Upon Quinn's timely proclamation, Vivienne stopped in tracks and appeared confused. "I'm... also only 17 though?" She clarified, and acted as though she was genuinely offended, "You thought I was older than you...? How could you hurt my feelings like that, Quinn..."
'Why the fuck am I even in this situation, man, I just woke up,' Quinn cried. 'I guess the students in the first year are 16 and since I was transferred here from some other planet and had no record of attending an academy even though I'm 17, I was placed in the same year as them...'
As Quinn closed his eyes briefly and sighed a breath of relief, thinking that he had diffused the situation without doing anything rash, as Void had suggested; or, at least it seemed that way.
'Quinn, sorry to put you in this situation, but you should know that this girl possessed Potential Energy—similar to the Potential Element Crystal that mimics your Shadow and implements it into your Divine armament—and, I am reporting this to you with much concern, but... this ordinary Vampire girl has successfully absorbed your Demise Energy and integrated it into her Potential Energy which reacted with it.
'I am thinking of what we should do with her since the fact that a mortal possesses one of the Primordial Energies is beyond just concerning—it is catastrophic. The best course of action would be to kill her immediately; we cannot afford to consider her position in the Vampire world—it is of little to no consequence right now,' Void dumped all the heavy load of information onto Quinn at once as the latter lay motionless, confirming what Void had just said to be true.
'But, wait-! I still-' Quinn wanted to let Void have a piece of his mind, but was interrupted in the most unexpected way, by the cause of their concern. He took a sharp breathe in response to the sudden attack that befell him as Vivienne pressed her soft, pinkish lips against Quinn's.
'I can't breathe! Is she trying to suffocate me...?!' He jolted, but quickly recollected himself and prepared to fend for himself by holding his hand just above Vivienne's head and channeling Demise Energy. As a spear-like appendage slowly emerged from Quinn's palm, he realised a sweet taste inside of his mouth which dissipated rather quickly—although, instead of it feeling like it dissolved, it was as though it was neutralised inside.
[A dangerous substance capable of hindering some functions of the Material Body has been nullified.]
'The fuck was that...?' Quinn thought as he relaxed his hand as Vivienne got up, still sitting on his abdomen, 'She just tried to poison me with that kiss? Moreover, how long has she been hiding that in her mouth?!'
Quinn could hear Vivienne's heart pound fiercely now; he could feel her skin was flushed and burning with heat, and her every muscle trembled. She breathed in shallow gasps, as if her body was caught in a fever it couldn't break. Sweat beaded on her skin, and she reacted to every little movement by Quinn with a jolt.
'Did she poison herself with that substance while trying to get me? Amateur...' Quinn deduced and commented, 'But, what the hell are these symptoms? If it were some deadly poison, wouldn't she have been showing more prominent signs of... pain or something?'
[Upon further assessment, it can be concluded that the substance acts as a potent Viagra, fogs the mind, and diminishes physical capabilities.]
As Quinn read through the message and looked back at Vivienne, she lazily leaned forward again, closing her droopy eyes as she caressed Quinn's neck.
'Oh, hell nah,' Quinn switched to the form of a Shadow from his material body and phased through Vivienne. As she fell forward, he caught her by the collar and knocked her out.
"Scary ass woman, phew~" Quinn tossed her unconscious body to the side, 'Zoyal really wasn't joking about these Vampires, huh? Just what the fuck is she after? Wait, didn't you mention that she has Demise E-'
'Everything is under control now, Quinn, I will take over again,' Void spoke and did exactly that, 'You did not have to transform back into a Shadow...'
[...59℅]
'He has little to no time left if he wants to reclaim his body and use it as he has up until now... but, I cannot keep him from regaining control over his own body for long either—he will be able to overcome my suppression in but little time.
'And, this thing that I seek... it will not be easy to acquire—it may take well over a few years, and Quinn has less than two weeks left until he undergoes his Awakening if he were to return to control. What am I supposed to do now, my king; I can no longer constrain Quinn, and I possess no such means to prevent his Awakening.
'If I were to separate his... no,' Void stopped his train of thought, which he felt would lead down a more difficult and disturbing path, 'How could I do that to Quinn—who had no choice when he was dragged into this play. Although he was once a weak human with no features of a Shadow, he is still the last of our kind; taking away his powers and letting him return to being the weak child that he once was is a more cruel punishment to him than death.
'The only choice I have is to tend to the wordly matters in his stead, and only hope that he gets strong enough to take back the control of his body from me. Rrgh... if it is Quinn, I have no doubt. I still have a few things to take care of here.'
———
In a jiffy, Void had cleaned up the whole room. He tried to wake up Vivienne after thinking of what to do with her-considering that she now possesses a minor amount of Demise Energy. "Nngh~" she came to, rubbing her forehead to try and recall something—anything.
"What happened...? I can't remember anything after..." she said, "oh my! Quinn, you beast, what did you do to me that I passed out and can't remember anything at all~!"
"What are you talking about, Vivienne," Void threw a coat over her, "Wear this; it is very cold outside—almost 255 Kelvin—even for a Vampire like you. Also, before going, show me your Demise Energy.'
Vivenne, still embarrassed after being unable to fulfill her purpose for approaching Quinn, and also being caught off guard by his indifference and swiftness in handling even the slightest indecent thing, took a while to get up and take a seat on the bed that she had occupied.
"Fine, fine~" She said as though it were a nuisance, "But, just this once, okay? I'm embarrassed since I have so little control over it."
Concentrating and manifesting an unstable lump of Demise Energy, Void observed that it was not the darkest of shades of red, and was missing the black shade as well—as compared to Quinn. With the help of [Clairvoyance], he could see that Vivienne had a moderate to large amount of Energy for a mortal—over a fifth of Quinn's—although, only about 30 percent of it was actually Demise Energy.
'Is it due to the fact that Vivienne, being a mortal, when she absorbed Quinn's more concentrated and pure Demise Energy—a Primordial Energy from a Primordial race—such a large amount of Energy was converted into Demise Energy even though the Energy that I provided was so low?' Void deduced and made a note of Vivienne future capabilities with Demise Energy—if she were spared by him.
"Here is some of the tea that the Headmaster was so kind as to gift me with," He handed her a small paper bag, "Be on your way then; or, shall I escort you to your floor?"
"Ahh, alright, alright!" She got up in a fury and hurriedly left, mistaking Void's goodwill for sarcasm.
...
"Hmm," Void began to think, 'what should I do with her...? We can leave her alive for the time that we are here, but any more than that might be dangerous. Sorry, child, but your fate has been decided... you were too greedy in the acquisition of a Primordial Energy that you did not even consider the consequences and dangers you will bring both to yourself and others around you.'
[Shadow Attach]
[Active—
Target: Vivienne Veritas]
'You have been marked, and are completely at my mercy.'