Because this chapter was so long (this part is about halfway through and it's already thirty pages!) it's been split into two parts, the next part will be in another chapter or two and while this one focuses on Roxas and Sora, that one will focus on others such as Xemnas, Demyx, and the vampire hunters.
PLEASE SEE THE END THERE'S A POLL THERE!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the characters, okay?? All I own is this dumpy storyline that everyone seems to love. OH, NOW I ALSO OWN XBOX LIVE!! XDDD PLEASE ADD ME TO YOUR FRIENDS, I'M KNOWN AS TkeSora!
Title: The 13th Hour
Authoress: Tysonkaiexperiment
Couplings: RiSo, AkuRoku, Zemyx, LeoClo, and XemSaï
Warnings: Vampires, blood, incest, gore, violence, supernatural, yaoi, cussing, and random stuff
Summary: Organization XIII were strong vampires that used the Strife clan for support. The biggest challenge? The Leonhart Vampire Exterminators. RiSo, AkuRoku, Zemyx, LeoClo, and XemSaï.
Dedication: To Shrouded-Obsession, for beta-ing such a goddamn long chapter.... 31 PAGES, WTF!? I'M MAGICAL...
Beta'd By: Shrouded-Obsession, who has a heart of gold and an even bigger brain. LOL. THAT MADE NO SENSE, SORRY, EXTREMELY HAPPY I GOT XBOX LIVE. XDDD
Song Title: Out Of Darkness
Artist: Aubrey Ashburn
Album: Devil May Cry 4 Original Soundtrack
Track Number: 02 of 104
The 13th Hour
Interlude
Out Of Darkness Bite I
Listen to my voice calling you
Sora was the innocent one of them, while Roxas worked odd ends and jobs like their father to support their household, their mother worked as a seamstress and Sora was the pride and joy of the castle's church choir. So, weird but accepted, if anyone expected the family to be related to the darkness in any way, they figured it would be Roxas or his father first. Sure they had their share of bad or weird moments, but Roxas never even had the time to think about 'the darkness' or whatever. All he knew was that Sora was hoping, in the deepest part of his heart, for meat in their dinner sometime this month, and as his brother, Roxas really wanted Sora to be happy so he'd work for that expensive goal.
He didn't know when it happened, he just remembered that Sora came home one night looking deathly pale. Their mother rushed for the doctor, their father was calling every local man he knew to see if their children were the same. No one could tell what was wrong with Sora, he was just different. He had no illness known to them, and considering it was the 1870's that was saying something, and he had no signs of getting better or worse. He was just there, pale skin, trouble breathing, fever high, and mouth dry even after liquids poured into his mouth five times an hour.
Not even several sun rises later, as Roxas came home from his job (helping build the wall around one of their kingdom's towns) something wasn't right. The doctor, just a few steps from the door, was laying on the floor, blood oozing from the open gash on his neck and his eyes wide in shock. Their mother was slouched on the stairs, her face closed in pain as she seemed to have been trying to get down the stairs. Her chest was cut open, the cuts messy and not planned since they were more like scratches, and her heart was missing. Their father was found just by the door to Sora's room, mouth agape and eyes wide, if he had any. His eyes were missing, the deep hollow pockets causing Roxas to use his foot to turn him over, just to avoid looking. He was the oddest of the three, his lungs a few feet away, but when he was turned over other parts of him fell out with a sickening thud.
Opening the door, Roxas glanced around, fishing in his pocket for his matches before he grabbed a nearby lantern and brought it to life "Sora?" He whispered, flinging it in front of him in the dark room. "Sora, please!" He whispered fiercely, just realizing the warm tears spilling down his cheeks, "I need to know what happened to mom, and dad, and that doctor!" He reached forward, opening the door of the closet with his pinky as his hand held the lantern.
Suddenly with a growl and a lunge, Sora's face could be seen in the dim lighting as the lantern dropped to the floor and rolled just a foot or two away from him. His once-white teeth sunk into Roxas' arm, sucking harshly as if to get out what he needed.
"Sora!" Roxas shrieked, flailing in an attempt to get him off, whatever was happening he was getting tired, quickly.
As if the boy just realized his situation, he released the blond, his tongue lapping at the corners of his mouth as Roxas fell roughly on his bottom and he stared at his hand in the lighting. Two puncture wounds, no bigger than the tip of a pencil, were staring back at him, and he felt dizzy.
"I'm so sorry." He could hear Sora whisper, "I was just scared, and I couldn't control it and—."
"What's happening to me?" Roxas whispered, he got dizzy, falling backwards quickly, but Sora managed to catch him first, "Why am I so tired?"
"You're dying..." Sora whispered, his tears running down Roxas' face, "I'm sorry..."
"I don't want to die..." Roxas muttered, his eyes hazy as he tried to make out his brother through the darkening gaze.
"Then finish it."
"What?!" He could hear his brother's choking sob, the only thing in his mind was wondering who his brother was talking to.
"Turn him, make him into one of us."
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" His brother was in hysterics, dripping tears that Roxas could feel land on his face, "Turn him into what? What am I? Who are you?!"
"Turn him and I will tell you."
"How?!" Sora's voice was coarse, "And what if he doesn't want it? What if he doesn't want to live however the hell I've been living?"
"Sora..." Roxas muttered, his fingers blindly reaching out for his brother's shirt, "Don't know what's goin' on..." He whispered against his brother's refusals, "But I want to live."
"Oh Roxas, no you don't." Sora answered softly, it seemed like finally what was going on was making sense to him. Well, that was good, when he would wake up Sora could tell him what was going on.
"Do it, do it now!"
"No!"
"I... want to live..." Roxas muttered, sighing against his brother's shirt before he let the smell of the wind overcome him.
Calling you out of darkness
"I'm sorry."
It was the first thing his brother said to him when he woke up, the brunet was fumbling with the edges of his shirt and his head was dipped low, like he didn't want to be seen by Roxas. Like he was ashamed. "Why are you sorry?" He whispered lightly, sitting up to look his brother in the eye. Well, as best as he could, with the brunet's head turned away from him.
"I turned you." Sora replied simply, his eyes were soft and his voice quivered somewhat, "You said you wanted to live, and so I turned you, but I did it without your consent and now—now I just don't want you to hate me."
"What did you make me?" Roxas breathed, his eyes slightly wide and mouth parted in wonder.
"Something horrible." Sora sobbed, covering his face with his hands as he muttered his next words.
"A vampire."
"What?!" Roxas croaked, getting off the bed and standing before he moved away from his brother. Sora looked up at him, and he'd never seen such hurt in Sora's eyes as he backed away. "You've made me—..."
"I didn't want to loose you, I'm sorry!" Sora whispered, standing himself before he took a step in Roxas' direction.
"So you decided to bring me to life again, just so I have a chance of dying and being in even more pain!?" Roxas growled, his glare on his brother had never been more loathe-filled. He could tell Sora was scared, he was probably stronger than Roxas, since he knew how to use these powers, but he knew if he attacked his brother now, Sora wouldn't fight back in the slightest.
Sora seemed to feel confident in some way, he took several steps closer, just until he was in arm's reach from his brother. "Roxas, please, calm down at let me explain—..."
"Explain what?!" Roxas snapped, glaring darkly as Sora raised a hand to try to grab at him in comfort. One look to his twin and Sora dropped his hand, like he didn't want Roxas to feel any more uncomfortable. "That I could only drink blood, or be hated by the entire town? Or that somehow I'm going to have to live normal when I'm really furthest from the truth?!" It was like he wasn't in his own body anymore, his pale hand rose, just as Sora's own tanned one did. Sora's may have been in comfort, and in love and support, but Roxas' was full of anger, hate, and resentment. It made a sickening sound, turning Sora's face to the side as the burning sting of red covered Sora's once-perfect cheek. He didn't wait for any answers, he turned and ran through the door behind him, not even bothering to check on his brother. Turning and running down a set of stairs, he made it to the bottom, just to be met with a blond haired man sitting at the kitchen table in front of him. The blond didn't even look up to him, and before Roxas could say a word, the man raised a cup to his mouth and drank.
"Turning you was the easiest way." The man replied, swallowing his gulp of drink, he ran a hand through his short blond hair before he swished his lips to the side. His mustache twitched as well, a few drops of whatever he was drinking stuck in it. "He did it for your protection."
"Protection my ass." Roxas snarled, "He's just a baby who prefers not being alone." With that he looked for the next door, which was right behind him, before he left the house without waiting for an answer.
Somehow, it seemed as if he was being told to go back, because just a few houses away he came upon his brother's best friend. For some reason, he couldn't remember the other boy's name, just saw a flash of blond and water blue eyes, "Hey Roxas, have you seen Sora?"
A simple question, but he would not grace it with a simple answer, "If I wanted to see that freak ever again I'd be with him." He replied quickly and bitterly, pressing on and ignoring the boy's obvious confusion.
Hear the devil's cry of sin
"You know, he's been worried about your brother." Red stated calmly, that's what Roxas always called him, Red. They never offered each other names, just gave each other simple, pathetic names until one or the other admit their name to each other.
"Like I care." Roxas replied lightly, his fingers dancing with the strings of the others shirt. It was tied loosely, and he couldn't blame him, the heat outside was rather harsh and unbearable.
"You should, you always care about your brother." Red muttered, shifting somewhat to glance down into the peerless blue he was staring at.
Instead of answering he leaned up and pressed his chapped lips to the others, it was something they were good at for each other, pity love. The cross between 'I-feel-horrible-for-your-life' and 'I-might-actually-like-you-but-I'm-going-to-hide-it-and-keep-it-hidden-away'. It always was the same, they'd end up hot, sticky, and no comfort until the other said something. Somehow it'd always been that way, and the only way it seemed to go away was when Red spoke to him in comfort.
Roxas swished his lips to the side, closing his eyes as his memories came back to him, "Cloud's going to kill me..."
