Venessa bristled. "What the hell? Where did you three come from?"
Abel turned his attention away from the Cain of the other reality to the Methuselah in the room. Her hair spiked, fangs bared. He couldn't make out much of what else she looked like only she was similar to the person Abel had been following the other night.
His eyes flickered to the unconscious figure behind her and back. The other was dressed in a suit and cape. He had to be the one Abel had been following last night.
Ah, twins. This would explain it then.
"You aren't taking the pope or this girl!"
"Nun," Cain corrected. He replaced his half mask. "Her title would be nun, child."
Venessa moved so she stood between them and the door. "You think I will just let you terran go?" Her eyes narrowed, fangs bared. "The moment you arrived we won this battle. I won't let any of you go."
"You just took the pope and queen or princess I guess hostage and think you're going to get away with it?" Cain asked in cool tones.
Abel winced.
"Queen?" Venessa looked confused.
A sharp sound greeted Abel's ears. Boots against metal tapped through the wall towards him. He looked at the wall behind his Holiness and the girl who clung to the Pope.
There.
"Never mind," Cain let out the words as a soft breath. "But," – his hand fell to his sword hilt – "if you honestly think you can take all of hostage, you're sadly mistaken."
"Uncle Cain," Elizabeth whispered.
Abel pulled his revolver. He pointed it in the direction of the pope, towards the sounds on the otherside of the wall.
Alessandro's eyes widened.
"Father!" Esther screamed at the same moment Venessa shouted, "Father what are you doing?!" She made to lung towards Abel.
Too slow.
Abel fired around the pope. The bullets struck the wall.
Crack!
Dust and cries of pain filled the air. Bodies fell into the room among the rubble of the wall.
"Those uniforms… The secret police?!" Esther back away from the wall.
Venessa's eyes had gone wide. "Secret police?!"
"Next time you hear something, give some warning!" Cain snapped.
Venessa reacted first. Her hair bristled before she sent strands towards the police. It ripped through them in a hail of strands as sharps as needles.
Elizabeth moved so she was before the pope. "Back up," she told him in a soft voice. Her blue eyes were locked on Venessa.
"How did they know the pope was here?" Venessa looked towards Abel, Cain, and Elizabeth. "How did you three?"
"Ah," Abel scratched his cheek. "Well you see, it's like this. I picked hall and ran down it." He laughed and shrugged.
Venessa turned to the screen near the door and checked it.
Esther's eyes widened. "The troops." She took a pace back. "What are they doing?"
Abel looked at the screen over the top of his glasses when no one was really looking at him. Damn, this situation was going from bad to worse. He doubted this group was the one William would be with.
"Armored suits, the special forces of the mechanized infantry are here too?"
"No," Abel knew his voice was solemn, "not only the Inquisition. Those suits are rolls Royce marine 'bastard' MKV. The latest model in Albion's military."
"Damn!" Cracking filled the air as Venessa slammed her fist into the screen. "So, it's begun. Albion's infantry. Damn you 'Bloody Mary'!" Venessa charged towards the door.
Well, so much for a simple rescue mission.
"Wait! Please! Venessa! Where are you going?!" Abel turned towards the young, brash Methuselah. He had admitted to knowing very little about this situation having only arrived into a little ago. But this wasn't good.
She didn't pause to speak but ran down the hall.
Abel made a step towards the door. That was the direction of… but she couldn't be thinking about using that, could she?
"Abel!" Cain's voice made Abel freeze. "There's more to this than just Albion and the Inquisition, you know that, right?"
Abel looked over his shoulder at the Cain of the other reality.
"If the me of this reality is here, they would be planning on destroying the city."
Abel bit back the urge to scowl and retort he knew that already. "She's heading for it." Abel turned to go.
"Father, what are you two talking about? What is 'it'?"
"Something we can't run into without a plan," Cain stated.
There wasn't time for that.
"We need to think this through."
While Albion burned. Abel narrowed his eyes. This Cain was being foolish.
The sound of footsteps made Abel turn.
Esther had vanished.
"Oh, no." Abel shot a glare towards Cain.
"What does that girl think she's doing?" Cain moved forward.
Abel bit back retorting "being smarter than you" to Cain.
He raced after Esther.
