Oh my, my, my, has it been a long-ass time since I last updated. But I did it, finally! I hope that at least some of my original readers are still with me. :'( But new readers, I love you just as much, be assured! ;) As long as someone reads my story and enjoys it (and *tells* me that they enjoyed it :coughilikereviewscough:), I'll be happy. So yeah, I'm pretty terrible at updating, but now I've gotten to a part in the story that I'll enjoy writing a bit more, so I'm betting that (provided I have time, with school starting tomorrow and such) I'll be updating at least slightly more regularly. As always, thank you for everyone who has favorited, subscribed, and reviewed my story! You have no idea how much I appreciate you all! But I've blabbered enough; on with the story!

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The girl in the olive dress tilted her head, waiting.

Kaname, his back half-turned to the girl, didn't turn to look at her, and instead focused his attention on a spot over Zero's shoulder. Vaguely, he noted and was mildly pleased by the fact that instead of pulling away, the hunter had dealt with his surprise at the girl's appearance by holding more tightly to Kaname's shoulder. A ruffling of fabric behind him, however, reminded him of the girl's continuing presence. "I believe I know where to find him. We shall escort ourselves, thank you."

Bowing politely, the girl turned and walked away.

Kaname scowled, somewhat unnerved. That girl—he'd seen her, what—only three times? And already, he abhorred her, though he couldn't say just why. Turning to Zero, he murmured, "Did you happen to get her name?"

Zero shook his head.

"Of course, of course," the pureblood murmured, somewhat distractedly. Even if she had told Zero her name, there wasn't any guarantee that it was her real one. Vaguely, he noticed that most all of the other guests to the party had already left, leaving them standing in a gapingly empty ballroom.

"Speaking of the girl, is she some distant relative of yours?"

Kaname raised his eyebrow at the uncharacteristic chattiness of the slightly shorter vampire. "I don't believe so, no. Why?"

Zero frowned, as if he were a bit perplexed at what he was about to say. "She just...looked a whole lot like, eh...you." As strange as it was, the hunter was sure of it. When he had seen her in the olive dress, she had seemed so utterly familiar, but he just hadn't been able to put his finger on just why. Upon seeing the pureblood, however, he had realized why: she and Kaname might have been twins.

"Did she, now? I didn't notice. It's possible we could be related, then." But he seriously doubted it. Something simply didn't strike him as right about the girl. He couldn't put it to words, but then again—when had his instincts ever led him astray? "Zero." He turned, placing his hand on the silver-haired vampire's shoulder, face suddenly serious. "Stay away from her."

Zero was frozen for a moment, surprised at the unexpected intensity radiating from the pureblood. He soon recovered, however, his face returning to its usual indifference and shoulders throwing off Kaname's hand with a careless shrug. Nevertheless, after a few more moments of being subjected to the brunet's chilling gaze, he relented and mumbled a reluctant, "Alright."

Satisfied, Kaname did an about-face and sauntered toward the set of stairs the girl had gone up, turning to Zero as he did so, motioning him to follow. When they had both reached the first landing he stopped, and waited for Zero to do the same. Keeping his eyes trained ahead, he whispered in a low, nearly inaudible voice, "Keep your hand near your Bloody Rose."

Zero raised his eyebrows, but didn't argue, only nodding his head. "I thought, though, that we were only visiting your old friend?"

Kaname pursed his lips, eyebrows knitting together to give his face a troubled cast. "It would be nice if things were ever that simple."

The silence morphed into nervous tension as the two continued up the stairs, stopping when they came to another landing, at its head a set of double doors. Kaname placed a finger on one of the doors, and both doors proceeded to swing open as if of their own accord.

