"Algul!" Sawara-san called out as he sliced a wooden sword through the air.
The sword connected with another and Kyouko winced as she was pushed back by his force.
"Lowest rank of vampire. They are created when another vampire with the ability to sire both drinks from them and offers blood to them. Until their creator releases them, they are bound to obey their every command."
"Except when…?" Nakazawa asked as Sawara-san sent his sword whooshing through the air aimed at Kyouko's neck.
She blocked it again. "Except when the blood king gives them a command, but the blood king is gone so it's useless information." She grimaced as a staff collided with her backside.
Matsushima-san gave her a shove and Sawara-san stepped back to avoid colliding with her. "Facts are never useless child."
Kyouko twirled around just in time to block another attack from him. Sawara was strong, but Matsushima was swift; his attacks nearly invisible and impossible to evade. She was told that only the king surpassed him in agility. He was relentless in his assault beating her back until she tripped, and he smacked her hands with his staff forcing her to release her sword.
"Next?" Sawara-san asked showing no concern for her wellbeing.
"Then there are the Nelapsi who are the most common to rebel and make ghouls. They delight in hurting humans and are most likely descendants from the Morizumi or the extinct Hongo Upyr bloodline." She said jumping out of the way of Matsushima's next attack.
"Don't repeat gossip Kyouko, it's rude." Sawara-san admonished.
"I read it in a book. And from what I hear about those two covens, I wouldn't put it past them to curse their own siblings and accidentally create Nelapsi." Kyouko proclaimed almost earning a giggle from Maria who was spying from the bushes.
Catching herself Maria resumed to glaring at Kyouko and making mental observations of the fledgling. It wasn't fair that she got to drink Ren's blood before Maria. It was unreasonable for them to make Maria pretend to be related to someone like her. Perhaps the biggest slight to Maria was that Kyouko was permitted free range of the library and could practice all the spells she wanted in her free time. Maria's only solace was that she was trusted to leave her bedroom on her own. Kyouko still had the protection charm on her door allowing her to get to the library, the training grounds, and her suite of rooms, but the rest of the palace was off limits. Maria made a note to tease her about it later.
"Pay attention!" Matsushima-san commanded. She barely dodged his staff and it swooshed past her ear on its descent then it switched directions midair and slapped into her side.
Falling to her knees Kyouko held her side and glared at him. The staff came at her again, twisted out of the way and it skimmed past her.
"Next!" Matsushima barked pulling the staff back only to swing at her again. Kyouko blocked it with her arm wincing at the sting of the wood hitting bone.
A childish scoffed brought her attention back to Maria and her apathetic expression. Two weeks living in the same palace and she hadn't managed to get two words out of the child that weren't an insult. Two weeks of being beaten and abused as training. Two weeks of nonstop studying alone in the library. All her trainers cared about was bringing her to the level an Upyr in the Takarada coven should be. She was pretty sure her servants were spies for another coven. Her adoptive father was never home, and her new niece hated her. The hunger bubbled up in her throat and she could hear every pulse in the palace like a drum in her head.
She caught the staff with her bare hands before it could hit her. Her hand clenched around the wood wanting to snap and stab it into his heart.
"Gaki." Kyouko said spat redirecting her anger to Shoutaro. "They will lie." She tugged the staff away from him startling the three men and Maria. "They don't care who they have to hurt or use to get what they want. Most of their abilities revolve around manipulation. Most have hypnotic voices," she emphasized her words by snapping the staff. "They are able to control their prey's emotions by singing to them. They're greedy and jealous of anyone who has what they do not."
The staff pieces started to burn and Kyouko faintly heard Sawara-san calling to her. She closed her eyes and willed the hunger, that was screaming at her to eat them, away.
She jumped back to dodge the hands that came out of the ground below. "Next are the Strigoi who are excellent at shapeshifting." She smiled at Nakazawa who formed out of the dirt and grass.
"Very good, next?" Nakazawa-san asked brushing himself off.
"Next are the Dhampir. As half Upir and half human, they are considered noble but many Upir look down on them for being part human."
"Powers, Kyouko not gossip." Sawara-san reprimanded as Kyouko evaded another attack from Matsushima.
