musings of littlelesbinonny

Finally he shook his head, "no, really; none of us scientists have a clue as to what it actually is. We've been scouring through Mother Miranda's journals for hours and she's not logged one thing as to what it is; how she created it; or what it actually does and how she used it. She logged nearly everything else almost down to bathroom breaks, but nothing for this "cadou", only that that is what she named it."

Donna folded her arms across her chest, "something of this magnitude and power in her hands would be all she would risk, I'm sure. If anyone else were to get ahold of it and her documented work, well, it would put her in jeopardy for competition so I guess I can't be surprised."

"Makes sense. Doesn't leave us any less stuck."

"Have you done any testing at all?"

Joel thinned his lips with a sharp intake of breath, "I'll be transparent with you Miss Beneviento," he exhaled with a pause, "we've been too chicken to open the container."

Donna almost chuckled, "understandable. So what now?"

"For right now it's the office goldfish."

She did laugh at that, "with any luck I hope to have the 'OK' from management to flush it down the drain as soon as possible," Donna smiled, "please just keep me informed if anything comes about."

"Of cou -"

A ringing from Donna's dress pocket startled the otherwise decently quiet room and she reached for it swiftly, flipping it open to answer, "yes, Ang?"

"Ran into Dmitri just now, some hubbub in the medical quarters again with the talking mutant, he'd like you to go down there lickity-split since he can't reach Mama Cina."

Another sigh, "please don't ever call her that to her face. Thank you, I'll - I'll head there now." She flipped the phone shut and offered a short smile to Joel, "never-ending fun I tell you. Talk to you soon."

He nodded to her as she turned on her heels and left.

The guard around the medical bay had doubled since Donna had been by last and that sent her muscles into apprehension as she passed through the stocky soldiers to the door. Anjelica, Sylvia, and Dmitri were huddled just inside and all eyes flipped up to her as she approached.

"Ah, Miss Beneviento," Dmitri smiled, "thank you for coming. Our Matriarch has been completely unreachable, apparently per orders according to Bela... your advice would be greatly appreciated."

"Oh dear," she muttered without meaning to, "what's happened?"

"Come, see for yourself."

~

The knocking on the door was becoming incessant.

Alcina huffed as she yanked her baby-blue satin robe around her shoulders while padding to the door, eyebrows knitting together with an annoyance she knew she should calm.

Upon reaching the door, she took one deep steadying breath grabbing the handle; "Daniela I told you you could just knock once and leave the foo -"

Her words jolted to a halt as the unexpected blonde greeted her instead of Daniela as she flung open the door.

"Bela," Alcina enunciated with a newly cocked brow, "are you dying?"

Bela's normal expression shifted down a confused notch, "...no?"

"Is one of your sisters dying?"

"... no."

"Is the manor on fire?"

Bela's eyes narrowed, "no...?"

"Are you, anyone or anything else on fire?"

Bela's face deadpanned, "no."

"Then why on earth are you pounding on my door when I told the lot of you I did not want to be disturbed unless Mother Miranda's headless body happens to resurface for a walk-about the underground?"

It was Bela's turn to now match her mothers cocked brow as she folded her arms, "on my own judgement I figured you should know that Donna and Dmitri have called for you already this evening."

Alcina lifted her chin, "about?"

"The new mutant."

The air in her lungs left about as aggravated as her words left her lips, "oh, fuck me."

Still lounging in the nicest hot bath you'd ever taken, your eyes were closed, the smell of Alcina's earthy perfumed bath oils were thick and heavy in the steamy air all around you and you felt peace and serenity. But still heavy and terribly tired. She had left you there after thoroughly massaging your shoulders and neck to beckon Daniela and send her on a quest for a hot meal for you. You had insisted Malka likely packed you plenty of good things that you could munch on, but she was incredibly stubborn on the decision you would have a decadent meal after the night you'd previously endured. You were still not quite where you should be recovery wise and you gave up on the fight, happy to let her cater to you as she so desired.

Eventually the water began to cool and your fingers to prune, so you pulled the heavy plug and let the tub drain and sluggishly reached for your towel. Not long after, Alcina appeared with a smile, but a forced one you could tell.

"What's that look about?" You inquired gently while securing the soft fabric around your body.

"Oh," Alcina tsked with a click of her tongue, "Dmitri and Donna called. Something to do with the new mutant."

Your eyes widened, "something bad?" You asked, feeling a guilty knot sinch in your stomach.

She shook her head, "Bela said they didn't sound terribly concerned on the phone, but that as soon as I was available to come down immediately."

"We should get going then. I can be rea - "

"No." Alcina shut your drive down, "you're resting and recuperating, for however long it takes. I'm not letting you exert yourself past your threshold again. My people are plenty competent to handle things, and for heaven sake I could use a short sanity break. It's been nonstop for you and I since you've been down here and you're not used to the demanding rigor this place can require." She stated running her fingers through her curls, a new soft smile retaking her facade as she approached you with open arms, "and... with all the commotion and chaos, I feel I've missed out on you even though you've been by my side."

Her arms slipped around you and pulled you to her chest. You smiled into her and held tightly, enjoying her kisses to the top of your head.

"Do you still feel you're improving? No more nausea or dizziness?"

You shook your head against her, "slowly, yes. I'm still a little buzzy in my bones but that part is gone. I'm very, very tired physically for some reason."

Alcina pulled back from you and cupped the sides of your face, caressing your jawline, eying you expertly with those dark silver hues, "anything you need, I will see it done draga mea. You're my focus right now."

Her pure intent in your wellbeing gave you butterflies while you nodded with a smile as the two of you meandered into the bedroom.

By the time you'd gotten dried and dressed Daniela came by with a very high end meal from a 5-star restaurant that was close to the church; you tried to be ladylike about it but apparently you were more famished than you'd realized upon taking a bite. Normalcy seemed to be slipping back within you now you'd eaten but your body still felt weighed down, you really just wanted to go back to sleep.

Alcina was fidgeting silently beside you, your hands entwined. While the two of you were conversing and being comfortable overall, you could tell she was musing over the mutant situation in the back of her mind.

"Do you want to give Dmitri a call?" You offered leaning back into the chez, studying her with a warm smile.

She stared back at you, "is it that obvious?"

"Little bit." You smirked.

"Oohhh..." Alcina returned your smirk with a chuckle, "I desperately want to relinquish control and ignore things for a moment, but dammit if my curiosity and responsibility isn't tapping on the inside of my skull like an inquisitive four-year-old."

"Go, give him a call. I'm not going anywhere."

She studied you hard for a moment, pursed her lips, gave a short nod and rose, "I'll be right back." Kissed you softly and left the room.

After 7 failed attempts, Alcina slammed the receiver down and grumbled. She wasn't able to reach Dmitri, Donna, or Karl by phone. The last thing she wanted to do was go galivanting off while you weren't feeling 100%, but the itch in her spine told her she needed to be present for whatever was unfolding.

~

Ah well, duty wins.

Alcina lit a cigarette and made her way into the city. You were beyond exhausted by the time she came back to the room anyway, so she tucked you back in for another good bout of rest; the girls were home and she knew if you needed anything they'd tend to you instantly. A bit of relief, at least.

Her heels seemed loud on the cobblestone as her purposed strides rhythmed through the quiet, and yet all she could really hear was mumbled muffled chatter about this new mutant they'd brought in from Miranda's lair from the passerby's. She was hoping with all her might it would stay under wraps for at least 48 hours but all it takes is one whiff of conversation, fact or fiction, to be heard and the fire spreads instantaneously. She felt the eyes from her fellow vampires follow her as she walked the streets, ignoring the glances until she made it to the town square where Donna came running to greet her.

"Ah, there you are." Donna smiled softly.

She nodded in return, "yes, here I am. I tried calling several times but couldn't reach you."

"Oh, really? I've had my phone on me."

Alcina cocked her head, "what?"

"The cell phone, the one Angie got me - I've had it with me this whole time."

She narrowed her eyes half playful, half judging, "I've been calling the usual phones my dearest Donna. I didn't realize you'd suddenly become a full-time mobile phone user."

Donna almost blushed, "I really never thought I'd say it but having one through this mess has been incredibly helpful."

"Well don't you ever admit that out loud to my daughters or I'll never live down the no useless-cellphone-rule."

They sat in a short stern silence before breaking into a good chuckle.

"I apologize Alcina, I did give Daniela my number for you to use but I suppose one of the other girls may have been a better candidate to entrust it with."

Alcina sighed and rubbed her forehead, "it's alright," taking another breath she smiled down at her friend, "anyway, about yesterday; I ran out on you when you needed to speak to me, what did you need?

Donna straightened her shoulders, "the mutant has done nothing but show progress since he arrived, it's only gotten more peculiar as time goes on."

"Nothing threatening or dangerous, may I assume?"

"Not yet. Although, he doesn't seem violent in any nature thus far."

 "Well, shall we then?"

Anjelica was the first to greet the women as they entered the medical quarters. It was crawling with soldiers, lycan and vampire alike, but the energy was fairly calm and Alcina was able to relax back into her bones.

The stoic soldier smiled with a short bow, "My Lady, Dmitri is this way," Anjelica ushered with an arm, "please."

Alcina noticed Anjelica's right hand immediately rest upon the holstered gun at her side, inching closer to follow them and carefully stepped through the double-doors threshold, eyes scouring and senses alerted just in case.

The medical team was thick on the other side of the double-paned windows that lined the hallway on the left side, the room clearly where said mutant was being held, tended to, and studied. She couldn't see well through the crowd but Anjelica quickly zig-zagged around them to open the locked door to the room. The amount of buzzing conversation annoyed Alcina immediately, but this must mean all was well and work was progressing, she assumed.

Carefully threading through the gaps of people with Anjelica, she could finally see Dmitri's tall statue and bright white hair above everyone else. She clenched her jaw and entered the empty pocket where he and his other lead soldier were conversing.

She smiled upon seeing him, likewise from him, but instead of hearing his voice greet her, a much gentler and foreign voice was calling her name.

"Lady Dimitrescu - "

It came again, her head and eyes darting to her right to find the mutant standing not 5 feet away from her, looking almost completely normal aside from his iridescent white eyes.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't instantly flinch from the unexpectedness of this, but his smiling face and wavy shoulder length brown hair softened the unnerving white of his eyes. Alcina slowly returned the smile and reached for his outstretched hand to shake.

"I'm grateful you're here," he said, grasping her slender hand firmly yet without any aggression, "I'm alive - I'm alive and healing thanks to you - I... I don't know how to thank you enough. All of you. I'm desperately in your debt, and have much to atone for my past, especially to you My Lady."

Alcina's eyes were fixed on his, damn-near speechless as to his eloquence, gentleness, and healing progress. Not to mention incredibly confused.

"I am also grateful we were able to find you," she offered while trying to recover from the odd comment, "I'm afraid I don't understand?" Alcina pressed.

"It's me Felix, Felix Drummond... do you not recognize me?"

Silence washed through her as she tried to recall why that name was so familiar. It took several moments of studying him until the realization finally set in.

Alcina stiffened, her once soft facade becoming much more chiseled.

Lifting her chin slightly she took a steadying breath, "Felix... yes... I see it now," her skin grew a little colder but she knew tables had drastically turned and the danger she had found herself in with him far in the past was long gone, "you were one of Miranda's guard dogs..." she stated aloud for no real reason,  "one of the men who almost beat me to death during her trials before she forced me to kill Madeleine. Yes. I remember you."

Donna, Dmitri, Anjelica, and anyone else who had been within the near vicinity went completely quiet and still as this intersection of conversation, once light and seemingly hopeful, turned dark and staticky with a sharp plunge.

Felix immediately nodded, "yes, and while I can only imagine your feelings harbored for me, please know I have not been that man, or vampire, for a very long time. I won't presume to ask for your forgiveness, nor would I assume to enter your good graces, but please let me do right by you and anyone else I harmed by telling you things about Miranda and her work you may never find out otherwise."

Alcina refused to look away from him at this point, already sensing Donna's severe protective and sympathetic reaction for her at her side, blissfully ignoring Dmitri's own instinct to protect her from a ghost of the past, and folded her arms across her chest with a faded look of interest.

"Dmitri, Anjelica; clear the room of unnecessary presence. Donna; find a recording device. It's going to be a long night."

   ~

"Do you want to talk about it?" Donna asked carefully.

She wasn't as checked out as she looked, but Alcina was keeping herself afloat in the sticky ocean of knowledge they'd just acquired from Felix about Miranda and her "work".

It took Felix 4 hours to regale them in the history of his story and first-hand experience with Miranda's first known tests of the cadou, without him even knowing it at first. He explained she had started slow with tainted blood she kept stored specifically for her guards to drink; her desire to keep close but silent tabs on their evolvement made them the easiest targets, or specimens, she so lovingly called them later on when they were all tied to their respected cots and rung through the ringer until she squeezed out whatever drop of progress she could get. Felix was the only one from the original group of her guards who survived this long. He was the breach, the bridge, the last vampire that remained mentally intact enough to fight against her until her experiments bore real fruit. She kept him alive on that gurney for 6 years, just as Auguste had said, just to see how long it would take for him to die off. But his death never came. Instead, he got to listen and witness the entire process from start to finish of Miranda's army being birthed.

Felix had nearly all the information on the cadou as well. Miranda used her own blood, mold, and parasitic worms to breed and create the glob that resided in the glass jar in Joel's study. It was a living, breathing, biofilm pocket that held the very parasites Miranda would suck into her syringes and inject into her victims bloodstream. The parasites would immediately attack the said vampire's nervous system, taking control as they multiplied infinitely, imprinting Miranda's DNA into their fibers which made them wholly obedient and hive-minded to her and her commands. While the process seemed short in the grand scheme of things for Felix, he was privy to casual conversation between Miranda and Auguste, her right-hand man in the creation of all of this, and deduced through their talks that they had started actively working on this plan and experimentations back in 1946. Auguste was born and raised in Austria and saw the whole of World War II before being bled and turned by Mother Miranda shortly after; but what no one else knew was that he spied for Nazi Germany and was close with their scientists that were working heavily on eugenics. Miranda became enamored with Auguste's knowledge and common mind, turning him, and the two began their deranged love-affair for creating their own perfect world of vampires in the literal shadows. Alcina had already come along in Miranda's fledgling line and she was Miranda's first real target to experiment on, unfortunately for her, Alcina's blood and system was too strong and resisted all those injections she endured through that short-lived reign of terror trials. Miranda mentioned it was Alcina's taste for strong human blood, Madeleine's witch bloodline in reference, that kept her system rejecting and repairing the damage her weak formula caused in the beginning. She decided deeper and more intense work needed to be done, therefore she placed Alcina in a place of great power so she could keep the distractions running while she slaved over her cadou creation.

Finally shifting her gaze to the brunette, Alcina furrowed her brows, "what do you mean?"

"Felix."

"What about him?"

Donna slumped back in the chair, "he nearly killed you once, and all of this new information is... well, more icing on this cake. Are you sure you're alright?"

She huffed tiredly, rose from the conference table still cluttered with all the evidence and piece of documentation they had collected from Miranda's lair and slowly paced, "Felix was a product of Miranda's brainwashing just as much as we were at one point. Listening to his story makes it all more evident now how dangerous she was. I can't blame him for what he did to me, or others for that matter, when you consider how she was literally altering them bit by bit with her psychotic experiments. Me included."

Alcina placed a hand on her hip as she continued to pace around the room, relishing the silence of City Hall and the missing vampire elders breathing down her neck for information.

"I'm not sure what I should be feeling, really," she mused, nibbling the inside of her bottom lip, "I slipped out of her snare and didn't even realize how close I was to detrimental danger, while so many others... while so many others suffered and died. I dismayed about my existence wholeheartedly for so long because of her, but I had no idea how good I actually had it. It's a strange place to be."

"Yes, and Miranda never was able to take you down. In the end, you destroyed it all. You took her down. This whole ordeal... you ended it. You should feel proud if nothing else."

She looked to her friend still seated at the table, the most gentle offering of a smile upon her face. Alcina returned it carefully, knowing the storm had passed but the remains of its damage needed much attention.

You were still feeling physically uneasy and placed your hand over your chest, rubbing it softly in attempt to mellow the buzzing in your bones, calm the flailing nerve endings and bring your heart rate down as much as you could.

Meanwhile, Alcina noticed her discarded hat she'd flung across the room when she took off after Auguste and went to collect it, her movements small and quiet yet somehow causing the disturbance needed to bring the group back to full presence.

Sighing softly as she returned to the table and tilted her head, "Karl," she said while planting her palms on her hips, "this room?" Alcina nodded towards the black wooden door behind him.

He recollected and straightened his shoulders a bit gingerly, "yeah, uh, you wanted all the evidence; well what's in there is the rest of the irrefutable fuckery you'll need to put the nail in that coffin."

After a huff, Karl, with a blink of hesitation you don't think you'd ever seen him have, pressed his large hand to said door and pushed.

It opened with a small creak and they filed in one by one, Alcina at the lead.

This room was twice the size as the one previous; it was cold, the lights were bright and the myriad of shelves and locked, glass-faced cases held a vast collection of jars and vials that lined the walls. Specimens. Serums. Dead, failed, or otherwise discarded projects. Small, odd looking clumps of tissue, you assumed, sealed and on display. Why? This was Mother Miranda after all. But more importantly, or disturbingly, there were beds. Lots of beds, at least 50 or so lined in rows throughout the vast room, all fastened with strong leather straps from the head area down to the feet. The sheets were covered with dried blood. Brown, black, and other unidentifiable stains on every single one of them.  

"My god."

Alcina's near whimper of the words snatched your eyes back to her as she swept off towards the back of the room, her absence in your vision allowing you to see what she'd said it about.

There was a withering person strapped to one of these beds at the very back by a long, dirty, and disorderly cluttered counter covered with vials, syringes, jars, microscopes, and other abandoned relics.

Karl stood beside Alcina as she perched steadfast above the person in question. He was stiffly mouthing something, too worn to wretch against the restraints any longer. His skin was opaque grey, wrinkled like a sundried tomato that looked painfully tight on the frame of his bones. His breaths were as ragged as he looked, but his big wide white eyes peered up at Alcina with warped fear, hope, desperation even.

"Hh... hhhe...lp - mm - m... eh." He croaked.

Alcina's heart burned.

She grasped the brittle hand confined under the straps, and came closer to him, "how?" She finally asked through a short breath, her free hand tugging at the restraint, nudging Karl to help her with the rest to release him. He hesitated but Alcina wholly ignored it and continued.

The dry white eyes in the sunken sockets quaked with a blink, slowly peering to the counter where a knife lie.

Alcina followed his gaze, watching Karl reach for it she immediately grabbed his arm and stilled it, "no," she said sternly, turning back to the man on the bed, "is there nothing else we can do - there must be something - point me to something of use." She all but barked, refusing to let this be the end for such a dreadfully horrific situation.

She ignored the crackling in the mans throat as he tried to swallow, those slate-colored hues darting up to everyone standing around, searching for something or someone with an answer.

"There's got to be something in here that can help." Her focus went back to Karl, almost on the verge of anger, "you knew he was in here this whole time and you've done nothing at all to help him?"

"We found this place literally the same hours before you arrived; the second we found this, we got you down here," he countered carefully, "my medics aren't here, and I mean I guess I could send for them but I really don't see what can fucking be done, Alcina."

"He's a vampire. Blood. He needs blood, use your head Heisenberg - are there any reserves in here?" 

"You have absolutely no idea what this thing is capable of, we have no idea what it's capable of - you really wanna just up and try to rehabilitate it?"

Alcina stamped her heel with a crack, "HE IS NOT AN IT, KARL - he is cognizant - you can clearly see this man can speak - the others can't! I won't be Mother Miranda! I want this man taken to the city and I want to try and save him. He doesn't deserve this anymore than the others."

She was so upset, conflicted, and absolutely on the verge of another outburst, but the most docile squeeze came from the frigid cold boney fingers in her grasp and she was forced to look back at the man instead.

"Karl has a point," Verona added, getting in icy glance from Alcina flicked at her, "but, in his current state he is obviously no threat... Back in the city he will be under guard and we should try to rehabilitate him if we can; he will have answers and things to tell us no one else will, I doubt Auguste will be offering up much. This man is an asset as well as a victim."

"She's right," Belinda added stepping forward, "we should get him to the city."

Karl deflated his chest, raised his arms just to drop them at his sides in defeat, "f-fine - fine - we'll take the talking corpse back with us."

In the all-encompassing moments that had just played out, no one noticed a composed yet sour-faced Marguerite had since wandered in.

"Is that the cadou?" She asked sharply, avoiding all eye-contact with Alcina.

Everyone turned to her as she pointed to the large jar in the center of a locked glass box on the counter behind Alcina and Karl. Within it, an overgrown, mutated, pulsing larvae-looking membrane was writhing and floating within the liquid confines of its glass prison.

~

The scene was still as fresh in her mind as though she was still standing in that room. Alcina was beginning to feel the shove of her emotions push on the corral of her mind; the stampede of brutish mustangs rearing to get out giving her quite the struggle to keep them at bay. She was furious at how deep this had all gone. How deep the darkness crept. In the beginning Alcina was hellbent to uncover it all, discover every secret, every motive and action of Miranda; but in peeling back these layers was giving way to more and more repulsive shit she didn't really want to know anymore. All these people. All these innocent people; the suffering. Sure, she knew the process had to start somewhere; sure, she knew it wouldn't have been pretty, but the reality is she couldn't have known in her own imagination just what all of it was. Seeing them with her own eyes, the test tubes, the mangled bodies, the specimens and one living breathing vampire still alive before the turn of the rest of the mutants - even for a vampire of her fortitude, this was a lot to process. And perhaps it felt closer to her because she was almost one of them; she was almost Miranda's perfect bridge to where she was so willing to go, and that it could have been her on that table kept repeating again in her head. Dying. Withering. Left to rot to time in a cold silent room with no hope for even a quick death. It couldn't matter so much right now, she had no choice but to continue to face this and see it to its end. The tasks shadow of daunting responsibility was feeling truly heavy.

The ruckus of newly arriving lycans and vampires pulled her back out of the spiral and she locked her jaw as the barrage of orders began.

Ishaan and Pablo had taken it upon themselves to carry the dying vampire, who was so frail he weighed next to nothing, so the trip would be easier than expected. A crude cot was put together and they laid him gently on it, making sure he was as comfortable as could be for the transport.

The group had adjourned once more at the empty crypt as the rest of Karl's lycan crew came pouring through. 

You'd lost much of your ability to focus on everything that was happening and took yourself to a neighboring wall to rest upon until the final words could be said amongst them all. Your energy reserves were quickly departing and you hoped you and Alcina would be too. A soft, luxuriously large bed was calling your name. Until then you watched the busy scene unfold, ignoring everything else to just keep an eye on your lady vampire and how severe she looked.

Alcina was rubbing her forehead as Emiliano, Karl, and Verona were conversing about only lord knows what in front of her. She was still internally scrambling over everything that had taken place tonight and was trying her damndest to keep her displeasure from spitting up on an innocent bystander. Eventually enough was enough.

"Alright everyone, please, we need to get moving back to the city - Karl, if you would." She motioned towards a neighboring pillar.

Karl's eyes were getting a little wide as he went where he was being directed, "feel like I'm steppin' into the principals office, what's up?"

"When everything's been collected for whatever yours and my scientists need, what is needed for the trials, etcetera..." she took a composed breath, "burn this... fucking place down." Alcina commanded, the heaviness in her heart luckily masked by the tone of sheer sharpness.

Karl did a short double take, "wait, you mean... like, the whole thing, the whole manor?"

"All of it - did I stutter, Heisenberg?" Her reply came a little harsher than she intended, "I want everything touched by her in this place set ablaze - take your pleasure in dousing this filthy deranged abode in the hottest fuel you have. I don't want one trace of any of this left, do I make myself abundantly clear?"

He was excited as fuck at the permission but also knew this was a heavy subject matter for every vampire standing in the crypt right now. Regardless, pyro chemistry and destruction was his forte and he would absolutely deliver. He'd wanted to burn this place to cinders with Miranda in it more times than he could count.

Nodding his head calmly, Karl tipped his hat through a smirk, "yes ma'am. There won't be anything left, I promise you that." He glanced to Mitch over his shoulder, "get our contact at the fire department on the line, let them know we're gunna have a controlled burn here soon even though it sure as fuck ain't gunna look like it."

Suddenly Alcina felt your reassuring hand on her arm, giving her the perfect excuse to ignore the rest of Heisenberg's ramblings to Mitch as she regarded you at her side. She took another shallow breath, smiled down at you steadily and reached to stroke your face with the same reassurance. She was grateful for your presence, your calm, your reprieve from the depths.

Unable to admire you for long, Alcina was being tugged in another direction as Ishaan approached with the rest of the vampires.

Duty continues.

~

It was a very swift trek back to the city. Sort of. It was a blur, really. There was very little conversation in the first half, and you could tell Alcina's mind was a battlefield as she silently planned her next moves and readied herself for the rest of what was to come next.

But a short panic ensued as the vampires were at least half an hour from arrival, adding to the never-ending gifts the night kept giving.

"Alcina!" Pablo shouted, stopping everyone in their tracks, "his breathing - it keeps stopping."

Ishaan helped Pablo rest the make-shift cot on on the cold stone ground, Alcina approaching with haste to see for herself.

The mutants eyes had closed and he was very still, his chest barely rising every few moments for air.

"He's not going to make it." Marguerite stated flatly.

"Shut up." Alcina hissed, "I may need to flit with him the rest of the way, he wasn't much for life when we found him and if he doesn't get any blood soon I don't know how much longer he can hold on."

"What if one of us were to give him ours?" Emiliano offered.

Belinda shook her head, "vampires don't drink vampire blood for a reason."

"No, but it may be the only option." He countered.

"We don't know how his mutant system may react!"

"If we do nothing he will die!"

"Mio Dio!" Verona chimed in with a shout, "standing here arguing doesn't do anyone any goddamn good - MOVE." She began rolling up her sleeve while retrieving her sharp thumb cuff from her dress pocket.

The bickering continued as Ishaan physically stopped Verona, Pablo got defensive and rose to protect Verona, Belinda and Emiliano were still going at it, and Alcina was shouting to get everyone to shut the fuck up.

You, in your exhausted stupor, decided to act and get this over with.

"Fuuuuuck saaaake!" You blasted through the fighting nonsense, grabbed the thumb cuff off Verona, slumped to the ground, nicked your wrist and pressed it to the dying mutants mouth.

Silence. 

Finally.

"If this was a bad idea I suppose we'll find out soon enough." You blurted, not bothering to look at anyone.

Alcina shoved passed Pablo and knelt next to you, huffing at your brazen actions but unable to be cross as she watched the man's eyes pop open, his chest start rise and fall again with breath, "draga," she whispered, pulling your arm away and clasping her palm to the nick, "that's plenty - you shouldn't have done that, nor did you need to," she assured with a seriousness, "come on."

She pulled you up and kissed your forehead, the rest of the unspoken commands making the chain reaction of falling back in line and hauling ass to the city a relief to all.

It may have been a mistake, it may not have. 

But at least it was quiet.

~

The city was nearly completely barren of vampires as you arrived. It was almost 11 in the morning and most had long since gone home to sleep.

Alcina gave orders to take the mutant to the medical quarters and Belinda, Marguerite, and Emiliano bid everyone goodnight. 

You were now completely at your limits of exhaustion. Lost to thought, lost to action, you were merely hanging by the thread of duty to be here at this point.

Verona noticed and brought it to Alcina's attention immediately.

"Oh, draga mea," she sighed, bringing you into her arms securely. 

She hated to part from you but there was still too much to be done before she could even consider going home. Your ability to function without sleep was nil compared to hers and she was kicking herself for putting you through this.

Alcina kissed the top of your head with the utmost softness, "Verona, would you mind taking her to the manor?"

A smile, "of course not," Verona replied, collecting you from Alcina's hold, "I shall turn in myself after. See you on the morrow."

Watching you leave with a heavy chest, Alcina turned sharply on her heels and looked to City Hall. She needed to find Dmitri.

He, of course, was no where to be found. Though, Sylvia, Mateo, Gerard, and a slew of the vampire army ranks were still up and present in the meeting hall. Sylvia sought out Alcina and they began conversing about the mutant. They agreed a higher military guard around the medical quarters was much needed until his state and form of mind could be fully addressed, Sylvia explained that Sable and Joel had already began scientific measures with the vampire team on what had been collected and were eager to start studying this man that had been found. Alcina could take some relief knowing things were in good hands, and now she was onto her next itch that needed scratching.

A spark of adrenalin sputtered down her spine as she stepped into Auguste's prison cell. He looked pathetic, slumped there on the ground hands bound in shackles. She smiled.

Folding her arms and leaning on the cold stone wall, Alcina tongued her teeth, "I have half a mind to end your life and refuse your right to see a trial," she said, paused, and snorted with a wilted laugh, "oh dear, listen to me; you'll never see anything again as long as you live."

Auguste turned his eye-less, blood-stained face in her general direction and hummed, "you're here in search for the rest of the puzzle pieces," he taunted through his very apparent pain, "still can't put it all together?"

Alcina sighed, "I really wouldn't need to even if I didn't think I could, but I can, and I will. I've won this war... You've lost... But the cost has been astronomical to hundreds of vampires. The mindless drones of Miranda's." Her pause was pointed, "what is the cure?"

He nearly chortled, "cure? What on earth for? Mother had one mission and one mission only, there was no time or need for backtracking. Only forward."

"There is nothing that can be done for these people, anything at all?"

Auguste leaned back into the wall, "people? They aren't people." He swallowed, "they are drones, just as you said. Mother wanted total control and that is what she created. I see no point trying to liberate them. If you pity them so, give them death."

Alcina launched from her spot and clasped her hand around his throat, smashing him into the rock, "death - death?" She seethed, "like the one whom you left to die immobile and alone? He asked me for it, which tells me they aren't lost - there is someone still in there - in that shell of a prison - TELL ME HOW TO REVERSE IT, YOU MUST KNOW SOMETHING!"

He continued to choke and gurgle against Alcina's strong palm until she thrust him back to the ground and stood in a fury, glowering down at him in her fit. 

Her fury tickled him.

"I - see - " Auguste hacked, "you found the last of the functioning - experiments - " he coughed a few more times, "I am amazed he was still alive."

Alcina's hatred bubbled, "you... Kept him... Strapped down... Just waiting for him to perish as part of this science project?" Her face torqued into disgust.

"He was the last mentally aware specimen before Mother found the right formula. He was, if you will... The last reminder for Mother that she had succeeded and was on the right track for her perfect army. It was sentimental. For her, I suppose."

Auguste's nonchalant made her sick to her stomach.

"He's been alive for... nearly 6 years without blood. Another testament of how powerful Mother's creation, the cadou, is."

"Was." Alcina snipped.

He sighed, "ah... well, they say all good things must come to an end."

"Gods, I can't fucking stand you," she sneered while turning to leave, "when I hand deliver you to hell in a bloody handbasket tell Miranda I said hello."

August's laugh rattled in his chest, "she will be so pleased to hear from you."

Fully lost for anymore words, Alcina shook her head and turned towards the door, flinging it open and slamming it as she stormed out.

Donna caught Alcina just as she was rushing through the doors of the prisons, "oh, thank god, Alcina, I've been looki - "

"I can't - I need to get home."

"But - "

"Donna please, I just want to go home. I'm beyond my fucking limits, I'm tired, I'm livid, and I need to get home to check on my girl. She completely outdid herself today and I haven't been able to tend to her, I need t - "

"Wh-What happened? Is she alright?"

"She blew out Auguste's eyes, for one."

"Ah, I wondered if that was the case when they brought him in." 

Alcina paused and looked at her friend blank-faced, "I love you, I will talk to you tomorrow, but I cannot deal with anything else tonight."

Donna took a deep breath and nodded, "get home then. We'll speak tomorrow."

~

  Your thoughts had been pretty muffled but still very present as you were trying to stay alert enough to get into bed. You still didn't feel right and the bouts of nausea had returned. All the while the events of the night continued to repeat over and over in the blurred film of your memory. You just wanted to sleep, but so much had happened in such a short timespan; your subconscious couldn't let it go but your physical body was going to make it. 

Discarding the last bit of clothing to the floor, you barely made it to your side of the bed as your knees gave out completely. Shuffling with what strength you had left to into the mattress and under the covers, as soon as your eyes closed when your head touched the pillow, darkness blanketed you with the same heavy weight as the discomfort in your bones.

You don't know if you could call it sleep, but it was the harshest, deepest, and quickest loss of time you could ever recall.

When your eyes finally opened your sight instinctively went to the clock to see the time; it was 7 PM already.

As you continued to blink, a bit of normalcy started waking in your body as well. You didn't feel sick now, but you still felt heavy and drained. As you took a deep breath you felt a pressure on your ribcage and realized the arm of your Alcina was draped protectively over you, her body was aligned with yours and she also began to stir.

"Dragoste," her voice broke the silence, rising from her rest to hover over you, a gentle caring hand to cup your face, "how are you feeling?" 

Taking another breath, you smiled weakly and leaned into her touch, "ok. Tired."

"I've been terribly worried about you," she said more hastily than she liked, "you didn't even move when I came in and came to bed. You've been so still all day... Your steady heartbeat was the only reassurance I had that you were alright... Are you sure you feel ok?"

There was a tint of fear in her tone and you pressed even harder into her palm, "I'm still not fully awake," you smirked trying to ease her worry, "but yes I'm feeling better than I was, don't stress."

"I am stressed, and I apologize I wasn't there for you the way I should have been, but I'm here now and I want to take care of you. What do you need?"

Even though it was dark in the room you could still see the lines deepening on her face at her genuine concern for you. Still, you were half asleep and not sure what you needed right at this moment, "is sleep still an option?" You asked through another smile, "or do we need to get up and going to City Hall?"

Alcina shook her head, "whatever you want or need, that is my duty until you're well - if sleep is what you want, sleep you shall have and I will be right here without fail. They can and they will wait."

"So serious." You teased.

She didn't quite see the humor in this, but instead of being perturbed by your lack of grip for your own wellbeing, Alcina laid down but pulled you into her arms and nestled back into the bed with you, closing her eyes, combing her long fingers along your scalp, and nuzzling her lips into your hair, inhaling your scent with deep gratitude, "yes, I do take caring for you seriously... don't you ever forget it, or how much I love you."

You couldn't help but sigh.

"I love you, too. Very much."

Cassandra had dropped off another outfit for you this morning while you were in the shower. Alcina answered the door half ready and smiled down at her daughter with a bit of amusement.

"Da, fiica?" (Yes, daughter?)

Handing the article to her mother, Cassandra dead-panned, "aici. Pentru iubita ta." (here. For your girlfriend.)

Alcina took it and her smirk only grew wider, an eyebrow arching incredibly high, "ti-ai luat asupra ta să o îmbraci în toate evenimentele acum? (have you taken it upon yourself to dress her for all events now?)

"Ei bine, cu siguranță faci o treabă proastă. Dragostea ta este oarbă, nimeni altcineva." (Well you're certainly doing a poor job. Your love is blind, no one else is.)

She tsked, "haide, hainele ei nu sunt chiar așa de rele." (come now, her clothes aren't that bad.)

Cassandra huffed and folded her arms, "nuuuuu, dar nu funcționează pentru curriculumul vampirilor." (noooo, but they don't work for vampire curriculum.)

"Ei bine, apreciez interesul tău intens de a te asigura că ea este îmbrăcată conform standardelor noastre atunci... Dar, de asemenea, cred că îți place puțin și mă bucur să văd că te încingi cu ea." (Well I appreciate your intensive interest in making sure she is dressed to our standards then... But I also think you enjoy it a little, and I'm pleased to see you warming up to her.)

"Da, ok, la revedere - ne vedem când suntem gata să plecăm." Cassandra rattled off with a flick of her wrist and a heavy rolling of her eyes. (Yeah ok whatever bye - see you when we're ready to leave.)

Alcina chuckled under her breath as she left and closed the door.

She held out the article to see what kind of pleasant distraction you'd be wearing this time, and realized it was one of Cassandra's favorite dresses.; long and pitch black, the neckline made a large upside-down spade of cards shape on the wearers neck and chest; long, nearly sheer lantern sleeves; a sheath waist; and a cascading free flowing bottom half. This was going to do you so many favors Alcina licked her lips in anticipation for you to put it on.

And yes, it fit you just as perfectly as she had anticipated.

Admiring your reflection as you were fixing your hair at Alcina's vanity, you caught her from the mirror waltzing out of her closet in the same style dress as her white one, only this time it was black.

Goddamn. You didn't know which color looked better.

Her makeup was also much darker today. Lips as black as her gown and eyeshadow that gave her a menacing, albeit stunning, otherworldly grim reaper vibe. A nice cool shudder made its way down your spine.

You turned and crossed your leg, eying her with a grin, "a black one too, hm?"

Alcina caught your glance and smiled, returning the pleased expression, "black is always worn for anything involving the vampire court," she explained while fastening the back of her earing, "Donna had this made for me when I became Matriarch. I've always favored my white gown; I considered having it made in every color but, sometimes less is more." She winked.

Rising off the bench you approached her with the inside of your bottom lip between your teeth, a heat rushing through you as memories of last night, er, day, replayed in your mind.

The dark goddess at your fingertips had your head floating in airy, hazy white clouds as she did exactly as you asked of her. She laid back on the chez lounge and let you drink the sight of her in; the length of her languid but perfectly poised body, the shadows playing in the room from the far off fireplace the only light to be had, making every line, curve, valley and peak of her a mouth-watering contrast of magnificence in an otherwise blank canvas of the room. All you could see was her. 

You'd dressed down to nothing but a satin robe by now, and Alcina's teeth ached at the sight of how perfectly complex and simple you were all at the same time. The hunger in your eyes, the devotion, the loyalty, the love. Things she's not really taken the time to ever appreciate in her long life in any light or darkness of her existence. You were so perfect she still could not grasp it. But here you were, slowly inching towards her, every drop of uncertainty she'd ever known rolling off her feathers as her utter trust in you allowed her to drop walls and barriers that had been in place since she could remember. What pure and perfect surrender to safety you'd given her.

The smile of satisfaction took over and you climbed on her lap, straddling her hips as you were now impossibly close. You pressed into her and listened to the hitch in her breath, locking your eyes in the depths of her slate oceans; the spark of gold began to crackle and you leaned to her lips and kissed them soft and gentle. Your deft fingers began to trace delicate patters on her neck, trailing to her collarbones, the neckline of her dress; tracing; memorizing; teasing. The pads of your fingers ghosted along the plump roundness of her breasts that were held so expertly by the white fabric, feeling the prickles that were left in trails you smiled and moved your lips to her cheekbone, smoothly searching for her ear.

"You're the dream come true I never knew I wished for," you whispered, pecking her lobe, "I want to give you everything."

Alcina's hands had planted on your hips and she gripped you tightly, her eyes snapping shut at your admission, pulling you closer to her as the desire and fire in her heart spurred into a rolling heatwave, "you took the very words from my mouth, dragoste." She whispered back.

You hummed and slipped your hands from her buxom chest up and to the back of her head, combing your fingers through her thick black curls at the base of her neck. You tugged, gently but firmly pulling her head back to look into her eyes, enjoying the beam of gold and dripping lust that was now much more prominent, slowly inching your lips back to hers and claiming them with passion. Her moan lit you up inside and you flicked your tongue, requesting a dance that she was more than happy to oblige.

She was aching for you painfully but she was pleased to let you take the reigns, tease her, play with her, enjoy her on your terms and she knew this would only make the pleasure so much more rewarding. Alcina whimpered into your mouth and tongue as her thighs began to quiver, raking her nails firmly down your back as you rocked your hips and core into the rhythm you both set. Oh how alive she felt for and because of you.

When you couldn't take it any longer, you broke the closeness and sucked in a much needed breath through your swollen lips, feeling the crackling of her desires all around you, you took the eclipsed moons of her eyes as urgency to please continue.

Leaning back your eyes went back to her form; the heave of her chest spurring you to place open mouthed kisses to the exposed flesh, your hands greedily kneading the clothed and confined nipples that you could still feel harden at your touch. She groaned and you continued to paw and kiss, lick and nip, drag your fingers up and down her sides, refusing her the direct contact she craved but knowing this was somehow just perfect the way it was. A pent up growl escaped her throat as one of your grabbing hands went for her hip and pulled at the fabric of her dress; an unspoken 'yes', and plea to progress.

Expertly lifting yourself from her lap, gliding down her body to kneel at her feet, kissing your way down her dress leaving the heat of your mouth in the wake, you finally peered back up to her, matching the darkness of her eyes with your own, watching her visibly shudder at your eagerness. 

Her breath hitched once more as your hands, so delicately precise, slipped under the hem of her dress, inching it up her long legs that were tense with anticipation, eyes locked as the most simple yet excruciatingly intimate action made her feel the need to fall apart within the second. You pushed the fabric to her hips, fingers immediately gripping to the lace of her underwear, jerking it once, over and under her, down her thighs and tossed away. Immediately reaching back under the soft material, you wrapped your demanding hands around her backside and pulled her to you, her hot, soaked core pressing against your stomach as you watched her parted lips quiver with the release of her breath.

God, she was so stunning.

Keeping one hand gripped to the crease of her hip, your other reached for the back of her neck and pulled her in for another searing kiss, moaning yourself as she shoved her tongue inside your mouth.

Alcina whimpered, every nerve gone haywire as the need for your touch and ardor took her over, "I'm yours," she husked, "take it."

Oh how that rattled your core.

"Yes, my lady." 

You responded with a darkness she'd never heard before, causing another twitch inside of her she wanted to feel more of.

She let you push her back into the chez and watched your lips descend again to her clothed breast, the heat not enough and too much, feeling you but not feeling you, the ghosting of it making her crawl with need.

Your hands mapped their way back down her body, memorizing the softness of her dress, the new curves and valleys it gave her, when finally you had knelt again at her feet.

Parting her legs with purpose, you pressed heavy kisses to the inside of her knee, further, further, inching your way with painfully slow accuracy until you had reached her throbbing core.

Your lips ghosted a kiss to her sex, your fingers gripping firmly to the inside of her shivering thighs before slipping your tongue passed her threshold and lapping with slow, agonizingly soft strokes.

Alcina moaned without meaning too, her eyes rolling to the back of her head, a needful pant overtaking the control she thought she had. She didn't care. You felt so good, too good, a gentleness she had no idea was possible.

Wrapping your arms under her thighs and holding to her quivering hips, you hunkered down and pressed harder with your tongue, searching, probing, lapping harder and harder, only to release and suckle her pulsing clit, taking the time to feel the twitch as you allowed only the tip of your tongue to trace the tiniest circle around it, lavishing the the choked whines and growing whimpers from the goddess in your clutches.

Her stomach muscles clenched and twitched, fingers digging into the cushions of the lounge, drinking and gulping down air to fuel her moans of approval of how tender and precise your tongue fucked her, needing and wanting so much more yet wordless demanding this torture continue. It was so intense for being so soft, Alcina's thoughts became a barrage of smeared paint on canvas and she was forced to relinquish all control to you, a perfectly willing thing in her heart and body as the pleasure continued to rake her over the hot coals of pending release.

You watched her from between her legs, over the bunched up skirt of her dress, chest heaving, dark crimson lips parted spilling her tangled 'oh's' and 'uh's', admiring the beauty that was coming undone as your tongue kept the slow and feather soft pace; the soaked, puckered, swollen flesh of her cunt telling you even without her vocal reassurance that you were doing everything she needed. Releasing one hand from your grip of her thigh, you trailed it to her midsection and gripped her dress, holding her firmly and she too placed a desperate hand over yours and held fast.

Alcina could feel the pressure and tingle of her climax aching so deep for such a surface-level bliss that she forced her eyes open and searched for you in the dim light, wanting to see your beautiful face as she tumbled down the slope to remember and brand it to her memory just how much this orgasm was going to ruin her. She reached her free shaking hand to your head, sinking her fingers into your silken locks as she felt the twig of release snap with a sharpness inside of her.

Her golden eyes stitched to yours as she nearly cried out her whimpers of utter satisfaction, the feel of her hips desperately trying to buck at the release but instead quaking with need, your tongue refused to give up on the ministrations that brought her here, locking her into a loop of one; two; and three painfully perfect orgasms that finally ended with her tossing her head back into the chez with a cry of defeat.

It was only then that you all but stopped, carefully and expertly taking her down to a low purr as your tongued coaxed the last bit of her orgasms to a lull, lapping up every bit of her that you could muster.

Oh, oh yes. This is how you worshipped a goddess dressed in a white gown of power.

You hummed again with a satisfaction as you returned to the present, "yeah... something about this style really does make you look like a towering pillar of exquisite power and beauty... my lady." You smiled as you snaked your arms around her waist, leaning up to kiss her.

She chuckled happily with a smile of mischief through your lips, "intimidation has always been my strong suit."

"It's hot," you replied, "very, very hot."

Alcina sighed and pulled you into her, "multumesc, iubirea mea. I'm so very pleased you think so." (thank you, my love.)

Watching her as she revered you, you melted into her fingers as they traced the outline of your face, down your neck, and to the neckline of your dress. Her slate colored eyes beamed at you and her smile made you weak in the knees as usual.

"And you, my darling fae," she spoke with such gentleness, "I'm in awe of you with every new day. Sometimes the gravity of it all crashes on me in unintended moments, makes my world spin, my balance teeter, and somehow your face pulls me back into this living dream over and over," Alcina's eyes grew even deeper, admiring the darkness of your make-up also, the pop it gave your features almost convincing her you belonged here in the underworld with her all along, "the pace at which all of this has happened still freezes me at times... but I couldn't be more grateful for you... everything you are..." she pulled you into her embrace and closed her eyes hard, whispering her next statement, "the love and hope you've given me can never be repaid. I wish I could make you understand."

Squeezing her, nuzzling your face into her, you sighed, "I still don't think you understand how you've also flipped my world upside down, giving me the same love and hope, so don't think for a second I don't feel the same way."

Alcina smiled, "never."

The girls were at the ready in the foyer as you and Alcina finally made your exit from the bedroom. They were also drenched in all black, dresses a little similar to yours, but much more fitting and with plunging necklines that almost made you blush. They certainly could pull off the look. 

Daniela met her mother with a glass of blood-wine and a great big smile.

"Oh, nu am nevoie de niciunul, dar mulțumesc dragă." Alcina smiled back, rubbing her daughters cheek with a gloved thumb and a hinting look in her eye. (Oh, I don't need any, but thank you darling.)

Daniela took a second to process what her mother was meaning, then seeing you at her side, the light-bulb immediately dinged, "oh, ahh... duh." She blurted, put the glass to her own lips and downed it in one gulp.

Alcina grinned, "well, you all look wonderful. Are we ready for this grueling trial to begin?"

"I'm always down for justice." Cassandra beamed menacingly.

"You mean death and blood," Bela nudged her sister, "and yes mother, we are."

"Excellent. Shall we then?"

There was a slight aura of ominousness as the five of you walked to City Hall. The city itself and its inhabitants seemed quieter than normal. Bela could sense your notice and quietly explained on the journey that vampires being put on trial was big ordeal, and one of this magnitude, even now that things had slightly mellowed, still had everyone unsettled. The vampires and lycans wanted more answers, and they wanted blood. Revenge under the guise of justice, in a way. Ethan, Mia, and Salvatore were the only ones currently known and alive close to Mother Miranda through this and they would face consequences; Alcina and the council would be sure of that.

This trial was to take place in the same great hall where the showdown between you, Mother Miranda, and Alcina had happened. It looked drastically different now with fire-lit torches hung on the walls and around each pillar; the new ambience giving the space heaviness. The blood splatters and stains on the walls, pillars, and sunken floor from that very same battle were still on full display. You assumed this was not just for dramatic embellishment. Alcina liked to make a point, and a scene if necessary. 

The hall was packed with vampires from the city. All dressed in black, mingling in a hush as the moment passed. As your eyes continued to pan about, you then noticed there were nine black gothic spire chairs lined at the back of the hall on the steps that overlooked the empty floor, the largest and most ornate directly in the middle.

Bela once again leaned to your ear, "the big chair is for mother, the other seven are for the clan leaders."

You recounted, "that only makes eight, who is the ninth for?" You whispered back.

"You." Alcina replied, looking over her shoulder at you.

Oh hell.

Your nerves shifted gears. You didn't know how to sit on a council trial, not in the human world and sure as hell not in the land of vampires.

Alcina let you catch up to her strides and placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder, "don't worry, draga. You won't need to do anything tedious. You'll be right by my side - "

Dmitri's loud booming voice broke Alcina's words apart as he announced her arrival. The conglomeration turned in her direction and began to bow respectfully. Alcina straightened her posture, broadly nodding graciously in return as you all approached the chairs.

The girls and Alcina exchanged nods of their own and they fluttered to the back of the wall out of the way. The door directly adjacent to where you stood now, where you remember entering with Alcina to fight Miranda, opened and out poured the rest of the clan leaders. Dmitri introduced them one by one by name and title, and with the guidance of Alcina, you all took your seats.

You hoped your heartbeat wasn't giving away your tension, but the quick and generous squeeze Alcina gave your hand before fully situating helped ease the turbulence inside you.

Your eyes meticulously scanned the scene before you; Donna, Angie, Dmitri, and the other vampire leaders from this cities faction were gathered to the right, though you noticed there were no lycans present. Karl, Sybil, and Mitch, were all missing and you wondered silently why. 

Alcina cleared her throat and the utter slice that put through the already palpable haze of whatever climate the room possessed caused your breath to hitch. Every sense you had was becoming increasingly aware and alert.

"Today, three shall stand trial before us - Mother Miranda's servants, Ethan and Mia - and our own Salvatore Moreau of the Shadowed Dominion." Alcina stated a little bitterly, "I expect silence. And I expect order." She turned her attention to Dmitri, nodded the large brim of her hat, and he headed to the neighboring door.

The clanging of chains echoed in as the three in question were lead in by military escort, familiar blue glowing collars bound their necks and heavy chains  bound their wrists. Ethan and Mia were surprisingly docile from how you remember them previously, and Salvatore could not have been meeker or smaller. You almost pitied him.

Alcina did not.

You heard the twisting of leather from your left and you saw Alcina's hand balling into a tight fist, her lips had turned thinner as she pursed them together upon the sight of these three.

She'd not seen Ethan or Mia since the fateful day in the town square just out front. Somehow she'd almost forgotten the hatred she bore these two the most, while the withering Salvatore just simply annoyed her. Lifting her chin, Alcina peered down her nose as they were brought into the center of the floor beneath her, relaxing her features just slightly as she took one more steadying breath.

"Let the trial proceed."

  Donna, Dmitri, and Angie of all people, took turns presenting evidence. It took a good half hour of back and forth between jury and presenters to get to the actual questioning of the defendants in question. Salvatore would have crawled under the stones of the floor below him if he could have; it seemed with every passing minute his shame and guilt drove his already hunched posture into a doubled over, clothed, breathing boulder at this point. Ethan and Mia seemed dismissive of their accusations and you could tell all too easily how their arrogance was twisting Alcina's patience.

"Ethan," Alcina enunciated with all but a shout, gaining his attention for what seemed to be the first time tonight, "and... Mia... with the accusations and evidence brought forth by the council, how do either of you plead to these allegations?"

A pitiful exchange of looks between the two finally gave way to a deep breath taken by Ethan, he craned his neck under the weight of his shackle and opened his mouth to respond. 

Instead of his response the sound of the great hall doors bursting open flooded the room, shattering the intensity of the silence and creating a new, followed by hasty shouting; "Lady Dimitrescu! My lady Dimitrescu!" 

Out of the shadows came Matteo and Mitch, both displaying a look of chaotic urgency.

The commotion ruffled Alcina's feathers in the least appealing way possible and her visage torqued, "have you lost your minds, we're in the middle of -"

"We know," Mitch interrupted, "we know, and we apologize but it can't wait; you need to come with us to Miranda's property in Connecticut immediately. This cannot wait."

The pit in Alcina's stomach grew ice cold and her eyes narrowed.

She gritted her teeth, looking from Mitch to the three at her feet, to Dmitri and Donna, each now baring a reflection of Mitch and Matteo's urgency.

Alcina rose and tsked loudly, "take them back to the dungeons," she barked, "everyone is dismissed until further notice. Clan leaders, with me." Her final command starch and cold.

You barely had time to keep up as she swooped down the step to meet her men on the other side. Verona hooked her arm with yours and helped you weave through the crowd, much to your relief, and soon you two were right behind Alcina as she followed Mitch and Matteo's lead.

Donna also caught up to the group but Alcina requested she stay behind and keep things in order until her return, she relented but did as commanded. Dmitri took her place as the entourage hastily made their way to the new tunnel underneath that was the most direct route back to Miranda's territory.

This was not good. Whatever it was.

"Mitch?" Alcina questioned, "are you planning to keep me in suspense or are you going to explain yourself?"

The lycan shook his head, "this is something you have to see for yourself, please don't make me describe it."

Everyone heard him but kept their questions silent, gnashing curiosity be damned as they sped on.

While it took about three to four hours to get to Miranda's manor by the regular tunnels, the new one she had dug from her hide-out only took about an hour and a half. You noticed Mitch looking behind and back at everyone frequently throughout the journey, unsure why, but feeling his unease even though he tried very well to hide it. The nervousness inside of you only getting worse the closer you all got.

The mouth brought everyone to a crypt that Alcina, nor anyone else for that matter, had ever seen of Miranda's abode. It was blessedly empty and their footsteps seemed so loud as they followed Mitch up a vast set of stairs, through a confusing path of halls and corridors and into yet another area no one knew existed. 

It may have well been stolen from an evil scientists lair straight from a movie. Only severely more twisted.

The 'experimentation room' they had discovered next door to their own city was anything but.

The vastness of this room, lit by a sickening ochre, held the left-overs, or perhaps one could say the beginnings of Miranda's genetic modifications. Dozens upon dozens of bodies of vampires, some mutated beyond recognition, were bottled up in body-sized tubes filled with a sienna colored liquid. Their glass, watery coffins lined the walls, the eerie sound of cycling water and bubbles through them the only permeable sound amongst the stiffening silence of every person in attendance. How could anyone catch a breath with such an excruciatingly somber scene. 

You could feel the color drain from your face as the coldness of this shock overran your system. You didn't want to look but you couldn't not; the vampire closest to you stopped you in your tracks and you looked upon its face. It was contorted. Broken. Its body, twisted. The skin had lost nearly all of its color, you could only fathom how long it had been there, and in its translucence you could see the blackness of the many veins under the pale flesh, flesh that was bulging and sprouting bulbous lesions and growths; masses of pockets that looked as if they might burst at any second. You could not tell if you were still breathing, the harrowing loudness of your thought of the terror this person must have endured at the hands of this utterly mad woman, the lingering remains of what once was a living breathing human now discarded and on display like some science project. You felt ill, but had no time to dwell in it.

Alcina stood in the middle of the horror. Her stark eyes scanning, imprinting the scene in the depts of her mind in a more ravenous way than you. Not a breath from her lungs as the tension in her muscles began to eat at the rest of her sanity. The billowing heat she felt in the depths of her core. The hatred. The dread and gnashing urge to scream in fury. For how many long centuries had they all lived under the rule of a complete psychopath, not a one of them aware of the atrocities being done to their fellow vampire. Not a clue. Not even a hint.

Her blackening slate-colored eyes landed on a tube. The body floating there within, a woman, the only solidifying trait was half her naked body was still in tact; the rest was bulging and broken and looked as if an alien had been born and ripped from inside out of her left side, leaving her to some excruciating death, Alcina was sure.

This could have been her.

This could have been Donna, or Angie.

This could have been her daughters.

Alcina was spinning in a way she almost did not think she was going to come back from.

Mitch was leery to break the Matriarch's concentration, but he carefully stepped closer, eyeing everyone around, "my lady, come with me... there is more."

All eyes turned to the lycan in disbelief and strangled hesitance. But without a word, everyone followed.

Alcina's jaw had grown painfully tight as she turned the corner and followed him through a doorway into the neighboring room. Karl and his men, along with a few vampire military ranks, were standing around a large table with piles and piles of what appeared to be photographs and paper documents. The walls in this room were covered in the same manner as Miranda's room at the hide-out; pictures, scribbled notes, red lines drawn from one side to the next, a visual conceptualization of the twisted territory of her mind.   Karl's eyes shot up as Alcina and everyone else entered. You could feel the suspense triple as everyone gathered and watched as the calculation of their next moves seemed to play out like a silent chess move. Something didn't feel right, as miniscule as it almost appeared.

He took a deep breath, "come in, everyone." Karl motioned hastily, watching as Matteo closed the door behind, "the uhm - the next room - " he pointed haphazardly to his left to a black door, clearing his throat searching for Alcina's eyes, "that's where it is, the cadou, the thing that made all of - all of these vampires like this," his jaw tightening as he said it, locking his sights now with her, "but that's not all that's in there."

Karl was acting stranger than she could ever recall and Alcina felt her spine prickle, narrowing her eyes as he seemed to be desperately trying to tell her something without any words, unsure how to proceed yet doing her best to feign the gameplay.

"Cadou?" She asked cautiously.

"The parasite - that's what it is - Miranda called it a cadou. It's what she used to create her army," he said a bit more calmly, watching as Dmitri approached the table to join Anjelica and his crew, "it's one of the ugliest and creepiest fucking things I've ever seen... but..."

"But?" Alcina pressed, trying to understand what the fuck he was at.

You watched on with every sense in your body electrified as something was clearly about to happen.

It was then you realized Dmitri was the first to figure out whatever it was. He reached for something on the table that Anjelica had so expertly guided him to. A photograph. He plucked it from the pile and gazed at it with his best poker-face, swallowing softly as he naturally made his way around the table, scanning the other items with interest, to finally come to Alcina's side and gently hand it off to her.

Her back was to everyone so you could not see, even from your vantage somewhat off to the side, as to what was there, but the wall of the tension dam was on the tipping point of bursting.

Silence.

There before Alcina in a black and white polaroid was Mother Miranda with a dead subject, pointing to a specific lesion on said subjects stomach. But that was not the issue with the subject matter of this picture, the issue was the person standing at her side in the same lab coat attire; that person was Auguste Winter.

Her eyes spun around in the same blink of the eye as Auguste had dashed to another neighboring door, burst through it and out of the room.

"That leads into the manor and to a quick exit!" Karl spat, "after him!"

Alcina threw her hat and was off faster than a gunshot.

She had one thing on her mind and it was to kill.

Her thoughts were all rage as she followed his scent through the hallways, his smell getting stronger and stronger as she flitted, "RUNNING WILL GET YOU NOWHERE!" She bellowed.

Alcina took a sharp left down the hall, a familiar hall, one she knew, and knew exactly which exit he was heading for. Only, she was violently close-lined by Auguste's arm to her sternum as she tried to fly passed a dark doorway.

Her body slammed to the floor with a thud, gasping for breath as Auguste launched from inside the dark room and pounced, taking advantage of her shock socking her in the face several times. 

She did not hold back once she got a grip. Thrashing her claws with force, she caught him three times; twice across the face and down his arm. However, the backhand with the butt of a heavy gun stunted her reaction time bluntly.

Taking the new window of opportunity from his blow, Auguste reached around and gathered a huge chunk of her hair in his hand, yanked her up, flipping her over, landing her on her knees and pulling her back into his chest and pressing the barrel of said gun to her temple.

"This is your little lycan puppets weapon," he huffed, "if I pull this trigger I will paint the wall with your brain, blood, and fragments of skull and that will be the end of it."

Hissing in pain as he yanked on her hair once more, Alcina licked her blood off her lips and stilled her desire to fight him, knowing very well she would not survive this gunshot, not even with the help of your blood. The situation suddenly got a lot more dire.

"Good choice, you indignant bitch." Auguste bit, his thick Dutch accent very present in her ear, "you've never been able to leave things alone, you've never been able to just do as you're told and leave it at that, no, and even after all of that, Mother Miranda was still going to make you her queen - did you know that?" He asked, jerking her head once more, pressing the barrel harder into the side of her head, "not me a king, no, you - her queen. How you remained her favorite I will never know - I was at her side, I did what I was told, above the expectations! But yooooouuu... always you."

By now everyone had arrived on the scene and Auguste met all the eyes now upon him.

"NOBODY MOVE OR I BLOW HER HEAD OFF!" He hollered, smiling as he saw everyone take a giant pause, "that's right - not even that little human can save you now," he uttered, a visible shake now coating his words, "if Mother Miranda can't have her glory, then really why should you -"

There was nothing in your tangible cognizance that could have prepared you for the jump to action your powers demanded.

You'd seen your Alcina in such a similar predicament once before that the overwhelming fear and anger that sprung through your blood had your vision tunneling to her and only her. Seeing the blood smeared from her lips to her cheek, Auguste with the gun to her head, knowing without all doubt this situation was worse than Miranda, you didn't have a conscious thought in the action.

With a glacially smooth slip between Verona and Pablo who were in front of you, your palms outturned and the need to protect and attack sought the intended target and latched on. Violently.

Auguste's words died in his throat with a crack and churn of his windpipe. His body contorted so strong and so fast the gun fell from his grip, the searing pressure in his head and behind his eyes finally broke free with a wail as his eyes exploded from their sockets, blood pouring from the holes as he chokingly screamed all the way down to the floor with a thud.

When your vision returned from the abyss of blinking black, the lightheadedness overtook you and Verona was the first to grab your arm and steady you. Alcina was looking at you with severity but you had to close your eyes and try to gulp down some air and a semblance of composure.

Alcina was off the floor with grace and agility, turning to the broken man still wailing on the floor, the need to take his life now slipping away as she somehow liked this so much better. But with actions come consequence and she grabbed him by the scruff of the neck by her claws and threw him into the arms of Dmitri and Anjelica, "take this piece of fucking shit to the city! Jail him! If he makes it that far." She commanded, those fierce eyes searching for you in the madness.

Verona and Pablo had leaned you to the wall, Karl was behind you with his hand on your shoulder, everyone else wide-eyed and completely unsure what to do next.

"Mitch, get everyone back to where we were... we'll be right behind you," Alcina ordered respectfully, nodding at him, "thank you."

You were still spinning. And almost a little nauseous. You weren't sure from the obscene burst of power or the sight of what you'd done to Auguste. Your body began to quiver uncontrollably as the sight replayed over and over. Alcina was safe and that was the only comfort you currently had at the moment; you damn near had no control over what you'd just done and that scared the ever loving fuck out of you. 

Verona finally brought you out of your spiral, her cool hand on your much warmer cheek causing you to look at something other than the floor.

"Dolce ragazza, respira, respira... sei buona," she cooed, looking into your hazed eyes, "you're alright," Verona repeated, cupping your face still, "breathe." (Sweet girl, breathe, breathe, you're alright,)

Karl was the next to chime in, squeezing your shoulder firmly, "yep, c'mon back down to earth fae-bae. That was fucking awesome, and please remind me to never piss you off. I wanna keep my eyeballs!"

In normal Karl fashion he was trying to lighten the mood but you could also sense the gravity of the narrow escape Alcina just made in his tone, it still didn't make you feel much better.

Alcina was finally in front of you and you sucked your breath back in as she reached for you.

"Thank you," she said to Verona, nodding to Pablo and Karl, "please go back with the others, we need a moment."

There of course was no argument and as the seconds flew by you were alone in the hallway.

You didn't like the way she was looking at you.

"You hurt yourself, didn't you," Alcina stated quietly looking you over, rubbing your arms ever so gently, "are you alright? You look very pale. Do you want me to take you back to the city?" She asked with concern, finally catching your gaze that had been wandering.

"N-no," you uttered, studying her carefully, "no, I'm ok."

"You're not," Alcina said a little too quickly, "my gods draga, please, what do you need? Let me help you."

That lightheadedness you'd fought off came back with a punch and you felt yourself tipping over, but she caught you, of course she caught you, and you simply collapsed in her arms.

Holding you in the silence, she could hear the erratic beating of your heart and the fear she'd felt previously for herself took on the fear for you instead "oh, my love," she whispered, "you've saved me once again, and I don't know how to help you, please tell me what I can do... please draga, tell me what to do."

With the little strength that was returning you gripped to her and closed your eyes, "I don't know," you admitted, "I think I just need... a minute to regroup is all. I'm... I feel really sick."

Alcina winced at your words, "we will take as much time as we need. I will hold you until it passes, whatever it is you think will help, I will do it."

You smiled softly, "this works," you sighed, ignoring the rest of your thoughts and fears, knowing there was no time for that right now, "thank you."

Without caring what it would look like if anyone came back to check on the two of you, Alcina slid down to the floor with you in her arms, leaning up against the wall and keeping you close while she took some steadying breaths herself. 

My fucking gods, what else could possibly go sideways at this point, she thought, swallowing some left over blood down her throat.

"Are you ok?" You finally asked in the silence.

Alcina scoffed and pressed her lips to the top of your head, "draga mea I am the last of my worries, and should be the last of yours right now."

"Mm, yeah, ok, as if that's ever going to be the case for either of us ever."

Alcina was almost taken aback by your spicey response, but then she started to chuckle, "you are awfully saucy for someone who was just about to pass out, miss."

Thank god, some normalcy in banter. You smiled and giggled shortly, "answer the damn question," you prodded, "I want to make sure blowing someone's eyes out of their head wasn't in vain."

She closed her eyes hard and squeezed you a little tighter, "yes, dragoste... I'm fine, thanks to you."

"Good, because that was horrifying."

"But impressive, nonetheless."

You shook your head. 

Karl's patience was wearing very fucking thin by the time Alcina and you finally made it back into the room about ten minutes later. The incessant nagging and questions and comments and tsking from that French bitch about had him coming apart at the seams. He knew he had to keep his shit together. He knew he had to behave. He knew he needed to be the bigger lycan but she was so infuriating! 

"How many goddamn times have I told you!" He snapped, "I'm not answering SHIT until OUR Matriarch is BACK IN THE ROOM because I am NOT repeating myself OR getting put on the burner for FILLING YOUR NOSEY MOTHER FUCKING ASS IN before the one person that ACTUALLY FUCKING MATTERS!!"

Well. That was certainly not what you were both expecting to walk in on as you stepped through the threshold.

Alcina was the first to chime in, of course, "my goodness, does it really take less than 10 minutes of my absence for this kind of contention to unravel?" She asked with a cocked eyebrow as she waltzed to the table where everyone was gathered, you in tow.

Karl's eyes about bugged from his head, "my fuse is short, you know that - and this bitch tests it at every given opportunity!"

She turned her gaze to the redhead who was perfectly content with herself and Alcina's lips twisted, "can you please just not be yourself for 10 minutes?"

Marguerite's face soured, "you demand a lot of respect for someone whom I'm not entirely convinced deserves it."

Oh boy, here we go.

She took her time staring at Alcina, almost waiting for her to back down, but insisted on continuing, "it is just a thought, but, perhaps the crown of power has been misplaced?" Marguerite mused a little too happily as she tossed a look to you and back, "it seems this fae has come to your rescue more often than not; maybe you're not as strong or as dangero - "

Alcina had had it. She turned on a dime and clocked Marguerite square in the mouth, sending her flying back and into the brick wall with a deafening thwack.

No one said a word, but you know you heard Karl choke on his own tongue while everyone watched Marguerite slump to the floor completely unconscious.

Not misplacing a second, and ignoring the pursed lips of Pablo trying to stifle his laughter, Verona's forced deadpan face, Belinda's wide eyes though blessedly free expression otherwise, Emiliano's slow blink, Ishaan's raised brows, your thin-pressed lips and stifled expression of 'welp', and everyone else's great relief yet stuffed display of it, Alcina replaced her attention back to Karl.

"I still blame whatever this perverted scheme of Mother Miranda's need to create the 'perfect vampire' on you, Alcina," Marguerite added into the cacophony of noise, "all this fall-apart started with that little human lover of yours; so many more regulations to be a vampire got thrown into place - then you were made a matriarch - Mother's long disappearances following afterwards - there hadn't been such an upset in the underworld until you - "

"Miranda's psychotic little episode that created this had nothing to do with Alcina," you butted it immediately, feeling Alcina's fire light once again at your side, "yes, she believed Alcina was her first real stepping stone to her perfect line of vampire, but that didn't go according to her plans - why do you think she became progressively obsessed with those vampire initiation tests? But this was all set into motion a long time ago, even before she murdered her own child for it."

For the first time in five hours there was a loud resounding silence that filled the room.

Every pair of eyes set on you.

No pressure.

"Excuse me?" Marguerite asked sharply, "and what exactly would you know abo -"

"Would you kindly shut your mouth for five minutes," Verona huffed as she leaned into the table, her fierce eyes shooting the woman's ego in the foot, "let her speak!" The gilded woman softened her face as she looked at you, nodding encouragingly, "please, you know something about Eva?"

You nodded in return and took a deep steadying breath looking around at everyone, "yes... Miranda told me she and Eva had great plans to become the strongest breed of vampire alive so that they could live amongst humans again. They wanted to overrun the human world, take control over it, and to be loved and worshipped like gods. But Eva fell in love with a human boy. Miranda was livid her daughter was more occupied with her feelings for him and no longer their plans, so she killed her."

More silence.

"When did she tell you this?" Verona inquired, heavily intrigued.

"While I was tied to a chair during her attempted takeover."

Another pause, until Verona took a very noticeable breath.

"You must understand, Eva's death has been at the silent speculation of most of our eldest kind for centuries... No one has ever known the truth. This reveal is shocking."

"Exceptionally," Belinda added, "Mother Miranda's greatest obsession was the love she held for her daughter. For her to kill her, it does not seem right."

Verona nodded, "no, perhaps not, but if this is what she told you - "

"Mon dieu," Marguerite cut in, "s'il vous plait, do you really expect us to believe she would reveal such a thing to you in this circumstance?"

"With whatever respect is due," you retorted without missing a beat, "yes, because she did."

Alcina, who was taking another very long drag off her cabriole, had leaned back in her chair to beckon Donna's attention at the back of the room, something was exchanged, and she then threw something into the middle of the table with a loud slapping thud.

"There." She stated with a large puff of smoke, pointing at a thick and very worn book in the center of the table, "in Miranda's own handwriting. A journal, one of many, stating everything you were just told and much more about her plans. Don't ever question the integrity of my companions word."

"Yeah, don't go getting your butthole all hurt because Miranda told her and not you." Karl interjected with a puff of his cigar that was hanging from his teeth.

Alcina almost choked on her own cigarette smoke. 

Karl snickered, "remember, she underestimated our fae-bae here and ended up dead and shit." His grin was aglow with pride. 

Pablo, not hiding his amusement was also smiling from ear to ear. And then with manicured eyebrows raised high to his hairline, reached for the article and plucked it from its spot, "and why wasn't this lovely bit of reading on the table to begin with?" He asked with a glittering smile.

Alcina's visage turned sharp, "because I knew the runaround of this circus would last several hours before anything productive would come of it. Now. Are we all finally ready to put the display of shit slinging aside and get to it, or will this fuckery continue for another five and a half hours?"

You supposed that once Alcina had pointed it out, the vampires decided they were indeed ready to put their feral egos in cages and move forward.

The next several hours were impressively and surprisingly productive. Retellings of what had taken place were told uninterrupted, evidence was looked over, conversation was coherent and almost wholly respectful. Though you did notice after the initial dust had settled, the only person who was more quiet than you was Auguste Winter. You don't think he said one thing through the entire gathering, nor did anyone seem to notice. Whether this was in character for him or not, it was odd. And no matter what, you still did not like how he looked at Alcina at any given moment.

The conclusion to this night ended with the much anticipated tour through Mother Miranda's hide-out adjacent the city. The visiting vampires were unnerved meeting the famous white-eyed mutated vampires they'd heard so much about. The army still stood in their assigned spots without movement, thought, or real awareness to much of anything. It hurt your heart in a way to see them like this. They were once people. Now, thanks to Miranda, they were shells of what was once a person, and not even granted the option of being a functioning vampire. You couldn't help but to feel compassion about the situation they ultimately had no control over. Your choice to allow the use of your blood to see if the vampire and lycan scientists could bring these mutants back into some semblance of normalcy was now at the forefront of your mind. It was a lofty decision but the push to make that choice was heavier for you now.  

As you were being escorted through the maze of mutants, a pronounced and displeased "hrmph" sounded from Marguerite causing everyone to look in her direction.

"This... is what Miranda deems to be a perfect vampire?" She questioned.

Karl's face was blank for about two-point five seconds before responding, "yeah, they're fuckin' quiet."

She hissed in return, "I don't recall asking for your input."

"Well no one asked for your fucking take on it either sugar-tits, Christ!" He barked right back.

Marguerite scoffed again, "these vampires don't seem like much of any threat at all - look at them - not a thing happening in their skulls."

"Hoo boy, something you and them have in common!" Karl huffed, "and you certainly don't listen for shit as to what we've been saying. Just because you can't wrap your puny mind around what went on down here doesn't discredit the rest of us who actually fought them! I have footage galore of the battle we waged - you can't image the fight they put up - these fuckers kept moving AFTER we blew 'em up! I would have loved to see you take one on at full strength."

"Miranda wanted an army she could control, loyal to her command and her alone," Alcina stepped in, "and that's exactly what she made. Can we please keep going?"

Dmitri nodded when Alcina turned her unamused visage towards him and immediately moved on.

As the entourage of vampires finally made their way back to the city after the tour, Alcina and you brought up the rear; your arm was securely fastened in hers and the walk was quiet for the both of you, the others were engulfed in their conversations masking your presence entirely which made it a comfortable journey. Alcina held you snugly close to her side, stealing a quick kiss atop your head as the final approach to the hall came into view.

You made your way off to the sidelines at the entrance of City Hall and observed in silence as the long-winded exchanges before heading off for the day continued. Ishaan was speaking with Alcina, Dmitri was deeply engrossed with Belinda and Emiliano, Marguerite and Pablo were gossiping you were sure, and you were happy to have your back pressed to the large stone pillar out of the way while everyone mingled.

"When this is all put to rest and you're settled, you must come visit me in Italy."

Came a voice that startled you.

Verona had come up from your left, arms folded comfortably across her middle and a warm smiling face with eyes shimmering and beaming at you.

"O-oh," you stammered as you stood more properly to address the woman, "Ms. Giordano - "

"Please," she said holding up a hand, "stuff that formality - call me Verona."

Returning the much bigger smile you felt your cheeks blush a little, "Verona," you repeated, trying to figure how to respond to her request, "that's very kind of you, but - "

"I won't take no for an answer," she interrupted still smiling, "Donna informs me you're part of the Dimitrescu and Beneviento family now so that means you are also mine. I'm a gracious host and you'll be treated like a queen in my city, my nieces can attest to such treatment as can Alcina. It would be an honor to have you... It's been too many years since they've visited so this will give me the extra leverage I need to get you all there."

Her wink was sweet and genuine and you couldn't help but smile, "well, it would be an honor to be hosted by you. Thank you."     "I believe I heard my name over here," Donna's voice sounded from behind you as she stepped out from shadows, "Verona I do hope you're not telling stories."

"Nonsense. Merely extending a well deserved invitation to my house."

"Now that is a treat I could look forward to." She grinned, squeezing your arm as she joined the two of you.

Verona tilted her head playfully, "your presence is also long overdue in my home, miss Donna."

"Then I suppose it will be a family affair."

"A family affair? Oo, I like those, am I invited also?"

Pablo had slunk himself into the conversation somehow and you all looked over at his toothy grin, his eyes gleaming madly at the three of you.

"You're about the only one outside of my beloved sorellas that has an open invitation, tesoro." Verona sighed with slight exasperation.  

He lit up, wrapped his arms around Verona's waist from behind and kissed her temple, "ahhh mi corazón, gracias hermosa. I've missed running amok in the catacombs of Italy with you. It's been too long. You remember the fun and mischief we used to get up to, si? Puro placer!" (ahhh my heart, thank you beautiful.) (Pure pleasure!)

You watched Verona's eye roll but also the very comfortable display or affection between the two and couldn't help your budding curiosity.

"But ah!" Pablo exclaimed turning his attention to you, "the fun we could all have!"

Verona slapped his arms that were still securely fastened to her waist, "assolutamente no, Alcina ti taglierebbe la testa." (absolutely not, Alcina would have your head.)

Pablo grumbled playfully and pressed his face deep into Verona's throat and kissed it fervently, a giggle sounding from her as he rest his chin upon her shoulder and looked at you once more, "you will come to Espania after Italia, no? If you're in the neighborhood, it would be rude not to visit."

Alcina's attention had been already tampered from Ishaan when she first saw Pablo out of her peripheral approach your group, but it was abruptly broken as she watched him leave Verona's side, claim your hand and bring it to his lips to pepper it with charming kisses, "Ishaan, pardon, but excuse me for a moment."

She didn't bother to wait for a response and with five long strides she was upon the scene in a blink, clearing her throat roughly, "Mister De La Rosa." She uttered pointedly, her eyes squinting slightly as he turned his gaze towards her.

Stiffly straightening his back, he risked one more brisk kiss to the back of your hand, "aiii, corro antes de ser azotada!"  (I must run before I get lashed!)

Pablo sped through that sentence so quickly it was hardly intelligible and skittered off in a flash without ever losing his smile.

"The ever insufferable flirt," Verona chuckled, "relax Alcina, we'd never let him get further."

Alcina reached for your hand now and graciously pulled you to her side.

It took another half hour for everyone to disperse after agreeing to the agenda of tomorrows trial for Ethan and Mia. You could not deny you were starting to get a little tired and Alcina was worn herself, it was almost 10 in the morning by now. She kept her arm securely around you as you trekked back to the manor, and you couldn't help but ask about what you saw between Pablo and Verona. Alcina explained they had been lovers at one point many years ago; Verona had been turned in 1837 at a ripe age of 62, and took on the Italian Matriarchy about 50 years later. Pablo was turned at 33 years of age in 1912. He and Verona met a couple years after; he was smitten on sight and chased her for a while, which she finally submitted to being caught in 1922. He was young and rambunctious and it made Verona feel alive, but he was also kind, charming, wickedly smart and a fast learner. Verona saw his potential and enjoyed having him at her side. They had a fiery love affair for roughly 6 years where he learned under Verona's reign, which in turn got him his spot on the clan throne in Spain after earning his respect with Mother Miranda in a large takeover. Ruling their prospective clans got in the way of their affair but they parted ways on pleasant and comfortable terms. They'd remained deeply caring friends ever since, though Pablo was always hinting about them reuniting.

"I honestly thought he batted for the other team, even though he was flirty." You confessed sheepishly.

Alcina smirked, "he does. He bats for every team. Pablo is a lover of anyone he finds attractive... And I mean anyone."

You glanced up at her and smirked, "did he ever make a pass at you?"

She returned your glance with a twisted grin, "once, and it did not go well for him."

All you could do was laugh, "oh please tell me this story!"

As Alcina was beaming with a radiant smile at your amusement and brief recollection of the events, her eyes caught something off about the entrance to the manor as it was coming into view, "draga, is that one of your birds perched on the gate?"

Turning your attention ahead, you narrowed your eyes. Yes, surely there was a large black object sat atop the towering steel gate.

"That's odd, none of them followed me down that I was aware of."

Your mind began to turn. 

Its large black wings spread and flapped happily upon your arrival and you smiled, studying its features in the dim haze of the day setting of the city lights you deduced who it was.

"Ebony, what on earth are you doing down here?"

You both received a few mellow caws as it shifted its head towards the manor, wordlessly ushering you to proceed. Alcina looked at you, you at her, and quickly made your way inside.

There was a bunch of chatter and laughter coming from the kitchen as you entered, neither of you stopped or said a word as you approached the sounds and to your utter astonishment, and Alcina's well hidden dismay, Malka was at the countertop with the girls gathered around a large basket.

Daniella was the first to notice you both and she hopped off her stool, "oh! Hi! Mother meet Malka!"

There was so much happening in your brain the utter fumbling catastrophe of thoughts about made you black out; you were befuddled Malka was here, curious beyond belief why she was here, and half amused beyond all reason and terrified how Alcina was about to react to this.

Luckily Malka could sense the colliding thoughts and emotions and in her brilliant wisdom and necessity to break the wavering tension, she chuckled.

"I do not mean to intrude, Lady Dimitrescu, and I will not be staying!" She smiled brightly, "I was merely dropping off some food for my ketzeleh she was supposed to get today when she came down... she did not however tell me she decided to make the trip early."

Malka winked at you and you felt pretty sheepish.

Alcina swallowed and straightened her posture in the most collected way imaginable, you could tell she was trying to find words but you figured this shock was plenty after today and you, too, should do a little damage control.

"Oh, Malka I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you were getting a food basket together for me, otherwise I would have said something."

"It's alright though!" Daniella added, "she solved our grocery problem for you - that's what Bela and I were trying to do this morning while you were getting ready to leave, but we weren't sure what kinds of foods you liked, so we were lost, but Malka came to the rescue!"

You were smiling now but trying to keep composed, "h-how exactly?"

"Oh, Dani answered your phone when she called." Cassandra stated flatly.

Daniella's face went blank and you could watch the panic unfold in real time.

"W-well it was more of an accident," she began, "you left your phone on the counter, it rang, it scared me, and when I grabbed for it it just kind of answered itself and Malka just started talking so it would have been rude to hang up or not respond so - "

"It was all an honest mistake, but it did pan out in our favor," Bela recovered with a smile of her own, "we're very appreciative of her help and her unintentionally running our errands for us."

You wanted to start laughing but knew this was definitely not the time, so you nodded and went to hug your dear friend, "and you didn't have any trouble getting down here?"

"Mm, no. Dani gave her directions." Cassandra added as nonchalantly as before.

"Yes, the girls were very helpful as was Ebony." Malka hummed, "but as I said, I had not intended to stay as long as I have and I must really be on my way. My grandson has to leave my shop around noon to get to some business. So, my dearest ketzeleh I love you, be safe, text or call me whenever your time permits, and..." she took her gaze off you and turned her attention to Alcina who was remaining professionally composed, "it was a pleasure to have met your darling daughters, and an honor to glance upon the beauty of the Lady of the Underground. I hope we can have some time to really meet and get to know each other soon."

You watched as Malka bowed her head very gently and outstretched her hand for Alcina to shake. 

Brimming with far too many complicated emotions and words to count, Alcina took the old woman's hand and shook it gracefully, swallowing and returning a nod, "yes, yes as do I. Please, allow my daughters to escort you back to the church - "

"Oh, no need for that, I can find my way - "

"Please, Malka, I insist," Alcina said more firmly, though soft in nature, "it would grieve me terribly if something were to happen to you." She waved her hand at her girls and all three of them came promptly to Malka's side, "thank you for making the trip. Your generosity is greatly appreciated."

"You're not the only one who loves this very special girl." She winked, then looked to the girls at her side and held out her elbows, "alright me beauties, lead the way."

Daniella was the first to hook her arm in Malka's and Bela was next, goodbye's were given and the four of them were off.

The door closed to the manor and you waited a whole hell of a lot longer than you expected the silence to last, but you finally peered over to Alcina and cleared your throat.

"Yes?" Alcina replied coolly.

"You handled that really well, I'm proud of you."

She scoffed and before you could make a break for it she grabbed you and held you captive in her arms, "that was both wholly embarrassing and an unneeded shock to my system draga - "

"I'm sorry, I had no - "

"Yes, yes I know, you didn't know and how could either of us ever fathomed... however... I'm embarrassed she might think I'm a poor host not having sustenance for you in my home... It was piss poor planning on my part, but still."

"Piss poor," you repeated with a giggle, "you're starting to talk like me now."

Alcina grinned and kissed you feather light, "mmm, you're rubbing off on me in many ways."

"Even taking a liking to Malka, I see."

She narrowed her eyes, "well... she does seem sweet. She put herself in harms way to bring this to you so I can put my thorns aside for the time being."

"You can just put them away indefinitely, I promise."

"Fine. But please no more surprise visits, mm?"

You nodded.

"Good. Now, would you like to eat? I can prepare something for you."

Her offer was tempting, but you took your bottom lip between your teeth and let your gaze fall down to her figure, "well... honestly... what I would really like is to take you into your room and worship you in this dress. I can't tell you how it's haunted my dreams and fantasies since the moment we met."

You can read this also on Ao3 at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46831621/chapters/156263629

Alcina had been silently basking in the bliss of having you in her arms, fast asleep in her bed, while the radiant power of your blood thrummed still very happily through her veins for some time now. She could think of nothing more she wanted in this moment than the feel of your warmth, the scent of you, and the utter calm she had longed for far too many long years to count, now finally within her grasp.

At least, for a short while.

She wasn't sure the exact time but assumed the minutes were ticking towards the impending mayhem that lie outside the manor.

But, that would be then; this was now, and oh, she had other ideas in mind for how she wished the spend these last remaining moments of heaven.

Your back was pressed to her front, her strong arm encompassing your middle with such reverence, nose nuzzled in the crook of your neck, and her long legs now bending to lock you into her body closer. Your little mews of waking made her lips tug into the most pleased smirk. She closed her eyes and buried her face further to your neck and kissed the exposed skin feather light at first, then a little deeper and a little deeper; her arm around your front pulling you impossibly close. Alcina let her hand explore, her long fingers mapping your outlines as she lured you into a something of a trance, sensing how you were still on the precipice of sleep yet conscious enough to hum your satisfaction as she continued.

Deft fingertips traced increasingly dangerous patterns into your skin until a palm cupped a breast and squeezed lovingly, slowly kneading the plush flesh, accompanied by a low and sensual purr. Alcina could feel and hear your heartbeat quicken, even if just a little, and she kissed your neck even deeper.

When her hand released your breast and trailed down your languid form, Alcina pressed her lips to the shell of your ear and licked it tenderly. You moaned softly, she grinned.

"Draga mea," she whispered so gentle, her hand finally reaching between your legs that were spreading more than willingly, "the things I want to do to you..." the husk in her voice disguised itself as a yearning whine, her fingers finding your heat, eliciting that choked moan from you she couldn't get enough of, "the sounds I want to hear from you..." she coaxed even quieter as she stroked between your thighs almost painfully slow, "the many, many ways I want to make love to you..." her voice hummed, circling the very swollen nub at her fingertip agonizingly slow causing your body to quake, "ravish you like I never have before; if only, to make it clear," she kissed the quickly heating column of your neck, "how much I never want to be away from you any longer."

When the pressure of Alcina's finger left your pulsing clit and slid, none too soon, to your core and pressed inside, you were unable to keep the short gasp within you silent. Something about being lost in the hub of exhaustion yet awake enough to feel so much, had you teetering on sensations you'd never experienced before. And with Alcina's gloriously sex-drenched voice to lead you, you know you'd be falling into an oblivion like never before soon enough.

Content to let her do as she pleased, you allowed yourself be limp for her to command, and Alcina, a woman who knew what she wanted, took complete control.

She shifted with such grace; now flat on your back, Alcina used her body to pin your completely undefiant self to the mattress as her lips now latched to your throat, kissing hard and deep sending wave after wave of quivers down your body, the electricity landing in your hips, your joints sparking with so much from so little. You were breathily surrendering as her fingers, deliberate at first, now found a deeper stronger rhythm and you felt the heat soar across your skin and deep in your core.

"Uh-ohh..." Your tiny gasp fluttered into the otherwise silent air.

Alcina moaned into your neck now, the arousal in your pheromones filling her vampiric lungs with a quenching breath. She pressed the pad of her palm to your clit as her fingers stayed deep inside the hot, soaked warmth of your sex, using her leverage from this angle to press up and pull, caressing that spot that caused you such sweet pressure while keeping the massage on your bud in perfect tandem. She felt you shudder hard, the accompanying gasps and heave from your chest making this oh so thrilling. Normally she would have had you screaming and crying out in pleasure by now, but you were still caught just enough in sleeps' clutches that this made it all the more invigorating for the both of you; too tired to make much noise, absolutely enveloped in the heightened yet slightly numb sensations, and 100% at ease and trust to let your vampire take you to whatever ends.

As the sound of your slick arousal now began to make the most delicious sounds from Alcina's deftly working hand, she could smell the nearness of your completion, feel it in your bones, the telling way your chest and breath heaved shallow and hungrily. She pressed her lips to your ear and took your lobe into her mouth, suckling, relishing in a much more pronounced whine from you. Alcina could only chuckle eerily deep within her chest before she propped herself slightly up, hooking her leg under yours and pulled you open for her, using it to rock her hand deeper and deeper into you.

You forced your eyes open to see her looming over you in the near pitch black of the room, but you could see her; her paleness, the dark curled locks framing the beauty of her face that was intent and locked within everything that was you in this moment, and the sight knocked the air from you. Shaky, weak arms grasped for her body as you felt the careening orgasm start to erupt from your core. 

"Alcina." You whimpered as it finally took hold and you pulled her down on you, trying to stifle your moans in her hair as this new, wobbly, effervescent type of orgasm engulfed you.

Oh it was rich. Perfectly overwhelming. Not like otherwise raging wildfire type passion you usually shared; it was soft and tender yet just as wholly enthralling.

Just as Alcina was pulling you through every last bit of your pleasure, you felt the sharp prick of her teeth in your shoulder and you groaned at this most perfect ending, or beginning, to the day ahead.

You must have passed out shortly after, for all you could recall before amber light filled the room was the heavy pressure of all of Alcina's weight settling down on you, then darkness.

Fluttering your eyes open, you noticed the faux fireplace at the far end of her room had been lit and there she was, drenched in a flowing silken black robe that was embellished with the most delicate lace you'd ever seen, stalking her way towards you.

She'd already done her make up and looked as radiant as she could possibly be. You smiled, she did the same.

"Dragoste, just in time." She cooed, taking perch on your side of the bed, stroking your face lovingly.

"Mm?" You replied lazily, "is it time to go already?"

Alcina's smile grew wider, her sharp teeth shimmering passed her blood-red lips, "not yet, within an hour or so. How are you feeling?"

You snorted at the proud tone in her voice, "you have to ask?" You countered, "with a wake-up call like that, who couldn't be in great spirits?"

"Well," your vampire cooed, leaning down to claim your lips in a sweet kiss, "we'll have much more fun than that later, that I promise you," she kissed you again and again, "come, I've made you some tea."

The smile on your face got bigger as you watched her leave towards the chez lounge and coffee table, rising and ruffling yourself awake, "mmm, what kind?"

"Blood orange."

Containing your snicker was hard.

"Ironic, I know - but purely coincidental, I promise," she shot you a look and a wink, "besides I recall seeing a box in your cupboard and assumed it was something you like, no?"

You just shook your head and finally rose to join her, taking the beautiful little white and lovely blue flowered cup with a gold lip in your hands as she handed it to you, "yes, I love it, thank you."

Alcina rubbed your arms lovingly, her eyes glimmering the same emotion down on you, "now, relax, I'm going to get dressed."

As she disappeared into her walk-in closet, you sat on the chez and let the tea drizzle down your throat. 

"What uh, what should I wear?" You called to her as thought about your wardrobe, "I didn't bring a dress, cause honestly that felt a little weird? But I did bring two of my business suits from work, they're not much but they are tidy and professional. Everything is kind of my usual causal looks, frumpy stuff for here at the manor only, but - "

Everything stopped. 

Time. Thoughts. Your breath.

Everything.

Alcina sauntered out of the closet wearing that dress. 

The one she wore on that fateful night you met; when in the dreadful sea of black and grey and dark, she was the only one wearing white. 

Your heart sputtered. The flashbacks of that night and everything that followed overwhelming you on so many levels, none of them bad.

She had not yet seen your reaction as she was fumbling with her cabriole and a very special pair of black leather gloves as she meandered out, "oh draga, nothing you own is frumpy; I would say wear what is most - " her eyes looked up then to see you in an almost petrified state, not of fear, but of something she couldn't place, "draga, what is it?" Alcina asked quickening her pace towards you, dropping the items on the coffee table as she went to reach for you.

Sitting beside you, one hand pressed concernedly to your thigh as she raked you over with her eyes, you finally took a breath and swallowed, "y-you..." you stammered, "you were wearing this the night we met... do you remember?"

Realization struck her none too ceremoniously and her thoughts took off on a tangent of their own, worrying perhaps this was not a good memory, that the dress made you feel vulnerable and scared, perhaps as you had that night, which she could not blame you for one bit - 

"You look... absolutely stunning!"

Oh, thank gods.

Alcina took a relieved breath and watched that facade of unknown fall from you as you smiled wide at her, your eager fingers reaching for the fabric to trace the gathered midsection.

You couldn't lie, something about her in this sent a hoard of butterflies fluttering in your stomach. Yes, she was stunning all the time, but something about the fit of this dress on her curves, the cut and style making her already towering self appear even taller, the stark contrast of this shade of white against her nearly greyish skin and the ebony black of her hair to the crimson on her lips, the deepness of those slate colored eyes - god! She was an absolute masterpiece in this dress. If only your fucking mouth would work so you could tell her.

"I..." you tried, studying the dark goddess before you as you remembered her from that first night, feeling almost light-headed, your glimmering eyes found hers and you smiled weakly, "sorry, you make my brain go brrrr."

Alcina tossed her head back and laughed out loud, returning the loving gaze at you and cupped your face with utter sincerity, "I have been complimented more times in my life than I care to admit, which I state without ego, and yet you are the one to melt my heart with such a... simple, honest phrase!"

You chuckled back at her and rolled your eyes, "listen, you blew my literal mind and body first thing this morning, then you walk out of the closet looking like this, how do you expect me to form a coherent thought."

"Ohhh draga mea," she giggled, "I love you, I love you so much. But I mean it, that is one of the best things anyone has ever said to me."

Accepting her kiss through the shared laughter between you, you couldn't help but feel all the more empowered and slightly excited for the day. You would be on the arm of The Matriarch; a matriarch dressed like a Grecian goddess.

As the two of you were finally ready about 45 minutes later, you were making one last glance over in her vanity mirror to make sure you were put together. Yes, this would have to do.

You had settled on one of your favorite suit from work. A form fitting black blazer, a very chic cream colored blouse with a loose neck, and perfectly fitting trousers to go along with it. Since Alcina was wearing heels, you also opted for your 1 inch black pumps instead of your black and white Chucks. Not that it made much of a difference, but hey, some height was better than none.

Alcina eyed you with a hunger and her remark about getting out of the manor before her thoughts won over, was the last thing you heard as she drug you out of the bedroom. You chuckled.

The girls were up and about, very obviously by the blaring of music coming from the kitchen. The tune was unmistakable and you knew it as the 'Numa Numa' song. It's rightful title was 'Dragostea Din Tei', a Romanian pop song that came into bizarre popularity in the early 2000's, and you had a really hard time keeping a straight face as you and Alcina rounded the corner to find Daniella having an absolute blast mouthing along to it.

Not feeling the similar vibes as her daughter, Alcina rolled her eyes accompanied by a grumble, "gods - Daniella, turn that ridiculous song off."

"But mama!"

Alcina sighed, "this has been on repeat in this house for weeks!" She sighed, falling far too easily for Dani's pouty face, "f-fine - at least turn it down then! I will never forgive Heisenberg for that bloody iPod and speaker duo he gave you for your birthday."

Bela came flitting in from the side hall and placed a tender hand on her mothers arm, "Mother, Auntie Donna is on the phone, she's asked to speak with you urgently."

Another sigh, "alright," Alcina said caressing your arm and leaving you with a wink, "I'll be right back draga." 

Bela flashed you a smile as her mother left, "can I get you anything?"

"Oh, no thank you, I'm fine." You said returning the smile, feeling then an unnerving gaze on you from behind.

Cassandra was coming up to you almost instantly afterwards, "you're wearing that?" She stated flatly almost more than she asked.

A wave of complete uncertainty smacked as you looked down at your attire and back up to her, "uh, yeah? Why? Is this not ok?"

"Mmm." The brunette mused tugging at the sleeve of your blazer.

"Your mom liked it, she said it was fine." 

"My mothers opinion bares no weight in the situation because the woman is blinded by infatuation."

You looked at her blankly.

Cassandra smiled defeatedly and grabbed your arm, "c'mere. Just trust me."

And before you could reply she was guiding you down into the other end of the house to her room. You were nervous but simultaneously curios as hell as to what was happening.

Cassandra didn't close the door as she lead you into her room, but she left you standing there by her own vanity, much the same as Alcina's, as she darted off to her closet and disappeared between the double mirrored doors.

"What size shoe do you wear?" Her voice called from inside.

"8." You replied, now admiring her room much more so since you'd originally been given the two-cent tour the other day. 

It was drenched it purples and dark reds, lots of gold and silver, and spoke loudly of her tastes. She had decorative, or you assumed to be, swords and daggers hanging on the walls, along with paintings of landscapes and lots of shelves lined with candles and incense sticks. Her queen-sized bed had a black comforter and the pillow cases were crimson, the throw pillows royal purple, and the four-posters were cascaded in shimmery black lace. Yeah, you liked her style. Off to one corner was what appeared to be a black leather couch that had books and art supplies strewn about it and the glass coffee table in front of it, the neighboring bookshelf was overflowing with books and trinkets and what looked like vinyl records. You imagined if you'd known her in her human days, you would have likely made friends.

"Alright," Cassandra said airily as she finally emerged from her closet, "yes, I know my mother likes your outfit - yes, I'm sure this is what you're used to wearing - however, you are not in the human world today. Not even close. So, don't take offense but for this council meeting you're going to be part of, you do NOT want to go in looking like that."

You looked back down to yourself one last time, "is it really that bad?"

She giggled, "no not at all, but you're not meeting with crusty-ass human CEO's, you're meeting with vampires."

You couldn't help but laugh at that, and the fact that she was chuckling with you made your nerves settle immensely.

"Ok, so," Cassandra began, handing you the handful of clothes she brought out, "I think I have a good guess of your size and this stuff should fit nicely. Go change into these behind the pingfeng and I'll put this corset on you when you get done." She could tell by the look on your face the corset part had you concerned, "don't worry, it's not hella tight, it just an under-bust cincher that gives you a nice shape." 

Her reassurance worked a little and you did as you were told.

Cassandra had picked you out a flowing, deep burgundy skirt with a hitched left side that draped down to a long right side. The burgundy ombre'd into black at the bottom, and it had a black lace-up cinch waist that left the strings cascading down the side where it tied. It fit perfectly and the fabric was extremely soft. She'd also chosen a matching burgundy taffeta peasant blouse that hung almost off your shoulders with its loose front and back, the dip in the neckline boarding on risqué for you but you trusted her decisions. As you stepped around from the pingfeng, Cassandra's face beamed happily and you did your best to just go with the process.

"Yes, good, this works," she muttered walking over to you, black Victorian laced corset in hand, "turn around."

Before you knew it, the corset was in place and it was indeed as comfortable as she said it would be. Made you feel like you gained an inch with your straightened posture. Suddenly you were being ushered in the direction of the double mirrors on Cassandra's closet doors and her beaming face appeared over your shoulder as she admired her work.

"Mmhm! Yeah, this fits you nicely!"

You couldn't really argue. You looked like a dark fae; you felt like a fae; and that was kind of empowering for the first time since you'd come into all of this.

"Now, we gotta fix the makeup, at least a little - this muted desk job look doesn't do the outfit justice. Come sit."

Cassandra grabbed her arm and drug you to her vanity and plopped you down, scoured over your face thoughtfully and once again you were feeling scrutinized even though you knew very well that was not her intention. You couldn't help it; old habits die hard.

She turned sharply and went through a drawer and pulled some things out, her precise decisions made you smile a little as the situation still couldn't have felt more foreign, even if it was nice. Cassandra was bristly, you weren't sure she even liked you that much, but this must mean she at least didn't hate you.

"So, not that it's any of my business," she began, settling down in front of you with a brush in her hand and a compact in the other, "but I'm making it my business because that's my job - now, I know this world is new and I'm sure freaky to you, but you need to remember you are not human. You are not weak. And you are not to be trifled with."

Her hazel eyes found yours as she finished applying powder under your cheekbones.

"Don't let any of them walk all over you, because I assure you, some will. Consider it a pissing match between vampires just as much as it would be between, I dunno, politicians in the humans world," she went on, grabbing an eyeliner and making you close your eyes, "don't play the game and just be confident in who you are, ok? I don't think you realize how strong you are, but I also don't consider you to be meek, you're just unsure of yourself and you shouldn't be."

Her hands were cool as she applied the eyeliner and eyeshadow and you listened intently as she went on, not wanting to chime in and just let her say what she needed, almost enjoying the fact she was giving you what seemed to be a pep talk.

"My mother a fucking force to be reckoned with, yeah, duh; she's six feet nine inches tall and will rip anyone's face off if she feels like it, but - " she paused, reaching for a lip color, "her brutal fierceness is loud, you don't have to be so don't feel that pressure, just be you. Unabashedly you. You're pretty cool. And I know you're powerful, we all do, so you should know it and present like it."

You tried to keep your face as neutral as possible. You weren't used to being built up, and of all of the sisters to take this on, she was the furthest from your imagination. But you nodded as she finished with your lips and smiled softly.

"Thanks," you said, "I really appreciate that... it's weird going from being a complete nobody to some kind of mythical creature, ya know?"

Cassandra chuckled, "I kind of get it. Granted I don't have most of my human memories, but yeah, it's a fucking game changer for sure. Now, go take a look at yourself."

Another nod and a deep breath, you rose and walked to the mirror once more.

"The power of an outfit and some make-up, huh?" Cassandra hummed, "sometimes it's fun to put your power on the outside too. You look pretty badass, if I do say so myself."

It was thrilling to take in. Yes, you dressed up. Yes, you enjoyed going out on the town dressed to the nine's, but this was a nice fit for the new you that had apparently always been you to begin with. You kinda digged the gothic-fae look. Your features were accentuated with finesse thanks to Cassandra, and yes, it did make you feel more confident.

"Thank you, seriously. I look completely new."

Cassandra beamed, "you're welcome. Now put those six inch boots on and go be awesome. And don't let any of those fucks step on your toes."

You balked, "six?"

Another wicked grin, "just kidding, they're like five and a half. Just trying to give you the benefit of the doubt with my skyscraper of a mother."

When you returned to the kitchen, Alcina was still missing but Bela and Daniella were huddled at the counter sipping blood-wine over a busy pen and paper. 

Daniella noticed you first and grabbed for it and slipped it into her lap, "h-hi," she grinned, her eyes getting huge as she noticed the change, "wow, we wondered what Cass was doing back there and damn! You look awesome!"

Bela smiled brightly and rose off the stool, "this is a really nice look for you, it suits you," she offered coming towards you, eying the outfit, "mother had to make a quick exit to the council hall, Donna's orders, but she told me to escort you there when you made it out of the clutches of my sister."

You blushed, "no clutches involved," you laughed, "but don't worry about me, I can manage getting myself there, thanks for letting me know though."

"Alright. Well don't stress about today," Bela reassured, "mother will take good care of you as will everyone else from our city, not that you have much to worry about protecting yourself anyway." She winked.

These girls sure had more faith in you than you did, but you were happy to have the votes of confidence, "hah, thanks I appreciate it. I'll see you all later."

Goodbyes were exchanged and on jittery legs you left the manor and headed for City Hall.

Cassandra appeared moments after you left with a book in hand as she mindlessly made her way to the cabinet for a glass.

"You're gunna give mother a heart-attack with that outfit you put on her." Daniella mused.

Cassandra, not looking up once, grabbed a glass and headed for the open bottle of wine on the counter, "that was half the plan."

Bela sighed, "you're rotten."

~

The city was bustling with vampires now, a complete 180 from the silent ghost town you'd encountered when you got here yesterday. The majority of vampires and lycans you passed that noticed you nodded, and offered you a slight bow. Engaging in returning the actions was getting a little cumbersome as you tried to make haste to find Alcina, but it was weirdly empowering to be shown respect in the same fashion they gave with Alcina.

Angie found you in the sea of people the closer you got the City Hall and you were being enthusiastically drug in the opposite direction from the front doors. Angie took you through a side entrance that led to a short hall and conglomeration of smaller rooms, shoving you through a door briskly, you were met by Donna, Alcina, and Sylvia.

Alcina's face hid none of her very pleased surprise at your new attire and you couldn't help but smile sheepishly. Luckily there was little time to explain as Donna, brilliant smile in tow, came to give you a hug.

"It's so wonderful to have you back," she said brightly, "try your best to excuse the madness."

Donna gave your shoulder a reassuring squeeze as she went back to Sylvia, who nodded reverently to you, and dove back into whatever they were discussing.

Alcina, with a look of a prowling beast on her face, glided slowly towards you with an eyebrow sharply raised.

She leaned into your ear as one arm snaked around your now cinched waist, "draga mea... this is not what you were wearing when I left you..." she growled sensually, "I don't know how you suppose I am to focus when you look like this, knowing how easily accessible you are in this skirt."

Shivers threw themselves down your whole body and you tried to keep your eyes from rolling so obviously into the back of your skull, but you grabbed her arm for support and swallowed, "this was not my doing," you admitted carefully, "Cassandra thought I needed a change of appearance."

Alcina kissed the shell of your ear and kept her whisper just as low as before, "I will ground her later, and you're ground to my room the moment we step foot back inside the manor, and you will stay tied to my bed for as long as I see fit for your punishment... you scrumptious woman of mine."

"Ahem."

Donna's voice shattered the tensely, inappropriate heated moment and Alcina, nonchalantly as could be, slowly pulled away from you but kept her arm secured tightly around your waist, "yes?"

With a look of slight exasperation, Donna cleared her throat, "Sylvia and I are finished, shall we head in?"

The Council Hall was filled to the brim with voices. 

As you followed Alcina through the threshold, you realized things looked quite a bit different. The stone table that was normally a long rectangle had two half moon additions added to each side to make an almost perfect circle, the extra space allowing room for the new attendees; the seven clan leaders, as well as the resident leaders. Dmitri and several others from Alcina and Karl's armies were standing off to the sides of the room discussing amongst themselves as the council members were scavenging through a slew of photographs, journals, loose papers, and random objects, all of which you didn't recognize, aside from one. That famed and wretched dagger Miranda has crafted and used on Alcina was in the middle of the table. Old blood stains and all. Your eyes shot up to Alcina as she seemed to see it at the exact moment you had; she kept her composure perfectly, but you noticed the ever so subtle shift in her stance and twitch at the corner of her eyes and mouth. You were about to reach for her but she cleared her throat loudly and approached the table.

All eyes shot up, all speaking ceased, and all attention now lay on the both of you.

"May I present," came Dmitri's voice from the sidelines, strong and commanding, "The Lady Alcina Dimitrescu, Matriarch of the Shadowed Dominion, and her companion..."

You'd never been presented like this, ever, in all of your life. And it felt so damn weird hearing your name announced so regally, especially from someone as revered a Dmitri.

"The Fae." He finished, dropping his arm, bowing to the both of you. Reverent nods and bows followed from everyone in the room. As he rose, he came towards you and stood at your side, waving his arm in the same fashion as he had just a moment ago, "and may I introduce to you our underworlds fellow leaders," Dmitri waved to the woman first on the right, "Marguerite Beaumont, of the Knights of Dark..."

Marguerite had a bold, auburn color to her hair; the slight curl of her mid-length, very thick mane framed her pale face which was gaunt and serious looking. Her eyes were a bright grey like blue, lips thin and stern, and her chin was short but pointy. Her jaw either seemed to be permanently clenched or she was just gifted with a prominent square and bitchy frame of face. Aside from her attitude written clearly on her facade, one would say she might be pretty. She wore a cloak a lovely shade of forest green, underneath you could see gold embellishments on what looked to be a very finely made moss-colored dress.

Dmitri continued, "Ishaan Yadav, leader of the Moonlight Bearers..."

Ishaan was handsome; shoulder-length hair as black as shadows and eyes just a deep. His facial hair was primly kept; outlining his jaw, chin, and upper lip that gave his features a grand and elegant appearance. The deep ocean blue with hints of silver stitching of his clearly custom made, and extravagant, tuxedo brought the dark bronze of his skin to life, accentuating his smirk and otherwise calm demeanor. He held a certain command in his presence but he seemed approachable and somehow warm.

"The Eternal Dominion's leader, Belinda Holland..."

Belinda wore a merlot colored trench coat over a black turtleneck that made her already square shoulders even broader. Her hair was a faint blonde with darker roots, done up in a loose braided bun at the base of her neck. She didn't look as severe as Marguerite, but she held a staunch appearance with wide cheekbones and a soft mouth. She sat very still and barely moved her head, but her bright brown eyes were scouring the room with vigilance in a silent yet clear demonstration of her awareness.

"Emiliano Banegas, of the Kiss of Shadows..."

Emiliano was a brooding man. While Marguerite and Belinda held a certain sternness, he seemed to hold no other emotion behind his than just that. His hair was a deep chestnut, long, thick, and tied in a loose ponytail with a mere thread. He had no facial hair and his skin was fair and yet held a hue of depth. His eyes were hazel, from what you could tell, and he gave very little from his pouty lips that matched the emotionless facade he bore. He wore a sharp, tailored and well pressed auburn vest over his cream colored tunic, with pearl buttons and cufflinks. He was striking, yet oddly muted at the same time.

"Verona Giordano, leader of the Nightfall Legion..."

Ah yes, and then there was Verona; she reminded you of a taller, more robust Donna in a way. Her hair was very long, easily passed the middle of her back, and the salt and pepper of it made you wonder how old she was when she was turned and how old she might be now. Most every other vampire, outside of Dmitri, looked much younger. But she had striking emerald eyes, a poised set of lips that sat in a nearly constant state of silent judgement, and muted olive skin that made her look almost as haunting as Alcina. You could tell right off she was not one to be fucked with. She wore a sheer black shawl over her hair, wrapped loosely under her chin and over her shoulder, and a deep purple, high-necked dress that shimmered just right in the light giving it a silver hue. 

"La Bella Damned's, Pablo De La Rosa..."

Pablo was as pale as Alcina, though he had fiery eyes like burnt amber. His short hair was also black and it brought out his chiseled features with sharpness. His mustache and goatee were thin and well kept, cheekbones high and cheeks almost a little too hollow, but his smile was full of mischief and he didn't seem to be free of it since you all entered the room. His attire wasn't loud, but it wasn't quiet either. He wore a black, high-collared blazer with a fire-orange silk shirt underneath with an odd shaped pendant hanging between the buttons undone on his chest. You had no doubt he was the character Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela explained him to be.

Dmitri straightened his back and took a breath, "and, Auguste Winter of the Fallen Devil's."

Lastly, Auguste, who was easily your least favorite person in the room for no other reason than a queasiness in your gut, sat at the farthest end. He was tall, sharp shouldered, rigid, and somehow childish looking. He had ashy blond hair and no facial hair to go with it. It was short. Cut and styled with a starkness. His eyes were a much deeper blue than you'd seen before, and his lips were thin and slightly bent. He wore a deep gold, high-collared pea coat with bright crimson embellishments, a similarly red shirt underneath giving the whole attire a haughty vibe that the others didn't come close to possessing. His twisted smile at Alcina did much the same to your stomach. 

Alright, well. Introductions had been made. The shuffling in the room echoed loudly with your internal chatter about hoping to remember everyone's names; last thing you wanted was to look like a fool and you did want to leave a decent impression - 

"Well," Marguerite's tinny statement began catching everyone off-guard, "she certainly doesn't look like much - for a fae, I suppose." She commented, not looking at you of course, but instead directly at Alcina.

That certainly quieted the room.

And speaking of first impressions, if this was how she was choosing to start, you figured you may as well get your strike in with this Marguerite before she settled in the idea she could disrespect you out the gate. Cassandra had given you more confidence this morning than perhaps you were used to possessing; maybe it was the outfit, or maybe her unexpected belief in you, but you would do as she had reminded you and not forget who and what you were.

Before Alcina's anger could pop to the surface in your defense, you spoke; "they say those with true power don't have to put on heirs."

While you watched without any emotion at all as Marguerite's facade hid none of her sourness at your unexpected rebuttal, from your peripheral you could see Alcina's pride-drenched smirk as she turned her head to look at you. Karl was laughing without subtleness, Dmitri shuffled on his feet at your side, and you caught Donna on the other side of the table rubbing an eyebrow anxiously.

"Oh I like you."

Came a much needed break in tension.

Pablo was grinning from ear to ear at you as he tapped his glassine nails on the stone table, "I knew the minute you walked through that door I was going to like you!" His glittering eyes flashed, "it is such a pleasure to meet someone with a bloodline belonging to the fae. I have heard they're fiery and profound, and quite rare in the world these days; you are doing your kind a great service by sticking to that... how can I call it..." He paused tilting his head slightly up to the ceiling, deep in thought, "unique sharp tongue." He finished pointedly, gazing at you again.

Alcina's eyeroll was so loud you didn't even need to see it under the brim of her hat.

His polished accent complimented his entire demeanor a little too well and you simply nodded politely at his comment, unsure how to respond.

"Pablo, caro incantatore," Verona chimed in with a sigh, tossing her gaze from Alcina, to you, back to the flirtatious gaze of the vampire in question, "please." (Pablo, dear charmer,)

"What?" He shrugged impossibly innocent, laying on the accent, "a compliment! Marguerite is still speechless - a feat in itself! She deserves the praise!"

Marguerite scoffed pointedly, "what should I care to defend my comment from an indignant response? Look at her," she flicked her wrist in your general direction, "under all that garb, I see nothing but fragility."

You were definitely feeling some heat rushing under your skin and you were right on the precipice to let loose another retort, but a robust snort from a fired-up Karl Heisenberg shifted everyone's focus.

"Ffffft, fragile - chyeah - like a fucking bomb!" He spat as he approached the table, pulling something from an adjacent bag, forcing his way between the seated lycans on his side of the table, flopped what looked like a tablet on the table and tapped the screen dramatically.

The blackness lit up; slightly grainy footage began of you and Karl in a familiar corridor where you'd ran into that mutant you helped him take down with your power. It was a short clip but it was enough for everyone to see you crumpling the mutant from his attack on Karl for him to land the final blow. There was a collected bunch of 'hm's' and whispered comments shared until Karl spoke out again.

"And that's fuckin' nothin'; the show-down between hot shot here, Miranda, and Lady D was really something to behold! Maybe get your facts before spouting off?"

The churning on Marguerite's face wasn't pleasant to watch, luckily it got no further as Alcina, bemused and a little perturbed, propped both her hands on her hips and sucked in a sharp breath through her nose.

"Heisenberg," she almost hissed, "you were going to tell me about cameras being installed in the underground... when?" Alcina allowed herself a most forced smile at him, her eyes beaming with an unspoken 'what the fuck'.

"Eventually," Karl answered with emphasis, "I've, ya know, been a little busy? You've been busy, we've all been busy - it's been a little hectic? Besides I didn't catch anything of interest until the actual invasion started, so - "

A loud hrmph sounded in the opposite direction and Marguerite was shaking her head, "let a dog off its leash... this is what you get."

Oh god.

"Listen here you French fried fuck!" Karl shot back, pointing his rigid finger at the redhead about to spout off in what would no doubt be unchecked, well manicured insults.

But Alcina guffawed loudly, and it was the most beautiful sound had the circumstances been entirely different.

Your eyes went wide without your control, everyone looked to the Matriarch who was now laughing without hesitation of any kind. No one knew what this reaction was about to end with. Sitting on bated breath as Alcina's outburst was slowly waning, almost everyone remained still and pensive, almost.

A sharp slap of hand to the stone table cut the palpable tension for the third or fourth time in easily less than ten minutes, and now all eyes had flipped back to Marguerite.

"Have you absolutely lost yourself?" She seethed at Alcina.

Taking a deep breath with a smile remaining on her face, Alcina lifted her gaze to the woman and chuckled once more, "no my dearest Marguerite, I am unapologetically myself these days."

"How dare you! Mother Miranda's death does not negate a complete lack of respect on your end! Remember your place!"

The shrill sound of her voice left a tinny echo in everyone's ears but the ever shifting tilt in tension at one end of the table to the next was making you dizzy. Alcina straightened her posture with such sharpness you actually took a very small and hopefully unnoticeable step to the side, feeling the spark of her wrath overturn the lightness in her from moments ago.

Her slate-colored eyes went dark and Alcina's mouth went rigid as she placed her palms flat on the table and leered at the woman at the end of her sight, "I think that it is perhaps you that should remember your place! Mother Miranda's death negates that I no longer have to sit here silently and take your snotty bullshit like a good little girl any longer - in fact - Mother Miranda's death, which so happened to fall by my hand, gives me the right to step foot in her place, meaning I get to make the fucking rules now! So, dear Marguerite, would you care to switch up your fucking tone or does this have to get bloody? You're in my house - my territory - and your history for being a cunt at any given time on anyone's turf comes to an end. Today."

Silence.

You could not be certain whether fighting and taking down Mother Miranda was more or less stressful than this meeting, if you could call it a meeting, you were in. You still didn't fully understand how vampires and lycans operated on the whole spectrum, but you felt like things had changed drastically on all fronts since Alcina killed Miranda, and you did not know if that meant rules of civility were now out the window all-together and if these vampires would fall in line or you'd be launched into the middle of another bloodbath.

The stare-down between the two woman came to and end when Pablo, smooth as a palm stone, changed the course of the whole situation with one comment.

Father Sullivan smiled and straightened his sturdy back, "Lady Dimitrescu does that for all of us here," he grinned wider, "though I don't think it's her you're so nervous about."

Your blush was muted but you felt the warmth, "no, not her... but she definitely has that immobilizing intimidation thing going for her though, huh?"

"Indeed!" He laughed, "though I am grateful for her potency. Effective should be her middle name."

"You know, I think it actually is."

"It would not surprise me in the slightest."

The two of you shared a laugh and then you took a big breath, releasing it with an even more embellished sigh.

"Good luck, miss," he nodded at you, "give the Matriarch my regards."

Welp, if you were looking for a nudge or a send off, that was good enough.

Goddamn it was dark. And eerily quiet.

It became progressively cooler as you made your way further and further down and you were glad you were wearing what you were. You could recall that it was chilly the last time you were here, but at the time you had enough adrenaline pumping through your veins it didn't bother you in the slightest. If Alcina wanted you to move down here, there'd be some serious accommodation issues to be addressed.

A hint of firelight from the torches you remember from your walk with Alcina finally leaked into the darkness, a bigger smile coming to your lips as you rounded the corner to this lit area that reminded you the entrance to the city was only 3 more turns away. 

As you stepped carefully through the tunnel mouth, placing your hand carefully on the intricately carved stone banister of the large stairwell down into the city, you took a good moment to really look at it.

It really was beautiful. In its haunting, quiet, and macabre sort of way.

Hundreds of years of hard work went into creating this. Uncountable hours making everything as beautiful and mysterious as the inhabitants therein. Humans used to make living art like this, but now everything was boxes and boring. It gave you nostalgia you'd never felt before. This place could almost feel like home.

Taking silent steps, you descended the many stairs and realized only when you set foot onto the familiar cobblestone streets that the bite of cold in the air was now very comfortable. You sighed pleasantly.

With no real rush to get to Alcina's manor, you took advantage of the empty streets and admired the many structures as you went.

Most of them seemed to be made of the same stone that made up the underground itself; dark and shiny, almost coal or obsidian like in the right light. While others were made of a lighter stone; a type of granite perhaps. And others, though very few it appeared, were made of wood that had been either stained or painted over with darker colors like forest green, ocean blue, and you spotted one or two further off that looked merlot in tone. 

Some homes, and what you assumed were gathering places like what would akin to a bar for the human world above, were 2 to 3 stories high. The architecture of many of them felt very much like the French Quarters one would find in Louisiana, others were very gothic-cathedral like, and some were as ornate and beautiful as a Victorian mansion you'd seen pictures of. 

There were only 3 buildings that stuck out apart from the rest in height; one you knew as City Hall which could be seen from every corner with its massive imposing, sharp domed peak, the Matriarch manor that was far to the left, and one in the far back that you hadn't noticed before. It stood taller and wider than everything else, had hundreds of tall glass windows, and had a most beautiful amber glow emanating from each of them. Another council hall maybe? A hotel? Your brain chuckled a little at that thought, but it really didn't seem so far fetched; while these beings were undead, they were still human, they still traveled, did most of the normal things you did, didn't they?

As your train of thought continued down the tracks, it was derailed quite loudly as you approached a very large familiar gate.

Fuck.

How exactly were you going to get in? You knew this thing was damn well locked, and you didn't have a key, nor any way to alert Alcina you were there.

Your hands carefully pressed to the thick heavy metal but all you got was defiant resistance in return.

Fuuuuuck times two.

Perhaps your wild hair to show up early could have used a little flat-ironing.

Dropping your gaze to your feet in a bit of sheepishness, the idea of sitting like a lost child in front of Alcina's gate until someone noticed felt pretty embarrassing. But, suddenly there was a disturbance in the air and a soft whoosh as you looked up to find a brilliantly smiling Cassandra right in your face on the other side of the bars.

"Hi," she grinned, "you're early."

"Uh - yeah, a bit, sorry - I hope that's -"

"You're eagerly awaited!" Cassandra smiled even wider as she opened the gate and waved you in.

Well she definitely seemed eager and you weren't sure how exactly to receive it, but you nodded shortly and stepped through, "oh, ok, well, thank you for let -"

"Of course." She cut you off, latching the gate and ushering you towards the manor, "mother hasn't returned yet, but my sisters and I are up so you can relax with us until she's back," Cassandra continued, a more devilish smile gracing her lovely face as you entered the house, "let me take your coat, and you can put your bag right here," she more or less instructed as the front door shut and she reached for your article before you'd even began removing it.

You were still registering the pace in which you got in here by the time two more bodies showed up behind you.

Bela, the blonde, was smiling much more warmly and comfortably than her brunette sister, and the redhead who was almost right in your face had the same devilish, although slightly more chaotic, grin slathered on her facade. She looked far too pleased to see you than you had anticipated and you swallowed.

"I hope you weren't waiting at the gate long," Bela chimed in trying to inch Daniela back a little, "we weren't expecting you for a while, but we're glad you're here."

You nodded through a short smile, "yeah, sorry, I guess I -"

"No need to apologize," the redhead beamed, "we can show you the rest of the manor and hang out until mother is back!" She bounced.

Cassandra snorted as she walked around the side of you to walk past her sisters with a wicked smirk, "I think I smell a little guilt in that excitement there, Dani," looking back and eying you pleasingly, "she's the one who found you and drug you to the club that night, you know."

Well that was one hell of a revelation. You'd not really considered how you'd ended up at the club for the longest time, and now you were half mortified and curious as all hell.

Daniela's entire demeanor plummeted into the ground, her face blank, eyes wide as she looked at you then shot her sight at Cassandra, "why would you tell her that?!" She blurted breathlessly, her hands now on her face in embarrassment, "I - We - I'm -"

"Jesus Christ, Cassandra," Bela stated starkly, moving in and wrapping her arm around Daniela, exasperatedly shaking her head as her sister disappeared down the hall then looking to you regretfully, "I'm sorry... and welcome to our home where that one," she motioned her head down the hall, "has no filter or any couth AT ALL, and the other three of us live in utter madness at all times when Cassandra's in a mood."

Ah. So Cassandra was ruthless. Duly noted. 

Daniela was still quite beside herself and unsure where to look and you felt so badly. Even if it was true, that was a sharp way to throw that information at everyone's feet. You'd never had siblings but you had heard plenty of stories of how brutal the relationships could be. Being undead probably allowed for a whole new level of brutality to ensue.

You reached your hand out to Daniela and touched her arm briefly but reassuringly, "it's all good," you offered with a warm smirk, "I guess by technicality I should be thanking you, really, for the new life I've got and whatnot."

Her eyes were flipped from upset to beaming hope in a split second as she stared at you, "r-really?"

You shrugged with a bigger smile, "pretty much. I'd never have met Alcina or had any of this happen if you hadn't... ya know. So, yeah. Thanks."

The haphazard hug you received from Dani was just tallying up the unexpected event points you'd had in the last 10 minutes and you just chuckled, hugged her back, and decided everything from this moment on was likely going to be just as unpredictable and giving into that would just be easier than not.

"Ok, good," Dani huffed, grabbing the sides of your arms hastily after releasing you, "if you hated me because of that I would be so upset, I mean, you have every right to be, but it wasn't intentional, I mean none of the choices are intentional for the most part so you were just more or less collateral, which sounds insensitive, but I don't mean it to be! You just -"

"Dani," Bela stopped her barrage of blurting thoughts, "maybe go find our guest a human drink, like one of those bottles of wine mother likes that doesn't have blood in it?"

The redhead looked at her sister briefly, then to you, flashed a humble smile, nodded and then dashed off in the same direction Cassandra had gone.

You, still processing, took a deep breath.

"I am so sorry," Bela offered once more, "she's not used to interacting with humans. Or any type of normal interaction, really."

You chuckled, "it's ok. But I sure do have questions, although I think I'll just save them for much later."

Bela smiled warmly and waved her hand down the hall, "that might be best... We really are happy you're here, though. But please take Cassandra with the most miniscule grain of salt. And Dani will calm down eventually, but until then, I'll play mediator as much as possible."

You had been given a glass or normal wine as the showcase of the manor began. Cassandra was mostly reserved through the adventure but added in quips as she saw fit while the tour went on. Daniela was the main storyteller and Bela was the stability you leaned on when those two got into it over whatever happened to come up at any given moment. You loved the banter and couldn't help but imagine what it was like for Alcina raising them back into the women they were today from where Mother Miranda had left them. You could see her strength, resilience, tenacity, and spunk in each of the girls, even though they were all uniquely themselves. It was warming. 

The 4 of you were now in the turret, your second favorite room in the manor, as the conversation and interactions had gotten much more smooth and comfortable.

Settling into one of the couches, Bela sat adjacent you on a plush leather sofa, Cassandra perched directly across from you on what you assumed was her chez lounge, and Daniela had hopped off to grab you another glass of wine. You really didn't need another one but she was so happy to be of service so you couldn't say no.

"So," you began tentatively, "have any of you ever been part of a grand council like what's coming up?"

Cassandra ran a hand through her long hair with a scoff, "god no," she chuckled, "and thank fuck, because to hear how mother tells it, they're fucking awful."

"They're not awful," Bela stated with a look thrown at her sister, "but taxing would be a better word. These councils are strictly for those in charge; leaders of clans; sometimes the heads of military, but never anyone else, so no, luckily we haven't. I bet you're not looking forward to it."

"I'm going into all of this completely blind, so I'm pretty hesitant and nervous."

"Ah, just zap 'em with your fae powers if they give you any shit," Cassandra grinned, "and believe me, there are several who will."

Bela rubbed her forehead, "stop trying to freak her out."

"I'm not! It's true," Cassandra rebutted, flinging her hand to her sister dramatically, "how many times has mother returned from the yearly meeting talking about how annoyingly confrontational that French bitch, oh what's her face - Margery, Margaret - "

"Marguerite?"

"That bitch!" Cassandra slapped the arm of the lounge, grinning at Bela, "she's always starting shit with mother - the biggest gossiper outside of Pablo - although Pablo is hilarious. He's the head of the coven in Spain," she went on, looking at you, "he's incredibly handsome, very vain, and so snotty, but he has comedic timing like you wouldn't believe."

Daniela had returned with your other glass of wine and handed it to you with a glimmer in her eye, "what'd I miss? Who's so funny?"

"Pablo," the other sisters answered in tandem.

"Ohhh, yeah. He's awfully self centered though." Daniela added, plopping next to you, "but god is he cute."

You couldn't help but chuckle, but as you were going to ask another question your phone dinged in your pocket. Pulling it out there was a text from Malka on the screen but you'd ignore it for now. At least, you could. There was a redhead within breath range of you as you looked over and you watched her gaze as it fixated on your phone.

Daniela's eyes snapped up to you, "oh my god, that's a nice phone," she smiled, "do you have any cool games on there?"

"Uh, yeah I've got a merging game on there I play from time to time." You replied unable to hide your amusement.

"Oooo, what's a merging game?"

You had to remind yourself they didn't have cell phones and games like you had at your fingertips everyday, so her childlike curiosity made your smile grow even wider, "want me to show you?"

"YES!" Daniela squeaked.

Cassandra rolled her head back on her headrest and groaned, "my god she's unbearable."

"It's no big deal," you said as you opened the app and leaned into Daniela's space, "here, it's called Merge Dragons."

You let her watch the load screen with awe at the colorful, cuter than necessary dragons and scenery unfold, and when the game started you just handed the phone over to her, "so, see these?" You pointed to a couple squares that had identical items, "find another one of those and place it in one of these squares - " Dani did just as you instructed and the 3 merged into a new upgraded item, "and that's basically the jist of it."

Daniela's eyes were even bigger as she pulled your phone screen closer to her face with utter glee, "THIS IS SO COOL!"

Her fingers started tapping and dragging away and you just chuckled, "well play away, I haven't been on that in weeks."

"Thank you!!" She squeaked one more time before huddling into the other side of the couch, continuing to play.

Bela smiled at you warmly, "she's obsessed with technology."

"But mother won't let us have any." Cassandra whinged.

"Yeah, so I've heard. Why is that?" You asked.

"Hell if we know; you'd think for her ancient ass she'd have kept up with times a little better, but no, apparently cell phones are the devil."

Bela rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time tonight, "mother is old fashioned, and it's not like we're hurting for it."

"She's boring."

"You just want a cell phone so you can hunt the easy way and be lazy," Daniela chimed in slyly, glancing over at you only briefly to resume the game, "dating apps, you know?"

You raised your eyebrows high at her comment but quickly regained your composure.

"Oh piss off Dani," Cassandra spat, "it's not being lazy, it is literally broadening my horizons in the vastest way possible! I have expensive tastes but sometimes I like fast food."

Cassandra winked at you and you so wanted to understand what the hell that meant but you also were pretty sure you didn't at the same time.

"ANYWAY," Bela cut off the conversation, setting her sight back to you, "the council meeting - I think you have little to worry about, really."

You took in a deep breath and nodded, "thanks, I've not heard much else from Alcina about what I need to do or who all these people are so... my overactive mind has been pretty occupied with it."

"Well, if my memory serves me, now that Miranda is dead, there's only eight clans with leaders, so... that leaves mother with ours, the Shadowed Dominion. Then there is Marguerite, from France, her division is called Les Chevaliers des Ténèbres, or the Knights of Dark. And then there's Pablo's faction; La Bella Damned. The Dutch lady, uhm, Belinda, with the Eternal Dominion. Escamillo and the Kiss of Shadows clan. Verona Giordano, whom you will love! She's from Italy, such a wild woman with a feisty personality, and her clan is called the Nightfall Legion. Then there's Ishaan, he's over the Moonlight Bearers - and lastly, Auguste with the Fallen Devil's clan... at least, I think that's all of them."

Cassandra leaned over languidly, "you got the Escamillo wrong, it's Emiliano with the Kiss of Shadows."

"Oh... yeah that sounds right; Emiliano."

"But yes, Bela is right; you'll love Verona. She's like our honorary aunt. Very loud. Very in-your-face. Love that woman."

"She sounds fun," you replied, "her I'm looking forward to."

"For real though, steer clear of that French bitch," Cassandra added, "she's a nightmare."

You'd take her advice and do just that, but likely with most of them, just for safety sake.

~

Karl stumbled into his shop with several full oversized bags slung over his shoulders, though he was met with the light already on and a figure in the shadows of the corner where his best comfy chair resided. Dropping the bags with a thud he flipped the rest of the light switches on aggressively to see who had invaded his space.

The person in question was certainly not who he'd expected.

"The fuck you doin' in my shop, murder mittens?"

Alcina dropped the book in her hands to her lap with a flump and arched her brow fiercely, "you want the truth?" She asked flatly.

"No. I love being lied to - the fuck you mean; do I want the truth - DUH."

She sighed heavily as the burly, disheveled lycan made his way over to her and uncrossed her leg, eyeing him with less scrutiny and more calculation, "this is the only place the clan leaders won't think to look for me."

Karl stopped dead in his tracks and looked blankly at Alcina. Then he started to laugh. Guffawing would be the better word.

"For god sake would you keep it down," she scolded, "this is why I hesitated to even tell you!"

He regained himself slowly, then plopped next to her on the neighboring stool and shoved his hands under his suspender straps, "oh damn Alci, you could not have hit me with a funnier mental image; big tall scary vampire hides from much smaller less fierce vampires in the lycans shop to avoid responsibility - I love it! You can hide here all you like, shnookie-ookums!"

"Oh dear Christ, Heisenberg, you're mental alright."

"Ah, c'mon, we rebels look out for each other, so don't get your titties in a twist - I got your back."

He was so crude, Alcina just rolled her eyes and closed her book, "you can leave my tits out of all of our conversations, if you please... have you had the pleasure of running into any of them yet?" She asked, referring to the leaders and changing the subject as fast as she could.

"Nah. Heard a gaggle of commotion as I passed around the back of City Hall so I assume Donna's got them all wrangled like the heard of gobbling geese they are. This week should be interesting, eh?" He nudged, "but I swear to god if they find out you're here and they start snooping 'round here all the time we're gunna have words."

Alcina blinked, "for both our sakes, I promise they won't find out." She leaned back and huffed once more, "and yes, this week, and likely many more will prove to be incredibly eventful. Dmitri, my men, and yours, are still pilfering through Miranda's labyrinth of chaos and uncovering more and more each night... I'd rather not deal with it at all, but alas, duty prevails."

Karl nodded and took off his hat, tossed it onto the nearby counter and shrugged, "I say burn the whole thing down, all of it. We already know she was psychotic, why keep any trace of it."

He had a point, but as much as she didn't want to admit it, she wanted answers just like everyone else.

"If it were up to you and I, I'd actually let you," the look of pure surprise and a cocky esteem boost made her choose her next words carefully, "however, it's not as simple as we both want, so cool your jets. But if burning it down comes to the surface, you'll be the first to know."

Karl smiled, "now that I like to hear." He reached for a beat-up metal box and opened it, plucked a cigar, lit it, and eyed the book on Alcina's lap, "whatcha readin', toots?"

"Twilight." 

His brows shot for his hairline, "don't make me have you committed."

Alcina actually snickered, "please, I'd rather gouge my eyes out with red-hot pokers," she smirked wickedly, "it's one of your machining books I found on the shelf in the back..." Peering down at the cover she sighed, "almost as eventful as Twilight - "

"Now hear hear," he grumbled, reaching for the book and grabbing it up, "them's fightin' words." He tossed it onto the counter and took a long puff, offering it in Alcina's direction, but after she softly declined he tilted his head, "hey, when's your better half coming back down here? Seems weird not having the spicy little fairy running around."

Once more Alcina's brow arched, "tomorrow night."

"Did you give her a prep talk for what's she's getting into?"

"Well, I suppose you could call it that. But I don't foresee her 'getting into' much. If someone decides to pick a fight, they will be sorely displeased at their choice..." she smiled broadly, "now that I've got blood on my hands, I'm not opposed to doing it again."

Karl just grinned, "feral you is so satisfying," he cackled, "it's always been my favorite version."

"I'm so pleased," Alcina mused, "but, I do suppose I should get home to my daughters. It's nearly nightfall and I'm sure they'll be readying to go out. Lucky shits get to roam freely while their mother is strapped to responsibility."

"Yeh, definitely not the funnest thing to be strapped to. Personally I prefer a four-poster bed with - "

"Well that's enough of this conversation!" Alcina said hastily, cutting him off none too soon, rising off the chair eying him stoutly, "good night."

He waved amusedly at her as she walked her way out and chuckled under his breath, "night, night! Get fae-bae to strap you down instead!"

Alcina's grumble was barely audible to him as she quickly made her escape but he continued to laugh as he began to go back about his business in his shop.

Getting through the city undetected was more difficult that she had anticipated, and having to act like she wasn't trying to go unnoticed by the passerby's was just as aggravating. But after her best calculated detours, she finally was far enough away from the hot spots of the city to move freely and get home.

The lights were on in the turret and she smiled warmly to herself as she slipped in through the gates quietly as possible. She was certainly tired, but knowing her girls were awake and she'd get to see them before a few hours of shut-eye gave her a much needed mood boost.

Alcina halted for a split second as she stepped through the threshold of her home; the undeniable smell and feel of you permeated her senses and she almost audibly sighed at the relief that you were here. And then a pang of anxiety thudded against her; dear god please let my daughters be behaving.

With silent swiftness and agility Alcina scaled the stairs to the turret, and with great relief found the 4 of you lounging in the middle of the room talking, laughing even. She folded her arms across her chest and leaned on the archway, admiring a scene she wasn't sure she'd ever see in all her years. You. Her daughters. Together. A whole new tidal wave of emotions she hadn't prepared for about bowled her over, but it was such a comforting sight she could barely breath, unwilling to shake the image in front of her.

Cassandra, whom she was most worried about, was doing most of the talking with you, and Bela was smiling from ear to ear, and Daniela... Daniela was... playing on a phone? Alcina narrowed her eyes at the girl and the intensity of the focus seemed to beckon her awareness.

Daniela's eyes shot up, and at the sight of her mother in the doorway unshuffled herself from the huddled ball in the nook of the couch with phone in hand and gasped; "mother!"

All eyes turned to the smiling matriarch and everyone rose to greet her.

"Well, isn't this a nice surprise," she cooed gently as her girls came to kiss her cheek, those silvery slate-colored eyes looking you over so fondly, "I hope the three of you have been nothing but hospitable to our guest?"

"Yes, mother," Cassandra drawled, "although Dani stole her phone and hasn't given it back since she got here."

"That's not true!" Daniela argued, warily handing your phone back to you, "she let me play on it, I didn't steal anything."

Alcina looked to you for confirmation, or something of that sort, and you obliged with a nod, "yeah, no it's fine. She leveled me up like 5 times, hell of a gamer that one." You smiled at Dani. She beamed.

"Mmm, I see," Alcina mused softly, "well she and I have quite a bit to discuss now that she's here... are the three of you headed out soon?"

Bela shrugged, "I'm in for the night I think."

Cassandra, in a less than obvious fashion, nudged her sister in the ribs with her elbow. Hard.

"U-Uh, uhm, actually, yes, yes I think we're all headed to the park tonight," Bela recovered, snagging Dani by the arm, "so, we'll see you two later."

Cassandra joined the link and pulled her sisters with her down the stairs, a jumble of 'byes' drowning out as the girls took off.

You were still shaking your head with a chuckle as you looked up at Alcina, feeling very out of place still, but happy and relieved to be with your vampire feeling less and less vulnerable as the seconds passed.

"You came early," she cooed as she stepped forward, grabbing the sides of your face gently, planting a tender, needful kiss to your lips.

Instinctually, your arms slipped around her waist and you sighed into her kiss, "yeah," you muttered, "was getting antsy up there above ground without you."

Alcina could feel the weight of her weariness pressing down on her now, having you here, the worries of you being away, gave her reprieve that she didn't know she was needing so badly until now. She sighed, pressing her forehead to yours, "did you have any trouble getting into the city?"

"No, it was pretty empty when I got here."

"Good. And the girls? They were nice to you?"

You giggled, "yeah, they were great. Cassandra is very feisty, Dani is adorable, and Bela is definitely the diplomat between the two."

Alcina laughed low and warmly, pulling back to smile at you, "there is rarely a dull night in this house."

"I can absolutely see why."

"Come," Alcina smiled through her sigh, reaching for your hand, "I want to change into something comfortable."

With Alcina now dressed down to a simple yet elegant white slip of a night gown, and matching robe to drape over her bare shoulders, you admired her from a far as you unpacked your bag and placed your things in the drawers next to 'your side' of the bed, as Alcina had pointedly told you. It was weird. But it was wonderful. Feeling like you had an actual spot for your own things here with hers; in her home; your heart swelled a little with how permanent this was all starting to feel.

The two of you had spoken about your afternoon with her girls, Alcina's busy day with Dmitri, Donna, and Gerard, all while successfully not interacting with any of the leaders that had made their way into her city, and how tomorrow would, hopefully, pan out.

"... everyone will be accounted for tomorrow, now when the meeting itself begins, will be another story," she explained, sipping on a glass of blood wine you'd silently escaped to grab her as she was changing, "but it will be simple; you will accompany me to City Hall, sit at the table beside me, introductions will be had, and depending on how the council converses, next steps will be had according to vote. I know the lot of them will demand to see Miranda's lair here, and likely her abode in Connecticut, which while I'm curious of myself, would rather not have to babysit these imbeciles without knowing what I'm also getting into."

Her sigh was heavy and you scooted closer to her on the lounge, running your fingers over her arm you could see how tired she was. She'd gone almost a full 20 hours without sleep and you could already tell she wasn't intaking blood wine in a manageable fashion to keep up her strength. You had a feeling you'd be babysitting her just as much as she'd be doing for them if this is how she was taking care of herself this far in.

"Well, I don't know how much real help I'll be, but whatever you need me to do, just tell me." You reassured her with a smile.

"Ah, draga mea," Alcina cooed, "you being here is the best help I could ask for already."

Taking initiative to act on your offer to help, you took her empty glass from her, placed it on the glass table in front of the chez lounge, and carefully straddled her lap, peering down into her eyes.

"You're wiped, I can tell," you said, stroking the sides of her face, "and if you've got to be at the ready here in about 6 hours, I think you should drink from me, and then we should cuddle and sleep while we can... then tackle those pesky leaders, hm?"

Alcina's hands grasped to your hips as she hummed over your suggestion, feeling her desire for you and your blood rising in her bosom, "just cuddle and sleep? I do believe I enticed you here early with my promise to ravish you in my bedchamber, dragoste... Did I not?"

Her wink made your cheeks blush, "ok, mmmaybe a little, but - " you tilted your chin up, "your wellbeing comes far higher on the importance scale than getting fucked silly... besides... I don't plan on going anywhere too soon, so... we have plenty of time."

Your smile made her absolutely weak, just as much as your admission did, "really?" Alcina asked airily, "you're not rushing above ground as soon as you get the chance?"

Shaking your head you leaned down and kissed her bare lips, plush and still as soft as ever even though they were missing their crimson paint, "my plants are watered; my crows know where I am; I'm here for a while, if you'll have me."

Alcina hummed low in her chest as her hands mapped their way further up your sides, pulling you into her as she peppered kisses along your collarbone, "I would like that very, very much."

Nothing felt real right now. You helped kill someone. A rather nasty person at that, but that wasn't the point, now was it. You, are not human. You were now charading as a character that no longer existed in a world drastically altered, even if just to yourself.

Surreal was a limiting sensation at best.

As you looked around at everything, the silence of the night held you while your mind went searching for answers and solutions for questions and problems that hadn't quite fully been presented yet.

There was so much you had to grapple with at the tips of your fingers but you didn't know how. Not a clue. Decisions were endless. Outcomes were uncertain, extensive. At least Alcina would buy you some time to try and figure it out. 

There was heavy doubt in your mind you could just return to your job and play pretend everything was fine and nothing had changed. There was no way you could sit in the dull, hum-drum, scheduled bullshit of office life any longer without the temptation to run away from it and know you could. Indefinitely. There was quite literally nothing to stop you at this point; you had no argument to make you stay unless you just simply wanted to.

And you didn't.

But were you ready to walk away?

Did that mean what normalcy of human life you were used to would come to a complete end? Would you have to give up the sunlight and walks in the park? Malka, Louis, your crows? Did you have to lead a life so much like vampires and lycans that you could hardly exist in the human world anymore?

And what about time?

Time would march on for you, yet it would stay still for Alcina. Were you prepared to make that kind of decision?

Your phone began to ring and it startled you, thankfully. But what the hell, it was 3 AM.

Malka's name popped up on your screen and you half cackled. That woman was nothing if not full of surprises.

"Hi Malka." You answered with a smile.

"Ketzeleeeeehhhh!" The older woman drawled with a gentle scolding, "your name isn't Lucy but you gotta lotta explaining to do!"

You started to chuckle and found a comfortable spot on the couch. This would be an hour long conversation, if not more.

~

Alcina sat hunched on the couch in her living room, forearms perched on her knees as she stared into the large black, crimson, emerald and gold throw rug at her feet. The ornate patterns and bold appearance was no real distraction from what she'd seen, but it was helping to scrub it away as the moments passed.

The experimentation room of which Dmitri spoke was located a short distance inside a much larger and expansive tunnel, which was dug who knows how many years ago, that was almost a straight shot to Miranda's lair in Connecticut to the cavern they'd discovered nestled next to them. While that gave them easy access to her manor with less time wasted on travel, it pissed Alcina off greatly.

This bitch was coming and going at her leisure right beside them the whole time without ever being found out. It had Alcina questioning if she had truly done this all alone or if there were other Elders or coven leaders involved. It made no sense all this construction had gone on fully unnoticed for over 20 years. Yet, she had to remind herself; everyone was conditioned to never question their maker under any circumstance, so in reality, it would have been just that easy for her to pull this off. Clearly Miranda had Salvatore's help during part of this, for how long Alcina still didn't know, but his time on trial would come as well and more would be divulged as time went on and Miranda's secrets were pilfered through.

Inside this dingy room, along every wall discarded like trash, were at least a hundred dead bodies. Mutants that had obviously failed their experiments. Some looked vastly different than the others; skin tones ranged from dark grey to white and damn near iridescent; possibly from a short decomposition, or simply how the parasites Miranda had used reacted with each subject at whatever stage of her testing. 

Since these mutants were drastically different than what one could call regular vampires, their stage of death was uncalculatable just by looking at them. Like the one Alcina had killed and they had observed many months ago, these bodies had hollowed and simply remained as is; dried, sunken skin on a frame of bones.

Though, this was just half of the morbid appearance of the room.

From the blood spatters and very apparent, gaping, slashed, and other injury pummeled bodies that lay tossed to the sidelines, the wide open space in the middle was stained with nothing but blood. The stone floor that should have matched the regular charcoal appearance was a glittering display of what looked like dried wine.

Without much else to go on, it seemed easy to assume that this experimentation room was where Miranda tested her mutants as to how well they withstood injuries sustained in conflict.

It was barbaric.

And it sent haunting memories of Alcina's attack many years ago by Mother Miranda to the forefront of her mind.

The woman was a brutal sadist on all counts. Completely insane.

There were no weapons to be found but that made sense to Alcina; why leave behind the real goods if this place were to have ever been discovered. She could only fathom what they would be uncovering in Miranda's manor if this is what remained here.

Alcina gazed at the myriad of lifeless hosts for a long pause in silence, then instructed Dmitri to find and prepare some kind of grave for them. They deserved better than what they received at the hands of Miranda and she would see to it they at least rested in a better place.

Dmitri agreed, then fell into a barrage of information about the troops he had at Mother Miranda's manor, the excavations taking place here and there, the gathering place he was having his people store all the findings, talk of the impending gathering between Clan leaders and everything else therein his extensive memory, drawled to a muted ramble until she excused herself from the scene. He had this in his very capable hands and she was starting to dread everything else coming down the pike. Quickly. 

And now she was brooding in her living room where it was quiet, sifting through everything, grain of sand by grain of sand. She felt like this wasn't even at the tip of the iceberg but she also hoped she was wrong. There was far more at hand than she desired and she was trying to pep-talk herself up to the challenge. The reassuring words of Donna would have to suffice for now; one thing at a time.

So many things. All the time in the world.

She wished someone would explain why this felt so suffocating.

Alcina slumped back into the plush couch and sighed out her frustrations and glanced at the clock. It was nearing dawn and she wondered how Donna and Angie's' excursions to formulate your story was panning out. She'd not heard a peep from her since their meeting in the courtyard. Only allowing herself a brief musing on it she rose and meandered into the kitchen, collected a glass, filled it with blood-wine, grabbed her pack of cigarettes on the counter, lit one, and headed to the turret.

It was amusing to her now as she stood in the tower peering down at her city, how one becomes accustomed to the sounds of the underground. While they did dwell in a vast underground cave, the sounds didn't seem to echo as much as she remembered upon her first introduction of the place. It had grown decently as well since her time here. Homes and dwellings had stretched far in every direction, filling up most of the empty spaces that once remained. Now as she surveyed the damage being repaired and busy souls filing in from the night from the caverns entrances, Alcina smiled weakly; oh how her duties became suddenly so much more impactful. Clan leaders would soon be all under one roof, her roof, and the nitty gritty of untangling this giant rats nest would be sticky and tiresome, no doubt. Though, instead of wanting to run from it as she would have in the past, she felt a renewed sense of eagerness. Perhaps it was the thought of you being by her side as this new way was paved; or perhaps knowing she no longer had the danger looming over her; or, at the very least, that you were safe from the very thing that dampened so much of her happiness and freedom. 

Either way, the thought of you kept the smile upon her tired visage growing warmer.

A rough half hour passed as she stood there in her thoughts until her daughters finally came strolling in through the manor gate, giggling and bantering, giving enthusiastic waves when they found her silhouette in the turret window. Alcina returned the gesture and meandered down to meet them.

They were in bountiful spirits as they regaled their mother with their tales of their night flaunting about the city. They, too, felt the changes in the air from the grand victory the underground had experienced and seemed more alive than ever. It gave Alcina great joy. It's all she'd ever wanted for her girls. Freedom.

Against her better judgement as she crawled into bed that morning, Alcina grabbed for the journal Dmitri had given her of Mother Miranda's. This was, of course, not light reading material before sleep and she was unsure she wanted to know what lie in the pages, in all honesty. But, as her curiosity would have it, she grabbed the worn leather bound cover and flopped it open, a page coming to view with her fine script. 

It read;

27th, April,

      Salvatore informs me Alcina has found a new pet. An offering that was unable to meet her end in the Feeding Grounds. I am as displeased as I am intrigued. Perhaps the time has come so soon -

"Oh fuck that." Alcina blurted, slamming the thing shut and tossing it to the bedside table.

Of all the pages she could have turned to, it had to be that one. She could only scoff as she nestled back down into her bed, finding a familiar scent still lingering in the satin that removed the negativity from her almost instantly. Not having you beside her, now that she'd experienced such a domesticity, gave her a heavy sigh. Being away from you seemed worse than ever before. But, dwelling on it wouldn't get her anywhere. She was exhausted, needed her sleep, and knew the awaiting evening held the beginning of the real work ahead of everyone, especially her.

You would be here with her soon enough, she told herself.

-

You and Malka had talked until the sun rose, then you promptly passed out on the couch.

It was around 10 AM when you finally stirred and peered hazy-eyed at the clock. Oddly, you felt rested for only a rough four hours of shut eye. Then an instant pang of anxiety hit you when you reached for your phone, but luckily there were no missed calls or texts from work or otherwise. You sighed. This was stupid. And then you started to laugh.

What the hell did you have to fear? Getting fired? Whoopty doo. You had a whole legion of vampires and lycans that were your new-found family, right? Or, at the very least the Matriarch who loved you and cared for you. You had options; you weren't stuck here anymore. Life could not have been more unreal. You smiled.

Finally staggering from the couch, you stretched and headed for the shower, but not before very persistent tapping at your balcony door caught your attention with a full smile now on your lips.

All six of your crows were there to greet you as you pulled open the door, the crisp winter air hitting you with a slap. 

"Hey!" You exclaimed, not a one of them hesitating to hop themselves into your room and perch wherever they pleased, "o...k..." you smirked, closing the door, "come on in, I guess. Make yourself at home?"

Telling them apart still wasn't easy, but you were sure Ebony, as that one was the largest, took residence on the back of your chair at your desk, flapping the winter chill off its wings while looking at you expectantly. Two were wandering over your bed, and the other three were strutting their way through your doorway into the hall.

"Uhm, well, let me see if I've got some food," you chuckled, following the three who had now strolled into the living room, checking everything out as they went.

The fridge was pretty barren and the mixed bowl of raspberries and blueberries you had were looking weepy, so you tossed those in the bin and kept searching. 

Flipping open the cupboard over the microwave you found a bottle of mixed peanuts, "score!" You hollered and pulled down a couple plates, spreading the nuts out, placing them on the table behind you, "c'mon guys, I've got goodies in here."

Sure enough, here they all came, hopping up on the ledge of the table and started eating, little coos and caws in your general direction clearly letting you know this was acceptable for now.

You shook your head, "alright, I gotta shower. No shitting in the house, please."

The smallest, you remembered naming Noir, cawed at you then promptly went back to eating.

Surely they could be left alone while you showered without getting into too much? Shrugging it off you went about your business.

When you got out, toweled up and still dripping a little, you made your way back down the hall and peered around the corner to check on them. The six of them had now taken over your couch. Preening and snoozing on the back like this was the most normal thing in the world.

You slow blinked and went back into the bathroom.

Ok. This is my life now. I am a Fae that has a murder of crows as companions. Or, familiars, or whatever the hell they wanted to call themselves.

Which made you all the more curious what else lied in your lineage, and yourself for that matter. You hoped you'd be able to sit down again with the blood arcane you'd found via Louis and get some real answers some day. Miranda's tirade lingered in your mind; you came from a mighty bloodline, at least she assumed, unable to live long enough to find out. You smirked as you wiped off the steam on your mirror with your towel. 

The future couldn't have been any cloudier than that mirror in front of you.

You sighed and finished getting ready.

It had started to snow as you, and your crows, ventured out into this chilly November afternoon. It didn't stick much, but the white was pretty as it dusted some treetops and ornate architecture hanging on the towering buildings. The flakes were small at first but began to get thicker and thicker as you made your way to Malka's, and by the time you'd gotten settled in, they were gorgeous puffy cotton balls tumbling down into the city as the two of you watched out her large windows.

Funnily enough, Malka had prepared a large batch of her village-wide-battle-causing butter croissants, which she generously gave the crows that were nestled down on her balcony under the tall umbrella she'd opened for them. Everyone seemed pretty content.

You sat next to Leo on the couch with your hot mug of tea cupped in your hands, trying to ignore the continuous glance of Malka who sat just to the other side of you.

"So, when are you going to bring your vampire to meet me?"

That question took her almost exactly fifteen minutes longer than you had anticipated.

You almost snorted into your drink but was able to get it down before you started to chuckle, "well, until I know what's going on down there with the clan leaders and whatever else, I'm really not sure."

"Ah, yes yes," she mused, nodding knowingly, "you are not nervous about it any longer?"

"Oh no, no I'm nervous as hell," you nodded, taking another sip, "but... I can't lie that I'm not intrigued more and more as to what goes on down there; who all these people are; what vampire hierarchy is like, and, ultimately... where I'll fit in... maybe. I don't know."

"Your Alcina is wanting you to move in with her, mm? Methinks by her side is where you fit?"

You eyed her with a smirk, "well... that's another topic all its own. We've got to get through a whole lot more first before I think that can even be... addressed, let alone decided on?"

Malka narrowed her eyes through her intuitive smile, "well my ketzeleh, until then, you must tell me more about your adventures underground. You didn't finish with everything that happened with Mother Miranda and I've been eating my nails off since this morning."

Chuckling after one more sip, you started to scritch the purring ball of fluff next to your leg and took a heavy sigh, "ahhhh yeah, where were we before I passed out on the phone?"

"The silo!"

~

While the evening was quick to sneak up on your time with Malka, she was gracious in understanding your need to leave to meet Alcina.

So off you went, birds in tow. 

The snow had disappeared and the city was a reflective scenescape; the dark pavement grabbed the city and car lights and held them captive in the murky puddles on the street and sidewalks. The crisp damp air mixed with the stark, refracting city giving you a smile at the seasons attire that would drape over the city for months. Winter was your least favorite, for its bitter harshness, but every once in a while you couldn't help but nod to its fierce uniqueness.

Streetlamps had begun to come to life as you hustled down your street and through the last crosswalk to your block, turning down the side path near the mini courtyard to head to the less common entry hall.

Until you caught the whiff of an undeniable perfume and your crows began to caw overhead.

You had intended to look over your shoulder to see which way it had come but Alcina collided into you with controlled force, holding you captive in her strong arms keeping you from tumbling over, and peppering your chilled face with her brilliant red-lipped kisses.

"Aha," she cackled lowly, rearranging you in her arms to look at you, "I much prefer to catch my prey in the wild, but draga mea, you are too easy," Alcina beamed, kissing you reverently as she swayed with you back and forth.

"Oh hell," you giggled, kissing her back, "I am but a wind-blown leaf and you are a mighty panther, what chance have I against you, huh?"

Alcina stroked the side of your face with her gloved finger and hummed, "a shapeshifting leaf, perhaps," she grinned once more, "and what fun adventure have you been on dragoste?"

"I was at Malka's," you replied watching the hint of narrowed eyes above you, "she needed to be filled in you know."

"Mmm, how exciting."

"She asked when she's going to meet you."

Finally giving into her desire to huff, Alcina arched her perfect eyebrow at you, "eventually."

You laughed out loud and pulled her closer, "one thing at a time, I know," you chuckled some more, "c'mon lets get inside I'm freezing."

Her smile retuned and she nodded, turning her calculating gaze to the complex while tilting her head, "you know I've never actually been in through the front of your building before."

You paused at her admission and slowly began to nod while you snickered. She'd only ever entered through your balcony door, as, well you know, a secretive vampire would do.

"No, no you have not," you smiled with a wilted laugh, grasping her hand a little tighter, "so come on then, it's time you had an official escorting to my door."

Alcina beamed and straightened her posture, offering her arm for you to take even though you were very much the lead.

Retracing your steps, you rounded back to the two sets of large glass doors, scanning your card through each reader that allowed you entrance to the simple lobby. Taking a right you lead your very tall, striking lady through the hallway towards the elevators, getting a good stare from the older woman who lived on the floor below you you'd met only a handful of times.

As the elevator dinged to the 17th floor, you stepped out into the very bland, terribly chosen grey painted walls, and waved your arm down the long hall, "my abode lies at the very end, m'lady," you cooed.

She nodded gracefully and played along, stepping in through your front door after you'd unlocked it and ushered her in.

"Hm," Alcina mused, "I still like the balcony, much faster, much more dramatic."

You shook your head through your smile as you took off your coat and plopped your keys on the table beside the coat rack, watching Alcina get comfortable as well.

"So, how is everything shaping up down there?" You inquired making your way back into her arms.

She sighed heavily, "it is only the beginning, and right now it's... messy. But, the good news is, Donna informed me early this evening that your alibi is solid, your place of employment has been contacted, and you..." she tapped your nose softly with her long finger, "are off all hooks for at least three weeks." She winked.

You retuned the sigh, but it was one of relief, "I really can't thank you and Donna enough. I've been dreading hearing notification sounds go off on my phone all day," you snorted, "last thing I want to do or think about is work."

"Well draga mea, free your mind - it is done."

The two of you took the pause to really look at one another, letting the silence settle you into a calm normalcy once more. Alcina planted her hands firmly on your waist as she leaned down to kiss you again, lingering in your closeness as all that lay outside wafted into space. In here, tucked away, you two could ignore everything else and it was so much of what she needed right now.

"Tell me, my love," she whispered against your lips, "you're alright?"

You smiled and nodded, eyes still closed as your forehead pressed to hers, "I am, especially now that you're here." Pulling back to reposition your arms over her shoulders, you noticed she looked a little frayed, "want to fill me in? I'm actually pretty curious myself."

"I do love that about you," she pursed her lips, grabbing you up in her arms and taking you to the couch, plopping down with you, "well... where to begin..."

Alcina then began in great detail about how Angie had redecorated the front of City Hall; the quickly advancing construction; Dmitri's discovery of Miranda's journals, logs, notes, and other deranged items that had been collected in her lair; the unfortunate experimentation room and deceased victims therein; fact that both her military and Karl's had been going nonstop since this all began against her orders to rest ruffling her feathers but overall understanding the necessity; the pending discussion of the trials for Ethan, Mia, and Salvatore; and finally the arrival of clan leaders. All of this taking place within the last day.

That was a lot. You had no idea how her fortitude for such responsibility was so impeccable.

"Wow babe, that's uhm... that's a lot."

Alcina agreed silently and stroked your leg, "and it's only going to get more chaotic."

You smirked, "Aaaand the clan leaders... how are they?"

"Mmm, unsure. I left before they could find me."

"Ditched out before they cornered you, huh?" You laughed.

"Corner me? What a thing to say," she smiled bearing her sharp teeth playfully, "there is no cornering me, I simply had much more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. They can wait."

The way her eyes sparkled at you had you melting in no time.

"So, as much as I don't want to ask... when do I need to be present for what's going to happen?"

Taking a pause to consider your question, Alcina sighed, "for my own selfish reasons I would love to have you with me now, but I realize this isn't an easy position for you. I believe that by the end of tomorrow all Clan Leaders will be present, which will lead to the Grand Council where the proceedings of what needs to be addressed will be finalized. I have little doubt your presence will be requested by all for that gathering."

You nodded slowly, "will I need to be there for the trials?"

"It is possible they may vote for it, yes. I won't lie to you draga mea," Alcina stated firmly, "these leaders are... jagged. Rough. I will do what I can to sway in your favor at all costs, though when it comes to matters as impervious as this, your role may be much larger than you might wish. But I promise you, you are not in danger, nor are you on trial. So don't take any guff, either."

Her wink lessened the blow to her previous comments but you were still a little unsettled by it. You were still getting used to the fact you were a Fae, let alone you were getting sucked into being a large part of the underworld clan of lycans and vampires. How was your life real again?

You sighed heavily and leaned over into your vampire, "so... after tomorrow night, that's when you want me?"

Alcina narrowed her eyes, "I want you all the time, but yes, that will suffice."

It was your turn to purse your lips, "you want me all the time huh?" You asked quietly, switching this conversation 120 degrees, inching closer to her, "like, all the time?" You questioned even softer, kissing her cheek bone lightly, trailing your lips down to her jaw, to under her pearl earring with a hot breath.

The shuddering desire that overtook Alcina surged gold through her iris's, and in the swiftest motion grabbed you, flung you under her on the couch, and hunkered down over you like the panther you'd compared her to earlier.

She placed her palm to your throat in a clutch that was firm and commanding, her nails digging just gently enough into the back of your neck that you shivered with wanting anticipation, and you darkened your eyes up at her. God, she was immobilizingly beautiful.

"Yes, draga mea," Alcina finally purred leaning down on you, her sharp teeth grazing your lip as her mouth mapped its way to your ear, "I want you all... the time."

Your eyes rolled to the back of your head and your legs went limp, "then you should have me," you pressed, egging her on, aching to feel her bite.

Alcina could not deny you anymore than she could deny herself.

With a wickedly deep, short chuckle, Alcina reached her free arm under your thigh, hooked it over her hip and sunk her teeth into your flesh and drank with vigor.

You moaned, loudly. White-knuckled you held to her shirt as she fed, sending you just as high as you hoped she was; feeling the throbbing draining sensation overtake you and throw you into a misty tingling pool of pure euphoria. 

Feeling the strength of your blood pour through her, Alcina lifted you from the couch with ease, helping you secure your weak arms and legs around her as she took you to your bedroom and laid you down, licking her teeth wounds as she wrapped herself up in you in the dark.

Being lost in the in-between of these sensations, you smiled as you felt yourself mold into your vampire, her strong arms encompassing you, her lips pressing earnest kisses to every inch of you, and happily submitting to the minutes passing.

"If I can sweeten the appeal of your stay in the underground," Alcina husked against your chest, "my bed has yet to witness the desire and passion I wish to give you under my roof of hospitality..." she grinned wickedly up at your hazy eyes, "so perhaps... just perhaps... you would wish to come and stay with me sooner, dragoste."

If you weren't as inebriated as you were from her bite just now, you would have begged her to take you now. But you knew her too well, and she would drag this on until you surrendered.

All you could do was chuckle breathlessly, "d-deal."

Daniela narrowed her eyes still leaning on the marble countertop with a near-scowl at her sister, "why do you think I'm going to make it weird? When did I give the inclination I'm going to make it weird?"

"You haven't," Bela added with a sly smile, "you just tend to get excited about stuff. Sometimes weirdly excited."

Daniela pushed herself off the countertop and threw her hands in the air with some exasperation, "is weird my new default adjective? When have I ever made something so weird that you two speak of?"

Cassandra and Bela exchanged glances.

"Dani." The brunette enunciated.

"CUH-SAAAWN-DRUH." Daniela exaggerated back.

"Dude!" Bela hissed, "shhh, they are still sleeping - let it go -" she pointed at them both, then to Cassandra, "don't be a pest," pointing now to Daniela, "just be chill... k?"

Daniela tsked, "I will, god," she huffed leaning back down onto the countertop, "am I like the only one interested in mom's new girlfriend?"

"No, I'm excited to get to know her," Bela replied, "this one is clearly not going anywhere and I, for one, am happy for mother. She will more than likely be a big part of our lives now, at least, if she isn't ready to run from her first introduction to our world." She giggled.

"Yeah, Mother Miranda certainly gave her a dramatic welcoming, if you can call it that. Not sure how I'd feel getting sucked into a war that had nothing to do with me, then have to kill said person who sucked me in, tried to kill me, and then... yeah wow, what the fuck, that poor girl is probably traumatized as shit."

With a large dramatic sigh Cassandra pulled her other knee up to her chest on the bar stool and put her glass down on the counter, tugging at her oversized forest green zip-up hoodie back around her angled shoulder, "most likely, and with what they both went through the last three days I'll actually be a little surprised if they make it out of the bedroom tonight." She wiggled her eyebrows playfully at her sisters.

"Ew. Gross. Why."

"Oooo, so they didn't do any of the nasty last night?" Cass grinned at the redhead, "I figured with your bedroom being the closest you'd have - "

"Oh! My fuck!" Daniela spat, "No! I didn't hear anything. That's the last thing I'd ever be listening for, Jesus."

Cassandra cackled and Bela shook her head.

~

Waking up to Alcina like this was a whole new sort of feeling.

You were in her bed, in her home, in the underworld, safe under her watch and care.

Some sort of twisted invigoration spurred through you, and with that sleep drunk smile on your face you nuzzled back into her with a sigh of contentment. This really felt like home.

"Mmm," Alcina hummed sleepily herself, "my mighty warrior, awake..." she grinned with her eyes still closed as she wrapped her arms about you tightly, brushing her lips over the top of your head nestled under her chin, "have you slept well?"

Nodding mutely, you took a deep breath and sighed, "you?"

She hummed low in her chest and it rattled lusciously against your cheek.

"When you are in my arms, the dead have nothing on me."

You chuckled, still very groggy, "I give the term sleeping like the dead new meaning, huh?"

"Definitely new and improved."

Pressing your face further under her neck, you relished how relaxed and comfortable you were, knowing if you were to stay here for much longer you'd likely pass back out. It didn't sound like too bad of an idea, really. Before you'd both climbed into bed, you were worried about getting back to your life above ground; stressing over what kind of mess you would be facing to clean up. Now, in the bliss of this, you were on the brink of forgetting it all.

"What time is it?" you eventually uttered begrudgingly against yourself.

Alcina, just as procrastinating as you, lazily looked to the golden clock on the far wall in the dim light and squinted, "it appears to be midnight."

"Dammit all," you mumbled, "I don't want to go."

"So don't," Alcina replied softly, "stay. You needn't leave for any reason unless you just want to."

Again you sighed and closed your eyes, "just up and leave my life like aliens abducted me?"

"Why not?"

A stupidly completely valid point. So valid you couldn't, or maybe perhaps didn't want to, counter it with reason. Were you really going to go back to your job? Your desk prison? What was left up there in the human world aside from Malka? Nothing would ever be the same now.

"Listen, you're taking advantage of my sleepy state and making too much sense. I've at least got to go get my plants and clothes."

Alcina chuckled deliciously and rolled you over, peppering you with slow sweet kisses everywhere, "draga mea, I can't help but indulge my selfishness," her nose nuzzled your earlobe, "I promised to take you home, and so I shall, as much as I'd like to keep you here. Decisions can be made later, if you must keep me pining."

"Well I certainly don't want to be the cause of you pining."

"Oh," she moaned, "but you're sooo good at it dragoste."

You both giggled and gave into the last few minutes of unbothered happiness before finally rising and getting ready. Well, Alcina got ready, you made a half-effort attempt at just making yourself presentable to make it out of the underground and to your apartment.

Though, you did get to watch your lady of the night dress and put on her makeup, and that was a treat that made the choice of choosing to live down here so much more tempting.

She was meticulous but fast in all her application. Now whether that was from your necessity to get home or just how she did this every night you weren't sure, but the woman had you captivated in the simple tasks and you blushed without regret when she caught you studying her in the mirror.

Alcina smirked through her last swipe of red lipstick and hummed, "see something you like?"

Her voice was cool and tinted with the bedroom tone that made you all but swoon, and you shook your head through a nasally huff, "only everything," you smiled.

Rising from the vanity bench, you took your bottom lip between your teeth as she stood before you now fully prepared to take on the night. She wore a pair of loose black pleated pants, much like the ones she'd taken Mother Miranda down in, looking flawless as she did, and a maroon chiffon blouse that was tucked into said trousers with a simple yet elegant black belt with a gold buckle cinched around her waist. If the underworld had a Miranda Priestley, Alcina would be it. She looked like an unintended seductress; too regal, too beautiful, to not be completely dangerous.

Alcina smirked and sauntered over to you perched on the chez lounge, leaned down and took your chin into her grasp, "you make this too easy." She sighed as she kissed you through a smile.

"What?" You inquired as you caught her glimmering grey hues.

"Adoring you."

~

Her daughters were in the kitchen as you two were leaving, and it seemed they were even more awkward about the whole thing than you were, at least in Daniela's case. She knocked over her wine glass on the attempt to straighten her posture and address you and her mother as you passed. Alcina merely rolled her eyes as she went to grab her trench coat.

"I shall return shortly, girls." She stated, trying to hide her amused grin.

Tangled 'ok's' and 'mhm's' were muttered in response. Cassandra and Bela gave you kind nods and small smiles. Daniela gave a weak, unsure kind of wave of her hand and more of a toothy grin, and then Alcina was tugging you by the arm out of the manor.

You did not ask for clarification on that situation.

Meanwhile, not moments after the door had latched, Cassandra grinned smartly. 

"Told you you were going to make it weird."

"Oh shut up!"

Bela with a huff and loud eyeroll, she removed herself from the counter, leaving her sisters there to do as they may and headed upstairs to the turret.

~

Now that you were able to really take in your surroundings, the underworld city of vampires and lycans was seriously impressive. The cavern in which this place was so intricately built made you genuinely question what else about life was hidden under human noses. To think that an entire city hid under the bustling state that was New York made you feel childlike in the wonder of it all; a world within a world that no one knew about. You loved it. It was so beautiful, so terrifying, and so meticulously kept. There was no trash to be found in any corner, nothing broken, or run-down, no stains on the cobblestone or cracks in the sidewalks, let alone the buildings that still looked brand new aside from their ole world architecture. And, there was no vegetation either you realized. The street lamps were bright, and the buildings emitted light of their own from windows, but there was no natural occurring light down here at all. It was a little claustrophobic at first, but overall it was a wonderous sight. 

As the two of you walked, you noticed it was rather empty and quiet. Either everyone was still slumbering or they were out in the city feeding or doing whatever it is vampires and lycans do. Eventually you did pass a couple vampires as you got closer to the edge of the city; their glances were long yet attempted to be understated as they eyed you, but shallow bows were offered in silence as Alcina lead you on.

She held your arm on hers proudly without any noticeable disturbance from how they gazed at the two of you. You smiled. That aura of pure prowess of hers emanated at great length.

Getting out of the underground was even more intriguing to you since you'd been unconscious when Miranda's heathens brought you here. The tunnels were pitch black in some areas as you went and you held just a little tighter to Alcina's arm. You couldn't see it but you were pretty sure she was smirking stoutly at your literal blind trust.

As light began to syphon slowly down the current corridor you walked, your eyes adjusted accordingly and your grip loosened, and before long you were coming up several sets of stairs and into the belly of a church. This must be St. Patrick's. The events that took place last time you were here set off the tumbling of dominoes that oddly enough lead you to this very moment. You wondered how that situation had been handled and if -

"What in Gods name has been happening?!"

A voice halted you and Alcina with a jerk.

Alcina didn't miss a beat.

"Ah, and good evening to you as well, Father."

A disheveled looking priest was now in front of the both of you, his wide bloodshot eyes and tired expression trying to hide under the facade of, well, several expressions. You recognized him from before and he looked even worse for wear than last time.

"What has happened?!" The father asked again, throwing his gaze between the two of you, finally setting to staring at Alcina as though he was parched, "I've had to shut the church down for two days! The - the - those things! Hundreds of them! Came barreling through here! And the rumbling and - and - explosions? Th-the sounds coming up from the tunnels! I've not had any sleep - I haven't left - I sent everyone home - I -"

"Father," Alcina said, halting his rambling and heavy breath, "rest assured, everything has been handled."

His face went blank before erupting into another twisted grimace, "what does everything mean!?"

Alcina, in a most uncharacteristic fashion, placed her palm on the priests shoulder and squeezed it softly, "you will give yourself a heart attack if you do not relax," she mused, tilting her chin upwards slightly before taking another paused breath, eying him intently, "the everything of which I speak is that very threat we all faced. The ones who mauled and killed your deacon? Well, they have been neutralized. It's over, Father."

Watching the worry and tension melt off of him was nearly comical. You weren't sure if he was going to collapse to the floor by the news and you glanced up carefully to Alcina who looked all the more pillar-like as she seemed to hold this man together somehow.

"Oh..." the word fluttered from his parted lips, "I... that is... that is wonderful news," he sighed and dropped his gaze most heavily, "I feared the worst... the silence over the last several hours has had me on edge - I - I assumed those... white-eyed creatures would emerge from the underground again and it would be over."

Straightening her spine, Alcina cocked an eyebrow, "Father Sullivan," she uttered slyly, though you could hear the hint of playfulness, "that might be the most hurtful thing you've ever said to me."

You watched as the horror and worry returned to his face as he peered to Alcina with his jaw dropped again in the need to defend himself.

Alcina grinned most eagerly, "to think we, and I, have defended this world and your church for so long, and you assume some fancy-fangled new breed of vampire could swoop in and take us down?" She placed both hands on her hips and huffed, "I must say I'm a little disappointed in you."

Her wink finally lessened the leash of his fear again. 

He started to laugh, taking his quivering hands and running them along his weathered cheeks with a smile emerging, "I doubt I will ever be able to fully follow your wicked calm and sense of humor, Lady Dimitrescu, but I am grateful to you, as I always have been, despite our differences and disagreements."

"Think nothing of it, Father. Relax. As I have told you many, many times in the past, you are far too uptight for your own good. Everything is under control. You are safe, your priests and deacons are safe, your church is safe. And now, I really must be getting this lovely lady home." She smiled over at you.

"Oh, oh yes," he sputtered and swallowed, nodding at you with a weak smile, "forgive me, how rude I have been," he outstretched his hand for you to shake, "I am Father Sullivan... and you are?"

You took his hand but before you could reply, Alcina was introducing you for you, proudly.

"And she is half the reason for the armies defeat and that we are all safe... she is to pass freely in and out of your church without question."

Father Sullivan nodded, "yes, of course. You may come and go as you please. The side door where Alcina will lead you is always unlocked for her kind, you may use it the same."

Alcina smiled once more before taking your arm in hers, "thank you, Father. Now go home and rest. I will visit you soon to discuss matters."

You could tell he was far too exhausted to say anything else. He folded his hands in front of him, bowed his head graciously, and then you parted ways.

Your apartment looked very much the same as you left it. But the notifications on your phone were anxiety inducing. 

16 missed calls and 4 voicemails. Work, Malka, and your co-worker Blair. Oh boy.

While you were looking through your texts and listening to your voicemails, Alcina was checking to make sure all locks on your windows and doors were still operational and nothing was broken from your kidnapping. Perhaps the best of news was that everything seemed fine.

She turned to you as you sighed heavily while leaning against your kitchen counter, plopping your phone onto the surface while rubbing your face with aggravation.

"That bad?" she asked resting her hand on your shoulder, eyeing you sincerely.

"It's not so much bad, it's just chaotic," you mumbled, finally locking eyes with her, "everyone is freaking out that I've vanished. I've been gone two days, going on three. Blair said my boss is reaching out to authorities, soooo I've gotta come up with some kind of story as to where I've been, and dear god I do not want to deal with police. I have no idea what I'm going to tell everyone. And then there's Malka who is worried as hell, especially since she... erm, well, knows about you and what's kinda been going on. I texted her first and told her to call me when she wakes up."

Alcina narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, trailing her hand down your back while leaning on the counter next to you, "let me worry about the police," she instructed, "I'll deal with that if your employer has contacted them."

You tossed your eyes to her with confusion, "how?"

"Draga mea, you forget already how far my reach is?" She smirked, "the deep city officials and our kind have worked together for over a century, remember? Who do you think has to play clean-up whenever a vampire or lycan gets out of line and causes a disturbance? Don't worry about them, I will take care of it for you."

Shaking your head with a bit of relief, you chuckled at her, "you never fail to blow my mind."

"A cherished pastime," Alcina smiled brighter, grabbing for your hands and holding them to her lips, "now, about your story."

Staring with a sigh, you shrugged your shoulders, "I'm drawing a blank. I'm a shit tier liar."

"Mmm... perhaps you were struck by a vehicle in a crosswalk and have been in the hospital. You of course asked said hospital to call your work, but we all know the incompetence of the medical profession from time to time, so the call was never made, therefore it isn't your fault you've been "missing", but you are mending and will likely need... two, three weeks off work to recover?"

Her twinkling eyes and greedy smile made you giggle, not to mention the decently detailed story fabrication.

"Have you been concocting this for a while?" You chuckled.

Alcina grinned, "the walk may have given way to some inspiration."

"And I'm sure the two to three week recovery period has everything to do with my injury and not your ploy to spend more time with me, right?"

"What an insinuation!" Alcina pursed her lips, "of course it has to do with your injuries. You may have a horrible concussion, draga! Perhaps whiplash, broken bones even? The possibilities of such an accident really are endless... you may even need a month to fully recover, but I must speak to your doctor to be sure."

You were fully laughing now, "and who might my doctor be, ma'am?"

"Well that would be the Attending Physician Dr. Beneviento; Donna Beneviento, draga mea - we've known each other for many years, you know. She's brilliantly smart, one hell of a physician."

Her unwavering smile made the majority of your worry dissipate as the story did hold merit if it could be pulled off.

"So what, you give Donna a call; give her the details; she works her magic, and poof - I have a doctors note?"

Alcina nodded, "that's about it, yes. Just say the word and it is done."

"Well, this makes more sense than anything I could probably come up with. I guess it's a couple week long recouperation for me under your, erm, Dr. Benevientos' watchful care, huh?"

"Mm yes, I think so."

"Good," you said as a twinkling of mischief appeared in your own yes, "that'll give me plenty of time to get my shit in order and for you and Malka to meet."

The sharp turn that sentence gave Alcina played out perfectly and you were fighting your urge to laugh. Watching her struggle with the glee that you were free for several weeks to a very clear 'damn you' was everything you needed right now.

Draping your arms over her shoulders you kissed her cheek over and over, "I think it's cute."

"Mmm?" She hummed, securing her hands on your lower back.

"Your jealousy."

'"I am not jealous," Alcina replied all to quickly, looking at your smirking face inches from her, desperately trying to believe her own lie, "I am simply protective."

It was your turn to raise your eyebrow, "well then meeting her should put all of that at ease."

Doing all she could not to roll her eyes, Alcina narrowed them and pulled you tightly against her, kissing your lips light and tender, "if it pleases you, draga mea... I shall."

"It would please me greatly."

"Fine."

Kissing her through another smile you sighed once more, feeling like there was some control back in your grasp.

Alcina returned the smirk, but hesitated to let go of you, "I suppose this means I need to get back to the underworld and speak with Donna," she sighed, "my life is going to be very interesting over the next few weeks... will you be staying here?"

You tilted your head in contemplation briefly, "maybe I should until it mellows out down there?"

"Your presence will more than likely be demanded when the clan leaders show up in groves."

Your eyes bugged, "I have to meet more leaders? Didn't I already do that?" 

"Only the local branches of my area, the rest will undoubtedly be on their way as the news of Mother Miranda's death reaches far and wide. Remember, there are nine clans."

Your head spun for a second, "wait, I thought the council members that I met were those leaders?"

"Mm, no draga, those are the local heads of this particular section of the underworld; vampire and lycan. The ones I speak of are like me; matriarchs and patriarchs of their own cities."

"Oh god," you dropped your head, "I dunno if I'm cut out for vampire politics."

Alcina chuckled brightly, "you aren't being put on trial dragoste, that will be for Ethan and Mia. You will simply be a local celebrity, as it were. You helped me take down one of the oldest and most infamous of our kind... that in itself, outside the fact you are a mysterious creature yourself, will have curious admirers dying to meet you."

Your visage flattened, "a terrible, terrible pun."

She kissed the tip of your nose, "if I must meet Malka -"

"That is COMPLETELY diff - "

Alcina placed a long slender finger to your lips and smiled, "you'll be wonderful and well received, I promise you."

The scowl you bore weakened and you huffed once more through her immobilizing beauty, "Un. Fair. You forget I'm just a boring tiny human in a big world of beautiful vampires and fearsome lycans. I'm not used to the glamourous, big to-do's you all... do, or whatever."

"Dragoste," she cooed, "you are not human, and the life you have lived has not been kind nor nurturing of you and your power. You - are a mighty Fae - and the world in which I govern is more for you than I think you might realize. Give it a chance. Believe me, it is not all grandeur and glory. But being with those more of your calibre might suit you."

You considered her words. Maybe she was right.

Maybe.

"It's still scary," you admitted, "I feel like a flopping fish out of water in pretty much every aspect of my life right now... I haven't had a lot of time to really digest it and... it's pretty surreal. Everything has happened so fast. I was like, normal last spring, before I met you," you teased, "then I find out vampires are real. I fall in love with you. I start to change and have no idea what's happening. Malka tells me I'm magickal - then all of a sudden my powers show up - THEN mutant vampires attack your city, we take on a deranged vampire and kill her, aaaand now life is supposed to... what, go back to normal? What the fuck even is normal now?"

Her smile was soft as she caressed the side of your face, "I understand. You're right, what is normal? But you have me. And... Malka, and Donna, and even Karl, Angie, and anyone else you choose to confide in - you won't be alone in the journey, draga mea. I am with you the whole way."

The surrealness really was setting in now that you'd said it out loud. Grasping it was harder than holding sand.

You plopped your head into Alcina's chest and held her tight, "thank you... It feels so strange."

Alcina understood the conundrum well. She too had her whole life flipped upside-down. From one moment dying in bed, to a choice that gave her immortality. How does one not go mad at the thought?

"If it is any consolation, you aren't strange. You are simply walking a very unique path now," she squeezed you firmly, "a whole new world and life is at your fingertips."

While it felt like a blip of an eternity had gone by standing in your kitchen embraced by your vampire in silence, you pulled back and looked at her, "so... what now?"

"As I said earlier, I need to get back to speak with Donna to get your work off your back. Then find out what knots in the city need untangled, deal with the mutant problem, see the hidden underground where Miranda was hiding all this time with said mutants, and meet with the clan leaders as they show up. There will also be a very interesting trial for Miranda's little nuisance minions; Mia and Ethan."

Her wicked glimmer of a smile said without words she couldn't wait for that. 

Once more Alcina traced her finger over the side of your face, "if I don't see you until then, I will be here tomorrow night." She then eyed you firmly, "what do you need from me until then, draga mea?"

"Nothing, you've got it under control babe. I'll wait patiently for my Queen of the Underworld to return to me."

She scoffed, but smiled, "more power was everything I didn't want, and now look at me."

"I think it's kinda hot."

"You would," she shook her head, cupping your face, "and indulging you is hard to resist."

~

Upon reentering the underground, Alcina reached into her trench coat pocket and retrieved her small brass cigarette case; plucked one from the lip and lit it with a similar lighter as she walked, eyeing her surroundings with a new sensation.

This was all hers now. Untampered. Without an absent thumb pressing down upon her any longer.

She would reign over her people with more understanding and openness than ever before. Her hands would no longer be tied by a tyrant who wanted her to bake her a cake with half the ingredients. These were her people, all of them, and she would do all she could to be the leader they all deserved and more; not for her vanity, but for the good of their livelihood and the future that was inevitable. Her role didn't seem so cumbersome anymore. Somehow, in the dramatic events that had occurred, she felt sturdy and honored with her title. The once looming threat of her silent, lurking enemies seemed far from her now. She didn't feel the poisonous glances she'd experienced for the last several decades, no, she felt no lingering trace of danger at all. She'd made her stake. Her claim. A bloody, deadly demand for respect that would echo for centuries to come. If one were to be so bold to challenge her now, somewhere in the depths of her soul she felt no qualms with fear or hesitance. Why that was she may never know, but it felt good either way.

Change would come, and she would meet and forge it. And she wanted you by her side through it. If it were at all possible.

Turning down the cobblestone towards City Hall in her quest to find Donna, Alcina heard commotion as she approached the inner city. She came to find several groups of vampire and lycan alike, huddled and gathered around large amounts of stone and construction gear, blueprints being passed and scoured over, and sounds of work being executed further off down another street. Repairs were already underway; she loved how quickly things were happening.

Almost on cue as she thought about who was responsible for such promptness, Dmitri, Mitch and Sylvia came out of City Hall conversing amongst themselves, handing off more papers and orders to workers and continued on with their task. She stopped and stood to admire the scene, but as her eyes moved around something different about City Hall caught her eye.

Narrowing her vision as she looked up the facade of the grand building, there above the large stone entrance was a bloodied, mangled mess of long blonde hair tacked just above the towering double doors.

Alcina took a very long drawn out drag as she studied it.

"I see you've found Angie's handiwork," Donna stated unamused as she approached her friend from behind, coming to stop at her side and look as well.

Without a breath of an expression on her face aside from her narrowed eyes, Alcina let the smoke blow from her red lips as she tapped the ash from the tip of her cigarette onto the stone at her feet.

Donna wasn't sure if she should panic, "I can have it removed immediat -"

"No," Alcina cut her off, a smirk tugging now at her lips, "leave it," she looked over to Donna taking a shorter puff, "but at least confirm the rest of her body, whatever might be left after your vulture of a sister, and no doubt Heisenberg took from it, made it to the sun tower?"

Unable to hide her own smile, Donna nodded but didn't get to answer.

"I can confirm that on behalf of Miss Beneviento," Dmitri offered approaching the women, tucking his long white hair behind an ear, "that tower was sealed over an hour ago with my supervision. Miranda's jaw remains in Karl's possession, I'm not entirely sure what Angie took, but the skull fragment," he motioned to the hall, "is all that's left otherwise. Not my choice of decoration, but, it does make a suitable statement."   Alcina shook her head and tongued her teeth, "I suppose there is no subtlety about her death. Perhaps it's a statement that needs made... I'm sure the clan leaders well let me know." She smiled.

"Yes, and speaking of that," Donna began, "Marguerite will be here by the end of the night. I've received word from a few others, but I assume in no more than three days time, all clan leaders will be accounted for. The council will adjourn to address the happenings and I've been busy gathering all intel for it. I sent Mateo with several of Karl's military to Miranda's manor in Connecticut, and Dmitri has several of his people working with Salvatore in the secret lair Miranda built here collecting whatever we can."

"Ah, yes," Alcina remarked, "I would like to see this place as soon as it is feasible."

"I can take you whenever you are ready." Dmitri affirmed with a nod.

"Excellent, but first I must speak with Donna." Alcina said grasping her arm softly, "Dmitri, may I meet you here in half an hour?"

He nodded graciously and the two women set off inside City Hall.

The half hour that was spent inside the disheveled council room seemed to take much shorter than Alcina realized. Donna was happily running 100 miles an hour to get your needs in order. She was carrying the cell phone Angie had hidden in the house and used it to contact her and explain her duty in the workings for your cover. Alcina proclaimed she was judging her quite harshly, as she knew if her daughters found out she'd never hear the end of it. Donna simply shrugged and begrudgingly admitted cell phones were handier than she cared to admit. But they finalized and mobilized to get you taken care of and Alcina was then seeking out Dmitri.

Miranda's hideout was quiet literally next door to them. In the furthest reaches of abandoned tunnels at the North end of the city, hidden behind a faux wall, lay one entrance to her lair. It was a ridiculously obvious choice to make as she normally came from the North East tunnels from her Connecticut abode. But, no one had any reason to go looking or snooping, though the agitation remained for Alcina that this had all been done right under their noses.

There was a steep drop to a long set of winding stone stairs that lead to the belly of the cavern. The ceiling was no where near as tall as the city's, and it felt cramped for all things considered. But it was large. Easily half the size of Alcina's city. Which made for a nice fit for her army that were standing about mindless, unmoved, and vacant of all light behind their eyes under the watch of several of Dmitri's soldiers. 

Alcina couldn't help but seem a semblance of sorrow for them as she walked through, following Dmitri to what she assumed to be an important area of this whole debacle.

Through the vast, dim, elongated cavern, they came to an area to the right that had a single red door that was halfway open. As they approached, Dmitri motioned for Alcina and ushered her in.

This room looked nothing like the rest of this place.

Clearly this was Miranda's chambers. The walls were covered in papers with notes, maps, and pictures. The myriad of tables and benches were filled with similar paperwork. Off in the far corner was a bed well made, a small vanity, and a wardrobe with several articles of clothing. Alcina gritted her teeth briefly before Dmitri approached her with a leather back journal.

"We've found countless, heavily detailed, hand-written documentation of Mother Miranda's escapades down here... this is one of her personal diaries. I thought you may want to look it over," he said handing it to her. 

Taking it slowly from him she peered down and began to flip through the article. Her handwriting was very clean for cursive, and Alcina mused only a little on the words as Dmitri continued.

"I've not gathered this room up entirely as I wanted you to see it."

"Have you given your people any time to rest, or did you begin this immediately after my command to go and rest?" She smirked with a knowing gaze.

Dmitri bowed his head shallowly with a smile, "you know me far too well to know that I sit by idly when things need done. These matters needed attending to. I won't deny my gnashing curiosity for Miranda's activities lead me on to find answers. I feel we're scratching the surface at best; the piles and stacks of... all of this has been extensive. And, there's many more where that came from, but the journal you hold is the most recent. The more we dug, we found some dating back nearly twenty years."

"Twenty years?" Alcina repeated looking up from the pages with disbelief.

Dmitri nodded, "this has been in the works for a very long time, it seems. Though, this is not the worst of it."

"I would assume not. What else have you discovered?"

"An experimentation room."

Those three words made her stomach churn.

To those who had not been on Alcina's side, who had never fully supported or liked her, this was a moment drenched in perplexity. To their dismay she had proven her strength and resilience. Her fortitude. Her unwavering loyalty to the underground and all those in it; including those opposed to her.

This historical event would reverberate through every vampire sect that existed, on this continent and every other. To kill ones' own kind was heavily frowned upon, and in some places condemned by death. To challenge a rival to the end was done only in the most unavoidable circumstances. But, vampire and lycan alike were a species of keep what you kill, regardless of the terms in which it was done.

Mother Miranda had been slain, and Alcina, by right of the vampire way, was unchallenged and unmatched. There would be no faltering now; she must make good of her actions.

This fateful moment, dizzyingly silent, was finally broken as Karl Heisenberg, overcome by his pride for Alcina began to howl.

He had stepped forward from his place in the circle, tilted his head to the ceiling and bellowed his cry of subservience.

Every lycan from all around could be heard joining their leader in his howl; expressing their congratulations to their leaders reign that wouldn't be coming to an end any time soon. 

Alcina had shaken herself fully from her blood-rage and couldn't help but snicker at their unabashed, and loud, display. She chucked the halves of Miranda's skull towards her dead body and turned to face her people. She expected half to be in scowls, but to her surprise they were not. For the first time she can recall in her reign, everyone bore nothing less than a look of approval. Except two.

She found her daughters on the front lines in the crowd to her right, and with them was Mia and and a now conscious Ethan; on their knees held against their will with sickles protruding from their shoulders. Now there were the looks of pure detest. Alcina grinned widely.

The howling came to an end and Alcina straightened her shoulders, making herself even taller and more striking than you thought imaginable. She was covered in dried blood, looking the perfect part of a conqueror after a great war. It made you weak in the knees.

"My kin..." she stated firmly, "this is the start of a new age. No concern will go unheard. I will convene with the council promptly. Anyone who is injured, please get yourselves to the medical bay at once. I will send word to our medical staff to be present immediately. The city... has suffered much damage, this must be addressed; I will have scouts dispersed to notate every area affected. And our new... guests," she motioned warily to the mutants that were still lingering unmoved, "will be dealt with - please leave them be for now. There is much to discuss going forward. Please, keep your eyes open for anything we may miss. Come prepared to City Hall when the gathering date and time is announced. I wish to hear and speak with any who have something to say. Now, let me, your military, and council get to work. Go rest and wait for word."

With much murmuring and scuffling, vampires and lycans that weren't immediate in ranks went off, weaving through the mindless droned mutants that were standing littered like mannequins in the streets.

You noticed through the commotion some familiar faces coming in; Karl, Cassandra, Bela, and Daniela, while you were turning your attention to your crows who'd gathered once more at your feet.

"Listen," you said with a smile as you knelt down to them, "I don't know how you got in here but you should get home... I hope you all understand how grateful I am to you. I promised you all the croissants and I wholeheartedly mean that," you grinned, "I'll see you guys up top soon, ok?"

They clearly understood you, giving you sharp nods and short coos before hopping up into flight and taking off in the air to a dark corridor on the bleak stone walls of the underground a long ways from you to the left. 

You sighed. What a fucking day. Er, night. Week, month? Reality was still feeling pretty foreign for you at this moment.

Suddenly you felt a gentle arm wrap around your back and there beside you was Donna.

"You and I have a lot to talk about," she smiled at you, "I do look forward to getting to meet you properly, now that what could have been vampire Armageddon is over."

A short guffaw escaped you as she ushered you slowly with her over to the gathering of people whom you all thankfully recognized.

"HOOWEE!" Karl burst, basically trotting over to the group, "What a fun fucking time! Goddamn! Haven't had that much action since you and I went to dukes, eh? Miss new Queen of the Underworld!"

Alcina took very little joy in his elbowing of her arm from him, but she was unable to reply before he went off on another path entirely.

Karl jolted over to where Miranda's jaw had been displaced from her face and discarded to the ground, grabbing it with utter glee, "you don't want this, right? Like, you don't need it? Can I have it? I'd really like it - I'll just - I'll just take this, I'ma take this - I need it for reasons and stuff."

Alcina already had her face buried in a palm by the time Karl was pocketing the jaw and rejoining the group.

"Mother?" Daniela asked brightly, tugging her prisoner over with no remorse, "What would you like us to do with these two? And for your information they bled all over the manor... like, all over."

Daniela's wicked smirk made Alcina chuckle, "did they, now?" She asked rhetorically as she reached for her daughter and kissed her forehead, "Well, we shall add that to the list of offenses they will face in their trial," she straightened her spine as she peered with a scowl down at Ethan and Mia and took a deep, nonchalant breath, "take them to Dmitri. I want them in a holding cell with full security. Tell him I sent you."

"Understood, mama!"

Alcina beckoned each of her girls to come closer as she took them into a strong embrace and kissed the top of their heads, "my darlings, I'm so proud of you. When you deliver them to Dmitri, tell him I require he and Sylvia's presence at the council meeting, as I will of all of you. We have so much to do and in a short amount of time."

"Yes, mother," the three answered in tandem and set off, dragging the two offenders with them.

Your attention was now occupied by Angie and Karl, who were in deep conversation about what other parts of Mother Miranda's body they should hang onto; hands maybe, or the two halves of her skull; for decoration purposes and future warning. Something foreboding, of course. You giggled as Angie made a compelling argument about how the skull pieces would make for an excellent talking piece hanging on the front of City Hall; blonde hair drenched in blood and all.

It was around that time Alcina had caught onto the conversation and stepped in.

"Her body is going to the sun tower." She enunciated sharply.

Angie dropped her shoulders, "aww, c'mon. All of it???" she whined, "I really think you're missing out on an opportunity here. Can't I get a memento, too?"

Alcina gave Karl a very long drawn stare accompanied by a slow blink, the pursing of her lips and hand on her hip telling more than she needed to say, "see what you start?"

Karl shrugged dramatically, "pookie has a good point!" He nodded to Angie, "there are occasions for important mementos and I highly agree this is one of them."

Pinching the bridge of her nose exasperatedly, Alcina waved that same hand in the air and turned on her heel, "just - fine - whatever. But you both make damn sure the rest of her body is sealed up in a sun tower never to be opened again, do I make myself clear?"

She didn't actually wait for a response. She'd send Dmitri to check on it later. For the time being she really desired to change into some clothes that weren't shredded or drenched in blood before she met with the council.

As Alcina approached you and Donna, she took a deep breath and smiled, "Donna, will you please round up the council members? I'm heading to the council hall now."

"Of course," Donne nodded, "but, wouldn't you like to change first?" she inquired looking up and down Alcina's blood stained, tattered clothing.

A small pause passed but Alcina's smile only grew in size at her friend, "absolutely not."

"Georg was lost in the battle, I regret to report, and Clarice is in the medical bay," Donna went relayed to the group, "but we aren't lost on members as it stands right now."

She was right; the room was quite full.

As it was currently, everyone, plus some outside the council, were present: Alcina, you, Donna, Angie, Karl, Mitch, Dmitri, Gerard, Mateo, Elina, Sylvia, Bela, Cassandra, Daniela, Vincent, Brutus, and Salvatore were here to discuss the myriad of things on their large proverbial plate.

You could not have felt more out of place.

"My Lady," Donna began again, "where would you like to start?"

Alcina lit a loose cigarette and you did everything you could to hide how fucking sexy that was. Not that you really found smoking all that attractive, but goddammit everything that woman did dripped with finesse and sex-appeal.

A long cloud of smoke gathered in front of her and slowly began to dissipate into the air as she pondered, lifting her head Alcina leaned back into her chair with a face brimming with thought, "these mutants cluttering the city must be taken care of... Salvatore," she said with a hint of a bite, "your expertise on the matter would be much appreciated."

The air was crackling as all eyes turned to the man at the end of the left side of the table, his demeanor, as if it weren't small before, shrinking even further.

"Ah, y-yes, well, m-my Lady," he cleared his throat, "as I had explained earlier -"

"You explained only to the small group of us and I in the Eastern sun tower tunnel," she stated sharply, "please, indulge the rest of the room what you told us there."

Salvatore swallowed and cleared his throat once more, fixing his posture as he began his rickety tale.

Hearing it again didn't make it anymore digestible to you, it still provoked a grating anger and hatred to the woman who was quite dead, but that didn't take care of the problem that her experiments were still walking, or existing in limbo, freely all over the city.

"Since Mother Miranda no longer lives and breathes, they cannot function without the queen of their hive mind, to my knowledge at least."

Angie slapped her hands down on the stone table, "vampire Borg drones. I'll be goddamned - we're dealing with vampire - Borg - drones! Ok, so who's getting assimilated as the new Borg queen?" She asked dryly looking around at everyone, arms wide open as if asking for participants, "Eh? Anyone? Anyone? No takers for a creepy ass parasite to control a big freaky-deaky mutant army?" 

"Angela Beatrice Beneviento!" Donna barked.

"Awww man, she used my full name." Angie grumbled with a crumpled pout.

Karl was not hiding his cackle, "BEATRICE?!"

"You are SO not allowed to use that against me!" Angie shouted, "Karl Adalbert Heisenberg!"

"Oh - oh! That is the LAST time I trust you with a secret!"

Donna was trying to get back in the middle and restrain Karl and Angie from going to blows while everyone else in the room was looking back and forth between themselves, Alcina, Donna, the two bickering on opposite sides of the table, to you, Donna, and back to Alcina.

You were stunned and unsure entirely what to do. Your eyes, too, turned to Alcina, who you assumed in cases like this would be brutal and demanding of seriousness. But she was chuckling silently, a smirk not hidden on her face at all as she let out a long drag from her cigarette.

"Adalbert?" Alcina's voice spilled out with a drawl, stopping everything in its tracks.

Karl slunk back into his chair with a thin line that was once his mouth. Angie too, slowly slipped back in her chair, eyes wide and face going blank.

You could tell by everyone's facial expressions that this was definitely not how anyone had expected this to pan out. Whether that be the situation itself or Alcina's reaction was your utter best guess.

Her chuckle permeated the otherwise twistedly tight air and you watched and waited for what more would unfold.

"Salvatore," she said smoothly, segueing effortlessly, her face not nearly as cross as she knew everyone expected her to be, "you were saying?"

He rapid blinked and fought with his jaw to work properly, "uh-hh... well, they, uhm, they will be useless with direct order. They have no real mind of their own, Miranda made sure to this. Unless you can alter their genetic make-up, I'm afraid they are shells of living beings. That... was why she wanted your blood so badly." He finished, looking directly at you.

Your skin crawled at that statement.

"Mm," Alcina mused, taking the attention off you, "Sylvia, would your scientists be willing to work with ours to see if we may make heads or tails of Miranda's work to... I don't know, help these creatures in some way? While locking them all in the sun towers and ridding them of their simple existence would be easy... if we could bring them back to some kind of functioning people again, I'd like to try."

Sylvia stepped towards the crowded table and nodded, "absolutely, My Lady. And if it isn't out of line," she hesitated, focusing on you then back to Alcina, "depending what we find with her research, may we run tests with her blood?

Alcina's eyes narrowed quickly, "she has a name and a mind of her own," her visage now settling on you with a firm yet comforting way, "that choice is entirely yours, draga. Do not feel pressured for anything."

"Apologies," Sylvia back-peddled, "I meant no disrespect." She stated bowing her head to you with a hand over her abdomen.

"N-no, no it's alright," you finally voiced yourself in front of everyone, looking to Sylvia who met your gaze, "please let me think about it."

She nodded once more and swallowed, "of course, of course. I am General Sylvia Martel. If you need anything or have questions, do not hesitate to speak with me."

Her smile was warm and you introduced yourself back.

After the tension of that passed, Sylvia took a deep breath, "now, in the meantime, what would you like us to do with the mutants?"

"There is plenty of room in Miranda's secret lair, is there not?" Dmitri chimed in.

Salvatore nodded, "yes, plenty. It would get them out of the way."

"Good thinking Dmitri," Alcina took another drag, "Salvatore you will aid him and Sylvia with whatever they need, is that understood?"

"Yes, My Lady."

The conversation went into depth about the damage done to the structures of the city for at least half an hour. You were impressed by the workability of everyone present and by the sounds of it, they'd have everything repaired or rebuilt within four to five days. If only humans were this efficient. 

"And what about her?" Elina, the vampire who had remained pretty silent for the most part added smoothly.

The conversation was coming to a close on everything, but now all eyes turned to her in curiosity to the question.

Elina was motioning to you, her face void of malice or any emotion, really.

Once the confirmation was made, now everyone's vision flung to Alcina who had narrowed her eyes once again.

"What about her?" She countered sharply.

"Yeah, what about her?" Karl chimed in even sharper.

Elina took a breath and relaxed in her chair, "the vampires have already begun to talk. I realize she is not human, but she is also not one of us, a vampire or a lycan... I only assumed you would wish to know they're having opini -"

"Let them," Alcina stated briskly, "let them have their opinions. The fact of the matter is that she is an ally, and will now be a protected member of the underground. No harm is to become of her. Do I make myself quite clear?"

There was that uncomfortable silence again.

"You will all make that very clear. And while I'm at it, I would also make it clear that I am not taking advantage of my power; she is not a pet; she is not a commodity, nor a toy. She is a person all her own. A powerful one. If it still escapes anyone, allow me to elaborate, which I expect all of you to reiterate at great length when permitted; had it not been for her aid and magick - which she did not have to give, but did regardless completely unaware of the foe she faced - it is entirely likely I would be dead and you would all now be under the rule of that tyrant whose head I split in two, with her help. Yes, let them have their opinions, but make sure they're well informed ones. And... if this perceived problems persist, anyone is welcome to bring it up with me personally."

Everyone outside of the people you knew were already on your side began to nod and you breathed a short and quiet sigh of relief. Nothing like being put on the spot by a bunch of immortals in their own territory.

"Is there anything else?" Alcina asked coolly.

Not a word.

Cleary this concluded the meeting.

You remained in your seat one down from Alcina and waited patiently while everyone shuffled their way out of the room. Karl, Angie, and Donna made it a point to give you reassuring nods and smiles as they left, which was repaid with a beaming smile of your own; a silent thank you for everything.

And now it was you and Alcina in the disheveled room that was still full of Miranda's totes and things she was eagerly moving in.

Finally rising from the chair, you noticed Alcina had returned her focus to you after snuffing out her fourth cigarette in the black ashtray on the table.

She looked... intense. 

"Draga mea I don't want you to put an ounce of thought into what Elina said," she began as she beckoned you to her with palms outstretched, "no one will dare lay a finger on you. You are welcome here."

Your smile was soft but tired as you took her hands and she tugged you close, "I thought that was all very much against the rules, though."

"I make the rules now," she tilted her chin upwards, the dark dried spots and splatters of blood making her look increasingly menacing if you didn't know a thing about her, "you are my companion. You will walk freely here whenever and however long you desire... which, I hope... is for a long time."

Her smile coaxed the weariness in you out in full force and you fell into her, nuzzling your nose into her chest, eyes closed, arms tightly wrapped around her torso, "kinda crazy isn't it?" you mused mindlessly.

"Hm?"

"All of it."

Alcina grinned, stroking your hair, "mm, yes. I can only imagine it is ten fold for you, dragoste."

"Oh, by far," you wearily chuckled, "byyyy far, babe."

The moments didn't feel long enough, but she held you and you could feel the exhaustion really setting in. You'd been thriving on the adrenalin rush, and pure fight or flight for several hours, and now that you were all safe, that come down was searching for you with vigor.

Leaning back to steal a peak at the clock on the far wall, you released a heavy sigh at the time. After 2 PM. In truth you didn't know how much time you'd been lost down here, but you unfortunately had a life above ground that was very likely in dire need of your attention.

Alcina hummed once more, cupping your cheek to bring your eyes to hers, "talk to me."

You groaned softly, "I have no idea what day it is. My work may have called out a search party for me, or fired me," you laughed, "but as much as I... don't want to go back up there right now, I know I need to."

Her eyes grew slightly severe, the slate color edging on a somber darkness, "you are spent, draga. Must you go? Would you not stay and rest here before venturing out?" Her inquiry was stitched together with the knowing you did need to return to your life, and also the heavy desire to keep you close, for the sake of pure selfishness but also your safety, "My bed is large enough for the both of us..." Alcina smirked through her coo, intending to sweeten the deal, "and if you stay until nightfall, I will take you home myself."

Oh, damn her.

Really, she didn't need to try too hard to convince you to stay, but this was a deal far too good to pass up.

"You know what?" You grinned, "you make a very compelling offer... I think I'll have to accept."

That was exactly what she wanted to hear.

Alcina smiled brightly, "an excellent decision." 

Her kiss was languid and you let it linger for a thick moment before she was linking your arm in hers.

The manor was impressive beyond your wildest imagination. Alcina hadn't ever gone into great detail about it, but even what you had conjured in your mind didn't come close to how it actually looked.

It dripped class and sophistication. A perfect home for your vampire.

Her bedroom was your favorite spot so far, and not just for the obvious reasons. The white, red, and gold accents were a stark contrast from the rest of the house that matched her personality with perfection. That large four-poster bed was the only thing with black; those sheets and plush pillows looking all the more inviting as you looked around. Not to mention you'd kill for that closet space, to be honest. Plus the giant, lion-pawed bathtub? Yes please.

Whether it was the comfort of the room, the quietness of it, or the reverb of everything that had taken place in the last several hours, time did seem to slow and the two of you found yourselves looking at one another with great pause.

Yes. That had all really happened.

Alcina was the first to grab for you; wrapping one arm around your middle back, the other reaching to cup your face and study you like a fleeting sunset she wasn't ready to let go of.

Oh, the immensity of this was so much to take in.

You were here with her in the underworld; a place no human had been in decades. You aided her in the defeat of Mother Miranda; that blood-sucking leech, no pun intended, she never thought she'd be free of. You were powerful in your own right and quickly coming into your fae-hood; the possibilities for your future surely now endless. She could barely grasp it, and you, with any comprehension.

"How you've turned my world, you precious thing," she whispered, the softest most elegant expression gracing her face, "and how we've made it to this point, I..." her voice broke off, pulling you closer, resting her forehead against yours, "can hardly believe it's real."

Leaning into her wasn't hard at all; you could melt into this woman without question at any given time.

Closing your eyes and holding her tight, you nodded and smiled, "yeah, both our worlds got flipped upside-down, huh?"

Alcina pulled back ever so slowly and studied you again, her face turning just a little more somber, "you're alright; you're not hurt at all?"

You shook your head, "I'm fine, tired but fine... what about you?"

"Nothing time won't fix," she beamed, "your blood allowed me to heal very quickly during the fight, and endure much more than I probably would have alone."

"Plenty more where that came from, "you wiggled your eyebrows.

"Draga you are going to sleep. In my arms. As soon as I shower, that is." Alcina instructed firmly, "But, we can visit that offer later," she winked, "now let me find you something to wear."

She left you with a kiss and meandered to her closet, letting your curious eyes really take in your surroundings. You could get used to this place. Quickly. But, there was little energy for all of those thoughts as you felt yourself growing heavier and heavier. Waltzing slowly to Alcina's vanity, you let your finger trace her pearl handled hair brush and comb, eying the marble jewelry box, the ornateness of the wood around the mirror, and overall smiling at her fine things that you could tell were quite old. You loved it. Her room felt so comfortable, familiar even.

And then you caught her reflection in the mirror as she emerged from the closet.

"How this ended up in my closet baffles me, but," she said, walking to you with a warm smile, "I'm grateful as I don't think much of my things would fit you. Here," she offered the article to you, "this is an old nightgown of Bela's. She won't mind, I assure you."

It was a lovely navy blue satin thing; spaghetti straps, a cowl neck, and looked like it would rest just below your knee.

You took it a little warily but smiled up to Alcina and nodded, "if you're sure she won't mind... it's pretty."

Alcina hummed and leaned to press a kiss to your forehead, rubbing your arms lovingly as she grinned, "change and crawl into bed, I'll be there shortly."

You sighed.

When she returned from her shower, her hair was dried and nearly styled as she joined you in bed. She wore a slinky black nightgown much the same as yours but it hugged her in such a scrumptious fashion. If you weren't so tired, you would have exploited the slit up the side without remorse.

She turned out most of the lights aside from one small, dim lamp in the far corner from where the bed was, giving the room an ambiance of a fire-lit cabin. It was warm. Welcoming. Almost as beautiful as her.

Alcina lay facing you, and you her, taking the time, all the time in the world, to enjoy these quiet moments together.

Reaching out with a delicate hand, Alcina traced the side of your face while humming with contentment, "I must admit something to you, draga..." she said softly, memories wafting in like heavy smoke, "the night you fell into my life... when you went limp in my arms and slipped into the limbo abyss, I brought you here. To my bed. And I watched you for hours... I shouldn't have, but I couldn't let you go. I knew I had to, and I did, at least for a while," she laughed gently, "but... I admired you much like this once before. Though I must say, I like this better. I like you here, with me, in my home, in my world."

Oh. Wow.

The smile on your face couldn't be helped, "really? You little devil," you teased, "stealing me away? I can't believe you didn't tell me this until now."

"Well," she cast her eyes down briefly, "it's not something I'm necessarily proud of. I was terrified just as much as I was captivated by you. Bringing you back here was reckless and dangerous, for you and me but, you'd cast your spell on me whether I liked it or not. You struck me with such force... I hardly knew what to do with myself."

Vulnerability looked stunning on her.

You scooted closer to her and grasped her hand, "I'm glad I did whatever I did to snare you, then. I can't imagine living my life with the ghost of you forever; knowing in my core this was real, you were real, and you'd always be out of my reach."

Alcina took a deep breath and squeezed your hand, "perhaps fate never would have allowed me to stay away. I clearly couldn't." Her lips pulled into a tired smile.

"I'm happy you couldn't."

"Me too." She sighed, shifting in the bed and opening her arms for you.

As the two of you snuggled into each other, tiredness sunk into your bodies and swiftly carried you away. 

You were wrangling with the idea that you were indeed getting ready to go battle some deranged ancient vampire on the verge of taking over an underground civilization of vampires and lycans.

You almost started laughing.

But then the quiet set in.

Donna had left and Alcina was standing not far from you, looking at you, analyzing you, trying to understand you like the newest enigma you were.

She was beautiful. 

She was alive. 

She was alive and here with you.

It was odd that you still felt hesitant to reach out to her, to touch her, to run into her arms and -

The thought was lost. Alcina, with one swift step from her long legs, grabbed you up and held you in her arms with the intent to warn and ward off anything that might take you from her, any imaginary thing that might make you dissipate into thin air, could fuck fully off. No. No, you were locked in her embrace and that is where you would stay for the time being.

Her lips found yours and the kisses were dripping with fervor. Air was tight and shallow as the two of you shared this moment, reassuring yourselves just as much as the other that this was real, the two of you were together, safe for the time being, needing more than anything to release the dread that had piled high in your hearts over the last who knows how long.

Alcina refused to let go of you and forced your legs around her waist and pressed you into the wall, wanting you as close as possible while she made damn sure you weren't going anywhere.

You grasped her face with trembling hands and really looked at her, making sure she was ok, making sure there was light in those slate colored eyes.

She smiled.

You melted.

A few tears finally swelled and tripped down your cheeks, "y-you're here... you're alright," you whispered, "I was afraid, you - you were - fuck, Alcina."

She shook her head gently and kissed you again and again, wiping away your tears as she buried her face in your shoulder, wanting to wrap all of you up in all of her, "yes. Yes. I'm here. You're here. You saved me again, like you have over and over," she murmured in your neck, "and I'm so sorry you're mixed up in this, I'm so sorry this has happened the way it has -"

"I'm not," you cut her off, "I'm not sorry. I found me when I found you. I found me. You... you brought me home. I'm not sorry. I love you, and everything you've done, everything... that's happened."

You held each other, eyes closed, breathing the other in and reveling in the brief, very breakable security of these moments.

Alcina pulled from your neck and held your gaze, "we don't have a lot of time, and I do not expect you to come with me, I don't want you to, but I know I can't convince you otherwise, but I want you to know how much I love you... and I want you to be smart. I want you to be very very aware of everything in our surroundings, and I do not want you to confront Miranda one on one... will you please at least promise me that?"

Your nod was short.

"I don't know the extent of your magick, but it seems you do to some degree, and I want you to do what you do from the sidelines... I will keep her distracted from you while you aide me, does that sound like a plan?"

Again, you nodded, "I will do what I can to keep her energy dampened for you without exhausting myself. I'll probably have to use short blasts, I don't think I can hold her down for a long period of time."

"That's fine, please don't deplete your power. If you can give me windows of opportunity that is all I ask, that will be all I need."

You took a deep breath and studied her. You weren't really ready for this, but yet you were. You had to be.

Alcina cupped your face with her cool hands and smiled admiringly at you, "draga mea... my unexpected treasure... look at how far we've come."

You couldn't contain your short burst of laughter this time, "Alcina, this is absolutely insane. Everything is insane - nothing makes sense - I'm supposed to be at work right now," you chuckled, "instead I'm underground, in the middle of a war of vampires and lycans versus mutants WITH my vampire girlfriend... I'm not sure any of this is even real."

The shared chuckling was an agreed disbelief that this was actually the reality of it. 

"And who knew..." Alcina added, "Little orphan you, not even a human, but instead a fae - who'd have guessed? I think that desk job is much too far out of your expertise now."

Throwing your arms around her shoulders, you airily sighed into her crook of her neck. Yeah. What a fucking trip.

The sound of gunfire knocked the tender moment off kilter and Alcina quickly set you down, turning her focus to the stairwell to your left.

"Come, we need to get going," she said reaching for your cheek again, "and whatever happens... if something goes wrong, you get out of here as fast as you can, do you understand me?"

The thought had crossed your mind if only briefly, but hearing her say it hurt a lot worse than the thought itself. She, too, had considered that this may go awry. They may not win. They may be fighting a losing battle that would only end in death.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, you lowered your head, "I understand."

"Good," leaning in she kissed you, reverently this time, "I love you."

"I love you too." You smirked.

"Excellent," she said with a brilliant smile and glitter in her eyes, "let's go kill a tyrant."

~

The weapons locker slammed shut as Daniela was the last to retrieve her sickle.

"So," she grinned widely looking at the viciously sharp blade in her hand, "where we searching first?"

Bela and Cassandra were wiping down their sickles and exchanged glances.

"I'd like to get back to the manor first," Cassandra urged, "my favorite gun is stashed in my room. I want it."

Bela raised her eyebrows, "really? You can't use any in here?"

"Karl cleaned this place out! All he left us were these puny revolvers, some grenades, and lots of blades I don't care for... I want my 40."

"Fine. Let's make it quick."

They were lucky in their venture as they flitted through the city; it seemed Karl and his men had successfully drawn many of the mutants to the Western side. Gunfire and explosions echoed as the girls made their way home and slipped through the gate with expert finesse and silence.

The front door, however, was wide open.

Pulling their sickles from their belts, they nodded to one another and burst through the house, weapons at the ready and senses on high alert.

Daniela was the first to sniff out one intruder. As she flitted down the hall and to the wing in which her room resided, she burst through her bedroom door to find the same brunette her mother had sent her to find.

Mia was rummaging through her closet, tossing her clothes onto the bed near several big black bags that were already filled with several of her things.

"Moving me out so soon, bitch?" Daniela asked before a wicked cackle slithered out of her throat, her blood rage took over as she lunged for the unsuspecting target.

Daniela hooked her sickle through Mia's shoulder in a flash, kicking her in the back of a knee taking her to the floor in a blink, grabbing for a scarf hanging just inside the closet she wrapped it around Mia's throat, stifling her cries only slightly, and to her arms where she bound her tightly.

"You can think a-fucking-gain you piece of shit!" She spat, grasping her sickle with might and dragging her through the room into the hallway, "Oh, sisteeeerrrrrs! I've found one!" 

Mia's begrudging whimpers were music to her ears and Daniela wore her smile proudly while she pulled her to the main hall.

Cassandra came running down the stairs and about clambered into Daniela in the hallway, the look on her face full of eagerness and hunger for blood.

Before they were able to exchange words, another wicked chuckle sounded from their mothers room adjacent to the wing they were in.

Bela emerged from the shadows with Ethan hooked on her sickle as well, protruding through his thigh as she dragged him unconsciously down the carpeted floor.

"Well what the fuck," Cassandra blurted, "I missed out on both these fools!?"

Bela grinned at her sister, "don't worry Cass; I caught him but you can help me drag him by the other leg."

A screech of excitement escaped Cassandra's throat and she met Bela in the middle, took her sickle and plunged it into his free leg, only a little disappointed he didn't make any noise being unconscious.

"OooOOOoo mom's gunna be so mad about the blood on the carpet, Cass and Bel," Daniela giggled.

"Oh please; mother wouldn't mind if we painted the entire house in their blood."

Daniela nodded with pursed lips to Cassandra's remark, tugging at her sickle that was lodged in Mia's shoulder as she whimpered and struggled.

"You th-three will pay for this!" Mia hissed, "Mother Mira -"

"Oh fuck off," Daniela cut her off, twisting her blade making the woman choke and buckle to her knees, "our mother is going to shred your Mother Miranda to pieces, you fucking moron. None of you have any idea who you fucked with."

"M-mother Miranda should have disposed of you failures," Mia continued to run her mouth, "you w-were all mista - "

Cassandra dropped hold of her blade and lunged for Mia, punching her dead in the face, grabbing her by the throat and bringing her within breath range, "yep. She sure should have. But she didn't. Bummer for you, huh."

Reaching behind Mia, Cassandra tightened the scarf around her neck and choked her into unconsciousness.

"Sorry, not sorry," she sighed, "her voice annoys me. She can be quiet like that fuck-o over there until mother needs them."

Bela smiled and tugged at Ethan's dead weight, "speaking of mother, we should go find her and bring these idiots with us... she may need our help."

Daniela huffed, "well if we're going to go help mom, we should probably store the literal dead weight of these two somewhere. Trying to fight while babysitting isn't conducive."

"We could put 'em in the wine cellar, I guess." Cassandra shrugged.

"I dunno, maybe it's not the smartest to leave them unattended here that far away from us."

"Ok, where the hell else can we put them then? The literal jail cells that haven't been used in decades are too far on the other side of the city."

"What if we take them to the council hall or something and tie them up in the meeting hall?"

"Dude, that's the hotspot of this entire fucking battle right now - we're not taking them there."

"Fine then smarty-ass pants, where the fuck do we put them!?"

Bela finally threw up her arm to stop Cassandra and Daniela's bickering, "oh. My. God. Will you two shut - the fuck - up! We don't have time to argue - they come with us - we'll figure it out as we go!"

After several eyerolls they agreed and dashed off back into the city, dead weight of Mia and Ethan dragging along.

~

Mother Miranda was still feeling dizzy and her nose had not stopped bleeding. Her mutants were of little use to her when she wasn't at her best and she had barricaded herself in a blood storage locker as she attempted to overcome the attack she'd suffered from you.

You would pay dearly for that.

But she had to remember she needed you and she must be in control over her emotions.

She'd gone through a dozen or so bags of blood and still she was not where she wanted to be, but time was precious and things needed to be done.

It was then Miranda remembered how potent your blood was and that she had that case of vials at her disposal. Surely your blood would be the best counteracting agent in whatever the hell you had done. She would not be making the mistake of taking your word at face value, nor your power for granted.

After another swig of blood, she threw the half drained pack aside and decided to let herself out of the locker. The sound of the inevitable battle she was hoping to avoid echoed through the underground and she shrugged it off with little care at all. Once she was back to full strength so would her mutants and it would be over for these futile attempts to reclaim their world.

Now, she needed to find that box.

Mia was the last to have it and the last she saw her she was with Ethan in the council chamber adjacent to the city hall. 

Slipping through all the back ways, Miranda found herself in the council chamber amongst the many containers and duffle bags of important things that came with her moving in. Weapons mainly, but also much of her wardrobe and other necessities such as her research.

The black box in question caught her eye as it sat on top of several cases piled on the large stone table, next to it, Alcina's coat and pair of gloves. Grinning contently, Miranda rounded the table slowly and ran her fingers thoughtfully over the coat fabric. It smelled of Alcina and she grasped it, brought it to her face and nuzzled into the article.

"Ooohhh... Alcina, Alcina..." she sighed, eyes closed as she breathed her scent in deeply, "I so wished you would be the absolution I desired. Craved. Deserved. But... you could not love me. You were too tied to your precious humanity. Too tied to humans overall. A shame, really, for we could have been perfect companions... we could have been everything each other needed. I had all the answers to the questions you never asked, dear child... but, alas... here we are. I am back in my throne, and you... ash to the wind."

She hummed reminiscently and fixed her eyes on the box she had come for to begin with. As she dropped the coat back on the table and reached for her target, an odd sound broke her concentration as she grabbed it.

Wings.

Wings?

Miranda looked up and over her shoulder just in time to see a handful of crows headed straight for her from the wide open doors from the hall.

When their eyes met hers they began to scream.

Miranda, so comfortable in her ego, did not budge nor duck as they swooped down towards her, and she should have.

The first strike was from the largest of the black birds; it's talons were sharp as they slashed across her forehead and Miranda hissed, a hand flying to her skin where the blood began to drip. The attack continued. Bird after bird, strike after strike, each crow screaming and flapping angrily, dive-bombing the vampire; beaks pecking, piercing and jabbing as she began to flail her one arm and stumble her way towards the door.

She cried out angrily and slashed as she might with her own claws in her defense but it seemed of no use. They continued relentlessly as she fell through the doorway back into the city hall as her only escape route.

~

"AHOO!" Karl laughed maniacally as pieces of body parts went flying past on the other side of the wall, "ANOTHER GROUP OBLITERATED!"

The dust and rumbling settled from the latest bomb that went off around the corner where Karl and Mitch were stationed. Mitch was hurriedly grabbing up another couple grenades to be tossed into the next wave of mutants Karl was egging on. 

"They're getting stronger, dunno if this is a bad sign or not, but we may be back to hand-to-hand combat shortly my friend," Karl huffed as he reached for his giant ass holstered pistol to check ammunition, "I hope Alcina and the fairy child find that cunt as soon as possible - we've easily used half my stash of bombs and ammo and I'm juuuuust a little pissed about it."

Mitch laughed, "you're the one always bitching about never being able to use your shit; whatcha mad about, man?!" he poked, adding the last sealed grenade to the pile.

"Dumping all our resources this fast is aggravating because that means the enemy is stronger than me and I DON'T LIKE THAT," Karl shouted over the gun fire not far from them, "don't like being bested in my own house!"

The sound of snarls and stomping feet became louder and Karl stood abruptly from his position and plastered himself against the wall, "INCOMING!" He shouted, cocking his gun and blasting the moment at least a dozen mutants came flying around the corner.

With one hand Mitch flung throwing knife blade after blade into several mutant's heads, followed by his own blasting of a gun as the bodies dropped like sacks of potatoes. Still, their bodies twitched and fought to stay alive and he sneered at their resilience.

"C'mon, we need to reposition, their strength is getting better and we need a better vantage point."

Karl didn't bother to agree verbally. Grabbing everything they'd come with, he flung the giant bag of explosives and ammo over his shoulder and they made their way to the rooftop.

While the view was better up here, escape routes and hiding ability dwindled dangerously. Sure, hopping roofs and whatnot could be fun, but broken legs and other bones weren't something they could afford right at the time.

Karl grabbed Mitch's shoulder and looked out at the calculated pandemonium, "just start throwing grenades, hit any group you can; being tidy about this is no longer an option."

Mitch grabbed for the bag of bombs and huddled on the East side of the roof and began to get ready.

Reaching for his radio, Karl hunkered by the doorway they'd come in and called; "Dmitri - position, status?"

A few too many moments passed but eventually the comm sounded.

"Lower North side - status is dwindling - they're too many - they attack in waves we're struggling to keep up with!"

Karl huffed, "fuck..." he muttered, "noted!" He replied to the comm, "we're noticing the same. Miranda is recovering. But I have hope it won't last - do you need assistance?"

"Not yet. Gerard and Mateo returned with reinforcements."

A barrage of gunfire rang out loudly through the speaker and then everything went quiet. Karl waited with bated breath before more sound once again came through.

"Reinforcements are loaded! We're good!"

Karl grinned toothily.

~

Donna and Salvatore were holed up in his townhouse that was much smaller and further removed from the action in the city. He had maps to show Donna of where Miranda's lair hidden inside the city was located, which is where Angie surely must have been stuck 'in a wall' for weeks, and her plotted points of attack. 

While the mutant movements had seemed sporadic and disjunct, it was precisely meant to be that way. Miranda always had a trick up her sleeve and her intent was to keep everyone on their toes and as confused as possible through her take over. She had planned for set backs, though as Salvatore had explained she assumed they would be unnecessary. How unfortunate for her; they were absolutely necessary.

Donna relayed this information via radio to Karl and Dimitri the moment the words tumbled out of Salvatore's fumbling lips, which in turn gave them a new advantage. Though by the sounds of everything, the rattled and unbalanced demeanor of the mutants was quickly clearing up. Mother Miranda was healing.

Donna fussed internally as she racked her brain on what to do next. Salvatore was no soldier let alone any kind of fighter, but she was not going to lie down and let everyone else handle the issue. Alcina and the rest of her loved ones were out there. She'd learned all she could, now it was time for action.

"Salvatore," she said quietly, "I don't expect you to fight, but I'm not hiding any longer."

The mousey man peered over and swallowed, "I-I know you won't... I have told you all I know. I wish you luck, but I will stay here."

A coward, but now a more honest coward.

She rose from her chair at his table and nodded at him, "your efforts to right your wrongs will not go unspoken."

His beady eyes met hers with a tentative glance, "d - do you think I still have a place here?"

Donna considered his question then took a deep breath, "that is for Alcina to decide. I must go now."

Salvatore said nothing more when Donna left, he simply sat at his table and listened to the far off sounds of what he helped cause and pondered his next move.

Angie found Donna almost immediately when she snuck her way back into the battling city.

The carnage was clustered in areas that had Karl and his men written all over it. Mutant bodies were blown to bits, blood was splattered on the streets, sidewalks, sides of buildings and homes, and fragments of bones lodged in some of the wooden lamp posts nearby. To her relief, the amount of dead lycans and vampires paled in comparison to the loss of mutants.

"Sis!" Angie shouted from an alleyway, scaring the ever loving shit out of Donna.

"Chrrriist!" Donna bit as her sister drug her into said alleyway, "You're lucky I'm not entirely armed yet!"

Angie just giggled, "oh please, your reaction time for conscious decision trumps mine a thousand percent; you'd never kill me - maim me maybe - but -"

"Angie!" she stopped her hastily, "Please! This is not the time for blathering! What is happening?"

"Sorry!" Angie sassed, "we're blowing a lot of mutants up - Dmitri has a strong hold of the North end, I lost track of Karl a bit ago but he sent me with - "

A pack of shrieking mutants could be heard behind them in the alleyway, and they were coming quickly.

"Uh oh," Angie mumbled before she grabbed Donna to move her out of the way, but her timing fell short.

As the herd of mutants came barreling down the alleyway a huge explosion went off and knocked the sisters clear back into the street from the shock wave. Smoke followed the blast as they perched on their elbows to see if anyone made it out alive. Luckily nothing followed but the rolling of one arm down the slope into the gutter, flopping and lying there.

"As, uh, I was saying... Karl sent me with motion-detecting mines."

Donna looked slowly over at her sister and her smugly grinning face.

"Anyway! I have a bunch more," Angie said gleefully as she rose, dusted herself off and offered her sister a hand, "lets set them!"

~

Alcina's prowess in her own domain held a different kind of palpable energy and you shuddered with the pure aura of it.

Even as ragged as her clothes looked, her stature and facade were as sharp and dangerous as you ever could have imagined in a situation as fitting as this. You did your best to keep up with her long strides as she stalked down every hall towards her unspoken destination. You trusted her instincts wholly and said nothing, keeping your own intuition alive and at the ready for whatever might lurk around the corners. There was little doubt in your mind she would protect you at all costs and that the two of you in battle would be deadly as fuck together. It gave you a burst of adrenaline. And pride.

The two of you met only one unfortunate mutant on the way.

It was clearly discombobulated and Alcina grabbed its small body with both her hands with a snarl as it charged, and one sweeping motion later ripped its head clean from its shoulders and dropped it like a bag of trash.

She smiled wickedly at you as she kept walking as if nothing had happened and you snickered. God you loved this woman.

The trek only lasted a short while longer until Alcina stopped abruptly in a dark part of this particular hall. The muffled sounds of explosions, shouting, and screaming seemed to be louder here, but you could tell that was not what had halted your vampire.

Her eyes exploded with gold and you watched her intently. You felt the energy shift immediately. 

Miranda was near.

"Are you ready, draga mea?" 

She asked in a tone that made your heart skip a beat.

Looking up to her, her eyes met yours with a sharp snap.

You nodded once.

Alcina turned her focus to the right down an adjacent corridor with the same sharp movement and stepped into the shadows.

You were right on her heels as she made her way to the light further down the corridor and to a door, following her silently as can be through it and into another hallway that was tight and lit with lamps. There was only one way to go and you kept at Alcina's pace as her steps became lighter and more swift.

As the hallway came to an end the most unnerving sounds met your ears. Screaming. And not just from a woman, but birds. Your birds. There was no doubt in your mind that was the sound of your crows.

The entry gave way to the image of Mother Miranda being bullied down the flights of steps into the sunken floor that you recall from earlier in this escapade. Your crows were diving at her, shrieking and creating as much chaos for her as possible, that then in a chaotic effort to fight off the birds one last time, Miranda tripped and the article in her arm flew into the air. The lid opened and as the black box clashed to the stone floor its contents spilled onto the same hard stone and shattered. Your little vials of blood stained the sickly grey color of the floor and for some reason you couldn't have been happier.

Your crows saw you the moment you walked into the city hall with Alcina and b-lined for you, leaving Mother Miranda befuddled, masked by pure hatred and anger at being bested by corvids.

They flew passed you and landed on the makeshift window ledges on the towering wall behind you and you flung your attention back towards the scene at hand.

Alcina stood unmoved as a statue on the top of the stair, peering down at Miranda who was still recollecting herself, her face twisted into the rebuke she felt in her core as she too calculated the situation.

You couldn't help but smirk at the dried blood that had run down her face from the apparent attack your crows had given her. You had no idea how they'd gotten in but you were grateful for their loyalty.

"Well - " Miranda spat, forcing a sour smile to her lips, "isn't this quaint!"

Alcina said nothing and the silence was strangling.

Miranda stood alone in the middle of the floor, the stare down happening between she and Alcina making your skin crawl. But Alcina didn't move a muscle and you tried to remain as still as possible, waiting for the right moment to act, trying to gauge your vampire and her intention.

"I have clearly misread the entirety of this ordeal it seems!" She laughed, feigning an ignorance to her uncertainty that even you could see through, "The two of you are proving much more trouble than I like - I don't care for these games you know, my beloved Alcina - don't make me repeat the Madeleine debacle - "

Wrong choice of threat.

Alcina let out a visceral shriek that echoed and startled everyone, including your birds, as she ejected off the steps to Mother Miranda and slammed into her with such force they flew across the room into the neighboring steps behind her with a bone-cracking sound.

The following sequence of actions were so disjunct you were barely able to register them and be of any use.

Blood-rage erupted in both Alcina and Mother Miranda. Eyes were now big and black as night, claws were long and sharp, teeth bared and gnashing for blood as the two began to brawl.

Miranda upped Alcina and kicked her directly in the stomach, her super-human strength sending her flying backwards several yards until her back met the base of the steps on the other side. Miranda bellowed as she launched into the air and attempted to land a blow upon impact, but Alcina met Miranda's advance with a swipe of claws to her dress, catching her, wrapping it about her and shredding the black fabric like tissue paper.

The primal screams of battle echoed so loudly in the empty hall it was painful to your ears, but you forced yourself to concentrate; honing in on Miranda's energy and leashing your utter detest for this woman. 

An eerie calm settled in your bones and while you knew time hadn't slowed, it felt so as you directed your pulsing energy to the woman about to sink her claws into your lovers back.

Miranda's body looked to crumple as if being twisted from the inside, the howl of her anger choking out as you clenched your magick around her. Alcina noted the instant shift and took full advantage, landing blow after blow of her sharp glassine claws into her face and chest and arms.

As good as it felt to hold her immobile like this, you could sense how quickly your own power was syphoning on this unhuman creature. She may be down for the time being, but her strength still greatly outmatched yours. You could feel the aching burn in your chest as it was becoming too much and remembered what Alcina and you had agreed upon; short bursts. Just windows of opportunity.

You dropped your hold and slumped to the floor with a sharp gasp, huffing air back into your lungs as your vision was trying to fade like it would with lack of oxygen.

Taking initiative from the reprieve of your magick, Miranda desperately blinked away the blood swelling in her eyelids and thrashed once more at Alcina.

She knocked the larger woman off her and lunged for her, tackling her into the closest stone pillar, dragging her to the other side where you hopefully wouldn't be able to reach her with your magick.

Slash after slash, punch after punch, blood spilling from each woman, Miranda hooked her leg under Alcina's knee and dropped her to the floor, slamming on top of her back as she took her neck in a strong hold and held her there for as long as she could.

"Give it up, Alcina!" She barked, "You'll never best me! Not even with the help of your little human! The underground is mine - give! It! Up!"

Alcina could feel her airway damn near crushing at the brute strength of Mother Miranda's chokehold, but her words stoked that defiant flame in her core with such vigilance she was able to weasel her face down just enough she could sink her teeth into the flesh of Miranda's arm.

A blood curdling scream was followed by a choking gurgling sound.

You'd slithered your way around the room and attacked her from the other side now that you could see her and had filled your power reserves enough.

Alcina tore herself from underneath the tyrant, eyed you briefly through her wild, obsidian eyes and reached for the woman's body and slammed it into the neighboring wall. Over. And over.

Dropping your hold once more, you huffed and watched as Alcina pummeled the blonde.

And then a sound you absolutely did not want to hear came thrashing its way into the chamber.

Mutants began to spill into the room from the three entrances into the city hall. They were zombie-like and clearly not as cognitive as they should be, but this was the last thing you needed as this battle was coming to a head. Alcina was so close. Of course this cunt would call for reinforcements. 

You were beginning to panic as the realization that you were not strong enough to hold them all back with your magick set in. But, if you could give Alcina the window to perform the needed coup-de-grace, you had to.

Miranda, through bloody eyes, bested Alcina in a blow as the heel of her palm slammed directly under Alcina's chin as she came in for another attack. She stumbled and fell back with a thud, gasping for breath and cognizance.

It was then a pair of bloodied, rage-filled eyes found you. 

You froze. 

"You!" Miranda snarled, "I have had ENOUGH OF YOU!"

She bolted for you.

There was not enough power for you to pull from in this moment to defend yourself, you panicked, and you stumbled back not quickly enough to make any semblance of an escape, you did only what came by instinct; you screamed.

"ALCINAAA!"

Dazed as she was from Miranda's last hit, the terror in your voice broke the barrier of her most primal instinct to protect and she rose with that enraged beast inside her.

Miranda slammed you down. Leaned into your face and clutched your throat, straddling you with strong legs she tried to mesh your bodies together in a sick and twisted way, her breath brushed over your face as she grimaced through her teeth, "you... you petulant little brat!" she seethed, "I'll end you in a way that will make Madeleine's death seem like a dream! I'll make you pay such a price for your insolence!"

You couldn't have been sure whose shrill screech filled the space as Miranda rose from you with her mouth parted with a gape, arm risen to strike a brutal hit, until the horrifying vision of Alcina towering over the two of you with a baring of gritted teeth made you go limp.

Alcina snatched Miranda's arm in the air and flung her back with such might she was a complete blur of black until her body slammed into a wall of mutants, knocking them over like chess pieces on a board.

"I'LL TAKE YOUR HEAD AND EVERY LIMB FROM YOU! YOU'LL NOT TOUCH HER AGAIN!" Alcina howled as Miranda rebounded and slammed back into her.

The fight ensued with utter chaos while you tried desperately to regain momentum and energy to help your vampire win, your heart was thumping so hard from adrenaline you weren't sure which was faster; your breathing or heartbeat.

More swings and slashing claws were followed by blood splattered and flinging through the air. Alcina was taken down by another blow to her legs and she dropped hard, Miranda followed, landing on top of her with her claw-baring hand clasped to her throat.

In slow motion you watched as Miranda reach for her side and pulled a knife. The blade was black but glowing with that same eerie blue, raising it above her head to bring it down with purpose.

With all your intent and strength you reached into the depths of your being and threw every last drop of power you had at her. 

Miranda tried hard as she might to fight against your magick in her unwavering desire to win, but the blade fell from her grasp, the mutants stalled, Alcina looked up and in one brisk motion hooked her claws into Mother Miranda's jaw and sunk them into her flesh and around the bone through her mouth.

The sound almost made you vomit. 

Miranda gulped and went limp. Her wide eyes were no longer black; now they were shimmering with a terrified blue through the haze of blood as Alcina stood with a facade so bitter you were anxiously expecting the final blow.

But she didn't make it.

~

Donna was nearly convinced that by the time this was over, whatever was left of the city might not even be worth saving.

Karl had created an explosion-hungry, mine-setting nut case that was once her sister. Angie was effective in her execution though, Donna had to give her that, but something was starting to change.

There was an evident shift in the atmosphere and as she and Angie rounded another corner, a group of mutants were standing still, vacant-eyed, and dazed looking on the street.

Somehow things became quite a bit more silent and Donna was very untrusting of what she was witnessing.

Karl's voice sounded from the comm at her side and she reached for it, keeping her eyes on the motionless mutants and holding Angie in place as she was already eager to lay on combat.

"D! Are you seeing what we're seeing?"

"Yes," she said carefully, "the mutants have stopped."

"That's gotta mean Alcina and fae-bae are succeeding, right?!"

"I want to believe that as much as you do, but how will we know for certain? "

"One of my men from the inner city just got here and told me he and his troops witnessed a hoard of those fuckers flooding into city hall not ten minutes ago! We're on our way!"

"Understood," she replied shakily, a thousand thoughts now screaming through her brain, "be careful!"

Donna grabbed Angie's arm and they rushed in the other direction.

"Dmitri!" Karl barked into his comm, "we're off to city hall - something hot going on there!"

"Copy - do you need more men?"

"Send a couple, couldn't hurt."

"Sylvia and Gerard are on their way to you."

"Excellent - stay alert - this may be the turning point."

Karl tucked his radio in his pocket and nodded at his men, "remember Mary Poppins, fellas?" he asked eagerly, "time to hop the rooftops of London, boys!"

~

Alcina stood and held the struggling, bleeding, spent tyrant in her grasp.

You had nothing left and were struggling to understand what she was doing, what she was waiting for. And then it dawned on you that all the mutants had forfeit all signs of attack and were standing, much the same as you, on the sidelines simply watching and waiting for what was to happen next.

"Draga mea?" Alcina said softly but stoutly, "with me."

Without so much as looking away from Miranda, Alcina stepped slowly and deliberately up the stone steps, through the mutants that parted with no qualm, and down the hallway that lead into the city. 

You found yourselves in the middle of the most central cobblestone streets with thousands of stunned eyes now upon their very bloody and menacing looking Matriarch.

The newest arriving sets of eyes belonged to, Karl, Donna, Angie, Mitch, and Alcina's three daughters, all on opposite sides of the town center.

It was unnervingly silent as the battle that had been waging for hours came to a complete violent halt as the Matriarch stepped into view holding the dangling, struggling Mother Miranda from her one hand, blood spilling down her arm as she stared at her and only her.

The vampires, lycans, and left over mutants parted way, creating a large circle around you and Alcina as she stood there with a new look of terrifying calm.

Alcina dropped Miranda on the cobblestone and she almost completely crumbled, but she forced herself to kneel there with both hands held to her bloodied broken jaw; the facade that once graced her pretty face full of haughty importance now faded to fear and desperation of survival.

You realized Alcina was now looking at you, the hint in her eyes something along the lines of pride and trust.

Her visage broke from you in a split second as she now set her sights on everyone around her.

"THIS IS THE TYRANT WHO SO VEHEMENTLY STRUCK TO TAKE ME DOWN," she bellowed, "ME - YOUR MATRIARCH..." Alcina continued, her long elegant arm outstretching to the pitiful woman bleeding out on the street, "The one who has stood by you - walked by you - fought by your side - stayed loyal to this underground city and all of her inhabitants... She came to take my throne and your freedom from you! And I... Have bled to make sure it doesn't happen! THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS - WITH MY STRIKE - WITH MY COMPANION - WITH MY REIGN THIS TYRANT FALLS FOREVER. DO ANY OF YOU HAVE THE MIND TO CHALLENGE ME?"

Silence.

Utter crackling silence.

As it stood now, Alcina was in front of you, Miranda in the middle between you, surrounded by silent viewers who said and did nothing as she made her claim.

Alcina's dark and dangerous hues locked on you, settling at home within you. And then she nodded at you to make your final hold, wanting to do this together.

But you were depleted. You didn't have anything left, you could feel the terrible emptiness. You couldn't let her down, but what could you do?

As if hearing your silent woe, your crows came fluttering out from the city hall entrance and circled you.

All six of them now landed and huddled at your feet, ready and alert for your need and command. 

Initially you were a bit baffled, but immediately after the thought a new wave of strength and power flowed through you, like water down a dry river bed, and you took a deep and steadying breath. They were giving you their own energy for what you had left to do. An unspoken elation and confidence returned within you. What selfless, intelligent companions

Yes, you and Alcina would end this together.

Your eyes met hers and her smile ignited your fire.

Dropping your gaze back to Miranda who was eying you like a spoiled child aware their actions were coming with dire consequences, pitiful and snide all at once with her bloodied broken face, you narrowed your eyes, turned your palms at your sides towards her, and pursed your lips letting your magick bind her for the last time.

Miranda choked on her blood as her body went rigid, trembling through the pain of your magick.

Alcina stepped forth, eyes brimming with black. With a flick of her wrist her claws seemed to take on a new sharper length and she grabbed Mother Miranda's hair with one hand, jerking her head back to force her gaze upon her, using her other hand she reached for the remains of her jaw, leaned down, and whispered;

"A shame to waste you... my pet."

And with a snap Alcina tore Mother Miranda's jaw from her face, threw it across the cobblestone, jammed her claws up and under where her chin once was, and ripped her skull in two.

The sound permeated the area with a deafening squelch.

Miranda's body slumped over on the street and bled the rest of the way out. Everyone remained quite still. Only shallow, hesitant whispers could be heard over the otherwise overpowering silence. Everyone loyal to Alcina beamed with quiet pride on the sidelines, breathing relief as the final stake in the matter had been driven home and this surely meant a brand new era for vampires and lycans alike. Alcina had proven her resilience, strength, wisdom, and loyalty to the true way of their existence through her years as their leader, and this was the final resounding proof any of them needed to trust in her. She was unbreakable.

In the midst of everything, without really realizing it, four of your crows had taken to shallow flight around you and you mindlessly outstretched your arms for them to perch.

Alcina eventually stepped back from the body, holding both parts of Miranda's skull in her bloodied clutches and gazed enamored at you. You looked magickal. Crows perched comfortably on your arms, wings spread in show of radiant power. You, her fae, here at a most pivotal point in her existence. She was still grappling with the reality that Mother Miranda was gone. Dead. By her hand and yours. She... was gone. 

The feelings in your heart swelled. Alcina's eyes were glowing with the most beautiful gold you'd ever seen. This was your vampire. This was the woman who'd turned your life upside-down, just as you had hers. And together you'd put an end to a creature not worth the air she breathed; the tyrant who had tortured your Alcina, did everything she could to break her, tired and failed to kill her. 

And now it was over.

A large hand grabbed your forearm gently and pulled you back.

"It's ok, just relax," Karl assured you, a crooked smile meeting your visage full of panic, "I brought my favorite toys!" He exclaimed, dropping the huge bag off his shoulder, "explosives! Never know when you need 'em, right hot shot?"

Somehow his lack of, or refusal to show worry and concern helped calm your nerves for the most bizarre unknown reason. He seemed so sure of himself and it was comforting. At least someone was.

You were about to respond to Karl but Angie came flying down the stairs like a bat out of hell, which shocked you because you don't remember her disappearing at all.

"We gotta blow the fuckin' door NOW!!" She yelled, nearly slamming into Donna to stop herself, "I just came from the control room - " she paused and flashed her hands covered in blood, "mutants - the sun is already entering the silo! They have 10 minutes tops!"

Everything around you became unintelligible as they all began to speak at once. You sank into yourself as something else grabbed control of the wheel. A sudden flood of warmth ensnared you and your eyes shot up.

"The setup takes time and care! These bombs aren't ready-made - this isn't fuckin' McDonalds!!" Karl shouted, "If I blow this willy nilly the whole motherfuckin' tower might collapse!

"Are the tops of the silos accessible above ground?" you inserted quickly, "I can try to block out the sun from up there, buy us all some time."

There was really only a split second everyone was silently looking at you, then Karl sprung a giant grin on his face.

"She's a fuckin' genius, I know why Alcina likes her - c'mon fairy wings, let's go!"

Karl shoved everything he was holding in Dmitri's arms and patted him roughly on the shoulder, "you 'member the schematics, right? Lefty-loosey, righty-tighty, all that jazz, just don't push the splodey button until the amp light goes blue!"

You had no idea what the fuck he was talking about but you sure hoped Dmitri did, because Karl offered no more explanation or clarification and was grabbing your arm and hauling you through more of the underworld maze before you could blink.

Everything was in utter disarray as the two of you scrambled through the tunnels and corridors and passageways galore. There was plenty of carnage along the way too; dead bodies (mainly mutants to your relief) were splayed about here and there, the evident battle a chilling reminder that you were a very mortal being in a very deadly environment. Still, your mind was occupied with Alcina more than anything. The haste to squeeze every last drop out of every second to make them count giving you unwavering focus now.

Would there be anything to actually cover the silo opening? 

Would you be too late?

The thoughts had to come to a screeching halt as a very rickety metal ladder now faced you and Karl to the top of the particular part of this run down old building.

"Up ya go, sugar. That door to the left of the platform takes us right to the roof of the building."

You didn't need to be told twice.

Without further delay you took to the ladder and climbed, not bothering to wait for Karl, though he was right behind you. You ran down the even wobblier metal mesh platform and shoved your way through the almost rusted shut door, falling out into the bright sunlight. It was blinding and you covered your eyes as you eagerly searched for the silo top, finding it not too far off to the right of where you'd entered.

Karl was already on his way there and you followed, finding there to be a thick metal grate welded to the top of the wide silo opening. While this would make it easier to place things on to seal out the sun from below, you needed to find something to put there.

Your eyes couldn't help to gaze down the long dark tunnel below. You so wanted to be able to take time to see if you could see Alcina but this was the last time and place to doddle. 

Karl was already running about on the roof, looking for anything that he might be able to use for a shield against the sun, but there was barely anything worth having.

Displaced 2x4's, scrap metal not larger than a few feet wide or long, and the flooring to the roof was too secure to rip up either.

The sun was progressing. You were not.

As you were about to splay yourself over the grate, which really was far too large for just your body to make a difference, you heard and felt a familiarity come swooping in.

Your crows came cawing and flapping, landing next to you on the broad edge of the silo. 

You almost cried. 

Ebony was the first to hop to you and eye you curiously as if waiting for instruction.

"C-can you - can you all cover this and stop the sunlight from getting through down below?" 

Without so much as a pause, Ebony and the other five crows hopped onto a piece of rebar that made up the grate, spread their wings meticulously and created the most perfect make-shift wing umbrella you'd ever seen, completely blocking out all sunlight from below.

Several tears of relief went strolling down your freezing cheeks and you smiled, "thank you, thank you!" you whimpered, reaching out without thinking to stroke each of their heads with love and appreciation. In turn, to your surprise, you received tiny coos and purrs.

"I'll yell up to you from below when you can leave - thank you! I owe you all the croissants!"

A clatter pushed you back to the present and you looked behind you. Karl was standing there with the most 'what the literal fuck is happening' look on his face. The clattering seemed to be the large bit of scrap metal he had found somewhere along the line falling to the roof from his grasp. He just stood there, cock-eyed and slack-jawed.

There was little time for gawking. You rushed back over to him, wrapping your arms over your chest as the awareness of how damn cold it was up there smacked you across the face.

"The fuck was that?!" he blurted as the silent agreement to head back to the underground was put to action.

"Uh, well, they're my friends?" 

Yeah it sounded weird but you were literally talking to a lycan so, this was the farthest from the strangest thing that's ever happened in your life.

Karl chuckled loudly as he slammed the door behind him and the scaling of the ladder began once more. He grabbed the comm at his hip and radioed Dmitri, "you're clear to blow the son of a bitch, we, er fae-bae here got the top covered!"

"Copy. Charge still setting." 

"I'm gunna really look forward to getting to know you, bird-whispering fairy child - you are interesting as fuck," Karl mused as he led you back through the labyrinth of the underground.

You couldn't help but give him a look as he gave you a glance of his own, "fae-bae?" you inquired with a raised eyebrow.

He cackled, "get used to it; nicknames are my specialty. You outta hear some of the ones I have for your woman."

Your woman. 

Yes, she was your woman and you were hers. Even in this dire circumstance that gave you a blanketing warmth. And so many flooding emotions came from this and the enveloping of it was giving you more strength to carry on. This tidal wave of memories and feelings weaved through you and sewed you together for whatever lie ahead; you were ready; you were ready.

"Somehow I'm sure she has plenty for you as well; I may or may not have heard a few," you tested playfully.

"Oh yeah?" he asked just as the two of you were turning down another corridor, unfortunately being met with a rogue mutant far from the herd.

Karl's reflexes kicked in immediately and he shoved you out of the way into the neighboring wall, drew his gun as he kicked the mutant in the chest and began to blast. But it didn't go down as fast as the others had. It rose and charged Karl again. This time it was met by Karl's large fist to the face, the butt of the gun to the top of its head, and as soon as he put more distance between them, shot at it again and again. It only snarled and shrieked with rage and lunged once more.

You took this moment to test your magick, just to be sure you had the grip on it like you felt you did.

While Karl was almost getting bested in this fight, you hunkered down on the floor against the wall and held out your palms, focusing on the mutant with the need to protect, like you had with Malka. And you'll be damned if it didn't start to slow down, sputter, and stall as the sensation of prickly stinging numbness flowed through you. 

As Karl went to make his final blow with a gun barrel between the eyes, you saw the blood swelling in the mutant's eyelids before the bang went off.

It dropped like a bag of rocks and you smirked wickedly.

Yes, you were very much in control. Good. Because you wholeheartedly planned on killing Mother Miranda as soon as you had the chance.

You were slowly uncrouching from your spot when you realized Karl was yet again looking at you like you had become a tiny green alien in the last five seconds.

"Wh - what - the fuck? D-did you help me, did you do that??? Is that what you did to Mother Miranda? Do you just like - fry bodily circuitry or some shit?!"

You shrugged, feeling a little self-conscious, "I'm not entirely sure? I don't know what my magick does exactly. My friend calls it 'mind EMP'."

Karl burst out laughing and holstered his gun, offering his arm to you as you both stepped over the dead body, "Hoooly heyseuss kreestoose! We need a couple hundred of you to keep around; you're useful in a fight. Keep your bag of tricks handy, just don't mind EMP any of my bombs or electronics, ok?"

Your surroundings were becoming more familiar as the disjunct conversation was becoming quieter, and as the two of you made it down the same set of stairs you came in, you heard Dmitri's voice holler; "Charge is hot - cover!".

A loud pop echoed followed by a sharp bang that stung your ears, followed by a reverberating miniature shock wave that knocked you into the wall.

The view was a relief to your whole system.

Through the small puff of rising smoke and settling dust, the archway that had been sealed up was open and the entry inside was dark.

Donna was the first to climb over and through the rubble to get inside, Dmitri second, Angie remained outside the debris grinning like a mad-woman as she saw the two of you approach. You were set to head in as well but Karl grabbed you and held you steady.

"Hold on, let them bring her out."

He said as if he could read your damn mind.

From inside the hollow dark silo you could hear muffled, raspy female voices barely conversing with Donna. Several clangs and what seemed to be chains dropping to the stone floor echoed through, and then shuffling as Alcina's three girls were brought out first.

You'd heard Alcina talk about them at length, and even as defeated and worn as they looked, they were even more beautiful still than Alcina had described to you. Several bickering emotions decided to show their faces, but being overtaken by fear, uncertainty, and like the weird boyfriend mom brings home after divorcing dad and trying to make nice with the kids was not something you could deal with. This was not your place at all.

They were too tired to notice you anyway, and Donna had immediately dug through her bag and handed each of them what you deduced to be bags of blood to drink.

Everyone's attention now lie at the mouth of the silo once more, bated breaths waiting for Alcina's arrival.

Your heart was pounding so hard in your chest and through you whole body you felt like you were actually pulsing. Time felt so stupidly slow as you waited, as everyone waited, until Dmitri emerged with a limp, bloodied, grey-skinned Alcina in his arms.

Your feet molded to the ground. You couldn't force your muscles to move. She looked in a way you never ever wanted to see; dead.

Her once cream colored blouse was shredded and stained with crimson. Her skin slashed and gouged from each whip lashing. Dried blood covered her upper body, down her arms, splattered haphazardly around her neck, and some of her very sunken face. 

Everything fell to the pit of your stomach. You couldn't breathe, you couldn't think. The shock of what you were looking at immobilized you.

Dmitri carefully laid her down on the ground. You realized then how quiet it was as every little sound of the shuffling of fabric against skin and stone was almost violently loud in your ears.

The state of Alcina's shirt gave her barely a hint of modesty in its tatters, the very stark contrast of her black bra glaring against the cream, grey and red. And you could see then a very deep, ugly wound just below her sternum. A stab wound. One that gave you an ill remembrance of a story she once told you, and a scar you can recall all too vividly on her side. You don't know how you knew, but you knew.

Donna was immediately retrieving another bag of blood, hooking a tube to the opening at the top, hunkering down at Alcina's side and carefully placing the article to her dry, thin parted lips. She began to squeeze the liquid from the bag as her daughters gathered around their mother as the blood was administered.

Cassandra and Daniela held tightly to Alcina's hands as Bela propped her head and upper body up to help the blood flow down her throat.

You were frozen in your place. Still barely breathing. Making deals with unknown deities for your lover's recovery.

Karl sensed your disconcerted demeanor and carefully wrapped his arm around your mid back and pushed you forward so you could see.

Still, you could hardly move or force a reaction as the painful suspense dug its claws into your heart.

If she died, or was already gone, you could not fathom what the future would even look like.

You could not fathom a world... your world... without her in it.

Through the deep concentration of draining bag after bag of blood into their Matriarch, Donna thoroughly checked Alcina's forehead, throat, cheeks, and chest for something you couldn't understand. Warmth, maybe? Any sign of life? And the more this went on the worse the lines became in Donna's lovely face.

"It's not... it's not changing her state," she blurted, quite upset, tossing another empty bag with contempt across the hall, "her blood loss is too great, I don't have enough reserves with us to help her the way she needs - we need to get her to a medical bay immediately."

"The city is far too overrun and we have no idea where Mother Miranda is, the risk is not in our favor."

"She will die if we don't!" Donna barked at Dmitri's warning, "our options are none as it stands right now; it is either the risk or her death - what's it going to be?"

Donna, Dmitri, the three girls and Karl had a duel of exchanged silent looks until you couldn't stand the feeling of uncomfortable electricity sparking in your nervous system.

"Does anybody have a knife?" you asked, splitting the quiet, gaining everyone's attention, "My blood might help."

Donna blinked rapidly, "I've already given her six packs - she needs intravenous blood administration - "

"That blood isn't my blood. I'm not human, remember?"

Before another word could be exchanged, the sound of a switchblade flinging open could be heard and Angie stepped closer to the group, brandishing a sharp, shiny blade.

"Hi! Middle name's shiv, or shank," she grinned wildly, "er, should be anyway."

"Everybody move back," Cassandra chimed in, nodding at you briskly, "please, try."

The tension could not have been any tighter as you stepped forward and grabbed the knife from Angie, swiftly and precisely kneeling down next to Alcina as you rolled your sleeve up as far as it would go over your elbow. The sight of her this close made her condition all the more dire and you quickly placed the blade to the vein in the crook of your elbow and punctured it. Bela propped Alcina as close to you as she could; you placed the spilling blood to her lips, and grasped her freezing cold shoulder for more support; Donna held to the other side of your arm to alleviate stress to the blood flow, and you all knelt there in great anticipation as the seconds ticked on. You so wanted to wrap her up in your arms and care for her like you would in your apartment, but you didn't dare in front of everyone, especially her daughters. You had to put on a strong, distant front.

Your arm began to ache as you were starting to feel a coolness set in, but you closed your eyes and held fast. You could smell the thick metallic of her dried blood all over her and it made you wince, thinking about the pain she must have endured, and how badly you wanted to make them all pay for this. It was consuming how violent you felt inside. 

After at least a minute, which felt more like fifteen, you felt a warmth engulf the crook of your elbow; Alcina's tongue.

Looking over almost dizzyingly quick, you could see her eyelids fluttering and a smile burst across your face. You let go of your breath and held even tighter to Alcina as you felt her begin to drink voluntarily, her shoulder was no longer freezing cold and something even warmer than her tongue sprung loose inside you.

"It's working." You said softly, hearing the rest of the collective sighs of relief echo through the area.

Where Alcina had been in the dark, bleak confines of her mind before she felt life tingling inside her again was a place she didn't wish to return to. While everything was still in slow motion, she could comprehend the beautiful sensation of the hot, rich, satisfying blood that was coursing through her mouth and down her throat as yours. What a way to come back from the brink of nothingness. Her strength was slowly waxing and her senses began to creep up, but the wounds she had endured were becoming more and more fitful in the fight to heal. Your blood was vigorous and relentless and Alcina knew when the dam burst, the pain and brutal retaking of her body would be unpleasant at best.

And that moment was now.

Like an army breaking through battle lines, Alcina's body, at the mercy and aid of your blood, began to heal and reanimate itself with ferocity. Yanking her head back from wherever she had been feeding off you, Alcina cried out as the excruciating sensation of being reborn pummeled every sense in her body. It burned. It itched. It spasmed. It cracked and broke and then spilled out and over into a soothing warmth and numbness as some normalcy seeped back in.

With fluttering lids, she opened her eyes to see every face that was near and dear to her heart.

You. Her daughters. Donna. Dmitri. Angie. And, yes, even Heisenberg.

Bela, with the help of her sisters, scooted Alcina back towards the wall and sat her upright there. The three of them fawned over her through quiet whimpering relief as they clung to her with secure embraces.

"Shhh, Sunt aici. Sunt aici," she cooed, "iubitele mele, suntem cu toții aici."

(Shhh... I'm here. I'm here - my loves, we are all here.)

As you were being aided by Donna quickly wrapping your arm with a tight bandage, Alcina's slate colored eyes found yours and she offered you the most endearing smile you think you had ever seen in your life. It was a knowing smile. A proud smile. A smile that wordlessly said thank you in a way no language on the planet could express.

"Looong live The Real HBIC!" Angie shouted, accompanied by a short celebratory dance, "Woooooo yeah! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Now when the fuck can we go kick the rest of the smelly ass down here?!"

Well, the tender moment was short lived.

"Ang, please," Donna huffed, trying her best to stifle her smile, "Alcina still needs more nourishment and we need the rest of a plan."

"I'm with Angie," Karl butted in, giving Alcina a tip of his hat, "we got hot shot mind melter and our Matriarch back, let's go whoop some ass."

It wasn't so much bickering as it was very energetic clashing of ideas, but as they all spoke above you animatedly, you and Alcina once more stole calm, loving glances at the other through Donna shoving more blood bags in her face to drink and her daughters clinging to her for dear life, until a clobbering sound from the other stairwell shot everything into a halt.

Unceremoniously came a plump, sheepishly hunched figure from the shadows.

Salvatore Moreau slowly slipped into the light and the sound that followed had everyone rattled to the bone.

The throaty, shrill shriek had come from none other than Donna herself.

The tiny brunette had sprung from the floor and charged the vampire in question, pinning him to the wall as she bore her teeth in utter fury; "TRAITOR!" She screamed, her hand around his throat with nails threatening to pierce his flesh, "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS WITH YOUR LIFE! I KNOW YOU AIDED MIRANDA - I KNOW YOUR FILTHY LITTLE HANDS HAVE BEEN ALL OVER THIS TREACHERY AND I PROMISE TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR EVERY DISCRETION UNDER THE SUN!"

During Donna's rage, Angie had donned perhaps the most psychotic look of glee any of them had ever seen. Even Karl was a little unnerved as he watched the whole thing unfold. Alcina had risen from the floor, and she too had now a look of murder on her stoic face. Dmitri had joined her side and you were watching quite unsure what to do with yourself next to the wall. 

"Please!" He squeaked, holding up his hands shakily, "Please, just wait! I have information! Information about Miranda! The mutants! I come in truce!! I have information you need if you want to win this war!"

Donna snarled even louder as she sunk her claws into his neck, "Why should I believe you?!"

"Because! Because! I - I realize - I realize I made a huge mistake! I chose the wrong side! PLEASE you must trust me!"

Karl carefully and hesitantly nudged the deranged looking Angie, "you uh... wanna do something about your sister?"

Angie's big eyes glanced at Karl momentarily, "oh... oh yeah!"

And she was off like a bolt, knife in hand accompanied by a cackle.

"No, n-not like that!" he huffed, dropping his head to rub at at exasperatedly, "I meant to stooop her from killing him, not help - oh Jesus fucking Christ what's the use." he muttered to himself.

Now Salvatore was at the mercy of two very deadly Beneviento sisters. His face showed every ounce of his dread as his big beady eyes shot from one sister's face to the next, knees quivering as he swallowed with struggle. 

"P-please, please, listen... I want to help," he swallowed once more through Donna's claws and Angie's knife pressed to his jugular.

Donna was still seething but paused, taking time to calculate and reason with her own rage before clicking her tongue loudly, "Alcina? Your call."

You blinked hastily as you watched with eagerness, noticing the very elegant and nonchalant movements of Alcina as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Bring him to me." 

She commanded with a dominance that made you weak in the knees.

He was yanked from the wall, drug to Alcina and thrown at her feet. He showed no signs of struggle or the urge to flee for his life, which in your humble opinion, would have been a smart move.

Alcina glowered down at him and pursed her lips, looking more and more like herself as the minutes passed.

She placed her hands on her hips swiftly which made him jerk in fear, but she remained unmoved, "it's a little late in the game to be switching sides, don't you think?" she snapped.

"My Lady," he quivered, bowing his head sharply, "please, My Lady, I am a coward and I will not deny it. Mother Miranda offered me falsity. Her lies I thought were truths became apparent the moment she made her move. It is never too late to redeem oneself from the side of tyranny. Please, let me tell you what I know, you will not defeat her otherwise."

"You seem awfully sure of this," Alcina bit.

"That is because, as Donna has said, I have been part of this from the beginning."

Silence permeated the area once more as all focus went to Alcina. Her eyes never left the sniveling man at her feet.

"Then speak."

The next several minutes was a verbal vomit of information that had everyone pretty fucking shocked.

Mother Miranda, in her psychotic search for perfection, had begun breeding and mutating parasites nearly ten years ago to infect fledglings to whatever end to make them into the mindless, deadly, stealth machines that had invaded their city. Salvatore explained her brutal trial and errors and the horrific mutations that had gone wrong and how simply she discarded vampire after vampire like a broken toy. How that when she had perfected the mutation to her liking as it stood now, she infected herself with the queen parasite DNA that gave her the complete control over the hive-mind of the vampires she controlled. When she is at her peak strength and ability, they are the deadliest creatures known to any vampire or lycan imaginable. But therein lies the Achilles heel to this creation.

"I had hypothesized it well enough in my own mind, but it wasn't until I realized you," he stated, nodding to you in the midst of everyone else, "had escaped and in the attempt wounded Mother Miranda, that the so-called hive mind did in fact falter. If Mother Miranda is vanquished, they become unarmed. They will have had their tie to their very reason for existence severed, hence, they will have no direction and they will quite literally be living statues. So, in order to win this fight, you must keep Miranda's strength at a bare minimum. You must keep her down. Otherwise, at full strength, there will be none left alive in the underground."

Once more, Salvatore's eyes returned to you, "whatever you have done to her, she is still recovering. In all my many years of serving Mother, I have never seen any foe deal such damage the way you have," his focus went back to Alcina, "but she is recovering, that is the part that is the most important. If you want to win this you need to act quickly and hastily. Your lycans and vampires have done much damage to many mutants, but at their best, ten of your men cannot best even one of them."

Not even fifteen seconds had passed before Karl was clapping and rubbing his hands together eagerly, "Aight, so, lessss go?" he gestured shamelessly towards the staircase.

"Not without more of a plan," Dmitri growled, "if Miranda is getting stronger we can't run out there guns blazing the way you like it, we'll start losing too many too fast."

Alcina sucked the last drop of blood from the last pack and threw it aside with a sharp sigh, "We haven't the time for planning. I need to find Miranda and bring her down."

"You can't do that alone," Donna added, "please let Angie and I help you."

"No, I need you both in the field - Angie I need your stealthy expertise to be the eyes and ears for the troops, can you do that?"

Angie nodded, "fuck yeah."

"Heisenberg, I need you, your men, and your explosives rigged in the best and most efficient way possible when that bitch begins to falter. Can you do that?"

"Roger!"

"Dmitri, I need you and your men ready to back up the lycans in their wave of attacks and whatever tricks lie in that brilliant military brain of yours, can I count on you?"

"Always, My Lady."

Alcina's eyes skimmed over you with a wink and settled on Donna and her girls, "and you three... I want Ethan and Mia captured. Alive. Make that happen."

Her daughters beamed with a wicked glint in their eyes, "yes mother," they all replied.

"Karl, arm them to the teeth."

Grabbing his chest in the most dramatic way possible, Karl staggered back and looked up at Alcina with a silent gasp, "y-you called me Karl! Oh my god, did y'all hear that? She called me Karl. See that? Near death experiences change a person. It's like she likes me or something."

Alcina narrowed her eyes, "keep it up and I won't like you again."

Karl beamed and straightened his hat.

Donna was still less than sold.

"I don't want you facing her by yourself."

"You'll be doing something much more important for me," Alcina smiled warmly, "you'll be protecting her," she motioned over to you.

You almost did a double take, "uh, sorry, not to be disrespectful but no, I'm coming with you."

"Like hell you are," Alcina retorted furrowing her brows, "this vampire in question is hellaciously unpredictable and deadly -"

"And off her rocker - yeah I know," you interrupted, "we've met personally and I escaped her."

Her face dropped cold, "you what?"

"Yeah, you haven't been brought up to speed!" Karl waltzed over, shouldering you playfully, "your fae-bae here escaped Miranda's sticky lil fingers after mind blasting her ass - pretty impressive if I do say so myself. I got first hand experience with her magick when she helped me fight off a mutant before we came and saved you. I uh, I'd reconsider taking the nuclear bombshell with ya," he winked at you, "two hell cats are better than one, baby! AND she's got a legion of crows at her command or some shit, that's how we blacked out the silo."

"Oh shit!" you exclaimed, remembering you'd not released your crows from their post, "and technically, they're called a murder."

Smirking at Karl you jutted to your right, hopped your way over the rubble of the blown blockade and peered up into the silo. It was still completely dark and you smiled, "you all did wonderful!" you shouted up to them, your voice carrying loud and clear, "thank you Ebony, Ash, Onyx, Noir, Sidda, and Shade! Please get home safely and be warm!"

Their caws echoed down to you and one by one they took to the sky, leaving a remaining brightness from the clear sky now that the sun had passed.

When you returned to the hall, Karl was shaking his head with his arms folded over his chest.

"Named every one of 'em, did ya?"

You returned his grin, "and?"

Alcina's eyes went from Karl to you, back to him and then you again before she was able to really collect herself. There was a lot to digest right at this moment. She had to choose wisely as to what she was ready to take a bite of. The crow issue was last on her list, you and your powers were at the top of it, screaming.

The two of you had only briefly spoken about the changes you were going through before Donna showed up and everything promptly fell apart. She didn't want to believe you had grown so much and she'd missed it all, but she more less wanted to believe you weren't strong enough to go with her, risking your safety if it wasn't necessary.

"Draga..." she stated softly, "this is... this is not a danger I want you anywhere near ever again."

You watched as her hands carefully rested on your shoulders, eying you in that beautifully desperate way.

"Uhm... Mother?" 

Came a voice you'd not heard before.

"Poate nu ar trebui să te îndoiești de ea. Cum ai încredere în noi acum, poate că ar trebui să-i dai la fel." Cassandra stated with a knowing smile.

(Maybe you should not doubt her. As you trust us now, perhaps you should give her the same.)

Man, you needed to learn Romanian.

Whatever her daughter had said gave Alcina great pause. The smile she gave Cassandra made you smile by proxy, it was so genuine and soft.

Taking one last look at you, Alcina dropped her hands and turned to gather everyone's attention.

"I have faith in all of you. Go, quickly. Make this a battle that will be painted in remembrance for whatever outcome lies ahead of us. Let our valiance and spite be known. Violently."

She turned back to Donna and took a deep breath, "I would like you to make use of Moreau. If he makes one move you don't like, kill him. But if he is truly set to redeem himself, use whatever knowledge he has and exploit it to our every advantage."

Donna nodded somberly, "and... you are off to find Miranda?"

"Yes," Alcina smiled, "and I won't be going alone."

"D! You gotta snap out of it - D."

Her dark brown eyes on the verge of spilling tears finally looked over to find Karl, his face just as riddled with grief but definitely more rage than she had ever seen.

"I..." she mustered, "we - the - we -" 

Donna couldn't even form a coherent sentence, she was too overcome with shock she brought her palms up and buried her face. Karl's warm, secure embrace was quite literally the only thing holding her together.

Without Alcina, their fight was over. No one would unite without her. None of the pitiful fucking vampires would act on their own! Her only hope was the lycans, who would be gnashing to fight, she had no doubt. The underworlds only hope now was the lycans. And that was fine with her. But they had to do something and they had to do it fast. She had to snap out of it!

She broke away from Karl momentarily and was about to whisper her hasty plan to him, but that chilling presence she hated now more than ever invaded her space.

"Donna, my dear!" Came Miranda's cool voice, "I have some pressing business that needs attending to, but I will send for you later as we have much to discuss," she smiled, "and Karl, I will require your time here very shortly as well - and try not to get into any trouble in the meantime. My soldiers have direct orders to destroy anyone who steps out of line... you've seen the damage they do. Please don't be stupid. I'd rather not lose either of you to fruitless defiance."

Karl lunged for Miranda but Donna haphazardly clambered herself nearly onto him to stop his assault as she walked away so annoyingly nonchalant.

"Don't be an idiot!" she hissed through a hushed whisper in his ear, "your shop - now!"

~

Everyone of key importance had gathered in Karl's work space: Donna, Karl himself, Dmitri, Angie, Sylvia, Mitch, Diego, Gerard, Mateo, Elina, and shockingly, Clarice from the council.

"Keep your voice down!" Donna huffed.

"I don't give a fuck what they can hear! I'm about to start poppin' bullets in every single one of their skulls!" Karl raged, pulling a new and very decently sized revolver out of his underarm and aiming it to the mutants on the other side of the thick glass, "I'll blow the underground to kingdom-fucking-come before I let this bitch take this place!"    Donna forced his arm down and grabbed the collar of his dirty, beat-up, oversized khaki colored trench coat, "will you keep your shit together! We have one fucking shot at this and we can't afford your hot-headed, bull-skulled, idiotic temper to ruin it for everyone! Alcina needs our help! We have to be smart about this!"

Angie popped a blood lollypop out of her mouth loudly and hopped her butt onto the table, shoving it right back in her cheek before reaching for Karl, "listen, my man, I've been watching these weirdos for weeks; they are brutally strong but they are fuckin' DUMB. I'm not sure what operates them but I swear to god it's not the brain in their heads. They're very easily distracted and drawn apart when psycho-whacko isn't present. The sunrise is barely hours away, we need a calculated diversion, lots of 'em - you know, bombs and stuff - and a quick moving team and we can get Alcina and her girls out with no issue at all. But that's only if Mother Fuckface isn't near."

"There's the biggest issue; Mother Miranda." Dmitri stated, his usually calm and vivid demeanor very visibly shaken by witnessing what everyone else did.

"Yeah - that -" Angie chimed back in, "she's really the messiest dingleberry. I dunno what to tell you about that one. Sheer force won't do jack shit to her with all these mutants around. She's their HBIC - it's like she thinks it and they do it - very disturbing."

"HBIC?" Clarice piped up very confused.

"Head bitch in charge." Angie clarified.

Donna huffed and rubbed her temples aggravatedly, "alright - heads down - focus! We have very little time, we've got to move quickly."

~

You felt like you were under a boulder.

It wasn't terribly bright where you were but it took all of your effort to force your eyelids open. 

The room was decently sized, wide open, the lights were dull and a light ochre color. It smelled slightly sterile but also metallic the way dried blood did. The walls were lined with shelves and storage lockers, weird glass globes and vials that made you feel like you were caught in a mad scientist movie. It was also full of all kinds of medical looking equipment, and in that instant everything that had taken place rushed back in, including that cunts words; take her to the lab, NOW!

So. This was it.

You were strangely alone. You thought that was probably not the smartest move, but then again you felt like you'd been hit by a bus. There was barely enough energy coursing through you to breath without labor.

What the fuck was around your neck and wrists? They had to be the reason for this feeling.

Using all your might, you tried to lean forward in the reclined chair you were clearly bound to to see if you could make out the heavy cuffs.

It was a dark grey material, a metal of sorts maybe? It appeared polished and looked kind of shiny, but it wasn't glowing the way Alcina's had been. 

The unlatching of a door to the right of you caught you off guard and your head snapped in that direction, a bad move as the room started to spin.

"Iron."

Came that sickening voice.

"The best raw iron one can find," Mother Miranda continued as she waltzed happily towards you, "the only real weakness to a fae like you."

...Fae? 

What?

You were finally able to get a good close look at the living terror you had envisioned killing many times before, the rage you felt twisting your lips and face into a scowl that made Miranda smirk. She might be a pretty thing if she weren't such an awful waste of air. To you she was ugly, hideous even, wearing the pain she'd caused your Alcina like a badge of honor and it made your magick spark.

"I had hoped to meet under better circumstances, but Alcina never would have allowed that to happen..."

Miranda placed her hand on your upper arm and it burned. Whether or not that was your imagination reacting out of pure spite for her or an actual sensation you weren't really sure. 

"She's very possessive, you see. She would have never shared you with me willingly."

Her smile made you want to explode.

"Though her appetite for strong blood has always been her weakness, and her strength. I could always count on her to find the most delicious humans. Granted, Madeleine was a sorry loss, truly, which I'm sure she told you all about her, and what I did... villainize me all you want, little fae, but I did what was best for her in the end."

You wanted to scream more than anything, break free and grab her face and gouge out her eyes, but you were locked in a prison of hatred that rendered you still and silent while you bickered with your inner thoughts trying to stay on top of your reactions. Then Malka's voice sounded in your ear; telling you to remain calm, to use the situation to your benefit, to store the emotions brewing inside of you because they would come in handy. So you remained quiet, letting her drawl making you angrier and angrier.

"Madeleine came from a long line of witches, I'll have you know," Miranda continued as she walked around the chair you were strapped to, heading to the side table that had a large syringe and several long vials, "but she had strayed from that path, as did her mother before her, so her blood would have been no use to me in the long run. It was too weak, her power was too weak, but it made her irresistible to our dearest Alcina."

Watching as she grabbed for the syringe, you swallowed and eyed her like a hawk, gritting and grinding your teeth with what strength you had.

"I knew what I put her through would wane her from seeking anything less than the most powerful blood until the right time came. I had no idea it would be this soon. I figured a century may pass perhaps, but here you came along... a most pleasant surprise. I thought your kind had long been lost."

Curiosity was hard to deny. You'd been searching for answers your whole life. Now you had to ask.

"What exactly are... my kind?"

Miranda's eyes gleamed, "I told you; you're a fae! Now which kind I'm not totally certain. Fae folk in the human world are the rarest, which makes you the most desirable! A fae in the olde world is too impossible to catch. They're too strong, too flighty, too unusable. But you! Your blood is some of the oldest I've ever had the privilege to come across. I'll truly enjoy my search to find your lineage, if I can, because your blood will be the striking force to begin our journey into this new age!" 

Syringe in hand, Miranda darted back to your side and examined you with fever in her eyes, her delicate fingertip tracing your face that came with a sensation of you wanting to rip yourself out of your skin.

"You will be everything I need for my new species of vampire. Your blood will make me stronger than any that have ever walked this earth before, and my children, the new breed that I will introduce, will be the perfection I have so long since desired."

You had to bite your lip as her twinkling blue eyes made your skin prickle. Keeping your head about you to continue to store this rage deep inside of you, in a nest in your core for your chance to strike was getting harder.

"The army that follows me now are less than what I desired. They are controllable, but... albeit a failed experiment. Yes, they are brutishly strong, and purely loyal to me, but... they have no mind of their own, a downside to the parasite I bred. But! It was a good start!" She grinned, "When I mutate your blood along with my parasites I hope to weed out the rest of the weaknesses that make us fallible - there will be no desire but to be beautiful and powerful. To follow me. And only me. To deny love for any, but me. To go with me to whatever end I desire... to never repeat the same mistakes I face, over and over..."

Her eyes went vacant as she stared off at the wall behind your head, the forest of thoughts she'd just gotten lost in seeming to lead her down a foggy path that blinked your existence out of the picture, and yet she kept talking.

