!NOTE FROM LACHANCE!
Thank you all so much for your concern about the car accident. I'd just like to say that I'm absolutely fine, save for the fact I have a little headache, and thank you to Ozymandeos, Love in Equestria, and Ovan21 for your lovely messages :) I have an impressive bruise that I've been showing off about, but I get hurt a lot so it's pretty common for me to be in hospital. They say I should get a loyalty card ;) Sorry this chapter took so long to get out; I wrote it up by hand in hospital, so I'm just copying it out. Seriously, though, thank you all so much for your patience, your time, and your concern. Ps. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Phoenix is so innocent and naive it's hilarious.
Phoenix felt a sudden chill of icy air overtake him as he entered the underground lair. It was unnaturally cold, underground, and a strange breeze blew through the place although there were no windows. Phoenix had always been slightly claustrophobic, and the damp smell down in the sanctuary didn't help. He felt frightened, like he was entering the belly of the beast. And in a way, he was. There were assassins only inches away from him; Gods, one of them was holding his hand and leading him like a young girl. Like the young girl she appeared to be. Like the young girl she was not.
All of the people he would soon be calling his brothers and sisters had killed, willingly, and for pleasure and money. The youth couldn't imagine how it could be thought as enjoyable: the times he had killed sure, there had been the ecstasy of feeding afterwards, but that was because he was a vampire and couldn't help it. How could all of these living, breathing souls bear to take a life? He pulled his hand out of Babette's grasp, as he felt sweat begin to make the skin slippery. There was no way that he wanted the girl to see that he was afraid- although truthfully, he wanted to bolt right back up the stairs, and out into the cool, fresh air. The lower he got, the more he felt like he wanted to run. It was getting darker, and it occured to Phoenix that the staircase was strangely long. How deep did they have to go, before they got to the main sanctuary? Perhaps they would go on for hours; it felt, to Phoenix, like it had already been centuries. Why had he agreed to this? Shouldn't he have sensed, after feeling the blatant evil that radiated off Scarlett, that he should run and hide and pray they'd let him be? A trickle of sweat dripped down his face, and he wiped it away hurriedly, but found his hands skid off his slippery face. Perhaps vampire's skins weren't as absorbant as human's, he thought, as he dried his hands on his clothes, the armour of the Dark Brotherhood still tucked into the crook of his arm.
Seeing that he'd stopped, Babette turned around and gave him a hesitant smile. The look on his face was anxious, like a rabbit about to be hunted- he was so wide eyed and innocent that the vampire just wanted to suck the life out of him all over again. She felt a twinge of hunger go through her body, looking at that flawless, beautiful face. "Something the matter?" she said, in a voice that seemed far too young and pure for what she truly was. It was almost perverse that such a ruthless, cold-hearted killer could look so adorable on first sight. Phoenix sighed, biting his bottom lip and running a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face. Babette noticed beads of perspiration on his brow, either from the long walk downwards (which she doubted considering how fit he was) or from fear... Probably the latter. After all, he had just been initiated into the Dark Brotherhood; not something you tend to take lightly.
"I'm fine." Phoenix replied, standing straight, and lifting his chin with the arrogant pride he had previously lost. "How long till we reach the bottom?" Truthfully, Phoenix rather hoped it would be soon, as it was extremely cold going down the long flight of steps. Maybe it would be warmer once they got to the actual rooms, rather than being as freezing as it currently was. But then again, he wasn't sure if the assassins liked to keep cold. Babette and Scarlett hadn't seemed bothered, so maybe the others wouldn't? "Not long." the girl said shortly. Then, she began walking again, and Phoenix followed her obediently, but not before rolling his eyes. She'd told him it wouldn't be long to the bottom about five minutes ago... how deep had they built the sanctuary? It would be good defence, perhaps, in case the guards found them, but still... It was a pain to walk down.
But it seemed her words held a grain of truth, because only about twenty seconds later, Phoenix saw a bead of light further down. A door, perhaps? Or a torch... no, as they drew closer, the youth heard the sound of laughter and talking. The assassins... they were laughing? Phoenix had presumed the sanctuary would be a dark, sombre place, where everyone skulked around in the shadows, not talked to each other.
"And then I stabbed him through the guts and fed his entrails to the dogs!" a huge burst of laughter met the youth's ears, and he squinted, trying to work out if what he'd just heard was right. The voice, a male one by the sound of it, was joking about killing people, and being very graphic about it, and the others found it amusing? Phoenix wasn't surprised at that. "Blood everywhere, and the guts were practically glistening... You know that sound when you twist somebody's neck for a mercy kill? That beautiful snap that just makes your whole body tingle? I hate mercy killing, I prefer to smash heads in or stab in the neck, but that noise... It's perfect, isn't it? But I prefer the feeling when blood runs down your hands, and you can lick it off..."
