A/n:
This is a rewrite of my first FF, spelling and punctuation have been checked by my ever patient beta.
This is AU with some OC and OOC thrown in, seasoned a dash of Yaoi and Het so if none of these are to your taste…
While some of the back story has remained the same -
* The Rido Kuran arc
* Yuuki being sealed
* Zero drinking Kaname's blood
* Takuma Ichijo killing his grandfather
I have changed others to suit my plot -
* The Kiryuu twins have become triplets and as triplets this voids the Hunter curse
* A Pureblood still attacked the Kiryuu family
* None of them have drunk from Yuuki
* The Shizuka arc has not happened…yet
* Takuma has not been captured by Sara Shirabuki
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the VK characters except for any OC which appears in the story.
Prologue: The Fallen King
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"Well, that's an evil smile..."
James Patterson – The Angel Experiment
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They crashed through the Academy walls wailing and whimpering in their desperate search for blood. Guns gleamed under the merciless sun, the final line of defence in a war that had been centuries in the making. In a heartbeat they attacked. Fountains of berry-red blood sprayed into the air. Ash fell from the sky, the remains of Rido's unwilling army covering the defender's feet in dull grey drifts.
The scent of death saturated everything. Sticky scarlet liquid tinted the world red. It was butchery.
Hunter. Vampire. These words held no meaning when faced with wave after wave of ravenous eyes and grasping claws. With a final choked cry the last Level E perished. Weary dirt encrusted figures collapsed where they'd been fighting. Bodies numb, muscles trembling.
Slowly one by one, hollow empty eyes turned towards the Moon Dorm.
Hidden from view the final battle was being fought. If lost, the world would be filled with the dying cries of a hundred million souls. The darkness stretching until at last silence.
An arc of crimson hit the floor with a nauseating splash. Droplets burst into the air, the divine essence undetectable in the blood drenched fog. Silver flashed, rending flesh with a wet sucking sound. Staggering back Rido clutched his bleeding arm, his blood flecked teeth bared in an insane snarl. His vision wavered; he could feel the Hunter venom racing through his veins, eating away at his skin turning it brittle and black.
Panting, he eyed the three figures in front of him, bloodied but not yet beaten.
The eldest, eyes screaming with betrayal, clutched a gun surrounded by pulsing silver vines. Their wickedly curved thorns dripping poison and stained molten red. His attention shifted to the boy's mirror image. Wielding a Katana, he was making quick work of his blood whips. Irritatingly he'd yet to land more than a glancing blow, although the slowly bleeding slash along the impudent brat's cheek brought a malicious smile to his lips.
It was the youngest who truly fascinated him. Tear marks stained her face but those mesmerising eyes burned. She'd been the one who'd drawn first blood and only moments ago had again slipped through his defences. Her choice in weapons surprised him, usually Hunters feared close combat but she'd been in her element, like a ballerina dancing on a blood drenched stage.
His thoughts were interrupted by the low moan coming from his niece's slumped figure. He shot her a disgusted look. Yuuki may physically resemble his precious person but she lacked Juuri's spark, that undefinable something that had made her unique. His eyes returned to the other girl, now she had it. He could feel his heart pounding; his body burning with a desire which he'd believed had died with his sister. Ever unpredictable, he decided in that split second to abandon his obsession with Juuri's lesser copy. He'd unexpectedly found a new, much more worthy target.
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Empty violet eyes watched as Rido shot another look towards Yuuki's unconscious body. Flexing his cramping fingers, Ichiru tightened his grip on his sword's blood soaked hilt. He couldn't bring himself to look in her direction. She sickened him. A monster wearing his adopted sister's face.
Suddenly his opponent shifted. He felt the bile burn the back of his already dry throat, while Rido sneered at the ash dirtying his tattered suit. Yet another Pureblood destroying the lives of others in order to win a petty, pointless game.
