( The Vampire Capital Planet, Ixtal )
Ixtal was the vampire capital, the symbol of vampire pride and royalty and the home of the vampire overlord Regus Aurelius.
The planet was one of the most unique planets in the universe, as it was a planet where the sun never rose.
The planet was tidally locked to a moon which blocked all incoming sunlight completely. Everyday was a solar eclipse on Ixtal allowing only scattered red to reach the planet.
Because of this unique planetary alignment, the planet was dark and cold, but its temperatures were still bearable because of its proximity to the sun.
Only the most powerful vampires lived on the capital planet, with representatives of all vampire clans owning some form of establishments or permanent bases on the capital.
On the entire planet, there was but one single city with a population of only 250,000 vampires.
Out of these 250,00 about 150,000 were only support and maintenance workers with the real population of the planet comprising hardly 100,000 people.
Ixtal was the vampire's paradise and the planet had a rich history.
While both the vampire clan and the werewolf clan can trace their roots back to Ixtal, it was a bloody war when the first vampire king's army killed 14 million werewolves in the battle of glaciers to claim the planet.
The blood spilled from that great war soaked the ice glaciers of the planet in such a way that even after thousands of years passing, a river of blood still flows through Ixtal with fresh diluted werewolf blood mixed through.
The river of blood named ' Sanguis ' was the integral part of most ancient vampire lore and songs, as it stood as the symbol of glory of the vampire ancestors.
Within Sanguis was a small 2 km long Island, it was an abnormally large rock that refused to be eroded by the large river and split it both ways around itself, and it was on this rock that the palace of Regus Aurelius was built.
Regus Aurelius was a man of focus, commitment and discipline.
If there was one kind of person Regus Aurelius absolutely hated, it was the unpunctual people.
Born as the son of the patriarch of the then number two ranked clan the Aurelius, Regus was groomed to be a leader from a very young age.
It was his old man who had instilled the importance of routine and discipline into Regus Aurelius and taking his lessons to heart, Regus Aurelius kept living a disciplined and hard working life and before he knew it, his constant hard work had put him ahead of all his peers as there was nobody in his generation that were his equal.
Regus served as the general to the then vampire king's army and slowly kept gaining achievements after achievements under his belt leading the vampire forces to one big victory after another.
His influence grew to such a large degree that the great clans all became more loyal to him than to the vampire king while his crowning moment came when he surpassed the previous vampire king and stepped into the monarch ranks by ascending to tier8.
His ascension was by no means peaceful as with the backing of all major clans he launched a scathing attack on Ixtal, a fight that ended with him drinking the blood of the dead vampire king as he sat on his throne.
However, his crowning moment was also the moment he was cursed as before dying the previous vampire king laughed and reminded Regus Aurelius of the ancient prophecy.
" We're only holders of the throne for him, you can usurp the throne from me Aurelius, but you will not keep it.
The child of prophecy will come for the throne one day and he will kill you.
You think you are strong? You think your attacks are powerful?
The Sanguis will be his weapon Aurelius, and also your deathbed".
The words of the vampire king were the reason for many nightmares for Regus Aurelius, although he started as a humble man, he could no longer imagine himself losing his power to anyone, albeit his own son.
Today was one such day for Regus Aurelius where he was jolted awake mid-dream as he had a nightmare about the previous vampire king reminding of the child of the prophecy.
" Are you okay my king? " The queen asked as she felt Regus shuffle on the bed.
" Just a nightmare my queen, nothing serious ". Regus Aurelius said as he flashed his queen a fake smile
The queen was simple and she believed her husband and went back to sleep, while Regus Aurelius crept into his most comfortable linen robes and walked towards the window as he looked at the blood ringed moon above.
" How fragile are you…. You beautiful thing ". Regus Aurelius said as he tried to grab the moon in his hands.
For Regus Aurelius destroying moons was a single move affair, if he wanted to he could allow sunlight to freely propagate on Ixtal. The soil of the planet was actually very fertile and could be used for farming and irrigation if he wished to do so. However, Regus Aurelius did not wish for it.
He liked Ixtal just the way it was, an inhospitable planet for the weak, a paradise for the strong.
" I wish to meet you, the one whose destiny is to usurp my throne, I wish to monitor your journey ". Regus Aurelius said wishfully, however, sadly fate would not allow him to do so.
Whoever the child of prophecy was, he was shielded from Regus Aurelius for now, and until he grew noticeable and started making waves, all Regus Aurelius could do was wait patiently for his rise.
The time of their meeting was growing closer, Regus Aurelius could feel it in his bones.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter number two, this one is for the beautiful bride Effie.
May John never let you cry any tears but those of joy ///