This will be the last chapter. If anything, there might be an epilogue, but I'm not sure if it even needs it. DISCLAIMER: Gwen and her family are mine, and Des or Deirdre belongs to LadySly. Mab belongs to herself.
...
Vlad couldn't understand the gnawing feeling that he had at the back of his mind. It was like a fuzzy, burning sensation in his ears. It was distracting him from the task at hand. He was making preparations should his son actually succeed in his plan. He couldn't risk his son find out about the girls in any form or manner. He also couldn't risk losing too many of those faithful to him to his son's genocidal rage.
He had sent Reginald away to keep him out of the crosshairs. He made sure that no one would know where Reginald was in case Xarus tried to track him down out of spite. Reginald wasn't happy about it in the slightest, but took the painting of the girls for safekeeping.
Growing frustrated, he tossed the clipboard aside and made his way to his private quarters. He stripped of his cape and armor and sat back. He didn't know why he was having this nagging feeling, part of it felt similar to when his ex-wife tried hurting Gwen, but the other part he wanted to sum up to anxiety. However, something kept eating away at him making him think that it could possibly be more than mere anxiety. Growling, he moved and made himself comfortable. It was well into the day and all of his undead subjects were at least in their own quarters.
He was very surprised to see Inlé-rah running to him in the mists of the In-Between. He was in his phooka form and looked worried. Inlé skidded to a halt in front of Vlad and knelt down in submission. Vlad glanced down at him in confusion.
"Inlé-rah, what is it? What has you so distressed?" Vlad demanded.
Master, it's Lady Hannah, Inlé explained urgently. Today, Milady buried her foster mother. She had me with her to provide her emotional strength since she couldn't bring Darcy. The last thing any of us suspected was for Donny to use this as an opportunity to end relations with Lady Hannah.
"You jest," Vlad growled.
Nay Master. Adonis had hoped to use the funeral as a means in avoiding Lady Hannah from making a scene.
"Please tell me that she did so anyway," Vlad snarled. He'd throttle Adonis until his pretty, little head popped off.
Not as you would have wished, Master, Inlé confessed. She merely demanded that he leave and never show his face near her home again.
"Ever the merciful one she is," he groaned, "Where is she? If I don't find her, he'll have undone everything that Luka and I have put together." He knew that he had recently said goodbye to both of his girls, but he had promised to be there when she needed him most.
"Mr. Vlad! Mr. Vlad!"
Vlad turned to see Ben running to him. "Ben?"
"Mr. Vlad!" Ben cried, gripping Vlad's cape. "Dessie won't wake up! She won't wake up! I did everything!"
"Ben, calm down," Vlad whispered, "What do you mean by 'won't wake up?' Where's Des? What's going on?"
"I went to see Dessie," Ben sniffled, "She was in bed with Bun-Bun, but she wouldn't wake up. Nothing I did would change her. She wouldn't go to the realm where they don't dream, fade to the Waking World, or wake up. She just lied there like she was sleeping."
"Take me there," Vlad ordered.
Ben nodded, taking Vlad's hand and heading in the direction that he came. He led Vlad places that Vlad had not been able to fully explore. He led him into an area that he had longed to explore, but for some reason, the area refused to permit him entrance. However, there he was being guided by Ben into this forbidden area, and he could see why the area was forbidden to him. He pulled Ben back when Ben moved too close to a rosebush that had thorns.
"Careful Ben, don't touch those thorns," Vlad warned. "Come here." Vlad lifted Ben up and flew over the bushes. "Where is she, Ben?"
"That castle," Ben answered, pointing at a castle.
He flew around one tower, the tallest one, seeing someone slumbering in an ornate bed from the window. He entered it, holding Ben on his hips as he entered. He looked over to see Des sleeping in the middle of a queen size bed in the middle of the room. He glanced to the side and saw a spinning wheel sitting next to the window as he set Ben down.
"Don't touch that spinning wheel, Ben," Vlad ordered.
"Why?" Ben asked, turning between him and the wheel.
"It might be what put Des to sleep," Vlad explained.
Ben walked over and gripped Vlad's leg and cape. He let go of Vlad's leg when Vlad made his way over to Des. He watched Vlad sit next to Des and try to wake her.
"Desmoira? Des-girl, wake up," Vlad started, shaking her gently. "Des please wake up." When Des didn't respond, Vlad shook his head in worry sensing magic surrounding them. "Des, come on, open your eyes dearest. Please, let me know that you're still here. Des, DES!" He shook more violently, but she still would not wake. "How is this even possible? How can she sleep within the Dream Realm? Why is she not within the Realm of Dreamless Sleep?" That nagging feeling started to creep up on him again.
