Meanwhile, with Skylar, she began moving her hands and arms, doing some gestures like she was typing or playing a piano. She even thought of blood strings coming out from her fingertips and orchestrating them into different directions and bending them into a loop, interlocking from a thick form to the thinnest one before letting it spread like sharp spikes that almost reach the sky. But she quickly stopped. And when she opened her eyes, she saw what she had magically created: a teardrop of bloody jade surrounded by sharp and bloody crystals floating in the air.
Speechless and wonder flicker into her eyes, she had no idea what she had just created until Rose beat her to it.
'What is that?'
"I don't know either. I just let the blood curse flow on my fingertips, thinking they were my usual web strings. I played around and this happened." Skylar answered, still speechless at what she had created before muttering, "I don't know what it means."
'Blood strings…are you referring to strings of fate?'
Skylar looked at the bloody and thorny strings swirling around the teardrop jade, floating still in mid-air. She was staring deeply at it, but she couldn't form any word to describe it.
"I don't know, I just…" She finally responded to Rose's question, and the more she stared at it, the more she recalled the feeling she felt while unknowingly creating it, saying, "I think of my life with and without Vincencio up to now."
'Oh, my God…'
Skylar frowned over Rose's reaction while stepping closer to what she had created, and somehow, the jade reacted, glowing faintly and moving closer to her. Skylar just watched, still speechless until Rose reacted.
'You've got to be kidding me. Skylar, this is…'
Skylar's frown deepened, but Rose was captivated, staring at the jade before continuing what she was trying to say.
'You're a promising vessel, but I didn't see this coming. None of my chosen vessels managed to create a perfect, newly formed Blood Curse during their possession of my power. They did try, but none of them perfected one. It only bounced back, either badly injuring them or killing them in the process. But you, on the other hand, unknowingly, being creative and just having fun, you created one.'
"Meaning?" Skylar wondered what Rose was aiming to say.
'Skylar, you had no intention of using my blood curse at all. I mean, even after you know you're a vampire and have these abilities, you never used them or even called for my help to take over. You used your own methods, your own skills, and only mixed with mine if needed, then it worked. I'm not just praising you, but I'm grateful for having a vessel like you. You're remarkably intriguing despite how clumsy you can be around the household.'
"Hey." She glared at the last comment. Rose chuckled amusingly, but felt proud of having Skylar as her vessel.
'Just saying, Sky. This newly formed blood curse is not an offensive or defensive power that I had, but I'm pretty sure how powerful this one will be once our power is truly and fully awakened.'
"Do you think this one is dangerous?" She wondered as Rose handed the jade to her open palm.
'No, but it could be if intended to.'
"What power did I just create?" She wondered, studying the jade in her palm curiously.
'It's string…bloody…but it's not only a weapon like your web strings. This one can definitely become a red string of fate – a soul's fate.'
"Hm, soul's fate…" Skylar repeated, thinking what they should call the jade that she had created before grinning, deciding, "Then we'll call it that…the red strings of the Soul's Fate."
'I like the sound of it. It rings perfectly to what it can do.'
"But if you say it's a weapon, then it also means that I can manipulate it like how I used my wed strings?" she asked curiously, like she was thinking about how to use it in the middle of a fight.
'You could, but I can't tell the detail because remember, blood curse is a blood manipulation which basically will depend on how creative your imagination is. And based on how you created this one, think it will be easy for you to explore how it works.'
"Alright, let's test that. Let's begin by checking how it truly works aside from being a Soul's Fate." She grinned maliciously and lifted her palm up, making the jade float in mid-air again, spreading its bloody and thorny crystalized strings multiplied and wider.
'Can't wait for the outcome. Call me if you need any help. I'll hang around Vin since his human is also facing the changes.'
"Sure, and please, tell them not to worry. I've got this." Determined, she grinned, letting Rose fade into the shadows, leaving her to study her newly formed ability. "Now, let's explore."
Skylar once again closed her eyes to center herself, and once she opened them, she began moving in combat stunts. She does her usual military combat training, from fighting stunts, gun aiming, dagger shooting, and blade swings. She does them all in rhythm, and being an awakened vampire, her speed was over the top, and every edge of her stunts, everything was precise and sharp. She moved gracefully, imperious and lethally dangerous.
As she moved as usual, her newly formed ability followed and moved in sync with her. At each step and combat stunts, the bloody crystal strings swirled around her body, and whenever she swung them, her ability gave a follow-through, sharp and deadly. Skylar didn't just like it; she loves how offensive it could turn into.
"Let's try it on defense." She muttered, grinning maliciously as she swung her hand and met at the center, creating a powerful clap, releasing a powerful vibration, pushing away anything on its way. "Hm, that's interesting."
But Skylar's curiosity didn't stop there; she began moving faster in vampire speed, thinking of creating a shield that popped at every angle and side around her. She grinned because it was working, but again, she didn't stop. She explored more and decided to expand her imagination, making the bloody crystal strings at her stepping stone in mid-air. She looked hopping in the air because the strings were too thin to be seen either in darkness or light.
