Someone knocked on Luna's door. The sun was already shining through a window and she was still blinking sleepily, so not ready to get up. Jiahao entered her room, sat at her bedside and petted her head.

"Wakey, wakey little sunshine."

Luna groaned and turned away.

"Just look at how the sun is calling you."

'Hah, good riddance daddy! The stupid sun is calling me to kill me,' she thought. But then her dear father started waking her up by tickling. Instead of laughing Luna got pissed off. For God's sake it's morning! She just wasn't ticklish when she wasn't properly awake.

"Stop it, papa!" She shouted and sat up. "I am awake."

"Good. Do you want breakfast?"

Luna hesitated. Would Mika smell Jiahao's blood? Would it affect him in any way? He made his dislike for vampires very clear. The girl didn't want the other vampire to hate her. Suddenly she was very aware of the dry feeling in her throat and the pulse beneath the man's skin.

Whatever the boy would think of her she had to eat. Mika could hate her, but he could never hurt her and she wouldn't allow him to hurt the people she loved.

"Yes please."

The older man rolled up his sleeve. "Take as much as you need."

Luna swiftly bit down in a way that spilled not one drop of Jiahao's blood.

"Thanks for the food." When she had finished drinking she licked her lips a few times to get rid of the blood on them. Even though fresh blood was fueling her life Luna felt strangely downcast. She gripped her dad's sleeve. "Dad?"

"Hm?"

"I-I don't have to leave this place, right? I can stay forever," The vampire teared up and her voice pitched higher. So many times she had to leave a life she had built. Either the humans rejected her for what she was or her biological father had ripped her from her home because she was His precious experiment. So many times she had gained an existence she was proud of, but in the end it all turned to dust irrevocably. "I don't want to go ever. I want to stay."

"Shh, It's okay." Jiahao pulled his daughter in for a hug. "You're home little girl. Don't worry I'll stay as long as I can. And after that you still have the people from the City. You are never alone."

"Ah, I … thanks." Her body was still shivering as she stared into the nothingness. "I am home. I … am home."

Jiahao was used to this break-down. He continued to hug the girl and pat her back. She had told him why and the man knew it would still take some time until his words finally sunk in and Luna understood that after two thousand years she had found a place to stay in.

The teenagers were training again. Luna didn't understand why they would waste such a perfect day with play-fighting. Well, actually she understood that they had to keep their skills sharp, but for her taste they were training far too often.

She approached them with two big baskets in her arms. "GOOD MORNING! Do you guys have anything you'd like to have washed? We're having a laundry-day today!"

"Are you sure it's okay for us to dump this work on you?" Yoichi asked while the others were crawling around in their tents to find their stray socks. Luna had to laugh when she heard the boys squabbling.

"Oi, Mika! That's mine!"

"You don't have blue socks Yu."

"Sure I do!"

"No you don't."

"Of course it's alright Yoichi. One shirt more doesn't matter. Anyway, were you planning on wearing the same stuff again and again?"

The short boy rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "We didn't really put a lot of thought into these things. Are you sure you don't want me to carry one of those baskets?"

"Don't worry," Luna said while holding each basket filled with clothes with only one finger. "I'm a vampire. This is nothing to me."

After doing her chores Luna build sandcastles with Mirai. The girls were playing a good distance away from the training teenagers, but sometimes they would stumble into their little sandy world.

It was not fun to always repair the things they had already built and although the vampire's patience was already wearing thin, Mirai was the first to snap.

"Not again big brother!" Mirai cried at Shiho who just knocked over an outpost, 'defending' their imaginary kingdom against stumbling giants aka. Shinoa's squad.

"I'm sorry!" Shiho frantically apologized to her but the little girl just pouted. "I really am! Please stop looking like that! I will make it up!"

"Repair the tower immediately!"

While Shiho was digging in the ruins for a flag Mirai had planted on top of the tower (and his sister was very adamant on the fact that the tower should look just the same as before) Shinoa suggested: "We could use a break. Why don't we all build sandcastles?"

At first not all of the teenagers were convinced that playing in the sand could be fun, but somehow they decided to throw a competition on the best built sandcastle. After that they were all digging like moles.

Mika and Yu had built a sturdy looking medieval castle, but it didn't have an entrance since every time they'd try to make one it would simply crumble down.

Yoichi and Shiho had built the same castle with more extensive defenses and a doorway.

"How come it didn't break like ours did?" Yu complained.

"Well, that's the difference between our skill levels." Shiho replied with a deadpan voice.

"I think I didn't hear you. Want to say that again?"

"Now now boys. Don't fight. It's obvious that Mitsu's and my castle is superior."

"Come again?"

