Disclaimer: I do not own Owari no Seraph (Seraph of the End). I write this for your enjoyment only. This story is an alternate version of the Shibuya/Shinjuku arc with differences from the original; please refer to the footnotes at the end. I've been looking forward to finally writing Mika's side of the story since he had not made much of an appearance since chapter four of my previous fem!Yuu story. Once again, I would like to thank my beta reader, ResidentialPsycho, for her help in making this fic possible.

Chapter 6: Obsession of a Vampire Prince

October 23, 2020

Kobe, Sannomiya *1*

It's a Horseman of John! Everyone, run for your lives!" A young man screamed.

His voice caused the crowd of people he was a part of to take flight as they were once again forced to flee the city ruins where many survivors of the apocalypse who were not fortunate enough to reside within the safety of the walls had managed to scrape out a living.

For eight years, the lives of such people were consumed with the struggle to survive as adequate food, water, and medicine were scarce with many succumbing to starvation or disease.

Judging by look of things, Mikaela Hyakuya could tell that this was not the first time this small community of apocalypse survivors had been rooted from their home, if one could call it that. Yet at the same time, the blond found himself envying those humans who, despite all their difficulties, did not have to suffer the constant blood-thirst he did.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mika saw a little girl trip and land hard on the cracked concrete road while she struggled to keep up with the other humans, crying out for her mother in fear as a Horseman of John started to approach with the intention of making her a snack.

"Mommy! Somebody, help!" she cried as she brought her arms up in an attempt to shield herself before she saw a figure in white suddenly appear in front of her where there was no one before. Where he came from, the girl had no idea since he moved faster than the human eye could see, coming in between her and the monster that intended to devour her.

"My sword, drink of me…" Mikaela murmured quietly and the child watched in amazement as a thick red vine with sharp thorns emerged from the hilt of the European-style broadsword in his hand to wrap itself around his wrist, causing the blade to turn blood-red. With a single swipe, Mika easily sliced the Horseman of John in half while standing in front of the little girl to shield her from the gruesome sight as well as being splashed with blood though there was nothing he could do about the resulting bloodstains on his white attire.

It was times like these that Mika couldn't understand why vampire soldiers were required to wear white uniforms that could get dirty so easily. At least the human soldiers of the JIDA did not have to worry about such a thing. But Mika supposed the other vampires wasn't nearly as bothered by it as he was, especially the ones who had been alive much longer than him and had witnessed so much bloodshed they became desensitized to it.

After the monster chasing the crowd of humans were dead and its lifeless corpse laid out on the streets, Mika heard everyone start to cheer.

"Th-The vampires have come to help us! We're saved! Now we'll be protected by the vampires just like Osaka is!"

The blond frowned but said nothing as he slid his sword back in its sheath before offering a hand to help the young girl he had just saved back onto her feet. Mika was about to ask if she was alright when he heard a rude snicker behind him and turned to see one of his companions, a vampire with shoulder-length purple hair tied in a half-bun, approach him.

"Ha ha ha! 'Protect'…? That's funny. Who 'protects' livestock? We own them just like they own the animals they eat!" he chuckled as he flashed his fangs at the girl while giving her a predatory look.

Mika glared at his rude companion as he quickly pulled the child behind his back protectively.

"What do you want, Lacus?" he snarled. "If you're looking for a drink, you're going to have to wait until we get back to Sanguinem since our queen has strictly forbidden us to drink directly from humans."

"Pfft! What a goody-two-shoes!" the other vampire scoffed. "Pretty ironic considering that you went against orders and engaged the enemy on your own. Are you seeking to impress the queen by such a feat?"

"And what of it?" Mika shot back. "I'm not doing any of this for credit; I could care less for such triviality."

Though he and Lacus had been working together for almost three years, the two never became close or remotely friendly. In fact, they barely tolerated each other, only cooperating on missions because Queen Krul had ordered them to.

In his human life, Lacus Welt had been a former Waffen-SS soldier *2* who nearly perished when Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime fell in the mid-1940s before he had been turned into a vampire. And like his long-dead Führer *3*, Lacus looked down upon people of races he deemed "inferior". In his human life, it was the Jews and other non-Aryans he despised. Now as a vampire, it was all of humanity as a whole. At ninety-five years of age, Lacus was considered young for a vampire.

And unfortunately, his youth combined with his careless nature made it difficult for him to restrain himself from drinking a human to death, thus Mika's warning for Lacus not to touch the child he just rescued.

