The Past

Your eyes closed and all became deep and warm, you fell into what felt like warm water, bubbling with red. You sank and sank and fell so deep, deeper than could ever be natural.

Until you woke up.

Gasping for air, you rocked aggressively as the Past came crashing down.

You wallowed in the water as the sound of voice began to flood into the darkness of the Murky red.

In the light of day, You emerged into the hall, standing skittishly on marble floors. You paused and peered around frantically, confused and concerned.

But you had no time to observe this beautiful castle of Marble and Stone, with pictures of family hanging beneath, You had to rush to the one hanging by the window, where You at once witnessed a beautiful meadow outside, with blue skies and twittering birds.

"Where am I? Is this, a dream?"

Moving closer, you scanned the portrait, so perfectly depicting 7 individuals sat on a beautiful landscape, standing arm in arm for the most part, by a rushing blue river by sunset.

They stood in the places of a family, segmentedly... You were curious, this had to be a dream and so tried to decipher the identity of each. Youngest to Eldest.

The Youngest was a small girl, maybe Three or more likely 4 years old, she was the most adorable kid that You had ever seen, with big blue eyes and a lioness' mane of fiery red hair---!!!

Wait... No, that's not right? "Rose?" You could not help but whisper.

Cautiously, you continued. The Middle Girl was a little older, maybe 10 or 11, her hair was also long and waving in bloody crimson, her eyes were a hazelish green and a smile happier than you'd ever seen. The Eldest Daughter stood over the both of them, tall and the most beautiful of them all, her soft angelic smile and gentle emerald eyes. She hugged both of her sisters close, her hair a mane of hair of red so dark it was almost black, with clips in the shape of the sun tucked into the mass of intricate braids, slipped over their shoulders.

You knew they were Daughters because beside them was a Man and his Wife.

The sight of the man gave you an eery feeling, He had strange eyes of multiple colours, the left Blue and Green, the Right Hazel and Gold. He stood with the air of a Warrior, despite his apparent youth, His eldest daughter had to have been in her teens, but He looked to be in his early to mid-thirties. He wore a Silver coronet built into a headwrap, his Furiously curly hair was tied back and... odd, what kind of paint was this? His hair was dark but seemed to gleam with streaks of dark red... he did not smile, but stared ominously.

His wife was narrow, with straight Red hair cut short, A beautiful red dress made of soft silk and fur-covered her lean body and her Hazel eyes were clearly the forefather of her Middle Daughter.

But even above the two of them... were the eldest of the seven.

Standing at the front of the family, were a couple, the Matriarch and Patriarch without a doubt. The Woman... Her Granddaughter, Rose, was her mirror image. She was much elder, in her 40's or maybe fifties, it was eery looking into her cold blue eyes, her curly mane of Fiery red hair, looking at Rose maybe 30-40 years in the future... freaky.

But worst... was Her husband, now this man was truly a King, but the humblest one you had seen. He wore an elegant silken shirt with ringed fingers and a dark pair of dark trousers. His smile was the brightest of all... and despite his clear age, He held a certain youth and certain light in his eyes which were gold like twin suns at noon. He was devilish and good looking, He wore his long and thick curly hair, black as nightfall on his shoulders... and at the sight of this mans face, Charlie backed away.

"That's... me?" He spoke in a mild fear.

Jolting as a sound disturbed your already fragile calm, the bellowing of laughter erupted from the end of the hall, the sound of slamming doors forcing You to dive behind one of the long curtain drapes.

Peering out of them, You caught two figures in your vision, followed by a pose of others. All were Warriors clearly, muddy and dirty from battle, but two stood out... as King and Queen.

Your older twin and Rose's older twin, the two from the portrait, both strode, dirty and smiling, wearing light armour of leather and bits of poorly shaped steel. How old was this place?

"Oh my Beloved!!!"

You grimaced, gripping your quaking temples that shot with pain, watching through blurred vision as the Queen hugged the King in unrelenting delight.

"It is all for you, My love. A nest for your heart, for our family. Castle Rosaria." the king whispered in a tongue that definitely wasn't English. And yet, You found yourself understanding every word.

"I love it, I adore it. The gods couldn't have brought me a better man." She hugged him close and He stared back lovingly, the sun in his eyes as He grinned brightly.

"pft obviously."

She thumped her husband's arm after laughing... she was so mature, so lively "The Children and Little ones are here?" She asked as she heard giggling from the double doors behind you.

The King grinned and took his lover's hand, guiding her forward. the two strutted in a perfect waltz, moving along the marble floor which gleamed with the beams of sunlight that streamed inside throughout the long corridor.

"We were at battle for Months against those fools to the west, How did you have time to make this... strangely, beautiful, floor?" the Queen inquired, their guards following a few meters behind.

