Chapter 5 – Kindness is a dish… maybe
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[Vampires rely on others for sustenance in a much more literal way than other humanoid races do. Yet, vampires are depicted as kind and tempered among the ancient races. Their caring nature holding greater sway on their actions than the thirst for blood.]

Unlike the previous times, the room remained unchanged. Adding to that the lack of additional information, Alicia was a bit lost. There was nowhere to go as the chamber was still closed off.

A breather it is, then?”

With no exit in sight, Alicia went to smooth out her dress, her appearance a bit unkempt after the short battle that took place. The softness inadvertently caught her attention. She couldn’t help but trace her fingers along the lines of velvet cloth in wonder, the quality surprisingly high for starter equipment. It was her first time wearing this kind of clothing, which seemingly bothered her less than she’d thought.

Curious about her appearance, she tried to find a way to get a good idea of what she looked like.

Wait… I’m a vampire so even a mirror might not work. Oh! How about the equipment page?

Not a thought later, the appropriate menu opened. In the center was her character, the frail and fragile 140 or so centimeters tall vampire. Although her apparent weakness was debatable. She had shoulder length black hair with streaks of crimson running through, contrasting with the brightness of her black and white frilly dress. The pale skin and lively red eyes gave her a childish yet ghostly look. It was further enhanced by the dignified stance her clone took in the menu, giving her the air of a young princess of the night.

This… is me?”

She stood there, speechless, for a few seconds. Losing tracks of the surrounding as she was immersed in her image.

Th-this is just… Should I try acting in a more refined manner?

She straightened her posture, adjusted her hair and became awfully conscious of what to do with her arms. Eventually retrieving the enchanted umbrella and attempting to use it elegantly rather than practically. She played around with it for a bit, before nodding to herself.

A-ahem.”

The sudden interruption sent shivers down her spine, the thought that someone might have been watching her this whole time embarrassing her to the point of freezing her thoughts.

I-I… I had to wait for so long my joints were starting to ache. Ahah… It’s a good thing these exercises were passed down in my family… ,” Alicia started, but stopped when she recognized the figure before her. The effect of the revelation taking her out of her stupor.

She’s the younger girl from those memories!

“… Helena?”

Although she still looks older than me…

The girl raised an eyebrow.

You know my name?”

While Alicia was pondering on how to best answer this question, Helena got back on track.

Oh well, it’s fine. I believe this is the first time we meet. I’m Helena, as you know.”, she said, giving a short bow.

As she spoke, Alicia glanced at the blue name tag atop her head, that of a friendly NPC.

[Helena, Level ???, ‘Council of the Ancients’]

Remembering her current appearance, she did her best to curtsy elegantly and hopefully shake off the strange impression she might have left on her conversational partner.

I’m Alicia, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

I can’t seem to see her level so she must be quite strong. And she did say something like that in one of the visions. The Council of the Ancients seems to be one of the factions?

Helena smiled at the small vampire’s enthusiastic, yet slightly clumsy attempt at manners.

Likewise.”

But it soon faded as she continued.

This might seem a bit out of the blue, but… did you… did you see Fanny?”

Now that the embarrassment had mostly died down, Alicia was slightly taken aback. The phrasing was oddly specific, it seemed she knew about her clearing the time distortion not even half an hour ago.

Still, she nodded.

Helena’s expression relaxed greatly, as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Thank you. This means a lot more than you imagine. If you need help with anything, feel free to ask me and I shall return the favor.”

She turned back, as if to leave, looked around for a moment before facing Alicia once again, her face riddled in confusion.

Uhm… Where are we?”

**

*

A few minutes later, they were both sitting on garden chairs in the center of the room. Chairs the purple-eyed, black haired intruder had pulled out of thin air, to Alicia’s surprise.

The hidden crypt of dawn… I feel like I’ve seen this name somewhere before…”

How did you even get here?”

Hmm? Oh, I warped myself to the one that fixed the tear in time and ended up here. This is also how I knew you were the one who did it.”

That sounds… like a very convenient power.”

Most nightmares have powers of that caliber, there are limitations too, obviously. Speaking of which, how did you get here?”

The question surprised Alicia slightly, but she quickly came up with an answer.

I woke up inside a sarcophagus further inside the crypt and-”

Wait, you woke up here? Are you a vampire?”

Yes?”

Was she unable to tell? That and not noticing she was in a closed room… does she have trouble paying attention to her surroundings ?

Apparently, the answer pleased her, Helena was becoming more and more lively. She pumped her fist and stood up.

That’s great! Amazing, even. Erm… would you please come with me?”

[Quest received : To the land of nightmares and wonders

Helena the nightmare has asked you to accompany her, she seems to be in need of your help.

Rewards : Blood, ???

Accept / Refuse ]

There’s really no reason to refuse, I probably need it for the trial and she might know more about the vampires. Plus if I can borrow her teleportation, it could be handy to meet up. Getting blood as a reward seems sketchy, but I apparently need it to live. It’s just …

Is there a way for me to come back here after? I mean, there were those protected items that I wanted to get my hands on...”

