THE WORLD SEED.

Nya had never been addressed by such a grandiose title before, though she had to admit, 'Regis of Ruin' did sound intimidating and awe-inspiring. As she looked at the large group of vampires, her first thought was dinner. They all had a wide variety of phantasms that she could assimilate and use to grow even stronger, but she pushed such notions aside; she was here for her daughter's sake, not to indulge in a vampire massacre… at least not yet.

Upon closer inspection, she discovered that more than a few vampires before her had quite a bit of power, not as much as her, but still enough to be an interesting challenge.

"Two new contenders?" the vampire sitting on the throne, who Nya guessed was the outgoing Vermilion King, demanded, "they will come."

Even though it was just a little bit, Nya felt compelled to bow before this woman. No doubt the vampire within her was the source of this compulsion, the authority of Vermilion King was no joke. Morgan and Valla, under her compulsion, started walking towards the throne.

"Hey, hold up," Nya interrupted, grabbing them by the shoulders, and breaking them from their compulsion.

This seemed to cause a surge of murmuring among the gathered vampires.

"They aren't here to contend for whatever idiotic role you vamps are here for," Nya said, "We are here because one of you fuck tried to kill my baby girl, and I wanted to let you know, very violently, how much of a mistake that was."

"So, you're Nya Crimson?" the Vermilion King asked, "We'd heard about you,"

"Who hasn't at this point?" Nya shrugged

"We heard you were dead,"

"Not dead, just somewhere far worse." Nya said,

"They are your daughters?" the Vermilion King asked looking at Morgan and Valla

"This one is," Nya said wrapping her arm around Morgan, "the other one is her mate."

"And you say one of the blood lords here tried to kill her, when she has never set foot on this planet before today?"

"She was a threat," Nya said, "I have a feeling it has to do with this selection."

"What an absurd accusation," one of the vampire elites decreed

"How dare you spout such baseless lies," another said

Pretty soon, the whole hall was in uproar and it was very difficult to hear anything.

"SILENCE!" both Nya and the Vermilion King yelled at almost the same time, snuffing out the voices of everyone presence. It was unclear whose command the vampires obeyed, as both spoke within a nanosecond of the other, but the uncertainty of it was enough to shake the very foundation of the vampire hierarchy and that scared the hell out of everyone.

"Pardon the rabble, lady Crimson," the Vermilion King said with a polite bow of her head

"No worries," Nya said, "Now if I could discuss this in private with you?"

"Of course," the Vermilion King said, she then spoke to the assembled masses, "The selection has been postponed until further notice. All blood lords are to return to their territories, the finalists will remain here for the time being."

Although they were reluctant, the word of the Vermilion King was absolute and must be obeyed. The gathered blood lords began clearing the throne room, making arrangements to return to their clan territories. As each of the finalists passed by Morgan and Valla, they glared menacingly at the Spartans, while casting a curious glance to Nya, who had such authority. The twins lingered a little longer as if trying to appraise her.

"We look forward to seeing you again, Nya Crimson," Cayn cooed while her brother smiled longingly at her

"Oh, I think we'll be seeing a lot of each other," Nya said in return before she looked at the last blood lord to leave.

He had a posh air around him, the sort to be born into status, yet his eyes also had a hunger in them that told her he had seen his fair share of struggle, a self-made man. More than anything though, he smelled… very familiar. He had a handsome face and a fit body, he was the type Nya wouldn't mind fucking just for the sake of it. He glared at her with such anger and hatred that Nya felt like fucking him even more, just to fuck with him.

"And who might you be?" she asked him

"Don't get ahead of yourself," he snarled, "when I become Vermilion King, you will bow to me."

"But first you have to win, don't you?" Nya smirked condescendingly, "and even if you win, there's almost no chance that you could make me bow to you,"

"We shall see," he snarled as he glared at each one of her compatriots,

"He just screams 'asshole'," Astrid sneers walking up to her mom

"Oh, I know," Nya replied, "I'd still fuck him anyway, though,"

"Me too," Astrid replied

"Now, Nya Crimson," the Vermilion King said, "if you'd be so kind as to join me for a walk."

