The Extra Wants Control

The chamber reverberated with the snarls and roars of the demons, their rage a counterpoint to the crackling electricity of Verona's violet aura. Suring her, the demon Barons hacked and slashed with reckless abandon, while the Viscounts, their eyes gleaming with malicious intt, began weaving their attacks. But it was their words that truly drew Verona's atttion.

"Demonic Chains of Tormt!" bellowed a hulking Viscount, his voice resonating with dark power. Black chains materialized from thin air, coiling towards Verona with malevolt purpose.

" Demonic..."

A sardonic smile played on Verona's lips. "Demonic Laws?" she mused, dodging the chains with a graceful twist. "How quaint. You Viscounts have formed your own little demonic rulebook, have you?"

Another Viscount stepped forward, his voice dripping with a vomous hiss. "Demonic Binding Avarice!" he snarled, and tdrils of dark ergy lashed out, seeking to bind Verona's movemts.

Verona chuckled, the sound echoing through the chamber like tinkling bells in a graveyard. "Impressive," she acknowledged, easily deflecting the tdrils. "You siphon your chaotic ergy into these… laws?"

"Constantine's Apocalypse Law though impressive pales in comparison. But th again, his was born of mana, a far more subtle force."

Her eyes narrowed as she caught a glimpse of the chaotic ergy fueling the demons' attacks. Unlike the raw, untamed chaos she understood, this felt… tainted. Volatile, infused with a darkness that twisted its essce. It was like a child's scribble compared to a masterfully crafted painting. "Not true chaos, it is just volatile and unstable," she mused, "but something far more impressionable."

Verona felt a faint tug at the edges of her awaress, she felt of another power source – something better, something that resonated with the true pottial of chaos. But it remained tantalizingly out of reach, a distant melody obscured by the cacophony of the battle.

"Frustrating," she muttered, a flicker of annoyance crossing her face. She had hoped to learn more about her own power source, mana, but for now, it remained a mystery.

The battle raged on. The air crackled with demonic ergy, the demons hurling their "laws" one after another – Demonic Shackles of Regret, Demonic Spear of Despair. Verona, a whirlwind of violet ergy, weaved through the onslaught, her amusemt morphing into a steely focus. Studying, observing, she learned more with every dodged attack, every deflected spell.

"Enough games," she finally declared, her voice ringing with newfound authority. "Time to finish this."

With a surge of violet ergy, Verona unleashed her own attack. It wasn't a flashy spell, no grandiose pronouncemts. It was a simple expression of her will, honed by observation and simmering with the pottial of chaos. The chamber pulsed with the raw power of her attack, drowning out the demonic shrieks and shattering their "laws" like fragile glass.

The tide of the battle turned. The remaining demons, their confidce shak, their manufactured chaos no match for the raw power they faced, fell before Verona's onslaught. As the smoke cleared and the silce settled, Verona stood amidst the vanquished, the embodimt of a predator who understood the game, and the one who had rewritt the rules.

The air hung thick with the smell of burnt flesh and lins. Verona stood amidst the carnage, a lone figure bathed in the violet glow of her own power. The Barons, their initial fury extinguished, lay lifeless on the cold obsidian floor, mere whispers of dust caught in the aftermath of her wrath.

Her gaze turned to the lone survivors – the Viscounts, huddled in cages wov from solidified darkness. Fear contorted their features, a stark contrast to the arrogance they displayed momts before.

"You," Verona addressed them, her voice a chilling whisper, "will be the stepping stones for my son."

A tremor of terror ran through the Viscounts. Stepping stones? For a child? Huuhhh?

Verona, however, didn't linger to decipher their fear. With a snap of her fingers, she vanished, leaving them in their cage of darkness, a chilling silce her only farewell.

Gone, Verona found herself veloped in the familiar solitude of her hidd chamber. In the silt room, a softer note resonated – the gtle rise and fall of Neveah's unconscious breath.

