Sympathy for the Diva Sympathy for the Diva
Disclaimer: Don't own so don't sue
Note. In this chapter "time skip" between scenes refers to where I fast-forward to the next portion of the story that I will be covering. Whatever is left out can be assumed to have gone the same way pretty much as it did in the anime.
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Part 4: Moments in Time
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Saya stood perfectly still, her blade held casually at her side, her blood upon it slowly dripping out onto the street. With an impatient howl first one then all three of the artificial chiropterans she faced began to race toward her, calling out their blood lust.
The chiropteran closest to her opened its jaws wide as it took the final few steps to its prize. However, at that instant Saya's body seemed to become a blur of motion and suddenly she was directly in front of the massive chiropteran, her sword more than halfway buried in its belly. The creature was stunned and had no time to react before, with a fierce battle cry, Saya freed her sword through its side with a powerful slash. It fell on its uninjured side, sprays of blood from the wound drenching her body before the twitching remains of the chiropteran crystallized seconds later.
The second chiropteran reached her a moment later and swiped with its massive arms, each strike missing as Saya expertly spun away and dodged, her attacker's claws ripping into the pavement. She came to a stop and faced the one chiropteran, seemingly not noticing as the second of the survivors ran toward her from behind.
"Saya behind you!" Kai cried out on instinct.
He needn't had worried, as Saya was already moving into a crouch to avoid the swipe of her second attacker's arms. The chiropteran hit only air as Saya leapt back up, driving her elbow into its belly and in so doing pushing them both back enough to avoid a new slash from the second chiropteran. Adjusting her weight to brace one foot on the pavement, Saya then proceeded to deliver a bone-crunching kick into the second chiropteran, one that sent it flying across the street to slam into a stone wall before collapsing to the ground in a heap.
No sooner had she done this than had the first chiropteran started a fresh strike, opening its jaws wide to snap at her. But again the attack met only air, as Saya's body blurred with her movement, leaping high above the chiropteran where she seemed to float in the air for a moment, her sword angled down and drawn back. Powered by gravity, she fell upon her target, stabbing her blade forward and straight through the back of the chiropteran's neck. Bracing her feet against its back, she pulled the sword free and then flipped backward to land gracefully on the road. Crystalized, the chiropteran shattered into hundreds of pieces upon hitting the ground.
"Amazing…" Lewis remarked in awe.
Kai nodded, his mouth agape. "I've never seen Saya move that fast before."
"And she's so much stronger," Irene agreed. David for his part merely observed intently.
Ignoring her audience, Saya turned to her remaining enemy, just now back on its feet. Then, without a word, she stabbed her sword into the ground and calmly walked toward the once-human monster.
"What's she think she's doing?! She left her sword!" Kai yelled in protest.
Lewis was dumbfounded. "Why would she make it harder on herself by fighting with her bare hands?"
"Because Diva can," David spoke up, his expression somewhat grim. "Given what we've seen her do, Diva could kill chiropterans herself with ease by simply ripping them apart. It makes sense that Saya would want to test her strength like this." He glanced back for a moment. "Isn't that right Haji?"
The others jumped a bit at the chevalier's sudden appearance behind them, but Haji was nonplussed and simply nodded to David. "Saya has been concerned that she relies too much on her blade."
Another inhuman roar sounded. Now more enraged than ever, the artificial chiropteran charged at the red-eyed queen in what would be the final time. It reached out with one arm to pin her to the road, only for Saya to stop it in its tracks with one hand, gripping it so tightly that her nails pierced its skin. Her eyes blazed even redder than before as she faced its strength with her own, bearing her fangs and letting out her own hissing cry. Then, even as it tried to strike her with its free arm, Saya leaped up, using the arm she held for leverage as she dealt a spin kick to the chiropteran's head. The force was so great that the creature's neck twisted then snapped, the arm she held ripping off as the body spun onto the street, blood flying everywhere. The chiropteran was dead, but only for the moment.
Tossing the torn arm aside, Saya approached the still-twitching remains, her expression unchanging. She looked down upon the body, raising one leg over the creature, then smashing her foot upon its neck. A moment later a sickening crunch echoed through the area as Saya's stomp severed the chiropteran's head from its neck, finally truly killing it, as well as cracking apart the pavement below where she had stomped.