"Elizabeth, stay with the pope!" Cain shouted. Abel heard him following close behind.
She was following the tracks of Venessa.
"Abel."
Abel was pulled to a shot by a strong grip.
"We can't just go rushing around blind. This could be a distraction."
Abel growled. "Don't you think I know what!" he snapped. "But Esther and all of Albion are in danger. No amount of planning and sitting around is going to help them!" he wrenched his shoulder from Cain's grasp. "You're trying to be smart when it's really stupid."
"I was trying to keep everyone alive," Cain retorted in smooth tones. "You're letting your emotions guide you."
"I am not supposed to be the smart one right now," Abel stated. He started off down the hall. "Besides the more time spent on plans the more people who are going to die."
Abel froze only a few paces down the hall.
The harsh scent of human blood struck.
Cain paused beside him. "Is that?"
"Human," Abel stated. He took off down the passage.
The scent grew and became harsher. Fresh human blood mixed with scent of older, colder human blood.
Cain gagged.
It took a lot of Abel's willpower not to copy Cain's reaction.
The sounds of a fight greeted Abel's sharp hearing.
"Well," a familiar sing-song voice sound from far down another passage, "Are you quite done? If you are, would you mind leaving now? We have someplace to be now and, it's rude, I know, but can we do this some other time?"
"Next time we meet, I'll kill you!" an unfamiliar voice vowed.
Smoke spilled out into their hall. Footsteps raced away.
"Was that?"
"Cain," Abel growled the name. The voice was unmistakable.
"The one of this reality you mean," stated Cain.
Hot rage and pain scorched Abel's veins. Images of Lilith's death flashed over his eyes. Blood filled his mouth.
"Abel!" the other Cain screamed as Abel charged around the corner.
"Cain!" Abel shrieked the name and drew his gun.
Sure enough the man standing close to another was the real Cain.
Abel snarled.
Tears filled Cain's eyes as he looked at Abel. "Abel."
"Die!" Abel fired on the man.
Cain laughed. The bullets froze mid-air. "Really, oh, Abel, you haven't changed at all."
"Down!" Hard metal struck Abel. Air was knocked from Abel's lungs by the impact.
Air blasted over.
The bullets were reflected. A load clanging sounded as they embedded into the wall which had been behind Abel.
"No, no, no! You can't just go get a new brother. Bad brother!"
The other Cain rolled off of Abel. "That was, it was zero four's ability." His visible eye was wide. "I expected plasma, not wind."
Abel rolled to his feet. The tackle had jarred the blind rage from him. This was him he was dealing with, not some random Methuselah. Cain was far more dangerious and it had been very stupid of Abel to charge in head first.
"You're right," Abel whispered. "That must be where," his eyes widened. 04's container had been missing forty percent when Abel had found it close to Lilith's body. He looked towards the insane figure down the hall. It couldn't be? He had placed 04 into himself as well. But that, it was insane.
And that man, he wasn't really Cain at all. Not from what Abel had learned the other night. No, he was 01.
01 ducked behind Abel. "Creepy," he whimpered.
"I really did lose to zero one in this reality," Cain muttered in disgust.
"Get away from Esther!" Abel shouted at 01.
Abel moved forward, careful this time and well aware 04's wind ability could rip off his head if he wasn't careful.
01 started to drag Esther back with him.
Esther screeched when 01 gripped the wounds of her shoulders.
The girl swayed on her feet. The wounds were serious and she was losing too much blood.
Abel let his glasses slid down his nose. He couldn't afford to miss this shot. He lifted his revolver.
01 froze before moving a little more behind the smaller girl.
He was too tall to ever hide completely behind someone Esther's size.
Abel fired.
The bullet froze.
Abel fired again.
Another frozen bullet.
Cain darted forward from Abel's side.
Abel fired to cover the other man as they used to as children.
The bullet froze once more.
Cain lunged.
Wind blasted through the room.
Esther's scream ripped through air as she was shot away from 01.
Cain leapt and twisted. The scent of crusnik blood joined with that of terran blood.
Footsteps raced off down the hall.
Cain held Esther, he had protected her from the worst of the blast.
Shit, if any of his blood got into Esther she would die. It didn't smell like Cain was pulling back the nanomachines.
Abel raced towards them. He pulled out a small amount of cloth.
