Chapter 3
Perse didn't go back to class. She wouldn't risk it when she had an open wound. It needed time to heal and it wouldn't be fine until a good dozen hours later.
She headed back to the dorms until dawn, letting herself heal a little bit more without the chance of the Vampires smelling her blood. She had enough of that.
As the sun was hot with clear skies on a Wednesday, Perse decided to go on a walk in the afternoon. She brought a book and a sketchbook with a single sharp pencil, making her way into the main area of the school.
Her hair was pulled back today, to keep it out of her face and show off the colour. Her hair was tightly braided into two french braids, both slowly allowing the bright purple color to overlap with the black in the braids. She had tied both braids off at the nape of her neck with a glossy, black ribbon in a neat little bow.
Wearing her white uniform with the skirt, she stood out against the rest of the awake student body. All of the Night Class was still asleep since it was only one in the afternoon. She had her earbuds in but she could still see all of the students chatting away as they walked passed her, whispering to their friends.
Yuki quickly showed up, a bandage on her neck as she caught up with Perse. "Afternoon, Perse. Night Class isn't supposed to be out during the day."
"Cross said I was allowed out during the day," Perse said, taking out her earbuds as Yuki almost guided her to sit down on a bench near a blossom tree. "I couldn't sleep."
"Nightmares?"
"Paranoia."
Yuki was on guard straight away. "Why are you paranoid? Did one of the Night Class try something?"
Perse lifted her hand, bandage still around it. "No, no. Still not finished healing though."
"Your kind, they heal quickly, don't they?" Yuki asked curiously, her brown eyes lighting up. "Not as fast as… them, but a lot quicker than us. When do you think you'll be fine?"
"Couple hours, I've still got residual pain and will for probably a week."
"That sounds so nice and horrible at the same time. Is the pain like phantom pains? There but not?"
"Yeah," Perse's eyes trailed to the bandage. "How's your neck? Does it still hurt?"
Yuki clasped a hand on her neck, shrugging. "How did you know?"
"I know a bite when I see one," Perse smiled reassuringly. "If you want, I can get you a cream that will heal them instantly. Punctures, scratches, bites, it works quickly."
"That would be amazing! Why didn't you use it on your hand then?"
"It works for small wounds," She lifted her hand and dismissively waved it. "This doesn't count as small. I had to cut into my hand to get one of the pieces out."
"Ouch. That does sound painful,"
"Eh, you get used to pain after a while."
As they spoke, more Day Class students seemed to stare. Perse didn't care that they tried to listen in, Yuki and she were speaking too low for them to hear. The sun was bright but the tree kept them in the shade, letting them stay warm instead of overheating like the students around them.
"Yuki!" A Day Class boy suddenly appeared before them both, stopping their conversation as he shoved his glasses up again. "You nag at us about interfering with the Night Class, and here you are! It's a bit hopictical of you, don't you think? Please, excuse me, miss." He said when he looked at Perse.
"You're excused." Perse smiled, teeth on display. "I don't believe we've met. Actually, I'll stop you there. I was having a conversation with Yuki. Why have you interrupted us?"
"Yuki Cross is a member of the disciplinary committee, she should be telling you to go back to your dorm, not hanging around with you," He said.
"Though, it is none of your business, I have permission from Headmaster Cross to be here. Yuki is just checking in with me. I'm new to the school and she is just making sure I'm settling in well," Perse tilted her head. "Or would you rather I not be settled in well and the headmaster never knowing?"
The boy hesitated before dropping into a low bow. "I apologise. I didn't mean to insinuate that she shouldn't check in on you."
"What did you mean then? That she shouldn't be able to have a conversation with me because you believe she is being hypocritical if she does?" He hesitated again but Perse took pity on him and waved a hand, dismissing him before looking at Yuki again. "Gods, I hate people sometimes."
"Don't you think that was a little rude?" Yuki said, her eyes narrowing in concern and her hands clenching shut where they rested on her thighs.
"It was rude but he was rude to you first," Perse clasped one of Yuki's hands in comfort. "I'm not a people person, Yuki. But you've been nice to me without having a hidden agenda. It's nice, freshing."
"Do people have an alternative agenda when they try and become friends with you?"
"More often than not, yeah," Perse let her smile drop, looking into Yuki's eyes. "Do you have a hidden agenda, Yuki?"
