Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Illusions ❯ Black Knight, Estella Nu ( Chapter 10 )

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

By: MellyN

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Shattered Illusions

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 10: Black Knight, Estella Nu

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Millie smiled; satisfied with the way she had set up the table, made a few last minute preparations as she straightened up the intricate red and white roses that sat in a large, decorative vase in the middle of the table.

"There! Pretty as a picture!" The girl drew back and looked upon the sight, checking the table one last time before she glanced thoughtfully in the direction of the room that Copernicus and Tsubomi resided in. Millie wondered what had been taking the two so long, but after pondering on the idea of what possibilities could ensue, she clasped her hands together in fan girlish glee.

"I bet Copernicus is helping Tsubomi-kun dress. If I wasn't forced to stay here, this would be every fan girl's dream. They are both so cute, not to mention they have great fashion sense and they're both so sophisticated!" Millie gasped in delight as she flung her hands to her cheeks as stars lit up in her magenta eyes. "I wonder if I can catch them in the act. I know there is something between them. If there wasn't, then Tsubomi-kun wouldn't be so indentured to Copernicus." The girl spoke in a chipper tone as she skipped happily down the hall to spy on the couple, but her actions were soon cut short as she saw the Inheritor standing outside of the door. Stopping suddenly, so much so that she nearly toppled over, Millie glanced up at the brunette in question. A few moments later, shock lit up her features as a sense of disappointment overcame her. "You mean…You're not in the room with him?"

"Sadly, no," Copernicus replied with his usual soft smile. He couldn't help but think her prying ways were amusing. He then heard the girl's inquiring tone, asking what Tsubomi had been doing in the room. Copernicus informed her that Tsubomi was simply getting dressed and that he had some clothes laying around for her to change into. Since the stripper had such a slender frame, they might not look right on her but they were the best he could do at the time, until she could get her own clothes cleaned properly.

Millie snickered at such a thing. The very thought of their indirect body touch made her giddy with glee.

"Yes, he'll be wearing my clothes. Take that in all of the perverse ways you can," Copernicus smiled as he put his hands behind his back and walked gracefully down the hall, strolling into the kitchen.

"Their bodies were inadvertently touching," the girl continued to snicker, right as Tsubomi walked out and made eye contact.

"I feel awkward. His arms are longer than mine and his shoulders are broader," she rolled up the long sleeves of the white, button-up shirt she was given and stared at Millie with a slightly confused expression. "What?"

"Tsubomi-kun, I'm sorry about before. I know I'm an idiot who doesn't know anything, and I totally invaded your space. I just wanted to thank you for saving me from Hizaki earlier," Millie had waited for a while just to tell the tomboy her feelings. She did, after all, want to make amends with her. Plus, she knew it probably seemed like she was going to steal Copernicus out from under the stripper.

"You should have run," Tsubomi stated flatly. This topic irritated her. Why must Millie drag it out?

"I thought he would kill me if I did. To be honest, I felt safer around you guys. Maybe I should have run. Now I'm stuck here," she sighed as a slight sorrow graced her features. "I can't go back home and I can't go in public without you or Copernicus around me. To be truthful, I feel kind of like I'm dead weight," the school girl admitted. It wasn't her finest moment, and everything was happening so fast, she hardly had time to think or act upon any of it. It was as if in an instant, everything she cared dearly about was ripped from her life and she was forced to be thrown into a tension-filled situation. Walking on eggshells was hardly a comparison for what she had to do in order to avoid murder or death of any kind. Several factors played into her situation, and all of them brought her fear in one form or another.

"Seems like we're both a little intimidated by each other," Tsubomi half-heartedly replied. If Millie's intentions were what she said they were, then the two of them simply went around with their swords up around each other. Perhaps there was truly no reason to put up such a high defense around her. But still, something bothered her about the girl.

"I don't know why you'd be intimidated by me. Seriously, I suck," Millie told her as the two began to walk down the hall, engaged in conversation.

The stripper brought up the subject of the girl's accuracy in her field of shooting. After thinking for a moment, she asked the tomboy if she thought she should attend school the next day. Tsubomi wondered what school she attended. It turned out that Millie attended an all-girls school, referred to as Pika.

Tsubomi knew where that school was. "That's just down the street. You should be fine." After all, Millie had a good cover as a school girl. There were so many who attended that large, richly furnished school that she blended in with the crowd perfectly, and most likely could slip in and out under Hizaki's nose without much effort.