Phoenix felt bile rising in his throat. Why was everyone LAUGHING? This person was describing, in great detail, how he'd killed someone, and they thought it was funny? What sort of insane world had he stepped into? His kills had never been like that... he hadn't enjoyed them. They'd been necessary! And these people spoke about ending lives like it was sport? He clenched his fists, determined to stay strong. Whoever his parents were, they must have been true good citizens in life, to give him this sort of reaction... He could deal with killing. But finding pleasure from cold hearted murder? No.
Another voice came from below, and Phoenix was shocked to find that it was a child's voice, and a young one at that. Straining his ears as him and Babette drew ever closer to the door leading to the underground caverns where the assassins were, he listened carefully... A male voice, sounding a few years younger than him, maybe nine or ten. "I can't wait to go out on a proper contract." the voice said enviously. "Mum let's me practice on the torture victims, but it can't be as fun as stalking your prey, can it? And anyway, the people we get in here die too easily. I mean, you put a knife to their throat, make one tiny cut, and they're dead! It's ridicu-" Phoenix could hear the boy struggling with the long word. "Ridic... ridigrious!" he finished triumphantly, and everyone laughed.
"But he's right," a low, brooding voice entered the conversation, and all others fell silent. "Our beautiful mistress doesn't seem to have much of a knack of picking good torture victims." his voice was cool and calculating, and he sounded how Phoenix would originally have presumed an assassin sounded like. The way he said "beautiful" stirred something up in Phoenix. Scarlett was beautiful, but why put it into use like that? He hadn't sounded admiring at all- quite the opposite. The man sounded like he was stirring up a fight. Just at that moment, they reached the door, and Babette pulled it open, leading Phoenix into the sanctuary...
And all heads turned to face them.
There was a huge variety of people there: several children, surprisingly to Phoenix; an Imperial woman with one milky white eye who had a cruel smile on her face, and a plain Nord woman standing next to her looking curious; two Khajiit, a man and a woman, and a tall Argonian woman; an old Redguard with a cynical look on his face standing next to a burly Dunmer man; a gigantic Nord with fists as huge as hams, two strange looking men with milky white skin and strange eyes; and the man who had just spoken, a tall, skinny Imperial with straight brown hair and a neatly cut beard. They were a strange lot, especially the two pale men, but it was the children that alarmed Phoenix most. Five of them, each with a large resemblance to each other, and the youngest only looking about three years old. Phoenix realised that they were Scarlett's children- what with their curly blonde hair, heavily lidded eyes and good looks, they would have to be.
"Ah, Babette. Back with a newcomer." the Redguard spoke first, and Phoenix turned around to look at him, not wanting to take his eyes away from any of them, in the fear that one of them may run and stab him. The grizzled man did not smile, but narrowed his eyes, looking him up and down with world-weary eyes. "A kid, too. What's your name?"
"Phoenix."
There were mutters of recognition, as the assassins made a group around him, analysing him with their eyes. The youth felt remarkably uncomfortable, but felt a twinge of comfort when Babette squeezed his hand. She was still by his side, firmly protecting him against this intimidating crowd. He was scared that they might swallow him up, but they kept a wary distance away from him. Even the children were looking at him in the same way as the others- their green eyes curious at this stranger. What were they going to do to him? Determined not to fuel these people with his fear, he kept his head up high, watching them with his disdainful eyes. Eventually, after a few moments of silence, Nazir crossed his arms and gave him a contemptuous look.
"Well, well, well," he said, in a slightly mocking voice. "If it isn't the Great Phoenix Bird. Why are you so far away from your nest? Migrating?" the assassins chuckled. Phoenix felt a stab of irritation at this rude stranger; who was he to judge? He felt Babette's grip on his hand tighten. He desperately wanted to scream at the old Redguard, but he controlled himself. He certainly wouldn't be making a good start by picking a fight with a more experienced member of the Brotherhood. Gritting his teeth, he made himself smile, darkly. "Nice to meet you too." Phoenix replied. Gently, he took his hand out of Babette's grip, and crossed his arms too, matching the stance of the man in front of him. If this bastard wanted a fight, then he was going to get one... Oddly, some of the assassins laughed at Phoenix's retort. It was a weak one, too, and it hadn't made the Redguard blush at all. But it was clear that the man was slightly annoyed by the response, as he raised his eyebrows.
"Charmed."
