DA_Ranska_eng

Dante’s Angels

The Phantom of the Red Moon

“Once upon a time there were three beautiful girls who went to different schools, and they were each assigned to very hazardous duties. But I took them away from all that and now they work for me. My name is Dante.”

PART 1 2006 AD June 11th 10.00 PM France, Culoz, at the Château Montvéran

There was magic in the air. Tonight, the stars were shining brightly, and it was delightfully warm outside.

Thin, small clouds moved by the watching moon. Three old Rolls Royces turned one after another onto a quiet park road. Trees planted in rows on both sides, arched over the road, and the decorative lights hanging on their branches looked like little stars. The road itself was set on a natural bridge over to a castle in the middle of the lake. Only water could be seen on the sides.

The sound of classical music came from the castle as the cars turned around in front of it and stopped. A servant for each car came from the castle entrance, opening their back-seat doors. The first car, a metallic green color, revealed a man with bright blue eyes and long, blond hair, and wearing a fantasy elf costume.

He went around the car and opened the other back door, then gave his hand to help his dame out of the car. She wore a black latex robe with a hood.

“Thank you, Le’gas.”, the woman said, the tips of her fingers laid upon his palm.

Next, a man with long, red hair and dressed like a ninja climbed out of the second car, which was painted wine red. He straightened up his costume and gave his hand to the woman inside the car. This one had a cloak of black cloth.

“Arigatô, Haya-san”, she thanked with a smile. Haya finished his costume preparations by simply making himself a ponytail.

The last car was metallic purple. Out came a man with blond hair, a hint of orange in them, wearing a suit of armor and carrying a rather large sword in a belt sheath. His dame was a woman in a leather cloak.

“Danke. Well then, girls. We must be going; the party will start soon. Right, Sigge?”

The couples walked in a festive manner towards the entrance, which had two servants in red jackets on both sides. As soon as they entered the lobby, another wave of servants came to relieve the ladies of their cloaks and robes, taking these to the coatracks nearby. The three couples then moved on into the auditorium where all the earlier arrivals were, providing the dance floor with a full-scale masquerade. The hall was designed combining ancient greek architecture and baroque style. Great white marble statues were set by each supporting column, the columns rising up to and joining with the arched ceiling. The ceiling itself, high above, had decorative paintings on it. The walls were lined with tapestries depicting natural scenery. Grand chandeliers loomed over the guests, and tall candlesticks stood by the walls. The recent arrivals admired the space and unexpected warmth of the place 1

“Okay. We’d better show ourselves together as little as possible. So, let’s split up, try to blend in and...

Feenix, what are you doing?”, Talim asked, wondering why her friend was squirming.

“I don’t see how this costume’s supposed to stay on me... Whoever designed it was a lunatic, and this wig...

Ugh!..”

Feenix was wearing a costume very much like that of a character named Lulu in the video game Final Fantasy Ten, belt and all. It had mainly been knit from light purple wool thread, the choice of material being based on the wearer’s preferences. The costume was, however, no dream to wear.

“Oh, come on now. It does bring out all of your... good... qualities”, Shiva said, barely holding back the laughter.

“Not another word, or so help me god, I’ll”, Feenix said.

“Hey, hey, girls. No arguing. We have our work to do. I need everyone in the study by exactly eleven thirty so that we can leave before midnight. And concerning these outfits, think about mine, Feenix. My hair feels terrible between the latex and my skin.”

Talim wore the outfit of Catwoman from the movie Batman Returns, including the sharp nails and whip.

Shiva, then again, had dressed up as the Tomb Raider, ie. Lara Croft, even up to the guns the video game character was known to use.

“What about me? Only Christina Aguilera’s dressed more lightly than I am”, she pointed out, fixing the “push-ups” in her tank top.

“Anyway, it is time to go, ladies”, Le’gas interrupted.

They’d entered the auditorium at the right moment, as their host for this evening had entered to address the guests. He was an exceptionally well-built man with green eyes and long white hair, reaching just below his waist. At the time he was wearing a long, black leather coat, a black silk shirt and leather pants to match.

“Sepastian Roth honours us with his presence”, Feenix whispered to herself.

A pale man with short white hair and a generic goth outfit followed Roth and stopped behind him to observe the audience.

“Uh-oh... What on earth is Spy Kensington doing here? He knows us... This isn’t good”, Shiva whispered, and her fellows quickly took a distance from each other, realizing the trouble they could be in if they didn’t.

Kensington was born English and was known to belong to a vampirism cult by the name of Omega Angelus.

He had abducted Talim once, and her friends had been there just in time to save her from a nasty bite in the neck. Shiva had come close to literally impaling the man then.

“Welcome to my castle. I wish for you all to have a pleasant and unforgettable evening. Without further ado, may the dancing begin. Maestro, music.”

Each couple was in a different part of the hall, associating with the other guests. They tried their share of the cider and delicious snacks being served.

Haya was the first to make his move concerning the mission. He danced with his partner, slowly proceeding towards the door at the back. Despite her restraining outfit, Feenix tried to make the best of the moment and leaned into her partner fully. She let herself be led, and their movements became one. When they reached the door, Feenix smiled and kissed Haya on his cheek.

“I owe you a favor”, she whispered in his ear.

“The pleasure was all mine”, Haya replied, then Feenix slipped into the corridor beyond the door.

Le’gas and Talim started towards the door a few minutes later, stopping there for a conversation resembling that of a couple in love.

“Mirelya ná ve anaralca earo palusse ar ómalya ná ve nyeller i lamyar hlarunyatse. Á ettire!”, Le’gas said, kissing Talim on her hand like a gentleman. In English, he’d said something like: 2

“Your smile is like a ray of sunlight reflected by the ocean and your voice is like the sound of chimes to my ears. Be careful.”

“I love it when you speak to me in elvish”, the agent replied in a sensual manner, vanishing into the corridor alone.

Shiva had a nervous look on her. Spy had taken interest in her and followed her around the hall persistently.

Sigge figured out what was going on and tilted his head as a signal to Haya, who instantly walked up to Kensington and distracted the stalker while Sigge led Shiva to the door.

“Thank you. I owe you one.”

“I’ll see to it that you return the favour.” Sigge surprised her with a kiss on her lips.

Shiva nearly bumped into the door before she got past it, thanks to Sigge’s distraction. But on the corridor, she started running, taking lefts and rights as it forked and winded. The castle’s brilliance apparently went further than just the auditorium. The corridors and other rooms were carefully designed as well.

There were candles everywhere. Feenix had stayed on the lookout when Talim entered Roth’s study and Shiva remained with her. Talim set a hearing apparatus against a safe hidden behind one of the paintings in the study, using it to figure out the combination and open the safe quickly. She went through a pile of papers inside, taking photos with a camera given to her by Feenix, then stopped to look closer at a certain document.

“Aha! A floor plan pointing to the Cruenta Caelis ruby. This seems to have turned out better than we expected... only how am I supposed to hide anything inside this outfit? Damn it!”

Talim fit the map and the miniature camera between where the upper and lower parts of the latex suit joined together.

Kensington had been trying to remember who the woman dressed to look like Lara Croft was, because there was something very familiar about her. He then realized that she’d disappeared from the ballroom and put the pieces together. His face twisted with anger. Without a moment of hesitation, he hurried to Sepastian and whispered into his ear what he’d discovered. Roth had a sharp look around and called some of his security guards to follow him as he retreated through the door at the back.

Talim walked out of the study when the Angels were surprised. A loud “Stop!” was cried out from one end of the corridor visible. The girls started to run in the opposite direction, ending up in a large room with a fireplace but, to their misfortune, no exit.

“It’s a dead end!”, Talim shrieked and they regrouped in the middle of the room.

Sepastian and his troops arrived. Roth ran to the fireplace and retrieved a samurai sword placed above it, then unsheathed it.

“Return what you’ve stolen, and I will not harm you. Otherwise...”

“Yeah, right!”, Talim interrupted him, leaping and somersaulting over to a group of guards, knocking two of them out and making bleeding cuts on others using her claws.

Feenix had been quicker than Roth in one thing; she’d picked up a piece of firewood to defend herself, while Shiva’s guns cleared the way out of the room. Her shots were accurate enough to make the attackers take cover rather than get killed, and thanks to that the Angels were able to go back the way 3

they’d entered, to the corridors from before. In spite of losing the advantage of their disguises, the girls managed to get rid of their pursuers again, hiding inside a small guest bedroom. Feenix did one of her usual maneuvers by turning around once and falling flat against the door as it closed behind her.

“What ARE you doing?”, Shiva wondered.

“It’s the costume... Oh, crap, did that hurt or what...”

He jatkoivat ovesta sisään ja varmistivat huoneen.

“Okay, Feenix. Plan B! Change of costumes!”, Shiva ordered, revealing a large bag somehow hidden beneath her skirt.

Talim took off her tight outfit, putting on a latex costume, white wig and mask that made her look like the character Storm from the X-Men. “How does it look?”

“Tres chic”, Shiva replied, then taking off everything obvious in her costume.

She dug up an Evil Xena -costume, including a chakram, from the bag, then untied her hair and wore a mask of her own.

“I like this one better anyway... Always wanted to wield Xena’s Yin and Yang chakram, too. I’ve actually designed this, so it works.”

“Ahem... Want some time alone with your chakram?”, Talim asked with an innocent tone of voice, smiling.

“Talim!” Shiva said, then placing the circular weapon in its place on her belt.

Next, Feenix changed into something different, breathing a sigh of relief. She wore a short-haired white wig and what looked like the traditional outfit of a female matador. There was a sword on her belt sheath that appeared to function as a whip as well. The costume came from a game called Soul Calibur.

“You look good as Ivy”, Shiva praised, then packed the old pieces of clothing in the bag she carried.

Talim tossed the bag out of the castle window, and from ten meters below then came the sound of water splashing.

“Fortunately, that bag’s waterproof. It’ll stay there until we feel like picking it up”, she said, then putting the camera and map into a hiding place on her new clothes.

“We need to hurry. Everyone has to remove their masks at midnight, and we can’t afford to do that ourselves.”

Everyone nodded, leaving the room with Shiva in the lead.

“Guard the exits. No-one will leave without my permission! Tell every guard that we’re looking for three women dressed as Ms. Croft, the Catwoman and Lulu. What are you waiting for? Go!”, Roth commanded, with a furious swing of his sword.

Midnight was getting closer and the agents bumped into one armed dead end after another. They eventually returned to the auditorium, but the exit was watched, and Spy walked among the guests. It was only a matter of time for him to find one of the Angels. Their escorts had left the castle right after getting separated and now waited in their cars. The clock struck twelve and everyone, including the girls, removed their masks.

They looked around in panic. Talim was spotted by Spy, who then tried to knock her down. Talim kept her 4

balance but ended up struggling with him. The ballroom was suddenly in chaos and the other guests ran for the exit. Shiva threw her chakram, knocking out a pair of guards and even getting the weapon back into her hands. She then released the chakram into two pieces, hitting anyone in her way with them and kicking when necessary.

“This is my coup of tea. Hayah!”

Feenix charged into the next wave of Roth’s guards, beginning with a thrust of her sword and then using it as a lash. She whirled the segmented blade, dancing with it, striking her targets on every turn she made.

The sword nearly seemed to have a life of its own, and Feenix began to laugh maniacally, just like Ivy. Shiva, equally carried away by her role, jumped high in the air and let out a Xena-style war cry before she kicked a guard over: “Aya-aya-aya-aya-ayaaa!”

Shiva incapacitated one opponent after another and Sepastian Roth was angered further and further. Talim had swept Spy off his feet, but now they were rolling on the floor. Reaching a sitting position over Talim, Spy attempted to bite her in the neck. She kicked him back, then pushed herself up from the floor.

“Never try that again. You’re sick!”

“Do you really think we’re just a cult? How wrong you are. I’m the real thing!”

