Disclaimer: I do not own Trinity Blood or its characters. They are the creation of Yoshida Sunao. I do, however, own my own characters.


Chapter 9

Frozen, Paula closed her eyes, prayed and braced herself for the impact. When it came, it knocked the wind from her. The carriage driver shouted curses. His beasts neighed in fear, hooves trashing. The carriage teetered dangerously before toppling over onto its side and into a lamppost, nearly crushing a friar. Pandemonium reigned.

"Paula, Sister Paula!" A voice cut in through the haze of pain.

Agony shot through every bone in her body. She opened her eyes. The bespectacled AX priest was bent over her. She was still alive. "W-what in God's name were you doing?" The voice sounded strained. Petros. Petros was lying partially on top of her from having knocked her clear of the carriage. His voice was strained. His face was pale as a sheet. When Paula's eyes focused, she saw the reason why. Her captain had failed to throw himself clear of the carriage wheels. His left leg was a mangled mess and spurting blood, despite Abel's best efforts to staunch the flow with a handkerchief.


Anastasia was back in the chapel. She had to act quickly. The strange pendant seemed to hum as she approached the altar. She clasped the Star in her hands and prayed. She had been here before, or had she? Perhaps it was in another life… She had read that some pre-Armageddon cultures believed in re-birth and that souls may recall their past lives. She had to look under the altar. She pushed it aside. Even with her Methuselah strength, it was heavy. It struck her immediately. The Rose and the Cross. The motif of the cross was common in such places. There was a crude craving of a cross in the wooden panel under the altar. Its centre was formed by a rose.

Ana felt dizzy. The inside of the chapel seemed to swim. She sat down on the nearest pew. Watch and learn what happened…

Hazy figures appeared before her. A brown-haired woman, wearing garments and headdress that had gone out of fashion three hundred years ago, appeared to rise from the floor where the craved rose-cross was. She seemed to shut the panel and replace the altar. Another three figures glided in through the chapel doors. The first was a handsome brown-haired man. The second was a raven-haired woman with a harsh face. Somehow, Ana knew they, and the first woman, were Methuselah. The last was a tall, blond man clad in white.

"Lord Cain!" The first woman hissed.

"Surprised, Tasha? Or shall I say Anastasia Flamevogel?" the blond Cain replied with a sinister smile. Ana almost screamed in alarm before she realized the figures were unaware of her. It was like watching a movie.

"What you seek is not here. Isabella, Fritz… have you forgotten the purpose of the White Rose Society? Bella, you are of the family of our founders, the von Kampfers!" Tasha pleaded with her fellow Methuselahs.

"Sorry, Tasha, unlike my misguided ancestors, power and knowledge is useless unless it is used. We are here only to seek your life and end it." Tasha's life ended in a sickening gurgle as Bella ripped out her heart.

"Master, our work here is complete," Fritz announced as he felt Tasha's wrist for a pulse as he did so, he pried a silver object from her hand and pocketed it. "And you are falling apart, sir…" Cain seemed to disintegrate before their eyes. The enraged blond tried to say something. White wings erupted from his shoulders but he crumbled to a pile of black glop in the aisle. Fritz scooped the mess gingerly into a sack. "Maybe someday, you'll get that right, Bella… when you do, run before he kills you," he winked at his companion before they faded out of sight.

"I see you have tapped into the power of the Star's memory bank, your Grace."

There was someone else in the chapel. He sat in the pews at the back where the shadows are deep. "What do you mean? I'm just a novice nun," Ana replied.

"Don't act coy, Princess…" Father Ivan smiled. He had never expected this impromptu visit to the Rosary Chapel to yield such astounding results. Maybe he could just kill Dietrich once Lorelei's tired of him, just to spite Isaak. God knows how much he hated that person. "The name Anastasia has been a tradition of sorts in our family. Every female of our lineage bears that name where we hail from…" the strange priest rose from his seat. Anastasia gasped.

"Father?" The likeness was uncanny. But her father's dead, isn't he? Same ice-blue eyes. "My dear niece. I am so pleased to finally meet you," Father Ivan knelt before her and kissed her lightly on the hand. "Activating the Star can only be done by a true Flamevogel. I guess I have no need to kill you now."

"Really," Ana sounded a little peeved. She had heard some Methuselah households think nothing of exiling or killing relations who have disgraced them. "Those shadows were your work, weren't they?"

"Well, your mother was Terran and…" Ivan caught himself before pronouncing her a mongrel. He studied her carefully. Those ice-blue eyes betrayed her Flamevogel heritage as did her uncanny intellect and perspective. Her flame-red hair framed her fine featured face.

"What I saw really happened before, did it?"

"Yes." Ivan and his twin had tried tapping into the Star's power before, with limited success, when Dimitri had a short stopover in Rome on a diplomatic mission. The violence of Grandaunt Tasha's death was supposed to be an excellent catalyst. Somehow, they were only able to invoke blurry images. Ana had no knowledge of the events that happened but yet… He needed her, as much he hated to admit it.

The Rose Cross. What irony. Ivan studied the panel under the altar. If Tasha had emerged from some secret chamber, she could be hiding the map there. He pried the panel loose under the watchful eyes of his niece. To his disappointment, the chamber below was flooded. Three hundred years of neglect had done its work. Taking a candle, he inched cautiously down the slimy steps into waist-deep water. Several stone caskets peeped out of the inky water. A crypt, he spat in disgust.

The same Rose Cross motif was craved on the caskets. He swept aside some of the slime to read some of the inscriptions on the caskets. Abbess Maria Flers, Brother Marcus Conelli… Catholic clergy members. This must be the resting place of members of the White Rose Society. Even before Cardinal Caterina Sofrza, some Church leaders espoused peaceful co-existence between Terran and Methuselah. Grandaunt Tasha may be just making a social call on her dead friends when she was killed.

Fritzroy must have known. Some sick perversion inspired him to use the name for their breakaway fraction. Leaving his niece in the chapel above, Ivan settled down for some grave-robbing, not that he expected to find anything after so long.

Look up. The Star hummed. Ana looked at ceiling above where the Rose Cross panel had been. There was a small stained glass skylight. Remember. She committed its details to memory. Silently, she slipped off. The skylight depicted a red-haired woman with a halo in the style of the Madonna. St Lillith of Minsk, the skylight proclaimed in minute words below. Ana was well-acquainted with the many saints, but she had not heard of a St Lillith of Minsk, yet.


Author's Notes:

My characters seem to be coming to the front instead of the canon characters in this arc. Sigh. Hopefully, I can twist the plot a bit to allow more time with the canon characters.