We're back! Wow, guys. Thank you for your feedback on the last chapter. Y'all were NOT supposed to like Renley smh I can't believe you. But I'm glad you did! I'm introducing another minor OC to help fill out Vampire Mountain's staff roster in this one. You'll meet him a little more than halfway through. Jai Yang - "Jai" after the first person to leave me a review on fanfic dot net in 2008, and "Yang" after one of the best god damn surgeons ever to grace the screen of Grey's Anatomy. I love adding personal little details like that, just makes it extra special to me.
I'm actually kind of excited to be posting this one. Which feels good considering I've been so down on myself and this story for the most part. This one covers the chapters of Hunters Of The Dusk, and is the 2nd of a 2-part chunk (which was supposed to be 1 part but got way too long on me). Here we deal with Desmond Fucking Tiny himself. This is another one where I pasted in the canonical dialogue and added my own narration behind it. BUT if you're familiar with the Desmond chapters I'm using here, you'll spot where I strayed from the script a lil bit.
Alright let's get into it.
Chapter 12: HOME II - To Look The Devil In The Face And Make It Home Safe
Song:Home by Machine Gun Kelly
Home
A place where I can go
To take this off my shoulders
Someone take me home
(It's been a long time coming)
Someone take me
Home
Home, home
Someone take me
Home,
Home, home
THE NEXT DAY:
It wasn't the worst hangover Mika had ever endured. It probably wouldn't even have cracked the top ten, if not for... the guest.
After last night's bizarre encounter with General Azerion, Mika returned to the party and had a damn good time out of pure spite. Then he slept for three hours then got up and headed down to the Hall of Princes as if he hadn't missed a day. He thought he was hallucinating when he saw the door to the slide open and Desmond Tiny himself strutted in like he owned the gods-damned place. Although it occurred to Mika that in a way, he sort of did own the place. And that thought was more than a little unsettling. Darren and Harkat were trailing nervously behind Tiny; Harkat looked even more worried than Mika felt and that was saying something. And Darren was putting on a brave face, glancing down reassuringly at Harkat as they walked side by side. But Darren wasn't yet so hardened that his eyes didn't betray his true emotions.
Mika had never actually seen Tiny in person before, but he knew Paris, Seba, Larten, and Darren all had. Mika's eyes instinctively landed on Paris, waiting for his ancient mentor to shoot him a subtle, knowing look like he always did when something was going off the rails and they both knew they'd have to handle it. But Paris stared straight ahead, eyes fixed on the squat, yellow-clad man as he waddled his way up the aisle in a sea of discontented muttering. The sudden deathly terror on Paris's face chilled Mika to the bone. It was as if Paris was staring through the doors of hell itself. Mika had never seen him look like that, ever. He felt his stomach churn, and it wasn't the hangover.
By the teeth of the gods!" Paris croaked. He flinched for a moment, and Mika braced himself to catch Paris if he fainted like he had the day Harkat Mulds delivered Tiny's message at last council. But he held himself together with a quiet resolve that Mika could only dream of possessing, since at this present moment he himself felt liable to either throw up or collapse out of sheer panic.
"Desmond, it is good to see you." Paris greeted the leering intruder with an attempt at a smile.
"You too, Paris," Mr. Tiny replied. His eyes gleamed with an unsettling delight, as if he'd just arrived at the party of his life.
"To what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?" Paris asked. His voice was as steady as ever. No one besides Mika or Seba would have been able to detect the tiny shudder that accompanied the word "pleasure".
"Wait a minute and I'll tell you," Mr. Tiny answered with a cackle. Mika watched with silent horror as the strange little man made his way up to the throne platform and plunked his round, yellow-clad body down in Darren's throne as if he belonged there. Mika glanced over at the kid; his face had gone pale but he looked as determined as ever. Mika also noticed that Larten's eyes were fixed not on Desmond Tiny, but rather his young apprentice.
Mr. Tiny turned to face Mika, his sickening smile stretching even wider across his round face.
"Get the gang in!" he ordered lazily, crooking his finger in a way that made Mika's skin crawl. "I've something to say and it's for everybody's ears."
Fucking excellent, thought Mika.
Mika dispatched a couple guards to round up everyone else in the mountain. It didn't take more than five minutes, word of the surprise guest had already started spreading and most of them were already on their way up to the hall.
Mr. Tiny watched complacently as the hall filed in. Soon the hall was about a quarter-full, which was still a significant amount considering council wasn't in progress.
"All present and correct?" Mr. Tiny called out at last. There was a general murmur of agreement through the hall, and he stood up from Darren's throne as though about to give a grand speech. "Then I'll come straight to the point. The Lord of the Vampaneze has been blooded."
The silence that followed those words was deafening. Mika felt a shiver run down his spine as his stomach dropped.
Twelve hours. I've been home for twelve fucking hours. I couldn't even have one good day. Fuck me.
Mr. Tiny wasn't done - not even close.
"Six hundred years ago, I told your forebears that the Vampaneze Lord would lead the vampaneze into a war against you and wipe you out. That was a truth - but not the truth. The future is both open and closed. There's only one 'will be' but there are often hundreds of 'can be's'. Which means the Vampaneze Lord and his followers can be defeated."
The room buzzed with a mixture of apprehension and hope.
"The Vampaneze Lord is only a half-vampaneze at the moment," Mr. Tiny said. "If you find and kill him before he's fully blooded, victory will be yours."
The atmosphere of the room exploded, shattered by bellows of triumph and delighted. The audience cheered, hugged, pounded each other on the backs, and hollered toasts to the clan and praise to the gods.
