Blood+ Fan Fiction ❯ Memories Of Yesterday And Today ❯ Piece Of The Puzzle ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Haji didn’t know what possessed him to go where he was now. Upon thinking about it further, he concluded that it was to seek help from Joel. At the moment, the Director of the now almost extinct organization current residence was here-in a rather humble medium-sized house. His new companion followed behind the silent man quietly, tail tucked behind its legs as a sign of nervousness.

It was cold that day. Haji didn’t mind the cold, his body had since lost the sensation to feel heat or cold in its entirety. This could not be said for his new canine friend, who despite his natural large shaggy coat wasn’t enjoying himself. Pausing, or perhaps hesitating once Haji reached the door step, he lightly knocked, and waited. A minute passed, then another, and soon the Chevalier was sure he would have to seek aid elsewhere, until the door opened. Behind it was a woman he hadn’t seen before, Haji didn’t give it much thought at all.

The stranger looked at the silent man. “Can I help you sir?”

Haji normal, almost blank expression never changed or wavered. He regarded the young woman calmly in a soft-spoken voice. “Is Joel available?”

She frowned. “I can’t tell you unless I know who you are.”

“What’s going on?” Another voice entered the conversation.

Slightly caught off guard, the owner of the voice was no other then Joel himself, now slowly walking with a limp using a cane instead of a wheel chair. “Haji?” His expression seemed surprise to see him here of all places before he quickly recovered. “Please, come in. Your friend can come in too.”

The woman stepped aside for the musician, Haji looked almost as if he would reject the offer before taking a slow careful step inside; his animal companion in tow. This residence he stayed in was rather nice, if Haji still cared for such material things. He had never been into such things, even when he had been a normal human. Joel hadn’t changed to much, his hair had faded a bit due to age, or perhaps stress but otherwise, he was the same. But then, so am I.

“Would you like me to take your cello?” The woman offered sweetly, like she hadn’t acted rude in the slightest just moments ago.

Haji blinked once. Looking at the woman as if she had asked him to cut off his own head.

“I think that will be enough for now Maria.” Joel said politely. “Your excused for now.”

Reluctantly, she bowed slightly to them both before leaving them alone. Joel turned to address the silent Cavalier with a tired smile. “Forgive her. She meant well, its just with all the recent events she has been more then a bit paranoid. What brings you to my humble home?”

“I know little of animals.” The simple response was rather vague, but was unsurprising coming from the enigma known as Haji.

Despite this, Joel didn’t lose his smile, figuring he might simply need some help with the dog. “I see. I had no idea you were an dog person, Haji.”

“I’m not.”

The Director of Red Shield found the replies hard to build a conversation of, but in all honesty Haji wasn’t exactly known to be a chatter box. He however, still took it in stride and rolled with it anyway. “Ah. Well, I happen to like dogs and owned a few when I was younger. Follow me, I’m sure we fix him up something.”

Joel walked slowly towards the kitchen and while this was normal for him in his condition, his steps seemed more labored, less steady. Another thing Haji had observed silently but hadn’t made comment were his eyes, Joel’s eyes seemed a bit more life-drained them normal, like he was tired.

Carefully, Joel opened one of the cabinets, reaching for a can of food. He opened it with some difficulty before placing a small bowl onto the floor. Instantly like a moth to flame, the animal went over, devouring the food hungrily.

“Its good to see you again Haji, a bit surprising none the less.” The middle-aged man leaned against the counter for support. “I have something I need to tell you.” Haji, of course didn’t interrupt and listened patiently so he went on. “The twins have been kidnaped.”

This actually made the normally quite man speak. “By whom?” He had been having an odd feeling as of late, but had always demised it, but it seemed that feeling had been legitimate.

“I don’t know.” Joel replied, pensively. “Kai had informed me some man had given him news of the possible whereabouts of them, but didn’t know much more then that. Something bad is happening, not to long ago someone had tried to take my life. I was fortunate some Red Shield members had been with me, or I might not be here right now. We managed to get some information about him, he works for something called Section X. But that still doesn’t tell us much.”

Pausing for a minute, he spoke in a more tired tone. “I feel a war coming Haji; one where more then one side is involved while the bystanders are used as pawns.”

Haji wasn’t so sure if Joel was simply overreacting or there was more to it. Joel had a good head on his shoulders for the most part, so to see him like this must of mean something was wrong. At this very moment, he was glad Saya was sleeping peacefully now. She had been through so much and she had been happy when he had told her she would have to fight no longer. He had also promised her the twins would live peaceful lives.

“We’ll go together, if you want. Kai told me that they were heading to New York.” Joel continued, he didn’t get an exact response. But the fact Haji hadn’t left meant he was likely going with him as well.

Saya, I promised you that you would have to fight no longer. I will fight in your steed.

