AN: Kill me already. Another slow update . . . My reason this time? Well, it turned out shit the first time I wrote it, when I rewrote it I had writers block, there is the little fact that I also suck at Jesse's POV, so I had to rewrite it again . . . finally, I decided: I'll make it NO POV so it's much easier to poop out chapters.
Gah. Whatever. Now, the moment you've all been waiting for . . . or, um, not.
- Lluvia
P.S. Sorry about the spaces in between the . . . 's. Something's wrong with my machine, causing it to AutoCorrect everything I do. Tis annoying.
P.S.S. BLADE WANNABE! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
Chapter Sixteen
'There is something I should tell you, Jesse,' Ashley said gravely, leaning against the adobe walls of the Mission. Jesse followed soon after, a slightly confused look plastered on a truly perfect face.
He had felt quite claustrophobic in Father Dominic's office, having five people crowded in the small space it contained, of course, would give the most bespoke person further claustrophobia in that place.
It was a relief to get out of there, he thought, standing opposite to Ashley, who had her eyes trained directly on him. Yet he was still thinking of the office, and how, if he had been with her, his querida, Susannah, would be in there with him.
But then again, his mind argued, Ophelia, Ashley and Paul wouldn't have visited the office in the first place. The only reason they were doing it was because Susannah was missing.
'Jesse, I'm your sister.'
That got his attention. He raised his head to meet her strange brown eyes, his widened to their full extent. Despite the unreality of it all, Jesse trusted Ashley, so obviously he thought her statement true.
Ashley gave a small cock of her head and gazed at him with her light hazel eyes. 'Your full name is Hector Jesse de Silva Alegion, mine is Ashwinder Valeria Noches Alegion.' Her mouth was pulled into an indefinite frown.
He looked at her wide lips for a moment before remembering who he was true to. Jesse averted his gaze. Ashley took in his silence and initial reaction and continued her story.
'The only reason I was being so, well . . . bitchy at you in the RSL was because of this. I couldn't bear to see it come true again, you and the sovereign. You and Susannah. I don't envy her, by the way, you are very well suited but . . . I'm a gifted clairvoyant – not being vain, those words were Ophelia's exact – I couldn't see that she was to be kidnapped, but I knew that something bad was going to arouse. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this earlier.'
A pause. Jesse soaked this in. More things fell into place. He hated not knowing things, and this was really good news for him to report, based on that dislike.
Ashley, a second later, unrelenting added to her account.
'We were the first of our kind. The race of Alegion. Our mother was the holy spirit Valerie . . .' Jesse glimpsed a look at her face, feeling rather guilty for looking at her flawless stereotype face.
His eyes interlocked with hers, quite alarmed although he never showed it, Jesse registered a second later that her eyes had changed from the dark brown to a deep, dark blue. 'You'll never guess who our father was, though.'
A sleek, jet black eyebrow rose elegantly as he questioned, 'Elvis Presley?' He got this little bit of slang of a few of his friends at the hospital. Ashley snorted, unable to stop the grin from lighting up on her face.
'No, stupid,' Jesse noticed that her eyes had changed again. They were still blue, only one of the most lightest shades he had ever seen in irises. Ashley leaned off the thick, adobe wall.
'Our father was the person that, in a Christian religion, and some others, was labelled only as God.' This fact made Jesse blink around nine times in shock before his expression grew stony again.
No time to be shocked, de Silva, you have to listen to the facts, the wise side of his mind told him. He abided.
Ashley was completely sympathetic over his lack of words, she replied to his silence neither eagerly nor half-heartedly. Just calm. And casual. Like she always had been.
'I can't go into the full story, right now, Jesse. That would take too long. But I just want to let you know, I'm always here. And, if you ever need protecting, I'm a very skilled fighter – period.'
Jesse almost fainted. Ashley did not know how much she sounded like Susannah. He told her this after he had straightened, feeling kind of low because the whole prospect of his querida was sinking in.
The initial shock had worn off.
Susannah was gone.
'You really miss her, don't you?' A question. A simple question. Jesse knew the answer to it. His eyes once again met hers, only to find they were the deep blue again – obviously in sadness.
