FicWad

Chapter 22



As plans were being made, Jean-Claude took Ryuu aside, and had a word with him. "Ryuu, before we go into this, I need to ask you about where you stand with Teresa,"said Jean-Claude.

"I despise her," he said, "and yet, there is something inside that wants to connect to her."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, she was not my mother, yet, what entered into me when I sinned was her child. That is what she wants."

"Why does she then claim all vampires as her children?"

"Because I was the first, and made everything else, she claims them."

"Was it you, or what resides in you?"

"I'm not sure-maybe both."

"Does that spirit reside in all vampires?"

"No, because what is now is so distant from what was that there is no way that it could be so."

"Why is that?"

"It almost seems that what is vampire has tried to purify itself. The creation of the pure bloods through my will, and not that spirit, was almost an act of defiance to that spirit. I hoped that it could create a great enough rift to fight the status quo."

"It looks like you have succeeded to some extent."

"Well, there is a greater goal in that, and for me."

"How so?"

"I'm talking about salvation for our kind."

Jean-Claude thought about it for a moment, and tried to recall something that he had heard ages ago as a fairy tale, but he was not sure that it could ever come to anything. Then he thought about the twins, and he took a chance. He then told Ryuu all of what Bear Fang had told him, and Ryuu's eyes lit up. Then tears began to flow hot and heavy. "Jean-Claude," said Ryuu, "What do you know of the Golconda?"

"That was the term I was thinking of!"said Jean-Claude as he snapped his fingers.

"Do you realize that your children have become this?" said Ryuu.

Jean-Claude looked at him in amazement, and Jean-Claude said, "Is that what Teresa fears?"

"Not exactly," said Ryuu, "But let me fill you in on this state of being."

They sat down as Ryuu spun his tale, "Not long after I was marked, God told me that the only way out of this state was to achieve Golconda, which means 'a treasure filled mine.' For a vampire, this is indeed the case. For me, this meant being able to purge out of my system that which Teresa used to corrupt me-her own evil spawn. How I do that, well, I've tried for centuries, and I have yet to achieve this. As the centuries passed, I did all I could to try to get our kind to achieve this, yet, because none of us have achieved this, it has become a myth and a fairy tale, if it is even spoken of anymore. Even I have disparaged at gaining this state."

"What would this state be like?" asked Jean-Claude.

"Imagine, if you will," said Ryuu, "a state of vampiric being, where one only needs to feed once a month, if that, where one would never go into bloodlust, and have the ability to use blood far beyond what even I can now. Imagine astate where the beast within is chained away forever, and never has any rulership over the vampire. This is the state of which I speak, and the state that your children have achieved."

"How could this have happened?" asked Jean-Claude in amazement.

"It's simple," said Ryuu, "Your children came to be out of a miracle. They came to be outside the means of a vampire, in that, they came from those who should not have been able to make offspring, by the means of a blood that is out of Teresa's control, and are thus free of my taint. Teresa cannot control them no matter what she does. She figures that it is best to be rid of them before they become something far greater, and before they realize who and what they are. They could lead all vampires to be able to either become this way, or have their offspring this way. The new fount of psyche was also not supposed to be, but she is. Her blood could cause future offspring to be free of the taint, because, if they came to be by that blood, then they are also free from Teresa. For me to achieve this would be to destroy her only true offspring, and thus, she could lose us all. In fact, this leads me to something about you of which you may not be aware."

"You have my attention," said Jean-Claude,"Please go on."

"The reason why you are so powerful for adhampir," said Ryuu, "is because you, by the part of you that his human, have become a child of the Almighty by His Son. This also was not supposed to happen. However, because you did, THE Blood removed that taint. This is why she cannot control you, and she has another reason to fear you. Because of your freedom from my taint, it could not cohere with whatever may be in your wife, if anything, and thus, my taint could not be passed to them. If you were a pure blood, it could be said that you have already achieved Golconda. Yet, that is only for pure bloods, and yet, some of that has rubbed off on you. Because you have the best of both worlds, and because of the lack of the taint, you have become far more powerful than what you thought was possible. Your children could make our kind acceptable, and then they could achieve that for which you have prayed."

Jean-Claude sat there stunned. Everything he had ever hoped for lie in his two children and all because he decided to have faith in God that it could happen. He then said, "What about you, Ryuu? Could she still corrupt you?"

"That is a possibility," he answered, "and that is why it may not be advisable for me to be at the mock wedding that you are planning."

"Why is that?"

"She would commandeer me, and then counterattack your plans."

"We could use your expertise."

