`A Productive Day

You were awoken by Rose, her gentle kiss rousing You as You opened Your eyes "You're in Your coffin and she's in the bed, something bad happen?" She whispered as You blinked Your eyes into use

"I thought that I might give her some space. What is that delightful smell?" You asked with a smile, Rose kissed You again like she just couldn't help herself

"It's morning, Human's eat breakfast in the morning, so I made You breakfast" Rose spoke it like it was some kind of new equation, though of course, the concept would obviously still be unfamiliar to her. flying out of Your coffin to taste what would undoubtedly be an excellent breakfast, You noticed Cleo, sat in the lounging area quietly, refusing to look at You... though, as You grabbed Your mugs, You couldn't help but smile when You saw Cleo's empty.

After You had partaken of Rose's excellent Hashbrowns, sad that eating any more would likely make You sick, You got on with training for the day. Cleo watched You and Rose slip into Your battlesuits and going at one another with even greater speed and tact than she had likely ever seen.

You were getting stronger, faster, You no longer even had to think on a strategy anymore, such things came naturally, working through Her counter attacks with the appropriate ripostes, defending and counter-attacking in turn from Rose's ferocious attacks, of course, she got You a couple of times, planting her fist in Your stomach and sending You flying into the wall, and another claw that slashed across Your leg, but You caught the pattern misting so that Her claw flew right through the other leg, Rose grinned, picking up the pace, testing You with a barrage of claws which You clipped out of the air, Your smacking hands going off like machine guns until You had eventually caught her left arm and swept her from under her feet.

Rose, of course, span with insane flexibility, cannoning her shin into Your ribs, feeling them crack under the **** as Your face collided with the wall again. "Good, very good, excellent reflex and Instinct, but You need to start to build more stamina and endurance if You clock out halfway through a battle then all of that early effort is for nothing." She instructed, watching You shoot back up with a smile, ignoring the pain of Your ribs snapping back into place

"Wooo, that hurt like a bitch." You said with a grin "So, what now, shall we go again?"

"No, I have been meaning to get You started on some Runework and maybe a little Alchemy, then, of course, We need to start building Your tolerance with a little sunshine, Come let's get started," Rose said, You nodded obediently, today was going to be a productive day indeed, but then, of course, You were not at all looking forward to being in the daylight, all in days work for Lord Nox You supposed.

Cleo had been watching him, Charles Drake; Lord Nox... Her new Master.

She despised the Man of course, how He pranced around with that Handsome smile, a Monster pretending to be this moral Beast. She thought it was ridiculous, it was all just a ploy, it had to be, a ruse to make Her comfortable so that He could **** Her or kill her just like He did Her Hawkins... the thought of that was starting to get her hot and bothered, she wanted him to break her, ruin her, smile for her... but, is that all that she wanted she wondered?

Lord Nox kissed the Inquisitor lightly as He performed excellently in creating some kind of Alchemical draft, Picked her up and span with her in joy as He had finally managed to get one of the Inquisitor's rune's to work, the Crimson circle of blood igniting a piece of paper with great Scarlet flame "And she... reciprocates his affection?" She thought, watching the Fiery haired Inquisitor, a person who she would have expected to be a terrifying beast of the High Council, smile and laugh with him.

None of it made sense, not one bit, that is not how it worked, that isn't how Hawkins or Corvus said it worked "A-Am I... wrong? could they have... No, I deserve to be punished, I don't deserve to smile, only the strong can smile for Me." She told herself, repeating the mantra that had been hammered into Her.

"Hey... I'm going out for a while." Nox said to Her with a smile, dressed in a ludicrous Parka and scarf "Just stay here, make Yourself at home." He said, Cleo still couldn't look at him, she couldn't look at that smile it was too... disarming "Listen, umm... You don't have to if You don't want to but, We should go hunting later, just You and Me. No need to answer now, Think about it." He said in his voice that was low and jolly and patient, Cleo still didn't look at him, but nodded, she did have to follow his orders.

After He had left, something that took a while since the Inquisitor had to **** him out into the day, Cleo did a little snooping, looking through the Alchemical Tools in the kitchen, the likes of which were of the highest quality she had ever seen, "Of course a vassal of the High Council would have such high-quality materials" She thought, the image of The Inquisitor and Lord Nox's loving look in each other's eyes, she found herself trying to put herself in the Inquisitor's place in that picture... "I don't deserve to smile like that." She quickly shot that thought out of her head, continuing to look through his clothes, contemplating some of his possessions and laying in his bed again, taking in his pleasant scent.

Cleo sat in the lounge after a while, wondering back to the hot tub, When his throbbing cock had been pulsating inside her, drawing Her to orgasm more times that He even knew "No. Stop. You don't get to feel pleasure, only pain." She corrected as she recalled the Inquisitor and the other two.

