Ack! I know, I've neglected my fanfic. ::hangs head in shame:: But I'm going to make up for it! Longer, better chapter! (I hope…)
But yeah. I've had to get rabies shots, been at camp, but I have been working on this fic with what little free time I manage to find. I might change the rating to R for violence and a -little- bit of sexuality. Nothing graphic, I swear. (On the sexuality part.) Of course, this might just border-line R… dunno. Tell me what you guys think.
Disclaimer: I do not own Eidos or Soul Reaver or anything LoK. Ally, Raevin, Vogel/Kirstunoh, Ectoplasm, and the Aiermunarck-Uyilnarkiah forest tribe are mine. Sareptiah and Wraith (the wolf) belongs to HealerAriel (Erin).
******
Raziel led Raevin, Ally, Sareptiah, and all three spirit animals down a long, dark corridor. All three young women could smell water and must and occasionally dried blood, Raevin and Ally more so than Sareptiah. Wraith walked close to the vampire hunter, nose twitching and ears listening to every sound. Ectoplasm and Vogel brought up the rear, with the raven chattering constantly.
The group came to a large metal door that had strange symbols carved onto it. Raevin helped the vampire lord push the door open, and they were all nearly knocked back by the rush of aged, sour air. Even Raziel wrinkled his nose. Ally leaned against the wall and wretched, then felt Raevin place a hand on her shoulder to steady her. She smiled her thanks weakly, then stood up on her own on shaky legs.
They entered the stifling room, wrinkling their noses and trying their hardest to ignore the stench of waste, rot, mold, and wet scrolls and books. Raziel lit two torches, handed one to Raevin, and led everyone through the isles of the ancient, neglected library.
"What are we looking for?" Raevin asked, unsure of the answer she would get.
"For a demon, you aren't very bright." Sareptiah muttered. Vogel snickered at the comment.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you." Raevin snapped.
"We're doing two things." Raziel began. "We're still looking for a cure for you, Raevin, or at the very least what happened to you. And I plan to prove to this Hunter…"
"Sareptiah." Sareptiah said.
"Ah, yes. Sareptiah. I plan to prove to her that I can give her back her hearing."
"But if you have her back her hearing before she did whatever you wanted her to…" Raevin started, enjoying the glare she got from Sareptiah's eye.
"That is why I will only give her -partial- hearing." Raziel replied, catching the initial question.
"Clever."
"Indeed."
Ally spoke up. "Let's split into two groups. Raevin and I can look through some books and scrolls while you give Sareptiah some hearing." Another glare from the female Hunter.
"Excellent idea." Raziel beamed at Ally.
"Don't kill each other." Raevin called over her shoulder as Ally pulled her to the nearest isle, trying to keep her from harassing Sareptiah farther.
***
Ally and Raevin walked slowly down the book isles, followed closely by Ectoplasm and Vogel. They handled each book, scroll, and parchment carefully, in case the water damage was too great, looking for the reason Raevin had changed, and if there was a cure.
Raevin was looking through an old, dusty book when a sudden, loud sound from behind startled her. She spun around, claws extended, to see Ectoplasm. He had sneezed loudly after sticking his snout into a pile of scrolls and parchments that were surprisingly dry, just very dusty. Ally glanced up from a scroll to see what the noise was coming from, and she saw the dry scroll pile. "Raevin, where did you find these?" She asked as she made her way to the table, brushing a hand against Raevin's hip as she passed.
Raevin just stood there, a little stunned. "I didn't find them." Was all she managed to say.
***
"Alright vampire, what do you have in mind?" Sareptiah asked coldly, staring at Raziel with her good eye.
"To give you back your hearing, of course." Raziel said with a somewhat odd smirk.
Wraith growled quietly. "And how, vampire, are you going to do that?" The Hunter's questions were relentless.
Raziel stepped closer. "If you will stand still and cooperate, you'll find out." He said, studying Sareptiah's face.
***
Raevin slid an empty chair next to Ally's, and sat down. She took a scroll from the pile while Ally studied another. The demon girl's eyes scanned over the words, unable to read the symbols that were written there.
"Ally… I can't read this." Raevin said.
"Neither can I." Ally replied, placing a comforting hand on Raevin's leg. "I can only recognize a few symbols, like human, demon, horse, vampire, and change. See if you can find and pictures or something."
Raevin nodded, then started looking through the pile for scrolls that had images on them. At the very bottom of the pile, she found a large, leather bound book with a very familiar symbol engraved on the front. She gasped, then turned to look at her shoulder. There it was, the very same symbol. The yin-yang and feather symbol that was on her shoulder was also engraved on the book. She turned the book over to look at the back. Sure enough, there was the other symbol. The Celtic knot that was on the back of her shoulder was engraved on the back of the book. Raevin looked at Ally, why was busy examining another scroll. She casually got up, taking the book with her, and walked over to Ectoplasm. The horse gave her a questioning look as she slid the book into a saddle bag. Raevin just smiled and gave Ectoplasm a scratch behind the ears, then went back to join Ally.
