Chapter 13
Celes waited outside the school, watching as the students emptied out into the dark. The Vampire shuffled in the cold.
"Stupid....... cold," she chattered.
Finally, Sayoko and Mana exited the school.
"About time," Celes muttered.
"This is early for us," Mana said. "There are still teachers in there grading papers."
"Right." Celes turned and opened her car door, then paused and looked back at Mana and Sayoko. "How are we going to work this?"
Mana looked at Sayoko. "Flip you for it?"
Sayoko pulled out a coin. "Ok, call it." The Goddess flipped the coin up into the air.
"Heads," Mana called out.
Both watched the coin spin through the air, before it vanished into the dark.
"Shit," Mana said. "Where is it?"
"I think it landed over here." Sayoko said, starting to dig through the snow.
"You sure?" Mana asked, joining the Goddess in digging.
"OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!" Celes shouted. "JUST MAKE UP YOUR BLOODY MINDS ALREADY!!!"
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Several minutes later.
Celes drove her car over the snowy roads in silence, while her passengers fumed in the seat beside her. Mana remained at full size, while on her lap sat a Mini-Sayoko.
"You didn't have to yell, you know," Mini-Sayoko muttered.
Celes rolled her eyes. "I already said I was sorry! Am I going to hear about this the entire drive home?"
"Yes."
Celes sighed, and then glanced at Mana. "I thought you were supposed to make people's lives hell. Aren't you the Demon here?"
"Yes," Mana said. "But Sayoko needs to vent, so I don't mind it a bit." Mana closed her eyes and laid her head back.
Celes looked back at the road and grumbled to herself about the injustice of it all. Suddenly Mana sat upright, nearly tossing Mini-Sayoko to the floor of the car.
"Celes," Mana began, nervousness creeping into her voice, "can you drive any faster?"
"There's almost 7 inches of snow out there with more coming down!" Celes cried out. "You want us to crash???"
"If it comes to it, I prefer crashing," Mana replied.
Mini-Sayoko frowned and looked up at Mana. Seeing the look on the demons face raised her level of concern. Then she felt it; a slight hint of darkness, getting stronger by the moment. It felt familiar to the Goddess and she ran through her memory where she had felt this before.
She didn't have to think long.
"Celes," Mini-Sayoko said, "I think you had better accelerate."
"Just because we're immortal doesn't mean it'll hurt any less if we crash," the Vampire replied, irritated.
"True, but it will probably hurt less than if Mana's father catches up."
Celes' eyes went wide and she glanced at the pint-sized goddess.
"Please tell me you are kidding," the vampire pleaded. "Please tell me that there is not an All Powerful Evil Demon behind us........"
"There is not an All Powerful Evil Demon behind us....." Sayoko said.
Celes started to breathe out a sigh of relief when Sayoko continued.
"There IS an All Powerful Uber Evil Rogue Demon slightly behind and above us...." the Goddess finished.
"Just once, I wish you couldn't tell the truth." Celes gripped the steering wheel tighter. "All right, hold on and start praying to yourselves we survive."
The engine roared as the Vampire pressed the pedal to the floor.
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High above the earth
Rei flew about the sky, searching for any sign of the probe. It was rather eerie. She knew that the earth stretched out to the horizon far below her, but all she could see were the lights given off by the cities and towns. Above her was nothing but black. It was if everything had been flipped around.
She was just reaching the skies above Europe when she heard a weak cry. Knowing that only another Deity could make the sound, Rei stopped and looked around. She appeared to be the only one around for miles. Rei was about to fly off when she heard the cry again, this time much louder.
It was Sayoko.
Rei tried to teleport to her friend's location, but something blocked her. Something powerful. The Guardian immediately began to fly as fast as she could, racing home back to Japan.
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Kei, Ichigo, Koishi, Hyosuke, Kaede and Matagu all walked along the road toward their homes.
"Man, it's cold," Hyosuke muttered. "I don't think it's ever been this cold."
"That's because the sun never vanished like this before," Ichigo replied. "The TV said it will only get colder till the sun returns."
"Who knows how much longer that will....." Matagu began before he saw the look on Kei's face. "Sorry, Kei."
The group walked in silence.
"Hey, Kei," Koishi said. "You want to come over for dinner?"
"No, thanks," Kei replied. "I want to be at home in case Mizuho calls." Seeing the look of confusion on the others faces, Kei continued. "She left me a communicator and showed me how to receive, and to contact her and her mother and sister."
