Redux: Lineage

"How'd you do it?" I asked, moments before Selana was to exit the cell.

She came to a stop, head angled downwards, refusing to look at me, as she responded.

"How what?"

"How did you find where we were?" I asked. "I figured the last place you'd look was somewhere we'd already battled. Figured you'd expect us to be smarter."

Selana chuckled, turning around and crossing her arms as Sanguine rested against the wall outside the cell, eager to see what the interaction would lead to.

"I will admit, I was surprised to find you in the Empress' Palace," she nodded. "But I suppose Chancellor Twilight would've expected the endlessly-looping ideology of reverse psychology and expectations towards it to throw me off."

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"True, it does not," she nodded. "The simple answer is a tracking aura; a spell placed on the choker around Sanguine's neck was able to allow me to sense where she was, no matter how far away she got. I must say, I am quite surprised Twilight didn't notice it. From what I've read about her, she's more than thorough with her research in every way one can be, so I imagined she'd sniff the body like a bloodhound for any trace of magic."

But Twilight was prone to half-assing procedure whenever she was excited to do something else...

"What's that look for?" Sanguine asked, making her way into the cell. "You look like you've seen a ghost?"

I didn't answer her, merely keeping my eyes on the ground and trying to keep as straight a face as possible. Sanguine rolled her eyes, poking me in the forehead with the flat of her fingertip and pushing it backwards, forcing me to look up at her.

"I must say... the Goddesses' chosen champions aren't nearly as impressive as I'd expect them to be," she said, cocking her head and squinting as she analysed my features. "He's a cute little thing, though."

"Richter is a rather poor representation of his kind, sadly," Selana explained to her Goddess. "Even Twilight, a mere human, outranks him in terms of power and ability with only a simple infusion of Alicorn genetics."

"So what does a real Alicorn look like?" she asked.

I scowled at her, tensing my jaw in an annoyed manner as her comments hurt my pride, Sanguine's eyes returning to a normal state as she caught my look, leaning back with a smirk and crossing her arms.

"Sorry, kid. That wasn't very polite of me, was it?" she chuckled. "I mean, what is a more standard appearance for the Alicorn?"

"Size is the most common indicator," Selana answered. "The few that remain are extremely large, with the current leader of the family, Celestia, standing at the same height as you."

"Celestia?" Sanguine said, tasting the name on her tongue for a few moments before nodding in a curt fashion. "That's a rather pleasant name. Any others?"

"Yes, while not their original numbers, the current Alicorn population only consists of four; Celestia, her younger sister Luna, their niece, Cadance, and Richter," Selana explained. "Time, chance, and betrayal got the best of the others."

"Quite an odd naming convention for a singular family, no?" Sanguine commented, placing her hands on her bare hips. "Two sisters named after celestial bodies makes sense despite one of them being in a different language, but a niece named after a piece of musical structuring, and her son being given an even more foreign name that translates out to 'Judge'?"

"Strange indeed," Selana nodded.

"Mind if we get back on topic here?" I asked.

"Of course, little one," Sanguine beamed, petting me on the head with a gentle smile. "I was merely curious, is all. My apologies."

"How did you get past Twilight?" I asked. "I figured without Sanguine, she alone would be more than enough to handle you and yours."

"Is she truly that strong?" Sanguine asked. "And she's a human with a mere infusion of Alicorn genetics? Goodness, I'm getting rather excited to see just what a pure-blood Alicorn can do."

"Yes, Twilight is everything she is said to be. A strategic genius, an expert magical combatant, and a powerhouse beyond most other beings on this world in open combat," Selana acknowledged. "She would have been more than a problem had we met her in open combat."

"So you sucker punched her?" I asked in a furious growl.

"Richter, as open as I am to surrendering opponents and sparing my enemies, I'm not stupid enough to play by the rule book of tournament duels," Selana said with a shake of her head. "A war is fought with underhanded tactics and backhanded strategies as much as it is with armies and battle. Taking on Twilight in a fair fight would've been suicide, and not something I'm going to lose sleep over for not doing."

"So then what did you do?" Sanguine asked, rather excited to hear the tale.

"Merely sought out her positioning, waited for the ample moment to strike, teleported behind her, and put her face through a table fast and hard enough for her not to react," Selana answered. "I imagine it worked because, like a lot of us, Twilight seems to reabsorb the charge given to her protective wards in locations she views to be entirely safe. That's why the strike was able to get through to her. If she'd seen it coming, however, she'd have most likely powered them up instantly and proceeded to vaporise us."

"You sucker punched her," I spat, turning my eyes away from her.

"Richter, you'll understand why assassination and espionage are such favoured methods when you have your own army and forces to command against a superior opponent," Selana said, closing her head and shaking her eyes. "A war fort with honour and valour is a war already lost. Remember that."

