Kurayo was a breeding ground of downtroughted creatures, outcasts that lingered for unity and a place that understood them. At least that was what was on the surface- in truth there were those like Nemesis that were just content on living out a life with a sense of belonging. He harbored a desire to rule and corrupt as much as he could get his greedy hands on, but even so he was aware that he couldn’t do this on his own. His previous families had failed him far too many times to his liking- this time it would be different, it would be absolutely perfect. And he wasn’t alone in his plotting this time.

Nay, one of which who resided along with him in such a venture was around these dark streets somewhere. He could feel her as much as she could him, having been one of his earliest creations and also something much grander than a mere childe. Nemesis walked throughout the city, looking for any signs of impending chaos, despite the irony of Kurayo’s daily affairs. She was around here somewhere, she usually didn’t stray too far from him if it could be helped. Of course, this was a bit of a game that they would find themselves playing at times, so he couldn’t be too spurned with her. She would hide and run off and he would seek her and find out what activities she partook at the time. 

Even in centuries since their first encounter had nothing between them really changed, aside from her getting all the more wiser with him. There was hardly a dull moment with his consort. A faint smile arose as he combed through alleyways and dead ends, softly whistling a light tune to see if she could hear him or not. He did so every few steps until he turned into a particular street corner and noticed that something was afoul about it. “Little wolf, little wolf”, he called out in a teasing tone. “Where art thou, my little wolf?”

Things had been quite different before her turning. She was a faithful follower to the Moon Goddess even after her fall. The Moon Elves had for years celebrated their lives under the moon with festivals and grand parties. They would invite all of Parvpora to them to celebrate the times before them. The elves looked relatively young in the eyes of the humans, but in truth they were much much older. They had an understanding about how Moon elves aged and it interested them to no end.

Back in those days, it was simple and she could ignore who she wanted. At least, that was what she wanted. It started out innocent and moved towards something she was sickened of. A human mage wanted to study her. He loved her body more than she ever could, and that was alright. Looking at all of the adult humans made her self-conscious but he never complained. When she found out why she had slapped him and sent him away.

The man, as it turned out, had a thing for kids. As gross as it sounded, she was his way out. That year, things had taken an interesting turn. The star shards that were sold to the elves for the magic harvest that occurred every year were in short demand. The disgusting human had the way out for them and they, of course, said “Anything for the shards.”

Her whole village had sold her. It wasn’t just the council. Man, woman, child had all voted that the shards were more important than her happiness. That she would be made to wed this man and leave her precious mountain peak. Something… something had snapped. She remembered seeing red and then really seeing red. She had painted the night sky and the peak with crimson.

At the tip top of the peak? His head. She would deal with him no more, she would deal with her tribe no more. Standing there soaked in the blood of her own Celeste just watched the two moons. Her quicksilver eyes met an unfamiliar face… and the rest was history as far as she was concerned.

She had become second alpha to a family of vaewolf. Turned under the twin full moon, she became second alpha in time. The turning had done little for her temper if not make it come out more frequently. She was wise with her years and her poor body was stuck the way she had been found.

In her own twisted way, she loved her leader. He had given her purpose after she had destroyed her own. It was a much more satisfying purpose. He offered her the type of freedom she had always wanted. Now they played in the streets of Kurayo and it was easy enough for her to hide in the shadows. Not due to magic but simply, she was small.

She had her lips to the neck of someone who had wandered into the wrong alleyway. Her red eyes dashed up to meet his and she let the person go. She had hardly drained them but her playtime often ended up with her hungry. “I’m right here,” she purred as she exited the shadows and stood in the moonlight.

Still, even now, the moonlight hit her skin the way it did all Moon Elves. She glowed. Her ground length pink hair hit the floor. It was a common color among her people, said once to have been red but now washed out due to the moons. It was messy and she was in her own nightgown of sorts. “I woke up hungry and didn’t bother to change.” She gave but a smile. “The hunt never waits  does it?” A chuckle left her lips. She was over a foot smaller than he but it did not matter as she came up to him and curled up into his body.

“Tonight burns,” She looked up at him and frowned. “Always burns on the anniversary of the Moon Festival.” She had never completed the rite and on this night the moons burned her fragile skin. “I forget that I am Moon Kin sometimes even if it has been a long time since I lived as one.”