"So why don't we call her?" Hyosuke asked. "You can tell her how much you miss her and see if she knows why the planet went dark."
"I don't know," Kei began.
"Do it, Kei," Koishi said. "You've been unhappy since she left. She's probably just the same way."
Kei thought for a moment. "Alright."
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Thirty Minutes later.
Kei sat back and stared at the alien screen before him.
"I don't get it," he said. "Mizuho showed me exactly how to contact her. Why isn't it working?"
"Maybe it's broken?" Matagu asked.
"Can't be," Kei replied. "Mizuho used it right before she left. I haven't moved it."
"Maybe you're not doing it right," Hyosuke said.
"I know I'm doing it right!" Kei replied. "She even watched as I contacted her mother and sister." His face brightened. "Hey, that's it! I can call her mother and sister. Maybe they know!"
Kei started typing on the alien console. Matagu grabbed Hyosuke.
"Did you hear what he said?" he whispered.
"What?" Hyosuke asked.
"Miss Kasumi has a SISTER." Matagu got a look on his face. "She's probably as beautiful as Miss Kasumi. She could even be my age!"
"She could also be a twelve year old brat."
Matagu looked down to see Kei, Koishi, Ichigo and Kaede looking at him.
"What?" he asked.
"Maho, Mizuho's sister, is like twelve or so," Kei replied.
"Ohhhh man."
Kei looked over at the girls. "It's not getting through."
"Maybe whatever is blocking out the sun is blocking this out too," Ichigo said.
"So how do we talk to Miss Kasumi?" Kaede asked.
Everyone was quiet as they thought.
"Wait!" Koishi cried. "Miss Morisato! She could help us!"
"That's right!" Hyosuke added. "She's a Goddess! All powerful and stuff."
"You forgot about Miss Kirishima," Ichigo said.
"There is no way I'm going to Miss Kirishima," Matagu stated. "Sure she can be nice, but she's a Demon!"
"I agree," Kaede said.
"Alright," Kei said. "We'll go see Miss Morisato."
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An hour later.
"I don't think she's home," Koishi said, backing away from the front door of the goddess's home.
Kei peered into a front window.
"Someone's home," he said. "The TV is on."
"Then why don't they answer the bell?" Koishi started to knock on the door. The door swung open slightly.
"That is not good," Matagu said.
Kei walked over and pushed the door all the way open.
"Hello?" he called out. His only reply was the endless droning of the TV.
The others followed as he entered the house. After walking slowly through the darkened hallway they arrived in the living room. Once there, they could see what was on the TV.
"Animal Planet?" Hyosuke asked curiously. "Why would a goddess be watching that?"
"It probably wasn't her," Kei replied, still looking around. "Could have been Pen Pen."
"The back door is open," Matagu said. He glanced out the door and looked around. "I don't see anyone out here, either."
"Kitchen?" Kei asked.
"No," Kaede replied as she walked into the room in question. "No one is in...." Suddenly she let out a scream.
"What?!?!" everyone raced towards the kitchen. There they found Kaede, sitting on the floor. In front of her sat an equally startled penguin, his beer and pizza bites scattered across the floor.
Kei let out a sigh of relief.
"It's just Pen Pen," he said.
"WARK! WARK WARK!!" Pen Pen cried, glaring at Kaede.
"I think he's mad you startled him," Ichigo said.
"Well, I'm sorry," Kaede said. "I didn't see him until I tripped on him."
Kei looked at Matagu and Hyosuke.
"Go check and see if they are out in the garage."
The two boys nodded and left the room. Kei's eyes then traveled toward the stairs. He started toward them and had just placed his foot on the first step when Koishi stopped him.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Upstairs," Kei replied.
"And what if they are here and dressed for bed?"
"If you heard a scream coming from your house in the middle of the night wouldn't you come down to check on it?" Kei asked.
"Well......." Koishi began. "That's not the point!"
"All three of us will go," Ichigo replied. The three left, leaving Pen Pen and Kaede to clean up the mess.
The three reached the top of the stairs. Kei reached over and flicked on the hallway light. Four closed doors could now be seen.
"Door number 1, 2, 3 or 4?" Koishi asked.
"Start with this one," Kei said, walking to the first door on the right. He opened it up and was about to peer inside when Koishi a-hemed.
"Alright, alright," Kei said, backing up.
