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((So I was about to say I need to close this because I just don't have time. Then we hit level 3. Level 3!!!! Wow.... I may need help storytelling! If I can get another storyteller, we can increase our cast as well ^_^ If you know anyone interested or are interested, PM me...and now on with the show))

Tenma
"So be it child," the gypsy said, quietly and thoughtfully. A tentacle lashed out at her, and calmly she put up a hand. There was a ping, and a white wall flashed for a second. The tip of the tentacle turned into ice, and the ice crawled up, entering Tenma's stomach. She felt chilled for a few moments as the rest of the tentacles were then frozen. Her stomach became numb, and she could see her breath. Her pale skin mimicked ice, blue and white marbling her flesh.

Tenma cried, but her tears froze when they left her eyes, leaving ice trails down her cheeks. "It'll be over soon," the gypsy walked up to her, kneeling beside her, "But it will hurt a lot more before it feels any better." Her hand thrust inside Tenma, grasping the black orb. Tenma could feel the skin shatter around her hand. The woman took the black orb and threw it out one of the train windows, shattering it. Tenma's world went black.

When she woke up she was in the back room of a small store. She could hear the gypsy talking kindly to customers. Tenma tried sitting up, but the pain in her abdomen only allowed her to make a pitiful whimper. Soon the gypsy came into the back and knelt beside her. "Child, you're not quite ready to move, but your training can begin here. The thing will try to find you again, and you'll have to know how to defend yourself so you can at least escape. You may call me Madam Aminta. Now, let us begin your training."

Claire
Agent Paul walked with Claire through the city as dusk approached. He was pleasant, talking at length with her and buying her a panino on the way. He talked about his wife and kids back home, and asked Claire about her own past, though mostly it was just a way to pass some time. As night finally came to the city, Paul took her to a pier and to a small boat. He paddled as he continued the conversation, asking her what she would like to see, and many other menial comments, avoiding any conversations that were of any depth. On the boat, in the darkness with the waves gently lapping at the side and the sun finally down, he commented that it simply was not safe to talk about it in the open.

Finally the boat stopped at a building with a small, wooden door suffering from water rot. "This is our stop." He tied the boat to the side of the building, and walked up to the door. To the right there was a panel. He pushed his thumb against it and a console opened up. There was a retina scan, and then a voice confirmation before the wooden door lifted. "After you, Claire." He gestured kindly with his hand, smiling and nodding. She walked into a dark room, and he followed right behind her, flipping a light switch.

The room was small and empty aside from a carpet in the middle. He went to the wall to the right and went through the same procedure he did on the outside. As he did, the outside door closed. "We put the carpet down to trick intruders. Everyone seems to think every hidden door is under a carpet." He laughed a little, and a door opened that led underground. "This time I'll go first." He pulled a flashlight from a rack in the tunnel and handed her one. "MOSE is a cover up for another project called Unity. Unity is looking to bring all humanity together, but to do that we need to make sure humanity is safe. If the city sinks, the being will move on to another city, and that city could be Rome. If Rome mysteriously disappeared, there's no way we could predict who would take the blame, and we really do not want that to occur for our own sanity." The corridor took many twists, the only real signifier to their direction being they were always going down.

Finally they came into a small room. A stainless steel door kept them out for the time, and to the side was a rack for the flashlights, and on the other side was a rack of what looked like military goggles. "Keep your flashlight here. This is how you use the gear," he showed her how to turn on the night vision and infrared. "We can't have light in the next room. Last group that went in there with a light we never heard from again, but we did have to make a new room. Really difficult to do when it's dark." He turned off the lights in the corridor and opened the stainless steel door.

The room was all glass, allowing her to look over a large cavern. When she did night vision, all she saw was a sea below them. Heat vision showed something incredibly warm down below. "That's the thing. Well, it's under that. That lake is blood and it feed it. We need your help stopping it, along with finding the Jester. There are others the Jester recruits, and it's all part of a cycle. That thing is waking up, and we need your assistance." She could see he was looking straight at her. Also, behind him, she saw bats fly low in the cavern. It looked as if tongues lashed out of the sea of blood, catching the bats nearing groups of a dozen at a time. "This threatens all of humanity."

