Months after the fight between Cain and Abel, Astha the Duchess of Kiev and Ion Fortuna the Earl of Memphis are working to stamp out the remains of the Contra Mundi when they find a friend they thought long dead.

Four long months after both Cain and Abel vanished from the face of the Earth, the Contra Mundi and the Fleurs du Mal were close to extinction. The disappearance and presumed death of their leader hadn't exactly prompted the instant defeat of the entire organisation, but a joint effort between the people of the Vatican, Albion and the Empire seemed to be slowly working.

During those long months, despite several search attempts, nothing had been found of Cain or Abel. Both had simply vanished.

The Empress of the Empire had found it necessary to bring several of Abel's friends into her confidence and tell them some, but not all, of their story. She'd thought it would help in their search, but still, they'd found nothing.

They focused now on destroying what was left of their enemy so that Abel's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. They'd had word that a small number of them was hiding not far from the Empire's capital ready to strike, so The Empress sent Astha and Ion in a small ship to eliminate them as covertly as possible.

After entering a huge system of subterranean caves, they'd found themselves under attack very quickly. The two Methuselah cut through the Contra Mundi and they must've killed at least ten before they were finished and they reached a large open space, illuminated by moonlight. The roof of the cave was completely collapsed and debris was strewn hazardously around them. It looked as though something had crashed through the roof of the cave with great force and left an enormous crater in its wake.

"I wonder what happened there?" Ion wondered.

The crater was enormous and seemed to go on for miles and miles and even with their enhanced Methuselah eyesight, they couldn't see the other side of it.

"I don't know. And it's not our job to find out. Our priority is to weed out the rest of these vermin and report back to Her Majesty. Now, come," Astha said, walking away.

"Vermin...huh?" a voice called out from the shadows at them.

Another voice laughed and then ran towards them wielding a knife, he was fast enough to slice a deep bash on Ion's upper arm but not fast enough to avoid the swing of Astha's spear as she sliced off his head.

"Damn..." Ion hissed, covering the wound with his other hand. "How many of them are there?" he muttered.

Seven more vampires emerged and surrounded them and attacked. Astha drove her spear into the heart of one of them and then sliced off the head of another while Ion beheaded one and kicked another about three feet away from him and he landed impaled on one of many jagged stalagmites.

Before they could do anything else, all of them, their enemies included, stopped and stared in disbelief as the blood from the fallen vampires began to pool on the ground and trickle towards the crater.

"W...what's happening?" Astha watched, stunned.

"What the hell are you doing?!" one of the Contra Mundi yelled at them.

"Lowly peasant! How dare you speak to us!" Ion hissed back and threw his knife into the vampires throat. He fell down, dead a moment later and then his blood began to slide along the ground too.

They heard a low growl from the shadows and it seemed to echo throughout the cave eerily. It was a sound which made them all turned and look in fear even though were Methuselah, it still sent a chill down their spines. Slowly, a lone figure emerged.

It had long white hair which seemed to form a crown on top of its head and smaller strands flew about his pale face with a mind of their own. Its skin was a sickly grey hue and it was gaunt with long limbs. The blood was swirling around him in a sickly yet beautiful dance and the figure licked his lips as the blood flew into him. It wasn't that he drank it, or at least it didn't look that way, it looked as though he was simply absorbing it through his clawed fingers and the veins on his neck pulsed as he did so.

It was a strange sight for them to watch and it growled low and quiet again. It had two giant wings and the feathers looked battered and worn but they too began to slowly, very slowly, reform and grow again and bright lighting began to crackle around him.

"My lord?" Ion called. After learning that the strange Priest he had once met was actually the brother of the Empress, Ion had started referring to him as 'my lord'. It had unnerved the former Priest at first, but eventually, he'd stopped questioning it.

"Lord?" Astha turned to Ion, confused. "You don't...mean...the Priest?" she asked. She too, like the Empress knew that the young Earl had called Abel that. But she could barely reconcile the Priest she had know with the creature she now saw before her. "T...Tovarish?" Astha blinked at the figure, stunned.

