Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Into the Darkness ❯ Japan ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Into the Darkness 2- Japan

I wander now. Over the many hundreds of years, I somehow managed to find my way to a place the locals call Nippon- the land of the Rising Sun.

I learnt the language quickly- I'd always been a quick study. But I can't help but wish that it had taken longer- after all, it's not like I haven't got time.

I'm searching for someone, anyone who can help me. I ask the local priestess, and she tells me 'not to tell anyone' and to 'seek out Amaya.'

Apparently this woman has the ability to help me. I want to know why I have lived as a sixteen-year old for over nine hundred years, and even though the likely cause is the vampire's bite I sustained when I lay dying of poison, I still show no vampiric tendencies.

Perhaps she can tell me.

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So I wander. I wander from village to village, and finally I find a woman with stand out colouring- definitely not a native, with long dark red hair and blue eyes. She wears the red- and white garb of what they call a 'miko'- a priestess, and is sweeping the porch of the temple.

“Excuse me ma'am, are you... Amaya?”

“Depends on who's asking and why.” she answers, still sweeping the porch of her temple.

“You may call me Atemu, and I need to ask for help. Have you heard of vampires?”

She smiles bitterly at me. “Oh yes, I've heard of them. Why, do you have a problem with one?”

I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank Ra this woman can help. Hopefully...

“I have a problem with the bite of one.”

Her eyes widen, before she grabs my arm and hurls me with her into the temple. “Were you bitten?”

“Yes.”

She frowns. “You aren't a vampire though. How?”

“I had hoped you might know. I was once the Pharaoh of Egypt. That was nine hundred plus years ago.”

Her frown deepens. “Nine hundred? Allow me to think a minute. It could have something to do with the poison. Was the bite an attempted Turning? Or feeding?”

How in Ra's name does she know so much about vampires? Fair enough, she's a Holy Priestess, some knowledge is to be expected, but I had never heard that vampires had poison.

The thief-king failed to mention that particular piece of information.

“Neither... I think. I was poisoned, and he offered to help me.”

“By sucking out the poison? Odd... he must've been an old one to restrain himself thus after drinking the amount required to remove poison.” she says half-to herself.

Old? What on Earth is she talking about? Perhaps I was in more danger than I thought. Though, I really must wonder exactly how she knows so much. I decide that it would be... prudent to discover how she came to have such an extensive knowledge of vampiric lore.

“If you don't mind my asking, how do you come to know so much about the vampires?”

She glances back to me, a smile of bitterest irony on her face. “Three guesses.”

I tilt my head to the side. It does explain her knowledge at least. “You were Turned.”

“Well done.”

“That explains it. I thought your rather extensive knowledge on the subject odd.”

She gives me a strange look. “You don't fear me?”

I laugh. Does she honestly think I could find her fearful? Not only was she kind to me, after talking to (and being bitten by) Akefia, the Thief King... She rather pales in comparison.

“Ah, you were... assisted by the Touzokuou then? Figures.” Touzokuou- Thief King in their language.

How does she know this? “Can you read minds then?”

“Oh me? No. But when you showed no fear of me, it logically translated that the one whom you'd spoken to had to have been even more powerful, thus making me seem child-like by comparison.”

“But, how did you know it was Akefia?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Akefia? Is that his True name then? 'Tis odd that he gave you his true name. And Touzokuou Bakura is one of the few Lords of Darkness.”

I blink. Lords of Darkness?

She must have seen my confusion on my face, for she answers my unspoken question. “Lords are the most powerful of my kind. A... ruling class, if you will.”

Ruling class? Explains Akefia's slight air of arrogance.

“If you don't mind, could you perhaps stay here for a while? I'd like to keep an eye on you- besides which, someone with your blood scent would attract vampires and oni like flies to honey.”

“I know, several weak vampires attempted to kill me before. But, what in Ra's name are oni?”

She raises her brows, as though surprised. That is strange- did she think I was weak merely because of my size? Shadow magic is, after all unaffected by physical attributes.

“I am not going to ask you how you survived. An oni is a monster-like demon. You'll know one when you see it.”

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A year passed with few disturbances, save for the odd vampire attack.

Tonight is a full moon, the same as it was the night I almost died. Now I think on it, that's rather strange. Because, if my memory serves me right, it was this night, just about a thousand years ago that Akefia 'saved' me.

“Ah!” I clap my hand to my neck, the tiny scars under my fingers almost... burning!

“Amaya-san!” I yell, sitting up.

She comes running, her metallic bladed fans in hand. “What is it? Is there another vampire?”

“The scars... they're burning!” I manage to gasp before the world goes hazy, then black.

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Hn. It was this night, a thousand years ago that I fed on the child-pharaoh, saving him and invoking Blood Debt in the process.

Damn. I knew I forgot something. I never did collect Blood Debt. Ah well, it matters not. The child would be dead by now anyway- Breathers barely live a hundred years after all.

