Red Roots

2: A Fragile Eternity

A Fragile EternityIt is true, that we can solve this problem with marriage. But, once we are officially husband and wife, it means that we have to take over the throne. If we do that at one point, I will not be sure if Father wants to exist anymore. The whole reason why we stayed, even after Mother’s erasal, was because he wanted to protect us ─ his children. But once I and Vallénce take over, will there be enough reason for him to stay exist? It pained me so much when Mother was gone, and even though part of her is still inside of me ─ even until now ─ I still do not wish to lose anyone. I can’t withstand the pain. This is the only kind of pain I can not tolerate, no matter of how much practice. There is no way I can stop caring, and there is no possible way that I can guarantee myself that I will be just fine if I have to go through it all over again. The pain is just.... too much.

“I can’t,” the words slip from my lips waveringly, causing Vallénce to freeze in his spot. His eyes widen in surprise of hearing my reply. “I’m sorry, but you know what will happen if we get married. Father.... he’ll....” Tears stream down from my eyes, turning cold and transforming into small pale pearls. My blood flows acutely, aching all over because of the state of my mind. The psychological pain is transforming into a physical pain.

“So what?” Vallénce cold reply shocks me, my blood freezing all over and my body turning stiff. “Is it not okay.... to be selfish for once in a while? I have waited for thousands of years to find someone I really love.... someone I can truly cherish with all of my being.... someone that I can bury myself into....” He touches my face and brings us closer together, until his forehead rests on mine. “And I can finally find that someone. So don’t go away.” His tone sounds so content and melancholy at the same time, drawing me even closer to him.

Wrapping my arms around him, I whisper back, “Don’t feel like this, Vallénce. You know that I am not going anywhere. My love is bound to you. I can’t give it to anyone else. You’re the only one who truly understands me.”

“Yes, I am.” He nuzzles on the nape of my neck, his lips tingling just above the skin of mine.

We spend the rest of the day in the old pavilion, not even having a single care for the rest of the world. It is somewhat calming, gentle, and even peaceful ─ the kind of thing that I can not find during hilarity. This meadow feels as if it is located at an entirely separated world, where there is only silence and Vallénce as my company. It can be wonderful, to spend the rest of my existence like this. It’s very tempting, but I know that I am bound to go back at some point.

“Do you really want to return now?” Vallénce asks me, his fingers still intertwined with mine as he is lying down on the steps, his tone obviously inviting me to stay over.

“I find it really hard to refuse you,” I honestly admit, climbing back on his lap.

Even in his true form, Vallénce always possess that beauty that can draw any being near him. He has those eyelashes that are so thick and cambered that they make those brilliant orbs even more definite. Those high cheeks that curve so well it forms a face no one can resist even by the first glance upon it. That voice, that makes me keep thinking that if there were angels and demons like how the humans picture them, then his would have been born from those combination ─ so sincere and alluring at the same time. Vallénce gives off that kind of solid temptation in the air that is impossible to repel by any existing being.

I am not an exception.

“Then don’t go,” he voice is like a lovely lullaby, circling myself around him like no other kind of imprisonment. “Stay with me. Forever.”

One shift, and the world turns upside down for a while. Then it revolves back to gravity, and I find myself lying across the wooden planks, while Vallénce on top of me. He leans down, his hands gripping around my wrists so tightly, with fear of what might happen if he lets go. His lips clap against mine, his scent and taste invading my senses even more than they already are. He drowns me into him, until my aura fuses with his so deeply that I don’t think it is possible to completely let go anymore.

And then I put my hand on his chest.

“What about the game?” I ask.

“You’re obviously going to win the next round, so are you seriously wanting to go and fight me in the final stage?”

“Of course not. I don’t want to fight you.” More like not having the might to. ”But I think it will be good to let them know that I will forfeit before that happens.”

“They are not that stupid. I’m sure they can figure out what your next decision shall be.”

“But this never happened before. I don’t usually just disappear in the middle of a match, especially with the entire kingdom watching.”

“Oh, My Love Amethyst, I would rather have them watch us kiss than clashing swords.” And then he covers my mouth with his again.

We stay there, in each other’s arms, lost in each others’ presence, for time that flow even faster than my consciousness. This rarely happens before, unless if I am with Vallénce. It is not like he has that kind of power to physically or even mentally stops time, but his presence alone can create that kind of effect in me. I seem to let go all my senses when I am with him. Like the whole world can just die, and I will not even cry for it. Like I will be just perfect and fine, as long as he is here with me. Makes me keep longing for that sweet bitter taste of blood.

Vallénce carries me back into the castle and lies me on his bed. He sleeps right next to me, his arms not letting go of me from his circle. We slumber in an embrace, our bodies collide against each other and stay that way until the night comes. By the time my consciousness is not lost in the dark anymore, a loud banging comes from the other side of the doors to his chamber.

“Open the doors. I know that you are in there. Let me see her now!” Altore’s voice vibrates hotly from outside in the hallway. I try to slide off the bed, but Vallénce stops me by the arm.

“No, let me,” he says. He brings his index finger to his teeth, puncturing it on his canine. The blood flows slightly from his wound, stretching lengthily in the mid of air. It reaches the handle of one door and the system reads his blood. It accepts the movement and Vallénce turns the handle down by a gesture.

The door is unlocked and Altore comes barging in, his aura burning with anger.

“What do you think you are doing to her?” he demands furiously when his eyes land on us, that intensity of his crimson eyes glow even more. The corners of his eyes darken, causing his eyes to stand out even more than they already do.

