Satis House

[XCandy and LunacyX]

For several minutes Antha scribbled away on the floor, every so often shifting slightly to make a new figure. Finally, tired of this, she stood and brushed herself off to rid herself of the dust that coated the floor. "We should really clean that up," she mused aloud, her voice barely even up to a whisper. Once done, she started for the stairs, her regular composure regained, and made her way back to the second floor. "He's awake you know," she commented lightly, referring of course to Sleet, "But I'm not sure if he's realized who's crossed him yet." A little grin cut across her face, something rather devious for all intents and purposes. "No, surely not...he'll be so much angrier then." She turned a bit and locked her eyes on Vikteren, her smile softened slightly, "He really is a fool, you know. It's only luck and physical power that got him where he is today."

 

[Vikteren]

+Rotting Lunacy+

For several minutes Antha scribbled away on the floor, every so often shifting slightly to make a new figure. Finally, tired of this, she stood and brushed herself off to rid herself of the dust that coated the floor. "We should really clean that up," she mused aloud, her voice barely even up to a whisper. Once done, she started for the stairs, her regular composure regained, and made her way back to the second floor. "He's awake you know," she commented lightly, referring of course to Sleet, "But I'm not sure if he's realized who's crossed him yet." A little grin cut across her face, something rather devious for all intents and purposes. "No, surely not...he'll be so much angrier then." She turned a bit and locked her eyes on Vikteren, her smile softened slightly, "He really is a fool, you know. It's only luck and physical power that got him where he is today."

"By what-- means do you know Sleet in such terms?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to watch her through strands of ebony hair. "Is his ascent to power truly so recent that you may freely judge it?"  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

"Not at all," she answered casually with a small gesture of her hand, "But I've seen it nonetheless, watched it through my ancestors' eyes in memories handed down through the birth." She paused, her finger pressed to her lips as if to quiet herself as she debated over her next choice of words. "Do you know how many memories can be passed along through the blood? They can be transferred from mother to child, vampire to victim, witch to sacrifice. Any which way blood is exchanged from one entity to another, memories are liable to follow." Again there was a moment in which she was silent, a cryptic grin spread across her face as she watched him. "Haven't you seen such a thing before? I can't imagine you as one who would refuse the memories." There was one soft laugh following her statement before she continued. "Then again, you never know."

 

[Vikteren]

+Rotting Lunacy+

"Not at all," she answered casually with a small gesture of her hand, "But I've seen it nonetheless, watched it through my ancestors' eyes in memories handed down through the birth." She paused, her finger pressed to her lips as if to quiet herself as she debated over her next choice of words. "Do you know how many memories can be passed along through the blood? They can be transferred from mother to child, vampire to victim, witch to sacrifice. Any which way blood is exchanged from one entity to another, memories are liable to follow." Again there was a moment in which she was silent, a cryptic grin spread across her face as she watched him. "Haven't you seen such a thing before? I can't imagine you as one who would refuse the memories." There was one soft laugh following her statement before she continued. "Then again, you never know."

He tensed slightly, eyes hardening. "I did not refuse them, but nor did I want them." Vikteren wrapped his arms around his torso, as if warming himself against a cold current of air. "My turning was not an affair I care to often think upon." It had been more of the afterwards, truly--when the shock set in, the grief and pain had driven him almost mad. "Surely you should know that all memories are not pleasant. There must be many that you'd prefer to be left behind."  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

"Of course," she answered automatically, her eyes flashing with some unknown thought. "But it's all the better that I do have them. Were it not for the memories of my childhood, I might be some spoiled Mayfair brat like so many of my cousins. Why, I might even hate vampires as much as the others. It's the darker memories that shape us. Where would we be if we forgot everything bad, if we turned a blind eye to the pain shown to us through the blood, and only the good remained? We would be thrust upon the world with false pretenses and the wicked, with no enemy made through their misdeeds to cut them down, would win out." There was a faint sigh here, followed immediately by another small little laugh. "Forgive me, I do tend to rant at times."

 

[Vikteren]

+Rotting Lunacy+

"Of course," she answered automatically, her eyes flashing with some unknown thought. "But it's all the better that I do have them. Were it not for the memories of my childhood, I might be some spoiled Mayfair brat like so many of my cousins. Why, I might even hate vampires as much as the others. It's the darker memories that shape us. Where would we be if we forgot everything bad, if we turned a blind eye to the pain shown to us through the blood, and only the good remained? We would be thrust upon the world with false pretenses and the wicked, with no enemy made through their misdeeds to cut them down, would win out." There was a faint sigh here, followed immediately by another small little laugh. "Forgive me, I do tend to rant at times."

