Limerence
Limerence (n.) the state of being infatuated with another person.
The rain beat a lovely rhythm on the old brick building. It was nearing dusk in the port city and every human that had a shred of self-preservation had stayed indoors. Vampires were bound in two different subspecies: Yoru no chi, known as night walkers, or literally translated 'blood of the night', and their day walking counterparts, Tsuitachi no chi. However, on rain dampened evenings, when the day looked so much like night, and shadows seemed to creep after those unsuspecting few who dared to venture out. Well, neither the Yoru nor the Tsuitachi needed to fear their deaths.
Such where the thoughts of the ruling monarch of the Vampire race. Settled in the back corner of Empire of the Night, Domino's only Kyūketsuki Lounge, the Pharaoh sat alone. Lounging upon a dark velvet chaise the Pharaoh had an arching view of the entire establishment. The only place hidden from his exquisite eyes was the entrance.
Not that it concerned the Pharaoh. His shadows would warn him long before any threats became visible.
They had just come from a meeting with these human’s Head of State. The man calling himself the Prime Minister of this human country hadn’t waited for the Pharaoh and his court to get to Tokyo. No. The Prime Minister had been waiting for the Pharaoh in the airport. After the tedious formalities the humans seemed to have devised just to get the vampire race’s bloodlust to rise, the Pharaoh had finally been allowed entrance into the city.
It wasn’t anything the Pharaoh hadn’t seen before. A port city was a port city. Besides, nothing the humans created today could ever compare to the eras long past. When the Pharaoh’s empire spread across the world and technology unlike any seen today opened up a world of possibilities.
The humans where slowly digging up bits and pieces of that technology. However, the Pharaoh would never grant the humans access to it in its entirety. During the Vampire-Human War the Pharaoh’s court had been given a lethal choice. Destroy their own technology and plunge the world into the dark ages, but save the vampire race from extinction. Or watch as their technology was used against them by the human uprising and the vampire race, as well as the very planet, was destroyed.
As the human race was now, they did not have the knowledge and mental capacity needed to get the ancient technology to work. Yet, it was the Pharaoh’s one true fear that someday the human’s would once again learn to work the ancient tech. Throwing the world once again into war, and perhaps even hunt the vampire race to extinction. It was a fear the Pharaoh knew his court, and any other vampire that had lived through the Vampire-Human War five thousand years previous shared.
The Human Race could not gain that technology.
Amusingly, or not so amusingly, that was why the Pharaoh was in Japan. The small human country had made some surprising technological leaps within the last two years. Veering off in the opposite direction from the rest of the world. It wasn’t much now, just a few stone throws from the rest of humanity. However, it was the divergence that had drawn the Pharaoh’s attention.
Japan’s new technology was unlike anything modern humans had seen before. Vampires on the other hand. Well. The technology was hitting far too close to home for the Pharaoh’s liking. And behind it all was the elusive CEO of Kaiba Corps.
Kaiba Corps. CEO had refused the Pharaoh’s invitation. He had refused the offer of having the Pharaoh’s backing of Kaiba Corps.’s new technology. He had been so audacious that he had offered the Pharaoh an invitation to Kaiba Corps. World Headquarters in Domino, Japan.
The CEO knew that the Pharaoh would be accosted by the Prime Minister. After all, the monarch had refused to help the human country in the human’s latest squabble for world domination.
What had it been called again? Oh, yes. World War II.
The Japanese government held a long memory. For seventy nine years* it had been holding a grudge against anything Vampire. It was only the fear of the Pharaoh following through on his threat that kept the human nation from declaring all out war on the Vampire Race.
So here sat the Pharaoh, in the only Kyūketsuki Lounge in Domino, silently debating with himself what he was going to do to the CEO of Kaiba Corps. when he got his hands on the human. The Pharaoh was not expected by the CEO for another three days. So for three days the Pharaoh would be stuck in this human port city.
He wasn’t even in a Khemet port.
The Pharaoh was beyond angry. He was wrathful. It was only a matter of time before heads would role. And it was that fact that had the Pharaoh where he was. Stuck in a vampire only area. There were no humans in the vicinity for him to take his wrath out on.
