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emma-nation · 4 years ago

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Ticker Than Water - Bloodbound AU (Chapter 4)

Summary: When Amy changes the course of the events at the Opera House, she could never imagine the consequences she would have to face. After being by Rheya’s side for five years, she’s finally ready to be reunited with her friends and find a manner to defeat her. But when the time comes, what will prevail? Her love for Kamilah Sayeed and her friends or her family ties with the First Vampire?

Genre: Angst, Drama, Romance

Tag List: @slytherinthoughts7, @lightning-fury, @spacecarrousel, @gavryllo, @kamilah-the-bloodqueen, @whoinvitedalx, @sheyah, @imnotdonewiththeelementalists, @belvoiresqueenbee, @morvengarde, @tephy24, @iam-the-fuckin-queen, @scorpichoices, @leavemeandmyshipsalone, @jen825, @andreear17, @justejuste727, @evexofxtime, @zoe6111, @shanuuh, @ilovekamilahsayeed, @kenna-and-val-are-my-queens, @fal-carrington, @spookyjellyfishlove, @samgtt700, @just-thinking-loudly, @martachm, @masterofbluff, @rice-wifee, @lifeisadance96, @serafinedupontownsme, @hellyeah90sbaby

4 years ago - Japan

The first signs of Winter started showing on the city outside. Kamilah wondered what she'd be doing if she was still living in New York. Working, perhaps. And also planning the next Dark Solstice.

The necklace. She didn't have time to retrieve it from the secret drawer in her office when they ran away. It would be her only memory from something that didn't exist anymore - her relationship with Amy.

"I did it," the penthouse door opened in a slam, making Lily completely lose focus on her video game or Jax stop sharpening his katana. Adrian seemed to be in ecstasy. "I... I managed to grow a seedling from the sample we obtained from the Tree Of Death. This could stop Rheya for good."

"How great," Jax replied with some sarcasm. The last few months turned him into a version of his late master, Takeshi. "And what about the others? Also, how long is it going to take?"

The others. Kamilah's stomach flipped. Amy was one of them, along with Rheya's husband and daughter. And she was so strong as the First Vampire herself.

"It's a start, Jax," Lily added. "It'll be easier to take her down once she becomes a Feral."

"Fine, but I'd like to do the honors."

"Kamilah?" Adrian approached, touching her shoulder briefly. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes," Kamilah told. She was too invested in her own thoughts, reflecting about the part where she'd have to face Amy again. What if they had to kill her? Would she be able to do that? "We will wait. When the time comes, we'll fight again."

Lily suggested a celebration, Jax agreed and so did Adrian. Since their arrival, they barely left that penthouse. Except for the occasions where they attended Kano's training sessions. The psychic vampire taught them how to guard their minds from Rheya. And also Amy.

"You can go. I'll stay here."

"Come on, Kamilah," Lily started dragging her to the door. "You never say no to booze."

"I'm saying this time."

"Lily is right," Adrian said. "You are coming with us. It'll be a good distraction."

"Yeah," Jax agreed. "We must stick together. Remember?"

This manner, the three younger vampires managed to make Kamilah to go out for the first time in months. Still a little insecure about their safety, they decided to visit The Five's nightclub. In the end, it was not terrible. Jax and Akeyo engaged in a singing competition, while Lily attempted to copy The Evolved's robotic dance moves. The female vampire let out a small laugh.

"Finally," Aiko slowly approached her. "Acceptance is the last stage of grief."

"I guess so," Kamilah replied in a dry tone.

"She's not coming back. She made a choice."

"I know."

The reminder of that fact hit Kamilah's heart like applying salt in an open wound. One year had passed. Amy was still doing atrocities together with Rheya. She showed no signs of regret or mercy. Not even a trace of the old Amy still existed in her eyes. The powers had changed her completely.

"I need another shot," she ordered to the bartender. Then she looked at Aiko, who observed her with the same old and seductive smirk. "Two shots actually."

----------

A blow from one of the mythological creatures that surrounded Amy in the mindscape forest threw her hard against a tree. Though the fight was happening inside her mind, the pain felt extremely real, as if her skull had been fractured.

"Ouch..." she moaned in pain. "Can't... back... down..."

A fire blast started to form in the center of her palm. If she could maintain the focus, it should be enough to stop the creature that was about to strike again.

"Ha!" Amy released the fire ball, that disappeared mid-air. "Fuck!" She screamed, punching the floor repeatedly. Noticing her frustration, Kano pulled her back to reality.

