Those in White Hoods (Nyx, and anybody else who wants to joi

She groaned softly as she rose right again, rubbing her painful derrière. Maybe the cold floor wasn't that much of a good idea. Pulling the clothes a bit tidy, she carefully walked out of the tiny room. Gabriel was reading something aloud, she hadn't really listened as to what exactly. The girl had only heard 'Hellsung' or something like that. Giving in to her curiosity that came drifting up yet again, Ilena strode over to where the whitehaired vampire sat. She peeked interested at the page he was currently reading. "What is all that 'Hellsung' stuff?" she inquired frowningly. She wasn't exactly the most skilled reader, but she had never come across something like that.

"It's a book called The count of Monte Cristo. It is about vampires. And one of the characters is Abraham Hellsing. Well the hellsings are a real family of Vampire hunters, starting at Abraham, as far as i know. I am not sure if any are alive today, but if so i would like to meet them." Gabriel explained to Ilena. Gabriel looked at the corpse of their acquintance, and then looked at Ilena. "He said you would die if you did not become one of us. Do you wish to join the ranks of the living dead?"

"Hmm", she pondered over these new facts, "so they are legendary hunters then.." Hunting vampires. Never had she thought that could become a family business. But that didn't even come close to the surprise she felt at his next words. Ilena's eyes widened shocked at his question, which he asked so freely. As if it wasn't a decision of no return. "I would like to know some things first then", she muttered in a low voice. "If I would agree, what exactly would happen and not happen to me? Will I be forever stuck in this stage, right before what you could call adulthood?" Her eyes became cold at these thoughts. "And would I be able to die if I wanted?" Ilena didn't want to end like that stranger.. A neverending life seemed a horrible punishment. She didn't really see why she would have to change.. It was not as if she had people waiting for her here, her death wouldn't exactly be a loss. Still, she was more than grateful for the extra chance she had received.

"I could end it for you if you so wished. You would stuck in this state, for eternity. You will gain supernatural abilities, like strength and speed, and depending on who turns you, extra abilities. I regenerate and am not affected by holy objects or sunlight, or the like. This stranger, seems to revive himself, but he does not do it as i do. I just refuse to die..." Gabriel stated. He had a serious look on his face, this was not a subject to joke on, it was life changing.

"Well then", she answered slowly, eyeing him closely, "I don't think I want to be like I am now for eternity. As the years will pass, so will my mind evolve. What torture would it not be for me when my body stays frozen in this period?" She sat back, thinking it all over. Still, if she wanted to keep hunting vampires and not kill herself in the first 2 seconds of a fight, she needed to be stronger. She needed to be a vampire too. Ilena slightly turned to him again, "You didn't really answer this one thing; will I be able to actually die when I want to? The real dieing, without reviving at some point."

"No," that pale thin stream of sound echoed through the air to fall upon the ears of the two as they conversed. Just when the corpse had moved from the table to the window was just as unsure as the exact moment when the sun had dipped finally below the horizon to begin its journey anew elsewhere. One thing was undeniable, the vampire had not walked, but merely had been in one place and then began existing in another.

Light still danced across the sky, like the little fairies do at the harvest festival, chasing the grandeur of the elven lords as they fade into the forest. He stood there, watching outward at that which bound him during the day, vanquished by the cycle of time. The faded yellow glow that came from the edge of sight cast his darkly clad figure in a way that had been not yet seen, and would have been quite hard to imagine based upon the weakened being that had crawled to them just to die. That thin yet strong frame was stretched up in a pose that commanded dignity and honor, still it was not refined like that possessed by one of naturally high birth, but instead the posture of a man who has fought with every atom of his being to become that which he was not... and succeeded.

His dark hair flowed around his shoulders now, no longer wet with either water or blood, its natural waves rippling as the ocean does beneath the moon as it sings a song to its beloved whom it may only reflect back for no closer can it come to touching that which is so separated from it. And there, in that face it seemed as if two moons shown out in reflection from within death itself. So luminous were those eyes and yet how black, as though they might swallow the beauty of this whole scene and still desire more.

