AN-Thanks ever and always to Drakependragon for helping me make these chapters better than I have have any right to expect them to be
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Lucrezia glared at the two younger witches. "If I'd wanted to be humiliated, I'd have brought Jeanne, not my most promising Acolytes on this mission."
Flora bowed her head. "My apologies Mistress, we still exist to serve you and the Umbran Order."
"Would that every sister was so devoted." Morgana snorted.
"-And by Acolytes you mean ..." Xander asked leadingly
"Trained in the Bullet Arts of the Umbra Witch Order," The Umbran Elder sternly lectured. " not to mention our more... conventional spellcraft. However they've yet to make their first infernal pact."
"So virgins - in a metaphysical sense." Xander offered. Lucrezia shuddered in disgust and turned from him.
"The Master has great appreciation for ...maiden virtue." Xander looked at the Acolytes hungrily. "He'll be most pleased," he chuckled darkly.
Lucrezia grimaced at Xander's words though it might also have had something to do with his near perfect imitation of Peter Lorre, thankfully Flora and Morgana were too busy bickering to notice.
Flora looked at the gypsy princess. "What's your name child?" She asked kindly.
"Lily, you could call me Lily. It's short for Lilith." Lily replied, she flushed seemingly embarrassed to be the focus of attention.
Morgana sneered, "Do you know the history of that name? A name belonging to one who would never bend or submit, least of all to a ... vampire of all things."
"That is the story they tell of her." Lily nodded.
"They say she escaped the oppressive will of the Creator, took an angel for her lover and from him received secrets and forbidden knowledge." Morgana insisted.
"You make it all sound so romantic." Lily sighed, "But traditionally truth is much more complicated-"
"Fuck your traditions." Morgana snapped, "You carry a name that is a symbol of empowerment. Don't disgrace it by clinging to useless outdated traditions."
Flora's shock at her sister witch's catty attitude was easy enough to read even through the veils covering her face,
"Morgana, Sister this is not the time or place-"
"Then when hmm?" Morgana snapped, "Thanks to those doddering old women on the Council, Rosa's daughter, that treacherous half breed is still alive; bringing disgrace or worse upon our Order."
"-And when the Mistress succeeds then all will see that our excommunication was a mistake-"
"No, it was a filthy betrayal. And it was an even greater mistake to indulge Jeanne in her obsession with the halfbreed."
"Would Madame care for a drink?" Xander asked holding out a cup.
"No, slave!" Morgana snapped, slapping the tea from Xander's hands so that it crashed on the floor at his feet.
Rage washed across Xander's face. Morgana's hands danced close to her guns.
Xander eyed her suspiciously. "A witch with a gun... there's something you don't see every day," he growled. "That shooting iron just for show, or do you really know how to use them?"
"Come on, little boy," Morgana taunted, "Come along and try me."
Xander seemed ready to lash out when a soft yet commanding voice halted him.
"Xander-continue your duties," an old man hissed. "I shall deal with our guests."
Xander's look of rage passed quickly leaving nothing but a cold stoic glare. Morgana smirked as Xander bent to pick up each piece of broken cup. If she found it unnerving how he did so while glaring at her with cold malevolence, she said nothing of it.
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"So, if Lucille over there's on the outs with the other Umbra Witches how come she's got hanger-ons?"
Bayonetta winced, Xander's habit of simplifying any name he found bothersome to pronounce or remember was an annoying if endearing trait. She thought about trying to distill centuries of conflict and suspicions for the man, then she remembered who she was dealing with.
"She went full Magneto, it didn't end well."
Xander nodded, "It's usually not a good move to follow someone who's gone full on Magneto."
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The younger witches gaped at the sudden intrusion.
The old man who the women were sure hadn't been standing there mere seconds before. He wore a dressing gown that had more in common with a burial sheet than a common robe. Though hunched as if bent by age it was clear that this man still possessed impressive height and charisma.
"Is my hospitality not to your liking?" He asked.
"Count Vlad Tepes Dracula," Xander announced. "Lord of Moldavia, Prince of Wallachia, Transylvania and-"
"Xander... enough," the vampire cut him off with a wave. "Is my hospitality not to your liking?" He repeated the question.
"No the hospitality of demonic vermin with delusions of grandeur is not to my liking." Morgana sneered.
Nonplussed at her words, Dracula shrugged, turning to Flora he smiled, "-And you child, is my hospitality not pleasing?"
"No, " Flora replied nervously, "... it is fine, Count,"
"Excellent," Dracula smiled, "enjoy the tea little witch."
Nodding Dracula turned back to Morgana, "I know her ladyship, your Elder Witch, is more than content to be here so if my hospitality and my presence offend you then by all means I shall not force you to endure either one second longer."
Dracula moved with a speed so fast none but Lucrezia perhaps could follow. One second he was standing placidly, the next Morgana, was screaming as he savaged her throat.
