(Play opening theme song: Vampires Will Never Hurt You by My Chemical Romance)

Yuugi sighed, pacing the room. He rubbed his eyes, groaned and looked at Kaiba.
"We can't fit a fourth." He said simply.

"Tell me about it." Seto groaned, lying on his bed with his eyes screwed shut.

"Four is a risky number." Yuugi said. "A coven is one thing, they gather food for the WHOLE coven and they stick together, UNDERGROUND, out of sight....we're loners....sort of." The smaller stopped to gag and shudder. "And I'd step into the sun before I joined a coven." He shook his head, pacing again. "Ryou's made a reckless move, we can't bring him around with us, we'd have to go into hiding again for another five years and train him properly and quite frankly, I don't care to do that again." Seto rubbed his temples.

"Yeah, when I said 'tell me about it' I didn't mean for you to ACTUALLY tell me about it." The boy paced still, ignoring his companion of 30 plus years as he continued.

"It was one thing when it was the two of us with the witches on the sidelines. We ruled the world back then, you and I." The CEO sat up and glared.
"They have names." The tiny vampire stopped pacing, looking at Seto.
"ONE has a name. The other HAD a name-"
"It'd STILL her name." He protested. Yuugi sighed. This was always a tender subject for his friend.

"Oh, fine. You, me Astrid and Takara, happy? And even then, it only worked because they didn't know until...well, the end."

Seto was silent.

"Hell, it was a risk taking BAKURA. But THIS is worse. We. Can't. Take. Four."

"....Maybe he knew that." Seto said softly, a frown creasing his face. Yuugi stopped, twisted around and stared at him.
"You'd BETTER have an explanation fort that statement."

"I do." Seto replied. "It's been three years. They've been together for three years. Ryou knows the consequences, Ryou knows what will happen and Ryou persuaded Bakura to do it." He sighed a bit. He fiddled with his hands. "I hate to say this, but I think this baby bird's ready to leave his nest."

A silence.

"...You really think?" Yuugi asked, his voice quiet and solemn. "He's only been a vampire for ten years."
"And he's been through a lot these ten years." Seto agreed. He switched from his sat-up position to sitting on the edge of the bed, a pensive look on his face. "But Bakura can feed on his own, live on his own, do pretty much everything on his own...." Yuugi made a sound, folding his arms. He turned his gaze to the carpet and bit his lip.
"I don't like it, I just don't. I...he's still too young. It's a mistake."
"Hey, you made me PRACTICALLY the minute you became a vampire." Seto scoffed.
"Yeah, and it was the biggest mistake of my afterlife." Yuugi groaned, laughing a little.

A silence.

"True." Seto agreed softly, looking out the window. Yuugi froze, turning to Seto.

"....I was just kidding, Kaiba."

"What to do with Ryou though?" The CEO continued. "He'll need a place...a dark place...that's usually why coffins work so well."
"I can't stand coffins." Yuugi shuddered.

"But they're useful." Seto argued before moving on. "He'll also need to learn to feed-I will teach him to feed." He said sternly, looking right at Yuugi. "YOU would teach him to kill and Bakura would teach him to toy. He'll make up his mind on those things in due time. For now, let's leave it as basic as possible."

"Agreed." Yuugi nodded, thinking to himself. "Easily, he can stay with Bakura but..."
"I know, you don't like it." He rolled his eyes. "But anything and everything else, Bakura has to do. He made him, he can do it."

"...Something I wanted to ask about." Yuugi said, off-topic. "About Bakura but...not about this." The CEO blinked.

"Shoot."
"Have you noticed how.....how other vampires..."
"Treat him?" Seto finished.

"That's it." Yuugi nodded. The boy folded his arms. "THAT completely throws me off. You see it with Jasmine too. She almost never talks to him without...that TONE in her voice."

"Like he's some kind of..." Seto trailed off, Yuugi nodded. The taller shrugged, standing up. "I notice it. But I don't know the reason. We can ask her later though. For now, let's settle some things downstairs."
"Right."

---

Malik moaned, head throbbing. How long had he been out this time?

"Morning, Sunshine." Marik chuckled from next to the bed. "Nice to see you awake this fine evening. Feeling any better than yesterday?"
"Considering you're not tackling me this time, yes." Malik smiled lazily.
"Come ON, just give me the damn word!" A voice yelled from across the room. Malik looked and saw the others- Sadie, Tyson, Frances and Astrid -in a corner.
"What are they doing?"
"Playing Scrabble. They won't leave." Marik growled, a bit irked.
"Aw, quit your bitching." Sadie scoffed, smirking before laying down a letter. "There."

"...Buckety?!" Frances spat incredulously. "That's not even a word!"
"Of COURSE it is." Sadie snorted. "Ever read the Bible?"

