A Journey Within the Realm

I was awakened by a female voice that I had never heard before. It was still dark outside, as well as inside. I sat up and yawned. Just then, I heard the voice again. It was calling my name and it was coming from out in the hallway. I got out of bed and walked into the hallway. Looking around, I saw nothing. Suddenly, the voice said my name again. This time it was coming from my left, deeper into the hallways. I followed the voice as it kept calling my name. As I came closer, the voice grew louder. Before long, I came across a door with markings different from all the rest. I listened carefully. The voice called my name again. It was coming from this room. I opened the door and walked inside. I had entered a small chapel or shrine, a place for worship. However, I couldn’t find the person who was calling my name. I walked futher into the room, looking around for someone. Nothing. Suddenly, I heard a thump behind me. I turned around to see a dark figure starting to form in front of me.

“At last, I meet you, Randy Nelson,” the voice said.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“You can call me Kyoko,” the voice replied.

Just as I thought, the voice was coming from this dark figure. The figure finished forming, and when it did, I could finally see who was calling me. She was a beautiful woman with blonde hair and red eyes. As she smiled, her fangs showed with a sparkle. I couldn’t stop staring at her eyes. They weren’t blood red, but ruby red. They glowed like Nori’s when she hits moonlight.

“Finally, I get to taste a man’s blood,” Kyoko said, placing her mouth on my neck.

I could feel a slight poke in my neck. As I felt a tingle, I started to feel relaxed and tired. I was about to close my eyes when I heard a loud crash.

“Stop right there, Vampire,” yelled Miki, “Drop the man and step aside!”

Kyoko lifted her head and the tingle stopped. When she let go of me, my legs were so weak that I landed on my butt. Trying to get my vision back, I could only hear what was going on.

“Oh! I wasn’t expecting someone else to be able to hear my call for a certain person,” Kyoko said, “Usually, only the person I call can hear it. You’re special.”

“Nope. I’m an elf,” Miki corrected, “Elves have stronger senses. It helps us locate dangers that might harm us or others. My ears can pick up the slightest noise. Luckly for Randy, my ears picked up your voice calling him.”

“I see…,” Kyoko replied, “Just to let you know, I don’t want to kill him, I just wanted to taste a real man’s blood. I’m sorry if I got carried away with the draining.”

“Are you okay, Randy?” Miki asked.

“Besides weak legs, blurred vision, and lightheadedness, I’m fine,” I answered, “Now excuse me while I take a nap right here on the floor.”

I laughed weakly as I started to lie on the ground. I heard Miki’s footsteps rushing over to me, picking me up onto her back.

“You see what you did!?!” Miki yelled, “You drained almost half of his blood!”

“I’m sorry about that,” Kyoko replied, “I didn’t mean to.”

“Miki? Is that you?” I asked, “Can you tell the white glowing spots in front of me to stop spinning?”

“You’re not well,” Miki said.

“What!?! Timmy’s stuck in a well!?!” I exclaimed, “We must save him! Onward, Silver!”

“Did any of that make any sense to you?” Miki asked Kyoko.

“Not one bit,” Kyoko answered, “We better take him back to his room.”

“Right,” Miki replied.

“No, Miki. My room is on the left,” I corrected.

I felt Miki as she carried me back to my room. Once she placed me on my bed, Miki told me to sleep until she woke me in the morning to see how I was doing. I don’t think Miki left my room until I fell asleep. When I did wake, Miki was calling.

“How are you feeling?” Miki asked.

“Well… I’m still a little lightheaded, but my legs and vision are back to normal,” I answered.

“That’s good,” Miki replied, “Come with me. There’s someone who would like to talk to you.”

I got out of bed and followed Miki downstairs and into the kitchen. There, everyone sat at the table; everyone, but Rin and that vampire, Kyoko. Rin was, once again, cooking breakfast while Kyoko was hanging upside-down on the celing light as a bat. Well… I think it’s Kyoko.

“Kyoko, come down from there,” Miki said, “I brought Randy so you can talk.”

The bat flew over and transformed into the beautiful woman I saw last night.

“Good morning, Randy,” Kyoko said, bowing, “Sorry about last night. I got a little carried away with the draining. I never had the taste of man’s blood before. How are you feeling?”

“Just a little lightheaded,” I answered.

“Some food will help that,” Kyoko said.

Miki, Kyoko, and I sat down at the table. I sat in the middle, between the two. Rin gave us our meals and I began eating.

“You know, Kyoko,” I began, “You are a beautiful woman just as yourself, but those ruby red eyes seem to have the power to hypnotize anyone who stares at them. I know… that’s what happen last night.”

Miki choked on her breakfast.

“You okay, Miki?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Anyways… Kyoko? If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?” I asked.

“22,” Kyoko replied.

“That’s my age too,” exclaimed Rin, who was sitting down.

“Are you from the nagical world, Randy?” Kyoko asked.

“That’s right,” I answered, smiling.

“So the rumors are true,” Kyoko said, “My people have been saying that there was a man from the nagical world that somehow has the power of a light mage. At least four of my friends saw a group of five defeating one of Kei’s shadow commanders. One of them heard your name, Randy. That’s how I knew. And, I might say, you are a real looker for a man.”

Miki slammed her hands on the table.

“You okay?” I asked Miki.

“Excuse me…,” Miki replied in a soft voice.

