Vampire Nightlife

"W-wait, what?!" Rhea said. "Are you out of your mind–?!"

It didn't make any sense to trust someone intrinsically. That was the kind of life that Lukas lived and he couldn't help but grin at the alarm in the Dream Eater's voice–she was stunned.

Somehow it made the sting in his hand somehow worth it.

There was no dagger in his hands to ruin his palm any further, the bleeding was going to stop any moment now but as he clutched the crystal and it cracked, his own blood seeped into the stone.

Which was expected, but as Rhea's freedom came–so did the blood that coursed and filled her prison. Lukas concentrated hard, recalling that System notification. If it had happened before, it could happen again.

[You Have Formed A Bond With–]

"T-this is?!" Rhea squeaked out.

From the distance, Chaerin and the rest saw a beautiful array of colors spill out into numerous directions and blinded them. The silhouette of a beautiful figure appeared in thin air.

Gone was the beautiful image of Rhea in Lukas' dreams–on the contrary, she appeared like a Dream Eater had always been. Her skin was filled with countless constellations of stars in a dark canvas, an ethereal glow that transcended most if not everything that Lukas had ever seen before.

A freed Dream Eater in the flesh.

"Lukas, you've–" Rhea's voice was filled with marvel, freedom and joy all at the same time. She was no longer trapped, she felt true and wholly complete–

Except for the small circle of blood at the very center of her being. It shimmered like the rest of her, but it was not of the same nature of her own esoteric body–this was a bond bound by blood.

His blood.

Rhea's face didn't exactly sink in, but neither did it completely shine either. Instead, a rueful expression crossed her face as she looked at Lukas who was already waiting for her.

"You're freed from the prison that trapped you, but–"

"I'm not exactly escaping from your grasp either." Rhea laughed and touched the part where blood formed in her body. There was a strong pull that lingered there, it was hard to ignore. "I should have expected this."

"Don't make me out to be some kind of bad guy." Lukas eyed her with a tired expression. It was like something was taken from him when he had made that bond with Rhea.

It was different from Chaerin and Lily's that were natural and comfortable. A bond made from something out of mutual desire to be with one another–but this one had tugged at his soul and warred for it for dominance.

"Authority. Dominance. Subterfuge." Drusilla's voice whispered in his mind, and it sounded quite pleased.

Lukas wished that he didn't get such admiration from someone. He hadn't really wanted to make that choice–but there was no other way.

"Indeed. You do not know what I could do if I was truly free from all influence." Rhea murmured with an amused, but slightly resentful tone. "You've done well, Vampire–Human… whatever you truly are."

"Shall we proceed then?" Lukas glanced down at the waters that coiled below them. It shouldn't have been possible, but it was like it was seething in anger. Somehow, Lukas was getting better at reading even into things not that visible.

"Very well." Rhea stretched out her hands towards him.

Lukas wordlessly took it.

From a distance, it would seem like Lukas fell asleep by the tree as Lukas' dream self entered into the heart of the forest.

Everything was dark. Truly pitch black. So dark that it was almost impossible to know where the darkness started and where it began to mix with you–until there was movement beneath you and you rose out of the cage.

That was perhaps the earliest memory of the Dryad.

Lukas' eyes widened once he saw the small sapling appear, and it was one out of many. The Veil Forest was not as covered in mists as it had begun, rather, it was planted and taken care of by the first of the world.

It was hard to comprehend, the image was fuzzy probably because it was from the eyes of a sapling, but then there was the ever so telling pointedness of the ears and the warm bask of sunlight.

That was enough of an indicator for Lukas to know.

Elves were gathered together, a community that numbered as many as Lukas' eyes could see. That was a memory, golden eyes filled with wisdom as magic was breathed into the forest and everything started to grow.

"This is…" Lukas couldn't believe it, and as he looked around–he found Rhea flying above the skies. But no matter how much she flew, there was a limit to the firmaments she could reach.

The being's memory started out small, but as time passed and as its roots extended, it also began to grow. Some of the trees vanished and were cut down, shadows of different creatures chopping at its companions.

Empires and kingdoms built from the very limbs of its people.

Rain fell hard. More of its companions were uprooted, the dirt became soft and weak–but still it held on. Desperately. With all the determination to live.

A sapling's consciousness was faint at first, barely enough to resemble a human's–but there was feeling, emotions and desire. And it wouldn't be the only force that would grow.

While cut off from the rest of the world, surrounded by a body of water, so did the pool of water flow and notice its prisoner. A tree and a body of water.

Completely different from each other.

Elements distinct.

But somehow with one similarity.

While the birds sang and shared stories of the seas, the oceans and bodies of waters that the lake would never touch or know except for when the rain sometimes fell with waters from afar–it realized that the tree was the same.

Cut off and separated.

Those emotions and thoughts flooded and coursed within Lukas' own that he was being consumed by it. It happened so subtly, that he didn't even realize that he was being swallowed until the sounds of dreams echoed in his ears.

Rhea grabbed his hand, tried to tug him and then kissed him.