Seeing the cracks in Quinn’s mask, it was clear to everyone that he must have been wearing some disguise. Because of this, the others were on guard, and Yaddy even braced himself to attack the intruder.
He had doubts about this vampire’s identity, and his best guess was that the vampire in front of him must be one of the Red vampire leaders.
At the same time, all of those in the room, the other Lieutenants, including Mitchell, prepared themselves for the worst.
‘He… is finally showing himself.” Mitchell thought. “I might need to make a decision soon. If everyone decided to attack him at once and if Andy gives any order? Whose side do I take?” At that moment, he wanted to slap himself across the face.
He had already promised that he would be loyal to the new vampire. He had decided; whether it was the right one or the wrong one, he would soon find out.
Then there was Lucia. Ever since he had appeared on the ‘Graylash’ planet, she had a hunch that the person was someone else. When the mask pieces fell from Quinn’s face, they started to evaporate before they could touch the floor. After all, they were part of Peter’s power and were part of his soul weapon. Soon, his long flowing hair rolled down up to his waist, and his face was now that of a young man.
He no longer had as unremarkable features as before, and everyone in the room was taken aback by his handsome appearance. Never had they set their eyes on such a person in their life, and it was a reaction brought from within.
The person at the centre of everyone’s attention had a flawless handsome face without even a single blemish. Now seeing who he was though, none of the vampires acted because they were confused for a second. “Who are you?!” Yaddy shouted as he brandished his blood aura.
“I am not here to attack you,” Quinn replied.
“I have decided to reveal myself to you, so there are no secrets between us. Hopefully, you will all be willing to work alongside and tell me your secrets.” Of course, Yaddy scoffed at this. No matter who he was, unless he was someone as great as Logan Green or Andy, no one would listen to him, even if he was the enemy.
“I guess I no longer have to disguise myself either. It is tiring keeping it up.” Peter said while withdrawing his transformation skill.
They then saw a more pale figure appear, one with tighter skin on his face and more sunken dark eyeballs. The Peter they all could see now though, was more similar to what he looked like when transforming and using the celestial energy; in simple words, he looked a little more dead. For a second, after reverting to his original appearance, Peter turned and glanced at Lucia; he wanted to see her reaction.
Seeing Peter, the real Peter, she just smiled back. She had already gone beyond the point of caring what he and Quinn looked like. She just wanted to know if they were good people. Still, Lucia was confused.
The person she could see, the vampire she could see, wasn’t one that she recognised, and she believed there was something she had overlooked.
“A strong Wight that can transform and an original Vampire, I am guessing? So are you going to tell me what family you lead then?” Andy asked, not really surprised by their appearances.
“You are wrong about the first guess,” Quinn answered.
“But I am not an original vampire.”
These words surprised a lot of them in the room. Mitchell, Lucia and Andy all thought without a doubt he had to be an original vampire.
“You have great strength; both of you do. I also assume that is your Wight by your side; if you are not an original vampire, you had to be a leader at least, correct?” Andy asked again, now a little more intrigued about the person in front of him.
“In the past… I had earned many titles. I was the leader of the Tenth family at one point, and later, I was also what was known as a Punisher and I guess at some point I became leader of the punishers.”
There were strange faces being pulled as they processed what Quinn was saying. Some of his words made sense, and, at the same time, few didn’t. They tried to think about the past, who were the Punishers, and what was the Tenth family.
“Well, there were a few other titles that people knew about me. At some point, I was the King of the vampires and the Cursed faction leader, but I guess these titles don’t mean much since many have forgotten what the ‘Cursed’ faction is despite their sacrifices.”
“My name is Quinn Talen… And from what I have seen recently, my name has become somewhat infamous while I was away.” Saying these words, tears had almost streamed out of Mitchell’s eyes.
Although he had heard this man say it once before, and he was unsure whether or not to believe him, hearing them this time, inexplicable emotions began to overcome him.
For Lucia, everything was starting to make sense, the amount of power he had displayed and why Zinon had gifted his armour to this man. However, there would always be those that didn’t believe, and they had every right not to believe him.
“How dare you?!” Yaddy shouted, and he wasn’t the only one. Many of the other lieutenants seemed to be angry with these words as well. They called remarks and were furious.
“How could you claim to be a great hero? That is a disgrace. We should toss him out!”
Of course, even with all the harsh remarks, not a single vampire had chosen to act on them because of what they had witnessed earlier. Andy stood up and walked up to the two of them. Everyone waited to hear what he had to say as he stopped a few metres short.
“I… I have great respect for the hero Quinn. There are many reasons behind this, and if you are who you say you are, then I wish to have a talk and a drink with you. I would do everything to help you as best as I could. I will happily tell you about Jessica and help you with whatever you need. However, if it turns out that you’re lying…”
Andy paused, and with a smile, he added, “I’m going to chain your arms above you, then I’m going to flay your torso and pull it up over your head and tie it in. You’re not going to bleed to death, and you’re not going to die of shock. But the pain will cause you to vomit, and you will die choking on that.”
This made Peter angry and he soon was going to interject until Quinn spoke.
“There is video footage from the fight with Graham, a worldwide broadcast. Zinon, the ‘Graylash’ family leader, used that to confirm my appearance. Many of the statues are of my previous look.” Quinn stated, amused by Andy’s words.
“Anyone could fake that!” Yaddy interrupted.
“Are you saying that anyone can fool the ‘Graylash’ family leader?” Mitchell shouted out, now speaking up for the one that he supported.
“And how do you explain his strength? You think a vampire would keep himself hidden this whole time?” Lucia spoke up as well, now supporting them, believing in Quinn’s words.
If this was the Hero, maybe she could get the answers she had been waiting for.
“If you don’t believe my words, then tell me, how can I prove myself to you?” Quinn asked.
By now, using a device on himself, Andy had already begun the video of the great battle. Everyone in the room had already seen it at one point or time in their lives. However, the Quinn captured in the video, mainly his appearance, was slightly different to what was in front of them.
For one, the red celestial power wasn’t flowing through him like back then; this was the main reason why the video didn’t wholly convince them. On top of that, they used disguises before, so how can the Vampire Corps believe that they aren’t using another disguise now.
“…There is one way.” Andy spoke after a long silence. “My father… my father can confirm who you are.”
