NationStates Jolt Archive

ooc:If you have questions about it don't post on the thread, send me a TG.

IC:
Hevn Shentavo had deep red hair that cut off at her neck and was beautifully layered. It was the natural red unexposed to any sunlight, or so it seemed. Normally, red hair would turn a lighter orange as it became more and more exposed to the sun, but her hair looked like it had not seen a day of sunlight, and was so intensely rich that the color might have been considered false. Her skin was pale, but she had no freckles, and her eyes were a rusty orange. She wore a emerald green top and black pants with black heels, and a necklace around her neck. The pendant hanging from the necklace was the symbol of the nation; a rose with a sword through it and wings on either side. These necklaces weren’t mass produced, but worn by the Shentavo women on a regular basis. There were ones which were counter fitted and passed out to people on the streets, but few were fooled. Nearly the entire nation knew each one of them.

Hevn walked into the coffee shop with her coat pulled tightly around her. There were few seats in the café, but one table was open, and she took it after ordering coffee. As she sipped it her fangs rubbed up against the plastic top. She was the only one of her family that could actually drink something other than what was normally the case. She took out a deck of cards; tarot cards, and began a spread. She flipped them over skill fully, and began to read into them. She was simply looking for something to do to wait for the coffee to cool down a bit so she could drink it; but what she read was truth, and future. What could be more interesting?

OOC: What is this rp about?

Milton Kurosaki didn't know what to do apart from throwing this damn newspaper out the window.

Where does this leak come from?

The picture on the front page was quite disturbing but Kurosaki had to admit the photographer managed to gave some kind of a poetic touch to it. Or maybe was it just plain daunting. It probably had to do with the perspective or how the moon or whatever lamp lightened the hole.

- Paul, Kurosaki called, bending to the driver, I think I'll walk a little bit.
- As you wish, sir, the driver replied, poiting at a fountain, like... here?
- Yes, yes, Kurosaki muttered as to himself, it's perfect.

The car stopped before a shopping mall. On the sidewalk, students were teasing one of their co-workers about how short his trousers were. Next to them, fishes were dancing like a thousand dots of bright colors within a fountain of pure and translucent crystal. Like any other place in the Three Empires, these few streets were a demonstration of power. Of magical power.

Still, Kurosaki did find the place appealing. Just as he couldn't help but to stay in awe before the statues of historical figures he had never heard about. Their mixed texture of marble and gold could be seen pretty much at every corner in the capital. His taste for beauty was probably the reason why he had been given this assignment but it didn't help him feel more comfortable anyway.

At first, he had looked at Ciriz Gulbert not knowing what he was supposed to understand. Her face was a mask or so he had felt. He had never managed to decipher the expressions of those reptilian immigrants anyway. She had shown him the pictures taken by Sotek Corporation investigators. It didn't make sense and, even now, he didn't know what to think about all of this.

He massaged his temples slowly. Headaches never let him alone since then. That and the nightmares.

I'd better get something to drink.

Kurosaki checked his suit for some local currency.

540 Crystals... even if that's like our good old cents, I'll have enough for a coffee.

He gave a last look at the fountain and had the fugitive feeling some fishes were actually looking back at him.

Great. Now I'm getting as crazy as all this f---ing affair.

Years ago, Michael Vaughn had died mysteriously. The Three Empires had never fully explained what had happened but, yet, they had brought the body back to Underaloz City. Now, with no embassy to back him up, Kurosaki had to find out if the Governante of the Three Empires hadn't finally changed her mind. And more importantly: why?

Hardly noticing where his steps were taking him, Kurosaki pushed the door of the nearest coffee shop.

Finishing her coffee, Hevn rose from her seat and picked up her cards. She needed to catch the Septa back into Summerset and then travel back to the mansion. Her cool orange eyes trailed to one of the coffee cups on the shelf. It was a deep crimson color. Strange, but she couldn’t help but to be reminded of home. She held her cards in one hand, and reached into her pocket, taking out thirty crystals and putting them in the tip jar. The young girl behind the cash register thanked the woman profusely, and Hevn smiled. It wasn’t like she had money issues. Being part of the Shentavo family, Ravelyn took care of everything.

She began to walk towards the door when a man walked straight into her. She dropped her tarot cards and they scattered across the floor, all of them face down save for “The Empress” card.

“Sorry,” she said, even though it wasn’t her fault, and bent down to pick the cards up, her necklace lifting from her chest at the changed angle.

Kurosaki blushed. He sensed it and felt ashamed.

No one blushes in our family, he remembered his father saying, mocking the young, shy, man Kurosaki desperately tried to kill. To no avail. He was "over-sensitive", the psychologist had told his mother, but his father was well introduced enough and the Sigma Corporation had never ever discovered his weakness. Yet.

The businessman bent down to help the young woman picking her things.

"Please, don't excuse yourself, he said with his typically underalian accent, it's my fault, entirely. I just didn't look before entering this place."

“It’s all right,” she said in a breathless voice, and looked up at him, her lips parted and her fangs fairly visible. Everyone in the nation knew who she was, if not by name, then how she looked. She realized that this man was a foreigner by her accent, and was finally relieved that someone didn’t recognize her. The cashier came over.

“Is everything all right, Miss Shentavo?” he questioned her, and she dismissed him, saying that it was fine. She bowed nervously and walked back behind the counter. Why was everyone always so nervous around her? It wasn’t like she was going to rip their throats out. Out of everyone in her family, she was not a physical fighter. She had more strength of mind than skill in combat. She picked up the empress card, setting it as the top card on the deck, and placed the cards in the satchel over her shoulder.

Talk about a hell of a coincidence.

Kurosaki stepped to Hevn with as engaging a smile as a male of 47 could have for such a young woman.

"Again, I'm terribly sorry for what happened, I hope you're not hurt. Please, let me offer you a drink. I'm a foreigner here, so please, forgive me if it is not a proper offer?"

Hevn was a bit surprised. “Oh…sure. It’s not necessary though.” She sat down at the table she was at before being once again the only open table. Hell if she could get two cups of coffee in an hour period she would be happy. She set down her satchel to the side of her chair. Since he was buying, and not psychic, she figured it would be a good idea to tell him what she wants. “A white chocolate macchiato with caramel and a shot of espresso.” The cashier had already made her drink, hearing of the conversation and already knowing what she would order. She liked coffee as much as she did the sugar. She didn’t have to worry about her appearance, considering it was set in stone. She didn’t look more than twenty five, while in actuality she was nearing fifty. She would be twenty five for the rest of her life. What some women wouldn’t give to be able to do the same.

She toyed with her necklace, the symbol of her nation, and waited for the man to return with the drinks. When he did, she felt foolish, for she had not introduced herself. “My name is Hevn,” she said, holding out her hand. While it was spelt Hevn, it was pronounced heaven. She also had a bit of an accent, probably from the far north. It wasn’t strong, so it could be assumed she had lived in the center of the empire for quite a long time.

"That's a nice name, I'm Milton. Milton Kurosaki," Kurosaki said before turning to the bar, "Coffee with milk please."

Who on earth could possibly call his daughter "Heaven"?

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"Is everything proceeding as planned?" The cellphone asked.

Paul Patterson put his binoculars down.

"Yes," he answered, "He read the newspaper and didn't even realize I was driving the car around the same block.
- Good," the female voice said. "So contact is established.
- Yes, they are at the same table. But, miss, I hardly see what the goal is.
- You're not paid to understand, 27," the voice replied with a hiss. "Just follow orders and keep me posted.
- Yes, miss Gulbert," Paul said, neutral, "I will."

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Ciriz Gulbert put her cellphone on the desk.

"I agree with my man," she said to the figure in the shadow. "It just doesn't make sense."

She was tearing her green lips with her fingers, nervous.

"I mean... we send the guy with a weird, yet simple, assignment but we still make our best so that he meets another member of the imperial family that the reason to be of the whole mission never met anyway.
- You said it to your man," a cold and broken voice answered, "And it also applies to you: you're not paid to understand, miss Gulbert."

Ciriz Gulbert couldn't help a grin from appearing on her face.

"I see we understand each other at least," the voice ended.

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Milton Kurosaki looked uncomfortable for a second.

"And... err... what do you do? I mean for a living?"

Who on earth would name their son Milton? she thought silently, then continued with the conversation.

“I don’t work,” she said plainly. “I used to be a fortune teller, believe it or not. I was not false either. I really do possess the gift of sight. It’s because of my gift that our empress took interest in me, and I became part of her family. Mostly I help her to explain what’s happening. It was on the news a few weeks ago that cities which had been devastated during the Great Wars two hundred years ago were now suddenly repopulating after having been abandoned. They just were resurrected out of nowhere. It was then that people realized that her return was responsible for the sudden change. I had predicted she would return and on that day of what would happen. When she heard of this she sent for me, and I’ve been with her family ever since.” She sighed softly, taking a sip of the sweet beverage. She was utterly relaxed with a cool glaze of pride washing over her eyes. She wouldn’t be a Shentavo if she didn’t have an over load of pride. It did not sweep into arrogance though.

Yeah... right...

Kurosaki looked at Hevn as if stunned. He had read a lot of stories regarding the Three Empires and its ruler, her (new) return being just a detail in a myst of legends he couldn't believe people actually took as historical facts. He had come to the conclusion people from the Empires had some kind of genetic deficiency.

He took his coffee in his hand, trying hard to hide how appalled he truly was. He knew of such legends in Earth II and Underaloz. The man whose body had disapeared, Michael Vaughn, had such non-sense attached to him. Kurosaki never gave credit to these things. He had always thought this to be some kind of propaganda. "Your leader is a magician". Stricto sensus.

Milton put his mug back down on the table. At this very moment, he had forgotten why he shouldn't ask the question to come.

"You really believe in all of this? I mean, wizardry? Reading the future in cards?"

He plunged his eyes into Hevn's. Oblivious to the symbol of death that was slowly taking form at the surface of his coffee.

Hevn tilted her head a bit, as if not quite understanding. The people of the nation knew of the family, and knew of what they were capable of; at least bits of what they were capable of. “Well,” she said, her tone shifting considerably to being insulted. “Let’s see if I can read you.” She took out her cards and delivered them so swiftly to the table a small breeze was created. A few people stared to watch, and more turned. It was rarely that someone saw Hevn do a reading in public. When she did, it was quite entrancing to watch. She grabbed his hand, took one card from the table, and placed it against his heart. The face of the card was unseen. Her orange eyes seemed to glow lightly, as she looked into his, and as most Shentavos love to do. She then closed her eyes and awaited several seconds.

