Chapter 20: Aftermath

“THAT BITCH!” Thea said as she stomped back and forth in a circle, she turned and hit the wall beside her causing it to crack. An impressive feat, considering that over the years and millennia, vampires have reinforced their castles to the point of them being near indestructible.

Normally Alvaroz would say something about not destroying the walls, considering that since they are so hard to break, they are also hard to repair. But even he couldn’t bring himself to care enough for a piece of rock over what had happened to his son. Instead, he found himself sitting on a chair, lost in deep thought, staring at nothing, disappointed in himself.

Thea turned from the wall and looked to the room, addressing everyone and no one as she continued her rant. “And That Umbra Slut goes and puts her under her protection!” she growled with anger. “Who The Fuck Does She Think She Is!” she then kicked the wall where she first punched it, causing an even bigger crack to form.

“...I’m sorry…” Alvaroz said, apologizing for his failure of killing Karen. “I underestimated how prepared she was…” thinking back to how Karen managed to run away from him in time.

Thea turned to him, her face unreadable, she opened her mouth and closed it, unsure whether she should try to comfort her husband or if that would make it worse, and wishing her sister Lillia was here.

“...at least we were able to force her to take the potion.” Lorenzo finally said. For the first time in a long time, he brought out a pipe with a smoldering pile of green weed like substance burning away. He pulled on his pipe and sighed as he tried to relax. The very fact that he was smoking his pipe, indicated to the others how stressed Lorenzo must be feeling. “Now she won’t be able to give birth.”

Thea turned in anger at that but found herself holding her scathing remark back, knowing that Lorenzo only meant the best by his comment. She instead, turned and kicked the wall again, this time putting her back into it and causing it to dent. Alvaroz and Lorenzo ignored the sound of destruction as they were lost in their own thoughts.

Silence fell upon the room as Thea stared at the wall as if the secrets of the universe were in those cracks, Alvaroz stared at the ground, his mind going nowhere fast, and Lorenzo stared at the smoldering pile of green in his pipe, mesmerized by its burning.

After what felt like forever, Thea forced herself to look away from the wall and turned to look at Lorenzo. “How is my daughter? Is she okay?” she said in a soft and gentle manner, surprising even her.

Lorenzo slowly looked up and nodded. “She is with your sister, watching over Van as he sleeps.”

“...I’m going to have to have the talk with her…” Thea said quietly, mostly to herself, and sighed.

Alvaroz looked up, pain flashed through his face. “...so am I, with my son…” he then got up unsteadily and tried to make it to the door. Followed by Thea, who moved reluctantly.

“Before you two go, I feel like I should tell you something I noticed when looking over the kids,” Lorenzo said.

The two stopped their movement to turn and listen. Lorenzo then explained a few things that were concerning him, about the kids after taking care of them. Alvaroz and Thea listened, then nodded, thanking him for the information.

Both of them left the room, leaving Lorenzo to feel alone, as he smoked on his pipe. With a sigh, he got up to get some fresh air from outside.

---

Van slowly opened his eyes, confused at first as to where he was. He looked around and realized that he was in one of the guest rooms in the castle. Upon looking to his left he found his mother and Luna sitting next to the bed where he lay. Also taking notice that he just woke up.

“How long was I out?” Van asked drowsily.

Lillia gently smiled. “Just a few hours, it's still afternoon. How are you feeling?”

Van tried to blink the sleep from his eyes to no avail. “Fine…? I think? I’m not sure, at least I’m not hurting anymore.”

A pained expression flashed through Lillia’s face before returning to normal. “That’s good…” she gently caressed Van’s head in a loving manner. “I'm glad that you're feeling better.”

Van, unexpectedly even to him, moved into the caress as a cat would to a petting. Enjoying the pure feeling of love he felt from each stroke. He turned to Luna who had her head down on the bed. “What's wrong with her? Was she hurt?” he asked worriedly.

Lillia was enjoying Van’s response from her hand with a smile. “She’s fine, she also had to take some of the medicine, but forced herself to stay up in hopes to see you wake, unfortunately, that only delayed the inevitable and she ended up falling asleep anyway.”

“I see…” was all Van said before letting his head fall back onto the pillow. “Could you do me a favor and bring her over here?”

Lillia looked confused, and turned to Luna. “you want me to wake her up?” she asked.

