spoopy
Torchic W. Pip
~ Utterly glorious ~
She was a vampire, feared and hated. He was a prince, envied and loved. Vampire AU MikuNagi.
I've had this story in my Google Docs for a while and debated publishing it. Ultimately, however, I snapped and decided to. Partially because I started reading canisaries's fic Batty (go read it, btw), partially because I like posting stuff and receiving validation for my stupid decisions.
This story is rated TEEN for implied sexual content, blood, injury, illness, and character death.
She needed him. She hated how she needed him.
Winona, with the appearance of an angel and the rumored demeanor of a devil, forced to live in the shadowy Fortree Woods, needed Wallace, prince of Sootopolis, one of the strongest and most beloved monarchs of the Hoenn Republic.
Why him? Why was it him who got lost in her domain? Why was it him who passed by her mansion of gothic columns, stained glass windows, and statues of angels erected in a vain attempt to escape the damnation of her curse? Why was it him who appeared on his beautiful Milotic at the bottom of the stairs to the doorstep, seeking shelter for the night?
Why did she let him stay?
Wallace was infamous throughout Hoenn for being a womanizer, and it was obvious to Winona why. He was a beautiful person. Why was a mortal like him blessed with such beauty if he was doomed to die and disappear from this mortal plane?
She looked like a ghost of her former self; gold bracelets that hid the scars that signaled her curse, intricate black dress that was more suited as funeral attire than casual wear, lavender hair tied up in a bun, with two strands bent up like devil’s wings. Her lavender eyes had a soulless gaze, like a cloudy, gray sky.
He certainly dressed like a prince: turquoise tailcoat with a white poet shirt underneath, purple trousers, white riding boots, white cape that flew in the wind, and a white beret in which his turquoise hair was carefully tucked. His turquoise eyes were full of life, like the crashing waves of the sea.
He was a prince of water. What did he see in a monster like her?
But his looks weren’t the only beautiful thing about him. For hours, he and Winona could discuss philosophy, literature, art, and the natural and spiritual world. He was Sootopolis’s prince, but he spoke to Winona like an old friend. Sootopolis was known for its navy, but Wallace spoke only of its art and culture. After all, he said, he wasn’t a man of war; he was a man of the arts.
There was something else about Wallace that attracted Winona’s attention. He had taken off his cravat and tailcoat, and he had untied his shirt enough to expose his collarbone.
She didn’t want to bite his neck and steal his life force. She just wanted to kiss his neck. She wanted to feel alive from the carnal act of kissing him.
As Wallace savored Winona’s collection of Kalosian wine, Winona (unbeknownst to him) drank deep red blood. He would need to begin his journey back home and he didn’t want to travel drunk, so he made sure to stay sober.
But then a storm struck, and all plans for traveling that night were washed away. Even still, he insisted, he would make a terrible guest if he were to get drunk.
Guest. Right. He would be staying in her mansion for the night. For just one night, they would sleep under the same roof, maybe even in the same bed...
No. Winona had to stop her thoughts. Why was she falling in love with this man? He would take the throne of Hoenn. He would be loved by all who saw him. He would wed a person worthy of his love. Meanwhile, she was cursed to an eternity of solitude, ridiculed by mankind as a monster.
But for just one night, she could spend time with a person who didn’t see her as a monster, whether that was in the same bed or just under the same roof.
-
Winona guided Wallace down the long corridor to the bedroom in which he would be spending the night. The two stopped outside of the bedroom. Wallace took Winona’s hand in his.
“Goodnight, fair Winona,” he said before placing a small kiss on her hand. It felt like an angel's kiss. It felt like her first (and possibly only) taste of heaven.
“Wallace? Would you kiss me again?”
Wallace was taken aback by the request, but he quickly smiled and obliged. He obliged several times, peppering kisses all over her hand and even a bit up her arm.
“My my, does it get lonely in this forest?” Wallace asked.
