Vampire Galahad is very angsty.

This one-shot covers certain events from the end of GoN, so there's a fairly big spoiler for those who haven't played the game yet.

Yes, I do really like pronouns more than names.

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He had been a paladin, a knight of Sedona. When his king had been in danger of assassination, he had offered his assistance. So had a young girl and her friends. He had offered to accompany her, to protect her. She was far too young to be engaging in the kinds of battles she was, even with her party. The sorcerer could not have been more than a year or two older than she was. The Veldtonian woman seemed capable of handling herself, but it was not quite enough. Especially as the final member of the group was a vampress. He was shocked to find that she was considered a valuable and trusted warrior. That was the main reason he stayed with the girl—he wanted to be close by her if and when the vampress decided appetite overcame adventure.

It seemed not to matter that she was a creature of the night. Each played their part in the group. They all made a difference—the demon lord was slain only through the combined strength of each fighter. They had saved the world. It appeared that even a vampire can be good. It also seemed to be that the girl did not need protecting so much as the extra sword.

But he had caught her eye. Everywhere they went, the vampress was by his side. He could not shake her. She seemed determined to have him. He could have escaped her if he had left the group, but the thought of leaving a young warrior with the foul creature filled him with disgust.

So it came to be that on their continued travels, his soul was torn out of his body and trapped inside a pendant. Through a quick series of events brought about by her determination and trickery, he was still soulless, as well as a married vampire.

His cheeks burned with shame as he sat at in the kitchen, the only room where he could be apart from the others. The smell of their blood, tempting as it had become, was unbearable. A hand mirror lay facedown on the table before him. A moment before, he had been staring into it. Staring at his faded reflection.

He heard footsteps and looked up. The creature leaned against the frame of the door. She held her face with her hand, where it framed a smile. Her laughter was barely stifled.

He threw the mirror at the wall. As its shattered fragments fell to the floor, he stormed out of the manor, ignoring the sorcerer’s derision that he should let a woman get to him. He did not see the pitying look on the girl’s face.

A few days after the bite marks vanished—much faster this healing happened, thanks to his new race—a certificate marking his death as official arrived at the house in Sedona. He tore it to shreds and threw the pieces into the fire.

A great many thoughts ran through his mind as he walked away from his home—away from his former home, his former life. The first was how much he hated the creature. The second was that he despised the girl for allowing such a dangerous being into her presence. The third was a promise that he would never forgive either of them. The fourth was a resolution to never complete the vampire transformation. The fifth was that in order for him to do so, he would need to stay away from any and every human.

And so he arrived at Ghed’ahre, both determined to stay there and disgusted to find the place full of the beings he had once existed to cleanse the world of.

It was worse when she followed him. He could not avoid her once she arrived, for she followed him to any town he went to. And then the sun block they had ran out, trapping them together in the Underworld. Now there could be no escape from her but through death.

If only it were that easy.

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It had been almost exactly three hundred years now that he had been a vampire. Three hundred years that he had been starving himself, three hundred years that the creature had tempted him with human lives. Three hundred years that his resentment had been growing.

And yet now, another girl stood before him just as the first had. They were in no way the same person, and yet… The look of determination in her eyes, her stance, and her spirit were all familiar, as was her goal. The world did seem to need saving often.

He had agreed to help her. It was the right thing to do—it would save many lives. But being so near this girl made him remember the other. He discovered that he had been burying his memories, replacing them with emotions. These emotions were scarred by his stay in Ghed’ahre, streaked with hatred. Being near the girl made him remember that the other had not been as terrible as he had made her in his mind. He remembered that she had cared for many, not just her friends. He remembered that she had not shied away from her role—not when she was pushed into becoming a savior of the world, and not when she took the throne at Thais. He remembered that she had not deliberately forced the creature to him.

He found himself forgiving her, something he had thought he could not do.

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The creature was gone. Her kind had taken her, a fate she deserved. He had been given an exit, and he had taken it. Freedom stood before him, and he would not hesitate to grasp it.

Or so he thought. Thinking seemed to be leading him wrong more and more often these days.

He found himself thinking of all the things about her the world would lose once the sun rose. He knew her to be more light-hearted than her fangs would say, and far better a person than any of her kind. And then, without warning, the realization of why the girl had trusted her hit him. He knew what must be done.

