Chapter 5
When they had their next night of classes, Ruka shook her head at Perse as soon as the Witch left her dorm and said, "You look like Akatsuki right now."
"True," Perse had to say because she wore the trouser uniform without the vest. Her black shirt was loosely done up, the top few buttons undone to accidently show off her neck and a touch of cleavage. More than modest enough for school, but maybe a little less refined than normal. At least she wore the white jacket over it.
"At least you've actually tried to do your hair, unlike someone…" Ruka accusingly said, narrowing her eyes playfully as Akatsuki walked out of his dorm with Hanabusa. "Do you even own hair products, Akatsuki?"
He smirked, jutting a thumb back at the blond next to him. "Hanabusa uses it all within a day."
"No, I do not!" Hanabusa gasped, putting a hand through his hair quickly. "This doesn't need any product, it's already perfect."
"Yeah…" Perse grinned, waiting until Hanabusa was standing next to her before ruffling her hand through his hair and jumping away. They laughed as Hanabusa gasped exaggeratingly and pouted before fixing his hair.
Hanabusa grinned, jumping forward so he could try and get her hair messy. He miscalculated her speed, finding himself in a headlock as she scruffed his hair up with a laugh.
"Not the hair!" He whimpered. "I just got it fixed! How am I supposed to greet my fans like this?"
"You're not greeting fans, Hanabusa," Ruka rolled her eyes. "They're just Humans obsessed with us. We'd best get going before Kaname tells us off for being late."
They descended down the staircase, quickly falling in step with the rest of the Night Class as they began the small journey to the gates. It always seemed that the members closest to Kaname were the ones to walk near the front of the group, or the back, depending on where Kaname himself walked.
The Day Class screamed as soon as the Night Class came into view. They tried to get closer but Yuki and Zero tried to keep them at bay. Zero seemed more alive than normal, his glare keeping the Day Class away from the Vampires.
"Don't you find it a little creepy?"
"Sometimes," Ruka muttered, walking next to Perse as Hanabusa was in front of them and Akatsuki behind them. "They're more of a nuisance than anything else. You get used to it… Perse, are you alright?"
She sensed two new people, one Human and the other a Vampire. The Human seemed familiar yet was a stark contrast to what she knew. The Vampire's blood was somehow sickly, not holding enough Magic to be a healthy Vampire. This person had a connection to someone within the school grounds but Perse didn't know. She couldn't distinguish between them but they were different people and yet they were the same.
"Perse!" Ruka hissed, tugging the side of Perse's jacket open to grab the sunglasses Perse always carried with her. Ruka slapped them into Perse's hand. "Put your sunglasses on. Your eyes are glowing."
Perse did as asked, sliding the purple nude sunglasses on. "Thanks," She sighed.
"Why did your eyes suddenly start glowing?"
"I felt something. I need to talk to Kaname quickly," Perse stopped walking when she got inside of the building, as did Ruka and Akatsuki who waited for Ruka.
"Is it important?" Ruka asked. "Or dangerous?"
"I don't know." She pulled off her sunglasses, stowing them away in the inside of her jacket.
Perse waited for Kaname, letting the rest of the class pass them before she asked if she could have a moment of his time. They stood outside of the classroom, the door closed after the rest of the class went in but Takuma poked his head out to make sure everything was alright. Kaname nodded and Takuma left them to their conversation.
She told him how she sensed some new people, unfamiliar and yet familiar.
"There will be a new student tonight," Kaname said lowly, keeping his voice quieter than normal so the rest of the Night Class wouldn't overhear. "Maria Kurenai. She was supposed to start a couple weeks before you did but she is a frail Vampire. She only recently became well enough to attend. Is there a problem?"
"No, I'm just being paranoid," Perse admitted, her arms crossed loosely under her bust. "I sensed them a minute ago and I was a little concerned because I didn't recognise them."
"There's no need for concern, I've vetted each and every member of the Night Class before they were allowed to attend," He said as they came up to the door of the classroom. He opened it before letting her go through first before he closed it again when they were within.
"Thanks," Perse nodded before taking a seat. She always prefered a seat near the back where she wouldn't have anyone near her back.
Perse took her phone out of her jacket, beginning to scroll through social media. She didn't post anymore, not since leaving England but she did keep track of what other people in the Order did for activities or festivals.
