[VK] Shades of Grey - Chapter 5
Title: Shades of Grey
Rating: T
Word Count: 7,695
Characters/Pairings: Zero, Misaki, Yagari, and Esterhazy family
Warning: Abundance of OC, which was rather inevitable, considering the setting. The appearance of vengeful!scheming!powerful!Zero. Esterhazy is a real life figure in Hungary, and I took the liberty of borrowing the family to my story. I hope no one minds.
Notes: Unbetaed for now. Looking for beta reader!
Previous chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
Darkness.
Swirling mass of colors.
Splatter of blue and yellow.
A lion-bodied eagle.
A griffin.
A curved blade and three red flowers.
The flowers turned blood-red.
Blood stained blue and yellow.
People suffering.
People dying.
A man’s sorrowful cry.
Another hidden in the shadows.
Silvery grey eyes gleaming, filled with icy rage.
In the darkness of the room, the sleeping figure that was huddled beneath the covers suddenly tensed, brilliant blue eyes snapping open. The figure lay unmoving in the bed, save for those eyes that blinked owlishly and for those small shoulders that trembled with every rapid intake of breath.
Eventually she relaxed, her breathing evened out, her eyes lost the haunted look. She turned to her back, closing her eyes and letting out a breath that she didn’t realize she was holding, shedding beads of perspiration and strands of golden hair from her forehead.
Another vision…
Visions could come anytime and anywhere. It could appear at the least expected time or place. It took her years to be able to suppress and summon them at will, but even so, she couldn’t completely control them. In the end, the best method was to simply ignore them and they would just pass her by, just like the sceneries she saw through the window of a speeding train: she wouldn’t see anything unless she paid attention to them. It was not the case with dreams, or to be more exact, visions that came through dreams.
Misaki had long forsaken normal dreams since she was young, barely a child of four, and ever since, her dreams were rarely the place she sought after. Sleep was not something she welcomed, but dreaded. There were ordinary dreams that should be a manifestation of her subconscious, but they were few and rare, and usually mixed with her visions. Soon she associated sleep with dreams and dreams with visions and her young self decided to deprive herself of sleep simply because she didn’t want to dream anything. It didn’t end well.
So it was safe to say she never attempted such thing anymore, and learned to give in, instead of fighting back. Surprisingly, sleep became easier to her and there were times, when she was granted dreamless sleep, completely pulled into the darkest recesses of her subconscious where visions could not reach her.
She had inherited not only her mother’s strong foresight that led her to start seeing visions in such a young age, but also her frail health that made her more prone to illness. It wasn’t a rare occurrence of her falling ill whenever she experienced particularly distressing visions. That was why her father decided for her never to sleep on her own, whether accompanied by one of her sisters, and later Miyu, out of concern for her wellbeing. She had only made her family worried about her ever since they found out of the visions.
Because of that, the very first ability she learned was how to hide her emotions and pretend that everything was alright, that she was alright. She had perfected the ability that no one ever noticed whenever she was experiencing visions, not even her closest friends. However, than the ability to pretend, she wished more not to have this foresight, or at the least, the ability not to care.
Visions that came through dreams were difficult to ignore, especially visions that came up in great frequency that signified that probability of them happening. If they were simple visions with little or no consequence, she could live with, but if they were not… She couldn’t just turn a blind eye and do nothing, unless that was the best course action in order to prevent much worse reality than her vision. And it hurt, because she cared too much.
This certain vision had plagued her for months, whispering to her in the day, bellowing to her at night, telling her what would happen in the future and she was to let it happen. She had yet to fully decipher the meaning of the vision and the reason to let it happen, but she had her suspicions. She had requested for the latest news in Eastern Europe, it would simply be a matter of time. However, she found herself unable to rest easy.
Ever since this certain vision started, it somehow always ended up the same way, with silver eyes glinting dangerously in the darkness.
Misaki opened her eyes, staring absently at the ceilings above her. She could only think of one person with those eyes and she didn’t know whether it was either good or bad omen. He wouldn’t do such a thing, right? At least not without a good reason.
She blew out a breath, not letting her mind drifted too far by focusing her attention towards the paneled ceilings and started to trace the engravings with her eyes, a practice that had been proved effective since she was young. She was broken out of her reverie when she felt something in the back of her mind.
Immediately she pulled herself up from bed, waves of gold cascaded down her shoulders loosely with her movement. She slipped out from under the covers and out of the bed and headed towards her destination without further thought. Right when she slowly and carefully opened the door to the room, the familiar cries of a newborn could be heard behind the door. A brief affectionate smile appeared on her face before she crossed the dimly lit room to the crib holding her babies.
“Hush… Okaasan’s here…” she spoke softly to her crying children, and soon, as if they recognized the voice of their mother, their cries turned slightly more subdued. She picked up her son’s first this time as it was his turn now, settling him comfortably in the crook of her arms and lightly bouncing him, which earned her a wet, cheery gurgle that never failed to make her smile. She figured this kind of reaction would become rare as he grew up; Kazuki was too much like his father.
It was clear to her the moment she laid her eyes on them. The twins were certainly their father’s children; she couldn’t help but to see Zero in them from their appearance to their silence. The only thing they seemed to inherit from her was her blue eyes. Sonia had mentioned how wrong it was to see her eyes in a face too similar to the hunter’s. Tanya had scolded their friend for that insensitive comment, but didn’t disagree with the sentiment, she noticed.
The smile on her face grew wider at the thought of her friends who remained with her through everything. Despite their prior misgivings, they readily offered their assistance whenever she needed help with the children. Tanya was good with children, which was no surprise, considering that she came from a large family, so Misaki learned most of practical parts of child-rearing from her and surprisingly, Baudin. Sonia was another case, she made faces whenever she had to change the diapers, but she did it anyway, when there was no else to do it, and even if she didn’t openly admit it, the dark-haired woman had grown fond of the children.
Her friends and the doctor also looked after the children while she was gone, so she didn’t need to bring them along with her. They would also gladly offer their assistance whenever the twins woke up in the middle of the night, but she gently refused, feeling they had done enough for her and her children and felt that it would be easier if it was her alone.
Somehow she was uniquely attuned to her children’s thoughts and emotions. She could easily figure what her children wanted and when they wanted her: how she managed to wake up before she could even hear their cries was an example. Maybe it was the inborn instinct for every mother, or maybe it was something else. She lightly shook her head in affectionate exasperation, inwardly wondering how easily she shrugged it off as if it was common occurrence.
Her life had been turned upside down so many times that she barely batted an eyelash whenever she was faced with things that forced her to abandon her previous assumptions and that she learned to simply accept things as they were, no questions asked. Her current situation was one of them; sometimes she could hardly believe how things turned out this way, how they all ended up together and sharing the old doctor’s mansion together.
Deciding against sitting down while nursing Kazuki, she stood by the crib with one hand holding his son and the other on her daughter who took one of her fingers in a firm hold. Misaki knew that she wouldn’t be able to do this in few months, or maybe in few weeks, her children seemed to grow so fast. When they were born, they were so small, so light compared to other babies that she couldn’t help but worried of them. Baudin told them that there was nothing to be worried about, that it was normal for twins, considering they had to share their mother’s womb with each other.
Her children had always been in her mind ever since she learned of their growing presence within her, keeping her wide awake at night and haunting her dreams, which barely gave her the reassurance she needed. She avoided looking into their future, fearing for the worst and not wanting to be discouraged. She realized that her circumstances were anything but ordinary since the very beginning. The manner of the conception, the father of the twins, the twins… and herself.
It was rare enough the case of human mother and vampire father, but when the mother was no ordinary human and the father was also no ordinary vampire… there were too many unknown variables, too many dangerous risks.
She had spent most of her pregnancy in fear and dread, whether one day she would find that one of her children was lost to the fate of Kiryuu twins, whether one day she would find out that she was unable to carry them safely to term because of her ill-adjusted body. She had lost her family; she couldn’t lose her children, her very own flesh and blood.
She could never feel more grateful for whatever higher being’s intervention that brought her under Baudin’s care. The man had been nothing but kind and truthful to her the moment she was introduced to him. He hadn’t tried to conceal or undermine her condition, expressing his concerns whether she would be able to carry the twins to term, as the twins had shown the early traits of vampire children, while it was common knowledge that the typical behavior of the younglings was to feed off life force, which would be their mother’s. That was why pregnancy and labor were such an arduous time for the expecting vampire mothers, but at least, their body was already prepared for such momentous task, which was not the case for their human counterpart if they were carrying vampire children.
