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Trinity Blood: Divergent Path
Chapter 43: Fangs and Betrayal, Part 2: Sting of Death

The wind whispered through the dark night. It'd taken them several days to get here because Abel hadn't wanted to arrive on an airship. He'd feared it might send the wrong message to the Vatican. Instead they'd traveled by car, just the four of them.

As predicted Barrack hadn't been too happy with Abel's decision to only take Arthur and Tabitha with him who knew how to fight. Kayson knew self-defense, but in the end it wouldn't do much against the trained soldiers of the Vatican even with the added abilities the bacillus gave him.

Per Barrack's advice Abel hadn't worn any of his finery and instead wore a plan long shirt and a hooded cape. It was more to hide the fact that Abel had left than anything else. Barrack stated he would just say Abel was away seeing to a matter within the empire to any who asked instead of going to a secret meeting with the Vatican that might prove unpopular right then.

"Are you certain this is the right place?" Arthur asked, looking around at the ruined city. "I can't imagine Myles letting the pope within a mile of this place."

"We'll see when the sun rises," Abel stated as he led the group into the shelter of the building that had been marked as the meeting place.

"That's not what any of us really wanted to hear… Abel," Tabitha stated. "And you really should've stayed in the empire. If you die here it will mean war."

"It's not a trap," Abel stated, though now that he was here it was looking more likely to be one than it had been before. "Besides I'm far from defenseless."

"True," Kayson said as he looked around at the old skyscraper. "At least we'll have plenty of protection from the sun when it rises," he mused.

"Good because burning to death isn't on my to do list," Arthur joked.

"Nor mine." Tabitha smiled. "Though the emperor really needs to learn I'm retired now and not part of the military."

"You could've said 'no' to the request," Abel stated as he moved around the building. "You're just regretting it now because you're missing several days of Valdemar's life."

"Damn straight." She grinned. "Though, getting out again does feel nice." She sat down in one of the safest looking corners. Kayson joined her there and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Besides it'll be good for Sara to get to know her brother."

"I doubt that will help, he can't speak yet," Arthur said as he kept close to Abel.

"Would you rather get to know your grandkid even as a baby than not know them at all?" Tabitha demanded.

"If Athy ever had a kid!"

"Please no," Abel moaned. "We don't need to have this rant now, thanks."

Arthur laughed. "Our great leader has spoken; we shall drop the subject of me getting a grandkid three centuries from now!"

"It might happen then," Kayson teased.

Sighing, Abel stopped near the entrance that looked out to the west towards Italy and the Vatican. In the distance he could see a cloud of dust. A feeling of unease grew in him. He shook his head turned towards the others.

"The sun will be rising soon," he stated and moved over to them. He sat down by them and looked towards the entryway. "Try to get some rest while you can."

"Ha," Arthur laughed and sat down near Abel. "Like I could get any rest with Barrack's threats hanging over my head."

Abel smiled at his closest friend, glad that he'd agreed to come. Too much had happened in the past week for him to not have brought Arthur along. Without Arthur here to lighten the mood, Abel was quite certain he'd have kept pacing the length of the building until the Vatican had arrived.

Over the next hour the sky began to lighten. The sounds of people moving outside filled the space. Abel poked Tabitha to wake.

"Wha—" she blinked open her eyes and yawned. "All right, we're up." She nudged Kayson to wake him as well.

Abel stood and noted the fact that Arthur had moved closer to where the sun was creeping into the building. "Arthur," Abel hissed to his friend to stop him from getting killed by the sun.

A sound above made Abel look towards the ceiling. He could make out several shadows moving into surrounding positions around their group. Oh, hell!

"Get down!" Abel shout of warning came seconds before a loud explosion rent the air. Large expanses of the ceiling came tumbling down. Abel leapt forward, taking hold of Arthur. He dragged his friend back away from the shafts of sun light filling the space.

Tabitha had pinned Kayson to the wall and away from the sliver that had come all too close to them. "Damn it!" she snarled, fangs curving over her lips and eyes flashing in the shadows.

There was only a narrow space they could move to get out of the corner. When the sun rose further they'd be killed!

"Move, Kayson," Tabitha pushed her husband through the narrow shade before following him. "It was a trap after all," Tabitha growled as she fell in to help guard Abel.

Arthur was up right, eying the slivers of sun around them. "Damn it," he growled. "We're too restricted during the day. And we left our weapons in damned capital." Fangs had grown over his lips as well and his teeth were bared.

The light tapping of metal against the cracked concert filled the space. The next moment Myles entered the space flanked by several of the Inquisition. He didn't leave the sun which caused it to gleam off his armor in an almost blinding way.

"Myles, what's the meaning of this treachery?!" Abel demanded in Latin to the man he'd once considered his friend.