But then they saw the girls' fortress was really well made and even had little houses in its bailey.

"Hah! We made something better!" Mirai proudly declared. Luna's and her sandcastle was not a castle in the literal sense. It was a miniature version of Athens's Acropolis.

"How the heck did you build that roof?" Shiho asked and Mitsuba sneaked up to check it out.

"Hey that's a piece of wood! That's cheating!"

"No it isn't," Luna declared. "The rules said only 'no tools', but using something else than sand was not forbidden."

"Anyway, our castle is easier to defend!" Mitsuba said.

"No, ours is better because its wall has no weak points," Mika disagreed.

"But your people can't get out," Yoichi said.

The faint rumble of the washing machine distracted Luna. It was probably spin-drying the laundry. "Guys?" She tried to get their attention.

"So what? We'll just build a secret tunnel!" Yuichiro shot back.

"Guys!"

"You couldn't even make a normal gate!" Shiho taunted his friend.

"People!" The pink haired vampire tried again but they were caught up in their disagreement. "Oh, well. I give up. I'm over at the house helping my dad with the laundry, 'kay?" She stated to no one in particular.

"Wait, I'll help too," Yoichi said. To their surprise Mika walked up to them. "I guess it's better than watching them squabble."

Luna held one of her damp shirts to her face and inhaled the smell. The scent of freshly washed clothes was among has favorite smells, alongside hyacinth and orange-blossoms (and blood of course, but Luna would rather rip her own heart out before admitting that). The best part of living at the edge of a forest was that they could tie new clotheslines to nearby trees. The few lines Luna and Jiahao normally used for their laundry had by far too little space for all the clothes they had to hang up.

The vampire estimated that, due to the warm breeze the clothes would be dry this very evening. She loved this peaceful atmosphere, the sun warming her back and the wind gently pulling her hair.

Smiling she brought the last basket filled with damp laundry to Mika and took some shirts to hang on an almost filled clothesline. When she turned back, she caught him staring.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. Nothing."

Grinning, the girl proceeded with hanging up shirts and trousers on the line Mika was working on.

"Aww, come on. Spill it!" She said laughing.

"You are too humanlike. It's strange ..."

"Well~, the others say that I'm insane. I guess I am. And I really like it! Smiling, I like it. You know Mika," Luna started and when he looked at her she threw a shirt in his face. "Quit the simply surviving crap and start living! It's much more fun!"

He just stayed silent and looked away, but Luna didn't mind. Even if she had unintentionally hurt him, she didn't care. After all, Yu would be happier seeing his brother happy too, right?

"I'm done at my side. Do you still need help?" Yoichi ran up to the vampires.

"No. We'll manage," Mika said curtly.

Yoichi looked from one vampire to the other probably asking himself whether a fight between them broke out if he were to leave. "Okay. But if there's anything I can do just call, okay?"

"Yup. Thanks Yoichi!" Luna said. Right after the boy was after earshot, she scolded the blond: "That was not very nice."

Mika snorted. "You sure are lucky. How can you live with in naïve existence when people are killed somewhere else? I bet you never had to fight for anything. I bet you never watched you family getting killed before your eyes!"

His crimson eyes blazed in fury. Underneath that anger Luna could discern other emotions. Envy, hate, desperation, guilt. Perhaps he was more mature than she had given him credit for. Normally vampires lose all emotions, except for pleasure when feeding and complexes from their human-times. Maybe 'complex' was had the wrong connotation, but these emotions had one thing in common: They were directed at the most important thing of a vampire. It could be love, like Mika's love for his brother; It could be revenge or anger; Or it could be a wish, a human's deepest desire.

Luna reached out with her hand and gently played with his golden hair. "You're right. I am a weak person for desiring this life. If I was promised a peaceful century in this place and an equally peaceful death, I would give away everything I have been until now and I would never ever look beyond the borders of my home and try to change anything.

I have already lived for so long. I killed countless people as a vampire. When I gained two younger siblings I couldn't protect them. I couldn't stop the person I trusted most from going insane. I had to sacrifice my brother, no I was too weak to stop that person without sacrificing my brother for the sake of humanity and my sister hates me for it!

It must have been hard for you, being so weak. But if you need power to protect your family why do you want to be human again? You'll only lose the power you have as a vampire."

Mika didn't answer. He just stared into her red eyes trying to figure her out. Most likely Luna's explanation was not what he expected, especially not the way she had talked, softly with a voice filled only with regret.

Luna pulled her hand back and sat the two baskets on her head, balancing them with the skill of many years' training. "Should we go back too?" She asked Mika, smiling again.

