A/N- O…MG, such a lot wait. Okay, so I very much apologize. I was without internet for a while, and then I started trying to finish off some of my other fics…and this one just kind of got lost in the mix. Oh, and if anyone reading is also a Harry Potter fan, I have a new HP related poll on my profile. Please drop by and vote!

Chapter 23- Onward

It was morning when Lilah awoke next, which was with a stretch and a yawn. She rolled over and paused. She was alone in D’s bed, only a pile of clothes with a note on top of them lay in his place. She picked up the note and grinned. It stated that he had gotten her the outfit and was now currently showering. It was strange to think of D showering, knowing of the effects of water on a dhampire’s body, but Lilah shrugged it off and pulled on the top half of her clothing. That was all she had accomplished by the time D had returned to the room.

“Morning,” Lilah said with a bright smile.

“Good morning,” D replied evenly.

Lilah’s brow arched, ever so slightly. She had not expected him to treat her differently…that would have been too strange for her. But, in private, why not spare her something a little more than just his usual tone?

“Is something wrong?” Lilah asked, keeping her still unclothed bottom-half covered.

Being partially naked while having a serious conversation was just undignified…so was dressing in the middle of one. So, Lilah simply sat there awaiting D’s answer. D, for his part, had moved to stand at the foot of the bed.

“Who attacked you, Lilah? Last night. You haven’t told me,” he said.

Involuntarily, her eyes widened. She had not meant to keep such a thing from him for so long…how could she just spill the truth now?

“Um…” she faltered.

Now it was D that arched a brow. Without so much as a blink or a change in his voice, he repeated his question.

“Lilah, who was it?”

“Don’t be mad…I was going to tell you, sooner. Really, it’s just that we—”

“Lilah.”

She met his eyes and froze. There was no anger there, but she could definitely see the potential for some. Finally, she closed her eyes.

“Dracula. Your father attacked me, D. And I am sorry that didn’t tell you right away,” she whispered, knowing his dhampire hearing would more than hear her.

When she dared open her eyes next, she saw what she had feared the most. D’s eyes were darker, almost glowing crimson. She pressed her back against her pillows and curled up her legs. Who was his anger towards? She opened her mouth to ask him just that, but paused. She would wait for him to make the first move. She would not risk angering him further.

This is not how she had wanted this morning to go.

So Lilah sat, patiently awaiting D’s response for several, horribly long moments. All the while she saw his eyes grow darker and darker and more crimson. Finally, without a single syllable, he turned, his traveler’s cloak sweeping the bedpost as he did so, and strode from the room, shutting the door so hard that parts of it cracked just a little.

Lilah stood and finished dressing, telling herself that she would not cry. She had fought and held her own with D just the night before…and had taken a hugely dangerous chance in coming to him. She was strong, and she would not let his silence, his anger, hurt her. But no matter that she defeated her tears, she could not shake herself of the gloomy sadness his reaction had caused her. Once she was dressed, she left D’s room—being a little gentler with the door than D had—and made her way to her own room. There, she stripped once again and found her way into a nice, hot shower.

That was when the tears came. Perhaps the water had coaxed them on, but Lilah had lost the fight against them. They did not last long, as she chastised herself for giving in. She sniffled, finished her shower…taking a little longer than she had originally wanted to…and stepped out. She rubbed a black towel over her hair and made her blonde locks a braid once more. Re-dressed, she made her ways downstairs to the manor’s library. If D was not going to be speaking with her, than she would occupy herself by doing something useful.

However, when she opened the ornate door to the library, ready for blessed solitude, she stopped short, a smirk on her face. Solitude was not to be hers this morning. Sitting at a desk whose surface had been cleared for other purposes, was L.H., a screwdriver in hand, bent over what looked like the pieces of the blaster he had acquired while fighting the aiders. He turned when he heard the door open and had a smirk of his own for Lilah. Internally she groaned.

“Good morning,” she said, walking a little too purposefully to the bookshelf and withdrawing one of the library’s many spellbooks.

“Good morning,” L.H. replied, but the greeting was loaded.

Lilah sat down in one of the wing-backed chairs and opened the book. The creak of the desk’s matching chair told her, without looking, that L.H. had turned completely around to face her. She peaked over the open book, a brow arched at the clearly expectant look on the ex-parasite’s face. She sat the book down, open, over her lap and sighed.

“Let me have it,” she said.

“Oh, but I thought D had already done that?”

Ouch. Okay, she had walked into that. She grinned a half grin that was in no way meant for mirth. After her morning with D, she was in no mood for L.H.’s usual teasings. She dropped her hand out of sight and, when it rose back up, she hurled an extra small ice stake at L.H.—deliberately missing him, of course. He jumped nonetheless and furrowed his brow.

“Not the reaction I expected. What’s up, chickie? I thought you’d be walking on Cloud Nine after last night. Hell, I expected songbirds to follow you in here,” he said, standing.

