Lee had the same strange dream again that night. Only this time, she saw a figure standing behind her 'mother'. She could still not make out the strange tune, but the other figure was singing it as well. Then, as they got closer to the thing over the hill, the figure was in front of them. The figure removed her hood to reveal a woman. The woman had short, blue hair in a boyish style and blue eyes.
She and her mother ran right into the woman and ran through her. When they looked back, the woman was gone. She saw what was over the hill now, a castle! And outside the castle, the air distorted and swirled like a vortex. But her 'mother' kept running towards it. Behind them another figure approached them. This time the figure was a vampire.
They all woke early the next morning and Lee tried on her new clothes. They weren't her style, but they looked like they were popular in Maroon. She would have to get used to Mythrill clothing. So she exchanged her jeans and T-shirt for the earth colored slacks, white-gray cut off shirt that hung off her shoulders and had a v-shaped cut that could be tied up with the thick string threaded through it, and the leather moccasins. Harold was also kind enough to supply a soft tan cape. She laughed at her reflection when she put the clothes on. It was strange to be wearing a cape, but it was kind of cool, too.
She left the bathroom and saw that Trowa and Quatre were already dressed in similar clothes.
Trowa in his brown pants and loose dirty white shirt. He had a cape, as well, but he was not wearing it yet. Quatre had similar clothes but his shirt was green and his cape was darker brown.
"Well, you certainly look like a regular Mythrill citizen." Quatre smiled as she came out.
"Yes," Trowa agreed, "Harold knows how to shop."
Lee blushed and stuffed her things into her bag. Then she picked it up and watched as the boys got ready. Trowa was putting on his cape and Quatre was finishing packing his things. After a few minutes, Quatre looked out the window and said, "It's almost eight, we should get going."
Trowa nodded and the three of them left the room and locked the door behind them.
They headed downstairs and saw the Heero was already waiting for them. They sat down at the table with him and waited for him to say something.
"Let's get one thing straight," He said after a moment. "If I'm going to help you, you have to listen to me. Just remember that I know what I'm doing and you don't."
The boys looked insulted but nodded.
"And," Heero continued, "I'm only doing this to get the Dark Lord, I don't do favors."
"Fine," Trowa said.
"So why would vampires be after you?" Heero wondered.
"They know that we've been hired to destroy them." Trowa mumbled.
"How could you do that?"
"By retrieving the ancient dagger and using it to slay the Dark Dragon." Quatre said.
"Is that what you're going to do?" Heero asked.
The boys nodded.
"So where do you come in?" Heero turned to Lee, "Are you helping them? I noticed that last night you said the vampires were after them, and not you."
Lee laughed, "I'm just an unlucky girl thrown into the middle of everything."
"Hm, go on."
"Um, well...I was at home, on Earth, when I got struck by lightening and ended up in Dragon's forest with these two." She laughed.
"An Earthling? And you were struck by lightening?"
"That's right,"
"Hn, sounds like a transportation spell to me."
"But why would anyone bring me to Mythrill?"
Heero shrugged. "Perhaps you are an important player in this battle against the vampires."
"Battle?"
"The vampires have been multiplying and have been much more aggressive over the last few years." Quatre explained. "It's been especially bad lately."
"Oh," Lee nodded. A waitress came and took their orders. Lee was too wierded out by the menus so she just ordered 'Breakfast combo 1' and coffee.
'At least they have coffee,' Lee thought with a smirk.
Their meals were eaten in silence. Lee sipped her coffee silently and watched the three boys glare at each other. Or at least, Trowa and Heero glared. Quatre looked too absorbed in his food.
Heero finished first, and sat up and glared around the room, waiting for the rest of them. "Where did you run into these vampires?" He asked.
"An elfin village about three days out of Maroon."
"It's been three days?"
"No, it was the night before last when we came across them. We used elfin magic to get down here as fast as we could."
Heero nodded and dropped some money on the table for his part of the meal. Trowa and Quatre did the same and paid for her as well. Lee felt sort of bad for making them pay for her all the time. They had paid for her meals and her room since she got there. She would have to find some way of making money to help them. It was weird not having anything to pay with. After all, on Earth she was rich.
"Let's go," Heero said.
"Go where?" Quatre wondered. "The vampires won't still be at that little village."
"I've gotten some clues as to where the Dark Lord's lair is." Heero replied, "But first I think we should check out that elfin village."
"Yeah," Said Quatre, "I hope Sally is OK, and Eli."
Heero looked at them questioningly.
"Sally and Eli are some elves that helped us while we were there." Trowa explained.
"Hn,"
They got up and left the table, stopping at the check-in counter to pay for their rooms. Lee stood behind them, hoping to avoid running into Harold.
Of course, she didn't have that much luck.
Harold bumbled out from the back room and looked at them. "Leavin' are yeh'?" He asked.
"Yes," Said Trowa, He dropped some coins on the counter. Harold took the money and the key and then looked behind them.
"Allo Miss," He grinned, "I see ya got my present."
Lee smiled and stepped forward. "Yes, thank you very much Harold. It was very thoughtful of you." She nodded politely.
"It was my pleasure, Miss." He took her hands in both of his huge ones and smiled at her. Lee tried to hide her disgust, and Quatre tried to hide his giggles.
"I really appreciate it," She tried to pull away.
"Aw..." Harold leaned forward, as if expecting something. Lee shot a look at the boys. Trowa just shrugged and urged her to get it over with. Not one to be rude, Lee leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then pulled away and dashed out the door after the boys.
Once they were outside Quatre burst out laughing, Heero chucked and Trowa smirked.
"It's not funny!" Lee cried. She smacked Quatre, who happened to be closest. She made a face and then spit on the ground repeatedly, trying to get the oily taste out of her mouth.
