A/N: Hello!

So to long time readers of my work... um, my hand slipped? Don't worry though; Whispers will be getting its update soon but I thought I'd drop this now and see how it does.

I have to say, out of the fanfiction I've done so far, this is the one I'd change character names and descriptions and get it published. I actually think its better detailed than a lot of my previous works and the original fics I've been working on! Strange...

So, new year, renewed interest in fanfiction, new story. Fingers crossed this one goes well!

Thanking in advance for reading this. Reviews will be much appreciated! -Rosa xx

The Housekeeping Part - there is BL/yaoi/slash/whatever you want to refer to it as (I'm sure you know this by now). There will be blood. There will be swearing. There will (most likely) be scenes of a sexual nature. And for once I'm actually going to try and incorporate Disney characters rather than just have them as background characters like I normally do.

And no, my vampires do not sparkle like diamonds (I believe that's the quote?). I mean... really? What are Twilight vampires made from? Carbon? (I am right in thinking that it's Twilight vampires that sparkle? I never deigned to read the books in full (I read a paragraph...and I think I was rather insulted that it had as much attention as it did (I dont't know it was a long time ago when I did read that snippet...) but heard a lot about them when it was in its zeitgeist.)

What I will be doing is playing around with the vampire mythos. It'll be fun!

It had all started with a book.

The book itself looked innocuous enough. Dark grey leather binding, silvery embossed letters that declared itself as 'Ignes Fatui: Another Side' and a rather fascinating sigil that looked like intertwined hearts that bled into sharp stylized crosses. Most curiously though was the Roman numeral 'VI' was also embossed on the spin of the book, as if suggesting that it was the sixth book of a series. For Zexion, a lover and collector of unusual books, this would have been enough for him to purchase it, but it was just where he had found it that had made the book irresistible.

His cousin always had thought it was weird for Zexion to be hanging out at a second hand book store that specialised in the occult, but Zexion's small legion of online followers loved it when he wrote about any unusual books he found while scouring the shelves of his regular haunts. And he needed a pay check quickly; energy bills didn't pay for themselves after all. One of the upsides of being a freelancer on the online magazine scene he supposed was that once you had established yourself, work had a tendency to find you rather than the other way around, all pitches for work aside. On top of that, he genuinely was curious about the book, and after having a quick flick at the front, his interest was piqued; not a story or a history, but it looked like it was once someone's personal spell book – or 'Book of Shadows' to be more precise. That had questions popping up in Zexion's mind. Who would give away or sell off something so personal to them? And was this a sixth iteration... or a sixth book in a series of Books of Shadow that they had? And of course, what sort of person were they?

Faster than Zexion could have a chance to back out, he had purchased it and was soon taking it home to study in greater detail.

And that was pretty much how his once normal life turned upside down. All because he had purchased that damned book.

"It looks creepy." Zexion fought back the urge to roll his eyes as his cousin announced for what felt like the umpteenth time his displeasure about his latest acquisition. He had to admit that this was the first time that Sora looked more prepared to poke the book with a stick rather than touch it himself; previous 'creepy' books that he had bought usually ended up being fondled by Sora as if he were checking for booby-traps.

"So you said. It still doesn't change the fact that it's here." Zexion supped a little at his coffee, his clear aqua eyes glancing at Sora accusingly. "More to the point, how the hell did you get into my apartment... again?"

"Sheesh! You gave me a key remember?! You said that I was allowed to come here after school if I wanted to!" Sora frowned, his pout wrapping around the straw that was bobbing about in his soda can. Cactaur Cola, per usual. Zexion didn't know how the boy could drink the stuff given how full of sugar it was. "Not to mention that it's impossible to do anything when Vanitas is at home. You can't even game in peace without some sort of metal band screaming the roof off."

"Not exactly my problem if you can't get your brother to respect your occasional need for quiet." Zexion then sighed, putting his coffee down on the low table. He pushed a coaster over to Sora, silently reminding him to not put his can on the table. "Besides, I said you could come over if you needed somewhere quiet to do your homework. Not to goof off and criticise my book collection."