Eerie silence now replaced the sounds of battle as Saya turned her back on the corpse and strode to retrieve her sword. Picking it up, she again approached the dead chiropteran and swiftly stabbed into the body and severed head once each, reducing them to crumbling stone and thus ensuring an easier clean up. Her eyes were downcast, her movements robotic and she had yet to acknowledge the presence of the others at all.
The sight filled Kai with a sense of unease. A part of him felt like rushing to greet his adopted sister, yet fear gnawed at him over what he had just seen. The sight of the red-eyed queen in battle, her skin and clothes spattered with the blood of her foes, was not an easy one to reconcile with the image of the sweet sister he still held in his heart. Irene, Lewis and even David also seemed a bit uneasy. "She's different…" he remarked finally, his tone growing increasingly concerned. "In the past Saya was so emotional when she was fighting. Now… now it's more like she was when fighting after Haji first awakened her. She's… cold."
"Yes," Haji agreed quietly. "Saya has taught herself to access her inner nature and keep it under control. She can let go of her emotions, and fight as the situation requires, without losing herself in the process. She is not the same as the Saya who left you a year ago, however, I believe she is closer to the real Saya than before. Will you not accept her like this?"
Under Haji's questioning gaze Kai felt his resolve renew itself. He would trust Saya as he always tried to. He nodded his thanks to Haji, then approached Saya, the others walking behind him. He stopped as she finally turned to face him. "Saya…" he began, only to find himself unsure of what to say. "Uh… I…" He scratched the back of his head and beamed at her with his best smile, trying to hide any remaining nervousness. "Long time no see sis."
Saya's fierce expression rapidly fell away, almost like a mask as her lips curled into a smile and her eyes watered. "Kai…"
Next thing either knew they were embracing, Saya sobbing into his chest. "I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye! I know I've said that before over the phone but I wanted to tell you in person. I just… after what happened I…"
"It's alright," he replied quietly, not caring about the blood on her clothes getting on him. "It was probably for the best, and you're back now so… we're okay, right?"
She smiled, regaining her composure as she wiped at her eyes. "Yes." She then turned to the others and bowed. "Thank you, all of you, for being there for Kai."
"Glad to help," Lewis smiled. "David here may not admit it but the kid's become quite an asset to Red Shield while you've been gone."
David glared at Lewis for a moment at his comment but quickly turned to address Saya in his usual curt manner. "It is good to have you back with us Saya. I am confident that this time we will succeed. Joel has been working hard behind the scenes to resurrect Red Shield's former strength. Soon we will have all the resources we need."
Irene bowed low. "And thank you for the help just now. We weren't expecting to fight more than two of them at a time so it got a bit out of hand."
"Yeah right," Kai scoffed. "Irene with the way you move I bet you could have beaten all three yourself if you hadn't had to worry about bailing me out of trouble."
Irene blushed. "Kai… this is different from our spars. You should be proud that you did as well as you did on your first try. Next time I'm sure you'll show everyone how amazing you are," she said adoringly.
"Now that I see it in person I have to say you two really are cute together," Saya grinned. "I'm happy for you."
"Thanks," Kai remarked, now blushing a bit himself and eager to change the subject. "So Saya, Haji, what do you say we head back to Gray's? Monique, Nahabi and Javier have been dying to meet you two."
Saya smiled warmly, "We'd like that." She looked herself over and blushed, "a bath would be nice too. I must look like a villain from some horror movie."
But as she stepped toward them her eyes suddenly lost focus and her sword fell from her hands. Irene gasped as Saya stumbled and began to fall, Haji instantly at her side to support her.
Kai stared at her, his face etched in worry. Saya had seemed so powerful only moments ago, yet now she looked incredibly weak and tired, as if she could pass out at any moment. He stepped toward her. "Saya, what happened? What's wrong?"
"Were you injured earlier?" Lewis asked in concern.
Saya stepped away from Haji's support, standing just fine now but still looking worn out. "I'm fine," she remarked with a smile that seemed all too fake. "It's just been a long journey and you got me thinking about sleeping in a real bed for a change."
