Trinity Blood: #1: Past Hidden in a Frozen Gaze
Chapter 12: Nightlord? Part 1: Shattering Truth

The cool night whispered around Abel. The soft breeze tugging at his cape and one knee pressing into the rough roof, he gazed down at the group of humans below. The chatty group opened a door and one by one vanished into the dark building beyond the door. "That's the last of them," Cato yawned, his spine giving off several pops as he no doubt stretched. "So, what now, Angel?" the boy asked eagerly. "Are we going to attack Valdemar yet, are we?"

A heavy sigh escaped Abel and he rubbed his eyes. "No, we aren't going to attack him at all, Cato," Abel stated. "Our goal is to get the people out of the city at some point, not try to take the emperor's old task group. They were trained since childhood on how to fight as a team. Personally I don't want to even try going up against them."

"Isn't Aran on our side though?" Esther asked. "He would break up this force and it would be easier to defeat them then."

"Have you ever faced a group who knows how to kill, the best ways to do so, and what war is like?" Abel snapped at the girl. The truth was he didn't want to fight them or kill another in their group. All of those kids were someone special to him no matter how twisted they had become over the years. It didn't help matters Abel didn't know his other son's full allegiances. If he had to fight Azul he would just give in and allow his son to kill him, if Azul could kill him that was. "I would rather not face them even if they are no longer at full strength." Standing, Abel turned to his young companions. As he moved his eye caught a glimpse of red hair. Whipping around, Abel returned to his previous position, eyes scanning the ground below. There! A Methuselah had stopped several feet down the road from this building. His red hair made easy to distinguish. It was Shaun! "Stay low and try to make it back to the hideout," Abel instructed them, watching Shaun turn and start back towards the Methuselah parts of the city. "There is something I must do."

Abel leapt down from the building, hearing Cato hiss, "Angel," behind him. The boy didn't have time to catch which direction Abel had gone as he raced off. The night whipped past him as he raced after the red head. He kept Shaun in his sights, heart racing. Before too long, Shaun realized he was being followed. Whipping around, the silence of the night was shattered by a gun shot. Appearing as only a black blur, Abel leapt to one side, rolling as he stuck the ground.

"Ha, you must be Angel," Shaun sneered at Abel. Abel straightened, kneeling on the ground muscles hard with tension. He was coiled, a viper ready to spring as he tracked Shaun, hood up, casting shadows over his watchful gaze. "Am your next target? Your next little snack?" Abel stiffened. "Well, I'd say you would have to be Cain by how insane you are trying to take us down." An uncontrollable rage pulsed through Abel's veins at the sound of his twin's name. A snarl escaped him as he lunged, a large cat springing towards his pray. Hands outstretched, Abel slammed into Shaun. The two of them fell to the ground and rolled. Shaun was on him, trying to get his wrists from Abel's. Abel growled again, kicking Shaun away from him. The force of the kick sent Shaun flying. He slammed into the wall, sliding to the ground dazed.

Fangs flashing in the yellow light of the street, Shaun snarled, leaping at Abel. With ease Abel dodged but he had misjudged Shaun's speed. The cloak tightened around Abel's neck. A gasp escaped him before he was flung towards the wall. Fire lanced through his skull, the wall and ground striking him in unison. Shaking his head, spots erupted before Abel's vision. Shaun was racing towards him a dagger, sharped to a micro thin edge glinting wickedly in the draining light. Abel rolled, the sound of the dagger thrumming through the air inches from his hood and ear. Still on the ground Abel pushed off the hard surface with his hands. Legs straight, his feet slammed into Shaun's shoulder. A shriek tore through the night a cracking filled the air. The dagger fell to the ground with a thump as Shaun's hand closed around the shattered shoulder.

"You'll pay for that," Shaun snarled at Abel. Quickly Abel leapt back to his feet and twisted around Shaun. The Methuselah's reactions were slower now. Reaching out, Abel took hold of the broken arm. A cry of sheer agony ripped through the night. With extreme force Abel threw Shaun at the wall. A sickening crack told Abel he might have gone to too far. Racing over to the boy, he knelt down beside him. A hand shot towards him. Abel took hold of it, twisting it. Shaun cried out again. "G-go to hell, terran lover!" Shaun spat at Abel.

