Title: The Placeholder
I forced myself awake a little while before sunset, waking in my bed with Yukie curled up awkwardly beside me and snoring softly.
We'd retreated back to the suite after the whole fire thing last night since I didn't want to let Jack know about the monastery just yet. I think Caine had cloaked his taxi with some form of Obfuscate too, since we were completely ignored by all the emergency vehicles we'd passed by.
But anyway, Brook was in Yukie's designated bed - which was the reason I woke early, gotta seem powerful and stuff - which was fine, because Yukie was in my bed like usual. Not that I minded.
She wasn't doing her koala impression as she was still injured, something I felt a little bad about since if I hadn't encouraged her to help out Brook and flex her demon hunting muscles it wouldn't have happened.
Anyways, it means she'll need to spend the next couple of nights resting and focusing on healing up. Ugh, if I had the experience points for it I could buy Obeah to get some healing powers to heal her up. It's the only 'healing' discipline kindred have.
Brook took the bath first while we sat on the bed in our pajamas, with Yukie resting her head in my lap while I played with her hair. She'd wanted to brush my hair but I put my foot down. She's the one who's getting the pampering tonight. It had been quite the scare to find her so injured and I wanted to show her how much I'd come to care for her.
Gonna need to ask Jabal to really focus on drilling Fortitude into her. The thought of losing Yukie made me shudder.
But yeah anyways, Brook had the bathtub first. Usually kindred - myself included - don't really need to worry about regular bathing since it's not like we sweat or anything, so unless we're dirty there isn't a real need. However since Brook still smelt quite a little bit smokey - damn does the smell of wood smoke cling - from being so close to that forest fire she accepted the offer to wash up first. Yukie was also a bit smokey too, but since she'll need help tonight we let Brook go first.
"Hey Yukie. You can read Chinese right?" I asked. I'd like to bring her with me when Brook hits the Kuei-jin so we can loot the place of fancy stuff, but since she's hurt that makes things harder.
"Mhmm." She hummed in affirmation. "Yes, demon."
"Okay, cause we're probably gonna be hitting the Kuei-jin tonight. Do you mind keeping near the back and staying out of the fighting?"
"I will." She frowned, but still agreed knowing it was for the best. "You want me to check if there are any chi techniques her servants may have that I can use?"
"Yup." I nodded. "When we hit the Golden Temple I'll handle the fighting with Brook, if you can hang back and handle looting whatever library they have."
"I can do that." She replied with an eager grin.
Sticking it to the Kuei-jin and their servants while looting their magical library for chi knowledge was right up her alley. I wonder what cool shit she'll be able to pull off in future.
Bathtime - once Brook was finished - was also different than usual, with me fussing over Yukie instead of the other way around. I carefully helped her clean her injuries and offered more blood for her to drink as well. Then I carefully washed her hair as well to get that smokey smell out, since she had trouble lifting her arms without pulling at her injuries.
It was honestly quite painful seeing her so hurt. That werewolf was really lucky that it was already dead when I got there.
After she was nice and clean and her wounds redressed I gave myself a quick scrub down and we got dressed. Well sorta. I was now capable of willing completely real clothing into existence, so that's what I did.
I was in typical goth gear. Black tank top with a skull emblem inside a stylised snowflake, worn over fishnet mesh, a long flowy dark purple skirt, spiked choker around my neck and big stompy boots just perfect for asskicking. The big stompy boots were the most important part, since now that my Chimerstry illusions are real I can give myself a three-inch sole - and relying on the gracefulness from Celerity to walk without falling over - on the bottom to make myself taller! Haha five foot tall now, bitches!
Hell I even used Chimerstry on my hair, giving myself a short, spikey fringe and extending the length of the rest of my hair, which was now hanging loose all the way down to the backs of my knees in a long platinum-blonde mane. Pretty and cool, though I may have to try a mohawk at some point for giggles.
Oooh! I can probably make myself taller too, though I may have to do it subtly over time or Yukie will probably notice and call me out on it.
Anyways, for Yukie I'd offered to do some cool clothing for her as well, but she decided to be boring and went with her usual demon hunter outfit. I did however manage to convince her to wear an armoured coat - which was easy enough to make with Chimerstry - in addition to her standard samurai-esque arm armour. And speaking of armour, I also managed to bully her into some chest armour as well, since that's where her injuries are.
