Shine Bright Like A Diamond

Chapter Forty-Five

Danny wasn’t sorry. He was simply set in his ways. Relaxed, knowing that his heart was finally buried in ice, and kept behind a wall were no one could hurt him. He now wished for nothing more than to protect his family. He wanted to keep his nephews from ever experiencing this pain, the suffocation of one’s own emotions.  That was the further he kept away, and avoided Ji Yong the more Danny felt like he was running for his life.

He was tired of drowning in self pity.

He wanted to believe that he was the one in control.

That he could do, and be, without having to feel a thing. Yet, three days ago, he had woken up to the sight of his young nephew glaring down at him. Danny had casually sat up, not minding about the female that was sleeping next to him, and asked what he was doing there. Ji Yong had crossed his arms, eyes kept sharply on him, and he didn’t hesitate to state his business. He demanded to know how he and Seung Hyun could get mated, and fast. Danny had laughed at that moment, and rolled himself back into the covers, claiming that he didn’t have to say . Well, he wasn’t given much of a choice when the girl had started to scream and kicked him off the bed. Apparently she had woken up the moment that his nephew had talked and was now embarrassed in the presence of her future king.

She was nothing really, just a human servant whom he had manipulated into bed. He’d been hoping that being with someone would help him feel something else. Maybe that thrill that he remembered from his younger years, but now couldn’t seem to grasp. He wanted to enjoy life again, but truly, had been pointless. She on the other hand seemed to enjoy it, and he just went along with it. Not that morning though. She was done feeling, and had selfishly wrapped the covers over herself, bowing deeply and apologizing to the Prince, before dashing out of the room. Whatever little self dignity she was trying to keep really pissed Danny off as he pulled on his clothes, what a joke.  

Ji Yong hadn’t paid her much mind, his eyes were looking over his shoulder and Danny froze when he felt a cool breeze go down his spine. He quickly spun around to see the reaper standing there, looking more like a monster, than his usual blue hair and handsome demeanor. The sight had nearly made his his own pants. For a moment it was like he forgot to breathe, and it took his brain a moment to register how to get his body moving again.

“Hyunie, you’re !” Ji Yong complained, and stomped his foot. Danny blinked, but took that moment to dash out of the room, grabbing his shoes on the way out.

“Ji, right now is not the time,” Seung Hyun had sighed.

Ji Yong groaned, “Damn it,”

Needless to say, in the past three days, he had gotten no rest at all. He had a psychotic vampire on his and a very scary and deadly reaper at his heels. He hadn’t thought that both his nephew and the reaper would team up together like this! He could barely escape them, and a part of him was starting to suspect that they were just toying with him. They were trying to wear him down, trying to get him to break so that he would tell them everything he knew.

“Going left, no right, ,” he pulled at his hair, backing up until his back hit the harsh bark of tree.
The wood dug painfully into his flesh, but what bothered him was that now, disturbingly familiar, cold shiver that ran down his spine. He shuddered as an icy, bony hand touched his neck, sliding across it. “AAAH!” he yelled, and was off running again before it could get a proper grip on him.

This had to be worse than death, this was torture. Danny nearly tripped over when shadows from the bottom suddenly wrapped around his shins, and held him in place. He panted hard, and fast. What was this, the one hundredth time that this happened!

Flaring his eyes, he shot ice to the ground, freezing the earth and he jumped, skating his way across the field. Once he had momentum, he released his wings and made another attempt to fly out of that damned forest that his brother called a garden. “Seriously, just asking for death!” he whispered to himself. His sights on the clear skies died when branches suddenly covered whatever freedom he believed to nearly reach. Branches moved in the shadows, as if they had life of their own and scratched at his wings, forcing him to retreat them before they were pierced. It hurt too much. “STOP IT!” he yelled as he kept running, “I’m never telling you a ing thing,” he growled under his breath, jumping over roots, and never looking back. He could no longer tell where he was going, or where the damn exit to this place was.

One thing though, He knew that they could hear him. They knew he was thirsty. They knew he was tired. They ing knew! And this was all a game. He came to that saddening to admit even to himself.

“!” he tripped.

His eyes looked around; he could see several shadows forming to attack him. How did that ing reaper do that?

Danny scrambled back to his feet, and kept running. No matter what direction he seemed to go, there was always an obstacle to stop him, and direct him somewhere else. Danny tried not to let on that he could recognize that he was being led somewhere, and tried to fight against it by always going back to the directions he had been before. No matter if he was blocked or not, he always kept to the path that he already knew.

Yet, each time he traveled it, the path had been shortened. It wouldn’t be long now.

