Red (Mimi Vampire Version)

The coffin was comfortably cramped with my bugs, not a ray of light seeping through. I kept tabs on what was in the area through the nodes the other body spread about. Everything was peaceful as I dozed, no longer minding the jostling of the coffin. Vampire bodies required a lot more maintenance than the best body. There was the constant need for blood, though this bloodline could drink essence and be fine. The main downside was how the limbs would lock into place and then it required constant stressing and some muscle relaxers provided by some new workers.

There was a lot of time where I wasn't able to do much, and I was graciously given the responsibility to think up bugs that could aid in healing. With tier-three bugs created and moving around in the wagon. I was able to see what could evolve into them and experiment with the nodes. Just one tier-three bug was capable of taking down a human. Almost any one of them, yet even the new dispensers could just hold both elements of the bomber and be much more devastating.

These new bugs meant that the nodes needed to expand. Some of them would need to move so that their sister nodes could grow, but the Hive as a whole was rapidly expanding. Cannibalization was necessary to keep black blood out of the ecosystem, but for the most part, our bugs were able to live off honey and nectar. It was now time to strengthen the foothold we already had and use the new bugs to eliminate feral monsters and pests that threatened to destabilize the food chains around the nodes.

The forests to the South and East of Eclipse would become the safest for those under our rule. Eventually, we would spread the nodes to fill in the gaps between the two. It was going to take months, or perhaps years, but some fanning out had already been done. There appeared to be no upper limit to the number of bugs we could safely control. The Hive's strength was growing, as these third-tier bugs were starting to perform functions even the main body could not fulfill. There was much to consider, should we find our limit or effectively conquer the world.

A message from the main body came in, as the hour of our meeting with the king approached. Information was traded, and it was agreed that the naming of the third-tier bugs would fall to our personalities. I was doing nothing during the day, so it fell to me to meet with Charles, while the main body dealt with a messy situation. I pretended to sleep, while Richard and Di'Rex bantered with each other. The hour soon approached.

It was the same exact room as last time, with new bugs for me to use. Charles stood in front of the window, sipping coffee to fully recreate the scene. There was a rush of magical power as we reconnected with the rest of the HIve. No upper limit was found, and the main body was passing information to me. Ember was still leaking black blood from her joints, the crib expanded to a bed. Her blood had stained the marble, but she was still alive.

Ember's antenna had grown some more, making the two pairs into a hood as they fanned out to cover the back and side of her head. Her tiny face was barely catching the light, as I saw something akin to a skull tattoo. Upon further inspection, I realized it was two sets of flesh seemingly fused together. She had sage eyes, where it was clear two irises were fused with elongated pupils. They were a light shade of purple with hints of blue and red on either side.

Ember still struggled to breathe as she held a stuffed turtle bear to her chest. The poor plush was matted and sticky with her blood. I noted the upper arms were fine, while the lower ones had an extra pair conjoined at the elbow, giving her six in total. Her wings were slowly growing in, jet black and similar to a wet cloak. My poor daughter coughed while holding the toy closer. This prompted the same herald to approach and gently give her a cup after mixing in some powder.

Many of the questions I wanted to ask had been pushed to the side. |"What are you giving her?"|

Charles savored his coffee, letting out a small sigh. "Hey Red, I'm giving her a lot of things." It frustrated me to no end that he already knew which version I was. Charles continued, however, "You have a bad habit of confirming things by asking how someone knew it." I was going to ask, then he continued again, "It's how I get a lot of my information from you. It's something you should work on."

|"You didn't answer my question."| I needed to know what he was giving her.

"Stardust." He said after a painfully long pause, "You'll find out what I mean in time, but it is incredibly expensive. I'm also being difficult because you decided to be a dick to the Count."

|"I have many questions and you want me to succeed in whatever your plans are. The Count stole Gray from us, so we will not apologize for what was done."|

Charles shook his head, "There it is, I heard that answer many times, I know the reasoning behind it. The problem is that I need you two to work together for everything else to work! The Count is an asset to me, and he will be one to you once you two stop acting like feral children."

|"Are you saying that my course of action was wrong? How are we the children here?"|

Charles rolled his eyes, "I see you decided to let the bloodworms live. At least I know why the real you didn't show up. The chances of you figuring out how to save the town is incredibly small. You've surprised me before, but the fact that you got there at this time makes it incredibly unlikely to happen. Just move on."

|"Stop changing the subject."| I wanted to convey emotion, but the runes only allowed my voice to come out in a monotone. |"You stated that we were to be friends and that you would aid us. Do we not deserve to know what we're up against?"|

Charles grabbed his cane, "Exactly." He held up a finger, the cup of coffee vanishing. "I'm telling you to move on, and yet you haven't sent the message to the other version of yourself. You're wasting time while coming here to meet me with a copy of yourself. Either tell the original to come here or shut the fuck up and listen. Red, I don't need you. You're a fucking puppet that will vanish whenever the Hive version of yourself decides it wants a body, or you fuck up and withhold information. The Count will be coming soon, and he'll know that you're in a vampire body."