He was back at the tower in moments, and not quite surprised to see the dark-haired girl there as well. He had known that she was like the other, and neither was inclined to abandon a friend.

They reached the tower quickly, but not before the sun began its rise. He felt his skin burning and knew that he had been too late. But again the girl proved to be like the other when she pulled out a bottle of sun block.

It seemed as though the surprises would never end.

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It had not been easy, that much was clear. The path had been full of unexpected complications—the butterfly’s role especially.

But in the end, it was as the time before—evil stopped, the world saved. The humans were safe. And a great reward was presented to him, a reward he swore he would live out to its fullest.

Life.

It had been restored to him, a phenomenon he had never even hoped could happen. Blood flowed through his body again. The hunger, the desire to feed on the innocents around him—it was gone. He could feel again.

Life had been given to the creature as well. No, not the creature, for she was one of the dark no longer. She was human, as was he. Finally, husband and wife could truly be together as one.

He looked into her new eyes, surrounded as they were by her newly flushed skin. They were a brilliant shade of violet—quite similar to those of the girl he had forgiven.

He could—he would—forgive the owner of these eyes as well.

this story is soooo goood!! i especially love the ending it gives off a calming feeling. Ur writing well as usual Rena ^_^

Oh, VERY good! Love the forgiveness theme, and the connection to Rhen too. I never thought of him holding a grudge against her... so that was very interesting to me. And hooray for the happy ending!
It's a good thing he forgave her, methinks, because this'll be as hard on her as his own transition was on him. In fact, I wonder if even he might have trouble adjusting. Hmmmm... story fodder. Anwyay... yay for your story!

aw this made me cry

it is so nice and its great! aww...

"a certificate marking his death as official arrived at the house in Sedona. He tore it to shreds and threw the pieces into the fire."

<3333


"And then the sun block we had ran out"

That should be "they", I think.


"The world did seem to need saving often."

lol once every 300 years = often?
But then Galahad missed out on Aveyond 2, so technically it's slightly more often than that.


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Mmmm I'm so happy whenever I see Te'ijal/Galahad fic.

This was very nice.

(Write more!)

Hi all! Thanks for the comments. *has actually been reading them all as they come but hasn't posted again until just now*

@Blurble: I actually noticed that but never fixed it. XD (It's changed now, though.) Also, the world seems to need saving in an awful lot of games (and movies and books and...), doesn't it?

P.S. To anyone who follows my works--I've been writing an update for TBoaS (sorry I failed at keeping up) and have started a new story, so you can look out for that soon too.

That silly world. Never gets around to saving itself. Pffft.

Hey, it's great! Very well written!

Like The Others Rena- Amazing Story!!!

I enjoyed reading it, great story!

This is great, very well written. Good job!

So romantic, especially at the end.

Your style is really beautiful, Rena. I really love your stories. Keep up the good work!

Thanks very much again for all the comments, guys. I super-heart you all.

So I was going through the texts on my phone, which is where I tend to write stuff when I don't have paper/a computer, and I found the original ending to this story from before GoN came out. Since I'm not sure what'll happen over the course of TLO/the rest of the series, I thought I'd share this with you all--it might end up not working at all, or I could want to end things differently.... Anyway.

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He knew that he would never be able to forgive her for what she had done to him. He knew that it would be impossible to forget that he was what he was because of her. But he also knew that there were times when he might be able to forget that they were what they were, to simply be two people. Two people who loved each other.

Yes, he was finally admitting to himself the thing that he had been denying for centuries: that he loved her, that he had fallen for her lifetimes ago, that he wanted them to stay together for eternity.

It looked to be that he was in for quite an exciting existence.

*gibbers happily*

Times when he might be able to forget that they were what they were, to simply be two people. Two people who loved each other.

*lets loose the squeeeeee! of joy*

*bouncy bouncy bouncy*

That... is happyful. I still love and adore the forgiveness theme, and oh, that he had fallen for her lifetimes ago, and wants to stay with her. Eeeee! And! I love that this ending exists... that he didn't forgive her simply because she regained her humanity, quite against her will.

Haaaappppy...

I love how happy you are about this. XD

In some ways, I rather like this version more than the original... Ah, well. TxG = happiness in general.

It certainly does! <bouncy!> I do so love to be happy!

Awww that sounded sooo beautiful!