Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Illusions ❯ Dark Master ( Chapter 43 )

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Shattered Illusions

Chapter 43: Dark Master

By: Melissa Norvell

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Copernicus stumbled around haphazardly after being released by the cuffs, clutching his head. Pounding pains assaulted his mind, and glowing rings around his irises flickered on and off as he tried to will the possession away. Above anything, the vampire couldn't let Hizaki get into his mind. He was not going down so easily. "No...This was all just your scheme, wasn't it?"

"You may be a prodigy, but you have a lot to learn," Hide smirked. He quaintly got up, as if nothing bothered him and it was a normal day at the office.

The Inheritor groaned and his body shook as his eyes slowly panned over to the fallen girl that he had brought with him. "What did you do to her?"

"She's far too weak to help you. I nearly drained all of her energy. The poor thing can barely speak, much less anything else. She's of no help to you. All she can do is watch as you fall under my power," Hizaki smiled, waiting with baited breath as his possession slowly took hold of Copernicus' mind. Today would be the day that they finally were able to conquer the vampuric race. It would be the day that they were able to put the humans in their place and exact the Time of Ending.

Nothing was going to stand in their way.

"Tsubomi..." Copernicus' voice was husky and tired as he mentally battled the drag queen for control of his brain. "I'm so sorry..." However, it was a battle that he was quickly losing. Soon, the rings reappeared around his irises. They blazed a brilliant neon, signifying his possession. The mighty Inheritor king fell to the invasion and was overpowered by his enemy.

His body jolted, straightening up and assuming a subservient position as he stood proudly with his arms to either side, looking ahead with a blank expression.

"You're highness...I'm so sorry..." Tsubomi's eyes had cracked open just in time to see her master overtaken by the two. Her body felt like a led weight and she could barely move. It took all of her energy to move only a few inches and even after that she was tired.

There was nothing she could do.

Hizaki cackled, standing behind her with a look of pure elation written on his face. "Your plan worked perfectly, Hide. Now the king is under our complete control! This is bliss!" He clasped his hands together in delight. "How I have waited for the day in which you bowed to my feet, Copernicus J. Wittenburg!"

The brunette placed a hand over his chest and uttered a phrase that Tsubomi never wanted him to say. "Yes, master," he then uncharacteristically bowed his head.

It pained her to see him submitting to them. The real Copernicus would never treat them like that! He would never bow to them at all!

'What's wrong with me? I can't think. It's like I'm clinically brain dead or something. I can't move and my body feels like jello. Copernicus...I wanted so much to help you but, I have failed again as your knight and donor.' The moment that he needed her the most, she wasn't there. No matter what she did, Tsubomi could never help him in the way that he helped her.

Hizaki turned, looking down on her with that same coy smile that he had before. "Maybe you should have stayed possessed, then the two of you could be together as slaves for us."

"You're sick..." There was no way in hell that she was going to go back to that lifestyle.

"Thank you," Hizaki primped his blonde locked and batted his long eyelashes at the girl, "and thank you for being the one to accompany him. You fell right into my trap. If it were anyone else, I might have had a problem but your mind was already in such a state that I could easily crush you. You'll stay this way for a long time so you're not a threat to me. You're just annoying to deal with." That girl had been the bane of his existence since he had met her. It was time to get her out of the way permanently.

"What are you doing with him? Are you going to kill him?" Tsubomi's groggy voice reached the ears of the vampire.

"For now, he'll be our puppet and we'll use him to crush his own knight organization. Now that we have him on our side, you'll watch him destroy your precious friends," Hizaki was certain that Tsubomi would love to see her world fall apart. It was about time their perfect little union fell into ruin.

Tsubomi's eyes widened in horror as she realized how stupid she was for falling into such a horrible scheme. Copernicus was going to have everyone's deaths on his shoulders and it was going to be all her fault. She felt so hopeless and terrible. If she had any strength, she would have cried. 'What have I done? I should have stopped you. I should have kept you from coming here. Copernicus...I really screwed up this time.'

Hide walked over to Copernicus, taking slow, graceful steps as he looked into the possessed eyes of his newest captive. "Despite it all, you are still a foolish boy. However..." His red eye narrowed as he stared harder at the king's face. "You are a worthy tool. It's just regretful that I had to take away the use of that marvelous analytical brain. We could have made use of that. Now..." He glanced over to the girl that lay useless on the ground. "What shall I do with this one?"

"I'll take her," Hizaki offered. "I want her to watch as her lover kills her friends." More than anything, he wanted that girl to suffer like she never suffered before.

