It was dark and cold, and Miku was afraid.
It was a few minutes after Luka left her in the alley by herself, and Miku had been wandering around the streets of Crypton in a dizzy, confused haze. She could not recognize where she was. She in another alley this time, with fading graffiti on the red bricks over a dumpster. Miku was shivering and afraid, and when she pulled out her cell phone to call someone for help, she found that the batteries had run out.
Miku stuffed the cell back into her pocket and walked down the alley some more, looking around desperately for some signs of life, some people, some buildings or placenames that would identify where she was in the vast city of Crypton. Miku walked and walked and walked, until eventually she reached a few buildings. Peeking inside, Miku saw to their horror that they were if not brothels, strip clubs or peep shows.
She was in Kirrick, Miku realized with a jolt. Miku backed away from the buildings, looking around desperately. She could see a few prostitutes on the streets looking at her and laughing at her. Little girl lost. Miku backed away from them as well, back into the alley where she came from. She shouldn't even be in here. All at once Miku felt anger at Luka rush to her mind. This was her fault. If she hadn't left Miku in that deserted alley, Miku would be home safe. Her parents were probably worried to death about her, and if any of them found out that Miku had been in Kirrick...
Miku turned and ran back into the alley, past the homeless bums, past the peeling posters and graffiti. She ran and ran blindly until she ran into someone, and, staggered, she stepped back and rubbed her head before looking up.
Fear chilled her blood. A man with cold, aristocratic features and pure black hair stared down at her disdainfully. His eyes were red, pearly white fangs appearing at the corners of his mouth. Another vampire, and he looked hungry, too.
Miku whimpered and backed away. The vampire stood, silently tracking her movements with his eyes. Miku raised her hands in a poor attempt at a placating gesture.
"Please leave me alone," she said, begged. "I'm sorry for bumping into you. Please don't drink my blood. Why don't you just g-go to the...the g-government blood suppliers? Or th-the blood whores?" Luka's bite on her neck was starting to itch all over again.
Whoever the vampire was, he didn't seem to be listening. Indeed, he seemed to be completely taken over by bloodlust. Words would not reach him. After what happened with Luka, Miku was not especially inclined to run away, lest she get tackled from behind again. There was no escape. Miku just stared as he approached closer and closer. No escape at all.
Miku shut her eyes, but then she heard the solid sound of a punch connecting with flesh, and she snapped them open. A girl she did not recognize was in front of her. She was wearing a long, brown duster, and a cowboy hat. She had short brown hair as well. Miku could do nothing but stare at her too. She suddenly felt aware of her own acute powerlessness.
Fast as lightning, the vampire, momentarily dazed, jumped to his feet and made a rush at the girl in the duster, who threw at stake that buried itself next to his heart. Temporarily paralyzed, he writhed around in pain, clutching his chest, before the girl produced another stake and stabbed him through his heart. The vampire slumped over and fell to the ground before rapidly he began to degrade to dust and ashes. The girl flicked at her duster, professionally, before grabbing the two stakes from the crumbling corpse and putting them away in another pocket in her duster. Miku was gaping, stunned by the ease in which the girl killed the vampire.
"W-wow," Miku stammered. "Wh-who are you?"
The girl turned and Miku was surprised to see that she was rather young; couldn't have been more than twenty four.
"An Ishim," she said. "Meiko." She knelt down and looked at the corpse. "Very new. Probably newborn...suffering from the intensity of the bloodlust that grips all newborn vampires."
Miku only caught on to the first part of what the girl said. "Meiko!? Then you're the one Lily hired!" Miku scrambled to her feet. This display had now thoroughly convinced her of the Ishim's skills. Taking down a bloodlust crazed newborn was no easy feat; although newborns were of course easier to kill than fledglings and older, more experienced vampires, they were still no picnic to defeat.
"Ah," Meiko looked at her, surprised. "Then I take it that you're Miku?"
"Yeah!" Miku nodded. "Thank you for saving me."
"It's no problem," said Meiko, getting up, and then abruptly stiffening. "Another one...?"
"Another vampire!?" Miku looked around, wildly. When did she become such a vampire magnet? However, Meiko relaxed a few moments later.
"It's gone," she said. "Anyways, well, it's nice to meet you, Miku. I trust I'll be working with you then?"
