Of course, when Archer[Quinn] and the mysterious old healer had disappeared, they hadn't actually vanished, instead they had both appeared inside of the Shadow lock. Archer[Quinn] didn't want any spectators for what he was going to do next, otherwise he was afraid that it would just make things more complicated.
He still held on to the man's arms, preventing him from taking his own life. After some initial confusion about how and where they had landed, the man concentrated on trying to free himself by attempting to kick Archer[Quinn] off. However, the latter noticed his hostage's intention and made the first move by hitting the other's shin, breaking the bone immediately. The force was strong enough that his leg had banged into the other dealing some excruciating pain.
"It would be for the best if you didn't move." Archer[Quinn] instructed the man, whose eyes started to glow red. There was no point pretending to be a healer when it was just the two of them, so he was revealing his true colours.
"Let go of me!" The vampire demanded, looking into Archer[Quinn]'s eyes, yet a few seconds later the smile that had appeared on his face was gone, since nothing had happened at all.
"Oh, are you surprised?" Archer[Quinn] questioned in amus.e.m.e.nt, before his eyes started to glow red as well. "Was this what you were trying to do? KNEEL!" He used the influence skill, and the vampire who had tried to get to Christopher[Owen], immediately went down on his knees, despite his injury, while his hands were still being held up.
"You….You're a vampire as well! But how can that be? Your smell is that of a human!" The old man spoke in confusion.
"You're right, this smell is the exact reason why I was able to spot you before you could spot me." Archer[Quinn] explained.
Before leaving the Cursed ship to head to Christopher[Owen], this was the favour he had asked Tobias[Logan] about. Back when they had headed to the Vampire World, Tobias[Logan] had been able to create a smell that had managed to make the ones who had not been turned, smell like vampires.
If a fragrance could be made that made one smell like vampires, then surely Tobias[Logan] should be able to create one that could do the opposite as well, Archer[Quinn] theorised and his friend hadn't disappointed him. It hadn't taken the inventor long to mix up such a request, so before coming over Archer[Quinn] and Joseph[Sam] had both sprayed themselves to mask themselves as humans.
Since they knew that vampires appeared to be working within many different locations, they thought it best to hide themselves and allow the vampires to come out on their own.
After Odom[Vincent] told him that another vampire would be able to complete the ritual to turn Christopher[Owen], Archer[Quinn] had figured out their plan. With so many traitors showing up, it wasn't that surprising anymore that another would be working in the Meshack[Graylash] family.
However, there was one confusing thing about it all and that was the fact that none of the vampires had been able to recognise who Archer[Quinn] was so far. Any vampire from the Vampire World would know him as one of the leaders, yet these vampire spies didn't.
Archer[Quinn] could only assume that this meant they were on Blake[Jim]'s side.
'I guess my presence in the Human World is only as one of the world leaders, and Blake[Jim] doesn't have as much insider information about the vampires as he thought. Otherwise he should have been able to put one and one together to know that Archer[Quinn] Geman[Talen], leader of the Cursed faction, is also the leader of the Tenth family.'
At least this was Archer[Quinn]'s theory on the matter. Additionally, from what they had found out, those vampires had seemingly worked in their factions for years, so did that mean that they had been vampires all along, or had Blake[Jim] been going around, turning people this entire time?
Fortunately, Archer[Quinn] had someone right in front of him who should be able to answer some of those questions. Since he had followed his command, Archer[Quinn] was sure he could get him to talk via his Influence skill.
"Answer my questions." Archer[Quinn] demanded as his eyes continued to glow red. "Tell me, who do you work for?"
The man's eyes started to fade, and he began to talk in a monotone voice.
"I was an agent working for the Vampire King, but later I was approached by someone who did something that changed me. Now I work for someone else."
'An agent for the old king? Are these the vampire agents that I was meant to be looking for? So originally they were vampires sent by the king, but then he said someone changed him.'
"What do you mean changed you? Who did such a thing, was it Blake[Jim]? Was it one of the Ryo[Eno]s?" Archer[Quinn] asked in a firmer voice.