'I don't know how to get out of this. Please, everyone, be careful of Copernicus. I don't want any more of your to die.' Tsubomi could only pray that her friends were careful and watched themselves around her master. Right now, all she could do was put all of her faith in them and their abilities.

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Worry crossed Millie's face as she glanced at one of the clocks on the wall. The more time flew by, the more nervous she got and the more she thought about the possible outcome of Copernicus and Tsubomi's predicament. Was it really such a good idea to just send the two of them out to face Hide like that? No matter how much faith she wanted to put in her friends, Millie couldn't help but think about what a mistake she had just made. "It's been a while, nearly the whole day, actually. Do you think that Tsubomi and Copernicus are still facing off against Hide?"

"Who knows?" Horatio shrugged. "Shiva did state that the card didn't give an allotted time frame on it." They could have to wait for all they knew.

"Well, crap, how are we supposed to even know when to go and look for them? I mean, when is a good time and when isn't? How do we determine that?" Millie wanted to know. How long was too long? When should they act? How long did they have to be gone for them to start worrying?

"I'm not sure," and Horatio wasn't helping at all.

"That doesn't help any," the school girl sighed.

"I know I'm not much help. I still feel badly about Prince Yale," Horatio looked at the floor in shame. Nothing hurt him more than the moment he had to stare his prince down as his body hit the floor.

"Yeah..." It was a painful subject for Millie as well. "I know...Me too...Even if he didn't talk, I miss him being around. He always understood my problems. I still don't even know how to act knowing that he wanted to marry me." It seemed unreal to her.

"I feel as if I have failed all of the Wittenburg family, except for King Copernicus. I never knew him like I did the others, so knowing him now was a great honor. To know the kindness of the royal family is truly an honor, since I was not nobility when I met them." It was every commoner's dream to serve under the vampuric royal family, and the fact that Horatio got to live out that dream was an amazing thing. He was truly lucky just to have the chance to be in their presence, let alone meet them and stay be their side.

"How did you get affiliated with the royal family?" Millie was curious. Horatio sounded a lot like her when she thought about it.

"You see," he began to explain; "I was not always a vampire. I was born a human boy, and when I was young, my mother was a donor so she frequented her master. Once, however, when I came home from high school I ran into something that no one wants to see their parents go through."

The horror of that day played in his mind with striking clarity. It was a moment in his life that he would definitely never forget. Horatio would be haunted by the memories of how he came to be for a life time.

"Mom, I'm home!" A young boy with short, wavy green hair shouted as he opened the door to a quaint little house with a wood interior. Instead of being greeted with a bright environment, the house was strangely dark inside. There were no lights, no voices, nothing that made it feel like a warm home.

"Mother?" The child was worried. This wasn't what his house was usually like this at all. When he would come home regularly, his mother would be doing chores, soft lights would give the home a warm feeling and her oft humming could be heard throughout the house. Horatio glanced through different rooms, searching for him mother. In each one, he found nothing. Running through the house, he frantically looked around the room. His eyes darted to every nook and cranny.

And then, he walked into the kitchen to find that his every nightmare came true.

His eyes widened in fear as he stood in the doorway of the kitchen, Before him, was his mother laying on the ground and on top of her were two vampires, feeding from her neck. "Mother!" He exclaimed as the two vampires' heads shot up and looked at him. They jumped from their places, leaving her lifeless body. Before he could try and run, they had already got to him. Their teeth sank into his body as he let out a scream of anguish.

"I was turned by them when I was only fifteen," Horatio finished his story.

"Who? Was it your mother's master?" Millie wondered why in the world would change him.

"No, it was his enemies. They killed my mother to draw him out and then he killed her master too. I was left confused, horrified and convulsing in pain on the ground as my chromosomes converted and I nearly died four times," his voice lowered. These memories were painful, and something he would never forget. He kept them in his mind, locked away from the world.

"You mean...You had to deal with that by yourself?" Millie was shocked that he was even alive. Horatio must have been really resilient to put up with that.

"No one could help me. No one was around." It was just him, battling the odds on his own.

"What about your father?" His mother was the only one who died. Surely, he had other people in his life.

"My father was a soldier. He was deployed to a foreign country when my mother was pregnant with me and he died in a bombing with I was two." There was no one else. Horatio never got to know his father beyond the image on a photograph.

"So, you really were on your own," Millie's head lowered. She could only imagine what kind of pain that Horatio went through, and the fact that he was all alone sent a whole new wave of pain through her. She felt so sorry for him.

