Disclaimer: The LoK characters and related material are property of Crystal Dynamics and Eidos.
To Find My Way Home
Chapter Three
My father and his councilmen waited patiently for me to begin the tale of my 'abduction'. The only people who had kidnapped me thus far were these people, but I wasn't about to let that slip out of my mouth for fear of creating a hostile situation. So I opted to play along into this role I found myself acting out.
"Well, the vampires... they kidnapped me, right?" I just wanted to confirm the absurdity of it all. I saw my father nod his head slightly. "Well, um... I remember this really tall church-like place. I don't know... a citadel, perhaps." I decided to reference the dream I had had a few moments ago. Perhaps it would be convincing....
"Ah, the silent cathedral!" one of the nobles interrupted. Perfect. It was working. "Avernus Cathedral! The Zephonim captured that sacred human refuge centuries ago!"
Okay, now we're getting somewhere. "Yes! That's the one!" I pretended to get all excited. "They took me there! They had my arms bound and they locked me up in a room near the top of the cathedral."
"Did they hurt you at all?" Richard asked worriedly. Wow, this 'version' of my fiancée was too much like a fairy-tale prince, or 'knight in shining armor'.
"Uh, no. I'm fine."
"Are you sure? How did you get that cut above your eye?"
"Oh! That was from after I escaped!" I lied.
"Please, Richard. Allow her to speak," my father begged.
"Well, I was there at this cathedral for about a day, I think. Then at night, they took me elsewhere. I'm not sure where it was. I don't remember much. All I remember is this big stone throne and a man with a hideously deformed face. His dark veins protruded from his face, which seemed to have been tinted green."
"My gods! Is it Kain you speak of?" my father inquired fearfully. I wasn't sure how to answer him. I didn't know who this 'Kain' guy was. What if it wasn't him who I had seen in my dream? What if it was?
"I... I don't know. I couldn't see him very well. But he said something to me. He said if I played with fire, I would get burned. I guess it was a warning, I suppose."
"So how did you get away?" one of the noblemen eagerly asked.
I had to really start making this up now, as my dream had ended there. "Um, well, someone else was told to take me into their custody. We were heading towards the west, I think," I said west because I knew this place was towards the east, but I think it was a mistake that I had said that.
"West! Towards the Razielim clans? They were taking you there? If you could not escape from the Zephonim, however did you escape from the Razielim?" my father cried.
I'm guessing that the 'Razielim' were obviously worse than the 'Zephonim', making my story more farfetched than I had originally intended. Well, the entire thing was ridiculous anyways. Who fearfully believed in vampires nowadays anyway? Besides, I was here in front of them now, so they'd have to believe me.
"Um, well we were traveling again, by night. We had been traveling quite a ways already and my captors suddenly stopped and grew still. I hadn't a clue what was going on. Suddenly, there were people everywhere, attacking the vampires. It was all chaos and I broke away from the frenzy.
"I ran until the sounds of battle were far behind me. I only stopped running momentarily to cut the binds on my hands before I continued on. When dawn broke, I finally stopped, allowing myself to sleep for a few hours. Then I continued traveling east for several hours, until Richard and his men found me."
"That's quite an amazing tale," one of the noblemen commented.
"Yes. Thank the heavens that our allies to the east courageously went to battle against the Razielim. If not for them, milady would not be here in the safety of the citadel," replied another. Good. They bought my story.
However, I was troubled by the recollection of my dream. As I retold it in my story, the noblemen actually knew what it was I was describing, and I had never seen the people or places in my dream before. I was worried that perhaps my dream was more like a prediction. If you've ever had a dream about doing something that turned out to be true, but you don't realize you've dreamt about doing it until it's actually happening and it seems all like déjà vu, then you know what I'm talking about.
After telling my story, the nobles left, leaving Richard, my father and myself in the dining hall. I got a little bit of food in me, while my father and Richard discussed certain matters. I really wasn't paying attention to them, just nodding and agreeing with them whenever they directed a question towards me.
"Then it is settled," my father announced with finality, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Tonight there shall be a celebration! A party to celebrate Danielle's return to us and to honor the engagement of my daughter to the finest knight and noblemen of the citadel! It will be an honor to have you as my son-in-law, Richard."
WHAT? What had I agreed to? I couldn't marry him! I'm already engaged! Or at least I was. Well, to his counterpart anyway. No, this wasn't right. I had really got to start paying attention to people. I had no idea how I was going to get out of this one.