"Esther." He knelt before the girl.
"F-Father. I shouldn't have gone off on my own."
"Don't think about that now." Abel tied off the bandaging. He looked to Cain.
"I'll be fine," Cain stated as he stood, expression grim. "But he headed towards the same place Venessa was heading."
"We need to get there." Abel leapt to his feet and raced off down the hall. He heard two people following and knew one had to be Esther.
"Do you think he's after the blueprints?" Cain asked. "He ran when he should have been able to take us both."
"What blueprints?" Esther asked as she struggled to keep pace. "Do you mean the layout of the ghetto."
"No," Cain stated in reply. "Something far more dangerous. Abel, is zero one not at full power because of the fall through the atmosphere?"
"Most likely, but he took forty percent of zero four." Abel glanced at Esther out of the corner of his eye. It was clear they had lost the girl.
"Then we're going to have avoid fighting head on again," Cain stated. "He seems to be using it both in wide range and narrow for precision attacks."
"Agreed." Abel stumbled a little when he didn't see a part of the ground become uneven.
It wasn't long before they raced into the large, circular room.
Abel froze at the sight of another there. "Kampfer."
Venessa froze. "What the hell? Another of you?" She snarled and turned towards them.
"Welcome, Lord Abel," Isaak's short hair grew until it was long. The suit he wore also shifted as the same symbol passed over his body. Glasses vanished and soon the familiar figure of Isaak Fernand von Kampfer stood before the computer.
"Abel," Cain whispered, "I know this man, he's dangerous."
Abel looked at Cain. "I'm aware."
Kampfer smiled at them. "My, how odd. There are now two of Mein Herr."
They had destroy the system.
"Nanomachine 'crusnik 02' release of restrictions forty percent, authorized." Abel's hair crackled up around his head.
Cain whispered the same words replacing 02 with 01.
Venessa trembled at the sight of the two of them.
"My, how rude!" 01 pouted. He stepped forward.
"Mien Herr, if you intend to fight, keep in mind you've already expended a great deal of energy."
01 pouted, eyes glowing red. "No fun! You're no fun!"
"We need to land two blows." Cain's words were distorted by the crusnik. "Go eighty, brother."
No. It wasn't worth the risk to the human and Methuselah here.
Abel's scythe appeared in his hands.
A lance could now be seen in Cain's hands.
Cain raced forward and lunged. The lance launched forward as if he were thrusting a sword.
01 laughed.
Abel moved.
Air slammed into him and pushed him back several paces.
Cain went flying. His arm had been destroyed.
Cain landed paces from Abel. He muttered the activation to go up another forty-percent.
Six white wings ripped through his robes.
A harsher blast came from 01. It ripped into the ground.
Cain snarled.
Blood flew from his wing, even as the other was dipped into his own blood to heal his arm.
Damn. Cain was right. Even at zero percent, a fully fused crusnik was a match for two who had spent too long among humans without a steady supply of blood.
"Esther, hide," Abel instructed the girl.
Then there was Isaak to consider.
Abel moved into the room once he heard Esther retreat away from the room.
Isaak didn't seem interested in the battle. His entire focus was on the system. He was going after the blueprints.
Cain would have to keep himself busy.
Abel scanned the room. Venessa seemed frozen as if she wouldn't believe her eyes. Not something he could blame her for. Still, he could easily injure her if she interfered in a fight between himself and Isaak.
No matter, Abel had stop Isaak from claiming Cain's and his blue prints.
"Nanomachine 'crusnik zero two' increasing to eighty-percent capacity, approved." Lightening surged around Abel as his wings burst through his robes. The raw energy raced down the feathers and out around him. The voice of 02 increased from a dull whisper to a buzzing storm as they clawed at his mind, trying to gain control. To destroy everything and everyone in this room regardless if they were friend or foe.
A torrent of hate and rage pierced through Abel from 02. After centuries with him, the nanomachines could no longer stand 01 or his host. They, like him, hated 01 for the death of Lilith and removal of 04 from her. It was a betrayal in their eyes.
But Abel's target was another, not 01 and especially not the alt Cain he was fighting.
A torrent of light raced through the room in a wild display. The ground cracked. Popping filled the air as the system was fried beyond repair.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" 01 danced on his feet as he moved to avoid the lightning storm.
