You took a deep breath as you prepared to go down to the dungeon, but as you descended down the stairs, someone grabbed your arm. It was Ace.
"What really happened last night?" He asked, looking down at you with a frown.
"I told you, I don't remember, okay?" You pulled your arm away. "I just lost it completely! Those animal looking psycho vamps attacked me! They spiked my drink."
He blinked in surprise, "They were hybrids. Which is something that you would know if you attended the family meetings! When was the last time you came to one?"
This conversation again? You really had to go down there to check on the hunter, but you couldn't just leave him hanging. "They are boring. Nothing new is said, and I have better ways to spend my time."
"Like staying out at clubs until it's almost dawn?"
"Like having fun."
He regarded you with a raised eyebrow, "Why were you in there till late?" He came closer, and looked straight into your eyes. "We finally have a home, after years of running, of being hunted, we found a family that doesn't care what we are, and they accept us! You've put them all in danger! If they come for us, do you honestly think they'll let purebloods like Sabo and Luffy go?"
You would never do anything to put those two in danger, ever. You would never intentionally harm anyone in your family. "I didn't mean to, okay? Yes, I stayed out way too late, but it wasn't my intention to kill someone and put us all in danger!" You said.
"You've been acting strange lately though," Ace argued. "Are you relapsing again? Should I be concerned?" He asked this telepathically.
That was unexpected. You messed up once and his mind immediately went there? You could not believe him. You couldn't believe that he would bring this up now of all times, having seen how much you struggled with this in the past.
"You're unbelievable, Ace. How could you even ask me that? You of all people? How many humans have you killed? Huh? I'm sure it's a hundred times mine! I killed one! Just one!" You shouted at him.
"I didn't mean-"
But you wouldn't let him explain himself, "Screw you, Ace. I gotta go check on my one and only victim. Excuse me." You cast him a very pointed glare before you continued on your way.
***
The hunter was lying on the cold hard floor, not breathing. Zoro had been watching him before you got here, and you'd let him go, to get some rest. The hunter was pale white, no colour on his skin, and no breath in his chest. He truly was, for all intents and purposes, dead. It was almost midday now, and you'd been attacked early morning, usually the people reawakened in the first 6 to 12 hours after death.
You stood there, across from the cell he was locked in, and you wondered what to say to him. You had to explain, of course , you rehearsed what to say in your head, you'd heard Sabo say it a few times whenever someone new was turned. You suddenly wished that he was here with you, right now. But you couldn't trouble Sabo with your own screwups, not again.
The hunter stirred, and opened his eyes. He blinked as he sat up and looked around. He took note of the fact that he was sitting on the floor, and he was locked up.
"What the fuck?" He muttered.
"Good morning!" You said, with what you hoped was a bright smile.
His eyes snapped up to you, "Who the hell are you?"
"The grim reaper?" You tried for some humour.
He was not impressed.
"Wait a minute," he squinted at you. "Aren't you the chick I saved from those bloodsuckers? What the hell? What's going on? Why the fuck is it so cold in here?"
It was better to just rip off the bandaid, "You're dead."
"Huh?!" He exclaimed, his entire body stiffened, and his voice filled with disbelief. Then he frowned, eyes widening, "Wait a minute, you... you bit me... you're one of them!"
His memory was coming back, so that was good. "Again, I apologise, I did not intend on killing you." You said looking down.
"Save it. I'm in the waiting period or some shit right? Screw this." He reached into his mouth with his hand, and fiddled around.
"Oh, if you're looking for your nutropill, my friend already removed it for you. You should be grateful." You told him.
The look he gave you made a cold chill run across your spine. Yikes, if looks could kill, you'd be six feet under. The hunter looked down at himself, then he looked around the cell. "Where is my sword?" He asked you with a glare.
"You really think we'd let an experienced hunter who killed two hybrids in less than five minutes keep the only type of weapon with the power to kill vampires?" You asked him. "We confiscated it."
He gritted his teeth and gripped the bars angrily, "Why the fuck would you do that, you damn leech? Who the fuck are you anyway?"
Oh that was right, you had not introduced yourself. "Oh, um, my name is Y/N, but everyone calls me Eca. It's actually a funny story, it's because my twin brother's name is Ace, and we are complete opposites. Get it?"
"Do I look like I'm laughing to you? Bitch, you turned me into a fucking monster, and you think I'll find you funny?" The hunter growled. "I'm a vampire now!"
"No you're not."
"You think I'm stupid? If a human gets bitten and killed by a vampire, they turn into one!" He shouted at you.
You stepped away from the bars, "Wow, you are grossly misinformed, do you even belong to a guild? If a human gets bitten by a vampire and they drink a little blood, the human will live and go his merry way. If a human gets bitten by a vampire and they kill him, but leave some blood still in his body, the human just dies a normal death."
"Are you making a point?"
"As I was saying, but if a human is bitten by a vampire and they drink all the blood in the human's body, killing him, then the vampire's venom travels into his veins, and he reawakens as a dhampir." You continued, "That's what you are. My venom is literally the only thing keeping you alive. You can survive on a little blood and human food for thirty days, and then you die for real. If you want to live, you have to drink the blood of a pureblood vampire then consume the blood of a live human to the point of death before your thirty days are up. Then you will become a vampire."
"Oh good. So I just need to starve myself and I'll die in thirty days. Thanks for nothing, Leech." The hunter snapped at you.
