The Lazarus Message

It began with the spilt blood of the innocent. It became tainted and gained new life. Before long it was taking, giving away to build more of itself. It grew and grew, changing with each new host. Until it was no longer recognisable. Until it faded into history.

There it sat, dormant, in the darkness. All of that changed when one bearing the same blood found it. And revealed it’s deepest secrets.

“Golden offspring, tainted and tormented. Fallen from grace and set the world on fire. But a mix of red and gold forms the light. The sun’s warrior, wielding the sun’s bow shall strike down the darkness and free the world.” Aiyana read aloud.

“Golden offspring?” I asked. “Mix of gold and red? Sun’s warrior? How is any of this helpful? Sounds like some storybook nonsense.”

Aiyana had been reading through it again as I spoke, mouthing the words silently to try and find out it’s meaning.

“Well, this was worthwhile.” I said sarcastically. “A bit of blood and a nice story before we die.” I was slowly becoming more and more annoyed. All of it felt like a long cat and mouse chase just to find nothing at the end. I thought maybe we had something, just maybe we would have found the secret and changed something. In the end, it looked like we would be leaving empty handed. Aiyana had more fire in her eyes, she was still trying to find the needle in the haystack.

“Let’s look at what we have.” She said. I just rolled my eyes. “The Gold and Red is a story about an ancient war, it was the gods against the mortals they had created. Most don’t realise that the reason it’s called the Gold and Red is because of the blood spilt. Gold symbolised the gods. A golden offspring would therefore be the child of a god… likely the one that turned Lilith into a vampire, the god of death and judgement, Belial.”

“Makes sense.” I added.

“Belial was the first son of Eá, the creator. He believed he would one day become the god of all, but he was cast down to Earth after a disagreement with his father and he vowed to destroy all Eá created. That would explain the fallen from grace and world on fire parts. As for the mix of gold and red, warrior, bow… it sounds like a fable, like… destiny. Red and gold, a child of a human and a god?” She continued, going through the wall scribblings.

“Well considering the gods are dead and have been for centuries… I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere with that part.” I explained sarcastically, she didn’t seem to appreciate my tone.

“I don’t think we can get much from: strike down darkness and free the world either.” She was disheartened as I was, her hope fading into the dark. I’m sure she had believed we would find the answers down here, not more questions, the same belief I had when we had found the entrance in the first place. But all we got from all of this was that Lazarus rather strangely kept a small amount of his own mother’s blood in a grungy dungeon.

Aiyana took another look at the blood on her hand after the dust in the air irritated it and reminded her of the pain. In that same hand was that same blood, just older. She examined it closely, I’m still not sure what she expected to find.

“Lilith was the first to be changed. The first to become tainted.” She muttered. “A god, corrupted her and made her undead. One with gold blood… she was technically her creation, the golden offspring.” She was solving an intricate puzzle. Trying to map a maze midway through without knowing where either the start or finish was. She continued muttering to herself just loud enough I could make it out, “She too was fallen and set the world on fire when she tried to take down Regalia but failed.”

The more I thought it, the more it made sense. Not like it really meant much however, it just started to sound like someone made a very intricate synopsis for a vial of blood… yet she continued still. “Forms the light, strikes down the darkness and frees the world…” she silently tried to piece it together as I silently tried to help cheer her up. But all of a sudden the fire in her eyes relit. “You don’t think…”

“Think what?” I responded.

“Well… it’s a long shot but… if by offspring they just mean a descendant rather than a direct relative, wouldn’t that make both of us golden offspring? Lilith was born a human like you, but then she was changed, and took on a god’s blood, like us.”

It was 100% a stretch. “I suppose so. It’s not completely wrong” I replied awkwardly.

“Then. Form the light, sounds like the Lotus that gathers light. I’d guess that, if you were right about the lotus, that it would change the darkness of Lilith’s cursed blood. Should we then drink it… it would free us, the last vampires… free the world.”

I really wanted to see what she saw and believe in it but, we had tried so many different things, so similar to this… to say I had my doubts was an understatement. I also really wanted to say no and give up, but, it was the first time in a while I had seen her filled with such hope. I didn’t have the heart to. I sighed lightly and looked around for a second. “Let’s give it a whirl.”

*-*-*

Aiyana took the blood and prepared it as I collected one of the glass lotus’ that still had light in its petals. We gathered around our set up in Zaharia’s study, ready to begin the test. I had no hope it would work, we had tried so many things already and yet nothing had worked out. I couldn’t comprehend why Lazarus had kept his mother’s blood, and why Zaharia had gone looking for it. Blood of the cursed queen, it could be the solution needed, but all it really was was blood we all shared. Why would the result be any different?

“Okay, here we go.” Aiyana looked hesitant to start, she looked back at me nervously and I nodded with a fake smile.

