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Aro couldn't resist licking his lips in anticipation as the blue, seven-tailed tiger almost lazily strolled up to the three vampires. The great cat telekinetically carried three dozen massive barrels, all filled to the brim with pig blood, with ease.
"This shall be your meal for the month," the beast said as he set them down.
Aro gave the beast a polite bow as he dismounted his throne and put on the most gracious smile he could manage. Before he could begin prying off the lid of the nearest barrel, however, Caius opened his mouth.
"Disgusting. How can your organization abide this travesty?" snapped the platinum-blond vampire.
Before Aro could admonish him, the blue tiger began to growl.
"Well, the other option is that we allow you to drink human blood, and exterminate you. I, for one, would not be opposed to that idea." The tiger's seven tails whipped from side to side along the ground.
Caius half rose from his throne, snarling back. "You dare deny us our natural diet? Of our right as a superior species?"
Aro raised a hand. "Now, now, Caius-"
"No," snapped the tiger, its golden eyes now burning into Aro's red ones. "This child has been allowed to misbehave for far too long. It is high time that he is disciplined."
The armrests of Caius's throne creaked in protest. "You force us to drink sludge! "
"Animal blood is still blood. It will sustain you perfectly well, and the loss of your physical strength will be minor. Your coven mostly relies on the extra abilities of your members anyway."
"It's unnatural! It is a perversion!"
"The alternative is either murder or the bringing of unnecessary harm unto human beings."
"Humans don't matter! They never have, and they never will!"
A muscle under the blue tiger's left eye began to twitch, but he calmly settled onto his stomach. "Explain."
"Explain what?! " Caius likely intended it to sound like a fearsome roar, but it sounded more like a petulant scream to Aro's ears.
"Why do you feel that drinking animal blood is such a massive offense? The truth of the matter is, it sustains vampires perfectly well, it tastes only slightly less delectable, and it results in only a minor decrease in power."
Caius opened his mouth and shut it multiple times like a guppy, looking like he was torn between attacking the tiger (which would have led to his immediate immolation; the Celestial Bureaucracy chose their agents well) and simply throwing a tantrum. Finally he said, "Do you forbid bears from eating salmon? Or tigers like yourself from eating deer?"
"No."
"Do you think it is wrong to kill animals for food?"
"If the animal is not an awakened one, no."
"Then that is that."
The tiger raised a furry brow. "So, I see that you equate humans to the level of unawakened animals."
"Yes."
"Please elaborate why."
"They are part of the animal kingdom."
"True. But why does that make them the same level?"
Caius shuffled a bit on his throne. "They simply are."
"Then let me ask you this: what separates a vampire from a human?"
"We are stronger in every way."
"You could say the same of most predatory animals. You clearly believe that they are equal to or lower than human beings."
"True."
"So, if I am interpreting your words correctly, you believe that killing a human for food is by no means immoral, because humans are part of the animal kingdom and because vampires are their natural predators."
"All correct."
"Let us imagine, for the sake of argument, that there was a species of supernatural creature that was the natural predator of vampires."
Caius's eyebrows shot up and his hands gripped the armrests of his throne tighter. The wood creaked even louder, barely resisting the crushing pressure exerted by his hands.
The blue tiger went on as if he had not noticed the vampire's reaction. "This hypothetical creature is sapient and intelligent. Mentally and emotionally, it is indistinguishable from a vampire or human. Would you consider it wrong, then, for this imaginary species to consume vampires?"
"Yes!"
"Why? Vampires are no different from any other supernatural creature. This hypothetical creature is the natural predator of vampires, and it has the mental and emotional capacity to understand right and wrong."
"That's different!"
"Why? In truth, a vampire is really just a human with an incurable magical disease. There truly is not much of a difference between you and humanity."
"We aren't human!"
"So? Why does that make you not subject to moral laws?"
"We are not human. Therefore, we are not bound by human morals!"
"I will humor you for a bit. The vast majority of the Bureaucracy is not human. So explain why we follow what you view as 'human morality'."
"Because... Because..."
"Because you think we are weak, spineless doormats with far too deep of an attachment to humanity," said the blue tiger.
