10. Full Circle

"Aaaaah… I'll never get tired of this sight. So beautiful!"

"You have been saying that for the past six months."

"Well, it still is. The sun is setting over the sea horizon, the cicadas are singing, the air smells of spices and oils, the wind is fresh and warm. And I am sitting in a bath with wine and you by my side. Life can't get better than this."

"… It is very good life, yes. Different from what we usually lived back in Vatican."

"Do you like it here, Tres?"

"I… Yes, I do."

"And do you like this?"

"Yes, I like it when you kiss me."

"And this?"

"Yes. I like being kissed on the neck too."

"And what about this?"

"Abel…"

"Yes?"

"I have already told you that we cannot interact in that kind of activity."

"But…"

"No."

"Whyyyyy? I promise you'd definitely like that!"

"We are not married. That kind of action can only be performed between married couple."

"…"

"Why are you sighing?"

"You are still hanging onto the Bible's teachings, Tres. It doesn't matter here. We are already committing sin according to the Bible and the Laws of Vatican. This is just a drop in the ocean."

"No, it is not."

"Why not?"

"It is… Different. I do not know how to properly explain. I was programmed to act certain way. That programming has two parts. One is hard written, that cannot be changed without directly accessing my programming from Professor's computer. The other part is not set in stone as you call it. It can be overwritten and change, because I was also designed to learn and adapt, to choose how I will react or what I will respond in certain situation."

"What do you mean?"

"For example the lying. In my programming, in the hard part, it is clearly written that I cannot use a direct lie. In the soft part though is written, that I can choose how I answer a question. That can be interpreted in more than one way actually. I can deflect a question, or I can answer with partial truth and keep the rest unsaid."

"Wait, you mean you don't have to say all the truth?"

"That is correct."

"Then why on Earth do you have to say the whole truth all the time? Do you have any idea how many situations we could avoid if you didn't answer completely truthfully?"

"Yes, I know."

"Then why?"

"It is a … my decision."

"What?"

"I can choose to adapt, to learn, to change parts of myself, my programming, to reflect what I want. It depends on reactions that I observe, on feedback that I get for certain actions. Choosing to enforce the no-lying code is something that I chose based on moral standings. In all societies throughout the history, lying has been always used, but always judged as wrong. I understand that not saying the truth would be beneficial in certain situations, but I do not agree that it is the right way to behave."

"But Tres…"

"You remember the consul? You said you could not do it, because it was not right. You felt that it was wrong. Somebody else might have taken the offer. They could even lie about some things. Let's say that you took the offer. You would marry the consul's daughter and you would be made a senator. As such, you would have the consul removed. Your new wife could be arranged to disappear as well. You would be left as a senator and free to do with your life as you see fit."

"Well… Yes, I suppose that would be possible, but…"

"But it would not be right."

"Yes. I see your point. You stand on not lying is same as my feeling about what is right and what is not."

"Correct."

"But, what does it have to do with you and me … you know?"

"It the same."

"But people throughout the history have proved that marriage is not necessarily the condition to … be close."

"That is truth; this very age is an example of that. But my stand on this issue is based somewhere else."

"Where?"

"I… It would not feel right. I believe in marriage."

"Oh… Wow, I never thought I'd hear you say that. But I am glad you did. So, hypothetically, if we were to get married, you wouldn't be opposed to it?

"No. But…"

"Yes?"

"It does not matter, the question is irrelevant. The ship will be recharged in eight more months and then we will find the count, get him to open the portal and return to our time. We will complete the mission and return to our duties in Vatican."

"Tres…?"

"Yes?"

"Nothing, never mind. Let's just enjoy the evening, shall we?"

"As you wish, Abel."

…

"I still can't believe that you were able to find the ship so easily."

"I do have tracking program linked to the ship, Abel. It is not a hard thing to do."

"Well, still. Anyway, it is a marvel that the smugglers haven't tossed it over the board or sold it."

"I assume they wanted to sell it, but could not find a buyer. In any case, to use your words, it was lucky that they kept it in that cave for that long."

"Yes. Now all we need is to get Bale."

"No, need, krusnik. I am already here."

"Oh, great, you're here."

"You're not going to ask how I found you?"

"There is no need. I have fed some information to some of the merchants that travel around the Mediterranean Sea. I was certain that once you found out our whereabouts, you would follow us here. In which case, we would not have to go looking for you. Now we can detain you, have you opened the portal and we can also bring you to Vatican to see the justice."

"Bold strategy, machine. But you have miscalculated if you think I'd just go with you. I have an army at my disposal. My follower…"

"… were very tasty, yes. Hihi. I haven't been this full in over three years! You see, count, Tres here has been on your track for a long time. And once you moved your new vampires to Athens, we monitored them. When you left them this morning to go sleep over the day, we … disposed of them. You have nobody, Bale. Now, why don't you play a good captive and put your hands behind your back?"

"I would suggest your cooperation, count Bale. Father Nightroad is in very good condition after the long rest and the fill of the vampires you have provided."

"Oh, screw you! Both of you! I won't go down like this!"

…

"Hmmm, sounds like you doubted my persuasive skills, Tres."

"I have. I remember the leader of the vampire hold in England where you also tried to persuade him into talking. You do remember how that ended, do you not?"

