Copyright 2007 © All characters and storyline herein belong to Jessica Chapman. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Zelda related terms, storylines, characters, races, or ideas.


Name: Adrien
Alias: Adrien Krest (A-dree-n crest)
Age: 3,030
Race: Vampire
Sex: Male
Hair: Brown (Sample)
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 6’ 2” (188 cm)
Weight: 193 lbs (87.5 kg)

Appearance:
Head – Adrien’s face is long, lacking in fat. His handsome bone structure and features attract many. From the side, one can view the long slope of his jaw line. He has a long but slender chin, being more pointed and rounded at the end—not broad or wide. His lower jawbone is angled high from his chin. The upward slant is about 25-30 degrees that the sides of his lower jawbone make. This lower portion of his face makes the entire face long but heart-shaped. It’s attractive, despite his lengthier chin. His chin slops outward from his forehead and nose. His forehead is more flat than rounded. From a frontal view, his face is long, heart-shaped, but not noticeably wide. His nose is long as well to fit the structure of his face, but narrow—not wide. He does not have high cheek-bones.

His lips are often formed in a warm and content smile. Open his mouth and you will find he has sharp canines. Half a centimeter longer than the average human’s, it’s sharp enough to prick even with the lightest touch. Smiling broadly with his teeth can be rather alarming, for they are noticeable. Thus, Adrien tries not to show his teeth when he smiles.

Adrien has average sized eyes. (I imagine my characters anime-ish, so that might help with the eyes.) They are not narrow or wide, just a nice place in between. The colors of his eyes are brown, green, and blue fused together starting from the pupil. A light chocolate brown surrounds the pupil, fades into a light forest green, and then into a grayish blue. The amount of blue in his eyes depends on if he is having intense emotions of some kind. The more intense, the bluer they are. The more relaxed he is, the less blue, and the more green and brown there is. His eyebrows are not wide or thin, just average, though close to his eyes. They are mostly in calm positions, tranquil.

His hair is a dark, dark chocolate brown. It is silky to the touch. Adrien’s hair is perfectly straight but with just enough slight curl for it to pour off his scalp with a light volume. Most of the time, it is split down the middle evenly. His hair is a bit shaggy and long for it being a shorter cut. His bangs are often pushed to the sides. The left side of his bangs contains more hair than the right (when viewed frontally). The left is tucked behind his ear, when the right portion hangs loosely curving slightly around his eyes. The length goes past the level of his eyes but not beyond his nose. He tries to keep it to the side of his face at his temple, but they can both fall into his face. The rest of his hair is layered, though the hairs are not very short as they reach the bottom of his neck in a wide point. They are extremely close and flat to his head, and they are not so long that he could tuck them behind his ears constantly with the exception of his bangs. It is a neat and clean cut.

His ears are large enough for his face but not too big. They are heart-shaped, making them look like half a heart-shape. They are unattached.

Body – Adrien is somewhat tall for being a human-made vampire. He looks like a normal human, especially since he tries not to smile with his teeth. Put your ear to his chest and you’ll hear his heart beat. He is warm when touched. His skin is a light peachy tone, very healthy looking. He has lean but defined muscles due to lack of fat. There is a small but very defined scar on his right shoulder. On his torso, there is a circular burn scar just below his sternum. It is about five or six inches wide in diameter. It is a very deep scar in his skin. Looking as if he had been burned very badly, warping his flesh. The twisted texture is smooth but strange to the touch, slightly lighter than the rest of his skin tone. He looks to be in his late twenties to early thirties.

Clothing – Adrien’s outfit changes like any normal person’s. If so, it will be indicated. Though, he has a set attire for travel, teaching, and possible battles.

He wears a loose, light gray shirt with long sleeves and a circular collar that shows his clavicles. He has black cloth pants, straight and not very baggy, but not too tight on his legs. His shirt hangs over it about six inches past his waist. There is a long black coat worn over this. It is made out of tougher, stiffer material than his shirt and pants. It has long sleeves down to his wrists (with silver buttons to his cuffs), over the sleeves of his shirt. The bottom reaches down a few inches just before his ankles, showing the ends of his pants. It is tighter than a trench coat, more closely fitting but not skin-tight. It has silver buttons down to his waist and a large collar folded over cleanly. It is buttoned up until just below his sternum and down to his waist. The rest is folded over, as said, to expose the gray of his shirt and clavicles. He wears a black belt around his waist over the coat, buckled with a square buckle of silver. His rapier hangs on his belt on the left side (his right). He wears black leather boots with silver buckles to the straps that secure them to his feet.

Weapons: All together the rapier is three feet and six and a half inches long, and, appears as seen here. The blade is two feet and eight inches long. The hilt is ten and a half inches long. The blade at its widest is no more than 2.5 centimeters, which thins to a sharp and pointy tip. The whole thing is made out of a bright and polished silver, hilt and blade, which is extremely strange for a vampire who is prone to silver. The hilt’s design is as seen here.

He carries his sword in a black sheath tied to his belt by a strap on his right side. Adrien is ambidextrous, a learned skill, but often favors his right hand.

Armor: N/A

Skills/magic:

• Adrien holds a vast amount of knowledge for he is a very old vampire. The knowledge is about his world, Sekin, for he is something of a scholar, and he knows his world better than anyone else in it. This makes it possible for him to survive almost anything in Sekin and places similar to it.
  
  
• Adrien is an expert martial artist. He created his own fighting style, after studying the battle arts for so long. He is a weapon’s master: he can handle almost any standard weapon handed to him expertly. He has also mastered his chakras and energy. He can suppress and blend his aura perfectly.
  
  
• Adrien makes a fabulous teacher in almost any area.

Blood Drain – Like most vampires, Adrien must feed on the blood of living beings to live. Most humanoids are the only thing that can truly satisfy a vampire’s hunger (vampires from Sekin). Other animals make okay meals, if Adrien becomes gravely injured somehow and loses a lot of blood or hasn’t fed for a long time, feeding on an animal would help him survive, but nothing quite rejuvenates a vampire like blood from a humanoid. This is because the blood is so similar to their own. Blood from other animals is not as familiar to their bodies. He has two sharp canines for this, for the fastest and most satisfying way for a vampire to feed is by biting their prey and sucking the blood out. However, Adrien can also absorb blood through his skin. His saliva is anesthetic, so that it numbs the skin and wound created by his fangs. This helps in not alarming his prey to what he is doing. It may only feel sensual and pleasant to them.

Adrien must feed on something after six months. This is extraordinarily long for vampires (from Sekin). The longer they live, the longer they can go without blood. If he does not feed after six months, he will die or his vampiric instinct will surely activate to force him into a feeding frenzy. He would feel the hunger much sooner, but he can choose to resist if he finds he must for some reason. Adrien is somewhat sensitive about having to feed on other living things. He never kills a person when he feeds on them. He leaves enough blood for them to live, and they may be dizzy and light-headed, or even suffer a headache. It would not be uncommon for him to go a few months without feeding, though he is careful about this for he does not wish to risk accidentally activating his vampiric instinct.

Blood is like a necessary drug addiction for him. He cannot live without it, but at the same time it takes an extreme amount of control and discipline for him not to hunger and lust for it constantly. To not feed constantly and to not kill when he does, it has taken years for him to master it. However, even for how well-behaved he has become, should he come close to death, losing a large amount of blood, or other triggers, he will start to lose a grip on his control over it. Start to feel the hunger for it, especially coming close to death, or blood loss. He will hardly have any control over himself. His vampiric instinct is almost certain to activate in these conditions.

People with certain charges to their energy do not matter. The charge is in a very neutral form in the blood, so no charge can really harm him by drinking, say, blood from someone with a light/positive charge. Taking the blood into his body “converts” it in a sense, changing it to accustom to his body, needing the energy from it as well. Those with large amounts of energy in their body, and therefore in their blood as well, are very desirable sources of food for vampires.

He does not have many demands when it comes to blood, except that the blood must be fresh, still warm from the body. Old blood does not satisfy, for all the life energy will have faded from it, and it is the life energy from the blood of living creatures that satisfies and fuels the vampire to continue living, without aging. The buildup of energy collected over the years in their cells is what makes the older vampires more powerful, faster, stronger, and what allows them to heal so rapidly.

So, only new blood is what the vampire needs. Old blood is useless to them. No healing magic or extra life energy given in a different source can cure a vampire of their hunger. It must be the energy from blood.

Turning – Adrien has the ability to turn most humanoids into a vampire. However, it’s against his morals to ever turn another into a vampire. So, although he is aware of how to do it, he never has changed a person in his entire life. He never will, either. He believes death is better than to live forever as a vampire. It does not matter to him if they ask or beg him, and desperately want it. He will never change another person.

To do it, he must drain them of the majority of their own blood and then feed them his. Soon after they start feeding on his blood, it will soon become suddenly addictive for them. They will desperately want more and continue to feed on his blood. Eventually, he would need to force them to stop or they will stop on their own because of the sudden pain that will ensue after consuming his blood. His blood will kill them, “infecting” their body, turning them into a vampire. After they die, they will regain consciousness soon after, and wake to view the world through the eyes of a vampire.

Regenerate – If injured, whether it be a small scrape, a broken bone, or a deep stab wound, Adrien’s vampiric body will nearly instantly repair itself. His body does this at a stunning rate, even for vampires (because of his old age). The longer they live the faster their body is able to regenerate. Cuts hardly even faze him; they heal so quickly it is as if he had never been cut or scraped at all. Larger injures are more obvious and take a little longer to heal. If one watches closely they can see his injury heal. Large-scale injures, massive and all-over, take longer to heal and are visible to everyone. Normal weapons and magics never leave scars on him. Adrien is immune to all poisons, drugs, infections, and diseases.

However, there are certain things that disturb his ability to heal so swiftly. Vampires from Sekin are extremely allergic to silver and blessed objects. So, weapons made out of silver, or that are blessed, can effectively injure him. Wounds from these fester and swell with irritation. They often take days and weeks to heal. They continue to bleed and often have difficulty scabbing over, so this would leave Adrien in danger of bleeding to death. The silver and/or blessed object will have purified his blood. It is like an infection. It is the only kind Adrien can suffer from. When his blood would normally absorb back into his skin after being injured, his blood will not in this case. For it will have been infected by the purity of the silver weapon. This is usually only with cuts and piercing wounds. Being struck by something blunt and silver still injuries him, but it does not penetrate or infect as much as being stabbed or cutting. Serious infections of silver or blessed objects can kill him if left untreated. He can touch silver, but it to be against his bare skin for too long may create a very sensitive rash on the area that was exposed.

