Story: Tilt the world
Pairings: Eventually almost all slash...not telling yet.
Rating: K+ for violence...
Warnings: Umm out of characterness from some characters...I haven't gotten them worked out yet, sorry. Oh and I hate Esther.
Author's note: Okay, set immediatly after the anime, all hell breaks loose as the Vatican realizes their troubles are just begining and Esther is already running in to problems. And nothing is as it seems, allies, enemies, the living and the dead. Abel and Ion are of course still looking for Contra Mundi while Cain plots. Enjoy and please review, all comments are welcome. Tilt the World
Blinding sunlight flooded the garden. It was perhaps the only piece of land not torn and ripped apart by the canons that had been firing during the night. That was all over now, blood-stained flowers blew in the wind, uncaring that the last canon had fallen silent and the screams had stopped. The war was over and the world had shifted.
The body moved, painfully, it was unused to movement after such a long period of rest and the physical abuse it had taken. Whimpers and sharp cracks echoed in the room as bones realigned, tissue and muscle sewed back together, more blood pouring from new wounds as bones were forced back under skin. Until finally, all was silent, the body was prone once again and soft rasping breaths filled the room.
The shadows shifted and a hand was offered to the living body. A pale anaemic hand reached up and took the proffered hand. "I do hope we never have to perpetrate such a stunt again." Amusement filled the comment so completely there was hardly any room for concern. "But it was a unique experience for you I'm sure."
Sharp eyes emphasized by an overly pale face glared at its rescuer as the two disappeared into the shadows.
"I hate dying, and I hate you."
Laughter echoed in the room long after the two had disappeared.
Shock surrounded the Vatican, shock and disbelief so thick that a knife would break trying to cut it. Cardinal Caterina Sforza, duchess of Milan, sat in stoic calm as her mind raced with the implications of the news she had just received. The professor looked like his newest invention just blew up in his face; Leon had disappeared ranting about vampires and Havel just looked, well, thunderstruck. Caterina had no idea where the rest of her order was. The entire Vatican was stunned, AX was no exception, and even now she can hear the panicked yelling and frantic preparations taking place in the building. The Pope, despite how far he had come in the last few months, had been unable to do much to stop mass panic. Then again no one can blame him.
In the few short months after Contra Mundi was defeated, Esther crowned, and peace finally reigning, all hell broke lose. Vampires, having taken advantage of the Vatican's distraction, had banded together and in a calculated move, taken over an empire. To make matters worse, Virgil and Vanessa Walsh had, apparently left the Ghetto with all the Methuselahs in Albion, and joined the newly formed Empire in their renamed capital, Shiloh. Before they left however, someone had destroyed every piece of lost technology in Albion along with the knowledge of how to produce them. It should have been an impossible feat, one that was both crippling and baffling in its shear magnitude.
The professor was probably the first to recover as he took a long drag on his pipe. "Well the young queen, is having a lot of hardships isn't she? And it's only the beginning of her rule." Everyone looked at him, save Tres, who just stared ahead. Caterina had to admit it was true, none of them had looked at it that way, but it was very true.
Caterina sighed, "Alright, what do we know so far about this Empire?"
The hologram of Sister Kate flicker into existence in front of the cardinal's desk and began speaking, "So far the vampires and humans are co-existing. There doesn't seem to be any form of mass segregation nor discrimination nor any form of violence. However all Vatican priests and sisters have been expelled from the city overnight." Here she paused, "It would seem they do not wish for Vatican interference."
The cardinal nodded, it was smart move, and everyone in the room knew that. None of the people expelled were harmed, and the new government had effectively rid itself of Vatican influence. "How are the people reacting to this?"
Sister Kate hesitated, "They're not. The humans are allowed to worship and the government has told the public that they are arranging something with the Vatican."
"Wait, are you saying they're willing to negotiate?" The professor looked stunned, which was replaced by thoughtful, "well it would make sense, and they're not trying to start a war with us, hmmmm, so I guess we're panicking for no reason huh?"
"Very well, there is nothing we can do at the moment," Caterina finally sighed, "They have not openly attacked the Vatican, therefore we have nothing to retaliate against. Even so, our man power is so depleted after the last battle there isn't anything we can do." Here she paused and looked at everyone who all nodded in agreement, about their own inability to fight if nothing else. "Should it come down to it, what does the New Human Empire's Empress say in this matter?"
The room fell deathly silent as everyone turned to Sister Kate, who fidgeted. "Well, she will not interfere as long as they do not attack. In her opinion, the base of power tends to shift, so this is natural."
"So we only have Albion if we decide to remove the Vampires in Shiloh. And Albion has now been crippled now that all their lost technology has been destroyed." Havel mused as the room lapsed into silence again.
"So they're here to stay then." Leon muttered from the doorway.
"Yes."
