▪︎ Chapter 142 ▪︎ “Talk things out?”

Saelorian sat across from his sister, watching the reporter on the large television screen with an expression of growing exasperation.

The broadcast had been covering the same incident for nearly half an hour. 

Different camera angles, interviews with supposed witnesses, and repeated footage of a golden-haired vampire speaking directly into a phone had been presented alongside commentary about the increasingly strained relationship between humans and the supernatural species.

The actual killing wasn't being shown in its entirety, though the station had apparently decided that the moments immediately preceding it were acceptable viewing material.

Saelorian leaned back against the couch and sighed.

"What a mess."

Aeloriane sat opposite him, her long blonde hair spilling over the armrest as she frowned at the screen. 

Her pointed ears twitched whenever the reporter raised her voice, and the green eyes that had replaced her human ones narrowed slightly.

"It's just like last time," she muttered. "Except the person who died didn't even attack first this time."

Saelorian raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't he?"

Aeloriane looked toward him.

"What?"

"He attacked her. Not physically, obviously, but he was attacking her."

"With words?"

"Yes, with words." Saelorian gestured toward the television. "He kept going after the same vampires, accusing them of things they didn't do and making it harder for them to integrate into society. He knew exactly what he was doing."

Aeloriane crossed her arms.

"That doesn't mean he deserved to die."

"I didn't say he did."

"You're defending her."

"I'm explaining why she might have gotten angry."

Saelorian sighed, glancing toward the screen as another commentator began discussing the supposed danger posed by vampires who could kill humans without conventional weapons.

He found the entire situation unpleasantly familiar.

Humans were frightened of vampires because vampires were stronger than they were. 

Vampires were growing increasingly frustrated because humans seemed determined to treat them as threats regardless of what they actually did.

And now someone had died publicly.

That certainly wasn't going to improve matters.

Aeloriane studied her brother for a moment before narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"Wait."

Saelorian looked toward her.

"What?"

"Are you taking the vampires' side because they're pretty?"

For a moment, Saelorian simply stared at her.

Then he snorted.

"Oh, come on."

"I'm serious!"

"Of course you are."

He finally cracked a smile, laughing softly as he shook his head.

"First of all, Lavinia was a guy before she became a vampire."

Aeloriane blinked.

"And?"

"And judging by the way the vampires around her were looking at her, I doubt she's particularly interested in guys."

Aeloriane's expression turned unimpressed.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It answers enough of it."

"No, it doesn't!"

Saelorian laughed again.

"Besides, I have a girlfriend. Remember?"

"I remember. I'm just making sure you do."

"How considerate."

Aeloriane stuck out her tongue.

The reporter continued speaking, now discussing the possibility of additional restrictions being imposed upon vampires in the Unified Sovereignties.

Saelorian's amusement faded.

He watched the screen for another moment before reaching for the remote and lowering the volume.

Aeloriane sighed.

"Anyway, Mom and Dad still haven't gotten back."

Saelorian glanced toward her.

"They'll be fine."

"You don't know that."

He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

She was right, of course.

Their parents had left on a trip before the First Divergence, back when the world had still been ordinary. 

Back when neither sibling had possessed pointed ears, green eyes, or any reason to believe that humanity might suddenly find itself sharing the planet with supernatural species.

Since then, the world had changed three times.

The siblings had become elves during the Third Divergence, but their parents were still human, as far as either of them knew.

And nobody could say with certainty where they were now.

Aeloriane sighed.

"Honestly, they just had to go on a trip without telling us anything useful. Not where they'd be staying, not when they'd be back, nothing."

"They probably didn't expect the world to change."

"Nobody expected the world to change, Sael! It just keeps doing it!"

"Fair point."

Saelorian leaned back, looking toward the ceiling.

He wasn't particularly happy about the situation either. 

His parents had been away long enough that their absence had become an uncomfortable part of everyday life, and the Divergences had made finding them considerably more complicated.

But worrying endlessly wouldn't bring them home any faster.

Aeloriane leaned forward.

"So what are we going to do?"

Saelorian looked at her.

His lips twitched.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you're my brother."

"And that makes me responsible for having a plan?"

