Not much to say this time.
Enjoy :3
R&R
THE MOON THAT EMBRACES THE SUN
Chapter IV
Anima dei gemma
Kaname awoke in a sudden jolt - bolting straight out of the bed and into the nearest bathroom, to wash away the lingering nightmare that invaded his conscious thoughts. He could idly hear the roaring thunder approach the manor; meticulously rumbling in beat with the 'zap' of the lightning bolts - just outside the windowsill. Flashes of light invaded the darkened room for the minute of instances, following in successive patterns one right after the other, creating a spectral glare across the boy's defined features.
Actinolite green glared at the reflection before him.
Droplets of cool water slid across his face, gliding toward the tip of his chin - forgotten - as he continuously gazed at his own form through the looking-glass. The image before him flashed with a crashing lightning blade, distorting his appearance - to an indisputable degree - into that of the man he had recently met.
An incoming fist slammed hard against the glass; an audible 'crack' reaching his eardrums.
He hated it.
Hated, with every fiber of his being, to be reminded that he was his son.
Frustration piled up within him, boiling his blood.
Out of the blue, a woman's image came to mind; her face, long since forgotten in olden, happy days.
"Your Father is a wonderful man, Kaname."
No he wasn't.
"He tends to have his ups and downs, but deep within his heart, he truly is a gentle person."
There wasn't a single thing that could make him a gentleman.
"You remind me so much of him."
What part of him could she have possibly confused with him?
"Your existence is the living proof that our love was true."
"No, Mother," he clenched his fists, shoulders slumping as he rested his forehead against the glass, "That's not true. A man like him, could never feel an ounce of love toward someone like you."
He knew that then, and the proof of it lay within him now.
A trembling hand reached out to cover his right eye.
'After all...'
His actinolite eyes were set ablaze within the enveloping darkness - prominent green appearing to give an incandescence of its own.
'I've already seen what lies in his past.'
~S.O.V~
"Hand him over, Honeydoll, and no one gets hurt. Capisci?" Teddy's crooked smile, gave no indication, whatsoever, that his intentions were anywhere near good. Torn strings hung slightly ajar from the seam of its lips, giving the bear an impishly sadistic form.
Kanato, standing just behind the counter, remained frozen in his own stupefaction, observing the bear with wide eyes.
There was no way...For Teddy to be alive? How could that be?!
Clasping the child closer to her, Regina stared at the bear apprehensively - bewildered by its outrageous demand. She had no idea why the bear wanted to take Luka from her her, but she'd rather not stick around to find out.
"I won't give you my brother," She discreetly took a step backward, and - mimicking her foolishness - the bear took a step forward.
"You think you've got anywhere to run, Honeydoll?"
"T-Teddy," Kanato approached the bear from behind, hesitant of his actions as voice trembled with disbelief, "I-Is it really...you?"
Rotating its head in place to a complete 180, Teddy's lifeless - beady - eyes, glared at the male with something akin to annoyance, "What'cha think, stupid?"
The tone of voice with which he responded, reminded Kanato of Ayato's own condescending responses.
All of his previous affliction went out the window, at that moment, immediately replaced with a pout of discontent.
"Who do you think you're calling stupid?" His pale cheeks were flushed red, lips pursing in a visible pout as tears welled on the corner of his mauve eyes.
"Didn't you hear me the first time, bakaaa~*?" Teddy's response came with a disdainful streak, annoying the fuming Kanato to no end.
Regina, taking advantage of the conversation between possessed bear and vampire, opted in escaping the kitchen and quickly as possible.
Without so much as a flash of hesitation in her morganite gaze, she bolted straight toward the wooden door that lead into the hallway - closest to the living room. If she did manage to escape before the bear took notice of their absence, the first person she could depend on would be her Father, however, she had absolutely no idea where his exact bedroom was located.
She mildly shook her head, pressing Luka's face closer to her neck so as to keep him away from the bear's influence.
This wasn't the time to think. First she had to get out of there, then she would-!
Her escape came to an abrupt end when, out of nowhere, the gleaming knife shot straight at her - snipping the back of her nightgown - restraining the torn cloth against the wall. Regina struggled with one arm to release the piece of cloth, while still holding onto the boy; mildly afraid of ripping the entire gown off her body.
"Ugh..." Regina grimaced, realizing that the bear had her cornered.
"You think you can escape me, Honeydoll?" Teddy smirked, rotating its head back in place, approaching the frightened girl with every step of its diminutive stuffed legs, "I will have the Kid, even if I have to chop your arms off to get him!"
Regina released a blood-curdling scream as the bear lunged at her.