"There's something wrong," he spoke in all his wisdom of a 500 years old man, in a 5 years old body.

"Not even when I'm mad - and trust me, I'm really mad - I can make this work."

"You won't be able to do this moved only by anger. You need focus and discipline."

"Kano," Amy squeezed the water bottle she held, "we've been training for hours. I can't conjure one decent blast. I'm focused, I'm doing all the meditation exercises you taught me... I just can't. Maybe she drained my powers while I slept."

"It's not that," Kano handed her another water bottle, that she drank all in one sip. "There's something blocking you from reaching your potential."

"What could it be?"

He forced her to face all the nastiest skeletons in her closet for a second time that day. Starting by the childhood trauma caused by her mother's behavior. Though Amy knew the reason behind her rage outbursts, the marks would always be there.

The child version of herself was drawing in the kitchen when her mother entered, completely disturbed.

"Mommy!" She called. "Look what I've made for you."

"Nice," the woman barely looked. She was too busy inspecting the cabinets for her painkillers. "Where are them?"

She swallowed a couple of pills and little Amy's heart filled with hope that her mother would finally be able to give her some attention and love.

"Can we play teacups now? I missed you. You spend the whole day in the bedroom."

"Can't you see it, Amy?" The woman yelled at the child. "I am sick! Why can you just respect me? Why can you just be quiet, huh?!"

As she slammed the bedroom door, the little sat down on the floor breaking into tears.

"What did I do wrong?" She asked herself.

"Nothing," adult Amy sighed at the scene. "You did nothing wrong."

Then they moved to the Opera House. What else could be there to be seen? Amy did both of her crucial decisions - the one where she decided to tempt the fate and avoid the death of one of her friends, becoming a monster in consequence. And the one where she took the dagger. That was the most painful to watch. She had already seen Lily dying in her arms, as Kamilah plunged a stake in her heart to prevent her from becoming a Feral. She also saw Jax, sacrificing himself to die as the warrior he was, not as a disgusting rotting creature.

This time though, it was Adrian who took the fall to save her life...

"Not her! Never her!"

"Adrian!" The past version of herself screamed, kneeling down on the floor near the male vampire. "W-Why did you do this? Y-You didn't have to..."

"Amy..." he clutched the injury in his abdomen. His skin was already acquiring a grey coloration. "I had to. I was the one to bring you to this world in first place. I swore to protect you."

"But..."

"Shhhh, it's okay. I've had a long and accomplished life. I made a lot of mistakes too and somehow I think this how I must pay for them. I... I'm ready to be reunited with Eleanor and Charles."

She glanced at the rest of the group. Lily was sobbing uncontrollably. Jax punched the wall in anger and denial. Kamilah was also kneeled by Adrian's side. She was trying hard to prevent the tears from falling.

"And Amy?" Adrian said, before handing her a stake. "Take care of Kamilah. She needs you."

"No!" Both versions of herself screamed at the same time, as Adrian forced her hand to stake his heart. She collapsed to the floor before they moved to the next memory.

She and Rheya were terrorizing some citizens in New York City. Those who still refused to bend to their orders and obey their every command.

"I condemn you to be my prisoners," Rheya smiled deviously, staring at the small group of people restrained inside a TV station. They secretly planned to leak information about the Apostolous family to other states, including their ability of controlling and manipulating minds. "You can be my servants after all. You could entertain me, feed me... or even fight for me."

Amy emerged from a door in the back. Her hair was a mess and she had bags under her eyes. She was in a terrible mood, what lead her to slowly approach and start to snap the neck of each one of the victims. One by one.

"Foolish creature! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rheya asked, visibly annoyed. "I wasn't going to kill them yet, they could be useful to my purposes."

"Getting things done faster," Amy told. "I'm starving, I'm tired. I can't wait to get home and feed."

"Of course, you spent the whole night out with Serafine, going to clubs and using your psychic powers for recreational purposes. I told you I needed you in shape this morning. You disappoint me."

"I'm sorry, Rheya. You were going to kill them anyways. They're all useless insects, isn't it what you always say?"

"You're right," the First Vampire approached and touched her chest using her indicator finger. "But I give the orders here. We may have the same blood, the same powers powers but I'm in charge. Do you understand?"

Amy was back to the same mindscape as earlier, surrounded by creatures in a forest. She felt angry at herself, yet she accepted it. She embraced the fact she was weak to resist the darkness inside her. It was part of who she had became. And now she wanted to change and make things right.

