Vampire Villa: I'm Your M.A.I.D?!

"Talk"
Think
"Mind-com"

Irene stared at the red thing in front of her in disbelief. Her eyes were wide like saucers, her jaw slightly dropped. No... way!

"There's NO WAY am I going to wear that! In fact, it's just strings, for God's sake!!!" Irene snapped, glaring at the four fidgeting vampires before her. She threw the piece of 'thing' they called clothes onto the table.

"I thought you guys know by now the way I dress up; what I like and hate!"

Daniel came out of his room just then, wearing a tight, black top with matching pants and boots. She would have drooled over him if she had been a normal girl, but being herself -and the fact that she was fuming, she glared at him and took in his way of dressing in a swift movement before snorting, pointing accusingly, "And Daniel, like you guys, don't have to wear strings!"

Ryan stared at her as if she's just gone nuts. "Are you NUTS?! There's nothing sexy about a man wearing strings. In fact, it's disgusting!"

Rave shivered, clutching himself. Denzil nodded and William simply shrugged.

Daniel fished up something from behind him and threw a soft package into her arms. "Here, I thought you might want to wear this."

A bit flattered at his kindness, Irene opened the bundle and took out a decent black dress with beautiful patterned red roses around the neckline and wrist. It was pretty simple, in fact, it looked like her daily wear, but the other vampires had gone tremendously white.

"Da -Daniel," Rave choked, "Don't you dare tell me that-that's-"

"It's a dress. And that's all it is." Daniel cut him off before going to the door. His hand was on the knob when he paused to look around at the others. "Coming?"

At his sarcastic question, the vampires finally snapped out of their stupor, sighing as they followed suit.

"We'll wait for you outside. Dress up quickly," William said before closing the door, leaving her alone in the room.

What's that all about? she thought as she went into her room and put on the dress.
"What a nice dress," she complemented as she smoothed it down. "I bet Xavier will like it. He loves black."

Recalling Xavier, her heart lifts up. Things between them didn't seem to change and she hoped their relationship would continue on that way.

I wonder if I'll be fighting him? Now THAT will be very interesting. A wide smirk spread across her lips as she walked out of the room and to the waiting vampires outside.

---------

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HUMANS AND DAEMONS, WELCOME TO THE 2OTH MAID BATTLE!!!"

The crowd cheered wildly.

"THIS YEAR, 20 MAIDS AND THEIR MASTERS WILL COMPETE TO WIN THE CUP OF IMMORTALITY. WILL THEY GET THE PRIZE? OR WILL THE CUP CONTINUE TO REST IN PEACE FOR ANOTHER 10 YEARS?"

The second announcer, Tina, continued, "NOW, NOW, RINA. LET'S NOT WASTE TIME AND WELCOME ALL OUR COMPETITORS!"

The crowd cheered again.

The ring was slowly filled by MAIDs and their Masters; all 40 of them.

William patted Irene's head as she was about to move. She looked up at his concerned face.

"Be careful." He said quietly.

Denzil was next. "Promise me you'll look out for each other?" he asked worriedly.
She smiled and nodded, hugging him as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. He looked at both Irene and his little brother affectionately.

Ryan and Rave came hugging her next.

"Take care, honey. We'll be watching you from the big screen."

"I know you'll get hurt, but please come back alive, sugar." Rave whispered, squeezing her tighter. She gave a small sigh as she embraced them back, kissing both their cheeks before going up beside Daniel. The twins stared at her in daze, their fingers tracing the spot where she kissed them, clearly surprised by her action.

Irene turned sideways, a confident smirk on her lips. She spoke smoothly, "We" she emphasized, "will be back."

With that promise, she jumped onto the ring; Daniel right beside her.

"So we're going to fight together?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"Would you rather fight alone?"

She sighed, "I've no idea."

All of a sudden, the battle ring began to shake violently.

What the hell?

Daniel grabbed her flailing arm, stabilizing her. "Stay with me."

"Daniel, what's going on?" she asked over the loud rumbling. That's when she realized the crowd was still cheering madly. The first announcer, Rina, shouted excitedly,

"LET THE BATTLE BEGINS!!!"

