When they awoke, Aiyuri was gone. A note on the table reminded them that he was at work and they were more than welcome to stop by and hang out for a while.
"Hang out?" Van asked. Kiosun shrugged, and continued to read.
The note further mentioned some decent bars in the area that would be good for hunting, and warned them that Hitomi had called and might visit the apartment so 'be decent, at least'.
The pair grinned and changed clothes after a brief, somewhat sweaty, delay. For a time, they relaxed in the apartment, but Kiosun soon grew bored.
"Let's get something to eat," he suggested.
Van shrugged. "Should we wait for Hitomi?"
"Mm..." Kiosun said vaguely. "I'm hungry." He pouted, widening his eyes and looking quite pitiful. Van laughed and gave in.
And so it was that two hours later they returned to the apartment, hunger satiated.
"Now what?" Van leaned back on the couch and brushed out the last of the tangles from his hair. Kiosun was watching with slit eyes.
"I don't know. Aiyuri should be back soon and Hitomi hasn't showed up..."
Van frowned slightly and held two fingers to his temple. Ki walked over and gracefully collapsed next to Van. "What's wrong, love?"
"This city is so big...all these people's thoughts keep intruding in my head, and I have a headache..." Van closed his eyes briefly.
Ki murmered sympathetically and embraced Van, kissing each temple gently. "Try shielding, love. At least this time I know you have a reason..." Ki trailed off, hoping for an explanation of Van's earlier shield. To his disappointment, Van just nodded and raised a light shield, enough to keep out everyone but Kiosun.
"Thank you," Van said softly, the faint line above his brow easing with the sudden cessation of pain.
"Think nothing of it." Kiosun smiled and spread his senses across the surrounding area. Now he would know if anyone were near enough to be dangerous. To his curiosity, his senses seemed to encounter a huge force...a woman, the size of Tokyo? It was definitely feminine, and huge...and blue. It had a blue aura. Something seemed strange about this...was it something that Aiyuri mentioned? About the earth...
Deciding to ponder it later, he put the blue woman aura out of his immediate senses and concentrated on the actual area nearby. A few children on the street, a busy housewife in the apartment next to theirs, and a young girl playing with dolls in the apartment across the street were the only people around. Judging them safe, Ki also scanned the entire city for Hitomi. She seemed to be about two blocks away, on her way to visit them. Inspiration flashed in his mind and he grinned wickedly.
Time to put my plan into action...
Van sat upright with wide, wary eyes. "What was that?"
Kiosun didn't answer, instead folding Van in his arms.
"Koibito..." he whispered before pressing his lips to Van's. Van said nothing, melting into Ki's embrace.
Plan...? This was your plan?
Van's mind voice was incredulous. Kiosun knew he was treading thin ice, since it was impossible to lie mind-to-mind.
Part of it, anyway...
Trailing off, he slipped his tongue into Van's mouth, hoping to sufficiently distract him from his questions. The ploy seemed to work, as Van moaned quietly and willingly submitted.
Hitomi was now at the door, raising her hand to knock. Kiosun briefly shielded himself from Van, long enough to plant a suggestion and a memory in Hitomi's mind.
Come on in, the door is open.
Suddenly she remembered knocking, and it seemed to her that someone had called from inside. Shrugging, she opened the door as Kiosun dropped his shield.
Van and Kiosun were both quite visible from the door, and it was obvious that they were kissing passionately.
Hitomi gasped and Van jerked up. Guilty black eyes met startled blue, and Van flushed deeply.
"I...I...umm..." Van sat up, slipping out of Kiosun's embrace. Kiosun was smirking, trying as hard as he could to keep from laughing. Van noticed and turned, anger apparent in his face.
You knew about this!
His mind voice snapped with bright red anger. Kiosun paused, knowing that his lover was now even more furious with him than he had been earlier.
...Yes.
He could not lie mind-to-mind, and did not even try. Van hissed savagely, and Kiosun recoiled.
I did not mean for it to be like this! Why are you so angry?
Van stood up and pointed at Kiosun. "You never think about the consequences of your actions! All you know is that you are jealous because an earth child might have a crush on me, and you decide to prove to her that she hasn't a chance. You may have just alienated her! We need allies in this strange country, but you seem determined to alienate us from everyone! You don't like Aiyuri very much, I can tell, and at times, you seem barely civil to him, although he got us these pendants and saved my life! The least you could do is show a little gratitude, but instead you ignore him and act like it's expected! Then you get this stupid plan to show Hitomi that I'm yours, and now she might hate us both! You are so impulsive, and you're never serious! You will get us both killed!" By the end of his diatribe, Van was shouting. Hitomi was still in the doorway, looking uncertain and scared. Kiosun remained on the couch, growing angrier with every word.