"I can do this," she closed her eyes, focusing on conjuring a psychic wave strong enough to push the horde of monsters away from her. When she opened them, ready to hit them... nothing happened.

"What?!" She yelled, back at Kano's office. "This time I did it. I faced the Opera memory and how things should have went. I embraced the fact I did horrible things too."

"There must be something else. Something you're refusing to face and let go."

Amy had no idea what it could be. At Kano's suggestion, they ended the training session for the day and she went back to the hotel to rest and reflect on what could be blocking her powers. After a long bath, she stared at the bed. The same bed she and Kamilah shared an intimate moment in the previous night, before she told her about her engagement with Aiko.

She finally turned on her phone. Iola had been trying to reach her all day.

"You need to return home, immediately. She has lost her mind."

"What is it this time?" Amy asked, getting dressed to meet Lily at the penthouse she lived with the rest of the group.

"She wants to-"

"Amy?!" Rheya seemed to have taken the phone from her daughter's hands. "I wanted to speak to you, darling. Are you finished with The Five yet? I need you to come home."

"Why?"

"I've signed a contract with a TV channel. Next week they'll begin to film our own reality show: 'The Apostolous'. Isn't it wonderful?"

No. It wasn't. Together with her insane ancestor and her family, Amy would be locked in the mansion with Priya, Serafine and Dracula, while every detail their daily routine was registered by the cameras and shown on television to the whole world.

"Rheya..." Amy sighed, thinking of some excuse. "Why don't you wait a few more days? I mean, a party with your new allies would be a great start for the reality show. Wouldn't it?"

"You're right," the First Vampire answered after a pause. "I don't know when you've gotten so smart, but you're having some good ideas lately. Anyways, I must start planning our party then. Talk to you later, darling."

Only a lot of alcohol could make Amy relax with all the latest news. When she arrived, Lily was still the only one in the penthouse. Jax, Adrian and Kamilah were doing some personal businesses.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Amy asked, taking a sip directly from the bottle of sake before aiming her next shot at the pool game.

"I was going to," Lily told, observing as she sank three balls in a row. "I couldn't imagine Kamilah would go straight to your bed in the very first night."

As Lily finished her own turn, Amy noticed she was about to win the game. However, she would never be able to make the right move with that one question bothering her mind.

"Does she love her? Aiko?"

"Do you want the honest truth? No, she doesn't. She only got in that sudden relationship with her to forget you. And if you ask me, I bet Aiko is forcing her to get married."

A hint of a smile appeared on the corners of Amy's mouth. She still had a chance. With the right shot, she could win Kamilah's heart back.

"I win," she grinned as she cued the last ball into the pocket.

"Best of three?" Lily asked, after taking a sip of the sake. "So, now tell me about Rheya going all Kardashian."

Amy rolled her eyes in annoyance. She was about to start talking about Rheya's reality show when the penthouse's door opened, making her heart speed up inside her chest.

"Oh," for her disappointment, it wasn't Kamilah. "Hey, Jax."

"Hello, Lily and..." he glared in her direction, clearly uncomfortable with her presence. "You."

"Jax, come here," Lily called, assuming some alcohol and games would be able to seal the peace between them. "Amy was about to tell me about Rheya's latest bullshit."

"Later, Lil. I gotta... I gotta take a shower. I was training with Akeyo all day."

As soon as he left to the bedroom, Amy sighed:

"He'll never forgive me."

Kamilah arrived right after she finished her sentence. She didn't say a word, she walked directly to the bar, serving herself some expensive whiskey.

"We're not allowed to bring visitors," she scolded Lily. "After five years you should know that."

"I asked Adrian first," Amy told in her defense. "He said I could..."

"Oh, Amy. Congratulations on your new show. It's all over the internet. You must be loving the attention, aren't you?"

"Thank you. By the way, for someone who doesn't care care you're way too updated about my life."

There was a heavy tension between them. Years of unresolved feelings and unsaid words were affecting the whole environment surrounding them, like an earthquake.

"I-I..." Noticing that, Lily started walking away too. "You two must have a lot to talk about. I'll be in my bedroom."

Amy still tried to prevent Lily from leaving, but it was useless. She was alone and under Kamilah's hard cold gaze.

"You shouldn't be here," the female vampire said once again.

"Why?" Amy decided to confront her. "My presence is bothering you?"

"Not really, but it put us at risk. She could come here any second searching for her spawn."

"She won't. Besides, I can fight her."

