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There is something special to be said of a bond between a vampire and their Sire. In the case of Athena and her Sire--Original Vampire Silas Shields -- this holds especially true. In what could only be described as sheer chance, Athena became the very first vampire sired in the history of vampirekind nearly a thousand years ago. It was on that day that Original Vampires learned their affliction could be passed on.
Because of this, the bond between Silas and Athena is uniquely profound despite its unfortunate start, which was rooted in Athena's quest for vengeance as she set out to slay the monster that killed her family. It took her ten years to track him down, and when she did she boldly and naively challenged Silas to a duel to the death. He pleaded with her to back down before the fight began, tried to calm her and begged that she not provoke his demon within, for once it got out he could not control it. Naturally, she did not listen.
Athena lost, but not without an admirable fight, leaving Silas with no shortage of wounds. The battle had been violent and bloody and at one point, when he had her at a disadvantage, she was forced to resort to biting him in self-defense, causing her to ingest some of his blood. Thus, when Silas finally killed her, Athena was reborn a vampire in transition, the first descendant of Silas' bloodline, and the first vampire ever to be born by way of the act of Siring. -
Following her transition, Athena's detest for Silas after what he did to her family remained potent for quite a while, and their relationship was rocky at the start because of it. Yet her bond to her Sire inexplicably bound her to him in spite of herself (and he to her). She had not forgiven him, but something inside her wanted to no matter how hard she fought it.
Forgiveness came over time the longer they spent together, as she came to realize that he truly did not mean to kill her parents. A vampire herself now, she understood what happened when the bloodlust took over, the loss of control. And she watched him suffer day in and day out as a result of his curse, weighed down by his guilt as he was forced to feed on the blood of the innocent just to survive. She was none too pleased with having to do so herself, but when Silas hurt so did she. And it wasn't long before she decided to devote herself to him fully, vowing to ease his suffering to the best of her ability as they trekked on through the years. They have been together ever since and, while not involved romantically, the love between them falls into a category all its own, one that has no name and that neither can live without. -
