Author's Note: This is the remake of Breaking the Habit, still about the Italian, whose name I changed. There are four races in this story I figure readers should be aware of. They are: Vampyres, like Hao and Luchist, Fell, like Claire, Hunters, like Dietrich, and Sharks, like a certain follower of Yoh's. Ryuu.
I will describe these races later and their origins. Let's just say they involve Brazil, India, and Kings.
DISCLAIMER: OBVIOUSLY I DON'T OWN SHAMAN KING
OR ANY OF THE REAL CHARACTERS.
HOWEVER, I DO OWN CLAIRE AND DIETRICH AND
A FEW OTHERS WHO'LL CROP UP AS WE GO ON.
Rome. A blanket of stars under the night sky and a city of towers and spires. A place where sinners ruled and saints prayed.
Men and women piled out of their houses and entered taxis or their little European cars. Others straggled into their holes and closed their eyes to the night beyond the door. Pedestrians and vehicles competed for space on the street and even the walkways and prostitutes sold themselves for a couple euros and a bed.
The city was filthy, as well. Pigeons found their homes here and people tossed their garbage aside without one thought for the dying planet.
Claire di Vita was disgusted.
She was perched on a pillar for a large church looking out over Rome in silence, searching for something in the too-big city.
A breeze brushed her spiky copper hair aside and she closed her eyes as a wave of scents washed over her.
Car exhaust was the most prominent, blood, sweat, adrenaline and feces were mixed in. The most important scent, the one Claire sought, was fire. It flared in her nose, burning, and angered Claire. It was so close, the one bearing this scent, and a snarl tore out of her throat, too low for a human but loud enough for a person like Claire.
She turned, her eyes glowing olive in the faint moonlight, and saw the host of the offending scent. He was above her, astride a gargoyle, and his dark eyes were on the people below, the prey he thirsted for.
Not the one Claire searched for, but this one was still trouble. He could sense Claire's aura and looked at her. His eyes were framed by dark brown hair and set in a clearly Japanese face. He was beautiful, too, in a feminine way. He had the beauty only the prettiest of human females could possess. It was inhuman.
"Good evening." He said to Claire silkily. "Am I bothering you, dear Italian?"
His voice sounded strange speaking the language of the country. Claire narrowed her eyes and pulled back her lips in a quiet snarl.
"I guess I have disturbed your hunt." The young male said. He sounded scornful and he scoffed at Claire, despite the fact that he knew who she was. "Too bad, di Vita. I am hunting as well, and I will fight you gladly for this territory."
"Too bad I seek one of your kind tonight, Vampyre." Claire said in a lilting soprano voice that sounded beautiful with his tenor voice. "A Vampyre from Sicily who killed many of the diCrescenzo. He broke the treaty."
"I know of that Vampyre. A priest, right? Luchist Lasso?" The male laughed coolly. Claire did not shiver though she flinched. She would have loved to kill him but he was protected by another treaty. The male's eyes grew very dark suddenly and a strange light entered them. "He is of my coven now, Claire. His soul will belong in my treaty, as mine does."
"I can not allow that to happen, Hao Asakura. I am to kill this Vampyre and no treaty may protect him now. Just as your treaty will one day fail you."
Claire's words made Hao bristle with annoyance.
"How about we make a deal then, Claire." He snapped. "We will make a life trade. Luchist Lasso becomes mine in exchange for the soul of a Vampyre in the neutral zone who has committed far more serious crimes."
"What crimes would those be if Deitrich hasn't learned of them?" Claire asked with forced calm. "What crimes can a neutral Vampyre commit without the leaders of the country knowing?"
"They can bring back the dead, like the Tao girl does in Hong Kong." Hao said silkily. "Pure necromancy, against all the laws your kind agreed on with the leaders of Germany."
Claire wanted to laugh. Necromancers were extremely rare and more likely to die because they failed their first spell than actually reanimate someone.
"Don't laugh." Hao sighed. "I really hate it when people laugh at me, Claire."
"So you are telling the truth then, Hao?" Kira hissed in incredulous shock. "I will agree to the trade then, but I will not stop others from hunting the priest."
Hao grinned, showing his gleaming teeth.
"I wouldn't expect any less of the Fell." He said.
Author's Foot Note: Yes, I called it a foot note. STFO.
Anyway this is in an alternate universe where spirits, like Amidamaru, do not exist. Vampyres, against the norm, are not allergic to sunlight. The Fell and Hunters are. I made the two main races, Fell and Vampyres, to represent different parts of the vampire myth. At least MY vampires don't glow like diamonds, though.