No notes, just on with the show.
WARNINGS: There is some violence, strong language and it has the yaoi pairings of Duo+Heero, and Quatre+Trowa, and the yuri pairings of Dorothy+Relena and Catherine+Iria. So if you don't like yaoi or yuri pairings, then don't read this! This also has a completely new and original character, so don't take him, he's mine! ^_~
~What's that?~
~A light? A bright, warm light...~
~Wings?~
~A woman tied up on a cross?~
~She looks like she's in pain...~
~Pigtails?~
I woke up as night was approaching, the rays of the setting sun blinding me as I got up off the sofa. Duo only had two bedrooms in his house, so Duo and Heero got a room, and Quatre and Trowa got a room. The women all slept on the couches or on the floor. Just goes to show how much has changed since the days of ye olde chivalry. I managed to get a couch. So did Iria and Relena, but that was because they were unconscious. Catherine and Dorothy were snoozing next to their respective partners in sleeping bags on the floor.
I suddenly thought of the strange dream I had. It wasn't really a dream, it was more like a flash of an image. I got up and walked outside so I could contemplate it in the fresh air. The sun's light was turning a deep red as it sank below the horizon. I stared at it for a whole three seconds before I had to turn away. I leaped up onto the roof and sat there, enjoying the coming of the night.
The image that I had dreamed was silhouetted in darkness, with the occasional flash of lightning brighting up the sky, but I still couldn't see much. There was a huge cross. Yes, a large cross, made of skinny poles. In the middle of it I saw a female figure, wrapped up in vines or rope, her arms out and her legs close together like she was being crucified. Her angel wings drooped on either side of her, feathers scattered around the area and fluttering in the air down to the ground. Her hair was in pigtails, shoulder length, with stray hairs coming out of the hairband. I couldn't tell much else from the image; I couldn't see any facial features, and I couldn't tell if she was awake or not. But there was a sense of pain, a sense of agony that I couldn't brush away. It clung to me like a bad stench, clouding my senses if I thought about it too much.
I shook my head to chase away the image. It haunted me. That woman looked too young, seemed too innocent to be there. Whenever I thought about that dream, I felt a sense of dread, as if everything that was happening was all to come to that point; the point where we would see that girl on a cross.
I hopped off the balcony backwards and twirled around. Rasial was standing on the porch, looking at me.
"That's dangerous, milady."
"Tell me again when I don't have the strength of hundred humans."
"Yes." He chuckled, amused at my sardonic joke, I suppose.
"So," I started to ask, "what are doing here?"
"I was worried for your safety, mi— Hilde."
"Good, you remembered." I was referring to the fact that he almost called me "milady." I hate it when people make me sound like some kind of lord or something. "And don't worry about me. You know that if I kick the bucket, you'll be in charge. So don't sweat. Either way, the Shadow Lands are in good hands."
"'Kick the bucket', Hilde?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot. You're old." I smirked at my last comment. He was older than me, but not old enough to get truly recognized in the world. He just gave me a look that was a cross between disdain and amusement. "'Kick the bucket' means to die, pass on, etcetera."
"Oh."
We looked at each other in silence for a few moments, then I turned around to head back inside. "Feel free to follow me," I said to him. I felt him move behind me, like the quiet shadow of myself.
By the time I had gone back inside, everyone was awake. Relena and Iria were still out cold. Trowa and Quatre had not come out of their rooms yet, so I assumed that blondie was still unconscious as well. Heero and Duo were busy making dinner, for I heard frying sounds and the occasional giggle from Duo. More like they were making whoopee in there, but I didn't complain. Just as long as no human fluids go into the food.
There was a knock on the front door and a muffled "Hello?"
I recognized Sally's voice. I walked back to the door and opened it. Wufei and Sally stood outside, little baby Liu Po in Wufei's arms. "Hi! Come on in," I said cheerfully. They walked in and settled on the couch that I had been sleeping on. Sally looked over at Relena.
"She isn't awake yet, is she?"
I shook my head. "Nope, not yet." I walked over to Liu Po and wiggled my fingers. "What a cutie! He's gonna break hearts someday."
Sally and Wufei just beamed.
I walked away from the living room and went into the dining room, closing the door behind me. I sat down at the small dining table, and stared outside at the oncoming night. Rasial sat across from me. I felt him staring at me, and decided to ignore it. All problems go away if you ignore them for long enough, right?
...
...
"Rasial... do you have to stare at me like that?"
"Sorry."