Normally, he can sense when blessed objects are nearby—they make him feel disturbed and uncomfortable. Silver can go unnoticed by him until he is struck with it or he observantly notices. These kinds of objects can leave scars on his body if they are serious injuries and are not healed magically.

If he is stabbed in the heart with any kind of object, Adrien will die just like most mortals. Piercing his brain with a silver or blessed object will kill him, but if he is pierced with a normal weapon, he may only lose consciousness. Cutting off his head does not kill him permanently. It will knock him out until his head is somehow placed back on his neck, where it will heal back onto his body.

Magic/chi/energy/mana that is holy/positive or consists of light can injure him similarly to silver and blessed objects. The effects vary depending on the kind of magic/spell used on him. Normally, he reacts as if it were silver or blessed objects: an extreme allergic reaction. He can also sense when this kind of magic is being used.

Adrien’s blood has healing properties, unsurprisingly. He can use his own blood to heal others. He can sprinkle it over open-wound injuries and watch it heal. The more blood he uses, the faster it heals. However, this method only works with open wounds. He cannot heal broken bones that are within the body and not broken outside of it. If the broken bone should pierce through the skin somehow, he may be able to sprinkle his blood on it and snap it back into place. His blood can also work as an antidote for all poisons, diseases, viruses, broken bones, disabilities, and even hereditary diseases—basically everything. Though, this would require feeding or injecting the afflicted person with his blood. The more serious, the more blood it requires. Genetic diseases are difficult, because it requires so much blood to correct that it brings the person at an extreme risk of accidentally turning into a vampire. Adrien would not even risk it, for he does not wish to be responsible if the person does turn. He believes death is better than risking it.

He may use his saliva to numb wounds as well, to relieve the pain. He can control the release of the chemical into his saliva that causes it to be anesthetic.

Extension – This is a simple ability of vampires from Sekin. They may extend their nails to almost any length, and they will grow straight out. The nails become hard and sharp, effective for cutting, slicing, and stabbing. They can then retract them as well, back into their hands, reverting to nearly regular nails. If broken, they can easily regenerate and repair themselves, taking only a second to do so. Adrien uses this ability more than his own sword.

Vampiric Instinct – All vampires from Sekin have this. It is the raging animal inside them, one that lusts constantly for blood and death. It is the drug addict in Adrien that desires to have its blood fix constantly. It is a beast without intelligence or feeling, only the instinct to feed and kill. It only hungers and lusts. It is the lustful and gluttonous demon within every vampire from Sekin. It is extremely rare for vampires to overcome this side of themselves. Especially at the beginning of their vampiric lives, they are “young” and new to the demon within them. Most fall into it, for it is so powerful. It is impossible for them not to fall into the instinct at all. It happens. It will happen. There is no escaping it. In the beginning, it will always be stronger than their will. Young vampires always fall into it, at least more than once.

Adrien is one of the oldest vampires from Sekin. In his old age, he has an amazing control over his instinct. Though amazing, he is still in danger of it activating. Nearness of death, extreme rage, extreme sexual lust, blood loss, lack of feeding, and other cases can trigger the demon inside him. He tries not to be near others, except maybe for enemies, when he feels it taking control of him. However, it is not always a choice, for depending on the situation, he may not be able to move until it does activate. Some may try to help him when he is injured so gravely. He will try to tell them to stay away; of course, most may not understand the danger.

Once it triggers, Adrien will no longer be himself. He will attack anyone with a heart beat. He can often hear their pulse, smell them, and feel the heat of their blood even if they stand several yards away from him. He will attack viciously, with incredible speed and strength. His speed and strength increases shockingly, for Adrien is already very fast and strong without it. The beast he becomes will tear a person apart with its nails and teeth to feast on their blood. It doesn’t really think. It is not intelligent, but it has the instinct of an animal—closely relating to sharks in some ways. Sharks are powerful, fast, and strong, but they are not very smart animals. It will kill anyone in the way and maybe even change its mind and feed on them instead. It does not matter to it. It just wants to eat something.

Adrien’s appearance changes as it takes control over him. It starts with his eyes. His pupils will dilate rapidly. His iris increases in size as well, leaving only enough white to frame it, but the pupil will take up the majority of the iris, rather animal-like in this quality. The color of his eyes darken to a wild forest green. His skin is next. It is normal and healthy looking in tone and color before. It seems to stretch and tighten on his body, most visibly on his face when he loses control. It pales to a deathly color. He appears bony and dead-looking. His sharp canines will lengthen about a centimeter longer, and his nails will extend and sharpen instantly to about two and half inches or longer.

Undisturbed, there is no telling how long it will have control. Maybe only a few minutes, hours, days even, depending on the factors. However, it is effective to knock him out in some way. Once unconscious his appearance will return to normal, and when he regains consciousness he will be himself once more. Though, it is important to keep in mind the difficulty of knocking out, say, a shark. He will be so fast and strong, it would take even more silver, blessed objects, and light magic to knock him out or kill him. His endurance will be amazing.

The vampiric instinct is triggered by a stored amount of energy that has been gathered from the blood he has consumed for this survival mechanism. When the vampire is running low on blood and energy, being near death, it triggers and the stored energy is released, giving him the boost in speed and strength. However, coming along with his boost is the unleashed, raw, essence of the vampire. The instinct’s main purpose is for survival. Thus, he cannot control the lust for blood because it is essential for his survival.

Once the instinct has been triggered once but his blood level not restored, meaning his instinct faded or he was knocked out, it cannot trigger again until he has had enough time to consume more blood for the reserve of energy to store up enough for it to be possible once again. It would be possible for a second triggering if he had consumed enough blood during the feeding frenzy of his first trigger.

Telepathy (Rank: V-VI-VII-VIII-IX-X) – Adrien has trained his mind in many ways. Mentally, he is very powerful. He can create a telepathic link to another’s mind. This can be used to communicate over a long distance, to talk but remain silent, and/or discuss plans without an enemy knowing. He can do this over long distance, between dimensions, and even between worlds. His reach is extremely far. Adrien can penetrate deeper into a person’s mind and read their inner thoughts and intentions. If he goes deeper he can find memories that even the person cannot recall.

Adrien can be blocked, but only if the person has enough knowledge and experience with telepathy to notice his presence and block him. However, even practiced learners cannot block him out. His mental power is amazing and overwhelming. There are extreme few that can go up against his mind.

Energy Attack (Rank: V-VI-VII-VIII- IX-X) – Adrien uses his energy/chi in many ways. The charge of his energy before he had been a vampire was neutral (biologically). Once he was turned his natural charge became negative/dark (biologically). He’s worked with his energy enough, and he, himself, has changed so rapidly since his vampiric youth, that now he can use light/positive energy. He changes and channels the energy in his body. His energy comes from the seven chakra points in the humanoid body. He can channel his energy to the palms of his hands, finger tips, and even the soles of his feet.

Channeling energy and focusing it at his palms and fingers, he creates little orbs of light/shadow. The natural color of his energy is black and shadow-like. He can change it to a golden light energy if he wishes to utilize the light and holiness he has earned. The orbs of light/shadow are not very defined; they simply look as if light/shadow is coming out of his fingers and hands. He uses this to fire his energy at his enemies. The energy often causes a burning, painful sensation in the area of the body that was struck. The energy sinks into the flesh burns and causes bleeding at the same time, often burning holes right through the flesh. If Adrien puts enough energy into a very large attack, he can vaporize the average person.

A different use of his energy is not very visible, for it does not have a heat or light. It is pressure and force. He channels his energy to the bottoms of his feet and uses it to push him up off the ground. In a whole, Adrien can use his energy to fly, walk up walls, and on water.

The energy from Sekin has dual charges. One is the biological charge, meaning there are certain kinds of creatures/people with a natural energy charge to their bodies. So they are more naturally inclined to use that kind of energy. The second charge is the spiritual charge, which is the kind of energy their souls and intentions give off. And though some may have a natural biological charge of the opposite type of energy, they may still be able to learn any type of biological charge. Their spiritual charge can only change when they, themselves, as a person, change. A “change of heart.”

Types of energy:

• Otius (Rank: V-VI-VII-VIII- IX-X) – The biological charge of this energy is light and positive. The spiritual charge is most often holy, pure, and good; however, the spiritual charge can also be corrupt, tainted, and evil. A neutral spiritual charge is extremely difficult to have. Most people tend to lean toward a specific side. This type of energy tends to burn creatures/people of a dark and negative biological charge to their bodies more severely. These types are more prone to it, though it is still very capable of burning anyone, but the experienced and powerful in positive and light energy will not be as easily injured by this energy. It depends on the person. But normally, the average person is easily killed by Adrien’s Otius energy. His Otius energy has a spiritual charge of holy/pure/good.
  
  The color of Otius energy is a golden-yellow.

• Vehenmus (Rank: V-VI-VII-VIII- IX-X) – This energy is the opposite of Otius energy. Its biological charge is negative and dark. Most often, the spiritual charge is corrupt, tainted, and evil; however, the spiritual charge can also be holy, pure, and good. A neutral spiritual charge is extremely difficult to have; very rare. This type of energy tends to burn creatures/people of a positive and light biological charge to their bodies more severely. Like Otius energy, it is still capable of burning nearly everyone. Those experienced and powerful in negative and dark energy will not be easily injured by this type of energy … most of the time.
  
  Adrien’s Vehenmus energy is different, however. It is not corrupt or evil. The energy reflects the soul. Adrien is a vampire, therefore, his natural energy will always be Vehenmus, but his soul is not corrupt or evil. So his energy does not reflect it. Adrien’s Vehenmus energy is holy, good, and pure. Since it has those qualities, corrupt and evil beings (especially corrupt/evil Otius) are even more prone to his Vehenmus energy than they normally would be. He is only capable of holy/pure/good Vehenmus energy.
  
  The color of Vehenmus energy is black, like shadow.

