The soft patter of a pen writing was the only sound to be heard in the cozy office. While the man was still immersed in his work, his young daughter reading sitting next to him, completely focused on her homework.

A few knocks at the door were the ones that managed to break their concentration. The man closed the notebook where he was writing and cleared his throat. Yui set aside one of her pale blond locks from her face and did the same, as her father had taught her that, as her successor, she should set an example for the parishioners.

"They have arrived, Mr Komori."

"Let them in." He said, rising from the chair and standing in front of his desk. He was dressed with the corresponding religious attire, letting his high status be seen. He leaned his hands on the table, taking a casual pose.

The door opened slowly, revealing two men dressing accrding to their corresponding religious rank. Once they entered the office, they both turned aside, revealing their companions.

A woman of high stature and elegantly dressed, accompanied by a young boy of approximately the age of Yui approached the center of the room. While the woman was unmistakable Japanese, of short, straight and dark hair like the feathers of a raven and porcelain skin with deep, black baged eyes, the young man who was at her side did not belong to her ethnic group, being thus the first person that Yui met who was not born in her country.

His hair was blond and, unlike the pale hue of Yui, his was a reminiscent of gold; moreover, while both had curly hair, the newcomer's was shorter and thicker, swirling around as if it were a lion's mane, making his face almost impossible to see. However, what surprised Yui most was his dark skin, much darker than anyone Yui had ever seen.

"Welcome." He greeted them. "My name is Seiji Komori, the leader of this church. I would like to let you know first that you need not to worry about anything. Here, you will be well attended."

The woman's gaze was hard and full of distrust, but she finally nodded. The boy, on the other hand, merely observed Yui with his big, brown eyes, ones the little girl could not look away from.

"You will be provided with accommodation and protection, as well as a good education for the girl." He continued as he crouched in front of the foreigner child to be at her height. It was at this point when Yui realized that the strange boy was, actually, a girl. " I promise you will feel at home."

"Sir," interrupted one of them, scratching the nape of the neck. "Remember what I told you about the girl.

Seiji, who after the words of his companion looked at the girl, realized that her sight was wandering, oblivious to the conversation.

"Oh, right." He knelt down in front of his daughter, who looked at him curiously. — Yui, honey, this girl has come a long way with her aunt and will enter your school next year. She doesn't know our language and it will be very difficult to start in a new country. Why don't you become friends and teach her, sweetie?

The Japanese girl looked again at the other kid, a pinch of fear reflected in her pinkish eyes. Her appearance intimidated her a little, it was something she could not deny. However, she wanted to listen to her father, and so she put her fear aside and approached the girl while extending her arm.

"Yui." She said as she hit her chest with her fingers, trying to make her understand that was her name, and patiently awaited for her to introduce herself. The other girl looked back and forth to her hand and then her aunt, as if asking permission. At the same pace that the girl moved her head, a large golden earrings swayed hanging from her ears, the small coins hunging from it tinkling merrily.

For an instant, the woman's obsidian eyes stuck on Yui, making a shiver run down her back, as if her eyes could look into the depths of her soul.

The feeling did not last long however, as the jet-haired Japanese woman looked away and nodded again. To the girl's stupor, the young foreigner ignored her hand and, without hesitation, grabbed her arms with an incredible force and kissed her on each cheek, causing her a huge blush.

"Sorina." She said slowly as a smile appeared on her face.

"Yui, over here! — the melodious voice of her best friend, who was still dragging her native accent while speaking Yui's, took her from her thoughts and made her jump a little in her seat. Before the blonde could say anything, she placed an arm around her neck and brought her close to her with her usual strength while holding her phone, camera ready to take a picture. In the brief moment it took for Yui to recover from the confusion and smile for the camera, she could see on the screen her friend, who put one of her most charming smiles.