"I'll be sure to keep it in mind," I growled, Selana standing up straight once more and heading towards the door.

"And Svea?" I asked. "The others? Zane? Annerose?"

"Captured as well," she shrugged. "Though I wasn't stupid enough to keep you all in the same location. No matter how confidant one is in their prison's integrity, you don't leave weapons and equipment on the table outside of the cell. Same principle applies to allies."

"My, my, you are quite the strategist, aren't you?" Sanguine chuckled, smiling widely at Selana.

"Thank you, Your Holiness," she said, gesturing for them to depart. "Now, shall we continue our campaign?"

"Of course," Sanguine nodded, giving me a friendly smile and a wave before leaving the cell.

Selana locked the door and tucked the keys away into a pouch on her belt, making sure there was no chance of me getting a hold of them. I watched them leave, teeth grinding in a frustrated manner as the door to the prisons closed, itself getting locked.

"Fucking great," I muttered, closing my eyes and trying to focus on my connection with Grael. "Grael? Can you hear me?"

I knew I was trying in vain, as the second I felt the connection, I also felt what could only be described as a wet ball growing and pressing inside my brain. I wasn't a magic expert, but I guessed that there was some kind of anti-magic shield around this place that prevented any kind of spellwork getting in or out of it.

So that was where I was right now. Alone, imprisoned, unarmed, and in the centre of the enemy stronghold. If I were my father, that would be the perfect place to be, as a warrior and a strategist of his calibre would turn that into an opportunity to get rid of the top brass and turn the tide of the war, something he'd done before.

But if my father was the filet mignon of the warrior world, I was the cheap, rotten mudfish, bought in large groups and thrown together solely to fill up a requirement. Completely expendable...

I launched myself backwards, hoping to shatter the chair off the stone floor, only to end up slamming my own head off it and hurting my hands, both being bound behind it. The pain rocketed up my fingers to such a degree that I was sure I'd broken one and the dizzying lights that danced in my skull made it difficult to think for a moment.

"Fucking great..." I repeated in an angrier tone.

Now that I had a better range of vision thanks to being flat on the floor, I began looking around the room. All I needed was something sharp. A split brick, a rusty pipe, a jagged pipe, something to help fray the ropes on my hand enough to be split. But this cell was pristine. Amazingly maintained, clean, and looking rather new. The brickwork was aligned perfectly, pipes were mounted and fitted perfectly, and the bars were smooth and polished to a clean and shiny appearance.

This cell was cleaner than my fucking bedroom, and that was not something I was okay with. I was fucked. There was no other way to put it. I couldn't do a damn thing about anything until Selana came back, probably wearing the crown of the world at that point, and decided to let me live a life of servitude and oppression. I'd be probably be like a crown pet that sat on the lap of the ruler if how Sanguine had treated me was any indication... but that did make me think for a minute.

Sanguine was not what I was expecting. I was ready to see an evil titan of blood and violence that cut down all the non-believers, smote the rabble, and tortured the innocent for sadistic pleasure, but instead... she was just a woman. Quite a nice one, too. She was polite, well-spoken, patient, and extremely understanding to those around her. Maybe Selana had been right with what she'd said before, that Vampires had been vilified to such a degree that even their deities were seen as inherently evil.

After all, nobody else automatically assumes something like a god of the ocean or a god of the earth to be evil. Hell, there are even certain religions kicking around where the gods of fire and death are merely servants to the nature of their job and take no pleasure in burning or claiming the souls of the innocent. It was their position and they did it as they needed to.

But the moment I heard 'Vampire God'... it brought on image after image of blood running in the streets, innocents hanging from trees, and children being staked for their enjoyment. Hell, I didn't even know if Sanguine wanted to kill anybody. What if all they were going to do was show off power, say 'Stop killing all of us', and then go to their own country to exist peacefully? What if Sanguine only acted as a protector, never wishing to harm those around her unless her people were threatened? I know a first impression isn't always an accurate one, but her attitude told me that there wasn't anything evil about her.

Maybe-

There was a crack of what sounded like lightning just inside the door to the cell, followed by a loud gasp of exertion and a heavy thump. I tried to look at it as best I could, but my feet obscured whatever the hell had entered the cell.

"There you are!" I heard Verella exclaim, picking up the chair I was sat on and standing it up, easily snapping the ropes behind me with her Vampiric strength.

She was more than a little beat up; bruises on her cheeks, an eye blackened, a cut on her neck, and an overall rough appearance.

"How did you-" I began.

"Broke out of my cell, knocked out one of the guards, found his castle transporter, asked it to take me to every cell block in this place, and here we are," she said, pulling me up to my feet and smiling. "You ready to leave?"

