Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of its characters. I've gathered Vampire facts around the web so therefore I take no credit on that part, but I do own the plot.

Summary: Centuries ago, Vampire Lord Battousai killed a Royal, who vowed to return and get revenge. Her reincarnation has arrived, but this time her death will be his ultimate despair. Can she go through with her vow or will someone do it for her?

Crimson Reflections

Written By LittoGrrlStephie

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Prologue

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It was raining–-raining blood. Thunder had become the beating drum for the battle as lightning lit the way for the warriors to travel in the darkness, but one side had the advantage of being able to see clearly in the dark. The Moon was hidden behind the clouds, shining a deadly red like the ground. Cries of terror, screams of agony, and the stench of death lingered in the air as the night grew darker and darker until there was nothing left but the shadows. Even the castle, which stood on the hill that over looked all of Japan, seemed to be enveloped in the black aura that was traveling like a deadly epidemic.

The once heavenly kingdom of Japan was now just a faint memory locked within the minds of the people, whom refused to believe that their world was being destroyed and conquered by the very creatures that they had once forced into oblivion.

After centuries of being locked away and forgotten, the Damned have finally resurfaced. The day in which they fought back and returned from their hell was forever remembered by all. January 1, 2225 marked the beginning of the Vampires' reign upon the Earth, the day in which their kind had finally been able to come out into the open once again. But before the Vampires could call themselves the dominant species, they had to get rid of the highest of the old dominant creatures: the Royals of Japan.

In the year 2083, Japan had taken the liberty of conquering the world with their weapons of mass destruction as a major threat. When no one would go up against them, due to the fear of destroying everyone on the planet, Japan had gone back to their old ways with an emperor controlling the entire country, but instead of holding power over just Japan, the Emperor controlled the entire world.

The other countries were also allowed to have their own leaders, whom all worked with the Emperor to create a better world. Once the Royal Family had proven their kindness to the rest of the world, people had grown to accept them and all agreed that the new system worked properly. For this reason, the Vampires needed to get rid of the Royals, to prove that they had power over Earth.

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The piercing scream of a Royal set a pained reaction from the others as their family heard each other go to the after life. One by one, all of them fell, and one by one, they were left to bleed to their deaths as their killers smiled and took in the scent of their blood as a victory prize.

The Vampires moved around the castle in silence, swiftly killing the humans in their way they could finish off the rest of the Royal family before the Elders came to claim the world.

The rain outside pounded against the stone building, echoing through the entire palace like dropping bombs, each pellet of rain sending another shiver down the spines of the Vampires' prey.

Somewhere within the castle, a clock struck eleven times, causing the Vampires to panic. Their task was still not done and they knew that the Elders would not be pleased if even one Royal remained breathing when they arrived. However, it was not necessarily the Elders that these Vampires feared, but instead the wrath of the Eldest Vampire alive, their Vampire Lord. They knew for certain that they'd no longer be a part of the living if they failed. With that thought in mind, the Vampires hastily went in search for their last opponent.

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Tears stained the milky white skin of the last of the Royals as the Emperor's prized daughter of 17 ran down the dark hallways that she had come to learn by heart. She kept in her sobs as the salted spheres poured out of her eyes unwillingly. She forced herself to continue running instead of turning back when she heard the cries of her family members, more tears clouding her vision when she realized that she was the last one alive.

The girl ran quickly up the stairs to the West Wing, toward the Tower, which held the one thing that she needed to make it out of here in one piece. She knew her duty as the last Royal and she was going to make it out of here alive and live on, if not for herself then for her family, her people. If she could just make it there before her death, then she knew that she could at least save mankind's hope by making sure the Vampires didn't get their fangs on her family's power.

Feet running instinctively to the closest route to the Tower, the young lavender-haired girl made her way to the very top. Her white night dress fell behind her in ripples as she tried to open the door, her eyes widening when she realized that the door was stuck.

Startled sapphire orbs further widened when she felt the dark aura of the invaders coming closer to her.

Ramming the door open with her side, the princess nearly stumbled onto the ground when the door gave way.

Acting as calm as she could, she closed the wooden door and bolted it shut from the inside.

Turning around, she quickly looked around the Tower, grateful that the Tower had a window that she could use to jump out of once she got what she needed.

Racing over to the center of the room, she smiled as she looked at the ground and saw a carving of a dragon. The Stone Dragon was coiled up so that its outer body made a circle around its face, a blue sphere placed between its claws in the center.

At seeing that the crystals were still in their rightful place, the last Royal sighed. She had almost thought the Vampires had already found out where the 'weapons of mass destruction' were and taken them away. There was no doubt that the Vampires would use it to gain power like Japan had done only centuries before. Her ancestors had used it as a threat toward the world and she knew that she couldn't allow history to repeat itself, she refused to allow the Vampires to go through with wiping out the entire human race.

Looking around the room, she dragged a nearby red carpet over the Stone Dragon and worked quickly as she heard the banging on the door. They were coming closer. She had to make sure that they didn't see it or everything that her family and guards had fought for would have been in vain.

"Please not now," said the princess as she straightened out the carpet so that no one would think otherwise about the room.

Her head snapped toward the door when she heard the creaking of the metal hinges on the bolt. She took a step back instinctively as the door swung open to reveal three grinning Vampires, whom were all prepared to kill her.

Jumping slightly when a perfectly clawed hand moved onto her left shoulder, the princess stared when the other Vampires before her bowed to the one behind her. She felt her breath hitch in her throat when she the male's dark features.

