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 Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 12:59 am
"It is such ease that has made even us weak. We allow humans to assume far too much, they believe that they can fell us with ease and given the opportunity, shrink our numbers in mere days. As for the additional food supply.. it is disgusting, one cannot drink from a human without tasting their toxic lifestyle. Their intelligence makes them poor sport, eventually they craft a wooden stake and reverse the hunt." Markius sighed, it had been decades since he had come across another that could match him in verbal discussion. "The remote areas are always in out of the way jungles with virtually no defense against the infernal sunlight of day. And the odds of the inhabitants having some wretched virus is statistically high. I do not intend to crash the ball, merely to observe and talk with those who have lived long enough to appreciate the gift of undeath; I must say that the trip was worthwhile now."
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:18 am
"If you insist," Ciro replied as he took a seat. He listened politely to Markius and Scarlet's conversation. The comment about living long enough to appreciate being undead made him grin. After all, he hadn't been a vampire long. His eyes scanned for the servant he spoke with. "I wonder if he'll find it."
------------------
Alfons gave the Thompson back to Jamie. "Speaking of my products, I think I have one hidden in my coat sleeve" He motioned to Jamie to fetch it from the coat-rack in the room. Upon receiving it, Alfons pulled out a rather small handgun. "The GS-21, a compact handgun meant for covert ops. Fires a proprietary 5.8x25mm cartridge, based on the Fabrique Nationale 5.7x28mm. The formula of the gunpowder we use causes the flash to be blue."
"That sounds pretty, but it still don't beat .45 ACP."
"11.43x23mm? Bah. 9x19mm is better."
*They argue about this for a while.*
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ScarletFrost Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 1:27 pm
"You speak as an ancient who has not adapted," Scarlet said with a wry smile. "I have several, contracted, consensual donors who taste as fresh as evening dew. They know who and what I am and willingly give their blood to me. I have had a few hunter attempts, but by perpetuating rumors of vampire weakness, they are woefully unprepared for my defenses. And as you can see," she gestured to Ciro, "I have constant protection from a 'lucky fluke' but so far, my defenses have been more than enough. This ball is evidence of my successful integration with the modern world. Maybe I could show you some of the perks of our current situation in the world?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:26 pm
"I have adapted to certain degree, after all change is the essence of existence." Markius grinned grimly, "The consent of prey is how many of our kind have become dull. I have seen generation after generation slowly become pale mirrors of their own prey." Markius sneered from some old memory, "I had a castle, I had a horde of servants, I had a small army under my command. And then the last heir of the Von Helsing blood line found me. He slayed all those who followed me, and for his assault I turned him and staked him." Markius' sneer turned into a malevolent grin, "The look on his face was something that shall always find me joy." Markius turned his full attention back to Scarlet, "But the past shall remain as it always has. Please do show me these benefits of which you speak."
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ScarletFrost Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 9:51 pm
Scarlet smiled apriciatevely at Markius' story. Then she turned to Ciro.
"Please instruct the mystro to put one of my personal arrangements on the ballroom sound system, volume at maximum please." Then she turned back to Markius. "Would you care to dance?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:15 pm
"Of course," Ciro replied, "enjoy your dance." He was at the maestro's side in a moment, and relayed the information. The speaker system started up with quite the melody. Satisfied, he turned and saw the servant he'd sent for the USP.
"Your weapon, Sir."
"Ah, thank you." Ciro took the gun, unscrewed the suppressor, placed the suppressor in his pocket, and holstered the weapon. "No ammo left, but at least I still have it." He looked back towards Scarlet and Markius, already dancing to the music.
-------------------------
"Can we just agree to disagree?"
"It would be for the best."
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ScarletFrost Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 11:28 pm
"Listen closely, my pupil," Scarlet instructed as they began to sway on the dance floor, their cold bodies pressed close together. "This song is of my own composition, and there are things in it that the human ear cannot hear. Feel the rush of fingers on the violin's neck, as if on your own. Let the cello replace what was once your heartbeat."
The music picked up speed, the base notes vibrating the lacquered wooden dancing floor, the trilling highs jangling the chandelier's crystals ominously. Human guests pulled back from the Vampire partners fearfully and watched in awe as their dance progressed.
"I have hell hounds in my dungeons, living gargoyles on my roof, more than an army of human civilians who would just love to die for me. I am a seductress of all races, genders, and walks of life, and I am good at what I do. Yet, I have never had an ancient such as you in my home. Tell me, is it the ritual hunt by the light of the Wolf Moon that you miss? or just the smell of fear-laced blood on your hands?"
The music followed Scarlet's words, turning from soft and melodious to urgent to gleefully sinister. What the humans could not hear was the howls of hounds, the cries of the living and dying, the laughter of the undead.
"Do you miss the orgies? Two humans to a vampire and all the night to drain them dry?" The music turned seductive and erotic, the cello maintaining a crass but elegantly played rhythm with the rock of its bow.
"Or do you crave the groveling and worship?" The music turned reverent, a chorus of hundreds of voices mingling with the other instruments to praise the dancers as they swept around the floor. There were moans of adoration and despair, heady after such a torrent of musically induced emotion.
