A pair of royal guards were cleaning up the remains of fallen vampires in the hallway as the swordsman came stumbling out. They paused briefly and then went back to work. One of the servants, an elf girl came over to him cautiously, "My lord? Are you alright?"

"Leave me be...child...I just need...some air!" Irzen coughed as his airway began to fully clear. The Swordsman leaned up against the wall and took in as many deep breaths as he could.

The servant girl frowned and did as he asked backing up to give him space.

Madeous came out of the throne room to finding Irzen wheezing from Alyson's assault. He also noticed a servant standing nearby and walked over. "Go on about your duties. This matter does not concern you."

She blinked and looked up to him, "Nay, sir, I would stay to offer him something to drink. For he seems he could use something to moisten his throat after what transpired."

"And what would that be?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously and advanced towards her.

"The vampires sir. It was terrible having to hide from all the fighting. It was scary and my..my" Her words began to slur and her movements became animated as if they were on strings. The eyes closed as she convulsed violently and when they opened they were glazed over, blank.

"What in the world?!" Irzen gasped as he took full notice of the elf girl.

Her mouth grinned and in a mix of tangled voices a song came out, "I had strings but now I'm free. I've got no strings on me! Teehee! Isn't that such a wonderful song? I enjoyed watching the Elementalist taking her rage out on you, Swordsman! It was such delightful carnage. It's a shame that she's still strong enough to resist me. That won't last long."

"Let me guess: You're the Blood Mage, I presume?" Irzen snarled at the little girl, "You know, using a child to do your dirty work is quite cowardly! Even for a Blood Mage."

The puppet turned to the platinum knight, "And you! YOU! I curse your interference!"

"Take a number and get to the back of the line! Unless you beat the curse Venger placed on me, you're out of luck!" Madeous snarled and steadily pushed the puppet away from Irzen.

The Swordsman now caught his full breath and stood apart from the wall with his hand resting on the hilt of his sheathed sword.

The puppet laughed now hovering above them and dancing upside down on the ceiling, "Oh come now. You poor, poor little drow. Come to play with me have you? It's been such a lonnnnnnnnnnnnng time since I've had new playthings in my reach."

Madeous reached behind his back grabbing his sword and jabbed it upwards. He missed which doesn't happen very often.

"Tsk! Tsk! No. No. No. Is that any way to treat this meeting. Such useless attempts to strike me down." The puppet hung upside down in Irzen's face, "Surely, swordsman. Have a drink on me. Tralalala!"

"Let's not and say we did!" The Swordsman smiled with an evil grin. In one fluid motion, Irzen yanked his sword free of its scabbard, sliced through the neck of the puppet and returned his sword to his sheathe with the trademark quickness of his Dark Elven heritage.

The puppet dropped to the floor with a sickening crunch even as the body twitched about before it well still. The blood however oozed out of the dead girl's corpse forming into a human sized image with a smile, "Enjoy this victory, mortals. Enjoy what freedoms you have left, we will savor your pain slowly and feast upon the souls of--!!"

Madeous drove his sword into the floor like he did back in Asylum at the barracks. The magic that flowed from the weapon surrounded the blood mage. Pure white light rose up and turned inward before the creature could react. The blood mage snarled and screamed as the power of Bahamut slammed into him with such force banishing him from the castle permanently.

With a sigh of relief, the platinum knight gave Irzen a nod, "Is it me or do the villains here like to monologue a lot? Either way, the blood mage won't be able to control anyone here in the palace. He's been rebuked by Bahamut himself."

"Good to know!" The Swordsman nodded his approval, "And yes, you're right, the villains of The Realm do like to monologue a lot. Personally, I think all of them love to hear themselves talk. Now, what about Alyson? Is she fully herself or is she still under the Blood Mage's control?"

He was about to reply when he heard Quake yelling up in the throne room. He just looked at the swordsman and frowned, "I don't know for sure but lets find out what the commotion is, shall we."

"Agreed!" Without a moment's hesitation, Irzen raced back down the hallway and into the throne room.

******

The elemental left and went back up to the airship to fetch the captain. Heading to the door, she knocked and entered. "So, umm The Bronze Man needs you to come down to the throne room, sir. It's the lady...she ah, nearly killed Irzen out of rage."

The Englishman sighed heavily and stood up from his chair throwing on a hooded cloak. At least he had something to drink before he left the safety of the cabin. He stopped briefly to reassure Serna, "Maxim and Sir Gonagle will stay with you while I'm gone. Please, stay on the airship, young lady where you're safe."

"You don't have to tell me twice, Captain Lion," Serna held her shield tightly, "I'm not leaving this room until you say otherwise."

The kurori sat up on her shoulder and whispered, "I'll protect you, Serna. I won't let any evil blood sucker get near you. I promise."

"Thanks, Caliaphy!" Serna whispered back, "And I'll protect you too. Just keep it down. We don't want to let Sir Gonagle or Maxim know that you are here with me. They would shoot you on sight if they did."

The kurori nodded in agreement and began to play with some of her hair.

*******

When Captain Lion entered, the room was tense from the previous nights battle with vampires. Still wearing the hooded cloak he approached the bronze man holding Alyson. Placing a pale hand on her forehead, she was cold and still. Her breath shallow. He glanced about the throne room and remembered a side room to the far left, "There I will do it in that room with your permission, Grand Cleric."

"Under most circumstances, I would not allow you or anyone else near her, Captain but this is not normal." The bronze man said bluntly.

Quake came over and blurted out so everyone could her, "No. You're not gonna turn her! That ain't gonna happen! I won't let you...she doesn't like vampires!"

"Turn her?!" Princess Cauladra and Prince Birch looked at each other in complete disbelief, "As in, turn her into a vampire?!"

Captain Lion looked at the elemental, "If there were any other way to deal with this, I can assure you it would be done. Now, let me help Alyson. She won't turn but it will be necessary...the Grand Cleric shall cure her of the side affects, dear Quake."

Usually it was Caliaphy giving everyone the quivering lip instead of Quake when she felt things were going bad. She couldn't help herself this time and the tears began to flow, "I...I...can't watch this...tell you're gonna do right by this. Both of you..."

Lazheros brought Alyson into the smaller chamber and laid her down upon the table and stepped back. He had seen this done once before a long time ago and yet he could feel Quake's apprehension towards Captain Lion.

The Englishman pulled back his hood and bent down over the elementalist. Brushing her hair away from her neck, he could feel a pulse beating still. He spoke to her in her mind, ~ It is only by the wish of the Grand Cleric that I am doing this. For I am truly sorry.~ His fangs elongated just before he bit into her neck, drinking her blood. Infecting her with vampirism long enough to fight the rage inflicted by the Blood Mage. He pulled back and wiped his mouth of the blood where he found a chair to sit down in.

"She has three days to be cured of the vampirism, Grand Cleric. I suspect, she will recover soon and put everyone's worries to rest." Captain Lion said quietly.

"Captain Lion?!" Prince Birch walked into the room completely aghast, "Are you--are you a vampire?"

Suddenly, Irzen burst into the room, "What did we miss? What happened?"