STORY

STORY

A WEDDING TO DIE FOR
[Halloween Music — Vampire Waltz]
It was like a fog had been lifted over Boris' mind.
Before he sat on his throne, James at his side as he waited for his wife to enter. His eyes glazed over. Aware of what was going on, but not caring about much for it. Like a cattle moving towards a killing pen, he did not struggle.
And then, suddenly, the world became clear, as if a curse had been lifted.
"James. I don't think I want to die. Not today, anyway."
"Oh, well you're such an old man. I don't think you get to decide when you leave this land, could be today, maybe tomorrow."
"This is no joke, James. My mind has been clouded for many years. Over a century, but today, I've realized that I don't have to sit here anymore." Boris struggles to get up using his cane, but James puts a hand on his shoulder, keeping him down.
"Getting cold feet, are we?"
"Don't worry, dear Boris. It is my wedding, not yours, though if you want the lady, you can have her. I spoke to her a few times. She's holds no love for me."
"All you need to do is say the words that make another loveless marriage, and then you can leave."
"Simple? Ya?"
"You and me and the whole damn court can smell what's really going to happen!"
"Oh, we do! But we all must do this dance of words and movements. It is the vampwelf way to weave in and out of customs. To place our feet in the right positions, and to bow with honor when our performance is over."
"So either you're going to show me a delightful waltz today, or you're going to watch that woman do it. You understand?"
"If you're going to stop rotting in that chair, you better be prepared to show it."
"Plus, it would not look good if dear old Boris Drakken ran away from a wedding. Scared of what? A woman?"
"Would have preferred if it wasn't a woman."
"Sorry, but I'm no queer man."
James Drakken
2025-11-15 18:23:27
James Drakken Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-11-15 18:23:36
"A woman is all you get."
Behind the scenes, the soon to be wife of James was being prepared.
"Ugh. To think they couldn't even get you a dress! A disrespect to you honey!"
Cea Jasper
2025-11-15 18:25:50
Cea Jasper Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-11-15 18:26:38
"Apparently James likes his girls in "Casual clothes" but hmmp! You only get married once. A dress wouldn't have hurt."
Eliza's mind was barely focused on the conversation. Thoughts went in and out. Memories flickered into and out of place. It was her big day, and big days are always stressful.

"Oh, it's quite alright, I always felt I'd walk down the aisle in a suit rather than a dress."
Eliza Elzenstein
2025-11-15 18:28:10
Eliza Elzenstein Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-11-15 18:28:36
"Though, I'll admit, I have spent a good chunk of my life wondering how I'd look in white."
Lillith is looking over the bride-to-be, occasionally running a claw through her hair to reposition it as she peers at her posture.

"It is a shame. I had hoped another wedding would be a joyous occasion of lavish nature. But, the day is already here." She pauses, tapping at Eliza's hands as she prepares. "About walking- What will you be doing with your hands, as you walk down the aisle? Best not be wringing them like a pup up to a presentation in classes."
"Well..."
"Ok, I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit out of it."
"What are you supposed to do with your hands, exactly?"
"Of course you're out of it! You haven't been prepared one bit!"
"Yeah, uh! You'd think having been waiting for this for so long would prepare you for the moment itself but I'm firing blanks here."
"James visited you many times, and yet I didn't once see him bring you out for a dance, or a lunch, or to learn how to greet the guests who will approach you to offer well wishes."
"I fear he doesn't care about you and....intends to just use you to make brood....."
"But that ugly brute could at least make sure you won't trip over your legs in the ball dance!"
Lillith huffs. "I had assumed you'd have a slight amount of tutoring. Suppose we will have to rush it."