Mika swallowed and his cheeks were slightly pinker than before. She was pretty, he thought. Why hadn't he noticed before how her eyes lighted up when she smiled? Why hadn't he perceived before how her pink hair sparkled in the sunlight? Why hadn't he seen that she was more human than vampire?

When was a being a vampire and when was it a human? What defined them? What were their differences? What did they have in common? Why were they fighting each other?

When they returned to the others, they were watching Yu and Shiho fighting, in a very literal sense.

"Hey! You guys are just in time to see Yu win," Shinoa greeted them, but Mirai disagreed with iron confidence: "No way! My brother is stronger! He won't lose!"

Luna plopped down next to the lavender haired girl, put the baskets beside her and watched the fight with a frown on her face.

"And what do you think?" Shinoa asked with an almost mocking smile. "This is the skill of the JIDA's top soldiers."

For a second Luna thought about lying, saying that they were quite good in her eyes, but she was only a minor vampire and had little real-combat experience. But Shinoa was right: they were soldiers. One day they would stand again on a battlefield and the female vampire didn't want them to die.

"They're good, but predictable. The footwork is average, but not good enough for a battle on uneven ground. And none of them is varying their speed and force. They'll tire themselves out too fast."

"Eh, that's all? I thought you'd be amazed since Mika said you were weaker than him. Does that mean you can fight better than them?"

"I said it before, power isn't everything."

Shinoa's face lit up with one of her creepy 'you-are-not-going-to-like-this' smiles. "Then~ would mind sparring with me?"

"Hm. Truthfully I am not in the mood." Luna lay down on her belly and watched the two boys. There was something about the way Yu fought that reminded her of someone else, someone who had tried to teach her Japanese swordplay and had failed miserably. Luna chuckled as he used one of Asherah's favorite moves.

"Ehh? Really? Aren't you just afraid to lose?" Shinoa taunted her.

The vampire decided to play along. "No. I am just trying to save you the embarrassment of being miserably defeated in front of your crush."

Shinoa blushed. "I do not have a crush on Yu! And besides who said I was going to lose anyway?"

"Hey keep it down you two! And Luna: it would be better to do what this idiot says. She can be very stubborn," Mitsuba barked at them.

"Oh, Mitsu, you've hurt my feelings!" Shinoa sang. "But she is right, you know. I can be very stubborn."

Luna raised her hands in defeat. "Alright, alright. I get it and give up. Just let me get my sword."

When the vampire girl came back she wore her sword on a belt around her hips.

"Are you sure you want to use that sword? It looks more like a ceremonial sword to me." Mitsuba asked.

She had a point. Its hilt was in a very ornate 18th century Schiavona style made of golden and reddish copper alloys and the scabbard featured matching gold-red-black designs.

"Yep. It was specially made for me," Luna said, but omitted the facts that unlike other weapons, this sword did not enhance the physical abilities when fed blood, but gets repaired instead. "A very precious friend of mine gave me this sword when I had finished learning the basics of swordsmanship." Her face had a very gentle smile while she traced the hilts pattern with her fingers.

"Wonderful. Now that you are ready too, could you two boys make some space?!" Shinoa shouted at the still fighting guys. Even though they had been fighting so focused and furiously, Shiho and Yu stopped immediately and sheathed their weapons.

Surprisingly Yu stopped by Luna and said: "Good luck. You'll need it."

The vampire looked into the boy's emerald eyes. "No, I won't, but thanks anyway, Yu."

Yu walked over to the other spectators and shouted at Shinoa: "Oi Shinoa! Don't lose against this arrogant vampire!"

"On whose side are you?!" Both girls muttered at the same time.

Shinoa and Luna were facing each other on the beach. She brought out her scythe and with a soft scraping hiss the vampire unsheathed her sword and went into a fencing stance.

The purple haired girl twirled her scythe a bit. "Do you want to start or should I?" she asked.

"I'll start, if it's okay."

She nodded and Luna sprang towards her. Shinoa started turning around, twirling her scythe too fast for an eye to follow. Luna's attack was blocked and Shinoa started attacking relentlessly at a speed where only well trained progenitors would be able to exploit her weak spots.

At another attack from the left, Luna moved back out of Shinoa's range, only to jump right back at her. The scythe's handle had just passed by, Shinoa couldn't change its direction because of the inertia and Luna could easily grab Shinoa from behind and hold her blade to the human's throat.

"Impressive. Have you dealt with scythe-wielders before?" Shinoa asked and Luna let go of her.

"No, but I had extensive combat training." She stepped a few meters away. "You attack me now."

Shinoa grinned while Luna was concentrating. Fighting a weaker opponent wasn't easy and she had to watch how much power she was using. It would look strange if a vampire weaker than Mika did not struggle at all.