However, the old man didn't reply, and his mouth just continually twitched. This was something that hadn't happened before.
"Answer me!" Archer[Quinn] nearly shouted, but nothing was working.
'Archer[Quinn], I think it's pointless.' Odom[Vincent] intervened. 'It appears that something has been done to these vampires, something beyond a simple Influence skill. I can only assume that it has to do with our skill[ability]. Only the caster will have an idea of what they have done to the vampire.'
'Usually, if someone knows about the question you ask them they will still answer, but he is not speaking at all as if there is a type of block.'
Getting rid of the influence skill, the vampire's eyes came back to life, and he realised that he had been put under a spell.
"I feel bad for you." Archer[Quinn] spoke. 'I'm assuming that you didn't choose to join Blake[Jim] out of choice, but instead he came to all the spies and did something to you all."
Although the vampire couldn't speak, or make a type of signal that would indicate that it was true. He did wonder. 'How does such a young vampire know that it was Blake[Jim]? And who exactly is this person, I don't remember anyone like this back in the Vampire World.'
"Look, I'm willing to help you. As long as you cooperate there might be a way for me to break this spell from you." Archer[Quinn] tried to convince the other. Although he wasn't referring to himself, but instead he was referring to Francis[Richard] Ryo[Eno]. He was the one person that should be able to do something about it.
Still, the frightened look on the vampire's face said it all. Even though Archer[Quinn] was strong, he seemed to possess a deeper fear for whoever changed him.
"You see this space here? You can stay here and you will travel with me. No one will be able to find you, and trust me the person who I am thinking of, will be able to fix you. He's one of the Originals." Archer[Quinn] revealed, reassuring the man.
For a second, the fear had diminished quite a bit, and Archer[Quinn] could feel the resistance in his hands going away. Because of this, Archer[Quinn] decided to let go, and the vampire smiled.
"I really didn't want to do any of what was happening, but I had to! Orders just seemed to come to me-" in the middle of speaking the old man's hands raised to his neck, yet from the look on his face he didn't even seem aware of himself doing it. They moved, slitting his own throat, killing him instantly.
"Damn it!" Archer[Quinn] shouted, rushing over to the vampire, but he had died too fast for Archer[Quinn] to do anything about it.
'What was that just now? He seemed to have been convinced, so did Ryo[Eno] just control him? But how? What the hell kind of overpowered skill[ability] is that that your family had!' Archer[Quinn] asked in frustration, mad at himself for not having taken precautions and crushed his hands beforehand.
'I don't know what that was. Perhaps there was a condition, a broken rule, or at worse…. Blake[Jim] might have been able to see everything and control him at any time, similar to the Demon tier beast you just faced.' Odom[Vincent] stated his own theories on how it had been possible. It was a long shot, but their family members had used the equivalent exchange skill[ability] in different ways, and there was always the chance they had gotten certain abilities from someone else somewhere.
'I guess that's all we can do for now.' Archer[Quinn] replied, as he looked at the vampire, who had died. Ironically, he had died with a smiling face. For a second Archer[Quinn] had given him hope, telling him that he could help him, and then he had made the wrong decision, allowing the man to unwillingly end himself.
Returning back to the room, Archer[Quinn] held the old man's corpse in his hands. It seemed like Archer[Quinn] had come at an awkward time as everyone was celebrating, and Christopher[Owen] was standing on his two feet.
The healers had managed to finally heal Christopher[Owen], allowing him to make an almost full recovery. He would still need to have plenty of rest, and more time for healing, but it was a big step in the right direction.
As such, Archer[Quinn] coming up holding a dead body in his hands was raining down on everyone's parade.
"So he really was a traitor?" Christopher[Owen] questioned in a serious tone.
"I'm not too sure about that now." Archer[Quinn] only mumbled.
With the lead on Blake[Jim] gone like that, there was still one more person that he could go talk to, hopefully without messing up again. The assassin that had been caught in the ice, that was currently with Drake[Oscar].
However, what Archer[Quinn] didn't know was that a certain video tape had ended up in the hands of Drake[Oscar]. One that the Commander was currently watching with mixed emotions.
To be continued....
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