Talim backed away, terrified, heading for a set of stairs leading up with Feenix. As Shiva saw this, she kicked a man aside, then threw her reattached chakram at a few guards standing between her and the other two Angels. Next she was faced by Roth and his sword.

“Go!”, she yelled, stopping the blade between her hands and kicking Sepastian on his chest.

Shiva made a run for the flashy stairs, going after her friends, who were about to reach the top of the castle. The wind outside was stronger, catching both Feenix and Talim’s wigs and taking them somewhere in the lake around. Talim tore at her cape to get it out of the way as the two of them ran towards the wall.

Shiva then reached the rooftop as well. Her companions were running like cougars, but to their misfortune, because they were unable to realize what happened, before it was too late: Shiva fell, and although she got back up and running, Kensington had caught up to her well enough to hold her down and wrap his arms around her.

“No, let go of me!”

Talim and Feenix were already diving off the wall when they turned to look back. “Shiva!”, they shrieked, as they saw Spy biting her in the neck. The last they saw was Shiva’s arm stretched towards them as a pair of fangs dug into her flesh.

“Noo!..”, Shiva screamed in pain. Spy closed his eyes in enjoyment.

Roth stood by smiling, his white hair played with by the wind. Like a warrior, he sheathed his sword and turned to look at his prisoner.

“She’s ours”, Sepastian stated when he touched the fainted Angel’s cheek.

The other two agents had quickly returned to their diving poses. The water splashed as they sunk beneath it. The fall had been at least 30 meters, and returning to the surface, the girls spat water. Their visions were blurred at first, but apart from that, the mood was dark and heavy as well. Even the moon seemed to have taken a bloody red hue.

“We have to go back and get Shiva out of there!”, Feenix cried out, splashing the water with her fist.

“That’s right. They’ll regret they were ever born when we catch them. Our dates must have followed the backup plan and crossed the lake again. Don’t worry. We’ll get the last word”, Talim said in a murderous tone of voice.

The duo quietly stared at the tower above, swearing to rescue their companion. Spy raised Shiva’s body on his arms and carried her away.

5

PART 2 2006 AD June 12th 0.35 AM France, Culoz

With haste, but lacking words, Feenix and Talim swam across the small lake, landing on the outer shore, away from the gothic castle. Crawling up from the water, they cursed and swore, trying to get the water out of their clothes. How could they have been so careless... And Shiva ended up getting caught. Dante would have a world of discipline waiting for them if they ever made it out of this mess...

“All right, let’s get going.” Feenix squeezed her hair dry and started walking into the direction of the land bridge. She’d had enough dancing for one day, or more likely one year thanks to this incident, and the change felt like a good idea.

“Of course!..only, there’s one small but...”, Talim quietly said, staring across the dark artificial lake between her and the castle.

“But?! What but...” Feenix stopped and turned to look at her friend a bit suspiciously. She rarely heard Talim speak in that tone, and it made the hair at the back of her neck stand up. And though she was now wearing a thoroughly wet costume, that wasn’t the real cause of her shivers.

Talim kept looking at the shadowy castle, thinking for a while longer, then turned to face Feenix. Had anyone else seen the two of them, the situation might have seemed particularly amusing; Talim had a piece of the lake’s flora stuck to her hair - perhaps as a result of the deep dive at the beginning - and her black Storm costume had tightened around her as it became wet. Her cape hadn’t come off entirely as she’d pulled at it, only now hung loosely on her other arm, looking rather mistreated as it gathered muddy sand off the ground. Feenix’s wine red outfit had wrinkles in every place that was loose enough, and it multiplied her shoulder width. She had her own share of plants on top of her head, and a lot of her hair lay across her face in messy bundles. Talim had her hair tied on a ponytail before, but at some point during the escape, it had opened up on its own. Both of the two Angels looked like poor imitations of the Medusa legend rather than the clean, charming agents with a mission to save the world they were supposed to.

“Omega Angelus”, Talim said, sounding very serious as she looked at the red moon glowing above them.

There was a lunar eclipse coming, and who knows what kinds of cults it inspired to perform their silly rituals.

“Bah, what about that? A bunch of wannabe vampires was never a problem for us and still isn’t. We already kicked Spy’s butt once, so I doubt it’ll be a problem this time around. We’ll just go in there... there...” Feenix lowered her eyebrows, thinking where Spy and Sepastian might have taken Shiva...

“It’s not just a cult, Feenix. Spy mentioned it earlier when he attacked me. They’re the real thing”, Talim said, ending her sentence sounding depressed, then leaned back on an old oak and sat down.

There was a deep silence over the two women as they tried to digest the information. Feenix had already turned slightly pale and her eyes had opened wide. She looked around wildly. Vampires?!

“You mean... that... that...”, she started, but then swallowed loudly, sighed deeply and tried again.

“That is, is Spy... ah... like a... real vampire?”

“Not just Spy. I think they’re all vampires to be exact.” Talim sighed heavily and threw a stone at the lake.

One, two, three, four, splash. Four leaps. Feenix tried not to think about a whole clan of vampires. Not many things frightened her, but vampires were one of the things that did.

“Okay, that’s it! I’m prepared to save the world from the hands of any white-haired devil I come up against, but not when he’s a vampire! Dante never said a word about vampires!”, Feenix shouted. She kicked a tree in her path. It hurt her more, though, when she realized how soft the shoes of her costume were.

“They’ve got Shiva! And they’re going to steal the Cruenta Caelis!”

6

“...Also known as the Blood Stone, Feenix continued, mumbling to herself about the tree.

“Exactly. And that lunar eclipse is on its way.” Talim swung her arm in the direction of the moon.

“What can we do? Maybe we’ll just walk in and say: ‘Excuse me, but we seem to have lost a friend of ours named Shiva. We believe you kidnapped her for some sort of blood sacrifice, and we were wondering if you could give her back. Oh yeah, and we’d like the Blood Stone too, if it’s okay with you’... Yeah, right. We’d be next on their menu before we could say ‘sausage’.” Feenix sat down by the tree she’d attempted to assault, like she was demonstrating.

Talim laughed to herself, getting a sulking look in return.

“Listen, I don’t think they have it yet. We would’ve found the ruby in there if they did, and not the plans to steal it. They have to do the heist tonight, or they’ll need to wait for months if not for years to get another chance.”

“So... Shiva might not be dead yet...” Feenix now gave Talim a look of hope. But it came to mind that Shiva might in fact be livelier than they could hope for...

“You don’t suppose they could make her one of those bloodsucking things? She’d make a poor... thing like that.”

“I don’t think so, not yet.” Talim shook her head.

“There’s got to be something else behind this.”

The two took a moment of deep thought each on her own. Their mission had abruptly taken a course for the unusual. They’d gotten used to fighting with human beings, but to think they were up against vampires... The Angels were merely supposed to sneak into Sepastian Roth’s masquerade to find evidence against his capture. Dante had found out that MR. Roth had plans to add the Cruenta Caelis ruby into his collection.

“Talim? Shiva? Are you there?..”, a voice called out from the dark woods, breaking their concentrations.

They stood up quickly, ready to fight if they needed to. A man walked out from among the trees, and the sight of him made the girls relax.

“Le’gas”, Talim greeted him as she recognized the green elf costume. Soon after this, a less quiet entry was made by someone swearing in Danish and making slightly metallic noises as he walked.

“I’ll never carry this armor again, never, I say...”, Sigge mumbled as he reached the others and smiled to greet the two women he saw. The smile faded away when he failed to find Shiva among them.

“Where’s Shiva?”, he gave Feenix and Talim a questioning look, noting their wet dog -hairstyles. He then looked at the lake behind them and saw the tracks of something crawling out of the water.

“Nej! Jeg net acceptere tro på den...”, Sigge whispered to himself, then looked like he was about to jump into the lake to look for Shiva.

“That’s right, go for a swim in that armor”, Feenix pointed out sarcastically. She had no idea what he’d said, but anyone could guess what was on the man’s mind by looking at his face. He returned a harsh, maddened gaze. The two of them had never quite liked each other, and they hardly tried to hide the fact.

“Shiva got caught. We don’t know where Sepastian’s holding her...”, Talim said, then nodded at the castle across the lake.

“But we do know how they intend to steal the Blo--”, Feenix started, but got a sharp poke between her ribs from Talim, who continued for her. “...Steal the Cruenta Caelis. We’ll wait for them there and track them to wherever Shiva’s been hidden.”

There would’ve been no point in making the man any more worried than he already was by telling him that Shiva might be feeding on blood at the very moment they spoke.

“Where’d Haya go, by the way?”, Talim changed the subject by asking what Feenix had had on her mind from the moment the two men had come.

“He’s waiting by the cars in case you caught up with him there. Le’gas and I came here to search. Haya had heard the guests mentioning something about problems at the masquerade.”

“We’ll go there then. We need to get to the Espérer de Mér museum where the ruby’s on display, fast.”

Talim and Feenix were almost on their way off.

“I think you should change clothes before we go looking for Shiva”, Le’gas said, laughing as he approached 7

Talim, picked up the bit of plant life on top of her head and tossed it away.

“Before we go?!” Feenix and Talim looked at each other a bit frightened.

“Oh, crap...”

1.00 AM Elsewhere

In a dark place, Shiva made her way back to consciousness. She tried to remember what had happened to her. The fiery pulsating sensation in her neck was a quick and painful reminder. Great, just great. Shiva tried to move her arms, but the rattling sound of shackles had its own way of telling her exactly where she was right now.

With a deep breath, she started clarifying things for herself. So she was in.... something like a basement, chained to the wall by her hands. A small window at the top corner of the opposite wall let some of the moon’s red light into a room she’d rather not see in daylight. She began to feel like she’d never see it in daylight, however...

“Well... I don’t feel like I’m particularly thirsty for blood yet, so I guess I’m still human. I hope I’m still human...”, she whispered to herself in the hopes of hearing something different than just the dripping of water from outside the cell. Nasty...

Her inspection of the surroundings got no further than that, when a severe drowsiness began to take over.

Shiva fought against it for a moment, but then her eyes forced themselves shut. She was crudely awakened.

Someone threw cold water onto her face, shaking off any chance of sleeping for longer.

“Are we up yet?” Shiva heard Spy’s mocking voice from in front of herself and soon saw his figure, leaning of the wall. He was wearing black pants, a black leather coat and a dark red shirt now. Spy’s light hair seemed to glow a light of its own in the darkness of the dungeon. He seemed quite content with his life in every aspect.

“Oh, is this where you little bloodsuckers like to spend your time?”, Shiva asked with a cute, but offending smile on her face. Spy simply laughed in response first, then stepped closer to his helpless prisoner.

“You need to get used to this place as your hom--” “Spy.” His sentence stopped instantly as Sepastian entered the cell.

“Leave her alone. We have more use for her than even for you”, Sepastian calmly stated without even looking at the vampire. His words obviously terrified Spy, who then backed away hastily.

“Sepastian Roth. What a surprise! I had no idea you had such esteemed associates. What did Omega Angelus have to offer for your cooperation? A bag of medical blood? Or maybe they agreed to perform a few ritual killings for the sake of your good fortune?”, Shiva said to him in an icy, insulting voice.

“You must be Shiva. This is the first time we truly meet, but I have heard a lot about Dante’s Angels. It appears that you’ve heard much more of me, however.” Roth smiled gleefully despite her insults, slowly walking closer and closer to Shiva.

“Such pride even when faced with disastrous odds. You three must be worthy of your reputation, although I haven’t seen the others just yet. I must say, though, that it disappointed me to be able to catch you so easily. I had more manpower than I needed, it seems. The change in costumes was impressive, however.”

He returned her insults by bowing down in front of her. As he stood straight, his cold, green eyes turned to meet Shiva’s.

“Even so, I will catch all of you with your help. And that way, we will see if all of Dante’s Angels are as resourceful as they say.” Hearing this, Spy took a step closer again and bared his sharp fangs victoriously.