"Thanks," that was a relief all in its own to the girl. At least she could still manage to go to school and see her friends. Some human contact with people she knew was better than having everything ripped away from her savagely. "Hey, Tsubomi-kun, where do you live?" She didn't live with Copernicus, but Millie thought she might live close to him, considering there didn't seem to be a car in his driveway.

"A few blocks away from the strip club," the Japanese woman noted as they came upon the table and Copernicus, who was seated properly on the opposite side, his arms folded over one another, resting against the table top.

"You work at a strip club?" The questions only got worse after that one was uttered. "Is it a gay strip club? You're a male stripper, aren't you? Did you give Copernicus a lap dance?"

"Well, did the girls teach you any moves?" Copernicus placidly joked with a smile.

"It's a topless strip club and there are only female strippers," Tsubomi avoided the vampire's question completely. However, Millie wasn't quite satisfied with her answer.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"No, I'm not going to give anyone a lap dance." Even though she had before, it was none of their business. When she thought about it a little harder, Tsubomi found the concept interesting and even a little enticing to do with someone like Copernicus. The stripper nearly had to hide a light blush at the very thought of doing such a thing with an aristocratic royal like him.

"Damn, that would have been sexy," the vampire faked disappointment as Tsubomi sighed in exasperation for the hundredth time that day as she placed a hand to her forehead.

"You two living together will be hell for me."

"Do you know how to lap dance, Tsubomi?" Copernicus truly was interested in her ability to lap dance. Being in a strip club for long, surely she had some idea on how to exotically entertain other men. The sheer thought of such a thing brought a glimmer to his dark blue eyes.

'Don't say anything. Just tell him you don't know. If you tell him that, then he'll leave you alone.' Or at least, that's what Tsubomi was hoping for. The stripper took a seat in one of the elaborate, wooden chairs as she tugged at the shoulders of her shirt. The seem-lines were half-way down her arms and the whole shirt just felt strange on her. "No."

"Those clothes fit you well." Despite that fact, the vampire complimented her.

"I feel weird. The shoulders are still too broad," Tsubomi noted, even though she felt as if it were obvious.

"Your shoulders are just too feminine," the vampire told her as he sat tequila beside of her plate. It was a sentimental drink that the two of them shared when they had first met. It was the drink that he had ordered for her when she was seated at the bar and she noted it after a look of realization crossed her face. "Just don't get too drunk," Copernicus teased with a slight smile.

"I wasn't drunk, you were," Tsubomi noted, even if she felt a little tipsy that night, she was hardly drunk. 'Thank God they left the subject alone. If they knew that I was a stripper, they would never let me live it down.'

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A foot was placed atop of a medium-sized rock, which stuck up from the ground as a lone female vampire rested her forearm across her thigh. She was dressed much like an English Equestrian rider, adorned in black, heeled, knee-high boots, tightly fitting khaki pants and a jacket with two rows of buttons going up the front. Long, deep purple hair cascaded from the left side of her face, along with long, draping bangs that covered one of her vixen-like, wine-colored eyes. Purple lips smiled slyly at the regal man before her. She was hopeful and excited about her newly assigned task.

"You called, Hide?" Her mature, sultry voice questioned.

"Black Knight Estella Nu, you've always been one of the ones who have shared my love of bloodshed," Hide smiled endearingly at the sinister woman before him.

"Well, I did work as the head of the royal intelligence agency. I specialize in torture and execution as means to extract information from my subjects, the cruelest of the Black Knight Intelligence Ops," Estella cracked her whip, the strand of leather ripped through the air with a crisp sound. "I am the mistress of pain."

"You were involved with the murder of Prince Yale, correct?" Hizaki neared the woman, taking mind to lift his long Victorian-style dress as he stepped.

"Correct," Estella confirmed, "I took care of him long ago. What he saw will never reach the ears of another of the royal court, and believe me; even now he's paying for his crimes," she closed her eyes with a smug smile. "Besides, he was much too frail to be any kind of noteworthy prince."

"I want Estella to help us in getting rid of our little problem. Since the two of you have worked so well together, I decided to bring her back to give you a hand," Hide suggested, or rather, flat out stated that she was going to help Hizaki whether he protested against it or not.

"Are you saying that I need help?" Hizaki had a mild look of irritation. Was his master implying that he needed aid to succeed in his missions? Did Hide honestly think that he was that weak? What an outrage to be considered so low that he would need a woman's help!