No one seemed al that convinced, but they didn't want to sour the mood by forcing Saya to talk about something she seemed so uncomfortable with, so they let it go. Yet Kai knew Haji's looks well enough by now to be quite sure the chevalier knew what was happening and that he was perhaps the most concerned of them all.
--
Riku sighed as he lay next to Diva in their bed, exhausted but of course unable to sleep, only rest. He sat up a bit and glanced from side to side in the dark room, turning slightly annoyed as he spotted the various torn and tattered pieces of clothing that had been an expensive suit a few hours ago. It wasn't as if he had to pay for the clothes but it was still an unfortunate waste in his eyes. At least he had managed to calm his unstable bedmate down, though it left him in his current state.
For Diva had been more than a little reluctant to go to sleep. Sensing Saya had put her on edge to a degree that Riku had rarely seen. She had lost the eerie composure she normally held, ranting and raving for some time over the possibility of Saya taking him back. She eventually became set on going out and finding Saya herself that very night and it had taken every bit of pleading and coaxing that Riku was willing to risk against Diva to lead her back to their room first. Once there he had kissed her full on the lips, his sudden forwardness shocking Diva out of her fit and igniting her passion.
She soon was tearing his clothes off and rather fiercely making love with him. It had been tiring but enjoyable as usual, though at the same time the tumult of negative emotions that Diva channeled through it had been quite jarring for the young man.
He looked down at her. Even in sleep she did not seem at peace yet. She tossed and turned, sometimes uttering his or Saya's name's. A brief look into her dreams had shown him they basically consisted of a rather demonic-looking Saya dragging him away from Diva, even cutting the babies out of her body and leaving Diva alone in utter darkness. Joel's face, his words and various images from her captivity would randomly intersect these scenes and from time to time a tortured scream would deafen everything else.
His empathy taking over, Riku held her close in his small arms, Diva proceeding to hug him tightly and possessively, in her sleep. At least she now seemed to be resting more peacefully, living him to wonder and worry about the future. He'd managed to distract her for now, but he wondered if he would ever figure out a way to have a rational talk with her about Saya. Nevertheless he held onto the hope that both sisters might survive this war. In his fondest hopes and dreams he saw himself helping Diva to build a real life for herself, to let go of her anger and find the happiness she had sought for so long.
Maybe it was madness to feel such things for Diva. Maybe he was suffering from the syndrome he had read about wherein kidnapped victims come to befriend or even fall in love with the one who kidnapped them. Regardless, he was sure of one thing. Hoping for such things as happiness for the future kept him going day by day.
--
Saya yawned as she pulled the covers of her bed aside and settled down for sleep. She had wanted to visit more with David's former instructor Gray and the war orphans he now cared for, but everyone had been pretty adamant that she rest. Then there was the matter of locating Diva and her chevalier, but David had informed her a full planning meeting on that needed to wait until after the rest of the Schiff had finished scouting the city. It was another reunion to look forward to. In the meantime she didn't go to sleep just yet, knowing Haji had wanted to speak with her in private ever since her stumble in the aftermath of her battle with the chiropterans.
"Saya," Haji stated once satisfied that they were alone. "What happened earlier, you know what that meant… the time is approaching."
She nodded, her expression serious. "I know Haji, but I'm stronger now. I didn't even fall asleep and I feel better already. I just need to hang on for a while longer. We finally have leads, even if its risky I have to fight or it will be another thirty years before I have a chance to end this."
Haji was silent for a moment, but then bowed his head in assent. "As you wish." He personally did not like this situation at all. Saya's decades of dormancy were always preceded by a variable period where she required more sleep and suffered sudden bouts of fatigue if she overexerted her body. The strength she had gained in the past year seemed to help her control the symptoms, but it was still dangerous to fight knowing she could experience another bout of fatigue at any time. Plus, the symptoms were bound to worsen as the time for her dormant period came closer.
Saya tried to give him a reassuring smile. "It's okay Haji, see? I'm fine now. I'll get a good night's sleep and be good as new, for now at least."
"And what of the others?"
She sighed sadly, "They have enough to worry about. This would just add to it when there is nothing they can do about it anyway. I'll let them know when it starts to actually affect me during a fight."