8

“You aren’t going to turn me into a coffin sleeper as well, are you? I can tell you, Lord Roth, that I’d give vampires a bad name”, Shiva said, laughing, not even glancing at Spy. “No, dear friend, not at all. Why would I ever make you a mere vampire? I have other plans in store for you.

You’ll join Spy a bit later. Don’t panic...” Sepastian smiled in a cruel manner, raising his thin arm up to Shiva’s face and taking her by the chin. He turned her head so that he could see two clean holes on her neck.

“Are you sure, Spy, that she won’t... turn into one of you yet?”

“Of course I am. I’m not doing this for the first time”, Spy replied with confidence and stroked his hair with a carefree air to himself.

“My friends will be here at some point, Roth, and your reign of power ends there”, Shiva raised her voice at Sepastian as she pulled her chin free from his hand and stared him sharply in the eyes.

Sepastian briefly looked at her face, but then began to laugh maniacally, even scaring Spy with his surprising fit.

“Of course your friends will be here, Shiva. Why else would I have caught you? And when they do come for you, they’re mine. Just like you are.” Saying this, he turned his back on Shiva and started to walk away.

“Spy... Come, feeding time, little pet of mine”, he added as he left. Fortunately, Sepastian didn’t turn to look at Spy then. The vampire’s face reflected such anger towards his master... And towards the fact that he, toughest of all vampires, had to depend on a human in such a manner.

Shiva’s exhaustion returned with the despair, pressing her head back against the stone wall. This wasn’t going according to the plan. Or it was going according to A plan, but this one was Sepastian’s plan...

Apparently the masquerade had been a bait for the Angels, a way for him to catch them all conveniently.

She knew Feenix and Talim wouldn’t leave her behind even though Feenix dreaded vampires more than death itself. And now, their loyalty and concern over their friend would drive them directly into a trap.

Dante’s Angels were very likely on the brink of becoming Dante’s Vampires soon enough...

9

PART 3 2006 AD June 12th 1.25 AM France, Culoz

Shiva had fallen asleep for several minutes, but hers wasn’t a peaceful rest. She dreamt of Spy biting herself in the neck over and over again in slow motion. And eventually her visions turned to herself biting her own friends. That’s what nearly woke her up then. She began to hear a distant dripping sound through her nightmare... and slowly opened her eyes despite the increasing lack of sleep. Her arms were numb and her feet stiff from the bad position. Her wrists were scratched and bloody from trying to struggle out of her shackles. The dripping sound came from drops of water falling down from a crack in the ceiling. Shiva felt weak and about to faint all the same. The dripping was now like a kettle drum playing inside her head.

She also heard footsteps from the corridor outside her cell, closing in. Shiva tried to focus and stay alert, but it wasn’t easy, especially when the bitemarks on her neck itched to no end. Whoever was coming, this was the cell they wanted into; the steps stopped behind the cell door and turned a key in the lock. Shiva stood up, standing against the back wall with energy she didn’t know she had. When the door opened, Spy entered once again, and Shiva pressed herself back as if trying to dig her way into the wall.

“How’s my pet doing at the moment? Feel any different?”

“If you count a rising urge to wring your neck, yes, I do. Oh, wait... I wanted to do that before, so that must be a no.”

Spy straightened himself up, then swiftly walked up to Shiva, nearly touching her.

“Hey, back off! Get out of my personal space.”

Spy flashed his fangs and placed his right hand against the wall next to Shiva’s head, leaning forward.

“Maybe it’s time for another bite?”, he whispered, then gently touching his victim’s cheek with his left hand.

Shiva trembled all over as she closed her eyes. Keep cool. He’s toying with you, she thought, and quickly planned ahead. Spy was just about to bite her in the neck when Shiva kicked him in the groin and bit the unsuspecting vampire in his neck. Spy roared in surprise and jumped backwards, holding onto his neck.

Shiva had bitten deeply, managing to cut a certain major artery. She spat out the blood in her mouth when she remembered with dread, that it was the blood of a vampire that eventually gave eternal life...

“That’s for the first bite, I suppose. Pthooie... I’ll just... have to drain a few litres of your blood and we’re completely even.

Shiva could’ve sworn to hear Spy growling. In the least, he circled around in front of her like a beast watching its prey. Shiva kept her eye contact with him, gritting her teeth.

“You’re not touching me again, Spy! Over my dead body!”, she yelled fiercely.

Spy stopped in his tracks with an ominous sparkle in his eyes.

“Was that a promise?”, he said, then approached once more In that instant the door opened and Sepastian entered the cell. He looked at Shiva and her blood-spattered face and chest, then turned to look at Spy. Roth clearly interpreted the situation so that Spy had bitten Shiva without permission, as he then proceeded to hit his underling so that Spy flew backwards into a wall.

Spy cast an angry stare at his boss, bouncing back on his feet.

“I told you not to touch her! Don’t defy me”, Roth said, approaching Spy and grabbing him by his shirt.

“I didn’t bite her. She bit me! Broke my jugular vein!..”, Spy shouted, then broke free of Sepastian’s grasp.

10

Roth turned to face Shiva and smiled all the more satisfied. Shiva, however, avoided looking at him, and concentrated instead on the particularly interesting brick wall to her left.

“Your file said you hated the sight of blood. I’m surprised. You good guys apparently have that darker side after all. I like it.” Sepastian forcefully turned Shiva’s head to look at himself.

“It’s time we took the next step with you.”

Shiva froze, when Sepastian removed the contact lenses he apparently had on, one at a time. When Roth raised his head again, his green reptilian eyes were revealed. Shiva couldn’t help but scream as hard as she could and tear at her chains. She barely calmed herself down again.

“Look into my eyes and obey me. Wouldn’t you rather get cleaned up and leave this dungeon?”

She could do nothing but look into her captor’s green eyes now. They were hypnotic, locking anyone in their gaze. Sepastian’s voice seemed gentle and persuasive, while she heard it from the very edge of her consciousness. Shiva shook herself back to her senses however and gained enough support from the wall to kick Roth in his stomach. The man backed away to the other side of the room. Spy looked at this a bit confused, but a hint of a smile went by his lips. Then, perhaps with powers granted by the little of vampiric blood she’d accidentally consumed, Shiva broke her chains and ran for the door.

Sepastian took her by the waist and forced her down. Spy rushed in to hold onto her arms at his master’s signal. Shiva closed her eyes, trying to struggle free.

“That wasn’t very nice of you. This will hurt more if you fight back.”

“Let go, or I’ll...”, Shiva uttered, feeling Spy’s cold breath against her neck.

“Open your eyes or I may change plans and have Spy bite you.”

She had to open her eyes. But Shiva wouldn’t give in to the hypnosis. She was pouring sweat, trying to fight against Sepastian mentally. No place in the world seemed as cold and insensitive to her as the dungeon she was in. Tears of pain flooded her eyes.

“Noooooo!!...” Her voice echoed across the empty corridors of the dungeon.

1.35 AM

Feenix swam over to the waterproof bag they’d left behind earlier, moving it ahead of herself as she returned to the beach. Talim was still looking at the castle across the lake, absent-mindedly caressing her necklace. She looked down where she dropped Shiva’s chakram as she’d gotten out of the lake. Talim squat down and felt the surface of the chakram as she picked it up. She was looking at the weapon with a sad expression.

“Shiva was so proud to have made this. She did every detail with care... and it’s just like it should be.” She sighed nervously and squeezed the chakram in her hand tightly.

“She’ll use you again. I promise you that!”, Talim said out loud, raising the weapon in the air.

Le’gas was staring blankly at the ground while Sigge ran back and forth, still swearing in Danish. Feenix returned from the lake, tossing the bag at Talim’s feet. She dried her hair as well as she could and joined her companions.

“I think it’s time to leave. Here’s our stuff. We must get to the museum before Roth’s men do because of the lunar eclipse tonight. They need to have the stone before that happens”, Feenix said, tilting her head in the direction of the cars. The men walked ahead. Talim grabbed the bag. Feenix followed them all the way with her head down, thinking about her friend, who might be dead or worse now...

11

Haya gave the arrivals a cheerful look, sighing when he saw that Shiva wasn’t among them. Feenix sat into her car with Haya without saying a word and Talim went into hers with Le’gas. Sigge opened his car door but turned to look at the castle before entering. He then looked up at the sky, his hair thrown from one side to another by the wind.

“I will find you”, Sigge vowed under the moon, getting into his car. A shooting star flashed in the night sky.

4.30 AM

Shiva had endured several hours of torture, and so far Sepastian’s attempts to break into her mind were unsuccessful. She was tired, though, and it began to wear her out. The blood loss and staying up were working their way into her, and having Spy hold her hands and Roth sit on her legs wasn’t making concentration any easier, not to mention the hard, bumpy floor she was lying against. ”Feenix would like this”, she thought with her friend’s fetish for white-haired men in mind. A bit of a smile turned up on her face. ”Maybe not all of this...”

Sepastian was losing his patience. Shiva had too much willpower for him to break her defenses, but he had another way to approach his subject. Shiva was ready for another mind attack, but nothing prepared her for the actual assault that followed.

“This is not working. Maybe I’ll get your friends first, then you”, Roth whispered into her ear.

She tried to push his weight off of herself with the last of her strength, but when that failed, she spat Sepastian in the face. Spy looked at him a bit frightened again, as Roth wiped his face.

“As you wish... Spy, time for seconds.”

Shiva shrieked when the vampire’s fangs penetrated her neck again. Sepastian leaned forward to kiss his prisoner on the lips. This sadistic trick of Roth’s broke through the defenses, giving him a hold of Shiva’s mind. Spy released her from his draining. She was on the brink of passing out, then Sepastian repeated his mantra of brainwashing.

“Come with me”, he said, standing up and extending his arm for Shiva.

Shiva looked with glazed eyes. She raised her hand for Sepastian to help her stand up. Roth smiled victoriously as he took her by the waist and walked with her out of the cell.

“I will come with you” was Shiva’s robotlike reply.

5.00 AM France, outside the Espérer de Mér museum

Something unusual was taking place on an alley behind the Espérer de Mér museum. A black van was parked there, surrounded by four people in ninja outfits. Sigge sat at the wheel inside the van, keeping watch over the exit to be able to drive away quickly when necessary. Haya briefly lifted his mask up to kiss Feenix, and Le’gas did the same with Talim. Using a portable computer, they’d obtained the floor plan of the museum and gotten a hold of the location of every security device inside.

12

The museum was, for them, almost too easy to break into. The agents quickly climbed up onto the roof using ropes. It was almost dawn, so there was very little time. They gathered around a skylight and looked down.

“Haya, disable the lasers once I’m done”, Talim said as she used a tool to cut an opening into the glass.

Haya looked down with infrared goggles as he carefully placed several little gadgets beneath the opening in the glass. These sent substitute beams into the receiving end of each beam that would set off an alarm if the original beam was cut. Le’gas descended into the room below first. Next were Talim and Feenix. Haya waited like Sigge in case the others needed to be pulled out in a hurry. The three of them were hanging by slightly flexible ropes, not touching the floor because they knew that it was covered with pressure plates to set off the alarm as well. They harpooned one rope to hang from after another into the ceiling to avoid the pressure plates and beams lining the floorside, thus swinging ahead on their way.

Talim kept an eye on a device she carried that tracked the museum guards and showed what state the security system was in. Even with this brought along, they couldn’t afford mistakes. The three agents stopped at the pedestal where the ruby was on display and lowered themselves, heads down, to the level of its glass cover. Talim equipped her cutting tools again, as simply raising the glass would have resulted in an alarm. She handed the detached piece of glass over to Le’gas, who in return gave her a weight corresponding to the ruby’s weight. Talim began to sweat. She’d have to be quick with the switch or the change of pressure on the ruby’s platform would trigger the alarm like so many of the things they’d gone around to get this far. Her concentration was too deep to notice a set of new dots moving on her radar monitor.