If she looked closely, she could just about recognise his face even though his eyes were blood red and his skin was grey and sickly. Queen Esther had seen him in his Crusink form as had Cardinal Catarina and from what they'd told Astha, it was exactly what she was seeing now. After she'd thought on it a while, she could've sworn that there had been one instance where she'd seen him and he looked a little different. But she'd put it down to a trick of the light.

"He is...not himself," Ion remarked.

"More importantly, he is feeding on your blood," Astha saw that the blood from the shallow cut on Ion's arm was drifting through the air, merging and swirling around the winged, shadowed creature.

"M...monster!" one of the two reminding Contra Mundi exclaimed and tried to flee.

"There is no escape for you!" Astha cried and leapt into the air after him and sent out a bolt of greenish light from her spear, killing him instantly.

Glowing, blood red eyes snapped open from the crater and within the blink of an eye, Abel appeared standing beside the newly dead vampire. He reached out a black clawed hand and grabbed the vampires dead body and then bit into his neck. It was a messy bite end the blood burst around his mouth and dripped down his chin. In less than a minute, Abel raised his head and dropped the corpse. He'd drained it dry.

The rest of the blood which had been trailing along the floor from the other vampire had stopped too, indicating that there was none left.

Only one of the Contra Mundi vampires was left now and he was standing there, shaking in terror. "...D...don't...monster!" he yelled, his hands shaking as he lifted his gun. He fired four rounds rapidly but only one of them hit the Crusink and landed in his right shoulder.

Abel, his voice much deeper than they remembered, cried out in pain and doubled over, curling around the wound and falling to his knees. The lighting around him was erratic and as he fell, the vampire was struck by the strong, bright lightning.

Both Astha and Ion were trying their best to avoid the lighting but the vampire that had been struck with it wasn't quite dead. He stood and tried to run but a well aimed dagger to the back from Ion brought the vampire to the ground while a blow from Astha's spear finished him off for good.

As it had before, the blood rushed from the vampire and pooled around Abel. In his already weakened state it was barely enough to heal the bullet wound.

"Tovarish?" Astha said, taking a step towards him.

Abel's red gaze snapped towards her and he bared his fangs without a word. His claws dug into the ground as he growled like a feral animal. One hand raised a little and the blood from Ion's wound trailed towards him.

"My Lord, you must stop!" Ion exclaimed.

"Grrrr," Abel growled at him.

"You are out of your senses, my Lord! It is as you always feared would happen!"

"Tovarish, stop!" she yelled. She ran closer and swatted his hand down but the blood didn't stop flowing from Ion to him.

"I...need..." he hissed.

"We will take you back to the Capital. You can feed there. Her Highness will provide..."

"No...now!" Abel breathed but then he trailed off with a groan of pain. He clutched at the roughly healed bullet wound and clenched his fanged teeth with a hiss.

"Tovarish!" she held again and slapped him across his face, desperately trying to get through to him.

Abel simply pushed her aside with ease and took several unsteady steps towards Ion. He knelt beside the wounded Methuselah and breathed heavily whilst staring at his neck. During their two months of travelling, Ion had fed him many times but he'd always bitten the young Earl on the wrist, never on his neck. But Abel was hardly in his right mind now. Ion didn't even attempt to stop the crazed Crusink as he sunk his maw of sharp, pointed teeth into his neck, in fact he moved his head aside to make it easier for Abel.

Ion barely managed to bite back his scream of agony. It had never hurt like this when he'd offered his blood, probably because Abel had been consciously trying not to hurt him before and he'd never bitten quite so deeply.

"My Lord is...desperate," Ion mumbled, looking over at Astha. "He may not...make it to the capital without...help. I have...never seen him this...bad..." he admitted whilst biting back grunts and moans of pain.

"And he may drain you dry if he suffers from the blood madness as we can," she said.

