My Little Ventrue Pt. 06 Ch. 19

"I'm in, Triss. I'm in. And I think I know some other people who will help us."

Nodding, she raised her head, and forced herself to stop trembling again. "You do? We could piss some people off, our bosses included, doing this, Jack. I mean it. "

He grinned, and sat down beside her at the counter. "I don't think they'll mind pissing off our bosses. Tell me how I can help, finding the hunters.

"It... it could mean sacrificing kine, Jack. I'll keep it to scum, but—"

"Sounds fine to me." Shrugging, and ignoring her shocked expression, he glanced at his laptop, and stepped over to it. "Gimme a sec."

~Dear diary, my best friend died a week ago. Friend isn't the right word for him. Julias was a second father, and a mentor. Angela killed him. I'm going to kill her, no matter what it takes. The end.~

He closed the laptop, and smiled.

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~~Antoinette~~

She was not looking forward to this call.

It was not a question of disliking the caller. All things considered, she was very much looking forward to speaking with Elaine. It was the inevitable topics the conversation would summon that would infuriate her, that she wished to avoid.

With a sigh, she sat upon her throne in her primary meeting room, high within her Elysium Tower, and ran the program upon her laptop. It took much convincing that such a program could be utilized, but only once she had confirmed that the program used every secure measure in existence, did her fellow dragons consider using digital communication. Many of them would have preferred they send mail. Mail, parchment, paper! She rolled her eyes, and waited as the program created a secure connection to Elaine's own computer.

Many elders in the order were old fashioned, despite the goals of Ordo Dracul. While few were as old as her, those in the upper echelons of her order with centuries to their name were simply unwilling to adapt to technology. Antoinette was a black sheep, in that regard. Technology was the future, and if the old fools did not come to terms with that reality, they would be left behind. What would they do in a hundred years, when metal carriages, no longer drawn by horses, pierced the sky? No Kindred had yet to visit space, and none of them knew what would happen in such a circumstance.

At least her order were not as trapped by their old expectations as the Circle of the Crone. If Jacob had his way, technology would be cast aside, and kine and Kindred alike would be living in the woods once more. Metal, concrete, electricity, all would be lost, traded for vine rope, cottages built with wood and mud brick, and scattered villages instead of massive cities. Kine would crouch around fires, worshiping spirits, some real, some not, while Kindred like Jacob preyed upon them, used them in his rituals, and summoned spirits from across the Gauntlet in his mad pursuits.

She sighed, tapping her finger on her desk as she waited for the program to secure the connection. The Ordo Dracul was dedicated to uncovering the secrets of existence, but also to the understanding of change. The fact many of her peers, convinced they studied the world and its changing state of existence, were in fact, unwilling to accept technological advancements, was a point of contention within her covenant. Frustrating.

"Once you cease learning, death is inevitable," she said with a sigh. Her peers preached of understanding change, but how many of them could see that, within the next two hundred years, space travel would be a very real possibility? Technological advancement grew both in power, and its speed of growth. To say that, in twenty years, the entire world and its Kindred would suddenly be illuminated under a hunting light of technological advancement, was a very real possibility as well. Could they not—

Beep. "Ann, thinking?"

Antoinette looked to the laptop screen, and smiled at the familiar image. "Always."

Elaine laughed, shaking her head as she leaned in toward her own screen. "Do not think yourself into an early death."

"If I do not think, who will? Forever I am forced to break molds, and redefine the world for its own betterment, against its own wishes."

"The other Kogaions think you are mad, if you did not realize. Traditions exist for a reason."

Antoinette rolled her eyes. "They preach of the pursuit of knowledge, and understanding change, but they treat technology as if it were a fad. Fools."

Her old friend shrugged, and leaned in closer, so her own computer's camera focused on her face. For all the Beast's natural ability to avoid the lens of a camera, it could not avoid it if the vampire leaned in for a closeup.

Elaine was a beautiful woman. Pale skin not unlike Antoinette's, and tall, with flowing long blonde hair. Thin, busty, beautiful, Elaine would have made a perfect Daeva, one who could use her looks to enslave men and women with but a glance. Unfortunately, she was Ventrue. Were she Daeva, Antoinette would likely have included her in far more of her games, when she was younger. Perhaps she would have included her in whatever experiment it was that Antoinette had performed to give herself her hair and eye color, and her proportions. And perhaps, unlike Antoinette, Elaine would have been intelligent enough to journal the experiment.

"How fairs your city, Sworn of the Dying Light, Architect of Carnal Void, Voivode of Dolareido?"

Antoinette rolled her eyes. Dragon titles were a touch absurd, but she could not deny she valued them; she had earned them, after all. Her order thought it unusual for a Kogaion such as her to pursue her goals not only without the support of other Kindred save for her sheriff, but also in such a peculiar position. She was an oddity, in many respects.

"I am surrounded by imbeciles, old friend. Every night, I argue and push for understanding, cooperation, and awareness. Every night, I struggle to teach these fools that, only through critical thinking, and a pursuit of truth, will we survive the flood of change soon to drown us all." Sighing, she shook her head as she pulled her hair over her shoulder, onto her chest, and began to comb it with her fingers. "They are far too obsessed with their own squabbles, their own troubles, and their own desires, to face toward the inevitable danger."

