3 chapters left, darlings! And right now, it's at an even 50-50, so, get yer votes in, sweethearts!

(Also yes, Mettaton lingo just because!)


I was floating.

Floating.

Floating.

Pain.

Indescribable pain.

My eyes shot open. I was in a house. Not even a basement, but, another room.

But the pain. The pain was too much. I barely looked over my shoulder, and I saw my wrists and ankles bound tightly in iron chains.

No wonder it burned.

I was in so much pain, I couldn't move. Couldn't scream. Couldn't speak. The door opened, and Heba came in, smirking. I glared at him

"Aw, what's wrong, Atem? Can't do anything but that?" Heba chuckled. He walked to me, and crouched down.

"Here. I guess I'll help you. I want to talk to you, and want you to respond," he said. He took thick gloves out of his pocket, and started to take the chains off my ankles. Once they were off, some of the pain dulled, but not all. "Better?" Heba asked.

"Where's….Where's Yami…?" I grunted.

"Who?" Heba asked.

"Yami. Your brother," I growled.

"Oh. I don't have a brother," Heba said.

"Yes, you do," I growled.

"Come on. If I did have a brother, I'd remember him. I don't have a brother," Heba said. I decided to try something different.

"Where's the one you kidnapped with me?" I asked, moving to a sitting position, despite the pain I was still in.

"Oh. Him. He's in another room. Don't worry, though. We don't want him. We wanted you," Heba laughed.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"Yep. We're rounding up the oldest vampires around this area, and testing just how well they can do now, in resistance to anything thrown their way. First off was taking someone they care about," Heba chuckled. My eyes were wide in horror.

The door burst open, and another shadow dragged Seto into the room.

"WHERE THE HELL IS HE?! GIVE HIM BACK!" Seto was screaming.

Jou.

They took Jou away from him.

The one thing that Seto showed active care in.

"I'll let you two talk for a while. I'll be back later," Heba chuckled, leaving the room. The other Shadow chained Seto's wrists with iron, and quickly left the room, as Seto roared with pain and anger.

"Seto. Seto, calm down for five seconds!" I yelled at him. Seto stopped thrashing to get out of the chains, and looked at me.

"They...They took him. They took Jou away from me!" he growled loudly.

"They took Yami, too. Ra, I'm so pissed. I left the room for five seconds, and they took him away," I spat.

"They took Jou right out of my arms. We had been sleeping, and they took him right out bed, right in front of me," he growled.

"Seto. Look at me. It's not going to be like last time," I said. He flinched, and looked away.

"How do you know? How do you know it won't be Jono all over again?!" He spat.

"It'll be different, because we aren't newborns this time, okay? We aren't newborns. We don't have an overwhelming desire for blood anymore, unless we go days without feeding. I promise you, Seto. Things will be different," I said, looking straight at him.

"I don't want to lose him again," Seto said.

"You won't," I promised.

"Atemu, he remembers. Only bits and pieces, but he remembers his life as Jono," Seto said.

"He does?" I said, amazed. Seto nodded.

"Seth, I promise you. It. Is. Different. You won't be forced to kill him. They won't kill him," I said.

"And how do you know, Atemu?" Seto yelled at me.

"Heba told me what they're doing! They took them just to lure us into chasing them in broad daylight! They knew that sunlight made us very uncomfortable, and that's why. They're testing 'or resistance' is what Heba said, but, I have a feeling it's more than that, but, I don't know what," I admitted.

Seto glared at me, but I glared right back.


It had been days now, since we had been locked up.

They gave us small birds and other animals to feed from, though.

What were they doing? Testing us how? And how were Yami and Jou doing? Were they okay? Ra, I hoped so.

Seto and I hadn't spoken to each other, since our small fight. And, I had almost used the card that I hated using. The Prince card. I only used it when I absolutely had to, and even then, I still hated it.

I discarded the small bird, and curled up. I had gotten used to the pain from the iron,so, it didn't hurt much anymore.

"Hey, Atem," Seto said. I looked at him.

"What?" I asked.

"I understand….you must feel the same way I feel, only for Yami," Seto said.

"You just figured that out?" I asked. Seto looked away.

"I was….angry that they had taken Jou. I didn't want to listen to how you felt. I….I'm sorry," Seto said. I chuckled softly. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Are you sure you're my cousin? My real cousin would never apologize for something like this," I said, chuckling. Seto started to chuckle as well.

"It's me, alright. But, I really am sorry," Seto said, "I almost got you to say...what I think you wanted to, didn't I?"

I stopped chuckling, and nodded. "And you know I hate using it," I said.

"I know. I know," Seto said softly. Heba came into the room, and he was covered in blood. I immediately stiffened, as did Seto.

Heba reeked of two different, but distinct, scents.

To be specific? Yami and Jou.


FOMA will be updated tomorrow.

I won't make an updating schedule, but just know that if I update this, FOMA is updated next, and vice versa.

Again, the vote is at an even 50-50, so, you have 3 chapters left!

If you need the context again, here it is.

I've always published happy endings. Always. I've written two sad endings before, but, never published them. I have two endings planned for Scarlet Embrace, but, I'm letting you decide! You have until chapter 10 to decide. Everything before chapter 10 is completely unaffected by your decision. And, now. Some more conteext for you:

AFTER CHAPTER 10, IF HAPPY ENDING IS CHOSEN: Story will proceed as normal, like nothing ever changed.

AFTER CHAPTER 10, IF SAD ENDING IS CHOSEN: Story will start taking slight turns (Have to be vague, or else it'll get toospoilery for what I have planned!)

Also, question! I am obsessed with a new song, recently. ECHO by Gumi Megpoid, to be exact. How could I work that into either this story or into a oneshot?