But something was wrong. Mika may not have had prior experience with Desmond Tiny, but he knew better than to think there wasn't another shoe about to drop. The way the strange little man was still smiling wider yet by the second, and the way Paris and Seba's faced were clouded by utter dread. Larten, Darren, and Harkat were exchanging uneasy looks among each other were all dead giveaways. Larten then caught Mika's eye and grimly shook his head, almost imperceptibly but Mika noticed. Then all of them returned their gazes to Mr. Tiny. He was looking around the room with a patient sort of relish. And of course, still smiling.
It didn't take the general audience long to come to the same conclusion that Mika and the others had. They slowly quieted down, shooting confused glances up at Tiny.
Mr. Tiny raised his right hand. He clutched his heart-shaped watch with his left hand. The watch glowed a dark red colour, and suddenly his right hand glowed as well. All eyes settled on the five crimson fingers and the Hall went eerily quiet.
"When the Vampaneze Lord was discovered seven years ago, I studied the strings connecting the present to the future, and saw that there were five chances to avert the course of destiny." Said Mr. Tiny slowly and purposefully. "One of those has already come and gone."
The red glow faded from his thumb, which he tucked down into his palm. "That chance was Kurda Smahlt."
Mika's physically felt a piece of his soul break off and die at those words. He didn't think this could get any realer, but it just had. Kurda tried. He tried so hard to do the right thing. He did it the wrong way, but his intentions were never not noble.
Fear makes people do crazy things. And if there was anything that could've driven someone mad, to the edge of desperation with fear... it was this.
"If Kurda had succeeded, most vampires would have been absorbed by the vampaneze and the War of the Scars - as you've termed it - would have been averted."
A ripple of shocked mutters ran through the hall.
"Kurda fought the the good fight, but the lot of you collectively derailed that rather nicely. What's dear ex-General Smahlt doing these days?" Mr. Tiny added, with a smirk at the three Princes in turn.
"Kurda was dishonourably exiled for his treachery. We cannot allow a traitor to walk among us. He is no longer part of the vampire clan." Paris clarified meekly.
"What a shame. Ah well! I suppose if he really is dead to you, then for all intents and purposes I'll not spare him another thought. Although I'll admit, the fact that you sticklers let him leave this mountain with his life... not even I could have predicted that twist of fate!" Mr. Tiny chortled merrily. "It was a creative choice of sentencing coming from you lot, I'll give you that much!"
"Kurda betrayed us, while preparing to die for us." Mika forced out through gritted teeth. "There was no clear-cut solution."
Mr. Tiny trained his eyes upon Mika. His expression was as exuberantly joyful as ever. Mika felt every nerve ending of his body stand up and scream desperately for him to run fast and far, far away from here. But he held Tiny's gaze determinedly. Knowing as long as he stood at the front of this ancient hall, he had to be strong for every vampire in it. Even though right now all he wanted was to be one of the vampires sitting in the back row, blending in. Or better yet, not here at all.
"You must understand-" Mr. Tiny smirked. "-when I placed my bets, there was no version of this where both you AND Smahlt came out alive. According to my manuscript, it was only ever going to be one or the other. Any other outcome had such long odds, I'll admit I never even took them into consideration. Ah well! I tip my hat to you for keeping me on my toes! Not an easy feat." He winked nastily.
"Could Kurda still save us?" Darren spoke up. His face was pale but his voice was loud and strong.
Tiny flicked his gaze from Mika to Darren in an instant, chuckling.
"Pffft! Kurda Smahlt is irrelevant, remember? You may have spared him, but you still disowned him. And apparently that means the same thing to you. If you say he's no longer part of the clan, then he's no longer a deciding factor in this war, understand? He could have stopped this, but you called him a pacifist traitor and threw him out into the snow. We are done talking about Smahlt."
His tone was as jovial as ever but there was an unmissable tone of finality in his voice.
"Now, where was I? Ah!" He wiggled his glowing little finger and carried on: "This represents your last chance, if all others fail. It will not fall for some time yet - if at all - so we shall ignore it." He tucked the glowing finger down, leaving the three middle fingers standing.
"Which brings us to my reason for coming. If I left you to your own devices, these chances would slip by unnoticed. You'd carry on as you have been, the windows of opportunity would pass, and before you knew it..." He made a soft popping sound.
"Within the next twelve months," he said softly but clearly, "there may be three encounters between certain vampires and the Vampaneze Lord - assuming you heed my advice. Three times he will be at your mercy. If you seize one of these chances and kill him, the war will be yours. If you fail, there'll be one final, all-deciding confrontation, upon which the fate of every living vampire will hang." He paused teasingly. "To be honest, I hope it goes down to the wire - I love big, dramatic conclusions!" He turned his back on the Hall and one of his Little People handed him a flask, from which he drank deeply.
If anyone here needs a drink, it sure as fuck isn't you, Mika thought hatefully as he watched the little man. A chorus of unhappy murmurs echoes through the hall.
"You have been very generous with your information, Desmond. On behalf of all here, I thank you." Said Paris quietly once Tiny was finished indulging himself.
"Don't mention it!" Tiny replied contentedly.
"Will you extend your generosity and tell us which vampires are destined to encounter the Vampaneze Lord?" Paris ventured. Bravely, in Mika's opinion.
"I will," Mr. Tiny said smugly. "But let me make one thing clear - the encounters will only occur if the vampires choose to hunt the Lord of the Vampaneze. The three I name don't have to accept the challenge of hunting him down, or take responsibility for the future of the vampire clan. But if they don't, you're doomed, for in these three alone lies the ability to change that which is destined to be."
