Devin Alive 8.19.00

« Reply #1 on: Jun 22nd, 2012, 7:07pm »

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I realize just then that at some point I have leapt to my feet for I am now standing nearly nose to nose with the man my Sire had called friend and whom I had simply known all my life as Lord Chalis. A more powerful man than even I could fathom. I had felt his power from the first moment I had met him. Devon, when questioned of these feelings, said simply that that is what and who he was and that anything else was of little consequence. I am still unsure to this day the exact meaning of that statement was, but as I did not question his wisdom back then I simply allowed that answer to suffice.
As I sit back down on the couch I motion for Chalis to take the seat to my right and shift so I may face him the better to pay attention to what I am sure is going to be a bit more than he really wants to impart yet not as much as I wish to know.
“Start at the beginning. I know the house burned and that Devon was killed at the docks just prior to that. How did he survive and why did he allow me to continue like this for the last 5 centuries not knowing how he faired.”
“The second question is easier to answer than the first so I shall begin there. He did not die on the warfs. He was killed here in this house along with the rest of the Clan.”
When my jaw hit the ground, which I am sure it did, he merely reached out and took my hand gently.
“Do not blame yourself. You did not know he was down there so you had no way of knowing that you should have opened the doors. He was bound to silence both in mind and in sound so you would allow him the same fate as his family. The same fate you were meant to have. All I can tell you is, had you opened those doors you both would have perished as would have Serenade. So do not berate yourself for something you cannot change and for which turned out for the best.”
“THE BEST?” I scream and lunge at him suddenly allowing all my fear, anger, hatred and relief flood from me. “How can you sit there and say that it happened for the best? I have been alone for more years than I can count much less conceive of and you say it was for the best?”
I pound on his chest like a child as tears stream down my face and he just sits there and lets my blows land where they will and does nothing to stop me. When I finally realize this isn't helping my strength gives out and I merely stay where I am, towering over him, and begin to weep with all the years of hurt turning to tears of relief. When I am done he takes me gently by the shoulders and sets me back down on the couch. He sits down beside me and manages to procure a handkerchief from somewhere which I soon find in my hands. As I sit there in silence wiping my eyes, he begins to tell me the tale I have been waiting for.
“When Devon was blocked from your mind his good-bye was genuine. He knew he was about to die and was allowed that last simple word and feeling to you before he was shut out of your mind and soul forever. I say forever because that is precisely what has happened. He was then brought to this house at dawn by the Slayers and set silently in the basement where it was believed you were asleep as well... it seems whoever was watching the house was not aware that after he left with word all were asleep within, you then awakened and climbed to the library while he was away. As it happened, I was privy to the where abouts and when the burning would happen and so as you lay asleep from your weeping after the fire, I took Devon from the basement catacombs and took him home again. Yes, home.. to Winter's Ire.
Alex...I am Devon's Father, in as much as I was able since his mortal father had no need of him and abandoned his mother. And his mother found him tiresome and allowed me his life to be in my care for a few paltry coins of silver and gold. I have raised Devon since he was about 6 or 7 years old and when he became of age he was allowed to leave the Ire to seek whatever he wished from this plane. You see, Winter's Ire lays on another Plane of existence, beyond the barrier between life and death. When Devon passed thru that barrier he had to forfeit a part of himself. His sacrifice was that of his immortality.”
Lord Chalis pauses at this point to gaze at me and await my reaction. I am so stunned I am not sure how to react. All I can do is mumble back the last words he has spoken. “His mortality?”
“Yes.. when you pass from this plane to the Ire you must sacrifice a part of yourself, Devon chose his Vampyre part , if he ever chooses to return to this realm, he must give up another part of himself. What that part will be will be his choice and his alone, I cannot influence it and neither can you.
I can tell you that should you make the choice to come to Winter's Ire to be with him, you too must make a sacrifice. But there is enough time to talk of that later, I shall continue my story first.
When I brought him thru the barrier he awakened and began to slowly heal. He was once a great and gifted Vampyre Master. As a mortal, he still is Master of his body to a point no mortal could even touch. As he heals, he is mending wounds he should have perished from. I can only say that whatever he had learned as a child growing up on the Ire he has managed to remember and make use of. I can tell you that he has no memory of his Immortal life as a Master Vampyre as his mortal frame of mind has no ability to fathom an existence of that duration. He has vague dreams and reminders from Serenade on occasion and has even been given a glimpse now and again of you as you learn and grow here in this house. He recalls that he knows you but he has no way to know what capacity it is in. He knows not that you were his childer nor that you were lovers and so called ‘joined’ as it is part of that which he can not imagine in his lifetime. He grew up in the Ire and is aware that time has no real meaning there so he does not know that nearly 5 centuries have passed since he was brought there. He knows it has been a long time from the healing of his wounds and he knows that the dreams are a little sharper than simple make-believe but I will not explain. I know that must be your job, Alex.
Alexandra....you are the one who must tell him what he was and convince him he must return and take up the fight to reunite the Clans as the Gand foresaw.”
Slowly I stand up as he speaks these final words and walk to the railing at the edge of the terrace and gaze out at the sea for a long moment before I speak.
“So that is why you came to me finally. Now you feel he is ready to leave there and you cannot do it. So instead of allowing me to help him heal and regain his past memories over the last 4 and half centuries you have only come to me now because I am capable of doing what you cannot....” I turn to him slowly, “You cannot make him love me and make him desire to come back here. Is that it?”
I stare at him for what seems like an eternity when he stands and walks over me and lays a hand on my shoulder.
“No.” That is the only word he speaks for a long minute then he elaborates when I am just on the verge of exploding with anger at the simple response. “That is part of the reason. He asked me long ago to tell you of his where abouts but I felt he needed to mend, that if he was away from here he would return to me as the son I wanted and take my place as ruler of the Winterwolfe Family. But now I see he can never return to me. And to allow him to stay in this frame of mind is cruelty and as he is my son and I love him in the way that I am capable of. I desire only for his happiness. You are the happiness he needs and that is why I have come to you Alexandra Moroveston.”
I close my eyes a moment to allow all I have just heard to sink in and say the only thing I can think of to say.
“I want to see him now.” As I open my eyes I see a smile flash briefly across the man’s face before he steps aside as if to allow me to proceed before him.

