Official Duties Part Three

[butterflyslinky]

Title: Official Duties
Authors: butterflyslinky, ladydiskette, fuzzywezzy
Characters: Linkara, Rachel, Spoony, Ashens, Mike Michaud, OCs
Rating: R
Warnings: Language, violence
Summary: Linkara takes Rachel on her first mission.
Notes: Takes place in the Denny’s Court verse after “The Nice and Accurate Stories of Sursum Ursa, Witch.” Rachel created by achika_chan. Used by permission.

Part One | Part Two

Rachel tried to not show fear. Not in front of this vampire…in front of Linkara. Desperately, she glanced at the doctor and noticed that Ashens was becoming nervous, but not for the same reasons as she and Linkara were. He had developed the habit of checking his watch, but when he tried to take a step back and run away quietly, Rigel turned his attention on him. "Eh Doctor! Don't try to escape, you coward, or I'll kill her faster.”

Rigel started to strangle Rachel, who tried to wiggle out of grasp. Linkara was tightening his gun, ready to shoot, but he was distracted by the sound of Ashens falling over, bring down a table with him. Linkara wanted to turn around to see if the Ashens was alright, but that meant in losing eye contact with the vampire, which would have been the death of Rachel. Something horrific was happening behind him, judging not only from the sound of something peeling off and bones being cracked but also from Rigel's astonished face. He released his grip around Rachel's neck, allowing the young slayer to elbow the vampire in the stomach. She ran over to Linkara's side.

Something blurred past him, something completely unexpected. The sounds that were coming from behind him where from Ashens. The man's upper body was still human but his lower body had transformed into a sea serpent, with green scales and what looked like miniature wings, not big enough to use them for flight. Ashens jumped towards the vampire, using his tale to strangle his victim.

Linkara quickly put his hands in front of Rachel's eyes to shield her from the gruesome killing; he too closed his eyes when it became too unbearable for him. The body of the vampire thumped on the floor.

"Give me your stake slayer, now," ordered Ashens to Linkara. He threw the stake at Ashens, who directly insert it in the vampire's rib cage, precisely where the heart was. The vampire turned into dust.

Linkara stared at the doctor while holding Rachel, who looked on with more shock and horror than Linkara at that moment. The doctor turned around, his head lowered and his serpent eyes averting their stares.

“Please,” he began. “Don't run away...I'm sorry, it’s just...I thought he was going to kill her and...she saved my life, I couldn't just stand there and do nothing...I...I should have told you two sooner...I'm a…I'm a freak of nature.”

Linkara managed to find his voice. “I'm the Vampire Lord's Consort. There's no such thing as a freak of nature in my world.”

Rachel, too had managed to recover. “Thank you for saving me,” she squeaked.

Ashens smiled weakly. “You’re welcome...it’s the least I could do...I know I have to explain myself...” He ran a hand over his eyes.

“What are you?” Linkara asked.

"I am a water sprite,” Ashens answered. “Cursed to take to this form every Saturday for punishing my father who betrayed and abandoned my mother"

Linkara swallowed heavily. “What did you do?”

Ashens took a deep breath before answering. "My siblings and I took revenge on our father when we learned the truth. For us, breaking a promise is an unthinkable act. So we locked him up in mountain with his riches. When our mother learned of this, she was enraged. She cursed me into this form".

Rachel gasped quietly. “Oh...I'm sorry.” She bit her lip. “Is there anything we can do?”

Ashens shook his head. “No, it’s my burden to carry. I was the one most angry at our father for leaving and betraying our mother, and I was the brainchild behind the whole thing that sealed the deed. It’s only right, it seems, that I face the consequences and pay for my actions.” Rachel could see tears in his eyes and her heart went out to him.

Linkara studied him closely before he spoke. “You said you had siblings, what happened to them?”

Ashens shook his head. "They stayed at the island where our mother took us after we were betrayed."

Linkara looked more confused. “But how did you end up here in the city?”

