Death Do Us Part

V

Five nights after Luffy was laid to rest in his grave, Ace and Sabo return to the village's graveyard. They attended the funeral as bats perched on a tree so they wouldn't be noticed by the attendants or any hunters that would be nearby. Ace recalled having a sense of joy at eliminating another human and adding another vamp to the family. Sabo, on the other hand, while he felt the happiness of receiving a sibling, also felt a tinge of guilt. Ever since he left the dress shop and even at the Christmas ball, he couldn't stop thinking about his new brother's wife. There was something about her that drew him in. The way she let her tears fall or the way she cried out for her beloved at the funeral warmed his heart.

I wonder how it feels to be loved by someone like that, he thought, where just the thought of losing me brings them unimaginable pain.

When Ace left to brew his venom in a glass at the cave and prepare it for a later date, Sabo stayed behind to watch the burial of his brother and the still-standing Lovely. He admired her dedication and commitment to her husband, even after death. She didn't move or turn away when two humans began to shovel dirt onto the casket. He shivered at how frightening it was to see a lover forced to watch her love disappear from existence. His lips burned with the urge to turn her on the spot and end her suffering, but he covers his mouth to resist it for fear of being spotted. Even when Lovely was finally alone and walking home by herself, he continued to resist and flew back to the cave instead.

That was impossible, wasn't it, for a vamp to resist temptations? Was he even a vamp to begin with? He could be an insignificant being that's been brought back to life to live another life as a ghost.

"Nobody's around?" Sabo asks his elder brother.

"It's the witching hour," Ace replies. "You know how afraid mortals are at this time of night. They're worried we'll snatch them up and take them away so they go to sleep and stay inside with every opening in their homes locked up."

"What a shame," Sabo shrugs. "This is my favorite time to hunt."

"We can do that another night." Ace pulls out a vial of his venom. "Tonight, we watch the birth of our brother."

Sabo softly gasps and reaches for the vial. Ace holds his arm up and stands on the balls of his feet to prevent his brother from taking the vial. Sabo huffs with frustration and excitement.

"Let me resurrect him!" he exclaims. "I was the last to be turned!"

"And I was the first," Ace retorts. "It's only fair that someone with a little more experience does the job."

Sabo frowns and begrudgingly slinks beside Luffy's grave. His fingertips firmly hold onto the tombstone in anticipation of the fledgling's first breaths. Ace pops the cork off the vial and holds his arm over the grave. Then he shuts his eyes and throws back his head.

"Vampius omnium pater!!" he shouts to the sky. "Confige in carnem mortuorum, et prolem ab hoc sepulcro prolitatem tuam!!"

He smashes the vial against the snow-covered ground. The venom seeps through the snow and into the dirt where it flowed like a stream into Luffy's casket. Inside, he lay still before his eyes shoot open and he breathes in a sharp inhale. He tries to sit up only to bump his head against the wooden covering above him. He places his hands on the rough wall above him and begins to pound on it.

"He~y!!" he yells. "Help me!! I'm locked inside!!"

Sabo hears his voice from above and runs to Ace, wrapping his arms around him.

"Our brother is calling to us!!" he exclaims and jumps with joy. "I hear him!! He's trying to reach us!!"

"Dig him out!" Ace orders.