"Oh well..." Red muttered, running his fingers through Roxas' hair, "Your big brother will just have to live with knowing you're making out with a rampant sex god."
He couldn't help it, Roxas laughed lightly, opening his eyes somewhat as his head found a comfortable place on Red's thigh, "It's not like he'd find out, he's all the way around the world."
Red's head leaned back, "What are you going to do about your other brother Blondie?" It was like he knew Roxas was worried, he didn't mention Sora's nick name.
Roxas sighed, fingering the fabric of Red's trousers right in front of his face, "I guess I should apologize...." He muttered, wetting his lips as Red brushed a hand through his hair. He sat up, looking his friend straight in the eye, "When will you be back?" He muttered, playing lightly with the flap on Red's shirt.
"Two days." Red muttered, his brother was jester of the kingdom, instead of living in the castle, however, he lived in town with Red. It just seemed like Red would go with him every other time and then come back and Roxas would have his friend.
Several minutes later they parted, the sun finally going down, and just as he made it back to the house it reached nightfall. Stepping inside, Roxas met the man of blond hair again, it seemed like he never really moved. With just a nod, like the man had seen this before or something, Roxas led himself up the steps and slid back into the room. Sora wasn't in it, which either meant he was doing something that Roxas did not yet understand or he didn't want Roxas to feel uncomfortable. The guilt tugged at his heart but he slid into the bed and was asleep as soon as both legs were on the bed.
When morning came he walked slowly down the stairs, not knowing what to find. But there, in the small kitchen, was the blond man sitting again at the table and Sora, there, cooking up some kind of meal on the fireplace. Roxas guessed they wanted to look normal for any humans coming by, and it worked, for a second Roxas forgot what had been going on. The man thanked Sora for breakfast and slid out, like he knew what would be happening.
It didn't take Roxas long for the guilt to finally tug at him, "I'm sorry." He answered softly, just loud enough for it to be heard across the kitchen. Sora looked at him for a second before he busied himself with the pot. He guess he deserved it, it wasn't right to be mad at Sora when all Sora did was try to save his life. "It feels weird."
"It will for a few days." Sora answered calmly, Roxas bit his lip, it was obvious he expected more of an answer. "Breakfast is ready." The brunet muttered, standing before grabbing his jacket from the chair near the door.
Roxas recognized it instantly, "You're... going to church...?" He suddenly broke out into a fit of giggles.
Sora pursed his lips, like he found it funny as well but he was trying to hold it in, "Is that a way of asking me to come with?"
Roxas shook his head, lowering his head before he turned to look at his brother sheepishly, "Just the thought of you, a vampire, going to church, it made me laugh."
Sora's smile was soft, and Roxas felt like he just won one of the most important battles of his life. It felt good to see his brother's smile back, "Maybe I'll make dinner tonight." He replied, and Roxas remembered that Sora was always his favorite cook, he wondered what the man's food tasted like.
The troubled air around them had left, and Roxas couldn't help but bury his head in his hands, "Is this what it feels like?" He breathed, waiting for his brother's answer, "To be a vampire?"
Sora's smile grew brighter, and Roxas couldn't help but blink at his next words, "Would you like that answer from me, or from Cloud about how he likes to terrorize the human villagers with their live stock by where he lives?"
"Cloud...?"
"He became one." Sora replied lightly, putting his jacket on so the rich-looking silk molded onto his body and loose shirt. "It seems that they're everywhere, I looked for Cloud while you were out."
"And how long has Cloud been one? And how long was I out?"
"You sure ask a lot of questions." The brunet smiled at his brother and Roxas gazed down to the table, "He's been one at least three years before us, which is why he rarely visited us, and you've been out for almost a whole month." This time he opened the door and grabbed a small brown hat, "Any more questions will be answered after church, okay?"
Before Roxas could nod, Sora was out the door, leaving the blond to a steaming pot of what seemed to be a breakfast stew.
Always turn your back on him
It was only a week, and yet, to Roxas, it had felt like months. Sora apparently learned from the best, whatever he said was easy to understand and it felt normal, it didn't take Roxas long to learn the tools of the trade. For instance, getting blood was all about using your mind, treat someone like you would suckle their skin, and in their state of euphoria, they would barely feel the pricks of your fangs before the daze of loosing blood took over. Crosses were just as any other product, useless and ineffective to ward them off (case in point, the cross hanging around Sora's neck). Stakes and silver had no effect except looking like a real cut or burn to humans, even if it was light. The sunlight didn't scare them away, in fact some vampires loved it. Really the only reason they were never known to show in sunlight is that's when their powers got weaker, not gone, just weak. Apparently the only ones who could be severely injured by the sun, silver, or stakes were the rare half-breeds, and they could only be made one of two ways— a vampire who didn't finish turning someone or being born by a vampire and human. While being born seemed more likely and a lot more common, it was rare for there to actually have half and half power, most of the time they would either have a fourth of vampire power or a fourth of mortal in them, the other trait made up the rest of the newborn.
"So has there been one lately?" Roxas asked, eyes trained on the apple Sora was cutting with a knife.
"Not according to Ansem the Wise." Sora replied, shrugging to the blond man a ways behind him, "Apparently they're suddenly there and they stay for a long time, even longer than a regular vampire, and they're considerably our gods." His eyes met Roxas', who couldn't help but be drawn into the story, "We're to hang off their every whim, they bring us fortune, good faith, and towards our goal of living without fear."
"Without fear...?" Roxas blinked, accepting the half of the apple Sora finished with.
"Most of the time we get along pretty well, but the werewolves try to take our land, so while we're not enemies we're not exactly friends either." Sora set down his knife, the metal gleaming in the sunlight from the window, "Obviously humans will get in the way too, but they're much less of a threat considering they don't know what can hurt us and what can't."
It took a second, as Roxas chewed slowly on a bite of apple, to realize that Sora had gotten more mature in this month that Roxas was 'passed out'. His face had become slightly slimmer and his eyes a little more narrow, he was calmer than the hyper brunet his brother used to be.
"Something wrong?" Sora asked, gazing back at him, his once tanned skin had become somewhat paler, allowing his cheekbones and other areas of his body to look a little more delicate. His eyes were framed by thick black lashes, rather dark compared to his somewhat-porcelain skin. Sora looked like one of those delicate dolls father brought them after a trip. Pale skin, dark features, and an unmistakable beauty, like something not to be touched or tainted. If one only knew.
"It'll happen to you too."
Roxas paused, meeting Sora's eyes to realize he'd been found out and he'd been obviously eying up his brother. "It will?" He asked, licking his lips to remove the juice of the apple before he took another bite. The blond was acting like he knew what Sora was talking about, the brunet could tell it.
"Yes." Half of Sora's apple was gone, he was always a faster eater than Roxas was, "It seems when you're a vampire you never age." He cleared his throat, finishing the last of the apple in his mouth, "Well, you do, age I mean, it's just so long to that it seems like you never do. For instance, one year to age a human is about three hundred years for us."
"So in three hundred years I'll be twenty summers old?" Roxas blinked, finishing his apple.
"Yes, " Sora spoke, "And tonight, it will be your first feast, since you've only awaken a week ago your body has finished living off the blood that was in your body. Now you'll start needing other sources of blood."
"Will my body ever have enough blood again?" Roxas asked, taking his cup of cider from the table and taking a long swig of it.
"In due time." Sora replied, carving off the skin of another apple for himself, he always ate more than Roxas, "When you feast on blood your body takes a part of it and stores it inside, it does that every time you feed. This way, if you're ever captured or can't get away from something, or anything of the sort, you can last a week or two before the need to feast again." This time he bit into the apple as a whole, when he pulled it away Roxas could see the outline of Sora's fangs in it's white insides. "Of course the hunger will be there, and it gets somewhat stronger if you deny it, but you will never actually die from loss of hunger for that week or two. Sure, you might get tired, or you may not feel well, but you'll never die. It's like a back up supply, only when you really need it."
Roxas finished his cider, watching Sora talk to 'Ansem the Wise' (an ironically fitting name for how much he knew) and Sora never talked on the subject again until the sun had just set.
Sora approached him then, blue gaze intense and in a set of clothes so odd looking that Roxas couldn't even put a name to them. They were apparently a set of vampire robes, to humans they seemed as regular clothes, but to vampires there was a look to them that told them what they were. Apparently wearing the robes only served two purposes— one to tell vampires that they were one of them, and two to tell that it would be an important feed to the wearer, usually meaning they were teaching a new vampire or helping one who was incapable of getting their own food. "Are you ready?" His voice was firmer, a little more on the darker side, and it caused shivers down Roxas' spine just at the sound.
"Yes." He breathed, looking out of place in a loose cotton shirt and dark brown trousers compared to his brother. Ansem the Wise nodded for a second before Sora led him out of the door. They walked down the cobblestone streets, Sora not even waiting for him before he rounded a corner house. "Where are we going?"
"To the bar." Sora laughed, eyes glowing in the night, "Your first taste of food will be bitter, unless we could find someone there sober."
"So the alcohol in their system makes the blood bitter?" It was a little odd to talk about this, but the words were rolling off Roxas' tongue, sort of like his body was going without his mind.
"Mmhmm." Sora replied, tugging Roxas as they slipped out of the shadows and into the light of the bar's windows. There were candles everywhere, lighting up the place and showing anything in front of the building. Once they were in front of the door, Sora stopped him, their eyes met and Roxas sucked in a breath. "I'm going to show you once, just once, how to do it, alright? Now then, when it's time, you'll have to pull out your fangs, and you'll have to do it quick. There's only two ways to go about this, when you have the time just think of blood, the pulse, think of it flowing into your mouth, nothing else." Just by Sora's words, he could envision it, a human neck under his lips and a faint pulse. Apparently just that flash wasn't good enough, he could feel something stirring in his gut and his teeth felt just a slight bit sharper. When he was ready Sora nodded once and led him inside.
