Kell’s plaything followed along obediently at his side as he led her down eerily empty halls to her destiny.  A broken toy mended messily about to be shattered into beautiful pieces once more.  Jarek’s voice washed over her like a warm wave, filling her soul and making her heart sing.  It was his voice that had pulled her back from the brink so many years ago.  It was his voice that had pieced her back together.  It was his voice that would usher her into her future.<br/><br/>The horde of people watched her closely, ecstatic to see their fair-skinned, light-haired angel standing in contrast with the dark prince.  All the eyes watching her so closely made her shrink into Kell, hiding her face against his upper arm.<br/><br/>Step into the light, little one.  Don’t hide from them.  They want to love you.  Let them love you.<br/><br/>Frightened eyes landed on John, in front and sinking to his knees before her.  He loved her.  He wanted her.  He was<i>reaching</i>for her.  One foot stepped, her weight shifting forward, the hand not clasped tightly in Kell’s lifting from her side to reach for the one who worshipped her.  The prince would not like her going to another man, even one so meek and mild as John.  She knew this and pressed herself into his side again.  Father pulled Son away and into an embrace, leaving the sun to shine by herself, soaking in the love emanating from the assembled group like warm rays of sun.  They loved her and she loved them too.<br/><br/>Silver flashed in his palm, her gaze drawn by the shine.  For so long, she had been denied what she wanted - sharp, shining, dangerous, metal.  Charlotte had almost forgotten how it felt to feel human skin part and split under the bite of silver, the feel of warm crimson spurting in steady rhythms, watching the light leave the eyes.  Poor Mother had given herself to Charlotte’s dangerous prayers.  It would have been even better if she had not fought, if she had given herself willingly to the blonde oracle.<br/><br/>The father gave himself willingly.  He did not fight, he did not try to stop the ritual.  He stood tall and proud as the son spilled his prayers out onto the stage.  Charlotte basked in the love pouring from the congregation, her eyes sweeping the crowd.  This was the light and it was hitting her chest.  Jarek Ovrem had found her and nurtured her and loved her to bring her to this very moment.  This was her<i>purpose</i>.<br/><br/>The simple command pulled her attention to the dark prince.  The obedient supplicant dropped to her knees to accept the bloody baptism.  Arms spread wide, head falling back as she bathed in the doctor’s love.  The white dress soon became soaked, clinging wetly to her beautifully perfect body, revealing its shape to the congregation.  Golden hair turned crimson.  Her face dripped with the scarlet reward of her devotion.<br/><br/>Life faded from the father’s eyes and the shell was cast aside by the son.  The girl rose to her feet and stepped from the dais to go to her people, the ones who loved her.  John was first.  Second to Kell, he loved her best and he would be rewarded for his devotion.  Her forefinger ran down her cheek, leaving a porcelain trail through the red paint.  The finger touched his forehead, drawing the symbol on his skin that adorned Jarek’s shoulders, the symbol of their beliefs.  Another smear of her finger across her cheek but this time she used the vermilion liquid to color her lips.  Hands clasped John’s cheeks and tipped her face up towards his.  “Step into the light and accept my blessing,” she breathed her favor across his mouth before leaving a bloody stamp on his lips.<br/><br/>Charlotte, the broken-yet-mended-now-bloody Oracle, moved through the crowd, blessing them with the mark on their forehead or a red kiss to their lips.  Only John received both.  Desperate hands reached for her, fingers slipping across the once-white dress that clung to her like a lover’s caress.  The people parted before her, praying and singing desperate hymns to the angel moving through them.  Their worship made her smile, her teeth shining white in the red of her painted face.  Mother’s blood hadn’t coated her this thoroughly.  The uniformed men had seen to that, pulling her away before she’d been able to bathe herself in Mother’s love.<br/><br/>She could feel Raker coiling low between her thighs.  She could feel the seductive poisonous one aching to join Raker.  She could feel Kell’s eyes on her back as she gave her benediction to the people.  She could feel their<i>love</i>.<br/><br/>A glance over her shoulder at the macabre scene on the dais, the wide unseeing eyes of the Ovrem father, the shell of a body discarded carelessly in a heap, her dark prince watching her.  She turned slowly, a feral grin splitting the reddened face.<br/><br/>There he is.  We’ve missed him.  Let him have<i>everything</i>.  He is<i>strong</i>.  Open your arms for him.<br/><br/>Arms spread like angel wings as she picked her way through the multitude gathered to worship her, her eyes locked onto her prince, shining out from the gory paint that colored her skin.<br/><br/>“This is your future, Kell.  And it’s with me.”  She echoed his earlier statement as she stepped back onto the low stage.