"Obviously."

Saelorian stared at her for a moment, then spread his hands.

"Well, what do you think we should do?"

Aeloriane huffed.

"Useless pretty boy."

"Thank you. Very helpful."

She closed her eyes.

For a moment, her expression became distant.

Her consciousness slipped toward something that had been present ever since her transformation, a vast and extraordinary expanse that existed beyond the ordinary senses of an elf.

Green lights shimmered throughout it.

Some were faint, others bright, and a few possessed a radiance so immense that the surrounding lights seemed almost insignificant by comparison.

It was a place without any easily understood boundaries, filled with the countless presences of elves scattered across the world.

Had Lavinia been present, she might have recognized its resemblance to the Blood Sea. 

Melisande, too, would have found something familiar in its structure, though the Weave expressed itself through a different supernatural nature.

For Aeloriane, however, it was simply something she could feel.

Something that connected her to her kind.

And right beside her was an extraordinarily annoying presence.

Aeloriane wrinkled her nose.

"Sael."

"Hm?"

"Give me some space."

Saelorian looked toward her.

"What?"

"You're hovering."

He blinked.

Then he laughed in exasperation.

"You're smothering me too!"

Aeloriane opened her eyes.

The siblings stared at each other.

Within that green expanse, their presences were enormous.

Two vast concentrations of radiance, each possessing a weight that the countless smaller glimmers couldn't approach.

The two Royal Elves.

Neither had particularly wanted the title.

Neither had asked for the extraordinary connection that now bound them to their species.

And yet there it was.

Saelorian leaned back, looking thoughtful.

"You know, I can sort of understand the vampires."

Aeloriane raised an eyebrow.

"Because they're pretty?"

"Are you going to keep doing that?"

"Maybe."

Saelorian sighed.

"I used to be human. Now I'm not."

Aeloriane's teasing expression softened slightly.

"So?"

"So I can feel them."

He glanced toward the ceiling, though his attention was directed somewhere far beyond it.

"The elves, I mean. All those little lights. I can feel where they are, more or less, and I can feel you."

Aeloriane tilted her head.

"Unfortunately."

"Very funny."

Saelorian smiled faintly.

"But there's something else."

"What?"

"There's an end to them."

Aeloriane became quiet.

She understood what he meant.

The green lights seemed almost endless at first glance, scattered across an expanse too vast to properly comprehend. Yet when she focused, she could sense their limits.

There were only so many elves.

The same was true of vampires, werewolves, and witches.

Each species possessed extraordinary abilities that humans lacked, but none had appeared in numbers remotely comparable to humanity.

Humans weren't infinite either.

They were simply numerous enough that the distinction hardly mattered.

Saelorian lowered his gaze.

"Even if every supernatural species is stronger than humans individually, that doesn't mean we can afford to fight them."

Aeloriane nodded slowly.

"Especially not all at once."

"Exactly."

"And nobody really wants to."

"Not unless they're pushed into it."

Saelorian looked toward the television again.

The reporter was now discussing public demands for government intervention.

"At least, I don't think anyone wants to start a war before they're prepared for one."

Aeloriane studied him from the corner of her eye.

"Are you planning to help the vampires?"

Saelorian blinked.

"Help them how?"

"You've met them."

"Once."

"That's still more than most elves."

He considered the question.

"Well, the news makes it sound pretty bad."

"It is pretty bad."

"I know. But it's not like vampires are monsters."

Aeloriane looked toward the television.

Saelorian continued.

"We sat across from the same vampire they're showing on the screen. We talked to her. She was pretty normal, wasn't she?"

Aeloriane thought back to their meeting.

Lavinia had been friendly enough, perhaps a little awkward at times, and certainly not the terrifying creature the news seemed determined to portray.

Gwendolyn had been even easier to get along with.

Aeloriane smiled faintly at the memory.

"Yeah. They were nice."

"Exactly."

"But Lavinia still killed someone."

"She did."

Saelorian didn't attempt to excuse it.

"I don't know what she was thinking. Maybe she lost her temper. Maybe something else happened that we don't understand."

He paused.

