“…”

Izo and Sun Hee were surrounded by bewildered onlookers. Since they woke up abruptly they didn’t have time to react to them but once they were cognizant of the two of them, they backed off carefully.

“Ehem. Sun Hee, should we get something to eat?”

“Right. Right. I’m starving. Let’s go back to the hut.”

Again, the central position of their sleeping place became a detriment since they were too visible.

‘I really need my own separate hut. Away from this wild dog.’

She must’ve been thinking the same as she was eyeing him with lightning in her eyes.

Petro’s voice rang out around their hut. He must’ve seen Sun Hee and Izo do their thing since he looked at them for a while then returned to speaking to a group of 15-20 people. They were surrounding him to get as close to him as possible and understand his words.

Although the Petro’s action still feels a bit restrained and calculated, he was quite a bit more relaxed. Everyone there was drinking including Petro. It seemed to be a lighter alcohol, enough to get a good buzz and feel more energetic but not a detriment to one's thinking.

“There was this Emperor called Nero who was robbed of his throne because he spiritually awakened as a “vampire”. He is my ancestor. Immediately when he came to power, he sired many of us and thus took over Rome. He ruled for 100 years until his timely demise in the hands of the Christians. Don’t be mistaken. He maybe our ancestor but it was a deserved death for he was pure evil.”

‘Is he telling the history of Earth from his vampire bloodline?’

Izo was glad that he was more open to his identity. The people around him nodded and asked their own questions at times.

‘I wonder what happened to Petro. He's usually a more reserved man.’

He asked one of Petro’s listeners what brought this about. It seems that the live viewing of them will start tomorrow and to hype it up, they released promotional videos of the top ten candidates. This included a bit of history of their peoples and thus Petro’s heritage.

If what he heard was real, there was quite some disinformation of the true history of Earth. There exist some beings that were spiritually gifted but events didn’t pan out in their favor.

“Due to the bad blood between vampire senators and non-vampire senators, Rome was inevitably split in two. Both were a mix of good and evil and both were a threat to each other’s existence. No civil war happened, only clandestine battles. The non-vampires allied with the spiritually gifted Christians and through years of attrition, we lost. See they had one big advantage over us, our spiritual gifts were through birth but theirs was through scripture. They outnumbered us soon enough.”

One of the listeners spoke up.

“Wait are you saying God exist? The Christian god?”

Izo still remembered that Petro was a priest. However, his clothes were so crinkled and was in no condition for mass. Petro brewed his words, ensuring its potency.

“Does it matter? The goodness, the lessons, the humanity within the words of the Bible, does it rely on God’s existence? If God watches us, then I’ll make him and myself proud with my actions. If not, I’ll make the world and myself proud.”

Two of the listeners left with disgusted and disappointed expressions. However, the one’s who were left were more adoring and believing.

“And in the Theocracy, gods are real. I don’t know how but I wish to learn. If God truly doesn’t exist, I hope to become a flawed but faithful copy, Petro the tryer. And on my journey there, should I betray my values and path, let God with his power or using your hands strike me down.”

They clapped and hollered. Petro looked the happiest since Izo had met him. His words were his honest and purest thoughts.

However, when their claps were subsiding, an overtly loud and slow one remained.

“Are you done? Should a rat be speaking these words?”

He was tan with more military and neat clothes. His head was fully shaved and he stood 190 cm/6’2. Nabih was the one speaking and his hands were trembling. A lopsided sneer was worn on his face.

“Why don’t you tell them what your ancestors did after they began losing power? Why did you stop rat?”

Everyone in earshot stopped what they were doing. It seems that they were only pretending to not be listening to Petro. They were in fact very invested in his words.

The vampire didn’t speak and he had a pained expression.

“Then let me tell you. The moment they knew they were about to lose they prostrated themselves. They cried and begged for a way to salvation. The Christians who were merciful gave them a path. ‘Submit and serve.’ That’s right, they became their soldiers. And they didn’t just serve, they massacred.

Nabih pushed forward and pointed his finger at Petro’s nose.

“You massacred my people. For everyone who hasn’t seen my promotion. I am a proud Atlantean, a proud descendant of the desert soils, proud of my warrior and trader ancestors that built Carthage! We had already been suppressed before by Rome and in our twilight, the vampires were in their high noon.”

