Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Lessard Family Estate: Gardens

Tiko

Tiko

Draconic Administrator/Mentor
Administrator
Mentor
Nexus GM
as written by Tiko

The Lessard Family Estate had seen better days, and had clearly fallen into a state of neglect. The gardens had become so overgrown with weeds that they appeared as little more than gnarled underbrush, and the brick walkways were cracked and sunken. The nearby orchard was equally as overrun by rampant weeds kept sparse only by the large walnut trees that blotted out the sunlight from reaching the ground.

Beyond the stone hedges of the estate gardens could be seen the heights of the Lessard Manor House itself, but it too was little more than a specter of its former glory. Even in its current state it had a sort of old beauty to it though. There was history in those stones, history that spanned the generations until it had simply faded away into a memory. Ivy grew up the walls, creeping and edging its way through the cracks in the stone and entwining itself in the lattice windows, and wildflowers grew among the oriental plants that had become overtaken by the encroaching forest.

It was here that Christian had brought Nox, and it was at the gardens edge that he stopped.

The sun hadn't quite edged above the horizon, but its dim glow was beginning to lighten the overcast skies which added a somewhat dreary atmosphere to the over-grown gardens.

A lone figure sat among the weeds upon a cracked, stone bench.

Sanina had once been a woman of beauty, and some might still have thought her it if they were to look past the insanity in her eyes, and the faint scent of decay that clung to her form. She maintained a ghastly pale complexion befitting one who sees very little sunlight, crimson eyes, and long black hair. She was currently adorned in a dress more befitting of a Victorian era, and at her throat she was lightly fingering a silver cross.

The kinship between her and Christian was evident, but she lacked the gaunt sickliness of Christian's emaciated form.

She was humming softly, and she seemed alone.

"No tricks, no traps," Christian noted as he stood there and allowed Nox to assess the situation and decide whether or not he cared to approach the woman.
 
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as written by Emperor Jester

As Christian led him across and out of the city, Nox did his best to seem perplexed. However, his mind was racing, doing its best to formulate a plan for every outcome and possibility, even though that wasn't exactly his strong point. Most of his ideas ended with "brute force" and "unrelenting carnage and terror", though these were tools his father had taught him to subjugate the lesser beings, the humans and their ilk, and most undead didn't fear their own kind, unless their was an obvious age or power gap...

These were his thoughts, frustrating as they were, as they came upon the ruinous garden. And when Christian stopped before the woman, something seemed to seize Nox's attention. The smell of walnuts rotting on the ground? The damp, earthy compost dominating the air? The aroma of history and a fall from grace? It all rang too close to home...

Did the Caer grow walnuts? Nox couldn't remember, and for a moment, sentimentality almost overcame him, and if his tear ducts still functioned, his eyes would've appeared wet with nostalgia. However, he recovered quickly from this, and strode towards the female kindred, blotting Christian from his active thoughts, as if he no longer mattered, and truthfully, he wasn't impressed by her either. They seemed so frail, like twigs, though something told him that this woman was not some one to idly threaten or bully.

Something told him she might even be a threat...but...that was ludicrous, wasn't it?

With a gruff, impatient bark, Nox made direct eye contact as he did his best to position himself where he could watch the two of them at once, all the while asking, "You asked for my company?"
 
as written by Tiko

Sanina tilted her head inquisitively as Nox spoke to her, but her eyes were milky white as they stared vacantly past him.

She stood from the bench to approach him, and her hand moved to lightly brush against his chest. Her movements were curious and exploratory in nature as she circled around him, studying him with all the inquisitiveness of a young child.

"Such a marvelous creation..." she crooned as she found herself at his front again.

She looked up at him and the milky white of her eyes began to fade until the red irises were visible once more, and this time her hand slid higher to study the contours of his face.

The touch of her fingers upon his bare skin left a crawling sensation beneath his flesh from the necrotic nature of her touch, but it was fleeting and she lowered her hand lest she cause upset.

When she spoke, it was softly and with a weight of regret within her words.

"If I could have but seen the Caer within their prime. Tell me, what is it that you desire?" she asked.

