In the vampire realm, Lord Wyatt and Lady Kyra were shaking their heads at the news that their son Brendan had sent word to them only some time ago. A vampire merchant who Wyatt and Kyra had spoken with often when they had visited many times and was an honest to goodness person was found beaten to a pulp and displayed up on a cross within a church. They were also horrified to learn that he was in so much pain that he begged their son for death, before Connor Moreland obliged him. The assassin was known as 'Seraphim' and they had become a boogeyman among many members of the supernatural community.
Wyatt and Kyra now looked up as they saw Hanako come before them and kneeled to the ground.
"How may I be of service to you both?" Hanako asked them.
"Hanako, the....tragic news of one of our own people has struck us deeply, as well as the news Brendan sent us of what else has been transpiring over in the human realm. We were already concerned for the safety of Andromeda and Nyx since they've been away, but the situation has become even more dire now." Wyatt informed Hanako.
"What would you have me do my lord and lady?" Hanako said looking up at them as she now stood up.
"Now that the situation with the Moreland family has finally come to light, we're hoping to gain a better cooperation with the other realms. Enough blood has already been spilled and we do not wish any more drawn than they do. So inform who you can on the situation with this 'Seraphim'. Before you leave, tell Brendan to stay where he is, and please go visit Andrew and Lady Roseblood of what's been going on. Make sure all of our children our safe." Kyra said as she stood up from her throne and walked over to Hanako.
"Of course my lady, I'll make sure they're all safe." Hanako said.
Kyra now gave Hanako a hug as Hanako gave her a hug back.
"Be sure to tell our children we love them and to stay safe." Kyra said now looking at Hanako in the eyes.
"I will la....I will Kyra." Hanako said as she left the two of them alone.
Wyatt now rose from his chair and stood next to his wife who began to cry in his arms.
"It will be alright my love, they'll all be alright." Wyatt reassured her.
"I just....don't want to think....what might have happened had it been of our own children." Kyra cried into her husband's chest as he held her close.
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Duncan and Izzy were sitting out in the rose garden maze on the Tepes manor. The air was cool, there was a gentle breeze blowing and the mood couldn't have been more perfect for Duncan to give the princess next to him a kiss as the two almost did before they were interrupted by Hanako.
"Prince Duncan." Hanako said suddenly coming up from behind them.
"Aunt Hanako?! Do you mind, me and Izzy were kind of....having a moment here." Duncan said feeling a little embarrassed.
"You can share a moment after I tell you some news that's been going on in the human realm." Hanako said.
"What's going on? Are my sisters and Brendan okay?" Duncan asked worried.
"They're all safe....for the time being. But an assassin has been busy recently and it....hasn't been a pretty sight for many. We....recently lost of our own people in a....gruesome way. Your parents have asked me to tell you, your siblings and our allies to remain where you are for your own safety, no one else is going to be put at risk. Princess Isabella, I'm sure your father would also want you to stay safe, so until further notice he's agreed to let you stay in Tepes Manor. I have to leave, stay safe nephew and don't do anything rash." Hanako said as she took her leave.
Duncan and Izzy were now left there thinking about how bad the situation could possibly be.
"Do you think it's as bad as she made it out to be?" Izzy asked Duncan.
"It must be if my parents are going to this extreme. She didn't tell us how one of our people was killed but I imagine it wasn't a pretty sight. I just....I just hope Andromeda and Nyx are safe....I don't.....I don't want them to be....hurt." Duncan said as his hand began shaking before Izzy wrapped her hand around Duncan's hand and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. Izzy didn't want to say it to Duncan, but what Hanako had said had certainly scared her too.
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At long last, Andrew and Eveline finally arrived at Lady Roseblood's castle after so long of traveling together. They could see it from a distance, and Andrew was certainly confused at how far away it was from where they were.
"We aren't really going to walk the rest of the way, are we?" Andrew asked hoping that they had a shorter way of getting there.
Eveline smirked at Andrew as she now gave a loud whistle and suddenly a large Russian/Slavic dragon appeared before them. Andrew was certainly surprised and back up a little in fear as the dragon neared closer to him.
"Net, ne nado, vse v poryadke, moy drug." Eveline reassured petting the dragon's nose.
"This is Andrew, he's....he's my lyubov." Eveline said to the dragon and looked towards Andrew.
"Lyubov?" Andrew asked.
"Yes, it means love." Eveline said as she walked back over to Andrew and kissed him on the lips. "This is Antonina, my dragon and friend. She'll take us the rest of the way to my castle." Eveline explained as Andrew and Eveline grabbed their bags and got onto Antonina's back and held tightly onto one another as the dragon took off towards the Red Castle.
After a few minutes, they finally arrived at Red Castle and grabbed their bags and got off of Antonina as she pet her friend and thanked her.
"That will be all for now Antonina, thank you, we'll take it from here." Eveline said as the dragon nodded her head and then began to walk away.
Andrew was surprised when the dragon suddenly transformed into a naked woman and stood there with his mouth agape before Eveline gently grabbed his chin and shifted his attention back to her raising an eyebrow at him before he suddenly realized what he had been doing and Eveline just shook her head and he gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.
"Antonina is able to shift from a dragon to a woman whenever she wants to. She has served me for many years like many within my home." Eveline said as she now directed Andrew inside her home.
