The Fallen Vampire

Confusion set in among the soldiers at first. But eventually, certain things became hard to ignore.

The oni woman wore no collar, and she seemed to be in perfect health without a single bruise or blemish. She wasn't a slave.

And the young boy seemed not to show the slightest bit of fear of them. Almost as if he was used to growing up around humans.

Ignoring the truth was hard to do, even if they had wanted to.

Everything kind of became a blur afterwards.

Leo was brought before the king in chains. His family didn't even have the dignity of being beside him- and were instead brought in muzzles and dirty ropes like wild animals.

The King must have berated Leo for over an hour before giving him an option.

He could renounce his ways and come back onto the right path, or he could suffer judgement with them.

It got Leo thinking about everything he experienced when he first came here.

The luxuries, the exquisite foods he couldn't even pronounce at first, and the cheers and applause he received from crowds whenever he walked by...

He already had memories of having nothing. Being nothing.

He didn't want to go back to that again. He didn't want any of this.

Josh's mother was beheaded. He was sold into slavery- but by some miracle escaped that very same day.

He never looked back. And mourned the loss of both parents all on his own.

To this day, there are no records of the first hero's disciplinary hearing. Only excitement surrounding his return from his disappearance.

Josh was unwilling, or perhaps unable to discuss everything that he did with his time in the past few hundred years.

And neither Taira, nor Keran, were willing to press him about it further. Read new chapters at empire

-

There's something abut hearing heavy stories that helps to put life in perspective for all involved.

After hearing about Joshua's family upbringing, the family understandably wasn't in the mood to mingle in the festival any further.

When Keran and Taira told the rest of the girls that they were retiring for the day, they kind of all followed suit.

Which was how they all ended up back in their room, watching Yukiko run back and forth between whichever parent was going to pet her the best.

But suddenly, she stopped sinking her paws into Enyo's breasts and sat up.

"Why are we inside?"

"Mommies and daddy are just a little bit tired today, Nibbs. Adult life isn't for the faint of heart and sometimes you just want to be with family, you know..?"

Yukiko blinked slowly. Not a single thought was behind her adorable brown eyes.

"...Go play?"

The girls couldn't help but giggle.

Taira sat up on the bed and gestured for the little one to waltz over to him.

"Why don't we practice your breathing a little more? I feel like we can help you reach a real breakthrough today."

"Uwahhhh..." Yukiko floundered onto her back like a newborn. "Practice... boring. Very, very boring..."

"Yuki..."

"Uber boring..."

Taira looked at Vermeil accusatorially.

She only shrugged and shrank underneath the covers in response. "It's fun teaching her old earth terms..."

"I'm sure it is..."

Taira sighed and lifted Yukiko up into his arms.

"Don't you want to get a Demi-human body so that you can run around and hug us all the time?"

"And be super strong and learn to fly?" Aveena added.

"Scared of heights..." Yukiko covered her face with her tail.

"But you climb trees?" Lucia tilted her head.

"Flying different!" she insisted.

"Okay, okay."

Taira placed the small critter in his lap.

"You don't have to fly if you don't want to, my daughter." he smiled.

"...Promise?"

"Promise."

"Uber promise...?"

Taira heard Vermeil snicker underneath her covers.

"...Uber promise." he nodded.

Vermeil's snickering only became louder, so Taira silently chilled the entire left side of the bed.

Now it is true that Aveena, Enyo, and Keran were collateral damage, but all is fair in love and war.

"A-Anyway... let's just practice for a little bit. Your mothers and I will help you."

"Okay... Have mochi?"

"Yes, we can have as much mochi as you want after."

"Awe-shome sauce."

Taira once again looked at Vermeil, only to see that she had crawled out of bed to warm herself by the fireplace.

A few of the wives moved to circle Taira and Yukiko. Inadu, Keran, and Lucia had also formed their own beast cores since they were, in essence, part beast.

If Fenris found out this many outsiders knew his family's secret, then he would shit blood and burst every vein in his forehead.