A personal question perhaps, but she appeared no threat to him.
 
as written by Emperor Jester

Her touch was inquisitive, some what alarming, but on a whole, Nox did not entirely mid it. It was only when she began to probe his face that he could feel his muscle instinctively tighten in self defense, but now more than ever, he felt nothing from this female, at least nothing negative. He'd watch her as she moved, keeping a tight eye on her hands the entire time.

In truth, it seemed as if his own flesh was still alive, untouched by death at all, except for the exceedingly cold feel of it, even by the standards of the living dead, and the snow white color of his skin. He seemed almost to breath, as if his body still went through the motions. He blinked, though he needed not to, and though it was merely condensation from the damp air, it was almost as if he was sweating, however a keener eye would notice the water frozen to him in small, crystalline droplets.

"I desire many things," He would answer almost immediately. "I desire vengeance for my house. I desire justice for myself. I desire more power, and the ability to use it, both literal and figurative. I desire a matron to stand by my side, and thralls enough to field an army, to wage war on those that did my house wrong." As he spoke, a note of power crept into his voice, cold and ancient, as if he was channeling his own sire in that very instant, the Father of the Caer who had made Lutetia quake and fear.

"And I desire to reflect the question back at you. What do you desire, Miss...?"
 
as written by Alara

"I desire... the world..." Sanina replied before thoughtfully tilting her head once more. "But such matters are the fanciful desires of children. Come, walk with me," she offered as she led them along the brick walkways of the gardens. "I would ask you, just who has wronged your house so grievously?"
 
as written by Emperor Jester

He'd follow her, for now refusing any arm or hand that may have been offered, instead focusing on the scenery and the conversation at hand. "If I knew, I would not be making idle chatter at the moment. I have...suspicions that the Slyvestre may have been involved, but nothing concrete enough to act. There were many houses involved, however, as well as an alliance with human Hunters, and rumors of werewolves and lycans abound as well."

Nox would then pause, letting it sink in for a moment, for all present, himself included.
 
as written by Tiko

"And in that you are mistaken," Sanina answered. "You already know who are responsible. Tell me, in its final hours, who of the Caer's allies came to its aid? How many stood idle as your father's legacy fell to ruin?" she inquired curiously. "Are they no less culpable?"

She didn't look to him as they spoke, and though her words were soft and almost lyrical in their nature, she seemed somewhat distant and detached in her mannerisms. It was as if even as she conversed with him, her mind drifted in and out of lucidity.

"The answer is a simple one," she concluded. "They all have wronged you."
 
as written by Emperor Jester

"No, not all. I cannot imagine that. There were houses that refused our pleas, simply because they were too weak to act, even with the Caer standing beside them. The lesser houses, the rabble and the new I do not blame, nor do I fault. War between houses can be overtly destructive. I am not so blind as to ignore that fact."

Still...she had a very good point. While yes, they had a list of enemies abound, numerous and powerful, they had no sort means of allied families, and not a single one of them had shown up to assist the Devil of Blue in their time of need. And almost all had closed their doors to a fleeing and seemingly scared Nox, fifty years previous.

"Something tells me that you have been wronged yourself, or else you would not seek out the audience of one so desperate as I."
 
as written by Tiko

"That I have..." Sanina admitted. "You see, my father believed that immortality was not a gift to be bestowed upon ones self... but rather that it was something to be seized by those with the means to take it."

She kept their pace slow and lingering as if to enjoy the scenic atmosphere of the gardens, but there was naught but weeds to spectacle at.

"And so he did. Our house perhaps lacked the splendor and might of the Caer, or the years of the Sylvestre... but our name was an old one, carried down through our human ancestors until my father claimed immortality. Our triumph was turned to ash though, and we were forced to abandon our home and escape into exile far from the shores of Lutetia."

"I would see these wrongs revisited upon those who name themselves Elders. Would it not be a spectacle for the ages to watch them crumble into ruin as they once watched the Caer? And to take from them, all that they took from my family?"
 
as written by Emperor Jester

"Indeed it would. If fact, I'd wish to see this very much in my life time. Though I don't know what to expect from the two of us. I hardly count your pet back there as an able body, and as far as I know, it would just be the two of us working towards this goal..." Nox would stop his stride, reaching into the overgrown weed-bed and tracing a line of frost over the undergrowth.