The reason why there were little documented vampire children from human mothers might be because there were few of them who actually survived the pregnancy or the labor, and even if there was, for those who deemed themselves as the superior beings, they wouldn’t acknowledge openly that they required humans to continue their existence, or that they were involved with unchanged humans. She was made aware of the difficulties that lay ahead by Baudin.
Baudin was completely sympathetic to her plight as he told her everything, not concealing why he had such knowledge that few were privileged to and she sensed sincerity in him and his words. The fact that he was a servant to a pureblood that happened to be in the same place she was treated was enough to raise suspicion, but she couldn’t help but to trust the doctor. She knew she was taking a huge risk; everything might be a ploy for her to lower her guard or to get to Zero and the twins, but her intuition told her it was alright to trust him and there were no alarming visions that warned her of impending disaster that might happen from trusting Baudin. So she took her chances.
Still, it came as a surprise when the man came up with the offer for her to stay with him. The offer was rather spoken hurriedly and nervously as though it just came to him by chance, though the reasons he gave her obviously showed how much thought he had put into it. She was not one to look a gift horse in mouth, but she couldn’t just accept such a generous offer without knowing at least why. And she found it the moment Baudin told her that he lived alone in the mansion. It didn’t take her long to accept the offer afterwards.
She had known it wouldn’t be easy, but it didn’t mean that there weren’t times when she wanted to give up, feeling everything was too much for her to bear. She couldn’t give up her studies, forcing herself to attend lectures and complete assignments despite her condition that was becoming more apparent to others and became the subject of many people’s conversations. She was aware of the stares and whispers directed at her and most of the time she managed to shrug it off and let it slide through her back. However, at her most vulnerable moments, those words managed to get through and hurt her immensely. She had blamed it to the hormones at first, not wanting to worry her housemates, and they might buy it the first time, but not the second and the time after that.
It was too much for her. It was one thing to have the ability of foresight, to see visions of the future everywhere she went. She had years to get used to it and she had her family who understood what she went through to support her at first. But it was impossible to get used to such drastic change with such great consequences, it didn’t matter whether she was of all people should be able to handle it better after everything she had experienced. It didn’t matter whether she had prepared herself the best she could. She couldn’t help the feeling of insecurity seeping into her skin, creeping into her heart, burying its cold, sharp claws around her heart, squeezing it so tightly that she felt herself suffocating.
She felt too young, too inexperienced, too unprepared, too lacking in everything. She feared for the worst of everything. However, she never voiced any of this to her housemates; she would just keep the smile on her face and pretended that everything was alright, that she was alright. Only in the darkness of the night, alone in her bed, only then she allowed herself a reprieve, she would release all the pent up emotions, letting the tears run freely down her face and retreating into herself until there was nothing left but sleep to overtake her.
She knew that she couldn’t keep this up forever; she couldn’t keep them in a distance anymore, not after everything they had done for her. Both Sonia and Tanya had moved in with her, leaving their cherished apartment in order to support her completely. They never even asked any questions about the incident that nearly killed her or about the father of the twins and his involvement, though she knew very well that they had many questions, but they held themselves back. Their concern for her overcame their curiosity for the truth. She wasn’t prepared to fully bare herself to them the way she did with Zero. They weren’t Zero.
And that might be the problem: they weren’t Zero.
The thought of silver-haired man sent a pang through her heart, stealing her breath for few precious seconds. She tried to ignore the sudden rush of feelings that came over her, tried to think of something else, anything else, to distract her from thinking of him.
Her daughter suddenly let out a loud wail that made her jump in surprise; she quickly scrambled to the crib to calm Mizuki down before she could wake up the whole house. Fortunately, Kazuki didn’t protest when his mother pried him off gently and lowered him down to the crib, already dozing off as his hunger was satiated. Misaki swiftly took her daughter in her arms, lightly rocking her and murmuring gentle and soothing words. It didn’t take long for her to quiet down and settle comfortably in her mother’s arms. Misaki blinked few times and raised her eyebrow, wondering inwardly whether her own children were no less that attuned to their mother’s thoughts and feelings.
Seeing innocent blue eyes peering up at her, Misaki couldn’t help the smile that came to her lips, those previous dark thoughts occupying her mind had diminished, replaced by a rush of amusement and affection to her children. Playfully she wiggled the small nose, earning the young mother a cheery giggle.
“Really…Who’s the mother and who’s the child…”
She gently pressed her cheek to her daughter’s, feeling the warmth seeping through her skin, the smooth, flawless skin against her own, the comforting weight of her baby in her arms, grounding her to reality. She might not have Zero with her, but she had these two beautiful angels that were part of her as much as part of him with her. Misaki smiled fondly to her daughter, brushing the soft cheek gently with her thumb, shaking her head in a mixture of amusement and exasperation this time. She needed to be more careful in guarding her thoughts and emotions; her children didn’t need to be burdened with her problems too. But the smile remained on her face, the dark thoughts already leaving her mind.
A distant chime coming from her room right next the children’s made her turn sharply towards the sound, her brow furrowed in wariness when she finally recognized it as the certain sound she specifically set whenever new information come through the network. The Arudas had quickly learned the importance of information early on, especially to fully utilize their ability, thus their first action was to establish an information network that was mainly consisted of Aruda family members and associates and eventually expanded, encompassing families, governments, nations that enabled them to gather information efficiently and effectively without giving away that those people were all actually connected through the Aruda.
For that reason, the network still remained, despite of the fate that befell the Arudas as they had become an inherent, independent network. Some of the smarter ones might realize the presence of the network and made use of it, but they would never be able to use it or have access to it like the Arudas. Only the Arudas had the authority to regulate the information within the network, to grant permission and to request for information with the highest priority. Only her.
Her eyes flew to check the time displayed on the digital clock placed on top of the drawers and her lips pursed when she realized that anything that came in such ungodly hours was rarely good news. She had the feeling that it was related to the request for information she had sent out.
Settling Mizuki more comfortably against her, she carried her daughter along as she swiftly moved to cross the threshold of the room to another. Reaching the phone she placed next to her bed, on the nightstand, she flipped the phone open with practiced ease, her eyes automatically flicked upon the words on the screen. The moment the information she just received sunk in, she stilled.
*
*
*
“What the hell!”
Yagari slammed his hands roughly, making his desk shake from the brutal force. His good eye held such fierce glare that made the unfortunate soul whose only fault was to bring the news to him trembling in fear. Not noticing this, the dark-haired hunter ploughed on mercilessly,
“Is this true? How reliable the source is?”
“We’ve confirmed it with the head of the Association branch in Hungary. He couldn’t say much yet, but he promised to keep us informed,” somehow the messenger managed to deliver this clearly, despite the obvious discomfort to bear the brunt of Yagari’s foul mood.
There was a moment of silence, as though Yagari was digesting the whole situation and its implications and another moment until he finally told the poor hunter to get out from his office, which his underling gladly obeyed, scurrying towards the exit and leaving the dark-haired hunter alone in his office within seconds.
Yagari plopped down soundly on his dark-leathered recliner, partly gloved hand running through his dark locks in a familiar gesture of exasperation.
Assassination attempt on the Szűrös family. Reportedly Antal Szűrös was in critical condition.
The Szűrös family had become a prominent figure in Hungarian politics and governments since the days of the Republic. There was few people in the Eastern Europe who didn’t know of the family and their achievements. They were both worshipped and scorned by the people of Hungary for their radical view which was both ingenious and dangerous. They had been playing with the line of fire for years, no, decades and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they finally reaped what they sowed.
Such matters were of no concern to the Hunter Association. The Association had no right to intervene with any matters of any states or nations unless it had something to do with the other beings they were responsible of, and as such, the assassination attempt on a prominent figure of a nation shouldn’t worth their time, if only the Szűrös were ordinary family.
What many people weren’t aware of, even to those who were knowledgeable of the vampires and their history, vampires could turn into humans. Only the purebloods and some of the higher nobility were able to attempt such thing, though not without risking their own life in the process. The most blatant example was the heiress of Kuran family who had spent years as a human through the mother’s sacrifice before once again awakened as a vampire.
It was not a common practice, but was not a completely rare practice, either. Each to their own reasons, whether it was simply they needed a part of their family who could live among the humans without garnering any suspicion or whether it was simply that they didn’t want to remain vampires.
In the beginning, there was little known of the existence of the former vampires who were living inconspicuously among humans as their families managed to keep it tightly under wraps to keep them safe, but some families took it further to protect their human family and that was how the Association came to notice them. They had staunchly refused to acknowledge their relationship with those humans they so benevolently protected, but eventually they relented and some of them even gave away their names in exchange for the Association’s protection from other vampires that might want to go after their altered family members.
