Song playlist: Power And Control by Mariana and the Diamonds
Chapter 7
Powerplay
/ˈpaʊəpleɪ/
1. a strategic maneuver, as in politics, diplomacy, or business, in which advantage is sought through the use of power or influence.
2. the act of using knowledge and or information against someone else in order to gain advantage in an intense situation
"Man, I'm dead tired-"
Back before the disaster that was the end of the world, Guren Ichinose was halting as he opened his office door. He ran one hand through his hair, before sighing deeply and pointing his sword.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Is this how you treat your comrade, Lieutenant Guren Ichinose?"
"Cut the crap. No way in fuck that aura of yours is anything human."
"Oh?" the intruder's voice turned pleasantly interested. "How intriguing, what a clever dog you are."
He was dressed in the standard military uniform for a Sergeant, a high enough rank to access Guren's office while low enough to escape special attention. Slim long legs were crossed elegantly on Guren's desk as he lounged back in the leather chair. His military peaked cap was pulled low over his eyes, casting a shadow over his face.
More importantly- "Oi, get those papers out of your hands. They're classified."
"Hmm…no thank you. You see, I've been dying of boredom lately and these are such divine reading material. You humans really are amusing-" The stranger smoothly tilted his head, dodging the sword that had lunged at him. Instead the sheath caught on his hat and whipped it away from his head. Guren was captivated by the cascades of long silver hair that fell down in waves….as well as the two pointed ears that popped free.
"Vampire." Guren's whole demeanour shifted as he unsheathed his sword and thick black tendrils burst out in a stifling haze. He locked eyes on his target with a smirk. "The rumoured rulers of the corrupted realm whose sightings are few and far. Looks like I've caught a rare bug today."
"What a splendid textbook definition!- a human textbook, that is. Ah, what a shame for you poor dears, so lost in the dark about the real truth out there."
"Don't underestimate us humans, vampire. You can help enlighten us then- as our guinea pig, that is." Guren slashed his sword at the vampire sending a cutting wave of black towards him. The vampire laughed and sprung out of the chair like a cat. He flipped mid air in a whirl of silver hair and loose sheaves of paper. Landing perfectly balanced on the hilt of Guren's sword, their foreheads were pressed together.
Guren was met with two ruby eyes with slit pupils.
"Boo."
Then the vampire flicked Guren's nose as if he were a misbehaving kitten. Guren flew back, crashing hard enough in the wall to make a human sized dent.
He winced, clutching his broken nose in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. His chin was delicately lifted up by a white gloved finger. Guren narrowed his eyes at the vampire leaning above him, with one arm resting next to Guren's head and legs crossed like he was modelling for a photo-shoot.
"Human are as pathetically weak as usual-"
"What can I say?" Guren interrupted with a shrug, as if he wasn't facing his imminent death.
"Ahaha, I think I like you!" The smirk on the vampire's face stretched into a Cheshire grin.
"Don't say it like you're adopting a pet," Guren muttered.
"I see no difference. Did you know, pet, that most vampires avoid coming to the human realm unnecessarily? Why would you want to go visit a field of livestock? But you can find the most interesting things sometimes. After all, out of the two of us, who is the real monster in this room?"
Guren didn't follow the vampire's gaze flicker to the papers strewn around them, keeping his eyes on the enemy.
"Sixty seven orphanages in Japan alone which take in lost hurt strays, the poor lambs no one cares about or notices, and uses them as human experiments without their knowledge. The total death count has come up to a grand one hundred and four. My my, what a despicable game the Imperial Army likes to play."
But in contrast to his words, the vampire sounded morbidly amused at what he had discovered.
"You…this isn't the first time you've broken into here."
"Of course not!" Now it was the vampire's turn to shrug, somehow making it a graceful roll of his shoulders. "Where would the fun be in that? Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you."
The vampire wagged his finger at Guren who froze his hand from where it had been sneaking to the alarm button in the wall. He gave an unrepentant smile. "And why not?"
"Because imagine the widespread panic and chaos when the secret activities of the Imperial Army are delivered to every news studio in Japan. What a shock the public will receive!"
The vampire whipped out a paper brown envelope sealed with the official army stamp and with a bold red CLASSIFIED stamped on the front. Guren lunged for it only to have a boot press his chest back into the wall. The envelope was waved mockingly in front of his face, before the vampire let it slip from his fingers and disappear in thin air.
"What-"
"A small magic trick, you might say. Pocket dimensions sure can be handy. You'd better keep silent about me, isn't that right? Just imagine your punishment when the leaked papers are traced back to Guren Ichinose, Lieutenant of the Imperial Army himself. I can hear the cries for the blood of a traitor already."
The vampire shivered with a gleam in his eyes.
"You're one messed up, blackmailing sadist."
"We all need a hobby, don't we mister human experimenter? Don't get too angsty- this can benefit you too if you're a good boy. I'll be back to play with you soon."
