Kings of Awakening Vampires and Purebloods (30 page)

Sonia didn’t truly understand how the he felt. He wanted to know why Aleister talked as if they had met before. It’s as if he knows him better than he knows himself.

“What’s the mission about anyway, going after criminals with bounty on their head?” asked Dante with enthusiasm.

“We don’t know yet, they will tell us when we get there,” said Angelione.

Sonia took Albedo to talk to him alone. “Listen Albedo, I don’t know what Aleister told you, but don’t let him get to you. You were amazing when you fought him! You were fearless. It will be an honor one day for me to welcome you fully as one of us.”

A wide smile came to his face. “You think so?”
 

“Yes I do, Albedo. As long as you stay true to yourself! One day everyone will know your name.”

“So when are we leaving?” said Albedo who now had his excitement back.

“Now, so pack what you need.”

***

Albedo was going to meet a King for the first time in his life. He had heard how powerful King Victor was, one of the High Kings. He had lied to his parents and told them he was going on a field trip. Of course they knew he was lying, school was the last thing on his mind. Albedo met with the others. A horse-carriage had come to pick them up.

Albedo had never been on a horse-carriage before, let alone rode a horse. The armored man guiding the horses was sitting in an individual plush cushioned seat including his own retractable roof for inclement weather.  The horses were draped in gold reins.  The stallions were huge and beautiful, one was bright white and one was dark golden brown.  The carriage has enormous golden wheels and elaborate doors. It was fit for a king.  It was a deep scarlet red with shimmering gold trim embedded with diamonds and jewels.  Curtains coated the windows to the carriage for privacy. 

“I thought we were walking there,” said Albedo as he looked at the carriage astounded.

Dante laughed. “Don’t tell me you’ve never been on a horse-carriage before?”

                  Albedo, Axil, and Dante got inside the carriage while Sonia and Angelione chose to ride a horse instead. Albedo thought Sonia looked like a princess riding her horse. She was wearing short white pants and a white top. Whatever she wore she look like a princess.

              For some reason her and Angelione didn’t like the carriage too much, they always prefer just horses. 

“She looks beautiful doesn’t she?” said Dante as he caught Albedo staring at her. Albedo blushed and didn’t know what to say, “C’mon! ---” With his arm around Albedo’s ne
ck, “---It’s all over your face. We can all tell you’re in love with her. I wanted her to be mine, but for some reason, I wasn’t her type. That’s impossible right. I’m every girl’s type.”

Axil thought Dante was bragging again, “If you’re every girls’ type, then how come she said no to you?” said Axil.

He and Albedo started to laugh. Dante wasn’t amused, “That’s your problem Axil, you’re nobody’s type!” Albedo and Axil continued laughing, which made Dante more irritated.

Dante was now a bit uncomfortable and said to the man driving the carriage, “Are we there yet?”

“We haven’t left yet, master Dante,” said the man in front with a smile.

Albedo loved that Dante was called master; he wishes he could be called master also. The horse-carriage started to move and Albedo can now officially say he rode a horse-carriage. The carriage had come to pick them up just about a hundred feet from Albedo’s house. It made its way down by the cherry blossom and Albedo instantly smelled its rich aroma. He and Dante sat opposite side of Axil.  There were glass windows on both sides of the carriage, as well as a window behind Axil where Albedo could see the man guiding the horse.  The door was to the right of Albedo.  The inside of the carriage had soft cushion that felt great to sit in. It was bright blue with a hint of black dots. Albedo looked at Sonia stroking her hair while talking to Angelione, she looked so elegant. It was the way the wind moved her hair and the cherry blossoms circled around her.

The carriage now move passed the market and Albedo could see his school from the other side. Under his breath he said goodbye to it, he knew that life was gone now. As much as he hated it he knew he was going to be missed it a little. They arrived at the gate and Albedo stretched his neck and pressed his face against the window to get a better view, in which case Dante shook his head with one hand on his forehead. He pointed out to Albedo that there was a knob that rolled the window down, which Albedo didn’t know existed. He was shown by Dante how to role the window down and he did and got a better view by sticking his head out.

