Summary: Alcina Dimitrescu is blessed with three beautiful
daughters to call her own. It takes blood, sweat, and tears to raise the girls
alongside having to deal with the rest of her peculiar little ‘family’.
But when a jealous Mother Miranda tasks her with every mother’s greatest
nightmare, will Alcina have to disobey her in order to protect her daughters?
Chapter: 1/8
Word count: 4.611
‘’A mother’s love neglects all pride the way fire neglects the cries of what it burns.’’ – Ocean Vuong
‘’I may be just a mother, but when someone touches my baby, the lioness in me awakens.’’ – My own mom <3
-
Four days since treatment
All three bodies have almost been completely consumed by the insects. All that is left is a dark, writhing human-shaped mass of creatures.
Lady Dimitrescu looked up from the notebook she was writing in. Three female bodies were laid out on a table in front of her. Or rather, what was left of them. She reached out and dug the opposite end of the pen into the mass of flies. When she retracted it, the tip was covered in a disgusting, pulpy liquid. Some of the flies had grabbed onto the pen and Alcina impatiently shook them off.
There was barely anything left of the bodies Mother
Miranda told her to study. It was an interesting process to witness: on the
first day they already stopped moving and she assumed they had died. Even a fly
had come crawling from between the eldest girl’s lips. When Alcina returned to
the room the day after, she found a swarm of flies gathered on top of the
corpses, seemingly consuming the flesh. They had come out of nowhere and she
theorized there had been eggs laid inside the bodies beforehand, as the insects
hatched from under the skin.
She let them be for another two days before returning. Now you could barely call the mass that remained a dead body.
Lady Dimitrescu pursed her lips as she placed her pen against the paper again. She doubted this was the end result Mother Miranda had been hoping for. Yet she continued the observation. Maybe whatever information she could still gather might still be of use.
She closely inspected the winged bugs moving around the bloodied pile of flesh. The creatures seemed to change color depending on which area of the body they were sitting on. That was certainly an interesting change. She made sure to write it down:
It is just after sunset and the insects have started to change color. Those around the face turned pale and those around the lips turned a deep crimson.
The countess heaved a sigh and left the book opened on a drawer for the ink to dry. She had expected more to come from this, but it seemed she just got another failed Cadou experiment on her hands.
She left the room and locked it with a key only she possessed. She couldn’t have any of her servants accidentally stumble upon her little experiment room. It sat right atop a pair of stone stairs, past the hall that connected back to the rest of the castle. It was unlikely anyone would ever come here, but she couldn’t take the risk.
It happened too often that she had to kill off one of her maids, whenever they became too nosy. Not that it really mattered, she would kill them all eventually. But still, it was such a waste to get rid of them before their harvest date was due. Luckily most of them knew better than to stick their noses in the Lady’s personal business.
The Lady in question made her way over to her private chambers on the other side of the castle. Her room was thoroughly cleaned during the time she hadn’t occupied it and her bed was properly made, ready for her to go to sleep. A long, white nightgown was also neatly folded and placed on top. At least those who worked here at the moment knew how to do their job.
Alcina undid herself from her dress and hat and placed them over the wooden mannequin before stepping into her nightwear. But instead of climbing into bed, she stayed to look at herself in the mirror. Well, she tried to anyways. The full-body mirror was hanging way too low for her. She couldn’t even see her own face in the reflection. She hadn’t grown as much over the last few years, but the number of appliances she had to get replaced due to her ever-increasing height was a firm reminder. As if nearly banging her head on every doorframe she now needed to bend down for didn’t already do that for her.
Alcina turned away from her own pale image. There was no point in dwelling on the past. Instead, she called it a night and blew out the candles on the nightstand. But no matter how long she waited to falll sleep, she felt restless and only found herself tossing and turning in bed.
What was it that bothered her so much anyway? Was it the experiment? She had done so many of them before, but none of them ever bore fruit. This one was going to be no different, she already knew. So why did the thought of it keep plaguing her mind?
Maybe she was afraid of Mother Miranda’s reaction. When she visited Castle Dimitrescu to ask for Alcina’s assistance with the experiment, she had appeared very uncaring and distant. She didn’t sound like she had much faith in the attempt with the Cadou and the three maidens. But Alcina had still tried her best, hoping it would succeed.
