Listening to her re-telling of the nightmare, Toshiro could tell where this was going. After all, why else would she be so distraught? But he hadn't even heard of the name Iceflame until he'd been an artist for some time in Venice. By then, his days of a swordsman were far behind him. His eyes widened when Vendetta brought up another name- Shadowsteel, echoing with familiarity. The name echoed throughout his mind, as he tried to recall where he had heard it spoken before... He froze, as his mind went back to the nightmare that had awoken him, the unintelligible words Tetsuo spoke becoming clearer and clearer- until a sense of dread washed over him.
Vendetta felt Toshiro tense beneath her- in turn, all colour drained from her face. Oh my gods... I was right... It really is him... Once more, that silver colour returned- displayed alongside the shock on her face. He really had been the one to leave her for dead that night... His hand, his blade, the one that slaughtered them all. Most of them she long since mourned, but the loss of...
"Vrael... Alie... Krissie..." Crystalline tears began to slide down her face, sanguine streaks of garnet imprinted upon her porcelain skin. Everything in her screamed for her to kill him, but she held back- an explanation was owed. And he would give it... one way, or another.
Meanwhile, his mind went to another night- a memory that Toshiro had done his best to bury deep. A violent storm, fire, screams of mercy, and blood... oh so much blood... When he spoke, his voice was shaking- threatening to break.
"...After my defeat, Tetsuo had an offer for me. My life, for that of a family. When I refused, he added more incentive... If I didn't change my mind, then the sight before me would not be my last. He would track down every village I visited during my journey, and burn them to the ground as well... Anyone that helped me in the slightest would be tortured before my eyes... Then, and only then, would he finally end my life. He offered me the lives of many, for the lives of a family. After that night, I stepped away from the path of a swordsman. I knew that if I continued, I would find myself in the midst of more senseless killing..."
Time seemed to a crawl for him, as he finished the story. His whole body tensed up, as he awaited the worst. She dug her nails in, and he flinched. While Toshiro had no way of knowing, he almost certainly was certain she would end his life here and now. Yet his intuition pulled at him, even if he ignored it... There was some part of him that felt at ease, with meeting his ends at the hands of someone he had wronged so badly.
Silence descended over them both. Vendetta held him tight, silently crying her eyes- and heart- out, Toshiro having no choice but to witness it. Feel her trembling body, two worlds warring in her, body, mind and soul. Nothing in her life prepared her for this- every moment, from when she regained consciousness all that time ago, to now... Vendetta always pictured her enemy someone hateful, unrepentant, classic evil... Not someone she fell in love with... She had no idea how to take this. Love and hate, two worlds warring in her mind.
Gods, did she wish she was still in her nightmare... When Vendetta finally did speak, her voice was a whisper. "I... For all this time, I thought whoever had done this was unrepentant, sadistic- someone who delighted in our suffering and misery... I- I never expected it to be... someone I found myself enchanted by..." She shook her head. "I have no idea how to take this. For so long, I thought of vengeance, and violence... Retribution, and reclamation. Now I..."
Vendetta wanted to scream, in agony and hatred and heartbreak and rage. She wanted to destroy a few things, to seriously hurt him, and just- lash out. But she forced herself to remain still. "This is, shall we say, complicated. I should kill you. Not only did you leave me to die that night, you took away the only people who ever loved me. And in the wake of that night..." Vendetta cast her mind to the darkness that haunted her. Emotions spilled out of her, thickest fog refusing to be contained by her body any longer. She forced herself to look at him- emerald and sapphire colliding. "...I ended up a slave, for a long time after that. My body, mind and soul are broken- scarred beyond repair from all of it. That was because of what you did." Venom filled her voice.
Eyes widened in horror, as she went on to talk about what happened after that night. He couldn't even begin to fathom what kinds of torture she had been put through, while he drank away all recollection of that terrible night. You should have just thrown yourself into those raging flames that night. At least then, you would have been the only one to pay for your failures. If you hadn't pursued power with such reckless fervour, things might have played out differently...
