Chapter 2: Bloodlust

It was important to remember that every puppet had strings, whether they were visible or not.

Ferid Bathory was standing near the edge of a stone balcony, both hands folded behind his back. The sky above had a ceiling, by which he meant that the surface of the world formed the roof of the city in which they resided. He was currently located within the vampiric city of Tenebris-Lux, a relatively isolated establishment far from the war front, which was rapidly deteriorating beneath the continued onslaught of the Imperial Demon Army.

Indeed, though Ferid himself had been the one to supply enough information to the humans for them to complete the Seraph of the End, he found it amusing just how much raw power the livestock had acquired in such a small amount of time. He might have even miscalculated the effect the Seraph would have on the tempo of the war; it was entirely possible that the humans would eradicate every vampire from Japan before he was ready.

Well, that would only serve to make things all the more interesting.

Something flickered at the edge of his vision, and he turned to see that the King of Japan was taking another sip from his glass of blood, stirring it absentmindedly in one hand while his eyes saw off into the far distant future. He was sitting at a small table against the edge of the balcony, one leg crossed over the other, as he quietly contemplated the state of his reign.

"Tell me, Ferid," he said in his deceptively childlike voice, "Why is it that the same blood tastes different depending on the drinker?"

The seventh progenitor smiled slightly, a single fang poking through his upper lip. "I couldn't say, my king. I would assume there is some psychological explanation to it."

"Mph. Psychology. Damn humans and their science," the king muttered, taking another sip of the blood.

"Well, they are currently winning the war," Ferid pointed out airily, punctuating it with an exaggerated sigh.

"Mmm." Third progenitor Lest Karr set his glass down and peeked over the edge of the balcony instead, taking in the sight offered by the terrifying drop below.

There, literal miles below them, a river of molten lava carved its way through the underbelly of Tenebris-Lux. Its harsh orange glow radiated all the way up to where Lest was sitting, and he could feel the heat on his face even at this great distance. He supposed he shouldn't be particularly impressed. It was the meaning behind this city's namesake, after all. Tenebris-Lux translated loosely to 'darkness with light.'

It was supposed to be one of the Japanese vampires' safest havens, buried so far beneath the bedrock that the original builders had accidentally burrowed beneath the vein of a dormant volcano, and were forced to stop. Tenebris-Lux was situated about as far south as one could get without actually leaving the mainland, and Lest had been brought here upon Ferid's insistence that he be kept safe, which the king had thought was simply laughable. Distance meant nothing in the face of something like the Seraph. It was only a matter of time.

Thinking about the angelic being brought another frown to his young face, and he traced a finger around the edge of his glass. He had never thought that Krul Tepes's treason went back so far that it preceded the very war they were currently embroiled in. To think that the former queen had struck a deal with humans, allowing them to gain access to the Seraph of the End, and now Lest found himself joining a ship that had already begun to sink. Though he still believed that he would have done a much better job of governing Japan, he did not yet know if he was capable of cleaning of Krul's mess first.

"Oh, yes. That reminds me," Lest said, drawing Ferid's attention once more. "How is our dear captive traitor doing?"

The seventh progenitor's smile deepened, and Lest smirked bemusedly when he saw a look of sadism pass the lesser vampire's face. "She's doing wonderfully, my king. She hardly acts out in her cell anymore. I imagine it is only a matter of time before she breaks."

Lest hummed in acknowledgement, holding his glass of blood to his equally red eyes and staring into it. "Have you been abiding by the diet I assigned to you?"

"Of course. One cup every one hundred hours. You should see how she reacts when we come in to feed her, my king. At first she refused to touch anything we offered her, but eventually she gave in and started to feed. It appears even third progenitors cannot hold out forever."

"Good. Continue starving her," Lest instructed, picking up his cane from a nearby chair and turning it over in his hands. He was slightly bothered by his subordinate's comment, seeing as he was also a third progenitor, but he was quick to remind himself that he and Krul were not the same. He was younger, for one, and decidedly more powerful. Not to mention that he did not give into petty fear and strike contracts with humans.

