Disclaimer: I do not own Trinity Blood. It is copyrighted to Sunao Yoshida and the Art by Thores Shibamoto, and to Kentaro Yasui, and GONZO.

+ dedicated to the late Sunao Yoshida +


Review Replies:

WHOA ITS ALMOST HALF A YEAR! O.O Oh please don't direct the Krusniks in my direction. I've fixed the whole story for you all to make it up.

Yep, and my sister hated AbelxEsther with a passion. LOL. But seriously, when I saw Abel slapping Esther in the cheek like that it came to me that what I'm seeing more of a brother-and-sister relationship. And I'm not even sure if Abel is already over Lilith. (I don't think so.)

And as to where to buy the novel, it is said that Tokyopop is going to publish it in English. There are also Japanese bookstores that sell them but its hard to look for them and besides, its in Nihongo. I think Kadokawa bookstore has some stock.

http/ www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 28897757/ - my ionxesther fanart. Based on Shibamoto-sensei's character design.

Info Corner: For those who do not know, the New Human Empire is located in the Eastern part of Europe (Turkey, Russia etc) whereas, the Terrans along with the vampires that does not mind living along Terrans were in Western Europe (Albion, Rome, etc.)

Warning: Matured story with matured conversations. Adults outwitting each other. Gore. (yum) Faint, faint williamxhugue if you squint more.

Author's Notes:
Ah Kami, when I get back to my former chapters I was horrified on my writings and formatting. So I've taken the liberty of fixing it. And gawd, I'm such an idiot that time. Crossing is my first ever fanfic here so the formatting is terrifying. (LOL) But its alright, I've fixed them already. Reread the previous chapters pls, I've fixed/altered some parts in there. If you've seen some missing punctuations and stuff, tell me because FFnet's automatic formatting sometimes messes up with it.

And oh, since you guys know already on how really long do I take to update, please leave a contact email so I could email you when I've posted. You can drop me a review, note or email. My email is found at my userpage. Those that do not have an account also can leave their email in the review post.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxOxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Crossing Differing Lines
veiledlantern

Chapter 4
Forgive me Father for I have sinned.
Part I

xxxxxxxxxxxxxOxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Intense, red eyes flashed more brilliantly at the facts delivered to his ears. It darkened till it matched the color of blood.

"This is bad" Ion said in a very, very worried tone."

"Hai, Kakka, Forgive me for bringing bad news but that is what our spy learned." A Methuselah subject was on his knees, eyes on the carpet, bowing to his monarch.

Ion swore in his head. He turned around to his trusted servant to bark an order.

"Gustavo, prepare my ship, I'll be leaving for the Empire immediately. Where is Abel?"

"He has not returned yet, Kakka"

Ion gritted his teeth. "Tell him that I'll be going back to the Empire. Also inform him what you have learned."

"As you wish, My Lord." The man bowed again. Ion did not bother for him to leave. He zoomed out of the room with his lightning speed, making him some blurred marks on the hall as he ran.

oooOOoooo

Abel hummed on his walking, enjoying the serene day. What more can he ask? No Contra Mundi for the moment, still waiting for the Vatican to move, the birds are chirping, the air is pleasing and some blurred thing is running towards him…

/Wait... blurred thing running towards me…/

He hasn't been able to finish his line of thoughts when the blurred thing abruptly stopped in front of him. Pale yellow hair tinted silvery in the heat of the sun from the filtered windows swayed from the action. Red troubled eyes deepened in hue because of some inner raging.

/This is not good./ Abel thought, looking down at his comrade. His mood suddenly plummeted from cheerful to grim.

"I'm glad you have returned, Abel. I'll be leaving for the Empire. Francesco had made his move. I have to inform the Empress of this. Ask the rest of the details to Gustavo" After giving his message Ion immediately resumed his pace and speed.

Abel's eyes followed the speeding nobleman before averting his back to the halls and finding Gustavo for information.

-----------------------------------

Esther opened the windows of the carriage to look at the surroundings. When she peered at the curtain, the children playing wave at her and the people passing by bow down as her carriage passes. She smiled at them and wave back.

