The Immortalized Soul (Book 3 Original version)

“...is to erase this false world.”

Sasuymashia swung from behind, the spear was caught; it cracked from within, heated and shattered to beyond use.

Her blue eye was as dark and sinister as the other, its malice far surpassing even the Darkness. The huntress was grabbed and thrown thru a wall. So much noise. Unnecessary trouble and conflict; unnecessary people, unnecessary existence.

Adam stepped back. Every fiber of his being told him to run, it was the same as when he first faced the shadows in the cave; his instinct self-preservation was close to winning. Sasuymashia recovered herself, forming another spear, but finding it turned to liquid before it could solidify. Eona went to her side without a second though; pressed her hand against the huntress’ thigh, just after she felt the dizziness of anemia.

“I won’t fall for that again.” Mumbling when licking the blood from her fingertips.

'Quite a welcome.'

Kira glanced, unfamiliar at first and then a short chuckle revealed that she recognized the child beside her. Had it not been for the shadow she sensed the immortal would have likely attacked her as well.

“I almost didn’t recognize you; of course I’m not complaining--that’s more appealing than the hag.”

The goddess giggled out loud, informing her of the sudden eviction that was forced from her more recent vessel. This was a temporary form, her own body with cells and blood gradually taken from previous vessels, victims, and enemies after which was slowly regaining her scattered self. It took quite a bit of time which is why she could not be resurrected for over ten thousand years, but the wait was worth it--just a bit more and her original body would be complete, however in the meantime this form would do.

Kira leaned forward to the child’s level, “It would be a shame to constantly have to look down on you.”

The Goddess inflated her cheek in annoyance, folding her arms and acting as childish as her appearance. Kira stood up right looking to see just how far she had thrown the huntress. Her blood wasn’t tasty, it was thin and old and stank of pomegranate. She looked around, seeing the state of the hall and the battled, shocked familiar faces. There was Adam, Jake, Elisabeth, Alucard, Triss--Kira stopped to see the queen and the huntress together. Oh?

“We took the liberty of interrupting Alucard and Eona’s wedding.” Hei couldn’t help, but laugh at her remark of the Goddess’s size.

“A wedding? There's a surprise--how long have I been gone?”

Sasuymashia pushed Eona away when Kira appeared, having been grabbed and thrust-ed into the wall.

'Around a year now.'

Sasuymashia hacked the color of Kira’s eye, bleeding from her leg and mouth which splattered on the predator’s face. Kira was gleeful to repay the favor; blood for blood; a life for a life--the huntress was dropped as blades of wind threatened to cut, but her dodged. Eona grabbed the human before she fell and watched Kira crouch on a fallen beam over them. Kira was dis-satisfied with the interruption and cracked her hand.

“Oye, woman--that’s mine.”

Eona glared, knowing that Kira was in fact in front of them, but unable to accept her allegiance. She refused, her eyes displayed this defiance when the winds kicked up, slashing all around the Reaper and yet un-touching--Eona did not want to hit her.

“You’re annoying.” Kira flashed behind her.

Eona was back-handed into the chairs as Kira gave no second thought to what she did, “I have no interest in you at the moment.”

Alucard thru a punch, the force of their attack shattered the ground beneath them. Oh? Kira grinned, engaging the king in hand-to-hand combat. This was a fight she had ben looking forward to! Proving who was the strongest, a battle to the death; exhilarating ecstasy at the peak of high.

A violent battle and if they were at their full-power they would shake the very earth they lived on. Alucard was thrown into the wall, his arm fell before him, but was quickly replaced. They clashed again, Kira beat the stones thrown at her and continued to knock the king down. This was no longer fun.

Kira took him seriously for a moment--she grabbed him thrusted him thru a broken piece of metal attached to the wall and bent it inward. That ought to keep him still for the mean time. Her attention was placed back with the huntress, one--Kira laughed--that Eona protected.

“That human and I have unfinished business.”

Eona spoke out against this unusual violence, Kira’s brutality was unlike her at all! Is this my fault? If she had stayed a little longer, if she had reached out to her more--Eona left her to her own devices, believing Kira had a reason.