Before the purple-haired vampire could reply, they heard a calm but sharp voice cut in.

"That's enough, you two. We're here to gather the humans. Whatever it is you're discussing can wait until we get home."

Turning, Mika and Lacus saw another young vampire guard with neck-length black hair pulled back in a weave design, approach as he gave them both a stern look. Anyone who saw them now might assume he was acting as an older, more responsible brother trying to break up some bickering among his siblings.

"Tsk, fine! I swear, you're no fun, Rene. All work and no play make you a dull boy, you know," Lacus joked.

If he weren't already so emotionally dead inside, Rene Simms might have been annoyed at his companion's remark. Like Lacus, he too, was young by vampire standards, having lost his human life when the Nazis invaded his home country of France during WWII. And like Lacus, Rene had not been thrilled when he was assigned to watch and protect Mikaela after the blond joined the vampire guard, but dutifully obeyed his queen's orders because he knew it would not be wise to refuse.

"Never mind that," Rene said simply before turning back to Mika and the girl he knew was hiding behind his companion's back. "You there, girl. Just get back with the humans gathered over there; I'm sure your parents will be among them."

At first, the child hesitated as if she feared leaving Mika's side but the blond gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"It's ok, I'll escort her to the humans myself, Rene," Mika said as he shot Lacus a contemptuous look that told the other vampire he trusted him not to harm the girl just about as far as he could throw him.

Seeing no reason to argue, the raven-haired vampire nodded and allowed Mika to lead the child away before he himself went to the crowd of humans with Lacus accompanying him as he made an announcement.

"Listen, all! This territory will now be ruled and protected by vampires in the name of our queen, Krul Tepes! In exchange for your safety, we request the donation of your blood."

Although none of the humans were keen on the idea of providing vampires with blood or becoming their livestock, no one argued since it was a better alternative than living in constant fear of the monsters unleashed upon mankind after the apocalypse. There were even many who believed that those who perished from the virus nearly a decade ago were the lucky ones.

And in a way, Mikaela agreed with them. He knew Rene sang an old song when he promised the destitute humans that the vampires would protect them and provide everything they needed to survive in exchange for their blood, even if it was on Krul's orders. Mika knew that they weren't really being given a choice in the matter any more than he or the rest of the children in Kyoto who were captured and brought underground did the day the world fell.

"Um, Mister Vampire?"

The blond was snapped out of this thoughts when he felt a tug on his sleeve and turned to face the little girl he had just saved.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked gently.

The child blushed before pulling her dirty and worn sweater slightly off her shoulder, exposing her neck.

"Thank you for saving me back there. Um… If you want, you can drink my blood. Because it's you, I don't mind."

Mika gasped softly at the girl's offer as felt a blush creep to his cheeks. Now that he got a closer look at her, he finally noticed that she had black hair and green eyes, just like Yuichiro.

For a moment, the blond remained silent before answering.

"I appreciate the offer, child, but it isn't necessary. Please, go back to your parents. You should be safe with them."

Without waiting for the girl to answer, Mika quickly left her to hide behind a building away from the humans and other vampires. For some reason, the child he rescued reminded him of his lost orphanage sister whom he had spent the last half-decade searching for. Not a day had gone by since they parted that Mikaela had not thought of Yuichiro; she was the only reason he allowed himself to be turned into the monster he was now…

SSSSSS

October 16, 2016

"I love you, Mikaela… goodbye…"

Yuichiro's sudden confession almost made the blond boy forget the agonizing pain he was going through as her soft lips brushed against his. In all the time they had known each other, Mikaela had no idea his orphanage sister felt that way about him until it was too late and he was now at death's door.

No…he thought as he watched Yuichiro finally get up and run away. I'm glad… glad she's finally leaving this cursed prison for good…

"I love you too, Yuu-chan…" he said when his sister was finally out of earshot as he managed a weak smile before letting his head touch the floor, his cheek resting on the cold tiles. "I can now rest easy knowing that at least you are safe…"

As he felt his life's blood pool beneath him, turning the tiles crimson, Mika found himself starting to shiver and shake as if he were freezing. He knew he was likely going into shock from blood loss. Any minute now, death would surely claim him and he too, would be freed from the prison that had been his family's home for the past four years.

But fate had not been so kind to Mikaela as it was to Yuichiro and the rest of their family who now laid dead all around him along with the silver-haired vampire lord who massacred them.

Mika was about to close his eyes and resign himself to his fate when he heard a loud voice accompanied by heavy footsteps call out.

"What's going on here?!"