Flora cried out in fear, drawing her weapons and bringing them to bare. Xander suddenly moved, a blade surreptitiously concealed up his sleeve slid into his hand. With skill and reflexes honed by the years spent on the Hellmouth, he hurled the knife at Flora's hands. The sharp blade cut her, making her drop her weapons even as Lily grabbed her in a vice like grip and shoved her to the floor. The Romany girl pulled one of the young witch's hands to her lips where a inhuman and almost prehensile tongue swept across the bloody wound Xander's attack had dealt her.
"Delicious... like a… fine wine aged to perfection," Lily hissed. "A treasure like you'd have been wasted on inferno's creatures."
With the young witch neutralized, Dracula continued to feed, years seemed to wash away from his wizened form. His hair growing dark and body filling out becoming lean and muscular. He released Morgana leaving her alive on the floor like a broken doll.
"Thank you for leaving her alive," Lucrezia hissed.
"Thank you for honoring our arrangement," Dracula shrugged, "I'm surprised that you found acolytes so eager to sacrifice themselves."
"My lady?" Flora whispered.
Lucrezia grimaced at Dracula's words.
The vampire prince chuckled, "Ah so they didn't know... my bad," he shrugged.
"So that's her fate then," Flora sputtered. "A little snack for when you're feeling peckish? Or A plaything for when you need to keep your slaves amused?" Her glare made it obvious she meant Xander.
"Oh, don't glare sweetie," Lily snickered. "The boy just wants you for your body. But me? I want that and so much more."
Dracula smirked. "If it makes you feel better my reasons for taking you and your clan sister are pragmatic. The demonic energies you take in upon making your contracts with the demons you consort with make turning you impossible."
Lily cleared her throat meaningfully.
Dracula grimaced, "Perhaps I should have said impossible for all but the oldest and most ancient of our kind." Lily grimaced and shot a murderous glare at the vampire Lord.
Suddenly Xander spoke to placate her. "The eldest, most powerful, and most sacred of-"
"Xander," Dracula snapped. "That's enough."
"Yes, my master" Xander replied sheepishly.
"Spoilsport," Lily said with a smirk while winking at Xander.
Flora turned, as best she could still locked in Lily's iron grasp. "Mistress, surely you'll not allow this?" she pleaded.
"Child, did you or did you not pledge body and soul to the order ...to my cause?" Lucrezia asked.
"I pledged my life to your service."
"And in your death you will serve the order of Umbra Witches as few Witches ever have."
Dracula pulled a folded parchment from his dressing gown. "My part of our deal, a list of every witch the gypsy clans spirited away from Europe and the Witch Hunters to the new world, including a few dozen of your Umbran Sisters."
"My lady?" Flora asked. "Mere information? For this I'm to be given to this ... monster?"
Lucrezia replied coldly. "Information is power my child and we have so very little of that anymore."
"We could have found our lost sisters on our own, we had no need of his help." Flora argued.
"You think theses witches are what... akin to mislaid house keys?" Lucrezia snorted. "The witch hunts were raging across the known world. Some Umbrans could save themselves only by renouncing all ties to the order and even magic itself and fleeing to the new world."
Dracula took up the tale, "My gypsy brethren, better versed in surviving on the run as they are, facilitated the escape of hundreds who might have perished at the inquisitors hands. "
"Even once they'd escaped," the Elder Witch muttered. "The witch hunters followed them to the new world. To survive they had to be clever and cunning."
The Gypsy Princess jerked Flora to her feet. "In time an age of enlightenment began," Lily snorted. "The idea of vampires and witches and magic become the stuff of children's stories."
"I take no pleasure in your fate dear Flora but know that what's done today will make the Umbra Order stronger," Lucrezia hissed.
Lily began forcing her captive from the room.
"Now thanks to you Count, the names of our sisters are again known to us and all that was required was a little sacrifice." Lucrezia sighed.
Dracula turned to Xander. "Take the other one downstairs, let her see what's in store for her."
Xander nodded eagerly. "Of course master." The group departed leaving Xander to drag the heavy burden of the semi-conscious witch.
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Come on let's tail Dracula and the head witch-bitch." Xander proposed.
Bayonetta shook her head, "You've forgotten Cheshire, these are your memories. We can only go where you recall going."
Xander looked ill either that or scared, "Then let's go, we've seen everything we need to."
Bayonetta looked at him, "This is no time to lose your nerve Cheshire."
"It's not my nerve I'm worried about losing." Xander replied miserably. "I took her ... the witch into the basement so that Lilith could ... play with her some more."
"Who is she? "
"I barely remember Cereza I've tried to forget about what happened here."
"But it's starting to come back is it not?"
"Witches and demons look down on vampires, say that they're half breeds and vermin but once long ago, there were purebred vampires the old one's first children after the Turok-Han."
