Disclaimer: I own nothing except my three (four if you count dead people) OCs, whose backgrounds are heavily influenced by Sylvia Engdahl's novel Enchantress from the Stars. Anything you recognize is from the Trinity Blood manga, by Kiyo Kyujyo, or the novels, by Sunao Yoshida.

Chapter 10

Despite the heat of August in Carthage, and the crowds gathering to see the famously beautiful cardinal soon to pass by, Pietro Borromini was feeling good. Formerly of Rome, where Vatican personnel were a dinar a dozen, he had no desire to see a mere cardinal, beauty or no. Instead he lounged languidly in a deserted hotel bar, away from the crowds and with decent air-conditioning, a bottle of cold Carthage wine at his side.

His mood was only improved when a young girl approached him and asked if she could take a seat. With an, "Of course, signorina," he ordered the bartender to get another glass and poured the girl some wine. From her gaudy dress she was unmistakably a prostitute, but her clumsy demeanor and the awkwardness of her coquettish smile told him she hadn't been in the business long. She was of a petite build, and looked to be no more than sixteen or seventeen years old. Her hair was a striking red and her eyes glittered like lapis lazuli in her white face. Though she spoke perfect Carthaginian, such pale skin must have come from a western country such as Albion. He thought her profile to be exquisite.

As she took a delicate sip of wine, Borromini blurted out "I like you."

"Hmm?" the girl blinked as if surprised.

Borromini poured her more wine, shrugged his wide shoulders, and told the girl, "Ah no, it was nothing. I was going to ask if you liked the wine. It's 'Queen's Tears', the most expensive kind."

"Y-yes, it's very nice," she replied. The innocent smile she answered his questions with was making Borromini lose control. This girl is a real gem, he thought. He pulled out his wallet-the thick sheaf of bills inside was sure to attract her eye- and said, "Yes. If it's all right, why don't we go to my room after this? I have some white wine I brought from Rome you should taste." If the girl was a prostitute, she'd say yes without hesitation, but Borromini didn't want to be blunt about it. It was just as well, because the girl's next words were, "Rome? You come from Rome, signore?" He nodded affably and the girl's eyes widened "The truth is, I'm a programmer."

"You can operate an ancient computer?" The girl's eyes were wide with awe, and Borromini puffed out his chest proudly and nodded. "So, you must work for the government."

"No, I'm currently working for a private client. Awful man, has me climbing about in sewers…"

"Is your client a plumber or something?"

"Or something. He's a magic user." Borromini laughed, and the girl blinked her big blue eyes doubtfully. With a conspiratorial look, Borromini continued, "He wanted me to make sandstorms, but I finished that project, so now I'm on a long awaited vacation." If she'd been doubtful before, now the girl was just confused. "A magic user asked you to make sandstorms in sewers? Is that a metaphor?"

"Something of the sort. It would take to long to explain." Borromini was eager to be done talking, and gently grabbed the girl's hand. She tensed, but didn't register repulsion beyond that as he slid their paired hands down her hip. "Come to my room," he said, "and I'll answer all of your questions. I have a few to ask you too," he breathed in her ear. "Umm…before that Signore, there's a woman over there who'd like toknow more about your business." She pointed to a curvy shadow at the other end of the bar. Borromini's first thought was Two at once! Yes! But when he heard the more mature woman's question, all thoughts of pleasure flew out of his head, and he began to panic. "You're former Vatican Treasury Department Doctor Pietro Borromini, aren't you?" she asked, stepping into the light. It was a nun wearing a sharply pointed rosary around her neck, and a gun hanging from a belt around her hips with a dagger and extra ammunition. She grinned a predatory grin. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Sister Lili Stone, and I've come from the Vatican Foreign Affairs Special Detachment AX. Doctor Borromini, you already know why I interrupted, don't you?"

"AX?" Borromini's scream was pitiful, but for a man his size his speed was praiseworthy. He grabbed the prostitute and pulled her in front of him to act as a shield, raising a gun he'd had hidden in his bag to her temple. "Move and the girl dies!" he yelled. The bar staff hurriedly ducked under the tables. The nun seemed nonplussed. "And they told me you were smart," she murmured. Raising her voice, she said, "Esther, if you would?"