Turning his head slightly, the blond boy saw a small group of vampire guards approach. No doubt they had heard the commotion as well as gunshots at the gates and had come to investigate. Though vampires were not known for being emotional, the guards who showed up clearly looked shocked at seeing their fallen lord lying face down on the floor with a bullet wound in his head, his dark blood and brains splattered all over the white tiles.

"Lord Ferid! What happened here?!" one of the guards asked as he shook Ferid in an attempt to wake him while completely ignoring the corpses of the dead children surrounding them. Another guard looked around and noticed that Mika was still alive and conscious.

"Hey, this one is still breathing! Did he shoot Lord Ferid?" he asked in astonishment.

A third vampire bent over slightly to examine the dying blond boy, turning Mika onto his back.

"Doubtful," he said. "There isn't a gun in sight. Whoever did it must have gotten away. As for this one, he's as good as dead anyway. Might as well put him out of his misery."

And with that, the vampire guard withdrew his sword from its sheath and was about to end Mika's life for good when they heard a youthful, but sharp, female voice call out.

"Still your blades and your tongues!" she commanded.

"My queen!" the guards cried when they saw a pink-haired female vampire dressed in a short black dress with knee high boots who appeared no older than a girl of fourteen, make her presence known. Immediately, all three of them fell to one knee and placed their right fists over their chests in a gesture of respect for someone of her station.

But looking at her, Mika knew that appearances were deceiving when it came to vampires. For a moment, he thought the female vampire looked familiar before he suddenly remembered her as the one who led an army of vampires out into Kyoto to collect the surviving children the night of the apocalypse. He and Yuichiro had noticed her when they tried to lead their younger orphanage siblings into hiding because she stood out among the other vampires who invaded Kyoto that fateful night.

After taking a quick glance at the other children's corpses, the vampire queen knew right away that Mika was the only one alive, though barely. As she kneeled over the dying blond boy, the queen turned her head in Ferid's direction.

"Look at this mess you've made, Ferid…" she snarled, her fangs flashing. In answer, both Mika and the queen heard a chuckle as Ferid slowly stirred from his position on the floor and sat upright, draping an arm over his knee. His long silver hair was freed from its usual ponytail while his own elegant clothes were stained with blood.

Instead of asking Ferid if he was all right, Krul gave him a cold look.

"What is the meaning of this, Ferid Bathory? Explain yourself," she growled.

The silver-haired noble gave her an innocent look as he feigned hurt.

"Oh, how cruel!" he pouted. "I was just shot in the head, you know? It is only my deep love for you that gives me the strength to smile at all."

The vampire queen named Krul gave him a disgusted look.

"Ha! Love? The only thing you've ever been in love with is my power. And after all these centuries, do you still think I could be charmed by your silk tongue?"

"Heh heh, I love that too, my beautiful queen," Ferid answered with a grin and a wink, neither of which impressed her.

Krul rolled her eyes before returning her attention to Mika and frowned. From the look of things, the child had lost a lot of blood and didn't have much time left.

"What happened here, Ferid? And don't bother lying, I know you couldn't have been taken down by mere human children. You deliberately allowed them to escape. They were my seraphs. But now one is gone and the other is dying. If you have any explanation for this travesty, offer it now."

While any other vampire below Krul's station would have desperately tried to come up with a convincing story not to incur her wrath, Ferid, ever so daring, merely grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Me? If anyone owes an explanation, it is you, my queen" he began boldly, his words making the vampire guards raise a brow in curiosity as to what their lord meant.

Not wanting them to stick around long enough to find out, Krul turned to the guards and said: "Leave us. I wish to speak with Ferid alone."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the guards replied as they stood up and left without another word, not wanting to be caught up in whatever storm was brewing between Ferid and Krul.

After the guards left, Ferid continued. "Meddling with the curse of the seraphs is forbidden. To do so goes against the law of our people. Now, if I were to mention it to the Progenitor Council, then…"

Krul's ruby-colored eyes flashed dangerously, even more so than her razor sharp fangs before managing her sweetest smile.

"Hmm? I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear you. What about the Progenitor Council?"

"I said, if I tell this to the…"

Before the defiant noble could even finish his sentence, Mika's eyes widened as he saw Krul suddenly vanish from his sight before blood gushed from Ferid's side as he was knocked to the floor again with the queen standing over him, her booted foot over this exposed throat. Judging from the look of things, Mika surmised Krul had torn off Ferid's arm as well as gave him a nasty chest wound though she had moved too fast for his human eyes to see.