~S.O.V~
Not wanting to return to the bedroom and recall all that he had attempted to forget, Kaname thought it better to walk for the meantime and in the process, familiarize himself with his surroundings. He had already memorized, by sight alone, where each room was located, where each hall lead, who slept where, and what times the sun would alight the building in the right direction.
Though sunlight had no effect on them (and least not in the way the movies portrayed), their true forms (and sordid intentions) were better concealed in the dark. What often perplexed him, though, was the difference between a dhampyr, a pure-blood, and a half-blood. Though essentially the same, their form was much more particular - at least, that was something he read...somewhere.
Stopping dead in his tracks, Kaname idly glanced out the window.
Rain ceaselessly splattered against the glass, blurring out the image of the dread-painted world.
The thunderstorm roared in the distance, like a beast rattling within its own cage, cracking loudly against the sky.
The familiarity of the ambiance brought forth his dream's sequence, incidentally, without him intending to to recall.
A little white cottage, decorated in nothing but simple flowers, laid upon a hilltop - overlooking the vast forest beneath. Though in no way opulent or extraordinary, to him, it was like the idyllic Eden for their small family of six. It was in want of nothing. I lacked nothing. Except, perhaps, the Paternal presence.
Sitting alongside his hyperactive younger brother and conceited sister, Kaname's attention was diverted toward the beautiful woman before him.
Pale blonde hair fell across her back in elegant waves, her deep morganite eyes enhancing the kindness of her being - yet, with a frail constitution, inner light constantly flickered like a fading candle. In her arms, she held the youngest addition, a little sister, of white hair and ruby eyes; who, with much excitement, pressed her ear against the swell of the woman's belly, listening for the heartbeat of their soon-to-come, little brother.
Though he could not see her face, he could tell her smile was just as warm as the Summer sun.
Yes.
His Mother was just as warm as the sun.
But amidst his newfound Eden, he found something missing.
Something crucial.
Where was his eldest sister?
The image blurred from one moment to the other. Before he realized it, he found himself away from the house, traversing through a fog-filled field of tombstones.
"Nee-san! Nee-san, wait for me!" he called out, running after her sylphlike form. Raven strands billowed with the passing breeze, glimmering beneath the rays of the descending sun. Her form, within a sea of mist and fog, became almost ethereal, like beholding the sublime existence of the Fairy Queen, leading him to Tír na nÓg*.
Huffing, he followed after her, crossing the thick bushes that served as a makeshift barrier, dividing the forest and field from one another. Vision blurred by the density of the fog, Kaname accidentally tripped over a protruded stone that lay hidden beneath the coiled, withered vines at the entrance of the woods.
In the distance, he could hear his mother's cries, however, the passing wind muffled the coherence of her screams as he continued to blindly follow the girl, who - like a stringed puppet - continued in her path.
"Nee-san!" His heart was beating loudly against his chest, "Nee-san! Where are you going?!"
There was no direct answer from her, only silence, as her steps increased the distance between them.
He wanted to run after her, to stop her, to bring her back, but he found himself incapable of moving.
Behind him, the distinct sound of his mother's franctic steps reached his ears, before he felt his body held by two slender arms - enveloped tightly across his chest.
"Mommy," Kaname glanced at the faceless woman.
"Don't go into the forest," his mother whispered, tremulous voice dripping with fear, "Don't ever go into the forest..."
"But, Nee-sama, she-!"
He tried to struggle free from the blonde's grasp, but was unable to as she buried her face into his shoulder.
"Listen to me..You mustn't go in there...If you do..."
"You'll never return..." he muttered to himself, lost in deep thought.
The dream had been so vivid, so real, that for the briefest of moments, he thought he had been stuck in the complexity of his own nightmare.
Thankfully, that wasn't the case.
However...
His thoughts went astray, leaving him vulnerable within the thunderous halls.
Out of nowhere, an arm coiled itself around the boy's shoulders; signature black fedora-hat, easily visible through the corner of his eyes.
"Hey, Hey," A childish, yet deep, voice called out beside him, sending chills throughout his spine, "What are we looking at~? Kaname-kyun~"
"Noth-" Kaname jerked backward when he felt the vampire blow hot air against his ear.
"Aw...Does Daddy make you shiver~?" Laito's wicked smirk at the word 'Daddy' infuriated Kaname to no end.
"Get the hell off of me!" Kaname removed the man with one quick swing of his arm, his entire muscles tensed - like that of a hissing cat.
"What's wrong, Kaname-kyun~?" Mirth shone behind those Olive-green eyes, "Don't you want to have a good talk with Daddy dearest~?"
