BEAUTIFUL CREATURE

Princess...The word suddenly emerged amidst your dull thoughts.

But why?

You found yourself awake yet again. Your world had been devoid of dreams, all you can remember was the darkness. Now you awake to find yourself within the same room as before: hopeless. Rubbing your eyes you blinked a moment. The awareness of the present brought your spirits down to it's original low. Your thoughts began to flow freely again. You called the word yet again. You paused a moment. Where did that come from? Isn't that…

Wasn't that what that young vampire said?

You were certain you'd put your mind to rest concerning him. Even so, here it was. You caught yourself feeling guilty. Yes, he's a vampire. Yes, he's one of them; the lot of them you hated with a passion. When you really thought about it, what had he done to deserve your hate? He has proven to be the exact opposite of all the other monsters you'd experienced. The worst he'd done to you was put a flower in your hair; which was considerably less than what any vampire had put you through. You felt conflicted. No matter how much sympathy you held onto for him, it would amount to nothing. You belong to someone else. All you really could do you did earlier, by pushing him away. At least this way, that naive little creature would not get himself hurt when he doesn't have to.

"Princess..?"

A voice, you heard a voice. It was a small, distant voice. Had you become so obsessed that you were hearing things now? Could this mean something? No. It means you need to stop. Persisting in such thoughts would only end in heartbreak…

"Princess…?"

You heard it again. What was wrong with you? Had you really lost yourself? Had you really gotten so lost in pity for this creature that even after presented with reason, it persists? No. This absolutely needs to stop. Despite yourself, your mind drifted to his wounds. He most likely was in a lot of pain. What had you done to help him? You vividly recalled leaving him there, alone in the garden. Your heart begins to ache when you recalled the sadness in his voice once he begged you not to go. You sighed. Maybe you were the heartless one.

"Are you...sleep?"

What? What kind of question is that to ask yourself? Of course you are, or at least you thought you were. At this point you weren't sure anymore. Otherwise it'd be impossible to have a dialogue with someone who isn't there. You froze upon the sudden realization.

You held your breath. Why was he here? No, the real question is how? As far as you knew, this was his first time at Vandead Carnival. How on earth did he make it up this far? Was your captor so careless as to leave his little lab rat unattended at night? Even so, had he not noticed his presence within the castle? Terrified you didn't dare move an inch. A long silence overtook the room. Soon you began to question your sanity yet again. Were you really hearing things? Of all things...him?

"I'm coming in...okay?"

The sound of the door creaking open resounded throughout the room. This is real. He's here. You couldn't help but marvel at this fledgling's persistence. Wasn't he just brutalized and humiliated for just this? Hadn't he learned his lesson when you left him back in the garden? Even so, he here was, the foolish little one still making his effort to pursue what he can't have. You had to wonder whether your captor had even informed the lot of them of his plan in the first place. If he died because of this, it would only make things even more tragic. Presently you heard the door close behind him.

The anticipation became almost too much to bear as you heard the light tap of his approach. What now? What could he possibly do to change the facts? What would it take to convince him of the truth? Even with all of this, the one advantage he had was your pity. You simply couldn't get rid of it. You're human. That's why.

Not one of your thoughts provided a solution for your present predicament. He was here; alone with you. There wasn't much you could do. All you could do was wait. You had already learned that escape from a vampire is futile.

Azusa stopped at the edge of your bed. A sense of relief washed over him as he strode into the room. The glow of the candlelight scattered all across the walls of the place, providing him with limited but ample light. He'd finally found you yet again. The wounds from before, he could still feel their sting. This meant little to him in this very moment. Once he spotted your still form upon the bed, this became his prime focus. Everything had become more than worth the trouble. A small smile spread across his face as he looked to you.

You merely glanced at him, showing little interest. If he was going to do something, he might as well get it over with. It'd take a lot for you to retaliate at this point. You sighed and remained as you were.

As Azusa scanned your countenance, his smile slowly sank. The fiery radiance you'd displayed had all but disappeared. All that was left was a hollow shell. Something wasn't right. You seemed so lifeless compared to before.

"Are you...alright?" Azusa finally spoke, eyes fixated upon you.

"You're not...yourself."

