A/N: Hope you're enjoying this rewrite! I'm enjoying rewriting it!

kanna does not own True Blood

It was dinnertime for me, so I settled for some pasta with ham, olives, and spinach. I loved that Roman allowed me to buy pretty much any food or drink I wanted. While most children would use an opportunity like this to raid a candy store or buy all the junk food in the world, I had to keep a healthy physique and eat healthy. Junk food was okay every now and then, but I had to eat right and exercise. Lucky for me, the Authority's building was pretty big, so I could run a couple of laps around it during the daytime.

As I put the pasta into a pot of boiling water, I saw Chancellor Agrippa and Roman come into the kitchen. Roman was holding an open laptop and put it down on the table as Chancellor Agrippa went to the fridge. "Tru Blood, Guardian?" she offered.

Roman shook his head and sighed as he sat in front of the laptop. He pushed the volume button on the laptop. Nora's screams that there wasn't another traitor in the Authority could be heard. I noticed the pasta finished in the water, so I strained it before I put it on a plate and mixed the diced ham, black olives, and spinach into it. I then sat across from Roman. "She's holding out, I know it," Roman sighed.

"She probably has allies," I said as I took a forkful of pasta.

"Continue her torture until she breaks," Salome suggested. "Everyone breaks eventually."

"This cancer in our midst. How long can we watch and wait before it kills us?" Roman asked.

"I think you should speak to her, Chancellor Agrippa," I said. Roman nodded in agreement. "I'm not sure how much my opinion counts in the Authority-"

"Your opinion counts a great deal, Huntress," Roman interrupted. "I shouldn't have to remind you of that. Continue."

"Thank you. From what I've seen, Chancellor Gainesborough looks to you as a sister, Chancellor Agrippa. I think you're the only one who can get her to open up and give up the names."

"And if she doesn't?" Chancellor Agrippa asked.

"Then fuck it," Roman said. "We execute her publicly. Let the Sanguinistas know that we are willing to kill just as much as they are."

Chancellor Agrippa smiled flirtatiously at Roman. I know Roman said I was like a daughter to him, and he was like a father to me, but Chancellor Agrippa would never, ever, be like a mother to me. She just gave me bad vibes. I can't really explain it. "You know I can be persuasive, hm?" she asked Roman in a flirtatious tone. She kissed his cheek.

I made a gesture to show how grossed out I was. "Get a room," I thought to myself as I finished eating. I took my dishes to the sink, rinsed them, and loaded them into the dishwasher. I walked into the main room of the Authority's HQ where I saw Chancellor Drew staring at something on his laptop. Chancellors Akinjide, Braun, and Harris were there, too. They nodded as they noticed my presence.

I pulled up a chair next to Chancellor Drew. I was going to ask what he was looking at, but he cut me off when he angrily asked, "Standing around in Northman's bar. This is finding Russell Edgington?"

"Has it occurred to anyone that they may have killed Russell a year ago, and this hunt is a charade to buy more time?" Chancellor Akinjide calmly asked as he looked around the room before turning back to his own laptop.

"Or perhaps a hoax to rally the Sanguinistas?" Chancellor Braun suggested.

"That is a possibility, but Mr. Compton said he didn't even know what the Sanguinista movement was," I countered.

"How do we know he isn't lying?" Chancellor Drew asked me.

I sighed. "We don't. You're right. But I have a feeling they're telling the truth about the Sanguinistas. If they wanted to rally them, don't you think they'd make their allegiance a little more...open?"

Chancellors Harris and Akinjide nodded. "Probably," Chancellor Harris answered. "Besides, believers do need something to believe in. We've got uprisings on four of the seven continents."

"Four?" I exclaimed. That wasn't good. If the majority of continents had uprisings, what was to stop the other continents?

"Even a rumor of Russell's escape would be enough to defeat Vampire Rights bills in most countries," Chancellor Akinjide said.

"I got bills passed all over Scandinavia months ago," Chancellor Drew bragged. Everyone, including me, turned to glare at him. "Just saying."