Together, they placed their hands on Yukio's stomach and started practicing together.

Ever so carefully, they fed her little body just a minuscule amount of their energy.

Though Yukiko seemed obstinate at first, she showed a real commitment towards her cultivating.

She, and her parents, fell into a trance as they worked together. Time just seemed to slip by without them even being aware of it.

The rest of the girls who weren't meditating either went to sleep or met wit those who were meditating. Aveena braided Taira's hair and Vermeil put her underwear onto Lucia's horns.

...Watching people cultivate is boring, alright? You have to find ways to amuse yourself.

Vermeil was in the process of tying her bra over Inadu's head when there was suddenly a change in the air.

A strong wind was kicked up in the middle of the room- and a blinding light immediately followed it.

The girls shielded their eyes until it died down and the girls found a rather surprising scene waiting for them.

A small red haired bundle sat in the middle of their family unit.

She was a young girl- appearing no older than four or five years old.

She had pale, jade-like skin and long red hair that flowed past her ankles. As expected, she had a pair of round fluffy ears that were quite dissimilar to Taira and Keran's.

Her button nose? Adorable. Her ruby-red eyes? Doubly adorable. Her cheeks? Reaching the limit of what could be quantified in terms of adorableness.

She was so undeniably perfect that Vermeil, Enyo, and Aveena could not restrain themselves, and lunged across the bed to grab her.

"""Mommy's baby!!"""

"Uwah?!"

The girls steamrolled all of their lovers to get their hands on the young girl.

Unfortunately, they were only just coming out of their trances and were in for the rudest awakenings imaginable.

Lucia: "V-Vermeil?!"

Inadu: "Aveena, my hair!"

Keran: "Enyo, your elbow is in my boob!"

Taira: "Why are some of you wearing underwear on your heads..? And why does my head feel so tight..?"

Slowly, the beast-kin saw what the trio were fighting over and from there... It kind of turned into one big hellish free-for all.

- 3 Minutes Later...

"AVEENA!! She's not a football you can't horde her!!"

"Yes I can, stay away from me!"

"BABY THEIF!"

Currently, the married couple were chasing each other throughout the palace.

Aveena was narrowly maintaining her lead at the head of the pack and was cradling their new baby girl in their arms like a prized trophy.

Or, as Vermeil had described, like a football.

"Look at this face! She's so cute and precious that I don't think I'll ever be able to let her go! I don't want to be sect leader anymore! I just want to snuggle her everyday and feed her apple sauce!"

"Apple shauce?" Yukiko tilted her head.

"Aww, you're going to love it, my little baby! I'll give you so much that you- No!!"

A string of thread pulled Yukiko from her place in Aveena's arms.

The young girl sailed into Inadu's waiting grip, who immediately ran across the ceiling with the prized packaged secured.

Enyo: "Ina!"

Lucia: "Bring her back!"

Vermeil: "Do you know what's going to happen to me if I can't snuggle her?! I will die!!"

Inadu held Yukiko even tighter as she ran across the ceiling.

"I'm sorry! I love you all, but I love her even more! I can't share her at all!"

"""""HEY!!"""""

As she ran, Inadu suddenly realized that gravity was working against her.

Her body gradually began sinking back down to the ground, and suddenly a bolt of purple lightning snatched her out of the air.

Taira threw Ina over his shoulder like a 150 pound sack of potatoes while he cradled Yukiko in one arm.

"Shit!"

"He was the last one who should have gotten her!"

"Which of you was supposed to be keeping an eye on him!?"

As he ran down the hall, Taira felt a lightness in his chest that was almost unrecognizable for him.

This feeling was something that he didn't get to experience often in his life or... really ever.

It was fun. Genuine, childish fun.

Something inside of him was healing. And he didn't know how to process it all at once.

So instead, he laughed.

He laughed harder than he ever had in his entire life. To the point that his sides began to hurt and all air vacated his lungs.

For the first time ever, an obvious thought finally hit him.

I have a family... I have a family..!