The ‘Midnight Aristocracy’ was the self-given label that all members of Alexis’ kin shared. They viewed themselves as above the mortals and even above other undead. Those who now stood in the throne room in Necrograd eyed the twin thrones of their Goddess and God with envy and greed. The only reason none of them attempted to sit upon the comfiest chairs in existence was due to the fact that if any of them made such a move they would be quickly torn to ribbons by the rest. And so, the various vampires milled about and engaged in the courtly intrigue that they were known for, all the while keeping one eye on the greatest of prizes.

None of them exactly knew WHY they were here, they just knew that someone or something had called out to them from this place and that the call was impossible to refuse. Someone of great power had managed to assemble every last surviving vampire from across the whole of the Luminas Confederacy, drawing them from their hiding places and forcing them to come to this place. Some of them had left behind whole lives that they had painstakingly crafted in order to blend in, others had been forced to awaken from hibernation and thus put themselves at risk.

All of the Noble Houses were here, at least the ones that survived.

House Dracones; founded by Valka Dracones, the house from whose number came some of the greatest martial combatants that had ever graced the world and whse sense of duty and honor were matched only by the bloodthirst in battle that led them to be called 'Blood Dragons'. To the Vampire Hunters of the Luminas Confederacy, even a single member of House Dracones required dozens, if not hundreds of Hunters and even then victory was never truly assured.

House Brandou; founded by Dion O. Brandou, the house known for its impeccable ability to infiltrate any level of society (particularly the upper levels) and manipulate the mortals like grand puppet masters. Elegant and aloof, they were the only vampire House to have blended so seamlesssly into the power structure in the Luminas Confederacy that Vampire Hunters did not even know they existed.

House Carmilla; founded by Elileth Carmilla, the house whose members were entirely female and whose seduction and beguilement capabilities were second to none. They also were the sole House with knowledge of the ancient and hidden art of Blood Scrying. Every one of the members could put a supermodel to shame and were known by Vampire Hnters as the House that was one of the most dangerous to go after.

House Moreau; founded by Grathe Moreau, the house whose knowledge and mastery of beasts both live and undead were only dwarfed by the Goddess herself, and who could transform into beasts both partially and fully and whose form most resembled the predators that al vampires truly were. They hid out beyond the prying eyes of the living in ruins, caves and catacombs, ruling over beasts like a kind of twisted king. To face one was to find out the true animalistic nature of vampires as they were not only large and strong but also absurdly fast.

And finally, House Nefarius; founded by Alec Nefarius, whose knowledge about magic and alchemy were leagues above the rest and the only House whose ranks were open not only to vampires but also to other undead who sought to find the absolute limits of the world and then to surpass them. Gaunt and gangly, the vampires of House Nefarius were not ones to willingly enter into melee, but to believe that they were helpless in a close up fight would be a truly fatal mistake.

The five remaining Houses that once made up the Seven Great Houses were now together, and under one roof. The bad blood (pun intended) between them due to the centuries of power-plays and backroom dealings left the air in the throne room heavy with distrust, suspicion and downright hatred. All it would take was a single spark to ignite a full-blown brawl, but thankfully for everyone in the city the attention of the myriad undead was shifted when the doors to the throne room opened and someone from myth passed through the threshold.

The younger ones did not recognize the figure that towered over even the tallest of the undead, nor could they believe that the mana signature of such a being could possibly exist. The older ones stood in shock at the sight of the being who strode through the parting sea of vampires and sat upon the right-side throne. As the man settled in his seat, his gaze swept across the ocean of undead before a massive aura erupted out from him and filled the room. The intensity of the energy that filled the sealed space forced all inside to their knees.

“I, the God of Death, have returned.”

The colossus said those seven words, and even the youngest of the vampires now instantly understood what this meant and who this person was. When the last vestiges of resistance vanished, the force that had flooded the room vanished as through it was never there to begin with. Before anyone could speak, Kain spoke again.

“And… so has She.”

And just like that the vampires now had another reason to be overjoyed.

“There will be no more bickering. There will be no more sabotage. You are to exist in service to Darksol once again. Forget your petty squabbles and rivalries, for you are ours once again. Darksol will return to its former greatness and the Light will drown beneath the endless eclipse. Your entire existence is one of both servitude and rulership and know that so long as you obey our desires, we shall grant you a great degree of leeway. I will give you but one chance to swear fealty to your God and Goddess as you did in ages past. Accept our rule once again and know everlasting prosperity. Refuse and you shall never again be known as the Midnight Aristocracy, instead you shall be yet another base parasite to be removed.”

The Abominable King rose from his seat and gestured towards the crowd who had only just managed to rise.

“Now, bow to me and to my beloved who even as we speak ravages one of our hated enemies. Bow to the Dark Emperor and the Crimson Empress.”

The myth needed not to speak again. The first to bow were the eldest of the five houses, who knew of the Dark Emperor and his power, even if some of them had not been around to witness him personally. Then the younger ones followed suit, if not out of actual loyalty then out of fear or selfish desires. Only two vampires remained who did not bow to the Emperor, whose gaze fell upon the pair of prideful and arrogant fools. The founder of House Dracones motioned repeatedly for them to prostrate themselves, but the two would not budge.

“Then it would appear that I need to use the stick.”

With those words Kain vanished from his spot near his throne and appeared before the two meatheads. He stared them down, like a wolf eyeing its prey. The two still did not budge and with a swift motion Kain’s arms shot forward. The massive gauntleted hands held the two heavily armored vampire warriors by their necks and began to tighten, gradually applying more and more pressure until the sounds of chocking could be heard from the two parasites.

The two began to demand release, but this quickly turned to begging and finally to despair-filled cries. Then the sound of bone snapping echoed throughout the hall. Despite the necks of the young vampires having been broken, Kain still held the two in his grasp. He spoke one word and the remains of the two undead began to fade from the world.

“Entropy.”

First the two undead began to rot. Then their bones began to turn to dust. Finally, their armor rusted away and soon even the dust from the armor, weapons and bodies began to fade from the world, with the dust pile shrinking into nothing even without someone sweeping it away.

Kain once again vanished and reappeared on his throne.

“I have shown you what will become of you should you fail us, with the aid of those two lampreys. I accept your fealty and welcome you back into the fold.”

Kain’s gaze turned towards the founder of House Dracones.

“I do not hold you accountable for their impudence. With the way things have gone in our absence, I seem to be correct in the assumption that your Houses have been forced to induct less than desirable candidates. Do make sure that this kind of thing does NOT happen another time, as I will not show this mercy to anyone again.”

The Midnight Aristocracy had been reassembled and had once again sworn fealty to Darksol, a feat sure to make Alexis overjoyed. Kain allowed the vampires to mingle again and occasionally applied a bit of his aura when tempers began to flare. Kain sat in silence and thought of what he had achieved and what was to come.

“Now then, with this out of the way I had best turn my attention to the fools outside…”