Salutatory Childes
Willow was caught off guard as both her daughters barreled into her with no hesitation. She knew she should stop them. Warn and push them away. Tell them that she was a horrible monster, but it had been so long since she held her daughters that just for a moment she basked in the warmth she felt as she pulled them close to her.
“My brave, wonderful, beautiful daughters,” Willow said, stepping back and holding a hand up to keep them from moving back toward her.
“Mother?”
“It is…not safe for you to be around me,” Willow said sadly.
“We found your journal, we already know you’re likely a vampire,” Winter said, her hands held up clearly so as to not startle their mother.
“Then you know what you need to do,” Willow said as she looked away.
“Yes, I do,” Weiss responded as she pulled her mother back into a hug.
Willow resisted for a mere moment before she broke down and wept onto her daughter’s shoulder.
Watching Penny sleep was strange in Neo’s opinion. They’d rented a first class compartment for themselves since it would take a day to reach their destination and it was a very lavish affair.
They’d sprung for the best class of train, which meant fastest. Not as fast as a plane, but less scrutiny, and easier to hide away while the sun was still up.
Penny sleeping with a bag of dirt on her chest with her feet on the pillow was just so…odd.
Of course this was better than having to constantly glare at all the hussy’s trying to provide service who kept saying how unique Penny was and complimenting her.
Neo had quickly made it clear to them that that was not going to be tolerated. To that end instead of the usual line of a few dozen different employees she’d found three that were tolerable, as in they merely treated them as prized passengers and did their job.
Neo tipped appropriately for that.
She took the latest tray of food and brought it inside for Penny to try when she woke up since she found almost everything fascinating.
It had been a long time since she’d seen someone be so genuinely fascinated by almost everything. A lot of vampires, Kuei-Jin, or supernaturals eventually lost that fascination what with longer life being on the table for most of them, and so they grew stagnant.
Penny was…different, and Neo would be glad to see that spark remain as she continued to learn and study just about anything.
She shook her head and grabbed a piece of candy she’d bought from the station shop to calm her nerves.
She shifted a bit feeling the weird feeling of vague wrongness grow stronger every hour and mile they traveled further up north.
After a few more minutes of fruitlessly shifting around she made sure the door was locked and the windows were very much covered before she double checked they were alone in the compartment.
She flushed as though she were still alive which was easy with Penny’s chi still lingering in her body and crawled into bed with the taller woman.
Her blush only deepened when one of Penny’s hands instinctively uncrossed itself to loop around Neo and pull her closer.
Well…this was nice and so Neo let herself drift off to a rejuvenating slumber. She’d just make sure she got up first and there’d be no issue.
“Didn’t get enough the first time?” Hazel taunted as he hurled an empty crate at one of the vampires he’d had to throw out of the club recently.
The vampire managed to dodge, if only just, before he took aim with a gun and fired.
Hazel had been alive long enough to learn how to fight against those with firearms and quickly threw himself backward out of the trajectory of the bullet and rolled behind another support pillar.
He’d sensed more than one so he had to assume that they were merely making the idiot with the gun the main threat so he’d not notice the others sneaking around him until it was too late.
Sadly for them he was well aware of the layout of the warehouse so he used the cover of darkness to quickly move to the opposite direction he wanted to go and throw another crate at the gunman.
He heard that one crash into them as he ascended a ladder to the second floor while they swore at him.
As he expected there was shouting from down below likely orders trying to find him.
Despite his size, he was very adept at sneaking around when he needed to be, and right now if he wanted to make it to the next sunrise he needed to be very sneaky as trying to confront an unknown number of assailants wasn’t something he should try and brute force his way through.
He’d need to use the element of surprise and take them out one by one…and hope none of the noise or gunshots were going to be reported. The last thing he needed was more innocents getting killed responding to this.
“You’ve been peeking through the blinds for a while, babe,” Coco said as she turned from the table and the blood in a cup she was trying to do her best not to drink.
She’d felt she was doing rather poorly as far as control was concerned, only managing to hold out less than a half hour unless she was freshly fed, but Emerald had assured her that her progress was actually slightly better than average.
She didn’t think she’d be able to go back to work in person in the next few days unless she somehow managed to smuggle blood with her for work she could drink, but Emerald had said by the end of the month it might be possible for her to get to work, or they could find some way to keep it with her.
