It had been a few weeks since they had started whatever kind of relationship that they were in now. They were smitten with each other and the other professors were noticing now. It was the sideways glances and how they brought each other things. Spending time outside of the academy was much more intimate for them. They would sometimes spend it at hers or at his.

Today she crawled out of her own bed. “Kashii… Get off.” She rolled the white tiger off of Bakura’s legs. “He’s still not used to you being here… I’m sorry Bakura.” She chuckled a bit at him. The tiger made some noises at her. “Don’t you sass me… Get into the kitchen and pull your own breakfast out. You know I set it for you and if you already ate it then that’s on you.” She put her hands on her bare hips and stared down at the large cat.

He made more noises at her. “No, I don’t care if you already ate it. Look how pudgy you are getting. Go… If you are good maybe Bakura will give you some but I am not.” She wagged her finger at the tiger who stalked down the stairs. “Honestly, he is going to get fat…”

She stretched and fell back on the bed. “I can’t stay the night tonight. I have to go out of town early tomorrow so unfortunately, I have to make arrangements for Kashii…” She frowned a bit at him. “It’s only for one day but the merchant in Mamlak got my order in. I would offer to take you with me but you have to man the classroom while I am away.” She chuckled a bit as she pushed his hair aside. “I would have you over but Kashii would probably trap you in the house demanding food at this point.” Her bedroom was full of floral plants designed to smell good and help you sleep. The colors were vibrant. Her bed was a canopy with brilliantly colored curtains around it.

It was a strange change of pace for Bakura ever since that faithful night with Taimi . Now it seemed as though they were inseparable from one another. It wasn’t too hard to notice it at the academy as their colleagues and students saw them together. Nothing really came from it, aside from Markus’ scornful looks which didn’t bother the demon. If anything he wanted him to say something so that he could deck him. In their private lives though, it was even more obvious that they were affectionate. The nights when they weren’t together felt much colder and quiet while when they stayed at one of their homes, her warmth and conversation kept him company.

Or in this case this morning, it was her tiger that laid onto his legs. Kashii was heavier than he had thought until it laid on his legs. Taimi got him off and thankfully so he could try to wake up his sleeping legs. “Don’t know about that. I think if I start giving him some, then he really won’t leave me alone.” He chuckled slightly once he felt the feeling of his legs coming back.

Massaging his legs some more, he looked up and nodded. “Anything special you’re getting?’ He was sure that he’d make it out okay without her for just one night. Hell, he’s been on his own for the last few centuries, what was one little night to himself again? That and he would have to teach solo tomorrow. “Well, I’m sure the students will be able to focus on their studies and not any more questions…about us.” It was quite annoying that they spent more time trying to give their professors’ relationship than the work they were suppose to be dealing with. He came over to Taimi and draped an arm around her. “Just be careful, don’t know if there’s some weirdo out there waiting to swindle you or something.” He was a bit worried that her stalker would try something, but so far he had been keeping his distance for the most part.

Taimi chuckled a bit as she tried to be stern. “Maybe so. He seems to like you enough to let you sleep in the bed now. At least we can let him in the room without him getting weird… The first night you tried he pushed you out of bed and I had to lock him out.” she teased him softly.

Thinking about her shipment she thought about it. “I am getting some Wendigo crystals… Ancient Dragon’s Blood… Essence of Incubus, don’t ask how they get that… It’s embarrassing. Crystallized light… This is mostly a rare ingredient shipment so I am picking it up instead of asking one of my siblings to do it for me.” She chuckled a bit. “Oh yes, cloth of banshee from Koschei. Some of our experiments for class are going to need these things so I took the liberty of hunting down a seller.”

She chuckled about their students. “I’m pretty sure none of them saw it coming. They will get used to it before long.” She snuggled into him and smiled up at him. “I’ll be careful. I have my magic and potions on me. I also know if I go missing that I have a handsome powerful demon who will come find me.” She kissed the tip of his nose and slid off the bed. “I wanna stay in bed with you but I am afraid I have to get a move on if I want to make it to Mamlak in good time.”

She chuckled a bit more since most of the day would be spent negotiating prices thanks to her magic.

–

Her trip to Mamlak was good and well. She even got the crate of supplies for a rather good price. Her mind, however, wasn’t as sharp as it normally was. Her head was in the clouds as she thought of getting home and crawling into bed next to Bakura. THAT was the plan. She put the crate of goods into their classroom and locked the door.

It was a dark new moon night and the lanterns of Sularia flickered brightly in between the districts. She hummed slowly as she played with the key to her house. However, something wasn’t right as the lanterns around her went out with a terrifying gust. Taimi whipped around and looked about. Her eyes adjusted to the dark streets.

