o o o
The Envy of Purebloods
o o o
Seiren studied the two orbs in the Imperial Lord's palm. The wisps of life were vibrant, coiled by lustrous fiery thread. Red, gold sparks irrupted. She retreated at the action, the line of her mouth contorted until it disappeared.
"Don't be alarmed." The Imperial Lord of sage black eyes and gold hair happily admired the purebloods he had created.
"You kept them aside for over five centuries. Have you changed your mind, my lord?" She inquired, the silver-lavender glint in her eyes faint from uncertainty. "They are due to bring calamity. They must not be separated."
The source of creation and the creator of the pureblood vampire smiled gently. He lowered the orbs on the table. "I will let them stay and thrive here. Purebloods grasp at each other's power. These are my finest creation yet, they are incomparable."
Seiren bowed her head in acknowledgement. "They don't fight. When one is weak, the other lends its power. The two have unconditionally taken care of each other. It is a wonderful sign."
Despite her insight, he detected her fear. "Don't look so troubled, Seiren." The Imperial Lord chuckled at her scowl.
"My lord, you are our creator. Your knowledge cannot be contested." She immediately dipped into a bow on the marble floor.
The Imperial Lord regarded the orbs. "They will grow here, and they will have a carefree life. Seiren, I want you to watch over them."
"Yes, my lord."
Time was also a creature of the Imperial Lord and kept count of the years the pair emerged into their pureblood bodies.
The first to rise was a wolf with belts of thick, glossy black hair and eyes redder than fire and blood. He did not wag his tail or prance. The wolf had a careful gait, its long legs smoothly crossed the lake of stars, the pernicious wilderness, and the cities suffused with purebloods. The second to rise, almost immediately sensing the wolf was not around, was the butterfly. The light butterfly took scope of the wind and channeled the Imperial Lord's palace, the dragon's scales before finding its favorite perch on the wolf's snout.
The Imperial Lord glanced at the raven wolf with deep-set eyes.
His glistening black coat an unending apparition or shadow and the only movable article across the sweeping blackness was the wavering white wings of a butterfly. He looked extremely daunting if it weren't for the fluttering creature on his nose. And, it was as if knowing it was her, the wolf did not shake his muzzle out of annoyance or growl to have her removed.
Looking at them sent pulses of pleasure into the lord's heart. He loved his creatures, especially the ones that commemorated love and gentleness like the pair. Sadly the other purebloods of the dimension were ungrateful, foolish, hungry for power and blood and coveted what other purebloods had. Striking the same cord of life, he wanted to protect the wolf and the butterfly by letting them live near his palace.
Three centuries shook one sunny strand of hair on the Imperial Lord's shoulder.
The wolf had grown into a pureblood man. He was long-limbed, exquisite like every pureblood. She grew soon after in the form of a pale, dark-haired pureblood.
Their characteristics intrigued Seiren. The one emerging from light was constantly rippling and fluctuating from one activity to another, rampant. The wolf, on the other hand, mediated on one task for a century. He had a cautious nature and was often seen taking care of the butterfly more than the other way around.
"Little Dark," The Imperial Lord regarded the crimson-eyed, dark-haired pureblood in his expansive hall, "You're agitating Little Light. He worried about you for eons. A trouble-maker like you needs to think before doing anything. Other blood-hungry creatures don't care you're a self-healing pureblood. They see succulent blood and want to taste it."
The pureblood folded her arms and stared at the Imperial Lord, in remote courtesy. "Why am I called 'dark' when wolfie has black fur?" She nudged her thumb at the steep shadow leaning against the behemoth door of the hall.
Seiren froze, never in the trillion years had such conversation formed in the Imperial Lord's corridor. She rose from her kneel in alarm, bowing to their creator. "Forgive me, I should have schooled her better."
"Take a rest, Seiren." The Imperial Lord kindly waved her back down. He knew his creations better than they knew themselves. He had adoringly savored their names, light and dark, and the balance the pair struck. "You don't like your name?" He fought another laugh, which was difficult because they were a dose of delight. He seldom had the opportunity to entertain scenarios Little Light and Little Dark stimulated.
"I took form as a butterfly made of light, it is inherently specific. How can I be 'dark'?" She scrunched her red lips.
The Imperial Lord smiled. "You powers shine in the dark that is why you are called 'dark.' "
She shook her head and rumbled open an almanac. "I checked the names in the books of vampire and human. I finally found a name I like." She had drawn several indicators under the name. "I found one for wolfie."
Wolfie, as he was referred to, did not seem bothered or appeared to care. Seiren mildly wondered if the pureblood would garner interest in stipulating protests from her teasing.
The Imperial Lord worded the name she excitedly tapped on the page. " 'Yuuuuuki' 'Kaaaa-naaa-me.' " He stopped in summary. "I like dark and light better, it's perfect."
She draped her knuckles across her furrowed brow, "I can't be known as dark. Let me file for a name change or I will hurl myself in the Cave of Infinite Madness."
The pureblood next to her was fighting not to chortle.