Nemesis mused at the sight of his Celeste glistening in the moonlight with the blood she was covered in, much likely from her latest of kills. “Forgive me if I had disturbed your fun, dearest.” Their relationship was built on mutual understanding from the very first day. He recalled the night he came across the Zujiuchu Mountains, to a village resting on top of a peak. He had heard of the rumors of a rare breed of elves that lived there and such a rare delicacy couldn’t have been passed up so easily. How he wanted to savor it upon his tongue and let it go smoothly down his throat. He snuck into the village with high interest only to come across the aftermath of the bloody massacre. Something had struck them down before Nemesis could even get a single taste in.

But all was not lost once he found Celeste all by her lonesome away from the foundation of her people. He remembered her seeing him standing nearby her and yet there was no fear those silvery eyes. She looked at him with heavy breaths surging in and out of her body as it was stained with crimson much like how she was now. It was clear that something had happened to her and he wasn’t sure as to what, but at the time he supposed that she was the only surviving elf. Something about her kept him from desiring to kill her; instead he held out his hand towards her. “Come my girl. Tell me what plagues you?”

Nemesis focused back on the present time, coming over towards his consort as she did him. Arms wrapped around her lithe body, comforting her in such a dire time. Like Celeste, he too had forgotten about the curse she was forced to endure this annual night. “My poor Celeste. It would have been far better to remain at home. I would have brought you something to eat, my love.” He pressed his lips against the top of her head; the little wolf shouldn’t have been wandering about. Though it anything, it wasn’t her safety he would have been concerned over, but instead just about anyone else that crossed her path. She was a fearless killer with a tempe far bigger than herself. Even he went out of his way just to avoid it.

She shook her head of pink at him and her hair was much like rolling wind as it swayed about. “You did not interrupt me Nemesis. If you had I would have told you as much.” She had always been straight to the point even back then when he had asked her what ailed her. She had told him in detail the betrayal her people had done. Selling her out for some star shards. The pain the man had brought to her was real. Even then at her current age, she was still very young for the Moon Elves. 

She had taken his hand and then taken much more from him as the days grew on. In the present, her red eyes drank him in and she curled up even more into him. “Don’t be so foolish, I need to be out. You know how long these nights last for me. It bores me so.” She made a frown and lifted her head enough to kiss his hand.

Her skin was much like silver flakes in the night sky tonight, as it always was. She glowed like flowers from the underground. That was where Moon Elves were said to have been born. An opposite of their Dark Elf cousins they were born with fair skin that seemed to enjoy the lights of the moon. The itching of her skin made her cling to Nemesis as she buried her face into him trying to avoid the light at all cost. “Tonight, can we just go home? Can we rest? Food later… I think.” She was tired and that much was for sure. She was holding her temper.

“Before I crush someone’s skull in.” She took his hands as gently as she could with the pain she was feeling and she scoffed. "I thought when I was turned that this would stop. That I would no longer be plagued by the moon's hate for what I had done. Even it holds a grudge towards me."

He stood and listened in silence as Celeste told him her tragic tale. Elves, though known for their wisdom and grace, weren’t too far from humans when it came to greed and immorality. It was just that they were better at hiding it than others were. Nemesis stood patiently and waited until she poured out her heart to the mere stranger at the time and accepted his hand. In time he grew fond of her and offered her a deal, to become his in both body and blood and he would see to it that she would find a place where she could do as she wished. He would be honest with her completely and never do what her people had done to her in exchange for her loyalty. There was no hesitation from her and he turned her into something far greater. Something more beautiful.

A soft laugh murmured from him as she quarreled lightly against his apology. He knew how she could get on nights such as this one. It had been just one year after he brought her into their family that the symptoms occurred and even with her newfound strengths, she still suffered that night. It was like a curse was placed onto her the night she slaughtered her former kin, and now the moons’ light were like poison against her flesh during the anniversary of the Moon Festival. As much as it pained her, those that came across her on this unfortunate time had it even worse. Not even in her wolf form did she have it any better.

