"Alya? They are already here?" My lips parted as I closed in on her, pulling her inside after checking the hallway with a peek.
She nodded slowly while staring at Vanitas with cold red eyes, as Vanitas flashed a brilliant smile, perhaps trying to lighten up the mood.
"Around five guards. From what they were doing around the ceiling, I guess they were looking for us." Alya said in a deep voice.
"I see, they probably split up and are checking every route we could've gone to… Just a matter of time, eh?" A huge ass hole on the ceiling right outside the cell should be very discoverable.
"Hmm… We need to deal with the guards before they discover us and alarm for backup." Vanitas walked up to the cell door, nodding lightly in a greeting to Alya. Surprisingly, she returned the nod; perhaps her emotion-sensing ability was at work. This made me even more confident about Vanitas.
Vanitas smiled before the strange, heavy pressure left his body, searching through our surroundings.
"Definitely." I agreed. I honestly was much more confident about this now— Vanitas, Alya, me, than that trump card nuke; samurai, I couldn't help it.
Just as we were about to track and end them, Alya's trembling hand was on my shoulder.
"Luci… It's weird." Alya's meek voice caught our attention.
What's wrong now? My frown returned.
"I feel perfectly healthy… I am back to my prime." She said with a worriedly serious face.
Isn't that good news?
"I shouldn't be. How fast I was conscious was already weird… It's been less than an hour. Losing the amount of blood I lost slows down healing by a lot. To get back to this state…. I usually should have more than three days." Her breath shook, her shoulders shrinking.
"That is… weird." I rubbed my chin.
But what was weirder was the fear on her face. Like it wasn't a miraculous, good thing, but an accidental, very bad thing.
"Most likely when you sucked my blood…" She blushed momentarily, staring at the ground, "Either our bloodlines awakened and this is the effect of a new ability, or… we weren't compatible partners and cursed now."
Is it my fault??
"No, no! Not at all!" Guessing my thoughts, she defended me from myself, "Mom told me to never do physical feeding with you, Luci…" She glanced at Vanitas once, as if unsure if she should say it in front of him. Ultimately, she had no choice.
"I am inferior to you." Before I could speak, she added, "That's why noble vampires only marry other noble vampires…. You are purer than the average noble… Did you have any problems when drinking my blood or afterwards?"
I shook my head, "I felt really good." I said without shame, making her face even redder.
"…Same." She said through a blush that ran up to her neck. Oh my god! She is just soo adorable!
Vanitas's dead stare with lips pressed thin, pupils unblinking, brought us back to reality.
"Ehm… Maybe your mom lied? If the only thing that changed was your speed of healing, then it's probably that awakening thing."
She sighed, "It's the truth. Our blood is like chemicals; some can have really good reactions, but some really, really bad. Mine might be one used to make perfumes, while your flames."
My frown deepened before she replied through a rough voice, "I can be useful to you at this moment now. It's fine."
Mam, what word in 'I don't want you to die for me' you can't understand?
"No! I am not even gonna let you fight! Let's observe your condition properly first."
"Bu-But," Alya's eyes stayed on me a moment longer, stunned by me trying to argue for something like this before she continued, "I can fight. I need to!" Her hands trembled, her fingers rubbing against her palm.
Was she happy? Cute! Just as I was about to refute again—
"Err… Can I just take a look? I am a licensed healer." Vanitas said impatiently, ending an about-to-be-lengthy argument.
Our eyes brightened. Without wasting time, Vanitas pointed his index finger towards Alya.
The same piercingly bright purple light glowed from his hand and hit Alya's body like sunlight, coursing through under her skin, making her glow purple like a lamp.
After just a second, Vanitas shook his head, "She's healthier than healthy. No injuries or illnesses whatsoever." As the purple light from Alya's body dimmed, he recalled his hand.
Phew.
Alya's knees weakened as I caught her in my arms. "Luci too… Please take a look at him as well," Alya said.
Vanitas nodded, pointing his finger at me similarly. It felt awfully similar to when Sue's blood passed under my nail, but this time, instead of just my nail, the light explored my entire body.
"Yes… Lucien… How should I say it… It's over for you." Vanitas said through a sigh, his face more serious than it had ever been.
My eyes shook. Was I about to die? Alya ran up to me, grabbing my hand in both of hers, the warmth and softness of her palms enveloping me.
I grabbed her hands back, my expression complicated.
The moment was quickly broken by Vanitas' loud laughter, "Haha, just kidding, just kidding!" He patted my shoulder again and again, only to freeze completely at both mine and Alya's death glares.
"That wasn't funny," I said through gritted teeth as Alya nodded repeatedly. This motherfucker had gone insane in isolation.
"Ehm… Your body, especially your heart, has sort of mutated? That must be the bloodline awakening you both were talking about. It's not affecting your body negatively. Your heart muscle is now pure white, with some spider-like webs and sponge-like holes, exuding a strange aura." He said with a straight face.
My body instinctively backed off as my upper lip curled upwards, revealing my teeth, in pure disgust.
"That change isn't important, but what is, is arcana. I think I figured out what caused rapid healing in Alya." He said mysteriously, before clapping, "Pump as much blood as you can in your heart!"
I began observing my heart through my blood too, as I pumped more of it, an uncomfortable, suffocating pain struck me as my heart grew larger and chalk white.
"Vampire's blood is actually a form of Arcana?" Vanitas muttered to himself, making my eyes widen.
After a few seconds, the blood red screen appeared.
[Active skill awakened!]
[Reverse Connection (Efficiency: 1)]
[Description…]