All the bugs in the room marched, as his dismissive words cut deep. All eyes were pointed towards him, as I had no way of disputing his claims. |"You need the original body to succeed, and nothing else matters?"|

Charles did a slow clap, "You finally got it. I can't just hand you answers, because you need to find the solutions yourself. With every challenge you are presented with, you have a chance of succeeding. I have others there, but their job is to keep your main body alive. I know how you think, and more importantly, I know what you are capable of. You won't present everything I said here to the original, because you do not want to stop existing. If given enough time, you might try to become the original yourself. Thing is, if you do that I will kill you. I will slaughter your entire Hive right in front of you, while you are trapped inside a set of runes and forced to watch. You will suffer."

|"Why would you go that far? I thought you wanted your wife back, then you would leave."| These were secrets I needed to know, this was the most information I had ever gotten out of him concerning his plans. The emotional distress would subside in time, I couldn't forfeit this opportunity.

Charles pinched the bridge of his nose, "Getting my wife back doesn't mean shit if the world is doomed. I'm preparing you for the worst possible outcomes, all so that I might live a peaceful life. You want to continue existing Red, that thought festers in the back of your mind because the vessel you are in taints your thoughts. Vampires don't want to die, so you don't want to die. You are the same entity, but the way your brain works is different. All I need from you is the promise that you'll make certain other copies don't try to become the original."

|"Is it the vampire pride that ensures this promise holds meaning, or will a contract be formed?"| Looking back at my older actions in this body, I found that there were very few differences. However minor, he was right that my perception and actions were being influenced by my vessel.

Charles rubbed his temples, "The original will sense the contract, so I can't make pacts. It could be pride or the fact that I'll try to help you continue existing if you help me. I will find out if you take over, I also don't make threats. I make promises."

|"Understood."| I felt some of the turmoil subside, still a little disgruntled by the fact that Charles had danced around the main questions I had asked. The rest of the Hive knew to look for 'Stardust' to figure out what exactly Charles had given our daughter.

Charles let out a deep sigh, the coffee back in his hand. "Say you promise."

|"I promise, as Red, to adhere to the advice given. No efforts shall be made to replace the original, while other copies shall be kept in check as requested."| No divine magic came from Charles, proving that a pact wasn't made.

Charles did a small nod, "Thanks, tell the original that you'll be fighting a Behemoth. That I knew I was talking to you, and that I'm more inclined to give you secrets." His request was done as he closed his eyes, "Wonderful, I'm not going to answer the questions she's sending to you right now. Do tell her that the piper is a reward should she manage to save the town, since she isn't leaving."

He effortlessly voided everything I had just received from the original while giving me enough of an answer to make it appear I had asked as instructed. |"We don't know what a Behemoth is."|

The king waved his free hand, "Something that can kill a dragon, my advice that you can give her is; go for the head." He waited for a second, "Yes, I know that's vague and not helpful. One of you will figure it out, and I can't give too much away. You need to make decisions and come to the conclusion naturally. We're almost out of time anyway." He held up his free hand, cane pinned to his side by his elbow. He held up five fingers letting them drop by the second.

The light in the room flickered, as the door suddenly buckled as if under immense pressure. A pool of blood oozed through the cracks when the Count suddenly appeared. He glared at my bugs immediately trying to force a connection with his fangs bared. Charles just took another sip of coffee, watching Ember doze on her bed. I couldn't say anything as my talking runes were blowing static and screams. The Count raised a brow, and glared at Charles, he pointed a finger at the king "You knew!"

The king's ears flicked, "Yep, right on time Vladdy."

Vladdy moved towards the king, squishing more than a few of my bugs. "How. Dare you!" He picked Charles up by his shirt. It was nice to see that my messengers got through to the Count. I almost wanted to sip something and act as indifferent as the king. He didn't even look at the angry vampire.

