Assassin's Creed (c) Ubisoft


Amaranthine (adj.) eternally beautiful and unfading, everlasting, undying, immortal.


Darkness.

That was the first thing Élise saw upon waking. Complete and utter darkness. She patted around, feeling her prison. Wood. She sucked in a breath, yet her lungs felt… as if they were filled with water. She gasped, clawing at her throat, panic seeping into every nerve of her body. She was drowning, drowning in air. "Help…" she whispered weakly. "Help… Arno! Help!" she slammed her palm against the lid of her coffin. For surely it was a coffin. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. She was buried alive and nobody—Arno—wasn't here to save her.

Thunk!

Élise stopped, though the fact she wasn't suffocating still unnerved her. The thunk sounded again, and it was only then, without the panic-inducing struggle to breath that she realized she couldn't hear the rush of her pulse in her ears. With a shaky hand, she placed it over her left breast, feeling for her heartbeat.

There was no heartbeat.

She tried to recall her last memories. Yet everything before the long darkness was a blur of color and feeling and emotion. She remembered Germain and his sword, the bolt of lightning striking her in the chest. Her last night with Arno, as she ran her hands along his body, memorizing every contour of his muscular frame. The way his heated kisses left her gasping and wanting more. The way he felt inside her. The sound of his voice as he breathed her name as they shared their last night together.

The three nights she awoke to see a pale ghastly figure with blood dripping down her chin and piercing moon silver eyes.

The lid to the coffin was pried open and Élise squinted against the harsh moonlight. She hissed, trying to curl into herself as an assault on her senses pummeled her with sounds and smells she never ever dreamt of.

"Quickly, Louis, the prey, give her the prey!" a woman's voice said and she felt strong hands haul her up. Élise whimpered in pain, realizing she was hungry. So terribly hungry and there was that sound, that beautiful musical sound of…

A human heart.

A warm living body was thrust into her hands. "Drink child, drink," the woman said, guiding Élise to the neck of her first victim. "That's is mon cher."

Élise felt her fangs extend and she bit into her victim's throat. The hot gush of blood rolled down her throat and the sensation was greater than anything she ever felt in life.

She felt life… new vitalizing life spread into her limps, she felt her heart beat once again, and warmth in her fingers and toes. The barrage of sounds and smells lessened until they were at a manageable level. She felt human again. She let go of her prey, gasping for breath. She licked the blood from her lips, savoring every last drop. She faced her rescuers, hoping to see Arno's face.

Arno…

Élise wanted him. She wanted him more than she ever had in life. She wanted to make love to him, to hold him, to kiss him, to feel his skin against hers.

To drink his blood… Élise shook her head. The thought had wriggled into her brain like a malicious worm. She wished she could un-think it but regardless the very idea was tantalizing and she licked her retracted fangs, shivering as she imagined how sweet his blood would taste upon her tongue.

The woman slapped her. "Get ahold of yourself, child!"

"You hit me," Élise said, shocked as she touched her cheek. "Why?"

"You can't see him," the woman said, "it's too soon. You can't control yourself. Especially around him."

Élise knew that him could only be Arno. "But… I love him!" Élise protested, realizing that Arno must be terribly depressed and miserable without her. Her heart ached with longing and desire. "I must find Arno, tell him I'm alive and—"

"You must do nothing," the woman said. "Not until you have better control of your blood lust."

"I must go to him! He needs me!" Élise protested. "He thinks I'm dead!"

"You are dead!" the woman retorted. "You are le vampire! Daughter of the Night Queen, member of the Night's Court! You forsook your mortal life and entered into immortal undeath."

Élise felt tears well into her eyes, she furiously rubbed at them. "I never asked to be turned into a vampire! I never wanted this!" she slumped to the ground, picked up a handful of loose earth and tossed it half-heartedly away. "All I ever wanted was to be with Arno… to avenge my father…"

"Jacqueline, we should just let her—"

"No Louis," the woman, Jacqueline, snapped, "I won't give up on her."

"I'll never have children…" Élise muttered.

"Mon cher," Jacqueline said, kneeling before Élise and lifting her chin. "Don't cry. I saved your life. If it weren't for the power of my bite, when that man struck you with his accursed sword you would surely have died. You did die, but it triggered the Turn, and you have now returned."

"But I want to be human, change me back! Please!" Élise begged. Jacqueline looked upon Élise with such sorrow, that Élise felt rage bubble inside her.

"There is no cure. Once the transformation is complete there is no going back."

"Then what about Arno? What about my life as a human?" Élise screamed, clutching her chest. "I can feel his pain. He's so lost and broken without me. He needs me!"

"My queen," Louis muttered, staring at Élise.

"Odd," Jacqueline whispered in a mildly curious tone. "Seems like St. Raphael has blessed the two of you. Odder still I was able to turn you."

"What are you babbling about now?" Élise growled, upset with the vampiress.

"Under most circumstances if a mortal is touched by the grace of heaven, a vampire will be unable to turn the intended mortal. You and this Arno, seem to have been touched by St. Raphael, and odder still I was able to turn you and you have been successfully turn." Jacqueline smirked. "I'm pleased, very pleased."

"Why?" Élise asked.

"My name is Jacqueline D'Aramitz, I'm a vampire queen, my domain is the majority of France. I've had my eye on you, Élise de la Serre, for many years. I am your creator, your dame, and you are my child. I can compel you to do as I say, until you gain enough power to be acknowledged as queen in your own right, but that won't be for a few hundred years."

