"I will not fail to protect you a third time. I will stay by yourside for now and forever until you get sick of me."
Sora nodded towards Hikaru as his brother spoke. He glanced down at Nicole's unconscious form and knelled down, stroking a few strands of hair from her face. He could see the dried tears crusting around her eyes, and he wiped them away with the back of his forefinger. He sighed before lifting her gently, much how like Hikaru lifted Shizuka, and nodded once more towards his brother. He then walked towards the Moon Dormitory, being as gentle as he could with the woman in his arms. Once he made it inside the dorm, he made for her room and found it with ease. It had her scent all over it, so it wouldn't be that hard to find. He placed her upon her bed as softly as he could as to not disturb her.
Once he was satisfied, he walked towards her bathroom, grabbing a bowl and towel in the process. She wasn't injured, but she had blood staining her face and parts of her arm from him. He pulled a chair next to her bed and began rubbing the various blood spots from her face and arms. Her clothes needed to be changed, however; Sora was too much of a decent man to undress her himself. Instead, he called for one of the female vampires and had her change Nicole while he waited outside of her room. Once the female was done, he went back inside and placed the covers over her. He could see the pained expression upon her face, and it only caused a similar expression to cross his.
He felt so useless. After living a bit over six centuries, he should have had the capability to protect others. To protect her. She was his betrothed, his fiance, more importantly, she was his. Though it was her decision if he would be hers, he wasn't going to push her into something that would make her uncomfortable. He didn't want that for anyone. Sighing, he released the band that held his blue locks in place and glanced around, spotting the blue tiger he had purchased for her. Smiling softly, he grabbed the creature and placed it next to her, settling it so that she appeared to be clutching it.
The next day, Sora and Hikaru, along with a majority of the Night Class managed to erase all of the Day Class students' memories, however; the Night Class could not get their mind off of the events. That was the butt of gossip during that day. They were frightened of the first beast, but now there were three of them. They knew the identity of the first beast, the white one that attacked them the first time. And they were not sure how to feel about that. Some opted to go to the council about it while the others proposed to deal with the problem now. This had Sora's blood boiling. He stood suddenly, eyes darkened in the process.
"No one will do anything. She is not the threat. Did you forget? She saved your lives last night. She could have refused to help you all and allowed that black beast to annihilate you all. If it were not for her, you would have all died," he stated in an eeriely cold voice. There were still objections coming from some of the others while the ones who were quiet were still contemplating the situation. The fact remained either way: she was dangerous. What if those two beasts were here because of her? What if she was the cause of all the death roaming the halls of Cross Academy. Surely the Headmaster wouldn't allow such a thing to continue to attend the Academy.
The second day found Sora asleep on the couch of Nicole's room. The soft rising and falling of his chest signaled that he was in a deep sleep. He was only disturbed from it when he felt something laying on his chest and clutching him tightly. He opened his eyes quickly and spotted Nicole kneeling in front of him, her head burried into his chest as she clung to him. He sighed softly, moving so that his arms encircled her form and pulled her up to her feet. Once she was off the floor, he pulled her towards him, settling her so that she was craddled in his lap as she still clung to him. He rubbed her hair in a comforting manner.
"Nikki," he began as he paused. What could he possibly tell her? She had lost her sister, her family. There was an anguish filling her up and he couldn't do anything about it. "I'm here Nikki, I'm not going anywhere," he stated softly, setting his chin atop her head as he continued to hold her. If he could bring a little bit of comfort to her, like this, then he would hold her until she decided she had enough of him. He didn't want to fail her a third time by leaving her.
"I've seen these hands before...in a dream not mine. Who do they belong to? Who are they?"
Whispers.
Words were echoing through a dark hole, however; no sound could be heard. The only thing visible was a pair of lips moving, talking as if conversing casually with another pair of lips. The smaller ones, more defined and shaped feminine, slowly tilted into a smile. They then spoke another word before dissolving into nothing. The background faded as Shizuka watched as the sky became apparent. Indigo, orange, and violet painted the sky in a beautiful twilight. Two lone figures stood a top a hill, standing beneath a large weeping willow. Words were once again being exchanged, however; small fragments could be heard.
