Summary: They say that there are soulmates, that they find each other in every life. He thinks that you used to be his. He wonders if that has changed, now that his soul has become so warped. It doesn’t stop him from searching for you anyway.
Notes: Reincarnation/soulmate fic. Ferid’s characterization is based heavily on the light novels. In the first two lifetimes, you are explicitly female, and you are explicitly male in the third, but all other lifetimes are gender neutral, and your race is left ambiguous. Includes a non-explicit sex scene. Ferid’s former name was revealed to be Mikaela recently; the first scene of the story will not make sense without knowing this! SPIN-OFF POSTED HERE!
995
He is turned at the cusp of the new millennium, just after the crowning of the first king of Hungary, the just Saint Stephen. His neck still aches from the sting of Rigr Stafford’s bite, his insides falling apart now that he is empty of human blood. Mikaela Bathory shivers uncontrollably, the beauty of flicking candlelight and your waking face lost upon his ravenous mind. In this year of our lord, he thinks, I have become a monster.
“Mikaela…?”
Your voice is tender. He cannot hear it over the pulsing of your veins. Mikaela can smell the nectar running beneath your skin, and he wants to cry. His sire has schemed for him to kill the very person dearest to him, his other half. Most likely, it will make him truly inhuman.
You run to him immediately, clearly concerned for his pain. “My lord!” you gasp, kneeling down. Your face cups his cheek. “You’re unwell. What did that man do—?”
He cannot control it any longer. Before he knows it, his teeth have sunk into your paper-thin skin. Your neck is wet with his tears.
Whimpering, you put your hands in his hair, holding him close.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” But he can’t stop.
“It’s okay, Mikaela. It’s okay.” Your whimper breaks his heart. “I love you. I love you. I’ll always love you.“
The smile that he cherishes so much is still on your face when your heart stops, fated to remain there until it is desecrated by worms.
A violent red spreads across Mikaela’s eyes.
1048
He goes by Ferid now. He has adopted a new name to suit his new eyes and sharp teeth. It better fits into the times, too: it’s trendy, and he’s always been one for fashion, even after becoming a monster. Very few strings are left keeping him anchored to humanity, and strangely, this is one of them.
a little while ago my twitter followers were subjected to several days of me being suddenly and disturbingly passionate about Crowley Eusford from Owari no Seraph, and all the vampires…
After living for so long, Ferid longs for something, anything which could bring him a little thrill in life, something which would be able to make his dead heart beat faster and something which could entertain him even if just for a while. That is why, it is very hard for a human to catch his attention — he usually tends to see them all as rather dull now, always chasing after the same, meaningless things, believing in the world being a good place, hoping to find love and companioship during their lifetime while in the end, they all die alone and leave their belongings behind.
Therefore, he would be impressed and surprised that someone like that managed to interest him enough to share a conversation or two with him. Ferid, not being the easiest to please, must see some potential in mentioned human, the possibility of them being useful and if he will, there won’t be many things which could stop him from getting what he wants.
He will want you to come to him willingly, not really taking pleasure in hearing your protests or witnessing you trying to escape him, since it will be boring and completely unnecessary considering his supernatural abilities used to keep you in place. It would be a lot more of fun if you simply wanted to be around him, seemingly not caring about his nature and the aura of danger that was constantly following him like a shadow. Whether you are completely stupid or hopelessly in love, he will enjoy your company, at first being the most charming, yet eccentric man you could ever met.
Ferid will take a great pride in getting to know your deepest secrets based simply on the fragments of what you will be telling him and the emotions you will show. Despite him hiding his true face behind the mask most of the time, he is rather skilled in reading the others and you will be no exception, especially since human’s hearts are always so easily lead by their instincts. He will be aware of the moment when you will finally fall for him, after plenty of time spent on modeling you the way he wanted.
