Wedding the Vampire Prince pt.1

An hour later, Misa opened her eyes a vampire. Lying on the personal bed in the tiny room inside the chapel, her eyes adjusted to the brightness of afterlife. On her back staring up at the ceiling, Misa heard a charming voice from her right side.

"You've awakened. Welcome home, Misa."

Home. She thought and looked expectantly to her right. Even without a beating heart, her soul yearned for Prince Ran like no other.

"You're still here." She said to him, slowly propping her upper body on an elbow.

He nodded. He was lounging in a comfy-looking chair not even five feet from the bed in which she lay. As usual, he had one leg slung across the other in an image of prime relaxation and poise. In his hands, he held a thick book that had kept him company while Misa slept. "I stayed here. Had to make sure no one came while you slept."

Misa's chest swelled. "You were protecting me?"

Prince Ran shrugged and said nothing. He returned to his book, randomly turning to the next page, his eyes falling to the bottom of the page like the words at the top didn't matter. It was awkward. It was cute. Misa couldn't very well see clearly with her too sharp eyes still adjusting to her new unlife, but she burned to be near Prince Ran. Right now.

Swinging her feet off the cushiony mattress, she rose and floated much more than walked to Prince Ran. She was awed inside. Her body had never felt lighter.

Misa felt like smoke in the air, and her bones and joints felt powerful. She breathed this sensation in, rolling her shoulders back and letting them fall in an act of relaxation. This is cool. She thought. I didn't imagine it feeling like this.

She stood over Prince Ran who snapped his book closed with a resounding clap and set it aside. As if he'd read her mind, he asked, "How do you feel?"

"I've never felt better. I feel..." She trailed off, but her thoughts continued.

... at home. Like you said when I woke up.

Prince Ran stood, causing Misa to tiptoe backward a couple of steps. When she put her hands on his shoulders to exclaim, "I thought it would be scarier than this," Prince Ran surprised Misa entirely by resting his hands on her waist.

He held her close to him and stared into her eyes. Misa swallowed as they gazed at one another, knowing that if her heart still had a beat, it would have been thumping to an incredible rhythm.

Finally, she found her voice. "You like me now that I'm one of you, don't you?" She voiced this like a sure statement and Prince Ran made a face at her.

"I liked you before this..."

Misa's mouth dropped wide open.

The prince continued, "I've liked you all along. From the start, you were hard for me to resist. Of course, your oddly tempting human smell was one thing, but... the rest was you." He admitted.

Misa's jaw was quivering like it ached from holding something heavy all day. She cried, "R-Really?!"

"Really. In fact, you almost had me at your mercy the first time we talked down in The Vault. Your spirit draws me in. I wanted to be around you, even when I tried to believe I didn't. It was clear from the beginning that you were far superior to any human I had ever encountered. The prophecy brought you here for a reason."

"To save the world?" Misa asked, not even ashamed to be so clearly fishing for a certain answer.

Prince Ran rolled his eyes, the corner of his lips finally curling up just slightly. "To be with me."

Explosions.

Actual explosions set off around Misa's head as she thought about how damned precious Prince Ran's words to her just now were. She pictured fireworks and got them, shocking the hell out of herself and--not totally on purpose--throwing herself snug into the prince's arms.

"H-How?!" She cried, and Prince Ran guessed that it must be because she had reanimated with that Fae blood still in her system. "S-So like, I still have 'the essence' or whatever?"

Prince Ran shrugged, "I can't be sure about Fae rules and magic, but ss long as you and I are immortal and can survive an eternity together and are somehow the same species, I can adjust to your changes."

"Aw...! That was sweet." Misa sang. The prince frowned, only smirking again when Misa thumped him on the chest with her fist.

"Speaking of your changes," Prince Ran began and released his hold on Misa. He popped a mirror out of thin air with his right hand, then presented it to her, "the center of your eyes have returned to brown. I find it a bit interesting."

Misa snatched the mirror and peered at the glass. He was right, the centers of her eyes were brown while the remainder of her irises were the chartreuse she shared with Prince Ran. Misa couldn't stop herself from frowning. "Why?" She asked. "I liked that we..." 

She felt embarrassed to finish but mourned that she and Prince Ran no longer had perfectly matching eye colors. She had enjoyed it being a symbol of their deep connection; their shared ability to read one another's mind manifesting with the eye color. 

Somehow, the change affected her deeply, and Misa's mood soured quite a bit.

And from completely out of nowhere, Misa had a ravenous thirst take over her body. She stumbled backward away from Prince Ran and gripped her throat as her fangs painfully poked through her gums. "I--I need..."

Prince Ran moved immediately, his face as nonchalant as his voice when he ordered her to, "Stay here." He walked around Misa and out into the main chapel and quickly returned carrying an entire pig in his arms. He carried the large animal as if it weighed no more than a pound.

"Here, quench your thirst with this pig."

Misa shook her head though the pain. "That's...! That's cruel. I can't."

"Would you rather drain a human?" Prince Ran asked pointedly. His bright eyes flashed at her seriously, and Misa felt herself cowering beneath his intense gaze.

Misa again shook her head, but she knew in her mind that she needed time to make peace with this. So, she stalled, forcing herself to stand straighter, focusing her eyes on Prince Ran. "I can't forget to tell you about Pera. And your mother, the Queen."

Prince Ran's eyes narrowed dangerously. That wasn't a combination of names you'd commonly hear. "What about them?"

Misa relayed to him all of the things that had happened to her before he'd found her in the chapel. She left out no details. Misa told him everything about Queen Yori's involvement, and Prince Ran's eyes darkened. "My own mother," he said. "Treason..." He appeared stricken, but still said, "I will deal with the matter accordingly."

Nodding, Misa swallowed. She couldn't tell if it was from fear of the prince's wrath or because she couldn't stop looking at the pig before her.

"Drink, Misa." Prince Ran said, "Or else you will drain the next creature or human you see."

Misa was reluctant but realized she had no choice. She apologized to the oinking pig that Prince Ran had set down but was holding still for her. And then, she stopped thinking and punctured the pig with her fangs, drinking in earnest.

It was late morning when Misa stepped into the chapel for the second time that day. She wore a beautiful dark red-and-black wedding gown that reached down to the floor. The torso of the gown a form-fitting dark red corset with lacy black lining on top and bottom, and a black stringy bow hanging down over her chest. 

Though the gown itself was sleeveless, Misa wore what she liked to call 'a choker with black lace sleeves' attached at her neck with a red rose brooch. The bottom half of the gown was the same dark red with a spilling of layered black down the middle that grew outward as it traveled down, funnel style. Finally, she covered her face with a long black veil as she walked up the aisle towards Prince Ran.

The prince was dressed in an elegant black-and-red suit. He wore black-on-black with striking red accents--fancy red patterning on his waistcoat and the ends of his black sleeves, and a red lapel and inner lining of his long tailcoat jacket that reached the heels of his shiny black shoes.

Organ music played in the background. The King and Queen--Misa noticed the baffled, slightly crazed look in Queen Yori's eyes at the sight of her--stood nearest the platform where Prince Ran awaited her. The castle staff and members of the nobility scattered the audience, standing at designated areas of the seatless chapel.

Everyone wore varying shades of black, like they were attending some sort of funeral.

It's like I'm the only one enjoying this occasion. She commented in her head, considering her mixture of black and red a statement against all the solemn energy.

But when Misa reached Prince Ran at the altar and he flipped her veil backward with the most endearing look in his chartreuse eyes, she felt very much like the bride at as beautiful a wedding as any. Her chest blossomed with feeling for the vampire before her.

Thus, began the first of the three traditional marriage rites.