There is pretty much no dialogue, nor much monologue (for that matter) in this way longer than usual chapter.
I'm starting to worry about my sanity.
Thank you everybody, for your support and reviews and... you know. :)
Twenty-Fourth Night: Lovers Lost
Sunrise would be due soon, weak against the thick foot of snow, but nonetheless present. Animals continued to remain sheltered, and none could blame them, not even the most active beings, for the air reeked with discord and discontent.
The rubbish that was left of the doors thrashed against the farthest wall of the downstairs lobby, sharp wood grazing the carpet and tarnishing the pure white of the wall paint.
Rido stood, legs apart, something strong, lengthy, and fueled by magic dangling on his clothed shoulder as he took a step in.
With a twisted grin, he caught sight of his first opponents.
The lady was taller than average height, fashionable and perfectly proportional, as all vampires. Her wavy, beige hair cascaded down her back, her eyes were the color of almonds.
The other was male, tall and muscular, with light orange hair and a set of deep, amber irises.
He did not mind the girl, but the boy would have to go.
"Ruka," the fair haired guy called, and his partner stiffened as her name rolled down his tongue.
She knew very well what was at risk, what he was asking of her, even without stating the complete obvious. Sighing and shutting her lids for a moment's worth, she replied, "Akatsuki."
And then there was not a trace of hesitation.
She opened her eyes – lit with a threatening, violet hue – as her other jumped from the balcony, fire caressing his hand.
He clenched his fist, throwing a fireball with deadly accuracy and speed into the Pureblood's direction.
The redhead dodged with a side step, and faster than the eye could see, he was right in front of the Noble boy. He grabbed Akatsuki by the neck, smelling the presence of other vampires, and before the teen could cloak himself in fire, Rido threw him at the wall.
The wall completely broke down as Kain was pushed inside the opening, wounded and covered in lint. As the remnants of the bricks flew in alongside the Noble vampire, they took out two, female Level Cs that were occupying the room, otherwise unaware of the fight. They burst to dust, two large piles that once passed as 'human'.
Akatsuki's momentum was stopped by the second bed, and he was flung behind it by the sheer force of his stop.
Ruka did not let Kain's sacrifice go to waste. Suddenly right in front of Rido, she grabbed his face in both hands, nails digging into his temples as she dragged his head down, her lavender lit eyes peering into his heterochromatic ones.
And then he was in the Kuran Mansion, Juuri's claw-like hand biting into his bleeding neck as she pressed him against the wall of the enclosed room, her fangs bared in his direction, her face morphed with revolt and utter disgust at his being.
He was used to that look, he admitted, but Juuri had never resorted to such rash actions. She did not want to be tainted by him.
And oh, how he wanted to taint her with his every touch and sin.
Make her scream.
And scream she did, though not because he made her. His younger sister growled as her free hand's nails elongated, and in one, swift motion, she touched his heart, ripping it from his ribcage with a sneer.
His heart in her hands. As he always imagined it.
The muscle continued to beat though, as Juuri eyed it with sick fascination, before turning to face him once more. "Die, Rido!" she screeched, crushing his heart with her hand.
And then he was nothing.
The illusionist had done a good job, trapping him in the fake reality, but he was tired of playing games.
When the scene was about to change (perhaps she thought to torment him with images of his younger brother?), his arms dove up, and his hands clutched her forearms painfully.
Ruka moaned, futilely trying not to tear her eyes away from his. He twisted one arm even further, and was satisfied when he heard a snap, and noticed her lids shut tightly at the quick hit of excruciating agony.
He willed himself to blink, and at once he was back in the Moon Dorm. Another two were about to attack, and he slapped the girl away (he hate to kill the pretty ones, no matter what), his other arm fixed as he made one slicing motion in the air (seriously, Level Cs were too easy for him), and the pair disintegrated, the leftovers of their beings scattering about in the room.
He muttered incoherent things as a third pair grabbed his attention, and let his lips slide into a smirk, despite knowing the identities of his next opponents.
