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I was really doing my best to enjoy myself at our first royal ball as king and queen, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about Letti and the Mystic Vampires who wanted to start a brand new war with us. I mean, no offense to them, but we had just finished a war with Velika and I was really in no rush to start up a new war with anybody at the moment. Timbrax and I had been greeting our guests for the past three hours and I needed a break. I politely excused myself from the entrance and walked over to one of the empty tables and sat down.
Lyric and Nõka had been assigned to protect me, while Chaos and Nitan had been assigned to protect Timbrax. I had asked Nõka if she would be so kind as to get me a drink from the refreshments table, and she eagerly walked away to get me my drink. I had to admit that the Lugat Princesses had stepped up in their mission in the renovations of the castle because they had the entire ballrooms completely redone in under twenty-four hours. Everything was old and white, from the walls to the new marble floor. It looked magical in here. I just loved how the colors brightened up the place from the former dungeons and darkness of the room it had been under Velika’s ruling.
“Here is your drink, Queen Zyra,” Nõka replied as she gently set it down in front of me. “I really enjoy saying Queen Zyra,” Nõka said with a smile. “It has such a nice ring to it!”
I smiled politely at her. “Thank you Nõka for getting me my drink.” I said as I picked it up and gingerly took a drink of my cold blood. I savored the coolness as the liquid slid easily down my throat. I really tried my best to keep my drink full, but because Timbrax had to suck so much blood from my body hours earlier, I desperately needed to replenish my blood in my body. I Drank the glass and set it down on the table just as Timbrax, Chaos and Nitan had joined us.
“A little thirsty, are we?” Timbrax teased as he sat down beside me, giving me a quick peck on my cheek.
I gingerly used a napkin and wiped my lips of any excess blood that may have been left behind on my mouth. “Well, I am trying to replenish my blood since someone sucked half of it out of my body.” I teased.
Timbrax grew serious again, and I looked at him. “I have spoken to the higher ups at The Labyrinth.” he said to me. “And they would like for us to take a tour of their facility tomorrow at twilight.”
Tomorrow at twilight?... why on earth would the Labyrinth want to meet with us so early I wonder?...
I forced a smile at him. That sounds like a plan.” I said, and he kissed the top of my hand, which had brought a genuine smile to my face.
“You were right to go forth with the royal coronation gorgeous,” he said. “I should have known that it would be Letti of all vampires who would hold a grudge against you so much as to kill you and attempt to take your place by my side.”
I was hesitant for a moment. “Letti... won’t will she?” I asked Timbrax.
“She won’t what?” Timbrax asked me.
“Take my place by your side as queen.” I said.
“Never,” Timbrax said, shaking his head at me. “There is not a single vampire on the face of this earth who could ever take your place beside me, gorgeous.” I sighed in relief and I nodded at him. “I chose you for a reason, my love... please remember that okay?”
“Alright. I said. “I will try my best to start doing that Timbrax.” I was still a teenager, and I still had to deal with insecurities. I still could not believe that I went from being a normal Stregoni Benefici one of the few surviving Pyro-Lancer elemental’s to becoming a princess and now the queen. I had come so far in such a short amount of time that it was still so surreal to me... even now it didn’t seem real, yet it was.
I had just pulled myself out of my thoughts just as the Lugat Princesses and Maddock sat at our table to join us. I was happy to see the girls had included Ceres into our group. After all, Ceres was half Lugat, and that is what we were passing her off as around the Labyrinth and everyone else who was not in the know about what she truly was. We had also had to disguise Ceres’s guardian Legend off as a Hunter in training, which was really easy to do considering he was a Dhampir. Mostly everyone around this region either did not believe that Dhampir’s existed, or they just didn’t think they would ever see one in their lifetime.
“So what does it feel like to finally becoming queen Zyra?” Ceres asked me just as servers had placed plates of food in front of us and had given me a refill on the blood I had downed a bit ago.
“Well,” I said as I smiled at her. “It feels... amazing.” I said to her. “I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Velika is dead-”
“Well, I heard a rumor that Velika is-”
Cynthia shook her head at Ceres, and she immediately fell silent. “That was only a rumor that some rogue Varacolaci have started Ceres.” she said looking at me as Ceres was about to let the cat out of the bag to the entire vampire community about what had really happened to their former queen Velika. There would be an uprising in them and Timbrax and I just could not allow for that to happen.
