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Chapter Sixteen: The Woes Of Werewolves

Ashton limped, growling angrily as he tried to find where the Fleur du Mal base was. How dare that human harm him?! That measly human! What was he going to tell his boss? That he was beaten by a Vatican priest? They would kill him for sure!

Calm down, Ash. It's nothing. You're needed. They can't kill you or they'll run out of important power over the priests…yes, they need werewolves, Ashton thought to himself in an urge to calm himself down.

That brat, Ayden, had ruined everything. Ashton may not get killed, but he was most certainly going to get punished.

He growled again, leaning against a wall and holding his bleeding side. His blood would attract attention. It would be unwise to wander back to the boss in this condition.

"I'll just have to find somewhere where I can disappear for a while…" he said to himself as he looked up at the sky. Rain was going to come soon. That was good. If it rained, his blood trail would disappear.

"You'll pay for this, Ayden. I swear it…"

Yuri almost smiled when Abel looked at him with a shocked expression on his face when he entered the medical room. There was always something about that look that made Yuri want to chuckle.

"What are you doing here, Yuri?" Abel asked, still in shock.

"Checking up on you, of course. How is it a veteran of AX can fall for so simple a trap? That's somewhat depressing if you ask me."

Abel chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah well…it was mainly Leon's idea. I just sort of went along."

"There is no sort of. You either agree or disagree. In this case, you agreed." Yuri walked over to Abel's bed, watching him boredly. The priest did not seem to be in that bad of condition. Esther had made it sound like he was going to die or something.

"Uh…Yuri…"

"What is it?"

"Hmm…nothing."

Yuri crossed his arms and shook his head. Abel always did this. Usually Yuri would pry, but not today. Today was different. He was in no mood for an argument, or a pointless discussion. "So, where are you hurt? And where's your nurse?"

"One question at a time, Yuri! My nurse stepped out for a bit. She should be back soon…and uh…I cracked a few ribs. I'll be fine though."

"I bet," Yuri replied sarcastically as he scanned the room. For the life of him, he could not understand why humans were so attached to the color white. It was dull. Humans he had met told him that the color was supposed to be soothing, but he honestly could not see how. If anything, the color only made him recognize just how bland and empty the infirmary was.

"Something wrong?" Abel said, breaking him out of his reverie.

"No. I was just noticing how creepy it is in here." Abel opened his mouth, but Yuri spoke again before he could utter a retort. "Did Esther come by? She was quite upset the last time I saw her."

Abel sighed, laying his head against his propped up pillow. "Yes she did. The nurse had to calm her down. I think that's why the nurse isn't here…"

"Hmph…figures. Human women are so emotional…" For once, Abel did not say anything back.

"Yuri…aren't you nervous about Fleur du Mal? It seems they're somewhere in Rome."

"Eh? No, not really. They're all a bunch of idiots for the most part. The only smart one was Ayden."

"But---."

"Besides," Yuri continued, "it's probably a weaker branch that's here."

"A…branch? You mean the organization isn't a great big body?"

Yuri slowly turned his gaze back over to Abel, frowning slightly. What sort of question was that? Of course it was not some huge organization. It was split into small factions that did whatever they pleased. "Each one has a leader, but it's sorta like a crime syndicate I suppose you could say. Each group has a crime boss, and each boss has little minions. It's not as organized as you think."

Abel seemed to contemplate this information. Yuri watched him patiently before boredom set in and he was forced to look away. "I just came in here to check on you. If you were incapacitated then that would have been a shame, especially when I was just starting to get used to you."

"Y-Yuri…does that mean we're friends?" Abel sounded so hopeful that Yuri could not bring it upon himself to crush his spirit.

"Think whatever you please." Oddly enough, that just made Abel smile wider.

Yuri stared at him quietly. Abel Nightroad…was a strange, strange individual. He had told himself this countless times, but each time he spoke to the priest, he could not help but repeat that to himself. He did not think for long before the nurse came back in, smiling widely.

"Ah, seems you have another visitor, Abel. My you're quite popular."

Abel smiled, waving his hands. "I guess so."

The nurse was a small woman of no more than five feet with dark brown hair and gentle brown eyes. She did not look like much, but Yuri had a feeling she was made of tougher stuff than she looked.

"You must be the new priest under the AX."

"Sort of."

"Ah, I see." The nurse smiled, bowing slightly. "Well then, welcome to the Vatican. I know it may not seem like we welcome you much, but we do. We're very glad to have you."

Yuri nodded slowly. Ok, this was odd…but it was not unwanted either. It was nice for someone to recognize him instead of ignoring him…not that he was being ignored before, but no one had really welcomed him…minus AX, but that was different.

Without another word, the small nurse walked over to Abel and handed him a small cup of water. "You need to rest, Abel. You won't be leaving here until tomorrow, so until then, you might as well get yourself comfortable."