The card caught on fire but didn’t burn. She threw it down on the table, but the fire didn’t spread. It was not the death card, but rather the empress card. She stood up so fast it was unexpected and slapped him hard across the face, nails raking the skin. “You wouldn’t have bought me coffee if I was a nameless face,” she said softly. “If you keep pursuing her,” she said in a low tone so that no one else would hear, as many eyes were turned upon them. She flipped over the last card, and it was Death. “You’ll die. She is Azrael; the angel of death, and we are her messengers.” She picked up her bag, and stormed out the door, completely insulted. She knew a glimpse into his future, and his present, but nothing of his past.

If he didn’t know about the abilities they possessed, and actually laughed at them, he wouldn’t be living long. Then again, to talk to Ravelyn Shentavo about Vaughn could very well cause death. When it came to his memory, she would kill.

What? Why? Huh?

Was he surprised? Something strange was happening to him. No, he was angry. More angry than he ever had been his entire life.

"WAIT A SECOND!" he shouted at her back, getting up. "YOU SERIOUSLY DON'T..."

Then he saw it, the red, bright dot on her arm.

"WEAPON!" he shouted, plunging to protect her.

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Knock Knock.

Paul Patterson pressed the switch and the window slowly got down. The man behind it, dressed like a beggar, smiled.

"S'ry man, d'ya hav'a cig?
- No," Paul firmly answered, vexed not to have checked on the guy first, "now back off."

Too bad he hadn't seen how white and perfectly aligned the man's teeth were.

And the last sound Paul Patterson would ever hear would be the one of the gun shot at close range.

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She looked at the vitals screen and woke up instantly.

"My man is dead and I need an explanation. RIGHT NOW!"

The green scales on Gulbert's face had become darker, a sign, for the people of her race, of deep anger.

"Your man was expandable," The voice replied. "The mission is over as far as you are concerned."

The man walked out the office. Three bodyguards in combat suits were standing in the corridor. The Alpha symbol on their chests clearly identified them as the best soldiers in all Underaloz. The man continued to the elevator, perfectly aware the men would follow him, like his own shadow would. The doors immediately opened as if they had been waiting for his arrival.

"Sub-level 56, Alpha-Red classification," he said out loud once alone in the confined space.

He felt puzzled. Everything was actually happening as he had said. That was expected but, still, frightening somehow.

The elevator stopped and he walked, walked and walked again through corridors, passing security gates after security gates until the room.

He entered.

Michael Vaughn's body was lying on a metallic table. Dark energy twisting and turning around the man's remains.

"How is it going?" a woman in the room asked, getting her eyes off a computer screen.
"Time will tell," he answered, "but I truly hope this Ravelyn Shentavo is as smart and powerful as Vaughn thought."

She fell to the ground, with Kurosaki on top of her. Weapon? she questioned, and reversed the position, pulling out her cards and scattering them on the ground. As she rose they rose with her, slowly rotating around them in a circular motion. Her eyes now visibly glowed orange. “You weren’t told everything, were you?” She scoffed, and picked one of the floating cards and held it in between two fingers. The faces there turned towards them, so as no one else but they could see. The card she held in her hand wasn’t visible to Kurosaki’s eyes, as she held it at an angle.

Ravelyn…she sent out softly. We have a bit of an issue.

Ravelyn sat within her mansion, reading, trying to take her mind off of things. When those words trickled through her mind, she walked casually down stairs, picked up her car keys, got into her black Lamborghini Diablo, and shot off down the street. She was doing double the speed limit.

Kurosaki's mind was simply ignoring everything around him except the dots. The red dots.

Why on earth?

The dots were randomly moving. Getting out by the front door was not an option. They would be shot dead as soon as they would stand up.

"It's as if they were forcing us to retreat at the back of the shop," he said more for himself than for Hevn, drawing his gun out of the holster and checking his clip. "Let me see."

He took his sunglasses out of the pocket of his vest and switched them to electromagnetic view.

"Oh God," he muttered.

Three tables had explosive devices placed under them.

Kurosaki removed his glasses. He crossed the imploring look of a young child, protecting herself below of the trapped tables. He closed his eyes and turned his head at Hevn.

"Three explosive devices. The front door is not an option. I'm pretty confident the guns that block the entrance are bots," he said as in a training. "So the enemy is somewhere waiting for us to make the first move. The target is you or me. Whoever it is, the enemy wants the target alive..." He swallowed soundly, "... or we would be dead by now."

“I’m already dead,” she said, slipping off her satchel as the cards spun around them. “It’s unfortunate for them that I’ve already called her,” She looked at the tarot cards rotating around them. “Relax…me being shot won’t kill me.” She smiled, her full set of fangs showing as she did so. She saw the expression of worry on his face, and sighed softly, then placed her hands to his temples. “Sleep…” She whispered softly, and his eyes closed, and she held him in her arms, waiting for Ravelyn to arrive. She wondered if the woman would accept this man under her protection. Considering he didn’t really have an idea to what was going on, he couldn’t be any danger. She sent one of the tarot cards into the café, frost lining the floor to twine up the tables and cover the dynamite. There wasn’t any way in hell they were blowing up a place that served such damn good coffee. She would not allow it.

She waited, unmoving for fifteen minutes, then, a black car slid down the street out in front of the café. A woman stepped out with a normal, complacent expression. It would have been normal woman in black pants and a white blouse had it not been for the crimson eyes and a rather large Scythe she held over her shoulder once she got out of the car. Her long auburn hair trailed down her back, cascading in waves like a water fall. She walked to the front entrance, and heard the bullets sound. She took them in her abdomen, and blood spilled through her blouse. She placed her hand down to the wound and brought it to her lips, licking the blood from her fingertips as the bullets rolled out of her and the skin began to repair. She walked into the café to see Hevn there with a man unconscious in her arms.

“What did you do this time Hevn?” She asked, as the customers and staff in the café watched with wide eyes. Was it really her? She looked at the cards spinning, and motioned for the girl to lower them, and she did. She picked them up and put them back in her satchel. “I was hoping there would be someone or something to kill. All I got were bullets.” There was a sad expression among her beautiful face as she offered Hevn her hand, and she took it standing from the ground.

Zafe Steele sniffed as he continued to write post cards to his friends and family back home in Blastiburg. Mother, father, siblings, Mythias, Vladimir...who is left?

Zafe was a citizen of The Blastit Empire and a retired military officer. Well, maybe not retired...more like "On Leave". He was still young, in his middle thirties, and quite the strapping young lad. He was about six foot six, had thick brown hair, and bright green eyes, as green as the stem of a rose. His shoulders were broad and his muscles, large. He was, at one point, quite good at his job. Until he was replaced by other, higher end 'Genmods', or Genetically Modified individuals. But that's how it was in the military. He had done it to others before him as he expected to be done with himself when he became 'outdated'.

Besides, now Zafe had time to go out and see the world. His isolationist nation was now long behind him as he set out to experience other cultures, good and bad, old and new, help out where he can, and perhaps go on a few little adventures. Someone with talents like his couldn't go to waste, now could they?

He smiled at the thought and casually flipped his pen in the air, catching it as it came back down.

In truth, however, he was bored of writing all these post cards. Oh, he loved the nations he visited, however writing for so long could get kind of tedious. He could, of course, call his families...but it was nothing like recieving a little postcard in the mail of a wondrous statue, a beautiful coast, some famous painting, or some other foreign object.

He sighed as he sipped some hot chocolate from his cup and carefully stacked his post cards, finally deciding he'll write some more later. He had finally found something interesting to look at. A girl had walked into the cafe, with incredibly red hair and a shade of orange for her eyes.

Zafe chuckled to himself as he took her eyes off of her, imagining what his father would say: Wow, she is quite the looker, eh? Zafe chuckled again and shook his head. One thing he noticed was that there were quite a few women who should be noticed in this nation. And this young lady looked like one of those noticible women. Funny how it is so different, yet similar to my own home. In his homeland, there were several very prominent figures one could easily recognize. The easiest part of this, however, was the more important they were, the more they looked alike. They were direct clones from 'The Glorius Leader', so it was easy to identify them. Or atleast easier.

He smiled as he sipped some more of his hot chocolate thinking how childish he must seem. He despised the taste of coffee and was quite prone to eating or drinking some form of chocolate. I bet I am the only adult in this building drinking hot chocolate...

His eyes wandered back to the women as she looked as though she were playing some sort of card game by herself. However, upon further inspection, he realized they were tarot cards. A Fortune teller? He continued to watch eagerly, wondering what it all could mean. In fact, he was very much tempted to go to her and ask for a fortune...however, he wasn't sure if it would be a good thing to do. What if she did not take kindly to those kinds of questions?

He sipped at his chocolate again before she stood up and packed away her cards. There you go, Zafe. Missed a perfect opportunity to get acqainted with an important icon of this country. The ex-officer scratched his chin and stretched his arms out, finally deciding to go see what else was on his To-Do list, when there was some commotion at the doorway. Someone had bumped into the woman and was now helping to pick up her cards. That same person then walked to the table and seemed to attract many of the cafe patrons attention as it seemed the woman was reading his future.

"I guess I am not much of a psychic," Zafe mused to himself, as he recalled his earlier thought of 'Red-Hair' not wanting to tell futures. He continued to watch, not quite hearing was was being said, when suddenly she stood up and slapped him very loudly across the cheek. The ex-soldier winced slightly and his hand went to his own cheek as he imagined it had to hurt quite a bit. Must have said the wrong thing... he thought, when suddenly the man began to shout at her, and finally, pounce on her.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Zafe shouted as he stood up, ready to take the man off of her, before he found out why he had done so. The man shouted "Weapon", and Zafe dived to the floor himself, knocking his table down in the process and using that as cover. "I wish I had a weapon!" he growled as he searched his pockets for some sort of item he could use as a weapon. He had no idea what was going on, other than something was trying to shoot someone for some reason he had no idea about. But that was adventure, right? No more being bored, that's for sure.

Then a shout of "Explosives!" and Zafe gave an annoyed sigh. This was certainly turning into an adventure... He raised an eyebrow when the woman somehow made her cards float as well as put the man asleep who had saved her. What is going on? He thought as he noticed more gunfire in the air. He peeked over the side of his table and noticed a beautiful woman casually walking inside, scythe on her shoulder. There was some blood on her stomach, however there seemed to be no wounds on her.

Judging by the expressions on the other cafe patrons, this was certainly a women one would not expect to see...or atleast someone given a lot of respect. Is she the Empress?

"Watch out, Misses! I believe he said there were explosives around!" Zafe blurted out to the two women. Well, atleast he said 'Explosives'...Blast, I wish I could make myself useful... He thought angrily as he lay against the table. He looked over the edge of his table again, trying to see if there were any sort of visible explosives nearby. Atleast he could say he was doing something...