"You have got to present yourself with all the traits that you have honed. You'll not bend to the audience, no backward glances to the members of either family. You'll walk determined and stare ahead. If you show weakness here, they will laugh at your husband. Unable to have his wife stand tall by his side? No way to begin a marriage." She pauses, before muttering softer. "...But at least, James will be trying to have this go well too. Give him a softer glance, as you approach the altar. I made this mistake, and perhaps scared my own groom a tad."
"I don't suppose' there's a few moments spare for a refresher course?"
"...Present myself with the traits I have honed. Show no weakness. Do not look back, do not bend."
"Stand straight, and give no mind to the gawkers. You have a job to do here. A blessed duty that you have been made for. By the time this is over, you will be scared, but have standing in a way others will think twice about meddling with you over."
"And if you are lucky, it may be something you grow to love having. I do wish you that luck."
"...A blessed duty I have been made for."
"Lillith, don't forget....."
"Make sure to smile and think happy thoughts."
"You're setting up this poor woman to scare her husband......"
"..."
"Yes. that too."
"Truth be told..."
"I don't really think I'll ever come to love this, Lillith."
"Getting used wears on the soul, you know?"
Eliza Elzenstein
2025-11-15 18:41:59
Eliza Elzenstein Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-11-15 18:42:32
"But it's not like there's other paths to walk."
"... I know. But, still. I want to wish you some joy on this day. And maybe a bit of my own hopes, hm?"
"At this point....all you can do dear, is to learn to, maybe just love the children you get."
"And maybe hope they're not giants for your sake....."
"It would be nice if such a day could be remembered fondly by all parties. But at least you, I might still hope. And ... As Cea says. It will be easier to have love of your children, than your husband to love you so passionately, I have learned. So, there will be things to look forward to."
"Let's just hope for the best on that account......"
"But we should stop thinking of childbearing now. That is in the future. You must have today happen first."
"True enough."
"It'll be a wedding to die for, if I can help it."
"..."
"That's the spirit, right?"
Lillith cracks a smile. "Better to seek to make it a momentous occasion than to forget. Maybe it will be a story we can laugh about together when you are here at the estate later, perhaps free of your tower."
"Yes, all things considered, you're a delightful lady. It'll be nice to see you around without you having to be stuck in that room."
"Always a good day when a new wife that isn't a brat to the servants joins the household."
"Quite, and the miss' will certainly be excite'd to welcome y' too the family, when sh' gets back."
"Thank you."
[Winter Storm]
Her mind is a tempest. Years gone by dreaming of this moment. Months gone by accepting it would one day come to pass. Weeks gone by dreading it.

"..."

Days gone by building up resolve. Building up bloodthirst. Something more than just
("A mere week's worth of blood?")
She walks through the doors.
Air rushes past her for just a moment as the doors swing. To be a bride. To be a murderer. To be a vampwelf.
Step by step, her shoes clack on the cold floor. The tempest of fate that had been brewing for decades around her rampages. She stands firm, she stands tall, in the eye of the storm.
She whispers under her breath as she grips a knife hidden in her clothes, stripped of all gems, stripped of all glory, stripped of all posturing.

"...including you,"
Father
2025-11-15 19:00:13
Father Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-11-15 19:05:47
"...including me,"
"...every Elzenstein, every Drakken, every Volkairn, every piss blooded commoner...."
"Is near and dear to blood."
She stands near the podium. Her resolve built. Fate stands still.

"...A blessed duty I have been made for, huh."
Eliza Elzenstein
2025-11-15 19:04:51
Eliza Elzenstein Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-11-15 19:05:35
She turns to face the groom.

"Would you do me the honor of saying your vows, James?"
"Ah! Vows? Yes, yes, vows." James stumbles, as if caught off guard.
He pauses, trying to think of what to say. He wanted this to be over and done with. Vows? For what? A woman who would never love him? He didn't have anything positive to say.
So he didn't.
"Today, like many days, I shall be marrying a woman I barely know, and who surely doesn't want to marry a half giant. I mean, childbearing is the worst a woman will have to go through, much less for a man like me."
"I think she would prefer to be free to make her own choices."
"Ah, but that's just every woman ain't it?" There's a round of laughter from drunken Drakken guards.
"Eliza. I promise to do my best as a husband. Even if you will be spending the rest of your days longing for the seas."
"Wanting to be back where you belong."
"I promise to encourage and support you in all that you do. Maybe you'll teach me about the way things are out there, and I'll teach you about the way things are in here."
"Today, like many days, I shall be marrying a man I barely know, and who surely wants this to be over already, so that he can go back to drinking with his best mates."
Another round of laughter from drunken Drakken guards.
"James, I promise to do my best as a woman. Even if I will be spending the rest of my days longing for the seas."
"...Wanting to be back where I belong."
"I promise to encourage and support you in all that you do. I'd ask you to teach me about the ways things are here, but I believe I already know well enough just how it is things should come to be."
"I, Eliza, take you, James, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish..."
"...Till death do us part."

Her head clears. Her grip tightens. Her blood rushes.