He grabbed his blaster—looking a bit more modified now and bigger—and holstered it. He made his way over to her and plopped down in the chair across from her own. She sighed and put her head to the side.

“It’s nothing. I’m sorry…I’m just…I don’t know,” she said, resting her head in her hands.

“Ah,” L.H. said, a bit of a playful smile tugging at his lips. “D not any good?”

“Oh!” Lilah said, picking up the book and smacking him with it.

“Ow!” he exclaimed, ducking under the blow.

Lilah couldn’t help but laugh at the sheepish look he gave her next. L.H. joined in the laugh for a moment, before going oddly serious.

“Okay, really, what’s wrong, kiddo? All jokes aside,” he said, leaning forward.

Lilah shook her head. “I told D who it was that attacked me.”

“And?”

“And I just did it this morning.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

L.H. shook his head and patted her knee. She waved her hand dismissively.

“I’m okay…for now. He just walked out. I don’t know where he went. So, I’m going to work on my spells,” Lilah said, lifting the book again.

“Well, that’s not any good,” L.H. said, standing.

Lilah looked up at him in confusion.

“Being by yourself only brings on more thoughts…You’ll only think more about this morning and put yourself in an even worse mood if you just sit here and study. Come on. Let’s go out back and spar a bit,” L.H. said, offering her a hand.

Lilah set her book on the table beside her and took his proffered hand. She stared at him for a moment, smiling. He was a good friend, who had proven that he truly cared about her. Such people were so rare on the Frontier.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re a good guy, you know that?” Lilah asked.

L.H. put a finger to his lips and shushed her. “Don’t spread it around.”

She laughed as the two made their way out into the back yards of the manor.

They spent hours in the garden, alternating between training practices. They had started out with hand-to-hand, but when Lilah downed L.H. in a matter of moments—she had been training with D, after all—L.H. quickly suggested that they switch forms. Lilah, with a laugh, had agreed. The next training that had followed had been L.H. trying to hit Lilah with his blaster…Lilah blocking all she could with her spells as shields, which were turning out to be quite effective at this task. Twilight had come and gone as they had switched again to Lilah trying to hit L.H. with her spells. The former parasite was quite good at dodging as it turned out, as Lilah had not been able to do so for quite some time. Finally, a bit aggravated with her misses, she threw an ice stake, larger than she had meant it to be, and clipped L.H.’s arm. The force of the spell had also put him off his feet, and he landed with a hard thud onto the ground.

“Oh, God, L.H., are you okay?” she asked, rushing over and kneeling down beside him.

He answered by uncovering the spot that the ice stake had connected. It had cut clean through the sleeve of his jacket, and the shirt underneath, leaving a three inch long gash on his arm. Lilah bit her lip.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean—”

L.H. chuckled. “I should hope not! What was up, thinking about D’s storming off this morning?”

Lilah shook her head as she placed her hands over the cut. “No, not really. I was aggravated with missing.”

“Wow. Remind me not to piss you off.”

“I’m sorry! Now quiet, I have to concentrate. Well, at least I get to finally practice that healing spell,” she said, closing her eyes.

“Yay, I rock,” L.H. muttered as Lilah shushed him.

She took several deep breaths, drawing on her magic as much as she could. Then, as per following the instructions that had been in the spellbook, she imagined pushing a piece of that magic down her arms, into her hands, and over the cut. Then, she imagined the magic knitting the skin back together. After a few moments, L.H. exclaimed in surprised.

“You did it!” he said as Lilah opened her eyes to confirm it.

His skin was as good as new, not even a scar was present. Only the clothes still showed any sign of the cut that had been. L.H. sat up and examined it a bit closer.

“Awesome,” he said.

“Very well done,” D’s voice sounded from beside them.

Lilah whirled and all but jumped to her feet. L.H. rose a bit more slowly.

“D,” was all she could force out, despite the millions of things she felt she needed to say.

D was not meeting her eyes, which she did not like. She wanted…several things. She wanted to apologize again, then to rage at him with anger that she did not know she had been feeling. After all, how heartless do you have to be to leave a girl alone after sleeping with her? She wanted to cry again and scream and beg his forgiveness, all in one. But he would not meet her eyes, which forced her to silence. Finally, still without looking at her, he spoke.

“We should feed, Lilah. Would you please accompany me?”

“Yes,” she found herself answering without hesitation.

She turned and excused herself from L.H., who waved her on. Lilah followed D into the woods beyond the manor silently. In fact, neither of them spoke as they walked—actually walked—to their usual feeding spot. It seemed to take forever to reach it, but finally, they arrived. They separated, temporarily, to catch their prey. They remained separate as they fed, both taking several rabbits apiece, before they finally came together to rest before the boulders in the small clearing.

D would still not meet her eyes, and it was making her angry and a tad bit worried. This silence needed to end, but both were too stubborn to make the first move. Lilah crossed her arms and looked, pointedly, away from him. She thought that it would be only fair that the one to walk out with not so much as a word this morning should be the one to speak. If he was angry or disappointed with her, he should just be forward with it. Lilah dared peek at him with this thought.

