Chapter Text
Chapter 1. Confessions
"More..." she muttered, already smelling the scent of wine, coming form her mouth.
"M'lady, 're yer sure?" questioned the bartender in his Scottish accent, concern eminent in his tone.
Beatrix's weary eyes barely managed to glare at the man, but of course, he didn't notice. Her growl was weak and pathetic, but after hearing it the man got the idea.
"Weesh, 'em tired. Karellita! Come ind featch the lady another cup!" ordered the man loduly to his assistant, who came running two seconds later, with a bottle of wiski in her hands.
"Right away, sir!" she answered his call, in a cheerful tone, that seemed almost fake. Her boss turned his gaze across his whole bar.
"A'ight boys, 'mma go to m' chambers fer rest. Gut night to yer all."
"Night, Boss!" answered everyone, except for Beatrix and 'Karellita'.
Boss. She thought, a bit amused. The man was big, fat, but with strong hands, too. The top of his head was left hairless due to the years. He was mostly red haired though. He had a big beard that went down to base of his neck. His hardened face and bluish eyes, full of every bit of expirience a man working in a bar could possibly get, made him look like a human-shaped rock, clothed in typical barman outfit.
I can only guess that's the main reason why they decided to call him Boss.
"Here's your cup, m'lady!"
And 'Karellita'. A young maiden with gracious white hair and golden eyes, that seemed to shine coldly in the night. Her name was actually Karllita, but Boss couldn't spell it out correctly, because of the accent. Her clothes were the femine version Boss'es outfit. The most distingiushuble thing about her was her smile, it seemed unreal... almost forced. Beatrix didn't doubt that inside the girl was probably not as cheering or passionete as she is around others. But this kind of made her feel unnerved, too. It reminded her of Karlheinz- the Vampire King, third in line, second in power and political control amongst humans and demons alike... and her husband.
Being married to such a man, was probably very pleasing for... some people. But for her, it felt like a heavy duty she had to take upon herself for the sake of her family. In truth she wasn't really doing it for her close relatives, as most of them were selfish and corrupted nobles seeking glory amongst the ranks, but for the memory of her household.
Please, Beatrix. I would've gladly supported your opinion on this, but you must know- you are the only remaining heir to the family name Minuit. Please, you must make sure our family isn't forgotten. her late uncle had told her, practically begging her on his knees on the verge of tears on having to force his beloved niece to abondon her feelings towards the only person she felt romantically attracted to, to marry the man who tore her and her beloved apart, and to carry his children who she wouldn't be able to love as a real mother should, and AND-
Suddenly the door of the bar shot open with a loud bang. Beatrix and few others jumped from their seats a bit in shock, before settling down once again. She heard murmurs and whispering. All that noise annoyed her, so she turned around to see who caused it. Then she froze.
At the entrace, a pale-skinned woman with long purple hair stood. Her eyes were unseen to the naked eye. The woman began walking towards her with her beautiful black gown tracing behind her, leaving awed looks from the men in the bar. When she got to the bar table, Beatrix was ready to run at full speed any second, but held herself. For a shiny brief moment they made eye contact. Then, the woman roughly sat down on a chair right next to Beatrix.
Cordelia, numerous emotions ran through Beatrix as she mentally whispered the woman's name. For the next ten minutes, the two women stood there in near-complete silence neither of daring to look at the other even with corner of their eye, let alone try to start a conversation. Beatrix was trying to distract her senses by looking around things in the bar. She noted how polished and clean the building's walls and doors looked. The tables and the chairs looked like they were just made. The small lamps, illuminated the rather dark room with purplish-red light, adding even more to the beautiful picture inside.
"I find it quite amusing that I find you in a place such as this." Cordelia's sudden voice broke her out of her pleasing trance. A quit 'huh?' was all that left her mouth in response. The other woman features twitched very slightly in annoyence. "What are you doing here Beatrix?"
Beatrix didn't answer immidietly. She thought about what to say, but her cursed mouth moved on it's own, again.
"Oh, you know , just running away from depression." Cordelia raised an eyebrow and looked at her with the corner of her eye. Beatrix blushed slightly and attempted(failed) to place her palm on her mouth. She wanted to facepalm herself with the force of a moving truck. Despite it being, only a portion of the truth, to reveal such a thing to anyone, Cordelia nontheless, was akin to an act of blasphemy to her. Thankfully, Cordelia seemed to have shrugged it off as a drunk talk, as she looked in the other direction.
"Why are you here?" Beatrix asked. Cordelia either didn't hear her or was playing deaf. Beatrix herself didn't really need to ask, since she had a few guesses and all of them were very likely. Still she poked further to see wich assumption was correct.
"Is it because of Karl, agai-"
"Don't you fucking dare, you old hag!" Beatrix winced and jumped back a bit, as Cordelia's hand slammed into the table. Her head was turned around, and she was glaring at the blonde woman intenstly. Despite the clear anger and utter distaste on her facial expression, when Beatrix looked into her green eyes it all got clear to her.