/Don't worry, we'll all be just fine/ She silently promised them and gave an assuring smile.

The royal carriage slowed down as the number of houses decreases. The church of Londonium looms nearer and finally, they halted at the front. The Queen of Albion wrapped in heavy crimson brocade descended aided by one of her escorts, her expression veiled by the red cape. She was greeted by silence and the quiet swaying of trees when she stepped down the ground. She halted at the large arc of the church door and lowered her hood as she started to walk inside with her guards silently trailing behind her.

She held out a gloved hand without looking back as a signal for the guards to stop at the mouth of the church. Her escort removed her cape but she insisted on carrying it, smiling softly at him as she took it. Then she walked through the aisle towards the Confessional Booth and kneeled.

"Forgive me Father for I have sinned."

"What is it my child?" A smooth voice greeted her from the other side of the screen.

Esther paused for a moment and hesitated. Then the serene voice spoke once again. "Nobody is near, and they cannot not hear you. Please voice your concern."

The statement signaled her to speak. Esther sighed deeply and began. "I think you know it by now that the Vatican is focused on extinguishing vampires for three years. And we know that they're going to take all the excuses they've got just to find a reason to mobilize the army. But right now, there is a large concentration of the Department of Inquisition in Germanium."

The person at the other side of the booth is silent. He is obviously contemplating judging by the silhouette of his bowed head through the thick, bronze screen.

"Yes, we have also received the news of it, Heika. We are now in process of contacting Abel-san and Memphis-saku about it. And we want to tell you something. We have just recently found out that there are several Auto-Jäger that is present in a certain place. We have clues that Contra Mundi is there and is planning something."

"He is there?" The alarmed voice of Esther answered.

"Yes my Queen." The voice behind the screen replied. "We think that Contra Mundi is somewhere nearby. He had his accomplices around the area, we gather. The remaining members of AX are going to be with you in a short moment. Quite possibly, Abel is already attending the Contra Mundi to make them busy for a while."

Esther's heart skipped a bit on the knowledge, along with it a sudden revelation from something. The person opposite the confessional booth noticed the sudden change of mood and stirred, long wavy hair swaying from his movement. She didn't even have time to finish the ritual and immediately pushed the door open and rushed towards the long trail of the church aisle.

The man behind the screen is obviously startled by the impulsive actions of the Queen. He suddenly stood up to stop her from getting farther away from the site and activated the communicator at his ears while in haste of getting away from the booth.

"Iron Maiden. This is Sword Dancer. I need immediate assistance. The Queen is currently vulnerable to attacks right now as she is distancing herself away from me. She is outside the church as of now. Locate and secure her immediately if I may be delayed."

The female voice on the other end of the line gasped softly before replying in a worried tone. "H-Hai"

Hugue inwardly cursed as he heard some commotion outside and before he could see what was happening, several bulky framed creatures that possess fangs and wielding large axes blocked the view.

"Auto-Jäger" He hisses. The machines started attacking him and he immediately made a grab of his sword to cut through the intervention. It's true that this is the first time he saw these beings but Abel's descriptions on their appearance and nature were exactly as he says.

But it does not matter this time. The main concern right now is to bring Queen Esther into safety.

He cursed for another time when he heard the unmistakable scream outside the cathedral, while the Auto-Jäger seems to be increasing in number in his side.

--------

Esther screamed when the last of her escorts fall down from the continuous attacks of the vicious Auto-Jäger(s). She tied her hood in her throat to make her arms available for fighting as she run and kick and evade the attacks from the monsters. She had been able to snatch a rifle from a fallen soldier and fired the last moment before one of the creatures brain her in half. She immediately dashed toward the carriage where her shotgun armed with silver bullets is while firing successively at anyone who jumps at her. All the while making her elegant gown being torn at the process but she did not pay attention to it. Instead, she berated herself for leaving the weapon behind, and for getting used on the short peace their kingdom is experiencing.

"Chi" She bit her lips when several Auto-Jäger(s) bar her way and tried to fire at them but with some luck, she was out of ammunition. She threw the gun at them and started running to her left. The Auto-Jäger merely chopped the rifle in half and began pursuing her.

