Chapter Text
“Listen, I know that as a vampire I don't really have grounds for saying much of… anything really, especially when it comes to having a moral code, but somehow breaking into your own father's home to steal some of his things kind of sounds more than just a little wrong.”
“Fucken — do you ever shut up?” Felix hissed from the place he was kneeling.
“I have not talked to anyone in centuries Felix, let me have this” Sylvain mumbled as he walked over to see what Felix was doing. The younger man was using lock picks to no avail, his frown only deepened as curse words slipped from his mouth after each failed attempt.
Sylvain sighed before taking a step back to look around, the house itself was very fancy and big, not really shocking that the locks for a place like this weren’t so easy to pick. And it still amazed Sylvain that somehow vampire hunters had become rich in the years that have passed. Seemed unfair to him, but then again Felix had explained to him that they weren’t actually getting paid to be hunters, no one was these days. The root of their money came from other things and other careers but still. Even Felix couldn’t deny the fact that his family was just inherently rich.
He hummed quietly as he continued to look around the place, Felix’s grunts and groans in the distance as he turned the corner to see a window wide open. That in it of itself was really humorous given the silent cursing that was coming from the hunter on the other side. Throwing caution to the wind he climbed into it to find himself in an empty room; looked to be a guest room by the lack of decor and evidence of someone living in it. A fine layer of dust coating the furniture and bed also meant that this room was rarely ever used. He continued humming as he walked over to the door, opening it quietly as he carefully peered down the hall to see if anyone was there. To his pleasure the home looked completely empty with all the lights off and doors closed.
The small tune he was humming seemed thunderous as he walked down the hallway of the empty manor. Honestly what was up with these vampire hunters and having homes that looked like haunted houses? This one at least looked lived in but it also looked like ghosts were the ones living in it and as an actual member of the undead, it unnerved him. Also the owner seriously sucked at decorating, just because you liked antiques didn’t mean that you cover your entire house in them. At this point Sylvain was questioning whether he had accidentally traveled back in time since nothing in this house looked modern except for the few electronic devices littering the place.
Still the coast was completely clear and so Sylvain just simply walked over to the door and opened it, looking down at Felix who was looking at him shocked and still on his knees. Sylvain smirked, “you know, you look really pretty on your knees like this.”
“Go die” Felix spat out as he stood up and walked past him. Looking around the house to make sure that it was empty before continuing to walk.
Sylvain sighed, “a simple thank you won’t hurt!”
“Shut up” Felix urgently hissed.
“Oh please there’s no one here, trust me, I checked. They would’ve-” the words he was going to speak were immediately cut off by the swish of air and the foreign object that was launching his way. He quickly docked away as he heard the object lodge itself into the wall that had been previously behind him. He immediately looked back to find a knife stabbed into the wall, intricate sigils carved into the hilt, the blade must have been covered in those too and suddenly Sylvain had many regrets.
“Flames” he hissed out as he jumped away and into the shadows. His eyes quickly turned a dark shade of red from the surge of adrenaline that was now coursing through his body. All of his senses immediately increased as he finally was aware of the extra presence in the house. Whoever this thing was had been good enough to disguise themselves from him but now that Sylvain knew to look for them, well, they should’ve killed him while they had the upper hand. Now it was his turn to say hello.
“Wait shit, hold on, stand down now,” Felix yelled out to Sylvain before he could go on the offensive. His command immediately made Sylvain's body lock up and unable to move. That caused a low growl to come out of the redhead as he turned to glare at Felix. The younger man ignored him as he walked over to where Sylvain had been. “He’s with me.”
“Felix?”
Felix’s jaw immediately tensed, “yes.”
Hesitant footsteps approached them before suddenly another man stood in front of them, the same raven hair as Felix, and the same sharp edges but he was clearly older. Not old enough for Sylvain to think of him as Felix’s dad, but he was clearly an older family member of his. And suddenly Sylvain was really pissed that he hadn’t sensed the bastard.
“Why the hell do you have a vampire with you?” the man asked, still keeping his distance.