It didn't take Sora long, ten minutes at most, he must've been a regular or something. His arm was hooked around a girl's waist, her hair somewhat messy and blue eyes disheveled. There was nothing exceptional about her, maybe her hips if anything, but she was just another common girl, though Roxas supposed it didn't matter when it came to blood. "We'll be going to the back." He responded, and it's all he said. The girl didn't say anything, she was too busy giggling and making goo-goo eyes at Sora like he actually cared about her or something. It was kind of odd to see, in a sense, as Sora had been the family's treasure and had never yet even had romantic interest towards anyone. Roxas followed them out the door, just several steps behind, Sora had his arms around her waist and his chin just below her collarbone. His eyes locked with Roxas, as a signal of some sort, before Roxas stood his ground.
She giggled something into his ear, something that made Sora give a small laugh before he began to nuzzle her neck. That was odd too, he never expected to see Sora doing something like this. His arms wove tighter around her and she moaned out loud, it wasn't too loud considering she was human, but it seemed like every sense he had grew stronger. Sora said it was because when feasting time was near they grew less and less sane. More power came with less mental ability, apparently.
Sora's lips trailed this way and that, but they never once went any lower than her collarbone. She moaned in protest, "Please!" like she was expecting more or something. Roxas wanted to say something mean about her, honestly he did, but he guessed it was just human emotion. He had never been in love or anything of the sort, so it would've been a little out of place.
"Just wait." Was the only thing that came out of Sora's mouth before his lips somewhat opened just a tad wider He sent a look to Roxas, the blond braced himself, before he tilted the girl's head back just so. White appeared behind his light pink lips, Sora's fangs a beautiful pure white before they dug into the girl's tanned skin, his lips locking on her shoulder.
She cried out sharply before it dissolved into a moan, her hands and fingers began to fall as her body fell limp into his. Her voice was still moaning and cooing as he sucked, words dazed and clouded in both pleasure and confusion. Sora tugged her to him once, then jerked her back, licking the deep red from his mouth. "Come here." He replied lightly, gazing to Roxas once.
"What?" She asked softly, eyes half-closed, she barely moved though, like she was weak and unable to move unless Sora helped her.
"You'll have to do the next one by yourself, but at least try to pull out your fangs and practice feeding on her." He slipped her into Roxas' arms, tilting her head so her neck was widely open to him. "Usually blood is thin and one person would suffice, but if the human has been drinking then the blood gets thicker and clots and it is harder to be refilled, so we'll have to feed off of two or so."
Sora had grabbed the back of Roxas' neck, forcing him downwards so Roxas' lips sloppily met the wound on her neck, "Drink." He urged, "Trust me, you'll need it and you'll feel better with it."
Hesitantly he opened his mouth wider, watching the woman, now in his arms, tremble. He could see her neck twitching, like she was fighting whatever power Sora was forcing on her, and below her now-marred skin was her pulse. Her pulse was racing, compared to her barely moving body, it was like he could feel the blood pulsing under, it was thick and smelled kind of spicy. It took less than a moment, but his mouth was now open, saliva dripping off his new, shinning canines, eyes narrowed and face dark as he dug into the girl in his arms. She shrieked something and twitched, but other than that she did not move. Her had moved the slightest bit, small but fat droplets of water dripping from her eyes. She was crying.
"Shh." Sora whispered in her ear as Roxas focused all his attention on the blood in her system, Sora had apparently given him most of it, it was coming out of her in waves. "It will be over soon." He told her, fingers gripping her hips to keep her steady. "Then you can go home and see your cat and younger brother."
She stilled at the words, the tears slowing down as she lazily blinked a few times. "Tommy..." She had moaned, twitching a few fingers.
"Yes, Tommy." Sora agreed, ignoring the look Roxas had shot him during the drinking. It was less than a second after he pulled Roxas by the hair, yanking him backwards. Roxas howled, not from pain, but the fact that he was forced off his meal. "You must leave her some Roxas, she must return to a child."
It was then, Roxas' dilated eyes searching Sora's before his fangs retracted somewhat, he began to understand why Sora chose this girl. He'd been watching for someone like her, to teach Roxas how to hold back this urge in the beginning so he couldn't go wild. He'd have to be careful in stalking his prey, no child or elderly person was to be caught up in this, vampires had morals too. Those could never be prey and if the person they were feeding off of took care of one, they were to treat them with the utmost respect.
"It's like a code." Sora answered as they took the girl back into the bar and placed her on a couch for her friends to come back to before slipping into the empty men's bathroom to clean up. "We've been given birth to, and in a sense a child and elder are like us, new to things at first and ones to be taught, not to be destroyed or tainted."
Before Roxas could respond a man shuffled in. He looked young, maybe at twenty two or so, a light black-gray stubble across his chin. He eyed Sora up for a moment, but the brunet turned his head and flashed his hand in some way, a signal for something. Instead the man looked to Roxas, and the blond looked back to him, still hungry. Behind the man, Sora tilted his head, a sign of okay before Roxas grasped the man's arm and led him outside to the dance floor. Treat them like a lover at first. Sora's words echoed in his head.
The man actually had great stamina, he kept Roxas on the dance floor for a good two hours before anything intimate began. Roxas was already licking his lips when the man wasn't looking, but every time he looked back to Sora, the brunet nodded. The present was far worth it for the wait, and the way this man moved, spoke, and held himself he wasn't the slightest bit drunk; a few drinks, maybe, but not drunk. This would especially be worth it.
Finally Roxas was able to lead him to the same place Sora had led the woman, and it seemed like the man was interested in him. The lust in the man's eye was there, but it wasn't like Red's at all. It didn't contain the warmth, and it didn't contain the same emotions. Roxas didn't feel cherished like he did with Red. He didn't even have to wait for the man to give him his neck, the man leaned forward and attacked Roxas' neck, but the blond was more concerned with the sight in front of him. There, clouding most of his view, was the man's collarbone, low-riding shirt showing smooth pale skin. He took one glance upward, met Sora's approving eyes, before he leaned forward and leaned in. It took a moment to remember the feeling of the girl's pulse under his lips, or to feel the blood rushing into his mouth, but when he did he didn't wait for another moment.
His lips opened wide, teeth growing again as saliva began to drip, the man moaned something as soon as Roxas' lips found his neck. He hissed, a gasp coming out of his mouth before Roxas bit into him. Roxas dug in greedily, by the look in Sora's eyes he was allowed to drain all of this human, and he gripped on tight, not having whatever powers Sora had had on the woman. The guy coughed something, like the wind was being forced out of him, but Roxas didn't release his grip. It took just a few moments but the man became week, slowly falling to his knees as Roxas continued to latch on and swallow the ruby red. As soon as the man became completely limp, Sora had walked forward, grasping Roxas' head and yanking again as the last bits of blood oozed out and several droplets hit Roxas' lips, the other several droplets flecked onto the man's shirt. His body was parchment white, parts of him swollen in looking like a twig, and his eyes were wide open, the color left and all that remained was the black iris and the ring of the eye—now white—where the color had been.
Instead of calming down like he had before, a new found power over him. It seemed like he had gained something powerful when he was completely fed, something that wanted to get out and to do something. He wasn't exactly sure what the heck it wanted to do, but it wanted to do something to release pent up energy. Without even waiting for Roxas' mind to catch up, his body twirled around and gripped Sora in a deathly grip, pinning the brunet's wrists as he shoved Sora up against the wall. He growled something, something in Latin (when did he learn Latin?) before his body did something that surprised his mind. It gave no warning, just leaned forward and lightly pressed it's lips to Sora's neck before sucking harshly. Instead of fighting it, Sora grabbed the back of Roxas' hair for support and placed a hand on his shoulder as Roxas' hands slid down to his waist and pulled him closer.
"It's okay..." Sora whispered, whatever power was inside Roxas growled, but the blond was confused. "It happens after the first feed, almost like your powers come to you for the first time, and they're overwhelming." The blond grabbed a fistful of Sora's hair and yanked his head back, just barely missing the wall, "I'd rather have it happen to me than an innocent human."
Before Roxas could ask, his body moved without him, growling something Latin in Sora's ear, the brunet moaned something back, head tilting to the side as he accepted Roxas' advances. It didn't wait, whatever it was, just tore, and shred, and destroyed. Next thing Roxas knew he pressed against Sora more, lips trailing over Sora's jaw and just that split second later, it was inside him.
With the wind you go and still
"Feel better?" Sora asked, leaning against Roxas as they sat against the wall. His hair was messier than usual, shirt torn open in the front, dark blotches running from his collarbone down between his chest and navel, and whatever was left of his pants barely clinging to his knees. He didn't look at all like Sora would usually, and it kind of scared Roxas to know he did it.
"I guess." Roxas shielded his eyes away from him for just a moment before he glanced back to Sora, "I'm... I'm sorry." He whispered before he closed his eyes. It didn't help then, either. He could still feel the warmth around him, Sora's lips on his, and the warmth radiating off of Sora's skin. Another astonishment, they still radiated heat, the more blood in them, the stronger the heat.
"It's fine, I expected it." There was a calming silence as Sora's lips quirked up into a smile, "Besides, we're technically not related anymore."
"We're not?" Roxas asked, turning back to look to the brunet.
"No." Sora answered, wincing as he adjusted before looking up to Roxas. "Every one hundred years or so the bodies we have die. And when that time comes, we're placed in these wooden boxes, coffins, they're going to dawn on humans some day soon." Sora laughed to a joke only he seemingly knew. "Our spirits will still be alive, so we'll never actually die, but our body will become ash, and in that year the ashes will form a new body for the next hundred years. And when we're, in a sense, reborn, we loose things about us from before, and we're given new titles."
"I'm confused." Roxas admitted, flushing when Sora laughed.
"So for this one hundred years, we're brothers." Sora replied calmly, "But the next one hundred years we could be cousins or something." As soon as Roxas organized the information into his head, Sora leaned up and placed a gentle kiss upon the corner of Roxas's lips, "So it'll be our little secret, okay?"
