A/N: "OHMEHGERD IS THIS AN UPDATE?! AJOFHOASHFOH?!" If that is your present state of mind then please stay calm as I answer with a: "LIKE OMG GIRLFRIEND IT'S A FASHIONABLY LATE UPDATE!" *Cough* Sorry, needed to get my daily dose of craziness out.
ANYWAYS, I sincerely apologize for everything and I hope that I haven't lost any of you faithful readers, I thank you so much for waiting this long and would give you chocolate kisses if I could :) If you guys are mad, feel free to rant...I accept any threats that you may have with an open mind :D
I'm just gonna rant about why I didn't update so feel free to skip it.
I officially have no life. I'm so sorry for updating so late… but high school has been really hectic…
Also, shit just went down. All I can say is that I was in the hospital for some time.
I will try to update weekly or every two weeks but there is no guarantees, so dear readers, please bear with me for now.
By the way, the story may take a serious turn soon so be prepared!
I also need a beta reader but I can't find one so if anyone has any suggestions…please tell me :)
Also, I've had no time to reply to your reviews so I'll just say it here: Thank you so much for being so supportive thus far. I'm writing for you readers and you guys are my motivation. :D Every time someone reviews I feel warmth in my heart and it makes me so happy reading your opinions about my story. Even if it is just one sentence or word, I cherish all of it :) Thank you.
Warnings: Language, I'm also sorry if Mihawk is OOC because I've never written his character before so…yeah…
xxxxxx
Zoro was in a very dark place that seemed to stretch for miles; he quickly put his hands to his waist and was relieved to find that his swords were with him. He looked around in confusion, trying to find a way out when he saw a pinpoint of white light in the distance. Seeing as there was no other way out, he headed toward the light.
Once he arrived there, he realized he was at a bright clearing with flowers everywhere; an eyebrow rose in confusion.
"Zoro." said a voice to Zoro's right and he quickly drew one of his swords to look around warily.
His confusion mounted when he saw nothing but flowers but suddenly a man appeared seemingly out of no where a few feet in front of him.
Zoro relaxed and sheathed his sword when he realized who it was in front of him: Mihawk, his uncle and legal guardian. Also know as the greatest swordsman in the world and only second in fame to the Headmaster.
"Mihawk." Zoro said the man's name with slight curiosity; one of the powers of being a vampire was the ability to invade another's dreams, but it was not often Mihawk actually used it to speak to him.
They weren't really on good terms, with the whole Zoro trying to beat him and what not; they still cared for each other though, and of course they would never admit it.
"What are you here for?" asked Zoro, they were both men of few words after all and he wanted to get this over with.
"Do you know the history of vampires and how we became how we are now?" asked Mihawk abruptly.
Zoro raised an eyebrow in confusion, this was…weird and random to say the least.
"No." He grunted noncommittally, though in reality he was immensely curious as to what brought on this topic.
"Then let me tell you. Make yourself comfortable." said Mihawk curtly as he sat down cross-legged on the flowers and Zoro copied the action to sit across from him.
"Have you ever wondered why we have developed into beings that do not need blood to survive?" Mihawk lightly rested his hands on his knees and continued, not even waiting for an answer from Zoro. "One of our ancestors did the forbidden: they fell in love with a human. This was a fruitless romance that had no happy ending, after all, vampires are hunters and humans are our prey."
Zoro scrunched his eyebrows in confusion; he seriously did not know where this conversation was leading to.
Ignoring Zoro's obvious confusion, Mihawk continued his speech "He would help her in any way he could, though secretly of course. She never knew he existed but he silently protected her… until that fateful night."
Zoro felt the mood change as Mihawk's expression grew more solemn and leaned forward in anticipation.
Mihawk adjusted his coat and continued speaking "It was the middle of the night and she was walking home from work when someone attacked her, luckily, he was nearby and he succeeded in saving her though the attacker escaped."
Zoro felt himself relax, he had thought from Mihawk's expression that this would be a tragic story but it seemed it wasn't. (After all, Mihawk always looks like that.)
"Don't relax yet, Zoro. Our history has no happy ending. What happened next was unexpected, she had been hurt during the attack and he gave in to bloodlust." said Mihawk in almost a whisper.
"You mean…" Started Zoro as it dawned to him what must have happened.