Vallénce wraps one arm around my waist in response. “I should be asking what you are doing right now, little boy. I am simply sleeping with my fiancé, which should not be any of your concern, as you are suppose to aware of. But you never do, don’t you?” His eyes are narrowing just a slight bit at the end of his sentence.

“Get away from her. You are not worthy enough for my sister.” In an instant, all the furniture in the room lose their weight, and Altore points them all at Vallénce. He latches out an empty candelabrum, its content already fall on the carpet at his feet.

With a wave of a hand, his blood compels to him and knocks off the candelabrum. The object lies down on the side of the bed, seemingly died down from any possession. “Oh, really? And you do?”

“I won’t let you touch her more than you already do. Even though you born first, doesn’t mean that you will be the winner,” my brother shouts.

Altore launches the rest of the furniture from across the room, the objects flying with so much force. But with a snap of a finger, Vallénce scourges all of them at once. His blood is extending fast and elastically, like a whip. All of the furniture drop down in the midway at once.

My brother tries to lift them once more, but he already loses his power over the objects. Vallénce has neutralized them, and there is nothing left Altore can use to launch at him this time.

“Are you challenging me? Is that what this is all about? You think that you can rip my fiancé off from me?” Any sign of what is left of his hospitality is gone now. “Listen, kid, even when you are your sister’s brother, there is a limitation to how far I will tolerate your actions. You can flirt with anyone you want, but Amethyst is mine, you hear me?” Vallénce raises his voice dangerously.

“Let’s see who is worthy of her then.”

And the he raises his palm at Vallénce and starts manipulating his gravity against earth. He floats Vallénce off the bed and up towards the ceiling, but not even once does Vallénce loses his equanimity. He only smiles at my brother ─ the kind that shows how much power gap there is between them. Vallénce a hand of his own at Altore, using much less energy, and activates his blood whip. The blood flows through the air like a spear, seemingly more violent than the gesture Vallénce makes. It gets to Altore and in a flash wraps his entire body reinly. My brother tries to break free, but he can’t beat someone that is over three thousand years older than he is just like that.

“Now, Altore, we will appreciate it if you can get out now, before I really lose my patient with you,” Vallénce says, gesturing his hand not out of the chamber doors, but out of the balcony.

Altore struggles to get lose with no result. “No! I’m not finished yet!” But before he even done talking, Vallénce sets him just outside the balcony’s landing and drops his hand, automatically releasing Altore from his blood-whip bind. My brother’s yelling echoes as he falls from the thirteenth story.

After that Vallénce turn to me. “My apologies for the interruption,” he says, and escorts me out of his chamber with his arm around my waist once again.

We join the diner in the ballroom hand to hand, and are welcomed with courtesy behind those stares. It is obvious that I have been spending time with Vallénce after he leaves the stadium. It is from their whispers I hear that the hunting game is even delayed due to that, instead of them declaring a winner right away. Are they really expecting me to fight against Vallénce for real? I might be able to proceed, but I won’t do anything that is damaging permanently. In the end, there will be no good show for them to watch.

“There you are,” a voice sings towards us. I turn to see Charlotte waltzing through the ballroom, Elric following right behind. “The game was boring without you.”

“Is that why it was delayed instead?” I ask her.

Nodding her head, she answers, “Rytho was the one who decided single-mindedly, but we all agree with him. No one puts one hell of a hunt than you, Big Sister. You can be pretty violent in times, despite your elegancy. So we’re continuing it tomorrow.”

“Why couldn’t he just announce the winner already? It is apparent that I would and will not do much when it comes to Vallénce, anyway.”

“The citizen would like to see you in action as well,” Elric adds in. “It’s not just us purebloods, but everyone else as well. Besides, don’t you think it will be interesting to test your skills at our uncle? You never fought him before, and now is your chance so see how far you can exceed him.”

Instead of answering, I turn to Vallénce. “What do you think?”

“I think your brother, Elric, has a point. That is, if you want to,” he replies with a smile. But he doesn’t have to ask, since I am already agreeing.

At his throne, the Emperor raises his glass of blood and gives a toss to us. We grab one for each one of us and raise our own glasses. At this point, I would have drunk my glass, if it is not for a slight error.

A drop of titanium is mixed into the blood. It’s just one particle, but it is bothering.

I look around at others’, zooming in my sight and sweeping through each of their glasses. No sign of titanium what-so-ever, or else most would have been choking by now, if someone had purposely poured some titanium in the blood. Looking around, though, I don’t notice anything out of the ordinary, other than an angry looking Altore, who is passing through the doors into ballroom harshly.

Most of the purebloods sneak a peek to see why he is so worked up. Half of them surprise to see Altore dropping off his cool, showing up with his parts of clothes rather torn up. There are no kind smiles and polite gestures anymore. He is walking towards us, and he has Vallénce in mind of exchange. Vallénce has given him a final warning before, so I step in to stop my brother before approaching him even nearer this time.

“Let me through,” he says stubbornly.

“No. Don’t continue this,” I tell him. But he just ignores me and tries to pass me at the side. I use my arm to grab him by the collar and drag him away from the crowd. “Fine. Let’s settle this privately, then.” He doesn’t have enough time to say anything else before I already run so fast into an empty room.

∞ ❈∯❈ ∞

“Alright. Talk,” I curt assertively once no one else can hear us. This is just one of the rooms that is equipped with sound-proof systems. This room wasn’t just put with one, but ten all at once, so completely devote privacy.

