Chapter Ten

Arabella sighed and leaned against the wall. She was exhausted but her plan had worked, sort of. She knew that there was something off about Lisbell when she began spending time with her. However, after processing everything that happened she knew that she would never have expected something like that to happen. She couldn't stop feeling as if she had done something horrible. She didn't expect that a giant would be wearing the skin of a child. Arabella sighed wearily. Tears began to form in her eyes as she thought about how sweet Lisbell had been when she first met her. Even if she wasn't actually a child she still felt as if her heart had died a little in side.

Arabella slumped down on the ground as she struggled to catch her breath. She looked down at herself and grimaced. The black blood covered her body from head to toe and she felt herself grow sick. Arabella sighed and stood up on shaky legs. The village had heard the howls and came to see what was going on. Everyone had freaked out when they saw the giant's body return back to Lisbell's childish form and that had been what had sickened her the most. Arabella felt like a hypocrite. She had been pledging that she wasn't in the business of hurting children and today she had murdered a child.

Arabella made her way to the large bath in the estate. The water had already been heated and Arabella gladly removed every article of clothing. Without a second thought and slipped into the water. Arabella sighed and submerged herself in the water. When she came back up hot tears spilled down her cheeks. She had killed a child. While lost in her thoughts she didn't notice the change taking place in the water. The black blood thickened in the water. Arabella was pulled from her musings when she felt a burning sensation in her leg. Her eyes flew open as the pain seemed to vibrate around her. Arabella felt as if she was burning alive. Her lungs constricted as she struggled to take a breath. Arabella looked around for the source of the pain and froze in fear when she noticed that most of the water had mutated into the black blood that had coated her body. Arabella shook with fear. What the hell is this? She wondered. As she looked at it she noticed that it had seemed to morph into a type of hand. Arabella's eyes widened as she looked at it as it spread over her body. She tried kicking it off of her but failed. Arabella struggled to keep her breathing calm as she the bloody blob seemed to swallow her body. She could feel darkness cloud her vision as struggled. A scream tore from her lips as she tried to fight it off.

While Arabella was surrounded by darkness she could feel dark eyes on her bare skin. She couldn't help the shiver that snaked down her spine. Arabella tried to cover her nakedness as best she could. A deep throaty chuckle echoed throughout the dark void. Arabella looked around with wide eyes.

"So you are the one that killed my creation?" Arabella could see black eyes peering at her in the distance. "You don't look like much however, it looks like I have underestimated you."

Arabella backed away in fear. But the voice continued to chuckle at her. Arabella looked around for a way out but cursed whens he realized that she was completely surrounded by the darkness.

"You see this is why I don't like you humans. You have no idea how much trouble your kind have given me. Vermin and trash. You need to be destroyed." The voice cackled. "You're such a hypocrite, you know. You said that you would protect children from the council but you just killed one and walked away like you did nothing."

Arabella's face paled as it dawned on her that the giant was indeed a child. Arabella struggled to keep the tears from falling down her cheeks. Arabella looked around again for a way out. Her legs shook in fear.

"What do you mean that she was just a child?" She asked backing away.

" You don't need to worry about that. You should focus on trying to run." The voice chuckled.

The dark eyes glowed red as a bony hand reached for her through the darkness. Arabella screamed and tried to run from it but it looked as if she was running in place. The hand skimmed her bare flesh and Arabella let out a cry of pain. She could feel warm red blood running down her back.

"You're completely alone and useless. Why do you even bother to fight back when this is all that you can resort to, running away. Such a coward! You should embrace death openly. Face me!" The Voice yelled.

Arabella stumbled backwards when the eyes appeared in front of her. She cringed when the hand began to reach for her. Arabella dodged the hand as she struggled to keep out of its burning grasp. Her whole body ached and it felt like her breathing was suddenly cut off as the darkness that surrounded her wrapped itself around her throat. Arabella struggled kicking her legs against the monster.

"Now, just like the rest of the vermin you will breathe your last." He cackled menacingly.

Arabella let out a strangled groan as a bright light seemed to push the darkness back. Arabella reached for it feebly and sighed in relief when she felt a hand grasp her arm and pull her out. She blinked for a moment letting her eyes adjust to the bright light. She looked around and noticed that she was still in the bathroom. Tamaki and a few others stood there staring at her. Before she could process what happened Tamaki threw a cloak over her naked body.

