Chapter 8
Heero and Jin lay half-asleep in one another's arms. Neither of them wanted to break the beautiful silence or the after glow of their love. Jin listened to Heero's heartbeat; he made her so happy. She knew that in his arms she would always feel safe and that the memories wouldn't haunt her.
"Heero?" she asked, not knowing if he was awake or not.
"Hn." His voice was sleepy and content.
"Are you awake?" she asked, sitting up on her elbow to look at him.
"Yeah." He smiled at her. She hadn't seen him smile the whole time he'd been here. She smiled back; she hadn't remembered smiling in years.
"You have a beautiful smile." He said running his fingers through her thick hair, "you have beautiful everything."
"Don't go getting all mushy on me. This doesn't mean that I like you." she said burying her head in his neck and giving him a playful bite.
"Don't leave a hickey." Heero said playfully.
"Too late." She said smiling.
"You're such s brute. Now I'm going to have to wear turtlenecks everywhere." Heero said acting like a coy girl. She playfully slapped him.
"You're such a baby." Jin said.
"You weren't saying that a couple of hours ago when I had your ass in the air." Heero joked.
"You're still a bastard."
"I'm your bastard," he kissed her, "Aishiteru, Jinakel."
"I love you too." She said.
"You know Japanese?" he asked.
"I've been around for thousands of years, that gives me enough time to learn different languages." She said smiling back at him. Heero smiled and a yawn escaped his lips.
"You're so cute and you're tired too. I guess I did wear you out a little bit." She said and lay against his chest. She felt a strong arm wrap around her as she drifted off to sleep. Her mind was at ease and everything was going to be alright…
…until she heard the loud bang at the front door.
"What was that?" Heero's head shot up from the bed.
"I don't know. But I'll go check." She got of bed and threw clothes on quickly, Heero following her lead. They both ran down the stairs, weapons in hand, to see a host of minions breaking down their door.
"How did they find us?" Trowa asked stumbling from Roddy's room.
"I don't know, but you need to protect the Queen." Jina said as she readied herself for the minions that were sure to break the door.
"I hate minions." Heero growled as he readied himself as well. The door fell and sloughs of minions swarmed through.
"You ready to give up, babe?" Heero asked.
"Not until I'm dead." She screamed and charged towards about fifteen minions. Heero was busy taking care of about ten and Trowa was fighting off a good sum. The only problem was that more were coming in than they could fight off. They would quickly be killed if they didn't get reinforcements soon. Trowa and Heero were backed into a wall and too many minions were swarming Jina at a time, it looked bleak.
"Down on your knees!" a deep voice bellowed from the shadowy darkness. The fighting stopped and the minions dropped to their knees. Roddy, or should we say Queen Badri, slipped from the shadows into the pale moonlight. Her eyes glowed a violet in the darkness and she held her gold sword.
"You pathetic, immoral Tainted. Do you not know your Queen when you see her? You are born of my blood as well and you disrespect me as such. Crumble into dust." As soon as the command escaped from her lips all the minions in the room crumbled into dust and disappeared.
"Wind, carry this trash away." Roddy laughed and a strong breeze flowed throughout the apartment and took the ash of the dead away.
"Stand Jinakel. Where are the others?" Roddy said smiling at her subordinate.
"They went out to find the vamps, but we were ambushed Majesty. I stayed behind to keep you safe." Jina said.
"I am weak and I will not be able to help you if others come." She fainted and Trowa caught her before she hit the floor, "Trowa, please, protect me."
"With my life." He said and took her back to the back room. Heero and Jin meanwhile heard noises outside and stood ready for another attack.
"What the hell happened in here?" came the familiar voice of Duo.
"The minions, they attacked." Heero said.
"Duo! Arm yourself," Hilde shouted and they saw an arrow fly over his head. He opened his jacket to reveal his arsenal of guns. He ripped a gun from its holster and shot a vamp in the heart.
"Shit!" Duo screamed.
"How many Duo?" Heero asked.
"More than we can handle!" Duo said shooting another vamp.
"Not if I can help it." Jinakel sprouted her wings and surveyed the crowd. She picked up an average of two to three minions and broke their necks. She fed on some and she saved some for her weakened Queen. But her efforts were not enough; they were losing this battle quickly.
"Jina! We need help!" Catherine said, pulling her knife from the ground. Blood was everywhere. Jina landed and wielded her sword in an effort to kill more vamps.
"We're losing this battle!" Quatre said, holding off three vamps with his saber. There was a loud scream from inside of the house and then the battle horn of retreat was sounded. All the minions disappeared into a green mist. The Guardians and the Hunters stood in awe.
"That was Roddy." Jina said and ran into the house.
****
While the battle raged outside, Dorothy used this time to sneak into the apartment and carry out the task that Treize assigned her. Noin and Zechs were to ambush the apartment, using the overwhelming number of minions as a distraction for Dorothy's mission.
While the Hunters and the Purebloods were outside fighting, leaving only the weak human to protect the Queen, Dorothy was to slip in the apartment unnoticed and retrieve the Amulet of Ra and return it to Treize. Everything was going according to plan. The minions were attacking full force and Dorothy was inside of the loft without anyone there to witness her.
Dorothy slinked down the dark hallway towards the room of the Queen. She could smell the stench of the Pureblood and covered her nose in disgust. To Bugs and Tainted, Purebloods smelled like rotted corpses. She peered through the door to see the Queen asleep on the bed with a large mortal keeping watch over her. She would have to be careful in her attack.
