“Even if they betray us… hurt us… or look down on us… We must continue to fight for a world of peace between our kind and theirs.”- Ciel Lavoisier

Lord Vladimir did not wish to take up the mantle of “leader” when it came to the coven of vampires which were staying within Paris French. Indeed, he’d been content continuing to live in the shadows of a personal bodyguard to their lord and kind leader Ciel. Ciel, a man who was the kindness vampire there was, oftentimes preached about coexistence with beings who were far inferior than they were. These vermin were like fleas upon a dog and many in his coven shared his sentiment. The hatred of humans was even felt more keenly when they began accusing their own kind of being vampires and burning them at the stake.

Such senseless violence and the inability to be couth. Such were those who were cursed to live such violent and short lives. As the moon began to rise above the a knocking was heard upon the door. It wasn’t strange for people to come knocking on their door at night. Afterall, many of the sick and the dying had come to these vampires as their last line of defense. All it took was just a little drop of vampire blood and their illness was cured.

Often times Valdimir had pleaded with his coven leader to stop this treatment of humans. Afterall this would led to nothing but disaster and as the voices at the door announced themselves as the Maréchaussée the others in the house instantly felt their heart sink. Without hesitate, the young male flew towards the door and was only held back by a raised hand from Ciel.

“"Messieurs, puis-je vous offrir à tous une tasse de thé cet après-midi?"’ Ciel asked as he looked at the gentlemen. Stepping forward one of them spoke up 

“Non. Nous sommes venus sous l'autorité du roi. Nous sommes venus pour traquer... les sangsues. les vampires. Nous avons un témoin humain que des vampires vivaient ici. Tout un clan.”

With that Lord Vladimir tensed. Damn those vile humans! They had been cold out for coddling them. However, turning his head to the young man, Ciel laughed before he turned back to guards and spoke. 

"Ah, enfin... j'ai été découverte. Vous ne cherchez pas un clan, mais un monstre avec une maison pleine d'esclaves. Moi, et moi seul, je suis le vampire que vous cherchez et je peux le prouver." 

Instantly, confusion flashed across the face of Vladimir as he stepped forward to speak up for himself. However, Ciel lifted a hand and gave him a stern and fierce look. It was something which demanded that he stood down and went to gather the others in the house. Stepping away from the door and the conversation at hand the male disappeared into the manor. 

Looking back upon that night, the male would’ve wished that he’d had stayed at the door and been privy to the whole conversation which transpired. Instead, he set about doing the will of leader and tell the others to gather. Once the task was done Ciel appeared before the coven his face a myriad of emotions but still firm in what he had to do and what must be done. 

“It seems my time as Coven leader has ended. I’ve offered myself up in exchange for your lives.” turning upon his heel Vladimir was about to protest but that hand once more was raised.

“Our sister Elizabeth Bathroy has severely messed up by letting our presence be known throughout Europe the Humans are becoming more cunning and skillful when it comes to hunting down our kind. The city of Paris is no longer safe… Use my death as a chance to escape, they won’t be looking for you. They’ve believe that I am the last vampire in paris. Vladimir as my final command, you will guide them. Now, I must bid you all a farewell. Ah, it’s been ages since I’ve seen the sun. I welcome it again.”
With those final words leaving his lips, Lord Ciel bowed his head and began to move upstairs. He showed no fear or resentment only grace and determination. 

Translation 

"Gentlemen, might i offer you all a cup of tea this afternoon?"

"No. We've come by the authority of the king. We've come to hunt down.. leeches. vampires. We have a human witness that vampires lived here. A whole coven."

"Ah at last.. I've been found out. You seek not a coven, but a monster with a house full of slaves. I, and I only, am the vampire you seek and I can prove it."

The day had come.

Lord Ciel was to burn for being the “Last Vampire” in Paris. Vladimir had said that coddling the humans wasn't something that could be trusted, and though Xander agreed on that front, he also understood the want to live in peace among the humans. He tired of the constant having to lie and hide, not so much because he truly wanted peace with what he considered to be mostly food, though albeit sentient food. But because it was tedious to have to constantly have to deal with the mess afterwards. With Xander it was a little easier, he held the gift of memory changing, and would simply have his prey “pass out drunk” or plant false memories when he fed from humans. It wasn't without limits, he couldn't do so to an entirely large amassment of humans, but a few at a time could be done, if he could hold their attentions long enough.

The day they came for them, Xander had arrived mere minutes before their guests, having had needed to walk in the night to clear his head, and he still couldn't remember why he had needed to in the first place. But the moment he had entered into the main grand hall of the manor, there was the knock at the door. This wasn't unusual, but something told Xander that the knocking brought bad omens with its sounds. Piercing crimson eyes that were usually full of laughter and teasing joy around his fellow vampires now gleamed of concern in the darkness of the hall archway as he waited. They accused the manor of hoarding a coven of vampires, and Xander had to bite down a hiss. He was cooler headed than his best friend, Vladimir, who was trying to press his way for the door to stand up for their beloved leader.