For a moment Haji seemed like he wanted to heave a heavy sigh of his own but he didn't. He merely bowed slightly to her. "As you wish."
--
The same images always showed themselves at some point.
The stone tower.
The blue rose-covered walkway.
And that damnable door.
They were fragments, the pieces of memory that escaped her subconscious even during her period of amnesia.
But ever since Riku's abduction it had taken on more terrible and abstract traits.
Saya stepped past the open door and entered a dark void. Looking behind her she found the entryway had vanished. She was now alone in the darkness. Except she wasn't alone.
"Saya."
Her eyes snapped in one direction then another, her ears straining to tell where the strangely familiar yet distorted voice had come from. She ran toward it, not knowing or caring just where she was.
"Saya."
"Who is this?" she wondered aloud. "Where are you?!" she cried more desperately.
Then, with no warning, another figure appeared in the darkness. There had been no change in the light but she could see him perfectly, sitting near her with his arms wrapped around his folded legs in a semi-fetal position, his face bowed and hidden behind them.
"R-Riku?" she dared to ask.
"Why didn't you save me Saya?" he replied without looking up. "Was I just not important enough? Is it because I'm just your chevalier now and not your brother anymore? Am I just some slave to you now like Haji?"
Saya was horrified at his words. What had she ever done to make him think such things? "Riku… no… no! It's nothing like that! I tried!" her eyes watered and she began to sob, her voice weakening. "I really tried my best!… I wanted… I wanted to save you…"
Riku let out a chuckle so eerie and dark that Saya was chilled to the bone. "Of course… I was never really your brother to start with was I? We weren't even the same type of being. How could I ever expect a murderous bloodsucking beast like you to see me as a brother? Ha, I bet you only bothered to make me into a chevalier for your own amusement. Did you think it would be funny Saya, to stick me with the body of a 14 year old for the rest of my life?"
Tears were now freely flowing down her face. "Riku… why… why are you saying these things?"
His bitter smile fade, replaced with a angry frown. "You should have let me die back then Saya… It would have been better, better for the both of us." He raised his face fully, revealing glowing red eyes that seemed devoid of anything she had known in the old Riku.
Saya's eyes widened and she gasped only to freeze still as she felt a hand upon her shoulder.
"Riku's right, it would have been better."
She turned slowly, knowing who was behind her but not wanting to believe it.
"But I'm glad you didn't" she said with cruel cheer. "Thanks to you I have a wonderful new toy."
Her lips trembled in a mixture of rage and sadness. "Diva…" She instinctively reached for her sword but there was nothing there.
Diva walked over to Riku, Saya trying to call out to him, to run to him, but finding she now could neither speak or move. Her sister knelt down and wrapped an arm around the boy, whispering into his ear words all too clear for her.
"Kill her for me Riku… and in return I will free you from this life."
He stood up, his body changing, his face altering until he was unrecognizable as a human. He began to walk toward her.
"Riku… no… don't do this…" She could speak again but still not move.
"It can't be helped," he remarked in words devoid of emotion. "I am what you made me. A monster, just like you."
"And monsters must die," Diva added with a laugh. "So why don't you go first Saya? After all, you are the one who started all this."
"No… not yet… I can't die yet, I have to save you first!" she pleaded to Riku as he continued his slow approach.
Diva laughed again. "That's funny Saya… when were you ever able to save anyone? All you did for Haji and Riku was make them a part of this battle between us. You deserve death and you know it."
She couldn't deny her words, but she couldn't accept death like this either, not when her mission had not yet been accomplished. "No…" She shut her eyes tightly, the sound of Riku's footsteps and Diva's laughter continuing to echo in her ears, "NO!!"
She screamed, pleading, begging for everything to just stop, and for a moment it did. All was quiet and still again, but as she opened her eyes she was greeted with the sight of a Vietnam village, its homes burning, its people full of fear, fleeing and screaming. She got up and tried to follow them, only to trip and fall hard amidst the grasses. She struggled back to her feet and tried to regain her bearings only to freeze stiff in shock as she looked upon the figure that now stood before her.