The Imperial Lord glanced at her counterpart. "Do you like the name 'Kaname' ?"
"It is unique compared to being addressed by a difference of shade." He replied.
The saintly Imperial Lord slapped the almanac shut in dismay. "Fine. From today onward, you can call each other by the names. Seiren and I will keep calling you by your birth names."
The villa was in the yard of the palace. That was all that mattered. The lives of the wolf and the butterfly was spectacularly simple. They were entrusted to live close to the Imperial Lord who enjoyed their company.
As she happily walked toward their home, he slowed, observing her feverish smile. "Was changing our names important?" He found himself asking. He was easily satisfied and did not see how their names could make her unhappy or unfulfilled.
A curtain of bangs draped sparkling red eyes, and the curls of dark hair caught around her elbows, limned in the ethereal carving of the rainbow, she stopped. "The purebloods around us have nicer names. Now our names have meanings."
He peered at the moving trees in the surrounding light. "I'm happy with any name you give me. What does it mean?"
She hugged him from behind. Her nimble hands snuck inside the open collar of his shirt. On her toes, she whispered against the shell of his ear. "Kaname means 'the crucial part' because that's what you are to me."
The heat of her words clouded his vision. Her fingers flew from the skin of his neck. She whipped her arms back. Light welled in Kaname's crimson eyes. The wind in her dark hair pooled in waves as she darted inside their house.
It took another fifteen thousand years for her to become his.
She had silly reasons, but he was practiced in the craft of tackling one task at a time for centuries on end. This time she had become of utmost importance. The Imperial Lord had created them at the same time, they were not related by blood or hereditary. Among the pureblood souls devouring each other, they were the only pair to remain attached to each other. The Imperial Lord believed their lives would reflect similarly. He was not surprised to learn their relationship turned romantic.
The Imperial Lord smirked at the rouge stains on Seiren's normally pallid cheeks. "Why are you shocked?"
Seiren was blinking as if she had lost her sight. "My lord, I may have seen—interrupted—their physical enactment of-of-" She found the floor unevenly.
"I rewarded them a beautiful villa to live out their carefree lives." The Imperial Lord beamed. "Little Light and Little Dark are the Envy of Purebloods. They are the fonts of love. Purebloods can learn a thing or two from them."
Seiren wiped her brow. Her mind flooded with images she wished to gouge out. "…Yes. The pureblood vampires here notice how much attention you endow them with."
The Imperial Lord glanced at the horizon tussled by seven rainbows. The changing colors in the sky tucked the floating mountains and islands in shadows. The elephantine vampire birds breached the sea of thousand moons, picking their share of moon rocks and flying back to the shifting hills. The dimension was his first creation. The land, the matter in the white dust, the metallic colored tears of the angels, and the life forms that lived from drinking blood. The enchanting pureblood vampire, birds, beasts, rodents, trees and shadows. The tide of stars struck against the rainbows, flashing in passing.
o o o
Of all of his creation, he liked the pureblood best. They were superior, sophisticated, and intelligent. Some greedier than most, but there were others who knew how to be gentle and loving. Little Light and Little Dark were warm purebloods who could tolerate hunger without killing other vampires.
Kaname was grossly engaged in his own musings that kept him out of range. He went on his own to great distances and returned to discover his counterpart had shuffled off to her own greater distances without letting him on.
He dangled the blood sake he concocted with a pureblood lord in the fiery wiles of the red sea. "I made her favorite sake."
Seiren blinked at the object brewed with tireless diligence. Kaname had disappeared for thirteen moons and five rainbows. The pureblood of the red sea was temperamentally unwelcoming, who despised female purebloods. Seiren gauged Kaname's beauty and fine silk clothing. "She went to pick up the latest copy of the almanac. She wanted to know what's new in the human world."
Kaname clenched his jaw in sullen dissatisfaction and glared at the ground. His black brows cursive on smooth forehead. "The shifting mountain is dangerous to cross alone. Seiren, why did you let her go?"
He tended to resent anything endangering her life. Seiren was very accustomed to the behavior. "She told me to tell you," Seiren bowed her head, not out of respect, but in embarrassment, "Your kisses are her medicine. Upon return, she'd be more than willing to be taken advantage of-"
Red eyes flashed that a chill fused between Seiren's scales. She had never been afraid of purebloods before, but she wondered if she should be cautious. Seiren had watched Kaname and Yuki transition into vampires and hone their expansive powers. An odd fear dampened her chest.
Kaname turned and walked away.
o o o
The shifting mountains weren't for the light-hearted. The tiles of rock in midair tricked climbers, blood-loving rodents included, by swerving and dipping in the violet ocean of fire. The obstacle course was duly avoided. Yuki, a pureblood in her prime, saw no difficulty and had no qualm. Life was exciting. If she didn't cater to new adventures, she would never know the crust and core of her home. Vampire bats dove over a mountain. The structure unraveled and stalked to the middle of the violet sea, away from the main land. If Yuki knew better, like a sullen obelisk the mountain preferred being alone. Not her first or last time, Yuki skipped over the floating tiles and reached the side of a cliff.