"Then stop him before...that happens..."

Astha sighed, knowing that there was no other option. She watched tensely as Abel fed from Ion. It was a difficult image for her to reconcile with the Priest she had first met to this apex predator draining the Earl of Memphis dry. She wondered how he'd managed to hide his nature from so many for so long and why. Was he that ashamed of what he was? She saw nothing shameful it in. Though it had taken her a while to accept the fact that Methuselah were not actually the world's most apex predator as she'd thought they were.

Ion felt himself becoming light headed and he was surprised at how little time it had taken. His eyes became unfocused and he searched frantically for Astha in the darkness. "I...cannot offer...much more...I fear..." he mumbled, his voice quiet.

"Tovarish, stop! You will kill him!" she exclaimed. She raised her staff though she was reluctant to actually harm him.

Surprisingly, Abel blinked and he moved back from Ion and stared at the Earl. Ion was swaying a little but he was still conscious and he'd heal quickly. Abel stared at him, suddenly wracked with guilt and the need to feed had been quietened, just a little. "I...Ion...wh...what...did I..." he stammered and licked at the blood on his lips in shock. "Oh god..." he exclaimed, distraught as he clutched at his head with his clawed hands.

"My Lord...are you...recovered?" Ion asked.

"He is still badly wounded," Astha shook her head. She knelt beside Abel who was now wearing in his anguish. "Priest...allow me to help you. The Earl has rendered his aid all he can," she said and loosened the high collar of her outfit.

"...W..." Abel raised his head from his hands to look at her. "A...Astha-san?" he weakly mumbled. When he saw what she was doing, he fell to the ground and shuffled away from her. "N...no...don't..." he exclaimed.

As he'd moved, he'd landed on a particularly bad wound on his side and his wings were dripping blood and feathers around him in a macabre display. It looked incredibly painful.

"It is a fair distance to the capital," Astha declared, moving over to him again. "And you are still loosing more blood than you have gained," she said. "If you lapse into madness again, we may crash the ship and never make it back..."

"B...but I can't..." he said, still distraught. "I'm...sorry...Ion...I swore I'd never...I'm so sorry," he wept, curling around his wounded body with sluggish movements.

"I offered, my lord, do not apologise."

"...Leave me...here...I don't want...to hurt you..." Abel said.

"Leave you here? To die...again? And how should we report this to her Highness?" Astha snapped. "She grieved for you, Tovarish. She grieves still and so did we," she said. He raised her wrist to her lips and dragged her fangs along her skin, cutting deeply enough to draw blood. "Now, do not be an idiot. If help is offered freely, there is no shame in accepting it."

"Y...you...know?" he asked in shock, staring at the blood oozing from her wrist.

"I do, but this is hardly the time to discuss it. Now here, unless you wish my blood to go to waste. It would be extremely disrespectful," she stated, sarcastically and moved her bleeding wrist closer to him.

"B...but..." he stammered. His red eyes were fixed on her blood and within seconds, all rational thought seemed to vanish from his mind. He needed blood and she was offering. She was right. His wounds hadn't completely healed, and he had just risen from the dead again, which wasn't an easy task. It required blood, a lot of it and he hadn't had nearly enough.

"I...I'm sorry," he whispered, unable to resist any longer.

He snatched her forearm and brought her wrist to his lips and swallowed the blood oozing from the deep cut. His eyes shone red, his skin darkened a little and his white hair fluttered in a non-existent breeze, taking on a life of its own as it swayed around his face, not quite forming the silver crown atop his head. He was far to distracted to be embarrassed when he ran his tongue over the cut and grazed his fangs across her skin with a sigh.

After a moment, he curled in on himself and shoved Astha's arm away, biting onto his own lip with a hiss. "I'm...sorry..." he mumbled, "I shouldn't have..." Abel buried his his face in his hands and let out a deep sigh.

Astha tore a strip of fabric from her clothed and wrapped it around her wrist. It would heal quickly.