“Could I kiss you?”
Wallace nodded.
“Be my guest.”
Winona leaned towards Wallace’s collarbone. Her lips pressed against it, and she took special care in making sure her teeth didn’t make contact. He gasped. What a beautiful sound.
She stared into his eyes, which were filled with newly sparked passion. She felt her eyes flicker with passion. The next moment, they were kissing each other on the lips.
The next moment, they were kissing in the guestroom bed, and she was undoing the rest of his shirt.
They did more than kiss that night, and Winona soon learned why so many slept with or wanted to sleep with Wallace.
He didn't care for social conventions or sin, and when did social convention or sin matter ever matter to a demon?
-
Wallace had never loved a person in the way he loved Winona.
From the moment he laid eyes on her, he became infatuated with her. One would be gravely mistaken to say that it was the same infatuation he felt for any of the people he had been with. It was far more than erotic love. It was a deep, spiritual love woven in the fabric of Fate, stronger than the threads that tethered his soul and body to the ground.
He wanted to marry her. He wanted her to rule Sootopolis by his side. He wanted to travel the Hoenn Republic, no, the whole world with her. He wanted to enjoy all life had to offer with her.
But when he returned to her months later, asking for her hand in marriage, she simply stated: “I can never marry you.”
“Why?”
Winona stood up from the dining room table. Her eyes, her beautiful eyes, glowed with a stern gaze, like the blade of a knife.
“A woman like me can never marry a man like you, though the doors to my home will always be open to you and you alone.”
She began to leave the room, but stopped and looked back at Wallace.
“Please, keep coming back for as long as you can.”
"But Winona—"
"You don't want to marry a monster like me. You don't want to marry a woman hated by society, a woman who can't even have children—"
"Who cares if you can't have children? There are options for infertile couples who want to be parents."
"It's not just that."
The blade of Winona's voice cut the air into silence. Finally, she spoke again:
"Look at us, Wallace. You're an archangel in heaven. I'm forever stuck in purgatory. It's not that I don't love you. The world will never let us be together."
Wallace smiled, trying to ease the tension. "Do you still believe I care for what the world thinks?"
Winona's expression didn't change.
"In that case... We may not ever be husband and wife, but can we at least be adulterer and mistress?"
-
When Wallace returned to Sootopolis, the Four Heavenly Kings of Hoenn greeted him with a sudden betrothal to Violet, heir to the throne of Cerulean City.
To the world, they were a smiling, loving couple. In their private lives, they were two bitter, loveless people forced to live together.
But they had to stay together, for the political stability of the Hoenn-Kanto Alliance. So long as they could hold up the facade to the public, all would be well...
...politically, at least.
-
“I can’t believe anyone would believe a man as ostentatious as you would be fit to rule Hoenn’s greatest kingdom!” Violet yelled. “You’ve made yourself a thousand enemies by recklessly galavanting around, and that reckless galavanting will give them the perfect opportunity to assassinate you!”
“Galavanting?! Is caring for the people of Sootopolis what you call reckless galavanting?! You barely care about the wellbeing of the common people, and instead of doing anything to fix the problems plaguing Kanto, you spend lavish amounts of money on materialistic luxuries!”
“At least I want to have a child in wedlock! If you keep sleeping around, you’ll be having a child with every woman but me! You've been in every bed but ours!"
“That will be quite enough!” Juan, Wallace’s advisor, stood in between the feuding couple. He sighed, trying to calm himself down. “Wallace, Violet, this treaty is vital to quelling the rising threat of the Magma Empire and Aqua Commonwealth. All I ask is that you… try to keep your reputation as a happy couple. We can’t have accusations of adultery, because accusations become scandals, and that’s the last thing we need right now.”
Violet stared at Wallace, then she spit on his boot.
“I will be sleeping in our bed tonight,” she hissed, “but you won’t be sleeping by my side. I'll find my own man to sleep with. I hope you find a place to sleep for the rest of your nights.”
