Chapter 53- Deadly Consequences

Saya watched as the girl struggled to put her contacts back into place while walking. Shaking her head sadly at the girl, she thought about what it must have felt like to be so different from those around you and having no way to disguise it.

The queen was brought out of her musings as they made it to Omoro and noticed the garage door was wide open. That was not like Kai at all. He usually left the side door unlocked, but not the garage!

The princess noticed the concerned gaze and hurried ahead to the open door. Once she arrived, she was taken aback. A shock of red and grey hair moved in the darkness to a light. When it snapped on, Mary Frances shielded her eyes- not from the light but what it revealed. There stood Kai, in nothing but a pair of sleeping shorts, his tanned chest covered in coarse, red curls of hair. "Ugh! Kai!" she grumbled.

Saya covered her eyes and whined, "Kai, put some clothes on before the neighbors see."

"Argh!" he complained, "Seriously? I've been robbed and all you two can think about are clothes?"

Mary Frances couldn't resist. "Did they steal your clothes?"

"Smart ass," he grumbled as Saya sputtered laughter between her fingers. "No, they didn't steal my clothes- they stole the gas for my bike." Further adding to the confusion, he explained, "I came out here to gas up the bike so I could get to the clinic. Seems Julia had a break in and the asshole broke into their trophy case- took all the 'awards' and stuff."

Confusion etched both women's brows. Mary Frances knew there really wasn't a lot of gas in that tank- maybe three gallons at best. Not only that, there were many tools and implements here, not to mention the bike, that was worth far more.

As if that wasn't weird enough, the clinic was broken into and the secret stash of blood stolen. Whoever took it obviously knew of it's significance. The whole thing could mean more trouble for the group. With furrowed eyebrows, Mary Frances watched Kai move about the garage while she thought of the where, why, and who of the situation.

Just as she moved toward the barely dressed man, he picked up a piece of paper. Then he suddenly headed into the pub and grabbed the cordless phone.

Saya followed and Mary Frances looked around the garage a bit, wondering if anything else had gone missing. Hearing her father's name mentioned brought her to the door. Saya was holding the note now and Kai asked, "What does Hagi need gas for anyway?"

Mary Frances looked over Saya's shoulder as she read the note Kai had handed to her with a confused look etching his brows. He then punched some numbers into the phone and waited for someone on the other end to answer as the ladies read the note.

Kai,

This will be my last act as Saya's chevalier- to ensure her safety and make certain that Saya will never be used as a war weapon again.

As I need to do this alone, I am leaving my daughter in your care. I trust your judgement with her more than I do my own.

Hagi

At the end of the note, Mary Frances wasn't fuming, she was livid. The pieces all fit together neatly in a row, just like the man himself. Her father, the man she had just come to accept, was being ripped away from her. He left her in Kai's care so that he could do this one last act as a chevalier. Her fists clenched at her side as her ears rang with fury. The tall young woman barely heard what Saya was asking Kai.

Saya turned a confused look to Kai at the note. "Why did he leave her in your care? Why did he need your gas for the bike? And who would know about those awards? This doesn't make sense!"

Kai was about to shrug his shoulders at the question, he was at a loss too, when a dark streak launched itself at Saya. In the next instant, the chiropteran queen was pinned to the wall, black scaled claws with red finger tips wrapping around her throat. Saya's feet dangled as they tried to find purchase and ease the stress from her throat. "You IDIOT!" the princess screamed.

Human fingers began to try to work the grip loose as the aging human wedged himself between his sister and his niece, while the phone dropped to the ground forgotten. Kai's neck began to feel warm with Mary Frances' angry breath panting on it.

"What are you doing?" he grunted as he struggled with the much stronger princess. "Let Saya go and explain this to us!"

A loud sob erupted from Mary Frances as Saya was dropped to the ground in a coughing heap. Mary Frances regained her composure and turned her brown eyes to Kai, "Don't you get it?" she practically begged. "He's leaving me in your care. His last act as a chevalier. No one will ever use Saya as a war weapon." The words lifted at the end of each statement, sounding like a question.