However, Esther's freedom is short lived as the creatures easily obstructed her every way out, using their vampiric speed and surround her. Esther glared at them. If she's still alive, the battle is not lost yet. One of the creatures ax is raised. She frantically search for a way out when suddenly, a ship zoomed past them, creating a gust of dust and wind. Not one to loose an opportunity, Esther kicked the nearest Auto-Jäger and ducked under their feet. She doesn't have the time to ponder who it is or what type of ship it is that suddenly passed over their heads as she escaped several blow by mere centimeters. Finally, one landed a blow on her shoulders and she struggled against freezing up in pain and continued getting away. A creature suddenly materialized in front of her and immediately swung the ax at her chest. She does not have time to register the move and prepare herself to feel the wound and even to die but all of a sudden the creature is gone and a large portion of them sagged and several sprays of blood showered her. And before she could even blink in surprise, she was taken away and been tossed far from the warring site. All in less than a minute. The person that dropped her on the grassy ground then sped towards the Auto-Jäger before they approach Esther and dismember them in a blinding speed. Almost half of the undead army sunk from the ground, crippled.

Then she was suddenly surprised by a faint smell of burning flesh and was horrified to see a mop of pale blonde hair speeding to and fro the large mob of ghoulish army.

Ion. She glanced at bright sun in the middle of its mid-afternoon path. Sun. Ion plus sun equals to bad.

"Ion! You idiot! You're burning!" Esther screamed in rage and panic. Ion ignored her and continued his attacks. The young man almost howled in pain when an Auto-Jäger had managed to get a deep wound in his burning back but managed to keep it down by biting his own lips. Blood immediately gushed from the tore lips as he decapitated the despicable creature. If he is going to die from the sun at last, then let him die protecting whom he had promised to protect.

Ion concentrated more on the killing all of them in record speed. His goal is to wipe all of them before he turned into mere pile of bones. He ignored the hissing of his burning skin and the pain that accompanied it. Ignore of how the old and recycled blood of this man-made vampires spray unto him, bathing him with blood, making him almost unrecognizable at all. Here he was in the middle of all these abominations cutting their head from the hollow bodies, removing limbs from its attachment and in return he was being awarded generously by a wealth of their hoary blood. Forcing him to take in this dirty red, used liquid in his boiling flesh. It makes him want to vomit.

A tip of an ax had caught his arms and in return, he cut off the offending arm that held the weapon. He is hissing. He felt his skin and muscles fizzing and emitting a dank smell. A combination of burning skin and blood. /Got to move…got to kill, fast. If I started freezing up I'll feel the pain and I don't think I can continue this/ So he raved and cut and slash like a madman, aiming to finish them off as fast as he could ignoring the numbing pain in his whole body.

A few minutes pass and Ion feels like fainting already. But it's a comforting knowledge that they are now already few in numbers. He paid no attention to the screaming girl at some considerable distance from his blood bath. But it did get his attention when the said screaming girl started running towards him, grabbing a gun on her way. He cursed silently and in his misgiving a creature caught his thigh cutting a two-inch deep wound that ran across the both end of his upper leg. The only thing that loosely held the frayed muscles together is the tattered leggings. This time he let out a strangled yelp as he felt the blood crawling inside his garments making a long trail of red stain inside his boots. The shootings almost sounded distant as more Auto-Jäger fell from it. Ion gave a disapproving glare. "Stupid girl. You're going to shoot me dead if you'll continue doing that!" He tried raising his voice to convey that he's annoyed but is only successful in making out a pained stiff voice.

"And what do you think I'll do? Sit down and watch you melt?" Came a shrill, outraged voice.

