Dark Calling

[Cara]

(hehe... alright... I guess there was too much subtlety ;D
But yes. Nefara realized then that she couldn't just take away her Daylighting abilities. That would bring everyone back to square one. She also remembered how Elvira was once human, because of a ritual a Kriivia preformed on her. Nefara knows that if she turned Canislea back to human, then everyone else would turn too. She felt it was the only way. Of course, it was totally unexpected, and probably a lot of people will be pissed. It was an act of selfishness too. Nefara wanted nothing more than to lose that side of herself, despite its allure. And she remembered so many other people wishing it. It was spur of the moment, but entirely irrevocable. And then she killed Canislea with her Solis blade. )

[Galadas]

First there was confusing, but then Pierce finally discovered what had happened to them, what events Nefara had conquered and used to create a new kind of world. For the first time in two thousand years, he felt something bouncing in his chest. He looked up from his shirt at Nefara. He admired her, for what she had done. As he gasped for breath he looked around in the room. "We're human," he said. Happiness clouded his voice, only the word made his heart beat louder.
"We're human!" Gabriel repeated, watching Nefara from the sideline. "We're no longer Vampires, we're the stupid, stinking, mortal scum of this freaking earth!" he yelled, anger raced through his mind. He could no longer flit, no longer change his shape. He was no longer strong and immortal. "How could you!?" he yelled at Nefara, coming from his place. It felt weird to walk, to walk like a human. "You selfish little..." he didn't want to say the world, but he did in his mind. He wondered how long it would take others to show their reaction. He had lived over 500, maybe 600, years as a Vampire. He had always relied on his powers to protect him, every time he betrayed someone, he could only stay safe as long as he was a Vampire. And now, he was a breakable, weak and slow human being. He stopped, just a meter away from Nefara and Adarmen. He felt pain, mental pain. He hated weakness, he hated to be mortal. "I hope you're really happy with what you've done, for yourself," he said. Why did no one say a thing? Then he realized he had been talking without stopping, but minutes seemed to have flew by.

[Cara]

Nefara stepped back from Adarmen, as she looked around the room. She narrowed her eyes at Gabriel. "I am happy, Gabriel," she said.
"Step away from my daughter, Gabriel." Gabriel turned turned to see Lord Oron standing there, sword out of its scabbard. Elvira walked up behind him, smiling. "Nefara..." she whispered, unable to say anything else.
Gabriel stepped back, knowing that he couldn't stand up to Lord Oron. Elvira ran past him and grabbed Nefara, crying. "You did it... How? Why?" Aleron and and Carden stood back, waiting for Elvira to step out of the way. No one knew really what to say.
Finally Adarmen spoke, his voice soft. "Death be not proud, though some have called thee.Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so..." he murmured. "Mortality... This is a new world. Our children are once again human," he said, glancing at Canislea. He bent over her and slowly brushed her hair away from her face. "The sins of my sister died with her. But I ask, what now?"
Adarmen stood. He still seemed as ageless and ancient as he was when they had first met. The thousands of years in one young man. "Nefara, you created this world. There will be those who will hate you for what you have done. The choice that you have taken from them," he said, looking at Gabriel. "Others will rejoice. To some a curse, to others a blessing, but nonetheless it is a curse. I have lived with it for longer than any of you can imagine. To be free of it..."
"We are no longer immortal," Carden stated. "You have lived so long though. Your time will seem...like the blink of an eye."
"And is that not what makes the time the more sweet?" Adarmen asked. "Outside of this room, we will face a strange new world."

[Galadas]

Gabriel lookedaway from Nefara, not sure if he could stand close to them any longer. He felt scared, all he had ever known was gone, taken from him. What now? He could never pick up a normal life again! He had not been a Vampire just so he could learn to live like a mortal. Mortality, death. All this time he had feared the unknown beyond life itself, now even more. He would age, and slowly he would die, just like everyone else. He was no longer... special. He wanted to cry, he want to jump forward and kill Nefara with his bare hands, but he could not. And all this time, he had never mattered. He had begun everything, brought Elvira back to life, and that's where his role had stopped.
"I don't want to see the world for what it really is, boring and all the same. If this is the way I'll have to life, I rather die," Gabriel said. He hurted him to say those words, but they were true. His chances with Elvira had disappeared along with the real him. Oron had won, he had lost.

