Creatures of the Night: A Blood-Stained Misunderstanding

In the middle of the night, to what seems to be just another young couple sharing love at the city's park, a hidden bloody truth lies than what meets the eye.

While the black-haired young man sits still, his companion has her arms around him tightly. What appears to be a simple hug is actually a dinner happening, atleast for the girl. Red liquid flows right out of the man's neck while the girl has her fangs struck at the man. The girl's eyes were glowing red as she was sucking blood. The man didn't seem to mind, staying completely still while looking the other way.

A pink haired woman was out and about, looking for a meal. On the outside, she was normal as could be, but inside, she was a cold killer, a vampire, if you will. However, calling her even that would technically be incorrect. The actual term for the species of night-walking evil this seemingly normal woman was Reikon Kyuuban.

Taking a stroll though the park, she was in the mood for the blood of a drunk, maybe one fresh from a party. It was a free way to have a few glasses of wine, while dining on the only thing that gave her life, blood. That's when she chanced across a couple making love in the park, or at least, she thought that's what it was until she stepped closer. She felt it, the taint of a Reikon Kyuuban. It was coming from the girl, if her senses were correct.

She neared closer to them, just to be sure, although her sight in the dark was a perfect as a human's in the day. If she was sensing correctly, the girl was a young, fresh, RK, as the humans would say, a newbie at it. She decided to wait until the girl was done feeding, which meant her mind wouldn't wander.

The man took notice of the pink-haired woman and immediately knew she was noone ordinary. He tapped the back of the girl to tell her to stop. The girl ignored him and continued to feed, now sucking much faster. Her grip grew tighter, in which the man's bones would crack. ''"Not again.." ''

"Kazumi, snap out of it.." The man was feeling weaker and weaker by the moment, his expression telling so. "Ka..zumi.."

Finally, the one called Kazumi got to her senses and quickly threw herself away from the man. She wiped the blood off her mouth and got her eyes towards the man. "I'm.. sorry.. I didn't.. " The red glow from her eyes disappeared, turning green as it tears begun to fill them up. "I.. I did it again.. " She covered her face with her hands and started to cry. "I'm sorry..I'm sorry Osamu."

Breathing heavily, the man, whose name is apparently Osamu, stood up and got to Kazumi. "It's ok.. Its not the first time.. You'll learn how to control it.."

The woman stepped forward, eying the pair. "Control over that is something that only comes with understanding. She's got the potential to be great, but only if she has the right teacher. Her power is what humans call vampirism." she said, walking over to the young girl and knelt down in front of her. "Stop the tears. It's not your fault. You just need to learn how to control it. Your power is only awakening. Of course you won't have it perfect this soon."

Osamu felt the similarities between Kazumi and the woman in front of them. "You too.. I didn't know Reikon Kyuubans are beginning to become.. a trend." Still weakened, Osamu was barely able to stand but did so anyway.

"You don't understand.. I don't want this.." Still drenched in tears, Kazumi was disgusted to herself. "Can it just.. disappear..?"

"I'm sorry. There's no way you can lose this. Listen, I'm just like you. I never asked for this, but it happened anyway. I know you don't want it either, but I can show you, it's not all bad. In fact, we can do things few others can do. But, that all depends. Do you want me to teach you how to control your new power?"

Kazumi glared at the woman with much doubt instilled in her eyes. She was never the kind of girl who depends on others, but Osamu proved her that dependence is not actually a bad thing.

"Myst.. Queen of the Reikon Kyuuban." Osamu spoke. The woman's appearance matched that of his resource. The famous Myst, right in front of him, offering her friend something he couldn't give. Osamu showed a smirk, a kind of thing he rarely shows. "Kazumi, I think you should go. There'd be no better teacher than the queen herself... "

Hearing this from Osamu, Kazumi quickly made a decision, something she hoped she won't regret. "Ok, please teach me." Kazumi stood up, wiping her tears as she hardened her resolve.

"You sure have the right attitude now, my dear." Myst said, standing up. With a wave of her hand, she opened a portal of glowing red light that would lead to the castle that Myst now lived in, serving the true Queen of their kind, Katsumi Scarlet. "Come along, I'm taking you somewhere safe." she said, waiting for her new student.