She gasped. "Of course not! I want to be your friend for the sake of being your friend. Being lonely isn't something I want anyone to feel."
"You're so sweet," Maybe too innocent. Perse nodded. "I'll give you the cream tonight after class, alright?"
"Thank you in advance." Yuki stood up and bowed a little, the one reserved for a friend. "If you need anything, you can ask me."
"Good to know," Perse checked her phone. "I'd best get back to my dorm. I have some work to finish. Have a good rest of the day."
Yuki nodded with a soft smile as Perse left.
Perse's own smile left her face, dropping into a neutral expression as she put in her earbuds. When she wanted to be, she was approachable. Other times, like now for example, Perse didn't want to be bothered with conversations or people. A quick change of pace and facial expression made it quite clear to others.
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Though her dominant hand was her right, the one she had injured, she didn't find it hard to use her left. There were several instances where she would go with her right to only wince and revert to her left hand.
Cooking was too tricky, so she opted for biscuits and coffee until she could actually have something that didn't need her right hand. She could deal with snacks for now.
She was just sitting at her desk, hunched over a textbook as she tried to actually finish a piece of work when a knock sounded at the door.
"Go away, Kuran." Perse muttered, fiddling with the pencil in her hand to try and concentrate.
She knew it was Kaname, he was the only PureBlood and his blood hummed a certain way. Old and powerful, she liked the way it didn't seem to flow in his veins. The humming was closer to the humming of Magic than just simple blood.
"One of the Nobles made food, I thought you would like a bowl," He said calmly through the door.
She snapped her fingers, turning in her chair to watch the door swing open. He tried to step inside but Magic didn't let him get his foot past the threshold. Kaname quirked an eyebrow before Perse just nodded once. That allowed him in.
He walked in with a bowl of food and a carbonated beverage, placing them on the space next to her. "Takuma had mentioned you didn't eat meat. You haven't cooked any food for yourself because of your hand."
"Can't really cook when your dominant hand is hurt. Thanks," She sighed, pulling the bowl closer and seeing the rice and tofu in there. "Sweet and sour, my favourite."
"Is it?" Kaname leaned against the side of the desk, his back facing the windows while he crossed his arms loosely. "I would rather you not attend class until you are healed. The others don't need the temptation."
"Fine with me," Perse said, taking a piece of the chewy yet crunchy tofu. She gestured with her fork. "This is good."
"I'm glad you like it," He said with a toneless voice before falling silent but not leaving.
Perse could feel the questions he had, the curiosity he wanted to be sated. "Ask your questions."
The corner of his lip curled as he moved, his left hand on the table and his right on the back of her chair as he turned to face her. Kaname leaned down a little, eyes glowing as Perse felt the prickle of Magic in the air.
"How do you know Blood Magic?"
"Couple centuries ago, there were four Witch Clans. Whitestone, Blackwood, Greylight, and Redwater. Redwater was known for Blood Magic. Back then, the Crowns, the leaders of each Clan, lived for a long time and would have many children. The Redwater leader had three children, all daughters, after thirty years, and knowing he already had an heir in his oldest child, a son, he married his daughters off to sons of the other Clans. Then there was a dispute and the Redwater leader was killed and every other Redwater. That included the married off daughters, but one had a daughter without the Order knowing."
"And that daughter was married into your bloodline," Kaname said, moving his right hand so it touched her shoulder.
Without hesitation, Perse took her fork and stabbed him in the left hand.
"Don't touch me." She resumed eating after wiping the fork clean. "That daughter was my great, great, great grandmother? Something like that. The Gift skips generations at a time."
He only looked to the four bloodied indents in his hand, surprised by the fact she could wound him but he didn't show any outward pain. Perse gave him a quick glance to the hand on her shoulder before her eyes met him again, silently asking him to remove his hand from her shoulder. He did as requested, putting his hand back on the wood of the chair.
"Your mother," Kaname asked, his tone soft as he knew it was a delicate subject. "She wasn't killed because of a treaty, was she. The other two Clans—"
A sad smile appeared on her lips as Perse looked out into the darkening sky. "She was Challenged, meaning her ability to wield Magic and her ability to run the Clan was questioned. The Crowns of Whitestone and Blackwood deemed her unfit to rule, and if she was unfit, her ability to use Magic would be stripped. Instead of letting them take her Magic as they would have, she gave it up to the gods and then killed herself before the Crowns could stop her."
