Midnight Blood

Written by Blue9Tiger and "Enhanced" by DarkMutatedBrock

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Blue9Tiger

Legal Stuff: Giovanni, Ivy, Madame Boss, and all characters related to Pokémon are copyright to Nintendo, GameFreak, CREATURES, etc. etc. This is ameteur and nonprofit. Any similarity to other fics besides EoAR is purely coincidental. Credit goes to Erin (DarkMutatedBrock) for all first names (except Giovanni), as well as story concept. As you might have guessed, this fic, like EoTS, directly relates to EoAR. Read and enjoy.

^_^ Or not. ^^;

started: 3/4/02 finished: 3/5/02

Rated: PG-13 for language.

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DarkMutatedBrock

A/N: Well,. I'm not technically the AUTHOR of this one. Unlike EoaR, where me and Blue RPed and did an equal share of the work (although I think Blue probably does longer responses than I dp. XD;;;) Blue wrote this all by herself, and I just read it over, proofreading it, making it a bit more socially realistic, and formatting it for HTML. ^^ So, bottom line, this is her ficcy! The original idea was mine, but Blue's the one who brought it to life. ^^ Hurrah for Blue!

Now, in the words of my friend SaneLunatic, read, REVIEW, and rejoice!

WARNING OF THE MOST CAUTIONED KIND: DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT read this fic unless you have read ALL CHAPTERS SO FAR POSTED of "End of a Reality" a fanfiction of ENORMOUS proportions posted under this penname. It takes quite a bit of constitution to read it---(it's ten chapters long, it's only been barely started, and let's just say that the two last chapters were 23 and 24 pages long)--and you probably won't get what the hell we're talking about in this fic anyway or what we're referring to or why in the name of blazing moltres that _____ is ______'s sister. Anyway DO_NOT_READ_THIS_FANFICTION_UNLESS_YOU_HAVE_READ_THE_OTHER.

Uh. Yeah. Now, on to the actual FANFICTION!!!!! :)

*~*~*

"All students, please report outside for this morning's special lesson!"

A cheery voice rang over the loudspeaker, preceding what was a horde of stampeding children that filed out of the building and into the schoolyard. They were every imaginable variety, and it fell into a monotonous pattern: the intermediate students boisterous and loud, flailing their arms wildly as if pretending to be a flock of Pidgeotto, and the beginner ones, the majority of which that had been left there by parents who were ready to alleviate themselves of their young early, were either of little words or trying and failing to find a place among the rowdy pupils. And some others, such as the children from the Demoni family, were trying their best just to get there.

"Vanni!"

A little girl that couldn't have been more than five or six years old, with purple hair that resembled the shape of an ivy leaf, called out from behind the door. "Vanni! I wanna come out! Vanni!"

"Okay, okay, I'm comin', Belle! Keep your shirt on!"

Her brother, about fifteen years of age, with short brown hair, eyes of the same hue, and sturdy frame, stopped following the crowd of students, and turned back, running towards the enormous school building that loomed a colossal giant overhead. Out of breath by the time he reached the door, he clasped his hands on his knees, breathing deeply.

"Vanni! You tired?"

"No...Bell.." he panted in exhaustion, facing the ground.

"Lyyyying!" she lightly accused in a sing-song voice, pushing him a bit with her hands. The boy didn't laugh or shove back, though. A glare of solid ice returned her well-meaning joviality. She shrunk back, a tiny squeak of fear escaping her. She didn't like it whenever he got like that. And for very good reason.

"You look like Mama.."

The brown-haired boy looked away uneasily. He hated being reminded of the hatred she showed to him, the pain she had caused him, but yet, he could only bring himself to hate her actions, and not actually her. And one would wonder why he didn't. Ever since that day, that fateful day two years ago when the mysterious people in black started coming. That was the same year something had happened that made her extremely upset,but he had forgotten its details. He was trying his hardest to forget it entirely. But his mother hadn't. Whatever it was, however trivial, it had pierced deep into her soul like the tip of a poisoned arrow into flesh.

"Vanni, you hear me? You look like Mama!"

Giovanni's heart started to race,and the blood coursing through his veins boiled like the fluid lava that bubbled and seethed from the lip of a volcano. He didn't like when this happened, and it was happening a lot recently, mostly around his sibling. It shouldn't have been happening: he shouldn't have gotten mad. He was too kind a boy to get so upset over this.

"Don't---don't SAY that!"

The girl closed her mouth as her lips started to form the sentence again, and looked down ashamedly at the floor. She half-expected her brother to be glaring at her with that intolerable gaze, and she hid behind her small hands, but to her surprise, Giovanni was smiling at her through the cracks between her quivering fingers, and before she knew it, he took her hand.