She cared. She really cared. Only someone with that gaze could tell him that she wasn't lying about everything she had said. He had dedication and the highest trust in her. His sister . . .
'Yes. I do.'
Ashley shot him a small smile, 'I'm not even going to bother telling you it's alright, that things will clear up soon . . . because that's not how the real world operates, brother. All I can tell you is that I have enough faith in you and Susannah to know that together, you will get through this.'
Despite himself, Jesse was able to produce a small amount of good feedback. 'And I you, hermana, I have trust in both you and Paul Slater. Buenos Diaz, now, Ashley, I think I need some time alone.'
His gaze didn't avert fast enough. Briefly, he saw her multicoloured eyes flash to a murky, purple colour.
Whatever that means, he thought as he walked, I wish her well. I wish mi querida well, also. Although the only thing I want is to feel her in my arms again.
He made a silent prayer as his mind slowly forced his legs to move towards the way of the courtyard before visiting the graveyard – his normal thinking spot.
"Dear Padre,
I do not care what you do with me or if I die today, tomorrow, in the next week . . . just please, bring Susannah home safely.
Your loving son, (literally)
Jesse de Silva."
-(§)-
Five minutes later, Jesse walked down the small rock path towards his grave. Although there was no longer any body left in the grave, Jesse still found it to be his. The writing that Susannah had asked the professionals to etch into the headstone made his heart yearn even further for her than it did already.
Here lies Hector 'Jesse' de Silva 1930 – 1950, Beloved brother, son and friend.
For reasons unknown, Jesse found himself humming a small yet beautiful tune of a song he had once heard off the radio. It related so much to him and Susannah it wasn't uncanny at all.
'Want you, miss you, love you I do . . . Never want to be this far from you, again . . . I long to touch you, and I need to hold you . . .'
It was all he could do for himself to stop his voice from piercing the silence after he had started. He tried this and failed.
'Hopeless longing for the touch of your hand . . . And baby, here I am . . . Nothing but blue . . . Baby you'll never know how much I . . . Want you, miss you, love you . . .'
Susannah, this is for you, he thought, still longing for her touch, as he had sung.
He knew, deep in his heart, that maybe he would never find his querida again. He forced this to the back of his mind. Trying to forget about it . . .
'As they say, hope springs eternal, I love you querida. Don't forget that. We'll find each other again, we always do.' was the last thing he uttered as his hand swept the top of his rocky headstone and began to walk back to the Mission and into Father Dominic's office.
This had all happened too fast for him to see the sign he had been waiting for. The sign that told him that there was, after all, a father who cared so much about him and his Alegion double.
On the right side of his headstone lay a single, white rose.
A sign of hope, truth and trust.
-(§)-
Jesse joined the others soon after. Ophelia was at the head of them all, speaking in a voice loud and clear – the husky tones and psychic whispers were dropped completely.
'We have bought back Radian, the rebellion, so together we will aid each other in finding Princess Susanna Nightmare.' She cleared her throat and continued, 'Here I have a special Alegion blade. . .'
Ophelia withdrew, from the sash around her waist that kept her long, flowing baby blue dress, uptight, a pocket knife in a leather sheath.
She explained, 'If I plunge it into the chest of the person I want to hit, it will hand them characteristics that are purely unique. It will fufill the prophecy on their part and they will master many forms of fighting, weaponry, Alegion power and more!'
Then, without further ado, she walked over to Ashley and, with one powerful swift motion, forced the knife into her chest. Gasping with shock, Ashley faltered, stepping back a few steps. She clutched the knife in terror as Ophelia watched with a smile.
The rest of Radian watched in awe as suddenly, Ashley straightened, the pain supposedly gone and, with multiple wisps of icey white smoke, her whole body, all her facial features, were obliterated. All they could see was the outline of the once human woman, and instead of a normal human façade, the only fill inside this outline was a complete rainbow of colours.
It was beautiful . . . surreal. They had never seen anything much like it.
Still watching the amazing sight, suddenly, her body changed. Something was growing on her back, they started as small lumps and grew bigger and bigger. No one but Ophelia, apparently, could figure out what they were. The figure of Ashley grew even more perfectly curvy and thin. And then . . .
