Kiosun staggered when his contact with Van was broken. Van wasn't looking at him, but he'd surrounded himself with a shield, allowing none of his thoughts to leak out.
This is the second time he's done that…ever since I showed him how. In this world, that could be dangerous. He probably has a reason though. The first time was because of his first lover…but now? Was it something I did? Do I force the issue or let him have some space?
They were in a stable position right now. They had shelter, brand new clothing, and an endless supply of food. Really, Van's mental state was more important than the possible dangers of this world.
I'll give him his space. If he's still like this tomorrow, I'll see what's wrong.
All of a sudden, a bright flash caught his attention. About half a mile away, a blue pillar of light—identical to the one they had arrived in—stretched from the sky to the ground. Inside of it, both sharp-eyed vampires could see a large figure slowly descend until he was hidden behind a building.
"Balgus…" Van's anguished whisper broke the silence and Kiosun's eyes widened.
"Van, don't do anything—" Kiosun began, reaching for Van. The younger vampire had already removed his tattered shirt and spread his wings. Before Kiosun could grab his arm, Van leapt from the tower.
"Your wings…" Kiosun hissed. "You fool, they're not healed!"
Van's wings caught the air for a few seconds, held him aloft just long enough for Kiosun to begin to hope…
But most of his feathers had been burned to dust, and the feathers that were left were not strong enough to hold him. Kiosun could hear a faint gasp of terror as Van began to fall. His wings scooped the air frantically, trying to slow his descent, but it was not nearly enough and he was still falling so quickly…
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A figure on the streets below looked up and saw the youth falling. The figure's eyes grew wide and anguished. He looked around, but the street was deserted. Spreading his wings, he jumped into the air, white feathers beating powerfully against the wind. He shot towards the falling vampire and stretched out his arms, matching Van's velocity long enough to hold him securely to his body. Then his wings spread again, slowing their descent. Gently the pair floated down. The strange figure's first foot touched the ground, then the second; Van safely cradled in his arms.
"Are you alright?" The young man asked, concerned.
Van stared at him. "You…" he whispered, stunned.
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Kiosun's heart stopped when he saw the figure with the white wings. "A Draconian on the Mystic Moon?"
Without a word to the other three at the top of the tower, Kiosun raced for the stairs, practically knocking another couple to the ground. Hitomi, Amano, and Yuki followed him, but their speed was no match for his. Flight after flight of stairs he took in large leaps, writing the elevator off as too slow. At the bottom of the tower, he raced for the alley, sliding to a stop at the mouth. Van lay on the ground and the stranger knelt next to him, one hand on Van's chest.
Kiosun was at a loss for words. He tried to make his mouth work, but it wouldn't. The three earth children arrived moments later, sliding behind him on the loose gravel. Their reactions to the stranger were more vocal but no less surprised.
"Oh my goddess!"
"You!"
"It can't be…"
The stranger shrugged and grinned. "Surprise?"
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Kiosun's thoughts were confused and angry. He'd been unable to save Van…his reaction had been too slow. His wings were in worse condition than Van's too, and had he jumped, he wouldn't have even been able to slow his fall, much less Van's. But his own cowardice and hesitation infuriated him.
What was worse was who had saved Van.
Aiyuri. Department store worker, high school student, and Draconian. Who would have thought?
It hurt Kiosun that this young man from a different planet had saved his lover. Van was his and no one else could have him! Kiosun felt guilty too…both for not saving Van, but also for being angry with Aiyuri, the one who had.
Van still had his shield up…had not dropped it even when he'd been falling. Van had not said a word to Kiosun yet, though Kiosun suspected that that was more from shock than anything else. Aiyuri had assessed Van's injuries, warned him not to fly for some time, and then deposited him into Kiosun's arms.
Aiyuri was now fielding questions from his schoolmates while Kiosun looked after Van.
"Van? Van, are you all right? Please, say something! I'm sorry I couldn't save you, I'm so sorry…" Kiosun whispered gently.
Van avoided looking at Kiosun. "It's not your fault. I'm fine."
"Are you hungry? The time for deception is over. These humans, these mortals…We can tell them that we're vampires. Your health is more important."
"Actually…I'm ravenous." Van admitted shamefacedly. "All the adrenaline…I have no energy."
"Not only that, you're still healing. Here." Kiosun lifted his wrist to his mouth and tore open a vein. Then he lowered it, dripping blood, to rest on Van's lips.
