AN: Something that sprouted in my mind unexpectedly, and wanted to pen it down and explore it. The idea came about when I finished Code Vein after having it in my library for over a year. I'll draw what little I know about Warhammer Fantasy so if there's any major mistakes I'm sure somebody will point it out.
DISCLAIMER: All characters, references and source material not of my Character creation are IPs of their respective owners.
First Vestige
"Are you leaving already Victor, you fool?" she could hear the voice of a man ring out in her ear
And the calling out of this voice sparked her to open her eyes
Despite having eyes were wide open, she did not truly feel awake. It was almost as if she was still in a deep sleep.
Everything that she saw had an almost ethereal haze to it, like whatever was happening had been almost like a most lucid dream...or a memory.
What she nevertheless witnessed was a place that seemed strange yet familiar:
A place she had long forgotten, yet could not help but felt was somewhere that she should not forget. She was on a bed, in sheets made from rough yet sturdy linen, in a room that seemed old, antiquated honestly - yet despite that it was well kept, its archaic appearance neat and clean. Perhaps the way the rooms were contemporary to wherever she was, whatever this dream was.
She felt at home here, even though she had long forgotten where her true home was. Feelings of nostalgia and longing that she did not truly understand.
"You know very well the answer to that father-in-law." the man presumably named Victor voiced out in response to the question the other man asked, his voice on its surface sounded stern, cold and unfeeling but she could however feel a palpable undertone of pain...and was it guilt?
"No, I don't. You think she would want this Victor? You think my child, would find pleasure and satisfaction, if she were to witness you abandon your family and partake in this never-ending crusade of yours?! What's lost is lost you stupid boy!"
"I have heard quite enough..." the cold voice replied, a testier voice.
"I think you have NOT heard nearly enough boy! You expect me to fucking think that my Altria would be happy seeing you travel to Sigmar-knows-where, fighting Daemons and beasts, when you have your own flesh and blood alive, breathing and in the room behind us?!" the older man's voice boomed.
There was a palpable silence, she was not entirely certain for how long it lasted - but eventually, the man named Victor finally had a response.
"It is...for her sake Uther, I am doing all these for her sake..." Victor's voice was strained,
"How is all these for her sake you fool-"
"Because I refuse to allow what happen to Altria, happen to my daughter!" Victor shouted, his anger and rage so clear.
"And the only way, to make sure my daughter is safe, is for me to return to the Order, and fight on - to purge the evil that took Altria from me. You should know the pain as much as I do, Uther."
"What's done is done Victor. My daughter is gone, there is no changing that. But yours...my granddaughter, she's still here and she needs her family, are you willing to leave her all alone?"
"Which is why I am entrusting her to you Sir Uther. Sigmar knows she will be safe with you, and with you she will be guided well - I can fight easy knowing that simple fact."
"That was not what I meant, and you know it Victor."
"You will not change my mind sir; another person less to defend the Empire translates to greater risk of its citizens by its vile enemies."
Uther scoffed, "what can a single man like you hope to accomplish in the Empire's eternal wars?!"
"More than nothing, and that will be plenty sufficient."
She could hear a loud sigh coming from the older man, Uther. A very resigned sigh, clear displeasure, frustration evident.
"Sometimes I wonder what Altria saw in you Victor; The Lady and Sigmar be my witness she could have chosen any man she wanted - yet she chose an unhinged Middenlander like you." Uther quipped.
A short pause
"Rest assured father-in-law, sometimes I question myself and how is it that I would ever deserve Altria. In spite of that I assure you, I will always be true to her even in death." replied Victor.
Followed by an even longer pause, both men outside of the room she was in now fell into silence - not the same tenuous silence as before however.
"There is nothing I can say that will keep you here can I boy?" Uther finally spoke up, resignation in his voice.
"Unfortunately not, sir". Victor replied instantly. A grunt could be heard in response.
"I will make preparations to leave in the morrow Uther, The Order is expecting me in three days. I shall not keep them waiting." Victor finally spoke, though before he could say or do anything more, Uther replied.
"Could you at the very fucking least spend some of your precious time with your daughter Victor? As much as your decisions detest me, she loves you immensely. I can only imagine how much it'll break the poor child's heart to find out that her father's leaving for certain death fighting daemons and abominations."
Shuffling could be heard and footsteps approached the door in her room, and soon enough it opened. She could not clearly see how the man whom she presumed to be Victor looked like given that the area outside of her room was much more well lit. She could only faintly see a silhouette of a tall, lanky but well-built man.