"If anything, she could serve as a useful asset in the future," Lest continued, finishing the last of his blood. It slid down his throat, thick and warm, and set his nerves sparking, though he did not let it show on his face. "It would be unwise for us to terminate our few connections to the humans."

He heard Ferid exhale rather loudly behind him, and he turned to give his subordinate a questioning look.

"Well, if I may, my liege," Ferid said gracefully, "Just how do you plan to turn the tide in this war?"

Lest just smiled knowingly, and turned away from him. He had taken of his top hat so that he could enjoy his drink in comfort, but now he picked up and put it back on his head, leaving his seat and leaning against the balcony railing.

Instead of answering the question, he tapped his cane on the stone floor and asked, "Do you not feel that it is surreal that we are even losing in the first place, Ferid?"

The lesser vampire blinked at the inquiry, but the unreadable smile returned to his face a moment later. "I suppose it is, my king. Why do you ask?"

Lest merely shrugged, and Ferid noticed that the look of self assurance never left the higher vampire's face. This would be a difficult puppet to control. "When I was still in Germany, my grip over the greater European territory was solid. Even there I heard of how dangerous humans could be, of course, but I never truly believed it. Not until I came here."

They fell into silence, until Lest chose to continue the conversation.

"As for your question, Ferid, I cannot yet give you any specifics. I have a plan of sorts, but I would prefer not to voice it until I am ready. I'm sure you understand."

Lest turned his blood red eyes on his subordinate, his gaze unwavering, and Ferid found himself having to lower his head in submission. "Of course, my liege."

The king smile satisfactorily, then went back to gazing out past the balcony. "It is truly, ironic, Ferid. A thousand generations and we have still lost the arms race. We acquired immortality, shed our emotional shackles, multiplied our strength a hundred fold, and abandoned the concept of love, yet we still find ourselves at the mercy of the humans."

Ferid leaned against a support column, crossing his arms. "Not for much longer, I pray."

"Mmm. Which reminds me; have you been keeping tabs on that one rogue squad you told me about?"

"I have indeed. My subordinates are tracking them as we speak."

"Good. They have a part to play in this game as well. For now, we will continue to hold the humans at Sanguinem."

With that said, the third progenitor turned away from the magma river and returned to the greater palace behind them, his cane tapping rhythmically upon the stone work.

They ran until they couldn't run anymore, weaving their way through the ruins of a city that had once stood proud. For a good while the human convoy was at their heels no matter what they did, but given more time Shinoa managed to shake them off, until finally they had put considerable distance between them and their pursuers.

It had been early morning when they left the shopping complex, but it was sunset when Shinoa's squad finally fell into an abandoned hotel building, miles away from where they had started running. They all filed up the stairs immediately, not taking any chances, climbing upwards until they had passed the tenth floor of the building and found a room that wasn't too trashed.

Yoichi murmured something about finding a key, but Kimizuki ignored him and kicked the door in instead, allowing them to drag themselves inside.

It was small and cramped in the room, but they could hardly care less. Two twin beds were set side by side against the wall, their covers and mattresses ripped to shreds, and the mirror hung on the opposite side of the wall was marred by a large crack in its center. They all started falling onto the ruined beds or finding empty chairs to sit on, needing to catch a breather after all the running they had just done.

All but Mitsuba, who instead stalked across the room and struck Yuu across the face.

"You hopeless idiot," the blonde snarled, getting up in the boy's face, who seemed unable to meet her eyes. "You almost got us all killed back there!"

"Mitsuba…" Shinoa sighed, putting a hand to her forehead and reaching out to the girl with her other.

But the blonde just shot her a withering glare, and Shinoa's hand retracted. "I can't believe you did that. I thought you knew better!" she seethed, seizing Yuu by the collar and shaking him like a rag doll. "Those guys even tried to kill us after we saved them!"

"Back off, Mitsuba," Mikaela growled, coming in between the two of them out of nowhere. The shorter girl was knocked back a few steps, caught off guard. "Don't talk to Yuu like that."

