Lucien saw Sonja's former living body now decayed into ashes. He had a hard time breathing, he didn't know for how long he had laid there. But he saw her. He saw her standing not three feet from him. Silently eying her sister. Her elite armor riddled with gold made it's owner unmistakable. However she got in without opening the doors he would never know. He assumed it was, again, her magic.

His chains rattled as he still tried to protect Sonja. Amilia's hand gently caressed her decayed cheek sighing deeply. She now turned to him. She now stood right in front of him, towering over Lucien. He watched her make eye contact and, for a while, he found a small part of the human girl in the vampire's face. She abruptly broke away. Silently eying a spot on the wall as she began to speak. Her voice haunting the halls.

"I cannot blame you Lucien." He shot up. 'what did she just say?' He couldn't believe his ears as he watched the woman in front of him frown in disgust. "I can see your human parts in you. They made you fall in love. Yet Sonja can no longer sense this. Viktor has done what the counsel deemed necessary in order for our bloodlines to survive. I have spoken with him and he has acknowledged that it was the counsel that decided her fate."

He growled at her. She now looked back down at him again. 'Her look. So much like Viktor.' "You know that is not true! He could have stopped it!"

He snapped at her whilst Viktor walked in through the opening doors. Realizing that he might have brought something else on her he looked at Viktor. Then came the blow. It was more then sufficient to ground him again. But the blow wasn't a death dealer's. Or Viktor's. Both were too soft handed to harm him the way it did. Amilia had dealt a nearly fatal blow. Yet he sensed she could throw a thousand more like that. She hadn't even hit him at full strength.

Viktor ripped the pendant off Sonja's chest and silently inspected it. The full moon rose as Amilia looked up. She smiled down at Lucien, somehow her words reached him and not Viktor.

"Good luck."

She left the room. He growled at Viktor, the bolts slowly purged from his body as he began to transform into his lycan form. He now towered over Viktor whom hissed at him instinctively before being grounded by Lucien's pounce. He ripped the medallion out of Viktor's hand and jumped through the window. Just in time as Amilia came running back in, helmet in hand and four death dealers flanking her.

2000

He awoke startled. He had never understood why he did...

Monastery

Emelia and Selene were enjoying the last of Tannis' supplies, gently sipping the red fluid from a wine glass. Matthew sat on a stool in front of the communication device. Making himself comfortable and useful by cleaning their weapons. Suddenly the screen blinked, showing an incoming message. Matthew lay aside his work and sat himself properly in front of it.

"My ladies." He motioned both. Both got up and walked towards him. Standing over his shoulder he opened the message.

[Received. 01:19]

[Reply sent. 01:23]

Dear Tannis,

I am well aware of your unfortunate situation and fate.

Emelia and Selene are requested at the docks. But they already know when and how.

Your pathetic excuses will sadly no longer save you. Goodbye.

Regards,

~Calene Macaro

"Well that was helpful." Matthew sneered at the last comment. "Well, head back after I ensemble your weaponry, my ladies?" Selene nodded but Emelia had a slight smirk on her face.

"How about we enjoy our warm welcome? I am sure you still wish to rest, Matthew." A sly smile passed her lips before her expressions turned cold yet again. Selene and Matthew were busy cleaning their weapons and assembling them whilst Emelia was looking from the other end of the table fascinated how such small things could deal so much death.

Sipping the red fluid out of their glasses from time to time it wasn't long before they had assembled their weapons and headed back out to the mansion. They stepped in their black jeep and drove off. Closing the gate behind them.

"Now Selene, Viktor does not know that I betrayed him. Can we please keep it that way?" Selene doubtfully nodded but bit her lip.

"My lady I think we need to keep Selene as far away from Viktor as possible for the time being." Matthew spoke from the drivers seat once again. Watching the road. And Selene though the mirrors.

Emelia sighed.

"I do hate spending time with him sometimes." The drive continued. Suddenly she felt a slight bump as Matthew accelerated.

"Goddammit." Flooring the pedal he picked up the pace and started to race towards the mansion before throwing a folded map carelessly in Emelia's direction. "Pick a safe house will you?" Selene could sense what they all did. Dawn was coming.

Selene was surprised by the sudden swiftness and carelessness in Matthew's voice as he drove. "Matthew this one." She pointed to something on the unfolded map and he nodded taking a sharp turn.

Sancta Helena Docks

Silently did he look about the dock they had shored on. To his side stood a delicate woman, looking like she was barely twenty. Only her eyes betrayed her age. They stood on deck, the sun pleasantly above the horizon.

"I assume we are here early for a reason." She stated these words calmly. Though not as cold as a vampire would. It was a statement. A fact, not a question. The man next to her nodded.

"Yes, of course. If they decide to lunge an assault we'll need to know the lay of the land before we begin."

His words were met with more silence. Though the silence wasn't awkward he couldn't stand it when his companion was silently contemplating. It was the bad habit of restraining thoughts he had tried to desperately hammer out of her system for centuries. Only met with partial success. She delivered more suggestions and stated more often that she didn't like a particular strategy. But there was still much to work on. For she still never talked about her past. Nor did she ever make any friends.