"Give it time, Ann. You've made great progress. Most cities with a Kogaion such as yourself still struggle with battles between covenants. The peace you've created remains, does it not?"

"It does, if only barely." She got up, pushed her chair aside so Elaine could see, and she stepped over to her window to gaze out over her city. "Decades upon decades building trust, Elaine. Decades! And still these infants seek reasons to fight each other. Hunters have crawled their way into the cracks of my city, and if I could trust the others, I would organize a full scale search involving each covenant." The idea sounded wonderful, and practical. In reality, it was naive. "Garry Tones and his infuriating ruffians will jump on the opportunity to attack the Invictus if they overextend their efforts, and Turio and MacDonald will gladly cut off Garry's head if he sticks it out too far."

"You could reenact the Purge."

Antoinette threw Elaine a cold stare, but it lasted for only a moment before she sighed and shook her head. "No. Perhaps if Honors were still alive, I might deem it necessary, and recruit the Carthians to my aid once more. But he is dead."

Elaine flinched at the mention of Viktor Honors. "I'm sorry, about Tony I mean. I heard he died with Viktor."

Antoinette and Elaine occasionally went years without speaking to each other, but when they spoke with each other again, it were as if they had spoken only days before. Such was the way with Kindred of their age; kine as well, she supposed.

"I am freed by his death, and he deserved a worse fate." Nodding, she moved her eyes over the city that sat before her. Hotels, casinos, and buildings of similar entertainment sat a little further away from her tower than buildings of business. They were still close enough that traces of their light cut through her window, and she managed a small smile as their light filled her eyes. It truly was a beautiful city that she had grown, nurtured, molded, and she would be damned before she let hunters, or power hungry Kindred destroy it.

"News of a giant swarm of crows circulates," Elaine said.

"Yes, that is a problem, a grand one that is half my focus of late." Should she tell her old friend, an Architect of Terror, about Jack? Surely Elaine's vast knowledge could help him. She was a powerful dragon, wise, with a bloodied history she had cut her teeth upon, grew from, and overcame. Antoinette trusted Elaine with all but her life, and that was far more than most Kindred were willing to trust others. "The Masquerade has been damaged by something no one could have foreseen."

"Oh?"

"A... a curse, has befallen one of the Kindred here. A relic of the ancient past has resurfaced, and has emerged to explosive effect. It has poisoned, contaminated my... my lover."

"Your lover?" Elaine leaned in close to her camera, eyes wide with curiosity. Sadness drifted across her, once she walked back through Antoinette's words in her mind. "Your lover is cursed."

"He is. But it is under his control... perhaps."

"Tell me about him."

Antoinette laughed, and shrugged. "My city struggles and you wish to talk romance?"

"Naturally."

The Prince rolled her eyes once more, but her smile only grew. "He is a small man, and quite young. About twenty, when he was embraced, and embraced only two years ago." Embraced by one of the best men in her city, a dead man. She pushed through the sorrow, and did not let it damage her budding warmth as she thought of Jack.

"That is young, but not unheard of."

"Jack Terry is his name, and while he may be young physically, he possesses critical thinking, awareness, a hunger for truth, and the soul of a cynical old man." She laughed, out loud at that, and looked back to her city to let its lights dance across her eyes. "He is sincere, genuine to a fault, and I cannot help myself when I am near him."

"Typical Daeva."

"Oui, I cannot deny that. When I near him, I want to hold him, pin him down, bury him, and pamper him. And he bathes in my loving touch, content to let me guide his actions under our sheets."

Elaine swooned. "I can only imagine what you're doing to this poor boy. Is he timid?"

"He can be surprisingly aggressive, in matters of the city or his covenant. Come romance, he was once terribly timid, and frightened. But I helped him grow past his shyness, and now I have acquired someone who loves me for who I am." Put like that, it sounded wonderfully drôle, and cliché. But that was what it was, that her relationship with Jack was delightful and fulfilling, because he enjoyed the way she did things, much as she did with him. Attempting to convey such a deep feeling through words seemed a wholly impossible affair, and she sighed wistfully as she smiled at Elaine over her shoulder.

"I am saddened to hear this curse affects him, then. I... I had assumed, considering the degree of the incident, that he'd be older."

"It is the curse. A seal once contained it, and across sires, through the years, it weakened. We can only assume that the death of his sire triggered its destruction."

"Seal?"

"Yes. My love believes a Sanctified, many centuries ago, sealed the curse away with Theban sorcery. Time, it seems, destroys everything." Hundreds of years, and spreading across Kindred like a disease. Did Viktor have other childer she did not know of? It was possible. He had come to Dolareido when entering his elder years, and had undoubtedly spent decades before creating empires; or destroying them.

"I am doubly troubled to hear your love's sire is dead, then."

