Requiem: Death Shall Have No Dominion
By Darth Stitch
DISCLAIMER: Same as previous chapter
Four – Though Hell Shall Bar The Way
"…Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by the moonlight, watch for me by the moonlight,
I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell shall bar the way."
- The Highwayman, by Alfred Noyes, as performed by Loreena McKennit
He remembers the stars shining brightly against the darkness of space.
He remembers seeing the deep blue of the planet that he knew was his true home, so starkly different from the crimson sands of Mars.
For once, Abel Nightroad knows a sense of peace, out among the stars, and yet, it is the beautiful blue planet that fills him with yearning.
The deepest, darkest blue…. like her eyes.
And then, he realizes that he can know no contentment here, in this Place of starlight, at least while she is calling out to him.
And so, he returns, to pain and sorrow and suffering and the first thing he sees is the Hated Other
(once dearly loved)
and the first thing he feels is that familiar burning rage. He is filled now with new strength to match it and allows himself to unfurl black wings and take to the skies once more, a clear challenge to the Hated Other to follow.
Shattered memories offer up this one's name, bitter gall on his tongue – Cain.
Weapons are unsheathed, fangs and claws are bared, blue and red lightning split the stormy skies. The Nightlord twins spare no words in their battle – their war is an ancient one and the grudges will never be forgiven. Wounds are exchanged and easily healed and even as Abel trades blows with Cain, his oldest memories are running through his mind, when they were both young, when Seth was still a precocious child barely out of toddlerhood and Lilith was still alive.
The vision is so clear to him…. Lilith's golden eyes dark with her disappointment and tiny Seth worrying over him. Seth is almost always on his side, even when all the rest are not. And Cain stands there with his sweet smile and gentle words and his apparently never-ending optimism, in love with life and everything in it, turning a seemingly deaf ear and a blind eye to the fearful whispers around them, the envious and hateful looks.
It is so easy to do that when Cain commands everyone else's love and adoration, the bright and shining twin, the finest accomplishment of the Red Mars Project.
Lies, all of it… Cain is his twin, his other self and Abel knows full well that Cain is filled with that same hatred, that same rage… only he will never speak of it, content to let Abel give voice to all of that resentment.
It is always so – that the twins would reflect the other – sun and moon, darkness and light.
And Abel hears Lilith whisper to him, "If your hatred and despair is the reflection of Cain's, then is not his love and hope the reflection of your own?"
How many times must I forgive my brother, O Lord?
Seventy times seven… for God's grace is without end for those who seek it.
How can Abel forgive Cain when he cannot forgive himself?
Cain's last strike takes out a wing and a leg and Abel deals back a wound no less serious and crippling.
They fall together … back into the deep blue of the Earth, with the nanomachines already mending their flesh and bone back into perfect wholeness.
And once more, the memories follow Abel, trying to sort themselves in some semblance of order, some measure of sanity.
And in that voice which has followed Abel in his nightmares, he once again hears Cain tell him, "Rejoice, O brother, for I have removed the negative element at long last…"
Lilith's eyes… golden as the sun, dark and dull with death, her severed head dangling by the hair in Cain's outstretched hand…
Her eyes… the dark deep blue of the Earth, call out to him one more time.
The knowledge of Her teases him, eludes him, hovers on the edge of his tattered mind and soul.
A sound startles him out of his mental wanderings and he leaps to his feet, wings outstretched, feet firmly on the ground, scythe in hand. Had Cain found him once more?
And then, he sees her… that blood-red hair, those eyes of deepest blue filled with tears, her voice a bare whisper, giving him his name.
Alive. Whole.
Human.
The humans, who had feared him, called him names like monster and demon but she simply stands there and looks at him with those beautiful eyes, calling him by his true name. And in that moment, everything in him goes utterly calm and still.
He has caused so many to shed tears before but not like this, not this ache, this pain, that makes him step forward and dare to touch her with his bloody, claw-fingered, monstrous hands, fighting not to tremble at the way she seems to welcome, to need that first contact of skin against skin. Not in this way that makes him speak and realize the truth in his words:
Don't cry. I can't bear to see your tears.
I know you, don't I?
And she answers him, her voice near to breaking and ah, God, it hurt to hear it.
Bright star, he finds himself calling her and in giving her name in turn, the scattered, broken pieces of his mind and memory finally settle down, center solely on her.
