The Duke's Passion

"Ahh...!" Just as the tip of my fangs pressed against Yul's neck, I drew back and winced in pain. I gazed down at my leg, seeing Lakresha's dagger version in it. 

"I managed." I exhaled sharply as I managed to wake myself up from this nightmare. "Go away Yul."

I pushed Yul's chest away while holding the dagger plunged in my thigh. Yul took a step back, gazing at me in disbelief.

"But... you will --"

"Yulis!" My voice hitched as my eyes sharpened, glaring at him. "I will rather lose my sanity than kill you! Go where I can't see you."

"Oh, no, Your Grace! Even if you don't want to kill him, he will still die." Alphonse clicked his tongue helplessly while shaking his head. "Between the two of you, you are a much better choice, you know?"

"Yulis had accepted his death. How can you deny him, Your Grace?" Beatrice frowned as she dramatically wiped her fake tears. "I almost teared up with his sacrifice."

I ignored them. "Yulis, get out of here." I clenched my teeth, pulling Lakresha out of my leg. A grunt left my gritted teeth and my wound oozed with blood. That hurt like hell.

"I can't, Lilou." Yul shook his head lightly. "I won't let you die for me."

"Yulis!" My piercingly loud voice echoed across the throne hall until it shook. I could barely keep my own will right now, and if these voices took over once again, I'm afraid I would kill him this time.

"Get the hell out of my sight!" my eyes glinted with fury, staring at him dead in the eye. "That is an order."

"Lilou..."

"Now!" I yelled.

Yul clenched his teeth tightly and nodded after a second. "If that is what you want," he said, glancing at our audience before disappearing from his standpoint. 

Just as Yul moved like a bolt of lightning towards the exit, Alphonse appeared to block his way.

"Oh, no, I told you..." he trailed off as I grabbed his wrist before it could reach Yulis, appearing beside him.

"You don't call the shots here, Alphonse." I bore my fangs, glancing over my shoulders as Yul stood before Alphonse. I cocked my head lightly, tightening my grip around Alphonse's wrist.

"Go."

Yul ground his teeth, glaring daggers at me, but still followed my orders. As he sprinted away, I set my eyes at Alphonse while he chuckled.

"Do you really think he can escape?" he asked, but I ignored him. I wielded Lakresha on my other hand and threw it in a certain direction.

"I said, you don't call the shots here." I moved my gaze to Beatrice, who was nearly sliced in half by Lakresha as it landed inches away from her. "If I want someone to go, they will, and if I told you to stay, you must. Those aren't request, they're orders."

"Hah... we can't expect anything less from the vessel of the core." Alphonse laughed heartily, making me glanced at him.

The louder his chuckles were, the louder the voices in my head had become. It felt as though needles were pricking my brain. I tightened my grip as I sucked air through my gritted teeth.

"You will not be in pain if you just submit, Your Grace," Alphonse advice with a knowing look on his face. Despite the cracking sound coming from his wrist, it didn't seem to faze him.

Undead. I let him go and hopped back.

"Funny, Alphonse. The voices in my head abolished the word submission." The side of my lips stretched viciously. My eyes shifted in Beatrice's direction.

"I won't ask you questions since it is clear to me what is going on in this place," I spat out in ridicule. "Pity."

"Lakresha. Catharsis." As soon as I called my weapons' names, they flew back into my hands, grasping them tightly. My eye twitched at the piercing pain in my head, but I shrugged it off as I held onto my consciousness.

'Not yet,' I told myself. 'Yul is still around.'

I faced the two of them and noticed the dark shroud exuding from Alphonse's back. Black veins protruded under his temple, his sclera changing into black, and his fangs growing longer and sharper. 

My eyes veered towards Beatrice, and her eyes glowed in red, smirking viciously. 

'Sam... I might die tonight, love,' I muttered internally while stretching my neck from one side to the other. 

I took a deep breath, spreading my arms wide while holding Lakresha on my right and Catharsis on my left. "Well, here goes nothing."

The marble floor under my foot cracked before I bolted towards them, baring my fangs.

******

Meanwhile, Yulis clutched his hands tightly as he sprinted away without looking back. Lilou's agitated face while yelling at him to go away kept flickering in front of his eyes. 

"Damn!" Yulis halted in the hallway and cursed at the top of his lungs. He looked back at his tracks and clenched his teeth.

A strong aura colliding had suddenly exploded from a distance, reassuring him that a clash was taking place. He could tell Lilou was battling those two all on her own while he was running away to save his own throat. 

"Damn it!" he cursed, about to go back, when a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"Yulis!" he turned his head back to see Silvia shaking her head. "Don't."

"Silvia, how can I not return when my sister is inside fighting two monstrous purebloods?" His eyes glinted with killing intent as he panted heavily. "We are here to protect her and not the other way around."

Yulis pulled his hand away with all his might. In terms of strength, Yulis had an advantage, so he managed to escape her grip.

"Yulis, you are given an order. If you want to disobey the order, you will have to go through me!" Silvia wielded her saber at him, pointing its blade to his throat. "If you die, that is akin to killing her yourself."

"And if she dies without us doing anything, what's the difference?" Yulis argued adamantly. 

"Get a grip, Yul." Silvia's voice grew solemn as her eyes sharpened. "I can't let you lose your senses right now. You're a La Crox, not a certain butler. The La Crox way is perfection, and screwing things over can cost you your life."

"That is how we are all raised. That is the La Crox way, brother," Silvia added in the same menacing tone. 

Yulis ground his teeth while his fist trembled. He calmed down a second later, nodding in understanding.

"Right," he said, running his fingers through his hair in distress.

Silvia smiled subtly before withdrawing her weapon. "Let's go." 

Yul nodded once again and both of them fled without looking back.