Eleanora Durant blinked her eyes for a moment, coming back to her current reality. She knew what she was meant to do. She had wished for a purpose for so long, but this new purpose was a cold one, even for her normal chilly persona.
On the bright side, she would have a friend for the first time in several hundred years, but... But what? This is what you wished for, she reminded herself. Sure it was not something that anyone could truly want to have to do this to a future friend, but if she was smart with the situation she would be able to help them in the end.
A cold wind brushed her face as she stepped out into the cold, away from the small house she had lived in for the past decade. She had closed it up as soon as she sensed the vision drawing near. With a bag packed in her hand and her jacket and scarf bundling her up, Eleanora felt the wind surround her, dropping her softly on a desolate beach.
It was a small island, and it was unforgiving in overall landscape. She had heard of the small piece of land before, from a brother who had long since passed, but she could barely recall the description in all honesty.
She placed her bag on the ground and looked at her surroundings. It was cold, and the trees seemed to be pine, so it must be somewhere in the North, though as she looked up at the sky she frowned.
Eleanora rubbed a small pendant hanging from her neck with a sigh.
"Mother, we're not in Kansas anymore."
The pendant was worn from centuries of rubbing, though the small crystal locked within was in perfect condition. It was smooth and pale pink. A rose quartz, the only keepsake she had of her human mother, though it doubled as a seer stone as well, and reminded her of her true mother because of that.
She dropped her hand and loosened her scarf as she looked at the sky. It was an eclipse, and the sky seemed to be made of blood. It was one earth of sorts, she supposed. Eleanora grabbed up her bag again and walked along the beach till she saw smoke in the distance. Wary, she checked her boots and bra for her hidden blades, careful not to lift her sleeves for her prized daggers that she had acquired from her late son when he had passed on.
Gregoire had been so good for her, to experience motherhood, even if it had been brief.
He had been human, though that was unsurprising as her kind were rare, and appeared sporadically as best in any race. She had been grateful for that, at least then he would be able to live a full life, and at least he had a chance to die of old age instead of some gruesome way.
Of course, Gregoire had no real love for humanity, and perhaps he took after her in that way. She had teased him for being pessimistic, but he would shake off her worries. Gregoire had been a greedy intelligent man. He sought out answers to all his questions with ever-renewing vigor and hoarded the secrets he kept like all the crown jewels the world had to offer.
Her son had learned all he could from her, and had gone to numerous other Watchers for answers as well. It had led to him almost being killed several times, till she swept in and vowed that he would keep silent. A few had taken her vow, but the majority wanted one from Gregoire as well.
By the first time, he was already a man, or at least for the time period. He had given his vow, never regretting it in his quest for truth.
In his later years, he began to train the few Watchers that had been born in his lifetime. Horace, and Julien primarily. The others did not survive their childhoods, most due to the fact that they failed to know the importance of knowledge, and only two, whom had been well prepared and well-read, were killed because they were betrayed.
Eleanora drew closer to the fire, feeling the air warm as she neared.
It ached somewhere deep inside her that she would be forced to betray her new friend. She would do as Destiny bid her, but she would try her hardest to soften the blow.
Eleanora had always thought of herself as a kind soul, even if she were cold to outsiders. But as she drawed near, she vowed that she would never betray her new friend in the worst of ways, or at least not in the way that he would think.
The bushes rustled and leaves fell to the ground beneath. Eleanora followed the sound and stepped back to take in the figure that stood beside her.
He was naked, and had been so for a long time, that was clear. His long, limber body (a warrior's she had no doubt) was lined with scars ranging from vicious and white to minute and dark. The gruesome scars had been done long ago, she was sure. The others were most likely due to the relentless environment.
He looked at her, shock showing in his gaze, before all expression slipped off his face. A dry look flashed by in his eyes before he spoke.
"What did you do to end up here?" he asked, his language not totally foreign but not similar to her native french or english.
She knew the dialect well enough, it dated back to when her real Mother had just begun to weaken, thousands of years ago.
She gave him a soft smile. It was kind, but it did not reassure him of her good intentions in the least.
Eleanora knew that this, this was a man tested by time and near ruined by people. How she loathed humans in this moment, though he was not human himself. He was a demigod if she was correct, similar to herself, but he was no Watcher.
She dropped her bag and held up her hands in a non-committal manner. "I suppose, it must be fate."
He frowned at her, looking down at her through dirty, long black hair. He did not like her answer, but he would get no more from her on that subject.
Eleanora dropped her hands, angling her head slightly to the side, as if curious. She knew in actuality all she would ever need to know, but she wanted him to have the freedom to tell her whenever he chose.
