Disclaimer: Not mine, dammit!
Notes: ~~images~~, also Drusilla is my character, from a novel I'm working on. She is not
"borrowed" from Buffy. There actually was a granddaughter of Cleopatra named Drusilla. If
you don't believe me, look it up!
Sara reclined back in one of the leather chairs by the fire. "You know everything
about me if you've been working with Irons, so now I want to know about you." Drusilla
lounged from the other chair and clasped her hand tightly. Sara was drowned by a wave of
confusing images and sounds. The Witchblade glowed and sparked before Drusilla
released her.
"You've never tried this with Kenneth before, have you?" she asked laughingly.
"All you usually see from others is limited flashes you can easily make sense out of. The
Witchblade is waking up. Reacting to the world around. I suggest you try this with
Kenneth, too. It can be very informative."
"What..why...what the hell was that!" Sara exclaimed angrily.
"It...she wants you to get to know me. This is how she always reacts to those like
Kenneth and I, those she's had contact with before." Drusilla chuckled at the befuddled
look on Sara's face.
Sara glared angrily. Old though she may be, she had no right to laugh at her
confusion. "You're the only one I know who refers to Kenneth by his first name. Why?"
Drusilla flushed and looked away as Sara was assaulted by images the Witchblade
provided. ~~Long fingers running through silver hair, kisses, two bodies entwining.~~
"Whoa!" Sara shouted, voice echoing hollowly. "I did not need to see that!"
"You saw the arms dealer's report on him a while ago. 'Subject is extremely
sexually active,' " she quoted, in a matter of fact tone, but still didn't look Sara in the face.
"Your name was the only one on the list you paid attention to, but if you'd looked closer
you would have seen a reference to D. Felix." Sara was flashed a picture of the disk she'd
looked over before Ian had made his shocking announcement. In the list of Irons' sexual
partner was picture of Drusilla reading in Irons' library, along with the name she had
mentioned.
"So you were lovers," Sara stated dumbly. Drusilla nodded. "So what else did you
do for him?" Her voice was getting colder by the second, as she revised her opinions the
more she learned of the other woman's connections to Irons.
"I signed a contract with him. I looked for the graves of the women who wielded
the blade and he provided me with whatever resources I need." Including a bed with him,
Sara added silently. "I only met Ian once, when Kenneth was just starting with him." ~~A
very young Ian bowed to Drusilla, who immediately turned to Irons. "You've created a
monster, Kenneth!" she yelled at him.~~
"So I left. I was exploring Egypt when I found Cleopatra's tomb a few miles away
from where Alexandria used to be. I brought the mummy back to Kenneth, like I'd
promised to do. I stayed with him for about a year. Then he made Diana," Drusilla frowned
sadly. "I'd been happy then. But I didn't want to see Diana turn into a servantile zombie like
Ian was, so I left again and hid out in Scotland. I came back to renew my contract with
Kenneth fifteen years later."
~~As Drusilla walked into Irons' office and a knife thudded into the doorframe by
her head. A teenage girl stood poised, her hand still in the throwing position. Irons
clapped sardonically. "Good shot, Diana," he drawled. Drusilla expected Diana to return
to a submissive pose, as Ian always did, but she remained upright. Something that clearly
did not sit well with Irons.~~ "We bonded, Diana and I. She was more human than Ian had
seemed to me. I trained her too, when I was not with Kenneth." Sara could imagine, after
fifteen years of being apart. "I ran off again when he sent Diana to the Black Dragons."
Drusilla shook her head slightly, as if coming out of a trance. Sara blinked. Her
life didn't sound that spectacular, the incredible age aside. Mostly digging up graves,
knocking boots with Irons and then running off to dig up more graves again. "Well that
still doesn't emplain how you got to be so old," Sara remarked.
