The Unexpected Dawn and the Protective Touch
The cool London dawn breeze brushed Daniel's face as he waited at the dock, his eyes fixed on the imposing cargo ship rocking gently on the dark waters of the Thames. The salty air, mingled with the smell of diesel and iron, filled his senses. The stillness was almost palpable, punctuated only by the soft creak of metal and the distant echo of seagulls. He sensed Selene approaching, her unearthly speed tearing through the morning mist beginning to form over the river.
She stopped abruptly beside him, her electric blue eyes fixed on the eastern horizon, where a golden streak was beginning to appear, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. The warm air of the rising sun, which to her would have been doom, began to seep into the atmosphere. Selene felt a chill of dread she hadn't felt in centuries. Her body, accustomed to the protective darkness of the night, tensed, her survival instincts screaming in alarm. She could sense the imminent danger of the first ray of sunlight.
Daniel noticed her trembling. With a smooth, deliberate movement, he reached out and placed his hand firmly on her waist. The touch of his skin, cool yet warm with life, an anomaly in itself, sent a shock through her. "With me by your side, you won't turn to ash, trust me," Daniel whispered, his voice calm and charged with an authority that inspired obedience, but also a strange sense of security.
Selene felt the sun's heat intensify, kissing her exposed skin. Her muscles contracted, expecting pain, burning, disintegration. But nothing happened. The heat was pleasant, almost warm. She stared at Daniel, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief. The sun, the great enemy of her race, seemed harmless. It had created a barrier, an invisible bubble of protection, a manifestation of its power over the unreal and the real, so subtle she could barely feel it. The scent of her own fear, a metallic, sour aroma, began to dissipate, replaced by the soft scent of morning dew.
The ship's access ramp lowered with a metallic creak. Daniel began to climb, his steps firm and determined. Selene, still in shock from the sun's experience, hesitated for a moment, but curiosity and the certainty that he was protecting her compelled her to follow. "Why didn't I teleport with her?" Daniel joked to himself, a slight smile on his lips as he climbed the ramp, his ancient mind allowing a moment of humor. "I guess I'm getting old and forgetful." He had become so accustomed to his abilities that the simplicity of walking, of waiting, sometimes took him by surprise.
On deck, two burly men, dressed in black and with stony expressions, approached. They were Alexander Corvinus's bodyguards, exuding an aura of contained danger. Their eyes scanned Daniel and Selene suspiciously.
"Let me find your father, it's best for you," Daniel said, his voice calm but filled with a disarming certainty. He didn't need to shout or threaten; the mere resonance of his presence was enough. "He already knows I'm here; you can ask if you think not." And, as if to confirm his words, one of the security guards heard a soft click in his communication headset. The voice on the other end was direct and unquestionable: permission for them to enter had been granted. The security guards looked at each other, a flash of confusion in their eyes, but they complied, making way.
The Encounter with the Progenitor: An Aura of Antiquity
Daniel and Selene were led through a maze of narrow, metallic corridors, the smell of ozone and electronic equipment filling the air. With each step, Alexander Corvinus's presence grew stronger, an aura of antiquity and power different from Daniel's, but undeniably potent. Finally, they reached a large room that looked more like a laboratory than a ship's cabin. High-tech monitors displayed complex graphs, and scientific equipment glowed in a bluish light.
Standing in the center of the room was Alexander Corvinus. He was neither a vampire nor a werewolf, but something older, more fundamental. His appearance was that of a man in middle age, with dark, slightly graying hair and piercing, intense blue eyes. His skin was not pale, but had a subtle glow, a vitality that transcended that of an ordinary human. He wore simple clothing, but his posture radiated a dignity and weariness that only centuries of existence could confer. He was the father of two bloodlines locked in eternal war, the progenitor of a plague and a blessing.
When Alexander's eyes met Daniel's, something shifted in Daniel's aura. His skin, which normally appeared perfectly human, took on an almost translucent pallor. His blue-gray eyes shone with an otherworldly intensity. It was as if, in deference to his sire, Daniel revealed a rawer facet of his vampiric nature. The change was subtle but unmistakable. He became thepale vampire, the primordial immortal.
Alexander raised an eyebrow, a glint of recognition and surprise in his eyes. Selene, watching Daniel's transformation, felt a chill. She had felt his power before, but seeing him take on this form, one she would never have imagined possible for a vampire exposed to sunlight, was something else entirely.
Daniel stepped forward, his voice calm but reverberating with millennia of history. "Hey, Alexander Corvinus." There was no formality or reverence in his tone, just the casualness of a meeting between two beings who transcended time. His eyes fixed on Alexander, searching his soul, seeking the answers only he could provide. "I would like to know how you came to be on Earth. That is my only question." Daniel thought for a moment, then corrected himself: "Or who gave you the power?"
Alexander wasn't surprised by the question. He had been waiting for this, or something like it, for a long time. His eyes flicked to Selene, who remained silent, a watchful observer, then back to Daniel. He realized that Daniel wasn't a threat, but a force of another kind, an anomaly that challenged his own understanding of immortality.
