Story Note: After turning Yu back into a full human and saving Mirai Kimizuki, Shinoa, Mitsuba, Yu, Mika, Yoichi, Shiho and Mirai started travelling in order to turn Mika back into a human and look for other human societies, maybe even gaining some allies. They come across a fisherman and his adoptive daughter, a human and a vampire, living in a society where human and vampires peacefully coexist.
But the wheels of time keep turning. The future of humanity is the prize of this game of lies and deceit. The Shinoa Squad has to decide who they stand with, as long as they still have a choice, or they might be killed in the upcoming struggle for the fate of this world.
Author's Note: Hi. I don't know how often I'll update so please bear with me. I highly appreciate any reviews and I take them very seriously, so if you don't like something please just let me know. You can review anytime and to any chapter, even if I haven't updated lately.
The sky had turned a fiery red and looked like it was bleeding. In a small house near the ocean a family started settling down for dinner. This family was rather small, for it only consisted of a fisherman and his adopted daughter. The man was setting the table while his daughter cleaned out two of the fish they had caught today.
The girl was a fairly good cook even though she was a vampire and couldn't digest anything but blood. But the least she could do was to make sure that her dad ate properly. She felt like she owed it to him and her late adoptive mother to take care of him as they had done for her.
Just as she was setting the fish into the frying pan and choosing the seasoning she heard someone knocking on their door. That by itself wasn't very unusual. From time to time some of their neighbors came to get some fresh fish. Even so ... it was a bit late for visitors. After all their closest neighbor lived about half an hour away by car and due to the collapse of modern civilization most people despised going by car since it needed fuel, which was quite expensive.
Blood, a scent that accompanied vampires wherever they went. It cut through the clean sea-air and the vampire girl immediately realized that these visitors were strangers and on top of that dangerous ones!
Fearing for her dad's live she raced into the living room, where she pulled the older man behind her and snarled at the teenagers: "Don't you dare to hurt my daddy!"
Soon her blood red eyes found the red eyes of a blond boy and if looks could kill he would be dead ... well, more dead than he was anyway.
They were surprised, of course, and the blond moved to shield a black haired boy that looked very much like him. To defuse the situation the fisherman hugged his adoptive daughter from behind with one arm and ruffled her long dark pink hair with his other, while chiding her: "Now, now, Luna where are your manners? They are guests. And the vampire boy has his own family, don't you see? I guess I'll have to apologize on my daughter's behalf. We don't get that many strangers. Luna, apologize."
But the girl just grimaced. First of all, she didn't like to be ordered around like a stubborn child and secondly ... whatever.
She pushed the man's arm away with the words: "The fish are burning."
After she had vanished in the kitchen she felt a bit guilty about the way she had acted and called out: "Are you staying for dinner?"
The fisherman introduced them as Jiahao Wang and Luna Wang, adoptive father and daughter respectively, and invited the travelling teenagers for dinner too, which they accepted. Then they worked all together to move the furniture so that everyone could sit at the same table. After they had done that everyone but one of the boys sat down and started talking with the grown-up man about well ... actually everything. From why they were travelling and where they came from to what this region of earth is like and how the vampires here behaved.
Yoichi, the short brown haired boy who hadn't sat down, felt bad about leaving one girl to cook for them all so he went into the kitchen to see if she could use another hand.
"Sure. Could you watch the fire and pour more water into the pot, if needed." Luna set their fish into the pan.
Then she remembered that she hadn't really asked his name. "What's your name?"
"S-saotome. Saotome Yoichi."
"Hello Yoichi. I'm Luna but my dad said so anyway. Uhm, I am ... sorry for, you know, earlier."
Yoichi smiled a bit. "It's alright. We all have family to protect and we probably would have reacted the same way. And Luna, Mika isn't a bad guy and he is family to us. He won't hurt your father."
Luna flinched. Had it been so obvious that she was still dwelling on the way she treaded the blond or could this boy read her thoughts? Actually she was embarrassed and revolted by her own actions. How could someone who was promoting peace and friendship between vampires and humans not suppress her instinct to see vampires as a threat to her precious people?