I glanced over at him without turning my head. He was now looking out the window as well. I sighed and turned back to the window. Why does he always look at me like that? With eyes as green as emeralds, and twice as scrutinizing. It's like he's trying to figure me out just by looking at me. I haven't felt him enter my head far enough to discern any major secrets (like I have any) and I have learned from Duo how to block people from entering the mind in the first place. What the heck is he doing?
I sighed and stood up. "What's taking them so long, I'm hungry."
"Mi... Hilde, we can't eat regular food, remember?"
"Damn."
Duo told me that true vampires can't eat regular food after a few months or so of becoming a vampire. So Rasial and I couldn't eat. Heero can because Duo screwed up on the original resurrection and so Heero's still half alive. Duo can because he's only half vampire. Damn. I really, really wanted a hamburger or some french fries or SOMETHING other than the crap we've been eating in the Shadow Lands.
"Here."
I finally noticed Rasial, who had got up quietly without me hearing. He was standing behind me, one arm around my waist, one pale wrist in front of my face. How did he do that without me noticing?
I was so hungry that I didn't care about being squeamish about feeding from the wrist. I bit into him. "Mmm..." I licked up the stray drops of blood on his wrist. I fed from him for who knows how long. Feeding seems to make time go the other way for some reason.
When I was full, I pulled away. I turned around to face him, and he was looking at me like I was the center of his world. Which, quite frankly, scared the hell out of me. I tried to pull away, but the arm around my waist tightened. He leaned in and licked off the stray drops of blood on my face. He did it slowly, and his emerald eyes were boring into me the entire time. I tried my hardest not to blush.
"You smell of blood. It must be close to your skin," he joked in a deep, husky voice, his lips so close to me that they brushed my cheek as he talked. Damn, I knew I couldn't stop the blood rushing to my head. Stupid human reactions. Maybe I'll learn to control them after a time...
I heard Duo's footsteps nearing the door to the dining room, and an instant later Rasial was sitting back at the table, looking out the window.
"Dinner! Oh... sorry you two, guess you can't eat anything..."
"It's okay Duo, I've... Um, I'm not that hungry anyways."
"You sure Hilde? I could always donate some blood to ya."
"I'm fine, thanks anyways."
"Alright then. Raz! You want some?"
I looked over at 'Raz'. He looked up and nodded. Duo walked over to him and put out his wrist. Rasial took it graciously, bit into his wrist at the vein and drank. Duo smiled, like a master would to an accomplished apprentice. It was at that moment that Heero walked in.
Heero stopped short and stared at the scene. I was afraid that he might try to kill Rasial, so I started to move in between them.
"Relax Hilde. I'm not mad," he said. "I just expected Rasial to be drinking from you, Hilde."
"Why me? Duo's the real Shinigami here. And not to mention he's also a necromancer."
Heero just shrugged and started setting up the table. Rasial finished his 'meal' and got up. "I came to tell Hilde something... but since you're all here together, I'll tell you all at once."
Duo went to call everyone to dinner, and when everyone (except for the people who were unconscious and Trowa) was situated around the table, Rasial spoke.
"There's another dimensional rift, and it's somewhere near San Francisco."
Most of us looked blankly at him.
I asked, "Meaning...?"
"Meaning," he replied, "that an opening to another world like the Shadow Lands has appeared here. That means that beings from THAT dimensional plane can come here, and us there. None of us in the Shadow Lands have figured out which world it connects to, but if it's a hostile dimension, then we're looking at a war on our hands."
Silence filled the room.
"How do we stop this?", Quatre asked.
"I don't know," Rasial answered. "As far as I know, once a dimensional rift opens, it can't be shut with any of our powers. I have heard that only... God can close and open rifts."
"God? Which god?", Heero asked. He was Japanese, and a Shintoist, so he believe in the spirits which dwell, well, everywhere. In Shintoism, there were gods for almost everything. [1]
"I think he means God, the Lord of all things in the three major monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam," Quatre said as he walked in, supported by Trowa. I was surprised that he had the energy to walk, especially after last night.
"That's right," Relena said quietly. She and Iria walked in following them. All of them had pretty much recovered their energy, but they looked like they had just gotten out of bed. Well, they just had gotten out of bed, which would explain why they looked the way they did.
Seats were changed around and more chairs were brought to the table. Once everyone was settled, they began to eat. The three psychics ate more ravenously than the others. Rasial and I left the room. I didn't want to see them eat when I couldn't. Sounds like jealousy, but it's true. After 20 years of eating Earth food, I suddenly had been torn away from it due to physical changes in my body. It really sucked.
"Are you alright, Hilde?"
"Just peachy."
"You sure?"
"Yes, now let me think."
"As you wish, milady."