"My mother was a Witchblade fanatic. She thought...that feeding me the blood of
Cleopatra would make me some sort of goddess. I don't know how she got the blood,"
Drusilla glanced at Sara, finally locking eyes again, "so don't ask. My mother herself
couldn't try it, she would be considered evil. But me, as the legitimate daughter of the
king, could be a goddes, Anyway, it didn't work. My father's subjects weren't fooled and
branded me a demon." ~~Torches burning, fear, pain.~~ "I married Marcus Antonius
Felix, a roman governor of Judea, as quickly as I could to escape. He had learned my
secret from my mother and continued it on me, and started it on himself. When he was
murdered, I left Judea and wandered for several years.
"You must understand, the pure, undiluted blood of a blade-wielder is immensely
powerful and a drop would last for years at a time, a secret I have never shared with
Kenneth. But eventually I ran out. I lived for most of 2000 years as an old crone, hiring
strong men to dig up graves for me. I was disgusted by what I'd become, but I didn't want
to die. Eventually I went to America and encountered Kenneth. When he realized how old
old I really was, he pumped me full of whatever it is he uses, until I look the way I do
now." she swept her hands in front of her to indicate the body of a 27 year old. "The rest
you already know."
"You said you'd contacted the blade before. How'd that happen?"
"After Cathain died, I encountered some of her friends. They were keeping the
Witchblade in trust until the next wielder came to claim it. They thought that would be me,
despite the fact that I looked like I was ancient at the time." she paused, her eyes glazing
over, rubbing the cicular scars on her hand. "It was the oddest sensation when they put it on
my wrist. It glowed warmly when I first put it on. I think it thought I might somehow be my
grandmother. Then it was confused, then angry. It scarred me the same way it did Kenneth. Then
it started to laugh. Ever since, I've occasionally gotten flashes of the women who wield it.
That's usually how I find them. But it didn't work with you."
"Then how'd you get here, of all the places I could've been?"
Drusilla shrugged. "It was a hunch." ~~Sara shook her hand, the Witchblade glowing in
the light. "My mother thought I would be the next to wield it."~~
Notes: ~~images~~, also Drusilla is my character, from a novel I'm working on. She is not
"borrowed" from Buffy. There actually was a granddaughter of Cleopatra named Drusilla. If
you don't believe me, look it up!
Sara reclined back in one of the leather chairs by the fire. "You know everything
about me if you've been working with Irons, so now I want to know about you." Drusilla
lounged from the other chair and clasped her hand tightly. Sara was drowned by a wave of
confusing images and sounds. The Witchblade glowed and sparked before Drusilla
released her.
"You've never tried this with Kenneth before, have you?" she asked laughingly.
"All you usually see from others is limited flashes you can easily make sense out of. The
Witchblade is waking up. Reacting to the world around. I suggest you try this with
Kenneth, too. It can be very informative."
"What..why...what the hell was that!" Sara exclaimed angrily.
"It...she wants you to get to know me. This is how she always reacts to those like
Kenneth and I, those she's had contact with before." Drusilla chuckled at the befuddled
look on Sara's face.
Sara glared angrily. Old though she may be, she had no right to laugh at her
confusion. "You're the only one I know who refers to Kenneth by his first name. Why?"
Drusilla flushed and looked away as Sara was assaulted by images the Witchblade
provided. ~~Long fingers running through silver hair, kisses, two bodies entwining.~~
"Whoa!" Sara shouted, voice echoing hollowly. "I did not need to see that!"
"You saw the arms dealer's report on him a while ago. 'Subject is extremely
sexually active,' " she quoted, in a matter of fact tone, but still didn't look Sara in the face.
"Your name was the only one on the list you paid attention to, but if you'd looked closer
you would have seen a reference to D. Felix." Sara was flashed a picture of the disk she'd
looked over before Ian had made his shocking announcement. In the list of Irons' sexual
partner was picture of Drusilla reading in Irons' library, along with the name she had
mentioned.