Koishi smiled and entered the room. After a moment the light flipped on.
"No one here," she called out.
Kei and Ichigo peered into the room. It was very plain; a simple bed and nightstand on one side, a closet and a large dresser on the other. Only four pictures stood on top of the dresser. Kei walked over and looked at them.
"This is Celes's room," he said.
"The Vampire?" Ichigo asked, moving beside him.
Kei pointed at the pictures. "This guy could be her father. This one...." He held up a picture of a group of policemen. Celes stood amongst them. "....I think this was taken before she.....well.....became what she is."
"How can you tell?" Koishi asked.
"Her eyes are blue."
"Oh." Koishi then looked over at the other pictures. "So who are these people?"
Kei glanced at the first picture. It contained a large group of men in military fatigues all surrounding a platinum blonde woman who sat in a high backed chair. The woman seemed to be smoking a long cigarette. Beside her stood a gentleman who looked kind of like a butler. He even had a monocle in his left eye.
"Celes told me after she turned, she joined a group that hunted Vampires. This could be them."
The last picture creeped all three out. It was of a man in a red jacket. On his head was a red hat. His eyes were covered by a pair of yellow sunglasses. What caused their skin to crawl was the grin on the man's face. It seemed absolutely evil, and sadistic.
"I think that was the one that bit her," Kei finally said.
"Creepy," was all Koishi could say.
The next room they looked in was apparently the guest room. It was also plain and empty. The third door they tried ended up being the bathroom. No one was present there, either. The three stepped in front of the last door.
"This must be Sayoko's room," Kei said.
Ichigo opened it and peered into the room. Finding the light switch, she switched it on, bathing the room in light. Where the guest room and Celes' room had been rather plain, Sayoko's room was bright and cheery. The dresser top was filled with pictures in every possible spot. One wall was lined with shelves full of books, awards, even stuffed animals.
"For someone who has been so depressed lately....." Koishi began.
"Still is." Ichigo pointed to the nightstand beside the bed. There, a picture of a man in his thirties, brown hair and glasses looked back at them. Beside the picture was a box of tissues, almost empty.
"That's him?" Koishi asked, looking at the picture. "He doesn't look......"
"...She's a goddess," Ichigo said. "Maybe she saw something on the inside."
Koishi walked over to where Kei was standing, looking at the pictures lined up on the dresser.
"What are these?"
Kei shrugged. "People she knows, I guess. There are several of people at motor races. A few of her and her aunts in what looks like an Auditorium. A picture of her mother and father. One of her, the Eva Pilots and Mrs. Ryoji. Another one of her, the pilots and..........Miss Kirishima??"
Ichigo looked over. "Miss Kirishima?"
"Yeah." Kei lifted the picture. "Looks like they were our age when it was......."
A loud scream came from the downstairs.
"Pen Pen again?" Koishi asked.
Before Kei could reply, a loud crash was heard, followed by what sounded like growling. The three quickly flew out of the room and ran down the stairs. They froze just at the entrance to the living room. One of the windows had been shattered and pieces of it lay on the floor. Standing in the center of the room, her arms wrapped around Kaede, was Celes. Her eyes had a red glow to them, her fangs were out, and she looked pissed.
"Sorry for intruding," Koishi said. "We were looking for Miss Morisato and....."
Celes hissed at them. Kaede struggled to free herself from the vampire, but Celes's grip was like iron.
"You can let her go now, Miss Victoria," Ichigo said.
Celes snarled at her.
"Something's wrong," Kei said.
"You mean besides the fact that Miss Victoria won't let Kaede go?"
"Look at her eyes," Kei said. "They're glowing!"
"So?"
"In the time I have known her, Celes's eyes have never glowed."
"Great! They glow!" Koishi shouted. "What do we do??"
Kei glanced around and spotted a white and red mallet sitting in the corner of the living room. He raced over and grabbed it. Then held it up over his shoulder.
"Celes," he said, "release Kaede now."
Celes growled at Kei.
"I don't want to hurt you, Celes," Kei repeated.
"Just do it!" Koishi shouted.
Kei swung the mallet at Celes with all his might. The vampire reached out with a hand and easily caught the mallet. Kaede tried to escape, but the vampire's remaining arm still restrained her. Celes shoved the mallet back at Kei, sending Kei to the floor. Ichigo and Koishi then ran at Celes, pounding on the vampire with their fists. Celes swept them aside. She then turned and barred her teeth at Kaede. Kaede screamed as Celes pulled her close and leaned down toward her neck. Kaede closed her eyes as she felt something brush against her neck. Then someone screamed. Loud. In pain. And then she was free.