“Yeah, it’s just a rumor, Ceres,” I said, shrugging my shoulder. “It’s nothing to get excited about.”
“I see,” Ceres said as she picked up her fork and put various meats and blood into her plate. “I suppose there is still so much I have to learn about being a Lugat.” she added.
I watched as Cynthia, and Maddock talked to each other in a private conversation. I excused myself from the table and both Lyric and Nõka followed me and they stayed extremely close to me as they stood behind me, practically staying on my heels. “You guys,” I said as I walked up the staircase that led to Timbrax’s bedroom. “I’m fine.”
“We are your protection detail, Queen Zyra,” My mother Lyric said as we walked. “Or do you not remember that?”
“I do,” I said, feeling exhaustion overtaking me. “I just need to lie down because I still feel weak from all the blood loss.”
“You get some rest, Queen Zyra,” Nõka said as she handed me a pair of purple pajama pants and a purple spaghetti strap shirt to change into. I thanked her as I changed out of the dress. “I will guard the door just in case any men try entering the room while you are changing.” Nõka added as she moved towards the door and stepped outside into the hallway, closing the door slightly.
“Finally,” I said as I unzipped the dress from the back. “I can get out of this thing.” I took my body out of the dress and I stepped over it and sat down on the edge of the bed to remove the Stilettos.
Lyric smiled as she looked into my face. “I am so proud of you, Zyra,” she said as I put on the purple pajama pants. “I have always known that one day you would be something great in the vampire world.”
“Like maybe a badass Vampire Hunter who would kill over a thousand vampires?” I asked her as I slipped my arms into the sleeves of the nightshirt and then my head and pulled it down over my body just as Timbrax burst into the room.
“There you go again, Zyra, leaving me alone at a table with all of your friends.” Timbrax said as I tossed the Stilettos underneath the bed.
“I’m not feeling well, Timbrax.” I said, and he zipped over to the bed and sat down beside me.
“I left Velvet and the Hunters in charge of the ball,” he said as I peeled back the covers and climbed in between them and lay my head down on the pillow. “I will stay with you and not return to the party.”
“No,” I protested. “One of us has to show our face or everyone will think that we don’t care about them.”
“Well, technically, we don’t really care about them.” Timbrax said.
“Timbrax!” Lyric chastised him. “I resent that remark, son-in-law.”
Timbrax smiled a genuine smile at my mother Lyric. “Okay,” he said, trying again. “We don’t hate everyone... there are a few exceptions here.”
“That’s much better, thank you Timbrax.” Lyric said to him as she picked up my dress off of the floor and placed it on the arm of a wooden chair that was across the room. Nõka pushed open the door and stepped inside just as Chaos and Nitan entered the room as well.
“Oh, come on!” Timbrax groaned as he looked at our growing audience. “Are we ever going to get any quality time alone this evening?”
“I’m afraid not your majesty,” Nitan said to him. “We have our orders to be your personal bodyguards for the next Month.”
“Well, that is just delightful now, isn’t it, Zyra?” Timbrax said in a sarcastic tone.
“It’s a part of us being the new royal couple.” I said as I closed my eyes and settled into a comfortable position on his bed. “You should get back to the ball and finish out the evening entertaining our guests.” I added. “I will see you in the twilight hour tomorrow.” Timbrax replied as he kissed me on the cheek. I felt him getting up off of the bed, I heard his dress shoes clicking against the black marble floor and Chaos and Nitan were following him out of the room. I was so exhausted that I hadn’t even realized that I had fallen asleep wearing my new queen’s crown still on top of my head. I was unsure if the dream I was having had been an actual vision or if it had just been a strange dream
I was standing alone in a white room looking through a one-way mirror which they placed me in front of. I was wearing a white pair of pants, a white long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of white slip on slippers. Even though I was wearing the long-sleeved shirt, the air conditioning was on and the room was freezing. A moment later, a male voice came through a small loudspeaker which had been positioned in the corner of the large empty room.
“Subject 001 is now ready for the first test to be administered tonight.”
