The Fallen Vampire

"Here, open your mouth and eat this."

Inadu stared at the pill being offered to her between Aveena's fingers.

The luster was incredible, and judging by the striations running across it there weren't many imperfections within it either, making this a very high quality pill.

'It shouldn't be wasted on me.'

Regrettably, Inadu shook her head no as she curled up Aveena's palm and pushed her hand back.

"Eh? Why are you being like that? Don't you want to talk again?"

"..." A simple shrug was all that the Arachne gave in response.

Aveena felt a vein bulge in her forehead as she began to feel frustrated.

"Don't be like that now! Just eat it so you can feel better!"

"..." Again, Inadu shook her head in refusal; feeling that the pill should not be wasted on her.

"Eat it on your own or I'll treat you like Bill Cosby!"

"..?"

"I don't know either, it's just something that Vermeil says whenever she's trying to get us to eat the new pills she makes."

Frustrated, Aveena finally grabbed the young woman by the nose and pulled it.

When Inadu's lips opened in surprise, Aveena hurriedly threw the pill inside and covered her mouth with both hands so that she couldn't spit it back out.

A moment later, Inadu began to feel a dull heat traveling through her body, and concentrating in her throat.

She could feel her severed vocal cords starting to stitch themselves back together, and even her old wounds that never healed properly began to repair themselves.

When Aveena finally pulled her hands away, Inadu's slender hands went directly to her throat and she let out a soft wheeze.

Not bothering to string together any actual words, she already knew that she had been healed.

"..." To show her gratitude, she got down onto all fours and bowed to Aveena as sincerely as possible.

"Umm.. why are you doing something weird like that? You could just say thank you, you know?"

With monstrous strength, Aveena lifted Inadu up by her underarms as if she were a baby.

The Arachne seemed surprise, but she did not make that much of a fuss to get out of her grasp.

The large demoness placed the tarantula woman on the bed and gave her a small pat on the head.

"I know you can talk now, since Vermeil's rank-5 pills are no joke. Are you just like my husband and prefer not to use your voice?"

"...Yes."

When Aveena finally heard Inadu speak, she was surprised by the gentleness of her voice as well as it's quiet and relaxed tone.

It was easily one of the most beautiful she'd ever heard.

"Well... that's a pity because you have a lovely voice you know? We'd all like to hear it more."

Aveena let out a sigh once she felt like she'd done everything she could, and stood up to leave the room.

"Well alright then! This is our home and as of today, it's yours too! There's a lot of space and amenities and things like that so you can just do whatever you want without worry! If you need anything at all, you just have to tell us, okay?"

"...I will try not to be a bother."

"Then you better start asking for stuff soon. This is the first time we've ever had someone else stay with us, and Lucia's really worried we're going to be bad hosts."

As she opened the door, the demoness remembered one last thing and paused just shy of exiting it.

"Right, one of us will give you a tour tomorrow before we leave and will show you how to call the spirits to help with upkeep. I know it's shitty of us to leave right after you got here but it doesn't seem like it can be helped..."

"...It is no trouble."

"You say that but still... We'll make it up to you when we get back, alright? Sleep tight, Inadu."

Aveena waived goodbye to the young Arachne a moment later, and Inadu was left in the room alone to think about everything that had just been said.

She curled her knees up to her chest and entered a deep state of contemplation.

Inadu Tsuchigumo was the eldest daughter to the eight-legged spider demon clan; a prominent family in fallen society and the ones who'd held the reigns of the demon race for a little over 1,000 years.

In that regard, her background was not dissimilar to Taira's and Keran's.

However, the way that she had lived her life was a world apart.

Like the Garou and the Ascalons, the Tsuchigumo are a clan that prioritizes strength above all.

However, it was to a grander degree than the other two clans.

So much so that women who were born into the family line were seen as inferior and were not nurtured in the slightest.

From the moment she was born, Inadu had lived a life of servitude that was no different than a girl from off the streets.