"They have many powers. Many have self-healing factors but unlike Upyr they cannot heal others. Poison immunity, power mimicry, the list goes on and on for what Dhampir and Upyr can do." She said ready to recite the entire book of vampiric powers they had forced her to read. Though she hoped they wouldn't ask her to as it was a long book and it was nearly time for supper. Her hunger wouldn't stay under control for long; she needed some blood to suppress her desire to kill.
"Next." Matsushima-san said seeing her mind begin to wander. The hunger had been steadily growing in her eyes and he thought it was time to end training. Sawara-san was in charge of her training however, and only her could say when they were finished.
"Upyr, the prince and princesses of the vampire realm. Even though most of the Upyr covens have been steadily losing power due to their own hypocrisy and prejudice most of them are still self-important assholes…" She said innocently and earned a sudden slap on her bottom from Matsuhima's staff. "Ow!" He was surprised that she didn't attack him for that. Her control was wavering but she was determined to keep it.
"Kyouko-chan where did you hear such a thing?" Sawara-san asked holding his hand up to keep Matsushima from attacking her again.
"The king told me." She said, "He said they aren't invited to LME much since he can't stand to be around them." Sawara-san sighed wishing he could reprimand Ren for letting his grumbles about the royal covens slip out in front of her.
"When did you go see Ren-sama?" Maria shouted suddenly appearing from her hiding place.
"Oh, Maria-chan you've decided to join us." Sawara-san said feigning shock. They all knew she was following Kyouko around trying to find a weakness in the girl she had declared her rival for the throne.
"He called me in to ask about Shoutaro's punishment." Kyouko replied hands raised in surrender. If the child attacked her, she didn't know how she would keep herself from losing to the bloodlust.
"You were told to stay away from him, weren't you? Yashiro-san told me that he didn't want you drinking from Ren-sama anymore either. You could be stealing his powers and we can't let that happen." Maria said stomping over to Kyouko and jabbing her in the side.
"Ow!" Kyouko cried out falling to the ground from the sudden jolts of energy the tiny girl shot through her already abused flesh.
Screw holding back, she was going to rip the girl to pieces! Before she could pounce Sawara-san gently pushed Maria away and explained.
"Kyouko-chan may have the ability to mimic powers through blood consumption. She can't steal them however or Ren wouldn't still have his powers."
"Well whatever." Maria sulked seeing her favorite teacher taking Kyouko's side. "She still needs to stay away from Ren-sama. He's my future husband and you aren't even a real Takarada. Only real princesses can marry a king."
"I have no desire to marry anyone, least of all your future husband." Kyouko declared rising to her feet.
Shocked that she could stand after being electrocuted Maria admitted defeat, for this round. "Fine, whatever. I'm hungry can we have supper now?"
"Kyouko still has three more levels of vampire to name." Sawara-san said. It was necessary for him to test just how far he could push her before she lashed out. He had to know that she could be trusted to keep herself in check when they finally released her. So far he had been impressed by her determination to restrain herself.
"No, she doesn't." Maria protested. She had been learning about vampires since before she could walk, and she was certain that Kyouko had named all of them.
"Ghouls are humans possessed by vampires who have the power to do so, usually a Nelapsi. The human is irrevocably damaged mentally due to the vampire inhabiting their mind. There is no known cure for possession and often the human dies while causing destruction for their vampire master." Kyouko recited studiously as Maria frowned. Maria had never thought of ghouls as vampires, but when she thought about it, they did bite and they gained superhuman strength.
"Good and the next one?" Matsushima-san prompted.
Kyouko contemplated her answer before replying. "Vukodlak?" They hadn't covered the subject in class, but she had been curious when she came across the word while reading. "They are Upyr vampires who have been driven mad through starvation." Her voice faltered as she thought of how close she had come to becoming a ravenous uncontrollable beast. "Takarada-sama says the only cure is for a loved one to offer them blood." She said then mumbled to herself. "There would have been no one to save me."
"What are the characteristics of one who may be in danger of becoming a Vukodlak?" Nakazawa-san asked wanting both Kyouko and Maria to know what to look out for.