“I heard what he said to you.” For some reasons, he is looking at anywhere but me. The complexity of this room’s design gives him a lot to shift his eyes on as well. He keeps at eyeing the furniture around us, as if they are any more interesting than the ones he had used to throw at Vallénce.

What is bothering him so much?

“Altore, you do realize that you have to be more elaborate than that, right?” My fold my arms under my chest, waiting for him to say something more specific. My lack of tone causes him to dart his eyes sharply at one corner of a framework he has been staring at for the past few seconds.

“I know that he has asked you to marry him, okay! And I don’t care about what you are going to say about my lack of contentment, but I will still oppose to it─”

“I didn’t say yes,” I cut him off before he goes through another break down.

“What?” he asks sharply, finally turning his eyes at me and almost gaping at what I just said.

“I said, I didn’t─”

“No, I heard what you just said, of course. It’s just that.... Wow, I really never thought that you would say no to him, especially by how high your affection towards him is.” Altore sounds too happy upon hearing about this.

“I didn’t say no, either,” I continue, which automatically turns his smile upside down.

He takes long strides and locks me on the shoulders, his eyes drilling into mine. “What is that suppose to mean? I don’t get it. You didn’t say yes, but you didn’t say no either,” he repeats my sentence with a wrinkle between his eyebrows.

“I’m saying that I will not marrying him right now. I will marry him someday, but only at some time in the future. I’m not ready to take over the throne just yet.”

“Okay. I get it now. About the not-wanting-to –marry-him-now. But what do you mean you are not ready? You have been raised to perfection, there was nothing left for the lecturers to teach you at the age of eleven. You exceeded any other purebloods that existed in the family. No one was ─ and still is ─ better than you in any kind of capability. How come you are saying that you are not ready yet?”

“This is not about my skills; this is about Father. You know precisely what might happen if I take over. And.... I’m just not ready to depart from him yet. Ever since we were born, it was always with Mother than we spend times with our parents with. Father was always busy, and he has been even more strenuous when Mother was gone. His position as the Emperor makes it even harder for us to spend the rest of the ticking we have. But unlike Mother, I feel like I don’t know him that well.”

“He is the Emperor, Big Sister. Of course he can not have that much time for us, which is the more reason for you to take over. You have always been good in multitasking. Taking over will make it easier for us to interact,” he tells me softly.

“But what if he do the opposite? What if....” I tone goes bile just by thinking of this, “he doesn’t want to use up time with us once I do it? I can’t spend the rest of my existence in regret. You know how tempting the power of reversal can be when it comes down to bad decisions on me.”

“You never make any bad decision so far. I’m sure you will manage just fine. Besides, we have to understand as well. You know the moment we were conceived of what our future might be after we were born. We hold the responsibilities and assessments nobody else has. If joining Mother to oblivion is what he wants, then I think we should give him that when the time comes.”

“Altore, we are his children. I think we can be a little bit more selfish than that,” I say to him. Having my own blood brother spelling it out for me really makes me think that we are not loved enough by own last remaining parent. There is nothing else in this world that can replace a love from a parent, and there is only one source to obtain it. In that instant, I turn on my heels with one thing in my mind.

“Wait, where are you going?” he asks, stopping me in the middle of my way towards the exit. As if he doesn’t already have any clue to what I am about to say next.

“I am going to ask some more quality times from Father for us,” I answer, before turning the knob and leaves.

How can he be fine being left like this? I know that he is not speaking from the bottom of his mind. It is not possible for a child to be just alright for leaving a parent without knowing that much about him? Of course he wants to get to know him better even more than I do. I just think that he is being hesitant, not daring to ask it out directly. It is rare for a grown vampire to ask something like this from his parent. Pride is getting in the way of love, but I am not one that will stand with such thing.

If I care, I care hard. I will not let go of this so easily. Elric and Charlotte must be feeling the same thing as well. This is more of the reason why I have to do this. They want to be loved, but they just keep on quite about this, while Father never makes the first move. I am done being a good princess, though.

Strolling back into the ballroom, this time I am the one who is taking turn in doing the walk of disaster. I don’t greet or acknowledge anybody, and I just stop when I get right in front of the throne. Father eyes me curiously, obviously wanting to learn my purpose. So I just cut to the chase and go straight to the point.

“Let’s spend some quality time together, just you and us, your children.”

Of course, my request will sound strange to the other purebloods, but Father just smiles at me and answers, “Alright.” With that, we excuse ourselves and move to someplace else quieter. My siblings and I follow him walking up to the rooftop, which has a railing facing the entire kingdom. The sight lies as far as we can see, and even further more. The town is full with vampires roaming around each corner of the city, either on the surface by Varnaculars, or at the sewers by the Black Bloods. It is a sight to remember.

“So, why don’t we enjoy some blood from the cups and chat?” Father motions us for the sofas that are placed at the rooftop, which are circling a small table set. We take each place with a sitting arrangement; Father at the middle, me and Elric to his right and Altore with Charlotte to his left. My siblings and I face each other, but still able to get a clear view of him. “Now, what do you want to talk about with me?”

My cup is still being held on my lap, untouched. The table is blending in with the water added into it, sizzling in a chemical reaction. “You have always been too occupied by your duties,” I start off, “even back then, you almost never have much time with us. Mother was always there to replace our loneliness, but it was not long enough. There are just some things that can not be substituted.