Charles was about to take another sip of coffee when the Count tore it from his hands and threw it against the wall. "Aw, I did want to finish it." He looked down at the Count, who had made the mistake of holding the elf above his head.

"You told me everything would work out! I understood that my children would die, but you never told me that this would happen!" He shook Charles, "It's revolting to see so many of my kind crying out in fear! Why did you feed my kin to the bug! Answer me, damn you!"

The King half yawned as he answered, "You started it, remember when you revived and I said not to fuck with the bug?"

Vladdy dropped Charles, who fell on his ass. The Count looked through the window, pausing when he saw Ember. "What is all this?"

The elf king got up, dusting himself off. "That's the bug that is going to help fix my wife, doing anything to lower its chances at survival will result in a breach of contract. I will feed your entire race to the bug while you watch helplessly bound by enchanted silks. Only if you outright kill this bug, otherwise I'm going to just have you killed off."

The Count coughed, "After all we've been through, all those years we spent repelling the hordes and protecting Dark Fall." He put a hand over his brow, "The nerve, Charles. The nerve!"

"You're only saying that because my dick is bigger. You know I won't hesitate to let this world break and crumble apart while petty children like you two fucks go at it." The king adjusted his shirt, "Give Gray back to the bug, and I'll convince them to make the crimson monolith."

The Count's jaw dropped, "THE CRIMSON MONOLITH!?" He looked back at my bugs, then back at the king. "HOW!?"

Charles shrugged, "I can't make it, but a hivemind like hers will be able to figure it out."

|"What is a crimson monolith."| Charles rolled his eyes at my question.

The Count spun to my speaker, "It is a monolith that tracks every bloodline of vampire! It will allow me to find out where they are all hiding, I will finally be able to know if they are still around." He spun to Charles, "You must tell me if they are still alive! That was a part of our oath!"

The king crossed his arms, "No vampire is alive, but if you stop fucking up my plans the bug will help you find them. I swear, it's hard to believe you were a king once, yourself."

The Count huffed, "You are the only true king, and the only red blood I mildly respect. I knew I should have turned you when I had the chance!"

Charles just shook his head, "I would have died so many times, just burning my blood to stop time and then not being able to start it since I didn't have enough blood. Chrono bloods are dumb."

|"I believe we have less than thirty minutes remaining."| I helpfully pointed out.

The Count nodded, "He can only tolerate you for a certain amount of time as well?"

|"Yep, and he called us children."| The Count gave Charles a quick glare.

The king just shrugged, |"Well, you are."|

Vladdy did a cape twirl, "He walks eternity. He has watched the same civilization rise and fall countless times. He has witnessed the stars themselves wink out of existence. He is the man turned elf, the true guardian of civilization." The count waved his cape some more.

The waving stopped when Charle's cane hit him in the face. "You fucks need to hammer out a deal."

|"Does this happen often?"| I asked, genuinely curious.

The Count shrugged, "A bit common, unfortunately. We don't need to hammer out a deal when we have a chronomancer that can dictate what we agreed on. I have a contract so he can't lie to me. If he wants to call us children, we should act as such, agreed?" I was inclined to agree, but I didn't understand the point.

|"I would rather negotiate."|

Vladdy tilted his head, "Charles has seen all potential deals and will let us know which one he found most favorable for both of us. Take it from me, unlife gets rather boring without some meaningless fun. Living forever can become incredibly tedious, then you figure you'll go to sleep for a few centuries and people forget who you were. You might even forget who you were, yourself."

|"Charles asked us to negotiate though."| I countered.

The count let out a small sigh, "That's the trigger to make the possibility where we negotiate. All this time we would have spent has been endured by Charles here countless times." The king waved, as the Count continued, "You have no idea how juvenile and funny it is to say the King of Eclipse looks like something even the light elves wouldn't want to die in their forests."

|"I fail to understand, were you not upset with me? I'm concerned that I might get a worse deal."| I tried again to get the negotiations going.

