Murr hissed as Amelia went to grab the fence behind her to stand up. "Mademoiselle Amelia, you're..."The man beside me began in a breathless way. "...a vampire..." We both finished as we could see her eyes being red and shining.
Her canines showed up and we looked up as we heard a sound of glass shattering to see a man entering the airship to our surprise.
"What...?" Amelia wondered, obviously lost just like us.
"Found... ...yooou !!"The man screamed, charging toward Amelia.
"...Hm." The man looked at his left to see the tanned gentleman with Amelia in his arms and me by his side.
"I thought I had you there. What're you ?" He asked.
This was a young man with bluish dark wavy hair and light blue eyes. One side of his hair was cut shorter than the other in an asymmetrical fashion, with one level on the left side, and two levels on the right. His left ear was embedded with two ear buds and a dangling hourglass earring. His outfit consisted of a baggy coat with hanging sleeves and a tail that bells out and floats. One side of the coat often slips off his shoulder. Underneath, he wears a striped vest and a belt. He was also wearing spats and short boots on his feet and pointed gloves on his hands and a large light blue bow is wrapped around his waist.
And I didn't know why but I felt something when I saw him...
"... I could ask you the same." The gentleman answered as the mysterious character glanced at me with his light blue eyes before reporting his attention on Amelia and her helper.
"My only business is with that girl." He said standing up. "Take my advice--- Leave her and get lost. If you don't..." He tilted his head to the side having his bangs covering his left eye and smiling at us in creepy way. "...you'll get hurt." He threatened.
The gentleman tilted his head to the side before looking directly at his opponent with a firm gaze. "I refuse." He stated.
The dark haired man closed his eyes then next thing that happened, he tried to slash Amelia's savior with a dagger but the gentleman dodged all his attempts to harm him.
"Haha ! For someone carrying a girl, you move pretty well !" The opponent exclaimed, then he did something so the weapon that attacked Amelia and the gentleman changed to a wire but he also managed to dodge it so it hit the fence, they were coming my way and I saw Amelia grunting in pain before she screamed, alerting the man carrying her.
His opponent used that to wrap the wire around his ankle and made him stumble but the thing that surprised me was that... The gentleman threw Amelia in the air !
"Amelia !" I used the opponent's back to jump and catched her as we landed downstairs, I could see the man punched the attacker before he jumped and landed beside me, he took Amelia from my arms and began to run, I immediately followed after him.
'He has red eyes...' I thought in realization.
As we were running, Amelia was panting and her cheeks were flushed red.
'I wonder what's happening... It can't only be anemia...' I wondered as a man in uniform took Amelia from the now known vampire, she was wearing his coat.
"Mlle. Amelia !" He called out to her in worry before adressing the man. "Please take her to the infirmary." He instructed.
"What are you going to do ?" The man asked him, slightly panicked.
"Catch the lot who tried to attack her and find out what this is about" The white haired vampire answered as I was crouched to examine Amelia before turning to him.
"No... Oh..." Amelia was embracing me from behind and I turned my head to look at her, surprised. "Amelia ?" Her cheeks were still red and she was panting like before.
Before I could understand what was happening, the vampire that I didn't really know pushed me And Amelia bit his neck to suck his blood.
He went on his knees before finally pushing her away, putting a hand on his neck as the others passengers panicked and ran away. Blood was on the floor as he stepped away.
"... I'm not cold anymore... ?" Amelia spoke in wonder. "I'm warm...❤ More... Give me more blood !!" She exclaimed as a black liquid was coming from her eyes and her chest, the gentleman put an arm in front of me for protection I supposed but his expression was one of shock.
Then dark briars came from the ground and attacked the passengers that were near, including me, she tried to jump on me but the vampire got here and grabbed her wrists.
"Mlle. Amelia, stop this." He tried to talk to her as I struggled to break free. "Don't you understand ? Vampires are forbidden to attack humans. If you persist in this, they may dispose of you !!" He exclaimed.
She screamed and managed to push him back, visibly not listening to him, she went to attack him but the attacker from earlier arrived and pushed her away, also getting me free as I landed on the floor behind the tanned man.
"...Good grief. There, you see ? I told you you'd get hurt." He spoke to the man in front of me who was as surprised as me. "Just as I thought, her symptoms manifested."
"And !? Did you figure it out !?" A man with short, messy, light brown hair and bright red eyes asked as he was carrying a fainted passenger away.
"Of course." Our savior responded. "Unbearable chills. ...The black tears that spilled from her eyes and chest, and... ...shadow briars." He enunciated Amelia's situation as he pointed a finger at her. "Malnomen--- Eglantine, Prison of briars." He stated.
"Mal... nomen...?" The vampire wondered, having a painful expression on his face as I inspected his neck.
"That's what we call the remains of true names warped by the "maladies."" He explained. "True names are vampires' lives, and that woman's has been warped. That's why she's lost her sense of self and why she can't fight the impulse to drink blood, even though it's generally easily controlled." He kept talking.
Amelia went to attack with her briars but the one with brown hair shot it, destroying it with a gun. "Hey, quack !" He called out, to the man in front of us I deduced. "Quit jawing and finish it !" He yelled at the "quack".
"Don't be so impatient, baldy !" He retorted to his... comrade ?
"I'm not bald !"
As I was distracted by their petty argument, the one beside me grabbed the quack's coat. "Are you... going to kill her ? Are you one of the Church's Chasseurs ? Or are you a Bourreau, an executioner, come to dispose of her !?" He interrogated, seeming panicked to me as I stared at him with a curious gaze.