• Coalescent (Rank: V-VI-VII-VIII- IX-X) – This energy is a mix of both energies. An even mix of them makes the biological charge completely neutral because the charges are balanced. Like all the energy types, it can still burn anyone, especially since Adrien is so powerful. However, people with Otius or Vehenmus biological charges will not be as prone to this kind of energy as creatures/people with a neutral biological charge are. Coalescent energy is a very complex and advanced type of energy, therefore, even more difficult to use than Vehenmus and Otius. One must be able use both types of energy to use this type. So few have been capable of it, and even fewer are able to use is well. Adrien is one of the very few in Sekin.
  
  Though it is neutral in biological charge, it reacts to people’s intentions and souls—their spiritual charge. If the person is a neutral creature but has a holy/pure/good spiritual charge, then the best kind of Coalescent energy to use against them is a balance of corrupt/tainted/evil Vehenmus and Otius energy. The same is with a corrupt/evil neutral being. The best kind of Coalescent energy would be a balance of holy/pure/good Vehenmus and Otius energy.
  
  Adrien is only capable of holy/pure/good Vehenmus and Otius energy. Therefore, the only kind of Coalescent energy he is capable of using is holy/pure/good Coalescent energy. The thing that makes Coalescent energy so amazing is that to affect neutral a person, one must know the nature of their soul, and at times will not be able to produce the best bane of them because they themselves lack the kind of soul to color their energy like so.
  
  Coalescent energy allows for the soul to color the energy rather than the biological charge of their bodies. This is why Coalescent energy is often viewed as the most sacred and holy of energies used in the world of Sekin. Not because of the quality of Coalescent energy, but what it can tell us about the soul.
  
  It is nearly impossible to have a neutral spiritual charge to Coalescent energy. It is even rarer than the ability to use Coalescent energy itself. For a person to have a soul completely balanced by good and bad intentions, it is rumored that one would have to have no soul. However, to have no soul would mean to have no intentions at all. Thus, it would be a colorless energy, which is very similar to Equitable energy. Adrien’s Coalescent energy is holy/pure/good because of his spiritual charge.
  
  The color of Coalescent energy is white.

• Chi (Rank: V-VI-VII-VIII- IX-X) – This type of energy has no charge at all. It is neutral but flavorless. The difference from Coalescent energy is that it has no Otius or Vehenmus energy, no charges or intentions. No biological or spiritual charge. It is not a blend or mix. In fact, the fact that it has no charge means that it does not burn anything. Instead, it applies pressure or force to things, or even the ability to cling to something. This is the kind of energy Adrien uses to fly, walk on walls, and on water. He uses the pressure of chi and Vehenmus, Otius, or Coalescent energy to create energy shields. He can also create shields made out of pure chi. Thus, making it completely transparent and colorless, like some kind of force field.
  
  Chi cannot be seen, for it has no light or shadow like the other types of energy.

Energy Shield ((Rank: V-VI-VII-VIII- IX-X) – Adrien can focus his chakras to force energy into his aura. Doing this causes a transparent bubble of light or shadow to encase him (his aura becomes visible). It is often in an egg-shape, the point of it at his feet. Depending on the type of energy used, this protective bubble can be a transparent gold-ish yellow, blackish shadow, white light, or invisible.

His aura becomes a protective shield around his body. This can protect against magic/energy/chi attacks just as well as physical attacks. Arrows, swords, bullets, etc. cannot penetrate the shield. He can change the charge of his shield to respond to certain charge of magic/energy/chi attacks. Light/positive energy weakens his negative/dark shield and vice versa.

Energy Break (Rank: V-VI-VII-VIII- IX-X) – This is the process of canceling magic/energy/chi attacks, even elemental. This is done by using the same amount of energy that is being applied to neutralize the attacks and, thus, stopping it. It can be done by the normal energy attack meeting the other spell/energy in the space between before it can strike. Another way for Adrien to cancel out the attack is by catching it in his palm, channeling his energy into it before it can harm his hand. It’s a delicate process, which must be calculated and timed correctly. It requires either the same amount or more of energy to cancel out another’s attack. The best energy type to use is chi or Coalescent energy.

Strengths:

• Adrien has an almost godly speed and strength. Vampires gain more strength and speed as they age; the older they are the faster and stronger they are. He is one of the oldest vampires on Sekin, and it shows through his abilities. Living for over 3,000 years has made him fast and deadly. To the point that nearly none can see him when he decides to move so quickly. Adrien can move as fast as or faster than the speed of sound. He is capable of this because since he is a vampire, his eyes are different just like his whole body. His eyes can process the world around him at amazing speeds, so often it can appear, to him, as if everyone else is moving incredibly slow, and he is moving in an average speed.
  
  He doesn’t seem to tire easily either. Despite how fast he can travel, it tires him just about as much as walking does. It takes quite a bit of it to get him tired. It would not be a wise idea to try to out run Adrien. His endurance is unlike any average mortal’s. Also, to go at the speed of sound and near it, requires an energy shield around his body to keep the friction from tearing him apart. It’s a transparent one, not giving off any light.
  
  
• His strength is shocking, and he has complete control over how much force he uses. It is so shocking to see because no one would expect him to have such strength, because his body does not show it. His muscles are not normal. They do not need to be larger to have more strength. His body looks average, but the power in it is astonishing. He’s not even sure if there is anything he cannot break with his strength. Once someone witnesses his strength, they find it shocking that he could be so gentle and graceful before.
  
  
• His ability to change the charge of his energy makes him able to defend himself against a wide range of enemies. He can switch between light and dark nearly on a manic level. It seems to take only a thought for it to happen. Since his thought processes and reflexes are just as amazing as his speed and strength, he can change in a flash to whatever energy charge would work best. It is hard to confuse him, for he processes everything faster than nearly anyone else.
  
  
• He can only be harmed by magic/energy/chi/mana that is dark/negative/evil if it contains the same amount of power as or greater than his energy.
  
  
• Regenerate makes it difficult to kill him. Massive injuries that would kill a normal person or leave them extremely crippled heal in an instant and normally leave no marks, and he is able to function perfectly after them. He cannot be suffocated. He cannot be poisoned by blades or darts lined with deadly substances or harmful gases. He cannot be drugged. He cannot be cursed with disease. His immune system is indestructible. Adrien is closest to immortality than anyone else (besides a couple other vampires) from Sekin.
  
  
• He will always have some sort of weapon with him as long as he has his nails. He uses them more than his actual sword. He has his own style martial arts, which he developed on his own after studying the battle arts for so long. His energy is another kind of weapon that cannot be knocked out of his hands. Adrien is dangerous enough with just his body.
  
  
• Adrien is a very intelligent man; he likes to call himself a scholar. He knows more about the world of Sekin than anyone else on it: battle arts, sword styles, history, ancient history, myths, fables, cultures, races, etc. Not only is he very knowledgeable, but he has logic and wisdom that the long years have given him. It aids him in getting out of tight situations in which most would certainly crumble. His intelligence gives him an extra sharp edge to survive.
  
  
• His vampiric instinct is helpful at times, though extremely dangerous. Even though he looses his intelligence and personality, even an intelligent being will be overwhelmed by the speed, strength, reflexes, and pure instinct of the demonic beast inside him. There are an extremely small amount of people able to survive it. Though Adrien hates the creature, he does admit it can help when he’s fighting an enemy. He might let it take over to let him get out of the situation, startle his enemy, and give him an extreme boost of strength and speed. Though, he only does this when he knows no one innocent is nearby, so that only his enemy will be in danger. He does this of course, when he is dying and close to death, or maybe, on the very rare occasion, one might be able to enrage him enough to trigger the animal.
  
  
• Adrien can sense auras, and depending on how powerful the aura, he can sense the strong ones coming from a far distance. This also aids fighting without his eyes. He can sense the aura and use his mind’s eyes to see his enemy. Weapons aren’t really a problem, for often the person has had the weapon for years, on their person, or have an emotional attachment of some kind to it, so the weapon takes on the person’s aura. It applies to magic/energy/chi attacks, for the energy used to power those often come from the person’s aura. Besides that, he can sense energy, alerting him to blessed objects in the area and other types of magic. This makes it difficult to sneak up on Adrien. Only those who can blend or suppress their aura have a chance, but then are faced with the challenge of Adrien’s swiftly processing eyes and wonderful hearing. Very few can get by him unnoticed.
  
  
• The vampire, as well as using his energy in attacks and defense, can suppress and blend his aura into the background. This makes him undetectable to those who can sense auras and energy.
  
  
• He has a rather amazing pain tolerance. Cuts and broken bones still hurt even if they heal quickly. However, after living for so long and experiencing so much, Adrien can stomach quite a bit of pain. He still feels it; he just doesn’t react to it as badly as the average person would. He recovers from the shock of agony just as fast as he heals. Thus, Adrien’s endurance is extraordinary.
  
  
• None can rival the senses of a vampire, especially such an old one. His eyes can see through the dark as if it is daylight. Adrien can also use his eyes to see several miles away by focusing. Thus, Adrien has deadly aim, which is very dead-on nearly every time. His hearing is the same; by focusing he can hear the most inaudible noises, better than a dog’s. His nose is very sensitive to the scent of blood and perhaps other notable smells.
  
  
• It’s hard to lie to Adrien, especially if he suspects you might be lying. He can read minds, and won’t mind checking if he feels it is very important, but he does not abuse the ability. Only when he feels it is needed. He can hack into almost any mind he encounters, save for a few choice people. It’s handy for him to be able to communicate even from a different world to another person. He does not often fish around people’s memories, because he feels that would be too personal, and has no purpose.

Weakness:

• Adrien is extremely prone to silver, blessed objects, and magic/chi/energy/mana that is holy/positive/consists of light and foreign to his body (Adrien has light energy of his own, but it does not hurt him to use it because it is not foreign). Injures caused by these often take days, even weeks, to heal. They have difficulty scabbing over, thus leaves him in danger of bleeding to death. They fester, swell, sting, and ache constantly. They are very painful to him. In the rare case that someone can create liquid silver, it can give him silver poisoning if it gets into his system. Once the silver reaches his heart or brain, it kills him. This is the only kind of poisoning Adrien is known to be vulnerable to.
  
  
• The pain he suffers from these kinds of injuries do not heal fast, so he is in pain for a lot longer. Adrien is good at handling pain for the usually-short moments between receiving the injury and its healing. Pain for an extended time is different for him. It’s harder for him to bear. Therefore, he is worn down as if they were normal injuries on a normal human.
  