-
Winona seemed surprised when she opened the doors and saw Wallace at her step, thanking his Milotic for traveling so far.
“You’ve come to tell me of your marriage,” she said as she walked down the steps. “I heard of your union of Violet on the whispers of the wind.”
“It was a union forged with lies and laws, not love,” Wallace replied. “It can hardly be called a marriage.”
“But why are you returning to me? Is adultery not a sin?”
Wallace walked up to meet Winona in the middle of the steps. He planted a small kiss on Winona’s forehead.
“The only sin I bear is the sin of living a lie.” He and Winona shared a deep, passionate kiss. “When I’m with you, I’m in beautiful bliss. I’m living.”
Wallace took Winona’s hands.
“I would stay here with you forever if I could,” Wallace said.
-
“Archie has declared war on Sootopolis,” Juan said.
Wallace froze. He turned on his heel and stared out the window. The beautiful architecture of Sootopolis, her beautiful people and Pokémon, her beautiful culture and art… they were all in danger.
“He plans to attack,” Juan added.
“When?” Wallace turned back to Juan.
“He’s been known to strike at dawn, when his enemies are tired and ill prepared.”
“Send out the navy and protect Sootopolis in a ring of our strongest ships and Pokémon. Prepare every man and Pokémon to fight, and prepare every woman and child to flee.”
Juan nodded. Wallace was always a quick thinker. It was why he kept so much respect despite his promiscuity.
With a turn of his heel, Juan started to briskly walk down the hall.
“And one more thing,” Wallace called. He hesitated for a moment. “Tell Violet that I’m sorry I wasn’t able to give her the love she expected and deserved.”
Juan stared back, then nodded. With that, Wallace walked away to fetch his Milotic and prepare his battalion for the worst.
-
Torrential rains crashed down across Hoenn. Not even the sturdy trees of Fortree would get through it unscratched.
But Winona was stronger than the trees, so she stood on the balcony of her mansion, feeling the rain fall on her skin.
Something, or rather someone, caught her eye: A turquoise-haired man in a white cape was limping towards the mansion.
Wait… limping?!
Winona practically flew down the stairs and out the doors leading outside. Wallace stood at the bottom of the stairs, struggling to stay standing.
“Wallace!”
Winona ran down the stairs, and Wallace collapsed in her arms. His clothes were torn, revealing cuts and gashes on the skin underneath.
“What are you doing here?!” Winona demanded.
“We’re at war, Winona,” Wallace panted, looking up into Winona’s eyes. Even in his miserable condition, his eyes were full of life. “Maxie’s army is coming in from the West, and Archie’s army is meeting him from the East. They'll surely do battle here. My battalion fought to protect Sootopolis from Archie, but we were no match for them. I lost—”
He coughed violently, staining his white, satin gloves with blood. Shaking uncontrollably, he choked on phlegm, blood, and tears for a few moments before trying to continue.
“I lost my beautiful Milotic.” His voice was further weakened by tears. “I lost my wife. I lost my mentor. I lost Sootopolis City. But I still have you. Winona, from the moment I saw you, I knew the universe drew out our paths to meet and combine into one. We were meant to spend eternity together. If Maxie or Archie or their bastards ever did anything to you...” he was too weak to keep speaking, and it was obvious he was even having trouble breathing.
“Eternity,” Winona whispered as she began helping Wallace up the stairs.
-
His condition worsened for the next three days. He was bedridden from exhaustion, but coughing, chills, fever, and pain kept him from getting anything better than short, light sleeping. He couldn’t hold down food, so any hope of trying to regain some of his former strength was gone.
Winona could only assume he was struck with consumption, made worse by his injuries. She wouldn’t be able to save him, even if she could find the world’s greatest doctors.
The most Winona could do was try to ease his pain, whether it was by talking to him, treating his ailments to the best of her ability, or holding his hand to make his pain at least tolerable.
