Home, Sweet Home

[Xiomara]

People came and went, but as far a haunting places were concerned they always seemed to pull you back. There was something in the allure of it all, the mystery and the inkling that you hadn’t yet discovered everything there was to be discovered. This was why the great snow tiger had found her way back to Lacrimosa, the place that housed so much death, sadness and joy. The place that had given her a life she wanted and then finally put her fears to rest by also giving her death. Xiomara hadn’t aged as much as she should have, something still stirring in the moss green of her eyes. She looked at the front door and pushed through it, the snow white hair wafting with soft wisps in the wind.

One deep breath was taken before the plunge and as the door gave way under her palm, she stepped inside. The room was dimly lit, as she remembered it. The scent somewhat foreign, musty and stale from disuse. The clock ticked time away and to the side the stairway led to nowhere and everywhere. Grinning she bounded up the stairs, a child come home on Christmas Eve to the quiet house of parents not forgotten. She found the room she’d shared with Cerverous but merely brushed fingers over it, not daring to open it before moving on. If he were inside, he should come see her; it was because of him that she’d left after all. Onto the next set of doors, newly created, she skipped them all and found the room upstairs, the one very few knew about. The one in the attic. Dropping her bag just inside in order to claim it she bounded back down the stairs. “Hello, is anybody home?”

[Ajax Matashina]

He had been sitting in his chambers, his legs crossed as he rested rather meditatively upon his bed, the bed he had once shared with Genevieve his eyes were closed and his features were soft.
It had been a few days since he had reopened the coven house the renovations finally finished after countless months of rebuilding and hard work. As of yet he had not heard anything nor picked up the scent of anyone familiar that was until the door creaked upon the lower levels.

Metallic eyes opened to look upon his chamber door which was open, he listened staying where he was for the time being, he would allow who ever had come home to see the place again alone for a short while.
They seemed to move through the house as someone familiar would, going up into the loft space, he smiled only a few of the members having really ever gone up there.

The voice rung through the halls and he stood, he knew with in a instant who it was. Pulling a long black robe onto his otherwise naked torso he left his room. Upon him he worse simple black trousers, his feet also bare. He went to where the voice had come from and soon enough he had Xiomara well within his sights his smile remaining.
"Welcome home Xio"

[Xiomara]

The scent of vampire was the first thing she noticed, since they moved with near-quiet precision it was always hard to pick up on them until it was too late. Even the most trained had issues when dealing with vampires. Whirling around the smile grew on her face, her plaited hair hanging over the left shoulder, the same blue and white jumper, strapless and with the diamond pattern around the short legs, waist and chest. The over-coat she had left in the room upstairs and the boots thudded quietly as she went to Ajax. “Ajax! Thank you, it’s good to be home. Are you the only one here?”

She looked behind him, thinking that maybe she would see Sauri or Erebus, even Alex still remained fresh in her mind’s eye. Not much had changed about the man before her, and not much had changed about the tigress herself. Except now she wore a small blue and silver tear shaped pendant around her neck, and showed off the claw marks tattooed on her right shoulder rather proudly. “I came as soon as I heard the call.”

[Ajax Matashina]

He looked on the woman fondly as she crossed the space between them to come and stand beside him, her question dampened his smile a little but he managed to hold it at least happy that she had returned to his coven, he had missed her vampire or not.
"It is just me for now Xiomara, I'm sorry, I am hoping that the others will return I have missed everyone greatly" the leader of the cover very rarely showed any emotions to anyone in the coven other then his sister but in light of it being their first meeting in a very long time he didn't try to hide anything about the way he felt.
"I am very glad you heard the call. I hope you can find happiness here again after such horror came to our door" he rested his hand upon her shoulder to cease her searching over his.
"Maybe with news you have returned others will come, you never know"

[Xiomara]

“Yes, I’m sure Cerverous will be tripping all over himself in the rush to get back here because of me.” She rolled her eyes and smiled, daring enough to slide her arms around Ajax and give him a firm hug, a small tightening of her arms for a gentle squeeze and then she released him. The action was more of a comfort for him, since she was still kind of new to the whole touching thing.

Her face was flushed as she stepped back and looked down at her feet, clearing her throat before facing him again. The attitude of no touching and her sour look on things had changed, she was more lively and less bashful in front of others. Less than reserved. “They’ll come, don’t worry. Why don’t you fill me in, did you rebuild this place all on your own?”

[Ajax Matashina]

He chuckled at her comment about her prior room mate he face relaxing once again from the pain that had started to creep in at having to explain he was there alone. He longed to have Sauri back and Eve though he very much doubted the latter would ever come back to him.
Xiomara did what not many did, she hugged him to which he paused to eventually hug her back gently, letting go when she pulled away. He was not used to such action from others and found it strange but in light of the situation he enjoyed it finding it made him feel slightly better along with her reassurance that more would come home to them.

