Born or Made

Chapter 10: The High Priestess of Gikaineró

Capry found herself staring down at a pile of multi-colored Halloween vampire teeth that had toppled out of her locker. She stood frozen as she heard snickering coming from behind her. The only person who would have had her locker combination was Seph. Capry’s heart pounded in her ears and her face suddenly felt very hot. She began hurriedly stuffing the contents of her locker into her empty backpack, brushing stray vampire teeth onto the floor as she went.

Her mother had brought her to her high-school to unenroll her. She came to collect her things just as passing period began. Capry knew the hallway would clear out soon but the damage had been done.

“Hey Capry. You transferring to the looney bin?”

Capry recognized the voice of Megan McBride. One of the girls Seph liked to hang around with. She was suddenly hesitant to turn around. If Megan was there, Seph probably was too.

Capry’s mother had finally given her, her cell phone back. There had been no texts or calls from Seph. Capry had fought the urge to contact her. It hurt her heart but she thought not getting an answer would hurt more. Or even worse, Brent would answer.

Capry reached for the picture of her and Seph that was still taped inside her locker but couldn’t bring herself to take it with her. She let her hand drop to her side and slowly turned around to find Seph’s friends standing behind her, smugly smiling at her. But no Seph. Capry was relieved and disappointed all at the same time. She left her locker hanging open and quickly walked towards the exit at the end of the hallway where Kathy would be waiting. Megan and her friends followed after Capry.

“Seph’s parents made her transfer to a charter school. To get her away from you,” Megan spat hatefully. “I never could understand why she was friends with you. I always knew you were a freaking psycho.”

Capry kept walking, even though she suddenly had a primal urge to rip Megan’s throat open. The thought was fleeting but it frightened her that it had even crossed her mind at all. Mostly because she knew she could do it. Her feelings were hurt that Seph had given her combination away so her friends could fill Capry’s locker with stupid plastic vampire teeth. Which meant Seph had told them what happened. Which meant everyone knew. Capry was incredibly relieved she wouldn’t have to deal with all the drama that would bring.

“Too bad her parents didn’t know you’d be leaving too!” Megan called as Capry pushed through the exit doors into the parking lot. The sun momentarily blinded her. She searched for her mother’s car with tears in her eyes. Megan thankfully didn’t follow her outside. She didn’t want them to see her cry. She wouldn’t cry. f**k them. She blinked rapidly, and took a deep breath.

“You’ll never have to come back here,” she told herself quietly. “You’re going to be with people like you.” The thought was strangely comforting and frightening simultaneously as she thought of Piper Riley.

Her mother pulled out of her parking spot and drove up to her daughter. Capry clamored into the car quickly.

“What’s wrong?” Kathy asked. Capry hurriedly wiped her eyes and shook her head. Her mother reached over and patted her leg comfortingly.

“She told Megan,” Capry said as they turned onto the road. Kathy assumed Capry was referring to Seph. “She told them what happened and they put a bunch of those fake vampire teeth in my locker.”

“You haven’t spoken to Seph since you found out about what you are, have you?” Kathy asked.

“No,” Capry said. “Which makes it really ironic. You know, since I’m actually a vampire.”

“I don’t know if I’m ever going to get used to that,” Kathy said shaking her head. “You didn’t tell her?”

“Mom, no,” Capry said emphatically. “I wouldn’t. All that would do is make everyone think I’m crazier than they already do. I wasn’t even supposed to tell you.”

“Ok,” Kathy said letting out a relieved sigh. “I’m only going to say this once. And if you tell anyone I did, I’ll deny it. Teenage girls are bitches. I’m not going to try to minimize what happened to Seph. That was probably very scary for her. But you can do better. Anyone who can’t be honest about their relationship with you, no matter what that relationship may be, isn’t worth your time. Seph was nice enough when it was just you and her. But she wasn’t exactly honest with her other friends and she didn’t stick up for you when they’d pick on you. Maybe this is all for the best.”

Capry sat brooding in the passenger seat. Why did what’s best always seem to hurt so badly?

