World of Alvarra: Rise of the Vampire Lord

Luna was having that same dream again. She was laying under her tree, the tree of her soul realm, her back propped on its blackened bark, its silver leaves gracefully blowing in an imaginary wind. Water spilled from holes in its trunk, flowing downward, nourishing the many strange plants that grew along the river's path.

Plants and flowers, with many glowing parts, lit up the floor of her soul realm, like the stars in the sky. The place was serene, prone to making her just sit back and relax, forgetting all about the flow of time, her eyes locked on the beautiful moon above her.

She knew that a moon could not exist in her soul realm, that it was just a projection and not real. But sometimes, she felt like she could reach out towards it, if only she tried hard enough, like the place was home, or at least was a portal to her home, she wasn’t sure.

In the end, it didn’t matter… she was going somewhere, her island taking her to the place she needed to be. Like a sailing ship that could move itself and knew where to go. She floated through the open sky, never taking her eye from the moon that drew her gaze, yet feeling herself inch ever closer to her destination. Half asleep, even in her dream.

That was… until she felt a small bump shake her island, startling her fully awake. Still, in a strange haze, she sat up and turned her gaze away from the moon for the first time. Looking at a strange and massive island right in front of her. Open plains of green with a few patches of woods and trees here and there. A large black wall in the center of the island.

But that only took her attention for a moment, for something far more pressing took her gaze. A young man, or perhaps a boy, in strange clothing, stood on the other island, merely a step away from her own where the two islands met. He looked over the small gap between the islands and then towards Luna herself.

“You really can’t stop yourself… can you?” he began, a slightly tired and annoyed tone to his voice, carrying with it a hint of sadness. “How many worlds did you destroy? How many did you create? How many did you change? All to cast a wide enough net. All for him…”

He then stepped onto her island and she gasped, as such a thing should be impossible to do without express permission. She quickly stood up nervously as he walked casually over to her and her tree. Not even paying her any mind, he moved in front of the tree, took out a wicked-looking dagger, and stabbed into it.

Luna’s mind reeled, she almost fell from the pain as her entire soul felt like it had been stabbed through. A surreal pain that could not be explained or truly experienced, nor would anyone want to. In the end, she fell to her knees clutching her chest, eyes wide, face contorted.

But the young man paid it no heed, he wiggled the dagger into the wound he created on the trunk of the tree. Looking like he was trying to pry it open, even as the soul realm shook like it was racked by an earthquake. He didn’t stop until he saw a small golden glimmer peek through the cracks he made.

The young men looked at the golden glimmer with great annoyance and sighed exasperatedly. He took the dagger out and turned away, walking off the island and back onto his own.

“How many times have you tried… how many times have you failed… if only your sisters were able to see you now…” he shook his head and turned to give her one last look. “I suppose we will be seeing more of each other soon… not that you will remember…”

He then put one foot onto her island. “Maybe this time it will work, but… if it’s anything like last time… I may have to kill you… he can’t afford to be soul fractured so many times, even if you are doing your best to pick up all the pieces…”

He then pushed her island away, forcing it to drift far. Soon, the large island was a speck in the distance, then it wasn’t even that, disappearing from sight. The only thing she had left of the experience wasn't the pain of being stabbed, but the pain of loss and heartache…

---

Luna woke up with a gasp, the nightmare she had already slowly disappearing from her mind. She tried to remember it, feeling like it held some great importance, but like water through a sleeve, it flowed away leaving nothing behind. She sighed, wiping her forehead, not even realizing till now how sweaty she was.

Getting up, she got ready for the day. But not before taking care of some of her womanly needs, thoughts of Van and a desire to replace some of the bad feelings left after the wake of that nightmare going through her mind until she finished. With that done, she took a quick shower to clean herself off and to cool her head. Then she quickly changed and thought about what she was going to do with the rest of her day.

Sighing as nothing came to mind, she decided to go for a walk and get some fresh air, hoping something will come to distract her, her thoughts going back to Van and the loneliness she felt without him.

Leaving the bedroom, she greeted the two Annas who were waiting outside. They slept in the same room, but Anna took her job seriously, so woke up before Luna to change and get ready to serve. Though Luna was reminded that that wasn’t always true when Van was around, she remembered fondly when they would all just laze on top of their husband in the morning until he woke up.

Unable to stop another sigh, she left down the hall to get out to the courtyard and get some of the fresh air she was wanting. Opening the doors that lead to the outside world, she took a deep breath of the crisp clean air and felt the cool wind on her face.