None of the man moved, he was in essence like a crag of rock that had stood in that place since the dawn of time itself, a standing stone, a reminder of the sorrow felt around it. The clothes that hung from the frame were again whole, and the skin beneath them was once again possessed of a healthy colour. No puddle of blood formed beneath his feet, but neither did his shadow bid farewell to the light without, but he hardly needed such a thing so dark was his own countenance.

And how that face... It told all. Cruel lines formed there where no age showed at all though he was obviously in years advanced. There was no hint of mirth, no smile, no jest in his manner, only a morose melancholy. Again that voice, though deeper now, more like that of the grave spoke, "There is no way to die... For we are dead, but in death we are denied solace. We are a curse, cursed ourselves and forever to remain upon this earth." His head turned ever so slightly, the tangled strands of his hair moved as though shifting like water over sand and revealing the tip of an ear that drew to a kind of point. "Forgive me, Hunter of Beasts, but I speak for myself and perhaps not you or your kind, for though we both call ourselves by that name of infamy we are very different beings. Were then, this man to bite you, he may perform some ritual, and should you eventually choose to end your life there would be a way to do so... But if ere I were to even so much as sink my teeth into your flesh, I would bestow upon you a curse like there has not existed for over Two Thousand Years. A curse from which there is no saving grace, not even oblivion. Both Heaven and Hell shun me, and to Death I am like a thing repugnant, for he will not even deign to hold my soul in that purgatory, that world between worlds that might be to me even a fraction of the solace I wish for..."

This said, he seemed to lose the strength returned to him by the coming of night, for he leaned forward upon his left hand, which supported itself upon the sill of the window before him. A deep sigh racked the entire frame of his body like a convulsion of his very bones. For a moment afterward his breath came out in a sort of strangled rattle, like that of a man taken by great emotion, his face was once again distorted, but then he pulled himself out of the moment of weakness. His whole body was as steel and he stood once again at his full height. Thence, he turned from the window to look upon the other two beings that occupied the room. No words left him, but merely the eyes spoke, as for the first time he took the measure of his companions. Those moon like discs, so pure and beautiful, yet so deep and frightening, bored into each in turn, as though they could see the souls trapped within their fleshy prisons.

"I have yet to die, so i do not know if i can." Gabriel answered to the nameless vampire. "Now, if it isn't too much trouble, could you name yourself?" Gabriel stood up now, smiling to the vampire. Lights turned on inside the church, illuminating the entire building, but not from the outside. Gabriel's face turned to an emotionless, drone like expression. He walked over to one of the many large screens around the room, and typed something unnaturaly quick into the keyboard, the screens all suddenly flickered to camera views outside of the church, but there was something different about the images. "Its true sight, not many creatures have it naturally, it allows one to see into the ethereal, seeing spirits of living creatures, and you can see what things really are, as though your body may change, your spirit does not."

It was such an.. Unnatural sight to witness, how a dead corpse actually managed to breath and walk again. As if it hadn't withstood bloody, atrocious wounds and enormous amounts of pain before. This man truly had found a way to escape death, something most people would give anything for. To live eternally.. No, she didn't desire that fate. Absolutely not. Ilena stared back at the stranger in awe. Around him hung an inhuman, sinister aura that spread through chamber and tangled itself around her. Completely different than the weak form from what seemed only moments ago. To say that the girl felt bad for him was an understatement, yet, she realized her mind could not possibly grasp what torture it had to be, how agonizing it is to live such a life. To live an endless life.. A last gaze was cast at the dark eyes that stared as if they saw through her flesh, right into her very soul, before she broke the contact and slightly tilted her head towards the other vampire's direction. She bit her lip in anticipation, not knowing whether to regret or be glad of what she was going to ask. "Hey Gabriel", she started quietly, heavily contemplating the decision, "you.. You don't happen to know such a ritual, do you?" She pulled agitatedly at her newly acquired clothes in her anxiety about his answer.