“No. just bring her here,” Van said once more, but this time he struggled with one of his hands and patted his chest with it.

Lillia, still confused, gently picked up the sleeping Luna. unsure what Van meant, she placed her nearer to Van, only for him to again pat his chest, and continue to do so until finally Lillia understood what he wanted and placed Luna on top of Van.

Luna’s face was only a few inches away from Van’s own. And she hugged him unconsciously once placed on top of him and Van hugged her back. Enjoying the warmth that her body gave him as the two snuggled together.

Lillia looked on, both touched and worried as she watched the two wrapped themselves with each other. Fears played across her mind as she soaked in the scene in front of her. But she decided to sit down once more and continue to stroke her son’s head lovingly as he dozed off.

---

It was about another hour or so, before Van woke up once more, Luna still sleeping on top of him. He breathed in her smell, as she exhaled her soft breath onto him, and pressed her body onto his.

A strange feeling overcame him, one he found to be similar to when he was forcefully given the drug. But instead of painful, it felt pleasurable, he started to look at the sleeping Luna in front of him oddly. Weird thoughts entered his head, tempting him, but he shook them all away and turned to find he was alone in the room. His mother had left them alone, for what reason, he couldn’t guess.

Just then he heard a click at the door and watched as his father and Thea walked into the room. They paused, taking in the scene in front of them.

Thea acted first, she walked up to the bed and gently picked Luna off of Van, it was difficult at first, Luna wouldn’t let go, but Thea was eventually able to peel her off. She then carried her in her arms and left the room, leaving Alvaroz and Van alone together.

Alvaroz slowly walked up to the bed. “Hey… how are you feeling,” he casually asked.

“Fine…” was all Van replied with, a slightly blank expression on his face.

Alvaroz stared down at his son, worry, and love on his face. “Do you feel fine enough to get up for a walk? I want to talk to you about something.”

“...okay,” Van said. Slowly taking the sheets and covers off and finding that he was already changed. He got up, a bit unsteady at first, but was quickly able to find his balance once more.

Alvaroz placed a hand on Van’s back to help steady him and the two walked out the room.

---

Luna woke up in Thea’s bed, wondering how she got there. She looked up to find her mother, sitting on its edge, looking down on her.

“Good morning sleepyhead, have a good rest?” she asked kindly.

Luna looked around, realizing it was just them. “Where’s Van?” she asked sleepily. “ is he okay?”

“He’s doing fine, how are you doing?” Thea asked in return with worry.

Luna paused to think that over, unsure on how to properly answer such a simple question. “I’m… fine…”

Thea reached out with her hand to hold onto Luna’s own. “Luna, there’s something we should talk about. Regarding what happened to you two... how do you feel?”

Luna was confused until she realized her mother was talking about the incident where she was tied up and Van was raped. “I’m fine,” she said once more, but firmly. A little annoyed and wondering what such a question had to do with anything, not even bothering to look at her mother.

“Really? Because when I found you, you seemed more than fine...” Thea said. Making Luna feel uncomfortable. She then reached down and pulled her daughter closer to her. “Luna, I know how confused you must feel. Admittedly you are a bit too young for what you were feeling. But it's all a natural part of growing up to be a woman.” she paused before saying reluctantly “your succubus bloodline and your body awakening ritual just helped you get there sooner than most.”

Luna looked up. “What do you mean?”

“Well… first tell me the truth. When you were watching the men you love have sex with another woman, how did you feel?” Thea asked.

Luna looked uncomfortable again, as she recalled how despite hating what was happening a part of her thought it wouldn’t be so bad if it was with another woman.

Thea noticed the warring feelings on Luna’s face and decided to change tack. “Or... let's imagine that Van wasn’t tied up and instead he was with... Anna… ”

Luna shivered and she started to blush, against her will and started to breathe in deeply as the thought danced around her mind, the same feeling that she was confused by before, coming back but stronger. Almost immediately she felt a little guilty, considering what had happened to Van.

“Luna... it's okay. Every woman gets a little… excited… when they see the man they love with another woman.” Thea said soothingly.

“...I know... it's normal… but a part of me wished that it was me and not her, or at the least Anna… is that too much to ask? That bitch had no right to do what she did to him! I hate her! Why does such an evil woman exist!” Luna said with tears in her eyes and her voice cracking a little.