The cliff had other ideas and noisily removed itself from her stacking embrace. It tore from the wall and joined the previous mountain in the fiery ocean. Yuki gritted a fang, balancing on the lonely tile beneath her feet. The nine wilderness was merely in front of her. Blood was life. Despite the thirsty and hungry elements and animals of the forest, it was her way home. The tile had begun to tremble.
"If you drop me in the fire," Yuki scolded the compulsively rattling slab of rock, "I will grind you into a bench and sit on you."
The tile dropped.
"Wah-"
Wind swallowed Yuki, flinging her down to the wreaths of violet flames. Bats scooped her from the licking smoke and skyrocketed toward a larger mountain. She blinked at the collage of black and red covering her arms and legs. Silk black hair whipped across his profile. His arms constricted around her waist mere seconds before he touched soundlessly on the rocky edge of the mountain.
Her eyes widened at the profound shadows engulfing the searing red pupils of his eye. His profile hid behind a flying stands of a silk hair and his nose embedded in the curve of her neck, inhaling her scent.
"Kaname," Her arms encircled his large shoulders, "I told you to stop worrying," She pleadingly cupped his cold cheeks.
He was frowning, and his eyes had yet to recover half of its brilliant red color. "Yuki…"
"My beautiful Kaname…" She nuzzled his nose, sighing, "I was coming home."
"Predators consume their own children. They have no regard for friendliness. Rumor has it you're kinder and gentler. If the mountain doesn't turn you to ashes, the wilderness will eat you." Kaname was walking across the floating tiles, a sequence of neat, elegant footsteps that left Yuki puzzled.
She blinked at the mountain and cliff hurrying to their original spots. The blocks of rocks continued to vigorously flatten under his feet, hail to the lord. Yuki kept her arms locked around his neck and glanced at him out of the corner of the eye, "Why are the rocks suddenly obedient?"
He did not have horns, but he should have. His red eyes glared at the mountains around them shaking in fear. "They know better." Kaname stopped on the final perch leading to the nine wilderness where he lowered Yuki to her feet. "You forget the obstructive tendencies of ravenous animals. Our home is empty with you gone. Is the almanac more crucial than your life?"
Yuki had begun to walk toward the dense forest with Kaname a step at her heel. "No one is crucial in life than you. I like staying informed about humans. You were gone working somewhere, I thought you needed to be alone."
His long arms found her waist and tugged her into his chest. Kaname peered down as she tipped her head back, pouting. "But, I haven't laid eyes on you in so long." His eyes had returned to its crimson allure.
Her cheeks reactively colored. "It's only been a day."
Kaname pulled thick brown hair from her cheek. His lips sought the warm flesh of her throat and pinched the skin with a fang. "A day too long."
Shivers of pleasure snuck down her back and shoulders. Yuki quivered under a sweeping hot tongue against the red pulse on her neck. "If you continue, the trees will tattle and we'll be cited for public indecency—"
Arms tightening, his lips brushed against her ear, "Not the first time."
She was struggling to stay on her feet, melting in the cradle of his arms. "If you continue, the sky will see what you do to me."
"Old man sky has seen worse."
"Ahem."
Kaname and Yuki looked at up at a white stream of vapor. A pale silhouette cleared into the air.
His hair, whiter than the foam in the ocean. His eyes, black, like charcoal. The tall pureblood raised a brow at the pair and wagged his fingers. "Ah-ha. Every fifteenth moon passes, the trees complain vampires taunt them with blood. Come to find out it is indeed Kaname and Yuki. The Imperial Lord dotes on you. He blessed you with five pavilions, a sky castle and your own villa in the palace. Why must you do these things out here?"
"Old man sky, you're a pureblood made from mist doomed to spend eternity alone. I'm sure the Imperial Lord will draw you a mate after Yuki is pregnant." Kaname replied. The pureblood in his arms turned rouge. "If you interrupt us, we fear your mate won't appear."
The white-haired pureblood gracefully glided to a stop in front of the pair. "My eternal loneliness is an honorable sentence. I am the only pureblood crossing the eleven skies. I can see into the human world from where I stand. Everywhere I see, love feels like shards of agony slicing the pureblood heart. What's the use of it?" He shook his hands passionately.
The petite pureblood between the males extracted out of her lover's arms. "Old Man of The Sky," Yuki sighed, "Purebloods have to overcome the need to consume each other to grasp it. The Imperial Lord gave us unique powers, but I have heard it has to do with the secret between a male and a female."
As long-lived, powerful and noble as he was, the white-haired pureblood had never encountered the preface. "Secret?" He stroked his milk-white goatee.
"I was crawling on the broach of the Imperial Lord's armor and found an interesting scroll. I wondered why it was hidden on his person? I could only guess it was valuable and needed to be hidden."
"You think so?" His silver eyes widened in intrigue.