He shook his head. "No, you are correct-- of course." Vikteren let something like a sigh escape. "I can not pretend that any of my memories are forgotten, and it is true--it is better that they are not. But--" he winced. "--they are in the past, and should remain there, not called up every day for inspection." They visit too often as it is, he added silently.  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

She considered his words for several silent moments before she gave a little shake of her head. "No...there are times when the past needs to be recalled, no matter how painful, because pain and anger are tools we must use to set things right. It just has to be timed correctly." Silently she began down the hall, motioning over her shoulder for him to follow. It wasn't until they were halfway down the hall that she spoke again. "When I was young, I became Sleet's victim. For three weeks he kept me on the verge of death. I hate that memory, naturally, and I make a point of not recalling it. But if I left it in the past all the time, there would be no one to take vengeance against Sleet and keep him from doing worse. Do you see what I mean?" As she stepped back into the library, her words replayed in her head. She didn't know how else to get her point across, so she had to hope he understood from that much.

 

[Vikteren]

+Rotting Lunacy+

She considered his words for several silent moments before she gave a little shake of her head. "No...there are times when the past needs to be recalled, no matter how painful, because pain and anger are tools we must use to set things right. It just has to be timed correctly." Silently she began down the hall, motioning over her shoulder for him to follow. It wasn't until they were halfway down the hall that she spoke again. "When I was young, I became Sleet's victim. For three weeks he kept me on the verge of death. I hate that memory, naturally, and I make a point of not recalling it. But if I left it in the past all the time, there would be no one to take vengeance against Sleet and keep him from doing worse. Do you see what I mean?" As she stepped back into the library, her words replayed in her head. She didn't know how else to get her point across, so she had to hope he understood from that much.

"As usual, you have a point. I suppose it's different for the two of us. Sometimes there's nothing you can do about it." Vikteren paused on the threshold of the library. "Perhaps the memories are too old. Perhaps the revenge you choose takes more than one may give. It depends on the memory. It depends on the one remembering. Would you take it upon yourself to avenge an ancestor that died centuries ago?" The question was formed as to be taken literally.  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

Antha thought hard on this question, eyes intense and unfocused as she directed all attention away from them. After a few moments of thought, her eyes seemed to slide back into focus and regain the distinct gleam of secrecy that always they carried. "Like all things, it depends. Were it some ancestor I've heard little of, who's made next to no impact upon the family legacy, then I would do little to nothing to avenge them. But then again, were it a greater ancestor---" (She paused for a split second here, thinking in her head of Deborah, Louis, Charlotte, Petyr, and Lestan.) "---then I think I might. I couldn't say for sure for the situation has never been presented to me, but I believe so."

 

[Vikteren]

+Rotting Lunacy+

Antha thought hard on this question, eyes intense and unfocused as she directed all attention away from them. After a few moments of thought, her eyes seemed to slide back into focus and regain the distinct gleam of secrecy that always they carried. "Like all things, it depends. Were it some ancestor I've heard little of, who's made next to no impact upon the family legacy, then I would do little to nothing to avenge them. But then again, were it a greater ancestor---" (She paused for a split second here, thinking in her head of Deborah, Louis, Charlotte, Petyr, and Lestan.) "---then I think I might. I couldn't say for sure for the situation has never been presented to me, but I believe so."

He considered her response. "Why?" he asked. "Out of a sense of--what? Duty? Family honor?"  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

"We~ll..." she began childishly, a finger pressed to her pale lips, "Because it's different when it's someone you love. I hardly care for meaningless ancestors who did little more than contribute a set of genes to the Mayfair bloodline. And all of them were weak as witches, the greatest factor in rendering them useless. That's why they don't linger on and I can't see them and talk to them and come to love them." At her will, the deathly silent house was suddenly teeming with minor sounds---the thud of quick footsteps, the low hum of distant mass chatter, the rustling of clothes, and even the laugh of a woman before it all snapped back into silence.
Antha only sat smiling to herself in a dazed sort of amusement during and after the eerie moment. It was a well known fact that Antha liked to show off. Why wouldn't she? No one was quite as skilled of a witch as her, after all.

