We hope you all had a nice and safe holiday so far! ♥
When Minji left to go to Handong's place, Gahyeon, Bora and Yoohyeon left to spend a nice afternoon at the park. Of course Bora and Gahyeon insisted for Siyeon and Yubin to go with them, but the blonde vampire refused, saying that she wasn't in the mood to go, but she forbade Bora to stay home with her. The blue haired hunter explained to them that she had some statistics homework to do and that she would take the opportunity to train with Siyeon since she was at home. When the girls left and Yubin finished her homework she knocked at the door of Siyeon's room, opening it slowly.
"I'm done with statistics... The way you explained to me how to solve those exercises was really clear and easy" she said with a huge smile.
"Let me see you exercises first, Yubin. I'll check if you did them right and if you actually made them all. For all I know you can just lie" Siyeon chuckled.
"Why would I lie?" Yubin asked, pouting and going back to Gahyeon's room to take the papers with the exercises. She walked back to Siyeon's room and sat down on the bed, handing her the exercises. "Here, all done!"
"Let me see" Siyeon smiled, quickly scanning through all the exercises with a proud smile. "You have all of them right except for this last one. You changed a plus into a minus, Yubin"
"What? Let me see" the blue haired girl asked, looking at the exercise and sighing. "I thought I did everything perfectly! Can I fix it after the training?"
"You can fix it right now, just take a pen and quickly fix the exercise. I'll wait for you downstairs" the vampire smiled, ruffling her hair.
"Alright" Yubin snorted, standing back up and walking to Gahyeon's room to take a pen. She quickly fixed the exercise, checking that everything was correct this time. She changed in her fighting outfit and she ran downstairs. "I fixed the exercise and I'm ready to train!"
"Good, then you can start by stretching. We are going to train your speed a little bit today" the blonde vampire smiled.
"Okay" Yubin smiled as she walked outside. She started stretching her legs and her arms, trying a few sprints while she waited for the vampire. She used to be pretty fast, but after years spent in training as a steady frontliner, she lost some of that speed.
"I want you to be fast today, but also quiet, remember the techniques I told you for that?" Siyeon asked.
"I do... I tried it the other day and it's fine when I'm walking fast. But it's really hard to combine that with running fast" Yubin explained, walking to the vampire.
"Run one round for me and I'll evaluate"
Yubin nodded, walking to the edge of the arena and sprinting to the other side, trying to be as quiet as she could and for that she lacked in speed.
"I know I wasn't really fast but... how was the 'be quiet' part?" she asked, with a hopeful smile.
"Average. It's not bad but not that good either. Now can you do the same while keeping your speed?"
"I can try" the blue haired girl replied, running back to the other edge of the arena, running as fast as she could and trying to be quiet enough.
Siyeon carefully looked at Yubin's feet and sighed. "You're lucky there aren't actually a lot of situations where you need to run and be quiet" she commented.
"Is it that bad?" Yubin asked, looking down at her feet.
"It's not that bad, it's just... bad" the vampire said. "It's hard to train this if you didn't learn it in the beginning too"
"I'll keep trying" Yubin whispered "It will take time but I'll find a way to improve. Should we just focus on the speed today?"
"Fine, we'll do that" the blonde smiled. 3 rounds around the arena to warm up your legs"
"Okay" Yubin nodded with a smile, starting to run at a decent speed, but not too fast since it was just a warm up. When she finished the 3 rounds she stopped, putting her hands on her knees and catching her breath. "Done. What now?"
"Get over here" Siyeon smiled and the girl did what she asked as the older woman ruffled her hair.
"W- What was that for?" Yubin chuckled, sounding confused.
"Just to say you did good. Always fun to train with you" Siyeon chuckled.
"Thanks, I enjoy it too! I learnt a lot from you already" the hunter chuckled.
"That's because now you actually listen to what I say, instead of complaining" Siyeon chuckled. "Let's try a few sprints. Are your legs warm enough?"
"I think they are. Well... I hope so. And hey, I had reason to complain our first training sessions" Yubin protested.
"Yeah... you did" Siyeon replied with a chuckle. "But now I can tell you... I was so proud of you because you didn't quit until Minji forced you to"
"Sure, thanks" Yubin said, jumping a few times before walking to one of the walls.
"Whenever you are ready" Siyeon said, looking at the blue haired girl. "Don't focus on being quiet, just sprint as fast as you can"
"What do I need to do? Run from side to side? Run a few rounds?" The hunter asked since Siyeon hadn't specified it.