Antal Szűrös was among them.
And the problem was, the pureblood family related to the Szűrös was the Esterházy.
Yup, the Esterházy. The most influential man in Eastern Europe.
Oh, great, he thought sarcastically. He never enjoyed dealing with the purebloods, especially this one who was among the eldest of the pureblood families, whose lineage went far further than most families through the centuries.
Yagari imagined how much a mess it would be if the one behind the assassination attempt was vampires. The bloody bastard of nobility could make things much more difficult to the Association just by lifting a finger. All he could do for now was to order a thorough investigation into the matter by sending some of his men from the main headquarters to Hungary and contact their currently away President of this situation.
He glanced at his watch, counting the time difference and checking of the supposed schedule of their leader. Satisfied that there was nothing too important in the schedule (only some meeting with local leaders), Yagari reached out for the telephone on his desk and made the call, his fingers absently drumming the mahogany surface as he waited for the call to get through.
“Yagari.” Low voice immediately greeted him, enunciating every syllable of his name.
It was interesting how the man could convey so many things into a single word, Yagari never ceased to be impressed with his former student’s monosyllabic tendencies to avoid idle chatter. Yagari could tell that he was calling at a wrong time and he was demanded to immediately give Zero a good reason for the call.
“Assassination attempt on the Szűrös family. Antal Szűrös is critical.”
There was a brief silence at the other line.
“No other information about the attempt?” It was a question that Yagari had foreseen.
“No, not yet. I’m about to send our men there to join the investigation.”
“How is the situation in the nation?”
“News are still coming in, but I’m willing to bet there would be quite uproar, especially if the Szűrös didn’t make it.”
This time there was a longer silence that made the hair on the back of his neck stood on its end. This silence weren’t the usual thoughtful silence whenever Zero was considering the possible measures, it was something else.
“I’ll go to Turkey for more information. Depending on the situation, I might take part in the investigation myself. I’ll keep you informed.”
And just like that, the call ended, leaving the second-in-command rather flabbergasted. Yagari couldn’t help but repeating the conversation all over again in his mind, wondering whether he missed something. It was like any normal conversation with Zero, and yet… it felt like anything but. There was something in the way he was talking about of the Szűrös… there wasn’t the usual detachment, instead, there was such coldness as though he cared little for whatever might happen to the Szűrös.
What had Szűrös done to receive such reaction?
Yagari frowned at this chilling realization, putting down the receiver blankly. Sure, Zero had come to learn the meaning of restraint better and there was no more frantic, emotional outbursts, however, that could also mean that either he learned to conceal or repress it better that could lead to him directing that outburst through other means.
Could it be related with his sudden disappearance months ago?
It had been months since that day the younger man suddenly left abruptly without telling anyone where he went to. After he returned, there was something different with Zero, something changed within Zero, but he wasn’t quite sure whether it was for better or worse. He sincerely hoped it was for the better, because he didn’t want to think that what happened in Hungary was in any way related to Zero.
*
*
*
His face remained stoic and unchanged as the news reached him, not giving away the turmoil that was struggling to break free with few simple words.
“…He’s dead,” he spoke the words slowly, carefully, as if the words were foreign to him, “My Antal is dead…” His voice faltered as he spoke of his precious offspring’s name.
“Milord, I have no excuse for my failure! I would readily accept my punishment,” a man stood before the leader of the Esterházy that was seated in his office, receiving the ill news of his flesh and blood. The man was a tall and broad-shouldered vampire; he would have been a handsome sight if not for the unruly hair and the stained and torn clothes. The man appeared as if he was just returned from a battlefield, which was not far from the truth, as he was the man who was in charge of the safety of the family of Esterházy’s youngest son, the Szűrös.
It took all of his willpower not to lash out to the man who was supposed to guard his descendants with his life, but he couldn’t fault Pétér for the death of Antal, because he had known this man since he was merely a child and served the family. His loyalty was unquestionable, he would no lesser die than fail to protect his master.
“It was him who dismissed you,” Esterházy didn’t let his emotions cloud his judgment, “And it was him who made you to obey.”
“Regardless, I should’ve-” Pétér couldn’t find any excuse for his failure. He was bound to obey his master, and when Antal used his authority over the vampire as the pureblood descendant, he couldn’t disobey his master’s request to be left alone without any guard.
“I knew Antal, Pétér. And I knew he would have his way, regardless what you did,” Esterházy smiled sadly at this, fully aware how much alike Antal was with his youngest son. He leaned forward, meeting the man’s eyes for the first time since he delivered the dreadful news. Pétér unconsciously straightened up under those sharp eyes.
“Right now, your main concern is the safety of Sofia and the children. The moment the news of Antal’s death spread, there’s no guarantee for their safety. It would be your last duty to Antal. Do not fail him.” Again.
Pétér could hear the unspoken words, the unspoken accusation, but he didn’t let it show on his demeanor and calmly responded with steely determination, “I won’t, milord.”
“You’re dismissed.”
Esterházy was inwardly relieved when he saw the last of the younger vampire, he wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to restrain himself with Antal’s guardian in his sight.
“Anton,” he called out to his right hand man who had been standing by his side throughout the exchange, who had remained a silent shadow to him, watching everything with cool detachment. “Is there any obvious connection between this and the other incidents?”
For these past months, there were a series of unfortunate events that befell the Esterházy. At first it appeared to be random, unrelated events. A little failure with the corps, a slight problem with the merchants, a small riot here and there in their area, but nothing they couldn’t foresee and handle. Then suddenly, there were problems everywhere, both humans and vampires were causing problems with his family.
“I cannot say anything of yet, milord. The investigation is still ongoing. All I can say that they are starting to make their move against the current government.”
Esterházy was aware that there were those who weren’t satisfied with his rule, who didn’t like the influence his family had over the government, but he had been able to keep them quiet with every possible mean. It might be rather harsh, but it got the job done. He only had the people’s best interest at heart. Under his rule, both the people and the nation enjoyed immense opportunity and growth that weren’t possible before he came to lead them.
And this was what they gave him in return.
They took Antal away from him!
He must admit that he didn’t quite make a secret of his relation with his youngest family. He was proud of the Szűrös and he wanted them to know that they weren’t forgotten even if they were no longer of the same world. He gave them everything they needed and more. It was almost common knowledge of the Szűrös and the Esterházy, though most didn’t know that they were more than just merely benefactor and beneficiary, that their relationship ran deeper than that.
Yet…
He couldn’t help but think there was more. The timing was too convenient.
Then suddenly the pureblood tensed up, but Anton didn’t notice this, as he was receiving news from his phone, completely oblivious to the change in his master. Only when he glanced back at Esterházy after he was done, he noticed something was off.
“Milord?”
“Could you leave me alone for a while, Anton?”
Anton was about to refuse, but having been serving his master for his lifetime, he realized that despite the polite tone and words, it was not a request.
“Very well, milord. I would right be right outside when you need me.”
Anton gave a respectful bow towards his master before removing himself from Esterházy’s presence to fulfill his request. Watching this, Esterházy couldn’t help the smile gracing his features seeing such devotion towards him, but that smile didn’t last long.
“Finally… we’ve got to meet, president Kiryuu.”
Slowly, a figure took form behind him, stepping out from the shadows as quietly as he was merely part of the shadows itself. Even with his acute senses, Esterházy barely sensed the man’s presence and it was only by the other man’s generosity that he could sense him approaching. It was only thing that kept him calm, knowing that the man didn’t come to fight him.
“Prince Esterházy,” Zero returned the greetings curtly, stopping few steps before the sitting man. Esterházy finally turned his seat towards his guest, facing the looming figure before him. There was a stretching silence between them, both of them studying and judging one another.
Esterházy couldn’t help the thought that the younger man was fitted more into the role of the creature of the night than most trueborn vampires. The silver-colored hair and eyes that became the mark of the descendant of Kiryuu family gleamed under the dim lighting and were contrasted greatly the darkness that fell over him like a cloak. His presence felt surreal, as though the man was merely a part of his imagination, but the weight of the threat posed could hardly be ignored.
He was perfect. He was a perfect creation made of the greatest hunter and purest vampires. He must hand it to that Kuran Kaname, for creating such existence as Kiryuu Zero. He made the greatest pawn, indeed, until he was no longer a pawn.
Esterházy knew that the pureblood who single-handedly turned the vampire society upside down after a long of tedious and meticulous years of planning would likely make a plan to ensure that the man remained as his pawn. He had his suspicions that it was related to the only Kuran princess that happened to live several years with the newly changed Kiryuu. However, the younger pureblood’s control were slowly slipping… and it was merely a matter of time before Kiryuu gained control of the board himself… as he was starting to do with the great Esterházy.