 

[Vikteren]

+Rotting Lunacy+

"We~ll..." she began childishly, a finger pressed to her pale lips, "Because it's different when it's someone you love. I hardly care for meaningless ancestors who did little more than contribute a set of genes to the Mayfair bloodline. And all of them were weak as witches, the greatest factor in rendering them useless. That's why they don't linger on and I can't see them and talk to them and come to love them." At her will, the deathly silent house was suddenly teeming with minor sounds---the thud of quick footsteps, the low hum of distant mass chatter, the rustling of clothes, and even the laugh of a woman before it all snapped back into silence.
Antha only sat smiling to herself in a dazed sort of amusement during and after the eerie moment. It was a well known fact that Antha liked to show off. Why wouldn't she? No one was quite as skilled of a witch as her, after all.

He cocked his head, listening, then looked back at Antha and--smiled. Genuinely. "Have you always heard them? Or is it only in this house?" So that's why she doesn't get lonely here.  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

"Phantoms cling to things---anything that was ever of any importance to them. Should that object be near, a ghost can be found and anywhere there's a ghost, I can see it." She smiled vaguely, carelessly passing him the image of the attic upstairs and two enormous trunks sitting discarded against the wall. It had been nearly 5 years since that day when 14-year-old Antha had sat on her knees in the floor, peering into the depths of the newer trunk, removing a doll of yellowed bone with a crudely painted face and little mop of black hair. And of course the 19-year-old version of Nicolae was situated beside her, crossing himself as the whispered name of Deborah passed through his lips.
"It was almost sad when I was a child," she said softly, her eyes and in truth even her mind wandering off to focus on nothing in particular, "I thought the past Mayfairs had left nothing for me to discover on my own. Everything I could have imagined at the time was all scribbled into one book or another with precise directions. Even as far back as Charlotte Mayfair, the third generation, they knew how to invoke spirits and exactly what they needed to do so." She gave a wicked little laugh, a very slight thing, and let her eyes lock right back onto Vikteren. "Have you ever seen a ghost? Vampires tend to see them as well as witches if they should try. It's an absolute scream!"

 

[Vikteren]

+Rotting Lunacy+

"Phantoms cling to things---anything that was ever of any importance to them. Should that object be near, a ghost can be found and anywhere there's a ghost, I can see it." She smiled vaguely, carelessly passing him the image of the attic upstairs and two enormous trunks sitting discarded against the wall. It had been nearly 5 years since that day when 14-year-old Antha had sat on her knees in the floor, peering into the depths of the newer trunk, removing a doll of yellowed bone with a crudely painted face and little mop of black hair. And of course the 19-year-old version of Nicolae was situated beside her, crossing himself as the whispered name of Deborah passed through his lips.
"It was almost sad when I was a child," she said softly, her eyes and in truth even her mind wandering off to focus on nothing in particular, "I thought the past Mayfairs had left nothing for me to discover on my own. Everything I could have imagined at the time was all scribbled into one book or another with precise directions. Even as far back as Charlotte Mayfair, the third generation, they knew how to invoke spirits and exactly what they needed to do so." She gave a wicked little laugh, a very slight thing, and let her eyes lock right back onto Vikteren. "Have you ever seen a ghost? Vampires tend to see them as well as witches if they should try. It's an absolute scream!"

He lowered his gaze to his hands. "Yes. Only once before, many years ago. In my sire's home. It was a child--a girl. I had heard her before. Crying. Screaming. She would not speak to me--she knew what I was, by being there, upright and unchained. But I think--I believe she was a sacrifice, of sorts. I never asked my sire. He did not care to be disturbed by such petty matters." He gave a humorless half-laugh. "He considered the dead to be unworthy of his attention. They were gone, and had no effect on him."  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

Antha took a moment, grinning wildly and rather secretly to herself, as if she had something ludicrous to hide. "Oh, but it's not so! Ghosts can do any number of things in the real world, given that there's someone with the cursed blood running through their veins." She gave one little laugh---a giggle almost---with her hand pressed to her mouth to muffle it before continuing. "Even if they dislike vampires, you see, they love that they the power required to help make them material. And when they do gather the material of our world to themselves and form semi-solid bodies, they can move things and throw them at you and, if they're strong enough, convince you they're real for long moments at a time."