"Oh really? How's the training going by the way?"

"Good," Amy lied. "I'm... I'm finding myself. Finding a balance between my powers and the darkness they can bring."

As if she still could read her, Kamilah raised an eyebrow and opened a small sadistic smile. Was it so obvious she was failing miserably? Did Kano tell the others how poorly the training session had gone? She swallowed dry.

"About yesterday..." Amy opened her mouth to speak, changing the subject. She had to know how Kamilah felt about the other night.

"Nothing happened yesterday," Kamilah nodded.

Before she could speak again, Adrian emerged from the elevator.

"Amy, good to see you here," he wanted to show her something in a secret Raines Corporation HQ he had built. "Come with me."

She gave Kamilah one last look. It wasn't over. She wasn't going to give up and pretend nothing happened between them. She wasn't going to act like the feelings weren't still there, alive and strong as ever.

"What?" Adrian asked with a smile during their way to the building.

"Nothing," Amy smiled back. She had never been so happy to see him. That vision had struck her really hard. "I'm just glad you still trust me."

The building was highly secured. Adrian guided her to the laboratory in the basement. Some scientists were still working late night, on many different projects.

"Only a few people know about our secret weapon," Adrian told while he typed a password on a keypad, opening a heavy metal door. "Only us and The Five. After all, anyone else could have their minds accessed by Rheya."

After walking through a long corridor, they stopped in front of a glass. Behind it, Amy spotted a small growing tree.

"Is it..."

"The Tree Of Death. I managed to obtain a sample and grow a seedling from it. It's still small and young, its sap is not so poisonous. It won't cause much harm yet."

After Demetrius was brought back to life, the Tree Of Death and the island ceased to exist. With that, there was nothing that could stop Rheya. Until now.

"Adrian..." Amy remembered testing her powers, or when Rheya used to grow different plants and flowers in the backyard, according to the occasions. "I can make it grow faster with my powers."

#bloodbound #kamilah sayeed #kamilah x mc #rheya apostolous #bloodbound fanfiction #playchoices #choices stories you play #thicker than water

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randomanimeandmangablog · 4 years ago

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Phantom Tales of the Night Timeline, Draft 1

I'm going to try to put a timeline together for Phantom Tales of the Night. Given how certain stories are vague in terms of their chronology, I'm going to need to make plenty of assumptions. I'll do my best to explain my reasoning when things are unclear. Hopefully as I continue to reread the series and as volumes continue to be published, the timeline will become more clear.

401-500 AD: Owner is traveling with Maple and Bone Monk. He sees a woman tossed off a cliff and a warrior, pierced with arrows, fall after her. The warrior is from a tribe that recently killed one of Owner's guests, a giant spider. Owner will later alternate between the claim that he wanted the man's secret and the claim that he pitied the man. Regardless of the reason, Owner saves the man's life by molding him with a spider. The man becomes known as Spider (or earth spider). The woman also survives, and she goes on to have children. This assumption is taken from the end note for this section. According to it, the term "Earth Spider" was used during the fifth and sixth centuries as a pejorative term for indigenous people opposing the Yamato regime but later become used for giant humanoid spiders. My theory is that Owner used an earth spider to make Spider a monster both as an insult/punishment for killing his guest and to take the place of his guest. As Spider roamed around, people started using the term to refer to him. I'm afraid I'm not well-versed in Japanese history, but Spider's clothing in that chapter might narrow the field down further down. If anyone knows more, I'd appreciate some insight.

Sometime after meeting Spider, Owner parts ways with the Bone Monk and Maple. It's implied that this isn't an altogether amicable parting since both seem to want to return to Owner.

1819: Snow Lass and Mountain Ogre are forced into a marriage of convenience. Fearing Mountain Ogre, who has threatened her, Snow Lass asks Owner to officiate their marriage and take her husband's secret. In return for his protection, she'll willingly give Owner her own secret at a later date. Mountain Ogre reveals that he is in love with his wife. Note that while the inn's structure exists, it's not an inn yet. We know this because Owner discusses his plans to run an inn with Hunter at a time when he and Bone Monk have already parted company. When he returns home after talking to her, Spider is on the porch, looking very downcast and also much younger. Therefore it can be implied that whatever the inn was before that, it wasn't officially the Murakumo inn.

Between 1819 and 2012, several things happen:

(1) Butterfly is 'born' from the cherry blossom tree.