Saya shook in fear and turmoil before the thing that frightened her most. Herself. Seeming to tower over her knelt form was the Saya who had unleashed her terrible rage against chiropteran and human alike in Vietnam all those years ago. Her hair was long, her clothes ragged and she was covered in blood. Yet there was no doubt to her identity, though not a trace of humanity could be found in her crimson eyes.
She looked up into the eyes of her doppelganger, and cried out in despair. "Why?! Why did everything end up this way?!"
Diva's voice came from behind her. "Because you are weak. Selfish, naïve and weak."
The voice of her adoptive father, George, now joined in the background. "Evil, blood-sucking monsters like you… why should the world have to endure them? Why did I have to baby sit and die for one?!" Saya could only hold herself as her body shook with the tumult of her emotions.
Suddenly, the first Joel, the man who had raised her, stood beside her. "Atone for my mistakes and yours, my daughter," he said softly. "You know there is only one way to end this. You've known it ever since the day I died."
Saya was alone again in the darkness, her weeping the only sound. Trembling, she tensed her hand at her chest and pulled back before slamming it through her ribs with all her might, the sounds of cracking bone and spurting blood echoing in the void. Grasping her goal she pulled her hand out, now holding her still beating heart.
"I must…"
"I must atone…"
"I alone… for all of it…"
"I have to atone!"
She crushed it, gore flying everywhere.
--
Saya awoke with a panicked gasp, her intact heart beating wildly. Haji was at her side, holding her hand as she tried to calm down. "Are you all right?"
Saya's breathing slowed and she nodded with closed eyes. "Yes… I'm fine. It was just another bad dream."
"Is there anything I can do?" he inquired.
She shook her head, "no… it's my problem…"
"There are many who wish to share your burdens more," he noted softly.
"I'm the reason they have a part in this burden in the first place. I refuse to weigh any of you down more than you already are, including you Haji." Her voice, however, did not match the bravado in her words. More than ever she seemed so weak and tired, and within seconds of laying back down she seemed to be asleep again.
Haji kept watch over her with an intense gaze that gradually softened until he reached out his human hand and stroked her cheek with it before smoothing her hair back.
"Sleep well."
In fact Saya was still semi-awake and it was only her depressed mood that kept her from blushing. She appreciated the gesture from Haji more than she could say, but she already knew that sleep in her new adoptive home was not likely to be all that peaceful. A sense of foreboding had filled her. For now that they had again gotten close to Diva, chances were things were going to start happening quickly, and many of them would not be good things. She would soon be proven right.
-- Time skip
Lulu could do little but cry in Irene's arms. The little artificial chevalier had contacted Red Shield via her cell phone late that night, frantic to convey they were being attacked and pleading for help. The chiropteran members of Red Shield had sped to the scene with David, Lewis and their various subordinates close behind.
Yet they had arrived too late. The chevalier who led the attack was gone, as were the other surviving attackers. Far worse, Darth and Gudrif had been slain in the ambush. Lulu was for now inconsolable, and so they relied on Moses and Karman, injured, angry and sorrowful but coherent, to recount what had happened.
The new enemy had been strange, formidable clones of Moses, albeit clones in form and ability but not DNA. Though he did not state the reason for the switch, Diva's chevalier, James, had proudly boasted that these "Corpse Corps" were made from Diva's "superior" blood, unlike the Schiff who had been made from Saya's. It seemed her blood was similar enough to Saya's to copy Moses' design.
Thus it was that no single Schiff save for Moses could fight the clones directly one on one and win, they were simply too strong and skilled. However, the Schiff had a great deal more actual experience fighting and acting as a unit, and unencumbered by the Thorn they were able to work together to take the Corps down one by one. They would work to separate one from the others, limit its movements by surrounding it, then Moses would finish it with a well-aimed decapitation.
It had gotten to the point that the chevalier leading the ambush, James Ironside, had decided it necessary that he step in, remarking casually that it seemed no amount of conditioning or innate ability could replace actual experience. The Schiff didn't give him a chance to attack first, instead opting for a quick finish by surrounding him before rushing in together to slam him with their weapons from every direction. Their attacks landed with enough force to form a crater underneath James and for a moment it looked like the fight was over. However, as the dust cleared it became obvious that was not so. James had transformed into his chiropteran form, his thick armor absorbing the blows with little but cracks in it as damage.
