Chapter 5
Veronica snapped her jaws shut. " A wise decision." She lifted her scaly, birdlike foot from Alexia's chest and backed off to allow her room to stand.
Crrrack! Sploot! One of her back feet came down in something lukewarm and soft. Euew, that feels gross. Veronica thought, arching her snakelike neck and daring a look.
It was Pierre Vontae'. Of course, she did not know his name, only that her left hind food was on his stomach, crushing his bones beneath her weight. More blood gushed onto the floor.
Veronica grimaced in disgust and turned away, stepping off his body. Pardon me, Mr. Dead Guy.
Alexia regained her footing, her puncture wounds already beginning to heal and close up. She concentrated on regaining her human form, then stopped when she realized what she would be dressed in. Or rather, what she wouldn't be dressed in.
Tendrils of black and violet magic crackled around Veronica like whips of lightning, and in less than two seconds she was fully human again; dressed in the same dress and wearing the same jewelry as before. She made a face at Alexia.
" Ugh, at least I am pretty when I transform."
Alexia frowned. She was well aware that mutating to any of her three forms was not doing any favors for her looks. Then again, he virus was engineering to be strong and win fights, not beauty contests. T-Veronica virus, hmphf. I ought to call it something else.
It just wasn't fair that Veronica could have both extreme beauty and extreme power at the same time. All the time and energy she'd spent studying viruses and becoming a scientific genius in order to gain supremacy when all she'd ever had to do to attain real power was study black magic and sorcery.
Of course, being a scientist, she hadn't really believed such things to exist until just today. Veronica was right: there was no point in denying what was in front of your own eyes.
Without warning, Alexia started changing back to human form without willing it to happen! Oh great, it figures that she would humiliate me like this…or not. She was changing back to human, true, but her old outfit magically appeared back on her as if it had never even been burned off.
Popping things into existence?! Was there no limit to Veronica's powers?
We're way out of our league. Alfred remarked helpfully via telepathy.
Alexia felt like slapping him. No kidding Einstein. Whatever gave you that idea? She was more than a little moody. Of course, in her ancestor's presence, she was going to have to be moody without appearing to be moody. After all, if Veronica could change her own shape she might well be able to turn her into a chicken.
A chicken Alexia wasn't going to be hatching any plots of rebellion.
" Sorry, but I findeth thine form to be most unflattering," Veronica said once Alexia was again fully human, " Strange, I sense no magic from thee, yet thou arst able to transform. May I inquire as to how? "
You almost got those sentences right Veronica! Alexia laughed silently. " Actually, I have a virus."
Veronica cocked an eyebrow. " Thou art ill? "
" No. I possess a virus that enables me to metamorphose to a superior form and throw fire. It's a rare strain from a gene I found inside the DNA structure of a queen ant."
" Viruses have becometh good now? That's…interesting. Tell me, where doth thy main sources of information lie these days? "
Alexia was about to answer when a small choking noise from the far wall alerted Veronica to Ash; still wound up in vines and one hundred percent miserable.
" Hold that thought." Veronica waved to Alexia in a gesture that meant 'wait.' Purposefully, and with an air of dignity befitting a queen, she strode over to her descendant. " I am thy Mistress now. Dost thou comprehend? " She snapped her fingers and the vine over Ash's mouth vanished.
He nodded very agreeably. " Thou comprehendst!"
A sly smirk crossed Veronica's cherry-red lips. " Good." She turned away and the rest of the vines shriveled up into nothingness, obeying some unspoken command.
As soon as he was free, Ash ran up to his mother and stood slightly behind her; like he was a small child who needed protected from some big bad bogeymonster.
Alexia glanced at him and rolled her eyes. There were instances when her son made her proud, but this certainly wasn't one of them. In fact, it was Ash's fault that Veronica had been freed in the first place. By all rights he should be punished for his ineptness. But that would have to wait until later, after Veronica had been dealt with.
Fortunately, at the moment Veronica had her back turned to them; her attention now focused on Alfred. So she never noticed the way Alexia clenched her fists, or the glare of pure, undiluted hatred her descendant was giving her.
" I am thy Mistress now, understood? " She demanded more than asked of Alfred.
Alfred nodded weakly. " I understand."
" Great! " The vines holding him disappeared.
Veronica rubbed her hands together in gleeful anticipation. " Now that's that been cleared up, oh humble descendants of thine, where be this large sources of information thou spokest of? I've been gone for so dreadfully long and need to catch up. "
Alexia gritted her teeth, trying her hardest to be civil. " This way Veronica." She lead the way out of the room, Alfred and Ash on her heels.