"Mr. Vlad?" Ben came over to stand next to him. "Do you think that it could have been her grandma? She can be awfully mean."
"Ben, why do you ask that?" Vlad asked, gripping Ben's shoulders. "What would her grandmother have to do with this?"
"I saw her leaving before I came to find Dessie," Ben confessed.
Panic overwhelmed Vlad as he stood up and raced for the window. "Hannah!"
"Mr. Vlad, what's going on?" Ben shouted, "What's going to happen to Hannah?"
Vlad raced to try and find Gwen. He knew that she was somewhere waiting for him, and she knew that Mab was looking for her if she hadn't already found her. He didn't know what Mab had planned for her, but he knew that if he didn't find her first Mab would undo everything with her meddling.
By the time he reached his destination, he was surrounded by white. The only bit of color he could see was a sapphire Faberge egg inlaid with gold designs being held by a massive teddy bear. Finding the stuffed bear odd, he raced over to the egg.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Mab called.
Vlad ignored her, intent on letting Gwen out of her prison. He was shocked to see the harmless looking teddy bear turn into a monster of a bear that he would have felt honored to hunt at one point. He was left winded by the blow the beast delivered to him as he went flying a few yards away. He groaned and tried to stand back up.
"I tried to warn you," Mab said in that higher-than-thou tone she loved.
"What have you done?" Vlad choked.
"If it pleases you, she fought quite admirably," Mab responded, "I could almost say that I was impressed."
"What have you done?" Vlad screamed, getting in her face. "She'll think that I abandoned her! She'll-She'll…"
"She'll not be at risk of you biting her," Mab snapped, "Don't think that I don't know about that."
"I didn't," Vlad panted, "I didn't. I stopped myself, but the boy, Adonis, he-he… What have you done?"
"I've done what needed to be done," she stated.
"You've set her on the road to be as bitter as you," he hissed, glaring at her with unbridled hate.
He turned to see Ben showing up. He could see the confusion on the boy's face as he made his way closer to the Faberge prison that housed Gwen. When Ben was within a few steps, the bear changed again striking at the boy causing him to scream and run crying. Vlad could smell that he had been hurt in some manner and glared at Mab again. It sickened him to see how she didn't even bat an eye at what he just transpired.
"Keep me away from the girls all you want, you merciless hag," he sneered, "but leave the boy be. Let him see them! What harm could he do?"
"You don't see the future, you can't, and his future is quite dark indeed. It burdens me to be able to see into the future, to be forced to do what I must to protect the girls. Their lives are in danger if they remain around him."
"You keep saying that, but any seer knows that nothing in written in stone," he argued, "Those girls could have kept him, could keep him from going down that path. Someone else could keep him off that path."
"Someone with an interest in the boy wants the girls dead," she told him bluntly. "He made a deal with that demon, Nightmare, that if he could get Hannah away from the boy, then he could keep her while the other would have the boy. The girls would have interfered in his plans. Nothing would have stopped him from destroying them to get to the boy. They were keeping him in the Light. Now that they are removed, he has lost interest. They are safe. They will find him in the future, but this must happen. Even I can't change the path the boy must take."
"You don't even care about the boy! You almost let that beast kill him! I can't even say that you care about the girls. Anyone with an eye can see the favoritism you show between the two!"
Mab stared at him coldly, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Careful of when you speak of things you don't know. A Queen must make hard choices, even if both are hard. I did what I had to. Deirdre is my heir and I will not let that fairy from Hell take her away from me. Her cousin was a complication, so I ensured that the complication was taken care of. Deirdre is safe. If you knew what I knew, you would understand why I do what I do."
"Quit calling Hannah a complication! That is no better than calling her a mistake or a bastard!"
"But that was what she was. If I had not interfered, she and Deirdre would have destroyed each other, but now, they won't. You should be thanking me, because now you won't lose either of them, nor will you be forced to watch them fight each other to the death."
"Kiss my ass, hag." He crossed his arms glaring at her. "You have no faith in those girls or their love for each other."
"Again, you do not know everything. You will see in time just why I have done all of this. Every future I saw where I let them be, they died by the hands of the other. I did what I had to, even if it meant Hannah hates me. Tell me, would you not do anything for them, to keep them safe, or have you forgotten what you nearly did to Hannah? Is she aware how close you came? Hmm? Did she possibly feel the tip of your fangs on her skin? You may not like how I do things, but I am doing it for them. I would kill to keep both of them safe, wouldn't you?"
"You don't speak of that anymore, witch." Vlad snarled at her, baring his fangs. "I stopped myself, and I was willing to make the sacrifice needed to keep her safe. However, I made a promise to Hannah, and now thanks to you, she will think that I abandoned her like every single person she has trusted in her life."
