29th Century – Temple of the Archangel of the Universe

Enid was wearing her real face again, though she was concealing it with a cloak and sitting listening to the Watcher speak to the congregation that had gathered in the temple. With the System Alliance’s first extra-solar stargate building project six months underway the Sauroid planet, at least seven xeno-archaeological digs, several xeno-bioloigcal research teams, and trade delegates from various corporations, there were typically anywhere between two and three hundred humans on or in orbit of Sauroid Prime, which was the unofficial name of the planet. At least half of the people attending the service were humans. The other half were a mix of shadow valley residents, Light Side and Dark Side pilgrims. The Watcher spoke of the Archangel Seraph, who two months after the revelations to the Archpriestess Tabitha, was synonymous with the Dark Mother.

The revelation that the Dark Mother appeared on an alien world before Christ was born and stopped a world ending catastrophe had shaken the faithful. As of yet the High Priestess had not spoken out on the growing theory that the Dark Mother, and Enid Aurelius were one in the same. Still Enid had been doing her best to keep a low profile.

She was barely paying attention to the service and was only here because of an official request from the Watcher. What she did catch of it seemed to be directed at her which made her even more loath to actually pay attention to it. Sometimes being eternally stuck as a eighteen year old with a not quite mature brain worked against her and she rebelled in a typical teenage fashion. The Watcher bid farewell to the visitors and when the last of them left the sacred staff room she motioned to Enid.

“You have come.”

“I have.”

“You were not paying attention to my words.”

“No, I was not. Hearing someone drone on about me like I’m some religious icon makes me sick to my stomach.”

The Watcher shook her head.

“That is why I have summoned you here. I see great suffering in your future if you continue to deny the truth.”

“You could have sent me a message over the comms and not dragged me forty light years from home.”

“I cannot see you then, and I must be sure you take my warning seriously.”

Enid sighed.

“I keep telling you, I am not an Archangel. I am a vampire there is a major difference in those two things.”

The Watcher’s taloned hand poked Enid’s shoulder hard enough it would have bruised her pale skin had she been mortal.

“If you continue down this path great sorrow will haunt your steps. You have a grim task you have been avoiding. Continue to avoid it at the peril of those you hold most dear.”

“Watcher, I respect you a great deal, but tell me something new, I’ve heard that what seems like a thousand times now.”

The Watcher looked down at Enid and put her old talons hands on her cheeks. Enid’s hood fell away from her curly red hair.

“Then why do you continue to ignore the warnings from your father?”

“I tried to go back, and found no demons!”

“You are Seraph, Archangel of the Universe, all of space and time is your domain, why do you deny what you are?”

“Do you think if I could just snap my fingers and find the things out there destroying reality I wouldn’t in a heartbeat? I am not an angel, I am the opposite! The only difference between me and the fallen is I’m not in Hell!”

Enid pulled away the Watcher. The Watcher’s shoulders slumped, and her tail twitched.

“You still do not see.”

“I see plainly old one. I see that this was a waste of my time. Do not message me again.”

Enid stormed out and towards the waiting Apollo and went immediately ballistic. The Watcher stood at the entrance of the temple watching the metallic purple fighter vanish into the distance with her sewn sockets. She bowed her head in defeat.

“Poor, angry, lost, child. I am sorry Seraph I have failed you.”

*****

Enid was looking out the window of the transport. The two-and-a-half-year-old Miko was bouncing on her lap. Amee was beside her, Eyre was sitting in front of her. She smiled down at her daughter when she felt one of her braids being tugged. Miko smiled at her.

“It will be alright momma.”

“What will?”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Miko?”

“Grandpa will look after me.”

Miko touched Enid’s check.

“Momma, don’t turn your back on mercy, I love you momma.”