"A ritual to do what?" Gabriel asked, looking away from the many screens displaying the outside of the church. He used an empty screen to display data on different kinds of vampires, currently he was attempting to find an article on this nameless mans kind. Gabriel looked at Ilena, he had an idea of what she was asking, a ritual to kill a vampire, perhaps.

"You will not find what you seek, Slayer," That shockingly dark voice once again rent the air. It was not that the reverberations emitted from the thin lips were deep in tone or even that they held any kind of menace, for neither could be found present when the creature spoke. Rather, like a sonorous lament, his voice sang its way into your heart, but once there was found to be serenely wrong somehow. No place could it find within to call its home and its presence was a thing unpleasant. Yet when it ceased, there was a desire, a longing that it might be heard again, weaving the strains of its dirge like melody once more upon the air as a master craftsman would weave a great tapestry. "Not even I know the intricacies of that which I am," As the light narrowed outside, so did his eyes seem to narrow now, bringing with the action the same sort of darkness that spread across the sky to burn in those brilliant lenses with which he gazed upon the world.

Then, as if realizing once again that the girl was still there, The man turned to her. Movement seemed to cease to exist for him, and yet he was suddenly bending down beside her until his head was beside hers. With that terrifying way that even some humans hold within their power, he breathed in deeply. As he did so his eyes closed. One might have thought that he were smelling some kind of gourmet dish, but that one would have been wrong.

The same speed that was so incomprehensible sent him back to the window where he looked out at the darkening streets. "It surprises me, truly, that you need these... Machines, to see for you," it was not disgust in his voice, but definitely there was the feeling of a certain lacking of respect. He was of course, talking to Gabriel again, "A being of your strength, but of course you do not have that which so grants me my powers. In fact, I find it hard to believe that you even exist..." These words which came from that mouth might have sounded from anyone else slightly humorous, but from between those pointed teeth and beneath those flashing black eyes, one might have perceived even a threat in those articulations of language.

As though to prove a point, the man once again looked at the other vampire. The eyes were yet narrowed, showing only a sliver, like the moon waning as it does in its perpetual cycle until they were again shut. That same deep breath and all culminated in the tiniest smile that flashed over his features like a bolt of lightning tearing its way across a calm sky just before a terrible storm.

The eyes flashed open. "Forgive me, Gabriel, for I mean to you no offense, but to lay my name in the hands of one who may, at some eventually, be forced to kill me seems distasteful," the voice seemed now to be devoid of the power it had held only moments ago, "I thank you for a moments rest beneath your roof. I shall trouble you no further, and I admonish you, if you would wish to avoid turmoil that you stay here, at least for tonight." As he spoke those last words he glanced significantly at the girl. "The powers with which I contend are not those like the pitiful beasts you destroyed only hours ago. Those were worthy only of their place in some sideshow at a carnival or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. No, much darker things stalk the shadows this night," for the first time since regaining his body, the vampire used his feet in the more mundane fashion, that of putting one in front of the other and walking towards the doors at the front of the building. The large black coat which he wore flared out around him like the wings of some giant crow. His hair like a mane rippled as it was cast back into the air as though under the influence of some wind which touched nothing else.

"And Gabriel," he spoke without turning his head, his voice resounding throughout the large, open room, "You might perhaps consider learning to read, for though The Count of Monte Cristo is a wonderful piece of literature, it has naught to do with those Van Helsings you so admire. Or perhaps, if I am so mistaken, then I would direct you towards Dracula, which is a far more direct account of the exploits of that man so renowned in infamy for slaying the beast who styled himself rather the Count Dracula." The words came to a halt as he arrived at the doors and reached forward to open then those portals to the outer world, that last obstruction between he and the night...

"Wait, you have yet to tell us your name..." Gabriel exclaimed, as he looked in the direction of the nameless vampire, who was now reaching for the door. Gabriel smiled, the question rebounding in his head, "and, you find it hard for me to exist, how so? Am i not plain enough before you?" Gabriel asked, stepping forward in a mannerism used by most humans, when they had made a mistake, and wanted it to be righted.

