Makoto's eyes opened as the morning sun rose strike her face. She blinked a few times, and strangely, didn't feel like she was in danger. She sat up. The human children were still asleep nearby. In the center of the platform, three people in black and very wide-brimmed hats were examining various knick knacks and items.
Makoto immediately identified Ren as the dhampir holding several sheafs of paper and frowning over them. Though his face was hidden by the down brim of his hat, she was easily able to recognize the shape of his frame and the way he stood when he was concentrating. Which meant the other male figure was Junpei, and he was squinting at some sort of black ring. Below them, a smaller feminine figure was crouched and rummaging through saddlebags. It took a moment, but Makoto surmised they were going through Jin's belongings.
"Well, there is enough food for the humans, I think," said Yukari. "Doesn't look like its very good food, though. This bread is like rocks."
"Better than nothing," said Junpei. "Ugh, it's so bright this morning. A few clouds would be nice."
"Do you think you two could take tomorrow's ferry?" Ren said as he folded up the papers and put them under his armor.
"It will take us a day and a half to get the cart to the port, anyway," said Yukari. "So that's gonna be an easy ask for us, Ren."
"Great," said Ren. He looked up and found Makoto awake and looking at him. Even under the deep shade of his hat, Makoto could tell his face was back to its usual handsome, pale self. "Makoto! We need to leave. Give the children your instructions and let's go."
Makoto blinked groggily, a bit of anger seeping into her mind. Oh, give the children her instructions, was it? Get up and do what Ren says and let's go? Was it?! Makoto took a deep, calming breath before responding. She didn't like being given orders immediately upon eye contact. Was Ren taking the whole servant thing a bit too seriously?
She rubbed her forehead. No, no, she should be a bit more charitable. Ren was probably already thinking of how to handle the next few steps of their journey, and herself being the admitted burden, it did her little good to complain about the tone of her figurative beast who was to carry her, his burden, into dangerous territory. If Ren wanted to leave right now, then it was assuredly in Makoto's own best interest to go along. Being as he didn't need to sleep in the same manner that she did, he'd probably already delayed their departure for her benefit. All these thoughts ground their way through Makoto's head as she blinked sleepy.
"Mmmrokay," she finally managed, the analytical part of her mind hogging up all her cognitive bandwidth at this time- there was little left for enunciation.
Ren was already off on his next thought, anyway. He turned to Junpei. "How about you take his horse and I get his ring, there."
Junpei immediately tossed Ren the ring he was holding. "Gladly, I don't want to be caught with that thing on me."
"Oh, and his goggles."
"Aw, man. I wanted those…"
Yukari stopped her rummaging and stood up to look at Ren. The three dhampir stood so close together that their three hats seemed to fuse and form into a giant sort of black umbrella, though tilted down in Yukari's direction.
"You're going to take the ferry as Jin, aren't you?" said Yukari, "Before anyone knows he's dead."
"It's worth a try," said Ren. "I have his clan seal. I have human cargo. And I'll have his most distinctive fashion statement."
"They'll try and kill you if they find you out," said Junpei.
"Based on what you told me, it sounds like they are going to try and kill any Kurusu they can find, anyway. So I'll be a Strega instead."
Makoto's waking mind caught that statement as she woke the children. She wasn't sure what Ren meant about killing any Kurusu they could find, as Jin had implied that whatever conflict was brewing wasn't yet out in the open. Maybe Ren was anticipating trouble, reasonably so after Jin's sudden aggression after discovering Ren's true family name. Or at least, his matrilineal name. Though maybe they were referencing some conversation that occurred while Makoto was still asleep.
The kids didn't seem to quite grasp that they had agency in their own lives- which was disturbing for kids of their age, but also rather useful for the time being. They seemed blankly receptive to the idea of meeting her in a few days at a big castle, and they didn't seem to believe another long ride in a caged cart to be out of the ordinary. God. What kind of lives had these children had before Jin had bought them?
She bundled up the left-over venison, having had slowly cooking most of the animal the day before. It was a lot of meat and should stay edible for a couple of days. She gave the supply to Yukari, who seemed the most empathetic of the two dhampir who were to be their shepherds for the trip.
"Don't worry, we'll get them to Kurusu safe," said Yukari as they parted. "Make sure you do, too, Makoto Niijima."
"I will," said Makoto.
"See 'ya later," said Junpei.