Hmm? If that’s all you need, you won’t even need to come back! I can get them for you anytime.”

I guess it makes sense, since this is still part of the trials they obviously thought of a way for us to get the rewards. I wanted a more direct revenge on that zappy barrier though. It’s fine! Whatever, don’t be so petty, Alicia. Be the bigger vampire.

[You have accepted the quest 'To the land of nightmares and wonders']

I’m right behind you.”

Helena grabbed her hand with extreme enthusiasm, almost crushing it as she beamed at Alicia and they both disappeared.

[You have left the hidden crypt of hope]

[You left the instanced quest area. The introduction quest 'Lost gift of the ancestors' has ended.]

This IS part of the tutorial, right? No matter how I look at it, this feels a bit like a bug... But Helena said she could get me the rewards anyway and it was almost done, so it's all good... I think?

[You have entered Silverpeak Forest]

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in front of a familiar manor. An imposing mansion sitting at the top of a hill surrounded by the tall silver-tipped trees. One she had seen in the visions from clearing the distortion. The sun obscured by the trees, but still shining through enough to warm up those beneath. It was hot… incredibly so, in fact.

    -4 (Pure)    -5 (Pure)

Reminded of the poor effect of the sun on her pale skin, Alicia used the umbrella for its intended purpose, and covered herself from the sun before her health went any lower.

This forest looks pretty good, but the sun... it hurts me. Still, I wonder if this would be a good hunting field? Now that I'm finally outside, I might have to find one...

Helena by her side smiled fondly as she looked at the surroundings, before fixing her sight on the nearby mansion.

Here we are! This is where Fanny and I lived.”

Indeed, the mansion looked somewhat similar to the one she had seen earlier, in another time.

She’s in there somewhere, but I can’t enter just yet. The consequences of having an open distortion in the place for three years. But you can! So please, can you go inside and bring Fanny to safety?”

You’re telling me that Fanny’s fine? What I saw was so dramatic that I thought that she was… you know… dead.”

If it weren’t for you, she probably would be. Although I guess she technically did die. But you saw her, didn’t you? You unknowingly brought her back from the Possibility Sea. And now, she’s almost saved, so please!”

It was hard for Alicia to resist the nightmare’s puppy eyes, not that she had a reason to. She was determined to see this through. Although that part about a sea was unclear.

Of course, leave it to me.”

I’m counting on you, be careful!”

She left the waving girl behind and walked towards the mansion, carefully trying not to expose herself to the sun using her enchanted umbrella.

She was soon face to face with the large double doors of the main entryway, the mansion not having any semblance of an outside fence, likely due to its lack of neighbors. She went for the knob and opened it with no difficulties, the door apparently unlocked.

As she stepped through to the entryway, she felt a strange tingling sensation wash over her. As if she had entered a wholly different world.

This is probably what she meant by instability. I should try to do this as fast as possible.

Thus began Alicia’s second home-scouring quest. And while this time, there was no monochrome filter, the disuse and dust that accumulated softened the colors of the place.

She started going through the rooms quickly, looking around and moving on. There was no need for any in-depth search as what she was looking for should be immediately visible.

The hallway, the study, the library, the various bedrooms, she recognized some of the places from the distortion while others were completely new. She hurried along, avoiding the sun that peeked out through the opened windows up until she found a half-opened door.

There was noise coming from the other side.

She maneuvered around the door and glanced inside discreetly.

It was a bedroom. A large queen-sized bed, nightstand and candles on one end of the room and what seemed to be a small coffee table along a few chairs on the other.

Most importantly, there were not one, but three people sitting inside. Though all three of them looked the exact same. The same spring dress, the same long brown hair and the pointy ears Helena also had. The same Fanny.

Almost.

All three of them were reading books, sprawled across the room in different positions.

[Fanny, Level ???, 'Council of the Ancients']

And only one of them had a name tag.

Alicia pushed open the door, catching their attention. They simultaneously lifted their heads from the books the were reading, and doing so caught sight of each other.

Two of the three shone brighter and brighter until they disappeared in small motes of light and fused with the one on the bed.

[Unaffected by time disorder. Sources : Ageless, Pureblood Vampire]

She tilted her head and looked at Alicia, visibly confused for a moment then her face lit up and a smile came to her lips.

It’s you.”

Alicia ignored the notification and smiled back as she went inside. Deciding to ignore the clones, she went straight to the point.

Fanny, Helena’s waiting for you.”

To which Fanny closed her book and went to place it back in the bookshelf from whence it came. She put on a flowery white hat and got in her shoes.

Thanks for saving me, and I guess my sister. Our meeting is long overdue, isn’t it? Lead the way.”

It's late, very much so, but chapter 5 is here!

Now I should be able to go back to a more regular schedule again so please look forward to more. I know Alicia probably does.

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