Dress has always been my strongest suit (OPEN)

[Guinevere]

Guinevere opened her eyes, took in her surroundings and sighed.

She thought this might be where she ended up. Portals opening up and sucking people into them without warning, there was only one place in the world that could lead too. The sigh had been one part irritation and one part relief. Irritation because now that she knew where she was she was thinking of all the other crazy things that might start happening, and relief because at least she had ended up in somewhere she knew very well indeed. The mall.

She smiled.

The portal had very kindly dropped her off in a sitting position on the edge of the fountain that lay in the middle of a courtyard within the mall. The fountain was not working and was covered in moss, the water below a horrible green colour. The shops all around were covered in various vines and other greenery, if it wasn’t so unsettling she thought that it might look quite pretty. One of the vines had some beautiful pale pink flowers on it.

Suddenly, a mild panic shook her to her core as she looked around, only to feel a slight tug at the bottom of her dress. She turned around and looked down. The panic instantly subsided and an even warmer smile spread across her face. She held out her hand and said, “come on, let’s go find out where Daddy and Merlin have gone.”

They had to be here, she can’t have been the only one to have ended up back here. If she was here…who else had made it back…

[Carmilla Karnstein]

You know...she would have expected this kind of crap from Silas. In fact, when she randomly felt pulled to some unseen place, she half expected it was a new trick of Maman's, one that was going to drag her into her latest update of their centuries old ritual of stealing young girls, weakening their minds, and then sacrificing them. The mere thought of that had already put Carmilla in a foul mood as she accepted her fate, falling into whatever the hell she was falling into...

However, as she glanced up, she realized this looked nothing like any part of Silas, unless the Botany Club had taken things way too far. She supposed that wouldn't surprise her, they managed to create giant Venus Fly Traps that wound up craving human flesh when she was last there. When someone pointed out how like Little Shop of Horrors it was, she honestly had to laugh back then.

Still, she had her doubts that was what was happening there. She narrowed her eyes as she pulled herself up, glancing around the building...no, this looked more like some kind of mall, if the empty shop windows were any indication...

And it didn't take long for her to realize she wasn't alone. She could smell at least two other people, hear two heartbeats...not that she was particularly hungry at the moment...although hell, she hoped she could at least get back for her blood bags. She hardly minded hunting but it was so much easier...

come on, let's go find out where Daddy and Merlin have gone, she heard a young woman's voice say. Ah, so a mother and child...in spite of herself, curiosity overtook her, and she made her way towards the voice and the footsteps. If nothing else, maybe she knew what the hell was going on...also...

"Did you just say Merlin?"

[Guinevere]

At the sound of the other woman’s voice Gwen quickly whirled around in that direction the skirts of her red dress fanning out around her whilst placing herself between the woman and her young son. Tristian, still clinging to her hand peeked out from behind his mother to get a better look at the new person.

She was a young girl, pretty, a little pale perhaps but the important thing was that it wasn’t anyone Gwen knew and before the portals dragged them back to their own countries Gwen was pretty sure she knew everyone. This only made her more suspicious and hold Tristian’s hand a little tighter. However, she smiled pleasantly at the young woman and said, “Yes, I did.”

Gwen took a step forward, she didn’t really want to get any closer to this potential threat but confidence was key and Queen mode was activated, “I do not believe we have met before, I am Queen Guinevere of the Summer Country and Camelot, it is a pleasure to meet you…?”

She motioned with her hands for the girl to continue…

[Carmilla Karnstein]

The first thing Carmilla noticed about the woman was the red dress…damn, that was nice, although even more old fashioned than what she had been used to back when she was human. Not that it didn’t suit the woman. She had a feeling most outfits would have suited her well, that was usually how it went for pretty women.

Despite the other woman’s smile, she could sense her suspicion and fear, especially with the way she clung to the child, no doubt her own, and Carmilla couldn’t help but smirk. It was the predator in her, she supposed; there was something empowering about getting that reaction, although she preferred to keep the idea that she was dangerous to humans on the down low unless she was trying to save a mark.