There was clicking of shoes on the cobblestone and bricks. Her hand reached up in her sleeve soaking it in a potion she had made. “Taimi…” It was his voice. Her face panicked for a moment but knew she would have no ability to get away. The sky was shining with the bright lights of the conclave meaning her mother wouldn’t hear her screams. There’s was only one thing she could do as she brought the sleeve up and smelled it herself ingesting the potion she had been willing to use on him. She knew what type of man he was.

As her body slouched the ground Markus let out a blood-curdling scream. He was angry as he began to destroy the things around her in the district. Once he realized he was attracting people he picked her body up and ran away. “No matter I will just wake you up. It will be unpleasant when you realize what you have done.” He needed her awake for this.

It had been two days since he had saw Taimi, and to be honest, he was worried. Normally she would be back as soon as possible and be found in the classroom. Instead the following morning, Bakura was met with a crate filled with the objects that she had told him she would bring back. At first he hadn’t thought much of it; it seemed like a typical move on her part to leave such things here for easy access for them and their students and not have to bring it to her house. But when he couldn’t find her anywhere around the academy and that no one saw her that day, his concern started to fester.

It wasn’t like her to miss class and then he assumed that perhaps she fell ill and was her home. So after class, he decided to swing by and pay a visit. His focus had been too much on her that he could hardly teach, something that was out of character for him. Bakura couldn’t help it though and as soon as the day was over, he rushed over there to make sure she was alright. Instead, when he got to her door, he was met with not her, but rather one of the royal guards who escorted him inside. What were they doing here?

He was led into the main room where some more guards and two distinctive men were, looking the place over. One of them was a blonde man of considerable age and the other was a young one, barely a man in his own right with white hair and green eyes. It took him a moment to recognize Lucian, the Red Rose King in training and one of Taimi’s brothers.

“Professor Bakura, I presume”, he asked once he caught sight of him. Bakura nodded and the older man looked him up and down. “Come here to see Taimi? Afraid you’re out of luck. She’s not here.”

“What’s going on? She’s got to be here..”, he urged. Disbelief was written across his face and Blaine shook his head. “She hasn’t been seen in some time now. We’ve been sent here to see if we could dig up anything…”

“Yes”, replied Lucian as he rubbed at his temples. “If there is any information you have that could help, it would be appreciated. My mother isn’t in a good mood right now because of this. I fear that she’ll do something irrational should she not be found or worse… “

The “or worse” part scared him, but not because of a goddess’ wrath but rather what happened to the woman he grew fond of. “Markus. Professor Markus must have done something…”

“Hm, we’ve heard some things from the other faculty members about him. A bit of an enigma and a pervert. But no one seems to know where he disappeared off to either. He was last seen yesterday at the academy.” Blaine called for the guards to quit searching the premise. There was no further clues here. “We’ll have to find out where he lives and question him.

Episcia was with Lucian’s aunt as they combed the city for any clues. They found the most information in an area that had been destroyed in the middle of the night. Normally it was a common occurrence but they found a shred of a robe and a potion bottle. Toya took a whiff of it and got dizzy before falling over. Panicking she picked Toya up over shoulder and went back to Taimi’s residence. Angela was angry and it wasn’t good. There were minor earthquakes every once in a while from Angela pacing back and forth.

“Blaine, Toya has passed out,” Episcia’s soft voice bloomed up as she put the queen on one of the many sofas. “This potion is a sleeping potion. It was found with this fabric.” Kashii came running in and took the fabric from Episcia with force. “HEY!” She went to take it and Kashii growled at her and hid in the corner with it. “He’s been like that since we got here… They say animals know when something bad happened.”

Kashii was almost crying in the cloth as he cuddled it close. Toya stirred around, “Good thing I just sniffed that damn thing. That’s not an outsider’s potion. I know enough potions made in the city by Rosenites and not by Rosenites. That has a hint of something only Angela would use. I can’t put my finger on it. So most likely it is a potion Taimi made for defense…” Toya frowned a bit as she stood up and looked at Kashii. “Poor thing… Can you get one of the girls to stay with him? I don’t think he will eat until Taimi is back but there’s a possibility it won’t be for a while.”

“That’s the worst case scenario isn’t it?” Episcia tilted her head.

“Indeed, this person was smart enough to wait until Angela was in the conclave… When Ang is there she can’t pay attention to what is happening in the city. This happened a few hundred years ago when we were attacked by Adeluna and Egjora. It’s quite possible this person has been planning this for a while and was waiting for Taimi not to be on her guard. If they looked deep into Sularia’s history they would find out the information about the Conclave and Angela. It’s not exactly a secret that, that is how they got in and did so much damage.” Toya was a tactician and she wasn’t in the mood to take shots at her sister. “My goal first and foremost is to make sure Angela doesn’t destroy Canelux or any part of it… So…”

Episcia looked at Bakura and followed the dots above Toya’s head. “Toya is asking you to head it… You might be able to find her faster than we can. We can’t afford Angela going off and we just don’t know Taimi or this Markus person enough to be effective… I’m sorry Lucian and Bakura…”

“Good grief”, Blaine frowned as his wife was dragged onto a sofa. “And this is why I wanted you to remain at home. You are still recovering from Sparrow’s birth.”