  
• Stabbing Adrien in the heart with anything will kill him. The vampires’ weakest point is their heart. So damaging it is the best way to injure/kill them. Their brain is the next weakest point of a vampire. However, stabbing it with normal objects only knocks him unconscious; cutting his head off only does this as well. One must pierce or damage his brain somehow with a silver and/or blessed object to kill him this way.
  
  
• His vampiric instinct is not an intelligent creature. On the rare chance that someone can handle the speed of the beast, it would not be hard to outsmart it. It is all instinct; it is nothing more than an extremely powerful animal. One only needs to set the trap to kill it.
  
  
• If Adrien was close to death and lacking a lot of blood and energy when his vampiric instinct activated, and he is knocked unconscious, not allowed to feed on blood, he will wake up extremely weak and fatigued. The vampiric instinct takes a lot out of him. If it is not successful, he becomes too weak and it will not be able to activate a second time. He will be weak and vulnerable, completely at the mercy of his enemy. If left alone, it is likely he will die due to lack of blood and no energy to get up and find some. Some must be willing to feed him their blood for him to survive.
  
  
• It is not impossible to outsmart Adrien, just extremely difficult. No average person can do this. The vampire has lived long and survived. He did so using his vampiric abilities and the power of his mind. There are plenty of things he does not know, especially if it comes to different worlds. He is an expert of Sekin and the way his world and reality works. However, different worlds are a different story.
  
  
• Adrien can be out in the sun. Its light does not irritate him critically. However, all vampires are prone to heat syndrome/sun stroke caused by too much sunlight. If Adrien does not rest during his resting period from the sun, then he will suffer from heat syndrome/sun stroke. This starts with overheating of the body, followed by an excruciating amount of pain throughout his body. His skin will then start to blister and burn, becoming extremely irritated. If he does not get out of the sun soon, it will kill him.
  
  Adrien must rest once a year for about a week to avoid this.
  
  
• It is not known to many, but Adrien has a slight phobia of caves, dark forests, shackles or other kinds of restraining devices, and torture equipment. He is sensitive to screams of anyone in an absurdly large amount of pain and agony. It is not often to the point of an anxiety attack. Should he be near a cave, it will only make him uncomfortable. He avoids them if he can, but if it is required, he does not mind going inside or near them. This applies to dark forests as well. Restraining devices, torture equipment, and screams affect him a lot more. They make him nervous, alert, and uneasy, but not enough to send him into an anxiety attack. Maybe on rare occasion would that be the case. Seeing these things may aid in distracting him.

Personality: Adrien is not your average vampire. Despite being the oldest vampire from Sekin, and all the power he possesses, he is an incredibly benevolent person. In fact, it is because of his old age that he is able to control his vampiric instinct so well. It is not something young vampires can do as effectively. He acts like any normal human. Well, normal may still not be the best word to describe him with. The vampire is rather intelligent, containing knowledge that very rare people contain. He has seen so many things in his long life, that he has gained an amazing amount of logic and wisdom. Though, Adrien often leans more toward the side of logic. At times, he is capable of lacking wisdom toward his personal life. Adrien has had a hard life, trying to survive in Sekin being something that nearly all therein despise.

He does not expect others to treat him with mercy and kindness, especially if he should be in need of aid. Yet, he does not hide what he is. Adrien is not ashamed of being a vampire. He was in his youth, but that is something he has long since grown out of. It was not something he chose to be; it was done against his will. After being alive so long, he has learned to accept himself, because it is something he can never change. Adrien is even glad he is at times. Despite living in fear of his vampiric instinct, he finds the abilities of a vampire have been extremely useful to him. At times, he believes it was his destiny, a painful one at times, but he thinks he was meant to live for so long, because there is something he needs to do. Something he is destined to complete in his world. Adrien believes he and his abilities are needed to save his world.

He does not love feeding; though, he doesn’t hate it as much as he did when he was young. However, his vampiric side will always love blood; Adrien is somewhat impassive about his need to feed. He is about as excited about it as he is about breathing. It’s just something he has to do to live. It is even less to him as it is for others about food. Even though his vampiric tastes will always enjoy it and desire it, Adrien feels that these are separate from him, like some kind of split personality.

He will not hide what he is: if asked he will reply honestly and without shame, irritability, or discomfort. He may even mention it without being asked. And then carry on with whatever was at hand previously. It is just a fact to him. Adrien will only be annoyed if others seek to kill him for it. The negative reactions, he has grown immune to, because he has been dealing with them for nearly all of his long life. He ignores them mostly, very unconcerned about anyone’s attempt to kill him, because it is extremely difficult to do so. Even threats with silver and light magic, he does not react much to. It’s not often he comes across those with enough skill to actually use these threats against him effectively.

What brothers Adrien the most is fear. When others discover what he is and become afraid of him, it makes him uncomfortable. He does not wish to cause others any discomfort or for them to feel threatened by him. At first, he will try his best to assure them that he means them no harm. Though, he is aware that many will not believe this. If they still do not believe him, he will do his best to ignore their fear of him and act casually. However, he will be feeling some mild disappointment. How much this affects him varies depending on the person, so this is not his frequent reaction. If it is a stranger who he has very little connection to, he will often just ignore it and will not be bothered. With most people, he does not care.

The only thing that truly disturbs him about being a vampire is his vampiric instinct. He is afraid, disgusted, and ashamed of it. He is terrified of accidentally killing an innocent person because of it. Adrien hates not having that kind of control over himself. He often feels, again, like it is not him, just some kind of personality that has spawned from his vampiric blood and takes over his body without considering his desires. He is still somewhat stunted, traumatized, by times his vampiric instinct had triggered: he ended up killing an innocent woman who was just trying to help him, the first time that it happened. There had been other times in his youth, when he was struggling with what he was, trying not to feed on people and only animals, but animals can only satisfy a vampire for so long. Being such a young vampire, and back then, not even understanding what he was or why these things were happening to him, he had no way of knowing the correct way to handle it. Hundreds died because of it, by his hands. He knows now that it was not his fault, but he never wants it to happen again. So he has worked very hard over the many years to have the kind of control over himself that he does now. Though, his control has limits still, so he remains terrified of it.

Adrien is a peace lover; he does not like violence. His vampiric instinct is a violent beast, driven only by its need to feed. He knows that it is a disgusting thing. But the creature is a part of him, whether he wants it to be or not. The vampire knows that he will always be dangerous to normal people. In essence, he is the predator that hunts them. The top of the food chain. He is dangerous; he knows it, and accepts it with a sad submission. His one wish is to not be, but it is the curse that comes along with the power and abilities of a vampire. He believes he is responsible for everything that he does. He’s so very careful about his vampiric instinct, because if someone where to be harmed because he had made a bad decision, leading to a triggering, then he believes it to be his fault. For now, he understands exactly what his vampiric instinct is. There are no excuses for him now, or so he believes. He is extremely strict with himself about it.

He tries to keep from mentioning his instinct to others and from actually witnessing it. He is very ashamed of it. He does not want others to know, because he feels they will be terrified of him and treat him like a bomb that may go off at any given moment. Adrien just wants others to feel comfortable around him. To not be disgusted by him because of what he is. He wishes for them to see who he is, rather than what. He can’t change that he is a vampire. He can only control who he is. Thus, he feels what he is, somehow, a different person, because he cannot completely control the part of himself.

Adrien will confess his instinct if he believes it is important to do so. He does not want to risk a person’s life just because he was too ashamed to inform others of all the facts. Otherwise, he may never mention it. Only when he must.

He is a very polite person, to everyone. He is often concerned about the safety of others more than his own, mostly because he is difficult to kill. Other people are much more fragile than he is. This does not mean that he is careless around danger. Adrien will be alert and wary around enemies, for the safety of others and his own. He is not a stupid man, nor is he rash. He thinks out his actions before doing them.

Adrien is polite but with a certain warmth to it. It is not a cold politeness or indifference. The vampire is so very genuine. You can tell he means every word that comes out of his mouth. One can feel his good nature radiate around his aura. You can feel that he is a kind soul, who sincerely cares about the people around him, whether they are a stranger or a close friend. There is a cheeriness about him as well. His smile is capable of brightening the spirits of many around him. He appears happy and content in his warm and polite ways. However, he has seen many terrible things. He has experienced them too. Adrien is everything but naïve.

It is because he has seen so many horrid things, many done to other people, that he is so kind and compassionate. So understanding of the people around him, even if they may be troubled and, therefore, often cause trouble too. He will do everything that he can to help them. This makes him incredibly patient. It is extremely difficult to annoy Adrien. It is nearly impossible to anger him. This is what makes him the very good teacher that he is. He handles very different people very well. This may be because of his mindfulness of everyone around him. Polite and careful not to vex them. However, this does not make him too passive and/or meek. He is polite but others may be stubborn in their wish to remain angry. He lets them be angry if they wish to, knowing it was not really him who has angered them so. He will continue acting casually.

If you are trying to anger, bother, or annoy him, it is a lost cause, because Adrien does not let others do this to him. He can see that they are just trying to disturb him, so he will pay no mind to their childish ways. It often seems as if nothing can bother the vampire at all. He is very calm and tranquil in almost everything he does, depending on the situation. However, one may see a mildly disappointed frown on his face if he sees something that displeases him in some way. Usually, this is the only negative side of Adrien that most people see.

In truth, he is a very lonely man. However warm, polite, kind, and compassionate he is with others, he still puts them at a certain distance from himself. It appears he has trouble letting others in. This is because Adrien is an immortal. He will outlive any mortal friends he will make. Because it is difficult to find other good natured vampires, Adrien does not mingle with his fellow immortals. Another reason is because he would not want anyone to become endangered because of him. He has a very powerful sibling who seeks to hurt and kill him, and she will use anyone close to him to do so. It happened once in his past, and he never wants it to happen again. Thus, he does not have anyone close to him, and so he is alone in the world. Living forever and his dangerous sister makes him feel very isolated from others.

He can become rather reclusive, hiding away in his room at the Dome, reading—studying the thousands of books that it supplies him—his favorite pastime. He loves learning just as much as he loves teaching. They are his passions in life. Other than striving to overthrow his sister’s gang of Dark Lords and her empire, and a promise to save an old friend, they are often all he has.

