AN: Well, get ready because shit hits the fan with this chapter.
Thanks for the reviews/messages: nebulaX & Waterling!
Songs for this chapter: Disciple "Dear X, You Don't Own Me," EZA "High and Low," Linkin Park feat. Jay-Z "Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying From You"
Life must go on, and the dead be forgotten; life must go on, though good men die. Edna St. Vincent Millay, Lament
Knees pulled up to her chest, Elaine contemplated the course of her life from the cot in her cell.
She was grateful she'd had the foresight to wear a jacket; the midsection was denim while the sleeves and hood were a fleece material and her jeans were thick enough to keep her legs warm. However her tee shirt was rather thin and she shivered silently. Pulling her jacket tighter around herself, the Druid listened to the muffled sounds of footsteps on the stone floor above her, the hunters practically panicking. Piercing through all of the human auras was the potent sinister presence of Sara Shirabuki, successfully ensconced in the Association Headquarters.
Every time she blinked all she could see was Yagari's expression shutting down as he walked out of the door.
"Damn it," Rubbing at her eyes, Elaine's breathing grew shaky as she attempted to control her emotions. "Damn it all!" I hate this place, I hate these people, I hate ALL OF IT!
Something prickled the back of her neck, tingling warmth tickling her fingertips and the ends of her hair. Swallowing, the Druid peeked up from where her face had buried into her legs, loosening the filter on her power. The Ancestress hovered in her peripheral, image hazy enough that Elaine could not quite focus on her face. However she was able to catch some details, a long billowy cloak and braided sections of hair swishing in a non-existent breeze.
"There's nothing much you can do, but thank you for your concern." Elaine spoke to the wavering vision, wiping the remaining wetness from her eyes. Wind tugged lightly at her unbound hair. "I am… sad."
Why? A quiet voice, soft and old as the earth whispered.
"Because..." Elaine trailed off, momentarily unable to vocalize every aspect of her pain succinctly. "Odi et amo, excrucior.*"
"I feel very alone." She added slowly, feeling as if a great gulf had opened beneath her feet and swallowed all the light in her life.
The Ancestress' presence seemed to wrap around the Druid, warm and comforting and caring, Pureblood power leaving tingling streaks across her cold skin and banishing her goose bumps. Lids drooping, Elaine felt an overwhelming sense of peace seep into her bones as if the Ancestress was standing beside her, leaning forward to wrap her arms around the Druid in an embrace.
"Shall I… remain with you?"
"Do not be afraid, for you are never alone. I am with you until the very end."
Kaien Cross sat silently at his desk, the walls of the Association President's Office feeling more constricting and damning than ever before.
He was quickly losing control of the situation. Few if none of the hunters seemed to agree with his viewpoint, something that worried him deeply. He really should not have been as surprised, if the more respected and senior hunters felt a certain way then many would follow their sway. Despite his flamboyant attitude, Cross was not used to people acting in a way he had not accurately guessed. Kaito's genocidal view of Purebloods was not so surprising; the emotional wound of needing to kill his own brother had never fully healed. However he was surprised that Yagari agreed with him. While definitely not supportive of his pacifist views, Cross would never have guessed his friend felt such deep rooted animosity. Zero's actions were the most surprising of all; Cross could not believe that the Kiriyu was willingly defending a Pureblood and not for the reasons Cross offered Sara protection. The fact of the matter stood though that Zero was not protecting Sara out of some sense of duty, she was merely bait to lure Kaname out of the woodwork so that he could exact his revenge.
To make matters worse, Yuki had been caught entangled in a web dead center of this whole plot. Sighing, Cross removed his glasses and ran a hand down the length of his face, feeling bone weary. And there was the matter of Elaine…
What had she been thinking? Never in a million years would Cross have been able to foresee her alliance with Kaname under these circumstances. If anyone opposed blind and full scale slaughter more than himself, it was his magus friend. However there she had been, smack center of the hunter's den to surrender herself to their will. She was playing some other game that he could not guess the moves of, and it hurt and worried him that she had not confided in him.
This world has truly gone mad. Cross thought with another sigh, praying for Juri's forgiveness as he was still unable to fulfill her wish.