At that precise moment, Irene felt as if her body was being squashed against two walls, the pain was unexplainable! Her lungs screamed for air and all the bones in her body were crushed to dust. Daniel's hand slipped from her, she wasn't sure when. She couldn't turn around, nor move any part of her body. There were only the agonizing pain, and before she knew it, blackness surrounded her.

-------------------

"Irene?"

Irene heard something yet it sounded so far away...

"Irene, wake up."

It was a bit clearer now. Groaning, Irene cracked open an eye. Her gray eye met a pair of purple ones. She blinked and sat up.

"Are you alright?"Daniel asked anxiously. He was holding her in his arms, her head rested against his chest.

"Wha- What happened?" she muttered, and then snapped when she suddenly remembered. "What the heck just happened? I thought I was dead! Am I? Am I?" she shook his shoulders furiously.

Daniel immediately put some distance between them, his face now annoyed. "We just traveled through dimension."

"We WHAT?!" she said in disbelief, looking left and right sharply. They were now in a thick jungle, and it was peculiarly bright, like day. "But how- why? How come I didn't know all this? I thought we were going to fight daemons and humans, as in one-on-one tournament." she asked, confused.

He stared at her incredulously. "Didn't the others tell you? I thought I asked Ryan to tell you all about the MAID Battle."

Irene pointed annoyingly, "He did try to tell me, for a few kisses and hugs."

Daniel growled, getting up. 'He's so dead the next time I saw him.'

As they walked through the rain forest, Daniel began to explain.

"The person who made this Cup is a very clever witch; her name's Rose. After making the Cup, Rose made a heavily-guarded barrier to protect it. The barrier starts with a jungle where Speuns -some sort of mutant animals/plants- existed. We must fight our way through them. Then, we'll find a castle, which is more of a labyrinth though. If we're lucky, we'll find the Cup. If not, we'll be sucked out of the dimension. This dimension can open for only six hours, once in ten years only. For two hundred years, many died in the forest and if they're lucky, they'll find the castle labyrinth. Even then, they might get lost in there. No one have ever glimpsed the Cup of Immortality."

"It sounds pretty impossible," Irene muttered. "What happened to Rose then? Is she immortal now?"

"Yes. We tested her."Daniel shrugged.

Irene raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"We burn her; cut her in half, even tried some curses and spells, but nothing could kill her. She's pretty invincible."

"Where is she now?"

"Disappeared. Everyone was trying to get close to her to find a way to get the Cup, so she went on hiding. She has the ability to change into anybody she likes, so no one knows who she's pretending to be now. She also said she won't show herself until someone managed to get the Cup."

"How ironic," Irene rolled her eyes. She pondered his explanation for a while. "But you've told me before, even Xavier had said, that MAIDs are to fight with each other. By what you've just told me, we'll only be fighting some... animals and plants."

"What I and Xavier had said is also true. Once we enter the labyrinth, all other participants that we met must be fought."

"And killed?" she asked uneasily. She didn't want to kill people, or daemons.

He paused in his walk and stared at her. Irene had also stopped, but she was gazing hard at her feet, fearing what he might say. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gently turned her face towards him.

"That depends," he answered softly. "We can just knock them out if you don't like the idea so much."

She smiled at him.

"Though I still prefer killing."

"Daniel!"

But the young vampire only smirked playfully. Her annoyance vanished and they gazed at each other. Daniel took a step nearer, and pulled her into a brief, soft kiss. She let him.

"Come on. Let's go."

Nodding, Irene averted her eyes from him, gazing at the surrounding as they continued their walk in silence.

This new emotion was making her pretty weird and somewhat uncontrollable. Something she wasn't used to, nor liked in the first place.

Man, I never knew liking someone could be so... bad. No wonder people become such fools when it comes to this, she let out a small sigh and her stomach growled loudly.

They both stopped and Daniel turned to stare at her incredulously.

"W-wait! That wasn't me, I swear!" she defended and clutched her stomach. But it sounded like it came from her. Again, the growl was heard and this time they both turn to her right. A huge, ugly face glared at them from a bush. Its face was like a lion, with peculiar flower petals instead of a fluffy mane. It growled again, sounding something between a gurgle and a choke. Baaad...

In a split second, it opened its mouth and a vine shot out at them. They both jumped out of the way, but the vine-like tongue managed to wrap itself around Irene's ankle.

