Chapter 411: Elvira Stepania

The main-office stood with the two other – the sun over in Rotherham was more or less a rarity. It would most often be grey with the casual ‘hi’ of heat. Cake sat in the third building on the top floor; an office filled with screens, various machines, charts, and many more. In no way was it cumbersome, far from it, despite the number of items, it was barren.

“What do you mean?” asked she through the phone. ‘My wish has been granted?’

“Yes, it has,” returned a voice louder than the call.

“What wish may that be?” asked she with elbows on the table; “-I only voiced a possibility; immortality would be nice.”

“Well then,” said a deeper voice. A sudden realization had shivers down her spine, “-Boss?” her chair turned slowly – hesitation filled the motion.

“Hey,” without a warning, he crawled onto the large chair to angle his head at her neck.

“W-What a-are you d-doing?” her breathing increased, her face flushed, the heart raced; “-i-it’s n-not right,” her fist clenched.

.....

“I told you,” he licked his teeth, the sharp fangs were unseen by her for the eyes closed in embarrassment, “-thy wish has been granted,” a pleasant sensation of lips made her neck tingle, the hairs stood in response. It bit softly with the pain being but a fleeting sensation of bliss. ‘W-what’s this,’ her legs tightened for the impulses were too hard to bear, the body wanted to jump and tear off the clothes, but she knew better.

“Done,” he stepped back with blood running down the mouth, “-Cake, dear Cake,” a smile had her in shame. What she thought was far from reality, she thought of him trying to partake in her flesh – that single desire had her face utterly red to which she faced away.

“I have granted you the boon of immortality. Welcome to the family of Vampires, or nightwalkers. The blood of which I’ve given is royal, the purest out of the other factions. The awakening powers will be far stronger than any normal nightwalker. For once, the craving for blood will not be as harsh as it’s on others. The sun will not affect how thee live, and most of all, the night will serve as an amplifier for what thee inherited.”

“Wait?” her face rose from the depths of shame, “-am I immortal now?” her hands changed, more specifically, her nails, it sharpened – the same happened to the canines.

“Yes,” replied Staxius resting against her desk with arms and legs crossed, “-no one can kill you; maladies will be but a bite from a mosquito, inconsequential. Vampires are strong, very strong, and I’m the Blood-King, Ruler of the Nightwalkers. Come on, Cake, you must have known why I have such a title. I’ll go as far as say thee wanted to be one of us for long,” the arms relaxed from crossed to lay upon the desk.

“I won’t add to that,” preoccupied with the changes, the skin complexion lightened, “-is it weird that I feel light, there a few spells in my mind, I know how they work but not how it starts?”

“The activation for any vampiric spell is Blood. There are more hidden traits one acquires from being a vampire, there have been instances when a normal human turns into a genius or a complete psychopath. The world of vampires is complex and hard to get a grasp. Get accustomed to the powers first, we’ll go to Arda soon enough; Noctis’s Hallow, thee needs to meet the Clan leaders.”

“W-why must I meet the leaders this early?” the question had him move to stand opposite her, she could but trace his movement with unnaturally sharpened sight.

“Thee was given the blood from me, a direct inheritor of the First Progenitor. I’ll spare the lore – consider this, thou art now a pure-bred nightwalker. One with an undefiled legacy, so you see, if thee run rampant, we could see more damage. Cake, thou art now a member of the Blood-king faction, a family member since we share blood.”

“T-thank you,” said she wholeheartedly.

“No, far from it,” he chuckled, “-bid goodbye to the peaceful nights of sleep, in no way will exhaustion stop thine strides. I’ve basically had you changed to always be by my side in managing Phantom, I honestly can’t see anyone else replacing thee. Maybe I’m being sentimental or blowing it out of proportion, but I value thee, Cake, I value thee as a person who I can trust.”

“Boss,” a stabbing annoyance in her nose made her want to blow into a tissue. The throat tightened, “-I’m the grateful one. My ex-comrades will be proud of what we have accomplished.”

“That they will,” smiled he.

“Boss, please, I have a request.”

“What is it?”

“It’s embarrassing, still, I want thee to give me a name, a proper one, one that will be known as my new identity,” the brown hair decayed into being a few shades away from snow-white.

“A new name,” the pressure was on to which he strolled back and forth the office. Hands-on chin, he thought, a multiple of names came to mind, ‘Stephania Elvira Haggard.’

“Got it,” the walk stopped, “-Elvira Stephania Haggard.”

historical

“Elvira,” the expression showed satisfaction, “-is the family name not going to affect thy livelihood?”

“No, no, Haggard is both known in the underworld as well being the royal family. It’s not uncommon for Royalty to bestow their name unto trusted allies – I doubt it will be an issue. I’m ordering so, you ought to be grateful for my first thought was Neigh, a translation of Snow. I considered it till a horse’s muzzle crossed my mind; I digress.”

“Elvira is good, I’ll appreciate the name, Boss.”

“Well then, Cake, please have a list ready of potential Agencies Phantom can acquire.”

“Yes, boss, right away,” the door closed to them parting.

‘I wonder how Serene’s going to take the news.’