Everything was so complicated, so heart-breaking. Vendetta was pulled in many directions. Devastation. Infuriation. Compassion. Love. Heart-break. Hatred. Agony. Relief. Confusion. Fear for her own life; with this in the open, would he finish what he began? Was she still being hunted? Fear for him- could she find it in herself to grant forgiveness, or would her dæmons destroy him eventually? Was he safe from what cam before, or would be be hunted if his brother knew Toshiro failed- that she was still alive? Not to mention, how would he take knowing his actions caused her the darkest years of her life, and eventually wove a path that led him to be [in her eyes] her latest Master? There were just so many elements, too many things to consider.
She sighed, much softer- everything drained from her. "On the other... How can I blame you, for his actions? Likely, were I in your place, I'd have done the same. Among all the families around, we were fairly neutral- my Father and Alistana were diplomats, Krisaga and I were artists. Vrael was our guardian... We cultivated beauty, communication, and peace." A small pause- she could feel the skepticism layered deep within- then a sigh. "...But I know who we also were. You do too. Beneath the beauty, lay hidden blades. Elegant death, our secret skill. That's likely why we were chosen. We knew too much, and were too good at what we did...
As if that wasn't enough... weeks ago I said anything I could give, I would; that includes myself. I belong to you- that was my mistake, but I have to live with it. And you saved my life. Put all these elements together, I'm torn... But in the end..." Here, she let go of him, staring down at her hands.
"I can't bring myself to do this. Not only do I love you, I enslaved myself to you in the name of avarice. A moment of weakness, a lifetime of regret. Now you know my truth, my actions make a lot more sense, don't they? All of this... but you have no idea how badly I want to tear you to shreds, time and again. For taking my sisters and brother away from me. Nor do you know, the temptation to follow all those violent and sadistic things I swore I would do..."
Toshiro remained silent as he listened to Vendetta's words, letting everything sink in. Long-repressed memory had been uncovered- and here he was, face to face with the consequences of his past life. He collected his thoughts somehow, searching for the right words to say. Though, this was far from a situation that words could ever hope to rectify. These days prior, he didn't think he could be any happier... but now, he was witnessing everything crumbling around him... Broken. That was the only word they could come up with, to describe everything. The pain in her voice as she poured her heart out, the tears that ran down her face, broke everything in him. The person he had fallen for, afar and in person, was in so much pain and turmoil, because of his actions. A sick twist of fate had brought the two together, only to reveal world-shattering revelation. Toshiro had taken everything from her- and after surviving through so much, he stood in the way of the one thing that drove her, for all that time...
"...I know nothing I can say can ever make things right between us..." He wasn't even sure what they were to each other anymore. After all- could she truly have feelings for the person who had taken everything from her? All he knew, is that he would never be worthy of the feelings she once held. "And I don't want you to feel as though you're bound to me..." That caught her attention- what did that mean?.. Vendetta looked up, somehow able to meet Toshiro's gaze- like her, his expression entirely unreadable. He held something out to her. What is he-
Conjuring a dagger in his hand, he held it out to her. "I should have ended my life that night... I've been living on borrowed time all these years."
He was offering her the very thing she spent countless time hunting for- Vengeance. Vendetta took the blade. Well-tempered, functional, easy to work with. Here it was. What she spent centuries seeking. Now she had opportunity... a choice presented itself. She could indulge the darkness- torture him, painfully kill him... or, she could forgive despite everything, extend kindness she had been shown once long ago- and they could make things right. Turning her attention to Toshiro once more, she took a long, hard look at him.
Toshiro's body tensed up as she took the dagger from his hand, watching as she looked it over. Taking a deep breath, preparing himself for what was to come. He watched her pose the dagger... then closed his eyes tightly as she brought the dagger forward. It ended up embedded in the wall- despite feeling the breeze it made, from how close she brought it. Toshiro slowly opened his eyes. Letting it go, she tipped his head up with a finger- like she had the night they met. The familiar feeling, just as it was experienced the night they met at Crimson Creations, a similar situation of high emotions connecting the two moments together.
"...If you think you can escape me that easily, you are surely mistaken." Raising an eyebrow, she smirked down at him. "Do you really think I would grant you death, after everything you've done?"