"Pfft !" The quack let out a cakle. "Me, a Chasseur ? A Bourreau ??" He repeated. "That's rich !" He exclaimed, finding it funny as we were both surprised by his reaction behind him.
"---Non !" He answered. "I am a doctor. One who specializes in vampires." He turned his head to make eye-contact with us. "I came... ...to heal her !" He stated with a smile.
He took out a book and just like the gentleman next to me, my eyes widened as I recognized the object in his hand.
'A blue leather cover and jet-black pages, a clockwork grimoire linked to a silver chain...' The book's description repeated into my mind.
"That's... It can't be..." The vampire beside me mumbled.
"The Book of Vanitas...!?" We both said at the same time although with differents tone, he was bewildered while I was speaking softly with an amazed tone.
The pages of the book was moving quickly as if on their own. "Now then... Let's get her true name returned, shall we ?" I heard the holder of the book said.
As we saw a bright light emitting from the book, the briars dissapeared and later on, Amelia was in the man's arms looking fine now.
""Florifel," she who guides spring !" He said to her. "I see. So this is your true name, is it ? It suits you very well."
I stood up with the man as he put his hand of his neck, we were looking in awe at what was happening.
"Oh... My name... My... ...real name...!" Amelia exclaimed before turning to the doctor with tears in her eyes. "Thank you...!" She thanked him before fainting as I was still in a kind of trance at what I just saw.
"Huh, she dead ?" Wondered the brown haired man.
"Idiot... She's only fainted." The doctor told him.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw the gentleman opening his mouth but then the door opened and we were pointed at with guns by mens in uniforms, the doctor and his comrade looked to be sweating at their arrival and I noticed that parts of the roof was crumbling down.
The doctor stood up and said the same threat he told us at the beginning before a part of the ceiling landed on his head, knocking him back and making him fall through the hole in the airship.
Without realizing what I was doing, I was falling too with one of the doctor's ankles in my hand and the vampire was grabbing the other, I looked up to notice that this night was with a blue moon.
'I really hate... blue moons...' I thought looking at it.
The gentleman grabbed me before we landed so I wasn't hurt, he was sitting on some of the ceiling's debris with me sitting beside him while the doctor landed with less delicacy as he was head first in the debris.
I got startled hearing him laugh. "What is this !? We're alive ! That makes no sense !" He exclaimed in disbelief, still laughing. "How on Earth did we land anyway ?" He wondered.
The man who protected me grabbed his ankles before putting him out of the debris. "What was that back here ? What did you do to her !?" He interrogated.
The doctor did a flip and landed on his feet before standing up. "An "Inverse operation." I used the power of the Book of Vanitas to interfere with her true name and remove the irritant. That's all it was." He explained like it was no big deal.
"...That's... ...all ? ...What are you saying...?" The gentleman asked, shaking. "That was phenomenal !" He beamed with shining eyes.
He kept speaking in excitement but stopped when the owner of the book laughed.
"All that, over this book !?" He exclaimed. "No one's ever looked at it with shining eyes like that before !"
The dark skinned man turned to me. "Was what I said really that funny ?" He wondered.
I shook my head in response. "You're right. This book is nothing like the story made it seem, it was amazing what we saw in the airship." I spoke softly, understanding his previous excitement.
"For me, you're funny." The doctor answered still laughing a bit. "And I've decided I like you. What's your name ?" He asked him, I turned to the man and tilted my head.
'It's true that I still don't know his name...' I realized.
"... Noé." He answered.
""Child of the Ark," hm ? That's a good name." The still not introduced man commented.
"I am Vanitas. I inherited this book and the name from the Vampire of the Blue moon, and I am... ...an average human being !" He finally introduced himself as we stared at him.
"Lend me your strenght, Noé !" He demanded to Noé. "Great fighting power, a sturdy body... No doubt you'll make a fine "shield"!"
Noé just looked at him. "Huh ? No way." He immediately declined.
There was a silence for a moment as they seemed to freeze in place.
"I see, I see ! You're happy, are you ? I just knew you'd say that !!" Vanitas happily exclaimed cleching his fist as Noé tried to talk to him but failed.
"Would you listen to--?" Noé tried to speak.
"You saw the girl back there, didn't you ?"
Now that got Noé's attention as well as mine.
"The number of vampires who've lost control after their true names were attacked by maladies is increasing rapidly. If we let things stand, without investigating this cause... ...in the not so distant future, you vampires---
---will be destroyed."
Vanitas was looking at us with a smug smile as I unconsciously gulped.
"Let me... ...prevent that for you. I'll do as I please... ...Use methods I choose...
...And no matter what you people want...
...I will save you... ...Without fail !!" He stated, looking creepy to be honest as we were both staring at him.
I then finally decided to stand up. "So basically, we have no words to say in this... You're just gonna act and we'll have to follow you around..." I summarized with closed eyes before opening them and see him staring at me with slightly widened eyes and a expression of confusion and shock on Vanitas' face then he smiled brightly and walked to me before grabbing my hands in his.
"It's you Iona !?" He exclaimed, leaning his face close to mine and I only realized now that my cloak just fell on the ground when I stood up but... I was confused by his words.
"Do I know you ? How do you know my true name ?" I asked him, raising a brow as I tilted my head, not understanding what was happening right now.