Kazumi was ready to leave, following her teacher but then she felt a hand hold her own. She turned her head, seeing Osamu responsible. "Osa.." Before she could speak, her lips were sealed by Osamu's index finger.

"Myst, whatever name they call you.. Can I trust you to make sure of Kazumi's safety?" Osamu asked, staring right at Myst's eyes. He held Kazumi's hand tightly, having no plan of letting go unless he hears what he wants to hear from Myst.

"I'll die before she does. You have my word." Myst replied, watching the man who asked him. "She's my student and my subject. A ruler's existence is only valid while their subjects love them. If I let harm come to a child, what manner of Queen would I be?"

Osamu, letting go of Kazumi's hands, gave her a quick and gentle pat in the head. "You be a good girl.." He handed her over a bottle of what seems to be pills. A picture was attatched to it, a cute chibi picture of him doing a pose. "You know what this is already.. Just in case you get hungry and there's no food around."

"What are you? My dad? Seriously, Osamu.. We're classmates." Kazumi said, displaying a rather annoyed expression.

"Yeah, you have a thousand years old classmate. Now get going." Osamu had his eyes locked on to Kazumi before she disappeared, wherein he stayed at the place for a couple of minutes before leaving.

The duo emerged on a grassy plane with a lone castle sitting in the distance. For as long as the castle stood, there was fog everywhere, a thick blanket of grey haze that prevented one from seeing too far in, if one were human. To a Reikon Kyuuban however, such a thing didn't exist. The fog was only a defense from their enemies, not each other, making this the perfect place for the seat of power, as well as the perfect fortress for the once glorious kingdom of night.

"I want you to know, my training is a bit harsh. But I am also understanding. If something is hard to grasp, tell me, I will show you how it's done. Now, have you actually used your powers before?" Myst asked, turning to her student.

"I killed my parents with it... I injured Osamu several times with it.. I scared a lot of people with it. I believe I already did use my power in a sense."

Kazumi had this very strange, yet familiar feeling inside her. There was something in this place that somehow made her feel.. at home. Her eyes turned red and made her able to see very clearly in the fog. It felt great there, there was noone else but her and her teacher, though she felt the presence of other beings the same as her somewhere within.

"None of that was your fault. Anyone you've killed, anyone you've hurt, nothing is your fault. You're too young to bear the weight of such sin. You cannot hold regret in your heart, or else it will destroy you. After you tame what is yours, then you can be accountable for your actions." Myst said. "Now, I want you to try to copy my actions, as best you can. This is simply a test to see where we must begin."

With that, she began chargining her Kyūketsuki Ga Satsuei, her most basic attack. A red sphere of blood and energy spun in her palm, waiting to release it's power. She pointed the technique into the wilderness and sent it out into the vast expanse of nothing. "Can you do that?"

Kazumi concentrated, closing her eyes as she extended her right arm and copied Myst's actions. She learned one or two lessons about reiatsu control from Osamu and applied what she learned. From the start, her reiatsu circled and formed a sphere in her palm. It turned into a shade of crimson red as it steadily starts to appear just like that of Myst's. However, as time grows, her Kyūketsuki Ga Satsuei enlargens out of the average proportion. She was then suddenly out of control of her own reiatsu, making the sphere explode right on her arm. The failure caused several cuts and bruises.

"This is harder than I thought.." Kazumi said, her arm rumbling because of pain but she tried once more. The start was the same, almost perfect but the same problem almost occured. It started to grow bigger and bigger. However, this time, she didn't let her fear overcome her. Before she lost control, she was able to throw the large sphere at the sky. The moment it reached a few meters up, it made an explosion like that of a firework.

"I did it wrong again.."

Myst smiled and walked over to her new student. "So, you need some lessons. But that was the point. I expected less, to be honest. In fact, yours was a beautiful failure." Raking her thumbnail against her finger, she drew crimson blood that she wiped on Kazumi's arm, healing it. "Remember, you can regenerate even limbs if you have the blood to do it. But, to do so, you need to look beyond the fact you're drinking from a living being, and do it."

Hearing Myst's last words, Kazumi closed her eyes. She showed fear once more and started to tremble. "I can't do it.. I don't want to. Not anymore.." Kazumi knew of the consequences of when she drinks blood directly to someone alive and it was not the best images in her mind.

Kazumi took out the bottle Osamu gave to her and popped it open. She got a pill from it and laid it inside her mouth immediately, that was then that she felt at ease once more.