I suddenly felt nervous as I looked around the room, not knowing how many people were staring at me from the other side of the two-way mirror.
“Subject 001, you may now use your elemental powers.”
I was gazing at my reflection when I activated a small fireball in the palm of my hand. And to my surprise I had formed a water tower in my other..
This isn’t me?... Who is this girl?... Is she a Mystic Vampire, I wonder?...
“Subject 001, merge the two elements together now.”
I watched as the girl did as she was told. And to my surprise the water didn’t fizzle out the flame of the fire, it became one entire cylinder as it moved into each other perfectly.
“Subject 001...you may now stop the test.”
A moment later I watched as the girl lowered both of her hands to her sides just as both elemental’s disappeared into thin air. I was astonished beyond belief by what I was witnessing before my very eyes. A moment later the door opened to my left, and I turned my head to see ten Labyrinth workers dressed in white hazmat suits, and they were all holding either a gun which resembles the ones the Hunters used on their missions. Or they were holding police batons. They encircled the girl and I could feel her fear rising.
“Go ahead.” The male voice spoke from the intercom. “Attack them.”
The girl shook her head no and one of the Labyrinth workers struck her hard in the back, making her scream out in pain. I could feel the blow hitting my back in the very exact spot and I screamed as well.
“Use your elemental powers now or else my men will continue to beat you to a bloody pulp.” The man said in an icy voice.
The girl suddenly became enraged with anger as she found the strength to form a powerful water jet stream and hit one worker, making him hit the wall across the room. The Labyrinth men jumped the girl, giving her the beating of her life with the police batons. She screamed as she had become very infuriated with the men who were beating on her repeatedly over and repeatedly. She then started shooting fireballs out of her hands, hitting every target she aimed for.
“Take the subject 001 down immediately!” The man said to his men.
Just then the Labyrinth men who were on standby holding the guns suddenly raised them and pointed them at the girl. She screamed again and was about to charge one of them when they started firing shots at her. They hit her over twenty times before she stopped fighting back, her powers diminished and she fell forward, hitting her head against the coolness of the shiny tile floor beneath her.
“Good job, everyone.” The man said to the group. “Now take subject 001 from the quarantine room to be sedated with the others.”
The intercom went silent as two men roughly grabbed the girl on both arms and had dragged her limp body out of the room and into the hallway. Her long brown hair was straight and it drug on the floor as she lay unconscious. What was extremely creepy to me was how these men are staying so... quiet as they worked. The Hunters when we’re sent out on missions, we at least were conversing amongst each other. This working in silence thing just creeped me out. After what seemed like an eternity, the men finally stepped through an elevator and pressed a button. The doors closed, and the elevator descends downwards.
Where are they taking her I wonder?...
It appeared the elevator too took a long time to reach its destination but when it did; the doors slid silently open and the two men stepped out of it and one of them dragged the girl silently up a narrow metal ramp, making her other arm drag and rub roughly up against the open slits of the grate. He made a sharp right, making the girl’s head hard against a red metal pole, which made her groan in response to the pain she was now feeling in her head. He continued to walk straight ahead until there was a long tall cylinder chamber where two more men stood on either side of it guarding it protectively. And the man tossed the girl inside of the strange chamber and he stepped back to allow one of the other men to push a tall glass lid shut, sealing the girl inside the tube.
“Once the door’s locked, you may pump in the liquid.” one man said, and another one nodded and pressed a green button as soon as he heard a clicking sound made on the door. I could hear a loud sound and I could see a green liquidy substance filling the inside of the chamber where the girl was standing in. To my surprise, the liquid filled the chamber quickly and before the girl could even open her eyes, it completely submerged her head in it. She lay still, floating inside of it, and I watched as her hair drifted up and down in the liquid. “Test subject 001 is a Dhampir girl by the name of Serenity Lumière.” he said to the men as one of them was holding a portable tablet in his hands. He started typing in her information. “Serenity has a younger brother by the name of Legend Lumière, and they are both currently guardians to the Moroi Princess Ceres Winclair.” he paused briefly to allow his college to catch up to him. “And get this... Ceres Winclair is the daughter of Leon Winclair... the Lugat gentleman who owns Ceres Corporations.” I gasped because they were telling me things I had and didn’t known before.
