CHAPTER THIRTY: SHOWERED IN BLOOD AND FLOWERS.

      "Karl Heinz? Is that really you?" Izumi muttered. Although the image of the man in front of her was unmistakable, she couldn't help but doubt. After all, it had been years since she had last seen him. Besides, the Vampire King had never been known to be trustworthy.

      The man smiled, "You used to call me Uncle Tougo, remember?" He asked longingly, to which the girl denied. Still, that didn't discourage KarlHeinz, he continued with a pleased mood, "Well, I shouldn't be surprised. That was almost a lifetime ago. I used to call you the apple of my eye back then. I guess you still are, but I can't really keep calling you that when you've grown up so much, can I?"

      The girl frowned, "Where is everyone?"

      "Ah, really, you don't see me for over ten years and you ask about my kids? I must admit, that hurts, Zuzu."

      The vampiress wanted to protest to not be called that silly nickname, but she couldn't. Not when he had the power to end her in a second, and not when she knew he was someone who could be driven by his impulses. The reality was that she was just as trapped as when the Founders had taken her hostage. So she had to keep her cool if she wanted to get out of this one.

      "I'm sorry, uh... Uncle Tougo, but I'm just worried about them. Moments ago, they were fighting against..."

      "The Founders, I know," KarlHeinz waved a hand in front of his face, playing it down, "You should have more faith in them, Zuzu. They're my children, remember? Besides, they took your blood. Carla and Shin don't stand a chance against them."

      Izumi narrowed her eyes, "How can you be so sure?"

      "Because it's all part of my little project," KarlHeinz smiled vehemently, "You could say it's all set in stone."

      "Set in stone?"

      "By me," the man concluded, clasping his hands together in a celebratory gesture, "But let me tell you properly, from the beginning, Zuzu. I'm sure you'll understand once I explain everything. I used to think you would be my miko, but you got a much more meaningful role. Or should I say, you created that place for yourself. Seriously Zuzu, I'm very impressed by everything you've accomplished."

      "I have no idea what you're talking about," Izumi sputtered.

      "My apologies," KarlHeinz gave a small bow, then stepped down from what appeared to be an invisible throne and reached for her. He snapped his fingers and a tea table along with two elegant chairs appeared out of nowhere. With another wave of his hands, the chairs moved and KarlHeinz sat down, while Izumi was hit in the back of the knees by the edge of the chair to fall into a sitting position, "What tea would you like to have?"

      "I don't want tea, thank you."

      The amber gaze rested on her with a slight wariness, "You were always rebellious, even as a little girl."

      "Is that why you didn't make me your miko?"

      The vampire denied and his smile became biting, "Your very existence is an act of rebellion. You can't be a miko when that's the case. You see, you became something much more exquisite."

      Izumi just looked at him, and KarlHeinz poured tea for both of them regardless of her refusal. Then, he took a sip.

      "Well, I'll try not to make this too long. Do you know what Endzeit is?"

      The vampiress arched an eyebrow, "No, should I?"

      "Not really," KarlHeinz laughed, "Endzeit is a disease that only affects the Founders, and it leads to their death. And Carla had the bad luck to contract the disease years ago, and he's already close to perishing. It's pretty funny, isn't it? That an immortal race should die from something as mundane as a disease, but that's the way it is."

      "What does this have to do with me?" Izumi pressed, more than uncomfortable and impatient. Though the Vampire King himself had confirmed to her that the Founders had no other fate than to lose, she couldn't help but worry anyway. Not when, minutes before, she had witnessed how neither Shin nor Carla seemed to have a problem with standing up to them.

      "That's what I'm getting at, Zuzu. Drink your tea, it's going to get cold."

      Under KarlHeinz's unmoving gaze, Izumi finally took the tea reluctantly. The cup was placed back on its matching saucer without a sound, and her companion looked at her with an approving smile.

      "I see Reiji did a good job teaching you good manners."

      Izumi frowned, "How do you know?"

      KarlHeinz took another sip before answering, "Zuzu, I know everything. But that's not what's important here. Now that the Founders are closer than ever to the end, I thought I could finally create a new race. A race that thinks like humans but can use magic and possess supernatural abilities like the demonic races.

      "In order to create this, I need an Adam and an Eve. Adam can be anyone who meets three simple requirements: he must have the body of a vampire, the heart of a human male, and accept his love for Eve. While Eve is a human woman with the heart of the Demon Lord's daughter.

      Izumi's eyes widened, "You mean Yui? Yui is part of your plans?"

      "Dear, everything that happens is within my plans. Otherwise, I'm calling it a day in that world." Izumi was afraid to ask what he meant by that.

