Vervain."

"One of the very many." Noshiko confirmed, causing Tristan to groan more.

"There are more?"

Noshiko chuckled at the amusing naiveté of someone she had thought terrifying, which wasn't wrong given what he was. "There are over 200 species of wolfsbane, over 50 of which are considered incredibly lethal to werewolves, now think about how many there would be for vampires."

Malia and Tristan's face blanked at her words and their minds immediately went to Hunters like Argent who were privy to these plants. Their grim thoughts were broken when they heard the chuckling of the Yukimuras who took some form of delight in their similar reactions.

Noshiko had to clarify before they pointlessly worried themselves. "Before you drown in the pits of your thoughts, I should tell you that one of the things they did right for a hunted race was that they destroyed most of their weaknesses they could find, unfortunately nature isn't that easy to overcome."

They both sighed but Malia tilted her head at something she was actually confused about that Noshiko suddenly mentioned. "What exactly does nature have to do with all this? Jennifer kinda made it clear that Trist wasn't exactly on mother green's good side."

Noshiko sighed but the look in her eyes said that she had expected such a question somewhere down the line. "Unfortunately I have no idea why that is. Like I said, I wasn't exactly responsible during the majority of my long life. From what I know however, only druids and some arcane practitioners knew exactly why that was and they called the First Sire the 'First Taboo' and 'Nature's Forsaken', and it just so happened that everyone who said those exact words died in less than a year."

"Sheesh, hearing about these guys is so scary. I don't think I'll be able to live in a world where they were freely running around without dying of anxiety or running mad from fear." Kira's body shivered as pictures of her mother's words formed in her head.

Noshiko only gave a vague smile at Kira's words, eyes shining with knowledge and experience no human could ever attain.

"What I just narrated was basically what certain groups of people at that time were privy to. A lot of things happened behind the scenes that never made it to the history books or ancient stories." She said as she stood up and started going around and taking away their used plates.

"The few vampires I knew and were close to never really spoke about what happened in the higher vampire clans or even any of their history so I never found out why exactly the vampires were so different from every other supernatural creature."

They all sat in silence after Noshiko left, digesting all that she'd said and making their own conjecture on what might and might not have happened.

"Mom, wait. Let me help with the dishes." Kira stood up and joined her mother in the kitchen. Even if she was still out of several mental loops, she soaked up everything like a sponge and resolved to think of them when she was on her bed or the next morning.

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