Bayonetta saw something in Xander's eye a dread unlike anything she'd witnessed. "...And that's Lilith. I think she's the reason I can't remember what happened here."
"Then it's time to face the truth don't you think?" Bayonetta chuckled.
Funny how Xander was getting so he could tell the difference between when Bayonetta was asking for something and when she was telling him what she wanted with no room for argument.
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Morgana awoke feeling her head bounce off the cold stone floor as she was being dragged to her eventual fate by that odious manservant. What had Dracula called him?
Xander or something ridiculous like that?
"What? ...what's happening how? how did I get here?" The witch asked.
"You are in the basement, obviously I dragged you down here." Xander sighed.
"What's happening?"
"The Master drank some of your blood, I'm going to guess about two and a half maybe three pints, the human body usually only holds about five or six pints. That's why you're feeling sluggish."
Morgana muttered ancient words but the power her words were meant to draw remained just beyond her reach. Xander chuckled at her efforts.
"What have you done?" Morgana snapped. "Why does my magic not work?"
"Dracula's castle is one giant Rubix cube of enchantment," Xander explained. "Not accepting his hospitality leaves you completely vulnerable to his defenses which includes barriers to dampen magic."
"I'm an Umbra Witch, it would take more than a mere barrier to restrain my powers."
Xander paused. "Funny coincidence, that tea I was trying to serve you promotes mental focus. If you'd drunk some, you might be strong enough to escape now."
Xander arrived at whatever destination they were bound for and proceeded to secure Morgana to chains hanging from a ceiling she could barely see.
"Let me go," The witch demanded weakly. "Let me go or the Umbran Witch Order will destroy you all." Her threat lacked a certain forcefulness, the lack of blood clearly taking its toll.
"Yeah," Xander replied with false sympathy, "I'm sure your mistress Lucrezia, who kind of sold your ass out, will get right on the whole avenging your imminent and painful demise."
"Mistress betrayed us?"
"For some moldy parchment and a bunch of names written on it," Xander snorted. "I'd tell you that I feel bad for you but mind controlled slaves don't feel much of anything."
"Impossible she'd never... I swore-"
"Yeah, loyalty oath," Xander snorted and waved dismissively. "I've heard. You sound really shocked, wasn't naming herself after freaky old time poisoner chick kind of a give-away?"
"Shut your mouth!" Morgana snapped. "You're going to die a slave."
"Excuse me?" Xander answered in a bored voice.
"A strong enough mind can resist dominance even one as powerful as that of The Carpathian. On some level, one so deep inside you doubtlessly couldn't recognize it, you long for The Carpathian's control."
Xander shrugged, "It's possible, and I don't mind saying my greatest fear is that my friends might show up one day and I'll fight on Dracula's behalf against them."
"It will happen," Morgana taunted. "You'll watch from the prison of your mind while your hands torture and murder the ones you love."
"Too true," Xander sneered. "but where are my manners. Here you are trapped in the Chick Pit and you haven't seen the best part."
He gave a sharp whistle and Morgana could hear rustling and whispers in the shadows. Morgana looked around the darkness, fear etched in her eyes. Xander smirked as he answered her unspoken questions.
"Allow me to reintroduce you to our house guest Lilith, for obvious reasons she gets a kick out of my nickname for her: Lilith the Fair."
Morgana watched as Lily strolled out of the shadows. At first she looked as she had upstairs; a little girl, sweet, innocent, maiden like, but as she stepped across the floor, Morgana could hear bones snapping, tendons twisting, the sickening sound of flesh being stretched across a too large frame. Her innocent face and pixie cut hair melted and fell away. Long, bone white hair fell like a waterfall down her now much broader back. Hell she even went up a cup size. The little girl was gone, this was a very powerful and dangerous woman.
Morgana shivered, Lily or Lilith was attractive but the cruel hungry smile that bisected her face transformed her maiden beauty into a grotesque and frightening parody.
"Thank you for reminding me of the old stories," Lilith said. "It does bring back the memories."
"You tricked us." Morgana snarled.
"Tricked you?" Lily sounded almost insulted, "I never denied being a super powerful antediluvian vampire, you just assumed that I was a sweet innocent Gypsy Princess." Her face morphed, her features becoming once again for a moment that naive girl Morgana had spoken with before they changed again, her face becoming bestial and monstrous it was a form Morgana recognized.
"Maloker's first… The Turok-Han."
"Not quite litte Umbran, Turok-Han have trouble counting to twenty-one without their clothes off. I on the other hand am one of the true purebloods, the first real vampires ever made."
"Vampires are still vermin half breeds." Morgana yelled in desperate defiance.
"I'm pure blood vampire little girl raised into darkness by Maloker himself." Lilith replied. "The vampires you're thinking of are copies of copies."
