So this actually originally started as part of my drabble collection that I'm going to be posting as well as I complete them, there are two drabbles that can definitely be noted as also taking place in this AU, but it quickly grew out of my control and 2,400 words later, I became aware that this was a much longer story than I thought. Though I'm not very upset with that, considering what I've got so far.
I like vampires, I like vampires with interesting quirks to their immortality. I like vampires who lie on a spectrum of good and evil and all the shades in between, and I like SethxEirika. So let's see how this unholy mix comes together, because I have some idea of what's coming next, but not much.
He chose the life of a vampire hunter not for the glory or the thrill of it, but because it was needed, and he could do it. What made him stand out from the rest was his chosen weapon. Unlike the new guns that many hunters were taking to because they were fast enough in firing to counter a vampire's speed, he preferred to stick with the silver lance that had been passed down in his family since the days when they served the royal family of Renais. For this, he had been dubbed the Silver Knight, a title that he would answer to, but not acknowledge beyond that.
It was certainly not the most glamorous life to live, but he took pride in the attempts to clean up the streets of the riffraff that had been changed by others, somehow while anyone could be changed, it was only those out at night when the others appeared that were, and after a century of this, no one in their right mind went out after sunset.
He supposed that this eliminated him from the right minded group, but the risks were something he accepted. He walked the streets with lance in hands, watching for the shifts in shadows under the glaring streetlamps that were still fire instead of transitioning to the new electricity bigger cities were adapting in a hope that it might be close enough to sunlight to drive the monsters away, and never backed down from a challenge.
It was on one of these nights, a night where he wore a heavy woolen cloak to keep out the chill of the light rain that had been misting down all day, that he found her.
At first, he thought that she was human, it was unusual for female vampires to exist since the threat to them from the monsters that roamed the streets was often greater than it was for men, but then he saw that her clothes were a hundred years old in fashion, and probably a hundred years old in wear as well. She cringed in the alley where he ran across her, and he wouldn't have even noticed her were it not for the lace of her dress.
He wasn't really quite sure what to do. Most vampires caught in this position either ran or attacked with the intention of adding him to their ranks forcibly. She just stayed there, shaking in the rain.
Seth was not the sort of man to attack those who did not attempt to cause harm to him or another person first, and he could not be certain that she was entirely like the monsters that stalked the night. Something seemed off about her, like she was more than she appeared. He did not lower his lance point though.
She was the first to speak, her voice high and clear and soft like the rain on them both. "Are you going to kill me?" she asked, and she sounded like she was no older than sixteen, a girl still. She also sounded terribly defeated and tired. "If so, then just do it."
A small step to the left let the light behind him illuminate her a little more through the rain, and he saw a glimpse of long hair in what might have been light blue trailing down her dress. Most people didn't have blue hair, it was the color of nobility. Her dress was torn and stained with mud, but still well cared for despite that.
He was more certain now that she was not willingly what she was. "Why?" he asked, aware that as a hunter, it was tantamount to suicide to let his guard down around a vampire. But he'd met one long ago when he started who had been a healer in his life, and had remained one in undeath, simply because that was who he had been in the beginning. Perhaps she was similar. "If you wanted to die, you could simply wait for the sunrise."
She laughed, but there was no humor in it. "I can't go through with it," she said in that same dead voice. "I've tried." Her skirts rustled wetly as she stood up, moving slowly enough that she seemed more human. "I don't want to hurt you." she said softly, and now he could see everything but her face. Definitely she'd been around for a while, there was embroidery on her dress that hadn't been done since machine sewing had become common. "Please, just end this."
On one hand, it would be easy. She was not guarding herself at all, and he was fast enough with the lance that she wouldn't be able to strike back before he pierced her heart. On the other hand...he felt like he knew her in some way. Not that he had met her, but that he knew her. The long hair in that bright shade of blue was definitely familiar in a distant sense. And that made him want to understand a little more and not kill her just yet.
Strangely enough, the decision was made by the onset of a different vampire, one without any regard for life. He came tearing around the corner, and his instincts went into hyper mode. Pushing the girl back behind him, he swung his lance up at the new threat just in time to slice open the arm aimed straight at his neck.
The vampire let out a howl of rage as the silver drew stolen blood to fall on the stones, mixing into the rain and washing away and clutched at his arm before redoubling his attack. This had to be a young vampire, one without the experience of fighting a hunter without fear. It was easy to circle the tip of his lance around his arm to catch him in the chest, the sharp metal combined with both of their momentom piercing his ribs and going into his heart.
The monster doubled over with a groan of pain as his undead heart ceased to be, and he collapsed into ashes on the end of his spear. Seth allowed himself one deep breath to recenter his head and listened for the sound of any other vampires coming, keeping the girl behind him safe. A part of his mind was aware that if she was like the others, he was truly about to die for this.
"There are no others," she said softly, startling him. "The closest is miles away from here." A pause, and she said. "V-Valter is out tonight, so no one dares intrude while he hunts."
Valter, one of the older scourges of the night. Anyone who knew of vampires as more than monsters of the dark, who came out and if they were kind ate those they came across, knew of Valter. Old enough that his reputation had spread to many countries, he had become somewhat of a boogieman, and it was never really quite a certainty that he was in one place and not another. Sometimes he wondered if the monster that was spoken of really still existed.