'It seems you misunderstand Kira’s motivations.' The child smiled darkly, 'That human you protect, she is the one who killed Kira in the first place.’

The Goddess understood there were many things not shared openly--Sierra and Alucard are quiet similar in that aspect.

Eona hesitated. Sasuymashia...killed Kira?

“Don’t worry...death is quite peaceful.” Kira went to snap her neck; Eona grabbed Kira’s shirt and took them both elsewhere.

It was outside, across the river and no more than a mile from the castle. Kira was able to break free and was sent falling thru a tree, breaking it in half and cratering into the ground. Annoying. Kira found she unconsciously said so aloud, but it was not a lie and therefore not cared about. She had better things to do than entertain a Pureblood--Kira vanished, a quarter mile away her leg was grabbed and the rest followed when hitting another tree.

“We need to talk!”

Kira grinned; their crimson eyes shone in the darkness of the forest when clashing with each other. The Reaper kicked her knee up, blocked by a hand; Eona thrust for her gut, pushed aside by a flick of a wrist. Their fight continued until the queen used her gift to trap and her in a vortex.

“This isn’t the real you!”

She heard a low chuckle which progressively turned into a dark laugh.

“How naive.” Kira continued to laugh, “Your perception of what’s ‘real’ is conceited. You don’t know the ‘real’ me.”

“Then tell me! Why...why did you annihilate the Association; why are you with the one whose trying to destroy everything we love; why...”

Eona could no longer hold in her tears. She was watching the woman she loved, more than life, walk further and further from her on a path she could not follow. Now Kira was almost out of her reach and seeing her like this--Eona does not know if she can live in a world where they are destined to kill one another! That’s why she wanted them to be alone, to talk without any interference or influence of other parties. She wants to know what lead Kira to this and how to bring her back!

“...didn’t you come back...?”

Kira held no empathetic emotion in her eyes. They were steady, content, and remained annoyed. Its all about her; what a hypocrite.

“Come back?” Kira expressed confusion at this Pureblood’s concern over her, “She did come back. You were the one that left.” This woman would not shut up until she gave an explanation, “Given the nature of the Nightraven Curse, such a loss was only natural.”

Eona’s eyes widened--the Nightraven Curse? That’s why because a vampire fell in love with a human? Kira hated her that much--what did she do wrong, when did Kira stop loving her?

As a vampire Eona felt every emotion far more than humans, meaning hurt would become despair and a heartache would be a broken soul. This was her fault, she left Kira alone--the one time Eona acted for the better of her people was the one time Kira needed her to be her lover.

“Humans and vampires; Syndicate, Nation, Association; government, state, family, name--these divide and enslave us.”

Kira slammed her fist into the ground, disrupting the vortex and causing its recoil to throw Eona down.

“The root of suffering is attachment--by severing those attachments this world will be free.”

“What are you talking about?” Eona punched Kira, preparing to beat her within an inch of her life of that’s what it took!

"You murdered thousands of innocent people--!"

'Murder?' Kira looked at Eona quizzically, adjusting her vocabulary, 'You are wrong, I killed people who deserved to die. This world is built upon that philosophy, I merely follow suit.'

“You murdered children for sins they may never have committed!”

Kira’s side was ripped open yet she did not so much as flinch.

'Did your precious husband Alucard tell you that?' She coughed, 'Well...almost husband--I am curious when did you two start getting cozy? I understand the two of you have spent four-hundred years as enemies?'

She shot up, ramming her fist into Eona’s gut; protected by her hands only they took the impact of Kira’s power.

'Every person who served you, all those lives you sacrificed--was that not for the cause of preventing such a thing?'

Kira said such unconsciously when she walked past Eona, beginning back towards the castle--her arm was grabbed; spun around and pinned against a tree the queen buried her fangs deep into the immortal's shoulder. Had she not already experienced a pain greater than the bite, this could have easily crippled her. Eona was serious.

