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Alcina spent a great amount of time bonding with her newly reborn daughters. When the girls recovered from the cadou treatment, they were deemed an unfit vessel for Mother Miranda’s daughter Eva and labeled as failures in the goddess’s eyes.
For Alcina Dimitrescu, however, it was truly her biggest dream come true. How she had always longed to be a mother, have an heir to her family, and teach her offspring all she had learned in life. To have three daughters was a blessing to her.
The eldest of the three Dimitrescu sisters was an eager blonde woman, an overachiever. She always strived to accomplish everything she started, so it perfectly, and looked up to her mother. As the oldest of the three, she was the next in line to Alcina’s business which meant she took on a great amount of responsibility. Bela made sure her sisters were kept in line and learned as much as she possibly could to take care of the wine business and the castle. Alcina found her oldest daughter’s overeagerness adorable and made sure to reassure her daughter whenever she needed.
The softer of the three, the baby of the family, the most flirtatious Dimitrescu daughter, Daniela. She was Alcina’s baby, her silly, adorable, little goofball. Daniela was much more affectionate than her older sisters, always wanting to be near Alcina, hugging or cuddling mother, curling up next to her in the couch while reading. She always wanted to spend time with Alcina as much as she could and would often get jealous if she noticed the Countess spending more time with her other sisters, even if it was boring wine making business with Bela. Daniela demanded Alcina’s attention and seemed to have a bit of an attachment issue, but Alcina was always there to soothe her nerves and comfort Daniela when needed.
Her middle daughter, her wild child, the most ruthless and vicious of the three Dimitrescu sisters, Cassandra Dimitrescu. She was the only daughter that didn’t fully trust Alcina yet. She was cold and quiet, often hard to read. Most of Alcina’s attempts to bond with her middle daughter were all failures. The only time Cassandra ever showed any interest in the activities Alcina had attempted with her was hunting.
It took a great amount of patience and understanding on Alcina’s part which wasn’t something she was particularly good at, especially since she’s used to having everything her way, being the Lord of the castle and all. Alcina was the rightful heir to the Dimitrescu’s wine, one of the four Lord’s, and if you asked her she’s was Miranda’s right-hand woman. But most importantly, she was a mother first and foremost.
Alcina was incredibly frustrated with her middle daughter pushing back so hard and had begun to worry that perhaps there was something wrong with her mothering skills. Perhaps she wasn’t doing enough for Cassandra? Or it could be that she was pushing too much. Alcina simply did not understand how to get through to Cassandra like how she did with Bela and Daniela.
“Wow, tall, annoying, stubborn, and hotheaded. You really are your mother’s daughter, aren’tcha kid?” Heisenberg said after being introduced to his new niece on the day Alcina took her daughters to meet the other Lords and Miranda.
It was strange how the manthing’s words soothed her worry’s, usually the sound of Heisenberg’s voice was enough to make Alcina roll her eyes in annoyance. But Heisenberg teasing Cassandra about being the most like Alcina out of all of her daughters made the countess realize that perhaps Cassandra warmed up to her. After all, the brunette had taken on a bit of her mother’s personality, enough to make the stupid manthing seem to think so.
The first time Cassandra and Alcina had shared a moment together was when Alcina had taken Cassandra and her sisters out into the woods to hunt properly. When the first took the cadou the sisters were feral and killed almost half of Alcina’s staff in one day. Their mother had to take the girls deep into the forest where they could feed off of animals and soothe their newfound bloodlust until the calmed down.
Since they were still newly reborn, they didn’t remember much of their first few months spent with Alcina and couldn’t recall hunting in the woods with Alcina very well. The Countess had since taught them not how to defend themselves, but how to kill. The samce and moroaica had proven to be useful victims for the girls to practice their skills on.
When it came time for the girls to show Alcina all they had learned and that they could control their bloodlust, Alcina decided to take them out to the woods again, a sort of family trip if you will. She demonstrated to the girls how she used her claws to kill countless lycans and animals. They proved no match for Alcina, her dress torn, blood splattered across her body torn and dirty, and yet she killed with such grace and power and elegance. Alcina made killing seem like a beautiful sport which intrigued Cassandra. That was the first time she had begun to respect Alcina as her mother and felt pride at being the countess’s daughter.
