Not everyone rejoiced at becoming a Csa. Romena Virvaine stood in the grass, staring at the deadly blade she was given. Her own emblem was a rowanberry branch with bright red berries and green leaves. Most Csa were happily relishing the sunlight, relieved to be free of former vampire weaknesses while keeping all the benefits and disadvantages of immortality.

But Romena didn't see this as a gift. She continued looking down at the blade, mesmerized by the vampire blood held suspended inside the blade like a lava lamp, the glittering unknown white liquid adding a sparkle effect to the blade. Fond of weapons, Romena considered the sword a very uniquely crafted weapon, but with a severe catch: the blade was to be used on its owner.

Romena wished for simpler times, times when it was just Romena and her lover Ardai. Things were so different when it was just us. Then Ardai started sympathizing with the humans. I realized too late that he was in the right and I was in the wrong. I've seen for myself the consequences of division between two similar but very different kinds of lifeforms. I've seen how important it is to uphold peace in the land.

She could still see vampires disintegrate before her own eyes, could still hear , their love torn apart so brutally. Romena knew the pain Mallen was going through; she had felt the exact same when she watched a dragon's fire burn Ardai, turning him to charred ashes in only a matter of minutes. It still gave her nightmares, still gave her sleepless nights when she remembered his death.

Romena looked in Mallen's direction. She watched Blaise converse with him before walking off, leaving Mallen alone. He sheathed his blade, looking to where the group of vampires had disintegrated. She could see his shoulders start to shake, could see him struggling to hold back tears.

"Hey," said Romena, suddenly appearing beside Mallen. She was pleased to learn the Csa kept their almost-instantaneous vampire speed, making their movements look almost like teleportation. "I'm sorry about your wife. I too lost someone I loved, back when the dragons attacked the land."

Mallen turned to face Romena, his face solemn, devoid of tears for now. "I know you loved Ardai. He shouldn't have died."

"But he did. And so did ."

Mallen slowly took a deep breath. Romena saw he was trying hard to hold himself together. She was all too familiar with grief and knew he was going through the initial shock, having somehow bypassed the five stages of grief by going straight to acceptance for some reason, but she knew he would soon be dealing with all five relatively soon.

She put a hand on his arm, feeling the slight trembling within. "Perhaps we should leave this planet," Romena said quietly. "Leave it all behind. It will help you move on."

"I was intending to leave this planet anyway," Mallen said in response. "I want to go as far away from it as possible. But we're not going to Iredescent; I refuse to go there unless under dire circumstances, and even then I would seek another planet elsewhere."

"A habitable one, of course. You wouldn't want to land on a planet we can't survive in," said Romena. "Tell you what, Mallen. I bet we can ask one of the electric people for a database so we can seek out a planet."

"Davai," said Mallen, eagerly jumping to the idea. Davai means come on or let's go in Russian.

A smile touched the corner of Romena's mouth. She was secretly thrilled by the idea of going out with Mallen. She had always found him attractive, but she was involved with Ardai. Now that they shared the pain of losing a loved one, Romena thought it would be a good chance to get together with Mallen.

They walked side by side through the cyberpunk city streets, neon lights shining on the skyscrapers and setting the streets in various colors. Synthetic electronic rock music played in the electric avenue. Flying cars maneuvered in the sky amidst the skyscrapers as people walked in the streets. Romena loved it, but Mallen thought the city was too chaotic, preferring the peace and quiet of the forest.

Romena kept stealing glances at Mallen, thinking he looked exceptionally hot in his new Csa outfit. She was excited to wear pants for the first time and felt sexy wearing them, proud to show off her legs and lean hourglass figure.

Her long blonde hair was set in its usual ponytail placed over her shoulder, mauve ribbons intertwined with a braid running through the ponytail. Romena wore a mauve ribbon on her wrist as a bracelet, letting it trail down a little. Her shoes were high heeled while Mallen's were stylish black boots with a shimmery white opal accent.

Mallen was hardly aware of his own physical appearance, still traumatized by Írásom's death. His dark raven hair was long and loose, not tied back with a ribbon this time. He walked steadily, his eyes dead ahead, his mind focused on their task.

Keeping her eyes ahead, Romena brushed her hip against Mallen, making it look like an accidental touch. If Mallen was aware of it, he ignored it, too deep in his own thoughts. Romena took her hair out of the ponytail and ribbons, shook her hair loose, and ran a hand through her hair, knowing it drove some guys crazy whenever a woman touched her hair, but Mallen walked faster, making her catch up to his long strides.

They reached the city database and stood together as Mallen used the touch screen to navigate through various sources of information. He ignored Romena as she sidled up to him, her body almost leaning into him as she looked at the information with him.

"There," she said, pointing at a list. "Let's pick a planet with a high level of corruption. That way we can go there and set things right."

"Corruption. That's a nice distraction," Mallen said thoughtfully. "Would keep us busy, that's for sure. However, no. I don't like corruption – look what corruption did to planets Kasoka and Luena. I don't want to be anywhere near any sort of chaos and disorder. I want to go to a planet with castles on it. A planet like Verdamnt."

"Let's browse, then," said Romena, casting a side-glance at him as Mallen began scrolling through information on each planet, typing 'castles' in the search bar. Over a billion sources of information showed up, nearly overwhelming him. Mallen narrowed the search down to 'fairytale castle' then 'fairytale castle in a forest' and pressed enter.

His heart jumped when he saw a picture of his own castle. Romena gasped, saying, "Mallen, that's your castle."

"My home," Mallen murmured, his eyes wide as he looked to see the location of the castle. It was located in southwest Bavaria, in the city of Schwangau, in the country of Germany, on the continent of Europe, on a planet called Earth, located in the Milky Way galaxy.

Mallen instantly selected Earth and read over the information, learning it was the only planet in its solar system that sustained life. Humans were the main lifeform, with animals and plants being the secondary lifeform. It had breathable air, a moon, five oceans, seven continents, and a vast population of humans.

"That would've been a perfect planet to inhabit if we were still vampires," said Romena. "We would never starve there."

"Indeed," Mallen agreed, closing out of the information. "We'll leave tonight."

They headed back to the ship, shutting the entrance door behind them as they went inside. Romena intentionally allowed her hand to brush against Mallen's hand, slyly glancing to see his reaction.

Mallen was very aware, but he didn't buy into her flirtation. He knew she was trying to distract him, but he didn't want that kind of distraction, especially since it was something intimate to him.

Deciding to be bolder in forthcoming, Romena stepped in front of Mallen and backed him against the wall, placing her hands on his chest. She leaned in to try to kiss him, but Mallen pushed her forward so that she was against the wall. He moved Romena's hands from him, deciding to be brutally honest with her.

"I'm sorry, Romena, but you're like a sister to me. I don't feel that way towards you. You'd have a better chance with Iérti than with me, if powerful men are your type," Mallen said.

Seeing the letdown in Romena's face, Mallen added, "In my younger vampire days, I would've considered it, but my wife just died and I'm not in the mood to pursue anyone. I'm done living the way I did when I was single. I'm not like that anymore."

Mallen stepped back, turning to walk the other way towards his room. Romena watched him leave, knowing it would be the end of trying to seek him out, since he thought of her as a sister rather than a potential love interest. I guess I'll go see what Iérti's up to, Romena thought, turning to go the other hallway.

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Music:

"Electric Avenue"
by Powerman 5000

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