Chapter 1: A Bad Start
Somewhere, deep in the vampire lands, dark clouds reigned overhead, a common occurrence given the environment, but perhaps a sign of things to come for the young couple that lay in shelter behind their sturdy castle walls.
A young man paced the floor back and forth, passing his eye on his wife as she lay breathing heavily as the maids tended to her every want and need, her belly swollen with child.
She pushed desperately, her golden hair matted with sweat and her blue eyes that always carried warmth, now in pain as she tried to get her precious child out into the world of the living.
One of the maids, seeing the head of the baby quickly got to work in pulling it the rest of the way out and was surprised by the ease of doing so. Only for her face to blanched as she stared at the thing that lay in her hands, and with hesitation, giving it to the father that was waiting.
When the father looked upon his child his heart was filled with joy, he had the same blue eyes as he and his mother but with black hair like himself instead of his wife’s golden one. his feeling of joy was at an all-time high, his fatherly pride was at its apex, only for it to come crashing down when he finally got a good look at what lay within his hands.
A mutant, a chimera, perhaps even an awakened. At first glance, it seemed like any other baby, but there were a few dissimilarities that made it stand out from the rest.
The father knew that there was a chance for this to happen, but in his heart of hearts, he had hoped not, given how low the chance was. Far too low to take seriously, every couple had to take the chance, after all, perhaps their's more than anyone else, but still they had to try. When his wife laid eyes on their child her face paled and in shame, she looked away.
The baby was silent, more interested in watching and observing than making any noise as any normal baby would. He studied his surroundings with dull interest, as if not entirely aware of where he was or what was happening.
The father looked down on his son with pity, before giving him away to one of the maids to be taken to the baby room. Hopefully, given enough time, he would know what to do next, once his emotions have settled.
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When the baby first opened his eyes, he knew something was off, or perhaps odd, not that he had anything to compare with what he was going through right now. all he knew was that something was not right and that he might be the cause.
When he first came out of the warm place the light stung his eyes so much so that he wanted to cry, and he did in fact give a small whimper, not that anyone heard. He was then picked up by a strange creature before being examined and then given to someone bigger. The face of which looked joyous before a look of sadness took his face, he was then later turned around to look at what he presumed to be his mother, who looked away once her sight rested on him for long enough.
Afterward, he was face to face with the man again, who he presumed was his father, he said something softly under his breath before being handed off to one of the maids who took off with him to somewhere else. He struggled a little in her grip, worried about what was going to happen to him. But being unable to do anything but accept his fate he decided to wait for what was to come next. He took the opportunity to get a better look at the maid that was carrying him.
She was short, only slightly more than a head above the waist of his presumed father, making her very short indeed, her skin was a light pale color with a greyish green tint, but she did not look sickly, if anything she looked healthy. Her eyes were a bright yellow that seemed to glow in the dim light, and her small ears were pointed and tapered to follow the sides of her head, this was topped off with long black hair that fell below her shoulders. She wore some form of gothic maid outfit with lace and even some frills. She seemed youthful with a child-like face in a cute way. Yet she carried with her strength and grace that was hard to place, with delicate fingers that were surprisingly firm otherwise she would not have such an easy time carrying him.
He had no idea what this creature was, but for the moment there was nothing he could do about it. He also noticed that she wasn’t the only one of her kind as they walked, there were others too, some even taller than the one carrying him right now.
After walking down a few stone corridors they reached a wooden ornate door. The room was filled with pillows and other soft things, as well as some toys fit for a child. At the back was a crib that the maid promptly put him in, but not before finding appropriate clothing for him to wear. Once changed she looked down on him, a task difficult to do given how short she was even when she was standing on the stool next to the crib. She took one good look at him for what felt like the first time.
The only thing he had to say of such a look was. Curiosity. That was the feeling he got from her. She searched his face for a long while before making a sudden turn, leaving the room, and him in the dark, alone.
He wasn’t sure what to think, as far as he was aware, he was just born, his parents were sad, he was dumped onto a maid that he was sure wasn’t human, and he was now left all alone in the dark. Already things seemed to be going downhill for him. As much as he hated to say it, he was scared. Scared for what this means, scared for what might happen next, and scared for his life, and for the life of him, he couldn’t understand what he did wrong.
Sadly for him, his body was still too weak for him to properly move his head nor was he really able to move his body. The only thing he could do was eat, sleep, or wait. There wasn't anything to eat, waiting wasn't going to do him any good, and he was very tired from just being just born. As he drifted off to sleep, his last thoughts were on how they didn’t even bother to give him a name.