Ruslan
The brunette smiled, excited. "You get to join me. My two sisters already have created progeny, so you're mine." She bit into his neck, and he arched as truly it did feel amazing. She fed more eagerly, rubbing her hands up and down his chest, her mouth nuzzling deeper into his throat. He could feel the blood trickle down him, down his chest and neck, flowing onto the silk sheets below him. He could see it dribble down her chin, into her blouse. His head became dizzy and soon the room began to fade. He grunted and groaned, perhaps with pleasure, or perhaps with that late realization.

There was nothing. He knew something happened, but in moments he had forgotten. There were stairs and lights, and there was a burning. A deep burning seared his chest, and he looked at his chest and saw a marking. The Mark of Caine, the Curse of God. He didn't understand exactly, but he knew that's what it was. He jumped. He couldn't recall what he jumped from, but he knew he jumped, and the light became farther away from his mind, and the darkness became suffocating. He couldn't breathe. Everything became tinted red as the burning became stronger.

The room came back and he took in a large gasp of breath. The girls laughed, commenting upon how so many of the newly Embraced gasped for air in the same way. He soon realized the reason he felt like he was suffocating was because he no longer needed air, but he continued to breathe anyway. The room was still tinted red and his head swam. He felt blood upon his lips, and saw the brunette's wrist was slashed, though it healed quickly in front of him. He thrust himself out of the bed at the brunette's neck, still thirsting, the burning pulsing through his body in place of a heartbeat.

The brunette became a blur, grinning. Her hands quickly wrapped around his head, and snapped it quickly to the side, breaking his neck. His head lulled at the side, and she thrust a bag of blood in his face. He drank of it, and healed his neck. Bag after bag filled his thirst, still warm from the donor. The blood lust subsided and he regained control over himself. The three ripped out the wood from his leg and taught him how to heal it. The red head and blond left, and the third sister smiled, his blood still on her lips, "Ruslan, you are now mine. But I shall teach you well. Call me Anastasia." And so she taught Ruslan arts unknown to him before, and quickly taught him about his new state of being.

A tilt of the head clearly gave away her confusion. Training? She had school, work, and not to mention concerts. She didn't have time, she barely had time to sleep. There was a buzzing in Tenma's ears as the gypsy spoke. Madam Aminta. she muttered, almost dutifully. As her breathing grew tired and shallow she allowed herself to sink back into a relaxed state. The woman was right, she wasn't ready.

As Tenma's eyes began to droop her mouth parted a bit. A weakened sound passed her lips before she could form words. What am I truely training for? Please explain some of what is happening to me. I am being blindly steered through this little tragedy. her eyes closed, though sleep did not follow. She was simply trying to take in all of this. Her life had been so...insolated? No, it was a tragedy all of its own. Now she had been led into another. She had always been fated for the worst.

The buzzing continued, as did the thoughts. Sorry to break it to you kid, but you're stuck. Screw your other life. Screw work. Screw school. Screw those pointless concerts. You have been wanting a change, and here it is. Don't lose this, you had nothing back then, you could actually be something. No longer hiding in the darkened shadows of those around you. Those you were always better then but never recognized as. Believe me child, I am your only friend now. That is, along with Madam Aminta. the voice in her head played its tempting tune throughout her body. Oddly enough, she was glad she was in this little play.

Claire
The Agent took her to the train station. There they went to the mainland, and finally entered a very nondescript building in the tall grass lands that made that portion of the coast. It was clean, however, which set it apart from so many of the other buildings in the area. It also didn't look like a factory, but more of a clean industry building.

The lobby was a pristine, clean, white area, which could see up the twenty some odd floors to the skylight at the top. The other levels looked down on the lobby as balconies, and there were several people wandering throughout the building, all of them wearing suits of some sort. Most of them were clean cut. A few of the people would talk to the others, but these social interactions seemed unnatural and unnerving.

"This is the headquarters for MOSE, though we have another facility we tell people about. We do not want people snooping around our actual HQ. Now, if you would follow me, there is a video all employees must watch." He took her into a small room, only slightly bigger than an average American closet. There was a single chair with a plastic seat and back, and a minimal metal frame made out of thin beams. The TV sat upon a rack much like in schools, though the wheels were stripped off. There was a BlueRay player on a shelf on the rack which connected into the back of the 19" TV. The small room was white.