It seemed perhaps he did, or at least someone who had taken his name. Though that was relying on the word of another vampire. "How do you know this?"
A soft sound behind him, perhaps her realizing that she had given away more than she intended. "I...that is..." she began, and he turned around to watch her as she paused, "I can sense where other vampires are."
How curious. He knew that most vampires could sense prey even without the naturally heightened hunter senses they got, a reason why he never ever let himself think he was in danger so that he would not project the prey sense, but he'd never heard of a vampire who could sense others. Perhaps it had to do with the circumstances in which she'd been changed, but he wasn't sure.
The air seemed to grow colder as something old and evil stirred in the city. Even without senses like vampires, he knew when an apex predator was around. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, and adjusted the lance in his grip. In front of him, the female vampire froze and he could see her lips move in a silent prayer. He could almost see her eyes under the hood now. Then she turned towards the mouth of the alley, cloak spraying water from the hem onto his feet, looking straight at something too far away for him to see.
Seth had never been afraid of vampires that he could remember. Since he was very young, he knew he was going to grow up to eradicate the world of them. He didn't even know what it was like to be afraid of them.
Now he thought he might have a clue. While all vampires could exclude an aura, usually one to lure in their victims to be either dinner or to spread the curse, this one was meant to warn off other predators and crush prey with the terror of the unknown. And even he wasn't immune to it.
The vampire in front of him stood frozen for a moment before turning around and grabbing his wrist, pulling him into a run away from whatever stood at the mouth of that alley. He stumbled along after her, unable to break free of her super human strength, and the aura radiated maliciousness behind them. Yet the female vampire did not stop running.
In a voice that was far too calm for the mood, she asked "do you have a place you can hide? A place with a threshold?" as they whipped around a corner fast enough that if it hadn't been for her grip, he would have fallen down. As it was, he skidded on wet stones. The aura kept the same distance, making sure they knew they were being followed. "I can outrun him, but you can only stop him with a threshold."
Of course he had a place with a threshold. Anyone sensible did. Not that he could tell her what with trying to keep up with her unnatural speed. His lance rebounded off the ground as he let the tip fall a little too low and he winced at the scraping sound. His breath practically rattled in his lungs and a stitch grew in his side.
Seth couldn't tell if she knew he was unable to talk, or was just taking advantage of the fact that she knew exactly what was chasing them, but she ran straight for a church with candles still burning inside, the door always left unlatched for anyone foolish or unlucky to be outside after nightfall, and literally threw him at the door. He hit the ground rolling, but it still scraped skin off of his face and hands. He was on his feet a moment later though, instincts telling him to not let his guard down at any cost.
What he could see through the pouring rain was the female vampire lowering her hood, staring away from him into the deep of the night. Then she said in her same high, clear soft voice. "He is not yours. Not tonight."
A dark chuckle rang out from what seemed like everywhere. "Eirika..." it purred dangerously, simultaneously playful and threatening. "What have I told you about interfering with my hunt?"
He pointed his lance straight ahead while backing up towards the doorway, trying to pinpoint where the other vampire was as the female spoke again. "He will not be yours, Valter." she said with more courage in her voice than when she spoke of him. "He has crossed the threshold."
Seth watched through the open door, knowing that neither of them could cross the line unless they destroyed the door from outside. The light inside the church lit up the female vampire's hair, showing it indeed as the near cyan color of the royal family. The aura and the voice grew angrier. "Strong girl..." he growled, and Seth pointed his lance directly in front of him. Far off, two red lights blinked once, and the voice came again. "Interfere again, and you will suffer the consequences." Then the red lights abruptly vanished, followed by the cessation of the aura till the night grew too calm.
The female vampire still stood in front of the church, the rain soaking her hair till it plastered her face. "Silver Knight," she said softly, "you should shut the door. He is gone. He cannot touch you tonight."
And for some reason, he didn't. Royal blue hair, the dress that was embroidered so finely, and of course, what the voice had called her, he though he knew just who she was. And why she wasn't like the other vampires he'd fought. She couldn't cross the threshold, but she could hear him. "Your highness, I don't believe I can," he said slowly, remembering the stories of the lost princess, of how her loyal knight had been found dead, his silver lance at his side, completely drained of blood. How he had been laid out like the most honored knights in the kingdom. "My family still swears loyalty to the royal family of Renais."
Just as slowly, she turned around, her red eyes catching the candlelight till it seemed like a fire burned within them, her hand near where her heart would be. "I am not that woman," she said in a whisper, but seeing her face finally, he was absolutely certain that he was right. "She died long ago."
"My lady," he answered, stepping back over the threshold, knowing that he was dead if this didn't work, and yet that it was the right answer. He set his lance on the ground, and knelt, like his father had taught him to do if they ever found the lost princess, "With all due respect, you still are Princess Eirika, and I am your knight, if you will accept my lance."
She looked trapped, afraid. Humanizing vampires was a quick way to end up dead, but with every passing second, he knew more and more that it wasn't with her. "You know what I am," she said, bewilderment clear in her tone and her face, "why would you do this?"
Seth remained on one knee, lance at his side, and knew that everything hinged on what he said next. "Because even though you have been changed, you are still the princess."