Team Seven of Heroes Chapter 24

24.

Van Helsing looked to the stump that once had a metal arm attached to it. He was healing fast and knew the cause of it. He was resting inside what may appeared to be a chamber carved from rocks with its wet humidity. He was lying on the soft bedding there with most times staring at the rocks formation above his bedding. He had seen his other surrounding; it was typical Chinese despite the attempt to make it Bohemian. It may had been difficult to get the later into the far east by the desert path. He also knew the other regular occupant to the chamber.

“Vampire, you fed me your blood. I can feel it. It heals me.” Van Helsing looked to the approaching vampire. “I have been wondering why are you doing this? I had the weapon…”

“This one?” Dracula displayed the gyaling to Van Helsing. “I knew of this. The guardians used this to control me. I do fear it. Still do.”

“You have it now. So, we are powerless against you.” Van Helsing sighed. “After all the generations and lives lost, we were fighting without the mean to kill ….”

“Terminate. I cannot be killed. I am the last of the Fallen. I can only be terminated. And if I do, let it be you.” Dracula smiled. “I am particular on that. But for now, termination is not an option. We got a war to fight.”

“Yes, the Emperor and Moriarty. And, where am I? Jiayu Pass? Where is that? China?”

“Questions? All will be revealed soon. As we speak, your associates have arrived. Mycroft, Watson and others I knew by reputation. Nayland and one abomination Mr Hyde. There are some others which I presume are trained killers. Plus, the Princess and the army not far behind led by one named Emperor Fu Manchu.”

“Are we having a feast then?” Van Helsing laughed. “I was on a spiritual tour and ended up tracking you to now a battle with the Emperor which I have no fight with.”

“No, the Emperor is my enemy now. He sought me for I knew the key to the Vault. He wanted me after he gets the Elixir of Life. He will release the others from the Vault and they will be his army.” Dracula smiled. “The Emperor is no different from the Turks then during Vlad’s era. They all destined a bigger empire and the army to guard it.”

“Why me, Dracula? You have the one weapon to terminate you. You are immortal, well to many. Do release me. I will cure by myself.”

“I intend to but soon after I killed the ones that are my enemy. You will use the gyaling to terminate me then. I have outlived my role here. All the others have moved on or banished.” Dracula sighed. “I have lived through many generations, building empires and to see them crumbled by the foolishness of their own. I am tired.”

“Tell me of the Elixir of Life.” Van Helsing decided he needed another bedtime tale.

“The elixir does exist. It was the one thing which we developed like the fire. We did it but we were stopped by the others. The defeated us and the few of us escaped. I went into hibernation aka hiding for some generations while preserving the elixir. I resurfaced but kept a low profile. By then the others have left the dwellers here to their own suffering. Man have the universal affinity to hurt each other for many petty reasons. I partake in it for selfish reasons. I was itching for a fight and fights soon after. I was with many from Perseus to Alexander and even Vlad. It was with Vlad that recalled the Elixir. I did not give it to him when I have passed it to the Macedonian for safe keeping. Bad judgement on my side. They gave it to the Mongols.”

“Back to Vlad. I circumvent the elixir, I made them my own elixir with the blood in me. I made them more subservient to my thoughts and also loaned them my strength. I survived but somehow my fame spread to Fu Manchu when he came to Europe. He was attracted to the Elixir and may had read the Mongol exploits. He sought me out and from there he worked his way into my life. He became my friend then before he took my blood. He was focused on it. It may not have worked unless he is a Vampire, so he returned to the task.”

“Now you want to kill him. And how may I not help?” Van Helsing asked. “Does that include Moriarty in the list? He gave me an arm.”

“Moriarty was the one who introduced us. He was also the one who knew a bit more on the Elixir?” Dracula threw out more. “I have a feud with Moriarty too. He did more than your arm. He took something of mine. He had something I entrusted to him. He had it inside your arm.”

It was then Dracula pulled out the metallic arm to reach in to retrieve a small item that resembled a key.

“It’s the final key to the Elixir case.” Dracula showed the key to Van Helsing. “The best place hide is in the common area where you will not bother looking.”

Unlike Sherlock, he studied everything he sees. He tends to observe small things. It was his learning and he used his n knowledge. He saw himself then in a huge tent but it was mounted on the huge carriage probably pulled by twelve horses. It was lavishly furnished for a comfortable ride. Not so much for the host he was to meet.

“Mr. Holmes, I doubt we met but my reputation superseded me. I am the real Fu Manchu. Fu Xia to be exact. The one you have been encountering on your island is none other than my double, a trusted servant which somehow now have become too used to that role that he had taken to deride me in name and rank.”

“And you do owe my family an explanation. You killed Tu Xia, my distant cousin. We were not close but he is family.” Tu Xia was Hathaway.

“The fake Emperor had traced the whereabouts of the Elixir and I will stop him from getting it.” The Emperor seated on the arranged curtain smiled. “Surprised? Don’t be. The elixir was not ours to take. Like the Vault which I helped to build, it was not the inmates to take on the world which we lived in. They have to be stopped but to kill them was not my method unless necessary.”

“Nice to meet you, Emperor. I might add that if I knew you better, you are no better than the one you accused as an imposter.” Sherlock replied. “The one thing that eluded me in the scrolls was it spoke of the elixir and why it must be moved from places but never why? Initially I thought of the pillage but then it may be more than that.”

“Yes, the elixir is kept in a secure place. It needed three keys; the key to open the outer door, the prayer to release the demons and the last key to open the box. Inside is the elixir.” The Emperor told Sherlock. “You knew of it from the etching on the rocks.”

“Why Jiayu Pass?” Sherlock asked. “Why Marco Polo left it there? He could have bargain it with any Kings or Emperors to be his ally.”

“Marco was a righteous man and above all a trader. He trades when there were things to bargain for. For the first, he was being fair to the Minister. He kept the Elixir with the Minister inside China boundary. Two, when he fought the Republic of Genoan, he did offer the elixir then as a bargain tool but he was dismissed as fake. In the end, he fought with his wealth and lost the war. He did not try to trade the elixir anymore for feared that it may be a fake. He left it out of his memoirs and died never revealing that secret.”

“But you knew.” Sherlock looked at the Emperor.

“I did because the demons told me. They were there before me, and to bargain for their freedom some of them told me bits and pieces. I am the Emperor and helped build the Vault to hold them and why should I free them. I dismissed it as fake but a part of me tells me it may be true. I sent my trusted servant and double to seek it. He was to be me on the journey and soon he was me to the ones he met. I could not leave my throne on such foolish notions. The double of mine was crafty. He had me placed into deep sleep with my drink while he sat on the throne. He fooled everyone including my Princess but she felt some difference. He had her sent to India to pursue Solomon treasure and the rest you knew. He would had continued on but I recovered and he fled. It took me time to recover back fully and once I was, I came here to protect the Elixir.”

“It was coincidence that we are all going there.” Sherlock muttered.

“Coincidence or karma. We are destined to do that is needed.”