"But I don't think one vampire killing someone means every vampire suddenly deserves to be treated like an enemy."

Aeloriane leaned back against her chair.

"I don't want to fight humans, though."

"Neither do I."

"Maybe we could talk things out."

Saelorian turned toward her.

"Talk things out?"

"Yeah."

"Between who?"

"Humans and vampires."

Saelorian stared at her.

Then he looked toward the ceiling.

"Are you suggesting elves should become mediators?"

Aeloriane nodded.

"Why not?"

"Because that's an excellent way to make everyone angry with us."

She frowned.

"That's pessimistic."

"That's realistic."

Saelorian leaned forward.

"Think about it. If we try to negotiate between humans and vampires, both sides are going to expect us to support their interests. If anything goes wrong, who do you think they'll blame?"

Aeloriane glanced down at her hands.

"Us."

"Exactly."

"But if nobody tries..."

She trailed off.

Saelorian watched her.

Aeloriane genuinely liked the world.

Even now, with the Divergences disrupting everything familiar, she remained fascinated by the changes around them. 

The enormous landscapes, the strange new species, the possibilities that hadn't existed before.

She didn't want those possibilities buried beneath a war.

And she certainly didn't want the people she'd befriended to become enemies simply because they belonged to different species.

Saelorian sighed.

"All right."

Aeloriane looked up.

"What?"

"I'll try."

Her eyes brightened.

"Really?"

"I said I'll try. I didn't say I had any idea how to accomplish it."

Aeloriane smiled.

"That's good enough!"

"Apparently."

She tilted her head.

"So what's your plan?"

Saelorian stared at her.

"Didn't we just establish that I don't have one?"

"You're supposed to figure it out."

"Why me?"

"Because you're my brother."

He groaned.

Aeloriane laughed.

Then she added sweetly, "Although you're really just another elf, aren't you?"

Saelorian scoffed.

"And so are you."

"Excuse me?"

"Two perfectly normal elves."

Aeloriane looked at him.

Then both began laughing.

It was an absurd description, considering the immense presences they possessed within the green expanse, but neither particularly cared.

Saelorian glanced toward the window.

"There's something else."

Aeloriane followed his gaze.

"What?"

"I can sense an awful lot of vampires nearby."

"How many?"

"More than I expected."

He frowned slightly.

"They seem to be gathering somewhere."

Aeloriane sat up.

"Maybe we should go outside and see!"

Saelorian considered the suggestion.

Then he shook his head.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because things are chaotic enough already, and I don't particularly feel like tempting fate."

Aeloriane pouted.

"You're boring."

"Alive and boring."

"You're an elf. You're not going to die that easily."

"That's exactly the sort of thing people say before something terrible happens."

Aeloriane laughed.

Saelorian picked up the remote and lowered the television's volume a little further.

For now, they would stay where they were.

───

Lavinia stepped through the hotel's glass doors, and the night seemed to come alive around her.

Scents filled her nose.

Dozens of them.

Sweet, floral, fruity, earthy, and countless combinations she couldn't immediately identify. 

Each belonged to a vampire, and each was as distinctive as the woman who carried it.

The air itself seemed crowded with their presence.

Vampires stood along the sidewalk, gathered near parked vehicles, and occupied the rooftops of surrounding buildings. 

Others hovered overhead, their wings beating slowly as they watched the hotel entrance.

And almost every pair of crimson eyes turned toward Lavinia.

She stopped just outside the doors.

"Oh."

Valerie stepped beside her.

"That's a lot of friends."

Lavinia smiled wryly.

"Apparently."

A vampire with dusky skin and brown hair approached first.

Her face lit up the moment she saw Lavinia.

"You're the Golden Princess!"

Lavinia laughed softly.

"That's what people keep calling me."

"I'm so happy to meet you!"

The woman waved enthusiastically, her pointed ears twitching with excitement.

Lavinia returned the gesture.

"Well, I'm glad to meet you too. Although I hope you're not disappointed. I'm not anything particularly special."

The brown-haired vampire stared at her.

Then she laughed.

"Disappointed? Of course not!"

Her smile widened.

"Actually, I'm really glad you killed that guy."