"You have a plan to get us out of here?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow. "One that doesn't involve us running right into Sanguine?"

"Yes," she nodded, grabbing hold of my shirt and gripping a small, golden crystal, closing her eyes and grunting once again.

The world around us disappeared once more, leaving us standing on a long bridge, outside in a very heavy downpour of rain. I turned to look at the castle, wanting to ask if this was the same one only for Verella to drag me away, sprinting at full speed.

"Transporter's range only stretches to the edge of the castle," she said, puffing loudly. "If we can put enough distance between us and the castle, we can get out of the shield's magical ability and you can probably contact someone to come and pick us-"

Verella was cut off as another figure teleported in front of us, Verella slamming straight into her and getting knocked back onto the floor. I grinded to a halt, not being fast enough to keep up with her perfectly, but being able to see Selana standing with her hands on her hips with a very bemused expression on her face. Selana was then followed by Sanguine, the Vampire Goddess appearing, now fully clothed, in tight, black pants, large, knee-high leather boots, a long, flowing cloak, an elegant female shirt, and a hood pulled over her head, with her glowing red eyes being visible just beneath it.

"Verella..." Selana said in an unhappy tone. "I don't want to keep chasing you like this."

Verella didn't answer, slowly getting back to her feet and staring her mother down, all of us getting soaked to the bone by the heavy rain around us.

"All I ask is that you stay put while I finish this off," she said. "A week, no more, then it can all go back to the way it was, possibly even better."

"You know that's never going to happen," Verella spat, glaring daggers at her mother. "You killed my best friend. Your own niece."

"Yes... and as I told Richter, it's a choice that burns a hole in my heart every time I remember making it," Selana sighed.

"Didn't stop you," she growled.

"As pain has never stopped me from doing what is best for my people," Selana said sternly, turning to face Sanguine. "And here is the fruit of my labours; the being that shall save us all from the torment we've endured."

"A pleasure to meet you, Young Princess," Sanguine said, giving a curt nod. "I love your hair."

Verella's expression softened slightly, replaced with a confused one, her mouth slightly open as she looked up at Sanguine.

"You... you're... the God?" she asked in a stunned tone.

"The one and only," she nodded, smiling kindly. "Here to put right the wrongs done against our kind."

"By killing innocents?" she asked.

"By saving them," Sanguine countered. "No man or woman who raises a weapon to slaughter another simply because he does not like their kind is no innocent in my eyes."

"You're on the war path, then?" she demanded. "Still hoping to cut and burn all those that stand against you?"

"In the name of protecting our kind and our lives, yes," Sanguine said. "I may have been gone from this world longer than many believe its existed for... but I hardly doubt it has become so pure and perfect that men no longer need to fight for their rights. Am I wrong?"

Verella fell silent, Selana walking towards her and resting a comforting hand on her cheek.

"I have only wanted the best for us since I have taken this throne," she said in a warm tone. "I regret every drop of blood I've had to spill to get here, but none of it has been in vain. Our peace, our victory is close at hand. Side with me, dearest daughter, and you shall see what I mean."

"I... I can't," Verella choked out, tears in her eyes. "Not after what you've done..."

"Then... then you shall not be allowed to leave until our victory is assured," she said, stepping back at looking at Sanguine. "A stun spell, if you would, something to keep them from running?"

Verella grabbed my arm, quickly trying to use the teleporter to get us back inside, only to realise in horror that it didn't work anymore. We must've run out of the castle's boundaries and were completely on our own here. Sanguine nodded, raising a hand and charging up a small, yellow ball in it, aiming it at Verella and firing. It hit her square in the chest, stunning her into a stiff position and making her collapse to the floor, alive, but unable to move.

"I'll apologise right now," Sanguine said. "I've been told this thing leaves a rather nasty aftertaste."

I glared at the Vampire Goddess, knowing full well I couldn't outrun or dodge the blast, no matter how hard I tried. I merely steeled myself and waited for it to come, hoping that our second attempt at escaping wouldn't be in vain. The blast was fully charged after several seconds and Sanguine readied to fire it...

Only for something that I did not expect to save my hide in the same way they'd done for so long.

Another crack of lightning sounded, another teleportation, and before I could even figure out what had happened, the blast Sanguine had charged was fired up into the sky, sent off-course by a strong hand closing around her wrist and forcing it upwards, the two of them now locking eyes as a wide grin spread over Sanguine's face.

"Celestia, I presume?" the Vampire Goddess asked the armoured Alicorn as her eyes lit up with magical energy, the sheer level of raw power the charged Alicorn possessed causing the rain around us to evaporate, the wind to pick up, and lightning itself being pulled in her direction.

That was indeed very much Celestia.

And she was indeed very much angry.