Author's Note: Final chapter! It was fun writing this story, it helped me to get some experience in terms of writing fighting scenes. I'm still pretty amateur at writing them, so hope that they weren't that bad. Without further ado, please enjoy the finale!
The huntress followed vampire's instructions in order to find the mistress.
She came across a library door midway. The girl recalled her fight with the magician, and curiosity got the better of her, so she opened the door and peeked inside.
She didn't see anybody there. Perhaps the fairies found her and treated her wounds.
She closed the door and started walking again.
After a bit, she came across another double door.
That must be the throne room. Looks like the vampire wasn't lying.
She reached for the door handle, but hesitated at the last moment.
Was she even ready to face that vampire?
No, she wasn't. Her body was on the verge of collapse, she was low on supplies, and she didn't even know what that vampire was capable of.
But there was no turning back anymore.
She breathed in and out and went inside.
The huntress quickly studied the room.
There was no doubt that this was the throne room, it was the most elegant room that she saw so far in this mansion. It was full of portraits of people that she couldn't recognize, perhaps they were family of that vampire. There was a long red carpet running from the entrance to the throne at the end of the room. On the throne was sitting a bored looking child.
She had red eyes, short light-blue hair and a light-pink mob cap with a red ribbon decorated with white stripes. She was wearing a light-pink dress with a red ribbon on both sleeves, a large red ribbon behind her waist with white stripes. She also had a pair of large black bat-like wings on her back.
That was mistress of this mansion, no doubt about that.
She was idly playing with a wine glass that she had in her right hand.
The vampire perked up when she noticed the girl, she stood up from the throne and addressed her.
-So the hunter finally decided to grace me with her presence. I trust that my servants provided everything to your liking?
She was mocking the girl.
-I have come to stop you, vampire. You have overstepped your bounds these last days.
The mistress feigned surprise.
-Why, I don't know what you're talking about.
-Don't play dumb. I saw the corpses in your basement. You murdered a lot of people.
The vampire chuckled.
-So did you, Miss Ripper. And yet, I'm not pointing the finger at you for that.
What? How in the hell, she knows that?
The mistress noticed surprise on the girl's face and laughed.
-I see and know more than you would even imagine, good hunter. You act like you're a big defender of justice, yet you have sins of your own.
The girl threw her knife at the vampire. She had enough of this.
However, the knife completely missed, it was like the knife changed trajectory mid-throw and instead buried itself into the pillar next to the vampire.
The mistress wasn't pleased at this.
-So impatient... If you are in such hurry to your grave, then so be it. Have at you!
She threw her wine glass at the ground. It shattered on impact, leaving glass shards on the floor.
The vampire charged at the girl.
The huntress was bewildered and quickly slowed down the time. The vampire was moving at such enormous speed that she had no chance to even dodge. She had to block this strike.
The impact was so huge that her knife flew from her hand. She managed to block most of the hit, but the vampire still managed to graze her.
The girl touched her neck. She had scratch marks on it.
-How surprising. I was so sure that this would decapitate you.
The vampire charged at the huntress once again.
This time, she didn't have chance to do anything.
She got punched in the back, the force of the hit sent her flying a few meters.
The huntress didn't even have energy to get up.
The vampire walked over to her and picked her up by the neck.
She started choking her.
The girl was slowly losing her consciousness because of oxygen deficiency.
However, the vampire suddenly released her. She fell to the ground.
-Is that it? I heard that you're the best vampire hunter that the society had to offer. Yet, you haven't even put up a fight. How pathetic.
The vampire raised her claw to finish the girl off.
Is this how it will end? The girl didn't know what to do. She had no chance to fight the vampire at her current state.
As the claw was getting closer to her neck, she suddenly remembered.
She still had an ace in the sleeve.
The vampire was frozen motionless. No, it wasn't just her. The whole world was frozen.
The girl gathered her strength and stood up. She wobbled around a bit.
She didn't have much time, using this power was extremely taxing on her.
The huntress gathered all the knives that she had in her satchel and started throwing them at the vampire.
They didn't move, of course, however, they would when time resumed.
After she was done, the vampire was surrounded by dozens of knives.
The girl collapsed on her knees, it was her limit. She had to resume the time.
When the time moved again, the vampire was disoriented.
There were dozens of knives flying towards her. No matter where she would move, she would get hit by them.
And so, she got stabbed by all of them, she looked at the girl and muttered.
-Good job.
Then she collapsed, unmoving, on the floor.
The huntress observed the vampire body for a few seconds.
She wasn't moving.
The sheer relief of the situation caused the girl to finally feel the fatigue she had built up from earlier.
The girl remembered the other vampire's words.
That she would hunt her down personally, if she managed to kill her sister.
She was doomed anyway from the point when she entered the mansion.
Even if she would walk away instead of fighting the mistress of this mansion, they would probably hunt her down anyway.
She didn't really regret her decision.
She then collapsed on the ground, falling unconscious.
Some time later...
The girl opened her eyes. She found herself staring at the ceiling.
Strangely enough, she was laying on bed. Did society find her and bring her somewhere safe?
She then heard a familiar voice to her right.
-You're awake.
The huntress looked to her right, she saw the vampire that she "killed" sitting on the chair, her arms crossed.
She looked no worse for wear.
-Settle down, hunter. You are in no danger.
Why is she alive? She had dozens of silver knives stabbed into her. There's no way for any vampire to survive that.
-You're probably wondering why, I'm still alive. You see, my sister and I are different from these lowly vampires. We are more resilient and more powerful than them.
She pointed at the window.
-Today is also a full moon. We are immortal during it, well not exactly immortal, but our regenerative ability is highly enhanced. You would have to absolutely destroy our bodies to actually kill us during a full moon.
The girl nodded.
Then she had no chance from the start. But the another question was, why didn't she finish her off?
-Why didn't you kill me back then?
The vampire laughed heartily.
-You intrigued me. You, a lowly human, managed to put me out of commission for a few hours. I believe you have a power to manipulate time?
The huntress nodded.
-How interesting! Tell me, good hunter. What is your name?
-I don't have one.
The mistress raised her eyebrow.
-You don't? How so?
-I have been shunned by humans because of my power. They called me a freak. My parents abandoned me because they didn't want to have a daughter that was cursed, explaining that it would bring misfortune on the whole family. For my whole childhood, I was struggling to survive on my own. Nobody helped me, and nobody was willing to accept me as a worker, so I could buy food. I had to learn how to hunt animals in order to survive, then when I was skilled enough, humans suddenly remembered about my existence. They only cared when they needed help. That's why, I don't have a name. I don't want to be named anything that these humans came up with.
The vampire listened intently.
-I see. Then I might have an interesting proposition for you.
-That would be?
The mistress stood up.
-Instead of living for these humans, live for me. I shall provide you with everything. Food, house, money and family that will care about you no matter what. What do you say?
The girl was confused. This vampire was offering her a place in her family, even though she was planning to kill her.
Compared to these humans, she actually cared about her and listened to her story.
These creatures were outcasts just like her. They understood her pain, since they suffered the same fate.
She felt something that she didn't feel in a very long time. Joy.
-I accept. I'll live for you, my lady.
The vampire was content with her response.
-Before, I will accept you into my family. I shall give you a new name.
She walked over to the window and glanced at the sky.
-Your new name will be "Sakuya Izayoi" which means blossoming night. Fitting for your rebirth, wouldn't you agree?
She nodded.
The vampire walked over to the huntress and offered her hand.
The girl accepted it.
-Welcome to the family, Sakuya.
Author's Note: Remilia throwing her wine glass is direct reference to Dracula's fight from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.