"Oh no not alone. To start with after the attack when so many left a few did remain and they helped with the rebuild but the damage was just to great and over the months members left one after the other. I could not ask of them to stay they had their own lives to lead and responsibilities to attend to. This place was my life so I remained when all other did not to finish the rebuild"

[Xiomara]

Nodded and toyed with her braid, a habit for when she was thinking, chewing on her lower lip while she listened at the same time. The guilt she felt clamped around her stomach but she shrugged it away. “Suppose it won’t matter if I feel bad for leaving before the war hit.” She knew that Ajax nor Sauri would ever hold it against her, that they had built this home and would rebuild it as much as necessary and as many times as they had to if they wanted people to come back. The casualties had been high, she’d only returned briefly before duty called her away.

Moving away from him she took a seat and rested her chin in both palms, blowing the hair out of her eyes. “I’ve been made leader of the Ice Mark clan, and while I’m back and want to stay; I may have to go back and forth between Lacrimosa and the Southern Ice Caps. We’ve found a new threat lingering on the fringes of the world, and it seems to be spreading this way, Ajax. I’m sorry to have to be the bearer of such ill-news.”

[Ajax Matashina]

"No one knew just how bad it would be Xio. We were cocky about it, I was to headstrong we underestimated our enemy and what would happen to us. I can not and will not blame you or anyone else who was not present on the days we were attacked. I am glad you were not there to be harmed or to witness what so many of us saw" he smiled weakly hoping it would ease her apparent guilt. "It would not have mattered if a few more of us were here they outnumbered us massively and the majority of them were a new stronger mix breed or they were ancients we never stood a chance" he did not like to recount what had happened. But he would and he would again he needed to keep the painful memory fresh, to remember the fallen but also to make sure he never made such an arrogant mistake again. Should the coven ever come under attack again he would not let it fall without being prepared.

As Xiomara moved to sit down Ajax also seated himself just across from her to keep from looming over her like some negative figure. He could tell instantly that something was bothering her when she began to explain where she had been. It sounded like she had done well for herself even managing to procure herself a position leading a race of people out towards the Ice Caps. The bad news came swift just as he would have expected it to and he frowned unable to hide his anxiety over the news.
"What is this new threat exactly? Will it come this far?"

[Xiomara]

She shrugged and got to her feet, pulling from the pocket of her jumper a small pouch. It was dumped on the coffee table between them, and it was a red stone with a black bug in the middle. Xio licked her lips and looked up at Ajax, a worried and fearful expression passing her moss green eyes before they became shadowed. "This is a leech that was found in one of our bears, it attached itself to the eyelid and began to drain the blood, but then it started pumping it back in with a chemical in its saliva the bears began to die out one by one, and the sickness became airborne. We've lost about a fourth of our population to this."

This was the part she didn't want to tell him, the part that sent her skin crawling and had a hand rubbing at both her arms simultaneously. "We can't kill them off, we can only mummify them. But... our dead? They kept coming back to life until we learned that through our stars we could purify them. The bodies decomposed at a rapid pace, and black things slithered out of the blood and into the night. I think it comes for us all.. I don't know how long it will take to reach this place; we've been keeping it at bay."

[Crazul Longfang]

He peered nervously around the corner, and saw Ajax and someone he didnt know, a female. He stepped slowly from the darkness where he had been hiding. "H-hello," He said, he still stuttered, and still had a tendency to be nervous and shy, despite his time around people. "I, um, I hope its ok that I came back?" He stuttered. "If, it it's not, then, I, I can leave. Russia isn't that bad." He had gone back to his homeland for a time. He forced himself to step closer to the two, even though nearly every fiber of his being was telling him to run. Russia had not been kind to him, he had been hunted again, it was bad.

[Darcassan]

Remained silent, only one that would feel his presence for now would be the master of the coven, he had been in stasis for the time since his final departure but he had once more taken up the call when his master and mistress held a need for him. He also noticed that Xio was looking well which was pleasing. However the younger man he held no knowing of but could see by his body language that there was something that had spooked the male, he himself had seldom changed, knowing his kind did not age which was a blessing but also a curse, a double edged sword of you will.

For now he would remain quiet, he had felt a stirring in the ground long before he heard the call which had taken his concern from returning till now but he would not leave those he had fought along side a year ago, he had seen some things he wished he had not but he was loyal to the coven and it's leaders no matter the cost to himself, the only likely thing that would have changed about the man was that he looked at things another way, he knew better the power to expect when dealing with ancient races. His elven cloaking allowed him to remain hidden from all aside the master, he studied the man, the wear in the man was clear to see yet he himself did not blame the man, he like the leader had not strayed far from the place he called home.

[Sauri Matashina]

The gardens stilled. Any insect life that had been making noise seemed to go quiet. She could feel the pull, and it was one she had missed greatly. Her twin. Her family, and her home...

Slow steps carried her along the paths that wound through the gardens she had loved so dearly, now they were sleeping. Though as she walked the flowers and foliage closest to her seemed to awaken to her, knowingly. A soft smile and she moved to the double doors that led into the main room of the house. She could feel him, her brother, and others now. Demure fingers turned the small silver knob and the door opened. Her slender frame moved through the opening and her dark eyes came to rest upon those that were gathered there. The door clicked closed behind her and she walked over to them. "I thought I felt something change in the air here. She said, her voice soft and gentler. "Jax.." she said softly, and her entire being thrummed. She wanted to squeal, tackle him, cry, and laugh all at once. She had missed the ill fated news, but was elaited to see everyone that was in the room.