Veronica followed at the back, curious about all she was about to experience and see.
Alexia, do you think Veronica can hear our telepathy? Alfred wondered.
Who knows? Came Alexia's agitated reply, With her kind of power it's very possible. We'd be safest assuming she can.
Alfred said nothing more--in fact he was a little worried his sorceress ancestor may even be able to read minds, and if that was the case they were all going to be in very, very big trouble.
For once in their lives, the Ashford twins weren't in control.
Alfred was scared. All his life he'd been confident that Alexia had all the answers, that he had so much to learn from her. My god, I've been so blithe.
As time went on, he was beginning to learn that his beloved sister was not infallible. She'd made some mistakes. One of those mistakes had gotten her killed.
Not that I'm one to point fingers. I was the imbecile who attacked a reasonably brassed off prisoner wielding sub-machine guns.
He winced at the memory. That carelessness had cost him his life. Done in by Steve Burnside. Why that dirty…
Alfred's thoughts switched to obscenities to call Steve. The list was quite long. He hated Steve with a bitter, deathless hatred. But it was sweetly brief, for his mind quickly changed back to Alexia and his worry intensified.
For being a genius, Alexia sure made a lot of mistakes. Besides being killed, she'd also lost the battle at the HCF plant. More recently, in Africa, she'd mutated to her most powerful form and lost a climatic battle to the Weskers and a handful of half-dead S.T.A.R.S. members thanks to zoning out for some inexplicable reason. That was when Ash had lost his eye. It was only thanks to the mercy of Alan Wesker that any of them had survived at all.
Alfred still loved his sister, and there was not a thing he would not do to please her, but lately he was starting to lose faith in her. Her past errors did not exactly inspire confidence in the mission.
Alexia led them downstairs. After passing a few staff and housekeepers who barely glanced at the new 'guest' Veronica, they reached a room that was clearly the library with tombs of books spanning the walls and several shelves in the center of the area. To the far corner sat a computer. It was this that Alexia led Veronica to.
" It's called a computer." She explained, " It contains vast amounts of data and knowledge. You can find out just about anything you wish to know with it."
Veronica ran her fingers over the keyboard gingerly. " Impressive." She was staring at the screen, which currently had a screensaver of the Ashford family crest on it.
Ash wiggled the mouse and the screen changed, causing Veronica to draw back and squeal with delight.
" It is like magic! "
Alfred and Alexia exchanged funny looks, amused by Veronica's reaction. Wide-eyed and attentive, their ancestor was spellbound.
Now the screen showed the homepage of Ebay, the site apparently last visited by some thoughtless user who had left without remembering to turn the computer off.
" Here, I can show you how to…" Ash offered, and was stopped.
" Nevermind. I already have thy means of extracting knowledge from this delightful contraption." As she spoke her fingers hovered over the keyboard.
A green mist began to emit from her outstretched fingers. Alexia thought it looked akin to the green poison gas discharged by both Nosferatu and herself when she was mutated.
The mist touched the keyboard. Yellow tendrils of electricity seemed to shoot out of the very machine itself, snaking up into her fingers the way electricity appeared to when touching a lightning orb.
Veronica stiffened, standing ramrod straight and still. It was then that Alexia noticed her eyes: each was like a tiny computer screen shuffling through several webpages at an insane speed--millions of kilobytes of data per second!
" Whoa! " Ash yelped, " I can read things off your eyes! Or I would be able to if you weren't changing the pages so fast. Slow down a little! I thought I saw one about Ted Bundy! "
His request was duly ignored. Veronica was lost in her own little world.
The images! The sounds! The sheer color, beauty, and harmony with which the pictures worked together to convey their knowledge! " Wow, the human civilization has advanced far more than I could possibly have imagined! "
Suddenly, Veronica stopped, moving her hands away from the keyboard and breaking all magical ties with the machine. She turned to her family, her eyes resuming their natural violet color. Then she began to sway a little; a stupid, thoughtless expression on her face, like maybe she had had one drink too many.
The other Ashfords just stared at her, at the moment unsure how to react.
" Yo, wazzup me homies? " Veronica sputtered, using words that even Alexia was not familiar with. She turned to Ash, a cheesy grin plastered on her face, " T'sup dawg? Yo catch that new vid on teh box? Or maybe yo be chillen in teh crib? "
Before he had time to reply, she burst out laughing for no obvious reason at all.
