Looking at the castles far away, Quinn was remembering what Muka had explained to him. That Quinn was considered the last vampire king, and the vampire society was never able to select a new king after that.
The absolute blood control had stayed with Quinn and there was no one for him to pass it on to. After that, the society just started to crumble apart as vampires joined the Vampire Corps, went to the Graylash family and more.
However, the vampire society did somewhat exist while Muka was still present, but when she had gone into an eternal slumber and woken up, she found that everything was destroyed and the chambers of their ancestors had been taken away.
Including past leaders, kings, and finally the original vampire tombs as well. Because of this Quinn thought that the vampire society would never be rebuilt, at least back to what it once was.
What was more likely to happen was groups such as the Vampire Corps and the Red vampires. So why, in this day and age, had the castles resurrected. In fact, what was even more puzzling than that, was the fact that there were only nine castles.
'There is no Punisher castle, and there is no castle that looks like one that is bigger than the others. Maybe these castles were just the ones that have been rebuilt so far?' Quinn thought.
Either way, it was even more reason for Quinn to keep his cloak on for the time being.
'If I enter the castles, I should be able to talk to someone, maybe even Muka will still be here… or I could just ask for Layla.' Quinn thought, since she was the Red vampires leader.
Climbing down from the tree, Quinn also brought out a small cloak for Minny as well. He always had spare clothes in his shadow space on top of a bunch of other useless stuff, he never knew when it would come in handy.
"You need to be careful as well." Quinn said, wrapping her hood tight. "Remember you are also one of the heros that was awarded at the ceremony, so there will be a lot of people that know what you look like."
Minny smiled as her cheeks turned slightly red. She was proud of that moment, and what young girl didn't dream of being famous and well known. Still, she would listen to her father.
Climbing on Quinn's back, the two of them ran and continued to run until they had eventually reached the vampire settlement. When looking at it all, it was almost an exact replica of what the society used to look like, before Quinn had made the adjustments to the outside wall, and the castles.
There was a small wall, and a large gate where people would walk into and through, and standing outside it looked like there were guards.
'Man, this is all a bit crazy, I feel like I've gone into the past or something?' Quinn thought.
When he reached the guards, they had soon stopped him. There were multiple ways for him to get into the settlement. He could have just ran past them, used his shadow travel, but he thought maybe if the guards figured out who he was they could take him to who he needed to see.
"Let us look at your eyes." The guard said, as he went to grab Quinn's hood, but he quickly lifted up his face, and showed them Minny's as well.
The guard looked at both of them for a while. Quinn was wondering what they were checking.
"All is clear, two vampires coming through!" The guard shouted.
'Wait, I thought the guard was staring at us because he recognised us?' Quinn thought. 'Was he actually checking if we were vampires instead?'
"Sorry, are humans not allowed in the settlement?" Quinn couldn't help but ask.
The guard smiled back and chuckled a little bit.
"I guess it's your first time here. Where have you been, on Earth?" The guard stated. "Humans are allowed in the settlement only if they receive a special pass.
Layla knew Quinn's goal, to bring vampires and humans together, it was similar to what the Graylash family were doing now. However, the red vampires were still scared of humans, and some still disliked them, so it made sense for them to act this way.
"If you are new here then you probably don't have a designated area to live in. You can stay in the pooling area. There are plenty of Inns to stay for the night, but if you wish to become a permanent resident of this settlement then you will need to take an assessment.
"One of the families will take you in based on your skills."
"Families?" Quinn scratched his head. After a 1000 years the lines had been blurred between families. Vampires had all sorts of different abilities with the Vampire Corps teaching nearly every vampire the string ability.
"There is not much to it, think of the area like a district. They are just controlled by the families who are also in charge of protecting them."
For a second Quinn had thought of something. Maybe Muka had found all of the chambers and tombs of the old vampires, and with it she wished to rebuild the society but had asked for Layla's help.
In the middle of thinking, the guard had walked off, and Quinn thought it signalled for him to enter the settlement anyway. There was one surprise though, and it was the fact that the man hadn't recognized Quinn even though he had come so close to him.
While walking through the settlement through the pooling area, the markets and the busy vampires Quinn couldn't stop thinking about it.
'Maybe he thought I was a fake, or perhaps I'm not as famous as I thought I would be.' Quinn thought.
The two continued to walk, and could see the happy smiles on the vampires' faces. That was one good thing, there wasn't a worry or danger that they were all subjected to. It didn't feel like the world was dealing with a celestial issue or the return of the Dalki, at least not here.
"Dad, why don't we just go into one of the castles and ask to see Layla?" Minny asked, pointing to the one in the centre.
"Because I have a feeling that there are a few people that have come back that might know daddy." Quinn didn't know if Muka had resurrected the old leaders to help establish order and the vampire society.
If that was the case, there would be some faces that didn't recognise him, and if he got the wrong castle he thought it would certainly be surprising for some for an uninvited guest to appear.
"Don't worry, you can see that there is no danger around us. I'm sure that Layla is safe." Quinn answered. "Trust me, I would be the first person running around screaming my head if she wasn't."
Since Quinn had no interest joining one of the families, he didn't head to the assessment area and instead headed to one of the Inn's. While inside he was focusing on all of the conversations that were happening around him but there was nothing of interest.
So he decided to head up to the bar area, and sit on a stool where Minny hopped up towards him. With his head down, Quinn had ordered a type of whisky while a juice box for Minny.
Alcohol was something vampires could still taste well, and although Quinn didn't like it before, he did want to give a second try, after enjoying a few beverages on the Marpo Cruise.
When the female staff member handed him his drinks, he raised his hand with his head held down continuing to talk to her.
"Sorry Ma'am, but me and my daughter have just joined this place, and we don't hear a lot of news very often. We heard that the leader, Layla, is a very kind person and was wondering what family she belonged to or if there was any way we could meet her." Quinn asked.
"Layla…" the female vampire replied. "I have heard of Layla's before but I'm guessing the person you are talking about is well known. We don't have any leader that goes by the name Layla here?"
"How is that possible!" Minny said, as she stood up on the stool. "Mother was leader of the Red vampires, leader of this whole place… where… where is she."
Quinn tried to comfort Minny as he pulled her down slightly, now Quinn was getting worried.
"I'm sorry, but I have been here since the settlement was rebuilt. I also hear a number of different things but I have never heard of any Layla being a type of leader, or these Red vampires."
The reaction was strange, it would be impossible for them not to know her. All of the red vampires, the last time Quinn had visited, knew her face. Some cried when they saw her due to how much they felt like they were in debt to her.
This feeling right now, it was similar to another feeling Quinn had before. With this and the guard, Quinn felt like something was drastically wrong and pulled his hood down from his cloak and looked up, pointing to his own face.
"I have one more question, do you recognise me?" Quinn asked.
*****
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