Thea looked sad at that and hugged her daughter close. “I know, it isn’t fair. You love him and the woman you hated the most, took him his first time away from you. but it's not your fault.” Thea said, trying to soothe her daughter more. But seeing as it wasn’t working, she tried to change tactics.

“you know... when I first found out Alvaroz was going to marry Lillia first, I admit I was a little jealous. But then, I just thought about the men I love, loving her, and I felt a little better. I really liked her more than just a friend and thought about how she would make such a wonderful sister, I’ve always wanted a sister and everything we’ve been through together... Well, I honestly couldn’t be happier, after all, me and your father were still to be wed, so I had nothing to fear. Not to mention In this world, having a man with high virility is a status symbol, and showing him off doing his thing, can make you look better by contrast... it also turns me on.” Thea openly admitted with a smile.

“Besides, it's not like just because he married Lillia first that I couldn’t have sex with him or marry him later.” She said mischievously before turning serious once more. “Not to mention, me and Alvaroz still loved each other, and there was nothing that was going to stop us from being together,” she said happily. “Just like there's nothing from stopping you two from being together...”

“While it is a little different for you, and it is true that Van’s purity was taken by someone else, and not by someone you approve of. it's not the end, you two can still move forward past this and be the happy couple you two were meant to be. And Van loves you… I know it... Now imagine what Van must be going through.”

“Van, unfortunately, has been kept in the dark about this fact of life, about how it's a man's duty to please women. even you knew how much was happening around you.” Thea said to Luna, “that strange desire, to see the man you love have with other women, is a part of all women. Not just me or you. instead, take control of it, become strong, and let you be the one to decide which woman gets the ‘honor’ of sleeping with your man. Take pride in him and show the world how amazing he is on your terms! I know you can do it because i’ll be helping you every step of the way.”

Luna looked at her mother, taking in everything she was saying, her tensed up shoulders relaxing a little bit as some of her fears were taken away by her mother’s assurances. But her fist balled up anyway. “I still hate her… you were lucky enough to get a sister you like and approve off. I got my man raped! If only I was stronger…” tears formed once more in her eyes. “Why did the goddess make us like this!?”

“Because the goddess is a bitch like Karen is. And you don’t need to worry about getting stronger, I'll help you every step of the way to get our revenge and see to it that you get it too!” Thea said with conviction.

“...Really?” Luna asked, looking up at her mother with a hopeful expression.

“ Really…” Thea said, bringing her daughter into a hug, both of them sharing a moment then slowly pulling away. “Now there's a book I think you should read that will help you moving forward, also I should teach you a few spells now that your body has matured quicker then it should have, also about that shitty goddess, here are a few things that most males don’t know about her-”

Thea continued her explanation of a variety of things, taking this moment to have a little mother-daughter bonding. Luna listened intently about the many things she was at first too young to know about, and clarification on a few things she suspected. And like that the hours passed.

---

Van sat down on the bench with his father, in the middle of the garden with no one around except for the both of them. The nice cool breeze doing much to help relax them and enjoy the moment out in the sun. they stayed silent, both not knowing how to begin.

“Ah!” Van exclaimed in surprise, getting up as a question popped in his head, taking Alvaroz by surprise as well by the sudden sound.

“The Zapper!” Van turned to his father with panic in his eyes. “It tried to save me but it got hurt and ‘That Bitch’ threw her out the window! We have to find her quickly before it's too late!”

Alvaroz was surprised by the question but became amused when Van still referred to that person as ‘That Bitch’ despite his obvious panic. “Don’t worry, the little bug is fine, it’s resting right now and has its own guest room, all to itself.”

“Really? Van asked in surprise.

Alvaroz chuckled. “Really… you know, it was because of that Zapper that we were able to find out something was wrong. When it came through the doors, trying to fly with a half-broken wing, and then tried to zap us, only to turn back from whence it came. Well… Let's just say, we noticed then that a certain guest was missing, alongside a certain someone else. It didn’t take much for us to put two and two together and ask Anna where you were.”

Van was in shock, to think that despite how badly hurt it was, it still tried to call for help and in the end, actually saved them. He couldn’t help but get a little teary-eyed by it all.