Nya noticed how the invitation did not extend to the others, but agreed all the same.

"I'd love to," she then turned to Amara, "You guys stay here,"

"And do what?" Kiva asked

"I don't know; make small talk, chat up the locals, fuck a vampire. Think for yourselves" Nya said dismissively as she walked away arm-in-arm with the vampire monarch.

After Nya left with the Vermilion King, a vampire steward came to attend to the rest of her group.

"Good day, you have been awarded guest rights by her majesty," the stewards said, "the facilities and services of Castle Dracula are open to you."

"If you'll excuse me," Galina saluted Moran and Valla one last time before leaving.

"Got anything to eat around here?" Amara asked

"We have the best chefs on the planet," the steward said, "allow me to escort you to the drawing room."

"You guys go on ahead," Eli said, "I'm gonna look around."

"No," Morgan and Astrid said at the exact same time

"Overprotective much?" Valla commented

"Eli, you're mortal" Morgan said, "unlike Astrid, you're actually normal."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Astrid accused

"Eli doesn't have any powers; he's a typical helpless human." Morgan said

"I'm making an effort not to be insulted," Eli sneered

"What's with the attitude?" Astrid demanded

"Because I'm not a super dangerous omen or a crazy strong adept like the two of you, you think I'm weak?"

"No," Morgan denied, "Amara doesn't have powers and we wouldn't call her weak,"

"Amara got to face off against Rias," Eli reminded them, "while you all insisted that I stay on the Blue,"

"To provide logistical support," Astrid said, "we needed you on overwatch, quarterbacking."

"Astrid, don't insult my intelligence; I'm smarter than you and Morgan put together." Eli snarled

"Hey!" Morgan scolded, "that was out of line."

"It's the truth." Eli said, "you think that just because I'm the youngest I don't notice how you guys underestimate me."

"We don't want you to get hurt," Morgan said, "You don't have powers or training to get you out of dangerous situations like the rest of us do,"

"So that gives you the right to decide whether or not I take part in operations, or go off by myself?" Eli said,

"Hey what's going on?" Amara said, "what are you three fighting about?"

"Nothing," Eli snapped, "I was just leaving."

"No you're not," Astrid said, "he wants to go off on his own."

"I don't see what the problem is?" Amara said

"What?" Kiva asked, "that's too dangerous, we're in a castle filled with vampires."

"Eli's a smart kid, he's definitely smarter than the rest of us," Amara said, "what makes you think he's any less capable of taking care of himself than Morgan or Astrid?"

"It doesn't matter how smart he is," Morgan said, "he's powerless against a threat like a blood lord,"

"Guys," Valla called, "Eli just left while you were all arguing."

"What?" Astrid demanded looking around, sure enough Eli wasn't there anymore.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Morgan demanded of her fiancé

"He told me he could take care of himself and would call if he needs help," Valla said, "Eli's a really sharp kid, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Are you insane?" Astrid snapped, "he could get himself killed here,"

"So could you," Valla retorted, "Eli can take anyone of us down if he wanted to, not to mention he knows how to handle himself in an emergency."

"Valla, what'll you do if he gets enthralled by a vampire?" Kiva demanded

"We'll go save his ass, the same thing he'd do if any of us got enthralled," Valla said, "What is with you guys?"

"They think Eli's helpless because he has no powers or training like the rest of us." Amara said

"You guys really don't realize what he's capable of?" Valla said, "the guy taught himself how to speak Praxian, a dead language, in a week. He understands more about Vulcan than pretty much anyone that isn't Nya or Merlin. He can disable an Excalibur by himself without anyone noticing. He developed nuform and a lot of other tech we use today, and knows how to disarm us. He's probably the most dangerous of all Nya's kids; the most you guys can do is break stuff."

Kiva, Morgan and Astrid looked at each other, did they really underestimate Eli that much? The fact that he was able to sneak off without them noticing, despite their high sensory and extrasensory abilities, proves that he's cleverer than they gave him credit for.

"Oh my god," Morgan gasped, "are we hypocrites?"

"No," Valla said hugging her, "You're just older sisters; you always underestimate the last born."