In Ion's annoyance, the stupid redhead runs toward him (aka. the peril) and he's going to open up his lips to yell at her not to go nearer when a swish of a long slender sword sing behind him and immediately took down two Auto-Jäger(s). Ion sharply turned to his back to see a tall, blond man with long wavy hair finishing up the remaining standing monsters. He recognized the man as the one who is called Sword Dancer. He watched as the stoic, longhaired priest silently finish the few remain creatures. And all of a sudden the numbing pain came rushing back to him in that momentary halting of movements. Ion screamed with wide red eyes and clutched on what flesh remaining in his arms in an attempt to hug himself. He felt his flesh slowly being eaten by the sun and it hurt like hell. He let out another deafening scream. Hugue immediately turned his eyes to Esther, sending the silent signal of taking him to an unexposed place. Luckily, Esther got the message. Unconcerned of her own bedraggled and bruised state she immediately ran to snatch the discarded cape and covered Ion with the long and heavy cloth. She almost wistfully regretted his sudden growth spurt when the laced edges failed to cover his ankles. The boy underneath the thick garment trembled in all the combined pain he is trying to bear. Esther is near in tears from rage, anger, worry and the unfairness of it all. She wasted no time and hurriedly steered him to the church.

"No, not there…my ship…over there" He grumbled as he pointed, voice straining in pain as Esther covers him with her own body in an effort to shield him more on the sun. She offered no resistance and made a run to his ship as she held him up in his arms.

Esther resisted the urge to dump the idiot mercilessly at the floor for his stupidity but as she hears the little whimpers every time they stumbled on their haste, or whenever Esther grabs a wrong body part, it totally made her forget everything including the blond boy's annoying actions.

But that does not mean that she's not mad at him for being stupid.

Ion sat at the nearest wall inside the ship with a hiss as the entryway closes. He closed his eyes for a moment and tilted his head, touching the cold metal surface of his ship. Esther waited for a moment and when the blond boy refused to say anything, she had enough of it. She grabbed his shoulders and the red eyes look down to her in surprise and winced in pain as her gloved finger dig in his flesh. Never mind her protesting bruised sore shoulders. Never mind that they're still covered with lots of blood. Never mind the current state of the red-eyed person in front of him. He's a Methuselah so he can cope with it.

Now to yell at the brat.

"What are you thinking about?" she screamed. "You know quite well that the ultraviolet rays could kill you and you still ran in the middle of it like its just some mere walk at the park in your kingdom! Are you out of your mind?"

Ion's eyes widened in surprise and a flash of hurt flitted across the crimson eyes before it developed into anger and… a hint of betrayal. "If I did not go there and gambled my life you're not going to be here screaming in front of me!" He yelled back.

"I could have handled myself over there! What's with all the saving? I thought you did not care?" Esther retorted with voice still raised. She was inwardly surprised at the bitter tone her voice had taken up on that one.

Ion has no answer to that or rather he can't answer that one so he ranted instead. "You're such an annoying nosy girl!" Ion shrieked. Face ominous coupled with a scathing glare and baring of fangs.

However, the intimidating look has no effect on the seething young Queen even for a bit. Esther looked at him incredulously. "And now you're accusing me of being nosy? You're such a brat!"

"Don't you even dare call me a brat!" He said threateningly as he tried advancing his body to Esther. "I'm not and I didn't…." He did not finish his sentence as pain shot through his veins once more, making him collapse and writhe on the floor. Forgetting their yelling contest, Esther kneeled on the floor and gathered the poor bundle of pain in her lap. She stared down worriedly, having no idea what to do.

Ion clutched the thick material around him, writhing and moaning with his eyes firmly shut and ragged breathing through clenched teeth. He can feel his muscles forming and integrating and heck, this is almost as worst as his body being burned in the sun. The pain is specifically concentrated in his torn thigh and its almost unbearable He chewed his abused lips more to stop from screaming once again. Then a slender hand tapped his cheeks softly then pressed his chin downwards separating his lips, urging him to stop. He opened his eyes and was met by concerned deep blue eyes that speak of disapproval. He let go of his lips and sighed, his head falling back on Esther's lap as he felt his wounds being attended and healed by his own body. But that did not help on lessening his blush a bit. Good thing he's all covered with blood so Esther won't notice his heating face.

"Do you need some blood?" Esther started to remove her gloves but Ion held her hand to stop her from revealing her flesh (and her veins) and shook his head. The redheaded monarch looked at him worriedly but succumbed to his wish.