"So you were lovers," Sara stated dumbly. Drusilla nodded. "So what else did you
do for him?" Her voice was getting colder by the second, as she revised her opinions the
more she learned of the other woman's connections to Irons.
"I signed a contract with him. I looked for the graves of the women who wielded
the blade and he provided me with whatever resources I need." Including a bed with him,
Sara added silently. "I only met Ian once, when Kenneth was just starting with him." ~~A
very young Ian bowed to Drusilla, who immediately turned to Irons. "You've created a
monster, Kenneth!" she yelled at him.~~
"So I left. I was exploring Egypt when I found Cleopatra's tomb a few miles away
from where Alexandria used to be. I brought the mummy back to Kenneth, like I'd
promised to do. I stayed with him for about a year. Then he made Diana," Drusilla frowned
sadly. "I'd been happy then. But I didn't want to see Diana turn into a servantile zombie like
Ian was, so I left again and hid out in Scotland. I came back to renew my contract with
Kenneth fifteen years later."
~~As Drusilla walked into Irons' office and a knife thudded into the doorframe by
her head. A teenage girl stood poised, her hand still in the throwing position. Irons
clapped sardonically. "Good shot, Diana," he drawled. Drusilla expected Diana to return
to a submissive pose, as Ian always did, but she remained upright. Something that clearly
did not sit well with Irons.~~ "We bonded, Diana and I. She was more human than Ian had
seemed to me. I trained her too, when I was not with Kenneth." Sara could imagine, after
fifteen years of being apart. "I ran off again when he sent Diana to the Black Dragons."
Drusilla shook her head slightly, as if coming out of a trance. Sara blinked. Her
life didn't sound that spectacular, the incredible age aside. Mostly digging up graves,
knocking boots with Irons and then running off to dig up more graves again. "Well that
still doesn't emplain how you got to be so old," Sara remarked.
"My mother was a Witchblade fanatic. She thought...that feeding me the blood of
Cleopatra would make me some sort of goddess. I don't know how she got the blood,"
Drusilla glanced at Sara, finally locking eyes again, "so don't ask. My mother herself
couldn't try it, she would be considered evil. But me, as the legitimate daughter of the
king, could be a goddes, Anyway, it didn't work. My father's subjects weren't fooled and
branded me a demon." ~~Torches burning, fear, pain.~~ "I married Marcus Antonius
Felix, a roman governor of Judea, as quickly as I could to escape. He had learned my
secret from my mother and continued it on me, and started it on himself. When he was
murdered, I left Judea and wandered for several years.
"You must understand, the pure, undiluted blood of a blade-wielder is immensely
powerful and a drop would last for years at a time, a secret I have never shared with
Kenneth. But eventually I ran out. I lived for most of 2000 years as an old crone, hiring
strong men to dig up graves for me. I was disgusted by what I'd become, but I didn't want
to die. Eventually I went to America and encountered Kenneth. When he realized how old
old I really was, he pumped me full of whatever it is he uses, until I look the way I do
now." she swept her hands in front of her to indicate the body of a 27 year old. "The rest
you already know."
"You said you'd contacted the blade before. How'd that happen?"
"After Cathain died, I encountered some of her friends. They were keeping the
Witchblade in trust until the next wielder came to claim it. They thought that would be me,
despite the fact that I looked like I was ancient at the time." she paused, her eyes glazing
over, rubbing the cicular scars on her hand. "It was the oddest sensation when they put it on
my wrist. It glowed warmly when I first put it on. I think it thought I might somehow be my
grandmother. Then it was confused, then angry. It scarred me the same way it did Kenneth. Then
it started to laugh. Ever since, I've occasionally gotten flashes of the women who wield it.
That's usually how I find them. But it didn't work with you."
"Then how'd you get here, of all the places I could've been?"
Drusilla shrugged. "It was a hunch." ~~Sara shook her hand, the Witchblade glowing in
the light. "My mother thought I would be the next to wield it."~~