Maledictus Nobilitatem: Cursed Nobility

Opaque Darkness

"The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven"- Lost Paradise

...

" Hello Sir Chad , my name is Mal. I'm not from any clan, I'm a wanderer, from Yohan town in Goudstad city. I was with my brother when a night creeper attacked my brother and I, we separated and I've been looking for him ever since."

Just the thought of using the term night creeper made Malachi sick to his stomach, and now he had to say it, it made his very being quiver with anguish, such a derogatory term placed upon superior beings.

"Oh Goudstad, that explains why you seem a bit different. I hear you young man I'm sorry, you can stay with us, however you must adhere to our way of living, I understand that Goudstad is very different from Ndalo, it's almost as if we're worlds apart, just try adapt to our system and we'll do our best to help you adapt. We've hosted many refugees. We'll give you food, a place to sleep and in order to earn your right here, you must work, but I'm sure you're exhausted so we'll discuss all that tomorrow morning. Malachi I'll assign Mel as your keeper, she's like a daughter to me, she'll help you with anything that you need. "

Malachi looked at his surroundings, and nodded indifferently. Mel took Malachi and they walked out of the white room.

" You see, that was very easy" whispered Mel with a smile on her face

"Oh yes that's why you were shaking uncontrollably throughout the whole time, I almost thought you were going to faint." said Malachi rudely. Thank's to Malachai's good acting and what they had rehearsed beforehand everything went smoothly.

Mel ignored his comment feeling proud of herself.

" So I've been instructed to show you around but first you'll have to go clean up and get dressed. Also Mike you don't have to follow us around"

"Well I don't trust him to leave you alone with him, Mel have you forgotten what he is." gritted Mike

"Keep your voice down, and stop talking like that, or else we'll all get into trouble, just chill okay" said Mel as she pushed Mike aside

She instructed Malachi to follow her and they went to a wash room, it wasn't an actual room, it was an outside river that was covered by brick walls which created a wash section. Mel left Malachi to enter into it, he took a shower, the cold water hit his skin so softly, he could feel each drop of water hitting is body, when he finished, he saw clothes that were put out for him, a pair of jeans, and a white t-shirt, and some black sneakers. He wasn't used to this kind of dressing, being of royalty, he usually wore formal clothes, with his velvet cape. But for now, Malachi was no longer a noble, he was a hopeless wanderer.

Malachi left the washroom he saw Mel sitting on a wooden bench waiting on him. He noticed that everything in this tribe's territory was built using natural materials, they were very hipster. He sat next to her and started to notice that Mel herself looked even more hipster in her environment, her curly natural brown hair that fell effortlessly on her exposed shoulders, her thick brown eye brows, the way she crouched her legs even though she was sitting on a bench.

She had an odd marking that covered her left shoulder that Malachi couldn't make out. Her skin was so golden brown, you could tell she spent most of her time marinating in the sun. Her skin was nothing like Malachi's pale, sunless skin. She had natural beauty, a soft sense to her.

Malachi sat next to her and gazed at the sun along with her. Mel didn't notice, but a slight change befell Mal.

"Mel, my curse makes me become a vampire at night, do you think you're cultivation will work when I'm a vampire, it's almost night time " said Malachi as he looked up at the sky, as a vampire he had no appreciation in fact, he didn't care less about the sun but somehow he felt this longing for it, cause he knew where he was. Helios was the cornerstone of the cultivation that was keeping him there. He needed Helios, Malachi, the son born of darkness needed light.

" Don't worry we still have time, let's go have supper first after that we'll discuss how we'll do this, just be confident, I've noticed that you wear your emotions on your face, try not to do that. Don't talk to anyone, eat and keep to yourself In the dining hall. " said Mel softly as she smiled assuredly at Malachi. Malachi heard her words and smiled. on the outside. On the outside he looked a fool and said nothing to her.

Looks like she fell for it.

Mel was talented in magic and natural energy, but unfortunately for her, she had no idea that the Malachi she met on that first night, was already dead

...

They both stood up and Mel led the way to the dining hall, it was late noon, But the sun had not set yet. This gave the hopeless wanderer some hope. He stepped into a large dining hall that was full of people already, some where already seated and others were lined up to get their food. Malachi followed Mel close by, she told him that for today, he'll eat using her pass, so they stood in a line, people were staring at Malachi, whispering to each other, this made Malachi feel uneasy, he loved attention but the 'real' him did not and he had to portray that perfectly.

Right now he just wanted to blend in and not stand out but that wasn't possible, the others were looking at him because he was strikingly handsome, his black hair that added a mystical essence to him made him look even more striking than other humans.

They got their food and a bottle of water and went to go sit next to Mike who was with a group of youths that were noisily laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny, what's going on guys?" questioned Mel curiously as her and Malachi sat down.

"Nothing really, guys this is Malachi, word of your arrival has travelled fast," said Mike as he took a big gulp of his water.

Malachi looked at his plate and was perplexed as to what was in it, he gave Mel a look that said 'what is this?' Mel who was seated next to Malachi giggled and whispered

"This is rice and those are potatoes and that's broccoli, it's really yummy, it will boost up your energy and take away the hunger, just put it in your mouth and chew"

Malachi picked up the broccoli and chewed it and scrunched his face, he had 'never' in his life tasted anything so revolting.