Surely Mother Miranda wouldn’t have brought this particular operation to her doorstep if she didn’t believe in it? Otherwise she could’ve just taken it to one of her other ‘family members’ instead. Yet she had come to her. Didn’t that mean something?
Or had it come to the point she no longer favorited her and just deemed her worthless like the others?
Alcina bit the inside of her lower lip at the thought. All this late-night musing only worsened her nerves, which did no good to her insomnia. It became so bad she had to sit up on the edge of the bed with a groan to take her mind off of it. She clutched onto the covers in frustration.
No, of course not. She was nothing like those freaks. Mother Miranda had always put her trust in her, saw her strength and potential. Why else would she grant her this castle and a high position within the family? And it was no different with the bodies. She knew Alcina could handle a project such as this, so she had entrusted it to her.
She wouldn’t just give up on her. Not like that.
Lady Dimitrescu decided it was pointless to just sit in bed and worry all night. She’d better go check on the experiment again, just in case. Maybe the midnight hour would reveal an unknown effect, who knew? But most of all she just needed a distraction. She pushed herself up and relit the candles. The floor was cold to her bare feet, but she figured a short walk around the castle would already do her some good. She picked up the golden candle holder and took it with her.
The halls were relatively dark aside from the few torches and the fireplace in the main hall, which were kept alight by the couple maids who worked nightshifts. She could hear one of them still rummaging around in the kitchens. Alcina really didn’t feel like running into any of them at this hour, so she made an effort to avoid those areas.
She walked back up the stone steps and took out the Dimitrescu key to open the door, only to halt at a noise coming from the room. It was barely noticeable, had it not been for the silence of the castle at night, but she definitely heard something when she pressed an ear against the door in curiosity. It sounded like whispers. Had one of the maids managed to find a way inside?
She rushed to turn the key and slammed the door open. Instead of catching a frightened intruder, there were the three girls, sitting up-right and alive on the tables. When Lady Dimitrescu entered the room, they all snapped their heads in her direction.
She straightened her back as she looked down upon their spooked gazes. Two of the girls had huddled up together and the third was hugging her knees. They looked scared and confused, yet at the same time curious. Like little children.
‘’Oh my, Mother Miranda was right…’’ Alcina reached out her hand, to which the girls flinched. She retracted it for a moment, before trying again. She made sure to approach them slowly this time and placed that hand on top of one of the girls’ heads. She didn’t try to pull away. On the contrary, the girl nuzzled into her palm and the one beside her let go of her sister to get closer too. The two girls wrapped their arms around Alcina’s waist and cuddled up to her. Then Lady Dimitrescu reached out for the blonde girl, who was watching her cautiously from the far side of the table. ‘’Come here, darling. Come to me.’’
She seemed to hesitate a little, before shuffling over. She took Alcina’s large hand into her own and stared at it, tracing the lines of her skin with a finger. She shifted her gaze up at her and the girl’s brows furrowed as if she were struggling with a certain thought. ‘’Mom?’’
Alcina felt her heart melt right then and there. A motherlike instinct immediately took over her as her face softened and she started stroking the girl’s face. ‘’Yes. Yes, it’s alright. Come here.’’
The girl gave a twitchy smile that switched to confused and back to relieved again before burying her face into Lady Dimitrescu’s side.
Alcina didn’t move. She only stood there, the three girls wrapping themselves around her like scared toddlers clinging to their mother. What was she going to do with them? They didn’t seem to have any memory of where they were, or who they were. But they were alive, somehow, and now they were under her care.
Yes. Yes, she would take care of them. She needed to make sure they were healthy and fed and properly clothed, first of all, she reasoned looking at the worn robes they were wearing. She definitely couldn’t keep them in this room either. She took one of their hands and stepped back. ‘’Can you girls stand?’’
