"Hold still."
Luna hissed as her hairdresser, her ornatrix, put up her hair with a multitude of copper hair needles.
"If you don't move, it won't hurt."
"That's what you always say and it always hurts."
"Well you're always moving." The woman grabbed a veil. "Now we just need to – where do you think you are going, young lady?! Without a vittae? Stop right there! NOW!"
But Luna was already out of the door and running down the corridor. Dressing up took too long and she had to get out before her teachers came for her lessons. Ever since Nero had gone to Antium for a vacation life had been so boring.
But her mentor's absence had given the child an opportunity. In a few days Rome would celebrate the Neptunalia to honor Neptune, God of all waters. Usually Nero would give presents to all members of his family, even her, and usually Nero and she would pick out presents for Luna to gift to 'her family'. The problem was, that Nero always knew what he was going to get and for one damn time the vampire wanted to surprise him.
So she prepared a bag of coins and made a run for it at the first opportunity.
Rome had never seemed bigger or livelier. The commoners were going about their day. Some slaves did shopping for their masters. Stalls were preparing for the festival and merchants fixed branches with still green leaves that were delivered last night to their stalls. Under the Roman summer sun they would soon turn dry and brown.
Luna skipped from stall to stall. There were exotic spices, which she only knew by smell. Kids were not allowed in the kitchen. There were beautiful fabrics. She would have bought some for Nero's wife, but Nero was already gifting her finest silk. There were stalls offering bread or watered-down wine, neither of which held any value for the vampire. Some booths were offering fibulas, needles for clothes or hair, but Luna felt that their craftsmanship was rather poor.
She had expected to feel overwhelmed by this experience. Too many scents, too many sights she had never seen before, too many people moving in all directions. Instead she felt at home. People were brushing past her and she felt the rough fabric of their clothes. Some people were arguing with an innkeeper about the price for a room.
In the less crowded streets, clairvoyants were waiting for customers and storytellers entertained crowds of small children. At a small plaza there was an amateur performance of 'the Murder of Gaius Julius Cesar'. It was like a dream. No wonder so many people like to come to Rome.
Luna was able to wander the streets as she wished. No escort. No overprotective people going: "This is not a place a young lady should see." She could leave the well-off district and visit the seedy backstreets. She saw the desolate buildings of the poor people. A fireman scolded children not older than her for using the emergency tools of their household as toys.
These were her people. Her chest swelled with happiness. These were her people! And all of them lived different vibrant lives. Farmers and cooks, weavers and tailors, the firemen, the servants, the merchants, all of them were doing their best. All of them were necessary for this empire. And she could walk with them as one of them.
A flash of light caught her eye. The street to her left contained the shops of artisans. Jewelers, gem cutters, goldsmiths alongside painters, sculptors and instrument makers. Her first purchase Luna made at a woodworker's shop. There was a small chest made of reddish golden wood, the same color as Nero's wife's hair, inlaid with mother of pearl and green gems. It would make a good chest for the Empress' jewelry. At a goldsmith's the vampire found a small sculpture of a chariot made from gold, quartz and green jewels. This one she bought for Nero himself, who always bet on the green team when there was a chariot race.
Strolling down the street Luna bought a handful of small trinkets to give to other people close to her, her teachers, the senators (It's always a good time for bribery) and some of the staff. Her pouch got smaller and her bundle of presents grew bigger. Some merchants had looked around for her servants to hand them the purchase and others regarded her with an unbelieving look.
Then Luna noticed that the sun already stood very low and she probably should hurry home. Her teachers were definitely going to throw a tantrum and she hoped that they had not informed Nero of her running away. That would surely ruin the surprise!
There was just a tiny problem. Really, it wasn't even worth mentioning … Where the heck was she? The buildings were too tall, so she couldn't see any of the seven hills or any temples. The walls also swallowed a lot of sounds and because of the noise in the streets, she could not hear the cheers from the Circus Maximus.
Luna sat down at a corner and started thinking. She had not crossed the Tiber, so she was somewhere east of the Palatine. At first she would head west to find the river.
Walking through the streets with her hands full with her presents was far more difficult that the child had thought. It seemed that all people had decided to head home or to their collegia, their after-work meetings with friends and such. The streets were packed! The people were not in a good mood and shoved and pushed. More than once Luna stumbled. She clutched her packages tightly.
