Raised voices came from the living room.
"Don't you dare walk out that door!" Quinn's accented japanese was sharp.
Mia peeked her head out of the room to see what was happening.
Ryusei's hand rested on the knob, a bag slung over his shoulder.
Quinn was trembling, hands clenched at his sides. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because." The vampire's voice was soft. "Shiro's right. I don't belong here. I've been running from who and what I am. I have to protect her. Protect all of you." He pulled the door open and disappeared.
Quinn collapsed on the couch, his face a mask of pain and sorrow.
Mia took a deep breath, wanting to follow Ryusei, but not wanting to leave Isao. She settled for sending Ryusei a text, "I don't want you to go.. You belong here more than you do there." before sitting down again beside Isao.
Ryusei read the text, his eyesight blurring with tears. He carefully replied "Please be happy. I love you." before unfurling his wings and rising into the air.
She answered, "Part of why I didn't go with dad was because of you, you know. I love you too. Be careful if you really have to do this."
There was no reply.
Her eyes filled with tears and she fought back a sob.
"He's gone." Quinn's voice was empty as he stood in the doorway. "He said there was a plot to kill you. Said if he returned, he could stop it."
"I don't care about plots to kill me. I care about having my brother. I just found him.. I don't want to lose him."
Quinn sighed. "It's too late." He turned away, his footsteps heavy as they moved down the hall.
She went back to staring at Isao, tears still blurring her vision.
"Mia?" He asked softly, one hand brushing her cheek.
"Hey." She wiped her eyes, "How are you feeling?"
"Strong. Mentally exhausted, but my body doesn't feel sick."
"I'm glad," she gave him a small smile.
"What's wrong?" He sat up.
"Ryu.. he left.."
"What? Why?"
"Said he's been ignoring his duties too long.. also apparently there was a plot to kill me which he figured he can stop if he goes back." She shook her head. "He doesn't belong there."
Isao sighed, then rubbed a hand through his hair. "Stupid fangface. I'm going to use him for target practice."
She gave him a small smile in response.
"What are we waiting for?" Isao rose and headed for the bedroom door. "I have some contacts that can get us into the kingdom."
She raised an eyebrow but got up and followed.
He was already on the phone, rifling through a large book. "Yo, feathers. Get ahold of whitey for me. Ryu decided to go AWOL and we need to protect his ass. Delivery is on the way, so don't fuck around."
A decidedly avian squawk came from the phone as Isao hung up. He turned a few more pages, then began dialing another number.
Mia watched quietly before stepping outside for air.
"Do you need help restraining Iz so you can kick his ass?" The twins appeared, Yamae grinning.
She sighed, "No, we need to go kick Ryu's ass now."
"You're planning on entering the kingdom?" Ryon stared at her in disbelief.
"Basically I'm just following Isao.. but yeah."
Both men facepalmed. "Idiots."
"What's the kingdom like?"
"Petty clan squabbles. Sometimes wholesale slaughter." Yamae shrugged. "A warzone on the best day."
She nodded, "Alright."
"You won't be welcome. Halflings are persona non grata. Usually end up as snack food."
She sighed, "Okay. Hopefully I'm at least decent tasting snack food."
Yamae burst into laughter as Ryon closed his eyes and shook his head.
She watched them quietly, beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. She then decided she didn't care, Ryusei was worth the trouble.
Isao stepped up behind her. "You should stay here."
"You're not going by yourself."
"These two could go. Less risk of you getting hurt."
"I don't care if I get hurt. I care about Ryusei being back where he belongs. Where he's happy."
Isao sighed. "Nothing I say will change your mind?"
"I want to help Ryu.. but if you really don't want me going, I guess I'll stay." She sighed and looked down.
"I want you safe. It'll be hard enough to convince him to come back without the possibility of you being hurt in the mix." His phone rang and he stepped back inside.
Mia sighed again, wishing she could just teleport to Ryusei instead.
"Hey. We'll bring him home. Even if it's being dragged by the fangs." Yamae sent her an encouraging smile.
She nodded and chuckled slightly, "Alright. Thank you."
"No problem. Though you may want to stop us from beating the crap out of both of them after this. Quinn told us what he pulled." Ryon's green eyes glittered angrily.