He scanned the crowd with his strange, soulless eyes. Slowly, deliberately. He seemed to take in every single vampire in the room as though he was reading their very souls. But Mika felt a subtle surge of pride over the fact that not a single one of them cowered under his gaze.
"Very well." Tiny remarked once he seemed to be sure no one was going to protest. "One of the hunters is absent, so I'll not name him. If the other two head for the cave of Lady Evanna, they'll probably run into him along the way. If not, his chance to play an active part in the future will pass, and it will boil down to that lone pair."
"And they are...?" Paris inquired apprehensively.
Mika kept his eyes on Mr. Tiny's face, even though looking at it made him feel sick. He watched as Tiny's gaze landed directly upon Larten and Darren who were standing in the front row. Judging by their faces, they knew exactly what was coming.
"The hunters must be Larten Crepsley and his assistant, Darren Shan." He declared at last.
The hall was immediately full of confused mutterings at Tiny's proclamation. The man seemed to relish it, sitting back with his hands folded happily behind his head.
"Darren, Larten - you don't have to agree to this." Paris croaked abruptly. This does not fall under the definition of "official duty". Nobody will think any less of you if you don't want to go down this road. Mika, do you agree?"
Mika paused, but only for a moment.
"Yes, I do. This is an extenuating circumstance if I've ever seen one. However you choose to proceed, you have our full support." Said Mika.
Larten nodded slowly at Paris and Mika, then turned to face Darren who was looking back up at his mentor. Their faces were unreadable. They seemed to communicate without words. Mika knew Darren wasn't yet capable of telepathy given his half-blooded status. But so much could be said with just a look. When you know someone as well as Larten and Darren, even silent words are unnecessary. Mika knew how true that was; he had the same bond with Paris.
After several long moments, Larten took a step forward, his eyes locked defiantly upon Desmond Tiny. Mika could have made the argument that in this moment, Larten looked more like Quicksilver than he had during his Quicksilver phase.
"I relish the chance to hunt down the Vampaneze Lord." Larten said decisively. His voice wasn't especially loud, but it carried clearly into every corner of the vast hall. Darren followed close behind, looking every bit as incorrigibly fierce as his old mentor.
"Me too." Said Darren. His voice wasn't as loud as Larten's, but it didn't have to be. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"The boy knows how to keep it short," Mr. Tiny murmured, winking at Harkat, who looked nervously at the floor.
Mika felt a strange feeling rise up inside him. It started as a simmer of indignation and quickly burned hotter and hotter until it became impossible to ignore.
What about the rest of us?" He snapped before he could stop himself. Beside him, Paris groaned. "I've spent five years hunting for that accursed Lord. I wish to accompany them."
"Aye! Me too!" Gareth Tarl bellowed raucously. That triggered a cacophony of obstinate retorts opposing Tiny's revelation.
Mr. Tiny shook his head, as though bored and exasperated with the vampires.
"Three hunters must seek - no more, no less. Non-vampires may assist them, but if any of their kinsmen tag along, they shall fail." He replied slowly and firmly, as though addressing a room full of children. The note of condescension in his tone threw gasoline on Mika's burning anger.
"Why should we believe you?" He snarled on pure impulse. "Surely ten stand a better chance than three, and twenty more than ten, and thirty-" Even as the words came tumbling out of his mouth, Mika knew he knew better than this. He was way too judicious, too calculating, too damn intelligent to go mouthing off to Desmond Tiny. Years ago, he wouldn't have let his temper get the better of him. And yet, here the fuck we are.
Tiny looked Mika dead in the eye, face devoid of any semblance of expression or empathy, and raised his right hand and snapped his fingers in one swift motion. The sound it produced was much, much louder than should have been possible.
And that was the moment Mika knew beyond a shadow of a doubt - he'd fucked all the way up.
A deafening crack split the air, seeming to come from above. Every eyeball in the place darted upwards just in time to see the ceiling above them begin to crack open. And Mika experienced a truly unprecedented level of raw terror. And given how the last few years had treated him, that was saying something. He could only watch, paralyzed by panic, as the "unbreakable" walls of the Hall of Princes, the physical shell of his home, began to crumble before his eyes.
"Would you, who has not seen three centuries, dare to tell me, who measures time in continental drifts, about the mechanisms of fate?" Mr. Tiny growled viciously. Another snap of his fingers, and the cracks in the ceiling widened. Pieces crumbled to the floor, creating a deafening crash. Several vampires screamed in terror. Desmond Tiny's gaze never wavered from Mika.
"A thousand vampaneze couldn't chip the walls of this Hall, yet I, by clicking my fingers, can bring it tumbling down." He hissed.
Mika stood frozen to the spot, heart pounding so hard he felt as if his ribs were cracking. In this room he'd always been untouchable. But now the tables hadn't turned, they'd been upended entirely. And suddenly, here in his own domain - Mika was rendered completely powerless.
Tiny lifted his fingers higher, preparing to snap them a third time.
LC: Mika!
The sharp, sudden brush of Larten's conscious against his own, the frantic urgency in that single word was enough to hotwire the piece of Mika's brain that had disengaged.
"No!" Mika shouted at last, unable to keep the desperation out of his voice as he stared back at Desmond Tiny's cruel face. "I apologize! I didn't mean to offend you!"
Tiny regarded Mika coldly for a long moment. Then, slowly and deliberately, he finally lowered his hand.
