“I Miss You”

Chapter Nine

Shiva let a sigh fall out of her sculpted lips, shoving her arm through the jacket. Well, it was more like a… cape. Regardless, it was one of her “kingdom addressing” outfits, as she liked to call them. They weren’t as revealing as her regular outfits (the ones she lounged around the castle in), but still kept her audience’s attention.

She gazed in the mirror, adjusting the gothic lolita-style dress. Of course, she had altered it so it looked more like a gothic harlot dress than a gothic lolita dress. There was no petticoat to speak of, so the black cotton clung to her curves, hitting her mid-thigh. The dress was low-cut, but her bust was mostly hidden (though not entirely obscured) by the jacket-cape.

“How do I look?” Shiva turned to Jason, holding her arms out and extending her legs, leather boots shining.

Jason smiled, feeling the devotion course through him at lightning speed. Shiva looked absolutely wonderful… for him. He hated it when she got all dolled up for her subjects. She had enough admirers as it was, and everytime she showed up half-dressed, the numbers increased. It might just’ve been her body they were after, but Jason’s jealousy ran deep within him.

Just for the simple reason that he loved her more than he loved himself, he swallowed the lump that was snowballing in his throat and smiled warmly, “You look fine.”

Shiva smiled at the smooth tenor, going back to scrutinize herself in the mirror. Her right-hand servant was a bit biased, so she was thinking about adding something more. A bit more eyeliner, perhaps? A teasing garter placed a little below the hem of her dress?

But she doesn’t have time to, as Jason informed her. She was due to make an announcement about the rogue vampires that escaped the battle just yesterday. More than anything, the missing Colonel pissed her off. What kind of man was he, to just up and leave his soldiers like that?! At first, she just had one of the soldiers message Legna (every soldier was equipped with a free phone with just about unlimited plans) to try and bluff him out of hiding, but when the Colonel wasn’t heard from again, she started to get pissed. Not only had he abandoned his soldiers, but he was apparently running away from his orders.

And no one disregarded Shiva like that.

“You ready, my Queen?” Jason held out his slender arm (Shiva hated huge, show-offy muscles), which she readily slipped her hand around.

Jason led her out to the main hall, which had been decorated over the past three or four hours. The regal blacks, silvers, and golds had been arranged around a high-backed chair; the place where Shiva was to sit and make the announcement to her kingdom about the runaways. She already had a plan in mind, too. She would bluff Legna and the others out of hiding, one way or the other. And, along the way, she would beguile her kingdom into trusting her like they trusted King Vishnu (who was on his last leg, anyway).

It was all a perfect, sculpted plan that was bound to have the desired results…

“Queen Shiva, if you could, just sit right here, we’ll get you prepped,” the manager of the TV show that Shiva was scheduled to appear on gave her a disarming smile, which she didn’t return. She did, however, sit and resume watching the tech managers and other workers run amok in the main lobby of her castle.

A couple of make-up artists tousled her already-tousled hair, ran more eyeshadow over her lids, then scuttled off to check her appearance on-camera. Jason stood protectively by her side, coldly watching every touch his Queen. Once the tech assistants got everything in order, one of them stepped behind the camera, and Shiva went over her speech in her head.

The manager counted down, then pointed to the lovely woman as the camera’s lights came on.

“Hello Deron City, and beyond, this is Queen Shiva here with an important message. Thank you for tuning in,” she paused, letting her words settle into the households. Jason’s reassuring presence made her lips turn upward as she continued, “I wanted you, my faithful kingdom, to be aware of the current situation.” Her lips turned back down and her blue-green eyes turned sharp, just in case any of the runaways were watching.

“I’ve been informed that some of the Magan Salath soldiers that were involved in a recent battle have gone missing. A source has told me that, along with some unknown soldiers, the Colonel named Legna had also disappeared. Humans are also suspected to be included in the group, as well as rogue vampires. The count of the group is unknown at the present time.” A lie. “We’re in the midst of figuring out how many are in the group, and we’ll get an exact number out in the public as soon as we can.” Another lie.

Shiva’s gaze took on a sympathetic light, “I wanted to be the first to inform every single one of you that this group is armed and very dangerous. Magan Salath soldiers are included within with runaway bunch, which means that they are skilled with the weapons they carry. Human infantrymen are also included, and they’re just as skilled with their arms. We vehemently urge you not to seek out this rogue band. And, if you do see them, please do not hesitate to look for a safe refuge. I repeat, please do not seek out the band of rogue vampires and humans, they are armed and extremely dangerous.

“Right now, we have Magan Salath soldiers out looking to make Deron City safe and peaceful again. So, please, heed these warnings and keep you and your family safe. And if you have any information whatsoever, there’s a reward for any you have.” Shiva smiled warmly, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly. “Thank you and keep safe. Good night.”