Trust was fragile and she didn't want them both to get started on the wrong leg.
Eleanora let out a long breath. "Who are you?"
The man, with his tight lipped demeanor and distant facade, let out a breath as well, his marked chest rising and falling. His pale green eyes scanned her form and she let him. She did not flinch beneath his gaze, nor did she show any sign of apprehension, which appeared to spike his curiosity.
"Alcaeus." he said slowly, his accent coming though strong.
She nodded. "I am Eleanora."
A hint of accent appeared in her voice, though not one familiar to this particular lifetime of hers.
She turned and looked ahead at the fire, "How long has that been burning?"
He blinked at her for a moment. "I have only ever lit it once."
"How long ago was that?" she asked, a slight frown coming over her pale features.
He shrugged slightly, "I do not know. I have never felt time pass here. I may have been here days, weeks, months, years... I have no way of knowing outside of you."
Alcaeus began to walk back toward the warm flames, though Eleanora did not believe that he could even feel the cold.
Her skin felt tight and prickly beneath her coat, but she knew not to become that comfortable, not to become comfortable enough that her own facade dropped fully.
Eleanora had acquired many an enemy in the past, and she knew that at least a handful of them were constantly waiting for their chance at her life. She hadn't been as safe since Gregoire had passed. Not since the last of her true allies had been slain by the Unknown.
The Unknown could be many things, truly. But it was doubtful that Alcaeus even knew about anything about her kind, so she had ruled him out with ease.
One could never be too careful. Her immortality had already taken hold of her but not even she was invincible. She knew that well, and resisted the urge to cross her arms as she followed him to the fire, her bag appearing beside her once she sat down.
She turned to him, sitting slightly ahead, closer to the flames. Her hair had begun to come loose from her braid, and dark auburn strands flew in the air around her face. She pushed them behind a slightly pink ear, letting out a sigh when they went against her wishes once more.
Alcaeus looked at her, his tan legs crossed, with only his face tilted in her direction. After a moment, he turned back to the fire.
Eleanora opened up the clasp on her bag and pulled out a small jar that was perpetually full of soap. She had trouble affording soap once, but never again would she have to deal without.
She scooted closer to him and held out the jar. "Here, rub some of this in your hair and rinse it with some water."
He took it from her, but pointed at the water colliding on the shore. "I would kill for water. Whatever this is, it burns, and it certainly is not water."
She looked at the waves. They were tinted pink, almost as if drops from the sky had fallen and polluted a once viable drinking source.
Eleanora reached into the bag, calling up a bottle of water. She kept some with her almost all the time, and in the case of the bottle she was reaching for, it was self-replenishing as long as it remained unbroken.
A moment later, she pulled out a blue bottle and handed it to him. It was made of thick glass, and almost opaque.
He took it from her, a hint of amazement in his eyes, amazement that disappeared after a moment.
"What are you?" he asked.
"Demigod, witch, woman, among other things." Her voice was calm and even, but a small smile was on her face, and he nodded, as if expecting her obscurity.
"How long have I been here?" he asked and she cast him a soft look with a slight frown.
"You have been here for a long time. Too long. Your world has grown, and your culture has been almost erased by time."
Anger sparked in his eyes and he turned to her, "How long?"
"In your homeland, almost nine thousand years has passed since your birth." her words shocked him, and he sunk back, his hands sweeping over his face and his body shaking.
His shaking didn't slow. Not for a long time after that.
Two hours passed, and his shaking was still present, but she noticed his chest rising and falling in short gasps and tears sliding out beneath his fingertips.
Alcaeus was tired, so, so very tired. As time wore on as they were sitting on that beach, Eleanora became distinctly aware of her own age. They had both been alive for far too long, far, far too long.
She would die soon, because of her new purpose. But not even the fear of the inevitable could prevent her from seeking the small respite of not being alone, if only for a small amount of time.
Eleanora had stayed beside him the entire time, even when he had fallen back against the strange sand-like soil.
Hours passed by again. He may not have felt time pass, but she had conditioned herself to always feel that constraint.
She pulled out a thick blanket from her bag (which held everything she would ever need if you hadn't noticed). She pulled off her scarf and bundled it underneath her head, covering the grieving male with the blanket and using her own coat to serve as her blanket. Beside the fire, the cold wouldn't be a problem for either of them, but she wanted to provide whatever comfort she could to him, as he had been without any for such a long time.
Slowly, she began to blink her eyes and before she knew it, she had passed on out of the waking world.
When she awoke, she yawned, her head aching from the use of her make-shift pillow. She should have known that the soil would have served her better, but her tired mind had made her logic dulled down a few notches.