"Yeah," Miku nodded. "So uhm, do you know who Lily's father is? Or are you still investigating that?"
Meiko scratched her cheek. "I have narrowed her father down to a few suspects. Crowley of House Nesuferit, Nicholas of House Bathory, and the houseless Leon Magnus."
Leon Magnus? That was the same person Luka brought up earlier. So she had been telling the truth...Miku's brow furrowed. How odd. She truly did not understand Luka and her motives, but...Miku recalled how Luka left her alone in that alley and then she felt angry at her all over again. "I think it's Leon Magnus. I had a friend who told me that-"
"Ah," Meiko interrupted with a raised hand. "The vampire? Lily told me about her."
"Yeah," Miku nodded.
"Luka Megurine of House Karnstein..." Meiko mused. "She's an odd one if she helps humans and dhampirs."
"That was what I was thinking," Miku said. "She has no reason to help us, right?"
Meiko thought some more. "Well, maybe if..." she shook her head. "Never mind. That's impossible."
"Huh?" Miku blinked. "Uh, okay."
"Anyways," Meiko looked at Miku. "You look lost. You live in Vanderlyn District, correct? I assume this because Lily also lives in Vanderlyn."
"Oh," said Miku. "Yeah, I live in Vanderlyn. Could you take me there?"
Meiko nodded. "Follow me."
-o-o-o-
As they walked, Meiko gave Miku a brief lesson on the various bloodline powers of House Karnstein; probably because Lily told her to educate Miku as much as she could about Karnstein vampires due to her distrust of Luka. And it was true, Miku knew very little about Karnstein vampires other than their duplicity.
"Karnstein vampires are very beautiful," Meiko said. "That's one of their powers right there. They are charismatic, very good with words and other means of persuasion, which is how they obtained the reputation of duplicity, for it is very easy for them to manipulate people. They possess the bloodline power of Inveiglement, which gives them the power to awe, seduce, and manipulate. Offensively, they are more magically oriented, which is why government issued enchanted crosses actually have very little effect on them. Each Karnstein vampire has a different magical affinity though, so it's hard to say what this Luka is specializing in."
Awe, seduce, manipulate...Miku looked down at her feet. Perhaps that's what Luka did to her; she used her power to draw Miku under her influence. Awe, seduce, manipulate...
"Since Luka is only three," Meiko continued, "she is still very weak. I doubt her powers have developed far enough for her to have gotten anywhere far in her magical ability and in Inveiglement."
"Vampires really are strong," Miku mumbled to herself.
Meiko looked at her. "They do sound powerful, but they are weak in some ways. Vampires dislike working together. They're solitary creatures, so it's easier to take them out than if they're in groups, but there is a 'pack House' where its members work together. However, none of the Houses we are dealing with are of House Jehroda, so no worries there. Vampires can't enter homes without being invited, or else they will begin bleeding from all orifices and will die usually within fifteen seconds. They can't go out in sunlight, although there are rumors that once a vampire is old and powerful enough, sunlight is no longer a problem...but thankfully, all those old vampires are dead now. They have to drink blood to survive, only blood and nothing else. They live in a cold society that looks upon fear and weakness with disdain. They suffer from temptation into falling and giving in to their bloodlust. They are always alone. They suffer from the boredom of immortality."
Miku nodded, slowly. "I. I see."
"Yes," said Meiko, and she stopped walking. "Well, we're in Vanderlyn District now. I trust you can find the way back to your house?"
"Oh!" Miku looked back up and saw to her immense relief the familiar sights of Vanderlyn - the Tower Hotel and the Patin Museum on the left, the old-fashioned sweet shop on the right. "Yeah. Thank you, Meiko."
"No problem," Meiko said. "See you." She nodded, once, in Miku's direction, before turning and leaving. Miku smiled and waved after her before setting off to walk over to her house.
-o-o-o-
A few days later, during which Miku was scolded and grounded by her parents for being out so late and making them worry, Miku finally had her grounding lifted, and she called Lily to meet her and Meiko at McDonalds.
Miku arrived to find Lily and Meiko sitting at the table. The Ishim was wearing casual clothing, a jacket over a shirt and jeans, looking ordinary, completely unlike an Ishim, and Miku nodded to her as she sat down next to her. Lily got to business right away.