The strong powerful beats of three pairs of wings filled the air. Cain had taken to the sky to try and dodge of the storm. "Abel!" Cain shouted.
Abel pulled the energy in. Small flashes of lightning now wavered between his wings and around his body instead of a storm through the room.
Isaak had moved from the system. His hand raised. A protective shield glittered before him and 01.
Isaak leapt down the down from the dais the computer console rested on. "The situation has become difficult," Isaak's voice was smooth. His expression remained even, almost bored.
Abel felt his lips curl. At least the data couldn't be retrieved now.
"I who is He," Isaak started to recite.
"Abel!" Cain leapt forward.
Energy crackled at the end of the lance. A beam of raw red energy lanced through the air. It wasn't directed towards Isaak though.
While Isaak was distracted casting one of his "spells," it left 01 wide open.
The energy ripped through 01's stomach and sent to the ground. Red lightning sparked up around his torso.
This didn't seem to do much as 01 got back up to his feet. He blinked almost insolently at them. "Now, what was that for?" he almost whined.
Cain froze, his eye wide at the sight.
This wasn't the time to be shocked over the odd wound. Abel thrust down his scythe, sending a torrent of lightning towards 01.
"Whoa!" 01 leapt away. He wasn't fast enough. Part of the lightning caught his hand.
Abel moved to the Cain from the other reality's side. "We can't be distracted," he growled at Cain. His voice was distorted by the activation level of the crusnik.
"What was that for?!" 01 demanded with a pout. He laughed. "No matter." His eyes widened.
It wasn't hard to see why. The flesh popped and sizzled on his hand. What made up his body was starting to dissolve both where Cain had managed to land a blow and where Abel hand.
"What the…?" 01 stared at his hand. "This body is falling apart?"
Now was the time to attack, before Isaak had time to react to this.
Abel lunged forward.
A shield appeared before 01. His scythe slammed into the center of it.
Isaak moved over to 01. "I'm afraid the time is up, Mein Herr."
Abel landed and twisted to try and get at 01 from another angle.
He was deflected again.
Cain moved to try and help.
"It's best to go back to the regeneration chamber while the body can still maintain this state." Isaak seemed to paying them only enough attention to block their attacks from hitting 01.
This wasn't working.
Abel leapt back. The other method was to cause the lightning to spark through the shield.
Lightning surged around his wings and body. He thrust the scythe towards 01 and Isaak.
They were starting to vanish into the ground.
Everything 01 was saying was lost in the sound of sparking lightning.
The lightening slammed into the shield. A spark lit on the side.
Too late. The attack struck the computer instead of 01 or Isaak.
Abel snarled in frustration.
Cain landed. His wings shriveled and vanished as his blond hair fell back around his face. It was still somehow neater than Abel's as Abel also deactivated the crusnik.
"It seems Isaak's still the one trying protect the one taken by the nanomachines," Cain commented, "even in this reality." Cain frowned, eye on where Isaak and the him of this reality had vanished. "Though, I admit I've never been able to land a blow against Isaak."
"Never?" Abel stared at him.
Cain shrugged. "I can't cut the current of my attack to ionize the air behind the shield like you can."
Venessa collapsed to the ground, eyes wide.
The sound of racing footsteps resounded through the passages beyond the room.
Esther moved back into the space, glancing over her shoulders.
"Esther!" Abel moved over to her. "Are you all right?" His voice had returned to being light.
Cain winced.
Before Esther could reply, several people raced into the room.
Abel stiffened, hand moving towards his revolver. He relaxed when he noticed none of them were Albion military or secret police.
"Sister Esther!" one of the men shouted. "Thank goodness you're here." He raced over to her. "Professor Wordsworth, please come here. We've found Sister Esther. We've found the Lady Saint."
Abel backed up.
"Seems they're more interested in Esther than anything else in the room," Cain mused.
Abel ignored his brother from another reality. It wasn't shocking considering William had uncovered the fact Esther was really a princess. This was going to be the start of a long, new road for Esther. A road where it was unlikely Abel would see too often down.
He smiled. She was growing up, ready to take on the world she must have been born for. There was nothing else he could show her on how similar humans and Methuselah were. Nothing else he could subtly teach her.