That made the group laugh even more. By then, Phoenix knew he wasn't going to win this battle of responses, so shrugged. "Thanks. Err..." the situation turned to awkwardness, at least for him. The group of assassins were still staring at him, their eyes firmly on his. He was used to being looked at by crowds, but this... this was more terrifying than performing in front of thousands. Everyone in this room, possibly save for the younger children, had killed people. And they were looking at him like cat's look at mice. Hungrily. The youth wondered what they planned for him- the strange, predatorial look in all of their faces suggested death or worse. And Babette wasn't even defending him... he wondered if, if he ran up to Scarlett now (who had scared him, but was marginally less scary than this group) she would let him camp out in her office. He was beginning to brace himself to run, when the Khajiit woman stepped forwards, shaking her head. "Honestly, the way the lot of you act, it's like we've never had a new initiate!" Silently, Phoenix thanked her. Thanked her for making the situation so much less awkward. She turned to him, a motherly smile on her face. "Don't pay attention to any of the others. They're all completely insane. I'm Valenta. I'll show you around."
And with that, she took his hand and guided him through the assassins, who parted for her and Phoenix.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Babette made her into Scarlett's office, shaking her head with mirth. The look on Phoenix's face through his "initiation" had been absolutely priceless. The assassins hadn't been any help; they'd treated him like an alien throughout the entire thing. They got new initiates quite a lot, they just tended not to... well... survive very long. And the boy didn't really look like Brotherhood material, what with his looks. But he could kill, she'd seen it herself... He was like a more awkward version of Silvanus.
"Scaaaarleeett?" the girl said. When she didn't get a reply, she walked into the room. "Scaaaaaaarlett?"
The vampire saw her friend leaning over the table, and playfully went to sit on the map over which the woman was poring. For a moment Scarlett kept looking, pretending that Babette was not there as she was wrapped up in planning the next contract, but after Babette had sat there for thirty seconds swinging her legs annoyingly and moving every single marker Scarlett put down, the Speaker was eventually forced to look at her. "Something you need?" the woman said sarcastically. The young vampire just smiled and nodded her head to music inside her mind. So, gritting her teeth, Scarlett tried to continue her work; however, it was ineffective because the girl was sitting on most of it. Arrogantly trying to ignore her friend, the Speaker acted like everything was normal and there wasn't an unchild sitting on her map. Sometimes they played this game, if Babette was in a good mood and Scarlett was trying to work and ignoring her. Then, Babette took it up to a new level by humming. The Speaker clenched her fists, and sighed, before taking a dagger out of her pocket and slamming it with unnecessary force into the paper, marking their next contract. The young vampire started humming Ragnar the Red, Scarlett's least favourite song in Skyrim.
After fourteen verses, horribly out of tune, Scarlett gave in. "Fine, fine! What do you want?" she threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, then grinned. Secretly, she loved being distracted from working, as any other distinctly lazy person does. She desperately wanted to be out spilling blood, but business had been slow, recently, and she'd had to spend most of her time gathering the few contracts she could. Babette smiled, triumphant, and got off the map to lean against the wall where Scarlett almost always was when she was bunking off doing work. "Well..." the unchild blushed, and the Speaker chuckled. "You know... Phoenix?" By Sithis, the woman loved it when Babette liked a boy. It was always a great source of amusement, and she could almost always have fun teasing her friend about it. "Ooh, is Babette is love?" Scarlett teased, sticking out her tongue childishly. Truly, the Speaker (despite having a huge problem with too many bed-partners) had never really grown up. Still had an obsession with sweet-rolls, was terrified of spiders, and cried about her mother late at night. And also mocked her vampire friend mercilessly. "Do you want to marry him?"
Babette squealed, and Scarlett cackled, ducking a blow aimed at her head. "Babette loves Phoenix!" she laughed, pleased to have a chance to be immature in her life full of children, leadership, and sex. "Babette loves Phoenix!" the young vampire girl was hot on her heels as the Speaker ducked under the table, missing a shoe being thrown at her head by inches. "Come back!"
The Speaker raced up the stairs to the Black Door and flung it open, emerging breathless onto the sandy beach. Sprinting along the shoreline, she heard Babette panting behind her and grinned in satisfaction. Even though she was older than she looked, being a vampire, Scarlett could still outrun almost anything. And Babette sadly could not, not with her shorter, slightly chubby, legs. Finally, the woman took pity on her friend and stopped, laughing, and was tackled by the ground where the two of them lay in a giggling heap. But determined to get the last word, the Speaker rolled her head around directly looking at the young vampire, and whispered.
"Babette loves Phoenix."
And got a fist in the face for her trouble.
!NOTE FROM LACHANCE!
First chapter in ages, sorry if I'm a little rusty, I'll be back up to speed soon. Sorry, wanted to end it on a lighthearted note there, and I really need a laugh at the moment. I wanted to get Scarlett being as childish as I always imagine her (I don't think she was actually shocked, she was making fun of Babette in the 'Babette Loves Phoenix' thing there, and having fun... she's not insane, promise...), and make her and Babette's relationship more prominent. Thank you for reading, and next chapter will be out in a few days :) Astrid xxx