"It's all still there, you know," Scarlet whispered invitingly. "If you want to look for it. Or...we could create it, you and I. An empire of blood like the days of old."
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Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 1:45 am
Markius let the music flow through him , embrace him, gently caress him, raise him up, and bring him down. The scenes Scarlet recited each matched a memory deep in the vampires mind, the images danced within his eyes, a malevolent smile that only barely hid his fangs crossed his face. "You speak of a task that would bend the history of this world to our bidding. Such a thing would be heresy by those of the races other than man that wish to remain hidden. If you are willing to spill blood as the days of old, then I shall gladly forge it at your side."
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ScarletFrost Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:50 am
Scarlet chuckled. "Are you sure I'm not too soft? Too placated by consensual donors? Too riddled by weak humans? You are far older and more powerful than I. Why do you say you wish to stand beside me instead of dominating me as a youth? Unless, of course, you intend to use me as fodder for hunters and rule from behind the throne." She winked conspiratorially, as if she was onto his plans.
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Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 3:21 am
Markius spoke with knowledge born of the ages, "History has shown time and time again, whether human or vampire, that a single leader will fall in short time. Vlad Dracula was blind to this truth and suffered histories cruel lesson. If an empire built on blood shall arise, then it is two rather than one that shall rule over it." Returning a smile he continued, "I also lack certain... subtleties... that would no doubt make an empire difficult to run. My methods generally instill only fear, and sow the seeds of rebellion. You, dear Scarlet, possess all of the subtleties that I lack and as such you would be a perfect compliment to me as my vampire queen."
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ScarletFrost Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 3:34 am
Scarlet threw her head back an laughed, the blood curdling sound echoing off the ballroom walls.
"I'm sorry," she said, dabbing with a handkerchief the blood-red tears of mirth in her eyes. "It has been so long since someone has offered me a queen-ship, I almost forgot what it felt like. If you haven't noticed, darling, I already have an empire. I can have any blood I want with the crook of a finger. Any man as well, for that matter. I have more forms of wealth than I care to count. Every guest here is tied to me, whether they know it or not. What would you add to my empire...besides fear?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 3:59 am
Markius maintained his smile, "Fear is only a start. Indeed you have an empire, but even you must hide to an extent from the world. Picture if this empire stretched the world over. Children grew only seeking to emulate you in some minor way. Legions fell at your command. Industry was wiped away and the blood of humans once again ran fresh whenever you desired? You have become content Scarlet, you have let your inherent ambition take second place to leisure. Can you truly say without a doubt that you are content to remain here, hidden from the world, always watching your step so that a vampire hunter doesn't find you and end all of this." Markius made a wide gesture to all around him, "I had it all as well, and I lost it all in an instant, if you need an example of what content gives than look no further, I am the example."
Markius locked eyes with the maestro from afar and the man began to conduct a new song, one of the vampires creation. It held the same secret sounds of the undead, but the song itself was dark in compare, every note made the humans almost visibly shake and shudder. The concealed noises echoing the silence of a castle filled with bodies and leaving the tones of a lone vampire sitting on a throne in a dead castle. "I seek not pity, I am a messenger and a cause in one. The fate I have was caustic, can you bare the emotions that you believe lost? I am far older than you, I have witnessed all the world first hand, I have plumbed the darkest tomes of forgotten lore, I have slain the last of the Hellsings, and you should heed my words closely. If my empire can fall, all other empires will fall in their turn."
The dower song took a high note, akin to thunder crashing. The climax resembled the lone vampire hunting through the night and finding his prey, a swift change in the tempo led the vampire to turn his prey and then to stake him. The tempo slowed as the vampire retreated from the world for many a year, a capricious series of changes foretold the vampire experiencing emotions he had thought lost when he had been turned; now ravaging his eternal soul. Slowly the notes took pace again as the vampire awoke and sought out others of his kind, becoming a harbinger of the end of the vampiric empires.
Markius raised a hand and the maestro played a gentle waltz. "And one so lovely as you should not have to suffer a fall such as mine. I offer a chance to step out of the shadows, to walk with boldness and purpose, to bring all others down to kneel before us!" Markius began to waltz with Scarlet, "And to rule into eternity, no man nor beast able to lift finger against our will."
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ScarletFrost Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 4:07 am
Something in Markius' words touched an ambition deep inside Scarlet's silent heart. There was so much more she wanted to do, but he was right, she could not expand her empire farther without considerable risk.
"And yet," she protested. "The only thing that is constant is that everything changes. Even the greatest of empires only lasted a few centuries. Why would ours be different? Eventually we would get bored of ruling the world." Then her eyes found Ciro at the edge of the ballroom. "Besides, I'm not sure how loyal a queen I would be. I've already let one man into the fringes of my heart tonight. I'm not sure there is room for two. Besides, you seem the possessive sort, and I am not a possession to be placed on a shelf until the time you need me. Understand, dearest, I am not refusing your offer, but considering all the ramifications before I give you my final answer."
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