The tradeoff succeeded, but then Talim noticed the extra movement inside the museum. The guards were now apparently out of commission, while the new dots approached the agents’ location. Talim tossed the Cruenta Caelis to Feenix. In that instant, the pressure plates all around were turned off, and the beams followed, section after section starting from where the latest intruders had entered. Unfortunately, these intruders were now on the agents’ escape route. The Angels and Le’gas dropped down from their ropes, trying not to land on any remaining active trap beams.

Talim looked in the direction of a different exit, then threw a smoke grenade that way. The smoke clearly showed a set of beams lining the hallway, obviously belonging to a different group from the detectors that’d been shut down. Talim strongly exhaled.

“Nothing’s easy tonight... Haya, get back to the car, we’re taking another way out!”, she spoke into her headset, closing her connection to Haya.

“That way! Make it quick!” The agents started dodging their way past the detector beams.

They jumped over, crawled under, rolled and ran along the walls to get onward undetected by the security system, and that they did. After the last beam, the agents were just in time to look back and duck to avoid gunfire. Sepastian’s band of robbers had spotted them and figured out a connection between that and the ruby missing. The agents backtracked to the door, unwilling to bother with the beams, while Feenix and Le’gas just reached the fire escape. Talim was right after them. The three of them jumped down from the second-floor fire escape, landing somewhat softly.

Their pursuers were right at the corner of the building, now attacking with tranquilizer darts as they’d reckognized the group. Talim was hit and she fell to the ground. Feenix and Le’gas tried to get to her, but she was immediately picked up and carried away by one of the attackers. Sigge drove in right after this with Haya already in the van and the two of them got out. Haya kicked a couple of the thugs in their heads while Sigge knocked men down with his sheer brute strength.

“We have to help Talim! NO!”, Feenix yelled, using her sword to block dozens of sleeping darts coming at her.

13

4.40 AM

The double doors of a room in Sepastian Roth’s countryside manor opened wide. In walked Shiva, now with the look of a fearful and uninformed child, not at all acting like herself. She walked carefully, as if the floor could give away beneath her at any moment. Sepastian sat by the luxurious dining table, sipping from a glass of the expensive red Château Briand.

Shiva was wearing a white dress with celtic designs on it and a white silk scarf. She’d been cleaned up and her hair was curled into a bundle with a silver vine decoration holding them. He face showed slight signs of makeup, but her bite marks had been completely covered up. She almost seemed to glow as she entered the hall, looking like a goddess. But her expression spoke otherwise. She had the face of a marble statue, not a sign of life in them. Her green eyes looked around lifelessly as well, when she was guided to sit down at the other end of the table. A few waiters brought her food and Sepastian looked at her curiously.

Shiva didn’t even have a taste of the food, but lightly touched her lips instead, as if trying to remember something.

“You’re not hungry?”, Roth asked, then took another sip of wine.

Shiva twitched, then looked at him with her head slightly tilted.

“No hunger”, she answered.

“Would you like some wine, then?”

“Not drinking.”

Spy looked at Shiva from afar. He felt his victim’s blood coursing his veins, and there was something unusual about it now. Suddenly he realized that Shiva stared at him, and for the first time now, Spy felt shivers going up his spine. The stare put pressure on him. Sepastian stood up and walked over to Shiva. His servants turned on some music when Roth gave her his hand.

“May I?”, he said, pulling her along to dance with himself.

“May...”

Sepastian’s white hair was thrown about as they danced, but Shiva leaned onto him with her entire body.

She had no strength to stand up on her own. Sepastian didn’t look away from her sleepy eyes for a second.

They danced to Orff’s “O Fortuna” from the Carmina Burana.

“You’re so cold and enchanting, I think I’ll keep you all to myself...”, Sepastian said, bending Shiva backwards.

The music was quiet all of a sudden when Roth’s cell phone rang in the middle of it all. Shiva trembled as she fell back from his hold and mumbled something. Sepastian yelled into his phone as soon as he’d answered the call.

“Yes... They did what?!”

Spy was startled and backed away from his master as well. He nearly walked into Shiva.

“I want the ruby back! I won’t accept any excuses... What? You’ve caught her?.. I see. Bring her here and leave some of the men to catch the others.”

Roth hung up the call and turned to Spy. “Two down, one to go. Our men have Talim.”

Shiva’s trembling suddenly came to a halt, and her eyes filled with rage. They turned completely black. She screamed and threw Spy into the wall with a single swing of her arm. Hearing Talim mentioned had cleared away her hypnosis and her memory had returned. Shiva kicked off the high-heeled shoes, then cartwheeled over to Roth and struck him in his stomach with lightning speed.

“Your manipulation attempts weren’t clever enough, you monster. I’ll teach you to respect a woman who says no, because she always means it!”, she hissed, taking the decorative piece in her hair and drawing a nasty cut across Roth’s chest.

14

Sepastian stared into Shiva’s blackened eyes in surprise, as if he’d been hypnotized instead. He had no understanding of such black magic, or whatever had caused this reaction. Shiva released Roth, ran over to a nearby window and crashed through it, falling down to the back of the building. Shards of glass spread all across the hall. Spy and Roth got back on their feet slowly, not quite knowing what hit them.

“Go after her. I want her more than ever!”

In the meantime, Feenix, Le’gas, Sigge and Haya had been forced to retreat back into the museum, this time through the first-floor fire escape. Their situation seemed rather hopeless. There were hired thugs after them in the dozens and they were busy enough trying to keep the alarm from going off without them...

15

PART 4 2006 AD June 12th 5.20 AM France, Culoz

“Curse it!”, Feenix hissed, hitting a wall with her fist.

Everything had gone wrong. Shiva had been caught first, now Talim was gone... How’d this happen? How could someone like Sepastian Roth, white-haired or not, capture two of the Angels during the same night?!

Feenix was alone, the group’s smarter members currently kidnapped by a supposedly minor criminal.

She burned with anger, eager to blame anyone in her way of this terrible mess. She struck another sleeping dart aside with her sword, then kicked a man who’d gotten too close to herself, backwards into a glass showcase, breaking the glass and almost the attacker as well. She had no time to give her opponents any words of choice, however she would have to keep one of them in sufficient shape to tell her where Talim and Shiva were held. Oh well, I’m not going to run out of them yet...

“Le’gas!”, Feenix shouted across the room after kicking away a dead body stuck onto her sword.

“I need to get to--” was as far as she got, when a strong arm pulled her into a small storage room. The darkness there slightly hindered her maneuvers, but with short notice, she managed to raise her sword at whomever was there with her nevertheless.

“I don’t have time to play with you...”, Feenix started in a tone of voice full of rage, then slashing at the dark figure with such speed that a more careless attacker would’ve found himself lying on the floor cut in two the next moment.

Back in 5.10 AM

Talim felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder as a tranquilizer dart hit her there. This is going so well tonight, she cursed in her thoughts.

She could’ve bet that there was more to the dart than the sharp tip, and she would have won that bet.

Her left arm fell numb very quickly and she began to feel sleepy. Talim still managed to block a few attacks before her feet gave in and she fell to her knees.

She then felt someone wrapping an arm around her waist and lifting her onto their shoulder to carry her away from the others. Although Talim did all she could to slow down the person carrying her. The man heard rather nasty remarks about his supposed mother, relationships, smell and everything in between as he went.

“Someone silence her”, he finally cried out to his companions.

Talim was about to start about his looks when she was given a solid blow just behind her ear, leaving her in the dark.

16

5.20 AM in another place

“And, did you catch Shiva?”, Roth asked sounding very irritated, when a couple of his lackeys walked in to report on Talim’s arrival at the manor.

“Ah... No, master. There’s not a trace of her”, one of them answered cautiously.

“I see...” Sepastian clenched his fist, smashing the wine glass in his hand. He stopped to stare at his bleeding hand. What powers does she have? What kind of strength could have shaken off my hypnosis? Her friends? Why would anyone seek salvation in the thought of her friends? Interesting... I must get her back and find out.

“Just bring the new one here.” Sepastian shook his hand, giving the dark red carpet below a touch of blood and shards of glass. He then turned to face his underlings and slowly approached with a blank expression on his face. The men were unable to react. Weak mortals and their problems... Feelings, needs, weakness of willpower. Roth himself felt he had overcome these things years ago. It was required of him by his powers--the very essence of his powers.

Sepastian stopped in front of his now rather pale subordinates, taking pleasure in their fear, turning it into his own strength.

“Well?..”, he said, his voice full of satisfaction. Spy licked his lips, eyes fixed on the two men, as Sepastian continued: “Why are you still here?” One of the messengers uttered something incomprehensible, then nervously saluted like a military man. His unfortunate mind was a complete mess, the poor man had lost his recollection of who he was and more importantly, who the white-haired devil standing in front of himself was. A fragmented memory of his years as a soldier came to mind, and all he could think of was to salute.

The second man had been stronger. He gasped out of fear and quickly ran out to retrieve Talim. When he returned with her, Sepastian was calmly standing by the broken window, looking at the red moon. The other man was lost without a trace. Spy, on the other hand, seemed very relaxed as he stood leaning back into a corner of the room, particularly focused on his fingernails.

5.21 AM At the museum

“Feenix! Calm down, it’s me...” Hearing a familiar voice, then seeing a bit more of her surroundings when a flashlight was turned on, Feenix realized that the person she’d nearly cut in two was Haya.

“Haya! How dare you?”, Feenix said sharply, although she was obviously relieved to see him despite his way of doing things.

“I might’ve killed you! What were you thinking, dragging someone off to a dark room when they’re busy waving a sword?!”, she went on, giving her red-headed escort an angry look.

“Well, if the person waving a sword means you, then...” Haya grinned, then winked teasingly.

“Forget it...” Feenix sighed, sat down and leaned back into the shelves behind her, getting random items to pour down onto herself.

“I need to go back. They caught Talim too.”

“Did you think of going alone?” Haya was more serious now. The sounds of battle still came from outside the store room.

“How should I know... I never plan any of our operations. Talim and Shiva do that all the time. I’m no good with that stuff.” She shrugged, feeling the depression and exhaustion begin to take a hold of herself. Things weren’t looking any better...

17

“I’m sure Le’gas would like to come with you”, Haya suggested, picking up the papers and historical items that had fallen into Feenix’s lap.

“No thanks. I don’t need a lovesick tomcat hanging around while I work. One clumsy whiner in an armor was enough”, she replied.

“Come on, Feenix. Sigge truly cares about Shiva. And Le’gas must be worried about Talim for real”, Haya quietly spoke for his comrades, looking at Feenix, who tried in vain to avoid his penetrating eyes. She felt regret over what she’d said, hearing this.

“I know, Haya. I just don’t want them to get caught up in this mess. An besides, Roth obviously wants us all alive, so I’ve got the best chances to get wherever they’re keeping my friends.” Feenix finally turned to look at Haya and stood up hastily, managing to drop more things off of the shelves as her elbow hit them on the way up.

“Do you want to stay in here or go out and kick some butt?” Feenix just let the display items fall, breaking some of the older ones.

“I don’t think you’ll have any trouble getting caught, the way you’re making noise”, Haya dryly remarked as he stood up and opened the door for her.

“What about Le’gas and Sigge?”

As soon as the door was open, Sigge’s angry voice came right at them: “What the heck are you two doing?” He continued, sounding ever angrier.

“Shiva’s gone, Talim’s gone, and you’re in the store room having a date..!”

“I just had to get Feenix out of the crossfire, and I couldn’t find a better place to hide than this.” Haya smiled and shook off some dust from his black outfit.

“Of course”, Le’gas said when he arrived.

“So they truly have Talim as well?” His blue eyes looked sadder, his entire being reflecting a deep care for the blond girl. Feenix nodded with a feeling of guilt she couldn’t explain.

“Has anyone got a plan for what to do next? We do have the ruby, but I don’t see much use for it now...”, Le’gas started after a moment of silence.

“Feenix will go to Roth’s manor, with the Cruenta Caelis”, Haya said, without the slightest indication of objection and without even looking at her.