Finally she had made it to the river Tiber. It smelled badly. She turned north and wrinkled her nose. By all Roman gods, why did the river smell so bad? Was the water bad? Was this why drinking water was brought in over canals and aqueducts? Still, this could not be allowed! Sickness breeds in the air, the so called miasma, and then made people ill.
"Oof." Luna found herself sitting on her butt. She had run into someone. "Sorry." That was strange. Just before she had been doing relatively fine in dodging.
A knife reflected the red rays of the setting sun. "Give us what you carry, little girl, and we might let you go."
Ah, this was a mugging. Now that's a first. Luna looked at the people surrounding her with interest. They did not seem particularly poor, because Nero had said, that poor people walk around in rags and are very thin and these people were not thin and not clothed in rags. "Are you poor? Is that why you do crime?"
Their leader threw his head back and laughed. One of his friends answered: "Child, the Empire has failed us a long, long time ago. Then we realized, instead of begging we could be taking. It's easier."
"I like her!" The leader had gotten air back into his lungs. "I like her. Let's catch her. With these clothes, she is certainly from a rich family we can extort."
"It was very interesting meeting you, but I have to go home now."
"Dear, you might not have realized yet," The knife touched her cheek. The metal was cold. "You will come with us, if you want or not."
The vampire looked at the knife and at the thugs closing in, asking herself: 'Is this where I should feel threatened? Am I afraid? Should I be afraid?' Faster than any human could be, she moved away from the weapon, passed under the thugs outstretched arm and slipped past them. Then she started running.
"Get her!"
Even with baggage Luna still was way faster than them. But when she rounded the next corner, one of the robbers was waiting for her. How did he do that? Luna turned and ran into another street. Left, right, left, left. Another dead end. This time the street was blocked by two tall houses leaning against each other like drunken men.
She could still hear their voices and ran on. Why were they so persistent? The sun had now properly set and the streets were growing empty and dark.
There they were again! Luna managed to squeeze herself into a tiny alleyway. Hopefully they hadn't seen her. She had been reflexively panting and stilled her breath. The thugs knew that she was around here somewhere. They were taunting her.
"Come out, little girl!"
"We won't hurt you."
"If your parents pay properly, you'll be seeing them again soon. Don't be afraid!"
Luna started silently praying to all the gods she knew. 'Please don't let them find me! Next time I visit your temple I'll bring an offering."
"There you are! You are quite the slippery one!"
Luna stared into one of the thugs' faces. There was nowhere left to run. The other robbers closed in. The girl pressed herself closer against the wall. If she gave them these presents, would they let her go? Would they let her live?
The leader reached for her. Luna closed her eyes. Why? Why? Why? She shouldn't have run away, should have stayed home, should have been a good girl! Stupid child!
"Argh!" The thug howled in pain and Luna smelled blood. Lots of blood. She opened her eyes and between her and the criminals a cloaked figure stood. Where did they come from? Did they drop from the sky?
The person held a short sword that was coated in blood. At their feet laid the thug's hand. Now the other robbers also drew their knives and short swords.
Without a word, the cloaked person rushed ahead. The thugs never stood a chance. It was a bloodbath, a massacre. Luna watched half-fascinated, half disgusted, as this stranger methodically dismembered and killed the humans. Years ago, she had hunted game and butchered farm animals, but never humans and Nero had never let her watch the killings in the Circus. A sea of red blood started to spread over the ground.
Finally the last of the criminals had been chased down and killed. Luna relaxed and stood up. Certainly that person must have come to save her! The person did not wipe their blade down or put it away. They only turned around and under the hood Luna saw red eyes, not unlike hers, but without any kind of emotion. They were cold, so cold, no smile, no gentle expression.
When they took another step towards the girl, she realized this person had not come to save her. This person came to kill her. Ice poured through her veins. The assassin raised their arm to strike her down and Luna's feet moved on their own. Dropping the presents, for which she had snuck outside and which she had carefully selected, the girl started running. The parcels dropped to the ground but she did not spare them another glance.
Without baggage Luna was even faster than before. Only now she wasn't up against humans, but one of her own kind. Fear fueled Luna as she bolted through the streets. The assassin was hot on her heels. At one corner Luna dug her heels in and came to a stop. At the end of that street was the Circus Maximus! There would be police there! The assassin had not expected that and rushed past her.