“Sorry, the message from Cinder has me on edge, and I can’t get hold of her. I hate feeling like we’re helpless,” Emerald said as she let the blinds close before she pulled the extra blackout curtains over them and came back over to sit next to her girlfriend.
Coco gently grabbed her hands and laced them together. It was her turn to be strong for Emerald even as she decided to be brutally honest, as was her wont.
“I hate to break it to you but we kinda are helpless. There’s a reason she told us to sit this out,” Coco said as she removed her shades so Emerald would know how serious she was being.
Emerald sighed heavily as she put her free hand over their joined ones although she kept her eyes closed.
“It’s funny. I always thought being a vampire or whatever would mean I’d have less problems not more. I feel more weak and helpless than ever,” Emerald admitted.
“We both moved up in the world, it just turns out that the game had a lot more and stronger players we were, and probably still aren’t aware of,” Coco assured her.
“Wonderful pep talk,” Emerald groused.
“Don’t be a bitch. You know what I mean. We have moved up the ladder, and from what you told me your boss and her boss are both strong and actually good people to work for. They seem to care that we stay safe and they let you embrace me early and gave you time off.
Most of the ones you talked about other than them sound like hard asses. We lucked out honestly,” Coco chided her.
“I know you’re right, and I’m so glad you’re with me. I just hate feeling helpless. It reminds me of…well anyway I don’t like it,” Emerald said, avoiding the topic of her past like she always did.
“You know I’d never make you tell me, but someday I’d like to hear about it.”
“No, you're right. I’m sorry. We might be here for awhile and you kinda hitched your wagon to me so it’s the least I can do,” Emerald said as she looked straight into Coco’s eyes before she narrowed her own.
“Don’t think I didn’t hear you slurping the blood, cheater.”
“I don’t slurp,” Coco defended herself, sounding insulted at the very idea.
“There’s a red stain around the outside rim and a drop on the table,” Emerald pointed out as Coco swore.
“Alright fine I snuck a sip,” Coco said grumbling until Emerald handed it over, but with a hand over the top.
“At least try to make it last for the story,” Emerald said, removing her hand and letting Coco take it.
Coco looked at it for a long moment before she, with great effort, placed it back on the table and focused her attention on Emerald and nodded for her to continue.
“Ok, so back when I was a kid…”
“As much as I hate to interrupt this moment, and I really do,” Velvet said tapping her foot. “We’re kind of looking for our girlfriend at the moment.”
“You’ve grown even more beautiful just as Ruby claimed,” Willow said as Velvet’s eyes widened.
“She’s here?”
“Until a short while ago. A group of armed men, hunters, came and she gave herself up so they’d avoid a fight with me.”
“And you just let her go?” Velvet demanded as Weiss went over to calm Velvet down.
“There were dozens of them. I don’t know how much you know about vampires but with no space to maneuver the odds of them hurting or killing Miss Rose by accident were too high for me to risk.”
“Would explain the plane we heard,” Mercury offered from the back, seemingly disinterested in the reunion.
“So where is she now?” Velvet growled as Weiss hugged Velvet from behind, well aware of her rising rage.
“Part of my…abilities I gained when I was afflicted with vampirism are abilities similar to that of a seer. It’s not something I can control but I’ve had visions.
One of them is a place we all know quite well. Our old home. I see several there including Ruby and other faces I didn’t know locked up.”
“What are we waiting for then?” Velvet asked as she turned to leave, pausing only to make sure Weiss was still behind her before they left with Weiss giving her mother a longing look over her shoulder as Winter gave her a nod and shooed her away.
“I’ll go start seeing if we can get to wherever on the gas we got in the plane,” Mercury said, excusing himself with Yang and Pyrrha following not having any reason to intrude on the reunion.
“Will you come with us, mother?” Winter asked as she held out a hand.
Willow stared at the hand, her own instinctively already starting to move towards it.
“I have…been alone for so long. It’s not safe for you to be around my kind,” Willow said.
Winter pinked but forged ahead. “I am currently courting a vampire.”
Willow’s eyes went wide before she took in her daughter’s embarrassed look and began to snort.
“I already knew thanks to Miss Rose. You were a brave one but I didn’t expect that level of honesty certainly,” Willow chortled behind her hand.