Eleanora next felt the warmth of the fire, which still glowed as brightly as the night (was that night, or just a permanent occurrence?) before, and then noticed the soft blanket covering her from the chest down.
She lifted the blanket, only sighing when she spotted a freed breast that had come revealed sometime during the hours before. Whoops.
After adjusting herself, Eleanora looked around her area, frowning when she noticed Alcaeus missing from the surroundings.
He knew where she was, and he clearly frequented the fire, so there was no real need to search for him.
Sure enough, about five hours later, he appeared at the other end of the beach, carrying strange looking... fruit.
She waited patiently for him, only looking up at him as he came to stand by her side.
He kneeled down beside her after a moment, handing her the odd looking fruit. It was the color of the inside of a watermelon, but spikey like a pineapple. She looked back up at him, curious.
"It is the only edible food I have found on this island." he said in his tongue and she nodded.
"How is it eaten?"
Alcaeus picked it up and smashed it against his knee, not wincing as some of the spines stabbed at his skin, drawing fresh small lines of blood from ever renewing scars. The fruit split open, and he handed her one end, taking care to pull the small shards out of each of the pieces.
He saw her hesitate slightly and then bit into the product of his searches.
Black seeds fell to the ground, the earth absorbing them again with ease and disappearing from mind almost immediately. A sort of purple hued juice slipped down his chin, but ceased after a moment when he sucked on the fruit.
She looked down at her hands and the fruit she held, before lifting it up and taking a cautious bite.
It had a strange taste, one that reminded her of it's exterior, bitter like the spikes, but juicy and sweet like the red. It had a metallic aftertaste like pennies.
Whatever it was, it was extremely filling, and she knew immediately that she wouldn't have to eat more than her share to be full for the rest of the day.
She didn't typically eat much to begin with as it had become more of a routine than anything else.
Eleanora sat beside him for a while, not questioning his silence. It was justifiable after all.
She looked up at the sky for a time, though it had not changed since she arrived here in the least.
"What do you call this place?" she found herself asking, and he looked at her.
He followed her gaze to the sky briefly, before shifting his attention to the fire. "Acermonos."
Eleanora nodded for a moment.
She looked away. "What if you could leave?"
He looked at her, his brows were furrowed. "What is the world like?"
"The landscape is kinder than this world, even if the people do not treat their earth kindly." She said.
"Everyone I knew is gone." He said, his voice lower, but calmer than she knew her own would be if she had gone through what he had.
"There are people you could meet. It won't replace those you lost, but it is better than being left alone for the rest of eternity. Let me tell you, as an immortal to another immortal, you cannot avoid the death of the people you love." She brushed a hair out of her eyes and laid back against the ground again.
He stared at her for a moment. He was silent and exceedingly still, it would have unnerved a mortal, but she was used to such stillness. She herself, could do it even.
Alcaeus finally spoke. "How do you leave those feelings behind, then?"
She blinked at him, a slight frown playing over her lips. "You don't. It will stay as long as you live. You can only hope to grow strong enough to move forward, regardless of the pain."
He nodded, and she sighed as she looked at his hair. She grabbed her bag as she sat up reaching in and pulling out a set of shears and a comb and a brush. She sat up onto her knees, "Here, sit in front of me, your hair is filled with knots."
He cocked his head to the side, but did as she asked and sat patiently as she combed out his hair as best as she could. An hour passed to her and she sighed.
"Do you mind if I cut some of it off? I can't seem to get the knots out on most of it." Eleanora said and smiled when he shook his head.
"I do not care."
She nodded and began to cut his black hair, shortening it to his shoulders. "How did you not realize that you had been here for such a long time?"
Her mutter caught his attention, "It did not grow fast, it happened so gradually that I was unaware of it for the most part. Though if I have been here as long as you claim I have, it must have stopped growing at some point, that or it was slower than I thought."
She nodded, and took care clearing out the last of the knots above where she had cut. Careful not to cause him pain, she slowly unknotted each one. After a while she was able to run the comb and brush through easily, suddenly startled when he grabbed her hand.
"Eleanora," he said, trying it out and frowning when his accent slightly butchered her name.
She laughed, and he smiled at her for the first time. It was small, a tiny quirk of the lips, there one second and gone the next. She smiled at him.
"Do you want to? Leave, I mean." She asked once more.
He dropped his gaze and turned back to look at the pink waves, "Yes, but it would be a world I do not know, at least not anymore."
"I could take you somewhere else, a world with primarily immortals. I know most of them, though they probably do not recall me as much as I do them." Eleanora said.
"No mortals?" He asked.