Like this, the days went by. The small maids would come in, change him, feed him, check if he was okay, then leave. It was a very lonely experience, there was nothing to do but try to take stock of his surroundings. Not that it did him much good, there was nothing here other than plush toys and baby goods. He still couldn’t move his head or his body well enough to check out his own body yet either. There was nothing for him to do but think, but there wasn't anything to really think about. He just didn't have enough context or information to work with.
Just as he was about to rest his head and doze off yet again, the door opened and in walked the man that was the presumed father.
For the first time since he was born he finally got to take a closer look at his father, he had black hair and blue piercing eyes. He looked young yet carried with him a weight on his shoulders that made it seem like he had lived decades. His every step carried with it a sense of purpose as if he carefully thought out every movement before making them, giving a strange sort grace to his walk.
He walked over to the crib, concern and worry on his face, as well as a hint of fear. Gently, with great hesitation, he reached into the crib to place his hand on his son. He moved his hand back and forth in an almost loving way. Mustering his courage he said a few words that fell on deaf ears, considering the baby still didn't know what language was yet or how to use it. But he still tried anyway.
“V-A-N,” he said softly, pronouncing each letter, taking his hand and pointing at the baby.
“V-A-N” he said once more.
He then pointed at himself “A-L-V.”
Realizing what this was, Van, for that was what he knew his name to be now, understood that this was his presumed father’s way of telling him what he was called, as well as telling his own. He tried to give an affirmative, but all he could do was make baby noises in response, hopefully, that would be enough to get the idea through.
His father, Alv, searched his face, then nodded, he then tried a few more words, but then quickly realized that it wasn’t doing any good and stopped. He wrapped his hands around Van’s own and gave a small squeeze before turning and leaving.
Van was all alone once more. “Well, at least I now know I'm not completely abandoned.” he thought to himself or as much as he could think to himself given his underdeveloped brain. He slowly closed his eyes before going back into a fitful sleep, wondering what the future may hold.
Days turned to weeks and weeks turned into months, his father would visit him once or twice a week, trying to impart onto him some of his language. Van didn’t quite know why, or what his father was thinking, trying to teach a baby not even a year old how to speak, but considering that he probably wasn't a normal baby, perhaps his efforts weren’t in vain.
Once his father left after one of their little sessions, Van, now being a few months old, was finally able to get up by himself, even if only for a little while. He didn’t want his father to know that he could sit up unaided, at least not yet, he already worried him as it was with his birth and didn’t think doing more things out of the norm for a baby would help the matter. Not that he really had an idea what a normal baby is supposed to act like, it was only a feeling for him.
For the first time, Van finally got a chance to look upon himself. With a great struggle that was akin to a life and deathmatch, he was slowly able to remove at least the top layer of his baby clothes. He bemoaned how weak he was, that it took almost everything he had just to take off one article of clothing and with frustration, he threw the cloth aside.
Not wanting to miss this chance before the maids came in and forced him back into his clothes, Van looked down on himself to see what there was to see.
At first, he really didn’t notice anything wrong, but then again he was a baby so what would he know about what was wrong with his body? His chest was completely smooth, without a single blemish. If he were older and more knowledgeable he would know that he was missing a few key aspects of a normal body right then and there. mainly the nipples and the belly button that he didn’t have. But as a baby, he didn’t notice what was wrong and only noticed that there didn’t seem to be anything off at least in his chest area, not like any black spots, or holes or anything else that might look worrisome.
He then moved on to his lower half, this was also a bit of a challenge to get off, though not having to put as much effort as the top half of his clothing, as he realized he could slowly slide it off with only minimal challenge.
What he saw made his eyes widen, he felt he was a male but he didn't realize how true that was, any doubts he had was taken away when he looked down at the bulge between his legs, and he if he was big now, who knows how big he would be in the future when he matured. So all in all everything looked fine... right?
At least that was what Van thought at first, as a baby he didn't realize that he was too big for his size, that for a normal baby it would be much smaller, or that he was missing an important aspect that any good male would have.
Van decided to reach down and check the thing between his legs, realizing it was squishy and that it felt weird to touch. He didn’t notice anything else other than the long thing between his legs, but if he were older he would realize that he was missing an important part of being a male, namely, his family jewels, he was completely smooth where his balls should be. Not that he had a hidden hole down there, he was one hundred percent male. So as far as Van was concerned there was nothing wrong with his body, after all, the thing between the legs was all you needed to be a male, or at least that was what he presumed.
Though, that didn’t stop him from worrying. Something about him wasn’t right... right? So perhaps he was just too immature to figure it out? Van vowed to find a mirror of some sort to get a better look at his body, after all what if there was something wrong with his face? Or his back? Or perhaps it was something more? These questions and more were what kept Van awake at night, constantly worrying about what was wrong with him to make his parents act the way they did. Hopefully, one day soon, before it was too late.