Lavinia blinked.

The vampire continued cheerfully.

"He kept spouting nonsense about us, and now he can't anymore!"

She burst into laughter.

Lavinia stared at her for a moment.

Then she smiled faintly.

"That's certainly one way of looking at it."

A second vampire stepped forward.

She had pinkish-red hair and an expression of affectionate exasperation.

"Your sense of humor is as terrible as ever."

The brown-haired vampire pouted.

"What? It's true!"

"That doesn't make it funny."

"It was a little funny."

"No."

The pink-haired vampire turned toward Lavinia and inclined her head.

"Sorry about her. I'm really happy we got to meet you."

Lavinia smiled.

"Likewise."

The brown-haired vampire folded her arms.

"You're no fun."

"And you're embarrassing yourself."

"Am not!"

Lavinia couldn't help laughing.

It was such an ordinary exchange.

Two vampires teasing each other, apparently comfortable enough to bicker in front of someone they had only just met.

For a moment, the tension she'd been carrying seemed a little less oppressive.

She glanced upward.

More vampires were watching from the rooftops.

Several hovered above the street, their wings spread wide against the night sky.

Lavinia cleared her throat.

"Are you all planning to spend the entire night staring at me?"

Her voice wasn't particularly loud.

For a human, it would have been almost impossible to hear from the surrounding rooftops.

But the people listening weren't human.

Heads turned.

A few vampires laughed.

Then wings began folding and spreading as those perched above descended toward the street.

One after another, they landed lightly upon the pavement, joining the growing gathering around the hotel.

Lavinia watched them approach.

There were so many.

Different hair colors, different skin tones, different expressions and personalities, all contained within bodies that shared the same unmistakable characteristics.

Pointed ears.

Crimson eyes.

Immaculate Gothic clothing.

And an extraordinary beauty that seemed almost ordinary when surrounded by so many others possessing it.

One vampire near the front stepped forward.

She bowed her head slightly.

"Princess."

Lavinia tilted her head.

"Yes?"

The woman smiled.

"This might sound a little strange, but I really like the idea of having a Princess."

Lavinia blinked.

"Really?"

"Yes."

The vampire glanced toward the others.

"I know we don't have to follow you. We can go wherever we want. But it's nice knowing there's someone like us who can bring everyone together."

Several nearby vampires nodded.

The woman continued.

"So I hope you won't drive us away too quickly. At least until we figure everything out."

Lavinia looked at her.

Then she glanced over the gathering.

More than a hundred vampires stood before her.

Some were smiling.

Others looked nervous.

A few seemed uncertain what they were supposed to do now that they had actually reached the Golden Princess.

Yet every one of them had come.

Not because she had forced them.

Because they wanted to.

A strange amusement bubbled up within Lavinia.

She had been so concerned about giving a speech, making a mistake, or failing to appear sufficiently impressive that she'd nearly forgotten something important.

They were vampires.

Just like her.

Lavinia smiled.

"I'm not going to drive any of you away."

The woman's expression brightened.

"Really?"

"Really."

Lavinia glanced toward the surrounding buildings.

"Although having all of us stay in the city probably isn't a great idea."

Several vampires laughed.

"Why not?" someone called.

"Because I suspect the humans are already having a very stressful evening."

That earned considerably more laughter.

Lavinia smiled.

"We'll figure something out. There's plenty of space outside Oakridge, and I don't think anyone here particularly needs a five-star hotel."

A vampire raised her hand.

"I wouldn't mind one!"

"Neither would I!"

"Can we get room service?"

Lavinia laughed.

"You're all terrible."

Gwendolyn stepped forward, placing a finger against her lips as she looked around the gathering.

"Actually, have you all eaten?"

The question immediately attracted attention.

Several vampires raised their hands.

A little under a quarter of those present indicated that they had fed recently.

Gwendolyn frowned.

"That's not very many."

A vampire with messily braided green hair stepped forward.

The ends of her braids faded into white, and she wore a rather pleased expression.

"I got lucky."

Rosaline raised an eyebrow.

"Did you?"

"Mm-hmm."

The green-haired vampire grinned.

"Some guy thought he could beat me, so I fed."