"You're... not mad...?" Roxas whispered, in truth he was a little disgusted with himself. And yet, here Sora was, telling him it was okay and there was that spark in his eyes.
"It'll happen once or twice more, maybe even three." Sora supplied, leaning back, "Once it does, come find me, okay? I don't want you harming an innocent."
"Promise." Roxas answered, blinking as he stared. It was a little odd, to be talking about something like this with his own brother, but it seemed like Sora was mature enough where he could have a conversation like this. To say the truth, it surprised Roxas, considering he was the older one. He wondered who Sora turned to during his moment, for a second he opened his mouth to ask, but no words spilled out.
"I love you." Sora murmured sleepily, "Let's go, okay? Ansem the Wise will send out a search party or something if we don't report." And, with Roxas' help, he stood and they began their trek back to the home. They slid inside, the blond sent them a nod as he read by the fireplace, and Roxas helped Sora up the stairs and into the bed.
Several sunrises later Roxas had gotten used to the ideas Sora taught him. He'd move and act like a regular human, but when it came right down to it, each night he went to Sora for his uncontrollable power. And each night, Sora opened his arms, and his bed, and allowed Roxas to stay until he calmed down. He never showed anything other than a calm, caring state, but he'd gotten so dependent on it that after he went even when there was no outburst of power. And Sora still welcomed him.
It wasn't long before Roxas realized it, instead thanking his brother and never going back, this time allowing Red to comfort him during his time of need. It wasn't that he had gotten sick of his brother or anything, it was more. He'd gotten sick of himself, both dismayed and destroyed that he would do things to his brother, and Sora wouldn't hate him.
"Is something wrong?" Red asked, glancing at him as Roxas began to play with the cord of his boots.
"Not really, just wondering about my brother." He answered, tightening the cords as he slipped the boots on.
"Because you have to feed again?" Red blinked, shifting so his shirt showed pale skin, Roxas forced himself not to look. It hadn't taken long for Red to find out, especially when Roxas accidentally bared his teeth somewhere down below (Sora did say they might come out with strong emotions), but it was rather surprising that Red could care less of what he was, of what he'd become.
"Well, that." Roxas added, "And the fact that it'll be the first one without him."
"You'll do fine." Red commented, giving a grin that Roxas couldn't help but give back even though he wasn't even looking at him, but his boots. "I'm sure even without your brother there, it'll come to you naturally. I bet it does to all vampires, you just have to get used to it."
"Only a human could say something like that." Roxas tugged his cord again, finishing before glancing at Red with a light smirk.
"Well, I think of it as a brother type of thing." Red grabbed the sack he was using as a pillow and placed it between his chest and the bed, it gave him support to look at Roxas better, "Sora wouldn't let you feed on your own if he didn't trust you, right?"
It was here Roxas froze, eyes somewhat wide and mouth opening partly. What Red had said, well, it just felt true to Roxas. Sora had to have complete trust in him to allow him to do it alone so soon, didn't he? Even Ansem the Wise had said it, that Roxas might not be ready. But there Sora stood in his defense, in a calm and adult way, that Roxas had every right to feed alone. "You have to be the oddest human I've ever met."
"You've just turned vampire recently and you're already using lines like that?" Red snorted, "God, I can't wait to see you when you're thousands of years old."
It was then Roxas smacked Red across the back of the head, laughing with a lighter tone, feeling better about everything.
I dream of your spirit leading you back home
"You should've let us off without saying anything." One sneered.
Sora rose an eyebrow in challenge, his eyes glowing in the dark alleyway of the slums as the man in front of him flicked out a wood carving knife, "You stole my wallet." He clutched his bag of random items closer to himself, it wasn't out of fear, it was more of holding his power back against the human. "I don't see how thieves should go free when they've done something wrong."
"But we're not the type to let bygones be bygones." The second supplied, eyes glowing as he grinned, "How about we take care of that pretty mouth? It's got a pretty nice body attached to it."
"Now see." Sora started, "It is nice. But the only question is, why are you asking about it when you obviously aren't worthy of it?"
The first laughed at his friend, the second a bright red from embarrassment and anger. "You little shit!" The second roared, grabbing the knife from his friend's hand to charge at the brunet.
Sora dropped the bag to the floor, thanking above he'd not purchased anything breakable yet, before he looked back to the thieves to block them. He certainly wasn't expecting either of them to be quietly passed out on the floor and a young man standing two or three steps behind them.
"You okay?" The voice asked, deep and just the slightest bit gruff, he was wearing some kind of black monk's robe, it was dark against his extremely pale skin. Silver hair cascaded down his shoulders, spilling out from under the hood, it was the only thing Sora could see of him besides his face, the upper part of it being covered by a thick black blindfold.
"Why'd you help me?"
"It's obvious you're not someone to get mixed up with them." The man spoke, walking over to grab the bag from it's resting place on the floor. Once he made sure nothing was spilled or broken he handed it back to Sora, "Besides, I could use a little help." He admitted, "I'm looking for the inn, I'm a passerby."
"Oh..." Sora blinked, looking down at the bag before looking up to the man, "The inn's two houses down from my place, and the name of my rather mysterious 'savior' is?" He said the word savior like it was rare to be on his tongue, and not the good kind of rare.
"Oh, sorry." The man spoke, lowering his hood to remove the blindfold. It took a second, but as soon as Sora's eyes gazed upon the color of the ocean he was startled. No one here had eyes like that, they were interesting, without even trying the man was drawing him in. "I'm Riku." He replied, holding out a hand for Sora to take.
Sora reached forward, his hand grasping the man's larger one for a second before he dropped it, "You look too old to be looking for jobs."
"I already have a job." He agreed, a smirk upon his lips. It looked somewhat odd considering there were a few hints of barely visible silver stubble on his chin, "I'm more than twenty five summers, I can assure you."
"My, your old." Sora blurted, not a second later he squeaked and covered his mouth with one hand, the other clutching the groceries tightly as red crossed his cheeks.
"None taken." Riku laughed before Sora could start, "I know I don't look the age."
Sora hummed in agreement before he offered to take Riku to his destination, as soon as he agreed they were on their way, occasionally stopping to finish Sora's list of things to get. It didn't take long to get back and for Riku to buy his room, for a cheap price since the girl working it went gaga over him, before Riku had walked Sora to his door (which caused the brunet to turn bright red). "Shall you join us for dinner?" Sora asked, looking everywhere but the man in front of him. Riku told great stories, he was nice and so far he hadn't said anything even once to cause suspicion to the brunet. There was something about him though, even for all his wisdom, that Sora couldn't place. It had the brunet laughing, and blushing, and embarrassed, and nervous, and Sora couldn't figure out for the life of him what about Riku was causing him to act this way. Maybe it was the way Riku handled himself, he'd met him less than a nightfall and already Riku was calling him friend, it took Tidus several days before he'd even allowed Sora to talk to him in public. And that was just because Sora had odd eyes, according to the blond.
"Have to say I can't." Riku sighed, "I must meet the man I'll be working for tonight and send a letter back to my boss." He then flashed a smile, "But we can have afternoon snack tomorrow, okay? My treat." He then walked away from Sora, turning to head to the building next door. It was just as Sora opened the door with one hand, bag in the other, that he turned and caught Sora's attention, "By the way, Sora, you have beautiful eyes." And he left Sora spluttering on the doorstep, clutching the bag so hard it almost ripped, and it was exactly how the confused Roxas found his brother.
And even though he was embarrassed by the comment, Sora ended up joining Riku for snack the next day, and the day after that Riku joined them for dinner, and the next day Sora joined Riku for dinner. Roxas wasn't sure how many days it went on, he just knew his brother gained something that day, something that caused a flutter in him and a happiness, and he couldn't help but smile for Sora.
"Why won't you tell me what your job is?" Sora laughed one night, leaning over the basket of goodies they made earlier for the night trip to the lake, "You keep saying maybe tomorrow, I want to know Riku!"
"Well the time isn't right, Sora." Riku grinned, "But I promise you, one day, someday soon."
"That doesn't help." Sora supplied, tearing into a piece of bread, "I tell you what I do for a living." Being the church choir boy, "And yet you tell me nothing! Are you really a bum Riku?"
"A bum?" Riku threw his head back and laughed, "Honestly, how would I have the gold to buy things if I was a bum Sora?"
"Will you tell me, one day?" Sora asked, leaning over the basket to poke his friend in the shoulder.
"Didn't I already promise that?" Riku offered, but Sora shot him a look and he smiled back, "I promise."
"Good." Sora sat back, smiling once to the chuckling Riku, "Now give me the rest of your drink, I'm going to finish it since you're a meanie and won't tell me." It sent Riku laughing, but he handed his drink to Sora anyways, allowing the brunet to finish it.
I will give my gifts to you
"I haven't shown him, or told him."
Roxas stared at Sora calmly, he figured he was getting back into his big brother role. Sora didn't seem to mind, he was beginning to return to his old bouncy, chipper, hyper self, all thanks to that Riku guy. "But you've almost given it away, haven't you? You've—with him—."
"Yeah." Sora's cheeks turned a rosy pink, it'd been almost a month and half since he'd known Riku, and there was always that something, tugging him to him, "But only once."
"Once." Roxas repeated, blinking. He couldn't say anything back, Red had found out when Roxas had slept with him that once, and Sora had slept with Riku, and Riku still didn't know, Sora was obviously better at this than Roxas, always would be.
"I think he's the one." Sora smiled softly, a look upon his face that made Roxas both happy and worried all in one.
"You'll know when he finds out or not." Ansem the Wise stated from where he was reading by the fire, "When will you tell him?"
"Two nights from now." Sora promised, he looked so excited that Roxas couldn't bring up the horrible feeling from his gut, now when Sora looked happier than he'd ever seen him. "We're going to try a restaurant just outside the village, I'm not sure which one, but Riku says it's really good. I was kind of worried, since it's so expensive, but he says not to worry about it." Roxas had never seen his brother talk so fast, or look so excited over food (well, er, you know what he meant), so in a sense it made Roxas feel both crushed and somewhat happy.