"Think of this before crossing me again, Mika Ver Leth." He snapped. Mika flinched. Hearing his full name from those lips sent a shiver down his spine. He nodded and looked away from the little man.
"They'll patch the roof up before we leave," Mr. Tiny said, gesturing at his posse of Little People. "But next time you anger me, I'll reduce this Hall to rubble, leaving you and your precious Stone of Blood to the whim of the vampaneze."
He paused, and carefully blew some dust off of his heart-shaped watch. When he looked back up at his audience, he was grinning delightedly once again.
"I take it we're decided - three it shall be?" He inquired innocently, eyes shining.
"Three." Paris affirmed. He was shaking.
"Three." Mika echoed numbly.
"As I said, non-vampires may - indeed, must - play a part, but for the next year no vampire should seek out any of the hunters, unless for reasons which have nothing to do with the search for the Vampaneze Lord. Alone they must stand and alone they must succeed or fail." He proclaimed, then he looked around the room for several moments. His enjoyment of the terror he'd inspired was blatantly obvious.
"You two are dismissed!" Tiny added brightly, flicking his hand impatiently at Mika and Paris. "In fact, all of you are free to go about your merry business! I need to speak to our noble hunters alone."
Mika caught Larten's eye for a moment before he turned to leave.
MVL: You alright?
Larten raised one eyebrow.
LC: Are any of us?
MVL: Touché. Good luck.
Look, I been through so much pain
And it's hard to maintain, any smile on my face
'Cause there's madness on my brain
So I gotta make it back, but my home ain't on the map
Gotta follow what I'm feeling to discover where it's at
I need the (memory)
In case this fate is forever, just to be sure these last days are better
And if I have any (enemies)
To give me the strength to look the devil in the face and make it home safe
"I suppose we might as well go sit down and try to eat something. There is not a lot else we can do." Seba suggested gently as the door to the Hall of Princes slid shut behind them, leaving Darren, Harkat, and Larten alone with Mr. Tiny.
"I dare say I've lost my appetite." Paris croaked. "But I am all for sitting down."
Seba gently squeezed Paris's hand, and the pair of them followed the dejected crowd of vampires that had been dismissed from the hall. Mika trailed along at the back of the pack, moving slowly. The encounter had stripped away every piece of composure he'd spend the last few years determinedly rebuilding. Everything from to the cryptic mentions of Kurda, to the reminder of how effortlessly Desmond Tiny could bring the clan to their knees had sent Mika's mind reeling in a thousand different directions. Left him unsure if he should lie down in a dark room and fall apart, or double down on every effort he'd put into winning the war thus far. And too paralyzed to do either.
Paris paused, and glanced over his shoulder.
"Mika, come on." He whispered. "You too."
Mika nodded slowly and fell into step at Paris's side. Paris reached up and gave Mika's left shoulder a reassuring squeeze, but didn't account for the fact that the shoulder in question still had an entire bullet lodged in it, and Mika gasped sharply in pain.
"Oh, no!" Paris groaned, distress clouding his face. "I'm so sorry, Mika. I forgot."
"Forgot he elected to go to a party last night rather than take a trip to the medics." Said Seba with a feeble attempt at a smile.
"It's okay, Paris. Don't worry about me. Worry about literally anything but me." Said Mika, regarding Paris seriously as he curled his bad limb protectively against his chest, gingerly massaging his upper left arm with his right hand. Amazing what one tiny, carefully place piece of metal could do. Even to the supernaturally enhanced body of a vampire.
"No excuses, Mika." Paris retorted. His voice was gruff again. "You're going to the medics right now. Either I walk you there, or I give them an executive order to drag you to the infirmary kicking and screaming."
"Paris..." Mika protested. "Desmond Tiny himself just walked into home and changed everything we know about the war of our lives. My stupid bullet can wait til tomorrow. It's already been there for two and a half months."
"That does not make it better." Seba muttered in an undertone.
"You're being willfully ignorant at this point." Paris sighed. "If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me."
"It is not as if your day can get any worse than it already is... Sire." Seba added smoothly, arching an eyebrow at Mika.
"He's got you there." Paris added.
Mika let out a long, low groan of defeat and rolled his eyes.
"Fuck. Fine. Let's get it over with."
Seba carried on to the Hall of Khledon Lurt where he would wait anxiously for Larten and Darren to emerge from their private meeting with Tiny, and Mika and Paris rerouted themselves down to the infirmary.
Mika did a double-take as he walked into the familiar cavern where he, and just about every other vampire, had logged plenty of hours being patched up over the years.
"What the fuck happened here?" He inquired abruptly, looking around.
"Infirmary" had always been a loose term. It was a simple cavern with a few lumpy cots and hammocks, staffed by a handful of medics whose supplies were limited to tourniquets, ointments, and whatever other crude odds and ends they could dig up within the mountain.
Now the room was almost unrecognizable. The amount of beds had doubled, almost half containing patients, and there were shelves lining the walls that contained a manner of tools and medical supplies that definitely had never come standard for vampire mountain. It was all still very rough-hewn, but it really did look like a makeshift hospital.
"You've been gone for a long time." Said Paris, shrugging. "I wanted to show you yesterday, but you had your grand party to attend- ah, there he is!" Paris waved at a tall, slender vampire with black hair and wise, dark eyes who had been taking to one of the patients on a cot in the corner. The man nodded back and quickly walked over to where Mika and Paris were standing.
"Mika, meet Dr. Jai Yang." Said Paris. Jai smiled crisply and greeted Mika with a polite little bow. "Dr. Yang, you've probably gathered this is Sire Ver Leth. He has a history of playing fast and loose with his well-being. I suspect this won't be your last encounter with him." Paris added, arching an eyebrow at Mika.