"Though...something tells me I'm not the first you've approached, or at least, I won't be the first. Am I wrong?"
 
as written by Tiko

"Indeed not... but there is only one force within the city with the numbers to rival that of House Sylvestre," Sanina remarked lightly. "But come, the sun will be up soon. I would offer you what comforts still remain of my family's estate for the day, should you wish to linger until dusk so that we might discuss this further."
 
as written by Lialore

The grass ran through his fingers as he walked. Long, tall blades; each green millimetre adding to the sense of desertion. They tried to tangle him, make him prisoner to the lands that he should have some claim to. But Max was just as much abandoned as they were.

What was this?
He had come to find, yet only felt increasingly lost.
He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, the condition of the Lessard Estate was no secret. They shared the same name, but there was no familiarity, of course. This was just another strange, scary place far removed from the home that he once knew.

Home. Home was gone, dead and buried with his mother.

This should’ve been his home. Up ahead, he could make out the house protruding from the wild and realised with a sort of disgust that even in decay it was terribly grand. His humble upbringing was churning, disagreeable as he jumped a wall and stepped up onto a pathway which seemed to lead to the rear of the manor. Here, he could tell that the gardens had been prettily organised. Once upon a time. Now they were just leaking patches of different shades of dull green and brown who had given up their beauty to destroy the walkways with the odd speckle of wildflowers as a highlight. These walkways were where his mother would have rebelliously ran through in her younger years, he didn’t doubt.

He pictured her everywhere, but it felt wrong. No. He hated this place - who had lived here - how it made him feel. The melancholy he had been expecting hadn’t lasted long. Frustration took over, through his mind ran every little pent up hatred for his situation. That was what this was. An excuse to feel sorry for yourself, he thought bitterly. But he deserved that every once in a while.

Closing in on the manor, he found that he no longer noticed the untamed loveliness of it all. Instead, his mind was trying it’s hardest to turn everything sour. The vines that took the building looked like dried veins, sucked from life. He pulled at one, freed it with a dry crunch, and crushed it in his hand. Eyes settling on the locked door, he stepped up to it, trying to see through the dusted cracked window to see the inside. He hoped that it had been ruined. That everything had been stolen, the walls vandalised, every last shred of homeliness destroyed.

He could find a way in. Other people surely had. But the easy way wasn’t going to offer him enough release.

And then, with resolve, he stepped back and kicked the door with all the force he had.
 
as written by Tiko

The door was solid oak, and the kick didn't even rattle the door in its frame. Kick after kick did little more than scuff the wood beneath his boot until his ankle smarted from the repeated impacts. It was almost as if the door itself mocked him, and barred his way forward.

You don't belong.

He wasn't alone in his outburst though, and the small crack of a twig came from his left. There in the gardens was a little girl that couldn't have been more than five or six years old with a ratty looking doll held in one arm. She stood wide-eyed as she looked upon Max before she dropped the doll onto the stone walkways of the garden and ran off.

"Alice! Alice!"

In her panic she all but collided with another girl of about seven.

"What is it?" Alice asked.

Sarah latched onto her sister's arm before pointing over at Max with wide eyes.

Alice too froze, but she didn't run. She instead held her sister close to her side and watched Max with suspicious eyes.

"What are you doing here?" the older girl asked.

The girls were far too young to be on their own, but why then were they out here in such a place as this?
 
as written by Lialore

Max was too lost in his attempted destruction of the door to notice the stirring in his surroundings. His unsuccessfulness wasn’t so much angering him further, the more he battered the oak, the calmer he became.

He stopped quite suddenly, sure he’d heard something melting into his banging and scraping. Tensing, his torso span, knees bending slightly, eyes scouring for the source.

Kids coming out here to play wouldn’t surprise him. But these children weren’t exactly the classic troublemakers he would’ve expected. Out here, so little, and all alone. Surely not alone. He eyed them suspiciously, straightening up, a bit flushed from that sudden exertion. And his leg hurt.

He inspected the pair a little closer in the quiet. Something was… wrong. He’d felt that way before he’d spotted the doll. And that was when he had a genuine shiver.