"Run from where you are to the other side, touch the end of the arena and run back" Siyeon explained. "I want to see how fast you are in changing direction"
"Okay" the girl nodded, taking a deep breath before sprinting to the other side, almost tripping as she touched the wall and sprinting back.
Siyeon sighed, looking at the hunter.
"Useless to say that it was bad" she said, pointing at the point where Yubin almost tripped.
"That was the only mistake. I thought it was pretty good apart from that" the hunter pouted.
"What you call 'the only mistake' is what kills you in a battle" Siyeon said in a firm voice. "There are mistakes you can't afford to do"
"I almost tripped, I stayed on my feet" Yubin countered.
"You slowed down to stay on your feet. You stumbled. If this was an actual run to escape from a vampire, that little mistake would determine your death" Siyeon said, sounding almost annoyed.
"I almost tripped because I touched the wall... there won't be an escape situation where I need to make a 180 turn at a wall" Yubin mumbled, walking back to the start position.
"Stop arguing with me" Siyeon said, looking at her "Try again"
"Yes, Siyeon. Sorry" the blue haired girl apologized. She sprinted towards the other side and back, without almost tripping this time.
"Again" Siyeon repeated with a sigh.
Yubin nodded, doing the same thing again, just like Siyeon asked of her, executing it perfectly once more. Repeating that a few times.
"You get slower each time you do this" Siyeon said, glaring at Yubin.
"I also get more tired each time I do this. You're not even telling me what's wrong"
"Nothing is wrong. You're just too slow" Siyeon cut short, walking to Yubin.
"I promise I will train hard on that" the blue haired girl smiled.
"You can be sure you will. We are not moving from here until you reach a decent speed. I've been way too soft with you lately" Siyeon stated. "And fix your posture while you run" she added, harshly putting a hand on Yubin's waist and pulling her shoulders back a little.
"Ouch! What's that for?" Yubin whined, looking at Siyeon.
"I'm your trainer, I have to fix your posture" she simply said. "Try again, 5 more times"
"Alright, Siyeon" Yubin sighed, starting to run, trying to improve her speed and focus on her posture but she was just getting too tired as she finished the fifth round.
Siyeon crossed her arms on her chest, looking at Yubin and shaking her head in disapproval.
"I guess I really got paired with the most useless of the hunters" she said, scoffing.
"What?" Yubin asked, it had been a while since she heard that. "Are you mimicking old Siyeon towards me?"
"Why should I mimic myself? I'm damn serious" the vampire dryly replied.
"What's wrong with you? Are you really angry because it's not going well? Please tell me what I can do, like always" Yubin smiled.
"I've tried that, and it didn't work. You're still slow, you're still loud, you're still weak" Siyeon hissed, pushing Yubin back a little.
Yubin noticed what was going on, she was really worried for Siyeon since she has been having this a lot lately out of nowhere.
"You're right, I need to try harder" Yubin agreed, hoping that would stop Siyeon from getting even angrier.
"You're just not good enough" Siyeon hissed walking towards the girl, pushing her back with every step she made. "And you are going to get me killed"
"I am going to get you killed, yes Siyeon" the hunter just replied, looking down. She had to find a way to make her come back to her senses.
At hearing those words the vampire growled, letting her fangs out and picking up Yubin by the collar.
"Are you saying you are actually trying to get me killed?" she hissed, shaking the hunter a bit, still holding her by the collar.
"No! Of course not, I'm just too weak right?" Yubin asked, locking eyes with Siyeon and noticing something weird in them. A little golden flare in her natural black eyes.
"Are you mocking me?" Siyeon yelled in her face, slamming Yubin against the wall and holding her in place, her fangs dangerously close to the blue haired girl's face.
"I think you should calm down, Siyeon. This is not you" Yubin tried to say, not wanting to kick the vampire yet.
"And I think you should shut up" Siyeon growled, locking eyes with the hunter. "You still talk way too much"
"Sorry" Yubin said, kicking Siyeon's stomach with all her might, hoping it was enough to bring her back to her senses.
Siyeon stumbled back a little, bending down and looking at her stomach before raising her head again. She growled louder, slamming Yubin against the wall again and breathing faster.
"Siyeon... please... you're hurting me" Yubin pleaded "What the hell is going on with you? Those dreams when... your sister disappeared and now... whatever this is?"
"You fucking kicked me" Siyeon growled, pushing the hunter against the wall "Really bad idea since no one is here to help you" she hissed.