It took a moment for Zero to find anything in the fog of predawn, but eventually his eyes came to rest upon a crouched figure in the center of the courtyard. Beside the crouched figure, her arms encircled around it, was the brunet usher who'd summoned Zero and Kaname. Zero stared at the crouched figure, trying to discern just who or what it was, when the figure suddenly lifted its head. However, its face was still obscured by a rather large and unseemly feathered hat... Zero's thoughts stopped in their tracks. The count. It was the count, and he seemed to be doubled over in apparent pain. Zero turned to Kaname, who had apparently realized the crouched figure's identity long before Zero had, and was standing, seemingly unperturbed, as he surveyed the situation.

The count, apparently realizing that he had company, turned his face up, his feathered hat falling to the ground in the process. It took every ounce of Zero's will not to take a horrified step back at the sight before him. The count's face—or rather, what should have been his face—looked like a single festering wound. It was so disfigured, it was hardly recognizable as something that had ever belonged to anything that walked on two legs—it looked as if it would better suit a beast that had wondered much too close to a fire. There was no hair, and what was presumably skin looked to be covered completely in swollen red boils, with a thick layer of serum oozing from every pore. His eyes were enflamed, bulging out to nearly twice the normal size, and dripped a constant stream of what Zero could only hope was water. The mouth was merely a lipless hole, and all that remained of the count's nose was a slightly raised bump in the middle of his face, nostrils fused completely shut. Looking down to the count's exposed hands, Zero could see that the unfortunate pattern continued, surmising that the count's entire body was likely covered in the same festering sores.

He blinked his running eyes a few times, then curved his mouth in what the count most likely meant to be a warm smile. "Kaname, I'm so happy that you came! I haven't seen you since you were just a boy, but what a fine young man you've grown into!" The count winced, his mouth dropping back into a neutral position. He slowly brought his hand up to touch the corners of his mouth, which had erupted into a stream of blood due to the flexing from the attempt at smiling. Careful to keep his face neutral, the count continued on. "As you can see, I'm a bit sick right now. But I have the most wonderful doctor! He says it won't be long until I get better—he's been a great deal of help to me, and I'd like you to meet him, Kaname. His kindness reminds me so much of yours."

As if on cue, a voice called out from a corner of the courtyard left still untouched by the early morning light. "He is quite right, that Monty is. You do remind me so much of myself."

Zero started; some foggy memory told him that he had heard this voice before. Looking beside him, he could tell that his companion was much more familiar with the voice. Though there was no change in the expression on Kaname's face, Zero could tell that the pureblood had clenched his jaw, in an attempt to subdue what seemed to be some unknown degree of vexation.

Kaname took a slow, controlled breath. "Rido." He spat out each syllable with contemptuous frigidity.

At the mention of his name, Rido stepped from the shadows, a toothy grin plastered to his face. He was dressed in a long black robe, spectacles upon his nose, and carried an old-fashioned briefcase; his costume gave the impression of a twisted and macabre early twentieth century doctor. "Now, now, Kaname," came his patronizing croon, "don't deny it. But more importantly, I think it's time that your lovely companion and I finally become acquainted." He turned his head to meet Zero's eyes. "I do believe that we've met once before-in a sewer, if I remember correctly...? You seemed quite tired at the time, so I won't be upset if you don't remember me."

The hunter scowled in surprise; he hadn't expected to be acknowledged by this 'Rido'. But now that recalled his time in the sewer fighting the Level Es, that foggy memory he'd recalled when Rido first spoke became sharper. "You were...that E from the sewer?"

Rido's grin widened. "And even your voice is lovely! You will make quite a wonderful addition." He made an exaggerated show of cupping his hands around his mouth and leaned forward from where he stood like he was telling a secret. "Just between you and me, I'm so glad that you remembered, because I was joking when I said that I wouldn't be upset." He gave a maniacal cackle. "But back to the matter at hand-I don't believe that I've ever had the pleasure of being properly introduced to you. I am Rido Kuran, uncle to the tall brunet beside you. Ecstatic to finally make your acquaintance." Rido bowed his head in greeting.

Zero's brows furrowed in confusion-he had been under the impression that Kaname was the only surviving member of the Kuran clan. But, looking from one Kuran to the supposed other, the hunter realized that, aside from their eyes, the two could just as well have been twins, something he supposed he hadn't realized before because of the villainous miasma Rido seemed to carry. Perhaps he shouldn't introduce himself after all...