"Yes," Esther replied calmly. Instantly, the girl's body sank to the floor. "What?" Borromini's eyes widened in shock. His legs were swept out from under him by a strong kick, and he fell like a ton of bricks. "Don't move!" cried Esther. She posed heroically over the fallen man, gripping the shotgun she'd kept hidden under her skirt, strapped to her thigh. Fixing her aim with well-trained movements, she told the him, "For the last time Professor Pietro Borromini, after you were fired and banished from the Vatican, you retained illegal copies of its classified software. You are charged with the violation of the Holy Public Service Regulations. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit you are under arrest!" Before Borromini could make a noise of protest, Syeira was at his side with the handcuffs.

Once their prisoner had been secured, Esther and Syeira made their way to Vatican Embassy in Carthage. While Esther changed out of her slutty dress and washed off her makeup, Syeira met up with Abel. Originally he was supposed to have done this mission with Esther, but Syeira's early acceptance into the AX led her to be paired with Esther instead of the silver-haired priest. However, he still had some of the paperwork for the case, as Borromini had a long history of crime. She needed those files to complete her report, and told Father Nightroad so when he was unable to find them. Syeira ended up going through the mess he called a room in the Embassy, all the while muttering, "Men. We just got here, and already this room is a disaster." After the files were found (stuffed between an overdue Accounting report and some socks), Abel escorted Lilith back to the nuns' quarters.

"Tell me something Father…" Syeira said on their walk.

"Yes?"

"Why on Earth did you have a slipper?"

"We found the files didn't we?" Abel whined.

"I did. You just stood there." Lilith said in an exasperated tone. "All's well that ends well, Lilith. How did the arrest go?"

"It was incredibly easy for a man with such a large criminal record."

"Oh?" queried Abel. "I think he'd just finished a large job and was off guard. He told Esther something about creating sandstorms in sewers for a magician." Abel's eyes widened and his demeanor abruptly became serious. "Magician?"

"Yes. Father, are you alright?" Abel did not reply. "Father does this 'magician' character have something to do with the Roesenkreuz Orden? I've heard about Dietrich von Lohengrin from Esther. Father?" At these questions, Abel's manner changed. "Well now…" he said, "Right about now they're having a party at the consulate. Let's go eat dinner!" He was back to his usual goofy self. Abel began to talk about how hard such diplomatic trips must be for Cardinal Caterina, and Syeira stopped listening. She was pondering Borromini's wprds to Esther. She knew that in the sewers there was an ancient computer holding a device made to self-destruct Carthago during the Armageddon. Considering the city's proximity to the desert, a sandstorm would be the likely option for how the device worked. Abel interrupted her thoughts. "Hello, Lilith? Are you in there?" he asked, waving a hand in front of her face. "Of course, Father. I was just wondering just how close you and Her Grace really are…" It took a few moments for him to understand what she was insinuating, but when he did, he immediately began to stutter out denials. "It's not like that! We're childhood friends, nothing more! She's my evil boss! It would be wrong!" Syeira laughed. She'd just have to keep her ears open for any mention of the Iblis.

Esther ran. She didn't know where she was going, and didn't particularly care. After changing out of her prostitute get-up as fast as humanly possible, she'd gone to Lilith's room to consult the older woman on the details of their report. She'd been waiting outside the door when not one but two sets of footsteps approached. She recognized Lilith's laughter and Father's voice. She didn't know why, but for some reason the thought of Father making another woman laugh like that- such a carefree sound- made her chest hurt. So she ran.

Esther only stopped running when her stomach began to growl at her. She couldn't recall the last time she'd eaten…was it this morning, or even before that? Really…She slumped against the wall and her thoughts strayed to the reason she had come to Rome. Back then she had wanted to find answers, and some small part of her had wanted to stay with Father. That part of her had only grown, but she still didn't have her answers. Why did the Lady Bishop and even Gyula have to die? A wave of homesickness washed over Esther and she quietly murmured, "I want to go home."

"We all feel homesick sometimes Esther."

"Ahhhh! Lilith. When did you get here?"

"I saw you running away from my room and followed you. Father Nightroad was very worried, and so am I. What made you run like that?" Concern was evident in Syeira's voice. Though she made it a point not to get involved with Younglings more than she had to, something attracted her to this young nun. She crouched down next to the petite redead. "It was nothing," Esther lied. "What were you and Father talking about?" Syeira gave a small laugh. "He was telling me about the Duchess of Milan. Apparently they've known each other for about ten years now."

