Finally, Quinn looked like he was returning to himself. As his eyes were opening he could see the underground ceiling in an orange tint, being lit up by the several torches in the large room. When he got up, he was surprised to see that he was in the exact same room as before.
He immediately started touching his own body, seeing if there were any changes. It felt weird to be back in his own body again as if it wasn’t his. After all, he had just spent nearly an entire lifetime experiencing everything that Vincent had gone through.
There was no time skip, he had lived every second of Vincent’s life from the nightclub until the day he had died. He touched his face, checking if there was any facial hair. Quinn even at seventeen didn’t have any facial hair, he just didn’t have the genetics for it, but he was wondering how much time had passed.
When he had felt his face, there still was no such thing. But when looking in front of him, in front of the fifth tomb, the floating sprit-like figure that was known as Vincent, was no longer there.
“Is everything okay?” Edward asked, seeing Quinn lifting his upper body from the ground.
“How much time has passed?” Quinn replied.
“Don’t worry, it wasn’t too long maybe a few days.”
“A few days!” Quinn said shocked, although he couldn’t be too surprised. He couldn’t imagine what Edward had said if the years he spent living Vincent’s memory had gone past as well, but his main concern now was about Leo and the others and their time was even shorter now before they had to make a decision.
Edward helped Quinn get off the ground and was constantly looking at him. From learning of Vincent’s past Quinn knew Edward really could be relied upon, he too must have learned of what the tenth leader had done, yet still chose to stay with him believing there was a reason for his actions.
What Quinn didn’t like, was that Edward was now staring at him constantly in a strange manner.
“Well, did he say anything?” Edward asked. “I mean Vincent, I saw his spirit and before I could say anything to him, he went inside your body and disappeared again.”
Quinn explained to Edward what he had gone through, including the heavy details, things that only Edward or Vincent should have known, and there were even things that Edward didn’t know. Quinn felt like he should have learned the truth of what happened to Vincent, he deserved to know after being loyal for all this time why he had left.
After hearing everything, Edward didn’t seem too surprised though, instead, he had a smile on his face. “So he was able to rest in peace after all,” Edward said.
However, something felt strange as Quinn was telling that story, he wanted to ask Vincent if it was okay but was sure the system or the A.I. known as Vincent would have chimed in to stop him if he had said too much but it had said no such thing.
Which was starting to worry Quinn a little.
“Vincent, are you there… Vincent… Vincent…”
There was no response, not even a single word. He rushed over to the fifth tomb to see if anything had changed maybe Vincent would come back out again, but there was no response. Then a ding from the system had come up.
[New quest received!]
[Passing the torch]
[Return to the fifth tomb underneath the tenths castle once you have become the true tenth leader of the castle]
[Quest reward ????]
He read the reward, and he had no clue what it meant. It wasn’t what he was trying to do; he was trying to get in contact with Vincent. After trying several things, he had come to the realization, that Vincent was no longer with him.
After showing him everything he had been through, after being with him this long, he was gone. The system was still there and acting as normal and his powers were the same, but his spirit or voice had disappeared.
If Quinn was to have a guess, maybe he could contact him again after completing the quest of passing the torch. It seemed not everything was a complete coincidence after all, and he and Quinn shared the same blood.
After learning this fact, and losing him like this, it did feel like to Quinn that he had lost a family member.
‘Family?’
“Edward, what happened to Jim?” Quinn asked. “I remember you saying the other vampire knight was upset with Vincent, did he go to another family?”
When thinking about family, technically Jim was Vincent’s uncle and Vincent was Quinn’s great, great however many great grandfather, so Jim would also be related to him. But more important than that, it meant something else, and Quinn wanted to ask some questions.
“Jim, when he learned of what happened to Vincent, he continued his work for a little while trying to create the blood substitute. It took a lot of convincing on his end, but the council finally agreed. However, he was a bit obsessed with Vincent and in the end, he disappeared as well. My guess is he went back to earth in search of Vincent, but according to what you told me, he had never found him either.”
Quinn started to think about everything he had seen and what he had learned so far. The main connections he was trying to find out now was to do with the creation of Borden. Apparently, someone had set it up so the lab that was connected in the tenth castle, linked to the labs that they appeared from.
The teleporter was made by Richard Eno, so Quinn could guess that the lab was also Richard Eno’s as well.
Looking over to his right, Quinn looked at the first tomb and could see the blue light was on, indicating that someone was inside. But what if that wasn’t the case?
Right now, Quinn had two guesses as to who Richard Eno could be, either Jim, who had changed his name and had gone back to earth to search for Vincent or more likely the first vampire king to the people. The first tenth leader.
Still, why would they create the Dalki, as well as try to protect the human race and this was Quinn’s confusion in everything.
“Edward, is there any way we can open up the Tomb chambers by any chance?” Quinn asked.
“It shouldn’t be a problem. We can open up the chambers without waking them up. The only way to wake them up is from the blood of someone in the family. Right now the only known person alive is you.” Edward said. “I think it would be best if you keep the fact that you are a direct descendent from the other tenths a secret.”
“Why so?” Quinn asked. Now with Vincent gone, he had to rely on Edward for the vampire information he would usually get.
“Because Vincent’s ability was a strong one. There were many people that wanted it, and it was why those in the tenth chose to teach it to only one person. However, there are others that still know how to use that ability, and they are sleeping right here. If they know you can wake them up. They may force you to wake up one of the leaders and get their ability.” Edward explained.
It was something to think about, and by now Quinn was used to keeping secrets so there shouldn’t be a problem keeping one more like this one.
Walking over, Edward was surprised when Quinn stopped in front of the first one and pointed at it. Edward didn’t ask why, but was more curious than anything. Quinn had told him what happened but not his crazy theories, because to anyone else it would really sound crazy.
Spinning the locks in a certain direction a clicking sound was heard, and steam started to rise as the chamber did with it. When it finally came up, they could see a person visible through the glass container.
“For a second I thought there would be no one inside,” Edward said, looking a little relieved but when he looked at Quinn. His eyes were open wide, and he was biting his bottom lip as if he was nervous about something.
“What’s wrong?” Edward asked.
“Inside the chamber.” Quinn pointed. “That’s not the first king.”
“What do you mean!?” Edward asked now, realizing the seriousness of the matter.
Edward of course wasn’t old enough to know what the first king looked like. So when he saw someone inside, he was more than satisfied.
“I’m sure of it, I’ve seen the first king before. He was in a vision.”
Quinn knew the person inside didn’t look like the one the Boneclaw had shown him with Arthur, nor did it look like the scientist with Vincent. This meant, if the first king had never gone into eternal slumber then there was a good chance, he really was the one that had helped out Vincent back then.
The question was as well; was he still alive out there?
“Let’s not panic just yet,” Edward said. “There is one person that can confirm whether or not this really is the first king or not. Maybe you saw something wrong. Let’s invite Arthur down here.”
It was true Arthur would be able to tell them; he was probably the only person alive who knew what the king looked like.
But then Quinn started to think of the others. The first king had tricked not only Arthur but also now the whole vampire council. He was an unexpected character, and Quinn was worried for his friends who had gone to his suspected lab.
*****
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