“And how does Feenix intend to get inside?”, Sigge asked in doubt, speaking as if the person in question wasn’t there at all.

“We all carry tracking devices that should show us each others’ locations if we’re separated. Shiva’s device came off while we were fighting at the castle.” Feenix presented a small gold earring.

“Talim has hers in her necklace and she still has that with her. Mine is also a piercing.” She pointed at a Yin and Yang sign button on her ear.

“There should be a transmitter in the van for these tracking signals. You drive us close to where she is and I sneak inside.”

Feenix would have a few select words to say to Dante about him and his “ordinary detective work”, should she and the other Angels survive this mission. Hiding her thoughts about saving her friends from a cult of vampires, she finished with: “Simple as that.”

5.35 AM Dangerously near Sepastian Roth’s manor

Shiva cautiously got on her feet, using an old oak for support. She was feeling nauseous and dizzy, but the two holes in her neck reminded her of her existence. She raised her hand to touch her neck, shivering as she felt the bite marks. Disgusting... Gathering her strength, Shiva tore off a piece of cloth from her dress, 18

wrapping it around her neck. Even this bit of effort had turned out to be too much for her and she then bent down, vomiting violently. Even more disgusting.

Shiva survived her fit, and slowly got back up. She started to wander away from the lit windows of the manor, pushing herself from one tree to another. She would have to find a place to recover her strength before she’d find out where Talim and Feenix were Shiva was just about to head for a part of the woods that seemed likely to give her enough cover for the time being, when someone came up from behind, putting one arm around her chest, then raising a small blade up to her throat. Her eyes were flooded with tears of discouragement. She’d almost gotten away...

“Talk now or you’ll never talk again. Where are the prisoners?”, the angry whisper came. Shiva saw a flash of the dagger on her throat. The blood loss and other occurrences had confused her too much for her to be able to wonder why anyone would ask her where she, herself, was. With what she had left in her, Shiva sharply hit the person behind herself in the side with her elbow, hoping to struggle free.

“Shimatta!”, the attacker breathed out in Japanese, lungs emptying of air as Shiva’s blow struck home.

Feenix had felt the other person move, so she’d managed to avoid the worst of the blow, but it seemed to her as if this woman had superhuman strength.

“Feenix?!” Shiva finally recognized her friend, turning to look at her. Feenix was dressed completely in black, and only her greyish blue eyes could be seen from within the mask. That is, if she hadn’t been forced to crouch, holding her chest and gasping for air.

“Wh... whah... Haah...”, she tried to speak between breaths, then looked up grinning at her friend, who stood in front of her still quite surprised.

“I’m really sorry! And really glad that you’re here!”, Shiva burst out, then grabbed her friend for a hug.

“Not... so... hard”, Feenix said, hugging her back anyway.

“I’m so happy to see you’re all right. Didn’t exactly need my evidence as hard as that...” The woman in black gave something of a smile to Shiva, feeling the pain fade away bit by bit and catching her breath at last.

“That was all your fault! I’ve been locked up in a perverted maniac’s private manor for who knows how long and you decide to sneak up on me from behind...”, Shiva stared and let out her frustration, but felt more and more relieved as she did.

“Perverted maniac?” You’re not talking about Roth, are you?..” Feenix raised an eyebrow and grinned.

“Sounds interesting.”

“Believe me, there’s nothing interesting about that. But Talim? Where is she... I heard them say she was caught too?” Shiva looked back in the direction of the manor lights, worried. She had no intention of letting either of her friends go through what she had. Feenix shook her head.

“She was caught at the Esperér de Mér museum. Le’gas’s worried out of his mind, as is Sigge over you. He almost jumped into the lake when Talim and I swam ashore at the castle. Which brings me to this... How are you feeling? You don’t, eh... want to... bite... me... or anything?” Feenix quickly took a step backwards, looking at Shiva a bit nervously.

“Though you’re looking as charming as ever, I think I can hold my urges”, Shiva laughed, then staggered out of lack of strength again.

“That wasn’t funny”, Feenix replied, going to her obviously tired and worn-down friend’s aid.

Who, by all means, looked terrifying. Her hair was a mess and the usual humoristic sparkle in her eyes was gone, almost completely replaced by a feverish glow of madness. Her white dress, wherever she’d gotten it, had been torn apart from more than one spot, and looking at the piece Shiva had taken off herself to cover up the bleeding in her neck, Feenix came to the conclusion that Shiva didn’t want to tell her what had happened just yet.

“Listen... You should go to the van, or maybe I’ll help you get there. Then I’ll come back to help Talim and we’ll take care of these... these guys together. You’re probably in no condition to fight...” Feenix looked at her companion with concern as she seemed like she could collapse any minute, and then did so.

19

Feenix dragged her unresisting friend deeper into the woods, then whistled sharply. Apart from that the forest was quiet. There was no wind. A few torn clouds stood in place around the red moon, blocking some of the light, but also giving them cover. Shiva’s white dress was still white on black compared to the darkness of the forest.

In a moment, a bit of rustling came from between the trees ahead, and surprisingly quietly compared to his earlier entry, Sigge came.

“I should’ve never come here all alone”, Feenix whispered into Shiva’s ear, though she was already unconscious. Sigge’s eyes widened with terror as he saw Shiva’s white, motionless figure.

“Take her into the van. I’m going to get Talim.” Feenix set her resting friend onto Sigge’s arms, then vanished back into the woods, heading for the manor. She hoped to find Talim in a better shape than Shiva; after all, she’d just recently been tranquilized. And they would need Talim’s information about vampires if they wanted to get out of the manor alive...

5.40 AM Inside the manor

“So, this here is Talim.” Sepastian circled the woman sitting on a chair unconscious. Talim had just been brought to him and it was time for Roth to inspect his new captive. This time, though, it seemed that Spy was the more interested party. A strange glow had appeared in his eyes as soon as Talim was dragged into the room. This look hadn’t disappeared for a second since then, as he stared intensely at the blond prisoner.

“You’ve dealt with her before?” Sepastian looked at the vampire by the corner of his eye, receiving a passionate nod and a nasty grin in response.

“We have something unfinished from our last meeting. I hadn’t even the time to bite her when Shiva and Feenix came running to her in the middle of it all.” He licking at his thin lips and baring his sharp fangs, Spy stepped towards Talim and stretched out his arms. But with a movement faster than his eye could see, Sepastian appeared beside him and took him by his throat.

“Not without my permission”, Roth said to him, terrifyingly calm about it, then threw the vampire a few steps back like he was a marionette.

“Whahn?..”, Talim mumbled as she began to regain her consciousness.

“Ah, excellent. Our little guest is awake.” Sepastian turned his green eyes to Talim, who immediately grasped the situation; it was bad as far as she could tell. Spy groaned, standing up with a murderous look aimed at Roth in his eyes.

“Spy. The third fish is in the net. It’s time we met the last of the Angels as well”, Sepastian said the very moment he sensed the vampire near himself.

“But... What about the first step with her?”, Spy asked and nodded at Talim, who was already eyeing her surroundings to find a way out.

“Easy now, my pet. The first step can wait until we’ve captured Feenix. She isn’t far away.” Sepastian didn’t look away from Talim for a moment. Spy looked at his master angrily one more time, but turned to Talim then.

“I’m afraid we can’t get on with our business even now, but don’t worry. I’ll simply catch your redheaded friend and we can continue.” Spy bowed to Talim with excessive courtesy and grinned at her.

“I think I can wait...”, Talim replied mocking him with a charming smile. He might be a vampire, but for Roth’s play, Spy was nothing but a marionette. Roth, then again... Talim reluctantly shivered. There was something about the man that sent shivers down her spine.

20

The Angels had imagine Sepastian Roth as a small criminal on their scale, but it was becoming more and more obvious that he had darker and more dangerous secrets than they’d imagined.

5.45 AM In the woods

After helping Shiva get to Sigge’s care, Feenix had been quietly walking back to the manor through the woods. She didn’t exactly like the man, but when it came to Shiva, he was more than reliable. Not a leaf had made a sound as she’d sneaked towards the house. Her only hope was to find Talim still unharmed. She knew there was no chance for her to defeat those nasty little bloodsuckers all alone. Feenix suddenly came to a halt as she heard a sound from the bushes nearby. Her heart beat wildly and she expected someone to attack from behind. Another rustle came, and she turned to the direction of the sound with lightning reflexes, her sweaty hands gripping a katana tightly and her eyes focused to tell her where to move as soon as she spotted her assailant. She was only just in time to see a glimpse of movement in the corner of an eye when suddenly a hand moved around her throat. Feeling it take a hold, she hastily turned sideways and elbowed the attacker in the chest. When the person fell back, losing hold and letting out a gasp, a smile formed on Feenix’s face. She turned around, sword in hand to face her opponent.

“Ohh no...”, she quietly moaned as she could see a pair of vampire fangs among the man’s grit teeth.

“Not a vampire... Anything but one of you... Why couldn’t Roth settle for just mortals?!”

Recovering from Feenix’s blow, the vampire began to slowly circle her with his eyes fixed. She realized that she might not be able to kill the vampire, but that her sword would definitely deal some pain if not damage as well. She followed his movements, holding her ground rather impatiently. Why couldn’t he attack already... She’d have to get to Talim as soon as possible. But how would she kill an immortal man in her way...

With a sudden movement, the vampire dashed to attack. Feenix hadn’t thought her choices through, but believed she’d figured out at least one way to slow him down. The attack came from behind, so even faster, Feenix turned around and without interruption, slashed at the vampire’s feet. There was a dreadful cry of pain that most likely reached out acres of forest away, when the vampire fell to the ground.

“Swept you off your feet, huh”, Feenix laughed. The vampire’s face, twisted with anger and agony, let out a furious growl. It was no wonder he was in rage: One of his legs was cut clean off.

“Adiosu!”, Feenix added, skipping ahead on her way to the manor.

5.55 Back in the manor again

Roth was walking in a circle in his room, feeling restless. Nothing in his demeanour revealed his worries, however, though Talim looked at him, tied to the chair. She was still grinning, happy to see he was at least growing impatient, and Roth saw this, nearly losing the last of his patience. Where is Spy?! He should’ve caught Feenix already, and he’d better not have started to improvise...

“Well, well, well. Time flies, and you don’t have the stone, you don’t have Feenix, and in a moment you won’t have the moon anymore.” Talim tried to wriggle her hands free while she mocked him.

He surprised her with his reaction. Roth swiftly turned around to face her and walked over to her even faster. His speed and grace were supernatural...

21

“Don’t worry, dear. Perhaps Spy’s lost his nerve playing cat and mouse, ending it quickly. I already have two of you Angels. I might not need a third, but to be out of my way”, he said softly, grasping Talim’s chin and looking her deep in the eyes. He started to send images into her head.

Images of Shiva’s oppression, her unwilling obedience towards her new master. Images of Talim’s empty, soulless eyes as she would lead the Omega Angelus in Spy’s place. Images of Feenix’s cold body, being covered by falling leaves...

“Listen, wouldn’t you rather keep your fantasies to yourself? We obviously don’t share the same tastes.”

Talim tried to pull her head free, but to no avail. Her chin was being squeezed painfully, and it was most likely about to be bruised for years to come.

Sepastian laughed.

“Not fantasies, my friend. Reality.” He let go of Talim’s face, then turned to the door. A female vampire dressed in a long, black dress soon walked in, approaching Roth with light steps, then bowing down to him courteously.

“Master Roth...” She reached over to Sepastian, whispering something in his ear, causing his eyes to sharpen in a very unpleasant manner.

“Are you sure?” He received a nod from the woman.

“All right then. Call in Angir and Carla. They can keep an eye on her.” He tilted his head towards Talim on the chair.

“I have things to take care of. We’ll continue our little session later”, Roth said with an apologetic smile on his face. In that instant, two characters wearing black came in; one a tall man with brown hair, wearing a long leather coat, black pants and shirt, the other a woman with blond, curly hair, wearing a slightly old style of dress that was tied to keep it on.