"Not only that," Horatio added, "I had to deal with my urges. It was so hard to deal with myself back them. I wandered through the streets, half starved and consumed by bloodlust. I wanted to attack anything that walked past me, and then I met Prince Yale."

No one was there to teach him how to deal with his urges. No one could teach him what to do, or about what he was at all. Most newly turned vampires ended up turning into something beastly and animalistic, only driven on bloodlust and that was exactly what happened to Horatio. He lived a life as a parasite on the streets, but of all of the encounters he had, the boy remembered running into the prince with striking clarity.

The rain poured down from the sky, it soaked through his clothes and matted his green hair to his face. His chest heaved as he darted down the alley. He inhaled sharply; droplets of rain were sucked into his mouth as his body burned. Horatio was wild-eyed and seeking shelter from the storm. Glancing back for just a moment, he suddenly felt something collide with him. His body jolted and flew backwards as his feet slipped out from under him and he collided with the wet, slick ground with a smack.

Prince Yale stumbled backwards, dropping his umbrella in the process. Out of the darkness, two of his royal guards rushed to his side, asking him if he was alright and picking up his umbrella to hand back to him.

Yale blinked a little as he laid sights on the boy in front of him. "It's a boy...He looks as if he's been starved to death." With a sympathetic look, the prince walked over to the fallen male and knelt close to him. He reached forward and brushed a bit of hair from his face. "He's hungry and exhausted.' Yale noticed that the boy's mouth was open and stared at it for a few moments. 'What is this?'

"Is something wrong, your majesty?" One of the guards asked, taking an unsure step forward.

"This boy is a vampire as we are," Yale told them.

"He's probably a newly converted vampire. What a pity," the guard shook his head sympathetically. "He'll probably die soon if he doesn't get some blood."

"I want the two of you to take him back to the castle," the prince ordered as he stood up. Both of his guards were shocked. They couldn't believe that he would take a rouge in like that. Yale knew nothing about this man. He could be an enemy or a spy.

"Surely you can't mean that! Your majesty! You could be making a mistake! What if he's from a rival group who wants to see you dead?" One of his soldiers was concerned with the Prince's safety. He didn't want anything to happen to the prince or the royal government.

"Then we'll turn him to our side," Yale replied.

"But, your majesty-" the soldier tried to protest, but he was cut off.

"It's not your job to question his highness' orders," the other guard glared at his comrade with a look that seemed to just scream shut up.

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Horatio woke up in a large, exquisite room. For a moment, the boy thought it was a dream that he would end up in a place like that. The air smelled of roses and fresh linens, and the soft playing of a classical tune played in the background. Soft, silken covers touched his cold, wet skin and for once, he felt rested. Turning his head, he saw the prince sitting beside of him. Yale was perched on an intricately carved chair and stared at him with eyes of relief.

"You're awake. I'm glad. You had me worried, there," Yale held a hand to his chest with a quaint smile.

"Don't move too suddenly. You're still malnourished. To answer your question, I'm Prince Yale Axis Wittenburg. May I ask who you are?" The prince put his hands up, not wanting the wounded and starving man to move more than he had to.

"I'm Horatio Pendragon Greenchapel."

"You have such a distinguished name for a commoner," Yale was a little shocked at that.

"You're a prince, really?" Horatio could hardly believe it.

"Of course," the noble nodded.

"Where am I?"

"You're in Mordred Castle in Ramada."

Horatio looked over to see a large glass full of a dense, red liquid. The smell of metal wafted to his senses, driving his desires crazy as they heightened. "That's..."

"Yes, it's blood. It's for you," Yale gestured to the glass as the green-haired vampire snatched it, gulping it down as quickly as he could. The red essence poured down his throat, cooling his heated esophagus and quelling his lusts.

"You really can't control your urges, can you?" The prince noted at how hungrily he lapped it up. Horatio truly showed no finesse when it came to gobbling down the fresh liquid. He was so animalistic in his actions. Yale had never seen anything like it.

Horatio immediately felt shame as he realized just what he had done. Looking down, he thought about his actions. Why did he act like a raging animal with no manner in front of a blue blood? Had he no class? "I don't know what to do. I was turned into this by my mother's killers. I have nothing to hold on to anymore."

"What if I taught you to control your urges?" Yale offered him the chance to become something more than an animal. "I am also a vampire, so I know how it is."

"You are? Were you turned by me?" Horatio felt a sense of panic run through his blood. What had he done? Had he really turned the royalty of Ramada into a vampire?

"No, I was born this way."

