Note: I actually had fun writing this chapter. Oh, does anyone know a good free web service that's easy to use and good for posting text things and pictures?
Miyu was a pretty child, always laughing and smiling at everyone around her, always curtseying to adults, and never far from the hem of her mother's dress. She was still young enough to love her parents unquestioningly, too young to know that not all people are nice on the inside. Miyu was indeed a pretty girl, with her dark hair pulled up into pigtails, and two puppy-like chocolate eyes set above a button nose and small smiling lips. Miyu was a sheltered girl, and knew no evil.
It was a pity that she was wrong; it's a pity that she was pretty. Orlox brushed her locks from her face and throat, as he looked down at her drugged-sleep expression. The Nosferatu step back from the stone slab, being sure the knots that force the girl spread-eagle were secure.
His 'master' would not approve of this, but he knew better, without such... sacrifices, the slaying of his old master would not be possible. The German Aristocrat's narrow, pasty lips pulled away into a crooked, sinister smile that would do a movie villain proud.
At least his younger sister did see the need of it, Orlox glanced back at the tiny, white-haired young woman that watched the mockery of an alter that was before them; her crimson eyes gleaming with malicious mischief as her white yukata fluttered in the draft that invaded the empty masonry warehouse.
"Are you sure you need only one girl?" Yuri spoke in German; her honey-like alto was thickly accent with her native Japanese dialect, as she flicked a bang back into place. Lord only knows how she loves her older brother, but sometimes his honor can be an unbearable source of hindrance.
"Another will look like overcompensation." He replied coolly, as his wide, pointed ears flickered to catch any sound that may come their way. Then, Orlox dipped a horsehair brush into a small vat of red liquid, and lapping up the extra, he started to trace symbols onto the sunflower dress.
It's quite a pity that Miyu's brother had tried to stop them, though it was quite sweet of him to 'donate' the paint for this ceremony.
Upon finishing, the Count again stepped away from the unconscious child, his lips forming into terrible words that hung thick and heavy in the draft-ridden air, with Yuri positioned.
"Azrael, I invoke thy name, Suriel, I invoke thy other name, come forth upon mortal plane! I command thee by the name of the Trinity; I summon thee, Seraphim of God, Wings of Death. Death, descend from the star-crusted vaults, take this innocent as bond and as payment to bind thyself under my beck and call, in the name of your lord!" The vampire cried out with arms raised to the sky, his booming tenor echoed and reverberated around him. "Wings of death fly to the earth upon the rending of innocent blood!"
Yuri's claws tore through the child's throat, blood coursed and spluttered like the great falls, the girl could not do as much as scream as life fled from her tiny, wounded body.
The two waited in silence, and noted a thick crackle in the air, everything around them, and even they themselves felt sticky and needle- like, every touch they made let off loud blue sparks into the darkening air. Yuri cried softly as the deep rumbling of a tumbling wheel of iron and wood roared louder and louder, silencing all within.
Then it stopped; a pale blue light hovered over the corpse. Orlox grinned and Yuri gasped as great glossy wings of crow-hue unfurled from the growing light, and stretched themselves to a full length of forty feet, from tip to tip. A soft gentle hum fell from the form, as the light took upon a resemblance of human form.
"Is this... your god of death...?" The woman murmured as her blood-hued eyes widened in shock, as great rods of bone burst through the spine of the creature, and unraveled into a form not unlike a pair of deformed hands, or the skeletal wings of a great bat.
Pale white hair, streaked with the iron gray of age and silver of ancient wisdom fell over the prostrated angel's face; the blackest black orbs peered through the simmering veil, the dark wings held aloft, and the wings of bones were stretched outwards to their limits. The scythe of bone, bronze and electrum lay against the thigh, held by velvet-clad hands that peeked from a billowing, slick shadey material that clung to the creature from neck to feet, without wrinkle, sag, or bulge. The angel glowed with it's own inner light of silver; from feather, flesh, hair and even cloth, even without knowing the face, the sight was terrible as it was great.
"Azrael, Death." The Nosferatu addressed the spell-bound angel. "I have to admit I did not expect to see you in a form other then the avatar of the Reaper." He murmured darkly as he tried to gaze upon the hidden face.
"You should know like all deaths that I too can appear in different shapes and guises, Orlox Dietrich." The seraphim spoke with a chilling, song-like baritone as it rose up to its full height of seven feet, the impossibly long hair fell back, exposing the face to the vampiric creatures.
There is nothing so terrible or as horrible as a beautiful face that had been ravaged by time, sorrow, and apathy; far more frightening then a face that was born hideous. The ashen lids with their long pale lashes were slightly swollen and the high-boned cheeks creased by tears that never flowed, fine lines of time had etched themselves around the soulless eyes and the soft, full rogue lips that were cracked and dry for reasons unknown, the tapered chin and romanesque nose seemed untouched by the haggard disfiguration created by a sadness that was not the angel's own. Though the form was masculine, the face – if restored to its original beauty, it would have been of such a glorious femininity that would shame even the legendary Helen of Troy.