Alarms started blaring then the transport started spinning. Amee and Enid instinctively covered Miko with their bodies. Then there was a blinding flash. When she could see again Enid was buried in twisted steel. She looked beneath her and at the broken burnt remains of her toddler. She shook her, but sensed no life in her, no heartbeat. Enid tossed the twisted metal off of herself and Amee. She looked down at Miko’s remains. Blood tears dripping down her charred face that was already starting to repair itself. Amee’s body was starting to stitch itself together, as was Eyre’s. There would be no such miracle for the lifeless Miko. Enid felt the rage and pain welling up in her. The glacier started to shake under her feet. She felt like she was going to explode and let out a scream. A pulse of force ripped from her and the glacier for thousands of miles cracked. Her green eyes looked up when she heard the whine of metal being twisted. A kilometer long starship floated a few hundred meters over the smashed ice of the glacier.

*****

Captain Gabriel Hamilton sat with his legs crossed. Passively watching his gunners implement his orders.

“Target has been eliminated sir.”

The woman manning the gunnery station stated plainly. All in a days work. The captain nodded casually.

“Well we should make ourselves scarce, the System Alliance will be all over us soon. Cloak the ship, helmsman take us out of the atmosphere, prepare for FTL jump to rendezvous point.”

Everyone on the bridge was slammed into their seats as the ship was thrown up then started to plummet towards the Earth’s surface. The helmsman clawed his way onto his chair hitting the antigrav controls trying to stop the impending crash. He managed to stop the ship just in time with only a few hundred meters to spare. The captain picked himself.

“Are we under attack?”

“No there was a massive detonation on the surface.”

“Damage report?”

“EMP pulse has damaged several systems. Cloak is in operable. FTL engines offline. Thrustors minimal.”

“Use the antigravs get us out of the atmosphere!”

The ship creaked and groaned as the antigravs struggled against something.

“I said get us out of here.”

“I have the antigrav system at full, it is starting to overload. Something is dragging us down.”

“Gunners get ready for System Alliance attack, we’re sitting ducks. Has to be some form of tractor beam. They must have responded faster than we thought they could.”

Nothing happened at the gunnery station.

“Gunner?”

The captain looked towards the gunner then saw her pointing at the cracked view screen. Amidst the debris field of the transport stood a single blood covered half naked red-haired woman her face twisted in rage. She was reaching out her hands. The scream of ripping metal echoed through the ship. The captain and his crew would not have long to ponder the folly of their attack.

*****

Enid was beyond all reason. She saw the source of the attack and there was no mercy left in her. She reached out with her hands. The massive ship tried to pull away but even it was no match for the wrath of an angry goddess. She screamed again and wrenched her hands apart the screech of tearing metal echoed across the shattered glacier and the once mighty ship fell to the ice torn in half. The glacier was so damaged from Enid’s initial scream the ship sank through it and into the ocean hidden beneath it. With nothing else to sate her rage on Enid stumbled back to the wreckage and lifted Miko’s broken and burnt body. Her blood tears dropped onto her dead child. Enid collapsed to her knees and looked to the sky and screamed again.

“I hate you!”

A rumble echoed across the glacier. Flickers of light sparked around Enid she felt something at the edges of her perception but then it faded. She felt strong hands under her arms. Her daughter and wife were picking her up.

“Mom we need to go, the antimatter from the FTL drive on that ship will go soon.”

“Let it, I don’t care anymore.”

A short distance away snow was being kicked up by the thrusters of an orbital drop ship. Troops were rushing to get their VIP’s to safety. Enid was tugged to safety. She had no resistance left in her. She was sat down in a seat. She cradled Miko’s remains to herself rocking her. A mini sun exploded in the distance sending a mushroom cloud of ice and superheated water blasting out of the atmosphere.

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She felt her wrist vibrating. Her holo-phone had survived the crash and someone was calling her. An image flickered in front of her eyes. Her wristband had survived but it was damaged and could barely make a coherent hologram. It was Isis her alabaster face was creased with concern. The first time Enid had seen the ancient Mesopotamian vampire show the slightest bit of emotion.

“I know who has done this, Empress. Come to me.”

A set of stellar coordinates flashed across the screen. Enid blinked her bloodstained eyes at the ancient and stood up. She gently sat the remains of her fallen daughter in the seat she had been pushed into. Amee reached out her hand to stop her. Enid didn’t look at her wife. She tore her arm out of Amee’s grasp. Amee got up to follow but Eyre pulled her down and shook her head. Enid tapped her wrist and spoke.

