Rating: R
Pairings: Gotta wait and see.
Archive: Just ask…actually, I'd be amazed that someone wants to archive my stuff.
Chapter: 4/?

Chapter Four - Testament

The twitter of birds woke Kaile from her light sleep. She groaned and rubbed her eyes. The last two nights had been less than great. First Puck was walking around calling himself Pietro and Javier seemed ready to strangle Zechs for some odd reason. And Javier had even called her friend into the situation. They had spent most of yesterday sequestered in the guest room. She blinked owlishly and looked out the window to see the setting sun. She yawned and shuffled out from her bed to the kitchen. This was the only room in her house that hadn't been trashed.

"God, this is turning out to be one screwed up week," she mumbled as she filled the kettle and set it to boil. "And of course, no one sees fit to tell me anything at all."

She leaned against the counter, putting the sugar and tea bag into the mug before she started staring at the cracked linoleum floor. Her brain was starting to wake up. It always did work better at night. She watched as the kettle started to boil, a loud whistle echoing through the kitchen. She glanced around as she poured the liquid into her mug. Hopefully that didn't wake up Puck. He seemed to just show up at the moments when she was talking with Zechs alone.

"Damn, I need the caffeine." She muttered as she walked over to the table, stirring the mug's contents. "And God knows something decent to eat."

She took a sip of her tea, wrapping her fingers around the warmth. This was the time of day she loved the most; the dying of the day and the birth of the night. She looked out the window to see the last faint rays of the sun slinking from the sky, leaving only deep black, indigo. A smile came to her lips as the warm mint flavoured liquid slid down her throat and settled in her stomach. Hopefully today would be a little bit better than the last few days.

With a sigh she took another sip from the mug, her brow furrowing as she felt something squirming against her lip. She glanced down to see a worm twisting and writing in the cup. She dropped it with a gasp as she stood up from her seat hastily. Her cup clattered to the table, worms pouring out from it. She edged back until she hit the counter, fear clutching at her heart as she watched the worms move closer and closer to her.

She clambered onto the counter, watching as more and more came, rising to the level of the counter rapidly. Her breath started to become a ragged gasp as they started to crawl over her feet. Disbelief gripped her mind as they stated to move up her, encasing her in a living pulsing sheath. She hyperventilated as started to beat them off frantically, only to find twice as many taking their place. A scream came from her throat as she twisted frantically, trying desperately to get the worms off of her. Her foot landed right on the edge of the counter, throwing her balance. She struggled to keep it for a moment before she fell off with another scream, her eyes squeezed shut.

She was expecting to fall into a writhing mass, not the solidness that caught her. Opening one eye reluctantly she found herself under Zechs' worried gaze, his brow furrowed slightly. She looked around to find the kitchen void of any worms she had seen before.

"But…" she murmured to herself as Zechs put her down. "I saw them; they were all around."

"There was nothing in here Kai," Javier's voice was quiet. "We came in just as you were falling off, trying to get something off of you."

Kaile looked between Zechs and Javier, puzzled beyond any of her comprehension. "But they were all around. I could…feel them against my skin…" she shuddered as she rubbed her arms briskly.

"What was?" Javier asked as she walked up to Kaile. "What was it?"

"It's all right, Javier. I'll stay with her." Zechs said. "Besides, I was going to take her out tonight."

Javier didn't say anything to him. "Are you all right Kaile?"

"I'll be fine." Kaile said in a whisper. "You go back and do whatever you've been doing with what's his name."

"It's Darien." Javier said. "If there's anything you want before you leave, just let me know, all right? Anything at all."

Kaile nodded in silence. Javier didn't say anything more as she drew back and walked out of the kitchen. She lifted her head looking around, surprised to not see Puck hovering around her protectively. She glanced at Zechs before she walked over to the table, and sat down righting the coffee mug.

"You don't have to stay with me. You probably think I'm crazy." She said softly.

Zechs came and sat beside her in a chair. "It was worms, wasn't it?"

Kaile nodded her head in muteness for a moment. "How do you know that?"

"You told me," he said. "After that day."

Kaile paused, thinking for a moment. Her parents had taken her to visit an entomologist friend of theirs. And he had kept these vast tubs of worms for his more carnivorous insects. And she had accidentally fallen into one of those tubs when they were looking at something else. They hadn't noticed until she had screamed in her struggles to escape from a tub. She had hated worms ever since then. But the only person she had told that to was…

"I had an imaginary friend named Seth," she said quietly. "When I was around four."

Zechs chuckled slightly. "You always had trouble saying my name as a child."

"It was you?" Kaile looked at him critically. "If it was you, why didn't you say anything?"

"My world is not a pretty place and you were only a child. But I did promise your mother and father that I would look out for you. That seemed to be the best method; let you think I was an imaginary friend. The only problem is that people outgrow that."