Mika rolled his eyes at Paris. Then he nodded in Jai's direction and extended his hand, which Jai shook firmly.
"It is an honour to meet you, Sire." Said Jai seriously. "Your return to Vampire Mountain sparked great excitement."
"It was a nice twelve hours before Desmond Tiny showed up. I'm old news now." Mika grunted. "Sorry, I'm not exactly at my best right now. You're a doctor? Did I hear that correctly?"
"Indeed." Said Jai.
"Like... a doctor-doctor? Or an above-average medic?"
"Before he joined the ranks of the vampire clan several decades ago, Dr. Yang was one of the top emergency surgeons in his home country for many years." Said Paris, patting Jai on the shoulder.
"How does a top surgeon end up working in a place like this?" Mika snorted.
"He visited Vampire Mountain for last council... and with everything that erm, happened, he generously agreed to stay on full-time as our chief medic." Paris explained.
"When Quartermaster Nile suggested I take up the mantle of chief medic, I didn't get the impression I had a choice!" Jai laughed ruefully. "I am glad to be here, though. As happy as I am being part of the clan, I always missed practicing medicine after I was blooded. I never anticipated finding a compromise."
"We are most fortunate to have Dr. Yang on our staff roster." Paris added. He singlehandedly oversees the training of the rest of our medical staff. The way this war is going, we need to preserve as many lives as we can. If someone is seriously injured in the field, Dr. Yang dispatches a team of medics to flit out to the injured party, wherever they are. Sometimes they treat them on site, other times they bring them back here to recover. We can't afford to lose anyone needlessly."
Mika nodded, taking it all in.
"So you... perform surgery? In Vampire Mountain?" He commented, trying to keep the skepticism out of his voice.
"Not quite. With limited resources, I can only do basic procedures. It would be impossible to do here what humans can do in a fully equipped hospital-" Jai began.
"- But he can do a hell of a lot more than any other medic we've ever had!" Paris declared. "Don't be so humble, Dr. Yang! And stop falling for Mika's distraction tactics. He's got a bullet lodged in his shoulder that needs to come out, but he's being a right pill about it."
Jai smiled.
"That, I can do."
"Do you need me to hold him down for you?" Paris inquired seriously. Mika glared at him.
"I don't think that will be necessary. A bit of mild anesthetic will suffice." Said Jai. "Feel free to sit down on any of the cots."
"Anesthetic? Where the fuck does one find anesthetic in the middle of the wilderness?" Mika asked Paris suspiciously as he sat down on the nearest cot.
"Dr. Yang has his ways." Paris explained with an air of great mystery.
"Once a month I flit to the hospital I used to work at. I know my way around, and I know where everything is kept. I break in, I fill a large bag with whatever supplies we're running low on, and then I flit back to Vampire Mountain. I'm not proud of stealing, but dozens of vampires are still alive to fight another day because of those supplies." Jai added with a sheepish grin as he returned.
Mika nodded tiredly. He hadn't even been home a full 24 hours and every moment had felt like a fever dream. First Renley being fucking weird, then Tiny being fucking awful, and now a whole-ass emergency room in Vampire Mountain?
"I presume the left shoulder is the problem?" Jai inquired, looking critically down at the way Mika was holding it carefully against his body. "Alright, lie down flat. I'm going to sedate you-"
"That's the best news I've heard in years." Mika commented flatly.
"Mika!" Paris hissed reproachfully.
"You won't be entirely unconscious, but you will get very drowsy. And you won't feel a thing when I make a small incision and remove the bullet." Jai continued unconcernedly. "I suspect you won't even need stitches - healing saliva should suffice in this case."
"Human innovation and vampiric abilities working together! Incredible, isn't it?" Said Paris wistfully as Jai carefully administered the sedative into Mika's upper arm. Within several minutes, Mika felt his entire body relax and his brain wasn't far behind.
"How are you feeling, Sire?" Jai asked after several minutes.
Mika blinked slowly and gave Jai a wobbly thumbs up. He heard Paris smirk.
"I think he's sufficiently... what do the cubs say? Stoned?" Paris observed lightly.
"Paris... have I ever told you I like your beard?" Mika inquired hazily.
"I don't believe you have."
"Well... I like your beard. It matches your hair. Did... did you know that?" Mika added very seriously, reaching up with his un-injured arm in an attempt to pet Paris's long beard. Paris chuckled and gently pushed his arm back down.
"Thank you, Mika. That is very kind."
"I'm going to grow a beard."
"You hate beards."
"I do?"
"Remember when you lost a bet with Arrow when you were cubs, and you had to grow one? And you complained about it the entire time?" Said Paris patiently.
Mika was too loopy to notice, but Jai got a hearty chuckle out of that.
He remembered very little from the procedure. He felt a dull pressure in his shoulder where Jai was working, and Paris sitting beside him and gently patting his head reassuringly every now and then. Not like Mika needed any reassurance, he felt positively stellar.
"All done. You'll be sore for a few days but the joint should be back to full mobility in no time." He heard Jai say eventually, his voice sounding echoey and faraway.
Mika mumbled an attempt at a thank you, but judging by Paris's chuckle of amusement it must not have been very coherent.
"Mika, I'm going to go check in with Larten and Darren now." Said Paris slowly and clearly, as though talking to a small child. "Stay here and sleep it off. Then come find us when you're ready."