"Yes. But this time, I was motivated."

"How?"

"We do need to keep him alive to open the portal. Although I was tempted to tear his head off."

"I can hear you, jerk!"

"I know, I wasn't trying to be subtle."

"Yeah? And what will you stop you from killing me once I get you through the portal?"

"I gave you my word."

"Like I care for your words! And even if you kept your word, the Vatican will burn me at a stake anyway. I have nothing to motivate me."

"Abel, he does have a point."

"So, what do you suggest?"

"I can answer that for you, krusnik. I'll get you back, I'll close all the portals and I even hand you the device that allows me to make the portals – after I open one last portal to a location and time of my choosing. Then you'll let me walk and close the portal behind me. I'll leave up to you what you tell your precious Vatican."

"How can I trust you'll not make another device like this and start over?"

"I will give you my word."

"You do realize your word doesn't have much weight, don't you?"

"Take it or leave it, Nightroad."

"I don't understand. All this time, you were hell bent on destroying our world by any means necessary. Your vampires are overwhelming us and are terrorizing the people living there. Even now, you came here to get back there, ready to kill me and Tres in the process. Why would you so suddenly change your mind?"

"To answer you, you need to know the past, krusnik. Does the name of Isabella Traia ring a bell?"

"No."

"I didn't think so. Isabella was my wife. We were made vampires together. We had a small castle with few followers. We treated the villagers right, we fed on murderers, rapists, thieves. We were danger to no one. Except Vatican. They taught what monsters the vampires are, how they terrorize the people, murder children and convert anyone they want. And yes, there are majority of those living this way. But for me and Isabella, it was something we wanted to avoid. Vampires killed our families, their killed our sons, they converted us and then abandoned us to our fate. But we managed to get up, dust off and build a new life for ourselves. We wanted to show others that they don't have to live this way, that they can coexist with people. And it was working, Nightroad, it was working!"

"What happened?"

"You already know the answer, don't you? Vatican and his agenda against all vampires was threatened by our lifestyle. To have vampires live alongside humans was not permissible. So, they sent dispatchers to our village. They burned it down, slaughtered everybody trying to oppose them. They burned down the church with all those that tried to escape them. They did this once the sun rose high enough. We watched our people burn, Nightroad, and we were unable to stop it. We couldn't leave the castle. Once they were done, they attacked the castle. There were only few of us, we were being killed one by one quickly. I ordered everybody to flee the castle through the hidden tunnels. We started fine, but Isabella… She turned back half way out. She persuaded me that we could still try to talk with them, to reason with them, explain… They caught us. Isabella asked to be brought before the leader, she pleaded with him. And she forgave him as he tied her to a pyre and set fire to her. I watched my wife burn as they held me down. The last thing I remember was her smile before the flames took her. The next thing I know, I was kneeling before the burnt out pyre, the ashes running through my fingers. And all around me were dismembered bodies of our captors. Every last one of them was dead. That night, I buried Isabella's ashes beside the graves of our children, set fire to the castle and left. And as I watched the whole place burning to the ground, I vowed to myself, I'll never stop until the Vatican was destroyed."

"... I… I don't know what to say. I'm sorry…"

"Keep your pity, Nightroad, I don't need it. You should feel pity for yourself. You, your siblings, your mother, you were all Vatican's creation as well."

"No! No, that's not true! It was…"

"Yes. But they were directed and run by Vatican. You were their perfect soldiers. A solution to vampire problem. But it got out of hands and they just cut all ties. Until you found a way to them. Tseh, look at you, you know it's the truth, you feel I am telling you the truth. When I found out, I actually pitied you too, you know? But by that time, you were already too much involved with them for me to seek your alliance. So, I found a different path. I wanted to find a way to the past, to save my wife, you know? And I did succeed. Dozens of times, actually. Every time I pulled her out of there, something happened and she ended up dead every single time. I was going mad. Then finally, I stopped myself from trying to change the past. So, I came up with a plan how to get my revenge. To create large enough army of vampires to wipe the Vatican once and for all from the face of the planet."

"So… Why would you change your mind now?"

"I know what I have to do."

"Huh?"

"I cannot change the past. Not in a way that I would know."

"I don't understand…"

"I can go back to the night we were attacked. I can go back to the moment they tied my wife up to the pyre. I can knock my past self out, kill everyone there, save my wife and leave. My past self will wake up just as I remember it now. The past won't be changed; the outcome will lead me to this very moment."

"And where will you go after that? Two counts Bale would not seem like something our world could hold…"

"I don't know! But I figure something out."

"Maybe… Maybe there is a way…"

"Abel, we cannot do that."

"Hush, Tres. You know it's the right thing to do."

"But we…"

"Are you with me?"

"Abel…"

"Are you with me, Tres?"

"Yes. I am."

"What are you two talking about?"

"Bale, get us to our world, I give you my word I will let you go."

Hi everyone! So, this chapter is longer than I intended it to be, and it's also a tad bit more serious than then general pace of the rest of the story. But I felt like finally coming to a conclusion regarding the motives behind Bale's plans. We are slowly coming to the climax of the story and I hope to finish it over the next few weeks. Thank you for the reviews, they really made my day so much brighter. While waiting for the next chapter, please feel free to check out my other stories. :-)