"Did it help?" she asked and he slowly nodded. "Good," she added.

"My Lord...we believed you to be dead," Ion stated, sadly. "We searched for you...but you were nowhere to be found. I didn't imagine you could have been so close to home. I beg your forgiveness," he said.

"...Ion..."

"Enough of this," Astha said. She gently took Abel's arm and laid it across her shoulders.

"Don't..." Abel fell back and tried to scramble away from her. "I still...need..." he mumbled.

"I shall trust in your will," she replied, calmly and helped him to stand up. He was a dead weight against her and his wings hung limply, dragging on the ground behind him.

Standing so close, Abel could hear her blood pulsing in her veins and he stared at her intently before he weakly shook his head. He let out a pitiful sounding whimper and just about managed to push her away. He fell back against the wall of the cave and clutched at his head. "Get...away..." he hissed, his voice echoing around them.

Before he could say anything more, no matter how hard he fought to keep his eyes open, they suddenly closed and he lost consciousness. He fell limply against the cave wall, his wings vanished and his hair fell lifelessly around him and Astha sighed.

"He did fall...as we suspected..." Ion said, looking over at the crater, "After the fight."

"It would appear so," she agreed.

"It's been months since then...why wouldn't he have returned? The Empress wept for him. Why would my Lord..."

"The Empress had said that they can heal possibly any injury, has she not?" she asked and he nodded.

"He said as much, too. My Lord did return from the grave, after all. So, you think...the blood from those we killed revived him. And that he was dead...again..." Ion said.

"''Tis the only explanation," Astha shrugged. "Now, check the caves. There may yet be remaining vermin here. I will take him to the ship. But be quick, there may not be much time," she added, looking forlornly at the unconscious Crusink. She had a hand on his chest trying to prop him up and she could feel some horrific wounds that were still open and bleeding.

Ion nodded and ran off while she took slow but steady steps back through the caves towards the ship.

After they returned to the Capital they flew towards the palace and used the hidden entrances to carry Abel through to the Empress' quarters. They managed to do so without another soul seeing them, by luck or good fortune. Seth sprang into action at once and laid her unconscious brother onto her large, ornate bed and began to clean his wounds with practiced ease. She asked Astha and Mirka to to help her.

"He needs blood," Seth stated as she worked, "A lot of it, I'd say."

"Majesty," Astha began as she tried to clean a horrific looking wound as gently as she could. "I had hoped...that you would have some such..." she trailed off.

"No," she sighed. "I rarely need to feed. Unlike Abel, I hardly use my powers. It's hardly worth keeping a supply for what little I actually need. I have arrangements, of course for when I do require it, but..."

"I see," the Duchess sighed. "And, presumably if he does not get what he needs..."

"...He'll die," Seth muttered, in a heart wrenching voice. "Or the Crusink will take him over and do what it needs to, likely killing people in the process and he'll be torn apart by guilt. Either way...it does not end well. I won't loose my brother again," she stated and reluctantly stood up off the bed, moving from Abel's side. "Watch over him for me...please," she told them. "I'm going to contact my...well, my suppliers. It might take some time, but..." she said, taking a step back. She was clearly very reluctant to leave him.

"Your Eminence, there is a faster way," Astha said. "Tovarish requires Methuselah blood. I will gladly provide what more I can..."

"Duchess..."

"I have lost one Toravish before, I will not allow another to die if there is something I can do to prevent it," she said, sounding determined.

Seth sighed and looked at her for a moment. "I don't think he'd want to do that," she sighed. "I don't think he'd thank us for using you as a...a blood bank. That's just how nii-san is," she said, sadly.

"We have already done so," Astha replied. "We feared he would not make it this far if we did not and he was...insistent. So we...both..."

"I see," she sighed.

"I too, will help my Lord again," Ion stated.

"My Empress, allow me to offer my assistance in my beloved grandson's place," Mirka said. "You are looking lightheaded and pale, Ion, you need to recover before you offer more," she said to him and then turned back to Seth. "It would be an honour to aid Her Highness' brother," she said.

