When Kaine woke up in the infirmary, she was a little disoriented and lightheaded. Anmarie's gentle hand pushed her back down when she tried to sit up.
"One of the human custodians found you lying, covered in blood by the fountain. Do you remember what happened?" The priestess asked when the fledgling stared at her blankly.
Kaine closed her eyes tightly and she bit her lip. Then she felt sick to her stomach and almost didn't want to say the fragmented memories in her head. "A-A woman. She looked like a vampire out of fiction, fangs, red eyes, white skin…" Then she coughed and gagged. "I-I'm…" Anmarie grabbed a bucket for her to wretch into, rubbing her back.
"What did she do to you, Kaine?"
Her face filled with the almost all her remaining blood as she looked as far away from the woman as she could. "A lot of things. She said a lot too…"
Anmarie sighed, and it wasn't a good sigh or a supportive sigh, it was a fucking-god-no-why-is-this-happening-to-me sigh. Kaine looked at her, only to see her own face in a mirror and the blood ran from her face as quickly as it ran to it. "N-No…" The priestess nodded as Kaine touched her forehead, starting to cry.
"It was covered in so much blood when we brought you in. You've been out for almost two days." She held up a necklace with a silver boxed X pendent. "You were also wearing this. Did she give it to you?"
Nodding, Kaine looked at the ceiling. She heard Anmarie stand up from her chair. "I'm going to get you something to eat and talk to Nyx. I'll let everyone see you when your strength is back up." Kaine nodded again, closing her eyes.
When Anmarie made it back to her office, a semi-transparent Nyx was already waiting for her. "You wished to speak to me?"
Sighing, Anmarie pushed her frazzled hair out of her face and turned on her coffee pot. "Yeah. Kai-…"
"Yes, Kaine Macabre. Quite a remarkable fledgling, isn't she?" Nyx smiled sadly to herself. "What about her, child?"
"You don't know about her getting attacked? Do y-…" Nyx put a finger over the priestess's mouth before she started full out yelling. Anmarie crossed her arms as the goddess poured her a cup of coffee.
"Yes, I knew. I knew it was going to happen since the day Circe Parable was Marked, and had my suspicions long before. I had accepted her fate by the time Kimi Cookie was Marked." Nyx seemed so collected, calm and all Anmarie wanted to do was scream.
"A-Are the others… are they safe?" But she whispered.
"No. But they are not to become like Kaine. Circe Parable, Cleopatra Darth, Tilla Ceol, and Kimi Cookie were chosen by the same person as Kaine."
"And Eden?"
Nyx smiled fondly. "Eden Anastasia was of my choosing: she is cold but also very kind when it is needed of her."
Anmarie held up the necklace she had taken from Kaine. "I found this on her." Nyx took it with a slight scowl.
"Yes, the mark of a fellow deity, she is also a goddess of the night. Your people created themselves in mimic of her, and when she refused your worship I took over as your patron goddess. A few times she has put a one of her own among you."
"And Kaine is one of those, with th-…"
"Yes. Kaine knows to whom her loyalties lay. She has always known. But, I still consider her one of my own, though she was only mine for a short period of time."
Anmarie nodded and told her to wait, since she had to get Kaine some food.
When the priestess returned to the infirmary, Kaine was on the floor in a small pool of blood. She set the tray onto a bed as she ran over, pulling the girl up and looking at her wrists to see evidence of clawing on her wrists and fingernails. "No… Kaine! Kaine, come on you annoying bitch."
"Give her some blood." A smooth but malicious voice said from behind them. Anmarie turned to see the woman Kaine described standing there with a smirk for the ages. "And give her the necklace back; it'll keep her connected to me."
"Who are you?"
"Kaine's Goddess. Are you going to let her die? If she dies now, it'll be on you." Anmarie moved Kaine back to the bed, slipping the chain back around her neck then running out for some blood.
When she came back in, Kaine's wrists were bandaged but there were two small holes in her neck. Anmarie swore as she forced some blood down the fledgling's throat.
Kaine woke up a few minutes after Anmarie had finished force feeding her the blood. She looked at her. "Why couldn't you just…"
Anmarie sighed, touching Kaine's forehead. "You're going to be alright, you know. This makes you special."
"Special?" Kaine pulled away, scoffing. "I'm a fucking freak, I already was and now this… she couldn't just mind her own damned business…"
"Are you speaking of your goddess?" Kaine glared at her. "I talked to Nyx, she says you know quite a bit more than you've lead on."
"I didn't know." She rested back, sounding tired. "I thought I made her up, you know. But then I saw her and suddenly everything made sense. She destroys everything she touches."
"She came here, told me how to save your life."
Snorting in grim amusement, Kaine glanced at the priestess. "What use am I to her if I died now?"
Anmarie grimaced and got the tray of food. "You hungry?"
Kaine almost smiled. "Always."
"If I leave you alone for a little bit, can you promise not to kill yourself?"
She nodded, digging into the food.
When she finished her meal, she rolled over to get some more rest. As she fell asleep she found herself in a forest.
Smiling to herself, she touched the trees as she walked. She felt at home among them, which she assumed at something to do with her almost affinity to Earth. When she came to a clearing she found a woman singing in not-English.
"Native American?" Kaine guessed aloud. Nyx turned to smile at her, but Kaine frowned as she moved to turn away.
Nyx removed all other paths, leaving only the clearing. "Kaine. Please, I wish to speak with you, my child."
Kaine scoffed. "I'm not your child."
Nyx touched her forehead. "This may have changed, but you are still under my care, in my House. I still love you as my own. Kaine Macabre, Xia has been begging me to Mark you since that first day you met Circe, starting the formation of an unbreakable bond you two have now completed."
She pulled away, her forehead stinging at the first mention of her goddess's name since being Marked. "Remind me of another fuck up. Are all my friends here because of me? Did she ask you to Mark them too!?"
Nyx nodded and Kaine fell to the ground, wishing she hadn't asked for conformation as the guilt over whelmed her. "What does she want with us?"
"I do not know, but I will help when I can. Your gifts, Cleo, Tilla, Kimi, Circe, were picked by Xia. Eden's were from me. Through her, I shall help you on whatever path Xia has pushed you onto."
Kaine pulled her knees to her chest. "What do I do?"
"Keep training, keep protecting them. Answer Xia's calls. And please try to stay out of trouble." Nyx touched her shoulder.
"What, so nothing's changed then?" The fledging looked up at the goddess with pleading eyes.
"No, so much has changed. You're not the same as other fledglings." Kaine blew a breath out her nose and mumbled something. "The sun will have no effect on you. Your gifts from Xia should be stronger. You'll need blood, Kaine; you'll yearn for it constantly, especially human blood. You can't Imprint with fledglings still, but if you drink a single drop from a human or vampyre, you will Imprint with them."
"And if I broke the Imprint?"
"They'd die, period."
Kaine bit her lip. "Great. Fucking great."
"Shh, I believe in your self-control. You should too." Nyx then kissed her forehead and she opened her eyes to see Kimi staring down at her in the waking world.