“Why are you here, if you don’t intend to take my life?” Finally he broke the silence between them.
“I never intend to,” Kiryuu replied calmly. His surprise must be evident that the man chose to elaborate, “Death holds different meaning for immortal beings with the likes of you.”
Esterházy couldn’t hold back a bitter chuckle when the implied meaning dawned on him. Death held different meaning indeed for him who had lived several lifetimes compared to human short lifetime. The other man had got him in the mindset that it was his death that he wanted. He was completely outsmarted by the hunter.
“That’s why you went after my family,” instead of me, he thought. He had come to that realization a little too late.
“It was no different with what you’ve done.”
“True,” Esterházy was honest enough to admit it. He was the one who started all of these chain reactions by giving the order to hurt the young woman. Kiryuu did nothing but to pull the right trigger in the right time. The unrest had always been there, waiting for the time to come to the surface. The hunter must have known everything that was required to make things turn out the way he wished them to be without giving away anything. And he didn’t hesitate; Esterházy didn’t have the slightest doubt about that. He had to acknowledge that he had severely underestimated the young president.
The pureblood had once thought that the man wasn’t put into the position of the leader of hunters by himself, not by his own desire. He doubted whether the Kiryuu was exactly suited for the position that required more thinking and talking diplomatically than taking direct actions that he had been doing very well as the best hunter the association had. The impression he had when they met officially for the first time merely reinforced his assumptions.
Kiryuu was more a lone wolf who would prefer to be left alone. The first years under his leadership pretty much proved his inability to handle the politics both vampires and humans alike. It was only due to his advisors, Cross and Yagari, and the pureblood pacifist, Kuran’s interventions that it didn’t affect the relationship between Hunters Association with its stakeholders. He was getting better, but not good enough for him to be compared to his previous predecessors who had accomplished more in those early years of their own leadership. However, inadvertently that fact made Esterházy overlook that one’s inability in leadership didn’t necessarily equal one’s inability in analyzing and strategizing.
“I’ve lost, Kiryuu. What else do you want of me?” Esterházy spread his hand weakly before him. The hunter had achieved his objective, hurting him through his family. Everything he held dear was paying the price for his arrogance, for his negligence. Kiryuu was right; death meant little to him, compared to his own flesh and blood. He had lost completely from him against his own wishes and expectations.
The silvery depths remained cold and emotionless; Esterházy wasn’t able to decipher what was going through the man’s mind. He found his stare unnerving, because his family’s lives depended on it.
“I think I’ve made the message clear enough to you. There’s no need for anything else. Leave me and those around me alone. If you don’t…”
“Yes. You’d have my word,” and for the first time Esterházy found the courage to meet Kiryuu’s eyes.
“I’d rather not see you again anytime, Esterházy.” And with those words, he was gone; along with the intense pressure he brought to the room, leaving the centuries-old vampire sagged tiredly against the chair.
The years he had been living for took that vulnerable moment to show throughout his unchanged face. He felt great anger and hatred towards that man, his hands clenching the armrest so tightly that it broke under the pressure, but he knew that it would be futile. He had given his word, and the younger man wouldn’t make the mistake of not expecting he wouldn’t break his word. He was merely a pawn on the hunter’s board now.
He had picked a wrong opponent, he realized. Right now, Kiryuu was under the protection of Kuran because he was the closest and strongest ally to maintain his foolish ideals. However, he wondered how the pureblood would react when he found out that his control was slipping away. If the young pureblood showed any sign that he would try to replace his former pawn, he would gladly use it to his advantage. But right now, he had to stay low, before his family could suffer more.
*
*
*
In a dark room, a figure could be seen standing against the door, slightly crouching as his face was hidden behind his hand and his other hand was clawing against the wooden door. Ragged breathing was loud amidst the dead silence that came from the solitary figure still crouched against the door as though trying to control himself, his nails leaving dents upon the solid wood.
Zero gritted his teeth, trying to put his tumultuous emotions under control. The moment he left the disgusting pureblood, the calm façade he wore was no more. He was trying hard not to kill that man, which would be so easy when he was so weakened with grief and regret over the loss of his precious descendant, but his conscience didn’t allow him to. For once, he wished he could throw away his conscience, consequences be damned! That man didn’t deserve to live!
All of a sudden, as though being commanded, all the glass around the room was shattered into pieces. Cold wind breezed into the room noisily through the broken windows, water spilling over the fallen flowers and table to the floor where shards of glass were slowly decorating it.
The sounds of glass breaking and falling against the floor managed to pull him away from his murderous haze, bringing him back to another time where this had happened before. He was so consumed by his rage and hatred that he broke everything in the vicinity by sheer power of his emotions alone. He wasn’t aware of anything in his surroundings, but somehow, one voice managed to reach him.
“Stop, Zero!”
Grey silver eyes came across wide blue eyes.
And stop he did.
Those previously dark eyes slowly turned back to their normal color, the irregular breathing slowly evened out and the taut lines on his body was slowly easing. His hands fell limply on his sides and his head was thrown back as he closed his eyes and regulated his breathing. After few moments, he slid down to the floor, back scratching against the door, one long leg stretched out before him, another partly bent at knee, eyes still closed.
He could still recall those eyes that despite everything held neither fear nor confusion and despite the chaos he caused remained fixed upon him, kept reaching out to him and before he realized it, he reached back to her and stopped.
A chuckle escaped him, the corners of his mouth twitched unconsciously.
It seemed… even after everything, she remained the one who could get through him the most. His hand strayed upon his breast pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a worn envelope. His eyes easily rested upon the neat Latin handwriting on the front of the envelope, drinking the elegant and precise stroke on every word.
Kiryuu Zero.
With careful and gentle fingers he removed the content of the paper, slowly unfolding the letter.
Zero,
I am well now. Thanks to Doctor Baudin’ relentless efforts. And yours. I’ve heard everything from him. I’m glad of all doctors who could treat me, it was him. I’m also glad that you didn’t shoot him the moment you came across him in the hospital.
Even after reading it many times, Zero could never failed to be amused at that certain sentence as his mind easily imagined her wry tone as she pointed it out matter-of-factly. Despite how impersonal it was, it seemed no different than her talking to him directly.
It’s not your fault. Don’t lay all the blame on your shoulders. They already have enough burdens as it is. You were here. And you didn’t give up on me. That’s more than I can ask of you.
A sad smile graced his features at these words, fingertips floating over the certain sentence. She was always the one who did the comforting, even when she was the one who needed it more. It was so like her and the familiarity was a comfort by itself.
I’m sorry I kept it from you. I wasn’t sure whether to tell you of the twins or not. I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I must have made you very worried.
I understand why you left and I don’t intend to make you second guess yourself. I sent this letter to let you know that the twins were born safely on 21st February. They are a boy and a girl. They are strong and healthy. They resemble their father very much. They are perfect. I named them Kazuki and Mizuki. I hope you like their names.
Don’t worry about us. Knowing you, you must have placed enough protection around us. Even Doctor Baudin took upon him to look after us, letting us to stay in his house in Paris. Sonia and Tanya also came along.
Do whatever you have to do. Have faith in yourself. Because I have faith in you.
Misaki.
With aching heart he reached for the envelope to get the remaining content inside. He slipped it out and saw the picture of her holding two bundles in each of her hand. She seemed slightly tired; traces of sweat glistening on her skin, her fair hair tied back, some of them framing loosely her smiling face, and her clear blue eyes shone with such love and joy to the newborns held in her arms. The twins were sleeping contentedly in their mother’s embrace. Although it was too early to tell, he could see the resemblance to him already.
He ran gentle fingers on the smooth surface of the portrait, tracing the outline of their faces as if trying to feel them under his fingertips. His children. Their children.
He could never quash the longing that appeared whenever he laid his eyes on the picture, the feeling that he would give anything in the world just to be there by her side, watching and holding the twins in his arms. However, he knew the impossibility of that simple wish, as painful as it was to admit. The words in her letter were engraved in his mind.
I have faith in you.
He closed his eyes, a frown marred his features.
No you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t have faith in me.
In me who had wronged you, in me who had left you and our children… in me who selfishly made use of others for mere revenge.
He left them because he wanted to be a man worthy of them. And he wanted to be able to answer the faith given to him. But now, with what he had done...
He stared blankly at the palm of hands before him, imagining them stained with blood of those whose deaths indirectly caused by him. He couldn’t meet them, not anymore, not with these stained hands.
That was why he kept the envelope in his breast pocket, close to where his heart was and there where it would remain. Because it would be the closest he would get to them, to her and their children.