“And, that’s a rap,” the director nodded to Shiva as she rose. “Thank you, Queen Shiva. We’ll air this over the course of the next few days, to keep the public informed.”

“Thank you,” she said, and exited the room. She had her many servants to tend to the deconstruction of the set, so she and Jason retreated into her bedroom. “Ugh, get me out of this ridiculous outfit,” Shiva complained as she tore off the jacket-cape. She was much more comfortable when her skin was shown and not hidden behind ridiculous garments. But the refined air of a Queen required her to cover up when she just would’ve ran around naked all day.

She couldn’t be bothered by the fact that not everyone was as comfortable with their bodies as she was.

“You tired?” Jason stood in the doorway, casually leaning against it as his Queen undressed. He openly stared at her curves, mouth curling at the edges as she slipped off her leather underwear.

“You think?” Shiva smirked to him as she climbed into the bed that was decorated with spider print sheets with silver accents. The satin felt cool to her skin (which was thankful; the temperatures were getting unbearable in Deron City), and she patted the spot beside her, inviting her subordinate to join her.

Jason let his lips fall into a cool smile as he strode forward.

“Undress,” Shiva lied back on the sheets, her short hair fanning around her head like a damaged halo. Jason did as he was told, and slipped the grey shirt over his head, revealing a bandaged torso and sleek abdominals. “You can unbind yourself for the night, darling.”

The servant reached a slender hand behind his back and let the bandages fall to his feet, taking in a deep breath. It was cramping, compressing his breasts all day.

“You’ve always had a very nice shape,” Shiva commented, smirking to herself and her memories. She could remember when she first saw Jason, a frightened and vulnerable girl with her youth stripped away from her. Jason had been sold into slavery, and taken from brothel to brothel until Shiva met and took pity on her.

“Too bad I have to hide it,” the servant commented, slipping of the boxer shorts Shiva made her wear. It “hid her gender better,” the Queen said. Jason didn’t mind. Shiva had saved her, so making the whole word think she was a man was a small price to pay for all the nice things she had bestowed upon her. The brunette slipped into the bed beside the woman, immediately pressing their skin together and lighting the flame of desire deep in her abdomen.

Shiva hissed, eyes going glassy quickly, “It’s for the better, though. You know that.”

Jason just smiled, light green eyes closing as she snuggled with her lover, “You just don’t want to admit that you’re in love with a woman.” Shiva grunted and rolled her eyes, and Jason changed the subject quickly. “Why do you want the rogues back?”

As Shiva looked down and Jason locked eyes with her, she realized that she’d better backtrack and save her ass, “I mean, they’re just rogues. And you seem particularly… hung up on the Colonel. Is there something that you’re not telling me, love?”

“You don’t need to worry you’re lovely head,” Shiva ran her clawed hands through Jason’s boy-short, chocolate tresses. “I share everything with you. Just trust me on this, okay?”

Jason nodded, though she wasn’t completely satisfied. That changed, however, as Shiva’s white-hot fingers caressed her cool skin. She gasped as a claw came into contact with her nipple. Shiva knew all the right ways to touch the brunette, having done it for the better part of ten or so years. Jason could feel the passion building within her, and she tentatively tilted her head until her lips found Shiva’s.

The Queen smiled into the innocent kiss and she moved her hand to trace the contours of Jason’s toned stomach, advancing downward and gaining another sweet pant from the underling.

By the time Shiva, herself, was huffing, Jason had already forgotten her worries and their previous argument.

--

Iu slung his scythe over his shoulder, clicking it back onto its holster, “What place do you have in mind, Neva?”

The female vampire reloaded her guns (Mandrid had a secret pocked in her dress that was home to their ammunition, the group found out), and as she shoved the clip back into the frame, her eyes locked with Iu’s, “V.A.M.O.R. has a sanctuary near here.”

“But aren’t you guys against vampires having anything to do with humans?” Legna cleaned off his throwing stars and successfully butting into the conversation. “Won’t there be a problem?”

At this, the five humans perked up. Everyone was cleaning off weapons, washing clothes (in the sewer water; Iu opted to stay stinky), or gathering up supplies for their move. MeiRei had exchanged some slugs with Neva, a sign that Neva wasn’t as faithful to her organization as she previously claimed.

“You do your homework,” Neva’s comment wasn’t snide, but nor was it friendly by any means. “It’s true that V.A.M.O.R. is an acronym for Vampires Against the Mixing Of the Races, and some of its members are a bit more… conservative with their views. But I’m sure that there won’t be a problem at the sanctuary… as long as we don’t have any humans with us.”

“And just how are we supposed to do that?” Moeru furrowed his brows distrustfully, testing the weight of his crossbow.