“Even though we might appear to be fine at the outside, but we are not fine in the inside. We are slowly rotting inside, only longing for the things we can not have. It’s so cold and lonely, that it feels like nothing can ever be fine anymore.

“There is fear planted inside our minds. With each passing days, it grows even stronger. It is eating away out consciousness, wrath by the fact that we can not escape. We are afraid that we will lose you, and we are haunted by the awareness that it might be soon enough. We know that it will happen, and I think we will not be ready when that time comes.

“So, if you may, Father, will you consider our selfishness and spend more time with us? Allow us to know you even more than we already do. Tell us your secrets, because if you don’t, we might never really know the real you. But honestly, this is just because─” I grip on the cup just slightly too strong. A little bit more and it would have broke. It’s fragile, just like our minds. They look strong at the first glance, but if examined closely, our weaknesses can be spotted.

“Of course I will.” Father puts his cup down from his lips, a sad look on his face. “I’m sorry that I haven’t been doing a good role as a father to you all. I was too caught up with the kingdom’s matters, that I overlook the fact that you all need me to be by your sides as well. And when your Mother ceased to existence, I just buried myself with work even deeper.

“I haven’t shown myself to you completely, and I know in the back of my mind that I should have. Whenever I look at you four, you always remind me of how much I have missed out. Reaching out for you.... seems impossible to me. I have always been too afraid to seek you out, afraid that you might reject me. If it ever comes down to that point, I don’t think I can stay exist with myself anymore....”

“That’s the more reason why we should do this. I don’t want to depart you before knowing you well enough,” I say, putting my hand over his. Father lifts his gaze up to me and my siblings, his youthful features suddenly look young for real again when he shows genuine happiness in those eyes.

∞ ❈∯❈ ∞

I step away from the edge of the balcony and join the rush, feeling the blood showering down my body as I fall liberally. My naked feet soak into a puddle of blood when I land on the ground. The very smell of blood is just not coming from the earth, but from all over the air and the sky. The bleeding sky rains over me, blessing me with its thick drops of crimson.

Everywhere on my skin, I sense blood. It disembarks, streams down and flows down from me. The rhythm keeps repeating, from an old drop to a brand new one. The melody keeps ringing in my ears and on my skin. It wants me to ravish it, so savagely that I might going to stain it so awfully, there might not even be anything left pure.

Closing my eyes, I title my head up, welcoming the sky with my face. More blood lands on my skin, tumbling on my forehead and going down through the curve of my countenance. It passes my nose before finally meeting my lips, and I part them to welcome the sensational taste. One drop, and that it all it takes.

I bring up my blood soaked fingers into my mouth and suck the fingernails, engulfing each drop that is still left on it. Trails of blood are building up on my nightgown, changing the colour from white to almost transparent. The blood gets on my surrounding as well, painting the garden red.

Despite that, this synthetic type of blood does not change the colour of nature, because it is not that real. The blood only fills the space with its crimson puddles. Unlike my gown, the white roses around me do not turn crimson, because the blood does not exactly bring a coloring effect to the world. It only has one purpose, and that is to satisfy my longing hunger.

In the back of my mind, I wonder what it feels like it if this were fresh human blood that were raining down on me, just recently cut off from their head. It would have tasted so forbiddenly sweet, I will want more and more. But.... does a human life really worth that much for a momentary lust? Of course, the answer is not.

After that thinking, I finally become more aware of the presence that has been with me this entire time. I relinquish myself from this wonderful wonderland of mine and turn around. Scarlet is standing behind me, right behind a bush of half-height bluebells. He stares at me intensely, before walking around the bush and approaching me, all the while not breaking the eye contact.

“Mother,” he calls me softly, “will it be okay for me to stop calling you ‘Mother’?”

“Why? Did I do something to make you hate me that much?” I voice sounds tenderly breaking. I can’t think of any, because I am not aware of any. Is it because I had him to sit right next to Vallénce the entire time at the game? But it was just a minor detail. How can it be the cause of such a destructive impact such as this?

Shaking his head, he says, “No. It’s the complete opposite, actually.” He takes another step closer until he is right in front of me. He reaches out one hand and catches my right cheek in his palm, brushing my face with his thumb. “You have been raising me for so well ever since my parents were gone. I can never thank you enough for taking me in and taking care of me even when I was just a baby, even when you were only a child yourself. I can never ask for a better parent than you, and I am very grateful that you decided to adopt me back then, despite all the disputes that the Elders gave to you. I have been genuinely happy, and I existence have been perfect with your guidance. You were not just a parent; you were my first teacher and my first love.”

My tears slip from my eyes when I get a feeling that something is leading on in here. The way he talks to me, it is as if he were about to say goodbye. “I know. I love you too, Scarlet. So much.”

“I know that you do. That was the reason why you took me and raised me as your son. But the thing is that the situation has changed. I am no longer a child now, but a fully-matured adult. Everything I am up to this moment was how you made into. You have my gratitude for my whole existence. But I just feel like this is wrong, and that I have to be honest with you.” He leans in and plants a kiss on my forehead, his lips connecting with my skin. It feels tender and similar to all of the sweetness I got from swallowing the blood just now. When he leans back, he stares at me genuinely in the eyes. “I love you. And before you say anything else, I just want you to know this. I do not love you as a mother; I have not been even thinking of you as my mother for a while now. I realized about this when I was a child. I looked at you and how beautiful your smile is, and realized just how precious it is to me, that I started having a crush on you before I can even let myself to fall in love with you.”

