A/N- What's that, Fanfiction? You want two chapters in a row? Ask and you shall receive! =D

Julianna…

Julianna, can you hear me?

Julianna, wake up…

'Julianna," a female voice called to her, rousing the hybrid from what felt like a deep sleep. Her carmine eyes opened slowly, blinking away the blurriness and turning her head in the direction of the voice.

Sure enough, there was a female kneeling beside her, one who was no more than thirteen or fourteen at the very most. Her skin was slightly tanned and her eyes were an enchanting shade of violet, holding within them a light that was friendly and sweet as all girl children were supposed to be. She wore a simple brown dress with a white ribbon braided in her hair and an interesting necklace around her slender throat; it was an ivory impression of a woman against a black background. A cameo, she realized, looking more closely at the girl. She looks so familiar, Julianna thought the longer she stared her.

Red eyes looked around, realizing that she was no longer in the mansion. Instead, she appeared to be in a dwelling made entirely of stone and laying on a rather comfortable pallet with a colorful blanket covering her, the small sleeping area surrounded by a sheer red sheet. All around her, there were baskets containing belongings, neat stacks of books at the side of where she lay, and candles placed in the niches in the stone for ambient light. The smell of something delicious cooking filled her nose. The more she stared at the space around her, the more Julianna felt that she had been there before.

'Are you alright?" the girl asked her, taking one of her hands in her much smaller one. 'You haven't been sleeping well lately. Would you like me to get your favorite lavender tea? Maybe it will help you sleep better at night." Julianna was taken aback, suddenly realizing that the girl wasn't speaking in English, but yet she was able to understand her with ease.

'Who… are you?" she asked, unaware that she as well was speaking the same language as the child, who cocked her head to the right.

'Who am I?" She repeated. 'Julianna, you know who I am; I'm your little sister, Ereavia!" She giggled, an innocent sound that made Julianna smile despite herself.

'Oh," she replied. Realizing that sounded rude, she quickly added, 'Oh, right. Sorry."

'It's alright, big sister!" Ereavia replied, affectionately hugging Julianna. Taken aback for a moment, Julianna stared down at the little one, embracing her in return. Sister… Have I a sister? This had to be a dream. She couldn't possibly be somewhere other than the mansion! The last thing she remembered was being attacked by the Hunter… Am I dead?

'Where are we, little sister?" Julianna asked, the words little sister coming to her seemingly from nowhere. Ereavia made a sound and raised her head to look up at her, those beautiful violet eyes of her never losing their sparkle.

'Home," she said. 'Home in Amarant!"

'Amarant," Julianna repeated. Ereavia nodded briskly.

'You know where Amarant is, big sister," she said with a giggle. 'You're being so silly, Julianna." Ereavia released Julianna and stood up to take her hand. 'Come on! Let's go find big brother!" Julianna stood without protest, allowing the child to lead her away from the sleeping area and to the opening in the stone which allowed a bright light to come through. Julianna raised a hand to her eyes to shield them from such a light as they entered its warmth. She lowered it once her vision returned to normal, her breath being taken by what she saw before her.

It was a city, the likes of which she didn't know even existed. For as far as her eyes could see, there was a great expanse of stone with holes bored into them to serve as homes and shops for the multitude of people that she saw walking around. These continued far down below where there was a massive marketplace selling wares of different sorts ranging from household items to food. Despite obviously being underground, there were lush green trees and shrubbery down there, a massive waterfall falling down into the center which served as a place to gather water. Her eyes looked upwards, seeing larger holes in the ceiling which allowed the sun to penetrate Amarant.

Looking around, she could see that the dwelling she had been in had a stone path which led to other dwellings on either side, a stone railing in front of them to prevent anyone from falling. As they stood there, she watched as men, women and children walked around on the lower levels, all of them dressed in simple garments. Looking down at her own attire, Julianna saw that she was wearing a blue corset with a black bolero over the top of it, heather gray pants which hugged her snugly, and black boots with stormy blue embellishments on them. Her hair was flowing freely, half of it pulled back to expose her pretty face.

Men and women alike seemed to have long locks of hair in various colors, all of them with skin that glowed in the sunlight. In fact, everyone seemed to be glowing… was this what spirits looked like in the afterlife? Those that saw her smiled and waved in her direction as though they knew who she was, Ereavia excitedly waving back with a smile. Julianna returned their smiles and waves, still in awe of where she was. This couldn't be real… but it felt so familiar that she couldn't help but feel as though she were home.

'Come on, Julianna!" Ereavia called, running to the right. 'Let's find Riordan!"

'R-Right," she said, figuring out that this Riordan had to be the big brother she spoke of. Julianna followed her little sister, still looking around at her surroundings. As she passed people, they all bowed their heads reverently, smiling kindly.

'Good morning, Lady Dashara." One woman, who was sweeping her cavern out, called kindly. 'It's nice to see you again!" Julianna nodded in her direction, not understanding why she was being called "Lady". She had no time to think about it before a young man called to her from a few caverns down.

