Chapter 3
Other Side of the Line
Hunter chapter. It'll be kinda focused around not the Vampire hunters themselves, we'll get to them later, but the people backing them up.
But, they're students going to a college that trains groups of Vampire Hunters. Said college is backed up by the Vatican's secret group of monster hunters, Iscariot.
Plus possible implied Leon/Cloud.
Warnings: Language, violence, snarking
"And that, class, is how you identify between Red Court Vampires and Black Court Vampires," droned the teacher. "Tomorrow we will go over how to distinguish Vampires that are not aligned with any of the Courts. Dismissed."
Ienzo closed his notebook and placed it in his bag. The class that he just finished was close to an anatomy class, but not really, since dead vampires were hard to study. It was more of a "This class will tell you how to distinguish between kills of different courts and what weapons your hunters can use" type of class.
"Hey, did you hear?" Ienzo overheard a student say.
"Hear what?" his friend replied.
"The guys in Iscariot caught an actual Vampire and are keeping him in one of the cells in the basement," the first guy replied excitedly.
"Really? Awesome!" his friend replied. As the two walked away and their conversation died off, Ienzo started thinking.
"So, there's a vampire in the basement, huh? Interesting," Ienzo muttered. He noticed the time on his watch and hurried out of the classroom door. If he stood there any longer, he'd be late for his next class, one on folklore.
"Class, we have a slight deviation from our regular schedule. Thanks to Iscariot, we have an actual vampire for study in one of the cells here in the building. If you will all follow me," the teacher said. She led the class down below the dank basement where live Vampires and the occasional Dhampire were held.
The students followed the teacher until they came upon the darkest of the cells.
"I know there are humans there," whispered the darkness. A pale face surrounded by a mass of blood red hair showed up through it. The face grinned and sharp canines showed through. All but Ienzo backed up a few steps. "So, not scared of me are you?"
Ienzo gave a sharp laugh. "After my father, there's very little that can scare me," Ienzo told the Vampire.
The vampire laughed. "I like you, kid. What's your name?" he asked, stepping forward into the dim light of the hallway. The students saw a scrawny frame covered by blood-splattered leather. One girl gasped loudly.
"Isn't it customary to give ones own name first?" Ienzo countered.
The vampire laughed some more. "Quite right you are, human. Reno St. Clair, Vampire, at your service."
Ienzo smirked. The other students and Teacher were amused by the banter. "Ienzo Hojo, St. Clair. Very nice to meet you." He held out his hand by impulse and was shocked to see that Reno shook it. "Nice grip."
"Yeah, didn't want to squish your human fingers." Suddenly Reno had a flashback of his human days, before he met the others. A young red head with an even younger one hiding behind him, watching their parents get slaughtered by Were-creatures. Then, a deep shadow, and non-human blood everywhere, a lone figure in the center. The… person had dark hair that was kind of short, but fairly messy. And now he was covered in Were-blood.
"Reno? You okay?" one of the braver students asked. His name was Leo.
"Ah'm fine kid. Just… small place with lots of humans. Y'all might want to leave." Reno slid back into the shadows, it being still daylight outside, but since none of that could get to him, all was fine.
"Right then. Class, let's leave this…nice Vampire alone then." The scared teacher led all but one of the students out the door, the one being able to create illusions.
"This is bad for you, isn't it Reno?" Ienzo sat across from where he thought the Vampire was.
"It's bad." Reno was trying to hold in his entirely too human fear of small confined spaces. It was so bad, he couldn't even deal with a coffin.
While Ienzo was talking to the vampire, Leon and Cloud were being tortured to death during Weapons. Well, not literally, but still.
"You know, why did we have to kill them anyway?" Cloud asked Leon. They were standing back to back during a training exercise in a simulator. In said simulator, ghouls surrounded them.
"Kill who?" Leon took down a couple ghouls with his gunblade.
"You know, those two silver haired Vampires. They had a family and everything," Cloud elaborated, destroying a few ghouls as he did.
"Cloud Strife, they were trying to kill us. Don't you dare get sappy on me now." Leon chopped the head of one of the ghouls off; Cloud defended himself, stabbing the heart of a ghoul. Satisfied with ghoul death, the two sprinted down a virtual hallway to where the virtual Vampire would be.
"Hello Hunters. I'm so glad you made it through the ghouls," the boys heard. It was a sultry feminine voice coming from right in front of them.
The two heard faint footsteps coming towards them. "You know, it's been a while since I've had a chance to play." From the shadows stepped a vampire, female, slightly smaller than Cloud.
Cloud stiffened. She looked exactly like the vampire that killed his family.
"Easy Cloud. She's not real. We got rid of her, remember?" Leon placed his hand on Cloud's shoulder, who relaxed slightly at the touch.
"Yeah, I remember. It's just… she looks too real." Cloud took a step closer to Leon. "Ready?"
"Ready." The two lunged straight at her, swords creating an X across her chest.