Mika didn't even try to object, although surely he would have if he had the presence of mind to try. There was a tiny part of him that knew the bullet had been the least of his problems, that the real threats would be there waiting for him when he woke up. But first, he enjoyed four and a half hours of uninterrupted, dreamless slumber.
Now tell me: how did all my dreams turn to nightmares?
How did I lose it when I was right there?
Now I'm so far that it feels like it's all gone to pieces
Tell me why the world never fights fair
I'm trying to find
Home
Darren, on the other hand, didn't think he'd ever sleep again. It had never even occurred to him to shy away from the challenge Desmond Tiny laid out. He'd come too far for that - he'd rather die than back down now.
But for the love of the gods, can't I get a damn break?! He groaned internally as he sat in the Hall of Khledon Lurt with his head in his hands. Larten was up in the Hall of Princes conversing with Paris and Seba. Harkat was off packing. Darren had been given strict orders by Seba to get a hearty meal in his belly before their departure, but he couldn't bring himself to eat a single bite. Every time he tried, his stomach rejected the very notion so by the time Mika wandered in, Darren had made zero progress on the plate Seba had shoved in front of him half an hour ago.
Darren couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Mika looked slightly off. His eyes were unfocused and he was walking considerably slower than his typically brisk get-out-of-my-way-I-have-things-to-do fashion. He drifted over to Darren's table.
"Sire Shan." Mika greeted Darren with a wry smile and nod.
"Sire Ver Leth." Darren echoed tiredly, but not without smiling himself.
"Tiny give you any other valuable insights?" Mika asked.
"Not really." Darren replied quietly.
"Fuck that guy." Said Mika flatly.
"He's the worst." Darren agreed in a small voice.
Mika was getting the distinct impression that Desmond Tiny was absolutely the last thing in the world Darren wanted to talk or think about, so Mika didn't question him any further.
The two Princes sat in silence for several moments. Darren continued pushing his food around his his plate with his fork.
"Enjoying the view?" Mika remarked.
"Seba said I need to eat something before we leave... but I'm not really hungry." Said Darren.
"You should listen to Seba." Mika shrugged. "He's a lot smarter than you. Not trying to be rude - he's smarter than me too."
That elicited a weak laugh from Darren.
"I know..." said Darren ruefully. "He's right, I just feel like..." his voice trailed off.
"Like the world is ending, the sky is falling, your brain is exploding, everything is on fire but somehow you're also drowning, and it's your personal responsibility to carry on like nothing's wrong while you handle everything?" Mika supplied offhandedly. Darren slowly raised his head to meet Mika's gaze, an expression of complete disbelief dawning on him.
"I- yeah. Exactly that." He croaked.
Mika couldn't help but exhale a soft breath of laughter at how surprised Darren looked over the fact that Mika had just read him like a book. When Mika was the one who wrote the book.
"I've been playing this game for a really long time, Darren." Said Mika. "I'm not exaggerating when I say I've been there, done that. Not to get too heartfelt or anything, but I have a pretty good idea of how you're feeling."
"You?" Darren countered with a healthy amount of skepticism. "No way. Nothing phases you. Just hours ago you told Desmond Tiny off! Right to his face!"
Mika couldn't keep himself from laughing loudly at that notion.
"First of all, in case you haven't noticed - life as we know it is going off the rails. I am literally always afraid. Flattered you think otherwise, though." He snorted. "And second, talking back to Tiny was the single stupidest thing I've ever done, Darren. It wasn't brave, or tough. It was ignorant and dangerous."
Darren made a face.
"Well... when you say it like that..." he noted grimly.
"I knew better, but I gave in to an impulse and look what almost happened! My gods, what a mess. Promise me you won't ever be as reckless as I was today." Said Mika seriously.
Darren peered back at him thoughtfully.
"I promise to try." He said at last.
"That's all I can ask for." Mika replied.
"So, how do you do it?" Darren asked.
"Do what?"
"Keep it all together?"
Mika thought long and hard about that for a minute.
"With great difficulty." Mika answered matter-of-factly. "And sometimes I don't succeed. It happens to all of us. I don't know if you've noticed, but this job is kind of... really fucking difficult."
"I've noticed." Said Darren meekly.
"No one else will tell you this, so I'm going to." Said Mika. "You're allowed to have moments of weakness. You're allowed to break. Although if you do feel the need to lose your shit, I recommend you do so out of the public eye. It'll make your life easier. But even if you slip, the clan will forgive you."
"Will they?"
"Of course. You're a Prince for a reason. You don't have to be perfect, but you do have to be exceptional. It took me years to figure out the difference. But I get it now, so I can tell you in advance - that's the deal. It's hard, Darren. Some days you'll hate yourself. You'll want it all to stop. You'll ask the universe why it had to be you. But it won't answer, because it doesn't care. So you'll carry on. And you'll find a way over it, or through it, or whatever. And ultimately what I'm really getting at..." Mika sighed heavily. "...is that you'll be okay."
Darren was sitting up a little straighter now. The familiar light had returned to his eyes. And that gave Mika some semblance of... well, happiness was too strong a word. Relief, maybe. A dull sense of pride in the fact that he'd managed to leave something, or someone in this case, in better shape than when he'd found it.
"Thanks, Mika." Said Darren softly.
"Don't mention it."
"Really! I appreciate you being so open with me." Darren insisted.
"Helps that I'm still pretty fucking high." Said Mika with great casualness.
Darren raised his eyebrows quizzically.
"I visited the new infirmary. Sort of had a bullet stuck in my shoulder for the past two months." Mika clarified, amused at Darren's baffled expression. "Figured it should come out. Also, Paris said I had to, or else."