***
"What are you doing?" Sareptiah asked, tensing, while Raziel placed his clawed hands on her shoulders.
Raziel drew her close. "I'm helping you." He said. Wraith growled menacingly, giving Raziel a cold, hard stare while she listened to every word he said. Sareptiah motioned for Wraith to stand still, and the wolf did so, but not willingly.
"How are you going to give me hearing?" She asked, her firm voice wrung with curiosity and a little fear.
"Like this." He said, then leaned in to kiss Sareptiah on the ear.
Sareptiah jumped back and glared at the vampire before gripping her head in her hands. A searing pain shot through her head and into her brain. She tried to yell for help, but know sound escaped her lips. Wraith snarled and leapt into the air, slashing her claws across the vampires exposed back.. Raziel stumbled back, but never lost the smirk on his face. The spirit wolf bared her teeth at Raziel before turning to tend to her pained master.
The Hunter fell to her knees, grasping her head in her hands. But as fast as the pain had come, it left. Sareptiah sat there, panting. She had lost her hearing connection with Wraith, but she had gained something so much better.
Her own hearing.
She had complete hearing in both her ears. At first, she was overjoyed. If it weren't for the fact that Raziel was a vampire and she was a vampire hunter, she would have hugged him. But then another thought hit her; Why did she have complete hearing?
"What's the catch?" She asked coldly, realizing something wasn't right.
"Nothing, really. That's only temporary hearing, it's not permanent. In a minute or two, you will lose it again. You'll be reconnected to your wolf, of course." Raziel replied. The gash on his chest was slowly but surely healing.
"This isn't permanent…" Sareptiah murmured. Her shoulders slumped. She had been tricked again. At least it wasn't by a bird, this time…
"No. But if you join Raevin and Ally in their quest for the Prophecy, I will return your hearing to you. Permanently."
Sareptiah glanced up at Raziel and looked into his eyes. "You have no soul… not a real one…" She whispered. "But I can tell you're telling the truth."
Raziel nodded, then offered his hand to her. "Let's find the others. Maybe they've found something." He said. Sareptiah accepted his hand, rose to her feet, then followed Raziel in search of Ally and Raevin.
***
"Maybe we should just take the whole stack…" Raevin suggested. "We can look through it all in our room."
"Are you sure that's not the only reason you want to take me to our room?" Ally asked, a smirk on her face and a gleam in her eye.
"Erm, well I… uh…" Raevin was very shocked at this statement. It was totally unexpected, and for the first time, she was at a loss for words. She could feel her face growing hot at the thought of it.
Ally laughed. "I was kidding, Raevin. No need to get worked up." She said as she started to gather the scrolls and parchments.
Raevin sighed. She could feel the blush on her face leaving, which was a good sign.
"What, are you that scared of me?" Ally asked innocently.
Again, Raevin was at a loss for words. This just isn't my day, is it…
Ally chuckled and shook her head.
They were just turning down an isle when Ally nearly ran into Raziel. She jumped back into Raevin, almost dropping the scrolls she was carrying. "You startled me!"
"My apologies." Raziel said. "Did you two find something?"
"We think we did." Raevin said. "But we can't read it very well. I don't recognize the symbols used to write it."
"That's fine. I'll find someone who can read it. If I can't find one from my territory, I'll borrow one from one of my Brothers." Raziel said. "Let's return to the Keep."
***
Raevin and Ally sat in their room, accompanied by Sareptiah. The animals stood around or paced, or in Vogel's case, chattered. The girls were having a difficult time reading the scrolls they had found, and even Sareptiah couldn't read it.
"Ugh, I'm tired…" Raevin muttered, leaning back against her wing bones.
Ally glanced up at Raevin from a scroll. "Already? It's not even evening and you're tired."
Raevin shrugged. "What, am I not entitled to be tired?"
Sareptiah just shook her head, then kept trying to read. In her opinion, Ally and Raevin were a couple of odd birds. It was just best to leave them alone and make no sudden movements.
"No."
"Excuse me?"
A knock on their door interrupted their friendly banter. Everyone in the room turned to the door and saw one of the Razielim Elite standing there. "Lord Raziel has found someone who could possibly translate the scrolls for you." He said.
Ally nodded. "Where is he? We'll bring him the scrolls."
"He is in the Library, in the main tower."
"Thank you."
The vampire nodded, then left. "Well, let's go." Ally said. She and Raevin gathered the scrolls while Sareptiah got up and motioned to Wraith.
The girls, with animals in tow, made their way from the bedroom to the main tower. They climbed the stairs, with Raevin climbing along the walls using the claws on her wings. When the reached the Library door, Raevin jumped down and pushed the door open. Inside, they saw that a large table had been placed in the middle of the floor, and a young man sat in one of the chairs.
"Uh, we're looking for the man who's supposed to translate these scrolls for us." Raevin called, getting the man's attention.
"That would be me." Came the reply.