"Kiosun, you need it too…" Van said, worried. "I can't accept that from you."
Aiyuri, who had been standing nearby, walked closer. "Vampires? Doesn't surprise me." As he spoke, he pulled a slender dagger out of nowhere and slit one of his wrists. He then did the same with the other, and held each wrist out to the vampires.
Kiosun sensed that his arguments would make no difference, and let Van slide to the ground. Both vampires thanked Aiyuri and knelt over his wrists, cleanly licking the blood from around the wound before drinking from it directly.
The first taste was pure bliss. There was life, centuries of life, in this young man's veins. His blood was pure and rich, and had far more allure than human blood ever could. Kiosun could barely bring himself to stop, and he knew that Van would not be able to.
Carefully he pulled back, making sure to heal the wound first. Van was clearly struggling for control and Aiyuri was watching him with a blush as he surreptitiously adjusted his pants. "Must be young," he muttered to Kiosun. Kiosun nodded and gently placed his hand on Van's shoulder.
"Van, come back to me. Van, you need to stop now…that's enough." Kiosun tightened his grip until Van cried out in pain and drew away from the wound. It still leaked blood sluggishly.
"Aiyuri…do you want me to fix that?" Kiosun asked, eyes still on Van.
Aiyuri shrugged. "No need." So saying, he pulled a length of bandage out of the air and wrapped his wrist securely. Kiosun decided to puzzle the magic tricks out later and knelt next to Van.
"You alright?"
"Yeah…what was that?" Van asked, dazed.
"Immortal blood. Draconians are immortal." Kiosun replied.
"Actually, so are vampires." Aiyuri broke in, tucking the end of the bandage under several other loops.
Kiosun frowned. "No they're not. Almost all the vampires that I know age, and die, eventually."
"Not as many as you think. When Lucard Rimidalv spawned his children, their children had the virus too. But for every generation of Draconians, the virus grew weaker. Therefore, the vampires spawned from the first generation are immortal. Never aging, never getting older. All vampires born from second or third generations age slowly."
"So…vampires like Dalva aren't as old as they want to make us believe?" Kiosun asked, frowning.
"Dalva?" Aiyuri raised one auburn brow.
Kiosun looked down at Van, concerned that the dark haired young man was still sitting on the ground. "Dalva is lord of one of the vampire kisses. He's arrogant and delusional, and he is obsessed with vampiric security. He claims to be thousands of years old, and no one else knows if he's lying or not."
"Lucard Rimidalv lived about two centuries ago, before he was exiled from Atlantic to live with the vampires he'd created. There aren't any vampires older than that. How old are you, Kiosun?" Aiyuri asked curiously.
"Sixty seven. Van is almost eighteen."
"Yet both of you look just like you were when you turned seventeen. Kiosun, I think…you probably appeared about nineteen when you became kyuuketsuki, didn't you?"
"Yes." Kiosun clenched his hand into a fist. "I couldn't understand why Angelique and Laike aged more than I did. Angelique was seventeen, but now she looks twenty-three! Laike looked so young…fifteen maybe, but now he looks seventeen. And I stayed the same."
"Your mother must have been an undiscovered carrier. It was hard for us to trace the bloodlines, and we made a lot of mistakes. Draconians like to dally with humans… We live so long; it's foolish to dally with our own kind. Bad feelings could fester and grow worse, and to have hate in our hearts for a person we come into daily contact with would be horrible. So we leave our safe homes and spend time with short-lived humans. If any children result…" Aiyuri shrugged. "It's considered our gift to the humans. Normally, Draconian and human blood produces a very, very short-lived Draconian. No point in keeping the child…they're abandoned, left with the fathers. As you were, Kiosun."
Kiosun stared hard at the young man in front of him. His features were delicate with an underlying strength, much like Van's. His hair was shoulder length and reddish gold in color. He was not tall and probably only came up to Kiosun's nose or Van's eyes. His wings were pure white and swept the ground gracefully.
Van stood up slowly, resting one hand on the brick wall. "Aiyuri…why are you here? How do you still know so much about vampires? And have you both completely forgotten Hitomi, Amano, and Yuki?"
Kiosun started guiltily. He had forgotten them. They had remained at the mouth of the alley, silent and observant. Amano had a protective expression on his face and had one arm wrapped around Yuki. She was looking on with an expression of wonder and fear. Hitomi just looked angry and confused. Aiyrui winced and ducked his head slightly, wispy hair falling into his eyes. "I suppose we should explain…" he said softly. Hitomi muttered something under her breath and nodded.
