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Replies to the guest reviews at the end.
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She knew.
Abel couldn't believe his ears. She knew. "How?" the question fell from his lips as breath. The only one who could hear it would have been Lilith.
"Cardinal Sforza showed me and Thomas a picture which had you in it. You were dressed as a priest with my rosary. It wasn't hard to put two and two together."
It had been foolish of Abel to think Caterina wouldn't have needed to show them proof they were from the future. The surest means would have been to show them a picture with Abel in it.
"Um."
Abel looked towards Esther. She stood holding a tray filled with food. Her eyes flickered between the two of them. She seemed uncertain who to address here.
"Will you be all right, Saint Sahl?" Esther asked after a moment.
"Yes, I doubt anything will happen." Lilith gave the girl a warm smile.
Abel felt his heart melt at the sight of the smile. It had been so long since he had seen it. The warmth lit her beautiful, golden gaze. A smile which always made the one it was directed towards feel safe and welcome.
"All right." Esther nodded she looked at Abel.
Abel just gave her a small nod and smile.
Esther moved from the room, carrying the tray. The others the Vatican had brought to serve as "servants" would have been delivering food to the guards while Esther had both Caterina and the pope.
Abel watched her go. She really had started to change from the girl had first met in Istavan.
Abel took a deep breath. He didn't know if he could tell her all of what had happened. The years of war, the years spent as a, well, a slave to the Vatican; then, the freedom he had while serving under Caterina. All he had done while serving as an agent under Caterina had been willing. The only matter she had asked was for him to keep the last order her father had given, to act as a fool. He had seen reason in it and even decided it was for the best. It was the only way humans had ever felt more secure around him, not feeling any of the fear he had grown so used to seeing when being around humans.
"Abel?"
Abel looked towards his beloved.
Her golden eyes were soft. "You really do see her as if she were your daughter, don't you?"
Abel coughed. "Yes, well, someone had to look after her."
A small laugh escaped Lilith. "Honestly." She shook her head. Then, as she looked back towards him, the laughter faded from her face and eyes. "Abel, please tell me what happened. My death shouldn't have caused you to leave your people, your sons."
"In the other timeline," Abel started, "the war lasts for another twelve to thirteen years. Millions are lost on the human side while even the empire suffers from the prolonged war." Pain pulled at his heart. It hurt far more than just thinking about all of this to confess it to Lilith. Fear flickered through the pain. Fear she wouldn't be able to stand him. "I was the one to kill most of the humans," he whispered the confession. "Sara, she was killed and I lost control over them."
"Abel." Warmth fell over his hand.
Abel looked at her as he forced himself to continue. "The war came to its final battles near Carthage."
Unease flickered over Lilith's face and glittered in her eyes.
"We, the empire, captured Myles on his way to reinforce your and Elissa's group. The next day you asked to meet with me, in peace, breaking one of the few rules we had made for meeting during the war." Abel took a deep breath. "We arranged to hold a peace meeting aboard the Ark."
Blood coated Abel's vision. The image of Lilith's severed head overtook even the sight of her sitting, alive, before him. Cain's almost boyish grin, his eyes glittering. The words he'd said about Abel now being free with only his boys left in the way of world destruction.
"Abel?" Warmth passed over his hand.
Abel forced down the images, the ringing of Cain's final words in his ears. He took a deep breath. "Cain had been made aware of the meeting," Abel started, his gaze locked on her hand over his. He didn't want to look at her, instead he kept his eyes locked on the intricate design of the henna on the back of her hand. "You arrived early to the meeting. He was there, waiting. Seth and I figured he jumped you before you could react to his presence. Stopped you from activating the crusnik."
It took all his focus to keep back the images from overwhelming his mind once more. It had been one of the worst days of his life. The only day which came close to it was-was—
Abel forced his eyes to memorize the patterns on the back of Lilith's hand. It looked almost like her cross. Yet, it held far more beauty than the cross. It was softer, more her.
"After your death, Seth and I decided the only way for peace to come was if our family vanished. Seth returned to the empire and later assumed the throne under the name Augusta Vladika."
"And you?" Lilith pressed.
"I went to Rome with you. I signed a contract which bound me to the pope as an agent. I would only leave," – he took a deep breath – "leave your tomb when called upon by the pope. It forced an unsteady peace between the Vatican and the empire. I served as the pope's agent for just over eight hundred years.