"No." Kaname's tension decreased visibly, his annoyance masked by faceted indifference, "I have nothing to say to you, nor do I believe you have much to tell me."
Attempting to set a visible distance between them, Kaname walked briskly toward the bedroom halls, until a hand reached out and grabbed a hold of his arm. "Wait a minute, Kaname-kun," The abruptness of his seriousness caused Kaname to glance at the man; confusion visible through an arched brow. Warily, he asked him what was wrong, expecting some sort of consequential response.
That was, until Laito seamlessly brought forth a porn magazine, baring to Kaname its exposed contents, boldly.
"Which do you think is hotter~?" An eager smile was plastered on Laito's face as he ranted on and on about body measurements, lingerie and all other impertinent information.
Kaname's face was beet red.
"Y-You.." Copper bangs covered the boy's actinolite eyes.
"Hm~?"
"YOU BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING SHOWING ME THAT?!" Kaname exploded.
"Eh~?" Laito tipped his hat to the side, "These girl's aren't to your liking~?"
Kaname - flushed and riled - turned away. "Hide that!There are children in this house!"
"So...Bitch-chan blessed me with a prude for a son~?" Laito pouted, rolling up the magazine and hiding it within the inner pocket of his jacket. "How boring~"
Before Kaname could retort, a scream pierced the air, echoing from the room a floor below.
"Nee-san!" Kaname eyes widened, forgetting the man before him as he immediately sprinted toward the direction of the scream.
Olive green watched him leave, before he too followed behind.
'Hn~...When he blushes...he looks just like Bitch-chan.'
~S.O.V~
Regina stood against the white door of the living room, heart pounding against her ears as she held the nightgown in place. Not far from her side stood Kanato, cradling Luka in his arms in much the similar fashion as when he held the stuffed bear.
"Do you think he's gone?" Kanato asked Regina.
Pressing her ear against the wooden door, she tried to listen to any sort of muffled sound, but remembered that they were dealing with a murderous stuffed bear. There was no way he would be able to make a sound with a cotton-filled body.
"Even if he was there, we wouldn't be able to tell..." Regina responded. Her thoughts pondered back to the incident moments prior.
When she thought all was lost and the bear would emerge victorious in his malefic deed, Kanato had stepped in to save her. Grabbing a hold of the closest item at the time - a frying pan - Kanato did not miss a beat and immediately slammed the kitchen utensil against the large head of the bear, causing him to fly onto the opposite wall with a loud 'wham'.
After that, things became a blur as she saw her Uncle tear off the caught cloth and take Luka from her, running out of the room and toward the spacious living.
"A possessed bear must have more than one way of getting in undetected." She glanced about the room for any sort of unnoticed opening. Aside from the doors on the second floor, there wasn't anywhere he could come in from.
Kanato, realizing what she meant, heaved a sigh of annoyance. "What's with him, anyway? Why'd he have to go on and talk to me like that?! I made him! I made him his beautiful clothes! His cute eyepatch! How dare he call me an idiot?!"
Luka glanced back at his Father, confused.
"You're not an idiot, Uncle Kanato," Regina smiled, attempting to take Luka away from him; but, in realizing that the mauve-eyed vampire wasn't about to release the boy anytime soon, left them alone.
Kanato, stopped in mid-tantrum, faced the girl with something akin to doubt. "You don't think so too?"
"Never once have I thought something like that, Uncle Kanato."
There was a distant look in his eyes while he muttered, "...and your mother?"
Arching a brow at his question, she watched him turn away - embarrassed - while taking a seat on the couch. She wasn't too sure where the question stemmed from, but was well aware what needed to be said to him.
"Not even her. In fact, she believed you to be extremely talented. A talented person can never be called an idiot."
A soft smile graced his features for a flicker of a moment, before - in realizing what he was doing - turned away with a frown, "You're lying."
"Oh, no, Uncle," she took a seat beside him, "I would never lie to you about something like that."
"How can I trust the words of that traitor's daughter, huh?"
"Traitor?" Regina flinched at the use of such a strong word. However, before responding, a loud pounding echoed within the room.
Afraid, both turned to face the large doors as the pounding ceaselessly filled the room.
Standing up from their seats, Kanato moved backward with Luka in his arms. For some reason, he found himself being extremely over protective of the child in his arms. He didn't know where that emotion stemmed from, but for now - the child was with him and with him he would stay.
Retreating slowly, Kanato did not realize his misstep, and accidentally tripped with the corner of the coffee table.
"Uncle, watch out!" Regina pulled him toward her, but in the process, ended up falling along with him.
Wrapping a protective arm around her waist, albeit unconsciously, Kanato managed to snuggle Luka in between them so that he wouldn't get hurt as both clattered onto the carpeted floor.