The one she was holding onto, the brunette, slid off the table and struggled a little to find her footing. But she managed to stand on her own feet rather quickly. Same went for the other two, with the red-haired girl even doing so without Alcina’s help. Afterward, Lady Dimitrescu went to grab the book that held the records of her observations from the cabinet. She’d better take it with her so she could continue it and write down the revelations she just witnessed. But first, she had to get these girls to somewhere safer. She turned back around and before her stood the first girl, holding up her arms towards Alcina’s face. ‘’Up, up!’’ She said.
Alcina couldn’t help but chuckle at that. ‘’My dear, you just learned how to walk and you already want me told hold you?’’
When the girl persisted even harder, she gave in and carried her up on her arms. It was an easy task for someone of Alcina’s size and matching strength to lift the full-grown girl as well as carry the book. The other two, slightly jealous-looking, girls grabbed onto the folds of her nightgown or her free pinky finger.
She walked them back to her own room. The girls followed her without any hesitation, only stumbling a little over the carpets as they struggled to keep up with her long legs. When they arrived, Lady Dimitrescu checked the hallway just once to make sure no one had noticed her little escorting mission. Only after the bedroom door clicked closed behind them and all the girls were safely inside, Alcina felt comfortable enough to let them go. She went and put the one she was holding gently onto her bed. The girl sleepily rubbed her eyes and just stared up at her as Alcina contemplated what to do next.
She was sure she still had some of her old dresses lying around, back from when she hadn’t yet grown out of them. She never had the heart to throw them away and kept them in a closet in another room in the castle. But that meant she would have to go get them while leaving the girls unattended. Could she entrust them to be on their own for a short while?
She followed the blonde girl with her eyes and watched her clamber onto the large, customize-sized bed next to her little sister. They looked like adults since their bodies had retaken the same form as they were before the insects had consumed them. But from their limited vocabulary and the way the third girl was childishly tucking at her nightgown, she doubted their mental state was anything past the age of five. Alcina snapped out of her train of thought as she realized that the young girl hanging from her clothes was asking for her attention.
When she looked down, she was met with the cutest puppy-like expression she had ever seen. ‘’Momma, I’m hungry.’’
‘’You’re hungry?’’ Lady Dimitrescu asked, stroking the girl’s hair. She hadn’t even considered the possibility of them getting hungry already, but she supposed whatever transformation they had gone through earlier must have taken a lot of their energy.
Alcina lifted the girl up from under her arms with ease and put her on the bed as well. She crouched down in front of them so she could meet the girls at eye level. ‘’Mommy’s going to get you something to eat, alright? You girls stay here and behave until I’m back. You think you can do that for me?’’
All three gave her a smile. Alcina wasn’t sure if they fully understood her but she would just have to trust them. If they truly believed she was their mother, they might behave long enough for her to go get some supplies. She patted the knee of the first girl before she got up and made her way over to the door. ‘’I’ll be right back.’’
She kept her eye on them until the very last moment before she fully closed the door. They stayed in their spot, simply watching her as she left them to their own devices. Alcina stayed quiet and waited outside for a couple seconds to listen if any of them tried to follow her. When she was confident they would stay in the room, she walked away. The thought of leaving them all alone made her anxious. Whether that was because she was worried about their well-being or rather afraid of the fact that they could trash her entire room while she was gone, she wasn’t sure. But either way, she fastened her pace and went towards the double doors that led to the kitchens.
‘’You there.’’ Lady Dimitrescu called out, making the maid that was still there nearly jump out of her skin. She hadn’t expected the lady of the castle to still be up at this hour.
She quickly spun around and bowed, trying to recollect her composure. ‘’yes, my Lady? Is there anything I can do for you?’’
‘’I need you to prepare three hot meals. Make sure they’re full portions and bring them on a tray outside my room after you’re done.’’ Alcina commanded.
The maid gave her a bemused smile. ‘’Uhm, right now, my Lady? It’s the middle of the night-‘’
‘’I did not come here for you to question the orders I give you.’’ Alcina interrupted, instantly shutting the maid up. The audacity of some of these girls… She turned to exit, but before she did, she shot one more glance over her shoulder. ‘’See that it’s done.’’
‘’Yes, my Lady, of course! I’ll get to it immediately.’’ The maid apologized, giving another hasty bow before Lady Dimitrescu left her to her work.