"So," Horatio blinked, "you've been living with it all of your life, haven't you?" He was actually shocked to know that, considering the life expectancy of an inheritor vampire.

"Yes, I have. I know how you must feel and I want to help you," Yale was being genuine. He had always had someone who was there to talk to him about his urges, to understand him when he had questions. He wanted to be that to Horatio.

"Thanks," the green-haired vampire cracked a smile, "I don't know how I could ever repay you."

"You can stay at my castle until you can be on your own." From this moment on, Yale would try and rehabilitate the other vampire and teach him how to live on his own. He wanted his people to thrive and the newly turned to learn to adapt to their surroundings so that they didn't wander around like vicious animals, disrupting the natural flow of society and trying to bite anything in sight.

Horatio bowed in his sitting position, his head nearly touching his legs as he thanked the prince. From that moment on, he would become his knight. When he sat back up, he threw his covers off, kneeling before the benevolent ruler and kissing his hand. Yale smiled and Horatio pulled his lips back.

"When Prince Yale got hurt and became mute, you took care of him because he did the same thing for you, didn't you?" That realization just came to the school girl. It all made sense now.

"It was more than that. The Prince and I became friends when we were younger. He was like family to me and he was the only one I had back then," Horatio would have done anything for the other male. Dare he even say it? They were more like brothers than anything.

"How sad," Millie's eyebrows knitted in concern. "You must have caught such crap for being a vampire. People are so prejudice."

"Yes," Horatio inwardly flinched. He was a newly turned vampire that existed among humans. The life of a vampire was an underground thing, nothing that was brought to the surface and something that was widely accepted as a myth or folklore by people. "I know this more than anyone. Many painful and horrible things have happened to me as a result."

The screams filled his ears, screams of terror and obscenities of hatred. Rocks slammed into his body as groups of people surrounded him. His body bled and was bruised, and a frown plastered to his face. His life was a series of horror-filled nightmares and a rumor that wasn't quite as it seemed. His wild eyes glanced around to their evil faces, twisted with malevolence and hatred. He clutched his arm as rocks bounced from his form with loud thunks. His clothes were torn and blood seeped from his wounds. All around him, he could hear them talking, shouting at him.

"Damned vampire filth!"

"Monster! It's a monster!"

"Why? Who do I exist?" He wondered aloud and darted off into the darkness. He wanted to get away from them all. Horatio ran from the pain and curled into a dark corner where he thought that he belonged. Tears streamed down his cheeks and a sharp pain resonated in his heart. "Why didn't I just die like my mother? Is this my punishment? But...What did I do to deserve it? Why? Why does everyone hate me? I don't...understand. I'm alive, just like they are and yet, I'm treated worse than a stray dog."

Millie couldn't help but feel the vampire's pain. Most people thought the life of a vampire was glorious, mysterious and wonderful. Horror movies and romances didn't help by giving it a forbidden and taboo appeal. She had to admit that a part of her in the past was enamored with such a life without realizing just how hard it was for a vampire to survive. "How horrible. Humans and vampires should get along. They could learn so much from each other."

"Sadly, there will always be the fear and hate. For that reason, your wish is only a wish. Humans and vampires must learn to like their own kind before they can like one another." That was something that would probably never come to pass. It was a sad reality for Horatio as well as the countless other vampires that existed.

"Maybe someday the world can be like that," Millie could only live upon that dream. 'It would be nice.'

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Shiva, Teru, Horatio and Millie, as well as Zino gathered in Copernicus' bedroom. It had been a long time, far too long, since the two headed off towards Hide's base and they had yet to return. The worry spread from being illegitimate and assuming defeat too soon to something much more. They should have been back by now, and the only reason that they wouldn't would be because they were captured, killed or worse.

"So, they still aren't back. Is this normal?" Zino knew something was up, and he hadn't even been there that long.

"We're not sure," Millie clasped her hands at her waist and looked down.

"Well, we can't just wait all of the live long day," Teru was tired of waiting. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that something happened, and he wanted to spring into action and kick some Hide ass.

"It's been too long in my opinion. We should head out to Hide's," Shiva agreed completely.

"What if we go and something bad happens to his highness because we arrived too soon?" Horatio posed an important question.

"What's the lesser of two evils?" Millie asked.

"Well, even if we do arrive early, at least we'd be there," Zino saw it on the more positive side of things. Who cares if they got there only to realize the game was still going on? They would be ready to spring into action if they needed to.

"We'd get imprisoned, I'm sure," Shiva replied.

