An Invitation

"There it is, Barnie. The Pale Court."

Barns steps through the fog, emerging into the valley. His breath is stopped short in his throat as his eyes dart around, taking in every detail of the grim scene.

Below them lay a great structure constructed of futurist white stone. It consisted of one primary ring, with aberrantly jutting towers rising from the dark ground and surrounding the central ring. The sky was covered by a perpetual layer of fog, blocking the sun's light. Bats swirl around the top of the fog, screeching over the gray world. 

Even from far away, Barns could discern the massive amounts of humans moving around the Pale Court. Huddled dark figures marched in straight lines throughout the structure.

"About twenty thousand humans, give or take," Osmond says, crouched on the ground next to Barns. As a taller guy, he's taking care to be stealthier.

"And they're all slaves to the vampires?"

Osmond cracks and stretches his back, popping his neck in the process. He seems a bit stiff. "Everyone. So the only way to free these people will be to kill the Master Vampire."

The term gives Barns a visible chill. His body quivers - a Master Vampire attacked him in his last life. In many ways, it was that injury that led directly to his death.

"What do we know about the Master here?" Barns asks as he beckons Osmond away from the road. They move somewhere a touch less conspicuous, crouched in a small forest. It's a nice area that is relatively flat - a welcome reprieve. The land here is at a large incline otherwise - sinking further and further down.

"She's…my sister," Osmond says awkwardly, sitting on the ground next to Barns. "Her name is Francois Lauren Villeteux." He rolls his eyes as he says her name, and his tongue ties on her hard-to-pronounce silent syllables. 

"Your sister!?" Barns exclaims, rising to his knees in excitement. "So there are others like you! Pure monsters!"

"I prefer the term 'Demon', if it's all the same to you," Osmond snarls. "But yes. The Lord of the Apocalypse may create Demons, Vampires, all sorts of creatures - from nothing at all."

"What are her powers? Is she stronger than you?" Barns is fascinated by the conversation.

Osmond chuckles. He leans back, crossing his feet and putting his hands on the dirty ground. "I can beat her, on account of being her brother and a demon. She's not too tough - but a human stands no chance."

Barns fiddles with a small patch of grass in front of him as the two continue chatting. "Why's that?" he asks, his eyes flickering back and forth between Osmond and the ground.

"Any human who gets close to her is afflicted with intense desire for her body. It makes them weak and she sucks their souls."

"Sounds kinda hot. Think you could set me up?"

Osmond smirks to himself. "Unfortunately, there won't be any 'turning her to our side'. She views the Lord of the Apocalypse as her god. There's a reason my dear sister and I haven't kept in touch."

"So, Barnie. Are you satisfied with the results of this recon mission?"

Barns nods. "Yeah. I had to see this place with my own eyes. Know what we're up against. I already have some good ideas," he says, looking up to the top of the foggy hill. "We've got the upper ground advantage for any attack."

Osmond nods fervently. "There is one other kingdom which borders Dimartino. We could head directly west from here and reach it. It was a beautiful town built on the bay and surrounded by swampland they call 'the bayou'. It has been many years since I've seen it."

"What's the deal with that kingdom? Why do you want to do this one first?"

The pair peer back down at the Pale Court. "I can handle my sister," he says. "I know I can. The two Master Vampires of the bayou, though…even I shudder in their presence."

Osmond dares not speak any more of them, but an image of the duo flashes into his mind. They are fraternal twins, a boy and a girl. They had a ravenous appetite for human flesh and ran their colony like an abattoir. 

The demon shakes off a bad memory - the female twin's love of a meat cleaver, one eternally stained crimson with fresh blood. She embodied savagery, where her brother had a touch more refinement to his psychopathy, like an eloquent serial killer. 

Osmond shakes himself back to reality, climbing back to his feet. He looks back to Barns, who's still sitting on the ground, staring at something.

"What's that?" Osmond asks, recognizing the System window. He'd seen Maria fumbling around with it a million times.

Barns stares back at the message, his eyes wide with confusion.

[One New Message from: Pallas]

'Who the heck is Pallas?' He clicks on it. 

[Good Afternoon, Barnacles. So kind of you to visit. We waved, but maybe you can't see us from out there. No worries. We can text instead.

Lady Francois would love to meet with you, warlord to warlord. No games - she just wants to chat. You can bring Ozzie along too, she's been simply dying to hear from her dodgy little brother.]

…

Meanwhile, Maria is tapping away at the System located in the Dimartino Castle basement when she notices a strange pop-up. Her eyes naturally gravitate toward it. 

Through her System Log, she sees that 'User:Pallas' has sent a message to User:UNKNOWN.' The only Unknown she'd ever seen in the system was Barns.

"Z-Zelia?" Maria asks, looking around. She was still new to the idea of her System being inhabited by a sentient being.

A face appears on screen and smiles back at Maria. "How can I help you?"

Maria points to the System Log floating beside her. "I've seen a lot of strange notifications here," she says. "But this one feels different. Do you know who Pallas is, Zelia?"

The avatar of Zelia seemed to be frozen for several moments before it jumps back into motion.

"Pallas?" Zelia ponders. "Why, that's the name of the Vice Administrator."

"What could this mean…" Maria can't shake the bad feeling from the message, but all she can do right now is have faith that her boys are safe - and won't do anything stupid.