Both had grown a lot since the moment they met, four years ago. Now, being seventeen years old, Sorina had abandoned that distrustful attitude with which she arrived and had become one of the most graceful and extroverted people she knew, and, more importantly, one of the most important people in her life. They were inseparable and went together everywhere, being that the reason why, at that time, both were inside a taxi on their way to Yui's new home.

Her appearance had also changed, and now her femininity was subtlety visible through her rough shapes. Her hair fell in long, golden curls to her waist, more pronounced than ever before. She had also grown up in musculature, and Yui had to admit that she was still amazed at the strength her friend had, reaching such skillful legs that had made her the fastest girl in school. Yui did not know what kind of training she had been doing, but it certainly worked. Countless times, Sorina had defended and helped her, a fact that Yui could not be more grateful of.

"Are you all right?" asked Sorina, looking at her with those huge dark eyes of hers that Yui used to describe as burning coals. "You look thoughtful."

"Oh, sorry." Yui responded with a slight blush on her cheeks. "I was thinking about how much you've changed over the years."

"Is that so?" she asked for herself, putting a finger over her dark lips — I guess when I got there, I was a little scary, so different from you.

"You said it!" said the Japanese woman with a chuckle, which made the other girl act as if it had offended her, putting a hand over her chest and letting a sound of feigned indignation escape. "Even so, I sometimes regret those feelings. Everyone used to treat you differently when they saw you were a foreigner. Coming from a place as far away as Spain,on top of it being from different ethnicity, to reach a destination that you did not know or the language... It had to be a terrifying experience.

"Right you are. At first it was hard to make people here that being a gypsy and having dark skin was not similar to being a criminal." The blonde continued, not letting the nostalgia and bad feelings of that timeget a hang of her. "But thanks to you and your lessons of written and spoken Japanese, it was much better than it could have been."

"I always wondered how it was possible that you knew absolutely nothing about Japanese being your aunt from here... until I found out that Kiyohime wasn't even your aunt!"

"Ah, I remember!" she laughed hard. "What a face you made when you knew that the "aunt" I was living with was not even my aunt. You almost called the police thinking they had me kidnapped!"

"It's not my fault that at that time you still didn't know how to speak Japanese well and say "my aunt is not my aunt, is someone else who has me in his house "!"

Both exchanged a complacent laugh, finding themselves totally comfortable in the company of the other.

"Say, are you nervous?" She asked with some concern to Yui. "You know I'll always be there for you and-and I'll come visit you when I can, right?

"I know. Besides, I wouldn't miss your dance performance for anything in the world. She assured her with a smile. I'm a little nervous, but if my father sent me to live in that house, it's because he knows I'll be okay, don't you think?

"I'm sure he did." The other girl finally nodded with a smile that almost brightened her face. Yui loved Sorina's warmth, something that made her feel comfortable regardless of the situation she was in.

The taxi finally came to its destination and, while Yui stopped to pay the taxi driver, Sorina hurried out as she did not believe what her eyes saw.

"Have you seen this, Yui!?" You're going to live in a fucking mansion! "The girl exclaimed as she took pictures of the building, certainly impressed. Yui had no idea that that would be the size of her new home, and she stayed still for a few seconds admiring it through the vehicle window. After paying, she left the car and approached her friend,who was loosing up her body after the long journey, her movement making it seem that the golden wings that had embroidered on the back his black bomber moved.

While the Japanese fixed her pink blouse and brown, short trousers, her friend rolled the sleeves of her jacket up, making the golden serpents of her sleeves hide between the folds and tucked her orange shirt inside her short jeans, and kneeled moments later to fasten the sneakers. Yui walked towards the gate and, once she was finished with her clothes, she opened it. Just as she was going to get in, Sorina stopped her and, without giving her time to protest, took the suitcase with a smile and loaded with it as if it weighed nothing.

"It's a little off the beaten path, don't you think? "Yui murmured, looking with some fear of the great gargoyle that crowned the fountain in the front yard.

"Well, I don't think a place as huge as this one could have been in the middle of the city. Besides, I'm sure like this you won't be able to hear the cries of the people who are killed every night." The young woman responded with sarcasm, winning a gentle blow on the shoulder.