“Of course. We should be home where you can be more at ease”, he spoke, his voice smooth like silk as he caressed her head and held her close before swinging the two around so that the moon shined onto his back while it could not reach her. It would serve to help calm the tempest rising in his beloved. “Any preferences you have on dining?” Whether it was food or blood, both would be easy to find in these parts.

“I know, little wolf. I had thought so too”, he whispered. They had sought for cures time and time again and yet it still remained upon her by the time of the anniversary each year. “The heavens themselves hate us for what we are. We are as close to perfection as possible and they hate us for it. Come now, we should go home then and retire.” He wasn’t worried about the murderer cattle she had fun with earlier, corpses like his were commonplace in Kurayo. Their lesser kins would like stumble on it and do whatever they saw fit with it. For now, he would led her back to the manor at the outskirts of the city.

They had searched and they had killed those who failed. No one knew why the moon burned her so. Perhaps it was from keeping the magic that would slip away if the Moon Festival wasn’t completed? Maybe it was because she was truly damned not because of Nemesis but because of what she had done. 

Shielding her from the moon brought her comfort but it was barely noticeable. Rays would escape his form and hit her making her wince. It was terrible but she dealt with it like she always had. Her  red eyes stared up at him on occasion just to make sure he was with her. She could feel his presence but she always liked her eyes to be on him at times.

Her eyes were sad as they finally reached home. They went to his chambers and she immediately closed all the curtains in the room. She stared at them with a justified frown. “I have a feeling it is more so, what I was then what I am now.” Her eyes drifted to him. “I’ve swallowed just about every potion we’ve ever found to make it stop. Nothing ever works short of killing the moons we love.”

She reached up and scratched at her pink hair. Her eyes looked back at him. “Do you know our hair was originally red and it washed out from the magic of the moon?” She knew that even he didn’t possess the knowledge of what she had been unless she spoke of it. Rarely did she, and when she did he listened. She let loose a few facts over the centuries they had been together. He could piece together what he wished. “That’s what the elders use to tell us when we were real young. Around the fires of the festival.”

She took a deep sigh as she collapsed onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling. “I am a lot more hungry than I realized. Can we have blood and perhaps those Durian fruits that you brought back for me?” She had grown fond of the taste but hated the smell. “I do like them… Shame they are so hard to import to Kurayo.” She opened her arms up to him and gave a smile. She was the lovable one out of the two.

They returned to the manor and no sooner than when they reached the bedchambers, Celeste took it upon herself to keep the room free from the light of the moon. Nemesis lit the candles for them, one by one as he nodded. “It is unfortunate, but there must be a solution to this occurring problem, save for slaying the moons themselves. I don’t even know how you intend on reaching them”, he said in a small jest at her height. Still he was able to keep his tongue from getting him into further trouble with the much more delicate of his consorts.

“No dearest, I haven’t heard of that fact”, he responded as the final candle was lit, illuminating the room. “At least you are able to speak so freely about it now. You surely loved to keep those secret for the longest time.” He recalled having to nearly pry some information off of her in the beginning years when she was turned. Of course he didn’t bring her any sort of harm, though being the curious one he was, he didn’t let up until she had revealed things about her clan. Looking at his little wolf as she spread herself onto the bed, Nemesis shook his head and sat at the end of the bed.

“If the moons have failed to recognize that you had no choice, that you had to defend yourself against the cruelty and unjust behavior of your kin, then they too are corrupted.”

Nemesis reached out for and took a hold of a few strains of the pink locks, entangling them against his fingers. “If that is what you wish…” He got up and chuckled darkly at her gesture, “Hold onto that thought, my sweet.” He left the room and then the house to set out for her meal. Within long moments, he returned with a man slung over his shoulder and a basket filled with the fruit she wanted. “The last batch of them for a while. And as for this one”, he spoke, gesturing with his eyes over to unconscious man, “He won’t be missed, just like the others. He’ll probably wake up in a bit.” He let him drop onto the floor and locked the door before heading around the bed towards Celeste and handed her the basket. “I take it this will satisfy you for now?”   

