(Vocab for this chapter/story: 1. Spectral realm: A place for lost souls, neither heaven nor hell, a place in between the planes of existence.

2. Material Realm: Also known as the world of the living, just a different name for it.

3. Sluagh: Scavengers of the spectral realm, their feral hunger has claimed countless souls, spirits who now shall never find their rest.

4. Vampire Wraiths: Vampires who stayed in the spectral realm for too long, their bodies deforming slightly, glowing red eyes, sharp claws, feeding on the lost souls. Very territorial and aggressive.

5. Fledgeling: A baby/young/inexperienced vampire.

Ok, now that's out of the way, enjoy the chapter. )

I arrive in the spectral realm, having given news to my master, Starscream of the child I now carry. I slip out of the ship easily, and back home, to my forest, walking into the clearing that, in the material realm, is my clan grounds. I sit in the center, looking around. My mind wheels with confusion and panic, watching shadows and wraiths pass me by. "I wish my big brother Raziel was here..." *I whine slightly, my head in my arms, feeling more alone than ever.

A few seconds later, Raziel shifts into the spectral realm, the blue and green hues coming into view as he spots me sitting in the clearing. He approaches slowly, as he notices my distressed state, he grows extremely concerned. "Sister? Is there something the matter?"

"O-Oni-san!" I gasp slightly and almost fall over, holding my stomach, as if by instinct, feeling a kicking sensation in my belly. "Brother, I'm in so much trouble!...the impossible has happened!" I cry out, both desperate, and fearful.

He crouches down and puts his clawed hands on both of my shoulders gently. He looks me over and notices something...different. "My dear sister, what has happened? Are you...?" He looks down at my stomach, staring. It takes him a few seconds to finish his sentence. " ...pregnant?"

"Big brother, I don't know what to think anymore...Daddy Janos always said wait until marriage, I don't know what got ahold of me, and now, I'm afraid, I'm having a panic attack...Plus, how is this even possible, vampires can't be born cause of the curse, and we both know I'm fully vampiric...something strange is going on...also, I can't stand..." I try to stand on my own, only to hobble and fall into his arms. He helps me stand up, keeping a hold of me so I won't fall and walks me back to the edge of the forest to get away from the vampire wraiths and sluagh. When he sees he's away from them, he gently sets me down against a tree. He then sits next to me and wraps an arm around me. "I'm...not sure how that's possible. Who...is the father?" He didn't want to ask, but he felt he needed to know.

I take a deep breath, before answering. "My master, Starscream...Now, I find I'm having strange mood swings, I ate one of my own comrades earlier today as well..." My stomach makes a weird growling sound, and I wince in slight pain, feeling something pushing inside me, my optic widens, when I realize, the baby is coming! But how so soon? Another thought of realization hit me like a ton of bricks. The flow of time is much different in the spectral realm, a minute in it could equal months in the material realm. I gasp in pain and yelp.

"Explain later, labor now!"

Raziel's glowing eyes flare as he panics a little. He wasn't really sure how babies were delivered. He never had children of his own as a human, because Sarafan priests were not allowed to get serious with women. And when he was a vampire, he raised his vampiric children from the dead, as Kain did to him. In this situation, he was clueless. But he wanted to help in some way... "Wh-what should I do?" His voice is slightly panicky.

"What are you looking at me for, I have no clue..."

I give him a strange look, one of being clueless, and I suddenly yelp and fall over. "Slag, its coming, brother!..." I grip the ground with my claws, digging them into the dirt, feeling the terrible pain. His eyes widen as he looks down and notices the baby's head was out. Not sure what he was doing and acting purely on instinct, he gently supports the baby's head with one hand, and grabs one of my hands with his other. "The head's out. You're doing fine, just push." He calmly says, smiling slightly, feeling slightly confident. "Easy for you to say, bro...!..." I hiss in pain and push as hard as I can He looks down to see the baby is almost out. "It's more than halfway out now.." He reports, handling what's out with extreme care. "Pull the fragger out if you must...!" I shout in extreme agonizing pain, giving another hard push. After a few seconds, the baby is out, as Raziel holds it gently, he gives it to me. If he had a bottom jaw, he would be smiling. "Did you find out beforehand if it was a boy or a girl?" Raziel asks curiously.

