Awakening

-----Kaede's POV

Morning eventually came as the light penetrated through the windows in the room. Fleur still seems to be sound asleep, but I doubt it's because of her being tired. Most likely is because of the comfort of having her sister next to her.

The door to the room slowly opens, revealing Mell, Sicily and Lillian, along with Neri who's still dressed in all black.

Mell: "Mom."

Kaede: "Sleep well?"

Mell: "Yes, but-"

Lillian: "How's Faye doing?"

I have a strange suspicion that they barely got any sleep. Getting up at this time is not normal for these guys, they must've been stressing over Faye, not that I can blame them after how long we were taking care of Faye.

Kaede: "She's still alive. Just sleeping."

Neri: "I wonder..."

Suddenly, Neri takes off her long black gloves, revealing her hand to us before bringing a dagger up to her hand.

Kaede: "What are you doing?"

Neri: "Your friend, Fleur woke up at the smell of blood, right?"

Now that they mention it, the timing was quite a coincidence when Fleur woke up. If Neri's willing to try this, then I'm all for it.

Kaede: "Okay. I'm ready."

I prepare myself to stop Faye if she goes berserk just like Fleur did previously. I don't watch Neri, but I could instantly tell they they had cut themselves as the fresh scent of blood poured into the room.

Fleur: "Huh? What happened?"

Kaede: "Don't worry, we're just testing something."

Fleur was the first one to wake up, not even appearing to be tired in the slightest as her eyes lock onto Neri's hand.

Kaede: "Fleur..."

Fleur: "It's-"

Well, I didn't really think this through. Instead of Faye waking up, it seems like Fleur's now having trouble containing herself. I guess this will provide her with some practice.

Kaede: "Relax, try and distract yourself."

I could see Fleur's mouth begin to open as some saliva begins to escape from the corner of her mouth. Her fangs have also taken shape, causing me to be on guard in case she suddenly lunges at Neri.

Faye: "M...Mmm?"

Just then, Faye slowly opened her eyes, revealing her bright, scarlet red eyes as she sits up from the bed. She appeared to be a lot calmer than I thought as she gently rubs her eyes in a daze.

Faye: "How long was I out?"

Kaede: "Uhm. Just for the night."

Fleur on the other hand hasn't taken notice of her sister's awakening and instead is still battling her urges, clenching onto her chest for some added comfort.

Faye: "Sis?"

Neri: "I'm surprised. You're handling it better than your sister here."

It was then that Faye took notice of Neri as her gaze naturally gets drawn to the only skin showing from their body; their hand that's now dripping with blood.

Faye: "So that's what the smell was... Wait, so I'm now-"

Kaede: "Yes."

A bright smile appears on her face as I confirm it to her. But just wow... This is unreal. To think that Faye is showing so much restraint without even batting an eye. I honestly feel jealous towards her, not having to struggle for so many years, staying away from people, let alone blood.

Fleur: "Hah... Hahh~"

Kaede: "Okay, I think that's enough."

I grab hold of Neri's hand before healing it as quick as I can.

Neri: "Thank you."

They put back on their black glove as I look back towards Fleur and Faye. Fleur is still struggling to contain herself, yet Faye is still showing no signs of aggression.

Faye: "It's okay, sis. It's all over now."

Despite her sister's words of comfort, Fleur is still not budging, almost as if she's frozen in place, heaving heavy breaths as if every breath is cumbersome.

Kaede: "She's over the edge..."

Faye: "Huh?"

I walk over next to Fleur at the bedside. I gently nick my palm with a finger as I let a small bit of my blood pool up. Almost immediately, Fleur looked my way, but I slowly bring my palm to her mouth.

Kaede: "Go ahead."

Instantly, Fleur lunged at my hand, sinking her fangs straight into my hand as the sounds of her gulping could now be heard throughout the room. My blood may not be as good as a humans or even a demi-human, but if it can sustain Yui, then I'm sure it'll work for these two.

Faye: "Is she okay?"

Kaede: "I remember getting like this sometimes. It's very hard to pull yourself together after you've lost it. More importantly, how are you feeling?"

Faye: "I guess I feel great? But I do find it odd that I can smell your blood..."

Kaede: "You're handling this unbelievably well, Faye. You've only just woken up as a vampire, yet you've already gotten used to this."

Faye: "Well, I can see why sis would react like this... Even your blood smells quite delicious."