[Cara]

"That can be arranged," Lord Oron said, stepping forward. The ring of his sword filled the room.
"No!" Nefara said. She looked at Gabriel, her expression unreadable. "We have more pressing matters to attend."
Adarmen closed his sister's eyes, laying her hands across her chest. "Yes," he said, standing.
Lord Oron lowered his sword, but did not put it back in its scabbard. "The Kriivida will not have expected this...outcome," he said, keeping his face indifferent. "I can not say how they will respond." Lord Oron shook his head, almost stunned that what was happening, what had happened, was still real. "We had prepared them for a vampire attack, after we had takes Nefara's powers back. And the human armies? What will the world think after what has happened over the past few days? The threat is...gone!"
Carden, leaning against the wall in his usual stance, seemed not exactly ready to cope with the change either. He kept looking down at his hands, as if they were going to give him all the answers. "Mortal hands..." he kept whispering. "And whilst thine mortal eyes won't see..."
Aleron eyes were smiling, as he looked from Elvira to Nefara, though his face was grave. How would the humans now react? How would the vampires-turned-human react? And the recently-turned vampires? Torn from their homes, having been tortured and seen their families slaughtered before their eyes? Human once again; the blood lust gone. So many questions.
"They will kill us..." Carden said, coming out of his reverie. "We may be human again..." he said slowly, as if tasting the words, "but after what everyone has seen? They will still kill us."
"Or if not, then half of the world's vampire population will want to kill us," Pierce said, smug.
"No one knows," Adarmen said. "My sister and I...we went into hiding over a thousand years ago. Well hiding, I mean we slipped from the known world. You few know the full truth of the Original. The One. And what events actually took place here. That is how it will stay. For our own safety." Adarmen sighed, pulling a hand through his dark locks. "And what happens will happen. If anything I have learned in my observation of time, things will happen one way or another, and you can only be the one to move with it. This has shaken the world, but we will be ready to deal with the consequences. The good, and the bad," he said, looking at Nefara.
Nefara nodded, her eyes distant. Her mother had an arm around her, a smile on her lips.

"The Council will be... updated," Lord Oron said. "I will give what they need to hear, and omit that which is extraneous. But I must go."
Elvira turned to him, as if afraid to see him leave. "We will wait," she said, watching him, as he left the room.
"I shall...deal with my sister," Adarmen said, looking over to Canislea. It was strange looking at her broken body, lying on the table where Adarmen had placed her. She was the first, most powerful vampire, the mother of them all. Her blood ran through all of them. And now she was human, and dead.
Aleron looked at Nefara, Carden by his side. "We need to get back to the United States. Get state-side. Things here will be like hell breaking loose. At least back home, I can be more prepared."
Adarmen nodded, as he picked up his sister. "I shall be only a moment," he said, his tone inflectionless. "If you are not here when I return, I shall understand," he said, speaking to all of them. "It is a brave, new world out there."

[Galadas]

Pierce held his eyes away from Adarmen as he left. He had seen his idol appear and now disappear. These times were different, he wished to use the time as much as he could. Mortality was new to him, he could not remember his days as a human, but with the everything he had build for himself over the years, and everything he had learned, he would not have any trouble fitting in. He had studied humans, knew their ways. He wanted to stay, only he wouldn't.
"As humans, going anywhere will cost money. I have three cars in a garage near by", he tossed Gabriel a phone. "Addresses where you can hide and account numbers with money are all in there," he said. "Maybe we'll see each other again, if not, it was nice to meet you."
"Where are you going?" Gabriel asked. Pierce was the only one who seemed to talk easy with him, not based on what happened in the past.
"I have a friend who I have to visit," Pierce said.
"Can I come?" he looked at the older human Pierce, more than 2000 years of immortality, and still that incredible calm expression.
The man was silent for a while. "No," he replied and turned around, walking up to Nefara. "Thank you," he said, with a small bow and walked on, as if it was the simplest thing in the world and he had never learned differently.

[Cara]

Elvira looked at Gabriel, her expression inflectionless. "Gabriel," she said, softly. She took a step towards him.
"No," he said, looking away.
It was just her, Nefara, and Gabriel.
"Come with us," Elvira said, watching Gabriel carefully. Even as a human, she had lost none of her beauty. Nefara was the image of both Lord Oron and Elvira.
"I...I can't," Gabriel said. He looked over at the two of them. Mother and daughter. Finally together; a family. "You have what you always wanted..." Gabriel said, trying not to sound bitter. "I am only a bad memory, a remembrance to those days."
Elvira gave him a sad smile of understanding. "You have been given a chance to start over," she said, softly. "Take that chance."


Lord Oron stood before the Council. It was quiet; the last of his words dying out into silence.
"Lord Oron d' Athers, as the full Council, we approve your request."
"We have no idea how the effects of this will affect us," someone said finally. It was on all of their minds. They were still Kriivida. "If our histories are correct, we came out of a similar magic, because of the need to balance out the darkness that had been created."
"Yes, do you know, Lord Oron what will happen to the Kriivida?"
Lord Oron shook his head. "No, I do not. Perhaps nothing will happen. Perhaps over time, we will lose our powers. I can not say."
There were concerned murmurs.
"We have nothing left to defend against. Our task is complete."
"No," Lord Oron said, starting them. "Our task is changed, but not complete. Our main goal was to protect humanity from the vampiric race. That is complete, but there is still more. We have to help humanity overcome what has occurred in these last few days. I want our best on this for a cover story. Humanity can not know what truly has happened. We also have one other task; one that will be difficult to us all."
"What is that, Lord Oron?"
"It is our duty to help those who have reverted back to their human selves. Help them adjust into human society."
"What?!" "You ask too much!" "Never!" "What a thought!" .....
Lord Oron held up his hand for silence. "For most vampires, not those just turned by Canislea, they have been vampires for over a century. Hundreds of years. Adjusting will not be easy. We are no longer enemies. There are no more vampires. That is our new task. Let it be known."