Yuri finally snapped out of the daze she was under. If only Yoarashi realized how power and what glory this... this hideous foreigner had brought tonight... she smiled with painted scarlet lips. Yes, she'll tell her brother how she helped further the family's power, and then he'll realize what a fool he was for loving that bitch Ayame instead of her! The maniacal gleam of jealousy and inner-rage was quite evident in her red eyes.
"Why for did you summon me in the same manner as a demon?" The cool voice flared with a righteous temper that sounded far too large to have originated from the boney frame.
"It is a binding you had subjected yourself in before, Death, I suggest you do not protest it to me!" Orlox growled as he waved his hand dismissively. "You have a task that I will set out for you, finish it and I shall release you from servitude."
"You are not Lord Dracula, Orlox Dietrich, my bind to him is much greater then this, and of an arrangement befitting of myself...!" The wings of death flapped and shut closed in agitation. "To summon me like a common evil... disgusting, but you seemed to know the seals well." The angel forced itself to bow. "What is the task?"
"You know of the foolish boy that 'your master's' soul lies sleeping in?" The arrogant grin was unmistakable, as was the sneer in his voice.
Yuri spun on her heels, and glared darkly at the hideous Nosferatu. He never told her brother that the boy was someone powerful! The lying little... she growled to herself, as her claws lengthened and her pupils narrowed into slits.
"Dracula is not my master, he is an associate by seal and contract! The only one I will call Master is YVH! Make no mistake on that, Nosferatu!" Death's feathers were literally ruffled as the pallid face grew flush with rage.
Speaking over the outburst as if he couldn't hear it, Orlox continued on. "Soma Cruz, I believe that is his name, I am sure you know of him – after having the avatar of the Reaper falling in a battle against a sixteen year old mortal brat." He let the words sink in, to sting the pride of heavenly creature. "I am certain you will want to show him how pricey the tuition is for a deathly education."
"I am an impartial creature, many will call on me for vengeance, but I myself am incapable of such thought." The face remained impassive like the skull that topped the vicious scythe.
"If Angels can not indulge in self-serving thoughts, then explain how did Luci—"
"You will not speak of that name!" Azrael snarled, revealing rows of sharp fangs as the anorexic-thin body sputtered and shook in rage. Yuri leapt back, fearing a retaliation for this strange offense. "You are treading on a perilous road, Vampire!" And as quickly as the came, it vaporized like morning mist, as if it had never happened. "As I said, I never fancy the ideal of revenge, even when I became the wings of death. Though he is now another, the boy is still the Vampire King, and my binding still hold true – I cannot and I shall not take his life."
"I did not ask for his death, I will kill him myself!" The Germanic Count hissed in anger – though truthfully, he knew he had gone too far, did not realize how sensitive these creatures were about the betrayal of one of their own, too ashamed of their ability to think of unclean things. "It is his companions – and I sure he has many close to his heart."
The angel frowned somewhat, yes it was possible, but why this course of action?
"Watch them, watch to see if they are a threat." He gestured lightly, as he peered out at the barred window to the heavens. "Another thing, as to make myself more favorable to the Gaki Shogun Yoarashi Yamato – I wish for you to destroy all vampires in Japan that are not align with either myself, or him."
The opinion that Death had of Orlox has risen a bit. The wings of death pondered over the command, the soulless eyes slipped close, as it visualize exactly what would occur if Azrael did go through with this.
"Very well, Orlox Dietrich, I shall do as commanded – how quickly shall the depopulation of vampires occur?"
"As quickly as possible without arousing too much suspicion." He murmured.
With that, the Angel bowed out view and into the night.
"You never told us that 'weak boy' housed a powerful soul!" The woman hissed and spat at the bat-like man, as twin white tails started to spurt and glide out from under her robe.
"I apologize for leaving that little detail—"
"Little detail?!" She cut him off with a jerk of her hand. "You better know what the hell you gotten us into, you idiotic foreigner!" The tails lashed despite the yukata had restricted their movement considerably.
"Calm yourself, Miss Yamato." Orlox raised his long, bony hands in a gesture of peace. "As we speak, the soul in him lies dormant and unaware of us, leaving the weaker boy unguarded. Though Azrael will not kill him for us, he can and will eliminate the guardians." His deep voice spoke confidently, assuredly.
Yuri tossed her head as she turned away with her arms folded over her slender chest; the tails started to melt back into her body, wiggling and twitching under the yukata along the way.
"It is nearly dawn; it is time for us to return to the shelter." Yuri stated in an expressionless voice, irritated by how she wasted her hours here. At least something was gained, she sighed to herself.
"Ah yes, it is, isn't?" Orlox ran a hand over his nearly baldhead. "I sometimes do forget that August is still the eve of summer."
Yuri nearly snorted as the Nosferatu dissolved into a colony of bats, fluttering and flying everywhere in the warehouse – until the vampire's mind directed them out of the broken window.
An idiot, a useful idiot, but an idiot nonetheless, she told herself as she slipped out into the darkness, the graceful form melding into a feline shape.
Perhaps I can at least catch part of him. She purred darkly as she brushed a pale paw over her wedge-shaped ears.