Now that was taken care of, she climbed the stairs again to the walk-in closet on the second floor. She didn’t really use it anymore as she couldn’t stand up in the room due to its lower ceiling. Even now she had to keep her head lowered as she rummaged through one of the drawers.
From it, she pulled 3 plain white dresses. They looked quite similar to each other and she couldn’t recall ever wearing them. It was a very long time ago she had the height to even fit in them. She held one up by the shoulders and looked it up and down. She was going to need to get these girls some different outfits, but these would do for now.
Hanging them over her arm so they wouldn’t wrinkle, she returned back to her bedroom. When she arrived she found a kitchen trolley with three silver cloche-covered plates waiting beside the door. Alcina carefully pushed it inside, making sure it wouldn’t tip over the doorstep. The three girls practically jumped up in excitement at her return. They had remained obediently sitting on the bed until she came back. Now they were running in front of her feet and grabbing onto the tray in curiosity.
‘’Don’t be so wild, girls, you’ll end knocking it over. Just wait a moment and I’ll get you your supper.’’ Alcina insisted. She revealed the steaming hot meals from under the cloches and handed each girl their own plate. They sat down cross-legged right there on the floor.
Alcina grimaced a little at the sight of the girls stuffing the food inside their mouths with their hands. They ate like animals. Food splattered across their cheeks as well as onto her pristine floors. But Lady Dimitrescu didn’t find it in herself to scold them.
They just… looked so adorable. Sitting there like small children and feasting so gratefully on the food she got them. They must have been famished. Alcina cocked her head and smiled at the dark-haired girl sneakily trying to steal from one of her sister’s plates and earning a weak shove in response. They were so sweet and fragile. What was she going to do with them?
The experiment had succeeded, which meant she was going to have to inform Mother Miranda about it in the morning. Oh, how overjoyed she must be! Yet Alcina felt saddened at the thought she was going to have to give these girls up. She didn’t understand why though. It wasn’t like she was actually their mother. They only called her that because they didn’t seem to know any better and she’d just played along so they wouldn’t go into a state of panic when they awoke. But for some reason, she felt responsible for them. She just had this unexplainable urge to hold them and care for them, to show them affection and tell them everything would be alright.
She almost wished she actually was their mother.
She shocked herself a little bit with that thought. She never had children of her own before, as she had to learn in her former life that she was unable to. She never thought she’d ever want any anyways. The whole process of getting them was something she really didn’t want to go through. Yet here she stood, looking down on the three girls and feeling a warmth coming from deep inside herself. Is this what it was like to be a parent? Is this the way they felt whenever they looked at their offspring?
Maybe Mother Miranda would let her keep them. Lady Dimitrescu internally laughed at the fact she could even come with such an idea. Was she seriously thinking of nurturing them? What was she even going to do with them? Could she really mother them and give them everything they needed? They were mentally still children and it would be no easy task to raise them, that she was sure of. But the reality of it still didn’t discourage her. Maybe there was a way to convince Mother Miranda that she needed them. It might be hard, but Alcina was confident in her ability.
She could have her own little family, right here in the castle.
She liked that thought.
The girls had finished their food and the blonde girl started to lick the grease off her fingers. Alcina grabbed her wrists to stop her from doing so. She was going to need to teach these girls some serious table manners. ‘’Come, darling. That’s no good.’’
Alcina took a moment to devise a plan to get these messy girls cleaned up. She eventually decided to run them a bath in her private bathroom. The bathtub was custom made to fit her height, as any normal-sized shower wouldn’t do. It came in extra useful now, because she could easily fit all three girls in at the same time.
It didn’t take much to get the first two girls to step into the bubbly water. Alcina took the third girl by her arm so she could help her undress, but in a moment of pure fright, the girl combusted into a swarm of flies and dashed into a corner where she reformed. Alcina stood perplexed for a moment. She wasn’t aware the girls had such abilities and on any other day, she would’ve rushed towards her journal to write about it. But now she smiled warmly, reaching out towards the petrified girl.
She hid behind her dark locks of hair, shaking her head furiously. ‘’No, no. I don’t wanna.’’
Alcina crouched down in front of her and rubbed the girl’s arm to comfort her.
