Disclaimer: I don't own Legacy of Kain or any other identifiable pop culture references.
At that moment, Raziel returned. "I didn't find him," he announced. Then he noticed Kain. "What are you doing here?" Raziel asked, his irritation becoming more apparent.
"I was merely seeking a safe haven from my fanatical admirers," Kain drawled. "I don't understand how you manage to stay in one place for so long."
Raziel saw the cloth that Jennifer was pinning together. She explained Kain's illness.
"Once this problem is dealt with, we can go get Elizavere." Kain said.
"Why do you not confront him yourself?" Raziel asked. "And why do you expect me to help you?"
"Haven't you figured that out, Raziel? I dare not face him alone. Just because I was able to resist his influence over me once does not guarantee that I'll be able to do it again." Kain's tone became increasingly agitated as he made his speech.
"This should completely free you from him," Jennifer mumbled around the needle she held in her mouth. "Stupid vampire feet."
"I suppose I'll owe you a debt of gratitude," Kain said disappointedly.
"I don't know about tha-ack." Jennifer gagged as the needle slipped into her tongue.
"Why can't you gain control of the younger Raziel?" Kain asked Jennifer after she had recovered. "You managed to gain some influence over me, and his will should be weaker than the one you already have."
"It's because I'm already bound to Raziel. Part of me knows what would happen if I tried to gain control of that doppelganger, but..." Jennifer took a few panicked breaths before shaking her head, "It would be horrible."
"How did you know what I looked like?" Raziel asked
Jennifer refused to look at Raziel. He gently took her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. "Tell me."
"The game began just before your execution," she said, carefully keeping her voice flat.
A tangible silence fell on the room. The two vampires did not wish to discuss it. Jennifer continued sewing in silence until exhaustion claimed her.
The next day passed quickly enough. Kain fell asleep in the recliner with Brightflame coiled in his lap. Jennifer was now familiar with the pattern, so managed to finish Kain's new body by that evening.
"I hope you survive this," Jennifer told Kain.
As it was with Janos, there was very little ritual. Jennifer laid her hands on the two dolls. Tears spilled down her face as the power grew to painful levels. After a few moments, the power subsided. Jennifer removed the clan drape from the waist of the old doll and clipped it to the shoulder of the new one.
"Did it work?" Raziel asked anxiously.
Jennifer wearily sat on her heels. "We'll know in a moment."
The new Kain doll stirred into life. It examined its claws and asked, "Why can I not transform?"
"Just give it, time, Kain," Jennifer said with relief. "You'll regain your strength."
Raziel scrutinized the damage on Kain's old body. It had continued to rip under Jennifer's light touch. "Won't the same thing happen again?"
"Yes, someday," Jennifer said. "In fact, you might be in danger, Raziel. Will you let me look for damage?"
Raziel reluctantly dropped to his plushy form. Jennifer gently ran her fingers along his seams, checking for weak spots. "You're still good as new."
At that moment, Brightflame leaped to tower over Kain. "You should stay like this."
Kain growled and slashed upward at the dragon. Fortunately, his cloth talons could not do any damage. Brightflame struck him with the back of her paw; she only used enough force to knock him down. She butted the tiny vampire with her muzzle. Brightflame could not open her mouth, but she would've licked Kain if she had a tongue.
Kain suddenly transformed into his full vampire form. He held the dragon around the neck and scowled at her. Kain dropped Brightflame (she wasn't hurt) and turned to Raziel. "Let's go. I've got a score to settle."
The wraith Raziel crossed his arms and stood stone still. "Don't presume to order me."
Kain smiled, "Of course."
Elizavere lived in a run-down apartment. Jennifer had demanded to come along, and so she was waiting in the hallway with Raziel. They were treated to the occasional thump as Kain "questioned" the unfortunate man.
"I almost lost my life to your poor workmanship!" Kain's voice rang out through the door.
The pair could only imagine what was going on. At one point Jennifer found that she didn't want to think about it any more. She heard muffled cries for mercy.
It was then that Kain emerged. "He doesn't know anything."
"Now what?" Raziel spat in outrage.
Jennifer touched his arm comfortingly. "If your doppelganger is still hanging around, he'll turn up eventually."
The two vampires split up in hopes of finding Raziel's double. Jennifer was left to walk home alone through the darkened streets. None of them had expected the Lieutenant to find her.
He slipped out of the shadows and pinned Jennifer against the wall. "I don't know who you are, but I can see that you have met my lord." He traced his talon against the light scars Kain had made in Jennifer's neck.
Jennifer stared into his murderous eyes. They were a much paler yellow than she expected, framed by severe features. Jennifer's fear made her notice every detail. "What do you want?" She asked.
Raziel leered. "I was hunting." He pressed in closer to Jennifer. "Why did he spare your life? Answer me or you will be tonight's meal."
Jennifer scowled. Finally, she could see what Raziel had been like before he was cast into the abyss. This creature was arrogant and malicious. She willed her anger into a form and let the magic flow through her. The vampire let out a howl of pain as he was tossed several yards. Silvery violet energy chased and crackled over his body as he twitched in pain.