Mitsuba just sneered, and it was then that Shinoa remembered the blonde was particularly sensitive to losing teammates to dumb decisions. "Like I care what you think, vampire. You guys might not have discipline, but us humans do! Yuu needs to understand that he made a mistake-"

"Do you think he doesn't know?" Mikaela snarled, throwing a hand behind him towards his adoptive brother. "Look at his face!"

Yuu was staring forlornly at the ripped up carpet, his lips pursed hard together, brow furrowed so deeply that he looked angry. He wasn't saying anything, but this hands were balled into fists and his arms were shaking, like he was barely holding himself back from smashing something.

Mitsuba saw this and felt her gaze soften a little, but her anger still remained. "Alright, fine. Whatever," she muttered, turning away and storming out of the room. "As long as he doesn't do it again."

"Ah…wait, Mitsuba!" Yoichi chased after the blonde when she stalked her way down the hall, slipping through the kicked in door. Kimizuki just sighed before following his friend, footsteps receding until they could be heard no longer.

"Come on, Yuu," Mikaela said softly, leading the swordsman away. "I'll help you treat your wounds."

When Shinoa turned around she realized she was completely alone in the empty hotel room, alone amongst the torn up wallpaper and the sofa stuffing that smelled vaguely of death.

Exhaling slowly, she turned away from the door and approached the wall, pressing her forehead against it. It had been a while since they had had to run away from their enemies like that, which was to say this wasn't the first time it had happened. But at least they had managed to avoid inflicting any casualties before. This was the first time any of them had been forced to take another human life.

Looking down at her hand, she clenched it into a fist and pressed it to her chest. She had never done that either. Killed another human, that is. She had killed vampires, but to her that felt like something different. Vampires weren't humans. They hardly felt emotion. Even if logic told her it was hypocritical, she didn't consider the life of a vampire to be precious. Not like a human life.

Now that she thought about it, she hardly knew anyone who had been forced to go to the lengths Yuu had today. The closest example she could think of was actually Guren, but he had taken her sister's life after she became a demon, and was thus driven by necessity.

Even if the captain had fully intended to kill her, she wished there was some other way.

She looked down at her shirt, and suddenly realized she was still in the bloodstained clothing from that morning. The bodily fluids had by now dried into a dark red crust, and the shirt felt like a solid piece of cardboard on her body. Holding back the bile that rose in her throat, she pulled the shirt over her head and hunted something clean out of her backpack, shrugging it on without much conviction.

I guess not every Hiiragi is worthy.

The captain's words, the last ones he would utter before Yuu killed him. Shinoa found herself frowning deeply as she recounted the words. What did she care? She didn't consider herself to be a Hiiragi anymore. It was just another name to her now. Out here, the patriarchy had no influence over her. She was free.

Well, she would like to think so anyway.

Crumpling the bloodstained shirt in her hand, she threw it inside her backpack, not bothering to clean it. She could take care of it later. There were more important things on her mind at the moment.

Just what exactly they were going to do once they reached Sanguinem, for example.

No matter how many times she ran over it in her head, Shinoa had no idea how they were going to pull it off without having someone close to them die. A literal army stood between them and Guren, and it went without saying that Guren probably wasn't sitting around waiting for them to pick him up, either. Convincing him would prove difficult as well.

Too many questions. It was times like these that made her wish she wasn't the sergeant in the group. If there were someone older or more experienced with them, would they have taken over control eventually? She thought about Makoto, her senior who wielded the familiar trident. Not that he mattered anymore. Makoto had been gone for a long time by now.

She still couldn't believe that he had actually chosen to leave them all behind. It had come out of the blue one day, not long after they had barely survived a tangle with a stray group of vampires, and they were just beginning to clean the blood off of their blades.

"I'm sorry, everyone," he'd said softly, before putting his trident away. "I can't do this anymore."

Shinoa had tried to stop him, of course. When they were isolated out here like this, they needed as many allies as they could manage. But Makoto had been unwavering. He had stayed with them for this long, he said, because he felt he owed it to his dead teammates, so that their lives wouldn't go to waste.