He lay on a bed of shimmering crystals, his pale features etched with easing pain. Seeing him so vulnerable fanned the flames of her protectivess. Verona knelt beside him, her violet eyes softing with an emotion rarely displayed – worry.

A thousand thoughts crowded her mind. This victory, it seemed, was just the beginning. How would she sure Neveah's future? What kind of training would he need to navigate this brutal world? The demonic ergy she had just observed.

***********

The chamber pulsed with a faint luminescce as Eliana placed the final mana crystal onto the intricate floor circle. With a deep breath, she straighted and turned to Valeriana. "It's done," she announced, her voice echoing softly in the stillness.

Valeriana, her face pale and drawn, nodded curtly. Before Eliana could utter another word, a shimmer filled the room, and Valeriana materialized beside her. "Mother…" Eliana began, but her words were cut short.

"Find my descdants," Valeriana commanded, her voice etched with urgcy. She pricked her finger with a sharp nail, letting a single crimson drop fall onto the cter of the intricate design.

The circle pulsed with a brighter light, swirling and churning as it processed the information. Within its depths, two beacons flickered to life – one a brilliant, vibrant orb, the other a very dull, flickering ember. Th, with a sudd jolt, the dull light sputtered and died leaving the bright light that was close to her indicating Eliana.

Panic clawed at Eliana's throat. "What does that mean?" she stammered, her gaze locked on Valeriana's rigid form.

But Valeriana seemed froz, her eyes wide and unseeing. Finally, after a tse silce, a raspy voice broke through the tsion. "It means Rav is dead," the voice declared, heavy with sorrow.

Eliana's head snapped towards the speaker. An old man, his red hair streaked with silver, stood leaning heavily on a staff. "Grandfather?" she breathed, surprise battling with the growing storm of grief. "Why are you here?"

"I came to check on you two," the old man replied, his voice gruff but laced with concern.

Valeriana finally broke her paralysis, a single choked sob escaping her lips. "No," she rasped, the word repeating in a brok rhythm. "He can't be dead… No, he can't be dead."

The old man sighed, his shoulders slumping further. "Valeriana," he began gtly, "either the curse claimed him, or something else did. The only way he could still be alive is if…"

"That's it!" Valeriana's voice shot up, a flicker of manic ergy replacing her despair. "He's not human anymore! And the only race capable of changing others is the Vampires. Yes, yes, he is a vampire now…" She muttered to herself, her eyes gleaming with a feverish light. "I just have to find him and change him back… But how?"

Eliana watched in growing concern as Valeriana paced the room, muttering to herself and gnawing on her fingertip. Her mother's usually composed demeanor had crumbled, replaced by a frantic desperation.

"Val…" the old man attempted to interject, but Valeriana cut him off with a sharp glare. "What?" she snapped, her voice laced with defiance.

"You are being too optimistic," the old man stated firmly.

Valeriana scoffed. " Th do you want me to accept he died? If he died, that means... That means, it's my fault… and I can't bear it," she cried, her voice cracking with grief.

The old man approached her, his hand reaching out to rest gtly on her shoulder. "Valeriana..." he said, his voice filled with understanding. "

Valeriana remained silt, her body trembling. She closed her eyes, her face contorted in a silt battle betwe hope and despair. The weight of the unknown hung heavy in the air, the fate of her son.

" The Academy Enrollmt day," Eliana had said, her voice laced with trepidation, " Is wh I said that Neveah… he looked like Rav, grown up, but with red eyes instead of his born grey-purple eyes."

The name, once familiar on her lips, now felt foreign, choked by a grief she couldn't express. "That's it," Valeriana rasped, her voice barely a whisper. "Neveah… no, it should be Rav. He is my son!"

Eliana oped her mouth to protest, but a firm hand on her shoulder from her grandfather silced her. He gave her a single, pleading look shaking his head, urging her to hold back. But Eliana, fueled by a desperate need for clarity, ignored the silt plea.

