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It had been a long time since Zero had dreamed of something other than the nightmare that had been his family dying before his eyes- his brother betraying them for the pureblood Shizuka Hiou- his brother for betraying him.
Ichiru had been everything to him- and Zero had always known that the moment he even so much as glanced at his brother again he would forgive him near instantly- forgive him for causing their parent's deaths, for causing this fate to befall him, for leaving.
But tonight Zero did not dream that awful dream.
Tonight he dreamed of something far different, of being something far different.
Sweet laughter bloomed in her when he caught her in their game of chase, a smile engraved on her fair features, her violet eyes alight with perfect happiness.
And how could she not be happy? She was with the love of her eternal life, the one she would never willing separate from- not in a million years.
Her lover lavished her in kisses along her neckline before picking her up by the legs and pushing her up against a tree, his lips locking tight over her own.
His familiar taste brought near instant gratification to her, the notes of sweet wine and apples drawing her in further as he tasted her in return.
"Kana..." She moaned and he chuckled against her throat as he delved down to nip at her jugular.
"We really mustn't." She went on and he did not stop his ministrations.
"Oh but we must." He drawled and she laughed.
In a smooth effortless strike, he bit into her throat, drinking in deep pulls from her as pleasure raced through her body at the feeling of her true mate drinking from her.
She craved his own, but they both knew that they couldn't both share blood at once without letting the others of their kind know that they were forever entwined just yet.
No, that would officially mark them as mated, and they couldn't- not yet. Not when her lover had yet to accomplish his goal of establishing a government for their people.
She had taken comfort in the fact that one day they would be reunited, that one day they would be free to mate and create a family, but that could only happen when their world was safe and united- when their vampire race was safe from the humans that sought to destroy them.
He had changed recently, she could acknowledge though.
His dear friend, his hooded lady as he called her, had convinced him that perhaps the human threat could be cause to unite their people- if only humans could be made a long standing threat.
She had caught them whispering together some nights, and it worried her deeply.
His friend had never cared for her, she knew.
She had never craved power like they had and she knew that his friend thought he deserved better- someone as equally power-hungry as he was.
And yes, he was power hungry- but that was not cause for her to leave him, and she grew more and more convinced that she would never leave his side as he became more menacing as the years passed.
She knew he craved kingship, that he wished to show his power over their people, that he wished to prove he was the best, the strongest- the most powerful.
She knew that he would prove himself one day.
But until then she was too caught up in her heart's desire for him, her yearning for his body pressed against hers, for his soul to touch hers when they mated.
So she kissed his throat softly, with care, as he fed off of her, her hand cradling his head against her throat.
She would give him everything that she could.
When he pulled away he kissed her yet again and she could taste her own flavor mingled with his own.
"Amaya, come with me. I cannot- I need you now. I need you with me forever more."
His words made her weep with tears of joy.
"Yes, my love. Forever."
Zero slowly became conscious as the blessed dream slipped away from his mind as daylight slowly began to flood into his bedroom.
He took his time getting out of bed, stretching out like a well-sunned cat and near purring with contentment.
The dream still hung in his memory and he was surprised he did not forget it as he moved to get ready for the day.
He showered slowly and dressed even slower, not in a rush to make his way downstairs to whatever breakfast experiment Cross had prepared for them all.
God knew he would end up cooking them something different when he even got a look at whatever concoction it was. And surprisingly... he was fine with it.
He slid out into the hall and down the stairs, ignoring the surprised looks on Yuki and Cross' faces as he blissfully made his way about the kitchen without a care.
Indeed, the two were too shocked to even think of breaking the silence- both too pleased to risk ruining his mood.
It was saturday morning and Yuki made sure to enjoy Zero's good mood and try and extend it- not wanting to remind him that they had to be present at the headmaster's office in the evening for a meeting with Kaname.
Yes, Yuki knew how much Zero despised Kaname, and she was resolved not to even breathe a word of it lest he come down from his high.
So they made short work of their homework, Zero helping her with her own without even a sigh being uttered on his part before they headed into town for errands.