"But now that I think about it," the trident wielder had said, "They're dead. They're long gone by now. And they're never coming back. I don't have a family anymore, Shinoa. They've all moved on without me. Without them I've got no reason to kill."

Then he packed up his bags, and was gone the next morning, and Shinoa had been unable to find it within herself to stop him.

She knew what it felt like to think there was no point in protecting someone.

Closing her eyes and shaking her head, she left their things in the room and went off to find Mitsuba.

Yuu was silent as Mika dressed his wounds, like his mouth was sewn shut by the bandages being wound around his skin.

The blonde vampire bit his lip nervously as he worked, not sure what he should say. Or maybe he shouldn't be trying to say anything at all. Even after everything he had been through, he could still say that he had never killed a human being before. He couldn't help Yuu this time.

So instead he focused on bandaging his friend, dabbing alcohol on the deeper cuts before wrapping them in cloth. He noticed the swordsman clench his arms a few times in pain, but he still said nothing, because his pain was silent, not the kind one could hear with their ears.

Several minutes later Mika was done, and without anything to distract him he simply sat there, on the mattress behind Yuu. They had come to the room across the one they had just left, for no particular reason aside from Mika's desire to get away from the rest of the squad. He still didn't feel entirely comfortable around any of them. He didn't feel like he could trust them. And he was pretty sure the feeling was entirely mutual.

They sat like that for so long Mika thought he might as well just give Yuu his space, but the dark haired boy surprised him by speaking first.

"We're almost there, aren't we?" he said, looking down at the bandages bound around his arms. "We're almost to Sanguinem."

Mika just watched him forlornly from behind. "Yes."

"I can't believe we're going back there, Mika." Yuu clenched a fist near his hip, like he wanted to grasp the hilt of his sword. "After all these years. After I escaped from there. I never thought I'd have to go back."

"We don't have to," Mika pointed out, leaning back on his hands. "We can still turn back. We can still go somewhere else. We don't have to do this."

But Yuu shook his head, much to Mika's exasperation. The swordsman stood up from the bed, still bare chested, as his wounds had extended into his torso. He crossed the room and stared into the cracked mirror. "I can't leave Guren behind. He's family."

Mika showed his teeth, tugging at the collar of his jacket. "You saw what he tried to do to us back at the airport, Yuu. He would have killed us all if he had the chance. If we go back there now I'll bet he'll try again. Is that how family treats each other?'

"But that wasn't him, Mika," Yuu protested, lowering his head, but he didn't turn to face his brother. "He's been…possessed, or something. I don't know. But that wasn't the real Guren at the airport. The real Guren wouldn't have tried to hurt us if he could help it. That guy practically raised me."

"Only to fulfill his own ends," Mika pointed out, crossing his arms. "Think realistically, Yuu. The only people who aren't trying to use you are me and the rest of your squad…probably."

The dark haired boy snorted towards the mirror. "Then what am I supposed to do, just leave him?"

"I would."

Yuu looked up at the mirror, looked at his brother's reflection in the broken glass, and saw than a jagged crack ran through the vampire's face so that he seemed split between two different extremes. He had to admit to himself that Mika wasn't the same kind hearted boy he used to be back when they were trapped in Sanguinem. He was more hardened now. More ruthless.

"Look, I know vampires slowly lose their capacity for emotion as time goes on," Yuu said, turning to face his brother, "but the Mika I know wouldn't leave Guren behind."

But the blond just shook his head, getting up from the bed as well. "People change, Yuu. Even you will." He crossed over to the door and pulled it open, but paused before leaving. "I'm not saying I don't think family is important anymore. But sometimes you have to pick and choose who you love more. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices."

Then he was gone, letting the door click softly shut behind him.

Shinoa found Mitsuba on the next floor above, sitting inside a gaping hole that had blown out of the wall.

