Free and Unfettered 118 Lunar Eclipse

Startlingly, Jasper realized that this sort of feeling was undeniably familiar to him. He frowned at the implications.

"This feels very similar to something I've already experienced. Though I don't have any memories of this, my body still remembers."

Nine withdrew her magic from the older Vampire, nodding. "It should. Your magic would remember, just as your body would, even though it's been erased from your memories. Your mind has been tampered with, but there are no traces of who did the tampering."

Jasper, Nocturne and Seyton's face hardened at this. Who would be audacious enough to tamper with the memories of a Vampire Prince? The only one who would, realistically, be daring enough to do that would be the Vampire King himself, or perhaps one of the other Royals. There was also the option of there being another person who was stronger than Jasper, but the chances were slim.

As war-hardened as Jasper was, he was light on his feet, and even lighter when he slept. The slightest sound in his bedroom would awaken him at any moment, which was why there was only a low chance of there being someone outside of a Vampire being able to get the drop on him.

"Can you get the memories back?" Jasper asked.

Nine shook her head. "As far as I am aware, no. However, should the person who removed your memories ever come near, your magic would remember it."

Jasper nodded. "Thank you, Nine," he said heavily.

Nine smiled faintly. "Relax. As long as Seyton considers you his brother, you'll always be welcome to darken our doorstep."

Nocturne glared balefully at Jasper, as if telling him that wasn't so, but Nine dutifully ignored her wife, picking up a wine glass from the table and sipping on the dark red liquid.

Jasper got the hint from Nocturne's glare and backed off wisely, holding both hands up in surrender, ignoring his brother's smirk.

"So," Jasper said slowly, sheepishly scratching his cheek. "I brought the dolls here with me, because I didn't think that it would be a good idea to leave them in my castle…"

The corner of Nine's eye twitched before she calmed down. She continued sipping on the blood in the glass, as if she hadn't heard him.

Instead, Nocturne stepped up to the plate and held his hand out. Jasper stared at his hand, confused. Ever so slowly, he placed his hand in Nocturne's hand, baffled.

Seyton choked back a laugh.

Exasperated, Nocturne slapped Jasper's hand away. "The dolls! Hand them over!"

"Oh," Jasper said, his face straight. "And here I thought you were welcoming me to become part of a threesome…"

Nocturne kicked Jasper. "Shameless!" he cried, the tips of his ears burning red.

Nine tugged her Nox back into her arms, biting down on a red-tipped ear. "Mine."

Jasper groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I surrender," the Vampire Prince said in a tone that sounded like he was asking for amnesty.

Seyton reached over and patted his distraught brother on the back, which did nothing for the Prince.

When Nine had finished messing with them, she nodded as Jasper, who offered up the interspatial bracelet like a subject presenting a gift to a king. Nocturne sniffed and took the bracelet from the Vampire Prince before grabbing him and dragging him along with a strength that one wouldn't expect from his lithe body.

Jasper let himself be dragged, pulling out a small white sheet and another smaller pole, starting to work on it…

Nine and Seyton saw them off with their eyes.

Nine held out another wine glass to Seyton, who tried to refuse it. She rolled her eyes.

"Drink. You're clearly fatigued and in lack of proper food. Drink before you collapse. I won't have my subordinate faint on me."

Seyton took the glass from Nine, drinking the blood. He drank it slowly, savouring it, as if it were one of the rarest delicacies in the world.

Nine watched Seyton's drinking motions and inwardly marvelled at the grace that filled his actions. They were completely unlike those she had seen whilst touring the Night Tide continent. Briefly, she wondered if it was hereditary, before remembering how Jasper drank with gusto. The Vampire Prince was like a black hole in that respect. She had even briefly wondered if that was enough to fill him up.

Nine swirled the blood in the glass, her thoughts drifting slightly. "I'll be going out to Hopcaper tribe to check on how Justin and Matthew are doing when the sun sets."

Seyton frowned before holding back the protest that wanted to leave his lips. He knew fully how strong his Master was, but that didn't mean that accidents couldn't happen.

Nine smiled inwardly at the clear concern on Seyton's face. "Don't look so worried. I'll bring along one of my students with me."

Seyton nodded, his worries assuaged for the time being. His Master's students knew their teacher's quirks well and would be able to cover his back. Though they were no where near Master's level of proficiency, they were leagues ahead of most as they devoured knowledge under Nine's careful hand.

Nine thought about who to bring along with her, before eventually deciding to bring along the couple, Andrew and Valerie. Mainly because, one, they had hit it off with Justin whilst he was here, and two, they were a couple, so there was no reason for Nocturne to get jealous and lose his sense of reasoning over it whilst she was away.

Happy with her decision, Nine left them a message through the interspatial bracelet's messaging function, informing them of the fact.

With that done, Nine dropped by the workshop to say goodbye to her Nox. By goodbye, she meant something that made the singles in the room quickly vacate before the coast was clear. Jasper even waved the little surrender flag that he made on the way to the workshop on his way out.

"Stay safe, husband," Nocturne whispered, his voice slightly sad.

If that didn't make Nine's heart clench at how sad he sounded, nothing would. She squeezed him a little tighter to herself, pressing a kiss on his forehead.

"Don't worry. I'll come back safe to you," Nine promised. She had every intention to keep that promise. She wouldn't allow herself to break that big a promise. Silently, she reaffirmed that she needed to stay more vigilant and aware of her surroundings.

Though she was strong, she wasn't infallible.

Nocturne stepped back from Nine, smiling at her, and she felt her heart melt instantly. Her Nox had her wrapped around her little finger, and she had no problems with that.

"You have to report in to me every two hours, okay? I'll panic if you don't!"

Nine nodded, quickly teleporting to the meeting spot. The sun was already starting to hang low in the sky. As it sunk lower in the sky, the orange and red tones bled out of the clouds, allowing both moons in the sky to make their presence known.

Nine hopped up to the wall, staring out of the city. The white-tipped trees in the distance reassured her that though the undead came each day, there was still life outside of these walls. As if hearing her thoughts, a murder of crows cawed as they flew in the sky.

At this call, the familiar sounds of the undead came, as if clockwork. Though the figures were still far in the distance, they were already audible as the black swarm closed in on them.

Nine watched all of this happen with dispassionate eyes. Silently, she gazed at the two blue moons. They were luminescent and large, almost blending into the night sky themselves. They matched the colours so well that it reminded Nine slightly of the lunar eclipse back on Earth, only that this time, there were two moons instead of one.

Silently, Nine waited for the day that they would eradicate the undead from the planet.

Chapter end