My Little Ventrue Pt. 10 Ch. 05

"I have to admit," Antoinette said, "this is unprecedented."

"That's part of the reason we're here," Jack said. "It's safe here, in case things go... wrong."

"Wrong, my love?"

"Yeah. Like, this happened only a bit ago. We don't know what might happen."

"Your son is forever the pragmatist," Antoinette said, grinning at his mom, before grinning at him. Cute, making him look like the cold voice of reason in all this, when Antoinette was the colder one when it came to it.

"Yeap," his mom said, aiming her own grin at Jack. "Jacob said the same thing."

Jack rolled his eyes. "We thought maybe you could check and see if Mary's ok, too? Like, with your dragon tools and stuff."

"You would like me to prove that Mary Terry is alive and well."

"I mean yeah, if it's possible."

Antoinette set a hand on Mary's shoulder, and looked down at her with a serious gaze.

"I am sorry, but I can do no such thing. At least, not in regards to whether Mary is truly alive in the sense of the soul and self."

"You can't?" their mom asked.

"Non. And while I cannot discuss the fine details of my work in front of Mary, or Jack for that matter, I feel comfortable enough explaining this. My machine cannot pierce into the inner chamber where the soul resides. I am afraid the best you could hope for, is to ask a Begotten to monitor her dreams, should she have any."

"We thought of that," Samantha said, "but Sándor says he can't, uh, reach the soul."

"But he will be able to tell if she dreams, non?"

"Yeah, I believe so."

"Any entity with a brain can dream in some form or another, but the dreams of someone with a soul should be quite distinct versus those without, to a Begotten, I imagine. After the ball, we should arrange such a test. Though, I do think that with Mary's current state, we can currently ask the most basic, and perhaps most powerful question, as a test." She looked down at Mary, and his poor sister quaked. "Do you feel alive, Mary?"

They all looked at her.

"Do I feel alive?"

"Oui. Do you feel alive? A... je ne sais quois. A feeling. A kernel of awareness and desire inside you, something hidden inside emotions."

Jack raised a hand. Well, this did suddenly feel like class.

"Emotions aren't enough?"

"Non. Emotions can be found in anything with a brain developed enough to respond to chemicals and stimulus, same as dreams. But a soul? We know it exists. We know it affects us. But to understand it, quantify it, and measure its effects? It is how we know we are more than robots simply responding to stimulus or following processes and routines, and yet, we cannot define how we know." She nodded as she tapped a finger on her chin. "One of the many areas of study in the Ordo."

Jack nodded as his eyes drifted away. That made sense. The debate about whether people were sentient, or self aware, or had souls, it was all still-running debate among philosophers and scientists alike. Determinism and the nature of a soul seemed to disagree with each other, but at the same time, it was hard to dismiss that Jack felt like he had a soul, some sort of hidden spark inside him that was impossible to define or quantify. And considering the crazy shit Jack got to see in his four years of being a vampire, crazy shit even by vampire standards, he was pretty confident souls were a thing.

"I... think I do?" Mary said. "I've never really thought about it before."

"I would like to say you would know instantly, but I have no way to know such a thing. Take your time, child of my childe." Antoinette softened her smile, and gestured to the door. "Explore the tower as you wish. There are many rooms where the contents are sensitive, but they will be locked. You need not worry, so wander freely."

"Thank you! I uh, was kinda worried you'd lock me in a box, to keep an eye on me."

Jack grinned. "Or do experiments on her."

Her own grin slowly turning sly, Antoinette walked over to him, leaned down, and kissed him. Deeply. Jack blinked at her when she pulled away, and then at Mary, who kept glancing his way with wide, surprised, sheepish eyes.

"I would never do experiments on someone so precious to my own childe."

Jack chuckled and rubbed his head. Conveniently, Antoinette didn't say she wouldn't do it, just not to him and his family. And she said it knowing they'd pick up on it. Crafty.

His mom spoke next. "Mary and I are free for the rest of the night, then?"

"Indeed. Go, celebrate. This is truly a wondrous occasion. Perhaps in the future I will implore you let me examine Mary in detail, but nothing serious, and it can wait. If you decide to go out into the night, remember that she still looks exactly as she did as kine. Be careful and remember the Masquerade. I trust your discretion."

