Hunt them to the ends of the earth

Meme (x) l Accepting l @wcrstarter

Daisy fell quiet for a few moments, stunned by the words from her friend. She looked away, part of her wanting to deflect, to say that she couldn’t have done that much for Sonja, but she knew that it couldn’t be done. The two of them as vampires had come so far, and having Sonja open up to her like this made her realize that she had been doing the same with her. Slowly, but she had become a different woman, and so much of that was because of Sonja. 

“Certainly you understand if any harm comes to our daughter, I’ll end the person who dared to even threaten her.” she spoke in a tone that was meant to be assuring. “We are both immensely strong, and so is she. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Besides… soon we won’t have to worry about Cassius. I have been patient, dedicated, and careful. I’m very close to having everything I need for us, and this coven, to be free of him.”

Semira immediately straightened up and inhaled a quick breath as she felt her spine being poked. Swiftly turning around, first she looked forward, and seeing nothing after a second, she looked down. Artemis. The little girl had incredibly soft footsteps.

“Artemis. You should be in bed, your father and I are working.” she murmured.

“I can’t sleep.” Artemis responded. “I wanna be here. I can watch you work. Mommy, Daddy, can I, please?”

“I do know that, you know that better than anyone that I would do anything for our daughter. Artemis means the world to me,” This was why he was so concerned about who she went after. All it took was one wrong person being the target and she would get hurt. The vampire would suffer, but not before his daughter did, which was scary to him. 

“I shouldn’t... encourage that but the sooner he gets off the council, the better chance I will have at convincing them to change.” He despised Cassius more than he cared to admit, but he was respectful to an extent. Once he was gone, Zach actually had a chance to better the coven from his seat rather than facing the hell he always did. 

He noticed Semira stiffen and his gaze fell to the ground for a moment, smiling at his daughter. He always immediately melted when he saw his little girl. She really had him wrapped around his finger. 

Semira smiled in response to his concern. 

“It’s a little funny. He’s mean to her, and she’s only a child, it makes sense for a child to be mean back. Unlike most children, however, she knows how to defend herself if something were to happen.” she spoke. 

Zach would think she spoke of her defensive skills and her skills with knives, which was partially true, but she was also speaking of something else. She didn’t dare tell Zach, but she had taught Artemis in secret how to use a small handgun. Semira stressed with the utmost importance however, it was only to be used if her life was in danger. It was in Semira and Zach’s bedroom in a secret place she showed Artemis, and next to it was one single UV bullet. If she was in danger, she was instructed to run as fast as she could to this gun, and only then use it. 

“Besides, all of her little pranks are harmless. Artemis doesn’t want to hurt anyone. A horse in Cassius’ room, putting a clear coat of paint on your bar of soap so that it doesn’t lather, convincing…” Semira began chuckling at this one. “Convincing Emily… to look in a telescope that gave her a black ring around her eye.” Semira laughed. “Darling, please lighten up, these pranks aren’t hurting anyone. She probably learned them from watching too many movies with Emily. She’s just bored and in need of entertainment. Which… it is rather entertaining.”

“Trust me, I know Cassius is mean to our daughter.” It was something he had been considering bringing to the elders if the attitude towards his daughter persisted. He understood the fact that Cassius held some form of grudge towards his family due to Semira and the fact that Zach was far better received in the coven as a council member than he ever was, and that their daughter was a pureborn vampire. “I know his attitude is something that needs to be worked on.” 

But nothing would change if Cassius could claim that it was because their daughter was the aggressor. 

@killersoflycans​

It was clear that she, Zach, and a few others in the coven loved and adored Artemis. Their daughter, five going on six, was beautiful, intelligent, kind when she wanted to be, but very rambunctious and mischievous. Semira was unsure of why. She knew it wasn’t from a lack of structure or being spoiled, she made sure neither were a problem. Artemis did chores, she only received nice things if she “earned” them, such as finishing all of her chores early, if she took on extra tasks, or if she succeeded at something really well. 

It might’ve been all the freedom Semira gave her– boredom probably had something to do with it too, there wasn’t much around the castle for a young child to do. Even though she was only five, vampire maturity was at least somewhat more advanced than humans, and Semira figured she would be fine not having someone hovering over her all the time. By Semira’s standards at least, Artemis was free to roam about the castle and grounds without supervision. She fought Zach on it, and they both still argued about it from time to time, but it wasn’t like Zach could watch her twenty-four-seven anyway. They both had constant work to do, Zach being a council member, Semira being his regent. Currently they were working on updating the coven’s security measures. 

“Oh, Zach,” Semira began, looking up from her tablet that she was in the process of figuring out. “I’m told that Artemis somehow got a horse in Cassius’ room.” she murmured with a laugh. “A benefit of being a hybrid, I suppose, where she can go out in the day and retrieve things. Amusing that she retrieved a horse and placed it in Cassius’ room while everyone was asleep.”

As soon as Artemis was born, Zach’s whole world became focused on his daughter. He wanted her to know just how loved she was, but also understand that things wouldn’t be given to her on a silver platter, especially because she was a Corvinus-Strain Pureborn vampire. It was like a target could be placed on her back, and he would do anything to keep her safe. Of course, it grew harder with how Semira kept trying to give her weapons and teach her to fight when she was far too young, and that even now, at age five, she was proficient in knives despite his best efforts. 