"Aha ha! I still couldn't hear you. Would you say it one more time?" the queen asked as she pressed her foot down on Ferid's throat a little harder, her lips curled into a sneer as she dared him to say what they both knew was on his mind.

If he were a human or even a common vampire, she could have easily crushed his throat but since Ferid was a noble, it caused him great discomfort instead. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the other vampire was planning to use his knowledge of the seraphs in Krul's possession to blackmail her.

Ferid remained silent as he gave Krul a wide-eyed stare. Even if he wanted to speak, her foot on this throat made it quite impossible so she lifted it slightly to wait for his answer.

"That was mean, Krul… I can reattach my arm, but losing it still hurts." He gagged.

"Shall I cut off your head next?" she asked sweetly.

"That would be… inconvenient. All right, I accept the loss. I will not pry into this matter any further."

Krul narrowed her eyes at her subordinate as if she wasn't convinced of his promise. As if reading her mind, Ferid continued.

"I mean it. I know I could never survive here if I dare defy you." He insisted.

"Hmph. All right. However, if I ever catch you poking your nose into this again…"

"Don't worry, I don't want to die."

"Then get out of my sight before I change my mind."

Ferid sighed but nodded in obedience as Krul stepped back and allowed him to stand. As soon as he was able, the silver-haired noble calmly walked to the other end of the hall to pick up his severed arm and waved it playfully at her.

"I'm going, I'm going! But I'll be back, Krul! You know I could never stay away from you for long since I love you sooo much!"

If it weren't for Mika's dire situation, Krul might have torn off Ferid's other arm along with his tongue for such an insolent comment but said nothing and allowed him to leave. As soon as he was gone, she knelt over the dying blond boy again and Mika thought he saw concern as well as pity in her eyes that made him think he must be hallucinating from the blood loss.

After all, vampires were supposedly incapable of feeling, let alone expressing such things, or so he heard.

"Boy, can you hear me? I'll be blunt since you don't have much time left. The others are dead; there is nothing I can do for them. But you, at least, still have a chance. If I leave you here, you'll die. Or, you can live on, young always, as you are now..."

The queen did not elaborate further but Mikaela knew exactly what she implied.

"No…" he answered weakly. "Just leave me be; I want to be with my family."

Krul smirked. "Family? What about that other boy who just got away? Are you just going to take the easy way out and leave him to his fate? You have no idea what lies beyond that gate, child. What kind of life would your brother have out there? Don't you want to live so you can save him?"

Mika swallowed nervously as his thoughts returned to Yuichiro and he realized that Krul had a point. There was nothing either of them could do for Akane and the others but Yuichiro, at least was still alive. He had promised to protect her, to give her a life away from Sanguinem, and take her to America like she had always wanted. How could he do any of that if he died right here and now?

Looking the vampire queen in the eye, Mikaela changed his answer.

"Yes…" *4*

As soon as she had his consent, the queen gave him a smile that was not condescending like the one she gave Ferid.

"A wise choice…" Krul said as she prickled her tongue with the tip of her fang slightly to make it bleed before hovering over the blond boy, her knees on each of his sides, taking care not to make his chest injury worse before pressing her lips to his.

Mika's eyes widened and he felt the sudden urge to gag when the vampire queen forced his mouth open with her tongue and let her blood pour down her throat, the coppery taste making him want to vomit though he resisted the urge to do so.

I'm doing this for Yuu-chan…he thought weakly before he felt a horrible searing pain coursing through his veins, his bones, his everything. It felt like fire had seeped into his skin and was invading every single crevice of his body that it could work itself into. The boy screamed, his wounded body arched off the floor and writhed with each agonized wail that escaped his lips.

As he felt the queen's icy lips on his, Mika's pupils dilated until they nearly eclipsed the blue of his irises and Krul had to use her vampiric strength to hold him down so that he wouldn't hurt himself further before his body began to change and heal.

Thus ends the first life of Mikaela Hyakuya…

And begins another…

SSSSSS

October 24, 2020

Third Vampire City, Sanguinem

Walking with quiet, cat-like steps, Mikaela arrived at the huge Sanguinem auditorium after returning from Kobe. Before his arrival, the blond had made sure to shower and change into a clean uniform along with the other vampire guards who were currently guarding all the exits. All around him, vampire nobles of various ranks were gathered to await an important announcement from their queen. If not for Ferid waving to catch his attention, Mika would have chosen to remain at one of the doors since he didn't want to be noticed by anyone.