Her mind was captured in a daze, it was strange to feel what effect this stranger had on her. Perhaps it simply was to be blamed on her final realization of directly coming in contact with such an unnatural, ancient being that had seen centuries after centuries flow into each other. And how he inhaled her scent.. However, she suspected he had searched for her scent, yet, it could be something completely different. She seriously had no idea what to think about that. But, Ilena guessed that if she were a meal in his eyes, he would have consumed her already. And besides that, who would heal something he in the end will hunt down anyway? Tough it could always be that he was merely entertaining himself before he advanced to kill.

His appearance had also dramatically improved, making it hard to believe and almost ridiculous that only hours ago this man had to use a holy object to regain only a tiny fraction of force so he could at least more or less stand and speak. Even then his frame still appeared to be very weak. Now he held his fully recovered person in a way that spoke of deep oceans of wisdom, grace and inhuman strength. Which was kind of logical, seeing as he was older and more experienced than everything she knew, except the world itself. And on top of all that, she guessed there was more to him than what met the eye. A lot more probably. In her eyes he was extremely interesting, stealing her curiosity with his mere presence. Nevertheless, he was leaving. And Ilena.. She just quietly hoped she would have the chance to meet him one other time in her life. To her, he really was too much of an intruiging person to never meet again.

Loud words suddenly resonated through the chamber. Her head snapped at Gabriel as he so heedlessly called out to the, she now suddenly noticed more than ever, much stronger other vampire. "Gabriel, don't", she quickly exclaimed in a shrill voice, fearing for what could happen to him. She intensely watched the other vampire's back, anticipating what he would do.

The hands stopped with only a fractional portion of space between themselves and the large wooden doors. The whole body had frozen, not affected so by Gabriel's voice, but instead by that shrill cry of the maiden. It was a cry so laden with emotion, so... Slowly, he lowered his arms, turning as he did so. It was as if the air about him had suddenly became heavier. Those eyes were narrowed again, those black eyes now touched with fire, just the tiny spark, but it was there all the same. Wholly devoted was that face to divining that which laid behind the shout. So sharp was the expression that it might even have killed were the one it was cast upon faint of heart. Several steps progressed him towards the girl, and he stared into her eyes . The sudden flame that lit his irises almost seemed to illuminate his face.

It was almost as though he stumbled back, the fire extinguished in a moment. His form appeared to flicker as though the movie projector of life itself had skipped several frames. Then, like nothing had happened, the vampire's countenance steeled once again. Refined iron was not more pure than the dark metal that made up the face of this creature.

The eyes were turned upon Gabriel like black pits that desired his ruination. "Fear not that you shall lack my name for long," his voice was indicative of a smile though none showed upon that pale visage, "This is hardly the last time that are paths will cross." Now the smile really did light his face, although it was not warm but cold, like the chill of death. "Think on this then, until we meet again: you pride yourself on being immune to holy artifacts because you are what may be called a vampire sanctified by your belief, but you love bringing death. You love it, Gabriel. Every life you take is a joy to you. You bathe in the blood as if it were some sort of glory sent to you from heaven. And despite the curse, you love the power. There is no thought in you of an end. Moments ago you admitted to not thinking of it enough to even care about the cause or means of death. Have you ever wondered why, Holy Vampire?" like the song of the dead. The lament of those cast into the Pit itself did that fatal voice ring. A bell, like a death knell tolling. The smile faded...

As if gravity had centered around her, his gaze was again pulled to her, and for the smallest moment it was almost as if he were pleading her forgiveness for the words that had just escaped his mouth. Thence away, as if tearing himself from her eyes. Too much, he had given her too much. A quick glance darted between the two, but silence alone emanated from the beast. He began taking steps backwards until he turned while moving and once again made a move for the doors. This time, however, he seemed to be retreating, but from what, a girl? Or was it the vampire? Or perhaps it was neither which he hoped to escape, but instead something from which no amount of running would carry the man to safety. Something like memory... Something like... her...