Luna raced to the Circus and when she left the alleyway she screamed: "Help me! Someone is trying to kill me! Help me!" Out here in the open the assassin would find her quickly so she decided to hide behind some crates.
'Dear gods, please let the police come before the assassin finds me! Please let me escape this alive!'
But the gods weren't listening. The assassin towered over her and she hadn't even heard their steps! Luna crawled back to put distance between them.
"Please don't kill me," she choked out. "Please don't kill me." Tears welled up in her eyes.
The assassin stepped closer, blade drawn.
Luna's back hit a wall. Glancing left and right she could not see any escape path. "Please don't kill me."
The assassin towered over her and raised their sword arm to strike.
'I want to live.' This realization had just caught up with Luna. After her father had taken her from her first family and then abandoned her, she had thought her heart to be broken beyond repair. When had Nero and the people around her fixed it? When had she started to think of the Roman Empire as her home? 'I want to live! I want to go home again!'
The second the blade moved downward, energy exploded from Luna and she started to scream. It was so hot! Her skin was scorching, her hair burning like dry grass, even her bones felt like on fire. Her eyes burned as if vinegar was in them. The girl started thrashing around on the ground to put out those invisible flames that were licking on her body. Smoke filled her lungs and her brain grew fuzzy. Eventually the burning sensation faded and everything else too.
When Luna came back to her senses, she was sitting in a pool of blood. Her stomach felt full, her mouth still tasted of fresh blood and her hands were red. The vampire raised her gaze just a bit and immediately scrambled back. A corpse was staring at her with empty eyes and considering the state of his neck, it had been her who had killed him!
Something crashed down behind her. She looked around and saw a burning wooden beam. Now she noticed that the Circus Maximus behind her was burning. And not only the Circus! All houses she could see were in flames! The rising smoke told her that all around her an inferno was raging.
"No! No! No! I didn't … wasn't … not me …" Luna got on her feet and started running. Other Romans were trying to flee the flames too, leaving all their possessions behind in an attempt to save their lives. More than once Luna stumbled over a dead body that had not been killed by the fire, but by the stampede of fleeing people. The air smelled rancid. It stank of burning bodies.
Suddenly Luna was lifted up and whoever saved her traveled at a speed Luna had never reached. She closed her eyes because of the wind. Then they stopped and the girl was put on the ground. At first she couldn't recognize the person, who had saved her, but looking at his white skin and red hair and eyes made her remember. "Father!"
Vlad Tepes nodded. His voice was steady, as if he didn't care that Rome was in flames. "This is your fault you know."
Luna put a hand over her mouth. She felt sick. "My fault?"
"Yes."
She looked at the inferno. How many people would have died? How many would be homeless? "I need to fix this. Bring me back to Cesar Nero! I want to fix my mistakes!" She couldn't bring the dead back to life, but maybe she could help in stopping the flames and rebuilding Rome somehow. Her parents had raised her to take responsibility for her mistakes.
Her father only shook his head. "No. We will leave Rome. You need training."
"No!"
The man whirled around and grabbed her by her throat. "This happened because of your deficiencies. Remember this lesson well. Now we will leave and I will not tolerate disobedience."
Luna glared at him and continued to struggle. Within the blink of an eye Vlad snapped he neck. The next thing the little vampire knew was that all people around her were speaking Greek. They were not in Italia anymore.
The battle was over. The soldiers returned to their bases, drank and detoxified. The prison received the captured humans, cleaned them up and fed them. Luna dryly noted the atmosphere to be the same as after a normal workday. They were vampires indeed. No jubilation over their victory, no demand for a celebration or any semi-private impromptu party. An unaware spectator might believe them to be the defeated ones.
"Lady Luna."
The vampire spoken to shivered. Urd Geales was with his age of 15 millennia considered to be of late-middle-age. Experienced enough to be someone of power and influence, but not yet having the privileges of old age.
Vampires lose their emotions with time and the only reason why Luna knew that he was furious was because they had spent so much time together. Geales had been Vlad Tepes' closest advisor and often babysat the Tepes siblings. While the young First officially was in charge of him, their relationship was more like a regent and an underage ruler.