Although the smile faded when she answered her question, and doubled down on the whole Arthurian Legend name dropping by introducing herself as Guinevere.

She really wished she could say this was the most bizarre thing that had ever happened to her, but again…giant Venus fly traps.

An instinct towards propriety that she thought had been lost in numerous torn necks and women she had taken to bed led her to offering a little bow (since she was wearing leather pants, curtsies didn’t really look right in pants, in her opinion). She was honestly a little embarrassed the instinct had struck her, she had spent a good three hundred years trying to shake that off because who the hell really cared? Still, just in case this woman was the stuffy royal type, probably best to stay on her good side until she decided she wanted to offend her.

“Carmilla.” And I was a countess at some point, but the less I say about that the better, probably… “Karnstein. Enchanté, Your Majesty…don’t suppose you know where we are?”

[Guinevere]

Guinevere had not been expecting the bow, people did not tend to go for that sort of thing in Tintagel, but it was a pleasant surprise.

“Please, that’s not necessary,” said Gwen stepping a little closer, but keeping her guard up for now, and held out her hand to the girl, “most people in this realm call me Gwen. It is a pleasure to meet you Carmilla.”

A head with a mess of red hair popped out from behind Gwen’s skirts and said, “M’Tristian.”

Gwen smiled and said, “Ah, yes, this is my son.”

Before Tristian could take over the conversation, as he was want to do, and start describing everything he liked and didn’t like about everything, Gwen continued, “So are you new here? I don’t think I remember you from when I was here last? Are you looking for Merlin also?”

[Carmilla Karnstein]

"Yeah, I know," she muttered as she rose back up. Maybe it was a bit sarcastic? She usually MEANT to be sarcastic though. What the creeping hell? "I'm thinking some really old instincts kicked in there, I guess..." And well, might as well go for the handshake...huh, she had smooth skin for a woman who was apparently from some vaguely Middle Agey time period. It was around this time that the child she had nearly forgotten about poked his head out and her lips flickered just a bit at the kid's apparent attachment to his mommy.

She didn't have too strong of an opinion on children. She was misanthropic in general, but kids didn't really make her more or less angry than any other person. Now if the kid was going to be a little brat (he WAS a prince after all), then barely contained rage would happen. Fortunately, his mother wasn't giving him an opening to be.

"No, up until right now I didn't think there was such a person, to be honest...I should probably be doubting everything you're saying, but honestly, this might as well happen. The world's already goddamn weird, and I DID just fall into some random portal." Plus, you know, the whole vampire thing, but I'm not telling you a goddamn thing. "So no, I wasn't around 'last time', whenever that was."

[Guinevere]

Oh this one had some sass in her. Rather than have her feathers ruffled by it Gwen actually appreciated it. It had been so long since someone that wasn’t Arthur, Merlin or one of her children had worked up the courage to inject a little sass into their discussions with her. She couldn’t help but smile at it. She still didn’t trust this stranger, but she certainly moved up a few notches in the ‘worth my time’ scale.

She laughed when the girl mentioned that she didn’t know he was even real and said, “Well I can assure you that he is very real and as magical as they say he is. However not nearly as old as many of the stories make him out to be, in looks anyway, in personality he is very much a grumpy old man.”

“He’s not grumpy!” said Tristian incredulously, not liking hearing one of the men he admired being described in such a way, “he’s busy.”

“Of course he is dear,” said Gwen fondly, smoothing out his hair, “in any case we really ought to find him because if anyone can explain what’s happened here, it’s him. He should be able to get you home. Where are you from originally?”

[Carmilla Karnstein]

Carmilla arched an eyebrow upon being told Merlin wasn’t apparently a wizened old wizard. Well sure, stories often got things wrong about vampires too, so why not? Again. This might as well happen. Her train was thought was interrupted by the small boy insisting that Merlin wasn’t grumpy. She almost snorted, but she figured she’d better stay on Gwen’s good side if she wanted any answers at all, but whoo boy. Kid, you should be careful with the hero worship, they almost always wind up disappointing you, she would have said.