Several vampires immediately began laughing.

"Oh, that's lucky!"

"Why don't humans like that ever find me?"

Another vampire shook her head.

"Honestly, if he'd trained for a thousand years, maybe he would've stood a chance."

The green-haired vampire laughed.

"Maybe!"

A woman near the back pouted.

"That's not fair. Food just walked right up to you."

"Not my fault!"

"Share next time!"

The surrounding vampires burst into laughter again.

Lavinia watched them with a mixture of amusement and resignation.

It was difficult to forget how differently vampires regarded feeding.

To them, the idea of someone attempting to fight a vampire and becoming a meal afterward was practically a joke.

For the human involved, it had probably been considerably less entertaining.

Still, the green-haired vampire appeared perfectly content, and there was no indication she'd killed the man.

That was something.

A gray-haired vampire near the edge of the gathering tentatively raised her hand.

Her hair was extraordinarily luxurious, falling in glossy waves that seemed to catch even the faintest light.

"Um..."

Gwendolyn turned toward her.

"Yes?"

"I fed on a deer."

For a moment, the gathering was quiet.

Then more than half the vampires groaned.

"Oh, no!"

"Really?"

"Poor deer!"

The gray-haired vampire looked embarrassed.

"I was hungry!"

A woman nearby folded her arms.

"I'm not eating those poor animals. They're too cute."

Another vampire stuck out her tongue.

"And they taste awful!"

Several nodded emphatically.

"I tried rabbit once."

"Don't remind me."

"Animal blood is terrible."

"I'd rather wait another day."

One vampire sighed dramatically.

"Unless I absolutely have to, I'm not becoming a vegetarian."

Valerie burst into laughter.

"Vegetarian?"

The vampire nodded seriously.

"That's what it feels like!"

Lavinia shook her head, smiling despite herself.

"You're all ridiculous."

"You're one of us, Princess!" someone called.

"Unfortunately, yes."

That earned another round of laughter.

Violetta, meanwhile, had begun quietly counting the vampires present.

Her expression remained thoughtful.

More than a hundred vampires, most of whom hadn't fed recently.

And more were arriving.

There was no practical way to procure enough human blood through ordinary channels, particularly with the city's authorities already struggling to manage the aftermath of recent events.

Her own position had become precarious as well.

Lavinia's killing of Ethan would undoubtedly complicate matters.

Yet Violetta didn't dwell upon it.

What had happened had happened.

She couldn't undo the death, and neither could she force the human authorities to accept the vampires gathering around Oakridge.

Coexistence had become considerably more difficult.

But perhaps that had always been inevitable.

It wasn't something she could accomplish alone.

Not through military authority, not through diplomacy, and certainly not through endlessly asking vampires to restrain themselves while humans decided whether they deserved to exist.

Coexistence would only become possible when humans, vampires, werewolves, witches, and elves all reached toward it.

Together.

Violetta looked toward Lavinia.

The Golden Princess was laughing with several vampires who had begun asking increasingly absurd questions about whether they were expected to live in a castle.

For a moment, Violetta smiled.

Then an angry shout rose from the crowd.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

The laughter stopped.

Heads turned.

A vampire near the middle of the gathering was staring at her phone, her expression twisted with fury.

She had dark hair and pale skin, and her pointed ears were trembling.

"What is it?" someone asked.

The vampire raised her phone above her head.

"Humans!"

Several vampires frowned.

"What about them?"

"They took one of us!"

The gathering became quiet.

The woman looked around, her crimson eyes blazing.

"They took a vampire, and others too! Werewolves, witches, elves! They were doing experiments on them!"

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then the questions began.

"What?"

"Where?"

"Who did?"

"Is she okay?"

"Are they still holding her?"

The vampire with the phone shook her head.

"I don't know! There are files online! Pictures! Reports!"

Several others immediately reached for their phones.

Lavinia's smile disappeared.

A memory surfaced.

White walls.

A narrow bed.

Unfamiliar equipment.

And a vampire with dark skin and short light-blue hair, sitting against the wall with her knees drawn tightly against her chest.

Thick silver shackles had encircled her wrists and ankles.

