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Trinity Blood: Hallows' Eve
Part 8: Siblings?

Silence pressed down on the group. At several points Asthe or Esther had tried to speak with Father Nightroad, but had cut off at his expression. Personally he didn't want them to press the issue. When it came down to his brother – anger pulsed through Abel's veins, his hands balled into fists. To believe Cain had been with Esther several times already gulled him to the bone. Nothing good ever came from Cain's motives, even if he had helped her the first time he had met her.

Crash – Abel's head shot up and he stopped, listening for the noise. There in the distance, he could just make out the signs of fighting. "Abel?" Caterina had noticed him stop. "What is it?" she asked. "What do you hear?"

Everyone had stopped and was staring at Abel and Caterina, some looking as if the two of them were crazy, others just looked curious, and one had no expression whatsoever. "There is a fight ahead and to," Abel hesitated, closing his eyes and focusing harder on the sounds, "the left. I can't tell too much of what is going on though."

"Do you at least know how many are in the fight or say the age of the people involved?" asked Thomas. "You've been trained to tell, after all." Abel held up a finger to the man, telling him to shut up. Thomas might have been one of the nicer UN scientists, but he was still a scientist from Abel's past and he didn't fully trust the man, no matter what he had done.

After several moments of intent listening, Abel was certain of it. One was a crusnik, the smallest crusnik, his sister and the empress of the Methuselah – "Seth!" Abel's eyes flew open and raced passed the others.

"Tovarish!" Asthe shouted at the same time Caterina said, "Abel," and Esther, "Father." Abel didn't stop, but he slowed his pace when he heard the others following him. Skidding around the bend, Abel nearly crashed into one of the UN soldiers fleeing. The man stumbled. Quickly Abel whipped around him and continued down the hall. He didn't have time to deal with those fleeing his sister.

Abel stopped before an open door and ducked as one of the men went flying. Smiling, he straightened and watched the green, white, and gold blur which was Seth, take down two more well armed soldiers. The last UN soldier fell and Seth stopped in the middle of the room, her slender shoulders rising and falling as she breathed and her short, black hair messy.

Just then Abel heard the others catch up and stepped to one side. Asthe and Ion raced into the room and went down on one knee to the girl who looked to be only thirteen. Seth turned and smiled at them, "Rise, my children."

Esther stopped in the doorway before racing into the room as the two nobles rose. "Seth!" she exclaimed excitedly. Abel watched her go over to his sister, feeling out of place awkward. Seth might be his sister, but no one besides the two of them knew their relation. He knew this was his fault, after all Seth had offered for him to return to the empire when he and Esther had been there on behalf of the Vatican.

"Hi, Esther," Seth smiled at her, not seeming surprised to see her there. "Is…" she trailed off, her bright green eyes locking on Abel. He knew he was half hidden. Before Seth could speak, Caterina, Tres, and Thomas appeared.

As Thomas entered the room, his shook his head, "Remind me to never get on your bad side, Lieutenant."

"It's just Seth now, Thomas," Seth smiled at the scientist. "And, Abel," she looked around Thomas to where Abel still stood in the hall, watching the others, "stop skulking and get in here or are you waiting for the rest of the UN to attack?"

"You never know, it could happen," Abel smiled, teasing her as he crossed into the room.

"Right, it's as likely as you deciding to come back," Seth rolled her eyes at the ceiling. "Speaking of which—"

"No," Abel replied before Seth could even ask fully. He knew she was trying to convince him to return to the empire once they returned to their own time. "My answer hasn't changed, Seth, and it's not going to."

Seth sighed heavily. Ion and Asthe exchanged confused looks. "Fine," Seth folded her arms across her chest and smiled at him, "but I bet you'll return once the Orden is defeated."

"Or continue working for Caterina and the AX," Abel retorted.

"Yes, but humans have such short lives, even I get lonely and I live with the Methuselah," Seth pointed out.

Abel was about to retort to this when Ion piped up, "What's going on, empress? It sounds as if you knew Father Nightroad before he came to the empire on behalf of the Vatican." Abel looked at Ion then at Seth, wondering what his sister was going to say here.

"Yep," Seth paused. "Ion, do you remember when I told you and Esther I had two older brothers?" She'd seriously told them that. Wait, when had she told them that? Had if been Esther was injured and spoken of meeting a girl named Seth? It had to have been around that time.

Ion nodded, "Yes, I remember, but I thought it had been part of your cover, majesty."

"Nope, I really do have brothers and one of them is that idiot over there," Seth gestured at Abel. He felt himself scowl at her words before he smiled. After all Seth was only being truthful, he did act like an idiot all the time.