"Oh, please," Chancellor Harris drawled. "The most liberal humans in the world. Hardly any radical believers to rock the boat. Even a child could do it." I could tell she touched a nerve with Chancellor Drew, because he was glaring daggers at her before he rolled his eyes and shook his head. Chancellor Drew appeared young (I'd say around 10 at the youngest, 12 at the oldest), but in vamp years, he was 92 years old. Like I said before, he was the youngest member of the Authority in age and appearance.

"Speaking of 'radical believers,' turn to two," Chancellor Braun said with a small smile.

Chancellor Akinjide switched the view screen on his laptop, and I saw Nora in her prison cell as she said, "I swear fealty to the Blood and to the progenitor. The First, The Last, The Eternal. Father and Mother, Lord and Lilith, protect me as I protect you from now until the hour of the True Death."

"Kind of insane," I muttered. "I know not all vampires are like this, but do you all really go to that level of orthodox worship?"

"Not necessarily," Chancellor Akinjide replied.

"What a lunatic," Chancellor Braun observed. "It's like she means it." Chancellor Akinjide pushed a button on his laptop, and the UV lights in Nora's prison cell activated. This caused her to scream in pain. "Wake up, sister, it's just a book! I know the guy who wrote it and he was high the whole time."

"I'd be careful saying things like that if I were you," I said. "Guardian doesn't like you disparaging the book."

"You are one of us, Huntress," Chancellor Harris growled. "You may not be vampire or a chancellor, but you are still a member of the Authority. Don't go around talking as though you aren't."

"Whatever," I said as I rolled my eyes.

"Preteens," I heard Chancellor Harris mutter. "Thank G-d those years are far behind me."

"I don't see the Guardian here," Chancellor Braun commented.

"He's busy with his own woman on her knees," Chancellor Drew said.

"Ew. Please get that image out of my head," I said, disgusted. Just as Chancellor Drew turned to face me, I quickly said, "That was rhetorical. Don't glamor me. We all had an agreement, remember? No glamoring. I'm going to go to the store and pick up some...things."

"What kind of 'things?'" Chancellor Drew asked. The other chancellors tried to stifle their laughs, but they weren't doing a good job.

"Um...you know..."

"No, I don't."

"Seriously? You weren't around when the freaking tampon was invented? You didn't take sex ed in school?" That's when the other chancellors started laughing. Chancellor Drew took a minute before his eyes widened in shock and his cheeks flushed about fifty shades of red. He quickly looked down. "Took you long enough. May I go?"

"Sorry, Yue," Roman said as he walked into the room. "You may not. We are about to start interrogating Chancellor Gainesborough, and Chancellor Agrippa thought it would be helpful to have you there."

"How much help can I be? I'm a human, I've only been around you and the other chancellors for a little bit over a year-"

"You look to Nora as a sister. I know she felt the same about you. You might be able to help us. Bring whatever weapons you deem necessary and meet us by Nora's cell in ten minutes."

It was ten minutes later, and I had my weapons prepped. I dressed in my hunter's outfit: black cowgirl boots with silver spurs, dark jeans, and a black shirt. My long, dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. I tucked silver daggers into the sides of my boots. I figured I wouldn't need much in the way of weaponry. I walked out of my room and went to Nora's cell.

Sure enough, Roman and Chancellor Agrippa were already there. Nora was seated in some sort of chair with manacles that was connected to...I have no idea. I assumed it was blood with silver in it. Or just liquid silver. I took a dagger out of my boot. "Shall we begin?" I asked.

Roman and Chancellor Agrippa nodded. Chancellor Agrippa and I approached Nora. "It pains me to see you like this, Nora," I whispered in Chinese.

Chancellor Agrippa got in Nora's face and whispered, "The righteous do suffer."

"I am not Job," Nora whispered. "I accept my fate."

"And you accept the fate of the True Death that will come of your treason?" Roman asked.

Nora whimpered before she took a deep breath. "So be it," she said.