"I hope he's okay," Kiva said

"He'll be fine," Amara said taking her by the hand and following the waiting steward.

While the others were busy arguing about Eli's independence, he strolled out of the throne room silently. His new scatter cloak seemed to be working just fine, a field designed to hide his presence, rendering him undetectable by most close-ranged sensory devices, it even masked his scent.

As he walked down the stone halls, passing portraits of previous Vermilion Kings, paintings of past events, and various sculptures ranging from simple busts to what appeared to be a person in the middle of being melted.

"Man, these vampires, really like their art," he mused to himself

Turning a corner, he came across a maid, she wore a short skirted maid uniform and was carrying a stack of books when she noticed Eli. She looked at him curiously, as if trying to determine whether he was real or a hallucination.

"Ah, hello?" he greeted

"What are you?" she asked, "I can't sense you but I can clearly see and hear you."

"Oh, that's my scatter cloak," Eli said, tapping on his band, suddenly he came into focus and the maid gawked surprised

"You aren't a vampire?" she asked

"No, I'm… well I supposed I'm sort of a guest," Eli said

"Y'know, you smell nice," the maid complemented coming closer to him

"Thanks, my girlfriend recommended this new cologne," Eli said embarrassed, "I thought she was using it as a clever way of telling me I stank."

"No, it's more than just your perfume," the maid said invading his personal space and taking a deep whiff of him, "it's you, your natural musk. It's so intoxicating, unlike anything I've ever smelt before"

"Well, no one's ever complemented my musk before," Eli said, feeling uncomfortable, "I should really be going,"

"No stay," the maid said leering at him and licking her lips, "can't I have a quick taste?"

"No, you really shouldn't," Eli said

"I'll make it worth your while," she cooed, opening her top and exposing her cleavage

"Thanks, but I already have a girlfriend, I think I mentioned her already?" Eli said

"Your will is strong," the maid said, stepping back, "the mistress would definitely be interested in you, she collects all sorts of curios. But I want to try you out first,"

"Lady, what are you talking about?" Eli demanded

"Look into my eyes," she said looking deeply into his eyes with her.

"Sorry," Eli said backing away, "Your eyes are pretty and all, but this is getting a bit weird."

"You resisted my charm?" she said shocked, "no human has a will that strong,"

"Were you trying to enthrall me with mesmer?" Eli demanded, "that's not cool."

"If I cannot compel you to cooperate, then I must use force." The maid said.

"Back up lady," Eli said

"Vamera," a voice yelled, echoing down the corridor, "what is taking so long?"

"Eep," the maid squealed, falling to her knees and prostrating, "A-apologies, lady Kezia, something distracted me and—"

All of a sudden another vampire was there, she stomped on the prostrating maid's head with her pointed heel, "You know I do not like to be kept waiting, nothing should be more important to you than bringing me my evening readings." She snarled as she dug the heel deeper into her hair

"Hey, that's not very nice," Eli spoke out, he wasn't sure why, since the maid had tried to attack him, but he didn't like seeing people being bullied.

The new vampire turned to him, looking at him as if she only just noticed him, "and what the fuck are you?"

The vampire looked gorgeous, she was just under seven feet tall with pale chocolate skin and long platinum blonde hair, her eyes were a vivid yellow color set within the black sclera all vampires had, her long and shapely legs were adorned with fishnet stockings and she had the figure of a supermodel, wearing a flattering black and gold dress. She carried herself with poise and grace, and was the very definition of the word noble.

"Um… I'm Eli," he said, momentarily captivated by her beauty. Committed relationship or not, she was a fucking hot.

"H-he was the one who distracted me, your ladyship," the maid on the ground groveled, "he escaped my senses at first, but then I felt such power from him,"

"Huh, what power?" Eli questioned

"Hmm?" the blood lord mused looking at Eli, "I saw you in the throne room, you were with that Nya Crimson, right?"

"Yeah, she's my mom" Eli said backing away slowly, "And I think I should be getting back to her."