"Irene!" Daniel called but as he was about to help her, another vine came out from the thing's mouth and tried to knock him down. He slashed it with his Iora but more vines shot out from the cut. "Damn!"

"ARGH!!!" she shouted as the thing flung her into the air. As gravity began to pull her down, the lion-thingy opened and stretched its mouth wide and waited for her to fall.

I'm so NOT going to be food for this thing! she thought as her huge scythe materialized into her right hand.

She slashed the thing in half, breaking its face into two identical parts, and landed in a pool of blood, right in the middle of the corpse. Slowly, as if absorbed by the earth, the lion-thingy disappeared. As she stared at what was happening beneath her feet, Irene saw Daniel by the corner of her eyes, coming up to her, brushing off a couple of limp vines from his shoulder. They also vanished as soon as they touched the ground.

Daniel answered her unspoken question. "All the things we might/will find won't be mystical beings (Sara is a mystical being) In fact, they aren't actually animals... or plants; they are called Speuns(Species Unnamed), things made by the power of spells."

Daemons just LOVE to make stupid names, Irene sweat-dropped. Seriously, what have I gotten myself into, she pondered weakly as they resumed their walk.

Three hours passed. They fought a few lizard-leeches thingy that were crawling in a swamp, a monkey playing a sleep-flute, which made Daniel fell asleep instantly. As its scaly tail tried to pull him slowly to it, Irene saved him -barely, for she was quite heavily affected by the song herself. There were other things also which she couldn't remember much. Most of the time, they escaped scarcely.

"I'm hungry!" Irene whined for the thirteenth time. Daniel shot her a glare, irritated. "There's nothing to eat here. We've been walking for hours! Can't we just stop for a while?"

"The last time we did, a sand-swordfish Speun tried to take your head off."

"What's the point? Everything we met tried to kill us. And they almost succeeded too!" she snapped back and sat on a rock, carefully inspecting it before sitting down. The last time she did that, the rock turned out to be a snapping-turtle Speun. How ironic!

Daniel sighed and rubbed his eyes in annoyance, stopping as well.

Suddenly, Irene spotted a mushroom. A fat, juicy mushroom! It looked so tempting, as if calling her to eat it, taste it, oh!

Hypnotized, Irene reached out and took the mushroom. It looked so good! She popped it into her mouth, chewed and swallowed. Daniel opened his eyes and turned around sharply when he heard her gulped. His eyes widen.

"Irene?! What did y-"

He didn't manage to finish. There was a sudden flash of light surrounding her and Daniel was thrown away a few feet back. Irene's eyes widen when she realized what she had done but it was too late...

"Irene!" Daniel called frantically, scrambling up. He froze. "I-Irene?"

The big gray eyes staring back at him were certainly Irene's, her bells chiming softly, looking pretty big on her hair, yet her body had shrunk to a five-year-old. She looked down at herself. Her clothes had also shrunk with her and she pulled at the material covering her short body. Oh, No! No! NO!!!

Small hands.

Stumpy little legs.

"What's happening to me?" Small voice.

"Don't panic-"

"Oh my God! What's going on? What happened? Argh, why did I eat that mushroom! This is all your fault, Daniel, you meanie! Meanie!" she screamed, stomping like a little girl.

"Irene, shut up!" he snapped, annoyed.

She jolted at his harsh tone, and her eyes blurred. Slowly, tears descended and she cried heartily.

Daniel groaned in his head, Oh, no.

He tried being nicer, stepping nearer. "Irene, stop crying like a baby."

No point there. She is practically a baby right now. She continued to cry, saying he was a meanie in between sobs. Not sure of what to do, he picked her up awkwardly. She stopped instantly, looking at his face with watery eyes. He wiped away her tears and she hugged him, sniffing once in a while. Daniel sighed heavily.

Now what? She was behaving like a kid, and things could get even worse. Making up his mind, Daniel resumed walking, with Irene still in his arms. He has to calm her first.

About ten minutes later, Irene spoke suddenly in her cute voice, "You know, Daniel. You keep reminding me of my papa."

He was surprised, but let her continued, "I always thought it was pretty weird, you're nothing like him." She straightened so she could look at him. Daniel gazed back at her, knowing she was trying to be serious but, with the chubby cheeks and cute frown, she was failing miserably.