Unfortunately, though he tried to make his entrance as subtle as possible, there was little that escaped Ferid's notice. Especially when came to Mikaela himself. Not wanting the noble to make a scene by calling out to him, Mika approached Ferid who was sitting alone at one of the auditorium balcony railings though he did not sit down himself, choosing to remain standing a few seats down from the vampire lord who was once his benefactor. After what Ferid had put him through, the young blond did not want to be anywhere near him but stayed close enough so that he would be satisfied.

Even though she was some distance away, Krul's sharp eyes caught sight of Mikaela and she smiled as if she were waiting for him to arrive before approaching the podium and making her announcement.

"My brethren, I thank you for gathering here today. As you know, I have summoned you all here to warn of an impending danger to our kind. Over the last decade, the humans have secretly risen to power by meddling with the forbidden magic we all know as 'Seraph of the End' to expand their territories. More specifically, it is a human organization called the Japanese Imperial Demon Army that has been running rampant north of Tokyo. Even now, they still refuse to learn from their mistakes and the world could once again be in danger if we stand by and do nothing."

Although he did his best to maintain his composure, Mika could not help repressing a shudder when the queen mentioned the seraph experiments. It was because of them that ninety percent of the human race had been wiped out overnight. The only reason he was standing here now was because he, Yuichiro, and the rest of their orphanage brothers and sisters had been children the night the virus struck. Now that Mikaela was a vampire himself, he would undoubtedly survive if a plague of such magnitude were to happen again. But Yuichiro would not be as fortunate so he knew he had to speed up the search for his sister before it was too late.

While the blond was lost in his thoughts, Krul continued.

"And that is why I have made the decision to declare war on the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. For the sake of the world and its stability, we must destroy them and put an end to their blasphemous experiments once and for all! Now, who's with me?!"

In answer, the other nobles clapped, cheered, and gave their eager approval. Even the guards joined in. All except Mika. He could care less about the rest of the remaining humans (or vampires). His mind was on one person only, his only reason for being.

"My love…" he murmured as he placed a fist over his heart, "Wait for me, I'm coming to your rescue."

Though Mikaela's words were barely above a whisper and he deliberately avoided mentioned Yuichiro's name, Ferid's sharp hearing easily picked them up as if he had shouted them across the room. He knew exactly who the boy was talking about and hid a smirk behind the hand on which he rested his cheek.

So far, everything was going according to his careful plan…

SSSSSS

After the assembly had ended, Mikaela, who was glad to finally put some distance between Ferid and himself, left the auditorium to head back to Krul's palace where his living quarters were. Only the guards and servants who worked at the queen's residence were permitted to live there as well. The only exception was Mikaela, who usually worked outside the palace as he was often sent on missions beyond Sanguinem. But because he was the adopted son of Krul Tepes as well as her favorite knight, Mika was permitted to live within the luxury of the queen's palace though he actually cared little for such extravagance.

Because of his youth, he was not looked favorably upon by the other vampire guards as well as the nobles who had served Krul for decades or centuries. Even the other human children who remembered him from when he was one of them looked at him with contempt whenever they saw him walk in the city streets as he completed his rounds with Lacus and Rene.

With his sharp, vampiric hearing, Mika's ears easily picked up the subtle cruel insults they muttered under their breaths that they would never dare say to his face. The same was true of the other vampires, nobles and guards alike. Mika knew they had no love for him, only tolerating him because he was openly favored by Krul (and Ferid).

Even so, having their favor did not make Mika's life any easier. For the other vampires, especially Lacus and Rene, hated him with bitter jealousy. They would often call him the "Queen's pet" or at best, her adopted son. But they would never honor Mikaela by calling him "Prince." Whether it was out of envy or contempt for him as a recently turned vampire, the blond did not know.

Nor did he care.

On his way back to the palace, Mika found himself taking a different route than he normally did. Whether out of boredom or just because he wanted to avoid running into the other vampire guards, he wasn't sure. But this particular road seemed familiar to him and it wasn't long before he realized that it was the one he took when returning from Ferid's mansion after a night of "donating" blood to the noble and taking his reward home hidden in a bag he disguised as trash to avoid drawing the attention of the older livestock children.

Looking ahead, the blond recognized one of the houses as the one he and his family used to live in and noticed that the lights were on inside. Although it was not something he would normally do, Mika knocked on the door, curious to see if anyone was living there now.

After a moment of waiting, the door opened and he saw a young boy who was no older than eight or nine years old, the age Aiko, his youngest sister, would have been now. Although he had not seen him in years, Mika recognized him as one of the kids who used to live in another house down the street with his own family of orphaned kids.

