VP | Ch. 10: Talking Bats

Tragically, Diabla had been correct. There were bats. Dozens of them, actually. An entire infestation. They kept Nara up all night, fluttering furiously next to her eardrum, pattering on the floorboards, chirping back and forth like children who had just discovered how to whistle.

Coming from a family of campers, Nara’s first instinct was, of course, rabies. So much so that she ran downstairs to wake Diabla up in the middle of the night, which ended up being a lot scarier than rabies. Nara shivered in recollection.

But, after charitably agreeing not to turn Nara into a flaming pulp of dead vampire, Diabla quickly put her concerns to bed; she assured her that vampire blood had a certain highly acidic quality which staved off most human illnesses – the common cold, rabies, even sexually transmitted disease, she added with a wink. That comforted Nara, slightly, but it simultaneously unnerved her.

She used to be Type O back on Earth. The kind of person who could donate their veins to anyone in need. Now if she showed up at a Red Cross truck, they’d probably call the police.

—

“God Almighty, will you just be quiet?” Nara whispered harshly into the dark. She flailed her hands around wildly, scattering the bats once more. “I’m about to find a baseball bat and start swinging.”

Of course, both the flailing and the threats were exercises in futility. The bats fled for only a moment before their fear dwindled, and the pack of them went right back to their chittering and chirping. It was infuriating.

Nara groaned loudly. The sun was beginning to stream in through the attic windows, and she hadn’t gotten a lick of sleep. Just as she was about to throw in the towel and get up for the day, a notification appeared in front of her vision.

[Racial Skill] Rank Up: Bat Communication

Rank 0 → Rank 1

This skill allows you to communicate with bats.

“What?”

There was no further information on the screen. She looked around for some kind of guide text, using her mind’s eye to pry into every folder and subfolder, but she found nothing. That was it—communicate with bats.

“The noisy, long-limbed creature has settled its thrashing,” a quiet, disembodied voice announced. “It is best if we continue to survey it for the time being.”

“Who said that?” Nara squeaked, jumping to her feet.

She looked frantically around the attic – but all she saw were more bats. Three clinging to a wooden post in the corner, another two hiding behind a tennis racket.

“Nevermind. The thrashing has resumed, brethren. Stay alert.”

Nara knew it was insane, but she had the eerie sense that a bat was speaking to her.

The noise seemed to originate from one bat in particular – the largest and darkest of the bunch, its hulking body nearly the size of a ukulele. The bat fluttered from its post and landed just a few feet from her, its beady eyes drilling into her skull.

“Greetings, wingless one. It appears you have learned language.”

Nara screamed.

“Back off!” she commanded, searching the room for some kind of weapon. There was only the tennis racket, and it was under the control of the bats. “Or I’ll – err – bite you!”

“Do not be afraid, bumbling giant,” the bat ordered, rising off of the floor and flapping its wings indignantly. “We do not seek to harm you or invoke the wrath of your species. While we were originally suspicious of a foreign object entering our domain, we came to realize that you simply lacked shelter.”

The bat settled its wings, landing on the floor with poise once again.

“Being the charitable race that we are, we have decided not to cast you out.”

Nara blinked slowly. What?

“I… cast me out?”

“Yes,” the bat repeated. “Seeing as you are without a home or immediate caretakers, we have chosen to take you in as one of our own. While we do not know what kind of sustenance your species requires, we will try our best to feed and care for you. It is our way.”

Nara felt oddly touched, but mostly still annoyed.

“Um… thank you?” she muttered. “But it’s fine, I can find my own food.”

“Do not be embarrassed, overly-large pupa. We will forage for you.” He turned his miniscule head away from her and made a clicking noise. “Chiro, Tera, make haste towards the forests. Return only when you’ve found enough food to feed the giantess.”

The bats by the tennis racket took note, flying out of the crack in the open window with surprising agility. Nara ducked out of the way as they soared by.

“You must excuse my rudeness. I’ve forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Draculine Twilight,” the bat in front of her said, taking a minor bow. “I am the leader of this humble colony.”

Nara had an urge to shake its hand, given the level of formality, but she was worried she might crush it. Also, she still didn’t really want to touch a bat.

“Nice to meet you, Draculine,” Nara said, doing an admittedly stupid curtsy. “My name is Nara Yoruichi.”

“Well met, Nara Yoruichi.”

“The full name isn’t really necessary.”

“I see, Miss. Yoruichi,” the bat said, bowing deeply again. “I do not mean to insult the culture of your foreign species. We will stick to familial names, then.”

“That’s not what I meant –”

“You may call me Sir Twilight,” he suggested. “And if we do continue this amicable acquaintanceship, you may someday refer to me by my bat-kin name, Dracky.”

Nara wasn’t really sure how to respond to that, so she didn’t.