"They want to Marry him? He must have them all under some kind of spell, Why would You marry for love, it was ridiculous... but, Muninn cares for him also, He couldn't have done anything to her mind, She was good at keeping that sort of thing out... Maybe, Hawkins and Corvus were wrong-NO! No that isn't possible, that's a lie, it's all a Lie!" she had to have someone smile for her, hurt her, punish Her as she deserved.

She sat there... having looked through all of Charlie's things having found nothing that would suggest any evidence of harmful espionage in regards to her or anyone for that part, lost in what to do, what to think, all she did was sit in silence in the corner, trying not to think on Charlie, or Hawkins or Corvus, the former of the trio, unfortunately, destroying her focus by crashing into the Cave clumsily alongside the calm and composed Inquisitor.

Nox's entire body was smoking, his eyes burning, face twisted and claws brandished like He had just been attacked with a flamethrower "Calm down." The Red-haired Inquisitor said as Nox's body tensed, bent over, his hands on his knees and heaving like He was going to be sick

"Oh, that helps!" He growled, tossing off his singed parka and scrambling to run his fingers through his hair "Jesus... fuck... My hair didn't burn, at least there's that." He gasped, apparently still quite aggravated, throwing the Parka like a javelin into the wall with a snarl "Whole lot of fucking good that thing did, god I'm gonna throw up... that was like being locked in a fucking kiln!" He complained as Cleo quickly and silently rushed into the kitchen, peeking around the corner to see the Inquisitor try and comfort him with a quiet but loving touch of his face

"He walked in the sunlight!? that's impossible... He should be Ash, but He's just a little singed!" Cleo thought with an **** wonder as The Superior bolted into the Shower area, doubtlessly to soak in cold water "How powerful can One Vampire be, Superior or no, He is abnormal, paradoxical, incomprehensible He-"

"I see that You have been looking through My Alchemical Equipment..." Cleo nearly jumped out of her skin, twisting around so fast that she nearly fell, luckily her back hit against the wall to prevent that, but nothing prevented her surprise at seeing the Inquisitor, casually lighting the burner under her cauldron to boil something that she added a few pickings of herbs into.

"H-How... How did You... You were there, I was looking right at You!?" Cleo stammered She had seen Vampire's move fast, She had heard while in the Hotel of how the Inquisitor would move so fast that she evaded other Vampire's senses but she never saw it in the flesh, comparing it to teleportation than movement

"Were You looking for something in particular, You have a very careful hand, I might not have noticed if You had not shifted the table slightly?" the Inquisitor asked, her back still turned to Cleo as she continued to brew some strange liquid.

"I... No." Cleo lied. The Inquisitor turned her head, looking back at Her with those Icy blue eyes

"He isn't planning anything if that is Your suspicion. I suspect that He truly intends to repair Your... disfunction." The Inquisitor turned back to her work, stirring the Midnight Black mixture as Cleo eyed her suspiciously

"How do I know that He didn't tell You to say that?" Cleo furtively whispered, she did not want to anger the Inquisitor, not with Her status or level of ability, but the Red-haired woman merely scoffed at this

"As idiotic as Your former acquaintances were, I never took You for a fool. Nor do I suspect or even desire that You will draw any comfort from my words. Your Master and that Bumbling oaf of a husband... or boyfriend or whatever he was, of Yours, may have strangled Your mind into a paste, but I never assumed that You lacked the common sense to take Help from the One that You trusted to free You from those cretins in the first place." She said, swiftly and bluntly enough to rouse anger in Cleo's veins, drowning her caution almost entirely

"If I have been foolish, it was only in ever believing that trusting a superior to remove that Weasel; Corvus would end in anything but disaster, where has it gotten me, miss, high and mighty? My Lover is dead and My home is destroyed!" She growled.

The Inquisitor paused, turning slowly on the spot to face Her completely.

Her eyes like balls of Azure fire piercing into her as she pointed a taloned finger at Cleo, making her anger drain away, replaced by crippling fear "You will not disrespect me, Vampire, You will remember Your place and listen keenly. I don't care how shattered that tiny mind of Yours is, if You cannot see that Charlie killed Your slavemaster, not Your lover, and Destroyed Your immortal prison, not Your home, then He is wasting his time. You should be focused less on the troglodyte puppetmasters that dominated Your unlife, contribute something other than moaning and brooding to Your Clan" She said, Her words cutting into Cleo like the swipes of a blade.

"My Slavemaster... My Prison..." She thought as the Inquisitor's eyes drew away from her, a look of satisfaction on her face, like she had just given the correct answer in a test.

Cleo felt those words, they had been important once... she just, couldn't remember why? Slavemaster, Prison, they were like a distant echo of a time past, a time that had been blacklisted, struck from the records, She just couldn't recall the details.

