Chapter 32

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"I hate this," Saskia mumbled, hands deep in the intestines of the dead professor. "I swear if this stains the flooring, you are going to pay for it to be redone!"

"You wanted to help him, Sask'," Will said, sitting a couple metres away with a fashion magazine in his hands as Hannibal had noted there would be another dinner soon enough. "It's blood, not nuclear waste."

She gave him a steely look, only stopping as Hannibal brought over the steel bucket for the intestines which she promptly dropped in with a gag. Hannibal just grinned at the sound of disgust, laughing at her as she gagged again and grimaced.

"I hate intestines," She frowned, peeling the yellow, blood-stained gloves off and dumping them in the bucket too. "You two can sort the rest out. I have an early morning and an appointment to get to."

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She sat in the salon chair, a satin black robe around her front as the hairstylist began to dye her hair. The two-toned hair was grown out so much that it was easy to tone the colours out and even it to her natural. Now, she sat while the stylist applied a slight silver tone to her hair, making the main body a beautiful, soft blonde with silver while the roots stayed her natural colour.

Saskia had had enough of the two-toned and grown-out look, wanting to resemble herself as she found herself again with her men. Italy was a beautiful place and she wanted to be beautiful again, wanting to dress how she wants and letting her inner beauty show through her actions.

Beauty was in the eye of the beholder, Will would say when she was covered in blood and had the feral gleam of instincts in her eyes, and we say you look divine in crimson of all shades.

She would just flush and smile at them for such comments.

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Another dinner, another dress. This time it was a simple white one, giving her an air of class which she easily held up by the way she raised her chin and her wine glass.

Hannibal cut up the meat as he spoke, "In Roman times, each carcass was divided. Prime cuts went to nobility, second to the clergy, third to the bourgeoisie, and fourth to the army. The Quinto quarto, the offal, went to the poor."

Both Will and Saskia had enough of Hannibal's need to show off to others his cooking skills, both giving each other a quick eye before they sipped their wine. They would let Hannibal have his fun just as he allowed them.

The dish he made was beautiful with purple artichokes served with liver, lungs and heart, all of which he said was from a spring lamb.

Signora Albizzi smelled the dish, moaning. "Professor Sogliato doesn't know what he's missing. It is rude of him to reject your invitation, no?"

She aimed the question at Saskia and Will.

With the former taking a larger than needed gulp of wine, Will answered. "He sends his regrets of not being able to join us."

Hannibal refilled Saskia's wine glass, tilting his head in such a way that it told her to hang low on the alcohol for now. Saskia took a final sip and placed the glass down with a tiny, sarcastic smile which he could barely stop himself from smiling at.

"Oh Madonna," Signora Albizzi said, turning to her husband. "It smells divine."

"It is. I say that without ego," Hannibal smiled. "I don't require conventional reinforcements."

"Would you two agree?" Signora Albizzi asked, bringing up an oyster to her mouth.

"His ego is not measured by conventional means," Saskia simply said, having eaten her starter which wasn't oysters like the rest.

Hannibal sat down. "I first prepared this dish in honour of my sister when I was very young. I hope she liked it just as much as you do."

The dinner continued, going along smoothly as the three watched Signore and Signora Albizzi eat the meat.

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"I hunted down the men who killed my sister," Hannibal said, as the dinner was finished and guests left.

Both Hannibal and Will had stripped themselves of their outer jackets, leaving Hannibal in an untucked shirt and waistcoat while Will had the buttons undone and waistcoat thrown to the side.

Saskia leaned on the chaise sofa that sat before one of the windows. She had left her wineglass on the nearby table, leaning her arms on the back of the sofa.

Both men were standing around, not wanting to sit down as they spoke.

"It was only a matter of time until I would find them," He said. "They thought they could get away with it. I ended their worthless lives with plenty of pain and the mercy of God. Then I ate them."

"A fitting end," Will said.

Saskia chimed in, moving so her back was against the side and her legs were softly tucked under her. "What you survived made you stronger, but you were a child. You weren't safe so you created safety for yourself. You took what could be taken and that was within your right."

"Home wasn't safe so I had to leave," Hannibal said, coming to sit at the edge of the chaise. Saskia made a gesture for him to lay down, putting his head into her lap as she ran her fingers through his hair. "I lost so much of my family within such a short span of time."

Will came over, looping his arms over Saskia's shoulders as he leaned over the back. He kneeled, front pressed into the back of the sofa but with his arms over the edge to touch both his lovers.

With each new touch, Hannibal closed his eyes as he relaxed. Her touches and scent were welcoming and familiar. The beast within him calmed more so when Will's caress and smell came into effect, dousing his beast in water and gasoline.

Hannibal just buried his head into Saskia's lap, letting both her and Will's fingers to knead away tension in his muscles.

"Our pasts have a nasty habit of coming back to us," Will said. "Sometimes, we have to sort it out ourselves or it will bite us in the ass."