"You think I'm impulsive? You jumped off Tokyo Tower to fly after the man you want to kill, putting your life in danger! If Aiyuri hadn't been there, you would have died! Is it a wonder that I don't like him? He saved you when I couldn't! I wanted to be your prince, your savior, your everything! Instead, that Draconian gets the glory and your thanks. Of course, I'm jealous! This new world is strange to me, and after fifty years as a vampire, I want to be certain of things! I don't like this danger, but I hate even more to rely on other people. I want to be certain of your love, but you seemed so caught up in Hitomi and Aiyuri that you didn't have time for me! Is it so much to ask for, a little bit of certainty? A small amount of caring? I love you, damn it, and I want to keep you safe! But in this world, others can do it better than I can, and I don't like feeling helpless." His voice softened and he angrily brushed away tears. "I love you, you crazy vampire. I do it for you."
Van's anger dissipated. "I didn't know that was how you felt." He looked at his feet, avoiding Kiosun's eyes. "I didn't realize how powerless you felt..." He looked up suddenly, desperate. "You should know I love you! I prove it again and again! I abdicated my throne, left my best friend, my mentor, and my cousin, and I now live with you in that gorgeous mansion. I opened my heart to you and showed you my deepest fears. I became a vampire for you! Is it fair that you continue to doubt me?"
"No. No, it's not fair. I'm sorry." Kiosun felt a great pressure release from his mind, and his head snapped up. Van had a similar reaction and their eyes met. The room turned blue and Hitomi froze.
Literally, froze. She did not blink, she did not breathe, and she stopped in mid-step. Van and Kiosun exchanged confused glances. Sending out his senses, Ki quickly realized that everyone else in the apartments nearby had also frozen...except for the blue feminine aura.
In the center of the small room, a woman appeared. She was beautiful; her skin was flawless, her features aristocratic, and her eyes slanted. Her body was perfectly proportioned, with a slender waist and curving hips. Though Kiosun had no interest in women, even he had to admit that she was aesthetically pleasing. She had dark skin and dark eyes, but her hair was a blonde so pale to seem almost white. She was surrounded by a blue aura, slightly darker than the aura that pervaded the room. Slowly she turned her icy features toward them.
"You have passed the first test. There will be more."
Kiosun edged toward Van slowly, then in a blur of motion was at his side. The woman's dark eyes followed his movement as if he stood still. "More tests?" Van asked her directly.
"You are not from this earth. You have power. You are a threat to me. I test you to judge you...are you suited for this earth? Should I allow you to live? That is what these tests decide."
"We passed the first test?" Kiosun narrowed his eyes. "What test?"
"If you could control your anger."
Van's eyes flashed dangerously. "You provoked that fight?"
The woman nodded regally. "In a manner of speaking. Those feelings were inside you...I just magnified them."
"Why are you telling us this?" Kiosun spoke this time, his voice heavy with suspicion.
"You deserve to know. And I give you a choice. You may complete the remaining tests now, all at once, or later, one at a time. The longer you wait, the worse they become. I must find out if you are a threat to me and mine."
A quick telepathic conversation took place, and both looked back at her. "We will face your tests now."
The woman bowed her head. "Very well." A shard of ice appeared in each of her hands and she raised them slowly. Van and Kiosun tensed, ready to spring aside. Faster than human eyes could move, she flung her ice shards, one at Van and Kiosun, the other at the frozen Hitomi.
To each of the young vampires, the other seemed frozen in fear. Ki made up his mind in a split second and dove for Hitomi, knocking her to the ground and taking the ice shard in his arm. Van, in his reality, threw himself in front of Kiosun, blocking the ice shard with his chest, blood dripping from his lips as it pierced his lung. The pain lasted for an eternity, then stopped completely. Van stared at his chest, flawless and unmarked by the ice shard. Slowly he glanced at Kiosun, prone on the floor in front of Hitomi, who was still standing and frozen. Kiosun picked himself up gingerly, examining his arm and finding it unwounded.
"Interesting." The woman with the blue aura said. "One spares no thought to his own safety and protects his lover, while the other carries faith in his lover and protects the innocent bystander. Neither thinks first of protecting his own skin."
She tilted her head and looked at Van. "Given a choice between staying here and going home, what would you take?"
"That's easy, I'd go home-"
"Would you? Would you go home? What if you knew that you were the only one who could go home? Kiosun, Aiyuri...both would remain behind. Would you still go?"
Van hesitated. "Well, no, not without Kiosun...Aiyuri has resigned himself to this fate, and he can live with it...I think."
The woman turned to Kiosun. "And you? Would you go home without Van and Aiyuri?"