Something grabbed him again, and he fell face first. Blood squirted out of his nose as his face hit the ground, hard. “Solid,” he whispered to himself as his fingers flexed at the odd concrete that was covered in a fine layer of dirt. It was a walkway of stones, leading a path. It had been paved; there was no way that they were leading him down that way.

Were they?

But why?

“Let’s find out,” he murmured under his breath, defeated, and kicked off the ground, following the path. He watched each stone with curiosity before looking around him. He had to be cautious. He had lived a long time, and he knew a lot about the world, but even the dark castle was still a mystery to him. “A gazebo,” he murmured, stunned at the sight. The gazebo was white, covered in spider webs and the collection of dust. Danny nearly laughed as he approached the strange contraption. His eyes warily took in the sight of the five steps that led to a red glassed tiled floor, and brick benches that he could see his nephew sitting inside. Danny felt his skin crawl at the sight of the large spiders, and other insects scurrying around. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a jumbo sized butterfly flew past his face.

“Are you planning on trapping me here?” he asked as he looked around, making sure that no one would sneak up behind him. Ji Yong had a slightly pained look on his face, but despite it still managed to shoot a deadly glare his way. His nephew actually looked unhappy, crossed…well this was kind of amusing.

“Uncle, you and I need to talk seriously,” Ji Yong said, sounding deadly serious.

“We’re done talking,” Danny yelled, laughing a bit at this, “There is nothing left to say, there is no way that you are getting mated to a damned reaper!” he snarled.

Ji Yong closed his eyes, a relieved look crossing it faintly. Danny’s eyes twitched a bit, focusing around as everything around them became cool. Was the reaper here already? He wouldn’t doubt it. He just wished he could see the damned despicable creature. “It’s not for you to allow or deny me anything,” Ji Yong smirked, “You will tell me how Seung Hyun and I can be mated, you see, I don’t ing care to hear anymore sap about how your life is so messed up. This is MY life, not yours and I have a right to do with it as I wish,” Ji Yong’s eyes flashed, and Danny tensed.

“Idiocy and youth, is a wonder you are still alive. You should have died a long time ago,”

Ji Yong smiled pleasantly, turning his head a little, “Maybe I should have,” he said, his voice almost a harsh whisper, “Wouldn’t that make me and Seung Hyun that much more fitting?” he asked.

Danny felt his skin crawl with goosebumps at that response, “Shut up about nonsense,” He would never wish his nephew death. This is why he felt like he needed to protect him. He really was psychotic, and it was all that reapers fault! “Come on Ji Yong, you can do so much better, you can live a happier, healthier life with someone else, someone who lives and functions as they should!”

“Who?” Ji Yong asked, and then spitefully added. “Did you live a happier and healthier life when your witch left you?” He clenched his hands. “I know the pain of losing someone! I lost Seung Hyun, but that doesn’t mean that I gave up in life. I still believed in us and that he would return to me, that one way or another we would still be together. And you know what. He did. Seung Hyun came back for me! So, don’t compare me to you!”

Danny’s eyes shot wide at the cold response. It pierced right through his heart, slicing in at the still fresh wound. Why did those words cut so deep when they shouldn’t? “That’s…that’s not even the same,”

“Why haven’t you gone to look for her?” Ji Yong asked.

Danny blinked, “Wh...What?” he was confused. Ji Yong turned his head to the side, and Danny followed his gaze. On the side, not two feet away from Ji Yong was Seung Hyun, and to his left, stood a female. A beautiful one, with a blank look in her eyes, and serene expression on her face- and yet he could recognize her. His heart squeezed painfully, and had a hard time evening his breath. He could never mistake her.

“You claim to have loved her, but it seems like you never understood her and her reasoning’s.” Ji Yong continued, “How could you, since you were selfishly only thinking about yourself and how you’d be happy. You were too blind to see how much she loved you, and did everything for you.” Ji Yong glared at Danny, “How she sacrificed everything for you!”

“What….” Danny couldn’t say anything else, words seemed to escape him and reasoning tried to form in his mind. This had to be a hoax. With that damned reaper there was no knowing. That was it, the reaper had just brought her back, and she was still dead. They were trying to shake him. “Very funny Ji Yong,” Danny gritted his teeth, “how dare you,”

“I guess you can say it’s not really her,” Ji Yong continued as if he hadn’t heard his uncle’s harsh words. “After all, she’s nothing but a mere reincarnation of whom you loved. Except that now, she is a vampire, something that she wished so deeply to be, but knew she had to die to do that. She had wanted to spare you from the pain of seeing her grow old, see her die, but she promised silently that she’d make it up to you when she found you when she reincarnated,” Ji Yong turned to look at her, “It’s her soul, in a new body,”

Danny opened and closed his mouth. He couldn’t believe it. A part of him didn’t want to, but he couldn’t keep himself from thinking back at the memories in the past. Those memories filled with warmth and love that he had locked deep inside of his heart now surfaced to the forefront of his very being. Her soft touch, the love that shinned in her eyes for him, and the way that she would tell him-she loved him. How could he easily forget about the way her kisses taste, and the way she had always claimed to love him and only him. How could he had easily replaced all of that under his pain, confusion, and anger at her sudden distance.