They enjoyed their time in town, Zero indulging her in hopping from store to store needlessly before they had lunch then hopped around some more, slowly accomplishing their errands at the same time.
At the end he seemed to zone out and they mindlessly ate ice cream before heading back, Zero becoming more distant as the afternoon went on.
They each unpacked the requested items and patrolled the school before heading to where they usually met atop the school's roof to convene and update one another.
It was then that Zero's head appeared to clear and his mood shifted.
"We're being attacked." He groaned.
"Call the headmaster." He commanded and she made short work of pulling out the phone and doing so while Zero trained his eyes on the trees where he could sense an enemy group approaching.
"Should I call Kaname?" She asked and he nodded.
"Stay up here long enough to tell them what they are when you see them. I don't think they're vampires..." He trailed off at the end, his eyes narrowing on the tree line as beings made up of shadows manifested and broke through, bolting for the path that led to the Sun Dorms.
He leapt down from the room and hit the ground in a roll, stopping the shades in their tracks with his appearance.
They hissed their speech, muttering to themselves or their master.
He stared the biggest one down but it was the smaller one beside him that spoke,
"Our master bid us to search for the one with violet eyes- I am glad that you decided to make this easy."
Zero narrowed his eyes on them as he could pick up the auras of some of the Nobles arriving.
It was Kain and Aido who appeared first, but they stopped just short of it all, staring beyond the first group and back at the treeline where others had manifested.
"What do you want with me- what does your master want with me?" Zero grappled and more hissing broke out.
"You'll see."
Zero could sense Kuran draw closer as more of his inner circle appeared, blocking the path.
It seemed the shades did as well, because they attacked en masse.
Great, was all Zero could think before he was caught up in it all, putting down about a dozen before he was surrounded first.
I probably shouldn't have stood that close to them. Oh well.
Kuran appeared within a minute as the Nobles were being surrounded themselves.
Zero glanced up at Yuki and she tossed him Artemis Rod as Bloody Rose ran out of bullets.
For once he was glad that she didn't get involved.
It would seem she had begun to develop a sense of self-preservation at last.
He laid to rest the ones that had surrounded him just as the shades began to manifest their own weapons to fight with- none of them with guns, thankfully.
The rod's anti-vampire effects were gratefully absent against him as he beat several off at once before Kuran had seemed to tire of the charade, telekinetically wiping out more than Zero could count as he fought.
God, how many of them are there?
He entered a trance as he fought, falling back on muscle memory as his mind infuriatingly slipped away from him.
Amaya followed the hooded woman down into the catacombs, into the Vault where Kaname had decided his allies would go to rest when their time had run dry and existence had ceased to entertain them.
Kaname's friend had called her to the cave where it began in the guise of a friendly meeting, leading her in so deeply that Amaya knew she would have trouble finding her way out alone.
It was only when they happened upon a side cavern that they stopped, the hooded woman pulling down her hood to reveal herself fully to Amaya for the first time.
"What... what are you?" Amaya breathed, shocking coursing through her entire being as she took the other female in.
Bright white hair braided back into a stern bun, violet eyes narrowing down on the slightly smaller woman who she so much resembled.
It was as if only their height could set them apart from one another.
"Who are you?" She continued and the woman stepped closer to her.
"I am much more than I appear- it hardly matters who or what I am anymore... But I have drawn you here for a reason."
Amaya's hands quivered unwillingly at her sides and she squeezed them into fists to stop it.
"I have plans that will not come to fruition for some time," The woman said.
She narrowed her eyes upon her once more, "You will help me accomplish them."
Amaya swallowed down her fear, "What are they before I agree to anything."
The other woman cocked a brow, "Wise move. Perhaps you are more than just a pretty face."
Zero felt the rod escape his hands and was pulled back to reality, catching a blade before it cut him in two with his hand, blood escaping his new wound and irritating his senses.
He grabbed the rod back up and was forced to continue with only one hand.
Fuck!
The woman explained her goals with the most positive of viewpoints and Amaya could see how Kaname had easily given into the woman's wills on numerous occasions.