Even as he lay bedridden, even as he struggled more and more to hide his pain, even as he faded away, he always managed to hold long, albeit disjointed conversations with Winona. His eyes still glowed with undying passion.
Why was Fate so cruel? She was making a beautiful, wonderful man suffer to death.
-
“Winona?” Wallace’s shaky voice was barely a whisper. “Are you still there?”
Winona looked up from her book about birds. She closed it, put it on the nightstand, and clasped her hand around Wallace’s. His bandaged hand was cold as ice, but his smile was warm as the sun.
“I’m here, Wallace. Don’t worry.”
“There won’t be any more sunrises,” Wallace said. With what little strength he had left, he sat up so he could be closer to Winona. “At least our final one was our most beautiful.” He smiled. “Not as beautiful as you, but—”
Another bout of coughing struck. Its violence further drained Wallace of energy until he was too weak to keep sitting up. Winona helped him lay down as she took a handkerchief and wiped the blood and phlegm from his hand. As Winona set aside the handkerchief, Wallace’s hand remained suspended in the air. Winona intertwined her fingers with his.
“I’ll see you on the other side,” Wallace whispered.
“Wallace, if I have to spend eternity in Hell, I want to spend it with you. Man will hate us, but we won’t need their love, for we already have love for each other.”
Wallace smiled.
“Hell? An angel like you in Hell? Every night and day I spend with you is spent in Heaven.”
“Wallace.”
As the clouds in the night sky drifted away, the half moon appeared. Its heavenly glow shone on Winona’s sharp teeth as her head moved closer to Wallace’s collarbone. He was pale from illness and the glow of the moonlight. Winona could almost see Death’s shadow looming over him. Even in the presence of Death, Wallace kept the smile on his face and the glow in his eyes.
“I’ll see you on the other side,” Winona said.
She prayed he was too weak to feel pain, though she wondered who would be answering her prayers.
She felt Wallace’s grip on her hand tighten as she sucked away what little life force he had left. His blood was sweeter than the finest wine, but its sweetness poisoned Winona with feelings of guilt. Why was it the good of heart who had the sweetest of blood?
Eventually, Wallace’s hand went limp.
Winona sat up, panting as she looked down at his lifeless body. He had died with a small but genuine smile.
Was she too late?
Winona stood up and slowly left the room. As soon as she closed the door, she walked to the study, suppressing feelings of guilt, grief, anger, and doubt.
Books of every subject reached for the heavens. Winona had all the time in the world to organize and reorganize the books, so she knew exactly which books were where.
She took one titled Biodiversity in Hoenn. Somewhere, she heard that corpses became vampires if a Delcatty jumped over them. If she was too late—
“So, this is the afterlife.”
Winona looked up from the book. Wallace was standing in the doorway. He was soulless, all vampires were, but his eyes… they were like a calm storm over the ocean: dull, yet full of life at the same time. How could an undead man have such beautiful eyes and such a beautiful smile?
Winona gasped when she saw that Wallace’s shirt was open, exposing his collarbone. The bite marks were still there.
“The location of your mansion,” Wallace said, “the lack of mirrors in the residence of a woman as beautiful as you, the closed curtains, it all makes sense now.”
The next moment, Wallace found himself in the tight embrace of Winona. He reciprocated the hug and spun her around in the air. The spinning turned into a waltz across the study.
“Your eyes are so beautiful,” Wallace whispered. His voice was as seductive as ever.
“How could a monster like me—”
“Winona, how could someone as beautiful as you be a monster? The prejudiced notions of society that label you as a cold, hideous monster are false. How could those notions be true when you are the kindest, most beautiful person I have ever met?”
He stared deeply into her eyes.
“Beauty like this is more than what mirrors can comprehend, but perhaps painting can get close.”
His lips pressed against Winona’s. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, she felt true happiness.