Sensing Zero's reluctance, Rido made so as to walk towards the silver-haired hunter. However, before Rido could reach Zero, Kaname, who had remained immobile throughout the entire encounter, took, with what appeared to be a tremendous amount of effort, a quick step to intercept Rido.

Rido growled, visibly irritated at being interrupted. "A dog should remain," he hissed through clenched teeth, "out of its master's way." He narrowed his eyes, pointedly staring into Kaname's eyes. At this, a quake coursed through Kaname's entire body. He clenched his fists as a hiss of air escaped his lips. Nevertheless, with an even greater amount of effort than taking the step had required, Kaname lifted his hands and placed them on Rido's chest.

"He's trash," Kaname murmured. He shut his eyes and turned his head to the side, tucking his chin into his shoulder in a startlingly submissive gesture. "He's just some talentless, nobody hunter."

Rido raised his eyebrows at this remark. "Oh, really? Then just why were you two working as a team in that sewer? And why did you arrive at this party together?"

"We are partnered. Inescapably so-it was that or risk the peace between humans and vampires. It was the result of an imbecilic policy initiated by the Hunters' Association-if I had voiced my concerns, I would have been viewed as antagonistic."

Rido sneered, considering the other pureblood's claims. "Well, I do know how you so love that 'peace' of which you always speak." He glanced back at Zero once more.

At this point, Zero was doing his utmost to become invisible; he had absolutely no idea what was going on or even who Rido Kuran truly was. But to be honest, the most unsettling thing was the yielding and acquiescent manner that Kaname had taken. Plus, though he knew that the burgundy-eyed pureblood did not exactly hold the hunter in the highest of esteem (the feeling was returned tenfold, undoubtedly), neither had ever admonished the other quite so...bluntly.

Face layered with exaggerated disappointment, Rido's eyes finally left Zero. "And I was so sure that he was-" he shook his head. "Ah well, it can't be helped. But what can be helped: my thirst. I was prepared to partake in a delicious drink, but I suppose you'll suffice," Rido declared, looking down at Kaname. "I can trust that you'll cooperate this time?"

Of course not, Zero scoffed.

"Of course," Kaname murmured.

Rido's sneer returned to his face. "Good, you're finally learning. I can release my hold on you, then." Immediately after Rido said this, Kaname's body slumped a bit, seemingly freed from the invisible strings that had previously been holding him taut.

Zero waited for some cue from Kaname-something to tell him that Kaname was going to fight back. However, no cue came. Zero could only watch, aghast, as the pureblood he had always know as "that pretentious bastard" tilted his head to expose his bare throat in complete submission.

Rido, sneer ever-widening, bared his fangs and ripped unceremoniously into the exposed flesh of Kaname's neck. He sucked in quick, violent gulps that jerked Kaname's shoulders with their relentless force.

Each gulp made Zero more and more disgusted, until he felt as if he might actually become physically ill. He averted his eyes, but could still hear each wet mouthful Rido took. The scene before him was so incredibly, indescribably wrong.

Mercifully, Rido finally finished, so engorged that he didn't even bother to stem the flow of blood coming from the bite marks. "Ah..." He let out a satisfied sigh as he released his the arm that had been supporting Kaname. Without the support, the burgundy-eyed pureblood immediately dropped to the floor. "...truly delicious."

Seeing only now how much blood Rido had drained, Zero, without thinking, took a step forward, snarling with brazen ferocity, "I'll end you, fucker."

For a fraction of a second, Rido looked genuinely taken aback, though he quickly recomposed himself into what Zero now figured was Rido's customary superior sneer. "My, my, what a temper you have for "just some talentless, nobody hunter", if," Rido turned his gaze to the slouching Kuran in front of him, "I'm recalling your wording correctly, dearest and most precious nephew." The monstrous pureblood now put on a melodramatic pout. "I...certainly hope you weren't...lying to me, now, Kaname. You know how I hate liars."