“You mean that Lugat man who was at the King and Queen’s Coronation yesterday evening?” another man asked the first.
“You got that right.” he replied. “So we have to monitor these two... just in case they are both Mystic Vampires like this Serenity we just captured yesterday while she was sneaking around the wooded area where the other Mystic Vampires are currently at.”
“When do you think we should move in and raid the forest before they realize what is happening?” Another man asked them.
“Not sure,” The first man replied. “Remember this evening we are having a meeting with the new Queen and King of the dark world region.” he passed briefly. “We will give them a grand tour of our fine facility in order to gain their support so they can grant us full access on getting the Hunters to help in the aid of extracting these Mystic Vampires who will take over the world soon if we do nothing about this problem now.” My eyes shot open, and I gasped as I sat up in bed. Timbrax was already sitting up as he watched me with curiosity from his side of the bed.
“Did you have another nightmare gorgeous?” He asked me.
I blinked twice before answering him. “I don’t think so?” I said, unsure about what I had just witnessed moments ago. “I think it was a vision...”
“Where did you get those welts and bruises, Zyra?” My mother Lyric asked me as she pointed to my right arm.
“Huh?” I asked in confusion as I looked down at my arm. Sure enough, I saw a dark bruise and a bright red welt next to each other on my right arm. “I don’t know?” I finally said as I looked up the. “I need to get ready for our meeting with the Labyrinth.” I said as I tossed the heavy black comforter off of my body. I turned and stepped on to the black cold marble floor that was beneath my feet. I scurried towards the door as I heard Lyric calling my name. I ignored her as I made my way into my bedroom. I knew exactly how I had gotten these welts and bruises. Somehow I had been at that facility and was in Lumière’s body as she was being beaten.
“Zyra,” Lyric said to me as she was out of breath trying to catch up to me. “Didn’t you hear me calling you back there?”
“Yeah mom, I heard you.” I said to her, but I didn’t turn around to look at her.
“Then... why didn’t you answer me when I was talking to you, Zyra?” She asked me with more concern in her voice than anger.
I sighed inwards before answering my mother’s question. “Because...” I intoned. “I saw, but it differed from any other vision I have ever had in the past.”
“How so?” Timbrax asked, and I turned around, surprised to see him standing behind me.
“Because,” I said to him as I pointed my index finger at the welt on my right arm. “I was there... I was... feeling every single beating that Serenity had received this morning. In human time, that is.” I said in a quiet voice.
“Who is... Serenity?” Lyric asked me.
“Serenity is Legends’ older sister.” Nõka replied as she entered my bedroom. “Legend had told us that Serenity had recently disappeared before we had visited the Moroi Court, where we had met Princess Ceres.”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Apparently Serenity is also a Mystic Vampire.”
“But that’s impossible?” Timbrax said. “They are Dhampir and they are not supposed to possess any sort of elemental magic or anything, I thought?”
I shrugged my shoulder. “I know what I saw Timbrax... and I know what I felt.” I said as I stroked my arm. “I need to get dressed.” I said, and Chaos and Nitan both stood out in the hallway as Nõka closed the door. I opened the closet doors and looked at my wardrobe. I noticed my old Hunter’s uniform hanging on the metal pole, and I picked it up and examined it. “You aren’t thinking about wearing that to your meeting... are you Zyra?” Nõka asked me with curiosity in her voice.
“I might be, yeah.” I said as I looked at the black trench coat that resembled both Chaos and Lyrics Hunter’s uniforms. As much as I wanted to go all nostalgic here, I thought better of it and I handed my mother Lyric the uniform. “You had better place this out there in one of the trophy cases.” I said, which had made her look at me in surprise.
“Yes, your majesty.” She said as she walked towards the door and opened it. She handed my uniform over to one guy and relaid my message to them. Lyric then pulled herself back inside of my bedroom and closed the door. “Nitan is on it, Zyra.” She said smiling at me.
“Thanks Mom.” I said as I picked out a long red dress which shaped my body’s form perfectly. I handed the dress over to Timbrax as he watched me strip out of my pajamas. “And.. I think it would be best if we say nothing about Serenity to Legend until we are certain about her situation.” I added, and the others eagerly agreed with me on this matter. “We need Legend to stay focused and protect Princess Ceres while they are staying with us here.”
