'Poor lad,' was all Alaric could think as he neutrally observed all the emotions filtering through the massive Demon Dragon's sinuous expression.
"My whole life…" Cassius began to mutter, his enormous form slowly shrinking and returning to what it originally was. "My Extreme Hyperthyroidism, my Dilapidating Body Deterioration Syndrome, all the isolation I was forced to endure because of my hideous looks… That was all… you…?"
Bella repeatedly nodded, hearts still swimming inside her sparkling eyes. "Yep, yep, that was me, my love! Me and Daddy!" Suddenly realizing something, she hysterically added, "But you see it, don't you!? That I did all of this for you!?? I couldn't have any more thieving b*tches—like the ones you temporarily have at your home—latching onto you, so… so I did the only reasonable thing!" She clasped her hands and stared at him as if he were the whole world to her.
"Holy… holy sh*t," Cassius mindlessly murmured, his gaze becoming listless. "This is… this can't honestly be true…"
But it was. And he knew it was.
Then again, how was he just supposed to accept everything he'd just heard come from the mouth of a pretty girl he had only ever known to be polite and caring!?? What in the hell was going on here?!??
Was the script chucked out the window or some sh*t!?
"I don't mean to interrupt your coping time, boy," said Alaric. "But if we don't get the Vampire Couple Contractual Ceremony done before the night's end, we'll have to wait another half a year for the next bloodred moon cycle in Nightingale. Then again, perhaps my daughter would be—"
"No! Now!" Bella spat out, dangerously glaring at the hesitant middle-aged man. "We must get married today!! I want him to love me today!!"
Even though Cassius was about to be kidnapped and forced into a vampire marriage by their Vampire Duke, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. Although the Duke was the one who placed this supposed 'Seal' on him, he was, in the end, a victim, just like him.
He was also a… pushover.
However, with far more pressing concerns on his mind—like figuring out how to escape this nightmare and never think about it again—Cassius's pupils darted subtly around the scene. He was searching for any possible way out of the mess he'd found himself in.
Time seemed to crawl as their conversation sped unnaturally fast. This slowed-time effect allowed Cassius and his two vampire captors to speak without interruption, even as powerful human presences drew closer.
The source of their approach was unmistakable: a thunderous explosion that had shaken the very foundation of the world. Its cause? None other than the brief but overwhelming weight of the Newbie 9 Equipment Set.
But regardless of what would happen in a short while because of his actions, Cassius was far more keen on figuring out how to escape. Fighting was not an option, and with a very limited planet as the playing turf, running also didn't appear to be an option.
So then… what the f*ck should he do!?
Alaric's time-long eyes narrowed. "What are you thinking about, boy? Don't make me regret believing that you're smart," he said coldly. "If you foolishly attempt to escape, it'll just make me look down on you even more. I don't care if you're a bloodbag human, but I don't like cowards. Be a man—confront your problems head-on."
'That's easy for you to say!' Cassius inwardly shouted. 'You're not the one whose entire life was basically orchestrated by an insane vampire chick who has gone off her rockers! Did you even listen to the same things I heard come out of her mouth!? She's fcking insane!'
Momma always said, "Don't put your dck in crazy."
And he wasn't looking to f*ck around and find out!
But with escape and fighting out of the question, what was he to do!? Was his only option to give up and let this crazy vampire family do what they wanted with him!??
He wouldn't allow it!!
That was when a lightbulb flashed inside his mind. 'If I can neither stay and fight nor run away, then I really have but one available option to take.'
Steeling his resolve, Cassius gritted his teeth and announced inside his mind, 'I would like to enter the Nightmarescape!'
A smug emoticon materialized for his eyes only.
[Oh, would you now? ಥ‿ಥ]
[How much do you want to go to the Nightmarescape? After all those times I magnanimously offered you a free ticket to the best place in the world, and yet you only now consider going? How do you think this makes me feel…?]
'I don't give a f*ck how it makes you feel!' was what Cassius wanted to shout at the top of his lungs.
Both Bella and her father tilted their heads in confusion as they watched the handsome, half-naked man… have an argument with himself?
"Maybe my daughter and he really are a match made in heaven," Alaric mumbled to himself as he shifted his gaze between two different versions of crazy.
Bella's heart-shaped eyes brightened. "I know, Daddy! Aren't we the definition of soulmates!?"
…Yes, but not for the reason you believe…
Shaking his head, Alaric decided to just get things done and over with. He sauntered toward the perplexing young man. Stretching his hand out, he was prepared to restrain Cassius and take him back to Nightingale with his daughter.
However, just as his dark, bloody energy shot out in the form of chain tendrils, something changed in the young man's presence. Alaric instinctively retracted his hand, yet didn't know why he did so right after. His brows furrowed as he once again stretched out his hand, this time with even more momentum behind his actions.
Alaric immediately retreated. He covered his infatuated daughter in a translucent barrier before carrying her along with him. Then, with astonishment etched across his face, he watched as an oval-shaped black congregation materialized behind Cassius. The congregation emitted no energy waves, and there was no movement on its flat, swirling surface.
But something… something was ominously dangerous about the congregation…