“It’s Gautier.” Instantly the man’s entire face shifted. Clear awe in his eyes as he looked Sylvain up and down as if he was a newfound treasure.
“Seriously?”
Felix clicked his tongue, “yeah seriously. So will you stand down? Don’t really enjoy having to use my magic to force the bastard into submission, it actually takes a lot of fucken effort to do that and I’m already getting a migraine.”
“Holy shit that’s actually Gautier” the man breathed out in amusement as he burst out laughing. “You’re for real that’s fucken Gautier?”
“God stop acting as if he’s some new toy” Felix huffed before turning around to Sylvain and eyeing him warily. Sylvain just glared at him, having told the hunter multiple times how much he hated being controlled and felt honestly betrayed that he was still being held down by his magic.
“You’re fucken dead if you try anything” Felix rolled his eyes before lifting his magic away from Sylvain, the redhead finally being able to move freely. Still he kept his distance until he knew what was going on.
“What are you” was the first thing Sylvain asked, eyeing the other man. He looked human, he sounded human, but he wasn’t one. Sylvain could tell that by the lack of blood in his veins and the nonexistent heart beat.
The man grinned, “I’m human.”
“Alright keep your secrets...” Sylvain shrugged, going back to humming as he looked around the house and then slowly letting his eyes drift to look at the other man. The older man was already looking at him but where Felix had always been cautious and even slightly on edge about Sylvain this man seemed almost happy to be seeing Sylvain. If Sylvain didn’t know any better he would guess that this man wanted Sylvain to be walking around freely despite being a vampire.
“You don’t look like anything I ever imagined” the man mused, folding his arms across his chest and not even being discreet with the way he was checking Sylvain out. “Then again all the documents we have about you said that you were just a red monster.”
“Red monster? That’s hardly creative” Sylvain laughed before walking over to Felix and slinging his arm across the hunters shoulders. “Anyways no introductions? No manners? Nothing sweetheart?”
That earned him an elbow to his gut, still Sylvain didn’t miss the way the hunters heart skipped slightly at the touch. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop fucken touching me?”
“Until I start believing that you actually hate it” Sylvain snickered.
Felix scoffed, “can’t you behave for even one fucken second? Actually no, don't answer that” he groaned. “Whatever, that’s my older brother Glenn. He’s a Fraldarius like me so don’t try anything funny. He can and will kill you.”
“Eh, I don’t know about that, I hardly think any of us can kill him if he was able to get past all of our wards” Glenn shrugged.
Immediately Sylvain looked around the house, he had seriously not felt any wards activating when he had jumped in through the window. To him this house was just a regular normal house and not one that had been boobietrapped to stop vampires.
“Uh what wards” Sylvain asked, doing a full body circle to look around. It wasn't until he looked up and found the ceiling covered in not only sigil but also religious carvings did he realize that yup, this house was protected. “Huh.”
Glenn burst out laughing, “he didn’t even sense them! Holy shit he’s a fucken monster. Hoo boy and you think that I can kill that? Seiros tits Felix I don't think any of us can ever HOPE to kill him.”
“Shut the hell up” Felix hissed, a small blush dusting his cheeks.
Sylvain stayed quiet, looking over at the wards that were on the ceiling. He wasn’t a hunter but being as old as he was and having to deal with as many hunters as he did, you learned a thing or two about what each ward was. Obviously the ceiling was mainly covered in wards to protect against vampires, all specially made to be able to keep his kind out (though Sylvain hardly thinks they work since he was inside). But apart from that there were other wards, those to keep witches away, others to keep werewolves at bay. Some to kill lower level monsters that wandered inside. They were all the usual wards except for one specific ward that Sylvain knew all hunters usually had in their homes to protect them from this one specific creature.
“You’re a ghost,” Sylvain grinned, turning to look at Glenn. “You’re even deader than me.”
Glenn's smile faded slightly, a strained look in his eyes. “You caught on to that quicker than most.”