"You will suffer for your crimes!" The deep voice cackled They turned and stared at the giant floating ball above the bath. Arabella blinked at it a few times before it disappeared.

"What the hell was that?" Salvador asked.

"Arabella, are you okay?" Tamaki asked looking back down at her. Arabella didn't answer as she continued to stare at where the black ball had just been. Tears streamed down her face as she continued to stare. Tamaki gently shook her.

"Arabella?" Genova called to her.

"Arabella?" Tamaki called shaking her gently.

Arabella jumped in surprise. She looked at Tamaki and Genova in surprise. Her wide green eyes stared at them as her body trembled in fear. Her chest heaved with every breath that she struggled to take in.

"Okay," Tamaki said standing up with her in his arms. "Lets get you out of here."

Arabella nodded her head slowly. Tamaki's arms tightened protectively around her naked body. Arabella groaned out in pain. Tamaki looked down at her face contorted in pain. Tamaki gently carried her to her room and set her on the bed without a word. Before Arabella could process what was happening he yanked the cloak from around her. Large scratches covered her torso and back. Tamaki sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"When did this happen?" He asked casting an angry glance at her.

Arabella opened her mouth to speak but was stopped be the sound of her door flying open. One of the soldiers stood there staring at them. His eyes darting between the two of them. Tamaki stood in front of her blocking his view of her naked body.

"What is it, Ambrose?" Tamaki asked.

"Council guards are headed this way."

"Dammit!" Tamaki cursed. "Get our men ready to protect this village. We can't let them in." He yelled. The guard nodded and ran out of the room. "Horace," Tamaki yelled.

It didn't take long for Horace to reach the room. When he entered Horace's eyes flew to the princess sitting on the bed. His face paled when he saw the blood soaking the sheets. Arabella tried to cover her naked body the best that she could but was stopped when Tamaki reached down to take her dainty hand in his large hands.

"I know that you are tired, but you need to let Horace heal you. We can't do this without you." Tamaki said reassuring her. Arabella nodded her head slowly.

"How did this happen?" Horace asked with a hoarse voice.

"When I was in that black blood..." Arabella began but was stopped when Tamaki laid a hand on her letting her know that she didn't have to continue.

"Please heal her." Tamaki said softly.

Horace nodded and closed his eyes as he laid his hands gently on her wounds. A warmth flooded Arabella's body. She closed her eyes at the gently heat until she felt the stinging of her skin coming back together. Arabella's jaw tightened when the pain began to get worse. When Horace was done the pain slowly ebbed away.

"Thank you, Horace." She said climbing out of the bed.

She was not concerned about her naked flesh being exposed at the moment. She quickly pulled on her clothes and began strapping her weapons to her hips. Arabella looked around making sure that she was not forgetting anything. When she was sure that she was ready she squared her shoulders and made her way down the stairs. As she thought about the day's events she could feel the fear melt into anger. Whoever this Master was she would show him and his forces no mercy. Arabella found herself grinding her teeth as she neared the soldiers who were waiting for the Council Guards to arrive. Her hand went to grab the hilt of her swords on reflex when she noticed a child from the village playing not far from where they stood. Arabella's eyes widened and she raced after the little girl.

As Arabella ran calling to her an arrow fell from the sky striking the little girl down where she once stood playing. Arabella's eyes widened when blood began leaking out of wound in her neck. Arabella felt her hands tremble as the little girl turned to face her with surprised eyes. She took two trembling steps and fell into Arabella's waiting arms. The light dimmed in her eyes as she laid staring up at Arabella. Arabella's arms tightened protectively as she let out a howl of pain.

Arabella's arms shook and she began to see red. She didn't notice the commotion around her or feel the arms that tried to pry her away from the girl's lifeless body. Instead she shrugged the hands off of her dropping the little girl's body. Before anyone knew what was happening Arabella flew towards the enemy in a rage. No one was prepared for her reaction to the child being so cruelly cut down.

Arabella collided with the enemy forces shocking both the Vosat and the Council guard. They were not prepared for the fury of her attack. After cutting down five men Arabella let out a scream of rage. Rage for the child that had been killed for no reason. Rage for the life she had to take earlier in the morning.