Ravelyn bent down and looked underneath the tables at the frozen dynamite. Those things weren’t going anywhere. “No explosives, just petty bullets and frozen dynamite,” she looked at heaven, and picked up one of the cards she missed and handed it to the woman. She looked at the man in front of her and twirled the large scythe in her hand. “You must not be from around here…” she observed, and looked back at Hevn. “They knew you were going to be here, you come here often?”

“Yes, every Saturday,” she said. “But why would they want to kill me.”

“Where is that man from, he’s not from around here is he?”

“Underaloz,” she said, and watched as Ravelyn’s face paled even further, and almost dropped her scythe. There was no reason for them to kill her, and only bullets had been employed, it wouldn’t kill a Shentavo. Then again since Vaughn was gone it would seem that their nation has taken a decline. For all she knew she could be just a legend to them and nothing more. “I think there is a serious threat here, Hevn. For you, for him maybe. It is nothing, I feel, that I cannot handle.”

“Are you going to scare them off?”

“Kill them off,” she corrected, and her transformation started. Her long dark hair became longer and straightened until it reached the back of her knee. Black feathered wings ripped from her back, tearing her shirt open and expanding outwards. Her nails became longer, and her eyes glowed crimson. “No one move,” she said to the patrons of the café. “There has been an attempt on either my daughter, Hevn…or this man’s life. No one move a muscle…The lights will go off but I will be here, for all of you. Just don’t move. I know where everyone is in this café, and should you move it will disrupt my image of it. I can see in the dark, as well as Hevn. Do you all understand?” They nodded their heads obediently. There was never a leader that had the loyalty that she did. She happened to be at the right place at the right time, and was not just a figure head. She was their protection. The lights went out in the café, one by one until it was darkness. They could see her beautiful scarlet eyes glow, and disappear when she closed her eye lids.

“Hevn, hold onto the man, once I can pinpoint where the guns are, I can destroy them, and then I can get to the person or people.” The girl’s eyes glowed orange, as Ravelyn’s glowed red, and she lifted the man with quite a bit of strength, and they both huddled in the darkness. She opened up the door, and bullets shot towards her, but the scythe moved faster than light, shielding her body. Bullets were never good against the empress. With the image of Vaughn lurking in the back of her mind, she was ready to kill something.

Hevn held the man close; like a comfort blanket. She wasn’t scared, but seeing the paleness in Ravelyn’s face made her think it had something to do with Vaughn. That made her nervous. Kurosaki lie unconscious in her arms. Zafe was just a few feet from her. The patrons made no sound, and waited for a response. Some of them feared for their leader, others feared for themselves, and most feared for those who the guns belonged to.

Empress...death... Those two cards. Had she misread? Or not read far enough?

"Are you going to hide behind useless machinary or face Lady Death?" Ravelyn questioned. Now in her full seraphic form, she was quite intimidating.

ooc: see signature for picture reference.

"No, I am just a visitor," Zafe said softly, as he stared at the woman in awe. She has to be the Empress. Incredible... And his eyes widened even further when she transformed into some winged creature- a creature that looked very much a deadly being. Yet her words were comforting, protective for everyone. It certainly did comfort Zafe, as he knew he could do little to an unseen enemy, even if he had a weapon.

He nodded without thinking when Ravelyn ordered everyone to remain still. That was something Zafe could do. He quickly got himself into a comfortble position and gave one last look around the place. The women with the tarot cards huddled nearby, other patrons seeming to have some sort of fearful expression on their face. Zafe's face was one mixed with curiosity and perhaps fear. He had no idea what to expect, how could he not be scared?

He slowed his breathing and closed his eyes, beginning a meditative technique he had learned long ago in the academy. Just breath slowly...let everything leave the mind...

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The room was plunged into darkness. The old man pushed the bowl further away from him with a growl.

"Now that's what I call a dinner
- You didn't answer," the young man standing in front of the table said. "You were hungry, you ate, now you talk."

The old man giggled. He looked up at the boy's face.

"I wonder if you'll learn your place one day, son," he whispered. "But we will talk." Then his tone went darker. "I see there is no way I can make you change your mind."

The elderly walked to the window. A full moon reflected into his thin eyes while he was standing still, staring at the night.

"You realize," he finally said. "You realize how dangerous this is.
- Yes, I do
- No, you do not," the old man immediately cut, turning his head in direction of the boy. "You have just a slight idea of what your capacities are. Your parents...
- Don't talk about my parents!
- Your parents," the elderly insisted, "didn't get enough time to let you know."

The young man seemed troubled. Obviously, he felt it difficult not to act rather than talk.

"Patience," the old man said. "Patience is the key if you want to fullfil this mission of yourse.
- I have no patience.
- That I know. But you'll have to learn patience. You'll have to delegate, to create a myst around yourself." He pointed at the boy. "Because you'll have to hide.
- Hide? Why?
- Why have you hidden your sister?
- Don't talk about her.
- Right, right," the old man answered waving his hands. "I know how protective you are with her, yet, you must understand you and she have the same enemies, mustn't you?"

The boy kept silent.

"Zacharian?
- What are implying, old man, that I should wear a mask or something?"

The elderly looked at the young man.

"You need more, Zacharian," he said. "You need to have a public face as different from you as possible. Ice cold, careful... and you also need a contingency.
- A... contingency? What now?"

The old man walked around the table, his hand wandering on its surface.

"A riddle, Zacharian, a way out and a way in.
- I'm tired of riddles.
- Except this time," the elderly quickly retorked, "you have to be riddle.
- I don't get it," Zacharian muttered. "You're as cryptic as always.
- With time, my young friend, with time you'll understand. And when you have understood, you'll place clues for those enlightened enough to see them... in case you cannot make it by yourself."

Zacharian stared at the old man.

"No matter how hard I try, I never get a real answer from you."

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"No, Gulbert, whoever it is, he's not in our files."

Ciriz Gulbert wondered if she hadn't fainted for a second.

I've been played like a simple pawn.

"Thank you, Travis, that'll be all."

And she put down the phone and tried to collect her thoughts. A man from the Shadow Division came, gave orders, had one of her own men die and disapeared. Now, this guy never existed. He wasn't recorded in any of the files of the United Corporations.

It was time for a code Red emergency.

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The sirens started to yell.

"Sh-t!"

The scientists knew what they had to do, yet he didn't feel comfortable enough not to give orders.

"All right, erase every single data in the computers. You..." he pointed at a man with a gun. "... shoot this panel."

He walked to the remnants of Michael Vaughn.

I knew this damn Gulbert would check on me. Didn't think it would be that fast though.

He looked around him.

"I need a bag, right now."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kurosaki opened the eyes and saw her. He knew her.

"I... I know you..." he whispered. "I know you."

His brain was slowly recovering from the telepathic sleep.

What is happening to me?

He moved a little and put a hand onto his forehead.

Of course, I know her, she's the Empress.

He had seen her photo before. It had to be that. But somehow, somewhere within his memories, she was already there. And he had something to tell her, thought he didn't know what.

"It's important," he muttered to himself.

He looked around him. Hevn was there, the coffee shop looked like a gigantic ice cream and there was this funny guy, eyes closed, with a postcard in his hand.

All right, now I know I'm turning mad.

“There was an attempt on my life. The empress went outside to deal with him. How could someone not be scared of a death angel with a scythe?” she chuckled a bit, and let go of the man, remembering her anger at him. She paused, and shuffled the cards in her hands. “Right now just stay in here. There is really nothing that she can’t handle.” Hevn tried to piece together why someone would want her dead. There really was no explanation for it, unless they were trying to get to Ravelyn.

"Yeah, yeah, I know someone tried to kill you, I..."

Kurosaki's sentence stopped as blood started pouring out of his throat. Behind the windows of the coffee shop, someone put back a gun into its holster and just... disapeared.

Hevn’s eyes widened. “Oh shit…” she swore. Ravelyn…. Ravelyn’s eye narrowed toward the door. With her scythe in hand she cursed. There was no one here. No more bullets…but maybe one was enough. She walked toward the door, opened it, and peered inside. She cursed under her breath and the lights turned back on. Hevn nearly shot across the room at the sight of the blood; avoiding temptation. Ravelyn picked the man up. “What the hell did you know…” she questioned, and knew he could not answer. She ran out to the car, Hevn trailing behind them, and put the man in the back seat, Hevn getting in next to him. She opened the glove compartment and syringes fell out. This was not her car; it was Charmaine’s…Sarah’s. She took a syringe and jammed it into her arm, drawing some of her blood.

She passed it back to Hevn who looked at the liquid. “Inject it into his arm, it will help the tissues heal and help keep him alive.” Ravelyn placed one hand on the mans body and the bullet rolled out of his neck as she sped down the road, keeping one eye ahead, and glancing back every so often. While driving she took another syringe and drew more of her blood, passing it back. “ Apply pressure to the wound so my blood is not wasted. It won’t turn him…it will heal him though.” She looked back to see Hevn with one empty vial and just injecting him with the second, while the ripped sleeve of her shirt was held to his throat gently enough not to strangle him.

“You need to calm him,” Ravelyn growled. “He’ll go into shock if he’s not calm, regardless of whose blood he has.” She paused for a moment. With blood came memories. If he was coherent enough, would he see her and Vaughn? Did it matter?

Hevn bent down to him, not really knowing what to do. She soothed through touch, and really had no other choice. She placed one hand behind his head, bent slightly, and kissed him gently.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The truck was running fast on the highway. He looked at the bag on the seat just in front of him. His cellphone rang.

"Yes?
- Target has been shot.
- Proper munition.
- Yes, in the throat.
- Healer nearby?
- I think so.
- I truly hope you think right... for your own sake."

Now, Mr. Vaughn, I f---ing hope your "contingency thing" is actually working.

"Sir," the driver shouted. "I think we have a problem.
- Facts, son," he replied, "only facts
- Yes sir, there's a police barrage right before us.
- I'm beginning to hate this day."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kurosaki passed his hand onto his throat or so he thought.

"It's all right now," a voice said. "you won't die.
- How come I can't see," Kurosaki said, or just thought? "What's going on?
- You are Milton Kurosaki, is that right?" the voice said. "Son of Akira Kurosaki, heir of a samuraï known in the middle-age as Kurosaki the Berserker, right?
- What the Hell are you talking about?
- What corporation are you working for?
- I won't answer this question," Kurosaki promptly replied thinking about his position in the Sigma Corporation
"Sigma Corporation then, good." the voice answered his thoughts. "It seems everything is going as planned. Where are you?
- Three Empires," Milton couldn't help to think.

He felt a disturbance in his surrounding, as if this place had a special meaning for "the voice".