Silence pervades the enclosed space. They are still at the dock of the ship after all. Only Ion's labored breathing is heard. Esther gently peeled the cape off Ion and looked closely at his recovering flesh. She then took out her handkerchief and started wiping out the blood from his face. Ion's breathing is still heavy as she observes his face. Long eyelashes are touching the cheek because of the closed eyes. His mouth is opened from his heavy breathing and she can see the sharp teeth every time he opens his mouth to take in some air.

"I could easily finish… them… off...stupid sun." Ion gritted his teeth while breathing heavily, trying to get up. But Esther prevented him to. She frowned and pushed him down back her lap. But being an insistent brat, he shoved Esther's hands away and wobbled through the electronic door. Esther let out an irritated sigh and stood up, took one of Ion's arms and wrapped it around her neck so he could have some support. She glared at him to dare reject her. Ion's brows met in defeat and he approached the door to punch the code to unlock it. That one also did not help on lessening his blush a bit. But at least Esther has not noticed it yet.

Outside, Hugue impassively drew out the sword from the chest of the last Auto-Jäger that he had slain and look at the closed door. At least the Queen is safe now. No need to go in and be involved with their personal lives. Hugue says to himself. He then turned the communicator on and reported to their mother ship.

"The Queen is safely disposed now, there is no need to worry" He said as he glanced at the reddening sky.

"Oh? So then we are a bit late then?" A voice laced with mild humor replied to him. The lean, longhaired blond man was startled not on the recognition of the owner of the voice but on how real and near it is to him. His eyes widened and he suddenly turned around to find William Wardsworth calmly smoking from his pipe.

Recovering from his initial shock, Hugue managed to open his mouth so speak. "Shishou." He curtly bowed.

The Professor surveyed the carnage littered to the ground. He doubted that this is a handiwork of his student. He let his eyes wander and spotted a ship of Byzantium technology in a place not too far away from their standing point. "So I'm going to assume that the Queen is safe in that Methuselah ship?" He said.

"Do not worry, it is only the Count of Memphis. Esther-hime is safe in there." The quiet, lean priest replied.

They're eyes met in silence for a moment before breaking away, each with their own thoughts. But they decided not to talk about it anyway. William closed his eyes, inhaled then exhaled from his pipe, savoring the taste from his throat.

Finally, the older man spoke. "They are still too young anyway. Many things can still happen. And the Queen is too tied to her country and her responsibilities to get hasty in this complicated matters."

Hugue only nodded in silence.

"Do not leave your post until necessary." The brown-haired middle aged man instructed. "You are the closest that we can get to the Queen without being too obvious. And as you can see, you also play a vital role for the protection of her Majesty. Because frankly, a handful of strong Methuselah is not enough." He surveyed the fallen royal escorts near the mouth of the cathedral noting several Methuselahs lying on the ground. "And this is the best communication that we've got that is not too conspicuous. Be ready to take the Queen back to her palace. I'm quite certain that the young Count is on his way to his empire. Lucky for us that he happened to seek her out before leaving. Me and the rest of the group are going to be on standby."

"Hai, Shishou." The stoic longhaired Priest affirmed.

William nodded and glanced a bit on his tall student before bowing a little that signals his leave. Hugue nodded back as William stepped back and walk towards the forested part of the town.

Meanwhile inside the ship the only noise that you can hear is the quiet hum of the machine, the faint taps on the water, and Ion's occasional grunts of pain. Esther had been able to strip him from his clothing and clean up the blood and the dirt from his body, careful of the burns and blisters. It will take a while before he'll be able to fully recover.

"You're an idiot… you're really such a big, big idiot." Esther grumbles while gently cleaning him up.

"Shut up, Esther." He said while gritting his teeth. He winced a bit when Esther grazed some sensitive area and he continued sulking. It's not that he's irritated on Esther or something. It's more like he's annoyed at himself for easily sliding back on that comfortable companionship that they have shared once. He's breaking one of his promises already. And it's making him moody.