"No. Aiyuri longs for his home too, and I saw that when he took us to Neo-Atlantis. Van is my life, and I could not return home without him."
"I see." The woman nodded to herself. "This is expected. Now, the true test..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Van gasped as the world dropped out from under him. He landed heavily in a field, hands flailing for balance. The field was full of flowers and grass, waving in a stiff breeze. Sensing danger, Van summoned his sword from the pendant and spread his wings, ready for fight or flight. (Pun intended ^_~)
The breeze grew harsh, then disappeared completely, leaving a heavy figure in its wake. "Balgus!" Van exclaimed. His mentor looked up with a horrible expression.
"You," he snarled. "Traitor! Just like your brother!"
"No," Van protested. "It's not like that, I had no choice!"
"There is always a choice! You abandoned your responsibilities and ran away to live with another man." Balgus' voice dripped with disgust. "I protected your throne for years, I would have given my life to see you rule. After all my hard work, you walk away! Your cousin showed up at my door with a report that you'd been killed fighting dragons! He said that when you visited him, you told him to rule in your place if you disappeared. You staged your death and fled your responsibilities. I suppose I should have expected it," he remarked bitterly. "Your mother had bad blood in her, and it looks like you followed in her footsteps."
The irony caused a smile to tease Van's lips. "Bad blood..." he repeated. "I guess you could say that."
"You betrayed me!" Balgus roared. "I taught you everything I knew about swords, about fighting, about ruling, and you betrayed me! Now, you die!"
Balgus charged, swinging his massive sword with a vengeance. Van stumbled back and blocked it desperately. Balgus attacked again, his eyes mad, and again Van barely blocked the blow. The fight then began in earnest, Van returning blow for blow but never landing one.
The fight was even; Balgus had experience and quite a few tricks, but Van had vampiric reflexes and speed, and a greater agility. Faster and faster, they fought, strike after strike deflected and returned. Finally, Van saw an opening in Balgus' defense, a place where if he were to strike, it would be fatal and Balgus would be unable to block him in time.
Do I take the opening? Can I kill my mentor?
Memories of seventeen years flashed through his mind, memories of when Balgus stood up for him, taught him how to fight, showed him how to rule. Balgus giving soldiers extra duties in retribution for gossiping about Folken...Balgus giving Van his first horse...Balgus, always strong and courageous, though sometimes stubborn. Could he really kill the man who raised him?
His hesitation cost him. Balgus used his moment of distraction and struck hard, shoving his sword through Van's heart. Van tasted blood on his lips and looked up at his mentor. Balgus looked down at him with tears in his eyes. "You betrayed me," he whispered, anguished. Van closed his eyes and surrendered to the darkness, feeling his heart beat one last time...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kiosun woke slowly, his mind gradually surfacing from darkness. He was in a familiar bed...very familiar. He was back in the bed he spent his childhood in, the bed in his father's castle.
But that's impossible...I've been away for years, I'm sure they would have gotten rid of my bed by now.
The door to his chamber opened and his old nursemaid bustled in, kneeling before the fire and adding wood to the coals. Within moments, she had a blaze going and the room warmed up. Kiosun was too stunned to speak, instead watching wide-eyed. The woman looked up, looking exactly as she had fifty years ago. Her eyes twinkled cheerfully at him as she spoke. "Is something the matter, young master?"
Vaguely he shook his head. "No...no, nothing is wrong." The words felt strange in his mouth and he ran his tongue over his teeth. Where his super sharp canines should be, he had normal, if slightly elongated teeth. Quickly he took assessment of his body.
Eyes, strength, teeth, and all my other senses...they're just as they were before my change!
"Nana?" he looked at her, eyes lost. She glanced at him, then sat on his bed.
"Aye?"
"What day is it? What year?"
She frowned at him. "Are you ill, young master?" she asked, concerned. When he shook his head, she told him the date.
"As I feared..." he said softly. She looked at him quizzically. He refused to speak more and stood up, pulling clothes from his wardrobe and dressing quickly. Nana watched him, her expression changing from mere confusion to complete bewilderment.
"Young master? Kiosun, what is wrong?"
"What do you mean? Nothing is wrong." He hesitated, hating to lie to his old nursemaid.
She shook her head stubbornly. "There is definitely something wrong. You have changed..."
He stared at the floor, pulling on a leather glove. "Changed how?" he asked softly.
"Young master...for as long as I have known you, you never once managed to match your outfit."
He flushed guiltily. She was right...before he had changed, he'd been just slightly color-blind, and had been unable to color-coordinate anything. After he'd changed, he'd had to get used to picking colors in the dark, which was very similar to being color-blind. Fifty years of practice had perfected that, and while he had no idea what was going on now, he had picked a matching outfit without problem.
