My Blood Legacy: Bloodlines

The silence that settled over the room after Rowena’s introduction lasted long enough to become uncomfortable.

Serafall remained seated on what was left of the sofa, arms crossed and expression completely closed off. Chysis sat beside her, apparently much more interested in studying Rowena’s spiritual structure than acknowledging that she had just punched straight through her own grandson’s stomach while trying to kill her. Carmilla watched the two of them with an almost irritating calm, while Scarlet’s gaze shifted between Rowena, Victor, and the bloodstain still spread across the wall.

Rowena, meanwhile, remained standing in the middle of the room.

Her tail moved slowly behind her.

Victor looked at all of them.

Then at the wall where part of his own brain was still stuck.

Then sighed.

"You all practically became different people just because a werewolf appeared in front of you." He ran a hand over his regenerated face, clearly annoyed. "What kind of self-control is that?"

Serafall turned toward him.

She was sulking.

Not elegantly irritated or trying to hide what she felt. Genuinely sulking, arms crossed beneath her breasts and lips slightly pursed, like someone who still believed she had been right and was especially unhappy about being stopped from continuing.

"She’s a werewolf," Serafall replied.

"I noticed the ears."

"Then you shouldn’t be asking."

Victor stared at her for a few seconds.

"Mom, you blew off half my head."

"You stepped in front of me."

"You keep using that as a defense."

"Because it’s true."

Victor opened his mouth, but Chysis spoke first.

"I don’t see why you’re so confused." She shrugged, showing no real regret. "My entire body told me to kill her."

Victor slowly turned toward his grandmother.

Chysis continued with complete naturalness.

"So I killed her."

"You tried to kill her."

"Detail."

"You punched through my stomach."

"Another detail."

Victor stared at her.

Chysis tilted her head slightly.

"It’s simple, Victor. The moment that woman appeared, every instinct in me immediately identified a lupine threat. My first reaction was to eliminate her before she could do anything."

"Without asking who she was."

"Didn’t need to."

"Without knowing why she was here."

"Didn’t need that either."

"Without realizing she doesn’t even have a physical body."

Chysis went silent for a moment.

"That part I admit I should have noticed."

Victor let out a tired breath.

Carmilla finally decided to intervene. "There’s no point arguing with those two as if this were entirely rational." She pointed first at Serafall and then at Chysis. "Their bloodline was born wrong."

Serafall turned toward her.

"Wrong?"

"You know I’m right."

Carmilla settled more comfortably into the armchair.

"Some vampiric bloodlines developed a much stronger rejection toward werewolves than others. Theirs is one of them." She looked at Victor. "It isn’t just prejudice, upbringing, or family history. There’s an instinctive component."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

"To this extent?"

"Worse."

Carmilla rested her chin on one hand.

"When they recognize lupine energy, lupine scent, or certain physical traits, the first impulse isn’t to assess the threat. It’s to kill. The urge can come before thought."

Serafall did not look pleased to hear it described that way, but she did not deny it either.

Carmilla let out a small laugh.

"If you stop and analyze it, it’s practically a disease."

"You’re calling our bloodline diseased?" Chysis asked.

"I am."

"Interesting."

"You two just mutilated Victor because you saw wolf ears."

Chysis thought for a few seconds.

"Reasonable argument."

Serafall looked indignantly at her own mother.

"You agreed far too quickly."

Chysis shrugged.

Carmilla looked back at Victor. "I don’t care either way. I’m not one of those fanatical anti-werewolf types over there."

"Your grandmother is the fanatic," Serafall muttered.

Chysis turned toward her daughter.

"You attacked first."

"And you attacked after."

"Because you missed."

"SHE’S A GHOST."

"I found that out."

Victor put a hand to his forehead.

Scarlet had been watching the argument with a thoughtful expression. After a few seconds, she lifted one of her own fox ears with her fingers as though that might help her understand something.

"I don’t feel it either."

The others looked at her.

Scarlet released her ear.

"That urge to kill werewolves."

She looked at Rowena.

"I can tell she’s different. The spiritual scent, the energy, the ears... even so, I don’t feel any desire to tear her throat out."

Carmilla nodded.

"You’re a fox-vampire. Your racial structure is already no longer completely identical to that of a traditional vampiric bloodline."

Scarlet tilted her head.

"So I’m normal."

Carmilla looked at her daughter.

"Don’t exaggerate."

Scarlet grimaced.

Rowena had listened to all of it without interfering. Finally, she crossed her arms and let out a small sigh.

"It’s natural."

Serafall immediately looked at her.

Rowena held her gaze.

"We hate each other."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

"That’s your argument for helping?"