Ashens smiled a bit more. "It is a very long story. Back in the 17th century, I met a noblewomen who had accidentally killed her uncle while hunting boars. I helped her concealed her deed. We got married pretty soon afterwards on the condition that must never see me on a Saturday. She agreed and we lived peacefully for many years until she grew suspicious of me and she broke our promise. I ran away from the castle, going to England. I boarded the Mayflower to America, once there I learned the art of medicine as a way to redeem myself.”

Linkara stared. “Wow.”

Rachel approached him carefully, sympathy written all across her face. “How long have you hid this from the world?” she asked. “It must be so hard to keep a secret when walking among other humans and even working alongside them.”

Ashens shrugged. "It is easy to conceal oneself when you only involuntarily transformed one day a week. People saw it as an eccentric request and I had learned how to anticipate, becoming more sneaky"

Linkara nodded. “Well, that's good...I guess. But why haven't we ever seen you around the Court? We should at least have you on record and we don't.”

"I passed myself as a human,” Ashens answered. “Never did anything to make myself noticeable." He looked over at the pile of dust "This was the first time in a long time since I did anything like this" He slithered over to a corner, hoping the shadows would engulf him. “I'm not a horrible person...really...I just...to see what they did...they hurt innocent people.” There were tears in his eyes again. “People that I worked with that I had finally called my friends....my...family...”

Rachel swallowed heavily. “It's okay...it's okay. I killed someone, too...oh my God, I killed someone...” Her breath grew shallow as the realization hit her and she reeled, suddenly feeling sick again. Linkara hurried to catch her.

“Let’s calm down here...” he said, holding Rachel. Suddenly, he heard the sound of sirens and went over to the side of a window peering out carefully. Apparently a SWAT Team had gathered up around the building with police and paramedics. “Dammit...” Linkara muttered. “Okay, Doctor Ashens, go out the back door and get as far away as possible. We'll be in touch.”

Ashens nodded and started slinking through the shadows.

Rachel clutched the front of Linkara’s shirt. “Linkara, what do we do?”

Linkara patted her gently. “Don't panic,” he told her. “Remember, first job as a slayer is to ensure the mortal world and the supernatural world have little interaction with each other as possible. We will get out through the back and let the police take care of it from here...I know a guy....” He grabbed Rachel but she stopped and looked back at Ashens, who was still in his snake form hiding in the corner.

Rachel lowered her voice. “But, Linkara, what about him?”

“He'll be fine, he's good at avoiding detection and he knows this hospital,” Linkara answered. “We'll deal with him later. Now come on!”

Rachel was still a little concerned and wanted Dr. Ashens to go with them, but she finally relented and followed her teacher out the back. Linkara took her to the street and hailed a cab. He gave her some money as he pushed her inside. “Go back to the manor and tell Spoony what happened as concisely as you can,” he ordered. “I'll deal with procedure here.”

Rachel nodded. “Okay...” She hesitated. “And...”

“I'll take care of him,” Linkara promised. “Tell Spoony what he told us and I'll bring him back later. Now go!”

“All right.” She hugged him briefly before telling the cab driver where to go. Linkara watched the cab leave and headed back to the hospital.

It didn’t take long for Linkara to locate Police Chief Michaud, who was waiting for him, looking very pissed off. “Okay, Linkara, you'd better have one hell of an explanation for this one,” Michaud growled.

Linkara shrugged. “Terrorists?”

Michaud raised his eyebrows. “Wanting what?”

Linkara bit his lip. “Ummm, what terrorists usually want, crazy demands...or just crazy in the head. Look, I’ve got the situation under control here.”

Michaud snorted. “Under control? Linkara, how many people in that hospital actually survived?”

Linkara thought. “Six? Counting me and Rachel.”

Michaud groaned. “Six out of five hundred isn't ‘under control.’”

Linkara sighed in exasperation. “Look, at least the hostages are out and safe okay, that is what I care about.

“After everyone else in there was slaughtered!” Michaud cried. “Hardly what I'd call a success!”

Linkara glared at him. “I did what I could in there. The ‘terrorists’ are dead and no one got killed that shouldn't have been killed. Now it’s your call.”

