"...-yami...Mi-...Miya-...Miyami?"

Fluttering my eyes open, I saw the night sky above me, filled with stars and many constellations.Slowly, I moved my head to the left to see my Mother sitting on it top of her..coffin with a sad smile.I reached my left hand out to her...

"Mother.."

She reached her right hand out to me, intertwining our fingers, "It's okay...I am okay, you are okay...Now, wake up."

Nodding weakly, I looked back up to the night sky, blinking once...

~? Ends~

Opening my eyes, I saw my left hand outstretched before me.

A hand grabbed mine, then soft purple irises appeared over me.

"Big Sis?"

A small smile slowly spread on my lips, "Kana-kun..."

Kanato leaned over..what seems to be one of the couches and hugged me by my neck. He lightly put his forehead against mine.

"Don't ever leave me again like that, I won't allow it.." he whispered before licking some..dried blood on the left corner of my lips.

"It'll take more than that to kill me," I responded in a quiet tone.

Kanato leaned up and I sat up on the couch, looking around to see only he and I are present in the living area.

"How long have I been out? And where is everyone?" I asked as Kanato picked up Teddy on one of the chairs, then sat next to me.

"They went to another part of the villa to discuss, and you've been asleep for roughly fifteen minutes," he explained to me.

My eyes narrowed, "I see.."

'Who knows what Reiji could be telling them. I hope it's not false information to keep me 'safe' or to provoke them...Then again, I'm worried about all of them. They may be trying to pick an argument with Miss Kimiko about whatever she did to my mind..'

I looked to my younger brother, "Could you show me where they are?"

"Before I do that.." he set Teddy on a table, facing away, "I think I deserve payment for watching over you."

"If you need blood, then go ahead and-"

Kanato pressed his lips to mine, shocking the absolute hell out of me.

He wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me closer to him. To keep Kanato from trying to smother me, I placed my hands on his chest.

His tongue slowly licked my bottom lip to which I was confused at what he was doing, so I let my lips remain closed.

He growled at me to which I raised my left eyebrow at in a 'who do you think you're growling at?' expression; unexpectedly, he pulled himself on to me by my shoulders.

This made me quickly gasp, but not quick enough to close my lips again because Kanato slipped his tongue in my mouth. He explored every nook and cranny of my wet cavern.

'This is so foreign to me, and wrong in many ways..but why won't I stop him? Is it because of my lack of lust and love or my lack of sensual physical contact?'

When he finished licking my mouth and sucking my tongue, causing a shiver to go up my back, he held my cheeks with his hands.

"You're my doll, no one else's," he said in a commanding tone.

"Kanato, you can't just claim meme as yours. I have a choice be-"

A sting suddenly spread on my left cheek.

"You don't have a choice because you willingly sacrificed yourself to us, your brothers, to me!" he yelled at me.

For a few seconds, I remained still, my shadowed eyes staring in the same direction.

"..Big Sis, I'm sor-"

Suddenly, I pushed Kanato off of me, not caring if he was okay or not, and I followed the scent of fresh, baked bread.

'That scent...it smells like Mother's homemade baked chocolate brioche with cashews spread around it!'

Turning a few more corners, going up and down a few steps, I came across beige double doors, then pushed them open after hearing small talk.

(Dining room: h, t, t, p, s : / / www . som in e restaurant . ("com") / wp-content / uploads / 2016 / 10 / Nice-Fancy-Dining-Room-on-Interior-Decor-Home-Ideas-and-Fancy-Dining-Room . jpg)

"I see you're finally awake," a deep feminine voice spoke.

I stared at the commanding woman with distraught, "That scent.."

Aunt Rosella, "Ah..so Lucille has baked this before. How about you would sit down, eat, and discuss with us?"

Uneasily, I walked towards an empty seat between Aunt Rosella and the man who has trouble controlling his anger issues.

"I haven't properly introduced myself, my name is Esmeralda Luminitsa, your Grandmother. It is a pleasure to meet you," she introduced with a semi-smile.

