The Sharpest Blade (My Vampire System Fan-Fic)

Vorden was curious as to what Sil could possibly have in store for him. He was slightly nervous sitting across from Shiro in anticipation. However his excitement was much more dominant. He had goosebumps spreading over his entire body just thinking about having a job to do, having a purpose.

"Well, you know that you can pretty much do whatever you want, you don't even have to stay with us here, of course I know that you have already made it clear that you intend to" Shiro began. Vorden nodded in agreement. "I also know that there are an infinite number of tasks for which you would be suited, are capable of, and would probably excel at..." Vorden's eyebrows seemed to raise even higher after each sentence.

"Shiro! Out with it man, I'm on the edge of my seat!" Vorden stressed to which Shiro laughed a bit, putting up his hands.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry!" He chuckled a second more and slid down into the chair. "It's just that.... I don't want you to think I'm trying to take anything from you or Raten. I know that while I may be in the body of a Blade, I wasn't truly one to begin with..." Shiro trailed off with a pained look on his face.

Before he could say another word, Vorden put a hand up, stopping him from going on. "Don't say another word! How can you say that?" Vorden's voice had grown stern and authoritative. "You get one thing straight right now. You sacrificed so much for this family. More than almost anyone. Not only did you give Raten and I a second chance at life back then, but you gave us our third and fourth as well! You invited us inside your mind, the ultimate sacrifice! You are more of a Blade than pretty much any Blade living or dead. You always have been, and I know that because just like with me and Raten, you have given this family a second chance at life" at this point Shiro was nearly in tears. Looking away from Vorden, trying not to break down.

"I know what you are trying to say, and don't worry, I am not jealous of your position or role in this family, and I am not angry that you are running things or that I am being assigned a job to do. Don't you see? This is what I want Shiro. I'm sure of it" Vorden's tone has softened, he was trying to be more warm and attempting to get the point across. He was family. He was, for all intents and purposes, this family's leader. Vorden felt that Shiro had earned that much.

"Now... Can you cut to the chase already?" He finally pleaded.

Shiro wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and cleared his throat while facing away. He composed himself and then, when he was ready, he turned back to face Vorden. "Alright, basically, the military academy is doing a big recruiting push. There is a faction of those in the government, some elected officials, government appointees, just a group of politicians that have been putting a lot of pressure on the entire council and campaigning for the mandatory conscription to be reinstated. There are those that feel we humans have grown too soft" Shiro paused and smirked when he said the last bit.

"After all this celestial business, some people are worried. Especially with Sil no longer having his abilities, and now that all of the Vampires are no longer.... Well... Vampires... The Vampire core may have not disbanded, and although there is talk of future integration, until the Vampire Core has trained all of their service members on an ability of some kind they stand almost no chance against an enemy force. Not to mention, until they have sufficient time to grow accustomed to their new physical limitations... it basically means that a very large portion of militarized units, that would have been part of Earth's defences, have been put out of commission. Leaving a very unfavorable dent in our global defense". Shiro leaned back and took a deep breath. "I have to admit Vorden... I'm inclined to agree with this".

Vorden understood everything he was saying. In all honesty he kind of had a similar thought not too long ago. After the Marpo Cruise attack on the former Blade ship, it was Sil who did the majority of the fighting while still in space. If Sill hadn't returned home when he did... Vorden shuddered to think of what Jack Truedream would have done. At the end of that battle, they all had been teleported away by Sil to save their lives. He sacrificed himself for all of them. If he hadn't been there, there would be no Blade family left at all. Unfortunately it wasn't soon enough. They still lost their brother, Borden. This pain... Thinking of the loss of their brother, Borden was almost twice as difficult to bear than the loss of Quinn.

Borden wasn't actually their brother, he had been created accidentally by Logan Green, in the Green lab that they had discovered on the Vampire planet. Logan had taken blood samples from Vorden and uploaded them into the computer attempting to recreate a strength serum made by Richard Eno, for Vorden. Of course, at the time Vorden was actually still inside the body of Sil. So, technically, Borden was a clone of Sil, One that had been genetically altered. His DNA had been modified combined with the DNA of the demon-tier, dragon-like beast. The same one that had been used to create the Dalki. He was immensely strong just like a Dalki, he had all of their strengths and almost none of their weaknesses. But he had been killed.