"Yes, he killed her; thus he vowed never to consume blood ever again and instead gets his energy from food." Stated Mihawk "Later on it was revealed that the attack was planned, someone from the family had wanted this to happen. To this day, he is still searching for the person whom he believes led him to commit this tragedy."
Zoro was silent as he mulled over this new information about his ancestry, he had never been interested in his ancestors but this certainly explained a lot of things; still, why would Mihawk tell him this…?
Mihawk seemed to sense his confusion and said "The reason for this story is a warning. We vampires have never had a happy ending in our romances and even if we did, we experienced many hardships and pain to reach that point."
Zoro scoffed, so this was what everything was about "Your point is?"
Mihawk seemed to be slightly uncomfortable which surprised Zoro greatly "Lately I've sensed that you have been experiencing a certain attraction for someone and I thought I would warn you before things went too far. There are also some…things I wanted to talk to you about relationships."
Oh. Ohhhh… Was Mihawk trying to give him…the TALK?! Zoro thought in panic, though his exterior still sported a poker face.
"You see," continued Mihawk shamelessly "When a man and woman or in your case, a man and man fall in love; certain thin-"
"I get it." Zoro hastily cut him off; there was no fucking way he could sit through Mihawk, the Mihawk-greatest swordsman in the world- talk to him about this.
"I see." replied Mihawk, in his usual poker face; it seemed that nothing fazed him, even having such an awkward talk with Zoro.
Zoro cleared his throat and stood up hastily "If there's nothing else, I should go now." Zoro walked toward the exit which was a door in phthe middle of the field and opened the door.
"Remember Zoro, our ancestors have sinned too much, we will never have a happy relationship with anyone. Choose wisely; choose a lover who will be strong enough to go through these hardships with you." said Mihawk as he also stood up to leave.
Zoro paused, one hand still on the door, the other hand touching Wado. "I know." replied Zoro in barely a whisper before stepping though the door. He didn't need love, he's been alone all this time, he could continue doing so forever.
Forever was a long time though, but he would be okay…right?
xxxxxx
"…-ake up…wake up…WAKE UP YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"
Zoro jolted awake as something that felt like a foot collide with his head and immediately grabbed it before the person who attacked him could escape.
There was only one person he knew that would use their legs as a choice weapon…
With one hand still grabbing onto the person's leg, Zoro used his other hand to rub the growing bump on his head and growled "What the hell, Sanji? I was having a pleasant sleep…" Zoro blinked the sleep out of his eyes and realized that this was not Sanji; instead, it was a certain hot-headed incubus who seemed to be very pissed off.
"Ace." Zoro said curtly, before letting go of the leg and yawning in a bored manner.
"Where's Sanji?!" screeched Ace as he made a move to attack Zoro again.
Zoro stopped mid stretch to block the attack but not before Ace's words registered, he felt cold dread pit in his stomach and somehow, he knew this would not end well.
"What do you mean…?" asked Zoro slowly as he tried to comprehend why Ace would come to him of all people to look for Sanji. "And why are you asking me?"
"Sanji's missing and I know that you recently fought with Sanji so you're the most suspicious." said Ace as he sat down on the bed, drained of strength from worry.
"He's not in his room?" replied Zoro, choosing to ignore the 'most suspicious' thing.
"No, I went in there to try to seduce him…but he wasn't there. Most importantly, there were signs of a struggle and Sanji's blood is on a corner of his table. It's fresh too; it couldn't have been more than an hour ago." Ace sighed and turned his head over to look Zoro in the eye. "I'm sorry for attacking you, now that I've calmed down I do not smell Sanji's blood on you."
Zoro narrowed his eyes at the fact that Ace was trying to seduce Sanji but decided that since he was kind enough to apologize…
"I don't get it, why don't you just tell the teachers or one of the higher ups?" said Zoro in puzzlement.
"Well, you see, Sanji has a habit of practicing his martial arts during the night where no one could see him so I thought that maybe he was just training and went out for a walk…I don't want him to get in trouble, you know that we are forbidden to go out at night." replied Ace.
"And you would know this because…?" Zoro gritted his teeth in annoyance when he realized just how often Ace went to Sanji's room. During the night. Alone. Zoro shook his head to clear his jealousy; the most important thing right now was to find Sanji.