Raziel slowly rose to his feet. "You will pay for that," he growled.
Jennifer raised her arms and summoned a globe of energy, waiting for him to try and attack her again.
The wraith Raziel suddenly grabbed the vampire and said, "You will not touch her." He had been a little shocked to hear his own scream echoing from two blocks away. Raziel was unsure of what had happened between Jennifer and his younger version, but he was confident that Jennifer was not the first to attack.
"What are you?" the vampire asked in revulsion.
"I am what you are destined to become," the wraith sneered.
The vampire tried to back away from the horrific features, "Impossible!"
The wraith easily subdued his younger and weaker self. The vampire struggled harder, trying to use his weight to his advantage. The wraith simply kicked his legs out from under him and held him in a kneeling position.
"They're going to kill each other," a girl's voice suddenly rang out. "Stop him."
Jennifer turned to see a redheaded girl running up the street. She was about 5'2", and a scowl twisted her slender face.
The vampire suddenly ceased his struggles. "Kill my mistress. Then I can be free of her," he said. "I'll do the same for you."
"You will not harm Jennifer," Raziel told his younger self, forcing his head towards the pavement.
The two girls confronted each other. "Who are you?" Jennifer demanded.
"My name is Cynthia, and I suggest that you tell your demon to get his hands off of Raziel before he ruins that pretty face," she spat.
"Your vampire was going to kill me," Jennifer shouted. "What right do you have to let him do that?"
"He needs to feed," Cynthia spat. "At least mine doesn't eat a person's soul."
Jennifer's hair billowed around her shoulders, the energy building through her body. She got very close to Cynthia and growled in her face, "My Raziel does not need to feed on souls anymore. Why does yours need blood?"
"Have you told him that he's a doll?" Cynthia whispered.
"You haven't?" Jennifer asked in disgust.
The wraith had hauled the vampire to his feet. The two stood in an uneasy truce as they watched the girls argue about the way they treated their Raziels.
"I think this has gone on long enough," Kain said as he came out of an alleyway. He turned towards Cynthia, "Release him."Cynthia hesitantly took a step back. "I won't."
"Then you forfeit your life," Kain growled.
"Don't kill her," Jennifer said, her voice betrayed a sense of something important. "Please."
Kain reluctantly turned away from Cynthia. The younger Raziel nodded his head in respect to his sire and said, "My lord, are you a slave to that human as I am to mine?"
"I am no one's slave," Kain sneered, "and you should not be serving anyone but me."
"Forgive me, but she compels me to obey," the Lieutenant said.
"Fight her, Raziel, you have the strength," Kain said, speaking as if he was only telling Raziel to fix his posture.
Cynthia would not admit that she had just lost her creation. "Don't listen to him, kill him."
The Lieutenant shuddered slightly, "I can't."
Cynthia flushed with outrage, "How dare you?"
Lieutenant Raziel winced at her psychic barrage. "He is my Lord."
The wraith suddenly smacked Cynthia across the face. She collapsed on the sidewalk, her concentration broken. "Is there any particular reason for your not wanting to kill her?" Raziel calmly asked Jennifer.
"Yes," Jennifer answered. "I'm afraid that he's going to have to deal with this on his own."
Cynthia sat on the pavement, choking with rage as both Raziels, Kain, and Jennifer slowly walked away from her. She winced as she touched her bruised face, and she swore that soon she would have revenge for her humiliation and loss.
The four of them walked down the street. Kain and Jennifer followed the two Raziels, watching them argue.
"I don't believe you are me," the younger one said. "You are hideous."
"I was dragged through hell and back," the older one insisted angrily.
"They're going to drive each other nuts," Jennifer told Kain.
"They are both my first," Kain said.
Jennifer suspected that Kain was better able to comprehend the situation, or at least he thought he was. Her own mind first believed that they were two different beings, then saw them as one, and then refused to think about it at all. Jennifer rubbed her temples, "They're too similar; they're violating each other's personal identity."
Suddenly, Raziel held his younger self in a headlock. "I am Raziel, upstart."
"Lying fiend!" the vampire answered as he struggled to get lose.
"He is telling the truth," Kain interjected. His expression hardened for a moment. Though Jennifer still had trouble reading Kain's expressions, she recognized that look: it was the one the Kain wore when he ordered Raziel into the Abyss.
Jennifer fought to remain calm as she felt her mind snap. She found that she could no longer think about this situation in any rational manner. "Don't fight anymore," she begged wearily.
"One of us must submit, and it won't be me," the wraith said.
The vampire finally relented. "Who will I be, then?"
Jennifer finally suffered a moment of clarity. "Many people misspell your name as Azrael," she said. "Raziel is the angel who wrote the book of mysteries, and Azrael is the angel of death."
They agreed that the name fit the vampire now better than the wraith. Azrael was upset at losing his name, but he realized that he was the weaker of the two; his options were limited.
Kain refused to be involved in this change, he only acknowledged it after the decision had been made. He could only see the two as equals. Both had shown their devotion in different ways. One was loyal but had never known sacrifice, the other had been pulled from the moment of ultimate sacrifice.