“Don’t let her out of your sights.” Sepastian walked up to the fireplace, picking up an enormous samurai sword like the one he had at the castle, then walked out the door with the first woman who’d entered.

6.00 AM Just outside the building, up in a tree

Seeing no trace of Roth in the room he kept Talim in any longer, Feenix knew she’d never get a better chance to enter. Talim was tied up, but safe and sound, giving the mission a turn for the better. Feenix eyed her surroundings until she came upon the window Shiva had broken by leaping through. That was it. She dug a pair of sais and something small and black from her little backpack.

Meanwhile, somewhere else...

Talim was bored. She looked at the two people left with her in the room for her guardians. They didn’t seem to like each other very much, but there didn’t seem to be anything interesting about them besides that. Should she untie her ropes, she’d be off to a good start; she was sure to beat the two of them in combat. And it was her only opportunity to escape. Talim was realistic enough to know she couldn’t handle Roth on her own. But on the other hand, if she ran away, she wouldn’t be able to find out what had happened to Shiva or where she was, nor if Feenix was alright... What to do?

22

Answering her question, in through the broken window flew a tiny, harmless-looking black sphere. Talim closed her eyes. She knew what it was about. Even with her eyes closed she could see a bright flash, and she heard the two guards cry out as the light got into their eyes and blinded them momentarily.

“I am the strong and magnificent Feenix. Submit to me, or... whatever...” Talim burst out laughing.

Unbelievable! That would’ve been impressive if it weren’t for the “whatever”... She finally opened her eyes, knowing there would only be one powerful flash. Feenix was already behind her, and now cut the ropes holding her friend down using one of her sais “Thanks. My hands were getting numb.” Talim sighed as she got up from the chair and rubbed her wrists to help the flow of blood.

“We need to fly.” Feenix handed the sais over to Talim and started towards the window she’d entered by.

“Shiva! We have to find her, help her out! Who knows what Roth’s done to her by now.” Talim shook her head, heading for the door leading elsewhere in the manor.

“No! Shiva’s safe, she’s at the edge of the forest with Sigge, Haya and Le’gas to watch over her. I found her half dead in the woods and helped her out ‘til I got Sigge to take care of the rest.” Feenix pulled Talim away from the door and turned back to the window.

“So she’s alive?!”, Talim asked with relief.

“Oh, she is. You won’t believe how alive...” Feenix grinned, rubbing her side, expecting a nasty bruise there after Shiva’s greeting. Then a lot happened, and fast.

Carla had wandered about blindly, until she found the button for the manor’s silent alarm system and pressed it. Angir on the other hand had crept into a dark corner, blinking his eyes. When he saw well enough to tell where Talim and Feenix were, he quickly and quietly charged at them. His face had changed, and his vampire fangs were clearly in sight. Spy had followed Feenix’s tracks to the window and jumped in through the window, landing right in the Angels’ way, ready to attack.

“This is like one of my worst nightmares. They keep popping up like flowers during springtime!..”, Feenix whined, looking at the three vampires and desperately hoping to wake up.

“No time to worry about it. We have to get out of here by the time Roth comes back...” Talim swiped a bit of her hair off of her eyes and prepared her sais.

23

PART 5 2006 AD June 12th 6.05 AM France, Culoz

Shiva sat by the van, resting her chin on her knees. She looked at the ground. Haya and Le’gas had tried to look after her, but Shiva wouldn’t let them touch her. There was a look of unimaginable suffering in her eyes whenever she backed away from them. Not even Sigge could go near her in her helplessly lonely and numb state of mind.

The morning sun would shower them with its rays any moment soon, but there was no comfort in that.

Time passed slowly in the dark forest, and the waiting feeling in the air added to that. Everyone anxiously waited for something to happen.

Le’gas said a prayer of some sort for Shiva and her friends, while Haya bowed his head at Shiva in respect.

Sigge sat down next to her as close as he could safely get, staring down at the grass with worry and sadness in his eyes. Shiva convulsed and trembled unwillingly but didn’t say a word of complaint.

“Shiva, couldn’t you tell me where it hurts?..”, Sigge asked as he raised his eyes to the sky.

There was no reaction from Shiva. Sigge looked down again. Wolves were howling somewhere deep in the woods, and an owl was audible from closer by. The forest was peaceful, but the whole party of four could feel the presence of vampires moving about. Shiva finally looked up then. The look in her eyes confused the three men watching her. She seemed unusually determined, although still tired.

“Shiva... What are you...”, Sigge stuttered when she shakily got up on her feet.

“They need me...”, she coldly stated and staggered her way over to the back of the van.

Sigge ran after the weakened Shiva, who opened the back door and took Feenix’s redesigned Ivy Blade out of a bag in the van. Shiva looked at the blade with dreamy eyes, then put on a belt with the sword in its sheath attached to it. She loudly shut the door, but as she did, Sigge placed his hand on hers, still holding the handle of the door. Shiva turned to face Sigge, looking him sharply in the eye. Sigge returned the look and held her hand where it was.

“You won’t make it! Your friends would rather have you safe.”

Shiva pulled her hand out of Sigge’s tight hold and hissed something at him. The other two men had been conversing mysteriously without paying attention to what was going on, but when Le’gas realized what Shiva was up to, he walked up to her and handed over a small, green crystal bottle apparently containing an extract of some sort. Shiva looked at the bottle first, then at Le’gas, then the bottle again.

“Sin restuva lyen ennete cilma túrelyo, ananta á ettire! This will restore some of your strength but be careful all the same. You’ve been through too many challenges over the past hours”, Le’gas said, then kissing her on her forehead.

Shiva’s eyes were filled with gratitude that very moment. She quickly drank Le’gas’s herbal potion to strengthen herself. She received an understanding and compassionate look from this life-loving man who knew well enough how she wanted to get to her companions. Sigge cursed and swore when Shiva turned her back and was about to leave. She then turned around, however, and with all her passion, kissed Sigge.

“I will come back...”, she said, stroking his cheek.

Shiva vanished into the woods. Le’gas laid his hand on Sigge’s trembling shoulder. The man was obviously very emotional at the moment.

“Namárië!”, Le’gas said as he took his hand away, but then he suddenly froze, feeling someone coming at them through the forest.

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Sensing danger, he quickly dragged Sigge to the ground behind the van. Haya nimbly jumped over the van, sending several throwing stars into the darkness of the trees. After that, all hell broke loose.

“Down!”, Le’gas yelled as he and Sigge rolled away from the incoming gunfire.

Regrouping, the three of them dodged sleeping darts and charging vampires with great effort. They got every sharp tree branch they could get a hold of, plunging them forcefully into the vampires’ hearts and necks. The resulting bloodbath left them standing in nothing but ashes and blood. Sigge and Haya tried to catch their breath, covered in sweat, but Le’gas was as clean and calm as ever, untouched by any sort of worldly filth.

The pompous sound of clapping came from nearby, the source of it being Sepastian Roth, who then walked confidently in, followed by five of his security guards. The guards had their guns aimed at the fighters’ heads, all of them obviously ready to pull the trigger. Roth held his sword horizontally behind his back.

“I don’t care about you. I only want my property back”, he commanded.

The men didn’t see what he meant, because they didn’t have the ruby any longer. They prepared for whatever might happen. Sepastian waited for a response, looking at one man after another, but eventually there was a flash in his eyes.

“Give her back to me!”

Then it came to them: Roth was referring to Shiva. Sigge was furious. He wanted to grab Roth by his throat, but the others held him back. Sepastian looked at them with a look of contempt, an unusual grin on his face. Shiva was apparently very important for his plans.

“We had so much fun with her...”, he said. Sigge struggled to get to him.

“Did you touch her, you monster? You’ll regret it!”, he roared, spitting at Roth.

Roth somehow knew by now, that he wouldn’t find Shiva with them. He turned to leave, but without warning, he took one of his guards, apparently the leader, by his throat and squeezed.

“I told you to make sure Shiva wouldn’t leave. I won’t tolerate failures!” Roth crushed the man’s neck, then dropped the limp body.

The rest of his guards turned pale with shock. Sepastian looked over his shoulder once more.

“You creatures are worthless, and your existences are of no consequence... Kill them off!”

His guards prepared to shoot again, while he himself walked by his dead underling’s body, heading for the manor.

6.20 AM

Talim faced Spy, while Feenix had been put up against Carla and Angir. Feenix had taken Carla out by forcing a piece of firewood through her heart, and Angir would be next.

“We’re in trouble”, she stated, backing away in defense.

“Aren’t you in a positive mood today. Get out of bed on the wrong foot or something?..”, Talim asked, eyeing her opponent.

Feenix shivered. Vampires... Why vampires in particular? she thought to herself.

“I didn’t get up on the wrong foot or anything, it’s the whole day and night that’s getting to me. Damn it...

It’s like it’s Friday the 13th or something, and even I feel like getting drunk.”

Talim turned to look at her friend, knowing she really hated drinking, and if she meant what she’d just said, things were really bad. The two of them returned to the situation at hand. Angir took a poker from the 25

fireplace, charging at Feenix armed with it. Spy jumped over to Talim, kicking the sai out of her left hand, and eventually from her right hand as well.

Spy’s long leather coat was swinging around during hand to hand combat with Talim. Both of them kicked, punched and blocked attacks with precision, speed and grace. Spy’s vampiric strength was no use against his opponent’s level of skill. Feenix used her katana skilfully, and outright chopped up her own opponent; she slashed off Angir’s left arm and the vampire screamed in pain. He held his remaining hand over the bleeding stump of an arm, eyes burning with anger at Feenix.

Then Angir ran out of the room with all his might.

Shortly after this, Talim was rolling around with Spy yet again. Spy sat on Talim, trapping her. He smiled, enjoying his dominant position.

“Not again! Get off me, this is getting ridiculous.”

The déjā-vû feeling this situation gave Talim was getting on her conscience, and her nerves. Spy seemingly wanted her head in particular for some reason. Maybe he couldn’t tolerate his own failures, or he didn’t want to lose against a woman. Either way, the vampire aimed to bite her in the neck, and she wouldn’t allow that.

“Let’s see if you taste as good as your friend did. She put up a good fight, and that’s what I like in a girl.”

Talim struck Spy right between his eyes and pushed herself up to a standing position. Kensington stared at her angrily, straightening up his clothes as he stood up as well. He licked at his lips, fangs revealed as he smiled.

“I’ll squeeze as much blood out of you as you drank from Shiva even if I have to do it with my own bare hands. We won’t let disgusting creatures like yourselves do as you like. You don’t mess with the Angels!”

Talim blinked when she heard Feenix yell. Spy fell to the floor in terror. Something made Talim back away from Feenix as well. She’d yelled because of the Cruenta Caelis; the ruby had begun to shine a bright, red light inside her pocket. It was hot and burned a hole into the fabric as it floated out of the pocket and into the middle of the room, where it remained. Spy lay down on the floor with his mouth open, but decided to run from the jewel’s light, jumping out of the window.

Talim and Feenix considered following Spy’s example, but then they saw Shiva walking towards them along the corridor outside the room and stopped in their tracks. Shiva stopped to lean on the doorway, forcing a smile for her friends. She could tell that they’d preach her soon enough. Their looks were exactly the same as when she’d removed the stitches from an operation on her own a couple of years back. Shiva felt a bit embarrassed, but when she saw a familiar enemy, she regained her concentration.

Roth had walked over to the manor quickly, and noticing the red glow inside his room, jumped three meters up from the ground, landing inside. He drew his sword. With the back of the blade, he sent Talim flying into the wall near the dining table and struck Feenix into a table, breaking it. Shiva’s glassy-eyed look had returned, and she simply stared at Roth. Talim and Feenix were trying hard to get up. Why had Shiva come back even though she was hurt...