Adrien is an easy person to talk to. He’s easygoing, charming, and confident. His ego is nearly nonexistent. He doesn’t mind questions, for he loves to inform. He is a teacher, so it’s in his nature to answer questions. Though aware he has power that not many have, he does not get overly confident with this. It is a simple fact to him, and since he is not a violent person, power is not important to him. The only way it may be somewhat important is when it comes to protecting others. It is just his self-defense for him. He does not arrogantly show off his power. That is not what it is for, for him. He is modest, and most don’t realize the power that he holds until they see it for themselves.

He is also modest about his good looks to the point of obliviousness. It’s just not something he thinks about. If others are attracted to him, he does not really notice this. Unaware, he continues to act casually as always. Even if he were to be aware, he would most likely continue to act casually and ignore it.

Love is something he avoids just as much as friendship, perhaps even more. For the same reasons. Of course, love is not always something one can control. Adrien has been in love before, recently for the vampire. In love, one sees Adrien’s shy, awkward, and uncertain side. When he’s nervous he has the habit of becoming even more polite, apologizing for every little thing. He’s extremely careful not to disturb or bother them in any way. He’s always been attracted to the mortals, never other vampires (it’s hard to find nice ones from where he is from). This is never good in his mind, because he does not want to be attached anymore to someone whom he can never join in death—live the rest of his life with, for his life is everlasting and theirs is not. He cannot grow old with them, and they cannot live forever with him. Despite his love for them, he will never turn his lover into a vampire, just so that they can keep him company forever. He sees it as extremely selfish, and he would not want to do that to someone he loves. He would not know if they would be able to resist the instinct, for most vampires have been overcome by it. Adrien would never want to put them through something like that.

He’s a little conservative about sex. Not that he doesn’t like or enjoy it, just that he likes to keep that part of his life private. He’s a little uncomfortable being forced to confess intimate moments. There is a chance one could see him blush if required to confess such things. Most likely, it won’t be necessary for him to admit his sexual acts with others. So he may not mention his sex life at all. However, he is a man of good humor. He’s comfortable joking and poking fun at it. Like previously mentioned, he is easygoing, not a stiff or stern individual.

In the past, Adrien’s way of feeding was seduction. It was the only way for him to feed without frightening and/or simply attacking his prey, which Adrien would never dare do. He does not want to hurt anyone. So he would seduce the young women of the towns he would pass through. It’s not something he is proud of. He wouldn’t if he had a choice and someone close enough to him to be willing to donate the blood. He is somewhat ashamed of it, because often feeding on the women led to sex, for blood and feeding on attractive women is closely tied to sexual lust. He could not help himself at times, for he is a very lonely man, and being close to them in that way was comforting to him. He is not a lustful man. Just a lonely one, and his vampiric ways make it difficult for him to resist the desires and lusting. He is able to contain it so that it does not get out of hand and destructive. Just giving in a little every now and then. The truth is always that he used them, and he is ashamed of that, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He isn’t guilt-ridden by it. It’s just something that would make him flush with shame if he was forced to mention it.

Now that he is staying in the Dome as a teacher, he is supplied with fresh blood from some unknown source.

The most effective way to get under his skin is to threaten his loved ones. Adrien gets very serious and alert under these situations. Though not really enraged, mostly frustrated and determined. To really anger him, you must actually succeed in harming someone he cares for. Like all emotions, Adrien is careful about letting them get out of hand. If he gets too enraged it could lead to triggering his instinct. So Adrien has learned to not anger quickly.

Adrien is the strangest vampire in Sekin. Polite, kind, content, and warm on the surface, but those sensitive and observant can sense the lonely soul underneath.
Zodiac Sign: Libra (October 9th)
Theme Song: A Bad Dream, by Keane.

History: (WARNING: This history contains spoilers for anyway who reads my fanfiction, Empire of Darkness. So if you don’t like spoilers, don’t read it.)

Adrien was born in the world of Sekin. His home town was in the plains of the continent called Iki, in the lower portion that is now called the land of Ranelu. He was born on about 1,000 BD (Before Division). This refers to when the continent was divided into upper and lower portions, into the lands of Delusuu and Ranelu. The calendar had been reset when the continent had been divided after a long war between the races. The event is known as the Division.

When Adrien was a child, the world was full of elven and human scholars alike. All researching, collecting data and information about the world around them. Magic was being experimented with and challenged. New religions were sprouting around, despite the very old spirituality of the Six Gods. Adrien was raised in a new but popular belief in a single male god called Dansei. The male god was popular now among humans. The elves preferred to stick to the old ways. This new religion was much like Christianity on Earth, and the other male-dominated religions found there. It is very oppressive to woman specifically, for it is male-dominated, thus it will never have the psychology of equality for females. They believed magic, often coming from the Six Gods’ religion, was wrong and challenged their god; it, therefore, was evil to them.

Adrien didn’t think much of his parents’ god, Dansei. He was asking questions, challenging it in his curious way. It made him feel sad, because he loved and adored his younger sister, Lilith. His religion often said horrible things about woman, and his dear sister was a girl. Even when so young, Adrien wanted nothing but the best for his sister. It was what made him question the religion he was growing up in.

His questions led him to reading books. He learned to read at a very young age, an early bloomer. Adrien would read everything he could get his hands on. However, his parents did not value education very much. They were farmers on the plains, and their beliefs were often centered on hard work in the fields. They often saw reading as a very lazy and useless task. Reading did not bring food to the table. So Adrien was looked down upon for his constant reading, often called lazy by everyone but his sister.

He was often pulled away from his books to work on his father’s farm. Lilith, though he called her Lilly back then, was to stay with his mother and the other women, doing what was expected of them in their social setting: cleaning, cooking, etc. He knew Lilith hated it. His sister had always had an extreme disliking of being forced to serve, waiting hand and foot on other people. This caused trouble all through her life. Adrien watched sadly as his sister struggled with the oppressive world of Dansei. He tried to help, but often there was nothing Adrien could do.

Adrien didn’t quite get along with the other boys his age. He was very different as a child, more passive and meek when it came to standing up for himself. He wasn’t as strong as the other boys. Adrien had a light and lean body, despite all the work he did on his father’s farm. His frame was of lean muscles no matter what he did.

Adrien and Lilith grew up causing trouble in their small community in the plains. Everyone told him that he asked too many questions, talking too much. The priest of the village was often annoyed about the constant questions Adrien bombarded him with about Dansei and their religion. His low popularity often got him in trouble with the boys, and he was bullied a few times.

When Adrien got older, he attracted more attention from the girls. His looks were good, despite his “outlandish” ways. He had a few girlfriends, but nothing that was very serious. Lilith was stunning when she grew up, and she loved the attention. Rumors were always going around about her. She never had the same boyfriend for more than a week. It seemed she would bore of them after that. Still, no man could tame her.

Eventually, they became adults, but still living with their parents. This was normal for their culture. Normally, children only leave the home when they marry. Lilith would not marry anyone. She simply refused, because to her that meant becoming some man’s slave for the rest of her life. Their father grew frustrated with her as she grew older and kept refusing marriage offers from the other men of the village. Adrien himself had not found anyone special. None of his girlfriends were ones he wished to marry.

Adrien dreamed more about travel, and exploring the world as a scholar than about marriage and a family. He was still young and not ready to settle down. However, his father would not allow him to become a scholar. It took too much money to hire a tutor to take him, and his father thought it was a useless thing. He wanted Adrien to inherit his farm.

Adrien was 29 when a wealthy man passed through their village one day. As the man passed he caught sight of Lilith. Immediately, he wanted her. He asked around about her and who her father was. He came to their father and asked for Lilith’s hand in marriage. Their father agreed immediately, very pleased that Lilith had caught the eye of a rich man. Of course, Lilith refused immediately. The argument was fierce and lasted several days, but in the end their father won.

Adrien had argued as well, on Lilith’s side, but it did not matter. His father found Adrien’s opinion worthless, for he was a “good-for-nothing” and “lazy.” His relationship with his father had never really been a warm one. His father always expected more from him, like to work, farm, and be “stronger.” This left an even more bitter taint to their relationship.

His mother had always been a very submissive woman. Quiet, meek, but kind, Adrien wished she would just stand up for herself and her children, but through the whole thing she remained silent.

Lilith plotted to run away before her wedding. Of course, his father was anticipating this. He had her committed to her room, watched constantly, until her wedding day. Adrien was very angered by this complete violation of her freedom. Lilith of course, tried to get away several times, but was caught and brought back to her home that had quickly become her prison.

However, before her wedding day could come, the village was attacked. It was ravaged by dark mages, elven ones. There had been rumors of such attacks on other towns. It was said there had been other mages and soldiers deployed to find these evil elves. Most of the villagers were killed, which included Adrien’s parents. The rest were captured and dragged off in carts and wagons; some were forced to walk on foot. Adrien and Lilith were among these.

They were taken to the Spirit Mountains, the center mountain reign of Iki. They were taken to a cave, which led to a massive underground of tunnels and caverns, all occupied by these elves. It was a research base for magical experiments, and they had been taken as test subjects for the elves to use their experimental magic on. They were kept in pitch-black chambers, not able to see anything. There was absolutely no light.

Adrien kept Lilith near him at all times, afraid of losing each other in the darkness. Eventually they would come and take a few people out of the chamber for more testing. It came time for Adrien and Lilith; he made sure he was taken with her. They were taken to a dimly-lit chamber, much larger than the holding chamber they had been in. Inside was a mass of horrible things being done to a number of other humans. Adrien doesn’t remember much about it anymore, mostly because he does not want to remember what he had seen in those caves.

He and Lilith were both injected with a strange and colorless substance. After being injected, all Adrien can remember is the searing heat and pain in his body like his blood was boiling him from inside. He remembers darkness and nothingness shortly after. He remembers that nothingness as being the most blissful thing he has ever experienced. However, he woke up from that blissful nothingness, back into the nightmare he had left behind. The same had been done to Lilith. He remembers feeling so strange. His body felt different to him somehow, and his sight seemed clearer, perfect; he could see everything even in the dimness of that cave. He could see every movement in the chamber perfectly, which was all too much for him. Seeing all the horrible acts so perfectly was overwhelming, starting to drive him mad if he was not already.