"Mother," she pressed, "You saw it was a disguise. He was shapeshifted. You saw his true form wh the Vampire Que arrived. He didn't look like Rav, or atleast how Rav would grow up to look like. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME!"

" Vampire shape shifting draws inspiration from somewhere either he knows Rav or uncounciosly reverted to his 'natural self." Said Valeriana and Her father nodded.

Valeriana th flinched at the memory, the image of the cold, Neveah in the forest as he stepped on Axl's neck, flashing before her eyes. Yet, she clung to a fragile shred of hope. "The video you saw," she mumbled, clutching at straws. "Rav… well Neveah… he resembles 'that' man wh he was young. There's a resemblance although little it's still there…"

"A forced resemblance, Mother," Eliana countered gtly. "The differce is vast. And besides, wouldn't the hair and eye color be the least of your concerns if it truly were Rav?"

Valeriana's voice grew strained. "It doesn't matter," she insisted, more to herself than to them. "I'll ask myself. I just need to know…"

"You're grasping at straws," Eliana said sadly.

" What will you do Valeriana... Confront the Vampire Que? Demand for your son? She's far more powerful than you. Ev if Neveah is Rav, what th? He's lived all his life feeling abandoned, and some years as vampire, a life you didn't share.

He might not…"

"He might not want anything to do with me," Valeriana finished the stce, the words a bitter truth. The weight of her past choices pressed down on her, smothering her with guilt.

The old man, his weathered face etched with wisdom, stepped forward. "You're right," he said with a sigh. "Force won't create a bond. Look at things from his perspective, Valeriana. You abandoned him. The Que, whether willingly or not, raised him..

You can't force a relationship."

"But the curse…" Eliana began, her voice trailing off, the justification hollow ev to her own ears.

"The curse doesn't erase responsibility, Eliana. I abandoned him. He might not ev remember my face." Valeriana said solemnly.

" He might not remember your face because of a lot of reasons, one you didn't meet him much and two the effects of the curse. It split his soul maybe ate away at his memories too, he might not be ev the Rav. I wanted to say the Rav we once knew but... we never knew him." Said Valeriana's father amd both Valeriana's and Eliana's faces were filled with guilt and regret.

" I still need to make sure. I will meet him" Said Valeriana.

" But the Vampire Contint is closed what will you do?" Said Eliana the news of Neveah being her brother hadn't settled yet.

" I'll meet him wh it ops and if it doesn't I'll force myself in. I need to get stronger." Said Valeriana as she disappeared.

Eliana also walked away a while later her mind a mess.

The old man, his shoulders slumped with the weight of the situation, looked towards the ceiling and muttered, "Great Grandfather. It seems our household is tangled with the vampires once more. Sigh... I'm too old for this shit. Where's my retiremt?"

A suffocating silce descded upon her mother's sleeping quaters. Eliana had come here to meet her mother, she watched, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs, as her mother's shoulders slumped, the weight of unspok grief pressing down on her.

"I need to be alone for a while," Valeriana finally rasped, her voice heavy with defeat. It wasn't just the words; it was the resignation in her tone, the acceptance of a loss that tore at her soul.

With a shimmer, Valeriana vanished, leaving Eliana alone with the echo of her despair. They both knew Valeriana needed this solitude, this time to grapple with the storm of emotions raging within her.

But in this state of grief she did something reckless...

Momts stretched into what felt like an eternity, the silce brok only by the soft sigh of the sea wind.

A figure materialized on the sky overlooking the vast expanse of the sealed vampire contint – a shimmering barrier of emerald ergy shimmering in the distance.

"Human Empress, my contint is currtly sealed, for what reason are you here?" a voice, both alluring and authoritative, echoed in the distance.

It was Verona, the Vampire Que, her beauty as captivating as the rumors suggested. Her violet eyes, however, held a steely glint, a silt question directed at the uninvited guest.

Valeriana's voice, laced with raw emotion, cut through the air.

"I want to see my son!" she declared, her voice echoing across the distance.

Verona raised an eyebrow.