[sub]in collaboration with [@Meiyuki][/sub] [h1][center][u][i]"Desperate Pleas"[/i][/u][/center][/h1] [sub]Days after the witch's arrival...[/sub] A peal of thunder broke the cacophonous monotony of the pouring rain, and a flash of lightning made long shadows of the mullions of the only window in Elina's room. Hers was a lavish one, draped in furs and with the furniture upholstered in fine silk. There on top of her tall but seldom perused bookshelf was a full set of Cathay earthenwork dedicated solely to decoration, while the teaset she actually used had already been packed away neatly by Lorelai's loyal minions. It had been scarcely a week since the ill-fated expedition had returned, and she did nothing but lie down and sleep most of the way back, yet the silver-haired girl still felt an incredible and unyielding fatigue. She was also experiencing frequent, pounding headaches. Maybe it was because of the blood she'd lost and not yet recovered, or maybe it was the terrible realization that she was the very last scion of her family after Vespa's horrendous death that was the reason for her recent illnesses. Maybe it was both. Either way, Elina was someone who was used to being by her lonesome, but she'd never experienced the bitter chill of true loneliness until her sister was gone. Luna, who slept on her lap, was of no help. She was just a cat. She didn't care about her missing leg either. What she wanted, most of all, was for her sister to come back. [color=#DBFFFB]"But that's impossible,"[/color] she thought out loud. She'd had more than a week to think over it, but no conclusion brought her any satisfaction. It was still so utterly alien to her - and perhaps, she thought, her mind was a little slow - but how could someone lose so much in so little time? Barely five minutes, and in a place which she used to call home, and her world was turned upside down and shook around till it was utterly unrecognizable. Lightning flashed again, illuminating her form. She was sitting up on her bed, back against the tall headrest, and clad in a nightgown with sheer, white cloth, such that her breasts were just visible under it. Her beautiful silver hair was unfettered and without ribbons, and flowed down her shoulders and to the midpoint of her back while she gently stroked her pet cat. Her eyes were wide and awake, yet she they were staring at nothing in particular, just focused at a random focal point in the air. Her thoughts were drawn to this fact for a moment and she realized just how large her room was. There was another thunderclap and shadows danced all across the room. The storm intensified. And then she sighed for the hundredth time that day. The breath that escaped her lips was a melancholy one. The act of sighing was not unfamiliar to her, but smiling nowadays was something of a rarity. And yet, her lips curled upwards, and her eyes lit up with a brilliant, joyful energy. Elina had finally found an answer to all her questions - all she had to do was to simply cast the artificial morality she'd followed till then, as it was so obviously incompatible with the rules of this gods-forsaken world. [color=#DBFFFB]"Luna?"[/color] she then said. Her voice was louder this time, but was still as feathery and as gentle as ever. The cat groggily opened its eyes and returned its master's stare. Those same eyes then went madly wide then, as its master began to choke it with all her might. [hr]Lorelai awoke alone in the dark of her chambers, just as she had every night since their return. Reaching over to what would have been Vespa's side of the bed she felt Lotte's tiny frame. In her dreams Vespa still lived, smiled, and laughed. Everytime she woke she was thrust once more into the impossible chill of her life without her. Sighing she sat up. How cruel could life be? To wake in the bed she'd once shared with her truest love, in a castle torn by a war between her and her oldest friend, with nothing to look forward to but counting the costs? She swung her legs out over the cold stone of her floor. [color=00aeef]"Sometime I wish I could just wake from this nightmare, in greener pastures with the sun painting your cheeks in gold love."