"There's been...bugs and bats following us," she said.
Meiko nodded. "Yes. I have observed that during the period of time while Miku was being...grounded, I have been followed by bats and bugs, and Lily confirmed that she was being followed by those as well."
"Were you?" Lily asked.
Miku blinked and thought. No bats or bugs had been in her presence to the best of her knowledge. "No."
"Probably because you haven't been with us for the past few days," Lily said, looking a little relieved. "Good, that means the vampire doesn't know about you yet. Did you tell Luka to go?"
Miku hesitated, surprised by the sudden wave of melancholy washing over her at Luka's departure. Why did she feel sad? She barely even knew Luka, yet here she was feeling sad about not seeing her again. Miku felt a bit of an ache after remembering the not-so-good way the two of them parted. "Yes. She's gone."
"Well, that settles it," Lily said, satisfied. "So, my father is Leon Magnus, right? He lives in a castle near a small village...but..." She frowned. "How can we get there? We have school to consider."
Miku couldn't resist laughing. "You're worried about school?"
"Yeah," Lily looked mildly affronted. "Education is important. Maybe we can say we're going on a study trip," Lily sighed.
"Wait," said Meiko. "I think you all are being too hasty. For one, we have no adequate weaponry against Leon Magnus. We don't know his weaknesses or the layout of his castle. If we just go to his castle, we'll be completely unprepared. Lily, you may be a dhampir, but Miku is an ordinary, untrained human. She has no protection. She should not be coming with us."
"Good point," said Lily, and she turned to Miku. "Well, Miku."
Miku blinked. "What? But I want to go."
"This isn't a picnic," said Lily. "We're going into a vampire's castle. I'm not sure if you can...handle it."
"But I..." Miku protested, and then she trailed off. True...she would only get in the way. But she was worried about Lily. She couldn't just let her go off into a vampire's castle alone. "I'm worried."
"Don't worry about me," said Lily. "Worry about yourself. I don't want to ruin your ordinary life. You've helped a lot, Miku. I'm grateful to you. But...you can't come with us. Like I said, it's simply too dangerous."
Miku's shoulders dropped. She could imagine Lily and Meiko leave to go off to the castle...and what then? Would Miku ever hear from them again? Lily was her childhood friend. Maybe if she went, she would die. And Miku would be left in Crypton, waiting and waiting for her friend to come back.
"We'll be fine," said Lily.
Meiko looked at Miku. "It shouldn't be too hard to take out this vampire."
Miku sighed. "If you say so..."
None of them noticed the fly on the leaves of the fake plants next to their table as Lily and Meiko outlined their plan of attack.
-o-o-o-
Miku was heading back home, feeling melancholy. It had been decided. Lily and Meiko would go to the castle without her. They had made all the decisions and Miku would have to stay here and wait for them.
Miku had just taken the turn onto the secret shortcut to her house that she knew well, when she suddenly felt something grab her with crushing force. A soaked handkerchief muffled her gasp of surprise, and Miku realized to her horror that it was chloroform. Everything grew darker, dimmer, her movements of protests became sluggish. No...she was being kidnapped...why was she always a victim? A defenseless girl...Miku struggled and tried to bite the hand, but everything was spinning and twirling and she was falling into blackness, with no Luka there to save her this time.
-o-o-o-
Luka was not feeling good.
Ever since she had argued with Miku, her mood had been completely shot. It was night, and she was walking along the streets of Vanderlyn, mumbling to herself and kicking pebbles and rocks, watching them soar through the air with the force of her superhuman kicks.
Luka looked up. She was at Miku's house, a location she knew well because she used to stand in front of this house at night, staring at it, before going up in a nearby tree and looking at the sleeping Miku through the window.
It was creepy, Luka admitted to herself, by human standards. By vampire standards, why, this sort of behavior was incredibly tame.
Luka looked down at her untied shoelaces before deciding to go over to Miku. Maybeapologize. Maybe even tell her the truth about herself, what Luka really was. Maybe Miku would understand then, if she wasn't too afraid. Luka took a hesitant step forward before stopping, and then she shook her head at her hesitance and leapt up to the top of the tree, landing softly on the branches, and she peered into Miku's room.
