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"Your Majesty, I've brought you the documents you requested," announced one of the Queen's secretaries.

Queen Esther looked up from her desk and the papers she was signing. "Ah, thank you," she said, smiling, "You've saved me a lot of time." Even after her many years of ruling Albion, she still had trouble finding papers and such within the many rooms of her palace.

As the secretary was about to head for the door, she turned back to Esther with an exasperated look on her face. "Oh yes, I almost forgot, it would seem that Princess Lilith has skipped her evening classes again. Her tutor wanted to know if you've seen her anywhere."

Esther sighed. Her daughter, Lilith, had a terrible habit of skipping her afternoon classes. "Have you tried looking in the pantry or in the garden?"

"Yes, we've looked in all the usual places. We can't find her anywhere."

"Hmm, I can't think of where else she might be," replied Esther.

The secretary placed her hands on her hips. "I wish she wouldn't keep doing this. Why can't she be more responsible, like her brother Vincent?"

"Yes, she can be a bit of a handful, but it’s just how she is," Esther laughed.

"Well, I suppose so. But if she doesn't straighten up soon, she'll never be queen," the secretary informed her as she exited the room, “Good day, Your Majesty.”

Esther sighed again and returned to her work.

"Lilith is causing trouble again, I see?"

Esther glanced up from her paperwork at the tall, silver haired man that had walked into the room. He was young; maybe between the ages of 20 to 22 years old. He was dressed fairly causally for someone who lived in the palace; he had black slacks and a white shirt. Much to the queen’s displeasure, he was wearing one of the tacky ties their daughter kept buying him for Christmas loosely around his neck.

Esther rubbed her temples. It was only noon and she could already feel the beginnings of a headache. "Yes, it would seem that she's skipped her classes again, and she's gone missing."

"Hehehe, she does seem to love giving the palace guards something to do in the afternoons."

"Abel," Esther scolded as she stood up from her desk, smoothing her ornate dress with angry, sweeping hand motions, "You can't keep encouraging her behavior!"

"Encouraging? What could you possibly mean, my dear?" Abel asked, feigning shock.

She jabbed her index finger towards her husband. "You know full well what I'm talking about Abel. Joking about it, never punishing her when she does it, and worst of all, you're actually suggesting places to hide to her!"

Abel chuckled as he headed for the door. "Yes, I suppose I have been a little lenient with her.” He bowed deeply, his silvery hair almost touching the floor. “Please, allow me to make up for my behavior by finding her."

"Good luck," the queen said, returning to her papers, "No one has been able to locate her yet. I doubt finding her will be as simple a task as you make it out to be."

"Oh, I think I might have a good idea of where she might be."

"Why's that?"

"Because I just told her about it last week."

Abel exited the room, just as Esther threw her pen at him.

--

Lilith sat uncomfortably in a dim broom closet somewhere deep inside the palace. Her knees were drawn close to her body, crushing her nose in the process. In her hands she had a heavily worn romance novel. She was thankful that she had decided to wear gaucho pants and a blouse that day instead of one of the formal dresses the maids and Virgil always wanted her to wear. It would have been impossible to use her new hiding spot if she had.

“It’s unpleasant, but at least it’s better than sitting in a stuffy room listening to somebody tell me why a salad fork and a regular fork are drastically different,” Lilith thought to herself, turning a page in her book.

She didn't even understand why she needed to take those lessons. All they were good for was putting her to sleep. She'd much rather spend her time reading novels or going on a trip to Venice, or New Barcelona.

Lilith gasped softly when she heard soft footsteps coming down the hall. They paused in front of the door for a few moments, as if the person were waiting for something, then the door knob began to move.

"Shoot, I've been found!" Lilith whispered to herself, "They're really gonna let me have it this time!"

The door creaked in protest as it opened. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to give the poor guards a break every once and awhile.”

Lilith raised her head slowly, then sighed in relief. "Oh, it’s just you Dad. I thought for sure the guards or maybe Virgil had finally found my hiding place.” She placed a bookmark in her novel and set it beside her. “You need something?" she asked pleasantly.

"Yes," Abel said softly as he closed the door, "I need to talk to you for a minute."