"Blech, remind me to never accept a gift from anyone that disgusting ever again!" Lee said as she spit one last time.
"Look on the bright side," Said Quatre.
"What bright side?"
"At least you made his day."
Trowa snorted and Lee pouted. She crossed her arms in front of her and stalked after them muttering 'gross' under her breath.
Duo sighed as he looked out the window in his quarters in his castle. The sun had just set, and he watched as his fellow vampires flew off into the night. He knew that vampires everywhere were hunting now, but he wasn't hungry. He knew the time for the Dark Dragon to rise was coming. But what part did he have to play in this prophecy?
Dorothy, his advisor, told him he had to help his vampiric people to destroy the ancient dagger. She was older than he was by at least two hundred years and he trusted her judgement, but he could sense that she was not telling him something.
There was a knock at his door and Dorothy let herself in.
"What is it?" Duo asked.
"My Lord," She said, "This is the third night you haven't joined the hunt. Is there something wrong?"
"No," He sighed. He continued staring out his window.
"The village's sacrifice is in a few weeks. You should at least stay healthy until then. Even the Dark Lord needs to eat."
"I know,"
"My Lord, I insist that you go get something to eat. If you want, I can bring you something."
"No, Dorothy, I'm not hungry."
"Nonsense, you need to eat. You'll need your strength to fulfill the prophecy. The time is almost near."
"I don't even know what I'm supposed to do!" Duo snapped. "You aren't telling me something!"
"You're right, My Lord. Do you want to know what your role is?"
"Yes,"
"You won't like it. I'm afraid that if I tell you, the Dark Dragon will never awaken."
"I don't care. Tell me why I'm so important."
"Ancient legend tells us that you are the only one who can awaken the deity who has the power to bring the Dragon out of its slumber."
"What do you mean? Isn't the deity the one who's supposed to kill the dragon?"
"Yes, but the deity also awakens it, the deity is already here, that's why you've been feeling a little under the weather."
"Oh really? If the deity is here, shouldn't it already be awake?"
"No, the deity is hiding inside a human."
"A human?"
"Yes. You're job is to awaken the deity and then destroy the dagger. That way the vampires can live in eternal night!"
"Hmph, how do I do that?"
"You will know when the time comes."
"Wow, that helps a lot, thanks Dorothy." Duo muttered sarcastically.
"Any time, My Lord. Now please, go find something to eat."
"Fine," Duo sighed. He jumped out the window and flew off towards the second nearest village. He knew better than to feed on those in the closest village that lay in the valley at the foot of the mountain. They gave him sacrifices every so often to keep the vampires away. Once a month they would take a young girl, tie her up outside the village and leave her as an offering to the Dark Lord.
The young women who were brought to him continually impressed Duo. They were all very brave and didn't beg. The first time he got one of these offerings he was afraid to drink from her. After all, she was completely helpless. But Dorothy had explained to him the consequences of releasing a sacrifice; that and he was very hungry. He hadn't eaten since he first killed two days before that. Duo regretfully drank from her and the body was disposed of for him.
After his terrifying first kill and first offering, Duo had become a better vampire. He soon learned to be an excellent hunter and hardly felt anything anymore when he killed. But lately he had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach and he was unable to eat. Maybe Dorothy was right when she said it was because the deity had come. He trusted Dorothy; probably because she was the only one who didn't fight to kill Hilde. She knew better than that. As the oldest vampire in his midst, she was wise enough to learn what would make him distrust her before he was sired.
Duo landed outside the village and looked for a lone human to feed on. He spotted a man in maybe his mid-forties and ducked into the trees to wait for the man to get close. When the man went past him, Duo jumped silently from his hiding spot and attacked him from behind. The man never knew what hit him. He flew off and went to the next village. He came across a group of campers on his way there and decided they would make a better snack. The further away from civilization his food was the better. It saved the suspicions and extra defenses on the towns.
He landed just outside the camp and crept towards them. There was a group of about twenty of them. They were all spread out in groups of about five. He crept up to the tent furthest away from the rest of them and scoped it out. Four people in there, he couldn't tell anything else.
Duo heard a twig snap from behind him and he whipped around and pinned whoever it was against a tree by its neck.
It turned out that it was a little girl no more than five years old. Duo had no problem killing children; at least he never had before. But when he heard the girl start to scream he felt sorry for her.
The adults were gathering behind them. And when they realized a vampire had the child, they flipped. A woman Duo presumed was the girl's mother started to scream and cry, and she covered her mouth to hide her sobs.
"Step away from her, beast!" A young man cried, holding a sharpened stick in front of him. Duo almost laughed at the primitive stake.
"It will take more than that to kill the Dark Lord," Duo smirked.
"T-the Dark Lord?" The man stuttered and he backed up. The girl had now started sobbing and the mother was in hysterics. Duo turned to back to the girl and the mother screamed.
"NO! Please! Not my baby! She's just a child!" Duo winced; the mother's pleading reminded him too much of the night that Hilde was killed by the vampires. Even after 400 years, the pain from that night still felt fresh.
He slowly lowered the girl to the ground and knelt beside her. Tears streamed down her face and Duo's expression softened.
"I'm sorry I scared you," He whispered. He opened his hand and a rose popped out of nowhere.
"Be good," He said. He handed the girl the flower. She took it silently and smiled.
Duo stood back up and the girl ran to her mother and flung her arms around her neck. The mother was relieved, but the men looked suspicious.
"What are you up to, monster?" The man with the stake growled.
Duo glared at him and they all shrank back. "I may be a vampire," He said lowly, "But I'm not a monster." With that Duo took off and flew back to his castle. He had lost his appetite.