'Lady Dashara! You've returned to us!" he said, smiling broadly. 'It's so good to see that you are well. We've missed your presence here."

'It's… nice to see you as well," she replied with a small smile, not knowing who this boy or even the woman before him were in the slightest. Going along with it, Julianna simply continued to follow Ereavia who was running ahead, forcing Julianna to jog to catch up to her as they went down the winding path.

Finally, she caught up to her right outside another cavern from which emanated the smell of gunpowder and smoke. Momentarily worried, she watched as Ereavia poked her head inside at a man who was standing at a large stone table with an assortment of metal parts on top of it.

'Good morning, Haredeus!" She called to the man who had orange hair and an equally orange beard that hung down over his white shirt. The man looked up with his amber eyes and smiled broadly at the child.

'Little Ereavia! How are you, sweet child?" He called back in a booming voice, walking over to the child and patting her head.

'Very good, thank you!" Ereavia replied. 'It's been a long time since I've seen you!"

'Sweet little one, you've been here just yesterday, amusing us all with your smarts and laughter." Haredeus laughed, ruffling Ereavia's hair. Noticing Julianna standing beside Ereavia, he bowed his head respectfully to her. 'And you've brought your beautiful sister along with you! It's very good to see you, Julianna." The red eyed girl smiled in return.

'Hello Haredeus," she replied.

'Come, come!" He invited them in with a wave of his large hand. 'To what do I owe the pleasure of having the ladies of the Dashara clan in my humble shop?"

'We're looking for big brother!" Ereavia said as she and Julianna walked inside what appeared to be a gunsmith's shop. She assumed it to be so, anyways, judging by the array of firearms and knives displayed on the walls and in a large glass case in front of them. 'Have you seen him?"

'Young master Riordan, you say?" Haredeus began, stroking his long beard. 'Why yes, I believe I may have." He turned back to a doorway Julianna hadn't seen before in the back of the shop. 'Riordan, you've got visitors!"

'Just a moment," a younger man's voice called back. Not a few moments later, a tall man emerged from the archway dressed in a red shirt, brown pants, and brown boots; he was very tall and broad shouldered with black hair which hung in his eyes until a pale hand brushed them away to reveal an angular face and stormy gray eyes which lit up at the sight of the two women standing beside Haredeus.

'Big brother!" Ereavia called, running to him to be scooped up and spun around by Riordan.

'Little Ereavia!" He replied, hugging the child closely. 'How goes your day?"

'Better, now that I've seen you!" she answered with a smile. 'Big sister is finally awake." Riordan's gray eyes settled on Julianna's red orbs, a bigger smile coming to his face.

'It's about time. How long have you been out of it?" He said, coming closer to her to give her an embrace with the arm that wasn't holding Ereavia. 'It's almost noon!" Julianna couldn't help but smile with his infectious beam. Big brother, her mind said. He sure feels like a big brother to me.

'I… must have overslept," she said, not knowing anything better to say as she was enveloped by his warmth. She snuggled into his show of affection, breathing in the scent of gunpowder. Julianna's smile widened as her heart warmed. I have a family… at least, in the afterlife.

'You have a habit of that," Riordan pointed out, releasing Julianna and taking a step back. 'You need it, though; you've been quite the night owl here recently. It's not good for you, you know."

'I don't think anyone has been sleeping well around here lately," Haredeus added. 'Have you heard the reports from above?" When none of the siblings answered, he explained. 'There's been more and more attacks on those blasted humans again by the Sangs. By the sounds of things, they're trying to hunt down us Amarant folk again and think the humans know where we are."

'When have they never tried to hunt us down?" Riordan asked. 'The humans have said that they've found us before and it was proven false, obviously, since we're all still walking around perfectly fine. I'm sure that in this case, it's no different."

'Aye, I hope they are just that. That's the very last thing any of us Advents need are humans or Sangs sniffing us out." Haredeus concurred. Julianna's interest was piqued at the word Advents. I'm… among the Advents, she thought. I thought they were extinct?

She was even more convinced that this was indeed the afterlife, after all.

'I'd rather have Sangs, to be honest," Riordan said, putting Ereavia down so that she could run out to one of the balconies which must have served as a garden to play with the other children who'd gathered there. 'At least, they aren't hunting us down in a desperate attempt to stay immortal. I suppose though that when one thinks about it, they are both after the same thing."

'Blood," Julianna and Haredeus said at the same time. They shared a comradely smile before Haredeus spoke up again.

'Well, as long as we have your mother and her band of hunters around, we won't have anything to worry about." He said. 'We'll be well protected from anything that comes our way, human or Sang. Right, Julianna?"

Julianna tried to reply, but no words came from her lips. No, the peace that was this beautiful place was slowly fading away from her. Julianna tried to reach out to Riordan, but her hand went straight through him as though he were a ghost. Twice more she reached out, calling out his name before everything was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

'…almost two liters of blood, but it looks like her regenerative abilities are still working. By morning, everything should be closed up and you'll never be able to tell what happened."

