InTrO - NeReZzA.vOn.XaViEr

I sat alone by the lake, staring mindlessly at the grayish-blue water that rippled gently when a maple leaf touched its surface. I kept staring at the reddish leaf, and suddenly I realized that something was not right. A dead leaf, a dying tree in the middle of spring was a sign that calamity was near. I got up and almost immediately, I was approached by an alarmed white dove, informing me that the High Council wanted me at the Great Hall right away.


Quickly, I activated my teleportation ring and teleported to the city center. The Great Hall was surrounded with a barrier that prevented anyone, of any level of power, to enter using teleportation. Thus, I had to enter using the main door. The High Council gathered at the highest floor of the hall, as to prevent them from being harmed in case of danger. When I arrived, I saw that all of the members of the council-including the Lord himself-were present.


"Forgive me for my lateness, my Lord."
"Sit down, Nerezza."


Obeying the Lord's words, I sat myself down on the only empty chair left at the table. It was a rather long table, enough to occupy at least 40 people, and yet I could still hear the voice of the Lord at the other end of the table when I was at this very end. Perhaps his voice was just that loud. Or perhaps it was something else. I decided to ignore my thoughts and listened to the matter of discussion instead.


"A turmoil is approaching, not just in this world, but the human world as well. The Heart of Clandestine, one that many centuries ago was deemed nothing but an anecdote, was said to have appeared somewhere in the human realm in the past eighteen years and is now maturing inside the body of a girl. The heart holds within itself a power so tremendous it could destroy the whole world in a matter of seconds."


Members of the council began whispering among themselves. None of them had actually heard about the Heart of Clandestine before, and those who had believed that it was only a folk's tale. Hearing about it now, especially after being told that disaster was coming, proved to be alarming to most, if not all of them.


"As to protect the heart from being stolen and misused, I will, from now onward, allocate my most trusted assistant, Nerezza von Xavier, as the guardian of the Heart of Clandestine. Will you accept this task for the sake of the whole world, ours and the humans, Nerezza von Xavier?"


The Lord's voice boomed across the room. Automatically, as I always was, I got up and bowed, signalling my acceptance of the task.


"Yes, my Lord. I humbly accept this big task and will fulfill my duty as best as I could possibly do."
"Now, go and search for the girl in the human world - and remember, you must not be seen by anyone but the girl herself."
"Yes, my Lord."


The council was then dismissed and swiftly, I exited the Great Hall and went to the edge of the city where a large, closed portal to the human world stood. Using my rings, I combined my power with the nature and activated the portal, focusing on the search of the heart's location.


Lucille Adriana Alesius.


The portal glowed a bright red, a rare color. Slowly, I entered the portal, ready for the mission that without my or anyone's knowledge, could determine the life and death of everything.

--

InTrO - OrPhEuS.dE.VaLeNTiN

"Pururu~"
"Hn...excited, aren't we?"
"Ru...!"
"Yes, little one. The power is somewhere in this place, and we will search for it together. But for now, you would have to stay inside. We shouldn't make any commotion now, should we?"


I removed the tiny black demon trinket from my necklace and ignited it with my dark fire ability. In an instant, it burst into flame and disappeared, as so my little demon, Kuratz. Licking the black spot on my left palm, I gathered my stuff and headed towards the entrance of the place. It was named Alamore High School, a place where youngsters aged between eighteen and twenty are sent to to study. I could not care less about school and studying. But my arrival to the school was of a much greater purpose.


The Heart of Clandestine. The name itself suggested how tremendous the amount of power it held. It was kept a secret even amongst the higher ones of the royal clan. None had laid their eyes upon it, but it was told that the heart had a magnificent shade of vermillion and its glitter could put the biggest diamond to shame. And I was on a quest to seek for it and claim its hidden power as mine.


I was born as Orpheus de Valentin, a proud, true-breed vampire, almost one and half decade ago in the mystical land of Athens, Greece. My clan, though not one of the royalty, was amongst the strongest vampire clan ever existed and is still existing on Earth. However, due to an incident that occurred more than sixty years ago, I was banished from the clan and is now on the search for power to prove myself worthy of the clan.


Ring....!


"...it is time. Just wait, my Lord. I shall prove to you my true ability..."

--

"Class, today we will be joined by a new student. His name is Orpheus de Valentin. He is from Greece and has transferred here with his family over the weekend."

I heard the sound of laughter and jeering. Annoyance, but I could not be preoccupied with such useless, mindless people. I kept a cold, aloof face as I entered the stuffy room, not interested with the constant mocking from the male humans. It did not take long for me to find the leader amongst the monkey-boys, and I gave him an icy stare. In an instant, as if he was hypnotised, he muted himself. And the rest of the class followed suit.

"Please introduce yourself to the class, Orpheus."

"...good morning."

I scanned the whole class as I talked. It got to be somewhere around here, I thought. All the students were now paying attention to me - all but one girl. One particular girl. I kept on staring at her as I continued my words, and when she finally looked into my eyes, I felt a strong invincible force between us. The Heart of Clandestine! My pulse picked up pace and was racing, though it did not show outwardly.