" Cool! " Ash grinned. Maybe this Veronica chick wasn't so bad after all.
Alfred and Alexia gawked at each other, eyes wide in disbelief.
" She's nuts! " Alfred declared.
" Totally insane! " Alexia agreed.
To which Veronica just giggled in response. Like a silly schoolgirl.
Do you think we oughta….
Not yet, Alexia replied, She may still be dangerous. We'll just wait and see. Logic dictated that they be cautious. An insane sorceress was possibly even more dangerous than a sane one. Although I think I preferred the butchered Olde English to the gibberish she's speaking now.
" Veronica, are you…alright? " Alexia asked hesitantly.
Veronica threw back her head and roared with laughter.
" I don't get it," Ash said aloud, his icy-blue eyes darting back and forth between his parents and Veronica, " What's so funny? "
Alfred couldn't resist himself. He joined right in, laughing in that disturbingly feminine way of his.
Shut up! Alexia's thoughtspeak voice snapped inside his head, This isn't funny! We've just become slaves to a crazy sorceress who is obviously losing touch with reality! Alfred's outburst was an insult to the family name in itself. We should be trying to figure this out, not standing around laughing like a bunch of raving lunatics!
It was absurd.
It was beyond absurd, it was downright ridiculous.
" Headrush! I never felt better! " Veronica cackled, " Music! What marvelous music! I must have some, now! " With a snap of her fingers music blared from the computer speakers.
The song was called, 'You Say it Best' and it was about ten times louder than necessary.
Veronica giggled with glee. " Is that cool or what? " She howled above the blare, an insane light in her eyes. She grabbed Ash's hand. " Let's dance! "
" Dance? Whaaa…" Ash's words were slurred as Veronica tossed him to one side, then promptly tripped over her dress and fell on top of him on the floor.
Alexia shook her head, disgusted.
" Hmmm…I almost forgot! This infernal dress is like, soooo two hundred years ago! " She sprang to her feet and waved her hand downwards, a gesture that started first at the top of her head and ended at her waist.
Instantly she was clad in stylish, hip-hugger blue jeans and black platform shoes complete with a red tank-top. A spiked chain-gang collar graced her neck where once a necklace had been. Her flowing red hair was cut neat and short, reaching halfway down her neck.
Alexia's jaw dropped.
The girl standing before her looked like an air-headed mall-crawling sixteen year old and not a powerful sorceress who had lived over 150 years.
I have to take orders from her?! This just isn't right! It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all.
" Wow, that's…different." Ash remarked, regaining his feet.
" Ah, I needed a change in style." Veronica said, her tone halfway serious for the first time since the computer incident, " Modern attire for the modern girl! " Thankfully, all traces of the Olde English were gone now, replaced by the modern English vocabulary.
" Really? How old are you? " Alexia managed over the noisy lyrics.
Veronica shot her a poisonous look. " Never ask a sorceress her age. It's rude." She twitched a finger and sent a small yarn-like bolt of something light blue at her.
Alexia moved to the side, but the magic grazed her right pinkie, sending a deep chill through her nerves. So she doesn't have to be a dragon to perform cryokinesis. It was useful knowledge, but for Pete's sake why did she always have to learn the hard way?
" Hey, it was just a question! " Alfred snapped, springing to Alexia's defense, " How are we supposed to know a sorceress's customs? "
Veronica halted mid-step with Ash. Her carefree, clueless expression was replaced with a dead serious one. Her eyes narrowed on Alfred, causing him to cringe back, surely regretting his words.
" Is that a challenge then? "
The music stopped.
Alfred's heart pounded fiercely in his chest. " A…a challenge? " He stuttered, his voice weak and girl-like, " Of course not, Mistress. My apologies."
Veronica nodded, satisfied. " Good."
The music roared back to life and she resumed flinging Ash around the room, showing off moves never seen before.
Alexia took this opportunity to try and slip out the door.
It was not to be.
" Stay awhile." There was a metallic click as the door locked all on it's own. Two chairs that had previously been positioned at a back reading table suddenly flew at the Ashford twins, as if possessed.
" Gah! " Alfred and Alexia agreed. They tried to move out of the way, but an invisible force thrust them rather unceremoniously into the "haunted" seats.
" Veronica, what do you want us to…"
Forget it, Alfred, she's not going to listen. Alexia's telepathic voice sighed. She sagged down into her seat, miserable.