And with that, Ren and Makoto rode away from the ruined road towards the west and the coast. They remained on one mount, since apparently humans did not ride their own mechanical horses in the Empire. So she held onto Ren's waist as he put the horse into its fastest speed. It was a much more comfortable ride now that she had pants to protect her skin against the saddle. She still had bare feet, however, but there remained little to do about that. Yukari had no extra boots, and Jin's were out of the question in general. Too big, and the idea was kind of gross.
They went along as fast as the horse could take them. Ren said that the ship would generally leave in the afternoon so it would reach the Island by nightfall, when the noble vampires would be outside to buy cargo or deposit their ghouls for export. Unless there happened to be a noble on this side of the water, then the ship would wait until nightfall before it returned to the island. That was rare, since nobles tended to remain close to home and send their dhampir out as cat's paws.
"You mean like you," said Makoto. "You're your mother's paw."
"Guilty," said Ren.
"Hey, Ren, this morning, you said that the others had told you something that made you believe that people in the port towns will be looking to kill Kurusu members. What did you hear?"
Ren thought for a half second. "Oh, apparently one of my sisters had been working with them, but two of -her- children had been lured into duels in Edgetown and killed. That's something of a classic way to legally murder someone."
"Oh- I'm sorry," said Makoto.
"Yeah. Not as sorry as the culprits will be when Mitsuru gets ahold of them…"
Makoto was silent a moment. She'd not heard that name before, but through context, she realized that was the name of another of Ren's sisters. So there was a Hifumi, a Mitsuru, a Fuuka, and… one more she had not yet heard. And two brothers.
But if Ren felt any sorrow for the loss of his niece and/or nephew, he didn't seem to show it. Perhaps this was one of those 'politics' situations he had talked about. He sure spoke about the deaths as if it were a everyday occurrence.
"That's when Mother called back all the bloodline to Kurusu land. She must not want us out and about to be picked off one by one. And that's why I think its best not to be a Kurusu in Edgetown right now."
They had stopped at another raised road ruin in the middle of the grasslands. Apparently while Makoto had been sleeping, Ren had planned with the other two to use this spot as a safe night's haven for the children. Ren's stock increased even more in Makoto's esteem for this foresight, and they spent some time gathering firewood, a kettle of water to boil, and some late-season berries Makoto had spotted as they'd rode. With the basic necessities of human care stockpiled for the dhampir-escorted children, they pressed on.
It was not yet noon when they arrived at the coast. The sea glittered in the sunlight before them, causing Makoto to gasp at the scenic view- and for Ren to pull down the brim of his hat. The port was right on the water, as one might expect, but it was not much more than an open, stoney place that obviously saw a lot of wagon traffic- and a large, blockish, ugly structure of pure stone. Makoto stared at it as they approached. It was the first intact and functional imperial building she had ever seen, and it had an exotic look to it: a perfect cube.
It didn't look like it was made of blocks or of brick or of any sort of laid stone. It almost looked like it was carved out of one giant boulder, but that couldn't be either- it was perfectly smooth on the side and perfectly right-angled at the corners. It looked just like a giant had placed the building on the ground and never picked it up again. A huge steel door was evident on one side that looked like it could swallow up several carriages driving side by side. There seemed to be no activity, and the structure sat as quiet as a ruin.
Ren rode the horse up to a small steel door in the side of the structure. It was the only blemish on the side of the building which was otherwise astoundingly uniform and smooth. Makoto dismounted the horse and immediately walked over and touched it with her palm. It reminded her of the road stone on which they had spent the previous night. Not exactly the same, but similar. Smooth and hard.
"It's beautiful," said Makoto, gazing up at the straight and perfect wall.
Ren looked at her. Looked at the structure. And then back. "Is it? It's just a concrete box."
"Concrete?"
"Yeah. It's like… liquid stone. You have this powder. Mix it with water. Pour it. Then it turns into rock when it dries."
"Like bread!"
"... sure."
"How is the powder made?" asked Makoto, running her hands over the smooth surface. There were ruins in Tock-Yo that might very well be made up of destroyed concrete, but she would have never known it without seeing an existent example like this building.
"I don't know," said Ren. "I was never very interested in that stuff."
Ren was looking around cautiously. They remained the only people here, but he seemed worried that someone could be nearby- and there likely was, if this was indeed an active shipping port. How much shipping a dead empire needed was a question. Whatever trade economy the island enjoyed in the distant past was long gone, and now the boat much only limp back and forth mainly for the sake of continuing the old tradition of it doing so.