“Apollo, I need you.”

She hit the button to open the drop door and she watched the cracked glacier pass beneath her. She heard the telltale sonic boom of Apollo’s approach. One of the System Alliance troops tried to stop Enid when he saw her stepping to jump out without a parachute or drop jets. His hands found only air as he missed her. When he looked down he saw her pulling herself into the cockpit of a metallic purple fighter. Which banked away and went transatmospheric with another sonic boom.

*****

Enid slipped Apollo into the landing bay of an ornate silvery ship with gold trim. If an Egyptian Pharaoh had a starship, it would be this starshp. Even the landing bay had gold trim and platinum inlays. Enid ran her hand along Apollo’s purple skin. She was still in the charred rags that she had been when she pulled herself out of the wreckage of the destroyed transport. A black cat bolted when it saw her enter Isis’s throne room. She sat up on a dais on her marble thrown unmoving eyes closed. When Enid approached the dais the alabaster vampires opened suddenly and gold irises took the measure of her red-haired Empress. It was only the second time they had been in the same room, the last being the trial of Mariana.

“I am here, Isis, you may not like the outcome.”

Isis’s head shifted, her golden eyes focused on Enid once again.

“I did not do this, Empress. I would not. The council was not responsible. It was the act of one power hungry vampire.”

“You were worried I would punish you all.”

“I know your rage and power have no match.”

“Even I would not punish the entire council without evidence.”

“Yet I had concern I have much more to lose then I did.”

The usually motionless ancient vampire stood. Enid saw her belly swollen with child.

“Recent events have made me keenly away the depths of grief a parent suffers.”

Isis’s hand touched her abdomen. Enid blinked up at the Isis. Her grief was so profound she hadn’t noticed it before the vampire stood up.

“I have no quarrel with you, Isis. You have always done what was best for our people. But you have always despised me why speak now when you knew I would not harm you, especially given your condition?”

Isis’s hands continued to stroke her belly.

“I have never despised you, Empress. I have disagreed with your policies many times, I have been disturbed by how much your power has grown, the anger that burns inside you, and the growing religious fervor surrounding you, but I cannot deny that your return has heralded a new golden age for our kind. You are a better ruler then your father, but in your grief I feared you would cause us setbacks. I felt your loss keenly. The child was special.”

“She was my daughter, that is all she ever needed to be.”

“I have never had a child save the ones I turned with blood. When my daughter is born I hope I am half the mother you have proven to be, to our people, to humanity and to your children. The one who did this is Gaius.”

Enid closed her fists so hard she drew blood with her nails even through her stone like vampire skin. She remembered healing him and sparing his life. It was her fault he lived. The ship started to vibrate around her as Enid lost herself in her rage again. She snapped out of it when strong hands wrapped around her upper arms and Isis’s swollen belly touching her. When she looked up blood tears still clouding her vision she was almost nose to nose with the golden eyed alabaster Mesopotamian goddess. Isis’s words were barely a whisper.

“You are stronger than this grief and anger child of Sextus. I will tell you where the one who struck this grievous wound hides. I will ensure the council witnesses his just punishment. The old laws are not forgotten. Blood for blood. The humans have no place in this matter. His blood is yours by right.”

Isis released Enid’s arms and turned away from her. Enid watched the ancient vampire walk up the stairs of her dais and slid down into the seat. Her golden eyes fell on Enid again.

“Gaius believes you are dead and that his ship was destroyed by System Alliance. He hides in belt of debris at the edge of our solar system biding his time for an attack on your sister. He has called a council meeting in two Earth Standard hours, I trust you can get the coordinates I provided by then?”

Enid nodded. Isis bowed her head.

“I thank you for the honor of this visit Empress.”

Enid nodded again and turned around her bare feet slapping on the silvery deck plates. She started to pulling her Atlantean armor out of her pack, she removed Lucius next. He had been silent for quite some time. She thought him dormant.

Enid, I am so sorry my love.

Enid nodded and slipped him beside her in Apollo’s cockpit. She started preparing for launch.

