"God, look at that, it's the human-obsessor."

"Ha, I bet he just wants her because she acts like his ex wife."

"Apparently he's taking it to the king. He wants her to live among us."

"That's ridiculous; she must've poisoned his brain or something."

"I heard it's because she let him drink her blood."

"I wouldn't be surprised."

These were just a few of the ridiculous statements Nyais had to hear as he made his way to the core of the castle; the King's Quarters. Though Nyais was an elite, and a higher-up at that - one of the kingdom's strongest vampires - much of his respect had been clouded by people's suspicions over his attachment to [Y/n]. And some other stuff, but that was long ago.

"Is it true she calls you by your name?" Rayne, a doctor and 'human biologist' (or so he was deemed) asked Nyais impatiently, grabbing his superior's arm to keep him from walking away. "I wonder what her brain is like... surely she must be unique for you of all people to connect with her. And around children no less," he said, a particular mocking nuance to his voice. Nyais' cool violet eyes grew dark in response to the young vampire's statement.

"Her brain is the same as any other human's, I assure you. She simply responds better," he brushed Rayne off his arm and continued walking.

"You should let me meet her. I'd love to run some tests... psychological, of course," he added with a wry smile. Nyais knew what Rayne's 'tests' usually involved. Physical tests featured torture, trying to understand a human's limits before death. Psychological meant mental torture; white torture, Chinese water torture, the list goes on.

"No," Nyais responded bluntly.

"How will you protect her?" Rayne asked suddenly as his voice quietened a little, a small smirk on his lips.

"What do you mean by that?" Nyais barked back, eyes narrowed.

"Well, you're obviously going to the king right now. We all know you want her to live past the 21 days," Rayne hummed, "so how will you protect her? Humans have very short life spans, so you could theoretically keep her as a pet and replace her when she dies," he observed, "but I don't think that's your point."

"Please do me the favour of shutting the fuck up," Nyais growled coldly.

"So hostile!" Rayne commented, placing his hand to his heart as though he'd been wounded. "So unfair!" he added. "'It's mere observation, my friend. She reminds you of Leya, does she not?" Nyais went silent. "You wish to wed her, do you not?" Silence still. "Well, if her life span is that pathetic, you'll just be reliving what happened to your past love."

"Do you think I don't know this?" Nyais said coldly, his pace quickening a little in hopes Rayne would simply stop following him. The raven haired male did not do so, however.

"I have a solution to your problem~" Rayne sang excitedly. "After gathering a few humans for my research, I found a way that keeps them alive forever without turning them to vampires."

There was a couple moments of silence before suddenly Nyais' hand reached around Rayne's neck, holding the male against the wall.

"Tell me," Nyais snarled out, "tell me now."

"I'll tell you if you let me meet her," Rayne choked out, though was seemingly unbothered by Nyais' violence. "Just for a hour - that's all I want with her. It's not long enough to hurt her mentally in any way and I promise not to touch her too much," he giggled slightly. The laugh - his words - unsettled Nyais; hell, everything about Rayne unsettled Nyais, but if it gave [Y/n] a shot at living forever... he couldn't say no, could he?

"I'll think about it," Nyais huffed. "I'll have to ask Olli."

This seemed to be enough for Rayne as he immediately stopped walking, a massive grin stretching across his countenance. "Perfect!" he exclaimed, walking off in the other direction. Nyais continued walking until he reached the massive steel door, currently guarded by four other elites alike to Nyais: Asyen, Jay, Erel and Kaist. Kaist was notably Seishin's father, and Jay was Kori's grandfather. In fact, all the boys' fathers were elites, and the fathers before them also.

"Good Morning sir," Erel greeted, dipping his head respectfully. He was one of the youngest of the elites so he still acted as though he wasn't near the top of the food chain.