That first, tentative touch is not enough, for either of them. He tastes the salt of her tears against the softness of her skin, brushes gentle kisses down to the hollow of her throat, where he can breathe in her scent, feel her heartbeat pulse against his lips. He smiles faintly when he feels her hands in his hair, just as he too folds his wings close around her, whispers the very first promise he has ever made to her, a renewal of the bond between them.
Always yours. Always on your side…
Esther. Now Abel Nightroad knows he is whole, with her safe and sound in his arms.
There were so many stars in that Place where he had wandered to but she was the one who had shone the brightest, leading him home at last.
Five – Within the Darkness
I am a vision, I am justice
Never thought that I could love
Living in shadows, faded existence
It was never good enough
Within the darkness, you were the light
That shines away
You're trapped in violence, I can be the man
That saves the day
"For You," The Calling, Daredevil OST
The world cannot be kept at bay for long.
The sound of footsteps and voices made the Crusnik snarl softly and draw Esther protectively against him. His beloved's tears rendered him utterly undone – his first instinct was to destroy anything that threatened her, make sure that she was safe.
"Madre de Dios." Someone swore and Abel knew that there was a name and a face that he should assign that voice to but the nanomachines were still active within his body, demanding that blood be shed. Blue-tinged lips drew back, exposing shark-like teeth.
"Silly love," Esther whispered to him, reaching up to stroke his cheek. As always, she could sense the tangled mess of his emotions and his none-too-stable memories and knew best how to soothe him.
Carefully she turned around to face the others, Abel's arm wrapping around her waist, instinctively protective. "It's all right," she tells them, calmly. And then, to him, "Abel, it's the Professor and Father Leon, remember?"
William Walter Wordsworth – The Professor. Leon Garcia de Asturias – Dandelion. The two priests
(and had he not considered these men of the Church his enemies long ago?)
were staring at him with a mixture of shock, relief and understandably a little fear and wariness. Abel reached back in his mind for other pieces of information, the other memories. AX. Tres Iquus, Gunslinger, the partner he worked with the most, aside from Esther. Father Hugue de Watteau, Sword Dancer. Sister Kate, the Captain of the Iron Maiden. Little Caterina Sforza…. no, little Caterina was a woman grown now, the lady Cardinal known as the Woman of Steel.
Abel bent his head so he could press his nose into Esther's hair, breathe in the scent of her. He needed to place the restrictions back on the Crusnik nanomachines and it was proving incredibly difficult. He'd thought, long ago, that fusing 100% with the blasted things was the root of Cain's madness. And yet now, finding himself in that same position, he found that it was Esther's very presence that he was clinging to, grounding him.
A mental command had him bringing down the restrictions to 40 percent. He couldn't quite manage to bring himself back all way, not quite yet.
"We come in peace," Dandelion told him, waving a parcel that apparently seemed to contain clothes. "I don't think Sister Red's gonna mind you wearing your birthday suit there but we don't want to traumatize Sister Kate."
"Father Leon!" Esther blushed and very prettily too.
Abel felt his wings twitch and this time, he absolutely had no compunction looking up and baring his fangs in a wry grin. "Come a little closer, Leon. I'm not going to bite, much."
"We've been hauling ass over half of Albion looking for your scrawny hide and this is the thanks we get?" Dandelion exclaimed. He tossed the parcel of clothes over to Esther, who squeaked and almost dropped the things but Abel steadied her.
"Leon, now, really, play nice!" The Professor scolded. He waved his pipe at Abel cheerily. "Good to have you back, old chap."
"As long as he doesn't go all 'grr' and 'arrrgh' on us, it's all great," Father Leon quipped.
"Grr? Arrrgh?" Abel tried, his sense of humor beginning to resurface, the old patterns of banter and teasing easy to slip back into.
Esther giggled. "Don't encourage him!"
The Professor sighed. "Neither of them need much encouragement."
They had also brought a blanket with them and Abel used this as a makeshift hood to obscure his face as they returned to Buckingham Palace. He also used the too-long sleeves of his cassock to hide his hands – gloves would have been useless for fingers still tipped with sharp talons. He had no idea how Leon did it but blessed him anyway for managing to find clothes that were a couple of sizes larger, no mean feat since Abel was pretty much the tallest member of AX. The last thing any of them wanted was to scare any of the Albionian Terrans (or God forbid, the Albionian Methuselah) half to death with the sight of him.