Borden gone, Sil powerless, Quinn asleep, the Vampires no longer what they were, and by extension, the Vampire Core not oppeestional. All gone now. Vorden had to admit, he made a strong case.

While Vorden was deep in contemplation, Shiro walked over to his desk and reached his hand just underneath. Vorden heard a small click from the side of the sitting area. He glanced over to see a small section of wall separate, pop out, and slide to the side, revealing what looked to be a floor to ceiling bookcase. It had fully emerged from within the wall. By the time it had emerged Shiro had already made his way over and was standing right next to it. He stepped close and without looking at the books, he reached out his hand, grazed the spines of a few before landing on a specific one.

Shiro had turned to look at Vorden, and the entire time he never looked back towards the bookcase. How many times had they pressed that button already? Vorden had lost count. Shiro placed one finger on the top of the spine of a dark royal blue book. The binding looked to be incredibly old, and indeed it was. Just one of many that they had brought with them from Blade Island. He gently pulled the book forward, tilting it downward until another click was heard. Shiro froze for a brief second as he listened to the mechanics clicking and clanking away inside the bookcase and he smiled slyly.

Two of the book shelves about waist height that were one, separate complete unit started to rotate. Slowly it continued to spin back into the case until all the books and the shelves themselves were unseen, and in there place was a selection of Whiskey glasses, and a very old, very expensive bottle of Whiskey. "Drink?" Shiro asked Vorden as he had already started to pour out two glasses. Picking them both up he walked back to the sitting area stopping briefly to hand one to Vorden before returning to his seat. He threw back the double he had poured for himself in one fell swoop. Vorden did the same and was instantly greeted by the old familiar burn.

Shiro sat forward and looked into Vorden's eyes. "There are those that are just afraid, if we suffered any kind of attack, we would not be strong enough to defend ourselves or retaliate" He paused again and set his glass down on the table. "Then, of course, those of us that know Quinn has been put to rest, even those who don't know the truth but have notice his extended absence and speculate... The point is fear pushes people to do extreme things".

The air was heavy with the weight of the topic. Shiro didn't have to see his face to know that Vorden winced at the sound of Quinn's name. He felt it too. The sharp sting that followed the names of the friends that they fought with, side by side, to save all of humanity. A hollow feeling in one's chest, and a lump in the throat left in its wake. He would be left with a dull ache in the pit of his stomach, every time.

Shiro had left his chair, almost as soon as he started to say the name. He walked across the short distance to the window and looked out over the courtyard down below. There were a few people walking around and talking, two guards on duty up in the towers set on either side of the front gate, and even a mech being operated by a young man moving some large pallets. Everybody looked to be relatively happy.

"It's not fair, you know?" Shiro said quietly as he continued to watch the world below.

Vorden stood up and walked over to Shiro's side. "What's that?" He said as he folded his arms and joined Shiro, watching the people coming and going.

Shiro smiled with his eyes full of tears. "The world just keeps going, moving on, like none of it ever even happened. They are gone, almost all of them, and when I get stuck in a moment, nothing slows down" his voice started to break, and tears had escaped from his eyes, streaming down his cheeks. "I just miss them, and there's nothing I can do about it". Shiro clenched his fist and tried to look away again.

At that moment, Vorden had a hard time seeing Shiro the leader of the Blade family. Instead, as he stood there, silently crying, and attempting to hide it, Vorden could just see the young boy that appeared out of nowhere in the darkness, and brought him back out into the light. That young, self conscious, boy who ended up being an individual of great importance to Vorden. A man with one of the strongest characters that Vorden had ever known.

He reached his hand over and grasped Shiro's shoulder. "I miss them too Shiro, you are right. It isn't fair". Vorden had also shed a tear, both men stood in silence, just remembering the many people that had passed over the years, enjoying in a moment or two of fond memories. After a time Vorden gave Shiro's shoulder another squeeze, then he turned around and walked back over to the chair he had been sitting in.

