Here we all ya'll. Sorry about the wait, I was wrong about midterms being over. This time they actually are! Sadly finals are coming up soon. But I am on break so I may be able to get a second chapter out soon. Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy!
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The adult noble witnesses to the battle were stunned. They, like Kaname had figured that the battle would be quick. They had figured that Sara was a fool for challenging two other purebloods, even if one was basically no more than an infant. They had been surprised and impressed when Sara had managed to trap Kaname and nearly kill him, but her current behavior left a sour taste in their mouths. It was one thing to defeat enemies fair and square; it was another entirely to use one as a human shield. It was that kind of unscrupulous behavior that made all of them distrust the purebloods, that and the fact that they could wipe everyone else out before breakfast without breaking a sweat if they wanted to.
The younger nobles, however were more than off put, they were disgusted. Ruka was crying silently into Kain's shirt sobbing "I can't watch this," repeatedly. He was patting her on the back and fighting to keep the tension he felt out of his body so she wouldn't think he didn't want her there, which led to him clinching and unclenching his jaw. Aidou had visibly paled and was watching the conflict in front of him in silence. Even he knew that this was not time for him to say or do anything rash. This time it wouldn't help anyone. In fact, this time it might actually cause them harm to break their concentration.
Zero, however, did not share Aidou's sentiments on rash behavior. He believed that now was precisely the time to do something rash. Ever since Sara had grabbed Yuuki, Seiren had been restraining Zero and keeping him from trying to enter the battle and dying in the attempt. "Let me go," he hissed at her baring his elongated fangs.
"So you can do what?" she snapped back. "Run into the barrier and get killed? Didn't you hear Kaname-sama and Sara talking earlier? Unless you are a pureblood the barrier will not let you through." Hearing her logic, he stopped fighting her though he did wonder if the barrier would let him through. The words Sara had used made him think it might. It may not be his, but he did have pureblood, and quite a bit of it, flowing in his veins at the moment. If Kuran didn't figure out something soon, he might just have to see if his guess was true. Once he quit struggling with her, she released his arm and watched him cautiously waiting for him to run.
Like Zero, Kaien was barely containing the desire to interfere, though he held no illusions that he might survive the attempt. He had lied to Yuuki earlier when he told her he understood why she had to engage Sara in battle. True he understood why Yuuki couldn't not fight since it had come to that but he didn't understand why it had come to that at all. The purebloods were supposed to be the leaders of the rest of the vampires, and they seemed to be incapable of solving conflicts without violence, if he was honest with himself, that simple fact did not bode well for his idea of peaceful coexistence. But at the moment he was too worried about his daughter to be honest with himself. She will be fine, he kept thinking. She and Kaname know what they are doing and they will both be fine. They have to be. If that Sara creature wins the human race will be gone by the end of the month. Please let everything work out, he begged.
On the other side of the barrier, Kaname was hoping for the same thing. He honestly wanted to kick himself. He had been toying with Sara to an extent. He wanted to destroy her with the smallest amount of power that he could get away with using, because though it had been cathartic to destroy the senate in the way he had, it had also been foolish. His raw display of power had lead to their current situation. And while it was true that he could have destroyed Sara quicker than he could have looked at her just by shear brute force, he had deemed it unwise to show the nobles exactly how much power he wielded.
Now he regretted that decision. He should have just done it. What would it have actually hurt for them to see that he could atomize another pureblood without breaking a sweat? In all honesty, it probably would have prevented any other pureblood from getting the notion that it would be a good plan to challenge them. But it was too late for that now. While he could destroy Sara and leave Yuuki unharmed, the second Sara felt him attempt the attack she would kill Yuuki. He had underestimated her and his mistake may kill Yuuki. He felt an emotion he hadn't felt in a long time, helplessness.
Yuuki watched the emotions flit across Kaname's face. First anger, then sorrow, now she wasn't sure what the emotion was that had replaced sorrow, but it made her want to run to him and convince him that everything would be alright. She tried to give into the urge and was painfully reminded of the bonds around her and the fact that everything might not be alright simultaneously. She let out a little snort of frustration.
Sara gave a short laugh at the Yuuki's failed attempt to escape and her frustration with the situation.
Her laugh infuriated Yuuki. "Look," she snapped. "If you are going to kill me just do it already! If not then let me go." Everyone was surprised by her outburst. She couldn't really mean that she wanted Sara to kill her, could she.
This made Sara laugh in earnest. "Trust me," she said when she had finished, "I do intended to kill you, but I'm having too much fun watching your brother suffer at the moment to end this all that quickly. How do you think he would react if I was to take your blood in front of him?" she asked opening her mouth and keeping her eyes on Kaname, enjoying the anger burning in his eyes as her fangs neared Yuuki's neck. When she bit Yuuki, she smiled at the way his fists clinched at his sister's cry of pain. She enjoyed watching him suffer and changed her bite on Yuuki to see if she could get her to cry out again. She felt satisfaction flood her veins when she accomplished it. There was something heady about being in complete control and torturing something that in another context could deliver a brutal and bloody death to you. The richness of the blood running across her tongue added to the head rush and alost made her regret that she was going to kill them both. Their blood was quite delicious.
Sara's fangs slicing into Yuuki's neck from behind caused a wave of pain to wash over Yuuki. And not all of the pain was of the physical variety. Within the wave of pain was the memory of the first time she had been bitten, but even in bloodlust, Zero's attack on her neck had not been this violent. He had endeavored to be gentle with her despite his acute hunger. The first time, and every time so far, that Kaname had taken her blood he had treated her as though she would break if he bit her too hard, and he always apologized in advance for any pain he might cause her, though he never actually did. Yuuki felt a cry rise up her throat as Sara changed the angle of the bite without removing her fangs from Yuuki's neck first, simply ripping through anything in her way. She felt her heart clench as she watched the pain and impotent anger flood Kaname's eyes.