You merely shook your head. Azusa blinked a moment. He stood there a while without saying a word. You finally looked over to him. You then realized he'd been patiently waiting for your response. In all honesty, you didn't feel like talking. To make things more simplistic you merely held out your arm; revealing several deep cuts and bruises littered along the length of it. You heard Azusa let out a small gasp as he observed them from where he was. His gaze drifted back to you, his eyes showing a strange sort of wonder.

"Hey...show me... your wounds." Azusa said, leaning further onto the bed.

"It's alright...isn't it?"

Despite the question, he'd already progressed towards you. He crawled his way over to where you were, stopping short of half an arm's length between you. Without a word you watched him take your hand, turning your arm with care. He looked at each wound carefully. Just to humor yourself, you held out your other arm. Immediately his attention was drawn away. He gently sat down one to inspect the other. He repeated his action. Now gently he ran his hand down it, causing you to wince. Azusa looked to you.

"It...looks so painful." He murmured.

"Yeah, it hurts like hell." You laughed bitterly

Azusa paused a moment before looking back down.

"Is this...all?" He looked back to you with an odd look in his eye.

You shook your head.

"Where? Show me…" Azusa said, already looking himself.

You looked away from him, feeling a bit embarrassed from all this attention. What felt odd was how attentive he was being. You didn't want to assume that he actually cared, but it did seem to be so. The way he looked at you, even with you battered and bruised was so different than how your captor would. He showed such intense interest.

"There's more on my sides and back." You said plainly, gaze still cast away. Despite complying, you made no movement to follow through with his request.

Azusa leaned in a little closer, ever so eager.

"Please let me see...I want to see."

You shook your head.

Azusa titled his head quizzically, still fixated upon your countenance.

"Why...it's alright...you can show me...right?" He pressed on.

"I...I just don't want to alright?" A light blush formed upon your face without you realizing it.

Azusa watched you a moment before speaking again.

"Are you...embarrassed? Why…?" He said, still fixated upon you.

Upon your silence in reply, he paused a moment to think of a 'solution'.

"Maybe...I can undress too...then we'll be...the same."

You shot your head over to meet his gaze. He couldn't be serious...could he? With just one look, you knew he meant it. You shook your head yet again. You knew he'd only persist. With a sigh, you resolved to just get it over with. You carefully raised your gown up so he could see. He peered behind you so he could get a better look at it. You sat there, completely mortified with your current position. Your breathing grew a bit faster as you tried to maintain composure.

You jumped when you felt his finger trace one of the cuts along your back. You glared back at him with fierce displeasure. He stopped where he was.

"Ah...sorry." Azusa said absentmindedly. "Did that...hurt?"

"Yes of course it did." You shot back.

Azusa smiled softly to himself. "How...did it hurt?"

"It stung. Don't do it again." You huffed, easing your gown back down. You did so ever so carefully lest you cause yourself more pain than you really needed. Azusa returned to your side. You jumped again when you noticed Azusa halted your motion by placing his hand onto your leg.

"What?"

Azusa look from you and then back down to where his hand lay.

"You...didn't mention these."

You followed his gaze. In response you just shrugged, saying you'd forgotten about them. Azusa frowned a moment before leaning over to inspect them as well. You jerked back. He merely waited a bit before continuing what he was doing. Carefully you watched him to make sure he didn't get uncomfortably close; or at least more so than he already was.

Shortly, he sat back up. You promptly put your gown completely down. With a sigh, he then began to smile deliriously. He took your hand once again, repeating his actions a second time. At this point you had a growing feeling of discomfort arise within your chest.

Something seemed off.

He seemed a bit too interested in your wounds...You knew that much. This wasn't anything akin to genuine concern. No, this attention you'd been receiving was something else entirely. You just couldn't tell what. Even so, what you truly were unaware of was that by the end of the night, your view of him would change entirely. The two of you, and your world would change tonight. You continue on in your endless question of whether this is salvation or damnation.

[AUTHORS NOTE: I have Avelcain to thank for helping me with the atmosphere of Azu-darling. The general ambiance of the band seems to fit him perfectly. I declare PSYCHO his yan-yan theme song. ]

Diabolik Lovers, the setting nor characters belong to me. I'm simply crafting a story based upon such.

Nor do I own the title, I have MEJIBRAY to thank for that.