"You share her blood?" the lady said, "I must have some,"

"You really don't want that," Eli said, "I have this thing, my cholesterol is way too high, I have an iron deficiency, I probably don't even taste good,"

"I do not care for such nonsense," the blood lord said, "and I was not asking your permission, I was giving you an order."

"I'm not so good at following orders," Eli replied, "It's a family thing; we're all stubborn bastards."

"Silence," blood lord Kezia demanded, looking him square in the eyes, "you will come with me now!"

She put so much compulsion into her words that even Vamera the maid felt enthralled by them, but Eli just shook his head,

"Lady, I mean no disrespect, since you are royalty, or nobility, or whatever, but I really don't want to go with you."

"You… you resisted my thrall?" she said confused, this had never happened before, not even other blood lords were immune to her Mesmer, how was this lowly human still able to deny her?

"I don't really get it myself," Eli said, "Probably some sort of enhanced psychic resistance brought on by the blood pill my mom had us all take. Then there's the fact that Mesmer hypnosis requires direct eye contact, but I'm actually wearing lenses over my eyes,"

In truth, Eli had been wearing specialized ocular lens implants for years now, he had developed them to aid in his work at the R&D Departments, they came with a host of filters and sensors giving him an AR perspective of everything he saw.

"I tire of this," Kezia said, reaching over to grab him, only to be stopped by a barrier of nuform.

"Have you ever heard of asking?" Eli said, "the answer is still no, by the way."

"Human, do not assume to be my equal just because you can resist my mesmer." Kezia hissed

"Why does everyone assume I'm helpless or beneath them just because I don't have any stupid superpowers?" Eli demanded as he snapped his fingers, and suddenly the blood lord and her maid found their arm and feet bound in restraints made from nuform.

"What have you done?" Kezia demanded as she found herself restrained by the constructs, even her superior strength could do nothing against these bindings.

"God, I love nuform," Eli said, "fully programmable virtual particles that are incredibly versatile paired with a neural interface that allows me to command the projector with thought; there's nothing I can't create with this thing."

"Nothing?" Kezia asked, now fully interested in the strange human before her.

"Well, virtually nothing," Eli shrugged, "technicalities are a bitch,"

"Interesting," Kezia smirked, "you amuse me human,"

"Not human, the name is Eli, Eli Crimson," Eli said, "Now stop patronizing me before I make things very uncomfortable for you."

"Could you really torture me?" she teased, "I see it in your eyes; you don't have the stomach for it."

"I've seen my fair share of death, and I can tell you that you're right; I don't have the stomach for torture." Eli said, as similar constructs appeared around their necks and started to tighten, "But I'm also a quick study."

"Very well," Kezia said, "Eli, would you be so kind as to stop crushing us?"

"Say please,"

Kezia glared at him, this human was something else.

"P-please," she begged, unaccustomed to the word.

With a small gesture, the bindings faded away,

"I'm trusting you here," Eli said, "but give me one reason to doubt you and I have even worse things in store."

"I believe you," Kezia said messaging her chaffed wrists, "I am blood lord Kezia Darvel, this is my maid, Vamera."

"I noticed," Eli said

"So you are an intellectual, Eli?" Kezia asked,

"Yes,"

"I only ask because I too am a woman of learning,"

"That's a little surprising," Eli said, "I didn't figure you'd be book smart,"

"Just because I am a blood lord does not mean I do not hold a multitude of interest." Kezia said, "I am well versed in several forms of the arts as well as quantum mechanics and astro-engineering."

"Ah, a rocket scientist," Eli said, picking up one of the books the maid had dropped, it was indeed a textbook on advanced mechanical engineering.

"This book is out of date, by the way" Eli said, bringing up a holo-screen, "this is much more comprehensive, with some helpful notes."

Kezia took the screen and flipped through the pages, "you wrote this?" she asked amazed

"I had free time and honestly, understanding inertial inversion as a means of achieving interstellar flight was a subject I was already versed in." Eli said

"How old were you when you published this?"

"I was fifteen, and it's not published," Eli said, "the concepts I described were deemed 'theoretical' by the academic board I pitched it to,"

"Eli, would you like to accompany me to the study?" Kezia asked.

