St, Vlad's Academy, Montana | Tuesday Late Night through Afternoon
Rose ended up in the chapel as she waited through the long night for the dawn that would let her go back to the caves. Perhaps unsurprisingly after a massive attack, the chapel was filled with petitioners, but Rose was able to find a pew of her own and curled up in it. Her fingers stroked over the beads of the chotki Lissa had given her as she tried to form her thoughts into words of prayer.
It was possible Dimitri was alive. Perhaps that Strigoi had just drank from him and abandoned him there to run away. Perhaps - if she could get out there, she could find him. Hurt, terribly hurt, yes, but not dead. Her eyes filled with tears again as she replayed the fight in her mind, trying to see what she could have done, how she could have protected Dimitri, where that Strigoi had come from. He'd threatened to kill Lissa, and even though he didn't accomplish that, he'd managed to destroy Rose's heart.
No. Dimitri couldn't be dead. She would know if he was. The saints and angels that lined the chapel wouldn't take someone so alive, so warm, so good. Rose stretched out on the bench, desperately hoping God or someone would hear her prayers and answer them.
Lissa leaned over the back of the pew, sighing with relief that she'd finally found Rose. She'd been calling through the bond for Rose to her since she'd been dismissed from the clinic. It wasn't the first time she'd wished that bond went both ways. "Rose," she whispered softly, reaching to touch her friend's shoulder. "Wake up. We've been looking everywhere for you."
Rose opened her eyes to see Lissa's face surrounded by her golden hair, almost looking like an angel as she looked down at her. She felt exhausted still, her eyes hurting from crying. "What time is it?" she asked quickly. "Did the sun come up?"
"No," she replied, reaching to gently touch Rose's face, summoning her magic to heal the bruises and cuts from the fighting. "It's maybe five hours til sunrise."
The warm golden feel of the magic coursed through Rose but she was distracted by how long the night still was. How could she wait another five hours before going after Dimitri? "You shouldn't be wasting your magic on me," she said, more harshly than she'd've liked, and even through her pain, she felt Lissa's hurt at the comment.
"I've been doing it all night," Lissa replied softly, forgiving Rose almost instantly. Afer all, she hadn't slept since Saturday and had been fighting and lost her mentor. "Adrian and I've been helping Dr. Olenski. We couldn't not."
Rose sat up finally, rubbing her hand back through her tangled hair and amazed, as always, at just how well Lissa's healing worked. One would think after being healed from the dead, that would be a given now, but no.
"Seems weird for everyone to know," she admitted, her tone an apology for her earlier comment. "We've been hiding it for so long." Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and she stood up quickly. "That's it. Oh my god, Liss. You can save him. Dimitri, you can heal him."
Lissa reached for Rose's hand, a sudden flare of worry that Rose didn't remember what had happened. "Rose, they say Dimitri's dead."
"No!" Rose jerked her hand back. "He can't be. I think he must be injured. It must be really bad since he hasn't come back. But if you're there..." Her eyes lit up as another thought came to her. "Even - even if he is dead -" her voice broke at saying that out loud. "You could still heal him. He'd be shadow-kissed too."
"I don't think I can do that," she said slowly, utter sorrow radiating from her. She was upset about losing Dimitri too. He'd been kind to her and to Rose which meant everything to Lissa. "Bringing people back takes so much power. And - well," she swallowed, trying to say it without sounding horribly cold and upsetting Rose more. "- I think that has to be right away. I don't think I could do it on someone's who's been, uh, dead for a while."
"But you could try," Rose begged, hearing the desperation and near insanity in her voice. "Please, Liss, you could try."
Lissa shook her head, a little surprised at Rose's desperation and wishing she could help with this one request. One of the first she could remember Rose ever making of her. "I can't. I can't go around bringing every dead person back to life. You know why. It's abusing it. It's why we kept it secret."
"It's not everyone, it's Dimitri! You would do this? For me?" Rose knew she was shouting, but with the level of general grief, even in the church, the outburst wasn't getting much attention. "I would do anything for you, Lissa. Anything. And you don't even do this for me?" She heaved deep breaths, almost hyperventilating in her attempts not to burst into sobs. She could tell she was on the verge of hysteria, but Rose didn't care. Without Dimitri, without Lissa even trying to help her, it didn't matter anyway.