"During that time, I stopped conflict from arising to war between the Vatican and Empire." Now, the harder part, telling her what happened during this time without giving away every pain he had lived through.
"Abel," Lilith started while Abel was gathering his thoughts, "you gave your freedom? After how long it took the four of us to even achieve it?"
Abel looked up. His gaze locked on hers. Pain glittered in her golden gaze. "I promised you there would be peace," he stated. "They were some of the last words I ever said to you."
"But, this?" Lilith's hand wrapped around his. Her grip loose, almost fearful. "Abel, no matter the promise you made me, it shouldn't have driven you to give up everything, including your sons."
No, she was wrong. He hadn't given up everything by selling his freedom to the Vatican. He had lost time with his sons, for a future where they wouldn't have to fear death or lose and especially war. Aran had married a human because of Abel's decision. He had three beautiful children. And lost two of them.
Abel knew he could never had led his people after losing Lilith. He had shattered completely. Thus, perhaps, she needed to know everything that had happened between the day before she would have died.
"I proposed," Abel stated.
Lilith blinked. Her lips twitched in an uncertain smile and voice wavered with a hint of laughter, "W-what?"
"You said yes on the condition we couldn't be together until peace had come." Abel couldn't look away from her, even at the sight of disbelief he had proposed. "I told you, 'I will work tirelessly for peace until the day it comes. Then, we'll be together. I promise this, there will peace especially between the Vatican and empire.'" It was the one promise he had held to as if it were the only thread he had left to life.
"You," the word fell from her lips as a breath. "Abel," her voice trailed off with a hint of her shock.
"Centuries later," Abel continued, "Pope Gregorio called me into action once more after his daughter ran into within the catacombs. He ordered for me to protect her. Eventually, I requested to be transferred under once she became a Cardinal. His Holiness agreed to it and my contract was passed to her."
"Caterina?"
"Yes." Abel bowed his head. Then, he smiled at the memory of what had come next. "Caterina burned the contract after making a fake of it. She said she would rather have me at her side as a friend and ally, not a slave."
Lilith's eyes softened. "I take it you trained her as you did before the war with his Holiness?"
"In some ways," Abel stated. "But, Caterina is a natural leader. She never needed my guidance."
Lilith bowed her head.
A soft tap of plate being set before Abel made Abel look towards Alain.
"I'll see to the Admiral."
"Thank you, Alain."
Alain smiled and gave a slight bow of his head before he took a tray with another plate on it. He vanished into the hall.
"You stayed with Caterina then?" Lilith asked.
"Yes. Caterina made moves towards peace. She managed to eventually have an imperial noble allowed into Vatican Territory to help with a case. From there, the pieces started to fall into place until a Caterina could get in contact with empire once more. She headed for Carthage in order to meet with a messenger from the empire.
"From there, Esther and I were sent to the empire with a reply from Caterina to the empresses."
"And? Did you manage to get a peace treaty?"
"No. The time device was activated not long after Esther and I returned to Rome." Abel took a deep breath. His heart flickered and skin prickled. There was no way to tell how Lilith was reacting to this outside of the pain in her eyes and lingering in her voice. He couldn't blame her if her opinion of him changed negatively.
All he had worked towards had been done in her memory. Still, this didn't mean it was what Lilith would have wanted or even approved of. He remained motionless, wanting the feeling of her hand over his to remain. To just look at her.
Abel had slipped into a dream boarding a nightmare. His love sat before him, alive. She had spoken with him. No matter her choice on what was to happen next, he felt oddly content. Lilith was alive and he had spoken with her, told her everything he had fought for even if he had left out the pain on all which had occurred. The fact remained, he had finally told a living her the steps taken for the dream of peace.
x – Lilith – x
An odd numbness gripped Lilith's heart. She couldn't look away from Abel, her ears rang with all he had confessed to her having happened to him. It wasn't every event. Much more must have happened to him. Yet, did she want to know the full extent of pain her death had caused him?
No. No, Lilith couldn't bare knowing what had happened to him. Every detail of the life he had lived. She couldn't stand the thought she was the catalyst for all his pain and suffering. The knowledge on how much pain he had lived through – it was a matter she never wanted to know.