"No, I'm saying she'll gather the information while you deliver the final blow to Copernicus' little team. Besides, how hard can a bunch of humans and one vampire be to conquer? If we have problems with that, then we'll need more help," Hide pondered aloud. He wasn't one to underestimate his opponents, but they were clearly outclassed. Even if Copernicus had a brilliant tactical mind on his side, he was merely one man. Both of the humans who were presently with him presented no threat compared to the criminal masterminds he had acquired. If not by sheer intelligence alone, the years of experience they had did more than top theirs.

"That and we wouldn't be nearly as ready as we thought," Estella commented. "If we manage to pull this off, I should get top ranks for this."

"You'll be my advisor if you can pull this off, Estella Nu." For defeating someone like Copernicus, she definitely deserved the position. Throughout most of his life, he had always considered the royal his arch nemesis. No one in all of Ramada posed more of a threat, than he.

The purple-haired vampire smiled at the possibility of being given such an honor. "I'll remember that you said that." She remarked as she ran an elegant hand through her thick, purple tresses. "Before I go, I want all of the intelligence that you've gathered from all of your observations."

"Gladly, the members of Copernicus J. Wittenburg's party consists of three with a potential fourth involved. However, we are unable to locate the fourth member. Aside from him, they are all human. There is a young man named Sakurazawa Tsubomi and an American girl named Millie Ashford. Both of them are skilled in one form or another. Millie has a quick trigger finger. I couldn't even get Copernicus' energy drained before she shot off my nails," Hizaki informed both of them of the girl's skills. He felt as if she were the one to take note on in the band of people. She posed the most threat to him, aside from Copernicus.

"Interesting, I didn't think that anyone could match your speed," Estella looked pleased with that fact. "For someone to get the better of a brilliant Illusionist like you is uncommon. About this girl, aside from her gun, is there anything dangerous about her?"

"I don't think so. It's hard to tell, considering I just fought her for a brief instant." Hizaki noted. Other than her fast shooting ability, Millie seemed to be no more than a common school girl. However, such a fact was not to be underestimated.

"An unknown member who doesn't seem to have a purpose, I could do something with that," Estella placed a finger to her curved lips. This would surely be an interesting mission. "What about the boy?"

"Well, he works at a local strip club. He's twenty-four years old and he's a local resident of Kyushu, Japan. He's also one of Copernicus' donors." When the cross-dresser thought about it, he really didn't have much information on him.

"Oh, how many donors does he have?" The purple-haired female questioned. If he had more than one donor, then she could gather information through several lines. It would be a piece of cake.

"Currently two, he had three but one was murdered from what I understand of it," Hizaki wasn't too sure on that subject; he just knew that he had once been accused of such an act. While he had killed several in the past, he didn't know if any of them had served vampires. The possibility that he had indeed slain Copernicus' donor was out there.

"To go after his donor would be asking for a fight from Copernicus," Estella noted.

"I attacked him twice, but I wanted to find both a psychological and physical weakness so I could better devise a tactical way of defeating them," the blond noted. It was far better to understand his enemies' better than he did himself, than make a careless mistake and underestimate them.

"Understandable, but I want to take a bit of a different approach," Estella commented, hoping that her new tactic of gathering information would gain them the knowledge that they needed in order to crush the man and his horde of human companions. "Millie Ashford, huh? I'll have to see what kind of statistics I can get on the girl, as well as find significant information regarding the murder of Copernicus' donor, as well as the identity of his other donor. I certainly have my hands full."

"Can you handle it, Estella?" Hide turned his sights to her in question.

"No problem, all I need is a simple computer and I can acquire all of the information I need," the vampire smiled in satisfaction. This would be an easy task. Gathering information on the subjects would be a piece of cake.

It was time to get to work on the downfall of her enemy.

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As she sat at a computer in a dimly lit room, the bright white of the screen illuminated her mature features as she scanned through the information regarding her subject. "Hmmm, all I have to do is check the passport directory and see when she arrived in Japan and all of the locations that she used the passport at. I can access all further information through this method and- bingo!" Estella smiled as the picture of the girl popped up with all of her personal information.

Her name was Millie Ashford. Her blood type was AB. Her age was seventeen and was originally from St. Libory, Illinois, U.S.A. She currently attended Pika All-Girls School. Millie was the daughter of William Ashford, a master sharp shooter who held 17 records and eleven world records for his shooting abilities.