"C'mon. Everyone's outside. We don't wanna get left behind, right?"

Belle shook her head with vigor, and brightly skipped out of the door, holding her brother's hand. Little did she know that disaster had reared its ugly head, and was on a collision course with them
that could in no way be averted.

Absolute bedlam was no stranger to school cafeterias. With the enrollment list Pokémon Tech had that year, it was not difficult to ascertain the degree of complete chaos inside the room. That confusion tripled when lunch ended and everyone had to scramble out of the cafeteria. It was a virtual tidal wave of students, one gigantic mass pouring out of the door into the hallway. Giovanni felt dizzy as the rushing mass whirled by him, setting him spinning, circling around and around amidst the flood of people. A twisting, churning knot in his stomach turned it over and over. He felt sick: the lights overhead were so bright: they stung his eyes, that began to water. The other kids didn't notice as he teetered in the middle of the white-floored hallway, as kids ran past him in a frenzy to get to their destination. They were all a blur: everything was spinning: the floor, the wall, the windows, the clock, the numbers on the doors, the doors themselves, everything.

"Too..bright...!"

The glaring light melted into darkness.

Hurry up.

"Huh??"

Hurry up. Stop it. Stop the light.

"Wh...what do you mean?"

This is not you. You know exactly what I am speaking of.

"Stop it! Stop talking to me!!!"

But how can I not? I live in you. I am you, and you..... you are no longer who--what--you used to be.

"STOP IT!!! STOP IIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!!"

"Vanni, wake up! You're 'gonna get left behind!"

Before he could react, Giovanni felt a soft push from behind. Belle clasped her hands over her mouth, realizing the grave mistake she made only a second too late. Her brother, just from that one push, went spiralling out of control, heading straight for the stairwell.

"Oh, no!!"

Like a ragdoll he bounced down the staircase, tumbling down the flight of stairs, everything spinning again, faster and faster until......his face connected with the floor with a sickening crack.

"Lookit! Some kid fell!"

"Ooh...that's 'gotta hurt."

"Don't just stand there gawking! Help him up!"

Two of the advanced students pushed through the swellling crowd of teachers and students that had encircled the fallen boy, pushing and shoving to try and get closer to see the "spectacle". After all, that's all it was. Once it was remedied, the show would be over, and the crowd would dissipate. But until then, they were packed in a tight circle, and neither the principal nor the vice principal could break up the crowd.

"Give him some room!" yelled the kid, gesturing with his arms. He managed to reach the center of the circle, and he and his classmate warded off the curious ring of people. The other boy bent down and put his hands on the shoulders of the young girl that was crying next to the prostate figure.

"Hey you---what's your name?"

The girl rubbed her reddened eyes, quavering as she screamed out a hysterical explanation, all but forgetting to answer the question. "I didn't wanna push him that hard!! I didn't mean it--he went so fast downstairs! And he was spinning!! I didn't make him spin!! Vanni!!!"

"Hey--it's alright! Calm down.I'm sure your bro's alright."

He patted the younger girl on the head and called back to the adolescent that had gotten Giovanni to his feet. "Ain't I right, Dan?"

Silence from Dan. "Dan! Is he 'gonna be okay or not?"

A loud flump was heard, as the student dropped Giovanni to the floor again. He stepped backwards, his eyes focused on his hand. The crowd fell silent as they stared at what sliver of fluid was trickling down his palm.

"Holy shit... the son of a bitch got gunk on me!"

"DANIEL! That is no way to speak to--"

"No way to talk?! Would ya say anything different about THIS?!"

Dan overturned the boy so he was facing up, and as one, the crowd moved away seven feet back. Belle's wailing only heightened as the crowd's silence escalated into whispers and outright expletives.

Blood on his lip. Blood on his forehead. Blood in his nose. All the hue of ebony, of sable, of jet, of ink, of sable, of coal, of crude oil, of Asian hair, of raven. If this blood had been the sky, Ursa Major and Minor would be swallowed whole. Had it been the ocean, it would represent the uncharted realms of outer space. And had it been the earth, only a sealed-off cavern where all light was denied would describe its darkness. This was black of the purest kind: no red existed to sully its purity. One could pick up a microscope and search for visible red pigment, but that effort and any effort would be for naught. It is useless to find impurities in the pure.

However, to the ill fate of Belle and Giovanni, the sight of that jet-black blood was ANYTHING but pure to the students and faculty.

