Eclipse: CH 10

Chapter 10

Sleep came easily enough for him that night, exhaustion from his apparent escape still weighing his system down. Strangely enough, the nigh constant buzzing under his skin is thankfully absent, as is with the heat build-up.

For once in quite a while, he can really settle down and relax. There's still a faint tug in his mind, though. Probably more of a reminder that the man is still somewhere nearby rather than the vicious pull he felt that time. To think of it, he had always been able to sense vampires quite well.

The dream came as usual - this time, a continuation of the last one. The old chapel; empty, and somehow the altar is now replaced by a large stone with a sword firmly stuck through it. The sword is in the same shade of gold as the fanged guardian of the church. It also bears the same symbol as the one depicted on the stained-glass illustration

What am I supposed to do with this? Pull it out?

Naturally there wasn't anyone that he can ask. For some reason it feels like the sword is calling out to him. But why? Wanting answers, he reached out towards it.

And the dream abruptly stops there. The next thing he knows, he can hear birds chirping from outside the ward room with the morning sunlight lighting the space in gentle glow.

 

He had woken up by the time the doctor came in for the checkup. There is still some residual fatigue but no longer as bad as the last few days. He can move a bit easier now.

The young Head Priest - Raiga, had come in shortly after breakfast with a small bundle of documents in his hands. The door opens just as he was propping himself up in sitting position.

"Ah, you're already up. How do you feel today?" The man asks, making a beeline towards the bed, setting down his things onto the table nearby before quickly lending him a hand.

"Much better than yesterday. Thank you."

"That's good to hear, and you're welcome. I've been meaning to talk more with you too."

"About the case?"

"Yes. Remember I told you about the reports, right?" Ryuga nods in reply. "Well, the full reports don’t really say much about the matter. So, I'd like to know what really happened after your encounter."

The eyes that were directed his way are perfectly clear; the man is not implying that the report (or he, himself) is lying, only genuinely curious.

"It..was exactly how it was reported. The encounter was fairly brief, but I don't understand how I survived it. It would've been easy for him to kill me then or otherwise turn me. But he didn't."

He lapsed into a short pause. He resumes as the other silently urged him on. "There really wasn't anything much at all. It was too mild it's jarring. However, it starts to get strange a while after that."

"In what way?"

"A telepathic link. I don't know how but one day he starts calling out to me that way. Then I came across him a few more times afterward. And I likely got bitten again each time."

"But why didn't you report that?"

"..Couldn't bring myself to. I did chase after him. I didn't want to involve the others. He's too dangerous." I can't protect them from him. Raiga could hear the unspoken words all the same by looking at his grim expression. "..-More so when he somehow have a degree of control over me."

That makes it more problematic, and he's sure Ryuga wouldn't know to what extend when his memories itself were tampered with.

"But that wasn't all.-" His attention snapped back towards the other at the pick-up.

"What else?"

"I've been seeing strange dreams since then too. A long tunnel and distant howling..-"

"-And a golden wolf with a sword in the stone." Ryuga looked up at him in shock. He simply smiles back. "Was that the first time you start to see them?" And as he expected, the other shook his head.

"No, the first one was around seven, I think. But I never saw it again until recently." Now Raiga is the one surprised. Seven years old is early. "You know something about that."

He nodded. "I've had the same dream myself too. But seven is unusually early. The awakening typically starts around teen and up."

"The..awakening?" Straightening up, Raiga regards him with a more serious expression.

"Our discussion will be long from here on, but what I will tell you now are all true. However, you might not be able to find it written down anywhere due to reasons." The other man is now fully focused on him with confusion clearly written out on his face, though he chose to keep it first.

 

"Say, are you familiar with angels and demons?"

 

*

 

It’s nightfall, and he’s out and about with nothing else better to do. He ought to do something about the little priest, but he still doesn’t really feel like it for the time being. The man is definitely over at the Northern Church; exactly how, he doesn’t really know or care. Doesn’t seem to be any signs of breaking in, then the man must’ve run off himself. His resilience is admirable.

But the man won’t be able to move around much for now. There’s no need to rush. So here he is, back at this oddly familiar place.

Again, and again, he ends up here in this run down remains of an old church. The damage was too extensive it doesn't even have much left of its original structure for ivy and moss to grow on. What still remain is the altar and the tall stained-glass window that stood right behind it. The tall figure of a golden wolf stood unbroken. Moonlight filtering through the window lit up the area where he stood in bright gold.

"Thought you'd be here." A little voice from behind strayed his concentration.

"Rare to see you around." He turns around to face the newcomer; someone who appeared to be a young girl with short snow-white hair, dressed in white blouse and red vest, speaking in a somewhat deep voice. She sat a distance away on a fallen rubble, lightly swinging her legs.

"I'm around when I feel like it." As always, this one is hard to expect. She had always been the ficklest among them.

"But you never drop by without a reason."

A loud barking laugh answer. "Of course. By the way I heard some interesting stuffs from Avarice."

His eyes narrow. That man annoys him to no end. "-And?"

"Nothing. You know I won't help any of you and I couldn't care less with what you people are doing. I prefer living in peace."

"I see you still like making bad jokes, Wrath. Regardless I don't need help nor do I want any." She simply smiles. He doesn't like others getting their hands into his business. Even more so when it's something related to his prey.

"Hehe, someone's getting possessive." She's pissing him off and it's keeping him at a disadvantage. She only grows stronger the angrier her opponent becomes, and that is also how she feeds - on anger. The longer it goes the weaker you get.

"You know you should be more mindful of that."

"Can't help you're so easy to rile." Her face broke into a grin, pleased at herself. "Just so you know, you should watch your step."

"Why?"

"You don't want to end up the same way like Pride and Envy did, right?"

Pride is more or less sealed away inside a human, never able to come up to surface unless the host dies. And Envy was taken down by an angel.

"Don't make me laugh."

A shrug. "Good to know."

"Go pester Avarice for a change."

Low humming reached him as she slowly stands up. "I'll consider that, but he's not that fun to poke at.."

And just like that she disappears into thin air like she was never there in the first place. What's with all these people meddling with him? They ought to have their own thing to do. What he does have nothing to do with any of them.

 

[And you say that like you're not even slightly perturbed over what you've brought onto yourself. Are you that worried that they might find out?]

Shut up, human.

 

He's been quite loud lately. It didn't take him long to figure out why (though it was one he didn’t expect to be possible). After all he did played with fire. That man would have a field day if he found it out. At the very least, his control remains unshaken, and that's good enough for now.

 

[It’s only a matter of time, demon.]