As my father made preparations for tonight's party, he ordered the maids to begin preparing me for the party as well. This wasn't a very pleasant experience. The maids fussed all over me, not even allowing me to dress myself. They tied this garter really tight around my stomach and ribs, which was extremely painful. They threw the dress on over my head and began to make last minute stitches so the dress would fit my form.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, they were done nit-picking my dress. I went down to see my father, who was busy overseeing the preparations. "Da- Father?" I interrupted his instructions to some of the chefs.
"Danielle! You look lovely! What seems to be troubling you, dear?"
"I want to ask you something that's been bothering me," I replied, leading him to the study where we could have some privacy. It was a very emotion subject I was about to ask him. "My mother... where is she?" I had hoped that maybe in this world, she was still alive.
However, the mix of sorrow and anger in my father's eyes clued me in that that was not the case. "You don't remember..." my father began sadly. "Your trials over the past few days have caused your memory to still be distorted."
"Just tell me."
"Your mother. She died a few months ago. The vampires ambushed the caravan she was traveling with. They killed her. Do you remember anything about it?"
Vampires. That was just great. I could feel the anger build up inside of me. Not at vampires, but at my father. Such a ridiculous story. I couldn't take it any longer and I snapped.
"Vampires!? That's bullshit! That's the most ridiculous lie I've ever heard! There are no such things as vampires! I have yet to see one since falling onto this backwater world! My mother died of lung cancer! Not some stupid vampire bite!"
I was so caught up in my rage that I didn't notice the silent anger brewing in my father. With a swiftness that took me off guard, he backhanded me across the face. It stung slightly, but it was more the shock than the blow itself that stunned me to silence. My dad back home would never have raised a hand to me.
"Danielle! What has gotten into you? Are you defending those vile, blood-sucking beasts now? What have they done to you? You have not acted like yourself since Richard rescued you! You carry yourself like a commoner, you are under the illusion that the vampire menace doesn't exist and you have been giving Richard the cold shoulder since he found you!"
"Dad, I'm sorry..."
"And what is this word, 'dad'? Is it some sort of vampire term? I am your father! Call me as such! Now, we have a party to prepare for. Let us not discuss this any further, alright?"
"Yes, father."
"Good. I shall see you when the party starts. And please. Wear a smile. This is a joyous occasion." On that note, my father left, leaving me alone in the study to think about what had just transpired.
To Find My Way Home
Chapter Three
My father and his councilmen waited patiently for me to begin the tale of my 'abduction'. The only people who had kidnapped me thus far were these people, but I wasn't about to let that slip out of my mouth for fear of creating a hostile situation. So I opted to play along into this role I found myself acting out.
"Well, the vampires... they kidnapped me, right?" I just wanted to confirm the absurdity of it all. I saw my father nod his head slightly. "Well, um... I remember this really tall church-like place. I don't know... a citadel, perhaps." I decided to reference the dream I had had a few moments ago. Perhaps it would be convincing....
"Ah, the silent cathedral!" one of the nobles interrupted. Perfect. It was working. "Avernus Cathedral! The Zephonim captured that sacred human refuge centuries ago!"
Okay, now we're getting somewhere. "Yes! That's the one!" I pretended to get all excited. "They took me there! They had my arms bound and they locked me up in a room near the top of the cathedral."
"Did they hurt you at all?" Richard asked worriedly. Wow, this 'version' of my fiancée was too much like a fairy-tale prince, or 'knight in shining armor'.
"Uh, no. I'm fine."
"Are you sure? How did you get that cut above your eye?"
"Oh! That was from after I escaped!" I lied.
"Please, Richard. Allow her to speak," my father begged.
"Well, I was there at this cathedral for about a day, I think. Then at night, they took me elsewhere. I'm not sure where it was. I don't remember much. All I remember is this big stone throne and a man with a hideously deformed face. His dark veins protruded from his face, which seemed to have been tinted green."
"My gods! Is it Kain you speak of?" my father inquired fearfully. I wasn't sure how to answer him. I didn't know who this 'Kain' guy was. What if it wasn't him who I had seen in my dream? What if it was?
"I... I don't know. I couldn't see him very well. But he said something to me. He said if I played with fire, I would get burned. I guess it was a warning, I suppose."
"So how did you get away?" one of the noblemen eagerly asked.
I had to really start making this up now, as my dream had ended there. "Um, well, someone else was told to take me into their custody. We were heading towards the west, I think," I said west because I knew this place was towards the east, but I think it was a mistake that I had said that.
