A Walk with Eternity-Chapter 35: The land of the vampires

For about five hours straight after dinner, the whole group slept in peace inside their respective rooms. The mansion was wide and huge, it had enough rooms to accommodate all six of them. Syvestian was fast asleep, while all the others had a hard time resting properly. It didn’t show enough, but they were certainly in panic.

And in confusion.

All six of them then prepared for the inspection, wearing comfortable clothes and holding no weapons. They want to be able to fit in the crowd just fine, but it wouldn’t do much as they were obviously from a different race of kind. For now, their goal was to seem harmless to the vampires.

The time for inspection arrived, and Reene finds all six of them by the main entrance of the mansion, all dressed up and waiting patiently for the town keepers.

"Are you good to go?" Reene asks with a small smile, Syvestian simply nodded back. His friends noticed his response and smiled.

He seems eager to inspect, Cimmerian thought. Syvestian was a curious and adventurous one from the very moment they met him. He liked exploring just as much as they did, but was never openly enthusiastic about it. That’s why they used to think that travelling around the continent was their chance of bumping into him.

Who would have thought that he’d be isolating himself from the moment the grand duke adopted him?

"Oh," Reene starts, realizing something. "We’d forgotten to introduce ourselves, haven’t we? I am Reene Jasmin, the head of the town keepers."

Reene introduced herself, and gestured to her fellow town keepers. There were two women and two men. "This is Kaelia Jacques, Harley Wood, Henley Wood, and Gavin Cruz. We have been the town keepers for two decades."

With the same features, all five of them were of great beauty and had the confidence to carry it well.

Two decades... Syvestian trailed a thought. So they know the reason why Lysander is the only Redridge left.

From what he could remember, Lysander has been the young lord since he was at the age of eight, or it might be even before that. Syvestian has no idea about Lysander’s story, or all the others. They were so busy hiding their last names during the first time they met that they couldn’t afford to mention a thing about their past.

Syvestian didn’t show enough curiosity, which he regrets until this day.

They began walking around from the mansion until the town square, all while the town keepers changed turns in explaining the current living conditions of the town. And so far, Syvestian is impressed.

Not only were they able to grow edible plants without actual sunlight, they found ways to keep livestock in good condition and high quality. Syvestian also found out that some of his inventions have helped greatly in preserving food, growing plants, and keeping some animals or livestock clean and warm. Aside from that, they established a water system just last year with the help of Tadeas. A heating system, however, was not needed for the vampires themselves. Vampires are cold-blooded.

The cold never bothered them anyway.

After another three hours, they finished most of the inspection and decided to take a rest. It was four in the morning, and most of the vampires had gone in their houses to get ready for their last meal of the night.

Having decided to rest and eat, they sat by an open restaurant in the town square. Reene ordered them some food by the counter and sat with all of them, facing Syvestian specifically. All his friends sat next to him.

From what Reene and the others have observed, all six of them were quite

"Do you have any questions so far? Lord Syvestian," she asked directly. All his friends’ eyes were on him, carefully awaiting his question. They know well enough that he has some questions.

Syvestian smiled, once again, stunning the vampires with his blinding beauty. He then continued on to say, "None so far. My standards have been met. I’m glad that my inventions have made it possible for all of you to live an easy life here."

The town keepers were shocked at his revelation, their mouths gaping from the unexpected truth. Seconds later, Reene recalls her exchange with the crown prince hours ago. Her face turned red in embarrassment, as well as all the others.

They were distracted by his beauty. They couldn’t hear Kian saying his last name.

"Grimestone... Lord Syvestian is the Grimestone heir..." Reene mumbled under her breath.

Syvestian became confused. "Yes. I’ve been adopted and appointed immediately as the grand duke’s heir."

"That means... you’re VOID’s owner...!" Gavin showed enthusiasm along with his realization. The town keepers couldn’t keep their sparkling eyes away from him.

Syvestian nodded, calmly in response, feeling a wave of nostalgia rushing over his system. It brought him back to the past on the very first week with the children away from the traffickers.

"You can manipulate matter?"

It was the first time that Lysander showed interest towards him, with the same starry eyes as these town keepers in front of him. He was a quiet kid with a curious mind. Syvestian often thought of him as someone similar to him. Lysander and Cimmerian were the ones who had the most questions during their time together.

Curiosity runs in the race... or have they become like this because of isolation...?