What came next, Adrien has very vague memories about, ones he has tried to forget, but still they have not faded completely for reasons unknown to him. Lilith and he were tortured by their captors. They wanted to see the limits of the creatures they had just created. He does not remember for how long they were tortured and for how many days. He lost all sense of time. The most of his memories were the sounds: his sister’s screaming and his own and all of the other people being experimented on. Sometimes he remembers faces, bloody tools. The memory of the pain has faded over the many years, but everything else still manages to disturb him when recalled.

He doesn’t remember exactly how they escaped either. Eventually, the soldiers and mages that had been dispatched for these cruel elves found them. The dark mages were driven from their caverns, many killed but enough escaped for their evil ways to survive. They found Adrien and Lilith, and at first treated them as humans, but they quickly discovered their abnormalities. They attempted to kill Adrien and his sister, but did not know the correct ways, only managing to knock them unconscious.

They woke and somehow managed to escape from the caves. They ran to a forest for cover, not daring to enter a village. They could only understand that they were different now, and that it might frighten other people. Not wishing to be attacked, they took to the isolation of the forest and the wild. Most of this time, Adrien doesn’t remember much and does not wish to.

They struggled a lot with themselves. Not understanding what had been done to them or why they seemed to view, through their new eyes, the world so differently now. Adrien was not very stable during this time. Lilith had trouble with it at first; just like him, she was confused, afraid, unstable. Soon, however, she grew to be curious of these new changes to her body. Lilith started experimenting with it, trying to see what she could do now that she could not before.

Soon hunger hit them, yet it was a strange hunger. Foods sources that had once been normal for them did not suffice. In fact, it made them sick now, and they would only vomit it all back up. Their systems now rejected what they tried to put into it. It wasn’t even the same kind of hunger, but it was similar, so they attempted to satisfy it the same way.

Clueless, but understanding normal food would not work, Lilith searched for new ways to satisfy her hunger. Adrien tried with all his might to ignore it, but it was eating away at him and what sanity he had left. Soon, Lilith came back after her continuous searching with blood from a deer, finding that it was good and seemed to make the hunger duller. Hesitantly, Adrien finally accepted the blood. He could not ignore it for long, for the smell was driving him crazy with need. This sustained them for a while, but the hunger was still there, driving Lilith to find a better source.

One day, she returned to Adrien with blood again. He tasted it, and it was amazing; the hunger started fading away as he drank it. He asked her what it was, and she told him it was the blood of a man she had killed. Her instinct had triggered when she spotted a passing hunter in the forest. Adrien was appalled and refused to drink anymore of it. It was from that day on that he saw his sister starting to change.

She was becoming more animallike, like a lion. She no longer saw other living people as her equals. They were now her food, her prey. Lilith continued to kill them the way a hunter kills deer. Adrien was going insane. He could not handle all he had been through. He continued to refuse to drink blood from people. With his sister slipping slowly from him, he no loner had anything that anchored him to the life he had known before. Adrien lost all sense of reality, becoming very deranged to cope. He would just sit around most of his days, staring around at all of his surroundings in that forest, muttering nonsense to himself. Often it seemed he would be talking to someone who was not there, perhaps pretending it was his mother or father or one of his old girlfriends from back home. He didn’t really seem to see or hear Lilith anymore when she would try to talk to him and convince him to drink the blood she would find. Adrien would not respond to her.

One day, a woman from a village nearby found Adrien sitting by himself in the forest. He looked rather dreadful, for he was no longer taking care of himself, and living in the forest for months had reduced his clothing to dirty rags. The young woman was shocked but concerned. She started trying to talk to Adrien. For the first time, he finally responded to a real person. It seemed that finally coming in contact with a real person other than his sister brought some sanity back to his mind. He seemed confused, shaken, and still disturbed. The woman started helping Adrien back to her village for better care. He wanted to go with her, to be with regular people again.

But then it happened, being near a normal living person with a heart beat and pulse set off his instinct. Adrien attacked the young woman, killing her and feasting on her blood. After several minutes it wore off, and Adrien came to find himself in a pool of the woman’s blood, hovering over her disfigured body. This sent Adrien flying back into insanity once more. Sobbing hysterically, he put as much distance between himself and the dead woman as he could.

He did not speak for days, not even to himself or any imaginary person. Just quiet and staring forward with an oddly terrified yet vacant look in his eyes. Lilith did not know what to do with him. She made sure he was safe in a shabby little shelter she made, but other than that she was clueless. She continued about her way, discovering the abilities of her new body.

One of these new abilities was to turn others into vampires as well. Lilith made a couple from the villagers nearby. Some did not stray with her, confused and frightened. Others stayed, looking to her as a leader. The ones that left soon returned when they realized they could not live among normal people. Lilith was beginning to make her own clan of vampires. Adrien stayed in their little base camp in the forest. The only way she was able to get him to take blood was by slowly pouring it on his arm, letting his skin absorb it in small amounts.

A couple of years had gone by, and she had a rather large pack by now. Over 100 vampires. Adrien was starting to respond a little more now. He no longer stared looking quite as horrified, but now mostly just vacant and catatonic. He would reply to Lilith in small words, hardly speaking more then twenty words a day, but he was speaking at least. He seemed to be understanding what went on around him as well; not that he responded to any of it.

Of course, the village nearby had discovered the many disappearances by now. They often sent search parties out to look for them in the forest, but Lilith and her clan would attack, and no one would return to the village. The villagers were getting rather frightened, starting to believe the forest was haunted and/or cursed. Soon no one wanted to go searching in the forest for their lost friends and family. The instinct had taken over all of them, so should these once-villagers come across a search party of old friends and family, they would attack, rape, and kill siblings, parents, children, etc. All desires seemed to run wild in the clan, no limits and restrictions placed on them. They had absolutely no control over themselves anymore. Often they dragged these people they attacked back to their camp and turn them into a vampire or kept as food for anyone else who had stayed at the camp.

At first, Adrien numbly watched them drag these innocent people into the camp, watched them be killed and changed. He was so numb to violence now that he could hardly react anymore. But one day, they were changing a little boy, and Lilith looked over to find tears dampening Adrien’s face as he watched with a vacant expression. Slowly, it seemed he was starting to wake up inside.

After a few more years, Lilith gathered her clan and attacked the village head-on, no longer waiting for the villagers to come into the forest. This was partly because no one would go very far from the village anymore in fear of the unknown thing that was killing and capturing their people. Adrien woke up to find the camp empty. He finally got up and actually followed them this time. He came to the village and found it had been completely ravaged by the clan. The sight brought tears to his eyes once more, and the final shock brought some sense back into him again. He ran from the village, the clan, and the forest.

Eventually, he found a different forest to inhabit, still not trusting himself near people. He tried to live off the forest and only animal’s blood. It maintained him for a while, but the hunger for human blood was still there, taunting him relentlessly. He was starting to lose his sanity again, being isolated in a forest with no one, not even his sister to talk to, and the hunger eating away at his control so quickly.

There were villagers nearby, a few miles away. He never let himself near any of them. However, there were some who would wander into the forest, hunting or for other activities. If they came too close, Adrien would smell, hear their pulse and movements very quickly. It was too much for him to control. His instinct snapped and attacked, this happened several times over the next year. With each passing month, he would do this more and more frequently. With each death, the more he was losing control and his sanity. He tried to kill himself a few times, but he did not know it took silver, blessed objects, or light magic to do it. After two years, he snapped, went mad and his blood lust had full control. Adrien does not remember much of these years either. He does not want to remember them.

Adrien went insane with blood lust and absolutely no control for about 500 years. He was a killing, feeding machine of the forest he took to as home. His instinct had control over him. He was no longer himself.

Vampires had spread all throughout Iki by this time. The rise of vampires was followed by the rise of vampire hunters and mages. Adrien encountered these many times during the period of his insanity. He was difficult to wound even just at 507 years old. However, he was finally struck full in the chest by a strong blast of light magic. Wounded, he escaped. The blast seemed to have broken the hold his instinct had on him, and Adrien slowly came back to himself in a few hours. His trauma blocked out all the memories he had of killing during his insane period. So Adrien was more or less confused how so much had changed so quickly from last he remembered. 500 years had gone by without him remembering any of it or understanding that so many years had passed.

Adrien set out into the world now. He went to do what he had always wanted to do. Become a scholar, learn everything about the world that he possibly could. Though he still struggled being around others, he had better control over his instinct now. The wound he had received from the powerful priestess of the Six Gods seemed to have aided in some way to this. However, every once and a while he would not be able to control it and he would accidentally kill someone. He used a combination of human and animal blood to sustain him. He soon found that he was not aging; that he had not aged a day since his home village had been attacked.

1,000 years passed. Throughout those years he learned much. He had had hundreds of masters and teachers, which he all surpassed in the end. He did research and studying of his own, learning everything about Sekin that he could. Adrien watched an elf race evolve into the dark elves, the dark race of the elves. He watched them rise to power and the war that they brought upon Iki. Adrien helped fight in this war as well, on the side of the humans, high elves, and wood elves of Iki. This long war lasted about ten years, the end result of the splitting of Iki into the lands of Delusuu and Ranelu. The dark elves were banished to Delusuu along with the other dark races such as vampires, though vampires were never very successfully banished. They always leaked through into Ranelu. This event was a huge land mark in time called, The Division.

He had traveled to many different continents and learned about them. Adrien often thought of Lilith, though he tried not to because she was centered on so many painful memories of his. He often wondered if she was well, if she was alive, and how she was living her life.

He had much better control over himself than before, but he was still killing people by accident. During his studying and research, he came across the information that all the scholars of Sekin had on vampires. They gave the name “vampire” to his kind. Adrien himself added to what they had on it, knowing things about being a vampire that none but a vampire would know. So he gave this information anonymously. He’s changed his surname so many times that he has forgotten what his original surname was.

Adrien would often come across other vampires; similar to himself, they were struggling with their hunger and instinct. They grouped together like a support group, trying to help each other learn control over themselves. Every now and then, they would lose a friend to the instinct, who finally lost all control over themselves. They all continued to try to do the best they could, but one by one, Adrien lost them. Either to vampire hunters or to the hunger/instinct. Soon, he was all alone once more.

About 100 years passed again, and he was still killing by accident, even at 1,614-years-old. All this death, blood, and violence, was building on him as he tried to find ways to control himself. The years were lonely and isolated once more. After a killing, it seemed to snap back some lost memories of his during his period of insanity and the times of the clan. This was all too much for him. He could not handle living as a vampire anymore. He got a silver knife and some liquid silver he bought from a mage. He lined the edges of the blade with the liquid silver and stabbed himself in the gut, letting the silver poison him. He fell unconscious.