Once again, she throws a tantrum because of that man... Beatrix tought, with very slight pity even.
"Hey, hey, hey! No fighting here!" warned Karllita.
"Hmph" Cordelia sighed through her nose and settled down once again. After that neither of them concerned the other for at least an hour. Beatrix'es cup was half empty, while Cordelia had already left a bottle dry. She heard her growl in frustaration after Karllita told her, that this was the last bottle for the night. She slumped into her seat and rested her head on her hands. Beatrix stood there for a few more minutes, eyeing the purple-haired woman. Usually she would stand proud with her head up, like she was some sort of special queen. Well, she technically was a queen. And she was technically special, too. Doing sexual activites with all kinds of men at all kinds of times was considered Cordelia's hobby by most, but If Beatrix could express her opinion, she would say it was the waving of the tittle of 'the first wife of the Vampire King' like it was some sort of actual flag. Sometimes Beatrix felt like Cordelia was literally shoving that tittle into everybody's faces.
As for Beatrix'es own reletionship with Cordelia... well, it was complicated, to say the least. At one hand she hated Cordelia's attitude after she married Karlheinz, she probably didn't like Cordelia herself. In fact, she might've even hated her. But, on the other hand... no, she wouldn't think about that when she was here. But now, for some reason, she began wanting to conversate with her more. The reasons behind such wishes were unknown to Beatrix, but she still obligied to them. She grabbed her glass of wiski and gently pushed it, letting it glide and bump slightly into Cordelia's head. The woman bobbed her head out of her hands and looked at the glass confusingly and then at Beatrix, questioningly.
"Here, you look like you need this more than me."Beatrix said, almost hazily. Cordelia looked at the glass of wine confused, then she adopted a look of utter disgust. She throw the cup at Beatrix and the lquid poured on her victorian dress. Beatrix gasped in disbelief. Everyone else either 'ooooh'-ed, or laughed or just looked confusingly at them. Beatrix looked at her ruined dress and then at Cordelia. She shot straight at her like a bullet and glared into her eyes.
"WHY?!" she asked-shouted, losing her composure, her usual calmness and manners. The alchohol had taken it's effects, indeed. Her face morphed into a hot-tempered one. Usually, Cordelia would be the one to adopt such a face, but this night it seemed like their roles were a bit reversed. Cordelia looked at her, cooly in the eyes.
"Why? Are you seriously asking me 'why'? You, of all other whores who prevent me from true happiness, should know!" she retorted with icily annoyed tone. Beatrix felt her nerves loosening: negative ill-mannered thoughts flooded her mind- Choking her, humiliating her, breaking her very sanity and then rap-... The blonde had to bit down her lip till it bleeded, just to force back those negative wishes.
"What? Don't play innocent!" the purple haired woman hissed loudly, like a dreadful snake. She also rose up from her seet to further proceed with the verbal conflict. She was also loosing her temper.
"Oh please tell me, my queen! What did I do so wrong to deserve the centuries long humiliation you put me through? What was the crime?!" Beatrix asked sarcastically and nearly frantic from held rage and anger. Rage and anger. These emotions. She had held them up, deep, deep, very deep in her heart hoping that'd they'll go away. Hoping that she'd forget about... But, the humiliation didn't stop, the guilt for not having the 'balls' to normally raise her children didn't fade and the depression within her grew worse... to such an extend that she was purposly pushing her son, Reiji, to the limits of his moral sanity, hoping that one day he may take her life. At least this way, she would've felt like she hadn't failed in raising an iron hearted child. At least, something to be proud of. She felt the salty lquid forming up at the surface. Tears. The first ones she would've shed: for herself, her fate, her failure as a mother and her failure as a proper lover and friend...
"'What did I do?', she asks. Did you people hear her? This old hag has the gall to ask me that sort of question!" Cordelia's bellowing voice brought her out of her thoughts. As she had said it, she had turned around to every man in the bar. The responses they get were mostly confused and even creeped out looks, some were pretty neutral and cool, and a handful were those who contiuned laughing at the situation. Laughing. Beatrix wished she could do just that. Laugh at the situation her cursed, corrupted family had got her into. Laugh at Cordelia, for what she has become. And mostly, laugh at her very own misery.
"What DID I DO?!"
"You still..." Cordelia turned towards Beatrix again, a forced mocking half-smile half-frown on her face. "You are guilty! Guilty of stealing my husband, my love, the light of my life, away from me. Me, my very own grasp! I had him so close to me, yet you had to barg in make things bad. Now, he barely even talks to me. He barely even looks at me. He barely even visits me!"
"That's ALL?! That's seriously all?!Cord-"
"I had to BARE triplets, because of YOU! I had to feed them, take care of these little brats, and waste my time tutoring them. ALL, because of YOU and your IGNORENCE!" Cordelia practically screamed at the top of her lungs as she let out all the possible distaste and hatred she had towards Beatrix. The room went eerily silent for several dreadful moments. Beatrix'es eyes were unseen to the naked eye, Cordelia's still burnt with passionete hate and the men's flickered with anticipation.
