- 3 hours earlier –
While Krul didn't particularly care about the well-being of humans – especially those from the Japanese Imperial Demon Army – she was less than pleased about the rough treatment this prisoner was being given.
First, they couldn't very well gain information from a human with a head injury – courtesy from those that had brought her here. One, who had the girl slung over his shoulder, admitted to "accidentally bumping" the girl's head during the trip – "Oops, it appears I may have bumped the livestock's head on something, so it might be a little woozy after it wakes up. My bad!"
It was clearly more than just a "bump," but thankfully not a concussion. That would have been even more of an annoyance, one Krul did not want to deal with. And there would be no point in capturing a human to interrogate if it died from a brain injury.
So, because of this "bump" to the head, instead of trying to wake her right away, the human had been left alone for a few more hours than was originally intended. Seven hours to be precise; that was roughly the amount of time humans needed to sleep.
Then, she had given the go-ahead for interrogation.
And was displeased all over again.
Secondly, nor would they be able to get anything out of the girl if she passed out from pain or dizziness. It was for this reason Krul was very aggravated with the two who were interrogating the prisoner; she had to call them off on more than one occasion. She was glad she had come into the cell when she did.
In hindsight, she really should have gotten someone else to question the human, but the interrogation was already in progress, so, too late for that now.
As the interrogation continued, the human, surprisingly, did not utter a single word. Not even the standard Where have you taken me? or I won't tell you anything! that was common among those being imprisoned and interrogated. Or even an Ow! Stop! No, that hurts!
No, she didn't speak at all.
Until she did.
Needless to say, Krul was shocked by what she heard.
"What?"
Krul gazed into the human's eyes, which were tired and slightly unfocused, trying to determine whether or not the creature was lying. And if not, some clue as to what in the world was going on. The girl was clearly Japanese; there were no two ways about it. However, the human just told her, in unaccented English, that she did not speak her own language.
"What?" Krul repeated.
The girl's brown eyes wavered, and she looked like she was trying to remember something. She attempted an answer, again in English, when one of her subordinates interrupted.
"Lady Krul." Krul turned her gaze toward the male vampire, but kept some of her attention tuned to the creature laying on the cell floor. "We have the information you requested."
"And?"
The man answered, and she almost couldn't believe her ears.
Oh. Now that was interesting.
And, if it was true, made the language phenomenon make more sense, or at least give it a possible explanation.
"Is this for certain?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Krul had to keep her delight from showing. Another seraph, landed practically right in her lap.
She dismissed the male vampire, with orders to tell no one outside those in the circle and a look that told him exactly what would happen if he disobeyed.
Now, just to keep it. To tie it to herself.
Turning the girl into a vampire would be simple.
– Present –
Well, it should have been simple.
Krul replayed the events in her mind as she walked back through the dimly-lit walkways, up from the dungeons and back to the throne room, her heeled black boots making soft sounds against the stone of the floor and her features scrunched in thought.
First, she had given the girl blood mouth-to-mouth, in the same manner as when she'd turned Mika. When nothing happened, Krul had cut open a deep slice in her arm to bring forth a greater flow of blood, and tried that method.
No matter how much of her blood she had poured down the girl's throat, she would not turn, and stubbornly remained human.
In her two millennia of life, this was not something she had ever seen. How could this be? She would have to look over this human's information later. Perhaps she would find a clue there as to why the turning didn't work.
Eventually, Krul had given up. The human had not been responding to the blood – well, she had been, just not in the way that was expected. Krul had given all the blood she was willing to part with at the time, which was quite a lot. If that wasn't enough to turn the girl, chances were she wasn't going to, no matter how much vampire blood she ingested.
Krul sat back onto her throne, tapping her chin in contemplation. She would just have to think of something else. For now, she would keep the seraph locked up. It wouldn't do to let it run loose; not that it could in the state it was in.
She would give the human time to recover. Then, she would make a decision.
As it would happen, that decision found her first.
"Ah, Mika!" She all but cooed at the young half-vampire.
The thumped shut. Mika walked into the throne room, white cloak swaying behind him, determination both in his step and shining in his eyes.
"Thirsty again already?" Krul teased, smiling fondly at the boy. Mischief danced in her eyes as she reclined further in her seat, resting her cheek on her right knuckles.
"N-no," the blond stuttered, his gaze flicking downwards for a moment. He was ashamed of, and even hated, having to rely on the vampire queen for blood, and being teased about it embarrassed him.
Much to the amusement of the room's other occupant.