The count watched the exchange with unfocused eyes, apparently too ill to notice anything other than that the other vampires had had some sort of a conversation. "So we're all acquainted now-that's great! When I get better, we can all have a nice long chat over some blood tea. I know how you love your blood tea, Kaname." The elderly man drifted off into a contented silence, playing out in his mind what he viewed to be the most pleasant scenario anyone could ever imagine.

Turning his attention to the delirious count, Rido regarded him with a lazily amused expression. "I'd forgotten about our most gracious host." He looked to Kaname once again. "I'm sure you're dying to lean just what is afflicting your poor old father figure."

At this, Kaname's head immediately snapped up. Though his back trembled with the sudden burden of holding his body fully erect, his eyes showed no trace of this struggle.

"Well," Rido responded, face falling into an overly-dramatic troubled look, "you've been a bit of a bad pet, recently. You don't come when I call, you don't follow my orders, and it makes me so, so sad Kaname. But it's not just that-you've been, shall we say, a rebel your entire life. It gets tiresome, but I can handle it. But what I can't handle is when you start to destroy my well-laid plans." With this, Rido's face lost all playfulness and took on a look of cold and unyielding menace. "You destroyed one of my lairs of Es. I assumed it was a mistake-that you didn't know that the affairs in which you were meddling were mine. But lately, you've been making visits, searching for books, conducting experiments. To put it simply, you've been asking questions. Questions that you should, under no circumstances, be asking. So," Rido had now returned to his sadistic grin, "I thought I'd teach you a lesson. And this," he pointed to the count, "seemed the simplest way to do it."

"You," snarled Kaname, having suddenly lost all pretenses-or, at least, Zero hoped they had been pretenses-of submission. "What have you done to him?"

"Oh, my dear boy, they've done nothing but help me!" the count suddenly declared. Miraculously, it seemed that he had somehow managed to catch this snippet of information through his clouded mind. "They-this brilliant doctor and his nurse,they were the ones saving me! Saving me, from someone who...who...poisoned me! They've been giving me antidotes every night...at first I told them that I felt fine and that it wasn't possible to poison a vampire, but they told me...they told me...that Kaname...that my dearest boy...had discovered that there actually was a poison that could hurt vampires and had also discovered the cure..." The count had apparently slipped back into delirium.

Kaname was seething, and it seemed now that he was straining against what Zero assumed was whatever invisible bonds Rido seemed to be able to place around Kaname at will. "Impossible," Kaname spat towards Rido, "that's absolutely impossible. There is, and never will be, any kind of illness or poison that could afflict a vampire."

Rido's grin stretched even farther. "Of course not. But that's what we told him, and that's what he believed, bless his poor, gullible heart."

"...and that's why," the count suddenly continued, as if there had been no break in his narrative, apparently oblivious to the others' remarks, "...that's why you had been gone so long, they said."

At this, all fury went out of Kaname's face, to be replaced with a panicky despair. "No, I..."

The count continued. "...why you had never written, why you had never visited, was because you were working on the antidote, and they had it! They said they had the cure you made, that you sent them...so of course I knew that since you sent them, I could trust them!" The count's eyes went unfocused again, and it seemed that he had said all he'd felt was necessary.

Rido once again trained his eyes on his nephew. "Well there you have it," he sneered. "And straight from the horse's mouth, too. We were just trying to help him, and on your own orders, no less. Every night, causing him to go unconscious, then burning him bit-by-bit, then making small incisions with a dagger steeped in anti-vampire magic to prevent him from healing. Helping. We were just helping." Sadistic joy seeped from Rido's every pore.

Fury fully returned, Kaname spat out a single word through clenched teeth. "Why?"