"Thank you", she softly whispered, knowing he could effortlessly hear it. Twas not an expression of gratitude, simply for sparing Gabriel’s life; her voice had included a much deeper sense of gratefulness. The one of having a life given back, she was in his debt for what was left of it. When he spoke she had realized, as untamed fury began raging his eyes, that he undoubtedly had the terrible potency to act more than ruthless towards the foolish white haired one. She had steeled herself for an already decided fight once that beautifully twisted smile had graced his features. Yet he hadn’t done anything, and therefore, her respect for this being had grown even further. How easy it would have been to slay them both. Maybe they weren't worth it, and was more force needed for the cleanup afterwards than the kill.

Ilena couldn’t say that she wasn’t shaken up by his fiery gaze; she didn’t think anyone would be able to endure it with ease. And seeing as plainly turning away and hide certainly was not one of the options, especially not for someone as stubborn as she was and who valued her pride, the girl had solidly stared back and surrendered to those pools of inferno. Something strangely soothing did she detect in the bottomless depths of fire. No.. Perhaps it was merely her mind that made her see things, in an attempt at calming her in its own way.

An inaudible goodbye passed her lips. Then Ilena finally took her eyes away from his receding form, happy they would meet again, no matter what circumstances, and swiftly turned angrily towards Gabriel; her cerulean eyes blazed fire. But, luckily for the hunter, they were not nearly as intimidating as the much darker ones only moments ago.

"He was right you know. I relish in the blood of thine enemies." Gabriel chanted as he turned to look at Ilena. A smile crossed his face, as Ilena gaze hit him. He seemed unaffected, speaking after about 5 seconds. "A problem, Ilena?" Gabriel asked, tilting his head slightly to the left, in a questioning manner.

Flickering like the small fire perched upon the wick of a candle as it gutters in the last moments of life, while the last drop of wax is consumed was the vampire that passed away from that place of light and technology. He had walked to the door, but this time no hand was put out to force open the entrance to this sanctuary. Instead, like one of the members of a funeral parade, he had marched on silently, his haste turned to determination. As he came to the old wooden gates the man faltered not once. When any other human would have known that another step would cause a collision with those objects that blocked the path in a manner so obvious, this vampire continued. No sound, no meeting of flesh and cloth and tree occurred in that moment. It was as though he were simply an image cast upon the air, merely a shadow stretched from an unknown origin. So it was that the being who had entered with a stumble of fatigue exited that place with the grace and inexplicable speed that is so often attributed to the same angels that this building had painted upon its ceiling. Yet, it was obviously no messenger of God that had been sent them, or if he was, then he served from the darker realms of this world, for as he passed like smoke through the cracks of the door, shadows seemed to envelope the doorway from without. It was as though the night itself were reaching out its arms and embracing him, its child...

So it was that the creature left them... The bringer of death had gone from them not only having taken nothing, but instead leaving behind a life restored. An omen perhaps...? Or maybe just a lapse in the senses. It could easily have all been a dream, and how vague was the memory already of the strange being, and yet when one did not try to grasp the elusive thought, he was there, a desire in the mind, like that childhood memory you so long to relive but never can. And the fire that had been in his eyes... But he was gone, he was gone...

True sight... The machines which could see into even the realm of spirit gazed on, looking, watching, hunting for the last sight of the thing that had left the building. A dream it very well could have been, and how could it have been anything else, for they saw nothing, no soul, no body, no astral presence registered upon any of the many screens. Just the night shone back at them, only the night in all its dark glory, for the night hid from them its child. All the technology in the world would not have been able to find him. The being arcane had gone back to his world, back to the darkness that was his home, back to the womb which every sunset gave birth to him anew. It was in this element so ancient, that thing that had existed before even the advent of the human race, that thing which God in heaven saw fit to call 'night' that the creature became engulfed, or perhaps he had consumed that black nothingness which must daily devour the world in shadows. The vampire was once again home, that home that had concealed and loved him for over two millennium. No, he was not gone, for wheresoever the night might be, there was that nameless horror awaiting the call of fate, that cue which would tell him, "Now is the time. Enter onto this stage, and play your part."