Sylvain laughed, “yeah well you gave yourself away by pointing out the wards in the house” he smiled, crossing his arms behind his head. “After that it was just a matter of looking for the missing clue.” He hummed again, now more at ease that he knew Glenn couldn’t actually do anything to him apart from managing to make objects fly at him. A ghost was probably the least dangerous of all supernatural entities even if the ghost had once been a hunter. “I will say, you are a very convincing ghost, you look human and had it not been for the lack of blood and heart well...I would’ve believed you were alive. Whatever’s tethered you to this world must be big.”
“Are you always this aggravating?” Glenn asked, his tone more bitter than before.
“Yes. Constantly” Felix gritted out, glaring at the vampire.
“You can tell you two are related” Sylvain chuckled before looking at a case that was propped on the living room wall, covered in different kinds of weapons. Sylvain, stupidly, reached in and grabbed one of them. Instantly his hand started to burn, smoke coming out of his skin but the pain was bearable enough that he continued inspecting the rifle. The craftsmanship was amazing! He could guess that this was a gun that had been made a long time ago though mainly because during his time still being able to walk as a free vampire, he had seen guns similar to these developed. The difference from those to this was that this one had sigils covering the barrel. Sylvain guessed the bullets also had more spunk to them than normal ones.
“Wow! I’ve never seen one of these before” Sylvain smiled giddily, turning it around in his hand. Adjusting his grip and then pointing it to the other side of the room, “bang” he mumbled, acting out what it would be like to shoot it. It was a really nice gun if he was being honest.
“You’re literally burning Sylvain. Your skin— your skin is on fire” Felix hissed. Both him and Glenn looked at Sylvain slack jawed.
“Eh. Not that painful. Anyways can I keep this? I really like it,” he smirked, putting his hand down and once again looking at it. Yes his skin was literally burning as they spoke, but look at the craftsmanship!
“No!” Felix stomped over to him, snatching the gun from his hand and slamming it back on the case. “Are you insane?!”
“Well I was locked in a coffin for years Felix what do you think” Sylvain dead panned.
It wasn't until they heard Glenn laughing that the two looked over to the ghost, the man keeling over and wheezing, “Sothis have mercy. I can’t fucken— FUCK” Glenn stammered out before cackling uncontrollably. Laughing for a couple of seconds more before breathing in, “oh goddess, that was hilarious. Anyways. Why the fuck are you here? I never asked that.”
Felix scoffed, “I need supplies— weapons to be exact.”
“Weapons? For what? We haven't spotted anything in weeks plus if dad gave you the mission, he would’ve provided you with that stuff” Glenn frowned.
“Dad didn’t give me a mission” was all Felix replied before he set off walking down the hall of the mansion. Sylvain just shrugged at Glenn before following him (of course that was before silently grabbing the gun and stuffing it in his jacket because goddess be damned that was a nice gun!)
Glenn sighed, walking besides Sylvain which the vampire thought was unnecessary, he knew ghosts could float if they wanted to. “Do you know what this dumbass is planning on doing?”
“Nope. All I know is that I’m being dragged into it,” Sylvain answered plainly. He liked Glenn, so far he was a nice change to Felix’s “prickliness” but he also had more with Felix and wasn’t about to just outright go behind his back and tell Glenn everything. Clearly Felix didn’t want his brother to know and so it wasn’t his place to tell him.
“You realize that as a ghost I can tell when you’re lying. One of the perks about being dead is that I can see through bullshit like this” Glenn fixed him with a glare.
Sylvain chuckled, “yeah well how about this. Tell me how you died and I’ll tell you what Felix is planning on doing.” Immediately the air around them got colder and Glenn’s face for a split second morphed into something else, too quick for Sylvain’s brain to pinpoint the change but not quick enough for it to go unnoticed. The ghost now glaring daggers at him which was a calculated move on Sylvain’s part. Number one way to piss off the undead? (Be it ghost, vampire, ghoul, etc.) Ask them how they died. It works every time.
“How did you die?” Glenn’s voice was more hollow and distant, the room getting colder by the minute.