A chuckle left my lips, "Ha...how strange. Your name is the same as the French gypsy in Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame", ironic, really."

She smiled, "Yes..ironic, indeed...I swear, playing dead is very exhausting since you have to stay still for a while."

Narrowing my eyes a bit, I noticed the emerald necklace around her neck, resulting in my eyes slowly widening.

"...You mean to tell me-"

Her eyes darkened, "They weren't kidding when they accused me of being a witch."

"...Is all of it true? What happened to you, I mean?" I asked her.

"Some is false, some is true, some never existed. You can say I was a little bird in Hugo's ear, giving him the idea of the story, and the rest was history."

"A figure in a book has not been a fairy tale this past one and a half century? How discreet and deceitful, yet clever, Mrs. Luminitsa," Reiji commented.

"I prefer to keep it a fairy tale." She picked up her white teacup, decorated with the Arc de Triumph in indigo and glanced to the male beside me, then nodded before sipping her..Darjeeling scented tea.

"Ah, right." He turned to me with a straight face, "My name is Nicolæ Luminitsa, I'm Lucille's brother, your uncle. It's nice to meet you, nepoatã," he said with a grin.

(Nepoatã means "Niece" in Romanian.)

"It's an honor to meet my other blood line. I've come here for some questions, but before we get to that, I'd like to know what happened earlier."

"I would've figured you'd remember. My wife, Kimiko Aurari-well, Luminitsa now, entered your mind, your past. She must've experienced what you felt when seeing..Luci's corpse. She is a Japanese Roma, and part fox, or kitsune, as the Japanese say. She is able to see into the past and predict the future-depending on her emotions, but..she never mentioned of seeing you coming. This is the first I've seen this and I'm curious to know what answers you've come for," explained my 'Uncle Nicolæ'.

Aunt Rosella took a quick sip of her Torii Gates designed teacup, "She is in her chambers resting. Feng-Wêi Junjie, a Chinese Roma accepted into our family by Lucille-who is your half uncle. is watching over her as she rests. He is the last survivor of the Wêi Clan that was massacred by Karlheinz," Aunt Rosella informed.

I looked down at my intertwined fingers on the table, "...In my Father's place, I apologize for his reckless-"

"You needn't apologize. It wasn't your fault. This was way before your time. I want revenge for him and myself because he is basically the Claude Frollo in my story, but I have to thank him while doing so," she explained, sipping her tea.

"Thank him? What for?" Ayato asked, taking a bite of his brioche.

"Taking in my Lucille. Before your existences, Lucille was nothing the person you knew her to be. I assumed her persona changed to a sweet, loving one because of Karlheinz's influence, but it seems you are the reason. Not that I was or am not a loving person, I became more loving when I had my children. Anyway, back to the point..one night, my husband's clan was attacked by these two individuals years ago. At the time, Lucille was at the end of her teenage years. My husband sent us off to find Karlheinz, so she could survive and I helped her escape. Somewhere along the monthly trip, she disappeared. Ever since then, I've felt a void in my heart. But now that you're here..if you're here...I know she died protecting you, I know she didn't die in vain."

"Are you saying...those two strangers were after her...and when they found out I came into existence, they attempted to kidnap me? Why?"

"I am unsure. It doesn't make any sense that they wouldn't come to the root, me, for whatever they wanted." She looked to Shu, "You're the eldest, I would assume Tougo speaks to you mostly, yes?"

He opened his right eye, "Mhm."

Aunt Rosella..mushroom sighed?, "Another Junjie, I see..I wonder how he'll take revenge if he keeps acting lazy..?" she mumbled.

I sweat dropped, 'Shu is lazy? Well..ever since I got back, I didn't really see him doing anything, but sleep...Who could blame him? He was expected to be the best of the best.'

"I see. When was the last time he contacted you?" she questioned.

"...It was about a human girl coming to stay at our house.." he mumbled, closing his eye.

"A human girl...?" she said confusedly, then looked to me.

"She possessed the heart of Cordelia, but with my power, I absorbed all of her out the human girl's heart and let her be on her way."