"Very nice, but if I were real, you'd already be dead." The hologram-robot shut down and the lights went off. Then the flickered back on, normal simulator-creating junk in the room.
"Well boys, that was great. But you really should attack without hesitation," the instructor said through the PA system. His name was Angel, and he was a Dhampire that joined the cause of the Vampire Hunters. "It could get you killed if you hesitate too long. I've seen good kids die because of hesitation."
"Sorry Angel," the boys chorused.
Angel just rolled his eyes and opened the sealed doors to let them out.
"That's all for today, so you can leave. I expect you two back here tomorrow bright and early though. Alright Asi, you and Xemnas are up."
The two called stepped through the doorway beside Cloud and Leon. The blue-haired Asi smirked, tripping Cloud along the way.
"Jackass," Cloud hissed.
"F—king gay pansy," Asi countered.
"Asi." Xemnas was well ahead of them, already in position.
"Cloud," Leon said, dragging the blond away from the training room, "you need a drink. On me."
Leon dragged Cloud to the nearest bar where hopefully they would get drunk enough to forget about Asi being a complete and utter jackass.
The two passed by Erica Nocturne and Integra Hellsing. "Hey, you girls want to go drinking with us? We kinda need it."
The four went to a small bar that had it's own microbrew, and a delicious selection of wines, mixes and other microbrews, most from fairly local growers. And of course the bar was often frequented by young Hunters-in-training.
((The following bit should be read while listening to Flogging Molly's Drunken Lullabies))
"We're so sloshed. Slush lush," Integra said to Erica. Erica just giggled and stared at the boys across from them.
"Yup. I just wanna see them hung over." Erica was drunk off daiquiris with actual fruit in them.
"Amen to that sista!" Both girls gave into laughter, crying and hugging each other. The boys were just as drunk, but could hold it a bit better. ((This bar is starting to remind me of Sideliners a bit (Sideliners is a bar/grill in my hometown) or of the people at my house over thanksgiving.))
"Okay, time to go," Cloud said, standing up. He tripped over Leon getting out of the booth they were in. "I am okay!"
"Cloud…you're drunk," Leon said.
"I'm not so think as you drunk I am." Cloud got up unsteadily. "I swear to drunk I'm not god."
"You swear to God, and you're not drunk my foot." Leon put one of Cloud's arms over his shoulder and helped him back to their dorm room. "Later girls."
"Bye guys!" the girls called back, giggling and stumbling back to the girls' dorm.
Leon, being the most sober (Still) knocked Cloud out and put him in bed. "Night. See ya bright and early."
'Bright and early, what a concept. Not going to get any sleep tonight, not with those nightmares.' Leon stared at the ceiling, counting the cobwebs, making friends with the shadows. 'What's with these nightmares? Or are they memories?' Leon stood at the window, staring out into the darkness. 'Who's that?' he though, noticing a figure walking up the path to the Dean's office, where Prof. Van Helsing was bound to be. 'Does it really matter? Nah.'
There was a knock at the door. "Come in," said the room's single occupant. He looked up and saw who it was. "Ah, sit down, sit down. Now, what can I do for you, Vampire?" The man steeped his fingers together, staring at the Vampire in front of him.
"Release the member of my coven you have here, Professor and we will have no trouble," the Vampire replied smoothly.
"I am afraid I cannot do that, as I am unsure which one is yours," Professor replied.
"The redhead with the scars; I am sure you don't want the two members of my coven that need him to come and kill anyone in their way, trying to get to him." The Vampire smiled, showing Professor his sharp teeth.
Professor sighed. "Very well, I'll see what I can do. Don't expect anything before at least tomorrow evening, at the earliest. Good bye, Sephiroth."
"Very good, Gabriel. Very good; you've learned." Sephiroth flitted away, leaving Professor Van Helsing alone in his office.
"How do I get myself into these messes?" The darkness around him just laughed, mocking him.
((I want to continue and get this piece longer, but it wants to end. What do I do? Oh yeah, write more))
((It's about three days later))
"Okay, what did we do to deserve this?" Cloud asked. He and Leon were face to face with two Vampires, both of which were clearly very powerful.
There was a tall black haired male and a smaller male with silver hair. Both looked surprised to see the Hunters. That is, until the black haired one grinned.
"Hey, Riku. You seeing what I'm seeing?" he asked.
"Well Myde, if you're seeing two Hunters all alone in an alley, then yes." Riku grinned as well, getting Cloud to go after him.
When Leon came out of his shock long enough to get Cloud, he came face to face with Myde, the more insane of the two vampires. "Now where do you think you're going? Hmm?"
Myde was right up in Leon's face, leaning forward so much that Leon was forced to lean back.
"Vampire, back off." Leon stared straight into the Vampire's eyes, daring him to do something.