"Lord Geales! I did not expect you back so soon. Your attack on Shimonoseki was extremely well coordinated!" Luna knew she had fucked up badly, so a little bit of flattery couldn't hurt.
Lord Geales dipped his head in acknowledgement of the compliment, but the angry spark in his eyes did not fade at all. "I heard you left your post."
"Ah, yes. Lord Arverra's front wasn't responding so I went to investigate and take over this flank myself."
"How highly irresponsible!"
'Here it comes.'
"What do you think you were doing? You are the leader of an army, not a soldier!"
"All of Arverra's soldiers were killed! Our HQ was exposed! Did nobody inform you that I took on a demon and one of the human Seraphs?!"
"That was not your duty! Your duty was to stay put and supervise the operation! You could have called for backup."
"What good does backup do when the HQ and half of our army is reduced to ashes in the meantime? I was trained by the best! I can take on an army by myself! Why won't you let me fight?"
"Because you are our First, our leader, our General. You are supposed to stay put. Your father understood that."
Luna sneered. "If you haven't noticed, I am not my despicable father."
"Yes. I forgot. You are not your father." The spark of anger in Geales' eyes died. It was replaced by an all-consuming emptiness. His voice hardened. "You are grounded."
"You cannot ground me! I am your First, your superior!"
"I can and will ground you until you understand your place in this world."
Luna threw a punch at the man. Geales caught her arm and twisted it behind her back. Then he grabbed her neck.
"How crude! Do I have to break your neck or will you comply?" When the pink haired vampire stopped struggling, Geales released her. "You will go to your office and do your paperwork or I will, and this I swear on your father's memory, disband your 'special district' and turn them into livestock, which is what they are supposed to be anyway."
"You wouldn't dare! If you lay a hand on them I will kill you and I will take my time with it!"
"Weak threats! Child, you need me. Who is next in the chain of command now that Krul is captured?"
Luna hissed, turned around and stalked away. As much as she hated it, Geales was right … but as soon as Krul was back, she could kill him and put her sister in charge of Russia. And if she somehow got her brother back too, he could be in charge of Japan. Or she would have to take control over this warzone herself. Anyway as soon as Krul was back, Geales would die and Luna would have one headache less.
The meeting had begun. All of the progenitors currently in Japan had gathered to hear what was going to happen next.
Lord Geales sat next to Luna at the head of the table and Crowley knew immediately that they had a falling out. The soldiers that had escorted her and Lord Geales here might have looked to anyone else like an honor guard, but Crowley knew a sulking Luna when he saw one. Considering that she had not asked for another sparring session and that Crowley hadn't seen her around at all, she must have been locked up in her office.
The meeting started with a long list of numbers. Number of casualties, number of prisoners, number of broken equipment, number of resources and so on.
"As for our next steps, our exalted First will explain her strategy," Lord Geales stopped speaking.
Yep, that definitely sounds like they had a fight.
"Thank you, Lord Geales, for your hard work," Luna started speaking. "Despite our losses we now have to upper hand. We can call in back-up much faster than the humans can replace their soldiers. Therefore, we will invite them to peace talks."
Murmur erupted in the room, but when Luna raised her hand it died down.
"For now the main concern is to free Krul Tepes. We will offer them all prisoners in return for my sister. As soon as she is out of there, we can level that place without further losses. During the talks a special unit will scout the place where Krul is held. If the talks fail, we will raid the facility. Any questions?"
The nobles avoided her gaze like a class of students that have just been asked a question nobody knows the answer to.
"Very well. Lord Ferid will set up the talks and Lord Geales will be in charge of the negotiations."
"Your Majesty," Ferid spoke up. "I wish to select five prisoners to send back to their army. Their leaders are more likely to believe one of their own and it's safer for us too."
Luna nodded. "Feel free to select five, but only five. Since there is nothing else, this meeting is concluded." Luna stood up and left the room flanked by her 'honor guard'.
Crowley rushed to catch up with her and shoved his way through some lower ranked nobles. He caught up to her at the end of the corridor. "Luna!"
"Eusford."
Her eyes were cold and Crowley realized that he had made a mistake, calling her by her first name in front of two strangers. He went down on one knee. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I wish to ask for clarification on a matter, but the other nobles might have misunderstood it as me questioning your orders."
"Alright. Speak."