“Yes, well she’s a fantastic person. Nothing like the mindless beast we were taught.”
“I suppose part of that is my own fault, and the teachings we grew up with,” Willow sighed. “As long as you're happy that’s all I ever wanted for you.”
“I am. She’s wonderful, and I’d love to introduce you,” Winter said, putting her hand out.
Willow reached out to take the hand. “I should tell you that I am a child of Malkav. Miss Rose diagnosed me as best she could with agoraphobia. I will do my best to join you, but I make no promises as to how lucid I will be.”
“If you’re a Malkavian I’m surprised you’re as lucid as you are,” Winter admitted as she and her mother began walking toward the entrance.
“Miss Rose,” Willow explained as she closed the door behind them. “She grabbed my hand and took me through some relaxation techniques and my mind was clear for the first time in years. The voices are starting to creep back in, and I believe by tomorrow they’ll be back in full force.”
“I’m surprised that it worked. I’d have thought you’d have done that years ago.”
“I have. To no avail,” Willow said, pausing before she took a deep breath and left the basement stairs to join Winter in the monastery.
Seeing her mother struggle or start to Winter gently locked their elbows together and began escorting her outside.
“Talk to me and ignore everything else, mother. The sun should be a non issue with how late it is.
“Very well. I suppose I should begin with…”
Hazel gently set down the body of yet another one of his assailants. Even if it were going to turn to ash the last thing they deserved was to be disrespected by throwing the body away as if it were trash.
He peered down from the third story of the warehouse and saw the same vampire from before was still by the door with a few others as various figures spread out around the area and other floors searching for him.
He’d chanced a glance outside earlier and seen a loose ring of figures outside surrounding the building.
He’d not take the chance on escaping until the attackers inside were dealt with so he didn’t have to worry about them following him outside and swarming him from behind.
He saw the office door on the third floor was slightly opened and frowned as he crept closer. He lightly pushed it open and let out a sigh of relief when no sound escaped the door.
Standing in the room was a vampire. A young one. A friend of the one with the gun if he wasn’t mistaken and yet he was here in the dark…weeping?
“C-can you just kill me?” The broken sounding young man asked as he turned to face Hazel.
Hazel blinked. “Why?”
“I…I did a horrible thing. I didn’t want to. I didn’t know at the time. It…I, it made me think about and realize some stuff. I didn’t like what I saw, and I keep seeing his face in my head. It won’t leave me alone.”
Hazel frowned and risked using a little of the stored blood in his body he had, to look more carefully over the vampire in front of him. He balked at how black and dark the aura was. There was only one reason for such a thing if one weren’t a Nagaraja.
“You…diablerized your friend?” Hazel asked, doing his best to keep his voice even and non confrontational so the vampire in front of him didn’t snap and start shouting.
“I didn’t know!”
Hazel merely hummed hoping to draw the story out of him as he kept an ear for any nearby assailants.
“That bastard. He made Dove break neutrality. We didn’t know that at the time but he was doing it just to see if the sponsor existed and then he laughed at his death. I got pissed and tried to attack him,” the vampire said, patting his chest.
“He put a hole in my chest. I was laid up and regular blood was barely helping. He comes in the window and tosses me this body so I can eat.
I don’t know why but I didn’t, couldn’t see the face, and it tasted so good. Afterward I felt like a new man. A million lien, but then I look down, and I see it’s my friend. His face, oh god I can’t forget it. Is that what I’ve been doing to people? Making them feel like this? I just…just kill me. Please.”
Hazel moved closer, albeit warily as the young man continued to look at him.
“You're sure this is what you want?”
A nod was his response.
“You don’t want to avenge your friend? To make that person that tricked you suffer?” Hazel asked.
“I, yes, but I can’t do anything to him!”
“Do you know anything that can help me avenge him then?” Hazel asked.
“His name is Tyrian, and he’s working with our sire a Doctor. Said we didn’t deserve his name. He’s from a rich fancy manor up north in Atlas.”
“I see. Anything else?” Hazel asked as his eyes narrowed as he realized he likely knew where that was.
“No. He never really told us anything. Mostly Cardin since he was kinda the leader before Tyrian, but sorry. Oh Cardin got a gun with silver bullets. He’s my friend so if you could not kill him…”
“Thank you. What is your name?” Hazel asked.