"There are some, but the world to which I speak is the Homeland for all races, and a hub of sorts for immortals in particular." She said, wrapping a pale hand around his arm.
"What is such a world like?" He asked, turning back to her, curiosity swimming in his pale green eyes.
"It is chaotic, destructive, and amazingly beautiful, so it is interesting to say the least." She said.
She gave a last brush through his hair. It was surprisingly smooth, but she could tell that he hadn't washed it yet. She grabbed hold of the glass bottle and poured some onto his head, he was quiet as she worked and it was another long process until she was pleased.
When it finally dried, she smiled softly as she noticed his recurring touching of his now clean hair.
It must feel foreign, after so long.
The oppressing air sunk down upon them and it was hard to breath. After a few moments it let up and Alcaeus was on his feet, grabbing her hand and pulling them back into the shadows of the forest.
"Wh-" she started and he wrapped a hand around her mouth, sealing off her words.
He held a finger over his mouth and she nodded, her eyes giving away her shock.
Within a heartbeat a figure appeared at the fire, within burning distance of the flames. He was slightly taller than Alcaeus, and she knew she would be dwarfed further still by him. His hair was so dark that it looked black, but she could tell that it was a slightly darker red than the bloody sky. He was wearing what appeared to be jeans and an old band tee, much too worn for one to read the name of said band or see any of the logo on it. He stared at the flames for a moment, before casting his gaze right at her. A smile lit up his face, and dimples made him look like a boy instead of a hulking man.
For not the first time, she knew without actually knowing that he looked exactly as he had since he was a child, feature-wise.
He looked like his elder brother, though Garrett's hair was actually black, so not quite.
His blue eyes beamed at her from across the way, and in less than a moment he was in her face, grabbing her up and swinging her around like she was a small child.
Which when you compared her age to his, she probably was.
"Conner, put me down please." Eleanora asked and Conner pouted, but placed her down as asked.
"But you never come see me, NORA." he somehow managed to whine and chide at the same time, but she simply rose a brow in response.
Conner was like an eternal child, and she genuinely hoped he would stay that way. He hadn't experienced the true pains of life, like his elder brother had, or hell, any of his siblings.
His baby blue eyes resembled a small universe, darkening closer to the pupil then lighting up like a supernova. All of them, his siblings and cousins, they all screamed otherworldly when you took in their appearances. There was something off about their features, like there was something just too perfect about them, as if their mere existence meant something was off.
Alcaeus stepped out of the tree line and Conner was in his face immediately. Before Alcaeus had even fully stopped Conner was observing him silently. It unnerved the demigod, and he frowned deeply, displeased with how close the vampire was to him.
"How'd you find this one, Nora? Even I had trouble finding this lovely little hamlet." He said sarcastically.
Alcaeus smacked the vampire's hand as he attempted to poke and prod at his face, the frown carving its way into his face further.
"Perhaps I have more skill in making crossovers, Conner. I do make them more frequently than you." Eleanora reminded him, smiling at Alcaeus in the hopes that he would bear Conner for a bit longer.
"Why does he look so confused?" Conner asked, his brows scrunched together.
She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "He doesn't use your dialect, Conner. Try Anatolian based Greek."
"Oh." Conner breathed, stepping back from the annoyed demigod and holding up his hands in a sign of surrender. A smile was on his face as he spoke next.
"What is your name?" He asked the green eyed man, careful of his pronounciation.
Alcaeus blinked and looked at her before replying to Conner. "Alcaeus, and yours?"
Conner appeared to struggle before giving up, "Conner, though I doubt it translates well."
Alcaeus nodded, though he didn't attempt to pronounce it. His accent was thick and she doubted it would go away easily. She liked it though, it made him interesting.
She smiled again, this time at Conner. "Conner is another immortal, and he lives in the Homeland as well. He could help you adjust if you decide to leave."
Alcaeus nodded at Conner, though it seemed to be more for himself than for the other male.
Eleanora plopped herself down where she had sat before. Conner followed her without words, though he did not sit still.
He was constantly tapping his fingers, twitching and moving his arms, readjusting his position every other minute. He was trying to get relatively comfortable, but he was running on never-ending energy and it would be near impossible for him to still for even a moment.
Alcaeus had noticed this and Eleanora squeezed Conner's arm. He slowed at her touch, but did so only barely.
She felt a pain in the center of her forehead, and turned to Conner momentarily. "Tell him about Home, I'll be a little out of it for a while."
Alcaeus sat down beside her, angling his body toward Conner, and since she was not just short, but fucking short (according to Conner), the men could see each other's faces in full. Within a few moments, she could feel the vision she had tried to put off come to the forefront of her mind and she felt her body fall slack against Alcaeus, leaning on his side for support.