"Remember what I said about being noticed. About your brand?" said Ren, one hand on the door.
"I remember," said Makoto, getting herself back into the mindset of the human servant.
Inside the door, there was a small dark room with a door off to the left and another off to the right. But just ahead of them there was a narrow stairwell that was… moving! Ren walked towards the stairwell and pointed at the ground. A metallic surface was emerging from the floor and then transforming into a stairstep as it descended downward of its own accord. An automatic and eternal stairway!
"How does-!?" Makoto blurted without thinking.
"Shush," said Ren, raising his eyebrows.
Oh, right. Seen and not heard. She watched Ren step onto the moving stair, imitated him, and then felt slightly giddy as it took her downward while she stood perfectly still! Makoto remembered that she had seen a stairway like this on the way to Kamoshida's lair back in the Tock-Yo ruins. That one hadn't been moving, but it was made of the same material as this.
As they descended into the earth, it grew progressively cooler. Makoto was glad of her pants, but the steel under her bare feet felt particularly chill. When they reached the lower landing and took a step, Makoto felt another shivering sensation- not quite coldness, but something else that made her heart skip a beat for a moment. Ren seemed to feel it too.
He froze for a moment in the entrance hall, his hand reaching out to abruptly halt Makoto's forward progress. There wasn't anyone or anything in the little area, in fact it was just a space of construction that transitioned from the downward stair landing to a passage that made an immediate right, into the ferry station itself, Makoto presumed.
"Who…?" Ren said to no one in particular.
To Makoto's eye, Ren looked slightly afraid. And that was never a good sign. "What is it?!"
"There's a first generation vampire here," Ren whispered. "A progenitor."
"Is that what I feel? This strange weight?"
"Y- you can feel that?" said Ren, somewhat shocked.
"So its someone like your Mother? Is it her?" Makoto realized immediately that Ren probably wouldn't be scared and confused if it was his own Mother. "There are only two first generation vampires left, right? Is it your Mother's enemy, Yaldabaoth?"
Ren took a deep breath and took a small step forward, then hesitated in thought. "It can't be. He has his own ship. He's not the type to use a ferry. And no, there are only two progenitors on the Island usually, but in the entire world? Mother said there used to be thirty, so I don't know how many are left. I don't think very many."
"Well," said Makoto, who was much more curious than scared now. "Let's turn the corner and see. Shall we?"
"R- right," said Ren, clearly having a heavy burden of anxiety.
They turned the corner and saw the hallway spill into a moderately-sized open space with rows of benchlike chairs. The ceiling had electric lights, and to Makoto's eye, the entire scene didn't look much different from the general waiting area for the civil offices in Tock-Yo city hall. It was an amazingly mundane sight for her first operational imperial building. Especially after the wonder of the mechanical stairs.
The place was empty except for a single man who sat on a bench near the center of the room, reading a book. He had a sharp nose and a rounded chin, white hair pulled back and constrained in a longish que, and he sat stiffly on the edge of the seat with the posture of a statue. He had the look of the most snobbish of aristocrats, at least to Makoto, but his clothing looked like that of a long-time traveler: weather worn and torn black fabric.
Ren stared for a few seconds, then hissed in his breath.
"You know him?" whispered Makoto as softly as she could.
"That's Lord Meier Link," said Ren with a bit of awe, then he began pulling Makoto quickly along behind him. There was a side hallway just before the entrance of the main room, a small sign advised that the ticket and customs office was down that way.
It was another mostly empty hallway, dimly illuminated by sections of ceiling panel that emitted a dingy sort of yellow light. They walked down it a small distance and the actual office itself was evidenced by an open doorway further along. Makoto thought they were in a safe enough spot for an obvious question.
"Who is he?"
"A crazy lunatic. He lived on the island when I was a kid, but one day he just went nuts and massacred an entire midlands clan. Everyone. From the clan-lord down to the youngest dhampir. Killed them all. So he was exiled. Everyone calls him The Reaper now. But I guess with the Yaldabaoth amnesty that Yukari mentioned… he must be coming back because of that."
Ren's voice faded off thoughtfully and he pulled Makoto gently along with him again, making for the customs office door. Makoto did not cognitively attribute the act of killing lots of vampires with lunacy. It was an entirely reasonable act, so far as she was concerned; though Ren.. and perhaps Junepi and Yukari, were the only exceptions to Makoto's generalized thought that all the vampires should just die. If this Reaper had done that to an entire clan, then so much the better!