Did I just think jealousy? This is not good; attraction to someone is not good… Zoro was rather weary, especially after that talk with Mihawk, it raised many barriers around his heart that he did not previously have; it also caused him to realize just how much trouble and over all pain he would have to go through in order to find someone to love, or someone who loves him.
Ace snapped Zoro out of his musing when he said "Let's hurry and find Sanji, I might just be over thinking it but my gut feeling tells me that he is not doing something as simple as taking a walk."
"What gave you the idea that I would help you?" Sneered Zoro, although he would definitely help without a doubt, he just wanted to annoy Ace. Just the fact that he's been in Sanji's room countless times whereas Zoro himself has not even went there once irked him immensely.
"You will." replied Ace simply as he stood up and walked out the door without looking back.
Hastily, Zoro shoved on a shirt and pants to follow the stupid bastard that didn't even wait for him.
xxxxxx
"Where are we going?" asked Zoro hastily as they ran through the woods after sneaking out of the school. It had been fairly easy; since Ace's hypnotic powers came in handy with knocking out the guards.
"No idea." said Ace as he unfurled his black leathery wings to speed up.
"What?!" exclaimed Zoro before skidding to a stop, pulling on Ace's wings to force him to a stop too.
"Ow! That hurt you asshole!" screeched Ace as he swatted Zoro's hands away and rubbed at his abused wings.
"If you didn't know the way then why are you leading?!" shouted Zoro, he was cold, it was the middle of the night, and they were in the woods for god's sakes! He was rightfully angry, or at least that's what he told himself; though maybe he was being a bit harsh…
"You would have gotten us even more lost if you led!" screamed Ace back indignantly, though in the back of his mind he figured that being so loud with a potential kidnapper/killer around wasn't very wise….he chose to ignore his smarter side, like he always did.
Any regret at being mean to Ace gone, he took deep breaths to hold down his annoyance and could only glare at Ace angrily; after all, he was kind of right….
A sudden rustling to the left stopped Zoro's train of thought, and while Ace was still grumbling about his sense of direction, Zoro put his guard up. Something was out there. Something nasty.
"Shhh!" said Zoro as he swiftly drew his swords and Ace quieted down in record time due to the urgency in his voice.
They both heightened their senses and looked around warily before another rustling near them led them to leap toward the source.
Fangs and swords bared, they parted the bushes and took aim at a….raccoon?
The poor traumatized raccoon gave a squeak before tucking its tail between its legs and ran away as fast as its little short legs could carry it.
Zoro and Ace glanced at each other in bewilderment before sheathing their weapons, hearts still pounding from the adrenaline.
"Ha ha, we are such idiots, getting scared at nothing." laughed Ace a bit breathless as he patted his pants to get the leaves off and continued walking.
"But I could've sworn…" muttered Zoro before shaking his head and following Ace.
That boy has sharp instincts…
The leaves rustled and the dark presence faded to nothingness leaving nothing but the dead vegetation around him.
xxxxxx
A certain blond-haired incubus awoke with a start and realized that he was covered in water…no wait, it was his sweat.
He was panting and his eyes wide from the nightmare he had just had; he had dreamed of Zoro and Ace coming to save him…only to meet their doom in the hands of Blair, or Cain; seriously though, what was his name?!
He sighed and turned his head to the side, only to find those twins staring at him with wide gold eyes crinkled in worry.
He could practically feel the question in the air: Are you okay?
I'm fine. He tried to convey with his eyes, though he appreciated their kindness, this wasn't really the most appropriate situation to be worrying about someone else and it was a bit awkward with the whole chained-up-on-a-wall thing.
He noticed they visibly relaxed and even smiled at him, Sanji decided that if they were going to be stuck here for a whole month then he might as well get to know them; maybe together, they would be able to escape and get help.
"My name's Sanji…yours?" he smiled gently, they seemed younger than him, maybe by a year or two and he didn't want to scare them…
"My name's Soulirus," said the one on the right and he gestured to his twin before saying "And unless you haven't noticed, this is my twin, Treyston."
"Those are very…unique names." replied Sanji as he scrunched his curled brows in a frown; he didn't even understand how someone could even pronounce names like that…
"Yes, they are our full dragon names; well, just the first names of course. Our full names are…rather long. You can call us Soul and Trey respectively if you want," The twins smiled and Sanji couldn't help but smile back, they were just so adorable…kind of reminded him of that doctor at the school, the same innocence.