"-But Meloker's first children; they're just myths." Morgana whispered," they're all supposed to be dead."
"So is the Umbra Witch Order, sometimes a myth is just a blissfully forgotten truth."
"But the stories and legends-" Morgana looked confused.
"I made Bram Stoker leave my part out of the official story, bit of creative license on my part."
"So Dracula is your fledgling."
Lilith clapped her hands with delight. "She can be taught! Now, I think that it's time you learned why Xander here calls this place The Chick Pit."
Morgana watched in horror as three women slipped out of the dark dressed in clinging silken dresses and among their ranks was Flora, her mouth already filled with bestial teeth and fangs. Lily looked on the women as if showing off a piece of art. "Dracula hates Stoker's book but me, I think he captured the mood of this place best of all," she sighed.
Morgana ignored her, "Flora ... my sister ... whatever he's done to you we can fight him." She said desperate to reach the friend she knew.
"Morgana my sister," Flora hissed. "I'm so cold and hungry help me... please help me."
"I will, Flora, I'll help you. Just release me."
"Give me your life sister; help me by giving me your blood."
Flora lunged for Morgana hissing and baring her fangs Morgana screamed and Flora back-pedaled joining the others who were pawing at Xander running her hands over him.
"She's the master's now… a vampire," Xander explained. "At this stage she's little more than a rabid dog but don't worry, the other girls will take care of her."
"Kiss us Xander we want kisses." Flora whispered.
Lilith reached out, clutching Xander to herself. The vampires whined in disappointment.
"You know the rules," Lilith reminded them, "Xander works for Dracula but he belongs to me. This other however... play with her as you have in mind."
Flora and the vampires surrounded Morgana, taunting her and inflaming themselves for the final kill.
Lilith giggled in response. "Feed my little ones, there are kisses enough for you all."
Xander smiled. "I'm going to run upstairs and have lunch so you girls play nice." He paused at the doorway. "Isn't that a coincidence, I'm going to have lunch and you're about to become lunch, tell me Morgana, who would YOU rather be?"
Lilith snickered as Xander shut the door on the witch's cries for aid. Morgana's screams and curses followed Xander down the hallway. The sounds of her hatred stopped suddenly leaving only the soft sounds of life draining away.
Xander smiled, obviously Flora was enjoying her first meal as a vampire. In his mind controlled state he could really appreciate how right Angelus had been. "Family tastes best. "
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"Don't just walk away you jackass," Xander yelled at the ghost of his own past. "Go back in there save her! Get her out of there-"
"He can't hear you Xander and if he had-" Bayonetta replied.
"He would have... I would have betrayed us," Xander muttered. "Given you to Dracula."
A sound like glass shattering signaled the end of his ... memory ... vision ... whatever it was, it was over.
"Don't you want to know what happened to Lucrezia?" Xander asked.
The Umbra Witch shrugged. "She was excommunicated from the Sisterhood went on some danm fool crusade, find our lost heritage, rebuild the Order, blah, blah, blah; in the end it was all for naught." Bayonetta explained.
"Why not I thought you gals were all about the former glory shtick?"
"She wanted to rebuild so she could go to war. If the Witch Hunts and Clan Wars taught us anything it was that fighting for lost glory is vastly overrated."
"If it means anything," Xander replied. "I'm sorry. We ran into a couple of witches over the years and it ... It could have gone better."
Bayonetta could see images on the door close to where Xander leaned against a nearby wall.
A witch summoned dark power to hurl at Buffy even as Xander and the others struggled to find a way to stop her.
"You're talking to the wrong person if you're expecting me to judge you for putting down a soccer mom with delusions of grandeur, Xander. Umbra witches believe in survival of the fittest."
"Yeah but-"
"If this witch attacked you but couldn't follow through then she deserves death... assuming she died."
"I asked Giles about that once, all he said was that she was dead if she was lucky."
Bayonetta could see in the images, a statue, no a trophy in a case. Xander had doubtlessly walked by the thing hundreds of times seeing what was within without being aware. The eyes of the trophy moved, terror and desperation the only things that the soul trapped inside could express on the trophy's frozen face.
"Well, well isn't this a cozy picture." A familiar voice chuckled.
Xander and Bayonetta looked up to see Jeanne dressed head to toe in scarlet colored leathers.
"I know how much you hate when I tell you I told you so but ..." Jeanne sniffed.
"Ok what's up with your friend being in my head?" Xander asked.
"Did you really think that we wouldn't find out what you did Hunter?" Jeanne hissed. "I warned you, Cereza, what would happen if the boy became a threat."
"I'm not a threat," Xander replied. "What happened to Lucrezia and her minions?...It wasn't my fault."
Jeanne advanced her weapons at the ready. "Sorry love, I can't hear your pitiful excuses over the sound of your imminent and painful demise."