A/N Just a warning: The title is gory because… well, pretty much the whole chapter is gory. But hey, Saya's in this one!

Disclaimer (because I haven't written one in a while): I do not own Blood Plus or the characters of Blood Plus. I do not own the songs mentioned or tv shows. I also do not make any money from writing this story (but oh how I wish I did).

Chapter 35- Covered in Blood

Hibiki turned swiftly to the left where she had felt the ominous presence of yet another of the beasts that were created from her sister's blood. There weren't as many as they had thought there would be, but when they showed up, it was nearly deadly trying to rid the world of them.

The ones with the red and blue eyes were not as difficult, but they were more numerous. Since there was no reaction to either queen's blood, it was a certainty that the vast majority they were facing came from Mary Frances' blood.

The blue-eyed queen whirled around, facing the opposite direction as a huge brown beast came behind her. It's evil smirk revealed rows of glistening pink daggers in its mouth. A long tongue lolled over those blood stained teeth as it regarded its next meal. The face had a rather dog-like appearance and its body was quite long.

"Shit!" she murmured as she took her fighting stance. While these brown ones were definitely weaker, they were still harder to kill. The red and black ones were dead in no time- it only took a bit of her blood since they were created from her sister's blood.

Dodging effortlessly as the beast made a clumsy lunge at her, Hibiki turned as she dodged and brought her blade around and along the side of the creature. Blood spurted all over the ground in sickening splats. She leapt into the air before the monster had time to react to her movement. It was still crying out in an unearthly howl as she came down to deliver the second blow.

Kanade turned from her fresh kill, entrails splattered across her shoulder thanks to an earlier battle where Mary Frances had really let loose. She watched as her sister brought down her katana on the creature's shoulder. The arm flopped to the ground, twitching and writhing as Hibiki came to the ground on one knee a distance away.

The creature roared in pain as it quickly shot the remaining arm out and grasped it's attacker in a vice-grip hold and pulled her toward its face.

Hibiki was unable to move in its grasp as it brought her close enough to smell its hot, rancid breath. Blood was still oozing from the wound at its side and the stump where its arm should be. The combination of fear and revulsion was causing the blue-eyed queen to feel queasy and she screwed her eyes shut, hoping this would not be the end.

The sound of a loud boom caused Kanade to jump as she was in mid leap to come to her sister's aid. She fell clumsily to the ground a few feet from where the beast once stood with her sister in its grip. Instead there was a mess of blood, bones, and guts that covered a radius of about 20 feet. She was now covered in a layer of steaming gross as she came to her feet and shook her arms and hands.

A long, drawn out, "Eeewww!" came from the pacifist. It took her a moment to realize that the beast had been blown up somehow. "Hibiki!" she gasped and scrambled to the place where her sister had been. All she found were the remnants of part of the beast… mainly its feet and the stumps where they once joined powerful legs. They gory scene made her violently retch and cough, but she quickly choked it down to the knowledge that her sister wasn't among the remains.

The burgundy-eyed queen lifted her head and called out loudly, "Hibiki!" The response did not come, causing her to lash her head, making her bloody hair whip her face as she called again, "HIBIKI!"

She hiccoughed a sob as tears marked a trail through her blood stained skin. The younger red queen fell to her knees and began to weep. She had no idea where Mr. David or Mary Frances were, the Red Shield operatives that were with them were killed in the last wave that hit them, and she couldn't find her sister. She was alone.

A gentle hand came to the weeping girl's shoulder. A startled cry echoed across the field as she abruptly turned startled eyes to whoever had touched her. With a cry of relief, Kanade threw herself into the arms of her chevalier. The young man held her close to him as he soothed, "It's alright, sis, I'm here."

The young woman furrowed her brows as she briefly wondered how he got here. In the end, it didn't matter as there were more important matters to worry about. "I can't find Hibiki," she informed him frantically."

It took her a moment to notice the man that was now next to them. When her eyes came to him, she was a bit surprised, "Dad?"

He gave a cocky smirk and responded by roughing her hair with a hand and responded, "That's my girl. Always worrying about everyone else- so much like your aunt." His eyes had a distant look, but he soon shook it off mentally. He motioned behind himself and informed her, "Hibiki was thrown back from the force of the explosion. Who would have thought there were some explosive devices still underground here in Germany?"