She left the kitchen, contemplating The Inquisitor's words as she sat on the couch, was she right? ever since Hawkin's **** and the dismantling of the Gerix, she hadn't even tried to do anything useful, she wasn't sure if she wanted to help, Nox, but... maybe the pain and confusion would heal if she tried.

"I... I should try, maybe it will help soothe this pain, give me back my strength so that I can put my New Master in his place!" She thought to herself, steeling herself to go into the Shower room and tell that Fool what for.

You opened Your eyes, looking up through the still water to see a Raven-haired beauty looking down at You, a strange determination in her gaze. Emerging silently from the tub, You swept Your wet black curls away from Your eyes, staring at Cleo expectantly as she fiddled with her hands and scowled at him "You know, I'd say take a picture because it lasts longer, But I'm pretty sure we don't show up in those so..."

Cleo pressed her lips together "Sh-Shut up." She muttered furtively, You cocked Your head, running Your fingers over Your lips, cartoonishly zipping it. "I came here to... well... The Visage Ritual." She stated blatantly like she expected You to Know what that was

"Um... Explain." You said patiently as she continued to scowl

"The Visage Ritual. When The Gerix inducted a new member into the fold we had a Mask made for them in a binding ritual, it... it builds rapport among the Clan, helps the members adopt the newborn. Well... You have a whole new clan, a whole new family that has been ripped from what they know and frankly, You've done a shitty job establishing Rapport." She said, looking at You like a woman who had just kicked a Lion.

But You smiled at her, sitting up in the bathtub and resting Your head on Your hands "So we should have a Noxium Clan Visage Ritual, to get everyone settled in? What would we have to do?" You asked, Cleo seemed genuinely surprised at Your interest, and it only made Your smile widen "You know, not knowing half of My delegates names is a slightly daunting prospect, maybe I should be a little more hands-on." You said, relaxing back into the tub, awaiting what would undoubtedly be an outstanding proposal

"We would have to call on Vulcan, She makes the masks deals in the runes, then, of course, You'd have to call the Noxium, if You're capable of that?"

"I am." You said with a smile

"Well then, we will go to Her, she has a shop on the outskirts of town, You should summon the Noxium there."

"We. We will summon the Noxium when night falls, I have some things to take care of today." You said to her gently, Cleo's eyes softened, considering You with loss before frowning, walking over to the toilet, sitting herself on the lid where she had decided that staring silently at the floor would be the best course of action.

You had the Idea back in the Mortemous Hotel when You had first seen Her, as flawless as most Vampire women were, she really was something special, Sharp features, skin fair as winter, Her eyes warm mahogany, the shining black locks of her Raven hair cut neatly and with surgical precision. You noticed the way that she seated herself, it was prim and proper, Her posture straight and practised. You wondered if it was something that she had learnt when undead, or a lingering shard of a life before ****

"Have You been dead a long time?" You found Yourself asking rather directly, She shrugged, paused for a while still not locking eyes with You, but then nodded

"Yes." She answered just as directly, You nodded trying not to allow Your curiosity to spew any more witless bile, but another question came before You could stop it

"Your clearly not from Wallace, I mean, we have beautiful women, but none who carry themselves like You. Where are You from?" You questioned. Cleo's eyes made their way to You, something like a smile forming on her face, though it didn't remain for long as she spoke

"It was a Friday, 10th of September 1560, London. My Deathday, My Home." She whispered forlornly, staring off into the distance as You sat up and smiled

"You're British! Wow... 1560, what is that, Victorian?" You asked, genuinely interested. Cleo shook her head

"Tudor." She corrected, smiling fondly to herself as she squinted her eyes, likely fishing the memory from the back of her mind "Lord Emmanuel Augustine's Banquet in honour of Her majesty Elizabeth I, all of the High Nobility attended of course, including My father and My brothers, I had been taken to be shown off to a plethora of suitors all wonton of high born maidens with raven hair and loins that would birth them, strong boys. I loved the trilling of harps and violins, the servants waiting on Your every whim, the stares the boys would give Me as the lesser girls danced and sang in hopes that they would take their eyes off of the Beauty in the Green dress.

But there was one pair of eyes that looked upon me, eyes that shone with the fire's of Beelzebub in the darkness; Sir Maximilian Urantus... He was beautiful then, tall and strong, hair-like woven gold, eyes like Rubies, how could I refuse a tally in Lord Augustine's kitchens?" She said, fiddling with her fingers as she stared off into nothing

"I'm going to guess that You served as Sir Urantus' Banquet that night?" You asked with a smirk, though the Raven-haired beauty seemed to lost in her memory to answer, simply staring off into nothing as You huffed a false breath, pulling Yourself out of the tub to get dressed.

You felt Her eyes flicker to You every so often as You slipped into Your clothes, You didn't want to press her into another mental breakdown... but did she have to be so furtive about things, she obviously was interested "Break down the barriers, slow and steady Drake."

