Disclaimer: I do not own, Tsukihime nor Trinity Blood. If I did, Trinity Blood wouldn’t have a 15-year-old pope nor a female cardinal, and the Tsukihime anime wouldn’t have sucked!

Sion sat up in bed, covered in a fear-induced sweat. She looked around to see where she was. She was relieved to see that

Walachia was nowhere to be found. She looked at Satsuki who was still asleep. She was mumbling something incoherent.

Sion shook Satsuki awake. “Satsuki, wake up.” Satsuki shot up and shouted, “Save me, Tom Cruise!” Sion fell out of the bed

and hit her head on the floor because of Satsuki’s sudden outburst and the fact that she had called for Tom Cruise for help.

Sion got up and rubbed her head in pain. Satsuki snapped back to reality and noticed that Sion was there when she said

that. She quickly hid her face with the bed sheets. Sion just chuckled and said, “What in the world were you dreaming about?

Wait. Never mind, don’t answer that.”

After Sion and Satsuki got dressed, Sion contacted the Empress to update her on her situation. She set up the holographic

projector and turned it on. She took a step back and kneeled before it. The Empress’s image appeared above it. The Empress

was the first to speak. “Sion? Is everything okay? We heard that the train didn’t get to the station on time.” Sion lowered her

head, “Yes, Your Highness. We were attacked by the Order of Rozenkreuz and were forced to find refuge in an abandoned

town in the Germanic countryside called Waldenberg. ” The Empress asked Sion, “Were there any survivors?” Sion paused

before continuing. “Well, actually there was one survivor. An old friend of mine.” The Empress looked at her with complete

surprise. “An old friend? Does that mean this survivor is…?” Sion replied, “Yes, she is a Dead Apostle, like me. Her name is

Satsuki Yumizuka.” The Empress was even more dumbfounded. A Japanese? But they were wiped out during Armageddon!

thought the Empress. Sion turned toward Satsuki and motioned her to come close enough for the holocamera to capture her

image. Satsuki knelt next to Sion and said in broken English, “Herro saa, itto isua naisu dei.” (Hello sir. It is a nice day). After

that statement, Sion head-sighed and soon after, regained her composure and said, “I’m sorry you’re highness, she hasn’t

learned any other language besides her native one. However we are working on that.” The Empress sighed and said, “I see.

Well then, until that time, you must act as her translator. I’ll send a transport to pick you up.” Sion bowed deeper and said,

“Thank you, You Highness.” The Empress chuckled and said, “Hurry home, Sion.” The holograph shut off.

Sion and Satsuki gathered their things and headed to the central plaza so they could be in plain sight for the transport. When

they got to the plaza, Sion noticed that it looked eerily familiar. But after a sudden realization, Sion quickly dashed around

quickly to confirm her suspicions. Satsuki called out to her, “Sion! What’s wrong?!” Sion ignored her cries, and continued

searching until she found what she was looking for. There it was, on one of the nearby walls, Walachia’s mark, a smiley face,

drawn in blood. Sion put her hands to her face in horror, “No. It can’t be. It isn’t possible!” She fell to her knees and went into

complete shock. “It’s not true! It was just a dream! It was just my subconscious taking my thoughts and memories and

twisting them into a horrible vision!” Satsuki caught up with Sion and tried to ask her what was wrong, when she saw it.

Satsuki then knew what it was that was causing Sion such anguish. “Sion, let’s go. You don’t have to worry about him. He’s

dead.” Sion cried out, “No he isn’t! He came to me in a dream last night. How could I have dreamt about a place that I had

never been to in my life? How could I have known this place had been cursed by HIM?!” Satsuki tried to reassure her,

“Satsuki, even if he is alive, he only appears on one night of the year. He can’t hurt you.” Sion wouldn’t take it, “He visited me

in my dream! He can come and go as he pleases while I sleep! He can cause me no end of horrifying visions! He-!” Sion

suddenly felt a slap against her cheek, dealt by Satsuki. Sion was shocked at Satsuki’s sudden assault. “Get a hold of

yourself, Sion! If you don’t hang in there… then I... then I…” Satsuki started crying. “Then I won’t be able to…” Sion didn’t

know what to say. All she could do was wrap her arms around Satsuki. Satsuki looked at Sion in the eyes. They were so close

to each other that they could clearly see their reflections in their eyes. Sion felt her heart thump… thump… thump… as did

Satsuki. Sion and Satsuki moved their lips closer and closer. They were just a centimeter away from touching each other,

when Sion heard the transport approaching. They instantly pulled away from each other and turned red with embarrassment.

Sion got up, as did Satsuki, and waved to the transport.

When they got onboard, Sion was still embarrassed. The crew of the small transport consisted of human navigators

accompanied by a Methuselah envoy. The Methuselah wore a white robe and a hat worn by High Class Methuselah from the

Empire and had a slight tan, which was unusual since Methuselah didn’t get much UV. He greeted Sion with a bow and said,

“Greetings Duchess of Alexandria, the Empress has sent me to ensure your safe travel. I am the Duke of Tigris, Süleyman.”