"Leave that to your children. They may be able to act instinctively. Besides, I do believe that there is a good area in the woods near a Shinto shrine. They are sensitive to movements in the supernatural, and they would make a great barometer."

"What do I do?"

"Let your foot soldiers handle the bokor, and you should be the one to deal with her, because she cannot control you."

Jean-Claude let that sink in, because he wanted to take the time to formulate how to entrap, and then stop, the actions of their foes.



As they went back inside, planning was going on. Chiyuki and Bear Fang were consulting one another, and Bear Fang said, "Chiyuki has brought up a great point, and it concerns your twins."

"I fear that if they get near Teresa,"said Chiyuki, "she could end up controlling them, not knowing how to defend her attacks."

"Ryuu assures me that this is not possible," said Jean-Claude, "They do not possess the taint that befell him when he fell. He even suggests that they come, because they may be able to help in things."

"While I trust the patriarch here," said Bear Fang, "I still feel concerned that she may kidnap them and kill them outright."

"They could be the useful rouge factor as well," said Jean-Claude, "And, oddly enough, there may be something to this. This may seem odd to say, but, Iwould rather they die than be left to flounder, never knowing what they are, or what they could do. Right now, it's all or nothing."

"That's not exactly wise, Jean-san," said Chiyuki, "because so much hope rides on them. Nevertheless, know this: because you and your Clan have provided more hope for me than I ever could have hoped, I swear my fealty to you, to protect those children no matter what, even at the cost of my life. Behold your handmaiden."

Jean-Claude watched her bow, and he was amused how things looked. He remembered times in the Bible where men had tried to offer worship to mortal men, and they all refused the gesture, lest it be though by God that they rob Him of that which only He deserves. Thus, he said, "I accept your kind gesture, but, stand to thy feet, and see thou doest it not, for I am as thou, and am no God. Standeth thou by my side as my peer and equal, and together we shall smite the enemy upon the cheek."

Karin, to be cute, added, "Forgetest thou not thy jawbone of the ass!"

That got a large laugh, and Ai moved in close to Ryuu. "Do they stand a chance?"

"Do we have a choice?" asked Ryuu, "If they fail, all is lost."



In the meantime, ideas were being kicked about. Chief War Bat said, "One thing is for sure, it needs to be open air."

"You sayin' you wanna catch 'em out in the open?" asked Old Jim.

"Being out in the open would be best,"said the chief, "because we will have more mobility for the fight. We may even be able to divide them in the woods, and take out any numbers advantage they may have."

"Where do you have in mind," said Clarice.

They looked at an old map of the forest outside of Tokyo, they found aShinto shrine there, and it was still in operation. They found a cleared area in the midst of the forest not a mile from that shrine, and it looked like the perfect spot for the wedding. Bear Fang then said, "It would be good to see what kind of help we could get from the shrine, because they are psychic barometers, and if something evil tried to move in, they could give us that moment of time we need to act."

"The whole of the Clan will be there," said Jean-Claude, "because we are going to need all the help we can get."

They examined the area, looking for defendable points, escape routes, areas into which to push the battle, and formulated a five point contingency plan: wait for the enemy to attack, strike from all directions-front and back, eliminate the bokor, rally at the shrine, prepare for attack against Teresa, and anything she might have in reserve. When Yuriya protested about the twins, he reminded her that the safest place for the both of them would be in the best-defended area, and that would be the mock wedding. Besides, they would be the best bait. It would be the best thing to draw out the entirety of the foe at once, and if not kill them all, and then weaken them for a later blow. Chiyuki looked at the plan, and said, "You don't have any idea how powerful she is, do you?"

"She does not frighten me..." Jean-Claude tried to say, but Chiyuki put a hand on his mouth, and said, "You know she cannot hurt you, so knowing how powerful she is, is meaningless to you! However, for those who do not possess the kind of faith that you do would have problems. She could speak a word, and evaporate all that were in front of her."

Jean-Claude thought for a moment, and said, "If it should come to contact with her, and it should be that I cannot be there, then I will take some precautions. For security reasons, I'll let you know what they are when the time comes. However, no matter how hopeless things are, we cannot give up hope that all will be well."

As they spoke, everyone began to focus on the conversation, and Jean-Claude took the opportunity to instill more confidence in them. He said, "Let me share a story from World War II that might help you understand my optimism."

Everyone listened as he explained, "During the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans were trying one last counter offensive against the allied line. Because of poor weather conditions, air support was impossible, and the Germans seemed to be getting the upper hand. At one point, the 101st Airborne Division of the United States was completely surrounded, and the Germans were prepared to slaughter the lot of them. However, the German commander, Generalleutnant"Heinrich Freiherr von L