"What I mean", she continued fiercely towards Gabriel, after the vampire had left in such an exceptionally anomalous way. Her brains still desperately tried to process the fact that he simply had walked -almost floated in her opinion- through those typically heavy oaken church doors. Until the day they would meet again, for whatever reason that might be. "Is", Ilena kept carrying on, her temper slowly starting to take over, "are you really dumb enough to say that to a being like him? Do you want to die or get tortured? Seriously", she huffed angrily at him and strode to the other side of the chamber.

Gabriel looked at Ilena, and a look of honest shock crossed it. "I'm not scared of death, or torture, for there is no pain i can not endure...but if it displeases you, i shall be more careful..." Gabriel said, as a smirk took over his features by force, "Shall i start forging you a silver weapon?" Gabriel asked, as he pressed a button and all the equipment needed appeared. Hammers, an anvil, a furnace, but no tongs...

She just coldly gazed back at his forced smile. Ilena didn't understand herself.. Did she care about him? Never had she thought that could happen, it wasn't as if she had a 'loved one' or anything. A gruff yes was the answer on his question at making a weapon worthy of hunting what they slayed. She stared at some spot on the ground, completely absorbed by her thoughts.

"What type of weapon would you prefer, i have many decades to perfect the art of making all weapons, including custom firearms..." Gabriel smiled as he went into a different room, he returned with a large silver cross, and he started to melt it down into molten silver, in the furnace.

"A blade I guess", she answered, now looking up to witness to how he created his weapons. But, the view of course wasn't really great from down the floor; Ilena clumsily got up, stuffing her clothes a bit. Churchfloor wasn't exactly the cleanest place to reside on. Still, it couldn't possible get worse than her so called 'house' she snickeringly thought. Did that place stink! Softly resonated her feet as she trippled over to Gabriel, wanting to watch how exactly he made these. "Where did you learn to do this?" Her voice full of awe upon seeing his skill at forging the weapon.

"I went to stay with the elves, and watched as they forged weapons with magic, and discovered 2 materials, Shadow Titanium, hard and strong, but incredibly light, and Brightsteel, light and strong, but more susceptile to magic attacks, meaning a wizard could shatter the blade...but not Shadow Titanium. I'm going to reinforce the blade with magic, like the elves, and Shadow Titanium." Gabriel said, as he drew the molten silver out of the forge, and he revealed a rock that had a black tint to it, and an ominous glow. He layed the molten silver on the table by leading it through moulds. He slowly poured water over the searing hot liquid, steam rising from its surface. When it was hard enough to work with, but still soft, he started to imbue the dark rock into the silver, before he started to form a blade.

"Wow", she whispered in amazement, did elves exist? A smile washed over her face at her imagination of how her, really her, sword was going to be. Such a strong object. No.. Not merely an object, it was a holy weapon.. Something that protects you, that fights for you. Even though it was 'only' metal, it seemed as if a whole being was slowly being forged to life. Born out of the onyx metal. The magic crackled along her frame. Fascinated, she followed every single movement Gabriel made. It was such a strange view.. She was completely absorbed by the spectacle, her eyes glued at the glowing metal.

Even with his superhuman speed, Gabriel was taking his time, he had learnt to be quick enough that the metal did not harden before he was finished, but to be slow enough he knew what he was doing. He spoke again now, to Ilena. "How long do you want the handle and blade? Do you want it to be a two handed sword, a short or longsword, or perhaps and Hand and a Half sword? Or, perhaps, a double edged sword, although the latter requires real skill..." Gabriel asked, as the last of the onyx coloured rock forged with the metal.

What theheck was he saying? An annoyed groan swiftly escaped her throat as she tried to think of possible meanings. "What's easiest?", she inquired, saving herself of embarassment. An irritated frown appeared on her forehead. "And do you happen to be able to teach me how to fight and use this?" Ilena was now chuckling. How ironical.. She got a blade, but had absolutely no clue as to how to use it, nor did she had the knowledge of the proper holding or grip on the handle. Tough she was very eager to learn, she suspected it would take years to master a sword. Especially for a human.. Even more so for her, who had never used any weapon except her small knife that now lay somewhere in the forest, if not in the carcass of the dead beast.