"Details, details," Sora waved him off dismissively. Though his deep blue eyes furtively flickered over to the book again before returning to look at Zexion. "...I don't have a good feeling about that book."

"Hm? Where is this coming from?" Zexion asked. Well this was new to him. Sora never used to offer something that ominous of an opinion about his choice of reading material.

"I don't know...call it a hunch. I think you ought to get rid of it quickly." Sora put his can down -on the coaster after a tutting cough stopped him from placing it directly on the table. "It's not just eerie. It's... it's got this really evil vibe coming off of it if you ask me." He then shuddered visibly. "I don't even want to touch it."

"It's just a book Sora," Zexion pointed out. He picked it up. "A mysterious book that I want to find out as much as I can about it, but a book nonetheless. Even if it has a link to the occult, you know I'm only interested in it from a purely academic level." He then laughed. "Besides, there's no such thing as the supernatural, right?"

Sora's hesitance then had been read as an annoyance that Zexion was treating him like a child. In hindsight, he probably should have read deeper into that silence that was followed by a non-committal, "I guess..."

"I'll be fine Sora," Zexion assured him. "Tell you what, I'll pour salt around my apartment tonight to keep the evil spirits away if that makes you feel better." He felt his mouth quirk into a rare teasing smile; it was the sort of expression he only really saved for his younger cousin. "Okay?"

Sora mumbled something; even with Zexion's exceptionally good hearing he could only make out something along the lines of "...as if... that easy...".

"You said something?"

"Oh! Nothing! Just make sure you get every nook and cranny! You wouldn't want to make it too easy after all!"

Zexion chuckled lightly into his hand. "It's a promise. If I do end up horribly mauled by some demon or other, you can have my creepy book collection."

"There is no way that either is happening!" Sora exclaimed, and Zexion couldn't tell what horrified Sora more: the prospect of his cousin being horribly mauled, or inheriting Zexion's vast collection of occult tomes.

Honestly, he had thought, what a child he's being about it.

The sun was starting to set when Sora finally left Zexion's apartment, the teenager stuffing his hands firmly into his baggy trouser pockets while his trainers scuffed along the stairs. The autumn air was still, though the scent of fallen leaves was still hanging heavy. October wasn't too far away now... and with it the one night of the year people like him would dread.

"So... is it it?" a new voice queried just as Sora placed his feet on the street. Sora sighed, half in irritation about how infuriating it was to just not tell Zexion his life was potentially in danger... and half in frustration with himself for not thinking of a better way to get that book out of his cousin's apartment.

"It didn't just have creepy written all over it. It had it in neon lights," Sora grumbled, looking over to his companion. To anyone else, they would have just looked like two teens hanging out on a school night when they really should be thinking of heading home. But to those who knew... and who could look between the lines of normality and the paranormal... they'd be able to tell that Sora's friend was not human.

There was a reason why Riku chose to look like a teenage boy than go walking around in full daemon form. Though there was nothing he could do about his serpentine blue eyes; nothing but put contacts over them so to hide the fact that he had slit pupils rather than ordinary round ones. The daemon sighed, scratching the back of his head of silvery hair. "It's never simple is it..." he grumbled. They started walking. "Just our luck that it lands in our stomping grounds though... and so close to you on a personal level on top of it."

"Certainly makes the whole 'I need you to get rid of this book for your own safety' talk a bit more difficult given who it is we're talking about," Sora groaned lightly. "And I know if I swiped it he'd be asking me hard questions."

"Well, if you tried it you certainly would have made yourself the prime target," Riku pointed out. "You should have just played it cool. I bet you were all over it like a rash."

"Was not!" Sora shuddered as a cold gust suddenly blustered up his back. Riku didn't even flinch; daemons were impervious to the cold. "...there's also that teeny tiny problem of it's curse as well. There was no way in hell I was touching that."

