A sharp breath came to him. Slowly, the blackness that had taken him faded into light. He could see the walls of The Pit. The smell of blood filled his senses. He quickly stood. He caught himself as he did, 'What is happening. I-I should be dead…'' His hands reached up to his neck. All they felt was smooth, unbroken skin. He remembered the executioner's blade falling upon him. He remembered the pain. 'I should be dead…'

Slowly, he regained his senses. He looked around and found the bodies of dozens. Heads still formed in the stone of their sealed states sat apart from the bodies. Some were broken, almost all had cracked. One stood out in particular. The face was unmistakable. Her soft features were present, though twisted in a grimace. The once great empress of the Harbingers lay dead, convicted as a traitor simply because she was of Apollo's blood.

'Sister, I hope you can forgive me. Your death was due to my mistakes.' After several minutes, he stood from his reverie and flew from the place he had died.

Apollo reached the cliffs outside the Vampire's sanctuary. He quickly hid amongst an outcropping of stones, his grey skin blending perfectly with the ashen tones of the boulders. He surveyed the walls of the sanctuary. There were dozens of guards posted outside the main gates. They were obviously waiting for something, 'or someone.' As he looked with his eyeglass, he spotted a small movement. He lost it, but after several minutes, found it again. It was a person walking along the Cliffside. He could just barely see it was a woman. Pink hair stuck out her hood.

"Claudia…" he jumped from his hiding spot, keeping low to the dunes, hoping the guards would fail to notice him. As he drew closer, he saw her walk directly towards the cliffs. The overhang stood hundreds of feet over water.

"CLAUDIA!" he screamed, to her, but it was drowned out by a sudden gust of wind. He kept yelling for her, running at top speed, but she never stopped. He watched as she plummeted. He quickly dove in after her. The wind from his descent filled his ears. She had already hit the water. The fall was taking too long. The water felt like a slab of stone to him. He recovered quickly, swimming downwards. In the depths, he could see a faint sparking. He dove for her. Wrapping his arms around her, he kicked upwards. Light was breaking through the darkness of the waters. He broke the surface and drew a pained breath.

Dragging himself and Claudia ashore, he laid her down. Her body was still sparking. She was weak.

"Claudia, c-can you hear me?" he ran a hand along her cheek wiping her pink hair out of her face, tears streamed from his eyes. Her blood red eyes fluttered. A moment of recognition, a mumbled word. She reached up and touched his face, wiping a tear from his face.

Her hand fell, her eyes closed. Her breath escaped one last time.

He watched as he felt her die. He could feel the connection from the Blood Rites wither and fall apart. In that moment, his world collapsed.

Darkness flooded him. Pain enveloped him. He couldn't breathe. His chest felt like it was caving in, trying to destroy him by destroying his heart. He fought, raged against it, until finally he couldn't bear it any longer.

He shifted into his true form. His wings grew larger and heavier. His tail lengthened, grew heavier and spiked at the end. His maw extended and grew dagger like teeth, his eyes sunk inwards as a spine ridden sail erupted from his back. His arms became massive and clawed. He roared as the pain enveloped him.

His once amber eyes flooded with the blood powers of the Shinso Vampires.

His dual bloods- the blood of the Harbingers he had been born with and the blood of the Shinso Vampires he had been given by his love- raged inside the broken man. His Harbinger blood raged at the loss of his love, a feeling bred through countless generations of his people. The Shinso blood was anger incarnate. It fed off of the pain of his true blood and fortified it for what was coming.

It was preparing him for the deaths of all those who would try to stop him. He would have his revenge. He once had the world, a powerful position in his society, the ear of the empress and a woman he loved. His position had been taken, the empress beheaded, the woman he loved, stolen from him. His fall from grace had already begun. He would see it through to the end.