Disclaimer: Any and all things are in the hands of their respective owners. Translation: I own nada, nero, nilch...except the OCs.
Notice: One or two profane words used in this chapter.
"The life we had before is meaningless."
"How...how did I get here?"
She stood on the bloodstained battleground once more, her Inuuro's Blade in hand. Frightened shrieks echoed throughout Havenshire and New Avalon, and the smell of coagulated blood and burnt wood invaded her senses. Geists and ghouls alike rose from the ground in droves and slaughtered all who rose up against them. Liquid sprayed from every crevice and doused the blood elf's face a deep crimson. Everything seemed so corporeal, so real, so...
"Impossible."she whispered.
The Scarlet Crusaders' retaliation, the Scourge, the villagers, none of this was real. She was injured by the Geists, she was defeated by them, she was taken away by Mograine, she remembered everything. With this realization, Carneficina's surroundings faded to black only to be replaced with another.
She was in her home in Silvermoon City, Inuuro's Blade absent from her grasp. Her paladin armor was stripped away as well, she noticed, replaced with a flowing red robe she had not worn in over ten years. Slowly she shuffled through the doorway leading into the main living room, stopping short as she viewed her mother and father gathering their equipment for the Third War.
"Mom, Dad?"
Both blood elves turned to their daughter in surprise, their emerald eyes projecting the fear they had for her protection.
"Carneficina!" her mother harshly whispered, grabbing her by the scruff. "What did I tell you about coming downstairs? Go to your room now!"
The young blood elf squirmed, breaking free of her mother's grasp and making a grab for the weapons lying forgotten on the carpeted floor.
"No!" she screamed, shaking her head frantically. "I won't let you die again!"
Ignoring her parent's screams for her return, Carneficina rushed out the front door only for her surroundings to dissolve once more. Looking down, her attire was the same as when she fought the Geists and the sight of her sword was a comfort in itself. She immediately took on an offensive stance as she gazed up into the face of the Lich King.
"You bastard! You'll pay for what you did to Quel'Thalas, my home, my family!" Her eyes darkened in rage as she raised her sword. However, before she could land one blow her body fell to the darkened floor in a heap, spasms wracking her body as she felt several volts of electricity run through her form. Footsteps approached her, just like before, only when she was lifted this time she gazed into the face of an angel.
"You must free yourself from the corruption of sin." He whispered summoning a glowing bauble similar to Divine Protection around her. The angel released her yet she remained suspended in mid-air.
"To enter into the next you must become devoid of ill-intent. You shall enter 'The Cleansing.'" And suddenly, without warning, the memories and pain washed over her once more.
Highlord Darion Mograine approached Ebon Hold, plucking the blanched corpse from his DeathCharger and gently laying it upon an onyx altar in the hold's center. Two fingers brushed against her neck, pressing down on the pliable flesh between the windpipe and the large muscle, and waited. Shortly after Mograine removed his digits, satisfied to feel no pulse, and side-stepped out of the way as Arthas approached.
The Lich King turned his head towards the Highlord who nodded curtly, silently answering his unasked question. Arthas's hands hovered above the blood elf, conjuring dark energy to be absorbed into the bloodied body. Wounds that peppered her flesh healed and the smeared blood vanished without a trace. As her injuries closed, the blood elf's appearance altered. Where there was once striking blonde hair was now a steely silver, and her eyes, once a breathtaking emerald, now matched the Lich King's azure ones.
The ritual had begun.
She was unsure how long she had remained in this place ("Where exactly...is this?"). Her memories became like a broken record, constantly skipping on the same ones time and time again. And each time she came face to face with the Lich King himself, she could never suppress the urge to run her blade through. Of course, this was not what the angel required and immediately afterward she was subjected to the same pain once more.
After what seemed like the hundredth memory skip the angel came before her once more, reaching one arm through the bauble and tilting her head so their eyes met. She felt so drained, more than the moments before she had died. All she wished for was an end, a way out of here, out of this place.
"You cannot leave this place until your sins are..." The angel's eyes widened as their surroundings crackled like the sky before a storm. A bolt of dark energy struck where the celestial being stood leaving no trace that he was ever there at all. The blood elf's eyes widened in fear as she frantically smacked into the barrier time and time again. Soon another bolt proceeded the first, penetrating the bauble until Carneficina herself was struck.
The pain of before was nothing compared to this agony; She felt as if someone was drilling holes into her head. Memories rushed by her in a glance, being warped and distorted to a point where she could not distinguish which was real or not. Time and time again the Lich King's face appeared amongst the distorted images, her seething anger slowly being reduced to complacency and, finally, to loyalty.
The Lich King smirked as the ritual came to a close, the blood elf's eyes snapping open. Slowly she stood, her paladin garbs replaced with dark plated armor.
Arthas came before Carneficina, surveying his work critically. Her eyes, where before there was anger and a thirst to prove herself, now held no emotion other than determination to obey the being before her.
"Whom do you serve?" He spoke coldly, analyzing her response. To his pleasure she immediately went down on one knee, placing a chaste kiss on his gloved palm.
"You, my Lich King."
He nodded. "Good."
"We exist only to serve him."
Author's Note: Trust me when I say this chapter was extremely difficult to write. Changing Carneficina from a Paladin to a Death Knight was really...I mean really...hard. I'm probably going to get a bunch of questions wondering what's happening in this chapter and I'll answer all of them...or what I can anyway. Oh right! Thanks a bunch for the reviews everyone ^^. Especially Astalon The Judge, Darkspear Koralli, Jess Ishtar (I don't mind! xD Reviews whether anonymous or not are always welcome! :D), and Etherpendant (I'll try and fix the swapping in the first chapter O.o. Hopefully I did better with the tenses on here. xD).
Inuuro's Blade:
Binds when picked up
One-HandSword
80 - 121 Damage, Speed 1.40
(71.8 damage per second)
+21 Stamina
Durability 90 / 90
Requires Shattered Sun Offensive - Revered
Equip: Increases defense rating by 13 (5.5 L70).
Equip: Improves hit rating by 8 (0.51% L70).
Equip: Increases your expertise rating by 11 (2.79 L70).