Vladdy waved his hand dismissively, "Charles, be a dear and give her something more in her favor." He pinched the king's cheek as the elf sighed. Vladdy turned back to me, "There you have it, when you get old and powerful you are allowed a certain amount of freedom. Outside of this room, I do not want you calling me Vladdy. Try it, see how it rolls off the tongue."

|"Vladdy, why are you so informal? Why did you try to force me to kneel when we first met?"|

The Count paused, slowly shaking his head, "She really is a child." He indiscreetly whispered to Charles, barely covering his lips with his hand. He moved that same hand away and leaned over my bugs. "Powerful creatures capable of thought and humor should use such to endear themselves to one another. Thinking everyone is out to get you, will only lead to your own eventual ruin. More so when we live in a society where the individual's power can and will change the territories on the map. That should answer your first question." He stroked his beard and pointed at the king, "He made me do it, is the answer to the second."

Charles held his hands up, "I needed you to not use your stinger on Oswald, he wouldn't be able to fake not gasping back to life. Richard's suffering needed to be genuine, and I apologized to him when he was starting to lose it." He crossed his arms, "I also know you enjoy your own banter with Richard. Try and get the original to work on that jealousy, it'll cause some problems down the line."

I waited, until the king relented, "Fine! I'll tell you what is agreed upon. Gray will be allowed to stay with the Leeches, while now connected to the Hive in the Underground. The Count will remove all 'embers' of his domination from Gray so that he cannot 'infect' the Hive. That's the main reason Gray left, and it would have only been a problem if you reconnected while dim. Which doesn't happen since there are technically three of you now."

The Count tilted his head, "What do I get out of this?"

Charles smirked, "You pawned the negotiations on me, and told me to give her a better deal to prove my ability. All you get is the dream of a crimson monolith." Charles waved his hands in a pretend mysterious way.

I started laughing, my chuckle coming out through the monotone connection. The Count just stood there as if he had been betrayed. He looked like a Harper spider that was offered beer, only to have it drunk right in front of him. His lip was even quivering as he wiped away a single bloody tear. "How could you?" There was no pain in his voice, only making the whole thing even more ridiculous.

The king shrugged, "You broke my cup, it was my favorite cup too. I traveled eons into the future to find it. The perfect coffee mug, made with tiny divots to constantly keep the fluid swirling." He put a hand in front of his face, slowly pulling it down into a fist. "It was perfect in every way, and you ruined it, soiled it even! The possible future where that cup could have been created has already left. The lifetime of countless runesmiths destroyed in a single outburst of melodrama."

Vladdy looked at the cup, "Who made it? This masterpiece that I have destroyed. Tell me, my king. Let me dedicate my kin to remolding this fine..." he picked up the bottom, "Porcelain cup." He sounded out the strange word, it must have been like the stardust. It was comforting to know the King could just go into the future and bring things back

"Knave!" Charles shouted, "There was only one possibility where such might happen. If you feel you might be able to replace it, then you do not understand what went into making such a cup come into existence! We lack the magical capabilities to create porcelain, let alone mold it! It is much more complicated than making glass from sand."

|"Would wax work?"| I offered, trying to be helpful and to play along.

Charles stared into the space in front of us, his eyes glazing over. Then he shook his head in defeat, "It will not. Your wax will degrade over the centuries I could have drunk from this cup. By that point, you won't be there to fix it again. I might even be turned into a monster, incapable of even lifting such a fine cup.

The Count pretended to sob, "I have destroyed an artifact! I deserve no less than death, even that might be too good for one such as myself. The soiler of cups, the destroyer of cracker of coffee cups. The defiler of dark brews."

Charles waved his hand in front of the Count, "You are already dead."

Vladdy clutched his heart, before laying down on the ground. |"Does this happen often?"|

The king shrugged, "Only whenever we feel like playing around. In all seriousness, I have about a hundred more of the things. You have no idea how hard it is to make porcelain on Xentos. You need a team of alchemists about on par with where Richard is at, and then some Piklins. It's a whole ordeal."

|"What is a Piklin?"|

The Count got off the ground, "Charles says things sometimes, you'll find out eventually. It was nice to properly meet the bug that has occupied his time recently."

|"It was enjoyable, I hope we can maintain a beneficial partnership with one another."|

The Count let out a small laugh, "We kind of need to, according to Charles. I'll forgive a lot of the things you do, so long as I get that monolith. By the sounds of it, my vampires are going to rebel and put me to sleep in a year or less."

|"Wait, what do you mean by that?"| I asked.

Charles shrugged, "Time's up, bye!"

I was cast back into my body as runes lit up in the room we had met in. I jolted in my coffin to find I wasn't being carried anymore. I immediately started looking through the eyes of my bugs, searching for Richard and Di'Rex. Only I found them on the receiving end of a pack of fiends I had somehow missed!