"I’m being honest."

Rowena shrugged.

"I’m not particularly offended that they tried to kill me. The instant they appeared in front of me, part of me wanted to rip both their heads off too."

Serafall looked almost satisfied.

"See?"

Victor pointed at her.

"Don’t encourage her."

Rowena continued. "The difference is that I have enough common sense to realize that would be an extremely stupid idea."

Chysis narrowed her eyes.

"Because you’re weaker."

"Much weaker."

Rowena had no problem admitting it.

"And because I don’t exactly have a physical body right now." She looked at her translucent hands for a moment. "I’m still sealed inside the ring. This manifestation is only a projection of my consciousness."

Rowena raised one hand and passed it through the table.

Her fingers went through the wood without resistance.

"So trying to brawl with you would be pointless."

Then she shifted her eyes toward Victor.

"And this idiot here wouldn’t let any of us kill each other in battle anyway."

Victor smiled.

"Finally, someone recognizing my qualities."

Rowena looked at him.

"That wasn’t a compliment."

"I’ll interpret it as one."

"Your problem."

Again, the room fell silent.

Serafall stared at Rowena.

Rowena stared at Serafall.

Chysis watched both.

Scarlet seemed to be deciding whether that hostility really was as automatic as they claimed, while Carmilla simply looked entertained.

Victor waited a few seconds.

Then clapped his hands once.

"You all need to be more optimistic."

Five pairs of eyes turned toward him.

"No," Serafall answered immediately.

Victor ignored her.

"You’re going to have to learn to get along."

"Also no."

"Why?"

Serafall partially turned on the sofa.

"Because I don’t want to."

Victor sighed.

"You’re going to live together for a long time."

That sentence made Serafall stop.

"What?"

Victor pointed at Rowena.

"I promised I’d get her out of that ring."

Then he pointed at his family.

"And I’m not just going to dump her in the middle of a forest after freeing her."

Rowena raised an eyebrow.

"I’d survive."

"I’m not saying you wouldn’t."

"Then don’t talk as if I’m some abandoned animal."

"You understood what I meant."

"I did. I’m just complaining."

Serafall slowly narrowed her eyes.

"Victor."

"Hmm?"

"I can literally feel the scar Fenrir left on my back burning just from looking at her."

Victor watched his mother for two seconds.

"Cold bath."

Serafall went still.

Scarlet let out a muffled laugh.

Carmilla turned her face away, clearly trying not to laugh too.

Serafall pointed at Victor.

"Don’t joke about that."

"I’m not joking. Cold water helps inflammation."

"It isn’t inflamed."

"Then even better."

"Victor."

"Fine."

Chysis, who already seemed tired of the circular argument, raised one hand.

"Enough."

Everyone became a little quieter.

She looked at Victor.

"You didn’t introduce an ancient werewolf to us simply because you wanted us to meet your ring companion."

Victor lost part of his smile.

"No."

"Then what do you want?"

"To talk about my bloodline."

Serafall changed immediately.

She uncrossed her arms.

"Why?"

Victor looked at her.

Serafall continued. "We’re already investigating your bloodline. Carmilla, me, Chysis, and Natasha have analyzed your blood several times. We know there’s something different in it, we know about the adaptation, and we’ve already considered the possibility that you’re forming a bloodline of your own."

"I know."

"Then what does Rowena have to do with it?"

Victor stayed quiet for a moment.

He had thought about this conversation several times while inside the ring, but now that he had to explain it to people who deeply understood vampiric nature, it seemed even stranger.

He let out a slow breath.

"Rowena."

The werewolf understood.

She moved slightly away from the table and looked directly at the four vampires.

Serafall became suspicious again.

Chysis was attentive.

Carmilla lost her amused expression completely.

Scarlet simply waited.

Rowena spoke.

"Victor is blessed by the World Tree, Yggdrasil."

No one answered.

Serafall blinked once.

Then again.

"No."

Rowena frowned.

"That wasn’t a question."

"I know."

Serafall pointed at Victor.

"He’s a vampire."

"I noticed that too."

"Then he can’t be blessed by Yggdrasil."

"He can."

"He can’t."

Rowena crossed her arms.

"Do you want to argue about Natural Energy with me?"

Serafall opened her mouth.

Chysis raised one hand.

"Wait."

She was now watching Victor much more carefully.

"What exactly do you mean by ’blessed’?"

Rowena answered without hesitation.

"Exactly what it sounds like."

She walked toward Victor, though her steps made no sound against the floor.

"Werewolves can manipulate Natural Energy because our race received a blessing from Yggdrasil. Elves possess an even deeper relationship because they were born directly from the influence of the World Tree."