For a moment Celeste paused and her red eyes slit so she could glare at him. A smile remained on her face and she managed a laugh. “One of these days, I will be in no mood to hear that.” She jested.  “I’m sure there is some way to end it out there. Moon Elves are rare and I have no idea where to find another tribe of them. If anything they would know why I hurt so much during this time.”

She thought on his words as she sprawled out on his bed and gave a smile. “I just wasn’t ready to talk about it. I think for the first century or two… I was still in shock about what I had done. It is unlike me to loose my temper. Fifty years and not a peep from me and then suddenly I just lost it. I don’t know if it was because I felt my freedom get taken away or if betrayal was the motivator. I have a temper now but I keep it just and I only use it when necessary. I am not like others.” She poked fun at Serafina. “I can get what I want without having to yell.” A wink came from her as she thought on the moons once more.

“I do love running under them when we get the chance. It wouldn’t shock me if one of the moons was corrupt. Maybe that is why I don’t hurt when there is only one full moon.” She gave him a few curious blinks before deciding on what she wanted to eat.

When he arrived with her food she made a face at the basket. “For a long while or a short while?” She did love them so. “If they are rotten like last time I will find the crew that brought them myself and take their hands. With the smell of the fruit, you can hardly tell if they have gone bad until they have… My last batch had a few rotten ones in it despite the merchant saying they were all fresh.” If it was one thing she hated, it was being lied too.

She took the basket and stood up on the bed. She held it close to her and leaned in kissing his forehead. “Thank you for putting up with my antics. I shall enjoy my dinner. You are welcome to share him with me if you wish. I had a bit of a fill on the one from the alley but the moon burned some of my hunger as well.” She sat down and began to peel the spiky shell of the Durian fruit off with a conjured ethereal dagger.

She hummed while she worked and diced the fruit up before setting the basket down. “If it is the last shipment for a while I’ll savor them.” She offered up a smile. “I am a simple woman with hardly any greed. I share you, I take what I am given, and I work quietly.” She prided herself on that but even then that was how she had always been. Even when he had found her… She took what she needed and saved the rest. Outside of the Mountain she had rarely ever seen things she encountered when she was with Nemesis when she did find new things she coveted them. She craved knowledge not violence. Though her temper was still present and ticking when people pushed the right buttons on her.

“There have been rumors of a new family showing up in Kurayo. Showed up out of the blue and annihilated the Levas. Might be wise to introduce ourselves to them. I can respect someone who protects their family like we do ours.” She was more the communicator than Serafina. “As long as Serafina holds her tongue that is.” She chuckled softly.

Nemesis merely glance gleefully at one of his beloved. Out of all that he had loved throughout the years in his past, Celeste was a far cry from the norm. Despite her appearance, it was her intellect and the emotional bonding between them that had led for him to take her as his other wife. Of course he did enjoy his banter with her as much as he enjoyed the physical and sometimes torturous relationship between him and Sera. As he could recall correctly, he had brought her to his home in Kurayo. Serafina seemed to not mind her presence, though he recalled some cruel comments made about if he wanted to keep Celeste here. He hadn’t turned her right away; in fact her hadn’t done so until the first time she was pained around the time of the Moon Festival shortly after he found her. She was to be his childe and it was believed that the turning would also serve to cease the suffering. By the next time of the festival a year later, it didn’t seem to prove successful and he could only watch as she was pained still. Nemesis remembered having to hold her as she curled up in her bed trying to ease herself of it. They had been up the whole night until the moons finally retired for the night. It was then that something about their relationship of purely intellectual understanding and bloomed into a stronger, more physical bonding. It had been her that instigated it but he easily returned her feelings.   

“My darling Celeste, everything happens for a reason. Had you not had such a revelation, and had done the deeds you had against them, then we would have never met under the condition we have.” It would have been a shame to have met under other circumstances and possibly had killed her. His hand caressed her side gently and he chuckled about the other female alpha, “I am aware though you should know better than to make fun of her. I do so simply to get a rise out of her, but you know just as well as I do about how nasty Sera’s temper could get when it really gets going. Other than that, it simply adds to her charm.” In a way, he spoiled the two of them, though by different means. Celeste was the more easier of the two to pleasure but Serafina was more so rewarding as he could calm her down to the pussycat she actually was.  