"This girl must be good. If I can get her at school, then she won't be in the care of the boy or Copernicus. It would be a prime moment to execute my plan and take her unarmed," Estella she rested a hand on her cheek, closing out of the programs she was in. The vampire then proceeded to walk out of the door and into the streets. 'I'd better get a feast. Right now, I have approximately an hour and thirteen minutes until the school releases their girls for the day. If I want to be quick, then I have to grab her before anyone of them notices.'

"Get ready, little girl. You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into," her voice was full of promises of pain.

"Bye!" She heard a girl's voice chime above all of the rest. She glanced over towards the gated school, and set her sights on the magenta-haired school girl.

Shortly after, she began to walk down the concrete sidewalk, headed straight for Estella as thoughts filled her head. 'It feels weird not going home today.' She thought sadly as she sighed to herself a little. 'I hope that my Japanese parents will be alright. They've taken such good care of me.'

Her wine-colored hues shifted towards a girl, walking past her with a frown on her face. 'Millie Ashford…There she is…'

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Copernicus held up a large, white box with a bright pink ribbon around it. The vampire seemed rather proud of himself for acquiring such a lavish gift. He was certain that he one who would receive it would be more than thrilled. He just hoped that it was to their taste.

"I'm sure she'll like it," the vampire noted, or at least, he hoped she would.

"Are you serious?" Tsubomi didn't seem too thrilled with his gift, but it was out of her genre of taste.

"Would I waste my money if I was joking?" Copernicus smiled.

"Okay, as long as I don't have to wear it, I'm fine."

"Do you think she'll like it?" It was always good to have a second opinion, even if it was from someone who detested his present. However, Tsubomi was an honest and straightforward person.

"Well, she doesn't have anything else to wear," the stripper noted. "I feel kind of bad. I'm so poor that I can't really afford to get her anything." Tsubomi frowned to herself. Bills ate her alive, and she had no room in her budget for a gift. Aside from that, anything she got couldn't compare to the lavish gift he had bought for the school girl.

"It can be from the both of us. We have caused her a lot of trouble," Copernicus tried to chide Tsubomi's worries of having no gift and sooth his own as well.

"I never got a present," blue hues shifted to the vampire's form as she tried to pass the joke to him.

"My presents aren't objects," Copernicus smiled.

"Well it would be wrong of me to ask for my own gift," she she felt long, strong arms wrap around her. Tsubomi rested her head on the man's chest and hugged him back, listening to his voice reverberate through his chest.

"My little Tsubomi…"

"So, do I call you sir or master?" Tsubomi looked up at him.

"You can call me sir."

"Yes sir, I know you're enjoying this," she noted slyly as he checked his watch.

"School let out 45 minutes ago. She should be here by now," the Inheritor had waited all of this time to give the girl her present and she didn't even show up yet. It was his luck.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Tsubomi asked. After all, Millie could be just talking to some friends or something.

"It's just a block away."

"True and that gun is her best friend. I'm surprised that she keeps it on her but I guess she's used to it by now, huh?" After what had happened, Millie was probably self-conscious about keeping her weapon at her side at all times. She didn't blame her.

"If she's not here by the hour mark, then we'll go and look for her," Copernicus didn't know if it was paranoia or something of a gut feeling, but he couldn't leave the subject alone. He had some type of sensation that the girl was in trouble somehow, or that something had happened to her.

However, he always hoped that he was wrong.

"Sounds good to me," Tsubomi agreed. If he was that worried about it, then she would help him out. If Millie truly was in danger, then they had reason to worry and perhaps, it may be for the best that she didn't attend school at all if it was going to be a problem.

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She couldn't help but feel as though someone had been following her as she turned around the corner. Millie cautiously glanced behind her as she caught sight of the formally dressed figure.

Ever since she left Pika, this strange woman had been following her. Millie had never seen her before and no matter what strange route she tried to take on the way to Copernicus' house, the figure was always right behind her. If she stopped at a store, she saw the woman who was following her in the exact same store. By now, it was beginning to get really creepy.

At this point in time, Millie just wanted to lose her.

'Someone's following me so I don't want to go back to Copernicus' and get him in trouble.' If they were associated with Hide, it would be the worst idea to lead them straight to his house. 'I'm kind of freaked out. Okay, I've got to stay calm. Just keep a level head.'

