Chapter Twenty-Nine: Generation Fallen Angel

Disclaimer: First of all, the title isn't mine. It comes from the title of another fanfiction I loved called "Generation: Crusnik". Serious props to author of said epicness! And, secondly and most depressing *watery eyes* Trinity Blood and Naruto…*struggles to finish* aren't mine.

Sakura stepped off of the train, feeling like herself for the first time in nearly a week. It was hard, though, to think back and realize that in such a short span of time the Overlord of the Orden had been defeated, she had had her life extended into eternity, and her lover was safely back at home and in her arms…or, more often than not, she was in his.

She also found that oddly enough she didn't feel the physical pull to be near him. It seemed that when they naturally drifted apart in the same area there was such a strong, intangible, but so undeniably there connection between them that it didn't matter. And, naturally, they always drifted back.

She shook her head, clearing the thought. She was in the field now, she needed to focus. Concentration was often the difference between life and death. And even though the mission wasn't ranked incredibly high, it always had the potential to spiral south.

"Where are we starting?" She asked, looking up at him through the glasses pushed up over the bridge of her nose.

"We'll start at the site of the first murder, working our way in chronological order to the last. We might be able to find some kind of pattern."

She nodded; that was the most logical course of action. And it would give them a bit of a window into the killer's mind; something that, though disturbing initially, would likely prove invaluable later.


Abel glanced around the deserted alley and the line of yellow 'Caution' tape that still rimmed its entrance to the front and exit onto a main street at his back.

He glanced down, sliding his glasses off the bridge of his nose and into his hand. His wintry blue orbs drifted down to the pavement; sure enough, he could make out a faint purple glow in the rough shape of a sprawled body.

"Sakura, come and look at this." He told her, smiling lightly.

Slightly puzzled, she knelt down beside him, gazing at the pavement for a moment before shaking her head and looking up.

"What am I supposed to see?"

"Take off your glasses."

She hesitated for a moment…but they were in the shadow of the building…and it was a cloudy day…

She pushed them up into her hair.

He knew the moment it clicked for her. Her eyes widened, her fingertips brushing against the ground in a faint outline of what he was seeing. And then something else flashed across her features.

"I…recognize this…" She mumbled, as though she couldn't quite remember from where she knew it.

The answer hit her like a slap in the face.

Her voice didn't tremble when she replied, "Are the bodies available for our personal analysis?"


Sakura nodded her thanks to the morgue attendant as she slipped on a pair of latex gloves, pulled her hair up and slid a mask over her face.

She gently pulled the sheet back and gazed into the face she knew so well.

"Oh, Ino…what did you do?" She whispered as she pushed her friend's blonde hair away from her face…it was dirty…she hadn't bathed in a while. And the lacerations on her wrists were too clean, too precise…

'How could you, Ino? How could you use everything I taught you against yourself?' She wondered. And there was no denying she had done it to herself…for someone else to have made the cuts, they would have had to torque their wrists, resulting in a different, more angular cut. These, however, were perfect lines…

She ached to heal over those nasty, half-torn gashes that scared her pale flesh. But even through the sterile barrier of latex she felt the chill of death on her friend's skin.

Anger rose up like bile in her chest; there would have been hope for Ino…if someone hadn't slit her throat…Of all the wounds, that one hurt her the most. Because, though Ino had harmed herself first, this person had taken away any chance for her to recover…to get better…to have a life.

He would pay…He would pay dearly.

And just as quickly as the realization had come to her, the smell of death in the room overwhelmed her and she was forced through the same doors. She retched for a while into a small trashcan until she finally regained some sense of something other than the sickening need to vomit. During that time, Abel hovered nearby, waiting patiently for her to snap back.

When she finally did, he was there with a glass of water for her…and her gun.


The second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sites held evidence, but thankfully evidence of no one that Sakura knew. But the manner of death was the same in all seven cases: the final blow came in the form of a slit throat that severed both the jugular and Cortaid artery completely. However, the scarred bones in the deepest wounds revealed the most…The bone was cleanly sliced…And there was only weapon they knew of that could do that…

The Sword of Beelzebub.

Dietrich….

"I will kill him." Sakura hissed as she glanced at the photos in her lap.

Abel made no attempt to stay her lethal intentions. He had only just begun to discuss a possible plan of finding him when a cry went up through the city.

They were both on their feet and moving before either realized it.

"It came from the south!" He told her, although she was quite aware of its direction.

They rounded the corner at the same time…and Sakura's eyes fell on a figure that she knew well.

"Konohamaru!" She cried, leaping up onto a building to cut across his apparent intended path of travel. She sprinted across the rooftop, dropping down in front of him.

"Onee-chan!" He yelled. He continued to run at her and she dropped her arm, hoping to simply scoop him up. But just as he reached her, something silver flashed in her vision and came across his throat.