She looked at Rose carefully as she moved around the pew to pull her best friend into her arms. Rose's reaction - this was more than a student upset about about her mentor, even more than a friend. Hundreds of Rose's comments, her refusal to date after Mason died, her easy rapport with Dimitri at her graduation. Lissa couldn't believe she'd missed it before. Couldn't believe Rose hadn't told her. She had so many questions, but she didn't ask them now, just said, "I'm so, so sorry, Rose" and hugged her tightly, not letting go for a long time.
Eventually Lissa had gently urged Rose out of the chapel and back to her room, never straying far from her friend's side. At dawn, the guardians refused to let Rose go with them into the caves, but she and Lissa received permission to come to the school's borders and wait for the team to come back. Hours passed, and Rose sat on the ground, leaning her head against Lissa's shoulder, too exhausted in every possible way to talk.
When they came back, the guardians carried stretchers holding the bodies of those killed. Five dead guardians who'd fallen in their assault on the caves. Rose felt Lissa begin to cry, but she felt frozen inside, incapable of emotion as she simply glanced at each body, knowing before she did that it wasn't the person she was looking for.
"Where's Dimitri?" she demanded, charging up to her mother. "Is he - is he alive?" Rose almost whispered the words, wondering if God really had heard her prayers. Maybe he was too injured to move, waiting back at the caves for another team to help him out.
Janine focused on the stretcher she was carrying, and her voice was strained and filled with grief when she finally replied. "He wasn't there, Rose."
In her surprise, Rose stumbled over her own feet and just managed not to fall. "What does that mean? Maybe he left to find help?"
Oh God, the flare of hope from her daughter was almost too much to bear. "Molly wasn't there either." Molly had been the Moroi who'd already been dead before the rescue attempt. She finally looked up at Rose, feeling a tear of her own drop down her cheek. "I don't know what to think, Rose. It's possible - it's possible they took him for later."
Rose recoiled, the thought of Dimitri as a 'snack' horrible, but it wasn't nearly as terrible as the alternative. "They wouldn't have taken Molly for later," she said, her voice thin.
"I'm sorry, Rose," Janine said. "It's likely they're both dead. The Strigoi dragged their bodies off. We won't know for sure." She'd never lied to Rose before, but she prayed the lie would pass.
It didn't. If Rose hadn't been in shock, she'd have been amazed that her mother had lied, had tried to protect her and made up a fairy tale instead of forcing her to accept the truth. Instead she was shaking too hard to keep walking.
Dimitri wasn't in the caves. The guardians couldn't know for sure. But - she could find out. Ignoring her mother's call, Rose turned and raced back towards the caves. The moment she was past the wards, she cried out, "Mason! Mason, I need you."
Rose could hear Lissa running after her as she waited impatiently for Mason to appear, but she ignored her, focusing on trying to call Mason there. When he appeared, he was more translucent than ever, flickering like a flame about to gutter. "Mason, is Dimitri dead?" she asked, wondering why it felt like he already knew her question.
He shook his head, and afraid to know, afraid to hope, Rose was barely able to ask the next question. "Is he alive?"
He shook his head again.
Her knees almost buckled at the answer. Rose felt faint, dizzy, incapable of speech, but she forced herself to ask the last question. "Is...is Dimitri a Strigoi?"
There was a moment of hesitation before he nodded, and Rose's heart shattered.
Lissa had been looking between Rose and the emptyness she was speaking to, her own heart falling as Rose asked her questions. She couldn't see Mason. She didn't need to because Rose's shuddering loss of balance at the final answer was answer enough. Running forward, she threw her arms around Rose, stroking her hair, almost not brave enough to look into her friend's face and see the wrenching heartbreak.
Rose endured Lissa's touch, barely moving as she watched Mason disappear. The tears that had come so readily earlier were gone now, and she had to face this horror dry-eyed, unable to speak. Dimitri. Of all the people in the caves that night, of all the victims in the world, they picked him, twisted his gentleness, his loyalty, his fierceness into evil. Destroyed his soul and with it, Rose's world.
The image of those dark eyes she loved so much ringed in the red that signalled a Strigoi finally forced a cry from Rose's throat, and she turned to Lissa, burying her head in her shoulder and clinging to her slight shoulders as sobs of horror and pain wracked her body.
