Somewhere In Between

Title: Somewhere In Between
Author: MakaiKitty
Rating (this chapter): G/PG
Category: Original Fantasy, "Fate" storyline
Pairing: Victor/Blaine, Victor/Caspian, Victor/Sorrel/Victor, North/Victor, Victor/Tamara
Warnings: Nothing for this chapter.
Distribution: My website, My LJ and any LJs I choose to post at, AFF.net, FicWad, and DeviantArt. All of my accounts are under the user name MakaiKitty. If you'd like to use it just let me know.
Disclaimer: The characters, daemon realms, and situations in this story are all original and belong solely to MakaiKitty. Please don't steal, borrow, take, or otherwise use anything from my fics.
Updates: Just join my YahooGroup to be informed of any updates to this or any of my other fics - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/makaikittyfics
Status: Complete
Story Notes: This story contains characters that were first introduced in "Fate". However, it is not really necessary to have read "Fate" to understand this story. In fact, you may like Victor better if you haven't read "Fate". As for those of you who have read "Fate"? No, Shayne and Lexi will not be showing up in this fic. Maybe in later stories (Victor has a long back story), but not this one. Also, I have a general outline for this story, but everything isn't set in stone yet. Just like with "Perceived Perceptions", I'm sure that some things will not go as planned. So, the warning lable above is just a general guide, I really don't know for sure where this fic will go. Just a warning, if you're squicky about some stuff (don't worry, there won't be beastiality or scat or anything too extreme) then read the warnings at the start of each chapter. However, I know from experiance, that most of my regular readers can handle anything that I throw at them, so I'm not too worried about any of you. Either way, I hope you enjoy the fic...

Chapter Notes: I'm working on the next chapter, but I'm not sure when it'll be ready. I'll try to update once a week (so check back on Saturday the 17th) but I'm not sure what'll really happen. Either way, hope you all like this chapter.

Somewhere In Between

Chapter Two: Somewhere Over the Rainbow's Grave

The Fifth Daemon Realm is a place very unlike any other realm. Most of the known realms follow the natural laws, night becomes day, winter turns to spring, and new life is created through the joining of two souls. However, in the Fifth Realm, very little of this holds true. Twin moons hang high in the western skies, but no sun rises to chase them from their celestial posts, and only the movements of the second moon can mark the passage of time. Just as the exchange between day and night is not observed in this world of eternal darkness, nor is the cycle of life and death strictly adhered to. Although the realm is populated by mortal and immortal alike, it is the near-dead that rule supreme. Vampires, the cold ones, blood drinkers, whatever term is used, they are the rulers in the hierarchy of the Fifth Realm. They are the nobles, heads of the ancient families that reign over the high courts, and even the king and queen of the realm belong to this race of immortals. Whether born from the union between two of the near-dead, or created from an otherwise unfortunate mortal, all must bow down to the power of the vampire. But the vampires are not the only race to inhabit the darkness of the Fifth Realm, and although the strength of the vampires help to keep them in power, the lycanthropes are not a people to be looked down upon lightly. All of the passion and strength, the natural beauty of their animal brethren, are reflected in the wild yet regal bearings of the hot blooded werecreatures that populate the realm. Werewolves, werecats, werebeasts of every description; any animal that walks, crawls, or soars is represented in the numerous proud clans of the lycanthropes. They have served the vampires for time immemorial, and only their cold-blooded counterparts have the strength to keep them collared. Their ageless clans are revered throughout the realms, and few could argue that their majestic beauty rivals even that of the vampire nobility. All lycanthropes are not created equal, however. Whereas a mortal who receives the gift of immortality from a vampire is viewed as blessed, being chosen for their beauty or talent to join the ranks of the nobility, one who is turned into a lycanthrope after birth is seen as nothing more than an accident created during the frenzy of a werecreature's animalistic hunt. And, if a created lycanthrope is viewed as lower than most, then it is the mortal who is viewed as the lowliest of all of the inhabitants of the realm. It is said that many centuries ago a vampire clan that traveled the realms returned home with a batch of human servants after a visit to the Human Realm. Those mortals were used for feedings as well as for manual labor, and eventually the immortals of the realm, both vampire and lycanthrope, became used to the easily dominated slave race serving them. More humans were brought into the realm, and before very long the villages surrounding the majestic courts and noble holdings were populated with docile mortals who worked until their deaths for the lords and ladies that they served. With the exception of those rare few who were deemed worthy of joining the ranks of the near-dead, or those that were lucky enough to be born with some magickal ability, most are considered to be nothing more than an expendable work-force, and they are treated with disinterest at best, disdain and cruelty at worst.

