The Fallen Vampire

Chapitre 249: Devotion to A Cause

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Aveena was beginning to lose track of just how long she had been drinking.

In fact, she was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain an awareness of anything other than the sakazuki cup in her hand and the bottle of sake resting just in front of her.

She realized it'd been too long since she felt the burn of alcohol in her throat, and reached for the bottle once again.

Once she rattled it around and realized that it was empty, her face soured.

She hurled the bottle across the room and watched it shatter against the wall through her curtain of unkempt hair.

She let her head strike the wood of the table and savored the feeling of her brain rattling around in her skull.

Too much silence was bad for her… with no noise to drown out her thoughts, she was forced to think about the monuments to her failures.

She wanted to hear loud, unfiltered and happy laughter.

But all of the people who were capable of giving her that were…

"Fuck.."

Aveena stood up on wobbly legs.

She made two steps towards the kitchen before her body inevitably took a tumble. But the fall she was expecting never came.

"...Thank you." She said quietly, desperately trying to avoid slurring her words.

It didn't work.

She was righted and helped to get to a seated position within the mess hall. Her gaze was firmly affixed onto her lap as if she couldn't bear to lift her head higher.

She heard shuffling in front of her and the next thing she knew, her husband had gotten onto his knees and taken her face into his hands.

The way he looked at her physically pained her.

Taira had never drank alcohol, even after all of their years together. But he didn't force the girls to partake in sobriety with him- and pretty much left them to their own devices.

But if they ever got hopelessly blackout drunk like this, he would be rightfully concerned.

Aveena couldn't meet his worried gaze. This was the most ashamed she had ever felt in her life.

"...I am rather pathetic, aren't I?" She smiled to keep from crying.

Taira spoke to her gently, but in an unwavering voice that said his words were not up for debate.

"I married no pathetic women. Last I checked, you do still wear the ring I gave you."

Aveena looked down at the large rock on her finger. She had never felt so undeserving of a gift before. Especially not one that she cherished so much.

"I will not read your mind, my love. I want you to tell me what has brought you to this point." Taira urged.

Even if Aveena were sober, this still would have been the challenge of lifetime.

She felt the need to vomit arise. And a familiar sting assailed her beautiful red eyes.

"It felt like before... When I lost them all and I couldn't even.." Aveena bit her lip so hard that she broke the skin. "It made me wonder if I should have even attempted this... What business do I have in trying to carry on the spirit of my sect when I can't even stop travesties like this from taking place?"

"Aveena." Taira held his wife's face more firmly and made her look at him. His voice had shifted into a more serious tone and almost made her feel like she was about to be scolded.

"Today was terrible for us, yes. But it was not a travesty. At the end of this day, we are returning home with the entirety of our sect and not one will have lost their lives. They are already healed and recovering."

This revelation did partially sober Aveena up a bit, but Taira wasn't done.

"We got off easy today, but this will not be the last time. Our members will get hurt again- even if it may not be right under our noses. Our job is to pick them up. Make them stronger. Ensure that they will not be broken again.

The only way that we can do that, is if we do not fall apart at the seams every time that something goes wrong. The spirit of Drifting Snowfall will never go out if we don't let it, and the only limiter of whether or not we can grow is ourselves."

Taira's face was so close to Aveena's that he could have kissed her. His lips continually grazed her own and sent electrical shivers down Aveena's spine.

"But no matter what- You cannot give up on me. You cannot give up on our members. You cannot give up on yourself.

If we want to inspire our members to be strong, then we must act as an example of strength.

Not by putting on a facade, or acting as a character. But we have to truly be strong in every sense of the word.

We've barely even begun taking the cult to the heights that we promised to take them to. Do not force me to do this on my own.."

Aveena wiped her face. Every word spoken by her husband had rattled her to her very core.

Why had she lost her nerve so easily?

Was it the guilt? The familiarity of helplessness?

Or maybe it was just the anger that she had no idea what to do with. The culmination of her regrets both new and old.

But at the end of the day, it didn't matter. Things had happened.

So what was she going to do to ensure that nothing like that ever happened again?

Maybe instead of thinking about the fact that her members weren't unkillable, she should be doing her best to make them unstoppable.

"There's… something that I want to do when we get home. Will you help me put it together..?" She asked softly.

Taira felt his heart vibrate in his chest.

This was Aveena at her most beautiful. He might've fallen in love with her all over again in that moment.

His kiss was the best answer he could've given her at the time. And it was a response that she never would have complained about.