Soon enough the man was by her bedside, and she could hear the sound of him sitting down on a chair next to her. She felt her eyes close harder, as if to mislead the man into thinking she was fast asleep.
She could also feel a large hand resting on her head, in a gentle pat.
She wanted to open her eyes wider, yet for some reason she could not. In this dream or vision, she was not in control of her own actions, she was merely a passenger, along for this strange ride.
And whoever was controlling her actions, seemed very unwilling to open her eyes.
"I will make this world safer for you my little Lioness; no matter what adversities I may face, I will come out of it stronger, come out of it alive. Sigmar guides my fate - and my fate is to vanquish this evil, and to live on until I will eventually return to you. Be strong Victoria, be strong like your mother...Sigmar knows she was stronger than me." Victor's surprisingly gentle voice rang out throughout her. She could feel the affection he had for her, such deep affection that he might as well have been a different person when he spoke to her.
Soon enough as the man named Victor left the room. She felt wetness on the edges of her eyes, tears flowed freely.
Despite being a passenger in this dream or vision, she could not help but feel a deep, unbridled sadness and anger - as if her soul was crying out in sorrow. Whoever this man was she did not want him to leave her, she wanted to beg him to stay but she could not help but feel anger.
She was angry at Victor, though she did not hate him. She thought maybe, just maybe.
Maybe father would return after a month or two...
How wrong she was, for this would have been the last time she would see her father.
And at that very moment she remembered what her name, something she had long given up on remembering.
Revenant
She jolted up as her eyes were now wide opened, there was no longer any blurriness or any other sensations that made up the telltale signs of a dream or vision.
In fact, the moment she woke up, she realised that she could not see from what was suppose to be her right eye.
She had long forgotten how she lost her right eye.
For the moment she first woke up in this damned world she was already one-eyed.
With time to gather her thoughts, she quickly inspected the place she awakened from and the state she was in. She was wearing what seemed to be some sort of hospice attire, and her arms and legs were all covered in bandages. She proceeded to tear off a portion said bandages, and noticed that below them had been pale unblemished skin - whatever wounds or injuries she might have sustained seemed to have either recovered or disappeared altogether.
All around her, were similar beds to the ones she was lying on, different individuals all still unconscious and in varying states of injuries, though there were a fair few of them whom had no injuries but were unconscious all the same. The room she was in...it was noticeably different from the room in her dream. No signs of antiquity, but it was however a large tent, held together my metal support-structures, filled with various medical equipment and beds.
A makeshift ward she surmised.
Her sudden awakening did also attract the attention of somebody, as she heard brisk footsteps approaching the ward she was in. It didn't take long to see the owner of the footsteps.
A black-haired woman rushed in, magenta-coloured eyes seem to indicate that she was surprised in some way. That didn't stop her from giving a warm, disarming smile.
"It looks like you are first to wake" the woman voiced out politely, gently. Despite that she could not help but notice the undertone of shock and surprise. The woman approached her, and reached towards her bandaged arm.
She flinched back instinctively, a gesture the black-haired woman definitely noticed.
"I mean you no harm I assure you, I just wish to inspect the state of your injuries. This is a hospital tent for recovering revenants like yourself, so please relax".
Revenant...
The word, for some reason hearing it brought about a noticeable chill down her spine. The very mention of the word sparked a noticeable wave of distaste, discomfort and even self-loathing.
It all truly started the moment she first awoken, in a world she initially felt completely lost. She woke up in a place similar to this one, and it was the very first time she had been told that she was reborn as something they called a "revenant".
No longer human, but a creature in a permanent state of undeath.
She felt tainted, polluted...like she was a parody of what she actually was, an abomination existing in a perpetual state of pitiable misery - forever beyond any form of salvation.
She didn't know why she felt that way, she just innately did.
Her mind wandered into this grim rediscovery, whilst the woman whom she now presumed was a nurse or hospitaller of some sort removed the all the bandages from her body and continued to inspect her for any signs of further injuries.
The nurse seemed satisfied when she saw none - though her look of relief seem to turn into one of concern and worry as she inspected her eye, she probably might have noticed that one of her eyes was maimed perhaps.
"Your body has made a full recovery - the BOR parasites seem to have done their job well. For some reason however it still hasn't restored your right eye in any way, that is worrying." the woman muttered the last three words at the end, she could pick them up either way.