"Yes, yes," the voice said. "It makes sense... Rave... Is the Empress near you?
- Yes. She's driving, I'm dying in her care.
- Dying?" the voice said ironic, "In Rave's car? Wouldn't be her if she let someone die in front of her like this. Not from her own hands I mean.
- I don't understand.
- Yes I know," the voice answered, "Just deliver the message. Tell her: Michael says he's trapped in the Room.
- Err.. what?
- Just tell her exactly that... and tell her..." the voice became hesitant. "No, hopefully I'll be able to tell her myself.
- But I don't understand, I...
- Now go!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kurosaki opened the eyes and breathed in a hiss. Black energy emanated out of the hole in his throat for a second. He blinked at Hevn, the taste of her lips clearly perceptible. His eyes then slowly turned at the driver.

"Michael says he's trapped in the Room," Kurosaki said slowly as in a dream.

With his words, Ravelyn nearly crashed the car, coughing as if she lost her breath for a second. She skidded in front of the Shentavo mansion, and opened the passenger door. He lifted him up, and for someone with as lean muscles as she it was strange to see her lift him as if he were paper and carry her scythe in the same hand. Hevn got out of the car as well, tasting the blood on her lips. She walked briskly into her mansion, and left the man to the couch, crossing her arms over her chest and staring down at you. “Michael is trapped in the Room…” she repeated, over and over again, sitting down on the opposite couch. Her wings diminished into air, and her hair became a bit shorter and curled at the end. Her scythe disappeared, and her eyes became calm. She was back to her normal form; the seraphic hidden within.

“Vaughn…” she let the name whisper from her throat. Vaughn alive? After all these years? She…she had found comfort in another not but a week ago. Both of them had been suitors for her love; at the same time. Corothisia and Michael…both of them wanted her, and she chose Michael. After that Corothisia vanished. When Coro came back, Michael had been gone for over two hundred years, with the altered time difference. She mourned every day, asking to no one in particular why he left her. She had asked him not to go, asked Vaughn to come back with her, but he had to follow his father he said…

“Does it mean anything to you? How did you speak to him?”

"You mean... this actually makes sense for you?" Kurosaki replied. "I mean, a Michael talks to me in a dream and I..."

Then he remembered why he was in the Three Empires in the first place.

"Michael Vaughn," he said for himself. "Michael Vaughn. He's the reason why I've been sent here. Somebody stole his body... out of his tomb. My governement thinks you have something to do with it and so they sent me. I don't know why me but they sent me."

He stopped, thought about the last hour: wings, scythe, magic. Dream or not, it was still scary as Hell.

"Err... I mean... It's a... err... diplomatic visit, your highness."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He walked through the corridor, his footsteps echoing into the Manor and opened the door. The room was empty. None of the furnitures he had bought 2 centuries before... when he had thought he would pass the rest of his life with her. The only thing remaining was her portrait on the wall.

He sighted.

"Vaughn, you son of a b----." He said out loud. "Once this bag is here, maybe I'd better burn it."

He looked at his watch. His man should have brought the package anytime soon. He closed the eyes. Sooner or later, she would contact him and he truly didn't know what his reaction would be. Ravelyn looked so much like Genesis.

Witz emptied his mind of these questions. He had to finish this. What Vaughn had made of him, he didn't know. Fact was he couldn't die. He had tried so many means to end it all. But his old master needed him it seemed. No matter how destructive the mean had been, he would simply reappear at the next sunset.

He lightened a cigarette.

Hurry up, Michael. Come back from wherever you are... Come and kill me once and for all, for Christ sake.

“You can’t lie to me,” she said, her eyes reddening, but not in anger but in tears. “If I had Vaughn’s body, I would revive him…or die trying.” She turned away from him, running her hands through her hair. Tears fell from her face and solidified by the time they got to the floor as small diamonds. She walked slowly to the window sill where upon a table was a silken box. She opened in and rolled her engagement ring around in her hand, feeling the chill of the metal and looking at the diamonds. Vaughn had not been stingy, especially not with her. The memories flashed before her as vivid as day. She remembered, she remembered everything.

The IV in Rave's arm continued to continuously pump the lethal drug into her, rendering her unable to gain her strength back. She moved her head slightly, and let out an almost inaudible sound, but she did not wake up. Her auburn hair fell as if it were placed upon the pillow with the most delicate hands. There was a light flush to her cheeks, as if she had been out running five minutes before. While her body remained silent, her mind rushed with thoughts.

She ran down an empty corridor. There seemed to be so many doors that she could turn down. She headed toward the end, hearing the footsteps behind her. She was out of breath, her endurance failing her. She had been running for hours. She tried a door to her right, but it was locked. She backed up, and then rushed at it, kicking it open to where she was consumed in darkness.

She looked around nervously, panting lightly. She was afraid, and didn’t know why, or what was chasing her. For the first time in her life she felt scared. She looked around nervously, and heard the door close. She knew who it was. She backed herself up against the wall, a pale light illuminating his face. “Stay away from me,” she said softly, blood now apparent from an open wound on her face. Her crimson eyes flickered as she watched every move of his.

“There is no need to run away from me, love.” He said with a smile upon his face. “Actually, stagger away from me. You’re not looking well at all.” He chuckled to himself, and advanced towards her. “At least you’ll be well enough to go through with the ceremony, today.”

“Today?” Ravelyn asked, in surprise and fear.

“Yes,” he replied in a haunting tone. “You’ve slept for two days straight, my dear.” He smiled. “Of course, without the sedatives, you may have woken by now.” He advanced again, and there was nothing she could do. He grabbed her wrists, pressing her back into the wall. With a wicked smile, he pulled her forward, dragging her out of the room and into the corridor. There were tears in her eyes as she resisted, but it was no use. She was brought toward the door directly at the end of the corridor where heat seemed to be emitted from. He paused for a moment, sensing another’s presence in the physical realm. He grinned to himself. “Be back in a moment, my dear…” he left Rave on the ground, tears in her still eyes as she lay there; helpless, and alone.

Daja appeared in the doorway of the room only to see Zacharian and another standing there. The Maester of Evanescing had a wicked smile about his face as he glared at the man. He looked at his affection toward Ravelyn, and narrowed his eyes. It was because of Vaughn that he had tried to take Ravelyn that night, and she had killed him…to her knowledge. It was because of his jealousy of what they had together which he would never experience. But all that was about to change…he would finally have her, with or without her vow.

“Sorry to interrupt you,” he said in a refined manner, something not so right about the tone of his voice. “But Mrs. Desuray has a wedding to attend. She will not be returning after the ceremony…and guests not on the list are most unwelcome.” He knew exactly who Zacharian was as he stood there. His eyes glowed with fire momentarily to signify what lay within him. The demon lord looked at Ravelyn upon the bed, and smiled. He held out his hand. “Come, my dear. I wouldn’t want you to be late.”
Tears fell from Ravelyn’s closed eyes. She opened them slightly, unable to make out any of the beings before her. The drugs had taken their desired effect much to Daja’s delight.

Rave's eyes shot open as she looked around her instinctively. She felt her hands bound, and attempted to pull them to her side. They were bound by shackles which chains attached to the wall. It seemed so hot, as if the temperature was of summer. She struggled violently, but with every contraction of muscle, the drugs seemed to set in. She looked up to see him there, sitting at a rectangular table with a glass of wine, laughing in amusement.
“What would it take you to lose for you to marry me?” he growled.
“I will become fallen if I marry a hell hound like you,” she said in insult. “Nothing you could ever say to me or threaten me with would instill fear within me, nor would it make me bend to your will. Nothing you could ever do would make me accept your offer. I would rather die…I would kill myself before taking your disease ridden hand.”

“You never cease to amaze me,” he said softly, and raised his glass. He then set it down on the table, and stepped towards her. “Oh my dear Ravelyn…I know very well that you would sacrifice yourself. You had no problem with that before, for someone very dear to you. Too bad he is in hell, burning because of you. Don’t even think about him anymore…he is dead to you and the world.” Daja then could sense the anger within her eyes. “No worry. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself again…except to me. Sure…you’d kill yourself in a heartbeat…what about Qui, eh?” his smile twisted into a wicked grin like that of a snake.

“What the hell are you talking about? My son can take care of himself…” Ravelyn replied, but grew suspicious of what lay behind his eyes.

“He’s my son too, Azrael.” He said in reply. “And he took to the darker side of things from the beginning. You think I do not share a connection with him as well?” Rave’s eyes widened. “You will take my hand…or I will slaughter him with a flick of my wrist.”

After moments of silence passed, Rave spoke up again. “Go ahead.” Daja looked shocked at this. “He’s just been a rebellious bad-ass for all the years I’ve known him. If you want to kill him, go ahead.” Daja was clearly not pleased with this. He could not tell if Rave was serious or was she simply saying this to deter him…

“What of Genesis then?” he received no reply except for a shaking of the head. He held up a glimmering amber sphere, and Rave’s eyes shot up. “What of this then?” He noticed Rave’s reaction, and proceeded in tossing it up in the air and freezing it, pointing a gun towards it.

“Alright.” She said in urgency. The orb dropped back in to his hands, and he set the gun on the table. “Alright. I will.”

The fire was everywhere, and countless demons were gathered. There was a long narrow pathway almost like a bridge which separated a few from the thousands below and across. Daja waited at the top, sitting in a chair, and enjoying the atmosphere all too well. Rave was lead through the clawing hands up the stairs. She was pulled, violently foreword. A hand clenched her wrist, and she let out a cry. Daja snapped up, his hand out, when forty feet away, the hand that grasped Ravelyn’s was torn violently from his bride. “Don’t touch her,” he said viciously to the demon. “She is mine.”

She was pressed forward, and she walked the path towards him, loathing his very essences. Halfway, she was stopped. “If you would be so kind,” Daja said in a gesture, having the guards back away from her. Ravelyn clenched her fists and glared at him. She closed her eyes, and her wings tore through her back, sending blood cascading down her back. It healed quickly, and her wings spread out in full; a mark of a seraphim.

“Enchanting,” he said softly. She was forced to progress forward, but struggled, her fist hitting a demon squarely in the forehead, killing him instantly. Two more went down, and Daja sighed. “No more of that…” He lifted his hand, and she ceased, knowing that the pressure around her neck was not normal.

It took ten minutes before they could get her by his side. It began.

"Take my hand..." Daja said to Ravelyn. Her hand trembled slightly. She reached out hesitantly, and he took her hand in his. The ceremony proceeded, but Rave just heard it as babbling and murmurs. She felt a nudge from him, and looked at the demon before her whom had haulted his words.

"I...I..." she couldn't form the words it would seem. With those words it would be accepted, as well as her fate.

"Say it," Daja said. "And no harm will come to them..."

"I---"
"I'm sorry to disturb this noble assembly, but I'm afraid this lady is already engaged..." The enormous voice had echoed all around the place as if walls themselves had spoken. "... to me, I might add."