"Two nights from now I'm going to feed." Roxas supplied, glancing to his brother, "See if you can find out which restaurant, so I can try to avoid it."
"And are you going out tonight?" Ansem the Wise asked, glancing up from his book finally to the twins.
"Yes, I'm going with Riku!" Sora smiled, clapping twice in joy.
"I might go nibble." Roxas shrugged, sticking his hands into the pockets of his trousers.
Within two moments Sora was led outside by Riku, a new change of clothes on and clean from a bath while he waited, and Roxas had taken off in another direction. "Where are we going?" Sora smiled, eyes twinkling softly as Riku grabbed his hand and lead him down the path.
"God Sora, must you question everything?" Riku laughed, "Can't you just wait and see?"
"But I like asking, it keeps me wondering!" Sora protested, laughing when Riku spun around and pulled him close.
It wasn't even a moment later that Riku tightened his grip and pressed his lips to Sora's, "Love you." He muttered lightly, pulling away just in time to catch Sora's breathtaking smile.
"Love you too." Sora whispered, this time walking in step with Riku as he grew closer to the man for warmth. It was now that Sora knew what people meant by loving now and dying young, he was glad he met Riku so suddenly, he wasn't sure how long he'd have to find love considering some died extremely young to being with. "Here?!" Sora cried when they reached their destination, a dinning out restaurant with the tables in the middle of the gardens and candles everywhere. It was a place Sora always dreamed of eating, but never actually expected to, "What's going to top this two nights from now?!"
"You'll have to see, won't you?" Riku smiled, "But for now we'll enjoy this." He said something to the man before he pulled Sora to a table. Not even waiting for their orders, the man whisked himself away, only returning for a moment with a bottle of some expensive wine, before he was off again.
"You're wasting so much money." Sora laughed, accepting a newly-poured glass of wine from Riku.
"Hmm, but I like spending money on you." Riku grinned, when Sora blushed he set the bottle back down and took up his own glass, "Besides, I don't know how much time I have with you, I'd like to spend it enjoyably."
"It can be enjoyable if were were at your house." Sora teased, raising his own glass and shaking it a little in good humor, "In your bed."
"Who says we won't end up there?" Riku laughed, downing his glass as Sora chuckled. The man returned, set down two plates of odd ends and pieces of food, Sora honestly couldn't say what they were, as he'd never dinned on it. "It's only the first course Sora."
"What?" Sora squeaked, blinking as he stared down at the plate. Meat was a rarity in itself, so to have this be only the first dish and to have meat on it? He wasn't sure whether to wonder what the hell they'd bring out next or to just shut up and enjoy it. He'd decided to do both, "What is it?"
"I'm not going to tell you, try it!" Riku laughed, already shoving a piece of greens into his mouth. It was the second Sora tasted it, nearly squealing at the new, enjoyable taste, that he'd managed to choke on the greens he had yet to chew. Finally managing to swallow it and take a large sip of re-poured wine, he laughed, "Calm down Sora!" He chuckled, watching the brunet scarf some food down, "There's more where that came from, I promise!"
By the time they'd gotten three plates in, the wax of the candles were melted halfway and a smile never left either of their faces. It caused Sora to smile as he thought about it, he glanced up to Riku, who was telling him a story and making the funniest faces he'd ever seen. Maybe, maybe he'd do it now, instead of in two nights— "Riku..."
Riku paused, mid-sentence, his eyes meeting Sora's across the table. His smile drooped somewhat, Sora's gaze looking completely serious, "Yeah?"
"I—..." Sora took in a breath, he'd merely gotten out Riku's name when a deep animal-like scream broke through the crowds. It wasn't one for human ears, it was for vampires only. A signal for help.
"I'll be back!"
There was a gasp, it left Sora breathless considering the urgent comment didn't come from him, but from Riku. "Where are you—" But the silveret was already away from the table, jumping over the wooden fence of the restaurant. It didn't take Sora long to stand and catch up to him, he was just behind him, even if Riku didn't know it himself. What was odd, however, was when he lost Riku at a street intersection. Horses were around and as were about of chatting people, but none of them even came close to looking like Riku. He took his steps carefully and looked around, Riku couldn't have gotten too far, after all, humans weren't built for speed. Sure, sometimes he could sense something around the silveret, but nothing that ever was vampire-like or anything else of the sort. No vampire had been capable of hiding their magic as of yet, and until then there was no way to hide from one another.
Finally the cry came again, it was a faint Latin, calling for help, and Sora was racing towards it. If he couldn't find Riku, at least he could help a friend in need.
It was then he came upon the sight he never expected, a young boy, around Sora's own age, covered in a hooded cloak, the alleyway hiding the dead corpse of an obvious vampire hunter behind him. And there, standing over the vampire with a small dagger to it's neck was Riku.
"Riku?"
Riku turned to him, eyes wide before his lips parted, "Stay back Sora, he's dangerous, he's one of them."
"I-I could tell." Sora replied softly, ignoring Riku's cries of staying back. He'd finally reached them and knelt in front of the young boy, peering into the hood to try and see anything. Riku's grip was tight on his arm, trying to tug him backwards, but Sora hadn't moved, just opened his mouth softly, "Listen to my voice calling you, calling you out of darkness. Hear the devil's cry of sin, always turn your back on him." The song that once belonged to the churches, the song that now belonged to them, the vampire's own song.
The young vampire stopped moving, letting out a light strangled gasp as it's built up energy released itself. "W-what are you doing?!" Riku cried, watching Sora grip the hand of the young vampire.
Leaning forward, Sora grasped the edges, tugging it back until sky blue met sapphire blue. "Roxas..." His energy never subsided, something was wrong...
It was then, in a moment of confusion, that Riku pulled Sora back, standing between the twins, "Your brother is a vampire Sora?! What the hell?!?"
"Don't hurt him!" Sora pleaded, struggling against Riku's arm holding him back. His head was screaming at him to rip Riku's arm off, to protect his brother with all his might, but the other part was pleading with Riku, hoping he'd stop and listen to Sora and just understand.
"We have to kill him Sora, I'm sorry." Riku began his steps toward Roxas's trembling body, the blond's mind still clouded from the song, Sora knew he could see everything but say or do nothing.
"Riku, please! Listen to me!" He grasped Riku's arm, tugging him back, "Let me explain, let me—."
"I've done this before Sora." Riku turned to him, face emotionless but eyes blazing, "Siblings think they can help the other but they only end up getting bitten, and then I have to get rid of both of them, Sora, I can't loose you."
"You've... done this before...?" Sora's eyes were wide, his mouth opening with no words for a few seconds before he found his voice, "Are you... a vampire hunter?"
"No, a writer." Riku answered softly, "I was going to tell you two nights from today." Just like he would've told Riku their secret. "I have to destroy them, to help to tell others how to destroy them. I'm helping save the human race Sora, and I want you with me, always, as I do it. And if keeping your brother from biting you means I had to do it, I will end his life here Sora." He didn't wait for an answer, throwing the dagger at Roxas with such speed it was almost blind to a human eye.
But it never hit it's target.
"Sora!"
"I can't..." Sora had whispered, standing in front of Roxas, his fingers gripped so tightly on the blade that blond began to trickle from his hand, "I can't let you hurt him..."
"How did—..." Riku's lips parted, eyes widening before he took a step back, "Sora, you're... you're one of them, aren't you?"
"That's why I can't have you hurt him." Sora replied, twitching ever so slightly as tears trickled down his cheeks, "My brother is my world, Riku, I wouldn't give him up for anything. Even love."
"So you've made me think you're human." Riku raised a hand to his head, silver hair slipped through pale fingers as he looked unsure, confused, and downright hurt.
"You think I want to be like this?" Sora asked, opening his hand so the dagger dropped to the floor with a loud clang, "You think I want to hunt and to feed and—." His eyes met Riku's, "How'd you know? How'd you hear Roxas' cry for help?"
"My boss." At least he was still treating Sora with some once of respect, he was answering him. "He gave me the powers, all I have to do is use them to protect humans."
"Can you, can you pretend this never happened?" Sora asked, reaching out for him, "I'll hide, and Roxas will too, we'll never met again." No matter how much it hurt to think of that, to even just say it.
But Riku stepped out of his reach, looking everywhere but Sora, "I'm sorry, I can't let you go Sora..."
"I see..." Sora's eyes slipped closed, he could feel Roxas tugging on his trouser leg, the song was starting to wear off, "What if it was just me?"
"I can't..." Riku whispered, but he turned and his eyes met Sora's, "But if you'd like I'd take you somewhere else, and we'd have to do it there."
Sora laughed bitterly, "I can't believe you're giving me a choice on where to die..."
"Not... going to..." Roxas struggled out behind him, slowly rising to his feet, but Sora hadn't moved.
"I'm sorry." Riku whispered, his eyes never leaving Sora's. "I'm—"
"Roxas, no!" Within the second the blond lunged to Riku, who managed to avoid it. The blond landed on the opposite wall, he twisted to get a better angle before he lunged again. "I said stop it!" Sora jumped in front of the blond, standing just before Riku.
In a flash of surprise Roxas retracted his claws, something he'd just recently gotten used to, and managed to fall on Sora onto the floor. "Stay out of the way Sora!" He roared before the stomach area of his shirt began to soak. His fingers slid to the spot, but there was still no cut and no torn cloth. "...Sora...?"
Underneath Sora, with the same amount of shock, was Riku, and still in Riku's hand was the same silver dagger, now glistening with his twin's own blood.
"S-Sora..." The blond pulled him away from Riku, watching Sora's eyes open slightly before fluttering closed several times, "No, Sora, you're still training me, and... and you promised to—."
"I promise a lot of things." Sora whispered, fingers tight on his brother's hands, "But this isn't for you to see, I'll be there in the morning, you'll see."