Exhaustion was finally setting in. The Duchess of Moldova had to finally concede that she was at the end of her endurance. The assassination attempt, the back stabbing, the plots and hiding secrets in plain sight were finally taking its toll. Her Empress on the other hand seemed exhilarated. Even Mirka had to smile as her Empress' slight figure ran from room to room making the final preparations. It was surprising how two people could have complicated their plans so horribly.
Her majesty's most trusted advisor closed her eyes as her mind finally accepted the loss of close friends. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way; there had been so many problems from the start. It should have been so simple, the Vatican pacified, Abel Nightroad returned to his proper place and peace. Then that child, that human, had ruined everything, and now her grandson's most beloved friend was dead. The high council had lost a valuable member and most importantly, the Empress had lost her chance to reclaim her brother. Then this happens.
A shadow fell over Mirka Fortuna's figure startling the duchess out of her revelry. A beautiful smile greeted her up-turned face as Seth murmured, "Don't worry so much, everything will be fine, you'll see. We are nothing if not prepared and thoroughly at that." With that, a small hand took Mirka's and pulled her to her feet, "I have something to show you. Come."
Mirka Fortuna, Duchess of Moldova, smiled softly for the first time in days as she was pulled deeper within the palace. Yes, everything will be alright. After all, the Empress was right. Methuselahs were nothing if not prepared and she trusted her Empress to be prepared for every contingency.
The streets were bustling with activity. Vendors of every kind, nationality, were pandering their wares in stalls that lined the street. Every colour in the world could be seen on these streets. Exotic birds of every colour, lions, tigers, beasts of all kinds could be found. Then there were the scents, from the most expensive perfume to the stench of the animals filled the air. The aroma of cooking food wafted around them and Ion was temporarily overwhelmed by the lively atmosphere. Yet no one approached them to offer their wares, Ion sighed, it would seem they really looked travel worn and penniless after all.
A heavy thudding noise startled him out of him wonderment and Ion turned to see Father Nightroad bounce off the corner of a stall and hit the cobbled street. Hurrying over Ion picked the out cold priest off the floor, trying desperately to stop the blood flow on the priest's head wound.
The young duke of Memphis sighed; this was the third time he had been forced to pick the priest off the floor. He had never expected travelling with one of the strongest vampires in the world to be such an embarrassing experience. They had run out of money within the first two weeks of travel. And because of that, they had been forced to sleep on doorsteps. Abel had fainted from hunger (it was shocking how much food the man needed), and Ion once again found himself carrying the Krusnik through a crowded street.
For Abel, it was surprising how easily he fell back into the role of the klutzy and pathetic priest that was hungry all the time. Well hungry wasn't a lie, he refused to feed and it was taking it toll, he probably wouldn't be able to even use 80 of his powers if he tried right now. However, moaning about hunger pains and leaning on Ion was a good cover for scoping out their surroundings. It really surprised him, he had expected this city to be torn and damaged, people on the streets, hungry and in pain. But Shiloh was beautiful, the wounds of war were being repaired even now, people were happy and the city was prospering. Humans walked the street along side the vampires, who were wrapped up in long sun proof scarves to keep from being burned. The rift was there though, Abel could see it, the humans were wary of the vampires, and they walked like they were on a mine field. The vampires on the other hand, treated the humans like a necessary evil. But the truce was there.
"Why don't we head to the church?" Abel murmured softly to Ion, "Its right over there, hopefully I can still mooch a little of Lady Caterina's good name." He flashed a blinding smile up at the Duke before doubling over in pain again. "If we're lucky we might get some information as well."
The blond smiled as they walked towards the church, "Hopefully I can get a letter out to my grandmother and ask for more money. I don't know about you but I'm tired of sleeping on the floor."
"Gomen nasai, Ion-sama."
Ion flushed crimson, "I told you to stop calling me that, do you know how embarrassing that is?" Abel didn't answer because they had reached the gates of the cathedral. Putting a hand on the heavy rose wood door Abel pushed. Nothing happened, it was bolted shut. Staring in shock Abel gapped for a moment before letting go of Ion and banging on the door.
"NOOOOO, please, please open, we're desperate, hungry and dying and hungry!!!!!" Tears streamed down his face as Ion merely looked on utter mortification. "Please!!!!!"
"It's no use, the church has been empty since a few days ago," A little girl in pigtails and a ragged, but clean, late European styled dress, was standing at the steps of the cathedral.
The expression on Abel's face was utter dejection, "Really? But what happened to all..." The rest of his sentence was cut off as an explosion rocked the ground they stood upon. Debris fell and the panicked screams of people and animals filled the air, smoke and dust billowed across town. People were running, though no one knew where to, Shiloh had become a maze and they were the rats, trapped with no escape.
Author's notes: Gomen nasai- I'm very sorry
Shiloh- Biblical city that was a sanctuary containing the ark of the convenent...its not anymore