The vampire patted his head and snickered when Guren slapped his hand away. He stepped back and Guren didn't stop him, tracking his every move with his eyes. As the vampire fixed his cap back on and leapt to the windowsill, which Guren had sworn he had locked before leaving his office, he turned his head back.
"Oh, and you can call me Ferid."
Then he smirked and jumped down, as silent as the night.
"Seventh Progenitor Ferid Bathory. You are late- explain yourself."
"Sorry, sorry, I was finishing some business of mine," Ferid light heartedly announced as he strolled into the meeting room. Several screens were suspended in mid air with the tell tale sparks of magic flickering at the edges like jolts of electricity. They hung around the edges of a glowing magic runic circle. Its illumination was casting sharp shadows theatrically over the room.
"One would think you would no longer wish to remain in this exclusive council," the Second Progenitor continued seriously. "Act your position Ferid Bathory before you face the repercussions of your eccentricies."
"Of course, my apologies," Ferid atoned with a theatrical sweeping bow. Krul scoffed in her high backed throne and crossed her legs.
"Enough of these interruptions. Third Progenitor Krul Tepes, report on your progress with Sanguinem."
Krul straightened by a centimetre and snapped her fingers. A document of papers fell into her open palm, which she caught and flicked open without looking. She kept her eyes trained on the screens as nine more sets of papers were teleported in the laps of each nameless Progenitor.
They too snatched their papers from the air effortlessly without moving their gazes from the other top dogs. They were a pack of predators all waiting to pounce at the slightest show of weakness.
"As detailed in the report, the construction of the third vampire capital underneath Kyoto is nearing its completion," Krul reported evenly. "The need for discretion from Japan's Imperial Army has lessened the number of builders and architects we could send without catching their notice but the vampires in the city are safely protected."
"You claim the vampires in the city are safe- what of all the vampires you have sent? Are you hiding casualties from the council?" The Fifth Progenitor who was addressing Krul spoke just as mildly yet there was a sharp glint in his eyes.
"I would never hide anything from the council. This is a place for honesty, is it not?" Krul smiled sweetly. "In faith to my duty and responsibility, I have already outlined in the reports you hold the two lower class vampires who strayed too far above ground and were captured by the Imperial Army. It is unfortunately tragic but a risk we are all aware of when we travel to the human realm."
"Yet not for much longer," the central screen spoke up for the first time. An alert silence blanketed the room as the First Progenitor's voice gripped them like a deep icy stream. "With the vampire underground settlements nearly built and our soldiers trained, our decades long plans to invade the human realm are finally close to being put into action. Too long have we lived in the shadows of this corrupted realm while the livestock roam freely and carelessly on the earth's surface. Progenitors, you know your assigned countries to attack and rule. Keep to your duties and await my signal. Council dismissed."
One by one the screens faded out and dropped to the ground. They sank into the magic circle, making it flare brighter before losing its shining light like a dying fire.
Krul visibly slumped in her throne and let her hand with the report dangle to the floor. She massaged her head with her other hand before peering at Ferid between her fingers.
"Oh, you're still here? Get lost already."
"You wound my poor heart," Ferid complained, clutching at his chest.
"Good, a stake through your heart is what you need."
"How cruel of my love! But I shall take my leave then, my dear." He blew a kiss and a wave at Krul whose expression sat on the border of stotic and disgusted.
"Off to poke your nose into who knows where it doesn't belong as usual? One day you'll find something that'll bite you back and tear that ugly face of yours off."
"That would never happen," Ferid laughed beguilingly. "Because my love, I'm very serious about my games."
Guren let out a hum as he meandered down the sunny cobbled path on Hiruma Road. His head was lowered as he scanned through the latest report he had just collected from the Hyakuya Orphanage. As he walked, the background chatter began to rise in volume like birds waking up in the morning. Guren looked up to see the elementary school at the end of the road letting loose their students, flooding the street with tiny bobbing yellow hats.
Children ran past Guren shrieking and laughing, paying no attention to just another boring adult dressed casually in the crowd. He ignored them and looked back down at the report.
The street blacked out as a pair of hands covered his eyes.
"Guess who?" someone sang from behind him.
"I wonder," Guren stated conversationally. "How many different ways it takes for a vampire to die. The prissy higher ups won't let the vampires we've captured to be killed off unfortunately- they're more important for "testing" apparently. But you on the other hand- well, I'm sure no one will cry at your funeral."
That irritating laughter rang out. His face was released, but not before his cheek was patted twice with pseudo affection.
"Now now, you wouldn't want to kill off your beloved partner would you?"
"Partner? Who the hell is your partner?"