"How did it go?" Yuki tapped her chin, "A lore about a fair maiden and a dreadfully cold, unhandsome pureblood. He'd lived for millions of years. Like the third star waiting on the Imperial Lord's lashes, he'd seen all there was to see. The story goes, she melted the ice walls of his heart. He began to act strange. Life was no longer the way it used to be. He realized too late and searched the black rivers and green mirrors between the realms for her. But she was no where to be found. The pureblood had never missed anything so desperately before. He vowed to meet her again. Ten thousand years later, the beautiful pureblood came to him. She led him to the nine wilderness to share a secret. This secret, it said, was shared on a tree trunk very frantically."
"Frantically?" Old man sky mouthed.
"With a lot of vigor." Yuki nodded.
He stroked his smooth white goatee, eyes lit up in curiosity. "A secret shared on a tree trunk frantically and vigorously."
"We are the Envy of Purebloods. Kaname and I are doing our due diligence to uncover these secrets. The rootless trees can't get blood if they don't attack us. A noble bachelor like you is a catch, but they laugh at you by making you watch us."
Kaname side-eyed her, a touch of amusement rimmed the red irises.
Old man sky turned to ponder the tree trunks of the forest. The nine wilderness streamed of plants, critters, and animals requiring blood to survive. Purebloods were prized and targeted. The talking trees were no different. They hopped on the white soil to distance themselves from the glaring lord.
"I'd burn the nine wilderness. The complex terrain changes each year. The talking rootless trees are the worst. Keep doing what you were doing." He stopped mid-swirl from disappearing into vapor and said to Yuki, "Do share with me when you find out what the secret is."
Yuki sheepishly glanced at Kaname. Old man sky's vapor drizzled over the shivering trees and tucked in the rainbow.
The surrounding rootless trees were raised in solemn orchestra. Their black branches poised like spears and daggers toward the pair. Kaname stirred and looked around the dangling, dreary forms. The trees hopped back. Claws chiseled in the elevating wind, the rootless trees skittered, disappearing farther in the dark forest. Purebloods were rarely afraid of the hungry creatures but one couldn't be too careful. The forest was intricate compared to the shifting mountains. Hunger lurked in the darkness. Kaname could sense their eyes.
He meandered toward the petite pureblood and bent to speak into her ear. "An excellent actress like you can fool a hundred-thousand year old sky lord, but the rootless trees have left, and you've made another excuse to keep me to yourself. If we were created differently in another world, you'd always reject me."
Yuki lapped her arms across her chest elegantly. She narrowed her red eyes coquettishly on the tall vampire. "If I rejected you, it'd be because I'm not true to myself. Our dimension or the human world, the Imperial Lord created all we need right here."
Kaname caressed her supple cheek. She leaned into his palm and closed her eyes. "Are you happy, Yuki?"
"Very, very happy."
His long fingers outlined her cupid's bow. Kaname leaned forward to tug on the cupid's bow with a fang. Yuki opened her eyes from the teasing gesture, pleasure curtailing her footing. His hands passed down her waist, pressing her against him lest she plummeted to the ground. "You need constant change and prefer distractions. Reading about strange places satisfies you at a minimum, but the lengths you go to retrieve the editions is alarming."
"We live for eternity. Isn't it our responsibility to keep our minds fresh and open to new things?"
"True, but we're purebloods. Strife isn't part of our life. You flutter around the dimension and happily drink my blood, my life is complete. Humans are like fog, they hardly have much to do with us."
"Oh, Kaname," She tilted on her tip-toes to pat him kindly on the head. "You stoically work on a project for five hundred years. A lone wolf like you would never hear about the changes in the world, let alone taste entertainment. At this rate, no one will know the sound of your laughter."
His brows rose and disappeared behind silk hair strands, attentive. "Our lives are already fulfilling. We'll never encounter humans, yet it's fascinating how concerned you are about them."
"I'm not the only one. The Imperial Lord has ideas stranger than the places you assume are strange. Purebloods are worshipped by humans. He sent a pureblood named Kuran out there and told him to start a life for vampires. He was utterly powerful and fell in love with humans. In fact, he married one."
" 'Married?' " Kaname mumbled at the odd term, scowling.
Yuki linked their fingers together and began leading Kaname through the wilderness. "Marriage is a human tradition. A man and woman decide to connect their lives to each other. He wears his best dress, she wears hers. They declare themselves to each other."
Kaname listened intently. His red eyes narrowing and head nodding as she continued.
"The Kuran had children. A few were born eternal purebloods like him." Yuki turned grim and her eyes darkened. "But the world of the humans isn't very good. The Imperial Lord created millions of years worth of treasure for us, we're free and powerful. He spent three centuries considering which hair color you'd be born with and another seven centuries on the color of your eye. We've shared our bodies, our hearts, minds, powers and souls with each other. He dotes on us. All of this is rare in the other world. They destroy each other, divide purebloods from other vampires. Humans are forced to the bottom." She silenced.
Kaname squeezed her hand and brought her knuckles to his lips, kissing the vibrating pulse of blood beneath the skin.
