Disclaimer: Everything you recognise from the film series isn't mine.

Feedback: Always appreciated.

AN: Parts of the Awakening here are taken from the non-canon novel Blood Enemy; written before the release of Underworld: Evolution, the overall novel might contradict most of what we learnt in subsequent films (ranging from vampires being able to eat regular food in the right circumstances to Lucian's exact history with Sonja), but it had some very interesting moments, and the Awakening was one of them.

The Lone Wolf

Even when she'd formed her initial tentative plan to make contact with Michael and eventually persuade him to be an inside man with the lycans, Selene had never imagined that she would be accompanying him to a meeting of this level of importance. The mere idea that Lucian was still alive would have been impossible enough on its own, but the fact that she was accompanying him and Amelia to take part in the Awakening of Viktor and Marcus was an even greater kind of impossibility.

Selene was aware that there were protocols in place to Awaken all three Elders if the situation merited a truly significant decision, but she couldn't recall if any such occasion had actually happened in the history of the coven. Even the war against the lycans had been declared by Viktor alone rather than consulting the other two, and while she had never questioned that decision before meeting Michael, she found herself wondering about it. Lucian had asked Michael not to share what he had spoken with him about until he was ready to disclose that information himself, and Selene had chosen to respect Lucian's desire for privacy.

It was a strange thing for her to realise that she was willing to respect that kind of silent request from a lycan, but the more time Selene spent with Lucian, the more she realised that Michael wasn't as unique as she believed. The lycans might be dangerous enemies, but they weren't all just the mindless animals so many Death Dealers had liked to dismiss them as over the centuries.

The journey back to the mansion had been relatively tense, with the vampires and lycans mixed between the various cars heading for their destination, but Selene liked to think that Michael in particular helped in that regard. When so many of the other vampires and lycans saw a relatively young lycan being so comfortable interacting with Death Dealers with the reputation she and Kahn had earned over the centuries, it was almost like they were daring others to have Michael's courage.

Selene was still careful to stay close to Michael as they left the cars and entered the manor, ready to act if anyone seemed ready to threaten him. At the same time, she took care to keep just enough distance between them that it wouldn't be obvious she was protecting him unless she had to. 'Bodyguard' wasn't a role she'd assumed very often, but on this occasion she had to keep a balance between being ready to protect Michael without giving the impression that he was vulnerable.

With her self-appointed duty to Michael taking precedence, Selene wasn't as involved in Amelia's subsequent talk with Lucian as she might have been, but she had faith that the Elder and the lycan would come up with a fair decision. She noticed some stares from some of the other Death Dealers at her being so close to a lycan, but Kahn's obvious acceptance of Michael seemed to help cool the more obvious issues. She even noticed that a couple of her closer acquaintances seemed to be directing teasing smiles at her and Michael, as though they were already guessing at something she wasn't entirely ready to define to herself…

Despite Selene's initial concerns, it seemed to take relatively little time before she was part of the group standing in the chamber containing the coffins of Viktor and Marcus, as well as Amelia's own currently empty coffin. The lycan attendees had been provided with smarter clothing to ensure that at least the spirit of the usual formalities of an Awakening were being observed, but the vampires had agreed to compromise on a few lesser issues in recognition of the tension and stakes of the current situation.

"My fellow immortals!" Amelia proclaimed as she stood in the centre of the chamber, addressing the gathered vampires and lycans with calm dignity as they stood on the outer ring, the central floor empty of all save for the Elder. "We are gathered here for a significant moment in our peoples' long and difficult shared existence on this world. In recognition of this fact, something is about to happen that is unprecedented even in our long history, and I would ask for you all to have patience."

Looking around the chamber, Selene was struck by the differences between the current ceremony and the ones she had attended in the past. Even with Lucian and Michael serving as an example to the rest of them (Raze was noticeably doing his best to stay calm even if he was clearly following Lucian's lead), there was still a sense of tension in the room. Selene was certain that even Michael was aware that all it would take was one wrong move from either party for this fragile stability to come to an end, but at the same time that left her all the more certain that neither party would break the peace first.

"Honoured guests and warriors," Amelia continued as she turned around the room, taking in everyone present from her position in the middle, "for many centuries, while mortal rulers come and go, engaging in negotiations and open conflicts for power, the coven has existed in stability. Why?"

"Because of the Chain," Selene replied with the other vampires, falling back on the traditional response even as she mused that she was starting to doubt that particular statement had ever been completely true.

"My fellow Elders and I have not engaged in conflicts between each other in pursuit of absolute power, nor have our different views and instincts ever led us into conflict. Why?"

"Because of the Chain."