[NFI, Warning for discussion of character trauma.]
[Shadow Kiss: Post 1 | Post 2 | Post 3 | Post 4 | Post 5 | Post 6 | Post 7 | Post 8 | Post 9 ]
It was possible Dimitri was alive. Perhaps that Strigoi had just drank from him and abandoned him there to run away. Perhaps - if she could get out there, she could find him. Hurt, terribly hurt, yes, but not dead. Her eyes filled with tears again as she replayed the fight in her mind, trying to see what she could have done, how she could have protected Dimitri, where that Strigoi had come from. He'd threatened to kill Lissa, and even though he didn't accomplish that, he'd managed to destroy Rose's heart.
No. Dimitri couldn't be dead. She would know if he was. The saints and angels that lined the chapel wouldn't take someone so alive, so warm, so good. Rose stretched out on the bench, desperately hoping God or someone would hear her prayers and answer them.
Lissa leaned over the back of the pew, sighing with relief that she'd finally found Rose. She'd been calling through the bond for Rose to her since she'd been dismissed from the clinic. It wasn't the first time she'd wished that bond went both ways. "Rose," she whispered softly, reaching to touch her friend's shoulder. "Wake up. We've been looking everywhere for you."
Rose opened her eyes to see Lissa's face surrounded by her golden hair, almost looking like an angel as she looked down at her. She felt exhausted still, her eyes hurting from crying. "What time is it?" she asked quickly. "Did the sun come up?"
"No," she replied, reaching to gently touch Rose's face, summoning her magic to heal the bruises and cuts from the fighting. "It's maybe five hours til sunrise."
The warm golden feel of the magic coursed through Rose but she was distracted by how long the night still was. How could she wait another five hours before going after Dimitri? "You shouldn't be wasting your magic on me," she said, more harshly than she'd've liked, and even through her pain, she felt Lissa's hurt at the comment.
"I've been doing it all night," Lissa replied softly, forgiving Rose almost instantly. Afer all, she hadn't slept since Saturday and had been fighting and lost her mentor. "Adrian and I've been helping Dr. Olenski. We couldn't not."
Rose sat up finally, rubbing her hand back through her tangled hair and amazed, as always, at just how well Lissa's healing worked. One would think after being healed from the dead, that would be a given now, but no.
"Seems weird for everyone to know," she admitted, her tone an apology for her earlier comment. "We've been hiding it for so long." Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and she stood up quickly. "That's it. Oh my god, Liss. You can save him. Dimitri, you can heal him."
Lissa reached for Rose's hand, a sudden flare of worry that Rose didn't remember what had happened. "Rose, they say Dimitri's dead."
"No!" Rose jerked her hand back. "He can't be. I think he must be injured. It must be really bad since he hasn't come back. But if you're there..." Her eyes lit up as another thought came to her. "Even - even if he is dead -" her voice broke at saying that out loud. "You could still heal him. He'd be shadow-kissed too."
"I don't think I can do that," she said slowly, utter sorrow radiating from her. She was upset about losing Dimitri too. He'd been kind to her and to Rose which meant everything to Lissa. "Bringing people back takes so much power. And - well," she swallowed, trying to say it without sounding horribly cold and upsetting Rose more. "- I think that has to be right away. I don't think I could do it on someone's who's been, uh, dead for a while."
"But you could try," Rose begged, hearing the desperation and near insanity in her voice. "Please, Liss, you could try."
Lissa shook her head, a little surprised at Rose's desperation and wishing she could help with this one request. One of the first she could remember Rose ever making of her. "I can't. I can't go around bringing every dead person back to life. You know why. It's abusing it. It's why we kept it secret."
"It's not everyone, it's Dimitri! You would do this? For me?" Rose knew she was shouting, but with the level of general grief, even in the church, the outburst wasn't getting much attention. "I would do anything for you, Lissa. Anything. And you don't even do this for me?" She heaved deep breaths, almost hyperventilating in her attempts not to burst into sobs. She could tell she was on the verge of hysteria, but Rose didn't care. Without Dimitri, without Lissa even trying to help her, it didn't matter anyway.
