Theft of Thine Heart

Chapter Two

Grumbling to herself the entire way, Rain counted her remaining coins as the street lights came alive. It seemed like after her encounter with the priest her day had gradually grown worse. She'd stumbled with someone's pocket only grabbing a handful rather than the full coin purse. And to top things off the two houses she had gone to rummage through had been pointless. One had been empty, the occupants having moved out and the other had been raided by the Inquisition for harbouring Methuselah. Just thinking about the Inquisition made her shudder, they were a bunch she did not want to run into. But she reasoned there were darker things out there in the night.

Recalling the men she had heard in the alley the other night, Rain idly wondered if anyone had offered to buy her information. Now that man she had heard talking, the one known as Panzermagier had been one who sent shivers down her spine, he was someone she didn't want to run into again. The other one though, there had been something about him that had seemed familiar to her, a voice she felt like she should be able to recall. Lost in her thoughts, Rain didn't realise just where she had managed to wander to. Blinking as she almost walked into a lamppost, her grey eyes looked up to meet the towering Vatican before her. Of course it stood far behind the high steel fencing, but its pale stone walls were unmistakable. A couple guards stood nearby watching her with disinterest, clearly not worried by the blue haired woman who had almost walked into a lamppost.

Turning to head as far away as possible from the building a flicker in the darkness caught her attention. It was only a slight movement that she was surprised that she had picked up on but it was enough to pique her interest. A flash of a black cloak that seemed to come from the very shadows before a dark figure agilely leapt over the high fencing, unnoticed by the guards as it flitted with amazing speed across the open ground. Rain realised that the night of the assassination had come already.

It wasn't her problem. Shoving her hands in her pockets, Rain began to walk away with her eyes fixed firmly ahead down the street. This was not her problem. Tonight a Cardinal would die, perhaps any unfortunate priests, nuns or guards who got in the assassin's way. Blood would be spilt but it was none of her concern. A flash of silver made her stop, eyes hidden behind her mess of hair. What if that man got in the way? No, she shouldn't care, he was just another priest. But…he had been kind, something she was unused to in this world.

"You're a good person, Rain. No matter what happens in the future, remember that."

Muttering darkly, Rain ground her teeth together before turning on her heel and eyeing up the tall iron fencing. There was no way she could scale that fence but she could probably jump across from a nearby lamppost. Picking up a loose cobblestone from the pavement, she hefted it in her hand before tossing it down the street. The sound made the two guards jump clearly not having expected the loud clattering noise. Cautiously the pair began to move away, checking out the noise and giving Rain enough time to clamber up the ornate lamppost before leaping from its top over the fencing. Rolling as she landed, she remained crouched, looking all around her and ready to run if anyone had spotted her. Silence met her ears.

Quickly darting across the expansive garden, she took to the natural cover of the bushes nearby the Vatican walls.

'Okay Miss Hero, what's next?' she thought to herself sarcastically, eyeing up the stone walls of the building behind her.

It looked scale-able with enough crevices for her to get some decent footing for climbing but where would her destination be? Would anyone listen to her if she suddenly descended into the Vatican after sneaking in? Clearly she hadn't thought this through well. Grabbing her head with a silent groan of annoyance at herself, her eyes caught movement on a balcony above. At first she thought it was the silent assassin having possibly noticing her following, but her eyes were met by a familiar sight. The silver haired priest! Coincidence was with her this night it seemed.

Wasting no further time, Rain began to clamber her way up the Vatican walls, minding her footing as she silently scaled the building until she reached the stone balcony above. Grasping the edge of the stone railing, a surprised yelp met her before she pulled herself up. Bright blue eyes behind somewhat disheveled glasses looked at her in shock before he quickly adjusted them, a somewhat anxious chuckle falling from his lips.

"E-Excuse me Miss thief, I think you've got the wrong building."

Regretting her actions up until this point, Rain sat perched on the balcony with a sigh, "look I'm only here because my conscious won't shut up. There's an assassin coming for one of the Cardinals tonight."

He blinked in confusion before a wave of seriousness suddenly fell over the man. In an instant his appearance changed to her surprise, the goofy exterior melting away behind a cool and composed persona.

"And how do you know this, Miss thief?"

"Because I overhead a conversation between two people the other night about it…and I just saw the assassin jump over the fence."

Without another word the priest turned and ran, pulling an old looking revolver from his long priest jacket to Rain's surprise. She didn't know why but she followed after him.

"H-Hey! Are priests meant to carry guns?"

He didn't pause to address her as he ran, quite fast for a man of the cloth, his long silver hair snaking behind him in its loose tail as he glanced sideways at her, clearly as surprised as her that she was tagging along.

"This is not a place you should be Miss. Thank you for your information, but I will take it from here!"

By all means she should have taken that as a sign for her to leave, her good deed for the day done. And yet she found herself running alongside him through the darkened halls of the Vatican. He said nothing else, his mind clearly on the task at hand. Wondering where they were headed to, as the priest seemed to know where he was going, Rain noticed a light up ahead. Breaking out onto another balcony this one overlooked a large garden in the centre of the Vatican. It looked beautiful even at night with soft lighting dotted around the foliage and ornate wooden archways that lined a gravelled path. There in the garden on a lone bench sat a beautiful woman, long rich golden locks curling around her face and down her back. She wore a rich crimson and golden dress that was clearly too ornate to be a simple nun's. There was no doubt in her mind this was one of the Cardinals of the Vatican.

"Cardinal Caterina!" the priest beside her called as he sped down the steps to join her, gun held high and immediately alerting the woman to sudden danger.