“All my systems are ready, Aunt Enid.”

Enid whispered her response.

“Blood for blood.”

*****

The black starship Gaius called home was floating the leftovers of the solar system’s formation. Enid arrived in The Kuiper Belt a few minutes after she left Isis’s ship. She’d ignored the safety concerns of using high FTL speeds in the solar system. She stared out of Apollo’s cockpit at the black ship her hands rubbing her thighs. She wanted to reach out with her mind and crush it like an aluminum can. But that would rob her of tasting Gaius’s blood on her lips. Her damaged holo-phone had beeped several times as she sat there staring out at the traitor’s home. She took it off and threw it in her pack. She wasn’t in the mood for a conversation.

“I have enough antimatter to destroy that ship, Aunt Enid, should I prepare the warheads?”

Enid shook her head slowly. Her rage filled emerald eyes hadn’t blinked since they arrived. As if she feared should she allow herself to blink her prey would escape. She spoke in a whisper lest she scream in rage again.

“I need to see the life leave his eyes.”

“Aunt Enid, I have… never seen you like this. Perhaps we should go to Pluto Station, ask mother for assistance. I can open up FTL communications.”

“No! I will handle this on my own. Please be quiet. I need to focus.”

“There are fifteen vampire life signs on that ship, the odds are not in our favor.”

Enid’s fangs came out and she hissed. She glanced down at the timer she’d set on the HUD. She reached into her bag and pulled out one of the bloodstones of her father’s blood and let it absorb into her. She felt his primordial strength fill her. She empty stone into her pack.

“It’s time.”

She grabbed stick and hit the thrustors. She rolled the fighter so they were inverted relative to the black ship. Her other hand grasped the hilt of Lucius and she hit the control to open the cockpit. She burned her blood to maintain her body heat as she hit the vacuum of space and slipped into one of the landing bays through the energy field that held the air in. She landed on her feet and pulled the shadows around herself. She looked around the landing bay and finally found what she was looking for, a service hatch. She popped it and crawled inside. She swore under her breath and pulled her holo-phone from her bag. She tapped it and hit the tab to bring out the map she’d uploaded to it based on Apollo’s scan of the ship. The display flickered making difficult to make out. She waved over the wrist band and touched her helmet. The link with the Atlantean armor’s HUD showed the map in the typical turquoise color of their magic powered technology. She moved through the service ways steadily towards the compartment with the single vampire with four human guards outside the room. She had guessed it would be her target. All the others here were of little consequence.

She finally arrived and glanced at the timer on her HUD. Fifteen minutes. She curled her legs to her chest and watched Gaius slice the throat of a woman he had hanging upside down. A small stream of blood dripped down her check and off her ear into a chalice. She gripped Lucius’s hilt tightly. He was speaking to a disembodied female voice she did not recognize.

“You celebrate too soon; The System Alliance has not announced their deaths.”

“Of course, they haven’t, the want to close the markets to prepare for the inevitable crash. How could even an augmented human could not survive a direct hit from a capital ship weapon. The three witches are dead and once we have the security codes for Pluto station… the reign of the Aurelius filth will be over. Long live Emperor Gaius.”

Enid tapped her wrist and Apollo’s simulated face appeared on her HUD she whispered.

“Apollo, trace all COMM signals currently active from this ship. I am looking for one with a female on the other end. FTL out of the belt if you need to ask for help from Maria.”

Text appeared on her armor’s HUD. Immediately, Aunt Enid. She tapped her wrist and leaned her back against the metal wall of the service conduit. She wrapped her arms around her knees and watched and listened.

“Milord, I believe calling a council meeting is pre-emptive.”

Gaius waved his hand dismissively. Enid tried to get an angle to see the holo he was speaking to but could not.

“The council will thank me. Do you think any of us wanted to be beholden to mortals?”

“Milord, Isis has not responded to the meeting request.”

“Isis is of little consequence. If she does not kneel before me, then she will meet her second death.”

“With all due respect, my lord. She is the eldest vampire in the system. First child of Sextus. I do not believe you are acknowledging the threat she poses.”

