Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Resident Evil characters seen, mentioned or used.
Safe to say, Peter was quickly discovering that just because the village's residents weren't going to string him up somewhere for being an outsider, didn't mean they'd be all that helpful to him.
For the past half hour now he's been wandering from one end of the village to the other, trying to find anyone that would be willing to speak to him and point him in the direction he wanted to go. He briefly entertained the idea of marching up to that large castle on the hill that overlooked everything before deciding against it. Chances are it's inhabitants had better things to do than help some poor hapless American find out where an old flame of his was living out her twilight years.
They were probably cleaning up after the castle's master or mistress... or whatever it was that servant people did in castles.
'Probably polish knight armor or something, or, or hang tapestries.' Peter thought dryly as he leaned against the base of a statue that he's discovered is called 'Maiden of War'.
All around him people were going to and from somewhere, some people carrying food, some cloth, some parts for some sort of machine, while others were going to or coming back from a number of agricultural fields in and around the village. Thankfully the village didn't smell unpleasant like some he's been to in the past, though to be fair those villages were stuck in the middle of warzones so he supposed he shouldn't assume all isolated and rural villages smelled funny.
Though that small heard of pigs that was guided by him earlier left him nearly gagging.
'Note to self, don't eat any bacon or ham from this place. Smell might be in the food too.' Peter thought with a snort as he glanced up at the castle that largely dominated the skyline.
Now that he was closer to it he could just make out people, servants most likely, through some of the windows going about their duties. Far as castles went, it looked nice, though considering the only other castle Peter's been inside was an old ruined one up in Scotland.
After a few moments of admiring the castle, really he was just wondering who he could speak to that might know where he can find the person he was looking for, he noticed a old flatbed truck coming from one of the fields on the outskirts of the village, stacks of large, stuffed sacks tied down on it's bed with a few people hanging on the sides. The truck came to a stop in front of a building that seemed to double as both someone's home, and a sort of store. Who Peter assumed was the owner or resident of said building stepped out from inside the store portion of the structure and began to issue orders to the farm hands, making gestures to the sacks of grain on the truck and his store front.
'Hmm, maybe he might know where I can find Alcina's vineyard. I mean, he probably sells her wine, or grapes or something.' Peter thought with a shrug as he pushed himself off the statue and casually strolled over towards the man before coming to a stop a few feet away and nodded towards the man "Good morning-, uh do you understand and speak English?"
So far it seemed that only every third person in the village seemed to know English as a second language, and even then only to a point, while the rest seemed to know Serbian, Croatian or Russian to the point that Peter noticed a distinct lack of accent when they were spoken, at least for the Russian.
He had no idea what they said in Serbian or Croatian, or if they spoke it with accents.
"Hmm." the man sounded.
Peter felt his brow twitch at this before he nodded towards the store behind him "This you store?"
"Hmm." the man sounded again, his attention focused on the offloading of the sacks of grain.
"I'm Peter Parker." the man held his hand out for the old villager to take, who so far was about as interested in talking as Peter was eating glass for lunch.
The man looked at the offered hand for a moment before returning his attention to the clipboard in his hands, causing Peter to frown at him.
'Okay, seriously, this guy is either super rude or he doesn't known English and he's playing with me!' he thought with a huff as he retracted his hand "So uhh, good harvest?"
"Hmm..." the man nodded as he continued to keep his attention largely on the clipboard in his hands and the bags of grain being unloaded.
Peter felt the beginning of a headache forming at the man's lack luster response "That's good."
"Yes." the man agreed, finally speaking since Peter began their conversation.
"So, what do you call your village?" Peter asked as he placed his hands in the pockets of his coat, even with his gloves on the cold was starting to get to them "Tried to find a name on the map I was given but all it showed was a small drawing of what I assumed were supposed to be buildings of this place."
"Sat de umbre." the old man said in Romanian.
"'Sat de umbre'? You named your village 'Village of Shadows'?" Peter said with a quirked brow.
"Our ancestors were a bit... imaginative, and we haven't seen a reason to rename it since than." the old man said with an unbothered shrug.
"Apparently..." Peter said with amusement before he looked up towards the mountains and saw the looming castle sitting on one of its ridges "What's the story behind that place? Looks like somewhere Dracula would hang out in. Heh, get it? Hang out, cause he's a Vampire? They hang from places sometimes."