Glittering eyes narrowed, the light glinting from her monocle as she looked up to the priest in surprise.

"Abel? What is it?"

No sooner had he reached her than a dark shadow shifted from the side as Rain watched from above, a hint of nervousness hitting her at the serious situation she was suddenly faced with.

"My, my," the low drawl seemed to creep from the shadows itself along with a fanged smirk, "looks like someone let slip my coming."

"Who are you?" the priest narrowed his eyes, levelling his revolver directly at the man.

Slowly the figure stepped from the shadows of the building, tossing back his black cloak before offering a light bow. Short waves of dark brown hair fell to his shoulders, framing the fine stubble of his angular face, dark eyes almost like the night around them. He appeared to be wearing a dark suit that would not have looked out of the ordinary, but for the crimson armband round his left arm. The letters 'R', 'C' and 'O' emblazoned on it along with a skull symbol with long antlers like a deer. Also somewhat off-putting was the sword sheathe that wrapped around his waist, a black leather sheathe with trails of metallic silver that almost looked like lightning wrapping around it. A flash of pointed fang were enough to cement just who this was, or at least what he was. A gloved hand gestured towards them with a smirk.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am the Schwarzer Ritter and I shall be taking the Cardinal's head this night."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the Methuselah had flickered, vanishing from his spot to appear behind the priest. He turned quickly for a human but it was too little too late as the Methuselah's knee sharply rose into the priest's chest. Flying back winded, the silver haired priest named Abel ended up falling back into the bushes much to the horror of the Cardinal. However gunshots rang out causing the Methuselah to leap back to avoid the silver bullets. Rain was impressed that the priest had managed such accurate shots despite having been winded, and falling backwards. Gripping the stone balcony railing, she once again wondered why she was still there. This wasn't her problem and yet something had pushed her to come here, and kept here there. Why? What unseeing force was stopping her from leaving? A crackling sound made her eyes widen.

Light danced through the garden and electricity appeared to come from nowhere, crackling bolts dancing through the air towards Abel who hurriedly rolled out of the way. It wasn't in horror that Rain froze upon seeing such a thing. It was familiarity. Not many Methuselah had special abilities and suddenly everything fell into place. With her heart hammering in her chest, Rain leapt over the railing without a thought landing between the dueling pair just as Abel raised his gun once again.

"Stop!"

Her shout drew all of the attention, from the confused Cardinal to the shocked priest and finally to the Methuselah assassin who stared at her with a look of almost horror. What had taken her so long to realise took him only a second.

"Stop," she repeated desperately, holding up her hands either side, "please stop."

"Get out the way Miss!" Abel called out to her worriedly as he pulled himself to his feet, "that man is dangerous!"

Much to his surprise and confusion she took a step back away from him and closer to the Methuselah, a hard light falling over her grey eyes as she scowled at him. Behind her the raised sword slowly fell, pointing down to the ground as a pained expression fell across the Methuselah's face, "oh my dear raincloud…I wish you were not here," his eyes hardened as they turned back to the Cardinal and Abel, "I will return for your head Cardinal."

Before she could stop him, he had vanished with a flicker as if he had never been there in the first place. Moving to go after him a hand suddenly grabbed her arm, a worried expression but also curiosity shone in those sky blue eyes on the silver haired priest.

"Wait! You can't go after him!"

Pulling her arm back from him a little too roughly, she shook her head with a frown, "you don't understand, I have to!"

However as she finished her words, Inquisition solders began to converge on them having heard the confrontation and hurrying to investigate. Shooting one last look at the priest with a silent apology, Rain leapt up towards the balcony and pulled herself up before dashing down the stone corridors of the Vatican despite him calling out to her once again.

It was easy to find her way out, following the same halls that the priest had led her down only this time the place was coming alive. People exited from nearby rooms clearly wondering what the commotion was. Dancing around the suddenly appearing priests and nuns, startling most of them with her appearance, her ears caught the faint click of a gun as she ducked, rolling across the stone floor just as several bullets peppered the wall beside her. Looking up quickly, her hood falling back, she noticed a priest in similar robes to the silver haired priest Abel, an empty expression in his dark hazel eyes, his every move calculated and deliberate as he slowly turned towards her with a pair of guns levelled at her. Just who were these priests? Growling, she didn't have time for this, the longer she remained in the Vatican the further her quarry got. She waited for a sign to move, remaining crouched and still just as Abel suddenly skidded from round a corner,

"W-Wait Tres! Don't shoot!"

Rain sprang from her position, using her momentum to throw herself over towards the balcony she had entered from. Even with a roll as she hit the ground she felt the force of the fall leaving her momentarily winded. Marcus would laugh at her if it wasn't for the fact that a gun was being levelled at her once again. A single bullet shot before Abel could grapple with the unstoppable priest, shouting about how she wasn't a threat, but that bullet had been enough.

Pain ripped through her shoulder sending her stumbling with a cry. But she refused to stop, instinct keeping her running with the fear of being caught by the Inquisition in the back of her mind. She would never let those glorified murderers take her! This time she didn't bother with the fence and headed straight for the gate where two wary guards stood clearly wondering what the commotion was. Upon seeing her they lowered their pikes in warning.

"Stop!"

Deftly, Rain side stepped their long weapons before jumping up, one foot landing on the shoulder of the guard and using him to spring her over the top of the gates. Landing crouched on the other side pain echoed through her shoulder once more. Grasping it tightly, crimson blood seeping through her fingers, she gritted her teeth and took off running aware of the gates opening behind her. Her boots thundered across the cobbled street into the night before a hand grabbed her from a nearby alley pulling her away into the shadows.