Shinoa attacked from above, completely ignoring her defense. Luna swiftly dodged. This time the Japanese attacked even faster and the vampire struggled to keep up. One time Shinoa almost cut some of her hair off and another she only dodged by bending back until her head almost touched the ground.

After another narrow miss, Shinoa called out: "Where did your confidence go?"

Her taunt actually aggravated Luna and she closed in. Shinoa immediately swung her weapon and the blades met with a loud clang. Luna had blocked her attack at the scythe's handle. She grabbed the handle, made a turn and pointed her sword to the girl's throat.

"You must be joking," Shinoa sighed.

"I am sorry for not going down so easily," Luna said with sarcasm in her voice.

"It's okay. I still haven't given everything I've got anyway." The girls stepped away from each other and suddenly purple tattoo-like designs appeared on Shinoa's skin.

"Hey Shinoa! Stop it! That's too much!" Shiho shouted and Luna crunched her eyebrows in confusion. What the hell were they talking about?

"Haha, now I can take you down!" Shinoa shouted and sped towards the vampire. Luna had barley time to dodge, but could not counterattack. Shinoa's defense was bulletproof and Luna admired her for not getting dizzy from her turning and twirling!

Suddenly the soldier called out: "Shi-chan!" A black form appeared. Obviously it was the weapon's demon that attacked the vampire with its maw wide open. Its big body filled Luna's field of vision.

The girl raised her sword and swung it back down unleashing a wave of red energy that cut the demon apart. At the same time Shinoa, who had been using the demon to obscure her approach, jumped through the demon's immaterial body and brought the tip of her weapon to the vampire's chest.

"Gotcha! How was that for predictable?" Shinoa panted. Sweat gathered in drops on her brow.

"Awesome! I'll have to remember that!" Luna laughed. Vampires don't tire easily if at all.

"Shinoa! Are you okay?" Yu came running towards us with the others I tow.

"I'm fine." She smiled exhaustedly. Then suddenly her head started to spin and she stumbled right into Yu's chest. "Ah! S-sorry."

By now her face wasn't red just because of her exertion. More likely the close proximity to the green-eyed male was the cause of her flushed face. Luna was grinning like a fool.

"Hey you're all red. Do you have a fever? Or … wait a sec…" Yu handed her his water bottle.

"He is not the sharpest tool in the shed, is he?" Luna asked Mitsuba who responded with a scowling face: "Not even close."

Shiho, who had the slightest blush on his cheeks, cleared his throat and startled the two lovebirds who in turn became very flustered. "Really now."

"Yes. Very disappointing." Mitsuba agreed with the red haired boy.

"I actually wanted to say that they should finish somewhere else."

"Now then I am next!" Yu declared and drew his sword. He looked expectantly at Luna.

"Wait. You want to fight me?"

"Yes! I'm going to beat you too."

"Hah. I doubt my ego could cope with another beating," Luna said.

"Are you that fragile?" Yu taunted her. He must have caught on that the vampire was easy to rile up. "I really thought that vampires were more powerful than that, being immortal and all."

"You really don't know when to keep your mouth shut." Luna spun around pointing her sword at the green eyed boy. "Bring it on."

"Bring it on." The girl faced a man who was a head taller and well-muscled. She wore a man's clothing, which was very unusual for that time. Both were vampires.

The man did not draw his weapon. "I am terribly sorry Miss, but I will not strike a woman."

"I call bullshit," the girl called. "I am far more powerful than you, son of a seventh progenitor."

The man sighed. In a way she was like Ferid Bathory. Everything had to go their way. After finding the silver haired vampire again, Bathory insisted on introducing Crowley to a first progenitor.

'Connections are everything in the vampire world,' Ferid would always say. 'If you are allied with a powerful progenitor no one will be able to touch you.'

And like that they took a carriage south to a certain mansion. Crowley expected a grandiose building like Ferid had them, but instead he saw a Villa Rustica, a country villa in Roman style. It looked like the only recent addition was the iron fence, which marked the border of the Lord's ground.

A young woman was waiting at the gate. He and Ferid left the carriage and Crowley watched as the older vampire bowed deeply.

"It is good to see you Lady Tepes. I hope your father is well," Ferid purred. For once he did not talk with that condescending tone of his.

"He is." The girl carried herself proudly, but to Crowley it looked fake, like she was only playing a character on a stage.

"By the by, this is Crowley Eusford, my youngest friend." Ferid threw an arm around the former crusader who said: "I don't consider you my friend."

"Oh that hurts Crowley! I really thought we had something," Ferid cried theatrically. The Tepes smiled and Crowley thought it suited her more than the blank face she had before.