Lucian and Bakura watched Kashii’s behavior as he took the cloth into his possession and hid from them. It all but confirmed it for him that something happened to her and he deeply frowned. “Taimi…”

“It has to be Markus then”, Lucian spat as his eyes narrowed, “He would have the means and the knowledge to know when she’s most vulnerable. We need to find him at any costs.”

“Aye, but we don’t have a single clue or lead. He could be anywhere in the city, and if word gets out, then he’ll flee”, Blaine replied while he went over to tend to his wife. Bakura thought long and hard about the situation and though he felt pain at the pit of his stomach for the thought he had, there was one option left for him.

The demon turned to leave but looked towards the group just as he was about to leave. “You’ll have to trust me. I think I know of a way to find them…” With that he headed into the yellow district and ventured into one of the more seedier brothels. It wouldn’t take long before he found the man he needed- serenading a flock of women with his lute and song voice. As the elder demon finished up, he gazed towards his son with crimson eyes and smiled before the final verses swam out from his mouth. “Ladies, if you’d please…” he spoke so softly before shooing them away and turned to Bakura. “And what do I owe the honor of this meeting?”

“Feilong”, he replied, “I need him because Taimi is missing…”

Jarmyr tilted his head, it wasn’t like the boy to come for his help for anything, which meant he was desperate.

“I’m guessing you know who did it?”

He nodded and his father sighed before snapping his fingers and soon a large hellhound came from the second floor and towards his table. Bakura handed his father one of Taimi’s dresses he managed to get a hold of. It was one of the ones she had wore recently prior to her disappearance. Jarmyr held onto the fabric for a bit, “She’s that important to you…whatever shall you do once you find her and the person that did it?”

“Don’t worry about it, Father. Besides, a little birdy named Dante told me that you got yourself entangled with the Reaper for some reason. You know that she and Angela are close, right? Taimi is Angela’s daughter and maybe she will be very appreciative in you bring to her the man that went after her friend’s child…” Bakura despised playing such games, but the time for fairness was over and he had to find her.

“Feilong.” The elder held out the dress for the hound to sniff and after a few whiffs, he was off and so were they. Throughout the night, they chased after the scent and as the night grew darker, Feilong lead them to a house at the edge of Sularia. Bakura had no clue that Markus lived this far out and apparently neither did anyone else. But they could take advantage in that due to his distance from the others, Markus probably didn’t know that they were looking for Taimi yet. Bakura wasted little time and came to the door and used some magic to pop the lock carefully opened the door with the others close behind him. The hellhound then lead the charge, still hot on the scent as they transferred the house until they found her unconscious and tied up. The professor ran over towards her and tried to untie her. “Taimi! Taimi! Wake up!”

Taimi had put herself to sleep as a defense mechanism. She knew he wanted her awake for the torture he had. It was the last thing she remembered doing. There was a numb pain filling her empty dreams. Markus had her tied and had broken her leg to ensure that she couldn’t get away when she woke up. To make matters worse to mess with her dignity he had stripped her of her ripped clothing. She was left shivering in a lower room of his home. Luckily, she was asleep for most of it. It was the scent of Bakura that wore the smell off. Maybe the potion had ended long ago but she wanted to remain safe. “Bakura…” She groaned a bit as her gold eyes stirred up at him.

She let a low hiss leave her mouth. “My wrists hurt… and my leg…” She tried to move it and cried out a bit. The restraints on her wrists were so tight the rope had cut into her just a bit as blood ran once he managed to cut her out of them. She didn’t let a whimper out as he put his cloak around her for warmth. She snuggled into it and blushed as she saw his father there. Pulling it a bit closer as she took a look towards Jarmyr she finally spoke without too much trouble. “It was Markus. He cornered me while Mother was in the conclave. I should have known better… I’m so sorry Bakura. I did the only thing I could think of in hopes people would find me.”

Bakura was in shock at the state that Taimi was left in by the hands of that brute. Jarmyr could easily see that Markus had done indecent things towards her and he could feel his son’s angry slowly festering. It wouldn’t be pretty for the owner of the house, but the demon would make sure that his final night would be glorious. Bakura made it over to her and scurried to get her restraints off. “Try not to move”, he replied as he cut her free and draped his cloak over her nude body. “It’s okay, don’t you worry…this ends tonight.” All her suffering at the hands of her stalker would soon end here, either by his hands or by his father’s.