"Nana...I..." He shrugged helplessly.
She muttered something and rubbed her joints, which pained her on rainy days. Speaking louder, she said, "'Tis no matter. You have an audience with your father today to greet some foreign merchants." He nodded in understanding and left the room. Stopping outside his door, he realized something.
Shit...fifty years of being away from this place...and I can't remember where to go.
"Nana?"
"Yes?" She stood behind him carrying ashes from the fireplace.
"...Could you please take me to the reception room?"
She gaped at him. Suspicion rose and she studied him carefully. Finally, she nodded and led the way to the reception room.
His father stood in front of his chair. The duchy manor was not large, and the lands that they owned were few, but it was a prosperous land and the people considered his father a king. His chair was carefully made by the people, hand carved, and it generally resembled a throne. Kiosun smiled in fondness at the powerful man in front of him and crossed the room to his own chair, far less grand than his father's but made with just as much respect. His father heard him and turned, smiling.
"Kiosun!" They embraced and sat down. The young foster child in training as a page opened the grand doors and announced the guests.
"Merchant Jamey from Fanalia and his daughter, Sara." He announced in a clear treble voice.
Fanalia? I never noticed that before.
Suddenly time stopped. Kiosun was looking at himself from the end of a long corridor, looking at his seventeen-year-old self sitting in his chair as he was introduced to the woman that changed his life forever. All along the corridor were doors, unmarked and foreboding, but at the end of the corridor was an open door, through which he was watching himself. The blue aura pervaded the corridor and the Tokyo-woman was standing next to him.
"Do you understand, Kiosun?" she asked softly, a smile playing on her lips.
"No." He answered honestly, but his voice trembled.
"I am giving you a choice. Your life was Hell, and it all started right there. I have the power to manipulate time, and I have used that to place you here. Would you like to hear your choices?"
He nodded, not trusting his voice.
"Behind each of these doors is a major event in your life. The one at the end of the corridor was your meeting with Sara. Behind that door, your meeting with Angelique. And there-" she pointed at the door at the opposite end of the hall, "that was your meeting with Van. Right now, only that end door is open, because I am giving you the chance to change your life."
"How?" he asked, curious.
"Here is your choice. I will let you change that point in your life. For one day and one night, you will have that body with all your memories intact. You may change whatever you wish during that time...you may run away, searching for a vampire to change you. You may spurn Sara and suicide. You may do anything you wish to change that point in history. After that day and that night, you will forget your previous life and continue as you would if you were still seventeen."
He stared at her in wonder. "You can do that?"
"Yes. However, I said you would have a choice. You may change your life...or you may return to where you were, on earth."
He hesitated. "Could I have time to think about it?"
"All the time in the world. When you are through thinking, call me and I will grant your wish." She disappeared.
He leaned against a door and curiously tried the doorknob. It was locked, as he expected. Glancing at the end door, he saw his body, still frozen in time.
"Choices..." he whispered to himself. "All of life is choices. How do you make the right ones?"
If he did change his life...
I could tell my father the truth. I could find a different vampire to change me, and I wouldn't be raped. I could go to Neo-Atlantis and live with my mother...
He shook his head, agonizing.
To give up all my memories...I've lived for fifty-seven...no, fifty-eight years. Through that time...
He'd been raped, abandoned, and vampire bond-broken. He'd been hunted by villagers and priests, nearly killed, and had to start over completely.
And yet...
He had lived with Angelique and Laike. He had helped Angelique and Folken find each other, raised horses on that farm, traveled widely across Gaea and greatly reduced the bandit population. He had watched Van for twelve years, yearning and finally gaining.
So, do I change the Hell I've been through at the sake of losing everything I worked for?
Suddenly he realized something important. "It's not me I should think about," he said out loud. "What about the people I helped? The money I gave to peasants for taxes, the bandits I killed to protect everyone? If I change things now...I might not ever do those things, help those people. But I hurt people too...my father and foster mother, my best friend...they all suffered because of what I became. And the people I killed when I learned how to be Vampire...they were all innocent. I could change that...I could change their lives. I could reconcile with my father, admit everything about me...Van would be fine, another vampire would find him and change him if I could not." The last thought made him uneasy, but he had more to think about that just his happiness. Van would find someone else, surely.
For a few minutes, visions of love and peace floated through his head. He would live with his father, at peace with what he became. He could change everything.
"Tokyo woman?" he called out tentatively. She appeared in front of him.
"You have decided?"
"I have."
"What will it be?"
The echoes of his answer rebounded down the hall as time resumed and his other form looked at him, eyes widening slightly. Kiosun bowed his head as he was surrounded in blue light and several tears leaked from his eyes. "I only hope I chose right..." he whispered.