Amaya was not so easily swayed however.
"No." She cut off the woman, "I cannot rightfully help you."
Amaya blew out a breath, "I know you wish the best for our race- but we cannot continue to toy with mortals so. It has been a thousand years since we have been united- to keep toying them would incite only a fiercer war, surely you see that?"
The woman frowned at her.
"Your mate agrees with me."
Amaya blinked, "Excuse me?"
"Kaname does not know I have brought you here, but he agrees that you should act as his rightful queen. Amaya-san, I have worked too long and too hard to lose it all because you will not do your duty, because you will not do as you should."
Amaya's rage was ignited and she felt her power spark into a raging fire, the cavern quivering with her fury.
How dare this woman question her!
How dare she question how she behaved, how she acted!
"You have yet to sire a child." The woman continued, "But your mate required many to establish a dynasty. Your mate does not fault you for this, but the others most certainly see it as weakness."
Amaya bit her tongue, blood filling her mouth.
The woman then acted so fast Amaya didn't even see her hint at moving.
She rammed the vampire queen into the wall and impaled her on a rocky shard.
Zero was thrust back to reality as the fight came to an end, the shades turning tail, dispersing into the night near all at once.
Why? Why were they running?
There were so many of them they could no doubt have won, so why were they running?
For a minute it was silent and he heard Yuki leap to the ground with heavy footwork, approaching them all and handing him Bloody Rose back.
"Zero, are you alright?" She asked first, breaking the silence.
He glanced down at his hand.
"I'll be fi-"
Yuki's scream cut him off and he felt pain bloom in his abdomen as he was run through with a shadowy spear.
Blood splattered Yuki when he coughed and fell to his knees, Yuki stock still in shock.
Bloody Rose fell out of his hands along with Artemis Rod.
He felt the spear dissolve back into the night and blood near flooded out of him.
Kuran appeared at his side and Zero wondered half-heartedly where the Nobles had run off to.
Amaya gasped and felt blood trickle from her mouth.
It was not a killing blow for a pureblood, but she had not fed recently and felt weakness flood her.
Her vision faded in and out and she felt the hooded woman leave her there as voices invaded the tunnel system.
Hunters.
"Come on, Kiryu. Drink." Zero could hear Kuran command but all he could do was cough up more blood, coming in and out of consciousness.
Yuki knocked herself back into action, "Zero, Zero..."
She shook him awake every time he slipped away but he felt a blessed numbness invade him.
For a moment he could smell Kuran's blood, but then his sense of smell was gone.
"Kiryu, drink damn you."
For a moment he thought that the Kuran he had grown up with was one in the same with Amaya's lover.
Surely that wasn't true...
He coughed and fell lax, his head falling back in the pureblood's hold.
Amaya pulled herself off the shard and fell to the ground, rolling onto her side against the wall, hoping the hunters would not notice her.
Her vision faded in and out once more and she suddenly found a hunter sitting beside her, his hand putting pressure to her wound.
"Please don't..." She mumbled.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."
She felt him work magic beside her, heard him mutter soft incantations.
She was healed within the hour, but she knew she could no longer continue in the world above.
She knew that her bond with her mate had dissolved within the moments that had passed since she had awakened healed completely- she could no longer sense his love for her- it was as if the woman had wiped his memory of her away, leaving only Amaya with her broken bond.
No, the world above needed to think her dead and gone.
Amaya couldn't bear to leave the hunter that had healed her with nothing however.
So she gave him her vitality in exchange.
She gave him her strength as a pureblood, her long life, her keen senses- so that at least he may stand a chance against her ilk.
It was then that she had him entomb her within the cavern where he had found her, her weakened body achingly tired as she slipped away.
Zero could vaguely hear Yuki screaming about... something.
No, she was screaming at him.
She wanted him to wake up.
But he couldn't work up the energy to care.
He blew out a breath, and then he breathed no more.
She had no way of knowing that the hunter would go on to do more than survive, but to sire a line of hunters more powerful than the rest- one that would inevitably end with her rising up from her sleep upon the death of his last true heir.