"Didn't the Master explicitly state to you that there's no actual proof that that curse is real?" Riku reminded him.

"Yeah well I don't want to risk it! Can you imagine me having that creepy thing everywhere I went?!"

"You are literally the last person that book would want to follow around."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

He'd been only following that pair in hope of gathering a bit more information, but all that conversation had done was confirm that, yes, he had indeed messed up spectacularly and that he was in for it now. At least now that they were coming into twilight hours they could move a bit more freely than they could do during the day. It still didn't solve the problem of how he was meant to get the book quietly without any interested parties knowing, especially now when he was dealing with a good old fashioned mortal human.

He turned into the alleyway that had a good view of the building the book was in now, waving to his friend who had taken up watch while he had gone off on his recon. He was flicking his fire lighter off and on; obviously he was a little tense about how off course this once easy job had gone. "Well... how screwed are we?"

"Pretty damn screwed," he replied, pulling his black hood down to reveal his dirty blond hair. "The guy who bought it is a mortal, but his cousin's a hunter."

"Well shit."

"And he's got a daemon partner."

"Double shit." The lighter flicked closed. "Got a third to make it the charm?"

"Luckily that's where it ends." He sighed a little, looking over to the building. "...not really sure how to proceed if I'm honest."

"Flexible thinking Demyx," his friend grinned from under his hood. He could see the pointed canines of his teeth as the smile peeked out from the darkness. "We could either play into the dumb cliches and go full Dracula on his ass, or we charm the living daylights out of him. Or we try to use your handy little trick. You know, if there's enough water."

"I'd rather avoid giving him water damages or going full Dracula on him..." He grimaced at the thought of having to somehow get inside and terrifying the poor guy. "Urgh... did they send the wrong guy..."

"And this is exactly why you get all the crap from the others." He then jolted. "Hey... can you smell that?"

"Yeah," Demyx murmured, sniffing the air. Although subtle to the point of invisibility for humans, to creatures like them this smell was all too distinct. The smell of decay mingled with the tang of blood. "...what are Nobodies doing around here? And this early?"

"No clue," his friend replied. "But if there are Nobodies hanging about then we're going to have to put that human's safety as the priority."

Demyx nodded his head, and hoped that the Nobodies would just pass by for now.

Zexion stretched out as he finished off the article on his laptop, feeling his neck crack a little as he stretched out the stiffness. With a quick glance of the clock on his laptop, he realised he'd been at this article for about three hours since Sora finally left. "Forgot dinner again..." he muttered. With another big sigh, he got up from his desk and trudged over to his kitchenette, guessing it would be cup noodles again tonight.

He paused as he caught a glimpse of his new book on the low table. Come to think of it, he'd yet to have a proper look at it. He'd do it while waiting for his meal to be ready. He continued on, put the kettle on, and then returned to the low table, picking it up as he sat down on the sofa. "Alright then... let's see what you're about," he murmured, glad that he was alone in here. He was aware that it would appear a little odd to anyone seeing him talking to a book. He opened to the first page, frowning a little in annoyance.

The Master of the Book of Retribution is... After that, it was blank. "Well, we can at least ascertain that whoever wrote this clearly had an ego to call this the Book of Retribution," Zexion commented. "And call themselves the master of it." He didn't get the feeling that any of his online followers, or at least the ones who claimed that they were practising witches, were the kind of people that would be this egotistical in their own Book of Shadows. Still though, it'd be interesting to see what kind of spells this particular witch had put in their personal book.

He was about to turn the page at this point when a familiar sharp sting erupted in his fingers. "Ow! Another paper cut?!" he growled in annoyance, bringing his finger up just as a drop of blood fell. It plopped onto the page, followed by two more. "Well that's annoying," he grimaced while sucking on his finger. His annoyance though soon turned into alarm. "What... the...?"

Both of them had smelt it, causing them both to jerk in alarm. "You... you smell that right?"

"As if I couldn't," his friend replied. "An X-class... here?!"