"Hang out?" Van asked. Kiosun shrugged, and continued to read.
The note further mentioned some decent bars in the area that would be good for hunting, and warned them that Hitomi had called and might visit the apartment so 'be decent, at least'.
The pair grinned and changed clothes after a brief, somewhat sweaty, delay. For a time, they relaxed in the apartment, but Kiosun soon grew bored.
"Let's get something to eat," he suggested.
Van shrugged. "Should we wait for Hitomi?"
"Mm..." Kiosun said vaguely. "I'm hungry." He pouted, widening his eyes and looking quite pitiful. Van laughed and gave in.
And so it was that two hours later they returned to the apartment, hunger satiated.
"Now what?" Van leaned back on the couch and brushed out the last of the tangles from his hair. Kiosun was watching with slit eyes.
"I don't know. Aiyuri should be back soon and Hitomi hasn't showed up..."
Van frowned slightly and held two fingers to his temple. Ki walked over and gracefully collapsed next to Van. "What's wrong, love?"
"This city is so big...all these people's thoughts keep intruding in my head, and I have a headache..." Van closed his eyes briefly.
Ki murmered sympathetically and embraced Van, kissing each temple gently. "Try shielding, love. At least this time I know you have a reason..." Ki trailed off, hoping for an explanation of Van's earlier shield. To his disappointment, Van just nodded and raised a light shield, enough to keep out everyone but Kiosun.
"Thank you," Van said softly, the faint line above his brow easing with the sudden cessation of pain.
"Think nothing of it." Kiosun smiled and spread his senses across the surrounding area. Now he would know if anyone were near enough to be dangerous. To his curiosity, his senses seemed to encounter a huge force...a woman, the size of Tokyo? It was definitely feminine, and huge...and blue. It had a blue aura. Something seemed strange about this...was it something that Aiyuri mentioned? About the earth...
Deciding to ponder it later, he put the blue woman aura out of his immediate senses and concentrated on the actual area nearby. A few children on the street, a busy housewife in the apartment next to theirs, and a young girl playing with dolls in the apartment across the street were the only people around. Judging them safe, Ki also scanned the entire city for Hitomi. She seemed to be about two blocks away, on her way to visit them. Inspiration flashed in his mind and he grinned wickedly.
Time to put my plan into action...
Van sat upright with wide, wary eyes. "What was that?"
Kiosun didn't answer, instead folding Van in his arms.
"Koibito..." he whispered before pressing his lips to Van's. Van said nothing, melting into Ki's embrace.
Plan...? This was your plan?
Van's mind voice was incredulous. Kiosun knew he was treading thin ice, since it was impossible to lie mind-to-mind.
Part of it, anyway...
Trailing off, he slipped his tongue into Van's mouth, hoping to sufficiently distract him from his questions. The ploy seemed to work, as Van moaned quietly and willingly submitted.
Hitomi was now at the door, raising her hand to knock. Kiosun briefly shielded himself from Van, long enough to plant a suggestion and a memory in Hitomi's mind.
Come on in, the door is open.
Suddenly she remembered knocking, and it seemed to her that someone had called from inside. Shrugging, she opened the door as Kiosun dropped his shield.
Van and Kiosun were both quite visible from the door, and it was obvious that they were kissing passionately.
Hitomi gasped and Van jerked up. Guilty black eyes met startled blue, and Van flushed deeply.
"I...I...umm..." Van sat up, slipping out of Kiosun's embrace. Kiosun was smirking, trying as hard as he could to keep from laughing. Van noticed and turned, anger apparent in his face.
You knew about this!
His mind voice snapped with bright red anger. Kiosun paused, knowing that his lover was now even more furious with him than he had been earlier.
...Yes.
He could not lie mind-to-mind, and did not even try. Van hissed savagely, and Kiosun recoiled.
I did not mean for it to be like this! Why are you so angry?
Van stood up and pointed at Kiosun. "You never think about the consequences of your actions! All you know is that you are jealous because an earth child might have a crush on me, and you decide to prove to her that she hasn't a chance. You may have just alienated her! We need allies in this strange country, but you seem determined to alienate us from everyone! You don't like Aiyuri very much, I can tell, and at times, you seem barely civil to him, although he got us these pendants and saved my life! The least you could do is show a little gratitude, but instead you ignore him and act like it's expected! Then you get this stupid plan to show Hitomi that I'm yours, and now she might hate us both! You are so impulsive, and you're never serious! You will get us both killed!" By the end of his diatribe, Van was shouting. Hitomi was still in the doorway, looking uncertain and scared. Kiosun remained on the couch, growing angrier with every word.