"I've come to see the king," Nyais said, his voice adorning a serious brevity that made all four elites nod their head and allow him entrance. The massive pine doors creaked open and allowed Nyais in, showing him a grand foyer. A bearskin rug sat in the centre of the room, odd bits of wooden furniture (with occasional gold touches) here and there. At the back of the room was a massive staircase, a red carpet stretching up it. Beside the staircase two corridors led off to other parts of the king's abode.

Then, Nyais' eyes averted to the king. He strode down the staircase with grace and elegance whilst also maintaining an intimidating confidence that immediately reminded Nyais he had to kneel, despite his status not being far off the man before him. The brunette male got down on one knee, dipping his head with respect. "Your Highness," he addressed him, not daring to look past his brown locks until the king had spoken back.

"Nyais, why are you bowing?" the king said with a small, amused laugh, his long snow white hair bouncing a little as he did so. "Did you forget that we're friends? You needn't treat me like I'm some oracle," he smiled and shook his head, walking over to Nyais and standing before him, gesturing for him to stand. Despite the kindness he displayed and the small smile that played on his lips, his blood red eyes always seemed mildly serious, with a hint of warning.

Nyais raised himself and looked at the king with an expression of slight wariness. "Thank you for... for your kindness, Olli," he began, rubbing his neck a little. "I... I've come to talk to you about [Y-]," he cut himself off, not getting through her whole name, "about the human girl."

"Ah, yes... [Y/n] was her name, correct?" he tilted his head. Nyais nodded his head. "I see" the King hummed ponderously, watching Nyais to gage his mannerisms regarding the human in question. "Their names are so much better these days, wouldn't you agree? We used to have Dorrises and Deidres... Berols and Belindas," he laughed, shaking his head. "But [Y/n]... it's a pretty name."

Nyais shrugged, not really knowing why Olli was so hung up on the names through the ages, but he decided not to comment.

"I've heard rumours of you wanting to bed the girl," the king chuckled. Heat hit Nyais' cheeks and he stepped back a pace, immediately shaking his head. The king waved his hand dismissively, his way of telling Nyais not to worry. "I'm kidding. I know you're not that desperate." Then, he raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"

"N-no, certainly not. If- well, if anything... I view her as a close friend."

"A friend? You're friends with a human now? Nyais, do I need to find you a doctor?" he asked, a look of mocking concern on his face. Nyais quickly shook his head, looking down at his feet.

"N-no. I'm quite alright," he said quietly, brushing some dust from his sleeve. "I just... she's... she's different to other humans. I can't explain it but I know she is. She'd have no issues coping with vampire culture. I could train her if you'd like. It's just... she doesn't deserve to die."

"None of them deserve to die, Nyais," the king frowned. "Humans kill animals that don't deserve to die. They feed off of them to survive. It's all natural."

"But some humans keep animals they like as-" he cut himself off, looking down once more. The king smirked a little, leaning back.

"Pets?" he continued. "Are you suggesting you want to keep [Y/n] as a pet? Your own little pet human?" The king giggled at the ridiculousness of it, however he felt a strange inclination to say yes and see what happens.

"No!" Nyais quickly objected, shaking his head. "No... I don't want her that way..." he trailed off, sighing. "But, if it makes sense then I suppose..." he rubbed the back of his neck again. "What I'm thinking is that we can learn from her. She's amazing - intelligent and likeminded to many of the most powerful people I know. I think you'd quite like her, Olli," he said quietly. "I'm sure she'd be prepared to sign any contact you put forwards but... but I just think it would be a waste for her to die."

The king nodded at his words in acknowledgment of Nyais' request. He tilted his head back, cracking his neck, before looking back at Nyais with an amused expression.

"If she lives past Day 10 I will meet with her. Then I'll decide whether she's worth keeping around." He looked somewhere past Nyais, his gaze becoming more serious. "If she lives, you and I both know there will be many who want her dead. I expect you to take good care of her."