Makoto pulled Ren to a stop, too curious to let the matter drop just yet. A first generation vampire! And to encounter him just… sitting in a lobby?! This was an incredible opportunity! If she could talk to him… He could tell her everything about the world, because he had lived in it! Lived through the entire history! Everything that Ren's Mother might know, this vampire would also know! And he was right here! Reading a book!
"Why did he kill a whole clan of vampires?" Makoto whispered.
"I don't know. I don't think anybody does. He's just crazy like that."
"Why did he go crazy?"
Ren seemed a little nervous and looked both directions of the hallway before whispering an answer. "I don't know much more than Mother told me. She said he was obsessed with a human woman and got progressively strange after she died."
"Obsessed? Like in love, or?"
"Yeah, romantically obsessed, I guess."
"When did she die?"
"Like- 20,000 years ago, or something."
"Whoa."
"Yeah, a long time to go coo-coo. We should avoid him."
Ren turned to continue towards the customs office. Makoto looked back down the hallway towards the waiting area and her heart jumped into her throat. The Reaper stood at the opening of the passage, staring at her intently, eyes wide and silvery-gold. Makoto felt that force again, that weight on her mind. If she were asked in that moment, she would be unable to describe the feeling, or even if it was good or bad or what.
Then Ren pulled her inside the office, cutting her from The Reaper's line of sight and the sensation stopped.
"Clan and cargo?" said an excited voice. "And hey, did you see Him?!"
Ren took a halting breath. "Clan Strega. Human import. And yeah, the progenitor? I saw Him."
"He got here a bit after dawn! His carriage sounded like a thunderstorm when it came into the garage. You should see it. It's like, super old. Gotta weigh a ton."
"Huh," said Ren.
"Yeah! The Reaper was in this very office! Signing a paper! I thought I was going to shit myself!"
"Th- that's great," said Ren, distractedly. "Do I need to fill out any paperwork, or..?"
"Oh, right! Here!"
Makoto turned to find herself in a small office. A very excited looking dhampir clerk sat behind a sort of high wall, and other desks in the office were littered with haphazardly stacked books. It was a thoroughly bureaucratic little room.
She wanted to warn Ren about the attention she seemed to have gained from the famous vampire lord at the end of the hallway. If what Ren knew of this Meier Link was accurate, then his close attention was probably something he would want to know about. Perhaps- she could have Ren introduce her!
"Ren, the-"
"Quiet," said Ren, sternly and evenly. "I have business to conduct."
The clerk dhampir looked at her but took little interest. Oh, right. She was just supposed to be the human servant. Seen and not heard Well, whether or not Ren was aware that The Reaper might be walking down the hallway towards them, it likely didn't change their options.
"To think one of them can just walk into your office like any other person," the clerk said with wonder as Ren began writing. Ren didn't respond to the clerk's rhetorical statement.
Makoto held her tongue. They were trapped in a dead end, they would need to face the noble vampire and learn his intentions, assuming he even had any intentions. The glance he had just shared with Makoto might have just been idle coincidence, their eyes meeting simply because they just so happened to be looking down a narrow hallway towards each other. And maybe that thing she'd felt is just what people feel when they look at, what had Ren called it? A progenitor? A first generation vampire. One of the few from whence all other vampires and dhampir descended.
"Did he say anything about why he was coming back to the Island?" said Ren.
"No, but it's probably the amnesty, right? He's been out in the human wilds for like, fifteen years or something? Probably tired of it."
"Yeah, but did He say anything at all?" pressed Ren.
"Uh… he asked about our 'amenities'. Oh my god, and you know? I about died in my chair of embarrassment because I didn't know what that word meant. You know how one thinks? Back in school? That you will never need to know this or that vocabulary word? Well! Fuck me! That's wrong! Let me tell you!"
"Uh-huh, and what did you tell him."
"Well, when he explained what he meant, I told him we have a bathroom, a capsule dispenser, and a book exchange."
Ren took in a breath, and Makoto could tell he was hiding a bit of frustration. "That's it?"
"That's it. He seemed interested in the book exchange."
Makoto remembered that the Reaper had been reading a book, so that seemed to indicate an active intellect. So he was a reader, a killer of other vampires, and his life was a sort of tragic romance. At this rate, the Reaper was sounding like a great person to talk to, vampire lord or no!