She stared at him unblinking. Not even the reference to Germany's past caused her to respond. At the moment, her thoughts were on her sister's well being. After a time, she finally blinked as Hibiki's weary stance came into view from behind a tree.

She came toward the group slowly as she could barely hold herself up. Kai turned to follow his daughter's gaze, noticing out of the corner of his eye when his son seemed to shake his head, as if to rid himself of a thought.

Riku looked on as his sister came into view. She looked so weary and weak, but the sunlight hit the brilliant blue amid the ebony of her short hair. Blood was splattered all over her royal blue jacket and leggings. Her boots were caked in the guts, scales, and bits of bone from the battle. Her blue eyes glowed eerily, but beautiful against the pale skin of her cheeks. He had to shake his head to rid himself of that thought. Beautiful? What was this that suddenly entered his mind? He felt warm all over as his heart started to pound heavily in his chest and his breaths shortened to nearly a pant.

Hibiki's eyes locked with her sister's chevalier. He was looking completely hot with his black hair dancing along his cheekbones in short waves. The boy she had once known was now a man. Riku was tall and his skin had become lighter since he was turned. The now eternally young, muscular body was covered in a fitted black t-shirt and heavy cargo pants in the same shade. Black steel-toes covered his feet and she was slightly jealous that the young man did not have a speck of blood or guts on his person.

Her cerulean eyes then locked with his hazel ones and her heart nearly stopped beating. When had her little brother become so handsome? She slightly shook her head and looked at her father. "Dad, what ar…"

She was cut off when her sister launched herself at her and shouted, "Oh my god, Hibiki, I thought you were dead!" The red-eyed queen began weeping against her sister's shoulder, causing the blue-eyed queen to look at the top of her sister's head in wonder. Her long hair was strewn with blood, bits of bone, and guts.

Hibiki flinched and pulled away, crying out, "Ew! Kanade, you are completely gross! You're getting shi…" she held the curse back as her eyes locked with her dad's. He glared down in warning. "I mean stuff all over me."

Kanade shoved her away and retorted, "Well excuse me for caring about your life, you idiot! In case you haven't noticed, you're gross too!"

Both girls gave each other thoughtful glares, causing Kai and Riku to look at each other with knowing looks. They knew that in a moment, the two queens would resolve their issues.

Then the field was filled with laughter as both girls poked their fingers at the other and laughed at what they saw. The two were covered in a mix of sweat and blood. The macabre scene would make a normal person retch, but the two of them were simply relieved that the other was alive.

The two men looked at the scene in front of them with different expressions. Riku was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea of being impossibly attracted to the young woman that he grew up with. The image of her comforting him after he had a nightmare flashed in his mind, causing him to mentally shake himself and shout inside his own mind, "Get a grip! This is your sister!"

Kai, on the other hand, was looking at his two daughters with a bitter-sweet smile. The two were now grown and fighting like their aunt. While part of him was angry at the turn of events, he had really matured much more than when he was a young man chasing chiropterans with Saya. Hagi had once told him that the girls were what they were and nothing he could do would change them. The two girls that were strewn in everything that was normally found inside a body, but it was their nature. They are not human, they are chiropterans and he needed to accept that.

~0~

The beast roared in frustration as its head slowly moved from side to side, scanning the horizon for its missing prey. Its red and black scales glinted in the sunlight as its glowing blue eyes sparked of hunger. Claws clenched together menacingly as the beast howled out, almost sounding as if it was calling for its prey to return.

A long, cylindrical metal object protruded from the rock outcropping 100 feet behind the monster. It was abruptly pulled back and a nearly audible hiss issued from the rocks.

An ebony haired young woman hissed at her bold yet foolish companion whose hair was now more grey than blond. He should know better, having been fighting these things as long as he had.

"You moron!" she hissed almost inaudibly. "You want to get us both killed?"

David panted as he felt the sweat dripping from his forehead. Was it getting hotter? The wound at his side had been bound tightly but was still oozing blood. Blood- he had lost far too much of the stuff to think coherently.