"Wait," Asthe stared at him, "you're not only older than empress, but her brother. I guess you wouldn't be the royal flee catcher then, would you?"

"Royal flee catcher?" Seth titled her head to one side. "Am I missing something here?" Abel looked at Asthe, who looked as if she would rather rip off his head than explain to Seth about what she had said before they had parted ways three years ago. "Oh, never mind," Seth looked around before muttering, "Looks like no one here knows much about lost technology." Louder she said, "Hey, Abel, do you remember where the prison cell is here they would have put our younger selves in?"

Abel thought on this for moment, trying to remember. "Umm, I think so, why?" This was just confusing. What did Seth want with their younger selves – Abel's eyes widened as comprehension dawned on him. "You want the younger you to help with the belt," he gestured to where the white belt lay on a table.

Nodding, Seth smiled, "Out of the two of us you'd get there faster, dear brother."

"Caterina?" Abel looked at his boss, knowing he had to ask her instead of running off. She had threatened him several times. The one which still sent shivers through him was when she had smiled her sweet smile and pondered aloud how much one of his kidneys could be sold for. Abel suppressed a shiver.

"Go, Abel," Caterina said with the slightest bow of her head.

"Roger," Abel saluted her before racing from the room. It might take him awhile to get there. There was no telling how many UN soldiers he would run into on his way down. So the faster he ran the sooner he would get there and the sooner they would be able to return to their own time.

Meanwhile:
"Well, this is just great!" the teen Abel kicked the door of cell and glared at the guard on the other side until the guard shifted and looked away from Abel. Turning from the door, Abel saw Cain in one corner reading through the work he'd been set the day before while Seth was curled up her arms wrapped around her knees and head buried, making it impossible for him to see his sister's expression. "It's all right, Seth," Abel crossed the room and sat down on the bench beside his sister. "No one can reach us in here," he wrapped his arm around Seth's small shoulders.

Seth shook her head and leaned into him. Tears rolled down her face, her eyes bloodshot. She was shaking. Never before had Abel seen her this scared, not even when Abel picked fights with Cain and they ended up drawing blood. For several long moments he just held her, offering his silent support and wishing he could think of away to cheer her up. He hated seeing her cry.

Suddenly Abel remembered he did have away to cheer her up. "Hey, Seth," he smiled down at her. "I almost forgot," she looked at him, blinking up at him with question in her eyes. "I go you something when we were out. Here," from under the scarf he still wore he pulled out the hat and placed it one her head.

Slowly Seth lifted her small hands and took off the hat, looking at it. The reaction to the hat was almost immediate. A smile split her tear streaked face and she shouted in joy, "Oh, thank you, Abel, thank you," she flung her arms around his neck, causing him to fall back on the bench. Wincing in pain and smiling, Abel returned the hug.

Stifling his laughter, Cain said, "You really do spoil her, Abel." At this Abel rolled his eyes at the ceiling and Seth giggled. She was sounding more like her old self and that was plus. Seth let go of him, straightening as she replaced the Sherlock hat on her head. Slowly Abel sat up, ignoring the pain. Instead he watched her, smiling.

There was still a smile on Seth's features. She curled up on the bench her head on his lap. Closing her eyes, she whispered, "Thank you, brother." Several long moments passed as her breathing deepened. Stroked what little of her hair was visible under her hat as he listened to her breathing and Cain's. His twin had also fallen asleep.

Abel knew not how long he sat there watching his sister only that soon the sounds of a battle echoed down the hall to him. A thud caused Cain to jump, his eyes flying wide, "What the hell was that?" he exclaimed as he leapt to his feet and raced over to the window, looking out into the hall.

A few moments later a lanky, silver haired priest appeared, taking down two of the soldiers who leapt at him with ease. He was muttering something which sounded oddly like prayer but it was all in Latin. Abel only caught parts of it. It sounded as if he were quoting the Bible. "Amen," the last pit came as the last soldier hit the floor with the loudest thud yet. Seth jerked awake, sitting up quickly. Her small hand kept the hat from falling off her head as she stared at Father Nightroad. He stood there for a moment, his eyes distant as he stared unseeing at the ground. At last he bent and took the keys from one of the guards. Was Abel's older self here for them? His question was answered the next second as Father Nightroad stepped up to the door and unlocked it.

As the door opened, Cain walked up to Father Nightroad and demanded, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Umm," Father Nightroad rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly at them, "we sort of need your help, or her help more over," he pointed one long finger at Seth.