"Nora, my dear," Chancellor Agrippa said, "I won't accept it. I've loved you as my own blood for centuries. And I won't see you martyred for the sins of others. Who has swayed you? Who is gathering the extremists to bring us down?"

"All you have to do is tell them, Nora," I added. "You already confessed to being a Sanguinist."

"I just don't see you as a leader," Roman commented.

"Fuck off," Nora said before she began to laugh. "You have seared and sliced every inch of my body. There's nothing left to say."

"What about Bill and Eric?" I asked. "If you care nothing for your own life, surely you care about their lives."

"Kill them. What do I care? They'll probably die anyway."

I looked at Roman. He smiled as he took out his phone. "Shall we do it now?" he asked with a smirk. "I love this thing. Especially this app." Roman showed the screen of his phone to Nora, and i-Stake app was open; the execute button was right smack in the middle of the screen. "You say the word, I'll trigger the stakes. Say the word. Say the word."

Nora gasped. "If I tell you...if I tell you, how can I be assured of their safety?"

Chancellor Agrippa bared her fangs and bit her wrist. Before the wound closed up, she put blood on her fingertips and drew a cross across her chest with the blood. "I swear," Chancellor Agrippa promised, "upon the blood of Lilith. Give us the name of the true infidel, and Northman and Compton will both be spared."

She bent down to Nora's level and drew a cross on her chest before she said, "This is my most solemn vow as a believer." A blood oath. That was sacred among vampires. The highest promise a vampire could make. One who made it had to stay true to their word. Chancellor Agrippa leaned in close and whispered, "Tell me."

Nora began to cry, and Chancellor Agrippa took Nora into her arms. I watched for a minute before I saw Nora sit up and whisper something into Chancellor Agrippa's ear. Roman and I exchanged a look before he put his phone away. "Do we have what we need?" I asked Roman in Chinese. "May I go now?"

"You may not. I want you to be around for this. Go during the daytime," Roman answered.

"Cercis Siliquastrum," Roman said as he stroked the top of a silver-tipped stake. The chancellors were all seated around the usual table and I leaned against the wall. Everyone seemed to be on edge, and I could understand why. Roman wouldn't have a stake out without any reason. Someone was going to be executed. I had a feeling I knew who, but I wasn't positive. "At least, that's what the scientists call it. A bit clumsy for my taste. I prefer the colloquial."

"The Judas Tree," I replied.

Roman nodded. "Ah, there. That tells us everything, doesn't it? And thus it was from this bough that Judas Iscariot hanged himself. The tip melted down from his thirty pieces of silver. The price paid for his betrayal. That is, if you believe in that sort of thing."

"It's what the book says," I commented, "is it not?"

"Yes, but really, who's to say? Any shard of wood will do the job," Roman said as he walked around with the stake. "But if you take the book literally, then, yes, here it is. The holy of the holies."

"We all have matters to attend to. May I motion to adjourn?" Chancellor Braun asked. Clearly, he was bored of this. Well, Chancellor Braun wasn't the only one. I needed to go to the drug store, and it wasn't a 24/7 drug store that I went to. They closed at 3 AM, and Roman wouldn't let me out past 12 midnight. I really needed to talk to him about this whole concept of 'independence.'

"Oh, no, I can't do that," Roman said. "I'm having your quarters searched. Yue's included."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "Guards...in MY ROOM?! Guardian, you can't possibly..." I was practically speechless. For someone who said I was like a daughter to him, he certainly didn't seem to trust me much.

As I was trying to get over my initial shock, Chancellor Akinjide protested, "Guardian, it is not possible. We are all loyal."

"And we all know that there are extremists who still refuse to recognize the wisdom of mainstreaming," Roman countered. I noticed Chancellor Drew shift uncomfortably in his chair. So he was the other traitor. I had a feeling it was him. What I didn't understand was why, and something told me I wasn't going to find out. "If one chancellor can be strayed from the path, then why not two?"