Sion was shocked. The Empress had sent the third highest ranking noble in the Empire to fetch Sion? She didn’t deserve this

kind of hospitality! Sion returned a greeting of her own. She bowed and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Excellency. I

am the Duchess of Alexandria, Sion Eltnam Atlasia.” The Duke smiled and said, “Well, then. Let’s go someplace more

comfortable to talk.” The Duke led her and Satsuki to another section of the transport to talk privately. He sat in a chair at the

edge of the room. Both Sion and Satsuki sat in chairs across from him. Sion faced him directly, while Satsuki looked around at

the various things in the ship. The Duke spoke first. “The Empress has informed me of your situation and it is a grave matter

indeed. This won’t go well with the Germanic Royalty, even with the strong presence of Methuselah. The Rozenkreuz Orden is

very unruly indeed. If it weren’t for your “unique” condition, then you wouldn’t have made it out alive.” Sion asked, “You know

about what I am?” The Duke nodded. “Indeed I do. As a high-ranking noble, the Empress trusts me enough with this

sensitive information. I know all too well that if word got out to the Vatican that there was a real vampire living among us

Methuselah, then the rift between our two races would widen even more.” Sion grimaced at the thought. Tension left the

Duke’s face. “In any case, I know how even a UV ray shield won’t protect you against sunlight, so I’ve made sure that we will

arrive in Byzantium before sunrise.” Sion bowed slightly in gratitude. “Thank you, Your Excellency.” The Duke smiled. “Well,

shall we have something to eat?” The Duke pressed the call button on the intercom. Soon after, a waitress came out with a

tray of sandwiches and whine for the Duke, and two glasses of blood for Sion and Satsuki. Satsuki was surprised to see the

Duke eating normal food, when she remembered how Sion had mentioned that Methuselah were very capable of consuming

normal food and drink. Sion and Satsuki took the glasses of blood when the waitress offered it to them and sipped as the

Duke ate his sandwiches. The Duke paused. “I heard from the Empress that just like your literary counterparts, you can’t

consume regular food, so I didn’t bother having any prepared, except for myself. However, I made sure that the blood was

pure virgin.” Sion informed the Duke, “I know. I could smell it as it entered the room.” The Duke showed an impressed look.

“Your sense of smell is so keen that you can tell if the blood came from a virgin? I must say, Dead Apostle’s are quite

impressive. Is it true that you are unaffected by silver as well?” Sion replied, “Yes, that’s true. We don’t have the same

weaknesses. The only types of weapons that can affect us are conceptual weapons.” The Duke raised an eyebrow.

“Conceptual weapons?” Sion clarified for the Duke. “A weapon created through magecraft. It is a weapon that is loaded with

spells that interfere with a Dead Apostle’s ability to regenerate.” The Duke was intrigued. “So you can also regenerate?” Sion

clarified, “Well, in a sense. While Methuselah regenerate through cell division, Dead Apostles regenerate by turning time

backwards on their bodies to a point before they sustained injury.” The Duke nodded his head as if to say, now I get it. He

then wiped his mouth with a napkin and got up. “Well, that was quite a fascinating conversation. We had better prepare for

arrival. We’ll be in Byzantium within the hour.” The Duke called the waitress to clear the table. The waitress came in and

approached the table, and took the Duke’s plate as well as Sion and Satsuki’s empty glasses.

The Duke went to his quarters while Sion and Satsuki stayed in the room. “So, what did he say?” asked Satsuki. Sion sighed

and translated the Duke’s words into Japanese for her. After Satsuki got the gist of it, she said, “So, these Vatican guys are

bad?” Sion shook her head, “Not all of them, just a portion. Some can’t get past their prejudice against Methuselah, even

though they aren’t even true vampires, while others are willing to get past their differences and strive for peace.” Sion

thought of Father Nightroad and the kindness he showed to her, even though she was a true vampire. He was the sort of

person that didn’t judge a book by its cover. Just like… just like… “Sion? Is something wrong?” Satsuki had noticed that

something was troubling her. It seems that she hadn’t gotten over the time she had almost killed Shiki in her vampiric

bloodlust and the fact that Abel reminded her of him made it hard for her to forget that time. Sion reassured Satsuki. “It’s

nothing.” A call came in from the bridge on the comms. “Attention. Attention. We are now arriving in Byzantium. For those of

you who want a good view of the city, come to the bridge.” Sion got up and told Satsuki, “I think you should come see this.”

A/N: All right! After a lengthy hiatus, The Angel of Death has returned! I recently read the Melty Blood manga, and my portrail of Sion was close, but I found out she had some other abilities which I will try to write into later chapters. I also hope the line spacing will make it easier to read.