"Oh, what? You think because you serve under "Mistress" Vauleaux that you can come in here and order us around?"
Three men stood to one side of a large, oaken table, while a fourth sat in a wooden chair, the origin of the voice. They were all dressed fully in black, with hoods covering their heads and masks covering everything but their eyes. A grouping of lower ranked Shades, defiant to authority and wanting nothing more than to rise through the ranks of the underworld.
Across from them were two white-haired individuals. A woman with her hair up in a ponytail, with piercing red eyes that looked ready to deal with anything that came up as a problem, and a man with medium length, well-kept hair. He shared the same eye color, and he looked considerably kinder. In contrast to the woman's more casual appearance, his clothing was proper and well-fit, yet both were dressed for inevitable combat.
"Of course not, Ser Vittorio. All we merely ask is that you stop pillaging any belongings of the Vauleaux family and their retainers, and we will allow you to be on your way." The man would say, lifting a tea cup to his lips as if he were unconcerned about the rising tensions.
Before he could take a sip from the glass, it would be shattered as the seated man threw a knife at it, landing in the wall behind the white-haired pair.
"Don't look down on us, vampire scum. You Lucanis carry yourself so highly for ones without an estate of your own. In this world, it's take or die trying. You live so frivilously at our expense. Well, we won't take orders from you rich snobs anymore. You want us to comply, while we go hungry and starve? Maybe we'll just kill you both and show the good lady that we're more worthy than the Countess's rejects."
The woman took a step forward, clearly offended by the man's remarks, but the seated man didn't move an inch. The four hooded men drew their blades, two of them moving to either side of the table as they surrounded the pair.
"Nero. Can I shut this guy up now?" The woman would ask, and Nero would sigh, staring forward at the man in front of him. His red eyes would change from a look of unamusement to a narrowed, cold look, and the man before him flinched. "Yes, Bianca. It seems the time for diplomacy is over."
Bianca grinned as the man to her right charged forward, and she would sidestep a vertical slash aimed for her head before stepping forward to headbutt her opponent in the noise, a sickening crack could be heard reverberating through the room. The man she headbutt would stumble backwards, reaching towards her clumsily and grabbing her arm, pulling her forward.
She'd break free from their grip just in time to see a second man jump onto the table and then leap at her, blade drawn. He brought his dagger down, and Bianca moved her hand up, the blade stabbing her through the palm as she stood her ground. She yelped in pain briefly, but a look of pain turned to a twisted smile, much to her attacker's horror, as she reached forward with her other hand, grabbing her attacker by the throat and lifting him off of the ground. With a swift, violent motion, she would slam him down on the table, causing the legs to buckle as the entire thing collapsed with him on top of it.
The third man saw what was happening, and started to charge at Bianca while she was down. The first got back up, recovering from the headbutt, and charged at her from the other direction. Bianca began to stand, grabbing the dagger and pulling it from her hand in a swift motion. The blood that leaked out stopped dripping suddenly, and began to swirl around her hand. As the men approached her on either side, ready to finish her off, she would turn on her heel, spinning in place as a flash of red danced across the room.
Vittorio looked on in horror as the two men who charged fell to the ground, their heads flying through the room, a clean separation from their bodies. Bianca stood in the center of them, a scythe made of her own blood resting on her shoulder. The woman had turned her own attacker's blade into her advantage, and used it to dispatch them. She took a step forward towards Vittorio, and the man she slammed through the table groaned as he started to stir. With a swing of her arm, her scythe came down and pierced the man through the heart, killing him instantly.
"N-no! You can't do this! You're nothing! Vampires with worthless names! We aren't dying to you!" He shouted, charging forward at Nero desperately while he remained seated. He would grab his own dagger, trying to stab him in one last ditch effort.
The sound of flesh being pierced could be heard as blood dripped to the ground, and Vittorio looked down to see a blade of blood extending from Nero's wrist. The vampire had stabbed him before he even had a chance to get close.
The man fell to the ground, bleeding out profusely as Nero finally stood up, the siblings looking down on him as the life left his body.
"You had your chance to walk away from this, Ser Vittorio." Nero said, his voice betraying no emotion at what had just been done, though the dying man could swear he could see a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Worthless names, and no estate... was that what you said? Hmm... I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for your counsel."
Nero's blade retracted into his wrist as he gestured for Bianca to come, and the two would turn to leave. Vittorio reached out towards them, no longer having the strength to form words, and watched as they left him to die.