Sonia and Angelione were ahea
d now, showing their papers to the Humans’ Special Division so they can open the gate. Albedo had once seen the gate with his father a long time ago. Dante told Albedo if he wanted a much better view he would have to open the roof of the carriage, and he was right, it was a much better view. He saw how tall and wide the gate was, real thick also. One of the humans opened a peephole and the vampires from the opposite side of the gate opened it. As it was opened Albedo’s eyes lit up with excitement, his cheeks hurting him from smiling too much. The carriage passed the gate and left Inferno, at that point Albedo wanted to scream in joy. But somehow he found a way to keep himself under control. The carriage drove pass the forest, a path that was created by Victor’s army that leads to the castle. All around Albedo were nothing but trees. Sometimes they would pass by a lake or see an animal Albedo only heard of in stories. The carriage passed by a mountain cliff, which made Albedo a little nauseous, so much so he had to stick his head back in the carriage and close his eyes.

Finally they made it to the capital and
the guards opened the iron-gate to the city. The iron-gate was thirty feet wide and thirty feet tall, the bolts of metals were as big as Albedo’s head.

As the horses passed inside, he had never seen so many big beautiful houses before. They were different from the ones back in Inferno, these looked like they were fit for royalty. Each house looked as if it was built yesterday, the windows were spotless clear and shiny as crystal.
The houses in Inferno were old and small. These houses had beauty to them. Even the street was different, in Inferno the streets were nothing but dirt. In the capital the street was made from something called concrete, explained Dante. Albedo watched the friendly people waving at each other. Most of them were vampires. The street was wide and long, with at least flowers and soup shop on every corner. He looked up ahead to see a long and wide bridge that led to the castle. The castle! It was enormously big and beautiful to look at. This was the first time Albedo had seen a castle in its prime. The one back in Inferno was old; spiders made it its home and all kind of other animals. They rode on the bridge and Albedo could see better now. The castle was painted white and blue. Even the royal guard’s uniforms were white and blue. A line of warriors were up ahead, in front of the castle’s gate waiting to greet them. As they went over the bridge to get to the castle, Albedo could hear a roaring sound. Dante explained to him it was the water whirlpool.  Albedo wanted to get out and go look at it, but he decided another time, he wanted to explore the city also. 

“There it is, home sweet home,” said Dante with a smile. He hated the long ride that took them almost two hours.

They made it to the gate and the guards let them in. “Welcome Sir Angelione and Miss Sonia,” said the guards at the gate. He opened the gate and bowed his head as the carriage passed through.

The castle was heavily protected, Albedo watched the guards on the roof with their bow and arrows. At least a hundred guards were guarding the castle from the outside. It was a long ride and all of them were tired and stiff. It was getting dark now and Sonia told Albedo he would meet the King the next day.
She took Albedo to show him his room. The inside of the castle was just as amazing! Shiny red marble floors, painted portraits along each side of the walls fed Albedo’s imagery.  Albedo looked up to see a giant round glass hanging from the ceiling. Sonia told him it was one of those light bulbs that give you light. She took Albedo up the towering spiraled staircase.  It was overwhelmingly breathtaking to Albedo.  The stairs led to hallway, which consisted of many rooms. She showed Albedo which room was hers as they passed along. Albedo’s room was further down the hall, two doors away from hers. She gave him the key and told him from now on this will be his room at the castle. He opened the tall heavy door and was mesmerized at how beautiful and big it was. The window curtains had been left open to let the light in. His new bed was at least three times bigger than his old one. So was his room, which was at least four times bigger. To the left of the bed were a huge cherry wood wardrobe and a tall wide twenty-drawer dresser adorned with a mirror lined in brass.  Albedo settled his bag down and thought he would need more clothes. There was plush carpet on the floor, which he had only heard about. He took off his shoes and felt the carpet massaging his feet as he walked. There was a big window in his room, and from there he could see the bridge. Sonia told him it would look more magnificent during nighttime.