Kiosun grinned. "Allow me!" he said to Aiyuri. Aiyuri nodded and Van seemed hesitant, so Kiosun forged on ahead. "Van and I are both vampires from Gaea. Aiyuri is a Draconian, also from Gaea. We don't know why we're here, but Van freaked out when we saw his mentor and enemy, Balgus, descend in a similar pillar of light, and jumped off the Tokyo Tower to fly over there, forgetting that we'd been seriously burned when Hitomi's mother opened her window. Vampires are children of Draconians, so to speak, or at least children of Lucard Rimidalv, and so in an odd way we're related to Aiyuri." Kiosun paused a moment. "Now that I think about it, so are Van and I."
"Second cousins once removed," Aiyuri muttered.
Kiosun raised an eyebrow and Aiyuri shrugged innocently. "Just how do you know so much?" Kiosun asked accusatorily.
"It's a secret," Aiyuri replied disarmingly.
Kiosun snarled at him. "A secret? I don't want to hear that 'It's a secret!' crap, you are going to tell me what you know right now!" He started walking forward, fists clenched tightly.
Van threw himself in front of Aiyuri. "Kiosun, are you mad?" he hissed. "Aiyuri is only trying to help!"
Kiosun recoiled, hurt and stunned. Why should Van defend Aiyuri? That Draconian didn't deserve his protection! Why? A little voice whispered in his mind, creating echoes.
I like him!
It was Van's cheerful voice of earlier that day. Kiosun became angry. So Van cared more about this white-winged stranger than about Kiosun? His anger swept him up and tinged his vision red. His tattered black wings unfurled and mantled as he bared his fangs and snarled at Van. Fury radiated off of him as he shifted into a fighting stance and faced Van. The younger vampire looked surprised, then increasingly angry. The atmosphere in the small alley was too much for the humans and they back away slowly, leaving the three from Gaea in a maelstrom of anger.
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Van watched Kiosun's face twist and felt his shields straining. A small crack in them allowed part of Kiosun's anger in and the crack burst into a floodgate, abruptly shattering Van's protections.
So, he's angry with me, hmm? Well good! I'm angry with him too! He's so reckless, and he lets these humans know far too much about us! We don't need to tell them anything, but he's talking about all our secrets!
Van answered Kiosun's challenge with his own, and mirrored Kiosun's stance. The fury battered at both their minds, tearing and ripping at memories and thoughts. Aiyuri stepped between them and spoke, but neither could hear him. His intervention only worsened the tension, and both vampires hissed at him. In near mirror image, Van and Kiosun snapped out their left arms and spoke a word. Twin black balls of power shot from their outstretched fingers and crashed into each other above Aiyuri's head. A small explosion knocked him to his knees and startled both vampires out of their rage.
Van's mindvoice sounded small and weak when he finally got up the courage to speak.
I didn't know vampires could do that…
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Aiyuri threw himself between the vampires and tried to reason with them, but they seemed not to hear him. They hissed at him and threw out their arms, sending a black ball of not-light at him. The following explosion threw him at the ground and caused him to black out for a second, but when he came to, the tension was gone. Both vampires looked shocked.
Aiyuri stood up slowly, surveying the damage. The brick walls on either side of the alley were badly cracked and burned, but the explosion seemed to have radiated out to either side, not up and down. His hair was singed, but otherwise he was fine. The humans had been too far away, and the vampires were virtually unharmed.
Kiosun stared at Van. "Neither did I," he whispered, as if responding to something that only he could hear.
Aiyuri spoke slowly, watching them and ready to duck if the anger returned. "Van? Kiosun? What happened?"
"So angry…I was so angry…" Van muttered. Kiosun agreed, adding, "It was a killing rage. I would have killed him."
Aiyuri nodded. "The world is reacting to you. I felt the same way, years and years ago, when I first came here. The earth is whispering in your head hateful things because you are unnatural to her."
Kiosun looked at him carefully. "Aiyuri, I suggest you tell us everything you know about this world and ours, as well as how you came to be here." His tone made it clear that it was not really a suggestion. Aiyuri shrugged at the inevitable and began his explanation.