Yuki briefly smiled, her eyes filled with tears. "If you ever hurt me, I will break all ties with you and leave you."
The sudden words startled him, but he relaxed in a noiseless smirk. "We're not humans. You are you, I am me. There's a reason why we are the Envy of Purebloods. You and I were created together, brought to life at the same time. The cord of life, when struck, echoes through you and me, simultaneously." Kaname lifted her chin forward. "We don't know existence without each other. I will always find you."
Her tears pacified, she smiled. "How has the Imperial Lord not asked for your sonnets?"
"That's because I'm always giving you the truth, Yuki." Kaname caressed his lips against hers. He sensed her tremble, her breathing halted. "But, I love showing you the truth too."
She melted in his tugging arms, a palm scooped her long silk hair and urgently pulled her to his waiting lips. Yuki quivered from his seeking tongue, the soft lick and the fine brush of fangs right before her eyes swept close. Her arms hooked around his neck. He lifted her from the ground by an arm, hugging her to him as she deepened the kiss.
A crackling whistled next to her right ear. Her red eyes glared at the striking rootless tree.
Kaname swiped a poisonous claw, but the branch pierced his hand, digging and soaking up his blood. He twisted the hand and pulverized the branch, letting the flames consume the shrieking tree completely.
Yuki landed on her feet, growling at the gaping rootless trees. "Targeting distracted purebloods, how dare you hurt my Kaname." Fire caressed her claws, she gritted her fangs, "Don't make me come after you."
A few drops of pure blood helped the trees and the forest last a century. The herd of trees yipped at the threat and dispersed rapidly.
The haunting smell of his blood made her legs shake. Her red eyes tinted from hunger, she worriedly turned, snatching his sleeve. "Kaname, your hand-"
He effortlessly waved his fingers. She knew he was fine but seeing the healed skin eased her mind. "The scratch is healed already."
Yuki contemplated his white sleeve. Her nails dug through the pearl-white silk haori. "I abhor seeing you hurt." She muttered, tears sprinkled his hand. The idea of Kaname in any form of pain was extremely traumatic, a physical and emotional toll.
Kaname worked his fingers soothingly through her thick dark hair. "Yuki, if you keep taking revenge for me, I'll have no choice but to kill any pureblood that looks at you."
Yuki woefully sputtered. Her sorrow incrementally vast than the infinite sky and heavier than the grains of sand in the dimension. "You're my whole world. If someone takes you away from me, I have to avenge you."
"Nothing can keep me from you, Yuki," At her watery heartfelt response, Kaname tucked her under his chin to coax her heart free from sadness. He hid her in his embrace and smiled in her hair. "You're the queen of my heart. The world and I lie at your feet."
"Do you find me funny?" She mumbled against his neck, counting the beats of his heart.
"You hold my laughs and tears. I am bound to you. The stars in the lake and thousands of moons can't soften me the way you do."
Yuki nuzzled his long throat and inhaled his wintry-gentle aroma. Kaname was solitary. Thousands of years together she understood his need for space and to work alone, which was perfect for Yuki. He was incapable of getting bored unlike her. She scoped different parts of the dimension and spoke to unusual animals, purebloods and returned from her adventures to draw him colorful tales. He stepped into life ahead of her and felt a responsibility to tend to her. So, he listened patiently with an open mind and an open heart about her roaring epiphanies. Without a doubt, she left him smiling, and he looked forward to her hysterical discoveries.
It was a wonder an inquisitive, adventurous oriented pureblood like Yuki could ever settle on one thing. From the seamless seven rainbows and shifting mountains, she soared in herds of butterflies and found various answers, heard interesting facts about other species. All of her life, she returned to Kaname. The pureblood she cherished and followed into life. The dimension had heard about his love, of how he adored and elevated her. While other purebloods feasted and hounded for more power and wrestled in the noose of competition, Kaname and Yuki harbored the protection of the Imperial Lord. That no pureblood could harm the Envy of the Purebloods, let alone stand up to the beautiful pair.
o o o
Seiren searched the yard of the villa. The copious arrangement of flowers suitable for a thirsty butterfly. The amber trek leading to a study hall maintained Kaname's research. On her normal trail, she passed a silhouette in the lake. The light of the world never wavered. Her silver-lavender eyes narrowed. The rainbows dripped behind the moving mountains. Water chiseled from the rocks, bleeding profusely in the lake. The stars twinkled in the water and the white moons pillowed his feet.
She paused as a reflex and gaped at the bending pureblood. "Why are you in the water? The Imperial Lord can summon the stars and moons out of the lake if you ask."
Kaname added another star to his collection of moons. "Yuki likes brilliant objects, but she doesn't wear jewelry. There're thousands of moons, the humans need just the one. It takes millions of years for the stars to reach their plane, they won't notice a few missing at night." He gathered another moon.