The charged weapon now in his lap, David felt the swirling blackness overcoming him. He watched emotionlessly as Mary Frances came to his side and seemed to sound as if she was speaking through water. "David! David! Don't you pass out! Don't…"

She was frantically trying to keep him going without shouting, but the man had lost far too much blood and it was inevitable that the pain from his wound would have eventually made him lose consciousness. The girl sat back on her heels and looked out the small crack between the rocks. That damn beast was still prowling the place where he had last seen them.

Everything had been going well. Hibiki and Kanade were fighting along side them as brown beast after brown beast was taken to the ground by either sword, scythe, or exploding bullets. Well, it was fine until Hibiki and Kanade had noticed as red and black scaled massive creature in the distance to the left. They had taken off and called out behind them, "We'll be back in a minute.

Yeah, that minute turned out to be an hour so far. It wasn't long until another of those red assholes showed up and David was swiped before Mary Frances could get to him. She used the net, but it only bought them enough time to find and get to the shelter of the pile of rocks.

She looked at David and noticed his color was paling even more than before and his breathing was getting shallower. She desperately needed to find help- and a transfusion for him. Taking a deep breath, she felt drained herself.

With a low grunt, she lifted herself from the ground with the use of her massive scythe and readied the net. It wouldn't do much, but it may buy her some time and draw the creature's attention from the man on the ground.

With one last glance at the unconscious general of the Red Shield, she informed him, "I'll be back, Mr. David, and I'm coming back with help."

In a blue streak, she was before the creature, the weighted edges of the shock net in hand. Her gaze was determined as her brown eyes darted around her to find an escape route. Her eyes were brought back to her foe as it roared in triumph.

"Not yet, you crazy shit!" she screamed out as she dodged the attack and landed just behind the creature. Before it could move, she spun the net over her head and released it. The thing opened in a perfect elipse, but unfortunately, the creature had been through this before.

Not being one of the lower levels, it had not only the power to regenerate, but also its body could adapt to attacks that it had survived. When the shock went out, its body danced for a moment before the net was thrown off.

Mary Frances stood with wide eyes as the beast recovered quickly and began to give chase. She ran as fast as she could, but it was to no avail. Her net was still attached to her belt and the creature was now standing on it.

Her fingers shook as she frantically tried to pry the bindings loose. The beast was advancing on her quickly.

Closing her eyes in horror, she felt the sharp claws pierce her skin. She did not cry out and rather, gritted her teeth and groaned as she fell to the ground. Pain seared through her being as she felt the massive claw reach inside her and pull at her insides.

Her eyes opened a crack to see the beast had pulled out part of her intestines and seemed to be inspecting them. A long trail of her pinkish guts extended from the wound and wound about the things claws.

"Damn it! Just kill me already," she groaned as her very being hoped and prayed the pain would cause her to pass out soon.

"HIIII-YAAA!" came a loud feminine cry as the beast dropped the guts back onto his prey with a sickening plop. The beast turned to the commotion, but was startled when the cut of metal tore through its armored body.

Mary Frances was in too much pain and her mind too tired to remain conscious any longer. Blackness swallowed everything including the pain.

The long, dark hair of the female was pulled into a long braid that trailed after her every movement. Her face was grimaced into a warrior's look as he comes in for the kill. Eyes glimmered and burned a blood red as her long, channeled katana came down on the creature.

Blood spurted and somehow missed the woman as her eggplant colored outfit fluttered in the wind behind her while landing another blow, this time to the monstrous head. A gash that sliced deep into the skull and brain began spewing blood.

The creature's claw came up and began move toward Saya at blinding speed, causing her tall chevalier to take action. Before the massive claw could even touch the surface of Saya's skin, a massive black case knocked the hand away.

With a sinister growl, the creature turned its attention to the tall man with long ebony hair tied at the nape of his neck. It was a huge mistake, for it had taken its eyes off the true danger to its very life.

Saya leapt into the air and brought the dripping blade back before slamming it with a loud battle cry. The blade now buried in the side of its neck, she came to her knees in front of it and watched.

Hagi called out as the beast began to move, "Saya, your blood will not kill it!"

Her eyes became wide as the beast pulled her sword from its neck like it was nothing more than a toothpick she had jabbed at it. Tossing the blade aside, the beast let out a low growl as it stalked its tiny prey.

