The Seven Wonders of the World

12. A Great Gamble

Oxolo's party would erupt as music would play in the background, as tables full of buffets would be everywhere, with games played and people singing and drinking, Oxolo seemed to chuckle as he turned to Alucard.
"What do you think?" said Oxolo. "This is all for you! Splendid, huh?"
Alucard turned to him. "Yes," said Alucard, "it's very nice of you. I say I did my three years quite well."
Oxolo chuckled. "You bet, and it's only the start aswell. My, three years since that day where I spared your life out of my pitiful mercy. Turns out the Gamble was worth it afterall, hey?"
Alucard chuckled, it was a fake chuckle, of course. "Yeah, sure."
Alucard thought to himself, "Confidence is key, you fat bastard."
He turned to Rater, who tried to grab some food from one of the plates, as Alucard walked over and smacked his arm off.
"Hey!" said Rater.
"The food's not for you!" said Alucard.
"But i'm hungry!"
"I don't care!" said Alucard.
"Hah!" said a henchman. "You tell them!"
Alucard turned around, as he would be embarassed, but would quickly brush it off with a chuckle, as he turned to Rater and kneeled down.
"Don't trip me up, asshole," said Alucard, "or you'll regret it." He got up, as he went to grab a plate and walked off.

Rater scoffed. "What's that guy's problem?"
"Had you not been listening to what he told us?" said Zoela. "He's using us as leverage to get closer to Oxolo, so he can backstab him and be free of his enslaved life!"
"Okay," said Rater, "and what do we have to do with it?"
Zoela took a deep, deep breath. "To gain his trust! I may not like it either, but if I was a slave like Alucard i'd do the same thing, so zip it!"
"But-"
"ZIP IT!"
Rater huffed and puffed. "I shouldn't even be here!" said Rater. "I should be with my friend, Sora. But I got into this mess!"
"You're telling me," said Zoela, "i could of been at my rented house, relaxing and looking as the sun set down. But i'm stuck here with the dumbest kid in the South Blue!"
"I may be the dumbest but i'll be stronger than you'll ever be!" said Rater. "I'll be the Greatest Ranger of All Time and i'll find all of the Seven Wonders of the World to do so!"
"Hey!" said a henchman. "Lets play Cross with the prisoners!"
Oxolo laughed. "That sounds fun! Get the Crosses out!"
Alucard's face widened. "Cross!" thought Alucard. "They're gonna put them up on crosses and throw flame-induced darts at them! This is bad. This isn't what I intended!"
Alucard could do no more than watch, as his voice is what keeps him so far, but he looked as both Rater and Zoela were being put up on crosses.
Oxolo gave Alucard a lighter and a dart. "Do the honours."
"What?!" said Alucard.
"Come on!" said Oxolo. "You brought them here, you get to have the honour of throwing the first dart. Unless you are plotting something?"
"SHIT!" thought Alucard. "If I throw the dart, I murder two innocent people -- well, one. I wouldn't call Zoela innocent -- but if I don't throw the dart, i'll be killed and my entire plan will go to waste! What do I do?"
Alucard sunk into a deep dilemma in his thoughts, as Oxolo stood next to him.
"So what's it going to be?" said Oxolo.

Alucard stood there, staring at the dart and lighter as Oxolo patted him on the back. "Come on!" said Oxolo. "Don't be shy, man!"
"Yeah!" said a henchman. "Don't be shy!"
Alucard gritted his teeth, as he thought to himself, "I was really getting ahead of myself. Wasn't I?"
Alucard turned to Oxolo. "I don't think it is safe for you tonight. You should probably get some rest?"
"What?" said Oxolo. "What are you talking about?"
"You forgot already?" said Alucard, smirking. "Well, there's meant to be a full moon today, and Phantoms show their true form when they are exposed to the full moon. You consumed one of the Phantom Liquids, right? So you are allergic to the full moon, and you turn into a Great Rāshi, which looks like a massive gorilla."
Oxolo and Rater's eyes widened simultaneously, as Oxolo slowly nodded. "Yes, yes, you are right," said Oxolo, "i hadn't thought of that."
"Damn it, Alucard!" said a henchman, as they ran at him with a sword. "If you aren't gonna burn these guys, then I will!"
Alucard's face widened as the man charged at him, but Oxolo came to his defense as he grabbed the henchman and slammed him into the ground, before announcing to the whole crew: "The party is off! Everyone go to bed or whatever!"
Oxolo turned around, as he opened the doors and went up the stairs, as everyone seemed to leave -- only Alucard was in the room.

Alucard turned to Rater and Zoela, as he walked over to untie them. "Better make it quick." said Alucard.
"You're freeing us?" said Zoela.
"It's the only chance I have," said Alucard. "Oxolo is sleeping, and he sleeps deeply, so you guys will have time."
Rater and Zoela dropped down, as they brushed dirt off them, before Rater said: "Wow, was that really true?"
"Huh?" said Alucard.
"That if you drink a Phantom Liquid, every full-moon you turn into the Great Rāshi?"
"Yeah," said Alucard, "i haven't seen it happen, though. It's only a legend, but I said it to Oxolo so I could free you."
Rater nodded, as he looked around at the room. "So what's all this used for?"
"It's a throne room," said Alucard, "over the years, Oxolo has made a name for himself. He's practically royalty at this point considering this town is basically his kingdom, not to mention he built this citadel on top of his casino."
"Casino?" said Zoela.
Alucard nodded. "Yep, Oxolo is in the gambling buisness. Isn't a surprise really considering all the decisions he has made in his life are gambles, and all of them have been successful so far.
"I wish I could say the same for myself, but one gamble wasn't successful; and it led me to this place."
Rater grabbed some of the food from one of the tables, as he stuffed it in his mouth.
"Hey!" said Alucard. "That food isn't for you!"
"I'm hungry!" said Rater. "Let me eat!"
Rater continued stuffing his face with food as Alucard walked over, grabbing Rater.
"Listen!" said Alucard. "Just because you made a name for yourself in the news, doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want-!"
Alucard spun Rater around, as Rater turned a full 180⁰ and found himself looking at the full moon, as he started to pant heavily as every second went by.
“Legends say that when you drink one of the Nine Phantom Liquids, if there is a full-moon at night, you'll turn into a full-sized ape!”
“The Great Rāshi...” said Rater, as he began to grew more hair everywhere on his body, as he began to mutate and get bigger.
“What's happening?!” said Zoela, as the room was shaking.
“He's turning into an ape!” said Alucard. “But that's impossible! Only Phantom Users could do that at a full moon.. does that mean he's one of them?! He's a Phantom User?!”
Rater roared, as he turned into a fully fleshed ape -- the Great Rāshi has awoken!

Thirteen is soon!