Her vision clouded over, and she felt numb before she felt herself slip away from her current reality and into someone else's.
She felt cold, but it was always the same cold that it had always been here, in this most neutral of hells.
No one surrounded her, but buildings were erected and fully formed, without anyone having built them. The air was abrasive and stale, but she had grown used to it. She had lived in this world of greys for far too long and she yearned to get out, but she found herself unable.
In a flash second she was surrounded by people, and the world became filled with color. She had no way of knowing what time it was here, but if the sky in this temporarily color filled world was to be believed, it was night. Time didn't work the same here, but she knew she had been here for a century or so.
Ana had stood on this corner for an eternity it seemed, but she knew it had only been a full cycle since the color filled hour had come and gone, just as it had come again. She pulled down the dress she wore, the first one she had found in some random shop in the town.
Do women really wear these clinging short fabrics? The dress was too short for her liking, and as she looked down she realized that it was a red hue. She pulled down at the hem, but gave up after a time.
She entered a club that was usually empty, sweeping past the bouncers. They didn't even notice her.
It was like she was a ghost here. No one talked to her, no one noticed her, no one thought about her. The thought poisoned her, but it meant very little in the end.
She swayed to the music in the club, relishing the temporary heat it offered her. She drank the ever replenishing alcohol straight from the bottle behind the bar, trying to enjoy everything while it lasted.
And then it was over and everything was as it was previously.
Cold, grey, and she was alone.
A crash sounded behind her and she turned to take in a startling sight.
Someone was here, with her. That could not be good, but she hoped it was regardless.
Limbo was like this, playing on people's desires.
She slipped off the heinous contraptions that were heels and stepped into the shadows of the stage, holding onto her makeshift weapons.
A man appeared in the doorway to the club, and shards of wood decorated him like a woodworker. He was tall, and had a very cold expression on his face. It made him appear intimidating, but Anastasia was confident that she was the most frightening creature on this plane.
She stepped out of the shadows, holding her heels by the stilettos. The man glanced at her for a moment before glancing away and then back again, unease in his red eyes. Anastasia cocked her head at the man, uncertain as to how he came to be here.
"Why are you here?" She asked, her voice reluctant and mildly shocked.
His eyes narrowed at her, as if he didn't trust her in the least, even though he had never met her before. "Why are you here?"
Her eyebrow rose at the question, "I asked you first, but alright. I'm stuck here, that's why."
He smirked at her, and she narrowed her eyes this time, "I got a little lost."
She snorted, "A little? What's a demon doing getting lost in Limbo? You must have been awfully distracted to wind up here."
He stepped forward, but she did not step back. She was never one for giving in to people she didn't know.
"Imagine my shock when the only person I've managed to stumble upon is a tiny vampiress." He teased and she glared at him.
"I assure you, my bark is a lot softer than my bite." She snapped her teeth at him in response, mildly disappointed when he just smirked at her again.
Goddammit, if I can't scare off a demon, I must really have lost myself, she thought. Conner, the little shit, would never let her forget it if he caught word.
Ana sighed, walking around him and toward the bar. It was empty and cold again, and she bit back another sigh.
Mother preserve me, I'll need your endless patience to put up with a demon for the rest of the miserable time I'm here. Ana slowly released a breath, stepping up onto the foot railing and swinging a leg over and jumping down behind the bar.
"What do you want?" She asked, "We've got Smirnoff, Jack Daniels, Grey Goose, this shady looking rum, and even shadier, death to your liver, whiskey."
"Got any scotch?"
"Yes, but it's mine and I'll hand it over when I'm dead. Which'll take for fucking ever, if you feel like waiting." She remarked, her voice apathetic, yet strangely upbeat.
"That's fine, I can wait." He decreed and she frowned.
"Joy."
Eleanora came to, her head resting against Alcaeus' arm. Her head was pounding, but she was eerily calm. The brief vision had been the first sight of Anastasia in several centuries, and she wasn't surprised to see the female vampire stranded in Limbo as a spirit.
She tried to focus on the two immortal's conversation, but she kept slipping in or out for the most part. She was tired and yawned, sat up and then proceeded to sway till Conner grabbed hold of her and leaned her against his chest.
Conner was terribly kind when he felt like it. Eleanora relaxed against him and closed her eyes, but she managed to listen well enough while she rested.
"I hope you'll come," Conner prompted, his voice light and even, though it was rarely anything else.
Alcaeus let out a breath, "I suppose it would be better than staying here for the rest of my life."
Conner belted out a laugh, "Probably."
ns 18.68.41.148da2