"I'll be taking you to the Albion palace now, Majesty." He said with his brows creased together.

"Ion." Esther called him, emphasizing the honorific-less name to remind him of something. "You need to get fixed. You needed assistance. You need to recover first and that's a priority. Do you think you can do that alone?"

"I can manage" He then gasped at another painful tremor. Esther glowered at him.

"The hell you do! I won't leave you till you're fine." Esther declared.

Ion looked at the still blood-soaked Queen of Albion "I'm leaving for Byzantium, Esther. I thought you know about it already by seeing Sword Dancer a while ago from the same church that you came."

Esther bowed her head and her lips thinned. She then proceeded on covering the worst areas with bandages. There was another silence between the both of them as both contemplated on their different plans.

"Let's just use the radio then." Esther suggested

"No." He said. "Communicating lines in whatever form are as the too dangerous. There is a large possibility that every line that you are accessing is bugged." Ion frowned, staring at the empty air.

"But I can't leave you like this"

"But you can't leave your own kingdom like this" Ion said as he reviewed her bloodied, bedraggled look. The gown has suffered from multiple slashing of blades and is torn in different places. Some blood had crusted in her clothes and her now bare hands. Her face is smeared with red that she had wiped off a while ago.

Esther looked at Ion for quite some time, trying to find answers in those blood-red eyes. Because as much as she hates to admit it, he has a point. Of course she can't leave the kingdom that easily. Unless she's going to be in some diplomatic mission but still, Francesco is currently moving behind her skirt that everything that concerns the New Human Empire absolutely spells complications and trouble. In addition, Ion needs help and assistance and he can't go alone anywhere in his state. But this is a very important matter that concerns life and death. She just can't keep him here to recuperate.

Ion smiled wryly at how Esther waged an internal battle of her choices. Taking pity of her, he decided to speak. "Why don't you clean up first, Esther? I'll bring some comfortable clothes for you after you've finished. And then I'll take you back to your palace."

However, Ion only received a glare from the red-haired lady.

"We will ask Shimpu Abel-san to tell the Empress about it for you. You're going to stay here."

He sighed. "I can't. I've been delayed enough. And I think I can handle myself fine already." He put his garment on when Esther has finished bandaging him and gingerly stand up. "I'll take you to the palace now" And he strode towards the main deck. Esther watched his back with narrowed eyes as he walk.

But unfortunately, he did not reach the door of the room before losing balance and stumbled. Esther's eyes widened and immediately ran to catch the heavily bandaged slim young man before he fell into the floor. She immediately assisted him to go back on his sit. Ion cursed silently at his condition.

"Ion…" Esther gave out a pleading look. "We'll get other people to do this for you"

"Can't. Are you crazy? I needed to be there… I…"

Esther squeezed his waist as she pursed her lips and shook her head sadly. Ion look at her angrily then lowered his eyes.

"Oh I know!" Esther suddenly blurted out "We can ask Hugue-san to go and talk to the Empress about this, don't you think?"

"What? What are you talking about!" He said in a surprised rage.

"Ion…" Esther said firmly, cutting him off. Ion is to make another protest but the pleading blue eyes cut off his protest. The pale lean boy closed his eyes and deeply sighed. "Fine. But as soon as I recovered, I'll go. You go and change now, you're a mess.

The young Queen, despite her depressing appearance brightened up. "Hai, I'll talk to Hugue-san about this. I think he's just outside the church disposing of the bodies." Esther started to back down and make a run for the door.

"Esther, clean up yourself first, you've got blood sprayed all over you."

"No, no time, you said its urgent, right? I'll just fetch Shimpu Hugue-san first then I'll clean myself ok?" she called back before opening the hatch and running outside.

Ion groaned in frustration. He stared rubbing his creasing brows and winced in pain from the action.

/But nevertheless/ he thought guiltily /this really feels nice./

And he can't keep a small smile blossoming from his face.


Care to share the plural form of Auto-Jäger?

Shishou-master
Heika-Queen
Contra Mundi-the mysterious priest is referring to Cain. That is his some sort of codename.

Don't forget to include yourself in the mailing list, okay?