"Oh…"
Ally jabbed Raevin in the ribs with a finger, then led them over to the table. "We found these scrolls in a Library, but we can't read all the symbols. Perhaps you could?"
"Of course I can." The man smiled at Ally. "These are fairly easy symbols to read. I'll translate them for you."
Raevin scowled silently to herself. She didn't like the way the man was looking, smiling, or speaking to Ally. But there wasn't anything she could do about it, except fume. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Sareptiah. The Hunter shook her head, and mouthed the words "Let it go." Raevin just glared at her, then turned away.
"My name is Damon, by the way." The man said, smiling again.
"I'm Ally." Ally replied. "And this is Raevin and Sareptiah." She said, motioning to the girls behind her.
"Pleased to meet you." Damon said, nodding to Sareptiah. He gave Raevin a dark look, hardly acknowledging her. Raevin just bared her fangs in a silent growl. "Interesting… friend… you have over there."
Ally frowned. "She's just like the rest of us."
"She looks like a demon."
Raevin's wings flared, and her claws extended a bit. She growled, this time loudly, and turned and walked toward the nearest window. She scrambled up the rock wall to the window, planning on leaving and letting someone with more patience handle the translator.
"Oh dear…" Ally murmured. She turned and walked quickly to Raevin, who was just making her way onto the window. "Where are you going?"
"Out."
"Why?"
Raevin looked down at Ally, then cast a dark glance at Damon. "I… I just need to. I need to think, be alone. Something like that." She said.
"You're not telling me the whole truth."
The half-demon stopped short. She hated it when Ally figured her out. And she seemed to be doing that more and more every day. "I…" Raevin started, but then just shut her mouth. It was no use denying it, she wasn't telling Ally the whole truth. But she didn't want to tell her she was mad because someone smiled at someone else the wrong way. "I just need to be alone for a bit." Raevin finally said. She turned and jumped out the window, grabbing at the rock wall with her wings and climbing up to the very top.
Ally frowned. She didn't know what was going on with her friend. It pained her to see Raevin in a mood like that, and it also hurt that Raevin wouldn't tell her the whole truth. "Sorry, Damon." She said when she got back to the table. "She… she's in a bad mood."
"That's understandable for something that isn't human."
It was Ally's turn to glare. She wasn't liking the way this man was talking. She took a deep breath, counted to ten in her head, and waited for her temper to simmer down. "We'll leave you to your work, Mr. Damon." She finally said. "We don't want to disturb you."
"You aren't disturbing me." Damon said, smiling again. Sareptiah was beginning to get annoyed. She knew that someone like Damon only smiled like that when they wanted something. She had peeked into his soul, and didn't like what she saw. "Can I see you again?" She heard him ask.
Ally glanced at Sareptiah, who shrugged in response. "I… need to go. Good luck with translating those scrolls." Ally said quickly. She turned and left, followed closely by the spirit animals. Sareptiah looked at Damon coldly with her good eye, then turned and followed the girl out.
Damon just smirked, then sat down to get to work. He would get what he wanted, he was sure of it.
***
Raevin sat at the very top of the tower, staring down at the book in her lap. She had managed to sneak it out of Ectoplasm's saddle bag, and she took it with her so she could look at it herself. She was a bit unsure about it, and didn't know if she should open it or not.
"What the heck. Why am I scared of a book?" She asked herself. She glanced down at the stark white glass shard hanging from her neck. Vogel had retrieved it on his outing, and had returned it to Raevin. She was reluctant to wear it at first, but for some odd reason she did. "Never thought I'd be scared of inanimate objects…" She muttered.
Placing a hand on the cover, Raevin slowly and carefully opened the book. She stared at the first page, the same symbols written on it that were on the scrolls they had given to Damon. She muttered and turned the page. She passed a few blank pages before she finally came to one that had something written on it. Or drawn, in this case.
The girl stared down at the image on the page, scared and curious about what she saw. In the image, she saw a girl sleeping in a bed. In the room there was a dresser, a closet door, and various things handing from the walls: pictures, posters, and weapons. Raevin's heart pounded in her chest. That room looked so familiar… she couldn't figure out why. But it scared her, and she reluctantly turned the page to look at the next picture.
On this page, it showed a different room. There were two couches facing a box like thing that had a window of sorts on the face. Stairs in the background led up, and there was a strange device sitting before the box. Oh my god… that's my television set… Raevin thought. Why were there images of her and her house in this book? The next page showed the device in front of the box (the Playstation) glowing and the TV exploding.
"This book shows what happened when I was asleep…" Raevin started, then turned the page again to see herself fighting the vampire that had come through. "And what happened afterwards…"
She looked through the entire book, from when before she woke up to where she was now. Then, when she wasn't even halfway through the book, the images stopped. The rest of the book was blank.
"What the…" She stared at the book. It hadn't exactly told her what had happened to her, but she had a slightly better understanding of everything now. Like how Vogel had found Sareptiah. (She still didn't know who Vogel really was.)
"What's going on?"