“Kiss me again, Winona,” Wallace begged. “I miss the sensation of your lips on my skin.”
I've had this story in my Google Docs for a while and debated publishing it. Ultimately, however, I snapped and decided to. Partially because I started reading canisaries's fic Batty (go read it, btw), partially because I like posting stuff and receiving validation for my stupid decisions.
This story is rated TEEN for implied sexual content, blood, injury, illness, and character death.
She needed him. She hated how she needed him.
Winona, with the appearance of an angel and the rumored demeanor of a devil, forced to live in the shadowy Fortree Woods, needed Wallace, prince of Sootopolis, one of the strongest and most beloved monarchs of the Hoenn Republic.
Why him? Why was it him who got lost in her domain? Why was it him who passed by her mansion of gothic columns, stained glass windows, and statues of angels erected in a vain attempt to escape the damnation of her curse? Why was it him who appeared on his beautiful Milotic at the bottom of the stairs to the doorstep, seeking shelter for the night?
Why did she let him stay?
Wallace was infamous throughout Hoenn for being a womanizer, and it was obvious to Winona why. He was a beautiful person. Why was a mortal like him blessed with such beauty if he was doomed to die and disappear from this mortal plane?
She looked like a ghost of her former self; gold bracelets that hid the scars that signaled her curse, intricate black dress that was more suited as funeral attire than casual wear, lavender hair tied up in a bun, with two strands bent up like devil’s wings. Her lavender eyes had a soulless gaze, like a cloudy, gray sky.
He certainly dressed like a prince: turquoise tailcoat with a white poet shirt underneath, purple trousers, white riding boots, white cape that flew in the wind, and a white beret in which his turquoise hair was carefully tucked. His turquoise eyes were full of life, like the crashing waves of the sea.
He was a prince of water. What did he see in a monster like her?
But his looks weren’t the only beautiful thing about him. For hours, he and Winona could discuss philosophy, literature, art, and the natural and spiritual world. He was Sootopolis’s prince, but he spoke to Winona like an old friend. Sootopolis was known for its navy, but Wallace spoke only of its art and culture. After all, he said, he wasn’t a man of war; he was a man of the arts.
There was something else about Wallace that attracted Winona’s attention. He had taken off his cravat and tailcoat, and he had untied his shirt enough to expose his collarbone.
She didn’t want to bite his neck and steal his life force. She just wanted to kiss his neck. She wanted to feel alive from the carnal act of kissing him.
As Wallace savored Winona’s collection of Kalosian wine, Winona (unbeknownst to him) drank deep red blood. He would need to begin his journey back home and he didn’t want to travel drunk, so he made sure to stay sober.
But then a storm struck, and all plans for traveling that night were washed away. Even still, he insisted, he would make a terrible guest if he were to get drunk.
Guest. Right. He would be staying in her mansion for the night. For just one night, they would sleep under the same roof, maybe even in the same bed...
No. Winona had to stop her thoughts. Why was she falling in love with this man? He would take the throne of Hoenn. He would be loved by all who saw him. He would wed a person worthy of his love. Meanwhile, she was cursed to an eternity of solitude, ridiculed by mankind as a monster.
But for just one night, she could spend time with a person who didn’t see her as a monster, whether that was in the same bed or just under the same roof.
-
Winona guided Wallace down the long corridor to the bedroom in which he would be spending the night. The two stopped outside of the bedroom. Wallace took Winona’s hand in his.
“Goodnight, fair Winona,” he said before placing a small kiss on her hand. It felt like an angel's kiss. It felt like her first (and possibly only) taste of heaven.
“Wallace? Would you kiss me again?”
Wallace was taken aback by the request, but he quickly smiled and obliged. He obliged several times, peppering kisses all over her hand and even a bit up her arm.
“My my, does it get lonely in this forest?” Wallace asked.
“Could I kiss you?”
Wallace nodded.
“Be my guest.”
