Chapter Text
“Bram, could you shut your damn mouth for a second? ” Chuuya complained, already irritated, the man was getting on his nerves.
“I should complain! I stand here all day, just watching you stay in that damn chair.”
“Go to sleep and stop pestering me.” He threw him another one of his annoyed glares, which made Bram roll his eyes.
“Get me out of here then.”
“No.”
“Then what are you complaining about? You put me here, this is my house! And you got hold of her.”
“A half man… Well, vampire. You shouldn't protest, since you don't even have the body to look after your own house.” Nakahara finally stood up, crossing his arms, standing in front of the figure hanging on the wall.
“You piss me off.” He huffed, looking away from Chuuya.
“Will you be quiet if I put you in that damn box?” He asked after long seconds of silence just looking at the white-haired man with an irritated look at the wall, and as soon as questioned, his eyes turned to him in a second, almost shining.
“It would be a misfortune if I kept pestering you. Isn't it?” He smiled mischievously, looking Chuuya in the eyes with the little light there was in that room.
“That's a yes, isn't it?” He sighed, before bringing his hand to the cross that hung Bram on the wall. Chuuya looked for the candle that lit the dark room, and went through the door to the long corridor.
“Take me to the basement coffin, there's no noise.”
“Why are you complaining about the noises if you don't even listen? You'll be on your twelfth sleep as soon as I close the box,” he murmured, but Bram didn't say anything to protest, which surprised Nakahara.
They soon came to the end of the long corridor, and as they walked, the sound of old damp wood creaking could be heard, no one would be surprised if any of the boards just broke.
“It's more comfortable.” After long moments of silence, Bram returned to the subject of the coffin, making Chuuya roll her eyes.
“Moist I would say,” he snapped.
When they reached the bottom floor, Nakahara froze as soon as his feet landed on the bottom step. His eyes flew to the door, as the cold of the night had begun to envelop him, which was strange, as the house should be heated due to his magic, and the front door should be locked. The only way her house was now freezing cold was that someone had broken in.
“Looks like we have visitors,” Bram spoke up, seeming to notice at the same moment Chuuya did.
“How irritating, I came to Count Dracula's grand palace not to be disturbed, and in the end, I have trespassers.” could warn his ‘invaders’ that he had discovered their presence.
“I'd say you're a hypocrite.”
“Shut up, the damned vampire.” He spit out the words angrily, making Bram chuckle lightly, before turning his gaze back to the now-closed entryway.
“You're irritated, how adorable. Come on, go see who breaks into my house.”
Chuuya once again rolled her eyes, now walking in slow steps towards the great hall of the house. With every step he took towards the hall, he could feel the presence growing stronger in his house, and from what he realized, it was nothing really dangerous, maybe just humans, from one to three he guessed.
“Looks like we have maggots,” Nakahara said, when he actually found the two intruders, as soon as he stepped into the hall. He saw two figures standing with their backs to them, both of the same height, even if in that darkness lit by orange fire candles spread across the hall, he realized; A man with long white hair, and another with short, dark hair.
When the dark-haired one turned amethyst-colored eyes at him, Chuuya held back for, what you can tell, a second. However, he soon recovered when he heard Bram's voice.
“Two trespassers, that's less than I thought, to get past your spells in the forest. They seem to be only human,” he said not so loudly, but it was obvious the other two could hear. And it didn't take long for the one with the long hair to turn, too.
“Oh, is that Count Dracula Fedya?” He was the first to speak, asking the other man, who kept quiet, staring at Chuuya for long moments “He's different than I imagined, redhead…” He narrowed his eyes.
“I'm Count Dracula here, larva” He complained, Chuuya knew he had a slightly wounded ego, but he just ignored it and let Bram maintain his pose of indifference.
“Seems there's only half of you, well, I'm Nikolai Gogol, and this is Fyodor Dostoevsky, you two I already know, so don't need to introduce yourself.” He smiled wide, almost as if he were trying to be friendly. Was the opposite of your identity.
“What do you want here?” Chuuya asked, blunt and quick, cutting off any other topics they wanted to bring up.
“Tell him Fyodor” Again the white haired man was the only one to speak this first moment, he walked, going beside the other man, leaning his arm in his. The dark-haired one had his eyes on Bram for a moment, until they fell on Chuuya again.
“We came for you, Arahabaki.” His cold, gravelly voice echoed throughout the hall. Chuuya's eyes darkened upon hearing the name Fyodor had called her.
“What price are you willing to pay for my services? And what do you want?” He questioned, already understanding what was happening there, he could feel Bram's gaze on him for a moment.
“A binding.” Once again, Fyodor was direct. The request surprised Chuuya, making his eyes widen slightly.
“No,” he denied instantly, but the other two didn't seem surprised or bothered.
“We can pay you with that.” Nikolai reached into the pocket of his white coat, pulling out a necklace. Chuuya's eyes looked interested as soon as he could feel the dark nature coming from the accessory.
“Where does it come from?” He approached slowly, he placed the candle he held on a table, and brought his hand closer to Nikolai's hand.