A hard knock on his door ripped the President from his thoughts. "Enter,"
Kaito stood angry and sullen in the doorway. "We've got a problem."
Naveed and Anippe stood behind him, both magi appearing righteously irritated. "What the blue fuck, Cross?" The Pakistani threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "How many times do we have to go through this same crap?!"
"It is not for flippant reasons we have this agreement, President." Anippe coldly snarled. "You do not have the power to subdue powerful magi. You hunters truly have the luck of fools that Ambrosia has not burned you all to cinders and escaped."
Cross eyed the Pakistani and Egyptian Keltoi members solemnly. "I am fully aware of that, Regent. However she turned herself in and has made no violent movements." I cannot figure out what she is doing.
Kaito observed the proceedings silently, a muscle in his jaw working. It had not escaped the bespectacled man's notice that the younger hunter's disposition had soured as of late, and he guessed it had something to do with Anna le Fay. Cross had been moderately briefed into the long term mission Kaito had been assigned to guarding the young enchantress, he had been called away from it after Zero required new 'insurance.' However he had only received the barest of details, and he had no doubt that something had occurred between the two. Ah, to be young and stupid and in love…
"I heard you voted not to do anything about the Pureblood attacks against the Old Ones." Kaito spat, drawing the attention of the two Keltoi members. "Maybe they're going rogue to protect themselves, ever think about that?"
Anippe narrowed her dark eyes at the tawny haired male. "Of course, it's obvious that's what they're doing." Both hunters appeared taken aback by her easy admission. She sighed heavily as if she were explaining something simple to an unruly child. "As regent of the Keltoi, I cannot use aggressive action. I must think about the safety of all magi across the world, not just the Old Ones. Can you imagine the number of innocent casualties if we so blindly antagonized the vampire society? You hunters should know above all how disgustingly they covet Purebloods." Anippe practically choked on the word like it was poison. "Thousands would be turned and killed; it would be the Dark Days once more. I cannot outright assist them, but I can clear their path slightly." Turning to Cross, Anippe glared him full in the face. "Release Ambrosia Merlinus before something foolish occurs, as it will, seeing as how you're harboring their murderer within your walls."
The sting and derision of her tone was lost on both hunters and even Naveed as they all appeared taken aback at her insight. "Sara killed Dmitri and Olympias?" Cross breathed. "How do you know that?"
"It could be Kuran." Kaito surmised.
Anippe scoffed. "Then why would all of the remaining Old Ones have allied with him? Do not be stupid. It has always been Shirabuki. And the Old Ones have known that since the very beginning." Gaze picking apart both of their expressions, Anippe's dark eyes widened. "Surely you cannot be so blind?" Shaking her head, the Egyptian ran a hand roughly through her dark hair. "Do you understand the danger Ambrosia is in now? And you have the gall to stand in their way when it is your job to protect us humans and yet that thing sits comfortably behind your walls!" Annipe's tone became accusatory. "But of course we are magi; we do not count and therefore are unworthy of salvation."
"We never-"
Annipe waved aside Cross' rebuttal with a movement of her hand. "Do not bother, Cross. You may be different, but so few hunters are, and your actions thus far are but a speck in the long flow of time. I tire of hearing excuses."
Naveed's eyes flickered between the three. Out of all persons in the room, only he was privy to the Old Ones' actual plot. He had been rather surprised at Annipe's outburst and shrewdness. In all honesty he had never been very endeared to the Egyptian; she was too much of a politician for his tastes, but after hearing that little speech he had gained more respect for her.
A movement out of his peripheral caught Naveed's attention. Near the slightly open door was an inconspicuous brown mouse, however it's beady eyes were too shrewd and sharp and it's body angled too tensely… Holy crap, Mathias! The Danish magus was the perfect individual to perform reconnaissance as he could literally transform into anything. The Pakistani gave a slight nod toward him, signaling that his end of the plan was going according to schedule. His eyes drifted to his superior, who was coldly demanding Elaine's release. Better than expected, actually…
Gaheris, Ajax and Anna all waited outside in the shadows of the Association headquarters building along with Ruka and Akatsuki. The sorcerer's hands were shaking slightly, palms an angry and tender red from breaking the protective anti-vampire barrier spell around the building in order for Kaname to enter. Well breaking was a subjective word, as the Pureblood had pointedly told Gaheris that he did not want the spell to be completely sundered, just temporarily nullified so he could enter the premise. Once he was inside, the spell was to be reactivated in order to repel other vampires as normal. While it made his assignment harder, it wasn't impossible.
