Chapter 82. The Princess is Dead? Long Live the New Princess!
I don't know how long exactly Alucard and I had been tormenting Incognito, but unlike my Master, I was already bored. I'd had plenty of fun with the Fire Nation army before this, and I also missed Integra.
"BOOM!" — with the blast of compressed air from the force and speed of the strike, the catgirl, distracted by her own thoughts, shot like a projectile into one of the few remaining intact walls of that symbol of British history, which after this day would need serious restoration.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" roared Incognito, who'd managed to snatch a brief moment to act, and he immediately struck Alucard's body. It didn't fly away — it splashed apart. However, the blood and flesh didn't scatter all around, but instead, as when I'd arrived, formed bizarre demonic features, and the newly formed fist of the vampire king split the skull of the insolent ancient vampire who had devoured a pagan god.
"Ugh, damn, I am so sick of him," I complained, spitting, before returning just in time to rejoin the loop of beating the bastard down, not giving him any chance to counterattack.
"Master, maybe you have some ideas on how to get rid of him?" I asked without breaking my rhythm.
"What's this, you've tired of battle so quickly?" Alucard's teasing tone made it clear he was still thoroughly enjoying the bloody fight.
"Master, I was locked in that world for several months and came here right after fighting an entire army," I said with a hint of hurt. Even I had limits on how long I could indulge in slaughter. "And I missed Inti."
"…," Alucard let out a helpless sigh, slightly slowing his movements — and paid for it with yet another blow from Incognito, who this time tried to run away, but of course no one was going to let him.
"Police girl."
"Yes?" I looked at him questioningly, not stopping my attacks.
"That vampire's ability. How far have you developed it?"
"Blood manipulation?" I clarified, and, realizing I'd guessed right, thought for a second and answered:
"I think it's gotten much stronger. In that world, I absorbed a water mage who could control blood, and I also drank a bit of the blood of spirits that embody the sea and the moon." While I was speaking, Incognito, who had already been desperately trying to break free, seemed to get a second wind, but unfortunately for him it didn't help much. It's hard to run when you don't have a head or legs.
"Then try to hold him."
"Mm?" I was a bit surprised — I clearly remembered how last time he had easily shaken off my influence over his blood and then smeared my body across space and time. Which, by the way, raised a question: why wasn't he trying to do that again?
Suspicious, I looked at the slightly distorted, frightened face of the pseudo-god who had only just regenerated his head, and then, just to be sure, I made a sharp motion with my hand, just like Hama used to do.
Incognito instantly froze in a strange pose, as if he were a marionette hanging on invisible strings.
"It worked?" I blinked in confusion. I could, of course, feel it — like we were playing tug-of-war — but overall, at the moment it felt like I could hold him for quite some time.
"Good work," Alucard said with a proud smile, and then, fully restoring his form, walked over to the immobilized enemy. He sharply tilted Incognito's head to the side, baring his snow‑white neck, and then sank his fangs into it.
Right away, I felt a significant portion of our victim's blood slip out of my control and rush toward the bite.
"Master, do you really want to take that into yourself?" I pointed at Incognito with mild disgust. Sure, power doesn't stink, as they say, but if my souls were stored inside me like Alucard's, instead of giving up everything useful and then moving on, I definitely wouldn't want a freak like that living in me.
"Police girl!" Alucard's voice almost growled in my head, and he was now looking at me with a gaze that promised every torment imaginable.
"E-he-he, I think I'll go check on Integra," I said, sensing quite clearly that my help was no longer needed, and immediately tried to slip out from under the attention of the displeased Alucard.
In the meantime, Integra had already come to her senses and, with not a shadow of doubt that the problem was solved now, had first gone to find Walter, who in their clash with a toying Incognito had pushed himself to exhaustion — something actually very dangerous at his age. So now, when I arrived, the old man was lying unconscious, and Integra was sitting beside him, no longer caring about her image. She was simply tired and wanted to rest.
"Inti, nya," a blond projectile — namely, me — crashed into the mentally exhausted girl, nearly knocking her to the ground.
"I missed you so much," I rubbed my cheek against that of my beloved blonde.
"Haaah. I'm glad to see you too," the girl replied with a helpless sigh, going limp in my arms and letting me do whatever I wanted. However, the moment my naughty hand slipped and squeezed her magnificent chest…
"Seras," Integra said in a warning tone.
"Ooof. Fine," I took the hint not to let my hands wander, a bit dejected, and simply enjoyed the hug.
…We spent a few minutes in cozy silence, until Integra finally asked:
"How much time passed for you?"
"A few months, though you could say I was lucky: there was a war going on in that world, and there was a nation that were also Nazis and set up a couple of genocides, so I managed to recover and even become stronger before coming back."
"By the way, can you imagine — in that world I could eat normal food!" I began enthusiastically telling her about my journey, complaining along the way about how much it hurt during the fits caused by the wound Incognito had inflicted.
World of Avatar: a Fire Nation ship.
A young firebender, also a soldier who'd ended up in the fleet after his talent was accidentally discovered, was now recalling recent events with a quiet, creeping horror.
"This isn't how it's supposed to be, this isn't canon," the young man muttered, nervously gnawing his nail. And yes, he had a secret no one knew.
In his past life, he had been a girl who adored both the cartoon "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and its future sequel about Korra. Shortly before her death, she had even had the misfortune to witness the pathetic Netflix adaptation of her beloved series — the one that so cruelly desecrated the magnificent Azula.
"Ah, I even ended up becoming a guy; I wanted to be with her, to show her the love she never had. Our flames are even the same blue," the young soldier thought as he slipped into the room where the almost untouched body of the Fire Nation princess lay.
Approaching the corpse, the young man looked at the deathly pale and yet unbelievably beautiful face of the princess.
"She looks like she's just sleeping," he whispered, gently running his fingers along her cold cheek. "What a shame."
After lamenting a little over how much everything had changed, he turned and was about to leave.
Grab.
Suddenly, chills ran down the young man's spine, and he slowly turned around. His hand was gripped by the firm fingers of the princess, who was now suddenly sitting up, and before he could say anything, razor‑sharp fangs of a hungry soulless body sank into his throat.
"I didn't want to die like this…" flickered the fading thought in the unlucky transmigrant's mind.
But what no one could have expected was that, due to the abnormality of the vampire girl who had drunk the princess's blood and devoured her soul, the body of the virgin princess had indeed become a vampire, yet with no soul of its own it was only an empty shell that, acting on instinct, devoured the soul of the nearest sentient being.
Thus the transmigrant's soul changed vessels. And soon the mind returned to the eyes of the Fire Nation princess — while in her hands now lay her previous body, whose head had been literally torn off by the enthusiasm of the formerly soulless shell.
The new Azula was staring in shock, from this new vantage point, at what had once been her body.
"What the hell is going on?"