Sylvain sighed, stopping in the middle of the hallway and turning over to the man. Unlike most people though, he wasn’t the type to get mad. “I killed myself.” He said bluntly. “While I was human my country was at war and so I watched as one by one all my friends died by imperial men. After the war ended, even though we won, the goddess cursed us with a plague. Those that had outlived the war now died by her hands. Every single person that I loved and cared for died before my very eyes. It wasn’t until I woke up one day to my childhood friend dead besides me that I decided to take my life. Blade to the wrist… you know. I was a war general, a noble.” He smiled cruelly. “What a way for me to go don’t you think?”
“You’re talking about the great plague” Glenn asked.
“Is that what they call it now” Sylvain mused, turning around and continuing to walk. “Wasn’t so great, though if you go based on how many people it managed to kill then I guess it was doing a great job.”
“Most vampires usually don’t share their story.”
“You asked and I answered” Sylvain grinned at the man. “I am but a simple man.”
Glenn frowned at him, the man mulling over not only what Sylvain had just said but also what to do now that his strategy of deterring Sylvain hadn’t worked. Thankfully for him, the two arrived at the room Felix was in now, the hunter shoving guns and knives into a duffel. The room itself was more than just a little impressive. The walls were lined with every kind of weapon that Sylvain thought could ever be created from swords to guns. From weapons Sylvain himself used in the war to weapons he thought were straight from a sci-fi movie. It was overwhelming in some capacity.
“Do you know how to use any weapon?” Felix asked, not turning to look at Sylvain as he kept throwing things into the bag haphazardly.
“Eh.”
Glenn rolled his eyes, “he just told me he used to be a war general. He knows how to use weapons.”
Felix immediately turned around to look at Sylvain, a kind of awe in his eye. “You were a war general?”
“Oh? Is that attractive to you?” And just like that the awe was transformed into disgust as the man huffed at him.
“What weapon did you use? We probably have something like that here. Better for you to relearn how to wield something you already know how than to start from square one.”
Sylvain hummed, looking around the room, mindlessly inspecting every weapon he looked at. Ignoring the way Felix was huffing at him and tapping his foot. The man was clearly trying to do this fast and efficient but Sylvain, personally, was not in any kind of rush.
“Lix, remember that one rumor that was passed down through generations” Glenn spoke up, the man leaning on the doorframe.
“What rumor?”
“You know. That we have a weapon that was stolen from a vampire” Glenn grinned. “Now I’m no rocket scientist or anything but being that we stole an actual vampire and locked him away. Wouldn’t it be the logical thing for us to also, lets say, steal the weapon he was using to fight against other hunters?”
Sylvain immediately tensed up, the hazy memory of the night he was captured slowly playing out in his mind. He made a habit not to think too much about that night more for his sanity sake than anything. Still. He hoped that Glenn was just pulling his leg and that they didn’t have that in this house. That thing was more of a curse than anything.
“I like guns,” Sylvain answered. “I know how to shoot them too. You’ll just have to teach me how the new ones work and I’ll be good.”
He didn’t have to turn around to see Glenn smiling, he knew his voice had been off the minute he had spoken the first word. That the lie he had crafted was nowhere near believable even if it was the truth. He did know how to use guns but that wasn’t why he had answered that.
Behind him he heard Felix walking away before he heard the man grunt. Sylvain turned around just in time to see Felix push one of the shelves to the side, the furniture sliding over and creaking. Felix gritted his teeth as he pushed it all the way to the right but Sylvain was no longer watching him. His eyes now locked onto the thing that was held behind a case.
“I really hate you Fraldarius men” Sylvain whispered, taking a step towards the case. He held no reflection and so even as he got closer to the glass case, there was no evidence of him approaching it. That was at least until he touched the case, instantly the thing inside, thing because Sylvain refused to call it a weapon, came alive.
The lance brought bad memories for him, memories he wished he could burn from his mind. It was a gift, a cruel and hideous gift he had been given by the goddess herself. When he had been alive the lance had been nothing more than a cheap bronze weapon, chipped from constant use. The blade on the tip of it dull and the handle still covered in old blood that he never cleaned off. It had been nothing more than a bronze lance, not even a silver lance. And yet, that was the one he had used to take his own life, the first weapon his hand had found at the dead of night.