And with that promise, Haji’s journey with out Saya took a different path.

* *

This was the second time the group had been to New York, of course no one thought they would be returning to the Big Apple so soon. Least under these conditions and circumstances. By the time they finally reacher their destination, it was around ten at night. They had rode a limo to the hotel, occasionally engaging in small talk but otherwise it was a silent ride all the way through.

To Kai’s relief, the suite they stayed in was large enough to give everyone enough living space. If they were going to be together for a long period of time, then at the least everyone needed their own space. Not to say that they didn’t enjoy each other’s company to those they were close to, but everyone needed their own private time to keep from getting stir crazy. It wasn’t just large and had a upper-scale feeling to it as a whole with all the quirks. Lulu didn’t know what to do with herself when they first got to their temporary home.

After the initial excitement of the new place faded away, people began claiming their own rooms one by one. Except for Solomon, who was sitting on a barstool alone near the kitchen. Part of it was set up to look like a bar almost, Kai had to admit that even if he didn’t care for it as much, the presentation was smooth. Who ever had made this place had really been good at their craft.

For a moment, Kai thought about leaving to go to his room but something stopped him when he looked at Solomon. There was one or two things he wanted to ask the Chevalier before he retired to his room.

He took a seat a bit away from Solomon. “Thanks for helping us, even though I know your loyalty is towards Saya and not us.”

“That’s only partly true.” He pushed himself from his seat and retrieved a glass of wine, plus two glass bottles, placing them by himself and Kai before pouring himself a glass. “You see, Nathan once told that it wasn’t uncommon for Chevalier’s to bond with the Queens twins. When they were in danger, I felt a pull, or more of a tug. That’s how I knew I had to go to Japan.”

“I see.” Kai saw Solomon about to pour him a glass, and while he normally didn’t drink to much he decided what the hell and let him do it. “So, what about Saya then?”

“Saya is..” It looked like he was trying to find the right word to describe one of the most important people in his life. “My second chance. Unlike Diva, I have no real true obligation biologically towards her, yet my love was strong enough to pull me away from Diva. I love her not only for who she is, but the fact she gave me myself back.”

“Did you ever really truly love Diva?” Kai asked, not knowing why exactly but finding himself more wrapped up into the conversation. It was like he was talking to Solomon for the first time and not Diva’s Chevalier.

“Yes, I did, once. You may find this hard to believe, but Diva had a softer side not to many people saw and that’s what drew me to her. For a time, I was happy..” Solomon looked through his glass. “Over time, Diva began displaying her true colors but by that time I was still far to wrapped up to care. I turned the other cheek when Diva did some of her more questionable acts, making excuse after excuse. I lost myself and ceased being Solomon Goldsmith and instead only Solomon the Chevalier existed in my place. I existed only for Diva. I lived only for Diva. Instead of saving lives like a doctor was suppose to, I was taking them unconsciously or not.”

Slowly, Solomon stood up, walking to the large window near the balcony as the snow gently flowed to the ground. “There is a reason why I said earlier about my reason for coming here and helping were only partly true.” When Kai didn’t say anything, he continued. “For the first time in a long time, I am doing things for myself because I wish to. I genuinely want to help you.”

This caught Kai a bit off guard. “Why?”

“You all are special to Saya’s heart in one form or another..like a family. A true family.” Solomon looked through his wine glass once more. “Since Saya holds you all in such high regards, then it wouldn’t hurt to try to get to know you all. If there is one thing I’ve learned from Saya, is that her family and friends are very important to her.”

They both settled into silence for a short time, then Kai spoke again. “..You know. If we had met under different circumstances, I think we might have been friends. I still don’t trust you completely, but I’m going to give you a chance. Its better we try to understand each other where the other is coming from, rather then fighting all the time.”

Since his back was turned, it was impossible to see Solomon’s facial expression as a way to determine what he was feeling. Though before any further conversation could continue, Lulu came bounding over, or rather she made a bee-line towards the T.V., taking a spot on the floor and sitting down. Solomon saw this and smiled slightly, even for some reason it seemed a bit sad.

Leave it to Lulu to break the tension. Kai didn’t draw attention to the fact he had noticed the slightly sad look. It wasn’t any of his business anyway he told himself. “You like your room Lulu?”

“Uh-huh. Its really cool. It has one of those video..” Lulu was trying to remember the right word for it as she surfed through the channels for cartoons.
“Video games.” Solomon offered gently.

“Yea! That’s it. Uh..there’s no cartoons on.” Lulu said sheepishly.

“Try the upper channels starting at 107.”

Lulu nodded after Solomon’s suggestion, skimming through a bunch of boring channels, thankful that Mao’s Soap Opera’s didn’t come on this late at night. She never understood the older girls fascination with them. She stopped on the news channel, surprising everyone. A man with black hair was talking on a podium, but instantly the Sif recognized that voice. “Its him! That guy from the hospital!”