Kaede opened her eyes to find Celes face down on the floor beside her.
"Wha.....wha..." Kaede began.
Hyosuke and Matagu choose that moment to enter the house.
"What's going on in......whoa!" Hyosuke fell back as Kaede dove at him, wrapping her arms around him and crying. Hyosuke put his arms around her and looked around. Kei, Koishi and Ichigo sat dazed on the floor in the living room. Pen Pen's head popped out from under the couch, before vanishing back under. In the middle of the room was the form of Celes.
"What happened...." began Hyosuke again, before a loud thunderclap and flash drowned him out.
When the light faded, a woman with blue hair and armor stood in the room with them. She glared at the teens before her.
"Who are you and why are you here?"
"We.. we.... we.... we were looking for Miss Morisato," Koishi began.
"The house was open....... so we came in," Matagu continued.
"Miss Ikari?"
Everyone turned and looked at Kei.
"What?"
"You're Miss Rei Ikari, formerly Rei Ayanami, the First Child," Kei said.
Rei's face changed to one of surprise. "How did you know?"
"Sayoko showed me and my wife old pictures from Tokyo-3."
"The Alien," Rei whispered.
Kei nodded.
"Have you heard form her?"
Kei shook his head. "No. We came here hoping Sayoko could help us get in touch with her."
Rei sighed. "If she is in her ship outside of the barrier, we cannot contact her." Rei looked upwards. "We can't even contact Heaven or Hell." She then looked back at Celes. "Why is Celes unconscious?"
"She attacked Kaede."
"She WHAT?!?!" Rei and Hyosuke shouted.
"She attacked Kaede," Kei repeated. "It was..... unreal."
"And scary," Koishi added.
"Especially with those glowing eyes," Ichigo added.
Rei went to Kaede. "She didn't........"
Kaede shook her head and then hugged Hyosuke tighter.
"I need to look, just to be sure." Rei carefully pulled Kaede's hair aside and looked at her neck. She found no marks of any kind. Rei let out a sigh of relief. "She didn't get you."
"That's because she started screaming when she went in on Kaede's neck," Ichigo said.
Rei turned and looked again at Kaede's neck. A glint of metal caught her eye.
"What's this?" Rei asked, sliding Kaede's shirt open enough to see a silver chain.
"My Grandmother gave it to me," Kaede said. "It...... was her cross."
Rei's eyes widened. "Blessed Silver." She quickly went to Celes's side. "No wonder she screamed. It could have killed her, permanently." Rei began to nudge Celes.
"Do you really think you should......." Kei began before Celes began to stir.
"Uggghhhh," Celes murmured.
"Celes," Rei said softly, "you aren't going to kill anyone are you?"
"That was blunt," Ichigo muttered.
"Who wha??" Celes sat up and then grabbed the side of her face, "OW!! What the bloody hell!" Kei's eyes widened as the side of Celes's face that had been brushed by the chain came into view. It looked like part of her cheek near her mouth had just....... disintegrated. Pen Pen peered out from under the couch, but when he caught Celes's eye, he quickly moved back under.
"Rei?" Celes asked. "What happened? How'd I get here? Why is Pen Pen under the couch? And why does my face burn?"
"What is the last thing you remember?" Rei asked.
Celes thought a moment. "I was in my car with Sayoko and Mana. I had just picked them up from school." Celes frowned. "I remember Mana and Sayoko telling me to drive faster. A bright light........... then a really big shape....." Celes looked up at Rei. "Then I was here. What's going on?"
Rei sat down on the floor and gave Kaede a look before turning back to the vampire.
"You attacked a mortal."
Celes eyes went wide. "Oh my god. I didn't.....they're not......."
"She wasn't bitten," Rei replied. "She had a silver cross necklace that....... stopped you."
Celes looked down at the floor. "That's why my face hurts." She then looked back up and noticed the teenagers for the first time, taking close notice of the girl holding Hyosuke close to her. She recognized them from the previous year at the festival. "Oh... Kaede..... I'm so sorry."
"I don't think it was your fault."
Celes looked back at Rei. "What?"
"Kei said your eyes were glowing," Rei said. "A trait of Demonic possession."