"Treachery?" Myles cocked an eyebrow. "You're people can't be betrayed, for they're no longer people in the eyes of God."

"What?" Arthur half laughed, half shouted.

Kayson had gone pale. "What are you saying?" he whispered. "That God wouldn't accept us because of what we've become?"

"God never would accept such vile monsters such as yourselves." Myles drew his sword, but there was something different about it than it had been before. "We've read up on forsaken creatures like yourselves, on vampires."

"We're not like the vampires of lore!" Arthur shouted. He paused. "Wait, that came out wrong. We're not vampires!"

Myles ignored this as he lifted his sword. The blade was edged with silver, there was no other way to put what he'd been saying to it. "They who are the enemy of God shall pay the ultimate price. Fire!" he swung his sword downward.

The sound of guns going off rang in Abel's ears. Arthur shoved him back, until they were under an overhang. A screech of pain came from Arthur. Several streams of steam came from his back were there were gapes in his armor. Tabitha was also screaming in pain nearby for she'd shielded Kayson with her body.

"Kayson, see to them," Abel stated as he moved to stand before the group and Myles' men.

Myles was advancing. "You can't hope win, Emperor," he spat Abel's title. "You and the rest of the Returners will rot in hell!" Myles charged several others at his heels.

Abel leapt forward to intercept them and to buy Kayson time. A blade came within inches of Abel's face. He ducked, rolling to avoid another blow. Taking hold of the man's ankle, Abel let out a scream of pain and rage as a blade ripped into him from behind. He lifted the man tossed him as easily as if he'd been made of air. He crashed through a wall and lay there unmoving, blood pooling around him.

Several more came at Abel. Pain shot through him as a bullet struck him in the shoulder. A blade slashed across his stomach. Blood dripped to the ground and Abel staggered back into the sun. The light blinded him for a second.

The next moment Myles leapt at him. Abel snarled and took hold of the man. The blade sank into Abel's shoulder. His arm gave out and Myles landed almost catlike on the ground. Abel danced back, away from the blade and back into the shade where he could better see.

Several soldiers had already surrounded Abel. Myles stood in their mists. "Remember one must be captured alive," Myles stated, his eyes traveled to where Kayon had finished getting the bullets out of Arthur and was now working on helping his wife.

Arthur raced towards Abel's position. "Get away from him!"He leapt on the closest person, biting hard into the exposed skin of their neck.

The man shrieked and stumbled back into a ray of light. Arthur leapt off and back into the shade, ripping out the man's throat as he went. He snarled, eyes blazing.

"Get back!" Tabitha shouted. She'd managed to stand but was still bleeding from the infected wounds. Her eyes were locked on those from the Vatican who'd surrounded them.

They moved closer.

Tabitha leapt towards them.

A gun went off. Abel watched as Tabitha crumpled to the floor. Her eyes glazing over as light vanished from them. The bullet had struck her heart.

"No!" Abel shouted and moved towards them.

Kayson was staring at his wife. A shriek of pure rage tore from his lips. He leapt on the soldiers. The normally pacifistic man ripped off one of the soldier's heads. His elongated nails sank deep into another's throat. He was screaming in rage, sorrow, and pain as tears slid down his face.

"Kayson!" Abel's shout of warning came a second too late.

Several soldiers leapt on the man from behind, bending him with silver chains. The next moment Kayson was dragged into a shaft of sunlight. A cry of agony tore from him as smoke rose from his body. Abel watched in horror as the nano-machines started to consume Kayson.

"Let him go!" Abel raced across the space towards his friend. He leapt over the soldiers, not caring as bullets struck him. Landing behind Kayson, Abel took hold of the chains. The first snapped as if it'd been a twig. A sword pierced Abel's chest, puncturing a lung. He released the next chain and fell gasping, to the ground. Beside him, Kayson writhed. Within minutes the chains clattered to the ground. Nothing remained where Kayson had once stood.

"No," Abel gasped. "No!" He struggled to his feet.

A hiss of pain sounded behind him. The next moment Abel was tugged out of the way of an arrow. "Run!" Arthur shouted at him. His arm smoking from when he'd pulled Abel to safety. "You must escape, Abel!"

"Like hell I'm leaving you," Abel snarled through his pain. He would never abandon Arthur, not him, never him! The person he trusted more than anyone else in the world, how could he think of abandoning him?

Even as he thought this, he could feel his strength waning. Blood trickled from the bullet wounds and gushed from the wound on his stomach, shoulder, and chest. He could barely move one of his arms as it was.

"Go! If you fall here, are people fall with you!" Arthur pulled him towards one of the holes in the walls. "Run. I'll hold them off as long as I can… my friend." Arthur looked at him with such emotion in his eyes, Abel wanted nothing more than stay here and fight along side him. "You must warn the empire."