Saya waited with an expression similar to Hagi's on her face. The chiropteran queen had worked side by side with her chevalier for more than a century. To say that she knew him well was a gross understatement. Her glowing eyes slid to his quickly before sliding back to the attacking beast.

Hagi swiftly caught hold of the queen and took to the air on his newly sprouted wings. With a swift motion, he drew his long blade and waited until they soared just above the beast before allowing his queen to drop.

As Saya came down from the skies, she brought the blade in front of her. When she landed on the creature's shoulder, it upset the creature's balance, causing the lumbering thing to fall with a mighty shake of the earth. The red-eyed queen landed gracefully a few feet away, but didn't remain there. As soon as her feet touched down, she was back up in a flash and bringing the blade down on the monster's neck.

Hagi arrived with his long blade drawn, but quickly thought better of it. The katana was much stronger and better suited for the job. Instead he came behind Saya and added his strength to hers, placing his larger hands over hers on the hilt of the sword and pressing the blade through muscle, bone, and scales.

With a mighty growl from Saya, the sword sliced through, leaving a torrent of blood to wash over them as the severed head lobbed to the side.

The two remained in their position, unable to move. Whether it was from exhaustion or something else, they were not sure. Saya felt it had been the closest they had been since she'd awakened and Hagi simply did not want to let go.

He was concerned that the creature would somehow regenerate. It had been the first time he had even seen a chiropteran that came directly from a red queen's blood. The thing was beyond tough and for a moment, even he was unsure that they would be able to defeat it.

Saya, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the sudden closeness, blushed a little as she turned her head slightly. There was a cloaked figure standing where that earlier victim was laying. Knowing they weren't alone, Saya requested, "Um… H-Hagi? I th-think you can let me go now."

The sudden loss of his circle of arms protecting her left her feeling a bit sad and she couldn't help but wonder at herself for a moment. Was she feeling something more for him? Why would she feel this way now?

Another moment came back to her as she looked at the cloaked figure that seemed to just be standing there. Karl had came after her and tried to kill her, but Solomon helped her remove the sword from her belly. He mused out loud, "Perhaps, I am lonely, too."

That feeling came back to her- a feeling that told her that she did not belong with Solomon. No matter how much he had tried to convince her otherwise, she had a mission. Even when he offered to end Diva for Saya, it still did nothing to stir her heart toward him. Why?

Her eyes cut to her chevalier as he looked at the cloaked figure. He was not in a defensive posture, so she knew the figure was no threat, but there was a bit of apprehension coming off him and a bit of fear. Her brow furrowed as she looked back at the girl.

She knew this was no ordinary human woman, she could feel this presence of strength and the familiarity of her own blood. She took a few tentative steps toward the girl, but Hagi placed an arm in front of her, preventing her from going to the young lady that hid her face in the hood of the dark, floor-length cloak.

Saya watched in curiosity as her mind screamed what her heart dared not to believe. Hagi was speaking with the young lady and then disappeared to a grouping of rocks, retrieving an aging man.

The hooded figure turned toward Saya, but all the red queen got was a glint of brown eyes and pale skin. She called out, "Are you a princess?"

Mary Frances was livid. It was now painfully obvious that Hagi had not explained anything to Saya in the time they had been in France. She gave a stiff nod and waited for the asshole to return with Mr. David. Her glare at the chevalier was enough to make a normal man cringe in fear.

Hagi and Saya walked ahead with David while Mary Frances lagged behind, keeping her head down. How would Saya really react to her once she knew the truth? Would she hate her for being the evidence of Hagi's infidelity or would she be angry with her for just existing?

Saya looked at her chevalier and wondered why he was not telling her about the young woman that followed them. Why did her blood feel so familiar to Saya? None of Diva's chevaliers ever felt like this. There were only two people Saya recalled that gave her this calm sense- Hagi and Riku.

The red queen suddenly whirled around and glared at the tall figure behind them. "Who are you?" Saya demanded. "Why do you feel so familiar to me?"

The young woman removed her hood to reveal her short black hair and brown eyes. Saya's breath caught in her throat as she looked on the alabaster skin and the way it stretched over high cheekbones and a long, thin nose. The princess was tall- taller than most women and quite lanky.

"Why," Saya breathed, "W-Why do you look like Hagi?"