Makoto looked towards the office doorway with a sort of eager anticipation. She understood that a being like this Reaper was inherently dangerous, but traveling with Ren had somewhat inoculated Makoto against the idea of feeling fear of something just because it -could- kill you. Ren could kill her at any moment, and there was little she could do to stop him. That could be scary, if one thought about it that way; but if one thought about it the right way, Ren was a powerful ally and a loyal companion who had proven time and time again that he would protect her life.
Perhaps this Reaper, slayer of his own kind, was something like that? Think of all the things he might know and could tell her. And well, if the Reaper ended up being hostile, then she and Ren could figure it out. Surely, most of the mystique over the generational power of vampires was exaggerated. They died like anyone else, it seemed. If there were 30 before and only a few now, then that was proof enough that the Reaper and Ren's Mother and that Yaldabaoth were all manageable threats.
Right?
Right!
But the Reaper did not appear in the office doorway, and after much scribbling, Ren handed over a sheaf of paperwork to the starry-eyed clerk. They were informed that since a noble was on the passenger manifest, the ship would not depart until after dark. That gave them most of the day to wait.
Leaving the office, Ren cursed their luck. "What are the odds of him being here? Today, of all days?"
"Is he an enemy?" asked Makoto, curious about that distinction. Ren seemed afraid of the vampire lord, but nothing in what he had said seemed to indicate that this Meier Link would be hostile.
"No," said Ren. "But he could do anything he wants and there's not much we could do to stop it. I don't like being around people like that."
"You get used to it," said Makoto.
He gave her a thoughtful look. "Well, we can wait outside till nightfall. Then we won't have to worry."
Wait outside? Yes, the sunlight would make sure the Reaper and any other full-blooded vampire that might be in the ferry station would be unable to reach them. But that also meant Makoto could not potentially talk with Raper, or see this book exchange. A vampire lord that was… what? Over 60,000 years old? And she could potentially talk to him?! AND there was a small library of vampire writings near at hand, and an entire day to spend reading? There was no way she was going to pass that up!
"I don't want to go outside yet. I want to see those books. And if possible, I want to talk to this Reaper lord."
Ren looked at her like she was crazy. "Makoto. T- thats entirely reckless! He could take you! Kill you! And I don't think I could stop him!"
"Why would he kill me? I'm just your human servant. Do first generation vampires just.. Randomly kill another person's property?"
"Well.. no, not usually" admitted Ren, "B- but… he's crazy, Makoto! He just randomly massacred an entire clan! He might do any damn thing!"
Makoto had made up her mind. Everything she wanted might very well be in Meier Link's mind, and she intended to at least try to talk to him. "I'll take my chances. Introduce me. He's your uncle, technically, isn't he?"
"Makoto!" said Ren, as aghast as she'd ever seen him.
"If you're scared of the Reaper, then you can stay away. I'll talk to him myself."
Ren seemed to be getting entirely frustrated with her. "You don't know what you're risking! You're supposed to appear as my slave, remember?"
Makoto had spent the last few days as luggage and a servant and a caretaker of children. She'd been figuratively dragged around. Literally ordered around. Branded. Hunted. Insulted. Dismissed. And ignored.
"I do remember, Ren. That I'm -pretending- to be your slave. Do you? If so, shouldn't you be leading me to where I want to go? It wouldn't look right if I seemed to be leading you around."
Ren blinked at her and his mouth gaped open. Makoto turned away and began walking back down the hallway without him. She immediately began regretting what she'd said. He was only trying to help her, and maybe she was being unreasonable. But damnit! When Ren ordered her around, even in the make believe of their master/servant disguise, it rankled! It felt good to remind Ren that she had agency in this endeavor, and it felt good to remind herself of that, too. If that made Ren a bit frustrated, well so be it.
And who'd slain Jin, by the way? She had! Ren barely acknowledged that she had saved his life last night! In a fight that he'd gotten himself into!
Ren almost stomped past her, giving her a side-eyed glare, but took up the position of the leading master as she'd suggested. He stormed ahead, turned the corner toward the main terminal waiting room, and then almost immediately relaxed. Ren's expression was softer and calmer when he turned back towards her and motioned her forward.
Makoto joined him and found the waiting room to be empty. The Reaper was gone. And as he seemed the only other passenger on premises, that meant Makoto and Ren were pretty much alone in the facility. If there was any other staff besides the clerk, they were not here. Perhaps they remained in the garage or the dock, or maybe it was the ship's crew that did most of that work, and they wouldn't arrive until the afternoon ship did.
