Book 1: Blue Flames & Red Roses [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-Six

Yukio's POV:

The sun began to set below the horizon, casting a yellow-orange glow in the cloud. I watched the landscape pass us by as the train moved onwards. Before me was a man, claiming to be my grandfather.

"Don't just stand there. Please have a seat." He insisted, gesturing towards the chair. I walked forward, sitting down in a stiff manner. I looked to the side of the table and gasped softly. A picture frame stood, inside a photo of a girl who looked similar to my mother. "They say boys sometimes take after their mothers, looking at you, I certainly see a resemblance to Yuri." He laced his fingers, resting his elbows on the table. I shifted my gaze.

"Yuri?" I wondered.

"Didn't Fujimoto tell you about her?"

"He didn't. Not a thing." I replied shakily.

"I see." Ernst looked towards the picture. "That is the only photograph I have of Yuri." I looked back to the picture. "I know that before he died Fujimoto appointed Sir Pheles as your guardian. When I found out he had been arrested by the Knights of the True Cross, I decided to take action. I'd like to take you and your brother in. I am your grandfather after all." He said.

"When I was little, in kindergarten, a teacher once made us draw a picture of our mother for Mother's Day. Rin drew what he thought she looked like." I stared out the window. "But I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried." I gazed at the photo. "I feel the same now as I did then." He studied my expression.

"For fifteen years you lived a life of pain and loneliness. I am so sorry for having put you through that, but I want you to know I had no other choice. You see, I was imprisoned the whole time." I looked up in shock.

"Imprisoned?" I asked.

"Fifteen years ago, I survived the Blue Night, but in that instant I lost everything. My standing, my honor," He placed a hand on his mask. "This face of mine. Not to mention my beloved daughter Yuri."

"She died?! Then she was killed by Satan like all the others." I seethed.

"No. She didn't die by Satan's hands. It was my jailers, the Vatican." He spat the name. I gasped. "On that horrible day when Satan destroyed all the exorcists, the Vatican found out Yuri was pregnant with the spawn of Satan."

"You mean my brother and me." I murmured.

"The Grigori executed Yuri as a witch." I froze.

"No! The witch hunts have been over for centuries! Why would they condemn my mother to death like that?!"

"The Knights of the True Cross were trying to restore their authority. They used Yuri as their scapegoat." I took a deep breath.

"Impossible."

"The Order operates the same way it did six hundred years ago. For being the father of a witch I was thrown into prison and left to rot. I almost lost the will to live, but I had one last hope to hold onto." He held out a hand, revealing a locket on a chain. "This."

"What is that?" I asked. He opened it, inside a picture of Rin and I when we were around four or five.

"A photograph given to me by Fujimoto. All those years I kept thinking about how I longed to hold you both in my arms. The children Yuri risked her life for." He retracted his hand. "However, had the Vatican discovered the truth of your existence, they would surely have hunted you down." I frowned.

"And that's the reason you could never come forward." I finished. He smiled.

"Exactly, but we don't have anything to fear from the Grigori anymore." My eyes widened. "You will be with me from now on." I leaned forward.