Surprisingly, Adrien woke to find that he was alive. He found a man sitting next to him. His name was Nottuu, and he was a white dragon about 500-years-old. The dragon had found Adrien lying unconscious. Finding the conditions rather odd, he became curious and treated the vampire’s silver infection. They talked as Adrien had recovered. Somehow, the curious dragon convinced Adrien to let him follow him around as he continues on his quest for knowledge. Not only that, but he persuaded Adrien to continue living. Nottuu became a quick friend, one that was strong enough to protect himself in case Adrien’s instinct triggers.

They traveled the world together, though often returning back to their home continent to visit. Nottuu had family and friends, other dragons in Sekin, which he often wished to see after a few years. Nottuu learned many of the battling arts that Adrien did too, such as energy manipulation. They often learned these things together. 400 years passed, and one day Nottuu came to Adrien, confessing that he had fallen in love. A little shocked, Adrien asked who. It was a princess of the high elves, who had ran way from an arranged marriage. They met in the forest where the young princess was trying to survive on her own. Nottuu was aiding the young woman, and, during that time, fell in love with her. Adrien found this rather strange, since all dragons stuck most often to their own kind, but he accepted Nottuu’s love for the girl.

Soon the girl was pregnant with Nottuu’s child. Adrien’s friend now spent most of his time with her, and the vampire found himself rather lonely again. It had been a month since he heard from his friend, and he was getting worried. Until finally, Nottuu’s brother Talis found Adrien and urgently brought him to Nottuu. Adrien was shocked to find that Nottuu had lost all color in his eyes. They were as white and blank as could be. Not even a pupil could be found. They could not discover what was wrong with him. Not only were his eyes white, but the dragon no longer had a facial expression. His face simply hung limp on his head. He would not move on his own. He would not respond to anyone or even speak.

Deeply troubled, Adrien set out to uncover the truth of what had happened to his friend. He went to find Nottuu’s lover, Aikou. He found the place they had been living in the forest together; he found what appeared to have been an attack of dark elves. Yet this puzzled Adrien, for the dark elves had been banished to Delusuu. Not that they wouldn’t violate the order every now and then to cause some chaos, but why would they attack something so small and insignificant? He could not find Aikou anywhere. He soon returned to Nottuu to only find that his friend was missing. Talis said he had left Nottuu alone for only five minutes, but when he had returned, he had vanished.

Adrien set out again, to do what he did best: research and investigation. He started with the Dark Elf Empire of Delusuu, seeing as they had some kind of connection to Aikou and Nottuu. He went deep into their history. Soon, Adrien was venturing into Delusuu itself, sneaking into dark elf infested cities, and eventually into the castle of Delu, the capital of the empire and land. There, he discovered their secrets.

He found that these dark elves had evolved from a certain group of elves that had been practicing and experimenting with the dark arts of magic, which had eventually developed into necromancy. This group of elves had been the very same group that had attacked his home village 1,985 years ago. They were the ones that had taken Adrien and Lilith and experimented on them, turning them into the very first vampires of Sekin. He was shaken by this information, but still, it did not point to any connection to Nottuu and Aikou. He continued to search for any kind of clue he could find, and also because he was enthralled by this new discovery and wanted to know why the elves had wanted to make a vampire in the first place. Before, Adrien had avoided ever researching why and how the vampire came into existence, because he had wanted to avoid all memories of what had happened to him. Now, he had to know. He had to know why it had been done to him. Why his life had been so completely altered by this.

Deeper into the dark elf history, he found it. The dark prophecy the mages had made. It claimed that a dark creature would rise into the world, defying both the god of death and goddess of life; it would be neither alive nor dead, but stuck in between. Never growing, never changing. This creature would rise to be called, “The Dark Lord of Fear.” However, Adrien found an edited version that claimed this creature would be female, thus called, “The Dark Lady of Fear.” This Dark Lady had other ties and connections to the dark elf’s dark goddess, the Spider Queen Lolth. He had always found the name “Lolth” strangely familiar to him, though he did not know why. Adrien had certainly known about the Spider Goddess, Lolth, before. He knew the basics of dark elf history during his days as a scholar.

The description of this feminine creature known as the Dark Lady of Fear was strikingly similar to a vampire. Everything down to drinking the blood of the living and proneness to silver and holy magic. The rest of the prophecy stated that the Dark Lady would set out into the world to find and create four other Dark Lords: the Dark Lord of Void, the Dark Lord of Pain, the Dark Lord of Sorrow, and the Dark Lord of Hate. There were detailed descriptions of each Dark Lord’s nature, yet still very vague about their appearances. What bothered Adrien the most was the description of the Dark Lord, Void. It claimed this lord would be a soulless being, empty of all emotion. It would suck the warmth and spirit out of the world like a bottomless pit. The great void of nothingness and apathy. Nottuu had appeared so empty with those white eyes, so emotionless and cold. So like this Dark Lord described to him. He felt he was coming closer to his goal and read on.

The prophecy stated that these five Dark Lords would rise and overthrow the Six Gods of Sekin, led by Lady Fear. It said that they would become the new dark gods of Sekin. It was easy for Adrien to piece together what had happened. The elves were trying to create the creature described, the vampire that would be Lady Fear. It seemed by the description that it had worked. Adrien could do everything that Lady Fear could. The prophecy said she would be the first of her kind, meaning she would be the first vampire. Yet, Adrien knew that only he and Lilith had been the first.

It struck him then. Lady Fear was Lilith. He had not even tried before to discover what had become of her. He only thought of her every now and then, and even tried then not to dwell too much on the faded memory of his long lost sibling. What had she been doing all these years? Was she even alive? Or had she been killed by vampire hunters? Even if she was alive did not mean that this prophecy would be coming true. Adrien calmed himself. It did not mean that Lilith had become the Dark Lady of Fear.

That was all he could find about the prophecy, and none of it had any connection to Aikou or Nottuu, despite the disturbing similarity between Lord Void and his friend. However, he was in the castle of Delu reading these hidden scrolls and documents. He had just finished with his discoveries and calming himself, when he realized that Lilith and Nottuu were right behind him the moment he finished.

Adrien was shocked to find his sister in the deep dungeons of Delu castle. Since he had not seen her for over 2,000 years. He had almost forgotten what she had looked like. It was unmistakably her. However, she seemed different. So calm and cold with a strangely icy smile. She seemed even more deadly than when she was leading her vampire clan. Nottuu stood next to her, like a cold statue. When he saw his old friend with her, somehow, he knew that there were two Dark Lords standing in front of him. That everything that had been prophesied was starting to come true.

It was quiet for a moment; Lilith seemed to be enjoying his shock. Adrien quickly realized that she had intended for him to find his way here. Conversation began, and Lilith revealed that she was the Lady Fear, and she had taken Nottuu as Lord Void. Adrien asked more questions, desperate for more truths. It seemed Lilith had Aikou attacked by dark elves. They killed her, and so when Nottuu returned to his love, he found only her corpse, taking their unborn child with her. Overwhelmed by his misery, Lilith had appeared to him. She offered to make him a deal. She would resurrect Aikou and their child inside her, but only if he gave her his soul in return. Nottuu in his pain and misery agreed. Lilith had then sent Aikou back to her father, the king of Kanet.

Adrien was shocked to find that this could explain everything. He never knew there was any kind of magic that could manipulate souls. His pondering of how to return Nottuu’s soul to his body were interrupted by his sister. Lilith had simply wanted him to find this out before she planned to kill him. Lilith wielded a silver knife she had been keeping especially for her brother. Adrien was a bit shocked, not quite understanding why his sibling suddenly wanted him dead. She explained that she had never forgiven him for running away that day, leaving her alone in the world. She believed that the only ones who could understand them were each other, his fellow vampire and sister. He detected a hint of envy toward Nottuu, who he had preferred over her, like a brother he never had. Adrien was attacked by Lilith and her new puppet—once Nottuu—now Void. His old friend had had the ability to manipulate silver; the very thing that had once saved Adrien’s life in the past was now being used in an attempt to end his life. He only just managed to escape, somewhat wounded by the silver weapons.

He tried to keep on the move, never staying in one place for too long. Adrien was sure Lilith would come looking for him. He had escaped her plot to murder him and knew she would not be satisfied. However, he was determined to find out what she had been up to all the years that they had been separated. Obviously, she had planned this all along, to not contact him until now. But part of her plan went wrong: he was still alive. He believed he would find a way to return Nottuu to his body as well. On the move, Adrien began to research again, trying to trace his sister’s footsteps. This took years for him to complete. Retracing a vampire over 2,000-years-old is not an easy or quickly-done process. It took him nearly 100 years to complete.

He found that Lilith moved around after attacking the village in the first forest he had inhabited. She moved around spreading vampires like a diseases over Iki, which eventually spread all over Sekin. However, Lilith too had wanted to discover the reason why they had been changed into vampires. She never seemed to have been afraid of what she was as much as Adrien had been. She even seemed to have liked the change from being suppressed and powerless into something strong that hunts others. Lilith had been quicker than he to find answers. She had found the elves before they had made the change to dark elves, before the Division. When the elves had discovered what she was, they had treated her like a goddess, completely worshiping her, believing her to be Lady Fear and that the prophecy was coming true at last. Lilith had liked this and stayed with the elves that had destroyed their home village and tortured them all those years ago.

During Lilith’s stay, they taught her their magic. Over the years Lilith became a master of the dark arts and necromancy. She even improved and added to it. It was Lilith who created the dark elves. She created their dark religion, in which she convinced them to magically change their features forever, changing their hair to white and their skin black. The dark elves had been born. Adrien had discovered why Lolth, the Spider Queen Goddess of the dark elves, had been familiar to him. It was an alias of Lilith’s. Close to her original name. She created the dark elf empire, using the dark elf empresses as puppets to control it. Meanwhile, her dark magic grew, as well as her empire.