The old man furrowed his brow at Peter for a moment, likely trying to understand what the man said before he glanced at the castle overlooking his village and swallowed nervously "That place... you shouldn't go there. It's a bad place. The people there are cursed."
"Well now I kinda wanna go there." Peter said with a small grin as he stepped out of the way and watched as a few of the workers, some of them old men, carried several bags of flower into the store, like the back room for storage "Need any help with those?"
"We'll be fine." the man said with a shake of his head while writing a few more things down on his clipboard before turning towards Peter with a suspicious glare "Why have you come to our little village, outsider? I very much doubt it's for the scenery."
"I'm looking for someone actually. Found a product of theirs recently and the name of the Vineyard, which I'm told is around this area, caught my attention." Peter revealed as he pulled his backpack from his shoulders and unzipped it before pulling out an empty wine bottle.
The top portion was decorated with an extravagant flower design on its surface that seemed to be made of some sort of silver like material and maintained a dull shine to it. The label, which was worn and faded from exposure to the elements, read 'Sanguis Virginis'. Below it was a series of brief descriptions translated from Romanian that spoke of the wine's flavor, the process in which it was created, ingredients and the name of the winery that was behind its creation...
The Dimitrescu Vineyard.
To be perfectly honest, Peter thought the wine tasted like crap and was way too pricey, but then again, he was more of a cheap beer or moonshine kind of guy. Though to be fair, those were the only kind of drinks a man could get his hands on when Peter was 'younger' thanks to a little thing called Prohibition. Well that and him being referred to as a 'cheapskate' by Ben on a few occasions.
Peter remained silent as he watched the old man's eyes widened at the sight of the bottle before his face paled and a look of fear entered his expression before his gaze darted up to meet Peter's.
"I take it you know these people?" Peter questioned, curious as to why the man seemed so afraid all of a sudden.
True, Alcina had a bit of a temper when she was younger, and God only knows it likely grew worse with age, but the man looked like Peter told him he was looking for the Anti-Christ or something.
"What business do you have with those cursed people?" the old man demanded.
"Personal." Peter frowned at the man's sudden shift in tone "I used to know a woman by the name of Alcina Dimitrescu, but we fell out of contact a while ago. Saw this bottle being sold the other day and when I saw that her family name was attached to it, I figured I'd come see if she was still alive or not and say hi."
If she was alive, he was gonna give her hell for making such a bad tasting wine so expensive. If not, he was gonna annoy whatever children or grandchildren she had about making such a poor drink. Honestly, if someone is gonna make such an expensive wine, and place it in such a nice bottle, the least they can do is make it actually good!
The old man stared at Peter for several moments with a grave look in his eye before he sighed and reluctantly pointed towards the castle behind the foreigner "They reside in the castle."
"Thank you." Peter said as he placed the bottle of wine back in his bag and threw it back over his shoulders "Have a nice day."
Without another word, Peter turned on his heel and began to walk back towards the castle.
...
The journey up to the main entrance of the castle was fairly uneventful.
After passing through a large stone gateway, or was it doorway since it looked more like a large stone double door then a actual gate, across a small drawbridge over a small pond, and through a dark tunnel and stairway, Peter reached what looked to be a small vineyard. It wasn't particularly large, at least compared to some of the vineyards he's seen back in the states, but it looked well maintained.
Though the scarecrows hoisted up around it were a little... odd looking.
'Guess their sticking with the whole Transylvania theme.' Peter thought as he eyed the constructs 'Shame they didn't use pumpkins. Or actual skeletons. Now that would be kinda neat.'
And maybe a bit disturbing.
With a shrug, Peter continued on his way up the small path that wrapped around the vineyard and reached up to what Peter assumed was the castle's main front entrance. It was a large stone archway, covered in vines along the sides, with a dark metal gate hanging halfway down, large enough to allow people to pass by underneath, but low enough to be dropped quickly for whatever reason. Beyond the gateway was a small courtyard of sorts with two small trees, one on each side, and various plants covered in thin layers of snow and a single woman. The woman was dressed in what Peter assumed was supposed to be some sort of servant uniform, using a pair of sheers on some of the pants growing in large ceramic pots that sat on each side of a thick wooden, metal engraved double door and some of the vines.