Kai jerked from his slightly withdrawn mood the wine had made, almost instantly sobering up bit by bit. “Could you turn it up?” The small girl didn’t need to be told twice, and turned up the volume. By this time, the other’s had come out of their rooms, the three Sif in their dark cloaks.

“And now we’re with Dr. Thomas live from the new Section X.” A female reporter stated. “This may be a large historical event in the making.”

The camera zoomed in the stranger who Lulu identified as the person who had been talking to Kai on the phone. Highly-decorated military personnel were nearby as well. “Settle down everyone, I have an important discovery I would like to share with mankind today. You have all been living in ignorance for years, unaware of the dangerous foe that’s right beneath your noses.”

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a remote and pressed it. Instantly, a large screen behind him came to life, showing images of various monsters. The crowd murmured among themselves, not sure what to make of the scene.

Thomas shook his head. “If this is not enough to wash you of your ignorance, then let us show you with out a shadow of a doubt what we face today. If you gentlemen would kindly show these people?”

A cage that was covered with a large blanket was pushed forward slowly. Quickly, the people took off the blanket and were surprised by the sight of a strange monster. At first it was sluggish, as if it didn’t know where it was, then it roared, trying to swipe at its captors with its over-sized claws. Taking some strange metal sticks, a few of the military personnel prodded it with the thing, making volts of electricity travel through its body. The roar changed that to a human scream, the monster form slowly shrinking until a girl around twelve was in its place. They curled into themselves and whimpered pitifully.

After the shock, the reporters asked a flurry of quick questions, as well as take pictures rapidly. The camera, or rather the constant bright flashes seemed to cause the girl pain. Before long, the cage was covered again and she was carted off.

Like nothing had happened, Thomas continued.“This is just one of many subjects. What you just saw isn’t a new animal or monster, but rather was a human. What makes them dangerous is the fact they have our level of intelligence, perhaps more. I will discuss this in further detail, but for now I must bid you all farewell. General Walter will take over for me, though he won’t be answering any more questions. Just what is being done to protect humanity.”

No one said a word for a while after what they just saw, each having their own thoughts. Karman gripped his spear tightly unconsciously, the scene bringing back memories of experiments done on him and the other Sif in the past. Kai was at a lost of what to think at the moment, really what was going on?

“Have you ever heard of Section X?” Kai asked Solomon, just the name alone sounded shady.

“No.” Came the simple reply. “I do remember hearing that name once before, but where I can’t recall.”

“He’s from Khirbet.”

Everyone turned to Irene expectantly after she spoke.

Moses looked thoughtful. “I don’t remember seeing him.”

“He was a researcher there.” The female Sif continued softly. “I would only see him when we were being taught about humans, he was selective about which people saw him for some reason. But how can he be alive? I saw him die after trying to take something away from Khirbet, he was shot in the head.”

Okamura felt a headache coming on once again as he put a hand to his temple. “Wait, he was shot in the head, and somehow by some miracle he’s perfectly fine and alive?”

“Its not entirely impossible.” Solomon observed, giving his expert opinion, being the only one with some form of medical training. “There have been cases, even if extraordinary rare about people surviving gun shot wounds to the head. But, in each and every case the victim had lost some part of their brain function. To be able to walk and function perfectly after that would mean more then just a miracle.”

“He probably experimented on himself.” Kai then shook his head. “I really don’t care how he’s alive, all I know is that he knew to much about us. Even in the hospital, from the way he was talking it seemed like he had people watching our every move. How do we know we’re not being watched now?”

The leader of the Sif seemed to echo Kai’s thoughts. “I agree. We need to make sure we aren’t being followed or watched. Irene, could you scan around?”

Nodding once, Irene closed her eyes as everything began to be surrounded by a beautiful but at the same time eerie green glow only she could see. When she did this, she was really tracking things by using her senses which all Sif had to various degrees, but hers was the most advanced out of the remaining Sif anyway. It was harder to locate anything in such a large place so she began to filter things out that were useless to her search, many of the scents were new to her but she ignored them.

After ten minutes, Irene opened her eyes which had turned back to their normal blue. She slowly shook her head.

“Figures it wouldn’t be that easy.” Karman felt slightly anxious, he still wasn’t comfortable with Solomon being, well there. He wanted to begin their search, both to help out and as an excuse to get away from the Chevalier for a few minutes. It was agreed upon earlier that Lulu would stay behind while the older Sif searched, even if he wasn’t completely comfortable with it. In the reality of things, she was probably safer here in the suite, least for now.

“Kai, we’ll be leaving now.” Moses announced, knowing his friend would have a hard time sitting still considering the circumstances. Besides, they had delayed more then enough as is and time, at the moment, was the essence. From his cloak, he pulled out a concealed item that turned out to be Irene’s sword. He held it out silently for her, and the girl hesitated before seeming to take back her weapon reluctantly.