“Lots of people got killed when they shouldn't have been,” Michaud corrected. “But fine. We'll clean all this up, shall we? Make sure your people aren't exposed...come up with more lies to cover up for you.”

“That would be nice, yes,” Linkara said. “Remember, we still have a deal, Michaud, we keep affairs of the supernatural away from affairs of the human world, or at least try to.”

Michaud’s glared grew more angry. “‘Try to’ didn't stop those two missing people last year…”

Linkara cut him off. “Michaud…don't...just don't...” He didn’t need to hear about that right now.

Michaud threw up his hands. “Fine, fine. And I suppose the girl isn't to be mentioned in my report? Your sister, or so you call her?”

Linkara nodded. “That would be appreciated. I don't think she needs to be in court just yet.”

Michaud sighed. “Fine...I will get the SWAT team to go in and do clean up...any....weird anomalies in there have been taken care for before they go in I assume...?”

“Just vampire dust, but that can be put down to bad ventilation or something,” Linkara said. “Shouldn't be anything else.” He had already spotted the shadowy figure darting out the door and disappearing into an alleyway. Fortunately, Michaud was too busy berating him.

“Okay good,” Michaud snapped. “Just making your job easier...” He began to walk away, but he stopped and then looks over his shoulder. “Though, it would be nice if you return the favor once in a while.” With that, Michaud walked away to talk to his team.

Linkara let out a deep sigh and headed over to the alleyway. He found Ashens cowering in the shadows, waiting for the police to be gone. “Come with me,” Linkara hissed. “Stay quiet, keep to the shadows. It's not too far.”

“Thank you...” Ashens whispered. He slithered close to Linkara. They moved quickly through the back alleys until they got to the area of the city under the complete control of the Court. Linkara led Ashens back to the manor and they headed straight for Spoony's office, where Rachel had just finished giving her report. Her face broke into a relieve smile as she ran over and hugged the doctor, happy that he was all right.

Spoony raised his eyebrows. “Who is this?’

“Doctor Ashens, water sprite, specialist from the hospital,” Linkara answered promptly. “Killed a vampire saving Rachel. I was going to get him in the files”

Spoony studied Ashens closely. “A water sprite? Looks more like a…creature than a sprite...I take it you're from the hospital my Slayer was doing his mission at, correct?”

Ashens nodded. “Yes sir...I was there. Linkara and Rachel rescued me and several others from the vampires. One had managed to still live and took her hostage the exact moment I…well, transformed into this as you see here.”

“And you saved the life of the Slayer's Apprentice,” Spoony said. “Impressive. And we're very grateful, I'm sure.”

Ashens shrank under the Vampire Lord’s gaze. “Please understand, though I don't like to kill things...I'm a doctor. I prefer to save them if I can.”

Spoony smiled. “Understood, though this isn't a place where killing rogue vampires is seen as a fault. If anything, you'll probably be hailed as a hero once border patrol comes off duty...and after I'm done berating them for letting rogues into the city.”

“Um...t-thank you,” Ashens said. “But it’s not necessary.” He hesitated. “Do you have a bath somewhere where I can wash the blood off? It feels very...uncomfortable.”

“Of course, of course,” Spoony said. “Rachel, take Dr. Ashens upstairs and get him clean clothes...I'm sure we have some that will fit somewhere.”

Rachel nodded. “Okay.” She turned to the doctor. “Come on, hopefully we can find a bath large enough to fit you...” She took his hand and led him out of Spoony's office.

As soon as they were gone, Spoony turned to Linkara. “No idea how they got past the patrols?”

Linkara shook his head. “I had the leader in my grasp about to talk, but he used a Eucharist wafer as a cyanide capsule before I could make him say anything.”

Spoony sighed. “Of course he did. If something got in, that means they either used the same tunnels Ama and Dr. Linksano used, or were that crafty to not alert the patrol men.....”

“I've sealed the tunnels off,” Linkara answered. “They must have been extremely well-prepared to avoid border patrol.”