“I don’t really know if this is what anyone would consider a blessing,” Capry said, leaning against her window. “I look like a leper.”

“How did that happen?” Kathy asked, referring to the markings all over Capry.

“You wanna know how I got these scars?” Capry asked, trying to do her best Joker impression.

“Yes,” Kathy said seriously, completely dismissing Capry’s attempt at humor.

It turned out Athanatos had brought Kathy up to speed on everything except how Capry had actually gotten injured. He knew if he told Kathy, she would never let Capry back to the Academy. Understandably so. But Capry couldn’t run from what she was. Even if her journey had become a little more complicated than most.

“Sometimes vampires just get them,” Capry lied.

Athanatos had told Kathy that Capry had accidentally stumbled across a carnivores plant in the Academy’s greenhouse. He had filled Capry in the next day when he came to visit her in the morning. Capry had found herself horrified that carnivores plants were indeed a thing that existed on a much larger scale than the garden variety Venus Fly Trap that was in the human realm. They could literally reach out and eat you if they weren’t tranquilized before you approached them. If they felt like it. And it was impossible to know what kind of mood they’d be in day to day. Vampires used them for a series of potions and medicines. They had personalities and communicated with each other through intricate root systems. So they couldn’t be planted too close together or else they could plot an uprising. The Vampire realm was becoming consistently more unsettling by the day. Athanatos seemed utterly fascinated by it.

“They’re kind of pretty,” Kathy offered. If she knew how Capry had gotten the markings she probably wouldn’t think that.

“Thanks,” Capry said flatly. Kathy frowned, feeling a bit discouraged. Capry sat basking in her mother’s emotions for a moment. She didn’t know how she was doing it but they felt nice, even in her mother’s sadness. They made Capry feel connected to Kathy in a way she hadn’t been before.

“Really,” Capry said. “Thank you.” Her mother gave her a small smile and patted her daughter’s hand.

“Things will be alright Capry,” she said. “You’ll excel in whatever you do. From the sounds of it, you already are. Your Guardian seems to think you have a lot of potential.”

“I don’t think I’m ready to go,” Capry said quietly. “I don’t want to leave you and Eric.”

“You won’t be,” Kathy said. “You can come visit on the weekends and come home for holidays. That’s what your Guardian told me.”

“Once I’m able to control my appetite,” Capry said. She was trying not to sulk. Athanatos had already brought her a whole new backpack full of blood bags. He said it was because Capry was hurt and needed more to heal, but she had a feeling that wasn’t all it was. She needed fresh blood. The bags didn’t hold off her blood lust. As Healer Ivy had told her, they weren’t meant as a long term source of sustenance. They were used in emergencies. Athanatos had told her she was like a baby. She needed to feed more than a fully adjusted vampire. Which meant twice as many bags. There were moments when Capry found herself listening to her family's blood course through their veins and she found herself responding to it in an undesirable way. She knew she needed to go before any more accidents happened. She would never forgive herself if she harmed anyone else and she didn't trust herself yet.

Capry rustled around in her special backpack and pulled out a blood bag. She punctured it with her fang and began to drink. Kathy cringed slightly.

“I know,” Capry said apologetically, wiping a drop of blood from her lip. “I'm sorry.”

“Those backpacks are pretty fancy,” Kathy said lightly. “They’re refrigerated?”

“I guess they need to be, to keep the bags cold,” Capry said, checking the bag's battery percentage. “It would be a little weird to store them in the fridge. I need to charge it when I get home.”

The rest of the car ride was quiet. Capry was acutely aware today was the day that the Elders and a large group of soldiers would be removing the statue. Athanatos had returned to the school to take an active role in the mission. The Academy had been temporarily evacuated. The students were sent home to their families due to the safety risk. The Grand Sorceress had returned with Elders from Gikaineró. The scrolls simply weren’t enough. They needed skilled vampires who knew the magic. And even with all of their resources, the mission was incredibly dangerous. Capry chewed her lip and silently prayed. She wasn’t sure how much good it would do, but she did it all the same.