Kaile didn't say anything for a moment, fingering the necklace now around her neck. "She loved me a lot didn't she? To die for me and all."

"So did he." Zechs said quietly. "By all means you shouldn't even have been conceived. But when they found out, they were more than thrilled."

"What were you running from? Was it that bad?"

"We didn't know what was hunting us down. Devlin wouldn't let it get to your mother or you." Zechs paused. "I still don't know what it is."

"Is it even safe for me to go outside anymore?" Kaile asked in a whisper.

Zechs didn't say anything for a moment. "I can't say for sure. But there are some places that you should go to."

"I see." Kaile paused. "What about Mother and Father? Sara and James? Will they be all right?"

Zechs nodded. "They know nothing of this. The Daemons can gain nothing from torturing them."

Kaile felt as if someone had socked her in the gut hard. "Torture them? They never did anything to anyone! Why would they torture them?!"

"To draw you out." Zechs paused. "You do realize that you can never see them again after what has happened."

Kaile nodded her head. "But they're going to worry about me? I call them once a week. Can I even call them?"

Zechs shook his head. "You'll have to break all ties with your old life. Your name, your job, everything. We shouldn't even still be here."

"I guess Javier wants to use this as a place to regroup and stuff before we leave or something." Kaile paused. "Let me just change and then we can leave."

Zechs nodded as she rose and made her way back to her bedroom. She closed the door silently behind her before she made her way over to the closet, sliding off her nightshirt as she went. This wasn't going to be easy, simply severing all her ties with her old life. There were some aspects of it that she simply couldn't relinquish so easily; the freedom to move and do as she pleased, not having to worry about someone else's need or wants, to see her parents wherever she wanted. What Zechs said she had to do was something completely foreign to her nature.

"I don't think I'll be able to do it," she murmured to herself as she pulled on a black tank top. "But what choice do I have? If I do anything else, it'll just result in people being killed." She paused as she reached into her closet and pulled out her black jacket, jeans and boots. "There's no going back now."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The dirty alleyway was filled with trash and a few tomcats, their green eyes glowing unnaturally in the darkness. Broken plastic garbage bags littered the ground with their rotting and slimy contents. Kaile skirted around a large spot of garbage, walking alongside beside Zechs.

"Tell me, why we are walking down this cesspool of a back street?" Kaile asked, curling her lip in disgust at a large rat.

"There's someone here you'll want to meet." Zechs said as he continued on. "I'd imagine you'd want to know more about your real parents?"

"Well, yes. And about all of this that I have to accept and live in now." Kaile said slowly; that thought had occurred to her but she was still trying to keep up. It seemed that something new was always being sprung on her at the last moment.

"Then you'll be getting some answers." Zechs said as he paused outside a metal door and rapped.

Nothing happened until a piece of metal was slid back allowing a pair of glaring red eyes to peer down.

"No humans!" came the rough voice from the other side.

"It's Zechs; I have some business with Nien."

"No humans!!"

"Tell Nien that Zechs is here. As well as someone he remembers but she doesn't. Just tell him." Zechs said in a mildly impatient voice.

The slat was slammed shut once more, the sound of heavy footsteps echoing from the other side. After a few minutes, the locks were opened hastily and they were ushered in quickly with murmured apologies. Kaile looked around, her steps slowing. The entire place seemed rather unique, one of earthly pleasures accented by the Oriental art and decorations on the wall. A hazy sort of smoke hung in the air, creating a somewhat surreal atmosphere.

"If one of the workers come up to you, simply tell them no." Zechs murmured in her ear as he pulled her closer. "No matter how much you're tempted."

"All right." She said as she continued walking along.

Small doorways offered glimpses into things that made her stop frequently to stare. The chains, whips, the cries of delight and pleasure, it all made the hairs on the back of her neck rise sharply. Zechs was practically dragging her down the hallway to the lone door at the end as she tried to see what was going on in some rooms.

"Stay here and don't move." He said quietly as he knocked on a door.

"Uh huh," She said absently as she craned her neck to see into an empty room. "I'll stay right here."

Kaile didn't even notice when Zechs walked into the door; she was already walking back towards the blackness. She stepped in gingerly, fingers running against the fabric wall to find a light switch. Her gaze shifted immediately when she caught the smell of sulphur followed by the bright blossoming of a flame. She watched as the person shook the match out, her eyes travelling up the golden arm to the onyx eyes. Her breath caught as she found herself mesmerized by the angelic beauty of the man's face. His body was clothed in only a pair of very loose pants that hung at the waist and revealed a very attractive, and slim muscled, frame.

"Is the lady bored? Would she care for some…entertainment?"

