Blood+ Fan Fiction ❯ The Blue Blood ❯ Blood Prevails ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3-Blood Prevails

Amshel stepped onto the frozen tundra from off the boat. It had taken quite awhile to reach the icy spit of land, but he had been determined in his goal. His brothers followed after him. He professed that his hearing was most attuned to listening for that faint heartbeat of an awakening queen and so he led the band of Chevaliers. They leaped and bounded off the ice to reach their destination quicker. A pulse resounded in Amshel's ears and he stopped in front of a gapping hole in the ice.

His brothers landed next to him.

“Is this where the Blue Blood rests?” Karl inquired. Nathan smirked.

Amshel nodded. He had first seen the name in Joel's Diary, as Joel had referred to her in subsequent entries, only once had he called her Aina, when he described her introduction of herself. Amshel had never seen her until the night she was last awake. The sister of Diva and Saya's mother; she had always been a mystery to them. Amshel did not even fully believe that she existed until he saw her. Even then, he was not completely convinced of her power. He had seen her for but a moment, not enough to discern the threat she posed to Diva.

But the name fit. She was the oldest queen they knew of. They didn't refer to her as a queen any longer, believing that her time to reign had passed. It was not her blood that they were connected too, so they felt no reverence for her. And it was true that her eyes were blue, but the main reason for the name Blue Blood was because she seemed like a cold, distant thought to many of the Chevaliers and both the queens. She was Diva and Saya's aunt but she had never said a word to either of them and she tried to detach herself from them as much as possible. And she preferred to sleep in the ice. Most queens stayed in dark, dank places during their slumbers, but they needed to retain a certain amount of body heat. The Blue Blood apparently did not have such physical needs and chose Iceland as her bed.

Amshel jumped into the cave and landed in a crouched position; his palm making contact with the cold, icy floor. His brothers did the same. He stood upright and took in his surroundings; the cave walls appeared blue in the small amount of light that streamed down through the hole at the entrance to the cave.

The cavern looked exactly the way it did when he had first seen it, a hundred years before…

Amshel had been helping Mr. Goldschmidt on his scientific expedition to Iceland. They had been mapping the area when he had stopped to rest by a large pile of ice. The ice began to crack beneath him. Before he could get to safety, the ground crumbled from under him and he was plunged into an arctic cavern below. He hit the ground hard, his head throbbing in pain, he heard Mr. Goldschmidt call out his name but he succumbed to unconsciousness.

He was groggy when he began to gain consciousness but he still heard Joel calling his name. Amshel got up and could see Joel with a few others from the expedition around the perimeter of the hole he had created. They beckoned him to climb up the mountain of snow and ice. He began to, but as he placed his hand on the mound he noticed a peculiar looking object at the base of the heap. Amshel stooped lower to get a better look at it, when he came within a foot he realized that it was a mummified hand. He called out to Joel and within the next week they had the pile of snow removed and the specimen in their makeshift lab.

That was when he had seen his first Chiropteran. The queen was in a deplorable state, but they were able to recover two cocoons from her womb. He carelessly cut himself and the blood dropped on the cocoons. They seemed to react to the contact. They glowed briefly and then the faces and limbs of two infants emerged from them. For the first time, he and Joel gazed into the entrancing eyes of Saya and Diva.

Amshel found it ironic that the Blue Blood had chosen her sister's tomb as her bed. Only more evidence of her cold-heartedness. He sauntered over to the cocoon opposite him. He put his hand on the smooth, silk surface. He felt the pulsation of the heartbeat within it. He smiled and grunted in satisfaction. He pulled his arm back, transforming his fingers into razor sharp claws and prepared to strike.

“Amshel, do you really think that is wise?” Nathan asked, only half concerned, the other half seemed taunting. “She will probably be rather cranky if you wake her up prematurely, especially before she has her breakfast.” Amshel turned at smiled at the Chevalier.

“She is awake enough already, and we want to catch her while she is weak; the path of least resistance. Besides she has no one to feed on, she will be easy prey. There is no need to worry, Nathan.”

“As long as you are prepared for the consequences…” Nathan mumbled under his breath. Amshel ignored him and clawed at the cocoon. The wrappings weakened and the figure of a girl began to fall away from it. Still asleep, she hit the ground, no one bothered to catch her. She lied there for a few moments, looking more like a corpse.

She began to stir and groaned in exhaustion. Her tawny hair covered her bare form and covered half of her face as she suddenly lifted up her head and hissed at Amshel. Her eyes glowed brightly and she struggled to get up but she was too weak. Her attempt caused her to fall back down to the ground and her eyes faded back to their more mild shade of blue. As she moved, they caught a glimpse of the blue jewel that hung around her neck.

“Aina.”