(2) At some point Spider comes to Owner's estate. Owner mentions that they haven't seen each other for a long time. Between the time he was turned into a yokai and this time, Spider has been watching over the descendants of the woman who he almost killed. At this time, he seems to have hit rock bottom and is mourning his humanity.

(3) Owner begins to think of turning his estate into an inn. It's implied that this is for Butterfly and Spider's sake, but exactly how so is up for interpretation. He runs into Bone Monk again, who leads him to a Hunter. This Hunter is a purveyor in rare food, notably mermaid flesh. Owner secures her services for his future inn and returns home. Spider is still completely desolate, and Owner puts a piece of meat in front of him and walks away. Not wanting it to go to waste, Spider picks it up and goes to cook it. This seems to begin his employment as the inn's chef.

(4) Kaibara and Inamura travel the world, searching for legends of yokai. They hear of Owner and the Murakumo Inn. At one point, Kaibara goes missing for a few weeks, and when he returns he has an emaki. He's met Owner, and he has no shadow.

2012: Kaibara disappears, this time for at least 7 years.

2019: (1) A high schooler, Sasaki, is ignored by his peers. He is pursued by butterflies, who land on his shadow. One night, he is chased by a yokai slave trader and ends up being saved by Spider. Owner and Butterfly welcome him into the inn. While there, Sasaki realizes that there are holes in his memory. When Owner asks for a secret as payment, Sasaki can't think of one. Eventually he finds out that the reason he's being chased and the reason people ignore him is that he's dead. A skeleton. Owner makes it so others can see him and gives Sasaki a mother so that he can go about a life, but the life will be far from normal. Since he's still a skeleton, he'll live in constant fear that someone will discover his secret. When Sasaki finally dies, he'll have something with which to pay Owner.

(2) A woman, Miho, is jealous of her twin sister. She is seduced by Butterfly, and Butterfly grants her wish to take her sister's place. Her sister dies, but Miho ends up becoming nothing more than a replica of her sister before dying herself. Bemoaning her fate, she dissolves. Butterfly is left disappointed since he clearly didn't realize what she really wanted. Owner explains that she wanted someone to see and accept her for who she truly was.

(3) Slayer (although he's not referred to as such or even physically present in this chapter) sends a snake monster/curse to kill Owner. Despite being tortured, the snake monster is completely devoted to Slayer and wants only to please him. She believes he cares for her since he gave her a name. Spider tries to convince her that she's just a pawn, but she won't listen...until she's already dying. Then Owner and Spider reveal that Slayer has sent so many others that they've lost count. After her death, Spider removes her ribbon (which has her name on it) and gives it to Owner. As he works over her corpse, he grows sorrowful. Owner praises him for his good work, but Spider won't let Owner tend to his wounds since Spider believes Owner doesn't care about him. We learn that Spider sees himself in these creatures because he has a similar backstory.

(4) Sasaki is still adjusting to life as a skeleton. After school every day, he goes to stand in front of a school mirror and examines his skeletal body. I think this seems like a really strange place to peep at yourself if you don't want anyone to know you're a skeleton. Surely your own room with the door locked or a changing room (again with the door locked) would be a better place. But I guess Sasaki is young and traumatized, so he's not thinking clearly. Maybe he even wants someone to find out his secret. There are already rumors about him.

One day, Slayer comes up to him, introduces himself as a monster hunter, and is just like, "Hey, I hear you're a skeleton." He wants Sasaki to help him get back to the inn, and he does this by attacking Sasaki with some snake creature. (You can already tell what his favorite curses are.) Slayer tries to attack Owner, and Owner mentions that he's murdered pretty much Slayer's entire family for generations. While Slayer lands a few blows and cuts, Owner doesn't die. He splits into different versions of himself before coalescing again. Spider and Butterfly (mostly Spider) neutralize Slayer, but Owner stops them from killing him. Instead, Owner kicks Slayer and Sasaki out. Sasaki is terrified, but Slayer wants more.

(5) Snow Lass returns to the inn. Her husband has died, so she's ready to give Owner her secret. Her secret is that she loved her husband. Owner reveals to her that her husband loved her, too, and she melts in the flame of her husband's secret.

(6) Kaibara, missing for 7 years, has been presumed dead. Inamura is trying to find the strange emaki, and he encounters Owner as Owner takes it back. Owner steals Inamura's shadow.

I'm setting the stories that don't indicate that they're taking place in the past in 2019, the year in which the first volume was published. Using this, some timeframes can be established. For example, when Kaibara went missing.

TO BE CONTINUED

#Phantom Tales of the Night

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