“This is my house” he said, chest still heaving more than usual, the humour lost on such youngsters. He felt ridiculous, but he found it hard to make eye contact with either of the children. Quite honestly, they gave him the creeps. Yet the creepiness didn’t quite swallow his compassion. His forehead creased. “Are you… on your own?”
 
as written by Tiko

Despite Max's apparent aversion to the children, nothing really seemed off about them other than the peculiarity of them being at the estate. They were for all intents and purposes ordinary human children - albeit a bit dirty from romping around in the gardens.

"You're a liar," Sarah said. "This is 'nina's house."

"Shh," Alice scolded her sister into silence.

The two of them didn't seem to know what to make of Max, but neither seemed remotely comfortable with him there.
 
as written by Lialore

Max frowned, dismissing their words.

“No one called Nina here. Just me. Where are your parents?” he asked, really not wanting to take on the responsibility of the two children. And the creepy doll. He found all dolls creepy, but he wouldn't put it past that thing to come alive at night to haunt.
At least they weren’t still in diapers. That’d make the situation a whole lot worse.

Their sudden appearance had dimmed his mood some, and he quickly ooked back at the door that was hardly scuffed in embarrassment. He realised that he probably looked a little bit crazy; so raised his eyebrows in prompt.

"Hm?"
 
as written by Tiko

"You should leave now," Alice told Max bluntly.

Manners it would seem were not her strong point. Sarah meanwhile seemed to be following her older sister's lead on the matter and nodded her head in agreement. There was a stark contrast in the girls mannerisms though, and while Alice seemed haughty, Sarah just seemed afraid of him.

There was a rustle from the undergrowth at Max's back, followed by the snap of a twig and a low growl. The creature that stepped forth held some vague likeness to a wolf, but that was were the similarity ended. Luminescent green eyes were lit up with an unnatural light, and a pair of almost bat-like wings had been grafted on the animals muscled body.

The faint whiff of decay that clung to its fur mingling sickly with the faint aroma of the flower gardens.

"Told you," Alice said. "Now you're gonna get it."
 
as written by Lialore

His eyes flickered between the two of them. He felt more nervous being stared down by a pair of kids than he would if it were half of the Bloodstone pack. They might as well have been aliens.

Max probably should leave. He was only here to cause trouble. But his own childish defiance made him fold his arms.

And then the monster came – from which pit of hell, he wasn’t sure.

The thing seemed to emit dread and death, it rolled over him along with the growl in menace. Max’s arms untangled themselves, his palms facing forwards futilely as his body uncoiled and tried to calculate its slow escape. He was completely unarmed. His first thought was that it was a werewolf of some sorts, but it was like nothing he had ever seen before. He didn’t know where to focus, so instead took in the whole beastly creature in all of its horror.

He wanted to scream, he wanted to run. But something told him that that was a bad idea. As bad an idea as he thought making eye contact with the beast would be, he was trying to watch it whilst desperately avoiding its glowing gaze.

One of the little girls spoke, but his comprehension was being destroyed by what he was looking at. Fear and panic overshadowed the parts that were trying to make connections. He glanced quickly at the children, about to mouth some protective words.

But they didn’t seem frightened.

“Is this…” his mouth had gone so dry, his attempt at speaking softly was barely audible. Max tried again but just couldn’t find the words.

Instead of screaming, he drew in a terrified breath. Instead of running, he took a smooth step back, palms still out, as if the thing knew much of mercy.
 
as written by Tiko

The wolf stepped closer yet, saliva dripping from its jaws as it stalked ever closer. Alice seemed entirely unafraid, and in fact seemed to be enjoying it to some extent. Sarah though was hiding her face behind Alice, not wanting to watch whatever was about to transpire.

The animal crouched, its muscles and tendons poised to react to any sudden movements from Max, but it didn't engage him.

In some distant part of Max's mind, beneath the fear and panic of the situation he might have sworn her heard a woman singing. It was a soft and melodious tune, but far removed from his conscious perception at the moment. Still, it found root in his psyche, lulling him into a state of calm relaxation.
 
as written by Lialore

Max couldn’t take his eyes off the creature. But the manner in which they stared slowly began to change. That voice. The alarm was siphoned away, replaced instead by a swell of peace. He tried to listen to the singing that he wasn’t sure was actually there, it slipped like silk through his grasp.

His expression was void of emotion, it just watched blankly. He blinked, looked around finally, his state making him a victim to any suggestion.
 
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