Lilith looked sheepishly at her father. "Uh oh, did I do something wrong Dad?"

"Well, yes and no I suppose. Just uh…let me see if I can squeeze myself in here," Abel said as he tried to fit himself into the tiny closet.

Lilith giggled as she scooted over. Seeing her father, who was taller than 6 feet, trying to fit into a closet so tiny that Lilith, who was around 5' 9", couldn't really fit into was extremely comedic.

"Mmm, cozy," Abel remarked. He was now in the same position as Lilith, but his knees were hitting the top of his head rather than his nose or chest. "Now then, I'm sure you probably have a good idea of what I want to talk to you about,” he said, his face stern.

"Me skipping classes, right?" Lilith asked, her eyes full of shame.

He nodded. "Yes. Look, I know how much you hate them, but you can't keep doing this."

Lilith huffed. "Yeah I know…but I don't even know why I have to take them. It’s not like I'll be the one ruling Albion; Vincent will.”

"True, but if anything were to happen to us, you'd be next in line. If you ended up being queen and didn't know how to be one, the country would be thrown into turmoil." Abel shrugged his shoulders. “Its necessary.”

Lilith sighed. Her father was right. It was always the duty of any child conceived after the first born to learn how to run a kingdom, regardless of whether they were actually going to rule it or not. This was to prevent the destruction of Albion, should anything happen the current heir, such as when her great-grandmother had been in power.

"I wish I wasn't the child of a queen," she thought, wrapping her arms around her legs. Her shoulders sagged in defeat. “Okay, I’ll be good and go back to my classes.”

Her father smiled. "Good. Now then, can we please get out of this tiny closet? I think I can feel my back starting to break!" Abel whined with a pathetic, yet cute, look on his face.

"Sure, Dad,” she said, laughing.

They managed to get themselves out of the cramped closet, but not before Abel became stuck numerous times. Finally, they emerged and began to walk back to Lilith's classes.

"Oh, and remember, your mother and I have a meeting with the police today to discuss some supposed terrorist threats in the east, so we'll be late for dinner."

"Meeting?" Lilith murmured to herself, scratching her head. "Now why do I feel like that reminds me of something…” She froze. Her eyes widened in shock. A small cry escaped her lips.

Abel looked worriedly at her daughter. “Umm, are you alright Lilith? Is something the matter?”

Lilith mumbled something under her breath. Her wide, ice blue eyes were fixed on some spot in the distance.

He cupped a hand to his ear. “I didn’t hear you, what did you say?”

She turned to him and whispered, “I forgot.”

Abel cocked his head to the side. "Forgot what?"

"I forgot that I'd promised to come see Jill today!” the girl shouted, “She told me that the church was letting her have the day off as her birthday present! Oh my gosh! Did I even remember to pick up her birthday present!? She's gonna kill me!”

Abel chuckled and turned away from his daughter. "Well, I suppose I could just accidentally have my back turned while you sneak outside and once again skip your classes so that you can go see your friend for her birthday..."

Lilith gasped in delight. "Really!? You'd let me do that? Thank you so much Dad!" She hugged her father and kissed him on the cheek. "I promise that I'll sit through all those boring classes tomorrow!"

"Alright, alright, just get going," Abel said with a smirk, "If you don't leave soon, Virgil or one of the guards will find us and your mother will have me hanged."

"'Kay, see you later Dad!" She called as she ran out of the palace.

“Have fun, and try not to stay out too late!” Abel called back.

Someone sighed deeply from behind Abel. “You know, she really will have you hanged if you keep this up.”

The man jumped in surprise, then turned in the direction of the voice. "Oh! You startled me Vincent,” he said, putting a pale hand on his chest, “What brings you here? I thought you were busy studying in your room."

The young man, Vincent, looked much like his father. In fact, there were only a few real differences between them. One was hair length; Abel still kept his long, but Vincent preferred his hair short. Vincent also didn’t wear glasses. He wore a dark grey sweater and black slacks.

Vincent scowled and folded his arms across his chest. "I was busy studying, but then I saw poor Virgil pulling his hair out, so I offered to help look. I figured that if I followed you, I'd probably find Lilith.” He glanced down the hallway his sister had run down, then looked back at his father. “Looks like I was right.”