He had sprung up with enough force to send every Schiff flying. Physically the strongest, Darth had attempted to grapple James only to find himself overpowered with relative ease and thrown across the warehouse they were fighting in.
It was only then that the Schiff realized that the Corpse Corps had taken the opportunity to regroup and place themselves in strategic positions to attack from. With but a word James called for them to strike.
Darth had gone out protecting an injured Lulu, while Gudrif had taken a blow meant for Karman, facts that made it all the harder to deal with for the proud warriors. They were free of the Thorn, and in the belief they now had long, bright futures ahead of them they had allowed themselves to open up to each other and bond as they never had before. They had never experienced such happiness. Yet this made the pain of losing them so much greater than it had been back when they had lived every day accepting that death could claim them at any time.
Indeed, Moses and Karman had been driven into a mad rage at the sight of their comrade's deaths and had proceeded to kill the Corpse Corps that stood between them and James. James had seemed eager to continue, but upon sensing Saya's approach he decided it was better to withdraw with the surviving Corpse Corps. He claimed this attack had merely been a test of the Corpse Corps' potential, and coldly promised that next time he would be prepared to take out the Schiff, Saya, and Red Shield.
Though she had not been all that close to Darth or Gudrif, Saya still shared in the sadness, but more than that she was troubled. For now it seemed she would have to contend with a squad of chiropterans that were harder to fight than the bestial artificial chiropterans she had become used to. And she did not have long to wait before confronting them.
-- Time skip
He had not expected it to hurt so much, had thought that he had gained control over such weak feelings of regret and sadness. Yet, he had been lying to himself. Despite all the terrible crimes he had played a part in, all the lives he had helped destroy, all the death and horrors he had desensitized himself to, the pain was still there.
Solomon had been sent by Amshel to insure that Karl's latest attempt on Saya's life would be his last. His brother had reasoned that Karl could not be allowed to kill Saya as afterward there would be nothing left for him and thus he would become an even greater liability than he already was. Solomon had gone fully expecting to play a role in the insane chevalier's death and had arrived to find Karl restraining Saya from behind her, declaring that he would drain her until she was dead and then die himself from her blood.
Yet he had not been needed it seemed as, in a burst of strength only a true chiropteran queen was capable of, Saya broke free from his grip enough to reverse her blade. She then stabbed herself straight through her stomach and into Karl's body. Karl was caught by complete surprise and could only speak her name helplessly as he crystallized. With a brief pained scream she pulled the sword out and collapsed to her knees, waiting for her body to heal. Solomon sighed as he wished she'd given him a chance to help her pull it out less roughly.
His sigh caught Saya's attention just as the Corpse Corps that had survived fighting Saya's group arrived, Haji and the others in pursuit, and prepared to renew the battle. However, before they could, Solomon spoke up in a commanding tone. "All of you will return home immediately," he ordered as he looked at the remaining Corpse Corps, who silently obeyed.
Saya gaped in surprise at her enemy's actions as the others eyed him warily and Haji helped her stand up. "Solomon? What-"
"Karl did not become a chevalier by choice," Solomon interrupted her, "it was forced upon him and he tried to make do while being rejected by the very ones who chose him. To my brother he was only an experiment to see how Diva's blood would effect a man from his race. I know you must despise him for the things he did to you, but to him you were everything Saya."
Saya tried to reply only to have Solomon interrupt again. "Please, let me finish," he requested politely, "in return for hearing me out, I will tell you this: in one week Diva will be on Christina Island. What you do with that information, whether you believe me or not, is up to you."
The others gathered around Saya as Solomon continued to speak. "As for Karl, after becoming her chevalier he was smitten by Diva and tried very hard to gain her love, not understanding that Diva would not and could not ever do that. This rejection and the ensuing decades of isolation he subjected himself to drove Karl completely mad. He came to see you, Saya, as a kindred spirit, another who was isolated from the world and part of a battle you did not wish to partake in. To die together with you became his fondest wish and his greatest obsession."
Solomon's expression saddened further. "How I wish… how I wish he would have realized that I was there for him the whole time… that I wanted to help him… as poor a substitute as my friendship might have been compared to what he sought with Diva and you. Instead, I was sent only to watch him and ensure that he died."