Vladimir was always trying to challenge that ever-raised hand, but this time there was no challenging it, or it would doom them all. Xander moved silently to help Vladimir as they were to gather the others in the manor to one of the back rooms out of sight. If Xander's heart could beat, it would be aching, and yet even still, he thought he could feel a ghostly pang deep in his chest. The others would murmur to one another in those whispers that only their kind could hear, like a low hum if one wasn't paying attention to the conversations around them. When their Lord reunited with them, he brought the grave news they all had been expecting. He was to meet the sun in the coming dawn.

He gave no room for any argument from his coven, and he declared Vladimir their next Leader. It was no surprise to Xander, though it was to the rest of the Coven. Vladimir knew the ins and outs almost as well as their Lord Ciel. He was the obvious choice. Their Lord Ciel ascended the stairs, musing of how long it had been since he had seen the sun. Among Vampires was a thing called Sun Sickness, and it was when a Vampire craved the feel of the sun to the point of near madness and drives them to run into the sun to their end. Xander wondered if their dear Lord Ciel was starting to feel such a thing, and that was why he had given up so easily, though he knew that it was mostly to save their coven. If the humans believed that he held a manor of slaves then it was all the safer for them as long as they didn't get caught in the lie or it was trouble for them all.

Xander watched Vladimir as he watched their Lord ascend to his end, and he could tell that his friend was fuming. Stepping to his side, a slight brush of his bicep against his arm as a show of affection in these hard times that only he would know of. “You need to unclench your fangs, my friend…. last thing we all need is a broken fang. So unbecoming of you….” He was teasing him to try and ease his tension. Xander was probably the only one to be able to make such jokes in such times to him. With a soft sigh he closed his eyes and brushed his alabaster hair back from his face and over his shoulder. “None of us agree with what is to happen, but he is doing so for the greater good of our Coven so that we may be free….. Any idea where we should go from here? Do we travel the countryside? Or, I hear someone traveled the ocean and found some new land? Are we to try our luck there? Not sure how much of the new land is supposed to be civilized, but then again….. not much of…. civil…. civilization is here, either….”

Red eyes watched Ciel disappear into the night as the humans dared to lay hands upon him. Such fragile and insignificant beings it would’ve been nothing to him to tear apart these humans as though the powerless beings which they were. But doing such a thing would desecrate the memory of their Coven leader who held their life as valuable for reasons Vladimir did not understand. The feeling of his closest friends and the words which he whispered to him kept him from lashing out and grounded in the moment of here and now. 

As the question was presented as to where it was that they would go? Vladimir had a few thoughts and hints as to where it was that they could head to.  Wallachia, for one, had been his home as a child. He had been named after the infamous ruler who had protected them from the ottomans who sought to expand their empire. Next up was Verona Italy where Lord Ciel was originally from. He’d often spoke of how beautiful and dreamy Italy was and how often he’d long to visit it once more. Further north were the snowy mountains of Russia. The only problem was that being vampires, they couldn’t stray long from their human life source. 

Ciel had taught his coven to leave their victims alive or to romance them. Ciel had plenty of humans who willingly paid with their blood in order to receive help and for curing their sickness of the illness of their loved one. That was the only time the male felt thankful for how weak-minded human’s were. This was the only point that he and his mentor had seen eye to eye on. If a vampire did a favor for a human it seemed only right that they returned the same favor and offered up a little bit of substance. 

Yet, Vladimir could say nothing or offer up anything other than what was on his mind. “We shall put it to a vote where we shall travel tomorrow.. But, first.. There is something we must attend to. It’ll require our heavy cloaks and we shall stick to the shadows..” 

“Ah, you needn’t have come to see me off.”

It was just minutes before sunrise and as Vladimir lingered within the shadows he wore black gloves and a black cloak to cover himself. He’d not been in the sun for close to six decades. A relatively young vampire in the world, he held onto the hands of his closest friends as the execution of his dearest and most long-loved friend was started. A crowd had gathered, many curious to see if it was true that vampires did burn in the sun. Despite it being early morning the crowd began to grow and swell as perverse intrigued won out over.

Ciel’s open briefly as he looked into the dark sky as the sun was beginning to rise. As the golden rays began to rise up higher and higher, smoke started to form upon his skin, and than, as expected by those who were vampire, his skin began to smoke slowly. When being burnt by the sun vampires cooked from the inside first. Right now Ciel’s very blood was boiling within him and soon, as his body began to smoke more and more, he let out a laugh as his body burst into flames. The smell, however, was sickly sweet. It smelt of honey.

“Ah, finally my old friend we meet again.. Take.. me home..”

Xander waited to see what the new Lord of the Coven would declare, turning to shoo everyone away to start packing their things. Essentials first, then once a location was decided, then they could start packing more from there, lest they have to travel light. When Vlad claimed they would put it to a vote the following night, Xander made a face of petty disgust.