“....Scarlet,” I look at him sadly, knowing that I can never return his feelings for me.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to be sad because of me. You don’t even have to say anything at all to me. Just promise me that you will always be happy, like how you have always been. I just want to apologize because I am being ungrateful, for wanting to stop being your child. Despite that, we are still family and related. I want you to see me not as your child, but as your cousin instead. That way, perhaps someday, you might just consider having feelings for me more than just as family. And this is better, because once you get married to Vallénce, the two of you will have children as well. I don’t want to get in the middle of you and your family, since I am technically just an outsider.”

He starts to retrieve his hand, but I catch him with both hands, holding on to him firmly.

“You don’t have to remove yourself from the core family if you don’t want to, Scarlet. My doors will always be open to you, and nothing will ever change that.” I pull him into an embrace, and he rests his chin on my shoulder. “No matter what happens, you will always be close to my mind. Even once I get married and have children, you will always be part of me. You don’t have to fear of being distanced from me,” I point out the matter he has been avoiding to say out loud. Scarlet only stays silence, and keeps hugging me under the blood rain.

∞ ❈∯❈ ∞

The sky was grey, gloom and unsettling as thunders and lightning alternate around it. The forest was thick around us, leaving no gap of witnesses to spare. It was one of the days when we were given the tasks for our assignments. Our lecturer would give us each a sealed envelope, and each of us would try to find the object that was written on the letter inside. If it were a thing, then we would have to collect it, wherever it was placed. If it were a creature, we would have to hunt it, and then kill it, before bringing it back. But if it were someone you knew, then....

Mauvet crooned as he stared in horror at me, his crimson eyes glassy and full of possible terrors. I could chop him in pieces before I got him to Professor Willeon. The assignment has just started, and he was waiting back in the classroom. Surely he would not mind a few minutes for me to commit some experiences on my objective, would he?

“N-no.... Back up. Go away. Don’t you dare step another inch closer,” Mauvet spluttered as he crawled backwards on the ground, his clothes stained with mud and rain. He was still shaken up by the fact that it was him that was written in my envelope. I didn’t know what Professor Willeon was really thinking when he wrote me this, but I guess he didn’t really think that this word will ended up with me.

I thrusted the letter on my hand towards him, but Mauvet only backed away in fear. So instead I let it fall of my hand, dandling in the air until it landed on the dirt. The front was facing up, so he could convince himself that the word was after all real, and that this was really happening.

Cousin.

The word was written in a beautiful calligraphy, clean and neat. And it, in fact, was our Professor’s handwriting. Mauvet spent time in staring at it, but his pupils were somehow unfocused. Perhaps he was trying to fool himself by pretending that this was not really happening, or perhaps he was just too shocked about this matter. Either way, I was not going to hold back, especially when there was a newly sharpened axe hanging in my fingers.

“I hope you have expected this before, because ready or not, I am coming to get you,” I muttered darkly, my eyes locked with his trembling ones.

“No, please. I don’t want to be erased just yet,” Mauvet pleaded pathetically at me.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not going to end you right now. This is not even a titanium,” I lifted the axe, allowing him to catch his own reflection in the sharp metal, “see? So this will not deliver a true death to you at all.”

“Y-your Majesty. No.... I’m so sorry,” he bit into his lips, drawing blood in the process out of putting too much force in the gesture. He was afraid, and he knew that I would not hold back as well, despite his effort in trying to get away.

“You can run, and you can hide, but I can guarantee you that my axe will feel your blood. All of these years of testing my patient, and you are finally going to reap what you sow,” I rest the handle of my axe against my shoulder, coming closer, “I hope you had enough of your Pain Endurance lessons, because this is going to taste like hell.”

“Please. You don’t even really have to do this. I can just drag me back without cutting me to pieces, or even harming me overall. I-I will even come willingly without putting any fight or struggle, as long as you give me your words that you will not harm me.”

“I can assure you; I will drag you back in class. But I do want to turn you to pieces, just so that you can experience the physical pain of being torn apart and then have to endure it while your body allows you to heal for the meantime. I don’t want you to surrender obediently. No, I want you to scream and kick and run until you can not move anymore.”

I was a pureblood with my own words. Not even once did I hesitate in taking swings of my axe. Chunks of his flesh were everywhere by the time I was finished with him. Then I took out a piece of sack and gathered him into it.

By the time I got back, I was dragging a very bleeding Mauvet back into classroom while at the same time resting the axe against my shoulder, the sharper tips just above my head. Once I arrived, my entire fellow students, a.k.a. cousins, were there and were watching me coming in. The blood that was dripping from my axe and down right to my entire body was still fresh, even though most of them were washed in rain.

I was reek of a pureblood’s blood.

A lot of controversies risen up after what I did. Mauvet recovered, but he was rather traumatized. He could not go on without as much as screaming historically whenever I got into his eyesight.

His parents were the most ones who were upset about what I do to their son, but all of my actions were justified. We were just doing what our lecturer told us to do, and I was no different. Mauvet just had to get over his excessive reactions and suck it up. He was ─ and still is ─ a vampire, after all. Experiencing momentary pain was just one of the pricks of being what he was. Just because he was family, he could not expect me to go easy on him.

And he did recover, eventually. But even despite my action, he did not stop to try and tempt my patient.

Over the years, he has been trying to see how far my self-control can be. What he never gets is that I don’t really give a care about it, because I can always have my self-control, as long as I want it to exist.