"Not just an X-class, but an X-class that's used magic," Demyx gulped. "Wait... you don't think...!"

Zexion could only watch in stunned silence as those drops of blood seeped into the yellowing page and wriggle up to the dedication like snakes. He must be hallucinating... he had to be hallucinating. Too much work, not enough food. Surely! But still he couldn't tear his eyes away as the blood reached the dedication and started to form a name in his own handwriting.

The Master of the Book of Retribution is... Zexion Driscoll.

"What the hell is going on?!" He screeched in surprise just as the glass of his windows shattered. He didn't know why, but his first reaction was to grab the book and protect it. It made even less sense to him when he dared to look up, gasping at the sight crawling into his apartment.

Although the form looked human enough, the way the grey body coiled and wriggled about was definitely not human. And the head! It looked like a mask, but when the zipper of it's mouth came undone, he was greeted with rows of grey sharp teeth. I have to be hallucinating! He grabbed the closest thing to hand – the coffee mug he'd been using earlier – and launched it at the creature. The creature only contorted itself out of the mug's trajectory; it smashed on the wall. Zexion was on his feet just as a tendril-like arm whipped itself in his direction, his arm still firmly around the book as he dived out of the way. A nightmare... this is crazy... these things aren't real! I'll wake up in a minute and be sprawled out on my desk! He managed to duck out of harm's way as the tendril whipped over his head again, grimacing as things clattered and smashed onto the floor. It was getting closer, it's sharp teeth glistening in a coat of saliva as it loomed over him. Zexion found himself rooted to the spot, willing his body to move but unable to, eyes locked on in horror as it got close enough that he could smell it's pungent breath.

"Not today buddy!" Zexion barely had time to process what was going on as a water spout seemed to appear out of nowhere and smack the creature away from him. "Sorry! Gonna be entering now without permission, etc. etc.!" the new voice called out from the window.

A hooded figure was now in the middle of his battered apartment, and the figure was moving over to put themselves firmly between Zexion and the creature. This... this must be some sort of dream. "That thing... it's..."

"Scary as hell. Yeah. I know." The figure turned, grinning at him. Although the hood partially hid his face, Zexion could see the grin and a few strands of sandy blonde hair... and the grin had fangs. "I can be scarier if I try." They then turned back to the creature that was starting to recover. "...I'll get this thing out of here. I'll be borrowing the water though." At his words, Zexion heard pipes bursting as water spouted out from all sorts of places; even the remaining droplets from Zexion's smashed coffee mug were bring pulled towards the figure.

This... this is some dream I'm having, was his first thought as all that water formed a ball in front of the hooded figure. When I wake up from this, I need to remember as much about this dream as possible. Maybe I'll write a story about it.

"Hey... Dusk," the figure started, putting their hand into the ball. "Don't be mad, 'kay?" In an explosion of sound and movement, the water ball suddenly launched in a jet stream at the pouncing grey creature, punching it through the wall and into the street. "A-Ah... too much?" the figure laughed uneasily. "Sorry 'bout that. I was aiming for the window."

"OI, BUBBLEBRAIN!" a loud voice bellowed in anger from the street. "YA TRYIN' TO GET US INTO TROUBLE?!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" the figure called back. "My bad!"

Zexion could only stare at the hole in his wall. That... that had definitely sounded real. "Who... just who the hell are you?" he whispered, not sure what to believe at this point. He was still hoping this was all a very animated protracted dream. That's when he caught that horrible scent again... and heard something slither. He turned and saw that there was another one of those creatures. From the sound of it, so had the figure with him.

"Crap! How did that get in here?!" Zexion felt himself get grabbed by the waist. "Sorry for water damages and for not explaining what's going on but I got to get you out of here!"

"Wa-Wait!"

"No can do!" The figure was practically cradling him as they dashed towards the hole. Zexion wasn't even able to find his voice to scream as they were suddenly soaring into the street. He gripped onto book and figure tightly, exclaiming in shock when he heard the street crunch under them once the figure landed. The hood flew off at this point.

