Dracula took his...or her...leave with Marishka and Verona, leaving the castle only populated by Aleera, Lucy and Mina. Mina, of course, didn't want to simply stay behind when her husband was out, wandering into the war torn maelstrom of Europe without any idea of what was going on.
"Your husband, by accident or designed, killed one of my servants -- humans I have sworn to protect. He must be found and held accountable for his actions -- this, I shall see done. You will remain here, with Aleera, to learn what it is to be one of us -- and to protect Antoni from the drawback of missing the proximity of one of his blood bound and that is
final
." Dracula's eyes had flashed, and they had transfigured first to mist, then into a shimmering cloud, then from that cloud came a thousand bats, sweeping outwards in every direction, leaving Mina standing on the balcony of the castle, gaping after him.
Antoni...
The name itself made Mina reconsider her actions -- not merely because she did owe the young artilleryman more than simple abandonment, considering how it was by her hand that he had been blood bonded to her. It was also that his name had slipped entirely from her mind when she had thought of the castle's population: She had instinctively thought only of the immortal vampires that dwelled within...herself, Aleera, Lucy, and not him, the human man.
Lucy put her hands on Mina's shoulders, gently. "Dearest Mina, it will be all right. Dracula or Mari or Verona will find Jonathan and...and well...I'm sure it was an accident, or a mistake!"
"Yes, Lucy, yes..." Mina said, distractedly.
She turned from the moonlit night and was led by Lucy back into the castle.
"Now that you know your strength and durability, lets cover some of the more subtle weaknesses. The sun returns us to human normality, though it does not cause us to age, I should add that..." Aleera said as he walked Mina and Lucy through the moonlit garden. "However, we are not
entirely
divorced from our capacities. If we take a form before the dawn, we can remain in that form -- and the liminal hours of dawn, noon and dusk are open to us to allow transformation to our most basic forms." He brushed his hands along his dress, sighing. "Complex changes aren't open to us, but we can resume our inherent form -- that would be the forms you are in now -- or into any predatory form...bats...wolves..." He shrugged one shoulder. "Rats."
"So, during the night, we have the most freedom, but if we're stuck as a wolf during the day, we just need to make it to noon?" Mina asked.
"Yes, though sunlight still has its effect," Aleera said, seriously. "So, you can change at dawn, noon and dusk when in the shadows or inside."
"So, it has something to do with the sunlight itself?" Mina asked.
"Precisely," Aleera said. "My husband has done a significant number of experiments to try and isolate what, exactly, in sunlight it is...but she's never quite
cracked
it." He sighed.
"Any other subtle weaknesses?" Mina asked as Lucy tugged on her sleeve. Mina glanced at her, then looked back to where Lucy pointed and there, in the window of one of the towers, Antoni was standing, unaware that he could be seen from their vantage point, naked as the day he was born. He was stretching his arms, clearly partway through changing from his night clothes and into something more suited the evening hours. Backlit by a candle and glowing with health and vitality, watching him awoke a deep, abiding lust in Mina and she felt her chalk pale cheeks grow intensely heated -- while her ears could hear, faintly, the sound of his voice.
"
CΓ³ΕΌ, przynajmniej ciuchy sΔ Εadne..."
"Well, there's the fact you cannot enter a home unless invited -- but that's fairly easy to understand. The other weakness a great many vampires have is more...subtle," Aleera said, still walking. "The sudden expansion of the senses and the removal of common needs of mortality means that it is extremely easy to be distracted by...the physical." He turned, smirking. "Like right now."
Mina jerked her eyes from Antoni as he dressed. "W-What?"
"I'm not distracted..." Lucy lifted herself onto her toes. "Just..."
Aleera chuckled, softly. His fangs glittered as he smiled. "But enough about weaknesses. There are some unexpected strengths. How's your Polish?"
"Well, without the spell, abysmal," Mina said. Her eyes wandered from Aleera to Antoni. In the window, he was sliding his shirt on and looked quite fetching with with curled ruff and the slightly older, more extravagant fashions that Dracula preferred in his clothing.
"
Czy tak jest?"
Aleera asked.
Is that so?
Mina nodded. "Yes, I-" She stopped, looking at Aleera. "What did you say?"
"
Is that so?"
Aleera asked. "
How about this?"
Lucy had also managed to look away from the dressing artilleryman. "We...did you cast a spell, like Dracula?"
"Not quite. A vampire's mind and body is returned to an eternal youth," Aleera said, gesturing to himself. "It was referred to as a 'child mind' by one of our critics...essentially, we are still able to learn as quickly and easily as children can. Faster, in some ways. We pick up languages at an incredible speed."
"Amazing," Mina whispered. "I can see why you want vampirism to remain so exclusive..."
"Why?" Lucy asked. "This is remarkable! Everyone should be a vampire."
"Including Attila the Hun and Napoleon and the Kaiser and Mad King George?" Aleera asked, his voice dry.
"Yes," Lucy said, blinking. "They did all those awful things while they were human, yes. But everyone else was human too. So, if they were vampires, and everyone else was vampires, then it'd be the same hand, wouldn't it?" She shrugged slightly.
"I..." Aleera looked taken aback. "W-Well...we'd still need to get blood from somewhere."
"How much blood do we use when we act and move and use abilities?" Mina asked, even as she slid her arm around Lucy's arm, holding her dear friend close to her, feeling quite proud of how she had cut through that Gordian knot.
"It varies -- usually, you will feel thirsty when you are low, and ravenously hungry when you are starving. Do be careful, if you're
too
hungry, it can get remarkably hard to stop gorging yourself before doing someone an injury," Aleera said. "But that covers the exceptional strengths and weaknesses. Now, we need to begin to work on your skills."
Mina nodded. "I've been taking notes of what Dracula can do. He can shapeshift, he can cast spells..." She said. "I
believe
he can turn invisible."
"Actually, that's an art he picked up while traveling in the East," Aleera said, casually. "Enhanced, of course, by his strength and speed. But you're forgetting the most important ability: The alchemy of the blood."
Mina nodded, while Lucy grumbled. "We already did that! With Antoni."
"You did the
basics
, and didn't even remove the blood bonding curse before feeding him," Aleera said, chuckling. "You have quite a lot to learn." He paused -- the path he had been leading them through having led, at last, to center of the garden. A large slablike stone was laid here, engraved with words that Mina couldn't read. It was surround by low plinths that had flickering green flames cupped in them, casting a very dim illumination through the shrouded, hedged area. Overhead, the moon hung, a sleek crescent by now.
Aleera gestured. "Upon the slab. Cross your legs, like so..." he nodded. "Now. Close your eyes."
Mina found that sitting with her legs crossed was easier than she had expected. With her eyes closed, her mind was inundated by the exceptional array of sounds and
smells
that she could pick up now. The rustling of the evening breeze in the trees. The distant humming of Antoni from his room. Lucy's soft, unnecessary breathing. The crunching of grass under Aleera's feet. The lack of her own heartbeat, like a roaring silence inside of her. And then the smells: The wet, rich grassy smell of the garden. The closed, sleeping roses, their scent husky and withdrawn. Lucy's clean, cheerful bubbliness, coming off her in perceptible waves. The whole world felt painted into her mind like Van Gogh on a canvas, surreal and wild and exhilarating.