She seemed unaware of Peter's presence as she gently trimmed the plants limbs all while humming to herself.
Sparing a brief glance up at the gate, Peter made his way through the entryway and towards the maid, gardener, or whatever it was she was and loudly cleared his throat.
"Umm, excuse me?" Peter asked in Romanian, causing the woman to jump and quickly turned towards Peter with wide, terrified eyes, the sheers in her hands being held up to defend herself.
"Who are you?" the woman asked with a fearful expression on her face as she raised the sheers in her hands towards the mysterious man.
"Peter Parker." the man revealed himself with a polite nod, unbothered by the sheers pointed at his face, there was enough distance between them that if she tried to use them on him, he'd be able to react accordingly "I'm here to see Alcina Dimitrescu, I'm an old friend of her's. She'll know who I am."
At least Peter hoped she did if she were still alive, for all he knew, dementia or something of the like had taken her and he'll be lucky if the woman can even remember what day it is.
'It's Thursday, right?' Peter thought as he watched the color, or what little there was to begin with on the woman's face, drain entirely and start to wobble a little.
"Y-Y-You k-k-know o-our mistress?" the woman asked, her eyes darting all over Peter before flickering towards the looming castle behind her.
Peter nodded, curious as to why this woman seemed so terrified "Uhh, yeah. Known her since she was a jazz singer at this little bar back in America. She was so-so, liked to smoke a carton of cigarettes a week, probably has a real waspy voice by now or one of those electronic thingies to help her talk. If she does, I'm gonna make fun of her for it because I used to say smoking so much would come back to bite her."
"P-Please d-d-don't." the woman begged as she lowered the sheers in her hands made to reach out and touch Peter's arm, likely to shake some sense into him, before she caught herself and yanked her arm back, now even more afraid looking.
'Okay, this is really starting to get weird.' Peter thought with a frown as he nodded towards the castle entrance behind the... servant, person "If I promise not to, will you let me inside so I can see her again? She is in right?"
If not, Peter had no problem waiting a little while, a few days at the most before he heads back to the States. It'd be even nicer if he's allowed to stay in Alcina's castle, he's never stayed in a castle before and he'd rather not have to go back down to the village of rude people and try and find a room to spend the night in.
Something tells him he'd get swindled or robbed.
"S-S-She is..." the woman nodded fearfully "I-I-I-I'll t-t-take you to her."
"Thank you!" Peter beamed, finally, someone being nice and willing to actually help him.
Ignoring the fact she held up a pair of sheers at him only moments prior.
The servant woman gestured for Peter to follow her, which he did, though only after he watched the woman place the sheers on the ground. The doors, despite their appearance, swung open without too much effort on the woman's part and Peter was met with a gust of warm air that enveloped him like a blanket as he stepped into what appeared to be a foyer. The space was well lit by several candle stands and the wall opposite of Peter was decorated by white engraved stone with wooden furnishings and a large painted portrait of three young woman in dresses that looked straight out of the renaissance.
"Huh, nice place." Peter said as he looked around with a low whistle as he reached up to remove his mask and hat.
"It is not mine sir, it is Lady Dimitrescu's." the woman said as she made to take Peter's hat and scarf, which he threw into the hat.
"You know what I meant." Peter said as he shrugged off his jacket and backpack and handed both to he woman who then placed them on a simple wooden coat hanger to his left along with his hat and scarf.
The bag, she set on the ground between the hanger and the wall.
"This way." the woman said as she made her way up the small staircase that led further into the room.
Peter followed, his eyes darting all over the room as the pair made a left and walked through a open door and into a long hall that seemed to go down a level at the end and a hall to the right before that. The woman made her way down the hall at a pace that was almost running while Peter trailed after her at a more leisure pace, his eyes taking in the fancy marble topped cabinet, the marble bust of some person who's importance escaped Peter, and a set of wooden doors at the end of the hall before the staircase.
"Smells nice in here." Peter commented as he detected the faint traces of cinnamon in the air.
"Y-Yes." the woman ahead of Peter responded as she quickly made her way down the stairs, puling the skirt of her dress up slightly so as to not accidently step on it and fall down the wooden steps.