"I had time enough to etch orders for riders to carry home. I do not know what to call it yet, maybe... invisible stone, or... cloud rock?" He pondered.

"He doesn't know what marble is? ...This cannot be real?"

ALL OF IT IS REAL. ALL OF IT IS US.

"I don't understand, how is this man is us? is this a great-great-grandfather or something?"

...

"How can you expect me to understand if you don't help me, why am I like this, what is so black inside me that I even hide it from myself?"

...YOUR STRENGTH HAS RETURNED IN FULL, BUT I LACK MY POWER. YOU MUST GROW ME, YOU MUST DISCOVER FOR YOURSELF THE TRUTH AND--

"--Master my sins? You know that's exactly what Rose said."

FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS, DO NOT DELAY. EVERY DAY YOU WAKE, THE HIGHER YOU ASCEND THAT STAIRCASE, THE CLOSER YOU COME TO VICTORY. YOU MUST TRUST YOURSELF.

"I do trust you, Vlad. Just... Help me out here."

From the shadow of your vision, A Mass of darkness in the shape of a boy in his late teens floated into sight, its long mane of coiled black hair spiralling into sight, as it stared with its red eyes.

You grimaced "You're supposed to be my Id, a dark reflection of myself, my instincts, why am I am I a monster inside?" You found yourself asking.

The Beastly urchin merely unleashed a bloody red, fanged smile "MONSTROSITY IS IN OUR FUTURE, OUR PRESENT, AND OUR PAST."

He pointed to the couple dancing down the very long corridor, as You and Vlad lingered after them in ghostly forms.

"Could I hear you, before the coma I mean?"

The Beast nodded "WE ARE ONE, NEVER CAN WE PART, UNTIL YOUR POWER OUTGROWS MINE AND WE TRULY UNITE, ONCE AND FOR ALL."

You said nothing but continued for a moment before another question lashed out "And this man, He's... me? but how is that possible? is he... an ancestor, is it some kind of metaphor? Drake Family Creed?"

"THE DARKNESS THAT LINKS US, IS FAR BEYOND THE THREADS OF THE DESCENDANTS."

A light sneer crossed your face "Wait, so, You're him? He's Vlad?" something clicked and fiercely shot through the prison of your mind "YOU'RE VLAD THE IMPALER!?"

The Beast, smiled deeply "WE ARE VLAD THE IMPALER. BUT WE ARE EVER SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT, WE ARE THE PRODUCT OF ALL OF HIS SACRIFICE."

The King looked so jolly, so happy, dancing on the marble in the sunshine of his knew castle.

"DO NOT GROW ATTACHED, THIS MAN MAY SEEM KIND, BUT BEFORE THE END, HE WILL SACRIFICE ALL OF THIS, HE WILL BE DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS HOUSE'S GREATEST GLORY, AND ITS ULTIMATE DOWNFALL. HE WILL NOT FIND THE SOLACE HE SEEKS, ONLY BATTLE SCARS AND REGRET: HE WILL DIE ALONE."

Frowning, you folded your arms "Why would I need to see that? what is the Moral of this story, if not something a little more guiding?"

Vlad floated in this ethereal plain of blood and dreams, where the flow of the current of gore shaped and changed, the landscape becoming a ****, agitated blur, which in turn, oozed back into a solid form, placing yourself and your beastly Id to an entirely new location.

Your sunlit eyes darted around the low-lit of the chamber, its walls of stone cut by the elements. Vlad gazed eagerly as You took it all in, the crude flooring of small gravelled stones and patches of grass, with many burning torches seemingly burrowed into the walls which in parts of this spherical cave were carved with... symbols, depictions of many beings, artistically and expertly chiselled into the rock, assembling in a cave similar to this, if not the same as this, speaking with... a dragon, as they all stood with open mouths ready to receive.

Moving forward in silence, Your head snapped to the left as a sound caught your ear. The contents of this cave were certainly lacking, a wooden chair and table, clearly made by hand sat in the corner, baskets with fish and meats gathered in the corner, as well as shining black bear pelts and the shaggy skin of great wolves, far bigger and darker than any modern wolf that You had ever seen.

But sat in the middle of the chamber, crossed legged and on the floor was a man, a man whose appearance gave you a deep unsettling chill, as you shifted closer, a ghost of future, to observe just who this other clone of You was.

_"Well... clone isn't exactly the right word." _with every moment that passed, Vlad only grew more solid and less wild, his voice became calm and his presence.

Crouching by the Youth, barely 18 by the looks of him, You watched as He sat crossed legs on the soft grass, scribbling against a tablet of wood with a piece of sharpened charcoal.