Alvaroz was amused by Van’s emotion, but could somewhat understand why. He patted the bench and Van sat down once more. “ Perhaps you would like to take that little bug as a familiar. I honestly think you couldn’t do worse than that bug. Considering what lengths it went for you.”

“Really! You’ll let me keep her!” Van happily asked.

Alvaroz smiled. “Yes, you can keep her.”

Van tried to control how happy he was, and how glad he was to hear that the Zapper was doing okay. “Thank you…”

“Don’t thank me. It’s that bug that deserves the thanks.” Alvaroz said. Happy that his son was happy and enjoying the moment until he remembered why they were there in the first place and his smile left him.

“Van...,” Alvaroz began. “About what happened…” he tried to think what was the best way to broach the subject. “You’ll be happy to know… that Karen was forced to take a potion that would prevent her from getting pregnant. It was what was agreed upon when we confronted her alongside Katherine Umbra. Katherine Umbra put Karen under her protection, but we were still able to force the issue and get Karen to drink the potion.”

Van remembered something about what Karen was saying when she was riding him. “ I remember, Karen said something about having a child that had inheritance rights to the land, and something about making sure that our house and House Umbra didn’t do a partnership or something.” he then explained a little more about what happened.

Alvaroz was surprised. “I see… so that was her plan, damm...” he said quietly “even if she doesn’t get pregnant with a child, she still most likely accomplished her second goal.

“Sorry…” Van said, feeling bad and partially to blame.

“Nothing to apologize for. You are not to blame.” Alvaroz said with conviction. “If it’s anyone's fault, it's hers for doing it, and ours for not being better prepared.”

“Still...sorry,” Van said once more only to be hugged out of the blue tightly.

“Don’t say that again,” Alvaroz said with anger as he pulled his son into his arms and squeezed. “If I say it's not your fault, it's not. Do you understand me,” he said firmly, accepting no argument on the matter.

Van was surprised at first by the hug and tried to resist, but slowly he just let himself be hugged as tears fell from his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to agree or disagree with what his father said and so just stayed like that for a long time.

After a while, the two finally separated. “Do you feel better?” Alvaroz asked.

“...a little,” Van finally said.

Alvaroz stared at his son, his face a mask as worries and other thoughts entered and swirled in his mind. Slowly, he forced himself to continue with why he brought them here in the first place. “Van… I need you to tell me everything that happened. Leave nothing out… even if it makes you uncomfortable. Do you understand?” he asked as gently as he could.

Van looked up at his father and slowly nodded. Looking at the ground, he began with how it all started, how he felt sick after drinking his drink, how he and Luna were cornered, how he was threatened and abused, and how he felt.

“Near the end… I felt something was awakening inside of me…” Van began, “like I was getting used to it, like I was… I don’t know, It just felt… I don’t know…” he shook his head in confusion, unable to put it into words.

“Did you still feel that way, after everything? Like when you and Luna were alone together?” Alvaroz asked.

“...ya.” Van replied, feeling guilty.

Alvaroz put a hand on his son’s shoulder, “even a man, can get the urge, though not as much as women. Women are constantly in need and would do everything to get that fix. What you were probably feeling was a combination of the residual drug, the body awakening ritual making your body mature quicker, and your incubus bloodline.” he said the last part, looking around in case someone was near.

“...Lorenzo said, that no one should know I have Incubus bloodline and that it might be a bad thing, is this why?” Van asked.

“You would have eventually felt a little like that as you got older, again, not as much as a woman, but still. The incubus bloodline just makes it easier for you to… continue and perform, it also was probably why the drug had less effect on you than you realized.” Alvaroz turned silent for a moment. “If any woman knew that you had incubus blood in you, women from all over would try to have you or try to kidnap you and sell you. Being an incubus gives you certain powers that women crave, being better at sex is just the half of it…” his face darkened at the thought.

“Powers? kidnappings!?” Van asked

“I’ll tell you later…did she say anything else?” Alvaroz asked.

“... she said that a man’s place is behind and below a women’s, both figuratively and literally. And… she said it with conviction…” Van worriedly said.

Alvaroz frowned, or perhaps he winced, either way, his expression was one of pain as he contemplated what he was to say about this. He sighed. “I suppose, considering everything you have been through, you have the right to know.”

he looked Van straight in the eye. “It’s time you learned about the goddess.”