"West! Towards the Razielim clans? They were taking you there? If you could not escape from the Zephonim, however did you escape from the Razielim?" my father cried.
I'm guessing that the 'Razielim' were obviously worse than the 'Zephonim', making my story more farfetched than I had originally intended. Well, the entire thing was ridiculous anyways. Who fearfully believed in vampires nowadays anyway? Besides, I was here in front of them now, so they'd have to believe me.
"Um, well we were traveling again, by night. We had been traveling quite a ways already and my captors suddenly stopped and grew still. I hadn't a clue what was going on. Suddenly, there were people everywhere, attacking the vampires. It was all chaos and I broke away from the frenzy.
"I ran until the sounds of battle were far behind me. I only stopped running momentarily to cut the binds on my hands before I continued on. When dawn broke, I finally stopped, allowing myself to sleep for a few hours. Then I continued traveling east for several hours, until Richard and his men found me."
"That's quite an amazing tale," one of the noblemen commented.
"Yes. Thank the heavens that our allies to the east courageously went to battle against the Razielim. If not for them, milady would not be here in the safety of the citadel," replied another. Good. They bought my story.
However, I was troubled by the recollection of my dream. As I retold it in my story, the noblemen actually knew what it was I was describing, and I had never seen the people or places in my dream before. I was worried that perhaps my dream was more like a prediction. If you've ever had a dream about doing something that turned out to be true, but you don't realize you've dreamt about doing it until it's actually happening and it seems all like déjà vu, then you know what I'm talking about.
After telling my story, the nobles left, leaving Richard, my father and myself in the dining hall. I got a little bit of food in me, while my father and Richard discussed certain matters. I really wasn't paying attention to them, just nodding and agreeing with them whenever they directed a question towards me.
"Then it is settled," my father announced with finality, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Tonight there shall be a celebration! A party to celebrate Danielle's return to us and to honor the engagement of my daughter to the finest knight and noblemen of the citadel! It will be an honor to have you as my son-in-law, Richard."
WHAT? What had I agreed to? I couldn't marry him! I'm already engaged! Or at least I was. Well, to his counterpart anyway. No, this wasn't right. I had really got to start paying attention to people. I had no idea how I was going to get out of this one.
As my father made preparations for tonight's party, he ordered the maids to begin preparing me for the party as well. This wasn't a very pleasant experience. The maids fussed all over me, not even allowing me to dress myself. They tied this garter really tight around my stomach and ribs, which was extremely painful. They threw the dress on over my head and began to make last minute stitches so the dress would fit my form.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, they were done nit-picking my dress. I went down to see my father, who was busy overseeing the preparations. "Da- Father?" I interrupted his instructions to some of the chefs.
"Danielle! You look lovely! What seems to be troubling you, dear?"
"I want to ask you something that's been bothering me," I replied, leading him to the study where we could have some privacy. It was a very emotion subject I was about to ask him. "My mother... where is she?" I had hoped that maybe in this world, she was still alive.
However, the mix of sorrow and anger in my father's eyes clued me in that that was not the case. "You don't remember..." my father began sadly. "Your trials over the past few days have caused your memory to still be distorted."
"Just tell me."
"Your mother. She died a few months ago. The vampires ambushed the caravan she was traveling with. They killed her. Do you remember anything about it?"
Vampires. That was just great. I could feel the anger build up inside of me. Not at vampires, but at my father. Such a ridiculous story. I couldn't take it any longer and I snapped.
"Vampires!? That's bullshit! That's the most ridiculous lie I've ever heard! There are no such things as vampires! I have yet to see one since falling onto this backwater world! My mother died of lung cancer! Not some stupid vampire bite!"
I was so caught up in my rage that I didn't notice the silent anger brewing in my father. With a swiftness that took me off guard, he backhanded me across the face. It stung slightly, but it was more the shock than the blow itself that stunned me to silence. My dad back home would never have raised a hand to me.
"Danielle! What has gotten into you? Are you defending those vile, blood-sucking beasts now? What have they done to you? You have not acted like yourself since Richard rescued you! You carry yourself like a commoner, you are under the illusion that the vampire menace doesn't exist and you have been giving Richard the cold shoulder since he found you!"
"Dad, I'm sorry..."
"And what is this word, 'dad'? Is it some sort of vampire term? I am your father! Call me as such! Now, we have a party to prepare for. Let us not discuss this any further, alright?"
"Yes, father."
"Good. I shall see you when the party starts. And please. Wear a smile. This is a joyous occasion." On that note, my father left, leaving me alone in the study to think about what had just transpired.
