Lady Dimitrescu and Hekate's Follower

Chapter Eighteen: Υιοθετώντας την κόρη του Hekate (Adopting Hekate's Daughter)

Rolling up her sleeves, Melania revealed four tattoos on her wrists, almost identical to the ones Cassandra now had. On her left, a stropholos. And on the right, a key, snake and daggers.
"What does this mean?" Alcina asked her, taking her hand.
"I can't be sure, love. I think, when I died I-" she couldn't finish, she got a vision, staring into nothing particular. To Melania it felt like hours standing there, when in reality she snapped back in mere seconds. Alcina frowned at her.
"Are you alright, love? You went away there for a second." Alcina asked.
"Yes, I'm fine. I had a vision. Can you meet me in the library? I need to check one of the books I brought with me." Melania said, as she made her way out the door.
"Cassandra, dear. Don't worry too much, mikro ropalo." she said before disappearing out the door.
"Mikro ropalo?" Alcina asked a smiling Cassandra.
"She calls me little bat, Bela little raven and Daniela little scorpion." she smiled.
"How sweet. Dragii mei, I wish to apologize to you. I feel like I neglected you, when Melania was sleeping. That wasn't very motherly of me." Alcina said looking at her daughters guiltily.
"Please, mother. Do not apologize. We understand. More than you know." Bela said.
"We know you love her very much, mother" Daniela said.
"Are you going to marry her?" Cassandra asks suddenly, catching her off guard.
"Wha- well... Yes, uhm," she blushed at the question. She cleared her throat.
"Yes. I will marry her. Daniela, dear. Did you get the gift I asked for?" she asked her youngest.
"Of course, mother. I've left it in your chambers."
"Good girl. Now, let's go to the library. Te iubesc, foarte mult fetele mele." she embraced all three of them.
"We love you too, mother!" they said all at once. They get up and left Cassandra's room, heading to the library. Glancing at Cassandra, the thought of Mother Miranda came to mind. The ever-present danger and threat still out there. Alcina never really stopped thinking about it.

Arriving at the library, they found Melania on the floor in front of the fireplace, surrounded by books of witchcraft, spells and hexes and other books from Alcina's collection. She's currently reading one of her Greek mythology books.
"Melania, I do love you so very much, but I do not love how my old books are on the floor. You're ruining the covers." Alcina said, absentmindedly. She was sitting on one of the chairs in front of the fireplace, playing with a strand of her own hair, an amused smirk on her face.
"Sorry, love. Cassandra, come here." she quickly picked up Alcina's books and placed them on the table. She sits down again and motioned for Cassandra to sit in her lap. Once she's sitting, Melania placed the book in front of them, showing her different pictures. Alcina smiled, remembering a time when the girls were younger, reading them bed-time stories. She looked over at Bela and Daniela, who was wrestling on the floor arguing about something. Alcina smiled, happy seeing her loved ones like this, happy and safe.
"Where is Karl?" Alcina asked, seeing he is missing from the picture.
"I'm here, sister." he walked into the library, carrying six wine glasses, and two bottles of wine.
"What's happening? Why is Cassandra in Melania's lap?" he asked, wine pouring wine for everyone. Alcina picked up a book, flipping through the pages.
"Tattoos!" Daniela shouted.
"We don't know what it means." Bela shouted, before jumping on her sister. They look like two kittens playing. Karl frowned.
"Tattoos appeared on Cassandra's wrists this evening, and Melania is looking if she can find out what they mean." Alcina explained a little better. Karl took the open seat next to Alcina, almost disappearing in it's size.
"Speaking of, have you found anything yet, love?" Alcina lit a cigarette and handed one to Karl, before lighting one for Melania and then herself.
"Oh! I almost forgot." she got up, gently lifting Cassandra to her feet. She walked over to Alcina, took her cigarette and kissed her on the cheek.
"Thank you, love. I forgot to tell you, I didn't know that I had it at that time, but when I had another one a few minutes ago, I learned that I had a vision when I died. I saw my mother." she explained. Five sets of eyes looked at her curiously.

Bela and Daniela walked over and took a seat on the floor in front of Alcina. Cassandra took a seat on Alcina's lap, who wrapped an arm around her waist. They all looked at her with curious eyes, eager to hear her story.
"When I died, I woke up in a place called Elysium. A place of paradise for Greek heros after death."
"You went to Elysium?" Cassandra asked excitedly.
"Yes, mikro ropalo. Although honestly I thought I'd end up in Tartarus. Yet I looked upon seemingly endless fields of flowers." she continued to tell them the entire story, of meeting Hades and Hekate. Seeing her mother.
"Before I drifted away though, to return to you, I heard Hekate say 'take care of my new daughter'. I'm almost certain I know what it means." she said and saw Alcina protectively draw Cassandra closer to her body. She smiled.
"Do not worry, my love. She's still your daughter and always will be." Melania said.
"Now after this recent vision, everything makes sense. Cassandra is a Daughter of Hekate. That's what the tattoos mean. They're all official symbols of the goddess Hekate. When I gave my life to her, some of my abilities must've rubbed off on her."
"What abilities?" Cassandra asked, looking extremely excited.
"Well, take a look at your tattoos. The stropholos, indicates that you are a Daughter of Hekate. They key, gives you the power to conjure your own spells. The snake, gives you the power to transform into any living being. Human or animal. The dog, gives you the power to make an animal your familiar. To be your friend, protector, companion or anything you can think of. And lastly, the dagger. This gives you the power to cast a protective dome of magical energy for a short time." Melania explained, looking at Cassandra as if she might explode.
"But, mikro ropalo, it will take many years and a lot of practice to be able to conjure any form of magic. But, I want to see something. Come here." she said. Alcina was watching in awe, learning more about Melania. She couldn't help but admire her. She was staring lovingly at Melania, when suddenly their eyes met. Without saying anything, Melania smiled at her, struggling hard to break her gaze from the gold. Both of them were in a sort of trance.