Lavinia remembered the scene perfectly.

The Thing in the Darkness had shown it to all of them, shortly after bringing Genevieve back.

She reached into her dress and pulled out her phone.

"Let me see."

The dark-haired vampire hurried toward her.

"Princess, look!"

Lavinia examined the screen.

A collection of documents had begun circulating online, apparently containing records from a government research facility. 

There were photographs, medical descriptions, authorization forms, and references to injuries inflicted deliberately to study supernatural regeneration.

She began searching through the material.

Then she found a photograph.

Short light-blue hair.

Dark skin.

Crimson eyes.

Silver restraints.

Lavinia went still.

"Oh."

Valerie leaned closer.

"What is it?"

Lavinia turned the phone toward her.

Valerie's expression changed.

"Wait. Isn't that...?"

"Yeah."

Gwendolyn approached, looking over Valerie's shoulder.

The moment she saw the photograph, her eyes widened.

"Oh! That's the vampire God showed us!"

Rosaline and Adelaide hurried over as well.

Adelaide's expression darkened almost immediately.

"It's her."

Rosaline frowned.

"The one in that room."

Lavinia nodded.

"Looks like it."

For a moment, the five vampires studied the photograph in silence.

They had all seen the same scene.

They remembered the unfamiliar room, the silver shackles, and the blue-haired vampire sitting against the wall.

At the time, none of them had known where she was being held or why anyone had restrained her.

Now, looking at the documents, they were beginning to understand.

Gwendolyn's expression crumpled.

"That's horrible."

Adelaide clenched her fists.

"They were experimenting on her?"

"Apparently," Rosaline answered, her usual smile entirely absent.

Valerie leaned closer to the screen.

"Do you think these are real?"

Lavinia scrolled through another document.

"I don't know about everything here, but that photograph is real. We all saw her."

She examined the accompanying records.

There were references to an organization called the Institute.

Names.

Dates.

Descriptions of procedures.

Lavinia frowned.

"The Institute..."

She'd never heard of it before.

But if the documents were genuine, then someone had been capturing supernatural beings and experimenting on them without their consent.

And one of those captives was a vampire whose suffering they had already witnessed.

Violetta approached, having noticed the sudden change in their expressions.

"What have you found?"

Lavinia showed her the photograph.

Violetta's expression hardened.

"I remember her."

"Yeah," Lavinia replied. "It's the same vampire."

Violetta examined the accompanying documents.

"Where was this taken?"

"Some research facility. They're calling it the Institute."

Violetta's gaze moved across the screen.

"Then we need to establish whether these records are authentic, and whether the subjects are still being held."

Lavinia nodded.

Around them, more vampires were discovering the documents.

Their anger was spreading, not through any deliberate command, but through the ordinary outrage of seeing someone like themselves restrained and harmed.

And beneath that anger, Lavinia could feel something deeper.

Concern.

Affection.

The instinctive desire to protect another vampire.

She understood it perfectly.

She felt it herself.

The blue-haired vampire was a stranger.

None of them knew her name.

They didn't know what she'd been like before her capture, whether she had friends waiting for her, or whether she had any idea that so many vampires were now learning what had happened to her.

They didn't even know whether she was still inside the facility described in the documents.

But she was a vampire.

And that was enough.

Lavinia looked toward Violetta.

"We need to find her."

Violetta nodded.

"I agree."

Around them, the gathered vampires continued talking, their voices rising and falling as more details emerged from the documents.

The information was still new.

Most people probably hadn't even heard of the leak, and the full implications of what had been released wouldn't become clear immediately.

But among the vampires gathered outside the hotel, the discovery had already changed the evening.

They had come to meet their Princess.

Now they had discovered that one of their own had been imprisoned and experimented upon.

Lavinia looked down at the photograph again.

The blue-haired vampire stared back at her from the screen, her expression fierce despite the restraints around her wrists.

Lavinia's fingers tightened slightly around the phone.

She had wondered what she would say to the vampires who answered her call.

How she would introduce herself.

Whether she could convince them that she was someone worth following.

Apparently, the world had decided to provide her with something considerably more important to discuss.