They recently did a Lupercalia festival, something similar to Valentine's day but a little more primal and physical. There was an age restriction, of course because of the consent laws in England. Anyone partaking had to be over sixteen, and be with someone with a similar age.
There were a couple pictures from the festival, the one the nearby towns were allowed to partake in. And then there would only a few of the aftermath of the ritual. Some of her distant cousins looked exhausted and hungover, but happy and content with what they did.
"It isn't a big deal if the newcomer tells her own name to us first," Kaname's voice broke through Perse's thought.
The Witch looked up from her phone, clicking it off within a second as she scanned the room. She found the form of a small Vampire in front of Hanabusa, touching him and suddenly making him uncomfortable.
The newcomer was short and a little frail looking. Her blood was the one that confused her the most out of the two new people. It had a mixture that didn't seem to work together properly.
She made the whole class uncomfortable as she took Kaname's hand and put it to her face.
"It's so nice to finally meet a Pureblood!" She said, her eyes quickly trailing around the class before she gasped and did a little jump from desk to desk. She landed on the desk where Perse sat, slouched and very much unhappy at the moment.
"Don't touch me," Perse instantly said, folding her arms with a slight scowl that was more displeasure than disgust.
"I've never met a Witch!" Maria said. "I'm Maria Kurenai."
"Persephone Greylight." She watched the small Vampire suddenly get up and back onto the ground.
Maria bowed lowly with a shocked face that had so much happiness in it, Perse wasn't sure if it was fake or not. "I get to meet two royals! How wonderful… Oh, I made the atmosphere heavy. I'd best excuse myself for the present time being…"
There was something about her that Perse didn't like nor trust.
Who was she kidding?
Perse didn't trust anyone.
Who was there to trust? Who would have her back when the going got tough? Who showed loyalty and got it returned? Who would be there when she needed them?
Her mother was dead. Her Clan split into two and forced to choose between her and them. She'd see who was loyal when the time came.
Though, she didn't expect anyone to be loyal to her because they wanted to. They would be loyal to the Greylight name and power, but not to her. That was the sad thing. Her mother had years before the old Crown passed the title on, Perse was supposed to have the same.
Persephone wasn't even eighteen and she had the burden of a whole Clan on her shoulders. She didn't want the fucking title and power that came with it, she wanted to be able to make mistakes and learn from the. She didn't want to be on the run from the group of people who wanted to control her.
She wanted something she could control but there wasn't much.
She just had to wait until she was eighteen and then she could do what she wanted.
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Later that evening, Takuma stood in the Dorm library with Kaname. While this library was for the use of the Night Dorm, Kaname used it more often than not in the early morning after class. Kaname dismissed the class early, needing to speak to Takuma.
They both stood in there, the door closed as everyone knew to knock before even thinking of coming.
Takuma sighed, a hand raised to his forehead as he rubbed away the beginnings of a headache. "Kaname, that new student, what are we going to do with her?"
Kaname hummed in thought, finishing the last page of his book. "It's going to be a problem if she is around the school alone…Takuma, why don't you take care of her?"
"Oh, sure," He said.
"She wants to see a reaction. She wants me to move the pieces around, the pieces she knew that are here and they are what she is after." Kaname paused, bringing the book and tapping it against his bottom lip for a second. "Perse doesn't like her, she finds her uneasy to be around."
"Why's that?"
"Something about her put the little Witch on edge and I don't like that,"
Takuma nodded. "Do you want me to try and keep Miss Kurenai away from Perse?"
"If it is possible, but I suppose Perse wouldn't be happy if I interfered," Kaname slotted the book away in its place. "Do your best to keep Maria Kurenai away without her figuring it out. Perse already is paranoid because of the chaos the Order is causing."
"What's happened?"
"They are going to send a representative to the Academy, wanting to keep an eye on her but Cross has refused. He said it is unfair to her, he compromised and they are allowed one visitation as long as Perse agrees."
"When are they coming?"
"In a couple hours, around eight AM I think."
Takuma sighed, already knowing but he had to ask. "You haven't told her, have you?"
"Not yet,"
"I'll make some tea and see if I can put in a word or two before you do," Takuma waved a hand as he neared the door. "I hope you don't get too injured."
"We will see how her temper is tonight. The tea should calm her nerves." Kaname nodded to himself. "She likes the English tea with three sugars and milk."