"If you don't drink, you'll die. Remember this, as it is the only true law we have to live by. If you want to die, that's your choice. But think of those who love you, those who care about you. Think of the people you feed from. Everything is your choice, but the chains of despair are strong, and when a link fades, so does a person's history, everything about them is meaningless. Your friend lets you feed from him, he cares about you. How would he react if you died? If you don't want to make him sad, live." Myst said, going back to where she first stood.

"Make your choice, because if you want to continue this training, I can teach you how to avoid killing without a cause. But to learn, you have to stop being afraid of yourself. You are a Reikon Kyuuban now, so, get used to it."

"We just met.. What I know about you is only limited, I only know you as someone similar to me.. But." Kazumi looked straight, her expression changing as if her resolved got stronger. "But Osamu trusted you... That's the only thing I need, I guess there's no other choice but to believe in your words."

Myst nodded her head. "Good. Now, before we continue, any questions?"

"Yes.." Within a second, a red sphere formed spinning on top of Kazumi's palm. It enlargens once again, only this time Kazumi was able to control it and reduce its size. With a flick from her arm, she sent the sphere towards the same direction Myst had thrown hers earlier. It resulted into a big explosion, having enough force to momentarily clear out the fog. "What's are next lesson?"

Myst just blinked in surprised, the blast had quite seriously spoken for itself. "Well, that was impressive. Next we will practice speed. There is a technique we have, the Ketsueki Butōkai. In order to use it, you need to focus blood-laced spiritual energy inside your body and down to your feet, rather than externally like the KGS you just used. This is another step that requires control." she explained, using the aformentioned technique to move behind her student at high speed.

"What? How?" Kazumi turned to ask her new teacher, confused to what she is supposed to do. "You mentioned speed, so is this all about how fast I can perform?"

"Focus. Here's how I used to do it before I mastered my powers as a whole. Imagine two parallel rivers, one red, one white. The red river is your blood, the white is your energy. Now, make them cross at any point you choose. It doesn't matter, as long as you end up with a pink river. That is your Reikon Kyuuban power, taking two distinct forms, merging into one. Then just keep that pink river in mind, and imagine you dipping your feet into the water. Finally, just focus that energy, the power you hold, and think of high speed movement. You should be able to zip around me at a decent pace. You're a newcomer so don't fret if you can't move as fast. Just do your best."

Right away, Kazumi exactly what Myst told her to do. She closed her eyes, blocking any other thought. It took her a few seconds before she opened her eyes and the moment she did, she had travelled 500 meters before she slipped. Her head was the first to take hit on the floor, causing her to scream in a late-reaction kind of way.

"Ok, so the whole imagine a river idea messed you up." Myst said before flashing over next to Kazumi and helping her up. "Between you and me, that was pretty good for a first timer."

"I got careless.." Standing up, blood spewed on Kazumi's forehead in which simply wipes off. "I ended up with a pink flood. That's not good is it?" She asked while dusting off her clothes.

"So you over did it. I almost expected you to either do something like that, or do too little. That's what practice is. Figuring it out. You won't get this all right on your first try. There's alot that even I can't fully control, and I've been a vampire for pushing 20 years now." Myst answered. "Trust me, you're gonna have a few snags, you you'll work them out. Wanna try this again, or learn something else?"

"I'm learning this!" Kazumi exclaimed, full of enthusiasm. She stretched her arms out and vanished, only to reappear behind Myst. "This is actually easy in small scales."

Myst laughed at how stubborn the younger RK was. "You pulled it off alright. Next is the most stereotypical vampire trick in the world. Turning into a bat." as she spoke, her body vanished, being replaced with a small vampire bat. After flying around for a moment, she returned herself to normal and lowered gently to the ground. "Pick a type of bat, any of them and use your power to become it."

Upon seeing Myst transform into a bat, Kazumi was put in a state of shock. It was not that she was surprised of how Myst was able to do that, its just that she has this fear of bats. "Oh.."

"You look pale. Is everything alright?" Myst asked, concerned.

"Uhm.. Yes, I guess so." Kazumi's muscles stiffened as her whole body shook. "So, bats.. huh?."

"Well, this yeah.. uhm.." She started eating her own words as she looked directly at the winged creature before her and all of a sudden she fainted without warning.