Once the letter was finished, Muka put the pen down and retrieved a length of ribbon from her desk drawer.
'You know, I can only imagine just how easy a time the 13th Family has doing this,' she thought to herself as she rolled the piece of paper up into a scroll and fastened the ribbon around it, tying it shut.
She placed the rolled-up scroll on her desk, and slipped back on her helmet and gauntlets.
She then walked back over to her desk and picked the scroll back up.
Clutching it in her hand, she made her way back to the castle's throne room.
***
Inside the throne room, Shizuka slammed her fist hard against the wall, a look of livid fury on her face.
"She did what?!" Shizuka hissed through gritted teeth, looking as though she wanted to punch something.
Seeing the look, the other Vampires all took a step back, making sure that they were as far away from Shizuka as possible.
Despite her only being Human, they all noticed that she possessed this strange "aura" around her that put them all on edge.
And the hateful look on her face wasn't helping.
Sergeant Faye had her arms crossed as she looked to the side.
"She slaughtered them all like animals," she replied in a tone of annoyance, making it clear that she was just as unhappy telling the story as Shizuka was hearing it. "It seems that just as we are all divided, be it the Original Families, the military, and even Pure, the Vampires are the same way."
Her eyes narrowed.
"In fact, one of the first things Leader Muka told me was that the Vampire Settlement was divided into two 'camps', or 'factions', if you prefer," she replied. "Those who want to protect Humans, and those who see us simply as food. Student Hikiko and his friends have gone even further, dubbing these two groups as the 'Guardian Faction' and the 'Predator Faction', respectively."
Shizuka's hand, still punching the wall, clenched even tighter, causing blood to drip down, her nails cutting into her skin in anger.
Immediately, all the other Vampires, Sergeant Faye included, snapped their heads towards Shizuka's hand, the sweet smell of the blood attracting them like moths to a flame.
"Yeah, well, it's pretty easy to guess which of these two factions this 'Snacker' family falls under," Shizuka muttered bitterly.
Sergeant Faye's eyes tightened.
"Well, it gets even worse," she replied.
Shizuka narrowed her eyes at Sergeant Faye.
"What could be worse than the Vampires killing eight privates in cold blood?!" she asked in a low tone.
Sergeant Faye's face hardened.
"After she killed them, she used the Influence Skill on me," she replied. "She pumped me for information to find out exactly why we were there in the first place."
Shizuka's eyes widened as it clicked in her mind just what Sergeant Faye was implying.
"So you're saying that-"
Sergeant Faye nodded, interrupting her.
"Yeah," she replied. "This 'Snacker' Family knows about Student Hikiko's Ability."
Shizuka began grinding her teeth, and she let out a low growl like a feral dog.
***
It was then that the doors to the throne room were heard creaking open.
Everyone turned their gazes towards the source of the sound, seeing Muka reappear in the doorway.
In her hand, she clutched a rolled-up piece of paper tied with a ribbon.
"I need somebody to deliver this message to the 10th Family Castle," she announced. "Who amongst you thinks that you can get there the fastest?"
Immediately, a set of three or four hands among the Vampires shot up.
Turning towards each other, they saw the other's hands in the air, and they developed a look of irritation.
It honestly looked as if the four were about to burst into a huge argument about it, but then Sergeant Faye coughed into her hand.
Everybody turned to her.
"Forgive me if I'm wrong about this, Leader Muka," Sergeant Faye replied. "But you intend to keep everything I, and by extension, you, have discovered 'under wraps' for the time being, correct?"
Muka nodded.
"Correct," she replied.
"Then, instead of focusing on who can deliver that letter the fastest, you should focus on who can get it there the fastest…without attracting attention," she replied. "After all, don't you think that another castle seeing a Vampire making a bee-line from our castle to the 10th as fast as possible would raise some alarms?"
Sergeant Faye's eyes narrowed.
"Especially among the families that…aren't as nice as ours?"
The throne hall became silent, as the others took in her words.
Muka raised her gauntlet to her helmet, looking as though she was putting her hand under her nose in thought.
"Hmm…good point," she mused. "Seeing one of our people rushing over to a believed-dead family would certainly…attract unwanted attention."
She turned her attention to Sergeant Faye.
"I assume that, due to you bringing this up, you have a suggestion?" she asked.
Sergeant Faye nodded.
"I do, my Leader," she replied, before pointing towards the girl next to her. "Shizuka here has a…special talent for being able to sneak through places unnoticed."
She glanced over at her.
"Even in places that, by all rhyme and reason, she should not be able to," she added in a passive-aggressive tone.
It was then that they heard a dismissive scoff from the back of the room.
Turning towards the source, Shizuka, Faye, and Muka saw that it was coming towards the other Vampires, and seeing as how one of them had their arms crossed over their chest, they were pretty sure where the sound had come from.
"You're going to send a Human, the only Human in the Settlement, for that matter, out on a stealth mission to another castle?" he asked in a condescending tone as he looked away. "The second she leaves this castle walls, she'll announce to every Vampire within the immediate vicinity that there's a Human here. How is that 'stealthy'?"
Sergeant Faye's eyes hardened.
"Because she won't be leaving this castle," she replied. "Not her physical body, at least."
She thought back to that time that she had seen a sentient trail of dirt following after Tsukuru and Amelia on the first Saturday of the term.
The Vampire who made the comment raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Shizuka turned towards Muka.
"Where is the destination?" she asked in a serious, all-business tone.
Muka led Shizuka over to a large window on the far side of the throne room, and pointed out of it.
In the distance, Shizuka could see a castle on the direct opposite side of the Settlement.
It was easy to spot, as it was the only cast that wasn't lit up like a lighthouse.
"That castle directly across from us is the 10th Family Castle," she replied, as she handed the rolled-up scroll to Shizuka. "The recipient in Vampire Knight Edward, an elderly man in a cloak. You should be able to find him relatively easily. All things considered, he should be the only person in the whole castle."
Shizuka nodded, and she took the scroll from Muka.
The Vampires in the room all watched as Shizuka walked up to the window, and stood directly on the bottom, standing on the precipice between the 9th Family Castle's throne room, and the Vampire Settlement outside.
Shizuka clutched her hand tightly around the letter, and closed her eyes.
Inside the throne room, everyone all watched in awe as Shizuka's body took on a brown, earth-like tone.
Where only a moment ago had stood a flesh-and-bone Human in a navy-blue military outfit, there now stood what appeared to be a rock statue made in her image.
Then, the rock statue began to crumble.
The Vampires all watched in wide-eyed shock as Shizuka's body began to break down into rocks and dirt clumps, which then dropped out through the window.
It was as if someone had just dumped a large pail of dirt out the window.
Muka looked out the window, her neck craned downwards.
With her enhanced Vampire eyesight, she saw as the rocks and dirt clumps began to coalesce around a single point, looking like a freshly-dug pile of dirt.
Then, the dirt began to move.
She watched in shock as the pile of dirt began to move along the ground like a snake, traveling in a straight line from the 9th Family Castle towards the 10th Family Castle.
Muka remained quiet for a second, her head still out the window.
"That…that's new," she replied, before pulling her head back inside, and turning to Sergeant Faye. "Is that…considered 'normal' for you Humans nowadays?"
Sergeant Faye's eyes narrowed.
"No," she replied with a tone of finality. "No, it is not."
She glanced to the side.
"The whole Hikiko bloodline…appears to be…special."