It was over ten stories to the ground, but the blonde didn't seem to care, dangling her legs over the abyss as she sat on top of the rubble. The hole in the wall stretched from floor to ceiling, and Mitsuba looked like she was staring into the mouth of some great beast, daring it to devour her whole.

Yoichi and Kimizuki were staying inside a room across the hall, sitting at a desk and chatting idly with one another. They seemed to be there just to keep an eye on Mitsuba, if anything else, for which Shinoa was glad. The blonde had the tendency to act without thinking when she was upset, not unlike a certain bombastic swordsman. It was ironic, in its own way.

Shinoa stopped walking in the middle of the hall, behind where Mitsuba was sitting and where the two boys were watching her from the room. She looked at them questioningly, and they just shrugged back, to which she replied with a disapproving frown. Really, boys were so dense. They had no idea how to comfort an agitated maiden.

Not that Mitsuba fit the stereotypical definition of a maiden, but her point stood.

She walked up by the blonde and sat down next her, though she did not dangle her legs over the edge, instead laying them out parallel to the wall. She knew better than to tempt fate.

"Still mad at Yuu?" she asked.

Mitsuba spared her a cursory glance, then went back to looking out at the cityscape. "Of course I am. Freaking idiot almost got us all killed."

Shinoa smiled wryly. "What's new? He's always doing that."

"Yeah, but this time we came way too close. That captain was inches away from taking your head off, and Yuu ended up having to kill him."

The sergeant drew one knee up to her chest, laying an arm across it. "I didn't know you cared about me that much, Mii-chan."

Mitsuba just snorted at the jibe. "Well, I don't hate you or anything. Besides, you know about my past. I can't stand it when people cause others to get hurt for no good reason."

"Yes, but think about how Yuu must feel," Shinoa said, risking a peek down below. It was dizzying. "He's lived his whole life segregating humans and vampires as 'good' and 'bad.' It must have been difficult for him to kill that captain."

But Mitsuba just sighed, leaning against the outer edge of the hole in the wall, picking up a little speck of rubble and flicking it over the abyss.

"I guess you wouldn't understand, Shinoa. You've never lost someone important to you before."

Shinoa pursed her lips over the inaccuracy of that statement, but she said nothing. Now was not the time to argue over who had suffered more.

"I keep thinking the same thing over and over again the closer we get to that vampire city," Mitsuba continued. "We're going to keep running into situations like this. Eventually we're going to stop getting lucky. Eventually one of us is going to die. I don't know if it's worth it."

"Kimizuki and Yuu will go to Sanguinem whether follow them or not," Shinoa pointed out. "We might as well help them."

The blonde just pursed her lips and turned her collar up to the wind. "I know. But I wish there was some way to convince them otherwise. This whole idea feels like a death wish."

It wasn't the fact that Kimizuki could probably hear them talking that bothered her, or the realization that Mitsuba was being unusually negative. No, the bigger problem was with how much the blonde's words resonated within her.

She was bothered by the fact that she agreed with her.

Mikaela was closing Yuu's door behind him when Shinoa returned to the floor below, a disgruntled look on his face.

"Why don't you go talk to him?" Mitsuba had suggested. "Try to knock some sense into that thick skull of his."

She had figured she might as well.

"Is he doing alright?" the sergeant asked, approaching the fledgling vampire.

Mikaela pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked down at her, and Shinoa was suddenly made acutely aware of just how short she was. The look on his face made it obvious he was in no mood to talk, but in the end he simply answered her question.

"I dressed his wounds. He's definitely upset, though. I couldn't snap him out of it. Just give him some space."

Shinoa watched as he trudged along down the hall, hands shoved into his pockets. She could guess easily enough that he and Yuu had had some sort of argument, but she could only wonder at its cause. There was so much she didn't know about their relationship, even though they were so important to each other.

For a moment she considered following Mikaela's advice and leaving Yuu alone, but she shook her head at the last second. It was her responsibility as the group leader to tend to the well being of her soldiers.

Besides…she didn't want Yuu to be alone, wallowing in his own guilt, with no one to turn to. She had been there before. It was one of the greater pains she had ever experienced.