Crowley met her gaze straight on. "What are your exact plans for the war once Queen Krul Tepes is freed?" Crowley saw it in her eyes. She understood what he was going at. 'Will you destroy Japan? How are you going to annihilate the JIDA?'
'How many people are you going to kill?'
"To my office."
To say they ran would be an exaggeration, but they were hurrying along in a way that had some vampires jumping out of their way. In the office Luna slammed the door shut right before her guards noses. Then she just stood there and her forehead hit the door.
Now that there was just the two of them, Crowley could use her name again. "Luna?"
She said something, but it was too quiet to hear.
"I can't hear what you are saying."
"I'm sorry."
Before Crowley could answer Luna threw herself into his arms. By reflex he hugged her.
"We're considering multiple options, but there will be a lot of casualties among the civilians. I'm not alright." She buried her face in his chest.
"Is there something I can do to help? I can ask Ferid too."
He felt her head moving. 'No'. "Later. Right now, this is plenty."
"They sent five soldiers back and now they want peace." Kureto poured himself a glass of water. No alcohol. It impairs judgement and that is something Kureto cannot risk. "What do you think of that?"
"It's unusual," Saito said.
"You think it's a trap."
"That's not what I said." Saito waited until Kureto had sat down in his big comfortable desk chair. "Vlad Tepes has an honor code. He wouldn't lure his enemies with promises of peace. But he is also pragmatic. I am surprised that he cares so much about the Queen's wellbeing. Unless … Ah, but Geales wouldn'tü …"
"Speak clearly."
Saito put on a smiling face. "Excuse me, but there is a lot to think about and there are a lot of possibilities."
Kureto turned to his aide. "What do you think, Aoi?"
"Me? Sir?" The woman was clearly surprised, but at Kureto's nod she started speaking, at first hesitantly then firmer. "I think, in my opinion, it is a great opportunity. We can gain some time. Also we might gain some information about the vampires' chain of command. Ah, and we could trade in the Queen for a higher price!"
Kureto inclined his head. "Yes, that is a good idea. If we can get them to relinquish control of Honshu and Shikoku we can evacuate our people and build secondary facilities. Even if they were to strike our main bases we'd still have back-up. That is a great idea, Aoi!"
The blonde blushed because of the praise.
"Tell Guren to contact his 'friend' and tell him we're willing to open negotiations."
A spacious flat with 4 bedrooms was what Guren had negotiated with Kureto for, saying it was an investment for their most important assets. Living together had been fairly easy, since they had pretty much worked out who did what 6 months ago. It was also easier on their minds, especially on Mika's, since they were all together and harder to separate than if they were living in dorms like before.
Ever since they returned Mika had taken up watch in the living room every night. Yu had insisted that it wasn't necessary, but Mika did not trust the JIDA. They were greedy. They put Mirai in a coma and in Kitakyushu they wanted Yu to use his Seraph too. Who knew what they were going to do next?
Mika understood that they were desperate. In a way nothing had changed since his livestock days. They were still up against a more powerful opponent. They were still being used. Despite gaining power, Mika still felt powerless like all these years ago.
A door opened and Mika asked: "Can't sleep?"
"Yes." Shinoa closed the door behind her. "You neither?"
"I have to keep watch."
Shinoa hummed and plopped down on the couch. "I don't think Kureto would try anything today when tomorrow is his big day. So? What do you think about these peace talks?"
"They're a waste of time. There won't be peace," Mika said.
"You sound very sure of that."
"The vampires won't forgive the JIDA for harboring and using Seraphs." Mika looked out of the window. He didn't remember how the night sky had looked like as a child, but the humans said that there were more stars to be seen now, even above Tokyo. The negotiations were going to fail. That obviously meant more war. And that meant that Luna, if his theory was right, would try to rescue Krul and they were going to have to fight her. How seriously would she fight? Would she hurt them? Would she kill them?
"So it's going to be a trap." Shinoa sighed.
"No."
"What do you mean?"
Could Mika trust her? How would Shinoa react if he told her his suspicions? But if he didn't tell her, what would the consequences be? "When Guren told us that we were going to these negotiations, he used the pronouns 'he' to refer to the First progenitor."
"And?"
"In my letter the First had called themselves 'Martina Tepes'. It doesn't sound like a male name to me."