"Mel this food is disgusting" spat Malachi, everyone on the table saw his reaction and began to laugh.

"Hey you're the new guy from Goudstad, unfortunately we are people of nature, there's no meat here, I'm sure you're use to eating meat, put that green abomination down and eat the rice and potatoes my friend, by the way I'm Alex"

Malachi looked at the source of the childish yet mature voice, only to see a young little girl with two missing front teeth but she still smiled as though they were still there

Alex reached out a hand to shake Malachi's hand, Malachi greeted Alex and continued to eat the rice and potatoes which tasted better than the "green abomination" that he was given. He enjoyed the water, it made him feel less parched, it was like drinking blood that had no flavour.

Even the water in this world has a clearer taste to it.

Mel urged Malachi to eat quickly, she wanted to sort out the next level of their issues, they had no idea if her cloaking spell would hold out till night time.

After eating Mel, Mike and Malachi all went to a field where there was an inner cave. Mel said it was a secret place her and her brother would often play in when they were children. The sun began to set and they all stood there waiting to see what will happen next. As the stars began to take their nighttime shift and the sun began to lay rest. Malachi's appearance also took a shift, he went back to being vampire, the cloaking spell was no longer working just as he had predicted. His dashing figure made Mel turn away blushing.

"Okay well it's not that big of a deal, you can do your vampire cultivation stuff and cloak yourself right " asked Mike

" No I can not, blood cultivation no longer runs through my veins. " explained Malachi

" You're going to have to learn how to cultivate like a human then, I'm not strong enough to suppress your curse " said Mel as she put her hand on her forehead trying to think of a solution. She walked over to Malachi picked up a sharp rock and took his hand, she cut his finger and spoke words on to the cut, and closed her eyes and began to meditate. When she opened her eyes Malachi's hair was jet black again and his eyes were brown.

"Oh our pretend human is back. Geez Mel you're getting good at this. " said Mike amused

"What did you do? " asked Malachi

"I used dark magic, to suppress your nature, I had to speak to your blood, to make it cultivate, since I couldn't cloak you. Tomorrow we'll have to go to Shaman so he can teach you how to cultivate, you'll have to learn human cultivation using nature," said Mel as she let go of Malachi's hand.

They left the cave and went to go join the others in the shed, people were seated around, having their own conversations, Malachi was quiet, once again wearing his emotions on his face, he had a sad look, fully taking in his predicament, for the first time, he felt sorry for himself, he wasn't use to this feeling of self pity, so he indulged in it until it fully engulfed him.

His mind in the most powerful way telling him that he is all alone, he felt uncomfortable and out of place, he didn't have the confidence to be able to fool the world, he soiled into his misery, lured by the emptiness in his mind, he allowed his thoughts of despair to invade him, it took every bit of him. An innocent soul trapped in the wrong body, with only a few moments to digest thousands of years of memory. But that's a story for another time.

That little girl from the dinning hall sat next to Malachi, seeing his sullen state. Even though she might have been about only eight years, she seemed to have a wisdom far beyond her age. She smiled as she always did, Alex had an an infectious smile, that could warm the coldest heart, but Malachi's heart wasn't cold, it was dead.

"I really like looking at the stars, one day when I level up, I'll travel into many universes just to look at their galaxies, hopefully I'll be able to touch a star. " said Alex lost in her thoughts as she gazed upon the stars with wide bright eyes. Malachi hadn't noticed much of her until now, she wore a ragged dress that was a bright yellow color, it was torn in her hem but she had put a flower there to try hide the hole, she didn't wear any shoes, yet her tiny feet remained clean. She played with the flower on her dress. Malachi was still mum, engulfed in his own sad reality.

"I know what it's like to be new. Don't let it bring you down. Change... We don't like and we fear it. But we can't stop it from coming. We can either adapt to change, or we can get left behind. Change can be scary, anyone who tells you it's not is lying. Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Sometimes change is good. " said Alex as she continued to play with her flower on her dress. She got up and smiled and walked away.

Although Malachi physically looked like a human and had the soul of one due to unique circumstances, he still felt like a vampire, he truly was the same dark dweller, the son of the dead. But at the same time he was not. His soul was no longer that of Malachi van Locke. He was Federico Maldini of earth. He remembered being attacked at work in his office, then next thing he knew,he was in a bar about to get smashed by strangers, with thousands of memories flowing into his mind. His brain was overloaded and became no different from a doll that auto responded until Malachi or Federico had processed what he needed.

Federico did not panic. He hated his previous life and was having an extreme existential crisis. This allowed him to adjust to the environment like a fish to water. To put it simply. He was a psychopath.

He was like a wolf in sheep's clothing, he appeared to be one thing but was completely something else. His heaven and hell were not just simply in the mind but they were a reality that he was doomed to live. He loved the night because it made him who he truly was and with the dawn's inevitable arrival he would soon go back to being a cursed noble - Maldictus Nobilitatem.