Eventually the pair entered what Peter assumed was another foyer of some sort, likely a more official one given how big and grand it looked compared to the small one he entered earlier. The woman gestured for Peter to stop before she quickly broke off into a run back up the stairs they just came down, leaving the man alone for the time being. Peter clicked his tongue as he spared a brief look around the hall he was in, there was a simple wooden door to his right, same as on his left, and just next to that was a dimly lit hall that led to another part of the castle.
It was... fancy, for the lack of a better term, the sorta upscale-ness that he's heard those old money names kind of people owning, like-
"Hmm, aside from Alcina, don't know any fancy rich people. Least good ones." Peter muttered to himself as he looked down at the floor to see that it was made of some sort of marble like material, if not the actual stone itself.
The walls were adorned with large paintings, some of scenic landscapes, others of important looking people, likely ancestors of Alcina or the former owners of this castle. He also noticed the smell of cinnamon was stronger in this room.
'Did they clean this whole place with cinnamon?' Peter wondered before he heard someone approaching him from behind.
Peter turned and was met with another woman, this one much older compared to the other girl that led Peter here. Her clothes were also nicer in comparison to the woman from before, likely as a sign of some higher positioned servant.
Either that, or the woman just happened to take better care of her appearnce.
'Yeah, that has to be it.' Peter thought before he waved at the newcomer "Hello, I'm-"
"Your Peter Parker, yes. Our mistress has been expecting you and I've been informed to escort you to the main hall where she will receive you." the woman said.
'Expecting me?' Peter thought as he stepped aside and allowed the older woman to pass before falling in behind her.
They didn't have to go very far, just up the stairs and pass the wooden doors at the top and into a new space, this one even more lavish in appearance compared to what Peter's seen so far.
The hall was the very definition of fancy and practically oozed wealth, the likes of which Peter could scarcely imagine. To Peter's left was a freshly polished wooden staircase that, for some reason, started roughly halfway in the space and off to the side, and curved upwards towards a second floor. Hanging from above was a massive multi-storied looking crystal chandelier, providing a majority of the light in the room. To Peter's right was another door that led to another part of the castle and next to that was a lit fire place, the burning wood making small 'crackling' sounds as the flames ate away at it. All around the room were large paintings, portraits, of whom Peter had no idea, and shiny silver suits of armor.
"I swear this whole room alone cost more then my apartment in Queens." Peter said with a low whistle.
Hell, the room might cost more then the whole building his apartment was in.
"Our mistress will be down soon to see you, sir." the woman said with a small courtesy before she turned and all but ran from the room.
Peter watched her go for a moment before he shrugged, perhaps she was needed elsewhere and helping Peter had set her back in her duties. If that were the case, Peter made it a point to speak with Alcina, or whoever was in charge and ask them to go easy on her.
'At least she doesn't look like she's about to have a heart attack like the woman I met outside did.' Peter thought with a snort.
Seriously, what was with everyone being so afraid or thinking this place and the people in it were cur-
"Peter Parker... somehow I just knew you'd come calling again."
Peter blinked at the sudden presence of a woman's voice, shock and confusion surging through him as he remembered the last time he heard that voice was well over fifty years ago. But what threw Peter for a loop was the suddenness of the owner's voice, he hadn't heard anyone else enter the room or be present when he first entered it only moments prior.
"Alcina? How in the heck-" Peter began as he quickly turned towards the source of voice only to freeze as he found himself taking a step back in complete and total surprise as his eyes slowly rose several feet to an amused pale face that looked like it hadn't aged a day since he last saw it.
But what really shocked the man was that Alcina was now taller than him by what seemed to be at least a meter and a half based on the fact the doorway she seemed to have emerged from was roughly as high as the one Peter saw that maid step through on his right only moments before didn't even seem to reach her shoulders.
When Peter last saw her, the top of her head was barely even with his collar bone!