A mistimed glance allowed him to catch the madman's heterochromic gaze. Hazy lust filled eyes looked back at him, brimming with a dark unholy excitement. Swallowing shakily, Ichiru reluctantly followed the direction of Rido's lascivious stare. Next to him Zero drew in a harsh strangled breath. His low cursing could only mean that he'd also realised the unexpected change in the Pureblood's twisted plan.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Yori fixed her determined gaze on the pale oblong which marked the end of her torturous journey. Stumbling through the broken doorway, she burst onto the roof in a tumble of pumping arms and burning legs.
Pausing to catch her breath, she stared at a strange pile of ash curled up against the splintered door. A violent gust shattered the delicate figure and in that second she understood. Turning, she stared across the roof and watched with horrified eyes as yet more crumbled. Each unrecognisable shape had once been a person, filled with hopes and dreams but now they were nothing more than discarded empty husks, destroyed by two men's obsession over a naïve, clumsy girl.
Her lungs screamed as she inhaled the thick, gritty air. Coughing, she made her way across the slick stones, coming to stop next to Zero's blood spattered figure. She held up her hand to stop his overprotective scolding. "The Level E's are finished. Most of the Day Class are safe, some injuries and a few…" Her throat closed as images of the broken, twisted bodies she'd passed flooded her mind with sorrow, anger and guilt.
Her hands flexed with the urge to hit and keep on hitting the vile thing standing in front of her. Rido returned her glare with a dismissive snort. "The Association President is dead; the Chairman's convinced that he'd recently ingested a large amount of vampire blood." Zero and Ichiru's curses filled the air, along with Rido's knowing chuckle. The Pureblood's oily voice made her shudder as it slithered across her skin, leaving a coating of his noxious madness. "Do you really think that you've defeated my whole army? This is just the appetiser. My dear 'nephew' knew this and that's why he left you here as fodder for my Level E's."
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He'd had enough.
Never had he felt such hate for another living being, not even that woman was able to inspire this level of intense loathing. His world had collapsed around him. It was shaming to realise that he'd never been in control of his life, his destiny. He'd only ever been a puppet with invisible strings, manipulated by a smirking, self-satisfied Pureblood.
Well, not this time. So what if this was what Kuran wanted. Who cares that this would end his nasty little game and win him the safety of his precious person. Zero's stomach heaved at the mere thought of her name. He didn't care; he just wanted it all to end.
His unimpressed snort brought Rido's gloating to an abrupt halt. "Would you just SHUT UP!" He raised Bloody Rose, finger poised on the trigger. "Are all Purebloods like this or is it just your particular family? Somehow you've managed to convince yourselves that the world begins and ends with you but it doesn't. You don't matter and I'll prove it." His gun coughed, once, twice, sending bullets tearing into Rido's chest. The vines quickly followed, ripping through flesh like rice paper.
As soon as the first bullet had struck, Ichiru and Sora were in motion. In a matter of seconds Rido's supposedly undefeatable blood whips were gone. Zero watched as his sister glided past the furious Pureblood like a wraith, her flashing blades slicing at the beleaguered vampire until he was drenched in red.
Crouching behind a pile of shattered masonry, Yori impassively watched Rido's last moments. The girl she'd once been would have found the sight horrifying; now she found it annoyingly long winded. An unusually cruel smile curved her lips as Zero finally ripped out his heart. Moments later his body collapsed, scarlet crystals and black ash spread across the floor in a glittering carpet.
The gentle slither of retreating vines broke the reflective silence which had descended over the roof. Yuuki watched through half closed eyes as her adopted sibling's knelt besides the remains of her uncle. Zero's hand raked through the glittering dust before it was swept away by the wind, leaving no trace of the monster that had destroyed her birth family.
All of this was her fault. He'd come here for her, although judging by his expression she'd been a bitter disappointment.
Staring at Zero's tired face; Yuuki's mouth trembled as she recalled his pain filled words from the night before. 'Go be next to the man who can spend eternity with you. The next time we meet I will kill you, Yuuki'. His eyes had been filled with agony as she'd snapped back. 'I will keep running away from you Zero.'