Judging by Vamera's reaction, Eli figured she didn't usually entertain company most times

"Why the sudden invite?"

"As a man of superior intellect you must also be aware of how droll everyone else is by comparison?" Kezia said, "how frustrating it must be to be surrounded by lesser minds when they do not share your vision."

"I have an inkling," Eli said, when he was still developing nuform, he was discouraged many times by his colleagues, and he even had to struggle to win over Aria enough to get her support in the project.

"That is how I feel with other vampires in general," Kezia said, "they are all so focused with acquiring power or destroying rivals they do not notice the progress our people could make."

Eli looked at her, maybe she could be useful in helping him with what he had just recently discovered,

"Well, I was exploring the castle, and I noticed something… odd," Eli said as another screen appeared before him, "all these portraits of past Vermilion Kings, they all showcase elements of what kind of people they were –whether they were warriors or diplomats— however, there are features that remain the same; them being in the throne room, them wearing the crown, and this mysterious orb."

He highlighted an egg-shaped object in several images to make his point

"Unlike the other accessories it isn't bejeweled or ceremonial, so I don't understand its significance." Eli said, "and more interestingly is that it features symbols which I've only ever seen in relation to an Origin."

"You have come across Origins before?" Kezia asked

"Once or twice," Eli shrugged

"I too have seen these types of symbols before some time ago," Kezia revealed, "On a tapestry, in the lower levels of the castle. I couldn't understand it at the time, so I moved on to others matters, but maybe with your help we can uncover this mystery."

Eli still didn't trust her, but his intellectual curiosity was peaked.

"Lead the way," Eli said offering his arm

"What a gentleman," Kezia said, "Vamera, you are dismissed, dispose of those outdated books."

"Y-yes your ladyship," the maid bowed her head as Eli and the blood lord walked away. When they were gone, Vamera looked troubled, "I must report this to the master, blood lord Kezia is socializing with the brother of the new blood lord."

Vamera has been observing blood lord Kezia for close to a decade now, and she had never seen her take much of an interest in much of anything; not the subordinates of her clan, not her other blood lords, not even in becoming Vermilion King, all she ever did was study. She had practically jumped at the chance to make contact with a surtr forge guild as an ambassador, but she never much cared for people… until now. The new development might be something her real employer, blood lord Cassian, could use.

* * *

Astrid really felt like an ass, she had completely written off her brother as 'helpless' when he said he wanted to go and explore the castle, which had prompted him to go off on his own anyway. Now she had also gone looking for him and now she was lost.

"I bet Eli wouldn't get lost," she scolded herself, "the smartass would probably have memorized the layout by now, or hacked into whatever internal schematics they have."

She would have to do some serious apologizing when she met with him again, but first she'd need to find her way around this place. Normally she had a great sense of direction, but the entire planet was artificial, so the ambient mana stream was ludicrously lower than on a normal planet.

By pure coincidence, she came across a maid who was carrying a stack of books, she looked to be in a rush and ran into Astrid.

"Hey watch it," Astrid hissed

"You were with them at the throne room?" the maid muttered when she saw Astrid

"Great, a maid," Astrid said, "you know your way around this maze, did you per chance happen to see a human walk by here? His name is Eli, about yay high, nerdy,"

"Eli?" she echoed

"You've heard that name before? Have you seen my brother?"

"Y-your brother? Then, you are also related to the one called Morgan Crimson?"

"Yeah, she's our older sister," Astrid said

The maid seemed to be deep in thought, then she turned back to Astrid, "I-I know someone who could help you find your brother."

"You do? Great, who are they?"

"He's my master, the glorious and honorable blood lord Cassian,"

"Okay, I could handle a meeting with a blood lord," Astrid shrugged, "lead the way, uh…"

"It's Vamera," the maid said smiling coyly as she led Astrid down the hall.

Blood lord Cassian was in his suite, the entire palace was massive and could comfortable accommodate hundreds of guests in their own private apartments. He was revising his plans with the adept in his employ when there was a knocking at the door.

"Who is it?" he demanded, "I am not to be disturbed."

"It is Vamera, your lordship," came the timid reply from behind the door, "I have news."

Cassian sighed, "very well, enter."

