#drculs

❛    do not think me so cruel,  ruler of vampires.  i don't require anything of you.    ❜  𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐌 swiftly countered,  shedding golden hands donned 'pon the dracula's mantle,  following the width of the man's shoulders.   ❛    𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐌 will do.   but i am no one's master,  let alone yours.  the paths of justice and cosmic balance are what i tread ...   ❜  he had no such desire for titles or throngs of thrones.  even if he had the ability to bend dracula to his every whim.

𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄.  to sucker malevolent schemes unraveled and assess dracula's futility against his light.  use the soul gem,  pull the strings and wield him like a puppet,  𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒.  𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐌 grunts,  staring at him.  ❛    so please ... do not grant me such title.  but let it be known,   ❜  his fingers curl inwards,   gripped like a viper,  the soul felt like matter in his hands,  vulnerable and full. 

𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐌's brow twitched downwards,  a scowl.  ❛    to know that i could so easily have you at my beck and call ... it's ADDICTIVE.   ❜  he muttered his confessions,  feeling vile as it left his tongue.  but it pleasured the desires of his darkest fettered depths,  certainly a manifestation of the soul gem he would surmise. 

𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 . . . 🖤

                                        ❝      𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 if I told you I was never compelled to ?      ❞           that wasn’t entirely true.     or as simple.      of course it wasn’t      —      he remembers catching wind of the news in Turie,      already a ways from home,           &           dismissing the whispers as any wive’s tale.      a story to keep the children from sneaking around at night.      not when any oddity involving sharp teeth proved reason enough to invoke the deceased vampire's name.      

                                     it would be unfair of him to say they were entirely wrong :      there were indeed vampires harrowing the village      —      vampires he easily disposed of thereafter,      none of which were 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚.

                                        ❝      I was furious,      initially.      it was no easy feat.      killing you,      that is.      ❞           the carpet muffles the thud of his boots.      he has yet to give his father more than a cursory look,      instead taking interest in the state of the castle.      a contrast from how he’d left it.      there’s a knowing hum beneath his feet      —      how he’s certain it hates to stay in one place for too long,           &           he had left the structure nailed outside that small village like a gaudy tent with no intention of moving           &           opened the doors.      he can imagine,      still,      the countless nights they’d decorated,      the tables of food,      the laughter echoing up through the vaults           &           nestling in their ribs with the soft pittering footsteps that were not his own running through the halls.      the few remnants of that time now lay in misplaced furniture & peculiar pieces of decor. why some had been moved & not others, he wouldn't ask.

it  is  easy  to  sympathize  with  someone  else's  pain,  sympathy  can  be  given  out  like  candy  but  having  empathy  is  different.  not  everyone  can  clearly  feel  that  person's  sorrow,  to  genuinely  relate  to  it,  completely  understand,  and  as  annoying  as  being  an  empath  can  be  sometimes  she  wouldn't  trade  her  abilty  for  anything  in  the  world  because  of  that  very  reason.

"Count Dracula. "

It took a special sort to cause the warlord to hesitate - and Vlad Dracul was one of them. It seemed forced subservience was something that Nur was keen to not experience again. The role of a dog didn't suit him.

He'd been reborn in body since then - most recently blessed by the the Five of Krakoa before their nations fall - so the impurity of the vampire's influence failed to taint his blood any longer. His rejuvenation chamber having provided ample aid before then.

But the rage that had filled him from the moment it happened? That had been festering for over a century and made more virulent when the vampire had disrespected him. Tit for tat - but it didn't mean that he need take it in stride.

hm.