The Plague and the Blessing: A Centuries-Old Discussion
Alexander Corvinus sighed, a sound laden with millennia of experience and, perhaps, regret. "It's a long story, stranger. A story of a time when the world was savage, and men were frail creatures." His voice was deep, with an accent that seemed to belong to no particular era, an echo of lost ages.
He began to tell, and Selene, who had heard parts of the legend many times, now heard the details from her progenitor's own mouth. "Long, long ago, a plague spread through my village. A terrible disease that took lives mercilessly. I was the only one who survived. I was not cured, but transformed. My body became immune, able to regenerate from mortal wounds. The disease, instead of killing me, gave me eternal life. I became the first of my kind, an Immortal."
Alexander paused, his eyes fixed on a distant point, as if reliving memories. "My children. Twins. One of them was born with the plague's viral bloodline in its original form, the Lycan bloodline. He was the first werewolf. The other, Marcus, was bitten by an infected bat, and his body reacted differently, becoming the first vampire." He looked at Selene. "Your bloodline, Selene, derives from Marcus. You are the descendants of a plague, transformed into predators of the night."
Daniel listened intently, his eyes fixed on Alexander. He didn't sense Selene's surprise, as he already knew much of it. He simply observed the other Immortal's narrative, comparing it with the vast archive of information he possessed.
"For you know," Daniel interjected, his voice cutting through the air, "the only true vampire is me. Your blood knows it. It senses me, and you know it." It was a statement of power, not a question. And Alexander Corvinus, the man who had witnessed the birth of both species, felt the truth in Daniel's words. There was something in Daniel's blood, a primordial resonance, a perfection that his own children, and their descendants, had never possessed. It was as if Daniel's immortality came from a different source, purer, more ancient than his own.
Alexander nodded slowly, his eyes scanning Daniel with a depth few could match. "Yes. I can feel it. There's something about you that's... different. You're not like them." He gestured to Selene, who frowned in confusion. "Your immortality isn't a mutation of a plague. It's something else. Something I can't quite put my finger on."
Daniel smiled, a slight lift at the corner of his mouth. "Yes. It's something else." He wouldn't reveal the truth about his origins. Only Alexander Corvinus needed to know there was a higher power at play.
The Vision of Time: A Blessing or a Nightmare?
The conversation stretched on for hours, an exchange of stories and perspectives spanning centuries. Daniel, with his perfect memory of all languages, ancient and lost, could communicate with Alexander in a way no one else could. They spoke of the ages, the changes in the world, humanity.
"You know, Alexander Corvinus," Daniel began, his voice taking on a more reflective tone. "Some think immortality is a curse, a plague. For you, time is a nightmare, isn't it? Watching your children fight, watching the ages pass and humanity repeat itself. For me, it's a blessing. A gift from God. Think with me, you saw time as a river. You lived what most people wanted to live."
Alexander nodded, his weary eyes fixed on Daniel. "Yes. It's a burden. Seeing the endless cycle of violence, of hatred. My sons, Marcus and William, trapped in a war I can't stop. The vampire and werewolf bloodlines... They are my failure." He seemed to age even more with each word, the weight of his centuries bearing down on him.
Daniel looked at Selene, who was absorbing every word, her expression a mixture of revelation and sadness. "I don't have a clan like you vampires," Daniel said, his voice directed at her but carrying the weight of a universal statement. "But I see only destruction and ancient wars between these two races—fighting, anger, hatred. A father killing his own daughter for falling in love with a werewolf—how disgusting. The worst part of all this is that you let your two children run wild and did nothing." Daniel turned to Alexander, his eyes fixed on his father. "Love is the greatest power there is, and that is my thought."
Alexander recoiled slightly, Daniel's words, so incisive and full of truth, striking him deeply. He had failed as a father, as a protector. His immortality had rendered him a passive observer, unable to intervene in the destruction wrought by his own lineage.
Daniel continued, his voice soft but filled with millennia of wisdom and observation. "I saw this book being written by the author, Alexander. Not literally, of course, but I saw society evolve, ideas born, stories created. That painting in the gallery in London? I knew the painter. I saw Leonardo da Vinci. He was a restless genius, always searching for the next secret of the universe."
"I offered Da Vinci immortality, you know?" Daniel revealed, a touch of nostalgia in his voice. "And he said he didn't want it. He wanted to see what came after death, what awaited him. I thought it was funny, but also a waste of such a brilliant mind. And the same goes for many brilliant minds, like Albert Einstein. What a genius! Too bad he didn't accept either." He smiled. "They chose the unknown, while I chose continuity."
The ship rocked gently with the waves. Outside, the sun rose higher in the sky. Daniel, the daytime vampire, the time traveler, the discreet billionaire, felt immortality was a precious gift. Alexander, the weary progenitor, saw immortality as a burden, a prison. Selene, the warrior, was beginning to understand that the world was much larger, and much more complex, than she had ever imagined. The truth Daniel promised to reveal was only just beginning to unfold.