The rainbow fill disappeared.
Just like that, facial features and colour flooded back into the outline. But Ashley looked different. Completely different. Her once sandy blonde hair had changed to a dark, black-grey. She did not look at all old, however, like Ophelia did adorned with her grey and white hair.
Ashwinder.
Her eyes were completely purple, no pupils. Her ivory skin was unblemished and her clothes were only a black smock, the ends of the dress were in Gothic tatters.
Everyone's gaze immediately was averted to those lumps on her back. Jesse realised that they were not at all lumps. Now that he could see them properly and knew what they were, he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed them before.
Wings. Ashley – Ashwinder – had wings. They were gorgeous. Black with strokes and streaks of a darkish purple and grey. She used the new muscles in her back to fold them into each other behind her back . . .
Alegion Protector.
. . . Then, Ashley smiled.
'It's nice to be back.' Something was different . . . her voice! It was deeper. Not too deep, however. But just a slight change.
'Ashwinder!' Ophelia walked over to embrace her. Ashley, however, put hand up to stop her.
She muttered, 'Not yet.' Then, without further ado and with a sickening squelch, she removed the knife from her chest. The blood filled hole made Jesse shudder, yet, moments later, it disappeared.
Ashwinder then opened her arms and hugged Ophelia. Despite her haunting appearance, Ashwinder still held the human Ashley's emotions and memories. Jesse could tell when he embraced her as well.
'Mi morena hermana,' He whispered whilst hugging her.
Ashwinder grinned, 'Mucho Buena, chico.'
Paul mock glared, 'Hey buster, I heard that.' Both Jesse and Ashwinder laughed. Then, Ophelia walked to Paul.
'Do you want to go next, Mr. Slater?' Paul averted his gaze back to us, shrugged then nodded.
'Sure. Why not.'
Ophelia smiled, 'This might sting a bit.' Like she did with Ashwinder, she drew back the knife and thrust it deep into Paul's chest.
Like Ashley, Paul gasped. He clutched the place where the knife was implanted. His body became an arch backwards, as if he had just been shot. His complexion disappeared so only his outline remained.
Instead of filling into a bright rainbow colour, Paul's fill was a little darker. Crimson, Black, Grey, Dark Blue, Purple, Dark green . . . all of the colours that were of a dark texture were contained in his figure.
Paul also began to change. Not as drastically as Ashwinder – the wings – but still a lot. He grew visibly taller, The outline changed somewhat to register that new clothes were being placed on top of his body.
Something grew in his hand, larger and larger and, finally, the colours stopped moving around with their lava like patterns and faded back into human characteristics.
Paul Slater.
Immediately in taking in her boyfriend's new appearance, Ashwinder bent over in hysteric giggles. Everyone looked over at her.
Paul cocked an eyebrow, 'What? What's wrong with me?'
After a whole five minutes of non-stop laughter, Ashwinder straightened. 'You l-look l-like –a, a . . . Blade Wannabe!' She managed to choke out between giggles.
Jesse knew what Ashwinder was talking about now. He had seen the movie, "Blade Trinity" with Susannah when it came out on DVD. He remembered the appearance of the character Blade and compared it to Paul.
It was true. They looked a lot alike. Except, of course, the actual person. What looked most alike were their clothes and weapons.
Paul had the vampirish look about him down to a T. A high collar – black leather, of course – and an ebony bullet-proof vest underneath a knee length leather trench coat and straight black pants. Black gloves covered his hands and his legs were clad in very polished leather boots.
Slayer of Darkness.
The only thing different about them two was the skin colour, hair colour, eye colour, the fact that Blade always wore sunglasses and that instead of a large sword, Paul had S shaped knives.
Etched in the silver metal was a symbol Jesse didn't understand. In his minds eye, he copied the symbol – practically burnt it into his thoughts – and filed it away for further use.
'Your's is a bit different to mine.' Ashwinder said, looking at the blade. Paul looked confused but then she pointed to the symbol and another emblem embedded in, Jesse noticed, her own, quite long sword.
