VP | Ch. 7: Diabla

After an exhilarating session of sponging away grime, emptying two week’s worth of trash, buffing the countertops, and cleaning mold spores out of cabinets – which Alessia insisted weren’t mold, but just furry decoration – Nara sat, pleased and exhausted, in the yard outside of Alessia’s home.

“You look thirsty,” Alessia teased, leaning down to pluck another daffodil. “Need some water?”

Nara glared at her. “And you look ridiculous picking flowers in seventy pounds of armor. The grasshoppers won’t bite, I promise. You can wear normal pants.”

“Hey. Mean.”

“Never said I wasn’t.”

“You’re not,” Alessia laughed. “Or else we wouldn’t be talking right now.”

Nara frowned, feeling the faint physical memory of her mouth on Alessia’s neck: her fangs sinking through supple skin, blood dancing deliciously across her taste buds. All of it was so fresh and ripe that she could still feel the ache in her mouth. Like drinking from an oasis in a dry, humid desert.

Stop it. She thought, freezing the spinning disc of her mind like a needle on a vinyl. The more she let herself fall into the memory, the more her stomach pulsed for more, like a toddler screaming for the cookie jar. Don’t go there.

She shoved it down, closing her eyes and taking deep, meditative breaths. It was all she could do to delay the inevitable.

She needed to get those potions, and quickly.

“I need you to take me to Diabla,” Nara instructed. “Now,” she said, and then softer, “please.”

–

“Oh, wow,” Nara whispered. “Is that magic?”

In her short time on Earth and beyond, Nara had never seen such a marvel. Diabla’s house – which was more a greenhouse than a home – was floating. Suspended in midair.

“Excellent deduction skills, Vampy.”

Alessia’s sarcasm didn’t impact her in the least. Nara’s curiosity had her by the collar, pulling her like a fish on a line towards the entrance.

“I’ve never seen such a density of plantlife,” Nara noted quietly, raking her eyes over the front of the building. “Or such a lack of structural engineering.”

Unlike a regular house, Diabla’s pearly white walls were not attached to her floors by any normal mechanism, but instead floated idly alongside them, two friends afraid to touch hands. Vines and ivy and soil escaped through all these unattached edges, leaking out of the house like water from an overflowing gutter.

Even stranger so – there was no roof. Just a giant red blossom, covering the whole thing like an extended umbrella. It provided shade over the nearby garden, and resisted rain from overhead.

All in all, it was beautiful, like a red rose with a thorny white stem.

I take everything back, Nara thought. I want to live here instead.

Nara readied herself to knock on the door, but Alessia interrupted her.

“Don’t knock. Never knock,” she said urgently, then pointed at a small golden bell attached to a hook over the door. “Ring that instead.”

Nara gave her an odd look, but she did just that. The bell chimed softly.

“Finally, you lazy, good-for-nothing–”

Nara heard loud, pointed footsteps and a shrill voice echo through the small house, stampeding towards them with an urgency.

“Are speed and timeliness even virtues in your business anymore? I ordered food an hour ago.”

The door flew open. Nara’s eyes widened, and she reflexively leaned away in terror. Because oh, wow – Alessia hadn’t lied.

Diabla wasn’t human.

No – she was purple. Not in the way that Nara’s skin had turned faintly lavender, but truly purple. Purple and aflame. Her silhouette flickered and fizzled, her entire body igniting around the edges. Two horns protruded from her skull, a black, lacey dress framed her figure, and wild wisps of violet cascaded over her shoulders.

Nara swallowed. Wow.

“Oh,” Diabla said, stilling in recognition as she laid eyes on Alessia. “It’s only you. Disappointing. I was looking forward to setting that sorry food-courier on fire.”

“No you weren’t,” Alessia said sternly. “I told you I'm not paying off any more bounties on your head. You cost me enough gold as it is.”

“But Alessia,” Diabla whined. “It’s not fair when there are so many people asking to be killed.”

Nara looked frantically to Alessia, who just rolled her eyes.

“Don’t let her get to you. She doesn’t actually kill people,” Alessia said.

“Anymore,” Diabla corrected. “I’m retired.”

She turned on her fiery heel to Nara, giving her an appraising look. “Now who’s this?”

—

“Oh Alessia, you’ve really just set her up for failure,” Diabla chided, picking a black flower off her wall. The flower whined quietly as it was removed. “You haven’t even told the poor girl how to use her inventory yet.”

The demoness led them into her living room, where the living space was reserved predominantly for plants, not people – flowers and ivy on the wall, potted bonsais and aloe in the nooks and crannies, a poisonous thorn plant displayed proudly on the coffee table.