« Reply #2 on: Jun 22nd, 2012, 7:08pm »

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“Then go to him....”
I step a pace or two from him in the direction of the garden when I realize I have no idea to where I am truly going. “Nice try, Lord Chalis,” I smile as I turn crossing my hands over my chest and glaring at him, “Go where? I have never been to the Ire and I cannot go to where I have never been in a shift of mist. I have to have a focus and a tie to where I travel to.”
“You have been there before. Think back to when you were first a vampire. Do you remember the first time you were really hurt?”
I frown a moment trying to recall the first time Devon trusted me to go out and feed alone. I knew he was going to be nearby though he told me I would be on my own and no one was going to interfere. He made it clear that any mistakes I made would not be corrected and that the whole situation would have to be handled by me alone.
“I remember I was at a bar. A man found me intriguing and asked me to dance. He then offered to take me upstairs and give me what he called ‘satisfaction beyond my dreams’.” I laugh at this point remembering how naive I played that night. I allowed the mortal to believe I was an innocent and that his proposal was a wonderful and exciting thing to me. “He took me to an upstairs room at the club and closed the door behind us. I sat upon the bed as it was the only furniture in the room. He was a large man but I knew my strength would be far greater than his so I was not worried. When he came to me and laid me down he suddenly changed.” My voice falters as the images and feelings flood back in a wave as if it had happened yesterday. “Oh god, he was so strong and I panicked. He tore my shirt from me and pinned my arms beneath his legs as he tore my bra off.”
Turning from Lord Chalis I face the sea hiding the shame I feel all over again at what happened. “He tore his zipper off and when I tried fighting back he slapped me so hard I almost passed out. I called on the frenzy strength in me but he must have sensed it somehow because he grabbed me by the throat and lifted me off the bed breaking my concentration. I was so scared I didn’t even think to call out to Devon in my mind. I was aware only of his crushing hands on my neck. Next thing I know I am sliding down the wall where I was thrown, and I lose consciousness as Devon breaks the door down in a growling frenzy rage. The man’s scream is my last thought. Then I woke in my bed in Serenade and Devon said I had been out two days. But what does that have to do with Winter’s Ire?”
“Alex, you were not out for two days. You were healing for almost three years. The man who harmed you was another immortal and was able to shield your untrained mind from his. He did more than nearly choke you. He almost succeeded in killing you. Devon was nearly beside himself with rage and fear for you when he brought you to me. You had several broken ribs, a torn side and a crushed neck. Devon never told me what he sacrificed to bring you there nor what you had given though it was possible it was your immortality as he did this time. I remember he asked for my help in mending you and then he secluded the two of you in his rooms for several months before allowing you to venture forth around the house and eventually around the grounds outside the Manor. When you left it was your love for Devon that you gave up. Since it was obvious you two were bound to be together always, you simply fell in love with him all over again when you returned to this realm. You have been to Winter’s Ire, Alex. Think on it and it will come back to you again. What do you remember just before waking up? Think about the fight at the Club and waking up ...what comes to mind in between?”
As I close my eyes I picture the final scene in my mind of the fight at the Club. “I remember the smell of something burning, probably smoke from downstairs. I remember Devon knocking the door down as I lose consciousness. Then I remember....” Slowly vague images of snow and a large four poster silver bed fill my mind. “A silver bed....four large poster columns at the corners. I remember it was snowing outside. But inside it was warm enough to be almost hot.”
“That is Devon’s room at the Manor. He was afraid you would catch a chill and kept the room overly warm in my opinion. But as it was not my place to say, I never interfered.”
“I remember there was a lovely garden outside. I remember birds singing and the almost sickening smell of flowers. But that can’t be right, it was snowing when I was in the room.”
“You were there for a couple years Alex. It was almost a year before you were able to leave your bed to walk and a few months after that before Devon allowed you to venture from the house to outside. And then only with him always by your side.”
“I remember that. After the accident he would never let me from his sight for more than a few hours. And I was never to venture from Serenade without him. I figured he just blamed himself and wanted me to learn more before I fed alone again.” My voice drops as I sit down heavily in a nearby chair. “I had no idea...it must have been awful for him. He thought I was dead when he brought me to you. I heard him tell you just before we left that it was your Gifts and abilities that brought me back.” I gaze at Lord Chalis in surprise as it hits me. “He said he was the luckiest creature in all the realms to have a father like you. Why could I not remember this till now?”
“He took it from your mind and buried it because he felt as if he had failed you in not being there when you needed him most. It took him a few minutes to find you because of the fog placed in your mind and when he thought he got there too late he nearly died of grief himself. His rage destroyed the man you had been with to the point of leaving no way to identify him and then he transported you both back to Serenade and thru the garden to here.”
“He made me promise to agree to the story you remember. That the night had gone badly and you had been knocked out for a couple days to heal. Do you remember how everything seemed changed when you awoke and how you never went to any of your usual places after you began going out again?”