Then Gwen suggested that Merlin might be able to take her home and…the thought struck her that she wasn’t particularly eager. What did she really have there? The whole nature of her existence was to avoid planting roots, because inevitably it’d be time to go to the next country, the next kill, or Maman would drag her back to Silas…her mother wasn’t here. At least for now she wasn’t. That brief window between escaping her coffin and her mother finding her had been about as blissful as her existence after Elle could be…wouldn’t it be nice to be somewhere she couldn’t reach her, at least for a while? Sure, she might miss Mattie, but it wasn’t like she was planning to stay forever, and what was a year or even a decade to her kind? Mattie took vacations to Morroco that lasted longer.

“Well I was staying in an apartment in Naples, but I’ve been everywhere, for the most part…” Pretty easy to do that when you’re immortal, after all. Despite her dislike of Maman’s mind games, she couldn’t say she regretted how the world had opened up for her when her mortal coil was shed.

[Guinevere]

Gwen’s eyes widened, “You lived in Naples? Oh that must have been wonderful, I’ve always wanted to go there, I’ve heard it’s beautiful. I have heard that most of Italy is beautiful, I have been dying to see Florence for years.”

Travelling was something that she had done a great deal of once she had returned to the Summer Country, however it mostly involved going back and forth between her own Queendom and Camelot. Going further was mostly just a political nightmare and so she tended to avoid it. However, now that she was back in Tintagel and once they got the portals working, perhaps she would see if she could potentially take that long awaited trip to Italy. Arthur could babysit for a week or so…or rather, Merlin could.

She looked around and smiled, “well…this place certainly could do with a clean up…I wonder what happened here…and-”

A thought occurred to her and she frowned, she looked at the girl with a very serious expression on her face, “We need to arm ourselves. There may still be some remnants of the invading army here.”

[Carmilla Karnstein]

Gwen’s enthusiasm regarding Italy rivalled even her younger and less embittered self, and Carmilla wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that. She liked to think she was above passions of any kind, even though she knew that was a big fat lie to herself…but it was hard to not smile, even a half smile, at her. “Well, yeah, it’s pretty fantastic, not gonna lie. I’m more of a Paris or New York City girl, but points for originality on your part.”

Carmilla followed her gaze, and she couldn’t help but agree. The place was so overgrown she half expected to find a sleeping girl among the vines…actually, considering she just found out Camelot was a very real place unless this woman was out of her goddamn mind (which she hadn’t entirely ruled out, but again, portals, vampires, and random overgrown malls), that could very well be the case. Pity she was no Prince Charming…and honestly the idea of kissing a sleeping girl reminded her far too much of Vordenburg…she twitched at the thought. She never regretted that he and his family were her first kills.

When Gwen started talking about a potential army, her first thought was hmm, some easy prey once I get hungry, but then she realized something. “From the looks of it it’s been decades since anyone was here, at least. If there’s any army left, they’re some desperate bastards…” And the idea of her having to arm herself was laughable, and she could barely contain the urge to do so until…until something occurred to her.

Guinevere. Merlin. Just…the mere fact that Camelot apparently existed somewhere out there…that meant magic was a reality for this woman…

…that meant she could get away with a lot more here than she could in her own world.

So a laugh crept out of her smirking lips. “And as for arming ourselves, maybe you will, Majesty, but me?” She snapped her fingers for added effect, and a spark emerged between them, which she quickly snuffed out, because even vampires have to be careful while playing with fire. “I’ve got this covered.”

[Guinevere]

Guinevere watched as the other woman caused a spark with the snap of her fingers. Her immediate instinct was to make sure that Tristian was behind her, however whilst she flinched slightly she held her ground. She smiled and said, “Good, nice to know we’ll have a bit of fire power if necessary. However you may be right, they might be long gone by now. However, I would feel somewhat more comfortable if I was armed.”

‘And not just because I don’t entirely trust you yet’ thought Guinevere as she smiled politely at the girl.

She continued to head in the direction of the old ‘Build a Sword’ making sure she held Tristian’s hand tightly. As they walked carefully over the vines and roots that had made their way into the building she asked, “Where you born with your magic or did you come by it through other means?”