“C’mon Albedo, let me show you the bathroom,” said Sonia.

He walked in the bathroom and was instantly amazed. Sonia had to explain to him that they don’t wash their face in buckets like they do in Inferno. She explained to him how the bathroom sink works, how to turn the water on and even flushing the toilet. While Sonia was talking he played with the sink by turning it on and off. He had hot water and cold water, which he wasn’t used to having a choice before. His room and bathroom and even the hallway had one of those light bulbs she spoke off, he wondered when he would see it light up. Sonia told him it wasn’t time yet, at nighttime that’s when the electricity comes on. He walked back into his room to see Sonia laying there with her eyes closed as she enjoyed being home.

“Come with me Albedo, I want to show you something.”

Sonia took him into the lower level of the castle. There Albedo saw a big metal looking thing with a string attached to it. It was so big it almost covered the room.

“Hey Oliver, you here?!” shouted Sonia.

A man appeared on top of the giant metal. “Hey, Sonia!” He waved at her “Coming down now.” Oliver jumped from up top and landed on his feet, he greeted Sonia and introduced himself to Albedo. He had some sort of metal thing in his hand; it appeared to have two metal fingers.  He had broad shoulder and strong arms.

“Albedo Oliver, Oliver Albedo,” she gave a quick introduction.

Albedo looked at the big metal with astonishment and said, “What is that?”

“That is what we call a generator. This is what provides powers to this kingdom,” explained Oliver.

“It provides us electricity Albedo. With electricity we can light up the city and this castle at night times when it gets dark,” said Sonia.

“And that thing in your hand?”

“Oh this little thing, it’s a tool, it’s called a wrench.  I use it to make sure everything is tight and in order with the generator or anything else that needs to be fixed.”

“How does it all work?”

“How about I show you, come with me.”

Albedo and Sonia followed Oliver inside the power room and explained that the generator was made up of the strongest metal in this world, titanium, even stronger than steel. Something that’s stronger than steel, Albedo was learning so much. 

              Oliver opened a door that led inside and started to explain to Albedo. “The force from the water whirlpool underneath the bridge creates energy when it grinds with each other and with these wires that are made from titanium, they absorb that energy and the generator turns it into electricity. Because titanium has a way of absorbing energy really fast.  That ….equals your beloved lit light bulbs.” Ding! Oliver flips the switch to show Albedo the glow from the bulb.

Albedo looked amazed as the light
bulb brightens the room. He asked Sonia eagerly, “Well, if the titanium is so strong then why doesn’t King Victor use it for his weapons

and armors?”

              “Albedo, titanium is a little too strong, it is not malleable, and it can’t be bent and molded into appropriate fighting gear and weaponry.”

Albedo was still curious. “Well how did they create the generator and mold the titanium to be used for the light bulbs?”

“Only the Blue Crimson Flame is hot enough to melt it, this generator was a gift given to us a long time ago from the king of Alvichi, after we helped deliver them from the wrath of the Society.”

Albedo wondered what was this Society Sonia was speaking of. She
explained that they were a group of crime syndicates. He thought they must be very strong if they can bring down one of the Six High Kingdoms.

“It’s getting dark outside, it’s time to power up the generator. You wouldn’t want to miss this Albedo,” said Oliver.

“Miss what?” he answered.

“All the lighting, now come on. And Oliver don’t start it yet,” said Sonia.

“Sure thing Sonia, the sun is about to set so go get ready,” said Oliver.

Albedo wanted to know what in the world they were talking about. Sonia took him on top of the castle, there; he stood on top of the roof with a smile on his face looking down at the capital. It was getting darker as the sun slowly disappeared. Albedo stretched both of his arms and yelled, “This is amazing!” There he could see the bridge and the whirlpool, which look remarkable when you’re looking at it from up top. It truly is a force of water circling around each other in massive force
, making loud noises. The two waterfalls on each side of the castle fell correspondingly with each other.
It’s peaceful and quiet here
,
just like the cheery blossoms
.