His -saviour? Possible kidnapper?- rescuer's sandy hair was styled in an odd manner. Something reminiscent of an 80s mullet, only with flyaway bangs. But it was his eerily bright teal eyes that had caught his attention; they seemed to be glowing. He looked down, beaming brightly at Zexion. "You okay? Not hurt or anything, right?"

"Uh..." Not one to be at a loss for words, Zexion found that his brain was failing him. Not really surprising given what had happened.

"Stop flirting and start fighting," the other voice growled. Zexion turned to see it was another figure, but unlike the young man that had saved him earlier, this figure seemed to have a much thinner, bonier body judging by the skin-tight fit of their outfit. It was also only now that Zexion realised that they were far from safe. Whatever that creature that had first attacked him was, it had brought company. The stench assailed his nostrils and he fought his hardest not to gag. "Geez... why do all the nice jobs turn icky for us eventually?" the gravelly voice of the figure grumbled.

"Bad luck?" the blond man suggested.

"Guess so." The creatures launched themselves with blood curdling screams. Zexion felt the blond flinch. The man in the hood didn't, just sighed in a long-suffering manner. "Whelp, time to get to work." There was a metallic sound, followed by a sudden explosion of heat. Zexion's eyes widened.

"Fire..." He didn't want to believe it, but fire was now engulfing the creatures, the putrid smell becoming worse as the grey, writhing bodies blackened.

"Demyx, I'm leaving our X-class friend here in your care," the hooded man said. He reached down to his belt, where two wheels of spikes had been resting. "I'm gonna cook a few more of these wannabes."

"Just watch yourself." The blond man lifted his hand up again, and once more water from every possible source was coming towards them. Mostly from the sewers. He half expected the blond man to start shooting water jets at the creatures again, but instead he lifted his hand high above his head. As if answering to some silent command, the water pooling around them shot up, creating a barrier. "There we go. Safe so long as I can keep it up."

"Would you tell me what on earth is going on?!" Zexion demanded.

"Ah... yeah... about that... that might take a while to explain," the blond grinned uneasily. Zexion noticed through the haze of water that two bright red lights were speeding about, with the sound of roaring fire following after them. Sometimes brighter lights would appear like a pillar. "Might be better to just let Axel do his thing... I mean, he'll make quick work of these guys..." He seemed to be talking more to himself than to Zexion at this point. "...meh, better him than me. I don't like getting sweaty anyway."

"Hardly answers my question," Zexion frowned.

"All I'm saying is that don't you worry," the blond said in an overly cheery voice. "You'll get your answers as soon as my friend finishes off the Dusks... ah! Those are the creatures that are attacking us, but more on them later, 'kay? Right now I gotta make sure you're protected. Especially given that... well... the circumstances have changed a bit."

"You're making less and less sense." He tried to shrug off the man's arm but he was deceptively strong; Zexion was by no means weak but he was struggling to even lift it away.

"Hey come on now, don't be mad. I went to a lot of trouble to make sure that you-" He paused suddenly, as if he had sensed something. "Uh oh." Zexion yelped as Demyx suddenly lifted him up again and launched out of their barrier. The water crashed onto the ground, and where they had been was a pile of those Dusks. "HEY LAVAHEAD! WORK FASTER WILL YA?!"

"WHY DON'T YOU ACTUALLY HELP ME OUT HERE BUBBLEBRAIN!" his friend -Axel wasn't it?- demanded. Zexion could now see that his weapons were completely covered in fire but he himself seemed unaffected by their ferocious heat. He was slashing his way through Dusks as if they were paper, bursting into flame as he went.

Demyx frowned. "Ugh... sweaty work... fine..." His hand jerked up, water once more pooling to his hand before being used as if it were a cannon. Jet after jet hit Dusks, causing any who came close to them to lose limbs or find themselves with huge holes in their bodies.

Zexion could only watch, not even blinking as the destruction happened around them. "What is going on...?" His hold on the book tightened. This...? Was it because of this book?

