By Nadejda Neklioudova

January 1, 2001

Title: none yet ;_;

Pairing: Yu~ki x Klaha, Mana x Klaha

Warnings: shonen-ai/vampiric yaoi

Notes: Um, ok I've had the idea about a vampire MM fic floating around in my head for months. I didn't want to copy Corey's idea, so I wanted to wait and come up with something original, and I think I just did now. :)

Disclaimers: Um, MALICE MIZER own themselves! I'm just borrowing them for a little fictional trip through my imagination..heheh. The "song lyrics" were also written by me. I have NO idea if they'd actually sound good in Japanese! I just thought they sound neat in English, and were inspired by the "Bara no Seidou" album. (I refer to it as both the Rose Shrine and the Sanctuary of Roses here - I've heard of both versions being correct).

So far, this is untitled... I'm still looking for title suggestions! Help would be much appreciated.


Yu~ki's pencil left the rough paper of his sketchbook, where a human face was beginning to take shape. "Mana, where are you going?" he asked the band leader, whose heavy platform shoes clicked as he walked towards the door.

"Nowhere," said the black-painted lips of the pale, effeminate creature. "Just out for a midnight walk."

"Can I..." Yu~ki's question was interrupted by the door shutting. "...come with you?"

 

The artificial strands of music and Andrea Bocelli's voice flowed softly from the black speakers of the CD-player, caressing Klaha's ears with the notes he'd heard so many times. He sat on the windowsill of his home, looking out onto the street-lit skyline, peppered with wavering stars above and window-lights below. Stars appeared one by one, their faraway light straining through the thick air, and the rectangular lights of windows were dimming and disappearing as night assumed its reign. His own room was submerged in darkness, lit only by a few candles whose firefly flames swayed to the music.

Klaha rested in a relaxed pose, one leg on the windowsill, the other on the floor, his gaze trailing the invisible notes of music as they flowed out of his open window and dispersed into the night. Complete relaxation - something he had not had lately because of rehearsals with MALICE MIZER.

The machine's barely audible click indicated a switch from one compact-disc to another, and Klaha was jolted out of his dream-like state by the sound of his own voice singing the ballad "Love Light". He had forgotten that he had PRIDE OF MIND's old CD still in the player...

Ah, the song of past and future. He belonged to MALICE MIZER now, with its world of enticing darkness and frightening beauty. He was now the voice of that world - the third one to be chosen as its messenger. Mana, the effeminate creature of gothic beauty and stern leadership, approached him about it a few months before. He had agreed to come with them into the Shrine of Roses, and now their new album was almost finished. He was glad to be in the same band with his longtime friend Yu~ki, the bassist, who had been keeping him up to date with happenings in MALICE MIZER as long as they'd known each other.

Immersed in these thoughts, he reached for a random piece of paper and a pencil, laid the paper on his bended leg, and began to jot down random thoughts, which unwittingly began to shape themselves into a disjointed poem.

Distracted, Klaha did not hear the other barely audible click. Strange, he thought, the CD isn't over yet... His eyes fixed on the paper in front of him, and the slight movement of the candle-flames did not register in his mind. He sighed, and the candles danced away again, swayed by his breath. It was only air that had moved them.

In the night, he could barely see the verse on the paper. He brought it up to the light of the nearest candle, and gasped. The candle flame twitched as it, too, realized there was another presence in the room.

A pale figure slowly emerged into the circle of dim illumination. The candlelight became tangled and lost in the whispering lace folds of the figure's black frilly dress, and the starkly pale face and glove-covered hands stood out in the darkness.

"Mana-san! What are you doing here?" Klaha's deep voice broke through the music, shattering the atmosphere of harmony. "How did you get in?"

"You left your house keys at the last band rehearsal. I came to return them to you," said the low, ghostly voice, as the gloved hand dropped the jingling keys into the surprised Klaha's hand. "By the way, the key to our studio is also there. The ornate metal one."

Klaha forced himself to snap out of it. He'll never get used to the sound of Mana's voice, he thought. It was as if the man was lip-synching to someone else's voice - so near to perfection was Mana's illusion of femininity.

"Where are my manners," Klaha said suddenly, composing himself. "Would you like something to drink?"

Mana paused, but no sound escaped his black lips. He only shook his head, and leaned onto the windowsill next to Klaha. "Ah, PRIDE OF MIND," Mana glanced at the CD-player momentarily. "Are you happy with our new album?"

" 'Rose Shrine'? Of course," Klaha admitted. "Your compositions are very...complex and thoughtful."

