Series: Division of Destiny||Story: Reign of the Undead King||Chapter: The Dinner
Characters: Piemon, Vamdemon, Chosen Children, others||Pairings: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken, Mimi x Sora/Sora x Mimi
Chapters: 11-40||Words: 2,640||Total: 29,259
Genre: Romance, Drama||Rated: PG-13
Summary: Vamdemon and Piemon rule supreme. Only now, ten years after their victory, are things about to change. For good or for ill.
Mimi prodded her slender fingers into the soil, checking on the progress of her treasures here. Not many plants could survive in a world of shadows, ruled by vampires, but these little darlings were special, different.
"So pretty," she murmured to herself, and to them. They hadn't yet bloomed, but she knew they would soon. Was it spring? Summer? She couldn't remember; with the hiding of the sun, seasons meant very little. But they would open themselves within a few weeks' time.
She stroked one pale leaf; most plants died under a vampire's touch, but these sharp-edged glories moved as if to lean into her fingers. She thought the seeds came from the Digital World; Vamdemon-sama hadn't told her much when she'd begged for something she could plant and watch grow. He'd only given her the seeds.
No one else bothered to enter her garden. It wasn't very large, but it was her territory within the castle, and hers alone. She dropped a few more beads of water onto the bush and rose to her feet, ready to move on to the next little treasure awaiting her attention.
"Mimi." She turned at the sound of Sora's voice and saw her fellow vampire standing in the archway that led out to the greater part of the castle. "Are you free?"
"Almost." Mimi stepped over to the next bush, running her fingers over the leaves and the closed up buds. She so looked forward to them opening up and seeing their glory before her. There was nothing quite like teasing something into life.
She wondered if Vamdemon-sama felt like that about them. They were his seeds, his flowers that he'd brought to non-life.
She couldn't imagine being anything other than what she was now. What could she have been without his touch on her life? It didn't bear thinking about and she didn't bother to do so now, concentrating instead on finishing her gardening duties and then going over to where Sora still waited for her.
"What is it?" The two of them were closer than they'd been when they'd first met, but even Sora didn't set foot inside Mimi's garden. Vamdemon-sama himself paid only cursory attention to it, enough so that she knew he knew everything she grew and where she gained her fertilizer from.
"I thought you might want to have dinner with me. It's been a while." Sora's smile wasn't the sweet sight it had been ten years earlier, at least not by human standards. But Mimi's standards hadn't been human in that same amount of time, and the sight warmed what she had that passed for a heart now.
"I'd love to." Tending her garden took more out of her than she liked to admit, since it was her magical energies that sustained the life here in place of the sun. And her plants could always use more fertilizer as well. "Let me clean up first." Even being a vampire didn't get rid of the need for a good shower, especially after all the work she put in at her garden.
Sora nodded, eyes glowing softly in anticipation. Mimi hurried off to her quarters to get cleaned up. She wondered as she did what Sora might have in mind for dinner. Their options weren't as open as they normally would have been, given the current situation.
Vamdemon-sama said that we can't go hunting in the wild regions until whoever that crossbow person is has been caught. She expected Taichi and Wizarmon to return soon with word of their enemy's capture or death, but that wouldn't let them go out feeding tonight.
When she stepped out of her room, Sora stood just outside the door, wrapped in her customary dark red outfit. She smiled again at the sight of Mimi, now dressed in her own preferred dark blue garb. All of the vampire pack dressed in dark colors; it helped to blend in no matter where they were. In Mimi's opinon, Sora had made a very good choice for her chosen colors. Red blended in perfectly with her hair and eyes, and it made her look like what she was: a fierce and proud hunter.
"What did you have in mind for tonight?" Mimi asked, tilting her head a fraction. "One of the donors or someone from the pen?" Those were their only real options until they could hunt wild game again.
"The pen." Sora's eyes glinted with wicked mischief. "And something of a hunt at the same time."
"What do you mean?" Mimi liked the way Sora looked like that. There was something definitely going on in her mind.
"You'll see. Vamdemon-sama already gave his permission." That was all that Sora needed to say to get Mimi's full attention and she followed the other to a part of the castle she'd seldom visited before.