[Azrae Sevar]

It was a thunderous night, lightning splayed across the skies and clouds roiled angrily in their opposition. The cemetery ground shook as if an earthquake were taking place and yet it became very still, a patient predator waiting for the victim to climb out of its rabbit hole and into the awaiting and all-consuming darkness. Stillness overtook this little space of earth and the creatures of the night silenced themselves as the dirt was disturbed. A freshly dug grave whose soil had not been firmly packed yet lingered in the outskirts. From it a hand suddenly reached out, fingers and arm arched towards the skies in quiet supplication.


Pale severed appendage turned out to be the body of a young woman clawing her way out of the soil that threatened to keep her imprisoned. This was not how she expected to be reborn, with a gasping breath the dark hair emerged and electric blue eyes flashed an angry red, ivory fangs glinted in the moonlight until finally she sat upon the ground, panting and gasping for air she did not need. The needs of a human body were hard to kill off, even more so than their habits.


Onyx hair pooled around her body and she looked around, a blue aura surrounding her like wisps of fog, coiling and uncoiling as they examined each delicate curve. She was stark naked except for the Lapis Philosophorum that hung from her neck, pulsing with the same color as her eyes. Questioning gaze searched the grounds for something familiar, sniffed at the air still seeking that which she had lost, yet her newly awakened mind could not recall what it was she sought. Rising on trembling legs she stumbled forward, bracing against the side of a mausoleum, her throat parched the thirst in need of quenching. Little by little she made it past the weeping grounds to the burial ones; where people stood over graves of their loved one and wept and whispered about the strange naked woman. Ignoring the whispers that came her way, taking in the new scents, overwhelmed by such strange sights. Several questions begged answers, the most prominent one being where exactly had she come up?

It didn't matter anymore because she knew where it was she had to go, the memories were flooding her naked trembling shell and her hair was impossibly long, dragging along the ground behind her; snagging on what it could until she had to rip it free before she continued. Then suddenly the home was there, looming over her and waiting with open arms, but someone stood in the doorway and with quiet footfalls she fell in line to try and get inside. The scent was familiar but soon others hit her nose and she blinked somewhat blankly before tilting her head. "Hurry up and go inside, Sauri."

[Darcassan]

Stepped out to the left of Sauri and gave a formal bow, he was glad she was back as he turned to look at the other woman. "Welcome back Mistress Sauri and lady Sevar" He now stood and looked to Ajax, he gave a formal bow to both Ajax and Xio he held respect for them always, he felt it was going to be like a family again which is what he wished for, A place for those who were not classed as human to have a place to live and be safe. He tilted his head and looked at the man who seemed spooked, hoping the man would warm up to the leaders as he had.

He gave a small smile to Sauri, he had always been fond of her and her talent for her garden. He stood to attention now since he had greeted all in the room as he always did before standing back, he had been concerned like Xio was at the stirring, it was also in the earth which is where he felt it most but that was just his natural tune to nature around him.

[Ajax Matashina]

The news Xiomara had to offer him was not what he had expected at all and his expression became grave. He had reopened the coven for what? For them all to gather again once more to die within the city limits.
His hands folded together in his lap to stop then from tightening as he lowered his head slightly with a sigh his brows knitting as he processed just what he had been told. He didn't understand how it could get everyone..including those that were already considered undead?

“And Xio where have these things come from? What made them?” he questioned trying to paint a clearer image for himself. “And you said you can purify them, How? Does that not mean we can beat them?” His hands were tightening and loosening repeatedly as he spoke, the vines upon his arms having tightened the limbs beneath his clothing. “This is not good news at all”

Others were coming now he could feel them, first Crazul who quickly and nervously made himself known before Darcassan who as usual kept a low profile.
Metallic eyes once again lifted this time to look upon Crazul who seemed unsure of his return. He stood and smiled the only sort of smile he could manage after such news.
“Crazul good to see you, there is no need to doubt that you are welcome here” For now he did not speak to Darcassan he would allow the male the choice of when he wanted to show himself, the male would probably know Ajax was aware of him there.

He felt Sauri before he saw her, his eyes went to the door as she came through it and they instantly scanned her to make sure she was keeping well. She looked well enough and he wished to go to her but in light of the company and the situation he offered her a smile as he stepped to the side allowing her enough room to stand beside him. “Sauri... i'm glad you came home”

He didn't have time to dwell as a naked Azrae appeared around the same time Darcassan showed, he nodded back to the male with a half smile and moved to one of the chairs taking up the throw which had been upon it.
Stepping around the others he came to Azrae wrapping her up from the cold and the eyes of the others, his back momentarily to the group before he turned back making sure Azrae was secure.

“Thank you, all of you. I did not expect much response to my call”