"Your point?"

She sighed, hugging his face. He blinked in bewilderment. "You are like him. I realized it now; it's the way you look at me. Just like papa, full of worries, yet full of love... and every so often hides his emotions."

He relaxed and kissed her soft cheek, stroking her hair gently. Irene let him, feeling the mixed emotions calming. How she missed being in someone's arms like this. Oh, how she missed her father. Irene's small hands clutched his neck as they continued their walk in silence. A few minutes later, Daniel stopped.

"We're here."

Irene turned around and saw a gate to a huge-walled labyrinth. She wondered how big the maze was. It seemed to stretch on forever. Incredible!

"Let's go."And they entered the maze. A few steps inside, Daniel stopped, coming to a T-junction. Where to now?

"Left." Irene's small voice broke his train of thoughts. He stared at her. There was determination in her eyes, a sense of confidence.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! I think my intuition is better now that I'm little," she muttered, staring straight to the left. Daniel decided to believe her. They continued their walk, with Irene as guide. The labyrinth became more complicated, but Irene somehow knew where to go.

"It's like a hunch, or a deja vu. I felt like I've been here... in a dream or something," she explained when Daniel asked her how she was so sure. He suddenly paused in his walk when his ears captured a sound. His Iora materialized in his left hand just as he put Irene down beside him.

*CLANG!*

Daniel dodged an arrow coming straight at him. With his speed, he disappeared and reappeared behind a black-haired werewolf, holding a bow.

"Daniel, no!" Irene shouted frantically. The vampire halted abruptly but was suddenly knocked out cold from behind by someone else.

"Daniiieeeelll!"

..::..::..::..::..::..

"Daniel, wake up!"

The young vampire opened his eyes and saw his brother frowning at him.

"What do you want?" he glared at the older guy, and saw at the corner of his eyes, Sara trotting by.

"I've been trying to find you! Sleeping by the creek, for goodness sake! Do you know it's almost morning now? Do you want to get blind?!" his brother bombarded him with questions, half-mad, half-worried.

He looked up. True, it was almost morning. But what if he got blind, or died there and then? Life was boring. He had just passed his hundredth birthday, and it wasn't so thrilling. Life was just too boring! He sighed, "Who cares."

"I do, apparently! Mother's passed away, so has dad. You're all I've got. Of course, there's William and those twins- Oh, don't even make me start lecturing," Denzil shook his head and held out his hand to pull him up.

"Denzil, he's bored. I can feel it in my horn." Sara hesitated before continuing, "Maybe you should let him into that MAID Bat-"

"NO! I forbid it!" Denzil clenched his fists. "I'm not having him die in a stupid tournament for a Cup no one is even sure it existed."

"But that witch; Rose. She's been tested. She really IS immortal! How can you not believe it!"Daniel said, exasperated. "Please let me enter, Denzil."

"No! You're too young."

"I've already passed my hundred. I'm a fully-grown vampire."

"Oh, please. You haven't even feed straight from a human yet. And don't defy my orders. I'm your brother!"

Daniel glared at him intensely and stomped off. He was so mad that he didn't talk to him.

Denzil was aghast. He tried to be nice and talk to him but the young boy wouldn't listen and just ignored him completely.

"Daniel has changed a lot. What happened?" 9-year-old Ryan looked up at his favorite cousin. Denzil sighed tiredly.

"He's mad because I won't let him enter the MAID Battle."

"Why don't you let him?" Rave butted in, "He's super strong, and super smart. What if he gets the Cup? It'll be so cool!"

"Awesome!" Ryan chirped in.

"It won't be cool when his corpse comes back, instead of a Cup!" Denzil snapped irritated. Why is everyone so into the idea?
"It's dangerous."

"Daniel can take care of himself." Ryan said smartly. "He's not a baby! In fact, you're the one acting like a big baby," the boy smirked.

"More like a big meanie!" Rave stuck out his tongue at him. The twins scampered off, laughing when Denzil threatened to kick their ass off.

Should I? he thought finally. He didn't like the plan, but not talking like this pained him even more, so he made up his mind.