It hadn’t taken him very long to retrieve her food and he went to peek through the curtains to see if the moons had resided yet. “You know them. It will likely be for a short time. Our house is slowly growing more influence among the trade, and I think that some of them do favor you” Though for their sake, they had better watch their step- Nemesis didn’t mind spilling their blood if they even laid a finger onto her. He was possessive and territorial, just as his consort was. “If the fruit turns out to be rotten, and they know about it, then feel free. They would prove themselves unworthy of our trust.”, he said with a shrug. Their lives were insignificant in comparison to the Volkovs’ anyway.

His hands found themselves pressing onto her hips as he stole a kiss from her before letting her settle down to feast. He walked around the knocked out man, still unconscious on the floor. If he was to feed, then he’d prefer him to be awake- alive and conscious prey were far more appealing to him. His eyes lingered onto him until she mentioned the Levas’ demise and flashed her a grin. “Oh? Well that’s a pity. Though I can’t help but to think that they somehow earned it. That being said, this new family should trend more lightly since the Council of the Night could view that as…unsavory.” While bloodshed towards the fairer races were allowed, few in fightings between families here were allowed and was punishable by death of all parties involved if found and convicted. The Volkovs were far too clever to get their hands dirty if they needed someone here rubbed out. And it seemed that Celeste had provided a scapegoat of sorts should that time arrived. “Perhaps we should. We could always use a leverage in case.” His eyes trailed back to the man as he started to stir and then looked back to her, “Oh, you know she will have to come too if it ever happens. She knows how to be effective with her words, just in a way that would show that we have both the bark and the bite.”

Celeste made a face at him as he teased her about Serafina. “She calls me a midget when she is upset at me. I hardly think that doesn’t call for me to tease her.” She chuckled, “Even if that means doing it behind her back because I know she would kill me.” She gave her sire a wink and tussled her hair softly. “I also know that if things had been different we wouldn’t be here right now… and I don’t want that to be the case.”

She rested on the bed with her food as she peeled the Durian fruit to savor its taste. “That lot from Egjora didn’t know that. They took months to get here compared to the others.” With a snap, she freed the fruit and stared more at the curtains. “We are dipping our toes into all the waters we can, that isn’t a bad thing at all.” She offered up a smile.  “I will have to see about all the fruit before casting my judgment on them.”

His grin made her smirk as she spoke of the other vampire house. “Serafina is good with men but not women. She will come as she always had but this time will be a bit different. We're not used to dealing with a young person who obviously knows what they are doing. I’ve seen this girl in the crowds, she isn’t old at all. She has to be under fifty and she has hair like wildfire. Draconis… I think the name was? Though from what I gathered on the streets… I doubt the council will do anything. The girl was merely protecting her family. The Levas were the ones who crossed a line they shouldn’t have. We don’t treat our own kind as slaves and not pay the price when someone stronger shows up who actually gives a damn and the girl is strong from what they say.” She bit into the fruit enjoying the taste.

“They are occupying the Levas house but from what I hear are not planning on staying for long. What that means I don’t know. Words and whispers mostly say that she wants to be on the continent where her mother is? That’s mostly what her younger vampires say anyways, big mouths. Though… did see another red head storming into Kurayo with a bunch of paladins. I wonder if that has something to do with the explosions we heard?” Celeste tapped on the fruit softly. “Either way, it would be good for us to introduce ourselves and see if we can get some use out of her. A powerful ally in this city is good but a scapegoat is even better.”

She saw the man stirring and it caused her to stand up on the bed. The fruit dropped from her hand into the basket and she licked her lips softly. “Then there is the case of having more prey available since the Levas hogged it all. That pompous ass tried to throw me out of his ‘district’.”  She growled softly and waited for the man to get up before pouncing. Her body hit his and caused the man to panic as she wrapped around him. It was much like watching a child trying to take control of a full grown adult only she was stronger than any human in Kurayo, at least by her standards. She latched onto his neck as he began to try to pry her off. 

After a bit, she punched him in the head to disorient him and hopped off. “He’s all yours. I made sure I didn’t take too much. I am not a glutton.” She sat up on the bed and pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them. A smirk was on her face. “Make it a show for me. A bloody glorious show.”