I am the Code Breaker after all. Gaheris thought with a smug nod. Nothing is too impossible for me!
Although the Kuran had paused as he had passed the sorcerer, who had been gingerly pulling his singed hands away from the spell circle. Gaheris had not expected the regretful light in the Pureblood's dark eyes as he'd stared at the ruined mess of his palms. He'd practically leapt out of his skin when Kaname's cool fingers had wrapped around his wrist, gently turning the appendage in order to better inspect the wounds.
"Uh," Gaheris had felt a blush work its way up his neck. "It's fine, magic burns happen all the time remember?"
Dark, unreadable ancient eyes had flickered up to catch his own gaze, holding them for a long moment before softly releasing his hand and then Kaname was gone with only the sound of quietly swishing coattails left behind. Gaheris had stared dumbly, mouth open like a fish.
WHAT THE EVER LIVING HELL HAD THAT BEEN ABOUT? His inner monologue screeched as the sorcerer shook his head, embarrassed. Kaname Kuran was a vampiric enigma with a crunchy outer shell of 'what the absolute fuckery' that in Gaheris' opinion he did purely for the sake of annoying the shit out of people. He just could not figure that dude out. One moment Kaname's rocking the whole dark and evil master of the universe sadistic look and the next he's all gentle and concerned about some lame ass magic burns. Was it some twisted sense of guilt? Psh…
"Do you think Elaine is alright?" Anna asked quietly, biting her nails to the quick. She had shed some of her human guise so her eyes were a bright violet. Gaheris always did a double take when Anna went fay on him. Aside from the wings and the eyes, it wasn't necessarily that she looked inhuman, but the lines of her face seemed sharper and longer than mortals, it put you on edge but you couldn't really place it.
"Totally," Gaheris reassured, as much for his own benefit as the younger girl's. "And I bet Mathias already screwed with the hunters, like loosened the tops on their salt and pepper shakers."
Ajax stared at him. "You are an idiot."
Rolling his eyes, the sorcerer pushed up the sleeve of his coat to glance at his watch. "Where the hell are Aurelius and Lázaro? This plan kind of depends on Goddamn timing!"
The big Greek shrugged silently, his eyes scanning the looming building that Gaheris had a sinking, heavy feeling was going to be the sorcerer's tomb. Akatsuki and Ruka were mumbling quietly to themselves, standing somewhat apart from the magi, too far for Gaheris to make out what they were saying. "She will orchestrate for our confrontation to take place on the roof. It is the only location in the building large enough and will minimize the amount of internal damage. No good for it to come crashing down on her immediately after the ritual, too troublesome for her…" Ajax's voice roughened toward the end of his sentence, tone brittle with barely concealed contempt.
Gaheris watched the dark, broiling clouds churn overhead as a resigned dread crushed him. It was always part of the plan, but he was the linchpin, for Sara and for his friends. He doubted that whatever the Pureblood had up her sleeve could ever be as painful as Helix literally pulling him in half, but a prickle of premonition warned him about the very real possibility of their failure. No, that's really not an option. All of their lines would end, and Gaheris was personally Goddamn sick of the vampires deciding shit like this.
I'm so tired of these stupid games. He'd played it with Lycans; he was in no mood to be made the fool again.
A heavy, warm hand on his shoulder ripped him from his thoughts. Ajax was staring down at him, green eyes intense and piercing. "You can do this, Gaheris; it's always only been you." The taciturn Greek paused, the large fingers squeezing the sorcerer's shoulder. "I won't let her hurt you."
Thankfully at that moment Kaname Kuran and Zero Kiriyu came crashing through the upper levels of the Association, gracefully plummeting toward the ground. Rubble and stone accompanied their fall, the Pureblood's dark eyes sliding to lock with Gaheris' for a quick moment in silent communication. Sprinting, the sorcerer called over his shoulder. "It's now or never, guys!"
