#Ravenovia is the reimagination of Strahd my friend and I have made I love her

[naruyuki-writes]

Ravenovia's Death and Rebirth

Summary: A retelling of Strahd's descent into madness.

Word Count: 1298

Over the course of the last few years, Ravenovia has her eye on a girl named Tatyana.  A girl her brother, Sergei, brings into the line of sight.  She tries countless times to draw her eye and after many failed attempts, it was a simple statement in her Tatyana’s final rejection of Ravenovia

“Sergei’s heart is the one that calls to me.”

Ravenovia trifles with dark magics in her fit of rage and madness and seeks a way to kill her brother and finds one that will doubly benefit her.

On the day of Tatyana and Segei’s wedding, she appears wearing a beautiful black and white dress.  Her presence is met with scorn from the lovely bride and groom.  She regards them with a smiling veneer.

“You both look quite dashing on this fine day.  Such a lovely… couple.” she saunters closer to them, her heels muted on the blue velvet carpet.  “I do apologize for not meeting the theme requirement.  I’ve just always believed I looked better in blood red.” she chuckles as she lifts her white gloved hands in the air.  After a moment she lets her arms fall to her side and lowers her gaze back to Sergei.  The veneer fades and falters into disdain.  With no warning, she lunges for her brother.  A blade previously unseen is now drawn and slicing through Sergei’s fine fabrics and flesh.  They struggle and fight, Sergei doing his best to avoid Ravenovia’s precise slashes.  She trips him and plunges the knife in his stomach, falling on top of him.  Her hands leave the handle of the blade and dive for his neck.  She squeezes harder and harder, staring into his eyes so that he can see her madness and she can see his fear.

“I hope you understand now why I wore black!” she mutters to him through her teeth.  She holds her grip on his neck until his eyes roll back into his head and he falls unconscious.  It’s almost painful for her to release all of the tension and strain residing in her knuckles, but she does; hands shaking with the adrenaline coursing through her.  She reaches for the knife in his stomach and rips it out, sheathing it bloody.  “Your death will fuel my life forever,” she whispers as her hand blurs with darkness.  She swirls her hand and raises her arm in the air.  Like being unsheathed from an invisible scabbard, she pulls a sword of maddening shadow into existence, then plunges it down into her brother’s chest.  She carves through his skin and tissues and crunches into the bones that protect his heart.

Ravenovia ungracefully yanks his heart from its home, still warm, firm yet fragile, bloody red.  It soaks into her once pure white gloves, staining them crimson.  She whips her head around to the stunned bride, Tatyana.  She’s trembling in place, like everyone else in the audience.  No one is brave enough to make a move, so all they do is gaze upon the horror of Ravenovia and what she’s doing.

“Tatyana.  Is this the heart you spoke of that called to you?”

Silence.

“Well?! Is it?!” she screams at the top of her lungs and she raises herself to her feet.  Then Tatyana runs and Ravenovia gives chase.

“Tatyana, you know damn well this all could have been prevented.” Ravenovia’s voice echoes through the halls, her heels’ previous quickened pace slowing as she caroles her quarry.  “If you had just chosen ME!”

After the strenuous chase up and up and up Tatyana finds herself at the balcony with a stomach churning drop.  With the only exit being blocked by a deranged and bloody Ravenovia.

“Now, you have nowhere to go.” her brother’s heart is still dripping a trail of blood behind her, growing cold.  “This heart means absolutely nothing,” she sinks her fingers deep inside the muscle, the remaining blood and plasma oozing out until it caves in on itself with a sick spurt of blood, splashing across Ravenovia’s face.  “My heart is the only one left… does it not call to you?”  She stalks closer to Tatyana who is desperately looking every which way for a means of escape.  She turns her back to Ravenvoia, squeezing her fingers around the railing of the balcony staring into the face of plunging darkness below.

“Ravenovia… you are a horrid monster and your heart only sputters out a disgusting croak.  A cry no one would ever answer to, not out of pity… not even out of desperation.  You will die alone and I will die with my heart belonging to another.” Tatyana swiftly climbs over the railing and dives off.

Ravenovia does not even react as she watches the love of her life willingly jump to her death just to escape her.  The words she spoke pierce her deep to her core.  She throws the heart down and stamps down onto it with her toe, twisting it into the stone.  She does not move to the balcony, but instead back into the castle.  There is a fire building up in her stomach, climbing to her chest, clawing up her throat and screaming from her mouth.  She begins to hear the armored clatter of her guards.  The first one she spots she shoves them into the wall, removing their helm and bashing their skull with it.  She throws the helm at the next guard she spots, smacking them in the face.

“DON’T GET IN MY FUCKING WAY!” she removes their sword from their side and stabs into the gap between their armor at their shoulder, pinning them to the wall.  She continues to scream as she tirades down the halls of her castle.  It isn’t until she’s faced with three guards holding spears at the ready, all staring down her huffing, crazed and bloodied body.

“Did you not HEAR ME?”

“Lady Ravenovia, you must stand down at once or we will take action against you.”

She spits out a laugh and cackles maniacally, truly tickled by the threat.

“GO AHEAD!” she extends her arms out and bears her chest wide, welcoming whatever onslaught they desire to bring down upon her.  They did nothing.  She opens her eyes and cocks her head.

“You’ve murdered your brother Lady Ravenovia, we cannot allow you to continue freely around the castle, you must come with us.”

“Come with you? What and arrest me? No, I would rather die!” she strides towards them and lifts her swirling hand, beginning to unsheath the same shadowy blade she used to carve her brother’s chest open.  And at the flick of her wrist, the head of the front guard’s spear plunges deep into her heart.  She gasps in shock and pain, her spell falters and the dark mist evaporates from around her hand.  She crumples to her knees, her hands latching onto the wooden pole.  The life force from her body dissipates and it succumbs to the heart stopping stab.  Her hands go slack and her arms fall to her side one last time.

The three guards look amongst each other as they realize they have killed the Lady.

“Quickly, you go straight to the captain and alert her of what has happened, we’ll deal with… her body.”

“Aye,” the guard runs off and the two remaining stare at Ravenovia’s still body, blood spilling from her wound.

“You grab her and I’ll pull the spear out.”

“I cannot believe the Lady went mad like that… ripping out her poor brother’s heart.  I knew tales of her victories, but to extend such brutality to your own family,” the guard crouches down and takes her shoulders.  “UGH!”

Ravenovia’s hand grabs the guard's beard and yanks him closer.  Staring back at him are bright violet eyes and a widening mouth with rows of fangs.