Professor Wordsworth insisted on checking Abel over carefully first, so he was brought to a private room in the infirmary. Abel was, in fact, mostly unscathed, if in need of an infusion of Methuselah blood, which the Professor oversaw personally. Sister Kate had already dropped in to see him and took the opportunity to give Abel a good scolding, with tears of happiness in her eyes, telling him that he really ought not to take years off their lives by scaring them all like that. And then, the peace and quiet after her visit allowed him to finally more or less bring his memories in order, even if Abel still couldn't quite revert back to normal human form.
And then, once the Professor was satisfied that Abel was perfectly healthy and despite all appearances was not about to go on a rampage for vampire blood, he was finally left alone with his tiny, precious and very formidable wife. Esther had to glare Leon into submission when he refused to leave "the lovebirds" by themselves and firmly shooed him out of the room.
Finally, Abel learned precisely how they had….well, for a lack of a better word, resurrected him and he would forever be grateful to Lilith, Caterina and Tres, whose repairs were almost done – surviving a skirmish with Cain was no mean feat, even for a Killing Doll. This was also how he learned about his wife's surprising change in status – what was it about the two of them that they both somehow seemed to end up in the most absurd of fairy tales?
"Your Most Royal Majesty, Queen Esther," he teased her, deliberately exaggerating the title. "It suits you perfectly."
She blushed, hotly. "I am not…. oooh, this is payback for that whole Prince business, isn't it?"
"Seth will never let you live it down, you should know that."
She whimpered and buried her face in his shoulder. "Can't I just go into one of those nice, secluded, contemplative Orders instead?"
Carefully, he tipped her chin up so he could look into her face (always a good thing, because it allowed him to steal kisses at will, although he had to be a little bit careful of his fangs). "I'd join you but… it's too late."
The dark blue eyes sparkled. "Too late?"
He heaved a sigh, deliberately hamming it up for her benefit, feeling the nanomachines slowly, finally rest within him. "Caterina would dismember me, Seth would finish what she started… it would be all my fault and none of them would think it was your idea to begin with!"
She sighed, completely unfazed by now with the sudden changes in his appearance. "We can't have that happen. My poor Abel." This time, much to his delight, she did her share of stealing kisses.
And then, she drew back, took his hand and tapped his ring finger. "You're missing a few things, Father Nightroad."
"I'm missing my glasses and my hair ribbon – you wouldn't happen to know where they could be, do you?" He in fact knew exactly what was missing but he did so enjoy teasing her.
She pouted and let go of his hand. "Abel!" She waved his wedding ring in front of him. "I'm beginning to think that you don't want this back at all…"
"Esther," he said softly, taking her hand in turn and tapping her wedding ring . "I am well, truly and most happily caught by you and no one else. With this ring, I thee wed, remember?"
"And death will not part us," she answered, as she slid the ring back onto his finger. He could see her deliberately try to blink away her tears, try for a smile.
"Never," he affirmed, kissing her soundly again. Later, when he was less distracted, he noted, with concern, the shadows under her eyes that spoke of little to no rest, the slight tremor of her hands.
He caught those hands again, so small and fragile and precious between his own large ones. My poor Esther. "You should sleep, love."
"I'll have time enough for that. You should rest too."
Stubborn as always and oh, how he loved her for it. "I'll join you in a little while. And yes, love, I'll be here when you wake."
He coaxed her to lie down in the narrow infirmary bed that was meant for him, nuzzling her gently until she relented and closed her eyes.
"Don't be too long," she whispered and he murmured a "yes" as he pressed one last kiss in the hollow of her throat.
It would be a snug fit once he curled around her later, although he knew perfectly well she would not mind. He sorely needed the comfort of her presence as well.
There were other concerns, there were certain things that needed to be done. But, deliberately, he pushed them from his mind now. He would take this small piece of time, cherish it, watch over Esther as he had always done, thank Lilith in his prayers for this unlooked-for second chance.
He would take that small piece of time and make it last for as long as he possibly could.
- tbc -
Author's Notes: "Seventy times seven" – refers to Matthew 18:22 in the Bible's New Testament. I thought it fitting, especially for Abel and Cain.
Yes, we still have more coming!