“You three be careful.” Kai said to the three Sif, getting a nod from Moses and Irene. Karman only gave his version of, ‘We’ll be fine stop over worrying’ and turned to leave. She may have tried to hide it, but Kai knew something was bothering her. So, he decided to give her some simple words of wisdom his dad always gave him.

“Hey, Irene.”

Irene stopped, turning to look back at Kai.

“It’ll all work out in the end.”

Those simple words seemed to do the trick, even if to everyone else the meaning behind them was lost. An small smile graced the blondes lips.(even if it wasn’t completely visible thanks to the cloak) The trio walked to the balcony, covering their faces with the hoods before vanishing in a blue flash of light.


* *

Blue streaks flashed briefly as the three Sif searched, moving from roof top to the next. Irene was a bit out of practice after not fighting for about a year, but she kept up with others perfectly fine for the most part. The fact it was snowing and much of the ground was frozen over with ice made landing and gaining footing was a messy affair. As such, the three used their physical abilities to their fullest potential to keep themselves from sliding off towards the cold ground below them.

Moses kept ahead of the two, his eyes calmly scanning their surroundings for anything but finding nothing. They were more reliant on Irene’s senses to find something then they were of himself or Karman, which was one of the reasons she had come along instead of Lulu with Solomon and the others. He still had reservations about Solomon for now, but he was more willing to give him a chance to prove to himself; unfourtnately the same couldn’t be said with Karman.

During the trip, Irene was more silent then normal, worrying the other two. There had been a reason she had hesitated taking the sword. To everyone else, it was just a weapon or a tool, but for Irene it represented more then just that, an part of her old life. It had taken lives, both of the guilty and the innocent, those deserving their fate and those who had done nothing. This deceptively beautiful blade gave her mixed emotions, holding it now felt strange and the grip wasn’t comfortable in the least.

Never again did she think she would have to use this sword, yet here she was.

“Irene.” Moses soft voice broke her thoughts. “What’s wrong?”

She didn’t immediately answer. “I never thought I would have to use this sword again.”

It was partly vague, but the male Sif knew Irene well enough to know what she meant. “Your looking at it the wrong way. That blade, whether you want it to or not is apart of you, your history. Soaked in blood in might be, in the end its purpose is different now; isn’t it more important to protect those you love with the sword, rather then worry about its history?”

Karman, who had been silent during the exchange, spoke up as they traveled across the city. Moses tended to get pretty deep when he was talking, so the glasses-wearing Sif would break it down in much simpler bite-sized pieces. “The way I see it, its just a tool. It doesn’t mean anything, and it doesn’t define you. I think that’s what Moses meant.”

Moses was unsurprised about Karman’s own spin on it. “Not in those exact words, but the meaning more or less your right.”

The ‘pep’ talk seemed to have the desired effect, Irene felt like a bit of the weight from everything. If she hadn’t met Moses, Karman and everyone else, Irene was pretty sure she wouldn’t have come as far as she had.

“What do you think of Section X?” Moses asked both of his companions, tactfully changing the spotlight from Irene.

Karman grunted once. “Not so much. Probably a bunch of science-freaks playing with something they have no business messing with. And we all know how those turns out.”

Moses spied Irene, who simply shook her head, not having a real opinion just yet.

It bothered Moses more then he openly showed about that news broadcast. That girl hadn’t looked like another mindless Chiropteran, instead she seemed to show genuine sentience of some sort. Were they playing god once again, creating powerful beings that were capable of thought as an weapon like the Sif? No. Never again will I allow another group to go through the same tragedy we Sif have suffered. That much, he promised himself.

Then there were those strange faceless creatures that had taken the twins, what were they? If it was true what that man had said, then it meant their was a second possible enemy that yet to reveal themselves. What were they then, what was their purpose and goal? The more he thought about it, the more questions he had then answers he ended up exactly where he had started.

Not finding anything by moving through the roof tops, the trio descended to the ground, hiding their weapons with the large cloaks they wore. Since it was winter, they didn’t stand out nearly as much even with their current style of dress; looking much like they were trying to keep warm. Not to many people were out on the normal bustling streets of New York, except for the occasional homeless people circled around a fire in a trash can to keep the warmth in their bodies.

Karman himself was a bit frustrated by the lack of progress. It felt like their enemy was taunting and mocking them, enjoying the fact they were running in circles blind. True, he hadn’t expected to find anything so soon but that didn’t do much to console him. He was about to suggest something to help speed up the search, when the answer, quite literally hit him in the face.

Annoyed, he removed a ripped piece of paper from his face about to throw it away until he saw what it said, giving him pause. The others noticed.

It seemed like their search hadn’t been a complete waste of time after all.