"You think I'm impulsive? You jumped off Tokyo Tower to fly after the man you want to kill, putting your life in danger! If Aiyuri hadn't been there, you would have died! Is it a wonder that I don't like him? He saved you when I couldn't! I wanted to be your prince, your savior, your everything! Instead, that Draconian gets the glory and your thanks. Of course, I'm jealous! This new world is strange to me, and after fifty years as a vampire, I want to be certain of things! I don't like this danger, but I hate even more to rely on other people. I want to be certain of your love, but you seemed so caught up in Hitomi and Aiyuri that you didn't have time for me! Is it so much to ask for, a little bit of certainty? A small amount of caring? I love you, damn it, and I want to keep you safe! But in this world, others can do it better than I can, and I don't like feeling helpless." His voice softened and he angrily brushed away tears. "I love you, you crazy vampire. I do it for you."
Van's anger dissipated. "I didn't know that was how you felt." He looked at his feet, avoiding Kiosun's eyes. "I didn't realize how powerless you felt..." He looked up suddenly, desperate. "You should know I love you! I prove it again and again! I abdicated my throne, left my best friend, my mentor, and my cousin, and I now live with you in that gorgeous mansion. I opened my heart to you and showed you my deepest fears. I became a vampire for you! Is it fair that you continue to doubt me?"
"No. No, it's not fair. I'm sorry." Kiosun felt a great pressure release from his mind, and his head snapped up. Van had a similar reaction and their eyes met. The room turned blue and Hitomi froze.
Literally, froze. She did not blink, she did not breathe, and she stopped in mid-step. Van and Kiosun exchanged confused glances. Sending out his senses, Ki quickly realized that everyone else in the apartments nearby had also frozen...except for the blue feminine aura.
In the center of the small room, a woman appeared. She was beautiful; her skin was flawless, her features aristocratic, and her eyes slanted. Her body was perfectly proportioned, with a slender waist and curving hips. Though Kiosun had no interest in women, even he had to admit that she was aesthetically pleasing. She had dark skin and dark eyes, but her hair was a blonde so pale to seem almost white. She was surrounded by a blue aura, slightly darker than the aura that pervaded the room. Slowly she turned her icy features toward them.
"You have passed the first test. There will be more."
Kiosun edged toward Van slowly, then in a blur of motion was at his side. The woman's dark eyes followed his movement as if he stood still. "More tests?" Van asked her directly.
"You are not from this earth. You have power. You are a threat to me. I test you to judge you...are you suited for this earth? Should I allow you to live? That is what these tests decide."
"We passed the first test?" Kiosun narrowed his eyes. "What test?"
"If you could control your anger."
Van's eyes flashed dangerously. "You provoked that fight?"
The woman nodded regally. "In a manner of speaking. Those feelings were inside you...I just magnified them."
"Why are you telling us this?" Kiosun spoke this time, his voice heavy with suspicion.
"You deserve to know. And I give you a choice. You may complete the remaining tests now, all at once, or later, one at a time. The longer you wait, the worse they become. I must find out if you are a threat to me and mine."
A quick telepathic conversation took place, and both looked back at her. "We will face your tests now."
The woman bowed her head. "Very well." A shard of ice appeared in each of her hands and she raised them slowly. Van and Kiosun tensed, ready to spring aside. Faster than human eyes could move, she flung her ice shards, one at Van and Kiosun, the other at the frozen Hitomi.
To each of the young vampires, the other seemed frozen in fear. Ki made up his mind in a split second and dove for Hitomi, knocking her to the ground and taking the ice shard in his arm. Van, in his reality, threw himself in front of Kiosun, blocking the ice shard with his chest, blood dripping from his lips as it pierced his lung. The pain lasted for an eternity, then stopped completely. Van stared at his chest, flawless and unmarked by the ice shard. Slowly he glanced at Kiosun, prone on the floor in front of Hitomi, who was still standing and frozen. Kiosun picked himself up gingerly, examining his arm and finding it unwounded.
"Interesting." The woman with the blue aura said. "One spares no thought to his own safety and protects his lover, while the other carries faith in his lover and protects the innocent bystander. Neither thinks first of protecting his own skin."
She tilted her head and looked at Van. "Given a choice between staying here and going home, what would you take?"
"That's easy, I'd go home-"
"Would you? Would you go home? What if you knew that you were the only one who could go home? Kiosun, Aiyuri...both would remain behind. Would you still go?"
Van hesitated. "Well, no, not without Kiosun...Aiyuri has resigned himself to this fate, and he can live with it...I think."
The woman turned to Kiosun. "And you? Would you go home without Van and Aiyuri?"
"No. Aiyuri longs for his home too, and I saw that when he took us to Neo-Atlantis. Van is my life, and I could not return home without him."