How selfish. Looking back she wondered how he'd ever put up with her. Forever causing trouble, never listening and taking every drop of his seemingly limitless affection for granted. No wonder Sora had started avoiding her. Now it was too late. What might have been had ended the moment she'd been awakened to her true self. Even now she could feel her thoughts changing, where only moments ago she'd seen her beloved siblings, she now saw revolting Level D's.
Yuuki's sombre gaze switched to Yori. Another person she'd wronged and again it was far too late for apologies. She winced as her abandoned Artemis Rod brushed against her bent knee. Even this had turned against her. No, she mustn't think like that. It was an anti-vampire weapon and she was a vampire, she'd never been destined to wield it in the first place.
Shifting carefully she gracefully balanced on her toes, readying herself to leave her old self and life behind. She froze as suddenly an unexpectedly white hot presence flared in the back of her mind; she felt his thoughts beating against her soul demanding that she come to him. Nii-sama was back, it was time to go.
Casting a final look at her four precious people, she nudged Yori gently to one side and leapt over the rubble like a gazelle. Slipping through the doorway Yuuki Cross disappeared in a swirl of ash. Racing down the stairs the young Pureblood felt her tears dry, the people on the roof forgotten as she emerged into the light and flung herself into the open arms of her brother. Yuuki Kuran was finally where she belonged.
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Dusting herself off Yori glared in the direction of her former roommates fleeing figure. "What the hell? One minute she's too frightened to move and the next she's throwing me to one side and sprinting for the exit." Zero's hysterical laughter had them eyeing him worriedly. Ichiru hurried to his side only to be batted away by his brother's flailing arms. Sora was less concerned. Perching on part of the collapsed wall she unclenched her fingers and allowed the blades to fall to the floor. Massaging cramping hands she rolled her eyes at her brother's antics.
The fog had lifted and the Academy's true devastation was only now visible. She could see Cross and Yagari slumped at the main gate, Kaito and his group sprawled on the floor in front of a gaping hole in the west wall. Others were stumbling about, their voices echoing in the unearthly silence, every now and then stopping to check on an unmoving body.
Movement in the trees caught her eye. Unsurprisingly the Night Class's white clad figures were quietly vanishing into the forest.
Yori plopped down next to her. Sora silently watched as her dull eyes focused on the same retreating figures. She laughed bitterly. "Why am I not surprised. They're the ones who got us into this mess and now it's over they just up and leave." Her voice was filled with disgust. Sighing, Sora rested her head against Yori's shoulder. "Nothing they do surprises me anymore. I'm just glad that Zero hasn't noticed." Her friend's wordless confusion brought a tired smile to her lips. "You see the larger pack of leeches? At the front is Kuran and next to him is…" "Yuuki." Yori finished quietly "She didn't even bother to say goodbye." Her voice broke on the final word and leaning forward she began to sob bitterly into Sora's dusty hair.
Bandaged and fussed over by the ever annoying Cross, Zero stared up at the tarpaulin covering the makeshift hospital. The Hunters had just finished escorting the battered and bemused Day Class off to their respective homes. The majority had come through physically unscathed but to keep the peace their memories had been 'altered'. Even Cross had known that the world was just not ready to learn that vampires were real. The reports would state that a terrorist had attacked the school for some vague political agenda and had been killed in the aftermath.
None of this mattered to him. Yuuki was gone. She'd slipped away without a word and his last sighting of her would be a flash of hair, as she fled from the scene of Rido's well deserved death. He'd spoken to her only once since her awakening. Bitter words of hate and vengeance answered with a mocking comment worthy of a Kuran.
He wondered idly if he would see her again. Knowing the way her siblings twisted mind worked he had no doubt that his victory would be paraded in front of him on numerous occasions. Covering his face with a raised arm he tried to picture her laughing brown eyes and gently smiling lips. Instead his mind conjured up piercing burgundy lit with a crimson flame and thin lips twisted into a cruel smile.
Bolting upright, body trembling Zero ran a shaking hand over his clammy face. His confused mind filled with an unsettling mixture of anger, betrayal and loss.