#Kiss Shot is the character I based Calista on so it's SUCH a pleasure

[uroborosymphony]

FOR @ECLAVIGNE ⬩ 26 FEBRUARY 2023 ⬩  MIDNIGHT

In the heart of the night, the core of winter, the wind was cold, made of ice. The trees and leaves, dancing under the breeze as the lamia was standing still, only these white locks of hers floating around her frame like Medusa. Calixtus Orion. The Witch Killer, Traitor of the Night. Her name and her titles were on the lips and fangs of every single creature of the night in 19th century during the Great War against the Witches and the Order of the Knights. Fierce and feared, she was a conquerant. Two centuries have passed then, with its battles, its sorrows, its peaces and pains. Hasn't she lost her mind after the great defeat - cutting her own head, slicing her own flesh and limbs with her own sword she kept on pulling from her shadows, over and over, for a hundred nights of red moon say the tales. Desperate. Humiliated. Damned to live with the weight of her mere existence. It's just Calista now. Many would have thought the 12th daughter of Hecate did give up on her quests and journeys however, at the dawn of the 21st century, her thirst for new battles were now running under her skin. The unexpected have made its way to modern times. New powers she has witnessed from Sons and Daughters of the Gods who got reincarnated among the humans. It became part of a new plan of hers : to steal the said powers and use these them to fulfill her ultimate goal : her end. To achieve that, she was ready to open the doors of Hell again. Vine. She often thinks of the Ruler himself. Could he be an ally, again? Certain not. Her hatred for a man who enslaved her soul and made a fool out of her TWICE was still burning, even 200 years later. It wasn't his help she would ask for tonight, no, but something completely degrading : to finally work for him. Ugh. The vampiric creature she was had no choice, in order to carry on her new obsessions she had to reconnect with the World of the Night , the one she has rejected like her own skin. She needed to walk down the underworld realms again, to re open these doors, to be aware of what was happening among the creatures of fires and eveil, to see if the new generations of Witches have rebuilt themselves after the massacre she orchestred, to taste the waters and wonder if the ghouls and vampires were still oh so fond of her.. or Not. It did take her days and days before finally accepting that : yes she had to summon him, the King, and so she does, at the top of this hill she was standing on. A call the lamia knew he would answer. In her black attire, she feels him, in her back and a smirk is drawn on her lips, her fang showing, as nontchalently she looks above her shoulder.

"Vous, ici?"

All languages could be spoken in between the two hellish beings, languages from both the earthling realms and the underworld ones as they mastered all of them. Her choice was always inspired by one of their adventures. French, for the in 1845, from the Atlantic lands of the French coasts to the Eurasian mountains for the as a new race of Blood Witches was birthed among the humans - They, of course, exterminated the entire line to the womb. Have she changed? Her skin remained untouched, immaculate, undamageable. Her hair however, turning more and more white as she was becoming more and more powerful through her blood empowerment. And her eyes, these golden orbs of hers, telling a different story, heavier, darker. Vine met her when she was 400 years old only, the lamia freshly turned 600 this year.

"My My. Greedy for my presence, are we? Do not tell me you have missed my fangs and claws in such unbearable ways you would come and get me like this, Demon? How Scandalous."

It was one of her usual games, out of playfulness, to pretend she did not just summon him. Her signature smirk on her lips as the lamia slowly turned around, her sharp eyes examinating him, standing face to face. There were only two creatures Calista considered her equals in these realms, and well, Vine was one of them. That was the most infuriating part, to her, how despite his betrayals and her constant day dreams about killing him, they would always and constantly end up side by side. Which, in a anti logical and twisted Calista way, meant she respected him.

"I have thought of your offer, Earl. The one presented to me on our last encounter in the meadows near rivers of my own blood. The atmosphere in your offices must feel terribly monotonous without a presence as delightful as mine. It is about time I explore new playgrounds, don't you believe? I'm taking the job. Take me there. Show me what you have. "