Time seemed to move very slowly. Shiva went down on one knee. Roth walked towards her, giving his hand, obviously thinking he’d won. The two Angels on the floor raised their heads to look at what was going on, and just then, something began to happen. Shiva’s skin turned light blue, beginning from her toes and advancing quickly all around her body. Her clothing seemed transparent, more loose. Her hair was blue and loosened up as well. Her wounds disappeared and she was clean.

Roth backed away, mumbling something about this being impossible. Shiva suddenly turned to look at Sepastian, and everyone saw her bright red eyes. Talim shivered, Feenix was speechless. They were lying on their backs unable to do anything but stare. A sudden wind blew out the candles, and the wolves that howled outside were louder.

“Uh... oh”, Feenix mumbled under her breath, crawling over to Talim.

26

Shiva’s eyes changed color again, this time becoming purple. She slowly stood up, eyes looking down. Shiva ceremoniously walked up to Roth, lifted him in the air by his neck and threw the man back like he was light as a feather. Sepastian was back up in a flash and pointed his sword at Shiva. She looked at him coldly from beneath her eyebrows, snapping her right-hand fingers as she stretched the hand forward. Roth flew backwards, through the wall behind him and into the next room completely unable to defend himself.

“Shiva, stop!”, Feenix cried out, as it appeared that Shiva was about to finish Sepastian.

“You’re not yourself! Wake up!”, Talim continued for Feenix, picking up a sai and throwing it at the ruby floating in the air.

The jewel fell to the ground.As the Cruenta Caelis hit the floor, its effect on Shiva faded instantly and she returned to normal. Feenix rushed to catch her falling, as Shiva fainted immediately afterwards.

“Where’s the jewel?!”, Talim panicked, looking around to find it.

“Who cares, where’s Roth?”, Feenix noted, pointing at the spot where he’d been lying.

There was an attack from behind their backs. Feenix and Talim were thrown away again one at a time.

Sepastian lifted Shiva onto his shoulder, holding the ruby in one hand, then ran off into the corridor, white hair waving around as he went. Shiva moaned helplessly.

“That’s it! No more flying around!”, Feenix burst out as she stood up and ran after Roth with Talim, who took her sais and the Ivy Blade along.

Sepastian opened a secret door at the end of the hallway, then locked it after himself and proceeded down the staircase behind it. The duo was left swearing at the door. Feenix hit the wall with her fist, disappointed in yet another turn for the worse.

“They’ve thrown us around, kicked and beaten us up, shot at us, tried to bite us and kept us running about all night. This really isn’t the best of our times. Any idea how we could get through that?”, Talim said as she kicked an old and most certainly expensive vase frustrated, shattering it.

“Well, we could always use this...” Feenix grinned as she presented another, larger explosive ball she’d been carrying.

Taking cover around the corner of a crossing on the corridor with Talim, Feenix threw the black ball at the secret door. A large hole in the “wall” resulted, and the two Angels quickly entered the secret stairway through it. Talim took a flaming torch from the wall along, leading the way down. The staircase seemed endless; a long time passed, until there was the sound of mumbling voices. Soon enough, the girls reached a narrow underground passage. The air was stale, and the stone walls around had been pierced by root growth all around. There were cobwebs everywhere, and their eight-legged inhabitants crawled into the darkness, away from the light of the torch.

“Shiva couldn’t take this”, Feenix stated, turning to look at Talim.

“She hates spiders...”

Sneaking along the passage and shining the torch at every little opening in the walls, the duo arrived in a small chamber hosting a wide variety of implements of torture and chains. In a set of chains by the wall, there was a half-decayed skeleton, surrounded by the mark of what appeared to have been a pool of blood on the floor.

“Ech, what a place. This is awful”, Feenix bitterly noted, hoping to leave as soon as possible.

The next section of the passage began to wind, turning left and right continuously. A strange combination of scratching and hissing noises reached Talim’s ears. After a small threshold, the floor was slightly lower ahead. There was something strange about the walls and floor; they appeared to move. Feenix realized what this was about soon enough, and crying out, she backed away.

“Bugs... Snakes... Eww, I don’t want to go there!”

Talim waved the torch at the floor in front of her. The creatures at her feet crawled aside like cockroaches, that is, given that there were some actual cockroaches among them as well. Feenix rode on her friend’s back nearly all the way across the lowered part of the floor. She had her eyes closed, imagining she was 27

on a sunny beach, having a Mai Tai and being served by dozens of white-haired men; anywhere but in the middle of these insects and reptiles. As they crossed the area, the Angels heard the voices from ahead grow stronger. Feenix cursed at a few worms and roaches that had fallen onto her neck from the ceiling. Her fobic attitude gave these creatures a flying start to go away. Then the girls reached a fork in the corridor.

They went through their options: Getting separated wasn’t a good idea, but they didn’t feel like doing so to begin with...

“Now what? This mumbling’s coming from both directions”, Feenix said, folding her arms.

The diabolic lyrics seemed to echo from all around. Talim bit her fingernails, pondering. Both paths were lit with torches, and both...

“Oh, look!” Talim pointed at the path going right.

“What? There’s no difference...”

“Yes there is. Look at the floor.”

Talim was right. The floor was covered with dust and dirt, unlike on the other side. Feenix figured that no-one could have gone that way, and was about to go left instead, when Talim took her by her arm and stopped her.

“Hold on! I mean, how can there be lit torches on a section of the corridor that looks like it hasn’t been walked on in thirty years?”

Feenix compared the two paths again, then gave Talim a thumbs-up. Anyone who’d gone right must have “cleaned up” afterwards to cover their tracks. The Angels continued on the right path, then came to another fork. This time there were three new paths, none of them looking any different.

“I always liked to take the middle road”, Feenix laughed.

“Are you sure?”, Talim asked. She received a nod and a sign to follow.

Soon enough, they came to a balcony of some sort, resting high above at one end of a great hall. The girls ducked by the edge, peeking down at the ongoing events below. This hall seemed like it was directly from a gothic horror film. There was a single grand chandelier bearing candles in the ceiling, lighting up most of the room but leaving the rest in darkness. Talim even though she heard whispers from a few shadows.

At the other end, there was set of wide steps leading up to a stone altar, and on the altar lay Shiva, unconscious again. A patterned marble floor reached out from one end of the room to the other. Several people wearing brown, hooded robes stood behind the altar; these were apparently the source of the voices Talim and Feenix heard. The walls were riddled with writing, possibly runes of some sort, but it was hard to tell. The red markings were smeared and dripping, and it was clear to the Angels, that this wasn’t paint, but blood. Feenix felt faint for a moment.

Sepastian Roth stood right next to the altar, wearing a black robe. His sword was on the altar, next to Shiva.

The Cruenta Caelis was set in place where the heart would be on a statue, depicting a woman, that stood behind him. The ruby was glowing red, and the two Angels couldn’t help but look at it for a while. Feenix eventually revealed her own katana and the replicated Ivy Blade.

“I’ll bet Shiva wants to get even with Roth, so I’ll have this handy for her. Maybe we’ll get our share of special powers at some point...” Feenix hoped from the bottom of her heart for the day to turn out well.

Talim readied her sais.

“Right. Time for the grand finale!” She motioned for Feenix to go with her, and the two of them jumped down.

28

PART 6 2006 AD June 12th 6.22 AM France, Culoz

Sigge, Haya and Le’gas fell into sitting positions one after the other, catching their breaths. They were sweating, their clothes dusty and muddy after several struggles on the ground. Even Le’gas’s face had gained a bit of dirt during the last battle.

“Hey, lads, that was, easy, right!”, Sigge cheered between breaths.

All he got for a response was a pair of grinning looks. In that instant, he stood up, putting on a serious face again.

“We’ve no time to sit around, even though sunrise is at hand!”, he firmly stated, calling for his companions to rise.

“That’s right. We need to go back them up”, Haya said, getting nods from the others. They quickly ran through the woods and to where the manor was. As they got there, they stopped, catching their breaths again. But it wasn’t exhaustion that prevented them from proceeding: before them was a view across a mysterious pond. The manor was gone. Only mist floating over the water welcomed them.

6.33 AM

Feenix ja Talim smoothly dropped down from the balcony and landed as quietly as they could, then hurrying into a shadowy part of the hall where there was a table. Talim took a look over her shoulder to see if they’d been spotted, but there was no sign of that.

“Sunrise will start in less than a minute. They don’t have the time to perform whatever ritual or ceremony they’ve been planning.” Talim looked at her wrist watch. Feenix yelped, terrified.

“What’s wrong?!”, Talim asked, turning to her friend.

“I mean eww! Don’t you see what this table’s for?”, Feenix whispered rather loudly.

“Shh!” Talim peeked over the table, but still Roth obviously hadn’t seen anything. She then looked at the table itself.

“Seems to me like an old rack, for torture.”

“Yeah, and I touched it, yech”, Feenix complained, wiping her hands on the floor. Talim simply looked at her friend slightly amused.

A pair of heads arose from behind the table to look at what was going on. Sepastian Roth still stood at the altar, hands now in the air, as if to honor the statue holding the Cruenta Caelis. His hooded followers stood behind him in two arcs.

“Twelve wearing their hoods and Roth”, Feenix counted.

“At least Spy doesn’t seem to be around”, Talim replied with a grin on her face.

“See another way out of here?”, Feenix asked.

“There’s a door on the other side, ...but...” Talim tilted her head at the door in question, and they both saw how the door was covered by a strange kind of fog that seemed to form several grotesque faces.

“Looks like we’re not leaving that way”, Feenix stated, raising her other eyebrow. This was turning more and more unusual.

29

“The sun should be up by now, and the eclipse should’ve been over!.. The stone can’t work without the power of a solar eclipse, right?”, Talim complained.

They looked at Shiva lying up on the altar ahead, thinking about what they could do. They’d be no match for Roth in their condition, but was there a choice, should he decide to hurt Shiva? Talim felt her left shoulder. The tip of the sleeping dart she’d been hit by was still inside. Spy had hit her in the same spot a few times, and this had added up to the point of forming a large bloodstain on her shirt where the wound was. Feenix had a slight limp on her right leg thanks to being thrown around by Roth, and a nasty feeling of dizziness in her head hinted that she might have a mild concussion. Both of the girls looked worn out, with bags beneath their eyes, resulting from more than just staying up long. They wouldn’t dare think about how Shiva felt right now, if they were as run down as this.

All of a sudden, Roth turned around to face his group of monks and started to speak.

“We have moved from the manor in one dimension to another, where time has no meaning. Now we can finish the ceremony with all the time in this world.”

“What?!”, Talim and Feenix whispered together, looking at one another, turning pale.

Walking to the other side of the altar, Roth kissed the ruby on its place over the statue. The Cruenta Caelis shone red again. Sepastian turned to his followers, ever so quiet and still before him.

“Using the powers of Dante’s Angel Shiva, I can take the world and rule over it!” He laughed maniacally, then continued, his voice thundering: “At the dawn of times, there was a prophecy. According to this prophecy, there would be a hero, fighting against the forces of evil. The hero would receive great powers. But these powers are told to have their dark side as well, hidden deep within the hero, only to come out when the Cruenta Caelis shines upon the hero. And with the light of the ruby, the powers of good are pushed out of the way of darker powers-powers meant for the Great Conqueror to use. This prophecy has come to life, for I have Shiva! I have seen the ruby take control of her, filling her with evil.” Roth’s gaze turned to Shiva.

Feenix and Talim, more and more pale after hearing this, looked at each other. What on earth would they do?

“It is time to fulfill the final part of the prophecy. The hero shall be drained of all blood, and given evil, dead blood instead. She will know no will of her own!”, Roth proclaimed, taking his sword and holding it slightly over Shiva’s head.

“Noo!”, came from the corner of the room as Talim and Feenix ran towards the altar.

Roth drew his blade away from Shiva, surprised. Feenix aimed a throwing star at him, and Roth dodged behind the statue. He extended his arm, sending an invisible force from it that tossed Feenix and Talim back across the hall. Talim was slammed painfully into the floor while Feenix slid several meters backwards after landing.