The door opened and his spy walked inside, but she wasn't alone, and walked in with a strange woman with blue hair Cassian didn't know.

"What is the meaning of this, Vamera?" Cassian demanded, as the maid seated the stranger before the fireplace and showed her one of the books she was carrying, then while she was occupied, she rushed to Cassian's side.

"Who is that?" Cassian demanded

"Her name is Astrid, my lord," Vamera explained, "Astrid Crimson, daughter of Nya Crimson and sister of blood lord Morgan,"

"The new blood lord?" Cassian pondered, "very well, but I don't remember giving you permission to break your cover; you are to be at Kezia's side at all times."

"I have a report about her as well," Vamera revealed, "she has recently taken an interest in the brother of Morgan Crimson, a human named Eli. She requested his company privately and dismissed me for the day."

"So, the bitch has a soft spot for a human, eh?" Cassian mused, "And that one there is the daughter of that Nya Crimson, a very valuable pawn had fallen into my lap. Well done Vamera, I will reward you later,"

"Thank you master," the maid bowed

Cassian then turned to his adept, only to find her conversing with Astrid.

"Excuse the interruption," Cassian said, including himself in their conversation.

"Hey, you're the asshole," Astrid said recognizing him

"P-pardon?" Cassian demanded

"You're the hot asshole from the throne room," Astrid expanded, "my mom and I both agreed that we'd be willing to fuck you."

"You… what?"

"You're handsome and arrogant, my mom said that she'd fuck you if given the chance and I agreed with her. I've never had sex with a vampire, I'm kind of looking forward to it."

Cassian resisted the urge to smile triumphantly. He's had many lovers in his life, from all walks of life, from the powerful, elegant or entitled daughters or sisters or wives of powerful blood lords to soldiers and commanders and warriors in their own right, to even lowly common serfs, like Vamera, but after he had tasted them, they all ended up the same way; on their knees sucking on his dick and begging him to own them. This was thanks to his phantasm, Casanova, it allowed him to charm and control any woman he slept with. Its activation required his target to intake his semen into their bodies, and his handsome face and attractive body made it easy to seduce women into his collection. Looking at this Astrid Crimson, he saw the same look in her eyes as all those other high ladies before they experienced him, she thought herself his equal, but she would soon learn her place and he would get a valuable asset to use against Morgan Crimson, and most especially, Nya Crimson. His instincts told him that she was the biggest threat.

"My lord," his adept interrupted his fantasizing, "Miss Astrid here is an incredible adept, her affinity to mana is so high, it is almost comparable to high elves."

"Really?" Cassian said, feigning interest, her abilities and how he could profit from them would come later, now he needed to tame her. "Maybe the two of you could compare notes at a later time. You must return to your residence my dear, I'll attend to you later."

Sensing her lord's intentions, the blushing adept nodded and quickly left the room. He could smell her arousal, all his harem wanted more of him constantly, and he was never shy about trying to seduce women into his bed, it was one of the reasons he was known as a prolific womanizer.

"She left really fast," Astrid noted, "And I don't see Vamera again,"

"Yes, I wanted some privacy so we could discuss some sensitive matters," Cassian said, switching on his mesmer, he could enthrall lesser vampires with his compulsion, a lowly human such as her should be under his sway in no time, from there he'd let his phantasm claim her.

"What sensitive matters," Astrid asked, still fully alert, "I don't have any business to talk with you about, I just wanted to find my brother. Vamera told me you could help."

Her resistance surprised him, but he simply put more force into his mesmer

"Well, I may be able to help you with that, but first, would you like a drink?" Cassian offered, "I have a sensational wine collection, and my favorite is just bursting with flavor." He took her by the hands and looked deeply into her mismatched eyes, "You must have a taste, you'll be begging for more."

Astrid looked at him, then pulled her hands away, getting up from her seat, "Are you trying to enthrall me?" she demanded

"What?" Cassian said, how could she be immune to the full force of his mesmer? Only stronger blood lords could resist him.