“Inventory?” Nara asked, avoiding any of the available chairs and choosing to stand as stiffly as possible (to avoid upsetting any of the sentient plant life.) “What’s that?”

“All you must do is think it,” Diabla instructed, plucking another. “Inventory, I mean.”

Right. It was like the trick that Donna from the inn had taught her – think the word, and it’ll appear. Or whatever.

Inventory.

A set of boxes dropped suddenly in front of her vision, almost like folders on a computer. She could interact with the display just like she did previously when choosing a class, by directing her eyesight towards an object to enlarge it and learn more.

Currently, there were only two objects in there. The Baby Shroom and something called a Cowl of Nascent Vampirism. I think that’s the reward I got from my blood-sucking quest, she recalled. Her stomach turned just thinking about it. It didn’t feel good to get rewarded for something like that.

Still – she was too curious not to know. When she enlarged the cowl, it provided her with three options: Equip, Hold and Inspect. She started with inspecting.

Cowl of Nascent Vampirism

- [Race Required: Vampire] -

Armor Type: Light

• + Armor Rating: 3
• + 10 Mana
• + 3% increase to Blood Magic potency

“What’s an Armor Rating?” Nara asked.

“How tough your armor is,” Alessia said, knocking on her breastplate. “Light Armor has the lowest ratings overall, Medium is a bit better, and then Heavy is the best. But it slows you down if you don’t have high enough Strength.”

“Okay…” Nara said. “And what about… Blood Magic potency?”

Alessia froze. Diabla laughed, throwing her head back.

“Ah, good good, yes! Wear anything that gives you that,” she cheered. “Put it on. I want to see.”

Nara was a slight bit reticent, but she gave in quickly, clicking Equip. And – shwoop. It was as if someone just tugged a beanie over her head from behind. The cowl fit snugly over her ears, covering just a bit of her forehead and neck.

Diabla stalked up to her, staring intently. Her pupils were like black holes with tiny red flames inside. It set Nara’s skin ablaze just to be looked at by her – and not in the pleasant sort of way.

“Wait,” Diabla paused, the flame inside her eyes igniting. “You’re a… vampire? How is that possible? I saw you walking around in the daylight just fine.”

Nara shrugged uncomfortably. “Some kind of glitch, I guess.”

Diabla grabbed both sides of her head, jostling her like a bobblehead. Nara squeaked, wanting to yell hands off but thought better of it. Talking back to her seems like a death wish. Diabla put Alessia to shame, power wafting off of her in tsunami-like waves.

“Oh, how interesting. No Daybreak Curse,” she noted, treating Nara like a test subject as she dragged her hot palms over the side of her cheek. “Highly unusual. Spectacularly unusual. Would you mind if I take a sample of your blood for research purposes?”

Nara went pale. “Yes, actually –”

“Chill out, Diabla,” Alessia said, intervening with a light push to the demoness’s shoulder. “She’s my guest, not your plaything. Plus, I have something more interesting for you.”

“Oh?”

Nara was never more grateful to Alessia than then; Diabla reluctantly released her grip, turning to the Monster Hunter expectantly. Alessia produced a potion bottle from her pocket.

“For your Potion of Pureblood Infusion,” she said, handing the demon the potion. Diabla cradled it like a baby, eyes enlarging. “It’s the Blood of a Firstbite. I let Nara bite me, and then took a sample of my own blood in the aftermath.” She instinctively reached for her neck. “I guess it’s more than just that, though – it’s probably even rarer given Nara’s condition. Or lack thereof.”

“Oh, Alessia, have I mentioned that I love you?” Diabla cooed, looking positively lustful as she held the blood potion in her hands. “This is more than I could have ever asked for. I have to get to my laboratory at once. So much alchemy awaits.”

“Wait –” Nara stopped her, putting a hand on Diabla’s shoulder as she turned on her heel to leave for the adjoining room. “I need your help first.”

Diabla turned towards her, a ferocity etched into her features. She did not like being interrupted.

“My help? With what, exactly, newblood?”

“The Thirst,” Nara said, swallowing down her fear. Diabla was scary, she’d admit that – but she had no choice but to ask. “I want to learn how to make potions that can stop me from wanting to bite people.”

Diabla’s frown fell. She looked at Nara in amazement instead.

“You, a vampire, want to stop biting people?”

Nara nodded, and a laugh erupted from Diabla’s lips.

“Oh, how delightful. I can’t say no to such a ridiculous premise. Plus, without you, I wouldn’t have access to such a delectable ingredient,” she said gleefully, grabbing Nara’s wrist. The touch burnt an imprint of her fingers into Nara’s skin. “Come then, my little vampire potionmaker. Let’s put that new Blood Magic potency to use.”