A sad thought passed Syvestian’s mind. He might be thinking too deeply, but this was something he causally observed as they were inspecting. Children and teenagers have been approaching them left and right. Mostly curious about Ezio, Dolunay and Cimmerian who had unique features. They wanted to touch Dolunay’s wings, play with Ezio’s tail, and braid up Cimmerian’s beautiful blonde hair as they were all strange features among the clan.

While Syvestian was busy inspecting the town with Reene, Kaelia, and Henly, all his other friends along with Harley and Gavin were playing with children and showing off their magic to entertain them, following the inspection team along the way.

The children were amazed and showed curiosity towards them. Syvestian was, of course, glad to see that children are being raised in a healthy and whimsical manner, however, he couldn’t help but think too deeply.

They could see more of them outside this town and experience much more than just that.

Truly, shutting out the world lets them be unable to experience it in its rawest forms, leaving their hearts and minds long for what they could only read in books.

Syvestian shook off that thought and focused on the people in front of him. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Although, I am curious about one thing..." Syvestian says, which caught the attention of even his friends.

"How did Lysander become the Lord of this clan from a very young age?"

Ah... Cimmerian wasn’t surprised, but he certainly was expecting a different question. Right, he doesn’t know...

We’ve only learned of it when we were ten, Dolunay thought to herself.

Ly was strong enough to tell us then, Milera thought.

Seeing the town keepers keeping quiet, Syvestian could only smile in surrender.

"I was with them only for three weeks before the imperial knights found us," Syvestian continues. "All nine of them, including Lysander, hid their last names and held back on telling me their stories. We’ve only recently reunited after a decade, and on the way here, these friends of mine asked for my story after I was adopted by the grand duke."

Syvestian paused for a moment and calmly sighed.

"It made me realize somewhat that I barely know anything about them at all..." he mumbled. "I don’t know their stories, I simply bonded with them through interactions and similar interests."

Relationships are such complex things, he thought.

Isolation has taught him none of it. And it was inevitable. He had other things that occupied his mind, after all.

"Well, why not ask Ly himself?" Ezio suggested, breaking the awkward silence.

"He’s right. Only Ly has the right to tell you his very own history," Cimmerian joins in.

"Don’t think too much into it, we know you enough," Milera assured.

Syvestian, feeling somewhat relieved, simply smiled back and nodded. The town keepers observed them quietly. Thinking...

They’re all so soft... especially him.

Looking directly at Syvestian who had a calm look on his face.

How disappointing...

An hour and a half passed, they had finished their meal and went back to the mansion in peace and full stomachs. They ate well, and the quality of food was great for a town full of bloodsuckers.

The moment the door opened for them, they heard the clicking of horseshoes on the cemented path way to the main door. All of them looked behind and saw a man in a hood, riding a war horse. Reene and the others rushed to the steps to welcome him properly, while Kian and the others stayed in their positions.

From the moment the reached the steps, he pulled his hood down revealing his face.

Black short hair, severely pale white skin, and blood red eyes. The group were shocked, especially Cimmerian.

He’s really out of the shadows... They all thought in relief.

He was smiling wide, showing off his fangs as he looked directly at one person.

"Syvestian~ You’re here!"

However, strangely enough, that brought shivers down through their system. They felt alert.

But before they could even make a move, Lysander was already flying across the property. He landed by the stainless gates, destroying it completely. Milera looked next to her, finding Syvestian gone from his place.

"YVES!" She shouted looking at Syvestian with shock. She wasn’t the only one who was surprised.

"What do you think you’re doing?!" Reene shouted in anger as she tried to claw Syvestian’s forearm, only to be pushed away back to her fellow town keepers.

"Yves! What the hell is wrong?!" Kian asked in complete shock and worry. He’s never gone berserk like this before!

"That’s not Lysander." He responded to them with only one line.

What...? Kian paused, then he saw the look in Syvestian’s eyes. They were glowing in gold.

Syvestian is actually mad...

On one side, Lysander pulled himself back up from the now destroyed gate. He was laughing with joy with a sharp gaze.

"What a greeting you’ve given me... you imbecile," Lysander mumbled under his breath.

The council truly has gone too far... Syvestian was blinded. His sight was blurry with rage, but his goal was clear. That was the Deity of Death possessing his friend’s body.

How dare you touch my people, Daimon!