Taking a sharp turn, she walked over to the few stone benches and tables surrounded by a small garden. A place where they would sometimes rest, relax and have lunch or tea while enjoying the weather. Taking her place on one of the benches, she greeted both her mothers who were already there sipping some tea and enjoying a few snacks. She was planning to be alone for a while, but really wanted to just sit and relax and be lazy for the day so took the opportunity the table offered and sat down with her mothers.

“Hey, there sweetie.” Thea greeted, “how was your sleep?”

Luna shrugged, not really feeling like being in an engaging mood. “Okay, I suppose…”

“Well, something doesn’t sound okay, what's wrong dear,” Thea asked, picking up on Luna’s melancholy.

“It's nothing just…” Luna sighed, deciding to come out with the truth, otherwise, her mother would pester her for the next few hours. “Why does Van always have to leave so often and for so long. I hardly got to spend a week with him and already he left to do something else…”

“I just wish I knew what was going on in his head and what exactly his plans are, and why he’s so insisted on doing everything his way. I kind of get why he's trying to get stronger but…” Luna went silent, even she wasn’t sure where she was going with this or what her exact feelings on the matter were... “I don’t know… I just want him to be with me more…”

Thea and Lillia both nodded in understanding. “That's the bond talking if I ever heard it,” Thea said in complete understanding.

“Bond?” Luna asked.

Lillia answered. “When a woman chooses a male and takes him as her spouse, she slowly forms a bond with him over time. This bond is… kind of like an addiction… you can’t stop thinking about him and always want him to be with you. It's completely understandable why you would feel the way you do, not to mention…” she trailed off a little at the end, unsure of how to say it.

“Not to mention your husband is a little weird,” Thea said for her, earning herself a reproachful look from Lillia. “What? You know I'm right,” she said in response.

Then she turned back to Luna. “Van isn’t like most males sweetie, he’s… different…” she began to say, trying to find the words for it. “He doesn't do what most males do, I don’t think he held the same interests as the other boys his age back when he was a kid. I mean… even you should have noticed right?” She gave a quick look towards Lillia who gave a hesitant nod of confirmation.

Luna hesitated, “I… don’t know… I wasn’t like most girls my age either right? So…”

Thea winced but nodded. “Fair point, you had a difficult childhood, and so did Van. growing up with a bunch of weird memories, getting raped, not to mention we probably didn’t raise him right. There is so much that we know that we take for granted, things we easily understand through context that he probably could never pick up without us having to explain it to him by beating it into his head with a hammer.”

“We grew up thinking a certain way, understanding certain things, deriving knowledge through the context of what happens around us and what is and isn't said. But Van could never do that, in some ways we sheltered him, while at the same time expecting him to understand the spoken and unspoken rules of our society. But he was already a cup half full kind of person when he was born, so it makes sense we failed in raising him in some ways such as explaining those rules…”

“Worse, we had no knowledge to go on, how to take care of, such a… unique boy with a... unique situation… it didn’t help that your father panicked, and tried to be overly protective of the boy…” Thea finished sadly.

“I… Also take some blame for that…'' Lillia began. “When he was first born… I rejected him… I… we… were going through so much… and on top of everything, I gave birth to… someone else… someone who wasn’t my child… It took me a few years to finally realize that he was my baby boy. Not that just knowing helps any, I still didn’t know-... we still didn’t know how to raise such a child... So we just tried our best to protect him from everything, worried that through his ignorance he would hurt himself. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally…” Lillia finished sadly, a slight hint of self-anger in her voice with some regret mixed in.

The table was silent for a moment. The small group went into their own thoughts on the matter, no one touching the tea and biscuits on the table. It was a few minutes later that a few questions formed in Luna’s mind, ones she wanted to be answered.

“Am… I different from most girls?” Luna asked the table, both curious and nervous.

Thea and Lillia looked at each other, then back towards Luna. “You're not that much different from most girls. there's no need to worry about that, just… a little less outgoing than some girls your age.” Thea began. “Most girls are interested in being knights, wielding swords or great magic, playing heroes and such. And you…”

“I like sewing and herbology…” Luna finished for her mother, feeling a little depressed.

“Which there's nothing wrong with,” Lillia said, looking towards Thea with a slight glare. “I, for one, love herbology and learning new methods of how to heal people. As for the sewing, women's fingers are made for it if anything, not to mention, you owned that skill, made it yours from your time with Karen. There is no shame in enjoying it.”