What lay before them was a twisting maze of passages and corridors, with doorways that led into rooms or series of rooms, some of which could only be reached by the inner doors. There wasn't a single guard, Digimon or human, inside of that reach, and standing outside the entranceway were two humans, clad only in thin, worn garments that likely would've been given away to a secondhand clothes store before Vamdemon's rule overtook the world.
"These are our meals." Sora introduced them with a gesture of one graceful hand. The humans stared at them both, teeth chattering and huddling closer to one another. "We're going to release them into the maze here. If they can manage to survive it, we'll let them go." She bared her teeth and the humans both backed away, eyes wide and round with fear. Mimi found the smile beautiful. "If they can't, then we feed."
"How long do we have?" One of them managed to scrape up the nerve to ask. Sora's smile widened a fraction.
"Until we catch you."
Mimi licked her lips, eyeing the pen-raised creatures. They'd been fed and watered and exercised like all good cattle, which meant they were now strong and healthy. They would give them a good run. She looked forward to seeing what their blood tasted like once the chase ended.
"That's not fair!" The other human protested, and Mimi blinked a little in confusion.
"What does that have to do with it?" Did they really expect anything to be fair? They were cattle! Nothing more nor less than the animals humans themselves once kept to eat. What else did they want?
Sora flicked her fingers toward the door to the maze. "Go. We'll come get you."
For a few heartbeats the humans stood, and Mimi could hear the blood rushing through their veins in absolute terror. She licked her lips, imagining even more clearly what it would taste like once charged with fear. Perhaps something about her expression encouraged them to run, since they broke and headed into the maze as quickly as their legs could carry them.
Mimi glanced over to Sora, one eyebrow quirked. "How long should we wait?"
"Not long." Sora curled herself into a waiting chair, eyes thoughtful as she watched the door. The sound of the humans' footsteps faded out of hearing soon, even with their keen senses. Mimi made herself comfortable as well, knowing that soon the real chase would begin.
Her thoughts wandered briefly; how long would it be until they had a real hunt out in the wild? She didn't do that very often, but she liked having the option to do so.
The idea of humans hunting them didn't appeal to her at all. She'd spent enough time in the Digital World being chased by every sort of monster that one could imagine, and many that they couldn't. She much preferred her existence as it was now, safe within the castle walls, a predator herself, instead of weak little prey. If anything, or anyone, did try to attack her, she didn't need to rely on someone else to defend her. She could take care of them herself.
Palmon… Though there were moments, ones she tried not to think of very often, when she missed the small plant Digimon that had once stood by her side.
"You miss her, don't you?" Sora's voice caressed against her ears and Mimi looked up to see the other looking at her. "Palmon."
"How did you guess?" Mimi didn't really need an answer. Sora could read people very well. Being a vampire only made it better.
"I miss Piyomon." Sora tilted her head back to eye the ceiling above them. "Would you like to come see her egg after dinner?"
Mimi didn't need to think twice about that. "Yes." The eggs couldn't hatch again; Vamdemon-sama told them their Digimon were bonded to them, and since they themselves were undead, their partners could never awaken so long as the bond remained.
Sora nodded, then rose to her feet. "I think they've had enough time to play, don't you?"
Mimi's smile was no less hungry or twisted than Sora's had been. "Let's go."
The two of them strolled through the corridors, watching for any sign of their prey. There were many places that the humans could hide here, and tracking by scent wouldn't be quite as effective, except to give them some kind of hint as to where their prey wasn't at the moment. Still, that was better than nothing at all, and both vampires knew that.
Sora leaned forward, sniffing automatically at the air, head tilted to catch the slightest sound. She'd asked for the best that the pens had to offer, which meant this might just be a fraction more of a challenge than just having a couple of donors delivered to her quarters.
Not that eating in was such a bad thing, but she wanted something more than a casual meal with Mimi. Hunting their prey like this was much more entertaining and they both knew it.
Footsteps skittered ahead of them, and she picked up the sound of quick, harsh murmurs as well. She smiled; perhaps the dears were foolish enough to think they could attack their hunters? Oh, she did hope so! It had been so long since anyone fought back.