It was all he could allow himself to.
Rating: T
Word Count: 7,695
Characters/Pairings: Zero, Misaki, Yagari, and Esterhazy family
Warning: Abundance of OC, which was rather inevitable, considering the setting. The appearance of vengeful!scheming!powerful!Zero. Esterhazy is a real life figure in Hungary, and I took the liberty of borrowing the family to my story. I hope no one minds.
Notes: Unbetaed for now. Looking for beta reader!
Previous chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
Darkness.
Swirling mass of colors.
Splatter of blue and yellow.
A lion-bodied eagle.
A griffin.
A curved blade and three red flowers.
The flowers turned blood-red.
Blood stained blue and yellow.
People suffering.
People dying.
A man’s sorrowful cry.
Another hidden in the shadows.
Silvery grey eyes gleaming, filled with icy rage.
In the darkness of the room, the sleeping figure that was huddled beneath the covers suddenly tensed, brilliant blue eyes snapping open. The figure lay unmoving in the bed, save for those eyes that blinked owlishly and for those small shoulders that trembled with every rapid intake of breath.
Eventually she relaxed, her breathing evened out, her eyes lost the haunted look. She turned to her back, closing her eyes and letting out a breath that she didn’t realize she was holding, shedding beads of perspiration and strands of golden hair from her forehead.
Another vision…
Visions could come anytime and anywhere. It could appear at the least expected time or place. It took her years to be able to suppress and summon them at will, but even so, she couldn’t completely control them. In the end, the best method was to simply ignore them and they would just pass her by, just like the sceneries she saw through the window of a speeding train: she wouldn’t see anything unless she paid attention to them. It was not the case with dreams, or to be more exact, visions that came through dreams.
Misaki had long forsaken normal dreams since she was young, barely a child of four, and ever since, her dreams were rarely the place she sought after. Sleep was not something she welcomed, but dreaded. There were ordinary dreams that should be a manifestation of her subconscious, but they were few and rare, and usually mixed with her visions. Soon she associated sleep with dreams and dreams with visions and her young self decided to deprive herself of sleep simply because she didn’t want to dream anything. It didn’t end well.
So it was safe to say she never attempted such thing anymore, and learned to give in, instead of fighting back. Surprisingly, sleep became easier to her and there were times, when she was granted dreamless sleep, completely pulled into the darkest recesses of her subconscious where visions could not reach her.
She had inherited not only her mother’s strong foresight that led her to start seeing visions in such a young age, but also her frail health that made her more prone to illness. It wasn’t a rare occurrence of her falling ill whenever she experienced particularly distressing visions. That was why her father decided for her never to sleep on her own, whether accompanied by one of her sisters, and later Miyu, out of concern for her wellbeing. She had only made her family worried about her ever since they found out of the visions.
Because of that, the very first ability she learned was how to hide her emotions and pretend that everything was alright, that she was alright. She had perfected the ability that no one ever noticed whenever she was experiencing visions, not even her closest friends. However, than the ability to pretend, she wished more not to have this foresight, or at the least, the ability not to care.
Visions that came through dreams were difficult to ignore, especially visions that came up in great frequency that signified that probability of them happening. If they were simple visions with little or no consequence, she could live with, but if they were not… She couldn’t just turn a blind eye and do nothing, unless that was the best course action in order to prevent much worse reality than her vision. And it hurt, because she cared too much.
This certain vision had plagued her for months, whispering to her in the day, bellowing to her at night, telling her what would happen in the future and she was to let it happen. She had yet to fully decipher the meaning of the vision and the reason to let it happen, but she had her suspicions. She had requested for the latest news in Eastern Europe, it would simply be a matter of time. However, she found herself unable to rest easy.
Ever since this certain vision started, it somehow always ended up the same way, with silver eyes glinting dangerously in the darkness.
Misaki opened her eyes, staring absently at the ceilings above her. She could only think of one person with those eyes and she didn’t know whether it was either good or bad omen. He wouldn’t do such a thing, right? At least not without a good reason.
She blew out a breath, not letting her mind drifted too far by focusing her attention towards the paneled ceilings and started to trace the engravings with her eyes, a practice that had been proved effective since she was young. She was broken out of her reverie when she felt something in the back of her mind.
Immediately she pulled herself up from bed, waves of gold cascaded down her shoulders loosely with her movement. She slipped out from under the covers and out of the bed and headed towards her destination without further thought. Right when she slowly and carefully opened the door to the room, the familiar cries of a newborn could be heard behind the door. A brief affectionate smile appeared on her face before she crossed the dimly lit room to the crib holding her babies.
“Hush… Okaasan’s here…” she spoke softly to her crying children, and soon, as if they recognized the voice of their mother, their cries turned slightly more subdued. She picked up her son’s first this time as it was his turn now, settling him comfortably in the crook of her arms and lightly bouncing him, which earned her a wet, cheery gurgle that never failed to make her smile. She figured this kind of reaction would become rare as he grew up; Kazuki was too much like his father.
It was clear to her the moment she laid her eyes on them. The twins were certainly their father’s children; she couldn’t help but to see Zero in them from their appearance to their silence. The only thing they seemed to inherit from her was her blue eyes. Sonia had mentioned how wrong it was to see her eyes in a face too similar to the hunter’s. Tanya had scolded their friend for that insensitive comment, but didn’t disagree with the sentiment, she noticed.
The smile on her face grew wider at the thought of her friends who remained with her through everything. Despite their prior misgivings, they readily offered their assistance whenever she needed help with the children. Tanya was good with children, which was no surprise, considering that she came from a large family, so Misaki learned most of practical parts of child-rearing from her and surprisingly, Baudin. Sonia was another case, she made faces whenever she had to change the diapers, but she did it anyway, when there was no else to do it, and even if she didn’t openly admit it, the dark-haired woman had grown fond of the children.
Her friends and the doctor also looked after the children while she was gone, so she didn’t need to bring them along with her. They would also gladly offer their assistance whenever the twins woke up in the middle of the night, but she gently refused, feeling they had done enough for her and her children and felt that it would be easier if it was her alone.
Somehow she was uniquely attuned to her children’s thoughts and emotions. She could easily figure what her children wanted and when they wanted her: how she managed to wake up before she could even hear their cries was an example. Maybe it was the inborn instinct for every mother, or maybe it was something else. She lightly shook her head in affectionate exasperation, inwardly wondering how easily she shrugged it off as if it was common occurrence.
Her life had been turned upside down so many times that she barely batted an eyelash whenever she was faced with things that forced her to abandon her previous assumptions and that she learned to simply accept things as they were, no questions asked. Her current situation was one of them; sometimes she could hardly believe how things turned out this way, how they all ended up together and sharing the old doctor’s mansion together.
Deciding against sitting down while nursing Kazuki, she stood by the crib with one hand holding his son and the other on her daughter who took one of her fingers in a firm hold. Misaki knew that she wouldn’t be able to do this in few months, or maybe in few weeks, her children seemed to grow so fast. When they were born, they were so small, so light compared to other babies that she couldn’t help but worried of them. Baudin told them that there was nothing to be worried about, that it was normal for twins, considering they had to share their mother’s womb with each other.
Her children had always been in her mind ever since she learned of their growing presence within her, keeping her wide awake at night and haunting her dreams, which barely gave her the reassurance she needed. She avoided looking into their future, fearing for the worst and not wanting to be discouraged. She realized that her circumstances were anything but ordinary since the very beginning. The manner of the conception, the father of the twins, the twins… and herself.
It was rare enough the case of human mother and vampire father, but when the mother was no ordinary human and the father was also no ordinary vampire… there were too many unknown variables, too many dangerous risks.
She had spent most of her pregnancy in fear and dread, whether one day she would find that one of her children was lost to the fate of Kiryuu twins, whether one day she would find out that she was unable to carry them safely to term because of her ill-adjusted body. She had lost her family; she couldn’t lose her children, her very own flesh and blood.
She could never feel more grateful for whatever higher being’s intervention that brought her under Baudin’s care. The man had been nothing but kind and truthful to her the moment she was introduced to him. He hadn’t tried to conceal or undermine her condition, expressing his concerns whether she would be able to carry the twins to term, as the twins had shown the early traits of vampire children, while it was common knowledge that the typical behavior of the younglings was to feed off life force, which would be their mother’s. That was why pregnancy and labor were such an arduous time for the expecting vampire mothers, but at least, their body was already prepared for such momentous task, which was not the case for their human counterpart if they were carrying vampire children.