Kai looked at her strangely, as if asking her to speak plain Japanese so he could understand. It was Saya that elaborated in a shocked, but scratchy voice, "He means to destroy Diva's blood to protect me… and then kill himself. It's why he left her in your care Kai." She coughed again and continued in a ragged voice as her burgundy eyes met those brown contacts, knowing those familiar blue eyes were glaring at her behind the disguise. "It was Hagi that broke into the clinic. He plans to destroy Diva's blood- that way there is no more wars where I would be used as a weapon."

Through the veil of tears, the young woman ground out, "That's right. He's doing it all for you- like always." Shaking her head, Mary Frances gave a mournful sound before turning angry brown eyes that flashed red and blue rings at her. "I'm beginning to understand Diva more and more. You are a selfish little bitch."

At Saya's confused look, Mary Frances continued, "Oh, don't try to look all innocent. You know full well what I mean."

"Mary Frances," Kai growled in warning, but she simply glared at him before continuing. The forgotten phone still lay in the grass with a voice asking if anyone was there, but none could hear.

"You have everything handed to you on a silver platter. You have always had a real family to love you, a chevalier that would never betray you… and what do you do? You fucking piss it away! My father adores you- and gave his life for you countless times. When the evidence towers against him… HIM! The one you've known longer than anyone! What did you do? You turn an accusing finger at him, too. And I'm left to pick up the pieces."

Sniffling, she turned and began to head toward the door. She added as she opened the door to leave, "And just like Diva, I'm the one that loses out… because he fucking loves you."

Saya stood with jaws slack only to drop to her knees as realization hit. Killing Diva- she had told herself it was to stop the war and end all the fighting. In the end, they would both be dead, but she went back on the promise so that she could live and enjoy life. What about Diva? Her sister never knew what it was like to be loved. She never had a chance.

Now here she was, repeating her past sins on Hagi and this poor girl who had done nothing wrong.

Tears streaked her face as a second wave of reality hit- his last act as her chevalier. He didn't just mean that he would destroy the blood. It was much more significant. He meant to use Diva's blood- to end his life.

As she was lost in her own thoughts, Kai had calmed Mary Frances enough to get her to stop a moment and went to the garage fridge to get her a unit of blood. "Where are you going?" he asked as he returned with the blood and handed it to her.

"To stop him," she simply replied, eyes trained on her direction. "To keep him from leaving me- like everyone else does." Angrily swatting away at the tears that streamed down her face, she didn't seem to notice the brown contact that had came off on her arm.

Kai held his gaze steady at the shocking sight of Hagi's eye color now clearly on display. He mentally cleared his throat and asked as casually as he could, "Where is he going?"

The face turned and looked at the man that was going to be her caretaker if she didn't stop Hagi soon. Eager to get moving, she sucked down the unit of blood and asked, "Can I have another? It's a long flight to the MET."

The MET. The place where Diva died, and where they thought Hagi had died as well. He had heard that Hagi frequented that place when Saya was sleeping and he was in the states. Kai smirked knowingly at her and motioned her to the fridge, never letting on that she was letting her cover slip little by little.

As she dashed to the fridge, Kai gave Saya a knowing look and the two shared something through the glance alone and he knew that Saya knew something more. After the girl left, he was sure they would talk about it.

Saya then found the forgotten phone next to her knees on the floor and lifted it to her ear. She knew Kai far too well to not know who he had called. "Mr. Joel?" she asked.

"Saya," he replied, "What has happened? Julia said the clinic was robbed tonight."

"Yes, Joel," she answered, "They took the blood. I-it was Ha-Hagi. His daughter has gone… after him." Tears streaked down her face as Kai dashed inside to gather the others, knowing that Saya would explain it all for him.

"Please stay calm, Saya," Joel tried to soothe her over the phone. "Why would Hagi do this?"