She thrusts the knife in one fell swoop with as much strength as she can muster. The product of years and years of training for this one moment.
("...")
Father
2025-11-15 19:30:33
Father Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-11-15 21:45:17
("...Hah.")
("...HAH! HAHAHAHA! So you DO have some semblance of backbone hidden in that dainty litt-")
[MFAR Original Sinners]
("...Shut up.")

She thrusts the knife into James's leg.
"...I am not...."
"...A fucking..."
"Toy."
The entire court gasps. Even those who knew there would be an attack didn't think it would be on James.
James hisses, recoiling away. "Ack, what? What are you doing, woman!?!"
"I think she has her head on right! She rather have no part in your nonsense!"
"Sadly for her, I have no want in her nonsense either." Boris opens his wings and flies a few feet away from the two.
"Don't die to a woman now, James."
James expression goes blank, as if the person before him isn't his once to be wife that he brought food to for weeks, or even another vampwelf.
The smell of blood is overwhelming. He rushes forward.
That woman was nothing but a piece of meat to him.
"...I am my own fucking PERSON!"

She counters!
Eliza
2025-11-15 19:44:41
Eliza Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-11-15 19:50:58
"Not a woman! Not a fucking vampwelf! My goddamn name is ELIZA!"
IT'S A CLASH!
James Drakken rolls a 20 sided die with a modifier of +8. A 13 is rolled.
Eliza Elzenstein rolls a 20 sided die with a modifier of +5. A 17 is rolled.
Eliza knew how to stab a giant. She's been thinking about it ever since she met James.

She dives down, where giants can't reach.

And then.....

She shoots upwards once past the grabbing claws and......
James Drakken
2025-11-15 19:52:45
James Drakken Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-11-15 19:52:55
"Grk!......." James falls to his knees, dagger dug under the ribs and into the heart.
"...Under your shadow no longer."
"Under HIS shadow never again!"
"The ONLY FUCKING THING I'm here to rest under is warm goddamn sunlight!"
"yOU........."
"Oh, liddle ole' me?"
James Drakken
2025-11-15 19:56:01
James Drakken Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-11-15 19:56:28
"You ain't ever going to see the sun, oooooor.....oooor the ocean ever again." James croaks, before falling.
"Hah!"
"Even if I die here, I think I've shone bright enough for a couple lifetimes."
"Who are you to decide what my future holds?"

She spits on him.
"What a wonderful wedding."
"Guards. Kill her before she dances with too much joy in my court."
Eliza
2025-11-15 19:58:19
Eliza Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-11-15 20:00:43
She runs in whatever direction the stables are in.
"Fuck you old man! Hope you trip on your slippers getting out of bed and die!"
The Brawling Knight bursts into motion, charging headlong for Eliza!
Eliza
2025-11-15 19:59:32
Eliza Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-11-15 20:02:50
"Step the HELL aside!"
And right by the door where the Brawling Knight burst is some tailed that was grabbed by the scarf and dragged to this occasion, unsure of what to do and how directly involved he is in this.
Nonetheless, there are things he has to maintain to keep his right to free food.
IT'S A CLASH!
Brawling Knight rolls a 20 sided die with a modifier of +5. A 24 is rolled.
Sonorous Sword rolls a 20 sided die with a modifier of +5. A 6 is rolled.
Eliza rolls a 20 sided die with a modifier of +5. A 25 is rolled.
Sonorous Sword and the Brawling Knight both run into each other as Eliza expertly uses her wings to jump over the two.
The main doors swung open, the cool air of the distant wood seeming to rush anxiously into the chamber from where a scent of fresh spilt blood was beginning to issue. Bellodonna had been anxious of some unknown doom that tickled at the back of her mind... as she beheld the sight unfolding before her. "What......"
"What in the forsaken abyss is going on in here!"
"I made a point of not killing your dad and instead killing your traitor, please do let me pass, yes, thank you!"
"You...."
"What!"
"She killed a Drakken! I don't care if he was a traitor. He was MY TRAITOR. GET HER!"
"I would welcome you into our home, and you do this! Somebody get me a sword." Despite her injury Bellodonna did not feel that this could stand.
"Lady Bellodonna! I shall stop this. You shall not attack with such an injury!"
Hilda charges Eliza!
IT'S A CLASH!
"Has anyone ever told you you're actually quite cute under your mask? Saw you a couple times through my window, y'know!"
Eliza rolls a 20 sided die with a modifier of +5. A 10 is rolled.
Hilda Drakken rolls a 20 sided die with a modifier of +3. A 16 is rolled.
Hilda (while flustered) slams into Eliza's arm, throwing her weapon away from her!
"SUBMIT, AND MAYBE YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO LIVE."
"She's a MURDERER. We're not letting her live, IDIOT!"
"Oh."
"WELL PREPARE TO MEET THE OLD GODS AND THE NEW!" Hilda charges!
"Oh, please, think about it atleast a little, I'm literally the opposite of your enemy here! If I had let James kill Boris then James would've just gotten rid of Bella afterwards! It's simple politics! Why would you let someone with claim to the throne go like that!"
"Are you truly expecting anyone in this room to believe you acted in anyone's interests but your own."
"Huh? Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm doing this for my own sake. You're just benefitting from it."
"LORD BORIS WOULDN'T-"
"I will sadly have to say no to submitting into your arms. Excuse me, coming through!"
"PLEASE STOP SPEAKING THAT WAY TO ME!"
"-my knight I know this woman is dreadfully attractive but you are embarrassing us both."
IT'S A CLASH!
Hilda Drakken rolls a 20 sided die with a modifier of +3. An 11 is rolled.
Eliza rolls a 20 sided die. A 2 is rolled.
Eliza's life flashes before her eyes as she stumbles......