Marik muttered something profane under his breath.

Same old Marik. He joked and teased but when he got right down to work and the nitty-gritty, he was a pissy old man.
"You guys stayed here the entire time just for me?" Malik asked, trying to raise his raspy voice so the others could hear.

"Don't strain yourself." Marik said softly.
"Of course we did." Astrid smiled. "Why not?"

"We were forced to stay. Astrid won't let us leave." Tyson said, raising his hand.

"You're honestly afraid of Astrid?" Frances smiled a bit, liking this trait.
"Hey, you challenge her, if you're so cool." He scowled. Astrid grinned.
"Yeah, right. Then I'll go poke Sadie with a stick while she's sleeping." The French girl subsided, looking at her letters and placing a few down. "Wicked. Two word score. Count it, Tyson."

Malik just watched, laughing quietly to himself. Okay, it kind of hurt, but he couldn't help it.

"Thanks."
"Do not thank us." Astrid said with a smile as she turned to the injured boy. "Thank Marik. HE'S the one who stayed with you for so long."

"....Really?" Malik asked. Marik got up, coughing a bit.

"I'm, um, going...I'm going to go eat."
"It will be the first time you've eaten in HOURS." She grinned wider. "He would not let ANYONE else touch you when you got shot. And he has not left the room for anything since you got in here."

Marik froze, red faced, thankfully downcast so no one could see.

"Marik..." Malik smiled. "Thank you."

"D...Don't mention it." He laughed a bit, shaky in his voice. "I'm...going to...go...eat now." With that, he staggered off, out the door and leaning against it once he closed it.

He smiled a bit.

"I'm glad you're okay."

----

"Mind heating up some blood?" Seto asked, wandering into the kitchen.

Yami held his mug in his hands, staring down into the water blankly.

"Yami...Atemu! Wake up!" Seto pushed him a bit, jerking the boy back to reality. The college student jumped in his seat, jerkily turning to see Seto and sighing a bit.
"Sorry....Just thinking."
"About what?"

Silence.

".....Yuugi nearly got you in there, huh?" Seto asked.

"I can't believe myself." Yami sighed. "I should be-"
"Remember, it's still the mating season." Seto said softly. "Mortals aren't strung enough to resist it. It's not your fault. Nothing you could've done would've worked. Sorry to say."
"But in the restaurant," Yami tried, standing and looking at Seto. "I...I fought him off in the-"
"He LET you get away." Seto sighed, pulling two mugs out of the cabinet. "Believe me, if Yuugi wanted to make it quick, it would have happened the minute he saw you. He liked to play, if you haven't noticed."

Yami bit his lip.

"So you found it?" A familiar voice asked. Yami turned around, seeing a very seductive looking Yuugi leaning against the-now locked-door. He smiled, an action that brought forth the musicians' want. "Congrats."

"C-Can I leave now? I n-need to fi-finish it-"

"Do you HAVE to?" Yuugi pouted. "I just wanted to play a little…GAME with you…"

Tick, tick.

Tick, tick.

Tick, tick.

Tick, tick.

"I noticed." Yami groaned, sitting down again. "Blood's being reheated. I figured someone would need it."

"Hey, thanks." Seto said, looking at the coffee pot and placing a mug underneath it.

"Kaiba...you never talk about how you and Yuugi met."

"We didn't really MEET." The CEO shrugged. "So there's not much to talk about."
"You must've somehow...you've been traveling with him for thirty years."
"That's because I'm obligated to." Seto said, dismissingly. "I mean...he Sired me....well...sort of."

"Sired?" Yami asked.

"To Sire means to Turn. To make one of our own. Whoever Turned you is your Sire. He made you."

"So Yuugi is your Sire?"
"....Well...well, no." Kaiba smiled.

He SMILED.

And it was STILL not a normal one...it was....sort of sad.
"He started it...but there's only one person who I consider my Sire."
"Who is it?" Yami asked.

A long silence was in the room.

"I'm going to go check on Ryou, maybe get him to drink something." He said softly. "Bring this out to Jasmine." He placed the other mug in front of Yami before leaving.

"Is Jasmine-"
"Jasmine is part of and grew up with a Coven. She's used to people being around, especially when one of our kind has fallen ill. I'd rather not leave her alone." He said simply.

And Kaiba left the room.

---

Andrala's hand went to her throat. She was so thirsty....but she couldn't let Dartz win.
"Stubborn, aren't you?" A childish voice asked from across the room. Andrala turned and saw the little girl and sighed behind her mask. It was about all she could do now, though there was no sound.

The girl, Nabida, stepped closer, a ragdoll in her arms. She flipped her long white hair back, her dark red eyes on Andrala.