"Night does not exist here," Seiren nodded, "The billions of stars and moons are ordinary. She is drawn to juicy pastures, an homage to butterflies. Her curiosity of other realms amuses the Imperial Lord. Thus, he left the almanacs alone. What he reveals is true. What he has left unspoken and silent are not untrue. The Imperial Lord doesn't want vampires to get distracted by humans."
"Why are humans important?" Kaname inspected the stars gleaming between the pads of his fingers, eyes narrowed.
"Kuran heard Imperial Lord's worries, he cared about humans. We are hungrier and have a greater sense of pride. Caring about humans is the last thing on our mind. The Imperial Lord found Kuran to be soft-hearted and asked him for a favor."
Kaname began to walk out of the sea of the moons. "Here, the purebloods are stir crazy for blood and power. The need to expand is a natural progression in life. The Imperial Lord gifts rivers and rain of blood, fertile animals to feed the wilderness and newer species come up each century, there's no worry. A pureblood's crave is unstoppable than a tiny human's need for power. They don't seem difficult compared to us."
"Purebloods are beastly and baleful. Kind and loving purebloods are considered gods. Kuran swore to help complete the Imperial Lord's wish and left the dimension forever."
Kaname seemed pleased by the stars and moons in the cradle of his palms. "Yuki can't describe the human world without frowning."
"Little Dark is kind," Seiren nodded somberly, "Rarely will purebloods express grief. Purebloods who are compassionate of humans are sacred to the Imperial Lord, like Kuran." She injected a short smile and added, "The place isn't for everyone. One pureblood was duty-bound, he went there to create life. His descendants stay there. You don't need to care. The Imperial Lord chose a simple and carefree life for you."
Red eyes calculated her before he dropped the items inside the sleeve of his haori. "Life is repressed and constricted by laws. By some miracle I went there," He mused aloud, "What will happen?"
Other than the Imperial Lord, Seiren was the best counsel, but she held back cautiously, "Why are you suddenly curious?"
He emulated a shrug that trembled his broad shoulders and looked to the flickering stars in the water. "Whenever Yuki comes around, she brings engaging information. Blood isn't all she thirsts after. I belong to her and she belongs to me. She is gracious by putting up with how indifferent I am of other life forms, including purebloods."
Seiren stiffened, "You are aware of how purebloods see you?"
Kaname stared at her rather lamely.
She forced her eyes elsewhere, like her feet.
"After the dimension, the Imperial Lord created you second. You've served him your entire life. A colossal dragon of your prowess perches on the Imperial Lord's knee, yet you're at a loss when it comes to me. Sometimes you fear me, sometimes you try to know me."
"The Imperial Lord asked me to watch over you." Seiren stated.
"You debate whether I am a kind pureblood or a ruthless pureblood." Kaname countered.
Gingerly Seiren looked up into his scorching red eyes. "Hundreds of purebloods were created at the same time. They consumed each other. If Little Dark hadn't been created, you'd had also consumed others and born alone, set to wander the dimension like many lonesome, ravenous purebloods."
"Interesting theory," Kaname smirked. His fangs glinted in the reflection of the water, "I was an innocent cluster of life. She must've been the one to protect me from the start. I've been returning the favor ever since."
Seiren had watched how the two performed before they transformed. "The pureblood souls created at the time perished. You protected each other, you should stay together. By some miracle you followed in Kuran's footsteps and entered the human world, one of you does not make it, you'll bring calamity around you. The balance you've established must be maintained. Purebloods born alone in the dimension roam for thousands of years, depending on external sources to feed and hone their abilities. Ultimately their abilities lag. Little Dark and you shared blood and nourished each other unremittingly for eons. In terms of strength, you're indomitable."
"Regardless of what or which ever world, I share a life with Yuki, my life is complete." Kaname replied, "She spends a lot of time reading about unusual places. We don't know existence without each other. If she went, I'd have to go after her."
Seiren did not expect any less of Kaname. Her pale, detached countenance faltered into a warm smile. "There's no chance of your entering the human world. I can share a few details Little Dark doesn't know about. If you pass it on, she'll be extremely happy. To make up the human world, their creator took inspiration from Imperial Lord's creatures, the pureblood vampire.
"Thirty laws govern our plane but seven laws make up the human word: the law of opposites, rhythm, mentalism, correspondence, vibration, cause and effect, and relation. The laws are less than half of what makes up a pureblood. Our normal abilities are bizarre to humans. Telepathy, telekinesis, control of other creatures, the vision to see through objects and beings. Our twenty senses are beyond their scientific understanding. One pureblood to start a line of vampires is sufficient. His lineage will bring forth the future kings and queens of vampires. Each Kuran will have access to the crypt and our dimension after he or she has passed. The Imperial Lord trusted Kuran to help humans.
"Born under their laws, you'd forsake and severe your connection to the dimension. For example, you wouldn't know the purebloods here. The place is vastly limited compared to our home. Mortal life is normal and short. Immortality is feared and revered. You'd live as complete strangers and die apart."
Kaname was an artful listener, he stared quietly at the large moons.