It was no longer just a bronze lance.
A cursed weapon was the term they used to call it before. A weapon that bore the sins of its owner and transformed to reflect the gravity of them. What was once a bronze lance was now a weapon crafted from the bones that he once called his own. What was now a dull blade now was sharpened with the hatred he once had. And in the middle of it all, a red gem, filled with the blood that once belonged to him. The weapon was the twisted dark part of him that he had managed to push down for years. Now as his hand touched the glass, the weapon was alive again, the bladed spikes on the side swaying and groaning. The red gem glowing as the thing vibrated with want and desire to once again be reunited with its counterpart.
It disgusted him.
“I use guns” he repeated, his voice colder and more brazen as he stepped away. Turning his back on that thing. “I will use guns.” He continued taking a step forward to get out of the room and away from that. But before he could get out of the room, a shrill screech came out of the weapon, high enough that Glenn and Felix were cursing and covering their ears. Flinching in pain as the screeching got higher and higher until the glass case shattered. The sound so loud now that Sylvain was forced to put his hand on the weapon so he could spare Felix and Glenn from the pain.
He growled, yanking the thing off the mounted hooks and immediately throwing it on the floor. “There! You stupid piece of shit” he yelled, kicking the weapon again and pulling at his hair. He was conscious that his eyes were turning darker, that his fangs were now long enough to peak out of his lips. But just touching the weapon had unlocked a kind of anger he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
“You fucken happy” he yelled out, now looking up at the sky knowing that his voice wouldn’t reach the goddess that lived there. “Do this make you laugh you sick twisted bitch! Oh how funny it must be to you to force me to live with that thing again” he laughed cruelly, the weapon on the floor still writhing around. “What kind of smile do you have now Sothis?! Are you that happy to make me suffer?! To have me reunited with this damned weapon?!”
He breathed in shakily, his entire body trembling as his hands gripped at his hair. He felt his knees buckle with each step until he fell to the ground, the weapon now in front of him still moving —taunting him. “Was making me live for hundreds of years not enough?! I wanted to die you stupid bitch! Not be forced to live as a damn monster” he pulled at his hair, kicking the weapon away from him and growling at it. “Not be forced to have this thing be a part of me!” He breathed in shakily, curling himself inward. “Have you not punished me enough?” He whispered before chuckling painfully, looking over to the weapon that was slowly trying to inch it’s way closer to him. It disgusted him, how like a centipede it looked when it moved.
He breathed out slowly, standing up with shaky legs before walking over to the weapon. His gut twisted painfully as he leaned down and grabbed it. The weapon suddenly stopped all of its movement now that it was in his hands. He felt himself grow cold, like the remaining life he had inside of him slowly pour into the weapon. He scoffed as he ran his hand through his hair. “You should’ve been destroyed centuries ago” he mumbled, rolling the handle in his hand and watched the blade twirl. “Leave it to hunters to not even do me the favor of killing you.” To that the gem glowed tauntingly at him.
He sighed, walking over to the wall and leaning on it, slowly letting his feet slide until he was sitting on the floor. The weapon now rested on his lap as he closed his eyes. He could still feel that anger boiling inside of him accompanied by hunger that he hadn’t experienced since he had first turned. He figured that touching this thing would drag him back to how he used to be. That alone infuriated him even more since he had finally been able to get to the point where he felt more human than ever before. Then again, leave it to the goddess to remind him that he wasn’t that at all. Not anymore at least.
“Sylvain” Felix’s voice broke him out of his thoughts, the vampire slowly opening his eyes to find the man slowly sitting down in front of him. Felix looked incredibly concerned for him but Sylvain knew that Felix wasn’t the type to address the mental breakdown he had just had. He wasn’t the kind of guy to poke at people’s problems and was instead the kind to just sit and be there for someone. And smartly, the man sat a safe distance away from the weapon.
Glenn slowly walked closely too though he was more apprehensive than his brother, “what is that?”