Myde forced Leon to an alley wall. "Tell me, Hunter," he said, forcing himself flush against Leon, "if you know what is the most dangerous weapon a Vampire has?" Leon narrowed his eyes, unsure of what Myde was up to. "So, you do not, well, it's their Kiss, my dear Hunter, that makes Purebloods so powerful." Myde Kissed Leon, Marking him.
The bad thing about that was Leon wasn't even fighting Myde. He was just giving in.
"Hey, Myde, come on, we've done what we came to do," Riku yelled.
"Ah, Riku, there goes my fun. Anyway, tell Gabriel that we will be taking what's rightfully ours in one day's time, Squall Leonhart." Leon was shocked, not knowing what to do with the fact that that Vampire had known his name. "Squall," he whispered, "I'm not going to bite you… not until you beg for it. You'll want me to." The Vampire flitted away, placing one last small kiss on Leon's cheek, whispering something almost inaudible into his ear.
Leon stood in place, not moving even when Cloud put his hand on his shoulder. (Cloud's hand, Leon's shoulder)
"Hey, you okay? What'd he do to you?" Leon nodded numbly, thinking about the veiled threat Myde gave him. "Alright, I know that look. We're going to see Ienzo about what he did to you." Cloud led Leon back to the Academy, but instead of going to their dorm, they went to the Folklorist dorm, where Ienzo was bound to be.
"And that's what happened guys. Now he won't say anything and isn't even looking at me." Cloud bit his lip a bit.
Ienzo just looked curious about the Vampire that had Marked Leon. "Can you tell me what the Vampire looked like? It might help me figure out which family it was."
"Tall…almost silver red eyes…Messy black hair…lithe, almost – no, really, really graceful. He could have easily taken my life, but didn't." Leon actually spoke. He still wasn't looking at anyone, but he spoke.
"Hey, Squall, hold still." Irvine moved closer to Leon to get a better look at a mark he had noticed. "There's something here, but Squall's hair's in the way. Wait, here we go. Hey, Zo, get over here, you might recognize it." Ienzo scooted over to where Leon sat, taking a good look at the Mark.
"Well… the guns are a definite symbol of the Valentine Family… but I have no idea what the cross is there for." Ienzo thought for a moment. "I wonder… no, that's impossible," Ienzo muttered, pulling out a small compact book that held a lot more than it looked like it could.
"Hey, Zo, what're you looking up in that book of yours?" Zell asked. ((Oh, before I forget, all of the team was there.))
"The Valentine family and all their Marks. Because if I'm right we might be dealing with the most powerful of them." Ienzo stared at the others, finger pointing at a picture of a leather-clad Vampire with silver-red eyes and black hair, 'Myde Valentine' written underneath.
((perfect ending material right there, again))
"So, how powerful is he?" Integra asked. She chewed on the end of a cigar while Ienzo bit his lip, debating on whether or not to tell them what the book said – or didn't say, as the case may be.
"It… it says that his skills haven't been tested by the Vampiric Community. There's no way of knowing. But it does say that this family is normally exceptionally powerful, but is also good at hiding that power."
"That means they're good at what they do, doesn't it?" Sora asked.
"Yeah." Ienzo nodded and Zell read over his shoulder.
"'Family is likely to be seen guarding over the Le Fay Wizards and Witches. Will protect their own with their life, as the case often is.'" Zell blinked and re-read that sentence.
"I don't think we're supposed to kill them, guys. It sounds like they're the bodyguards of the Magical Community." Irvine fiddled with his hat, a sure sign that he knew more than what he was revealing. With the other's pointed looks, he said, "Ran into one once. Looked just like that Myde fellow with long hair and blood colored eyes. Nice guy, for a vampire. Good conversationalist."
"Irvine, you were talking, having an actual conversation with a vampire? One that could potentially cause damage to our unit?" Sora tried to keep a straight face as he said that, he really did. But unfortunately, he has a really, really bad poker face.
"Besides, they'd probably have to incarcerate myself as well," Ienzo said. At the others looks of shocked curiosity, he explained. "I was talking to the Vampire we have in the cells. He's actually a pretty nice guy. Crazy, but nice. And I think his mind is pretty scarred. They really shouldn't be holding him in there."
Irvine, Leon and Cloud's heads all shot up, hearing faint footsteps outside. "Administration," Cloud whispered. "We've got to go. Later guys."
"Bye," they all whispered, Ienzo being the only one who didn't escape the room via window. It was his room, why should he have to leave?
((Screw it this chapter is finished. I can't get anymore to come out of my brain without killing them. Brain and story.))
O…kay. Interesting ending. Not the one I had in mind, since there were two spots in there where I could have put in a cliffhanger/ending that was perfect. But I wanted it to be longer. So I wrote. And the part with Prof. Helsing and Seph was off the top of my head. I really don't know where it came from.
Oh, and Erica Nocturne belongs to Erica, the 0Melodious-Nocturne0. It's herself. I got permission to borrow her for a little bit. She said she was flattered.
I hope y'all like it.