"Dammit! There's no end to these punks!" Axel's voice roared in annoyance.

"Keep going! There can't be too many more of them!" Demyx called back. Even though they were ringing in his ears, at the same time they felt so far away as Zexion looked down at the book.

All this because of a book? Just what the hell is it? He didn't know at what point his mind started to accept the possibility that this might not be a dream... or if his mind had started to run with it and weave some sort of explanation into the dream's narrative. All he could think of was trying to make sense what this book... this Book of Retribution... was all about. Think Zexion... you're in the middle of a fight between two... wizards? Maybe they are wizards... and a hoard of... I guess they're undead? Well, they called them Dusks, but it seems they're from a bigger group... possibly? Now why would a book warrant this much chaos... because it's not just some spell book... it's a grimoire... 'Retribution'... He turned the book in his hands so that the weaving sigils and title were facing him. 'Retribution' primary meaning is "punishment on someone as vengeance for a wrong or criminal act" according to the Oxford Dictionary... this might mean that the grimoire is extremely powerful... His hand moved to take the cover edge. He hadn't even realised that his feet had started to move. I could use it... I could use it against them...

Demyx winced as one Dusk got a little too close for comfort, feeling himself grow tired. He must have been using too much energy again... and it looked like Axel was starting to slow down as well. He guessed that they were getting desperate to send this many low ranking Nobodies to find the book. Maybe it was time to honour the most noblest of traditions of a tactical retreat. He was about to get a hold of Zexion but found that he was grabbing at air. "Huh...?" He glanced to the side of him, noticing only now that Zexion had moved ahead of him with a trance-like expression on his features. The shorter man's normally aqua eyes had gone white and the book was opened. "Crap!" Was the book already trying to influence him?!

A Dusk launched itself at Zexion. Demyx didn't even think about it as he threw himself between the Dusk and the human. "ZEXION!"

How does he know my name...? had been the first thought in the haze. But reality seemed to come crashing back down to him as he watched the blond man throw himself in front of him, taking a direct hit from a Dusk that had been about to attack.

The blond man lifted his hand and a powerful water jet sent the Dusk flying backwards into obliteration, taking a few more down with it.

The blond man bent over a little, a hacking cough leaving him as his body jerked in agony. Zexion could see in the dim street light that he had coughed up deep red blood.

The blond man fell to his knees, still coughing, and it was only now that Zexion could see that part of his black jacket had been torn to shreds. He then lifted his head slightly, looking over his shoulder at Zexion. "You okay...?" he managed to get out, blood seeping from mouth.

The book clattered to the floor as Zexion put his hands over his mouth. What... what was I doing...? How did this happen?! He moved to catch Demyx as he seemed to keel over. "Hey! Hey! Get up!" But it seemed useless; Demyx was grimacing in pain, a large gaping wound seeping blood on the lower right of his abdomen, the jacket and shirt around the area shredded. Zexion tried to use the tattered rags to stop the bleeding after laying him down, his mind going into autopilot. "Demyx right?! Come on! You have to hold on!"

"Watch out!" Zexion looked up to see more Dusks coming for them, but Axel rushed at them, his weapons still on fire as he put himself firmly between the Dusks and them. He looked like he was starting to struggle judging how hard he was breathing, but he was practically oozing with determination. "Man... useless hunter kid and his equally useless daemon partner... would've thought that they'd be here by now... unless something is purposely blocking their senses..." Zexion would have thought this was the mutterings of a madman if the circumstances themselves weren't so bizarre. "...where's a miracle when you really need one...?" Zexion was about to ask what he meant when at that point street lights started going out. Axel in response to this was to laugh a little. "Well whaddya know... ask and you shall receive..."

It was as if the whole world had gone quiet, with only footsteps walking through the puddles and debris left behind by the fire and water wielders echoing in his ears. The Dusks seemed to be hesitant, wriggling and writhing a short distance away from them as if they were considering to attack or not. Axel lowered his stance; his weapons were burning brighter than ever. "What's the matter? Lost your nerve now that he's here?" he taunted.

