(Author's note: An explanation I forgot on the last chapter. I decided to make Sara more a daughter in Abel's because of the age difference. He was old enough to be her grandparent when they started dating. At first it was love at first sight, but it starts to tapper down and because more of a father daughter relationship on Abel's side and a trying to get back her boyfriend on Sara's side.)
Trinity Blood: Divergent Path
Chapter 26: Rising Desert
Two years later:
The cool night whipped around Abel, causing the sand at his feet to twist and turn in an almost graceful dance. He stood atop a dune eyes plastered to the scene taking place below him. Methuselah fought the humans and even a few of their own kind in a battle which had been lasting for far too long. It disgusted Abel to think Elisa had been able to hold them off for this long.
Lieutenant Elisa Sahl, she had once been a member of Abel's security force and was second only to Tabitha even though she had a higher rank. Even still his current forces shouldn't have been struggling so against Elisa's. Abel scowled. A terran charged at him. Pulling out his gun, he fired one shot. The terran hit the ground, his blood mixing with the sand, the dry earth drank in the blood almost greedily.
Shaking his head, Abel returned his attention to the battle. He had been instructed by Cain to stand on the sidelines until Cain gave the signal, but Abel was already in a foul mood from not being able to go crusnik and help the forces. He had come out here to watch. Shaking his head again, Abel turned and started down the dune, heading for the camp.
"What news?" asked Seth, racing out to greet him. The tents were nearby, whipping in the light breeze with a hug airship visible just behind the tents. "Is the battle going well?"
"No," Abel growled, "and it would be if Cain would just let me enter the battle. At this rate…" Abel trailed off, stopping dead in his tracks. "To hell with Cain's orders!" he growled. Whipping around, Abel stormed back up the dune, leaving Seth behind to deal with whatever happened at the camp. There was no way in hell he was going to let his forcers have all the fun on the battle field.
Abel fired on several of the terrans. They shouted, falling back and caught completely off guard by his sudden action. Why the hell should Abel just standby? This war was his as much as it was Cain's and so were these forces. He could care less if every last soldier died here tonight, but he did care about victory over the terrans.
Snarling with the rage and frustration Abel felt towards both his brother and these terrans, he whipped around, slamming his gun into the nearest terran before breaking their neck easily. The next terran to come at him found their head bashed in by the muzzle of Abel's gun.
"My," Abel paused, "I guess what they say about you is true after all." Turning, Abel came face to face with Elisa. She looked at him evenly with cold, hard eyes. "You really are the god of slaughter." Abel's lips twitched at the sound of one of the three nicknames he'd earned after his rampage through the terran cities. Every last one of them pleased him and served well enough over the past two years to frighten every terran and even several Methuselah he had faced. "Humph," Elisa snorted, glaring at Abel with distain, "you really have become a monster, Abel." She shook her head. "To think you were once a good man, a good person, and an excellent soldier disgusts me," her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "You really are nothing more than a bloodthirsty monster."
Abel looked at her as anger flared in him. "A monster, you say?" he laughed coldly. "Well, who am I to contradict a traitor's words?" he gave her a fake bow. "You're majesty," he smirked. "I hear the terrans consider you a queen now, what next, shall you be the ruler of all lowly terrans in the world?"
"Is this really what you wanted, Abel?" Elisa demanded, ignoring the taunts he shot her way. "There was once a time when you wished to help the humans, now you look down on them and condemn them." She shook her head. "I wish I could say, 'It was an honor to serve with you,'" she raised her gun, "but it really wasn't after all, Lieutenant-Colonel Nightlord."
Quickly Abel leapt to one side, but he wasn't fast enough. A flash from Elisa's gun, searing pain in his left arm. Growling and cursing under his breath, Abel stumbled back. He ignored the pain and fired on Elisa. She went into haste, easily dodging the bullets. Another flash, Abel only just dodged the bullet this time, returning fire.
It was all a game, a game which both of them could easily end up losing. Abel and Elisa tore across the desert, firing on one another. Once allies now turned enemies. It felt like another life where they had stood side by side and fought for their lives back on Mars. Now all Abel cared about was killing her before she could force him to transform or he ran out of bullets.
Suddenly Abel saw Elisa leap over him and land on a nearby dune. Turning to look at him, he lifted gun and pulled the trigger, only a click met his ears, damn it all! "I'm sorry to see my suspicions were true, Abel," stated Elisa, not really looking sorry. "It looks like I will end up winning the bet after all." There was no joy in her voice or on her face as she said this. "Just remember it was your hatred which has condemned you and the rest of your forces, Abel. By the end of this battle you will have truly become the God of Destruction. There is no redemption for you."