My conscious and morality keep the constant reminder of my surrounding. I can never lose them, unless I allow it to happen. And to make such a cruel turn of event for world is just too much. How can I destroy such an existence, along with the rest of its occupiers?

“That was some conflict going on between your adopted son and you,” says a voice from behind me. And just by the tone itself, I can already assume who is talking.

“Speaks of the Devil,” I mumble.

Mauvet chuckles at the irony. “That’s funny, considering that you are the White Devil herself.”

“Better me than the one and first Devil.”

“Yes, but he is a little bit reoccupied by now, since billions of titanium spears are pierced through him.”

The Devil, as we vampires call him, is actually our grandfather. Lazarus zi Britannia was the first Emperor to the Vampire Empire throne, and the husband of Clarisse zi Britannia. He is what his nickname is for. Lazarus was the definition of pure heartless when he ruled. He was cruel and downright merciless when it comes down to traitor. He was even worse than me.

But the worst thing about him is that he is obsessed in ruling the kingdom with iron fist, and he is not concern about invading other races. He is the reason why other creatures are so afraid of vampires, while we, his own kind, feared what he might be going to do to us once he set his eyes on us. That was why, after his wife were gone, my parents and their siblings decided to cooperate together and seal him inside the catacomb. He has been slumbering underneath the ground of this very castle every since.

“By the way, could you be talking about me. But I see no one else around, and I highly doubt that we are speaking to yourself. So I am assuming that you are, in fact, thinking about me,” he has a creepy smile on display while he says those words.

“I was just recalling what I did to you when we were ten. I got a card with you on it for our assignment, and I remember every detail from the angle that I took when I chop you piece to piece,” I words seems to disturb him, judging from the way his smirk turns upside down.

“Is this just me, or are you really a sadist?” he asks, frowning at me.

“Your instinct is correct,” I honestly admit, “there were even times when I was so obsessed in the art of torture. From whom do you think those Black Blooded brothers learned how to torment prisoners that well?”

“I guess the possibility of them having that kind of skill from their nature has been listed out. But I guess it is understandable. It was the time after the late Empress’s erasal, after all,” he comments.

After Mother was gone, I went through a transition. I knew right away that I could never let my guard down again. Ever. That was when the urge to becoming stronger surface. I worked hard on all my lessons. I keep my siblings close and always check up on them through my senses. But even despite all of the efforts, I was being paranoid inside.

The need to hurt was repleting. I was always overloaded by this itch to kill. I went through the days by holding myself in. Temptation was raining every day, and I had to pretend as if I were okay inside. But I wasn’t, and the final draw was when I was presented by that chance, the opportunity to hurt someone a lot. And I took it.

Mauvet became my first victim because of that. But thanks to him, I can finally find a way to release that pressure out of me.

“How come you never truly be afraid of me, after what I did to you? Instead, I can say that you have become more and more immune to my evil. I can’t say the same about my other victims, though. You were the only one who can not stay fearing me, even after the torment I went you through.”

He smiles to himself when he hears me. “Well, I guess I, myself, have always harbor a special kind of feeling for you. You were the smartest student in the class, and you always went through all the questions the professors threw at you without even trying that hard to. I was jealous because of that. That was why I have always been testing your patient. You always exceed at everything.

“I should be aware of that, since you are the first born of the generation and the Crown Princess, after all. But somehow I have always been so stubborn. But no matter how hard I try to beat you, I always find myself several levels lower than you. It doesn’t matter how much effort I put in, because you always defeat me.

“Before I know it, I already develop this kind of habit, of always wanting to compete with you. Despite knowing the result, I still keep on going. The more I lose, the more I feel the need to defeat you. But that never comes. I think that is why it leads us to this. I even tried every single tactic I could come up from. Still, no matter how hard I tried, you seem to be unwavered. It makes me keep on wanting to try again.”

“What is this, confession day?” First Lancel made statements about me that I don’t even know off. Then second Vallénce asked me to marry him. Third, Altore tried to confront Vallénce because of his feelings for me. Just before now, Scarlet approached me at the garden. And then I end up here, to this point.

“Who says I am confession anything to you?” Mauvet arches an eyebrow at me, the gesture trying to fish out as much as emotional reaction from me. “I am just trying to make a conversation without putting my existence on the line today.”

“Seems like an awful spare of time you got there though, from the sound of it,” I comment this time, “but no matter how you explain it, this still sound abnormal to me. Where did you get all of those motivations to keep pissing me off?”

Mauvet only replies me with silence, joining me by gazing at the garden in front of us. The day is bright. The sky is blue. Butterflies are flapping around the flowers, helping hybridizing them. And here we are, two purebloods, to hands on each other’s throat, and just standing underneath an alley of pillars.

I start to think really hard about this. No matter which perspective I take, this always ends up in nonsense. He keeps trying to tick me off. He also knows that is waiting for him once I do get ticked off. And he is very aware that I will make sure he feels the pain. But why so persistent in doing so? What kind of merit can he gain from doing this? None, at all. That is, unless....

“You’re a masochist,” I say out loud.

“Ye─ What?” he snaps, staring widely at me, as if not believing what I just said. He is perfectly aware that it can not be wrong, though.

“That’s the only possible conclusion I can get. It sounds perfectly logical, though. Why else would you try to piss me off at every single chance you can get, except for knowing that you will get punished in the end?” I elaborate.

