The Fallen Vampire

Aveena listened to all of Keran's words carefully and without rushing her.

The more she heard, the more her beautiful face contorted into an expression of disbelief and terror.

The fact that the people who had taken her in discovered her secret could be overlooked for now.

Her home was about to be attacked, and all of her junior and senior sisters would likely pay the price for her mistake.

None of this would have happened if she had not so desperately pleaded with her sect leader to visit the outside world.

"Aveena...? Are you alright?" Keran asked gently.

Aveena finally realized that she had been spacing out for the last few minutes she lowered her head in apology.

"You all will have to forgive me... I have inconvenienced you a great deal but I believe that it is finally time for me to return home."

"What? Aveena, I know you want to go and save your home but you can't! Your entire cultivation base has been abolished and you can't possibly get there fast enough to save everyone!"

"Vermeil is right. You would only be needlessly putting yourself in danger." Enyo agreed.

"You should let my mother handle it. She's already making preparations to leave with her army and intercept the humans before they can do any damage." Keran reasoned.

Aveena knew that everyone was making great points with no real flaws behind them but there was still something that was holding her back.

"Princess...What would you do if it were your family in imminent danger? Would you leave them to be saved by others..? Or would you run to save them yourself no matter the danger?"

Keran didn't bother to answer, and in doing so confirmed what Aveena already knew to be the answer.

"I thank you for showing me concern, but just as you would do everything you can for your kin, I will for mine."

Aveena finally released Keran and showed the group something like a sad smile.

"If fate be kind, I do hope that we can meet again."

Before anyone could respond, Aveena took off running into the woods at full speed and left her previous caretakers behind without another word.

As he watched her disappear into the woods, Taira suddenly felt four strong gazes piercing into his back from behind.

Glancing over his shoulder, he found his three wives and Vermeil staring at him with the biggest doe eyes they could muster.

"...What..?"

Enyo: "Honey..."

Lucia: "W-We know you don't really like Aveena, but..."

Keran: "Surely you don't feel good about letting her go off like this either, do you...?"

Vermeil: "We should go after her. She'll never make it to her home in time by traveling like that..."

Taira's expression showed no visible change and it was unclear if he was even moved in the slightest.

But because he was relatively weak to the pleading looks he was receiving, his expression softened just a tad.

"All of you... you are all certain this is what you wish to do?"

""""Yes!""""

"...What bleeding hearts you all have."

Taira let out a deep sigh as he closed his eyes.

The four girls took several steps back as his chiseled body grew until he dwarfed the girls in his shadow.

-

The sound of snapping tree branches and heavy footsteps filled the air as Aveena ran through the woods with reckless abandon.

She gritted her teeth as she cursed her own miserable weakness.

She hadn't even been running long, but she was already starting to feel the loss of her cultivation base very clearly.

However, she couldn't let it get her down at the moment, because she had to make it up the mountain with or without her heightened physique.

'Everyone at home needs me to get to them, so I cannot bother to feel sorry for myself and I must-' "KYAAA! W-WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Aveena felt no gust of wind, nor did she feel any approaching presences, but as she ran throughout the woods a creature suddenly grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her up into the air.

Looking up, she could see that she had been grabbed by some sort of enormous furry bat creature with huge leathery wings.

It held her in the air by it's feet, and Aveena realized for the first time that she may have had a small fear of heights.

But it wasn't her fault!

She wasn't the type of demon who was known to be able to fly anyway, so really who could blame her for being uncomfortable??

"W-What is this?! Put me down you damned-"

"Hello!"

"Greetings!"

"What's good?"

"Did you miss us?"

Suddenly, four familiar women peered down at her from atop the back of the giant bat whose clutches she was in.

"W-Wha...?"

"Taira, since you scared her already can you bring her up here now? You're holding her ike you're going to take her back to your nest and nibble on her." Vermeil said.

"....Hmph."

A tail grew from the body of the bat creature that quickly wrapped around Aleena's waist.

Lifting her up, Taira placed her on his back where she sat comfortably without risk of falling off.

Since he was currently the size of a bus, the girls had more than enough room even when the four of them were sitting haphazardly.

"Why are all of you here??" Aveena asked shakily.

"You look kinda green, Aveena." Vermeil pointed out. "You're not going to throw up, are you?"

"If she throws up on my back I am going to drop her from this height." Taira growled.

"C-Can you all just answer my question!??"

Lucia gave her friend a small pat on the shoulder and her usual warm smile. "We don't want to see the races of light destroy yet another sacred space in the name of their supposed superiority.

Besides, we couldn't just let you run off on your own like that. You never would have made it back home in time if our husband could not be persuaded to take you."

Aveena stared at the bat creature whom she was riding on and she felt a strange emotion flutter in her heart.

She knew full well how Taira felt about her, so that only made it that much more surprising that he had actually bothered to help.

"Thank you, Taira…"

"…" The bat in question did not respond, but Aveena could have sworn she saw his large ears twitch just a bit.

For some reason, Aveena threw her head back and laughed loudly above the clouds as if she had suddenly lost all restraint.

'You'll have to forgive me for bringing in outsiders, sect leader. But these people… they are the strangest and most wonderful group of companions I have ever had in my life.'

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