****************************

There had been plenty of tense discussions the evening before the mission about who had created the statue and how it had come to be there. It had obviously been strategically placed to be hidden. Vhladèvara was far away from Zagreus' mother land. The Gikaineró Elders had traveled a long way to uphold the work of their ancestors. Ten of them in total sat in Acara's chambers quietly as the meeting commenced.

Records were kept at Vhladèvara Academy of every statue that had ever been placed at the school. Mostly for educational purposes. But when the Elders had looked for the records for Zagreus’ statue they found that there wasn’t any record at all. If there ever was, it was missing.

“Someone had intentions of attempting to set him free. How could they create a portal but fail in doing so?” Elder Silas had mused.

“The entrance has always existed. It seems someone thought it should have a door,” Aribella Fotopoulos replied. Her voice was deep for a female. She was a High Priestess in Gikaineró, an Elder universally, and was related to Queen Laurel, Zagreus' wife. Aribella was tall and regal, with light curly brown hair, green eyes and beautifully bronzed skin as though she’d been permanently kissed by the sun. She wore earthy robes, lined in blue silk to represent the earth and water of her home land. Gikaineró was similar to Venice for it had water running throughout its' cities in place of streets, but was also known for its' mountains and greenery. The vampires of Gikaineró were peaceful and generally didn’t accept outsiders. They were an ally to Vhladèvara which provided a unique opportunity for fledglings to study there, under some of the most ancient vampires still in existence. They were secretive, because they possessed ancient knowledge about the vampire species. They were traditional people who took great pride in preserving the old magic and protecting vampire history. Elder Virgil and Veranda studied there in their youth.

“For every realm, there is an entrance and an exit. When our Creator’s prison was created, it was unlike any magic that had ever existed, for it was made to have only an entrance. Any being that was brave enough to enter would not be able to get out again. This knowledge was only given to our Elders. The reason the Creator’s prison was designed this way was because we knew there would be traitors who would try to enter with intentions to release him. If any attempt was made, they would be trapped with him and eventually succumb to his hunger as so many others when our Creator traveled the realms. But the truth did spread throughout his ranks that any being who ventured into the Creator’s realm did not return. And there weren’t many who were powerful enough or who had the knowledge to access him. If they did, it was likely they helped design his confinement.

“The Magic that created this portal is incomplete. Somebody was in the process of creating an exit for Zagreus and they were unable to finish it. It is likely they were creating the portal as they learned more and more complex magic. But sometimes ability doesn’t match ambition. Perhaps they finally reached the limit of their abilities and it wasn’t enough. Or perhaps they were drawn into it, never to return. Or they have passed into the afterlife. It is hard to say. But because they started the process, the Creator can now slowly chisel away at the magic that was cast to keep him locked away. We have to rectify this situation before it’s too late,” Aribella said calmly.

Acara was visibly troubled as Aribella spoke. Her brow furrowed and her lips parted. She took a breath and paused as though something wasn’t quite adding up. Aribella raised her eyebrows at Acara.

“There’s something wrong,” the High Priestess stated.

“The fledgling that entered the Great Destroyer’s realm. She showed me what she saw,” Acara said slowly. “There were countless other beings inside the realm with him. She referred to them as souls but they were able to physically touch her. When she exited the realm, she was covered in handprints where they had latched onto her. It is not possible that all of those beings were trying to help him escape. Some of them were children. And if his realm was designed to swallow every living thing that manages to enter, how was she able to escape? And why was the Great Destroyer able to aquire such a large collection of souls?”

“She would be the first to return,” Aribella said. Her facial expression was shockingly neutral.

Acara was puzzled by her. This was her first time meeting the High Priestess of Gikaineró. Aribella's presence spoke volumes to how grave the situation was. She never left her home land and to her people, was considered even more precious than the archives and scrolls they protected. Some covens thought she had entered the Divine Sleep. It was believed that when you became a High Priestess you ascended to a new level of existence as Queen Laurel had before her. Some didn’t even believe Aribella could be considered a vampire anymore. It was said that a High Priestess existed between life and death. That she could travel between the two willingly and could see everything that was and would be. Perhaps she already knew the outcome, and because of what she had become, was no longer burdened by fear or emotions.