"You're here" Yubin said, determined for the real Siyeon to come back.
"I am, but you shouldn't be so glad about that" the vampire growled again, still pushing the hunter against the wall.
"Siyeon... let me go. Think of the others. Think of Minji. Of Gahyeon and for fuck's sake your girlfriend!" Yubin tried to reason.
"I told you to shut up!" Siyeon yelled, throwing the hunter on the ground as she started to walk towards her, showing her fangs.
"Think of the people that care about you and stop this nonsense before it's too late" the blue haired girl tried again, wanting to sound brave.
"What a pathetic way to try and save yourself" Siyeon laughed, bending down to face Yubin "they won't even care"
"Snap out of it, god damnit" Yubin screamed, slapping Siyeon's face hard as the vampire bent down.
Siyeon turned her head to the side, bringing a hand to her cheek and looking back at Yubin. She noticed the hunter looked scared as hell and when she realized she couldn't remember what happened in the last few minutes she quickly stood up and stepped back, bringing a hand on her mouth to check if the fangs were out.
"D-Did... Did I hurt you?" she asked in a total state of panic, looking down at Yubin.
"You didn't, don't worry" Yubin lied, not wanting to stress Siyeon out. "It's okay"
"W-What happened? What d-did I do? Why are you on the ground?" Siyeon asked, not walking closer to the hunter.
"You said... that I wasn't doing good in training. That I didn't work hard enough and stuff. You seemed really angry at it" Yubin explained, going over to hug the vampire. "But I know that's not you"
"S-Stay back, Yubin" Siyeon whispered, pushing the girl back lightly by the waist. "Why were you on the ground? Please be honest with me. D-Did I attack you?" she pleaded, on the verge of crying.
"You gave me a little push and I tripped over, nothing serious. And hey, I'm not scared of you... we will figure it out together... alone. I don't want Minji to lock you up"
"No I... I will lock myself up in the basement... until Minji is back" Siyeon said, shaking her head.
"Siyeon... we need to know what this is... why it is happening now..." Yubin whispered.
"I don't know, Yubin" Siyeon whispered, sitting on the ground and breaking down. "But whatever this is... I can't be trusted! I tried to attack Yoohyeon and now you... I-... What is happening to me?" she cried, not able to stay strong anymore.
"In both moments... what did you feel before?" Yubin asked, hoping to find some correlation between the events.
"I... I don't know. I felt... angry? Without any reason" the vampire whispered as Yubin sat down beside her, moving a little bit closer.
"I've noticed something" the hunter whispered, looking in Siyeon's eyes.
"Y-you did?" The vampire asked, looking hopeful. Maybe Yubin knew what to do.
"Your eyes... they changed" Yubin explained "They had... gold accents in your normal black ones"
"What? That's crazy, why would I have gold accents in my eyes?" The vampire asked.
"I don't know but... I promise you I'm telling the truth" Yubin whispered weakly. "They were gold"
"Let's... let's go inside... I need to drink" Siyeon said, grabbing her head. "I have a serious headache again.
"Yes, let's go inside, you should lay down a bit" Yubin agreed, standing up and trying not to show the pain on her leg from when Siyeon threw her on the ground.
"Yubin... I'm going to disappoint Minji again aren't I?" Siyeon whispered, sounding really sad all of the sudden.
Yubin sighed, walking to Siyeon and hugging her closer.
"You won't disappoint her. She won't know about what happened today... and this... this is not your fault, Siyeon" she whispered, combing the vampire's hair.
"I already did yesterday when I apparently degraded Yoohyeon... I called Minji's possible mate... a slut" Siyeon cried.
"It wasn't you!" Yubin said, shaking her head. "We all know it wasn't you. You would never! They just need a little bit of time to let it fade... but they know it wasn't you"
"Then what is it! What's happening, Yubin? I'm... I'm scared... of myself" the blonde admitted.
"I know you are" Yubin replied "And I don't know what this is but we... we will find a way. We will... figure out what is happening to you and everything will go back to normal" she reassured, kissing Siyeon's cheek.
"Thank you, Yubin... thank you so much" Siyeon whispered as they finally got inside so Siyeon could rest on the couch.
As the vampire laid down on the couch, Yubin went in the kitchen and prepared a cup of blood for her. She couldn't stop thinking about those golden accents she saw in Siyeon's eyes. She had the sensation that it wasn't the first time she saw something like that. She walked to the couch and sat down beside Siyeon, handing her the cup of blood.