"Very well," Seth sighed. She had her small hands clutching at her brother's pale arm. "Please...help him," she said. "I'm sorry, nii-san, I know you won't forgive us for this, but I won't loose you again," she whispered to him whilst she stroked the side of his face with he other hand.

A while later, after Astha and Mirka had given all the blood they could spare, leaving them both lightheaded and woozy, Abel's hand twitch lightly in his sister's. All of his wounds had healed but he was still left looking gaunt, pale and sickly. Both Seth and Astha had been tirelessly cleaning his wounds as best as they could, wiping away the dried and crusted blood and peeling away what had been left of his clothing which had been stuck in the open wounds.

Seth was still sitting beside him on the bed, and she smiled hopefully when she felt him move.

"Nii-san," Seth exclaimed, leaning over him and shaking him by the hand a little.

His eyes were flickering under his eyelids and when they slowly opened, they were blue but unfocused and glassy. He didn't show any sign of recognition when he saw her hovering over him.

"Nii-san?" Seth said, again. "Nii-san...it's me...Seth...how do you feel?" she asked.

"Seth?" he blinked and weakly focused his eyes on her. "Seth...you..." his voice was hoarse from disuse and it was worryingly faint, but it brought a teary smile to her face and she let out a happy laugh.

"Nii-san!" she exclaimed and fell beside him, hugging him tightly and weeping freely as she nuzzled her nose into his hair. "You're alive! I couldn't believe it...I thought...we all thought...I missed you so!" she wept.

"...You..."

"I thought you were dead!" Seth repeated, "But you're alive! You're here and you're okay!"

"I'm...not...dead?"

"No!" she laughed. "You're home and you're safe and you're going to get well," she said. "I'm so glad...you're alive...I missed you..." she wept, still clinging to him as though she was afraid he'd disappear.

"Seth..." he managed to mutter. He brought a weak hand to the back of her head and gently stroked her hair as she cried. He never could stand to see her cry and it brought tears to his own eyes just knowing that she was safe.

"We thought...we looked for you..." she muttered against him.

"I...was..." he furrowed his brow, sounding and looking very confused. "I don't...know...what..."

"You were in the middle of a cave in the middle of no where, Tovarish," Astha said.

"I...fell...I think, I..." he furrowed his brow and pursed his lip, trying to remember exactly what had happened. "I don't...remember...I..." he mumbled.

"Abel...what happened?" Seth asked, unable to hold off the question any longer. "With...Cain...what happened? You fought...and you fell into that cave?"

"I...yes...we fought...I must have...I know I fell, I...don't remember a cave..." Abel said.

"Did you...is he..."

"Dead...yes," he turned his face away from her and closed his eyes. His hair fell, hiding his face and he sighed. "He's dead. I remember that."

"Are you sure? We thought that the last time and..." Seth shook her head.

"Last time we were careless...like you said..." he mumbled.

"But still...how can we be sure, nii-san?" Seth repeated, desperately.

"I'm sure," Abel said, sounding pained.

"But!"

"If he was alive surely he'd have tried to destroy the world again," Astha mused.

"He could be biding his time! He's patient," Seth said, unconvinced, "He'll wait and hide for another nine hundred years if he has to before he attacks again!"

"He's dead," Abel insisted, quietly.

"Nii-san?"

"He's dead, Seth...trust me," he said. "There was nothing left...he's gone," he added and closed his eyes. He leaned back on the soft pillows and sighed as silent tears ran down his gaunt face.

"'Nothing left'? Don't tell me...you didn't absorb him...his Crusink, did you?"

"No."

"Then what...what happened, Abel?"

"I electrocuted him...must've been for days. The more we fought the more feral he became. I guess I was just as bad," he scoffed. "He might've torn off my head again too at some point, I can't really be sure," he said, rubbing a hand at the back of his neck. "Thinking about it...I'm quite sure he did actually...and he laughed when he did," he said.

