The One Who Lords (before battle)

<This room...>

What... is with that look on thy faces?

Thou standest in the audience of the Prince. Where are thy smiles?

He... must be the Bloodfiend who caused this outbreak. He is our target.

Fall to thy knees and grovel before royalty!

... Who the hell are you to make those demands?

I shall impart this upon thee only once, so listen well.

Thou mayest address me as Prince Cassetti, Sixth Kindred in refuge from his Family, and the rightful prince who shall reign over thee!

Art thou the villain... who hath brought such destruction and massacre upon this vessel?

Thou art a chatty one, so rudely before your Prince. Yet, this welcome satiation has put me in quite the generous mood.

As thou must have seen on thy journey here... this place is a hall of banquet for a feast most majestic.

No matter how many Bloodbags I create, no matter how many of them I devour... humans just won't stop coming! I am only enjoying what cast themselves into my maw!

... He dons a mask for the purpose of merrymaking.

If we're really going to exchange pleasantries, why don't you take that mask off? Or are you unfamiliar with the basic etiquette?

Oh, this... this mask!

Won't come off. Can't take it off. Shouldn't take it off! There's no Prince without the mask!

We're so, so ugly behind the mask; so we all decided to hide how repulsive we've become. But once I've drunk your blood full, then it'll all go back to how it used to be. Only then can I unmask myself...

Who stitched that mask to your face? Not a half-bad job.

Of course it's excellent! Ha ha! Because this mask was crafted by none other than the great and the eminent Barber, whose name I dare not even speak! But... but it hurts so much...!

No, no! I'm smiling! Look, look how hard I'm smiling and laughing! HAHAHA! HA! HAAA... YES, I AM THE PRINCE, THAT'S WHAT I AM!

He's a bloody loon, innit?

All right, done with the giggles, then? Get ready for the beating of your life.

I... I enjoy things like you and your friends.

Don't cry, bawling and bowing and sniveling on the ground for your lives...

Lunge at me instead, hm?! The aggression, the boiling blood, oh, how I love the heat!

What are you, daft? Look around. There are thirteen of us and only one of you.

Do not let your guard down, Heathcliff. This entity has managed to turn countless passengers of this train into his Bloodbags.

I ain't letting my guard down. But... we blasted through so many Bloodbags we couldn't even keep count, didn't we?

Couldn't even keep count...? Oh no, no... but the count is so important! I have to keep count of our visitors! Oh yes, of course! I do remember to keep count of our dearest visitors! Yessir, I do!

You have no idea how powerful I am. And I shall not relinquish the throne of this budding kingdom to thee!

All I have to do is sit here and do nothing, and the Bloodbags present themselves before me! There's no paradise like this out there... you have no idea what I did to create this place!

Ohh, how elated my forebears would be, were they here to witness my creation! This cornucopia of abundance... this pleasure... oh, this freedom...!

But this kingdom is mine! I made it! I'm not giving it away, nope!

This is rather curious.

It appears that this Bloodfiend leaves this car only on rare occasions...

... Yet we have seen signs of his insidious influence throughout every car we have visited so far.

Then what he meant by how "the Bloodbags present themselves" before him has to be...

HOLD ON A MINUTE!

GYAH!!!

Someone suddenly and frantically charged into this car.

It was Sasha, the Fixer we ran into in one of the earlier cars.

Cassetti shrinks into his throne at this sudden intrusion, terror apparent in his face.

Ah, it is thee! By the - Hast thou truly journeyed here to assist us in our quest?!

Lo! That villain is the Bloodfiend responsible for the tragedies that have transpired aboard this train!

Help us slay that cur and eventually lead the passengers thou hast protected thus far out of this train!

Bloodfiends...

... What if there was more than a single Bloodfiend on board, one still capable of rational thought...?

Damn, you actually made it all the way back here? I guess the Wings don't give out contracts to just anyone.

I... I used to fight to my damnedest, too. 'Till I was the last one standing...

What's she talking about?

But where did that leave me? Alone, three of my four arms ripped from my body.

Kinda funny how the perspective on life can just completely flip when you're really, really in the shit. I think my last thoughts were...

"Man... I... don't wanna die..."

<…….>

So I fell on my knees and pleaded. I told him that...

Don Quixote, watch out!

... I'd do anything to live!

Blood rapidly crystallized around Sasha like a suit of armor as she swung her greatsword at the Sinners, striking them even before Faust's hurried shout had fully died away.

... Agh!

Wha...

... What did I say?! I commanded you to give me a warning before jumping in like that!

Don't you know how loud your stupid arms are? I thought the Family had come for me!

I'm sorry, Lord Cassetti.

Ah... allow me to introduce my Kindred to thee, first of mine since the escape, for the kingdom I intend to build.

My Kindred, my loyal squire... who shall be at my side as I build a dynasty of my own, my Family...

Lord Cassetti, I had intended to select the more powerful of the bunch to send to this car as you have commanded me, but... the humans in my car were all weaklings. So I present before you this group from the first class car.

Kindred...

Are you even aware of the exact nature of a "Kindred?"

Nah, but I can tell ya this.

When I accepted my lord's blood into my veins... I felt as though I was reborn.

I see. A Bloodfiend's Kindred is like a sub-entity of the Bloodfiend, similar in concept to sub-entities created by Distortions or Abnormalities.

It must have been desperation that pushed you to accept that proposition despite the lack of information.

Maybe. That's... probably what was going through my head before I became a Kindred.

Thou hast been in cohorts with this villain... all this time? As his lackey?

Even ere then, when we first laid our eyes upon thee...?

Lady, you have no idea how much I freaked out when one of you asked me something about "red eyes." Not that it would've mattered if you did suspect me though, since mine are just prosthetic.

T-then... the passengers who were under thy protection...

Haven't I told you... that the count matters?

The longer the procession... the better.

Ksshhh...

Dozens of Bloodbags began shambling into the room from behind Sasha. ... A smaller one among them stood out to me.

... My mind immediately snapped to the child who grabbed Don Quixote's coattails.

<…….>

I knew that the passengers were dead the moment we realized Sasha was a Bloodfiend. But... I hoped that we'd be spared this sight.

…….

There was... a child...

Yep. Little runt wanted to be a Fixer if she got to grow up.

Good thing she won't, though. I can tell you on good authority that "living" as a Bloodbag is way better than the drudgery that is the life of a Fixer. Believe me, I know.

... Hold thy vile tongue.

Dreaming of becoming a famous, respected Fixer? An enactor of justice? It's all just a stupid pipe dream that always ends in crushing disappointment. Or a really, really early grave.

Silence... SILENCE!

Don Quixote did not give Sasha time to finish her sentence; she was already charging full-speed at her with her lance drawn.