Ajax quickly overtook him, longer legs and more conditioned physical endurance giving him the best fighting edge out of their entire group. As a military contractor, the African-Greek had led operations all over the world and in as many different conflicts; therefore he was constantly training his physical body to be at peak performance. Gaheris slowed to ensure that Anna was not too far away, the ash staff in her hand swinging at her side. It was disturbingly easy for the three Old Ones to slip through the main gate of the Association, the hunters were in an anxious mass as Kaname and Zero continued battling outside. The Kuran had already done extensive damage inside, the prone bodies of at least 30 hunters lay silent and crumpled along the halls. Quite a few were unconscious or incapacitated, but none were mortally wounded. When they had originally conspired with Kaname, Elaine had specifically forbid him from killing any of the hunters. "Beat the shit out of them, fine," She had said. "But do not kill them."
Ajax skidded loudly to a halt as they rounded a corner to see Mathias, who, was in the middle of a heated argument with Yagari. The Dane had his hand fisted into the hunter's collar, right spitting mad judging by the looks of it.
"— the damn key, Yagari!"
Growling, the hunter wormed an arm between the two and shoved Mathias roughly, breaking the Danish magus' hold on him and both stumbled back. "What game are you all playing at?!"
The air crackled. "Just trust us, jæger*!" Yagari's dark eye bored into Mathias' before traveling over his shoulder to look at Gaheris and the others. His hands were still raw and red, and he saw Yagari's eye flicker to them before snapping back to Mathias.
"Is your loyalty truly so fickle?" Ajax questioned quietly without a hint of accusation.
Closing his eye tightly, face contorting as if he was pained, Yagari exhaled loudly before his hand dug around his coat pocket before he thrust a key into Mathias' hand. As the Danish magus made to step around him, Yagari reversed their positions and fisted his hand into the collar of Mathias' coat and pulled him forward so he could glare him full in the face. "Don't let yourself get killed, asshole."
Mathias grinned roguishly but uncharacteristically said nothing. Gaheris felt his stomach clench, he wasn't responding because they couldn't promise that and they all knew it. Yagari released the magus and nodded at the others before slinging his rifle over his shoulder. "And don't fuck this up!" And then the hunter was sprinting up a winding stone stairwell that had to lead to the roof.
"Hey, that's our line shithead!" Gaheris good naturedly shouted, his voice echoing against the stone and reverberating back to him.
Mathias knew exactly which cell Elaine was being held in. When they unlocked the door they found her sitting serenely on the stained cot against one wall, watching the door with glowing mismatched eyes. "You're late," She commented lightly as she smoothly unfolded her limbs and rose to her feet, aether settled over her skin.
The others' aether reacted instinctively to hers, squirming under their flesh and bones. Mathias' skin was criss-crossed with electric blue jerking lines as if lightning painted his limbs, eyes glowing bright blue like transparent ice. Anna appeared as if vines were writhing under her skin, eyes flashing violet. The enchantress had pinned her bangs away from her face, the pointed star on her forehead also pulsating. A dark grey shimmer covered Ajax, almost like a thick dark mist, and his eyes were a molten gold. Gaheris could feel his own leafy aether curling around him, irises ringed with gold.
The stone around them groaned and creaked as power pushed against the building, encountering the Ancestress' own presence, which they could all feel under their nails and behind their eyelids and taste on the tips of their tongues.
"Anna, Mathias," Elaine addressed the only two among them with immortal blood coloring their veins. "Don't let your wits escape you. You will be the only two still capable of movement and you cannot let her leave the spell circle, no matter what it takes."
The Dane cackled haughtily. "Who do you think I am?"
"I know," Anna nodded, fingers curling around the ash staff. The tip had been whittled down to a fine, sharp point.
"She's on the roof." The timbre of Elaine's voice deepened, Merlin's entering her tone darkly. "It is there we will face our reckoning."