If Axel had intended to provoke the Dusks into attacking, it certainly worked on one brave Dusk. It charged at him... and it was at that moment that Zexion felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

It had been faster than anyone could see. In a shot of blue, electric light, another figure had appeared, slicing the Dusk in two while an electrical barrage went hurtling straight for the group of Dusks that had stayed behind. Zexion could tell that this new figure was clearly very powerful... the energy that had arrived was causing everything to go static and the remaining Dusks were wriggling about in a panic.

"Disgusting things..." came a low, male voice. The figure stood up to his full height, letting his weapon fall to his side. It was an odd thing... it looked like a sword, and yet the handle definitely was that of a revolver. "...how's Demyx?"

"You're in time. But those Dusks are going to cause us problems if we let them escape," Axel reported. "I've got enough energy left to take them out if you'd like."

"No need," the man said, looking over his shoulder. In the dim light, Zexion could only just make out the features, but he could see an eye that was practically glowing silver. "You protect Demyx, the human and the book. I'll take out the trash." He began to approach the quivering group, prowling like a lion on the hunt for his prey.

Once again Zexion was left wondering just what sort of fever dream he must be in. The newcomer was moving faster than Zexion could keep up, sending most Dusks flying while others ended up being crushed under his heel. He swore he heard gunfire yet there didn't seem to be bullets anywhere; instead his sword was glowing between ice blue and electric yellow.

The massacre was over almost as fast as it had begun, with only one solitary Dusk left quivering in fear, clearly too scared to run for it. Zexion held back a gasp as the merciless man with glowing silver eyes thrust his weapon into the poor creatures head. He flicked it off as it were just some dirt on it.

"Overkill much Leon," Axel grumbled. "You could have left me one or two."

"You're losing energy and Demyx is currently incapacitated. It was more efficient to get rid of them all in one fell swoop." The man -Leon- approached them now. There seemed to be some sort of black spattering on his face and across his white shirt... Zexion concluded that this was probably the blood of the Dusks. He felt Leon's eyes on him. "...I'm assuming that the book's curse took effect."

"Yup," Axel sighed. "Though right now that's not my biggest worry here. You know... our blood brother is kinda bleeding out from trying to protect the human from getting himself killed."

"I noticed that." Leon's gaze was still fixed on Zexion. "...I also smell X-class blood."

"That'll be the human too." Axel then paused. "Wait a minute... you're not seriously suggesting..."

"We don't have any better options right now. We can't move Demyx far in his state." Leon bent down onto his haunches, his gaze still unbroken. Zexion couldn't remember if either of them blinked or not. "...you've been trying to stop him from bleeding out."

"Y...Yes," Zexion answered lamely.

"What if I told you could do something to make sure he has a full recovery?" the man asked him calmly. "Something only you could do right now."

Zexion hesitated, glancing down to Demyx who was groaning as if under torture. The wound was deep... it was enough to make him worry that he might bleed out completely. And it'd be my fault... "What... what would I have to do?"

"Offer blood." Zexion baulked at the matter-of-fact delivery of the answer. The man raised an eyebrow. "Surely by now you've gathered that we're vampires, right?"

"Uhh... Leon," Axel interjected, "It's been dark, he's seen something he probably thinks is magic, and I doubt he's seen the dentistry in all this." Dentistry... the fangs... Demyx has fangs... "He's probably thinking we were wizards or something. But hey, maybe you're right O Supreme Overlord."

"Knock it off Axel," Leon frowned heavily. He then turned back to Zexion. "Well?"

"You're... vampires?"

"Yes."

"Which means you drink blood."

"Preferably if its volunteered human blood," Leon answered. "We don't force others to do it if they don't want to."

"And you're saying... that Demyx will pull through if I volunteer my blood?"

"Hey, Leon are you sure about this?" Axel queried.

