After Shorter's experimentation, she retrieved his body from the flames herself, narrowly avoiding Ash and a boy from Chinatown she later found out was named Sing. After she carried him back to the penthouse, she waited with baited breath for him to wake up from a extraordinarily long transition of 9 days. Her anxiety at the whole situation was worse than it was with Griffin or Skip, which was odd. Why was she more worried for him than those two?
Once he woke up, she told informed him of the benefits and downsides of being a vampire; you had to be invited into human owned private property, you need a piece of daylight jewelry to out in the sun (something she provided him with), he was vulnerable to vervain, could compel humans save for those with vervain on their person or in their system, could be killed via stake in the heart, removal of heart, decapitation, being set on fire and an extremely high level magic attack, had enhanced physical capabilities and the humanity switch, something she made him promise never to touch.
All in all, he took vampirism in stride and seemed to be genuinely happy with his choice. He also spent a lot of time with Skip, who he was pleasantly surprised to find alive as well, and Griffin, whose presence he was shocked by and who was still figuring out vampirism himself.
The two helped each other figure things out, becoming good friends in the process. It was during this time that Skip told Shorter about the Court of Miracles and that Griffin was a member. Shorter asked her about it and when she told him what it was, he asked if he could join as well. He knew he would most likely never go back to the New York gang scene if he wanted to keep his sister safe and keep the promise he made to Cassandra after he completed transition that he would never reveal the existence of the supernatural to the general public. With this in mind he asked if he could go back to New Orleans with her when this was all over and work for her, something she agreed to. Shorter and the now almost completely adjusted Griffin then began combat training and supernatural history lessons with her uncles Kol and Elijah respectively.
After she got Shorter settled in, she moved on to Yut-lung. She was originally going to do Eiji first, but decided Yut-lung was in a worse position and needed the help more. She started by killing his brothers (with her father's blessing, of course), decapitating them and compelling their families into believing they were normal Chinese American fatherless families and scattering them across the country, getting paperwork forged to prove this and also faking their deaths back in China. She did this herself in an attempt to show her sincerity in trying to help him. She then had the heads placed on his kitchen table in a perfect circle, with a note taped to the counter that said:
You don't know me, but I know you. I know how you hurt and suffered due to these men you were forced to share blood with, so I destroyed them. I know this will not make what happened go away, and this may anger you due to the fact it was not by your order or hand. I want to help you, to show you what life could be. I want you to be happy.
We will meet in person very soon.
Eternally yours, C.M.
Yut-lung was understandably very confused and distressed. Who was C.M? Why did they kill his brothers, and more importantly how? How did they get into his abode undetected, let alone with six severed heads? No one would help him just to help him, this person had to be lying. They must want something from him in exchange for this service. But if this was the case, how did this C.M know he wanted his brothers dead? He kept his plan in a death grip and told next to no one, and those he did tell would never dare say a word. Maybe they were hired by someone who knew? But why go through the trouble of writing that letter? The whole thing made no sense and was starting to make him want to pull his hair out.
When he was injured when Ash took him hostage, that was the first time things went off course in a way she had not intended. Yut-lung was supposed to leave the incident with minor injuries at worst, not two gunshot wounds to the chest via an unnamed Golzine lackey who was trying to shoot Ash and couldn't aim for shit.
The wounds turned out to be fatal, and as he was treated by private doctors he had paid off to treat him and his important men while keeping their mouths shut, he could hear their whispers of 'He won't make it through the night' and 'Who will lead the triad once he is dead? He is the only remaining Lee.'
Yut-lung knew he was going to die, and he despised this. He was going to die never knowing who his not-so indirect 'savior' was or why they killed his clan, never having been treated as something other than a trophy or bargaining chip, never having been given credit for all his work, and he hated it.
'Damn it'. he thought. 'Just give me a little more time, let me find the answers to my questions and experience what it's like to be seen, if only once. Take my soul to hell as soon as this happens, just give me a little more time.'
Meanwhile, Blanca was sitting outside the Lee's room, considering his options. He knew he was going to leave his service soon, but that didn't mean he wanted the boy to die. And now, thanks to his own incompetence and the inability of a man whose name he didn't even know, he was going to do just that. He sighed, from what the doctors were saying he would be dead by sunrise. If this was true than there was nothing he could do, the best thing would be to leave and seek out Ash. Yut-lung was too far gone, Ash however wasn't. He got up from his seat and began to make his way toward his room to collect his things, planning to make his way to Ash and inform him of his decision to defect.
If Blanca had stayed there not even five minutes more, he would have seen a red headed girl walk into the room where his dying now ex-employer lay. Cassandra had compelled her way through Yut-lung's men, and was here to turn him. This wasn't supposed to happen, she thought, he was supposed to be fine and stay human for at least a few more months. But it seems as if the butterfly effect is something you can only lessen, and not stave off completely.
Yut-lung was lying in his bed facing the door with his eyes closed, when he heard a noise coming from the doorway. He opened his eyes, and there stood the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes upon. She had wavy, blood red hair and tan skin. Her eyes glowed a deep gold. She looked... Ethereal, like the angel of death who had come to take his soul to hell. He must really be dying, he thought, if he's already having pre-death hallucinations of beautiful angels.
After a moment of silence, he spoke in a broken whisper "Are you going to kill me?"
The girl walked towards him, softened her neutral expression and said "On your birthday? Do you really think so low of me?"
