Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Illusions ❯ Love Or Pretend? ( Chapter 16 )

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Shattered Illusions

Chapter 16: Love or Pretend?

By: Melissa Norvell

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"You lied to me!" Millie shot with accusation seeping from her words as she pointed a finger at the stripper and the vampire as they walked through the doorway.

Copernicus was confused. "What did we lie about, exactly?" He asked, sounding as bewildered as he looked.

"You guys are lovers, aren't you?" The school girl looked suspiciously at the two and folded her arms over her busty chest. She knew it! She just knew that she would miss all of the juicy parts when she was asleep! They might have been trying to hide their little secret, but they wouldn't get far now that she was on to them.

"What?" The confusion on the royal's face only grew. Where did she come up with that assumption? Was she spying on them? Knowing Millie, anything was possible. She was such a fan of the two of them that he didn't doubt her radar for that sort of thing.

"I think you've been having really realistic dreams lately," Tsubomi was unfazed by anything the purple-haired girl said. Like hell she was going to admit anything about their relationship to her.

"I saw you kiss…twice," Millie shot the stripper the knowing eye. Her only response was an awkward 'un' noise.

There was no lying out of that one. Millie had her cornered and now she had no choice but to comply to her fan girl ways.

"I told you that we have a special relationship," Copernicus knew that he was only further opening the can of worms, but in a way, it was kind of fun to egg her on.

Millie blinked a couple of time and put her arms to her sides. "So, you're not lovers? Is it a donor thing?"

"No…It's a Copernicus thing," Tsubomi dead panned. Surely all vampires didn't feel the way he did about their human companions, especially not from what he had told her prior about being a donor.

"I'm just a clingy person, and Tsubomi is so cute. I can't help but touch him," Millie smiled as she gave Tsubomi a playful slap on the behind. The stripper nearly went rigid with disgust. At times like that, it was hard for her to act unfazed by anything from other girls. She just had to keep putting herself in a man's shoes.

Tsubomi blushed. "You pervert," she tried to make her voice sound as unfazed as she wanted to act, but her appearance hindered it. The stripper placed a hand on the affected area and an annoyed expression crossing her face.

"Well, I can always make it better," Copernicus teased as he took the girl's hand and in his, holding it as if it were a frail blossom and nuzzled it lovingly.

"Oh…my…god!" Millie practically squealed. 'I've died and went to heaven!' Then, a sly smirk crossed her face. "How far have you gotten?"

Before Copernicus even had the thought of saying something sarcastic, Tsubomi was quick to speak up.

"Kissing."

"We've done more than that," However, that didn't stop him from saying what he wanted to say.

"Stop implying crap."

"I ran my hands along your-" A hand was slapped over the vampire's mouth before he could even finish the sentence, which only ended up making it sound equally bad.

"You ran your hands along his what?" Millie leaned forward with anticipation before she blushed. "Don't you think that's too much information?"

The elder man held his donor's hand away from his mouth and smiled a little. He was silent and simply moved her hand to the side of his face and nuzzled against it. Annoyance hung tight to Tsubomi's face. Between the vampire and the school girl, she was going to regret her little moment with the vampire in one form or another.

"I told you that he was affectionate," she sighed under her breath.

"Are all vampires that way?" Millie asked. Would that how things be with Prince Yale if she decided to become his donor? It really made her think about what constituted to the relationship of a vampire and a donor.

"Just him. Most vampires are solitary," Tsubomi pointed the fact out before the school girl could get any more crazy ideas.

"Do you think that's why Prince Yale ran off? Because he wanted to be solitary?" She was very new to the lifestyle about vampires, but she wanted to know why the prince didn't stick around. If he just wanted to be solitary, then she could deal with the situation better than if he ran away for other reasons.

"You sure do have him on the brain a lot." What was her deal with the prince? Was Millie in love with him or something? What exactly happened to her during the time that they had been captured by Estella Nu?