"This is where you will watch it. When you are finished, simply turn off the TV and player, and then come out to the receptionist. It was nice meeting you, Claire." He smiled kindly, pressed play on the player, and then left the room.

The screen flickered, and the amount of time she spent in that room seemed to blur. It started as any video shown to employees before they could start work. It warned her that sexual harassment would not be permitted, and that fights in the work place should be brought to the attention of higher ups so they can quickly be settled. It told Claire to keep her personal life at home, and to remain productive while at work. It told her Unity would look out for her, and all of her needs would be met. It told her that she would look after the needs of humanity in exchange for these commodities, even if her employment was temporary. Then time seemed to alter. The screen would flicker, and she could feel something pulling at the back of her mind. There was something else to the video.

She watched as heavily armed men blasted away a werewolf which was about to attack a small girl. The men smiled and ruffled the little girl's hair, handing her a lollipop. A woman was attacked in a dark alley by a pale man. An armed woman came from around a corner and killed the pale man. The victim ran to the armed woman and hugged her, crying her thanks. These scenes continued, presented as if they were everyday. The film stopped. Claire turned off the TV and player, then walked to the receptionist, a young woman. "Miss Norman, they will contact you tomorrow. As for the rest of the day, please enjoy it." She looked at a clock. Six hours had nearly passed by while she was in that room.

Tenma
It had been a lengthy day of healing, as she sat in her bed. Her movements tired her, and she didn't even walk around. She watched TV and read material that was brought to her by the gypsy. One magazine was a gambling magazine, showing the probability of different games. "You will understand in time," Aminta said. Others spoke about fate and destiny, whether they were ancient plays, or recent novels.

Tenma still felt sore the next day when Aminta woke her. "Come, child." Tenma stood up, and she stepped on a pair of socks. Tenma slipped back and fell on her butt on the bed. The pain in her abdomen shot through her, making her hold back tears. "Hmm," Aminta grinned, "What were the chances of that?" She laughed a little, much to the vexation of Tenma, "Child, feel out the fates around you. Feel out the chance of what will and will not pass." The next several days she worked on training Tenma so she could predict what would occur. Aminta would have her predict the patterns of people, where they would go, what they would do, and other habits. She would predict the probability of the path of water dripping down a surface.

"Now go out and use what I have taught you. You need not be amazing with it, but make it useful to you. Come back when you can prove what I taught you has taken root. Also, you must tell me why this is useful to you. There is a reason I taught it to you, and it is important you understand." Aminta went back to tending her store, leaving Tenma all alone.

Ruslan
Anastasia sat calmly in a chair, listening to both the ranting of Ruslan and her music which played on a vinyl near by. Her eyes closed, and she released a throaty chuckle. "Ruslan, if life were that simple. You do not feel it yet? You've the ability to enhance your senses, so do so." Her voice was a low rumble.

Ruslan concentrated his senses. He felt the city shake a little, something he had always felt when he increased his perceptions. Feet tromped about at the late hours and people spoke of mundane things. "Listen for it. It's in that feeling where the city shudders. It wasn't like that before." He concentrated on the shake, and then listened. There was the sound of water lapping at shores, as would be expected in Venice. then the sound of something slithering.

"Snakes," Ruslan responded, matter of fact. He stopped concentrating on the senses. He walked into the room she sat in. "It sounds like snakes."

"There's an issue, Ruslan--that's far below the surface of this city and even we shouldn't hear that if it were just snakes. It is far larger, though no less venomous in its own way." She looked at her child. "This is my home, Ruslan. You don't feel the calling yet, apparently, or perhaps you'll never feel it. I've lived here longer than your grandparents have known life. This is my home. Now, I defend it. The world is far more deadly to us than ever it was, and this place I know is controllable, as long as I kill this thing." She sighed and shook her head, "I wish you could understand. Maybe some day. One thing, child, do not kill your victims. You're charming enough, and the bite feels wondrous. Can't you use the ruse of a make out session? Much less clean up. Now go pick me up something from a concert. I prefer one with talent tonight, so pick a musician instead of someone from the audience." She dismissed him with one hand.

((Hey guys. I am sorry, but I can't keep this thing up, if you couldn't tell already razz Ikken and Demetria, you have the reigns. If you need rules and what not changed, just PM me.))

((I will miss Jester crying other then that I think we can handle it. Maybe we should devide the characters to write for.))