"How are you feeling?" She asked softly.
"I still have this huge headache, just like yesterday. I'm okay for the rest except for the guilty feeling" Siyeon sighed.
"You don't have to feel guilty... And nothing happened this time. You didn't hurt me physically and you didn't hurt me with your words" Yubin reassured her. "And Yooh will understand"
"I hope she will... and you? Will you stay with me w-watch some tv or something?"
"Of course I will" Yubin replied, nodding her head. "I'm not going anywhere. What do you want to do? Should we watch a movie to clear your mind?"
"I... yeah, let's do that. You can pick one out" Siyeon smiled.
"Are you sure you are okay with watching a movie?" The hunter asked, locking eyes with Siyeon. "We can do something else if you want"
"I don't know what else we could do so... yeah, I am" the vampire assured her, taking a sip of her blood.
"Okay" Yubin replied, choosing a random movie on Netflix and cuddling closer to Siyeon. "I'm sure everything will be alright" she whispered, smiling at her.
"I really hope it does... this is... scary" the vampire whispered, closing her eyes a little.
"Maybe you should try to sleep a little, Siyeon... you look really tired" Yubin whispered, combing her hair. "I won't go anywhere"
"I will" the vampire said, placing her head on the pillow and nuzzling into it. "Stay here... okay?"
Yubin gently lifted Siyeon's legs and placed them on her lap.
"Here, so you are sure I won't go anywhere" she whispered, reaching for the book that was on the side table. "I'll stay here, reading something and watching over you, okay?" She said with a smile.
"You're such a nerd" Siyeon chucked as she closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep.
The blue haired girl shook her head, chuckling a little. After less than 10 minutes Siyeon was sleeping peacefully and Yubin was immersed in her book. She kept reading for what looked like hours, her legs were getting numb but she promised Siyeon she wouldn't leave, so she stayed there, waiting for the vampire to wake up.
She looked at Siyeon, peacefully breathing and looking really cute. Even though she looked dangerous and could be harsh, Siyeon was a really precious person and the fact that this was happening to her made Yubin feel bad.
She kept reading for another while when she suddenly widened her eyes, realising something. She quickly turned the pages, trying to find a specific chapter, one she had already read. When she found what she was looking for she started breathing faster while reading it. It was all there... the sudden anger, the haunts at night, the gold eyes. But... how could it be? She tried to shake Siyeon's shoulder gently
"Siyeon... S- Siyeon you need to wake up" she whispered.
The vampire yawned, slowly opening her eyes and rubbing them a little.
"Y-yes? What's wrong?" She asked, still a bit sleepy.
"I... t-the book. I think I found something" she whispered "But I don't know... how is it possible"
"What? What did you find? And how? That book is just historic bullshit"
"It is... but there is this chapter about the most important leaders of your clan" Yubin explained "Two of them ruled together and... I don't know... this is totally impossible and I know I might sound stupid but... one of them kind of... fits" she whispered, unable to explain it properly.
"What do you mean 'fits'? Yubin, what are you talking about" Siyeon asked, sounding the concerned look on her face.
"I don't know, Siyeon. She had golden eyes and she... was angry and c-cruel and she used to haunt beasts at night and-" she tried to explain, looking at the book and at Siyeon.
"What-... wait, Yubin... that's insane" Siyeon chuckled.
"I... I know it is but... there is this drawing of her eyes and they... They looked just like yours" she whispered, trying not to sound stupid. "Maybe it's like... a vampires' disease or something? Maybe she had what you have?"
"Yubin... I don't believe that. If it was, Minji would know. "What's the chapter called?" Siyeon asked, looking at the book. "The era of chaos" she said aloud. "And what do those stars mean there?"
"They say that for more information you should look at other pages further on" Yubin explained.
"Have you read that far already?"
"I did" Yubin replied, trying to find the pages she was looking for. "They are about these two leaders I was talking to you about... This Red... uhm... a flower or something. Red Lotus? And the other one was a name with Rage in it? Wrath? I can't remember" she whispered, turning the pages.
"R-red Lotus?" Siyeon whispered, sounding really really scared and confused.
"Yeah... She was one of the two leaders I was talking to you about. That was like her... leader name? She was called Solise if I remember correctly. Why?" Yubin explained.
"When was this book written? Are you sure that was the name? Like 100%? 1000%?" Siyeon worried.