Roxas let out a sob, his fingers brushing Sora's forehead before he glared at Riku, who tried to crawl towards them, "Don't you dare come closer!"
"Enough."
The blond cried out, thrashing against Ansem the Wise's grip, "Let me go, can't you see he's dying!? We need to save him!"
"We will, if you come with me!" The older blond roared, disappearing with the screaming Roxas in one swift movement that left Riku still wondering who he was.
"Will you do me one honor?" Sora asked Riku as his aqua eyes rested on his lover.
"What?" Riku croaked, moving away from his abandoned knife to slip his arms around him.
"Take my ashes back to my house?" Sora pleaded, his gaze never leaving Riku's, "At least, in the end, it'll make Roxas feel better." And do more for the vampire community then you'll ever know. "Please?"
"I can." The silveret muttered softly, fingers playing with Sora's bangs, the brunet mewled in contentment.
"I love you." He smiled softly, and before Riku could blink his body became gray ash, falling between Riku's fingers like sand.
"I love you too." Riku whispered back, lowering his head for a moment to sort out what floating thoughts he could remember.
And when day came and Roxas opened the door to carry out his mission of revenge, he crumpled at the door, clutching the glass jar before wailing and forcing Ansem the Wise to help him inside.
"We don't have much time." The older blond hissed, leading Roxas below the house, the younger blond still clutching the jar possessively. He opened the wooden box with Sora's name on it, tossing a hand towards it, "Put the ashes in there, without the jar. If we leave it for one hundred years, without opening it once, Sora will be reborn, exactly the way he was."
Roxas didn't need to be told twice, he took the jar and emptied it's contents, closing the lid of the wooden coffin before he took a chair and stood next to it.
"You can remain there for as long as you please." Ansem the Wise replied, "I can feel the magic of that man, he's leaving." He ignored Roxas' tensing shoulders, "You'll have to feast again Roxas, remember you should continue to feast and become stronger and better so that when Sora returns you can take care of him."
"Will he remember that man?" Roxas asked, his fingers digging tightly onto the top wood, but he make no other motion on it.
"Up to his own last words." Ansem the Wise stated, leaving the younger blond there with his thoughts.
While you're gone and watching on
"You okay?"
Of course he wasn't, couldn't red see that?
"Come on Spikes." He joked, his other name for Roxas when 'Blondie' wasn't working. If one couldn't get Roxas to crack, it would most likely be the other nickname, and it worked, every time.
"It's weird, you know?" Roxas stated, placing one leg over the other as he looked away from Red. "He taught me everything I know."
Red merely grinned, his shirt crinkling as he shifted his weight, white cotton with a half-lace up front looked good on him, "If he's as powerful as you say, then I'm sure it'll be fine, you're an awesome vampire and he taught you everything he knows."
"Knew." Roxas corrected, but didn't say anything more than that. Although he didn't know everything, Red was right, Sora taught him everything he could ever know, and this meant he had to trust that Sora would still be able to do all those things. Well, of course he'd be able to do all those things, but remembering how to was something entirely different. It wasn't long after that he left Red's small abandoned building, slipped by Sora's old best friend, and made his way to Ansem the Wise's home. The lights of the candles flickered in the windows, and when he opened the door there was Ansem the Wise at the table, a mug of what looked to be soup and a book in his pale hands.
"Your brother hasn't made any changes." The blond haired man answered calmly, taking a sip of his tea before he placed the cup down in favor of wiping off the liquid from his whiskers, "He's bonding rather well-" Bonding, the word they use when a vampire's ashes molded themselves onto the skeletal remains that are inside the vampire's coffin when one dies. No matter where they were, or how they died, their flesh became ash and their bones magically went into their coffin, it was how vampires were able to tell if someone had died or not, "I must say, Sora's strong to be handling all this."
'He's my brother, of course he'd handle it!' Roxas wanted to snap, but held it in. Sora entrusted him to this man, there were obviously still things that he did not yet understand. "I'm going to check on him."
"Sora's okay." Ansem the Wise reassured him, but did not make a move to stop him, he lowered his book and took up his cup again. "Roxas, there is something I must share with you, I'm not sure why Sora chose to give you in my care since I told him this."
It caused Roxas to stop, he'd already opened the door was descending the first step before he turned to look at the older blond questionably.
"In fifty years time." The other blond didn't turn to face him, but by the small twitch in his body, Roxas could tell he closed his eyes, "I will be murdered." He didn't wait for Roxas to cry out in shock, just allowed the younger's sapphire blue eyes to widen and stare at him, "I'm not sure by who, or what, or how, but I at least know that they find out about us, that we're of the night life." He glanced back to Roxas, who was now boring holes into the side of the stairs that lead downwards to Sora, "I'm not sure what will happen after, but when it does, I want you to take Sora and run."
"But I thought we had to wait one hundred years?" Roxas asked, finally finding his voice, "If you're going to be killed fifty years later, that's only half of the time before Sora returns to his body."
"Like I said, Sora somehow just thought things through, bring it up with your brother when he wakes."
It didn't take the younger blond a second more, he sped down the stairs and spent the night hugging his brother's resting place.
Time would run by quickly, and Roxas memorized every traveler to come by, wondering just who was the one, the one to ruin his brother's rebirth. Ansem the Wise was taking it rather humorously for a man who would die in fifty years, but maybe he was doing the things he never had a chance of doing before. It wasn't exactly like Roxas knew about Ansem the Wise's life away from him and Sora, but he did know that it always had the older man smiling and gazing off in the distance.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Nodding, Roxas shuffled past the woman that bumped into him and checked his pockets to make sure she wasn't a petty thief that had just stolen his money or goods. When he counted each piece to the last cent he tumbled on his way, deciding what to buy with his newly acquired meal tickets. Normally he'd probably waste it on gifts, and documents, and petty things, but with this much he could buy a human an expensive dinner and then get his feast out in the end.
"Come one, come all!"
Turning a ways, he could spot a caravan with several odd looking men on top of it. They were pitching something, some kind of perfume or liquid, or something, all Roxas knew was that it could probably get him a secret meal. Maybe sneak a bite when no one was looking, dragging the human to the darkest parts of the alleys, it'd be quick and he'd be full, so deliciously full...
"They're mad, aren't they?"
Glancing to his right, Roxas came face to face with a human he didn't expect in these parts. She looked just a little too rich to be from around here, her red velvet hair layering perfectly around her face as her misty purple-blue eyes twinkled at him, the light pink smile on her tanned face never leaving. "You talking to me?" He asked, he never talked to many humans anymore, and certainly not many rich ones.
"Yes!" Her smile widened, "You looked just the same as I did, a little bewildered and yet so unamused." Sticking out a tanned hand from her satin pink dress, Roxas glanced up her arm, past the silken pinks and lacy whites until he eyed the junction in between her collar and throat. She was petite, wouldn't be too much trouble, she oddly enough looked a little willing, but for now he'd wait to see if she was. "I'm Kairi." She answered softly, voice chiming and reminding him of the church bells, it was not too different from Sora's voice, which reminded him of the much clearer bells on top of the kingdom.
"Roxas." He muttered, reaching out a hand and shaking hers, "You, I'm sorry for saying this, don't exactly look meant to be here."
"I'm not." She giggled, as if he was a good friend of hers, my she was certainly overzealous, "I'm kind of hiding from my two brothers, they're both here from after work, up at the castle grounds, but I live near the castle grounds anyways." Her smile was affecting, he could feel the corners of his lips lightly twitching. "My brothers like to do a disappearing act on me from time to time, so I like to play one on them."
"Do you think it's worth bothering them like that?"
"It's not that much, I promise you!" The man holding the sign on the wagon said, causing Roxas to grimace and Kairi to laugh.
"I assure you it doesn't hurt a thing." She smiled softly, turning back to the men selling products.
"The next item on our list!" One of the men cried, holding up something Roxas noticed all too well, a heart. "A cow's heart!" When the crowd gasped in disgust, Kairi included, he tried again, "Just wait, it's been told if you keep this it will fend off any vampires in the area!"
"Fat chance." Roxas muttered, he could feel his fangs poking out from behind his lips. This area was smelling delicious, packed with body heat and pumping red, and now with a cow's heart, a treat in itself. While human blood and parts were sweet, cows tended to be a little more tangy, sheep tended to be a little more citrusy, and other animals could be bitter, sour, or even tart. There were so many choices, he was sort of glad he didn't exactly need to use humans all the time.
"I know, right?" Kairi turned to smile at him before glancing back to the stage.
It caught him off guard, he somewhat expected her to see his fangs. Anyone, really, who care to look at him could see them, the way he was feasting on everything in his mind. He chose to retract his fangs though, just as a hand flew to Kairi's shoulder.
"Kairi!" A red-haired man hissed, his green-yellow eyes glistening in false anger as he stared at her. It kind of startled Roxas, this man looked so much like Red, just with his hair somewhat different and eyes a different shade of green, and different marks under his eyes, "Where were you, we were so worried!"
"I've been right here the entire time Reno!" She protested, glaring at him before popping out her hand, as if to feature Roxas. "Roxas here has been an extreme gentlemen and talked to me the whole time."
A gentlemen? Poor girl, she really didn't see the fangs. This Reno guy apparently noticed a dark sense or something about Roxas, he was still polite and still had manners but he was trying to pull Kairi mighty quick and was almost glaring at Roxas. "Thanks, but now she has to get back home before something happens to her."
Roxas just nodded, sending them on their way before he turned back, amazingly people were actually voting for the cow's heart. What some people believe...
"Forty!" He raised a hand in the air, doubling the bid someone just bid, a few looking at him in surprise and amazement. Of course he had the perfect excuse, with him as a Kingdom-worker in the past and Sora as an innocent church boy, people would think he'd need all the help he could get. What he wouldn't give just to slide out his fangs and digest the heart in front of all these humans.
"Sold!" The man cried a second later, leaning down as Roxas slid through the crowd. Once the correct amount of gold was in his hands, his greedy little fingers dropped the heart, not caring if Roxas caught it or not, before he counted the gold.
