Disclaimer: I do not own cv...anyone who does not know this by now is a true pineapple (which is BAD)

wings, Hellsing transcends awesomeness, but the Arikado I'm using is from the CV Aria of Sorrow game nod

grr none of the symbols in ch. 13 showed up except for - so months ago, I came up with a complicated system using only the - (hyphen). But then I thought "hey I have WordPad!" and tada! I can use ITALICS now!

- - -
Live forever and die in the process... it only had to be repeated twice or three times before she decided to assume its meaning. Not all assumptions are stupid or far-fetched...unfortunately.

"They won't be happy. It isn't what they wanted." finally, she looked up at him. She had expected a certain expression, a certain feeling, but it was not there. She thought he would be amused with his idea, but his expression was nothing but coldness and business. Did he find this idea actually logical? He seemed to find it trivial. No big deal. All in a night's work.

"It is exactly as they requested."

"And what if I happen to like this punishment? What if I like immortality? What if I like being a vampire?"

"That is impossible." Ah, the twist of things. For lifetimes, humans looked for ways to prolong life and become immortal. Now, when given the chance, one was begging for the opposite.

"But what if I kill myself?"

"Would you?"

No...Damn, he is good at this game. "It can't...this is all crazy. I can't die! er...un-die...whatever. This isn't my fault! I didn't do anything! You can't-...HE WON'T LET YOU!" she clumsily stood up and threw the first thing she found on a nearby endtable. She saw that it was made of glass but couldn't tell what it was...especially after he caught it and crushed it in his hand.

"Now, why do they always do that?" he commented mockingly and extended to her the hand he had used to destroy the glass item. His hand had no lines, no fingerprints. It was like the hand of a marble statue except for small bits of glass embedded into the palm. The flesh was pushing the glass out of itself and closing up until wounds were only in memory. He carelessly shook off the dislodged pieces of glass. "Now, what was that you said?"

"He won't let you. He won't." Lena shook her head. Her eyes couldn't possibly get any bigger. She backed away and tripped over a chair, falling to the floor again. It didn't do much; Dracula was closing what distance there was between them.

"Who? Alucard? Or as I see now, Arikado...I still do not understand how you could recognize him during the ritual, but that is of no importance. What can he do? Do you think he even cares about you?"

"He may not, but he would care about what a monster like you does!"

"He loves me."

"Is that a joke?...ok, so, no. Look, you don't have to do this. Shouldn't you be on something bigger and more...I don't know, Vladi-like? Such as covering the world in darkness? Making a vampiric army? Something...like that? I can just leave. I haven't done you significant damage. I can leave like I was supposed to!"

"That is not what they requested."

"You don't have to listen to them! You're their master! You're..." Why are you so against the idea? Did you not ask for it? He was putting thoughts in her head...that had to be what it was. But she believed it..."Just...a bite. It's just one bite. And I'll have what I want, right? We'll all have...what we want..."

"That is correct..."

"WHERE THE HELL DID HE TAKE HER?!"

"We don't know! It wasn't supposed to work like that; you ruined it! He was going to stay here and kill her!" It is observable that magical skeletons just really aren't that smart since this one's bones were now scattered over the floor.

"Well, you knew this was going to happen eventually. You didn't like her anyway," added Death.

"...What EXACTLY did you ask of him?"

"We wanted her to die, but we couldn't think of a painful enough method."

"Yes, we wanted her to suffer an eternity's worth and then die."

He's going to twist this into something no one wanted...

And thus, he set out to find them. bwaha...

He brushed hair away from her face. His skin was like velvet, but it was so cold...not a normal coldness. Not exactly like ice...not like snow...it was something altogether different and disturbing.

His skin was velvet, and his lips were silk.

She saw herself walking in a dense forest. No light came through the canopy...the whole forest was covered in a black cloud. Somewhere ahead, there was a large structure. The architecture was rather baroque, and it would have looked beautiful if the walls weren't a dull gray and crumbling. There was a dome on top of the building. It looked like it was made of crystal or something else clear. In front of the doors were dozens of statues, all of which were in pieces.

Lena nearly tripped over the eyeless head of some statue or other as she picked her way through to the doors. The doors were made of the same stone as everything else. She stood in front of them, wondering what to do since there was no way she could open them. But the doors groaned and opened, making a tremendous grinding noise. It wasn't exactly the best invitation, but she took it and went inside. The room was large, dusty, and completely empty except for a statue in the middle of the room. It looked as if it came right out of the stained glass in a church. The statue was a female saint, and unlike the other statues, it towered over Lena and was completely preserved. It looked like any regular saint, but then Lena noticed that the woman's praying hands were pointed towards the floor, her glance also pointed down as if she was praying to Hell. The saint's expression was peculiar as well. She appeared to be smiling, but it was a malevolent-looking smile. She was disturbingly beautiful.

Lena walked around the statue and looked up into the giant dome. She had a clear view of the sky above. There was a black cloud...it was ominous looking just like the statue was.

There were another set of doors at the other end of the room. Unlike the entrance doors, they looked to be made of some type of wood. Lena glanced at the statue one more time, expecting it to suddenly come to life, but it did not, so she went through the wooden doors. The room she entered was not quite as big as the first. It was empty as well except for a rectangular stone block in the middle of the room. Lying on the platform was a girl. Not a statue. A real girl...sleeping. Lena walked over to the stone block; there was something strange about that girl. She lied as if she had been arranged by a funeral director with her hands folded and placed just below her chest. Her skin was immaculate and pearl white.