Grabbing the doorknob in one hand, she twisted it and let herself into the room.

Yuu was just about to pull a new shirt over his head when she entered, and he turned when he heard the sound of the door opening, the shirt still wrapped around his head.

"Hello? Mika, is that you?" he asked, voice muffled by the fabric.

"Oh, uh, no. Sorry," Shinoa said, averting her gaze. But she caught a grief glimpse of the boy's body despite her best efforts, and she found herself flushing gently as she forced herself to stare a corner.

Yuu finally tugged his shirt back on, reaching up to adjust his hair. "Oh, Shinoa. Hey."

"Hey," she breathed, strangely captivated, then she blinked and did the mental equivalent of shaking her head. What was wrong with her? "I was just wondering if you were okay."

The young swordsman smiled wanly at her, turning away to rearrange his things. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little shaken up, I guess."

Shinoa frowned, not convinced. The boy was obviously not okay, since from her experience Yuu almost never admitted that he was 'shaken up.' Her eyes caught the movement of his hand, and saw that there was a gently bleeding cut on the inside of his palm.

"I thought Mikaela dressed your wounds?" she asked, walking over and reaching for the injured hand.

Yuu blinked and held the hand to his chest, bringing it out of her reach. "It's okay. I don't want to bandage my hands anyway. It makes it awkward to hold my sword."

"You're bandaging it anyway," Shinoa said bluntly, walking over and grabbing the necessary items. "It could get infected. Sergeant's orders."

Yuu's eyes bored into her. "And what if we have to fight again?"

"We won't, if it's up to me," Shinoa said simply, holding up the rubbing alcohol for emphasis.

The swordsman met her eyes for a moment, and decided he wasn't going to convince the girl otherwise. "Alright, fine. But not here. I feel suffocated in this room. Let's go somewhere with more space first."

There was a dining hall on the first floor of the hotel, behind two tall double doors near the front entrance. Shinoa was a little nervous about putting this much distance between them and the rest of the team, but didn't say anything.

The dining hall itself was absolutely extravagant, or it had been at some point in time, when humans were not livestock and the sun did not rise on a broken world. The floor was carpeted in a rich scarlet color, detailed with intricate little vines and baby angels darting in and out amongst them. Thick satin curtains hung from the shuttered windows, which were made out of stained glass, and the center of the hall was filled with circular tables covered in white cloths, their tops adorned with expensive silverware and crystalline wine glasses.

She could have easily imagined some sort of high class ball taking place here, except now the carpet was worn out and faded. One of the curtains was torn and dangling by a single thread. The silverware have been spared, but they were rusted and the glasses were filled with dust.

It was a broken sort of beauty.

They both sat at table at the center of the hall, and Shinoa giggled when Yuu mockingly pulled out a seat for her. They sat side by side beneath the velvet curtains, facing towards the far end of the room, where an empty stage served as the graveyard for a better time.

Yuu put his hand between them on the table, and Shinoa dutifully began bandaging it, making sure to clean the wound thoroughly first.

"Before you say it, I know it was stupid," he said softly; voices carried well in the emptiness of the hall. "I shouldn't have gone back to help the convoy. In the end you almost got hurt."

Shinoa just exhaled slowly through her nose, dabbing alcohol against the boy's palm. "Protection is in your nature, Yuu. I don't blame you for wanting to help them."

"But you wouldn't have done the same thing."

"No."

"Why not?"

Shouldn't it be obvious? she wanted to lament, but didn't say so out loud, knowing better. Yuu was probably the most idealistic person she had ever met. There was no end to the people he wanted to protect.

"If I had to choose between you and the convoy, I would have chosen you," Shinoa explained, winding a bandage around the boy's hand. He winced, but she didn't care. "You're both humans, but I care about you more. Isn't it obvious, Yuu? Sometimes you can't save everyone. Sometimes you have to choose."