Uncle Nicolæ gritted his teeth, "So Cordelia's heart.."

"You know her?" I asked him.

He sighed, "Yeah, an arranged marriage was made between us all those years ago. Apparently, my Father listened to my reasoning, with the convincing of my Mother, and decided his children should marry for love."

I intertwined my fingers together as my eyes sparkled, "May I write about your struggles during that time, but keep your identity secret?"

He was taken aback, "Um..."

"She's an author," Reiji spoke.

"Oh? An author?" Grandmother asked me.

"Yes, I've been writing books since I was, well, physically thirteen years old," I informed her.

She smiled, "How impressive. I remember Lucille was the bookworm of the family. Did she ever write a book?"

"I wish she did, but she didn't. She decided to be an accountant ever since she met my Father."

Grandmother used her right hand to fist pump in the air, "That's my girl. I taught her well. Let no man take too much care of you, even if they are your husband. I see she taught you the same as well."

'Oh, so that's where Mother learned such wise words...' I thought as I softly smiled.

"I bet Lucille didn't tell you she used to be an information broker because she wanted to keep up the 'mom' image. We, gypsies, were always sly in some ways," Aunt Rosella informed.

"No, she didn't, but...that's so cool! Tell me more!" I said excitedly.

"She was the smartest in this family in all four subjects of mathematics, history, language arts, and science," Uncle Nicolæ informed.

"...What kind of science?" I asked, looking down at my intertwined fingers on the table.

"Physics and chemistry," Aunt Rosella spoke. "She would constantly help me with my studies, so I-..What's wrong, sweety? Why do you look sad?"

'...Maybe Father did love Mother because they had that in common..? I don't want to make any assumptions. Besides, no matter how I look at it, he was using her for his own gain...If that's so, why did he cradle her lifeless body in his arms that day he found me screaming?' I shook my head, 'I'm not going to think about it right now..'

I looked up with a subtle smile on my lips, "It is nothing too important. Um..I have a question."

"Well, ask away," Aunt Rosella said with a happy smile.

"Do any of you know a woman by the name of Krone?"

"Krone?" Grandmother questioned with a surprised stare. "Yes, I know her. What is it about her that you want to know?"

"Does she have any children?"

"Oh! You mean Carla and Shin?" Aunt Rosella asked. "Yes, I know them! I haven't seen them in ages. I wonder where they could be.."

"No one in our family met Krone's children, but Rose did and she became an acquaintance of theirs," Uncle Nicolæ informed.

"Carla and Shin..."

'Could those two strangers that attacked the Luminitsa Clan be them and Grandmother has yet to realize it if she never met Krone's children?'

"Hm...I know those eyes anywhere when I see them, those thinking eyes of Lucille's when she's on to something. Tell us, grandchild, what is the conflict?" Grandmother noticed and asked.

"I..want to find the murder of my Mother and from what you're telling me, it may be possible that this Carla and Shin you speak of are the culprits..and the culprits of attacking the Luminitsa Clan."

"That can't be," Aunt Rosella spoke. "They told me they weren't involved in that. It was somebody else's doing. Carla gave his word to Mother," she explained.

"I didn't take that into consideration..then again, it could be deceit..."

'Then..what was the First Blood King a villain to..besides my Father? Or what about this Carla and Shin? What is the real threat and conflict here? Did I get the story wrong somehow?'

I cupped my face with my hands and groaned, "...This is aggravating..."

"Sister, don't think too much. You'll exhaust yourself if you stress out about it," Subaru told me.

"I just want answers..." I groaned out.

"Surely, your questions will be answered, just be patient," Uncle Nicolæ spoke to me, rubbing my back in comfort.

"Heh, you're one to talk about patience, Nico," said a familiar sly voice.

Moving my hands away from my face, I saw Miss Kimiko..or Aunt Kimiko, hugging Uncle Nicolæ from behind.

She looked to me with a sad frown, "Miyami, I'm sorry about earlier. I had to enter your memories to see if you were telling the truth. I couldn't bring myself to believe it, Luci was my closest friend."