“I dubbed thee the lance of ruin” Sylvain laughed shallowly, lifting the weapon to show it to them. “A goddess damned creation far worse than me or your brother.”
Felix frowned, “i-is it alive?” Sylvain answered that question by putting it on the floor and made them all watch as the thing tried to crawl back onto his lap.
“I hate that,” Glenn grimaced.
“You and me both buddy” Sylvain smiled as he grabbed the lance again and put it on his lap. “To be entirely honest” he sighed. “This thing is — from what I have learned — a part of me. In my time they called it a cursed weapon. The gist is that since I used it to off myself, now it holds all the remaining ‘human’ parts of me” he smiled as he tapped the red gem. “That there is my blood.” Then he tapped the bladed bones. “And I think this is my rib.”
“The more you talk the more I hate it” Glenn was now hugging himself because of how uncomfortable he was with the weapon.
Sylvain shrugged, “be grateful you’re not forced to live with it.” He looked down at it then, sighing. “Sadly though, this is the main reason why I have gotten as… well as strong as I am now. It’s a hell of a weapon to wield against others I’ll tell you that. Hunters really aren’t trained to deal with this kind of bullshit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty strong myself and can do just fine without it but well. This amplifies my uh, power.”
“Power?” Felix, to Sylvain disgust, looked intrigued by the weapon.
“I can’t explain it unless I, you know, demonstrate it. Just know that this was the reason why your ancestors weren’t able to kill me that day” Sylvain sighed.
“So you’re telling me that you, an already ridiculously overpowered monster, can get even more powerful if you use that” Glenn frowned at him.
“Why do I feel like no matter what I answer, you’re not going to like it?”
“You’re right. I hate you.”
Felix leaned forward then, his hand slowly reaching out until his finger tip brushed the weapon. The thing immediately twitched but as Felix touched it again, less hesitant that before, the weapon stopped moving and stayed still. “It feels like a weapon.”
“Why would you touch it” Glenn was now cringing away from them. “That’s so gross.”
The hunter immediately rolled his eyes, “it’s not gross Glenn it’s a weapon and one that we have never heard of before” he mumbled the last part as he kept probing around the weapon. Sylvain, for his part, had to hold back a million different jokes about Felix touching his lance. He honestly deserved an award for holding back his tongue.
“It’s still not okay at all” Glenn scrunched up his nose. “I don’t like how it moves it’s like a fucken— like a fucken-“
“Centipede.” Sylvain answered and immediately Glenn nodded.
“YES THAT! I hate it” Glenn hissed, taking another step back.
“You’re being a baby” Felix mumbled before confidently grabbing the lance and lifting it away from Sylvain’s lap. It moved and swayed but that was it, judging by Felix’s reaction, Sylvain was sure that he was expecting more than that.
“It won’t kill you unless I use it. Honestly that screech was the first time it’s ever done that. Usually it just….wiggles.”
“Wiggles sounds like a vast understatement for what it actually does” Glenn mumbled.
“If this gets damaged does it hurt you” Felix turned to Sylvain then, the lance still writhing in the hunters hands.
Sylvain shrugged, “don’t know. It’s never gotten damaged, though hey. If you want we can test the theory. Destroy it. I wanna see what happens” he grinned.
“I feel like if we destroy that lance it might...kill you” Glenn mumbled. “If it’s your human parts I feel like if it dies you...”
“Lose your humanity and become a mindless monster” Felix finished Glenn’s thoughts.
“Uh-huh,” Sylvain nodded before shrugging. “we won’t know until we try!” He said as he grabbed the lance from Felix’s hands.
“No!”
“No!”
Sylvain rolled his eyes at the way the two brothers were now looking at him, deeply concerned, “I’m joking…. you guys would never be able to destroy it trust me haha, I’ve tried.” He smiled at them as he banged the tip of the lance on the floor. “Pretty sure this thing is made to not break. Also nice theory about it! I like it! Look at you two little hunters figuring out stuff about the lance in record breaking time” he snickered, patronizing the two boys.
Any concern the hunters had for him was thrown out the window also in record breaking time.