But Gods his blood was sweet!

I frown. What is this? The weak tracking-spell I had placed to keep an eye on the child has... awakened? That should not be. The child should be dead by now!

Perhaps I should... investigate this.

“I'm sorry my dear, I must bid you... adieu.” I murmur to the woman beside me. I chuckle slightly. It is not as though she can hear me...

I stand and dress in the pale light of the full moon, picking up the discarded clothing on the tatami mats.

Thank Ra he's at least in the same country.

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“I don't know what to do! Your body must finally have processed the poison- and your heart's slowing. I think you're dying.”

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Closer- north now. I must hurry- the heartbeat is too slow- too laboured. I must hurry. If he lives yet, I will not let him die. After all, he still owes Blood Debt.

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“There is only one thing I can think of. Forgive me Atemu.”

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There! In the miko's place. I push my legs faster, flying over the ground, I enter to see a red-haired woman bent over my Debt! With her.. fangs in his neck?

I am furious! I am the King- and this impudent wench has the gall to try and take what is rightfully mine?!

There is an odd hissing in the room and I realise it's coming from me. Heh- it's been a while since I've hissed at someone- no-one's had the guts to try and make me that angry in almost two thousand years.

“He is my prey!” she says, obviously trying to warn me away. “Leave me Turn him!”

I snarl. “You can't Turn him!”

“It is my right to Turn two per century! By your laws, Lord.” she snarls back.

“He owes me Blood Debt. Stand down… Amaya the miko-vampire.” Every vampire and Lord worth his or her salt knows of the one miko-turned-vampire who refuses to kill mortals. Living off animals and oni for Ra's sake! It's degrading!

Caused a scandal among us, that did.

“Blood…Debt?” she says. I nod and she grudgingly moves away. “If he isn't Turned, he'll die. Your poison is killing him by wearing off- I think it was the only thing keeping him alive all these years.” she warns, staying in the room.

Perhaps. But then, if I remove her poison and Turn him myself I will be tied to him as his Sire and Blood Debt will still be owed.

I kneel at his side. This is eerily similar to the way it happened those thousand years ago. I brush a gold lock of hair from his face. He has… decent bone structure. And- is it me or did he age slightly?

He looks about eighteen now. Perhaps I should start now before the process is irreversible.

I place two fingers under his chin and tilt his head up and to the side, exposing his throat.

His eyes open and ruby eyes stare at me- barely lucid but haunted. “Akefia? What are… you doing?” he asks softly.

I start slightly. His voice has deepened. It is still recognisable, but… It is a man's voice now.

“No need to worry Child Pharaoh.” I lick his neck in preparation for the bite. It seems you're in trouble again. But then…” The back of my hand caresses his cheek in an echo of my parting gesture the last time I had to save him. “Not a child any more, are you? I won't ask for forgiveness for what I'm about to do. But remember- with this your Debt is doubled.”

I open my mouth and the fangs extend.

“I'm an idiot, but I trust you. You didn't kill me last time, after all.” he whispers.

I pause, fangs millimetres from his throat. “You… trust me hm?”

He nods slightly, the barest inch. His trust… That is a prize to relish. But, after the Turning, that will disappear and he'll likely curse my name instead.

After all, we tend to forget everything of our human lives for we live so long, but one of the few things we cannot forget is the excruciating pain of Turning.

Imagine your blood feels as though it is oil that has been set aflame, your whole body is being altered, modified. Your own heart is pumping it through your body, forcing you inch by agonising inch closer to vampire-hood. Once it reaches your heart, it stops beating forever.

Now see if you think you could forget that. Depending on your spiritual energy (e.g. a miko) you could have it even worse because holy power would fight and it would be ten times as painful.

Ah well. I'll still have the Debt to collect… Though his blood won't be nearly so sweet. I shall simply have to relish this last taste of his fresh blood.

The marks that wench had just made are still there, and I sigh, re-sheathing my fangs. First I must remove her poison, before I can Turn him myself. I lay my mouth over the punctures and he shudders.

“What is it?” I murmur against his neck, feeling the pulse against my lips. So warm… so… alive.

There's a pause before he responds hesitantly; “I had… forgotten how…cold your lips are.”

“I apologise. Now, if I may?”

I begin to suck, and the taste! No taint this time, save the slight tinge of poison from Amaya. I close my eyes in ecstasy. Ra, Set and Osiris! I hope I can stop; Turning is difficult enough without having tasted the blood of the one you're Turning.

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This, I remember. I feel his cold mouth on my neck and, like last time I shudder. Not from the cold.

Just the sensation.

He asks what the matter is, and I make some vague response. He seems to accept it and begins to suck. I feel my lifeblood leave my neck, though it is not at all painful. Gods, far from it! His tongue darts out, and Ra! I'm fairly sure I'm not supposed to feel so… well… aroused by it!

The blood-loss catches up with me and I loose consciousness.

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The Turning… is begun.