After getting over their initial shock the rest of the Vosat soldiers joined in the fray. Tamaki and Salvador led the charge right behind their princess, who was now so enraged and thirsting for blood that whoever got in her way was painfully sent to meet death. Blood caked the ground and painful cries were heard echoing throughout the forest. Arabella refused to stop. She refused to let anyone leave alive and chased down anyone who thought to escape.

When the sun was close to setting Arabella ran her sword through the last Council guard standing. His knees nearly buckled when he saw the short blood soaked woman nearing him. The hatred and anger flashing in her eyes had him slowly backing away. When he turned to run a guttural growl rose from her throat and soon she was on him. Her swords slashed into him with the fury of a thousand men. The man protested weakly as she ran her sword through him.

"I hope it was worth it. May you suffer a thousand times more than the innocent people that you so cruelly cut down." She hissed in his ear with a menacing smile as twisted her sword in his gut and ran her other sword through his head. His eyes dimmed and his body sagged limply as a final gurgling breath left his body.

When the fighting was over everyone simply stared as Arabella dropped to ground howling in pain as violent sobs wracked her body. Her arms wrapped protectively around herself as she let out all of her grief. Grief for the child that had no free will of her own and for the child who was happily playing unaware that it would be her last day on this earth.

Everyone watched warily as her sobs gently died down. She stood on wobbly legs and yanked her swords out of the corpse on the ground in front of her. She flicked the blood off of them and sheathed them. Without another word she walked past all of the warriors giving her looks of sympathy. However, no one dared to say a word to her. She brushed past Tamaki and Genova and picked up the little girl in her arms. Carrying her back into the village as she wrapped her in her arms protectively. Hot tears burned her eyes as the villagers stared at her in shock and sadness. Unable to take a step further Arabella collapsed on the ground in the middle of the village letting her tears flow freely. A loud scream had Arabella looking up at a young couple who stood there with shocked faces, tears streamed down their cheeks when they saw their lifeless child in her bloody arms.

"I'm so sorry." Arabella wailed as she cradled her in her arms rocking her in her arms.

Genova picked the child up from Arabella's arms and walked over to her parents. Tamaki picked her up letting her wail freely. He knew that there were no words that he could say to ease her broken heart. She had tried to pull her to safety but wasn't fast enough. He knew that she would blame herself for the child's death.

While Genova explained what happened to the family Tamaki carried a distraught Arabella to the estate. No one said a word as they watched them. Many of the villagers were in tears when they saw the lifeless child in Arabella's arms.

That night the village was silent and filled with grief. After Arabella cleaned up she went to her room and stayed there. No one said a word to her as she laid there staring up at the ceiling with silent tears rolling down her face.

On the first floor of the house a meeting was taking place between Genova, Tamaki, Michael, Horace, and Salvador. The men sat there quietly as they contemplated who should speak first. Everyone was thinking the same thing, Arabella might regress back to her previous state.

"We need to discuss what just happened." Horace said looking at them with worry. Genova sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"What happened out there?" Salvador asked. "I've never seen anything like this before."

Everyone turned and looked at Genova expectantly. He knew that they would face situations like this when they left. He knew that Arabella would be exposed to this kind of cruelness but not even he had expected her to act like that. Which meant that there was more to what happened but Arabella wouldn't talk about it.

"Is that a normal reaction for her?" Horace asked looking at Genova. Genova just shook his head. "Then what happened to make her react like that?"

"Look, all I know is that Arabella is usually level headed. I don't know what happened to make her lose it like that but I can tell you that what happened to that little girl was the final straw." Genova sighed and stood up. "I think that I need to talk to her."

"Are you crazy?" Salvador shouted.

"No. Trust me. There is more to this than we are seeing right now." Genova left the room and made his way up the stairs.

How many times had Arabella broken down and he was tasked with putting her back together? How many more times must she go through something like this before she stops coming back at all? Genova worried that one day there would be nothing that he could do for her. That she would break and disappear permanently.

When he reached her room he stood there hesitating. With a deep breath he squared his shoulders and gently knocked on her door. He waited patiently for her to respond but she said nothing. Genova reached a shaking hand towards her door knob when it was suddenly opened. Arabella stood there in front of him with her face puffy and her eyes red. Her jaw was set in a tight grimace.

"What?" Arabella's voice croaked.