"Why do you need her help?" Abel leapt to his feet, on the defensive at once. He didn't give a damn if this man was the older him or not. No matter who he was, he didn't have the right to just appear and ask for Seth's aid. She was still a child. They were already in enough trouble with the UN as it was. The last thing they needed was for him to drag them into more trouble. If he had just asked for Abel to go that would have been a different story, but there was no way in hell he was going to let the UN harm his sister any more than they already had.

"Well, technically, Seth asked for her own aid," said Father Nightroad. "So don't go biting my head off over this. I already get enough torment from my boss," he mutter a last bit Abel wouldn't have been able to hear if he had been anyone.

Seth tugged Abel's sleeve. Looking at her, he saw her eyes were wide. "I want to help them, Abel. They are our future selves, would you want to abandoned the future me here or even the future you?"

Looking at Father Nightroad, Abel noted the fact he was remaining quiet. It seemed he was letting them decide. "What's stopping us from taking you hostage or something?" asked Cain, looking up at Father Nightroad. "We could do that and get the UN to forgive us far more easily than helping you."

"One: I'm taller than you are," Father Nightroad held up a finger, "Two: I weigh more than you. Three: if I really wanted to I could level this entire building. Do you really want go up against me, umm, Cain?"

"After seeing what the older you did, brother, I would rather help them," Abel said, shivering as he remembered the cuts which still laced his back as well as several bruised ribs.

"Let's help them, please, Cain," Seth begged. "I want to help them," her green eyes were wide as pleaded with Cain. "Abel wants to help them too, please, Cain."

Sighing, Cain visibly relaxed as he said, "Fine." Turning to Father Nightroad, he gestured to him, "Lead the way, Mr. Nightroad."

"It's Father not Mr. I'm a priest," Father Nightroad corrected Cain. "I really don't like being called Mr. anyway." With that he started off down the hall. The three of exchanged glances before they followed Father Nightroad off down the hall. The more Abel saw of his older the more he dreaded the future. What the hell was going to happen to him? First he was priest, hell he didn't even believe in a higher power; then he was acting like a goof and an idiot. Well, Abel supposed it could be worse. He could be completely insane like Cain's older self.

When they finally arrived at room, a young teen turned to them, her familiar bright green eyes shining. She wore the most elegant dress Abel had ever seen but it wasn't this which made him stare. This girl she – she was Seth. She was his little sister. "Good you got them," the older Seth nodded to Abel's older self.

"It's not like I was going to be killed or recaptured, Seth," Father Nightroad smiled at her and she just shrugged, returning to her work. "I love you too," Father Nightroad muttered under his breath. The only reason Abel heard this was because he was still standing close to him. Abel's sister raced across the space and clambered up onto the table, the Sherlock hat still on her head.

"What is that you're muttering about, tovarish?" a tall woman strode over to Abel's older self. She was pretty and made no attempt at hiding this fact, but she wasn't as pretty as Esther or Lilith was. Abel shook his head, why had he just thought of Lilith like that? The oldest in their group, Lilith was bossier than anything else. She wasn't pretty… was she?

"I remember that hat," the older Seth's comment made every look at the two of them. "I still have it actually; it's with all my other keepsakes."

Father Nightroad's jaw dropped and pointed at the older Seth, "Why do you still have that hat? I bought it for you many years ago!" There was a short pause, "Okay, this year, but still…" he was making a very poor argument.

Both Seth and her older self were working on the belt now. This didn't stop the older Seth from asking, "Well, do you still have the butterfly I gave you before we went our separate ways?"

"Of course I have it!" exclaimed Father Nightroad, looking horrified at the very thought of not having this butterfly. It was just a butterfly, why would he want to keep it? Butterflies were for girls!

"Yes, why wouldn't you?" the older Seth shot Father Nightroad a sly smile over her shoulder.

Father Nightroad looked as if he was ready to reply to this when Thomas stepped forward. Okay, what was Tom doing here? This was starting to get really, really confusing. "Sorry to break up this argument you two are having, but I just looked at the cameras and we're about to have company. Shouldn't you focus on getting whatever that is repaired and not arguing?"

"I have an idea!" Abel exclaimed, making everyone but the two working on the belt look at him. The woman stared at him before looking at Father Nightroad and back again. "Cain, we stashed some of our weapons here awhile back, right?" he asked, looking at his twin.

"Right," Cain slowly began, "what are you getting at here, Abel?" he asked before frowning. Suddenly he swept his hand down, "No, hell no, we are not going to fight the UN! I won't allow it." Abel grinned. "Abel, no," ignoring his brother Abel walked over to one of the counters and quickly slid under it. "Abel, I said no!" shouted Cain, storming over to the counter and tapping Abel's foot with his shoe.