The Fifth Realm is filled with magick and mystery, as befits a realm of darkness and immortality. However, there is one thing that even the ageless vampires and lycanthropes of the ancient realm had never done before, at least until a time just more than two hundred years ago. Never had they created a child that carried the blood of both the vampires and the lycanthropes. It had been thought that such a thing was impossible, because although it was not uncommon for a vampire to take a werecreature as a lover, children were never born from such a union. Some of their kind could remember a time before time, but none could ever recall having seen a child of both the near-dead and the fiercely alive. It just was not done. That is, it was not done until one powerful sorceress decided to tempt the fates and dabble in forbidden magicks. Sorrel, the noble born vampire sorceress who ruled the northern lands and the kingdom of Azvaria, the woman who answered only to Queen Gwyndelynn the beautiful and King James the bold, had always liked to push the boundaries of what was acceptable, daring any to stand in her way. As a result she was known throughout the kingdoms for her unusual, and often times dangerous or depraved, experiments. Her curiosity knew no bounds, her thirst for knowledge endless, and as such she became known as the most powerful sorceress in the realm. However, few knew the truth behind many of her experiments. Fact and fiction, rumor and truth, mingled in the whispers of both immortal and mortal alike, and her legend and her power grew with each daring feat that she accomplished. When she was given a prophecy by one of the kingdom's most renowned seers, telling her to go ahead with her most unnatural ritual yet, she was overjoyed and set to work immediately to try and create something that the realms had never before seen.

Sorrel had sent word to all of her most loyal hunters, those who searched the realm on her behalf for the rare ingredients that she often times required to preform her rituals, to find her a vampire and a werecreature that had exceptional beauty and marvelous skills so that she might complete her most daring experiment to date. What her hunters returned with was a beautiful golden-brown werewolf by the name of Laettia who was renowned for her strength, her unheard of control of her wolf, and her amazing connection to the nature that surrounded her. There was not an animal that walked the realms that she could not communicate with, the empathy that her people were known for was particularly strong in her, and her physical strength was unmatched, even by the males of her clan. Arailt the vampire, on the other hand, was chosen as much for his exceptional beauty as for the strength of any skills that he may possess. However, his rule over the creatures around him, both animal and lycanthrope, was uncanny, and he easily called upon his people's ability to glide through the clouds, his magick being particularly strong for one who was still under a century old. Both participants were more than willing to be of service to the Lady Sorrel, knowing that she answered only to the king and queen, and on top of that they were handsomely compensated for their cooperation. Through the use of spells and rituals that she herself had created, the two immortals came together a handful of times before at last succeeding in the creation of life. Arailt left soon after, his part of the bargain fulfilled, to serve at the royal courts. Considering that he had waited a lifetime to be invited into the royal court, he considered his dealings with Sorrel to have been completely worth the effort. Not that bedding a beautiful werewolf had been much of a hardship, either. For her part, Laettia waited only long enough to give birth before she too left to pursue her dreams, leaving her offspring in the hands of the sorceress and never looking back. Most unexpectedly, it was two children that the werewolf left in the hands of the other woman, a boy and a girl having been born of the union between lycanthrope and vampire.

The twins, both of whom many at the courts thought never should have been born in the first place, were named Victor and Lennora. When the two tiny beings were handed over to her Sorrel was happier than she had ever been, even happier than the day that her own son had been born, and she considered her experiment a resounding success as she stared down at the two seemingly perfect little lives that she had created. She was mildly disappointed to see that the girl had inherited her mother's golden-brown hair instead of her father's raven locks, showing her immediately to be more wolf than vampire, but it was a small flaw that the vampire readily dismissed. The mismatched coloring of the girl's eyes, however, was somewhat troubling. Her left eye was coal black, just as most vampire's were, but her right was a striking golden metallic color that spoke of her animalistic breeding. Only time would tell if this was only a cosmetic problem, or if the interbreeding had caused unforeseen problems in the child. However, regardless of any problems that Sorrel was beginning to see in the female twin, she viewed the male with nothing but pride. Just by looking at his aura it was obvious that he had inherited the physical strength of his werewolf mother, and a magick that was more than either race could generally hope for, while retaining the physical characteristics of his vampire father. In Sorrel's eyes this child was perfect, and she knew that it was Victor that she would be able to show to all the realm as evidence of her great success. And, over all, one out of two was more than good enough.

***

The years passed and it became more and more apparent that only half of the experiment had been a success. As Victor grew he thrived, becoming strong and beautiful under Sorrel's watchful eye, and new abilities and powers came to light every day. He had inherited not only his parent's natural abilities, but a telepathy that was rare among either of his peoples, and a magickal ability that was usually only found in the mortals. This was the thing that pleased Sorrel the most, because it had always bothered her that some mortals could be born with more magick than either vampires or lycanthropes could ever hope to have. She had been lucky in that she was born of an ancient vampire line, pure of blood as far back as time itself, but still had the abilities of a sorceress. She knew that her people deserved the magicks more than the humans did, and she was determined to find a way to give those gifts to those that should rightfully have held them. She viewed the twins as the first step towards putting things right. She kept Victor near to her at all times, watching him as he grew, tutoring him personally and seeing to it that he learned how to control both his abilities, as well as those around him. He may not have been of a noble line like herself and her son, Talfryn, but she viewed him as hers and treated him thusly. He was exposed early on to the sights of the court, both beautiful and terrible, nearly from birth. He understood the ways of the world that he inhabited from a young age, his intelligence allowing him to see the world more clearly than most, and he easily commanded those around him with his natural wit as well as his strength of will. He was Sorrel's pride and joy.