"You think so?" Mana mused, and picked up the piece of paper Klaha had dropped in surprise a few minutes before. "What is this, Klaha-san? Poetry?"

"Well, now that I think about it, it could become a song..."

" 'Memories of winter caress the shattered night, in the bleak moment I want to break free of reminiscence...' " Mana read aloud as the interrupted Klaha watched helplessly. He had meant to finish the poem, come up with the beginnings of a melody, and show it to MALICE MIZER later...

Without pausing, Mana's voice began to attain a musical quality as he read Klaha's writing. Soon Mana had come to the end of the verse, his voice having established an enchanting, sad melody already. When the man had finished, he handed the paper back to the dumbfounded Klaha. "What, and you thought I couldn't sing?"

Klaha broke out of the spell, blinking. "Well... I respect your compositional abilities, but..."

"You thought I couldn't sing," Mana said plainly, and laughed, adding an even more eerie atmosphere to the already strange situation.

He stopped laughing just as suddenly, and turned to look at Klaha leaning on the windowsill beside him. The dark eyes of the band leader met those of the vocalist, and Mana spoke again slowly: "So you've decided to stay with us? MALICE MIZER?"

"You mean, not just for the new album, but to officially join you? Yes... yes, I have."

"Good. So you won't take off, like Gackt had?" Mana slowly leaned toward Klaha, still keeping the connection of eyes.

"I don't see a reason why I would..." Klaha spoke, confused, and beginning to feel the other man's breath on his face.

"Then I don't see a reason why I would kick you out, like I did Tetsu..." Mana murmured, his voice on the brink of audibility. The CD-player had finished the last song, and stopped in complete silence.

Something's wrong with the CD-player, Klaha thought absently, turning his head in its direction. 'it's not switching to the next song...I should go and see if I can fix it...'

"Come to the Sanctuary of Roses with me..."

In the next instant, Klaha felt a pair of delicate, yet determined fangs lightly prick, then pierce his neck. His eyes went wide as the sharp teeth carefully found an artery, but he could not utter a single syllable. He thought of screaming for Mana to stop, but could not, even if he wanted to...and he soon realized that he did not want to.

The pair of pale, lace-covered hands found their way around Klaha's shoulders, as if to hold him still while the vampire took him - but there was no need. The room swam and rippled before Klaha's gaze, as his blood, as well as his consciousness, were slowly draining away. He thought for a moment that if Mana had released him, he would probably lean out over the windowsill and fall - but his brain was succeeding in convincing him that he was already flying. The vocalist's eyes slowly closed as his body went limp, lost in Mana's embrace of vampiric ecstasy.

 

"Memories of winter caress the shattered night, in the bleak moment I want to break free of reminiscence..."

Guitar notes seemed like a lone harpsichord. Mana was singing again. Or was it himself?

"Beauty devours the night, someone is calling me, in the flowing moment I want to break free of time... Someone is calling me..."

"Come to the Sanctuary of Roses with me," someone had said...

 

He had lost all perception of time, space, memory. How long had it been? Where was he? What was today? Was there ever a today? As far as he knew, there was only a tonight.

His head swam as he tried to lift it away from the floor....or was it the ceiling? Weakness had persuaded him to remain still, just a while longer... what was that he was hearing? Music?

Music. But whose.....

 

Yu~ki had lost track of time, and realized that he had been drawing slowly, attentively until late in the night, long after Mana left. He sighed, setting the sketchbook aside. The image he was trying to recreate from memory was finished.

It was a portrait of Klaha that stared at Yu~ki from the paper.

 

Klaha blinked himself into awakening, and immediately shut his eyes to the blinding daylight. His hand groped around helplessly, finally found a string, pulled it hard. The blinds on the window snapped closed, and finally he could open his eyes, prop himself up on his arm, and look around the room. Everything was in place. The candles were put out, the CD-player was playing MALICE MIZER's "Rose Shrine" quietly. His bed, a few meters away, was undisturbed. Had he fallen asleep here, by the window? Why?

He stood up as quickly as dizziness would allow, made a few steps, and sank onto his bed. Why was he so dizzy? He was not drinking the night before - and besides, it was not the sort of thing he would do. Rubbing his sore neck, he realized that his forgotten keys and a piece of paper were lying on the covers next to him.

One of the keys was new. On the paper were some lyrics he remembered jotting down the night before. Upon turning the paper over, he discovered something he had not remembered writing. The elegantly written symbols said "This would make a wonderful song - it fits perfectly with MALICE MIZER's style. Your voice is unique, like an illusion from the darkness. The Sanctuary of Roses is your home now, along with the ornate key."

There was no signature, only a drop of blood that had dried overnight.


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