They found Sara had barred the way after herself, the inner stone gate locked tightly. A banked coolness had overcome all of them, power heady in their minds and veins at the knowledge of what was to come. Ajax let loose a growl that echoed all around them, the sound spiraling upward. "You think stone walls will protect you?" He practically yelled, voice deep and dark and dank like a grave. "Iron courses through me, my blood is burning metal! I turn men and armies to stone and dust, I am stone, and it will not protect you from me." Placing his hands on the gate, the rocks began to ease away under his muttered commands, molten gold eyes pulsating. The stone crumbled under his touch, cowed by his aether.
As the five remaining Old Ones calmly ascended the stairs to the roof, the scene they came upon was quite a sight. Ichijo had Zero held before him, twisting the ex-human's hand in his grip so that the Bloody Rose's barrel was pressed under its master's chin. Discord kept Takuma's body rigid, his inner conflict paining him as the allure of the Purebloods kept him bound and tangled with poisonous threads in their web. Kaname and Yuki stood at the ready a few feet away, the Artemis rod fully extended into a scythe and Kaname's hand burned down to the bones where it gripped an anti-vampire weapon. Yagari was on the other side of the roof, being kept busy by Seiren. Elaine moved her gaze back to the one immediately before her; she could not afford to be distracted. Sara and her little servants stood near another doorway, the Druid could see some irritation in her eyes at Ichijo's actions.
Suddenly, she disappeared and reappeared behind Kaname, a sharpened piece of rubble pipe in her hands.
"Sorry Takuma," Her melodious voice was hard. "But I will be Queen!"
"Kaname!" Yuki, her hair now a ragged short dark halo around her face, raced to shove the elder Kuran out of harm's way. However, it was unnecessary as five different aether signatures funneled to shield both Kurans from Sara's weapon, the metal hissing as it came in contact with the aether until it had eroded down to a nub. Sara pursed her lips at the ruined object before tossing it to the side, turning to narrow her eyes at the five Old Ones. Elaine imagined they looked horrifying with all five sets of eyes glowing inhumanly and power coating them like a second skin, faces savagely twisted into creatures of rage.
Kaname smirked, having stumbled a few steps back from Yuki's tackle, the girl herself still rumpled in his arms and pressed against his front. "As I told you before, Sara, I have experience selecting individuals to surround myself with who are powerful in their own rights. I don't need to kill you myself. They," Dark, ancient eyes flickered to the five magi who were slowly walking away from one another, spreading themselves into a loose circle that surrounded Sara. "will do so. I believe they will even relish it."
"Takuma," Elaine's voice was stern and cold. "You're stronger than whatever wiles this wench possesses, release Zero now."
The blond Ichijo's entire body shook. "Sensei-"
"Do not be afraid." Elaine repeated the same words she had spoken the day of Rido Kuran's attack while gently touching his elbow and suddenly it was as if a cold, crisp wind blew away the haze that had choked and tortured him for months. However it also left him sober and painfully bereft.
Numbly, Takuma focused on uncurling each of his fingers from Zero's wrist, allowing his arm to slide slowly back to his side and looked away in a mixture of humiliation and shame. Zero took one smooth step away from the other vampire, expression void and apparently unconcerned with what just occurred. The strong whiff of power stung his nostrils along with the individual scents of each magi's aether. Sara was amused as she watched the Old Ones flank her from all sides.
"I expected you to hide on your island and merely await death. This is a surprise, and a miscalculation on your part, as I have said."
Elaine's palm burned, the cut from her Blood Oath before Olympias' pyre throbbing as her stare seared into the Pureblood. Hand fisting, she did not need to glance at the others to know that theirs were paining them as well. Ajax held out his hand, palm facing Sara to reveal the angry scar that sliced across his palm. Elaine followed suit, bearing her own mark. Gaheris, Anna and Mathias did as well, their faces void and somber and flashing with power.
"The two precious people you stole from us." Ajax questioned in a surprisingly soft voice. "Did you even know their names?"
Sara merely stared at him.
Rage twisted Ajax's face into something frightening, the stones of the Association building around them groaned and scraped against one another. The sky darkened to black over their heads, clouds churning and thunder rumbling. "Olympias!"
"And Dmitri!" Gaheris ground out, eyes flashing. "YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THEIR NAMES?!"