'So, we finally meet each other...my little princess...'

"Okay then, you may be seated beside...Miss Alesius. You are fine with that, aren't you, Alesius?"

"...of course, Miss Page."

I kept a cool face as I approached the empty desk beside her and sat down. Nevertheless, deep inside, I was filled with a sense of victory and pride that I had finally found the mystical Heart of Clandestine. Now, it was only a matter of time before I crush the girl, capture the heart and claim its power as mine.

--

InTrO - LuCiLLe.AdRiAnA.ALeSiUs

Click!
Click!


"You just won't stop doing that, will you, Lucille?"
"It's fun. Why should I stop?"
"It's just a random bunch of clouds up in the air. It's better to take pictures of humans...particularly that hunky guy over there. Oh my God, isn't he cute? Now that's pure art!"


Sighing, I left my swooning friend and got myself preoccupied with the bright morning sky and the 'dance' of the fluffy white clouds as the wind blew gently at them. It was pretty. No, even more. Enchanting - maybe even up to the point of being indescribable. Yes, indescribable. Something that was so simple yet so complex at the same time, and yet not many people even care to spend just a few minutes of their daily lives to stare at one of life's greatest, simplest pleasure.


My full name is Lucille Adriana Alesius, and I am currently a first-year student at Alamore High School. I am interested in arts and science - make that biology. No, make that zoology. Yes, I am interested in arts, and animals. I have resolved to myself, if ever I can't achieve my dream of being a zoologist, I will plunge myself in the art department. After all, my true skills - or as I am made to believe - lies there, not here. With here being hell on Earth. Nonetheless, Earth itself, humans and science aside, is very amazing and wonderful. And I am planning to always see it that way.


I sighed again and smiled at my own though and lifted my cell phone to capture the breathtaking beauty a few more times. Satisfied, I straightened my wavy brunette hair that was slightly ruffed up from being blown by the gentle wind. I turned to my friend - and she was still ogling the poor guy that had noticed her and was trying his best to ignore her now. Rolling my eyes, I informed her that the bell would ring very soon and ushered her to class quickly.

--

"Class, today we will be joined by a new student. His name is Orpheus de Valentin. He is from Greek and has transferred here with his family over the weekend."


The class roared with laughter whilst some of the guys-the jerks-started jeering "mama's boy" and all. I let out a small groan of annoyance. All in all, I could not see how wrong or childish it was to live with your parents at eighteen or nineteen. Just living with them does not mean you are truly depending on them. You are just sharing the same roof, being co-dependent and slowly being independent. Or at least that is the way I see it.


I shrugged at the thought. And suddenly I realised that the class had gone very quiet. The loud noises just now had subdued. I managed to glance at one of the boys - he had a look as if he had seen a ghost of some sort. White as a sheet, when he was quite dark to begin with. I turned my attention to the front of the class where the guy, and the rest of the class, were currently having their eyes at.


For a single moment, our eyes clashed against each other. 'White?' was the first thing the struck my mind. It was the colour of his eyes. They were in a very light tone of purple that they really seemed white - as if he was blind. But was he? I could not tell. Not by the way he was staring at me as he introduced himself. His voice was icy cold, as was his stare. He almost looked like an empty vessel without a tinge of life inside. Absentmindedly, I shuddered.


"Okay then, you may be seated beside...Miss Alesius. You are fine with that, aren't you, Alesius?"
"...of course, Miss Page."


For a split second, I thought I saw a twinkle of light-a sign of life-from deep inside his almost-dead eyes. And without realising anything, my life was about to go through a tremendous change - one that would turn my life 180 degree, and make me rethink about life and everything inside it.

--

ChARaCTeR.Li$T.&.Syn0ps!s

!=ChArAcTeR.liSt=!

Lucille Adriana Alesius, age: 18

~Main female protagonist

~Cute, innocent and lovable human(?)

~Has dark golden brown hair and bright green eyes

~Holds a strong mysterious power within herself

~Has an alter ego(?) named Nerezza

Nerezza von Xavier, age: unknown

~Main male protagonist

~Lucille's 'alter ego' (or is he?)

~Has silvery-white hair and gleaming scarlet red eyes
~Tries to protect Lucille and her power from Orpheus

~Has a secret crush on Lucille

Orpheus de Valentin, age: 143

~Main male antagonist

~Arrogant and mysterious vampire

~Has midnight blue hair and purplish-white eyes

~Wants power to become stronger to lead his clan

~Hates Nerezza with a passion

--

!=SyNoPsIs=!

Eighteen-year-old Lucille Albus lived a very happy, peaceful and simple teenage life until one day, a guy with a weird aura of darkness arrived at her school. From the very first moment their eyes clashed against each other, Lucille's life turned upside down. And what's more, a sudden alter ego appeared within herself. Was it all a curse or a blessing?

"What's with the little black flying thing that constantly follows him? It looks cute and scary at the very same time! And what's with him being a pervert around me?! And who is Nerezza actually??"

A dramatic love story, filled with a dark twist. Fight between love and power. What will happen of them?