"Mika? Is that you?" he asked nervously. *5*

The blond smiled. Seeing a familiar face somehow lightened his grim heart.

"Yes, it's me, Yoshi. I know it's been a long time, but I'm glad you remember me even though I'm like…this now."

"Of course, I remember! You've always been so nice to us! You used to give us candies though you never did tell us where you got them."

Mika was silent for a moment as he remembered that the candies he gave Yoshi and his family were often the ones Yuichiro and Akane didn't like. And since anything editable in Sanguinem was too precious to simply throw away, the blond would simply give them to anyone who wanted them.

"It was my pleasure…" he said. "Have you been living here a while?"

"A few years," Yoshi answered. "I heard you and the other Hyakuya kids disappeared and when this house became empty, my sister moved me and our other siblings here since it's bigger than our other house. What happened to you, Mika?"

Mikaela's breath hitched in his throat at the sudden question before answering.

"It's a long story, Yoshi and I don't want to bore you. I'm happy to see you again though I regret that I don't have anything for you this time."

Before Yoshi could tell Mika that he didn't mind, they both heard an angry female voice coming from behind him.

"Yoshi! What did I tell you about opening the door for strangers?!"

Turning, Yoshi saw his older sister, a fifteen-year-old girl named Akira, with her hands on her hips giving both him and Mika a glare before coming over to grab the younger boy by the arm and pulling him behind her. The older girl's actions reminded Mikaela of when he and Yuichiro first met while she was playing in her parents' yard. And how her mother, who also didn't want Yuu associating with Mika, dragged her back inside the house by the arm before giving him a glare to scare him away.

"Akira, please, you know that I would never harm Yoshi…" he began.

For a moment, Akira blinked before her eyes widened and she recognized the blond boy who used to be her neighbor when he was human.

"Mikaela Hyakuya! So it's true what the other kids say, that you're now a vampire who serves the queen! You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here! What do you want?!"

"I don't 'want' anything," Mika answered. "I was just curious to see who lives in my old home now."

"And what's it to you? This place has been empty since the rest of the Hyakuya kids disappeared so you have no right to complain if we take it for ourselves!" Akira snapped before giving the blond a suspicious look. "Come to think of it, what happened to Yuichiro and the others? Did you betray them to the fangs to become a vampire yourself, so you can enjoy the queen's favor and the luxuries that come with it?"

Mikaela found himself staring at the girl who used to be his neighbor incredulously. He knew he shouldn't be surprised that she would ask such a thing since Krul and Ferid had made sure to cover up the incident with the Hyakuya orphans as well as swear the vampire guards who rushed to Ferid's aid that night to secrecy. Even so, Akira's words still cut deep.

"Do you really believe that, Akira? I've never known you to be so judgmental. Despite what you think, that is not what happened. But since you've already decided that you won't believe anything I say, I see no reason to explain myself any further. Good night."

And without another word, Mikaela turned and left the house that was once his home, to their new residents for his living quarters at the palace.

Although he was now an expert at masking his emotions, the younger girl's words had wounded him deeply. Especially since he had literally risked everything to get his family out of Sanguinem to freedom and lost his human life when their attempt failed. On top of that, he was also rumored to have betrayed them himself, a grave injustice. Not only did the other vampires look upon Mikaela with contempt, but also the humans who once knew him as well.

Not like it matters… he thought sadly. I can't change what happened or what others think of me. Nor do I care enough to try. All that matters now is finding Yuu-chan and getting away from this God-forsaken place…

Footnotes:

1. Sannomiya is the biggest downtown area of the city of Kobe, in the Kansai region of Japan.

2. The Waffen-SS was the armed wing of the Nazi Party's SS organization. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. Judging from Lacus' surname and attitude, I assume he's of German decent and could have been a former Nazi in his human life.

3. "Führer" is a German title meaning "leader" or "guide" that is now most associated with Adolf Hitler. The word Führer in the sense of guide remains common in German, but because of its strong association with Nazi Germany, it comes with some stigma and negative connotations when used with the meaning of leader. The word "Leiter" is therefore used instead.

4. In canon, Mikaela actually wanted to die. But in my AU, he chooses to live by whatever means necessary because of his desire to rescue Yuichiro.

5. The scene where Mika visits his old home and finds a new family living there is anime-only. He actually doesn't know them but for my fic, he does and I gave them a bit of history to make things interesting.