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The General's Crusnik	By : vbruce Category: +S to Z > Trinity Blood Views: 4086 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Trinity Blood. All rights, proceeds and monies go to the original creator. Making no cash from writing this. It's just for fun.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
Abel sat at the table, carefully eating his food as he tried to organize his thought on how he wanted to start this conversation. "Um, Seth? When you closed up the station, after I left with Lilith's body, did you do anything other than close it? Like strip it of information?"
Seth leaned back in her chair and looked at Abel thoughtfully. "What exactly are you looking for, Abel? Maybe I can tell you if I have it."
"Any files that the scientists and military kept on myself, Cain, and anyone named Adam and Eve." Even though he had a feeling Eve probably took everything she could about herself. "Apparently, the military or the scientists programmed Cain to be the megalomaniac that we love to hate now, and I need to know about any triggers they might have put in me."
"Honestly, there wasn't much left in the data bases, Abel. It was like someone went through and wiped everything out."
He sighed. "Gods, I hope Cain didn't get his hands on that." He paused and tilted his head. "Unless Lilith did, to keep the information out of our hands."
"I don't think it was Cain. The passcodes used were the primary ones installed for the project. Had to be someone on the top of the food chain for them to have that."
He frowned. "I don't think any of the humans would, not unless they were moving to another station or base to restart the Crusnik project, but why would they do that *then* when they had plenty of time to do that before." He glanced at Lucien. "Do you think Eve might have gotten aboard the station trying to locate us again?"
"It's entirely possible. She'd breached it before," Lucien said.
"Okay, exactly who is Eve?"
"She was one of the original two prototypes of the Crusnik project. The other was named Adam." Abel offered Seth a wry grin. "Lilith was originally created to replace Eve when the humans decided that she wasn't going to be as complacent as they wanted. Adam and Eve's original concept was simply to breed the Crusniks."
Seth blinked. "Does that mean we were supposed to have parents?"
Abel nodded. "I think so. At least from what Lucien has managed to find out about it. Only, Eve wasn't happy just lying there, drugged, while they experimented on her. Especially when she found out she was going to be replaced. So, she broke out, killed everyone, and later when she found out she had children, she came looking." He licked his lips. "That's about the time the humans decided I should be given to Lilith as a breeding partner and they created you for Cain."
"I see," Seth said. "Interesting. I'd always wondered about that when Lilith told me. So, I'm guessing that Lilith and I were space junk."
Abel snorted and reached out to take her hand. "No, you're my *sister*. I don't care about where your genetics came from, and I'm going to make sure that if I find Eve, I'm going to introduce you to her." He smiled. "Believe me, I would rather have you as my twin than Cain, but if we shared genetics, then I couldn't give you any children of your own."
"I know that, silly Abel. It was never that important to me anyway. Not like it was to you. I really wish the drives hadn't been wiped. Maybe we could find something that would help then."
"Seth, did you find anything else on the station? Any papers that would have been out of place? Paper files and such?" Lucien asked, thinking he might have remembered something being said about a back up system.
Abel glanced at Lucien before he thought back about what he remembered about the station. "I wonder if our old codes would work on recovering any of that information. I know mine worked in stopping the Star of Sorrow before activating the self destruct sequence."
"It's possible," Lucien said. "Especially if they worked before on the lost tech."
Seth was frowning, still thinking. "Well, to answer your question, General, I didn't exactly find files or anything but I did find something odd. Abel, do you remember Ragoczy, the crazy old guy who did our weekly checks and such?"
He nodded. "Always seemed a bit too free with his hands to me, like he got a thrill at being able to touch me wherever he wanted knowing I couldn't snap back, like a human teasing a wild animal."
Seth looked at Lucien. "He was also so nutty he was a squirrel's wet dream. Do you remember that MASSIVE book he lugged around everywhere?"
"That giant thing that we use to joke was a mad sorcerer's spellbook because it reminded me some mystical tome?" Abel nodded. "I had fantasies about ripping that thing up in front of him, page by page, and hold each one over a candle as he watched, helpless."
"Yeah, well, I've got it. And it very well might be a mad sorcerer’s spell book because it makes no sense. There are all these weird symbols all over the pages, jumbled up strings of numbers, and about half the pages are blank."
Lucien's eyebrows went up slightly. "Do you know where it is off hand, Seth?"
Abel's mind started whirling. "Maybe those blank pages aren't blank. I've heard of something called 'invisible ink' that shows up under certain spectrum of light. Catarina was grumbling about some one day when she had to write a report for Francesco. She said she wanted some just to drive him mad when he got the report only to be unable to read it."
"Hmmm. I knew of him. I doubt it was invisible ink the way you'd think of it, Abel," Lucien said. "Did it smell like lemons when you opened it, Seth?"