"I can't stop thinking about him. I'm really worried," after all, the Prince was mute, and he was very weak. The fact that he was all alone unnerved her, especially with so many people after him.

"Perhaps you should make a pact with him," Copernicus suggested the option. If she made a pact with him then she would be able to keep track of the man, and she wouldn't have to worry about his situation anymore. It would do someone like her good, especially since the prince seemed fond of her.

"I wouldn't if he didn't want to," Millie's voice was a mix of emotions. She would feel happy, yet uneasy if Yale wanted to be her master. There were so many things to consider though. Millie hoped that she would be able to uphold her part of the deal. After all, if she became his donor, then Yale's life would literally be in her hands.

"What kind of stuff have you guys been doing? Since you want to accuse us of so much," Tsubomi noticed the uneasiness in the girl's voice and decided to harass her about the details. If Millie wanted to know about her relationship with Copernicus, than she would have to cough up the juicy details about her own relationship with the prince.

"What?" Millie's face flushed bright red at the very insinuation. Her mind instantly went into daydream mode.

Yale unclothed himself, sliding his undershirt slowly from his pale white shoulders as he turned to look at the girl with a slight smile. The prince gave a playful wink that sent shivers down her spine.

"Oh my god…So sexy…" Millie sighed, lost her own delusion as Copernicus and Tsubomi simply stared at her with weirded out expressions. Neither one of them asked, far too afraid to find out what they didn't want to know.

"Do you love him?" The vampire's question ripped through the girl's daydream life a cruel knife blade.

"What? No! I mean, he's a prince and I'm just an idiot school girl! We're so NOT a good couple. I mean, I barely know him and we're just friends!" The girl was flustered as she gave every excuse in the world not to have either of the two men think anything of the sort about her.

Sure, the prince was good-looking, but he would only serve as eye candy and fan service for her dirty mind. Even she knew that it had impossible love written all over it.

'Did I sound that idiotic when I denied Copernicus? Surely not.' Tsubomi thought to herself as she watched the girl have a mini spaz attack. Her blue eyes trailed to her hand, which was being kissed by the brunette. She sighed to herself. "Why am I surrounded by such weird, hormonal people?"

'Do I…love him?' Millie thought to herself. Even though she had thought about the possibility before, she hadn't really thought about things in that perspective. The only thing that Millie could think about was how impossible having a love like that would be. At the time, she would have much rather just considered herself a friend and not dare wish for anything more. 'I mean, it hurts to say we're just friends. Should I have done something while I had the chance? It's not like I have anything to lose. When I think about it, Prince Yale seemed lonely and sad. Maybe he thought he was burdening me.'

Her eyes trailed down to the flower that she held in her hands.

"You don't sound like you want to say that, Millie," Tsubomi ignored the vampire, who was still being attentive to her hand.

"I just…I don't believe in love at first sight….It's never happened to me…" Millie's voice strained, as she felt herself be overcome by her emotions. But, what was she feeling? It was an odd mixture of things that she couldn't really describe. Her chest burned, and she felt her heart beat faster all the time. 'Until now.'

"He'd never like me. Honestly, what do you think my chances are?" She had to snap out of it. Such a silly assumption was no more than her overactive imagination playing tricks on her.

"You sound like me," Tsubomi made the connection to their feelings. In reality, her situation now was really not so different from the school girl's situation with Prince Yale. 'Copernicus is right. The negativity thing is annoying.'

"You guys love each other. I don't know how he feels about me," Millie replied.

"But, you know how you feel about him," Copernicus reasoned. "Besides, Prince Yale doesn't give just anyone a rose."

"Really?" The girl perked up.

"The prince and I were very close, and he told me something interesting about roses once," the vampire explained to his friends as memories of the prince replayed in his mind of that moment.

The two of them were sitting in the rose garden in white, elaborate looking chairs. It was a sunny day, partly cloudy. The rays of the run illuminated the garden, filled with roses of many colors. Copernicus and Yale were enjoying rose tea, complete with petals intact.