It took no time for the whispers to increase to audible conversation, and Ivy only cried more because..she could hear every word firing rapidly at her ears. The remainder of the day, and the days to come, was one, hellish succession of cymbal crashes.

"FREAK..."

"WEIRDO..."

"AND HE'S SO RICH TOO....."

"LOOK AT THE BLOOD.."

"IT'S ALL OVER..."

"IT'S BLACK..."

"YOU THINK IT'S POISONOUS?"

"I WOULDN'T DOUBT IT..."

"GOD, THAT OTHER KID PASSED OUT. HE MUST HAVE GOTTEN CONTAMINATED."

"TAKE HIM TO THE NURSE..."

"THE FREAK?"

"NO!!!! THE KID WHO TOUCHED HIM!"

"DAN? IS HE OKAY?"

"I DON'T KNOW.... FREAK'S DEADLY..."

"HE CAN KILL WITH THAT BLOOD..."

"KILL."

"KILL."

"KILL."

*~*~*

"THERE'S THE NURSE."

"HE'LL BE ALRIGHT. WASH HIM UP THOROUGHLY. WE DON'T WANT TO TAKE ANY CHANCES."

"AND HERE'S THE FREA---BOY."

"I'M NOT TOUCHING THAT FILTH. I'M NOT EVEN LOOKING AT IT."

"NURSE--"

"I'M NOT TOUCHING IT."

"YOU KNOW WHAT WE HAVE TO DO.."

"GET HIM OUT OF HERE.."

"GET HIM OUT..."

"CALL HIS MOTHER."

"THE DEMONI? SHE'LL SUE US..... THE JUDGES ARE IN THE PALM OF HER HAND.... HELL, SHE'S PAYING THE HIGHEST TUITION OUT OF ALL--"

"DO YOU THINK I GIVE A DAMN? CALL HER... GET HIM OUT..."

*~*~*

"HOW CAN YOU SOIL OUR SCHOOL'S REPUTATION LIKE THIS?!"

"WE'RE SURE TO GET CITED!!"

"WE COULD LOSE MONEY! IMAGINE WHAT THE PARENTS WILL THINK.... HOW COULD YOU NOT WARN US ABOUT HIS DISEASE??!?!"

"IT COULD BE CONTAGIOUS...."

"CONTAGIOUS?!??! DO YOU THINK I WOULD BE IDIOT ENOUGH TO TAKE HIM TO A SCHOOL IF HE WAS CONTAGIOUS?!??!"

"DID THIS MANIFEST RECENTLY?!?!? NO?!!??"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND A THING, DO YOU??! I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WATCH HIM, YOU INEPT IDIOTS WHO CALL YOURSELVES EDUCATORS!!!"

"YOU CAN'T BLAME THE SCHOOL! HE TRIPPED: THERE WAS NOTHING TO PREVENT HIS OWN CARELESSNESS!!!"

"HE TRIPPED?!? WHAT KIND OF FOOL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?!"

"STOP ARGUING, MRS. DEMONI!!!"

"I'LL ARGUE ALL I WANT---"

"THIS WON'T HELP THE SITUATION."

"TAKE YOUR BLACK-BLOODED BASTARD AND GET HIM OUT."

"FINE!!!! THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'LL DO, BITCH!!!! COME NOW, GIOVANNI!!! YOU'VE MADE ENOUGH OF A MESS ALREADY!!!!!!!!"

"..................Yes, Mother.............."

*~*~*

"YOUR MOTHER LEFT. IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER, RUN. SHE'S IN THE CAR."

"Car?!??! Wait!!!!! Mama!!!!!"

"HAH-HAH!!! LOOK AT HER DRIVE OFF!!!! LOOK AT THE SISTER!!! JUST STANDING THERE....... PRETTY PATHETIC, HUH?"

"HAH-HAH-HAH, SURE IS!!!!"

"Mama.... Vanni.... Say something to her, Vanni!!!!! Please don't leave me alone!!!! Take me with you! Don't---leave.... me... here.....

"Please....."

*~*~*

"HEY, LOOK! IT'S THE FREAK'S SISTER!"

"MAYBE SHE'S JUST LIKE HIM!"

"HEEEYYY.... WHY DON'T WE JUST SEE FOR OURSELVES? DIDN'T YOU GET A SWISS ARMY KNIFE FOR CHRISTMAS, JOHN?"

"SURE DID!!! GOOD THING A TEACH' HASN'T CONFISCATED IT YET..... HERE!!! I'VE GOT IT!!!!"

"LEMME USE IT!!!!"

"HEY, YA STOLE IT!!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!"

"WHATEVER....."

"THERE!!! MAKE A NICK ON HER ARM---RIGHT THERE!"