"Mika said the same thing," Yuu muttered, picking up a rusted fork and twirling it around in his fingers. "Why do we have to choose? He said we need to decide who we love more in the end, but it's not like I've got some list ordered from top to bottom in my head. Everything's all fucked…"

Even if logic trumped his argument, Shinoa knew he was right too, in his own sort of way. Things weren't so simply as vampire or human for them, not anymore. They had been traveling with a noble for the past five months, after all. She never would have guessed she would be doing that before. If anything, they had more humans as enemies than vampires now.

The carefully drawn lines that had held for so long were beginning to deteriorate.

"Mika said that maybe we should give up on Guren, too," Yuu continued, gripping the fork until it bent in his hand. "But I'm not just going to leave him behind. I can't. You're going to help me get him back, aren't you, Shinoa?"

Shinoa finished the last of the bandages at that moment, but she didn't let go of his hand, and Yuu didn't pull away either. They watched each other for a while from opposite sides of the table, a silent battle of wills, one that ended when she sighed softly and cupped Yuu's hand in both of hers.

"I can't promise that we're going to succeed, Yuu. But we're definitely going to try. And that's what really matters, right?"

At last Yuu smiled, and Shinoa felt her heart soften a little. The swordsman squeezed her fingers back, gently and so fleetingly, but for now it was enough.

"Yeah, I guess it is."

Unbeknownst to them, two pairs of eyes were watching their private moment together, from a rooftop across the street from the hotel building.

"Oh, they're just so cute together, don't you think?" said seventeenth progenitor Chess Belle, peeking through a pair of binoculars at the human couple. "They're holding hands down there!"

Behind her, Horn Skuld was standing on the rooftop as well with her arms crossed, and she sighed at her partner's eccentric behavior. "They're just livestock, Chess. Who cares about their mating habits?"

"Oh, I just wish we knew what they were saying," Chess sighed, adjusting her lenses. "Don't be like that, Horn. Humans are actually pretty interesting once you get to know them a little! I chat up some of the prisoners every now and then, when I'm bored. I mean, I always end up sucking them dry anyway, but I have some fun along the way."

Horn just shrugged to no one in particular, by now used to Chess's strangeness. They had known each other for centuries and she was still on closer to truly understanding the vampire noble. Tucking a strand of golden hair behind her ear, she said, "Do what you like, I suppose. Make sure to send a message to master Crowley about their position."

"I don't see why we can't just engage them right now," Chess pouted, still peeking through her binoculars. "They're just kids! We could probably have them for breakfast, Horn!"

"First of all, it's well past breakfast time," Horn corrected, playing absently with her whip. "Secondly, we have orders from master Bathory himself to keep these children alive. Besides, we've fought them once before. Half of them are using weapons from the Black Demon series. Without master Crowley we might not make it out in one piece."

"Tch. You're no fun," Chess sighed, before taking out a communication device and typing out a brief update.

While Chess typed, Horn watched the hotel building intently, zeroing in on where Mitsuba was sitting at the edge of the hole in the wall, above the abyss. Instinct told her these children were more dangerous than they appeared. One was from the Hiiragi patriarchy, after all, and another was a traitor of their kind.

And of course, there was the boy carrying the Seraph gene.

One of two people left in the world capable of bringing about the End Times.

Living for over a thousand years didn't make pain any easier to bear.

Krul sank her teeth into her own tongue as she fought down the urge to scream, clenching her jaw so hard that she actually drew blood, and she began drinking it greedily on the spot, if only for the placebo effect that it granted her. She hadn't had real blood in over three days, and the hunger was beginning to tear into her from the inside, like someone had stuffed a rabid rat down her throat so that it could wreak havoc in her intestines, claws sharp enough to split her belly in two.

She ended up letting out a soft groan anyways, rolling over on the floor of her cell so that she was splayed on her stomach. It was endless torture, the repetition of the cycle that damned Ferid Bathory had placed her under. First they would feed her, then let her starve to the brink of insanity, then feed her again, but never enough to pull her all the way back from that edge, so that she was constantly teetering at the lip of the abyss, only one mental slip up from being devoured by her hunger and turning into a demon.

