Chapter Text
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White light. The purest white light you could ever imagine. Your final bliss in eternal peace.
..So this was death, huh? You truly expected it to be a lot worse, painful even. But as you awoke in this bright void, you seemed more at peace than ever. You hardly even remembered how you came to die in the first place.
Had it been something about a noose? You remember bleeding excessively, faint glimpses of a white nightgown dripping with blood. Suddenly your neck felt sore and your hands shot to the base on your throat, only to hiss in pain as you made contact with your own broken bones.
Your head was tilted to the side, in a very unnatural direction. A big, purple ring-like bruise forming all the way around your neck. You could feel the way your neck had cracked and splintered under the pressure of the noose and your fall. You gasped, a broken wail escaping your dry lips. You could feel the deep wound in your abdomen as well, feeling how the blood started to overflow and run down your legs and sides. You convulsed, curling in on yourself as loud sobs wrecked your broken body.
How was it even possible for you to still conscious in this void? Hadn’t your purpose been to die? Or had your spirit been trapped and forced you to roam earth as a deformed ghoul for the rest of eternity?
You cried harder, louder as you desperately tried to make sense of your presence in this void. Your very bones hurt, your throat, your stomach. Consciousness hurt.
You screamed out in agony, when suddenly the bright white dimmed like a lamp being turned away from you. For the first time you opened your eyes, and realised you had yet to fill your lungs with air. You shot up, gulping in panicked gasps of air and almost falling from the table you were lying on. Your lungs burned, feeling like they hadn’t been used in decades.. For a brief moment, you wondered exactly how long you had been in the void.
To your surprise, your neck was no longer painfully crooked. The only thing remaining was a pink swollen scar, from where the noose had broken your bones. The dull ache and stretch in your lower stomach, made it clear that the wound there was also in a healing process.
“Shh. Shh, my child. Everything will be fine,” Despite calling you her child, this woman's voice did not belong to your mother. You removed your hands from your face, sniffling and heaving as you looked around for the source of the voice.
A blonde woman appeared by your side, she wore a strange smile that seemed too forced for her features, like she wasn’t used to operating the muscles around her mouth. She continued to calmly shush you and you timidly let her put her hand on your cheek. She was so cold, but as she gently stroked your cheek you couldn’t help but feel a sense of calmness.
She embraced you fully, clutching you to her and you recorpiated happily, burrowing into her like a small child. Your hysteria started up once more as you cried into the woman's chest, she stroked your back and pressed gentle kisses to the top of your head. Being this friendly with a complete stranger was not normally something you indulged in, but you felt so utterly helpless and scared that all you could do in that moment was cry into the mystery woman.
“Am I dead?” You whispered into the woman's shoulder, voice small and horse. You were finally starting to calm down, but you couldn’t let yourself let go of the woman. She didn’t seem to mind, still clutching your frail body to her.
“No. You’re reborn,” The woman said, stopping her stroking but keeping her hands on your back. You were silent for a while, trying to make sense of her words. “Are you god?”
She chuckled, you could feel her chest move against your cheek. “I am your mother,” She simply said.
You pulled away from her, keeping your fists balled in her rope as you scanned her face. Something about her seemed otherworldly, colder than normal humans. “Do you remember anything?” She asked you, icy blue eyes boring into your own.
You swallowed thickly, realising how dry your throat was as you thought back to your previous memories. “The people from town. They burned my fathers house, I ran to get help but they bound me and dragged me to the gallows,” You clutched her ropes tighter. “They took me for a witch! I am no witch I- I.. All I wanted was to help!” Your breathing picked up again, bordering on hysterical. “I cannot recall fully what happened. But I ran, and they caught me again. I-I think someone cut my stomach open-” Your hands left her rope to frantically search your abdomen, only to find a long line of stitches where the wound would have been.
The woman, your apparent new mother, stroked your cheek again, turning your head and forcing you to look at her attempt at a warm smile. “You did so well, my Y/n. It is not your fault, the peasant villagers were not able to understand then. But they will now, I promise,” You nodded along slowly, not quite sure what she was referring to.
You breathed in deeply, lungs still getting used to finally being filled with air after so long. “I’m so scared,” You whispered, leaning your head on her hand. “You needn’t be, my darling. Your mother is here now,”
“I jumped from the gallows myself. Why do I live, mother?” You finally asked, missing the way the woman's eyes gleamed with joy as you referred to her as ‘mother’.
“Your purpose has yet to be fulfilled. Someone as gifted as you are, is not meant to die by earthly means,” She was stroking your hair now, smoothing out the matted locks. “Your fate has been lying dormant for three hundred years, a lot has changed.”
“W-What?” You reached out to clutch her rope again, looking at her with big, haunted eyes. You.. Had been dead for three hundred years? Were you not supposed to be reduced to dust? You should have been bones and nothing more, but yet here you were. Sitting in front of this godly woman, full of life and warmth.
