It Begins

[priesttotheend]

 The church will not heed his warnings. The evidence is clear enough for even Ivan to guess that a new war will soon arrive, but no, the monsignors will keep their eyes shut to the truth.

Very well. He shall take it upon himself to stem this flood.

And perhaps rescue an old friend.

He has plans with Hanna to meet in City Seven, gathering what few priests still remain, to track down Gab- Black Hat and stop his minions. With the blessing of the Church or no, he pulls his bike from storage one last time and heads out into the desert.

Comments

[bringerofthetide]

Isn't it obvious why he's here? The same reason he took Lucy and ruined what was a flawless plan. Not that he says anything. He only steps closer and circles him, making sure their shoulders crash as he passes.

All that power and strength, and he doesn't even have the emotional maturity to say what it is he wants.

[priesttotheend]

This is Ivan we're talking about. Saying "the sun is shining" is just about his amount of obvious, and even then, he may need clarification. But actions he can understand pretty well, and that shoulder nudge tells him enough.

Sorta.

It at least tells him that Gabriel wants to leave as much as Ivan does, so he throws himself at Gabriel. Their shoulders really never stop touching, Ivan just twirls around with him to latch onto his back and away from those deadly fangs.

[bringerofthetide]

That changes the game. He elbows the body behind him, hoping to distract a little as his other hand moves upp and back to grab the back of Ivan's robe. He doubles over and pulls the priest with him, flipping him all the way over his back and into the dust, but then...

He doesn't actually attack. Part of him is still trying to not go there. He tells himself that if they start this fight again, he will kill him.

[priesttotheend]

When has Ivan ever been able to back down from a fight? Certainly not in a long time. And he really won't this time, as he has no other reason to stick around if they aren't fighting. Or talking. Or something.

He lands on his feet and turns around to face him again. "No?"

[bringerofthetide]

"Not here to kill you. Do not force my hand."

He's full of fire and confidence, but it's just a show. Truth is that he'll never fully believe that he can beat Ivan.

[priesttotheend]

Psh, Ivan doesn't believe he could either, despite all the evidence that says Gabriel is at least his match now, and the look he gives him says as much.

[bringerofthetide]

There's a kid somewhere deep down that sees that look and is stomping his foot, going "I could!", but he only snarls and tenses in case Ivan jumps him again.

[priesttotheend]

He's going to jump him again. He'll wait a good long while, just standing there to see if anything will happen, but in the end, he lunges at Gabriel and tries to take him to the ground again.

[bringerofthetide]

He digs his heels into the ground and meets him head-on with flying punches. He holds back, though. He shouldn't and it might not feel like he does, but he holds back. The simple thing here would be to claw his throat out or rip his heart out, but that's more than he has the strength to do. He just wants an end to this.

[priesttotheend]

He knows Gabriel's fighting style, and while it doesn't feel like he's holding back, Ivan can see how tense he is. He never did that before, so it can only mean something's wrong, and while Ivan doesn't stop attacking, he does speak. "What?"

[bringerofthetide]

"I don't want to fight you," he snarls between fists and kicks and throwing Ivan clear across the makesshift camp site. Didn't he make things obvious on the train? Ivan should know what he wants.

[priesttotheend]

He picks himself back up and fine, okay, he'll stop fighting. He'll keep his distance too, though.

"Then come with me."

[bringerofthetide]

"Come where? To kneel before the same demons that lied to me for all of my human life? Do you really expect me to serve them the same as before you left me to rot in hell?"

He snarls again, tension crackling off of him. If there's one thing he hates, and maybe even fears, it's the Church and the ones who claim to be the hand of God.

[priesttotheend]

"They forbade me from coming here."

Oh, he knows he's ex-communicated. He's ex-communicated hard. But he's made relative peace with that, since he knows deep in his bones that stopping the vampires from slaughtering millions of innocents is more right than blindly following a bunch of old robes who can't even keep their cities properly fed.

[bringerofthetide]

"Why are you here then?"

A very small part of him, the same part that thought Ivan might actually accept that first offer off joining their side, is hoping maybe the answer is that Ivan is there for him. The less demented side of him knows that's not it.

[priesttotheend]

Well, he is there for him in some small, roundabout way. If he rids the world of vampires, perhaps their hold over Gabriel will be destroyed as well. Isn't that what they always wanted? To be done with vampires and priests and to settle down and just be them?

"To finish our duty."

[bringerofthetide]

"And what is our duty? If it's to destroy evil, I say we finish it only if we destroy the Church and it's lies. You know I'm right."

[priesttotheend]

His knee-jerk reaction is, of course, to want to deny that Gabriel's right, but deep down he knows that the Church is just as guilty as the evil they're supposed to destroy.

However, it is not the most pressing evil.

"Do you know where the Queen is?"

[bringerofthetide]

"You want me to come with you and kill my own queen?!"

Deep down, he surprises himself when he realizes that he's not as offended by that thought as he should be, or pretends to be. What bothers him is that he instantly feels this is some trick. He doesn't trust him.

[priesttotheend]

"The Church isn't the only evil to be destroyed."

[bringerofthetide]

"and then what? We destroy our homes and when it all dies in flames, you turn on me and kill me too?"

[priesttotheend]

"I have no wish to see you dead." ...Mostly. Every time he sees those teeth, it makes his skin crawl, but he still doesn't want him dead.