She withdrew the sword from it's holster on her back – in between the gap of her two wings –and held it out so all could see.
Again, Jesse filed this away.
Ashwinder: ф
Paul: ю
Like Ashwinder did, Paul removed the knife and handed it back to Ophelia. They all watched her to see what she would do next.
'Jesse, if you will?' Jesse stepped forward, tensing his body and awaiting the pain the previous two radian members had felt.
Ophelia whispered in his ear, 'Don't be so tense. It is easier and the sting is less if you stay relaxed.' Jesse nodded and let her continue.
She drove the knife into his chest.
It didn't hurt as much as it perceived to me. Ophelia was right, it was a small sting but then it got even heavier. This, he thought, was when Paul and Ashwinder held their chests in agony. He found, subconsciously, he did the same.
There was a brilliant white flash and Jesse could see no more. The pain evaporated. He couldn't think any other thoughts but 'this is it' and 'this is the key to finding Susannah.'
And then . . . nothing. The lights stopped and he felt pretty much the same as before. There was no more pain. He gazed down to see that he hadn't changed at all. Except that he had a staff in his hand that went from the floor up to his waist.
His eyebrows both raised when the members of Radian and Father Dominic's office came back into view. 'He didn't change,' he heard Ashwinder say, breathing quite hard.
It was only then he realised it wasn't her breathing hard, it was him breathing hard. Soon enough, he regained himself. He looked down at the staff. The head of the staff was black and the rest of it was silver. Carved – or so it seemed – into the silver metal, Jesse saw another symbol. His symbol.
He memorised it.
Jesse: δ
He remembered his name and title.
Hector de Silva.
Man of Honourable Intentions.
His hand flew back up to his chest and he removed the knife painlessly.
Jesse looked up at Ophelia, 'I didn't change,' he said, repeating the words Ashwinder had spoken. Ophelia just smiled brilliantly at him.
'No, child, you didn't change.' Was all she replied, nodding.
Being his normal, curious self, Jesse questioned further, 'Why?'
Again, another smile. This one was larger than before, and held much more knowledge and kindness. Ophelia, Jesse decided, was much like his own mother. In the 1850's, of course, and on Earth. He didn't know his Alegion mother, this Valerie.
'You did not change, Jesse, because the prophecy, on your part, has been fulfilled already. You are the man of honourable intentions,' Ophelia spoke, tones light and voice strung with vague shrewd amusement and thoughtful demeanour.
Jesse felt his face grow hot at this mention. Paul snorted. Ashwinder rolled her eyes and nudged him, whispering, 'Blade Wannabe.' Jesse smiled; Paul seethed, yet neither did reply nor start a fight.
Ophelia smiled at another lit up being. While Jesse, Ashwinder and Paul had been quarrelling, Father Dominic took his turn at the knife. When he came out, he looked younger, wiser and his long church attire had been changed from dark to a stunning white. A sun adorned one side of the robe and the moon on the other.
Minister of Awakening.
In his hand was a bible, and on that bible was another symbol.
Jesse registered it.
Father Dominic: φ
Ophelia did not change herself at all. She took out two things, however. One was a pendant, almost identical to the one Susannah had shown him before, except that it had another symbol on it. Again, he burnt it into the back of his mind.
Susannah: ж
The other was an old-style bow and arrow, this was obviously her weapon of choice. Itched into the wood of the bow and to the top of the arrow, was another symbol, different to the others.
Ophelia: Δ
Without explaining anything else, Ophelia strapped a holster onto her back and placed twelve arrows of the same size, shape and wood type into the open mouth of it. Then, she turned to them.
'Stand in a circle,' A moment later, they did so. Ophelia was at the top and then, clockwise was Father Dominic, Paul, Ashwinder and then himself.
A smile adorned her features. 'We will now visit the depths of hell themselves, to find out Princess and future queen.'
Then, she dropped the pendant.
And everything around them erupted in flames.
AN: -Squeals!- I FINISHED CHAPTER 16! YAY! –Grins widely- LETS ALL PAR-TAY! Lol . . . Or maybe not.
Can you please, please review? It took me so long to write this . . .
Please?
Love,
Lluvia.