Alcina Dimitrescu smirked as she slowly made her way down the staircase, her custom sized heels echoing throughout the room with each step. In one hand she held an ebony-colored cigarette holder with a lit cigarette burning on the end, its fragrance having an odd coppery smell to its largely tobacco aroma, while the other came up to hold her elbow as she took a long drag from her holder and blew out a stream of smoke from her dark red painted lips as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Well, well, well, it seems you can be rendered speechless. Well wonders ever cease my dear?" Alcina purred with a coy smile as she approached Peter and bent down to cup the man's face with her gloved hand and gently stroked his cheek with her thumb "Imagine how many of your enemies would've paid to see this, hmm?"
"Y-Your... y-y-you..." Peter stammered as he felt Alcina's hand practically encompass almost the entire left side of his face.
"I must say, you haven't changed a day since we last saw one another." Alcina said as she stood back up and slowly removed her hand from Peter's face and placed it on her hip and grinned coyly at him "I'm almost jealous, what's your secret?"
She knew his secret of course, and she was once admittedly jealous of his apparent longevity, but that was before she found Mother Miranda.
Peter remained eerily silent as he continued to stare up at the tall woman with eyes so wide it was a wonder that they hadn't slid out of the man's eye sockets. Alcina's grin began to vanish as she noticed the lack of a proper response from the man, causing her to lean forward slightly with a frown. While she knew her appearance was going to leave the man speechless, and likely dumbstruck for a few moments, it was lasting far longer than she anticipated.
"Peter?" she leaned down a little and quirked her head to the side slightly "I know this must be a bit of a surprise, but it can't be that earth shattering to you. Not after what you've seen since-"
"What the hell have you been eating woman?!"
And just like that, all the worry and unease Alcina felt for the man that was once the holder of her heart vanished and was quickly replaced with annoyance.
Just like old times.
...
"Your still staring Mister Parker."
"Can you blame me? Your now taking up half my vision!"
"Are you calling me fat?"
"I ain't calling you thin!"
"If I was a lesser woman, I'd find offense to that." Alcina stated as she took a sip of her steaming cup of tea, custom made for a person of her size.
It wasn't laced with blood like it'd usually be sadly, but Alcina had no desire to test how good Peter's sense of smell was and thus discreetly ordered one of her servants to bring her 'plain tea' for her and her guest. The woman who brought it, Alcina had no idea what their name was as she stopped caring years ago when the last of the 'old guard' had passed away and her castle's faculty was fully replaced, had also been instructed to inform the rest of the staff that they were to keep their mouths shut around Peter. If he pressed them for answers on the quality of life in the castle or anything about Alcina and her daughters, they were to either lie and say it was wonderful, feign ignorance or excuse themselves from his presence and leave.
She will not have her time with Peter, brief as it may end up being, shortened even more just because her staff can't keep themselves silent.
'It'll be difficult enough keeping my daughters in line, Cassandra especially.' Alcina thought with a mental sigh.
"Where the heck do you even get clothes in your size?" Peter gestured to Alcina's dress.
"Their all custom, from a number of designers." Alcina replied with a one shoulder shrug.
"Have any of them met you?" Peter asked with an incredulous expression "Cause, if I'm some fancy designer with a fancy French name or whatever, and I'm being told to make a woman's dress in a size hundred or something, I'd be asking some questions."
Alcina rolled her eyes at this "Please, designers of their caliber no better then to ask questions. If anything, they see it as a challenge, to make something so elegant and grand. Plus, the amount of money I pay them keeps them silent and happy."
That, and the threat of one of her daughters paying them a visit.
"God, your washing machine and dryer must be huge for your dinosaur size dresses." Peter shook his head.
"You do not wash this in a washing machine or dryer!" Alcina said with an aghast expression "It'd completely ruin it or even tear it apart!"
"With how much your paying for it, that thing should be bullet proof." Peter pointed towards Alcina's dress "Your probably wearing something that cost every house that was on my block growing up, and the cars parked on the streets!"
"Perhaps." Alcina smirked as she took another sip of her tea before noticing that Peter had yet to touch his own "Are you not going to drink that?"
"I'll get to it when I'm done coming to terms with the fact that your practically twice as big as you used to be." Peter waved off Alcina's question "Seriously, how did this happen?"
"It's a long story." Alcina answered before taking another sip of her tea "To make it short, I'm no longer suffering from my family's hereditary disease and, for better or worse, my life span has been extended and I've developed abilities one would consider almost supernatural."