She turned her head to the side in confusion - all these things seemed to confuse her immensely, as far as she recalled, these "BOR Parasites" had something to do with how she supposedly recovered from what the woman seem to imply were grievous wounds, possibly crippling and mortal ones to boot.
These were the same parasites that essentially hexed her into this cursed state of existence.
She would have felt anger, to lash out at anybody and everybody but that time had long passed - what was the point?
Moving back to this hospitaller's comments, for some reason, everything BUT her right eye were healed - and supposedly this was a sign of concern?
The nurse seem to pick up on her confusion, composed herself and decided to elaborate further "an expedition team found you deep in the Capital ruins - you were very badly injured but miraculously not dead. Honestly its quite a wonder how you managed to stay alive and not disperse in such a state."
She could hear the nurse's concern over her condition - she was somewhat unused to it, but felt it not unwelcomed.
"This isn't the first time I've seen you here by the way, I was also responsible for observing your transformation to a revenant few years ago but you had yet to wake as when we first found you you were in a much worse state than now, so we never really got acquainted." a frown now marred the nurse's expression.
"Your right eye was already maimed when we first found you, and even with the BOR parasites regenerating your body, only your right eye remained unchanged...and even till now its still the same issue."
The nurse than started writing something by tapping on a tablet of sorts, allowing her to mull over what she had told her. Soon enough the black-haired woman spoke again.
"I can understand how this might be a little distressful for you, when we found you, we could never seem to find any members of your family from when your were human. Your memory-loss was much more severe compared to others like you it was almost like you had dispersed tenth of times over...you couldn't remember anything, not even your name-"
"Victoria..."
The black-haired woman paused her writing, and she quickly turned her head towards her - magenta eyes wide with disbelief and shock.
"I'm sorry?"
"My name, is Victoria." the nurse was now seen blinking.
"You remember your name?" the nurse asked, and she only nodded casually. at this the nurse started tapping and scribbling on her strange tablet even more profusely.
"T-this is...marvelous news!" the nurse exclaimed, to her absolute confusion as it had been her turn to blink her eyes in confusion.
"Losing one's memories is a known side effect of being reborn as a revenant, and it was thought to be a forgone conclusion that some revenants never recover their memories. The fact that you remember your name, your true name could potentially mean that there is a way for revenants to remember who they were, even when they were human!" The nurse rambled on enthusiastically before she composed herself again, but her cheerfulness seemed to degrade.
"If only we didn't have a war with the Queen to fight, as it is the Provisional Government lack the necessary resources to conduct such research that to them yield so little practical benefit..." the woman mumbled, almost in disappointment
"I-is this really such a big deal, hospitaller?" Victoria asked.
"The name's Karen, Miss Victoria...and yes, this is a very big deal in spite of what some might say." the nurse, named Karen replied, seriousness and slight disgruntlement apparent in her expression. Despite the obvious displeasure she was feeling as a result of the situation that they were in, she gave Victoria a warm smile.
"Is there anything else you might remember, Victoria? Your parents perhaps?" Karen asked her
It was then she recalled the dream...or memory she had - the argument between the man Victor and Uther.
Over her, over a woman named Altria.
Middenland...Empire
Daemons, The Order.
The Lady...Sigmar.
"I remember my father and mother's name...Victor and Altria." Victoria replied, finding no reason to withhold that information. The rest however seem to likely cause more trouble than its worth trying to get any possible illumination on.
"Do you recall your family name from before you became a revenant? Maybe if we can find out your family name, we could help find you the whereabouts of your family?" Karen queried further.
Her family name?
She cannot remember.
"I don't know, can't remember. I'm sorry."
At this Karen gave off a soft sigh.
"Well, is more progress than a few years ago. I would have liked it if we could talk a little longer but, The Queen waits for no one." Karen replied before she gave Victoria a strange pad and asked her to fill out any details that she might be able to remember on it.
Upon answering whatever questions that was asked on that tablet, Karen gave her a respirator mask - informing her that The Queen's miasma has been thickening and was hazardous to humans and revenants alike.
"I hope we can see each other again soon Victoria, hopefully you will remember more about your self." Karen told her good-naturedly, before her expression darkened and her voice turned more serious.
"Please remember to watch out for yourself. We may be revenants, immortal creatures...if you turn into one of the Lost, there is nothing that can bring you back from it."
Victoria nodded, at which Karen's expression softened again.
"You should be steady enough to get back on your feet. Your uniform and equipment are in the locker tents - so try to ease back into things at your own pace alright?" Karen rested her hand supportively on a shoulder before she left the tent.