“She is one vampire, as the Empress was one vampire and I snuffed her out as easily as squishing a mosquito. Besides she was no fan of the Aurelius family. She will stay out of it at worst. That is what she does, abstain from every vote.”

“We cannot afford to fight Isis at the same time as we are moving against Mariana Aurelius. Not to mention maintaining control over the Vice President of the System Alliance. My Lord.”

“I tire of your negative attitude. I have a council meeting to attend. You may go.”

Enid heard the chirp of the communication ending abruptly. She watched the countdown her HUD hit zero. She heard the chirps of multiple holo-communication connections. She heard Chomaggus speak first.

“Where is the Empress? You called this meeting Gaius, none of us will make any decisions without her.”

Enid heard Isis’s voice next.

“Yes, why waste our time child.”

She saw Gaius’s fist clench. Enid had always appreciated how quickly the ancient vampire could get under anyone’s skin with well placed word. Even after the fact when she had been the target. Gaius made a show of filling his goblet again. Enid could hear the woman’s heart slowing down. She would be dead soon. She found she didn’t care at the moment. Gaius lifted his goblet.

“I summoned you here for a toast, a toast to the end of the Aurelius brood.”

A murmur rose up as the council talked over each other asking him what he was speaking of. Enid tensed her moment was coming. She just wanted him to admit what he’d done openly. Lucius sounded furious.

Arrogant Prick. I should have ended him in Rome.

“I should have ended him in Edmonton. Mercy is no longer in my vocabulary.”

Gaius continued; His tone still full of his arrogant pride at his believed accomplishment.

“I have ended the tyranny of Sextus and his spawn. Tomorrow at this time Mariana Aurelius will join her sister, her niece in Hell. I will graciously allow you to live, should you kneel at my feet and kiss my ring as the new Emperor.”

The council erupted into cries of regicide. The only voice that did not join in was Isis. Chomaggus was the loudest.

“You arrogant fool. We will never submit to your rule you are a child to most of us.”

“Oh, you underestimate my reach abomination. I am in control of the System Alliance. And therefore, their warships. One communication from me and your so called ‘safe havens’ will be smoking ruins. Think on your next words carefully.”

Isis spoke next her voice silencing the rest of the council as she spoke so rarely.

“I always told you Gaius, that your arrogance would be your downfall. That your pride would bring you low. I was surprised when you survived your first encounter with the Empress. I think this time you will not be so lucky. Her mortal child was on that ship. I think I speak for the council when I say we condemn your actions and declare your blood forfeit by your own hand.”

The entire council save Gaius said Aye.

“The beauty of our arrangement with the mortals is none of you can raise a hand directly without incurring their wrath. Isis, I expected more from you.”

Isis spoke again.

“The motion is carried. The sentence is death. Blood for Blood.”

Gaius yelled now, furious he was being ignored.

“I will cut that child out of you before I kill you so you can watch it die before your second death Egyptian whore!”

Enid let her helmet sink into her armor and kicked the vent cover off and leaped down to the deck below. Gaius stumbled backwards falling to the ground. He stared up at the still soot covered face of the Empress he was convinced was dead. Enid drew Lucius. Leveling the gleaming blade at Gaius.

“My only debate is whether I should suck the soul from your body myself or let my husband do it.”

Gaius tried to stand but Enid reached her hand and closed her fist turning the bones in his legs to powder. Gaius screamed in agony. Enid reached out her other hand and grabbed Gaius by the collar of the regal robes he’d donned for his ascension to the vampire throne. Enid yanked him back and touched his face. Using the trick the Watcher had taught her to transfer the pain and suffering Miko’s loss had caused her. He twitched in her hand dangling there reliving some of the worst moments of Enid’s life over and over again. She released him as her fangs extended and ripped into his throat. She drank and drank until he was a dead husk. Devouring his soul and ensuring it would never find salvation or forgiveness, just obliteration. She tossed his broken corpses away his blood still dripping down her mouth. She looked to the assembled council.

“Hear this, the concept of mercy no longer has a place in me. Any mortal or vampire who even breathes a whisper of a hint of acting against me or mine, I will end you and your entire bloodline.”