That got Saskia thinking.

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Chiyoh sipped at her tea, sitting before the Lithuanian woman after a small altercation.

"Loyalty is something hard to come by," Saskia held the cup near her face, feeling the warmth settle inside of her with the familiar scent of the tea. It reminded her of them. "It has to be either forged by force with battle, or you find it when you find kinship. This is the case when you find true loyalty. The other, less permanent forms exist but I prefer to keep my loyalties on a two-way road. I don't like to leave it to chance."

Chiyoh inclined her head, glancing from her own tea to the other woman and back again. "Which loyalty do you have with Hannibal?"

"Hannibal kept my… darker aspects out of the view of the FBI." She went still before resuming her thought. "It's a long story. It started almost four years ago, but the loyalty didn't solidify until around Christmas of last year."

"A story is only long when the listener is not interested," The corner of Chiyoh's lip curled before falling back into the soft curve of a permanently calm facade. "I'm interested in what has become of Hannibal recently. Can you tell me a story?"

"I like to think of myself as an excellent storyteller." Saskia placed the cup down, tilting her head an inch. "I hope you will think the same…"

The castle was cold with no use from the last few decades, the only warmth weeping from the miserable candles Chiyoh lit when necessary. Overgrown and in great need of repair, she'd like to think that the castle still had a certain beauty about it. Surprisingly, animals didn't like to go near the castle, staying to the ground and grounds alone.

It was extremely rare, to the degree that it was unheard of, for Chiyoh to have guests of any calibre that weren't the birds she shot for dinner. But Chiyoh knew how to accommodate guests well because of Lady Murasaki's teachings.

She was surprised by this woman's mannerisms as Saskia spoke. The elegance of a well-bred lady followed her speech but with a twang of slang that was definitely from the English culture. Saskia swore but only when it added to the words to emphasise them rather than overtake them.

Saskia spoke of the pack, of Countess, Hades, and Winston. Of the music Hannibal played and the dishes he created. Of how Will forced her onto the ice and called her Bambi. Of the Christmas they shared. Of the talks and ideas, they had and created. Of how they began to morph together into one train of thought.

"You spoke of dogs," Chiyoh interrupted, "But there are none with you now."

Saskia exhaled. "I left them in the United States. I couldn't very well bring half a dozen dogs with me. When I return, I bet Countess, Hades and Winston will be very much upset with me."

"How can dogs be upset?"

"Animals have emotions but they are dulled down to the basic instinct that makes them up," She smiled in memory. "Countess was a gift from the gods for me, coming at the right time to save me from my creation."

"And what creation was that?"

"You cannot love a monster without letting a part of yourself go. Creation of a monster is a difficult thing, but being born one is even rarer."

Chiyoh kept her gaze to Saskia's, the other woman looking into her tea. "Were you the creator or the creation?"

"I was God creating a masterpiece, something in my own image that I would mould to be my own. But I quickly grew bored of my own creation, leaving it to defend itself in a world where everything was against everyone, and the only peace the creation had was the thought that it could reach God. That it could try and reach enlightenment by gaining God's attention. But when I wasn't paying enough attention to it, it decided to retaliate and take my books by their word and create chaos." Saskia breathed out her nose, her teeth gritting in memory. "He's dead now."

"Who was he to you? One does not make a monster out of just anyone."

"One of my first loves. It never occurred to me until recently that a creation would become obsessed with its creator. I was never that religious in my youth, I take God's name in vain because I refuse to bow to a creator that has allowed a monster to become of its creations."

"Do you condemn God for his creation of us?"

"No, but I do not encourage him to do so again, rather that he should have found others like him instead of creating. It is better to dine with those you have kinship than dine on those you created."

"If you've found kinship with Hannibal, and was it Will Graham? Yes. If you've found kinship with Hannibal Lector, does that mean both of you, Will and you, are similar to Hannibal in regard to human life? Lady Murasaki and I, we've always known there was something going on inside Hannibal's mind that didn't sit right with us."

Chills went down Chiyoh's neck and spine, prickling the skin with slight fear as Saskia looked up from the tea, having finished the rest of it in a single, silent gulp.

Saskia smirked. "I have a certain disregard for human life. My philosophy has always been that life is a privilege animals seek to keep and humans take advantage of. Taking a human life means no more to me than taking an animal's. I used to be vegetarian until a little redhead decided to put her head into something she shouldn't have."

"You're a cannibal,"

The smile was less a smile and more of a baring of teeth as the firelight flashed against her canines, sending Chiyoh memories of young Hannibal. "I prefer cannibalistic."

Chiyoh paused when she opened her mouth, thinking of a better question to ask. "Are you here to kill me?"

That made Saskia pause, a sudden laugh escaping her with a mini scoff. "No! Where did you get that thought from?"

