Lazaraus cold feel the warm, pleasant rays of the sun touch his skin as he lay in someone's bed. Slowly he opened his eyes to the world and the light came flooding back into them, blinding him for a moment.
"I see that you are finally awake." Came a sweet and familiar voice, one which Lazaraus recognized instantly. Sitting up from the bed running his hands hair through his obsidian black hair, "How are you doing, Haruka? It has been along time hasn't it?" he said his voice sore from previous night's battle.
"Hey, it has been a while old friend, still in the family business I see." She said her cigarette in her mouth pointing towards his guns and holster that lay on the floor next to him and his large silver Katana. "Yeah I never thought that it would take this long but I promise I'll buy that drink that I owe you." He said looking her straight in the eyes, a little ashamed that he was able to keep the promise that they had made so long ago.
"I hear that you and Seta finally got married." Lazaraus asked as he continued to stare at into her eyes. "Yeah" she blushed remembering the whole shotgun wedding at the temple in Todai. "Well, speaking of romances, I see that Motoko has a crush on you." She commented smiling as he blushed at her comment.
"What makes you think?" he asked nervously. "Well she volunteered her room for you to stay tonight." She commented as she slowly walked across the room, as Lazaraus looked around the room he saw that indeed this had to be Motoko's room, especially after he saw the entire samurai armor that was placed neatly in one corner.
"Well I must say that I'm impressed, you've been here on night an already you managed to get yourself stabbed." Came Seta's voice from the door of the room. "Yeah you know me I have a knack for getting into trouble." Answered Lazaraus, his voice getting progressively strong every time that he spoke. "Now how exactly are you going to explain this little incident to the house?" Haruka added as walked over and kissed Seta lightly in the cheek, making him blush slightly.
"Yeah that is going to be a problem." Seta added "Especially trying to explain that little stabbing incident." Seta said pointed towards Lazaraus's chest, where no trace of the terrible injury that had been there last night remained. "Yeah that is going to be a very strange conversation, but I'm going to have to tell them the truth just like I told all four of you back in the Del Oro mines." He said as he rose slowly from his bed, his favorite black jeans still on him, and not a single trace of blood on them.
"Well let us get this meeting underway, the sooner we finish this the sooner I can prepare, who knows maybe it will end with me." he said as he grabbed a blood red dress shirt from his luggage and put it one, walking out of the room, followed closely by Seta and Haruka as they all made there way down stairs where the others waited for an explanation of last night's events.
"This is isn't an easy thing to have to explain.." Lazaraus began as he let his voice trail off a bit. Everyone was at the table including Haruka, Seta, and the young Sarah. All eyes were on Lazaraus to see what sort of explanation he could possibly think up to explain the mess that he had gotten them into.
Letting out a powerful sigh, Lazaraus began to speak once again, " I am sorry to have to tell you this but I have not been completely honest with you." He said bowing his head in shame. "What do you mean? Lazaraus, if that is your real name." Keitaro asked the suspicion in his voice think and heavy from lack of sleep. "Yes, that is my name, is has been so since the day I was born, 200 years ago. But I must admit, I was not born an ordinary human, in fact I'm not human at all." Lazaraus stopped letting what he had said sink into the minds of those who did not already know his secrets.
"I like my father have taken the job as one of the Shadow Guardians; we are a group of 5 immortals, who are sworn to protect humans from the darkness that lives in the world around them." He said having to stop; knowing that is wasn't possible for any of them to believe any of what he had just said.
"You must be full, of it, although the whole immortal thing makes sense, after the punches and falls that I have seen Urishima survive it is quite possible that immortals are real, but what exactly were those things which attacked us here." Motoko spoke for the first time since Lazaraus had come down from her bedroom, and everyone in the room was taken aback at how easily she accepted Lazaraus answer.
"They were vampires, followers of the vampire king Augustian to be exact." Lazaraus said, rising from the table, and beginning to pace slowly. "He was a vampire during the Roman Empire and became so powerful that he almost controlled the world although he was sealed away before that was able to happen.
This happened a little over three thousand years ago." Lazaraus voice had become low and powerful, like that of a storyteller telling a story for the hundredth time, "If this vampire thing was sealed away then why are his followers trying to kill us." Naru asked the fear betrayed by her voice. "That is my fault, I believe." Seta chimed in, "I found his tomb several years ago, and somehow released it, if it wasn't for Lazaraus here, Haruka, Sarah, my late wife and I would all be very much dead, or worse." Seta said his eyes clouding over as he remembered memories which he had tried to forget.
"Well yes that how I met Seta, but I don't think that Augustian had any idea that even I was here let alone any of you, I think that he was after something else entirely." Lazaraus said still circling the table in his blood red dress shirt and baggy black jeans.
"There after the Hinata blade!" screamed Motoko rising from her chair as she did so. "Exactly" Lazaraus said turning to face Motoko. Both could not help but blush at each other as they locked eyes, and Sarah, Shinobu and Su could not help but giggle even through the serious of the matter at hand.
"But why, would they be after the Hinata blade." Keitaro asked, breaking the awkward silence which had formed between Lazaraus and Motoko. "Well that's a no brainer, it's a cursed blade, he wants its power." Kanako said, smiling at herself for knowing what he did not when it came to family sword. "Kanako is exactly right, and I am pretty sure that there going to try again tonight."
*Author's notes: Well his another installment of my little adventure in fan fiction, I have to thank Baka-Alaskan for his reviews, and I am glad that you are sticking with my story even though you are not a large fan of vamps. As always R&R and fell free to tell me if the story is getting too chessy and I know that Motoko is acting OOC, but I promise that I won't take it too far. Until next time.*