She anchored her fingers into Kira’s back, locking the immortal in place as she drained every ounce of strength. Show me. Eona wanted to read the memories of blood, wanted to see and feel everything Kira did in hopes of understanding her--a sharp pain pierced the back of her head as hundreds of images of Kira’s suffering and pain swirled in.

The white-haired’s strength lessened, her breath was staggered and shallow and continued to do so. If this continues the already weakened immortal would lose conscious.

Eona bit harder, indulging this long-kept lust for Kira and finding that right now this was the exact same as when Kira wondered into the queen’s room. The immortal lost feeling in her legs and grew limp; held up by Eona, she found the pain had become numb. Kira could call out, could be saved by the Goddess, but it would be wasted--with her mustered strength Kira pushed Eona off and swiftly hit her along the nap of her neck. The queen collapsed.

Kira stumbled back and hit the ground clenching her shoulder, 'You’re quite attached to someone you betrayed. However, unlike her I won't forgive you.'

She slumped over just barely able to keep herself from blacking out. Her head pounded, patches of black ran over distorted memories--Eona took quite a bit, strangely a large amount. After a time Kira regained herself and stood, walking towards her prey.

'Like I said you don’t interest me at the moment.'

Hei and the Goddess were stalling. They held no interest in fighting anymore and resorted to keeping the remaining resistance within the hall. Kira would return eventually, but whether Eona would was anyone’s guess. The Goddess herself wanted to see what choice Kira would make--understanding a person and knowing what they want are two very separate things. Kira had stated her wish, there were no lies in her eyes, but how she wanted to go about it eluded even the Goddess.

Kira returned thru the window, she looked far worse than Eona who was slung over her shoulder. Eona was thrown and caught by Alucard, the only one close enough to react to an obscene act. Hei caught Kira, who was close to falling over, and held most of her weight for her.

'You had trouble?' The Goddess was neither sarcastic nor surprised, only concerned because Kira was still bleeding and her wounds showed no sign of healing.

Why hadn’t she consumed Eona’s blood.

“I couldn’t...” Kira spit the remaining, “The taste of her blood burned!”

Her eyes shifted to Alucard, the force of her power pushed Hei back and Adam watched as the skeleton’s skull protruded small horns and was cloaked; screaming in response to the rage. Blood trickled from her left eye, vessels intensified, bursting as a black corruption began to take over the white. Kira growled, the sinister force of her nature cause many to fall to their knees.

“WHAT-DID-YOU-DO?”

The Goddess answered, “Oh my...she’s pregnant...”

The floor broke at the weight of Kira’s foot, she was fast--instantly in front of Alucard he had no chance of countering and lost both his legs by the time Kira passed him.

Eona Nightraven is with child and as any pregnant vampire her blood becomes undrinkable as a self-defense. Suffering with the thirst of two, she will gradually grow more dangerous in the five years it will take to give birth. Only Alucard, Eona and Sasuymashia had known, but Eona was suppose to be hidden during that time so no others would. Kira has just ruined that secret and possibly their only chance at ending the Goddess.

“I won’t...” The ground around Kira shook as she reached her hand at Eona’s gut, “I WON'T ALLOW IT TO LIVE.”

Metallic and thorn-ed vines broke from under the ground, overturning the floor and creating a massive hole in the hall’s center. Some vines went for the Goddess, but Hei cut them down while others targeted Kira. She grabbed them, allowing them to embed partly into her arm. Thru them she saw the heart; to its roots, down into the hole the furnace was burning and its metal was oozing out.

“You’re a nuisance.” Kira growled.

Sierra glared, sending more vines to eliminate Kira once and for all. Flames swirled around, burning away what touched her and any near her--black flames that burned hotter than the sun. None could touch her, not in their state, not as weakened as they had become. Sierra was dying, a long time coming, her power had been stretched and thinned out over ten thousand years and lost its original might.

The Goddess laughed at her daughter’s last attempts to thwart her again. Not this time. She has learned, watching from the shadows she knows this world; people; powers--her own is greater than before. If anything she would thank Sierra, had she not been imprisoned then none of this would have been possible.