His presence will surely bring you a lot of joy — and pleasure. He will joke and play around you, and make sure that nobody else is trying to cross the line of getting this close to you; he will have long, meaningful conversations with you, although in the end it will be you who will be talking the most; he will shower you with affection to prove you that despite of his vampire nature, he is truly capable of experiencing fondness toward you and eventually he will make love to you just the way you like it the most, getting both your heart, body and soul in his hands.
In the end, he will truly enjoy to watch the show he himself directed. Ferid will like observing the life that is burning inside of you, the spark which has been taken from him centuries ago. Your emotions, the warmness of your hands, soft beating of your heart will remind him about the past times and what he has lost, causing him to occasionally sit alone in his chambers and try to recall how did it feel to experience the same things you did now.
He won’t be able to recall it, though.
His kisses will be delicate, cold lips brushing upon yours as if he would be trying to learn about every curve, every line, every moment when he will manage to get a reaction from you. The taste of human blood won’t linger on his tongue since many hours before he will kiss you, not wanting to unintentionally scare you off. His fangs will be nibbling on your lips from time to time, causing you to smile because of this tiny, playful provocation.
Ferid will never let you too close to him. Every attempt of learning about his true feelings will be pointless for you and he will leave you with nothing but speculations and dozens of unanswered questions. He will turn your curiosity down by making every more serious situation a joke or cleverly turning the tables, just so you couldn’t get to know him too much. His tactics will include making you forgot about the topic and if you will be too stubborn — making you feel bad about starting it, by pretending that it was somehow annoying him, just like you were with being nosy.
His biography is not something he will be willing to share with everyone, especially with a mortal who will eventually die sooner or later and he will only have the option to tell the story once again from the beginning to someone else. Over and over.
Summary: He had all the time in the world, but would still never get to finish his paintings of you.
Notes: A one-shot! Got it out of my system super quickly, so I hope it reads OK. Might edit a bit later. Took most of my characterization notes for Felid from the light novel! Edit: I realized after some Googling that “Felid” is probably a mistransliteration of Ferid so I have changed all the spellings lmao forgive me
“You’re a real lecher, you know.”
“That’s mean.”
“But it’s the truth.” Your lips turned up, pomegranate red and just as sweet. Every moment Ferid wasn’t looking at your body or your neck, he was looking at them instead.
“Maybe. But you’re still here with me, entertaining my unique preferences.” He leaned back. “Give me a spin, won’t you?”
“Ugh.” Despite the petulance in your voice, you obeyed. The silk sleeves chased your fleeting arms, but the white lace stayed flush against your body, like an ornate second skin. “Remember—I’m only doing this because you’re putting a roof over my head, and red meat on my table. I don’t actually like you.”
“Really? You don’t enjoy being beautiful for me?”
“Not particularly. I’m beautiful enough on my own.”
“That’s true. And what’s more—your insides are as gorgeous as your exterior. Ahh, it’s why I’ve fallen in love with you…”
Your snorted. “Don’t start with that again. I know vampires don’t fall in love.”
“Oh?” He tilted his head. “How are you so sure?”
“Every book you have in this library says it.” Your eyes scanned the shelves, many of which you’d dived into. It was always the ones detailing vampiric history and psychology to which you were drawn: full of secret histories that few humans could access. It made you feel special, the same way all the scandalizing costumes did. Of course, Ferid let many of his child prey access the same things and dressed them up similarly, but you hadn’t yet seen another adult. Maybe he’d thrown the others away, or maybe you were special. It didn’t matter to you. Being with him was fun, and life was short, and you didn’t want to waste time ruminating on the matter.
“Maybe those books are wrong,” he contradicted. “I have many more years on most of the authors, you know. Maybe after a millennia, vampires develop the ability to love.”
“Maybe they do, but I’ve seen how you are with humans. It’s hard to believe that you’d love any of us.”
“Perhaps you’re my first love!”
You shook your head, catching a sigh in your throat. Draping yourself across his shoulders, you asked, “No, I’m not. So why is it that you do this? I know you’re not interested in me romantically. It’s not my body you’re after—it’s not any of our bodies that you’re after. So why dress me up?”