The Pharaoh had the sneaking suspicion that was what his court had planned.
“Peace, Atem.” The Pharaoh heard as a goblet of wine appeared within his vision.
One of the Pharaoh’s sepia colored hands took hold of the glass, revealing the speaker. A tall muscular man stood beside the Pharaoh. The man had shaggy dove-grey hair with eyes just a few shades darker. A scar under his right eye did nothing to mar the man’s beauty. Instead it accented his caramel skin and handsome face. Red silk hung to the man’s muscled chest and arms, leaving little to the imagination, well black slacks and leather shoes finished the look.
A smirk crossed the man’s face as he sat down on the seat next to the Pharaoh.
“Akefia.” The Pharaoh murmured. “Do I want to know what you are doing in Domino?”
Rich laughter left the man’s mouth. “No. I don’t think you do. You’d have to arrest me most likely, and we’ve been having such a good time lately.” Akefia shook his head in wry amusement. “The truth of the matter is that I’m hunting down one of my kin.”
Crimson eyes flashed in the low light as the Pharaoh’s full focus settled on the man. “I thought all your kin died before the Millennium War.”
Akefia nodded his head, a scowl on his face. “I thought so too. However, thirteen years ago my blood started acting up again, and my contacts keep telling me that he was seen. I know for a fact that he is still buried in Khemet…”
“So it has to be somebody else.” The Pharaoh finished Akefia’s thought. “How though? Your bloodline was the first to be hunted down by the humans.” And vampires, went the unspoken end of the Pharaoh’s sentence.
Neither spoke as thoughts of the past surfaced. When the two of them had been young, even by Vampire standards, yet forced to rule their respective kingdoms. One the world. One the underground. The Pharaoh and Akefia had been mortal enemies once upon a time. Like their fathers before them, and their father’s fathers.
How strange it was, that mortal enemies could become such great friends. Then again, when the world as you know it is being torn down around you, strange things tend to happen. In this case it was the unbreakable bond of friendship and brotherhood the Pharaoh and the Thief King shared. Where one went, the other was sure to follow. They protected each other, and no matter how many years it had been since they had last seen each other, the two always greeted each other like long lost family.
It was this bond that had kept the Vampire Race alive after the Millennium War. Instead of the infighting for power and prestige that the humans had expected with the destruction of their technology, the Pharaoh and Thief King had stood together. Two rulers united under the same banner. The survival of their species.
Even now, five thousand years since the war, that bond still stood strong. It was why the Pharaoh didn’t ask Akefia how he was hunting down his kin. One could take a vampire out of the underground, but the underground never left the vampire. The Pharaoh should know. He had spent a stint in the underworld himself, and there were times when he would revert to the way he had been then.
Cold. Cruel. Ruthless.
Akefia was the only person–vampire or human–who wouldn’t bulk at the sight of him. Akefia knew the underground better than anyone else; he knew how it could warp people. So when the Pharaoh regressed Akefia would drop whatever it was he was doing and come to Atem.
Not the Pharaoh, Atem. Names held power, and the Pharaoh’s name even more so. Very few knew the Pharaoh’s true name. But the entire world knew Atem’s. Atem only listened to one man, and that was the Thief King himself. Oh, how the world would tremble if they knew that the Pharaoh’s name was that of the undergrounds second most powerful member.
It wasn’t something the Pharaoh wanted to think about. It brought up long buried memories of a pale young vampire, and the events that brought the Pharaoh to the underground. The Pharaoh hadn’t used the name Atem as his own since that day five thousand years ago. And he had sworn that he never would. Atem had died with that pale vampire during the Millennium War. There was only Pharaoh and the Thief King’s second-in-command–Atem–now.
This truth was the same for Akefia. He was both Thief King, and the Pharaoh’s most trusted general–Akefia. Like the Pharaoh, Akefia hid behind his title, using it to banish thoughts of his kin’s death. Of his death.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Thoughts of pale supple skin and maroon eyes shattered. Empire of the Night fell silent as every vampire turned to the entrance.
Thud. Thud. Thump!
The inner door of the Kyūketsuki Lounge burst open, revealing a soaked human that had obviously chosen the wrong safety from the rain. The Pharaoh glanced over the human before dismissing him. Any human stupid enough to enter a vampire den, even if it was pouring out, deserved what was coming to them, i.e. being drained of all their blood.