“Of course Queen Zyra.” Nõka said curtsying towards me.
“Nõka,” I said as I put on my dress. “You are my friend, you don’t have to keep being so formal around me all the time, okay?” I said to her as I picked out a pair of black high heels with a much shorter heel on them.
Nõka smiled at me. “I will do my best to remember that your majesty.” She replied.
“Good,” I said, turning my attention towards Timbrax. “You should start getting ready too.” I said, drawing him back to reality from whatever he was thinking of.”
“Your right,” Timbrax said as he glanced over at one clock on the wall. “I’ll be back in half an hour.” He said giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before Nõka opened the door and he zipped out of my bedroom with Chaos on his heels.
“Let’s get your hair fixed up right quick, Zyra.” My mother Lyric said as she sat me down in a chair and took my hair down so that way she could brush it and redo it from the previous night. “You really need to take your hair down before you go to bed, Zyra,” My mother Lyric said as she tried to parent me for a moment. “Otherwise you will end up with these bobby pins stabbing you in your scalp while you are asleep.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Okay Mom,” I said grateful to have her in my life.” “I will keep that in mind before I go to bed in the morning.”
“Thank you, Zyra,” Lyric said, nodding to me in approval as she brushed the tangles out of my long hair. “That is all that a mother could ask for from her only daughter is obedience.”
Nõka had used one of those Neutrogena wipes to wipe off all the old makeup from the previous night. “Girl,” Nõka said as she ticking her tongue at me in disapproval, like I was a child or something. “You also have to use one of these wet wipes on your face at night to remove all of this old ass makeup from your face.” Nõka paused briefly as she pressed a bit hard on the side of my face to remind me of what she had just said a few seconds ago. “Or else you will break out and get pimples and zits on your flawless face of yours, okay?”
“Alright you guys I said to them both. “I will start taking down my hair and removing my makeup before I go to bed tonight.” Neither one of them said a word as they worked on me. I sat perfectly still as they both finished up and they moved aside to allow me to stand up. I didn’t need to look into the mirror as I already knew that both my hair and my makeup had come out flawless. I thanked them both, and I picked up my dirty pajamas and I tossed them into the black laundry basket that was in the corner of my bedroom. We had walked out into the hallway just as the guys were waiting towards us.
“What’s wrong?” My mother Lyric asked my father Chaos. She could always tell when something was wrong with him. “Has Velvet given you new orders?”
“Velvet has requested that both Nõka and Nitan remain here while the two of us accompany our King and queen to The Labyrinths facility this evening.” I could see the disappointment on Nõka’s face and I gave her a sad smile. Nõka had really wanted to come with Timbrax and me to the Labyrinths facility tonight. “It is for protection.” He said patting Nõka on her shoulder. “You know how that goes.”
“Unfortunately, I know how that goes.” Nõka said to Chaos. “I suppose Velvet has given us some sort of temporary orders, Chaos?” Nõka asked him.
“Velvet has yes, Nõka.” Chaos said to her. “You and Nitan will protect Princess Ceres... just for a few hours, of course.”
“Understood boss man.” Nõka replied as she saluted Chaos. She nodded a quick goodbye to me as she turned on her heels and walked down the lonely hallway with Nitan by her side.
Timbrax nudged me in the shoulder, and I looked at him. “It was actually on my authority to leave Nitan and Nõka behind for our very important meeting with the Labyrinth tonight.” He whispered to me.
That took me aback. “Why on Earth would you do something like that for?” I whispered to him as I glanced at my parents who were talking about something. Probably protection detail, no doubt.
Timbrax shrugged. “Because I didn’t want them to get hurt went South during our tour of The Labyrinths facility.” He whispered to me. I just shook my head at him as Chaos and Lyric walked back towards us.
“It is time to go to California-”
“I am going to use the astral thread to get us their much faster than you driving us there if you don’t mind Chaos.” Timbrax said which angered me even more because Timbrax was making these rash decision on his own without consulting me as usual.