Miku was not there. Unusual at this time...Luka wrinkled her nose, perplexed. There was, however, a note on the bed. It was stained with blood. Suddenly panicked, Luka edged closer to the window, stepping carefully on the branch, and, slowly, slowly, opened the window, which was unlocked. She took a deep breath, careful to stay outside the confines of the home.
It was not Miku's blood. It was a vampire's blood. Luka looked at the letter, which was not written in any human language; it was written instead in diabole, the common language of vampires. Luka realized that the letter was meant for her, but Luka could not reach it without going into Miku's room. Seeing how the letter was soaked in the vampire's blood, the vampire must have gone into Miku's house without permission as well. If Miku's kidnapper could do it, well, so could Luka.
She steeled herself and leapt into the room. Immediately, blood began gushing from her eyes, her nose, her mouth as pain and weakness set into Luka's body. She blindly grabbed for the letter, soaking it with her own blood now too, and leapt out of the house. She had been in Miku's room for the total of three hundred milliseconds, and Luka landed on the ground heavily, with an 'oof'. She stopped bleeding the moment she leapt out the window, although she still felt weak, and her own dried blood was crusted in her mouth, on her tongue, around her eyes and nose. Luka winced. Such indignity...she sighed as she sat up.
Well, nothing she could do about that now. Luka looked at the bloodsoaked letter and read it. It was from Leon Magnus, and he had kidnapped Miku. He made vague threats towards 'the dhampir Lily' and 'the Ishim Meiko', and basically said that Luka had to go to his castle if she wanted to see Miku alive again.
"The dhampir and Ishim are mere annoyances," wrote Leon, "but perhaps a good fight against a vampire, fledgling you may be, would quench my eternal boredom these past few centuries."
Luka frowned at the letter. Obviously, Leon was bored, and just as obviously, he somehow knew about what Luka felt for Miku. How did he know? Luka put a hand to her chin and thought. Perhaps this Leon specialized in the skill of Animalism...perhaps he had animals follow all involved around, ascertaining everything and reporting things back to him.
"Stupid idiot!" Luka threw the letter aside, feeling suddenly angry at Miku. If she hadn't reacted like that, none of this would have happened. Luka would have protected her from being kidnapped, but no, Miku just hadto run away from her. It hurt Luka to see Miku's face look at her with that frightened distrust. Luka sighed and looked down at her feet. She was feeling a little stronger now, so she got up and set off first in search of a change in clothes, and then for blood. And then, she decided, for Miku.
-o-o-o-
Miku awoke in an unfamiliar room, dark and cold.
She had no idea where she was, and then she remembered; she had been kidnapped when walking home. Panic seized her heart and she got up and looked around the room. She seemed to be in a vast throne room, tapestries hanging on the walls that depicted hideous faced monsters drinking the blood from helpless women and men, a long, richly red and gold carpet leading up some steps to a grand throne of gold and velvet. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, lit. Although the area radiated refinement and elegance, Miku shuddered; there was definitely a sort of aura around the area that spoke of rot and decay. There were no windows in the room and Miku ran over to the door and pounded on it, but it was too thick and Miku doubted that any help would come.
The door swung open without warning and Miku stumbled back, fell backwards, landing on her bottom and hands, and stared up. A tall figure stood before her, a pale man with blonde hair and sunken eyes, dressed in elegant clothing - a tuxedo and a cape. He looked for all the world like an old-fashioned vampire.
And then it dawned on Miku. This man was Leon Magnus, Lily's father. The resemblance was unmistakable, those same eyes, the same complexion, the same haughty look...even the same gestures that brought to mind Lily as the man strode closer to the Miku.
"Welcome," he said. "I am Count Leon Magnus."
Miku couldn't speak. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Leon Magnus smiled. "Your heart is certainly beating quickly. I wonder how much blood you have inside you? That vampire seemed quite taken with you," he chuckled dryly. "I invited her here, along with your friends."
"Wh-what?" Miku finally spoke. "Luka's coming here? That's impossible. She has no reason to be coming here."
The Count Leon Magnus only looked at Miku askance. "That is only what you think. You know, I have been quite bored these past few centuries. Perhaps this would give me some fun...I have been trying to kill my dhampir child, a shame upon the name of Magnus, but she is surprisingly resilient..."