I nodded in understanding, "It's okay."

'Fuko can be a pain sometimes, but I wouldn't want her nor Kei to die.'

"When did you get here?" Uncle Nicolæ asked her.

"When Miyami said she wanted answers and I shall give them to her. My name doesn't mean "Beautiful History Child" in Japanese for nothing. Hmm.." Aunt Kimiko spoke, holding a pink flower up to her nose, "...Ohh? Does the answer you want to know if your brothers love you or not~? How sweet~."

"What?..No," I asked, then answered in an awkward tone.

"Well, of course, that's a yes~," Laito spoke.

"I was joking~," she said, chuckling afterwards. "But he is correct~. Anyway, the answer to..your question about the killer of Luci...hm? How shocking.."

"What is it? Do you know?" I asked her with great worry in my tone.

She looked at me, frowning again, but it was in concern, "If I told you who it was, you won't go find them immediately?"

"No, I will not. I won't do anything rash."

Aunt Kimiko sighed, then took out a smoking pipe from the pink sash on her left shoulder.

She inhaled the contents once she put it between her lips, then smoke of some sort blew from the pipe.

"The young boy's name is Kino, he claims to be Karlheinz's illegitimate son, he is a ghoul and he is physically seventeen years old. He was a power left in Rotigenberg, Germany, by Karlheinz," she informed.

"Sis..." Ayato spoke.

I looked to him, "What?"

His eyes narrowed, "I know that guy...he tends to come and go at school. It's no wonder why he keeps annoyingly call himself onii-chan."

"Does he say anything important to you?" I asked him.

"Yeah, one thing that annoys me most. He keeps saying, "Onii-chan will take her away when you least expect it." Damn him. When we get back, I'm going to-"

"Do absolutely nothing," I told him.

"What?! But that guy's a threat and I'm not going to let some $$hole say and do what he wants, especially when it comes to Yours Truly's sister."

"Oh~, my~, so it is true~," Aunt Kimiko mused happily.

"Ayato, I know you are concerned about my well-being, but I'll be fine. For now, I, nor any of you, won't do a thing. You just got me back and I want to spend a lot of time with my brothers and my newfound family by the end of this week. I'll do something about it then, alright?"

He stared at me with denial, "...Tch, fine, whatever.." but he agreed.

"Kino Sakamaki..so, he's our illegitimate brother?...Aunt Kimiko, tell me more about your power."

"Well, sometimes, even I don't understand it myself. I can see things up to a month in time and other witchery that comes with it as well as the normal gypsy, but..for some odd reason, I couldn't see you or your brothers coming here. Perhaps you're special..not that you aren't, but in different reasoning."

"No, you're right. No one in this world is special. Everyone has things to do, people to see, places to go, and secrets to keep. Human or not, we all do that, and I am no acception; although, everyone is special in their own way. It's a strange rhetoric.."

"I'm beginning to wonder if Luci had a lot of spare time as an accountant.." Uncle Nicolæ said with a perplexed look.

"Hm...I trust she was nice to you, boys?" Aunt Rosella asked them.

Subaru nodded, "She, and Sister, took good care of us."

"I'm curious. Who are your mothers?"

"Oh, my~. I see why they did~. The twins, they're mother is Miss Beatrix. The triplets mother is Cordelia. And the single child's mother is Lady Christa," Aunt Kimiko spoke as her eyes glowed pale fuchsia.

I assumed it was her Fortune-telling power, and that she could see something we could not in her eyes.

"Have you met Miss Christa before?" I asked Aunt Kimiko.

"A few times; I called her 'Lady' because compared to me back in my young days, I was what you consider an lower classman and an outcast for my slyness—so I had to have some type of formality; but since I've joined the Luminitsa family, I've been in check," she explained, rubbing her left cheek against Uncle Nicolæ's right one. "I'd always dream of being as beautiful and classy as she...was."

Glancing to Subaru, I tried to read his emotion, but his face held no emotion, which concerned me a little.

"As for Beatrix, I met her, but I wasn't fond of her. I do not approve of any woman who doesn't work for her own because women are capable of doing anything a man can do," Aunt Rosella said.