She also had Contessa's fedora perched proudly atop her head, looking quite dapper.
Once dressed we stepped into the main room, where Brook was waiting with a guest.
"Hi Jack." I greeted the ex-pirate Brook must've let in. I'd be a little more concerned with the old scallywag knowing we were staying here if it weren't for the fact we'd probably be leaving soon.
This is also why I didn't want him knowing about the monastery. I'd rather not get uninvited guests popping by my thin-bloods' safe haven.
I'd made another armoured coat similar to Yukie's for Brook as well - I'd Chimersty'd up a bunch of other clothes for her to wear anyways so it was no hassle to do some more - because if you can make goodies for people why not share? She inspected it for a moment before shrugging and pulling it on. I'll give her a better rundown of how cool it is once we're in Caine's taxi on our way to deal with whoever.
"Uh hi." Jack responded back awkwardly, casting some glances to my lengthened and altered hair.
Brook noticed as well but seemed to roll with it better. "'Dora, Jack says there's a blood hunt on us."
She was adorably worried. I say 'adorably' because she was definitely bullshit enough at this point - basically elder-tier despite being not even two weeks old - to handle whatever fights were coming her way. Especially with me willing to back her up if needed. Honestly she's gonna tear through all these blood hunting jerks.
Then I noticed something important she just said. "Wait a sec, us?"
Seriously, what the hell?
"Heh heh oh yeah. LaCroix decided that as the newcomer who's been mentoring his little errand girl he could lump you in with his plan to tie up loose ends. Way he paints it, he's the victim here. It's all part of this new unity campaign to rally the kindred of the city behind him, and now that Nines is out of the way you're the only loose end remaining." Jack grinned darkly with amusement, knowing the truth of the impending shitstorm LaCroix had just called down upon himself.
"Did he now?" I asked, menace in my voice as my eyes narrowed while Yukie hugged me from behind protectively, equally unimpressed with this turn of events.
"Hah! Oh it gets better." Jack replied with another dark chuckle. "He knows you're an elder so he's going to try drowning you in numbers. Put amaranth on the table for the pair of you. Not that numbers'll work - you being who you are and all - but there'll be ambitious vampires bussin' in from all over California - or further, with something like that on the table - over the coming nights."
Beast-kun snarled within, matching the one on my face. The two of us were in perfect agreement. "That's not happening."
"Amaranth?" Brook asked.
"Another name for diablerie." I replied, leaning back carefully against Yukie and trying to calm Beast-kun down.
"Wait a moment. Isn't that meant to be against the Camarilla's laws or something?" The Indian fledgeling asked with a frown.
"It is, but sometimes the Camarilla looks the other way when a 'prince' says it's okay." Jack added in. "They use it as incentive when they really want someone dead and hoo boy does LaCroix want you both gone."
"Regardless of what the Camarilla may or not say, it's also against Caine's laws." I growled.
In fact I may need to remind the Camarilla's founders of that fact - and all his other laws as well - but that can wait for the future. I'll deal with this mess first before I go and make my displeasure known.
"What do we do now?" Brook asked, getting over her initial worries at the fact that there were so many kindred out after her now. Then again she's been against stacked odds for the last two weeks so the only thing different may be the scale.
"Depends. If Nines has made it out alive he can clear your name. After all, you can hardly declare a blood hunt on someone for murder or working with the Kuei-jin if the victim is alive and well and says you were set up." I explained. It really did depend on Nines. He did survive in the game albeit rather badly hurt afterwards - by shoving a grenade down that werewolf's throat - but I was unsure if me being here butterflied his survival.
I glanced at Jack with a raised eyebrow.
"Can't say for sure." He shrugged.
I frowned at him heavily and the temperature in the room plummeted as I flexed my power slightly, frost quickly coating the windows. "Jack."
"Fine fine… he's alive. Got banged up a bit though." Jack backpedaled on his previous 'maybe maybe not' stance on the matter.
Hehe bullying elders is funny. "Well there we go. Nines can clear your name." I said to Brook.
"What about you 'Dora? Will that clear your name too."
"Maybe. If it doesn't I'll just kill everyone that comes after me and keep doing it till they leave me alone." I shrugged, leaning back into Yukie's hug. "Then again I'm probably gonna be leaving the city soon too, so being subject to a blood hunt in L.A actually matters little to me."