Helpless, that's what she was, helpless. She didn't even have the power to stop the music, much less Veronica. Delicately, she rested her hand on the armrest of Alfred's chair and was not surprised when it was joined by his.
This is like a nightmare. Alexia sounded almost ready to cry.
Things were just not going her way today. First Ash had broken a priceless family heirloom, then that Veronica bitch had shown up and nearly killed her, and now this.
Alexia hated 'You Say it Best'. And once that song ended it just started up all over again like a CD stuck on repeat.
No worries, Dear Sister. I am sure that with your genius you will be able to work something out. I mean, look at her, He gestured towards Veronica, who was still swinging an unfortunate Ash all over the room like there was no tomorrow despite the song being relatively slow, she isn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box.
True. Alexia agreed. Neither twin was worried about Veronica eavesdropping--if she even could--at the moment because the loud blare of the music was enough to break anyone's concentration. Not only that, but Veronica was preoccupied with torturing Ash. However, she possesses not only pyrokinesis but cryokinesis, electrokinesis, telekinesis, and probably every other form of kinesis. Not to mention her ability to shapeshift into a dragon and Lord knows what else in the blink of an eye. Plus she has the capacity to pop things into existence. And all of these she can perform at will.
I have confidence in you. Alfred said solidly, comfortingly. It wasn't the entire truth, but what was he going to tell her: that he thought she was outdone this time?
Alexia didn't even bother looking at him. Actually, it will just make victory that much sweeter.
Alfred blinked. Had he heard right?
Yes, Alexia pulled her hand away from his and examined her perfect nails, Veronica Ashford will go down. She already made a fatal mistake today.
" Hellllp meeeeee! " Ash cried out, tired of being flipped around like a ragdoll.
Alfred just watched his son's quandary. Better him than me. To Alexia he said, " Really? What was that? "
She let me live. She purred, her voice assuming the same wicked, murderous tone she usually only reserved for victims she intended to kill, She has shown mercy. Fool, I most certainly shall not show her any.
Alfred did not doubt it for a second. His sister liked to play cutthroat--once you were down that was it. No fair play. No second chances. The law of survival, kill or be killed.
Veronica danced on, oblivious to the two minds plotting her demise, focusing only on the moment.
You have a plan? Alfred's voice carried an edge of excitement.
Give it time, Alexia answered, just give it time.
************************************************************************
From her room down in the basement, Alexandra's sensitive ears picked up the heavy beat of music being played a dozen times louder than the norm. Even stranger, it happened to be one of her favorite songs that was repeating over and over again.
Odd, my mom would never permit music that loud, especially not that song.
She sat the data chart she'd been working on aside and glanced over at Sultan, her pet tiger cub sprawled out peacefully along the length of her bed.
When she looked his direction the young tiger yawned; revealing gleaming white teeth sharp as needles.
" Mmmrrowrf? " He purred, tail twitching slightly in happiness.
Alexandra smiled.
Sultan had been a Christmas present from her father. Three months old now, he was pretty close to the size of a medium dog. He was good company, and an even better playmate.
Alexandra loved him dearly.
" What do you think, Sultan? Can you picture my mother playing a song that loud? Especially one about friendship and loyalty? "
The question, of course, was rhetorical. Like every other member of his species, Sultan did not understand any form of human language beyond a few simple commands. He sneezed.
Smiling, Alexandra abandoned her seat where she was researching the nature of viruses to go over and pet the tiger. " Me neither." She scratched gently behind his fluffy ears, and her animal companion gave a mewl of comfort. " Come on, let's go check it out."
************************************************************************
Ok, I'm going to leave off there for now. =^-^= Sorry for those of you who were hoping to find out what happened to the STARS this chapter, but I'll get to that in Chapter 6.
Now, for all of my new readers out there who may not have been following the rest of my stories, I'll give a little run-down of the deal behind Alexandra. First introduced in Chapter 3 of The Legacy of the Ashfords the story which details her birth, Alexandra is the 3rd child of Alfred and Alexia. Born 6 months early on December 10th of the year 2000, ( Around a year after A New Tide takes place ) she was born with an extremely high concentration of the T-Veronica virus in her cells that causes her to grow extremely fast. Thus she is technically only 3 years old in this story, though her body is that of an 8 year old girl. She can throw bits of fire like her mother ( though not to such a powerful extent ), is very strong for a child, and is also very smart for her age, but not a genius. The first real role she played was in the predecessor to this fic Crimson Africa. Check out my other stories if you are interested in learning more about her background. =^.^=