All anger was gone, and there was no disappointment there. But why, then, would he not speak to her? Was it something else? Did he not…feel as he did? Lilah quickly dismissed this. Of all the emotionless, steady stares that D was a master of, love was one he could not hide. It was deep, hidden, but it was there in his eyes. He loved her still. She sighed, almost with relief. Had that really been a worry of hers? Apparently, as she found herself smiling a bit at him, it must have been. Finally, sick of the silence, Lilah decided to break it.

“Where did you go?” she asked.

D finally looked up at her, perhaps a little surprised. He took a long moment before he finally spoke.

“Here. I came here. I’m…sorry for my reaction this morning.”

Lilah’s smile grew a bit brighter. “It’s okay. If you were angry at me, though, you could’ve told me.”

“I wasn’t.”

Lilah blinked, surprised. “Then, why…?”

“I understood why you kept it from me for so long. I wasn’t angry at you…only at myself, and him. I have tried, for untold years, to find him…and he is still the one who finds me first. Not only that…he has gotten through every safety I have put on this manor and threatens you. I couldn’t abide it. I left. And I’m sorry.”

Lilah shook her head and moved to sit beside him. “It’s fine. I just…I thought the worst. But that doesn’t matter. Everything is back to normal. Just don’t…do that again, okay?”

He graced her with the smallest of smiles. “Okay.”

Together, they rose and ran back to the manor. They arrived in what seemed like moments, thankful—as always anymore—that the manor looked unharmed. However, as they entered into the foyer of the building, they paused. Standing there, waiting for them it would seem, was L.H. He looked up as they entered, locking eyes with D. The dhampire exchanged a look with Lilah, then took two strides and stopped just before L.H.

“Another letter,” the former-appendage bound creature said, holding up a wax-sealed letter, folded twice.

D took it, opened it, and read it in moments. At the end of it, he crushed it in his hand.

“What is it?” Lilah asked.

“Dracula. It’s an invitation,” D responded, moving to exit the foyer.

Lilah and L.H. looked at one another before following him up the hall.

“An invitation to what, D?’ L.H. asked.

D walked right past the library, to the door at the end of the long marble hall. There, he threw open the pair of ornate, dark-stained wooden doors and strode inside. L.H. and Lilah followed, pausing just past the threshold.

The room was just as large as the library, only no books were to be found there. Instead, mounted and stacked everywhere there was space to do so were weapons. Hundreds and hundreds of weapons. Swords, daggers, guns, knives, staffs, and every other weapon one could think of, littered all about the room. D walked straight on, stopping at the wall with the small swords and daggers mounted upon it. He took down a simple dagger, unsheathed it, sheathed it once more, and tossed it to Lilah. She caught it and stared at it in wonder.

“I have my own dagger,” she said.

“You’ll need more,” he said, tossing her one decorated with gold and pearls.

“D, wait! What are we doing?” L.H. asked as he caught a sword that D tossed at him.

“We’re accepting the invitation. I am going to end this once and for all,” the dhampire replied, not bothering with turning around.

Again, Lilah and L.H. exchanged looks. Lilah took a tentative step forward.

“D…Dracula sent you an invitation…this is a trap,” she said.

“I know,” he answered, still without turning.

“Then what the hell are you doing, D?” L.H. said.

Finally, D turned. He eyed both of his companions before finally speaking.

“I have spent years…years hunting down my father, determined to end his and his people’s reign. Never have I known his exact location. I have to take this chance.”

He paused again, looking around. Finally, he locked eyes with Lilah.

“I won’t ask you to follow me.”

Lilah shook her head. “That’s a stupid thing to say. This plan gives me a stomach ache, to be honest, but I’m going with you.”

“Me too,” L.H. said, shrugging. “As stupid as this whole thing is.”

“Very well,” D said, turning back to his weapon wall. “We’ll prepare and leave. Immediately.”

L.H. and Lilah nodded and turned to depart, both leaving to make their own preparations. As soon as they had cleared the room, L.H. turned to her.

“I have a very bad feeling about this.”

End Notes: Okay, so what did everyone think? I had to do a lot of re-reading to get back into Lilah’s character…which I hope I did successfully. Now, as to why I have slowed updates on this. The fact is, I’m trying to speed up finishing off some of my older fics. I was focusing on a Castlevania fic of mine, Untested, and I finally finished it off. Now, I’m working on two simultaneously, a Batman: The Animated Series fic called “Baby Makes Three” and a Darkwing Duck fic called “All Fall Down.” As soon as “All Fall Down” is finished, this story will gain a bit more focus—don’t worry, I only have five more chapters to do on All Fall Down. I’ll try to get through them as quickly as possible. Anyway, just to let you know I haven’t abandoned this fic. Please review!