"Viktor's childe was a wonderful man. Of all the Kindred in my city, I felt he understood my goals better than anyone else; except for maybe his childe. Julias Mire died saving my lover's mother, who is now my childe."

Elaine's jaw dropped halfway through Antoinette's words, and almost hit her desk upon mention of a new childe. "That is a lot to take in, Ann."

Yes, it was a lot to take in. But there was something else in Elaine's eyes, a hint of curiosity, of surprise. Something Antoinette had said had surprised Elaine, something more than mention of a new childe, and the woman was not going to say what. At least, not yet. Such was Elaine's way, sitting on questions to ask them later.

"It has been a busy time, these couple of years."

"Ok, the hunters and things can wait. You have a new childe?"

"Yes. A small, sweet woman, in her mid forties. She is resilient, and yet soft-hearted. I am intrigued by her, how she remains delicate, and yet has the strength to endure the trials of her past."

"Trials?"

"Her husband died a decade ago, and her son disappeared two years ago, vanishing from his old life when he became Kindred. And hunters killed her daughter less than two weeks ago." Nodding toward the city, Antoinette growled and grit her teeth. "Two of the hunters are psychotic, passionate, and vicious. They kill innocents in their pursuits."

"That... is unusual." A creaking noise drew Antoinette's eyes. Elaine had leaned back in her chair, in much the same way Antoinette did when pondering. "Your childe is a spirited woman, then."

"Spirited, and naive. I am delighted by her, and terrified for her. I will need to harden her shell, if she is to survive the city. And now that her son has become a vessel for a raging curse, wishing to unleash its malice upon all it deems worthy of its disdain, I do not know what will become of her."

"You're in a terribly complicated situation."

"Indeed."

"And only you and your delicious sheriff fight to keep the utopia of Dolareido from collapsing?"

Antoinette chuckled and gestured to the window. "Daniel is still single, if you are interested." With a long sigh, she began to pace, moving from end to end of the massive window as she looked down, arms folded across her chest. "The problem grows worse, Elaine. Azamel has returned. The hunters I spoke of, came in pursuit of her."

"It sounds like the solution is simple then. Expel Azamel."

"I would, but not only is the old monster capable of great destruction, I would be doing nothing but foisting problems we all face onto her shoulders alone. These hunters need to be stopped." Laughing, Antoinette buried her face in one hand. "My troubles do not stop there. Werewolves have come, Avery specifically."

"Oh no. Simon—"

"Apparently Simon is dead, or at least Avery is no longer in his pack. She has created her own, and they have come to deal with invading spirits."

"It does sound like you are buried in a maelstrom of troubles." Elaine tapped her own desk several times, thinking. Antoinette stopped pacing to watch her, and found the woman twirling the end of her hair with a finger, as she always did when trapped in thought. "I wish to visit."

"Oh? The city has become a turbulent place, Elaine. I cannot promise your safety."

"The great Antoinette, White-Haired Demon of our order, holding a city alone, cannot promise my safety?"

The teasing was pleasant, and it reminded Antoinette of Natasha's barb at Bloodlust. Playful and innocent, but with a hint of truth that Antoinette was forced to consider.

"It is true, that my situation is problematic. And—"

"I'm your friend, Ann. Besides, we can catch up on your experiments. I'd love to see how far you've come in crossing the Gauntlet. And..." The blonde woman sighed as she leaned back in closer to her camera. "And I wish to speak more of Viktor."

Antoinette raised a brow, and returned to sit upon her grand chair at her desk. "He is dead, Elaine, destroyed by fire along with my childe Tony. His childe is also dead, and I am lovers with his grandchilde. There is little else to say of him." Strange for Elaine to be concerned with Viktor. In the past, she showed little interest in him. As far as Antoinette had noticed, her old friend and the brutal Viktor Honors avoided each other whenever they crossed paths.

"Consider it an intellectual curiosity."

"You will have trouble studying the remains of a dead vampire, Elaine."

"Perhaps. But as you say, his grandchilde lives, and is your lover."

Antoinette frowned. That did not sound like an innocent request, despite Elaine's innocent smile. "Help is welcome, but my lover is not to be experimented on, Architect of Terror." Her old friend's willingness to dig deep into matters of the Beast was well known, and was a driving force of their friendship. But, Elaine had also crossed lines in her younger years, to Antoinette's knowledge. So had she, and the pursuit of forbidden knowledge and lost secrets had been a binding goal between the two of them.

They had both done things they regretted. But that was then, events from centuries before, now only blurry memories and vague descriptions written in tomes, locked away within the libraries of her order.

"I will not experiment on him, Ann. Don't worry. But I can't deny this curse is of interest."

Of greater interest than her friend was letting on, it appeared. A twinkle in her eye, a small lick of her lips, Elaine let the intrigue show, knowing full well Antoinette would see.

"What game are you playing, Elaine?"

"I will be in Dolareido within a month, Ann. Perhaps we can have one of your famous balls, in celebration?"

Antoinette could not help but grin as she rolled her eyes once more. Her old friend was playing with her, teasing her, drawing her in, like a kitten and string.

Naturally, she had to give chase.