I have to get them out of here; they don't deserve to die like this. Resolved, Sanji set his lips into a thin line as he concentrated on bending his legs in a way that might make it possible for him to destroy the wall he was chained on. Though there was a risk of his hands getting injured, he was ready to risk it in order to escape from his imminent death.
Since Sanji was sitting on the floor with his wrists both chained to the wall above him, he decided that the best way to do this was to swing up and destroy the part of the wall holding his hands together.
Carefully, Sanji bent his wrists and winced at the bite of metal on his flesh before using his powerful legs to propel himself up in a movement similar to a backwards somersault. A grunt of pain sounded through his chest when his feet connected with the wall above him and twisted his body in an awkward angle but his flexibility saved him from what would have been a damaged or broken spinal chord.
Silence reigned through the clearing as everyone waited in anticipation for something, anything, to happen. Sanji fell back onto the floor in disbelief, it didn't work, that was their only way out and it didn't work. He cursed himself for being weak and despised the fact that he couldn't get out of their predicament with his own strength.
"Soul, Trey, do you guys have anything that you can use to get us out?" Sanji figured that if he had no more options then might as well ask someone else for ideas; he paused, and waited for an answer but never got one.
Curious, he turned his head to the side to see what the twins were up to; strangely, they were just staring at the ground listlessly as if dazed.
"Soul…? Trey…?" Sanji's curled brows furled in worry, they didn't look good…was something wrong?
When no response was said back Sanji stretched his leg to kick a piece of rock at them and maybe snap them out of whatever weird trance they were in.
The pebble hit the cheek of Soul, the one nearest to Sanji, and he looked up to stare at Sanji…with purple eyes. They were a brilliant violet that seemed to almost glow in the dark and was quite pretty, if not for the array of goose bumps Sanji felt from the creepiness of those pretty eyes.
What the fuck? Sanji raised a brow as Soul stared at him with those unusual purple eyes which Sanji clearly remembered to previously be gold, after a moment, Soul slumped his head back into the previous position and stared at the floor.
What is wrong with them? Sanji didn't know much about dragons but he knew that they didn't have weird mood swings that turned their personalities, and their eyes, one hundred eighty degrees. It might just be puberty…yeah; he's not even going to go there.
Confusion at an all time max, Sanji looked up to survey his surroundings tiredly, he may need to memorize where everything is in order to make his escape easier. His bored scanning of the shrubs and trees revealed one particular puff that contrasted from the rest; it seemed kind of li-
"Zoro!" Sanji whispered loudly in surprise and hope, indeed, it was the moss head who walked toward Sanji with a leisurely pace and seemed at peace with the whole world with an expressionless face.
"Zoro, why are you here?" Without waiting for an answer, Sanji plowed on, it was best to get out while Blair/Cain was not here otherwise it would get messy. "I didn't need your help but since you're here…can you unchain me? And also unchain the other two, they're with me."
When no response was given Sanji looked up from where he was fumbling with his chains to Zoro who still had an indescribable look on his face.
"Zoro…?" Sanji's eyes widened as Zoro leaned in slowly until he was a few centimeters from his face and Sanji gasped at the sudden lack of space between them.
Sanji shuddered as Zoro took his lips in a nip and kissed him lightly before Sanji opened his mouth to give more access to Zoro, though he really shouldn't be doing this, it was just so tempting…
"I love you." murmured Zoro whose words were slightly muffled by his mouth on Sanji's.
Sanji was slightly breathless from the confession and the kiss as he panted and gulped for air like a starved animal; Zoro leaned back and with a weird glint in his eyes and repeated "I love you, so, so much."
Sanji didn't even have time to react when a knife was plunged into his body straight through his chest by the same man that had just kissed him so gently and professed his love for him.
TBC
A/N: What? What was that? I'm evil? :D You guys should know that by now xD Yes, you can actually whisper loudly :3 Also I didn't check it so if there's any mistakes please tell me! (Since I still need a beta reader…) Update shall be in a week or two because I'm still recovering and I also have competitions to go to~ Hope you enjoyed this brief chapter guys! Review please! (Reviews make me more motivated ;3 Review and Sanji might be spared…)