“I-I-I....” Mauvet becomes speechless this time. This time is an entire different kind of speechless. Previously, there were times when he was trying to beg his existence out of it. There were also times when he was just in a tight spot from the accusations I confront on him. But this.... is different. And somehow, I find a blushing pureblood very amusing. It’s a rare sight for a pureblood to blush in front of the public in general, but it is even such a rare moment to see him like this.

Smiling, I approach him. He freezes on the spot, his aura wavering. It is not because of fear this time, but out of nervousness. He just finds out that he is, in fact, a masochist, and that the pureblood who he has a certain feelings for just diagnose it for him. I can’t blame him, but I won’t let him go easily as well.

“You can try to upset me as much as you want,” I whisper lowly into his ear, causing him to blush even deeper than he already is. He has no heartbeat, which makes it even more fun to tease. Heartbeats can give away too much things. “But stay away from the others.”

After saying that, I lean back, still with the same smile plastered on my lips.

∞ ❈∯❈ ∞

The lullaby echoed through the room as Scarlet fell asleep in my arms. My siblings were resting on the bed as well. They were listening, and they envy the baby that has been getting a lot more attention from me than on them.

“Why did you have to take him in? Others could still take care of him; others that are much older,” Altore asks.

“Yeah, why can’t you?” Charlotte asks with her childish-squeaky tone.

“I just can’t let him fall into the wrong hands,” I reply. “He’s our cousin, but most of all, he is Aunt Meggietta and Uncle Jeremiah’s only child. I can’t abound him after what he went though.”

I placed Scarlet in his crib gently. He moved a little, sensing that I was not holding him anymore. I cared side the side of his face, telling him to calm down in a gesture. He did.

Then I climbed into the bed, which was wide enough to fit the four of us, yet could still fit a dozen more children. Elric moved aside, so there I could place myself in the middle, between him and Altore.

“Amethyst, I love you,” Altore said with a smile, circling his arms around my waist, before closing his eyes and diverting his consciousness.

If only I had known just how serious his words were....

“What’s with that look on your face?” Altore asks, causing me to extricate myself off the memory.

“Why do you ask?”

The next words pained him when he says, “Because you look like you were about to cry.”

“It’s saddening, but nothing you should really concern of.”

He places one hand over mine. “What is it? Tell me?”

Not wanting to hide anything from him, I answer, “It’s because your confession.” He blinks at me. “I remember that you used to say that you love me, even when we were just children. I had no idea that you really meant it, even back then. I just thought that you think of me only as your sister.”

“I’m not sure that I have ever thought of you as a sister,” he admits. “When I was just born into this world, the first one I laid my eyes on, is you. You were holding me in your embrace, despite yourself being so young back then. Yet I could feel it, that you loved me the moment you saw me. And I did, too, though so much more. You were so beautiful that I could never look away, even back when we were children.” He steps closer and about to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear, when Vallénce shows up in his glamour.

“Don’t come anywhere closer than you already do,” he says casually, though full of treats in every syllable.

“I don’t need your permission to touch my sister,” Altore simply glares back at my fiancé.

“Oh, so now she is your sister. Whatever happened to your so-called undying love?” Vallénce asks in a mocking tone.

“I still won’t give up,” Altore replies though clenched teeth, his eyes drastically growling into a furious shade.

“Don’t even bother to start something you will certainly lose,” Vallénce matches him with his own set of crimson eyes, glowing even darker than my brother’s, showing just how far their levels are.

“How do you know for sure?” my brother disdains back.

“She chose me, remember? And I thought vampires are not suppose to forget. Perhaps there is something wrong with you that I have to constantly remind you of that fact?”

“Things always change. She might say she loves you now, but that love might not last for long.”

To show just how serious he is, Altore grabs me by the shoulder and pushes me against his chest. But right at the same second, a scream of pain raptures from his insides and echoes through his throat. My brother can’t maintain holding on to me anymore, so I catch him before he falls with his knees on the carpet. Vallénce has not touch him yet, but he is already whimpering in pain.

The focus pounds from his right arm ─ the one that was coiled around my before ─ where Altore masticates his other palm into. I know right away that this is certainly Vallénce. Only he can control blood as powerful as this, even when it is not his own blood that he is impairing on.

“Stop. You’re hurting him enough,” I tell Vallénce.

“No. Let me teach him some more, so that he can be an example for the others as well.” His eyes go three shades darker in about one second, but that glow even grow more intense than before. He is angry in the inside, I know, but I can’t let him keep hurting my brother.

“Please,” I plead to him.

He keeps his focus on Altore’s right arm, but he says to me, “You said that you have taken care of this, but what I get are even more rivals. Let me make an example out of him, so that I can also give an ultimatum to the other along the way. I have grown sick of these brats, thinking that they have a chance on you, and fantasizing about you all night. I can be very possessive as well, you know. When once it gets too hard, I might just cut off their heads with titanium.”

“I know that you don’t like the idea of sharing me with anyone else, and I understand that, because I will feel the same way as well. But you know how bad it will affect me if they were to die. I can’t lose another member of my family.”

Vallénce eventually pulls away and shifts his eyes on me. There is no regret in his eyes, and I am okay with that, since he just forgiven my brother. But that does not seem to be enough of a problem that it already is, because once Altore is freed from Vallénce influence, he lets the gravity around us loose. This causes a few objects from the hallway to deprive their weights. Altore swings his hand towards my fiancé, and the objects comply. One of the objects, I notice, is a titanium sword, which is suppose to be a garnish on the wall. Pure, judging from the way it shines so bright and so fast perching through the air.

