31_days | Story for 31_days LJ Comm

x-posted to

Title: For the Love of God
Day/Theme: Jan 31st - "But I won't stay with you."
Series: TRINITY BLOOD
Character/Pairing: Abel Nightroad/Alissandre Devereaux
Rating: PG
Summary: "For the Love of God" could probably be considered a prequel for my upcoming TRINITY BLOOD novel, Eternity's Requiem. "For the Love of God" is set just prior to the launching of the Red Mars project.
Disclaimer: This is only my second TB fic, so if I am completely screwing up canon... oops.

It was beautiful... so very beautiful.

Alissandre Devereaux gazed up at the ceiling of the Cathédrale de Notre Dame des Doms, her eyes taking in the exquisite artwork, the graceful arches. Even in the dim light of twilight, long after the last service, the cathedral still resonated with an almost palpable serenity. With a sigh, she pushed her long brown hair back from her face, knelt before the altar, and made the sign of the cross. Clasping her hands, she bowed her head and waited.

She did not have to wait long.

"Magnificent, isn't it?"

She forced herself not to turn around at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Oui," she replied, "it is."

The sound of footsteps came down the aisle, echoing in the shadowed recesses of the cathedral, and then she heard them stop behind her.

Abel Nightroad knelt beside her, and Alissandre turned her eyes toward him at last, letting her gaze linger on his familiar features. She always loved the sight of him in uniform, despite the bittersweet feelings it stirred in her.

"When do you leave Avignon?"

"Tonight," he said quietly. "I'll miss it, though... and you."

"Je sais," she replied. "But duty calls, as it so often does."

"I don't want to leave you," he whispered. "Are you certain you won't come with me?"

She shook her head, her hair rippling around her shoulders with the motion. "I can't. And we both know it." Her voice was low and sad. "I wish it were different, cheri, but it is impossible."

"It's not impossible... you're intelligent, as well as wise, and someone with your depth of knowledge could do a world of good."

She smiled bitterly. "It would be troublesome to explain me."

Alissandre glanced up at the vaulted ceiling above.

"Besides, le bon Dieu has other plans for me."

"They don't have to know-"

She reached out to put her fingers against his lips to keep him from speaking.

"No," she murmured, reaching out and brushing her fingertips against Abel's cheek. "You have a great task ahead of you, Abel. You..."

Her voice trailed off, and Abel saw her eyes go unfocused, staring at nothing.

"Alissandre?"

Then the sapphire depths of her eyes seemed to glimmer with their own light, and Abel stared in astonishment as a faint golden light like a circlet appeared around Alissandre's head. Her expression changed, a look of profound grief and sorrow filling her eyes

"Alissa, what is it? What do you see?"

Her voice was faint, barely a whisper. "Vous vous lèverez aux les étoiles du ciel, et vous descendrez aux profondeurs de l'enfer. Le monde sera rené en flammes, et la bataille antique de la vie et de la mort commencera de nouveau."

"The world will be reborn in flames?" Abel repeated in alarm. "You mean war?" Then he remembered that when she was like this, she could not hear him, lost as she was in the world of the second sight.

She did not reply, but he saw tears gather in her eyes as she stared at something only she could see.

"Mon ange... mon ange sanglant et aimé..."

Her hands reached out to him, but Abel could not tell if she was reaching for him or something in her vision.

"Ma vie... ma mort..." Her voice rose in a hoarse cry. "Abel, pour l'amour de Dieu-"

But as her hands touched his face, she shuddered and gasped, and the glow around her head abruptly disappeared. Alissandre closed her eyes, bowing her head and sobbing. "Oh, Abel..."

Instinctively Abel reached out and drew her into his arms, holding her as she wept, but his mind was whirling at Alissandre's words.

You shall rise to the stars of heaven, and you shall sink to the depths of hell. The world shall be reborn in flames, and the ancient battle of life and death shall begin once again.

A world torn apart by the flames of war, and his own upcoming mission on the Red Mars Project. But what else had she seen?

He remembered her words, and the expression of sorrow on her face as she had stared beyond the veil.

My angel... my bloody and beloved angel...

Abel gently stroked her hair as she cried, gently murmuring to her in soothing tones, but her last words of the vision made his blood run cold.

My life... my death... Abel, for the love of God...

"What do you remember?" he asked her softly when she finally regained control of herself, but she shook her head violently.

"Do not ask me that... do not ask me to remember."

And before he could speak again, she brought her mouth to his in a desperate, passionate kiss.

Abel could taste her tears on her lips, and his arms went around her, hard. He thought he heard her whisper something into his mouth, but then all he could hear was the pounding of his own heart.

For what felt like forever, they knelt there before the altar in silent, perfect communion.

And in that silence, their hearts made the farewells their lips could not speak.

At last, Abel released her, and rose to his feet.

"I have to go. There's still so much to do before the mission."

Alissandre nodded, eyes closed and her hands clasped in her lap.

"I understand. Do not worry about me, mon coeur."

Her mouth curved into a smile, but Abel could still see the bitter sadness behind it.

"After all, I have survived this long, non? After six hundred years, what is a few more?"

Abel clenched his fists at his sides to keep from reaching for her, but then he turned and fled, striding down the aisle.

"Abel!"

He stopped just as his hand was on the door, and he turned back to look at her.

Alissandre had risen to her feet and stood bathed in the dim jewelled light of the stained glass windows over the altar. She stretched her hands out to him, and one by one, the candles on the altar, and in the alcoves along the length of the church, began to go out.

"Godspeed, my love," she whispered.

Abel swallowed hard, then he nodded, and turned away once more.

And as the door of the cathedral closed, the last of the candles flickered out, leaving Alissandre alone in the darkness.

Story for 31_days LJ Comm - Jan 31st theme