Had he been so blind? “This is a joke,” he whispered, there was no way. No way could this be true. “She…”

“She’s still in love with you, if that is what you fear. Reincarnations can happen in different ways, sometimes you don’t remember at all, and other times, when the pain was too great, you can’t help but remember everything,” Seung Hyun spoke this time. “She might not have fully recognize it, but as time passed and she grew older the more her memories came back.” Thinking that Danny might doubt it, he added “She still loves you.”

“We did figure out after a while that she might know what we needed, after all, Daesung mentioned her to us. We could have even kept her from you, but she doesn’t remember any of her magic. It seems that as a vampire her ability to cast  magic or know any of the past spells is completely eradicated from her mind,” Ji Yong said this time, “She only remembers your time together, your love, and of course, that she had once been a witch, but nothing to do with her witch history. She gave it all up when she wished to come back to earth, and not just return to the earth,”

Witches died and their energy filled the earth and nature, helping keep the delicate balance that others didn’t understand. Witches were born out of pure nature, to random parents with the simple origins that the parents wished badly to have a child. In the afterlife, they were simply returned back to nature and their spells and magic were kept from the hands of others that would abuse it. Danny on the other hand knew everything about it, all that he had learned from her. He had loved her so much, that he had wanted to know everything possible. She had been so different from him.

It nearly made him feel special that he was to have a witch as his mate. Not many got that.

“Just because you’re dangling her in front of me, it means nothing. I’m still not going to tell you anything,” he stated but Ji Yong snapped his fingers. Flames raced towards Danny, circling him. Danny cursed, and created a cool shield of ice. The flames melted it just as fast as he had created it. Ji Yong’s flames were too strong.

Ji Yong moved to stand up, and took a few steps forward, before stopping. “Uncle, there is something that I’ve come to quickly realize, and that is that I can’t keep letting things, people, Life or Death to keep getting in my way. This is my life, and no one is going to get to decide what will happen other than me and Seung Hyun!”

Danny chuckled, feeling his mind just about stop working. This was so ridiculous, it was funny“Right,” he laughed.

Ji Yong felt anger rise in him, but before he could step forward, Seung Hyun placed a hand over his shoulder, and pulled him back. The young Vampire heir blinked, and looked at the reaper with curiosity. Seung Hyun didn’t say a word, but it was clear to Ji Yong as he turned to look at his uncle once again. They watched Danny freak out for a few minutes before the man seemed to have caught up with reality. Danny turned his eyes back to the Reaper whom had his arms lightly wrapped around Ji Yong’s shoulder and neck. It nearly looked like death clinging to his young, barely starting out his life, nephew.

How could he ever let him keep himself attached to that thing? It made lesser sense than a vampire falling in love with a witch.

“I’m sorry Ji Yong, but she isn’t going to change my mind,” Danny calmly said. He could easily convince himself that it wasn’t her. That she was someone else, and this was just a trick that they were using. It was so easy to believe it.

“And I need you to tell me what you know; you are not going to stop me from being with Seung Hyun.” Ji Yong retorted. His fingers curled into a fist, and his eyes flashed so angrily. Danny could already tell that he was getting his way. Ji Yong was such a child, and this was all play and games. He wasn’t about to fall for it.

“Ji Yong,” he sighed, shaking his head.

 “I need you to tell me what you know!” Ji Yong stomped his foot much like a child would.

Danny was starting to get mad now. “Or what!”  

“I will kill her,”

Danny felt his heart clench once more. He was still doubting, deep inside he wasn’t sure if this was true or not, but a strong feeling inside of him didn’t want Ji Yong killing the girl that could possibly be his mate. He didn’t want to face the world alone. He curled his fingers into a tight fist, and shook his head. “Go ahead,” he shakily whispered. This had to be a joke as he had made himself believe just a while ago.

What was this persistent feeling?

Seung Hyun closed his eyes briefly, and color returned to the hazed out expression. She couldn’t move, but she was aware now.

“Wha…what’s going on?” her voice asked, sounding clear and scared at the same time. Danny’s eyes shot wide, and Ji Yong walked around her, sending his uncle an unwavering deadly look. “Who…who are you?” she shook, looking at Ji Yong as he was the only one in sight. Instead of answering her, Ji Yong flicked his eyes to the side and she looked over his shoulder. Her eyes widened, before she felt something hot at her feet. She looked down to see, red glass flooring start to glow. She had no shoes on and before long the tile became unbearably hot, and she was unable to move her feet. “IITS BURNING PLEASE, LET ME GO!”