[Galadas]

Gabriel shook his head. "You have given me that chance before," he said. "When I was Chris," he added. "I... I don't think I can fit into this world," he whispered.

[Galadas]

"I can never change, Elvira. We both know that, you must understand. Even if I don't try to, I will always hurt people and dishonor them," Gabriel whispered to her. "I don't want to cause any more pain, especially not to you, or to Nefara." He had found himself becoming calm, all the pain and all the fear had become part of him, crawling under his skin, and it made him able to accept it. He walked up to her and took the dagger from her hands. "It's a different world, but It's not mine," he said and kissed her slowly on her forehead, placed his hand on her cheek. "I've always loved you, Elvira. However, I know I can't be with you," he whispered so only she could hear. He took his hand from her cheek, her eyes following his every movement, she seemed sad.
With the dagger in his hand, Gabriel turned, and he headed to the exit. The silence following him into the empty streets of Paris, where the sun fell on his white skin, where his heart was warmed and his eyes looked up into a bright light that almost blinded him. The sun was strange, it wiped away the feeling of loneliness and filled him with a warm sensation. He was the man who had been given too many chances, and now he asked for just one more, to forget what happened before and to enjoy the sun for one more day, so he could die without regret.

[Cara]

(I felt that this needs an epilogue )

Elvira watched Gabriel step out into the day, as her vision blurred with tears. "Goodbye," she whispered. She felt Aleron wrap her in his strong embrace, and turned to see his knowing look.
"Let it be," he said gently. Elvira only nodded. "Who knows. The day is yet through.
"What will you and your brother do now?"
Carden stepped up. Nefara had never seen such a smile on his face. It was strange. Out of everyone, she would have thought Carden would have the hardest time adjusting to his new life, but he seemed to be taking it in stride. He had changed much from that angry, dangerous man she had first met, into a protective, graceful gentleman.
"My brother and I have now mortal years ahead of us. Years that would have passed in the blink of an eye on the spectrum of history to a vampire. We must live to live. Once we arrive back in DC, we might catch up with you, but first we need to deal with some...assets."
"And you?" Aleron asked.
Elvira smiled, taking Nefara's hand. "We will go back to the Kriivida. We will help however we can. I will see you soon though, I hope."

Adarmen sighed as he felt the heat of the sun warm his skin. "What fantasy, what blue jem of mortal sight?" he said poetically with a light laugh. He looked out to see where Gabriel sat off a ways. Things would change, but would it be for the better? There was so many questions to ask and attempt to answer.
He walked up and stood over Gabriel.
"Gabriel," he said. "You would not be so quick to end your life..."
Gabriel looked up at Adarmen, as if seeing him for the first time. The knife rested in his hands still. "And why not?"
Adarmen's gaze was unwavering. "Come with me." It was not a question.
Gabriel glared back at him for a moment, before standing to follow. "What do you want?"
Adarmen just kept walking, as if to expect Gabriel to follow. He did. They walked for some ways, away from the buildings and people. Adarmen seemed to know exactly where he wanted to go, as he carried Canislea in his arms the entire way. They walked in silence.
Finally Gabriel felt like screaming. "Adarmen!" he said, grabbing his arm and forcing him to stop.
"Here," Adarmen said, handing Canislea to him. Her body felt heavy to Gabriel. His supernatural strength was no more. He frowned as he watched Adarmen produce a shovel from a bag he carried and started to dig.

Lord Oron rubbed his palms together as he left the Council. As the doors closed behind him, he could hear them break out in discussion. There would be a rift possibly with those who saw the new humans as in need and want to help, and those who still had a deep seated hatred. It would be a rough road, but he was hopeful. He had his wife back and now had his life to learn about his daughter whom he had never known existed.

Adarmen dug in silence for ten minutes before stopping and turning to Gabriel. With a silent nod, he took Canislea's body from him and place it in the grave.
Gabriel felt like he should speak, but the weight of the situation kept him mute. Finally Adarmen spoke and it sliced through the air like a whisper. "I have seen empires rise and fall, full civilizations collapse. I have watched humans grow, learn, love, hate, fight and kill. And yet I still feel like I have not seen it all.... You have been given a chance like none other, my son.
"<i>A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night—
It was the plant and flower of light.
In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measures life may perfect be</i>...Benjamin Jonson." Adarmen sighed, turning to Gabriel. "Perhaps love and the full appreciation of life cannot exist without a foreseeable end. Is that not what makes something so passionate? Let it flare brightly rather than a steady heat. All the while, love in its truest, I do believe, can only exist in a mortal form."