Ice met fire as the two stared at each other, their eyes having their own war as the Vampire waved his other hand at the others, whom all bowed before leaving the room and shutting the door behind them.

"Well now, what have we here? The last of the Royals," said the dark figure, his voice deep and rich as it mocked the young girl, who glared back at him in defiance.

"What do you want?" asked the girl.

"You'll call me Lord Battousai, Kamiya," ordered the Vampire as he suddenly had her wind pipe in his hands, threatening to suffocate her.

"I'll call you no such thing! You are not my lord!" snapped the teenager, gaining a slap clear across her beautiful face as she dropped to the ground, her fiery eyes narrowing at the creature that loomed over her.

Her eyes took in his outline and she shuddered as his golden eyes glared down into her very soul. At that moment, she finally noticed his blood-like mane in its high ponytail, which did nothing to make his appearance any less deadly and terrifying. Even if the Vampire had a small structure, his aura and the power that she could feel radiating from his body was enough to make that part up and surpass it.

She cringed as she saw two swords dangling at his waist. The Damned was obviously well trained with the sword and use to the old ways that her family brought back centuries ago.

It was then, as she sat there staring at the Vampire before her, that she realized just who she was facing. The red hair, the amber eyes, the dark aura-–she was within the presence of the infamous Battousai.

"Oh, but I will be," drawled Battousai with a grin at seeing her horror stricken face after she realized who he was, "once I take over your pathetic kingdom. You might as well learn to call me your lord, my lady."

"I will not be your lady!" shouted the last of the Kamiyas as she stood up and stepped back in terror at the mere thought of becoming such a degrading creature's mate.

"You have no choice," stated Battousai in a matter-of-fact tone, "unless you wish to die that is. I'll gladly take your life for you, Kamiya Kaoru." A satisfied grin took over his face. "If you become my queen, however, I'll make sure that you're treated as the queen you were meant to be. Your people will follow without any struggles when they realize that one of their precious Royals has succumbed to the new way of life with my own kind. If you don't, they're bound to try and kill me, then I'll have no choice but to make them pay for their insolence. You wouldn't want them to suffer, now would you?" asked the Vampire. He knew full well that Kaoru would never want anyone to get hurt or die because of her, knew this because he had been eyeing her since the day she was born.

Kaoru stared blankly at him as tears welled up in her eyes again. She didn't want to be his queen, but if she didn't, then her people would all die because of her. She couldn't be selfish--she had no choice.

Bowing her head, she allowed her tears to trickle down her cheeks and drop to the floor, landing right on the carpet that was directly above the Stone Dragon's blue sphere.

Battousai hissed and jumped back as a blue aura enveloped the entire room, the power seemingly ringing as something from the ground moved up until the Stone Dragon in the floor seemed to become a capsule. The capsule was high enough so that Kaoru could easily reach the glowing blue and red crystals in the very center.

The pulsating crystals were like pendants, each one glowing with an inner fire as the room turned into a purple hue from the colliding power of the two crystals. The narrow, diamond-shaped crystals were almost 2 and half inches. Around their tips were thin, silver necklaces.

"The Legendary Pendants of Akuma and Amaterasu," whispered Kaoru as she moved to touch the blue one, but stopped as she dropped to the floor, clutching at her bleeding stomach

"Thank you for showing me to the crystals," said Battousai with a smirk. His cruel laughter rang throughout the room as he released the hilt of his katana, which was now lodged in the mortal's body.

"They…won't work for you…bastard! I vow to you...that I shall return….and when I do… you'll pay…" gasped out Kaoru as the pain ripped through her small frame with each word she spoke. The blade had struck from her back to her stomach, barely missing her lungs and allowing her to live for a few more agonizing minutes.

"These crystals will make me supreme ruler of the world. Don't worry, I'll make sure to give you credit," said Battousai darkly as he held her chin to his face, taking pleasure as he watched her pain.

"It takes two to have ultimate power," said Kaoru darkly as she laughed, blood dripping from the side of her mouth as she cringed in pain.

The Vampire only stared at her confused. What in the world was she talking about? The crystals had no set masters and it only required one person to control them, to make them destroy.

Amber eyes widened as the princess spitted at him and he barely managed to dodge the blood that went past him when he moved out of the way.

He glared at her as she laughed even in her dying state.

"No one shall be able to use that crystal but me…. You'll never have complete power of this world! Never!" shouted Kaoru before she gasped for breath, falling to the floor with a sickening thud as she felt her life slip away from her.

Silence filled the room before the door to the Tower opened and the three other Vampires stepped in.

"Sire?" questioned the shortest of the three Vampires as they entered the room and saw that their lord was standing over the girl's body and staring at a red light in the center of the room.

"The little bitch," snarled Battousai as he stared at the red glow of only one of the crystals. The blue one had died and the light within it had faded as the blood of the Royal seeped into the pendant, sealing herself a very valuable weapon for the future--her threat was genuine.

"Sir?" asked the tallest of the three as they bowed to him.

"No one can know that I don't have power over Amaterasu's crystal," said Battousai, his voice low as he took the katana out of the girl's body.

His eyes narrowed as her body turned to ashes and scattered on the floor.

"Milord?" asked the smallest of the group as they all backed away slowly from the sadistic Vampire.

"No one," repeated Battousai as he attacked the three without warning.

The trio fell to the floor just outside of the Tower before they could even scream.

Looking back into the room, Battousai grabbed the two pendants out of their places and placed the red burning one around his neck and pocketed the other.

Thinking twice about it, he placed the blue one back in its rightful position and walked out of the room.

The Stone Dragon's chamber slowly descended and sealed itself once he slammed the door shut.

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