"Hm … I agree, but I have to say that you can't be sure. There are unisex names and some men use feminine names and obviously it goes to other way too." Shinoa watched the vampire carefully. He did not seem convinced. "There is more, isn't there?"
"What if Luna was the First progenitor, Luna Tepes?" Now it was out. I still felt weird to Mika. Somehow over time he had come to trust the pink haired vampire. He didn't want to mistrust her, but the evidence …
Shinoa had stayed silence. In a weird twisted way, Mika had hoped that she would call this statement ridiculous and counter his arguments. Instead she just sat there, thinking.
"There was a book with Luna. She had this book about the origins of the vampires and signed it with 'L.M.T.' She said, that she had written it and she did not want to tell us about the last two initials."
Mika nodded. "Go on."
"Luna Martina Tepes. L.M.T. But it's not just that, right? She took on Guren and his friends. She fought that demon too."
"She slipped up and called Krul by her name without honorifics."
Shinoa closed her eyes and leaned back into the couch. "Oh, dear."
Guilt gnawed on Mika's stomach. He felt relieved that it wasn't just him, but knowing that somebody he trusted lied to him wasn't a very good feeling, to put it mildly. "I'm sorry for bothering you with this."
"No, please don't be sorry! We are a family and that means we are going to share this burden." Shinoa smiled. "So, are we going to tell the others?"
"Yu is going to throw a fit. Also, if Yu knows Guren will hear of it in no time."
"Mitsu can't keep a secret. She has nooo~ poker face at all. Shiho … I really don't know what he is going to do."
"What about Yoichi?"
Shinoa stifled a yawn. "Yoichi, hmm."
"What about me?" came a voice from the shadows.
Shinoa froze completely, only to then tell the boy off in a dramatic fashion, hand on her chest and all: "Oh, Yoichi! I almost had a heart attack. How dare you sneak up on this poor fair maiden?"
Yoichi gave an embarrassed laugh. "I didn't mean to. I just want to get a glass of water."
"Why don't you sit down for a second?" Shinoa patted the space next to her. "There is something you need to know."
So I was approaching +8k words on this chapter, the last part wasn't even finished yet and then I realized I could split it. So now its 5049 words long. I'll have Chap 20 on 5th August at latest.
Ryo: Thank you so much for your reviews! I get the giddiest grin when I read them! I do read the ONS chapters every month and I am so upset about what happened! After chap 92 I feel a bit better, but I am also a lot more confused about the plot and how the OnS world works than before. I hope Mika returns in some form or way (as a demon or maybe as a seraph [considering the novels]). And I have an issue with chap 91 where Ferid talks about the point of life and saying that he killed all of Crowley's friends and I'm not sure what Ferid is alluding to, because he wasn't the vampire killing Crowley's crusader friends, but shortly before turning Crowley he did kill some Knights Templar, so I'm sitting here like ?. I have a tiny question about your comment, though: who is 'Cassia'?
…..
In this chapter I am getting the characters in position. Chap 20 will (hopefully) be a bit more intense.
Luna tends to romanticize Rome a lot. While it was certainly cleaner that many cities in the same timeframe or later in Europe, it still was very densely populated and very unhygienic by today's standards. Also, she was part of the ruling class so she never had to deal with poverty, starvation or racism. She never really met Nero the Monster, only Nero the Cesar.
So, I found a great documentary about Nero's rotating banquet hall and now I regret that Luna never saw Nero's Domus Aurea (his palace). This man decided to put a 16 meter wide floor on a ball bearing and used water to make it turn day and night … for fun and representation!
'Collegium' (plural collegia) are like clubs or guilds. There are people, who come together because of a common interest. In a contemporary club this could be music/dancing, sewing or something like that. Collegia can have a variety of common interests. There were collegia for funerals, where all members paid a bit of money and when one of them died, the accumulated money was used to pay for the funeral and all members attended it. It's probably also where our word 'colleague' comes from.
Luna lied to her people about what happened during the battle. She said that she fought Shinoa & co while we know she didn't.
Geales is a competent ruler, but Luna and him don't get along at all.
...
Me (wanting to write a flashback): I could just make things up as I feel.
My perfectionistic brain: Absolutely not! I'm appalled! Now go and find out how Roman women did their hair and what colors their cloths were in.
If you ever sit in a class and think: "This subject is useless." Consider, you might end up needing this information for fanfiction.