Spoony stood up from his chair and paced around the room. “If a bunch of renegade vampires came in, it could only mean two things. One, someone was sleeping on the job or two, there is a glitch in the spell.”

Linkara sighed. “There IS a glitch in the spell. I told you that months ago. That why we HAVE a border patrol.”

Spoony turned and slammed his hand on the desk. “And you saw how well that worked out! We need to investigate and figure out what is going on with the Threshold. Maybe have Roses or Nella and their coven look into it.”

Linkara glared. “Spoony, I have every magic-worker in the city looking into it and preparing to fix it. But it takes time--months! We need to increase the patrols.”

Spoony sighed. “Fine. Get out the map.”

Linkara pulled a map of the city out of the cabinet and laid it on the desk, grabbing a pen. “Let's see...the current patrols are here, here, here...” He marked the places he indicated.

Spoony leaned over. “We will focus on this area here since its more open.”

Linkara nodded. “Right...who do we have who we can put on the patrols?”

Spoony thought. “We have Team Four Star this week…”

“Yeah, I know,” Linkara said. “They're already covering the north and east sides of town. 90's Kid and Jaeris cover the south side, and Jillian and Lisa cover the west side...clearly we need someone to just make general circles all over the entire city.”

Spoony thought some more. “What about Smarty?” he asked.

*

Meanwhile, Rachel took Ashens to a large bedroom with an attached bathing area. “I hope this will be fine,” she said with a small smile.

“It will have to do,” Ashens said. “Thank you.” He studied her closely. “I try to keep track of the Court, even if they don't keep track of me...you must be the Slayer's sister.”

Rachel blushed. “Um, sort of, yeah. Not by blood or anything. How do you know about the court first, if you don't mind me asking?”

“Who hasn't heard about Lord Spoony's court?” Ashens asked. “All folk of the supernatural who comes to live here knows about that vampire court. I resided in this city before Spoony's reign and I notice the difference between him and his predecessors. They come to live in his city because he created a more safe space for them, a balance. Before that the city was more dangerous that it is now.”

Rachel bit her lip. “I...I didn't know that the city was ever more dangerous...I was always told that Spoony's the most dangerous vampire the Order has ever seen.”

Ashens nodded. “That was why I tried to keep myself hidden, I had never been around vampires before until this night and didn't want to make the mistake of doing or saying anything that would anger him...but...he does seem like a fair man now that I've met him.”

Rachel hesitated. “He is...fair, I suppose...but he still terrifies me.”

Ashens looked sheepish at her. “Do...do I terrify you in this form as well? You can be honest with me.”

Rachel shook her head. “I'm not afraid of monsters...I can't be, not in my business. Spoony doesn't frighten me because he's a vampire. He frightens me because he has control over me...and I know he wouldn't hesitate to use that if I angered him.”

Ashens nodded absently. “Oh, well, it’s nice to know that I don't terrify people....I don't think.”

Rachel noticed he looked incredibly sad. “Does it bother you?” she asked.

Ashens shrugged. “At one time it did. Remember, I was called out in front of an entire crowd of nobles. I was humiliated and made a freakshow for all those humans to see. I started a new life in this continent. I'm not bothered as much but the pain is still there.”

Rachel smiled at him. “I'm sorry...but you're safe in this house. In fact, of all the people I've met in this freakshow of a city, you're one of the nicest, most down-to-earth ones.”

Ashens smiled back. “Thank you. The memory is still painful but...seeing you and Linkara being kind to me helps it go away.”

“We do our best,” she said. “Let me know if you need anything else...I'd better go back downstairs and get my epic chewing-out for not killing that last vampire.” She turned and went back to the office.

Ashens smiled and closed the door behind him, slithering over to the bath. It was large, hopefully enough to provide some wiggle room. He removed the blood-stained clothes and doctor's coat and dived into the warm water, washing the rest of the blood out of his hair. He gently slithered around, thinking back to when he was a little boy, when he and his sisters would frolic about in the water as babies, jumping and playfully splashing each other with their tails as their mother bathed them. Until that fateful day they were caught. He wondered if he would ever see his sisters again or even still, were they still alive at all.