"Yeah, I'm sure and I don't know when it was written... but it's really really old. Like REALLY old" Yubin said, worried. "Why?"
"T-this Solise or w-whatever you said... what w-was she like? What d-did she look like?"
"She... uhm... red hair, red eyes" Yubin explained "where the hell did the page go?" She cursed. "It doesn't say much about what she looked like. She was a beautiful woman and yeah, she had red hair and red eyes"
"That's... i-impossible. Yubin I really hope you are w-wrong" Siyeon whispered.
"What is making you so scared?" Yubin asked, not getting the point. "Solise is not the one I was talking to you about... it's the other one! The one with golden eyes... Nara?" She asked, more than explained.
"Nara..." Siyeon said out loud, feeling really strange before shaking her head. "Show me Solise's part first"
"They are on the same pages. They were partners. Mates." Yubin explained, desperately trying to find what she was looking for, but that book was huge. "I swear it's here!"
"How much is explained?" The vampire asked curiously.
"A lot. They had like... this kind of cute story. I mean they hated the world but they really loved each other" Yubin explained.
"Find the pages... I have to see, Yubin"
"Here!" Yubin almost yelled, slamming the hand on the page she was looking for. "Found it!"
"I can't believe I'm saying this but... can we please read it?" Siyeon whispered.
"Can you explain why you look so worried before I start reading?" Yubin asked, turning towards Siyeon. "You... you look really scared, Siyeon"
"No... I want to read first... I promised Minji not to tell but... if this is true..."
"Siyeon... you promise me you will tell me after I'm done reading? If something is happening to you... I want to know what it is... I want to help you" the blue haired girl whispered, looking down at the book.
"If I deem it necessary... yes... but not without Minji"
"Fine..." Yubin sighed, adjusting the book on her legs as she started to read.
The Era of Chaos:
Chapter 0: New rulers
Many moons ago the Phantom clan ended the war with a neighbouring clan, completely wiping it out of existence. The long war had finally come to an end but with a great cost. The Phantom clan had lost their best leader in history in battle, leaving the clan in disarray. With no one to lead the clan after war, chaos arose and order slowly started to fade away. The deceased left two children behind. A daughter, Solise and a son, Syrak.
The entire Clan was called to vote and for the first time in the history of the Phantom Clan, the younger child was elected, Solise. The girl was too young to rule alone but with her brother by her side, the children ruled together for many years and for the first time in history, the Clan was ruled by two leaders.
Even though Solise had the most power since she was elected she still listened to her older brother. He was her guiding light in this unexplored field of leadership and everything went perfectly. The siblings worked together to restore the clan to its former glory to build and evolve again.
Many years after Solise's election, the Clan had become one of the most thriving clans in the area. The two rulers led the Clan without problems until Solise found her mate, Nara. Nara was a general of the Phantom clan's army and she had the honour to be selected as personal guard of the leaders.
Of course that meant she came in contact with both siblings a lot and a bond between her and Solise quickly forged. Soon they became lovers but without being official, Nara had no right to rule. She wasn't on the throne but her influence could be felt. Solise and Syrak always had the same vision: Focus on the people and expand through order and harmony but Nara changed Solise's view. A view that sought to expand through bloodshed and chaos. A view that closely resembled Nara because she wasn't just a general... she was a legend who liked a fight.
The new way of expanding, through war and blood, although it seemed harsh, worked. Instead of working together with other clans, they enslaved other clans or destroyed them if they resisted. The people of the Phantom clan were fired up and supported their leaders till the end. Syrak saw that the vision his younger sister had acquired wasn't a bad one, but he couldn't accept that he as the oldest sibling was pushed aside. He decided to join their idea at first until he thought they went too far.
Whereas his sister and her mate's vision was focussed on controlling opposing clans and killing who threatened them they wanted to let their own people decide if they wanted to join the war or not, and if they did they would be rewarded. Syrak saw how his sister that once hated war and fights, now craved for bloodshed. Syak saw how obsessed Solise was by the darkness that Nara tainted her with and had completely consumed her. The older brother decided to take action by warning an enemy clan where Nara was sent on an assassination mission. Despite the high alert the woman was still successful and Syrak's betrayal came to light. Solise punished her brother by exiling him and the woman who was assigned to protect him so she and Nara could rule together.
Yup you know what's coming next chapter!
We hope you liked the chapter, please feel free to leave a comment, much love ♥
QOTD: Since these are sometimes hard to come up with: What do you think could be a good future QOTD?