"No," Abel straightened and forced himself into a battle ready stance as the enemy closed in on them. "I never leave a friend to die," he snarled, his own fangs starting to grow in rage and against the pain and lose.

"Don't be a fool," Arthur growled, eying the Vatican as they closed on their position. They weren't shooting yet by Myles' command, but there was no telling how long that would last. "The empire still needs you! Return to Athy, tell her I died for the empire."

"A-ah," Abel forced the word passed the lump in his throat. He leapt up into the window high over head. Looking back, he saw Myles surrounding Arthur. Several soldiers lifted their guns to fire on Abel.

Before they could Abel leapt down on the far side. He tumbled, rolling several feet before he found his foot.

"Capture this one, after the leader, kill him, kill him!" Myles' orders sounded from just within.

Abel forced himself into a run. Blood trailed after him as he raced away from the building and the nightmare that had taken place within. His eyes burned as he thought of Kayson and Tabitha's deaths. No – he shoved that to the back of his mind and forced himself to run faster.

Hours slipped by as Abel forced himself to run. It took him a long time to realize he could no longer hear horses following him, but didn't slow his pace. Fear had taken over all other emotions. It coursed through him as the only driving force left to keep him running.

The sun sank slowly towards the horizon. Abel began to slow from sheer exhaustion. The wounds had stopped bleeding sometime ago. Coughing, blood trickled from his mouth. Abel staggered and collapsed in a patch of soft grasses. He closed his eyes.

Hot tears burned his eyes. What had gone wrong? Why had the Vatican attacked like that? Abel rolled over onto his back and stared up at the Ark. They were dead. Kayson and Tabitha were dead. The Vatican and slain them in cold blood! Then, Arthur, his friend and ally for so many years, was now either captured or dead as well.

Taking several deep, ragged, pain filled breaths, Abel pulled himself to his feet. He had to get back. He had to get back in order to help Arthur. Every part of him hoped against all hope that his friend still lived. Even if the others were dead, perhaps war could be avoided. And perhaps this rage starting to simmer in Abel could be turned off.

Abel staggered forward. His eyes were half closed against pain and fatigue. The only thing that kept him going were his thoughts, his hopes, and, though a large part of him wished to deny it, his rage, that was it. Each step sent a jolt of pain through his body.

He didn't know how long he was walking before the sky started to lighten again. In the distance he could only see the landscape, he and the others had driven through so easily. Even though he knew it was hopeless to continue forward, he refused to give in and kept his feet moving. There was no way he could make it back to a city before he died of thirst.

As the sun peeked up, Abel licked his blood from his lips and forced himself to keep his breathing as even paced as a damaged lung could manage. He kept moving all through the day until the sun cast a blood stained light over the world. Even then, he didn't stop but continued on. There was nothing else he could do but keep moving.

A shadow passed over the moons blocking out their light. Even still Abel kept moving. The low hum of an engine filled the air. Wind whipped around Abel as an airship lowered to the ground. Several figures leapt down from the ramp before it could touch ground. Was it the Vatican? Abel couldn't bring himself to search for a crest for which nation this ship belonged to.

"Majesty!" One of the figures was clad in solid red. "Majesty, stop!"

Stop? No, no, he must return to Byzantium. He had to warn – to warn them of the Vatican's betrayal. And to save Arthur before it was too late, before they killed him. He continued on.

An arm stopped Abel. "It's all right," it sounded like Alexander. "We're here, stop walking, sir."

Abel stopped and pitched towards the ground as his legs gave out. Someone caught him. His arm was slung over the shoulders of a man slightly taller than Abel was. Barrack? It must have been because Abel was vaguely aware of Alexander on his other side.

"Get the doctors ready," Barrack told Alexander. "It's going to take a bit to get him there. I want them ready."

"On it!" Alexander raced away.

Barrack started after, half carrying Abel with him.

"H-how?" Abel's voice cracked.

"Arthur missed a scheduled check in," Barrack grunted. "You don't need to worry about that now, majesty."

Abel nodded, his head too clouded with fatigue and pain to worry about Barrack's normal parinoay. This time it might have just saved Abel's life. But, then, what about the others? Abel closed his eyes. All he could see were Tabitha and Kayson dying. After so many years of dreaming of peace, was it to be shattered by the ignorant children of Earth?

This was his last thought before he drifted off into blackness.


(Author's Note: New poll on your thoughts on Arthur's fate.

I lied, here's another chapter. My reason for this is because I did finish the fifty thousand word requirement yesterday so I came back to Trinity Blood for a time to write up this chapter.

Okay this is just for people who have read the original and read Past Hidden in a Frozen Gaze, I feel really sorry of Valdemar and really don't blame him for what he ends up doing (if those people who haven't read it are curious about it, it will be rewritten into the next book).)