"Ravenous and slovenly eating habits." Kyouko answered remembering opening the fridge to tear into packages of uncooked meat. "Long discolored nails. As the condition worsens they will gain a sallow complexion with an excessive need to avoid the sun, or any light source really. They become severely irritable but can be temporarily placated at the mention of food. Then one day they'll snap and eat everything in sight. If they run out of food a Vukodlak will eventually attempt to eat themself." She concluded and tried to shake the image of herself chewing on her own arm.
"Yes, that is all correct Kyouko. Which is why if either of you has any reason to suspect someone may be in danger of turning Vukodlak you must report it immediately." Matsushima-san said crossing his arms.
"And if you ever see a Vukodlak, you run as far and as fast as you can." Nakazawa-san added. "Now you have one more vampire rank to name."
"I believe that's all of them." Kyouko said in confusion. She'd had nothing better to do than to read the books they'd given her, so she was certain that she hadn't missed a type of vampire.
"Well to be fair broxa exist in a type of limbo. They are considered Upyr, but they are born from natural witches. As such they possess the same abilities as Upyr as well as an uncanny aptitude to cast spells and enchantments. Some label them as witches their official rank is Upyr. They are not friendly creatures, and many believe them to have no emotions. Cruelty is as easy as breathing to a broxa and they would kill their own family members on a whim." Matsushima said to an emotionally detached Kyouko.
She couldn't think of broxa when she was struggling to control herself.
Noticing her discomfort Sawara-san took pity on her asked, "Have you been practicing your spells?" Kyouko nodded and looked down at scorch marks on her fingertips. "Still no progress. Hm?" Sawara-san sighed. "Tomorrow we will…" He never got to finish what they would be doing the next day as an explosion blew through the magical shield around the training grounds.
Ren took a deep breath as he struggled to keep himself from passing out. Ever since he had wiped the memories from those hunters and used his powers to command Shoutaro not speak, he'd felt drained. It was almost enough to make him drink the blood Yashiro was always bring him. No matter how much he wanted it he could never allow another drop of blood to touch his tongue.
"Ren are you sure this is the place?" Yashiro asked reminding Ren that they had stopped on the rooftop for a reason.
"This is strange." Ren said staring down at the quiet street. There was nothing out of the ordinary when they had arrived restaurant to meet up with Kijima. "We must have gotten the meeting place wrong."
Yashiro leaned on the ledge of the roof. "Or Kijima-san was just messing with us."
"Hidehito doesn't mess around when it comes to hunting. Something isn't right here, he wouldn't have called for me if it wasn't serious." Ren said trying to reach out to find Kijima. "Why isn't he here?"
"Maybe he managed to capture the ghoul while you were busy dodging marriage proposals." Yashiro teased lightly.
"I should have sent Ruriko-san since she seemed to have so little to do." Ren grumbled as he looked around to find a clue or a sign that they had missed. An eerie sense of peace settled over the quiet street. "There are many shops and restaurants on this street." He observed and Yashiro nodded catching on.
"So where are all the people?"
Ren hated that he was so weak. Had he been at full strength he might have been about to sense Kijima, but he could barely stand anymore. Maybe he should have taken at least a day off to sleep and recuperate or eaten a small portion of human food, but it was too late to think for that. He closed his eyes and mustered up all his power to push through the fog in his brain. Faint heartbeats called to him and an odor filled his nostrils. Something smelt like purposeful death. He followed the scent to the other end of the roof and stopped down.
Reaching out his hands touched something solid. He wrapped his fingers around a thin long object and pulled it towards himself to examine.
"Fish bones." Yashiro said as Ren snapped the bone in half. "A rather basic cloaking charm but it gets the job done I suppose. "We should have brought Jelly or another witch with. I could run back and request one."
"Or," Ren started making signs with his fingers. "I could use a basic spell Woods-san taught me." The world around him swam for a moment but he caught himself before Yashiro could see his distress.
"I thought most Algul couldn't learn those kinds of spells. They can mimic the hand gestures, but nothing will ever happen." There was a question in his tone which Ren chose to ignore.
The cloaking charm broke revealing the devastation below but no ghoul or Kijima.
"I can sense him." Ren said before leaping off the roof. "He's scared. Kijima has never been scared of anything, as long as I've known him."