The brunette seemed to realize just how truly powerful her mother really was. Alcina was using giant trees as weapons, easily plucking them out of the ground like weeds and sending dozens of lycans flying through the air. Bela and Daniela watched in complete awe as their mother howled in laughter. Cassandra was the only daughter who joined her mother in killing the remaining lycans with Alcina. Together they proved quite the murderous duo.
When the last lycan fell to the ground by her sickle, Cassandra turned to face Alcina trying to catch her breath. The countess felt her heart grow when she noticed how much fun her middle daughter was having with her, a wide, toothy smile spread across her blood smeared face. Cassandra was even dirtier and more bloody than she was! “That’s my girl,” Alcina praised her middle child, wiping some blood off her cheek and resting her hand on Cassandra’s face. Cassandra’s cheeks blushed and she gave Alcina a shy smile. Even her sisters were shocked at Cassandra’s display of affection.
It seemed the only time Alcina could get her middle child to open up to her was through killing. Cassandra remained cold and quite distant to Alcina the rest of the time, which irked the countess greatly. Bela and Daniela all but accepted her as their mother and trusted her, yet Cassandra had no interest in getting close to Alcina.
She was not interested in games, knitting, music, art, writing, none of the things that intrigued Bela and Daniela. All of her attempts to bond with Cassandra were unsuccessful unless it included hunting or fighting. It hurt Alcina to know that Cassandra didn’t seem to want to build a relationship with her like she had with her other daughter’s, but she was hopeful that Cassandra would come around soon enough. Alcina decided to give the brunette her space and let her know that she was always there for her when she was ready.
Now, Cassandra was a thrillseeker, not one to sit and read books all day like Daniela or crotchet like Bela. There was indeed a wild side to Cassandra which made Alcina worry how her middle daughter would cope during the colder months when they couldn’t go outside.
Cassandra was also cunning, decisive, and would make extremely compulsive decisions. When her heart was set on something she wanted, she was going to get it. And she was not about to let some cold weather stop her from enjoying herself outside. She did not heed Alcina’s warning about how the cold would kill her flies, all she heard was “don’t let me catch you outside once it’s cold.”
And now that the seasons had changed, the grass was covered in colorful leaves, and Alcina could see her breath outside, she knew it was time to keep her girls inside of the Castle. It broke her heart to see their disappointed faces, but if it would keep them safe she would do it every year. She wanted her girls happy but safe and alive.
So going behind her mother’s back, Cassandra purchased some winter attire from the Duke, fur boots and gloves, a winter coat, and fur pants for her to hunt in.
“Pardon me my Lady, but didn’t your mother tell you and your sisters to stay inside of the castle?” The Duke asked her.
“Didn’t Mother Miranda forbid anything from the outside world?” Cassandra challenged, raising a brow. “I could’ve sworn I saw Mother reading all kinds of different newspapers from other countries earlier today.”
The Duke smiled down at her and leaned in, it seemed nothing would get by this one. “Hmm, well, perhaps this can all stay our little secret?” he said.
“I think we would both prefer that over the latter,” Cassandra replied, dropping off a bag of money on his counter for him.
“Indeed, Miss Dimitrescu. Now do be careful, young one. And please, if I can ever offer you anything, let me know.”
“Oh, I will. I’m sure our paths will cross again, Mr. Duke.” And with that, they bid each other farewell and Cassandra quickly went to her room hiding her new winter hunting gear. She was lucky her sisters and Mother were busy and didn’t catch her
As soon as it was safe enough for her to sneak away without her sisters or mother noticing her that night, Cassandra quickly put on her winter clothes, grabbed her sickle, and headed outside.
The air was thick and fresh in the autumn cold, but her flies were okay. Her mother worried too much, there was no reason that Cassandra and her sisters couldn’t be outside in the cold! She belonged in the Romanian woods, they called to her and she could feel a connection to them. It wasn’t something Cassandra could explain, but rather something that she could feel it in her spirit.
In the woods, there were no manners, no rules to obey, she didn’t have to be lady like! Cassandra could be as ruthless and raunchy as she damn well pleased! She swung her sickle into the starry night killing dozens of animals, bears, caribou, chased birds around, she hunted to her hearts desire. She had no idea where in the woods she was or how long she had been in there for, but a thunderous crash in the distance caught her attention.