When she had first heard him speaking with Esther, she had been torn between thinking he viewed her as a daughter and in believing he could harm the girl simply because she was a "terran." It had been so foolish of her. She had heard how much he cared about Caterina's safety and still she had struggled to see him as anything but the man who had been consumed by his hatred after Arthur's, Kayson's, and Tabitha's deaths.
This wasn't the man who sat before Lilith now. This Abel had been forced to change in order to keep a promise, his final promise, to her.
Lilith's grip tightened on his hand.
No, he wasn't the hot-headed boy she who had first stolen her heart as a child. He wasn't the soldier who had kept her heart through the early years of Mars and the civil war. He was the kindness she had always known him to have. The man who cared deeply to the point it shattered with each friend he lost; yet, he found the will to keep fighting. She had always known he would do whatever it took for his people. Until this moment, she hadn't realized just what this meant.
Warmth spread through Lilith, swelling in her heart. Her thumb ran down the side of his hand.
Abel looked at her. His eyes softened. "Lilith, I—"
Lilith leaned over the table and placed her finger on his lips. "You don't need to speak." She returned to her seat. "Though," she started with a light tone, "you should eat." She tilted her head to the plate Alain had given Abel.
A small laugh escaped Abel. Instead of eating, he stood and grabbed another plate set on the counter. He placed half his dinner onto it.
"As should you." He pushed the plate to her.
"Abel," Lilith protested.
"Eat," Abel insisted.
A small breath escaped her. She did admit to being very hungry. Still, this didn't mean he should just give her half his dinner. "Remember the last time you took half portions. It resulted in passing out from malnutrition. Malnutrition which would have killed a normal person." She wagged her finger at him.
Abel caught her hand. His lips pressed into her finger. The kiss light, gentle; almost tender.
Her heart melted. Kind Abel.
"I am far from that point," Abel told her.
"You passed out from not eating?" the guard spoke. "That explains why you eat tones in our time."
Abel snorted and released Lilith's hand. "No, I already told you the reasons behind that, Asthe."
"Right." Asthe smirked and shook her head.
Lilith laughed. She had to admit she was a little disappointed the guard had interrupted.
"Eat," Abel pressed her, his eyes reflected none of the amusement he had shown when speaking with Asthe. His voice softened. "I know how hard it is to be a crusnik surrounded by humans, Lilith. You need to eat more than I do right now."
A small breath escaped Lilith. Despite the blood Alain had given her, she admitted Abel was right. The food they had to consume to stave off the thirst was insane.
She smiled at him. "Thank you, Abel." She took a small bite of the food. She felt her eyes widen as a familiar; yet, almost forgotten combination of spices washed over her tongue. "You got more of the herb gardens going?" she asked.
Abel chuckled. "Perhaps I should add the trade of lost spices to the negations," he joked.
Lilith smiled. "It would only work if they had ever tasted these spices before."
"True." He then gave another small smile. "When Barack's family came to dinner not long ago, we were talking about getting a few trees that produce cinnamon started."
"I'm amazed that was higher on your list."
Abel shook his head. "Other plants took priority," he retorted in light tones.
"I hope the empire manages it. It would be a shame to lose cinnamon."
Abel sighed. "Funny."
Lilith laughed.
(Author's Note: I am sorry about the delay in updating a Trinity Blood story. I had a lot going on the past few days. Thus, little time to write or really even record like I was supposed to.
Also, I'm sorry this is such a short chapter. I planned out this chapter and the next two. So this is all I wanted in the chapter to make it more impactful.
So, I feel silly. I got Caterina's position and Antonio's mixed up. I will be going through this and edit it a bit later.)
Guest 1 (the May 29th review): Abel isn't as skinny in this as he is in the anime. I go off the build he has in the manga and novels which is more a strong build. Also, where did I make it out like this. The only matters I can think of is when Alain dresses him and he talks about the weight of the cape or when he pales at Lilith saying she knows she dies. Sorry.
Lol, nope, Esther doesn't realize this.
Lilith is struggling with understanding Abel is different. A part of her believes his mind is from the future while another can't fully accept the fact. Thus, the conflict in her thought. Which is the main reason that is there.
Thanks for the review!
Guest 2 (the June 3rd review): This is a side "what if" story. Dawn of the Empire is the next book in the rewrite of the series. Though, I suppose all of the TB stories end up tying into one another somehow (at least drawing from Divergent Path and the incomplete Wizard's Treachery.) I am glad you enjoyed the old versions of those stories.
Thank you for the review.