      "As I was saying, Eve's blood was supposed to choose an Adam who would gain the power to control the world, and his descendants would change the world, as they would be the new race. That's the Adam and Eve project. Pretty simple, don't you think?"

      The pinkhead nodded out of politeness, and avoided saying a word, taking another sip of tea.

      "But then you came along. When I created you, I honestly didn't think you'd go far."

      "Wait, what?" She couldn't help but interrupt him. A lump formed in her throat, and her stomach felt terribly empty, "My parents.. are they not-?"

      "Oh, your parents are Mako and Katsuo. You don't have to doubt that. But what you don't know is that I gave you blood from Giesbach, the Ancestor King and father of Carla and Shin, and from Burai, the Vibora King of the snake clan."

      "You... are joking, aren't you?"

      KarlHeinz snorted through his nose, "Do I look like someone who would joke about something like that?" He returned the cup to the table and shook his head, "When you were in your mother's stomach, I injected the blood of both kings into your amniotic sac. Like I said, I was just testing things. I didn't think you would manage to be born with so many mixtures of demons in your blood, much less did I think you would live this long, but here you are. As I said, your existence is an act of rebellion."

      Izumi looked away, not bearing those golden eyes that seemed to pierce her. She swallowed saliva with difficulty, the urge to vomit that overwhelmed her didn't seem to want to back down. Her fingernails dug into the surface of the chair.

      "And... What does this have to do with your project? You said I'd understand everything, but I feel like you've just been spitting information in my face nonstop."

      The Vampire King rose from his seat with an empathetic smile, only to place himself on his knees in front of her.

      Izumi's head was spinning but, when she met KarlHeinz's eyes again, she felt as if calm was forced upon her body. Her nails stopped burying themselves in the wood so that her hands were taken between the man's soft pale hands, and the smile he gave her left her breath caught in her throat.

      "You changed everything, Zuzu. Thanks to the combination of demonic races in your blood along with that of the Founders, you are immune to Endzeit, and you can heal Carla."

      The pieces of the puzzle fit together in her head, and the pink-haired vampiress concluded without losing her cool, "Then you want to kill me, don't you? To allow your new race to advance."

      "No, no. Zuzu, I would never do that," he immediately denied, "You make everything easier. I know your heart isn't as rotten as the rest of us demon races. I don't know if it's because of the unique combination you turned out to be or the unparalleled care you received from your parents. But, whatever the reason, your heart is not as darkened as ours. This, combined with your ability to control those who take your blood, only makes my plan easier."

      Izumi frowned, "I don't control anyone."

      "Oh, right, right. I forgot to mention that before. My brother believes that the function of your blood is only to make us stronger. And that's partly true, your blood does work that way. But its real purpose is to control those who take it. The fact that it makes us stronger is just the way your blood makes them depend on it, it's quite natural if you think about it."

      "Except for the fact that it doesn't work that way," the pinkhead pointed out, "As I said, I don't control anyone."

      "That's only because you haven't tried it yet," the immortal pointed out, and the girl couldn't argue with him because he was right. Despite that, she was still reluctant to believe that, if she were to give an order, any of the vampires would obey her no matter how much they didn't want to, "Besides, I don't think you've reached the level yet for them to obey your orders... except for Shu, right? If I'm not mistaken, he was the one who drank the most of your blood, to the point that he can't live without it now."

      Izumi narrowed her eyes, "That's just-"

      "The natural process," KarlHeinz nodded, "Next time you see him, give him an order. You'll see that he'll do it without thinking," he encouraged, but Izumi looked away and didn't say a word. As true as it could be, she no longer felt so comfortable using her blood's special abilities knowing its origin, "And I'm pretty sure Laito and Ayato aren't far from being just like him."

      The vampiress shrank in place, the image of the two brothers looming over her didn't bring her as much security as it had with Shu. She had no doubt that they would not be as merciful as the blond, and the chance of them mastering their thirst and stopping before killing her were low. Especially since they would probably be fighting each other to see who would take more.

      "Can I go back now? I heard what you had to tell me, can I go back to help them?"

      KarlHeinz stood up again, "But I haven't told you the best part yet," he muttered as he resumed his seat, "The Adam and Eve project will continue, but I also want to continue yours, Zuzu. I titled it the Apple project, you know, after your old nickname."

      "I'd rather not be part of any experiment."

      "Then you'd rather I kill you?" KarlHeinz arched an eyebrow and, in the absence of a response, smiled and clasped his hands together, "Okay, I need you to choose someone."

      Izumi frowned, "Pick someone? What do you mean?"

      "To make you understand, I need you to choose an Adam too. So who will be the lucky one?"