"Here, drink from me." She offered her dark skinned wrist, turning it so the vein would show. "I know that your mask will feed with you. So take what you need. But not too much. I'm not exactly getting any older here." As she spoke, her own white fangs glinted as if emphasizing the last statement.

Andrala turned her head. She wouldn't feed from this little demon child. So long as they were sentenced together, that is all that it would remain. A sentence. She would NOT indulge herself.

She would not feed. For once she did, once she finished...that was the moment, she deemed, that her brother would pay.

The outstretched wrist waited for a few moments longer before pulling back, the fingers attached to its hand now toying with the curly hair of the ragdoll.
"Fine. Have it your way." Nabida scoffed, her petite legs walking back to her side of the room.

"It's only been a few days. And you still don't trust me."
"I don't distrust or trust you."

Andrala wanted to say.
'But I certainly dislike you.'

Her fingers tugged at her long robe, the greens and blacks and blues blending together in the fabric.

"So he's your brother then?" The childs' voice pierced her ear. "Dartz, I mean. That would make you and him the Blood Twins, right?"

Andrala nodded.

"My mother told me all about you two. How tragic it is that your trust in each other has crumbled."

'Don't sound so cocky.'

Andrala thought.

'For one day, the same will happen for you. Should you live so long.'

She growled to herself but the sound was not made. The mask prevented that.

---

In Egypt (Egypt time, 9:00)
He pulled the robe over his head, looking down to his companion. The man was weaker, younger and frailer than he, the strong one, but he paid no mind to that.
She had asked him to do this.

"Djal," The other whispered softly. "I'm sorry that you have been burdened with my quest."

"It is no burden." Djal responded, his voice deep and booming. "If my love has asked it of me, it is certainly worthy of my time. And if I may add, you have been good company."

"Are you saying that because you mean it or because you're trying to mean it?" The younger chuckled.

"I never say what I don't mean." Djal smiled from under his hood. "We have a long trail ahead of us."
"We're walking?"

"No, we're riding." Djal answered. Through Egypt, through the Middle East, through Russia and China until we can reach a boat that will take us to Japan. And then we will find a sleeper cart on a train and try to get to Domino before morning. It should take us a while, but none too long if we don't stop."
"But won't we have to?" The other man asked. "We'll be having mortals lead us."

"We will be leading ourselves." Djal answered. "Mortals will guide us in the day, our kind by night. My Coven will be proud to assist me."

"If you insist." A pale hand went to its owners chin, head bowed in thought. "I've been gone so long....:"
"You will be forgiven, for the deception." The Babylonian man said assuredly. "You must only explain. And if it is unacceptable, you will leave again, for nothing was learned."

"....I don't care about forgiveness." He sighed. "I care if anyone at all is even AWARE of what's going on."

"Most likely not." The sighed. "Mortals and immortals alike know Dartz separately. Even so, he and his sister have a strong Coven. They are being protected."
"This can't POSSIBLY be-"
"They would support their leaders completely." He sighed, running a hand through the long thick black hair under his hood. "Unfortunately, a Coven will follow their leaders despite anything else. Dartz and Andrala have cared for them, even if they have not." He turned his dark brown eyes to his younger companion. "Do you understand?"
"I do...but Andrala's out of the picture."

"It matters not. To them, he has explained that she is ill. And of course, as her brother, he is working to fight of whatever has struck her ill....and perhaps, others of his Coven have been affected as well."
"Cover yourself." Djal insisted, pulling the hood over the white-haired head. "We could easily be seen."
"It's only nine o'clock." The man replied. "No one will care. They're either going to work, coming home, or going to have fun. No one will take notice of us."

"Young Crawford, you can never be certain." Djal told him. The man pouted a bit.
"I'm not Crawford anymore. It's Pegasus. Maxamillion Pegasus."

(Play ending them song: House of Wolves by My Chemical Romance)

---

Digi12: --Walks into the room. Sees no one-- No Dark...No Justin either, but no Dark. --Cheers-- Okay! So! It looks like we have some new character introduced here. They'll be explained in the next chapter. Personally, I like Djal. He's that stoic, cool guy that's always good to have around. And as for Nabida....she'll tie in much later. --Sighs-- Okay, okay, I know I'm no good at this aloof, mysterious stuff but, bear with me, at least I'm entertaining, right?

Dark: --Swoops down from above, wings fold back as he stands up behind Digi12-- Well, you certainly are that.

Digi12: --Locks up-- I-I-I --Swoon. Collapse. What a tramp--

Justin: --Watching it happen as he enters the room-- Was there a reason for that?

Dark: For fun. --Smile--

Justin:....We own nothing. GOD. --Leaves again--