"Two decades ago, I was trapped in a pillar of blue light and brought here. I was in a place called France, far to the west of here. At the time, it was fraught with danger, and the family that found me brought me here, to Tokyo. As soon as I stepped inside the city, I began to grow angry at the slightest provocation. One night, in a fit of rage, I murdered the family that had taken care of me."
Hitomi gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. Sometime during his explanation, the trio had returned to the alley and stood behind Kiosun, listening carefully. Aiyuri looked at her briefly then returned his attention to the vampires.
"I loved them, because of what they had done for me, but I began to hate them. The little things they did began to annoy me, and I grew jealous of everything they had. On that night, I walked in the common room and found their daughter curled up on the floor with another man. I was furious—how dare she choose him over me? I had patiently courted her for weeks! Blackness took me over and I took my knife and slashed his throat. She began to scream, and I killed her too. The rest of the family came in, and they too died beneath my hands…all save the last daughter, the youngest, who was four years old."
"Why?" Van asked. "Why save her?"
"Because she forgave me."
"What?" Kiosun asked, bewildered.
"She watched me kill her family in silence. She did not cry, or scream, or run from me. When I turned to her, she looked at me with those pure, innocent eyes. I paused, and as she watched the last of her mother's blood cover the floor, she held out her arms to me. She walked up to me and put her arms around my waist and watched me with her clear eyes…and told me it would all be better, later." Aiyuri had tears leaking from his eyes as he told, for the first time, the sorrowful tale.
"The police never asked too many questions, and never found the murderer. I raised the young girl by myself for ten years, when her grandmother came from France and took custody. I still visited her as often as I could without her grandmother discovering, and she grew into a beautiful and compassionate young woman. She left for America for college, and when she returned, she had changed."
Van's eyes widened. "Mihira!" he gasped, glancing at Hitomi. "It was Mihira!"
Hitomi staggered and caught herself by throwing a hand at the wall. "My mother?"
"Yes. Your mother saved my life…when I would have gone mad and killed myself for the grief of what I had done, she held me and cried with me and promised that things would be better. And when she returned from America, I did the same for her."
"What happened in America?" Hitomi asked in a whisper.
"That is not my tale to tell. It was where she met your father." Aiyuri looked at Hitomi with a sad look on his face. "She would only tell some of what happened, but I think that both Van and Kiosun know the whole story." The pair in question nodded and averted their eyes, making it clear that they wouldn't divulge her secrets. Aiyuri expected this and gave them points for loyalty.
"Mihira's grandmother traveled to Fanalia, and she knew something of what I was. She told stories to Mihira, and when Hitomi was born, she told those stories to her as well. Hitomi has always believed that Mihira's grandmother was really her mother, because Mihira saved her from the story of her real grandmother's slaughter. It's a long, complicated, and distressing story to tell, and I have no wish to repeat it all, but I believe that I can clear up a mystery for Hitomi. Hitomi, may I see your pendant please?"
Hitomi drew the pendant over her neck, stunned at his recital of family history she was unaware of. Aiyuri took the pendant from her and held it at face level. From another pocket of nowhere, he pulled a second pendant, nearly identical to the first. The setting was of a stylized silver wave crest and the red jewel was nestled in the middle of the wave. Hitomi's pendant had a simple gold setting. When Aiyuri held the pair of pendants up, they began to glow faintly with a soft red light. Softly he began to chant in the language of Gaea, incomprehensible to all but Van and Kiosun.
Hitomi gasped as suddenly all of them were ensconced in a blue light. Amano and Yuki watched as a surprised quartet suddenly vanished.
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Van looked around him, recognizing Gaea in the trees and grass beneath his feet. He, Kiosun, Hitomi, and Aiyuri were all floating about a hundred yards in the air above the land in front of Fanalia.
"We're home!" he said in surprise.
Aiyuri shook his head regretfully. "It won't last. We are simply shadows right now, unable to affect much in this world. The pendants allow Draconians to have their wishes granted, if their wills are strong enough, but mine seems to have been found lacking. The most I can do is drift around Gaea, listening to conversations and watching events."
"I think the powers that be have taken a personal interest in all of us," Kiosun muttered, disgruntled. "It's not a question of will."
"That, too, is a possibility. Van, there are some things I can do in this world. What do you want more than anything to make your stay in Tokyo more comfortable?"
"My sword," Van answered promptly, without hesitation. Aiyuri nodded, as if it had been as he expected.
