A/N: This was a difficult prompt to think of something to do for, so a big thank you to my friend who came up with the idea of Serena (and co.) looking at pictures from when she was still alive. Includes more undead trauma bonding, two unhappy werewolves and...Jordis the sword maiden?
Prompt: Unnatural Life In A Picture
“So this was you? Huh, interesting.” Serena’s pictures from when she was still alive are a lot more dour and boring looking than my old pictures. Vicente still keeps one in his wallet of the two of us when I was a child, though it’s faded and nearly falling apart by now. Contrary to popular belief, vampires can still show up in pictures as well as mirrors. Though they are still weakened by sunlight and can be killed through certain means, I don’t know if all of them are intolerant to garlic or not, that could have just been a result of Vicente’s preexisting garlic allergy. I don’t know where Anna and Farkas had gone off to as the four of us attempt to examine some areas of the Volkihar family's castle, there’s a good chance they got kicked out again…I should probably try and find them at some point. “This place must have been pretty depressing to grow up in if it was always this dark and gloomy, and I grew up in an underground sanctuary for assassins.” I tell Serena as we continue to look at the paintings on the walls. “It wasn’t always like this, at one point these halls were full of life.” The vampire replies, a hint of nostalgia evident in her voice along with a deep but concealed sadness. Being turned into a vampire doesn’t sound pleasant under typical circumstances, and what I’ve overheard her say about becoming a daughter of coldharbour sounds nearly unimaginable.
As I continue to walk the hallway in the opposite direction of the ancient vampire I notice one painting in particular that catches my attention. It features the entire family, Serena and her parents when they were still together, and things at first glance seem normal. Upon closer inspection however I notice why it caught my eye, there is an unnatural life in this picture, or really unnatural lack of it. The child Serena and her mother look overall mostly normal outside of their dark clothing, but something about her father Harkon in the painting is off. His eyes have the unnatural glow of a vampire lord, this must have been one of if not the first painting created after Harkon began his quest for power, interesting. I start to bring up the thought to Serena but stop before any sound comes out, she’s been through enough trauma as it is, I’d rather not make her explain more of it than she’s already divulged, trauma can be a hard thing to talk about.
Having spent enough time looking through the gallery and snooping around elsewhere for any relevant information that Serena and Anna could bring back to the dawnguard we decide it’s best to leave, preferably without getting caught. I of course can disappear and reappear at a moments notice any time I want, but none of the rest of this little group can, even though they each have their own respective special powers. “Did you see where Farkas or Anna went?” Serena whispers as we sneak past a few of the other vampires and I shake my head. Serena frowns, I’m guessing she didn’t see them either. We decide it’s best to check outside first on the chance they did get thrown out of the castle, that way if we don’t find them there we have a chance to think of a plan before going back inside.
Luckily for us, we find them sitting on the ground leaning back against the sides of the bridge to the castle obviously exhausted and both pretty banged up. “You got kicked out again didn’t you.” Serena questions the two of them. “Thrown.” Farkas replies bluntly while trying to rub the remaining soreness out of his right arm having been quite literally tossed out of the castle onto the hard stone of the bridge. Anna sits there silently, too tired to do much else and seems to have retreated into her own little world. She does that sometimes, something will happen or she won’t feel well and as if someone flipped a switch she just shuts down. It’s an intriguing if sometimes concerning phenomena, not unlike what sometimes happens to Issy if she falls into a depressive episode, though Anna’s case is more of a regression and withdrawal than a depression induced isolation and state of apathy. Offering my hand I help Anna up and meet the trio on the mainland once they finish the boat trip back from castle Volkihar, time to head back to Solitude- it’s too late in the day to begin the trip to Riften now.
All tired except for me, we trudge back to the capital, a fact that still baffles Serena, who thought it was still Windhelm that was the seat of power. As we walk my mind floats between the events of today and eventually fixated on the painting gallery, and that one particular painting that had the unnatural life, or lack thereof, to it. Perhaps I’ll ask Serena one day what the descent into madness and chaos of her family was like, but for now I keep it to myself, along with the painting observations. I wouldn’t like it either if someone asked such detailed questions about what led up to my death, so it’s better to not ask her.
Anna and Farkas go to sleep nearly immediately, they’ve had a long day, Serena manages to find a way to get comfortable enough to sleep while lacking a coffin to sleep in, and that just leaves me and Jordis the housecarl sitting at the kitchen table to pass the time in awkward silence and the occasional conversation until everyone wakes up again. “So…have you ever seen any weird paintings?”
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