That night, he was going over the plans for the coven, looking up ways that they could increase the security in the coven. He had thought that Artemis was down for her nap like she was supposed to be, but upon hearing Semira speak, he let out a groan and rested his head on the desk for a moment. The fact that their daughter was already getting into trouble with Cassius of all vampires was not a good thing. It was unsettling and definitely had him worried for her safety. 

“My whole life as a human I played sports.” Emily began. “My dad always wanted a kid who played like he did, so he was supportive, but my mom, she worried about me getting hurt; she also worried that sports would “turn me into a boy”.” Emily laughed at that. She was one of the most girly, cutesy vampires in the coven, wearing bright colors, butterfly hairclips, flower hairclips, unicorn stickers, etc. “So when I got injured, as I often did, my dad would know but we’d keep it hidden from my mom. One time I sprained my wrist when I was ten and she wanted me to quit because she didn’t want me to get hurt again, so after that we just kept injuries hidden from her. I got really good at it.”

“I guess… I didn’t want you to worry about me getting hurt.”

Daisy let out a muffled protest at the concept of Emily being someone she wasn’t because of what she did. “It might sound bizarre seeing as I am centuries old, but my parents had similar fears about me becoming more masculine as I grew up. I never wanted to be their ideal daughter. I wanted to work, help in the fields, not with the family.” The day that she joined the coven and although she was considered a maid, she started wearing pants because that was where she was comfortable. The dresses she always was required to wear as a human never felt right. “But I suppose that makes sense that you would learn to hide your injuries so your mother never found out. But I promise you never have to worry about hiding them from me.” 

Semira sighed. Since they were both persistent, she wouldn’t further argue with them. It was unlikely she would change her mind on the matter though. 

“You shouldn’t give her too much extra help.” she told Daisy. “If she’s really going to become a Death Dealer, then she should do it on her own merit, instead of being given an unfair advantage over the other recruits. Besides… my training has a place for anyone of any skill, however the main thing she will need to have is persistence, endurance, and an unbreakable will. Only if she has those will she survive my training.”

“FYI, I have tons of that.” Emily insisted. “Like I said, you’ll see.”

“It wouldn’t be too much, but you have plenty of trainees, not just her,” She nodded towards Emily. “Perhaps you could use just a second set of eyes and hands when it comes to handling the trainees.” It would be strange for Daisy to offer this normally, but there was a part of her to see Emily succeed, if not to just show Semira that even those who do not seem to have any sort of promise to prove themselves. It was a pride thing, after having being told when she was starting out that she wouldn’t amount to anything. 

Her mouth slightly agape, she stared at Daisy in shock. What was even more shocking than Daisy saying it was that she was probably right. 

“I… I suppose that’s true.” she reluctantly admitted. “To be honest, I..” No. She couldn’t let Daisy see that kind of insecurity. That kind of weakness. “Look, I don’t actually think that lowly of you. I just…” No. 

She gently squeezed Daisy’s hand. Emily was stubborn and was never going to change her thoughts on this. She would never just be willing to sacrifice Daisy to protect herself. She protected her loved ones no matter what.

She embraced Daisy moving closer, Emily snuggling against her for a moment. 

“I didn’t assume it would be a good idea, I just thought it’d be fun. And it was, until the fractured leg.” 

Daisy pressed a gentle kiss to Emily’s shoulder as her head rested against it. Tomorrow, Daisy would be back to her cold and indifferent ways in view of others, but today she was going to allow herself the chance to feel. She was going to let it out so she didn’t have to bottle it up, not the fear of losing Emily. She had already lost someone, she wasn’t going to let her be the next one she loses. 

“Only half of my judgement is coming from appearance. The other half is coming from experience. Alexia is different. She and I both may be smaller in stature with less muscle, but we both had some life experience behind us when we began our training. Emily, how old are you?”

“Eighteen.” she answered. 

“Eighteen, see, barely anything. You, Alexia, and I were all older than that when we were turned. Along with that, there are vampires who are hundreds of years old who fail my training. Emily, nothing about you tells me you would be able to stand a chance. Plus, humans of this modern world are especially… well, weak. Centuries ago when humans had problems with each other, they would fight and one would be left alive. Now there are all these human laws about pacifism and even fighting without death involved is illegal. Daisy, I’ll train her, I simply doubt she’ll pass.”

“Watch, I’ll pass, you’ll see.” Emily insisted. “And if I fail the first time, I’ll just keep trying until I pass. A thing you’ll learn about me, I’m annoyingly persistent.”

“Also yeah, as a human I could’ve gone to juvie or jail for fighting, but that’s only if you get caught. This one kid was beating up my brother and so I whacked that asshole upside the head with my baseball bat.”

Daisy never thought she would be stepping in to defend the young vampire in front of her, but if there was one thing she really couldn’t stand, it was underestimating a vampire. She had seen someone who was young and weak initially turn into a powerful death dealer. Daisy didn’t believe that Semira would put the effort into training Emily. 

“If that’s the case, then I will help,” She was an underdog story, a maid before she became a death dealer. Emily could be seen as the same, and despite her hardened exterior, Daisy wanted to see her do well. Already, she found Emily annoying, but there was something about the young girl that softened her just a little bit and made her determined to help her succeed. 

“Well… yes. To be honest, I’ve never really been the best at romance.” Semira admitted. Especially with Daisy, Semira felt uncomfortable at the idea of being vulnerable with her, so she continued to keep up her tough exterior.