I wonder if that's because they're all my offspring? Yui's the same, thinking that my blood is delicious, but when I taste it myself, I just get a gross bitter taste, and not like the delicious coffee taste like when I taste tested Fleur.

Kaede: "You want some after as well?"

Faye: "N-no thanks! Anyways, it looks like sis needs it more than I do."

Looking down at Fleur desperately gripping onto my hand, she continues to drink my blood all throughout this conversation. It's kind of funny looking at it from the other's perspective. But after a few more moments pass, Fleur finally lets go of my hand as I quickly heal it.

Fleur: "I'm sorry."

Kaede: "It's okay. Stuff like this takes time to get used to."

Faye: "Mm!"

Fleur: "Wait, sis?!"

Faye: "Good morning~"

Finally, Fleur has come to her senses, realizing that Faye is finally awake, they share a tight embrace as I make my way back towards Mell and the others.

Mell: "Is your hand okay?"

Kaede: "Mhmm! Good as new."

I show Mell my hand before moving it above her head before gently rubbing my fingers through her hair.

Lillian: "So, Faye is now a vampire as well?"

Kaede: "Yes."

Sicily: "Was it because of when Fleur attacked her?"

I would be willing to be honest with her, but with Neri still in the room, I figure it's not the right time and decide to go along with the lie I told before.

Kaede: "Yeah."

Neri: "Seems as though another collar won't be needed."

Oh? Is Neri happy with Faye as is? She did show a lot of restraint, so I guess she's already won over Neri. But shouldn't that decision fall onto their captain or the queen herself? Not that I mind it of course, but I still feel bad for Fleur-

Faye: "No. I'd like a collar as well, please."

Neri: "Ha. Very well."

They then hand me a collar from behind their waist, the same ones that the queen had given back to her when the queen freed me along with Sicily and Lillian.

Neri: "Put this on her."

Just as instructed, I move back over to Faye as she moves her hair out of the way for me to gently clamp the collar around her neck. I guess this would be the safest way since we never know if Faye will go berserk or not. Maybe if enough blood is present, she's lose herself just like her sister. Not to mention that I'm unaware if either Fleur or Faye has inherited my powers. It'd be a problem if they just control blood as they please.

Faye: "Thank you, Kaede."

Kaede: "Hehe. I'm not sure I feel comfortable being thanked by putting this collar on you."

Faye: "Not that. Thank you for bringing sis and I together again."

Kaede: "Ah, mhmm."

I still haven't fully accepted the fact that I've turned two of my precious family members into vampires... But if they're happy, then I suppose I should be happy too.

-----Fabian's POV

We've just woken up and we're back on the road. Thanks to Lucien's magic, we've been able to traverse through the forest much quicker than I thought, but I do worry if he's using too much mana. If we do end up arriving at the city, then I fear he'll be unable to properly deal with that... monster.

My legs have surprisingly stopped getting worse on their own, leaving Leon to not use as much of his magic to keep my legs in check. It's still painful to walk on, but at least I can bend my legs a bit more than I could before. 

Lucien: "We're coming up to Maemont. Get ready."

Soldier1: "Monsters?"

Lucien: "It appears that they've started invading other cities and towns. We'll deal with what we can before continuing to Inasdale."

Soldier1: "Yes, sir."

Maemont? Already? That means we're getting quite close to the city... Nerves start to quickly build up inside meat the thought of encountering that monster again, not to mention those elves. Hopefully it's just spiders here in Maemont, because I don't think I'm prepared for such things yet.

Soldier: "Left side!"

A cry could be heard to our left as we divert our attention to the call. It was there that many soldiers had now come into contact with what looks to be a spider, however it's skin wasn't the same like the ones Leon and I killed back home. This spider's skin looked to have pitch black armor grown over the top of it, sort of like a beetle's. The soldiers swords deflected off of the spider's carapace as the spider quickly manages to pin one of the soldiers down, but before it could sink it's fangs into the soldier, it's body suddenly lit up in flame as it moved off of the soldier.

Lucien: "Stay back!"

In the next moment, Lucien launches a spear of ice straight into the spider's abdomen, shattering it's carapace as the spider screeches in pain while it burns in the flames.

The cries from the spider must've alerted all the others as even with my busted up feet, I could still faintly feel the ground shaking.

Soldier1: "Defensive positions!"

I also take a moment to prepare myself as the soldiers surround us from all sides. I'll do my best to provide support as a mage, but I'm not sure how well I'll do since my main focus of study is combat training.

Leon: "Good luck."

Fabian: "Thanks."