Seth blinked owlishly at him. "Actually, I think it might have. Why?"
"See if you can find it. I'll almost wager if it's what I think it is, the rest of it is code."
"Code? For the information he scribbled in it?" Abel asked, looking at Lucien. "DO you think he kept a physical record of us in that monstrous book of his?"
"We'll only know if I'm correct but it is feasible. He was one of the original scientists on the project when Adam and Eve were there. He just happened to be off station when Eve destroyed everyone."
"Which explains why he was allowed so close to the rest of us despite appearing crazy enough for a padded room. He worked on the originals and knew how we were supposed to work based off of them."
"That would be a safe bet, Abel," Lucien said.
Seth bounced up from her chair. "Hang on, I'll go get it. I've had it sealed for ages so nothing got damaged just in case it turned out to be something important."
Abel tilted his head, another thought crossing his mind. "She said that it was the original codes that erased the files. He was one of the original scientists. Maybe *he* erased the files in the computer to keep them out of our hands, afraid of another Eve incident, while Cain and Lilith faced off. Lilith would have bought the humans enough time to evacuate if she could. It was at least four hours before Seth and I went after Cain because he told us the negotiations would only take about two hours."
"Again, quite possible. He might have left the book for further use, thinking no one would look twice at it since it would seem to be jibberish."
He nodded. "Perhaps as either a code to restoring the files if Lilith proved successful in returning us to them, or even where he hid the files themselves." Abel shook his head. "Above everything else, he was a *scientist* and they hoard information worse than Midas ever did gold."
"That is true indeed. Are you all right, my beauty?"
He nodded before smiling. "I'm still going to need those journals." He licked his lips. "It's a bit overwhelming but also exciting in a way. Like a mental problem or a puzzle that we're slowly gathering the information and clues on."
"True," Lucien laughed. "Though if my theory is correct, we'll have to be very careful dealing with the blank pages."
"All right. We can decipher it after breakfast. Maybe take over a spare room with a lot of paper and pens plus whatever else we need."
Seth came back into the room, lugging a book that had to weigh as much as she did and plunked it onto the table.
"Well, at least he had good taste in journals," Lucien said, eyeing the well tooled leather cover on the book.
Unable to help it, Abel started laughing. "It looks just like I remember. All that's needed is some ancient man with a long beard in robes and a peaked hat bending over it muttering about arcane things while a cauldron bubbles away nearby."
"I refuse to grow a beard,” Lucien said. "I do have the peaked hat and cauldron though."
"Seth, mind if we take over an empty room or even steal a bunch of paper and pens to work on this after breakfast?" inquired Abel.
"Sure. Go for it. I'm curious about your theory of the blank pages though, General."
Abel nodded as well. "What do lemons have to do with blank pages?"
"If I'm correct, you'll see," Lucien said, leafing carefully through the book to one of the blank pages. He dug in one pocket and took out the lighter he used for his cigars. He lit it and very slowly and carefully moved the flame close to the paper.
"General, I think the paper is burning, it's turning brown on this side," Seth said.
"It isn't burning. Look closer," Lucien said.
Abel gasped as letters started appearing.
"Invisible ink!"
"Yes. Very old version of it. Lemon juice."
"And it shows up for heat instead of light?" Abel found himself fascinated as more letters started slowly appearing.
"Yes. It's an old military trick. Especially in places like the Mediterranean and middle east where lemons were plentiful. Sometimes milk was used as well."
"And he appeared crazy enough that no one would question why some pages in his book were blank, not realizing he had hidden information on them."
"He probably wasn't actually crazy, I think it was more of a hide in plain sight ploy for him."
Abel laughed. "It worked. I know I never wanted to hang around him if I had the choice."
"I'm certain that was the whole point."
He looked at the brown letters. "Will they stay now that they've been exposed or will they vanish when the page cools down again?"
"They'll stay. It was only a one shot deal usually. Used to get messages from one place to another without suspicion."
Abel nodded before grinning at Seth. "Should I start expecting letters that I need a lighter to read?" he teased.
"Possibly," she said, grinning. "I certainly would have never figured that out."
"Neither would I, and I was supposed to be the security expert."
"That's probably why he did it this way. It's a lost art," Lucien said. He pulled the lighter away and let the page cool down a bit before flipping through to some of the other pages. "These look like simple number codes," he said, pointing out the strings of seemingly random numbers.
Abel nodded. "Substitute a number for a letter. I remember that one. Probably has the code on one of the blank pages."
"Or it was all in his head," Lucien said. "Some of these others though . . . We may have to consult his Majesty on them."
"It will be an interesting problem until then, and we can copy everything out of the journal in case something happens to it."
"True. Seth, do you have small heat lamps so we can do the blank pages without fear of setting the entire thing ablaze?"
"I think I can find those for you."