Before it gets to Vallénce, I step in the middle of them and acquit my own power. My eyes are creasing blood in a split moment and are locked on the unfolding scenery in front of me. One second they are moving through the air, and the next they are moving backwards, recurring to where they were placed once before Altore omits the gravity of those objects.

When Altore blinks again, he looks perplexed, because he is expected the titanium sword to go through Vallénce’s body now, while it is not happening right now. He darts his eyes on me, my sight pulsating, and then he understands. I just used my power on him, reversing the objects, but at the same time also turning his memory back in time before he even started launching the objects. He is back to the point when there is only intention in his mind.

“That goes for you, too,” I tell him in an authorized tone.

A few footsteps come closer because of the commotion that the two have caused. Charlotte and Elric come from the East building, while Mauvet walks in front the North West resident.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? Is this a power showdown between the brother and the fiancé?” Mauvet adds in as he comes.

“Oh, shut up, Mauvet. This has nothing to do with you, so just scram away,” Altore says to him irritatedly, an intension to start another fight reflected in his eyes.

“My apologies, but I can’t do that, because I am actually involved. After all, I am your sister’s masochist victim,” Mauvet announces proudly, which makes me want to kick his head until it dispatches from the rest of his body and rolls on the carpet for a good five kilometers away.

“She’s your what?” At this point, every single pureblood in the hallway pretty much stare at me in disbelieve. And the worst thing is that what Mauvet just said is true, even though it is not as erotic as what they have in mind.

“Right?” Mauvet titles his head to a side as they all wait for my answer.

“Technically, I did─” Before I can finish my sentence, Altore lungs at him with eyes of fury. He wraps his palm around Mauvet’s neck, his nails extending rapidly with in this second. Mauvet chokes out blood as his throat is pierced through by ten sets of razor nails. This time, Altore is in the upper hand, because he is certainly much stronger than our cousin.

“Ako mislite da ću prestati, a zatim se petljaju u pogrešnom pureblood. Neću dopustiti da to ide do vrat padne!” My brother hisses in Croatian with venom practically dripping from his razor teeth. If you think that I’m going to stop, then are messing with the wrong pureblood. I won't let this go until your neck falls off!

“Wait, Altore. Stop! He’s just trying to─”

“I know what he wants. I don’t care. I won’t let this slide,” he says to me without turning his head towards me. Then, to Mauvet, he says in Croation, “Kako se usuđuješ dirati moju sestru!” How dare you touch my sister!

“Pa, tehnički, to je obrnuto,” Mauvet replies despite being choked to the point that his head is indeed going to fall off. Well, technically, it’s the other way around. He is in a lot of pain right now, I can tell, but he just keeps testing his luck.

Before Altore really cuts his head off, Elric runs to his side and practically have to drag him away from Mauvet. Elric manages to pulls Altore’s nails off our cousin’s throat without cutting his head off, which requires a lot of patience and energy. Once Altore lets go, Elric pushes him a few meters away from Mauvet, in case he might be going to give it another go again. Don’t want to go as far as causing another conflict inside the family now.

“Tell me. Does what he said really true?” Altore looks angry, but it’s not just that. He looks upset, wounded, and even hurt. Saying yes will only crush him even more, and I don’t feel like tampering his feelings.

“Alright. This has gone too crazy, and I am putting a stop to this,” I say out loud, not going to let this situation keeps getting worse even for an inch more inclement. “I chose Vallénce, and my decision has been final since long ago. I don’t know why you are bringing this up now, and if my words can not prove anything to you all, then maybe my actions will.”

I turn to Vallénce, who in this whole time has been frozen in shock, and smack my lips on his. At first I get nothing of him, but I just work on it my way and bite his lips, allowing blood to bleed out. I lick on them as I pry on his mouth to open vibrantly. I collide my private part against his at the same time when I insert my tongue into his mouth. I lick and swirl exuberantly, until Vallénce can’t even ignore me anymore.

He becomes very aware of what I am doing to him, and all of a sudden, he is more subsisting than ever before. He leans higher forward so that our bodies connect against another even closer than before, and starts participating in the kiss even much hungrier than me. We kiss until our venom-saliva slide out from our mouths. I kiss him so deep that his aura is getting suffocated out of all the emotions I wake from inside him.

We touch each other so intimately even through the clothing right in front of these purebloods, just to prove how serious we are in this relationship. But soon I am driven in this need to completely devour him inside out, and I am pretty positive from the way he responds that he feels the same way as well. It is definitely a trip to one of our rooms ─ either his or mine, I don’t really care ─ after we are done with this.

“Spread the words and all of what you just witnessed. I don’t care,” I tell Altore and Mauvet, before leaving hand in hand with my Vallénce.

Soon, I find myself on a bed. I don’t really pay attention on whose it is, because Vallénce is the one who leads us here. I clash my lips against his again, with him lying underneath. That little blood I got from him before is awakening my senses so bad, I feel like savoring him for myself. In return for that, I reluctantly release his lips and press my wrist on his lips instead.

Vallénce tries to get me back on kissing him, but I release it on his neck instead. He moans into my wrist as his teeth pierces through my pale skin. I trail kisses all over his skin all the way down as I unbutton his jacket and shirt. I feel so lost in the blood rush, until Vallénce flips us over and I come face to face with his true form.

The position seeps into me, resurrecting all of those memories of me and him in the catacombs twenty four years ago. It doesn’t sit well, and I push myself off of him as far and fast as I can against the wall, my aura clinging dearly around me in pure dread.

∞ ❈∯❈ ∞