The Pharaoh didn’t give the human another thought. At least, until he heard Akefia breath his name.
Once again crimson eyes landed on the human.
Leaning in the Pharaoh took in every detail of the human. From the shaggy white hair plastered to the human’s head and shoulders. The pale skin, tinted a rosy pink from the chill. A striped white and blue shirt and long sleeved black undershirt hugged the human’s upper body, leaving very little to the imagination. Tight blue jeans mirrored the shirts; well black combat boots finished the look.
The rain soaked clothing was forming a puddle on the floor. Yet, it had also given every vampire in the lounge a good idea of the weapons the human was wearing.
The Pharaoh noted two knives sheathed in the human’s boots and a dagger strapped to the rim of the jeans. The Pharaoh didn’t want to admit it, but the human looked exactly like he had a few days before his death.
Reincarnation was possible. If the soul had died in such a traumatizing way the Gods would allow them a second chance at life. To right the wrongs. He had died in a traumatizing way, but Isis would have foreseen his rebirth, just as she had foreseen Seth’s rebirth.
The Pharaoh would have collected his cousins reincarnation had the child not been born in Japan. The Japanese government had barred him access to Seth’s reincarnation, even though the child was the Pharaoh’s by law and blood right. That was another thing the Pharaoh planned to correct on this visit.
His look-a-like shivered slightly, as if sensing he was being watched. Slowly raising his head the human glanced around the room before settling on the Pharaoh’s corner. The human blinked once, but it was enough for Akefia to stand up.
The human’s eyes where chocolate brown and showed that he knew exactly where he was. A predator hidden among the prey, too bad the other vampires in the room didn’t get the message.
Four vampires lunged for the rain soaked human. The human shifted quickly drawing a hidden blade.
Impact in four. Three. Two. One.
The room erupted in whirling tendrils of ink black and dark purple. Shadows danced around the human in a protective ring, hissing and undulating like a threatened snake.
Surprise flickered over the human’s face as cries of shock echoed throughout the room. The vampires that had attacked the human backed away slowly. Clutching wounds delivered by the shadows. The pain was horrible, but it wasn’t enough to make the vampires miss the human’s reaction to the shadows.
Surprise was replaced by recognition, and the human physically relaxed. Dismissing the vampires the human turned his head toward the entrance. The Pharaoh and Akefia, as well as many of the other vampires looked toward the doorway as well. But there was no one there.
Wait a moment. There was a heart beat coming steadily closer. But there was no other noise. What was going on?
Another human entered the Empire of the Night on silent steps. Just after the inner door the human paused to survey the room. Narrow amethyst eyes washed over the lounges inhabitants until they settled on the first human.
Shadows curled around the new human as he walked over to the white haired one. Stepping out of the shadowed entry way on silent steps the human’s form was finally visible to the lounges inhabitants.
The Pharaoh felt his breath ketch in his throat.
The pale vampire that had died during the war stood before him. No. A human that looked exactly like the Pharaoh’s pale vampire stood before. The human’s heart beat curled through the air, reminding the Pharaoh that this was not his lost kin.
Vampires around the room began to shy away from the two humans. As if the shadows protecting them had not been enough of a deterrent. It was obvious that the native vampires knew these two human. Why they where weary of them though was the question.
Amethyst eyes brought the Pharaoh out of his thoughts as the new human stopped next to the white haired one. The Pharaoh couldn’t help himself as his eyes wandered over the second human’s body.
Unlike the first human this one was dry. How the Pharaoh didn’t know. The human didn’t have an umbrella with him.
The human had narrow amethyst eyes surrounded by kohl lined sooty lashes. He was just as pale as his counterpart, and just as tall. The Pharaoh guessed the two where five-six, five-seven? Though, with the spiky mess of multicolored hair–red tipped, black, with the blond bangs hanging around the human face–the Pharaoh was willing to give the human a few extra inches.