Abel grinned. "The notary is going to love us. We'll be buying out his supply in paper, pens, and journals."
Seth laughed. "Providing Lucien doesn't distract him discussing books."
"Well that's perfectly acceptable," Abel remarked, digging back in to his breakfast. "Lucien and he can talk books, and I'll find what we need in his shop."
"Thank you, General. We would have never figured that out if you hadn't been here," Seth said, tucking in to her own breakfast.
"it was a simple thing."
"But something we were ignorant on," Abel remarked with a smile. "And no matter how teasing of a puzzle that book is, I am going to drag you outside for at least one picnic while we're here."
"Agreed, my beauty. Seth, weren't you wanting to discuss something with my lovely here?"
Abel shifted his attention to Seth. "What is it?" he asked, a bit concerned.
"I want a child."
He nodded, letting his eyes drop. "All right," he agreed before looking at her again. "It's hard for me to see you as anything but my little sister, but I can try to get around that to give you a child."
Seth sighed. "There are other ways of doing that besides taking me to bed, Abel," Seth pointed out. "You'll just have to milk him for me, General," she said with an evil smile.
At that mental image, Abel's face turned bright red and he groaned, dropping his face into his hands.
Lucien laughed. "I shall do my best, dear Empress."
"Don't mind me. I'll just die of embarrassment right now," groaned Abel, the tips of his ears red.
"Oh, don't be such a whiner," Seth said. "Or we could always hook him up to one of the milking machines for cows and goats."
That got a napkin thrown at her.
Lucien roared with laughter at that. "I hardly think you'll get thirty gallons from him."
"If she did, she'd have plenty of children for the next several centuries," Abel sighed, shaking his head.
"Obviously," Lucien said.
"So, you'll do it then, Abel?" Seth asked, trying not to sound overly hopeful.
"Yes I will, Seth," he stated, smiling at her. "I promised I would, and at the time, I was hoping to get over the mindset I had for you because that was the only way I knew of to create children. But before we leave, I will be happy to provide you with the means to have a child."
Seth was out of her chair and hugging Abel so hard she could have sworn she heard his bones creak. "Thank you!"
He smiled and hugged her back. "You've been an excellent mother to the Methuselah. It's time for you to have some you can call your own." He kissed her hair. "I'd like to be a part of their lives, even if it's only by letters if that's okay?"
"You'd better bring your ass back here and hold my hand through labor, buster," Seth threatened.
He laughed. "All right, but that means you're going to have to keep me updated on everything."
"Of course. The General has the satellite phone. We can keep in touch that way."
"All right. Start this evening? That way we can relax and just be ourselves while you try to start a child?"
"Sounds like a plan."
Abel glanced at Lucien. "Is that all right with you?"
"I have no objections."
Abel smiled and leaned over to gently kiss Lucien, still holding Seth.
"If I may make a request, dear empress," Lucien said.
"Sure. What did you need?"
"It's more a request on Abel's behalf than anything."
That got a faint blush from Abel but he continued watching them, curious to know what Lucien was up to.
"I'd like for whatever children you and Abel have together to spend at least part of the year with us. Even if it's only summers."
"Are you sure, Lucien? I know how much your privacy means to you."
"You shouldn't miss out on being a father, Abel."
He smiled, a bit nervous. "Even if I don't have a clue what to do?"
"No one ever does have a clue, Abel. It isn't as though child rearing comes with a manual. Add to it that Natalie and Jeanette will make much of them and spoil them rotten and Nicholas will teach them things they shouldn't know about being rebellious. It would be a happy disaster."
"I think I can deal with that,” Seth said.
Abel nodded. "I'll trust all of you to make sure I don't screw up." He glanced at Lucien. "When we head home, are we going past Albion or Japan?"
"Albion first. Didn't you say you had orphans to pick up?"
He nodded with a smile. "They might not trust you at first, but it's hard for them to trust any adult after what Dr. Barrie did to them."
"Hardly surprising, all things considered."
He glanced at Seth. "Would Seth Nightlord, medical student, be willing to go with us and check them over? Peter said he was luckier than the other failed experiments in that he lived."
Seth beamed at him. "She certainly would. If there are others, I know there are some people here who would love to have children."
"There are a lot of orphans in Albion's Ghetto," Abel confessed. "Part of my pay from the Vatican went to helping the orphanages."
"Does Esther know about this?" she asked with a slight frown.
"I don't know if she does or not," Abel confessed. "It depends on what her people have told her about it. I know because I helped some of the Methuselah in Albion before I ran into Catarina. It's also how I was able to hide Wendy, Peter, and the other Neverland orphans."
"I'll talk to her about it. I'm sure she'd want them out of there too."
Abel smiled. "Thank you."
"We have such a low birthrate here," she said, turning to explain to Lucien. "We get only a handful of children in a decade. That's why they're precious."