Winona leaned towards Wallace’s collarbone. Her lips pressed against it, and she took special care in making sure her teeth didn’t make contact. He gasped. What a beautiful sound.
She stared into his eyes, which were filled with newly sparked passion. She felt her eyes flicker with passion. The next moment, they were kissing each other on the lips.
The next moment, they were kissing in the guestroom bed, and she was undoing the rest of his shirt.
They did more than kiss that night, and Winona soon learned why so many slept with or wanted to sleep with Wallace.
He didn't care for social conventions or sin, and when did social convention or sin matter ever matter to a demon?
-
Wallace had never loved a person in the way he loved Winona.
From the moment he laid eyes on her, he became infatuated with her. One would be gravely mistaken to say that it was the same infatuation he felt for any of the people he had been with. It was far more than erotic love. It was a deep, spiritual love woven in the fabric of Fate, stronger than the threads that tethered his soul and body to the ground.
He wanted to marry her. He wanted her to rule Sootopolis by his side. He wanted to travel the Hoenn Republic, no, the whole world with her. He wanted to enjoy all life had to offer with her.
But when he returned to her months later, asking for her hand in marriage, she simply stated: “I can never marry you.”
“Why?”
Winona stood up from the dining room table. Her eyes, her beautiful eyes, glowed with a stern gaze, like the blade of a knife.
“A woman like me can never marry a man like you, though the doors to my home will always be open to you and you alone.”
She began to leave the room, but stopped and looked back at Wallace.
“Please, keep coming back for as long as you can.”
"But Winona—"
"You don't want to marry a monster like me. You don't want to marry a woman hated by society, a woman who can't even have children—"
"Who cares if you can't have children? There are options for infertile couples who want to be parents."
"It's not just that."
The blade of Winona's voice cut the air into silence. Finally, she spoke again:
"Look at us, Wallace. You're an archangel in heaven. I'm forever stuck in purgatory. It's not that I don't love you. The world will never let us be together."
Wallace smiled, trying to ease the tension. "Do you still believe I care for what the world thinks?"
Winona's expression didn't change.
"In that case... We may not ever be husband and wife, but can we at least be adulterer and mistress?"
-
When Wallace returned to Sootopolis, the Four Heavenly Kings of Hoenn greeted him with a sudden betrothal to Violet, heir to the throne of Cerulean City.
To the world, they were a smiling, loving couple. In their private lives, they were two bitter, loveless people forced to live together.
But they had to stay together, for the political stability of the Hoenn-Kanto Alliance. So long as they could hold up the facade to the public, all would be well...
...politically, at least.
-
“I can’t believe anyone would believe a man as ostentatious as you would be fit to rule Hoenn’s greatest kingdom!” Violet yelled. “You’ve made yourself a thousand enemies by recklessly galavanting around, and that reckless galavanting will give them the perfect opportunity to assassinate you!”
“Galavanting?! Is caring for the people of Sootopolis what you call reckless galavanting?! You barely care about the wellbeing of the common people, and instead of doing anything to fix the problems plaguing Kanto, you spend lavish amounts of money on materialistic luxuries!”
“At least I want to have a child in wedlock! If you keep sleeping around, you’ll be having a child with every woman but me! You've been in every bed but ours!"
“That will be quite enough!” Juan, Wallace’s advisor, stood in between the feuding couple. He sighed, trying to calm himself down. “Wallace, Violet, this treaty is vital to quelling the rising threat of the Magma Empire and Aqua Commonwealth. All I ask is that you… try to keep your reputation as a happy couple. We can’t have accusations of adultery, because accusations become scandals, and that’s the last thing we need right now.”
Violet stared at Wallace, then she spit on his boot.
“I will be sleeping in our bed tonight,” she hissed, “but you won’t be sleeping by my side. I'll find my own man to sleep with. I hope you find a place to sleep for the rest of your nights.”