"Daniel," Denzil called as they ate dinner one night. His brother ignored him like always. "Look, I've been thinking, and I agree to let you enter that MAID Battle on two conditions," he paused, waiting for a reaction. Everyone had turned to look at them. William raised an eyebrow and the doubles stared eagerly at their cousins.

"What conditions?" Daniel asked, trying not to be curious, though he couldn't help himself.

Denzil almost sighed in relief. Finally, he talks to me again!
"Well, firstly, you must be careful and come back alive. Secondly, you need to find a MAID, unless you want to be a MAID yourself."

"No. I want to be a Master," he answered, hardly believing this was happening. He wanted to ask what had made him changed his mind, but was afraid that he might take back what he just said.

"Well, I hope you found someone soon. The Battle's in six months time." William informed. Daniel nodded and everyone continued eating.

----

"He let you take part in the Battle?!" Sara neighed in disbelief as she and Daniel went for a walk a few nights later. Daniel nodded.

"Now I need to find someone to be my MAID," he sighed, resting his head on a rock, looking at the sky.

"Well, why don't you go to D'Arvis city and find someone? Sitting here won't help. It's not like someone's going to barge from behind the trees!" Sara lectured.

A sound of twig being crumpled made him sat up. His eyes locked with bright hazel ones, staring confusedly back. It was a girl, probably his age, very pretty.

"Oh," the girl uttered, surprised, shifting awkwardly. His eyes captured a magnificent spear she was holding in her hand; her Iora. "Uh, sorry to interrupt, but may I know where I am?" She asked, looking in between him and Sara.

"You're near Weller's Villa. Who are you?" he answered, sensing she was also a vampire.

She came nearer, her Iora vanishing, and extended her hand to him, "I'm Jade Ferial. Um, you're?" she asked, noting his handsome feature. He shook her hand briefly.

"Daniel Krad."

----

He brought her back to the house, and she told the vampires of her story. She wanted to join the MAID Battle and proved that she was strong, but her parents wouldn't let her and she had run away. Denzil didn't like what she was doing, but Daniel immediately asked her to be his MAID. She was surprised, but was also excited to find someone who wanted to join the Battle and agreed.

A few weeks passed by and the vampires became fond of her. She was sweet and lovely. She usually hangs out with the twins and Denzil, and trained with Daniel seriously. She was tough and smart, Daniel thought she was a perfect MAID. Though he didn't like her as much as the others, mostly because the way she always looked at him. It reminded him crazily like the way his little cousin, Tiara, always looked at him. With those big eyes, trying to get close to him, he just hates women that way. But to some extent, she was okay.

They worked well in the Battle, had gone pass the labyrinth and were very close to the Cup when things gone truly,

Unexpected.

"Jade, help me with this thing!" Daniel shouted, as he dodged a Rose Speun. It had been quiet when they entered the maze that they thought there wouldn't be a Speun. But the deeper they were into the labyrinth, sudden plant-looking Speuns started to attack. And this one was the worst. Its vines were not just made of pure iron, but it has sharp, long poison-thorns that stopped the vampires healing powers.

Jade was a few feet in front of him, just out of way. She was looking to her left, her eyes wide. "Daniel, we're almost near! Oh, there's a shrine. I've got to go there!"

Daniel was thrown to a wall and his ribs cracked. Jade saw him, but her eyes turned back to the shrine she was seeing. Oh, the Cup of Immortality. They were so close!

"Jade..?" he looked at her, black spots dancing in and out of his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Daniel. This is the only chance of getting the Cup. No one had been as close as we are right now. Time is almost up, I must get it!"

And she abandoned him.

Daniel watched her disappear. How could she? They were in this together, now he won't be able to keep his promise to his brother. Slowly, Daniel closed his eyes in defeat, as another iron vine came straight down at him...

Goodbye, he whispered in his mind as Denzil, Will, Ryan and Rave's waiting faces surfaced to his mind.

Suddenly, there was the familiar crushing feeling, not from the thorn, but by being sucked out of the dimension. He was glad and relieved, his body too agonized to feel any more pain. In the distant, he heard Jade crying out in fury.

She didn't get it, he thought and blacked out.

----

Denzil was furious, no saying in that.