Saya wasn't sure of what to say. It was a great deal easier to think of Diva's chevaliers as monsters rather than people with real feelings. Considering this, she moved to a question rather than a reply. "If you weren't going to help Karl, then why did you reveal yourself? Why did you call off the Corpse Corps?" Saya asked in confusion.
There was a great deal Solomon wished to say, but now was not the time. His heart was too heavy from Karl's death to attempt to voice his feelings for Saya. "Perhaps…" he managed, "I too am very lonely…" He turned away and with his incredible speed seemed to vanish.
"Solomon wait! What about Riku! Where is he? Is he alive?!" Saya cried out, wishing she had thought to ask this a few seconds earlier.
Yet Solomon was already gone, leaving only a few foreboding words echoing in the night. "I'm sorry… he belongs to Diva now…"
Pursuit was impossible, Saya couldn't hope to catch up to him with the hole in her stomach still healing and her energy sapped from the battle. Despite being much stronger than before her body was still not used to regenerating from wounds as major as this and so it took longer than it did for Haji or Diva to recover.
She hung her head but Kai could only ball his fists. "'Belongs to Diva?!'" he quoted angrily. "Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
"If nothing else it gives us reason to believe he is still alive," David offered.
Saya admitted that at least was true, but it didn't allay her worries much. In some ways knowing just a little bit was worse than knowing nothing at all. When she had hoped to surprise Diva while she practiced at a theater she had instead been the one ambushed, by James Ironside. Diva had been in the room when she first arrived but Saya couldn't get close to her and James refused to answer her questions about Riku. Not that she had opportunity to ask very much. James was a formidable opponent and even with Kai and Haji's help it looked like the fight could drag on for a while before a victor would be decided. It was then that the other, rather strange, chevalier named Nathan had moved between them. He noted that during the fight Saya had moved off the stage and that he could no longer allow James to continue. According to him it seemed she had to die on the appropriate stage, one he would prepare.
Saya was not at all sure if he was being literal or metaphorical or perhaps both. What she was sure about was that this chevalier seemed to be of a higher rank and greater power than Karl and James as he cowed the armored chevalier with a threat of death if he continued to argue against his decision. The two had then left, Saya too stunned to ask anything.
As for Karl, her requests about Riku to him had been largely ignored as well. According to Karl "that brat" was not worth the concern of either him or her. And now even Solomon, who was reasonable enough to answer questions, had come and gone while revealing little. The frustration was almost enough to make her want to drive her sword through her stomach again.
-- time skip
For Kai it had been an odd question to hear from the attractive young lady. Mao had met him on a staircase during one of the lulls between their missions and assignments, and then sprang this serious query. "What do you mean by 'why am I here?' You've never needed any reasons I could give you. You came because you wanted to didn't you?"
Mao shook her head, her expression a bit bitter. "I went to pursue you Kai. And now… now it seems like its amounted to nothing and I have no reason to be here. What have I done for you or Saya? What can I possibly do?"
"This isn't like you. I mean you've traveled all over the world looking for us Mao, and you've been helping Red Shield for over a year. That's more than what most people would or could do."
"Yeah, I'm some big hero," she remarked with air of sarcasm. "I only did that on some whim because I wanted to find you and get away from my life with the yakuza, everything else just sort of happened. The fact is Red Shield doesn't need me here, and you need me even less. For that matter you need her here a lot more than you ever needed me."
Kai looked a bit puzzled. "Who? Irene, or Saya?"
"Both!" Mao snapped, raising her voice angrily as she released her pent-up emotions. This talk had been a long time coming. "Why is it they get all your attention! Why do you feel nothing for me?!"
For a time Kai was silent as he pondered his response. When he at last spoke it was with a tenderness that Mao found erased all the anger she had just brought up. "I'm sorry that I can't return your feelings Mao, I really am. It just wouldn't work. That's why I've always tried so hard not to encourage you. Frankly I had expected you to start hating me ages ago, but you just kept coming."
He sighed. "And what you asked about… I want to protect Saya Mao. Even with this chevalier body I don't know how much I can do, but I know I can do something and that I would try even if I was still a normal human. As for Irene… it's complicated, but we need each other in this."