The reason why there were little documented vampire children from human mothers might be because there were few of them who actually survived the pregnancy or the labor, and even if there was, for those who deemed themselves as the superior beings, they wouldn’t acknowledge openly that they required humans to continue their existence, or that they were involved with unchanged humans. She was made aware of the difficulties that lay ahead by Baudin.
Baudin was completely sympathetic to her plight as he told her everything, not concealing why he had such knowledge that few were privileged to and she sensed sincerity in him and his words. The fact that he was a servant to a pureblood that happened to be in the same place she was treated was enough to raise suspicion, but she couldn’t help but to trust the doctor. She knew she was taking a huge risk; everything might be a ploy for her to lower her guard or to get to Zero and the twins, but her intuition told her it was alright to trust him and there were no alarming visions that warned her of impending disaster that might happen from trusting Baudin. So she took her chances.
Still, it came as a surprise when the man came up with the offer for her to stay with him. The offer was rather spoken hurriedly and nervously as though it just came to him by chance, though the reasons he gave her obviously showed how much thought he had put into it. She was not one to look a gift horse in mouth, but she couldn’t just accept such a generous offer without knowing at least why. And she found it the moment Baudin told her that he lived alone in the mansion. It didn’t take her long to accept the offer afterwards.
She had known it wouldn’t be easy, but it didn’t mean that there weren’t times when she wanted to give up, feeling everything was too much for her to bear. She couldn’t give up her studies, forcing herself to attend lectures and complete assignments despite her condition that was becoming more apparent to others and became the subject of many people’s conversations. She was aware of the stares and whispers directed at her and most of the time she managed to shrug it off and let it slide through her back. However, at her most vulnerable moments, those words managed to get through and hurt her immensely. She had blamed it to the hormones at first, not wanting to worry her housemates, and they might buy it the first time, but not the second and the time after that.
It was too much for her. It was one thing to have the ability of foresight, to see visions of the future everywhere she went. She had years to get used to it and she had her family who understood what she went through to support her at first. But it was impossible to get used to such drastic change with such great consequences, it didn’t matter whether she was of all people should be able to handle it better after everything she had experienced. It didn’t matter whether she had prepared herself the best she could. She couldn’t help the feeling of insecurity seeping into her skin, creeping into her heart, burying its cold, sharp claws around her heart, squeezing it so tightly that she felt herself suffocating.
She felt too young, too inexperienced, too unprepared, too lacking in everything. She feared for the worst of everything. However, she never voiced any of this to her housemates; she would just keep the smile on her face and pretended that everything was alright, that she was alright. Only in the darkness of the night, alone in her bed, only then she allowed herself a reprieve, she would release all the pent up emotions, letting the tears run freely down her face and retreating into herself until there was nothing left but sleep to overtake her.
She knew that she couldn’t keep this up forever; she couldn’t keep them in a distance anymore, not after everything they had done for her. Both Sonia and Tanya had moved in with her, leaving their cherished apartment in order to support her completely. They never even asked any questions about the incident that nearly killed her or about the father of the twins and his involvement, though she knew very well that they had many questions, but they held themselves back. Their concern for her overcame their curiosity for the truth. She wasn’t prepared to fully bare herself to them the way she did with Zero. They weren’t Zero.
And that might be the problem: they weren’t Zero.
The thought of silver-haired man sent a pang through her heart, stealing her breath for few precious seconds. She tried to ignore the sudden rush of feelings that came over her, tried to think of something else, anything else, to distract her from thinking of him.
Her daughter suddenly let out a loud wail that made her jump in surprise; she quickly scrambled to the crib to calm Mizuki down before she could wake up the whole house. Fortunately, Kazuki didn’t protest when his mother pried him off gently and lowered him down to the crib, already dozing off as his hunger was satiated. Misaki swiftly took her daughter in her arms, lightly rocking her and murmuring gentle and soothing words. It didn’t take long for her to quiet down and settle comfortably in her mother’s arms. Misaki blinked few times and raised her eyebrow, wondering inwardly whether her own children were no less that attuned to their mother’s thoughts and feelings.
Seeing innocent blue eyes peering up at her, Misaki couldn’t help the smile that came to her lips, those previous dark thoughts occupying her mind had diminished, replaced by a rush of amusement and affection to her children. Playfully she wiggled the small nose, earning the young mother a cheery giggle.
“Really…Who’s the mother and who’s the child…”
She gently pressed her cheek to her daughter’s, feeling the warmth seeping through her skin, the smooth, flawless skin against her own, the comforting weight of her baby in her arms, grounding her to reality. She might not have Zero with her, but she had these two beautiful angels that were part of her as much as part of him with her. Misaki smiled fondly to her daughter, brushing the soft cheek gently with her thumb, shaking her head in a mixture of amusement and exasperation this time. She needed to be more careful in guarding her thoughts and emotions; her children didn’t need to be burdened with her problems too. But the smile remained on her face, the dark thoughts already leaving her mind.
A distant chime coming from her room right next the children’s made her turn sharply towards the sound, her brow furrowed in wariness when she finally recognized it as the certain sound she specifically set whenever new information come through the network. The Arudas had quickly learned the importance of information early on, especially to fully utilize their ability, thus their first action was to establish an information network that was mainly consisted of Aruda family members and associates and eventually expanded, encompassing families, governments, nations that enabled them to gather information efficiently and effectively without giving away that those people were all actually connected through the Aruda.
For that reason, the network still remained, despite of the fate that befell the Arudas as they had become an inherent, independent network. Some of the smarter ones might realize the presence of the network and made use of it, but they would never be able to use it or have access to it like the Arudas. Only the Arudas had the authority to regulate the information within the network, to grant permission and to request for information with the highest priority. Only her.
Her eyes flew to check the time displayed on the digital clock placed on top of the drawers and her lips pursed when she realized that anything that came in such ungodly hours was rarely good news. She had the feeling that it was related to the request for information she had sent out.
Settling Mizuki more comfortably against her, she carried her daughter along as she swiftly moved to cross the threshold of the room to another. Reaching the phone she placed next to her bed, on the nightstand, she flipped the phone open with practiced ease, her eyes automatically flicked upon the words on the screen. The moment the information she just received sunk in, she stilled.
*
*
*
“What the hell!”
Yagari slammed his hands roughly, making his desk shake from the brutal force. His good eye held such fierce glare that made the unfortunate soul whose only fault was to bring the news to him trembling in fear. Not noticing this, the dark-haired hunter ploughed on mercilessly,
“Is this true? How reliable the source is?”
“We’ve confirmed it with the head of the Association branch in Hungary. He couldn’t say much yet, but he promised to keep us informed,” somehow the messenger managed to deliver this clearly, despite the obvious discomfort to bear the brunt of Yagari’s foul mood.
There was a moment of silence, as though Yagari was digesting the whole situation and its implications and another moment until he finally told the poor hunter to get out from his office, which his underling gladly obeyed, scurrying towards the exit and leaving the dark-haired hunter alone in his office within seconds.
Yagari plopped down soundly on his dark-leathered recliner, partly gloved hand running through his dark locks in a familiar gesture of exasperation.
Assassination attempt on the Szűrös family. Reportedly Antal Szűrös was in critical condition.
The Szűrös family had become a prominent figure in Hungarian politics and governments since the days of the Republic. There was few people in the Eastern Europe who didn’t know of the family and their achievements. They were both worshipped and scorned by the people of Hungary for their radical view which was both ingenious and dangerous. They had been playing with the line of fire for years, no, decades and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they finally reaped what they sowed.
Such matters were of no concern to the Hunter Association. The Association had no right to intervene with any matters of any states or nations unless it had something to do with the other beings they were responsible of, and as such, the assassination attempt on a prominent figure of a nation shouldn’t worth their time, if only the Szűrös were ordinary family.
What many people weren’t aware of, even to those who were knowledgeable of the vampires and their history, vampires could turn into humans. Only the purebloods and some of the higher nobility were able to attempt such thing, though not without risking their own life in the process. The most blatant example was the heiress of Kuran family who had spent years as a human through the mother’s sacrifice before once again awakened as a vampire.
It was not a common practice, but was not a completely rare practice, either. Each to their own reasons, whether it was simply they needed a part of their family who could live among the humans without garnering any suspicion or whether it was simply that they didn’t want to remain vampires.
In the beginning, there was little known of the existence of the former vampires who were living inconspicuously among humans as their families managed to keep it tightly under wraps to keep them safe, but some families took it further to protect their human family and that was how the Association came to notice them. They had staunchly refused to acknowledge their relationship with those humans they so benevolently protected, but eventually they relented and some of them even gave away their names in exchange for the Association’s protection from other vampires that might want to go after their altered family members.
Antal Szűrös was among them.