—

“Diabla, your attic is full of bats. Talking bats.”

“What? I already knew that.”

Diabla didn’t even bother glancing up at her as Nara came stumbling down the attic ladder. She was too consumed by the hefty tome she was paging through, her legs hoisted up on the end of her couch.

“You knew that they talked?”

“Well of course they talk,” Diabla scoffed. “Did you assume that only humans possess the ability to communicate? That’s very naïve.”

Nara flushed. “No, not like that. I know animals can communicate, but, to like… each other. And not with words that I can fluently understand.”

That piqued Diabla’s curiosity. She lazily folded the edge of her current page and shut the tome, dust bursting out of the book in a rush. Nara pinched her nose, trying not to sneeze.

“A vampire ability, then,” the demoness said, floating upwards from the couch and heading towards the kitchen. She silently beckoned Nara, who followed her like a lost dog. “It’s good to know you’re able to gain skill ranks normally. I was concerned that, due to your lack of a Daybreak Curse, the rest of your system wouldn’t work correctly.”

Diabla began yanking open drawers. Cutlery rattled loudly from within them, echoing around the kitchen and making the ferns and ivy recoil. Nara had noticed that some of Diabla’s plants were clearly sentient, with aversions to loud noises or impositions on their personal space. One of them even hissed at her earlier for coming too close.

“Skill ranks?” Nara questioned. “Like… levels in a video game?”

“I don’t know what a video game is, but yes, levels could be considered an appropriate synonym to ranks,” she said, groaning as she peered inside her refrigerator. “I’m out of oat milk? This is horrendous. Despicable. That’s right – my delivery never came. Oh, I’ll have their heads for this. What a pitiful excuse for a grocery service.”

“Don’t you grow your own food?” Nara asked, refraining from gesturing to the truly alarming amounts of plants and flora. “Or… is none of this stuff edible?”

Diabla whipped her head around to look at her. At first, Nara thought she was about to breathe fire out of her eyeballs, but instead, the demoness just laughed.

“Edible? Please. I am an alchemist, not a farmer. If you attempt to consume anything in my house raw, you will die in a very interesting and painful way, I assure you.”

Nara laughed nervously. “Got it.” Noted.

“Enough questions. It’s the morning. Sit.”

Diabla hastily placed a bowl of sloshing red liquid in front of Nara, accompanied with a spoon. She then served herself the same meal, and sat across from her at the tiny dining table. Their knees knocked underneath it. Nara kept in a yelp; Diabla’s skin, even under her dress, was molten hot, like touching a burning stovetop.

“It’s not my usual recipe, but it will do,” Diabla said, pointing to the scarlet mixture. She delicately inserted her spoon in and drank some. “Come on, what are you waiting for? Drink up. It’s rude to reject someone’s breakfast.”

Nara stared down at the liquid, which seemed to be bubbling of its own accord.

“Didn’t you just tell me nothing in this house was edible?”

“This isn’t a plant, it’s milk,” Diabla explained, narrowing her eyes. “Molten Moople milk. Before you ask, Mooples are a specific breed of cattle that originate from the Fever Plains. The composition of their milk closely resembles the makeup of blood plasma, so it can be partially absorbed by vampires like you.”

“Oh." She looked down at the bubbling liquid. This was really thoughtful of her to make, then. “I really appreciate you going out of your way to make something I could consume. That's really sweet of you.”

Diabla scowled. If it wasn’t for her permanently heated face, Nara would have thought she was blushing. “It was not sweet. I’m not doing this because I like you. I’m just trying to keep you alive. A dead assistant isn’t a particularly helpful one. Unless I enlist the help of a necromancer…”

Nara quickly backpedaled. “No, no – I’m happy to stay alive.”

Note to self - do not get cheesy with the demoness.

She picked up the bowl and brought it to her lips. To her surprise, it didn’t taste like molten lava. It was rather pleasant, like drinking a warm chamomile tea. Desperate for any taste that wasn’t blood, she slurped the remainder down in rapid succession.

Boon Gained: A Lovely Reprieve

Effect: For 2 hours, you are Tranquil – your Thirst gage will not increase as quickly.

“That was wonderful,” she said, clicking away the notification. “And helpful. That’s a good boon.”

“Good,” Diabla said, looking the faintest bit happy to see she liked it.

Just as Nara was about to harass Diabla with another question about skills and ranks, a gentle ringing came from the front door.

“Ah, a visitor,” Diabla said. “Let me see who it is.”

One of Diabla’s eyes rolled back in her head. Nara went pale at the sight.

After a moment, Diabla’s smile fell, turning into a scowl. “It's him."

She rose from her chair, the fire that lined her back sputtering into a full blaze.

"For your first test, my assistant..." she trailed off, turning her head to Nara and smiling broadly. "Would you like to help me kill my brother?”