"Are you an Assassin?" Élise asked.

"Assassin? No. Templar? No. I'm a vampiress. My kind have watched as you mortals kill each other, both openly and in secret. Fighting for these mystical pieces of Eden and for whatever else you mortals fight over." Jacqueline said, "And as to where we came from. Nobody knows. We are old as these pieces of Eden. That's all we know. Though no vampire in existence was actually alive when the pieces of Eden were forged."

Élise rubbed her forehead. It was all too much. Vampires. Pieces of Eden. It reminded her of some of the men her father talked to, how they went on about a race of beings that came before mankind, the First Civilization… Those Who Came Before.

The Pieces of Eden were real.

Vampires were real.

Arno's pain, which she felt so sharply, was very real. "Where is Arno?"

"I don't know," Jacqueline said, "it must be one of the unique gifts you have gained. Like I said, most mortals that are touched by Heaven are unable to be turned or if they are they go blood-mad. You are rather sane, especially for a newborn."

"Or," Louis said, "they aren't touched by Heaven. They could be true soul mates."

"Ah," Jacqueline murmured, looking Élise up and down. "Yes, yes. That makes more sense. True soul mates are a rare commodity indeed."

"What are you two babbling about!" Élise snapped. "Tell me? Where is Arno or how do I find him?"

"When a soul is forged it is forged in a pair. Two souls, two lives, one destiny. Like the moon and sun, yin and yang, life and death. One is never without the other. For some reason with human souls, the pair is always separated. Doomed to look for each other. Rarely, do the souls reunite. True soul mates are rare indeed."

"This doesn't tell me how I can find Arno!" Élise screamed, rapidly losing her patience with the vampiress. "Where is Arno? Tell me where I can find him!" The pain in her heart, Arno's pain, was driving her mad. The blood she had earlier had soothed pain, but not erased it.

"I don't know where he is," Jacqueline said. "But you have the power to find him, since you and he are true soul mates. Your soul is the twin to his."

"But how do I find him?" Élise stressed. Jacqueline sighed and grabbed Élise's hands. "Please…"

"Normally I won't let a newborn go off into the world so soon, yet seeing as you are in physical pain due to the separation, I have no choice. You'll go blood mad otherwise."

"I want his blood," Élise whispered, leaning forward and resting her forehead on Jacqueline's shoulder. "I want his blood so badly."

"I know child, I know, but you must resist. If you were to drink his blood… you will be cursed…"

"Cursed? How could I possibly be cursed when I'm already a member of the undead!" Élise protested.

"Since Arno is your soul mate, by drinking his blood, ever after you'll only be able to drink his blood. Any other person's blood will become tasteless or terribly toxic to you. When Arno dies, for he will die, you will eventually fade and enter into a deep sleep until his soul is reborn and finds you again."

"That… doesn't sound terrible," Élise whispered.

"The new house for his soul won't be Arno. It'll be a new person. That person won't know that you are Élise or the love you and Arno shared. People aren't reborn. Souls are. Souls don't remember the lives they have lived. They seek only to find their twin. You'll be cursed to drink the blood of people that have no knowledge of who Arno is or the past you two shared. That is what it means to be cursed. You'll spend the eons of your long life alone."

"But if I can turn him…" Élise said, grasping at straws.

"I don't let my newborns turn anyone until they are at least a century," Jacqueline said, "and I'm not going to make an exception for a true soul mated pair. Besides, you can't bite him. If you can't bite him, you can't turn him. And I won't turn him for you."

"What? But…" Élise pulled away from Jacqueline. "I love him!"

"Then let him go," Jacqueline said. "For both your sakes. Let his pain fade. He'll recover in time. He'll let go of the past and once he does, the pain you feel will become a dull ache. Find his soul's next vessel, and by then I'll turn him or her for you."

"No," Élise hissed, staring at Jacqueline. "No! I won't abandon Arno, not when he needs me the most! I abandoned him when he needed me the most after my father died. I abandoned him when he failed to kill Germain the first time, because he rather save me than see harm be fall me. And now, when he needs me the most, you are telling me to abandon him? I can feel his pain. It's like an animal is chewing on my heart! I won't abandon Arno to his fate!"

"Fine," Jacqueline hissed, "I could compel you to forget him, but you have a rather strong will, and I'd hate to break that, though I'll admit the challenge would be fun."

Élise hissed, bearing her fangs. Louis struck, lashing out viper-swift, to grab Élise by her throat, roaring at her, showing the true monster beneath the human guise he wore. "Do not ever bear your fangs at your sire or dame, newborn!" Louis snarled, before tossing Élise aside.

Élise grunted before picking herself up. "I'll find Arno on my own," Élise declared.

"Just remember that you mustn't drink his blood," Jacqueline called as Élise walked down the row of headstones. Louis joined Jacqueline by her side.

"Well?" Louis asked.

"We'll find her when she needs our help, for she will need it," Jacqueline said, "but for now let her be. She knows the price to be paid if she fails to heed my warning."


This will be a two parter… maaaaybe a three parter ficlet. But I've always had this idea of Élise being turned into a vampire after she dies. So, I was running around playing Dead Kings earlier and the writing bug struck me. She was supposed to fine Arno in this but it's late and I'm tired. So, tomorrow.

Until then.

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PS: Jacqueline D'Aramitz and Louis are my original characters from original stories.