Sound waves erupted in her ear followed shortly by a flash of white light that washed over her eyes, permanently painting the inside of her eyelids. Zelda waited for the pain to start, or at least death to come quickly but neither happened. The bullet whistled past her right ear, striking an object in the background with a thump and a groan.
Eyes wide, the young girl turned. Shudders racked her body. Her throat constricted, saliva and air trapped in a lock. Only until she relaxed enough could her vocal cords spit out the strangled word, "V-vampire!"
The man that had been shot clutched his shoulder and staggered as he stood up. Garnet splattered fangs revealed themselves as the snarl pulled his lips up further. Zelda remembered her training and reached for her gun. The leech growled, "That hurt Terran." She pulled on her gun but it wouldn't come out of the strap. His ever-thirsting eyes fell to the struggling nun.
Again and again, desperately trying to yank her firearm free, she glanced up to watch helplessly as the vampire sped in her direction. He pinned her arms behind her back and ripped the gun from her side. A murderous smirk played on his lips as he turned her around to face Tres.
"Drop your weapon or your tovares here isn't going to live long enough for you to respond," he held up his hand, letting his nails grow to touch her pale, soft skin.
"Tres-san!" She cried out. "Don't! Don't listen to him! Shoot him!" The vampire's nails extended again and cut into her throat. Thin lines of blood trailed down her neck and onto her collar. The material soaked up the crimson liquid as it fell. Her voice, hardly a whisper, repeated, "Don't- listen- shoot- him."
Gunslinger started to lower his guns but a short wind whipped past them. Zelda's dark hair twisted wildly in the air and settled back down over her eyes. Shadowy movement shifted somewhere over to the right.
"Hey, vampire," a voice in the shadows called.
Her captor swung his head around. "'Vampire'?! Learn some respect lowly Terran!" The bloodsucker flung her away like a rag doll, her body hitting a building across the street. He raced towards the new enemy, leaving Tres and Zelda behind.
Her body thudded to the ground, pieces of brick and sand crumbled after her. "Tres… san…" the name pushed past her lips. Ringing filled her head and her thoughts were jumbled. There was no pain, only confusion.
Someone picked her up. Her eyes focused in and out, dazed. She recognized the pair of reddish-brown eyes swirling around somewhere in front of her face. Slowly, things began to sharpen, although the echoed ringing stayed in her ears.
"Gunslinger. How is she?" The voice from before appeared. It was a man in a black cloak with long, blonde locks curling down from out of his hood. He held a dark rod at his side.
"Father Hughue," he said, almost a greeting.
Zelda flushed. "This is Sword Dancer?!"
Hughue turned at his codename but spoke to his comrade, "How does she know of me?"
"You- you are also an AX member," she bowed her head in embarrassment.
Tres walked off towards the fallen vampire down the street. The new acquaintance moved to her side. "You are a new recruit." His sentence wasn't a question but more of a statement.
"Yes sir," she breathed silently. Tentatively she turned and managed to ask, "Hughue-san… I- I noticed something… back there. When the vampire attacked- I mean. Tres-san… his- his eye… glowed red."
Sword Dancer slowly angled around to inspect her face. "You mean you don't know?"
"Know what…?"
"Gunslinger is a robot."
Something inside her shattered and clicked in place all at the same time. "…Robot?" How could she not have seen his rigid movements, his unmoving face… even the underlying monotone in his voice? A shaking hand raised itself to cover her gasping mouth.
"The vampire Marcel Devereux, suspected in the disappearances of Paris is dead," the android announced as he came back into view.
Hughue asked, "You had to check to see if he was dead yourself?"
All horror and ghastly feelings swept away when she heard his voice. Her trembling stopped and she calmly advanced towards him. "Tres-san, I promise that I will no longer be a burden. You will never have to protect me again," her mind had flashed back to the Methuselah Marcel's threat. Zelda murmured "You will never have to put down your guns."
No one spoke, leaving the silence to weigh heavily on the one who was apologizing. The muteness continued creating guilty pressure on her conscious. She laughed nervously, "Well, that's it… Ah! It's really late! We better find a place to stay. Hughue-san? Do you have anywhere to sleep? If not, won't you join us?" Her beautifully sweet smile emerged; leaving no way to refuse the cheerful, luminous girl.
Noiselessly, both Tres and Hughue swept past her, giving her their answer. A wide grin broke across her face. She found and picked up her battered suitcase before joining them.
Half of a block from where they were at, she cried out, "Look! A dog! Such a cute dog!" The older AX members let her hobble up to it so they could talk privately but keep her in their sight.
Sword Dancer eyes flickered to his friend. "Sister Zelda. Sister Kate has mentioned her in passing. How would you describe her?"
"A hazard."
Just then Zelda cried out, the dog's teeth clamped very well into her hand. Tres pulled out his gun and fired at the mutt. Scared by the noise, it let go and ran away howling pitifully.
"Ouch," she held her hand against chest, trying to stop the bleeding. The blonde man muttered something about needing a shot or something of the like while their rusty haired robot bandaged the wound.
"I can see that this is the beginning of a long future full of 'accidents' waiting to happen," Hughue stated quietly.
Her lips pulled back into a warm smile, "I don't know about the 'accident waiting to happen' part but I like the sound of a long future."