Rido's brows creased in mock confusion. "Why, you ask? "Why" what? Why punish you like this? But, precious nephew, I've told you this already: you've been a naughty, naughty pet and haven't behaved as per your master's wishes. Or, perhaps you want to know why I went through all this trouble, why I involved an innocent old vampire? Well, dearie, to put it quite simply, it was fun." On the last word, his face broke into a sneer that showcased the full lengths of his gleaming fangs. "But it's about time our fun came to an end. Kameko, bring our host to me."

The girl in the olive dress inclined her head respectfully and, taking the count under his arms, dragged him until he was but a foot in front of Rido. She positioned him so he was resting on his knees, barely able to support himself. The count's face pointed upwards, eyes creased in a warm smile.

Then, unceremoniously and without warning, Rido raised his arm and brought it down across kneeling vampire's neck. The count's body jerked violently, as his head flew from his body and the kind old vampire, Count Montserrat Cristo, the only semblance of family Kaname had left in the world, crumbled and turned to ash.

Kaname let out a bloodcurdling scream. He strained now with a berserker's rage against whatever invisible bonds held him. As he did so, long, paper-thin cuts appeared one-by-one on his body, blood pouring from the wounds like water. In but a few seconds, every bit of skin was completely covered in his own blood.

Zero, previously frozen by uncertainty and confusion, was now staggered back a few steps, mind brought back to reality by the shock of hearing possibly the proudest and most dignified vampire he knew scream Bloody Mary. Zero had no idea what to do. If Kaname's monstrous uncle could restrain a pureblood with a mere glance, what could he do to a borderline Level E? What if Zero fell under whatever spell Rido had cast over Kaname? Then there would be absolutely no chance of escape, and no one would ever know what had happened to them. Not only that, but he was outnumbered two-to-one; he'd almost forgotten about Rido's creepy little vampire minion...'Kameko', Rido'd called her? He'd only have time to shoot one before the other was on him. No, Zero had absolutely no idea what to do.

"Now, now, dearest Kaname," crooned Rido, after delightedly watching his nephew for a few minutes, "let's not bloody ourselves up too much."

Kaname continued to struggle, but soon collapsed to the ground, rage having faded to a dark despair, and every last bit of strength sapped from him.

Rido grinned. "I see I've finally broken the stallion's spirit. I'll be taking you with me, now-not that I think you'll act up after this," he motioned his hand at the now-scattered ashes of the count, "but because I'll be needing to utilizecertain assets of yours. Plus, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, you know?" Rido suddenly turned his attention to Zero, a leering grin plastered across his face. "However, twobirds in the hand-that's worth quite a bit more, wouldn't you agree, hunter?"

Zero suddenly couldn't find it in himself to take a breath. The sneering pureblood seemed to be waiting for a response, however, so Zero gulped and obliged. "A-and, uh, what exactly, uh, would...you mean...by that?"

Rido made a show of laughing. "Silly boy, I mean you! Kaname said you were talentless, but see, a talentless hunter doesn't hold a gun with such comfortable assurance." Rido motioned to the Bloody Rose that hung at Zero's side. "You're scared, I can see, but you still have a brazen air about you. I notice these things, see? It's how I am so good at what I do." He gave a smile that was anything but comforting. "Not to mention, a talentless hunter wouldn't have lasted as long as I'm betting you have. And," he rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner, "I'm betting you aren't a nobody, either. Even the Association, as foolish as they are, aren't foolish enough to place a "nobody" with the acting head of the Vampire Council. No, they'd place a very prominent figure from the Association-someone with comparable status. I know you are not Touga Yagari. Though you do quite remind me of him. Both fiery, both determined. Perhaps only a coincidence? Or perhaps not? Maybe you were close to him. His progeny, perhaps? But you look nothing like him. His disciple, then?" Rido paused, scrutinizing Zero further, then shook his head dismissively. "No matter. We shall have plenty of time to figure this out when we return to my lair. I felt, the instant we met, that there was something that set you apart - something powerful, something in your blood. So, little bird. Won't you come here?" Rido's casual tone belied the threat in his eyes.