"Yes well, I suppose I just can't help myself,” Abel said, shrugging his shoulders. A sly smile began to creep over his face. “You know, she reminds me so much of a young prince who would also beg me to let him sneak out with his sister just to visit a certain young nun."

A small blush creeped over Vincent’s shocked face. “Father!”

Abel laughed. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. You can be so easy to tease, my dear boy."

His son mumbled something, his blush turning an even deeper shade of red. It reminded Abel of Lilith's red hair.

"Bah! I'm heading back to my room!" Vincent growled, throwing his hands in the air, “I have better things to do with my time!”

"Very well then,” Abel said, “Oh, and please don‘t tell your mother about this. I‘d like to keep my body in one piece."

"Sure! Whatever!" Vincent rounded a corner in the hallway and disappeared from sight.

"My, my, my…what a quick temper he has." Abel said, smiling and shaking his head.

--

The sun was high in the cloudless, blue sky. Londinium, the capital of Albion, was bustling with activity. It was the middle of summer, so everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather. The city was buzzing with excitement.

The outskirts of the city, however, were a slightly different story. It was quiet and peaceful. Wind whispered through the trees. Butterflies danced in the bright sunlight. Animals skittered through brush and leaves.

Sister Jillian Middlestadt sat on a grassy hill. From her perch she could see all of Londinium. It was her favorite spot to sit on quiet days such as this when the church she worked at gave her time off.

Jill checked her watch and frowned. She brushed some stray brown hairs away from her grayish blue eyes. "I wonder if she forgot about today. Or maybe she actually got caught for once..."

"Jill!"

Jill looked down the hill. Lilith was standing there, waving to her with her trademark smile plastered on her face. She had a small, colorfully wrapped package tucked under one arm.

"Sorry I'm late, I got a little caught up in something," Lilith gasped as she dashed up the hill.

Jill cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "Let me guess, you forgot all about today, didn't you?"

Lilith rubbed the back of her neck nervously and looked to the side. "No way! I would never forget your birthday!"

“Really,” Jill said blandly, still smirking.

“Well…it might have slipped my mind a bit…” the princess admitted.

They both began to laugh.

Jill stood up, brushing off her blue habit. "Well, at least you remembered eventually. So, what did you get me?" the young nun questioned.

"Stuff," Lilith replied, handing her the gift.

"Well that's a little vague," Jill giggled as she unwrapped the gift. It was a box of her favorite kind of chocolates.

"Thank you so much Lilith! These are the best!" She said with a smile. She looked back up at Lilith and began to giggle. Lilith was staring at the chocolate like she hadn't eaten in days. "Would you like one?"

"You bet I do!" Lilith shouted. There was nothing she loved more in the world than anything sweet, a habit she had inherited from her father.

The pair laughed and talked on the hill for most of the day. They hardly noticed when the sun sank and the sky was painted crimson and orange. The city streetlights were turning on and people were returning home for dinner. The songs of crickets and frogs could be heard within the forest.

Jill glanced at her watch. "Oh my, look at the time!” You probably need to head home soon Lilith, or Her Majesty will be upset."

Lilith frowned. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Yeah, back to that dusty old palace with a bunch of dusty old people."

Jill groaned. “Here we go again,” she thought. "Why do you hate going back there so much?"

Lilith looked up at the dark sky. "Because Jill, I feel so… I don't know, caged, I guess. It can be so boring there, stuck in stuffy rooms learning how to be all prim and proper." Lilith stood up quickly. "I want to be free! I want to go see the world!"

Jill shook her head sadly. "But Lilith, so many would consider you lucky to be born into a life of royalty. Most people your age would be out working while you’re in a palace living in the lap of luxury. Be happy with what God has given you!”

Lilith looked slightly disappointed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I'd much rather be a poor farmer's daughter, or maybe even a member of the AX, like Dad was! I want a life full of danger and excitement!"

"Careful what you wish for, you may end up getting it," Jill warned.

"I certainly hope that saying turns out to be true!" Lilith laughed.

--

Officer Brown stood nervously in front of his queen and her husband. He took several deep breaths and ran a sweaty hand through his graying blonde hair, trying to calm himself. In his hand he held several photographs of a recent murder in a small town near Londinium.