“Not to mention you bake really well!” Thea added, hoping to heap some praises on her daughter to make her feel better. “And you're always improving yourself with your studying!”

“Thanks, mom...” Luna said, wanting to roll her eyes a little but stopping herself, more amused by her mother trying her best to cheer her up than anything. “I just wish I could do more… be like a real woman… be strong! I want to be able to do the stuff you do! It's not just Van you have been sheltering, but me too! I think it's time that I finally learn for myself how to fight!” looking towards her mother with some expectation.

Thea was definitely not expecting this, she bit her lower lip as she looked away and back towards her daughter's determined eyes. Sighing to herself she realized the little girl she thought she knew has changed so much and was replaced by a young woman. “Marriage really has changed you hasn’t it? Alright… I suppose if you want to learn how to properly fight, I will teach you.”

Luna began to look excited but Thea waved a hand to cut her off. “But it’s not going to be like the way Alv does his teaching, this is going to be my training, REAL training. The kind of training that turns little babies into grown women. If you are so determined to leave this place, then it's only natural that I do my best to make sure you can defend yourself! So prepare to cough up some blood and cry to your daddy, because I'm not going to just mindlessly drill you over and over again and push… i don’t know… a death wolf on you so you can get some ‘experience’. Understand?”

Luna looked a little unsure now, but nodded anyway, wondering where she was going with this.

“Good! Now let's go to the training yard!” Thea said getting up and leaving with some excitement.

“Wait? Now!?” Luna asked, confused.

“Of course now!” Thea said, turning her head, “no time like the present!”

If Luna knew that she was going to train right away after talking to her mother about this, she would have rubbed another one out to help deal with the stress before coming here. But she got up anyway to follow her mother, wondering what Thea was planning.

Once at the training yard, Thea was looking all over the place looking at all the training equipment that were available, picking up a few and putting them back and looking elsewhere for any that met her strange criteria.

“Hmm, hmm,” was all she said as she looked at the selection in front of her. Then grabbing a spear, she checked its weight and balance and handed it over to Luna. “Give me a few thrusts with that will you?”

Confused, Luna complied and gave the spear a few thrusts, only for Thea to shake her head after a while and take it back, handing her an ax instead. This repeated with Thea handing out weapons and Luna trying to use them as her mother watched. Trying out over a dozen weapons of all sizes and shapes, while Thea looked on disapprovingly at how clunky Luna would swing them.

“Alright, now try this,” Thea said, handing a bow and a few arrows.

Luna took the bow and arrows and walked over to the firing range. Trying to hold in her nervousness, she did her best to remember how she saw others fire a bow and did her best to copy that, taking a position and aiming for the target, she let loose an arrow. Only for it to go a mile off the mark.

Now feeling very nervous, she glanced at her mother who was still patiently watching. Taking that as a sign that she still wanted her to continue, Luna took another arrow and tried again. This time not failing as badly as before, grazing the outer edges of the target. The third time hit the outermost ring, and the fourth one got a little closer to the center. Glancing once more to her mother, she found a look of approval.

“Alright… now drop the bow and take a stance, I want you to try and punch me,” Thea said, turning from the target to Luna.

“You want me to punch you?” Luna asked, unsure.

“If you can…” Thea said with an amused smile.

Luna took a stance, she wasn’t really worried about hurting her mother, if anything, she would be surprised if she did. So focusing, she tried her best to throw a punch, only for her mother to casually move out of the way.

“Pfft. you punch like a boy.” Thea couldn’t help but say.

“That actually got Luna a little mad, which was what Thea intended, and Luna began trying harder to get a hit on her mother. Sometimes going for wild swings, sometimes multiple quick jabs or even just rushing her. After about five minutes of exhausting herself, Luna gave up trying to hit her mother. Looking up, she was surprised to see that Thea had a huge grin on her face.

“Hmhmhm… let's check out your aura shall we?” Thea said, bringing out a leaf and having Luna do a quick test.

Luna saw her mom's smile grow wider.

“Interesting… green and red, very heavily, with a nice helping of neutral and a smattering of blue and yellow… not bad, not bad…” she mumbled to herself. She then looked towards the bow and arrows, then at the other equipment on the ground. “High potential for hand-to-hand combat and ranged combat with the bow… some skill with daggers and maybe we can even throw in a sword…” she continued to herself.

Then she looked towards Luna with that wide sadistic smile. “Sweetie, I think we are going to have a lot of fun these next few months…”

Luna was beginning to realize that perhaps asking her mother for training wasn’t the best idea she ever had...