Inside the king's castle, in the throne room, Leo and the others had just heard the offer from the second leader, the original known as Tempus. The group didn't answer straight away. The truth was they wanted to converse with each other, but even if they did, it would be hard for them without Tempus listening to their conversation.
In a situation like this, Silver would often let Leo do the talking. She felt like this because they were the ones that were dragged into this mess in the first place, making her feel guilty. She felt like she had no right to make any decision on their behalf.
If they wished to try to fight their way out of this, then she would too. If they chose to accept the offer, then she would as well, but there was one thing she needed to confirm and get out of her mind because she didn't quite understand what was going on.
"There's a tomb under this castle? What do you mean? I have never heard of this before? Who is it, and why do you want to wake them up?" Silver asked, trying to get more information and also trying to buy more time for the others to make a decision.
"I almost forgot that everything about him was erased so you all know nothing. Perhaps only your current king would know the truth," Tempus explained. "I am of course, talking about the first king, and no, I am not talking about the tenth family Eno.
"The true first king who they tried to erase from vampire history. Right now, Arthur is a vampire that is stronger than anything I have seen. Perhaps it's because the two share the same power but regardless.
"The true first king was a special vampire, even more special than Eno. He was the most powerful vampire to ever exist. If we want the vampire race to continue to live, then we have no choice but to summon him!" Tempus said.
Just hearing these words, it was hard for Silver to believe. They spent years in school learning about the vampire's history. Still, she soon remembered that the vampires did indeed try to cover up many things. There were significant blank periods, and even recently, things like Cindy's past had come to light that was never known before.
"So why is Bryce so scared of summoning him?" Erin eventually spoke. "If it's an easy solution and this vampire is as strong as you say he is, then why don't they summon him, and why did the vampires choose to get rid of his past.
"I've learned that the vampires often like to try to erase the bad from their history as if it never happened. So there had to be a reason for erasing this."
"The vampires?" Tempus repeated, finding it strange that she was referring to her own race as such.
"Of course, they are just scared. We, original vampires, are all friends. I assure you I wouldn't be trying to wake him up if I thought he would do us harm. I, just like you, are trying to save the vampire settlement, not harm it. Anyway, you are wasting my time, so tell me what you plan to do?"
While the two sides were in silence, a specific message played in all of their heads. The message that had come from Jill. Bringing Bryce's wrongdoing to light.
"Did you both hear that?" Silver asked.
Leo and Erin both nodded.
"Well, it looks like Bryce's wrongdoings have come to light. Now we have no choice. Do you think someone who wished to become king for so long will be able to give up the throne just because the leaders say so?
"Even if he defeats Arthur, then we will have another problem on our hands. With the absolute blood powers, there will be no one who can stop him."
With the information spread out, it looked like they no longer had to worry about having trespassed in the king's castle or worry about the evidence seemingly having gone missing. Their testimony and Jill's words would be pretty convincing to almost anyone.
The question was, could the three of them take on the Original in front of them. The original's powers varied in strength, and they were all slightly special. The fact that Tempus looked unworried was worrying Silver.
On top of that, she agreed that someone would have to take care of them if Bryce or Arthur won this fight. The absolute blood book would make one the strongest vampire.
'There was one person that stopped someone last time, but could they stop Bryce as well?' Silver thought.
Since the standstill between the two seemed to be going nowhere. Tempus was getting tired and started to walk towards the three masked people.
"Well, if you can't make a decision, I guess it's time I unmask you guys," Tempus said. "I would at least like to know who you are.
Erin stepped forward and was ready to charge in, but Leo stopped her using the butt of his blade.
"We will help you look for the tomb. After we find it, let us go peacefully." Leo said.
Both of the girls were surprised at Leo's answer, but at the same time, they trusted him. In the first place, Silver thought that if there was such a tomb that Erin and Leo should have been able to find it with their ability already, so she just needed to wait and see exactly what he was planning to do.
"Excellent!" Tempus replied. "I assure you you won't regret it, and as you know, us leaders always repay our debts. Bringing him back, if there is any need, he will be sure to help you all."
The other three didn't say anything and began their search in the throne room to see if there was anything they could find. Erin and Silver stuck close together, while Leo would slowly approach Tempus, getting closer and closer each time to see if he would do anything.
"Oh please, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so a long time ago," Tempus said, noticing their strange actions. "Look, for you three to come in here on your own, I gather you are strong. So it would be a pain to fight you guys. And I have my task to do. This is a win-win for us both."
In the end, after searching the throne room and finding nothing, Tempus went to sit on the throne and looked to be a little disappointed.
"I thought sitting here would feel a bit special. Or perhaps I would get kicked off or something." Tempus sighed.
"What are we exactly looking for?" Silver asked.
"Well, there seem to be no blueprints to this place, but I'm looking for a type of circle. Hmm.. honestly, I don't know how much I should tell to you three strangers, but you should at least know how the leaders' powers are linked to their castles.
"At the same time, there is a ritual that has to take place when a new leader is selected. Well, all of that was set up and designed by one of the originals. Setting certain rules, society, and more. So not anyone can just force their way to become a leader.
"Anyway, the king's castle is a bit different. As you can see, no matter what, all of the crystals on the outside are powered. This is true even if the king dies. Do you know why that is? Because the system set up for this castle wasn't linked to the selected king's power but was linked to the true king's power instead.
"However, these castles were built using amazing Ma- let's just say built amazingly. Sometimes the castles themselves are the ones that select their leaders? Don't you think that is truly amazing in itself?"
Castles selecting leaders, the more Silver was listening to the Original ramble on, the more she wasn't making sense of anything. Everything she had learned from the vampires was falling apart. The way Tempus was talking, it was as if the castles were alive.
"What I'm trying to say is, even this castle in all its time has never accepted anyone else but the first true king. There has to be a link somewhere to find out where its source of energy is."
It was at that moment that Leo sensed something., Underneath them, he could tell that someone had returned to the castle and had done so with more of the guards that had the same strength as those stationed inside. He thought that maybe they were coming to their room, but that's when he noticed that they had gone to the library and soon entered a particular room, where the dead were found.
'What are they planning to do with them?' Leo wondered, and there was a good chance that they might need to stop whatever they were going to attempt to do.
"Why don't we head to the library? Maybe there is something in there that we can find related to the castle," Leo suggested.
Tempus looked at Leo strangely for a few seconds and a short while later before any of them could answer. Leo could feel the mask underneath his cloak vibrate.
"Communications are back online." The voice from the mask said. "We can communicate with each other and the ship again. If you can return to the castle immediately."
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