"I... I know ... but... it's just that...," she stuttered. Trying to sort her thoughts Luna shook her head. No, it was her fault!
"I will apologize later," the girl said with determination.
Yoichi smiled. "Ah, that's good! Then all of us can become friends." He seemed oddly happy at this thought.
Luna smiled back at him. When was the last time a complete stranger, moreover a stranger from a place where vampires suppressed humans, wanted to become friends with a vampire? A corner of Luna's mouth shot up and looking into the window glass she saw her reflection. Her face had been caught in something between a smirk and a smile.
"Are you okay?" Yoichi asked and when Luna turned around she had a true smile on her face.
"Yeah!"
Dinner could have been better. Apparently Luna wasn't the only overprotective one here and Mikaela glared at her non-stop. When the human guests praised the meal she thanked them happily. While everyone else was eating Luna busied herself by carving.
She had always admired her foster mother, who was very talented when it came to art. But anytime her husband or Luna tried to convince her to show her intricate flower crowns or stunning drawings at an exhibition she always laughed it off and gave it to a neighbor or sold it for little money to a tourist. Luna herself was hopeless when it came to drawing and she didn't really have the patience to practice. 'It isn't useful enough,' she had said. 'I'd rather see mom's pictures.'
Carving wood was more her thing. After all you can make more than useless decorations, like fishhooks, knife handles and other things. Though, right now she was working on a kitten for one of the children in the City. Even eight years after the virus things hadn't returned to normal and many non-essential things like toys and such had to be made by hand.
The others were talking about what happened in Japan. Luna tried to ignore her growing displeasure at how Krul had handled the situation. No wonder the humans were rebelling and running away at the first chance they get! Humans aren't things. Humans aren't animals.
She ran her hand over the kitten's smooth wooden body. Yes, there was no place she'd be rather at than here. There were not so many vampires around and they didn't get as much blood as they would have liked, but the humans were thriving. Soon the oldest ones would become adults and have children of their own. Luna had done the math eight years ago. The vampire-to-human-ratio was balanced in a way that nobody had to suffer. And because of that, there might not be as many vampires around, but they were accepted as family and friends
When everyone was finished eating Luna got up to take the plates to the sink, but Yoichi stopped her: "Please let us do the washing up."
"Don't worry. I can handle it," the girl said smiling. The humans had stuffed themselves and she was a little bit worried that they might get sick
"No. You have been very kind to us so please let us do this."
Well, if they want to so badly. "Thank you."
And that's why Yoichi, Yuichiro and Mikaela stood in the kitchen while Shiho and Mitsuba build their tents. Luna sat on the couch they had pulled to the table with a sleeping Mirai's head on her lap and tried to ignore the fact that Shiho, whenever he could, was looking through the window to check on his sister. The vampire played a little bit with the redhead's long hair like she had done it with her sister's so long ago. What wouldn't she give for making her young sister love her again?
Jiahao Wang was talking to Shinoa about the vampires in this region and how it happened that they had a good relationship with the local vampires.
"So that progenitor brought you here and told you how to live?"
Jiahao stroked his chin. He did so whenever he had to think about something carefully. "Well, no. Not exactly. You see he got all of us together and explained most of what happened. And then he made us realized each other's needs and supervised the process of forming a government and laws. And one day he simply vanished."
"I guess you were lucky to find a vampire who cared for humans too," Shinoa told him.
Caring, huh? Luna brushed a few strands out of Mirai's face. Deep in thought she leaned back until her head hung at a for humans uncomfortable angle. So they considered it to be 'caring' not to kill them, to save them and most of all not to suppress them and let them make their own choices. Was that all? Those were just logical choices the vampires made. What about feelings or morals? Luna's face had lost its soft expression. Now it was cold like any other vampires and out of the corners of her eyes she saw the doubtful look Shinoa gave her. Did the squad leader think she'd hurt them just because she was a vampire and they were humans? There was no way Luna would start a fight in the house of the family that offered her a home and, most important of all, food.
The three boys came back from the kitchen Yuichiro put a hand on his blond brother's shoulder. What he said would have been too quiet for a human to hear, but Luna was no human.