The door immediately burst open.
"Nee-san! Nee-san, are you alright?!" Kaname, followed by Laito, ran into the room, only to find Regina and Kanato in a rather awkward position.
Nightgown falling off her body, baring a little more of her skin to the gaze of the curious males (which to Kaname, only entitled his perverted Father), Regina's tear stained face glanced to the side at her younger brother, as Luka lay his face well protected against her bountiful bosom. Kanato, kneeling in front of her, holding her waist against him.
"What the hell are you doing to my sister?!" Kaname questioned.
"Oh~" Laito flushed, a twisted smirk forming in his lips, "Making the moves on your niece already, Kanato-kun~?"
"That's not it, you idiot! We thought you two were Teddy!" Kanato explained, standing up in the process and grabbing Luka. Regina, rather dizzily, stood up and held the falling nightgown closer to her body.
"What?" Kaname questioned, vexation defining him at that moment.
"He didn't do anything Kaname-kun," Regina explained, "It was an accident."
"Looking kind of sexy there, Little Bitch~" Laito winked maliciously.
Regina was confused by the comment until she noticed that the dress was well ripped from her side.
An embarrassed blush filled her cheeks.
Kaname silently walked toward Regina and removed his pajama robe. "Here, put this on." He placed it around her shoulders and tied the sash around her waist.
"Thank you, Kaname-kun," Regina smiled at her younger brother, who was pulling her hair out of the robe.
"Oh~ How boring~," Laito commented, "Let us enjoy the view, you prude~!"
A chip formed on the boy's shoulder as he faced the vampire, prepared to show him where he could stuff his perversion, when he realized they weren't the only ones there.
"Explain to me what all this ruckus is, at once!" Reiji appeared beside the door.
"You guys are too loud..." Shu responded, lying flat on the elongated piano seat.
"Oi, what the hell are you doing here?" Ayato questioned his twins, upset that he wasn't invited to this get together.
"..." Subaru glared at them, crossing his arms against his chest and resting his back against the nearest column.
"Explain." Reiji's voice was definitive, to the point, and with no room to dissuade the approaching subject. His dark red eyes glared at her form as she cowered beneath his scrutinizing gaze. She wasn't too sure on how to explain to him what had just happened moments prior; and in the end, there was no guarantee that he'd believe her.
"T-Teddy!" Kanato yelled.
"What about it?" Ayato asked.
A trembling finger pointed at its point of transfixion.
All eyes turned to face the possessed doll, wielding a kitchen knife in his hand.
"I always thought that doll was creepy," Ayato mentioned, offhandedly.
"Not only that," Latio provided, "Doesn't it seem...weirder than usual?"
"Like?" Shu asked, not really paying attention to anything.
"Oh, I don't know," Subaru replied, both in disbelief and distress, "Maybe because its crawling on the fucking ceiling?!"
Reiji stared at the bear with a look of scientific interest.
"Otou-sama!" Regina cried out, "The bear is after Luka-kun!"
"What?" the brothers gazed at the girl as the bear dropped itself from the ceiling and fell, face first onto the ground.
Standing up, effortlessly, he lifted himself up and shrugged away the fall, "You betrayed me, Kanato. Now, I'll have to get rid of you too!"
"No!" Regina cried out, running toward them as the rest of the brothers tried to reach for Kanato and the boy.
Yet, as Kanato prepared to receive the blow of the incoming knife - too fast to be stopped by the surrounding vampires - Teddy abruptly fell onto the ground, restrained.
Regina gasped. Shock invading her system at that moment.
Luka's eyes were glowing, in much the same way as that of Akumu's when he summoned the fire.
"Luka-kun," Regina called out through quivering hands, causing the boy to face her with a curious expression on his face.
An angelic smile formed on his lips as he gazed down at the bear with a spark of amusement.
Teddy struggled to lift himself up as he felt his body become as heavy as lead. "Damn you, you brat! I know I should've taken you out before you could take me!"
The vampires stared at the boy.
"Regina," Reiji's voice was deep and almost menacing, behind her, "I believe it is time you tell us, what exactly is this ability you all possess."
Ashamed, she turned to face her Father and Uncles.
'But, if I tell you,' Her saddened eyes befell his serious glare, 'Will we ever have a chance of being loved by you all?'
Terms and Definitions
Baka - Japanese term for 'stupid/idiot'.
Tír na nÓg - In Irish Mythology, Tír na nÓg or (Land of the Young), is considered to be the Otherworld - The Land of the Fairies, or the Fairyfolk. It is depicted as a supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy.