Evileye's heart had not beaten in over two hundred years, but now...now she was in such a terrified state that she could swear it had jumpstarted her stilled heart and made it race like a horse on a track.
Her team followed in concerned silence as she got on her horse, and they on theirs, and began to trot it slowly out of the city. She could have gone faster, perhaps to get this over with and be done with it, perhaps to just end the fear she felt, or even just got at a normal pace, but instead she let the horse plod slowly along as if pulling a funeral cart for mourners to pay their respects to.
She felt that way, she felt like death had claimed her, but left her frightened of it out of spite. One by one, with each step of the horse, each clip, each clop of hoof on stone, another of the things Lakyus had said about vampires or the undead came back to haunt Evileye's mind. Nor was Lakyus alone in providing those dread moments, the entire team had happily killed her kind, and had never done anything but spoken against them.
Even though they begrudgingly worked with Ulthis, their discomfort was not lost on Evileye's sharp senses and intimate knowledge of her sisters.
The city gate appeared as they drew closer, Evileye could make out every detail on the guard's faces, but for her team they were only blurs. The pressure of Evileye's silence and her obvious tension continued to mount, it became like a heavy weight on her chest and Evileye feared she was losing her nerve.
To calm herself she sought distraction, "Do you remember our first mission together?" Evileye asked.
Lakyus grinned at the fond memory, "Yes, we put down a group of goblins threatening a village. It wasn't even a platinum ranked job, but we all took it so we could learn how to work together as an effective team."
"Do you ever think about the goblins themselves?" Evileye asked.
"Not really." Gagaran answered.
"No." Replied the twins.
"Why?" Lakyus asked.
"Well, we went to Commonton, and we saw that demihumans could live lives just like we do. We may have thought at the time they were just going to kill humans for sport, but now...well...what if those goblins were just trying to provide for their own community? They were obviously hunters and the farms of the villagers were displacing them. In their eyes, do you think maybe we were the monsters?" Evileye asked softly as they passed under the portcullis.
There was silence again. "I guess so." Gagaran said uncomfortably. "They probably did see us that way, now that you mention it." Lakyus asked. "But so what? We're supposed to protect humans. It's true I've been willing to fight humans to protect demihumans, and I've done so, we all have. But the humans were the ones being threatened there." She said defensively.
"At the time I never even considered finding a peaceful solution. A way for them to coexist, if someone had suggested it, I'd have laughed at them. The irony there..." she said, "but now I wonder how many beings we've killed that we didn't have to, the Sorcerer King is intelligent, practical, protects his people. Ulthis, married to a human woman, helped catch two child killers. If they can exist, why not others?" She asked.
"Maybe there are." Tia said. "But they don't generally give us time to find out." Tina added.
"If there were time given to you, would you bother?" Evileye asked pointedly.
"Probably not..." they agreed one by one.
Evileye looked up at the sky, it was a profoundly beautiful day, the right kind of day for this, no matter what happened.
"Lakyus, can I ask your forgiveness for hitting you before?" Evileye said softly.
Lakyus touched her cheek gently, "Of course, you're my sister, no matter what." She said, "I won't pretend I understand why you got that out of sorts, but of course I forgive you." Lakyus's voice was surprised, but also warm and comforting to Evileye.
"I love you all, you know that?" Evileye said, looking over her shoulder as they came close to the woods.
"Of course we know that." Tia said. "Without a doubt." Tina said, completing the thought.
"Yes, I know, but you're starting to scare me, Evileye." Gagaran said.
"Agreed, but what are you asking for?" Lakyus asked, concern evident in her voice.
"We've had an amazing run, my roses, my garden, my family." Evileye said, not really talking to them as she left the horse secured behind her, followed quickly by the others.
"That we have..." Lakyus said.
"If I could live my life a thousand times over, there are many things I'd do differently each time, but choosing you all, I could do over and over for ten million lifetimes and every time it would be the best time of my life, even with all the difficulty and danger..." Evileye said, still evidently talking to herself.
The green of the wood was beautiful, the way it split the light through the branches, creating rivers of light stopping at the ground. Evileye came to a dead tree that had fallen over near a small creek, there was a small red plant growing from a crack in the dead one, she paused a moment to look more closely at it, to touch it and wish it health. Nor was it the only thing living on the dead tree, there were mushrooms and insects, and even a bird's nest with two eggs in it. "Nothing is more alive in the forest than you are my friend." Evileye said to the fallen tree, and then she climbed over it, a few feet away, she spotted it, the perfect place, there was a clearing, grass grew thickly on it, branches blew in the wind, a few flowers here and there sprung up, and for a moment Evileye imagined herself as the tree, laying there forever, with new life nourished from her body, providing for the renewal of the woods. It seemed like a nice place to pass, if that was what was going to happen.
When she entered the clearing, she gestured for them to stand just inside it, then walked herself to the center, where she wanted to lay to rest if they turned on her.
Her forever still heart, continued to deceive her with the imagination of its racing beat. In an idle thought, she wondered why she should be afraid, this was the end of the lies and the tension, she had no intention of defending herself, and no intention of being alone again.
She would have the peace of her family, her sisters, or she would have the peace of the grave. As she got to the center, she turned around and faced them.
"It's been the best time of my life to have you all." Evileye said, her head lowered slightly. "I spent most of my life alone, and it isn't something, after having had all this, with all of you, that I can ever go back to." Her voice caught in her throat, and Gagaran interjected.
"Are you leaving us?" Gagaran asked, prompting the twin's mouths to open. Lakyus's face took on a confused expression.
Evileye shook her head. "No, I'd never leave you, the same however, might not be true after this, and if things had to...to change, I wanted it all to end somewhere peaceful, beautiful, and this is a nice place." She said.
"For years and years I've tried to conceal this, and for a long time it was easy, but as the years wore on, the secret I've kept has become like a dagger in my side. Sometimes change comes by choice, and sometimes it's forced on us, as it once was on me, and sometimes...sometimes it comes when staying the same is more painful than the change is. So I have to do this, not because I want to, but because I can't bear not to anymore." Evileye said.
Her sisters wanted to say something, but they were halted by seeing her do something she'd never done before, looking straight at them, she was reaching up for her mask. As she pulled it forward from her face, she said, "Please know, I will forgive whatever you do next, and I will love you as much in the world beyond, as I do in this one right now." It was the first time they'd heard her unfiltered voice, and it had a beautiful lilt to it.
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The mask came away, and with her eyes closed, she took it into her right hand, and dropped it at her side.
All of the Blue Rose members had privately speculated about what was beneath the mask, a hideous curse, a birth defect, a cruel scar or mutilation, a thousand speculations had run through their private thoughts, but now here they were looking, and there was just a smooth, beautiful, youthful face there.
"This...this is the real me, my sisters." Evileye said, and wiping away tears from below her eyelids, she lowered her hands to her side, and opened her eyes, revealing the blood red, bright as a torch even in the daytime, it took a moment before what they were seeing sank in.
She saw shock sweep over their faces, she could see the little pieces of the puzzle that had been scattered about, come together into the picture of the vampire in front of them, but only Lakyus was saying anything, and were it not for the spectacular hearing of a vampire, she could not have heard what it was.
"The gods...the gods...the gods condemn...abomination..." Lakyus murmured over...and over...and over. "My little sister...an abomination" Lakyus said softly and started to walk over to her in a steady, slow, unbroken, unhesitating and unflinching pace, slowly reaching for her sword.
Evileye just watched, "Its OK," she thought, "better by her hand than some monster, I'll rest easy here, and this can only hurt one more time." A bitter smile came over her face as Lakyus was ten feet away, and Evileye blinked back tears as she heard Lakyus whisper softly, "The gods condemn my sister...an abomination"
Evileye inhaled deeply the air she didn't need, it felt so good to do so, so many wonderful scents in this season. "It's alright." Evileye said barely louder than a rustle in the grass. "If my sister needs my life, its hers for the taking."
Lakyus was five feet away.
Evileye glanced at her other sisters, Tia, Tina...Gagaran...moments alone had passed, they'd taken out their weapons, but dropped them at their sides.
Evileye raised her arms up to her side, she smiled, revealing her vampire fangs along with her vampire eyes, when the blade cut her down, she would take with her at least one last embrace with a loved one, that would be enough to see her out of this world.
"It's such a beautiful world..." she thought, "But its only really them I'm going to miss." She fished the thought as Lakyus stood in front of her and lifted her sword, the demon sword would make it a clean death, and she heard Lakyus whisper again, "The gods condemn my sister..." Evileye closed her eyes, she didn't want the last look into her eyes the Lakyus had, to be that of a vampire's gaze, let her remember her differently if she could.
Lakyus was in reach now, she could hear the final step, and Evileye brought her arms towards her for the last embrace she'd known in the world and took one step closer of her own, as she felt the sword rise up over Lakyus's head.
"Just a moment of pain, and that'll be it...my last pain...always expected it to be a violent death...if not quite this way." Evileye thought.
She heard the others start to move, they were reacting now, they were fast, especially the twins, they were a legendary adamantite team, it was expected of them. She wondered if they were hoping to save her, or help Lakyus end her, but she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes to find out, but if it was to save her, even for all their speed, she knew they were way too late..
And it was because her eyes were closed that she didn't see that when Lakyus began to bring the sword down, she also released it, it went all the way across the field and buried itself halfway through a thick tree with a solid 'thock' sound. But the sound did not carry to Evileye before the feeling did...
The feeling of Lakyus returning her embrace, and the feel of Lakyus sobbing in her shoulder, neck exposed and bare in the embrace of her vampire sister. She sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, barely getting out the words, "If the gods condemn my sister as an abomination...then I...condemn...the GODS...!"
Lakyus tightened her embrace with all her strength, which was no small thing, even to a vampire like Evileye, and when she heard what Lakyus said, she began to sob herself, the tears she'd hidden burst like a dam and her blood red eyes flew open as the pair fell to their knees on the grass that Evileye had thought would be her final resting place.
Gagaran and the twins had gathered around her as well, but there were no kunai out, and Fel Iron was laying farther away from Gagaran's grip than Evileye had ever seen it before as her sisters held her, it was an embrace far preferable than the earth.
Lakyus grabbed Evileye's shoulder suddenly and pushed her back, breaking the embrace for a moment, and then she grabbed the side of Evileye's face, bringing her so that they were looking straight at one another.
"Look into my eyes sister," Lakyus said, perhaps not appreciating the irony of her phrasing. Her eyes were wide and beautiful as the sky, and they did not flinch when they saw themselves reflected in the bright red pools of her vampire sister's face, "I would choose you...always you...over a thousand times a thousand gods...if they say you're an abomination, then I'd rather BE an abomination with you for a day, than have them sing praises for my faith for an eternity." She said with the iron conviction that had always been her nature.
"My family needs me, and I need my family, I can live without the gods, because the gods don't need me." She said softly, "There's only one thing I can offer to make everything right...I'm sorry...I get it now...I didn't know I was hurting you...I'd never hurt you..." Lakyus said, her voice cracking and thick with emotion.
She turned her face to one side and closed her eyes, baring her vulnerable neck to the fangs of her sister.
Eviley simply pulled her back into her embrace again, and used Lakyus's neck to catch her tears, atonement enough in her eyes.
How long they remained that way was anyone's guess, with the woods being thick and deep and only rays of sun on grass to mark the passing moments of the Sun's movement across the sky, but it felt like a second, and it felt like an eternity, both at once.
But every moment must pass away, and gradually the flow of tears had to end eventually. And when they were spent on emotion, they sat together on the grass, it was a comfortable silence for a while, the first comfortable silence Evileye had in recent memory. She looked around at faces without her mask for the first time in centuries, she felt the sun on her face in all its warmth, and when she looked at her sisters of Blue Rose with unhidden eyes, there was no flinching, no fear, it was the best feeling she'd had in ages, and she allowed herself to fall back with a sigh of relief and a happy lilting laugh. "I wonder if Ulthis felt like this when he revealed himself to his wife?" Evileye said, smiling without hiding her fangs.
Lakyus laughed, "I don't know, but don't ask me to marry you, it might have worked out that way for him, but you're not my type."
That brought a round of laughter, and Lakyus leaned back on the palms of her hands.
"This opens up a lot of questions." Tia said.
"It really does." Tina agreed.
"Like what?" Evileye asked. "I'll answer if I can, but there are some things even I don't want to talk about so...forgive me if I decline some answers."
"For starters, what is your real name?" Gagaran asked.
"Keeno Fasris Inberun." She replied.
"Keeno...so my sister's name is Keeno..." Gagaran said, her usual boisterous voice gone soft, "I'm happy to finally know it."
"How old are you really?" Tia asked.
"Two hundred and forty, give or take a few seasons." Evileye replied.
"Was...this...a choice?" Tina asked gently.
"No." Evileye said, a chill coming to her voice, "And please do not ask, even after all this time, I don't like to talk about it."
"Do you...have to drink blood?" Lakyus asked, clearly afraid of the answer.
Evileye rolled to her side, and looked at her sister, searching the face of the leader of Blue Rose. After a while she realized what the fear was, it wasn't of her, it was what she was supposed to think if the answer was yes.
Evileye lowered her gaze to the grass and started picking at it. "I don't have to have it, no. If I...feed, I get more powerful, if I don't, the 'hunger' to do so remains, but it is manageable, I can live without taking blood or taking lives."
"When was the...last time?" Lakyus asked.
"Before facing the evil deities, I needed all the strength I could muster. Back then I was known as 'Landfall', one of the thirteen heroes." She said.
"Did you kill the one you...fed from?" Lakyus asked delicately.
"NO." Evileye said firmly. "To...to feed, we don't have to kill or even compel. Some of those who understand what is needed, offer it freely. Ulthis's wife gives it to him when they are intimate. Its very...personal, when it is done willingly, I haven't had 'that' in a long long, time." Evileye said.
Lakyus let herself fall backwards onto the grass. "So this is what it feels like to be an apostate..." She said softly and turned her head to look at her vampire sister. Evileye rolled back over onto her back, looking much like a person who had set down an enormous burden carried for far too long. Her eyes were closed, and she looked completely at peace.
In the quietness of her mind, Lakyus thought to herself, "My faith made me a person that hurt her, my faith brought me to burden her so greatly that she preferred to die than to carry it even one day more...I much prefer apostasy I think. It doesn't feel nearly as bad as what I was doing to her." She sighed heavily and quietly dared her god to strike her down for her betrayal, for daring to choose her sister, a vampire, first. The next breath came and went, and if the water god cared about what she'd done, it gave no sign, if it heard her, it gave no sign. She reached out one hand, and grasped Evileye...Keeno's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. Keeno squeezed it back.
That was sign enough for Lakyus that she'd done what the priest had said, even if he hadn't meant it the way she now did. She'd done the right thing.