"Concentrate on your sword…call it into your mind, perfect and whole, every detail precise. Imagine you can feel it in your hand…call it to you…." Aiyuri's voice took on a slight cadence, soothing and calm. Van closed his eyes and focused, following Aiyuri's instructions. There was a small pop and he felt a weight settle in his hands. Amazed, he gazed at his sword and its sheath.
Aiyuri smiled slightly and glanced at Kiosun. "Care to try?" he challenged the vampire. Kiosun shrugged, closed his eyes and called his own sword. Just seconds longer than Van had taken his sword too rested in his hands.
Unnoticed by the rest of the party, Van had used their distraction to try the calling technique once more. Fixing his mind on the dagger that he had bought for Kiosun, he called it to him. The black owl's head, strong metal alloy blade…With a much softer pop, it appeared in front of him, hovering. Quickly he tucked it in the pocket of his new pants and called his dagger, the dragon dagger. This he hooked on his belt with his sword. By the time he'd finished calling his weapons, Kiosun had called his sword and was questioning Aiyuri about what they were to do next.
"That, I have an answer to." With an airy wave of his hand, all four of them were shooting through the sky too quickly to see their surroundings. When the world stopped moving, they could only stare.
"Is this…" Van began but trailed off, unable to finish the incredible thought.
"Neo-Atlantis. Home of the Draconians. This is the place beyond the portal in the sacred valley." Aiyuri looked proudly at his home.
Draconians flew here and there, beautiful beings of light and laughter. Every Draconian they saw had a red pendant around their neck, styles and settings varying, but all with identical stones. Aiyuri smiled and waved at a few, who gazed at him with pity and sadness.
"They can see me…I don't know why. But they know what happened to me, and they try to keep me updated on news from this world." He signed something to one of the flying girls, and she nodded, flitting into a nearby building. When she returned, two other young women accompanied her. One was Van's mother, but the other…
"Kiosun?" she gasped. "Kiosun! What happened?"
Kiosun stopped, blood draining from his face. "Mother?"
Van nearly echoed him as he stared at the woman he thought lost forever. Kiosun wasn't moving, uncertain of his reception. But the woman in front of him smiled with tears in her eyes and flew towards him, arms open. "Kiosun, darling!" He opened his arms in response, but she flew straight through him. Aiyuri looked pained.
"We are but shadows in this land, remember? You can talk, but not for long."
Meanwhile, Van was having similar problems. His phantom fingers brushed at his mother's tears, but the salty moisture passed through his hand. Varia shook her head sadly. "So you are in the other world with Aiyuri now, hmm? I wish we did not have to meet like this. You are like your brother now?" She nearly sobbed, painful crystalline tears brushed angrily away with one hand. "I thought it might be different, I thought I could be the exception. But my mother lay with that demon! Now you are cursed. I'm so sorry, Van. I wish this had not happened. Perhaps it would have been easier if I had refused to bear children… I thought I was different. At seventeen, I watched your brother so closely! I fed him vegetables, fruits, and bread. I never let him eat meat or drink wine. Then he left on his Dragonslaying right, and I knew he would never return. The signs had been there…I just chose to ignore them. How is he?"
"Married to another vampire named Angelique and living peacefully in the countryside." Van answered shortly. "I'm not cursed, mother. I feel so much more free!" He spread his arms and closed his eyes. "Free from burden, responsibility, power, and Balgus."
Her eyes hardened until they became flint slivers. "Balgus…" she hissed coldly. "He hated me. He didn't trust me, ever! He tried to keep me from your father. But he failed. And because he failed, you and Folken were born. Perhaps he should have succeeded. We could have been happy, your father and I. After you were born, I was never happier. But when Folken left, I knew my wonderful life had to end. So I left, abandoned you, to return to my family here. How can you be happy? You feed off other people, seduce them, and drink their blood! How can you be pleased with that existence?" Varia shrieked at the top of her lungs, anguished and furious.
Van tried to soothe her. "I don't think of it as evil, mother. The prey is more than happy to feed us. I love the way I live now. Before I was sent to earth, I was living in a mansion with a farm set in the forest. I was with the one I loved, and I knew my brother was happy. I did not want to rule Fanalia, nor did Folken. Cousin Kuwaro will rule, though Balgus was furious when he found out and tried to have us killed. Other than one or two loose ends, I was happier then than I ever had been before."
