On the third day after Ham's return it was safe to say that everyone in the castle was affected by a general feeling of frustration. The tension was high in the air, between the regulars that were uninvolved. They were unable to do anything and even if they did, all eyes were on them.
While Silver had remained in the castle, Leo and Quinn had been busy searching the area for any more clues pertaining to Fex' location. They searched other areas on top of where Kazz was located, just incase he could be anywhere, apart from the other inner castle areas. Permission would need to be granted to enter.
They had also kept in contact with Lee the thirteenth leader, but unfortunately neither side was able to find even the slightest lead.
Their only remaining hope was to wait for Ham to wake up.
As for Kazz, perhaps she could have shared something with them, but despite three days having passed since her rescue, there had been absolutely no news from the first castle.
It was clear that Bryce was hiding something, which frustrated Quinn all the more, but he understood that it would be a stupid move to act against him.
Whoever was behind all of this, Ham's escape must have been outside their expectation. Getting any sort of information from him would allow them to be one step ahead of the mastermind.
Unfortunately, time was working against them.
That day, there was a knock at their door.
"Quinn, there's someone here to see you." Paul reported as he entered the throne room.
The throne room had become Quinn's new resting place. The large glass panel window on the top floor offered a beautiful view when looking outside. It also reminded him of the heavy responsibilities he had as the tenth family leader.
"Could you tell them I'm busy? We don't have a lot of time, and I'm still trying to find Fex." Quinn sighed.
"I'm afraid this can't wait!" A voice said as they barged into the throne room. The intruder was wearing the royal trim around his uniform, indicating he was a Royal Guard.
He had been waiting outside but when overhearing Quinn's unwillingness to meet with him, he chose to break protocol.
"Quinn Talen, we're aware that your close friend Fex Sanguinis is currently missing. Just like you, our side has been doing its best to discover his current location. However, he no longer holds a high ranking position, so a large force can't be used to investigate." The guard explained.
"Not an important figure?!" Quinn shouted. "I don't give a damn if he has a title or not! If you don't want to find him, then stop bothering while I'm trying to!"
"Quinn!" Paul interrupted. "Please don't forget yourself. The man is just here to pass on a message from Dwight, so we should at least hear him out!"
The Royal Guard was taken aback by the powerful shout. Not only had Quinn been extremely loud, but he had let out his energy outward, waking up all the cells in his body. Even at this moment they were all vibrating.
The guard bowed. "Royal knight Dwight asked me to pass on the following message: The ceremony for putting the King in eternal slumber will commence tomorrow at 9:00. Each family leader is required to be present with both of their knights."
"The public will also be eligible to attend the event. Everyone may participate, but after the capacity has been reached no more people will be let in. The leaders and knights will be part of the ceremony. You will be informed about your duties on the day. For everyone else the ceremony will start at 12:00." Once the message was delivered the Royal Guard swiftly left.
Having to turn up earlier than the others to prepare, Quinn was reminded of a wedding rather than a funeral.
At that moment it really dawned on Quinn, that time had run out. As the tenth family leader, he had no choice but to take part, and for whatever reason they had taken Fex, it would be achieved tomorrow.
With this new information, Quinn headed down to the medical bay, where Silver was still sitting in a chair beside Ham. She appeared to not have moved in the slightest ever since she had sat down.
"Silver!" Quinn called out but there was no response. "Hey, Silver!" Quinn shouted, but she only answered after he placed his hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked at Quinn for a brief moment, before her gaze returned to watch over Ham.
"Ham's getting better. He's no longer hot like he was on the first day. Now it looks like he's just sleeping, but he still hasn't woken up. Why won't he wake up?" Silver asked, still not diverting her eyes away from the familiar.
"I have some news for you. I've just been informed that the ceremony will take place tomorrow. I know as his sister you're just as desperate as me for any news, but you're still the Vampire knight of the thirteenth family."
"I'm afraid you'll probably have to go back to the thirteenth family and make preparations with your dad soon. I'm sorry. I'll look over Ham, and will have someone else here tomorrow. I promise you that they will inform me if anything happens, and I will pass that info to you ASAP."
For a while, Silver didn't reply back, but Quinn could see she was clenching her fist.
"Why… Why… Why won't this damn pig wake up?!" She screamed as she punched the bed, but surprisingly the punch softened to the point as if she had just touched it.
A vampire of her strength should have been able to break a bed with ease but her energy was completely drained, and soon watermarks could be seen falling onto the bed.
Silver was crying.
'Damn it! What the hell am I doing? Why am I forced to take part in this crap, when I don't care about tomorrow?! Why do I still have to deal with this, and why does no one else seem to care that my friend has been abducted!' Quinn thought with anger.
Seeing Silver upset like this was just making the anger inside him boil stronger, and the mark on his back was responding in kind.
"You desire..I will help…." Quinn heard the same voice as last time and black mist started to form from his back.
Eventually a black portal opened on the other side of the room, next to one of the beds. Next, large deathly claws could be seen coming out of them.
"What is that?!"
"A beast, a monster!" The other staff members currently in the room started to panic.
"Don't worry! That… 'thing' belongs to me!" Quinn shouted, hoping to calm them down, but the sheer size of such a creature was too much for them. In the end Quinn had them leave the room.
Seeing the Boneclaw appear, Quinn didn't know what it wanted to do at this very moment. Usually the Boneclaw only answered to Quinn's dark desires, so why did it come now?
The Boneclaw with one of its long sharp fingers pointed towards him.
"You are filled with anger…I will help you…"
The Boneclaw looked down towards Ham for a few seconds, and then started to turn into the same mist that would usually form when it appeared or disappeared, only this time the mark formed on Ham.
'Vincent, what is happening?' Quinn asked in wild confusion.
'I'm not sure, there are many things we don't understand about the familiars ourselves. This is amazing though! I wish I could have more time to study the mechanics behind what it's doing, but it looks like the familiar is acting on its own.'
Once all the mist had gathered into the mark, the little Bull's eyes finally started to open.
The first person it saw was Quinn.
"Quinn!" Ham shouted. "Fex, he's in trouble! You have to save him!"
******