“A necklace where they sealed the energy of a demon.” He was allowed to touch, and even take the object in his hands, his insides twisted as soon as he touched it, and an almost sadistic and accomplished smile appeared on his lips. “I will do.” His eyes bright eyes met the eyes and small smiles of the other two.
“We figured you would accept,” Fyodor said, looking at Nikolai with a smile. “You can keep the necklace from now on, I'll trust your word, Arahabaki.” His smile widened when he saw Chuuya smile too. The redhead put the necklace in his pocket.
“Well then.” He blinked slowly, and his gaze flicked to Bram, who had a small smile on his face as well. He was hung on another wall, which had nails specifically for him to stay there, and he watched from afar, as he saw Chuuya disappear into the darkness.
It wasn't long before he returned, with a knife in hand, two books, a bottle of wine, and rose petals in a glass jar. His gaze met the other two men's, who were just as Nakahara had left them before leaving.
“I still don't know who this binding will be for,” he said, putting everything he had brought on the table where the candle was.
“Who else would it be for? It's for me and Fedya,” Gogol said, smiling big. Chuuya didn't think he could be surprised again that night, he had done few bindings in all his centuries of life, and even the ones he witnessed and heard from other mouths, there were few for people who were already together, and it was even less the number of people in which the two had the knowledge of the binding. Chuuya arched her eyebrow with a smile on her lips.
“It would be a waste of time if I had to recreate bonds in another lifetime with Kolya.” His gaze flicked to Nikolai, who was also looking at him.
“So you want to save time by erasing all traces of past lives and join each other forever?”
“That's exactly it,” Nikolai confirmed, smiling a lot wider than before.
Chuuya said nothing else, he wasn't going to alert them anymore, as he was sure those two knew exactly what they were doing.
He picked up two of his books, both blank. And he laid them open to the first page on the table, called to the two men, and took the knife in hand.
“The ritual will be quick, as they are both here, and both have knowledge of binding, so it will make my work easier,” He announced, looking at them briefly. “Hold out your hands.” They did, “Place them above the books, clap your hands face up.” As soon as they did, they could see the knife that was in Chuuya's hands, pass through his skin with incredible ease, Nikolai muttered something under his breath, but was scolded by Fyodor in the same instant with the look.
Blood began to appear on both hands, and quickly, Chuuya took the wine and poured it into their hands, causing the mixture of blood and wine to spurt onto the blank sheets. As soon as the leaf started to drip red onto it, Chuuya opened the flower pot and threw the petals over the top, before making an “X” over the book's leaves. His hand went to the candle again, and with his gaze riveted on Nikolai and Fyodor, he turned the candle. His mouth opened and words in a dead language began to echo through the hall. The fire followed the trail of wine and blood until it reached the wound.
“Join your hands,” he ordered in an almost shouting, the two did it in the same instant, the fire disappeared in the same instant, and again, Chuuya took the bottle of wine, now pouring all the contents over the hand of both of them together. The sound of the liquid falling to the floor was not heard, as the wine strayed to the books, and the fire flared up again, in a deep red hue, until the entire two books were ablaze. Chuuya's lips opened again, and his voice became louder and louder, as the fire grew, Nikolai's eyes turned until they were completely white, as did Fyodor's eyes.
Nakahara sent his hand into the fire, screaming louder and louder, until suddenly, all candles, all fire. It went out, and in a silent spell, he lit the candle he'd used before, and lit the table. And there it was, a single black book, which on the outside seemed simple, but in it, resides the whole story of two souls, who were now being forced to be one, becoming a single story, erasing all ties and pasts, no longer a blank book, but a forced book, which would change the destiny and course of life.
Therefore, binding was forbidden magic.
He turned to the other two there, and noticed that now, their irises were back to normal. But it was like they were living zombies, a reaction that didn't surprise Chuuya.
“I'm done, Bram,” he said with a sigh as he stretched.
“It's always very bizarre to see you doing these spells,” He admitted, still looking at everything from a distance, “But I confess that it's good to get out of normalcy. Anyway, are these two going to be okay?”
“They'll be back to normal in two days,” He shrugged, going to Bram and taking him off the nails on the wall “They can stay there in the hall, when they realize it, they'll leave.” He took the book on the table putting it under from the arm, right after that, he took the candle, giving one last look at the two men, still standing there looking dead “That Fyodor gives me the chills,” he murmured to Bram, as he walked towards the corridors.
“It's a miracle, anything scares you.”
“It is not fear. He's just weird,” he replied promptly. Now he went to the basement with Bram in hand, he would fulfill what he had said to the vampire, and when the white haired one (say the Dracula) realized, he returned to his radiant mood.
Arriving in the damp basement, Chuuya lifted the lid of the coffin, placing Bram inside.
“Well, sleep now,” he told, before releasing the lid all at once, not expecting an answer. He took the book out from under his arm, and dropped them in his now free hand.
It didn't take long for him to be where he had been all day, sitting in his chair, with a small candle, quiet. Looking up at the dimly lit ceiling, he reached into his pocket, remembering the necklace. When he took it off, he smiled.
“I received something valuable tonight.”
Chuuya was a great collector of magical belongings, and that, from the legends everyone knew, the legends of Arahabaki, the wizard who had everything, and who searched a lot for that necklace before isolating himself in Dracula's castle.