Speedy stood at the palace gates.
The towering obsidian spires loomed above her like fangs, ancient and cold. Crimson ivy coiled around the cracked stone, and moonlight bled across its surface like spilled wine.
She glanced back, eyes narrowing.
An explosion of Abyssal Energy had just pulsed through the air. It sent a ripple through her body, a flare of concern. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment.
But then something deeper whispered from within.
A soft, steady feeling.
Like gravity itself assuring her 'he's okay.'
Still…
'Be safe, Key.' Her thoughts carried warmth, fondness..trust.
She turned back around and exhaled slowly, letting her heartbeat sync with the silence.
The palace was vast, its doors taller than trees, the hallways echoing with unseen memories. It wasn't just big. It was ancient. Alive. Watching.
She closed her eyes.
And reached out.
Her senses flared. The world slowed.
She felt everything.
The softest drip of condensation sliding down marble. The whisper of a breeze skimming through shattered stained glass. The heartbeat of a rat beneath the floorboards.
But mostly, she felt them.
The people.
Thirty presences above… each distinctly vampire. Cold. Bloodthirsty. Waiting.
Two of them burned brighter than the rest. Immense. Arrogant. The King and Queen.
But—
That wasn't what shattered her composure.
It was the one beneath.
Buried under the palace. Small. Faint. But ancient.
A female presence.
Frail. Fading.
Her energy wasn't violent like the others, it was traumatized. Broken. Raw. Like a scream too exhausted to escape the throat.
And then came a whisper—faint, like a ghost telling its story through memory. What Whippus told them earlier.
"Long ago, the King and Queen, once mortal lovers, ascended to godhood by drinking the blood of a fallen vampire goddess beneath a Blood Moon."
Speedy's breath hitched.
Her knees gave out.
She hit the ground hard, arms hugging herself as if trying to hold her soul in place.
Bare for the world to feel.
The Vampire Goddess.
The truth snapped into place like fate turning a key.
This village, this entire lie of a paradise built on "love"
It was a cage.
And the heart of it was a goddess, violated, broken, and drained like a battery beneath the floorboards of a throne room.
The realization hit like lightning, stabbing her chest and mind all at once.
How could anyone be so evil?
Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes
And then spilled freely.
She wanted to scream.
To burn the palace down with her rage.
But all she could do…
Was weep.
THUMP.
Shoes hit the stone.
"Speedy! Are you okay?!"
Key's voice tore through her spiraling thoughts.
She twitched as the sound reached her ears, and then without hesitation, launched into his arms.
She clung to him as if anchoring her soul to something real. Her body trembled, her face buried into his chest, and the tears flowed—not silently.
But violently.
As if everything inside her was shattering at once.
Key's arms instinctively wrapped around her. His expression shifted from alarm to quiet heartbreak. He held her close, one hand gently resting on the back of her head.
She wasn't injured.
But he could feel it.
Everything else inside her?
Fractured.
He didn't rush her.
He just held her.
Until finally, in a voice soft and steady, he asked
"…What happened?"
Speedy couldn't answer, her words couldn't form themselves right now.
Her breath came in jagged waves against his chest. Her fingers gripped his shirt like lifelines. It wasn't just pain, it was empathy. Like she had touched something so broken, so violated, it left her in pieces.
Key waited. Silent. Steady.
His Void Tendrils subtly coiled around them, protective, almost instinctive—like a barrier to keep the rest of the world away.
Then finally, her voice came.
Shaky. Quiet. Broken.
"They did it… they caged her…"
Key's brow furrowed, but he didn't interrupt.
"The goddess… she's alive, Key. Barely. She's down there, beneath all this. Buried under stone and memory and blood. They drained her… over and over. Until there was nothing left but whispers…"
She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes, hers glowing faintly with gold-streaked tears.
"And they used her. Turned her pain into power. Turned her body into their throne and a breeding ground."
She shook her head, voice cracking like glass.
"This place… it's not just evil. It's hollow. A grave pretending to be a kingdom."
Key's jaw clenched.
He gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
His tone turned colder, focused.
"The King and Queen?"
She nodded.
"Up ahead. Strong… but they're just parasites. The real power here… the real heart of it… is her. And she's still alive, Key. We can still save her."
He nodded once. Slow. Steady. But the Void behind his eyes stirred like a storm.
"Then we tear this shithole down. Floor by floor. Wall by wall. Until there's nothing left but truth."
Speedy wiped her tears. Her hands still shook, but there was fire in her eyes again.
"We free her."
"We burn them."
A crack echoed overhead as the palace's distant towers rumbled—faint, like something inside had noticed their presence.
Key looked up.
"Looks like they heard us."
He rose, gently pulling her to her feet.
Speedy straightened beside him. No longer trembling, but burning. Her aura flickered with golden light, heat warping the air around her like a rising sun.
Key's Void Tendrils flared in response, silent and suffocating like an eclipse swallowing the horizon.
They stood side by side.
And waited..
The palace doors burst open
Dust spilled outward in waves. The air thickened with ancient magic and stale blood.
Speedy's eyes gleamed with whitish gold.
Time warped around her. A second stretched into eternity.
A voice growled from inside.
"Who the hell's out here?!"
They never saw what hit them.
Speedy vanished.
A golden blur tore through the air, faster than cause and effect could follow.
In the blink of a cosmic eye, sixteen vampires were nothing but blood spray and ash.
By the time the voice finished echoing, she was already back beside Key.
Key blinked.
'Damn.'
He glanced at the carnage
'Don't piss off the nice girl' they said.
He stepped inside the palace, shoes crunching over fragmented bones and melted steel.
The Void Tendrils behind him stirred like a beast unleashed.
He raised his hand.
"Go."
With that command, the Void Tendrils exploded from his back, dozens of them erupting like divine spears. They smashed through columns, shattered stone, split the ceiling, and rewrote gravity itself with every impact.
Speedy grabbed his arm.
Their eyes met.
He nodded once.
Then together—
They vanished.
Off to face the false gods of a kingdom built on stolen divinity.
And burn it all down.