#⤷ rel. / anisiia

[dreadfamed]

ON ISALDA .

in the beginning of the 15th century, klaus and anisiia met isalda, a young and promising witch, who caught anisiia’s attention. the child’s family were witches of a conservative,  ‘preserve the balance of nature’ mentality. the girl, however, possessed a brightness, a curiosity, that could not be quenched by the serious attitudes of her parents and elder siblings. anisiia took to teaching the girl, despite the disapproval of her parents. more than once, she mentioned spiriting the child away when inevitably they were forced to leave. 

once, twice, thrice, klaus told her ‘no’. over time, however, his irritation with her distraction grew, and eventually, klaus insisted it was time to leave. anisiia demurred, then blatantly refused.  mikael was yet distant, and the potential her young protege showed… she did as she desired, in the end, enforcing her desires with an ultimatum: the girl would come with them, or once more they might go their separate ways.

over the span of a year, klaus’ frustrations grew. his tolerance for the blossoming witch decreased, for ever did he feel her as an interloper and a challenger for anisiia's attention. when he could take it no longer, he insisted that Anisiia part ways with the girl: she was sixteen now, full-grown and capable of surviving on her own. she no longer needed her surrogate mentor. following the resulting argument, anisiia moved to follow through on her prior threat and to leave with the girl. klaus could not stomach it:  the young woman, it seemed, was more important than him. klaus resolved to set anisiia back in her place, to enact some small revenge for her defiance, for the suggestion that she might leave, for the implication that this witch was more important than him. 

as his revenge, klaus chose to force upon isalda the fate he knew anisiia herself would most fear: to snatch the girl from life and imprison her within an immortality which must rob her of her power.  anisiia’s rage was such that in the fight that ensued, they demolished the entire city in which they currently resided. there was little choice, then, but to leave. they departed separately, and isalda refused to forgive anisiia for permitting klaus to live after what he had done to her. within three months, she too turned on anisiia.

klaus and isalda have crossed paths six times since, over the centuries. she remains bright, quick-witted, possessed of a curiosity that belies her aloofness. the first time, she mockingly threatened to kill him,  one of these days. though she has repeated the threat since, she has made no move to act upon it. it was not, she decided after a few decades, such a curse to have an immortal life. 

in the sixteenth century, she came into possession of an isolated german castle where she has held court since, surrounding herself with protectors both compelled and loyal, human and vampire. vaults of bloodwine, parties of hedonistic delight. the reality can almost match the stories that abound in the nearest villages. and over all presides their mercurial and cruel lady.

[dreadfamed]

ON ANISIIA .

in the early years of the 11th century, peasants living in a small village in the southeastern reaches of what would one day be called kievan rus’ found a small child within the ruined remains of a wagon. any valuables were long gone, and the child’s parents lay bloodied and crow-picked by the side of the road. despite the horrors of the scene and the chilling air, the child did not bawl, but lay quietly, looking up at them with wide, dark eyes. the thin blanket about her could not have staved off the spring evening’s chill, yet she remained warm to the touch when they picked her up.

they called her a miracle.

a young man, oleksei, took her home to his wife. their five children had each perished before their first birthdays, and the couple had long since given up hope of any child surviving to adulthood. if this child faced the same fate, then so be it, but perhaps, just perhaps, she was a blessing god-sent, an answer to his prayers.

she was not a normal child, they discovered as she grew. she seemed immune to the rules that applied to others. she might skip barefoot in the midst of winter and return home without a trace of frostbite. more than once, oleksei returned home to find a wolf haunting the forest near the house. a few times, he entered to find one curled about the child. and then, as she grew older, there were the unexplained circumstances: fires which sprang up, storms which swept in out of nowhere, sunlight which shone down upon her but left all others in darkness, broken bowls which she presented to him now whole once more.

though oleksei and his wife loved the child, they feared her too. terrified of the vengeance the town, or the priests might unleash upon her should they decry her ‘witch’, oleksei found it necessary to punish the girl for her transgressions. the slightest sign of abnormality brought down upon her a fist or switch. as she grew, the signs quieted then disappeared as she learned to govern the power she possessed.

with no recourse to teaching, she fumbled her way through mastering her own magic in secret, a magic of wordless spells and the sheer transference of her will to actuality. by the age of fifteen, she found her power intoxicating. by nineteen, she believed there was nothing she could not do if she set her mind to it. the well-being of others, the lives of animals or people... these things came second to the testing of her abilities. she attempted feats of power simply to see if she could.

she was nineteen when she met klaus. a few miles south of the village, she chanced across a pair of strangers who moved unsteadily, half-drunk. they stepped into her path, and when she declined their inappropriate suggestions and made to walk past . a blow cast her to the ground. she reached out without thinking, her power closing invisible fists about their throats. as they gasped, fingers clutching and scrabbling against their own skin, drawing forth red weals, she snapped their necks. the fell to the ground, and as she rose a prickling sense at the back of her neck alerted her to another’s presence. she spun to face the interloper and drew her power in tight about her in preparation, but something stayed her hand. it was not the gesture he made, the extended hands intended to convey no intent to harm, but rather the raw power of a form wholly unfamiliar. 

she was all he admired — strength and determination, raw power and force of will, an indomitable spirit. in him she found a kindred spirit, unique and alone and powerful. with her, he forged a new conception of self, embracing the strength he had tasted when he destroyed esther for all she had done. together, they were worse than either alone, but for all their selfishness, all the abandon they displayed in search of what they desired, towards each other they were warm.

klaus has married once in a thousand years, and it was then and to her, after the pagan ways of rus’. they could not stay, however: rumours had spread, those whispers that had cried witch in anisiia’s adolescence louder now than ever, for she had grown defiant and careless. and mikael, ever at klaus’ heels, could not be far. 

desiring immortality, anisiia bound herself to klaus, and while he lives she cannot age nor die, for all her body might starve and sicken. for four hundred years, she came and went from his side. so volatile were they that their fights tore them asunder, forced them their separate ways until their tempers had quieted and they might return to one another. in the end, klaus, in a fit of jealousy, turned a young witch girl anisiia had taken under her wing into a vampire. it was the last of their quarrels, and between them they leveled an entire city. this time, they did not find their way back to each other. klaus stole took with him her grimoire, however, and in its pages the spell she had been working on, one that would one day undo esther’s curse.

[dreadfamed]

TAG DROP.

⤷  file  /  from the writer's desk.

⤷  file  /  memes & sentence starters.

⤷  file  /  self promo.

⤷  file  /  promo.

⤷  file  /  wishlist.

⤷  file  /  saved.

⤷  ch. / visage  |  an untempered storm rages in those veins.

⤷  ch. / study  |  a would-be king crowned in broken lies.

⤷  ch. / characterization  |  soul stained with sin and scorched in flame.

⤷  rel.  / iputaspxllonyou | I'll use you as a focal point.

⤷  rel.  / iputaspxllonyou | I know no other way than this: where I do not exist nor you.

⤷  rel.  / rebekah | if to love is a weakness then for you I will bow my neck to the blade.

⤷  rel.  / elijah | who is more monstrous: one who bares his teeth or one who masks himself in civility?

⤷  rel.  / anisiia | в тихом омуте черти водятся.

⤷  rel.  / camille o'connell | and I would wish for nothing more.