“Once the vampires were their servants, the Christians reveled in victory. They fought in the name of peace and rampaged, not realizing they’ve lost themselves. They destroyed every major threat until finally turned their gaze to the pitiful few Atlanteans who lived in our small city.”

Nabih circled Petro while everyone backed away.

“They sent the vampires but like the rats they are they came with the words ‘cooperate and we live’. With survival in the line, we staged a play. The Christians convinced of the vampire's victory celebrated in our castle when we Atlanteans surprised them. We achieved a startling success at the start but faltered since you didn’t keep your promise.”

“They hid and hid, waiting for both of us to weaken. Then the vermin struck and killed every man, woman and child. The final Atlanteans who heard about this event were half-blooded travelers who made sure to record our history. Still, the blood were too thin in them and they soon became normal humans.”

Nabih held Petro’s shirt, the spittle and breath assaulting the priest's face.

“Don’t believe this liar. Ever since then, they chose to very strictly limit their population but they’ve always been behind humanity’s greatest tragedies. With the biggest of them being the burning of the Christian spiritual scriptures, Islamic manuals and the Buddhist mantras. How else could other worlds and dimension have developed their spirituality and not Earth?”

Nabih was panting hard. Izo had the illusion that he was expelling black breath made of all of his hate.

Petro drew a cross in his chest.

“In behalf of all my ancestors, I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry- sorry!”

Nabih pushed Petro back but the man didn’t fall over.

“Only when most of humans invented guns, did we curtail their influence. But your crimes against us will never be washed away. You have forever stunted Earth. Imagine if we Atlanteans had been allowed to develop?”

Nabih gripped his fists and a faint power began gathering. He punched down and the ground cracked. It cracked as cold ice spread out from the epicenter. He stomped and wild electricity burned down.

“With every generation of comingling, our awakening would be spread to everyone. You, you don’t get to say sorry. You don’t deserve to become God.”

Nabih turned his back on Petro and left. The surroundings were all quiet and the camp was completely still. Only the soft waves hitting the sand was heard.

Only after a while, did human sounds resumed. Three of Petro’s listeners left though more hesitant than the ones before. The look of everyone in camp changed quite a bit. Gone were the neutral and even admiring stares. There was animosity and disgust instead for Petro.

Petro was still quiet perhaps inside he agreed to Nabih.

Izo’s lips were shaking. His legs felt weak for what he was planning to do but couldn’t bear to watch Petro suffer in silence.

“If everyone here is too be held accountable for their ancestors’ mistakes, then we would all be dead. You’ve heard Petro’s words, seen his demeanor and actions before. I’ve eaten and lived with no villain only a man whose thoughts are good and goals noble!”

Izo was still in the sidelines but he knew that no speech should come from the shadows. It could only said in the sun and the center. He lifted his right foot. It was heavy as if dead from lack of blood. He lifted his left foot; it was lighter but still hard to move.

“We have to live on the current, faltering and sad present.”

With every step, his strength grew.

“While remembering the painful pasts, we shouldn’t be ruled by them.”

The wind entering his lungs were thin and his body felt feverish. He could feel everyone's emotions, their conflicts of mind. They were arguing in the air whether they were doing it intentionally or not. He let those arguments float in the air or be taken to the skies and held firm.

Izo paused, letting them see his slightly pale lips and red face.

“Only, then can we rise up to the future! Look not for blame but for solutions!”

“Look not for blame but for solutions!”

Sung Soo repeated from nowhere. Izo didn’t even see him at all before.

“That’s right. Let’s not be grudge bearing fools unless we want to become fools like the past. Look not for blame but for solutions!”

Svana spoke out.

Suddenly, Nabih hearing all this came back. He aimed to shove Petro once more and retort but another body blocked him.

Izo fell on his butt since Nabih was larger and stronger than him.

“Izo Shelley, it’s in their bloodline to be rats. Protect this one and once he sires, it’ll only be more trouble for us.”

Izo stood up and stared up, the sun above was harsh but he continued to do so.

Nabih was about to wave Izo away but then decided to imbue a slight electric shock to his hand.

‘Sun Hee!’

Sun Hee was planning to block his hands but didn’t expect Nabih to use his powers.