Apocrypha sits and waits; when the sudden chill creeps along her skin, up her spine, making her teeth chatter, she opens her eyes and pulls herself away from the hands of the healer named Danica. A glare is given to Apocrypha in return for her actions, the flow of restoration magic coming from the Temple of Kynareth and flowing through Danica's hands into the deep wound on Apocrypha's shoulder stops.
"Look," Danica says, her patience wearing very thin, "if you want this to work, you're going to have to hold still and trust me." Slowly the magic starts up again, and Apocrypha scowls and looks away from the woman as she places her healing hands back on the wound.
"If these dogs weren't so careless, I wouldn't have to trust you," she mumbled, resisting the urge to squirm under the strange feeling of the magic. Quickly, she takes a look over her shoulder to look at what's going on. The blood has stopped forming, and slowly her skin comes back together, closing the gaping hole that Vilkas' sharp blade had made.
In order to join the Companions, or even be considered, one had to pass a simple mettle test; this was the same for everyone. Clearly, Apocrypha had not passed. This was made clear to her when she heard the swift strike of the blade. She never actually felt it tear through her tender flesh, but it had been so long since she had the pleasure of knowing what it felt like to bleed; she knew the feeling immediately.
"Yes, yes, men are dogs," Danica agrees, without knowing what she was agreeing to. "Now keep that wound nice and clean until the next night under the full moon."
Apocrypha looks at her shoulder. "What wound? You've healed it. There's nothing there," she insists, and Danica shakes her head while picking up the bloodied rags.
"Kynareth's power only goes so far. If you don't do some of the healing on your own, the wound will come back. The Companions will not be able to convince me a second time to help you; now leave." She waits for Apocrypha to stand up and exit the Temple.
Usually, one would be offended by this rude behavior. Apocrypha was beyond used to it. As she left the Temple of Kynareth and walked into the blinding sunlight of Whiterun she decided to linger in the past for a moment.
At the young age of sixteen, she had been turned into a Vampire by the man she had mistakenly called her father for so many years. Lord Harkon had agreed to take a young girl by the name of Lily under his bat wing. Lily, who later earned the name she had now, had the privilege of growing up in a castle, away from the troubles of the world.
However, Apocrypha soon got involved with groups such as the Dark Brotherhood. She began to love the feeling of killing those dull minded men. Cicero, the Guardian of the infamous Night Mother had caught the nice side of her attention, though. Soon, a love affair sparked between them.
Apocrypha and Cicero would throw huge, lavish parties in the Volkihar Castle, inviting the most unsuspecting guests. On the invitations, which were always destroyed after reading, the men and women were told if they could survive the journey to the castle, not only would they enjoy the fine food, drink, and entertainment of the massive parties; but at the end, they would get a large sum of gold as a reward.
Despite Apocrypha's broken promises, the only 'reward' the guests had gotten was that of receiving free passage to the after life, for the only entertainment waiting for them at Castle Volkihar was the bloody slaughter, done by Apocrypha and Cicero themselves. They, along with other more open minded members of the Castle, made a game out of hunting down and killing the guests.
A pleasuring tingle creeps along Apocrypha's skin as she recalls one of the parties, where she won the game. The victor got to bathe in the blood of their foes
. For Vampires, and Psychotic Serial Killers, it was quite a relaxing way to end an evening of massacres.
Not everyone at the Castle enjoyed Apocrypha and Cicero's parties. In fact, Harkon was deeply disturbed at the enjoyment his adoptive daughter found in killing. She had tried to explain that their clan was in no danger of being found and exposed; that the only people she ever sent invitations to were low lives that would not be missed, such as bandits, sometimes people that had Dark Brotherhood contracts out on them as well. After they were all dead, Apocrypha sent her thrall (a human under the enticing charm of a Vampire) to collect the bounty money from the Jarls on the bandit groups, and the Brotherhood received money from the completed contracts.
Harkon had accused Apocrypha of becoming spoiled, and said he could not have a daughter as blood thirsty as she. He had locked Cicero in the prison under the Castle, and told Apocrypha to take her wrongly earned money and leave; if she ever returned she was to be killed.
A sly grin appears on her lips as she realizes she's found the perfect group of fools to carry out her revenge plan.