"You gave her a rose? Isn't that kind of typical?" Copernicus questioned after he took a sip of tea and sat the porcelain cup back on its saucer.

"Roses symbolize many things," Yale explained his reasoning. "I only give a rose whom I truly care for a rose. It's a symbol of an eternal bond. I never forget who I give them to and I will never be tied to them."

"Like a binding contract?"

"Like an eternal friendship…and love…" The Prince trailed affectionately as a small smile adorned his features.

"Love?" Millie blushed. "He…loves me?"

"He's at the least, mesmerized by you," Copernicus knew that Yale didn't hold those feelings for anyone. There had only been two other people that were given a rose by him. Those people were someone he deeply loved.

"He…Really?" The girl could feel that same feeling welling up inside of her. The blush on her cheeks deepened in coloration as she placed a hand over her quickly beating heart. 'My heart is racing and my breath is caught in my throat. Maybe…Maybe I really do love him.'

"As far as I know, everyone who's gotten a rose from him, have been people he loved. Aside from you, only two other people had ever received roses. One of the two he was going to marry before he was rumored to have passed away. He probably doesn't want to put her in danger," Copernicus tried to help Millie see that she was more highly thought of than she thought herself to be. Yale's roses were not things to be taken for granted.

"I can't say that I blame him," Tsubomi spoke up. "I'm not sure I would want my lover to be involved in my problems, either."

"You're such a hypocrite," The vampire criticized.

"I know."

"I'm worried," An apprehensive look crossed the girl's face. "I mean, what if I never see him again? What if he doesn't find any blood? What if he gets recaptured?" These were things that consumed her mind on a daily basis. Ever since she'd met Prince Yale, she'd been worrying non-stop for his safety.

"You sound like a mother hen," Copernicus didn't think that she should worry so much about the small things. She'd see him again. There was no doubt about that, and he could always become a rouge vampire who fed off of random people's blood. Yale might have been mute, but he could take care of himself easily.

"Either that or a worried mother, for now, he's gone. If he told you that he'd come back, the best thing to do is wait for him." If she were in the same situation, Tsubomi would put her trust in her partner. If Copernicus ever went away and told her that he would be back, then she would wait for him as well.

Besides, it wasn't like Millie knew where he went to follow him. She needed to have the same trust in Yale as she did in Copernicus.

"Perhaps, we'll see him as well. It would be nice to see Prince Yale again. It's been years." Even he missed the prince. It was unfortunate that they couldn't have met while he was imprisoned by Estella Nu.

"I've never seen the guy at all." For all Tsubomi knew, Prince Yale could be any aristocrat that passed her on the street. He didn't have a true face in her mind. The only things she knew about him were that he was mute and a vampire.

"Well, right now he looks kind of bad," Millie informed everyone of the prince's condition. "I thought he'd stay here if he knew you were here, Copernicus."

"He can't forgive himself for his parent's deaths. I think he'd rather exile himself from the royal family and court," the vampire could see the prince's reasoning. That, and if Yale stayed with Copernicus, he would be putting him in danger as well.

"He might not know who to trust. You guys kind of seem divided," Tsubomi replied. Yale didn't know anything about anyone, so at this moment in his life, he didn't trust anyone or was highly skeptical.

"True, I have suspected something like this might happen," the vampire agreed.

"So, you knew too," Tsubomi looked to him for clarification.

"I didn't think they'd go after the prince. He didn't really have anything to do with this situation."

"What?"

"He…Didn't? Than who did?" Millie asked.

A faint smile crossed the vampire's lips as his eyes shone with sorrow. "It's my fault, actually."

"You?" Tsubomi questioned, a little shocked by such a claim. 'I knew he was important somehow.' That only made her theories all the more correct. Now, if only she could figure out exactly who he was and what his role was in all of this.

