Authors Note: I apologize for the terrible lateness and am grateful for all the lovely reviews and support. Chapter Eight and Chapter Nine are near finished so will be uploading them soon. This is just a little intermission, rah rah rah rah. Thank you, enjoy. Ignore the Atreyu lyrics if you must, they were just too fitting for me to skip over.
Chapter Seven - Dreaming (Az Intervallum)
"I am the walking dead heartbreaker, my apologies. I am happy you will never understand what it is like to be trapped under six feet of solid glass. I can see out, but no one gets in. Screaming at this prison, I have locked myself into, I am sorry that I am still breathing and that I will kill again. The loneliness is too much for me to handle, but the taste of fresh blood pushes me on, the fear of romance, the pain of living, the joy of sorrow and the strength of not forgiving. I told myself the constant pain would ease the tension burning inside, but the nights were cold and the days dragged to weeks. I will die here alone - I will die. Gods help me, I am so tired, but in my dreams, the wolves eat out my soul. Gods help me, I am so frightened, but in my dreams, wolves tear out my heart. I used to be golden, a saint in a time of sorrow, but then the turning came and I kissed the sun goodbye. Don't you get it? It is always darker in my eyes, the screams of my brothers, egging me on." – Atreyu
One awake, two asleep, the way of the Chain, the arrangement that controlled the reign of Marcus, Viktor and Amelia. Simply put, the Chain killed two birds with one stone: firstly, it was a clever power-sharing agreement among the three Elders, avoiding fighting amongst them by ensuring that only one of them was in control in any given century; and second, it granted each Elder a much-needed reprieve from the burden of immortality. Viktor hated the chain. If he had his way, he would be in command in every given century, but held back by Marcus' lie; he was awake one century and asleep for the other two, rinse and repeat. Keep the peace. Lord Viktor of Moldavia the Peacekeeper was a laughable concept, but self-preservation was a driving force.
Viktor did not take pleasure in his "much-needed respite from the demands of eternity." For within those two centuries, he was permanently dreaming, which sounds blissful, except most of Viktor's dreams were his memories, many of them replayed in exact detail – most of Viktor's memories qualifying for nightmares, not dreams. Fulfilment of every sense occurred, until reliving the past became a reality. He had more than enough lifetimes of memories to replay, a lot of them he wanted to pretend did not exist. Every time he was put in stasis, he forgot he was dreaming, not actually experiencing. Every time he would be plunged into the darkness, ripped away from his visions, he remembered everything, not knowing anymore if he had won or lost, lying as a dried out corpse that could not shed a tear. The memories of his beloved wife Ilona and daughter Sonja were ever bittersweet; they could bring even the immortal to tears. Even though Viktor viewed immortality as a gift above all others, he was not immune to its boundless tragedies.
Viktor was the most fearsome of Elders, a skilled, arrogant, brutal, ruthless, rule breaking and charismatic leader, power-hungry and manipulative. His history and memories haunted him in such a way the he took steps to alter history by changing textbooks. He banished historian Tanis as he knew the truth and Viktor himself still could not live with it.
His obsession with the purity of the bloodlines led to nothing but heartache. His fixation on blood purity was so great that he considered his victory over Lycans to be only natural, viewing them as nothing more than animals and slaves. Extreme measures were taken to prevent a hybrid "abomination" ever existing. Despite ordering her execution, Sonja's death haunted Viktor for the rest of his life, especially when he "dreamt". The immense guilt led him to sparing Selene from the murder of her family due to her striking resemblance to Sonja, raising her as his heir in all but name.
Gratitude was not his style, it was only shown to those who were closest to him and rarely. Both in his immortal and mortal lives, was difficult to love. Alternatively, more the fact, he did not want to be loved, he wanted to be feared. He figured if he had less love and trust in his life, then the possibility of hurt decreased. However, he found himself loving and trusting again, countless times – sometimes humanity is difficult to shake. Nevertheless, he still always wanted his back to his wall, so his so-called allies would have to take him on face to face, not deftly take off his head from behind.
A secret shame was that he could not sate his thirst for blood, he continued to attack and feed directly on humans even after it was outlawed. He could not master the willpower to control it, he was born a warrior so bloodlust like humanity was also difficult to shake. In spite of this, he forced Vampires to strictly follow the Council rules, quick to punish or kill anyone who dare disobey.
To put it lightly, Viktor had centuries of regretting his actions, protecting his own pride and lying about the past to review in his slumber.