A loner vampire tried to take him from behind; Rido extended his arm backwards, grabbed the face of the vampire, and crushed it with his bare hand.
Just like Juuri did, with his heart.
He heard the sizzling sound of electricity, as well as a sudden rumbling of thunder outside, and turned his gaze as another Noble vampire – partners with his son, he mused – flicked a charge of raw energy in his direction.
One from the Touya clan, he assumed.
As she continued to launch small bolts from her fingertips, his son, Senri, pierced the skin of his index finger with one delicately tenacious fang, blood seeping through from the purposeful wound in one, long, flexible whip.
The girl got carelessly close as the pace of her bolts quickened and the duration between her bolts ceased to exist. She was a pretty thing of average height, with large royal blue irises slanted in deadly concentration, and light peach tinted tresses.
His son had good taste in women, though of course none could ever compare to Juuri's breathtaking, heartbreaking, exotic beauty.
He closed in on the girl as Senri – who had inherited a mix of his mother's and his own hair, as well as his mother's amethyst hued eyes, Rido observed – lengthened out Blood Whip even further, his irises following his father's figure hauntingly, attempting to smack Rido down with the whip.
Rido dodged flawlessly, and the Touya girl, noticing his closeness, jumped with a flip to the banister of the balcony.
He wondered how the top floor hadn't yet sunk, before noting the unbreakable, magically sealed into place columns that held everything upward.
A pity, too. He loved a good change in scenery.
The peach locked girl, balancing with impeccable skill, continued bombarding him with lightning, and one even managed to cut his cheek.
His wound closed as quickly as it opened, a thin trail of blood slipping downward, to his neck.
He was slightly taken aback by the successful – though utterly useless – attack, and his purple-pink haired son used the small opening to latch his Blood Whip to his parent's throat.
It tangled perfectly, and Rido was actually somewhat proud that his blood had managed to lay a strategic hit on him.
Not that it really mattered.
The girl dropped her guard down slightly, elegantly slipping down. She now stood a foot from him, her arm twisted and enlightened with an electric sword.
Interesting, so she knew short distance combat, too.
He gripped her raging arm, not minding in the least the sting of her scorches against his skin, and pivoted her arm forcefully down.
Acknowledging that his son was attempting to drag his own body towards him, Rido quickly took his free arm and harshly hit the girl. She fell down, unconscious, but not dead (how could he possibly kill a girl his son so obviously longed for?), and Rido stumbled slightly as Senri flung his figure in his own direction.
He steadied himself on the ruined floor, his feet glued to the once crème hued carpet, and he snatched the Blood Whip to himself, regaining his balance as his son was thrust forward at the force.
Making sure his hold on the solidified blood would not loosen or slip, Rido twisted the whip around his arm several times, then latched his hand onto it once more.
Using much momentum, he pivoted on his heels, and then flung Senri – who hadn't had the chance to get up properly – upwards, straight into the balcony.
Senri slid into the dark hallway roughly, bits of wood flying alongside him, as his father peeled the Blood Whip off his arm and neck.
The last thing he heard before he fell into oblivion was his father's voice. "I'm disappointed in you, son."
And what could only be Ichigou's ragged yell.
More lowbloods surrounded him and the following Nobles, and he flung them without much care to the nearest walls.
Some smashed into smithereens of their former selves, some were lucky enough to be merely blacking out.
When it was finally just him and the Noblebloods, Rido took the time to scrutinize his new opponents.
The girl was somewhat tall, with a kare* haircut the color of pale lavender, violet eyes, and durable physique. She held no weapons as far as he was concerned, and it didn't seem as though she had any specific power, so one could only assume that her body was her greatest asset. She wasn't as alluring as the other two Noble women, in his opinion (perhaps it was the no-nonsense look she was giving him, he pondered), but she was definitely pretty.
As he blocked one of her attacks – he was right to guess she would be flexible and agile beyond compare – he recognized her partner.
Ichigou's grandson, with his pale blond locks and deep emerald eyes.
