Belle Vie

Don de Lumière

When Marius awoke the following eve, an eerie silence befell the palace he had called his home for the past sixty years.

A storm had befallen Rome, the harsh downpour audible on the roof of the timeless castle, even to a mortal's ears.

Yet no mortal resided in the manor, any longer.

The vampire made his journey swiftly to the ballroom beneath the home, as he stepped quietly into the illuminated room.

Akasha and Enkil were in their usual place; sat upon their designated thrones. Even in their still stature, however, Marius knew them to be the weakest he had seen them in over a thousand years. How much blood Akasha utilised to turn the mortal girl? Marius found himself questioning, the room devoid of any other signs of life nor movement.

"Celeste?" The girls name echoed through the curved ceilings. Yet no creature responded.

Evidently concerned, Marius searched the home. And yet, he still could not find the girl. The doors to the home swung open, nearly bursting from their hinges as Marius ventured into the woods, "Celeste!" His voice bellowed loud enough for a mortal to hear, yet doubting the possibility a human Celeste would be lurking in the woods; her mortal body too weak to have made it so far...

No movement lingered in the trees, but Marius caught the strengthened, irrefutable scent of roses. Following the trail, the blonde immortal discovered a stream, walking along the water for two miles before he saw a small figure in the distance.

In her white undergarments, Celeste stood beneath the harsh downpour. Rain hammered against her ice cold flesh, eyes closed as she soaked in the world around her with those new senses beyond human capability.

Marius' clothing was doused in water, as he closed the gap between them, "Celeste," he sighed in surprising relief. The woman did not flinch, having heard the immortal when he first called for her all the way from the manor.

Celeste's back remained facing the vampire as she spoke, "They gave me too much," she breathed without necessity. Marius' brows furrowed, "They both turned you?" He spoke in disbelief.

The woman moved to face the blonde immortal, at a loss for words in the presence of her beauty; only elevated further by her immortality. The colours that no longer danced beneath her porcelain skin instead glistened in her sapphire eyes; watching her surroundings as though she were a child seeing the world for the very first time.

The caramels in her brunette locks were brought to life by the copious amount of ancient blood flowing through her veins; the combined blood of a King and Queen.

Her fingernails had elongated and sharpened; akin to glass. And her figure took the most drastic change of all; back to its healthy curves she had lost amidst her illness.

Life radiated from her, replacing the death that once consumed her.

Whatever blood once stained her skin was washed away by the rainwater. And though the cold no longer affected the woman; Marius, ever the gentleman, removed his cloak and wrapped it around her.

"We should go inside," Marius spoke, yet the moment his arms moved to escort the woman, he hesitated for the first time in over a thousand years.

"I must go to Lestat," Celeste protested, coming to a halt. And as though Marius was a mere mortal attempting to move a stone boulder, he could not move the woman from her place. His persuasive gifts would not suffice, therefore words would have to do...

"And I shall take you to him, myself. However, I need to ensure you are in control of your own strength, first, along with the gifts you now possess," the immortal was swift to explain, all of which made sense to the fledgling vampire. As they made their way back to Marius' temporary residence in silence, Celeste grew enamoured with the world around her, once more...