Neva smiled to him, clicking her final clip into her pistol. She aimed it playfully at him as she said, “We don’t tell them.”

--

“Goddamn, I’m so fucking tired,” S.O.P. complained as he walked, shoulders slumping under his black shirt and the weight of his shotgun on his back. “That stone floor wasn’t comfortable in the least last night, and I could barely sleep anyway.”

“Stop whining already,” Zankoku shot, rolling her ebony eyes to the heavens. Shintaku glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, worried that she was walking on thin ice with the soldiers. Koinu saw the man’s face, and placed a hand on his arm.

“Dude, you know what?” S.O.P. skipped forward a little bit, apparently forgetting all about his previous lack of energy. Iu humoured him by asking what was up. “That little human dude, Koinu was it? Well, Little Slave looks like Colonel Smart-Ass over here.”

Iu took the time to look at Koinu, who was still shirtless (his diminutive body littered with white and red scars), but had on a pair of pants to cover the rest of his body. The human slave listened to whatever Shintaku was telling him gravely, brow wrinkled and mouth turned down in the corners. And that was when Iu saw it, clearly, for the first time.

Koinu looked like Legna did when he was younger. (Iu kinda guessed at what the Colonel had looked like, but the resemblance was so strong that Iu didn’t have to guess at much.)

“You’re right,” Iu whispered to S.O.P., who nodded.

“The Stouthearted Leader agrees with the Gunslinging Seducer,” the blonde nodded, grinning.

Neva looked back over her shoulder, “How come you guys get the best nicknames? S.O.P.’s stuck me with Lesbian Sharpshooter, and Mandrid with Mute Slasher. How awkward, right?” Neva turned away from the group and muttered, “I’m not even a lesbian…”

“Well, Mute Slasher is better than The Queer Bowman,” Moeru laughed, though, as he spoke. He didn’t mind S.O.P. calling him queer. Almost everyone else did, anyway. And, he guessed, he kinda was. He sure thought that Shintaku was nice-looking, but he also had a soft spot for MeiRei. In the end, he decided that the decision was just too hard, and he opted to remain a free guy. “It makes me sound like a superhero.”

“It’s better than Busty McPistolwhip, too,” MeiRei laughed, too, casting a look over her shoulder at S.O.P., who just grinned sheepishly, then bursting out into a fit of giggles.

Moeru bent double, face red and sides aching, “At least he didn’t call you cute. Man, be thankful for that.”

“Seriously,” Zankoku trailed behind the group, tacking the word onto Moeru’s sentence even though no one else heard her.

“What happens when people call MeiRei cute?” S.O.P. trotted a few steps to catch up with the two humans. They started a new spasm of cackling as they saw the curious look on S.O.P.’s face.

Moeru was the first to gasp for a breath and say, “Oh my gosh, do you remember that one time that we went out to a bar, and that guy grabbed your ass? You totally decked him into next Sunday.” S.O.P. was still confused when Moeru went on. “Every single person who has made MeiRei into any sort of object—by commenting about her feminine appearance or even molesting her like the previously mentioned sap—has gotten the shit beat out of them. I swear to god that MeiRei has a heftier right hook than Legna!”

“Wow,” S.O.P. let out a chuckle, immediately conjuring up a mental image of MeiRei kicking the shit out of Legna.

“Yeah, she’s badass,” Moeru slipped in a longing look at MeiRei that S.O.P. was lucky enough to catch. He personally thought that the two humans would make an adorable (not cute, hah) couple, but he knew better than to think that Moeru favoured the girls. If anyone did in that relationship, it would be MeiRei, he figured.

S.O.P. tugged on Moeru’s arm, leading the man away from the group, and he gathered up the courage to ask him if he really liked MeiRei…

But before he got to put that courage to good use, Neva held out her hand. The ten runaways stopped, and S.O.P. could hear Legna complain about walking through the woods in his “nice boots.” The blonde rolled his eyes and perked his ears as Neva turned to face the group she had been leading.

“We’re here.”

--

Iu stood on the outside of the band, arms crossed over his chest, one clawed hand nervously being bitten. Neva and Mandrid were talking to the old man who ran the V.A.M.O.R. sanctuary, their heads bowed low over the rain that had started. Already, Iu’s white hair was plastered to his sweaty forehead, and his low-heeled boots were soppy and squishy. It was rather uncomfortable, and Iu would have liked to just barged in and flopped down on the nearest bed… or sofa… or even carpet.

“Do you think this is going to work?” Moeru bent his head to talk to Iu, his bright violet eyes looking apprehensively in the direction of the twins. “I mean, we don’t exactly… look anything like you guys.”