"Come on Mika. Ask them."
Mikaela just looked at his brother with an expressionless face. He must be one hell of a poker-player, Luna thought.
Then he asked Jiahao: "Do you have any scientific books about vampires or how to turn them back into humans again?"
Again the old man stroked his chin. "Hm. We have one or two books on vampires. You can read Latin, can't you?" When Mikaela nodded he continued: "But I'm not sure if there is anything written about turning vampires back into humans."
As the two men stood before the bookshelves Luna got lost in her thoughts. Everything she knew about her kind and their origins had made her believe that no vampire could become human again. Giving up ones humanity was the price one had to pay for power and immortality. But what if these humans found a way to reverse this process? The consequences it had for the vampire society were unimaginable.
Then Yuichiro startled her by taking a chair and sitting on it propping himself up on his elbows against the backrest. "Ah, I'm sorry," he said at her mildly annoyed look. Then he just sat there looking around and Luna felt his eyes lingering on her more often.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Well …," he squinted. "Have we met before?"
Luna tilted her head. "I don't think so. I haven't been to Japan in a hundred and fifty years."
"I see. I just thought … why does Asuramaru call you 'soror'? What does that mean anyway?"
Luna felt like her stomach was flailing around like a fish out in the air. She struggled for composure and hoped that the visitors wouldn't notice. Was it possible that the demon in Yu's weapon was her precious person? She'd probably have to fight him to find out. The vampire gave a sidelong glance at Yu's weapon in the corner of the room. If Asherah could have chosen in which type of weapon he would be sealed in he would have chosen a katana.
Are you there, Asherah, my little warrior?
A book fell with a loud 'boom' on the table. It was big and its leather cover and yellowish pages made it look like it was very ancient. "Watch the book! It's older than all humans in this house together!" Luna scolded the younger vampire, but he just gave her his signature cold look before opening it.
Yuichiro immediately stood up and looked over his brother's shoulder, only to squint and complain: "I can't read anything of this."
Shinoa, Jiahao and Luna chuckled and the vampire swore Mikaela was cracking a tiny smile. Then the blond vampire searched for a specific page and started reading. Shiho, Mitsuba and Yoichi came back inside to declare the tents ready for moving in. Luna hadn't noticed Yoichi leaving to help his friends. Her age must be getting to her or it was simply her getting tired.
Mikaela scowled and Yuichiro understood his thoughts like only a true brother can. "Don't worry. We'll just keep looking. Do know where we can find a person who knows more about vampires than what is written in this book?" he asked the locals.
The fisherman shot a look at his adoptive daughter but the vampire shook her head. "I have no idea how to turn a vampire back. Maybe Yue knows something. She is the librarian of the City. But currently she is traveling around and nobody would dare to take a book as long as she isn't there."
There were a few other options Luna could think of to gather information on this particular topic by using her influence with other vampires, but for now she would keep silent about that. Luna liked to keep her cards close.
"If you want you can stay with us until she is back," Jiahao added to his daughter's explanation. "She should be back in two weeks' time."
The teenagers looked at each other. And then Shinoa asked: "Can we tell you our decision tomorrow?"
"Sure," the older man smiled. "Breakfast is at eight o'clock and we'll go fishing after that." With a glance at the still sleeping Mirai he added: "And now you kids should go to sleep. Sleep is important for growth after all."
Shiho had just picked up his younger sister when Yuichiro teased Shinoa: "Say, Shinoa. Is that the reason why you stayed so small?"
The lavender haired girl turned around with a twitching eyebrow. "Did you say something Yu?"
Then Shiho warned Yuichiro: "Hey Yu, cut it out. Remember what happened before Shinjuku."
Mitsuba was getting impatient. She shoved Shinoa and Yuichiro outside. "Get a move on, you slowpokes! You can squabble about that tomorrow!"
"Waah~, Mitsu is grumpy when she's sleepy~," Shinoa sang.
After them Yoichi, Shiho and Mika said good night and walked out. "They are a really lively bunch," Jiahao happily said and hugged his daughter with one arm.