She could feel the soles of her feet melting. The pain was excruciating and she was shaking now. Ji Yong smirked, and Danny opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to do or say.

“Do you remember that man Stephanie?” he asked, looking back at the girl.

She nodded her head, tears running down her face as she sighed in relief when it stopped burning. “Da…Danny,” She tested the name on her lips, and turned to look at him. Danny’s heart dropped at the saddened expression on her face. It was as if she was expecting him to save her from this mess. “I don’t deserve to have met him again,” she whimpered in a soft whisper. “I’m the reason he is hurt,” she sobbed.

Ji Yong felt bad, but glancing at Seung Hyun who gave him a steady and supportive stare, he kept on being the villain. “You do deserve to be punished, and to feel all the pain he felt. You really don’t deserve him,” he flicked his hand this time, and real flames bursted around her. Stephanie felt herself inwardly jump in surprise, and a scream was pulled from her lips.

A loud, agonizing, and horrific scream that had Danny jumping and rushing to her side- “STOP IT!” he screamed, but he didn’t get far. It was as if an invisible wall had been placed between himself, and what was going on in the Gazebo. Danny felt helpless as he pushed his fists to the invisible frame, desperately reaching out as each scream tore at his heart. “Ji Yong that is enough!” he roared, “How can you become so childish over this!” Danny glared, making sure to make eye contact with his nephew. “How can you come so low?”

Ji Yong felt horrible for this; it was killing him inside to be the evil one. He could see the flames , and burning Stephanie’s flesh, threatening to melt it from her bones.

“How could you…” Danny harshly whispered, slamming his hands again.

The accusation.

Ji Yong gritted his teeth, and his flames grew larger.

He was not going to be swayed.

But he did turn around, shooting his dear uncle a cruel glare. “CAN’T YOU TELL I’M DESPERATE!” Ji Yong snapped. “I WOULDN’T HAVE TO DO THIS IF YOU JUST TELL ME!”

The angrier, and more anxiety filled Ji Yong became, the hotter, and bigger his flames burnt. Danny watched in horror as Stephanie stopped screaming, and began to cough continuously as the flames practically embraced her. He didn’t know what else to do. The reaper was strong and could end his life; the only reason for his life now was because he had answers. And Stephanie, as mad as he was with her, he still loved her. Danny finally relented, nodding his head once he decided. He was going to let his nephew know, and let him make his mistakes. They will always be there for when that stupid reaper hurt him, and left him.

And he’d also be there to tell him so.

“There’s only one way for you and Seung Hyun to be together, and that is for you not to tie your physical bodies together, but your very souls,” Danny whispered, a part of him screaming that the life of the woman before him wasn’t worth as much as his nephew’s life was worth. He shouldn’t have to say anything. “The very cores of your very existence have to be tied together, there is no other way,” He then slammed his hands against the wall once more, “Now enough!” he snapped, closing his eyes, wondering what he had just done.

The flames died down, barely simmering on the ground now. Stephanie kept coughing, but she seemed to be alright.

Ji Yong on the other hand looked at him expectantly.

Their souls?

How…

“Explain it to me,” Ji Yong demanded.

Danny nodded his head, and took a deep breath. As much as he didn’t want to say anything, he was going to tell Ji Yong. He was going to have to let his nephew get burned so that he could learn. But if that reaper hurt his nephew beyond anything, he was going to find a way to personally kill him.

Later that night, Ji Yong was in his room, sitting at the center of his bed in a candlelit room while Seung Hyun slept. What had happened a few hours earlier kept replaying in his mind over and over again, leaving him restless and unable to find sleep. One of his hands came down to the center of his belly, and he closed his eyes. If it wasn’t for the little one growing within him, he wouldn’t have pushed it so far. He was scared though; about how far he would take things for his little family. As much as his brothers, his parents, uncles, or anyone else was his family, this little one of Seung Hyun and their child was just a bit more precious to him. It was so absurd, but yes, Ji Yong knew he would kill for his family, even if it cut his soul.

Thankfully, Seung Hyun had been there to control the situation and kept Stephanie from burning to complete ashes.

Ji Yong sighed, and opened his eyes, looking once more at the box in front of him. He couldn’t believe that he had nearly forgotten about these things, until just now. He smiled softly, popping open the lid.

In a few days, he and Seung Hyun were going to be mated. They had found someone that was going to be able to fulfill the ceremony. Everything was set. Ji Yong would be damned if he let anyone mess with his special day.

“We’ve come this far,” Ji Yong whispered. He leaned back, turning his head to look at the sleeping reaper that was by his side. “Let’s make it all the way,”