Indulging a dark impulse, her cold laugh reverberated in his bones, as it echoed throughout the room. "I suppose you want me to suffer as you have over these centuries. It's only fair, that the punishment fits the crime after all..."
Then... she did something unexpected seemingly disjointed. Her fingers slid down his throat, across his shoulder, down his arm... and found his. She held onto it, gentle and loving, while giving her head a shake.
"...I have seen, and endured, much cruelty in my centuries. Leaving me jaded, twisted, ice-cold, hateful... Then I discovered your art. You shattered a spell over my soul, the day I decided to create my first ever piece. I practised, I developed my skill. Then you disappeared. My heart broke again. Nobody could figure out why, where you went... I poured myself, heart and soul, into work. Despite my success, I always felt a void... Fate changed things again. I came across Crimson Creations. With it, I found you again- the person who shaped me to to be the person I am.
In a way... I... What I'm trying to say..." Listening to her words, hearing about just how much his art had helped her... He was reminded of the fire in her eyes, and anger in her voice after hearing him besmirch himself the night they met. He now knew just why she had held his art in such high regard- and just how fate had seen fit to keep the two intertwined with one another over the centuries.
She pulled him close- her lips met his, delicate and petal-soft, trembling.
"...is that, at the end of it all- I love you, and have for some time. Vampyric Intuition is strong; you know it, and so do I. That love might be strong enough, pure enough, for me to try and release my need for vengeance... It might not be; I reserve the right to change my mind, should things become... unbearable, shall we say. Right now I think, given everything that has happened- recently and long ago- the best thing to do, is to start over."
Toshiro practically melted against her lips, everything fading away as he focused on the warmth spreading throughout. Even after the embrace and kiss, he couldn't believe what he was hearing- that she was willing to start anew with a clean slate between the two of them. Releasing him entirely, she pulled the dagger from the wall. This time, it was held out to him. "There are extraordinary moments in life, when Fate gives a choice- the path of the Angel, and the path of the Dæmon. Right now, I choose the Angel's path. You can refuse my forgiveness- but if you do, you will release the Daæmon. The choice is yours."
Her glance had not left his, yet Toshiro knew she meant it. Her had brought her to her kuraitani- her valley of darkness- but he also pulled her from it long ago. Despite everything, Vendetta still loved Toshiro- she had for a long time, despite them only having met extremely recently. His gaze slowly dropped to the dagger, as she held it out to him. A voice in the back of his head echoed, saying that he didn't deserve such forgiveness.
"Perhaps you do, perhaps not. I give it anyway~" Shaking the voice away, he placed his hand on top of the dagger- and in an instant, it faded away into nothing.
"...I'm not sure what to say. The night has just begun, and yet it feels like the longest night of my life."
"I... could not agree more."
Bringing his gaze back to meet hers once again, he took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips and kissing the back of her hand. Vendetta visibly shivered in delight, biting her lip. Then he spoke once more.
"Perhaps it is too soon for such what I am about to say, yet I feel a need to say it anyways. I, Toshiro Umezawa, pledge my love and devotion to you, Vendetta Iceflame, forever more."
She tipped her head to one side, staring at him in perplexion with pale pink eyes- reminiscent of rose quartz. "I... That was, shall we say, unexpected?.." Toshiro wasn't surprised by the confused look Vendetta gave him. After all, they were starting anew- and yet here he was, pledging himself to her. Even with a clean slate, he felt that he owed her so much.... nor was there anyone else he would rather be with.
Noting the pale pink colour of her irises, he wondered if it was due to the confusing situation, or some other emotion. "I suppose you have a lot to think about, after all."
A sigh escaped her, as she fell gracefully into the bed beside him. She was already exhausted. "I'll... answer you... later... Today is already a wash- I'm going back to sleep..." With that, she was asleep again.
Settling back into the bed, the drain of his emotions running high hit him almost instantly. His eyes closed as his head hit the pillow, hand in hers, drifting back off to what he hoped would be a more pleasant sleep than last.