"Okay, but HOW are YOU like this?" Peter gestured towards Alcina "I've seen a lot of weird things in my time Alcina, but just about all of those things could be explained, but this? I need something to go off of here."
"Why?" Alcina asked with a curious look on her face before a coy grin emerged "Jealous?"
"Concerned actually." Peter clarified with a worried expression "You don't change like this, to this extreme, without some kind of drawback. Eve my mutations didn't come without their downsides, some of which are starting to rear their ugly head."
Alcina hummed at this as she took another sip of her tea, he wasn't wrong, great as her gifts were, they did come with one little... flaw.
The need to consume human flesh and blood, less she mutate uncontrollably into a large, draconic like beast that spewed swarms of flesh eating insects.
'Not exactly a charming sight, but I suppose it's the price to pay.' Alcina mused as she finished the last of her tea before reaching down towards the teapot to refill her cup "Well, I do need to have... blood transfusions, every few weeks, less my body begins to breakdown and mutate uncontrollably."
Not quite a lie, but not quite the truth either.
"So your a vampire now?" Peter asked with an incredulous expression.
"No, I'm not." Alcina huffed.
"But you need blood to survive now, right?" Peter questioned.
Alcina frowned at this "well, yes, however-"
"And your pretty much ageless so long as you do that?" Peter probed, causing Alcina's brow to twitch.
"Yes, but if you'd let me exp-"
"So your a vampire. Great, awesome even." Peter said with an eye roll.
"You are ridiculous." Alcina shook her head at Peter.
Once Alcina's cup was full, and she added some sugar and cream to her drink, the vampiric like woman brought to steaming cup up to her lips for another sip "Now enough about me, how have you been? It's been years since I've last heard of you. Sixty four is the last time anyone ever saw you I believe. Or at least, made it into the news."
'Still didn't tell me how you ended up as a giant, you stubborn old bat.' Peter thought dryly before responding "Yeah, well I made a joke about supporting communism and suddenly everyone thought I was a communist. Plus the government wouldn't leave me alone so I decided to keep a low profile for a while."
That and he'd just married Gwen and after a close call with the Maggia, decided to give up being the Spider, for her sake, and that of their newborn son's.
"Tried to get you involved with that foolish war in Asia did they?" Alcina chuckled.
"Among other things." Peter shrugged as he looked around the room "Soooo... is it just you that lives here? Or can I expect to meet your husband Count Dracula too?"
"I have no husband." Alcina shrugged as she looked down at the steaming contents of her teacup "My business and obligations to my daughters have prevented me from seeking out any possible romantic partners. The men of the village do not meet my standards either, and I refuse to settle for less then what I believe I'm owed and what my children deserve."
"You have children?" Peter asked with surprise.
"Three." Alcina smiled fondly "Bela, Cassandra and Daniela, they are my pride and joy... even if at times they make me want to rip out my hair."
Peter's brow furrowed at this, he swore he's heard those names before, but he couldn't quite remember where.
'Oh well, it'll come to me. Eventually. Maybe.' Peter thought as he reached down and took his now cold tea and downed it in one gulp.
"I see you've still yet to learn proper etiquette." Alcina said with a annoyed face.
"I don't even know the meaning of the word, let alone how to spell it." Peter grinned as he set his now empty tea cup down "Good tea though, little cold, but the cream and sugar really brings it together."
"I'm glad you liked it." Alcina said, pleased.
"Much better then that crap wine of yours." Peter added.
"Yes, well tea is something I've been thinking of add-" Alcina began before she stopped and looked at Peter with a raised brow "I beg your pardon?"
"That wine of yours, 'Sanguis Virginis'." Peter said with a look of mild disgust on his face "Tastes awful. It's like drinking the water left over in a sink after you cleaned a bunch of plates and stuff, without soap. Heck, it's half the reason I'm here, I wanna refund, making me spend over four hundred dollars on that cheap grape juice."
Alcina gasped at this "How dare you! My Sanguis Virginis is the finest vintage of my vineyard! It's been found at the tables of some of the most influential men and women in Europe!"
"Yeah, well Europe has terrible tastes, sooo..." Peter trailed off with a shrug.
"You are without class Mister Parker." Alcina huffed.
