Lessons Learned - @RomanLucious
He couldn't open his eyes. There was not a single muscle within his body that was under his control. He hadn't had so much as a drop of blood in more time than he had ever imagined going without. He had seen no one outside of the confines of his steady, unending dreams. He had known no home nor shelter but the box he had been unceremoniously imprisoned to. His freedom seemed but only a distant memory now. He was no longer living, nor was he finally dead. He was nothing but a mind now, a consciousness, but one that was slowly waking, and tonight, it was more aware and alert than it had been at any point before. Because somewhere, somewhere in the deepest recesses of his mind or in the darkest places of his long silent heart, he knew what tonight was. Time had ceased to have a meaning to him throughout his imprisonment, or so he had thought. It turned out his sense of time had only been looking for a chance to be reawakened, and now, it had found it, on this, the most unholy and loathsome of all anniversaries. For over seven centuries now, @RomanLucious had plagued the earth, and all who walked upon it suffered unduly for his presence. For Vlad himself, the eldest vampire Barbarossa had used those years to be a parasite, feasting off luck and those stronger and more powerful than he, and then, when the time suited him, a traitor. He was a thorn in the side of Dracula, one the Prince of all vampire felt as acutely as he could feel the stake that had been buried in his flesh to keep him in place now. Had it really been only a year since he had dismantled the beast belonging to Barbarossa before sending @DakotaARyan across the states of Louisiana and Mississippi to deliver the remains? Had it really been only a year since he had discovered his nemesis had taken a wife in @ClaudeCrane, and with it, sealed the fairy would meet the fate that had been intended once upon a time for Mina? Had it really been only a year since he had revealed to his enemy the continued existence of @JulianAjax_? Had it really been only a year since the younger of the Barbarossa brothers had then betrayed him as well? Would Barbarossa be celebrating this night among his friends and loved ones? Would he be toasting his triumphs in life, and his successes in death? Would he feel carefree and victorious on this occasion, reveling in his freedom and continued existence, without a thought reserved for those he had so grievously wronged throughout? Wrong. It was all so very wrong. Tonight, it should have been Vlad himself who celebrated the first of many a year free from Roman Lucious Barbarossa. He should have been the one roaming the night without a care, while his enemy lingered eternally in complete and utter nothingness. Foolishly though, Barbarossa had been generous a year previously. Foolishly, his enemy had not ended him once and for all, though regrettably, he had had such an opportunity. What had stopped the vampire from doing such a thing, Vlad was ultimately uncertain, though he imagined Barbarossa's lack of foresight and a certain knack for making unintelligent and unwise decisions factored in heavily. He would never have been so generous in turn. And he would get the chance to prove such a thing, of that he had no doubt. His escape was imminent, @AlexiNicholis had avowed to that. He would be freed from the prison that held him now, it was only a matter of time. Not one to easily admit defeat, he could admit now that the year previously, Roman had won the battle. That mattered little, however, when his nemesis had failed to insure he had won the war as well, despite having the opportunity. Barbarossa could celebrate another year infesting this earth as he did. Truly, it mattered little when the additional time made him no more wiser than any year before it. But this year had made Vlad wiser instead. He could see now where he had made his mistakes, and he would not repeat them yet again. He had been short-sighted, his vision clouded by his need for vengeance and retribution, and he had relied too heavily upon his superior strength and his potent rage to crush his enemy and to lead him to his rightful victory. Here, in this prison though, he had learned. He had learned there were fates far worse than final death. He had learned there were fates far worse than witnessing the loss of someone of great importance to an enemy. He had learned how to break a lesser vampire. For the sake of Barbarossa, he hoped the vampire was enjoying himself tonight. It would be one last, undeserved good memory before he found himself broken. Next year, it would be his turn to celebrate.