"Luka can't be coming," Miku mumbled to herself, dazed.
"She will," said the vampire with infuriating smugness. "She's a fledgling. Still susceptible to foolish human influences. Well, she'll learn in time. Until our guests arrive, you are to stay in this room at all times. I will lock the door. There is nothing you can use in this room to break the lock. I will feed you human food at regular intervals, but you are my prisoner."
Miku felt despair course through her being. She was kidnapped in a faraway place by a vampire, and now she had to worry about Luka and Lily. Why would Luka help her? Miku couldn't make sense out of it. The only reason Luka hung around with her was because of her blood, right? And Lily...she was just a kid like Miku, young and afraid and inexperienced. Miku looked down at her hands and prayed for safety.
-o-o-o-
Kasodil was a small town. All the villagers regarded Meiko and Lily with fear and suspicion - Lily moreso due to her looks. The two of them rented a room in the inn. Lily had made the excuse of going on a study trip, and had in fact already written her essay that would 'document' the events of the study trip...all of which were made up. After all, Lily couldn't very well write an essay about killing vampires.
Meiko was pacing around in the room. "The villagers are talking about us. This isn't good...word will definitely reach Leon Magnus."
"Let him know," said Lily as she checked and rechecked the stakes she brought with her.
Meiko sighed. "A huge amount of our plan relies on the element of surprise."
Indeed, their plan consisted of going through the sewers, which was not as guarded as the drawbridge, for one, and making their way up to the main body of the castle. All this would take place at day, and then the two of them would find the coffin of Leon Magnus and kill him. It was a simple plan at heart, but if Leon found out even a little of it, it is possible that he would use time incense to stay awake at day, maybe even set loose monsters in the sewers.
"It'll be fine," Lily said, impatiently. "So we're doing it tomorrow, right?"
Meiko peered out the window. "Yes. Tomorrow at five AM."
"Good," said Lily, satisfied.
-o-o-o-
"This is stupid," Luka said to herself as she entered the sewers. "Why am I even doing this?"
But of course, she knew why she was doing this - to rescue Miku. Luka had very little faith in the abilities of the dhampir and the Ishim. Sure, the Ishim was experienced, Luka saw that for herself (indeed, the 'other presence' that Meiko sensed that day in the alley was Luka herself. Luka was about to rescue Miku from the fangs of that bloodcrazed newborn, but then Meiko came along and ruined everything), but the Ishim wasn't experienced enough. As for the dhampir, well, Lily was obviously only running on her anger against Leon Magnus. She would not be very good in a real fight.
So it was all up to Luka then. She all the weapons she needed, and she was sure to drink a lot of blood before this, so her powers were at their peak. Luka walked down the sewers, her eyes piercing through the darkness easily. The water of the sewers was filthy, Luka noted; a thin film of goo spread over it. As Luka walked, further and further, she realized that there were bones, human bones, in the water.
Here a withered skeleton of a warrior, there a rotting corpse of a female, maggots clinging to dark red meat and entrails. Even a small skeleton of a child was in here, curled up next to a larger skeleton. However, most of the corpses in the sewers had not yet fully rotted to skeletons. Insects abounded, flies and spiders feeding upon the dead and bloated human bodies in the sewers. A horrific stink was in the air, sewer water with rotting bodies, sickening; any human would vomit at the smell itself. Luka wrinkled her nose mildly in distaste, but she was not especially disturbed. She had seen worse things in her life as a vampire. She walked on, ignoring the bodies, and continued walking for a while, until she stopped.
There was something ahead of her - something large and dark, most likely dangerous. Luka hesitated and took a few cautious steps forward. The water was getting warmer. She could hear splashes in the distance. She was almost at the sewers entrance to the castle. Her senses judged that the something ahead of her was just slightly in front. Confrontation was inevitable. Luka continued walking until the sewers opened up, expanded to a vast circular room, water gushing from vents on the side, a whole mountain of dead bodies.
In front of her was a large, lizardlike freak of nature. It was a scaled creature with fur around its head with a long, spined tail, which was what was making the splashing noises, and a large, fanged human face instead of a reptile's snout and head. On closer inspection, the scales were not scales - instead, all of its scales were living faces, both men and women, adult and children, all of them laughing in a cacophony of monstrous, evil sounds. The head face turned slowly to look at Luka, and all the other faces quieted.