Amshel moved towards her and endeavored to place his hand on her head but as he did so she batted his hand away with great force. Amshel and his brothers were shocked at her sudden outburst of strength. Her face was still buried in the ground but she began to speak.

“What do you want?” They were awestruck; usually Diva could not even function until she had had her fill in blood. Aina slowly stood up, struggling, but still able to rise. She swayed back and forth, but eventually she steadied herself. Her eyes returned to Amshel, her expression was impatient. “Well?”

He cleared his head. “We want to kill you.”

Aina raised an eyebrow; she did not even entertain the idea. She scoffed at the suggestion and turned around, walking back to the cocoon. Amshel continued as she went to a trunk that rested by the icy wall of the cavern and rifled through it.

“You and Saya pose the greatest threats to our Diva. But at the current moment, both of the younger queens are asleep, making the problem of Saya irrelevant, for the time being. But you are now awake and your blood is even more lethal to Diva than Saya's, as their aunt, your blood was poison to their mother, which means it can also kill both of them as well. Therefore, we have resolved that you must die.”

While he explained their reasoning, Aina began to dress herself in the clothes that were contained inside the trunk. A black three-quarter sleeve blouse with an open collar and a matching long pleated skirt with some intricate blue stitched designs along the front. She slipped on the black high heels and pulled out two sheathed swords. They had leather straps with buckles attached to them. She slung them both around her back, opposite of each other to make an `X' on her back.

Aina pulled both the swords from their sheaths and pointed them at the gang of Chevaliers. She smiled slyly at them.

“Well I don't think that's going to happen today. So get out.”

Amshel chuckled at her attempt to appear intimidating. He approached her and stuck his hand out. She sliced his hand, but he regenerated quickly. His smirk turned into a frown as he looked at the rapidly healing wound.

“And here I thought we could be civil about this.” Aina scoffed.

“Civil?! You come into my resting place, announce that you intend to kill me, and then expect me to act civilly? You're more of a fool than I thought.”

“I do believe this was Deyanira's resting place first. Was it not?” Amshel raised an eyebrow. Aina's scowl turned into fatal glare, her eyes were smoldering with a blue flame.

“You have no right to talk about Nira! You are the one who stole her body! You brought those devil children back to civilization. All of this is your fault!” shouted Aina, her voice turning hoarse from yelling. Icicles from above ground chimed as they hit each other from the force of her yelling.

“But you were the one who failed to kill them. You failed the day Deyanira died and the day that you came to the Zoo.”

Aina's eyes widened, and then she bared her teeth threateningly at Amshel. But a thought came to her head. She calmed herself and let down her swords. She smiled slyly.

“Then allow me to rectify my mistake and kill Diva right now.” She placed her swords on top of her arms, prepared to draw blood to coat her rapiers. Amshel eyes grew large with realization but he put out a hand to stop Aina.

“Now, now Aina. I still stand by my belief that we can resolve this conflict in a more civilized manner.” Aina eyed him skeptically, but she lowered her swords. “That's better. Now, I have even brought a special person of interest to negotiate with you. Perhaps the only person you would actually listen to.”

Aina was confused, she was about to inquire when suddenly another figure jumped down through the hole and landed gracefully on the icy floor. The figure stepped through the band of Chevaliers and Amshel stretched forth his hand to introduce the person. Aina could see the sunlight glinting off golden hair. She dropped her swords to the ground and her eyes widened, `It can't be'.

“Aina, I believe you have already been acquainted with--”

“Solomon.” Her voice was soft and she said the name with shock and disbelief. Solomon came face to face with her, his expression was calm and his eyes were half closed, he smiled at her dreamily. “How—how long have I been asleep?” She asked Solomon, but Amshel answered her.

“Fifteen years,” She did not believe it, Solomon looked just as young and fresh as he did the day she fell asleep, but Amshel continued, “You are sleeping less and less Aina. Surely this is evidence that your reign as a Chiropteran Queen has come to an end. It is time for you to say goodbye to this world.”

Aina shouted back at him, “I do not wish to be your queen!” She turned her eyes back towards Solomon and whispered, “I only wish to live my life the way I want to.” She slowly brought her right hand up to touch Solomon's face. She placed it along his jawbone and brought her other hand up to brush his hair out of his face. Aina could not believe that he was standing here before her. For fifteen years she had been dreaming about him, but prepared herself to never gaze upon his face again. Now here he was; unchanged.

“Solomon…how?” Once again, Amshel answered for him.

“Isn't it obvious, Aina? He has become a Chevalier.” Her eyes grew wide with realization. “Diva's Chevalier.” She dropped her hands from his face. She stepped back hesitantly, shaking her head and mouthing the word `No' repeatedly.