She looked at Rose carefully as she moved around the pew to pull her best friend into her arms. Rose's reaction - this was more than a student upset about about her mentor, even more than a friend. Hundreds of Rose's comments, her refusal to date after Mason died, her easy rapport with Dimitri at her graduation. Lissa couldn't believe she'd missed it before. Couldn't believe Rose hadn't told her. She had so many questions, but she didn't ask them now, just said, "I'm so, so sorry, Rose" and hugged her tightly, not letting go for a long time.
Eventually Lissa had gently urged Rose out of the chapel and back to her room, never straying far from her friend's side. At dawn, the guardians refused to let Rose go with them into the caves, but she and Lissa received permission to come to the school's borders and wait for the team to come back. Hours passed, and Rose sat on the ground, leaning her head against Lissa's shoulder, too exhausted in every possible way to talk.
When they came back, the guardians carried stretchers holding the bodies of those killed. Five dead guardians who'd fallen in their assault on the caves. Rose felt Lissa begin to cry, but she felt frozen inside, incapable of emotion as she simply glanced at each body, knowing before she did that it wasn't the person she was looking for.
"Where's Dimitri?" she demanded, charging up to her mother. "Is he - is he alive?" Rose almost whispered the words, wondering if God really had heard her prayers. Maybe he was too injured to move, waiting back at the caves for another team to help him out.
Janine focused on the stretcher she was carrying, and her voice was strained and filled with grief when she finally replied. "He wasn't there, Rose."
In her surprise, Rose stumbled over her own feet and just managed not to fall. "What does that mean? Maybe he left to find help?"
Oh God, the flare of hope from her daughter was almost too much to bear. "Molly wasn't there either." Molly had been the Moroi who'd already been dead before the rescue attempt. She finally looked up at Rose, feeling a tear of her own drop down her cheek. "I don't know what to think, Rose. It's possible - it's possible they took him for later."
Rose recoiled, the thought of Dimitri as a 'snack' horrible, but it wasn't nearly as terrible as the alternative. "They wouldn't have taken Molly for later," she said, her voice thin.
"I'm sorry, Rose," Janine said. "It's likely they're both dead. The Strigoi dragged their bodies off. We won't know for sure." She'd never lied to Rose before, but she prayed the lie would pass.
It didn't. If Rose hadn't been in shock, she'd have been amazed that her mother had lied, had tried to protect her and made up a fairy tale instead of forcing her to accept the truth. Instead she was shaking too hard to keep walking.
Dimitri wasn't in the caves. The guardians couldn't know for sure. But - she could find out. Ignoring her mother's call, Rose turned and raced back towards the caves. The moment she was past the wards, she cried out, "Mason! Mason, I need you."
Rose could hear Lissa running after her as she waited impatiently for Mason to appear, but she ignored her, focusing on trying to call Mason there. When he appeared, he was more translucent than ever, flickering like a flame about to gutter. "Mason, is Dimitri dead?" she asked, wondering why it felt like he already knew her question.
He shook his head, and afraid to know, afraid to hope, Rose was barely able to ask the next question. "Is he alive?"
He shook his head again.
Her knees almost buckled at the answer. Rose felt faint, dizzy, incapable of speech, but she forced herself to ask the last question. "Is...is Dimitri a Strigoi?"
There was a moment of hesitation before he nodded, and Rose's heart shattered.
Lissa had been looking between Rose and the emptyness she was speaking to, her own heart falling as Rose asked her questions. She couldn't see Mason. She didn't need to because Rose's shuddering loss of balance at the final answer was answer enough. Running forward, she threw her arms around Rose, stroking her hair, almost not brave enough to look into her friend's face and see the wrenching heartbreak.
Rose endured Lissa's touch, barely moving as she watched Mason disappear. The tears that had come so readily earlier were gone now, and she had to face this horror dry-eyed, unable to speak. Dimitri. Of all the people in the caves that night, of all the victims in the world, they picked him, twisted his gentleness, his loyalty, his fierceness into evil. Destroyed his soul and with it, Rose's world.
The image of those dark eyes she loved so much ringed in the red that signalled a Strigoi finally forced a cry from Rose's throat, and she turned to Lissa, burying her head in her shoulder and clinging to her slight shoulders as sobs of horror and pain wracked her body.
[NFI, Warning for discussion of character trauma.]
[Shadow Kiss: Post 1 | Post 2 | Post 3 | Post 4 | Post 5 | Post 6 | Post 7 | Post 8 | Post 9 ]