"Oh you love my classlessness." Peter snorted as he made to refill his teacup "It's part of my charm. Also, you have low standards. "
"Indeed." Alcina hummed as she watched Peter refill his cup and down the tea again like it was some cheap whiskey shot "Ugh, how is it your Aunt allowed you to be so uncouth?"
"Ehh, she hasn't been around for decades to reprimand me and I've developed some bad habits because of it." Peter answered with a shrug "I blame the eighties."
Alcina barked out a laugh at this "Is that so? Well perhaps I'll have to take over such a duty and re-introduce you to good form, conduct and proper mannerism."
"I'd like to see you try Lady Dimitrescu." Peter responded with a challenging grin.
Alcina's grin grew more sultry as she reached down towards the table to retrieve her cigarette holder and bring it to her lips. Peter watched with curiosity as instead of retrieving a lighter or some sort of match to light her guilty pleasure, Alcina brought one of her hands up until her index finger and thumb were about even with the cigarette at the end of the holder.
"What are y-" Peter began before suddenly Alcina's fingers, or perhaps nails, suddenly extended outward by several feet.
Alcina's eyes glowed with amusement as she clicked her nails together, creating a small spark which she used to light her cigarette before retracting her claws and took a long steady drag from her holder before blowing out a stream of smoke.
"Would you like one?" Alcina held her cigarette holder up for emphasis.
"I'm good." Peter said with a slow shake of his head, his eyes still glued to Alcina's hands.
It seems gigantism wasn't the only thing she's developed since they last met.
"Suit yourself." Alcina shrugged as she took another deep inhale of the smoke before steadily blowing it out through her nostrils "Do you have any accommodations in the village below?"
Peter blinked at this "Uhh, no-"
"I shall have a guest room prepared for you at once." Alcina decided with a grin as she took another drag of her cigarette, the end glowing cherry hot red and orange "Assuming, of course, you wish to sleep... elsewhere."
"I'm sure there's a pile of hay in a barn around here somewhere I can curl up in for the night." Peter snorted.
Alcina giggled at this before she leaned forward, causing the neckline of her dress to strain slightly and unintentionally draw Peter's gaze downward briefly "I'm sure we can find you something far more... pleasurable, to curl up with for the night."
Peter's brows rose slightly at this "Uhhh... great?"
He's pretty sure he knows what she's implying, and while he wasn't against the thought of being in a bed with a woman as attractive as Alcina... the height difference was kind of throwing him for a loop.
Seriously, how'd that even work?
"It can be..." Alcina smirked as she leaned back and took another hit of her cigarette before she used her partially filled teacup to put the bud out.
"Classy." Peter glanced down at the large teacup turned improvised ash tray with a blank look "And you complain about how I drink my tea."
Alcina ignored his comment as she rose gracefully from her seat and turned to leave "I'll speak to the kitchen staff about preparing you a plate at my table tonight. There, you'll meet my daughters."
"Their not as big as you, are they?" Peter asked a little worriedly.
It was a little unsettling being around a person as big as Alcina, but around three more people as big as her? Chalk it up to the spider portion of him, but something about being around so many massive people left Peter feeling like he'd be easily stepped on and crushed if someone isn't paying attention.
"No..." Alcina grinned as she looked down at Peter with a grin "Disappointed?"
"More of relieved." Peter said with a sheepish chuckle "Being around so many big people is starting to make me think I've stepped into the Twilight Zone."
Though ever since Peter was seventeen, his whole life has felt like he's been living nowhere but the Twilight Zone.
...
And done.
Next chapter, Peter meets the Daughters of Alcina Dimitrescu...
answers to reviewers questions or statements:
Fate Rider 88: Peter's pretty old, while Ben is more closer to the likes of Chris or Jill in terms of age.
PrudishSet: We will.
Zhorvak: No.
Kryn Womble: Yes.
Assassin Sylar: Chris really needs Leon to F% his sister.
MalignantSilhouette: Ethan will be in this later on, like way later on, like third act of the story kind of later on.
Deadkings: He just has Ben, who in turn had just April.
Guest: Not really, aside from his wife Gwen, Alcina was the only other woman he was ever with.
Uberyosstar: Why wouldn't he?
superpierce: By this point? Eighty exactly.