"Mana's father," Celes whispered. "But that means........"
"Sayoko and Mana are probably in his power as well."
"But Miss Morisato is a Goddess!!" Koishi shouted.
Rei turned and looked at the young girl. "Yes, she is. But she is also part mortal and hasn't recovered from her experience last year fully." Rei then looked at Celes. "At least she'll be weaker with her powers cut off from Yggdrasil."
"So what do we do now?" Kei asked.
Rei looked up at Hyosuke. "See that she gets home. All of you, go home. If you see anything strange or out of the ordinary, or even if you see Sayoko or Mana, call me immediately. Do not investigate it. Understood?"
There were a chorus of "Yes, ma'am"s and the teens departed, all but one.
"Kei," Rei said, "go home."
Kei shook his head. "If I go home, I'll just start missing Mizuho. I want to be here where I can do something."
Rei nodded. "Help Celes to bed. I'll clean up things down here."
Kei nodded and knelt beside Celes. He draped her arm over his shoulder and slowly helped her to stand up. They then slowly headed towards the stairs, and then Celes' room.
"I'm sorry," Celes repeated again as Kei helped her to sit on her bed. "I've never........ I never attacked a human before."
"Never?" Kei asked.
"It...... it took me months before I even took my first blood pack," Celes replied softly. She looked up at her dresser. "Master....... finally ordered me to drink it." Celes let out a yawn and Kei slowly eased her back onto the bed. "Tell Kaede...... so..... sorry......."
Kei stood up and moved towards the door. He took one last glance at the now sleeping vampire, then closed the door. Arriving downstairs, he found the living room cleaned up and the window replaced. Rei was sitting on the couch with Pen Pen in her lap, looking off to the side deep in thought. Kei moved to a chair nearby and sat down.
"Is she asleep?"
Rei hadn't even looked at him when she spoke.
"Yes."
"Good," Rei replied. "She'll heal as she sleeps." Rei finally looked at Kei. "This is going to be really hard."
"What do you mean?" Kei asked.
"Celes was under the demon's control, but intense pain brought her out of it," Rei replied. "When we find them, we're going to have to cause Sayoko and Mana pain, a lot of it."
"You mean we have to physically hurt them?" Kei asked nervously.
"Oh, no no no no," Rei said shaking her head. "I doubt we'd even be able to touch them. No....... we have to hurt them mentally."
"How are we going to do that?"
Rei sighed. "With Sayoko, we have to reopen a wound that has only just healed." Rei looked at Kei, sorrow in her eyes. "What I have in mind will really hurt her, and ruin all the progress she's made in the last year. The problem, though, is Mana."
"How's that?" Kei asked. "After all, you did go to school with her."
"Yes, but she was secretive about being a Demon," Rei replied. "And then after we knew she was a demon, we kind of..... avoided her. Sayoko was the only one she really ever talked to and confided in, other than maybe Hild, Mara and Welsper, but they are currently unavailable."
"So we get Sayoko back, then she can help us with Mana."
"Which means we first have to find them, then get Sayoko separated from them," Rei said. "Of course, if my plan to....... break the control is successful, Sayoko may not be fit enough to help us." Rei stood up, Pen Pen still in her arms. "You have the choice of the guest room or the couch."
"You get the bed," Kei replied. "I'll sleep here."
"Get some rest, then," Rei replied. "Tomorrow is going to be a big day." She then turned and went up the stairs.
Kei laid down on the couch and looked out the window. His thoughts drifted almost immediately to his wife.
'Come home soon, Mizuho......'
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Mizuho sat near the small fire, her arms wrapped about her legs, trying to keep warmth in her body. Having gone as far as she could, Mizuho had resorted to the survival techniques she had read about since arriving on Earth. She had dug out a snow drift enough for her to be protected from the wind and snow. She had then made a small fire using pieces of wood she had found in her digging. The opening to her little shelter was covered up with her jacket, preventing what heat she had from leaving.
Beside her sat the pack, with Marie hanging out of it. She had spent some time trying to fix him, but she could really only guess what parts went where and what wires attached to what.
She finally laid down on her side, still staring at the fire. The wind howled outside as the snow continued to fall. But she tried not to think of that. As she closed her eyes, she dreamt that she was no longer in this cold drift, but instead, in her warm bed, cuddling with her husband.
"Kei........" she mumbled quietly as she drifted off to sleep.