Until tomorrow? What the hell? Don't humans need more recovery time than that? This was more than odd. Shaking his head, he turned and began to leave. Whatever conversation that went on between the nurse and Abel was none of his business…though what she had said was bothering him. Broken ribs were lethal to humans if they weren't careful…so wouldn't it take much longer for those ribs to heal than two days, especially after being attacked by a werewolf? Yuri know by experience that it took longer to heal after being hit by one of those monsters.

"Aww, you're leaving, Yuri?"

Yuri sighed. "Yes. I simply came to see if you were breathing. Now that that's done, it's time for me to go."

"Ah, I see, very well then. See you tomorrow, Yuri," Abel's cheerful voice answered.

Yuri glanced over his shoulder with a small frown, but it slowly melted away until a half-smile before he left the room.

As soon as he left, his gaze landed on Esther who stood in front of the door. She smiled softly at him, as if giving him a silent apology. He did not know why…then again, perhaps he just could not comprehend why.

"Can I help you?" he said without meaning to sound harsh…but in evidently ended up sounding that way. Thankfully, Esther had been around him long enough to know he did not mean it to sound that way. At least humans were smart enough to catch on.

"I'm just here to speak to Abel, that's all. I needed to calm down earlier…and uh…well, I had a feeling you would be here."

Yuri sighed, closing his eyes. Esther was going to say an annoying apology. However, he was not going to let the happen. He did not deserve it after all. With a slight nod of his head, he walked past her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

If it had not been so deathly quiet in the hallway, Yuri was sure he would not have heard it. He did not acknowledge the girl's words, but just kept walking as if nothing had happened.

I still don't understand you crazy people, he thought, though it was a bit fondly now.

Deon yawned, leaning back against a building. Things seemed to be going smoothly. That much was good. To tell the truth, he was somewhat afraid that someone from the Orden would find out about his involvement in all these…uh…problems. If they did find out…he was sure they would mess with his mind. They seemed to like doing that.

"Ah, so here's where you are," a smooth voice said, interrupting his thoughts and making him instantly tense up.

He did not have to turn his head to see who had spoken to him. That much was obvious from the tone of the voice; playful, yet dangerous. "Hello, Dietrich. Uh…is something the matter?"

Dietrich was wearing a scarf and a heavy coat to match the freezing weather. Even wearing normal common clothes, he still had an aura about him that drew people's gazes towards their direction…something that annoyed Deon to no end. It made him feel self conscious.

Chuckling, Dietrich ran a hand through Deon's messy hair, almost possessively. It did not amaze the werewolf. He was a toy, a new toy that could easily be broken with the flick of his wrist. Deon had to admit that the man was handsome, but he did not want a demon such as himself touching him. It was almost as if he could see his hand turning into a clawed talon, reeking blood and death. "Now, what ever are you doing here, Deon? I surely don't remember Mein Herr ever saying you should be near the Vatican Church."

"I was bored. Well, in all honesty, I really wanted to see this 'Yuri' person that Isaak has taken a liking to. Too bad though. After all that drama with that stupid werewolf from Fleur du Mal, I have not been able to do so." Well, that was a flat out lie…but he honestly hoped Dietrich would not catch on. If he did…Deon was sure that he would be killed without a second thought.

Dietrich's hand stopped his annoying caressing and a frown slowly crossed his face; well it was more a pout, but Deon knew he was not happy. "Yes, that werewolf has botched up our plans a little."

"Did you kill him?"

"No, I didn't see a reason to do that. It would have been a waste of time. Plus, today, I'm too tired to play with 'broken' toys."

Deon fought back a audible gulp. He did not want to imagine what that werewolf would have gone through if Dietrich was in 'playful' mode. "The Vatican probably caught on to the plan now that they've captured that big mouth, Ayden."

"More than likely. However, that makes the game more exciting. Now that the Vatican knows what Fleur du Mal is up to, they'll be paying more attention to them. Ah…those vampires are such fools."

"I see. Let's just hope those idiots can keep the Vatican running around then. I honestly don't want to have to deal with them every two seconds."

Dietrich laughed, and Deon almost jumped out of his skin. It was always a fifty percent chance that the man's laugh was either good or bad. Hesitantly, he glanced in his direction.

"Ah, relax, Deon. You've been very good to our cause so far. I'm not going to harm you."

Liar, Deon thought fearfully. You just want me to drop my guard, but I'm not going to do it.

Dietrich yawned, looking up at the sky. "It's going to rain today. It seems God is going to cry. I suppose that's a good sign, don't you agree?"

"Of course…" Deon replied slowly. Just go away, Dietrich. Just go away.

Dietrich smiled that usual cruel smile of his before turning and walking away. "Hurry up and head back to your apartment. You're going to need ample rest for tomorrow."

"Are you going to be staying in Rome?" Deon heard Dietrich stop.

"Afraid not my dear, Deon. I'm needed elsewhere. Don't worry though. Isaak will take good care of you."

Well…at least Isaak seems more human, I guess. Still…it's not comforting to know that they don't trust me enough to leave me alone. "All right…"

Dietrich chuckled, and began to walk away once again. Deon did not watch him leave, that would have only put him at ease, which was something that he did not need to be. If he was at ease, he would let something slip and that would be the death of him.