[Carmilla Karnstein]

Carmilla's smirk broadened at Gwen's reaction. Sure, she maintained composure as much as she could, but she could hear her quickening heartbeat, caught sight of how she flinched. Again, predatory instincts; she wasn't always proud of them, but she always got a little thrill out of surprising people, even in a negative way. She just hadn't quite found a reason to seek a negative reaction out of Gwen yet. The young queen had a certain charm about her, and she had a feeling that if it weren't for Mattie's lack of patience with humans, even her big sister would have liked her style. Plus she seemed to know the area well, and for all of Carmilla's skills, she preferred to have an idea of where she was going.

She shrugged at Gwen's insistence on getting weapons, following her to...wherever the hell she was going. "I can turn into a panther too...but sure, I can respect you wanting to take care of yourself. I'm not exactly the hero type anyway." Her expression grew a bit more illegible when Gwen asked how she came to have her powers. She couldn't very well tell the truth, some of those weapons would probably be aimed at her, and while she could probably dodge them, she just so was not in the mood for some human to try to go all Buffy on her.

So she simply answered, "My adoptive mother taught me. She was good with this sort of stuff, and passed it along to me and my foster siblings." By resurrecting us and loosing us upon the world to devour the unsuspecting humans and lure young girls to become human sacrifices...

[Guinevere]

“A panther eh?” said Gwen looking impressed, “that’s quit the feat, I remember when Merlin was practicing his transmogrification spells, that was…an interesting week let me tell you. Changing into the animals was easy for him, changing back proved to be the challenge. Since then he’s stuck with birds.”

As they walked along Gwen listened to the girls story with interest. So she had learned her magic, that was good to know, she had often wondered if it might be useful to learn a little magic herself, especially with…that woman still at large. Arthur might have forgiven her, he might think there was still something worth redeeming in her…but Gwen was less forgiving and she certainly had no intention of forgetting what she had done. She held Tristian’s hand a little tighter.

“Do you still see them often, your foster siblings that is?” asked Gwen.

[Carmilla Karnstein]

She shrugged at the compliment. It was about as easy as any of her other abilities that came with her undead status, and she supposed she took it for granted at this point. Sure, they came in handy, but they didn’t feel all that special anymore. She supposed that was a hole in her act, though. She didn’t have to do much to get this, not nearly as much as she made it sound. All she had to do was die.

She decided to move the conversation away from her own abilities when Gwen mentioned Merlin’s own…you’d think one of the most famous magic users in literature would be able to put his abilities to better use. “Hmm. If I change and he just happens to be a bird flying around, make sure I don’t eat him, I guess.” She said it in the kind of tone that was pretty much meant to confuse people; was it just dark humor or was she deadly serious? Wouldn’t they like to know?

And oh lovely, more questions about her family…“Mattie, yes…although she’s usually on her own trips, but we make time for each other. Will, not so much, but that’s more by design. He’s kind of…” She glanced towards the child. Despite her lack of care for propriety, again, she could use an ally in navigating this place, so…fine. Censorship it was. “Kind of a jerk.”

[Guinevere]

Gwen laughed at her joke. Or at least, she thought it was a joke. Either way she wasn’t too concerned, Merlin could take care of himself, whatever form he was in. “I will do my best then,” said Gwen.

Tristian looked up at the dark haired stranger and said, “please do not eat my Merlin. He’s is smart. And mine.”

Gwen looked down at him fondly, smoothing out his hair a little bit. It always made her so happy to see him getting along with Merlin, it had been one of the many things that had concerned her after he was born. However the two got on very well and she wondered why she had been so worried in the first place, Tristian was basically a mini Arthur.

“Every family has one,” said Gwen sympathetically, “I was thankfully an only child, however my cousin Malgaunt…well…he took it upon himself to send me to this place many years ago now whilst he stole my throne right out from under me. However…there are ways of dealing with such people…and he was most certainly dealt with.”

It had been very satisfying and she smiled at the memory.