William arrived a few moments later. "Are you all right, Sister Esther?" the professor asked as he moved over to Esther. There was no smile on his face. "Thank goodness you have a tracking device on you."
Seriously?! Abel gaped at the professor instead of the scowl he longed to show instead. "You were tracking her all this time?!" Abel shouted the complaint.
"Why, yes, I assumed you knew, Father Abel." William smiled at Abel from around his pipe. "Why else would I have had her position to give you?"
True. "But… but," Abel spluttered. He slumped.
If they had arrived only a few minutes ago, he shuddered to think the amount of people who would have been injured or even killed in a battle between three crusniks and Isaak. There was the fact they hadn't arrived during the battle. This was all that mattered. None of them were hurt because of Abel or this alt Cain.
"We should all return to the palace."
"What about his Holiness?" Esther asked.
"Safe," William informed Esther. "Brother Petros found him a little ago. The woman who arrived with Father Nightroad was holding off some of the Albion army well before Petros got there."
William let a few of the others take the lead with Esther. He dropped back to Abel's side, gaze serious as he looked at Abel out of the corner of his eye. "I am quite curious to how you accessed the elevator, my friend. Only those of the royal bloodline can do so."
Abel coughed. "Well, about that, I am a prince in disguise," Abel joked.
William's eyebrow twitched while Cain snorted.
"Avoid the question all you want, my friend, but how you did so will eventually come out."
"How is the man who was with his Holiness?" Esther asked. "His name is Virgil."
"He's recovering," William informed her.
There was more behind William's words. This Virgil wasn't okay at all. It was more than likely all the Methuselah here would be detained for kidnapping the pope and Esther.
Abel's eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he looked at William.
This entire situation was only going to degrade and worsen.
x – Solomon – x
The soft sounds of the airship's engine hummed through the halls to the more common space Solomon was seated in. It was punctuated by the rustle of paper and then a tap of stone against stone.
Solomon was seated in a lit corner of the airship. He was reading through the documents while playing chess against himself. He spun the board almost absently, so it was on the white before he moved the piece to counter a move he had just made. Then, he spun it back to black and moved again.
Most of his attention was on work however. Reports both over the peace meeting which was to take place with Cardinal Caterina Sforza and reports of small pockets of unrest in the empire itself. There was very little now that it had been announced he was taking back the position of Duke within the empire.
The power the first generation held over the empire was as he had expected it to be from the history and legends which surrounded their group. With him backing the empress, the Orden wouldn't be able to so much as split the loyalty for another noble within the empire again or even a slave.
"You talk with him," a voice hissed not too far from where Solomon sat. He looked out of the corner of eye to see Astharoshe and Ion were now in the common space talking in hushed voices.
Ion shivered. "But he's…"
"You were the one who wanted to talk to him, count, so stop acting childish and do so." The Duchess gave the count a sharp shove in Solomon's direction.
Ion swallowed and moved over to the table. "May I join you?" the boy almost squawked the question. His voice breaking from a mixture of excitement and fear. Such was the fate of a Methuselah who awoke at the age Ion had. To never have their voice finish changing. To be caught at the transition between boy and man in this respect alone. He could still have children.
Solomon gestured to the seat across from him. He returned his attention to the reports and listened as the boy slipped into the chair.
"Why are you playing yourself?" Ion asked after a long moment of silence.
Solomon turned the board and moved another piece. "My normal opponent is long gone," he stated in reply without looking up from the reports.
"I could play you," the boy puffed up a little. "Grandmother says I have a knack for the game."
Solomon set down the reports and looked at the boy. "Is that so?"
The boy held himself higher. "I've beaten everyone in our estate," he boosted.
Cocky and arrogant, just as the last few times Solomon had seen the boy from the shadows. No matter the amount of respect in his tone now or his new views on the outer thanks to a sister named Esther, the boy had a lot to learn.
Solomon stopped the board's spin midway. He moved the documents to the side. The board was moved so it was between him and Ion. "Which side?"
"White," the boy said without hesitation.
They set the board.
Ion moved.
Solomon countered. Three moves later, Solomon stated, "Checkmate."
"What?" Ion looked at the board, eyes wide. "Again?" the boy reset his side of the board.