Dorothy opened the door silently, hoping that the wood wouldn't creak. She wondered how someone could sleep so peacefully with a war waging outside of their door; the Queen sure did put a lot of faith in her protectors. She stepped inside of the room, the wood of the floor squeaking loud enough to make both people on the bed stir. She surveyed the room, looking for the object that Treize wanted. She saw it, lying on a red, satin pillow close to the window. Its presence was a sight to behold and she realized why Treize wanted to possess it so badly. Dorothy walked closer to the amulet, trying not to wake the sleeping couple on the bed and caught hold of it.
"Let it go." A weak voice came from behind her. Dorothy turned to see red eyes glowing in the dark.
"I will not fail Master Treize," Dorothy said and threw a knife toward Roddy's heart. Trowa covered her with his body and the knife landed in his stomach. Roddy screamed as she watched her love's struggle for life. Dorothy took this time to jump from through the glass window and down the three flights to the back alley. She escaped from the commotion and ran quickly back to Treize's headquarters. The scream signaled to Noin and Zechs that they were to retreat as well; so the Commanders disappeared into the night, their minions following.
****
Jina ran into the room to see Roddy leaning over a bloody Trowa. It was a horrifying sight; Trowa's blood was everywhere. Roddy's hands and skin, the bed, the floor, his clothes, everything was stained a frightful scarlet. Roddy was holding him and telling him that he would be alright, tears falling mercilessly from her eyes. Jinakel stood awed by the sadness in her Queen's eyes. The usually jubilant orbs were now a saddened, swollen red.
"What happened?" Heero said as her walked in behind Jina. The others were close behind, having heard the scream as well.
"Jinakel, please, do something or he'll die." Roddy sobbed, looking at the massive knife in Trowa's chest. Jina lowered her head not wanting to see her mistress so weak. The blood reminded the Pureblood of when her Queen was in the very same state begging her to take her spirit.
"You are the only one who can turn a dying human." Jina said, looking at her Queen with serious eyes.
"But we can only turn people with the amulet." Roddy said, looking over to the empty spot where the amulet used to be.
"Where is it?" Catherine asked.
"The Bug got it." Roddy said, looking down at Trowa.
"There is no hope." Hilde said, a tear falling from her eyes. There was a silence that could rival that of a cemetery. Trowa was fading fast but all he could do was look up at Roddy and try to comfort her.
"There is a way, but it would mean…"
"Jina, you can't mean…" Sally interrupted her.
"My Queen, if you want your lover to live, you must turn him." Jina said to Roddy.
"The amulet."
"A reciprocal turn. Taking him completely from this world." Hilde said.
"Making him a Tainted? I cannot do that to him, he's more precious than that." Roddy said.
"With your blood, he'll be fine. He will be like us." Jina said trying to reassure her Queen.
"Is this what you want Trowa?" Roddy looked down at him. He nodded.
"It shall be done." Roddy said and bit into Trowa' neck, sucking his life from him quickly. His breathing slowed, and Roddy could feel his heart coming to a stop. She quickly bit herself and placed her bleeding wrist at his mouth. The dying man drank fervently, filling himself with the blood of his beloved. Roddy pulled her wrist away from Trowa and he shook violently from her blood entering his body. The crowd that witnessed this was still, Quatre leaning his head into Catherine's neck. She held him close, his tears were staining her blouse, but she cared not. He was losing his best friend and she knew how much that hurt him. . Roddy lowered her fangs to his neck once again and drank until his heart stopped. Trowa was dead.
Roddy pulled away from the still form, his lips still warm to the touch. Yet, Trowa was lifeless. She leaned down and kissed him, a tear falling onto his inanimate cheek.
"Rise." She commanded, and Trowa's body obeyed. His eyes opened and glowed green and he looked around the room. The whole room was quiet and still, waiting for Trowa to speak.
"Was I dead?" Trowa asked the others and the room let out a collective sigh.
****
"Why would that bastard want the amulet?" Hilde asked the other Guardians.
"I don't know. It has no value to him whatsoever. Non-royal Tainted have the power to turn humans, why would Treize need the amulet at all?" Sally said.
"I'm sure as soon as we answer that question we'll find out what his motive is. Until then, we're in the dark." Jina said.
"Not exactly." Roddy said, the Guardians fell to the ground.
"Okay, let's get this straight, I hate the bowing shit. You don't have to bow to me. So stand up." Roddy said rolling her eyes at kneeling girls.
"What were you saying?" Jina bade Roddy to continue her explanation.
"The Amulet of Ra contains the blood of all the Pureblood line. Whomever drinks it can become a Pureblood; we are stronger, faster, we can daywalk, and some of us can fly. Treize wants those powers. If he has those powers he can people the world with minions and millions of Tainted with Pureblood powers. But there is a way for us to stop him. For the amulet to turn a Tainted into a Pureblood, it has to be taken to the motherland of its origin." Roddy finished.
"The ancient city of Mahan Ra it's the hidden city of Egypt." Jina said dreamy.
"I feel a road trip coming on." Duo quipped.
"A road trip, yes, but where to?" Heero asked.
"To the Oracle first and foremost." Sally said. Jina sighed in frustration at the sound of that name.
"The Oracle. I hate the oracle, she only gives me bad news." Jina said.
"That's because you let her. I love the Oracle." Catherine beamed.
"Hate her or not, Jin, she is the only one that can tell us where the city is. We leave tomorrow. Tonight we get some sleep." Roddy said and retired to bed. The others followed her lead, except for Jin; she had her own demons to attend to.