And so were his cousins. They hated Jade so much, even though she begged for forgiveness. Daniel was too tired, too sick to think about her anymore. He just told her to never come close to any of them in the future. He became quieter than before. No one ever mentioned Jade, they didn't even want to say her name, and just term her as 'her'. Whatever belonging of hers in their house were burnt down, except that one rose-patterned, black dress Daniel kept, reminding him of what had happened.

A lesson he'll never forget.

::..::..::..::..::

"Daniel! Oh, you're awake, thank goodness!" Irene's cute, chubby face stared down at him, her gray eyes blurry and red from crying. She hugged him with her small body and continued with her childish gibberish and sobs. As much as he wished her to be normal again, this small Irene was just what he needed at the moment. He closed his eyes and sighed, embracing her back. Even with the black dress, she wasn't a reminder of 'her'.

No. Irene will just always be, Irene.

-------

Irene felt Daniel sitting up, lifting her small body in the process.

"What happened?" he asked as he looked around. She felt him tensed as he saw the two almost identical werewolves standing not far away. He got up slowly.

"Daniel, please don't be mad. It's just Xavier and his brother Salem. Don't hurt them," she said with big, hopeful eyes.

Daniel glared at her. "Didn't you consider the fact that they knocked me out in the first place?" More to his annoyance, Irene's eyes started blurring again.

"But- but, they didn't mean it, right guys?" she turned to look at them earnestly. One look at the baby face and the two nodded feebly. "See?" she smiled innocently.

"You're lucky she's in this baby form or I'd have hit you," he mind-commed the werewolves.

"Same here," Xavier growled back. The two glared at each other. Salem sweat-dropped. Irene felt the tension and tried to lighten up the atmosphere.

"Besides, four heads are better than two, right Daniel? Xavier?"

The two snorted only. Irene jumped off from Daniel's arm and ran to Salem. "Salem, Daniel and Xavier won't listen to me. They are being a meanie!" she wailed, tugging his leg.

The older guy patted her hair. "There, there. Come on, you're a tough little girl. How about we continue our search for the Cup, hmm?" he picked her up.

"Okay!" she answered enthusiastically, hugging him. This time, the other two turned their glare towards him.

Salem pretended not to notice and continued walking. Grudgingly, the other two followed. After a few minutes of walking, Daniel said, "We should be careful. The closer we're towards the Cup, the more Speuns we'll find, and the more dangerous they're."

"Um, I'm starting to get bad feelings." Irene whispered in fear, clutching Salem closer as she looked around her. The guys summoned their Iora, expecting the unexpected. "This way."

Just as they walked to the direction she showed them, the ground beneath them began to fall.

"Run!" Xavier yelled, and the three began running. The floor vanished quickly behind them.

"We're not going to make it!"

As Salem said that, the floor beneath them disappeared and they all began to fall. Daniel grabbed the two werewolves and teleported them to the edge of the floor. They all panted in shock, looking behind them. It looked like a long, endless dark hole. If they'd fallen...

"Thanks. We owe you one," Salem said to Daniel, slackening his hold on Irene a bit. Daniel stepped up and took the frightened toddler from him, holding her protectively in his arms.

"I don't remember there were booby-traps before." Daniel muttered as Irene calmed from the fright.

"We must be in the right way then." Xavier nodded. "Let's go."

Irene continued to guide them. They met with more booby-traps and even more dangerous Speuns. They started to become really tired, and their wounds were healing slowly.

"Things are getting worse. We must've been poisoned. I've never felt this tired before." Salem muttered.

"But we're near, really near! I can feel it," Irene said positively. "There, over there, look!" they gazed at the direction she was pointing and saw something like a small shrine at the far end.

"Be careful, there should be a rose-Speun near-"

Suddenly, the ground shook and dozens of thorn-vines shot out from the floor. In the haste of getting away from them, Daniel's hold on Irene slipped and she was flung into the mass of vines.

"Irene!!!" everyone shouted.

----

Irene scrambled up and summoned her Iora. It has turned little also, enough for her to use it. A few vines shot towards her and she dodged it as far as her small legs could make her, and slashed the vines off. More vines came and she ran away as quickly as possible. Thanks to her small form, she was able to dodge most of the huge, clumsy thorns, but a few cuts still existed. No point there. She didn't have healing powers in the first place.