Instead of being taught to use her families eight saber technique, she was taught how to wash dishes and fold laundry.

However, when she was off-duty, Inadu would practice cultivation on her own, and teach herself how to fight using the arts in her home that nobody else thought were worthwhile.

And then one day, her prowess was discovered by her father.

She thought that she may have been about to receive another set of lashes again, but surprisingly her father was rather impressed.

A new world of privileges opened up for Inadu.

She was then allowed to eat at the family table, to personally know her three younger brothers, and even observe just a bit of their training.

She was awarded a temporary knightship and joined the demon army, and she quickly became something of a rising star.

And then five years ago, she was defeated in battle against a hero's forces.

She had thought that her family would have come to save her, but she watched as her younger brother ordered a retreat without even bothering to save her life.

In that moment, she realized that no matter what she had previously thought, she had always been nothing more than a servant to her own family.

Perhaps that was why she did not mind very much when she was captured and her vocal cords were slit; since her body had never been hers to do with as she pleased for as long as she was alive.

Disassociation kept her alive, but not necessarily sane.

Retreating into a shell of herself whenever she was grabbed from the stable ensured that she barely remembered anything that happened to her in a night- if she even remembered being grabbed at all.

And then one night, she came out of her shell to find a man sitting next to her, yet not daring to touch her.

The man was like her, a fallen, and he had killed the human who she could only assume was about to harm her.

Finally someone had saved her, but she didn't know how to feel.

She didn't have anything left in her mind or heart and was almost robotic- not dissimilar to a lich in that regard.

Even when she saw her younger brother who'd abandoned her right in front of her face again, she had no visible reaction.

She couldn't understand why the man who'd saved her was more upset about how she was treated than she was, and had even attacked her brother on her behalf.

She still found it strange whenever she thought about it.

Inadu got up from the bed and headed towards the window in her new bedroom.

Pushing the curtains aside, she stared out into the beautiful but empty cavern and had a slight sense of wonder flash within her eyes.

This place was nice but she didn't know if she wanted to be here alone.

But because she did not want to be a bother, she would stay here without complaint.

-

Aveena closed the door to a cleared out cellar just underneath their home, where Taira and the rest of the girls were already waiting.

No sooner had she stepped in the room did Lucia and Enyo swarm her and press her large body against the door.

Lucia: "Is she settled? Does she need anything? She's probably hungry, right? Does she seem like a poultry or beef kind of woman? What sort of sides would she like? O-Or do you think she would like pastries??"

Enyo : "You gave her the good blankets, right? And ensured that her bathwater was at a perfect temperature? She might need some candles too, it's possible she hasn't fully adjusted to the cold down here yet."

"Yes, yes, I did all of that already. But you guys are being so worrisome that now I feel like I should have sang her a bedtime story too."

Enyo / Lucia: ""Don't be stupid!""

"See? That's how the two of you soun-"

Enyo: "Keran has the best voice, she should do it!"

"..."

All eyes in the room drifted towards the charming kitsune, who admittedly was wearing a small blush from all of the attention.

While the rest of the girls tried to establish a baseline for proper care, Taira and Vermeil were having their own conversation; and staring at the star she held in the center of her palm.

"Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Together, the two of them snapped the star in half and the room became drowned in a blinding gold light.

When the light disappeared, a human man appeared on the floor; covered in odd puncture wounds.

The moment that Vance looked up in confusion, Taira kicked him hard and sent him flying onto the back wall.

As soon as he hit it, the nogitsune struck him in the stomach right beneath the navel; obliterating his cultivation in an instant.

"W-What have you monsters done to me?!" he roared.

"Relax, Vance."

Vermeil stepped out in front of her husband and stared down at him coldly as if she hated him more than anything else in the world.

"It's not like you'll be needing your power in the days to come anyway. You can help us throw the races of light into disarray without nudging a single finger."

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