"You are light, she is dark. The consequence of your separation can harm your surroundings."
"Yuki can't bear losing me, I won't disappoint her. You're the keeper of the crossing, can't you design a unique link? An empty place doesn't scare me," An unwelcoming monsoon of trepidation flooded Kaname, "But I'd be in constant worry over her. Let me stay connected to her by an anomaly. She doesn't need to know. I need only see her."
"We're merely discussing hypothetical scenarios, I cannot change the Imperial Lord's plans. Since I've looked over you both and know you well, I can add a layer of protection without breaking laws," Seiren said. "I will put her in your dream. You will know of her and remain apart from her."
Kaname considered the option. After a moment, he nodded in approval.
o o o
He fit her perfectly. In her wildest imagination, she couldn't be filled as completely. Fangs dove deep in the vein, blood oozed down her shoulders and chest. There was no uncorking of pain, worry or fear tugging her combatively. Her thighs tightened around his waist, loving the heat of his body, the strength of his arms, the visceral pleasure of his tongue slurping on the open bite. Her hot blood dribbled loosely and composited in the water dense from the pedals of blood roses.
For Kaname, the Imperial Lord created a million unique activities and objects to satisfy his cravings and interests, but for Yuki, he granted the water pavilion. The trees that ran and attacked vampires in the nine wilderness were no where to be found. The lord of the dimension made for her a place to retreat, retire and roam freely at will without the destructive combination of blood-thriving animals and plants. He told the soil to listen when she walked. They waited for her to pass the avenue of her pavilion kindly and patiently. He looked at the mammoth tree and said to "be still." The tree did not move, settled its roots into the water channels and offered to fill the warm pool with blood roses for whenever she bathed. The Imperial Lord was very pleased and gave the tree more powers. In 10,000 years its trunk grew splendidly and rapturously like a mountain. Its branches wove around the pavilion, stabilizing the structure and retained shade within narrow apertures. The flowers were wild, dripping with nectar for a butterfly to devour and were not coaxed by blood or thought to taunt their mistress.
Yuki seldom ignored her water pavilion. The place was, by no means, modest. She loved soaking in the warm water. It filtered and purified of dirt and blood naturally. The place was her secret haven where she drank and fell into drunken snooze from liquor.
After Kaname stormed through her pavilion like it meant nothing to disrupt her peace and advocate the lack of safety from sleeping in the pool, Yuki was intensely inclined to throw her lover out.
Drowsy and foggy from blood wine, her red eyes lit up upon his immeasurably tall frame, an unconscious shiver thumbed through her at Kaname's beguiling beauty. His brows drawn back, thick in the center, concerned. His deep red eyes morphed black. Each syllable was coerced between the everlasting pinch of white fangs.
"It's not a good habit." At the end of his lecture, Kaname curled an arm across his chest.
Her long dark hair puddled, loosely chained in rose pedals. Her blush stark, like her glistening eyes, she blinked up at his towering form. "A female needs time to prepare herself but you won't even leave me alone-"
The darkness in his rises instantly electrified to shocked crimson. Kaname meagerly retreated a footstep at her statement.
"I traveled the entire dimension and you strut in my pavilion like I went no where."
Oh.
"If you plead with me, I might listen to you or you can see yourself out." She hooked her fingers around the liquor bottle and chugged.
He knew her irritation was an armor. Kaname knelt, a hand under his chin, gaping as she clapped her lips with liquor and shoved the empty bottle aside. "We become uncharitable purebloods after unnecessary time apart. I neglected you and my blood wine doesn't fulfill you. Wolfie is sorry."
Yuki opened sharp crimson eyes to scan Kaname from head to toe. "You went to the red sea. You know the pureblood wants to cradle you deep between her thighs. She loves to taunt me. How can I keep my head high when you run to her for recipes? How do I know she didn't make you strip for the wine?"
The accusation was laughable, but he continued to wait on Yuki very devotedly. "She doesn't hold merit to exasperate you. The Imperial Lord made you a thousand times intelligent, powerful, and beautiful. You're desired by hundreds of male purebloods."
Frustration beat her grumble, "Men don't look at me."
Kaname lowered his head as her pout deepened, his relish strident and flawless. "Excellent." He concluded.
"What excellent?" Yuki gaped, "Male vampires are intimated by you to approach me."
Kaname rested his left cheek against a fistful of knuckles. "They know what's good for them."
"How convenient for you, Kaname. Purebloods run from you. The mountains strain to flatten under your feet. We're equals, but I have different tastes. I'm also adored by the Imperial Lord. Don't forget, Seiren loves me more than you. Once in a while a lady likes to be flattered. What does a lazy pureblood know? It takes you 3,000 years to read one page from a book. You enjoy a running game of chess for 10,000 years with the Imperial Lord and regularly snooze after a drink by the lake of stars."