The two girls cheered, literally, and made for the door. But before they got out of the office, their mom turned around.

"Jack, you want to come too?"

Jack took a moment thinking about it. The look in his mom's eyes was so full of joy, it was almost overwhelming. Mary met his eyes too, and unlike his mom, she knew Jack well enough to know he really wouldn't like getting dragged around playing tour guide, not with the two of them bubbling with excitement and chatting nonstop. No judgment, it just wasn't his thing. Well, maybe a little judgment between brother and sister, him judging her chatty ways and her judging his hermit ways.

Back to old habits between the two of them. That made him smile more than anything that'd happened tonight.

"No, you two hang out and have fun. I know you're dying to." He winced. Fuck, that was a poor choice of words. "I'll catch up with you later, Mary."

"You sure, Jack?"

"Yeah. Go crazy. Mom's a millionaire now, or near it. She'll buy you stuff."

"Oh my god she is!" Mary hugged their mom around the shoulders and dragged her out with her excitement meter cranked to eleven. "I want ice cream! And then shoes!"

Jack and Antoinette looked at each other and waited until the door closed. A soundproof room meant they couldn't hear the elevator ding, but they waited anyway until they were confident Mary and his mom were on the way down.

"Jack," Antoinette said, and she motioned to the chair in front of her desk.

Jack sighed heavy as he sat in it, and Antoinette sat on the other side of her desk, waiting. She knew he'd want to have this conversation, and she was happy to wait for him to get to it. The Prince was too damn smart.

"I'm terrified," he said after a bit.

Antoinette sighed, mimicking him as she leaned back in her chair. "Understandable."

"Yeah?"

"Of course. Your dead sister is alive once again. The implications alone are massive. I will not be able to keep this secret, and can guarantee witches and dragons from other cities will come to see your sister. Her life will be in danger, as others will be tempted to wisp her away for their own experiments."

Jack stared at her, until he knew his mouth was hanging open. "I meant because she seems to be alive, but might not be! She might just be a body walking around with a ghost possessing her."

"Ah yes, that."

He threw up his hands. "I hadn't even considered all that other stuff!"

"I will handle that element of the problem. Dolareido is my city, and while I am embarrassed with the sheer chaos that it has suffered these past few years, be under no illusion. I control my city." She tapped a finger against the table a couple times.

"Hey you don't need to convince me. I know you let Garry and Michael bash heads. You could have stopped them."

She grinned. As powerful and deadly and ancient as Antoinette was, even she wasn't completely immune to an ego stroke.

"I could have. At great cost, but I could have. My point is not to boast, my love. What I meant, is that I have control of this city in ways not even the Invictus understand. Were it not for Jeremiah and Elen and the magical abilities they brought with them, I would have easily crushed their invasion. I can keep your sister safe from outside threats."

Jack winced and looked down. "Right, Elen. You think... she was involved in Mary's resurrection."

"Undoubtedly. Your mother stole Elen's knife and book from my many artifacts."

"What!?"

Antoinette put up a settling hand. "Beatrice is not stupid, Jack. She asked your mother to steal the items, so she could pursue resurrection to help your mother, and herself. I am sure that was partly because she was afraid I would say no, if she or Samantha asked me directly. But, perhaps even unknown to Beatrice herself, she wanted to know if your mother had the commitment to follow this dark road to its end."

"Well, damn. I can't believe... Holy shit."

"It is worse than that. Beatrice and your mother paved that road with corpses, though with your connections in the Invictus, I expect you suspected."

Jack sucked in a breath through his teeth and looked to the side. "I mean, a little. Invictus get reports of kine deaths that are strange, or people who go missing that fit that 'nobody will miss them' bill. There's been more of them than usual, the past few months."

"Indeed."

"And Mom, she... she's changing. A lot. Faster than I can even understand."

"You suspect the witches are responsible?"

"A little. I mostly blame Angela." And like someone cracked a whip along his back, pain shot up his spine and into his skull. "But, yeah, knowing Mom's been involved with murdering kine -- shit kine, but still -- and getting involved in witch business, is terrifying. Mom isn't hard enough to... well, I guess I was wrong about that."

Antoinette smiled at him. "I had thought that with everything that has happened, you would understand that your mother is resilient."

"I do. She's also sensitive."

"And you are not?"

Jack squinted at her. Too damn smart.