"It must be strange, a lady of Your standing, being treated without the reverence that You deserve." You started, buttoning up your black shirt as You grinned coyly "Noble blood so long diluted by time that even Your accent has withered, if not for Your Beauty and Your posture, I would never have guessed Your origins." Slithering around to look at Cleo, You had indeed captured her full attention, her dark eyes watching You as You opened Your arms "But... What if I said that You could have that Beauty again, that power, that reverence?"

"Then I'd say that You'd be making a promise that many before You have whispered in my ear since long before You were born." Cleo said, folding her arms, but You did not falter

"A Fair statement, though unlike the Vampire's before, I am willing to take a vow, and oath of blood, a vow to restore You to Your rightful place, a beautiful Shadow at my side, worthy of the name of Noble."

"You... want to make a blood Oath?" She asked, very clearly interested in Your promise "You realise that breaking a Vampire's Oath of blood is the ultimate taboo, Superior or no, Your clan will not willingly follow an Oathbreaker?" Cleo stood, her eyes filled with disbelief at Your lack of confidence loss.

"I do." You had read about these Vows in the Gerix library, this was not an easy move, but You could think of no better way to spark some trust between You "Come here." You whispered, eyes burning as she approached, frowning like she expected You to pull away.

Extending Your left arm, You watched as Cleo extended her claw, clutching Your arm tightly as if to not let You bolt, but You remained, smiling as she descended on you, Her claw racking across Your forearm, cracking white-hot pain shooting across the surface as she whispered: "By reverence of the Shadows, Decree of the Night, the Elder ones and the Blood God, do You; Charles Drake, swear to restore me to a standing worthy of my noble birth, to protect and revitalise me, engorge me?"

"I swear." You said, still smiling as Blood leaked from the spiralling lacerations on Your arm, Cleo's face twisting into a wince as she carved identical marks into her skin, Her blackened blood leaking on for a moment before the matching wounds began to carefully steal, forming thick spiralling scars on each of Your arms that resembled the waves of a gentle sea.

the Scars burned terribly, but no more painfully than You could ignore, Rose's haymakers to the gut still held majesty over any pain that You had experienced so far, and so You looked down at Cleo and smiled "Alrighty then." You saw sweeping Your arms out in conclusion, making Cleo jolt slightly "We have a lot to do today, Milday, Your companionship in my affairs would be much appreciated!" Cleo eyed You, brushing one of the long hairs of her black fringe from her face before crossing her arms and nodding quietly

"Well, at least it's a start."

SLOW AND STEADY BRO, SLOW AND STEADY!

"Why do You always shout, Jesus You're gonna give me a headache."

IT'S HOW WE EXPRESS OURSELF....! Fine, Is that better?

"....Yeah."

You know I really can't wait to fuck her silly again, my shadows are itching just thinking about it.

"You know what? go ahead and shout, You being calm and quiet is a little unsettling

HAHAHAHAHA YESSSS, WE WILL STUFF HER WITH MEAT LIKE A GERMAN SAUSAGE!

"Better."

Walking with Cleo behind You like a silent shadow, You came out of the shower area to see a very unamused Rose sat at the booze table, an extremely happy and talkative Namina next too her, rattling off in her insanely fast and curious jargon to the Inquisitor who looked as if she was ready to headbutt the wall.

"OMG Lord Nox! there You are, I was wondering where You had vanished off to, have You been avoiding me?" Namina asked as soon as she laid eyes on You

"Hey Mina, yeah sorry been a busy couple of days." You said, scratching the back of Your head to tip out the sexual boiling pot of the last few days away. Namina fiddled with her multi-coloured claws... she was dressed, very provocatively, Her Black sequined miniskirt showed off her long legs which hosted Bright yellow fishnet stockings, her cardigan, tight enough to show her full form was covered in Black and Yellow stripes, the deep V-neck doing nothing to hide her sizable bust

"You see something You like?" Mina asked with a wink. Blinking, You sniffed awkwardly as Rose and Cleo both cast condemning looks at Your starstruck staring. Mina's eyes flickered to Cleo, her smile faltering for a moment "Hiya... Clo, how have You been?" Mina asked with a cringe, Cleo shrugged

"Fine. Thank You, Mina." Cleo responded dryly... there was another silence before Namina finally broke it with her near bottomless enthusiasm

"Ahem, anyway, I thought that we could do some Polymorphus training before You disappear again!" She said brightly, You checked Your watch, plenty of time in the day for what You had planned

"Sure, I can spare a few hours. Let's get started." Mina exploded with joy

"Great, awesome, outstanding, Come on then Snakeman, I'm going to Teach You into Oblivion!" She cried, grasping Your arm and dragging You off to the gym area, Rose looking on with thanks that Her irritation had been removed and Cleo looking on with an uncertain suspicion. A Productive day indeed.