Out of nowhere it seemed, Zacharian appeared. His movement had been so violent and unexpected he almost looked like a ghost. His dark long hair was flying in the air, electric, and the very fabric of the world seemed to vibrate at every one of his breath. The flash came then. And bodies flied all around. Flied, burned or exploded, it was quite difficult to say. But Daja was down on the ground, his wrist broken, while Zacharian was smiling with so much confidence and energy Hell itself seemed as weak a concept as a kindergarten, Zacharian with eyes darker than ever, Zacharian was holding Rave, already disapearing into the shadows.

Come and find me in there if you can, smartass, He sent Daja for he was already in the Dark Path.

Ravelyn had not seen it coming. She felt herself being swept up into someone's arms. She didn't have to look, she knew. Her arms were around his neck in seconds, burying her face into his chest. I...never thought I'd see you again..." He felt the grip weaken as Rave passed out. The drugs were coarsing through her veins, and she was weak. “I love you.”

------
Tempest lay there and closed his eyes, his right hand absentmindedly reaching up and stroking Rave's hair repeatedly, as if it comforted one of them. Which one was unclear. As she spoke, telling him about her downfall, he almost shivered, thinking of what she had gone through and how he had not helped her. How he had left her where she was. Unknowingly, but still. At that time he would have had the power to save her, and ... he shook his head for a moment to clear the thoughts. Beating himself up over the past would not solve anything.

"I never stopped looking for you," he said at last. "When I left it was because I had to. I hope you can understand that. But as soon as I knew you were in trouble, when I felt the ... I tried to look for you. For two hundred years I've been trying to find you, but I couldn't."

[i]They say it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I suppose they say the same thing about friends. You were my only friend, Rave. Friend ... and so much more. But you, you had many friends, and now they are all gone. You had Michael, and now he's gone. We both lost all our friends. The difference is that now I've found mine again.

"You cannot even imagine how I felt. After two hundred years of searching, after exhausting every possibility, looking in every place, through heaven and hell and everything in between, I had given up all hope. And then, suddenly, there you were, looking a little worse for wear, but alive. And then, here I was, and you know the rest."

I spent so much, and lost so much, trying to find you. And despite my best efforts, I couldn't. It scared me and saddened me to know that everything I expended, everything I tried to use as a lead, was not enough to find you. But maybe, jut maybe, it was enough to help you come back.
…
"It ... will take a while to explain," he said, trying in vain to work his way out of having to tell her now. Looking up pleadingly into her eyes, he saw she was not willing to wait any longer, and somewhat sheepishly launched into his tale.

"When I left, it was because I had to. I needed time away, to make my thoughts straight, to decide what to do once and for all, to see just what I could or wouldn't, what I would or wouldn't do. But before I managed to figure it out, you disappeared too. By the time I knew I had to be with you, no matter what, no matter how you felt about me, to be whole and to be myself, you were gone and I couldn't express these feelings to you, I couldn't tell you that.

"I started looking for you, in all the place I thought you would go if you were defeated and weakened in such a way, I spent decades searching for you, fighting my way through anyone trying to stop me, and I never found anything. Eventually, I lost all hope, which is when ... A woman found me, and I suppose in a way she saved me. She was a human, but she loved me no matter what I was or what I did, a love I suppose I couldn't really return. While I was with her, I never forgot about you, and I never stopped hoping you would turn up, but I stopped actively looking. I spent years with her, and I grew almost happy again. I wasn't whole, but I could spend time with her and, for some time at least, forget that you were gone.

"Then one day we had a visitor, who told me that he had seen you, far, far away, and suddenly it all came back to me. The hurt, the longing, the need to be with you. She felt betrayed, and she tried to convince me not to go looking for you, but I was too stubborn to listen. I didn't even take a good look at the messenger who said he had seen you. Eventually, when she realized I was going no matter what she said, she resolved to come with me. She said she loved me enough to help me find what I wanted, even if it would lead to her hurting. I should've known it was a bad idea, but I was too blind with hope. She came with me.

"It turned out it was all a lie. The man claiming to have seen you tricked me into a trap, some of my most ancient enemies captured both of us, and killed her agonizingly slowly in front of me. They didn't even have anything against her, they killed her solely to make me suffer. They chose not to kill me, instead locking me in a cell deep in the earth to replay that over and over in my head. It drove me mad. When I finally escaped all I could think of was killing all those men, and I spent years hunting them down and making them pay for what they did. I saw it as my fault. My blind quest to find you led me into a trap that made the one person that truly loved me die, and all because of me."

He broke off his talking, looking down shamefully at the ground, as though replaying it in his mind again. "I have to live with that every day, that if I had said no, or if I hadn't been so blind in my driving search, she would have lived so much longer, and wouldn't have had to go through that."

With that he stopped, still staring at the ground. He felt as though Rave already knew the rest. Truth be told, there wasn't much more to tell.
She parted my lips slightly. “You can’t keep beating your self up over the past. If I did that I would still be on the floor right now, waiting for death to come for me.” She knew it was hard to loose someone all to well, and he had lost someone because he loved her. She hadn’t made the decision to go through with Vaughn until he vanished. When he left her, there was nothing left for her to do, and her heart was open and vulnerable. He loved her, while he brought chaos to her life he still loved her. She loved him back. She paused for a moment, letting everything sink in. “If I had said no, if I hadn’t been so blind in my driving search, he would have lived so much longer, and wouldn’t’ have had to go through hell. We both lost someone, Corothisia, and our actions led to both of their deaths. It is something that can be forgiven, even though we will never forget.” She moved closer to him. “We made terrible mistakes on the past, and time has moved on.” She looked at him intensely, her crimson eyes sparkling. He kissed her.



Ravelyn’s hand trembled on the corner of the table. “Out of sight...out of mind. Out of time to decide. Do we run? Should I hide for the rest of my life? Can we fly? Do we stay? We could lose, we could fail, and the more minutes take to make planer or mistakes. Carousels in the sky that we shape with our eyes, under shade silhouettes casting shapes, crying rain. Can we fly? Do I stay? We could lose, we could fail. Either way, options change. Chances fail, trains derail…”

“That’s the fortune I gave you…” Hevn said softly, not moving towards her for she had no idea what she would do. She finished the fortune for her, as she stared at the clock. It would be night soon. “30 minutes, the blink of the night. 30 minutes to alter our lives. 30 minutes to make up your mind. 30 minutes to finally decide. 30 minutes to whisper his name. 30 minutes to shelter the blame. 30 minutes of bliss, 30 lies. 30 minutes to finally decide…” Ravelyn looked at Hevn, observing the girl’s pure white eyes. Was she going after him? After having lost him so long ago; the one she loved…the two who had always competed for her affection…she had to choose. She had to choose.

“Do I stay? I could lose… I could fail… Chances fail…trains derail,” she repeated Hevn’s haunting fortune, again, running her hands through her hair once more and looking at the snow falling down outside.

“30 minutes, the blink of the night. 30 minutes to alter our lives. 30 minutes to make up your mind. 30 minutes to finally decide. 30 minutes to whisper his name. 30 minutes to shelter the blame. 30 minutes of bliss, 30 lies. 30 minutes to finally decide…” Hevn repeated again, her eyes still white, waiting to hear her answer. Ravelyn looked up at the cloak.

I love Vaughn. I love Corothisia. Both were stolen from me…Coro was given back, and Vaughn…I’m going to go after. Why can’t things be simple, like they were before? I was blind…but we were happy. I have to decide…I loved him…I loved both of them. I loved both of them.

“I’m going after him…” she said in a soft voice, Hevn nodded.

“Call…his house, then leave…” she whispered, and passed out.

She picked up the telephone to his old manor, waiting for someone to pick up. Hevn sometimes sounded crazy, but her sight was true.

Zafe's eyes had remained closed for a good portion of time, however when he heard the woman and man talking nearby, he opened them carefully and glanced at them, making few other movements.

His eyes were a flurry of movement as he continuously looked back and forth, around the dark room, when he heard an obscenity nearby, and the lights suddenly came on. Apparantly whoever was here, was no longer here. "Strange," he mumbled as he slowly stood up, only to realize that the man was bleeding by the throat. Zafe's eyes widened and he was tempted to go help, but the empress was already carrying the man and questioning him. Best not to get in the way of things... he thought to himself. He learned that the hard way back in boot camp, when he attempted to make a different strategy than his commander preferred. It truly was a stupid mistake on his part...the commanders were who they were for a reason...

"I may be...able...-" he began as the rushed out the door in the Lamborghini. Soon enough, the car was off, speeding down the road. Zafe sighed and and looked around at the cafe. There was a small mess, frightened people, and some pieces of the building on the floor. He sighed and walked up to the counter and gave them a somewhat queasy smile. "I'll help clean..." he offered as he glanced at the mess. It would help give him something simple to do as he contemplated what exactly happened...

(OOC: To Rave: you really want me to feel ashamed to post something as small as I'm about to :P )

Then the sound came. He knew all too well which line would ring.

That was fast.

The Shentavo were fast. Too fast to Witz's taste most of the time. Except when it came to Genesis, of course. Back then, none of them had been fast enough. He turned his back at the portrait.

You won't see my tears, Gene. Not again.

And this damn phone ringing again and again and again...

What if he just didn't hang up? Would it make a difference? Wouldn't it be nice to let Vaughn rot wherever his "soul" was? To anyone else, maybe, It would have felt funny, funny how much he hated his former master after so many years not seeing him. Not to Witz.

Yet, I am my own master now.

But master of what? An empty manor? A declining economic group?

Nothing. Nothing but the souvenir of a love that is lost forever.

Slowly, as if uncounsciously, he left the room. He walked back through the corridor. Back to Vaughn's favourite room: the library.

It was now as empty as all the other rooms in the manor. Witz had taken a incredible pleasure into selling every single things that could have reminded him of Vaughn. Except for the walls themselves. Sometimes he happened to question himself. Why not?

Next time, you'll thought better before choosing your heir, a--h---.

It was an antique phone. Probably something Vaughn had bought an outrageous price. Crimson of course.

I always truly hated your theatrical endeavors, Michael.

It was placed on a small table. One of his men had stolen it. Probably at a coffee shop given how devastated it looked.

Witz took a deep breath and picked the phone. It stopped ringing and it felt somehow reliving.

"Yes?"

(OOC: To The Blastit Empire: I'll let Rave handle the story line in the coffee shop first and see if I can introduce a character into it ;) )

“Hello, Witz,” the voice came from the other end of the phone line. There was a breathless melody which was intoxicating. It was unmistakable, for he knew it well, it was where Genesis’ voice was derived from, but he knew it was not Genesis. There was a long pause, and something whispered in his ear not to hang up. How are you? That would have been a question she already knew the answer to. “Witz…I need your help.”