Finally, he cleared his throat to speak. “Thank you, Your Majesty, for seeing me today. I have a matter that I would like to discuss with you both.”

Esther nodded slightly. “So I hear. You say that you have reason to believe that terrorists are responsible for several murders in your town?”

Officer Brown nodded gravely. "I do. As you can see in these photographs, the victims seem to have been murdered with very thin wire. Most likely fishing line or piano," the officer said. He handed the photos over to Esther. "All of them were either very devoted to the church or were members of the clergy."

The queen carefully observed each of the photographs. "I see, but I don't understand why these deaths have anything to do with terrorists. It looks like another job for local authorities," the queen said, passing the photos back.

The officer closed his eyes. "Yes, but it’s not the murders themselves that caused us to suspect terrorists. It’s the message written in blood on the walls of the victim's homes that has us worried.” He opened his eyes again, a pained expression on his face. “We think you may want to see it."

The officer handed Esther another photo. The second she glanced at it, her face grew pale.

"Esther, is something wrong?" Abel asked quietly, placing a hand on his wife’s shoulder.

She turned to her husband, a fearful look on her face. “Its not possible…”

“What’s not possible,” Abel asked worriedly. It took a lot to spook the queen of Albion. If anything did, it was definitely a cause for concern.

She shakily handed him the photo. When he saw it, he understood. The phrase that was written on the wall was one he and Esther knew all too well. It was a phrase that most thought had been erased from the face of the earth over 25 years ago.

Igne Natura Renovatur Integra. By Flames Shall The Earth Be Reborn.

The Rosenkreuz Orden.

--

The room was dark and smelt of blood. The red liquid was everywhere, staining the walls and carpets. However, despite all the blood, the house was fairly clean. There was no sign of any struggle. Isaak put out his cigarillo in an ashtray on the coffee table.

"Well, aren't you just the little devil," Isaak mused. He weaved around several corpses strewn across the floor. All seemed to have been cut into pieces using thin wire.

"People have always said that I take after Papa," Helena said, admiring her handiwork. She carefully stepped around the bodies to stand next to Isaak. She gestured to the mangled cadavers on the floor. “So, you like?”

Isaak stared at the once happy family, lying cold and dead on the floor. He smiled in silent approval. Helena clapped her hands happily and giggled.

Isaak had to admit, Helena was very similar to her late father, Dietrich. Helena had shoulder length, silky brown hair that was styled the same way that her father‘s was. Both had stunning beauty and great intelligence. But most of all, they shared a sadistic personality. Helena, however, was a bit more childish at times. Isaak sometimes found it hard to believe that the woman was already in her mid-thirties.

"Oh damn! I think I got a little blood on you!" Helena said, sounding slightly upset.

Isaak looked over at her. She was not talking about him, but rather the cloth doll that she was holding. It held the distinct likeness of him.

Oh yes, she was a strange one.

Isaak’s thoughts were interrupted by a rattling cough.

"Helena, you're slipping." Isaak teased.

"Humph," Helena huffed as she placed the doll on the ground. With a flick of her wrist, the doll animated and began to make its way over to the dying man in the next room. The two followed it.

The doll led them to the living room, where a man with severed arms and legs laid, slowly dying on the floor. His eyes swiveled back and forth across the room, then stopped when he spotted the figures looming in the doorway.

"My family...what have you done?" The man moaned, tears streaming down his face.

Helena wiggled her fingers. "I'm sorry mister, but it had to be done. A message must be sent to the Vatican and its allies." Helena replied, making it look as if it were the doll speaking, making it gesture and even impersonating Isaak’s voice.

"You...you monsters!" The man shouted.

Helena’s brown eyes darkened. "Monsters?” She asked quietly, “Now, that's not a very nice thing to say." She made a flicking motion with her other hand. "Oh no mister, we aren't the monsters. The real monsters are the ones who think that this filthy world can continue existing.” Helena grinned wickedly. “Igne Natura Renovatur Integra, you sorry b*****d."

The man gasped one last time before his severed head rolled across the floor.

Isaak watched and smiled. A strange one indeed.