That's when she saw the Speun's head. She went straight at it, dodging a few cuts but still persistent. Once she was near enough, she jumped and cut the thing in half. Blood spluttered all over her and the Speun disappeared.

A flash of light erupted and Irene was restored to her normal self. Daniel, Xavier and Salem saw her, relieved.

Suddenly, she collapsed.

"Irene?!" the three ran up to him, Daniel cradling her in his arms.

"What happened? You just killed it?" Salem asked in confusion. They saw a big cut by her stomach.

"Heh, it m-managed to slice me at the last minute," Irene winced painfully, clutching her stomach. She pushed him off and stood up with difficulty.

"It's not that bad. It's not like I'm dying." She muttered stubbornly, looking at him, then at the werewolves. "Let's go."

They walked up towards the shrine, Daniel supporting her.
How weird this place is, she thought when she saw her blood that dripped onto the floor was also absorbed by the earth. It's as if this dimension sucks blood, she shivered mentally.

Inside was a small room, where the grand Cup of Immortality stood proudly on an altar. It was made of gold, with breathtaking silver carvings and decorations around it. There was also a reading.

"What does it say?" Irene asked.

Xavier read it loudly.

"For those who seek to use this chalice;
Immortality comes with a cost;
They must kill the one most cherished;
Drink bloods and forever is yours."

"Drink the blood of the one you love..." Salem whispered, "This is the price to live forever?"

No one answered him.

"Who is it, the one you guys cherish most?" Irene asked, jerking the others with her dark tone. Anger. "Can you really live for eternity, after... killing that person?" Hurt.

The three looked down, unable to speak. Irene stared straight at the beautiful Cup, the pain on her stomach wasn't equal to what she was feeling right now. There was a long uncomfortable silence.

"I love mother most," Salem broke the stillness. Everyone looked at him. He stared at his brother. "She gave birth to all my brothers and sisters that I love and cherished. I can't do it."

Xavier smiled. "All I ever wanted were some siblings, a little bit of silly chaos in the family. Laughter, tears, fights, secrets, care, protection, love." He reached out and touched Irene's cheek. "Before I found Salem, you're everything I've ever needed in my whole life and you still are. The one most precious to me, Irene."

Irene stared at him in wonder, then she smiled and hugged him. "You've certainly changed my life. A family I had been craving. But," she paused as images flew past her mind. Her parents smiling faces, her first encounter with Geoffrey, her aunt Ruth's crazy, but tolerable personality. Her friends she met in school, friends she made when she started working in the hotel, Eric's nutty yet childish actions. Oh, and never to forget, the vampires that has changed her life just as what Xavier had done nine years ago. Her new, profound love...

She opened her eyes. "There isn't just one person I love. Probably too many to count. It's just that... love is such a wide abstraction. But, I certainly won't do it." she exchanged meaningful looks with Daniel before walking up slowly to him. He put his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"What about you, Daniel?" Xavier asked quietly.

The vampire looked up from Irene's head at him. "I think-"

The ground suddenly started to shake and the four stumbled, out of balance. It was time to go back. Six hours was finally over. Again, there was that pain of being crushed alive and all limbs screaming in pain. Irene closed her eyes painfully, trying to think positively.
It's over now.

The MAID Battle was over.

-----------

The announcer, Tina, stepped up excitedly.

"THE MAIDS AND MASTERS ARE BACK! IT SEEMS THAT ONLY 27 ARE ALIVE. AND YES, WE'VE SEEN FROM THE SCREEN, THAT TWO MAIDS AND TWO MASTERS HAD ENTERED THE SHRINE WHERE THE CUP IS HELD!"

There were crazy, loud cheers mixed with cries of sadness. Irene groaned and painfully got up. In the haze, she saw a lot of dead bodies and many injured ones. Then she saw Xavier and Salem standing a few feet away. Not far from her, she saw Daniel getting to his feet. Still clutching her side, she went towards him.

Rina continued, "ALTHOUGH SADLY, WE CAN ONLY SEE FROM THE SCREEN UP UNTIL THAT POINT ONLY; WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARDS. DID THE FOUR CONTESTANTS SAW THE MAGNIFICANT CUP? DID THEY TAKE IT? HAVE THEY USED IT?! DID-"

Rina abruptly halted; Irene froze in her track. Everyone has stopped cheering and moaning. The whole arena was suddenly shushed by Daniel raising his right hand, the gold and silver Cup clutched firmly in his hand.

