AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a third-person chapter that details what happens during this short(ish) timeskip.
CONTENT WARNING: The usual mentions of murder and death. Wouldn't be Divided without it!
In the following years, much had changed. Three years felt like thirteen. It seemed every day, there was some kind of new discovery. Many excitedly awaited new technologies and advancements, others feared the destruction and dissolution of the world they'd known since their childhood. Many feared that the countrysides and fields that they played in as children would be replaced with factories and machines, and though some questioned their eventual effects on the Earth. The excitement for the future and the money it would all generate spoke far too loudly, and those who were sceptical were caught in the noise.
Lord Volpe's witchfinders had varying levels of success, and the amount of women tried and killed as witches rose and fell, seemingly with little of a pattern to it. The uncertain futures turned many to towards faith. Some turned to Peterism for hope and security, and others turned to Jacobism, in fear of what awaited them and desperate for guidance. Whilst Peterism preached tolerance and not to judge a life you do not know, Jacobism considered witches either a punishment sent from the Watcher, or a threat that needed to be eradicated. The women who couldn't or didn't fight back some years ago took up their spells and their swords and retaliated. The men who once tried to blend into 'regular' society broke free of this false life, and fought back with every sliver of magic in their blood.
But what of the people whose stories we've been following so far?
Áine and Róisín
Áine mostly stayed at home looking after her daughter, Róisín, now a three-year-old toddler and full of all of the cheer and chaos that accompanied the early years. To both their surprises, she ended up with the same light-blonde that Reynold's mother had.
Her favourite toy is Howly, a werewolf doll made of some old sack cloth. Whilst the full moons were rough, trying to calm both her partner and her daughter's agitation during those times, they found a way to get through, with Reynold mostly staying in the basement away from Áine whilst his moods were at their most sour.
The two had been wondering when it was best for Róisín to see her father in his wolf form, but both figured it to be far too scary even for a child as brave as she is at her young age. Áine excitedly awaits her first spell, and the two sometimes her out for late-night walks whilst the (not-full) moon is out.
The murder of her father had almost always played on Áine's mind in some way. She even found herself dreaming from his point of view, seeing herself as a young child, seeing her mother burn... some of these images were mundane, others were devastating. What at first seemed to be what we, today, would call trauma, was actually something much deeper, and much more terrifying, as Áine learned from reading deep into her mother's old spell tome. The spell she had performed on the night she murdered her father was one powered almost entirely by fiery spite and unimaginable rage. She didn't feel comfortable telling Reynold about it first; there was only one other person in her life who would understand what it was like, what the spell had done to her...
Reynold and Clementia
Though he's entirely rushed off his feet, Reynold is doing a good job at running the Peteran monastery, still managing to perform most of his charitable duties. The Peteran monastery is not open for as long these days, as Reynold is the first abbot in many years to not live at the monastery. He spends half the week at home, and half there. He reads children's stories from the Peteran monastery's library to Róisín to get her to sleep and to teach her important morals.
Whether or not she believes in the Watcher or follows Peterism when she's older is up to her, and he plans to let her make her own decisions when she's old enough to be able to question such things.
His relationship with Áine has not suffered despite the stresses of parenthood and the monastery fatherhood, and the two are still as in love as they were back during the Beltane festival...only indoors this time.
He's noticed a lot more people attending sermons and events than they used to. To his surprise, the refuge is still empty; it seems more people are taking to fighting back instead of hiding. Despite his stress and exhaustion, he does what he can to ensure people remain hopeful for the future. Many of the people have faith in him, though the Peteran regulars haven't forgotten what Mother Joyce said before her death about him coming out of the 'darkness'. Susana is concerned about what he's possibly been through. Elias, especially, is concerned about what Reynold may be hiding if anything. He hasn't forgotten the time where Reynold somehow reached a town miles away by foot and had no qualm doing so.
Clementia and Reynold have been keeping in touch, meeting up once every two weeks at a minimum. Clem often stays at their place to see Róisín, and sometimes looks after her at her home so that Áine and Reynold can have a little peaceful time together. Áine and Clem have become fairly close friends. The women at the Jacoban cathedral had come to greatly respect Clem and her refreshing attitude, though the men still had a way to go before they could truly buy that, one day, Clementia would lead them. Thankfully, the witchfinder that had warned the Jacoban shepherdess Alice that he could come back for her, never did, nor did he come for Clem who fit the same description. However, all this meant was that another woman like them died in their place.
Shepherd Julian remained fervent as ever, each speech more damning than the last, each description of the Watcher more monstrous.
Clementia grows greatly enraged at Shepherd Julian's sermons against witchcraft, yet she cannot bring herself to speak up against him. Though Shepherd Julian greatly values her, she wonders just how much that is, and just how conditional his respect for her is on top of that. She cannot stay silent forever, but breaking her silence may mean her death.
Clem continued to practice with Jacob's Sword. This time, it was not just for catharsis, nor was it just for spiritual reasons. Clem swore to herself that she would defend herself and her fellow Jacoban women whichever way she had to. If Jacob's Sword had to be splattered with blood as a result, then so be it. It would not go down well with anyone- not with Shepherd Julian, not with her brother, and defiintely not with the higher-ranked Jacobans- but nothing a woman did in her own defense, or that of her people, ever went well. It was a risk she would likely have to take.
Katlego and Eleanor
Kat and Ellie are still glued to each other, and their small group had evolved into something more of a small village within Glimmerbrook. Whilst Kat wanted to make their small village into something a little more luxurious, Ellie preferred mostly living off of the land.
They eventually realised that they would have to blend in better now that Glimmerbrook was more settled (mostly by witches), risking the attraction of non-witches to the area..and so they doffed their 'wild women' outfits that Iris made (though Iris was disappointed by the matter).