Though she tried to focus on thoughts of how to escape or even of Zero and Kaname feeding, her mind rushed to the last time she had been in a position similar to the one she was currently in. She felt panic begin to bubble in her chest and felt phantom hands on her once again. She felt her breathing and heart rate begin to speed and felt the urge to vomit. Not only one demented pureblood, but two had had their hands, and fangs, and other thing, on her and in her. I can't stand her touching me, she thought frantically. She felt panic begin to well within her and felt her consciousness disappear under the need to do something to end her contact with Sara.
Kaname watched the scene before him fighting the need to do anything to break the two apart because he realized that to save Yuuki he needed a plan. He wanted to close his eyes against the sight of Sara feeding from his mate, but he refused to take his eyes off Sara, unsure what she would do without supervision. He knew that multiple people had fed from Yuuki, but somehow seeing it happen made it worse. It didn't escape him though that if it was bad for him it had to be worse for her. He saw the panic in her eyes when Sara changed her angle and decided that Sara looked a little distracted and perhaps he could attack her now if he was fast since she had already proven to be weak against physical attacks. He tensed his muscles to spring when suddenly Sara was blown away from Yuuki and into the barrier.
He was as confused as everyone else by the recent turn of event , but rushed forward to catch Yuuki before she hit the ground because the way her legs were bound Sara's grip on her had been the only thing holding her upright. He was unable to catch her because when he got within two feet of her an invisible tendril of power struck him across the face drawing blood and another struck him in the chest knocking him backwards. "Yuuki, it's ok," he said as he stood and tried to approach her again, wondering if she had attacked him assuming he was Sara. Once he reached the same invisible line, she again lashed out at him, this time the attack would have taken off his head if he hadn't blocked it. He took a step back and looked at her face for the first time. Instead of their usual light or even the panic that had been there, her eyes were empty, blank, emotionless. It and her random surges of power worried him but he had other things to deal with first.
Sara pushed herself up from the ground with a groan. She wasn't sure how much damage that brat had caused when she had knocked her into the barrier, but movement requiring the muscles in her back was difficult and she could still feel the blood flowing down her back which meant there was some serious damage. Her hands were also burned where she had been holding the girl. Kaname and his little whore were going to pay for this. "This was amusing for a while, but now I'm just going to kill you both," Sara said her voice edging toward hysteria.
"You are mistaken," Kaname replied turning to face her. "This was never amusing and you will never harm either of us ever again."
"And who's going to stop me?" Sara laughed derisively. "You, or your little whore?"
"She is not a whore!" Kaname yelled in response. "You however are a stain on the name of purebloods everywhere. Hiding in the middle of a battle like the coward you are. It is past time for a little house cleaning."
Sara opened her mouth to reply when she felt something begin to stir within her body. She looked at Kaname in confusion and saw that his eyes were glowing. She was about to ask what he was doing to her when she suddenly exploded. The audience turned their heads and ducked expecting to be pelted with bits of Sara, but as they hit the boundary they disintegrated in puffs of smoke.
Kaname however was not spared from the explosion and was covered from head to toe in bits of blood and flesh. He surveyed his handy work with a blank expression on his face that suggested he was unfazed by the carnage on the ground in front of him. After a moment however he blinked and his eyes became concerned again as he turned back to look at Yuuki. She was lying on the ground exactly where she had fallen after Sara released her. Kaname approached her again but stopped when he felt the tingle of her power on his skin. He took a deep breath and wrapped his own power around him like a shield, hating that he was putting a barrier between the two of them, before he continued to approach her. Her power relentlessly attacked his own, but was unable to break through his shield. When he reached her side, he knelt beside her and reached out to stroke her face only to pull his hand back as her flesh instantly blistered him.
Thinking that her power was perhaps attempting to break the blood bonds on her, he placed his hand under her skirt, being careful not to touch her skin and removed Artemis from its holder. He ignored the shock that went through his hand and willed the weapon to transform into a useful form. It resisted but finally submitted to his will. He cut her bonds and waited for her power to dissipate.
The second Sara had been obliterated Zero had sprinted towards where Yuuki was on the ground. Seiren followed close behind him wanting to check on her master and be there to prevent the two from coming to blows in front of witnesses. But when they got to where the barrier had been Zero felt a slight tingle on his skin but Seiren jumped back with a scream and grabbed her shoulder where blood was beginning to flow.
Zero turned at the smell of her blood and looked around quickly to see who or what had attacked her. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary he took a step towards her only to feel the tingle again, only this time it was more intense. She tried to come towards him again but he held out his hand and stopped her within inches of the barrier. "Sara's barrier is still up," he said simply.
She looked at him with confusion and pain in her eyes, "Then how did you get in?" she asked. The look he gave her in reply clearly said that he would tell her later. She nodded in reply and he smiled slightly before he walked towards Kaname and Yuuki.
"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you Kiryuu," Kaname said abruptly. "That is if you want to live."
"What's going on Kuran?" Zero spat, stopping walking when Kaname spoke.
"Her powers are out of control," Kaname explained. "If she can't get her emotions back under control she will destroy herself and possibly us as well."
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Thank you for reading my new chapter! Again sorry about the wait. Tell me what you think if you have time. And be sure to enjoy all that turkey!
Stickdonkeys