[/color] she whispered to the empty room. It of course had no reply. Lorelai dressed in the silence, the only sounds being the whisper of her silken garments sliding over her skin. Once she was dressed she trudged to her door and pushed it open. As tempestuous as her heart had become she still didn't have time to pause, and that may have been the greatest cruelty of all. Amidst her heartbreak Medusa still threatened to take everything she had left. So she plotted with little passion against the witch, she'd pay for her offenses. Maybe then Lorelai would leave this world, but only then. The rain beat a steady rhythm against the windows of the castle's corridors as she passed them, making her way to Elina's room. They hadn't talked much, and Lorelai couldn't blame the girl, but she made a point of checking in often nonetheless. Elina would need someone to help her when the time came, and she was all the witch had left. If nothing else there was something comforting about sitting in silence with someone that could at least understand your pain. Lorelai's footsteps came to a halt outside the girl's room. Her hand hesitated briefly on the wood of the door before she pushed it open, stepping inside. She saw Elina holding a dagger to her neck. It was already bleeding. [color=00aeef]"Elina!"[/color] Lorelai stepped over a lifeless Luna on her way to the girl's bed. [color=00aeef]"What are you doing!?"[/color] Lorelai reached out with a hand, but the distance was too great. The pale girl had more than enough time to retreat further into the shadow of her canopy bed. [color=#DBFFFB]"NO!"[/color] she yelled from within the darkness, her voice brazen. [color=#DBFFFB]"Stay back! You will not ruin this!"[/color] Her whimpering was stark as she drew the blade another quarter-inch across her bare neck. [color=00aeef]"Elina... you can't do this."[/color] Lorelai's voice trembled amost meekly. [color=00aeef]"Vespa wouldn't want this Elina, please don't..."[/color] She knelt on the edge of the bed, making no move to get any closer. [b][color=#DBFFFB]"VESPA'S GONE!"[/color][/b] she shouted. Lorelai could swear that if she were just a little louder, the window glass would break. [b][color=#DBFFFB]"SHE'S GONE BECAUSE OF ME! AND I'M A CRIPPLE NOW! I'M EVEN MORE USELESS THAN I WAS BEFORE! I HATE THIS LIFE - I WISH I HAD NEVER BEEN BORN!"[/color][/b] [color=00aeef]"Vespa's gone because your mother couldn't stop blaming the two of you for her own failures-"[/color] [color=#DBFFFB]"Please don't fucking pretend like you know anything about my goddamn family, Von'Strauss,"[/color] Elina said, sounding awfully tired. [color=#DBFFFB]"Lorelai, the wise one, the demon binder, the slayer of Hector Digard. Don't lecture me; I don't have the patience for it. I- I wish you hadn't come. Now I'm hesitating."[/color] Elina chuckled. It was utterly void of mirth. [color=#DBFFFB]"Can't I do anything right?"[/color] [color=00aeef]"Quit pretending your circumstances are so FUCKING UNIQUE!!!"[/color] Lorelai stood and swept a hand across a desk, sending the contents spilling to the ground. [color=00aeef]"Do you really think you're the only one to have -"[/color] [color=#DBFFFB]"Don't you be so fucking pretentious as to know what I'm thin-"[/color] [color=00aeef]"I know what you're fucking thinking Elina. You've lost everything, and are alone in the big scary world, never mind the kind souls that reach out to you, never mind that the same things happen to people all the time."[/color] Lorelai huffed, her eyes angry. [color=00aeef]"You're a highborn witch after all, what could anyone know about your situation right? Get this through your head, girl-"[/color] [color=#DBFFFB]"What did I say about fucking lecturing me? It's pointless now. [b]I WANT TO QUIT![/b]"[/color] Elina said. Her voice trembled. [color=#DBFFFB]"Don't you understand? I've had enough. Please let me do this, Lorelai."[/color] [color=00aeef]"If I let you do this... I'll break a promise I made to your sister..."[/color] Lorelai made her way to the side of the girl's bed again. Her shoulders lowered in defeat. [color=00aeef]"Don't leave me alone here Elina, you're all I have left of her..."