"Let's try mixing things up." She whispered and began doing a backflip in mid-air before releasing a defensive shield, appearing all over the place while swinging whatever weapon she was holding before releasing a follow-through from her blood crystal strings. Then landed smoothly back on the ground, like nothing extreme training happened. "Well, I could get used to this."
She had trained how her newly formed ability works in combat, and now, here she was standing still, making the bloody crystal strings flow beneath her feet, creating a crimson snowflake on the ground. However, that was not the only thing she was doing; she began spreading roots all over the place, tracking, navigating, spying, and checking how wide the radius of her ability could expand.
"Wow, that's too wide and too detailed…" She gasped in disbelief, but with her clever mind set, she already knew how to use it, which she would definitely try at her hunting night routine. However, she still wanted to check something else, thinking, "Let's see if doing this will also work if ever I am in combat."
Skylar was curious about mixing it up as well, but she suddenly coughed blood from overusing it. She even kneeled, collapsing on the ground, coughing. She even clicked her tongue, but she understood the restraint that she was facing.
"Damn, it got me excited to the point I forgot to rest." She chuckled at her rare mistakes in discovering new things and trying them out. She sighed and settled on the ground, calming herself, resting before whispering, "But I have to master that so I can protect my family, my pack, and the life that I am building with Vincencio. I have to use them wisely so it won't backfire later."
Skylar rested for a few more hours, channeling the flow of her vampire blood residing in her, making the newly formed ability settle down but flickering in colors. She looked over the jade's crystalized color, illuminating like a rainbow in mid-air, making her smile.
"Aurora…" She muttered before continuing, "a veil in the sky…"
When she thought of that, the jade released something, a new power, and it was an invincible veil that could blend into everything. Skylar laughed amusingly at what she discovered again, making her shake her head in disbelief.
"My blood curse ability is truly remarkable and expanding…" She muttered before looking at her own hands, thinking, "I really do have a creative mind to make the blood curse work like this."
She sighed, accepting a new side of herself and determined to make everything work in her favor because she's chosen for something, and that's to give Rudolf's opportunity to be reborn and Sophia to have peace and be reborn in another life.
"Both seeking each other, but dark and grave deeds already ruined them." She muttered, thinking how to help those poor souls ruined by fear of death. "Sophia desires to return his soul to her, but I don't think that's what she's truly after. She wanted her heart back, and I'm going to give that to her. But first, I have to take the bleeding core from Rudolf. He must repent for their heart and soul to be healed and later be cultivated in my hands. However, it won't be easy because Rudolf's heart..."
Skylar stopped muttering her plan and started wondering what had been missing in their task.
"Where his bleeding core lies is where his heart is hidden from everything…" She muttered, analyzing everything they managed to gather from her mother's story, from what Sophia said before, and what Vincencio spied on him before. "He's searching for her remains…used the rogues and nomads' anger against my brother…he used them as a diversion to find it…but how can he when my mother was the key? Wait a minute…don't tell me…fuck…"
Skylar went deep down into her mind, thinking, analyzing until she found the answer to what she was looking for. She even started laughing like a madwoman, finding something – someone's deed amusing.
"Oh boy, this is indeed a fun game against a lunatic doctor like him." Skylar grinned darkly, liking the game even more before adding her mischief, "Don't worry, Rudolf, I'll bring you to her myself, and whatever schemes you want to try, be my guest, because it won't matter anymore. You and Sophia's souls were already in my hand to play with."
As Skylar was darkly amused by what she had connected and discovered, she stood up and, with one snap of her finger, she wore her mother's gift, her assassin suit, and her bloody crystal jade sparked, turning into a fool card.
"Let's begin our scheme." With a taunting malice, Skylar grinned darkly before the card shifted and turned into a pure crimson mask without holes. "Get ready, Rudolf, because the bloody storm is upon you."
She laughed hysterically, making her newly formed ability explode intentionally.
***
In reality, the temperature in the living area started to drop even more, but over Skylar's body, it started to warm up, melting the ice wrapped around her and turning bloody. It was overflowing until it burst, splatting all over the living area, jolting Vincencio in the process, but there she was, sitting at the upside-down couch, grinning mischievously.
"Hi." Skylar greeted, magically her bloody masked retracted from her eyes before grinning teasingly at her stunned wolf, her husband, Vincencio, "Did you miss me, Hubby?"
"Obviously," Vincencio replied through their telepathy since he was still in his huge wolf form.
"Good," She smiled, but looking around their living area, she smirked, teasing, "…and I can see you trash our living space because of your huge figure."
"I can't fit well without sitting with my head low." He sighed, reasoning with wolf ears down.
"Cute." She thought before stepping closer to him without making a sound and cupped his snout, kissing it, "I'm here now and shirk yourself into your usual form."
"Can I even do that?" He wondered since that thought never occurred to him.
"Try it and see for yourself." She smiled, urging him to give it a try, and he did.