"I see." The woman nodded to herself. "This is expected. Now, the true test..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Van gasped as the world dropped out from under him. He landed heavily in a field, hands flailing for balance. The field was full of flowers and grass, waving in a stiff breeze. Sensing danger, Van summoned his sword from the pendant and spread his wings, ready for fight or flight. (Pun intended ^_~)
The breeze grew harsh, then disappeared completely, leaving a heavy figure in its wake. "Balgus!" Van exclaimed. His mentor looked up with a horrible expression.
"You," he snarled. "Traitor! Just like your brother!"
"No," Van protested. "It's not like that, I had no choice!"
"There is always a choice! You abandoned your responsibilities and ran away to live with another man." Balgus' voice dripped with disgust. "I protected your throne for years, I would have given my life to see you rule. After all my hard work, you walk away! Your cousin showed up at my door with a report that you'd been killed fighting dragons! He said that when you visited him, you told him to rule in your place if you disappeared. You staged your death and fled your responsibilities. I suppose I should have expected it," he remarked bitterly. "Your mother had bad blood in her, and it looks like you followed in her footsteps."
The irony caused a smile to tease Van's lips. "Bad blood..." he repeated. "I guess you could say that."
"You betrayed me!" Balgus roared. "I taught you everything I knew about swords, about fighting, about ruling, and you betrayed me! Now, you die!"
Balgus charged, swinging his massive sword with a vengeance. Van stumbled back and blocked it desperately. Balgus attacked again, his eyes mad, and again Van barely blocked the blow. The fight then began in earnest, Van returning blow for blow but never landing one.
The fight was even; Balgus had experience and quite a few tricks, but Van had vampiric reflexes and speed, and a greater agility. Faster and faster, they fought, strike after strike deflected and returned. Finally, Van saw an opening in Balgus' defense, a place where if he were to strike, it would be fatal and Balgus would be unable to block him in time.
Do I take the opening? Can I kill my mentor?
Memories of seventeen years flashed through his mind, memories of when Balgus stood up for him, taught him how to fight, showed him how to rule. Balgus giving soldiers extra duties in retribution for gossiping about Folken...Balgus giving Van his first horse...Balgus, always strong and courageous, though sometimes stubborn. Could he really kill the man who raised him?
His hesitation cost him. Balgus used his moment of distraction and struck hard, shoving his sword through Van's heart. Van tasted blood on his lips and looked up at his mentor. Balgus looked down at him with tears in his eyes. "You betrayed me," he whispered, anguished. Van closed his eyes and surrendered to the darkness, feeling his heart beat one last time...
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Kiosun woke slowly, his mind gradually surfacing from darkness. He was in a familiar bed...very familiar. He was back in the bed he spent his childhood in, the bed in his father's castle.
But that's impossible...I've been away for years, I'm sure they would have gotten rid of my bed by now.
The door to his chamber opened and his old nursemaid bustled in, kneeling before the fire and adding wood to the coals. Within moments, she had a blaze going and the room warmed up. Kiosun was too stunned to speak, instead watching wide-eyed. The woman looked up, looking exactly as she had fifty years ago. Her eyes twinkled cheerfully at him as she spoke. "Is something the matter, young master?"
Vaguely he shook his head. "No...no, nothing is wrong." The words felt strange in his mouth and he ran his tongue over his teeth. Where his super sharp canines should be, he had normal, if slightly elongated teeth. Quickly he took assessment of his body.
Eyes, strength, teeth, and all my other senses...they're just as they were before my change!
"Nana?" he looked at her, eyes lost. She glanced at him, then sat on his bed.
"Aye?"
"What day is it? What year?"
She frowned at him. "Are you ill, young master?" she asked, concerned. When he shook his head, she told him the date.
"As I feared..." he said softly. She looked at him quizzically. He refused to speak more and stood up, pulling clothes from his wardrobe and dressing quickly. Nana watched him, her expression changing from mere confusion to complete bewilderment.
"Young master? Kiosun, what is wrong?"
"What do you mean? Nothing is wrong." He hesitated, hating to lie to his old nursemaid.
She shook her head stubbornly. "There is definitely something wrong. You have changed..."
He stared at the floor, pulling on a leather glove. "Changed how?" he asked softly.
"Young master...for as long as I have known you, you never once managed to match your outfit."
He flushed guiltily. She was right...before he had changed, he'd been just slightly color-blind, and had been unable to color-coordinate anything. After he'd changed, he'd had to get used to picking colors in the dark, which was very similar to being color-blind. Fifty years of practice had perfected that, and while he had no idea what was going on now, he had picked a matching outfit without problem.