[/color] Her eyes pleaded as tears finally spilt over her lashes, tailing down her cheeks. There was a pause, cut only by a lightning flash that went ignored and flush all throughout with the constant rasp of the pouring rain. A soft thud sounded as Elina finally let her dagger dropped within the recesses of her canopy bed. [color=#DBFFFB]"... we'd have more of her to remember by if I drank her blood,"[/color] Elina said. She was crying now too. [color=#DBFFFB]"But I didn't even do that. I didn't even tell you. I- I'm such a failure...! I don't- I don't deserve to be here, among such great people..."[/color] [color=00aeef]"Have more if you drank her blood?"[/color] Lorelai moved over near Elina. While she was relieved that she'd dropped the knife, Lorelai still didn't have a remedy for her broken heart. She didn't have one for her own after all. [color=00aeef]"I know nothing about 'deserve', or how great we are. But you'll always have a place at my table Elina, and in my heart."[/color] Elina was wiping her tears away, but in vain. They kept on pouring out. [color=#DBFFFB]"Thanks,"[/color] she said. [color=#DBFFFB]"That, uh, means a lot. Um, I think I'm still bleeding."[/color] Lorelai retrieved her handkerchief from the pocket of her robe. [color=00aeef]"I suppose you are aren't you?"[/color] With one hand she tilted Elina's face up as she dabbed away the blood near the wound. [color=00aeef]"Just a scratch fortunately enough."[/color] Lorelai removed a small jar filled with the poultice she'd been using for the wound in her shoulder. She gently applied it to Elina's throat. [color=00aeef]"There we go."[/color] Using the other corner of the cloth she dabbed the tears from Elina's face. [color=00aeef]"Pretty and perfect again."[/color] Lorelai smiled weakly. [color=#DBFFFB]"Thanks again,"[/color] Elina said, not daring to make eye contact. Suddenly, she began to sob anew. [color=#DBFFFB]"Oh God! I just killed Luna!"[/color] The cat's limp and fresh corpse was sprawled on the floor by the bedside, its jaw hanging agape and its eyes half-lidded in eternal sleep. Its throat was caved in. [color=00aeef]"I'm sorry dear, I'll clean it up, and get you a new cat by morning if you wish."[/color] Lorelai simply provided her shoulder for Elina, and the girl took it gratefully. [color=00aeef]"We'll make it through this, the two of us ok?"[/color] [color=#DBFFFB]"Thank you,"[/color] she said, [color=#DBFFFB]"but I don't think I'll be having pets for a while. And yes, of course... together. We'll get by... somehow."[/color] [color=00aeef]"What did you mean by drinking her blood by the way?"[/color] [color=#DBFFFB]"Oh, well, in my House, when a family member is dead or dying, we slit their wrists, collect their blood in a c-cup, and drink it, especially if that person has no children. No sense is letting good essence go to waste. The, uh, last person to do that, though, was my mother. The corpse must also still be fresh - the blood must still be alive - so..."[/color] Elina's voice trembled. [color=#DBFFFB]"I can't... I've failed Vespa."[/color] [color=00aeef]"We both have."[/color] Lorelai sighed, at least the tension had diminished some in the room. [color=00aeef]"That's too bad, I have a vial of it... as a momento of sorts I guess... Vespa was the best thing that ever happened to me. I don't want to forget that."[/color] Elina, for the first time in that night, met eyes with Lorelai. [color=#DBFFFB]"What about Alexina, then?"[/color] [color=00aeef]"Lexi?"[/color] Lorelai shrugged. [color=00aeef]"We were just too different, not to say she wasn't a good woman, and dear to me. In the end though me and Vespa shared things I couldn't with Alexina, she understood what it was to sacrifice for what you loved."[/color] [color=#DBFFFB]"Oh, okay. Sorry, but my first impression of you was... that you're a... loose woman of sorts. I mean, I don't think of you that way now, but... you kind of seem like the type. Or maybe that's just the aura of every powerful witch out there."[/color] Lorelai shrugged. [color=00aeef]"You're not wrong, my body is meaningless. My heart however I keep under lock and key."