Eager to kill whatever large creature was lurking in the woods, Cassandra made a beeline for the noise and felt her heart flutter in her chest from excitement. He had to be the biggest lycan ever to walk the planet, he was absolutely humongous even bigger than her mother! And he would prove quite the challenge!
She roared loudly and charged laughing manically, feeling excitement rush through her body. The giant lycan was 40 yards away from her before he turned around and roared back, hit breath rotten and smelly and spit flying everywhere. She dodged his attack with his hammer and sliced his arm, making him howl.
Cassandra turned into her swarm when he brought his fist down in an attempt to squash her after she sliced the beasts arms. She was agile and fast, his muscles were too big and slowed him down. ‘Piece of cake,’ Cassandra thought to herself, turning back into her human form and slicing his back.
The giant lycan kicked her back into a pile of leaves, roared again in anger, and turned around with his hammer to swing at her again. She used her swarm to doge the attack. The lycan swatted at her flies and seemed unsure of how to proceed next. They could both tell they were mutants, failed experiments of Miranda and knew this was not going to be an easy math for either of them. The giant lycan called out to his nearby brothers for backup as Cassandra kept swarming in and out with attacks after attack from her sickle. She was fast and speedy with her weapon, specks of blood dancing in the air as she kept ripping him apart.
One of Cassandra’s greatest weaknesses was her lack of attention to her surroundings. When she was caught in a battle, she was completely focused on her opponent and forgot about the world around her, it was as if only she and this giant lycan existed.
She didn’t realize the other lycans that had surrounded her until one of them jumped on her back, biting her shoulder with its sharp teeth and sinking its claws into her flesh.
Cassandra hissed in pain, using her sickle to swipe at her opponent. The giant monster lycan used this to his advantage and sent Cassandra and the lycan flying through the air as he smacked her with his hammer. She was thrown straight through a tree trunk, breaking it instantly, and landed with a thud in the ground.
Rolling, Cassandra was grateful that the lycan attacking her from behind took most of the impact, he lay motionless on the ground.
Swarming away from him and clutching her sickle to her side, Cassandra caught her breath and wiped blood away from her eye, ready to fight the new spawned lycans that charged at her. Cassandra managed to slice two necks before she had to duck from another attack of the giants hammer. The beast sent one of his own flying through the air, a sight Cassandra normally would have found funny but was now too involved in the battle to spare even a chuckle.
The giant flung his hammer down on the ground over and over, giving Cassandra no time to regroup. In and out of her swarm, she materialized all over the battlefield doging the beasts’ attacks. At one point she grabbed one of the lycans that charged her and threw it at the beast.
That gave her just enough time to distract the massive lycan, swarm up to its chest, and slice him from his head down to his belly. It began to bleed down its face and he grabbed Cassandra, smashing her down on the earthy ground over and over in a fit of rage while roaring at the brunette. Her whole body fit in his fist and she could feel his fingers squeezing her body and crushing her ribs. It was hard to breathe, she could feel her head pounding, and tried to turn into her swarm, but couldn’t get her flies to move from the impact.
The giant tossed Cassandra into the air and hurled his hammer at her, sending her through the crisp air and straight through the trees. Her whole body felt raw from the impact of the beasts’ hammer and she had no idea how many trees she had collided with. Branches and trunks were sent to the ground as Cassandra flew through the air until she felt herself hitting the leafy, dirty ground, rolling down a hill.
Her body ached and she struggled to catch her breath, the wind knocked out of her. The hand that held her sickle had dropped it when she was hit with the hammer, bent at an odd angle. For the first time in her entire reborn life, Cassandra felt her blood go cold. Some of her exposed skin from the rips and tears on her clothes had started to frost over. Her flies mustered all their power into keeping her body while, unable to regenerate and heal her wounds. Blood flowed freely out of her wounds now as the giant and remaining lycans continued their assault on her.
She was scared, truly scared. Maybe her mother had been right, perhaps she should have remained inside the warmth of the castle. Cassandra had never been on the opposite side of the table to feeling terrified, usually she was the one in control. “M-Mother?” she coughed out as the giant leaped high up into the air. Everything seemed to happen slowly.
Her heart pounded against her chest and Cassandra tried to will her body to move, but couldn’t. She watched as the humongous lycan descended upon her feeling more and more scared by the second. “MOTHER!” She shrieked. Where was Alcina? Why did she leave her home? Why didn’t she listen? She never had the chance to tell her mother or sisters how she felt, never had the chance to properly thank them for the wonderful life she had been given. A family she belonged to, that accepted her and all of her flaws.