"Redemption," Abel spat the word, "you think I want to redeem myself to those terrans? You're a foul for even thinking this." His eyes flashed as he snarled at her in rage. As if he would ever want to redeem himself to the terrans!
"I never said I wanted you to. Lilith is the one who still holds hope you still care for this world and the humans," stated Elisa, "but I see now it was only wishful thinking on Lilith's part. You're hatred is all you still hold to, it's all which keeps you alive and you fear releasing it. You fear doing so will mean the death of all you are and all you once were." She looked down on him, eyes hard and cold with harsh disapproval. "The kind man I once knew died when Myles set the trap to kill a Nightlord and his or guard instead of trying to understand what was happening. You blamed the world and hated all who sided with the humans. You have forgotten you are just as human as they are."
"I was never human!" Abel shouted at her, his anger getting the better of him. "Humans are not created through science, through terrans playing god. I was never human in anyone's eyes to begin with."
"You were once human in my eyes, now you are nothing more than a monster who feeds on fear and blood," shaking her head, Elisa turned away from Abel. "You've doomed yourself and your men. Goodbye, Abel, I hope we never met again," before he could move closer, Elisa vanished into the night.
Elisa thought Abel has once been human, ha? As if he had ever been human. Terrans had seen him, his siblings, and Lilith as something less than human as disposable lab rats and this had never changed! Myles had called him inhuman, every terran had seen the four of them as such and even the Methuselah could never fully except the four of them. They were forever apart and he hated the terrans for starting this. He hated the terrans for all they had done and for even daring to draw breath. He hated all of them!
"Ah, Abel Nightlord," Abel felt a smile curl his lip at the sound of Myles' voice. "I thought if I followed Elisa long enough I would find you." Slowly Abel turned and looked at the terran he despised the most. Myles had to be well into his fifties by now, extremely young for a Methuselah, but old for terrans in these harsh times. "Time to die, monster!" insanity could be seen in Myles' eyes as he drew his sword and charged towards Abel.
Abel stepped to one side and caught Myles' wrist. "Yes, it is time for you to die," sneered Abel. He tore off Myles' arm. Blood gushed from the wound as Myles stumbled back, screaming. "How I have longed hear you scream," Abel looked at Myles, grinning wickedly as he stepped towards the terran. Myles stumbled back, eyes wide with fear. In a swift movement, Abel grasped Myles' sword and beheaded him. "Your death was too quick for my liking," Abel muttered, watching as Myles struck the ground. "Yes, it was far too quick for my liking."
"My lord!" a shout sounded from the top of the nearby dune. One of the soldiers raced down to Abel. "You need to get to a safe place at once." Abel frowned in confusion. Turning, his eyes widened as he realized what the hell the Methuselah was talking about. Several miles away the desert seemed to rise like the ocean did just after an earthquake. This was no earthquake. A sandstorm, far more deadly than any natural storm Abel had ever even heard of began to form. This was – this was a weapon, one which had to have been placed here by Elisa.
A smile curled Abel's lips as he turned his back on the sand storm and started to move away from it. That weapon would make a great tool in defeating Elisa at her own game. This part of the world would soon return to the empire's control!
Abel had just neared the secondary camp just in the bluffs when the sound gears and metal wings filled the air. Looking up, he stopped in his tracks. "Go on ahead of me," Abel instructed those who had followed him here. They hesitated before nodding and heading off.
Once they had vanished the bird dove towards Abel as Abel lifted his arm. The mechanical bird landed a letter clutched in its beak. Why was Lilith contacting him now? She had been silent for nearly a year now. It didn't make sense.
Taking the letter from the bird, he waited for it to hop up to his shoulder before opening the letter. It was short, extremely short, but in the inscription Lilith had created: Abel, meet me at the abandoned church an hour after sunrise. We need to talk.
Abel frowned, but quickly scrawled a reply on the paper she'd sent and gave it to the bird. He was going to meet with her. Despite the fact they had promised to never speak of the war in their meetings, he had to know what that machine was which had been used on his soldiers today. The bird took to the sky. He had only a few hours before the meeting time. It was only just enough time to leave a note for Seth and take off his cape. This was if he hoped to make it in time.