H-his la-last act a-a-as my ch-chev-a-li-lier," she sobbed. It all hit her at once. Hagi was going to kill himself for her love. She had discarded him like a piece of trash. How would she live without him? His daughter would be an orphan- and would blame her. "Please," she asked as she sucked in a breath and allowed the grief to be pushed back. She needed to think clearly now- or risk losing Hagi forever. Her free hand curled into a fist and as she willed the tears to stop. "Please, Mr. Joel. We need to get to the MET."

Joel had heard Mary Frances' speech and was astonished, at first. She had been so willful and cruel to him at first. Something had changed and he was certain it had to do with the sudden and complete elimination of all traces of Van Argiano or his company. He wondered if Dr. Julia or David would be holding back this information.

He reassured calmly, "I will send a helicopter immediately to take you from Koza base to Tokyo. From there, you can take The Goldschmidt 2 to New York. My secondary pilot lives in Tokyo. He should be ready to leave in one hour. I will meet you all there."

Saya grimly nodded to the phone and responded, "Thank you, Mr. Joel, I will gather everyone at Omoro right now." Pushing off the floor, as soon as she gained her feet, she made quick strides to where Kai and Mary Frances had once been standing.

"I will contact Julia and David to let them know where you are to meet up,"Joel explained as Mary Frances blew past Saya.

The chiropteran queen simply stared after her with jaw slack. As soon as she was past the garage door, deep purple wings erupted from beneath the long, black cloak. In a matter of four steps, she was airborne in a streak of blue light. As the color faded, Saya shook her head of the sudden urge to sprout wings and fly. "Thank you Mr. Joel," she vaguely heard him respond that he would meet them in Tokyo as she dashed inside to gather everyone.

~0~

Kanade was already awake with tears in her eyes. The nightmare was so vivid, she thought it was real.

Hibiki rolled over and groggily opened her eyes to find a blurry image of her twin sitting up in her bed with her hands clamped over her mouth. Hibiki rubbed her eyes to clear the image- surely she was seeing things. Even after scrubbing the sleep from her eyes with her fisted hands,the image remained. The smell of salty tears and a muffled sob put the blue-eyed queen on high alert.

Kanade didn't need Hibiki to say anything, she knew that her sister was awake and took a breath before explaining, "Oh, Hibiki! I have the most horrible feeling this dream means something." Her voice was whisper quiet but very shaky as she continued, knowing their chevaliers could easily hear them through the walls, "Mary Frances was sitting in the grass at a beautiful park. Hagi was… l-laying on the grass i-in a rea-really uncomfortable…" her voice trailed off as she tried to speak through hiccuped sobs.

Hibiki put a hand on her sister's shoulder as she moved to sit next to her. Silently, her blue eyes and gentle gestures urged her to continue. Tears flowed down her cheeks to spill onto her lap with her raven hair curtain in her downturned face. "Hagi killed himself!" she suddenly blurted as her face turned to her sister, wide-eyed blood red orbs glowed. It reflected pink on Hibiki's face as her mouth hung open.

Blazing blue met red, turning the room a strange violet color as both girls saw the image clearly displayed. Clouds gathered overhead as the moon began its ascent behind the clouds. What appeared to be an old fashioned street light cast an eerie glow to the monuments in the disc of light's range.

In the midst of it were two figures, a girl with short, raven hair and a long cape draped around her cradled a man's head in her lap. Long cracks marred his porcelain features as his breathing rasped before it stopped all together.

Both sisters were staring into each other's glowing eyes as Hagi took his last breath. The long, deep cry that came from the princess' open mouth caused them to shudder at the same time. Mournful tears streamed like crystalline rivers down her porcelain cheeks as Hibiki and Kanade both blinked away tears, effectively halting the terrible vision.

Kanade was the first to take action as Hibiki frowned after her. The brown eyed sister threw the closet doors open and began to jump with her arms over her head. After four attempts, her fingertips caught the edge of the blue bag stored on the top shelf, knowing it and the red one on top of it would fall down to her.