She didn't understand why Vamdemon-sama didn't let them all go hunt down the one with the crossbow. Whoever it was couldn't shoot fast enough to get them all, and likely couldn't hit even one of them. With five of them to go up against, whoever it was would fall, sooner or later. With just one and Wizarmon, she wasn't at all certain of the outcome.
But her master's word was law, as it had been from the moment she'd opened her eyes and seen him standing over her, her blood fresh on his lips, and a fading pain in her neck. He'd told her that he was her master, and she'd known at once that he spoke the truth. Her memories took longer to flicker back into existence, but what he'd said still remained strong: she did as he commanded.
The smallest of noises had been what made the difference. What if she'd never stumbled that day? Never broken through the brush that hid her from Vamdemon and PicoDevimon? Would she have escaped without being seen? Or was this inevitable? She couldn't figure out how they could've defeated Vamdemon-sama anyway. His power outstripped theirs so very much. What's more, the Dark Masters had lurked in the shadowy recesses of the world, all unknown to the children they'd been. Sooner or later they would've fallen. The only difference was who did the deed.
At least now, they were alive. Somewhat. That might not have been so under other circumstances.
She didn't waste much more of her time on introspection and wondering what might've been. The closer she and Mimi came to one of the doors, the stronger the humans' scent became, and the more she could hear them whispering to one another. She guessed they had no idea of how sharp a vampire's hearing could be, else they wouldn't have bothered trying to talk at all.
Sora pressed her fingers against Mimi's arm and jerked her head toward the door. Both of them moved a little more quickly, positioning themselves on each side of the door. This maze had been set up for situations just like this, though Vamdemon-sama hadn't used it for two or three years, as pickings for proper hunts grew slimmer and slimmer. It still wasn't the best, but it would do for the moment.
The two vampires remained silent as only they could, waiting, not even bothering to breathe. Long moments passed, and Sora could all but smell the tension rising higher for the humans. For the vampires, this only enhanced the experience. The more fear, the more pain, the more stress, the better the blood tasted.
With only the barest hint of footsteps as warning, the door slammed open, and the two humans burst out into the hall, each holding a makeshift stake. Sora expected that; there were chairs in the various rooms meant for just such attempts. Vamdemon-sama had taught them years ago how to handle this.
One of them charged toward her, arm raised high. Sora ducked underneath it and slammed the flat of her hand against the wanna-be attacker's chest, sending him spinning backwards. She prowled after him, every step patient. He'd kept hold of the stake, slowly starting to raise it again as she drew nearer.
"We're not going to let you keep on doing this." He stared at her, trying to scramble to his feet, but not able to get them under him. She'd broken bones when she'd hit him, not enough to kill him, but enough so she knew he was in pain. "This is our world."
She smiled and took his wrist in one hand, snapping it with a single flex of her arm. "Not anymore." She pulled him closer and sank her fangs into his neck, the blood rushing into her mouth right away. Just as she'd hoped, full of delicious fear and rage and pain.
Sora turned as she drank, her prey still held in her arms, and enjoyed the sight of Mimi dining on her own captive. Warmth thrummed all through her to see Mimi's fangs buried so deeply into the neck, feasting on the blood that brought them the only life they could have now.
Far too soon, at least in Sora's opinion, both of their meals lay cold and dead in their arms. Sora heaved hers over one shoulder. "Where do you want these?" There were different methods of dealing with their leavings; Sora preferred to give hers to Mimi. Humans made excellent food, both alive and dead.
"I'll show you." Mimi hoisted her own and headed out of the castle and back to the garden area. The two of them walked in step, their burdens far beyond what a pair of ordinary pre-teens would've been thought capable of handling. Neither of them was close to being ordinary, nor ever would be again.
Sora wondered what it would be like if she held Mimi's hand as they walked. While human ideas of love and romance were concepts far lost to them, there were some concepts that were universal nevertheless, and the idea of a long-term companionship that was different from what they shared with their master or Taichi or Jou had been slowly growing on Sora for the last few months.
So it was with a hint of nervousness that she reached out to take Mimi's cool hand. The other looked up at her, a breath of curiosity written across her features, and Sora smiled at her in what she hoped was a reassuring manner.
Mimi slowly returned the smile, and hand in hand, they carried the remains of their meal to the garden's compost heap.
To Be Continued