The one thing Adrien could not find was any information about magic that dealt with the manipulation of souls. Definitely in the dark arts category, it is believed by most religions of Sekin to be the foulest, most corrupt kind of magic there could be. Believing that all souls belonged to the gods, and no mortals should ever tread on this sacred ground. Thus, information was very difficult to find on this. All traces of this branch of dark magic had been destroyed and forgotten to scholars and mages alike. Adrien could not find much, hardly any on the topic. He found nothing that could aid him in returning his friend to normal. He is still searching for a way to save Nottuu to this very day.

Adrien continued to tail Lilith, often being found by her at times and nearly killed. Alone once again, he travels over the world, never letting anyone into his heart, for he knows his sister would use anyone he cared about against him. Her excuse now for trying to murder him was because he was getting in the way of her prophecy. Adrien knew the real reason was that she had expected him to stay with her, through it all, forever. He felt guilty for leaving her behind like he had, and never even trying to figure out what had become of her. Adrien often thought that maybe Lilith would have been different if he had, but the more and more he discovered the horrible things she had been doing to people, the more he realized it would not have mattered at all. Lilith wanted his company only for her own selfish reasons. Maybe only as some sidekick in her quest for domination over the gods. Of course, he knew she was really just as afraid and lonely as he was—even if she didn’t know it yet.

The years passed and Adrien continued to his research. He went deep into the ancient lore of Sekin. Thus, he has discovered truths and secrets known to no one else about his world. Adrien became rather spiritual in a very free sense. The religion of the Six Gods left room for individuality. No longer fearing his instinct except for in very rare situations, he was at peace. In his search he found a prophecy countering the dark one. It was made about the same time as the dark prophecy was and by a completely different Seer. It had been well-protected, but he found it. This prophecy stated that the Six Gods of Sekin would reincarnate themselves into physical humanoid forms so that they may challenge the Five Dark Lords and protect Sekin. Adrien swore to himself that he would search for these individuals and aid them in bringing the downfall of his sister and her empire. He believed it was the right thing. He also hoped that they would find some way to return Nottuu’s soul to his body.

Adrien traveled in search of some clue or hint of a reincarnation. As he did, he worked as a tutor in many places. Some were wealthy families who could afford a pricy tutor, and some times Adrien would teach for free, for those who could not afford it. He changed his last name as he went.

He took up the job of tutoring Anthony Mallard’s daughter, Cossette Mallard, at age 2,997. Mr. Mallard was a wealthy man and rather protective of his daughter. After he hired Adrien, he also threatened him to never lay a hand on his daughter. Though a little baffled on the surface, it was not hard to guess why the father was so fiercely protective, but he said nothing of it and promised Mallard that he would not.

The girl was 16-years-old with a fierce and secretive attitude of her own. She did not seem to trust Adrien anymore than her father did. Adrien patiently ignored this and began his tutoring. Slowly, he won over the girl’s respect. Cossette was raised in the still-standing and popular religion of Dansei. The more he educated her the more he enlightened her about other world views and religions. She became no longer limited by the male-dominated religion intellectually. Adrien also slowly won over her father’s respect and friendship.

Cossette finally confessed to Adrien that her tutor before him had been molesting her until she finally told her father of it. Her father had the man killed and had been slow to trusting another tutor, especially since most were men in their culture, to teach his daughter. Anthony believed his daughter had a right to an education, even though still deeply part of his culture’s beliefs; he would still have her marry a respectable man some day.

Time continued on and Adrien continued to teach Cossette, and nearly becoming part of the family. Anthony and Adrien became rather good friends; however, he would never truly know Adrien Krest, for the vampire would never be able to tell his friend everything about himself. He felt the same for Cossette—he would never tell them what he really was. He was more attached to them than he knew was wise. His sister was still hunting him, and he still had goals of his own to complete that they never could or should be a part of.

Eventually, Cossette was 18-years-old, and Adrien announced that her education was complete. This meant he would also be leaving. Anthony held a celebration for Cossette and Adrien: celebrating his daughter’s completed education and a farewell to his beloved friend.

The vampire was no fool. He knew over the years that Cossette had become very fond of him—perhaps too fond for his comfort. As he expected, the young woman confronted him the night of the party, alone. She had become rather bold and outgoing as a young adult. Assertive but honest about her feelings for him. Nervous but not necessarily shy. Understanding completely that in confessing her feelings she would be making herself entirely vulnerable to rejection, and yet faced it with grace and near indifference.

Adrien kindly explained to her that she was still very young and he was rather older than her. So his feelings for her, for the time being, are only those of friendship and of a caretaker. She was still young and still finding herself—still vulnerable. She had more to learn before they could be on the same level where that kind of intimacy and romance was appropriate.

Cossette had some difficulty accepting this, but eventually submitted to the fact that she was too young for him to have those kinds of feelings for her. However, she made Adrien promise to return someday, to visit and see if as a woman, would he find her to his fancy. A little flustered by her persistence, he promised he would visit them. And so he left the Mallard family, for he did not wish for Lilith to notice him staying there any longer than he normally did in other places where he would teach the young.

Eight years passed, and Adrien returned like he said he would. Anthony was surprised, having thought his old friend may never return again, but he was very pleased and excited by Adrien’s return. Cossette had been very shocked as well. Adrien was sure that she would have found a nice young man to love over the eight years, but Anthony complained to him how difficult it has been to get Cossette to marry. Indeed, the girl courted a few young men, but refused to marry any of them. She was 26 now and, indeed, a very fine, intelligent, and beautiful woman. He could see the maturity in her lovely brown eyes. She was definitely an adult now, and a part of him felt ashamed to find feelings of attraction for a woman he had taught as a girl.

Cossette and Adrien spent much time together. He knew she was aware of his awkwardness that was so unlike his natural confidence. It seemed sometimes to him that she played with his sudden shyness, making him flustered on purpose because she knew she could. So often making him feel guilty and wrong for his developing feelings for her, particularly his sexual attraction to her. She had grown into an extremely lovely woman. She was a strong individual now. Secure and confident, Cossette developed a direct and blunt charm that made her so irresistible to him.

Anthony awkwardly confessed to Adrien that if he wanted his daughter’s hand, he could think of no one else he trusted more with his daughter than him. Mr. Mallard offered Adrien a place in his family, despite Adrien’s flustered pleas how inappropriate it would be of him to marry an old student. However, he secretly desired just this. To have a family, to be part of one again. To marry and have children. To be in this family he had come to love and respect so much. This desire reopened wounds. He could not have children. He could not grow old with Cossette. He could not be apart of this family. He could not have this life. His loneliness came rushing into him as the reality of these things crushed him.

Wrestling with his desires and his secrets, an old depression settled over him again. Cossette noticed this, but could not get him to speak of it. She was able to bring him into bed with her. At first, still feeling as if he was doing something wrong, Cossette gently brushed his guilt away, and he allowed himself to love her fully, unable to control himself any longer. However, a rush of guilt met him when he felt the desire to bite her as he made love to her. It was part of his usual habit to do so, but dared not let the desire take him over. Not with Cossette. He left in the morning, after taking her virginity, leaving a note for her that said “I will return.”

However, he knew it was only a matter of time until Cossette noticed his lack of aging. So the next time he visits her, he knows will be the last. For more reasons than wanting to hide what he really was. Lilith would notice if he visited her village too often. He returned after four years to find that Cossette had been married off to one of Anthony’s business partners. However, he still went to her home to visit her as he promised he would.

Her home was a very large manor. She had lived in her father’s manor before, but obviously her new husband was rich. He was greeted by one of her servants. After the message was sent to their mistress, he was ushered inside quickly. They told him that Mrs. Ranku wished to see him immediately. He was taken to her chambers quickly. Cossette was as beautiful as she had always been. However, she had changed like she had when he visited before after eight years. There was the hardness of pain in her gaze, making her seem older. Perhaps it had been him who put that pain there. She was pleased to see him, nonetheless. So it seemed she had forgiven him at least somewhat.

Adrien spoke politely to her, asking how her husband was. As always, Cossette had never been a woman to beat around the bush. Directness was her nature. She told him her husband was an old fool who knew nothing of how to please a woman, only knowing how to please himself. Her honesty in such matters had always been something that knocked Adrien off his feet. The conversation quickly turned intense as Cossette advanced on him, saying how she missed his touch. Most of all, him, she missed. Cossette seemed to have a gift in getting Adrien into bed with her. He could never resist her.

Her husband was away on a business trip.

This time she was awake before him in the morning. Finally, the real confrontation began. Cossette hounded him for the truth. Why he stayed only for a while and left for years before returning. He knew she was a sharp woman, for she began to question him, asking if Adrien Krest was his true name. She knew he hid much from her. Adrien knew he could not hide it from her any longer. He told the truth, that he was a vampire and that his sister was as well, and a very powerful one that wanted him dead. The reason why he never stayed long in her village. The proof being the fact that he had not changed a day since she had met him at 16-years-old, and she was now thirty.

Cossette was quiet for a long time. Finally, she said she wanted to be with him. That she loved him, despite him being a vampire. She said she would travel with him. Adrien refused, saying that he could not give her a family and that he could never grow old with her. One day, she would be old and die, and he would live on, forever young. Cossette then asked Adrien to do what he swore he never would. She asked him to make her a vampire, so that she could live with him. So that she could keep him company forever. Adrien refused immediately. Not only did he not want her to experience the pain of being a vampire and the hunger for blood that never ended. Lilith would definitely notice, and Cossette would be in danger. In the end, Adrien drew the line. They could not be together. It simply could not work. She finally accepted it with much sorrow.

They spent one last day together, for her husband would be returning soon. Then Adrien left for the last time, knowing that they will never see each other again. Time went by like it always did. Adrien discovered the Dome soon after and was accepted by it as a teacher. There he has stayed since. Eighteen years have passed. However, he still visits Sekin regularly, searching for the ones who will save that world from his sister’s avarice.

Battle Rank
Innate Element: holy/pure/good Vehenmus (darkness)
Overall Rank: 10
Strength: X
Speed: X
Elemental: X
Skill: X

Threads:
Dragons' Soul (Dropped)
The Council (Dropped)
Degrading the Narissistic (Dropped)

Awards: Most Benevolent BA Character, Summer 2006 (BA Awards)

New and improved: Version 2.0 (profile updated)

*Approved by me*

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Pagan Club!
[The Figments of My Imagination]
"I hurt therefore I am." ~ White Oleander, by Janet Fitch.
[Between the Worlds | Empire of Darkness | A Light in the Dark | In His Shadow | Under the Red Sea]