“If we end up in the boonies with that uncultured new world, I'm going to be very upset……” He was teasing, but he also meant it. He could and would do whatever was needed to survive. But that didn't mean he hadn't grown accustomed to their more lavished lifestyle. He liked being more or less a “kept” man. He had come from nothing. No family, no home, no money, and no hope of living. He had been born an albino human and had been abandoned, claimed a child of demons. It was rather sad when the "Monsters' took you in and treated you better than your own kind.

Yet despite the way humans treated him when he was mortal, he couldn't completely hate them, minus the ones who had left him to die. Vlad pulled Xander from his darker thoughts as he began that they had a mission this day, and it would require their Day cloaks. Xander gave a mock groan, almost as if to whine. “I am not going to like this, am I?” He sighed.

“I was right….. I do not like this at all…. we could be spotted….. Humans may be stupid, but they are not as so stupid as to think that some of us would not show up to his death….. even if we are supposed to be seen as Human…..” He hissed in that low hummed tone that only their kind could hear. The sun had yet to even reach the horizon and people were milling in from all over the city to get a glimpse of the demise of the “Last Vampire” in Paris. Vladimir was holding to one of Xander's hands now, a tight grip that showed his pain, his grief, and his sorrow. With a soft sigh, he squeezed back and let his words go silent. His own sorrow filled his unbeating heart. Crimson eyes watching their soon to be Late Lord, He felt for his Lord, felt for his Coven, for himself, and for his beloved friend, Vladimir.

As the sun came up, he pulled his cloak tighter with his free hand. He might be old enough to be doing this, but it wasn't by much, so Xander usually tried to avoid the sun at all costs. Smoke had begun along their Coven Leader's body, and as he greeted the sun as an old friend, the sickly-sweet smell of burning honey filled the air and soon the flames took over as they stood there watching his sacrifice, holding tightly to one another's hand.

It was then that someone bumped into Xander as they tried to move through the way they were blocking. They apologized until they seen Xander's eyes, and they gasped. “Please….. no need to be alarmed….. I was merely born with Albinism….. my body has no pigment…. and for that I am sensitive to the sun. My friend here merely wears the cloak and gloves so that I do not feel so self-conscious. Now please….. go about your day and forget about us….” The moment Xander had started to speak, he used his form of memory compulsion to keep the villager from making a scene and getting them in more trouble than they were causing themselves. After a few moments, the villager wandered off and Xander sighed. “We need to leave now…. before the sun is too high, and we're caught too far from home and safety,Vlad…..”

The time to flee from the sun was now. Vladimir knew of this and he couldn’t wait another moment longer. Taking a step back into the shadows, he grabbed hold of his dearest friend’s hand and headed back to the manor. 

Inside of the manor was nearly pitch black for heavy curtains made of black silk blotted the sun from entering into it. Every crack which could emit light was seal and so during the day the vampires were able to lounge around in freedom and solace. There was no need to light candles for their eyes could see without the aid of light and as the male pranced around the house which was filled with several of the remaining Coven he could hear them hissing and sneering at the man. “Are we truly to follow this melancholy leader? A person who claims to be royalty and hails from a noble lineage but clearly is a coward and scared..” Eyes darted to the voice who said that and there was nothing which he could dispute that.

Vladimir had grown up a prisoner within. His father had been the one to sent him to live with the Ottomans as a way to maintain peace between the Muslim world and the European world. During that time cruelty was learned very well and his eldest brother had sworn vengeance. The son of the dragon, his elder brother had a taste for human blood without even being a vampire. Vladimir grew up in the shadows of his eldest brother, watching him impale humans for the slightest infraction and eating among their impale corpses. A shiver went down his spine as he remembered one incident. 

“It reeks of death! And yet you sit here eating among the impaled!” A royal guard had spat out as he watch the Prince of Wallachia eat. As the prince set down his fork and knife he slowly took a piece of his bred and dipped it within the wine which contain an ounce of human blood. “Why did you not say this earlier? We can simply fix this.” 

The Royal guarded bowed his head in thanks, but that thanks soon turned into horror as a long wooden pole was brought out with a sharpen tip. “My lord…” The royal guard ask as hands grabbed him and forced him roughly to the grown. The ripping of fabric could be heard as he began to squirm and scream “Please my LORD! PLEASE! DON’t DONT” 

“If you do not care for the stench, then I will simply place you above the the corpses so that you cannot smell them.” Vlad replied as he watched the guard slowly be impaled on the pole  that was taller than the rest of the bodies. As the other guards hoisted him up, the painful groan and the agonizing moans of the guard could be heard as he stayed alive on the pole for three days.   

“Brother.. This is how you deal with insolence. With swift retribution..” 

Before anyone could speak, Vladimir had seized the other vampire by his throat and lifted him high into the air. With a show of violence. “Do you still think me weak?” 

“No.”

Dropping the male Vladimir turned to the others and spoke up. “Do not mistake my grief for weakness or my mourning for my inability to lead. Ciel put me in charged because I am the strongest. My friend Alexander is second because he is the wisest. We are an Athenian Democracy. Everyone in this coven has a right to voice his opinion. But put our lives at stake or challenge me again.. And I shall become like Caesar and rule through force till ensure our lives are secured. I won’t see another one of us taken by human filth.”