The three vampires walked into the house, crossed a room with a rectangular hole in the ceiling and entered another room. A red haired man slept in a throne made of marble. The girl sighed and motioned the vampires to stay back and be quiet. Then she went up to him, sat down at his side and shook the vampire awake.

"Father, Ferid and his child are here."

Again Crowley was introduced by Ferid. When the red eyes of the first progenitor fell on him, Crowley shivered. He felt like the progenitors gaze went right through him, pulling him apart and exposing the lie Ferid and he told the world. Crowley was given the blood of a second progenitor by Ferid Bathory, but nobody was allowed to know. The punishment for using the blood of another vampire to turn someone was to be imprisoned for eternity.

The first progenitor did not say a word to him. Instead he started talking with Ferid. After a few minutes Crowley realized that politics were always the same, in the human world and in the vampire society. The girl sat quietly on her father's side, listening to the men talk with downcast eyes. If she hadn't been kneading her dress with her hands, one could believe that she was actually content with all this talk about people and locations, whose names Crowley had never heard.

"My dear, why don't you show Mister Eusford around while Ferid and I wrap up our business?" The progenitor requested and his daughter complied.

Soon they found themselves in a courtyard. Some big trees threw shadows over the paved ground.

What should Crowley talk about with a woman? When he had been a crusader he had been sworn to celibacy and after he was turned into a vampire he never felt any need to interact with the opposite sex. When it came to blood all humans were equally tasty.

"Can you wield that sword or is it just for show?" she suddenly asked.

"No, I am a swordsman. I have also fought in a crusade some seventy years ago."

"Good. Teach me swordplay."

Crowley almost burst out laughing. Even though this girl was a vampire, she was still a girl, dressed in the latest European fashion. "And how will the mighty Miss Tepes fight in a dress?"

At first she glared at him. Then she said: "You're right. I should go and change." Then she ran off. When she came back she wore simple pants and a shirt. She also carried a collection of various bladed weapons.

Out of those she selected a medieval broadsword saying: "I prefer a Roman shield and a gladius, but this will have to do. And now bring it on."

"I am terribly sorry Miss, but I will not strike a woman."

"I call bullshit," the girl called. "I am far more powerful than you, son of a seventh progenitor." Boasting she jumped at him. Crowley had barley time to pull out his blade and the force of the blow almost drove him to his knees. Her technique was average at best, but she could compensate its lack with her strength.

"You are no thirteenth progenitor! Haha, oh my, did Ferid do something bad again?"

Crowley's blood froze. "How did you know?" he whispered.

The female vampire laughed again. "Relax, I won't tell father … if you train me that is."

"It doesn't seem like I have much of a choice."

"No you don't. I always get what I want."

Crowley spent the rest of the day teaching the girl basic techniques. Like his human students he had her repeat one move countless times. Even though it was odd to teach a girl fighting in the fourteenth century, the former crusader noticed her talent. If women can be talented at swordplay, couldn't they be also good at other activities or professions that are considered to be exclusively for men?

Later in his life he would consider all people as equals, but on that day he was still Crowley Eusford, raised in the twelfth century, ex-crusader and former follower of Christian believes. On that day he still believed in the rules of society that told every man and woman what they were allowed to do.

"Aha, that looks like fun! Can I join in too?" Ferid called out. The sun had just set and Crowley thought it to be a good idea to spar a little so that the Tepes could try out what she had learned. Next to Ferid stood the first progenitor. He did not seem to be angry; he didn't seem to be especially happy either.

"My Lady, I would be very glad if I was allowed to take Crowley with me. His Majesty has given us a mission," the silver haired vampire told the girl.

"Be my guest Feridiot," she replied and to Crowley she said: "I hope you will come again to teach me."

"But of course." Crowley bowed down to kiss her hand, careful not to touch her knuckles with his lips.

When he and Ferid sat again in a carriage the older vampire looked very content. "You should consider yourself lucky, Crowley. If you tread carefully the young Tepes is going to be your ally and no one will be able to touch you." He spread his arms theatrically and asked: "And that's all thanks to me. Say Crowley, am I not a good friend to you?"

"Why are you doing this Ferid?"

"That is complicated, my dear Crowley, very complicated. Would you be happy with the answer: I was bored? To me, this is just the best game in the world."

Ferid + idiot = Feridiot;

I did a little bit of research on the Hand-kiss. It derived from the tradition to kiss a Lord's signet ring. Traditionally a man would only kiss the hand of a married or widowed woman. He was not supposed to touch the skin (or glove) of an unmarried woman with his lips as this was considered to be a declaration of love.