Beginning to slip into a state of complete panic, Zero's finger snaked more closely around the trigger of his Bloody Rose, his wrist tilting upwards. If they were going to kill him or take him or whatever they planned to do with him, he would take down one of them first.

Rido grinned. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Shoot at either Kameko or I, and we'll have dodged the bullet and ripped your throat out before you can say, "Oops."."

So direct aggression definitely wasn't going to work. His hunter's training kicking in, he quickly searched the courtyard for options. About twenty feet in front of him was the edge of the courtyard, and ostensibly also the edge of the roof. The drop was at minimum fifty feet, but he'd gladly risk it if it meant escaping this situation. But he'd need some distraction, and shooting either Rido or Kameko was out of the question. Another option was to shoot Kaname, which might provide some semblance of a distraction, but probably not much of one, and besides, shooting Kaname in his seriously weakened state might permanently damage him-not to mention the fact that Zero really just couldn't bring himself to shoot him. No, shooting someone was not the answer. But maybe he could shoot something? He quickly rescanned the courtyard. Something caught his eye and his jerked upwards to follow it. Stretching to cover the entire courtyard was a massive glass ceiling with small lightbulbs dotting it in some sort of patterned interval. Zero figured that at night the lights were supposed to show some constellation, or something. It didn't matter; all Zero knew was that the old count's extravagant decoration was about to hopefully save his life. The courtyard was surrounded on three sides by walls, and the glass ceiling was suspended by supports between the two opposing walls. The two supports were made out some sort of clear polymer that Zero hoped would snap if he shot in the right place. He was an exceptional marksman, but his fate relied purely on physics now.

Rido scowled; Zero had been focused on the ceiling for too long. "What are y-"

It was now or never. Zero raised his hand, aimed, and shot.

Hearing a loud crack, Zero thanked the gods that the support had broken, but in nearly the same instant, Zero was cursing the gods, because the glass ceiling had broken over his head-a repercussion he hadn't really thought about-and a large shard of glass had apparently ricocheted and firmly embedded itself in his right knee. But ignoring his pain, Zero looked ahead to see Rido and Kameko, both of whom hadn't anticipated the blow, staggering, stunned. Zero momentarily considered shooting Rido, but he knew that the shot wouldn't be lethal, and would probably just serve to enrage him and his female sidekick further, decreasing his odds of escaping from this situation alive that much more. So instead, Zero ran as fast as he could towards Kaname, who, oddly enough, was in the exact same position and posture in which he'd been before, though he did have quite a few shards of glass embedded in his body. Kaname wasn't too far from the wall-less edge of the courtyard, so Zero, speeding up into a dead sprint, body-slammed Kaname with all his might, intending to send the two careening over the edge and hopefully allowing them to make a break for it. However, Kaname didn't budge even a centimeter, and Zero's breath was knocked completely out of him.

Zero began trying to push Kaname towards the ledge, grunting with the effort but still making no headway. Kaname wasn't responding at all, and his eyes, though open, looked completely lifeless. He wasn't dead, Zero could tell, but he seemed completely...broken, or something. But Zero continued to push, more frantic by the second; they had to get out of there before Rido became fully sentient again. He pushed and he pushed, and then...he was finally making headway! Zero realized that it must have been Rido's invisible bonds that were still holding Kaname. If he did manage to get them both over the ledge, he knew he couldn't carry Kaname and still have the speed to get away, but maybe if he just got him far away enough from Rido...or maybe the jolt of the fall...maybe somehow Kaname could regain full consciousness and run on his own. But suddenly, Zero realized that he was making less and less headway with Kaname; Rido's invisible bonds were getting stronger again. Panicked, Zero turned around, and sure enough, Rido was staggering to his feet, seemingly trying to get his bearings. Zero's eyes widened in terror; if he didn't run now, he'd have no chance of getting away. He jumped up and ran the remaining distance to the ledge, but he turned, to give a last look at Kaname, torn; he just didn't... But with his peripheral view of Rido steady on his feet, Zero's body made the decision for him.

He jumped.