You frowned, "Why would you make yourself suffer like that? Why would you want to die instead of embracing the brand new you, with extremely improved senses, emotions, reactions, speed, you name it! It's the absolute best! You get to see humans progress, technology grow, empires rise and fall! Why would not want that?"
He looked at you like you were crazy. "You kill people! You fucking drink blood! Why would I want that? I'm not a murderer!"
"Look, if you're worried about your conscience, don't be. You can just live off blood bags. To a human, dhampir and a normal vampire, the blood of a pureblood vampire is like a drug, once you taste it, the world changes in an instant, everything is hazy, yet heightened, it's a beautiful frenzy of pure bliss, you won't even remember the human you kill." Just the thought of it was making your mouth water, and you could almost feel that rush again.
"Let me spell it out for you, Leech. I am not turning myself into a monster. I would rather die than kill humans." The hunter said, his voice calm, and his resolve set.
That was rich. Why were the humans always such foolish creatures? Why did they revel in futility and in things that end? "Well that's rich, coming from a hunter! How many of my kind have fallen to your sword? In your short life, you've probably lived less than three decades yet you've probably killed vampires with lives and memories worth centuries! You don't want to be a monster? What bullshit! Hunters are soulless, mindless creatures who prey on their superiors because you want to be like us!" You screamed at him. "As far as I'm concerned, hunters are the worst creatures to ever walk this earth!"
This was frustrating, and you needed to get out of here. This hunter was just like his predecessors, arrogant shits who failed to grow with the world, who could not learn to accept progress and made a hobby of killing innocent creatures of the night. You walked away even as the hunter hurled all kinds of derogatory words from inside his prison about how vampires were polluting the world with their evil ways, and needed to be put down.
You'd spent six whole centuries of your life being hunted for the sole reason that you and your brother dared to exist, by vampire hunters seeking to end your life, by vampire purists seeking to purge your tainted blood from the vampire race, and by vampire cultists seeking to worship you for your unique existence, two children that should never have been born. There was a time when the world hated you, and you'd loathed your existence, but not anymore. You'd learned to live to love and to enjoy your immortality and found people who accepted you for yourself. You would not let one hunter send you back to a miserable self loathing existence that you had shed three centuries ago.
***
You barely made it back to your room without falling apart. Everything was a total mess and you needed to catch your breath, vent, scream and cry out. You just needed someone who wouldn't blame you for what you'd done, someone who would spare you the tough love for now, was that too much to ask? You were also going through a lot after all.
With a heavy sigh, you opened your bedroom door, and to your surprise, Sabo was sitting there, clearly waiting for you. As soon as you came in, he stood up, and opened his arms wide, looking at you. It was as if everything that you had been holding in today shattered and it came pouring out of your eyes as tears as you ran straight into his arms, and buried your head in his chest. He put his arms around you and held you close.
"It's okay," he whispered, hands on your back. "You'll be okay."
Because he was being so kind to you, you held on to him much tighter, and bawled even more. This was all you needed for now, just for someone who cared about you to hold you, and comfort you.
"I'm sorry." You said, looking up at him.
"It wasn't your fault."
Tears still clinging to your eyes, you looked at him again, "Ace asked me if I'm using again."
Sabo's blue eyes softened, his expression full of sorrow, "He is just worried about you. He didn't mean it maliciously... you know how he is. I'll talk to him, get him to apologise to you." He said, and with his one hand, he wiped your tears with his thumb.
"I know he's just concerned, but it still hurts. I can't believe that he thinks I would do that to you again, after all that we've been through." You said stepping back.
"If you crave it, if you need it again to the point that you can't carry on anymore... I hope that you know not to go to strangers in a club. You can always come to me, and I'll help you." Sabo told you.
He was always kind to you like this, even after all the pain you'd both been through all those years ago. If he continued being like this you were afraid you might end up taking advantage of him. After all, being this close to him, you could almost taste it on your tongue, the addictive sweet scent of his pure blood calling to you again. What you wouldn't give to be lost in a sea of that high, to dance to the music of nothingness in that beautiful void where there was no problems, no pain only pure unadulterated happiness. But it had taken you whole decades to get clean, and you'd nearly lost everything back then. Because of the addiction, you had lost Sabo.
"I can manage. Don't worry." You smiled.
"Good," he nodded. "Please be careful from now on. Things could have gone really terribly for you if those hybrids had gotten hold of you. Your blood is more precious than mine."
"No it's not." You shook your head. "You mean worse than me killing an innocent person?"
"Yes. You could have gotten hurt." He said.
You blinked. "Me getting hurt is worse than a human dying?"
Sabo placed a hand on your cheek. "To me, there is nothing worse than you getting hurt."
As you looked up at him in that moment, you wished that you could turn things back to how they were, three centuries ago. Back when the two of you were happy together, even when you were being hunted, and running most of the time, back when you loved each other, and back before you hurt him.
"I'm okay. I promise." But even as you said that, fatigue caught up to you, and your knees buckled. He caught you with one hand and steadied you.
"It's almost midday, you need to sleep." He said. "Should I carry you to your bed, or tuck you into your coffin?"
Rest sounded absolutely glorious right now. "My coffin."
Sabo smiled, and picked you up. He carried you to behind your bed, where you casket sat. He gently placed you inside, and pulled up the blanket for you.
"Sleep tight, Y/N." He said, giving you a chaste kiss on the forehead, and closing the casket.
In the darkness, you were finally able to sleep.