Still ignoring Cain, Abel took hold of the sheathed sword. Coming partway out, he tossed the sword up to Cain, "Here," reflexively Cain caught the sword. Before Cain could say another word, Abel went back under the counter and took hold of the sniper rifle and hand gun he had placed there. Sliding out from under the desk, he buckled on the holster and leapt to his feet, placing the rifle on his shoulder. Cain looked annoyed and ready to argue. Abel clapped his brother on the shoulder, "Come on, it will be fun and really good practice."

"Fun!" Cain shouted, "You're definition of fun is blowing up a hallway. You know how much trouble we're already in just for leaving our cell, Abel, do you?"

Abel shrugged, "Not enough." Turning to the others in the room, he gave them a little, fake salute, "Leave the distraction to us. You'll buy more than enough time for those two to finish what they're doing. Come on, Cain," he took hold of Cain's wrist. His brother was scowling at him.

"Umm, don't kill anyone," Father Nightroad said.

Shesh, Abel's older self really was no fun and an idiot. Abel rolled his eyes, "Don't worry we won't aim for their vitals." Abel released Cain and slipped from the room, not caring if his brother followed.

"Who died and put you in charge?" Cain demanded, following him. "I'm still higher ranked than you are, brother!" Abel could hear someone else following, so he ignored is brother. At the moment he was just excited to actually stop the UN even if it was only a few of them.

When they were in the hall, Abel finally saw who had followed them. "Hey, chick, what the hell are you doing here?" demanded Abel, looking at her strictly. He regretted calling her a chick as he took in her build and the fact fangs had grown over her lips. "Okay, not a chick."

"Chick, chick!" she snarled at him, taking hold of his shirt collar. "I am Astharoshe Asran, Duchess of Kiev and Odessa!" She'd pulled him so close they were almost kissing.

"Okay, I'll just call you Asthe then," Abel smiled at her. Despite the fact she was snarling at him, he knew of only one way to get her to release him. Quickly he shot his head forward, kissing her on the lips. At once Asthe threw him back. He stumbled, but somehow remained on his feet. She whipped around, spiting and wiping her lips. Abel laughed.

"Abel!" a sharp, familiar voice made him freeze. Slowly Abel turned to see a seventeen year old girl, striding towards them. Her yellow eyes flashed, long beautiful red hair whipping around behind her. Her dark skin only made her look more beautiful. "That was uncalled for!" she snapped, jabbing her finger into his face as she glared up at him. He was only a few inches taller than she was, but even though he was shorter than she was, he cringed as if her words were a whip.

"Hi, Lilith," Abel looked worried at the oldest in their group, dread prickling at his stomach. "Long time no see."

"No excuses, Abel. You need to apologize to her this minute!" Lilith bossed as she folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. He shrank before her. Oh hell, why did Lilith have to come here in the first place?

Asthe stormed forward, but stopped as she noticed how he acting. To Cain Asthe asked, "Is she his girlfriend?"

Abel snapped out of his fear of Lilith and whipped around, shouting, "She is not!" At the same moment Lilith said, "He's not my boyfriend." Asthe just grinned, a knowing glint in her silted, yellow eyes.

"This is rather awkward," Cain muttered, shifting as he looked at the three of them.

Just then several soldiers rounded the bend. "There they are!" shouted one of them.

"Lilith, move!" Abel told her, but she placed herself between the soldiers and the three of them. "You don't understand, we have to do this."

"Have to, Abel, have to. You don't have to do anythin—" Abel and Cain leapt forward. Before Lilith could react they took her by her arms and pushed into the room the others were in. Quickly Cain shut the door even as Lilith raised her hand ready to argue with them.

"All right, brother," Cain looked at him, unsheathing his sword. "We're in it this far, we might as well as go all the way." Abel grinned, pulling out his hand gun.

"Ready when you are?" they looked at one another before they charged as one. Abel winced as his pain shot from his back and ribs, but he ignored it as best as he could. Going down on one knee, he opened fire, the bullets striking the soldiers in their arms, legs or feet, stopping them in their tracks. Cain sheathed his sword, using the hilt and sheath as blunt weapons. Asthe seemed to have vanished from sight, but from time to time she would reappear and strike one of the soldiers before vanishing again.


(Author's Note: I am really sorry for not working on this story more. I hope to get the last two parts (9 and 10) up by Monday afternoon, but this might not happen. Yes, this is only a ten part story. It was never meant to be novel length, but to be a short.

I hope all you have enjoyed reading this part and the wait was worth it. I am really sorry for how long it took to get this part up.)