"No!!! Please stoppit!!! That.... it hurts......"

"NOPE, IT'S RED."

"DOESN'T MATTER. SHE'S STILL THE FREAK'S SISTER!"

"AW, FUCK, WHAT IF SHE RATS ON US?"

"YOU THINK SHE'D TELL? IF SHE DID, NOBODY'D LISTEN...."

"JUST TO BE SURE.... HEY, GIRL!!! YOU TELL ON US, WE'LL DO THIS----"

"Aahhhhh!!! Owww!!! Please, please stop it!!! That really hurts!! Ow!"

"--IT'LL HURT MORE NEXT TIME IF YOU TELL...... PROMISE YOU WON'T, FREAK-SIS?"

"....I... I won't....."

*~*~*

"I'M VERY DISAPPOINTED TO SAY THAT EVERYONE FAILED THIS ASSESSMENT...

EXCEPT FOR BELINA."

"Don't tell them that... Please don't make them talk...."

"HEY!!! ISN'T THAT THE FREAK'S--?"

"YEAH! HIS--IT'S--SISTER!!! MAN, SHE'S UG_LEE.... SHE ALWAYS LOOKS LIKE SHE'S ON DOPE OR SOMETHING!"

"I WOULDN'T DOUBT IT!!! IT'S PROBABLY TO KEEP HER BLOOD RED!!!!"

"HAH-HAH, GOOD ONE, REGGIE!!!!"

"Dope...? And... you... you don't need to be so mean about it...It's just... just a little black..."

"FREEEAAAK!!!! FREAAAK!!!! BELINA IS A FREEEEAAAK!!!!!"

"YEAH! FREAK!FREAK!FREAK!FREAK!"

"NO!!!!!! Sh-sh-shut up, you... you ASSES!!!!!!"

"BELINA?!?!?!?? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!?!?!?"

"Teacher, they were----"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY WERE DOING!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE IGNORED THEM OR TOLD ME!!!! DETENTION ALL THIS WEEK DURING LUNCH FOR YOU, MISSY!!!!"

"But if I had told you, Miss Crambell, you wouldn't've listened!!!!!!!!!!"

"....YOU...YOU DARE SPEAK BACK TO ME!??!?! GO TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE!!!!"

"But--!!!!!"

"NO BUTS!!! NOW!!! I'D HATE TO SEE WHAT YOUR MOTHER WOULD THINK IF YOU WERE SUSPENDED....."

"......I'll... I'll go...."

*~*~*

Three months. Three months of absolute torment. The poor girl thought it would never end: day in, day out, teasing. She went to sleep knowing that the students would make fun of her the next day. She didn't bother to make any friends: they would eventally find out that she was Belina Ivy, half-sister of the one with black blood. And it happened. She would be approached by new students who offered their friendship, only to abandon her a day later because of the cursed grapevine. And she would be all alone...for lunch, for lessons, for recess. The girl had no one to share the news of her high grades, because they snubbed her and pretended that she didn't exist. Either ignore her or insult her to tears. Then they left, laughing raucously, leaving her to wonder aloud in her room at the boarding school, crying herself to sleep and drowning in the tears that soaked her pillow:

"Vanni... why'd you leave me.... all.... alone.....?"

Hell finally cooled and froze. Belle jumped out of the back of the bus, the laughter fading behind her, and approached the large mansion that was her house, a sack holding her books slung over her shoulder. After trying the door, she ran through the extensive foyer, her violet hair waving behind her as she darted past her mother, who was in the adjoining room, feverishly scribbling out a check on top a polished mahogany desk. Neither acknowledged the other's presence, which didn't bother the younger, who dashed out from the door and into the garden. Her eyes that had been weary from gazing into the sneering faces of her schoolmates lit up, born freshly anew as she saw her brother, sitting by a ten foot deep pond full of coy fish. He watched the marine animals flit back and forth underneath the lily pads, himself stagnant. Belle smiled brightly and yelled to get her brother's attention. "Vanni! I'm back home!!"

"Back...... home?"

The boy still didn't move, still staring into the fish pond, looking at the numerous Goldeen and listening to the splash of a marble Mew sculpture that jutted out from the middle, pouring a fountain from its mouth into the center of the pond.

"Yeah, Vanni! Didn't ya miss me?"

The boy whirled around, his eyes engulfed in flaring rage, and somehow, fringed with a scarlet glow. Belle continued to smile, her innocent self not grasping the true danger of the situation.

"I missed something," Giovanni responded, but not warmly. His words were as frigid as the icicles that formed from their roof in winter. "I missed teaching you a lesson when I had the chance!!!"