"Ten years?" Esther murmured. She'd known Father for only six months and still knew nothing about him, If she could know him for ten years, would she know any more? "Umm, Lilith, is it okay if I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"It's about Father Nightroad. He won't ell me anything. He…Who is he?" Esther waited with anticipation for Lilith's answer. However, she was only setting herself up for disappointment. Syeira's answer was "I'm not sure what to tell you Esther. I've only known Father Nightroad for a few months, a shorter time than you have."

"But you've worked together as AX agents" you've laughed together "surely you know something!" Esther's plea was almost desperate, and it wrung Syeira's heart. "I'm sorry Esther, but I can't disclose details of my work to someone who isn't an AX agent."

"So you're saying I'm not allowed to know." Esther's voice was emotionless. "I'm really sorry, Esther," said Syeira. She stood and offered Esther her hand. "Shall we go? Abel told me they're having a party at the consulate. We could go get dinner." Esther took the proffered hand but declined the suggestion of food with a polite, "No, thank you," despite her rumbling stomach. She didn't feel like seeing Father now-or anyone else, for that matter. "Then what shall we do?" asked Syeira. "Aren't you going to dinner?"

"Not without you. We're friends, aren't we?" Esther gave a faint smile at Lilith's reply. "Thank you," she said, "You sound like Father."

"Heaven forbid I sound like that buffoon!" cried Syeira and both women laughed. "Umm…maybe we could go visit the prisoner we arrested earlier?" Esther thought aloud. Syeira said, "That's better than standing here. Help me locate Father Tres. He's on duty around here, and can show us the way to the cell." Tres was promptly located and with a "State Special Service Duty Regulations, Article Nine states: Senior employees must grant support to junior employees whenever possible, provided said support does not interfere with current orders. This does not interfere, therefore, I will guide you," escorted them to the cell where Borromini was held. "Thank you very much," both women told Tres, who responded with, "Negative. I have merely executed the commands of my position."

It was Esther who first noticed that something was wrong. She reached out to touch the doorknob, and was burned. She screamed, and received a concerned "What's wrong?" from Syeira and a "Status, Sister Esther Blanchett?" from Tres. "The knob is really hot!" she exclaimed. "What could…" before Esther could finish her sentence Tres had stepped forward and gripped the blisteringly hot metal with his right hand. "Ow" was Esther's reaction. "Sharp rise in temperature confirmed. After my ladies confined the suspect someone infiltrated this room," reported Tres. He kicked open the door, revealing Borromini's charred corpse. Esther looked horrified, but Tres and Syeira stepped forward to examine the remains. Tres reported, over Esther's cry of "Ahhh…This is…"

"This is suspect Pietro Borromini. His skin has carbonized. He was killed by an immediate spike in temperature. But this evidence is more important. Examine this, my ladies." He reached toward the corpse's neck and peeled back the skin there, revealing two small holes. "A Methuselah…an Ifrit!" said Syeira, cursing herself for not realizing it earlier. She ignored Esther's stuttered "The mark of a vampire…There are vampires nearby!" and her own slip-up in using the word 'Methuselah' to lower her mental shields and sense the intruder…She and Tres said. "Above!" at nearly the same time. They attacked at almost the same time as well, but where Tres fired upon the Ifrit with bullets, Syeira dove into his mind, something strictly forbidden for agents to do to Younglings. It took her a moment to process the information that washed over her, but when she did she knew she had to get to Cardinal Caterina as fast as possible. She moved o exit the room, but one thought held her back. Esther's still in there! At the moment, Esther had just come under fire-literally. A great fireball was flying towards her head. Syeira pulled Esther out of the way in the nick of time. Meanwhile, Tres continued to fire upon the Ifrit, without much luck. He had been in a position to blow the man's head off, but was distracted by the immediate danger Esther was in. The Ifrit used this moment of distraction to grab Tres's face and release another fireball. The priest collapsed to the floor. The attacker's nails lengthened to claws and he lunged toward Esther. In her mind, the young nun screamed for Father.

And he came. "Step away from them, Mister Ifrit." Esther was in tears- of relief or guilt even she did not know. "Father, because of me, Father Tres is…!" Syeira spoke up. "Don't worry Esther. Tres can take more than that. Abel, I trust you have control of the situation?" He nodded, gun still trained on the Ifrit. Content that Esther would go unharmed, Syeira moved to exit the room. Abel was speaking. "Please don't move," he told the Ifrit. "If you disobey I'll have to go back to being serious and then I'll have to shoot you. Right now I'm only in a very slightly bad mood." The Ifrit disobeyed. He raised a hand with a fireball in it just as Syeira passed him. She Shielded her hand and grabbed his wrist, using her superior strength to crush it. "He warned you," she said, and released the mangled appendage. That was a mistake. In the next instant the room was filled with fire and when it cleared the Ifrit was nowhere to be seen.