"You tried to get into my head and seduce me?" Astrid said, looking back at him, completely unaffected

"How is it not working?" he demanded

"Because I'm a Crimson; we're strong-willed and stubborn, just like our mom" Astrid said, then she shook her head, "you vampires, so entitled that you think you can just take whatever you want."

"Now listen here…" Cassian started to threaten, but she silenced him with the wave of her hand

"No, you listen." Astrid snapped, "if you wanted to fuck me that bad, all you had to do was ask."

"What?" Cassian asked, confused

"You wanted to fuck me, right?" Astrid guessed, "that's why you were trying to seduce me, but if you'd just asked me, I would've agreed."

"Why?"

"Because I'm horny as fuck and haven't had a good dicking in almost a week. you look like you could show a girl a good time." Astrid said, as she opens her shirt of her own free will, showing him her large breasts, "So, blood lord Cassian, do you want to fuck me?"

Cassian smiled, he might not be able to compel her, but he can still tame the whore with his sexual prowess, the same way he had tamed many experienced women who were now in his collection. "Yes," he said feeling his pants tighten with an erection, "I want to fuck you,"

"That's all you needed to say," Astrid smirked lustfully as she started to remove her clothes.

* * *

Eli followed blood lord Kezia deeper and deeper into the bowels of the castle. To anyone else who it was their first time here, they would be completely lost, but Eli had been mentally mapping out their path and could probably find his way back with his eyes closed.

"How much farther are we going?" Eli wondered

"Not long now," Kezia said walking a few steps ahead, "We'll be in the catacombs soon."

"Never liked that word," Eli said, "Catacombs, sounds too depressing."

"Well it is where the previous Vermilion kings rest," Kazia said, "and calling it the basement graveyard sounds silly,"

The catacombs was an actual labyrinth, stretching out for miles, but they kept to the central hub, a cavernous hall, as big as the castle above, with hundreds of alcoves in the sides, in which sat large ornate coffins… no, these weren't simple coffins, these were sarcophagi, elaborate and elegantly decorated in black gold and red. Above each alcove was a portrait of a vampire, along with a name and some sort of writing, the final resting place of all past Vermilion kings like Kezia had said.

At the end of the hall, on the wall before them was a grand tapestry that, upon closer inspection, was actually made from a complex weave of strange material. On the tapestry itself was a depiction of the egg-shaped object in the hands of a female entity. Around it were several circles, each depicting different scene; a great war over a planet in one, the female entity being killed and a planet breaking in another, the egg-shaped object inside a star, large chunks of rocks coming together towards a star, and the last circle showed the image of the planet they were standing on. As Eli touched it, the material of the tapestry seemed to react to his biotic suit and the tapestry shimmered, as imagery was replaced with strange writings, writing that Eli knew well.

"This is Praxian," Eli said inspecting the fabric of the tapestry, it was made of a similar material to the current byte weaves used by the Spartans in their clothing and gear.

"Praxian?" Kezia asked,

"An ancient race that existed billions of years ago," Eli explained, "My mom found and currently occupies one of their installations, they were a highly advanced civilization that dominated Hyperion and beyond."

"Really?" Kezia enquired, this was the first she'd ever heard of such a race.

"This writing is Praxian as well," Eli said, looking at one section "'The World Seed', the World Seed…"

"You can read that?"

"I've had a lot of time to study it, my room is filled with this writing." Eli said as he continued reading, "'Cradle world 226-1A lost to the scourge. Praxian omen progenitor facility and all related infrastructure lost. Only 1 million survivors of the vampire omen. World Seed origin recovered. Omen project; suspended due to lack of viable cradle worlds',"

"What?" Kezia demanded, "it sounds like gibberish to me,"

"The World Seed is an origin," Eli revealed, "at some point in the past, the Praxians had set up some sort of facility on the vampire cradle world,"

"Cradle world?" Kezia echoed, "I've come across that term in my research,"

"Me too," Eli said, "cradle world are specific planets where the different races of Hyperion originated, each race has a corresponding cradle world."

"And you're saying that these Praxians were on the vampire cradle world?"

