Ambrogio: The First Vampire

Oh, apologies for startling you

on this beautiful evening.

It was not my aim.

It's okay.

Your (chuckles), your outfit.

I mean (chuckles), wow. Looks really good.

Oh this old thing.

I've donned this for quite some time.

That's nice.

I'm gonna go inside for dinner.

I do not seek dinner, but a home.

Yours caught my eye. It's quite fascinating.

I'm sorry, Mister?

Ah, my name is Ambrogio.

Buona sera.

Ambrogio, John.

Eh, a human custom I have yet to fathom.

I'm sorry, Mr. Ambrogio, but this house has been

in my family for three generations.

It's priceless to me.

I understand, friend.

Sentimental value carries weight in gold, but.

I do not carry gold, so

paper must suffice.

Earnest money, if you will, to back my best intentions.

But if your sentiment remains...

Wait, whoa, whoa.

Um, on second thought, uh,

would you like to see the inside?

You know, before any fast decisions are made.

Oh, a tour.

I would be happy to.

The house was built in the late 1800s,

architectural components from that era.

I am familiar with these designs.

My search has left me disappointed, until now.

An easy decision, methinks.

On second thought, I don't I can do it, Mr. Ambrogio.

Hm.

You were right about the sentimental value.

The weight is just too much.

My boundless memories outweigh your offer.

I'm sorry.

Hm.

Your memories?

The memories of a mortal fall to eternity.

Candies and cakes.

I'm sorry, what? What the?

Veni.

Vidi.

Vici.

Roland!

It took you long enough, old friend.

My lord, I see dinner's already begun.

Astute as always.

Please, take my dinner to be my new bedroom.

I believe he said it was upstairs and to the right.

Upstairs?

Might need a little help.

At last, home sweet home.

I have roamed the Earth for a millennia.

Time, it seems, teaches well and harsh

amidst our many mistakes.

Alignment with a traitor was my first.

The politician Marcus Brutus tasked me,

a humble military tribune, with a quest.

His order?

To shed my armor and journey to Greece as an emissary.

There I would visit the Oracle of Delphi for guidance

on the trials confronting of Rome.

Devoted to cause and country, I answered the call

for this future assassin of Julius Caesar.

What drove me? A hope for my homeland.

A mission for my people.

A wish to quench shadowy whispers of civil war,

akin to smoldering embers in a parched wheat field.

The Oracle sat in the temple of Apollo, the sun god.

As I approached, she raised her hand

and I stopped to hear her words.

The blood,

the moon,

the blood will run.

Hope left my body and flew as a selfish crow.

I turned away, defeat.

Dread joined me as both companion and curse

along the journey home.

When my mind and heart had turned their blackest,

I saw her.

Selene.

While picking berries, her eyes turned

to me and she smiled.

Through our gaze as we knew each other.

Drawing closer, each enamored with the other,

we embraced in a kiss.

The Oracle had promised death, but in her lips,

Selene promised life.

But gods despise human promises.

For Selene had another suitor,

the sun god Apollo.

For her amorous refusals, he drew us to a nexus point,

a place on Earth where gods and humanity

may meet in physical form.

There, he punished us.

Condemned to forever roam the night,

Ambrogio could no longer be touched by the light

of the sun for fear of death.

Hades, the king of the underworld, became intrigued.

When Hades found the cursed man, he neared death.

Though Hades could not lift the curse,

he offered Ambrogio immortality for exchange of his soul.

Out of his desperation, no, despair.

Out of his despair, Ambrosio agreed,

and Hades fulfilled his promise gladly.

The goddess Artemis, sister of Apollo,

knew this deed to be unnaturally cruel,

so she sought out Ambrogio to teach him one lesson.

Survival.

He learned to live on the animal carcasses in moonlight.

But on that blood he did more than survive.

Supernatural abilities grew.

Speed, accelerated healing, the strength of Heracles.

Blood flowed freely from his mouth

as he fed under moonlight.

The Oracle's prophecy, as always, had been fulfilled.

The blood.

The moon.

The blood will run.

Christ, Sarah, can you at least clean up

after yourself when you're studying over here?

Sorry, hon, I'll clean up as soon as I'm finished.

For my sanity, you'd better.

I can't have it like this

before this weekend's business trip.

Business trip?

What about our beach plans?

There's no beaches in Vegas.

Vegas? I've never been.

Yeah, well, the partners set it up

for the team to network.

No plus ones allowed.

Hey, look, poker and slots aren't exactly

on the menu, all right?

It's just a bunch a meetings with maybe

a borderline decent shrimp cocktail.

It's not exactly like there's time for fun.

I guess that means no time for me either.

Look, I'm already working my ass off to make it up to CFO.

Once that happens, then...

Then what?

Then you'll actually start to think

about what makes me happy?

What did I tell you about interrupting?

Never interrupt.

Good.

You know, maybe if you weren't so busy studying the past

you'd realize how good you have it in the present.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, sir.

Don't get smart with me.

My lord, why are you awake?

It has been far too long since I've taken

a daytime stroll, don't you think?

But if you go outside, you'll burn.

Yes, yes, I will burn, without hope of saving.

But, but,

what if a hope, as such, existed.

The ring of Apollo. Where did you get this?

In Greece, some time ago.

Long before our association.

While the Pythian Games held Apollo's gaze,

I stole it from his temple.

I can still sense some old magic. The magic of a god.

Why would you wait till now to use it?

Fear, that he might find me and kill me once I wear it.

But do you know what I've come to realize?

I fear life as much as death.

So I will live, even if death finds me.

Master, I can only imagine a life

separated from your beloved,

unable to day walk.

What if it doesn't work?

Then Hades will see an old friend sooner than anticipated.

Oh, my lord, you walk in the day!

Not yet, but I will.

Roland, please look after the place while I'm gone.