The Fallen Vampire

Shakti was returning late from the festivities with Vaal.

Together, the two of them had corralled the last of their members back into their beds and prevented them from making drunken fools of themselves.

It was too bad, because Vaal was hoping to get a little bit more wasted and celebrate today.

After all, it certainly isn't every day that one's sister gets married. And to a race of light no less!

"Hahh... Responsibility is too big a burden to bear sometimes." Vaal sighed.

"You could always turn your position over to your sister." Shakti suggested.

"...Nevermind, I don't thinker's that big of an issue."

"How amusing."

Shakti stopped just shy of opening the palace doors.

Together, she and Vaal looked up at the third floor window just in time to see a rather miraculous sight.

A 9-tailed man leapt though a window- laughing louder than the pair had ever heard before.

He performed a somersault through the air and landed on the ground in front of them.

Throwing his hand back, he froze every window on the third floor- seemingly to prevent someone from escaping.

Vaal was about to ask what was going on, but suddenly he heard a completely new voice speak out.

"Cool!"

"Oh? Did you think so, Nibbs?"

"Yea! Uber cool!"

"...You sure are attached to that word, huh?"

"Is bad..?"

"No, my dear. Not at all."

Vaal tilted his head until it seemed like it was going to fall off. "Elder Brother..?"

Taira turned around and for a moment, the pair of asanbosam felt like they were looking at a completely different man.

But nothing about Taira was actually different, at least not in a physical sense.

And yet...

his smile

.

It was more wide and radiant than any time they had ever seen it before.

An already rare sighting had become significantly more wondrous for a reason neither of them knew.

But looking in his arms, it wasn't hard to see where the change had come from.

A young girl, appearing no older than five or six was wrapped in a white sheet and nestled closely against his chest.

A pair of furry ears dotted her red har, and a thick, fluffy tail swung behind her back.

She was undoubtedly the most precious thing that either of them had ever seen.

"Ah, you two. It's a fine night, isn't it?"

"I... Brother, is that who I think it is?" Vaal asked shakily.

Taira laughed melodically as he held the young girl up to his face and smiled. "Tell me, brother Vaal, do you see a resemblance?"

Ordinarily one would have said no, but Vaal did notice a very striking similarity between the two.

"...She has your eyes, Brother." he smiled.

Taira actually seemed caught off guard by this and looked at Yukiko a second time.

He finally saw it. Her eyes were bright red and slitted, just like his.

As if this already emotional day could not become even more impactful for him... Now there was this too.

His daughter had his eyes.

His

daughter had

his

eyes.

Even if you gave him ten million years and a list of every thing in the world he could potentially need or want, he would never be able to ask for a greater gift than this.

"It is a pleasure to officially meet the future of the Divine Black Myth." Vaal smiled and bowed deeply. "I look forward to seeing wha many hijinks you have in store."

"Hijinks??"

"It means mischief, daughter." Taira explained.

"Ohh... mischief fun!" Read latest chapters on empire

Taira was in too good of a mood at the moment to let those words give him a migraine. He had the rest of his life to stress over things like that.

"I would be remiss if I didn't pay my respects as well." Shakti bowed. "I am unspeakably honored to meet the young mi-"

"Pretty..!" Yukiko cooed.

"Eh?"

"I would honestly have to agree..."

Taira stepped forward and reached for Shakti's face.

Ever so gently, he pushed up the hair that normally kept her eyes covered so that he could get a full view of her face.

Her cheeks were getting warmer every second, and it was clear that she was feeling shy, but she didn't push his hand away.

Once her full face was revealed, Taira was able to get his first look at her beautiful red eyes and cute, but surprisingly timid appearance.

It left him slightly taken aback.

"I have to admit... I'm not sure how I never noticed how beautiful you are before... You must think me pretty thoughtless, no?" He smiled innocently.

Shakti tried to say something, but it all ended up coming out like complete alien gibberish.

Vaal swung his neck back and forth like a confused dog as he tried to keep up with the scene in front of his eyes.

Was this the famous 'workplace harassment' that some of the earth humans had told him about?? If so, was he supposed to put a stop to this?

But then again, he had seen Shakti when she disliked something and this was most definitely not the kind of face she made, soo....

In the end, he just decided to mind his own business and pretend he didn't see anything.

"Other mommy?" Yukiko pointed.

Taira's smile changed into a wry one.

"I'm not sure about all of that yet... but I'm not opposed to it either."

Shakti's jaw fell open.

Vaal nearly broke his neck trying to look up in the sky to pretend he couldn't see or hear anything.

It was really hard.

"TAIRA KUKAN AMAROK!"

The trio looked up and found a ghostly Enyo phasing through the walls of the third floor to reach them.

"I'm not playing with you any longer! Give me our baby NOW!"

Taira looked down at Yukiko, then at his wife, then at Yukiko again.

"...Nah."

"TAIRAAAA!!!"

Currents of purple lightning began running along his entire body as he slowly began to back away from Vaal and Shakti.

"Well it was nice talking to you both, but... I'm afraid I must get going now. Sleep well."

"Buh-bye!" Yukiko waived.

Taira vanished in a current of lightning shortly after that. Enyo was a shrill screaming mess as she chased after him.

Not long after, the palace doors flew open and a large black fox came running out while carrying five more women on it's back. They rushed out of the courtyard like they were on a life or death mission.

In the end, Vaal couldn't do anything but throw his head back and laugh.

"Well, they seem like a much more lively bunch all of a sudden! I wonder if that is what having children does for the spirit... What do you think, Shakti? ...Shakti?"

When Vaal got no answer after several seconds, he turned around to examine Shakti's wellbeing.

At some point, she seemed to have completely fainted on her own without him even realizing it. She now lay sprawled out on the floor of the courtyard with her back to the sky and her head full of dreams.

"...Shakti?"

He gave her a couple of inquisitive nudges, but nothing seemed to wake her from her trance.

After everything he had just seen, he was honestly quite afraid to lay his hands on her casually.

"...I need help."

- 2 Minutes Later...

Saanvi and Vaal were walking side by side down the hallway.

The human girl was using her unusually impressive strength to carry Shakti in her arms as if she was as light as a feather, but she didn't look the slightest bit happy about it.

When you see your crush show up outside your quarters late at night, naturally one would think about confessions, steamy interactions, and maybe even the exchanging of vows.

But no. Not Saanvi's crush.

He got her out of bed to carry a 6 foot amazon who had passed out in the middle of the courtyard.

This sucked.

"Why did you get me put of bed to do this...?" She asked pointedly.

"You were the first person to come to mind, Junior Sister. I needed someone dependable and tight lipped to help me with this since I'm sure that Shakti will be fairly embarrassed when she wakes up."

Saanvi's ear twitched. "...You think I'm dependable?"

"Of course you are. Don't think I haven't noticed you trying to take care of others when you think I'm not around. You're one of the cult's brightest and theres no way I could overlook that."

"..."

Okay, maybe this wasn't all bad after all.

"H-How did she get like this anyway...?" Saanvi asked in a slightly higher pitched voice.

"That.. erm..."

Vaal knew that he wasn't explicitly told to keep his mouth shut about what he saw, but knowing Taira... he figured it would be good if he did it anyway.

"It's... a mystery."

"A mystery?"

"A mystery." Vaal nodded.

Saanvi could tell that Vaal was lying, but she didn't really care if she were being honest.

She just wanted to know what supreme heavenly entity she was supposed to thank for this glorious opportunity.