Jarmyr waved off her shyness; Taimi hadn’t been the first woman to have herself exposed to him, and surely wouldn’t be the last. “If that’s the case, then perhaps we should bring on the final participate to join us.” Perhaps against his son’s wishes, he sicced Feilong out to scout about the house and look for the dimwit.The hulking beast did as it was told and was off for its hunt; meanwhile Jarmyr overlooked her leg and sighed. “It’s broken. You won’t be moving anytime soon. Probably did it so that you couldn’t escape or fend him off as easily.” Hearing those words set off the professor and he was steaming with anger while his father coolly watched on, waiting on his pet to go and fetch them Markus. As expected, it wouldn’t be long before the sounds of Feilong mauling the fool could be heard, along with his screams as he was being pulled by the leg into the lower levels of the house and finally reaching them. Bakura held onto her tightly, using his body to shield her while Jarmyr stepped over towards his prize.

“Funny how things work out, isn’t Professor Markus? I promise you this won’t be long- you have a meeting with my employer after all. I’m betting that she could wait to get the hands on a man that threatened her friend’s daughter…” He smiled evilly, something that differed from his usually calm and cool demeanor. “But first, we’d like to hear an explanation. Or in your case, an excuse on why you’d want to hurt such a delicate creature like Taimi. Was it envy? Desire? Or are you simply doing this for research?”

Taimi nodded at Bakura’s words and nuzzled her face against his. It was warm and comforting to her around the pain that was striding through her body. “Thank you for coming after me.” She pressed her lips against his cheek and snuggled into him. She could feel the anger on him as well.

The redhead knew what his words meant as she allowed Jarmyr to look over her leg. It made her frown deeply as she looked at her flesh that was badly bruised on top of it. “Mother should be able to look at it when she calms down. I am sure she is quite angry.”

She listened to the noises and allowed him to shield her body from the man who had taken her captive. “Let me go you foul beast!” Mauled he was still able to talk as he struggled. “She is mine! She has always been mine!” He yelled. “Three hundred years I’ve made myself worthy of her since the first time I saw her. Remember? Remember Taimi,” he was laughing now.


Taimi thought of what it could be and looked up at Bakura and Jarmyr. “The first time we met… My mother was on a business trip to the Academy… I was seven.” It made her sick to her stomach thinking about it. Thinking about the thoughts he had about her even then.

“I knew. I knew a daughter of Angela would be beautiful and smart. The moment you showed interest in the arts of alchemy I knew. I knew I had to have you. So I made sure that I was ready by using the others you see?” He reached over the best he could and pulled down a curtain. There were the bones of many people probably the missing professors over the years. Taimi gasped and put her head into Bakura’s chest.

“But they aren’t you Taimi. I would never kill you. No, no you were perfect BUT then you had to leave me for this demon!” He pointed towards Bakura. “A nobody who stuck to himself and took you and your innocence!” He spat towards Bakura. “She is mine!”

Bakura hated how she was treated and the more he thought about it, the more the fire grew inside him as he wanted to destroy Markus. Eradicate him from the very thought of existence. For hundreds of years, he kept his temper in check but he could feel it undoing with each second that he was reminded of what Markus had done to Taimi.

His father knew of this as well, but for now he had to keep himself in check for a bit long, even when he saw that slimeball being dragged towards them. He would not allow for him to hurt Taimi ever again. Jarmyr looked at him, unfazed by his sickening words and shrugged it off. The sight of the skeletons, on the other hand, made him narrow his brows together. “She’s not yours!”, Bakura roared, his voice much more deeper and bestial. “She’s never be your!” His eyes brightened as he looked on with disgust- Markus had lost what little bit of mind he had left. If he had one to begin with.

“I do have to agree with Bakura. I’m sure the goddesses will agree as well”, Jarmyr replied but then turned to see Bakura, who slowly pried himself away from Taimi and march over to Markus. His eyes looked on with disdain before the first punch was thrown at his face. Then another, and another one. The more he hit him, the more he couldn’t stop himself as the barrage became more brutal. So much that eventually Jarmyr had to grab and throw him back.

“Calm down, you have a temper worse than Steele. At least he lets himself be angry from time to time. You and your constant pent up self…pardons, he’s not himself when he gets that bad…”

“Kill him already!”, he growled, “Or I’ll do it!”

Jarmyr looked to Taimi and shook his head, “Don’t mind him, guess he really likes you that much… but he isn’t himself when he lets the rage take over. That said….” Snapping his fingers, the hellhound released its quarry and he seized the man up by the collar of his neck and had him stand up. “You’ll be stuck in an endless nightmare, that is if I can get you here before Angela finds you and see what you done… “

Bakura could only see red, and it grew worse when he looked to Taimi. Heavy, labored breaths seeped in and out of him as he tried to calm down. His hand went to the side of his head as he rejoined her side and sat down. “Sorry…I…didn’t mean to let it takeover…”