-
Winona seemed surprised when she opened the doors and saw Wallace at her step, thanking his Milotic for traveling so far.
“You’ve come to tell me of your marriage,” she said as she walked down the steps. “I heard of your union of Violet on the whispers of the wind.”
“It was a union forged with lies and laws, not love,” Wallace replied. “It can hardly be called a marriage.”
“But why are you returning to me? Is adultery not a sin?”
Wallace walked up to meet Winona in the middle of the steps. He planted a small kiss on Winona’s forehead.
“The only sin I bear is the sin of living a lie.” He and Winona shared a deep, passionate kiss. “When I’m with you, I’m in beautiful bliss. I’m living.”
Wallace took Winona’s hands.
“I would stay here with you forever if I could,” Wallace said.
-
“Archie has declared war on Sootopolis,” Juan said.
Wallace froze. He turned on his heel and stared out the window. The beautiful architecture of Sootopolis, her beautiful people and Pokémon, her beautiful culture and art… they were all in danger.
“He plans to attack,” Juan added.
“When?” Wallace turned back to Juan.
“He’s been known to strike at dawn, when his enemies are tired and ill prepared.”
“Send out the navy and protect Sootopolis in a ring of our strongest ships and Pokémon. Prepare every man and Pokémon to fight, and prepare every woman and child to flee.”
Juan nodded. Wallace was always a quick thinker. It was why he kept so much respect despite his promiscuity.
With a turn of his heel, Juan started to briskly walk down the hall.
“And one more thing,” Wallace called. He hesitated for a moment. “Tell Violet that I’m sorry I wasn’t able to give her the love she expected and deserved.”
Juan stared back, then nodded. With that, Wallace walked away to fetch his Milotic and prepare his battalion for the worst.
-
Torrential rains crashed down across Hoenn. Not even the sturdy trees of Fortree would get through it unscratched.
But Winona was stronger than the trees, so she stood on the balcony of her mansion, feeling the rain fall on her skin.
Something, or rather someone, caught her eye: A turquoise-haired man in a white cape was limping towards the mansion.
Wait… limping?!
Winona practically flew down the stairs and out the doors leading outside. Wallace stood at the bottom of the stairs, struggling to stay standing.
“Wallace!”
Winona ran down the stairs, and Wallace collapsed in her arms. His clothes were torn, revealing cuts and gashes on the skin underneath.
“What are you doing here?!” Winona demanded.
“We’re at war, Winona,” Wallace panted, looking up into Winona’s eyes. Even in his miserable condition, his eyes were full of life. “Maxie’s army is coming in from the West, and Archie’s army is meeting him from the East. They'll surely do battle here. My battalion fought to protect Sootopolis from Archie, but we were no match for them. I lost—”
He coughed violently, staining his white, satin gloves with blood. Shaking uncontrollably, he choked on phlegm, blood, and tears for a few moments before trying to continue.
“I lost my beautiful Milotic.” His voice was further weakened by tears. “I lost my wife. I lost my mentor. I lost Sootopolis City. But I still have you. Winona, from the moment I saw you, I knew the universe drew out our paths to meet and combine into one. We were meant to spend eternity together. If Maxie or Archie or their bastards ever did anything to you...” he was too weak to keep speaking, and it was obvious he was even having trouble breathing.
“Eternity,” Winona whispered as she began helping Wallace up the stairs.
-
His condition worsened for the next three days. He was bedridden from exhaustion, but coughing, chills, fever, and pain kept him from getting anything better than short, light sleeping. He couldn’t hold down food, so any hope of trying to regain some of his former strength was gone.
Winona could only assume he was struck with consumption, made worse by his injuries. She wouldn’t be able to save him, even if she could find the world’s greatest doctors.
The most Winona could do was try to ease his pain, whether it was by talking to him, treating his ailments to the best of her ability, or holding his hand to make his pain at least tolerable.