Kaile was just about to reply to the suggestive tone before Zechs grasped her by the arm and dragged her out into the hallway and in through the door. She found herself groaning in disappointment before she even realized it. Muttering a quick apology to Zechs she sat down in the seat in front of her, face burning with embarrassment.

"Ah, so this is the one I never got to see before."

Kaile looked up at the smooth voice to see a purple skinned being walk in wearing a simple suit, four horns protruding from their forehead in an interesting and upswept manner. Their eyes were a brilliant shade of golden brown, piercing with the dark black ring around them. Kaile watched as they sat themselves behind a massive desk with a smile.

"So Zechs, you finally decide to bring her for me to look at? She would make a fine addition to the people I have working for me now."

"She's not here to work, Nien." Zechs said in a cold and deadpan voice.

Nien shrugged. "My loss then."

"I didn't realize you were running…this kind of place." Kaile blurted out, her face promptly going bright red.

"My dear, all beings have carnal desires, be they human or Otherworlders. I simply cater to the more…'select' tastes." Nien said with a laugh. "But I am sure you aren't here to peruse the wares. What can I help you with?"

Kaile looked at Zechs who nodded his head. "I…I want to know about my parents." She said simply.

"You're parents?" Nien asked in surprise, his voice slipping from its smoothness to a somewhat light musical lilt. "I knew your parents?" his voice returned back to before.

"Apparently; they were Dana and Devlin."

"Oh, those two!" Nien chuckled. "Quite a pair those two. Dana worked in my bar downstairs. Devlin was the guard for my little bordello up here."

Kaile breathed an inner sigh of relief; she had half feared that either Dana or Devlin had worked here in a much different aspect. "So you did know them?"

"I knew them well. A shame what happened. I have wanted to see you for the longest while."

"You have?" Kaile looked at Nien in surprise.

"I am an admirer of your work." Nien said as he pressed a button on his desk.

Kaile blinked in surprise to see her first piece of work hanging on the wall. It was the one of the angel with the broken wings and tears of blood, despite the bright bustling scene behind it. She looked at Nien, slightly amazed.

"Do you even understand it?" she asked suddenly.

"The despair of society and what it has become. The broken wings show that man has more than likely reached his pinnacle. Even if man does repair his own wings, they will never be the same again. Even the heavens weep tears, for what man has come to; the blood represents the blood of people who died in war and such to achieve this same society that is so ungrateful for the sacrifice and pays a meagre pittance one day a year. Is it something along those lines?"

"Yes." Kaile said with a pleased smile.

"Your work has a bleak and slightly apocalyptic tone to it that I like." Nien mused. "But I should be telling you of your parents, correct?"

Kaile nodded. "What was Devlin?"

"Devlin was a vampire, plain and simple. One of the oldest vampires, mind you. Dana…no one was really sure about Dana. Rumours say that she came from Ireland and that she has the blood of the ancient Eire gods in her veins."

"I know that," Kaile said, glancing at Zechs. "I want to know about them; about them as people, not by their heritage."

Nien laughed. "No wonder you brought her here. It'll take the two of us to tell her everything, let alone one."

Zechs raised his eyebrows slightly. "There is a method behind the madness, Nien."

"All right Kaile, you may as well make yourself comfortable" Nien said as he readjusted himself in the chair. "This will take all night."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kaile breathed a deep sigh as she and Zechs walked out into the alleyway again. "Well, that was rather illuminating."

"It's almost dawn," Zechs said with a glance at the sky. "An hour or two."

"Are you going to be all right?" Kaile asked. "With dawn so close?"

"I'll be fine." Zechs said. "Did you find everything you wanted to?"

"And some extra," Kaile said. "They certainly were busy with everything, weren't they?"

"They were." Zechs agreed. "You seem to have inherited that."

"I guess so. I've travelled to lots of places for gallery showings and such." She paused, thinking. "Is Nien from lowland China? The Hong Kong region?"

"Yes, he is. Did his accent give him away?"

"Yeah, I've been to China a few times." Kaile's steps halted until she was standing still, looking around her. "Is there someone else here?"

Zechs stopped, his eyes darting around. Kaile kept looking until she spied a figure in the dark at the end of the alleyway. The tall thin figure was wearing a black robe and deep cowl, so deep it completely hid the face. Zechs saw it at the same time too, motioning for her to remain completely still. Kaile shifted her glance from him back to the figure. After a few moments, the figure turned and walked away. Kaile was about to breath a sigh of relief before she caught Zechs' sharp glance. She held her breath until Zechs moved, his muscles relaxing.

"What was that?" Kaile asked as they hurried out.

"A Seeker; they're completely blind but they can find their targets and kill them. They have a hit and miss system."

"Could it have been sent by the Daemons?" Kaile asked as they turned out onto the main street.

"Doubtful. The Daemons come after a target by themselves, not send a lackey. It looks like someone else is after you."