Glancing to Shu and Reiji, Shu..smirked? and Reiji nodded..in some type of understanding..or maybe pity?

"There you go again, Rose, trying to impression Luci," Uncle Nicolæ said with a smirk.

Her cheeks turned a faint pink, "W-well, she's my older sister for goodness sake! Of course I would try to act like her! By the way, thank you for healing my wounds; unfortunately, I was attacked by a shark."

"You're welcome. Ms. Luminitsa, it is best we leave. It is now evening and my siblings have some business to take care of," Reiji spoke, standing from his chair.

I stood up as well, 'Clearly, he wants to go and discuss something back at the beach house.'

"He is right. We'll see ourselves out. May we leave?"

"As you wish. You and your brothers are welcomed here any time," Grandmother said with a genuine smile.

Returning the gesture, Reiji and I bowed politely, then the others stood up and left.

"See ya~!" Aunt Kimiko said, then hugged me from behind, "Karlheinz is not your enemy, he was attempting to protect you by not giving you any information," she whispered seriously.

I nodded before she let go of me.

~Tiny Time Skip~

I walked along the shore with everyone in front of me, staring at the endless ocean.

'So..the Luminitsa family has connections with the wives...I guess that's a bonus point. And this illegitimate son..Kino. He bothers Ayato..he'll be my one connection to our 'illegitimate brother'. Kino must have a ally..or servant to help him. What could he possibly want from me?'

"Sis," I heard Ayato call out to me.

Looking away from the ocean, I looked ahead to see they were farther away, meaning I had stopped in my footsteps somewhere along the way of my thinking.

"Oh..right. Sorry," I said, then speed walked.

"Sister, don't think about anything serious and that will stress you out," Subaru told me.

"I know. I'll try not to...S-so, what did all of you think of my family?"

"I find it weird that they keep a deep freezer filled with blood bags," Laito spoke.

My eyes widened, "Ehhh?!"

"Apparently, Ms. Luminitsa is a medical doctor and she would create some type of diversion to 'borrow' blood of her healthy human patients," Reiji explained.

"...That is the most clever tactic I ever heard of...So that Darjeeling tea had some 'spice' to it," I said to myself mainly.

"But I find it more satisfying by drinking blood from a victim, like little Miya-chan~. Though she's tough, touch the right spot and she'll-"

"You bastard! Who the hell gave you the right to say that about Sister?!" Subaru spoke, trying to grab Laito by his collar, but I held him back by holding his left hand with my right one.

"Do not be provoked. Never argue with a fool. People may never know that difference," I cited Aristotle's words.

Ayato and Shu chuckled.

"Are you calling me a fool, Miya-chan?" Laito asked.

"If you hadn't said something so inappropriate, I wouldn't classify you as a fool, at least, just for that," I replied.

Nearing the beach house, I heard my cellphone ringing and I ran to my chair where I accidentally left it.

"Hello?" I answered.

["I've called you nine times now. I've been worried about you,"] Kei's voice spoke on the other line.

I smiled, "I'm fine, and I'm sorry, I was just in the middle of a family discussion."

["I understand. So, what are you doing now?"]

"Well, I was thinking about starting my online classes now. It's been a couple days and everything's been hectic. So..I will use the remainder of today-until dinner time-to fill in three days of work."

["If you do that, you'll tire yourself, Miyami. Think about your well-being. Do you even think that's possible?"]

I smirked, "..."I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast"," I quoted the Queen of Hearts and ended the call.

"Did you really?" Shu asked me.

"Pft, nah. That was just to mess with my friend's head. Now, if any of you need me for a major reason, I will be in my room until eight o'clock."

(*Sigh* It's summer...and I'm at a standstill with my stories. It's not that I can't progress with them, it's just that I'm a little lazy...well, actually, I'm not, because I have a summer assignment and that's my major. By the way, I recently celebrated my birthday. Yay!..Though I'm not really excited. Anyway, enough of my self-pity, go on about your daily lives..)