"If it becomes an issue, I'll take the responsibility. Right now Demyx is my primary concern." Leon's lips, which had been in a steady stoic line, finally quirked in one corner into what Zexion supposed was a smile. "Will you do it?"

Zexion glanced between Leon, Demyx and the book. All this because of a book... He then surmised that since this was a dream, surely he was going to wake up from it in a moment. Surely... right...? "...I'll do it." He reached up for the roll of his turtleneck, but Leon took his wrist instead, pushing the sleeve up with a swift jerk. It caused Zexion to flinch in surprise.

"We don't require the neck. The wrist is good enough." Leon looked over to Axel. "Get Demyx to sit up."

"Yeah yeah, don't need to tell me that." Axel moved behind them, hauling Demyx into a sitting position carefully while grunting, "Come on buddy... up you go." Demyx was practically like a ragdoll at this point, despite clutching at his side. Leon then moved Zexion's wrist to Demyx's mouth.

"Just bite Demyx," Leon ordered. "Don't worry about consequences for now." Zexion wondered what Leon meant by that. Was there something special about his blood? He had been referred to as an X-class a few times now...

Zexion gasped in shock when he felt fangs sink into his wrist at that exact moment, his eyes watching in horrified fascination as Demyx latched on. It was an odd sensation... he could feel blood rushing up into Demyx's mouth once his fangs detached, yet it wasn't completely unpleasant. Though he was starting to feel a little light headed. "Easy Demyx... don't rush it," Leon's voice rumbled assuringly. "Don't drink him dry... we're going to need him alive." Zexion's eyelids drooped... he felt dizzy... the street seemed to be swaying under them. Ah... this must be it... the moment I finally can wake up... He smiled weakly. Yes... waking up... from this long nightmare... this long horrible nightmare... need to remember as much as I can... so I can write a book out of it... Demyx finally released Zexion's wrist. The last thing Zexion remembered thinking before he had passed out was, at least this was all just a dream.

Leon just about managed to pull the short man back to him before he completely passed out on the floor, tutting a little when his head of slate hair thudded against his chest. "Well, at least that answers that question about just how much experience he has with vampires."

Axel nodded his head, throwing Demyx's arm around his shoulders as he attempted to lift the blond up onto his feet. "Still... an X-class was here this whole time and no one realised? Seems a little suspect to me."

"For now I'm just grateful he was here and he was untouched." Leon raised the human's punctured wrist up and licked along the puncture wounds so to encourage them to seal up. Demyx obviously hadn't thought of it in his condition. "We'll have to tread carefully from here on out. Both of them need their rest."

"What are we gonna do if it gets out that Demyx touched the X-class first?" Axel asked. Leon by this point had slid an arm under the human's knees and the other supported his back; the Book of Retribution was in the human's lap. He lifted him up with ease. Not that it was hard anyway, the vampire thought, he's a little underweight as it is. "I mean... your Gramps is a stickler for the rules."

"If it gets out, then I'll just have to tell him that it was an emergency and I ordered it. There's not much he can do about that even if he is my grandfather." Leon looked over to the building where the most damage was. Luckily it seemed that if there were humans up that they hadn't really thought much of the explosions or the lights going off; humans were probably the most oblivious creatures in all creation after all, willing to explain things off with logical arguments such as power cuts and neighbours watching loud TV shows. Though he knew that they'd have to get The Coven involved to hide the events of tonight. There was no hiding an apartment that had a massive hole in its wall and broken windows. "We'll use the apartment. I'll stay here and guard the pair. You go and inform The Coven what happened. No doubt they'll send word to the clan on our behalf."

"Sounds good to me... I hate to admit this, but I don't think I could go through another swarm like that on my own."

Leon nodded his head in understanding... though he didn't fancy his chances against a small army like that either. Dusks were the easiest to get rid of, but in large numbers he was sure he'd be struggling... and he was the highest ranking vampire of the three. "They must be getting desperate for them to send that many Dusks for it..."