Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter vi | breathless
The ritual was a success.
I laid there, motionless on the ground as the wind blew away the ashes of the circle was beneath me. Kenta was curled up beside me, clinging to me like that of an infant to its mother. My finger ran through his soft hair absentmindedly as I watched the moon be devoured by rolling clouds of black.
"Congratulations," a deep and unsettling voice spoke out, "it is an honour to greet a member of the Isaya clan." I watched the person give a mocking bow with a blank expression.
"Cut the melodrama, Kuran. I'm not a Pureblood," slowly I pushed myself up with the assistance of Kenta, "and even if I was one I'm not so foolicious to believe that your courtesy is without mocking intentions."
The old leech of a vampire bellowed, nearly howling at the moon. He truly was a madman. A mad king.
"Yes, yes. Well now that your return has been established, it is on to phase two," the crazed Kuran pulled me up from the ground by my arm, "to overthrow and kill Isaya Hayato."
"You really seem to hate him," I commented when I picked up on the venom in his voice as he mentioned that man's name, "and here I had assumed the only one you hated was your brother."
"I never hated my brother," the Pureblood clarified, "but I simply could not stand him taking what was rightfully mine. Your father aided him in that thievery."
"Do not call him that." Kenta jumped at the venom in my voice and the cold stare I had fixated on the older being. My fangs protruded longer and sharper then they were before the ritual, my pale green eyes now glowing a violent red. "I have no such vermin as a father."
The Pureblood paused for a moment, staring into my raging glare with a void indifference. This was the first time he had put on an expression that fully masked his existence controlling his son, for Senri was one who often wore nothing but a void on his sleeve and often masked his emotions with perfection. The silence was broken with a wave of his dismissive hand, "the ritual is done, that's an accomplish in it of itself. By the way, I am surprised that nephew of mine has not caught on to who it is that you actually are; how is it that a common blood such as yourself able to hide such a secret from a Kuran?"
I stood there in silence while contemplating his question. It was not as if it was something that I was hiding, my blood ties to the Isaya clan meant nothing to me--whether the world knew or not had not ever been a concern for me. "My tracible ties were all burned away on that horrid day that my mother sold me off to become the plaything of the organisation." Though my voice did not show any traces of malice, it was clear to both the deranged Pureblood and the child Level-E that I held not a trace of calm towards the history of my time on this Earth.
But press on the matter, the deranged Kuran did not as he turned on his heel and began to saunter his way back into the shadows of which he came. Daring not to turn back as he spoke, the Pureblood left with but a string of words that held not a note of mockery nor pity,
"To the Isaya, a burning hell for their sins; the Clovers an eternal death; the survivors a song of victory for they have bested their chain masters."
• • •
I returned Kenta to the little hut he now called home, changing out of my bloodied and torn clothes and into a new set of a black button-up and white skirt. I had always made sure to keep a few extra sets of the academy uniform here as there were often times where the one worn on my back would end up dirtied or in tatters--depending on how bad of a day it was that I was having. It was already suspicious enough that I left academy grounds often, I did not need Kuran catching on to my plans or reason for continuing this hallow existence.
"Gin-san," Kenta called for my attention from the hallway as he waiting patiently for me to finish changing, "why are we allying with that man? He is a Pureblood, is he not?"
"That mad man is not just any Pureblood," I answered while opening the door as I was now done changing, "he is the true king. Or as some may refer to him as." I shrugged and walked back into the room with the young Level-E following me in toe. "Many years ago he was to be the head of the Kuran clan, however circumstances brought his youngest sibling to the throne instead and he spiraled into madness. Both over his unrequited love for Kuran Juri and the loss of his birthright as the eldest."
Kenta pondered for a moment as he plopped down on the sofa, "...so he was abandoned?"
"He was betrayed."
Sitting myself down next to the young vampire child, I ran my hand through his soft hair with a mother's gentleness. "Kuran Haruka joined hands with Isaya Hayato to overthrow the eldest and the rest is history."
"I see," the young boy nodded, "so that man was the eldest Kuran and him getting his revenge just happens to also align with your plans?"
I paused for a moment, contemplating on the words that I would string together next as I did not wish for the child to take after me and my darkened thinking. Though he has witnessed life's horrors, he has lived through the tragedies of the unknown and known, I still wished to protect him.
For he was now one of my own.
"...my mother was once a free spirit, a woman who loved the world and all those in it. She cared for both the living and the dead, however one night the undead had taken her to his bed and her loving soul was forever tainted." I sighed and my posture slumped as I began to tell the child my tale, "that night, Clover Maryann became one of many victims of the Isaya clan's surviving member. The Isaya clan has long since fallen after Hayato had taken throne, and thus he needed an heir of his creation, no matter how said creation should occur."
Extending a nail, I sliced through the flesh of my wrist and Kenta's widened eyes followed the flow of crimson that pooled on the wooden floors.