Belle gave out a barely audible squeak of terror, and she backed away, but her brother grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping her from moving. His eyes were now completely engulfed by that crimson glow, that was so bright Belle looked away, her eyes squeezed shut. She wished that she could do the same to her ears when her brother started yelling. But she couldn't, and what fell upon her ears wounded her soul.

"But now I WILL!"

He smacked her with the palm of his hand, his face lighting up when he saw that it had left a red mark.... but then his visage darkened again as he realized it was RED. Not BLACK but RED.... RED.......

He slapped her again, yelling. "'Cause of YOU, BELLE, I can't go to school anymore!!!! No--HELL with school, I can't go ANYWHERE!!!!!!" Another slap. "You can go ANYWHERE you want!" Slap. "You might even go to a high school.... or a college!!!" Slap. This one was hard.

"You're 'gonna MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF YOURSELF, BELLE!!!!"

SLAP.

"I WANTED TO HELP YOU ONCE!!!! I WANTED TO BE YOUR BROTHER!!!!!!!! BUT BECAUSE OF YOU ALL I CAN BE IS A FREAK!!!!!!!!"

SLAP. SLAP. SLAP. SLAP. SLAP.

"DID YOU HEAR THAT??!??!"

SLAP.

"A FREAK!!!!!!!"

"Vanni!! I'm sorry!!"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it, IVY."

He hoisted his sister up on his shoulders, walked to the fish pond, her screaming the whole time, begging and pleading for some kind of mercy, her eyes as red as her cheeks where he had slapped her. But the boy... his heart now as ebony as his blood, flung her into the fish pond, and left her there in the chilly water, deaf to her water-choked screams to be let out.

*~*~*

"Goldeen...Gol..."

One of the fish in the coy pond was a large Goldeen. Its flowing orange fins ruffled like a bridal veil in the green water, propelling it slowly through. The other Goldeen darted by it, creating a colorful show of orange. The first fish floated to the surface. It had caught sight of an unusually large water plant, but..no, that wasn't a water plant. It was a human. A drowning human. Instinctively Goldeen swam towards the girl on the verge of death, and positioning its horn under her shirt at her back, it pushed her along gently, keeping her head above water. "Gol.." The girl coughed and sputtered as she was pushed towards land. Gradually she felt her drenched skin touch the freshly cut grass that bordered the pond, and Goldeen disappeared under the water.

Belle said nothing as she ran towards the house, not caring in the slightest if she tracked water all over the floor. Ascending the crimson-carpeted stairwell, above which hung a glass chandelier, she ran into her room and fell upon her bed, soaking it with pond water. She only sobbed this time, having no strength to wail or bawl. Everything had gone wrong. Everyone had left her...even her brother. She felt as if she had nothing left to hold onto..absolutely nothing. And over the years it only worsened. Vacation was little more than Hell: she would return home to find her brother just as unkind. She couldn't escape his wrath: she felt every slap, stomp, shove, and throw. This hardened her heart, that was once tender and innocent, like an angel's. Externally, she remained that way, never retaliating against her brother's assaults, but within, she was a dormant volcano. Not extinct, but only dormant. A sleeping fury, a buried madness, of one so terrible and complete that it was difficult to believe that Professor Belina Ivy had once been just like any other girl. But it was not meant to last. The hardness of her heart remained unchecked, and the darkness of her soul remained unrectified. There could be no doubt that it would come to an unstoppable vengeance. A righteous vengeance that could be justified, and yet, for the one she would take vengeance on, an unforgivable sin.

Because of the midnight blood.

*~*~*

THE END

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CQF?: Thanks for reading this. ^^ Okay, a few things to say here!

1. Erin had Ivy say that Gio fell on his knee. Lets just say she had a bad memory. : )

2. Hm...no 2. Alright! Fic forecast (OO Wow, it's snowing.) for today is two fics, both combined efforts. ^^ EoAR chapter 11, and UOM, which ties into EoAR.

*~*~*

B9T: Psst! Hojo is coming!

DMB: *Whine* But I liiiiikes Viiiiincy tooooo! (Especially when he's with Cid. Muahahahah. :)) *Blink.* What are YOU lookin' at?!??! ......O_O That's about the five-hundreth time I've said--er--typed that this week. XD Heh-heh. Anyway, stay tuned for chapter 12 of EoaR!!! And if you haven't THAT fic yet... then why the hell did you read THIS?!?!? O_O You just ruined the whole plot for yourself up until Chapter 6, damnit! XD;;;;

Anyway, may the sporks be with you.

....And review. Please. ^_^