"You speak of a disregard for human life, and of cannibalism. What did you expect me to think? You are familiar with Hannibal. He keeps me in a cage and if this cage is opened, I would be let out. I have no doubt he would be ready to end me if there was ever even a thought of betrayal in my mind."

With a cold tone, Saskia smiled with no warmth. "Has there been ever a thought of betrayal inside of that pretty little head of yours?"

"No,"

"Not even once?"

"Not even once."

"Good. More tea?" Saskia asked, to which Chiyoh nodded and allowed her to pour the tea gracefully and without spilling a drop. "As long as loyalty remains, Chiyoh, I see no point to your death. You have not wronged me, nor anyone I love, so I'm perfectly happy to see to it you live whatever life you wish to. Do you wish to be freed of your cage or would you prefer to remain a pretty little sparrow in a gilded cage? You know what it would take to jump but are you willing to take the risk of the fall?"

"I wish to fly but I have not been outside the cage since I have been put into it. The fall isn't something I am scared of, it is the landing. I fear the ground that would come if I were to fall."

"Sometimes birds need a little push to figure out if they will fly or fall. Do you need a push or will you jump for yourself?"

"A push would be greatly appreciated."

"Then a push is what you will get."

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Chiyoh sat on the ground, legs tucked close as the corpse of the man who hate Mischa laid in front of her. She turned to Saskia who just walked into the room, eyes wide and fearful but they held determination as Saskia dropped a duffel bag in front of her.

"You're monstrous," Chiyoh said.

Saskia shrugged. "Monster, monstrous. Same thing."

"You said Hannibal was curious if I would kill," She turned her head slowly, eyes shockingly accusing. "You were curious, too. You...manipulated me into killing him."

"You allowed yourself to be manipulated, Chiyoh, and in our lives, that's not a good thing," Saskia said blankly.

"Hannibal. He'd be proud of you, finding and creating someone so similar to him,"

"Get up," She snapped. "Hannibal didn't create me. I created myself. I made myself into what I am so don't twist who I am so Hannibal gets the appreciation. You need to let go of these trivial thoughts of humanity and kindness. They won't do you any good anymore."

Saskia was bored of people and their instance to hang onto their humanity. She let hers go years ago and she never regretted it, she sometimes even doubted that she had it in the first place.

Humans were naturally violent, born in blood and screams of pain and they used to go out in the same fashion. Though, it became less likely for someone to die during battle or bloodshed nowadays.

Both women were on the train soon enough. As night came once again, after finishing up the affairs of the castle and disposing of the body, they laid in the beds of the train.

Saskia was on the top bunk, curling around a book as she read it. Chiyoh came in from the bathroom, laying in her own bunk.

"Are we obligated to talk?"

"Not unless you desire to," Saskia replied, turning a page slowly.

Chiyoh paused. "It is strange to talk so much. Not used to hearing voices outside my head."

"I have too many voices in my head. Too many stories to be told. Of people I ended, of people I helped end, of people I helped, of people who I helped avenge," She said. "You changed, and you adapted."

"I wasn't becoming anything," Chiyoh calmly stated. "I was standing still, like a figurine on a shelf waiting for the puppeteer to come. I stood still like taxidermy, eyes glazed and shallow but all-seeing."

"Gutted and shined, hollowed out and filled with something else to keep the image of you he had left,"

There was a rustle as Chiyoh shook her head. "Not something else. I'm not as malleable as you are. I'm not something Hannibal wants to change and adapt to fit his needs."

"He wants to keep you as you are,"

"Yet you changed me, positioning me as you want,"

"Sometimes a pawn needs to be shoved onto a new square," Saskia said.

"True," Chiyoh agreed. "I was violent when it was the right thing to do, and you're—"

"Violent when it suits me, yes," she interrupted. "Calling me a monster doesn't hurt my feelings. Calling an incompetent monster would though. I'm anything but incompetent at the things I do."

"No, you like it. You like the pain, the suffering, the agony on which you can inflict on your victims like a savage god," Chiyoh said. "You and how you speak of Hannibal and Will remind me of passages from the bible."

Saskia put down her book, saying "And which passages would those be?"

"Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer." She quoted.

"Revelation six one," Saskia said. "The rider on the white horse. Some think he was Christ, others Conquest, and very few the AntiChrist. Who is this?"

"This reminds me of how you speak of Will," She said. "When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come." And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from Earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. And this passage?"

"War," Saskia continued.

"Leroy Harris who had supposedly created damage in his wake. And this one, When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the centre of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not damage the oil and the wine."

Saskia licked her dry lips. "Famine. I suppose you say that one is Hannibal."

"Yes," Chiyoh smiled sadly. "His hunger has hurt many. But you remind me of the Last Horsemen."

"Death,"

"Yes."

When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a pale horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.

The rest of the train ride was long but silent as it went on, enough being said for the time being.

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