As soon as the thought ended, she whirled around and pulled out her gun and fired a quick shot. The school girl then dodged as a whip viciously slammed against the wall. Estella jumped to the side and landed in front of her.

"I've found you."

"Who are you?" Millie asked defensively as she noticed that the woman had a unique feature when she spoke. Her eyes widened in realization at what the woman was. Estella was a vampire, and at that point in time, she had a hunch that the woman was affiliated with Hizaki.

"Allow me to introduce myself," Estella walked slowly into a stream of light that shot through the darkness of the alley. "I am Estella Nu, the Black Knight Ops Queen of Torment."

"You're a vampire, but who do you work for?" Millie tried to question bravely, but her trembling hand gave away her true emotion at the moment. She hated herself for that. No matter how hard she tried to seem brave, her body always betrayed her true feelings.

"That's not important. All that is required is that you give me your complete cooperation. I can do this relatively painless or I can make it extremely painful. The choice is yours." It wasn't much of a choice, Millie had to admit, she didn't like either one of the options that she was presented with.

She took a step back, never letting her grip on the gun fall lax for even a moment. "Stay away from me."

"What will you do if I don't? Are you going to shoot me?" Estella nearly dared her to try and see what would happen after she dared to fire that pistol. The second the gun was fired, Millie would rue the day she ever thought about pulling it out.

"I said stay back!" She warned as she raised her voice.

"Alright, I'll stay here!" Estella stood in place as she flung the whip at the girl once more, trying to strike her, but the quick-thinking girl managed to jump out of the way before she could be hit by it.

Estella tried once more to fling the whip at her but Millie knelt down and fired her gun at the vampire, but a couple of quick maneuvers of the whip and her bullets ricocheted off the whip and stuck into the wall all around the terrified school girl, who screamed as she scrunched into a ball to avoid being hit with her own ammunition.

"Now, you're all mine. I'll extract all necessary information from you and I'll enjoy torturing you." Estella could hardly contain herself from the thought of such weak prey cowering before her.

"You're coming with me," the sadistic vampire commanded as the whip latched itself to Millie's leg. The vampire began to pull the struggling school girl towards her.

"Oh no you don't!" Millie shouted with great determination as she shot the whip free from her leg and rolled back. The magenta-haired girl then popped up and changed at the vampire, shooting at her with intent on wounding her badly or ending her life.

One way or another, she had to get out of there and she wasn't going to sit around and be pulled in with a whip all day. Having information extracted by force wasn't her idea of fun either.

The purple-haired vampire would rid herself of that problem easily, and with one flip of the whip, Millie's gun was knocked from her hand. Just as the tides turned, Estella gained possession of Millie's gun and pointed at her.

"Say good bye," the sly woman smirked as she fired the gun, hitting the girl in the shoulder. The pain was excruciating and the bullet hit her with such force that the girl fell to the ground, crying as she clutched her bleeding arm.

Tears flowed down her face as she felt her neck being constricted. She glanced up to see that Estella had the whip pulled tightly around her neck. Gasping, Millie clutched at the weapon and tried to pull it from her neck. The girl was pulled into the air, her toes mere inches from the ground as she kept her grip on the whip around her neck. If she let go at any time, she would have hung herself and died.

"Struggle all you want, there is no escape from me, little girl," Estella held a look of victory and enjoyment as she watched the girl struggle to place herself back on the ground, thrashing against her cruel weapon.

"Let…me…go…" Millie strained.

"Be gone," her attacker replied as she flung the girl into the ground with great force, causing the shards of stone to cut into her back. Millie coughed up blood as her eyes widened in pain.

The whip was released from her body and the school girl quickly got up, staggering around as if she were half delirious, trying not to choke on her own blood as her unsteady legs carried her down the alley. Wine-colored eyes watched her in sick enjoyment as Estella smiled pleasantly to herself.

"Suffer before you pass out. The more pain you feel, the better it is for me," she stated as Millie's form crashed to the ground in a crumpled heap and she lay there, lifeless.

The clacking of finely polished boots echoed through her fuzzy senses as the last bit of consciousness was drained from her body. She passed out a short instance after that.

Estella picked the girl up by the back of her school jacket and held the doll-like body next to her. Gazing at the girl's lifeless expression, she spoke. "Now, it's time to take you back to Hide. That was easier than I thought. It's hard to think that you beat Hizaki…Well, with me, things will be different. There will be no mercy and now that I have you in my grasp, I'll use it to my full advantage."

…To Be Continued…