"I'm – I'm fine for now, thank you, Krul." Mika cleared his throat and raised his head to look back up at her. He continued walking toward her, and stopped just before the steps.
"Oh?" The vampire queen questioned, indicating for him to continue. She tilted her head, now resting her temple on her fist, and waited for Mika to speak.
"I heard there was a human prisoner brought here."
"Ah, yes." Krul cut him off. She knew where this was going. Technically, since Mikaela was her "son," he was indeed part of the group of select few that were granted access to hush-hush information. And being such, he was sure to have heard something of that nature.
The fact that there was a human prisoner from the Japanese Imperial Demon Army was not in that category. Some of the details about this human, however, were.
Not that it applied to the young vampire in front of her.
"A human girl from the Japanese Imperial Demon Army was captured and brought to this city. She's currently chained up in the dungeons. Is there something specific you are curious about?"
"I…" The boy was hesitant even now, as if he was nervous in daring to hope. "I overheard that she was part of the human experimentation was well. That she…" his voice dropped to a hush, so that only Krul would be able to hear him should anyone be trying to eavesdrop outside the door, "has the seraph gene, too. Is that…is that true?"
Ah, she thought she had sensed Mika hovering around in the shadows, trailing behind those involved with the prisoner. She had sensed correctly.
"Yes." Krul nodded in affirmation. "That human is like you." She got up from her seat with exaggerated effort and came down the steps toward Mika. "And, like you, I tried to make her into one of us," at this, Mika's eyes went wide, "to protect her and keep her here." Krul finished her descent and stood beside the blond, each vampire turning sideways to face the other.
Mika blinked as he processed Krul's words. "'Tried'?"
"Apparently, her body somehow resisted the blood's effects, although however her body fought it seemed to leave her weaker. But, I'm still going to keep her here, locked up, for now. Until I decide exactly what to do with her. Unless…" Krul tilted her head and narrowed her red eyes at the young half-vampire, "…you have something in mind, Mika?"
"I was wondering if I could –." Mika began.
"Oh, don't ask me; don't ask me," Krul turned and skip-walked away from him, in a manner that matched her childish appearance, before turning around once more to face him. "I don't know every single thing you do in this city, Mika. But, if you must know," she made her way back towards Mika and continued upwards to her throne, speaking as she ascended, "the girl is in a rather bad way; it must be rough, being in a cold dungeon with no one to care for her."
Krul settled back in her seat. Taking the hint, Mika nodded and turned to make his way out of the room.
"Oh, and Mika," the pink-haired vampire called after him, "you may want to brush up on your English. The girl doesn't speak Japanese, for some strange reason."
Mika only nodded at the revelation without looking back, and left the throne room. A member of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, and she didn't speak Japanese? Something those foul humans did must have messed with her brain.
As he headed down the dimly lit pathway, he kicked himself for agreeing to guard duty for this shift. Seeing the human would have to wait a little longer.
"Well, that was an ordeal." A voice rang out somewhere to her left.
Kyali opened her eyes to a blue, cloud-dotted sky above her, a flat, colorless expanse stretched out underneath. Sitting up, she turned her head and saw the source of the voice. A bit of a distance away, seated with her knees to her chest, next to a prone blade, was Hanai'ame-Rin.
She looked to be about nine years old, and had straight, shoulder-length, yellow hair with a turquoise sheen, out of which stuck pointy ears. Covering her child-like frame were a long t-shirt, which had a hue so light Kyali couldn't tell what color it was – it seemed to shift with the light whenever the girl looked at it –, and pink shorts that ended at the middle of her thigh. On her feet were white sandals; the design covered her toes, then crossed the center of her foot length-wise, splitting off and coming together again to form an oval-dash-leaf-shaped hole, before circling her ankle to hold the sandal in place.
"Tell me about it." Kyali answered grumpily. She sighed, looking up and around, taking in the calm surroundings. She grimaced and moved her tongue around in her mouth as she remembered being forced to drink vampire blood. She could still taste the lingering bitter tang.
"Although, I have to say it was interesting," the demon said, unmoving.
"Interesting?" Kyali repeated, incredulous. "For you maybe. Not for me. That is not something I want to go through again." She breathed out a sound of disgust and shuddered. (Yewgh.)
"True, I only got to watch. I'd say that's the most excitement I've had since our contract."
Kyali whipped her head around, narrowed her eyes, and glared at the diminutive demon. Oh, yes, she recalled the contract-making event quite well. And she didn't appreciate the subject being brought up; it was not something she wanted to think about at the moment. "The Horsemen and the fight with the vampires wasn't enough excitement for you?" She shot back, her tone of voice hard with irritation.