Hevn looked at Ravelyn. “I must go check out Aristeus…I feel something there, something that I should see…” she said.

Take Nikolai with you… Ravelyn warned, and Hevn paused, then went upstairs to change.

“Do you know why I’m calling?” she said, her voice calm and complacent.

“You’re a foreigner her, aren’t you?” The young waitress said as she unhooked the frozen dynamite from the table and put them into a metallic container, then began to wipe the blood off of the floor. “When you saw her, you looked like you had seen a ghost. Some of us can’t even believe she’s actually alive…well, she’s not alive, but rather…rather that she returned. She gave us our lives back after the Great war. Have you ever heard the stories of Miss Ravelyn?” Some people in the café muttered. They knew a lot of stories, many versions, but all had some truth in them. The only people who knew the full truth were the Shentavos themselves…and Vaughn and Corothisia.

"I think I have an idea," Witz answered, neutral. "I guess the canal worked. Kurosaki met Vaughn. Vaughn gave a message. I could have taken the message myself, but I figured it would be too cryptic to me. So I thought about you."

Would she sense how much of a revenge it was? Letting her worry about all of this, being consumed from the inside, just like he had been himself, when Gene died.

Yet, he felt guilty for this machination. It was unnecessary. But he couldn't help to hate her for she was alive and well. Gene was not.

She sensed the pause from the phone, and the sadness in him. “My daughter died with him…” she said suddenly, resting her head against the wall. She then got back to the conversation, wondering if he would notice how hard it was for her to recover from those words. “Are you saying if I shoot him again, he’ll get to speak with him again? The message…I can’t understand. Someone has taken his body…do you know anything about this Witz? I can be there shortly…” All she needed was a bit more time, she was already establishing the connection.

"The Contingency as Vaughn called it only works once," Witz recited. "Vaughn linked his soul to a line of Samuraï warriors. Don't ask me more, I have no clue. I had never heard about all of this before I discovered I was the heir of his 'empire' of sort."

He paused. These weren't good memories. Back then he had had to hide in the shadows, literally replacing Vaughn.

"Anyway, as for the body. It is in my possession. It's more remnants than anything else. I had his tomb monitored. His letter was clear: as soon as energy would begin to emanate from his dead body, that would mean he was ready for the Contingency. All I had to do was to find the descendant of the Kurosaki family and bring him near to death. His soul would then find Vaughn's one. But I guess it makes more sense to you than it does to me."

He recollected his thoughts.

"One of my best men is bringing what was once Vaughn to the manor. He should succeed, though he had to use a high security room and its material to monitor this energy thing. I know they got uncovered. In case it proves problematic, there's someone I have put as a back-up..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was taking too long. The barrage was no accident.

The asian man walked father from his motorcycle. He had no name, he had no soul, he had no age. But he had a mission. He took his sword out.

I promise I would be at your service, he thought as he walked toward the policemen.

(OOC: I'm sure you remember this character ;) )

(OMG I DO! =) *Grins* how could i forget that bastard)

IC:

“I’ll be there shortly, Witz,” she whispered softly, closing her eyes. Electricity sparked from her hand. “And Witz?” she said, keeping him on the line for a few seconds more. She watched as the clock ticked to the 30 minute mark, and vanished, leaving the phone dangling.

--

Hevn walked down stairs, and put the phone back on the receiver. “She made her choice…” she said in contemplation. “I guess I have to make mine.” She then looked at Kurosaki. “Do you believe in me now?”

--

Ravelyn stood, literally, an inch from Witz, no more no less. Her crimson eyes melted into him as her chocolate brown hair fell over one eye. She was the image of perfection. “Where is this room?” She asked simply, continuing the conversation as if nothing had happened.

"WHAT THE..."

Kurosaki stared in horror at the exact place where Ravelyn Shentavo had been standing seconds before. He turned at Hevn.

"I... What... Err..."

He fainted.

(OOC: ;) )

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm sorry, sir, no one crosses this l..."

Yakori didn't even blink. He was already at the truck when the bodies fell on the road. He opened the side door.

Amateurs.

He could smell the gaz the police used. The people in the vehicle were all dead. He entered. His body hindered any exchange with his surrounding.

The remnants were supposed to be in some kind of bag. Then... why was there no bag to be found.

It's never simple, is it?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Your highness," Witz said, bending slightly.

She looked so much like her daughter but he did his best ignoring it. He kept his eyes fixed on her feet.

Better not see those Shentavo eyes.

"What room?"

“The high security room,” she whispered breathlessly. “Vaughn gave me a message, Witz. I’m doing my best to interpret it. If you know of anything that he left me, let me know.” She looked into his eyes, but his remained down cast. “Don’t bow to me we are friends…” She lifted his chin up so his eyes met hers, as crimson as blood. “We both lost people we loved. I lost my daughter, and I lost my husband a week before we got married. We both lost Genesis. If I could bring her back don’t you think I would? If there was any way…you’d go to find it, wouldn’t you? Even after all these years, you’d go.” She placed her hand on his shoulder. “Please…help me.”

“Michael says he's trapped in the Room…Michael says he's trapped in the Room…” she repeated twice, caught in a silent reverie. “Does it mean anything to you?”

Witz couldn't move anymore.

"Please, don't look at me like that."

His eyes went wet.

"I could join Gene, if only your damn Vaughn hadn't done something one me. Something that prevents me from dying."

He moved his head as if out of breath.

"You lost your daughter, I lost my life. I'm like a living dead without her. You lost your love? I'm sorry but I wish. Why would it be Vaughn that gets past death and not her? What kind of a justice is that? You don't..."

A tinting sound came out of one of his pockets. He took a cellphone out.

"Yes?..." He paled. "what do you mean lost?... all of them?... yes," he hesitated but looked up at Raven, "yes, she's here... she could if you were normal... yes... yes... I'll try that."

He ended the communication.

"F---!"

He stood still for a second and looked at Rave, straight in the eyes.

"We have a problem. Yakori just told me Vaughn's remnants have disapeared. He asked if you could join him but I know he has no soul for you to pinpoint..."

Gene...

"... could you bring us there if I give you a precise location?"

“Yakori tried to kill me,” she blinked several times. She paused, and looked at Witz, then hugged him, choking back the tears in her own throat. She had cried for two hundred years. She wondered if he ever had the chance to express it to someone the way she did. She gave him the opportunity. “I am cursed with eternity to. I’ll look through my books again, and I’ll ask Hevn, if there is anyway I can do something. I already have. She was my protégé. I spent over a hundred years with her, teaching her all I know. I understand.” She let his head rest upon her shoulder.

“Where is the room?”

"I... I'm sorry. I would give my soul to bring her back. Even more..."

It's amazing how pathetic you can be sometimes, Witz, he remembered Vaughn telling him. But it must be the reason why I need you so much.

Witz closed his eyes.

"We need to focus," he whispered. "The remnants are important. I know that, Vaughn made it very clear in his letter. Without the remnants, nothing is possible."

He walked away from Rave, escaping from his past, escaping from pain.

"Let me think. A room, you say. Hell if I know. There are more than a hundred and a half rooms in this manor."

He turned back at her.

"Yakori has been at my service for years now," he told Rave, "He won't try and hurt you anymore. If he asked for you to be there, I'm sure it's because there is a trail he cannot follow by himself... please... go there and I'll try and figure out what this damn room can be."

"I can track him...I don't need his soul, I have his memory. It's how I got to you," she smiled, revealing her fangs. She offered him her hand. "Are you coming with me? Or should I go alone. Think about this security room you menationed to me...on the phone. Everything is done for a reason. Somethings I don't know why, but in the end, things will be right. I believe this. We just have to fix things. You and I, both of our lovers are dead. We could lose, we could fail. Either way, options change, chances fade, trains derail. But we have to try..."

"It is I who chose this security room. There not a chance Vaughn could have foreseen anything like that," Witz replied after a few seconds of thoughts, "What did Kurosaki say? Was this message for you only? Maybe it's a room that has a meaning for both of you?"

He shook his head.

"I wish he would have given more information, the b--t--d."

He smiled at Rave.

"Your love, you know, I passionately hate him..." He stared blankly and then, "Anyway, I'll think about it and try to see if there are some info here, but please go see Yakori. The remnants." He walked to Rave. "The remnants are the key, that I'm sure of."

“Michael says he’s trapped in the Room”

She paused and gave him a sad smile.

“I didn’t know you hated him, Witz,” she whispered softly. “But that does not make me hate you. I know you loved her, but it isn’t his fault she’s dead. There is no blame to place.” She formed a small ball of electricity, and waited, watching the clock. It chimed, and with that she disappeared, leaving Witz there. Left behind, were a trail of crimson rose petals.


---

Ravelyn appeared next to Yakori. This was getting tiresome, and she was using a lot of energy. She couldn’t keep this up for long. She just had enough energy to get back home. “Where?” She questioned simply.

Yakori bent at Rave, presenting his sword at her, like japanese warriors used to throughout centuries.

http://www.asiafinest.com/chinese/gif/jetli.gif

"I don't know," he said waving at the truck. "They got stopped by the police," he waved at the body on the ground, "but someone else got there and killed our men."

He paused and stared at her.

"Most definitely somehow of pure energy. If there had been a body, I would have known. I cannot track such an enemy, but you can Ravelyn Shentavo-Vaughn."

"Yes..." she said softly. "I spent a lot of energy getting here...Look at me Yakori. Look into my eyes." There was nothing to seduce into taking his blood, but she pulled him close with an arm around his waist. "I won't hurt you, but in order to find him, I need your strength." She plunged her fangs into his neck, holding him gently and gulping down the crimson liquid until she had taken enough, and energy surged through her body. He could still stand, but no doubt he would be dizzy. Well, she wasn't sure about the effects.

She closed her eyes and reached out, looking over the city and spreading outwards. She found the trace, and found the aura, and it was dark. "Train...moving..." she whispered, pushed Yakori forward in the direction, and started running herself.

Yakori didn't blink.

Strange.

He felt a glimpse of Rave's saliva running into his body. A glimpse of soul. And he saw. He waved his sword around him and took as much energy out of the spirits of the air as he could.

"North," he whispered.

He put his hand onto Ravelyn's shoulder.

"Keep your energy for the enemy, I'll bring you there."

Their feet got off the ground and they quickly got higher in the sky. Soon, Ravelyn saw it, the most modern train of Underaloz city, at high speed, on a gigantic bridge.

"What do we do now?" Yakori asked.

"Aye, I am new to this place," Zafe replied as he righted the table, cleaning up some fallen silverwear. "To be honest, I don't know what to think. I thought I saw...well...something more. It's not everyday that I see..." What did I see? He sighed and chuckled to himself. "I don't know what to say."