Abel's jaw tightened and he held to the broken bone tighter until Shaun's scream became a satisfying shriek. "'Terran lover,'" Abel's voice was dangerous as he said this. "I might be helping the terrans, but never, never state I enjoy it!" he growled. "It disgusts me to think you would even think such a thing. I am here for the empire as I have always done what I must for my people," Abel placed more pressure on Shaun's shattered shoulder, "what the hell are you doing? You're trying to destroy everything my sister and I built and the tenuous peace we have now with the Vatican, that's what."

xxx

Esther shifted an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Not long ago Cato had raced off saying if Abel wasn't going to fight then he was. Now Esther was uncertain if she should head back or search for Abel. There was no doubt in her mind she needed to move but indecision holding her in place. She doubted she would be able to find the cave in time to help Cato before the boy got into too much trouble.

With a glance in the direction Cato had gone, Esther started towards the place she had seen Abel vanish. A shriek pierced the night, freezing her in place. That had come from the direction Abel had gone. Esther broke into a run, buildings flashed past her as another cry tore the air, followed by another. A long in human shriek made her stop and clap her hands over her ears. That poor Methuselah sounded as if they were being tortured.

"G-go to hell, terran lover," Esther hesitated before pressing her back to a wall and peering around it. Sure enough she saw Abel kneeling over a Methuselah who's arms were both broken. His face was twisted in pain and rage. What had Abel been doing to him?

"'Terran lover,'" a chill raced through Esther at the way Abel said this. It felt as if he didn't care for humans at all. "I might be helping the terrans, but never, never state I enjoy it!" he growled. Esther's heart turned to ice at his words. He-he didn't like humans at all. Everything she had known about Father Nightroad felt as if it were shattering around her. "It disgusts me to think you would even think such a thing. I am here for the empire as I have always done what I must for my people," his people? "What the hell are you doing? You're trying to destroy everything my sister and I built and the tenuous peace we have now with the Vatican, that's what."

"Peace, you want peace with the filthly humans?" the Methuselah shouted at Abel. "You know," he snarled, eyes flashing, "I don't care which twin you are: the emperor or the traitor, Abel or Cain, all I know is you are delusional! You're protecting terrans of a peace which can never be. You're a fool!"

"A fool?" Abel laughed sadly at this, "Yes, I might be a fool, but the day I gave up Lilith's dream is the day this world plunges into another war. I'm not immortal and neither is my sister, but for as long as the two of us can we will ensure peace and I will ensure the terrans survival. It was her dream to see peace between the races and it was her wish the terrans be protected. If she can't be here to protect them then I will be."

"What a joke?" the Methuselah gave a pained laugh. "You're telling me a crusnik, not just a crusnik but one of the twins is helping humans because of Lilith, that bitch is responsible—" Abel stuck the Methuselah so hard in the stomach he doubled over coughing up blood and a black liquid.

"Never speak of her in such a way to me, Shaun!" Abel's voice wavered with pain, sorrow, and an extreme lineless. "Now, you are going to tell me everything on what Valdemar has planned," Abel pulled out a vial filled with clear liquid. Esther clapped her hands over her mouth. It was truth serum.

"You think that will work forever," Shaun laughed, "your senile then. When I return I'll just – just—" Shaun cut off eyes widening at the sight of the other vial Abel pulled out. This one was filled with a clear red liquid. What was it? "How did you get that?" Shaun demanded.

Abel didn't reply merely leaned forward. He placed his hand on Shaun's jaw, forcing open the Methuselah's mouth before pouring some of the serum in and snapping Shaun's mouth shut. Several long moments past as Shaun struggled before he at long last swallowed. At once his eyes became glazed. Abel lowered his hood, "Do you know me?" he asked.

"Yes," the voice which replied was dreamlike and hazy.

"Who am I to you?" Abel continued to test the serum.

"You are Emperor Abel Nightlord," Esther felt her heart stop at those words, "the father of the Methuselah race and greatest leader of the empire. Savior of the civil war, founder of the empire, and the one who lead us back to Earth, you were once great and now you are a traitor like Cain." Abel's hand balled into a fist, but he said nothing. It-it couldn't be. How could Abel be the person who had killed so many? How could he be a Nightlord? Everything Esther had ever known about Abel was gone. It had crumbled before eyes, leaving behind only horror. How could this be? How could it be?

(Author's note: I left my flashdrive at home and it had all of my work on it for Vehemens. For this reason alone I decided to work on this story.

Also, please do note, I have this entire story planned out (well winging right now because the notes on my flashdrive). I don't mind you guys having ideas for the story, but do keep in mind that I do have everything planned out as well as most of Future Seen in Gold Eyes. This is taking so long to update because I am focusing mainly on Vehemens Veritas,school, and my book.

A request: if you read this story and are one of the people who seems to be following it, please, please leave a review or a comment even if you don't have an account for fanfiction. Comments and reviews help me get motivated to write when I am not in the mood do so.)