Guards came in with an open laptop. One that thankfully wasn't mine. They sat it in front of Roman, who picked up a piece of paper from it. He looked at it and Chancellor Agrippa asked, "Is it true?"

"It is as Nora said," Roman answered. "There is another traitor." He held the stake under his arm before he picked up the laptop and began to walk as he muttered, "Treachery. Sedition under this roof." He eventually stopped at Chancellor Drew. I could tell the chancellors were all uncomfortable, but Chancellor Drew seemed the most uncomfortable. He did his best to hide it, but even I, a human, could tell he wasn't prepared for what was coming. "Chancellor Drew," Roman began as he placed the laptop down in front of the chancellor, "can you explain why this is in your possession?"

Roman used the silver tip of the stake to press the space bar and play the video. A presumably human woman's screams could be heard in the video as who we all assumed was Chancellor Drew growled, "Die human. You are food to us." The poor woman's screams continued until Roman pressed the space bar and stopped the video. Chancellor Drew shifted uncomfortably. "Guardian," he began, "I apologize. It's a stupid memento. Who here hasn't fed on a human at some point?" Fear became evident in his voice. Roman was like a dragon. Calmed down, he was relatively peaceful. Make him mad, and you'd fear his wrath.

"There are those of us who do," Roman said in a loud voice. "We certainly don't tape it, let alone send it out to Miserata, Damascus, St. Petersburg! Sent to known enemies of the Authority with the encrypted message, 'In sympathy and solidarity.'"

Chancellor Drew once again shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He could no longer hide his fear, and even I knew he was going to meet the True Death any minute now. I looked at him, as did the other chancellors. While I did not necessarily care if he lived or died, Chancellor Drew was Authority and was one of many vampires who made me feel welcome in the Authority's quarters. Having been around vampires more than humans, I was actually quite unsure of what to feel. "Guardian, I can explain," he said with fear evident in his voice. "I was infiltrating them. Gaining their trust. I-"

Roman cut him off as he bared his fangs. Chancellor Drew screamed as Roman picked him up out of his seat at vampire speed and staked him. What was Chancellor Drew was now a pile of blood and guts on his chair and splatters of blood on Roman's face. I was lucky to be standing far enough away so that none of it got on me. Blood stains were hard to get out. Having had my time of the month twice so far and bled a little on the bed, I should know.

"Alert your constituents," Roman ordered. "No further opposition to our just cause. You will...fall in line. Am I understood?" The chancellors and I nodded. I wasn't sure why I followed their lead, but then again, Roman did have the guards search my room, and I figured it would be best not to piss him off any further. "Bless the blood."

"Bless the blood," the chancellors said in Hebrew. I repeated it in my pretty broken Hebrew. Like I said, while I wasn't fluent in Hebrew and knew enough to get by with the Authority's rituals, that didn't mean I could pronounce everything with perfection. I looked at what was Chancellor Drew's chair and sighed. I mentally thanked Nora for giving up the name as I quietly walked out of the room.

That night, I couldn't sleep. It wasn't usual for me. My dream was vivid this time, however. I saw a figure with a black hood and a silver skull necklace. It started to speak to me in what sounded like Greek before I woke up. Who was he? I had no idea. No theories or anything. So, I did what I always did when I couldn't sleep: I went to the library. I wanted to find out more about this hooded figure. Well, what I could, at any rate. I grabbed my laptop and locked the door to my room before I left for the library.

"Can't sleep?" Roman asked from behind a pole he was leaning against as I was on my way to the library.

I jumped. "You scared me," I said.

"Someone needs to work on keeping their guard up. You're surrounded by vampires, after all."

"It's not like any of you want my blood. You said it yourself; it smells like rotting corpses."

"While you do make a good point, it's still something to keep in mind."

"Fair enough."

"Library?"

"You know me too well." I smiled and began to walk as Roman followed me. I stopped, however, and turned back to face Roman. He raised an eyebrow. "I have questions, and I want answers."

Roman sighed. "I will answer what I can."