Lennora, on the other hand, was viewed as more of a failure with each passing year. She turned out to be sickly and weak, her body frail and her mind simple. She wasn't exactly stupid, but her intelligence in no way rivaled that of their brother, and she spoke infrequently and usually only because she was asked to. She normally sat listlessly in her rooms, submitting wordlessly to the many tests and experiments that Sorrel insisted she be subjected to, and the only time that there ever appeared to be any life in her was when her beloved brother came to visit her. At those times she would light up like a tiny sun, her smile radiant and her mismatched eyes bright and eager. This reaction never failed to cause a responding expression of warmth from her brother, who treasured his sibling above all else, but due to the tight reign that Sorrel kept on her prized apprentice their times together were few and far between. When Victor's increasingly brief visits were over Lennora would go back to staring out of the window, waiting for the next round of tests to begin, seemingly oblivious to the goings on of the world around her. The only thing that roused her, aside from her twin, was the call of the full moon every thirty-three days. Most lycanthropes could slip their skin and change into the shape of their animal counterparts any time that they pleased, but on the day of the full moon that call became almost unbearable to resist. However, even though Lennora more closely resembled her werewolf parentage than any of the vampire blood that coursed through her veins, she was not enough of a lycanthrope to answer the call of the moon. On those days she had to be physically restrained, the madness in her eyes echoed in the temporary strength of her body, and it was not until the full moon had fallen from the sky after three days that she was able to return to her normally docile nature.

The failure of Lennora to thrive troubled Sorrel but briefly, but then she would all but forget about the girl for weeks on end, pleased as she was by her darling Victor and the success that he represented. The prophecy had been more than correct when it guided her to create the hybrid child. The court would be endlessly abuzz with gossip about Victor's latest achievement, further evidence that Sorrel had been correct in assuming that she could create a stronger species with the help of her magicks, and every bit of praise that was heaped upon Victor was taken as a personal complement by the sorceress. She showed the boy proudly to the king and the queen, beaming with pride as the royal couple assured them both that the young vampire-werewolf mix would have a place in the royal court when he grew older. Sorrel could feel her power growing as she envisioned her Victor someday taking his place at the side of the princess, securing for them both the power of the throne, bringing glory to Sorrel's ancient line. Her own son would be her legacy, but Victor was her pride, her future. Sorrel had always longed for even greater power, the kingdom of Azvaria never having been enough for her, and she delighted in knowing that she may finally have created the very thing that would allow her to gain the power that she had long desired. However, Victor had much to learn before that day was to come.

TBC ...

Review Responses:

Michelle:
Yay! Victor exists! Not to mention, you're writing when you said you wouldn't that's enough for celebration. I shall make a cake later just because of it... if I have time.

Yay, cake! Mmmm...

Moonstar:
Gah! I feel so guilty. I've been wondering and wondering when you'd post something...but I'm so used to looking in the original 'fantasy' section, I never even thought to check under 'vampires'. I was just getting a bit anxious, looked up your name, and then noticed this at the top of the list with your stories! I appologize a thousand times over for not finding this sooner though, come to think of it, I never checked to see when you did post this...so my ranting panic may be totally out of place. ^^; Anyway, on with the review.

Don't feel guilty, you're only a couple of days behind. Goddess knows that I'm not the best about reviewing on time either *LOL*

Lovely, as always, and it's nice, for a change, to see a bit of smut right from the beginning in a story that you don't plan to leave as a one-shot. I've noticed that, at least with you, it's either a one-shot, or I have to wait till the END of the story to see much. This is a tasteful approach and I quite enjoyed it. From that previous glimpse of Blaine in 'Fate' I wondered for a bit (upon hearing that he would, in fact, appear), if the intercourse would be as......heavily sadistic(?) as the picture I got from him before...(very uncomfortable and slutty sounding situation if I remember correctly), but I like the way you protrayed it this time. Rough, yes, but not overly done...actually showing a romantic connection between them, even if sex is a major part of the relationship. (Hopeless romantic here, I swear. Total sap when it comes down to it. xP)

Well, I added the smut at the begining becasue I knew that I wouldn't get much of a chance to write Blaine in the body of this fic. So, I figured that he should get some lovin' before we really got into the meat of things. As for Blaine in "Fate", don't worry, he was enjoying himself. A lot. He's just that kind of guy *LOL* And you're right about Victor and Blaine's relationship. Although they're not the type to say it, I do think that they've come to love each other in the short time that they've been together. (FYI, this takes place a few months after "Fate", and the first chapter to the last of "Fate" wasn't more than a few months. Since Victor didn't meet Blaine until after he'd handed over Lexi, they haven't been together more than half a year, a year at most.)

Still, great first chapter, got me wanting for more. I'll have to remember to keep checking your name though, not forget that you post here. Just, for referance (hope you haven't mentioned this and I didn't notice, I didn't read your full author's note, anxious to read the story), how often do you plan on updating? Or do you even know? Wouldn't want to miss anything. ^^ So yeah, keep it up, and don't make me wait too long!

-Moonstar

Glad you liked it. I'll try to post once a week until I leave for Vegas (1st of August), but I'm not making any promises.