Returning to the dresser with both bags, she began pulling open drawers and began hurriedly placing articles of clothing into her bag as neatly as she could in her harried pace.

Hibiki watched her with a scowl for a bit before she realized what Kanade was doing. "Hey! Wait a minute," she cried out, trying to catch her twin's attention. "We can't go anywhere until we talk to Ka- I mean Dad."

Kanade continued packing a few items from the closet before returning with two scabbards- one red and one blue. She marched to the bed and gave Hibiki a stern glare that meant business. The blue eyed twin swallowed the sudden lump in her throat before saying, "We don't even know if anything is really wrong with Hagi."

Brown eyes narrowed as she replied, "The dream, Ki. You know that when we connect like this those dreams are never wrong." She knew that utilizing the special nickname she'd given her sister when they were three always hit a soft spot with her. "He's our uncle," she pleaded lastly.

If her sibling was going to play on her heartstrings tonight, she would gladly meet her challenge. Hibiki took her blue bag and walked toward the closet, keeping it closed to put it back. "Kana, we don't even know what's going on. We don't know where that place is…."

She never finished the sentence as their aunt, who incidentally looked like the date from hell at the moment, opened the door and popped her head in. Before either girl could berate her for her sudden inability to knock, she announced, "Pack an emergency battle bag and get ready to go to New York." With that, the head disappeared.

The two young queens looked at each other with the same thought before bolting to action.

~0~

A young pair of hazel eyes trained on the pub from a dark hiding place in the old baseball field across the street. He'd seem like any other young man in his teenage years, but he wasn't. First of all,he was crouched ten feet off the ground in a tangle of tree limbs. Second, he would suffer eternally for his crime.

All he could do was watch on as the scene played out. He knew his queen had fallen for her sister's chevalier and adopted brother. A small part of him was jealous that she didn't feel that way for him anymore, but the larger part that was controlled by her blood called him to serve her. The reality was, inside of him was a massive game of tug-of-war. His duty to his queen versus the status of rogue chevalier.

The click of a branch below alerted the stalker to a presence. His vision hazed red as he understood that a chevalier was near. Perhaps he had ventured too close again. Hojo would be all over him again if that were the case.

He turned his attention back, once again, toward Omoro only to be met with the sight of a hot pink upper thigh ending at the hem of a periwinkle, frilly shirt.

"Gah!" the younger exclaimed as he fell back on his denim clad butt by the main trunk, yet still on the branch of the tree. His eyes perused this highly unusual person.

He stood his full height as casually as he would on the ground- in spite of being on a scratchy, round tree branch. Sky blue eyes were trained in some unknown direction, as the wind played with the chevalier's messy blonde curls and lightweight ruffles in the periwinkle tunic.

The figure, obviously noticing he was being given the once over, struck a dashing pose. It was obvious that he was accentuating his chiseled features and strong jaw line, but for what purpose, Raoule had yet to know, although the figure was familiar to him.

"Ah, young grasshopper," Nathan spoke in a zen like voice while holding his gallant pose, "you have much to learn about making an entrance."

From his seat near the main trunk of the tree, the younger chevalier was at a loss for words. Mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, Raoule could only manage a squeak.

This chevalier then bowed with a flourish and said, "Nathan Mahler, chevalier of Queen Saya- deceased."

The young chevalier regarded the newcomer warily as he regained composure and stood. "Raoul, exiled chevalier of Queen Hibi…" interrupting his comment, the sudden thought struck like lightening. Saya only had one living chevalier- and this man did not look like Hagi. He also said Saya was deceased, but that wasn't possible because he just saw her run into Omoro with Mary Frances. "You can't be Saya's chevalier."

The elder chevalier nearly rolled his eyes with the thought that he really has his work cut out for him with this one. In a flash, one periwinkle clad arm was casually draped over the younger's shoulders as a manicured finger poked into his cheek. "You are all so cute when you look confused."