Yut-lung frowned. Oh yes, today was his birthday. He never really cared much for it, and no one else seemed to either. It was rather fitting, actually, that a heartless being such as himself would be taken out of the world on the same day he was brought into it; like a mistake the universe was trying to pretend never existed. He wondered how exactly she knew this.
The girl walked closer to him and, due to a shocking mix of being too weak to stop her and actually wanting to let her, lifted his covers with no resistance whatsoever. She inhaled sharply when she saw that he was bleeding through his bandages, which were only there to keep him from dying faster at this point.
Her expression softened even more as she started to speak, "That looks bad, my apologies. Your injuries were collateral damage of my own mistakes."
He furrowed his brow in confusion, "What do you mean by that?"
She took a deep breath and once again began to speak, "My name is Cassandra Mikealson, though you may know me better as C.M. It is fantastic to finally meet you, Yut-lung, though I wish it were under better circumstances."
His eyes widened, "You... you killed my brothers? You, a child?! You somehow managed to exterminate the entirety of the Lee bloodline?! All... except for me." he trailed off in a whisper.
She nodded, "Yes, all except for you and your brother's wives and children, who I have made to forget who they are and moved where no one associated with the Lee's will find them."
He looked up at her, "How could you make them forget? That shouldn't be possible."
She nodded once more, "Yes, it is not a feat any human could accomplish. However, Yut-lung, I am no human."
He breathed in deep, "Then... what are you?"
Just like that, her face became covered in black veins, her eyes became those of a demon's, and her teeth grew long and sharp like knives.
She smiled, "I am many things, however I believe the most common generalization of what I am would be a vampire."
He did not scream or try to get away, instead he simply laughed like a mad man. Of course he finds out about the existence of the supernatural on his deathbed, of course! And now, here he is, an injured fish who had bloodied the waters and may very well be this shark of a girl's dinner.
Once he calmed down, he started to hack up blood. Damn it all, he was getting worse by the minute.
The girl, Cassandra, his mind informed him, did not attempt to turn him into a snack at the sight of his blood, much to his confusion. She instead took a handkerchief out from her coat pocket and held it to his mouth, a look of deep concern on her face.
Normally he would try to throw whoever was doing this off of him, saying he didn't need anyone's pity, however the instant the girl touched him he felt something. He felt as if she was someone he could trust, that she was all that there was or that mattered in the world. He felt... he felt what he assumed Ash must feel for Eiji.
After his coughing fit, Cassandra did not release him. She instead took a seat at the head of the bed and held him to her chest, something he did not protest. She started to play with his hair, running her fingers through it and fiddling with the strands.
She looked down at him, smiling. "I love birthdays.", she said in a tone barely above a whisper.
He responded in an equally quiet tone, "Yes, well, aren't you hundreds of years old? Being a vampire and all."
She chuckled, how could a sound be so beautiful? "I am actually the age I appear to be, I was born a vampire, you see. Both my parents are members of the undead, and I was... nature's loophole. I will continue to grow until I am somewhere in my twenties, and then I will stop aging."
She sighed, "My father has told me that you adjust your perception of time when you are turned. That once you begin to see immortality for all it is worth, you begin to celebrate the fact you are no longer bound by trivial human conventions. You realize that you're free."
He scoffed, "I'm dying.", he said, feeling the weight of those words for what had not been the first time that day.
She leaned down until she was inches away from his face, "And I could let you", she said. "Die, if that's what you want. If you really believe your existence has no meaning, that you are a heartless being incapable of love."
She tilted her head to the right a bit, "My family is all made up of supernatural beings, vampires, witches, werewolves, yes they exist too, even hybrids between two or all of the above. They have all lived very long lives, and have all told me that they thought they were the same as you, and that this world may be better off without them once or twice throughout the centuries."
She smiled, "But I'll let you in on a little secret they told me," she leaned closer to him, "There is a whole world of great things out there waiting, love, friendship, happiness, true family. Genuine beauty, and you can have all of it."
She came so close to his face they were practically kissing, "You are not incapable of love, Yut-lung. You have just never had anyone who loved you and stuck around. Let me be the first; please, allow me to show you the things that make immortality worthwhile."
With that, he finally understood three things. First, when she wrote that letter and killed his brothers, she did it simply to protect him and get him out of a bad situation; no strings attached, no angle, no nothing. Second, she wanted to save his life by turning him into a vampire. And third, she genuinely cared about him, she wanted to love him the way Ash loves Eiji; and she was sincere, though he couldn't figure out how he was so sure of this. He just felt like he could trust everything she said.
She continued speaking, "You can have a thousand more birthdays, all of them much happier than this one. All you have to do is ask.", she finished with a soft smile.
At this point, he became consciously aware of the tears rolling down his face, "I don't want to die.", he said.
Without saying a word, she rolled up her sleeve and bit into her wrist. She sat him up and held it out to him, "There you go, darling. Have at it." and so he did.
The blood tasted better than the finest aged wines he had ever tasted, the feeling and taste was euphoric. All he could make out through the haze was Cassandra saying, "Happy birthday my strong, beautiful Yue."
He barely felt his neck being snapped through the blood haze.
Cassandra sighed as she laid his head on her lap, stroking his face lovingly. She knew she was going to extend the olive branch of family and comradery when she first saw him in her dreams, but this... this was so much more than that. It was what she felt for Shorter, and now him. It was something powerful, something that could drive her to burn the world to the ground should she ever lose it.
'Well then,' she thought, 'I'll just have to make sure I never lose you or Shorter, my beloved Yue.' She laid a lingering kiss on his forehead, picked him up bridal style and started back to the car where a chauffeur awaited them.