He hummed, putting a finger to his lips, theatrical as ever. Turning his head ever so slightly, you found yourself under the spell of an entrancing creature. At this distance, noses almost touching, you could make out just how flawless his alabaster skin was, the thick lashes framing his violently red, Cheshire eyes, the cupid’s bow of his lip. He was like a Grecian statue, come to life and impossibly lithe. You couldn’t look away.
“I just like beautiful things, can’t you tell? And I especially love feeding on beautiful things.”
“Creep.”
But you leaned against him anyway, cheek resting upon silken hair. Turning a bit, you placed your lips on his head. It was fleeting and nearly shy, but still unmistakably a kiss. It made him hum, equal parts delight and intrigue reverberating in his throat.
“So why do you do that? Humour me, I mean. If I’m a creep, and you don’t love me, why would you kiss me?”
His tone was so lighthearted, posture so casual, that you knew he wasn’t invested in the question. That was fine, of course. You knew that his strange role as a benefactor in your life was purely economics to him, that he was only interested in your blood and maybe the vague entertainment you provided him. But it had been so long since you’d experienced touch from a living person, and he was so lavishing toward you, and of course your weak, human heart couldn’t help but yield to that…
“Well, you see, I get lonely sometimes…”
“So you’re using me? How cruel of you.”
“Only as cruel as you are to me.”
“Well… that’s fair.”
A silence fell upon the two of you. Ferid took the opportunity to run a hand along the open robe, then the lace on your stomach. You let your spine curve freely, ribs parting for the breath in your lungs. You’d stopped fighting the shudders long ago.
“I can’t decide if I want to paint you in this, or if I want you to slip into another outfit.”
“Does it matter?” Your fingers grazed his cheek. “You have all the time in the world, so you might as well do both.”
“You’re right about that.” He shrugged his shoulders, then straightened up. “But you do not, so we should get an early start. Come, now—go to that wall over there. You’ll look perfect against it. Ah, yes—the ivory on that lace will be even whiter than the background. It will be stunning.”
After the world ended, Ferid had thrown a sheet over one of his paintings, stowing it away in a corner, hidden from light. Time flowed strangely for vampires, especially one as old as him. It felt like just yesterday that he’d dressed you up and down, admired your beauty, tasted your honeysuckle veins. It seemed like only moments ago that he’d envied your human feelings, the limited time you’d have on this earth, the emotions that you’d held for him that he was incapable of reflecting upon you. Covering up the watercolour ghost of you helped him ignore the memory.
He pressed his palm against the glass in front of him. In the darkness of the basement, the light emanating from your resting place was radiant, like an eerie moon at midnight. Despite that, the scene was much less romantic that he would have liked. Your lovely face was obscured by a terribly gaudy mask. It would have been nice if he could have chosen the design, given you something more tasteful, but the delicate system protecting your body was difficult to customize.
Ferid suspected that Guren would fail. There was only a slim chance that he’d succeed and reverse the Apocalypse, so Ferid himself didn’t understand why he’d held onto the corpse that he’d found in his residence eight years ago. It did give him some perspective, he supposed. Vampires didn’t have the sort of desires that humans had, didn’t pine for the dead in the same way, but you had been an endearing novelty for him, and he would have liked to spend a little longer playing dress up with you. He’d even thought of you as a friend, at times! And how he hated to lose his friends. His vague but persistent interest in your memory was the closest he’d ever get to understanding Yuuichirou’s reaction to the head of that girl.
He frowned.
That mask really was hideous, and it didn’t suit you at all. He itched to take it off from you, and draw you in something nicer. He longed to see your reaction, a contradiction of indignation and affection.
It was a shame.
He had all the time in the world, but would still never get to finish his paintings of you.
I’m probably redoing this post as soon as he is done, but I’m heading out for dinner right now and just barely finished the messy linework.
Ah- Ferid is such a wonderful character, and I think this sketch made me fall in love with him to the point of blind admiration.
Gonna add more tags and such as soon as I’m home again!
Toad's Cave 