Aina turned from him, covering her face with her hand, trying to hide her shame. Solomon approached her; she did not move. He used his left hand to bring her face towards him; she did not strike him. He placed his right hand under her chin and brought their faces closer but dropped his hand; all she could do was look into his green eyes. She sighed in relief at the sight of them; they had not changed or hardened in any way; they still made her feel safe and so she let her hands fall at her side and let her guard down. Aina stepped closer to Solomon; closing the gap between them. He placed both his hands on her shoulders. She began to instinctively bring her own to his face; the way she had always done before they kissed.

But his warm, inviting smile turned into a devilish grin as he clamped both his hands down around her neck. Her hands flew to his, trying to pry them off of her throat but she could not; she had not eaten yet and she was weak. She coughed out, “S-Solomon. W-What are you--” but he would not listen and only tightened his grip. “Why?” she choked out.

Through clenched teeth he barked, “Because I love my queen. I will do anything to protect her. I will eliminate all threats. And you…pose the greatest threat. You are too risky to be kept alive. Now die.”

“Solomon, that—that's just th—the blood talk—ing. You don't love h-her. You l—love…ME!”

His face was stoic. “All my love belongs to Diva now.” With that, she lost all hope. She could tell that the Solomon she once knew and loved had been taken over by the Chevalier suffocating her that was controlled by Diva's blood.

Aina's vision turned blurry and the scene before her began to fade away. He was squeezing the life out of her. She was on the verge of death. She closed her eyes and thought of all her wonderful memories with Solomon. Their short year together played in her head.

 

 

“Excuse me, Miss? Can you tell me where I could find…” He searched a piece of paper for the name. “Good Samaritan Hospital?”

She smiled. “It's just down the street, I'm going there myself. I'll show you.” His face brightened.

“Oh, so are you visiting a friend or relative there?” She lightly laughed.

“Um no, I work there.” She pointed to the nametag on her outfit that was covered by the black coat she wore over it, but he couldn't make out the name.

“Oh! Well, sorry I didn't see. Your coat--”

“It's okay. I'm a nurse there.”

“So I'll get to see you around the workplace.” He smiled to himself and for a few moments they walked with each other in silence but then he hesitantly looked at her. She questioningly looked back. “If you don't mind my asking, why are you wearing a coat in the middle of May? It's a perfectly warm day.” She chuckled lightly.

“Oh it's no bother. You see I get cold really easily. I like to try and stay warm but I find New York to be far too cold.”

“So why not move?” She was taken aback at the suggestion.

“Well I—I don't know, I'm kind of drawn to New York. I feel like I'm looking for something here.” They arrived at the lobby inside the hospital and he turned towards her.

“Hmmm, well maybe I could help you look for whatever you're searching for sometime? Perhaps we could look investigate your situation over dinner?”

“I…” She was surprised. He was so straightforward, but she liked it. She smiled warmly at his suggestion. “I would like that very much.” They stared into each other's eyes for a moment and then she spoke very quickly. “So then, meet me here after your shift ends and we'll decide on a place. I'll be sitting on the steps right outside the door. See you tonight!” She walked away quickly from him and he was left standing there; mouth gapping.

He suddenly realized what had just happened and shouted to her, “Wait! I don't even know your name yet!”

She turned around. The sunlight from the window beside her, streamed onto her countenance. Her hair shined, her eyes glowed, and the blue jewel around her neck sparkled in the light. She smiled at him once more.

“It's Aina! My name is Aina!”

He whispered the name to himself, savoring the sweet sound.

“I'm Solomon!”

`Solomon' she thought to herself. She yelled back, “Well if you're lucky, I'll still remember that by this evening!” They both laughed. “See you tonight, Solomon!”

“See you.” He said to himself.

She couldn't help smiling to herself for the rest of the day and basked in the warm glow that she felt after meeting him, Solomon.

 

Aina's mind began flashing on all the times she had seen him smile; the many scenes where they had been together. She relived all their warm embraces and passionate kisses. Then her mind came to the last night before she had fallen asleep. His words echoed in her ear.

`I want to live with you forever.' She choked out a sob.

`I know exactly who you are.' Her heart skipped a beat. `You are the woman that I love' A tear trickled down her cheek. Her chest was aching in pain; she was beginning to relive that night all over again. She could feel her heart breaking. The pain was worse than Solomon's hands clamping down on her throat. `Solomon, how could you?'

Aina had for so long, been cold and unfeeling. She had gone so long without any happiness. She had never let anyone into her life and preferred not get involved with humanity. She had isolated herself from society and human feelings. She hadn't allowed herself the luxuries of companionship, especially not love. Now, the one time that she had; he betrayed her. `Did I not tell him that he was not supposed to follow me? I went to all that trouble to spare him the pain and anguish and then he becomes a Chevalier? Idiot!' She was done dealing with human emotions. They were too complicated. All she felt as a Chiropteran was anger. She welcomed the malice and frustration she felt back into her heart. The rage would keep it from breaking.