"Look," said a high, child's voice. "A girl!"
"She looks delicious," said another voice, male and deep. "It's been too long since we last had something to eat."
High piping female laughter. "Right! Magnus doesn't feed us enough!"
Luka blinked at the creature, faint surprise coloring her voice. "...The Manticore of Legion."
"Ahah!" said a trumpet-like voice that emanated from the fanged, large head. It bared its teeth and Luka saw that it had three rows of sharp teeth, like a shark. "She knows us."
The Manticore of Legion - an infamous creature that was first spotted in the thirteenth century, although it was possibly even older than that. It was a thing of unparalleled evil and endless gluttony, feeding on everything. Its spined tail could shoot out venom that paralyzes the victim, and its heads could emit loud wails that could shake even the stoutest of hearts. It was even more frightening in the dark, where flashes of its various faces could be seen - sometimes its victims were first driven insane by the endless laughter and jeering faces, and then eaten.
"She's a pretty one," observed another voice.
"Indeed," said a voice with the hiss of a snake. "It's been a while since we fed on such a delicious-looking meal."
The Manticore of Legion moved closer to Luka, each of its many faces examining her with lust that seemed almost palpable.
To Luka's credit, she did not quail with fear or run away. She just stood there, as if bored.
"She doesn't fear us," said the child's voice again, surprised.
"That matters not. Can you move?" inquired the female voice in a voice as sweet as honey.
Luka could not. The water of the sewers seemed to have congealed around her legs, holding her fast. For the water in this particular chamber was not water - it was the saliva of the Manticore of Legion, provided by its thousands of faces over millenia. The Manticore of Legion could easily command the saliva to move and swallow its victims, or command it to form into water-tentacles, or even just hold the victim fast.
For sometimes, the Manticore of Legion fed upon base desire in its victims as well.
"She is beautiful," said the male voice with approval. "It's been too long."
"Indeed," said the trumpet-voice. "Very well then, we will do with her what we will...and then we eat her."
Luka was surprised to feel things, foreign, alien things, wriggle into her clothes, making tiny, precise movements engineered to deliver nothing more than pure pleasure.
This was the sickening perverseness of the Manticore of Legion. Each of its victims had their faces added to it after becoming in essence 'one' with the beast. That the manticore had many faces, tens of thousands, only attested to how deadly it was. Each and every one of its faces, aside from the head face, were the victims of this particular method of death. The many faces, from ones of little girls and little boys to old men and old women, all of them were made one with the beast by lust-killings.
The beast's many faces grinned as they moved in closer to Luka. One face made to nibble at her ear, another went to capture her lips, but at that moment Luka raised blood-red eyes and the beast felt a sweet thrill course through it, and it moaned as one.
"Undo your saliva," Luka commanded, her voice layered with magic and other sweet rhythms, and the beast obeyed, its wits scrambled.
In fact, any other observer would be pretty scrambled as well - a mere fledgling could not possibly have commanded a beast such as the Manticore of Legion, even if it spent all of its days training its bloodline power of Inveiglement. Indeed, even stronger vampires would not have been able to command it; the Manticore had many vampire faces on its body as well after all, faces from vampires that sought to take the castle of Leon Magnus away from him. Impossible then that a fledgling such as Luka would be able to do this.
"I don't really want to do this," Luka muttered to herself, "but..." She closed her eyes and thought of Miku imprisoned in the castle, for all the world like a fairy tale princess, and Luka sighed and looked back up, beckoning the main head of the beast toward her and the beast, too addled to refuse, walked over. Luka put her hand on its cheek and then her fangs appeared, her eyes flashing red with it. She looked brutal and evil, and she bit into the neck of the beast.
After a few moments, she withdrew, and the beast trembled on its legs before falling over. Luka waited for a few moments.
"Arise," she said.
The beast slowly got up to its feet, each one of its faces bloodless, a deathly pallor. Luka had made the beast into her thrall, but the real benefit was the strong blood of the Manticore of Legion coursing through her body.
"Take me to the entrance of Leon Magnus' castle," she commanded, and the beast obeyed without a word.