Slim and lean, a black long sleeved shirt gave just a hint of muscle along the human’s arms and shoulders. Leather boots with silver buckles climbed up the humans calves and devoured a pair of worn grey jeans. Dangling from the human’s ears where silver ankhs. Something the Pharaoh noticed was mirrored on the first human. Though the first human only wore golden studs. The earrings accented the human’s features, showing all that whatever baby fat there might have once been was long gone.
The Pharaoh was entranced by this human. Just as Akeifa was by the white haired one.
The white haired human shifted again, eyeing the vampires with distrust. “Yugi, what are you doing here? I thought you were helping your grandfather.”
“Seto called in his favor.” An amused smile passed over Yugi’s face. “I just got done defeating him. Again.”
“That doesn’t explain why our here.” The white haired human huffed.
Yugi made a sweep of the lounge. “The shadows told me you were in trouble, so I–”
“–finished your duel quickly and came to get me.” A sigh escaped his look-a-like. “You didn’t have to. I can take care of myself.”
Amethyst eyes flashed in the low light as they settled on their brown eyed companion’s. “Marik told me what happened last week, Ryou.” Yugi hissed. “Don’t think I wouldn’t have found out.”
His look-a-like, Ryou, audibly swallowed.
The Pharaoh glanced away from the two humans. Yugi and Ryou, his mind supplied, and looked around the lounge. The vampires hadn’t made a move toward the humans since Yugi entered the lounge. Almost as if they were afraid of the young man.
A frown slowly worked its way onto the Pharaoh’s face. This did not add up. Sure the human–Yugi, his mind reminded him–looked like his pale vampire. But the human–Yugi–was just that. Human. There was no reason for the vampires to fear him. Even if the human–Yugi–was the reincarnation of the Pharaoh’s pale vampire.
Which he wasn’t. The Pharaoh refused to believe that Isis did not foresee his vampire’s rebirth.
Akefia shifted next to the Pharaoh, drawing him out of his thoughts, and back to the situation at hand. The dove-grey haired vampire looked like he wanted to run over to his look-a-like and not let go. It was a sentiment the Pharaoh could understand.
However.
The Pharaoh’s eyes strayed to the shadows curling lazily around the two humans.
The two of them wouldn’t get past the shadows. As long as they were considered a threat the shadows would remain right where they were. Between the Pharaoh and Akefia, and the maybe reincarnations–Yugi and Ryou.
Pain echoed through the Pharaoh’s mind as he unconsciously brushed against the shattered bond. Double vision aimed to force the Pharaoh to his knees. Taking in a sharp breath the Pharaoh banished the ringing in his ears and focused on the humans once again.
“Not that I’m not glad to see you,” Ryou muttered. “But what’s up with the shadows? You never use them when you can get away with it.”
Yugi pouted at Ryou. “Other Me wants me to practice. I blew up the toaster this morning.”
A sympathetic look crossed Ryou’s face as he nodded his head in understanding.
Human technology and shadow magic did not mix, much like water and a laptop. Not like vampire technology…crimson eyes blinked as an idea came to the Pharaoh.
Could that be it? The reason Japan’s technology had taken such a drastic turn. Humans with shadow magic started popping up. Or… the Pharaoh could help but think, a certain CEO with access to shadow magic.
The question now was how these humans were gaining the shadows. Only pureblood vampires have the genes for control of the shadows. It vanishes, goes permanently dormant in non-purebloods. Humans never had the gene for shadow magic in their DNA sequence.
So why now? Why could humans control the shadows now? It didn’t make sense.
A sigh the Pharaoh didn’t know he had been holding passed through his lips. It looked like his stay in Japan was going to be longer than planned. He couldn’t leave without knowing if these humans would be a threat.
Once again crimson eyes trailed up and down Yugi’s body. A smirk slowly spread across his lips as his gaze returned to the human’s face. It would be an enjoyable extension to his visit though. The Pharaoh couldn’t let somebody of such beauty pass him by so easily. After all, humans believed vampires to be pleasure fiends.
Why should he prove them wrong?
The smirk slipped off the Pharaoh’s face as quickly as it had come. The humans were talking again.
“You should come home with me.” Yugi told Ryou. “I still have some of your cloths at the house from that time Marik flooded your apartment. If you stay in those any longer you are going to ketch a cold. You know how Marik is when you’re sick.”