"According to this, the Praxians may have been experimenting with the vampire cradle world." Eli said, "Hold on there's another part here, looks like a personal log; '…after our Praxian masters failed to create an artificial Regis, resulting in the scourge, several of their installations in the sector were lost, their projects were discarded…'" Eli read, "Looks like they tried creating an artificial Regis and it didn't work, because of it, they lost their facilities in the entire sector. '…the scourge is hunting our Praxian masters, and the survivors have fled. Along with the various other abominations that have been unleashed, I have come to the conclusion that this war is lost… and we are all damned for it. With the World Seed I recovered from our dying world I can now forge a new home for my people. But I fear the scourge our masters have created from the corrupted jinn, Maja, and what it may bring upon us should it ever return…' What?!"

Eli backed away from the tapestry, the Maja was some sort of corrupted jinn? How was that possible?

"Where did this tapestry come from?" Eli asked

"It's always been here," Kezia said, "ever since the first Vermilion King, Dracula, created Nosferatu over ten million years ago."

"We need to see my mom," Eli said hurriedly, there was much more on the tapestry, but he could save that for later.

"Alright," Kezia said, "there are things I wish to discuss with her as well,"

Taking a picture of the tapestry, Eli and Kezia left the catacombs, which now held fewer secrets than it did when they first arrived.

Meanwhile, Astrid was straddling blood lord Cassian, swaying her hips as she moved up and down on him, taking his vampiric manhood inside her.

"Oh god," she moaned, "this dick is fantastic,"

"Yes," Cassian grunted himself as she slapped her plump ass, "your pussy isn't that bad either,"

"Fuck me just like that," Astrid mewled as she kissed him, she completely indulged in his body as he ravaged her pussy and used her as his personal fuck-toy.

When he came, he didn't even let her know, he just pinned her to the couch and increased the ferocity of his trusts until his infertile seed spilled forth into her, and she took it like the good slut that she was, moaning cross-eyed with a grin of pure degenerate ecstasy on her face.

As he pulled out, he then slapped his soaked dick against her barely conscious face, "clean it with your mouth," he ordered

She silently went to work, slobbering over his dick as she sucked it clean of all the fluids that had stained it, she finished with an audible pop as she sucked it dry and gave it a small kiss.

"Very good," Cassian smiled to himself as he went to pour himself a glass of wine. Having his conquests suck his dick clean was his last test of obedience, as most of them were too proud to debase themselves like that, so when they fulfilled his last sexual order, it meant that they had been reduced to his tamed bitches.

"I'll take that glass of wine now," Astrid said as she sat up, utterly surprising Cassian

"You're still conscious?" he asked

"Yeah," she shrugged, "your dick was so good it almost put me to sleep, but I really do need to get going now, enough distractions."

"How? Not only did you resist my compulsion, but also my sexual phantasm?" Cassian decreed

"You have a sexual phantasm? Awesome!" Astrid said, "No wonder it felt so fucking good,"

"How can you still reject me?" he yelled at her

"You're not the only guy with mind control powers I've fucked." Astrid said with a lackadaisical shrug, "I guess I've built an immunity for it?"

"Built an immunity? How much dick have you had?"

Astrid simply shrugged. In fact, in her time at the Menagerie, she'd been subjected to all sorts of psychotropic brainwashing and subliminal conditioning in order to make her more compliant, but either due to her high mana affinity, her strong sense of self, some unknown genetic factor, or maybe plain stubbornness, it would always fade, causing them to reapply it. Because it had happened so many times, body had developed a natural tolerance to most kinds of mind control. As ridiculous as it sounded, a situation like that could only work for Astrid Crimson.

"You bitch," Cassian snarled, "you mean to make fun of me?"

"Hey, watch the attitude," Astrid said

"Very well, if I can't tame you, I may as well break you." He lunged at her with his vampiric speed, Astrid reacted just as quickly, releasing a blast of psionic energy at him that blasted him into the oversized fireplace by pure coincidence.

As he screamed, Astrid quickly got dressed, not minding the cum that was still dripping from her pussy as she put on her pants and ran for the door.

"Fucking asshole, can't even allow a girl to enjoy her post-orgasm high." she snarled as she stormed out of the study, making her way down the expansive halls looking for a way out.