Author Note: I'll just set scene for you. :) In Tamriel, Viola has completed the main quest, defeated Mehrunes Dagon and become Champion of Cyrodiil and all-that-jazz. But she was heartroken over Martin's death (she had a bit of a crush on him) so she decided to join the infamous Dark Brotherhood (accidental death of the Gray Prince). Then she fell in love with Vincente Valiteri (Viva) but unfortunately, he had to die. (n'aww). He made her a vampire first, thank the Night Mother! Annnnd she now also has a bit of a thing with Lucien LaChance (Lula). You know, there is a word for girls like that... ;)
Anywho, when she gets to the Alienage Duncan is recruiting so it's basically the same time-line as in the City Elf origin one.
Disclaimer: Me no own. You no sue. Deal?
Hope you enjoy! ^_^
"Move out of the way, Warden. This is no business of yours."
I, instinctively, turned towards the man who had spoken and was surprised to see him clutching a female elf by her neck. It wasn't the crushing racism that surprised me, however. Though I am loathe to admit it, racism towards elves wasn't unheard of. On the contrary, it was quite common. It was the elf herself who shocked me. Her skin was a strange yet beautiful blue colour, the colour of a cloudless sky. If that wasn't strange enough, her eyes were of a deep purple colour, like violets. No elf in Thedas had skin nor eyes like that.
The elf was putting up quite a struggle against the guard and he had to whack her right in the face before she finally stopped wriggling, though she muttered darkly under her breath.
I glanced at Valendrian but he mouthed 'I don't know' and nodded towards the strange new elf.
"She is no elf of mine. There had never been an elf in the Alienage with blue skin," he explained.
The guard pushed the girl forwards and, with both her hands and feet loosely bound, fell to her knees with a sickening crunch. To make matters worse, the guard then pull backed the girl's head by her hair so we could see her face clearly. The girl's eyes glittered with malice and she stared up at the guard.
"She must be! She was in Denerim so there's no way she's Dalish."
"But look at her skin, Ser. No elf has blue skin. Or eyes of such a deep purple colour. Think about it," he said calmly.
"Maybe she's ill. Or she's got some kind of elf disease, I don't know. Just take her for now and I'll be back tomorrow morning, with Lady Elise."
I decided to intervene.
"Why is she in your custody, may I ask?"
The guard clipped the girl around the ear harshly when she began whispering to herself quietly. She regarded the man coolly, despite the trickle of blood that dripped down her cheek.
"Attempted assassination of Lady Elise. Said Lady wanted her executed on the spot, but the law requires that she has a least one day before her fate is decided. Since she isn't, apparently, native to our homeland, we don't want to risk tempting the wrath of any reinforcements she might have if we put her in the dungeons. If we simply let her stay in the Alienage, we can avoid that."
"Very well. We'll give her shelter, until tomorrow. Thank you," Valendrian said.
The guard kicked the poor girl in the back before he left, causing her to go sprawling into a muddy puddle. I jogged to her and helped her up, unbinding her tied wrists and ankles. She flinched away from my touch but I held her wrists steady and I unwrapped them.
"Now, what's your name? And where do you come from? Obviously not here, judging from your…" I gestured towards her sapphire skin and violet eyes.
At first I didn't think she spoke my language but after a few tense moments wrist-rubbing, she opened her mouth and sighed.
"My name is Viola Sanguinaria. I was born in Morrowind, but moved to Tamriel when I was a little girl," she said. Her accent was lush and her voice silky, like she was rolling a pleasant sweet in her mouth. It was exotic.
I nodded. I'd heard of those places far, very far, away from Thedas. It explained why she stuck out so much when in the presence of her fellow elves.
"Why are you here, Viola?" Valendrian directed at her.
"Like the guard said; I was hired to assassinate Lady Elise for reasons I don't know. Someone hated her enough to pray to the Night Mother and low-and-behold, I was giving the job. It's really as simple as that."
"And now that you have failed? What now?"
Viola threw back her head and gave an odd, musical laugh. It was unnerving and several elves stepped back in alarm. No wonder. I thought about how alien she must look to them, what with her strange eyes and her striking skin. She was mush taller than the elves here, even taller than I, that much I could already tell even with her kneeling. She was like some dark goddess, draped in shadow and sent to kill.
"Don't be so sure of that, old man. I can always call upon the Night Mother who will wrap me in darkness and turn me invisible. It can happen. I've done it before."
"If you go back to your master, what will happen now you've failed?" I asked. She turned her feral, heated eyes upon me and I resisted the urge to shiver inwardly under their weight. Instead, I squared my shoulders and returned her gaze with the same intensity.
"Lucien will understand. He was reluctant to send me on this mission anyway, it being so far from our homeland. It won't matter, though. I am going to escape and cleave that bitch's head in two." A dark, sadistic smile twisted her lips and I was shocked to see the tell-tale hint of fangs. Was this elf truly a vampire, the old monsters of legend? I hadn't thought they were real. Maybe they were common in Tamriel? It shamed me that for all of wisdom, I was so ignorant of what things lay beyond Thedas.
"What, because you think you'll succeed the second time?" A young, female elf spat. What was her name…Elva?
Again, Viola gave that bizarrely stunning smile that made her look like some kind of fabled creature. Don't get too close- she bites!
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. She won't get away without me severing her head from her body, I can assure you now I-"
She stopped talking suddenly, staring off into the distance. I turned to see what she was looking at and saw a hazy, transparent shimmering form approach. I smartly took a step backwards, eyeing up the strange figure. The 'figure' stopped in front of Viola and I was unnerved to see her eyes widen in shock a moment before she bowed her head respectfully.
And just like that, the figure became visible. It was a man, very tall, with robes as black as oblivion itself. He bent down to Viola's level and tilted her chin up so her striking eyes met his. His expression softened considerably as he traced the slash of colour at her cheekbone with his thumb. Everyone was silent as they held their breath, waiting for the next scene to unfold.
"You failed, dear child." His voice was so low and he spoke to quietly that I strained to hear him.
Tears filled Viola's eyes without warning and spilled down her cheeks and into the scratches and cuts on her face and neck. I winced inwardly for her.
"I'm sorry, Master. I-I'll do it again. I swear I won't fail this time. I was just tired from the journey… I should've rested before, I know now. Please forgive me. Please, please. I serve the Night Mother without question, you know that. Please, Lucien."
In response, the man simply leaned down and gently kissed her cheek . Viola's eyes snapped shut and she slumped forward only to be caught in the man's arms. He gathered her slender frame in his arms and walked over to me.
"The Night Mother wishes for her daughter to be severed from her bonds to the Dark Brotherhood. This is why I sent her here, where she can start afresh and away from the pain of vampires and emperors." He pressed her into my arms. "Here. Take care of her. Do want you want with her, just keep her away from Tamriel. Her soul is too pure for it to be properly given to Sithis. And remember, if she returns to Tamriel; I will kill her."
He bent down and stroked the girl's cheek fondly before nodding at me and turning invisible again."
"Wait! Assassin! You can't just leave her here! She doesn't have a home and -"
"He's gone, Duncan," Valendrian stated simply. "Looks like we have a new family member, at least until morning. Come on, we'll take her to the orphanage where she can rest."
Carrying the strange, darkly exotic, assassin, maybe-vampire, elf and Maker-knows-what-else in my arms, I followed Valendrian.
Please please please review! Anyone who does will get a big ol' love-bite from Viva. He'll be gentle, I swear.
Flamers will be darkspawn chow. ;)