The boy vampire nodded, but tried to keep his spirits up, “Well, the owner looks older than the planets, so the only thing I’d worry about if I were you is him calling you a girl and hitting on ya or something.”

Moeru flipped his long hair over his shoulders, “Now why would you say something like that, Iu?”

“You’re prettier than S.O.P.,” Iu let a smile tug at the corners of his lips, which only widened as he heard S.O.P. scoff behind him. The blonde knew Iu was just kidding (even though Moeru was quite lovely), and he placed his arms around Iu's shoulders from behind, leaning down to whisper into his ear.

“You won’t be thinking Mo’s prettier than I am later.”

Iu felt his face flush, and was never more glad to see Neva and her sister walking back toward the group. “What did he say?”

Neva couldn’t hold her grin in very long, and she even let out little laughs in between her words, “That man is batshit crazy. He doesn’t know his head from his ass, so we’re good. Just don’t make a big deal out of anything. Scurry in, find your room, and lock the door.”

“We’re not staying in one room?” Iu was a little bit shocked (even though it wasn’t exactly normal, he just assumed that they were staying in a huge suite or something), and Neva shook her head.

“We’ve got rooms that can accommodate two to three people. We’ll need to split up,” She brushed her rain-soaked bangs out of her sapphire eyes, then turned on her heel to confidently stride into the sanctuary. “Just follow me, and you’ll be fine.”

The group made its way into the low-lit building, the humans keeping their heads down and trying not to attract attention. Koinu’s hair was cut the shortest, and barely reached the top of his ears, so the vampires made a protective barrier around him (and the rest of the humans).

Iu was worried the most about Neva, though. The worst that V.A.M.O.R. would do to the humans would be to kick them out, he figured. But Neva and Mandrid were members of the organization. What if they went all psycho on the members that socialized with humans, and had them hunted down like beef on the hoof?

But as she looked back to make sure they were following, and their eyes met, all of his fear melted away.

“There’re three rooms,” Neva informed them as she held out room keys.

Iu stopped her, though, asking, “Who wants to room together? It’d be unsafe for all of the humans to pile up into one room, so maybe we should consider this a bit before just galloping willy-nilly into a room.”

“Iu’s right,” MeiRei nodded her head. She had let her hair down as they walked into the sanctuary, partly because she wanted the long tresses to dry quicker and partly so it would cover her distinguishable human features.

“Uh, I wouldn’t mind rooming with Mei and Mo,” S.O.P. readily spoke up. Moeru scrunched his eyebrows at the other blonde, and S.O.P. shrugged. “You’re funny, and I know you don’t like to be away from MeiRei.”

“Okay, that’s one room,” Neva handed them the key to the nearest room, and the three of them giggled their way into said room. “How about I decide the other rooms. Let’s not get hasty here, shall we?” She shot Legna a hate-filled glare as he took in a breath to start speaking. “Mandrid, myself, and Zankoku will be in the second room, while Iu, you, Shintaku, and Koinu bunk in the third. Sound good?”

Neva didn’t wait to hear any arguments before she handed Legna the key, pointedly staring at him as she snapped a “good.”

Once the team of four was in a room, Legna slammed the door, cursing Neva for all that she was worth.

“What is your problem with her?” Iu looked distinctly at his Colonel, hands on his tiny hips. He, of course, already knew why Neva hated Legna, but he didn’t quite know the other side. Silently, he wondered whether he should trust Neva or Legna in this argument, but since he didn’t have Mandrid’s side, he decided to play neutral and give them both a chance to explain themselves.

Legna’s emerald eyes sharply pierced Iu, “That’s between Neva and I. Whatever she tells you is on her, but I will not spread childish gossip like she nodoubtedly does. So don’t stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong, okay, Iu?”

“I’m just trying to help—“

“Well, don’t!” Legna stripped off his shirt angrily, tossing it onto one of the two beds that the room housed. There was a couch (that someone was going to have to sleep on, obviously), and a couple of endtables, but other than those articles, the room was completely empty. “Do me and yourself a favour and stop asking both Neva and myself what happened, okay? The past is the past.”

Iu was about to dispute the man again, but was cut off by a soft cough. His and Legna’s heads were turned immediately to see Shintaku sitting daintily on the edge of one of the beds. (It looked like Iu was staying in Sofa City tonight.)

“Could you two not fight? You’re upsetting Koinu,” Shintaku spoke slowly, without disdain in his voice.

“Fine,” Legna still snapped, and he collapsed onto the bed.

Iu nodded and apologized to the man, who just nodded. And when Iu sat down on the horrible, itchy couch, he forgot everything: them being runaways, having a bounty on his head, meeting new friends and befriending humans, and his worries about everyone else but himself.

And he slept…

I Miss You - 5