Now Darren was the one smirking.
"You still let Paris tell you what to do?" He teased.
"Of course I do. That's Paris Fucking Skyle." Said Mika bluntly.
"I thought you were Mika Fucking Ver Leth." Darren shot back, his eyes gleaming.
Mika narrowed his steely eyes and shot a shrewd glare over the table at his young colleague.
"I thought you were too young to swear. Anyway, are you forgetting the occasion you showed up late and were too polite to tell Larten to get out of your throne and let you sit down? So you just sat on the floor for like ten minutes and he didn't even notice?"
Darren turned as red as his mentor's cloak.
"That was five years ago!" He huffed.
"Still the funniest thing I've seen in this decade. The bar's pretty low, but still." Mika shrugged. "Anyway. That Dr. Yang seems to know what he's doing. He gives good drugs."
"Ah. That's why you're so... chill." Said Darren, smiling again. "Yeah, Jai took really good care of me when I broke my arm last year. The bone came all the way through the skin but it didn't even heal crooked!" There was a note of pride in his voice.
"Didn't you just break your arm a few years ago?" Mika asked. "Because I vividly recall picking you up off the floor below the bars and and carrying you up to the-"
"Yeah, well this time it was the other arm." Said Darren with a grimace.
"I hope you whatever you were doing was more impressive than the first time it happened." Mika remarked drily, recalling the time Darren tumbled off the bars while showing off trying to impress Gracie. (At least that was Mika's theory).
"It was, actually. I was finishing my Trials of Initiation if you must know!" Said Darren rather defensively.
"Right. Sorry. I remember Paris mentioning that in one of his telepathic updates." Said Mika. "What trial was it?"
Darren grinned.
"Ironically... it was the Blooded Boars again."
Mika bit back a smirk.
"That's irony if I ever heard it. Did Harkat make it through without trying to help this time?"
"Yes!" Darren affirmed with a soft laugh. "He managed to behave himself for all five."
Mika reached casually over the table and picked up the knife Darren had abandoned. He used it to skewer a piece of meat from Darren's plate and pop it into his mouth.
"Ugh. Cold." He grumbled. "How long have you been staring down at this plate?"
"A while." Darren admitted.
"Well, it's not going to get any colder." Said Mika decisively. "Tell me about your trials."
Life can be funny. Darren hadn't felt this anxious since one of his first few nights in Vampire Mountain six years ago. In the hours that followed his first meeting with Paris, Mika, and Arrow. The night they sentenced him to take the trials and prove himself worthy to walk among the clan.
And he'd found himself in this very room, trying to eat something. Not because he was hungry, but because he knew he needed to. That was the night he he first encountered Gracie Smahlt-Ver Leth. At least, back then she still included Kurda's surname in her identity. Times change - but maybe not that much.
When Darren thought back to that night, what he remembered most wasn't Gracie's strange backstory, or the fact that she was a pretty girl who happened to be his age. What he remembered most was that, for one shining hour during one of the darkest days of his life, he was able to forget that he was afraid.
Six years later, the world itself and his role within it couldn't have looked any more different. And it wasn't Gracie sitting across from him rolling her eyes and teasing him in a way that somehow made him feel accepted rather than alienated. Instead, it was Mika.
But one thing was the same. It was just enough to help his scattered mind re-center. To bring his feet back to solid ground, iust enough so that when their conversation reached a natural end, he was able to hold his head a little higher as he got up from that table to face whatever was coming next.
And that was everything.
Home
A place where I can go
To take this off my shoulders
Someone take me home
Someone take me
I found no cure for the loneliness
I found no cure for the sickness
Nothing here feels like home
Crowded streets, but I'm all alone
I found no cure for the loneliness
I found no cure for the sickness
Nothing here feels like home
Crowded streets, but I'm all alone
Life went on. Darren, Harkat, and Larten departed from Vampire Mountain in search of the Vampaneze Lord. Paris left the Hall of Princes to enjoy a well-deserved sleep. And Mika took his first solo shift guarding the Stone of Blood since his return.
He had to work very hard to talk himself out of ordering Jai to hit him with another dose of Magic Relax Juice though, because by that point the sedative had worn off and his brain had returned to full functionality. Which, on this particular night, seemed to involve running in a circles and screaming incoherently. So maybe "functionality" was too strong a word.
He tried to get some sleep himself. Wouldn't be the first time he'd taken a throne nap. But every time he closed his eyes he saw Mr. Tiny sneering at him, heard the deafening crack as the Hall of Princes began to crumble.
Since he clearly wasn't going to get a whole lot else accomplished tonight, he supposed this was a good a time as any to bring Arrow up to speed.
MVL: Hey.
A: Hey!
MVL: How've you been?
A: Cold, tired, hungry.
MVL: That's unfortunate. I'm home now.
A: Since when?
MVL: 24 hours, almost exactly.
A: How's that?
MVL: They threw me a great party. What have you been up to?
A: Interrogated a bunch of Vampaneze last week. Didn't get anything you hadn't already found out. Got to run my sword through their hearts though. Guess every cloud has a silver lining.
MVL: Love that for you. Want to hear what I did this morning?
A: Always.
MVL: I sort of told Desmond Tiny off.
Mika could practically hear Arrow's brain short-circuit.
A: Run that by me one more time? Surely I misunderstood you. How does one SORT OF tell Desmond Tiny off?
MVL: He came to the mountain. Walked right into our hall. Started going on about how we dropped the ball by foiling Kurda's plot and how our only hope is this designated group of hunters that have to go out and find the Vampaneze Lord because he's been blooded and-
A: WHAT?!