"I am, too, but I've gotten pretty good at putting a wall between me and other people. She hasn't."

"Which makes her resilience all the more amazing. She marched through the valley of death, and felt every horrible thing she did, all so she could give her daughter a second chance at life."

Another whip crack on Jack's back.

"Fuck, I am so fucking terrified, Antoinette. Mom's so deep in with this witch shit, and... and she's so fucking happy! So fucking happy, that all I can do is think about what'll happen if she loses Mary again."

"Then it is a good thing her mother's sire is the Prince, and her brother is a powerful Invictus. Assuming Beatrice's ritual is a true success, Mary will be safe from outside influence."

There was that. He could see things from his mom's perspective easily enough, that Mary was her daughter and their mom could protect her. It was as blind and stupid a belief as when a mom holds their arm out to stop their kid from going forward in their car seat when about to collide with another car. An instinct that wouldn't do jack shit in the modern world. But, with a Prince's resources and Jack's resources helping her, it was a lot more doable.

Until it wouldn't be.

"I know Mom is going to ask if someone can sire Mary."

Antoinette nodded slowly as she let her eyes drift. "Indeed, and such a thing is not uncommon for family members who become vampires."

"I wanted my family to grow old and live normal lives. Neither of them are cut out for the Masquerade. Or... Or at least I didn't think they were."

"Julias sired you because he knew your tenacity would ensure you would deal with your second life and carry its burdens no matter what. But not all Kindred who succeed do so because the skills they had in their first life translate well. Many rise to the occasion, a painful and horrible experience, but a defining one. Nosferatu are almost always embraced this way."

"A lot of Nos are unstable, hateful, and suicidal."

"That is true. I do not make these points to disagree with you, Jack. I make them, because I wish for you to understand that people change, and can adapt. Your mother has been a prime example." Before he could say anything about his mom and her happy nature, she put up a hand. "Finding a sire for Mary is not something to be rushed. Spend time with her, and speak with her about it. There are ways she can continue her life as kine, if need be, but I suspect your sister will follow in your footsteps."

"And be the first Terry to become a vampire willingly."

Sighing, Antoinette shook her head. "I did not realize you hated your second life so much."

"You know that's not true. I wouldn't have met you otherwise, and that makes all the Hell worth it." He smiled at her, and she smiled back. "But, there has been Hell, and a part of me would be much happier knowing Mary wasn't involved in any of this. Maybe get her into another city with a new identity and a fat wallet. Away from me, away from the curse, away from the Masquerade and the Danse Macabre. Away from hunters and monsters and ghosts and--"

"Jack. Those elements exist in other cities. She may go through life without them finding her. She may not. But no matter what happens, she will be well aware of them now. Unless you know a Ventrue strong enough to completely remove months of her memories, memories forged as a being of ephemeral matter?"

"I... don't." Ripping out specific memories was one thing. Wiping out entire months? Not a chance. And he had no idea if he could even try, since she'd made the memories as a ghost.

"No matter what happens, your sister is now intimately familiar with the world of darkness. She will notice it, whether she wishes to or not. And vampires notice when others notice."

Shit. Shit shit.

"It's just... she's alive, you know? Alive, I think. And I want to keep that going, if only for Mom's sake. You saw the look on her face."

"I did indeed. I have never seen her so happy. And while I am sure she carries some concerns over the ritual, and the nagging fear that her daughter's resurrection was not entirely successful, she is happy."

Jack looked up as he ran a hand over his head. "I still can't believe it."

"Neither can I, little Ventrue. Neither can I."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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~~Natasha~~

"Oh my g-g-g--"

"Everyone says that." Samantha smiled so bright, Tash feared everyone in the room would burst into ashes. She stood beside her apparently very alive daughter, arm behind her and hugging her tight. And Mary smiled in the same way, so bright it was dangerous.

"I d-don't understand. I... I knew Beatrice was--"

"You knew." Samantha nodded sternly. "I'm sure every vampire in the city with, um, an ear to the ground, knew Beatrice was up to stuff, right?"

"That's... true."

"We're all super shocked," Mary said, holding on Tash's gaze for as long as she could before looking up and around to drink in the sight of the tower. "Oh my god this place must have taken tens of millions of dollars to build!"

"It was the t-time to build," Tash said, "that was the bigger problem for the Prince. It took decades."