Had she been a little less distracted, Victoria might have just noticed that Karen always seemed to avoid eye-contact with her for one reason or another.
Victoria was given a moment of quiet given that she was the only conscious soul in the ward so she took the opportunity to get up from the bed and gave her limbs a slight stretch - Victoria's thoughts lingered on whether this curse affected her soul as well.
She quickly shook that thought away, what good was there to have lingering over it?
Her walk was slow, leaving the ward and towards the locker tents, moving past numerous other people, humans and revenants giving her passing stares.
The mild attention she was received mattered little to her, for she was faced with revelations that she knew not how to act upon.
She still retained memories after she became a revenant. Prior to the dream she had, she could never remember the times where she was human. The moment she opened her eyes, she laid witness to a ruined world, a cruel world filled with war.
It had left her unfazed, it was almost as if all her life she was surrounded with war that being in another hellscape of endless war mattered little. She took to the strange reality of being what was essentially an undead comparatively in strides as the days turned to months, and fought in this war that she knew scantly how it started.
Despite adapting, whenever she was reminded of her existence as a revenant - she could never stop the feeling of self-loathing encompassing all of her.
She felt aimless before she remembered her name...
And now she felt hopeless upon remembering it.
She didn't know where her father was, where her grandfather was. As far as she knows, they were long dead or even worlds apart from her. She might as well have remembered nothing, at least having no memory of anyone who was close to her was preferable to the prospect that everyone she knew and loved were long gone.
It didn't take long for her to reach the locker tents despite the slow pace, and to find her assigned locker with the number she was assigned to the very moment she awakened as a revenant.
She opened said locker with a key handed to her by the quartermaster.
In it was her Queenslayer uniform neatly folded, and on top of it was a pendant, the only thing on her when she woke up the first time in this cruel world.
The pendant gleamed a bright silver and was shaped in a cross with the visage of a skull at its centre - on each sides of the cross had been different etched icons.
A Warhammer on the top, a shield at the bottom, and griffons at its left and right (1).
She quickly grabbed the pendant, and wore it around her neck - a feeling of relief and comfort the moment it rested on her chest. This was all Victoria had on her, to hopefully one day remind her of what she might have been once upon a time.
After doing so, she turned to the mirror affixed to her locker door.
What faced Victoria, was a the visage of a scarred maiden, and unworldly one:
Her right eye pale and lifeless, and a scar running across it.
Her left eye however could not be any more different, a deep ruby red iris, and black-slitted pupils. Her left eye for all intents and purposes seemed strange.
She chuckled to her self sardonically, strange was a gross understatement.
Hellish, ungodly...daemonic, those were more accurate descriptions of the single crimson orb looking back at her.
Her skin was pale, almost as white as snow, borderline ashen. Her hair was long and dropped down her shoulders, as white as her skin. (2)
Has she always looked like this? If not, had this "BOR parasite" been the cause of her...mutation? Or was it something else? Other revenants, her peers seems to retain most if not the entirety of their human physical appearance, and nothing except frenzying into a Lost could really changed the way they looked.
This might have explained why so many people, revenant and human alike - have either averted their gaze or have sent lingering gazes.
Even amongst her cursed unliving peers, she stood out looking more damned than any one around her.
She shook her head violently, clearing up these inconvenient thoughts. Wallowing in self-pity would turn her into not only an aberration, but a pathetic aberration.
She grabbed hold of a simple band to her side and tied her hair up into a neat ponytail, before putting on her Queenslayer uniform. Victoria took a deep breath, before closing the locker.
At that very moment, she may finally have rediscovered her name, and the names of her father and mother - but that really was all there is to it at that very moment.
She still had a war to fight - even if it wasn't one she asked for.
(1): Imperial Cross/Sigmar's Cross
(2): Cover Pic of this Fic is Victoria's appearance, right after a [spoiler] event, if you played CV you might know - keep in mind in future chapters there will be spoilers for CV and a bit of Warhammer.
AN: This will be a short story not sure exactly the number of chapters to wrap this up, like I say its an idea that came to me while playing Code Vein's miniga- I mean character creator AND finishing the game. Some of you might have already gotten some early indicators of what specific part Warhammer this is so yes I also no-life that other game (or you haven't if that's the case hopefully I get the next chapter worked on efficient enough).
I know I'm pretty much painting a target on my back making a Warhammer crossover, but it is what it is I guess.
Drop a review if you want, like it? Hate it? "Its completely shit Druid wtf" I don't mind.