Mika winced slightly and rubbed his forehead. Even thousands of miles away, Arrow was loud when he was agitated.
MVL: It's a lot to explain like this. You should come home and we'll tell you more about it in person.
A: What do you mean? Who are these hunters?!
MVL: Let me finish. He said it has to be three people... no more, no less. He named Darren and Larten. But he refused to name the third because he wasn't present.
A: HE CAN'T BE FUCKING SERIOUS.
Mika sighed.
MVL: Mmmhm. That was essentially what I told him... straight to his face.
A: YOU CAN'T BE FUCKING SERIOUS.
MVL: Arrow, at this point you should just assume that the entire conversation was pretty fucking serious.
A: Charna's Guts, Mika. How could you be so careless? What the hell were you thinking?! He could have killed you just for talking back.
MVL: ...He threatened worse than that.
A: Do I want to know?
MVL: Of course not but I'll tell you anyway. He scolded me like a child and then he snapped his fingers... and the Hall of Princes started cracking.
A: Fuck, Mika...
MVL: He didn't take it any further than that. He just wanted to remind us how easily he can ruin us. It was... the scariest moment of my life.
There was a long silence. Their mental link remained active and Mika could feel a slow, dazed sort of panic creeping through from Arrow's end as the reality dawned on him as it had on Mika earlier that day.
A: And... are you okay?
Mika couldn't help but laugh out loud to himself as he sat there alone. Staring at the ceiling with tears in his eyes, losing the battle to keep his breathing at a normal rate as panic sank its familiar teeth into him yet again. What an absurd question. He was so far from okay. Nobody was okay. Nobody had been okay in a long time.
MVL: I'm excellent. Truly never been better. Living the dream here.
A: It was a serious question, Mika...
MVL: I have an actual serious question. When are you coming home? We need a new strategy.
A: I don't know... There's a lot going on out here. Sort of stuck in a war zone at the moment, you see. I mean, these fucking vampets with their guns?! Fuck sakes.
MVL: Been shot yet?
A: Couple times.
MVL: Stings, doesn't it?
A: That's putting it lightly. I've been able to get the bullets out so far except for one that's stuck in my ribs somewhere. Didn't bother me much at first but it's starting to really hurt.
MVL: Come home, then. The medics can fix you up. They upgraded the entire infirmary while I was gone. They have drugs now.
A: As appealing as that sounds, I'll be fine for a while yet. How's Seba? And Paris?
MVL: Darren, Harkat, and Larten just left on their glorious quest. Seba's putting on a brave face but I can tell he's beside himself. And Paris is Paris. He's trying to be strong for everyone but he... I don't know.
A: He what?
MVL: He just seems... tired. More than usual. I noticed a big difference when I came back. I'm worried about him. He's feeling his age. I know that's to be expected but it doesn't make it easier to watch.
A: Is he in good spirits?
MVL: Honestly, I don't know. He acts like it, but don't we all? Today when Tiny was here, Paris looked just as scared as I felt. I've never seen him like that before.
A: Well, he was there last time Tiny came to the mountain. Gods, I can't believe you talked back to him, Mika... the ONE person in this universe you have no business talking back to.
MVL: He got to me, Arrow. I couldn't help it. He brought Kurda up. It was a bad fucking day, ok?
A: I know. I'm sorry. I can't imagine how you all must've felt. I wish I could have been there.
MVL: No, you really don't.
A: Well, I wish I was there now.
MVL: I wish you were too. I hate this. I was so glad to be home... and I couldn't even have one fucking day.
Mika let out a harsh sob of laughter as he transmitted those words to Arrow and listened to it echo off the walls back at him. It was all he could do at this point. Six centuries had passed since the last time Desmond Tiny showed his face in Vampire Mountain. And he just happened to pop up before Mika even had a chance to unpack. Because of course he did.
A: It's getting late. I don't imagine anyone else is going to tell you, so I will. Go eat something, and get some sleep. Preferably more than your standard three or four hours.
MVL: I forgot how funny you are.
A: I'm serious. You know I always know when you're not taking care of yourself.
MVL: You know you've never exactly set the gold standard for self-care either, right?
A: I'll check in with you in a couple days. If you need to talk to me before then, I'm here.
MVL: Goodnight. Stay safe.
A: You as well. Give my best to the others.
MVL: I will.
The connection faded, and Mika was alone again.
(Someone take me)
Home,
Take me home
Home, home, take me home
Someone take me
Home
Someone, someone
Nothing here feels like home
Home, home
Fun fact: I've had the segment of Mika and Arrow's telepathic dialogue written since Juky because my writing process is pure chaos tbh.
Hope you guys liked that! It's one of my favourites in Bloodline so far. Just to give you a heads up, we may be on chapter 13 already but Bloodline's gonna be way longer than any of the others. And I really can't end it and start a fifth installment. I considered it for like six minutes the other day.
If you could leave a comment/review on the website itself, that would be amazing. I love your feedback no matter which social media platform it comes in, but on rainy days I like to scroll through the comment page and reassure myself that this probably isn't as much of a trashfire as I sometimes think it is... and it helps to have all of the comments in the same place. Otherwise they get lost in the sands of time on Tumblr or Discord. I know how picky this sounds but it's purely for sentimental reasons guys I swear. I love you and your feedback so fucking much I deadass almost cry sometimes when I think about the fact that THERE ARE PEOPLE STILL READING THIS? So thank you, thank you, thank you.
Have a great night! :)
- Roxy