"Nana...I..." He shrugged helplessly.
She muttered something and rubbed her joints, which pained her on rainy days. Speaking louder, she said, "'Tis no matter. You have an audience with your father today to greet some foreign merchants." He nodded in understanding and left the room. Stopping outside his door, he realized something.
Shit...fifty years of being away from this place...and I can't remember where to go.
"Nana?"
"Yes?" She stood behind him carrying ashes from the fireplace.
"...Could you please take me to the reception room?"
She gaped at him. Suspicion rose and she studied him carefully. Finally, she nodded and led the way to the reception room.
His father stood in front of his chair. The duchy manor was not large, and the lands that they owned were few, but it was a prosperous land and the people considered his father a king. His chair was carefully made by the people, hand carved, and it generally resembled a throne. Kiosun smiled in fondness at the powerful man in front of him and crossed the room to his own chair, far less grand than his father's but made with just as much respect. His father heard him and turned, smiling.
"Kiosun!" They embraced and sat down. The young foster child in training as a page opened the grand doors and announced the guests.
"Merchant Jamey from Fanalia and his daughter, Sara." He announced in a clear treble voice.
Fanalia? I never noticed that before.
Suddenly time stopped. Kiosun was looking at himself from the end of a long corridor, looking at his seventeen-year-old self sitting in his chair as he was introduced to the woman that changed his life forever. All along the corridor were doors, unmarked and foreboding, but at the end of the corridor was an open door, through which he was watching himself. The blue aura pervaded the corridor and the Tokyo-woman was standing next to him.
"Do you understand, Kiosun?" she asked softly, a smile playing on her lips.
"No." He answered honestly, but his voice trembled.
"I am giving you a choice. Your life was Hell, and it all started right there. I have the power to manipulate time, and I have used that to place you here. Would you like to hear your choices?"
He nodded, not trusting his voice.
"Behind each of these doors is a major event in your life. The one at the end of the corridor was your meeting with Sara. Behind that door, your meeting with Angelique. And there-" she pointed at the door at the opposite end of the hall, "that was your meeting with Van. Right now, only that end door is open, because I am giving you the chance to change your life."
"How?" he asked, curious.
"Here is your choice. I will let you change that point in your life. For one day and one night, you will have that body with all your memories intact. You may change whatever you wish during that time...you may run away, searching for a vampire to change you. You may spurn Sara and suicide. You may do anything you wish to change that point in history. After that day and that night, you will forget your previous life and continue as you would if you were still seventeen."
He stared at her in wonder. "You can do that?"
"Yes. However, I said you would have a choice. You may change your life...or you may return to where you were, on earth."
He hesitated. "Could I have time to think about it?"
"All the time in the world. When you are through thinking, call me and I will grant your wish." She disappeared.
He leaned against a door and curiously tried the doorknob. It was locked, as he expected. Glancing at the end door, he saw his body, still frozen in time.
"Choices..." he whispered to himself. "All of life is choices. How do you make the right ones?"
If he did change his life...
I could tell my father the truth. I could find a different vampire to change me, and I wouldn't be raped. I could go to Neo-Atlantis and live with my mother...
He shook his head, agonizing.
To give up all my memories...I've lived for fifty-seven...no, fifty-eight years. Through that time...
He'd been raped, abandoned, and vampire bond-broken. He'd been hunted by villagers and priests, nearly killed, and had to start over completely.
And yet...
He had lived with Angelique and Laike. He had helped Angelique and Folken find each other, raised horses on that farm, traveled widely across Gaea and greatly reduced the bandit population. He had watched Van for twelve years, yearning and finally gaining.
So, do I change the Hell I've been through at the sake of losing everything I worked for?
Suddenly he realized something important. "It's not me I should think about," he said out loud. "What about the people I helped? The money I gave to peasants for taxes, the bandits I killed to protect everyone? If I change things now...I might not ever do those things, help those people. But I hurt people too...my father and foster mother, my best friend...they all suffered because of what I became. And the people I killed when I learned how to be Vampire...they were all innocent. I could change that...I could change their lives. I could reconcile with my father, admit everything about me...Van would be fine, another vampire would find him and change him if I could not." The last thought made him uneasy, but he had more to think about that just his happiness. Van would find someone else, surely.
For a few minutes, visions of love and peace floated through his head. He would live with his father, at peace with what he became. He could change everything.
"Tokyo woman?" he called out tentatively. She appeared in front of him.
"You have decided?"
"I have."
"What will it be?"
The echoes of his answer rebounded down the hall as time resumed and his other form looked at him, eyes widening slightly. Kiosun bowed his head as he was surrounded in blue light and several tears leaked from his eyes. "I only hope I chose right..." he whispered.