Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of its characters. I've gathered Vampire facts around the web so therefore I take no credit on that part, but I do own the plot.

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Chapter Four

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Kaoru followed quickly and silently beside the Vampire Lord to catch up with his swift strides down the stone halls toward what she could only assume was the Ceremonial Room. She couldn't help but gulp at the thought of the reason why they were heading there for. In a matter of a few minutes she was going to be married to a Vampire and hold the title of the Queen of the world.

The thought of ruling others and having to deal with the prejudice of the Vampire society didn't exactly sound pleasing to her at the moment. She couldn't lead a group of chickens back to their nests let alone an entire world!

The 17-year-old tilted her head slightly to look at Battousai, the eldest of the Damned, and found herself seeing him in a whole new light, figuratively speaking of course. The seemingly young king had to be something to control every single human and Vampire on the planet without any trouble whatsoever from his people. She could faintly recall her grandfather saying that rebellious groups stopped forming after the first decade when their king killed entire villages with one sweep of his sword.

Kaoru shuddered at the thought and was thankful that Battousai hadn't noticed, or rather ignored, the sudden movement from her as they walked deeper into the Castle.

Taking comfort in the blue illuminations that came from her new sapphire pendant around her neck, Kaoru smiled slightly and was grateful for the torches that lit the corridors. If it weren't for them, then she wouldn't have been able to see the color of her pendant at all. She tried to remember what Battousai had called her pendant, and finally, after a few minutes walking, she remembered that hers was called Amaterasu's Pendant and that Battousai's was named after Akuma.

A flash of red caught her eye and she froze in her tracks as she stared at Battousai's right hand. She could have sworn that she had seen something glitter when he moved his hand slightly toward the fire-lit torches. It was a single flicker of red, but she knew it couldn't have been from the Vampire's red clothing.

"What's the delay?" demanded the cold voice of the Ruler of Earth while he turned around to face his future bride.

His amber eyes followed her gaze and landed on his right wrist.

Kaoru took an unconscious step back when she saw a smirk touch Battousai's lips. She might not have been with him for long, but she knew that when the Vampire smirked--and his eyes matched it--his next actions were going to benefit him in some way. For some reason, she wanted to run, but willed herself not to, lest she get in trouble, or worse, lost in a castle full of Vampires.

"Looking at this?" asked Battousai instead as he raised his right hand to her, allowing her to see the silver chain-band around his wrist.

In one fluid motion, he turned his hand over and revealed to her a ruby looking crystal in the center of his palm. The wrist band was what had kept the pendant from falling from his hand.

Before Kaoru could truly admire the precious stone, the Vampire Lord grabbed her own right hand in his left and nearly dragged her down the corridor once more.

"Their true beauty will be revealed soon enough," reassured Battousai with a grin as he tugged at her hand to make her walk faster.

Kaoru hastened her steps and could feel her self blushing from the looks she was receiving from the servants that were working in the area. She had to admit that it must have been odd for them to see their master holding hands with a human of all creatures in the castle.

Seeing the servants get back to work a second later, Kaoru noticed that the deadly gaze of their king was what had made them stop staring and finish their tasks. Even if she wasn't the direct target of his stare, she could still feel its effects and shivered. She seemed to be doing more of that ever since she came to Battousai's palace.

The couple walked on for a while more, and it was only when the Vampire had stopped in front of a pair of black doors that he let go of his captive's hand.

Battousai turned to face his future queen and spoke seriously in a commanding tone, "Do not speak while we're inside unless I tell you to, understood?"

Not knowing what else to do, Kaoru nodded.

Pushing open the pair of doors with ease, Battousai led the way in, his boots clicking and echoing through the entire room as he walked on the marble flooring.

The moment that Kaoru uneasily stepped inside, the doors immediately shut behind her, making her jump from the sudden action. She gulped nervously when she saw that Battousai was waiting for her in the center of the room. With slow and steady steps, Kaoru walked over to him and noticed that he was standing before a podium and staring at what looked like an empty black book. The pages were all black and completely bare of any color except for the gold that surrounded their edges.

"Stand across from me," ordered Battousai, not bothering to look up from the book to see if Kaoru was doing as he had instructed.

Kaoru watched on curiously as the Vampire moved his right index finger toward his mouth and touched the tip of it with his right fang. Her eyes widened slightly as black blood came out of his finger instead of red like all other humans and Vampires. Her lungs almost stopped functioning when she witnessed Battousai use his bleeding finger to create a star shape on the right blank page in the center of the book. She watched in wonderment as words began to appear on the page in his black blood. At the bottom of the page was a dotted line where his unmistakable signature and seal were designed over it.

"Repeat my actions for the Vampire Marriage Record Book, except with your left finger," said Battousai as he turned the book so that it was facing her.

Kaoru eyed the blank page uncertainly for a few seconds before she took in a deep breath and raised her left finger to her sharpest canine tooth and bit down until she tasted blood in her mouth.

Mimicking Battousai's movements on the left page, Kaoru sucked on her bleeding finger when she saw words in red begin to appear on the page. She could only stare when she saw her signature being neatly written at the bottom of the page and an unrecognizable seal appeared next to it, although she could have sworn that she had seen it somewhere before.

Just as the page was complete, the book closed itself and the dim torches in the room went out, only to come back to life again, albeit this time using flames of black as their source of light.

Kaoru could only stare when she realized that the podium and book were both gone and everything was surrounded in darkness. Was this supposed to be a part of the ceremony?