She wasn't sleeping. She was dead.

She wasn't just any girl. Lena was staring at herself.

"...You're not dead. You can't be dead. You're me. I'm not dead. Wake up. Wake up!" Lena nudged her dead self. The dead Lena's skin felt like velvet...where had she felt velvet skin before? Velvet, icy skin...

The dead girl opened her eyes.

"Oh my god..."

The dead girl sat up and smiled at Lena.

"...Who are you? Why do you look like me...where am I? What's with the demonic saint in the other room?"

"I am all the truth that you cannot run from anymore." the dead girl's voice was Lena's...but improved. It had some resounding quality...lined with poisonous dark chocolate. This added quality was familiar as well...

The dead girl took one of Lena's hands. Her skin was so velvety, but her hold was unusually firm. The dead girl raised her other arm to her lips and Lena saw the flash of fangs. The dead girl bit her own wrist and held it towards Lena.

"...What am I supposed to do with-" the two small pricks closed up, and the skin was perfect again.

"Oh, that is so annoying sometimes...do you want to help me?"

"I guess...I mean...you're me..."

"I need you to drink from me."

"Why?"

"Come, now. You said you would help me...help yourself, essentially...yes?"

"I...I guess...no...you have to tell me what this is-" the dead girl pulled Lena towards her and pressed her newly bitten wrist against Lena's lips. "STO-" blood flowed into her mouth. For the first time ever, she thought that it tasted...rather sweet. Maybe not exactly sweet...but pleasant. She couldn't describe it to herself. It just tasted pleasant...and she wanted more of it.

She could hear the dead girl laughing...but she couldn't see the dead girl. She couldn't see much of everything...everything was fading away...

"...Another one has passed."

Everyone stared at Death in response, even Arikado!

Death outlined a circle in the air with the tip of his sycthe. The circle showed a room in a mausoleum. There was a girl lying on a platform with hands folded beneath her chest. A corpse. Then another person entered the circle. She was walking towards the dead girl. The circle magnified the image of the live girl standing next to the dead girl. They looked oddly similar. They both looked like Lena.

"The master killed her already." was said disappointedly.

"No."

"Then why would you be seeing this?"

"The dead Lena is not Lena. The dead Lena is the Master."

"But they're-"

"They are."

- - -
This forgetting and remembering process was becoming rather annoying...but she was getting better at it.

She could see Dracula. She was holding his arm. She was drinking from him. In her thoughts, she demanded herself to let go, but she couldn't. She would shrivel up and die without more blood; she was sure of it.

"That's enough." he pulled his arm away from her, still looking like he didn't think much of it. "Go look at yourself."

Lena walked over to a full-length mirror and stared into it. She could see his reflection behind hers...so vampires did have reflections after all.

She saw the dead girl but there was still blood in her hair...shiny, perfect hair. She was covered in blood, but it didn't make her look dirty. It wasn't just the image that was different. She was seeing different as well...she was seeing so many different hues and colors that were bizarrely individual yet harmoniously blended into the whole picture. And she could see detail easier than if she had used a magnifying glass. "...What have I done..." And that voice. Her voice. The dead girl's voice...

She felt something push through her throat. It felt grainy...like sand. She tried to swallow, but that only made it worse. She choked and coughed...and red sand poured out of her mouth. Was he lying? Does this mean I will die?

"That is only what happens to your organs."

The sand collected in front of her, its red hue turning to brown then black. She couldn't think of how to react to it. It was her...some form of her...

"I believe my son will be joining us shortly..."

"Oh...wait. Aren't you worried? Aren't-...oh god...he'll see me."

"Worried? If you are implying that he will barge in here, decapitate me, and take my head to a bonfire, you are grievously mistaken."

"He's more formal about it, then?"

"Eventually, you will have to begin using your new intelligence..." he stared skeptically at her. "If he-I will use 'kills' for lack of a more correct word-me, you will die as well."

"...This might as well be the most important point in my pathetic human life, and you stand there with your arms folded so very carelessly. Do you create others often? I would expect you to be protective of your blood, considering your major ego and monumental reputation. I would imagine you searching the far reaches of this world for a human...the perfect human in your eyes to embrace. I'm sure you never considered much of-"

"I liked you better when you were scared mute."

"And I absolutely LOVED you when you were trapped in that catacomb." I can't stay here. He'll find me. He'll eventually find me, but that will be later if I leave...She waited for a depressing response from Dracula, but he didn't seem to have heard her thoughts. You. Are. A. Dipshit. Again, nothing. God is real. Silence.I WANT you! This was beginning to be fun. I-

"Death has spread the word. My other servants are all rampaging here with some assumption...they will learn to be patient."

"Master!" Death came not knocking at the door. "Th-" Arikado pushed him out of the way.

"You-" He saw her sitting on the floor like crumpled paper with a pile of black sand next to her. "This is your brilliant solution?"

"I thought you would appreciate or at least understand my genius. She is now something that you hate more than...everything. The irony is brilliant, no?" Dracula laughed. "You will have time to think this over. She needs to hunt now."

"You will NOT teach her-"

"Very well. You take her." Dracula shrugged and smiled connivingly.

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yeah...this chapter underwent lots of revisions...heh...rather awkward.