He listened intently on what the waiter had to say about the empress. "Returned? But...alive? Kind of like..." He hated to use the term. "a zombie?"

He sighed and sat down heavily on one of the seats he had just righted, recieving a loud creak as he rubbed his eyes. "I'm afraid I know little about nations and empires outside my own. Only recently has my homeland begun to send out visitors. I'm sorry, Miss, you must tell this story to so many other visitors, it must be getting kind of repetitive. If you wouldn't mind recounting for one more, I would be grateful that you did."

“There is too much to tell about that woman in a day, too much for a year. She has been alive for over a millennia, even longer than two perhaps. No one really knows except her family. That woman was Ravelyn Shentavo, our empress. The girl you saw there, with the orange eyes and red hair, she is a Shentavo as well. They are a vampire clan, but very different from other nations. Ravelyn was not born human and then turned. She was an angel, sent to earth, and was infected with vampirism. She is an angel of death, and our enemies fear her. She is a vicious fighter. I’ve never seen her fail or heard of a time when such has happened. I’m sure you can read up more about her yourself. Anyway, she chooses a person every century or so to become one of her kind. They gain strength and abilities linked and non-linked to vampires. It is, perhaps, of her angelic nature. While she is fallen, she has a kind soul, and is indisputably protective of those she loves and her people. That man was shot in the neck is probably alive right now. It is likely that he’ll wander back here. She is a savior, even though she does not want to be.” She paused. “It’s tragic what happened to her…very tragic.”

“Now, I give them a welcoming party. You grab the body, let me know when you have it, and we get out of here. If it will risk his remains to come near me, then leave me here, just get him back…to my mansion. That’s what we need to do. Don’t ask questions…” Wing ripped from her back, her hair lengthened, and she took the form of Azrael as a seraphic. Fire ignited in her hands as she flew towards one side of the bridge. Like hell fire from the sky, it reigned down and struck the concrete, breaking it before the train could reach the other side. She put all her force up, holding her hands outward to press the unseen field into stopping the train. It came to her as fast as a bullet, and she took it like one. The train stopped before where the explosion had occurred, but it sent her backwards. She flipped and landed on the ground, taking in a good few deserved breaths. She took off the small metal clip from her choker, and it became her scythe. She looked at Yakori, and entered the train.

“So you know, it’s really funny,” she said loudly, a growl in her voice as she stepped into the first car, as Yakori slipped into the last. “I was just so mad I missed the train this morning…I ran all the way here to catch up with it. Looks like it made it’s final stop. Tickets...all tickets...cash...body bags, those kinds of things...” With that being said, she ripped through the train, heading toward the trace, and she was going to meet it head on.

Zafe remained silent as the waitress told him about their leader. He wore a stoic expression unsure if he could believe some of these tales. They were quite strange, however, many leaders had fictional and truthful tales as well, including his own. "Vampire? Angelic vampire? I am guessing 'holy objects' and light have little effect on her?" He shook his head. "I'm sorry...it's just, stories of vampires I heard or read as a child included them being hurt by such. And I never believed stories of vampires."

"She chooses people? At random or some sort of specific quality? And do they have a choice in the matter?" the ex-warrior asked quietly as he picked up his post cards on the ground and stacked them up on his table. "They must feel very honored to be chosen..." he said softly, with a slight tinge of envy. Who wouldn't want some of the abilities of a vampire? Inability to age...maybe immortality? What else? Increased strength, toughness...maybe to turn into a bat? He gave a small smile at the thought, but shook it away. When she began to talk about how their leader's life was tragic, it sparked even more curiosity from Zafe. He very much wanted to ask her the question and his expression probably showed that of a child looking curiously at a storyteller, a face of awe and amazement, however, he didn't want to keep the waitress talking to him all day.

"Eh, why don't you ask her yourself," the waitress responded. "I have to get back to work." She tilted her head. There was something unusual about that mand, but she couldn't place her finger on it. She went back to serving the customers.

"Many thanks, Ma'am," Zafe replied as he puzzled over her reply. Ask her myself? Is Ravelyn easily accessible to the public?. He looked at his slightly smudged post cards and placed them in his inside coat pocket.

She did tell me that the man will 'wander' back. Perhaps I can ask him a few questions as well? If he doesn't answer them, oh well...understandable. He picked up his upturned hot chocolate and sighed. It was empty... Might as well get me another order of chocolate to keep me occupied for a little while longer. Zafe didn't expect to stick around long. If the man didn't show up in at most an hour, then Zafe would wander about town, visiting the cafe ever so often to check for him.

“Now, I give them a welcoming party. You grab the body, let me know when you have it, and we get out of here. If it will risk his remains to come near me, then leave me here, just get him back…to my mansion. That’s what we need to do. Don’t ask questions…” Wing ripped from her back, her hair lengthened, and she took the form of Azrael as a seraphic. Fire ignited in her hands as she flew towards one side of the bridge. Like hell fire from the sky, it reigned down and struck the concrete, breaking it before the train could reach the other side. She put all her force up, holding her hands outward to press the unseen field into stopping the train. It came to her as fast as a bullet, and she took it like one. The train stopped before where the explosion had occurred, but it sent her backwards. She flipped and landed on the ground, taking in a good few deserved breaths. She took off the small metal clip from her choker, and it became her scythe. She looked at Yakori, and entered the train.

“So you know, it’s really funny,” she said loudly, a growl in her voice as she stepped into the first car, as Yakori slipped into the last. “I was just so mad I missed the train this morning…I ran all the way here to catch up with it. Looks like it made it’s final stop. Tickets...all tickets...cash...body bags, those kinds of things...” With that being said, she ripped through the train, heading toward the trace, and she was going to meet it head on.

Passengers of Tram 37 stared at the seraphic. The shock after the train so violently stopped had stunned them. Yet, it was nothing compared to the vision of a supernatural being asking for your wallet.

For a moment, an old man hadn't been able to let his eyes off Ravelyn's ones. But the fire in her look was probably too much for his tired heart and he had collapsed, falling off his seat soundly, right next to a trembling child.

"Mommy?" the girl asked with a tiny voice, as she was trying to get back up, her nose in blood, broke that it had been at the moment of the crash.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I need to isolate that.

Yakori was walking through the compartments, opening doors after doors. The accident had turned the passengers into docile animals in search for comfort. No one seemed to notice him despite his samurai saber.

Yet, all his mind was onto this microscopic part of Ravelyn Shentavo slowly disseminating into his body. All of his internal fluids seemed saturated somehow. He felt as if Ravelyn Shentavo herself was entering his organs. He even sensed the touch of the foreign cells inside his own head, disrupting his neuronal connections. And he just didn't like it.

He put his hand on the nearest plastic wall and breathed soundly, dizzy.

"Are you all right?" asked a woman who had crossed his path in the corridor and was now getting back on her steps. "Sir? Are you all right?
- It's," he babbled, "it's burning somehow... in my head..."

He pointed at his temple, simply unable to lie, innerved into the changes within him. The woman took him by the shoulders, so that he would sit.

"You should be resting," the woman whispered, "it's probably just the shock but you never know. Stay still, the company probably already sent emergency units."

Yakori had his eyes wide closed. His way of thinking didn't make sense anymore, as if he had lost control over matter. His own matter. A vast field of possibilities he would never have thought of before were assembling, fast, like a gigantic puzzle. Still, the pain was too intense for him to realize all the new options it gave him.

"No..." he finally growled, slowly raising. "No... I... I can't lose... I can't fail. Not now."

He sensed it. Before she even attempted it. In a swift move, he rotated around her. The knife stripped the fabric of the seat. She turned to face him.

"Say you don't want to," the woman hissed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Witz's hands were dancing onto the keyboard.

A room... How am I supposed to sort a single room out of a hundred of your properties, Vaughn?

It just didn't make sense. He closed the laptop rageously.

"F--- you, Michael!"

His head bent and bumped onto the desk. Twice. It hurt but not so much as not having a single clue of what the cryptic message was supposed to mean.

Think, Witz, he ordered himself, Think!

The message was for Ravelyn. The Room had a meaning for them. A room for Vaughn and Rave...

"God damnit!"

He stood up all in sudden. The answer was just so obvious. He took his coat on the chair, plunged his hand into the pocket and took the cellphone... which fell into pieces as he had it in hand.

"Want to call for help?" An hesitant voice echoed in the room.

Witz slowly turned onto himself.

A man was standing in the corner of the room. His face was devastated. The white of his eyes had the yellow tint of fever, the left one not even featuring a retina. His skin was inbetween green and gray, covered with disturbing wrinkle and what could have been sweat but looked more like slime. It took Witz some seconds to realize it was actually the man's skin peeling. Hair was nowhere to be seen. One of the ear was missing as if cut and the skull was so irregular the man barely seemed human.

"You look like Hell," Witz couldn't help to say at the vision of the figure stepping out of the shadows.

The body of the stranger couldn't have less flesh on it. Clothes, more like pieces of fabric pieced together, were large but not enough to hide the truth: the stranger was but a living skeleton with a glimpse of skin onto it. Yet, Witz eyes immediately picked up what was dangling in the man's hand. A blue bag. With the Sigma symbol onto it.

The remnants.

"Where is the soul?" the man asked, following Witz's look. "WHERE IS IT?!?
- What... What soul?" Witz asked back, impressed by the sudden power that could be felt into the individual.
"Don't you lie to me," the other continued in a growl, "I have the remnants. The Contingency. It worked, I know that.
- I don't know what you're talking about.
- You try and gain time?" the man shouted in a giggle. "She's after a decoy, poor mortal. A DECOY! It'll take her a good time figuring out what actually happened, you fool. It is I who taught her the tricks she's so eager to use to impress the filth like you.
- If you get out of this room," Witz said stepping back, not knowing what to do. "I'll call security.
- Your security is dead, stupid. And you'll soon be if you don't tell me what I wanna know."

The stranger jumped onto Witz and made him fall on the ground. He maintained him there with his foot and bent so that he could clearly be heard:

"You will tell me where Zacharian's soul is. I have the remnants and I will bring them there. The Contingency will work to its fullest. And then... THEN!" Fire danced into his eyes. "I'll make him mine, MINE! For Eternity."

Daja laughed out loud, marvelled at his own intelligence. For too long had he been hiding. For too long had he been waiting for this moment. When they had fought, him, Daja, and this wife thief that was called Zacharian or Vaughn or whatever, when they had fought, Daja had felt it, the Contingency. What did they think? That he would die that easily? Not if he had entrailed his own energy onto this thin cord, this thin line of energy, this Contingency he knew Zacharian to be so proud of.