Free of pressures, Kaname led a perfectly leisure life. He harnessed incredible supernatural powers with a trustworthy and impressive acumen the Imperial Lord commended. He also found draining vampires and other animals of blood terrible etiquette. He was insurmountably unrivaled, since he was close to the Imperial Lord, an unbeatable chess player, older in age and wiser. Unlike the lonesome male purebloods, he had thousands of years of experience on how to be in a relationship with a female. It didn't require much to feel happy despite his impassivity. He noticed, though, around Yuki whatever emotion he normally did not entertain, he was able to demonstrate quickly.
The dimension did not trigger Yuki. Kaname did, or matters related to Kaname did. When she showed her ire, she subconsciously attempted to cling to him—from missing him. Like her, he held her laughs and tears.
"It is fine that Seiren loves you more than she loves me," Kaname peeled wet strands of hair form her cheeks, "You have wings, you like leaving me behind for long periods of time. I couldn't wait to be with you and interrupted your bath. Normally after returning from traveling, you're the first I have to see, but you didn't come to me."
"Kaname," Yuki caressed his fingers across her ruby lips and peered at him longingly, "Were you lonely?"
"It's not the same without you," Kaname brushed her right cheek, "I took the time to prepare you something. I rushed over to gift it to you, yet you're firm on giving me a hard time."
She stood up in the steaming pool. Her breasts glistening from the water, covered in rose pedals. Her silk brown hair clung to her back as she neared him and head bumped his chest. "Who would dare give you a hard time." Yuki nuzzled.
"An excellent actress like you knows how to get what she wants," Kaname curled an arm around her head and kissed her scalp. "Compared to other purebloods, you have simple accessories. I know you prefer distant, shiny objects. Look at what I made."
Yuki curiously lifted her head as he twisted an arm to search his pocket. Kaname extracted a silver circular ornament made of large white moons and hundreds of stars. Her eyes widened at how he pressurized the gaseous stars into crystals. Their everlasting light shimmered accurately around the gold wires. The five moons were clear, the largest beaming at the front, set to sit on the crown of her hair.
Kaname indented his nails in the metal, they had hardened during the day. "The metal melted in my hand. It was easy to mold. The crown will turn durable the more you wear it."
Her mouth had parted open, and her eyes had yet to return to their original size. "It must've taken a long time to make it."
"Not at all," Kaname claimed, a smirk hoisted his lips up and his fangs chimed the following words, "I picked the brightest moons and stars. You don't like being called Little Dark. If you wear this crown and walk around the dimension, no one will call you dark." He flipped the band and gingerly placed it on her wet hair.
Her eyes watered and her lips trembled.
Kaname paused alertly, paling. "You don't like it?"
"You're too good to me," Yuki mumbled, "You don't get irritated after I disappear and know how to find me. A lazy pureblood like you doesn't like to move around or take actions. Now that I think about it, the only times you travel is when you want to fetch something to make me something." She blinked at the empty wine bottle, "You have a good head on your shoulders and don't chase emptiness."
"Other purebloods should feel anxious," Kaname pulled her chin up, wiping the teardrops from the corners of her eyes. "They didn't get what you and I have. It goes well with our agreement. I keep you safe, and you take care of me."
"You always think of me, but you're too comfortable reading your favorite books. I have to broaden your mind. It's my priority to teach you unimaginable facts about other realms."
"I gathered the moons and stars for you, but you're a great teller of tales, Yuki. What do the various worlds, different species and cultures say about a crown of stars and moons?"
Yuki had tilted her head. Her eyes glinted euphorically up at Kaname. He did not grow bored of her endless non-pureblood-related conversations. "A fine question, Kaname." She commended, "There are no kings or queens who can touch the stars or the moon, I hate to say. But there is a custom among deities…"
"We don't have deities here."
"No, but we live grander lives than they ever will." Yuki floated toward Kaname. Her arms slipped around his torso, her naked soaking body pressed to his, "When a deity chooses his mate, he gives her a crown and swears his life and love to her. No one can contend his decision."
"Then it's no different to how we do things," Kaname whispered.
"Of course, deities use leaves and flowers, and you hampered with the stars and the moons, Kaname. Humans use the stars to make predictions."
"Predictions?" Kaname muttered, his red eyes frizzled indifferently.
"Metals soften and turn moist in your hands, our elements are different. The things we take for granted are rare and precious out there. What if a long-awaited star didn't shine and the fate of the world suddenly changed because the star is sitting on my head?"
"But it heightens your beauty," Kaname cajoled gently, "What do we care?"
"Everything you make is priceless, Kaname. Take my arms and legs, now I can never take this crown off. The humans will have to live with it."
"Good."
"You know I don't need crowns or accessories," Yuki slipped her warm, wet fingers against his pale cheek. "I will live with you as long as there is life in me, Kaname. You will never be alone. I am your family and your home. I will soak your body and bones with my love. You won't know what it's like not to feel love."
He frowned, his eyes darkened. She never failed to pour her heart and soul on him. Yuki did not restrain herself from the depth of her feelings. It led her to the same destination each time, it led her to Kaname. She did not have the same fears common in the purebloods of the dimension. She did not fear power or contention.
o o o
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