"I can imagine! It's a giant underground palace!"

Well, maybe not the size of a giant palace, but it was a huge underground complex. Only someone who planned to live for hundreds of years would sink the time into building it.

"I... I um, I d-don't know how I should... um... Are you..."

The two women giggled. They had the gigglefits, as if they were drunk. Neither of them were.

"I'm alive!" Mary swung out both arms and came for her. Tash froze, not sure what was happening until Mary hugged her as tight as she could. They'd never met.

"I'm h-happy for you!"

Without missing a beat, Mary set her down and spun around a couple times like a ballerina. Unlike a ballerina, she tripped, but her mom caught her before the poor girl could smash open her head on the black marble. Vampire reflexes putting in quick work.

"Sorry Mom." Mary bounced in place a couple times before tugging on her mom's arm. "Show me all the clothes you bought!"

Samantha laughed and laughed, and directed Mary in a new direction, toward her room. Their conversation devolved into the typical stuff women -- not Tash -- talked about when they were so excited and joyful they fell into abject mindlessness: clothes. Whatever heavy conversation moments that would normally follow having your daughter get resurrected, it seemed the two had already had.

"Want to come, Natasha?" Mary asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Um, I don't want to intrude. You two m-must have things you want to talk about."

"Mom and I talked a lot when I was a ghost. And we'll talk more tomorrow! And get ice cream. But I want to have fun right now, and meet Mom's friends."

Tash squirmed in place, but she knew she was smiling. "Okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You really think it'll be a problem?" Mary asked. She was standing behind a changing screen, with both Samantha and Natasha sitting on a nearby couch. Samantha had her own room, and the Prince didn't skimp on the extra bedrooms. It was huge, with a huge bed, walls and floors of Antoinette's beloved black marble, and a giant walk-in closet where Mary perused her mom's selection. Natasha and Samantha got to watch from nearby, with mother and daughter occasionally switching positions.

Under normal circumstances, Natasha would have found this clothes game silly and boring. But watching the two women overflow with happiness and practically bounce as they switched off and both tried on Samantha's clothes -- they were similar size -- was too heartwarming to not enjoy.

"I d-don't know about problem," Natasha said, "but it will be something that needs to be done. The Masquerade is very important, and this situation is extremely... extremely extremely unusual. W-When people learn about someone coming back from the dead, they'll come to investigate."

Mary peeked around the screen. "But not when I was a ghost?"

"Ghosts are rare, b-but not so rare we haven't heard of them. There are people out there who d-dedicate themselves to dealing with ghosts, either because the ghost is hurting people, or... b-because they want to help ghosts move on." It only took a second to see the dismay cross Mary's face. Tash looked away. "But no one's ever heard of a resurrection."

"Then they should read the bible." The dismay vanished, and Mary giggled as she stepped out completely into view. "How about this?"

Samantha sat up straight with a jolt. "I don't think so! I won't have my daughter wearing that!"

"Mom, it's your dress!"

"I'm a vampire."

"That doesn't mean you get special exceptions on how much skin you can show!"

"It's different when you're a vampire! It's normal."

"Uh huh. I don't believe that." Mary came closer, out of the giant closet, and did a little twirl in front of them.

It was a very revealing dress, black, with a skirt only just barely long enough to cover the ass and privates, and a single strap behind the neck to hold the flimsy chest somewhat in place. Mary had modest breasts like her mother, and that was good, because anything larger would be a liability in that dress.

"Samantha is p-partly right," Tash said. "Vampires don't worry about sex. Usually. It's fun, a way to hunt, b-but it's not as important to us as it used to be. Romantically, I mean." Despite herself, Tash grinned. "B-But cuddly time is still as romantic as ever."

"Tash gets two boys to cuddle with, at the same time," Samantha said with a laugh. "She gets all the cuddles."

Mary burst into even louder laughter as she disappeared behind the changing screen again. "You're a lucky woman, Tash."

So that was how Samantha wanted to play it? As Antoinette would say, en garde.

"W-Well, I mean, your mom has lots of people to cuddle with t-too. A lot lot."

Mary, only halfway behind the screen, stepped back and blinked at Tash. "Um, what?"

"Natasha!" Samantha turned and gave Tash a begging look. "I haven't told her everything."