One last tear rolled down her face and then she suddenly opened her eyes. They illuminated and then she brought her head down to stare Solomon down. She had an expression of pure malevolence, but she smiled slyly. Solomon raised his eyebrows, uncertain of what her look meant. She took her hands off of his and pulled her right arm back. She straightened her hand out and shoved it into Solomon's abdomen. He instantly felt the pain rushing into his torso. The other Chevaliers gasped in amazement at her strength.

Solomon still held Aina's throat but they both fell to their knees; his hands around her neck and her arm impaling his stomach. He could not take the pain. His hands fell and he clutched his abdomen, groaning in agony. Her lips curled maliciously as she jerked her hand free of him.

Aina stood up and brought her blood covered hand to her lips. She smelled the blood and licked it with her finger. The taste was tangy, slightly acidic to her tongue but it would not harm her. It would be unpleasant, but she would need blood if she were to escape from the Chevalier ambush alive. She stooped down and grabbed Solomon by the shoulders, bringing him up to stand on his feet. She whispered into his ear, “This is for old time's sake.”

Aina gently pushed the collar of his shirt aside and brought her lips to his flesh. Her nose was instantly filled with his sweet scent; she almost lost herself in the memories it brought back to her but she continued. Aina bit into his neck and drank. The blood was warm in her mouth. She could tell the difference between what was Solomon and what was Diva. Diva's blood is what made it hard to drink. Although it would not kill her, Aina couldn't help but want to spit the blood out. But she put on a convincing act for the Chevaliers, in order to scare them. She looked over Solomon's shoulder and glared at them as she continued to drink. Karl had an expression of utter fear. Amshel scowled at the sight. Nathan had one raised eyebrow, obviously intrigued by the scene.

Solomon's body went limp. Aina realized that she was taking too much since he was already bleeding out his stomach. He would not be able to regenerate fast enough. If she continued, he would die of blood loss. She may have hated Solomon now, but she did not want him to die. She released him and tossed him to the ground. He hit it hard and sank into unconsciousness.

Aina picked her swords up from off the icy floor. This time she did not wait. She sliced her arms and pointed them at the Chevaliers.

“Now, unless any of you have a death wish, move out of my way.”

Karl was about to pounce on her when Nathan put his arm in front of him and shook his head. Amshel smirked to himself. They weren't the least bit concerned with letting her go. They weren't going to kill her and they never intended to.

Aina's eyes widened with realization. She looked over her shoulder to see Solomon, crumpled and broken on the floor, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. She realized what she had done to the man she once loved. Aina turned back towards the other Chevaliers. She ran past them, her swords at her sides and leapt out of sight.

Amshel turned to his other brothers. “Pick him up; we'll have to give him some of Diva's preserved blood.”

“But Brother Amshel--” Karl interjected. “The Blue Blood got away. Shouldn't we--”

“No. We were only supposed to break her. Do you really think we could have taken her by ourselves? No, it would take another queen to bring Aina down. Unfortunately, Diva is still asleep. No we will have to wait for Diva to awaken if we want to kill Aina. This was just to dehumanize her.”

“But why?” Karl inquired.

“Because Diva fears that if Aina is loved by someone, or retains love for anyone, she will side with Saya. When love is not part of the equation, she will most likely be inclined to see the world from Diva's point of view.”

“But we just tried to kill her, won't she then want to--”

“No, she is the blue eyed queen. More like Diva than Saya. She is naturally more inclined to the same tendencies as Diva. This was all just a safeguard. With a betrayal like the one Solomon just dealt to her, Aina will instinctively bond more easily with Diva. Then, the Blue Blood will no longer be a threat to our Queen.”

 

 

Aina ran as fast as she could; tears stung her eyes and began to freeze as they streamed along her cheeks. She ran across the frozen tundra until her legs gave out. She collapsed against an icy cliff and wrapped her arms around her legs. Her skin felt cold but inside her blood began to freeze. It felt as though her heart had stopped beating. Now all that remained was a numb, icy core. She would never again melt under the pressure. She would never again be warmed by a touch. And never again would she be softened by the ignorant bliss of love.

Aina began to sing. Words of sorrow graced her lips.

`Where has love gone? Nothing remains. Only blood…and sadness prevail.'

Her voice rang through the Icelandic air but no one would hear her song this time. Her words were absorbed by the ice and frozen for all time.

It was true; now that her love was gone, only blood bonds remained and there was only sadness to be found.