“Uh, yes Lord Timbrax.” Chaos said just as stunned as the rest of us had been. “We shall go through the astral thread when you are ready.”
“Great,” Timbrax replied as he grabbed a hold of my left hand and I was about to take Lyric’s hand when Timbrax moved with lightning speed and only myself and him went through the astral thread. As soon as we appeared on the other side, I noticed that we were alone standing on the front steps of a massive building which is made of concrete.
“What the hell are you thinking Timbrax?” I snapped angrily at him. “You just left the only protection we had from these people back at our castle in Opheim, Montana, you idiot!”
Timbrax sighed in response as he shook his head at me. “Zyra, you don’t seem to get it, do you?” he snapped angrily at me. “This is our only chance to step foot into the infamous Labyrinth'’ secret facility. And I need you to be one hundred percent on board with me on this, okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered as I felt the overwhelming sadness taking over me. “We’ll do it your way.” I blinked my eyes, and I realized that everyone was staring at me as we stood on the front steps of the infamous Labyrinth’s facility.
“Zyra?” Timbrax asked me with a worried look on his face. “Are you feeling alright?”
“I-I’m fine.” I said, forcing a smile at him. I was so glad that it was just another vision as I saw Chaos, Lyric, Nõka, and Nitan standing with us out here in the chilly air. “I’m just anxious is all to find out what The Labyrinth is doing behind closed doors.”
“That’s totally understandable seeing as though The Labyrinth has never opened their doors to The Hunters since... ever.” Nõka said thoughtfully. The door opened and a woman with her long black hair pulled back into a tight bun which sat on the top of her head opened the door surprising us all seeing as though none of us had even pushed the doorbell yet. She’s dressed in a white dress and she was wearing glasses. She was slim, she was beautiful, and she looked to be around twenty-five.
“You must be the new rulers of the dark world reign.” she said as she took a step to the side and allowed us to step inside. “My name is Patty, and Mr. Cruz will be with you in a moment.” She said as she closed the door behind us and walked back to sit behind the receptionist desk.
Did Patty just say... Mr. Cruz?... There’s no way that this can be the same Cruz from Scythe City?... Could it?... Guess We’re about to find out now, aren’t we Zyra?...
I looked around the massive room and it looked like any ordinary office building that I had previously seen when I was living amongst the humans a few years ago. A recently buffered white tile floor beneath our feet, chairs lining the walls, the lighting’s made of thin strips that ran in two rows, which was bright for how thin the strips were. And plaques hanging on the walls to show they were a legit business. Just then a man dressed in a black suit and tie and dark-rimmed sunglasses with his hair graying and slicked back emerged from a room and walked towards us with a smile on his face.
“We meet again little Zyra.” Cruz said as he walked up to me and gave me a hug. “I hear that you have made it to be the new queen of The Dark World Regin now?”
“It’s always a pleasure to see you Cruz.” I said, returning his hug. “And yes, you have heard correctly, I am the new reigning Queen of The Dark World Regin.” I added.
“I had absolutely no idea that you were head of The Labyrinth Cruz?” My mother Lyric said to Cruz. “Why didn’t you tell me the good news?”
Cruz smiled his infamous smile at Lyric as he instructed for us to follow him down a long hallway. “Now Lyric,” Cruz said as my high heels echoed off of the empty walls. “You know that I may not give out such sensitive information to my counterparts of The famous L.P.V.O. now don’t you my dear?”
My mother Lyric smiled at Cruz as we walked up the hallway. “No sir,” she said. “That is strictly a need to know basis.”
“Precisely my dear Lyric.” Cruz said as he used his badge and tapped it against a black box that’s installed into the wall. There was a loud beeping sound as the light turned from a bright glowing red to a bright green and Cruz turned the handle and opened the door. Cruz beamed with pride as each of us entered another area which had clearly been a secured area and they gave us full access to it. “I would like to be the first to welcome you all to The Labyrinth Facility.” he said. “Let us begin the tour, shall we?”
“Of course,” I said, smiling sweetly at my old friend. “We have been waiting anxiously to tour this fine Labyrinth Facility.” I spoke. “Haven’t we Timbrax?”
“Yes, we have,” Timbrax said as he took my hand in his. “We will remember this night for ages to come.”