Ryou shuddered at the thought. “It’s kind of you, Yugi. But I’ll be fine.”
Blond bangs swayed as Yugi tilted his head. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I am.” Ryou got a good look at Yugi’s face. Mischief sparkled within amethyst depths. “Don’t you dar–”
Shadows rose as a wall around the two until the humans where engulfed in a swirling mass of black and purple. The rest of Ryou’s words where cut off as the humans where swallowed by the shadows and taken away. Within seconds the only proof that the two humans had been in Empire of the Night was the large pile of water slowly spreading across the oak flooring.
For a long moment no one moved, not even to breath. Then Akefia couldn’t take the silence anymore.
“Who in the darkest part of the du’at are they?!” Akefia bellowed from his position beside the Pharaoh.
Tension shattered as the words left the general’s mouth. Wounded vampires slumped into chairs. Murmurs and muttering buzzed in the Pharaoh’s ears. Around the lounge vampires converged and discussed the events that just took place. What the vampires thought was covert glances were thrown at Akefia. Yet, no one was willing to answer Akefia’s question, much less go near the general. It seemed the Pharaoh would have to get involved.
Clearing his throat the Pharaoh flared his own shadows. It worked just as he knew it would. He had every vampire’s attention. Cool crimson eyes lazily perused the lounge’s inhabitants as the Pharaoh stepped out of the shadows and next to Akefia.
There was a collective intake of breath from the vampires.
“I know you all know who I am,” the Pharaoh started. “However, for those of you who have just been turned, or are orphaned fledglings, I will introduce myself.”
No one said anything.
The Pharaoh straightened and bared his fangs. “I am the Pharaoh of Shadows, ruling Monarch of the Vampire Race. It was I that lead our people during the Millennium war five thousand years ago. It was I that made sure our people survived the human’s attempts at eradication.
“Now, my general asked a question.” Crimson eyes narrowed threateningly. “I expect it to be answered.”
For the longest time no one said anything. Then a grey haired vampire separated from the rest of the crowd. Stopping a few feet away from the Pharaoh and his general the vampire bowed.
“It is an honor to be in your presence, my king. I will gladly answer the question” The vampire stated in a gruff voice.
Akefia shifted next to the Pharaoh. Eyeing the vampire with distrust he growled. “Well, get on with it fledgling.”
The Pharaoh expected the grey haired vampire to become enraged at the insult. However, the vampire merely nodded his head in ascent.
“The two humans you had the pleasure of seeing are one Yugi Moto and Ryou Bakura.” Akefia tensed at Ryou’s last name. It the grey haired vampire noticed he didn’t say anything. “They both posses one of the seven millennium items, Bakura has the ring, and Moto has the puzzle.”
The Pharaoh felt his pulse speed up. The puzzle? It was here? He’d been looking for it since the Millennium war. It had been lost in the sands of Khemet. How was it in Japan?
“Moto completed the puzzle two years ago, and has been wearing the completed form for the past two years. The ring and the puzzle are never far from the two. It is actually quite surprising that neither Bakura nor Moto had their millennium item with them.” The vampire stopped talking here; he seemed to be thinking about how to word the rest of his information.
“Just spit it out.” Alefia snarled.
The vampire swallowed. “The two humans don’t just have millennium items…they have spirits as well–” The Pharaoh felt his heart stop before starting up again double time. “–Bakura’s is malevolent. It used to possess the human, and is the unofficial ruler of the underground here in Domino. Nothing happens in the criminal world without the spirits say so. It’s calmed down, but I don’t know why. It could be that it’s interacted enough with Moto’s spirit to have been tamed. But that is just a guess.”
“Moto’s spirit on the other hand is overly protective.” The vampire stopped for a moment, just enough time to clear his throat and contain the trembling. “The spirit has sent souls to the shadow realm. Doled out punishments for crimes unknown, and even played penalty games with the poor souls he forced into shadow games. Any threat that is perceived to Moto is dealt with swiftly and violently.”
The grey haired vampire bowed his head slightly. “The spirit only listens to Moto. The inhabitants of Domino are lucky that the human is such a kind, forgiving person, who does not wish harm on anyone.”