"Why is it your fault?" The school girl continued to question. She wanted to know what all of this was about. For Yale's sake, and everyone else who hadn't been involved. She sought the truth.

"I wanted to strike a peace treaty with a village of humans who lived near us, and I brought the idea before the royal court. Everyone in the village already knew about us, and the integration of human and vampire alike would help us expand our country," Copernicus began to tell them of one of the major events that sparked part of the problem. "Prince Yale thought the idea would be good as well, and the King and Queen didn't mind. Many of the humans were their friends and allies in our disputes against those who feared us. I figured if anyone in the village would learn of our existence and accept us and our treaty, we could have a secret society. They would tell no one the information divulged to them and in exchange, we would teach them our secrets and turn them into a prosperous place, full of intelligent and disease resistant individuals."

"Wow, that sounds awesome!" Millie was excited about such a promising idea. She placed her balled fists to her cheeks, and her eyes sparkled with anticipation of what would happen next, much like a child who was being read a good story. "But, what happened? I mean, it obviously didn't work so…What happened to the village?"

"They were killed," Those dark words slammed down the girl's mood entirely.

She put her fists down as her face was etched with shock. "The entire village?" She could barely believe what she was hearing.

"It was destroyed by missiles sent from our castle by the instruction of Hide," Copernicus replied in a cold, distant voice.

"What did the prince think of this?" Tsubomi asked. Surely Yale knew of this, and if not then he certainly would have found out.

"He had Hide tortured. He was furious that we would treat the village in such a way. Those people were our allies and supplied us with many things we couldn't get on our own. They kind of helped us out. He also had Hizaki possess his entire firing squad and made them blow their own brains out."

"Prince…Yale…did that?" It made him sound so violent and scary.

"I think he was a good prince. He was generally kind. If you crossed him, his consequences were never good." Just because Yale was kind to her, didn't mean that he was that way with everyone.

"Estella Nu made him seem incompetent and weak," Millie stated. Not that she had believed any of it, but she had never would have guessed that the prince was anything like that.

"Why would you believe her?" Tsubomi asked. If Millie had any love for that man, much less respect for him, than she wouldn't have believed anything that came out of that vampire's mouth.

"I'm dumb."

"Why didn't he kill Hide? Didn't he commit treason?"

"Not necessarily. Besides, the torture that Prince Yale gave him had a two percent chance of survival, and that's saying a lot. Vampires are hard to kill," Copernicus replied.

"Interesting…I wonder how he pulled it off," Tsubomi seemed thoughtful. If Hide could live through anything like that, then he would be harder to kill than ever before.

"No one knows." If they did, Copernicus would certainly not be in the fix that he was in now. The important thing was to find out how to permanently put him in the ground.

"So, Hizaki can possess people? Maybe you should have mentioned that earlier." Blue eyes glared at the vampire. It would have been a huge help to mention such an important fact, especially since they had all been actively going after Hizaki. Any one of them would have been screwed if Hizaki managed to possess them.

"It takes a lot of energy for him to do it and he's usually weak for a while, if not drained completely of his energy," Copernicus informed them that their chances of being possessed would be low. After all, Hizaki wouldn't have a need to go after either of them. If there was anyone that the cross-dressing vampire would need to go after, it would be either Prince Yale or himself.

"It's still a possibility. I'll have to keep that in mind," the stripper wasn't about to rule out all of her options. Not only did he have that horrible energy draining attack, but he could possess people as well. That was anything but good. If he were to ever combine the two, it could be disastrous.

"Now I'm even more worried," Millie frowned. Not only did she have to worry about the prince's safety, but now she had to worry about being possessed, her friends being possessed, or the prince himself being possessed. If something like that were to happen…She didn't know what she would do.

"He may try to possess both of you, but for now it isn't likely," As they were now, neither one of them were threats. Copernicus liked it that way. He had less factors to worry about.