“What can we do?..”, Talim moaned.

“There’s no way for you to interfere. This prophecy was made centuries ago”, Roth confidently stated.

“What is it with you people and taking over the world? It’s perverse...” Feenix stood up and took a fighting stance, although her limp made it look unconvincing.

Her head was throbbing, and she could barely concentrate on looking ahead of herself. Talim followed Feenix’s example and got off the floor, gritting her teeth at the pain. Roth snapped his fingers, and the twelve people in monk robes all turned around to face the Angels. He laughed fiendishly.

The twelve robes all fell off their wearers at the same time, revealing twelve women made to look exactly alike. They all had white dresses, transparent to the point of anyone being able to tell that they were wearing nothing under these dresses.

“Say, why do these women look so familiar?”, Talim wondered. Feenix limped over to her side and it came to her.

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“That’s our old friend Picky. Somehow, I’m not surprised to see her gone evil. And it looks like she still hasn’t heard about a thing called underwear...

“Argh, just the person we needed”, Talim dryly added.

“And she’s learned how to clone herself.”

“What the heck are these? They don’t look like vampires to me...” Another blast of power sent Feenix and Talim’s weapons flying, and in that instant, the twelve identical women charged at them.

Talim and Feenix assumed fighting positions, calling forth their will to fight with loud war cries. One of the attackers had just reached Talim, trying to kick her in the stomach. She dodged to her left with a ukemi turn and was immediately on her way to counterattack. She forcefully struck her opponent in the back of her neck with the side of her hand, hearing nothing but a cracking sound before the woman fell to the ground. Feenix was taken on by a pair of the clones coming in from opposite directions. She swung her fists to her sides simultaneously, hitting both in the lower abdomen. One doubled up, thrown backwards, leaving Feenix the other to concentrate her rapid punches on. Her opponent fell back towards a wall as she punched her repeatedly in the chest and stomach. The clone managed to block some of Feenix’s attacks until she had her back against the wall, where she fell unconscious, leaving a trace of blood on it. Talim had taken care of another clone, when she was attacked by two others. Suddenly a third woman took her by surprise and held her by the arms while the other two took turns punching her in the face. Talim’s nose began to bleed as a result and her eyes were filled with red. She bent both her knees to get off the ground while she hit the woman holding her, now off balance, with both of her elbows. The clone was forced to let go. Talim kicked her in the forehead, spinning around, then continued the move to kick one of the two other clones right in her nose.

Meanwhile, Feenix had become surrounded similarly. The three women circling around her obviously planned to attack together, judging by their fiendish smiles. Feenix’s constant observation gave her enough time to catch her breath, and as the clones charged, she leapt high up in the air and spin-kicked all of her attackers, striking all of them in the head. She landed back in the middle, then crouched to sweep the feet out from beneath two of the women that had remained close to her. She grabbed the third clone by her head, twisting her neck until it snapped. As she let go, the woman’s dropped lifeless to the ground.

Talim was dealing blows, but the clones around her seemed to be tougher now, even though there weren’t many left. Two of them had driven her close to the wall, clawing and scratching at her. Talim turned and ran towards the wall, then ran up along the wall and jumped backwards off of it, landing on the back of the other clone and dragging her down to the floor. She sat on the clone, pressing her face into the marble floor. The woman beneath Talim struggled hard, but when she almost managed to get Talim off of herself, Talim simply moved over to a side, and started to hit the clone’s head hard into the floor with both hands. The third hit smashed this clone’s nose with a cracking sound, but Talim continued until the woman stopped moving. She stood up quickly and wiped the blood off her face. Her attention turned to Feenix, who was apparently under attack from all of the remaining clones now.

Feenix was down to the last of her strength. She jumped and dodged, but there was always someone, who managed to hit her. Suddenly Talim jumped into the circle around Feenix.

“There aren’t any less of them now than before! I’ve taken out who knows how many, but they still keep coming up with more of themselves somehow!”, Talim desperately told her.

“I was thinking the same thing!”, she received in response while Feenix dodged a kick aimed at her head.

Distracted by these apparently bewitched women, the two fighting Angels had no idea what Roth might be up to at the moment, and it came to them: They would never make it through this--if they had their hands full with these creatures, how could they ever handle Roth?

All of a sudden, the hall was shaken by a loud bang, followed by the ear-splitting sound of wood breaking.

The fighting stopped as everyone turned to face the previously sealed door, now in splinters. A motorcycle flew across the room, its engine roaring. The bike landed with a crash and went up in flames, but the driver 31

jumped off in time. It was a man in a long, red coat worn over black clothing, and with white hair. Standing by the altar, Roth stared in awe.

“Dante”, he then hissed. Shiva woke up now, thanks to the noise, and opened her eyes, whining. Shiva, Talim and Feenix were all relieved.

“I felt like I was needed here”, Dante said to the Angels while he stared intently at Roth Talim and Feenix looked to check up on Shiva. She seemed to be in good shape; or at least in as good shape as when they last saw her.

“You’ve interrupted our games. I was just having fun with Feenix and Talim here. It almost seemed as if I might lose at first...”, Roth said with a laugh as he looked down at Dante from the altar level.

“Strange and ironic that it will end the same way”, Dante replied. He picked up his own sword and let it hang over his shoulder.

But Roth would still only laugh. Finally, Dante took a look around himself and realized the condition of his Angels. There was pure anger in his eyes when he slowly turned to look at Roth again.

“I’ve never seen him that mad”, Feenix whispered to Talim.

“This will be the end of you”, Dante said in a gloomy voice as he murderously stared into Roth’s eyes.

He dug out three emerald green, crystal clear containers shaped like five-pointed stars and threw one to each Angel’s hand, then raised his sword towards Sepastian Roth.

“Vital Stars!”, Talim cheered as she caught her own star. The Angels all used what little strength they had left to break their stars open, drinking the nectar within.

Their wounds healed and their strength returned instantly. They could feel a whole new kind of energy fill their bodies from head to toe, as if this power shone out from themselves. They were refreshed mentally as well. Soon enough Roth realized what had happened and roaring with fury he ran towards Dante to attack.

Dante nimbly jumped into the air and brought his sword down at Roth. Shiva had gotten up, taking with her the Angels’ stolen weapons as she regrouped with her friends. They didn’t get to watch Roth and Dante fight for long, as the possessed clones attacked again. This time around, though, the identical women were no match for the Angels--Their strength recovered, weapons in hand and not last, nor least, Dante fighting for them, Shiva, Talim and Feenix easily destroyed their opponents. At first, the dead clones were replaced mysteriously, but eventually there were less and less of them. It appeared that Roth had been returning them to life using some kind of magic, but this had taken more of his concentration than he had to spare while fighting against Dante. The Angels swept the hall clear of the clones and went to stand by the door after there were no more. They followed Dante’s impressive jumps and strikes from there, while he also avoided Roth’s psychic attacks. The Angels were better off not interfering with a fight like this one. Dante was obviously winning, when all of a sudden the room was filled with an explosion of blinding light. When the light was gone, Roth was gone with it.

“Is he dead?”, Shiva asked when Dante walked up to them, twirling his pistols in his hands.

“I don’t think so. Seems like he just ran away.” Talim and Feenix were frightened by this and when Feenix looked around her nervously, Dante continued to calm them down: “He’s lost so much power this time, though, that I doubt we’ll see him in a long time. Besides, he doesn’t even have the ruby anymore.”

He showed them the Cruenta Caelis, then threw it onto the floor and smashed it with his sword. Dante then wrapped his arms around all the girls at once, giving them a big hug.

“Now now, what got into you?”, Talim laughed when he let go. Dante chuckled.

“Are you all okay?”

There were three exhausted nods.

“You’ve earned yourselves some time off”, he said.

“Come, Sigge, Haya and Le’gas are waiting outside worried sick.” They all ran out the door and towards the light of the rising sun.

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EpilogUE 2006 AD June 12th

Roth turned and was thrown from side to side within a constantly changing wormhole he now traveled through. His eyes were closed, he was exhausted. The last shreds of his torn shirt fell off and were left behind in the void. Bumping into the sides of the wormhole again, Roth opened his eyes and grit his teeth at last. He flew past planets, stars, entire solar systems at light speed.

Something caught his attention even here. He was surrounded by the growing sound of unearthly laughter.

Soon, a translucent image of Shiva’s dark, transformed self-formed, floating next to Roth. The being laughed at him endlessly, holding one hand over its face and supporting this hand with the other.

“Hahaha... look at the poor thing... So, you didn’t get me after all!”, the image mocked Sepastian, then flew ahead of him.

“You even lost the fight with Dante... Loser! Hee hee hee...” The phantom touched his cheek as if sympathetically, then withdrew.

“Be quiet! You aren’t real!”

“Is that so!” Shiva’s mirror image slapped him on the very same cheek now, then grabbed him by the chin.

“We trampled your plans! Poor thing, indeed, heheheh...”

“Stop it, leave my mind alone!” Sepastian tried to swing his arm at the phantom, but she disappeared and reappeared on his left side.

The man raised his hands to his head. The words hit his consciousness like knives, and even Roth now feared for his sanity.

“You’re pathetic! You don’t deserve me or my powers, you coward! Hahah!” Shiva’s image now took the katana that had been following Roth. She felt the blade with curiosity.

“Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!” Roth threw punches wildly, but the phantom disappeared every time, only to reappear in another place.

Eventually Shiva’s phantom was right in front of him, holding Roth’s katana on his neck. Cornered, Roth looked at his tormentor and shrieked in fear In a hazy instant, the traveling stopped. Roth fell flat on his stomach in pitch-black surroundings. He laughed quietly, but his morbid cackling revealed him to be on the very brink of utter madness. Roth clumsily stood up and threw his long hair over his shoulders to the back. The green eyes had a sudden flash of danger in them.

“Where did you go?! Come back to me, Shiva!”

Out of nowhere, his sword fell right in front of him and hit the invisible floor. Roth blinked his eyes, confused. Something barely recognizable as a woman appeared behind his back, both monstrous and mechanical in appearance.

Roth turned around, sensing this new presence. His eyes widened with surprise.

“Mother?..”, he asked with doubt in his voice.

The creature sent a bolt of lightning at him, throwing Roth onto his back. He slowly got back up.

“I am ashamed of you! You’ve lost to that wretch and his women! Have you no honour?!”

Roth sank to his knees, convulsing uncontrollably with feelings of shame. His mother disappeared, and there was nothing but darkness around him again.

“Jena... Mother!.. Don’t go!”

“Hah! Why would she waste time with you, little one?”, Shiva’s image spoke, reappearing behind Roth.

Sepastian turned his head to her direction but was suprised by the phantom picking him up by his chin 33

once more. Roth quickly took the katana beside himself and ran the woman through with it.

“Naughty boy... You can’t kill me! I’m not even here.” The phantom stepped back, through the sword with a smile on her face, then turned and walked away, vanishing into the darkness.

“You can’t leave me! Don’t walk away from me, SHIVA!”

The group of four stood still, looking at Roth’s manor behind them for a moment. They’d all had an unusual feeling suddenly. Sigge, Haya and Le’gas were just walking to meet them.

“Did you get that feeling?..”, Dante asked. The Angels all nodded. ” Hmm...” He looked back at the manor again, the wind in his hair.

Somewhere in the woods, a man desperately tried to leave the proximity of the manor. His clumsiness proved to be a difficulty at first, with tree roots and branches in the way. Spy Kensington turned to see the manor, with a strange flame in his eyes. He looked at the moon next.

“At least I’m rid of that enslaver, and I got my share of the food, too.”

The vampire quickly fled into the darkness, his coat barely following his movements.

- THE END The Beat Goes On… No necks were punctured during the translation of this story, but Shiva’s fear of blood most likely went up another notch.

Translated by: Lari Fagerholm

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