Date 27th March, the sky was cold and the outside freezing. Two days past since Cake turned into a vampire; her work grew faster and by her own words, ‘-I can calculate and predict what is going to happen in the stock market. My guesses have been accurate; I guess it’s the talent I inherited by the blood.’ The news came as an unusual surprise. Awake on the edge of the bed – faint shuffles came from behind. The broken balcony door brought smiles upon the face. The warm sleeping gown swayed as he stood; an open letter rested on the bedside table as he walked to the balcony. Addressed to the King of Arda; the sender, Viola Haggard.

“Dearest King of Arda, tis I thy humble...” the words were crossed, she didn’t make an effort to correct as the letter resumed immediately below, “-Dear brother, it’s me, Viola. I decided to send a letter since you always change location. It’s been five years since I’ve seen you, maybe longer, I don’t know. The Tower of Aris has been a good home – I was surprised to see Achilles returned to where she lost many things. We teamed up and are making way up the tower – profit is great and the people aren’t dying as much. Honestly speaking, life here on the mortal realm is pleasant. A lot of younger kids wander around in hopes of finding someone to tutor them – they feel like my own, thus, I’ve taken to teaching as well. At this point, you’re thinking (why does she not use telepathy?) the answer is simple, a letter makes it much more romantic, don’t you think?” the laughter could be heard even if it was a letter, “-anyway, I thought I’d give a status report. Life is good, and I love it; the pain of losing our comrade still linger, whatever. Don’t read the letter and leave me without reply; I’m expecting a letter.”

‘She seems in high-spirits,’ a weird letter with the author being weirder.

“You going somewhere?” asked a tired Xula.

“To Rosespire, there’s work to be done.”

“Is that so,” she rolled, taking the whole blanket, “good-bye. Check on Lizzie, she went to the toilet a while back.”

“Don’t worry,” *click,* “-I’ll check on the princess.”

“Majesty,” said maids waiting in line.

“Good morning, has anyone seen the Princess?”

“Her highness is with Rile,” replied another.

“Where may I find them?”

“Outside, majesty,” said yet another.

The walk was short; Rile sat in the company of Lizzie on the dewy ground.

“Anything the matter?”

“Majesty,” said Rile with a hint of nervousness, the ears and tail were suspicious.

‘Is he hiding something?’ thought Staxius.

“Highness wanted to have a breath of fresh air,” the explanation fell short, to which, the king raised an index finger – the retainer could but lower the head in shame and silence.

“Lizzie, is something the matter?” a worthless question for she held her stomach in pain.

“Y-yeah,” the petite figure tried hard to match his gaze, “-it hurts a lot more than before. I didn’t want to wake you and mother,” half-frown and half-smile, her eyelids were close to shutting completely.

“Why not,” he sat to rest her head on his lap, “-I’m thy father, tis my duty to attend to thy needs,” gently caressing her forehead, the motion said ‘-don’t worry, I’m here.’

“You looked tired; walking around usually made the pain go away, that’s why I asked to Rile to help.”

“I’m proud,” he smiled, “-compassionate at this age, I’m very proud.”

“R-really?”

“I’m proud you cared. Not about how thee hid the pain. I’m certain mother told you about the powers you have. Lizzie, you’re a fairy, the same as mother – the magical element is very powerful for a girl thy age,” holding an open palm to her heart, “-give me a moment.” The triangle lit faintly; her pain went away bit by bit.

“Done,” came an exclaim with which he pinched her cheeks.

“It’s gone,” she laughed, “-the pain is gone.”

“Next time it hurts, come to me, ok?”

“Yes, father.”

“No, I need you to promise.”

“I promise,” the relief in her speech was felt throughout his body.

“Rile, next time she’s in pain, contact me as fast as is possible. I glad thee listened to her will. She’s but a child, it’s not a bad thing, let us guide her till she can make decisions by herself.”

“Yes, majesty, I apologize for failing our princess.”

Changed into another formal suit, Staxius teleported to Rosespire. Cake arranged a meeting between him and the owner of Apexi; the agency was looking at a very low income. The revenue had forced them to cut away more employees – they were at a point where keeping a roof over the idols was hard. The post-war economy was still a mess.

The drive felt short as the media complex wasn’t far from the noble district. There were changes since the last time, the once empty field before the gates was cluttered with buildings from other agencies. Competition in Hidros was tough for such a small margin of profit.

“Sir, do you have an appointment?” asked the guard with control on the access inside.

“I have a meeting with the owner of Apexi – the details must have been forwarded?”

“Yes, please, it’s the second building at the front,” giving a vague direction, Void entered Memento. The place where he once gave an interview after rescuing the apostle from the clutches of Kreston. Relegated from the tall building to one short and less elaborate; Apexi showed their troubles with finance.

Opened to a brusque breeze, Staxius seemed unbothered whilst papers blew away from a clueless looking worker.

“Please, CATCH IT,” she screamed.

*Death Element: Hand of God,* it stopped from fluttering and falling as if leaves, “-here.”

“T-thank you?” said the lady who carefully picked the papers.

“Don’t mention it,” he strolled past what seemed to be a boyband. They returned him with confused looks; ‘-why would a man dressed so expensively be here?’