"Yeah.. that was pretty bad."
Isao clapped his hands for attention. "Whitey has gotten us in on the pretext of discussing future possibilities in the kingdom. We'll be armed only with knives, so we'll have to tread lightly for the beginning. But we'll get him and then run like hell."
Mia nodded. She kissed Isao's cheek, "Good luck."
"Keep the beer cold. After I kick his ass, I'll want one." He kissed her back, then motioned for the twins to follow him to the van.
Mia sat down on the stairs, watching as they drove off.
A couple hours later, three men appeared. They dropped from the sky, all having black wings and fangs so she knew they were vampires. She stood, backing slightly toward the house.
"Come with us and we won't hurt the ones you care about."
"What do you mean?"
"That king and the other three? We've got them." Another answered.
She froze. "What do you want with me?"
"You're the princess, right? And only a half breed. Such a shame," the third spoke.
She took a deep breath and nodded, "Alright. If you swear you won't hurt them."
They grinned evilly before moving closer to her and tying her arms and legs up with rope.
They lifted up into the air and took off. She had no idea where they were going but suddenly she saw a city. They landed in the outskirts and pulled her into a small building.
She was thrown into a corner, looking around and beginning to wonder where they were holding the others. With how small the building was, she was starting to doubt they even had them. The thought relieved her slightly, hoping they really were free.
One of the men came over and lifted her, hooking the wrist ties to a hook in the ceiling. She could barely touch the floor, her weight weighing heavily on the ropes making them dig into her wrists.
Soon, another came over with a pipe and began hitting her repeatedly. Cracks were heard and she tried not to scream. By the time he was done, she was positive she had broken ribs and probably a broken arm. She struggled to breathe, her body aching all over. The first one came up to her and bit into her neck, sucking out some of her blood. The other two also fed on her, leaving her barely conscious and unable to stand anymore so all her weight was on her wrists. They were beginning to bleed from rubbing against the rope so much.
Isao growled when he found Ryusei. "You are going to need a lot of blood when I finish kicking your ass."
Ryusei rolled his eyes. "Why are you here?"
"Because Mia is worried sick and I am not letting you do that to her. You are coming home, even if it's trussed up like Thanksgiving turkey. I am not going back empty handed, so get your ass up and let's go."
Ryusei scowled. "I am the King. My place is here. And I haven't found the ones who are trying to kill Mia yet." He looked up as Shiro ran in.
"She's here. In the Sano clan's hands."
Isao cursed vehemently as Ryusei facepalmed.
Mia hung her head, just trying to focus on breathing slowly. Every breath stung painfully but she knew she had to keep breathing anyway. She prayed they'd just drain her instead of hurting her more, but as she saw one of the men approaching with the pipe, she knew her prayers went unanswered.
"Touch her again and I'll rip you apart!" Isao yelled as he burst through the door. Behind him, the twins were snarling. Then a figure flew in through the roof, standing between her and the attacker.
"You are unfit to be in my kingdom." Ryusei's voice was like ice as he surveyed the men. "You will be removed."
The men backed up and looked at each other. Then they pulled out knives and approached Ryusei quickly.
He snarled and attacked ferociously.
He took one down but another embedded a knife in Ryusei's side.
Mia struggled against the ties, trying to help her brother. She managed to pull free from the hook, but she was still bound. She didn't care though, using her arms to bash into one of the men. She struggled to stay upright between the ties and her dizziness but she stood between the two men and Ryusei, eyes blazing.
One of the men moved forward and she swung her arms at him hard. She ignored the pain in her body, intent on keeping Ryusei as safe as possible. She managed to knock the vampire down, bending and ripping his throat open with her fangs.
She pushed herself up and faced the last vampire. She was about to attack when she began coughing. Blood trickled from her lips as she struggled to catch her breath.
Isao barreled into the last vampire, knocking him away from her. "Ryon, get them out of here!" He attacked, dodging several knife strikes.
Ryon grabbed her as his brother picked up Ryusei. Both unfurled wings and shot through the roof, heading for the palace.
Mia struggled to stay conscious, looking over at Ryusei worriedly. Her eyes began slipping shut and her last thoughts were praying Ryusei and Isao would be alright.