It was my turn to sigh. This was going to be hard. Well, I started with the easiest question. "Why did you have the guards search my room? You know movements like the Sanguinista only recruit vampires."

"Because if I didn't, the chancellors would think I was showing special treatment. While you are like a daughter to me, you also have to fall in line with the others." I figured that was fair enough, though I didn't like it. The thought of guards invading my room, my place of privacy, was a little unsettling. Not that anything inappropriate was in there, but a person's room is their safe haven. I didn't like that my safe haven had been invaded by guards. "What's your next question?"

"I had a dream. It was...surprisingly vivid."

"'Vivid?'"

I nodded. "There was a figure with a black cloak. The figure had a hood over its head and started speaking to me in what I think was ancient Greek."

"Could you understand it?"

I shook my head. "By the time the figure got about half a word out, I woke up. What is this about?"

"Why are you asking me? It was your dream."

"What if it was more than that, though? What if it actually means something?"

"We don't know that. Although..."

Roman seemed puzzled by something. That was rare to see from a vampire. "'Although?'" I pressed on.

"There is someone who is often depicted like that, but he's only a myth. Well, that's what the books say. Let's go to the library. I'll show you." I had studied mythology with the Magister, but it was mostly mythology about vampires. I was familiar with some stories from Greek and Roman mythology, as well as Chinese, but I never studied those intensely.

Roman and I walked to the library in silence. Upon arrival, I followed him into one of the aisles. I saw him pull out a big book that looked like it would be heavy for a human, myself included (probably). He brought it over to one of the desks in the library and opened it. He skimmed the table of contents until he found what he was looking for. He flipped to the page, and when I saw the image on the page, my eyes widened. "No way," I gasped.

It was Hades, the Greek god of the dead.

"Does he look like the figure in your dream?" Roman asked.

I could only nod. "Why him?"

"No idea."

"I'm as healthy as a horse, right? I mean, you can't smell anything beyond the usual, right?"

"Right. Look, it's almost midnight, you really-"

"Midnight?"

"Yes. Why?"

"My birthday is tomorrow. I'll be thirteen. Any chance I could go to a restaurant or store on my own to celebrate? No offense, but I honestly doubt you have anything planned, given the current...climate."

"You'll be around humans."

"So? I'm human. It's my birthday; I should treat myself. It's not like I'll spend that much money, anyway. I don't have human friends, you know that."

Roman thought for a minute. "Maybe it's time you made some. I can't have you celebrating at night, given the current climate. I'd feel safer if one of my day men accompanied you somewhere."

"No. I want to go by myself." Roman raised an eyebrow. "A guard going with me will only raise suspicion. Guards go with me almost everywhere. It's annoying. I even have your day-men watching me while I go on runs around the building. Did I also mention that both the guards and day-men wait outside my shower? My fucking shower? It makes me think one of them is going to step in any minute and touch me in...areas I'd rather not say."

"You know they're more professional than that. They would never-"

"Can't you lighten my security detail up a little bit? I'm almost thirteen, after all. It's not like I'm old enough to go to a bar and get drunk. I just want a little more independence at night. Besides, if anything happens, I have your number, all the Chancellors' numbers, and a vampire friendly 911 on speed-dial. If anything keeps me, I'll text you so you can tell the day-men I'm not an intruder or anything."

Roman put a hand on the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Fine. But I want you back before sundown. If anything keeps you later, I want you to text me. However, if you feel something is wrong, I want you to come right back here." I nodded. I guessed that this whole 'giving independence to kids' thing was new to Roman, so I figured he'd need a little more practice with it. I know he said I was like a daughter to him, but Roman never talked much about his human life, if at all. I never knew if he had kids in his human life before he was turned. "You can take your Vespa. Now back to bed. I have...matters to attend to."

I nodded and walked back to my room. I felt like I had more questions than answers. Why would Hades, lord of the dead, appear in my dream? What was he doing in my head? I wasn't dying...right? I got back into bed and my sleep was dreamless.