AtoZ Day 17: Q is for Quixotic, Queen of the Damned

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Quixotic

adj. - Not sensible about practical matters; idealistic and unrealistic

Vampires live for a very long time, it's only logical to think some of them might turn out to be dreamers. As we age our habits and idiosyncrasies which define us become more pronounced, so imagine what a vampire who began life as a bit of a head in the clouds romantic might end up like.

In fiction vampires are often romanticised and what is more romantic than the dreamer who wishes his or her way through life? The artist, the musician, the writer. If you know Vampire the Masquerade you would know this type of vampire as Toreador.

Can you imagine what some of the great artists would have achieved had they been given eternal life as a vampire? Who do you think would have created masterpieces and who do you think would have been stifled without the impetus of mortality? 

Creature Feature:

Sorry, none today because I couldn't find one.

Movie Recommendation:

Title: Queen of the Damned
Rating: 15
Summary: Lestat has become a rock star and revels in being a vampire on stage even though no one believes he is really what he says he is. His music wakes Akasha, the queen of the vampires and the first of their line. She causes destruction, taking Lestat with her as other vampires seek to stop her.
Why you should watch this: It has some great music and as long as you forget it was supposed to have anything to do with Anne Rice's book, it's not a bad film. Because it's based on the book it has some completely irrelevant characters who are never actually introduced, but they are easy enough to ignore. It's a fun romp.

Don't Give a Stuff 

(#17 in The Diverse Life of Ianthe Jawara, Vampire)

by Natasha Duncan-Drake

There was only one person Ianthe knew who was more knowledgeable about vampire lore than Alex. Her name was Mila and where Ianthe was the young upstart, Mila was the old eccentric. In this case very old. No one in the local vampire community was sure quite how old.

Mila lived alone apart from one servant whose origins were equally as mysterious and the whole vampire population paid her respect even if they did think she was batty. Ianthe had met her once when being introduced around in society and the one thing she had noticed was that Mila didn't give a stuff about what anyone else thought. She could respect that.

When she called for an appointment, Mila's servant Krige had been very welcoming. That didn't stop Ianthe being very nervous as she led Lilith to Mila's front door. She hoped the ancient woman didn't object to the hellhound puppy, it was just there was no way Ianthe was going anywhere without her.

"Hello, My Dear," Mila greeted as soon as she was shown in, "how nice of you to call and who is this lovely young thing?"

Lilith all but bounced over, taking Ianthe with her, because there was no stopping a hellhound when they wanted something.

"Aren't you lovely," Mila said, bending down and giving Lilith a kiss and ruffling her ears as if she was any other puppy.

"Her name is Lilith," Ianthe introduced.

She couldn't help noticing the whole room was only lit by a fire and some candles. There was an electric light standing on a nearby table, but it didn't seem to be plugged in.

"She is beautiful," Mila said, standing back up, "and just what you need I suspect. How can I help you?"

"I need some advice," she replied.

Mila smiled. The fact she didn't look a day over twenty and yet had to be hundreds if not thousands of years old was a dilemma for Ianthe's brain. She had been doing this a few years now, but she still couldn't get her head round bodies that didn't show age. Rather than worrying about it, she looked in Mila's eyes; then she couldn't mistake who she was talking to.

"I'm afraid I'm not very good with advice," Mila replied. "I love to help, but I never seem to quite get it right. I wanted to build an orphanage, but Krige won't let me. Well he says not yet; he's looking into it. I don't know what I'd do without him."

Ianthe wasn't quite sure what to say.

"That's nice," she managed, "but it wasn't general advice, it's about vampires."

"Oh, oh," Mila said, smiling more brightly, "that I can do. What do you need to know?"

"Someone is trying to kill me," she revealed.

"Not good," Mila agreed.

"Alex and I..."

"Oh Alex, how is he, the darling boy?"

She had never heard anyone refer to Alex as a boy before.

"Um, he's fine."

"He used to be such a romantic, you know," Mila said. "Oh, I'm so sorry, would you like a drink? I am forgetting my manners."

"Thank you, that would be lovely," she replied as she tried to get her head round this new information.

Mila wandered over to a decanter and poured two glasses of something deep red. Ianthe simply accepted it when offered without wondering what it was.

"We had an adventure once," Mila continued talking. "We went around the world helping people, well as much as our kind can. A little money here, a strong arm there, because of course we couldn't allow anyone to know who we were. It was so much fun. He's lost that spark now, have you noticed?"

Ianthe had noticed, her mind simply boggled at the very idea of what Mila was suggesting. The Alex she knew was interested only in himself.

"We performed a ritual to find out who is trying to kill me," Ianthe did her best to drag the conversation back on track.

Then she sipped her drink. She almost had to sit down as heat flared from her navel to the top of her head.

"Incubus blood," Mila said with a smile just this side of completely bonkers; "lovely isn't it. I know this beautiful thing who's perfectly willing to donate if I let him bang me every so often."

"It's good," was the best Ianthe could do.

The heat was spreading down between her legs and her head was beginning to fill with incredibly inappropriate thoughts. She kind of loved that Mila clearly cared about the rules of modern vampire society about as much as she did.

"The dream ritual?" Mila asked.

Ianthe nodded and forced her brain back to the matter in hand.

"And I dreamed of him, but there were no details."

"You didn't see into his mind?"

"No."

"Hmm, then he is protected in some way," Mila concluded. "Not unusual with hunters. Why is he trying to kill you?"

Ianthe lifted her shoulders in a helpless little shrug.

"Because I'm a vampire is as much as I know," she replied.

Mila nodded and put her glass down on a small table before walking over to a bureau in the corner.

"Hold this," Mila instructed and threw a small crystal at her.

Luckily vampire reflexes meant she didn't embarrass herself and she caught it. The stone was pale green and it tingled in her fingers.

"Hmmm," Mila said closing her eyes and placing an index finger to her forehead, "yes, right."

She then turned back to the bureau and riffled around in the drawers looking for something.

"Aha," she crowed in triumph and brandished what looked like a perfectly ordinary hessian bag.

It was only a couple of inches across and it looked like it had been sewn shut by someone not really looking at what they were doing with red thread.

"This is for you," Mila said, "you'll need it."

"What is it?" Ianthe asked as Mila walked over and presented her with it.

"Protection," Mila replied.

"Thank you."

"Keep it on you at all times," Mila said; "it will save your life."

Ianthe put it straight in her pocket.

"How do you know?"

"I can sense it. I have good instincts and you are holding my focus crystal."

The fact her life was going to be in danger again was not settling, but at least Ianthe knew she was now prepared.

"Is there any way to see who the man is?" she asked.

Pursing her lips, Mila thought about that and the slowly shook her head.

"If you had something of his person, maybe," the older vampire said, "but otherwise Alex has shown you the strongest ritual. But I do know he will come to you and it won't be long."

That didn't make her feel any better.

"Stay strong, My Friend," Mila said, moving forward and taking her hands; "you have great things ahead of you."

Great things were all well and good, but Ianthe would have preferred a quiet life.

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A few of us discovered that we all had supernatural themes for the AtoZ so we got together and did a mini list. If you also have a supernatural theme (ghosts, monsters, witches, spells etc), please feel free to add yourself to the list.

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