'Kira--'

“No.” The younger said firmly

Kira didn’t look at her, her response was short when burning away half the vines. Her breath staggered once again, she was already weak and her burst of energy was short-lived. The Goddess went to Kira, seeing she could not do so herself and allowed the immortal to rest on the childish form. This is too much physically for someone whose just been resurrected.

The young woman tried to stand on her own, not wanting anymore help. She could do this much on her own.

“I will do it.” Kira exhaled and inhaled deeply, regaining her composure and focusing her remaining energy to supporting herself, “No parent should kill their own child.”

Flames destroyed approaching vines, “That’s why I killed mine first.”

She dropped into the hole, surfing the metal; dodging, leaping, until breaking thru the last defense and making it to the furnace. Sierra wrapped her extensions around Kira, locking her in place--they melted easily.

The flames dimmed, but continued to flicker off her chest. This place was cold and damp and had not seen sunlight since time began here. If memory served her correctly this was the birthplace of the Association and of Anti-Vampire Weapons.

Where did I go wrong? I showed you the evil immortals are--the destruction they will bring upon humanity and this world. Why have you tuned against us?

Kira saw Sierra floating above, her image projected within the vines.

“You’re the one who caused this, I am simply the reaction.”

At the end Sierra knew she was no match for Kira. Her life has run out and there is nothing she can do; not even to slow them. What had she done wrong? She protected Kira from the Association, edging her towards the truth of the vampire’s evil. Allowing Catherine to enter the headquarters, slipping in tiny doubts in her faith of vampire as she was tortured. This was all done to manipulate the ‘Sage’ into siding with humanity, to overturn destiny.

Kira walked toward the furnace now ignoring the projection. The vines began to dry and wither, by leaving the safety of the furnace she lost the only container to house her. The young woman pulled on Sierra, breaking the vines when approaching the furnace.

Your brother and sister, your friends, Eona--you forsake all of them to meet your own ends?

Kira reached her hand into the furnace and seized the beating core. She has long-since ceased caring when killing people, they have always died for a reason and that was enough. Holding a heart in her hand, taking the time to grasp it; understanding that this was the life and soul of an immortal...well Sierra’s life at least.

Surprisingly it was cold, it had no fire, no passion, just a lifeless lump of metal. Kira was calm now, her outrage had been overcome when remembering that none of it mattered.

You should have never been born.

The vines broke apart further, Sierra’s image fell to the ground, fading away as the light from Kira’s flame illuminated the darkness. Sierra was gone.

The heart burned, liquidating and slipping thru her fingers, “You seem to confuse me with someone who care what you think.”

Eona’s vision gradually increased until all light returned to her eyes. She was able to sit up, all her energy was peaked and senses were heightened far beyond their normal capacity. Her very first sight was of Sasuymashia crouching over her.

“Have a--good--” She cringed, “B-beauty--s-sleep...?”

Eona watched her fall over, with violent gashes to her back. The entire hall was destroyed, everyone--Jake, Elisabeth, Adam, everyone was wounded and unmoving, scattered on different sides of the hall. A shadow hung over, what was thought to be wings and yet by the time Eona looked all she could see was Kira on Hei’s back and the Goddess stroking her head.

'She’s lost too much blood.' Hei had to carry her, once she sat down moments after dealing with the traitors Kira fell over--asleep.

'Once she rests and I give her mine she will recover.'

Eona could only watch. As the three walked into a black sphere, as her friends and family lay unconscious; broken; beaten; they were alive nonetheless. Kira spared them--either out of pity, mercy, or by orders she was gone and they were alive.

The tears rained down like a river. After all this they had failed, but they were alive--they could come back, they would come back.

The Pureblood grabbed onto Sasuymashia’s hand and held it tight as emergency personnel entered for the aftermath. The huntress was somewhat conscious, enough to make another smartass remark.

“Congratulations on the pregnacy...please don't tell me that bitch is the father...”

Eona laughed thru her tears.