“Time has chipped away at the magic that holds him. That is why I’m here. It is possible that this fledgling just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. Or there is something specific about her that made her entrance and exit possible. The beings that are trapped with him are another matter I will have to consider. Any living being, no matter what plain it exists on, is sustenance and a source of power for him, including the souls of the dead, for he was touched by death when he was sent to the Underworld. When our Creator was put away, he was put away alone. It is troubling. He may have been trying to break free for some time. And if he manages to gain enough power to do so, it could be the end of all things. I would like to meet this fledgling. I want to understand why this has occurred. We also must consider the possibility that the portal may have been damaged upon your fledgling's hasty exit. She must have had to use great force to create an opening inadvertently completing the work of whoever was building the exit. If this is correct, we don’t have much time to repair it. And if I understood correctly, our Creator was injured during this encounter which was the only reason he wasn’t able to escape when she exited,” Aribella said.

“I repaired the damage to the best of my abilities,” Elder Virgil stated. “My magic will hold until we find a solution. Acara aided me in reinforcing the wards. Ultimately the best outcome would be to destroy the entire thing. Perhaps we could create a spell to completely and permanently seal off the realm all together, and remove the threat from the Academy.” he suggested. “That statue cannot remain here with so many fledglings living right underneath it. If he were to ever break free it would be carnage.”

“I’m not sure it would be possible to completely destroy it or remove it. Not until I’ve had time to properly examine it further. It depends on how advanced the magic that created it is. We would have to strip it away thread by thread to know, and in doing so we risk setting our Creator free. It would be safer to bury him deeper. You cannot remove an active volcano, as much as a civilization might like to. A wiser decision would be to move the civilization further away from the volcano.”

There was silence as the Elders considered their options. Acara wondered if the High Priestess was implying they relocate the Academy.

“A permanent seal could be a possibility,” Aribella went on. “But it will be difficult and we cannot achieve it in a day. This will be a process. We are discussing regular maintenance for an indefinite period of time. If it means saving the realms and all the living beings within them, it will be worth it. Even if it means training generation after generation of our kind to maintain the magic to keep him locked away.”

Elder Veranda spoke hesitantly as though she didn’t want to interrupt. “How could one being bring about the end of everything?”

“When our Creator broke free of the Underworld, he carried in his body a plague. It transformed him into something that is different than us. He passed it on in two forms. We are the result of his DNA being mixed with a human or another magical being, which created a stable new species. His second wife was the result of the other. And like any virus that passes through blood transmission, it replicates. Genevieve went on compulsively spreading this disease until there were so many, we had to perform a mass extermination. But just like roaches, we couldn’t get them all. It is likely that we will be killing Made Vampires until the end of time. It is unfortunate because like any disease it affects each individual differently. But it is still an illness all the same. It ate away at our Creator’s mind and just like his second wife, he went on to impregnate countless female beings across the realms creating the Vampire.

“The first generation passed their genes on and as we spread, our genetics and abilities became more diverse. That is why this new conflict over blood purity is so absurd. Our people don’t realize all Born Vampires are mixed with another species. There is no way to cleanse the blood. We are all equal.

“With all of that being said. If this one immortal being were to be released back into the realms under the guise of a Great Cleanse, he would likely release Genevieve or perhaps just reintroduce the virus to numerous populations. The consequences of that are hard to predict but it could result in the extinction of countless realms.

“During our vigorous study of Made Vampires we learned that as this virus was spread it became less and less manageable. As did the subjects infected with it. Imagine Genevieve, the first of her kind, has a cake. The cake is the magic she acquired through the blood Zagreus’ fed her to bring her back to life. Now, she cuts a slice for someone else to also have some cake. And they slice a portion of their slice to give to someone else. Their magical abilities and sanity become thinner and thinner as the virus is spread. Eventually if it goes on long enough you’ll have an army of rabid Made Vampires that are little more than walking corpses with blood lust and a compulsive need to spread this virus that becomes more unstable every time it is split in half. Their behaviors become more erratic and eventually their only desire is to drink and spread the virus until that is all that is left. If our Creator is allowed to escape, I imagine he could decimate the realms in only a handful of years. If that happens blood won’t matter. The only thing that will matter is the strength of a coven's veil and the power of its' army. The human realm is likely to go first. They are almost defenseless. Chances are they’ll use nukes. And if the Made ones don’t kill them off, the radiation will.”