Especially since the Anarchs will probably be the major players in the city again after tonight, so a Camarilla blood hunt all the way out here isn't really going to be worth much.
I glanced over at Brook. "So how do you wanna play this? You're the one most inconvenienced by this whole mess."
"I still need to find the key to that sarcophagus so I can shove it up LaCroix's ass, and the Kuei-jin have it." She mused. "Hmm, let's split up. I can go and see the Anarchs, if the two of you are okay with hitting the Kuei-jin? Then I can catch up with you at the Golden Temple after I've seen what the Anarchs want to do."
"Works for me. Been wanting to loot the place anyways." I shrugged, then tilted my head to the side to glance up at the demon hunter. "Yukie?"
"Hai. Let us take the fight to the ghost-people and send them back to the Thousand Hells they crawled from." She said decisively. It was a little over the top, but I like the enthusiasm.
Brook smiled, glad that we had a plan and were all on the same page. She turned back to Jack. "So where is this driver of yours?"
That's a good question actually. Where is Caine?
"The multi-level carpark down the way." Jack shrugged.
What the fuck Sire? Why can't you just pick us up outside like normal? Unless… unless he's expecting us to get jumped in the street at some point and doesn't want to risk the paint on his stupid taxi getting scratched.
Damnit Sire…
The streets were quiet, eerily so.
Okay that's a lie. It's just I've always wanted to say something like that.
As far as the regular citizens of L.A were concerned this was just another normal Tuesday night. Blood Hunt? What's that?
And so we simply slipped out the front doors of the Empire Arms Hotel with no hassle at all and simply slipped into the regular downtown foot-traffic as we headed down the sidewalk towards the underground carpark where my Sire was waiting.
"We are being followed, demons." Yukie announced quietly not long after we'd begun to head out.
Brook surreptitiously glanced back. I didn't bother just yet, trusting in Yukie's instincts.
"Too much risk of masquerade exposure if they attack now." Brook frowned. "Hmm, the car park might be relatively empty. Should we ambush them as they follow us in?"
"Sounds like a plan." I nodded as we slowly began to pick up the pace.
"How'd they find us so quickly?" Brook asked.
"Your height is distinctive, lesser demon, and they may have a demon with aura sight in their coterie as well." Yukie replied matter-of-factly.
As we'd hoped, the carpark was empty of passersby or civilians.
"May as well transform." I said to Brook as I formed up a pair of large, hulking servitors to act as a meatshield for us the moment we rounded a corner.
"But the masquerade?" She replied, glancing about to make sure the area was clear of mortals.
"Eh, tonight we're parahumans." I shrugged. Yukie stepped nearer to one of the servitors I'd formed, her eyes alert and scanning for danger. "You can easily pass as a Case 53."
I created Yukie's usual lesser skull mask and handed it over to her before making a similar one for the rapidly transforming fledgeling.
Brook took the offered mask and gave it an awkward look. "Um?"
"Capes wear masks." I shrugged, shifting my own outfit to my Calamity one. Brook dropped her mask in shock, the bone shattering when it hit the concrete.
"'Dora what the fuck?" She hissed, eyeing up my new look with trepidation.
"Calamity when I'm like this." I shrugged, erasing the shattered mask from existence and creating a new one out of thin air for her. "And Yukie is Shih. Capes also have silly names."
Damn I love Chimerstry. Reality warping is bullshit.
Brook stared at the mask in her hands for a moment before affixing it to her face, and not a moment too soon. A trio of kindred came round the corner, guns drawn. Automatic rifles of some kind if I'm not mistaken.
I ducked casually under the hail of slow-moving bullets, twisted around on my heel and spun to the side to slip behind my Servitor - Celerity OP - and before they'd even realised I'd repositioned. Brook was also moving forward to engage, while Yukie slipped behind the servitor guarding her, a slight pout on her lips due to the fact she'd probably prefer to be in the fight than holding back. Fortunately I seemed to be the primary target for the moment, which meant the other two were safe.
And with the enemies focused on me both my companions vanished from sight.
Huh, I didn't know Yukie knew how to use Obfuscate yet? Neat. That should help keep her safe.