"What about you?" Tsubomi asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Hey! How do we know you're not possessed?" Millie pointed a finger in accusation. She may have just been being paranoid, but there was no true way to assure that anyone around her hadn't been possessed by Hizaki. As far as she could know, the whole thing could be orchestrated.

"Mannerisms don't seem natural in a possession," Copernicus reassured the girl of her suspicions. "It's vague, but there's something about the one who is possessed that makes it easy for me to spot. It's hard to define. It depends on the level of possession. Some possessions are completely zombie-like, and others are so advanced that I cannot tell at all."

"Man, that's scary."

"If you think that you can't handle it, feel free to pull out," even knowing what she did, Millie, as she was, didn't pose too much of a threat to Hide.

"I can't. Even if it happens, I can't turn back now," like she was just going to give up like that? Who did he think she was? Millie had given up everything just to help them and she wasn't about to leave the prince, especially at a time like this.

"Alright, I trust your decision. Once again, I didn't mean to drag you into this," Copernicus' voice had dropped a few pitches. It was unfortunate that Millie was drug into this whole mess, and for that, he did genuinely feel bad.

The girl smiled a little. "I don't regret it. You guys are so nice to me and everything. You help me out and protect me. Oh, and I think that the both of you should definitely be together. I heard you two talking and you seem like you really like each other…No…it seems different," she looked thoughtful for a moment.

"What?" Tsubomi was confused by what Millie could possibly see in their relationship. Was it that obvious, or was her imagination working over time again?

"I've noticed it for a long time, ever since I first met you when you two were playing around and pretending to be gay. The looks that you gave each other…I don't even know how to describe them." There really was just something about the two of them. Millie couldn't quite tell if it was love or not, but there was definitely something between them. Something magical, something wonderful, and some type of bond that may even go past love.

“Well, try, because I don't know what you're talking about," Tsubomi wasn't going to fall for Millie's half-ass imaginary day dreams. If there really was such a thing between them, and she saw it, then the stripper wanted to know. She wanted to know the truth, and not some childish fantasy.

"I don't know," Millie tried to think on how exactly to put her thoughts towards them into words. "You guys don't look at other people like you look at each other. I mean, your eyes are soft and gentle when you look at each other, like you're in love."

Copernicus looked at his donor, and she looked at him and crossed her arms. He looked thoughtful for a moment, furrowing his brunette brows. "We look at each other like that?" He wondered if Tsubomi had thought he looked at her strangely or anything. If wasn't anything he meant to do, nor was it planned. If he was doing it, then it was completely natural.

"I don't know. You look normal to me," she hadn't noticed it either.

"Maybe we've always looked at each other like this?" Now it became a little awkward.

"Well, maybe."

"Your eyes do speak to me though."

"What do they say?" Tsubomi arched an eyebrow. If there was something that he had noticed, any little thing was at least a clue to letting her see what exactly Millie had been talking about.

"They say 'kiss me'," the vampire said playfully as he leaned down and kissed the stripper on the lips. It was a gentle, passionate kiss. She couldn't help but flush a slight pink and kiss him back.

"That's what I want to see!" Millie pumped a fist into the air. "Yes, hot boys in love!"

"I'll get used to that one day," Tsubomi sighed to herself. That was a lot of emotion for someone like her to handle. His kisses were definitely not like any normal male. Her head spun with every touch of the lips. A part of her didn't even want to know what the other experiences she could possibly go through would feel like.

"When you are, I'll teach you something else," Copernicus teased playfully.

"You make me seem like I don't know anything," that was actually kind of insulting. Just because his kisses made her head spin didn't mean that she was completely naive to everything.

"Do you want to teach me something?" He was willing to have it go both ways. Surely, the humans would have something interesting to teach him about their ways of love making.

"I don't know what I'd teach you," after all, he seemed to know his tricks very well. It wasn't like he was naïve in something and even if he was, she hadn't found it yet.