'Has she been infected?"

'No, thank God. Her blood work came back completely normal. Even if it hadn't, if she'd been infected, we'd know right away."

'But she'll live?"

'She'll be in a bit of pain when she wakes up, but that should go away quickly. I have to say, she's very lucky to be alive. If Trent and the others hadn't come out when they heard the screaming, I don't think she'd have lasted much longer. But yes, she'll make a full recovery once her transfusion is finished."

Julianna's head turned towards the female voice which sounded so far away, having a hard time opening her eyes this time. She took a deep breath, something which was cut short by a pain which racked her ribs. A hand came to her shoulder when she tried to sit up.

'Easy Julianna, just lay down. You're alright," the woman said. Julianna did as she was bid, her eyes finally opening as three figures looking down at her faded into view.

'Ereavia? Little sister?" she said, still speaking the same language she had before.

'What did she say?" A harsh male voice asked, her vision clearing long enough to make out the shape of black sunglasses and blonde hair. Wesker, she realized. A sinking feeling in her stomach formed as everything else became clearer. Her nose was assaulted by the smell of antiseptics, alcohol and… blood? A familiar face peered down into hers, a confused look plastered on it.

'I… I don't know," Jenna said, a strange light coming to her eyes. 'It didn't sound like any language I've ever heard before." She must be a little disoriented." Julianna blinked her eyes a couple of times, trying to clear her head as best that she could.

'Do you remember what happened?" Jenna asked, causing Julianna's red eyes to look at her again. She didn't know why, but under this light, she looked so familiar… so much like Ereavia.

'No…" was all she could mutter, a hand raising up to her head only to bump against something plastic over her nose and mouth. A confused sound came passed from her lips, not knowing or understanding just what it was. She didn't get that much of a chance to exam it when Jenna gently raised Julianna's head so that she could remove it and put it off to the side.

'What was she doing outside the mansion in the first place?" Wesker's annoyed voice came, causing Julianna's head to roll over in his direction. Was that displeasure she heard in his voice? A loud cough from her left made Julianna's head move in the opposite direction.

'I do believe that I was the one who said she was free to go where she pleased provided the doors were not locked or beyond the gated area," Oswell's voice began, his blue eyes locking with Julianna's reds. She was momentarily surprised to see concern within them. 'The garden is well within these boundaries."

'Did she not know that there was a Hunter loose?" Wesker argued. Both men suddenly looked at Jenna, who was visibly uncomfortable with the turn of events. 'Did you tell her what was going on?"

'I… I told her the bare minimum, but not that the B.O.W was still wandering around," the young girl replied. 'I assumed that-"

'How many times have I told you all what happens when you assume?" Wesker snapped. 'Were you too stupid to look for the Hunter rather than carry on your day as though nothing happened?"

'I- It was a mistake, I'll admit it. It won't happen again." Jenna replied, bowing her head down. Julianna could tell by looking at her that she wanted to say something else, but didn't dare to.

'I don't believe it was anyone's fault that the B.O.W. wasn't located sooner," Oswell chimed in. 'Hunters move especially fast, after all. No matter, what's done is done. Miss Dashara is alive and the Hunter has been killed. There's no need to continue throwing salt into the wound." He did give Jenna a serious look. 'I do expect, however, that in the future this does not happen again."

'It won't, Mr. Spencer," Jenna promised.

'Also, Miss Kelly, I would see you better warn our guest of the dangers of wandering too far from the mansion, unarmed at that."

'Yes, Mr. Spencer." She paused momentarily. 'Mr. Spencer, if I may, I believe that it's in Julianna's best interest to be given her weapons back in the unlikely event that something like this happens again."

'No," Wesker said right away. 'To give the hybrid those guns would be akin to throwing kerosene into an open flame."

'Perhaps, but without them her life would be in danger again if-"

'I said no, and that's final!" Wesker retorted sharply. Jenna quieted herself immediately, biting her lower lip so hard Julianna almost saw blood. Oswell watched this exchange before he piped up yet again.

'On the contrary, I believe Miss Kelly has a point," he said. 'I'd not see something like this occur a second time. Miss Dashara is much too valuable to lose to the actions of a rogue test subject." Wesker's jaw tightened, betraying how angry he was getting. 'Once she has recovered, see to it that those which rightfully belong to her are returned. I see no reason why she can't be trusted with them."

'I disagree," Wesker muttered, his dangerous stare locking on Julianna's face. Weakened as she was, Julianna couldn't bring herself to really give him one back. Just barely raising a finger was difficult enough.

Her vision swam suddenly, and everything faded into black.

A/N- FINALLY! I get to insert some elements from my novel! *happy dance* This chapter originally wasn't going to have the scene with Julianna back in Amarant, but it seemed like any time I tried to put something else in there, it didn't sound right. Hopefully it turned out good. =)

Please continue to review and follow the story! You guys are awesome!