“Russel.”
“It was nice to meet you, Russel,” Hazel said sincerely as he put his hands on either side of the young man’s neck.
“Yeah you too,” Russell said as he choked down a sob.
Hazel began to squeeze.
“Abomination!” One of the hunters said upon seeing Willow arrive at their plane.
With nary a word he unleashed the bolt in his crossbow only to blink as the bolt was deflected to the side harmlessly.
“In the name of the holy father cease your actions at once,” Pyrrha ordered the shield around her flickering as she raised her voice and brandished her cross at the hunter with the itchy trigger finger.
Willow blinked as she heard murmurs from the dozen or so hunters in front of them. She might have picked up the words true believer, and various affirmations.
“We go now to take this vampire with us so she may lead us to her master who is responsible for a large amount of the vampire attacks, and tragedies that have befallen the world recently.
Who among you will stop me, us from our holy mission?” Pyrrha asked as her green eyes narrowed at the men and women, none of them able to meet her gaze.
“We came here in search of a doctor. We’ve heard she was taken shortly before we landed. Where is she now?” Pyrrha asked as Yang glared and cracked her knuckles next to her.
Weiss and Velvet were doing their best to calm themselves and not let their anger at being delayed ruin what Pyrrha was doing when it was clear she was merely trying to confirm what Willow had already said.
“The master of the order called for her. Said she was needed to lure several vampires to their demise,” another man said after a few moments.
“Where?” Velvet growled.
“Up north. In Atlas our base of operations, or near it,” a woman said as her eyes cut over to Weiss, Winter, and Willow. “At the old Schnee estate.”
“We’re leaving,” Weiss ordered as she pushed her way through the hunters not even deigning to speak with them any longer, Velvet following in her wake.
“We’ll need to have a long talk about what good you think you’re doing but for now we must depart,” Pyrrha said as she and the rest followed through with Winter, and Yang escorting Willow on the off chance one of the hunters got a bit trigger happy.
“The pilot says we can make it, and should be there before the night is over,” Mercury said before he added, “although it’ll be fairly close to morning when we do get there. An hour or two to sunrise.”
“I’m not letting Ruby stay away from us a minute longer than she has to be,” Weiss growled as Velvet nodded her agreement from the seat next to her.
“Then let’s discuss our plan for when we arrive,” Winter said as their mother did her best not to fidget overmuch.
Watts answered the phone and listened to the report. “And they are headed this way?”
He nodded his head along with the voice.
“Very good. Your payment has been sent and deposited already with the bonus to cover your lost men and equipment. I’ll see you in person in a week's time to discuss the effectiveness of the weapon.”
“Yes. You remember the Branwen tribe? You’re to give her the standard warning. I would advise against a fight if only because of their sheer numbers. Do be sure to include the carrot with the stick. I have another call.”
Watts said as he switched lines. “Tyrian, how are things?”
Watts frowned as he listened to the tale. Of course there were complications with Tyrian. There always were.
“No, you were right to bring her to me if there is indeed a dead man’s switch tied to her life. The knowledge tucked away in there could be instrumental to a large number of things.”
Watts couldn’t help the smirk grow across his face as Tyrian ranted about the human’s predilection for smoking.
“Just put her in a cell when you get here. She’s not as important as the other visitor we’ll have that’s coming our way so if she has to wait a few days by herself so be it. We'll get to her later.”
Watts nodded even though Tyrian couldn’t see him. “Yes, they’re not even trying to be stealthy, at least not yet. They want us to know they’re coming. All the agents I had in their path that tried to fight them are gone,” Watts informed Tyrian, sounding amused.
“I’ll see you shortly,” Watts said, hanging up the phone before he went back to the vampire on the table.
He’d been poking and prodding this one for a few centuries and still he learned something new every so often from it.
He very slowly drip fed a small amount of blood to the vampire and watched its wounds close. Just enough to keep it from starving but not enough to regain its strength.
It was annoying enough fighting it the first time and despite how much stronger he’d grown it likely would get away if he allowed it a chance to recuperate its strength.
As he watched the dark skin heal he nodded and picked up the vampire with a single hand as he carried it the short distance to the prison area and tossed it back into its cell.
The vampire barely stirred, not even groaning.
Good enough. He had other matters to attend to.