This one took four moves before Solomon stated again, "Checkmate."
"Again."
And, again, the boy lost quickly.
Ion reset the board and attempted once more. Over and over the boy lost, each time making a fatial mistake which left the king wide open.
"Can I try playing black?" asked the boy.
So, they swapped. This did nothing to help the boy. If anything, Ion lost again in three or four moves.
"How are you doing that?"
"You are falling into moving a piece which shouldn't be moved," Solomon explained. "If this were a real battle and you the commander, you would have been killed."
"But it's just a game."
Solomon lifted the documents once more. "All battle fields have a king, or in the empire's case, empress or commander who should be guarded and if falls the battle is over. They have the pawns as the main fighting force. The piece which can move freely such as the queen. The ones who slip in behind enemy lines like the knight. And the more powerful pieces in the rook and bishop."
Ion frowned.
"The king doesn't move much as the commander, for a reason. However, there are cases in a real battle where the king or commander is also akin to the queen in being the most powerful piece in play." Piece was such a crude term to refer to Seth and Abel as. Yet, Abel had always been the most powerful player on any battlefield as both the commander and a soldier.
"Who did you used to play against? If you don't mind my asking, Duke Solomon," Astharoshe asked. She had moved over to join them.
"The emperor." Solomon rest the board.
Astharoshe's yellow eyes glittered. "Care if I try my hand?"
Solomon bowed his head.
She replaced Ion.
It proved a little more challenging to face her. She lasted a few more moves than Ion, but was still far too easily beaten.
"What was he like?" Ion asked during the second match against the duchess. "The emperor, I mean." The boy's face as a little flushed.
"A friend," Solomon stated simply. His brother-in-law and the one man he would follow to the ends of the universe if need be. Even through this insane plan to gain peace with the terran. No matter the pain it would have caused their emperor and themselves. It had been what the emperor thought best. The only way after Lilith's death they could achieve peace without having their royal line destroyed by the ignorant terran.
"That's not much of an answer," Astharoshe pointed out.
"It is the only answer you need."
Ion blinked. "But it doesn't tell us anything about him." The complaint somehow still sounded polite as if the boy didn't want to come off as childish despite the words pointing him to being such.
"What the count means to say, is we know all his majesty accomplished and sacrificed during his life for the empire to become what it is today. But we don't know much else about him. Not even his first name is mention in our history books or lessons."
"Nor will it ever be." Solomon checkmated her once more.
Ion huffed a little while Asharoshe frowned. "What do you mean, Duke Solomon?" she asked, eyes intense.
"There is a reason we took his first name from the texts," Solomon stated.
"What reason?" Ion pressed.
"One you will soon discover."
"That's not an answer!" Ion exclaimed.
"It is. Just not the one you wanted, Count."
Asharoshe frowned. Then her eyes widened a little. "Are you saying, you and the other founders faked the emperor's death?"
Solomon looked at the girl.
"Did you?" Ion leaned forward, eyes wide. "Is it the emperor we're going to find while we get this peace treaty with the Vatican? If so, why not just skip the treaty and find him instead?"
Solomon looked at the boy.
Ion froze. He paled a little as his gaze met Solomon's.
"It's a valid question," Asharoshe pointed out. "The emperor belongs in the empire with his people."
"The situation is far from that simple." Solomon looked at her.
"How so?" Asharoshe managed to hold his gaze where Ion had broken it. Though it was clear she was a little unnerved by the slightest flicker of her eyes.
"You will learn." Solomon gathered up the documents and stood. "Thank you both for the games." He turned and started towards the exit.
"That's also not an answer!" Ion shouted after him.
But it was. In the end, telling them the reasons behind what had happened wouldn't be possible without Abel here to aid him in doing so. Even then, the children would never understand the situation they had been forced into by him at the end of the Terran-Methuselah War.
It was for the best they learned most of this one their own and not from Solomon. It was for the best they learned Abel's real identity when the time came to return him home.
(Author's Note: I don't know how much of what happens in the manga and anime I am going to write up here with Abel actually being in it. I need to reread through those chapters given I skimmed them when they came out. It will most likely add another chapter to the book than I would like to be in it, but given Abel didn't die, it might also be interesting. Of course everything told by Mary and Isaak would be gone as well.)