* * *

It was midday according to the wall clock. All six children sat with [Y/n] in the living room. Mitzu sat in the corner throwing a silent rage over nothing in particular. Laion was chatting happily to Draka and Seishin had his nose in another book from the shelf having finished Animal Farm. Kori sat next to [Y/n] on the sofa, staring at her. He was the only one who hadn't spoken yet and it concerned [Y/n] a little. As [Y/n] was reflecting on how she was going to introduce conversation to Kori, she noticed Aytsa approaching Mitzu and tapping him on the shoulder.

[Y/n] averted her gaze back to Kori, her head tilting slightly. "Are you okay?" she asked. He nodded. 'So he understands the concept of conversation,' she thought in confusion, 'he just can't speak... is he mute?' "Are you able to talk?" she continued, getting to the point a little quicker than she'd intended. He frowned before nodding. This puzzled [Y/n] even more. "Are you sure?" He crossed his arms over his chest, seeming a little irritated now, before nodding again. [Y/n] sighed at this. "And I take it you're not planning on talking to me?" she asked, to which his arms unravelled themselves and he looked a little lost for a while.

"I want to," he mouthed the words but no sound came out. [Y/n]'s eyes widened a little.

"Do you need a doctor?" she asked worriedly. He then shook his head. [Y/n]'s brow furrowed. "Wait, so you physically can speak?" she asked. He nodded. "But you're too... scared to?" she pressed on. He looked down and shrugged. She rubbed the back of her neck.

"Come on Kori. Hey, Seishin, can you keep an eye on things in here? Come and get me if something happens?" she asked, to which the blonde boy firmly nodded in a spry 'challenge accepted' sort of manner. [Y/n] smiled at this, taking the grey haired boy's hand and leading him off with her. She took him to the boys' room where she sat on his bed, patting the duvet beside her to encourage him to sit down too.

Kori sat beside the girl, looking down at his little hands which squeezed one another nervously. "So... what's wrong? Do the others scare you?" she asked. He shrugged in response and [Y/n] sighed. "Please Kori... I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong," she said softly. He shrugged again. "Then, how about this... I've been wondering why you always sit and watch me. Have I done something wrong?"

"No!" he said quickly, before covering his mouth, his icy blue eyes widening in surprise at the noise he'd created. His voice was soft and quiet - lulling, almost. It had the childish pitch of a four year old but the firmness of someone far older than him. Then, he shrugged, as though pretending he hadn't spoken. [Y/n], however, beamed a bright smile and placed an affectionate kiss on his forehead.

"See? I knew you could do it," she said softly, ruffling his hair. He smiled nervously at her. "So why is it that you watch me?" she asked gently. He looked down again, his smile fading.

"I want to keep you safe," he whispered. The words both surprised and calmed [Y/n]. A kind smile adorned her features.

"Aww, Kori, that's so sweet!" [Y/n] said gently. "Thank you! I was worried you wanted to eat me or something," she joked. It took a moment for Kori to understand she was joking, but when he did a small, delicate laugh left him. This made [Y/n] smile all the more.

"You should practice talking to the boys. Make friends with them," she encouraged. Kori had a look of scepticism after she spoke. "Well, you're gonna be stuck with them while you grow up and possibly for all eternity," she mused, "so you may as well befriend them." He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded.

"Okay," he concurred quietly, nodding his head. The pair stood up and walked out of the room, heading off towards the living room once more. [Y/n] allowed Kori to go in first before following after him herself. The kids were all how they had been, except for Aytsa who sat sulking in a corner. [Y/n] figured she should leave him to figure things out on his own. As he wasn't overly independent in the first place, it would do him good.

Seishin walked over to [Y/n], sitting beside her.

"I was thinking about what you said last night," he began thoughtfully. [Y/n] nodded, urging him to continue. "Well... I guess..." he trailed off, looking a little bashful now. "I'd like us to be friends."

"Great!" [Y/n] grinned. "That makes me really happy," she added with a smile. He gave her a small smile in return before slipping off the sofa and walking back over to his book.