And the problem was, the pureblood family related to the Szűrös was the Esterházy.
Yup, the Esterházy. The most influential man in Eastern Europe.
Oh, great, he thought sarcastically. He never enjoyed dealing with the purebloods, especially this one who was among the eldest of the pureblood families, whose lineage went far further than most families through the centuries.
Yagari imagined how much a mess it would be if the one behind the assassination attempt was vampires. The bloody bastard of nobility could make things much more difficult to the Association just by lifting a finger. All he could do for now was to order a thorough investigation into the matter by sending some of his men from the main headquarters to Hungary and contact their currently away President of this situation.
He glanced at his watch, counting the time difference and checking of the supposed schedule of their leader. Satisfied that there was nothing too important in the schedule (only some meeting with local leaders), Yagari reached out for the telephone on his desk and made the call, his fingers absently drumming the mahogany surface as he waited for the call to get through.
“Yagari.” Low voice immediately greeted him, enunciating every syllable of his name.
It was interesting how the man could convey so many things into a single word, Yagari never ceased to be impressed with his former student’s monosyllabic tendencies to avoid idle chatter. Yagari could tell that he was calling at a wrong time and he was demanded to immediately give Zero a good reason for the call.
“Assassination attempt on the Szűrös family. Antal Szűrös is critical.”
There was a brief silence at the other line.
“No other information about the attempt?” It was a question that Yagari had foreseen.
“No, not yet. I’m about to send our men there to join the investigation.”
“How is the situation in the nation?”
“News are still coming in, but I’m willing to bet there would be quite uproar, especially if the Szűrös didn’t make it.”
This time there was a longer silence that made the hair on the back of his neck stood on its end. This silence weren’t the usual thoughtful silence whenever Zero was considering the possible measures, it was something else.
“I’ll go to Turkey for more information. Depending on the situation, I might take part in the investigation myself. I’ll keep you informed.”
And just like that, the call ended, leaving the second-in-command rather flabbergasted. Yagari couldn’t help but repeating the conversation all over again in his mind, wondering whether he missed something. It was like any normal conversation with Zero, and yet… it felt like anything but. There was something in the way he was talking about of the Szűrös… there wasn’t the usual detachment, instead, there was such coldness as though he cared little for whatever might happen to the Szűrös.
What had Szűrös done to receive such reaction?
Yagari frowned at this chilling realization, putting down the receiver blankly. Sure, Zero had come to learn the meaning of restraint better and there was no more frantic, emotional outbursts, however, that could also mean that either he learned to conceal or repress it better that could lead to him directing that outburst through other means.
Could it be related with his sudden disappearance months ago?
It had been months since that day the younger man suddenly left abruptly without telling anyone where he went to. After he returned, there was something different with Zero, something changed within Zero, but he wasn’t quite sure whether it was for better or worse. He sincerely hoped it was for the better, because he didn’t want to think that what happened in Hungary was in any way related to Zero.
*
*
*
His face remained stoic and unchanged as the news reached him, not giving away the turmoil that was struggling to break free with few simple words.
“…He’s dead,” he spoke the words slowly, carefully, as if the words were foreign to him, “My Antal is dead…” His voice faltered as he spoke of his precious offspring’s name.
“Milord, I have no excuse for my failure! I would readily accept my punishment,” a man stood before the leader of the Esterházy that was seated in his office, receiving the ill news of his flesh and blood. The man was a tall and broad-shouldered vampire; he would have been a handsome sight if not for the unruly hair and the stained and torn clothes. The man appeared as if he was just returned from a battlefield, which was not far from the truth, as he was the man who was in charge of the safety of the family of Esterházy’s youngest son, the Szűrös.
It took all of his willpower not to lash out to the man who was supposed to guard his descendants with his life, but he couldn’t fault Pétér for the death of Antal, because he had known this man since he was merely a child and served the family. His loyalty was unquestionable, he would no lesser die than fail to protect his master.
“It was him who dismissed you,” Esterházy didn’t let his emotions cloud his judgment, “And it was him who made you to obey.”
“Regardless, I should’ve-” Pétér couldn’t find any excuse for his failure. He was bound to obey his master, and when Antal used his authority over the vampire as the pureblood descendant, he couldn’t disobey his master’s request to be left alone without any guard.
“I knew Antal, Pétér. And I knew he would have his way, regardless what you did,” Esterházy smiled sadly at this, fully aware how much alike Antal was with his youngest son. He leaned forward, meeting the man’s eyes for the first time since he delivered the dreadful news. Pétér unconsciously straightened up under those sharp eyes.
“Right now, your main concern is the safety of Sofia and the children. The moment the news of Antal’s death spread, there’s no guarantee for their safety. It would be your last duty to Antal. Do not fail him.” Again.
Pétér could hear the unspoken words, the unspoken accusation, but he didn’t let it show on his demeanor and calmly responded with steely determination, “I won’t, milord.”
“You’re dismissed.”
Esterházy was inwardly relieved when he saw the last of the younger vampire, he wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to restrain himself with Antal’s guardian in his sight.
“Anton,” he called out to his right hand man who had been standing by his side throughout the exchange, who had remained a silent shadow to him, watching everything with cool detachment. “Is there any obvious connection between this and the other incidents?”
For these past months, there were a series of unfortunate events that befell the Esterházy. At first it appeared to be random, unrelated events. A little failure with the corps, a slight problem with the merchants, a small riot here and there in their area, but nothing they couldn’t foresee and handle. Then suddenly, there were problems everywhere, both humans and vampires were causing problems with his family.
“I cannot say anything of yet, milord. The investigation is still ongoing. All I can say that they are starting to make their move against the current government.”
Esterházy was aware that there were those who weren’t satisfied with his rule, who didn’t like the influence his family had over the government, but he had been able to keep them quiet with every possible mean. It might be rather harsh, but it got the job done. He only had the people’s best interest at heart. Under his rule, both the people and the nation enjoyed immense opportunity and growth that weren’t possible before he came to lead them.
And this was what they gave him in return.
They took Antal away from him!
He must admit that he didn’t quite make a secret of his relation with his youngest family. He was proud of the Szűrös and he wanted them to know that they weren’t forgotten even if they were no longer of the same world. He gave them everything they needed and more. It was almost common knowledge of the Szűrös and the Esterházy, though most didn’t know that they were more than just merely benefactor and beneficiary, that their relationship ran deeper than that.
Yet…
He couldn’t help but think there was more. The timing was too convenient.
Then suddenly the pureblood tensed up, but Anton didn’t notice this, as he was receiving news from his phone, completely oblivious to the change in his master. Only when he glanced back at Esterházy after he was done, he noticed something was off.
“Milord?”
“Could you leave me alone for a while, Anton?”
Anton was about to refuse, but having been serving his master for his lifetime, he realized that despite the polite tone and words, it was not a request.
“Very well, milord. I would right be right outside when you need me.”
Anton gave a respectful bow towards his master before removing himself from Esterházy’s presence to fulfill his request. Watching this, Esterházy couldn’t help the smile gracing his features seeing such devotion towards him, but that smile didn’t last long.
“Finally… we’ve got to meet, president Kiryuu.”
Slowly, a figure took form behind him, stepping out from the shadows as quietly as he was merely part of the shadows itself. Even with his acute senses, Esterházy barely sensed the man’s presence and it was only by the other man’s generosity that he could sense him approaching. It was only thing that kept him calm, knowing that the man didn’t come to fight him.
“Prince Esterházy,” Zero returned the greetings curtly, stopping few steps before the sitting man. Esterházy finally turned his seat towards his guest, facing the looming figure before him. There was a stretching silence between them, both of them studying and judging one another.
Esterházy couldn’t help the thought that the younger man was fitted more into the role of the creature of the night than most trueborn vampires. The silver-colored hair and eyes that became the mark of the descendant of Kiryuu family gleamed under the dim lighting and were contrasted greatly the darkness that fell over him like a cloak. His presence felt surreal, as though the man was merely a part of his imagination, but the weight of the threat posed could hardly be ignored.
He was perfect. He was a perfect creation made of the greatest hunter and purest vampires. He must hand it to that Kuran Kaname, for creating such existence as Kiryuu Zero. He made the greatest pawn, indeed, until he was no longer a pawn.
Esterházy knew that the pureblood who single-handedly turned the vampire society upside down after a long of tedious and meticulous years of planning would likely make a plan to ensure that the man remained as his pawn. He had his suspicions that it was related to the only Kuran princess that happened to live several years with the newly changed Kiryuu. However, the younger pureblood’s control were slowly slipping… and it was merely a matter of time before Kiryuu gained control of the board himself… as he was starting to do with the great Esterházy.