You're falling apart, Deon. Calm down. If you don't, you die. Just calm down…

Lighting a cigarette, he gently put it to his lips and took a deep breath. He was supposed to meet an emissary of Lucyna to give them a bit more information on what was going on…but today was not the best day to do that. Dietrich's appearance told him that the Contra Mundi, or Mein Herr, as he was affectionately called, was keeping on eye on him.

"You got it easy, Yuri…" he mumbled, as he watched the clouds dance in the sky…feeling that his time would soon be up and he would never ever see them again.

Yuri shivered slightly as he walked towards Caterina's office. He felt like someone was thinking about him, or watching him for that matter. It was an uncomfortable feeling, one that made him want to go and hide in a closet somewhere…but seeing as to he was claustrophobic, that would not have been the wisest of ideas.

Stopping in front of her office door, he gently knocked.

"Come in."

Gathering his wits, Yuri quickly stepped into the room. He had wasted enough time stopping by to check on Abel. As usual, Caterina was sitting at the head of her desk with a stack of papers that needed her attention, with Tres and Havel standing by her side like over present guards.

Yuri looked around, noticing that Leon was no longer present. Hmph…he probably left to go and cause trouble at the infirmary.

"What did you find out, Yuri?" Caterina said, cutting his thoughts off.

"Not much, Miss Caterina. However, you may not like what I say."

Caterina sighed, whispering something to Havel. The man smiled and shook his head before leaving the room. Yuri watched him with mild interest, wondering where he was off to. As if reading his mind, Caterina answered. "He's going to go and get me some tea. I feel I'm going to need it."

"Ah…I see…Uh, well then, should I begin?"

Caterina nodded.

"Well, it would seem Fleur du Mal is planning on making some weapon to take out the Orden."

Caterina was silent for a while, her face completely unreadable before a long, tired sigh came from her lips. "They're…making a weapon?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"How far are they in its production?"

"I…uh…did not ask. The thought never crossed my mind. Forgive me."

Caterina shook her head. "No, it's quite all right. I'm sure Ayden is not going anywhere."

Yuri coughed slightly. "Yes, of course. Uh…according to Ayden, the Orden has found out about this. The two groups may end up fighting each other eventually."

"That's good. They'll destroy each other and we'll clean up the rest…but I doubt it will be that simple. If only it was…" Caterina rubbed her temples. For once, Yuri noticed that despite her young age, she appeared at the time to be much older than she really was. He felt uncharacteristic sympathy welling up inside him.

"If the two groups end up fighting, many civilians may become involved in the chaos they two will undoubtedly spread. Also, Fleur du Mal will, more than likely, fall. If the Orden gets their hands on this weapon…"

"They'll use it on us, The Empire, and The Republic…"

Yuri nodded stiffly.

Silence soon spread throughout the room. Unsure of what to do, Yuri waited until he was either dismissed or until Caterina said something to spur the discussion further. Thankfully, at the time Father Havel decided to come back in with a steaming cup of tea.

Caterina gratefully took it, sipping it almost inaudibly. Soon she set the mug back down and sighed, clasping her hands back together. "Anything else, Yuri?"

"Hmm…" Yuri looked away, unsure if telling Caterina about the strange creature the Orden had for a leader was a good idea. Chances were the woman already knew that…after all, the AX agency had been established to handle that group. "No, that's all."

Caterina tugged on a golden lock of her hair, turning his gaze back towards Yuri. "You are dismissed, Yuri. If I need you later, I'll be sure to send for you."

A bit muffed about simply being 'sent' away, Yuri turned and began to leave. This was pointless. If the Cardinal was going to send him away after only ten minutes of talking, then he would have simply sent a message to her saying what was going on. This whole walk from his room to her office seemed absolutely pointless.

"Thank you for your assistance, Yuri. You have been more help than you know."

I bet, he thought in annoyance, repeating what he had said to Abel earlier. "I'm glad I could be of some type of help."

He did not see the small, thoughtful frown that crossed Caterina's lips as he left the room, not really caring what went on in her mind. Sleep was what he wanted, and that was what he was going to have. Even if Caterina did send for him later, he would decline. He was not her servant, thus did not have to answer to her every beck and call.

Why can't I have a normal day to sleep?

That thought plagued him, as well as only succeeded in making him angrier.

Author note: My God, making all these Oc's is proving to be difficult. xD I absolutely hate having to do it, but alas, if only there were cannon characters for Fleur du Mal who weren't dead or in jail, then I wouldn't have to do all this.

As you can see, Yuri is getting annoyed with the way the Vatican is doing things. I hope this doesn't end in disaster! –dun dun dun-

Oh and yes, Dietrich is here. My friend nearly had a heart attack when she read it. It's not hard writing Dietrich. After reading the manga, you can see just how utterly sadistic the bishounen is. Anyway, sorry for making you guys read this long, probably pointless author note. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Oops, I almost forgot. From now on (until otherwise) I'll be updating every Sunday. It's sorta like a deadline for me so I won't get sidetracked away from the fanfic, and so I can continue to update regurally.

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