Rowena pointed at Victor.

"He has compatibility."

Carmilla narrowed her eyes.

"Compatibility doesn’t mean blessing."

"I know."

Rowena looked at her.

"That’s why I tested it."

Victor sat on the edge of the table.

"She injected Natural Energy directly into my body while I was in a coma."

Serafall immediately turned toward him.

"You let a werewolf put energy inside you while you were unconscious?"

Victor thought.

"When you say it like that, it sounds irresponsible."

"Because it was irresponsible."

"I was conscious inside the ring."

"That doesn’t make it better."

"Mom."

"Continue."

Victor decided not to argue.

Rowena took over again.

"I expected rejection."

Chysis nodded.

"Naturally."

"More than that." Rowena placed her hands behind her back. "Vampiric energy and Natural Energy shouldn’t coexist easily. Vampiric blood is aggressive. It devours, corrupts, or expels foreign essences."

Carmilla agreed.

"Especially an essence of an opposing nature."

"Exactly."

Rowena pointed at Victor.

"His blood didn’t do that."

Scarlet frowned.

"What did it do?"

"Accepted it."

Carmilla did not react immediately.

Rowena continued:

"My Natural Energy entered his circulation and remained stable. His blood wrapped around the energy, moved with his own circulation, and then Victor began manipulating it without even knowing what he was doing."

Chysis slowly leaned forward.

"Are you sure that wasn’t the adaptation?"

"I’m sure."

Rowena answered too quickly to leave room for doubt.

"Natural Energy doesn’t work that way. It can’t simply be copied and converted like mana or certain forms of magical energy."

Victor looked at Serafall.

"I tried using that explanation too."

"And I told him it was wrong," Rowena finished.

Carmilla became thoughtful.

"So the blood didn’t copy Natural Energy."

"No."

"It recognized it."

"Yes."

Chysis remained silent for several seconds.

"That would be impossible for an ordinary vampire."

"That’s exactly the problem."

Rowena moved closer to Victor again.

"Then I taught him how to consciously perceive Natural Energy."

Serafall slowly turned toward her son.

"You managed it?"

Victor gave a small smile.

"I did."

He raised one hand.

"When I woke up, I tested it."

Scarlet seemed to remember something.

"Your eye."

Victor looked at her.

Scarlet pointed.

"When you woke up, I saw something green before I jumped on you. I thought I was still half asleep."

"You weren’t."

Victor covered half his face with his palm.

Breathed slowly.

The change was not immediate, but it did not take long either.

A subtle current ran through his body.

His right eye glowed.

The characteristic red of his vampiric iris gradually changed until it became a deep, clear green.

Chysis stood.

Serafall went completely still.

Carmilla watched with a level of concentration Victor rarely saw from her.

Scarlet simply widened her eyes.

Victor opened that eye fully.

For an instant, his attention left the room.

Extremely thin lines of Natural Energy appeared everywhere. Small currents crossed the floor, passed beneath the structure, and continued in directions ordinary vision could never reach.

He shut the perception down before pushing too deeply.

The green disappeared.

His eye returned to red.

"I can see Ley Lines," Victor said.

Chysis fell silent.

So did Serafall.

Carmilla was the first to speak.

"Ley Lines?"

Rowena nodded.

"The channels through which Natural Energy circulates across the planet. Yggdrasil’s roots feed those lines."

Carmilla looked at Victor.

"You can see that?"

"For a few seconds."

Victor ran a finger below his eye.

"It still hurts like hell if I force it."

Chysis did not seem to be listening to the part about pain.

She walked over to him and took his face in her hands, turning it slightly from one side to the other.

"Do it again."

"No."

"Victor."

"I just said it hurts."

"Once."

"No."

Chysis made a displeased expression.

Carmilla let out a low laugh.

Serafall, however, was not thinking about the eye.

Victor noticed.

She was looking at him in a very specific way.

Almost uncomfortable.

"Mom?"

Serafall took several seconds to answer.

"You asked about your father."

Victor stopped.

Rowena looked at her too.

Carmilla stopped smiling.

Chysis slowly turned toward her daughter.

Victor rested his hands on the table.

"I did."

Serafall remained quiet.

He continued:

"Because Rowena thought it was strange that I had this connection."

Serafall did not answer.

"I told her what you always told me."

Her eyes met his.

"That you took genetic material from some random man."

Chysis raised an eyebrow.

Carmilla narrowed her eyes.

Scarlet looked from Serafall to Victor.

Rowena slowly crossed her arms.

Victor noticed his mother had gone rigid.

"So..."

He tilted his head.

"I think we’ve reached the part where you start explaining that story a little better."