"Hey, dumbasses!" Yagari called to the vampires and hunters. He had turned his back fully on Seiren, unconcerned with their faux battle at the moment, trusting his blind spot to the silent vampiress. "Get away from them if you know what's good for you!"
Kaname swiftly yanked Yuki as far from the magi and Sara as he possibly could, some sort of emotion skating across his eyes as his gaze crossed Takuma's. The Ichijo painfully followed suit, watching Sara being surrounded with worry. Zero hesitated, amethyst eyes straying to the impending battle before him.
"She is my prey, Zero." Elaine's voice had darkened, red aether swirling around her feet. "Step back,"
He backed away to stand beside his master, head snapping to the side as Kaito loudly appeared in the doorway, slightly out of breath. His hazel eyes widened at the sight of the five remaining Old Ones circling Sara Shirabuki, who appeared more amused than anything else. Naveed and Anippe were behind him, the latter gripping a strange short item that reminded Zero of a bo staff. However it was engraved with hieroglyphics while the former's ancient ring began to pulsate.
"Naveed!" Anna whirled, streaked hair swaying as she turned. She recoiled slightly as her eyes caught the tawny haired hunter's gaze, something like hesitation and regret tightening her face before the enchantress managed to stifle it, the emotion hardening into resolve. "Do it now!"
The Pakistani sprinted from Kaito's side, avoiding Anippe's warning and the hand she reached out to try and stop him. Pressing his palms flat together, he slid to his knees to maintain his momentum and slammed his hands onto the ground, screaming a command seconds before Solomon's Ring gave one powerful pulse, the resounding power sending up a cloud of dust from the stone underneath them. A glowing Solomon's seal appeared under Sara and the Old Ones' feet, searing into the dark stone.
"What did you do?" Zero was suddenly beside the college student, yanking him to his feet with one hand.
Shoving the ex-human away from him, Naveed wiped the sweat from his brow. "I'm fencing them in."
"What the hell does that mean?" Yagari growled.
"You've been plotting for some time, haven't you?" Anippe mused wryly and arched an eyebrow before turning to the others. "The Seal of Solomon ensures that none inside may trespass its lines. They are trapped within the seal, but so is Shirabuki. She cannot escape them."
Zero turned to Kaname, eyes narrowing into cold slits and his voice brittle. "We still have business between us."
Yuki gasped, realizing the validity of Zero's statement, and shoved herself out of Kaname's arms. Straightening, she placed herself in front of Anippe and Naveed, the former snorting in dark amusement. Brandishing Artemis, Yuki fell into a fighting stance alongside Zero, the Bloody Rose's vines squirming out of his veins. She was still determined to stop Kaname from killing all the Purebloods, however she did not contend on having to face the Old Ones as well. Kaname gazed at the two with a mixture of acceptance and sadness, an expression that only Takuma saw. Bony fingers clenching around the pommel of the hunter's sword in his grip, Kaname inclined his head toward his enemy and his sister. Zero and Yuki shared a glance, the understanding from a few moments ago still electric in the air between them.
"Come then,"
Just as the three tensed, ready to resume their battle, the sound of screams stumbled them and whipped their attention toward the ongoing battle across the roof.
"Gaheris!" The name was screamed by various voices, Yuki could not even begin to identify whose was who. However she glanced at Yagari out of the corner of her eye, his entire body shaking as his fingers twitched over the trigger of his rifle. The other two magi seemed horrified and enraged.
Yuki whipped around, body going cold and her heart snagging in her throat at what she saw.
Sara Shirabuki stood over a prostrate Gaheris, who had been thrown backward, spine arched as he screamed in pain. In each of the blonde Pureblood's grip was a slim saber with delicate pommels, the blades stabbed through Gaheris' palms, crucifying him to the ground in the center of seal. The smell of burning flesh overwhelmed Yuki's nose as dark sigils singed across Sara's arms, the sleeves of her coat and dress blackening to cinders as the magic burned across her limbs. A truly malicious smirk slit her face.
"I win,"
Annotations
"Odi et amo, excrucior.": Catullus 85. "I hate and I love, it hurts."
Jæger: Danish. "Hunter."