"Be proud," he muttered to himself, "Be proud Zacharian the Knight. Thanks to your little tricks, it is I who is back now. And I'll make it work for you too. Oh yes I will! And you'll be my slave then. I'll have my revenge."

He looked down at the insignifiant human on the floor. The answer was just there. Zacharian was about to be his and soon after, it would be Corothisia. Then she would come for them and everything would happen as it should always have had.

Ravelyn put her hand over the child’s nose, touching the blood. A white light emitted from her fingertips, and the bone healed. She would never see a child in pain, out of anyone. It drove her mad. “Sorry for the start, dear,” she whispered, and looked at the man. He had cheated on his wife several times. She didn’t revive him. Ironic, no? Her mind tried to process the information, and she waited several seconds. “Yakori…its not here…I followed…UGH” she walked to the cars and eyed the woman who spoke to Yakori, her scythe twirling in her hands.

“Why don’t you just let the man get some rest and pick on someone your own size you worthless bitch,” she shot at her. “Yakori…get back to Witz…”

As soon as Rave entered the wagon, Yakori fell on his knees. His body convulsing into utter pain.

"W... What d... did... you... d... do to me?" he managed to ask.

The woman smiled at Yakori and glanced at Rave.

"She gave you something you never had before," the woman answered coldly, "She gave you a part of her soul. And believe me, this particular soul is like a drug."

Her voice had slowly changed and her face had morphed. It was a man that was standing in front of Ravelyn now. A man she knew all too well.

He looked at her, his smile uncovering his pearl white fangs, yet his eyes cold as ice.

"How is it going, honey?" Daja asked.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now he had all the answers. He had drank the human to death. The soul of the man had not been part of the feast but, still, Daja felt like himself again.

Shentavo Mansion.

He removed the blood on his face with a fast and simple gesture of the hand.

Souvenirs.

He took the bag, the key to resurrect and enslave Zacharian.

This is a good day.

Then he disapeared.

Ravelyn’s eyes widened and she screamed, taking three steps backward, shaking her head. “No…no…no…you’re dead,” she said in almost a whisper, gasping for air. She felt faint. This man; this man was the only person in the entire world she had ever feared. He was her sire. She looked at his long white hair and cold scarlet eyes. He looked no different then before. She shuddered. “No…you’re not here….” With that, she gripped her scythe, and lunged forward, swiping it clean through the corporal body which fell to the ground. It was not his body, but the woman’s. She could not help but to feel his lingering trace brush past her cheek and run over her neck.

She knelt down to Yakori and picked him up. The scythe disappeared in her hands as she kicked open the door to the train, and jumped out towards the waters below. She free fell, and then, they were gone.

---

Ravelyn stumbled at the front door to her mansion, dropping Yakori on the floor. Her wings vanished, and her eyes dimmed. Her hair shortened to the length of her back and curled at the bottom. She had returned to her normal form, and fell to the ground, shock running through her body. She didn’t know what to make of it. She had no idea of what to make of it. It scared her. Nothing scared her like that. Corothisia wasn't around to comfort her, Vaughn was dead; has been dead for over two hundred years, and she was alone. She was alone in this.

You seem a little dizzy, my love. Daja's voice insinuated into Ravelyn's mind. Welcome home. I'm quite found of the changes you've made.

The telepathic touch was strong, precise... close.

Ravelyn was up in a second, looking around. “Where the fuck…” It was a rare when she swore. Tears streamed down her face without the sobs, they were simply tears. She stumbled to the desk. She had used way to much energy. It was over the limit. I can’t…This isn’t real. I’m dreaming. This isn’t real. Vaughn killed him…he killed him… “Coro,” she whispered softly, hoping to wake up next to him, but she didn't. “Oh god, let this be a dream.”

As an ironic answer to her plea, Ravelyn heard the sound of a door closing echoing into the hall. It came from her appartments, that she could be sure of.

Daja opened the bag and threw ashes and bones onto the carpet into Ravelyn's room.

The Room.

It was but a myst at firt but soon it became a vapor, a dark vapor surrounding the remnants.

"Come to me Zacharian," Daja whispered. "Come to me and bow before me."

The room was soon filled with darkness. Slowly, it faded away. Daja was still keeping his mind on Ravelyn but he knew she was too weak to react. Zacharian's failure was complete.

Show yourself now.

The shadows had vanished now... and the room was as empty as before.

What the...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wake up," he said to her as quietly as possible. "Wake up, Rave. He'll realize something went wrong and I'm not strong enough to oppose him right now."

Zacharian bent at Ravelyn and smiled.

"Beside, I wouldn't like to ruin the house."

Ravelyn looked up to Zacharian with wide eyes. This was too much for her to take for one day. She lifted her arms towards him, and he lifted her to her feet. “There’s so much…to tell you,” she said, hugging him tightly, trying not to cry. They could get through that later. Just a few weeks after she and Tempest had found comfort in each other; both loosing someone…and both loving one another silently for so long. Then, Daja returns, her sire, the one man she truly feared. Now, her dead lover resurrected and standing right in front of her, loving her still. It was all too much for her to take. She hugged him tightly. She loved them both.

“We have to get out of here.”

What happened next, Ravelyn would be unable to tell. It was as if the scene had faded and she had felt tired, very tired.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"...7 6 Alpha 8 Teta 9... Yes I'm waiting."

Michael Vaughn sat on the chair, his finger repeatedly tapping his lips.

"Good," he said to the person on the phone, "What's the balance?... Perfect... Yes... A red-blue operation would be perfect... Thank you."

He put the cellphone on the table. The sunrays were inspecting the small woody room through the door. The air was hot and salty. The soothing sound of the waves was stubbornly repeating itself.

Michael walked to the bed. He was dressed with white trousers and a half opened shirt. He contemplated Ravelyn, as her eyes had finally opened.

"You don't need to speak," he said softly. "I know everything. Where I was, I could see, I could hear, I could feel. All I needed Kurosaki for was to talk."

He gently passed his hand in her hair.

"I don't know how to tell you... I mean... How much I love you."

Sadness passed into his eyes.

"I know you need to think. I know you made choices. I know all of this... and I don't ask you to change everything for me."

He paused and looked at the sea out the door.

"That's what love means I guess."

Tears formed in her eyes, and she was silent for a long time. “You left me…I asked you not to go. I asked to come back with me. My nation suffered detestations because of my absence, and forced me into a lot of pain. I had to carry their souls with me until I was strong enough to give them life; two hundred years of waiting for you, trying to get to you, trying to deal with the weight upon my shoulders.” She knew he remembered Tempest well. They were both suitors at the same time; they were both competing for her love. Vaughn was the one always pushing her away, and perhaps that’s why she reached out to him. When she chose Vaughn, Corothisia vanished, and she felt the pain from that. It was eased by his presence, and she forgot. She never should have forgotten. “You’ve always pushed me away…you’ve always thought that whatever it is I shouldn’t be involved with it. I wanted all of it; both the good and the bad you tried to protect me from, and I didn’t need it. I wanted it. I wanted to face it with you.” She turned away from him, holding herself. The rose tattoo upon her back was illuminated by the sun rays glistening upon her back.

Out of sight, and out of mind. Out of time to decide, do we run? Should I hide, for the rest of my life? Can we fly? Do i stay? We could lose; we could fail in the moment it takes to make plans or mistakes..

30 minutes the blink of an eye, 30 minutes to alter our lives. 30 minutes to make up my mind. 30 minutes to finally decide. 30 minutes to whisper your name. 30 minutes to shoulder the blame. 30 minutes to bliss, 30 lies. 30 minutes to finally decide.

“I love you,” she whispered, her voice faltering amongst tears, but her back still turned to him. “I’ve always loved you.” She stood up, wiping away tears from her eyes but still crying, pacing, wringing her hands. This was too much for her to take.

To decide…

“I can never stop loving you, Vaughn,” she said turning towards him, moving forward, and kissing him; her kiss tasting of her tears. “Why didn’t you come back with me? Why….” Her crimson eyes looked into his, and his image was too much for her to take. This was all too much. “I gave up everything just to find you, and you weren’t there. I looked for two hundred years, for two hundred years I exhausted every resource I had and everything I could have done, and I couldn’t find you. I was heartbroken. I didn’t leave this room for centuries…” She shook her head. “Now you are here, in front of me, alive…And I have to decide, who I love more.” She shook her head. “I can’t decide. I can’t stop loving either of you. I can’t…I can’t…decide, but I have to. I love you, Vaughn. I love you more than this life. And I love him…He was as heartbroken as I was when I chose you. We both lost each other. I can’t choose Vaughn…and you want me to.”

She gripped cried within his arms and hugged him tightly. “Either way, I loose one of you again. I’m not sure…I’m not sure I can live with that…I’m not sure if I can take loosing you again…”

Carrousels, in the sky that we shape with our eyes under shade silhouettes casting shape, crying rain. Can we fly? Do i stay? We could lose. We could fail. Either way options change, chances fail, trains derail.

30 minutes the blink of an eye, 30 minutes to alter our lives. 30 minutes to make up my mind. 30 minutes to finally decide. 30 minutes to whisper your name. 30 minutes to shoulder the blame. 30 minutes to bliss, 30 lies. 30 minutes to finally decide.

She reached to her left hand, and took off her engagement ring. She couldn’t hold back her tears. But you want me to decide… She loved him, she loved him deeply. Their love was so strong; as it never had faded, but she possessed that love for another. Could she not have both? Is it wrong for some one to love two different people so deeply? Is it wrong for me to love them both so much? He could see it in her eyes she loved him, and with what strength she had, she put the ring down upon the table.

To decide…to decide to decide to decide. To decide…to decide.

She fought back tears, but she couldn’t. He reached out to her, but she backed away. If she felt his arms again she would crumble. “I’m sorry…” she said, her voice wavering even more so then before. She walked out the door and closed it behind her, but she was still dizzy, and placed her back against the door and slid down, hugging her knees to her chest. She couldn’t help but cry, letting the sobs come freely. She didn’t care if he heard her. Time was up, she had to make her decision. Who could ever make that decision? She couldn’t believe what just transpired, and she couldn’t stand. She just cried.

She couldn’t stand loosing either of him. Not Vaughn, not Tempest.I can't...lose you again...either...I can't...

The void in her heart had never been sealed over, and now it ached. She chose Tempest. He never pushed her away, never thought there was something she couldn't be a part of. Vaughn had faith in her strength, but he hid so much from her, and all of these secrets, the decptions, had ripped him from this world from her. Still, she couldn't bare it. Meanwhile Tempest had lost her, a woman fell in love with him but he couldn't love her back. He was in love with Ravelyn; the woman that chose Vaughn. He never pushed her away...never. She had to choose, and after two hundred years of mourning, she had chosen.

Coro...