Ah, but Takuma would side with Kaname no matter what, especially with what Rido had just done to his own son a while back.
The boy's katana sliced through the air, dexterous and exact with every move.
"Why aren't you using your ability, Ichigou's grandson?"
The young man didn't bother to answer, just continued slashing through the air, his attention focused on cutting the Pureblood to pieces.
"Why don't you disintegrate this whole place, Takuma!" he begged with a feral smile, dodging the two of them without much sweat. "Make it rain dust!"
Another nameless Level C tried to strike the Pureblood – he deteriorated where he stood.
But it was not Takuma who committed the act.
Rido let out a frustrated growl.
Though he did not want to kill Ichigou's grandson, he nonetheless wished to see the boy's abilities, how far he had developed them, what it would take to crack the fair haired boy once and for all.
But the boy flat out refused to show anything, and the Pureblood was getting disinterested in the fight.
He bit his finger, unleashing his own Blood Whip. At a speed none could dodge, the whip flung to the side of Takuma's head, before following back, and winding around his pale, somewhat skinny neck.
With the Blood Whip, Rido steadily rose the boy, fixing with his other hand the chains that managed to loosen about on his shoulder, all while sidestepping a kick from the girl.
The katana fell to the floor, and still Takuma would not grace his superior with the power that coursed through his veins.
Rido would squeeze the consciousness from the boy for his lack of entertainment.
Seiren let out a flustered moan, her eyes betraying her panic at her fellow Guardian's situation.
She jumped at him, panic turning to rage as she feebly struggled to make him lose balance, in hopes that it would loosen his hold on her partner.
He rolled his eyes dramatically, snorting softly as he caught her, too, by the throat. His nails pressed into her flesh, red nectar sipping through the wounds bestowed.
Takuma let out a hoarse cry as Seiren tried to claw at Rido's visage. She kicked mindlessly at his legs, his torso, his body, but he would not give.
In fact, he was quite amused.
She weakened considerably as his nails sunk further, and his hand embraced her neck even tighter. Struggling with her breaths, she gave one effete endeavor to carve scars into the skin of his face.
And succeeded, even as she passed out, her lids drooping until he could no longer see the violet in her eyes.
Something in Takuma snapped.
Rido flung the limp body away, and it smashed into a large, glass coffee table. Broken shards cut through flesh, yet not one vampire bitten by the glass bothered to re-obtain their conscious mind.
The Blood Whip began to vitiate, Rido noticed with satisfaction, before it merely combusted into crumbs, the crimson of its former color lost within the pale shade of the carpet beneath them.
Good.
Very good.
About to stalk to Takuma's side, Rido abruptly stopped. "Why do they just keep coming?" he exasperated. He continued his march towards Takuma, anticipating the new group.
After all, his Yuuki was in their little groupie.
Kaname's male Guardian was so obviously letting his control slip from his grasp, seeing as the wood surrounding him, as well as a few stairs, had begun to crumble into nothingness.
Time to put an end to this.
With his vampire speed Rido got as close as possible to Takuma, grasping him by the throat once more. Killing Ichigou's grandson would be quite the pain, and so Rido only chucked the fair haired Noble at the nearest wall, rendering the younger one unconscious.
The last (he could only assume those would be the only ones with enough guts to fight) five rushed through the hall – two Purebloods, two Nobles, and one Level D.
The hunter.
That would explain the scent of his nephew's blood, and their need to have taken so tortuously long.
His niece's Guardians – an ice user and a wind user, he noted with chaotic glee – began with a twin close range attack while the hunter pointed his gun, unmoving (save for his arm) as he began to shoot beams of raw anti-vampire magic at the redheaded, handsome Pureblood.
Kaname stood guard over Yuuki, perhaps stategizing his own forms of assault while keeping his dear sister safe and himself near.
Ah, he was always good at that. Always willing to play ruthless if it meant his dear girl was one step above danger.