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While the tea did help, Perse had taken a long sip after he told her what was happening, it did not stop the onslaughter of books suddenly being thrown from the bookshelves and at him.
Perse just sat at the desk and sipped her tea, humming in satisfaction at the taste. "Takuma does make the most wonderful tea. And I'm still pissed at you."
"I—" He dodged a book, stepping to the side. "Can—" Another was aimed for his head and he dodged that. "Tell."
The final book was aimed for the family jewels but it dropped before it hit him as Perse slouched in the chair.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"After all I've told you, why would you let them onto the school grounds?"
"Originally, they wanted a member of theirs to become a staff member here, to keep any eye on you, they said," Kaname sat down at the desk across from here, watching her solemn expression settle on her pretty face. "Cross refused, saying that it wasn't lawful for him to let one of theirs become part of the school. He was able to negotiate them having a single meeting with you, they threatened to just take you by force."
"It was either a meeting where I could attend willingly, or they would come and get me. Fuck." She wanted to bang her head against the table but she refrained from doing that, running a hand through her hair before finishing her cup of tea. "When's the meeting?"
"Eight o'clock,"
Perse checked her watch. "Gives me a couple hours to get ready then. I know I want Cross there but I don't know how many will attend with them."
"They said that there would be three,"
She nodded as she turned serious. "As much as I don't want to ask you, because I am fucking pissed off at you right now, do you want to attend the meeting with me? They will try and influence me, by Magic or manipulation, because that's what they would do."
"Would my presence help?"
"Yes." She said through gritted teeth before shaking it off. "I suggest getting dressed into something else. Suit or the like will do, just not the school uniform. They'll see you as a student and nothing else otherwise."
"We will leave at half seven to be there in time."
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Perse had to get ready and that more or less meant battle armour. Her war paint was a smokey eye with the sharpest eyeliner known to man, red tinted lip gloss and mascara. She pulled her hair into a loose french twist, showing off the charcoal and purple with perfection.
Red wine was her colour. The dress she chose was short, going down to mid thigh, and strapless, and over all tight. It looked molded to her figure as she walked in black platform heels that accented her legs. The dress was a little low in the front but it was still modest enough. There was a small slit to the right thigh, letting the scar she usually hid show through.
There was a large scar on her back, going from one shoulder down to the other hip. It was silvery in colour, with a very light purple tone to it. It was a shade or two darker than her normal skin colour, and it seemed to reflect light to look just like a lightning strike.
The scar was caused by lightning striking her, it was called a Lichtenberg figure and the origin point was her left shoulder. The scar curled down her left shoulder blade, traveling down her spine a little as it reached around her right hip and extended down to the beginning of her thigh.
The top portion of it was shown, as was the bit on her thigh, otherwise the rest of it was covered by the dress. Perse pulled on a black fitted blazer, just to hide the scar a little more.
"You look good," Perse muttered as she saw Kaname come out of his room.
He wore a black three piece suit, polished black suit and a dark red tie. He had done his hair again, putting a little bit of product to keep it out of the way.
He smirked. "Thank you. You look beautiful. The colour is good with your hair. Won't your feet hurt with those heels?"
"Only if they expect me to stand during the whole meeting," Perse checked the sleeves of the blazer, making sure they were fitted properly before nodding in satisfaction. "Zero and Yuki are waiting for us. They said Cross sent them to escort us to his residence."
Kaname nodded. They both walked to the staircase before Perse paused and swore. She held onto the railings as she tried to walk down them in five inch heels. Walking upstairs wasn't a problem, walking down them was.
He shook his head at her, a tiny smile on his lips as he saw her pout at his amusement.
"Don't even start," She grumbled, undoing the straps and sliding her heels off. "They look good, I look good, they're worth it."
"Are they truly worth a broken ankle?"
"Yes."
They continued down the stairs with Perse being barefoot. She was not able to break her neck walking down those stairs. Yuki and Zero were at the doors already, waiting. They'd been instructed to escort them to Cross, and were excused from the morning lessons to do so.
Yuki complimented them both, and Zero just nodded in agreement. Perse asked about the pills, getting a response about them working and helping Zero keep the blood tablets down. Then there were questions on how Perse knew, and she just admitted it. She made the pills but she didn't tell him what was in it.
He didn't need to know that as long as they worked.