Even as he lay bedridden, even as he struggled more and more to hide his pain, even as he faded away, he always managed to hold long, albeit disjointed conversations with Winona. His eyes still glowed with undying passion.
Why was Fate so cruel? She was making a beautiful, wonderful man suffer to death.
-
“Winona?” Wallace’s shaky voice was barely a whisper. “Are you still there?”
Winona looked up from her book about birds. She closed it, put it on the nightstand, and clasped her hand around Wallace’s. His bandaged hand was cold as ice, but his smile was warm as the sun.
“I’m here, Wallace. Don’t worry.”
“There won’t be any more sunrises,” Wallace said. With what little strength he had left, he sat up so he could be closer to Winona. “At least our final one was our most beautiful.” He smiled. “Not as beautiful as you, but—”
Another bout of coughing struck. Its violence further drained Wallace of energy until he was too weak to keep sitting up. Winona helped him lay down as she took a handkerchief and wiped the blood and phlegm from his hand. As Winona set aside the handkerchief, Wallace’s hand remained suspended in the air. Winona intertwined her fingers with his.
“I’ll see you on the other side,” Wallace whispered.
“Wallace, if I have to spend eternity in Hell, I want to spend it with you. Man will hate us, but we won’t need their love, for we already have love for each other.”
Wallace smiled.
“Hell? An angel like you in Hell? Every night and day I spend with you is spent in Heaven.”
“Wallace.”
As the clouds in the night sky drifted away, the half moon appeared. Its heavenly glow shone on Winona’s sharp teeth as her head moved closer to Wallace’s collarbone. He was pale from illness and the glow of the moonlight. Winona could almost see Death’s shadow looming over him. Even in the presence of Death, Wallace kept the smile on his face and the glow in his eyes.
“I’ll see you on the other side,” Winona said.
She prayed he was too weak to feel pain, though she wondered who would be answering her prayers.
She felt Wallace’s grip on her hand tighten as she sucked away what little life force he had left. His blood was sweeter than the finest wine, but its sweetness poisoned Winona with feelings of guilt. Why was it the good of heart who had the sweetest of blood?
Eventually, Wallace’s hand went limp.
Winona sat up, panting as she looked down at his lifeless body. He had died with a small but genuine smile.
Was she too late?
Winona stood up and slowly left the room. As soon as she closed the door, she walked to the study, suppressing feelings of guilt, grief, anger, and doubt.
Books of every subject reached for the heavens. Winona had all the time in the world to organize and reorganize the books, so she knew exactly which books were where.
She took one titled Biodiversity in Hoenn. Somewhere, she heard that corpses became vampires if a Delcatty jumped over them. If she was too late—
“So, this is the afterlife.”
Winona looked up from the book. Wallace was standing in the doorway. He was soulless, all vampires were, but his eyes… they were like a calm storm over the ocean: dull, yet full of life at the same time. How could an undead man have such beautiful eyes and such a beautiful smile?
Winona gasped when she saw that Wallace’s shirt was open, exposing his collarbone. The bite marks were still there.
“The location of your mansion,” Wallace said, “the lack of mirrors in the residence of a woman as beautiful as you, the closed curtains, it all makes sense now.”
The next moment, Wallace found himself in the tight embrace of Winona. He reciprocated the hug and spun her around in the air. The spinning turned into a waltz across the study.
“Your eyes are so beautiful,” Wallace whispered. His voice was as seductive as ever.
“How could a monster like me—”
“Winona, how could someone as beautiful as you be a monster? The prejudiced notions of society that label you as a cold, hideous monster are false. How could those notions be true when you are the kindest, most beautiful person I have ever met?”
He stared deeply into her eyes.
“Beauty like this is more than what mirrors can comprehend, but perhaps painting can get close.”
His lips pressed against Winona’s. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, she felt true happiness.
“Kiss me again, Winona,” Wallace begged. “I miss the sensation of your lips on my skin.”