"I shouldn't have let go," Syeira murmured. "It's alright, Lilith. We all make mistakes." Abel moved into the room. "Are you okay Miss Esther?"

"I'm fine, but!" She gestured towards Tres. Abel placed his hands on the prone man's face. "Ooh…that is rather rough. They got your eyes, didn't they?"

"It is not an issue," said Tres, sitting up and grabbing Abel's hand so hard he issued an "Ow!" Tres continued. "Is that you, Father Nightroad? My lord you must follow that vampire. I-"

"But Tres, your eyes are-" Abel protested. Syeira jumped in. "It's alright, Tres, I'll go to Cardinal Sforza." And she did, so fast that Esther and Abel barely saw her leave. "Father Tres, what was that about?" asked Esther. "It is not logical. A vampire this powerful would not infiltrate this maximum security embassy simply to assassinate one former programmer." Tres explained. "You don't mean-"

"Correct, Father Nightroad. The professor is incidental. The real target is the VIP in the embassy. Cardinal Caterina is in danger."

At the moment Tres made his grave announcement, the woman in question was standing at the window of her room, pondering the strange smell on the air. "Oh my," said Cardinal Caterina. "Is something the matter, Lady Caterina?" A voice issued from the Cardinal's left earring. "It's nothing Sister Kate. It's just I thought I smelled something burning. A fire without an alarm, perhaps?" Kate replied, but Caterina wasn't listening. All her attention was fixed on the small, unnaturally strong figure standing behind her, holding her still. "Move not. Make no sound. Any resistance shall lead to thy death."

"Who are you?" The Iron Lady was shaken to her core. The figure spoke again. "Our instructions were clear. Do not move, Terran. Or perhaps we did not make ourselves understood?" Caterina turned, and for the first time saw the figure's face. It was an beautiful blonde child in men's clothes…angelic looking save for the tiny fangs peeking out of the corners of his mouth. "Vampire!" Caterina screamed, fear conquering all emotions and thoughts. The boy's face twisted in anger, and gripping Caterina tightly enough to cause pain he replied, " Vampire, sayest thou? Rude Terran. Insult us, wilst thou? Thou callest us vampire when we have risked our very lives to inform thee of Imperial command?"

"An Imperial command? You can't be…no…you're the Empire's-" Caterina gasped. She was unable to finish her sentence, as at that moment Syeira burst through the doors. She knelt before the boy and spoke urgently in Imperial. "Your Excellency, please release Her Grace! Forgive our rudeness, for something drastic has happened!" Syeira was panting with exertion not only from her long run but also from the strain of using her telekinetic powers to keep Tres back. "Please Excellency, run!" she cried as Tres broke free of her hold on him. The Methuselah boy looked taken aback, but moved away from the cardinal, and out of the direct path of Tres's silver bullets. It glanced his shoulder, a small wound but painful nonetheless. Tres, standing in the doorway, said, "Step away from Cardinal Caterina. Arms system: switch alignment modes from visual to audio. Commence deletion."

"Vatican filth!" The boy was crying in pain. "We should have heeded the warnings. Never! Trust! The Vatican!" He used haste and fled out the window. "Well, for a first diplomatic meeting, that could have gone better," remarked Syeira from where she knelt upon the floor. Tres ignored her in favor of inquiring as to Caterina's status. Caterina did not ignore the woman she believed to be from the Empire. "Diplomatic meeting?" she asked weakly. "He was the Imperial messenger?" Syeira could only nod.

Said Imperial messenger was currently wandering the back alleys of Carthago, mumbling to himself. "Curse the Terran! Brutish, primitive, and arrogant! Detestable religious fanatics! The world would be well rid of them!"

"Ion!" A man with blue hair so dark it looked black approached the boy. "Ion!" he said, "Ion those wounds…"

"Radu?"

"When you did not return quickly I…Were the Terran unfriendly?"

"We brought diplomacy and they brought bullets."

"What?"

"It has been decided. The Terran must submit or we will put an end to them!" But we wonder, who was that women who saved us?

AN: Finally, a chapter that's not a rewrite! As always, I beg you, dear readers, for reviews. Syeira did quite a bit in this chapter, and I need to know if she's taking over the story. Mary Sue-ness must be avoided at all costs. So please, take a minute and review.