"Da-Daniel?" Irene was shocked, not knowing what to do.

"Is this the Cup you've all been dying to have?" he mind-commed everyone in the stadium.

Someone from the stadium shouted madly. "I want it! I want it!" he screamed gleefully.

"No, I want it. Tell me how much, I'll pay anything!" another daemon standing right to the first one yelled with all his might. The first one became angry and hit him in the face. There was a sudden commotion and everyone started shouting and fighting.

"SILENCE!!!"

It was probably because Daniel had used mind-com all his life that he could make his voice boomed with such intensity that they all clutched their heads in shock at the harsh and painful tone, and stopped whatever they've been doing.

"This Cup, where hundreds had died in the last two centuries, that I managed to take it, and what makes ANY of you think that I'll give it to you cowards who only shout and scream from a safe place, when all the MAIDs and Masters fought with their lives to retrieve it!"

No one dared answering him. Irene finally stood in front of him. He looked down at her.

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" she asked emotionlessly, staring straight at him.

His gaze didn't waver. "Yes."

"May I do the honors?"

He couldn't help smiling at the sudden smirk that crossed her face. He threw the Cup at her. In a split second, her scythe materialized, the bells, now tied to her Iora, chiming louder than ever as she cut the Cup to half. It fell on the floor with a clang and, peculiarly, bleed; blood oozing continuously.

"NOOOO!!!" someone suddenly shrieked. Everyone turned to see Rina, the announcer, screaming her head off as her body was suddenly burned and her face and body melted, leaving a shaking skeleton that fell on the ground motionless. Everyone looked frightened.

"Was that... Rose?"

"So she isn't immortal?"

"What's going on?"

"Ah! That's it!" Irene shouted suddenly. Everyone turned to her.

"Haven't you guys ever wondered why she make this dimension? And let people and daemons went into it? If she didn't want anyone to have the Cup, then she should never have announced it to the world," she paused and looked at the still-bleeding Cup.

"But, she needed blood to stay immortal, that's why the MAID Battle is held! Every ten years, how many people died? And their bloods that spilled on the dimension are absorbed, the Cup as the center and generator to make her immortal!"

As the words sunk in, everyone began to whisper. Someone shouted from the crowd, "But why is it called the Martial Arts of Ingenuous Defense Battle?"

Because you daemons always make stupid names, duh! Irene thought, sweat-dropping.

"Marco Dracon. Rose's fiance that went missing. His full name is Marco Armin Indri Dracon: MAID." Daniel said in disbelief, remembering the fact he looked up once upon a time.

"There's a writing on the Cup. It said: 'For those who seek to use this chalice; immortality comes with a cost; they must kill the one most cherished, drink bloods and forever is yours.' "

"Oh," Xavier said, understanding it too. "That means to be immortal, she killed her fiance, the person most important to her, and to drink blood continuously, the Battle was held!"

"What a cruel woman," Salem said in shock, staring at the skeleton. "Immortality, huh? So there is no such thing."

"No." Irene answered him. "There's no such thing as immortality. Nothing in this world, in this life, last forever."

Everyone in the arena looked down sadly. All these centuries of hope.

"But," she continued softly, "That's what makes living such a precious thing. Love, hate, friendship, family, all the good and bad times we have in our short lives, the things that are important to us, to cherish it. Find more. Explore the world. Be more mature. Stand up from the grief of yesterday, be brave to face the future, to face what's ahead: Death."

Her bells chimed softly, as if agreeing with her. She smiled slowly as she looked at it. She knew it now. The bells that have always give her strength, courage, and most importantly, protection; her father's Iora.

She continued, "By the time we face death, have we taken enough with us to go to the place nobody knows about? That's why we have to use this short lives of us to take as much as we can, to accompany us when w-we die..." She was exhausted, really tired. Her head was spinning. Her body numb. Her voice dropped to a whisper as she faded into blackness.

It was over.

The pain.

The anger.

The hurt.

And most importantly,

The MAID Battle.