Three weeks later, Oasis, the City of Dreams…

Now, the sun and the snow of the Ecclesiarch’s dominion was no more. In its place, was the sunless sky of a white night unending, and a world of seemingly endless golden sand and tall palm trees, where trading settlements clustered around palatial mansions built on moonlit oases. Where up in the dark skies enshrouded by silvery mist, marred by a looming skyline of tall marble spires and luxurious condominiums dotted with windows lit with warm lights of yellow and orange, the world of dusk and dawn, and the world of ice and snow, felt very much like a faraway memory born of another realm.

The carriage was making its way slowly forward through the city’s many canaled districts, through crowded streets packed with humans and elves perusing bazars and shophouses colourfully stocked with all manner of exotic merchandise and mundane sundries. And with Claire fast asleep by her side, Elena gazed out through the window to her right, her crimson eyes lazily taking in the festive, almost dreamlike display of dazzling, crystal-lit signs belonging to glitzy nightclubs and fanciful hotels up in the distance. Outside, people were shouting, bargaining, arguing, conversing, and making merry, and she wondered to herself about how her beloved could stay asleep.

And if she had to limit herself to a single guess, it was probably because it was morning. Vampires had a way of knowing this, she was sure, for that was when their instincts would compel them to slumber, their unholy hunger for blood preferably sated like Claire’s had been just hours ago. And she used the word ‘probably’, because the endless cycle of dusk and dawn present throughout the rest of Melodia seemed to hold no sway in the City of Dreams. Or, for that matter, the rest of the Dread Expanse at large. In this place, where the sun and ice held no sway, the time of day seemed a non-existent concept.

It was strange indeed, now that she considered it. And possibly, a little bit disconcerting. The Caliph’s people, far as she could tell, seemed to live their lives like that, their businesses and activities always open and their customers and patrons constantly coming in throughout the long and unending night. And in a way, perhaps in a twisted way, it was almost like a carnival unending. A great façade, where the mundane aspects of life such as a good night’s sleep were seemingly hidden from sight like an ugly seam on a wedding dress.

Thus she wondered, truly – what lay beneath the City of Dreams? And as she gazed out of her window once again, past the roadside stalls and people going about their day while the carriage made its way across a bridge built above the city’s canal network, the moonlit waters running below street level seemed to echo her thoughts as they flowed quietly into dark cisterns far beyond the ever-watchful gaze of prying eyes above ground.

Two hours later, outside the Chandra Mahal…

The carriage had come to a halt, just outside the walls of a domed palace of white and gold that seemed to encompass the space of an entire district. The only path in, was one that led directly into a resplendent garden of lush, potted greenery, set alongside symmetrically placed fountains of endlessly flowing water. And before it all, where the carriage’s journey ended, there was a great silver gate embellished with gold and lustrous jewels of every colour, guarded by large and turbaned warriors armed with scimitars, their burly frames dressed in a mix of silken finery and plate armour.

“Claire,” Elena whispered, as she shook her beloved gently by her shoulders. “Wake up.”

“Elena…?”

With one brown eye open, and with the other still closed shut, Claire gazed groggily in the general direction of her mistress. Looking down towards her gauntleted hands, she unfastened and removed one with the help of the other, before rubbing her eyelids both slowly and gently with her naked fingers.

“We’ve… arrived?”

“Yup,” Elena answered, with a grin and nod while her beloved fastened her gauntlet back in place. “Have a look outside, quick.”

Slowly, Claire turned away from Elena and stared out of the window on her side of the carriage.

“The Palace of the Moon…”

“Yeah. Quite the feast for the eyes, eh?”

“It looks exactly as I remember it, all those years ago…” Claire uttered, her voice filled with wonderment as she continued gazing out the window. “I wonder if Her Majesty remembers the Elician Jewel, after so long… though I have to say that I didn’t know, or notice back then, that she’s… like me.”

“Yeah, the Caliph’s a pretty old Vampire Lord. But wait, you’ve been in there, and you’ve met her before?” Elena asked surprisedly, as Claire turned away from the window to address her. “I’ll say, I didn’t know that!”

Smiling wistfully, Claire nodded.

“You never asked, my love. In fact, you didn’t even tell me where we’re going. I didn’t have a clue, until day turned to night.”

Elena frowned.

“Right, about that…”

“It’s okay,” Claire teased, before leaning forward to peck her mistress gently upon her cheek. “I know this hasn’t been easy for you either… and I know that you’ve got a lot on your mind.”

“How’d you meet her, though?” Elena asked, as her cheeks blushed a necromantic green. “Through Heretic?”

Claire nodded gently. Her gaze veered towards the window once more, resting upon the grandeur of the Chandra Mahal.

“It was so long ago… at the prime of my career. Back then, I was still that silly girl in your poster back home. The guild caravan brought us here to perform for the Caliph’s court. I remember how we were so enraptured by the luxury within, and how the other girls took to calling her, in whispers… the Prince of Chandra Mahal. And to think, after our performance, that Her Majesty chose me…”

She then turned around, gazing forlornly into Elena's crimson eyes.

“Her Majesty was drunk that night, I recall. And she called me... Athena. Over and over. I didn't dare to ask why. And yet, even now, I can't help but wonder…”

However, before she could finish her sentence, she shook her head and grimaced.

“Nevermind. It’s all in the past. Now, I’m just… Claire de Lune.”

“You’re right,” Elena answered, her voice a whisper as she placed her hands upon her beloved’s shoulders. “You’re still Claire de la Lune.”

“And you’re still… Elena de L’Enfer.”

Elena nodded.

“Yup. Hasn’t changed at all, last I checked. Now, though… it’s your turn to answer me.”

“Oh?”

“You’re still Claire de la Lune, aren’t you?” Elena asked, still smiling as she placed a hand upon the frigid emptiness of her chest, where her mortal heart once was. “Down here.”

“Yes, my love. I am,” Claire uttered softly as she gazed deep into her mistress’s crimson eyes, a bittersweet smile forming upon her lips as she followed suit and cupped a gauntleted hand over the coldness of her bosom. “I am yours, and the older sister of Anna de la Lune. Always, and forever…"