The blood went in and a petal followed. Normally, the blood would corrode the flower slowly, and the blood would start to thin ever so slightly. This was the case here, only, the effects were quicker and much, much more violent. As they touched, the petal burst into flames. Aiyana dropped in the flame as it startled her and the blood began curdling. When the fire went out, the blood settled.

Both of us waited to see if anything else would happen. But after a minute or so, it was still. All I could think was that it had failed, and that the last thing we and Zaharia had left was gone… we would be like this forever.

She picked up the solution and quickly drank it before I knew what was happening. I couldn’t even react. Instantly it hit her and she dropped to her knees, shaking. “Aiyana!” I called out.

“I’m, fine…” she responded slowly.

“Do you feel any different?”

She looked so dejected. “No. It felt like I was rejecting it for a second but, after that it was just like I was drinking my own blood.” I remember feeling so horrible. I had already given up hope, seeing her lose it as well killed me. I didn’t want to give in at that moment, I wanted us to keep trying. I knelt down and placed a hand on her head, she looked at me. “We’ll keep trying. Trying more blood, more petals, different methods… until we find the cure. Aiyana, we will find our future. Can you help me find it?”

Her smile returned, even if there was sadness behind it.

We kept testing that night and the following day. Days became weeks and weeks became months. Each time a little piece of me died and the blood failed.

Before we even knew it, winter had returned, and we had a little less than half of Lilith’s blood left. This one, this one was different. We mixed the formula and again it caught alight like always, but once it had settled it looked clearer. Before starting we had left the blood in a small container outside in the sun as we slept. When we collected it at dusk, the blood was black, it looked burnt.

We had a new hypothesis. The blood cells, and the light were fighting a war each time they were exposed to each other. The blood was so pure that the light burst into flames and was too weak to neutralise the blood. Even adding more petals to it did nothing. With this method, we thought the sun would weaken the blood, then the lotus would change the vampiric cells.

I tried this one, and ended up in bed for a few days. It seemed that the sun killed the blood cells, and I got the full brunt of the lotus’ light.

It was the next test, in the eleventh hour. Losing options and patience, we set up one more. Instead of exposing the pure blood to the elements and then adding the lotus, we decided to put it in reverse.

Aiyana cautiously tip-toed back into the manor with the test serum held ever so carefully. It didn’t look any different to how it did when we first mixed the ingredients, still pale and a bit congealed. She set it on the table and the two of us just watched it awkwardly. “It, well, it’s not burnt at least” I said, recalling our last test.

The vial of Lilith’s blood was so very close to being empty now, so much so that this next try was practically make or break. Either way, it would all be over soon.

“Ready?” Aiyana asked, and I nodded cautiously. After the last test we had wised up, no more testing on ourselves. Instead we took a sample from Aiyana, her being the pure blood and all, and administered the “cure” to it. All that was left was to wait and hope.

That might have been the most frustrating time I spent at the manor, hoping but not knowing. Aiyana was silently waiting on the steps with her hands covering her face. I was impatient, every second felt like an hour. I’d start to do something and think I’d wasted enough time, only to realise we weren’t any closer.

Everything lay on this. Our history, our future. Every moment we had spent together and even before led to this moment.

Thirty minutes later… not much of anything really. I looked the exact same. Not sure exactly what we were expecting, but I remember feeling like I could laugh. Aiyana’s arms dropped by her side. “So that’s it…” she muttered. The feeling of uselessness, when you believe that finally you would figure it out and make it all make sense, only for the ladder to snap and send you back down to the abyss. “When will it end?” I thought. I’d always grown up thinking that everyone had a story about themselves written by a higher power that we would follow. There’d be struggles, but eventually we would find our way. I believe they call it destiny… and it’s a crock of shit. When it falls apart, you’re left wondering why you were ever born, if it was all just some sick joke.

I’d already given up. I was ready to walk out into the snow and be ripped to pieces. Aiyana, I thought she was feeling the same, the tears welled in her eyes and began to pour down. Right there I felt so much misery I could have cut my own throat and felt relief… but I was wrong. She hadn’t given up. A glint of sunlight crept through the cracks in the walls and she knew instantly what she needed to do.

She grabbed the sample and ran outside before I had the time to think. I watched as the sunlight raced against the snow towards us, as Aiyana ran out of the shade. “AIYANA!” I screamed, hoping to pull her back with will alone.

Just as the light kissed her skin I caught up and pulled her back with all my might. We fell just in the shade, and she was left with just a burn on her face. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” I screamed at her. “I told you I wouldn’t let you die! Why would you do something so stupid?!”

Yet, as I shouted, she was on another plane. She tugged my sleeve and I angrily turned to where she was looking.

All of it, the pain, the anger, the sadness, the fear… it all faded. Vampiric cells catch fire in sunlight, Aiyana’s skin and the other test were proof of that and yet…

The serum was not alight.

The cells were neutral… we found the cure.