2 The Mind Of A Mother

The Vampires of Luden had built their Conclave in a sprawling castle city, connected via tunnels to the Demon city of Rolens to the north, and the Oni Temples to the south via the same. The skies above the castle were darkened by powerful magic, casting a permanent night over the city, but leaving the remaining Conclaves unaffected.

It was here that a young Vampire woman was located, entrenched deep in the bowels of the castle, her dwelling little more than a dungeon at first glance.

Varenna was lying peacefully on a raised slab of stone, her naked body sat completely straight as her chest rose and fell with slow, gentle breaths. Her eyes opened, a soft, red glow emanating from her irises as she lifted herself gracefully from the slab, sliding her legs over the edge and pushing herself to her feet.

Her eyes traveled languidly around the torch lit room, finding it deserted and knowing that it was simply a side chamber, used to allow guests a moment to rest. As she moved towards the door sat at the far end of the chamber, she heard a slight bit of movement on the other side.

The door swung open, revealing a small, pale woman dressed in the black and white outfit of a maid. Varenna recognized the yellow eyes that sat behind a pair of circular spectacles.

"Ah, Linia, how long have I been asleep?" Varenna asked, her voice gentle and song like.

"It's been just over two hours, Lady Varenna. I see your body has already recovered from the birth." Linia said, eyeing the vampire's flat stomach.

"It has, our recovery speed isn't renowned for nothing, after all." She smiled. "How has my son been, any changes?" She asked.

"Some, he's already begun to sit up on his own, but he refuses to speak, as of yet. Given the circumstances, it's likely that he doesn't understand our language. He's simply been staring at the servants that try and interact with him so far, they're beginning to grow concerned."

"Well, as you said, given the circumstances, it's likely he's quite confused about what's been done to him. I think I'll go and try this Oni magick on him. We didn't trade for it with our deepest secrets so that we could never use it.

"Right this way, milady, I'll take you to him. I'm sure the other servants will be happy to let you lavish your motherly affections upon him."

Varenna followed a few steps behind Linia, the dancing flames of wall-mounted braziers casting flickering shadows on the walls of a gently winding passageway. Linia stopped outside of a door, marked with a symbol that looked like a rather curly X.

"The Miss would like a moment with her son." Linia called.

"Oh, thank the Maker, I thought that I'd never get out of there." A haggard looking man wrenched the door open, huffing as he stepped through the doorway, and casting an apologetic glance toward Varenna.

"My apologies, Lady Varenna, but the child is decidedly queer. Usually one that is born under our magicks is confused, hostile even, but the boy hasn't made a sound since we started watching him, not a noise of protest, not even a loud breath. I wish you luck with whatever you plan to do with him." His face wrinkled with displeasure, and he gave a hasty bow before slipping between the two women and disappearing down the corridor.

Linia gave a small giggle, then reached out to hold the door for Varenna. Varenna gave a nod, and entered the room, listening as Linia closed the door behind her, leaving her to deal with her newborn son alone.

The child was sitting upright in the center of the room, perched on a slab of stone not at all unlike the one Varenna awoke to find herself upon. The baby was, naturally, very small, with a pair of glowing red eyes that watched her warily as she moved forward. She stared back at his flawless, pale skin, which seemed to have an unnatural perfection to it.

She lifted her arms, showing that she was unarmed, and gestured to herself.

"Varenna." She said, offering her name as she poked herself in the chest.

The boy eyed her for a moment, then his mouth opened slowly. He lifted his hand, pointing to her and repeating the name.

"Varenna." His small, weak voice seemed to only just reach her ears, though it was much stronger when he repeated her movements and prodded himself in the chest and spoke.

"Jasyn."

She looked down as she digested the name, nearly missing when he spoke again.

[Where am I? Where's Jacksyn?]

He spoke in a language that she didn't understand, but his voice was questioning, almost accusatory. He looked around the room, eyes taking in the empty walls.

[Am I alone?]

He asked another question that she couldn't understand, his eyes returning to her gaze as he spoke.

She cocked her head to the side, trying her best to show him that she didn't understand his words. Seeing the look on his face darken, she stepped forward, reaching out to him.

He pulled back slightly, obviously not comfortable with her touching him, but acquiesced when she continued to reach out. She pressed her palm to his head, speaking a string of words that the infant couldn't hear, despite his closeness.

A soft, powder blue light shone on his forehead, and he squirmed with the uncomfortable feeling as an itchy warmth radiated through him.

Finally, she pulled away, stepping back a few paces from him as the spell she had used began to take effect. His squirming began to ease, and, after a moment, he struggled back to the sitting position he had been in.

"What was that?" He asked, looking decidedly miffed.

"It's Oni magick, it allows a parent to pass their knowledge on to their child." Varenna said with a smile.

"Well, it was fucking... wait, is that why I can understand what you're saying? Why I can speak this weird ass language?" The baby asked.

"That's right. I figured it might be a bit better than forcing you to have to learn the language like others of our kind do. It's not as though it's hard to learn, but, we traded a great service for this magick, so we may as well use it. This magick is known to the Oni as 'Hanna ilt Vatas', or, the Mind of a Mother."

The baby became quiet once more at this moment, but his gaze remained consistently on her eyes.

"Is everything alright?" Varenna asked.

"I don't know. I'm just trying to figure everything out here. I remember getting fucking poisoned, and then I wake up getting born again when I should be dead. I have no clue what the fuck is going on. You're here talking about magic, and fucking Oni, like demons and shit. I can fucking tell you're not human, which means that I'M not fucking human anymore either. I just..."

He trailed off, his tiny face scrunched in frustration.

"You don't need to worry, we'll work together so you can get used to your new home. You're very important to our kind, after all."

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