‘’Don’t be afraid. It’s just a quick bath to get you cleaned up. Look, your sisters are already enjoying it.’’ She noted, looking back at the other two who were splashing each other with water. One of them was even trying to bite down into a bar of soap, poking out her tongue in disgust after tasting it, much to her sister’s amusement.
But the girl with Alcina still didn’t seem convinced and shook her head again.
‘’I’m your mother. I would never do anything that harms you, my dear. Come,’’ she took the girl’s small hand into her own, ‘’you can trust me.’’
She still seemed hesitant, but she stopped trying to escape out of her grip and let herself be guided back to the bathtub. Alcina felt a little bad as she had to lift the shaking girl into the water. But as soon as she submerged and got welcomed by her giggling sisters, all stress seemed to simply wash away from her body and she quickly joined her siblings in the activity of getting their mother’s clothes all soaked.
Alcina didn’t really mind. She could only smile as she soaped each of the girl’s heads and then rinsed them thoroughly with the showerhead. She scrubbed at their mouths and hands and washed them clean. This was normally the kind of handwork she would let her servants do. But she surprisingly enjoyed this, even though it caused an absolute mess. But it wouldn’t be the last time her daughters were going to cause her trouble. Yet she didn’t mind that fact. They were her babies, she could never get mad at them. They were just so sweet, with their bright smiles and joyful giggles.
She just absolutely adored them.
After their bath, she dried them and wrapped them in big, warm towels before clothing them into the dresses she got them earlier. She wouldn’t really call it proper nightwear, but they would have to do for now. She finished up getting the youngest into her outfit, who got a little impatient as her siblings were already free to run back to the bedroom. The second Alcina had the last button finished up, the girl dashed from her mother’s arms to chase after the other girls.
She could let them play around in her room for a little bit while she cleaned up the bathroom. At least enough so it didn’t look like a disaster, she could task her maids to do the rest in the morning. For now she just had to find a place for the girls to sleep. She could already think of a couple rooms that didn’t really serve a purpose at the moment, which she could transform into their bedrooms. It would be quite a chore, so she wasn’t certain what to do with them for tonight.
Lady Dimitrescu continued to ponder on this dilemma until she walked back into her room and found the girls already half-asleep on her bed. She was going to wake them up at first, but halted halfway into the action and reasoned it would be alright if they slept here. Just for tonight. Tomorrow she could worry about all the things she needed to arrange. Now she just moved the covers and carefully slipped into bed herself.
The girls sleepily cuddled up to her. They rested their heads on her arms or against her side. They looked so peaceful and the sight of them filled Alcina’s heart with a joy she had never felt before. She caressed their cheeks and gave each of them a goodnight kiss on their foreheads.
Before she went to sleep herself, Lady Dimitrescu took the book she had left on the side table. The blank page lit up by the candlelight, she added another entry:
The mass of flies have transformed into human bodies again.
All three girls awoke, looking at me like newborns.
I sense a bond between us.
Like mother and daughters.
I have already decided their names:
Bela, Daniela, and Cassandra.
Author’s note:
First off, I really wanted to show my thanks for all
the support on my last Resident Evil story! It really motivated
me to start working on this one!
The story is going to be all centered around Lady D and her children and all
the heart-ship and wholesomeness that comes with it. But all our beloved villains
are going to make an appearance in this story.
In one of the signing streams, Maggie Robertson (voice actress for Lady D) talked about how she sees Alcina as a character. She explained how Alcina is actually a very emotionally driven person, hidden behind the collected and powerful presentation of herself. She has this high status which causes her to act that way, yet we can clearly see her emotional side multiple times within the game. Especially when it comes to her daughters. So that’s a topic I really want to explore in this story, as well as what it must be like to raise three adult-sized toddlers that can turn into flies running around your castle the entire time. There will also be a lot of emphasis on the family, at its dysfunctionality, hilarity and secretly horrifyingly sad reality. But you’ll get to see what I mean later in the story.
Please let me know what you think of it so far! Any hearts and comments are highly appreciated. So please leave a review if you have any suggestions, questions or just want to say something.
Until the next one!
~Pie