“The spirits are very possessive of the humans. The vampires that live in Domino know that Bakura and Moto are off limits. It’s the ones from out of town that we have to worry about…”
Amethyst eyes swirled through the Pharaoh’s head. He couldn’t escape them, even hours later.
The rain had let up and the Pharaoh now stood on the balcony of a barrowed mansion a lesser vampire had graciously granted the Pharaoh and his court usage of. The sun would be rising soon and the city would awaken. The Pharaoh found himself wondering if the human, Yugi, would wake with the sun, or wait until darkness crept across the land once again.
Cold wind blew, sending the Pharaoh’s blond bangs flying. He should have been inside. Khemet was so much warmer then this port city, with its amber sands and granite cliffs. But the Pharaoh could not get himself to move.
He was Tsuitachi no chi, Pharaoh, the Son of Ra. He was not afraid of the sun. Unlike so many of his brethren the Pharaoh welcomed the golden rays of the life bringer. Too bad the Pharaoh’s court did not agree.
Heavy velvet curtains billowed in the wind, disgusting the approach of said court. At the head of the group was Isis. Blue eyed, sepia skinned, golden millennium necklace glinting in the light of pre-dawn, Isis was a sight to behold in all her priestess regalia.
The same could be said for the rest of the court. Mahada, purple eyed and caramel skinned. The magician, former bearer of the millennium ring. Shada, blue eyed, bald, holder of the millennium key. Kamin, green eyed, black haired, shirtless, and wielder of the millennium scales.
The court had been six priests strong once, now there where only four. Each a bearer of a millennium item, all but the puzzle, which the Pharaoh always held.
The Pharaoh’s high priest, his cousin, Seth had bared the millennium rod. However, just like with the puzzle and ring. It had vanished with the vampire’s death. So too did the millennium eye, priest Akadin’s item, vanish at the vampires death.
Every item was said to choose its wielder. Never before had a human been chosen, but with the knowledge of Yugi and Ryou’s possession of the puzzle and ring, the Pharaoh had to concede that the rod and eye could be in the possession of a human as well.
It wasn’t a pleasant thought.
Second only to the ancient vampire technology, the millennium items where something that the humans could never learn to use. If humanity learned how to unlock and control the powers of the millennium items, it could lead to the destruction of the world.
“My Pharaoh,” Isis’s honeyed voice breached the Pharaoh’s circling thoughts. “It is time to come inside. You need rest if you are to start a hunt in enemy territory.”
Amusement colored the Pharaoh’s voice. “A hunt. Is that what your millennium necklace has shown you, Isis? Just who is it I will be hunting?”
The Pharaoh’s court shared a look.
“My item showed me nothing, my Pharaoh.” Isis stated softly. “It has been millennia since the court has last seen you like this. You have initiated the hunt. Did you not…notice?”
A sigh escaped the Pharaoh as he turned his face into the wind. Had he really initiated the hunt? It had been so long since he had needed to hunt for himself, since he had allowed himself to hunt. To think after all this time it was a maybe-reincarnation that had awakened that instinct.
The Pharaoh smirked as pale skin and multicolored hair entered his mind once again. “I’ve found the millennium puzzle.”
“That is great news, my Pharaoh.” Mahada stated. “But–” the magician banished his rising confusion “–why is it not with you now? No vampire would dare keep the puzzle from you.”
Dark amusement flashed through the Pharaoh, and he found himself chuckling. “I never said a vampire has the puzzle.”
Green eyes flashed as Kamin caught the meaning of the Pharaoh’s words. “A human has the puzzle. That’s why you’ve initiated the hunt.”
Reds and oranges began to paint the sky as the Pharaoh looked on. “Yes, a human has the puzzle. Not just has, but completed. The puzzle isn’t just mine anymore…hmm, to think I have been looking for the puzzle all this time without a single hint of its existence. Yet, I spend one afternoon in Japan and run into it.”
“If I may be so bold, Pharaoh.” Mahada asked softly. “What is this human’s name?”
For the longest time the Pharaoh didn’t answer. He was lost in thoughts of maroon and amethyst eyes. Two different sets of memories, one millennia old, the other not even that of a day. “Yugi. His name is Yugi.”