Aro and Caius froze. After a long while, the former let out a shaky laugh.
"Now, now, my dear friend-"
"We know what you think of us already, and we do not care for flattery. Anyway, Caius, you have not convinced me at all."
Caius collapsed back into his chair, glaring at the Iger. It was several minutes before he spoke again.
"Were cats not designed to hunt mice? Were dragonflies not designed to hunt mosquitoes, according to your beliefs?"
"I am not presently at liberty to disclose my personal beliefs, but please do continue."
"Then can you deny that vampires are designed to hunt humans and drink their blood?"
The blue tiger folded his paws and looked at Caius for a long moment. Then he raised himself onto his haunches and began to slowly clap, a mocking look on his face.
"What?!" Caius snapped.
"I see your point here. If I have interpreted your argument correctly, all of your arguments revolve around one singular belief: that vampires are a natural part of the world. No matter if they were created or if they evolved, that they are naturally occurring. Am I correct in this reasoning?"
"Absolutely."
"Very well then. Because that belief is wrong."
The armrests of Caius's throne immediately shattered into splinters and Caius began to advance on the blue tiger. " WHAT?! "
"If you choose to attack me, then I have full permission to terminate you immediately. And there is no possible way for you to win," the tiger said with utmost calm.
Snarling, Caius plopped back down into his chair. "Elaborate on your latest point now. "
"Gladly. I have told you what jiang shi are before, correct?"
"Yes," Caius said sullenly. "They are zombie-like undead that drink blood and that grow stronger with every life they take. They will eventually turn into demons if they drink enough blood."
"Yes. Now, countless millennia ago, a powerful, but very young and inexperienced demon felt that the process of turning jiang shi into demons was far too long and too tedious, and so tried to invent another, easier way that the demons could propagate themselves. And so, the curse of vampirism was created."
The tiger's whiskers bristled and his coat seemed to gain a slight glow, like a blue-hot flame. "Fortunately, it turned out that an undead that is not a nascent demon cannot become a full demon afterwards. Because of this, your kind are technically - and that is a very strong 'technically' - a type of very minor demon. And demons," the tiger's ears pinned against his head, "have no place in this world or any other. "
The blue tiger paused for a moment, taking a few deep breaths.
"It is unknown where the first demons came from, but all of the most common theories state that they are somehow tied to the existence of evil. Evil is not merely a social construct, it is a very real, very powerful, and very dangerous force. Us forcing you to not drink human blood is indeed a mercy in some ways, for any human, werebeast, or shifter who is exceptionally, unrepentantly, truly evil transforms into a demon upon death. No exceptions. The death penalty has already produced far too many demons. And trust us, every vampire in the world would not be able to stand against even a fraction of the demons in this world. There are more demons than there are humans. Far more. Simply put, vampires are abominations in body. Luckily, some have escaped their transformation unscathed, and the Bureaucracy has been able to invent an elixir to permanently relieve them of their thirst. Unfortunately, most do not. And some simply realize that their new form has given them the power to do whatever they wish."
The blue tiger settled back onto his stomach. "Murder, now, is the willful, unnecessary taking of a sapient creature's life. Humans are sapient. Killing one - or any other sapient creature - is murder, and that is that. It pains us to kill even animals, so we are working on synthesizing a suitable substitute for blood that can sustain vampires, tastes palatable to a vampire, and that will adequately reduce desire for human blood."
Caius snarled yet again. "It will not be the same."
"And for what reason?"
"It will not be real. Authentic."
"Choosing 'real' blood, as you call it, means murder. And we cannot allow that."
Caius scowled and slumped in his chair, glaring impotently at the blue tiger. They'd already tried using Chelsea on Bureaucracy agents. Suffice to say, the best result they'd gotten so far was that her powers simply failed to work.
"I will be off now. I have other things to attend to," said the tiger. With that, he dissolved into a cloud of blue smoke and faded away.
Aro stood up, walked across the room, and then backhanded Caius.
"I cannot believe that I am saying this, but what the actual f*ck were you thinking?! We have ostensibly given the Bureaucracy enough reasons to distrust us, and the last thing we need is you making more!"