"It was a dream my daughter and I had..." her voice dwindled to a more somber tone, "she had been so young. Twelve years old. Too young to be what she became. The years passed, and we do not change physically of course, and it becomes hard for one so young to bare the burdens of the world, to watch everything change around you when you do not when you should... Eva... my darling... she wanted to change. She wanted to change so much, but I... was able to give her everything her heart desired, but that..."

Your eyes were transfixed on this woman. Alcina told you she had never told a soul what had happened to her daughter, that everything the vampires knew about it was purely speculation, and yet here she was spilling it to you like you were a guard at the gates of heaven or hell, and she must tell her tale before she passes.

"Her beauty was unmatched. An angel, really. A young but vicious killer that gave my soul so much joy. My only absolution to the life we had no choice but to dwell within. And we... oh, we had such plans! Such visions we would share and collaborate - the future of our kind - the path we could lead - the power and control we could have! There was a future we so desired to live back amongst the humans as one! To be feared and loved and worshipped as the greater species we are! Untouched by time... illness... every little thing that defeated humans at the drop of a hat..."

Miranda looked back down at you as she seemed to come back into herself, her palm caressing your face as she sunk her sight into you, and you stilled, held your breath out of what emotion you weren't sure.

"But... we aren't as perfect as we should be. There is one, only one, illness that is our downfall. It ruins everything... every plan, ever desire, every need behind a motivation - it can be thwarted by the worst of all illnesses... do you know what that illness, that weakness is, little fae?"

You shook your head very carefully, the wild look behind her eyes making you uneasy.

"Love," she whispered, leaning into your face, "love, little fae... the worst ailment any living creature can endure! It... ruins everything!" 

Miranda leaned back up and stepped away from you with haste, pacing manically as she continued her bizarre rant. 

"It took my Eva!" She nearly shrieked, "it took her from me!" Her wild eyes went back to you as she walked back and forth across the floor, "she fell from me! Away from me! Abandoned me and our plans! Everything we were working towards - she left it all behind - dropped it like it had never meant anything, all because - all because - this - this boy! A human! A human boy she could never coexist with! She was stricken down by this folly and I lost her to it, to him!"

She was growing more and more fitful and you were trying very hard to not fear for your safety. Miranda was a loaded loose cannon, that was all too apparent.

"I - I had no choice. I had no choice, little fae. For our own betterment, for hers, I had to cure her. I had to end it. How could I possibly let this infection of love for a human taint my bloodline?! Humans would be our end! She knew this, she knew, and yet she gave in. She bowed to this weakness. And I... my reign, my dynasty, could not be tarnished. We were too far into our plan to stray. I couldn't allow it. I couldn't... and so I had to kill her, don't you see?"

She was out of her fucking mind. Absolutely mad.

"But... time marched on. I marched on. I never abandoned our plans, our hope, our desire for our kinds future. I had to abide my time. Calculate. Measure. Collect. Create. Watch. And plan. Plan, plan, plan, until the time was right."

Once more she turned to you and came to your side with a face full of psychotic hope.

"And here you are - my beacon of light! The turn of my tides! We will be great together. We will create such a dynasty that will rule this world for the rest of time, it will be marvelous! You... and me... we will change the course of the worlds future."

The fuck WE will.

You had to keep calm. You had to.

You were facing a deranged vampire who was old and powerful, but you would fight tooth and nail to make sure this plan of hers never saw the light of day. Pun intended.

Swallowing carefully, you tested the deep water you were in for your own benefit, you needed information, and more catalyst to your stash of emotion, "what have you done with Alcina?"

Mother Miranda's visage took a deep dive from hope to scrutiny, "what does it matter? She is a lost cause, as all of the vampires I have placed my hopes in have been."

"If you want my help, which I will give you, I simply ask in return that you tell me what you've done with her."

Rising slowly away from you, Miranda went back to the small table and retrieved a vial, with it and the syringe in hand, she returned and eyed you flatly, "she and her daughters will die by sunlight. I sealed them in the sun towers to burn."

There it was.

Oh that fire began to burn brightly. Now all you needed was your window of opportunity.

"You offer your alliance so willingly, I had not expected that little fae," Miranda mused as she looked down at you, calculating your words, "why?"

Fighting down your rage you locked your eyes in hers and forced a small smile, "you give me little choice. I would rather go willingly than fight you."

Her hardened facade broke into a faint grin. 

Was it that easy?

"I somehow knew I was going to like you. Fae are usually very feisty and yet you are so malleable - you are wise beyond your years! Or, perhaps, the human world has beaten you down enough to make you this compliant... either way... we really will be a great team together."

She stroked your face once more that made your insides lurch, but you held your tongue and waited less than patiently.

"Still... you will have to fully earn my trust in time. Now, hold still, I need to fill these vials so I can begin my research."

Mother Miranda reached for the heavy iron collar around your neck and snapped the latch open, pulled it from your throat and you felt the overpowering flood of everything you had been holding onto slam into you.

Show time.

All you saw was red. Rage. Alcina, on her knees and bleeding at the mercy of the woman in front of you. The shallowing of your breath was accompanied with the narrowing of your space; the honing in on everything you felt; the numb, surging, overflowing power of your need for revenge for what she'd done to Alcina, and what she had in store for the woman you loved so deeply. You couldn't fathom the future she spoke of, the terror she would instill, and you would be damned before you, or your Alcina, became the played pawns in the start of this chess match. Miranda would pay dearly. You would make certain of it.

It was hot, prickly. Seething to be released.

You harnessed your magick with all of your might; the gnashing, howling hunger to lash out giving you only a brief pause before you let it off its leash at your intended target.

The heat of this explosion of magick was so strong you felt like you could touch it. It permeated off you and hit Miranda with an invisible choking cloud.

She stumbled back, dropping her tools to the floor with a clatter as a sputtering scream began to emerge from her throat. Her hands reached for her eyes with a shaking intensity as she screamed louder and louder, her knees threatening to buckle as you forced every ounce of your hatred through her. It wasn't long before you saw trails of blood pouring down her cheeks from her eyes before she all but fell into the table, knocking it over, the glass vials shattering on impact to the floor as she struggled to get as far away from you as possible.

Miranda tumbled through the door from which she came and you jerked on your wrists with might. The iron split around your wrists without struggle and you were free. Nauseatingly light headed you headed for the door opposite of where Mother Miranda had fled and dashed as fast as your wobbly legs would take you.

The further you got into the ways of the city the more and more powerful you felt, almost like you had to collect your power back before you yourself burst. Finally, against your will, you slammed into a wall and took heavy breath after heavy breath, looking down at your open palms that felt like they were on fire. Things were beginning to spin less and less and now you could hear yelling and screaming, howling, gun shots, and what you were pretty certain were explosions. 

My hell, you were underground in the middle of a real war.

Out of the blue you heard your name behind you.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, please let this not be real. You weren't entirely sure enough on your feet yet to run. 

Hesitantly you looked over your shoulder and found a face coming at you that allowed you to relax.

"Angie," you huffed, still relying on the wall for support.

"Ho - ly shit! You escaped?!"

You nodded a little disjunct and let the familiar vampire grab hold of you, "y-yeah - Miranda - "

"Ooo shit, fuck fuck - c'mon lets get outta here!"

She scooped you up like you were just a stuffed doll and dashed down the hallway, turning here and turning there, the labyrinth of this place making you so confused you stopped trying to keep track of your surroundings until you were being set down in a dark corner of a room with several other people.

"She escaped Miranda!" Angie shouted.

Three more sets of eyes landed on you, one you recognized; Donna.

"What?!"

The burliest of them asked as he shot around from behind Donna to get a good look at you.

"I'll be fucked! Little human's got gumption! How, though?!"

"I - I'm a fae," you answered very unsure of yourself. You weren't entirely sure if that Miranda bitch was right, but somehow it made sense.

The pause made you uneasy as they all looked at you as if you'd grown a second head in the last five seconds.

"I have magick," you tried again, "I attacked her, but I don't know how much damage I did."

Donna placed her hand on her shoulder in a very comforting way, her smile was warm but it didn't last long.

"You may have bought us a large window of opportunity, my dear, thank you," she offered, "are you alright, did she harm you?"

"N-no, no she didn't hurt me - I'm ok. Where's Alcina?" you blurted.

"The Eastern sun tower, that's where we're headed now."

Said the very handsome man with the most strikingly white hair and Russian accent.

"This is Dmitri, and this is Karl," Donna relayed with haste, "and the one who brought you, this is Angie, my sister."

"Yeah, we've met before," you responded with a smile at the blonde.

Donna halted grabbing for the bag she was fuddling with, "what?"

Angie jumped in immediately, "mmmyeah, about that; that's a story for another time, we really gotta get going. The sun rose three hours ago, our time slot to rescue is cutting way too short."

"Let's go then," you butted in, feeling much more like yourself which was a great relief.

"No, no," Donna warned, "this is no place for you, dear, I don't want to risk your safety."

"Did you not hear what she just said?" Karl interjected, "little pixie dust handed Miranda's ass to her - she's comin'! We want this little magickal hot shot with us."

"We really don't have time to argue, let's go!"

Dmitri was the final say.

The rest of the way wasn't completely barren of mutants, but they seemed oddly discombobulated and killing them was easier than it should've been. 

The radio comms worn by Karl and Dmitri were going off the entire way. From what you gathered, the lycans and vampire soldiers were executing well calculated and stealthy attacks through the city, confirming your suspicions of hearing explosion earlier, which, fittingly enough continued as the three of you made your way to what was referred to as the Eastern Quarter, where the Eastern sun towers resided. 

You were privileged front row seats to watching how vampires and lycans fought. Well, Karl at least. He was manic and hasty, although swift and effective with knives and a very large gun that made easy work of skulls. There was little left remaining after the blasts but an eerie blue glowing substance that oozed from whatever body part had been obliterated. The vampires were elegant and ruthless. They preferred blades above all else and Donna, though small, was terrifyingly agile and precise in the way she killed. Angie was a lot like Karl; pure mania. Dmitri, almost robotic; blunt and brutal.

Luckily you didn't have to go up against any mutants, you were far too preoccupied with familiarizing yourself with your surroundings and getting to Alcina as quickly as possible.

A sharp turn and a steep decline on damp stone stairs led you all to your destination. 

It was eerily silent here and it made everything more dire. There were slots in the low ceiling where it met the stone wall that allowed, what you assumed to be, sunlight in. Safely enough it wouldn't harm a vampire if they didn't come too close, but in a horrifying way to let whomever was down there know that the sun was in the sky. The area was cold, and everything echoed loudly as it was quite literally a simple stone corridor with one door and two exits, the one you came from and the one that had dried blood leading to a very lonely door.

But there was no longer a door there.

The barely six foot tall archway had been cemented shut. 

At some point during the night Alcina and her girls had fallen into a dreamless, slumber-like state. The frigid cold keeping them stored motionless and thoughtless until the impending white light of their looming fate began to spill over into the silo.

Bela was the first to wake.

She was stiff and so cold that when she peered gingerly towards where they all rest with their fingers still touching their mothers, she realized that their digits had turned completely grey. Void of all color or circulation.

It was then the shock and panic of realization that light was filling the silo, that Bela used all her might to push from the stinging cold floor and assess the situation.

Her wide eyes peered up to see the crescent moon of sunlight was growing larger and larger at the very top of the silo walls.

The sunlight was coming, death was coming. Help, was not.

Severity set in.

"Mother," her raw voice rasped, "mother please, wake up - wake up! Sisters! Get up!"

Their movements were just as slow as hers but they joined her, sitting up and leaning into the cold brick of the wall, eyes flying from the blue sky above to their mother who still lay completely unresponsive.

"Mother! Mother, please!" Bela called once more.

Daniela and Cassandra reached for each other, then Bela, trying to pull on their chains once more to see if by any mishap of fate they could break free. But they could not. They were too weak and it was too late.

The light melted down the brick above further and further as the moments passed, and the girls took to holding onto each other instead, inching as far from the wall as possible to give them any more time that might be possible before death seared them.

"M-mother - " Dani whined, "wake up... the sun! Please!"

Still, nothing.

Cassandra held fast to her sisters and brought their attention to her, the most somber expression they'd ever seen taking her beautiful face. She shook her head, accepting the fate that had befallen them, refusing to let it end without expressing the love she never truly said out loud, with actions.

So there, in the chilling wake of the sunlight, Cassandra, Bela, and Daniela held each other in an embrace of sisterhood as they braved their fears for what was to come.

Maybe you shouldn't have worked so hard on that illusion spell. Now you were depleted energetically and magickly and this was really not the time to be. You silently kicked yourself as you made your way to the kitchen for something to drink. God you felt so parched all of a sudden.

There was a jitteriness in your veins now and you couldn't help but feel like something was too close for comfort. Should you call Malka? No, no fucking way were you getting her involved.

Your eyes found the clock out of habit. It was almost midnight. Should you to go bed? Would you even be able to sleep?

It wasn't long into the thought you heard muffled caws from the other room.

Your instincts perked your reaction up and you shot to your bedroom to find all six of your crow family having an absolute fit on your balcony.

The cawing you had heard previously was now an unmistakable word; run.

But it was too late. 

All you remember after the icy fear was a spicy stinging sensation up your nose, pressure to your neck, and blackness.

~

Alcina and Donna went still as stone as the sound permeated up through the tunnels.

They both knew the sound too well and Alcina's eyes exploded with bright gold as her instinctive prowess flooded to the surface.

"You still have time to flee and run as far as you can," she said to Donna almost mindlessly, her eyes fixed on the tunnel before them.

"You're out of your fucking mind."

They looked at each other in the darkness and without exchanging so much as a nod, sprinted their way down to the underground.

Alcina stopped dead in her tracks as she peered out into the vast opening of her realm. Mutants had taken over the city. But instead of the bloodshed she had expected, this enormous army had herded all vampires and lycans alike to the inner city, circling and guarding them like the dogs they were.

She grabbed for Donna's arm in one last attempt to persuade her to leave this, but they were now being grabbed up by a slew of mutants that had appeared out of no where, ushering them to the center of the city along with everyone else.

Alcina was ferally fighting her desire to rip them to shreds but her subconscious thwarted the idea with a visceral hiss. 

She was no good to anyone if she was dead.

Every mutant had those same white glowing eyes. Dressed in all black. Their skin paler and more sickly than any vampire Alcina had ever seen. They moved robotically, as if they were a hive mind. None of them spoke or made a noise, but their unchallenged strength made her blood boil and stomach churn. They were all gangly, uncharacteristically gaunt, each face a hollow expression vacant of any thought or personality. What were these things.

The vampires and lycans of the city all turned to look at the Matriarch as she was shoved into the crowd along with everyone else, their faces beckoning her attention, demanding her to act, to tell them what to do, to give them any shred of explanation or crumb of hope that this was not as dire as it seemed.

She could give them none.

The hushed and hasty whispers filled her ears with an annoying overstimulation to her already sparking blood-rage. Alcina's awareness was so alert she felt tight in her bones, like one sharp movement would break them due to sheer tension.

And then she saw them.

"Where is Mother Miranda!" she bellowed at Ethan and Mia as they weaved their way through the parting mutants like the Red Sea.

Donna had now grabbed onto Alcina's hand in the hidden mass, her own desperation and fear threatening to drown her as she heard her Matriarch's voice demand that answer. She was a little too short to see through the collective of bodies that were gathered like livestock. But she felt Alcina's rage and power surging like tidal waves.

Alcina could not denounce the pure, white hot anger and dread that sparked in the pit of her being. These putrid fucking imbeciles were the last faces she wanted to see and suddenly everything began to shatter and crash around her. Her mind could barely form a thought as she watched them approach her.

This couldn't be. This simply couldn't be.

The fucking proverbial pin-drop silence was almost too much to take and Alcina damn near shrieked just to stop the deafening silence as everyone became overtaken by their uncertainty.

Ethan bore a smirk Alcina desired to rip from his face, Mia, was docile and unreadable as they were now within touching distance. Donna's grip of her hand was the only thing grounding and stopping her from making a move she would surely regret.

"Mother Miranda requests your presence in the City Hall," Ethan stated warmly, "as she does of everyone who can fit," he said a little louder, addressing any who could hear but never taking his eyes off the Matriarch, "and please, remove your coat and gloves, Mother Miranda would like this to be a relaxed setting."

He could see Alcina's immediate response was to be refusal, so he put his hand up, "her orders." 

Her reaction time was forced when a mutant tried to remove her coat for her. 

"Don't fucking touch me!" she lashed, turning on a dime and shoving violently at the mutant, her eyes on fire with the fury she was trying difficultly to harness.

Every set of eyes locked on their Matriarch to see what she would do. The unspoken hesitation to watch and act if their leader did also was palpable enough it unnerved Donna, giving her the urge to shake her fellow men from their trance. It was an excruciating and slow several moments as Alcina took her time deciding what to do.

After she was able to regain self-control, Alcina kept her stare of pending death on the mutant who dared touch her as she removed her gloves with care, followed by the coat from her shoulders, handing the article to Mia at her side who took it with care and tucked it under her arm, her beloved gloves, the ones you gave her, included.

She was left now in her favorite cream-colored, long sleeved, button down silk blouse, and her loose fitting black trousers that gave her figure the most understated yet beautiful form. Alcina grimaced at the feeling of pure vulnerability that blanketed her and gritted her teeth. She could kill Mia no sooner than if anything happened to those gloves.

Ethan smiled. "Come."

Alcina was absolutely quaking. Her jaw was clenched so tightly she could feel her teeth hinting at cracking. She was sure her face had hidden none of her rebuke as the petulant little fool turned his back on her and walked away, followed so ceremoniously by Mia she wanted to puke. But she did as instructed and followed.

Oh, the terrible things she would rather do right now than follow. Though, she knew her cards must be played wisely.

Donna said nothing as she held to her friend's arm for dear life while her brain screamed and calculated and planned on overdrive. This was terrible. This was everything she had dreaded and was now coming true. Her options for retaliation were completely defeated. What could she do? Where was Angie? Where was Karl, Dmitri, Sylvia, Mitch, Mateo, Gerard, Elina - WHERE WAS EVERYONE?

Focused so intently on where they were going, Alcina only now noticed how many mutants there really were. Thousands of these fucking creatures were on rooftops, on the walls of the caverns, flooded in the alleys and streets, lining the cobblestone walkways and sticking out like the sorest of thumbs. Alcina felt actually nauseas for the first time in years. 

Was this defeat? Was this where it ended for her?

Her questions were silenced when they entered the chamber and her heart plummeted to the pit of her core.

At the back wall of the city gathering hall were her daughters. And Karl, Dmitri, and everyone else who had been on the outskirts of the underground while they had been trying to prepare and fight against this outside force that just happened to be sleeping under their feet. Alcina felt cold as death by the look of her girls. Their fear was painted with no remorse on their beautiful faces and she nearly bolted towards them. But it was who stood alone in the middle of the sunken floor that demanded every ounce of her attention now.

Mother Miranda stood proudly. 

Hands folded neatly in front of her, waiting so patiently for their arrival, the smile on her face would otherwise be warm and welcoming had Alcina not known the wickedness beneath it. 

She was in full gold and black feathered regalia. Her high backed collar adorned with long, shining black feathers that moved graciously as she did, the stark contrast of her blonde hair done ornately upon her head bringing out her features in such a way that said without words; you will look at me. You will bow to me. You will adore and worship me. I am here for eternity.

Alcina couldn't distinguish her hatred from her fear.

In a swift movement an arm was outstretched when her icy blue eyes found Alcina, and like a moth to flame, she was beckoned to join the woman alone in the middle of the room while the rest of the place was filled to the rim with whoever could fit.

She didn't know why she'd come so willingly. She didn't know why she accepted her offer. She didn't know how or why she was still so easily corrupted to obey this woman whom she hated so desperately.

All the same, she did.

Mother Miranda was her maker. She had bled her, guided her, taught her, brought her into this life of darkness and made her who she was. Alcina fought against her unspoken obedience but it never seemed to work. She hated it, hated it. She wanted to be free of her!

"My dearest, my Alcina," her rancidly sweet voice cooed, a hand reaching to stroke Alcina's quivering jaw tenderly, "we're making history tonight."

What was she supposed to say to that. What reaction was expected of her in this moment.

Alcina stood entirely still, looking down at her wondering if she should make her move, if she should try to kill her, if she should let her blood-rage explode and shove her claws through her throat and take her head in one fell swoop.

"Welcome!" Mother Miranda broke Alcina's thoughts as she pulled from her and addressed everyone who were now gathered like sardines, "welcome... my children, my kin. Tonight is a very special night. As you can see, I come bringing gifts of the future - our future - which will be full of power and glamour, uncontested strength and abundance we've never been able to imagine."

Alcina's eyes swept the room briefly before her sights went back to her daughters who were each now being handled by a mutant and brought towards the back steps opposite Alcina. She felt the need to dash, to free them, to gather them in her arms and protect them with her life, which she feared would be the case as the droning of this fucking woman continued.

"But for this beautiful promising future changes must be made. We cannot go forward while clinging to the past - our weaknesses must be weeded out! We must grow! Change... and evolve."

Mother Miranda circled Alcina, her hand trailing along her body as she went, her eyes still fixated on the crowd and never once looking at her. It made Alcina wince from the tension. She wanted her to get her filthy hand off her, she didn't want to be touched, not by her, not ever, ever again.

"I'm here to offer this to you all!" Miranda grinned widely, "I have created the army you see before you! I have perfected our kind, and I will continue my work until we are as perfect and beautiful as we can be... who will join me? Who will forge this new path with me?"

No one reacted. No one said anything. Vampires and lycans carefully exchanged glances, daring not to move too quick or say a thing, until one lycan spoke out.

"Never! I will never follow you!" he hollered, stepping from the shadows and crowd to face her on the top stair, "you will lead us into chaos! The Lady Dimitrescu is our only true leader."

Mother Miranda faced him slowly. Unmoved. Still. Waiting for anything else, more to chime in, though none came.

Her heels echoed loudly in the hall. She came within a few feet and with the flick of her wrist the nearest mutant struck and the lycan was sliced from stem to stern and crumpled to the floor in a pile of black blood and intestines.

The gasps were short and sharp. Alcina remained unmoved as she watched and knew this was it; this is where the last fight for everyone's freedom would happen.

Miranda turned on her heels and walked directly back to Alcina who she wanted to flinch but knew she never would, and smiled up at her. Sizing her up in her own mind with a sly smile while she knew she held all the cards.

"Alcina. My dearest, most favorite, beloved child... Will you follow your Mother into the future?"

Alcina remained unmoved. She felt every set of eyes bore down on her like the weight of a pummeling avalanche and desperately tried to weigh every option she had. There were so few, if any. Her ability to control her mouth slipped through her chilled fingers.

"No." She whispered.

The freedom and chains that came with that hit her like bricks.

The smile on the tyrants face only grew wider.

"Oh I'm so glad you said that, my dear," she replied brightly, "her daughters, please!" She shouted to the back.

Had Alcina turned any sharper she may have fallen down. Her gaze went to find her girls being brought to join them on the lower level of the sunken floor, at the back, far from her reach, held captive by their assigned mutants while Alcina growled deep in her chest.

Her next course of action was to be as ruthless and insane as possible if this is where it was all going to end, but something struck her in the back and buckled her knees as she hit the floor with a searing pain.

She couldn't be sure what she comprehended first before the pain set in; the collective gasps, the look on her daughters faces, or a loud well manicured crack.

While Alcina had her back turned to Miranda, she had beckoned Ethan who slithered from the crowd with a glowing whip.

What Alcina also missed through the searing sensation and her wail of pain, was the very audible 'No!' screamed from Donna, who was in the arms of a very ruthlessly infuriated Karl Heisenberg, who was also watching from the sidelines in horror, just as powerless as everyone else.   "My kin, I really must give you a demonstration of the future I speak of!" Mother Miranda broke the tense silence, "and I must give due diligent thanks to your resident Lycan Leader; Karl Heisenberg, and his wild genius - his brilliant weapons and inventions have given way to brand new kinds of weapons that I and my new loyal minds of brilliance have perfected! Karl's breaking innovations to work with UV rays and radioactive material has proven invaluable in all my long research and innovation - as you see here - your Matriarch has been rendered nearly harmless with one strike of this gamma whip."

Karl felt as if he was coming apart from the seams. This fucking cunt had stolen his work and bastardized it in a way that should get her head ripped from her dainty little shoulders. He was so angry he could barely breathe, knowing Alcina's pain and pending defeat was his own doing. He was so ready to pounce, he was so ready to start world war three, but they were horrifically outnumbered and he knew this bloodshed would be in vain. Karl would hold onto his rage for the pending fight and release his terror the moment his chance appeared. He would save Alcina if it was the last thing he did.

When Miranda's eyes met Karl's, she smiled reverently and stepped towards he and Donna with a glacial slide, "I hope you will join me. Your mind would be such a sore loss."

Another crack sounded and Alcina cried out unwillingly again, dropping to her palms to keep from collapsing, knowing this is exactly what Mother Miranda wanted; a spectacle, to make an example of the most revered Matriarch this underworld had seen in centuries. To break her. In front of everyone.

She needed strength, she needed to focus, she needed desperately to get back on her feet and face this head on. She refused to go down with her back turned, on all fours like an animal.

The screams of her daughters gave her just that.

Blood-rage, though flickering in its strength, broke through the dams and flooded her veins. Searing pain or not, Alcina's black eyes forced their seeking to the sound as she rose with a primal stealth.

Her girls now donned thick glowing collars around their necks, the inevitable reaction seeming to be a strength and power sucking phenomena. 

All she could hear now was the rushing of power of her blood-rage in her ears and Alcina began to move towards her daughters, but several more cracks rang through her comprehension, the pain not so much, but then a suffocating sensation around her throat yanked her backwards all the while every jabbing pin and needle of a excruciating pain rushed over her with a gruesome strength. Her blood-rage was flogged into submission, the power and strength ripped from her grasp, and all she could do was gasp as her hands flung to her neck to grab at whatever contraption was around her throat.

Mia stood above her. A chain in her hand that drooped down to a collar of her very own. Alcina registered everything much slower but the screaming and shouting of her girls pierced her consciousness the fastest.

Pure adrenalin was all she had left and Alcina harnessed it with all her might to force herself to her knees, and there before her was Ethan with a blood dripping whip, Mother Miranda at his side, her face full of pride and glory. She gulped for breath as the world felt like it was getting simultaneously smaller and darker, the pain becoming more than she could bare but the pure spite to defy this bitch and her toys pulling weight. Alcina would fight until every ounce of her blood was spilled. She would not go down as easily as Mother Miranda intended. Never.

The rattling of chains snagged her attention and Alcina's tired eyes found that her daughters were now wrist bound and held at the mercy of the mutants. Their faces were full of fear and anger, eyes wide and glued to their mother as she gave them the smallest, more reassuring smiles she could muster, refusing to let them see her faulter.

Alcina mouthed an 'I love you' to them, relieved on the inside that they had not truly been harmed, just bound and held captive for the time being. It was enough. It would have to be.

Her focus was drawn away as Mother Miranda leaned down to her, taking her chin in her dainty fingers to kiss her cheeks.

"There's more, my pet," she cooed, rising swiftly leaving her there in her drained, bleeding state.

"As effective as all of this is, as you can clearly see, let me introduce the catalyst that changes everything about our future even more than these weapons!"

Alcina watched hazily as Mother Miranda was brought a very familiar black box from another mutant who was hiding in the wings, her heart dropping even harder as the realization sunk in.

With glee, Miranda opened the box and pulled out a small vial of dark liquid, adorned with purple wax as its sealer, "Olde blood! Olde blood that belongs to a being I had long thought had gone extinct... and this blood... will shape our very fortune in my plans. And I... I have its source within my grasp."

No. Please, no, Alcina begged within the confines of her mind, not you.

The grogginess you felt was unmatched, and you were certain it had to do with the things around your neck and wrists. You were awake but you were damn near useless as you were dragged down a long, dark hall where you could hear a woman's voice that sounded all too familiar without any real reason why.

Your lazy eyes watched as the scene unfolded, the panic following shortly after.

The room was vast and filled to the brim with people. Which you were now deducing were not human. Vampires. Lycans. And some other humanoid like creatures that were far more in number than the rest. And in the middle of this sunken floor surrounded by all of them was Alcina. Knelt in the middle. A blonde woman in black and gold was by her side, as were two others; a man and a woman. One held a glowing whip, the other, the chain to whatever was around Alcina's neck. And then you could see the blood trickling down and through her white blouse.

Her weak eyes met yours as everyone turned to see you as well, but you could only see her, her and the state which she was in, and you screamed.

"Alcina - NOO!"

The heavy thing around your neck was yanked and you choked. Had it not been for the brutes who held you by your arms you would have crumbled to gasp and hack for breath.

Everything suddenly became so much worse.

Alcina realized she had to make a move, not the one she wanted, but the one she needed to. She didn't care how many eyes were on her.

"Mother..." her voice echoed, as weak as it was.

Your watery eyes shot up when you heard it. Her voice broke. You'd never heard it break.

The blonde turned her eyes very slowly to the woman on the ground and smiled, "yes?"

Everyone was so quiet it was uncomfortably unnerving.

"Please, don't do this... please." Her plea was but a choked whisper.

Mother Miranda stepped closer and ran a delicate finger along the side of Alcina's face, "do what, my pet?"

Alcina wanted to laugh. This dramatic fucking bitch. She wanted her to play into the palm of her hand, something she had been so unwilling to do only moments ago, but now the recklessness and severity of the situation came to her clear and deadly as day. She was not above begging and barter for the lives of those she loved. If that's what it took to make any kind of difference that might lead to prevailing, she would. She would do anything.

"Please, don't hurt my girls... or her... Please, let them go," Alcina uttered softly, throwing her pride to the wayside, "do what you want with me... just... let them go, please."

Mother Miranda beamed, "begging already. It doesn't suit you, you know. But I can't deny that I like the sound of it. In fact, it's more than music to my ears, it's... pure pleasure to hear you beg." She took a step back and admired the scene before her, gently throwing a smirk to Alcina, "you know I could let you make a break for it and save them" she purred, looking back at you and then to her daughters on the other end, "but you'll have to choose for whom."

That fucking bitch. While you had absolutely no energy or magick to pull from at the current time, your fury was becoming unmatched and you shouted with a rasp as loud as you could.

"CUUUNT! YOU FUCKING CUNT!"

You had to draw her attention, you had to give Alcina any allotted time she needed to think, to get back on her feet, to act! But nothing was going according to plan.

Alcina shouted your name in protest but Miranda's visage turned on you in a flash, and then Alcina was crying out once more.

Miranda had snapped her fingers for another lashing from the glowing whip, the crack making your heart break as you watched as helplessly as everyone else. You couldn't fathom why no one was doing anything, why no one was rising up against this bitch, helping Alcina and killing them all. But then in those split seconds you were anxiously looking around for a face to lure into retaliation, the white glowing eyes of the out of place figures stalled your every thought.

It was them. 

It was the things you had dreamed about; the things that tore Alcina away from you in your dream; the monsters that haunted your subconscious ever since. These must be the very things that had ripped Alcina apart, the things that almost killed her, the things that gave her wounds she couldn't heal from. And that bitch, that cunt, that psychopath in the feathered dress, was the culprit. 

That was Mother Miranda.

"I really should be thanking you, Alcina," Miranda's voice echoed, bringing everyone back to her attention, "for finding me the perfect host to begin the real work," she chuckled with a wicked sneer, looking at you with a hunger, "take her to the lab, NOW!" she barked.

Before you could protest, something spicy in a black container was shoved under your nose and everything went black again.

Alcina watched helplessly as the burning sensation in her body made it hard to breathe, let alone concentrate, the lack of her natural energy making the panic so much easier to set in, but before she could try to barter once more in her desperation Miranda turned on her and knocked her fully to the floor with a strong hit.

The taste of her own blood exploded in her mouth and the cold of the stone floor was a biting contrast to the heat from the open whip gashes in her back and shoulders and now her bloodied lips.

She gasped shortly as she felt a hand in her hair that tugged her from the floor and forced her to look at the face looming above.

Mother Miranda smiled, "your girls are looking exceptionally pale, my dearest Alcina. They need some sunlight."

The sounds of her daughters struggle filled the hall, the clashing of chains and the very apparent one-sided fight behind her making her soul run cold and her heart shatter to pieces.

Alcina swallowed and coughed, "n-no, M-Mother Miranda please, no!" If not for the immobilizing pain from the whip and the unnatural effects this collar had on her, she would have ripped Miranda's throat out of her body in record time.

"Shhh, shh my love," Miranda soothed, leaning down to the most unhappily docile Alcina she had met since she had been human, "for you..." her eyes went dark, "you may watch as your world turns to ash, joining them not too long after I suppose. Depends entirely how quickly the sun decides to move today."

The sounds of her daughters screams of protest began to dwindle away as they were dragged further into the underground, to the sun towers, where death awaited them. Alcina felt hot tears begin to cut ravines down her cheeks as she huffed, sneering and gulping down her pain and anguish, the brutal defeat of not being able to retaliate and do as she pleased to end all of this before it was far too late.

"You should be grateful, you know," the blonde affirmed confidently, loving her control and power trip almost as much as her own voice, "I should condemn you to eternity in a box, with nothing but your screams to keep you company - your death could take centuries... But I simply cannot risk it."

Miranda leaned back only briefly to admire Alcina. Her beauty was unmatched even this way, and she sighed.

Moving ever so slowly, Miranda placed her lips against Alcina's ear, "you see, you have found a Fae... just for me. A precious creature I thought had all died out hundreds of years ago. And she, she is simply too much for you. The love between the two of you will ruin everything. I need her. She will be perfect. So, from the bottom of my dead, black heart... thank you, my pet, for giving me the key to my new dynasty. Your death, and the death of your daughters, will set the needed tone for my reclaiming of the throne underground... You've been a wonderful gift, my favorite, truly, as I have told you many times," she pulled away again, gazing into Alcina's beautiful, grief stricken face.

Her fingers caressed her feather light, Alcina's stomach felt queasy, ill, like she could crawl out of her skin at the mere sight of this woman. She desired more than ever to break free from her binds and kill her. And she couldn't. Her tears could not have been more bitter.

With precision, Miranda placed delicate kisses along Alcina's cheekbone, down her wet cheek, down, down, and grazed her lips along Alcina's that were trembling, stealing tender kiss after tender kiss as she held both sides of her face within her palms. 

She hummed, another smile appearing as she lingered so close, "it seems a shame to waste you," Miranda whispered, "I've wanted you more than any other of my fledglings. You... had the most potential. The most beautiful. The most broken. The most desirable to watch all of these long years together. But, what must be done, must be done."

Alcina was melting. Hating every syllable. Breaking at her words. Hating every breath. The lump in her throat was unbearable as it all buckled. She hated her. Hated her. Hated everything she had done to her. Hated every touch, ever glance, every word she'd ever uttered. Alcina had mustered enough strength to elongate her teeth and was just close enough to her jugular, but in the split second of her thought, her window of opportunity was gone.

Miranda pulled away like a flash and stood there peering down at her with what seemed to be pity, and maybe a hint of regret.

"Take her." 

The scream Alcina thought was her own was not. It was Donna's.

Alcina only stole a brief glance at her and Karl on the steps only feet from her before the cracks of the whip sent her spiraling into an anguished wail. Her breath was ripped from her lungs with another crack, another lick of flame, the mixture of the tightness around her throat sending her senses into overdrive as she felt herself being jerked back and drug along the rough stone floor, up the jagged steps, and through the side doors leaving a splotchy trail of blood in her wake.

It couldn't end like this. It could not end like this.

Alcina felt the fitful desperation deep inside of her, but it was refused entry to the surface by the thing around her neck. She felt human once again; weak, stricken down by her illness, denied the ability to take charge of her own body and mind; that she must bow and accept her fate because there simply wasn't another option she was given.

No! NO! She screamed internally.

Her daughters needed her. You needed her. The vampires and lycans she had watched over for all these years needed her. 

She could not fall!

Another visceral pang of defiance clawed from her depths and escaped through her throat with an earth shattering scream.

Beyond all odds, Alcina felt a short volcanic eruption of blood-rage hit her system and she grabbed the chain Mia held and yanked it, hard.

In a blinding, blurry movement she was up and on her feet, her vision, cloudy as it was, could make out the outlines of Ethan and Mia and her long razor sharp claws went swinging. She hit one of them, she wasn't sure who, she did not fucking care, and kept swinging. She slashed and slashed and screamed and screamed through the utter chaos that was pouring out of her. The smell of their blood helped to fuel her fury, and though she could feel the cutting and snapping of the whip Alcina's will to survive seemed to be winning.

Until it wasn't.

She felt the stab of a very familiar blade run her through. 

Alcina's body stalled. 

Her vision returned, blood-rage expunged. 

Ethan stood in front of her, the dagger still in his hand and plunged just below her sternum.

Alcina's breath escaped the moment he pulled it from her and she tumbled to the ground with a thud. Time stilled. Memories and defeat slathered her slowly. She felt cold and clammy. Her breaths were shallow and ragged and the vampires she'd done plenty of damage to, began to drag her limp body once more down the dark hallway.

The next thing sensation she was met with was the bitter, blistering cold biting at every inch of her. Her eyes fluttered open as the sound of clinking, latching metal radiated through the tight space.

She lay crumpled on her side in the silo, the last bit of warmth from her own blood cooling quickly not only on the ground as it spilled, but through her very veins that were closing up. 

When her vision blinked clear, her three daughters were before her, chained and huddled together at the other side of the round silo. 

"M-mother!" Cassandra sobbed.

Alcina did everything in her power to push herself from the ground but she could not. 

"Mm... my girls..." she was at least able to utter, trying to focus and give them a look of comfort, "nu te teme. Asta nu sa terminat," she rasped, the puffs of mist from her voice escaped and dissipated into the frigid air. (do not fear. This is not over.)

She would force a tone to believe her own lie, to give her daughters any bit of hope she could. Their sniffles and choked cries were breaking every last bit of herself she'd held together apart.

"Este... atât... de frig... mamă," Dani's teeth chattered, "Am... simt că... mă rup." (it is... s-so... cold, mama - I... feel like... I'm breaking.)

Had Alcina anymore tears to cry she would have shed them, but she was too weak to do much of anything at all.

Her voice was shallow and light, but she pushed through the numbing pain with all she had left, "nu vă temeți, dragii mei, suntem împreună... ajutorul va veni." (Do not be afraid, my darlings, we're together... help will come.)

The girls held tighter to each other as they looked upon their bloody, beaten mother. Their tears began to freeze on their pale cheeks as they fell, the terrible cold of the winter night holding back none of its malice.

Bela tried to clear her throat through the lump that lie there, "noi... te iubim, mamă." (we... lo-love you, Mother.)

Alcina winced, her tired eyes going wide, "nu face asta... Nu-ți lua rămas bun. Asta... nu s-a terminat... nu te lasa... asta NU s-a terminat." She choked, searching labored for breath. (don't you do that... Don't you say your goodbyes. This... is not over... don't you give in... this is NOT over.)

She burned inside. Burned with hatred and defiance. Wishing her body would join the fire still alive in her stomach. She didn't want it to end like this, her daughters deserved better! They deserved to live! She had worked and loved them too hard for this to be their end. Alcina would not believe it. She would refuse with her remaining might.

After several silent moments, Alcina slid her trembling arm along the ground as far as she could towards her girls, unsure if she could reach. They in turn moved slowly and gingerly, but they too reached for their mothers hand. Their fingertips barely overlapped but it was enough. It was enough.

A single tear rolled from Alcina's eye as she lay there on the painfully cold stone, forcing a smile on her bloodied lips, "sunteți comorile mele... Rațiunea mea... Cauza luptei mele... Sunteți cioplite în inima mea pentru tot restul timpului... Fiicele mele... Vă voi iubi în orice vârstă... Noi lupta pana la capat... Suntem Dimitrescu's! Te iubesc!" (you are my treasures... My reason... The cause of my fight... You are carved on my heart for the rest of time... My daughters... I will love you through every age...  We fight until the end... We are Dimitrescu's! I love you!"

Their smiles warmed her soul in the bitterness that fought to break them.

The black sky and tiny diamond stars that shown through the silo's opening far, far above a pretty little scene as they waited.