A chill fell over the room as she finished speaking. It was beginning to sound more like a prophecy than a hypothesis.

“We should probably get to work,” Elder Ira spoke into the silence, swallowing hard.

“What about Capry Ramos?” Acara asked. “Will it be safe for her to return to the Academy if removing the statue isn’t an option?”

Aribella remained silent, her face blank. Her eyes wandered around the room lazily as though she were looking for something beyond them. It was almost as though she was plucking answers out of the air around her. Or possibly listening to the whispers of the High Priests and Priestesses that had passed on before her. Her green eyes suddenly clouded over and became milky white, swirling like storm clouds.

“The question is if she is merely a key or a weapon. If she is a weapon, she could be the solution. If she is only a key, she may have to be thrown away. It is one life for the life of many,” as Aribella spoke it seemed as though multiple voices were speaking through her. It eerily reminded Acara of the various screams that had escaped Capry when she had broken free from the Great Destroyer. An army of voices. The hair on Acara’s arms stood on end. Aribella blinked several times, her eyes returning to their natural state.

“Pray she is a weapon,” Aribella said tonelessly , her voice now her own. Acara’s Elders stirred uncomfortably around her. “Our warriors arrive at dawn. Gather yours and we’ll meet at the statue in the morning. Please rest, feed, meditate. Do whatever you need to do to prepare. We’re going to need every set of capable hands at their best. I wish you a good evening.”

The Gikaineró Elders rose silently and bowed to Acara and her people. They then parted so Aribella could pass by, and flanked her from both sides. She exited Acara’s chambers, likely to retire to the room that had been prepared for her.

“That was the most unsettling briefing I have ever attended,” Elder Ira said quietly. Elder Silas nodded in agreement.

“We should have turned the child away,” Veranda said. “Perhaps this never would have come to be.”

Elder Dahlia ran her hands down her face. “Really, Veranda?” she asked. She was too tired to argue and left it at that.

“So we are just lending our energy in this endeavor?” Silas asked.

“She plans to lead the circle,” Acara mumbled. Her mood seemed to have soured considerably. “We will be there to lend our abilities and strength, yes. It is the only way to create a barrier strong enough. She was taught the magic the original elders used to lock him away. She’s the only one that can repair it properly.”

“And then we discuss the magic we’ll need to create to permanently destroy the entrance she speaks of?” Elder Virgil asked.

“I’m sure we will discuss that in depth after the mission is completed,” Acara said.

“What is troubling you?” Virgil asked.

“I’m worried about what will become of Capry if we allow Aribella to have access to her,” Acara spoke silently to them, for fear her words would be overheard. She wasn’t entirely sure her thoughts would be private from a being such as Aribella either. She had never encountered anything like her.

“I don’t know if any of you picked up on the massive waves of energy she was emitting during that little commune with the spirits of the universe, but I’m not sure we’ll have much of a say in the matter,” Elder Ira replied.

“If the fate of the realms rests on one child, who are we to interfere?” Veranda asked.

“Nobody has determined if it does and you’re already throwing her out the front door,” Dahlia scolded.

“I think it’s enough for the evening,” Acara spoke aloud, cutting off any more discussion. “We all must prepare for the morning and I think the High Priestess is right. I need to meditate.”

When the Grand Sorceress was finally left to her own thoughts, she sat in the middle of the large hollowed out table where she held her meetings and tried to center herself. Something was upsetting her balance. The only thing she knew was certain was she felt very apprehensive of what tomorrow would bring. She wondered if it would set in motion the very things Aribella spoke of avoiding. Or if they had already begun.