Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 626: All new territory

Arlette let out a breath.

"So we have time then," she said.

By now, there was nothing about the situation that was hidden from Arlette. Even if Caius had neglected to tell her, then Delia had at least filled her in on the implications should Aurelius fail the challenge and die and thus knew how paramount it was to avoid that outcome.

"Well, that’s if any of my guesses are true. And if they are, it depends on if Nyx can play her cards right. Nothing is assured," Caius said and clenched his fist before he then said in a low voice,

"I should have been there."

Arlette said nothing for a couple of seconds and then she let out a sigh.

"I’m sure what you had to leave to do was important," she said. It sounded like a question.

"I suppose..." Caius said.

So Caius told her what he and the Leopolds had been up to. No longer bound by Athenodora’s order, he could also now tell Arlette why he couldn’t reveal his destination before.

"Oh, that bitch!" Arlette said with gritted teeth, "Pulling you from your home and life to save her ass while being so distrustful as to bind you to silence. Oh, I hate her!"

"I gotta say your anger feels a tad disproportionate given all you now know of her condition," Caius said with an amused smile.

"So you are going to get this cure for her, then?" Arlette asked with a searching look in her eyes.

Among the things Caius just told her was, of course, the Blood of Strigoi and how it was the one chance Athenodora had for survival. He also said it as an explanation for why, even though he really wanted to, he couldn’t head back to the Acheron Empire right that second.

Caius sighed.

"I suppose I will," he said.

"Caius," Arlette told him earnestly, "Be careful."

"You know I will—" Caius started to say when Arlette cut in.

"You’ll come back alive," she said, "You promise that, don’t you?"

"I do," Caius told her, "I promise."

Arlette looked a little more reassured and after watching her take a few breaths, taking in her beautiful face he hadn’t seen in weeks, Caius asked a question that leaped to the forefront of his mind.

"How goes Duval’s Task Force?"

Arlette let out a breath.

"Same old. Same old. Bogus investigations and fear-mongering to get the Nobles to cower at his feet," she said, "He has butt heads with your father recently demanding to meet with you. He says your retreat doesn’t matter when you have an imperial inquiry to answer to."

Caius laughed a little.

"How well is that working for him?" He asked and he already knew the answer.

"Not well," Arlette said and she was smiling as well, "He hasn’t been able to intimidate Lucian like he has the other Nobles. I suppose if he ever did get evidence of some wrongdoing on your part, that’ll give him leverage. Which explains why he really wants that inquiry."

"How’s Alexia?" Caius asked.

Arlette looked like she wasn’t sure how to address this so Caius helped.

"She’s allied with Leonce Duval, hasn’t she?"

"She has a vendetta against you. Well, against the Gold-Black Vampires. Duval is helping her hunt so, at least for now, their interest align," Arlette said.

"Hmm," Caius intoned.

Caius spent the next hour catching up with every single one of the ladies who were close enough to Arlette to talk to him through her Loqui-link. Emotions of longing and annoyance at the weeks of silence from Caius were most prevalent and there were promises of eventual reunions.

All in all, though, there was very little of their feelings toward one another that they could express through Loqui-links so a lot was left unspoken for that coming reunion.

When Caius turned off the Loqui-link eventually with a last goodbye, he just stayed as he was, feeling spent and at a loss. He allowed himself to dwell in the stupor long enough before getting up and stepping out of the cabin to join Philip at the cockpit.

As he walked towards Philip, Caius stared at the back of the Noble Emissary’s head. For a second, he second-guessed his plans but he shook himself out of it. It would work out. He was going to keep his promise of returning, no matter what.

•••

The length of the journey to the location of the Blood of Strigoi was a considerable one. The terrain below seemed to be constantly changing: from the greenery of a thriving forest to the red sands of desert to the sparse shrubbery of wilderness.

Athenodora, whenever she awoke from her trance to feed on Caius or just check on things, would leave Philip with instructions on the direction he should go to keep him on the right path. Caius remained at the Cabin to ensure he corrected Philip on the off-chance that he forgot Athenodora’s directions.

They were closing out on the second day since they had exited Venuzze when Caius had his legs crossed within the cockpit with his eyes closed. He reached deep within himself for the ever-present presence of Nyx’s darkness through which she kept an eye on him.

The connection itself was fairly standard for all vampires as their souls belonged to the Goddess the moment they were turned. However, not to toot his own horn, but Caius knew his connection to Nyx was a little more special. He had intrigued her during the battle against Belron and she had stuck close since.

Usually, Caius ignored the connection and her presence but he had use for it now. Alas, he had been trying for a good while now with no result. He didn’t give up though because he knew it was only a matter of time.

Sure enough, the presence within the darkness turned toward him and gave off a feeling of opening one eye lazily to peek at him with apparent disinterest.

’There you are,’ Caius thought toward the presence, ’Took you long enough.’

"~...~"

’I suppose I should start by offering my gratitude. You answered the call of my friends when they called to you. Your power even saved Delia from certain death. Of course, I know you didn’t do it out of the goodness of your heart but still—’

"~Offering gratitude and immediately backtracking? Amusing.~"

Caius smiled at having gotten Nyx to speak before too long. It had taken much longer the last time. Her ego seemed a little more touchy today.

’Well, we both know what you’re after by offering your help,’ Caius said, ’if anything I’m acknowledging that your ulterior motives don’t matter as much as the fact that you did help.’

"~Why have you sought me out now? Don’t think I’ve been unaware of your willful disregard for my presence.~"

’Would you have preferred I constantly dropped in for a chat? That I start each day with a pledge of devotion to your divine will?’ Caius asked with a smirk.

"~The first? No. The second? Absolutely. You could stand to perform more supplications to my Divine self.~"

’I’ll take that under advisement,’ Caius said.

"~I hope you will. Now, I ask again, why have you sought me now?~"

’How go the negotiations?’

"~You speak as if you could comprehend matters of the Divine—~"

’I’m here to help so the less gravitas that my ’poor human mind’ can’t comprehend, the better I think,’ Caius cut in to say.

"~Do not interrupt me!~"

There was a wave of anger that struck Caius and shook him to his very soul. Goosebumps appeared all over his body and there was an aura that descended upon the cockpit for a few seconds before passing.

Philip’s eyes moved to Caius, who sat cross-legged, and his lips pressed together in a hard line before he returned his eyes ahead.

Caius couldn’t remain stoic in face of Nyx’s flash of anger but he did manage to not let it shake him enough to cower.

’Okay,’ he said simply.

"~How could you possibly help me?~"

Caius took many breaths to calm his agitated heart so his thoughts could be clear as they traveled to Nyx’s dark presence.

’I know you’re in negotiations with Aether and Hell. You’ve been dragged into two incidents without proper knowledge of what’s going on so you’d be a fool to not have questioned them already. You are many things Nyx, but you are no fool.

Am I wrong?"

"~You haven’t answered my question.~"

’Mention the Vera Accords to Aether and Hell and you’ll have them ready to listen to every word you have to say. They’ll be ready to concede your conditions. So long as it doesn’t nullify the contract they have in place already, of course.

Even if Hell is fine with it all falling apart, Aether certainly isn’t."

In the original canon, it had taken so long before Aurelius began getting help from his companions, and by then, they were all capable in their own right so they never needed to call on the Goddess of Primordial Darkness. Especially not when Caius, in the original canon, was making a point to reject his vampiric nature. His shunning of that part of him of course included Nyx who created vampirism in the first place.

This was all new territory. Maybe Nyx would have figured it out herself and managed to convince Aether and Hell on her own but Caius couldn’t take the chance that she failed.