They set out to raid the city at one in the afternoon. By the time they returned, dusk had already fallen.
Twilight gradually swallowed the warmth of the morning sun, giving way to the cool of night. The wind swept across the beach, as if time itself were washing away yesterday's ripples.
Refugees who had fled the city lined up in orderly rows to receive supplies under the watch of half-blood vampire soldiers. Phaga sat high above, observing for a long while.
He watched the half-blood vampires living like humans. He watched as those same half-blood vampires—despite having fangs identical to purebloods—were met with casual acceptance, even heartfelt thanks.
Some bolder girls mustered their courage, turning youthful shyness into a maiden's charge, hurling themselves into the innocence of first love, trying to push open the door to romance.
Yet the half-blood vampire soldier only scratched his head, eyes full of confusion, before finally offering a shy smile.
The girl's expression froze. Before her first love could even begin, heartbreak had already crashed down on her youth like nine years of compulsory education.
In the end, Mrs. Meilin stepped in personally and led the girl away to a quiet spot.
Having witnessed the entire scene, Phaga shook his head and chuckled.
They had only just escaped New Eridu, surviving by the skin of their teeth.
And yet the girl still had the heart to think about romance. She really was something else.
Phaga lifted his gaze to the sky, where faint stars were beginning to emerge through the twilight.
The Morning Star hung high above. Phaga reached out instinctively, as if he could grasp it in his palm.
But his hand closed on nothing.
Nothing but a yellow wind carrying sand so dry it felt as though even after being wrung out, not a single drop remained.
Phaga's eyes went unfocused, his expression distant. He sighed softly. "The vampire society is pretty crazy too."
Even though he wasn't consciously dwelling on it, his mind kept clicking away like an old film projector, endlessly replaying what Mrs. Meilin had once told him.
[We are all part of the "Symbiosis Program." I am responsible for leading the half-blood vampires, making them an indispensable part of human society.]
Phaga: And what about me?
[Child, you are the spark. You are a unique existence born of centuries—millennia—of the vampire society's efforts, favored by fate itself. You are the only vampire untouched by the sun's curse!]
Phaga: Doesn't the clan have a backup of my genetic sequence? They could simply clone another one using my genes.
Phaga still remembered the strange smile Mrs. Meilin had given when he asked that.
[Who says they don't? Otherwise, why do you think Bern let you fight Black Phaga?]
When Mrs. Meilin finished speaking, a chill crept through Phaga's heart.
Even now, recalling it made his skin crawl, his body shuddering involuntarily.
Suddenly, something cool brushed against Phaga's cheek.
He turned his head and immediately saw a soft, delicate hand.
When he lifted his gaze, a flawless face was carried into view by the wind. He stared blankly at the crimson ribbon fluttering at her forehead, its beauty overwhelming in that instant.
"Hey. Hey?"
Ellen waved a hand in front of Phaga's face, pouting in displeasure. The poor lollipop stick was pushed aside by her little show of annoyance.
The shark maid planted her hands on her hips and, in a show of dominance, draped one leg over the vampire butler's.
"What are you thinking about? Don't ignore me!"
Phaga snapped back to his senses. He shook his head with a smile, pulled Ellen's leg closer, and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"How could I ignore you? I was just lost in thought."
"Fine. I forgive you."
Ellen didn't really care what Phaga had been thinking about. Respecting each other's privacy was part of being in love, after all.
But respecting the feelings of single people definitely wasn't.
So even though the Grinding Teeth and Sucking Blood Duo were already sitting in a high place, their presence together still drew an unreasonable amount of attention.
Unbothered by the chorus of heartbreak around them, Ellen decisively draped her other leg over Phaga as well. She tucked her head against his chest, her tail and slender arms wrapping around his waist as she whispered:
"The Sons of Calydon just announced they're going to hold the Burnice Carnival again. Want to come?"
"They're doing it again?"
Phaga couldn't help looking surprised.
Amid the surrounding chorus of—
"Why him? Damn it, that should've been me! Not him!"
—he reached out and pinched Ellen's cheek. Ellen bristled, shook her head to dodge him, and promptly bit back.
Only when a hint of sweetness touched her tongue did she finally let go. She huffed, turning her head away in a haughty display.
"So what if they're holding it again? We finally brought supplies back from the city—this is exactly when people need a morale boost. The city and the Sons of Calydon are in agreement, so it's settled."
Absolutely insane.
But then again, New Eridu itself was a city rebuilt after disaster. The vampire society's coup had merely turned a hidden crisis everyone already knew about into a visible apocalypse. In essence, nothing had really changed.
Living was exhausting enough as it was. Might as well loosen up and enjoy what you could.
Phaga glanced down at the finger she had bitten. He wiped away the blood with a small motion, and it healed before his eyes.
He shrugged and sighed. "All that aside, why did you bite my finger?"
"Because you pinched my cheek…"
Ellen shot him a sideways look. Her usual battlefield bravado was still there, but a shy flush crept across her face, spreading all the way to the tips of her ears with a soft, youthful pink.
Phaga stared for a moment too long before finally catching her muttering:
"Besides, you've sucked my blood so many times. What's wrong with me biting you once… huh?"
Before she could finish, a sudden force wrapped around her waist. Her eyes widened.
By the time she came back to herself, she was pressed tightly against Phaga's chest. Warm breath brushed the swirl of hair at the top of her head, and the heat of his embrace spread through her entire body.
The little shark was swept along by the moment, her vision blurring.
In the haze, she felt that warm breath already at her neck.
Warm. Drowning. Irresistible.
She was almost lost in it until the light touch of four sharp teeth jolted her back to reality. Ellen shoved Phaga away, grabbed his face in both hands, and pinched his cheeks into an exaggeratedly cute shape.
She nearly laughed, then remembered she was supposed to look serious and hastily put on an angry face instead.
Unaware that this only made her look even more adorable, she puffed out her cheeks and muttered:
"Hmph! Even if I got held up by all kinds of things, I told you—I'm going to be your dominant, wolf-like girlfriend!"
"Huh?"
Phaga blinked, momentarily at a loss. How long ago had that been?
Oh. Right.
Back before the vampire society launched their coup, when Ellen had dragged him off to the Hollow…
Huh?
Huh!
Phaga's eyes widened as he stared at what was happening in front of him.
He hadn't expected Ellen to sneak in an ambush while he was lost in his memories.
Her eyes were closed now, her body trembling. Her arms and tail were wrapped tightly around him, clinging as if he were a pillow.
Only after a long while did she finally let go.
In the silver light of the moon, a nearly transparent thread hung between them.
Some time later, as Burnice's ear-splitting shriek echoed through Blazewood, Ellen finally snapped back to herself. She grabbed Phaga by the tie and yanked him close.
Her small leather shoes—just as proud as she was—planted on his thigh. Her knee lifted his chin as she looked down at him, her face flushed but her expression still stubbornly composed, every bit the Senior.
"Come with me. Today, Senior's taking you out to have some fun!"