Roxas glared at him, but the man seemed not to have notice, he'd just barely caught the heart when the men became too preoccupied with actually having a sale. He'd be his next victim, yes. "You've got a lot of guts." He hissed to the man, the dark accent in his voice caused the man to look at him in a horror and back away somewhat. Satisfied Roxas slid out of the group and mingled into the other crowds. He managed to stop and get a bag from Tidus, Sora's loving best friend questioned his whereabouts, but Roxas said he merely came down with a small sickness. Of course Tidus worried about his friend, but Roxas' quick words (he didn't even really know what he said himself) had allowed the other blond to accept his answers and allow him on his way.
But somehow, he kind of wished he kept talking to Tidus, who lived just a ways away from one of Roxas' last destinations, the bookstore. Normally Roxas loved the bookstore, it held all kinds of things for him to read, and it's how their father taught him how to read and write, but he wasn't expecting one of the books to be selling out so quickly.
He looked dashing on the front of the cover, old leather stitched into a massive battle of human verses vampire, well, it could've been a demon or something. But there, in all his glory, with eyes as fierce as the sun and silver hair as soft looking as the moon, was Riku Umino on the book. Snatching it up before someone else could, he flipped through several pages, realizing this man knew more than he thought. There were a few small things even Roxas didn't know yet, but according to vampires he was still very young, a child to them at best.
And after a moment of blocking out others, Roxas' eyes skimmed over the part of vampires, and how they were convincing and want nothing more than to eat and drink your blood. But that was just it, there was no mention of the events that had happened here. No Sora and his long-lasting sighs, no moonlight walks between the two, no kisses or lovemaking, no friendship and good times, he never once raised a quarrel about Sora. He wanted to get mad, honestly he did, about how Riku was seemingly ignoring that part of his life, and how he was belittling Sora, and how he was acting like they weren't more than a passing glance. Yet at the same time, he wanted to thank the man, there were no goring words, no exclaims of how evil they were, no hate-induced comments to fuel the fire.
"Are you going to buy that?" The woman asked him, her eyes soft and face gentle, she seemed completely unaffected for spotting the cover.
"... Yes." Roxas decided a second later, he supposed it was his thank you to Riku, to not bringing attention to Sora.
"Their group is pretty popular." She commented as he handed her the gold and bagged up the book.
"Well, from what he told me, they weren't well known until recently." He commented, eyes trained on the book.
"Yes, they were." She smiled, "I've read it, it's pretty interesting, though I feel for him, for what he said."
"What he said?" Roxas blinked, accepting the book back before staring at her.
She nodded, removing the book from his bag and opening to somewhere near the end, "He must've been through a lot."
"In this war, I've come to realize one thing. No matter who you think you know, who you expect, or what people expect, you'll never know just who is the one against you. I've learned that, in my loss of friendship, love, and life, to loose such one was the complete loss of the sky for me."
"Sky..." She muttered with a sigh, "I bet they must've been great."
The corners of Roxas' lips were tugging upwards, eyes glittering over the book's words, "Yes, they must've been."
The light in your eyes
The first thing he noticed was that it was bright, extremely bright. He slammed his eyes shut, just for a second, and when he opened them again, there was a blob of blond hair in his view. Blue eyes sparkled back at him, "Hey there Sora!" The voice happy, amused, and a slight bit worried, but he didn't know what the blond would be worried for.
"Are you talking to me?" He asked softly, wincing at his own voice for being hoarse. But the blond didn't seem to mind, he just helped him sit up before he got him out of whatever he was in. He was forced to sit on the edge of whatever it was, but he didn't really mind, seeing as he didn't exactly know what was going on anyways.
"We've had to wake you up somewhat early, I'm sorry about that." The blond flashed him a smile and he couldn't help but smile back. "But it's alright, you'll get your memories back in due time, I promise."
"Right." Sora twitched, folding his arms, "And I don't know anything now because?"
"Because we've woken you up halfway through the process, so while your body has returned, your mind has not. And guess what that means, you're the first half-breed in one thousand years! That's twice in a row we've gone without a half-breed, and now you're it!" The blond was saying this like he was so joyful, like it was good to be a half-breed.
Sora just wanted to know what the hell he was half-breed of.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to start off with basics." The blond smiled, "Your name is Sora, you're probably more mature then I'll ever be, but when it comes to a few certain things you're a complete dolt."
"Wow, that helps me remember me so much." Sora replied dryly.
"I know, right?" The blond agreed sarcastically, "Anyways, my name is Roxas, I'm your older brother by a couple minutes and we're twins, so feel free to ask me anything."
"Is there anybody else?" Sora asked instantly, "Or are you my only family?"
Roxas opened his mouth, then closed it again, he gripped one arm and leaned back, "Long story short Sora, I'm going to be frank with you. Ansem the Wise said be cheerful but I can't with something like this." His eyes met Sora, the curious look of his brother was killing him, "You're a vampire Sora, and a pretty good one compared to what I've seen of others."
"Me?" Sora blinked, eyebrows shooting up, eyes wide and mouth open partly. A vampire? Was this kid from a dream world or something?
"I know, you're probably thinking I'm weird or something, but I'm not and I'll explain this better upstairs, when you can handle it, but for now, now you'll just have to believe me. And when you came into your powers, we didn't understand, and we were worried and called the doctor, but your powers took over." Roxas breathed a sigh, "And one night, you killed them." His eyes met Sora's, sky blue now clouded over with surprise and confusion, "You killed our parents Sora, and I know you didn't mean to, but you did, and so I was going to get you away from—where are you going!?"
"Out of here!" Sora huffed, already past Roxas and grabbing the door handle of the only door in the basement, "This is one of the oddest jokes to play on a kid with no memory yet. Vampires? They're not even real! And I killed my parents? How do I know you didn't kill my parents and you're blaming me and treating me like I'm your brother so that I can let my guard down near you?"
"Sora, wait!" Roxas cried, following the brunet as he opened the door and began up the steps, "Sora, honestly, it's not wise for you to be up there right now!"
"Bite me! It's better than vampire lies you give me down there! I'm at least in a right mind to know vampires aren't real!" With that Sora popped open the door, expecting to see the inside of a clean house. Well, either that or a blood-covered one considering what extremes this guy was going to to scare him.
But a face was not what he was expecting.
"Hey there squirt!" The man cried, standing straight as Sora took a step backwards and clutched the wooden beams of the basement roof for support. "I was just going down to check on how you've grown! Not that I knew you from before, but with Roxas telling us all about you, we feel like we know you too."
"Y-you!" Sora didn't look back, but he could feel Roxas' comforting grip on his back and shoulder. In the back of his mind he was surprised to realize Roxas' presence made him so comfortable. "He has fangs!"
He could almost hear Roxas eye roll behind him "All vampires have them Sora, you have them too, but they're hidden."
"Oh god, I'm loosing my mind." Sora moaned, clutching his head, "Not that I remember anything, but I'm pretty sure if I did I swear you'd all be freaks!"
Roxas sighed from behind him, he shoved past Sora, grabbed his wrist, and led him up another set of stairs before they slipped into a bedroom. It took him almost to nightfall, but Roxas finally managed to convince Sora he wasn't going crazy. (Nor did Sora pass out when the brunet pulled out his own fangs, every so often he kept poking them for fun so Roxas had to force them back in).
"So, I helped you become a vampire?" Sora blinked, sitting on the bed and looking confused, "But if I was able to do everything you said I was, how did I die?"
Roxas sighed, shoulders dropping like he didn't want to talk about it. "Some time after you let me go feed alone, you met a once-close friend."
"A friend?" Sora asked, trying to search his mind, but he found nothing, Roxas could tell by the way Sora's eyes clouded over.
"You called him a friend, I should've called him a threat." The blond stood, fingers sliding over the wood of the bed's canopy, "He was an unusual man, a little on the weird side."
"A man?" Sora blinked, "He wasn't a teenager?"
"He was twenty five." Roxas replied, leaning against the canopy and folding his arms, "By now, if he is still alive, he's seventy five, but I doubt he's lived that long."
"And, how old am I?" Sora questioned, leaning over the bed he was on to see Roxas, who was facing the wall with the door.
"Because you've died, you stopped aging, now you've started again. You were nineteen, give it fifty more years and you'll be twenty in human years."
"That doesn't make sense." Sora scrunched up his nose in confusion.
Roxas couldn't help but smile, "I told you the same thing when you told me."
"So this man..." Sora spoke up, "What happened?"
Roxas sat on the bed next to Sora, in an instantly he lied on his back, looking up at the wooden ceiling, "We were separated when you met him, and you never told me exactly how you met him. His name was Riku, he seemed nice enough."
"'Nice enough'?" Sora asked after a moment of silence.
"He had dinner with us several times, from what I met of him I thought he was decent. Long story short, you guys were like perfect best friends." He wasn't going to let fate use Riku and lover in the same sentence with Sora, not while Roxas had a chance to avoid it all again. "And one night, I was feeding, and the man I tried to feed on was a vampire hunter." Roxas placed his hands behind his head, looking towards Sora, "And I called for help, in a method only vampires could hear. But your best friend, while you guys were out for a night on the town, he heard it. I don't know how, but he did, Riku was human and yet he heard the vampire call for help and he chased me down. Right before he could even attack me, you got there."
"Me?" Sora stared, and when Roxas looked away from him, his heart tugged, "Roxas...?"
"My powers were over-reacting, there was something bad about Riku, something that forced me to go crazy. Like he was using some kind of magic to force me to attack someone to give him an excuse to kill me or something. Whatever the hell it was, you managed to calm me down, and you stood between us that night."
It seemed like Sora was adding everything together, "So... I'm guessing... this guy found out I was a vampire."