When they were halfway through the front yard it began to rain, causing Sorina to grab Yui's arm and guide her quickly to the covered door.

"I hate the rain. It always spoils my hair!" she complained as she slippinged the water from her hair, making Yui laugh. Giving her one of her most mocking smiles, she put her thick mane into a bun and tied it hard so that the humidity couldn't make atrocities with it.

Shee grabbed the halberd and moved it to knock on the door, but when her hand was inches from it, the girl felt a strong electric shock that made her remove her hand, as if it were a static electricity spark. It was so strong that Yui had been able to hear it, which worried her. By grabbing her friend's hand to assess the damage, she leaned one of hers onto the door, which instantly opened it with a wrenching moan from the metal as a reward.

Both stayed a few seconds completely still, observing the gloomy interior without saying anything. Yui turned to her friend to urge her in, but her serious expression, so strange in her, made her feel a great concern.

"Is something wrong?" She asked insecurely, "Has that shock hurt you that much?"

"It's not that," She said gravely. "This feeling, this place... I don't like it."

"B-But I don't understand. You were so happy about this place."

Sorina responded with a very quiet silence, which alerted Yui even more. If anything could characterize her friend was her bravery, and the attitude she was having was anything but that.

"Yui, I think it would be best to go back."

"Huh?"

"I'm sure you can live with me. I'll talk to Kiyo and find a solution."

"But this is... my father wanted me to live here. I don't want to disobey him. Besides..." the blonde reassured her, putting a hand over her shoulder. "... You said it yourself. He wouldn't send me to a place where I wouldn't be safe, would he?"

The gypsy weighed for a few moments Yui's words, staring at those eyes that she liked so much, eyes that made her remember the sunsets of his native land. Finally, she picked up his phone and began to write, his long fingernails rattling against the glass.

"Okay," she Nodded after a while. "Let's go in"

He stretched out a hand to Yui, who took it with a smile. Both, holding hands strongly, entered the shady mansion.

The sound of the bustling streets of Athens seeped through the small windows of the philosopher's studio, the cold morning sun filling the room with clarity. Of course, that was only a vision created in the Castle of Eden to satisfy the nostalgia of his soul, which was wrapped in one of the most crucial moments of his existence.

A game of chess.

"Ah... you seem to be winning me again, old friend." Socrates commented with a smile, while moving his horse.

"You forget that I have seen this game happen." He answered, showing his fangs. The man Socrates referred to as a friend had long white hair, sumptuous scarlet clothes and golden eyes. With his long, thin gloved fingers, he moved one of his bishops. "Learn from every defeat. I'm sure in game number one hundred and eighty four you will be able to beat me."

"And even if I do not, I will continue to enjoy each of our games."

"Likewise."

The game continued as it should continue, just as he had seen it.

At the end of the day, that was the way things were for him. Even If they had not yet happened, he knew everything that would happen and therefore how to change it to be a favorable end for him.

"Then... will you go ahead with the Project, Karlheinz?" asked Socrates, trying desperately to win the game.

"It's the only way." Replied the vampire King as his fingers headed toward the Queen. "All that I have done, all the experiments, all the possible futures I have foreseen, have brought me to this very momen-"

At the moment his fingers made contact with the chess piece, an electric shock ran through his body, being so strong that his hands failed and dropped the piece. The queen fell onto the board with a dull sound, taking down with her the precious king.

And so, for the first time, Karlheinz lost a game of chess.

Both men were in complete silence, processing what had just happened. The everlasting polite smile of the vampire was slowly waning in a fine line of complete earnestness. Socrates stared at him, diverting his gaze from him to the board repeatedly. Without saying a word, Karlheinz returned to take the queen and held her in front of her golden eyes.

"I..." He finally spoke, frowning "... I didn't see this coming."

And here ends the first chapter of my new story! Comments and favs will encourage me to continue it!