"Tovarish," Astha muttered.

"He's gone, Seth, I'm sure. He was ashes. And then I electrocuted those too. There was nothing left," he said, mournfully.

"How did you survive?" Seth asked, hugging him even tighter, albeit gently.

"Who knows," Abel shrugged. "I think we were above the atmosphere, I don't know. It's...hazy...After he was dead, I...don't...I remember falling, I think," he said. He was grimaced in frustration and let out a quiet growl. "I don't remember what happened after. I don't know what...I fell...and then...blood...and Astha-san and Ion-kun...but..."

"It's alright, nii-san," Seth assured him. "You'll get well, nii-san," she said, sounding confident. "You will and then we can figure out what happened. Until you're well...it can wait," she said even though she had a fairly good idea of what had happened.

She suspected that after the fight had ended, Abel had fallen from a great height, landed in the cave and died, or perhaps he'd been dead before he fell. His body must've lain there during that time until the blood from the Methuselah that Astha and Ion killed had revived him just enough to be conscious but not enough to heal his wounds.

"I'm so glad...you're alive. Nii-san...I'm really...so happy...you're alive..." Seth said, burying her face into his shoulder again.

He said nothing as she hugged him tightly, but gently and ran her hand through his messy, dirty hair.

Sometime later when he was asleep, Seth turned to Astha. "You call him Tovarish," she remarked.

"Ah...yes, I do, your Highness," she bowed her head a little.

"You trust him?"

"With my life," Astha replied.

"And you call him 'Lord'," Seth stated to Ion.

"Yes, Empress," he nodded.

"Why? Because he's powerful?"

"No, Majesty. Because I...respect him. When we traveled, though it was only for two months, he showed me the utmost compassion even at the cost of his own comfort. When it became clear to me that he needed to feed, I offered my blood and he refused. He his his need from me until he collapsed and he begged me not to give my blood. I have suffered from the blood madness before and I know how...terrible it is. He suffered it and hid it from me for weeks. I know no one else who could do such a thing. He went to great lengths to keep me at a distance when he was engaged in a fight in case his blood madness took over again, though I did eventually convince him to allow me to help him. I saw him do...incredible things and yet, along our journey we passed by many poor, starving Terrans and he gave them what he could. I respect his kindness and his will, Majesty," Ion said, respectuslly.

"You care for my brother...both of you. I'm glad," Seth stated, smiling. "Then I want you to do something for me," she added.

"Your Highness has but to name it and it is yours," Astha said.

"Watch over him," Seth said. "Abel has never been one to care about his own wellbeing. When he's hurt he never looks after himself. He's died...twice now. As strong as he is, it's not going to be easy for him to recover from that. He blames himself for everything. He takes things to heart. As much as he hated Cain he was still our brother and now he's dead by Abel's own hands. I'm...worried that he do what he did the last time. After Armageddon...after everything...he mourned for nine hundred years alone. He still hasn't forgiven himself. I don't want him to destroy himself over this. Cain is gone. The world is safe. Abel should be able to live his life as he wants," Seth sighed. "I want him to recover and at best, stay here with me and be happy. If he wants to leave then there's not much I can do to stop him. But I want him to recover from this. I want you to help me...protect him."

"My Empress, I..."

"Astharoshe Asran, Ion Fortuna, I am asking you...not as an Empress...but as a concerned younger sister who has already mourned too much now for her beloved brother. Please...help me to protect him," she finished.

"I would be honoured," Astha replied, noticing the tears in the Empress' eyes. "As his Tovarish, I am honour bound to render anything he might need," she said.

"As would I," Ion agreed, "I would do anything I can to protect my Lord. I failed him once...If I had found him sooner...I would be honoured to be of use. I want to atone for my mistake."

"You did all you could. You have made no mistake," Seth assured him, kindly. "We both know that he wouldn't fault you. But he needs us now and I am thankful to have your help," she smiled at them.