"Your mother had the Blood Magic Gift and they wanted it,"
"Yeah," Perse sighed. "And since she refused to work for the goals the Whitestones and Blackwoods had in mind, she was deemed unruly and unfit to rule her Clan."
"Because she didn't want to align herself with them, they killed her to take her Gift?" Perse nodded as Kaname continued. "And instead of the gods taking the gift, it got transferred to you."
"How'd you figure that out?" She hummed.
"It explains how you knew about Zero Kiryu." Kaname stood up straight no longer. "How can you master the Gift within a couple weeks? You said your mother died only a few weeks ago."
"I always had the Gift but it wasn't activated," Perse tilted her head side to side, thinking for a second. "I always had it, but I couldn't access the ability to use it."
"Does Cross know?"
"No," Perse finished her bowl of food before going for the drink, cherry flavoured sparkling water. "If the Hunter Association knows that I'm here, then they will tell the Vampire Senate and the Order of Witches. Legally, the Order can't do anything to stop me attending school because my mother's Will had me emancipated if she died. It doesn't mean they won't try to bring me back to England."
"And if they did?"
"If they find me before I'm eighteen, I will be made into a slave for the Order. I would have a similar brand to what Zero has, but instead of stopping me for a few moments, I wouldn't control myself."
"And if they found you after you turned eighteen?"
Perse tilted her head towards him, eyes dark like a snake in hiding.
"I will destroy the Order, and I will destroy everything they stand for."
Perse stood from her desk, sudden chills going down her back as she took a breath in. Blood had been split, not by accident. Somehow she knew whose blood it was, the Magic in it vibrating slowly.
"That girl is an idiot," Perse muttered, going to one of her drawers and opening it to find a container. She handed Kaname the container. "Give this to Yuki for her bites. If she decides to do the self-sacrificing route, she should heal the bites properly because a repeat of what Hanabusa did is unacceptable."
"You know what he did?"
"Ruka likes to gossip and make fun of him," Perse smiled in memory before sobering up. "Is Zero rejecting the tablets?"
"Yes, he was fine for a bit but he has started to reject them," Kaname narrowed his eyes a tad. "You have something for him too?"
"It won't completely satisfy him…" Perse said as she went for a small box under her bed, the type that could be locked.
It was dark brown wood with stained carvings in the top and sides. She opened it to a large selection of herbs and spices, all separated into mesh bags if they were harmless, or glass pill bottles if they were harmful. She found a small bottle that held several dozen small seeds.
"I'm going to powder these real quick," She said, taking out a mortar and pestle to grind the seeds up into a powder.
It took her about ten minutes to do everything she wanted. She had to find the capsules she used for pill making. She filled each tiny capsule with around three hundred milligrams of the seeds she had powdered. Capping a small bottle, she also handed Kaname it.
"Hemlock seeds," She explained. "Powdered so more efficient but not enough to kill him. It will, however, make him sick but the blood tablets will be forced to work to heal him, and his body won't have the chance to reject the blood tablets. Zero needs to take these once a day and he'll stop rejecting the blood tablets, at least until he starts to become resistant to the dosage. If he agrees, we can up the dose at a later date so he doesn't become blood lusted."
Kaname raised an eyebrow at her knowledge, pocketing the cream container and the pill bottle.
Perse shrugged. "Mother wanted a well rounded education."
"And posions?"
"Extra curricular activities." Perse suddenly had her hand around Kaname's tie, tugging it down and making him lean down a little as she grinned a teethy smile that threatened to do damage. "If you repeat anything I've told you, you tell the Order where I am, you do anything that puts you against me , and your blood tablets will be replaced with something a little deadlier. Understood?"
Kaname just watched her eyes, seeing the silver glow appear as she promised him the threat she stated. He knew she was serious about what she said, and now he knew she was capable of doing so.
There was a familiar danger to her presence, something he knew he also had. The danger that a predator had, the potential there but not always acted on.
Witches had instincts just as did Vampires, though Vampires focused on blood while Witches on Magic. But this little Witch had both.
He leaned a little closer, his own eyes glowing in retaliation.
"Crystal."
"Good!" She let go of his tie, nodding to the door as it suddenly opened. "Get out."
He fixed his tie, unbuttoning his jacket and waistcoat as he straightened it. He knew she was watching the way he did it, appreciation in her eyes as she watched him.
Kaname knew Persephone Greylight was better a friend than a foe.