It was a thing he finally decided to give up on. Her automatic shut off. He had tested her once with an advance. To see how far she was. It had shocked him. She didn't resist. Her disdain could be sensed but she didn't resist. 'A terrible flaw it was', he'd think to himself more often then not. She was his greatest asset. And greatest horror.

The mansion day time

He was sitting in his former equals seat. Silently peering over a report brought to him by a mortal man. A knocking on the door was followed by his cold voice. "Enter." The scent was almost insulting. A lycan scent. As the man walked in. Viktor quickly shifted his hand to his sword. Grunting the man looked about him. He spotted the desk and pulled a file from his jacket. Laying in open and going through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

Laying it on top of the desk shoving the file aside he pointed at a single photo of a dockside. "This is most concerning." It was one of the vampire safe houses. And it was burned to the ground.

Viktor eyed the lycan suspiciously. He returned the gaze with a blank stare.

"There's the method of talking that seems to work rather well..." The silence was broke by a second individual standing in the doorway. Wesker.

"So I take that killing my employer is my Que to leave. And Seeing Carlos, my old buddy is here too. What a coincidence." Sarcasm sprung from his voice.

"I'd just wanted to say that if you ever need anything... Well... Don't come to me winching because you can't do it. Carlos, I'm leaving. Goodbye.. SUCKERS!" He spurted out the hallway.

Viktor sighed as he stood up and walked out of the office. "That report is cursed to never allow it's occupant peace." He growled before heading back to his guest suite in the main hall. Silently closing the door behind him he walked over to a cabinet and pulled a paper bag from the drawer. He pulled the book out again. Silently sitting in his arm chair. Even though he knew it back to front, he was very fond of it.

A prized possession worth more then he could imagine. Staring at the empty fireplace he sighed and opened the book. The book was old, almost as old as him. As he read through the first page he painfully smiled as he read the name out loud to himself.

"Book of Amilia Corvinus of Moldavia."

He smiled at it. After all these years, she could still do it. The book was filled with sketches and drawings. Some color, some black and white.

He flipped through the pages after studying each drawing or sketch a few minutes until he came at his most priced one. It was a picture in color. The trees dark as a single figure stood. A humanoid form amongst beasts all charging at her. Viktor was proud of her that day. He remembered fondly his daughter's embrace as he watched the small army lay dead at her feet. This picture was in mid fight he always assumed. A few stray lycans lay on the ground around the humanoid form.

The humanoid form itself was accurate for the time it was drawn. Even though he knew she had several centuries to practice. It was female, the cape flowed around her as the form held two swords. The helmet lay discarded on the ground, the long fair hair swept over her shoulders and back. The image portrayed the back of the female vampire that held her own against overwhelming odds and emerged victorious.

It enraged him when he had to replace her. And yet it pleased him somehow that he couldn't. It required Selene, Kraven and Soren in order to deal with matters so efficiently as when he sent out Amilia. Then there was a single problem he didn't know of. Marcus had sired her and given her his blood. He had shouted at Marcus, every sense in his body told him to kill this man. But he knew better. Grinning he flipped the page and got to a drawing of the crypt. The triangle of the coffins beautifully sketched in black and white.

He had remembered when he awoke from his slumber. Marcus had guided him through to the throne room. Carefully trying to avoid something. But he knew his daughter was involved somehow. The way Marcus answered his questions. Leading him into a side door of the throne room was an art gallery, filled with paintings. "Marcus how did you make this?" He walked pas each work of art equally astonished by the next as by the one before.

"I didn't. This was the last will of your daughter. To be remembered as more then just the killer and icy murderess she was portrayed as." He shrugged. "These are all done by her." Works of art at a astonishing detail. Then Emelia came along and had it moved to the new world. . . Damn her as well. 'Speaking off' He stood up and opened the door, walking towards the barracks section of the castle like mansion. Walking for several minutes he finally found him. "Kahn!"

He quickly severed his conversation with a nearby death dealer and stood to attention. "My lord?"

"Where is Princess Emelia and Selene?" He opened his mouth before closing in again, a painful smile now engulfed his lips. "I don't know, sire." He nervously glanced at his feet.

"Bah!, I doubt she's going to lay at you feet or come out of the ground don't you think?"

Kahn's eyes shot up to meet his. "No my lord." At this same time Viktor could feel a tapping on his shoulder. He didn't have to look, he knew who it was by the fearful faces of the death dealers.

"Yes, Solm?" He didn't turn around. He barely heard the slow thud of his heartbeat. For the rest did nothing note his presence.

"My lord, I believe a safe house will be most logic." His voice was kept in monotones.

Glaring at Kahn whom seemed to get more nervous each second he was in the presence of the two elder vampires.

"Solm, I am reinstating you as my vizier. You overrule Kahn. Deal with these matters when the time rises will you?" He turned on his heel and walked out. His long coat flowing courteously behind him. Solm followed behind him. Though he didn't see him, he sometimes made his presence known either to ensure you didn't smack a door in his face or to scare the living shit out of you.

He could hear loud footsteps behind him sometimes. Or a movement of the curtains. Mostly things mortals are too stupid to notice.