Lifting her head from the carpet, she blearily took in her surroundings. Her cell actually did not look like much of one; there was a bed, and the floor was soft carpet. But the walls were unadorned, and there wasn't a single drop of blood anywhere in sight. The room might as well have been made out of solid concrete. It would serve her just as well, or as little.

She turned and looked at the far wall, at the pane of bulletproof glass that fenced her off from the rest of the world. Perhaps, when she was at full strength, she would have been able to break through it, but not when she was so weakened. She already knew that the glass was designed to resist the strength of even noble progenitors. Two guards were also stationed outside the glass, facing away from her; if she were to attempt to break out, they would subdue her with ease.

Dragging herself to the bed, she leaned against it with her head thrown back on the mattress, pupils beginning to dilate into large, dark red pools. She was still in the same noble robes she had been wearing that day at the airport, the day Ferid had turned the tables on her, the day her treason had been exposed and she had been toppled from the throne of Queen. It was plastered to her pale skin from all the nervous sweat.

Thinking about Ferid Bathory sent her blood boiling, but the most she could do to express her anger was take the bedsheets in her teeth and begin tearing at them. She hated Ferid Bathory. She hated him more than the most disgusting human who walked across this cursed earth. If he was ever so unfortunate to allow Krul to escape from here, she would personally take him and tear his body into pieces, limb by limb, until there was only his conniving head left with his neck hanging in one ruined flap of skin, and then she would stick his head on a pike and leave it there for an eternity.

She was starting to see spots. She thought about Mikaela. Was he alright out there? Had he managed to escape? Was he even alive? She shouldn't be worrying about him. She was barely holding onto her own life. They kept the lights burning in through the glass at all hours of the day in here; to humans confinement in total darkness would have been torture, but for vampires it was the opposite. She felt like she could wither beneath the omnipresent light.

Her heart leapt in her chest when she heard the sound of the door opening. Someone had come with blood. She could smell it through its plastic casing already; a common vampire was walking into the cell chamber with a whole cart of them in his hands, before opening a small slot in the glass wall and dropping a single pack inside.

Krul wanted to pounce on it and tear into the package with all the savagery her teeth would allow her, but she restrained herself, knowing that it would make the guards think they had broken her, which they hadn't. Not yet, anyway. She still had her pride. She was a vampire noble. She was a third progenitor. She had her pride…

Dragging herself to her feet, she walked over to the pack of blood and tore open the top before tilting her head back and drinking.

It was like tasting the ichor of gods. Usually Krul tended to be picky with the kind of blood she drank, but that was back when she was queen, not when she was a prisoner charged with treason. Right now everything tasted like love. She tilted back and drank all the blood in one swig, then stuck her long thin tongue inside the pack and started licking up the little drops stuck to the inside, not wanting to waste a single drop. Soon they would come around to collect the empty packs from her.

And endless cycle. First she would starve, and then they would feed her. It seemed like they waited just over four days before allowing her to drink. Four days. The maximum time a vampire could go without feeding, even the most powerful of them all, even Krul or even Lest fucking Karr. He was probably King of Japan by now. Lest was probably the one who had decided to put her on this depraved diet in the first place. She would have his head, too. She would have all their heads.

Everyone who knew Ferid Bathory would regret throwing her into this desolate cell.

Having licked the blood pack clean by now, she tossed it at the wall and crawled toward the bed, satisfied for now. Her body had been conditioned somewhat during these past months; she was learning to function normally on less and less blood. Curling up on the mattress, ignoring the bedsheets she had torn to shreds minutes earlier, she fell asleep dreaming about bloody revenge.

After a few hours, however, her thoughts turned to a certain blond vampire instead.

I'm coming, Mika. I promise.

A/N

Just for the record, I don't usually update this often (anyone who has been following me for any length of time knows this) but I figured I might as well get the momentum going on this story.

Thanks for the relatively positive reviews on the first chapter! I'll seek to improve my character portrayal as I continue to write this. Tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading!

~Banshee