Claw marks on the pavements held pools of blood. It was a testament to the witch who had cast the spell that Ren hadn't been able to smell it.
"It's Hidehito's blood, he lost a lot. So, who cast the cloaking spell?" Yashiro listened to Ren speak but did not answer. He knew better than to interrupt Ren when he was examining the scene of a ghoul attack.
"He managed to contact you over there." Ren said pointing to the area with the least blood and destruction. "Then he was hit hard here, and the ghoul…." He paused finding a tuft of fur. "Not a ghoul but a Strigoi. A human couldn't have made these claw marks or grown this much fur." He sniffed the fur. "Female, late teens early twenties and fighting hard against someone else. She was possessed.
"Is that even possible?" Yashiro asked suddenly. He'd never heard of a higher rank vampire being possessed.
"Maybe if the possessor was an Upyr." Ren suggested uncertainly. "I don't see any of them doing such a thing, however. Not without provocation."
"You have been heavily refusing several Upyr covens visits to LME. There's also the matter of declined marriage proposals and of course the Morizumi humiliation over their punishment for those rumors they started." Yashiro pointed out then he scrutinized Ren's face. "You look pale. I told you that I should have come on this mission alone. I also told you to not wipe all those hunters' minds. You never listen to me."
"You are no hunter sending you alone would have been sending you to your death." Ren said walking past him in search of more clues.
"Ren." Yashiro said a stern warning in his voice. "I have put up with your refusal to take care of yourself long enough. This is dangerous and I never should have believed you when you told me you slept well last night or that you felt fine. I'm sending you home."
"He's in here with at least four others." Ren said confidently ignoring Yashiro's worrying. He walked over to a small restaurant and entered through the space where a wall used to be.
"Another cloaking spell?" Yashiro asked deciding that once they returned to LME he would recruit Lory and the council to force Ren into bed. What good was a king who didn't sleep?
"Yes, and this one is much more powerful. Call out to Kijima and tell him it's safe to come out." Ren said catching himself on the back of a chair.
"Ren?" Yashiro tapped Ren on the shoulder and felt the heat coming off of him. "You're burning up!" Yashiro was about to suggest going back to LME again, but Ren yanked him by the arm and pulled him away from a sudden attack from behind.
"Hidehito!" Ren gasped throwing Yashiro to the side and moving swiftly to kick Kijima hard in the chest sending him flying backwards into the tables. "What is this? Dhampir cannot be possessed."
But there was no mistaking the glazed look in Kijima's eyes. Somebody was remote controlling him and he wasn't putting up much of a fight. In a fair battle Ren would have beat Kijima in five seconds flat but as he was, he didn't know if he could gather the energy needed to land another kick.
A/N:
Blood doll – basically a blood slave, it can be insulting to insinuate that a high-ranking vampire is a blood doll to a lesser one. Most blood dolls are human who get high off the experience
Fledgling – baby vampire
Upyr – Russian vampire for the purposes of this story they are vampire royalty. Prince/Princess
Dhampir - half vampires usually born of a human mother and a vampire father. Duke/Duchess
Strigoi – From medieval Romanian folklore standard evil spirit. Marquis/Marchioness
Gaki – Japanese translation (literally "hungry ghost") A Gaki can be the soul of a person who was overly compulsive, deceitful, jealous or greedy during their life. I thought that suited Shou Count/Countess
Nelapsi – Slovakian vampire with two hearts and two souls, fast and strong Baron/Baroness
Algul – A vampiric demon from Arabic lore. The lowest ranking vampire. Mostly servants some are hunters. Ren is pretending to be an Algul.
Kiko – spirit fox, a good kitsune who has outgrown the need for food
Kitsune – Foxes found all across Japan. Extremely intelligent with shapeshifting as well as other magical abilities. Some are good and helpful others are mischievous and punish people. The only one in this story so far is Yashiro.
Broxa - This is a vampire witch of medieval Portugal. In the story it is a witch vampire hi-bred. Despite Shou's misconception they are very rare and usually only occur when a natural witch is bitten by an upyr during childbirth.
Vukodlak – Upyr who has been driven mad usually by bloodlust or extreme emotional distress
Ghoul – human possessed by vampire