“Wow, tall, annoying, stubborn, and hotheaded. You really are your mother’s daughter, aren’tcha kid?” Why was that memory coming back to her now? She could see the moonlight shining on the beast’s hammer as he descended down. ‘I am my mother’s daughter,’ the brunette thought fiercely, willing herself to sit up and meet the eyes of the beast. If she was going to die, she was going to do it with pride and not as a coward.
And that’s when she felt herself being dragged backwards quickly and shielded by a pair of claws. The hammer made a crater on the ground, rocks and dirt sent flying everywhere. “GET YOUR FILTHY MANHANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!”
Cassandra wiped blood away from her face and watched as Alcina sank her claws straight through the beasts chest. She easily lifted him into the air and threw him backwards. The other lycans were nothing, she easily decapitated them in one swift slice of her claws, their heads falling to the ground.
It was scary seeing her mother this angry, Cassandra never knew how strong and ferocious the countess really was. And this was just a taste of her mother’s true power. Alcina charged the beast once the lycans were not a threat to Cassandra anymore. She grabbed his hammer, and sunk her claws in his face, roaring at the beast like a momma bear protecting her young.
Again and again and again, over and over, Alcina’s claws ripped through the beasts body until he was left a bloody, torn, mess. She bowled out a final time, a ferocious warning to the beast, and stood up panting. She unsheathed her claws and rushed back over to Cassandra who was close to passing out now.
The brunette felt her eyes grow heavy, the excitement of the battle wearing off. She was cold and her body hurt all over. “Cassandra?” Alcina worriedly asked her daughter, kneeling down to her level. When she noticed Cassandra trying to get up she placed her hands on her daughters chest easing her to rest. The Countess could feel her anger returning. “Foolish girl! Have you any idea what could happened to you!?” Alcina yelled, scolding her child now that the danger was gone.
“Uhhhh… I-I… loooo….” Cassandra closed her eyes and went limp. Alcina hurriedly scooped her daughter up into her arms and raced back to the castle. She could deal with the scolding at another time, she needed to get her baby home. The love of a mother was strong and more powerful than any threat to her babies no matter how old they were.
Back at the castle, Alcina rushed Cassandra into her room and began to strip off her wet clothes. Bela and Daniela came in soon after, horrified to see their sister in a bloody mess on their mother’s bed. Without even sparing either of them a glance, Alcina continued to work on healing Cassandra, “Bela, add more wood to the fire. We need to keep your sister’s flies warm. Daniela, fetch me some towels.” The two hurriedly did as they were asked as Alcina continued to take off Cassandra’s clothes.
As angry as she was at her middle daughter, she was worried, scared even. Cassandra’s face was paler than usual, her wrist was broken, and she was covered in multiple bruises and cuts. The large gash on her head close to her cadou incision had finally stopped bleeding, but the entire side of her face was covered in blood.
The brunette laid in her underwear on the bed, Alcina instructing Bela to fetch her her medical supplies. When Daniela returned, she had her youngest lift Cassandra up and placed a soft towel underneath her. Alcina quickly got to work once Bela returned with the medical supplies, telling Daniela to use direct pressure on Cass’s wounds and bandaging them up. She would have to wait to give stitches until her flies could heal herself.
The ice that had formed in Cassandra’s skin broke away and her flies had thankfully begun to warm up. They slowly congregated around Cassandra’s wounds while Alcina was attempting to bandage them. She let the flies surround the skin and quickly wrapped gauze around the wounds.
After reassuring her daughters that Cassandra would be fine and cleaning off the rest of the blood on her, Alcina spent the remainder of the night by Cassandra’s side. Bela and Daniela crawled into bed next to the brunette and cuddled her. Despite the circumstances, Alcina found the scene incredibly endearing and made a mental note to sketch it out later, perhaps she could draw the scene.
As the hours passed by, Alcina could hear the maids beginning their daily routines and instructed the head maid that she and her daughters were not to be disturbed, just to continue work as a normal business day. Bela was the first to wake up from her sisters, agreeing to start someone Alcina’s work orders for the wine to get a head start. Alcina was grateful she had such a reliable daughter.
