A/N: Well, thanks to one reviewer (who shall remain nameless) I'm up all night again. Oh well, better than watching reruns.
Disclaimer: I don not own Trinity Blood.
"Stella!" Abel shouted as he jumped on her.
The Methuselahs' claws barely missed Abel's unprotected back. The two vampires stopped flying a few feet away. They hissed before one of them spoke up.
"Killer of the Order of Rosen Kruez… you shall pay!"
Their features changed to distorted rage as they began running with their claws outstretched. Abel pushed himself back up in time to dodge another of their sharp onslaughts.
"Leon, take care of Stella!" he shouted.
Leon ran to the girl's side, but her voice rang out. "No. Abel, move aside."
Abel didn't move. He wouldn't' let this girl die at the hands of Methuselah when she had obviously gone through so much. But Stella had other ideas. As the vampires attacked again, Stella jumped and pushed Abel aside. Her hands reached out and caught one by the wrist. Her hand glowed faintly in the bright sun.
"Damn you!" He snarled and raised his hand to strike.
"It's all right."
"What?" The vampire asked, astonished.
"It's all right. You are in pain because of your brother's death at the hands of this man, yes? You will be all right. You do not need to stoop to the level of a Terran because you are hurt."
The vampire blinked. "I…I…" He didn't know how to kill Abel without being accused of being a Terran.
"We are better than that. You can fight against him, but when you do, you'll show him that you are defiant. Just because we do not fight back does not mean we are not strong. It does not mean that one day we will not get our revenge." Stella stared him right in the eye. "You are of no help to your people dead."
The vampire's claws retracted and he stared in wonder at the girl in front of him. She flashed him a smile and all doubt vanished from his face.
"Die! Terran lover!" The other vampire rose out of nowhere and Abel could do nothing against his speed.
"Ugh!" There was the sickening sound as the claws met flesh and buried themselves deep. Stella's grip on the vampire's wrist she was holding visibly tightened as she slowly sunk to the ground. "See what happens? We are no better than them, fighting against ourselves. Ugh…" Stella sank to the ground.
"Die!" The Methuselah raised his hand for the final strike.
"No!" Abel cried out. He prepared himself to rush forward, but there was no need.
The other vampire had rushed in front of the stooped form of Stella and had caught the sword-like claw with his bare hands.
"No, Intiki. The girl is right. If we fight our lives will be lost here today, we will find a way to take our revenge and more without hurting our own people." He managed a scathing look at Abel before they both ran off and disappeared.
Meanwhile, whatever precious blood Stella had regained was being lost on the cobblestone road. Abel was at her side.
"Are you all right?" he asked gently.
Stella looked at him. "No." she looked heavenward. "Why does this keep happening to me?" She asked sarcastically.
"Can you walk?"
"I will." Stella got up, but as Abel bent to see her wounds, which were on the other side of her stitches, she turned the other way. "Where are we going and how far is it?"
"The church is ten point three eight two…" Tres began.
"Got it."
"Leon, give me some money for the cab."
As they hopped in the horse-drawn carriage, Stella sat next to Tres, across from Abel. Her hand was covering the wounds she received from the vampire and her arm was covering her stitched wound, whether intentional or not, Abel remained unsure. He demanded to see Stella's injuries.
"No." she said firmly.
"Why n…"
"No, Abel." She cut him off. "Seeing my wounds will not help the situation anymore. It'll only worry you more than you already are. And don't give me that look, if you see these, you'll be more worried even though they aren't half as bad as they look." She said sharply as Abel gave her an I-don't-believe-you look. "Anyway, Leo… erm… Father Leon had informed me that there are very good doctors where we are going. So don't stress over it." Stella said this with such authority that Abel believed her to be Catharine for a minute.
They rode in silence for the rest of the way. When they got to the front gates of the massive cathedral, a thought struck Abel.
"Oh… won't Sis… I mean Cardinal Kate be surprised to see us." He laughed nervously.
"Negative. I've already informed Cardinal Kate of the current situation. We are to report to her office immediately." Tres stated.
"Oh, well I'll just take Stella to the infirmary."
"Negative. Cardinal Kate wants to see Stella." It seemed funny to hear Tres refer to someone without their last name.
Stella allowed herself to be led through the halls. She didn't have the energy to be rebellious and the blood loss was making her light-headed. She entered a room. A holographic woman smiled and talked to her, but she couldn't respond. Abel talked some, and then Stella swayed. The room started to spin. She knew she was going to pass out. She stopped clutching her sides and was aware of blood being spilt on the probably expensive carpets.
"Umm… guys?" She said quietly. Too quietly. They continued talking. "Guys!" she near shouted. All eyes in the room fell on her. "Uhh… the room's spinnin…"
That was it. She couldn't stop the creeping darkness at the corner of her vision. She fell, but was vaguely aware of Father Nightroad calling her name and a pair of arms catching her.
A/N: all right three chapters in one day is enough. And I'm going to start on the next chapter. You all had better be grateful that I love you enough to be staying up this late. Oh yes, and thank my imagination, which refuses to let me sleep and is in cahoots with my awful mattress. All right, I'm done complaining.