"I just wanted to talk to you." Genova said hesitantly.

"About?" She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.

"If you don't want to stay here and talk we can go for a walk." He said trying to make her more comfortable.

"No. Here is fine. What do you want, Genova?" She asked impatiently.

"Are you okay? I know that a lot happened today and I was worried about you." He said softly.

Arabella's jaw tightened and anger flared in her eyes. Genova took a step back. He wasn't used to seeing her like this and knew that it would probably be safer to give her some space. Before he could say anything else Arabella opened her mouth to speak.

"Will you stop trying to fix me?" Arabella yelled. "I get that you are worried but you can't fix this!" She raged. Genova stared at her with a shocked expression.

"I'm not-" He began.

"Yes you are!" She yelled cutting him off. "You want to know what the sad thing is. You can't fix this! You can't make this go away." Fresh tears sprang to her eyes.

"Why wont you talk to me!" Genova demanded. He wasn't used to her pushing him away.

"Because you can't fix this! I am a hypocrite!" She screamed.

Everyone had run to the stairs and watched with surprise as she raged in front of them. Tamaki watched helplessly as she yelled and blamed herself for everything that happened today. The next words that came out of her mouth shocked them.

"I am no better than the Council or the 'Master'!" She screamed. "I took the life of a child today! I have no right to be here or try to help anyone. I killed an innocent little girl who had no one to help her or guide her!" Arabella sobbed.

Everyone looked at each other in surprise. They didn't know how to process her words. Everyone wondered when she had killed a child.

"Lisbell didn't deserve to die! She was just a child and I killed her!" She sobbed crumpling to the floor.

"She wasn't a child." Genova said trying to soothe her.

"She was! The 'Master' experimented on her and turned her into that thing but she was still a child!" Arabella sobbed.

"Arabella," Tamaki said coming up to her finally understanding her pain. He wrapped his arms around her while everyone stared in shock at her. "What happened was not your fault. You had no choice. Even if she was just a child she was under the control of the Council and would have led them to the village. She would have killed everyone that you know. Everyone that you love would be gone. Those villagers that you saved would have died." He said softly. Arabella shook her head. Tamaki placed a finger under her chin and made her look at him. She could see the sympathy and sadness in his eyes.

"What you did had to be done. I know that you are struggling with what you did but I want you to look at the people in this village and tell them that you shouldn't have done it. I want you to remember those villagers who sought refuge from the Council. I know that you don't want to hurt innocent people but innocent people will be used by the Council and the 'Master' to hurt more people. I know that you blame yourself but this is not your fault. This was the doing of the Council and the 'Master'. You had no choice. When it comes down to it today you saved more people than any Vosat could ever manage. If you want to blame yourself then make sure that you also blame the Council and the 'Master'. You are not alone in this. We will all share the burden with you." He said gently brushing away the tears that cascaded down her cheeks. Arabella's wide eyes stared back at him as she struggled to keep herself from breaking.

"Arabella, if you do nothing then they will continue to hurt innocent people." Salvador said coming to crouch next to her. "We know that you don't want to see anyone hurt in this but that is what comes with war, and right now we are at war with the Council. People will get hurt but what matters is that you are trying to set things right. You are trying to fix what the Council has done while the Vosat turned their backs on these people." Arabella blinked up at him.

"We will be there every step of the way to support you." Genova said sitting on her other side. "You are not alone in this."

"When did you learn that the Council and the 'Master' had experimented on Lisbell?" Horace asked.

"When I was in the bath. The black blood turned into a giant black mass. It pulled me into itself. While in there I was running for my life then I heard a voice. It grated on my ears." Arabella whispered sadly. "That's when I learned that Lisbell had actually been a child." Sad tears trailed down her cheeks.

"Look, no matter what happened in there or was said in there we know that you would never intentionally kill a child. We also know that what happened this morning was against our control. No one could have predicted that would happen." Salvador said sadly. "No one wants to see children die but we would all be dead if it weren't for you."

"You have to forgive yourself for what happened. There was nothing that you could do about it." Tamaki said.

"I don't think that I can." Arabella whispered sadly.

Tamaki smoothed her hair back from her face and nodded sadly. He knew that this was something that would take time. He didn't think that she would ever get over what happened but hoped that one day she would learn to accept it.