"Nu-uh!" Millie held her hands out and instantly protested against it. "I've been there too many times! I don't want to go there again!" She had too many memories of her times spent with Estella Nu in her cruel grasp and she'd be damned if she was going to go there again.

"Well, crap..." Zino sighed. He was unaware that the girl had been captured by Hide before.

"I say just go. If we stay here, we're just going to keep sitting here going 'hmm, what will happen to Copernicus'? Oh, come on! If we don't go, we'll never find out! Sheesh!" Teru was going crazy just thinking about all of that. Not to mention, listening to everyone standing around wondering where Copernicus and Tsubomi were was really grinding on his last nerve.

"He's right, you know," Millie agreed.

"I don't like going against his majesty's words. He's trusting us to stay here and wait for further orders, besides. Tsubomi is with him," Horatio didn't like this at all. As knights, they should wait behind until they were given orders. Interfering with the plans could get them killed, or worse, get Copernicus killed or endangered.

"Tsubomi could barely function. She was in no condition to go with him." Even if Copernicus was in trouble. Shiva knew that Tsubomi couldn't handle herself if Copernicus was in trouble, not against Hide.

"You can't tell her anything. Besides, she loves him and she'll do anything for him. Wouldn't you want to be with the one you loved if they were in danger?" Millie knew how that felt. If it were Prince Yale going against Hide, she would want to be by his side.

"You have a point," Zino agreed.

"One of us could have went. She needed rest," Shiva insisted that it was foolish of them to let her go alone.

"Yeah, but would she? Seriously, I'd be up and jittery all over just knowing something could happen to them. I'd feel like it was my fault if something did happen." If it was a girl that Zino loved, he'd be a bundle of nerves worrying about her if someone else went in his place. Tsubomi, no doubt, would be feeling the same way.

"Then it's settled. Let's go and look for them," Teru decided that he was going to make up everyone's mind.

Millie looked to the excited red head. "We don't have a choice, do we?" Then she glanced to Horatio as a bead of sweat ran down her forehead. She hated to go against him, but she knew Teru was right.

For a moment, the knight looked cross, then he sighed in irritation and defeat. "This is against my will." He mumbled.

"I really am worried about him. I think this is for the best," Shiva tried to console him on the matter.

"Should we all go as a group or should we split up?" Millie wondered which choice was better.

"We are all going to Hide's right? Isn't that where he's supposed to be?" Teru's sarcasm bled through his words. Why split up? Why not just show up there all at once?

"Let's try there first, if we don't find them or run into a trap, we can wing it from there." After all, they may have started out at Hide's place but they could have moved. Horatio wanted to make sure they covered all of their bases.

"Let's get a move on!" Millie commanded as her team mates all shouted 'right' in unison.

They all moved out, setting their sights for Hide's base. Together they traveled the same path that Tsubomi and Copernicus had. For a while, all that could be heard was the sound of footsteps as they advanced towards their destination. They decided to stick to a group, rather than split up. The group of vampires and humans couldn't help but notice how eerily somber and quiet the atmosphere was. No wind blew, which resulted in humid temperatures, and more importantly, the normal sounds that consisted of birds and insects weren't present. It was as if everything in the forest had died.

"It's creepy," Zino glanced around.

"Yup!" Teru sang out as he glanced through a group of trees that was ahead of them.

"Look out!" Shiva shouted out of nowhere and popped out her umbrella in front of her. Everyone scattered away as they heard something cut through the foliage of the forest. The lavender-haired vampire stood her ground as the unknown weapon came barreling towards her.

The blades of the Rigatama revealed themselves and clattered as the bounced off of the force field that her umbrella created. "What's going on here? Is that what I think it is?" Shiva didn't want to believe it, but right now, she had no choice. The proof was undeniable and in front of her face.

"What the shit was that?" Teru asked on his hands and knees, in front of a thick bush.

"I almost died." Zino held a hand to his strongly beating heart. He swore it was going to break through his sternum and flop out onto the floor.

"No way!" Millie's eyes widened as she stared at the blades that lay scattered on the ground. She recognized that sword. She'd know it from anywhere. 'The Rigatama...'

A figure walked through the darkness, coming through the trees. His head was down and in his hand he clutched the Rigatama tightly. Slowly, lifting his head up the man leveled them a blank expression with the same possessed eyes that Tsubomi had so long ago.

"Your majesty!" Horatio was taken aback by the sight of his king, standing before him. Shock ran through his system as he stared into the king's eyes. Something wasn't right, and he feared that their once strongest ally would become their most dreaded enemy.

...To Be Continued