Iris's odd fondness for reptiles led to finding an interesting familiar, a wild snake that took an interest in her. Iris and the other women named her Emerald. She has been loyal to Iris and the others ever since, in return for the odd mouse (which Emerald and Nia often scrap over).
Though Kat rarely left the area around their village at first, she eventually explored more of Glimmerbrook, mostly sprawling forest, abandoned buildings and of course the River Glimmer itself. It turned out there was something of a community within Glimmerbrook.
Further towards the outskirts of the fields and forests was a large manor belonging to Evadne Charm, a strict and serious woman. Not too far away was a large estate belonging to the whimsical and strange Isidora Viridis, a woman who claimed to be close to the Fae, and who often spoke of a lion protecting her home as well as Glimmerbrook, though Kat had seen no such lion in her time being there. The two bloodline families seemed to stay out of the way of the violence. It seemed many bloodline families were able to lay low enough to avoid being revealed to have magic in their blood. Instead of helping protect their fellow kin, they instead hid in their mansions and let the full-blooded witches take the brunt most of the time.
With Glimmerbrook growing, Kat decides to take up herbalism again to help out the fellow witches of the area, not charging anything, but only offering her services to the people of Glimmerbrook. She still keeps in touch with Gideon Reyes, with Nia now flying her letters to his home, and his letters back to her. She hasn't forgotten about Samuel Annorin, but looking after Ellie and the fellow witches is always at the forefront at her mind at this moment.
Gideon
Gideon has been working long hours as a fisherman, and his sons Daniel and Josiah, now young teenagers, have joined him in his work. It's long work, but the pay is decent, and they sell the excess fish at the Withernham market on the weekends. All three are somewhat tired of eating fish for dinner almost every night, but a good meal is a good meal.
He is now a fluent reader and writer, and has spent some time assisting the poorer families in the surrounding villages with it. He also helps them to write legal-related documents and letters to nobles and other important figures about important topics or points they feel the need to get across. He is training both Daniel and Josiah with a sword to defend themselves. Gideon has managed to get rid of a couple of witchfinders over the three years, but not as many as he'd like. He still has his sights set on Annorin, whose influence, though not as great as it was, still is great enough to attract the people of San Myshuno to his 'cheap' cures, and is still popular with the nobility.
Oskar and Violeta
Oskar and Violeta had a quiet Winterfest...at least once Oskar had finally tired of chasing Violeta around Nebelstadt with a tree branch in a 'Krampus' outfit for three days.
A month or so later, thoroughly impressed with a commission she did for him, a client from Henford sent a letter to Violeta, suggesting that if she fancies an inspiring change of scenery and some more Simoleons in her pocket, that she ought to move there and become an art tutor. Whilst before, Violeta was mostly just dabbling in art, she found she had quite the talent for it. For the first time, it was something she felt like sharing with others (if she was getting paid for it.) It took a lot of thinking. After all, how would she survive surrounded by so many people, and less of an easy way to safely satisfy her bloodlust? She couldn't exactly drink blood in a place with a population greater than two.
Not only that, but she couldn't leave Oskar alone in Nebelstadt either, fearing for his safety from the Strong bloodline as well as for his mental health. Feeding off the innocent wasn't as big a deal to her as it was to her closest friend, but she also didn't want to upset him by feeding off too many innocent people.
She tried to convince him to come with her, wondering if a change of pace would do him some good, and also not wanting to be without her friend...but it wasn't easy to do so. After all, Oskar still didn't believe her that he could go out in the daytime so long as it was completely cloudy. Violeta argued that day and night still cycled in Nebelstadt, even if neither the sun or moon could ever be seen through the thick fog, and he was fine. Violeta even reassured him: 'Don't worry, the sun doesn't shine in Henford anyway.'
Eventually, the one thing that did convince him to move to somewhere near Henford was the fact that he deeply missed Áine. Though the two kept in regular touch through letters, it wasn't until he found himself with little to tell her that he realised how mundane his life in Nebelstadt had been for so many years. He didn't want to leave behind a town he loved deep down, nor did he want to leave behind such a big mansion. A fair chunk of his lifetime savings was no longer legal tender, but not really old enough to be of any interest to collectors of such things, leaving it more or less worthless. The money was enough to buy a decent place to live, at least. It would be a lot to cope with for the both of them, getting used to being surrounded by people, and it would likely be something of an overload to a vampire's heightened senses- but perhaps it would be worth it.
The biggest issue would be that returning to Nebelstadt would likely be impossible. The Strongs would no doubt take over the land as soon as they realised the place was empty. They would have to bring bloodfruit seeds with them, but the moment the bloodfruit ran out, getting any back from Nebelstadt would be incredibly difficult. There was no doubt the Strong bloodline would probably destroy whatever was left of the crops to prevent the vampires from returning for a more-humane way of feeding. Violeta would lose the comfort that she found in the predictability of Nebelstadt if she moved, but she was not the person she was over two-hundred years ago. She now knew what she deserved, and had a willingness to destroy anything that got in her way. To start a new life where she was truly valued for her skill, and not mocked or devalued, maybe it would soften her cold heart a little.
For years, Oskar had only been making small woodwork animals, under multiple fake first names to imply that the Nivelheim lineage had not actually been the same man for the past one-hundred-and-sixty years. Violeta would be the one to sell them at small art markets alongside her own paintings. If he moved to Henford, he could go back to making furniture, as his parents did. People would become suspicious of his somewhat-luxurious presentation if he didn't have any job to appear to afford any of those luxuries. Violeta made the suggestion of him taking on an apprentice, and so he did... a fifteen-year-old boy by the name of Elijah Annorin.