[/color] Elina licked her dry lips wet. [color=#DBFFFB]"How do I become as powerful as you?"[/color] [color=00aeef]"How indeed."[/color] Lorelai thought a moment. [color=00aeef]"Power comes to those who need it I think. Mine was born of a need for vengeance, and later a need to be strong enough to defend my new family and love."[/color] Lorelai smiled as she turned back to Elina. [color=00aeef]"Find something you want, more than anything else. Then become strong enough to claim and keep it."[/color] Elina smiled. [color=#DBFFFB]"I don't think you need to become strong in order to die."[/color] Lorelai laughed for the first time in over a week. [color=00aeef]"No I suppose not, for most people anyway."[/color] She poked Elina's nose playfully. [color=00aeef]"You though might have to go through me first, strange as it is to protect you from yourself. Couldn't you just have regular enemies? Much simpler."[/color] Elina looked downwards. [color=#DBFFFB]"It'll take forever till I get the strength and insanity to slit my own throat again, so I suppose you shouldn't worry. The missing leg also helps."[/color] She chuckled. [color=#DBFFFB]"That's one thing I'm not getting back without a fight. I'm sure there are methods to regrow limbs, and in blood magic there indeed are, but I can't tap into so primitive a power as the life within blood itself yet."[/color] Her eyes met Lorelai's again. [color=#DBFFFB]"Is it possible for me to learn demon-binding?"[/color] [color=00aeef]"I... I could bestow you with the gift yes. That would allow you to learn it, but it's not something to do lightly Elina. It would be easier by far, and much less intimate, for me to find a way to restore your lost leg."[/color] Lorelai averted her eyes. She couldn't find the will to say no to Elina in this moment, no matter how advisable it might be. Elina raised an eyebrow. [color=#DBFFFB]"Intimate?"[/color] Lorelai sighed. [color=00aeef]"The Dragon's Tongue is expressed through the medium of blood and the soul. Harkening back to our demonic heritage in forgotten times. To bestow the tongue upon you would require me to... sully your body and spirit, to attune them to the infernal planes. Then the creatures that lurk there would recognize you as kin through that bond."[/color] She met Elina's eyes again. [color=00aeef]"I hope that makes sense."[/color] [color=#DBFFFB]"So if I want to learn,"[/color] Elina said, [color=#DBFFFB]"then I'll first have to get raped?"[/color] She chuckled. [color=#DBFFFB]"Of course. What else should I have been expecting? I guess I'll be staying content with my bloodline's power then."[/color] Lorelai's eyes widened. [color=00aeef]"Raped!? What!? Of course not."[/color] Her cheeks flushed. [color=00aeef]"I uh... I'm... mostly demon Elina."[/color] Why was she explaining this? Lorelai chastised herself internally, this wasn't a secret to share lightly. Elina smiled. It wasn't often that Lorelai blushed. [color=#DBFFFB]"Well, I'm not surprised by that either."[/color] But then she sighed. [color=#DBFFFB]"I wish this rain would end soon. Poor Luna... she deserves a good burial. A proper coffin for her, at least. It's bad luck to be talking like this in the presence of a corpse."[/color] Lorelai nodded, grateful for the welcome - if morbid - change in topic. [color=00aeef]"We could entomb her in the catacombs under the castle if you'd like. I've got a key, might take a bit to find a coffin though."[/color] She sighed, turning her gaze out the window. [color=00aeef]"What's next Elina?"[/color] [color=#DBFFFB]"After we entomb Luna?"[/color] Elina paused to think. [color=#DBFFFB]"Cake, maybe. And sweet tea."[/color] She smiled faintly. [color=#DBFFFB]"This suicide business has gotten me hungry."[/color] [color=00aeef]"As you wish."[/color] Lorelai stood and retrieved Luna's corpse from the ground, wrapping it in her ruined handkerchief. She turned to Elina, smiling before she left. [color=00aeef]"I'll get Luna ready if you'd like to get dressed? Then we'll have cake and tea to our heart's content."[/color] Elina nodded, grabbing the ctrutch that lay against the bedside. [color=#DBFFFB]"Yes, please."[/color]