"Oh, I was including the fight with the vampires. The Horsemen get kind of old, and they aren't people, just mindless beasts. So, they do nothing for me." The demon rested her cheeks on her fists, sounding for all the world like she was just talking about the weather.
Yes, cloudy with a chance of horseman. So normal. Severe flash-vampire warning, take shelter or evacuate? Now we're talking!
Or at least, that's what Kyali imagined went on in Hanai'ame-Rin's mind. Which was ironic, since the demon was in Kyali's mind. A mind within a mind. That was basically what was happening here.
Aaaaaand she didn't want to think about it.
The human occupying the space sighed and flopped onto her back, flailing her arms out to her sides. It was funny; when she was here, it was hard to be worried, even though she knew, by all logic, she should be freaking out over the fact that she had just lost her squad and been captured by vampires.
But instead of panicking about planning how to escape and try to get back home, a sense of calm and mellowness washed over her, as if it were what the atmosphere here was made of.
"So, what have you been doing when you're 'bored'?" Kyali asked her demon. She tilted her head to the left to face her.
"Oh, not much," the demon shrugged, her arms now wrapped around her knees, "just thinking of creative ways to possess you."
Again. Twenty-percent chance of demon take over; make sure to bring your umbrellas and your weapons.
"You know that's not possible. It's not going to happen," the black-haired human replied.
"Oh, I know," Hanai'ame-Rin shifted to lay on her stomach, propped up by her elbows, and waggled an index finger in the air, "but you never know!" She sounded all too cheerful for the subject matter, and Kyali rolled her eyes. "You're strong, but not that strong, even if you do have an advantage."
"Even if you did, you know I'd just be killed, right? Then you would die, too."
"Yeah, yeah," the diminutive being waved her hand dismissively. "But at least it would be a few minutes of excitement! I'd get to do stuff with your boring old self's body instead of just being an on-looker!" She got up to her knees and waved her arms around, mimicking a puppet.
Kyali sighed, feeling too tired to laugh at the spectacle, and averted her gaze to what served as the sky. "Stop teasing me."
"Oh, come on!" The demon flopped onto her back dramatically and kicked her feet against the space's floor, acting like the child she appeared to be. "Let me have some fun! You try being stuck in a weapon for years and then trapped in a person's mind and see how you like it."
"Yeah, that would stink." Kyali agreed, bringing her hands to pillow beneath her head.
"You betcha it does." Hanai'ame-Rin then squinted her eyes at Kyali. "And I did not appreciate being told to 'shut up' when I was trying to give you advice earlier."
"Oh, that. Sorry. It's just hard to concentrate on not dying when you have someone talking in your head." Kyali said, her tone sincere, if a little flat.
"Hm." The demon occupant of the space nodded. There was moment where neither of them spoke. And then, in a neutral voice. "What are we gonna do now?"
Kyali turned her head to face the demon once again. "We?" She repeated.
"Yeah, we. I'm in here, too, y'know."
"Yeah," Kyali let out a deep exhale. "I don't know. I'm not really in the shape to do anything right now."
Hanai'ame-Rin shrugged, once more seated on her rear with her knees bent at her chest. "Well, I'll be here when you do know."
"Mmhmm," Kyali acknowledged the statement.
"And please hurry up," the demon said, although her tone conveyed that she cared little about whether or not Kyali actually did hurry. "It'll give me something to pass the time."
"I'll try. I don't want to stay here, either." Kyali replied.
The demon nodded, then spoke again after a few moments. "It looks like it's about time to wake up."
To Kyali, it felt like it had been only a few minutes, but she knew that time passed differently in the dream world than it did in the waking world.
Kyali didn't want to wake; it was peaceful here. Ironic, given the nature of the companion, but peaceful nevertheless.
Sure enough, however, the scenery around her began to go out of focus, as she surfaced to consciousness.
-Author's Note-
Hmm...I'm not too sure about this chapter. I don't know if I got Krul's character right. I may rewrite it sometime in the future.
Although, I did enjoy writing the demon conversation.
A bit of a filler, but we do get some insight on our characters, and bridge a gap between one major event and the next.
Disclaimer: Like last time, I don't own Seraph of the End.
Please leave your reviews and your questions in the box; I will do my best to answer them, unless they are spoilers, in which case you'll just have to wait.
Until next time!
-Sky