The pose was a sweet reminder of his antics with James. For a bonus, the reaction to swat at him angrily was the same as well. "Remember, young grasshopper, Diva and Saya's mother was named Saya, too," he sang as he easily jumped out of reach.

Raoul blinked in surprise as he halted completely. "Wait… you mean to tell me…" he asked, but trailed off as he put the pieces together. Eyes blazed red as he then lunged at Nathan in a blind rage. "You're the one that captured me!" he growled as his body began to morph. His face elongated as his arms and legs lengthened. Silver-blue scales replaced tan skin, teeth became longer and more serrated, and fingers curled into razor sharp claws. "It's your fault I'm like this!" he snarled as tree branches creaked and broke with the growth of this new creature evolving in its branches.

The oldest living chevalier seemed unfazed by the display of rage and simply folded his arms over his chest while he vanished in a blue streak, the creature that Raoul had become followed.

Over the breaking waves a mile of the coast, Nathan reappeared abruptly, hovering in midair. The flap of Raoul's newly formed wings alerted the chevalier of his arrival. "Aw, what took you so long?" Nathan asked as he appeared to be checking his manicure, without a care in the world.

Raoul was stunned when he suddenly felt the air rush out of his lungs with a forceful pain in his chest. The splash of cold salt water greeted him as he tried to pull in a lungfull of air, but only succeeded in breathing in briny water. Retracting his soaked wings, the younger chevalier kicked his way to the surface, not realizing he was actually in his humanoid form. Sputtering and coughing, the younger felt a cold hand on his chin and turned his face to meet red, glowing eyes.

Nathan was hovering a few feet over the waves as he chastised in an unearthly voice, "Do not resume that I am so easily beat. I am centuries older than you and it would serve you well to remember your place."

A very soaked and cold chevalier was then lifted from the breaking waves by Nathan and carried unceremoniously to the deserted beach and dropped onto the sand.

Raoul looked around at the scenery. Sand glittered under the pale moonlight that illuminated the white caps of the waves in a light blue. The young chevalier was left dripping wet as he moved into a defensive stance while Nathan gently descended onto the sand in front of him. "I think before we discuss your future, I should inform you of just how precarious your current situation is," Nathan informed. "You see, Hibiki and Kanade both have chevalier whom they have decided to claim as mates. This is the way things have been done among our kind for millenias."

"What does that have to do with me?" Raoul asked as his brow furrowed. He had been released after all, so it shouldn't matter.

"Usually," Nathan explained, "the second and third chevalier are put in charge of caring for the joined couple and the next generations of queens, but…" he turned his cold gaze at the younger, "you are a rogue. Most rogue chevalier to mad when they can't serve their queen."

Instead of making smug remarks, Raoul opted to just wait for the other shoe to drop. He already felt that madness creeping in on him and it frightened him. If this chevalier was willing to help him stave off the madness, he was willing to oblige.

"I am offering you the opportunity to become an apprentice, of sorts, to me," he informed with a bit of cockiness. "For centuries I have gathered information on our kind, but with the death of my queen and the near extinction of our kind, I stopped bothering with it." The sadness in his voice softened it a bit before he brightened, "When I heard of the experiments at The Zoo and discovered my queen's body was taken there, my desire returned."

A bit reluctantly, Raoul allowed his stance to soften, unsure how this would help his state of mind. Thinking on his options and realizing how few and disheartening they were, he have a sigh. "Alright, Nathan Mahler, I will agree to go with you- anything has to be better than this."

"Wonderful!" Nathan responded as he clapped his hands. Placing an arm around his new pupil/apprentice, Nathan guided them off to the other end of the beach. "First," he announced, "a few ground rules you should know…"

As Nathan prattled on endlessly and his frilly sleeve kept being blown into Raoul's nose by the sea breeze, the younger chevalier wondered, What have I gotten myself into?