Mao frowned and crossed her arms. If he was going to be so damned noble about all this and give such a sweet apology she would at least straighten out his feelings for the chiropteran girl. "Complicated? It's obvious you two are in love with each other!"
Kai's eyes widened in surprise. "What? You… you really think so?" he asked in a hopeful tone.
Mao had regained her superior demeanor and spoke in her typical, knowing way. "Like I said, it's obvious. She completely adores you, and you treat her more sweetly than I've seen you treat any other girl, even Saya."
Kai seemed to be a bit in his own world now, talking to himself as much as to her. "I guess… I guess you're right. I knew I liked her… and I wanted to love her… it's just I've never been serious with a girl before so I wasn't sure how to know if I…" he looked up, at last noticing how rude he was being. "That is- uh! Mao it's not like there's anything wrong with you-"
"Don't bother to sugarcoat it Kai," she interrupted, "just answer me honestly. Why her? Is it because you saved her, because she's a chiropteran?"
He looked down for a moment. "I'd be lying if I said those things had nothing to do with it, but its more than that Mao. Irene inspires me… she's special. I've never known anyone who just clicked with me like that. She's gone through things I can't imagine, yet she's stayed strong and somehow kept a kind heart. She has a lot of the things I admire in Saya…"
"Maybe its selfish…" he continued. "I hate to think she is just some replacement for Saya to me. But regardless I've made my choice, and I know that even if I had the chance I couldn't ever feel for Saya the things I feel for Irene, not after spending this past year with her, and I know Saya couldn't return those feelings anyway."
Mao sighed, a small smile on her lips even as a few tears formed in her eyes and she turned away. "I assumed as much. Honestly it doesn't hurt as much as it might have. I'd already kind of accepted it for a while now, talked about it with Irene and everything. I just wanted to hear it from you personally too."
Kai took her hand to make her look at him again. "But you are needed Mao. Or have you forgotten all the work you've done gathering information for the rest of us? You and Okamura make for quite a team, and since you're not officially a part of Red Shield and you're not chiropterans you're in a position to do things we can't and go places where we'd be recognized."
Mao blushed slightly. "You're still exaggerating, but I'll take it."
Kai grinned, "good. I guess you're not as stubborn as I thought you were."
Mao gave him a light bop on the head. "You're the one who's stubborn. Slow too. Sometimes I wonder what I saw in you."
Kai laughed a bit in agreement at the playful remark but became silent as Mao sat down on the stairs. She appeared tired, at least emotionally. She looked up at him, seeming much smaller and weaker than before. "Can we just sit like this for a while Kai?"
"Sure," he replied as warmly as he could, "I'd like that."
--
Notes:
Well this chapter isn't as good as the others despite how long it took to write. That's mostly because it was just bits of various episodes showing scenes where I altered events from the series. As such the narrative is a bit disjointed, though hopefully most readers should know the plot well enough to fill in any gaps. Hope no one minds me keeping the deaths of Darth and Gudrif. Character do need to die in the story to maintain the sense of loss and seriousness of it all, and frankly so little is known of Darth and Gudrif as characters that I couldn't keep them around without making up a bunch of stuff about them.
From the start of my writing this fic I had much of the beginning and end already worked out and knew the middle would be the hardest part to write. But it seems I'm getting through it slowly but surely. At least the rewritten fight scenes should be fun for readers who like action. I found Saya's return in the series to end up a bit underwhelming considering she had done more impressive feats in battle early in the series. Thus I enjoyed being able to amp up her strength closer to what makes sense for a vampire queen while still maintaining the weakness she is experiencing due to her dormant period getting nearer.
As always feel free to email me any questions, complaints or criticisms that you don't want to put in a review. I can't promise it will make me write faster or change anything in the story but I can promise I'll consider them.
On the note of edits, I have gone back through the previous chapters and made certain changes. Namely I've altered and added to a few scenes, mostly in chapter 3, and changed the spelling of Luis' name to "Lewis" as its more official and provides a nice parallel to the "Luis" in the original Blood movie. I've also fixed the mix up I had made regarding the names of Darth and Gudrif (I had called Gudrif Darth and Darth Gudrif).