But there was a third person clashing.
Dawn Lord rolls a 20 sided die with a modifier of +8. A 13 is rolled.
With a single swing, the Dawn Lord knocks Hilda's away.
Eliza
2025-11-15 20:24:31
Eliza Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-11-15 20:26:21
"Ah-"
"Ah, sorry my lady. But you can't kill that one, not when a Dawn Knight is around!"
"...Hahaha! Thank you! I guess knights in shining armor DO exist!"
"We were given instructions by James to protect her."
"SHE MURDERED JAMES!"
"Oh ho ho! That's fully understood. He's dead, which is why we can even talk about this."
"But orders are orders! We've already been paid, and the Dawn knights do not disrespect the dead, even if the living have!"
"You think I'm going to let you get away with this murderer?"
"You take that woman right now, and you'll never see your dragon ever again."
The crowd of Dawn knights laugh.
"................................"
"Sir."
Dawn Lord
2025-11-15 20:29:21
Dawn Lord Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-11-15 20:30:22
"We already have our dragon back."
"...I do apologize Papa, that affair has already been settled."
"Why do you suppose that this man and his men have come home with me."
"You......"
"WHAT!?!?!?!?!"
Bellodonna
2025-11-15 20:31:23
Bellodonna Profile
Posted by ID #60
Last edit: 2025-11-15 20:31:34
"Yes, Father I have done what I needed to in order to settle the affair that you could not."
"If you'll excuse me, I have places to be, boats to board, seas to sail. You know how it is!"
"My goodness, lady, to think this escape would be so easy. We stabbed some poor white drakke in the eyes and ears, made her blind and deaf just for you!"
Eliza does a curtsy bow.
"Oh, my hero."
"And now we don't even need that!" The Dawn Lord tosses his cape around Eliza as if to protect her. "Let us go. Let the Drakkens fight among themselves."
Lillith snarls at the Dawn Knights, barely holding herself back, knowing the beast is not one living as normal. It was brought back once, this would certainly not kill it ... But the rage still rises.