“It is currently the 21st century, though time matters so little here. You need food and rest, no more questions. Rest now, my Y/n,” She said, tugging on your arm and gently helping you from the table. Her tone of voice made it clear she was not to be argued with, so you did as she said and followed her out the room. Your legs were shaky and unsure like a newborn fawn, clutching your new mothers arm to keep upright.
Miranda’s diary:
Subject name: Y/n Chernenko
Cadou Affinity: The most favorable I have seen thus far.
Brain Function: Normal. A bit confused and childlike, but normal given age and circumstances.
Unlike the others, she has been infected with the cadou since birth. The cadou has latched onto her and chosen her as a physical vessel. She does not appear to have changed physically, even after dying the cadou has kept her body intact.
She does not seem to have developed special abilities either, besides extremely successful regeneration abilities.
I will have to experiment more on her, to see just how great an impression the cadou has made on her body.
Perfect specimen, could be a fit vessel for Eva.
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A few months later
“Yello.”
Karl picked up the phone, half heartedly grunting into it as he fiddled with a scrap piece of metal in his free hand.
“Hello, Karl. I presume everything at the factory is in order?” Mother Miranda crooned on the other line, using a tone a bit too sweet for everyday conversation.
Karl subconsciously straightened up, shoving the piece of metal in one of his many coat pockets. “Mother Miranda,” He drawled. “Everything’s great. Phenomenal, as always,” He was incredibly tense as he spoke, already sensing that his adopted mother wanted something from him.
It was as if Miranda was allergic to minding her own business.
“How delightful. You always have been the most prosperous of my children,” Karl ground his teeth together in annoyance, already knowing what her next words would be. “I have a favor to ask you, my dearest son.”
Here it comes, Karl thought. Miranda could shower him with all the goddamn praise she wanted, but at the end of the day it was nothing more than a poorly executed manipulation technique.
“What can I do for you, Mother?” Karl asked, sounding as polite as someone who resented the person they were talking to could.
Miranda paused on the other end, seemingly thinking her request over for a moment. “I may have found a new way to bring my Eva back, but I will have to rely heavily on your assistance. Some of the things I will require may seem.. unusual,” She paused again as Karl let out a somewhat confused grunt.
“I will do what I can to help.” Karl spoke like he was trying to remember his lines in a play, rehearsed but strained nonetheless.
He could almost hear Mother Miranda’s smile on the other end of the line. “Good. I knew I could count on you, my son. I will send someone with the proper.. Storage. I will need you to produce a sample of semen and bring it to my laboratory.”
“..What?” Karl managed to cough up, thinking he must have misheard the woman.
“I will need a sample of your semen. As Moreau is not suitable to father a child, the task falls to you. Before the plan can proceed further, I need to check the quality of your emission as well as perform several physical examinations on you. The lycan traits you have may be of good use..” Miranda trailed off, seemingly getting lost in thought.
Karl’s mouth became dryer the more of her plan she shared with him. He felt a sick feeling bubbling in his stomach, both rage and humiliation brewing just under the surface. He couldn’t push himself to say anything, nor move. He wanted to hang up, call Miranda an assortment of colourful words and forget this whole conversation happened. She had already taken everything he had; His freedom, his life, his dignity and now apparently she was after his reproductive abilities too. He was seething, the piece of metal he had been fiddling with before started to curl and break in his pocket.
“Karl? Did you not hear me?” The lord sprung to life again, taking a deep breath before answering.
“Yes, Mother, I heard you. But are you really sure this is necessary? I mean, can’t you just stuff a cadou into a new vessel?”
Mother Miranda frowned at the suggestion, mouth turning into a thin, white line. “Readying a vessel has proven unsuccessful too many times. I cannot stall further to get my Eva back, you do understand that this is an urgent matter, right?”
Karl sighed. He knew he ultimately didn’t have a choice, but fuck him if he would just happily give Miranda the only part of him she hadn’t taken by force yet. “I understand, Mother Miranda. How will I go about.. Uh, getting a sample..?”
“As I said, I will send the proper tools. Please come to my laboratory tomorrow, with the sample. I have something to show you as well.”
“As you wish, Mother Miranda.” She made a satisfied noise at the sound and hung up. Karl slammed the phone back on the wall. The whole room seemed to be shaking with metal vibrations, spare scraps of projects flying in the air around him. No sooner than Miranda had hung up, a black crow came flying in through the opening in his garage door.
The bird was holding a small plastic cup with a seal and a note. Karl snarled at it, screamed at it to get the fuck out as it carefully placed the items on the floor before him. It flew off almost as fast as it appeared, leaving the metal-bending lord alone to throw his tantrum.