Decadence

Captured

"What are you doing here?" I confronted the young male who stood covered in blood before me, his eyes distant and empty.

Having tried to perform a spell to teleport myself onto the grounds of the mansion, a hand had reached out and prevented me from doing so. I turned around to take in the view of the person behind me and as I did I realized it was a boy only slightly younger than me, with ash blonde hair and smoldering blood red eyes that were exactly the same as my own. His breathing was ragged and he swayed from side to side like a zombie as he walked towards me. His entire body was dripping with blood that I immediately recognized as his own as well as others. His mouth was contorted into a sneer that was directed at me and I couldn't help but pity him. After all, he was my younger brother, only a mere boy of fifteen and yet he reeked of death.

"Cain... why are you here? Can't you see that the Lloyds are under attack!? You should be," I stated questioned hysterically, watching as his movements became more crazed and confused.

"There's no reason for me to tell you my purpose for being here as I see it. I must say though, isn't it beautiful? The sight of everything these people fought for crumbling before their eyes as they die horrible painful deaths Sister?" he slurred in lunacy, bringing his hands to the sides of his head and sticking licking at the crimson liquid around his mouth.

"This isn't like you Brother. How can you say such a thing now of all times? You're also a friend of the Lloyds," I gasped in horror at his words, taking a step away from him as I tried to rationalize his sudden and inexplicable behavior.

"Friends? How utterly absurd that I could ever be friends with the Lloyds, knowing as well as you the reason that you precious Alec broke away from them. You had to have realized it though, the undeniable fact that he's the same as them no matter what he may say. No matter what, he's always been the enemy Sister!"

I brought my left hand to my mouth and bit down firmly on the skin between my thumb and pointer finger drawing blood that I tasted in the cavern of my mouth. The remainder of the blood which oozed steadily from my hand began to take shape and turn black. A brilliant red light escaped from my body as I clasped my hands together, drawing energy into my palms before pulling them apart to reveal an obsidian long sword I sliced through the air, brandishing the blade at my younger brother, who gained a look of complete ecstasy over my summoning. He inched closer, his eyes wide with anticipation as he licked his lips. He was acting strangely, as if possessed and for each stepped he advanced towards me I retreated, sword in hand.

"Did you summon that soul chain to scare me?" he spoke arrogantly, closing his eyes and exhaling a quick shallow breath, "Don't think that such a display of bravado will have me so easily intimidated, even if it's a rare sight to see the Sword of Kusanagi* after all."

I bit my lip as he called my bluff, lowering the blade only slightly and responding, "If that's the case back down before I am forced to cut you down. I do not wish to hurt you, especially under these circumstances."

"That's too bad. Right now I want to make you cry out in pain to be honest. I can already imagine how lovely the sound of your blood curdling screams will be as they echo over the land. Now shatter beneath me oh chains," he contorted his face into a sadistic smile and proclaimed passionately, holding his hands out to me.

In response to his last words which resounded violently through the night sky, my blood ran cold...

Nicholas's P.O.V

Damien and I found ourselves standing side by side as we stood in front of a large ceramic fountain in the shape of Libra, the scales depicted in the Zodiac. Each side of the balance let loose a continuous cascade of clear blue water which drained at the base of the scale itself. The fountain was encased by an oval perimeter that widened from left to right. We were close enough to it to where I could see my own reflection in the shimmering surface. As usual, my complexion was still bordering on vampiric with my crimson irises and pure black hair. To top it off, there was still the faint scar left on my left cheek from when I had fought Eileen that I thought would have gone away by now. Damien on the other hand appeared to be in top condition. His golden hair and irises sparkled under the light of the sun and his skin was a vibrant and healthy shade. I was somewhat envious of his livelihood. As I disregarded the reflection that the fountain had shown me, splashing the image away with the flick of my hand, I told myself that it was silly to compare how we looked.