I watched as Miki got up from the table and left the room. I was beginning to suspect something was wrong and it was bothering Miki. I told everyone that I would be back in a little while and left the room to find Miki. When I entered the main room of the castle, I listened carefully for sounds of Miki. As I listened, I could hear crying. It sounded like it was coming from the chapel. I rushed over to the chapel. When I got there, I saw Miki crying right in front of the altar. I walked over to her and sat down on her right.

“What’s wrong, Miki?” I asked.

Miki looked up. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying a lot. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her closer.

“Come now,” I said, “Don’t cry. Tell me your problem. What’s been eating at you?”

“Y-y-you and… sniff… Kyoko,” Miki sobbed.

“What about it?” I asked, confused.

“You were… sob… f-f-flirting with her,” Miki sobbed.

“What!?! You thought I was flirting?” I asked, holding Miki tighter, “My dear, Miki. I was just complimenting her as a vampire not as a woman. I was impressed by how she placed me into a trance that quickly. Now, why are you like this? You never acted like that before. Why did you just get up and leave?”

“P-p-promise y-y-you won’t l-l-laugh?” Miki sniffed.

“Promise,” I replied.

“R-r-randy?” Miki stuttered, “I l-l-l-love you…”

I think my mind just snapped. Did Miki just tell me that she loved me? Now, it made perfect sense. I was complimenting Kyoko right in front of Miki! Miki was jealous of Kyoko! I regained my senses and kissed Miki on the top of her head.

“Please, don’t be jealous of the other women,” I explained, “Even if I’m surrounded by beautiful women of every kind, I’ve known you the longest. I feel more comfortable around you than any other woman. On top of that, you and I have done more things than I had with the others. Now… come on. Cheer up. For me?”

I lifted Miki onto my lap and started rocking. Then, I began humming a lullaby I remembered from long ago. As I rocked and hummed, Miki stopped crying and rested her head on my chest.

“Can you give me one of your smiles that I love?” I asked.

Miki looked up, smiling the prettist smile I could picture.

“Feeling better?” I asked.

“A million times better,” Miki answered, “What was that lullaby you were humming?”

“It was an old lullaby that my mother sang to me when I was a baby,” I replied, “In times of stress, that song always relaxed me.”

“It’s lovely,” Miki said.

“Isn’t it?” I asked, “Ready to go back down?”

“Yeh,” Miki answered, “Let’s go.”

We walked out of the chapel and headed for the stairs. When we reached the stairs, everyone stood by the front door. They all had worried looks on their faces.

“What’s going on?” I asked, coming down the stairs.

“Kei’s minions are out roaming the town, searching for us,” Rin answered.

“How do you know for sure?” Miki asked, following me downstairs.

“Kyoko has the ability to talk to bats,” Nori replied, “The bats around town have been watching their every move.”

“This one was the chosen messenger,” Kyoko added, holding out her arm.

There, hanging upside-down on Kyoko’s arm, hung a bat.

“Where are they now?” Miki asked.

Kyoko started talking to the bat. The sound was too high of a pitch for me to hear. I glanced at Miki, who was plugging her ears. Apparently, elf ears are sensitive to any noise, even ultra high ones. When Kyoko was done, she gave the bat a grape. Must be a fruit bat.

“My little friend says that they are still in the main part of town,” Kyoko said, “It seems that the shadows are being commanded by two higher ups.”

“Wait? What?” I asked, “Two commanders!?!”

“Yes,” Kyoko replied, “One looks like a fairy, while the other one appears to be a goddess.”

“How do the bats know that?” asked Miki.

“When you are born blind, you come to rely on details,” Kyoko answered.

“What should we do, Randy?” Kuri asked, flying over.

“There’s no way off this mountain, but down,” I began, “We will have to face them unless we all know how to fly. However, only three of us knows how.”

“Right,” Kyoko, Nori, and Kuri replied.

I looked at them. I wasn’t expecting the three to agree with me like that.

“What do you think, Miki?” I asked.

“If we don’t kill off each of Kei’s commanders, we won’t have much hope in surviving the battle with Kei,” Miki answered, “I say fight!”

“Kyoko? Are you joining us?” I asked.

“Anything for you, Handsome,” Kyoko flirted.

Miki groaned. I gave Miki a look. I was beginning to see that I was going to have problems with these two.

“Okay… what’s the plan of battle?” I asked, “Any ideas?”

“I can transform into a bat and scout out the field,” Kyoko suggested, “I’m sure my little friend will show me where they are.”

“I will go with you,” Kuri said.

“I don’t think that would such a good idea,” Kyoko replied, “Unlike my tiny fruit bat here, most of the bats flying around are bug eaters. You can be certain that one of them will think you are a very tasty snack.”

“Warning understood,” Kuri said.

“Wait a minute… if some of the bats think fairies are snacks, what about the shadow fairy commander?” Nori asked.

“She’s right,” Rin agreed, “Why haven’t the bats tried to eat the commander?”

“They have,” Kyoko answered, “We lost a lot of bats that way. It seems these shadow fairies can use multipule low powered attacks. The smallest electric shock can kill a normal size bat. Anything bigger gets stunned for a while before running away.”

“Figures,” I replied, “So, we have an army of shadow fairies to fight. What does the shadow goddess command?”

“Shadow creatures,” Kyoko answered, “You know… animals.”

“This will be interesting,” I replied, “Any, by chance, evil chickens?”

“I don’t think so,” Kyoko answered.

“Pity…,” I said, “I was hoping for some shadow fried chicken.”

Everyone laughed.

“Anyway… Kyoko, you take to the skies. Everyone else, follow me,” I said.

Everyone nodded in agreement. I opened the front door and walked out of the castle, followed by everyone else.