"I can certainly see why."
"Then you'll be able to clean out the orphanages with little trouble," Abel remarked, shaking his head. "For some reason, the Albion Methuselah have no trouble with birthing children, but considering almost all of them work in the Lost Tech factories, they also have a shorter life expectancy."
"Hmm. We'll have to look into that as well," Seth said.
"If nothing else, I'll bring it to Esther's attention while we're there. She might be able to help improve things. Especially since Lost Tech is Albion's main source of political power."
Lucien chuckled to himself for a moment.
Abel glanced at Lucien, before he shrugged. Yes, the True Vampires had much more in the way of Lost Tech, but they usually kept to themselves.
"Remind me to show you what we're getting you back for your child's birth in when we get home."
That got a nod. "All right." He released Seth and urged her back to her seat. "Finish breakfast so you can deal with your usual idiots today while we copy this puzzle."
She bussed him a fast kiss on the mouth before heading out the door. "I expect Abel juice tonight, General," she said before bouncing out the door.
That got another groan from Abel. "I wish she had said that with the door closed."
"Well, people will figure it out sooner or later, Abel."
"Yeah, but it's still weird having her just announce things like that."
"Shouldn't you be used to it by this point?" Lucien chuckled.
"I should, but I'm not." He shook his head and finished his breakfast. "Shall we see about getting material to copy this puzzle for our mental enjoyment later?"
"Indeed we should."
He carefully picked up the large tome. "Keep this in our room for now? I thought that some journals specifically to copy the code in would help instead of just pads of paper."
"I think that's a good idea. Not that anyone else would be able to read it."
He nodded and headed back there from the private dining room. There had been a nice table with a couple of chairs that would hold the tome. On the way back, he grabbed his shoes, slipping them on, before rejoining Lucien.
Lucien smiled at him and got up. "Shall we go?"
He nodded with a grin. "Let's. I admit I'm a bit excited to start on that puzzle."
"Since it may hold secrets to yourself, I can certainly see why."
"That and it's a distraction thinking about other things, like where Eve is now or what Cain's doing since I can't reach him through our connection anymore." He looked at Lucien. "I did my best to block it and I think I did a bit too well."
"Ah. I see."
"In this case, I think it's a good thing. That way he can't find out what I know, and then see about finding more information to use against me. Maybe even get to Eve first and get her turned against me."
Lucien nodded. "I doubt Cain knows about Eve or he would have already been trying to find her."
He nodded before taking Lucien's hand. "Which is one thing I'm grateful for. I'll tell her about Cain and try to give her as unbiased an account as I can and let her make her own decisions."
"That would be best."
"Now, let's go track down this stationary store and get things so we can get started on copying that tome."
"Of course, my impatient beauty."
He grinned and kissed him before turning and almost dragging him out of the room.
"Abel, do you know where you're going?
He shook his head. "But if someone's around, we can ask them," he reasoned.
"An excellent plan."
He grinned and turned a corner to find a servant dusting something. A quick, polite word, and he found out where the stationary shop was. He thanked the maid before tugging Lucien through the halls now that he knew where to go.
Lucien chuckled as he was dragged along the halls. His beauty was unquestionably determined when it came to certain things.
He slowed down when they emerged out into the sunlight, and he grinned as he looked at Lucien.
"Yes, my beauty?"
"You're very handsome in the sunlight."
"And you, my beauty, are stunning no matter what the light."
He smiled, a faint blush on his cheeks, as he started towards the stationary shop, in no hurry so they could enjoy the sunlight together.
"I could get very addicted to you smiling, my lovely."
"I have more reason to smile now, Master Lucien," he replied, looking at him. "And you're the main one."
"I confess I had hoped that."
He grinned. "The thought of you being in my life and at my side forever has me smiling more than my foolish priest act."
"I am honored, truly, my beauty."
He paused long enough to kiss Lucien. "Thank you for claiming me."
"Thank you for accepting."
He smiled and continued walking, just enjoying being with Lucien. The puzzle of the tome could wait a bit longer.
"So, where shall we go after the stationary shop?"
"We can just wander a bit and window shop," he offered. "We can ask the owner if they'll send our purchases to our rooms at the palace, which they probably will."
"More than likely."
He glanced at Lucien. "Was there some place you wanted to go after the stationary shop?"
"Not especially. Though you did promise me a picnic. Even though I can't eat," Lucien said, his lips twitching in amusement.
He smiled. "A picnic isn't entirely about the food. It's an excuse to lay on a blanket, outside in the sun, with either a good book or good company."
"Well, I think I can manage that then," Lucien said, putting his arm around Abel's waist as they walked.
He smiled and slipped his arm around Lucien's waist, glancing at the various shops that they passed, enjoying the sunlight and Lucien's presence.
- 14
- 15
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The General's Crusnik