"He was a little surprised." Roxas laughed bitterly, "He was going to kill us both, honestly, probably you first then me so you didn't see me die or something. But something happened, I'm not sure what, since I was still under my powers." He wasn't going to tell of that moment, not when Roxas' eyes started to glow red, or when his once slim fingers grew sharper than razors, or when the most demonic look covered his face. He'd probably scare his brother away from him. "But at that moment we all fell, you had dodged my attack, but you'd..." He sat up, grabbing Sora's hand as he began to twitch, "You missed my attack, but to avoid it you did the only thing you could, you fell on Riku's weapon. In a sense, you gave yourself up so ypur blood wouldn't be on my hands." He wasn't looking at Sora, he was looking everywhere but Sora. He was afraid, afraid of what Sora would think of him, much less do. "And I got taken away, to be protected, so I don't know what happened after, but the next day your ashes were on our doorstep, and Riku was leaving the city." For a split second, he turned to Sora, but when their eyes met, he looked away, "That was fifty years ago, and we weren't to wake you up for another fifty years, because then you'd have all your memories back, and your body as well."
"Then why wake me up so early?" Sora asked softly, gripping Roxas's hand tightly.
"Because Ansem the Wise has been murdered." Roxas reported calmly, looking his brother in the eye finally "The man who taught you and then taught me was murdered, and not by some nobody. No, by a friend, of Riku's." He grabbed Sora's shoulder, "We're going with someone else, someone who can stand against Riku, and have an army of vampires at his side, and someone who will kill Riku for everything he's done to us."
Sora said nothing then, just allowed Roxas to pull him up and head downstairs to meet the others. Xigbar, the one who'd scared him on the steps, apologized and introduced a few of the crew. Marluxia and Demyx instantly attached themselves to Sora, gushing over his looks and actually being able to say something in super-fast speed and have Sora understand them. Larxene and Vexen didn't seem to care when they met him, but Roxas said they were always like that and steered him away, and as soon as Luxord asked Sora for a game of strip poker, the blond steered him away from him too.
"Xemnas, this is Sora."
The man was a good two feet taller than Sora, golden gaze searching the boy as he brushed a lock of silver hair behind his ear. He leaned forward and grasped Sora's arm, placing a kiss on each knuckle. "It's an honor to meet a true half-breed."
"A what?" Sora asked, turning to Roxas for support.
Instead, Xemnas answered for him, "A perfect half-breed, a perfect combination of both human traits and vampire ones. Trust me, young Sora, it's not easy to turn one by feeding or birthing one, there are a lot of rules to that."
"So... in other words... I'm... rare...?" Sora asked, glancing up to the golden orbs in hope.
"So extremely rare that everyone in the world could put their money towards buying you and yet even they couldn't afford you."
"Oh..." Sora nodded a few times, absorbing it all into his head, "Hopefully that won't go to my head."
Xemnas laughed, it sounded rich and velvety, and somehow it both comforted and scared Sora at the same time. "So, Sora, would you do me the honor of following me and my men? You don't have to, of course, but I assure you that it would be a good interest, at least for now."
He looked to Roxas for support, but it seemed that Roxas was looking to him for support. Maybe they could make this choice together, he tilted his head towards Roxas and then back to Xemnas. Roxas nodded slightly, but it looked a bit strained. Somehow he knew Roxas felt the same, both wanting to go but nervous of the future.
"We'd love to join you." Sora told him, and the smile that Xemnas gave, that Sora caused him, he was happy, for some reason, to make someone happy.
An angel of dark
"We're moving west." Was all Xemnas said to Xigbar and Luxord, and when they parted ways, the silveret laid an arm around Sora's shoulders, "Even though you've been woken up early, your memories should return in due time, Sora."
"Any idea when?" Sora asked, leaning his head upward to meet the eyes of the silveret.
"I've no idea." He answered honestly, looking a bit worried at Sora's downcast eyes. He patted the brunet on the shoulder comfortingly, "It's never certain, some vampires get them sooner than others. You're the first perfect breed I've ever met."
"Mmm." Sora muttered in agreement as Xigbar returned to call Xemnas' attention. It was a second later, eyes ghosting over the red, orange, and yellow falling leaves of the trees before his eyes landed on Roxas. The blond was talking to Demyx, chatting away contently before he could feel eyes on him. He turned to glance at Sora, a soft smile on his face before giving a tilt of the head. Sora's cheeks flared red of embarrassment of being caught before he gave a slight wave back.
"You and your brother seem close." Xemnas stated to him, eyes sliding over Sora's form before they even landed on Sora's face.
"I guess so." Sora muttered, looking to Xemnas for a second before looking back to Roxas, who was now swatting away Demyx's poking hands and fingers. "I really can't remember anything except the fact that his name does give me comfort..."
"There are people you'll remember like that." Xemnas replied, he gripped Sora's wrist, bringing it upwards to place a light kiss on the back of it, "I hope your memories will come back in time, Sora, but for now I'm pleased the two of you will be joining us."
The brunet flushed lightly, pulling back his hand before secretly wiping it on the outfit Demyx let him borrow. A beautiful Victorian outfit, matching that of any wealthy man in this day and age, he wasn't going to ask how Demyx got it. "Have you met him?" He wondered if Xemnas would know who he was talking about, for some reason he didn't even mention this Riku guy's name. It hurt to think about it, and he was kind of afraid of the pain that would come with saying it.
"Riku Umino?" Xemnas asked, not even waiting for Sora to mutter an agreement, "Yes, I have. Ugliest looking thing, honestly." He craned his neck, looking down to Sora, "He killed my mother, right after I left because she turned me." His eyes closed, standing straight for just a second before he said anything else, "Do you remember anything of him?"
Sora shook his head slowly, "Anything I remember Roxas has told me, I'm guessing you all have something against him?"
"It's not just him in general." Xemnas spoke, "It's an organization of them, an organization of several humans to come together and destroy anything that isn't human."
"So, are they big? Will we have to fight them often?"
"No, they're rather small." He pulled a small book out of his cloak and handed it to Sora, "Those are all the names of the men and women in their group. There isn't a lot, but their skills sometimes far exceed their numbers."
Sora's eyes glazed over their names, he flipped through several pages before he realized all the names besides Riku's he couldn't remember or possibly even know. He handed the book back to Xemnas, gaze never leaving the silveret's face, "Have you ever killed any?"
"Names are crossed out, aren't they?" He asked back, a light smile to his face. His fingers slipped over the cover of the book, his eyes met Sora's and they all but twinkled, causing Sora's cheeks to redden, "But your enemy is my enemy Sora, so we shall go after Riku Umino the most."
"I..." Sora blinked, willing his red cheeks away, "Really, it's okay, I don't remember to begin with, so if we don't exactly get to him, I understand."
"Nonsense, your priority is our priority." Xemnas replied, putting the book away and sliding onto a horse Xigbar brought him, "Shall we go?" He held out his hand and just as Sora grabbed it he slid the brunet behind him.
"Are you okay?" Roxas, who was on his own horse, slid next to them as Xemnas relayed his plans to Xigbar.
"I'm fine." Sora whispered, a little unsure of himself, "I think I will be..."
"You can ride with me, if you want." Roxas muttered quietly, his gaze on his twin.
"I'll try this out for a bit." Sora answered softly, his fingers tight on Xemnas' cloak, "I'd like to find out a little more, about vampires and everything." Roxas looked somewhat hurt for a second, and Sora figured it was because he wanted to teach his brother himself. "I mean, I'd like to see what he could tell me, about the war we have with this group, you know? It'll be something good to know since I didn't even know before." He reached over and gave Roxas a hug, fingers latched on tight as he placed a soft kiss to the blond's temple, "Everything else, however, I'll be wanting to learn from you."
The blond's cheeks became a royal red, his eyes wide and bright as Sora leaned back to Xemnas and they began to lead the pack. "Roxas, let's go!" Demyx hissed behind him, the older blond glaring before he started ahead. He began his pace, just a few steps behind Xemnas, and when their eyes met and Sora smiled softly to him, Roxas couldn't help but blush and smile back.
Tke: … I hope you guys are happy, it's extra long! It's the longest chapter (that I know of) out of the whole story, and until I type up the second part of this it'll stay the longest chapter. I usually don't write over thirty plus pages, I hope you all enjoyed it.
Shrouded-Obsession: Tke worked really hard on this guys! Please don't let all her hard work go to waste! Review and let her know your opinions! It really matters and if you want to see what happens next sooner, it'll give her the motivation to get this out sooner!
Tke: AGREED, REVIEW IF YOU LOVE ME OR THE FIC. Lulz.
TWO EXTRA SIDE NOTES: I FINALLY managed to hook up my 360 to the net and I can now do things like play Halo 3 or Resident Evil 5 with people (the only games she has that are two player xDD). So please add me on there! I go by TkeSora! I'm usually up until 3 in the morning or whatever, California time xD So if you want to share files, play games, send me messages, whatever, please add me as a friend!! I just got it so I'll be on it a lot. xDDD
AND NOW THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER: Because this chapter is so long it has been (as you could tell by the chapter title) split into two parts. However, this part, the first part, is mainly focusing on Roxas and Sora, the second part will feature the other characters, like Demyx, or Xemnas, or Cloud, or Squall, etc. I'm planning on having this chapter be Roxas's flashbacks as he's passed out from getting his ass kicked by Riku and Axel. (LOL, that sounded mean) What I'd like to know is would you like the rest of some of the character's history in the next chapter, or would you like me to wait a chapter or two before I post the second part?
Just giving you warning, because I was originally planning to post chapter 12 first, some of that is done and none of the second part is done. So if you guys want me to do the second part now it'll be a bit of time before it's up, hopefully not as long as this one took.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE TO DO, IT'S MY STORYLINE AND ALL BUT YOU GUYS KEEP IT GOING BY BEING THE SPIRIT AND INSPERATION AND THE FUEL TO MAKE ME KEEP WRITING. YOUR OPNIONS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME AND I'D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT PARTS YOU GUYS WOULD WANT TO SEE BEFORE OTHERS.
PLEASE REVIEW!!