Startled when a hand held her left one, Kaoru froze still when she realized she was able to make out Battousai's amber eyes in the dark. She felt her breath catch when a scarlet glow from the pendant in his right hand showered the room in red, her own hand seemingly turning crimson from touching Akuma's pendant as well. Her eyes were averted from the scene when she looked down at her chest and noticed that Amaterasu's necklace was also shining a brilliant blue.

The teenager could only watch amazed as Battousai intertwined his fingers in hers and then moved their cupped hands forward so that their hands were horizontal and pointing at a diamond-forged pot that appeared out of nowhere.

A wave of warmth rushed through her veins and she could feel a ripple of coldness sweep through her entire being afterwards. The sensation repeated itself and this time she could feel the warmth and coldness rush to her left hand as the pendants began to blaze to life with an internal flame that had finally been heated and burned.

Kaoru closed her eyes for a second as the addictive feeling came again and again, opening her eyes when she felt something shift within her. This time, when she opened her eyes, what she saw was much more than breathtaking, it was absolutely mystifying. A swirl of red and blue streamed out of her hand that held Battousai's and the two combined to make a violet tornado. The force of the purple twister moved deadly fast toward the crystal pot, and upon impact, the diamond pot shattered into a million pieces all around the room.

The diamond shards began to glitter beautifully as the glow of the couple's pendants touched them while they floated to the marble floor. They were completely surrounded in a room filled with red and blue, which would turn violet when the colors mixed.

"I told you their true beauty would be revealed," said Battousai, his voice softer than before as he squeezed her hand before letting go.

Kaoru smiled at his comment in agreement, but frowned when Akuma and Amaterasu's pendants stopped their display of colors and left them in the dark.

"Come, we should have finished by now," said Battousai as he turned and walked toward the pair of doors they had previously entered.

Remembering the third rule Battousai had placed upon her to follow at all times, Kaoru looked at the dark room one last time before following her husband outside to the awaiting Crimson Guards.

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The General of the Crimson Guards glared at his Captain as Yukishiro Enishi took his time in getting to the doors of the Ceremonial Room. His usually calm, chocolate depths were filled with anger as the white-haired Vampire walked over and gave him a respectful bow as it was expected from him.

"What are you trying to kill with your eyes?" questioned Enishi as he took his post beside the door that his superior wasn't at.

"You should have returned after you dropped off the girls. I smell blood, Enishi, so don't bother to make excuses about where you've been. Your orders were to return back as soon as possible. What if we had to go out and get another batch of humans?" demanded Sano, clearly annoyed at the other Vampire's actions.

Rolling his eyes, Enishi simply adjusted his spectacles on his nose and said calmly, "I was going off of your idea that this girl--what's her name?--was the one. You said so yourself that she was most likely going to be the one. As you can see, you didn't bring her to the Sakura, which meant that she was and is the one His Majesty has been looking for."

"You know, you're always a lot more laid back after a drink, but after you get over your rush, you're going to realize that you missed the introduction of our future–-no present queen. Lord Battousai won't be too happy when he finds out why you missed such an important thing, Enishi. You even missed the chance to see what he had given to her as a wedding gift," said Sano, his grin growing larger as the Captain of the Crimson Guards grew paler.

"How long have they been inside?" Enishi asked almost desperately, finally collecting himself as he stood up straight.

"Almost half an hour and the last I checked the Wedding Ceremony wasn't supposed to last this long. You're lucky that Lord Battousai and Lady Kaoru haven't come out yet. His Majesty would have been furious that you had disrespected the acknowledgment of his queen," said Sano smugly, loving the feel of making the other Vampire squirm.

"Lady Kaoru? You mean…she has the same name as Princess Kaoru of the Royal Family?" questioned Enishi as his brows knitted together at the thought.

General Sagara Sanosuke nodded, and before Enishi could throw him another one of his theories, the black doors of the Ceremonial Room began to open. The two had immediately went still and straight when they realized their king was coming out.

When their king and queen were both out of the dark room, the two Vampires walked in front of the couple and bowed low as the doors to the Ceremonial Room closed on their own.

"At ease," said Battousai as he made a motion with his hands for them to straighten up.

The two members of the Crimson Guards looked over at their queen and couldn't help but notice the pendant around her neck and her flushed face. It was obvious that something else went on inside the room besides the Wedding Ceremony.

"I leave the problems of my people to you to handle tonight, General Sagara, and you shall assist him Captain Yukishiro," said Battousai flatly as he walked past them with his wife at his side.

"As you wish, milord," chorused the two as they turned and bowed toward his retreating figure. They knew that Lord Battousai would have known if they hadn't and risking one's life for such a careless mistake was idiotic.

"Something definitely went on in there that wasn't supposed to," said Enishi suspiciously when he was certain that the king could not hear him.

After a few seconds of thinking, he turned his attention back on his general.

"Don't look at me, the sound barrier around the room made sure that nothing could be heard in or out of the room," said Sano as he shrugged his shoulders and went in the opposite direction of his king and queen.

"Where are you going?" asked Enishi as he caught up to the taller Vampire.

"To do as I was told, take care of our lord's people's problems while he's getting to know our lady better," said Sanosuke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and maybe it was after Battousai's orders. The King's words were law after all.

Sighing, Enishi fell behind Sano as they made their way toward the King's Working Room, where they were sure that a pile of issues from the other noble Vampires and human leaders were awaiting them.

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