Shiro wiped his eyes on his sleeve and another moment later he did the same. With a deep breath he continued. "The point is, this faction is investing a lot of money on this mission. They've gotten many on their side. So the military decided on a pilot program. Mandatory conscription for two years like before. The academy won't be exactly the same, there has been a promise made that there will be more emphasis on well... Well roundedness" Shiro was about to go on when he saw a quizzical look on Vorden's face.

"What do they mean when they say well-roundedness?" Vorden asked skeptically. While a place of many good memories, the academy itself was a place that Vorden had many bad memories of too.

Shiro thought for a second, scratching his chin he tried to find the right words to explain. "Well, when we were in school, because of the ongoing war... The focus was on combat and ability use right?" Vorden nodded, in fact it seemed to be not just the focus, but the ONLY curriculum. Shiro nodded in agreement and continued. "So, they want to run things more like a typical school, you know, with reading, wrighting, math, etc..." Shiro popped up to his feet, and walked over to his desk. He rummaged around for a few minutes, shuffling through some papers in his top drawer. "Aha, got it..." He muttered under his breath walking back over to Vorden with a pamphlet in his hand. "The mandatory two years will still need a vote to pass into law. So they are hoping to have a positive use case to point to as an example of the program working. If everybody must commit to that service, then we should build up the individuals in our society with any kind of useful skills for an emergency".

Vorden understood everything so far. In fact he couldn't find any flaws in the train of logic. However there was still one question on his mind. "So... How do I fit into all of this? I'm still in learning what exactly Sill is requesting?" Vorden said confused.

"This time they will focus on general education, but they are implementing an enrichment program alongside. They are compiling a top tier team of instructors and tutors, seargents, ability users, travelers, and so on from all of the human controlled planets. The best of the best, it would seem". Suddenly the pieces were starting to fall into place.

"Well the military requested that Sil join the team as a Sargeant, and teach the elemental ability class. As well as a new course called Skill Creation and Combination, or something like that. Insisting that they plan to do things differently. That the emphasis on power level is a thing of the past. They instead want to help the students hone whatever ability they have to either strengthen it, or if that's not possible, to specialize it, and expand the skills knowledge and proficiency. Teach them to be more creative with the ways in which they put their abilities to use on the battlefield. Or just find ways that abilities once though weak in nature to be useful for military use".

Shiro handed Vorden the pamphlet he was sent. A sort of brochure to hand out to interested parties, providing info, and painting the whole thing in a good light.

Vorden skimmed through it, and his whole body starting to shake slightly. "As you know, in Sill's... Condition... He isn't sure that he would really be much use teaching anybody how to use an ability without being able to demonstrate anything... Not to mention he feels he is needed much more here at the orphanage" Sill was finally getting to the point.

Vorden's heart started to pound once again. Thumping along loudly. "Are you saying what I think you are saying Shiro?" Vorden asked as the excitement built up inside him. Shiro nodded. "I mean... Wow, that's a whole lot to take in... Are the military willing to accept the alternate?"

"As a matter of fact, after a lengthy call, and a quick history crash course... They were actually very interested to hear about your time inhabiting a beast... They think you will bring a unique perspective and insight that they have never been able to know before". Shiro said matter-of-factly.

Vorden sat in silence for a second, looking down at the paper in his hands. Shiro said history lesson, which meant he had been talking Vorden up, selling the idea. That would mean he would have a reputation to live up to. All his time at the school started to flash before his eyes. The good, the bad, the undead... It made him equally wanting to accept and decline at the same time. He thought back to Blade Island. The time he had spent at the Temple, however brief it may have been, where he acted as a councilor to the Blade chuldren. That time had in fact been very fulfilling. Vorden was begining to feel excited. Nervous, but excited.

"I can't believe I'm saying this.... But I'll do it". Vorden looked like he was scared to death, pale, clamy, with a horrified look. Shiro smiled wide at the good news. Seeing Shiro's genuine happiness put Vorden's worry at ease and he returned the smile. The only thing he could think now was,

Here we go again.