"I think it's a boy...also, its dead..."

The body is indeed lifeless, gun-metal grey, the color a cybertronian turns when it dies, but strangely, something happens. It starts slowly turning Raziel's color, and the optics slowly open, to reveal white eyes. "I couldn't have him in the material realm, or he would have stayed dead, but his birth in this realm, has saved him from death...by making him a wraith like you...What do we name him?..." Raziel tilts his head curiously at the infant. Strangely enough, he found him cute. "So I'm an uncle now…" He stares in silence as he tries to think of a name. "How about...Azrael? It means 'Angel of Death'."

I smile at the suggestion. "What do you think, fledgeling?..." I hold him up gently, he smiles and giggles innocently, as we lock optics for the first time. "Azrael it is. Here, hold this...just for a second." I hand Raziel the child, turtling into my own armor, searching for something, the child clings to Raziel and smiles at him.

Raziel holds the child against him and chuckles. " You're too cute, and I never thought I would use the word cute." I smile and stand back up, holding armor the childs size, gently dressing him. "Ok, now the hard part, hold him down..." Raziel looks confused at hearing this but holds the child down anyway. "Why?" He asks curiously, staring at me. I turn to them, holding a needle, flicking the syringe a bit. "He needs his shots, to stay healthy..." Raziel nods and continues to hold the child down. "I see…" He looks back down at the fledgeling, who smiles innocently. "I'm sorry, son..." I frown and quickly give him the injection, and he starts crying. Raziel picks up Azrael and holds him gently. "Did...you tell Starscream you were pregnant? How did he react to the news?" He asks, as he is trying to calm my son down. "Yes...reception was luke-warm at best...he seemed only concerned if the kid can fight for the cause...and said that a baby would only get in the way...In a way, that's true, Megatron will kill the kid if he finds him..." The child soon calms down, smiling, gently grabbing one of Raziels claws. "Aww, he likes you!"

Raziel laughs a little, his eyes glowing brightly at the child. "It seems so." He looks back at me with a slight serious look in his eyes. "I do not think the child should be exposed to war at all. But if I could give any advice, he should at least know how to fight when he becomes old enough. Just so he has the means to defend himself if needed." Raziel, being the oldest of my 'brothers' always was the battle-savy one, I had a brief flashback of when he took me out hunting for the first time, and when he trained me properly when I was raised. After a few seconds, I snap back to reality. "I...I think I may have an idea..." *I pace a bit, a sluagh approaches from behind me, in an attempt to scare me. Strange behavior, considering their only purpose is to kill anyone they see. I look back at him, my voice serious.

"Not now Steve, in the middle of a crisis..."

The Sluagh frowns and walks away, clearly, a friend of mine from the distant past, Raziel gives me a weird look. I turn to him. "The idea involves you..." Raziel raises a brow "What did you have in mind?" He asks.

"I was thinking, in our free time, we can help raise the kid, teach him right from wrong, how to control his power, together, as a family...What do you say?" Raziel nods, he was happy knowing he was going to be involved in the child's life. He wanted to make sure he was safe. "I say yes. I will help in any way I can." Standing tall, he holds the child gently, who had fallen asleep in his arms.

"Can you watch over him, while I make the childs room, please?" I smile, hugging Raziel gently, standing up.

"Of course I can. Take your time." He nods and hugs back, being careful of the child and not to wake him.

I smile and gently lower Raziels cowl partially and kiss his fang. "Thanks. Love you brother." I smile and walk off, shifting back to the Material realm, running back home, eager to get to work.