"Teach me what you want. We can compromise."

"I don't know what I want," this whole conversation was just frustrating to her and the fact that Millie was there wasn't really helping. She was embarrassed enough from his display of affection, and now she had the school girl looming over her like some sort of voyeur or something.

"Well, I want you."

She had to make an escape before it got any worse between the two of them.

"What about Oshianna?" That was it! Her alternate ego would be her escape from his torment session.

"Who?" Copernicus smiled. She was silly to think that a mere stripper mattered more than the very person that he owed his life to. Sure, Oshianna was mesmerizing, but he longed for Tsubomi's boyish charms and attitude.

"Yeah, real slick," she wasn't impressed.

"Oshianna?" Millie asked. Who in the hell was that?

"A stripper at the bar he works at. He's so jealous because I watch her dance," Copernicus cleared up the confusion.

"Ask her to teach you how to lap dance," Millie suggested.

Damn her! Why was she helping him like that? All Tsubomi wanted to do was get out of the situation, but NO, Millie just had to egg it on. It figured. The world was against her.

"As if! Why would I ask her to teach me anything?" The stripper turned her head up at the very thought of such a thing.

"Jealous?" Copernicus asked.

No, but she had to pretend to be.

"I prefer possessive," the girl replied as she grabbed the vampire by the chin and looked into his eyes. "You belong to me."

A slight blush adorned his cheeks. "Tsubomi…"

"Oh my god! Sexy!" Millie squealed in the background.

"You're cute when you blush," at least she managed to get out of the situation somewhat.

"You think so?" The vampire asked.

"Yes, I do. It's funny how submissive you look," she replied with a slight smile. He looked like an innocent doll like that, with that expression on his face that just said 'do what you wish to me'. It was kind of funny how much he trusted her. Maybe she was giving him less credit than he gave her.

"You know what they say- most people of power like to be controlled in the bed room," Millie stated matter-of-factly.

"You have a point. Do you like that kind of stuff, Copernicus?" Tsubomi was now interested in what the vampire thought about that little generalization and if he followed it, or he liked something completely different.

He smiled impishly. "Want to find out?"

"What?" She blushed, caught off guard.

"I've never been someone's mate," it was the truth. Although he had wanted to be with his beloved prior donor, they never got that far in their relationship. If Tsubomi wanted to be official, then he would gladly have accepted it with everything in his heart.

"Neither have I, but give me a break. This is way too fast," it had only been a short amount of time since they'd even known each other, let alone gotten the chance to really hang around each other to see if they'd even be able to make such a thing work. Relationships were not just about physical affection. They had barely gotten the chance to even delve into being friends with benefits.

There was no way that she was going to rush this type of thing. Especially knowing what she was laying on the line by doing so. She didn't want to get found out any sooner than planned. Tsubomi was only going to reveal her identity to him when she had no other choice.

The longer he lived in the delusion that she was male, the better this would all be.

Or at least…That's what she'd been telling herself.

It was the best way to kill off any guilt that lingered in her heart.

"You're so cute together," Millie beamed. There was no greater joy in the world than watching the two of them be all lovey-dovey. She could get her yaoi fix for years to come, just knowing that they would soon be intimate with each other.

Her mind would do the fantasizing.

"Oh, go sleep with Prince Yale." Honestly, Millie needed to just bug off and leave them alone. She couldn't even be serious without her sticking her nose in everything. Not to mention the purple-haired girl completely ruined all of their tender moments with her idiotic squealing.

The school girl blushed in embarrassment. "Hey! He'd never sleep with me! Stop wrecking my dreams!" She wailed.

"Well, if he gave you a rose, you might in up in bed with him after all," Copernicus said thoughtfully.

"What?"

Surely he was just joking. Millie didn't want herself to believe anything that she shouldn't, especially if it was about achieving something as impossible as being loved by the prince.

Things like that just didn't exist…Did they?

…To Be Continued