Daniela spent some time in the bed with Cassandra, snuggling up to her older sister and enjoying the moment. Normally Cassandra would’ve pushed her out of bed refusing to cuddle her sisters, she was not one for this type of affection.
One Cassandra began to wake, Daniela quickly swarmed away not wanting to disturb her sister. “Ughhhhh,” Cass grumbled, bringing a hand up to hold her healing forehead.
“Daniela, why don’t you prepare some tea for your sister, hmm?” Alcina asked, placing a hand on the younger woman’s shoulder.
“Yes mother,” Daniela nodded and flew off, closing the door gently behind her.
Now that it was just Alcina and Cassandra in the room, the countess took a deep breath as she felt her rage returning to her. She pinched the bridge of her nose as Cassandra collected her bearings.
“Um, what happened?” Cassandra asked.
“You snuck out of the castle last night and got attacked by one Heisenberg’s generals,” Alcina responded, not even looking up at Cassandra. She tried to keep herself calm and collected not wanting to yell at Cassandra.
Cassandra’s face blushed as she recalled the events of last night. ‘GET YOUR FILTHY MANHANDS OFF OF MY DAUGHTER!’ Alcina’s voice rang throughout her ears, she remembered feeling herself being hauled back away from the lycan’s hammer. Ohhh… so her mother had found her? Well… that probably wasn’t good. Alcina finally looked up at Cassandra from her seat.
“Cassandra,” oh, this definitely wasn’t good. “I cannot tell you how flabbergasted I am! I am extremely disappointed in you!” Cassandra didn’t know why, but she felt… bad? Like she couldn’t look Alcina in the face out of shame. “Have you any idea just how dangerous that stunt you pulled was? You’re lucky I noticed you sneak off when you did! Had I been a second later, you-”
Alcina felt her lip tremble and stood up quickly. She turned away from Cassandra and took a shaky breath willing herself to continue. “I cannot tell you how terrified I was! I-I cannot even tell you the words that come to my mind.”
Cassandra looked back over to Alcina and continued listening to the Countess as she ranted on. For the first time in her whole reborn life, she felt… odd. Like she wanted the older woman’s comfort. The comfort of a mother, the reassurance that came with it. She wanted to feel safe and protected, a family to call her own. This woman had offered that to Cassandra and then some. A family, loving sisters, all Alcina wanted to do was love Cassandra…. And she had pushed her own mother away.
“Cassandra Dimitrescu, I am your mother whether you like it or not…. These rules I have set up for you and your sisters are to keep you safe and protected, and you will obey them,” Alcina said, staring down at Cassandra and holding back her tears. All she wanted to do now was hug her daughter and tell her how glad she is that she’s safe and home. Carrying Cassandra back to the castle was the first time she had ever gotten to hold her daughter. Bela and Daniela would hug her, especially Daniela, but she had yet to experience that with Cassandra. Well, the countess supposed that if Cassandra doesn’t want that affection, she’ll have to live with her daughters choice.
“Do you understand me?”
Cassandra looked up into Alcina’s face seeing a mixture of concern, relief, and anger. She cared so much for her, and all she did in return was push her mother away. Cassandra hesitantly stretched a hand out to Alcina who took it silently.
“Mother….”
Alcina moved closer to her daughter. Cassandra scooted over, wincing in pain from her wrist and shoulder, making room for Alcina. The countess sat down next to Cassandra and felt her heart melt when her daughter moved to lie against her.
The brunette tugged Alcina closer, making her chuckle, and once her mother hair lied down, she snuggled into her chest. Alcina wrapped her arms around Cassandra and held her close to her. “Do you… love me?” Cassandra whispered after a few moments.
Alcina looked down at her daughter who was hiding her beat red face in Alcina’s chest. She kissed the brunnete’s forehead and held her tight. “Of course I do, my darling.”
“Well… I might love you too.” Alcina chuckled and rested a hand on her daughters head. Cassandra felt loved and comforted, something she realized she had been pushing away but was happy to have. It felt nice, actually it felt really good to have someone that could hold her like this. A mother’s love was something she couldn’t ever remember experiencing or feeling. To be held with such tender and care felt so nice to her, she realized just how much she wanted it.
From then on, their relationship grew immensely. Cassandra began to trust Alcina and accept her mother’s love which warmed the countess’s heart. Moments like this where Cassandra would seek out Alcina’s love and be held were rare. And, the countess cherished every second of it, as did Cassandra.