"It is my choice."
"It doesn't have to be."
Shizuka frowned in confusion. What was happening? Who were these two people? She tried calling out to them, but found she had no voice. The woman, she held onto the man's hand, almost as if to beg him not to leave, however; the male only shook his head. Something was familiar about him, something Shizuka couldn't pinpoint. She continued to watch as the man turned to face the woman, cupping her cheek in his hand as he did so. Shizuka could see the faint glistening of something. Was it tears? She couldn't tell, but then, the man was gone. Shizuka glanced around as she was shrouded in darkness again. She was so confused. Who were those people? Why was she dreaming of them? She turned around, only to find herself staring into bright amber eyes. For the first time, Shizuka felt fear.
"Shizuka!" a voice called out to a young Shizuka. Her violet eyes turned to the source and spotted a young boy, hair the color of the black sky and eyes that rivaled the moon. He ran over towards her, something in his hands as a smile littered his face. Shizuka canted her head to the side, trying to remember who this boy was. A frown marred his face in the process as he noted the confusion. He pouted his lips as his hands dropped to the side. "You don't remember me? How could you not? You did this to me," he stated as his body began to morph.
It became a grotesque figure, his innards hanging out as his throat was slashed open. Shizuka's eyes widened in fear as the boy began bleeding every where. His arms were being torn from him, his eye's hanging from their sockets as blood coated the area. "How could you forget your cousin and what you did to him?" a voice resonated through the darkness. It sounded eerily familiar, like it belonged to someone she knew, or previously tussled with. A single word left her lips, the sound of a name passing through but failed to reach her ears.
"Mordecai"
Shizuka sat up in bed, her body coated in sweat as it dripped from her forehead and down her arms. Her breathing was heavy and her hand shot to her forehead, resting it there as she tried to control her breaths. Who were those people? The man and the woman? She didn't know who they were, why were they plaguing her dreams? How long was she out? The dream, it seemed so real, as if she had been re-living it. She sighed before noticing she was in a fresh pair of clothing and her wounds had been cleaned and were already healing. Her bones were still sore, however; she merely frowned. Mordecai, that name assaulted her like a needle piercing her brain and it was painful.
He was her cousin. She had killed her cousin when she was younger, when she first turned. How could she have forgotten that? She clutched her sheets tightly, turning her knuckles white in the process. She could feel something warm falling from the corners of her eyes as her brows furrowed. All she brought was death to those around her. She was death incarnate, and she hated it. She didn't want to be the one responsible for killing innocent people. She wouldn't feel so bad if they actually deserved death, however; the ones she killed didn't. They didn't deserve it, least of all Mordecai. He had been so frightened that night and all he tried to do was comfort the scared Shizuka.
She buried her head into her knee's, allowing the tears to fall from her eyes in the process. Once she felt them fall no more, she ripped the sheets off of her body, taking long strides to her closet as she redressed herself into her uniform. She pulled her hair into a ponytail, exposing the mark in the process. Her eyes narrowed in on that atrocious thing that covered her. She would get rid of it one way or another. Whether she would like it or not, she would rid herself of the mark, even if she had to kill Esaias to do it. She had another destination in mind though. She needed to find someone. Her pride, she needed to swallow it. This was the path she was choosing to walk.
Honing in on the scent she was looking for, she walked briskly to find the one she was looking for. Once she found him, she stood in front of him, locking her mahogany irises with his violet ones. This wasn't an easy thing for her to do, and least of all it was the last thing she wanted to do. But if she wanted to keep this under control, if she wanted to stop being Death, then she needed to learn. If he could teach her, she needed to swallow that pride of hers and accept it. She needed someone. And it was unfortunate that she needed him. With her mind made up, she sighed slowly through her nose.
"Teach me."