Hot blood sprayed across her chest and face as his head and body moved in separate directions.

'NO!' The words rose up in her mind even though she knew it was too late. His body slid beneath her arm and she twisted to escape it. In doing so, she found herself lacerated by the sudden net of wires. For a moment, she felt nothing for a moment…and then a burst of pain so disproportionate to the wound that she thought, irrationally, that surely someone else's pain had struck her by accident. The displacement of air created by her movement washed over her skin, and the sensation was absolutely sickening. It was like someone had thrown her into the Sahara and then dumped a bucket of Arctic water over her. Konohamaru's body must have impacted the pavement at that moment, because the sound was exploded in her ear canal was truly horrific. In her sudden confusion, she lost her footing and slid against the pavement, her knees colliding with the concrete. Her hair fell over her face, a curtain of pink. Her breath tore through her throat in desperate gasps.

Abel rounded the corner, his blue eyes falling first on the blood sprayed against the pavement and then to Sakura's heaving form. Her breathing came in labored pants, harsh and short. And immediately he registered the thin mono-carbon strands hovering in the alleyway…

"Dietrich!" He snarled, turning to face the youth who was so casually pressed against the entrance of the alley.

"Hello, Father Nightroad, Sister Sakura." He smirked, toying with the threads coiled loosely around his fingertips.

Something flickered against the darkness…movement in the shadows…on the rooftops…They were surrounded, he deduced quickly, his hand hovering on the handle of his revolver. But before he could so much as graze it, Dietrich's nimble fingers had gone to work; his line snapped around the handle and barrel, and with a single jerk sliced it into five pieces. The useless metal clattered loudly against the concrete, an appreciative hiss rising from the Methuselah that were steadily closing in.

Abel's lips began to move, "Nano-machin…"

"You…" Sakura head jerked up ever so slightly, "Will pay."

Her head rose, and Abel's eyes widened as hers, shot red with light, flickered up. His eyes dropped to her hands, where her nails had clearly sharpened. Her lips, once an insipid pink, bled crimson. Her pink hair floated around her as if she was submerged in water…

Her nano-machines had Awakened…

White engulfed her, the air around him become so intensely charged he saw electricity crackle between them. The orb expanded, washing over him so intensely that for a moment he was blinded.

When his vision finally did clear, he didn't see Sakura…he saw an angel: her eyes radiated a soft red light, her crimson lips shone against her pearly skin, four white, gold-rimmed wings rose from her lithe back. In her hands she held a silver bow.

Her scarlet gaze fell on Dietrich as she lifted the instrument, pulling the twine back. The action formed a bolt of silver…

"Sakura! No!" Abel cried, sensing the amount of hatred built up in it. She would destroy the entire city if he didn't stop her!

He dove at her, his arms circling around her waist and pulling her close as the momentum of his sprint pulled them both down. He wrapped her in the protective cage of his body, her gasp of surprise filling his ear as the collided with the pavement.

"What are you doing!?" She hissed in protest as she struggled to extract herself from his arms.

"You're both dead!"

Their eyes snapped up as the shadows of the gathering Methuselah fell from the building, bearing down on them.

Sakura realized she didn't have time to defend either of them and instinctively she curled up against the impending blow. Something surged over her, and she her eyes snapped open as bone cracked above her.

Her eyes darted up, Abel's scythe shadowing her from above.

"For your crimes on this Earth you are surely damned." He hissed to them, his wings flapping once so powerfully that it pushed the offending Methuselah back.

"Abel…" Sakura whispered, her own wings trembling weakly.

He glanced at her, and though he didn't smile, it still felt the same as if he had. He was still there…

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't see another shadow fall on her. A snarling mass of claws and fangs leapt on her, pinning her. Sharp canines sank bone deep into her arm and, with one violent thrash of his head he tossed her across the alley. She felt something along the ridge of her wing snap, but by then something else so much stronger had risen up that she hardly noted it. Her free hand pulled back, her knuckles striking the snarling creature's face against its broad cheek bone. By the time she dropped to the cement, she had already returned to her human form.

Her green eyes darted to Abel, who now stood in a shimmering scarlet helix of vampire blood. She saw his pale tongue run across the edge of his fangs as the blood sank into him. She saw the wolf-like creature attempt a foolish charge at him, only to be flung back by the force of his electrical attack.

The battle was over quickly, forcing Dietrich to slink back into the shadows like the snake he was…And he was so fast, Abel had no chance of catching up with him.

He turned his attention to Sakura. His primary concern was her violent Awakening…had it fractured her mind?

"Sakura!" He cried, running over to her.

"I'm fine, Abel. Are you?" She asked, forcing herself into a sitting position.

The relief he felt was so acute that for a moment it stole his breath. But he recovered quickly, assuring her he was fine, as well.

"Thank you…" She said after a long moment, "For stopping me."

He just smiled.

TBC