She shook her head slowly, as if she could not believe it. He looked at her straight in the eye. "Mother, I loved you, and I still do. But if you cannot accept the way I live, when it was your fault to begin with, I have no wish to see you ever again."
Sadness filled her eyes as she began to make a reply. Before she could finish, Aiyuri threw up a hand, silencing both Van and Kiosun's conversations. Hitomi glanced up, having politely ignored the exchanges thus far.
"Varia, Kyoei, our time grows short. You must give them their birthright!" Aiyuri spoke sharply as he watched the blue glow around them pulsing and flickering. Both women reached into their dresses and pulled out two pendants.
"My son, Van Fanel, I present you with your birthright pendant, forged in the stars and brought to earth by the gods. Your wishes guide its actions. Use it well." Van's mother intoned the words gracefully, and it was clear that this was a long honored tradition. The pendants in her hands were glowing red, and she held one out to Van. As he reached to take it, the glow brightened and her hand became misty, like his. For one brief instant, they touched. Then the pendant was looped around his fingers and her hand was back at her side. On his right, Kiosun and Kyoei followed the same ritual. The blue light fluctuated wildly and the four shadows flickered in and out. Kiosun whispered a goodbye to his mother and she sobbed as he disappeared.
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Amano and Yuki were stunned when the quartet suddenly reappeared. For one thing, both Kiosun and Van had these seriously Big Swords around their waists. For another, both looked upset and were holding red pendants like Hitomi's. Hitomi looked thoughtful and pale, and Aiyuri looked regretful.
"What happened?" Amano asked. Yuki appeared uncertain, knowing that her cheerful attitude wouldn't be received well right now.
Aiyuri took the lead. "I transported us, for a few brief minutes, to Gaea. They picked up a few things and got a present from their mothers."
Amano frowned. "How?"
Aiyuri shook his head and chided him gently. "I can't tell you that. Now, will you escort Lady Hitomi home, please? Van and Kiosun will stay with me for a while."
Van moaned and sank to his feet. "The sun…" he whispered. Kiosun was shuddering and kept glancing over his shoulder.
Aiyuri checked the horizon and swore viciously. "Come on, let's go. Waving a quick goodbye at the three humans, he grabbed both vampires' arms and began running.
Before they had gone more than three blocks, a policeman began yelling at them. Aiyuri stopped and turned around. The officer was gaping at the swords and attempting to say something. Aiyuri winced and quickly made up a story.
"We're part of a kabuki theater, they're just props. We're a little late for rehearsal. Could we please leave?" He looked almost winsome. The officer shrugged and waved them off, casting one more suspicious glance at the weapons. Aiyuri bowed slightly and started running again, dragging the confused, bewildered, and anxious vampires behind him.
Before long, they finally reached his apartment. He fiddled with the keys and got the door open, shoving Van and Kiosun through it as the first rays of dawn lit the horizon.
"Safe," Aiyuri panted. Van relaxed and looked around the apartment.
The room was like a dance studio. The far wall was covered in large mirrors and the floor was made of bamboo. The furniture—two couches, a small table, and a television set—were arranged in a semicircle around a large empty space, large enough to practice in. On the right was a door that seemed to lead to a kitchen. A set of cabinets adorned the wall on their left, and Aiyuri went to these immediately. Opening them, he withdrew two futons and set them in the middle of the floor with several blankets. Another blanket he threw on the near couch and gestured to them.
"You two can sleep on the futons, I'll sleep on the couch. I have to work tomorrow night, so I might be gone before you wake up. If there's anything you need during the day, don't hesitate to wake me up." As Aiyuri spoke, he began pulling bags out of the air, setting them on the ground by the couch. "Here are the clothes you bought."
Kiosun stared at him, amazed. "How in the—"
"Hitomi seems to have grabbed them when you ran out of the tower. She dropped them in the alley and I picked them up, knowing that you'd end up here." He gestured to the apartment. Kiosun shook his head and Aiyuri raised an eyebrow. "You weren't talking about the clothes?"
"No, I was talking about your little disappear-reappear trick. How do you do it?"
"It's a function connected with the pendants you were given. I don't know how it works, but my mother taught me what to do. Concentrate on the pendant, then imagine that what you're holding is bathed in red light. A red portal that only you can see will appear, and you can place the item inside. To get it back again, it is similar, but this time you imagine the red portal. It will appear again and you can look inside. When you see what you want, call it to your hand and draw it out. Simple, right?"