"Just so," Amelia affirmed. "The Coven has existed in harmony because we Elders divided eternity among us, a century at a time, to offer you each the continued benefits of our power without the conflict of our differing perspectives. This tradition has endured for centuries, each of us trusting the other to guide the vampires through the next two centuries as we enter our sleep… but now, we face the most potentially significant moment of our long history, and I will not deprive my fellow Elders of their right to have their say in our final decision."

There was silence in the room for a few moments as everyone looked around the room in apprehensive silence, the vampires and lycans looking around each other as though waiting for someone else to act.

"This is the appointed hour when I would normally return to the earth and leave you all in the hands of Marcus," Amelia continued, as though satisfied that nobody was going to do something to break this truce. "However, this has been no ordinary night, and you are not here to observe something that has happened before."

With that declaration, Amelia stepped forward, her words somehow demonstrating a sense of weight that Selene had never imagined could be given to mere speech. "Let the Awakening begin… Lady Selene, Lord Kahn, you may proceed."

Selene and Kahn nodded at her in acknowledgement as they stepped forward to place their hands in the bronze discs at the top of Viktor and Marcus's coffins. Once Selene's fingers were in the circle, she carefully turned it to the left, setting the complex gear system in motion as the circles just outside the central V turned on their own accord, followed by the outer lucks moving inwards as the symbol descended. The main seal descended a few crucial inches before it split into four, allowing the ornate 'coffin' to rise from the lower level. Selene glanced over to make sure that all was going well at Kahn's end, confirming that he had also released Marcus's coffin before the two adjusted the locks on either side and lowered the coffins to a horizontal position.

The figures within looked almost impossibly frail and withered, bearing more resemblance to unbandaged Egyptian mummies than anything living, Grey skin was stretched over the bones like parchment, white fangs bearing through withdrawn lips and eyes closed, dark trousers the only clothing worn by either even as their ribs were clearly visible. Selene heard Michael let out a gasp of shock from behind her, but she wouldn't draw attention to that. He was being asked to deal with a great deal at this time, so some shock when faced with something this unfamiliar was only natural.

Her attention back on the coffin, Selene moved the metal rod containing the crucial pipe up to its position over Viktor's mouth, while Kahn did the same for Marcus. That done, the coffins were carefully rotated so that the two were basically in line with each other, still separated by a metre or so but making it easier for Amelia to take the next step.

"Now let the sacred rite commence," the female Elder declared, stepping forward and positioning her wrists above both coffins. Tradition would normally require her to cut her own wrist for this stage, but since both Viktor and Marcus had to be awoken at the same time, this had become another of Selene and Kahn's duties, each having been provided with an ornate dagger for the next stage. As the tip of their blades pierced Amelia's flesh, Selene resisted the initial thirst she felt at the scent of an Elder's blood before Amelia turned her wrists to drip blood into the pipes above her fellow Elders.

"My blood to thee, my thoughts to thee," Amelia said, turning her head so that she was looking at both of the other Elders one after the others. "Partake of my memories, my fellow Elders, so that the Chain may endure."

After the blood had been trickling into the coffins for a few moments, Viktor and Marcus's eyelids flickered, their chests moving with a faint sense of breath. Selene and Kahn looked at Amelia in anticipation, and the Elder's nod prompted them to move forward to place their fingers against the necks of the figures in the coffins. Selene just fought down the urge to smile as she felt Viktor's pulse underneath her fingers, but she nodded at Amelia just as Kahn did the same at his end.

"They awaken!" Amelia proclaimed, stepping back and turning her wrists upwards. "The Chain endures!"

The vampires cheered in approval at that declaration, while the lycans simply nodded in awkward acknowledgement at this development. Selene noticed that Michael in particular was looking somewhat uncertainly at the two coffins, evidently unsure about the full significance of these events. Selene reminded herself that even few vampires witnessed the Elders in this kind of state, so Michael was only showing a normal, human reaction to the sight of what seemed like two corpses being treated with this kind of reverence.

"Many thanks for attending this hallowed event," Amelia said, once again falling back on the traditional words of the ritual, "but now urgent business must be discussed. Those who are to remain here will do so; the rest of you must depart and allow us our privacy for a time."

With that final command given, many of the other attendees departed the room. Selene noticed Lucian looking at Viktor with a particular edge to his glare that left her worried he was going to do something, but ultimately he nodded as though coming to some kind of personal decision and joined Michael and Raze as they left the room. Selene would have liked Michael to be present at the next stage, but appreciated that allowing lycans access to the Elders at this stage would be asking too much of everyone else.

It would take a couple of hours to connect Viktor and Marcus up to the latest life-support systems required to give them enough blood to replenish their systems, but under the terms of Amelia's deal with Lucian, the other Elders just needed to be able to talk for the next stage of their plans…