“Why are you here, if you don’t intend to take my life?” Finally he broke the silence between them.
“I never intend to,” Kiryuu replied calmly. His surprise must be evident that the man chose to elaborate, “Death holds different meaning for immortal beings with the likes of you.”
Esterházy couldn’t hold back a bitter chuckle when the implied meaning dawned on him. Death held different meaning indeed for him who had lived several lifetimes compared to human short lifetime. The other man had got him in the mindset that it was his death that he wanted. He was completely outsmarted by the hunter.
“That’s why you went after my family,” instead of me, he thought. He had come to that realization a little too late.
“It was no different with what you’ve done.”
“True,” Esterházy was honest enough to admit it. He was the one who started all of these chain reactions by giving the order to hurt the young woman. Kiryuu did nothing but to pull the right trigger in the right time. The unrest had always been there, waiting for the time to come to the surface. The hunter must have known everything that was required to make things turn out the way he wished them to be without giving away anything. And he didn’t hesitate; Esterházy didn’t have the slightest doubt about that. He had to acknowledge that he had severely underestimated the young president.
The pureblood had once thought that the man wasn’t put into the position of the leader of hunters by himself, not by his own desire. He doubted whether the Kiryuu was exactly suited for the position that required more thinking and talking diplomatically than taking direct actions that he had been doing very well as the best hunter the association had. The impression he had when they met officially for the first time merely reinforced his assumptions.
Kiryuu was more a lone wolf who would prefer to be left alone. The first years under his leadership pretty much proved his inability to handle the politics both vampires and humans alike. It was only due to his advisors, Cross and Yagari, and the pureblood pacifist, Kuran’s interventions that it didn’t affect the relationship between Hunters Association with its stakeholders. He was getting better, but not good enough for him to be compared to his previous predecessors who had accomplished more in those early years of their own leadership. However, inadvertently that fact made Esterházy overlook that one’s inability in leadership didn’t necessarily equal one’s inability in analyzing and strategizing.
“I’ve lost, Kiryuu. What else do you want of me?” Esterházy spread his hand weakly before him. The hunter had achieved his objective, hurting him through his family. Everything he held dear was paying the price for his arrogance, for his negligence. Kiryuu was right; death meant little to him, compared to his own flesh and blood. He had lost completely from him against his own wishes and expectations.
The silvery depths remained cold and emotionless; Esterházy wasn’t able to decipher what was going through the man’s mind. He found his stare unnerving, because his family’s lives depended on it.
“I think I’ve made the message clear enough to you. There’s no need for anything else. Leave me and those around me alone. If you don’t…”
“Yes. You’d have my word,” and for the first time Esterházy found the courage to meet Kiryuu’s eyes.
“I’d rather not see you again anytime, Esterházy.” And with those words, he was gone; along with the intense pressure he brought to the room, leaving the centuries-old vampire sagged tiredly against the chair.
The years he had been living for took that vulnerable moment to show throughout his unchanged face. He felt great anger and hatred towards that man, his hands clenching the armrest so tightly that it broke under the pressure, but he knew that it would be futile. He had given his word, and the younger man wouldn’t make the mistake of not expecting he wouldn’t break his word. He was merely a pawn on the hunter’s board now.
He had picked a wrong opponent, he realized. Right now, Kiryuu was under the protection of Kuran because he was the closest and strongest ally to maintain his foolish ideals. However, he wondered how the pureblood would react when he found out that his control was slipping away. If the young pureblood showed any sign that he would try to replace his former pawn, he would gladly use it to his advantage. But right now, he had to stay low, before his family could suffer more.
*
*
*
In a dark room, a figure could be seen standing against the door, slightly crouching as his face was hidden behind his hand and his other hand was clawing against the wooden door. Ragged breathing was loud amidst the dead silence that came from the solitary figure still crouched against the door as though trying to control himself, his nails leaving dents upon the solid wood.
Zero gritted his teeth, trying to put his tumultuous emotions under control. The moment he left the disgusting pureblood, the calm façade he wore was no more. He was trying hard not to kill that man, which would be so easy when he was so weakened with grief and regret over the loss of his precious descendant, but his conscience didn’t allow him to. For once, he wished he could throw away his conscience, consequences be damned! That man didn’t deserve to live!
All of a sudden, as though being commanded, all the glass around the room was shattered into pieces. Cold wind breezed into the room noisily through the broken windows, water spilling over the fallen flowers and table to the floor where shards of glass were slowly decorating it.
The sounds of glass breaking and falling against the floor managed to pull him away from his murderous haze, bringing him back to another time where this had happened before. He was so consumed by his rage and hatred that he broke everything in the vicinity by sheer power of his emotions alone. He wasn’t aware of anything in his surroundings, but somehow, one voice managed to reach him.
“Stop, Zero!”
Grey silver eyes came across wide blue eyes.
And stop he did.
Those previously dark eyes slowly turned back to their normal color, the irregular breathing slowly evened out and the taut lines on his body was slowly easing. His hands fell limply on his sides and his head was thrown back as he closed his eyes and regulated his breathing. After few moments, he slid down to the floor, back scratching against the door, one long leg stretched out before him, another partly bent at knee, eyes still closed.
He could still recall those eyes that despite everything held neither fear nor confusion and despite the chaos he caused remained fixed upon him, kept reaching out to him and before he realized it, he reached back to her and stopped.
A chuckle escaped him, the corners of his mouth twitched unconsciously.
It seemed… even after everything, she remained the one who could get through him the most. His hand strayed upon his breast pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a worn envelope. His eyes easily rested upon the neat Latin handwriting on the front of the envelope, drinking the elegant and precise stroke on every word.
Kiryuu Zero.
With careful and gentle fingers he removed the content of the paper, slowly unfolding the letter.
Zero,
I am well now. Thanks to Doctor Baudin’ relentless efforts. And yours. I’ve heard everything from him. I’m glad of all doctors who could treat me, it was him. I’m also glad that you didn’t shoot him the moment you came across him in the hospital.
Even after reading it many times, Zero could never failed to be amused at that certain sentence as his mind easily imagined her wry tone as she pointed it out matter-of-factly. Despite how impersonal it was, it seemed no different than her talking to him directly.
It’s not your fault. Don’t lay all the blame on your shoulders. They already have enough burdens as it is. You were here. And you didn’t give up on me. That’s more than I can ask of you.
A sad smile graced his features at these words, fingertips floating over the certain sentence. She was always the one who did the comforting, even when she was the one who needed it more. It was so like her and the familiarity was a comfort by itself.
I’m sorry I kept it from you. I wasn’t sure whether to tell you of the twins or not. I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I must have made you very worried.
I understand why you left and I don’t intend to make you second guess yourself. I sent this letter to let you know that the twins were born safely on 21st February. They are a boy and a girl. They are strong and healthy. They resemble their father very much. They are perfect. I named them Kazuki and Mizuki. I hope you like their names.
Don’t worry about us. Knowing you, you must have placed enough protection around us. Even Doctor Baudin took upon him to look after us, letting us to stay in his house in Paris. Sonia and Tanya also came along.
Do whatever you have to do. Have faith in yourself. Because I have faith in you.
Misaki.
With aching heart he reached for the envelope to get the remaining content inside. He slipped it out and saw the picture of her holding two bundles in each of her hand. She seemed slightly tired; traces of sweat glistening on her skin, her fair hair tied back, some of them framing loosely her smiling face, and her clear blue eyes shone with such love and joy to the newborns held in her arms. The twins were sleeping contentedly in their mother’s embrace. Although it was too early to tell, he could see the resemblance to him already.
He ran gentle fingers on the smooth surface of the portrait, tracing the outline of their faces as if trying to feel them under his fingertips. His children. Their children.
He could never quash the longing that appeared whenever he laid his eyes on the picture, the feeling that he would give anything in the world just to be there by her side, watching and holding the twins in his arms. However, he knew the impossibility of that simple wish, as painful as it was to admit. The words in her letter were engraved in his mind.
I have faith in you.
He closed his eyes, a frown marred his features.
No you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t have faith in me.
In me who had wronged you, in me who had left you and our children… in me who selfishly made use of others for mere revenge.
He left them because he wanted to be a man worthy of them. And he wanted to be able to answer the faith given to him. But now, with what he had done...
He stared blankly at the palm of hands before him, imagining them stained with blood of those whose deaths indirectly caused by him. He couldn’t meet them, not anymore, not with these stained hands.
That was why he kept the envelope in his breast pocket, close to where his heart was and there where it would remain. Because it would be the closest he would get to them, to her and their children.
It was all he could allow himself to.