He disappeared from my sight. It was like he was there one moment, then I blinked and he was gone. Only I, the crescent moon, and the sound of the rustling of the trees remained.
So I sat on the roof, alone. I had been doing this a lot lately. Not that I'm not a social person, I just didn't feel like socializing at this point in time. I wanted to think; I just wanted think about all the crap that has happened to me in the past six months, and how it all changed my life forever. I didn't actually have any real plans anyways, so I guess it could have turned out worse. When I came to Earth with Gabriel, I thought I was taking a bold new step in life.
Well that 'step' took me in an entirely new direction. So now, here I am.
I heard a faint zapping sound in the distance. I heard a shocked gasp from inside the house before the lights went out. I'm assuming that one of the psychics saw it coming before it happened. I hopped off the roof and ran inside.
"What happened?" I asked.
"There's been a blackout," Duo replied with some trepidation.
"I know that, I mean, who gasped?"
Everyone pointed at Relena. I guessed she was the more psychic of the three in our group.
"Bay Bridge. They're there," Relena said mysteriously.
"Who?", I asked. "Who's there?"
"The ones who caused this."
It didn't take a psychic to know what we were all thinking. Haul ass to Bay Bridge!
We all rushed out to the cars once again. Rasial appeared beside me so suddenly that I jumped.
"Gah! Where were you?" I said. I was still slightly irked at Rasial's sudden acts of appearing and disappearing.
"No time. Let's go," he said with a dead seriousness. I just nodded. It didn't really matter where he was anyways. I jumped into Duo's jeep, as did Duo, Heero and Rasial. Duo hit the gas and we were off, followed by the others in their respective cars.
It did look kind of odd, four cars all heading for the Bay Bridge at top speed. But we didn't care. The cause of the strange blackout was at the top of our worry list. We could worry about the strange looks we were getting later.
I idly glanced at my watch. 8:20 PM. Great. I was missing a very important show right now.
We arrived at the foot of the West side of Bay Bridge. I had never been here before, so I took a quick moment to notice its beauty. It was a double level bridge, with cars going underneath other cars. People going eastbound would go to the lower level, while commuters going west would take the scenic route and drive on the higher level.
Then Duo suddenly pulled over. The others followed suit. We all got out of our cars and stared at the sky.
A large greenish cloud was forming above the bridge. Rays of purple light were streaming from it. Traffic on the bridge had practically stopped. The sounds of observers saying "what is that thing?" and "take a look at that" filled the area. I decided to get a closer look. I leaped up to the top of the suspension cable and started running to the tower that supported it. The others who could jump this high followed suit.
Dorothy and Relena were stuck on the ground. The others had a way of getting up here. Duo, Heero, Rasial and I were vampires (or at least partly) so we could just jump up there. Wufei was a dragon; enough said. Trowa was a were-lion, so he could jump as high as we could.
Quatre and Iria just sprouted white angel wings and flew into the air. Catherine was half-fairy; I'll tell that story later, but all I can say now is that she can sprout cute little fairy wings and fly too; it just takes a lot of power to do so. Sally had some strange power that I couldn't identify. All I know is that she can fly (without having to use wings) and teleport to places she has already been to. [2]
I was the first to reach the middle of the suspension bridge, on top of one of the towers. The cloud was directly above me now. I looked up, and as the others reached me, the cloud began to billow out, and bright light came from the center. I jumped back from the light, and a spotlight shone in the center of the tower. We all stood there, mouths agape, staring.
Three winged figures floated down from the cloud. The figure to the left was wearing a dark blue robe and he was holding a staff with an eagle on its head. The second figure was in the middle, wearing a dark green robe and he was holding a spear with snakes wrapped around the pole. The third figure on the right was dressed in a white robe with a sword. The handle of the sword was designed in the shape of crane, the pommel made of the feet, the grip made of the legs, the quillon made of the wings and the guard was made of the neck and head. [3]
And they all had black boots, gloves, and... wings. Black wings like a crow.
From left to right, they spoke.
"Our names are Raguel,"
"Saraqael,"
"and Remiel."
Then they spoke in unison. "We have come to destroy."
"Destroy what?" Duo asked with a defiant tone.
"The world."
We were in deep shit.
Back to:Part 1
[1]: I THINK that's right... Our class had to do a project on Japanese culture, and one group did a report on Shintoism... I didn't pay much attention to them while they presented their report, so my infomation might be a bit muddled.
[2]: Think Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo.
[3]: Sword Terminology: That'll tell you what all the parts are and such. I hope to draw a picture of the sword someday.
Yeah. Feel free to e-mail me your rants and raves, just don't cuss me out, okay?
Copyright reserved 2001 Top Ace