Andrew was astounded by the portraits and paintings he saw on the wall Eveline. Many of them were of her in regal dresses. He stopped at one which had a large sheet placed over it, his hand reached out and was tempted to pull the sheet off before Eveline raised her hand to stop him.
"It....it's the picture of my family. The one I thought I would have forever. My love Irina, and our children Lillia, Vera, and....Yelena." Eveline sighed.
"After what had happened, I couldn't bear to look at it anymore, but I didn't want it destroyed either. So I just had it covered up. Maybe....maybe one day I'll look upon it again without the heartache, but I don't know when that day will come." Eveline said shaking her head.
"Eveline my love, are you....?" Andrew began to ask before she held her finger up towards him, as she now smelled someone else in her castle that shouldn't be there.
Eveline now ran to the throne room as Andrew followed closely behind. Eveline was shocked, while Andrew was surprised to see Hanako Ashida-Tepes sitting in Eveline's throne.
"Quite a lovely seat you have here Lady Roseblood, do you mind if I take it home with me? You've been gone for so long." Hanako teased the vampire.
"Get out of that chair! It is for me and me alone." Eveline Roseblood hissed.
"Oh, relax, I just thought it would be a little fun and help lighten the mood before I get to serious business." Hanako said as she got up out of the chair and walked towards the two of them.
"What's going on Aunt Hanako? Are my siblings alright? What about my mother and father?" Andrew asked concerned.
"You can relax Prince Andrew, right now, everyone is safe. But an assassin has been doing some nasty things in the human realm in America and I'm going around telling who I can to remain where they are and stay safe. That includes you and.....your ladyship....or should I tell your parents that wedding bells aren't too far into your future?" Hanako smirked as she saw Andrew holding Eveline's hand.
"We've....just been through a lot on our trip together Aunt Hanako, thank you for telling us about this.." Andrew thanked his aunt.
"Of course. Now I have other places to be. Oh, and Lady Roseblood, I hope you know how much my nephew does love you." Hanako said before leaving.
"I find your aunt to be.....annoying." Eveline said shaking her head.
"Yes, she can be that sometimes, but....she wouldn't have come here if the situation wasn't dire. I just hope my siblings are all okay." Andrew said as Eveline just nodded her head.
"Tell me, even if you haven't seen her in a long time, do you still think about Yelena and hope she's safe?" Andrew asked as tears slowly filled Eveline's eyes.
"Not a day goes by where I just quietly hope she is safe wherever she is." Eveline said as Andrew held her in his arms as she tried not to cry.
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News of the Seraphim's activities had reached the realm of the kitsune in record time thanks to Aaron and Haley contacting their mothers to let them know of what had happened recently. Mika and Claudia didn't like the news, nor were they too thrilled that both Kari and Mason wanted to go help their siblings any way they could with this threat. Soon enough they would be going back to go help them out and Mika and Claudia weren't the only ones who weren't exactly happy that Kari and Mason would be going back to the human realm soon.
Raiden and Mason were training in combat again, and Raiden had improved greatly since he had started. But Mason noticed that on this day, Raiden seemed distracted and was missing some of the moves that his father had taught him just the other day.
"Come on Raiden, focus, you know this." Fukushu said.
"I'm sorry dad, I just....can't really think right now." Raiden said as he walked away from his father shaking his head and went to sat down with his ears drooping.
"I think I know what's wrong with him." Mason said as he went over and sat down with his cousin. "Hey, so I think I know what's been distracting you." Mason said as Raiden didn't say anything.
"You overheard that we were going back to the human realm recently, right?" Mason asked as Raiden shook his head.
"I did. I know it's important that you go back and help your friends and Aaron and Haley, but...." Raiden said wanting to finish but couldn't.
"But you're going to miss us, I get it, really I do. It's been great training with you and your dad, and we will come back, I promise. Once whatever's going on back home is settled, I'll come back and do more training with you and uncle Fukushu." Mason promised his cousin and Raiden smiled and slowly wagged his tail before giving Mason a hug.
"Hey, you know what? I think we've had enough sword training for the day, how about a little hand to hand combat training?" Mason suggested.
"Don't you think I would win against you?" Raiden asked.
"Maybe, but it might be a little more difficult in my hybrid form. Fenrir, come here!" Mason called Fenrir over as he and Mason fused into their hybrid from.
Raiden smiled as he and Mason now began their hand to hand combat training and Raiden's spirits soon became brighter.
Meanwhile inside the library of the kitsune castle, Stella was feeling just as distracted as Raiden had been, barely paying attention to Kari's lesson.
"Stella, you feeling okay?" Kari asked her cousin.
"Yeah, it's just, I was really liking all the history lessons you've been helping me out with and I'm....disappointed that you've got to be going so soon." Stella sighed.
"Hey, I'll be back and we can keep doing this. You know it's been really fun doing this with you. I've tried teaching Haley about kitsune history and she pays attention....sometimes....barely." Kari said as Stella giggled at that.
"Hey, so I wanted to thank you for giving me the idea of the drawing for my mom. So I decided to do a drawing for you." Stella said handing her a charcoal drawing as Kari looked at it and was amazed to see that the picture looked just like Kari herself in a kimono.
"Oh, Stella, it's beautiful, you're becoming quite the talented artist. When I go back home, I'll hang this up in my room and whenever I see it, I'll think of you." Kari said as Stella now gave her a hug as the two cousins then went back to covering kitsune history.