"But it nearly happened. I am doing everything I can to protect Deirdre. I made that promise to her that I would keep her safe. Would you rather I not do anything? To let them both be targets of this madman? That I had not interfered and let fate run its course so they both would end up dead? Dead by the hands of the other? Should I show you what the future would have been like?" She waved her hand and the world shifted around them.
They were back in Radiant Gardens, in Villain's Vale to be exact. There was the sound of battle all around them, great destruction as well. There was a battle that rang clearly, fought in the throne room of the dilapidated castle. Two figures clashed, armor and swords clashing in the light. As they fought, their faces were revealed. It was Des and Gwen, locked in deadly combat, hatred marring their features. They seemed older, Desmoira's hair had grown and was pure as snow and Gwen's hair was cut shorter than the style Vlad was used to. They were coated in blood, most of it their own. They forced each other back as magic also flew around them as their swords clashed. Then, before his very eyes, the two lunged at each other, piercing the other with their sword, the blades going straight through their hearts and out their backs.
The two stared at each other, their hatred still present as the light faded from their eyes, both falling to the ground, never to move again. Something felt off though, like someone else was pulling the strings and not caught up in Mab's radar.
It was then that Vlad noticed a change. Before their eyes, Gwen was replaced with another girl with blonde hair who was the one who had the look of hatred, Desmoira's hair was black and she was fighting, though she was trying not to hurt her opponent. To Vlad's horror, Desmoira threw away her sword and the girl ran her through, a man's scream of horror echoing about the room.
Mab growled and banished the vision, obviously displeased. "What could have gone wrong? I separated the girls so they would not hurt each other, but now this new one comes in. The curse is still active, I have to stop this somehow." She didn't seem to be paying attention to Vlad anymore. "I could just kill the other one and be done with it. I cannot let this interfere with my plans, I must find a way around this!"
"Mab, some things are meant to happen," Vlad muttered. "Why do you think that I don't run from mine?"
"Deirdre must fulfill her destiny as my champion and heir, I cannot let this new brat take this from me! I have worked too hard in training her!"
"Then you don't truly care for her," he stated, "You don't care for either of them."
"I do! I love her! She is everything that I ever wanted in a child! She is my redemption!"
"Then let her choose her own destiny," he snapped, "Let her be who she wants to be, not what you want."
"Never! I will not allow you to corrupt her! This is her destiny! Deirdre is my heir and will help me take back what was wrongfully taken from me! When she is ready, I will put her on the throne to continue my legacy!"
"And I wonder why my son wants my head." He looked at her in disbelief. "I have learned after having Janus, to let my children choose their own path, and do you know what happened? He came back to me. I let him be Janus, not what I saw fit. I did the same with Xarus, but it seems that he is dissatisfied."
"That is because you are a softhearted fool! You let them walk all over and see that you are weak! Your son sees that and decided that he has had enough. My son will rue the day he thought he could dethrone me! And what better way to do that than have his own daughter dethrone him like he dethroned me?" It seemed that Mab's true intentions were revealed. "She will be the queen Avalon needs, not the softhearted fool my son is with his concern for mortals! That is her destiny!"
"And she will hate you for it, just like Hannah hates you for seeing her as nothing more than a complication."
"So be it then. I did what I thought was best to ensure both their futures."
"And that might be why your son hates you." He backed away. "I pity you."
"It is better to be feared than loved. I have no need of your pity. What would I care for your thoughts? The girls are in their respective prisons and there they will stay, safe from harm. Safe from your son, safe from your spurned whore, safe from even you! If you wish to see the first future come to past, then by all means, try and wake them up."
"You've condemned them, and you don't even see it." He walked away.
He ignored her shouts as he continued on, forcing himself to wake. He took a shaky breath when he awoke. His entire body shook from rage, betrayal, and his breaking heart. He broke his promise to Gwen, and it was all thanks to Mab. He feared what this would do to Gwen, how it would destroy what he and Luka worked so hard to build. He found that he was out of breath, even thought he didn't need to breathe. He couldn't fight the bloody tears that fell.
"What I done?" he breathed. "Please forgive me Hannah."
It seemed for him that Fate had decided to frown upon all three of them, and she had sealed her choice with the decisions of a mad queen. His girls were closed off from everyone around them and they didn't even know it. He hoped that it didn't affect them horribly in the Waking World, but he had a feeling that it will be a while before he found out.
...
MsN: Wow, so depressing to end this story.
Alucard & Chase: STORY!
MsN: No! Down! *sprays them with water*
Snape: I'm staying out of this.