"Y-You, Are you seriously going to blame for every little problem you have? I stand at the center of every single obsticle you face, huh?" She let out with disbelief. Considering she had felt towards that woman when they were little... this just broke her heart even more, to such an extend that half of her voice losts it's power and was replaced with barely audible hlips and sobs.
This IS unbelievable. Totally and utterly unbelievable. Cordelia had just disregarded her own sons, her very sons as some loathful brats she was 'forced' to raise. The woman Cordelia, not the girl one she was so fond of, was an even bigger failure than Beatrix herself. This stirred a flow of confidence in the blonde's heart.
She roughly wrapped her hand around Cordelia's wrist. And glared at her, this time with evenly tempered seriousness. Cordelia looked confused, and slightly afraid. Beatrix could feel it from the way her chest were raising up and down in a slightly faster motion than usual.
"You are a spiteful woman Cordelia. A spiteful woman that doesn't know her place, doesn't know when to shut up. You've turned into a narcissist, a masochist, a sadist, a disgusting liar and a manipulative whore." This earned her a few giggling gasps from the public. Cordelia looked like she was on the verge to explode like a volcano full of different meaningless and pointless insults directed towards her. Beatrix merely sighed wearily. Then she took Cordelia's hand, and placed it onto her heart. Cordelia blushed slightly and tried to stagger backwards, but Beatrix held her hand tight. A few even more excited gasps came from the men around them.
"H-hey, something's wrong with the kegs!" from the other side of the table Karllita exclaimed. There was a rattling sound, like wood hitting wood and metal, coming from her direction. Nobody payed mind to it. Certainly not Beatrix.
"I've had different opinions on you Cordelia, through out the ages. I've felt... differently towards you. What I said just now... applies only to the woman Cordelia. To the woman that killed the sweet girl I was once so attached to. Do you want me to show you what my feelings towards you were? Not the current you, but the long dead one." she forced a small bitter smile. Long ago, that smile may have been filled with happiness and excitment at the mere thought of what Beatrix was about to do next. But now, it felt really dead. Just like the one who brought her real happiness.
"S-Show me what? Wh-What are you talking about? What are you going to do?!" Cordelia stuttered in so much in emberssment she actually looked kind of cute. If only Beatrix could see her like that every single day...
"Kiss her! Do that!" someone from the public exclaimed, laughing.
And Beatrix did just that. She tugged Cordelia very closely to her face and gently locked her lips with hers. And at that instant, many things happened. The keg that Karllitta was trying to warn everybody about broke and from it, litters of wine and alchohol flew upwards like dark muddy fountains. The door was slammed open and someone went in. Everyone made several different types of sounds at the same time- all indicating towards three common emotions: shock, confusion, excitment.
"OH SHIT!!" the random voice from earlier cried and fell off his chair, while his eyes went to the back of his skull in disbelief.
"Dammnit, Larry!" a few of the elder men grunted annoyed. While most of the others were cheering, clapping, laughing, whistling and giggling like little girls, while shouting: "Bravo, Larry! Bravo!"
The bartender, Boss, came running down the stairs. His heavy and angered motions caused heavy rumbling, as if a rhino was charging down on everybody. His face was red with anger, and his eyes were full of weary annoyance.
"What the heck 's going o-" he went immidietly silent after seeing the two kissing women. Karllita next to him held a hand to her mouth and was giggling like a crazed girl.
It took a few seconds for Cordelia to get off the initial shock, before she pushed Beatrix off her. Her expression was so hilarious, Beatrix thought. The purple-haired woman stared disbelievingly at her with wide eyes big enough to compare to them to sausage cuts. Her lips had formed into a nearly invisible thin line. She desperately tried to muster as much as disgust as she could, but it seemed like shock and utter confusion were dominant emotions on her face. On everyone's faces. There was a big line of red splattered like paint across from ear to ear.
"Wh-Wha-What...??" she let out a barely audible stutter. Beatrix shushed her by putting her index finger on her lips. The gesture caused Cordelia to blush even more. Then she was pushed back into her seat, very gently, by her lips.
As for Beatrix. She would say that she hadn't felt happier in ages. Such relief from her shoulders was released that she almost felt like singing a song. Not all of her worries and personal problems were gone, but at least she had finally resolved one of her major obsticles, holding her back. The emotions fluttring inisde her like butterflies were almost evident to all, by the first ever bright smile she had let out in a very long time.
She swiftly, but quietly turned around at the direction of the door.
"Gentlemen, and ladies. May I be excused?" she asked in a softly even tone as she bowed towards everybody. No one gave response. Some still laughed and giggled. Others were eyeing her and giving her cat-smirks. She began taking confident, but composed steps towards the exit of the bar. On her way to the door, Beatrix saw Ritcher with the corner of her eye. He was standing frozen in place, like a lifeless statue, with eyes full of utter incomprehensible shock and his mouth dropping down to the floor in a comedic manner. He didn't even gave a response when she accidently slightly bumped her shoulders with his.
Beatrix closed the door with as much composure as she had mustered when first opened it.