"You had no right to treat my son's nichtendrakk as such...!" She tries to form words, having been stunned back from the whole event, but places her hand to her saber again, clearly only posturing in rage. She doesn't move to block Eliza's escape, but fumes with an anger nearly stinging her eyes.
"Oh don't worry, the nichtendrakk will......"
"Is Edger dead yet?"
"No."
"Then I have nothing more to say on the matter."
"A Dawn Knight tells no secrets!"
Lillith grinds her teeth, darting out of the wedding hall and to the study of her son, near sprinting from the hall in a frenzied exit from the scene.
The Dawn Lord ungloves his hands, and whistles under his helmet as he gently takes Eliza with him outside.
A herd of mechical beast drive up with their wheels to the castle.
Dawn Knights get on them. The Dawn Lord leads Eliza to one of them. "You know what a motorcycle is? This thing is much like one. But also like a loyal dog."
"Oh, do I EVER! I used to ride one of these back when I had just left this planet!"
"I bet it purrs like a dear, too."
"Oh for the love of.... IF NO ONE IN THIS HOUSE IS GOING TO DO THE JOB. I WILL!" Boris grabs a sword from a drunk knight and charges the Dawn Lord.
The Dawn Lord points a flashlight at Boris' eyes.
Boris is stunned by the blinding light!
Dawn Lord
2025-11-15 20:44:11
Dawn Lord Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-11-15 20:44:17
"Good day to all Drakkens! Hope your peace and secrets stay safe!" He cheers as he revs his beast.
"And may you all see the sun rise again!!!!"
Eliza
2025-11-15 20:44:29
Eliza Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-11-15 20:44:47
"Cheers to that!"
"Get the hell out all of you."
The Dawn Knights drive off.
One of them does a donut in the lawn, making a mess of the place.
Though his fellow Dawn Knights clearly chastise him soon after.
2025-11-15 21:15:04
Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-11-15 21:35:52
[Why do i feel this way?]
Bellodonna quietly mutters to herself "Farewell Eliza, pray I never see you again."
Boris shakes his head as he recovers from the flashbang. He stumbles up to his daughter without his cane. "So.....you gave them their damn dragon back?"
"Yes Father, I gave them their obnoxious dragon back."
"................................................."
"After all, Father, how else did you expect to complete the absurd task with which you saw fit to assign me."
"You could have traded them something else. ANYTHING ELSE! What do you think I do? Keep annoying dragons in the dungeon for no reason!?"
"....................................................."
"No, there was no other suitable price for a duty as important as that, do offer any less would've been the height of disgrace."
"You might have doomed all of vampwelf kind, you know that? Gave the light cult their dragon."
"And yet you know, I feel more lively than ever. Was just going to accept my fate until now."
"Perhaps I have, but what else was I meant to do, what else could I do? Just allow our family to rot as... That Beast roamed a festering pit of regrets, as vultures eagerly awaited the moment someone killed you."
"GIRL, you need to learn to HAGGLE."
"........................."
"I suppose this is my fault for recommending the Dawn Knights."
"But then, if I recommended the giants, I'd be dead for sure."
"I was...... desperate...... once I found out who the beast was, Father."
"You became so scared you gave the knights our best possible offer! IDIOT!"
"Looks like I'm stuck with you."
"I was honestly considering training James of all people to take the throne, but the man showed me he's an idiot as well!"
"You're going to have to learn a lot in just a few years, you understand?"
"Nnn...... I do not regret what I have done... It was not merely desperation which led to my decision, I am sure that someday this choice will be seen as the right one. probably."
"I would do it again without a moments hesitation..........."
"Nevertheless, it is good to see that you are back to your old self, Papa."
"Tell me. Honestly. For what reason would you do it again with hesitation? And think hard about your answer, girl, because it's going to determine if I think you're going to doom the kingdom or not when it is in your hands."
Bellodonna closes her eyes and sorts out her thoughts. "In my visits to the stars Papa, I have seen many things. I have terrible machines larger than castles, I have seen ships that pull at the stars themselves. C-beams off the shoulder of dwindling stars, and twinkle off into the infinite. Yet also I have seen wondrous devices of science beyond comprehension, medicines that cure any ailments, and machines which can reproduce miracles only seen in the divine... devices that could make it so a child that would die need not, and a man that could not stand, would run..."
"Worlds glittering with such light that it was hard to even behold, and loud with such music and laughter it was intoxicating... our home seems so dark and quiet now papa... I do not believe it would be entirely wrong if we could have... just a little bit, of that light."
"I know it will be dangerous... I know I... should have done things better... but I think that grappling with this with our own claws is much preferable than rotting away in the dark, waiting for someone or something to ruin all that we are anyway."
"I think in the end it will be worth it."
Boris silently walks away to the skull of the kinslayer that they had brought in.
"This doesn't look anything like my son. I don't know what you killed, but it wasn't him." Boris scoffs, kicking the skull down the long stairs leading up to the castle.
"Hmmp. You have much to learn, many unpleasant facts that are only known between Lords and advisors."
The fragile skull cracks as it tumbles down.
"The light looks pretty....but it is not for us vampwelfs."
"Once enough light covers the world. Once we lose our secrets, our ways, the fear people hold in us?"
The skull hits the bottom, becoming unrecognizable fragments.
"You'll find that the light so blinding, that you can't live anymore. That you have to dart back into the darkness before you become just apart of the noise. It's a terrible truth that the Dawn Knights don't know and one that will plague your mind once you realize it."
"Without the darkness, without the fear, we vampwelfs cease to exist."
[Michael Guy Bowman - Vampire State]
END OF EVENT 10
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