She smiled in agreement. But looking at her dad's face made her regret what happened and she cursed her own inability to stop the virus-outbreak from happening. Her dad shouldn't have to lead such a solitary life! Right now she would give anything for his wife to be with them. She also would have loved these teenagers.
Then she remembered. She hadn't even yet apologized to Mikaela for treating him like he was her mortal enemy! Luna swiftly pushed the man's arm away and ran outside.
"Mikaela, please wait for a second!"
The male vampire turned around at looked at her with cold red eyes.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I behaved. It wasn't fair of me to judge you simply based on the fact that you are a vampire. I am sorry." Although her cheeks were a little bit red, Luna's gaze never wavered.
For a second Mikaela looked surprised but when the offered him her hand in reconciliation he shook it.
"Have a good night, Mikaela."
And then he said softly: "You too."
Walking back inside Luna found a tiny red unblinking star in the sky. Well, actually it was a planet she came to associate with her biological father. Her face turned into a cruel mask complete with an eerie smirk. 'And what do you think now? You were wrong, oh so wrong, about everything! Humans and vampires can live together. I will prove it and make clear once and for all that I am not a piece in your games!'
Almost two thousand years a baby was left on a temple's doorsteps in a village belonging to the Roman Empire. That very small temple had been dedicated to Mars, god of war and agriculture. At first the priests weren't very happy about this matter.
"This is a temple and not an orphanage. And besides, while Mars does protect the people, he does not take responsibility for every child. Such is Juno's holy duty."
There was a temple of Juno in a neighboring village just a day away. But the child already smelled and a priest took pity on her. It would be very inhumane not to tend to its needs for a day and he took it to his brother's home, where he discovered two things: This was a girl and she had red eyes and reddish purple hair.
Red was Mars signature color. The color of blood, spilled in war. The color of fire, that warmed every families home. And purple was the color only the Emperors were meant to wear. He took her back to his fellow priests and his conclusion was that this girl was a daughter of Mars, maybe even of Mars and Venus (who was married to the god Vulcan, the reason why her parents had to abandon her). The other priests were doubtful and decided to write to the main temple of Mars in Rome. Until they had their answer the girl would remain with the brother and sister-in-law of that one priest.
Six years went by and the girl flourished in the care of these farmers. She became stronger and faster than a human, which wasn't very surprising since was a demigod (or perhaps even a goddess). After she saved her playmates from a bear, the village came to terms with her rather unusual nourishment. After all if she took blood from a different person on each day the burden it placed on their bodies wasn't much. But then a message came from the main temple. It said that "the King of the Night" claimed to be her father and he would come to get her.
The farmers cried a lot, since they could not stand against a royal's wish.
"If I don't like him I will beat him up," the girl declared to cheer her foster parents up.
But they franticly tried to get these ideas out of her head. "No, no, no! You can't do that! You are Mars' daughter! Promise me that you will only use your powers for protection!"
A month later the dreaded carriage arrived and when a man stepped outside the whole village was ready to believe that he was the child's father, Mars himself. He was tall and handsome with messy blood red hair and he had the same red eyes as the girl. He crouched down.
"Filia mea te saluto. I've been looking for you."
His mouth formed a smile, but his eyes didn't. The girl didn't notice it anyway. She was completely mesmerized by the two canines. Just like hers, they were longer and sharper than a regular human's teeth. There was no denying that they were family.
Mars's smile faltered when two tears ran down her cheeks. One tear was because of her sadness. These people had been her family for as long as she could remember and now she had to leave them … forever. The other tear was a happy tear. Finally she had found her true origins and a place to belong, someone who would accept her and teach her.
She had come home.
Based on the size of Mika's bloodflasks (chapter 11 or episode 9), the guess that one glass equals one day's worth of blood and my chemistry knowledge (the bloodflasks actually resemble a test tube used in chemistry very closely) I guessed that a vampire would need 20 mL of blood per day (but they can drink more or go one or two days without any blood). That means they drink 7.305L per year! An average healthy human can donate blood 5 times a year each time 450mL (= 2.250L per year). Based on that, it apparently takes about 3-4 humans per vampire for the vampire not to starve and the humans not to die of blood loss.