Ren seemed relieved. "He seems to have left. Maybe he intends to wait in his carriage."
Makoto felt disappointment, but maybe the vampire lord would return later. And at least there was the books to look at. She gazed around the lobby and spotted a passage to what was immediately recognizable as a room full of bookshelves. That was where she-
That feeling came over her again. That strange weight that seemed to press in on her mind. Ren had gone stiff and turned to look towards the entrance hall that was at the bottom of the moving stairwells. The feeling was coming from there, and even though Makoto couldn't see any color, it felt.. red. Black and red, like an aura that was so powerful that she could just nearly see it, but not quite.
There was a rattling of metal on metal, a clinking sound that was immediately recognizable as a metal chain being dragged across the ground. The Reaper rounded the corner and came into view. He looked much the same- like a travel-worn nobleman, but the imperceptible fog of red and black seemed all around and yet nowhere. His expression seemed to be one of suppressed irritation. In one hand, the Reaper dragged a long chain which followed him like a black snake. In the other hand, he held a brown cardboard box.
Ren stepped in front of Makoto, putting himself between her and the advancing form of the Reaper. Makoto saw him lower his hand near his sword hilt, but he did not draw. He perceptibly hesitated a moment.
"Lord Meier Link," said Ren, shakily. "It is good to see you again."
"This does not concern you, nephew," said the Reaper, "I am not concern- not concern- not concerned with you, just yet. Though I myself confess myself greatly concerned about your actions towards this woman. And then I might become very concerned, and take issue with you. But for now, you may stand aside and let me gaze upon her."
Ren didn't move immediately. "If you vow that she is safe from you.'
The Reaper came to a stop, stared at Ren, then laughed in a great sudden guffaw. "Safe! Of course she is safe! I pledged my life for her, did I not?! Years ago, years and years and years ago, I pledged. And it remains true now."
Ren looked back at Makoto, catching her eye. He gave her a wide-eyed look, as if to say that he wasn't exactly sure what was going on but that this was very touchy. She nodded. Ren stepped aside.
The vampire lord took in a sudden intake of breath as he focused again on Makoto. "Ah you, my dear, so like her but not her and yet of her…"
This mumbling went on for some time. Makoto realized that she had previously underestimated Ren's statements about the sanity of this vampire lord. She was beginning to understand that this Reaper was indeed quite coo-coo mad.
"I greatly wish to speak with you, my dear lady," said Meier Link, his eyes intently focused on Makoto.
"What do you want with her, Lord Meier Link?" said Ren, "She is-"
"Sit down and be silent!" said Meier Link, his voice becoming menacing, a bit of spittle suddenly appearing on his lips. Makoto felt Ren stiffen beside her, but after a moment, he sat down on a chair nearby, as still and as quiet as the Reaper might desire, apparently.
The Reaper, the Lord Meier Link, blinked a few times at Ren, as if the sudden obedience was an unexpected outcome. His wrist twitched, sending a long, rolling movement down the length of chain he held. It rattled like some giant snake, but otherwise remained on the ground. The Reaper refocused his attention on Makoto.
"How did you come to be so-" began the Reaper.
A figure appeared suddenly in the opening to the custom's office hallway. He seemed oblivious to the Reaper off to his right, and instead looked left, spotted Ren, and held up the sheaf of papers Ren had recently completed.
"I still need your ring-stamp for-" the dhampir began.
"I SAID BE SILENT!" screamed the Reaper. He jerked his arm savagely and the chain snapped up and forward. It sliced down right atop the clerk's head, half crushing the man, half slicing him in two. Bone crunched wetly. Blood and flesh splattered in every direction. The ceiling. The walls. A few bits even landing on Makotos' cheek, wet and warm.
Makoto blinked down at the mess of gore and blood that an instant before had been a living, walking dhampir man. The Reaper's chain snaked out of the mangled ruin and back towards the Lord Meier, his arm motion withdrawing the weapon back to its previous position, leaving long streaks of fresh blood on the floor.
Ren twitched in his seat, but otherwise did not react. Makoto blinked in surprise and shock as the Reaper closed his eyes and breathed heavily through clamped teeth, apparently attempting to calm himself. Makoto's heart was thumping rapidly in her chest now. Perhaps she was used to being near dangerous individuals like Ren, yes; but Ren was reasonable, self-disciplined, and honorable.
The Reaper seemed an entirely different sort of animal.