The two on offense – the girl was very attractive, with short caramel hair and innocent hazel eyes, the eighteen-year-old male mimicked her in beauty, though with cerulean irises and curly dark blond locks, Rido noticed – struck at him with elemental swords, with the occasional gust of painful wind or ice needles.
"Maaa, Kiryuu!" the wavy haired girl pouted in displeasure as said silver locked hunter shot once more in their general path.
Her partner finished her thought as if it was completely natural. "Watch where you're shooting! That last one could have blown us to bits."
The Kiryuu appeared unpleasantly happy with the idea of them in pieces, muttering incoherent things under his breath as he tried to shoot in a way that made the Guardians less prone to his magic.
Rido reckoned he heard the Kuran Princess mumble something along the lines of: "I hate it when they do that..."
He was actually enjoying this – which was quite rare, seeing as Aristocrats and regular vampires were so utterly weak – until a bullet of energy grazed through his bicep, almost knocking his chains off.
It was time to get serious.
The eldest Pureblood of the Kuran clan let them come at him, and when they were considerably close, his arms reached out to latch onto their 'weapons'. They went rigid in place, a sudden confusion in their irises as he merely stood, blood leaking through the wounds inflicted by their elements.
And then that same blood began to curl around their somewhat solidified weapons.
As the weapons were extensions of themselves, they couldn't let go in time as the crimson liquid traveled briskly to them, then winded itself around their hands, then arms, then torsos, and so forth. They struggled for air as the blood thickened and coiled around their beings even harder.
Rido pulled the Guardians further in as the hunter persisted to pointlessly release energy towards him.
The Kuran almost rolled his eyes again, but instead merely connected the palms of his hands to each of the Guardians' foreheads, willing them to go into a comatose-like state.
If he wanted Yuuki to agree to be his, and his alone, he would at least have to let her Guardians live.
Not that he liked the idea very much, but he could always bargain with her for their lives later.
The hunter would have to go next.
In the blink of an eye Rido crouched on what was left over of the balcony's banister, his hand covering his ice blue eye as he laughed hysterically.
Kaname rose the sword grasped in his slender fingers on impulse, but made no moves, still standing protectively over Yuuki, who seemed oddly calm.
Kuran Rido hooked his hand into Zero's jacket and slammed the eighteen-year-old against a near by wall – painted a soft blue, much like his own eye – and his nephew took that moment to try and charge.
Try.
The second Rido plunged his clawed hand into the the hunter-boy's shoulder (as a lesson for his former actions) was the same second Rido seized the ancient sword in Kaname's hand and pierced him through the abdomen.
His Yuuki wailed in horror.
"Hasn't Juuri taught you not to play with knives?" Rido sneered, addressing his bleeding nephew.
The nephew that could have been his son.
Yuuki let out a tear, Pureblood pride or not, her shaking hand about to take Artemis out.
But Rido had other plans.
"No no no, my dear," he sneered tenderly, immobilizing her in one swift movement. He grasped her painfully by the wrists with one hand, his other fiddling with the lengthy chain on his shoulder, connected to a pair of handcuffs.
"No!" His niece's pupils contracted in horror as she saw exactly what they were.
Those two still breathed, he noted. He turned his head to leer at them, both on the ground and cloaked in red.
Red red red.
Like Juuri's sinfully tempting lips.
"I will deal with you later," he growled out, his attention back on the beauty in front of him after a moment. As he handcuffed her securely – and noted with sick delight the way her face morphed into one filled with torture as the anti-vampire cuffs literally burned the skin of her wrists – she let out one startling bawl, hot liquid streaming from her large garnet eyes.
"You look so beautiful," he whispered erotically, "when you're crying."
With one final look at the dying, they were gone.
Kaname swore.
*A kare haircut (I have one! :) Love it!) is basically what Seiren has – short in the back, gets longer to the front of your face (a tiny bit like a bob, meaning it's usually short/medium length), complete with some style of bangs. I suppose you don't need bangs though...
I love oxymorons.
Halfway through writing this I decided to make French toast with my cousin.
It was fucking delicious.
Reviews?
Next Update: 02-02-13