I asked for fun Addergoole-related prompts here; this is from @Inventrix’s prompt although it rather went sideways.
Late in current timeline, after So, I have this school, set in Doomsday Academy Town. Boom-Town?
The smart money said you didn’t ask Cynara Doomsday about her Keeping. Of course, the same could be said for all of her crew, but Cya was not normally as… explosive… as the rest of Boom. Except on that topic. Even approaching it sideways had borne bad results in the past – so, you Keep someone every year. Ever been on the other side?.
She would wax poetically angry about Leofric’s collaring – when he wasn’t in earshot – a bit wistful about Howard – when Magnolia, who had Kept him, wasn’t around – and more than a bit confused about Zita’s first and second collarings (and sometimes about her long-term Kept/Keeper relationship with Leo). She’d talk about her own Kept – by this point, there were generations of them, in some cases literally – but on the topic of her year under Dysmas’ collar, she remained resolutely mum.
Cynara could Find anything, anyone, anywhere. It did not escape the notice of those closest to her that there were two people she never looked for – her father and her Former Keeper.
The people who would notice were smart enough to not ask why, too.
She never looked for Dysmas – but she had no skill in making people stay away from her, and she was, after all, building a city and a school. It is likely she shouldn’t have been surprised when the guards at the gates cued her in on the presence of a vampire asking for her by her given name and her former cy’ree.
Indeed, when she met him in the small holding room outside of her gates, she did not look surprised. If anything, she looked annoyed.
“Dysmas.”
“Cynara.” He wasn’t actually taller than her, but he stood and endeavored to look down on her. “Quite a place you’ve got here.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” Her voice was so level as to sound unreal. He raised aristocratic eyebrows.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you don’t want me here. And here I thought your guards were simply unfriendly.”
“I don’t want you here.” She pushed one hand away from her in a clearly dismissive gesture. “But this place is open to those who will fit in here, so here I am.”
“We had a good time, back then.”
“You Kept me.” She settled into a chair. “You tricked me into a collar you could have gotten on me willingly, and you treated me like property for a year. You let your crew boss me around, and you willingly let Eriko destroy my friend’s mind. When I complained, you punished me.”
“Yes.” He shrugged. “Of course.”
“And you wonder why I won’t allow you into my home?”
“It was a long time ago, it was Addergoole, and I was Keeping you. They were my crew. Of course they were more important.”
Her lips tightened. “Of course. How are they, now?”
A hand flapped negligently. “Gone, I suppose. Eriko passed into humanity and I don’t know what happened to the rest. What about your little friends?”
“I’m surprised you have to ask.” Nothing about her voice or her body suggested surprise. “Most people have heard of Boom by now. We’re loud enough.”
It was interesting. His pale complexion – he was a vampire, after all – did not get any paler. But the smugness fell off his face. “Boom.”
“That would be us.” She leaned forward, elbows on the narrow table. “Tell me, was Delaney any kinder to you?”
“Kinder?” His shoulders twitched again. “She Kept me. Like I Kept Rowan, and Nydia, and you. It’s the way things happened. What were you saying about Boom?”
She stood up, pushing her chair backwards with a long screech. “I don’t think they’d like you here.”
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