Guren turned to see Ferid wink and then smile mysteriously at him. It took him a moment to associate the vampire with the formal army uniformed, which he had probably stolen shamelessly, figure from yesterday. Before him Ferid was dressed in a pair of tight black skinny jeans with knee-high boots which accentuated his feminine legs. His blood red shirt matched the jewel shaped earrings glimmering in his ears, pulling off a casually rebellious yet designer fashionable look.
"How are your ears rounded?" Guren noticed with faint curiosity.
"Just a small magic trick," Ferid smirked, tracing his ear with a fingertip as if he were showing them off.
"You said that last time as well."
"Because it's true- don't bother trying to hide that your little army can use spells and enchantments too. Noble vampires can use small amounts of basic magic for things like communication, pocket dimensions and object teleportation- little parlour tricks, really. But neither us vampires nor you humans are beings who can tap into the full potential of magic- that legendary power belongs to deities alone."
"You sure are one loose lipped enemy," Guren shook his head at Ferid. "Not that I'm complaining of course. Care to share all your evil plans and how to kill you while you're at it?"
"Ahaha, I wouldn't want to make things that easy for you pet. I'm just pulling in your interest- isn't it lovely having these chats with me? You've certainly caught mine with this precious gem-"
"Hurry up!" a blonde kid shouted as he ran between Guren and Ferid. A wide angelic smile was splitting his face, lighting up his blue eyes. "We have to be home before our new family member arrives!"
"Wait up, Mika!" another girl called after him. Kagame, Guren recognised her from the profile photos in the report, and that was the one called Akane jogging behind. They caught up to Mikaela, clutching at his hands and chattering excitedly. Guren watched them disappear down the road with a tiny guilty tug at his heart at their oblivious happiness.
He ruthlessly squashed that tug down.
"Oh my…what an adorable cutie."
"Wipe that perverted look off your face you disgusting pedo. Oh my god, could your personality get any worse? Actually don't answer that, I don't want to know."
Ferid simply laughed. "Isn't it touching how Yuichirou Amane will get such a warm welcome to his new family? But you won't be able to keep him a secret forever- the Eye of Lucfier being found is the event of centuries."
"Stop stealing my papers." Guren gave a dangerous smile. "Touch a hair on his head and I'll be using yours as a mantelpiece decoration."
"Possessive are we? Don't worry, I'll leave your precious toy alone…for now. Thank you for the report, partner!"
Ferid walked off, waving the exact same bundle of papers in Guren's hands in the air in a salute. Guren's eyes widened as he looked down- he still had the papers in his hand. How the hell did he duplicate them?
"Small magic tricks, huh?"
Looks like he'd have to polish up on his warding skills. Ah, what a pain.
"Your Majesty! The human realm has collapsed!"
"What?! Report the situation immediately!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The guard who had ran inside out of breath rose up from his kneeled bow. "There has been a global scale earthquake destroying all the buildings and cities across the earth. Our architects have predicted that the vampire cities we built underground would have remained intact due to the specialised building materials we had imported from our realm."
"Our precautions for natural disasters have paid off then," Krul commented, sounding pleased. "Carry on, soldier."
"The estimated damage reports are being sent over by our guards in the vampire cities as we speak-"
Krul held out her hand to cut the guard off. Her attention had been caught by the magic summoning circle that had began pulsing by the side of her throne. She picked up the scroll that had been teleported into the circle, unravelled the gold embroidered ribbon and read the message inside.
"Royal guards!" she suddenly ordered.
The guards lining the room were kneeling submissively in an immaculate line at her feet in the blink of an eye.
"The time has come to put our plans into action. Bring out the weapons, prepare the helicopters, alert every single vampire of every class."
Krul paused to let a bloodthirsty shark like grin spread across her lips.
"We are attacking the human realm- to victory!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
As the guards rushed out to carry out their orders, Ferid passed them as he entered the royal hall. His hair twirled in its ribbon tied ponytail as he turned to watch them leave.
"Oh? Looks like things are getting interesting now. You'll get wrinkles if you carry on glaring at me like that, my love. Don't you want to hear the super juicy intel I've got?"
"Go ahead, impress me," Krul drawled.
Ferid walked down the plush red carpet, up the stairs and stood right in front of the throne in a blatant power play. "You're going to follow my orders and attack Tokyo first."
"Ha! As if I take orders from you, Seventh Progenitor. I could have you beheaded for this disrespect towards your Queen."
"Ah, but you won't," Ferid said smugly like the cat that had gotten the cream. He placed his hands on the arms of the throne and leaned forward so that he was caging Krul in. The fire in her eyes told him that he was a second away from his heart being ripped out. With his fringe shielding them from the remaining tense guards, he whispered dramatically," I know where the Eye of Lucifer is."
Author's notes: Next chapter will be back to Mika and Yuu! I would just write every chapter on them if I could but this one was necessary for the plot. Also I haven't read the light novels so sorry if Guren is OOC in any way, and also sorry not sorry for Ferid being such a huge flirt.