Though they were tired, Van and Kiosun both tried it. Van got it on the first try and put his sword, both daggers and a few of his new clothes inside. Kiosun managed it on his third try and did the same.
As Aiyuri watched them, he happened to glance in the mirrors on the far wall. His eyes widened and he began to chuckle. Before long he was nearly crying with laughter, collapsing on the couch as Van and Kiosun watched in puzzlement.
"It truly puzzles me why that cop let us go," he wheezed, waving his hand at the mirror. Van and Kiosun turned to look, then flushed guiltily.
Neither Van nor Aiyuri had shirts on. Van was still covered in scars and burns, though the burns were well on the way to being healed. His short black hair was mussed and his pants torn in places. His eyes were dark and it looked like he hadn't slept in a week. Aiyuri looked healthy, though his auburn hair was tangled. Kiosun would have been the most normal among them, except for two things. First, his shirt was almost rags, especially around the back and shoulders where his wings emerged. Second was his hair.
It was impeccable, and not a single strand was loose. The problem with that was the way it looked. His hair fell unbound to his waist, rippling waves of pure black. Sections of it he kept in small braids, using those to hold it all away from his face. At the end of the braids were glass beads in blood red and large black feathers, presumably from his wings.
Kiosun frowned. "Why do the Japanese words for "porn star" and "gay rock artist" keep popping in my head?" He demanded.
Aiyuri began to laugh again, joined this time by Van. Between bursts of what could have been giggles had Van and Aiyuri had been girls, Aiyuri managed to ask, "How do you keep your hair so perfect?"
Kiosun's eyes glittered mysteriously. "Magic," he said in a stage whisper. When he received twin raised eyebrows, he shrugged. "I have no idea." He grinned at the disappointed gazes. "Sorry, but I think it runs in the family."
Van stretched and winced as muscles protested. "Remind me not to jump out of tall buildings with half-healed wings," he muttered caustically, spreading his wings to survey the damage.
Kiosun shook his head. "I tried to, but you didn't let me finish." As Kiosun reviewed the scene, it suddenly hit him that if Aiyuri had not been below the tower at that time, and if he had not been a Draconian…Van would be dead. The full implications made him stagger, and his distress radiated from him in waves. Collapsing against a couch, he began to tremble helplessly, wrapping his arms around his knees. Within seconds, his body was wracked with sobs. Aiyuri stared in astonishment while Van stopped what he was doing.
"Kiosun, what's wrong?" Van asked, walking closer. Kiosun just shuddered and shook his head, warding off the awful visions of Van's broken body at the bottom of Tokyo Tower. Van sat down next to him, slipping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him closer. "Tell me," he urged gently.
Kiosun turned to Van and relaxed in his loose embrace. Though still trembling, his heart wrenching sobs had ceased. After several minutes of silence, Van began to stroke Kiosun's hair, twisting the strands around his fingers and watching as they fell back into place. Kiosun finally spoke in a whisper. "I could have lost you. You might have died, and I couldn't do anything."
Van placed a finger under Kiosun's chin and gently drew it upwards. Finally, Kiosun met his eyes, sorrow and fear evident in his expression. Van bent slightly and softly kissed him on the lips. "I'm sorry, Kiosun. I saw Balgus and stopped thinking. I'm sorry that you worried."
Aiyuri studied the bamboo floor intensely, reluctant to intrude. When he next glanced at them, they were still staring into each other's eyes, completely lost to the world. Sighing philosophically and muttering about disgusting lovesick vampires, Aiyuri wrapped himself in a blanket and lay down on the remaining couch. The entire apartment was still, and Aiyuri cursed at the light filtering through his eyelids. Grabbing a pillow from one of the beds on the floor, he threw it at the light switch. The room suddenly darkened and startled noises came from the second couch. "If you want that pillow, get it yourself," Aiyuri mumbled, the waves of sleep already bearing him away.
Kiosun muttered something uncomplimentary about pillows in general and smiled as Van chuckled softly. Together the vampires slipped onto the futons on the floor, pulling the blankets up close. It was with relief that they snuggled together, secure in the knowledge that Aiyuri, at least, would not judge them based on preferences. Before Kiosun drifted off to sleep, he heard Van whisper something that roughly equated his chest with a pillow. Grinning, he pulled Van closer, pressing his lips against the pale forehead.
"Goodnight, love."