My servitor weathered the bullet storm as best it could. There was a yelled order from one of the enemies, seemingly trying to get his buddies to direct their fire at my stealthed companions.
Which meant I knew which one of them had Auspex, at least enough to see through their obfuscate. I swiveled out from behind my heavily damaged servitor at high speed, taking in the scene. Hmm, probably should've made a tougher one instead of a plain old boring one.
My target was a male kindred with a shitty moustache and long red hair tied back in a ponytail. Early twenties by appearance wearing clothes that went out of style in the 70s. Automatic rifle held in one hand while he gestured with his other at an empty area off to the side of me.
No idea what clan, not that it matters when all his blood suddenly began to boil in his veins, courtesy of the Blood Boil spell I'd cast. And maybe overpowered a touch.
He barely had time to scream before he exploded in a burst of viscera, burnt flesh, shards of bone and shrivelled up organs.
Right as another trio of kindred - and what is it with people and threes tonight? - rounded the corner, seemingly drawn by the commotion and the likely possibility of us being here. The detonation caused by one of their buddies suddenly exploding - Mr unwitting-bomb barely even had time to scream - handled most of that problem.
The two kindred closest to my target were consumed in the blast, bodies rapidly burning up into dust. As for the three newcomers, two were knocked off their feet by the force of the blast.
The other however evaded with an obvious use of Celerity, only to get bitchslapped into the floor as Brook broke her Obfuscate to tail-slam the woman to the ground so hard she cracked concrete. Before her dazed opponent could react Brook latched her distended mouth on the downed kindred's neck and simply tore the downed kindred's head off with her fanged maw.
One of the few remaining kindred staggered to his feet - hearing completely blown by the blast - and made for a weapon concealed beneath his coat. A sudden spike of ice impaling him from below and ripping his vitae out soon fixed that problem, his corpse collapsing apart and leaving the massive spike with a faint coating of dust.
With the last of them now dust - including the remains of the one I 'asploded' - I gave a little cheer. "Good job team!" Another flex of my will and the ice evaporated away.
"What the hell was that?" Brook asked, wiping the remaining blood from her victim off her now normal-looking mouth and chin with her sleeve and staring at where the explosion had happened.
"Blood Boil. It's a spell." I grinned, ignoring my servitor as it began crumbling apart, unable to maintain itself with all the damage it had taken. Handled all those bullets surprisingly well though. The other one stood there stoically, and I gestured for it to come closer so I could reabsorb it.
"Magic is bullshit." She deadpanned.
"Yup." I nodded.
"Perhaps we should find the taxi, demons?" Yukie added, popping back into sight and reminding us that this wasn't the time or place for this.
"Right." Brook nodded.
Fortunately for our enemies there were no more ambushes as we made our way deeper underground into the multi-story carpark. Naturally Caine was parked all the way down at the bottom on the lowest level, keeping his precious taxi clear from any potential damage.
"Really." I glared at Caine as I slid into the front seat - haha shotgun! - and buckled myself in. He totally could have parked outside the hotel and spared us all this hassle.
He simply quirked an amused eyebrow back at me before glancing at Brook in the rear view mirror. "Where to?" He asked, saying his iconic line.
"Chinatown first, for 'Dora. Then I need to make a pitstop in Santa Monica. After that take me to the Anarchs." She said with a voice full of determination.
"Goddamn. Fucking. Useless. Bastards…" Brook grumbled, swearing under her breath as she stomped away from the Anarch hideout. Sure they talked a big game, but the moment anything needed to be done she was on her own.
Again.
They could clear her name in an instant, but nooooo... Fucking over the Camarilla and Kuei-jin was more important apparently. 'Dora had explained the Anarch movement had started so that fledgelings like her wouldn't have to be sent out to die while the elders sat back in safety and plotted in the shadows.
And yet here she was, caught in the crossfire in the worst possible way while vampires older than her made their plans and treated her as expendable.
"Okay Brook. Despair later, survive now." She muttered to herself.
Supposedly - according to 'Dora - she was already around elder level in strength, though the Indian vampire didn't really buy that. Yes she was stronger than she'd been when she was freshly embraced, but strong as an elder? No, she certainly didn't feel that.
After all, she'd seen a real elder in action. A proper elder would just move and leave empty bodies in her diminutive wake, or wave a hand and effortlessly impale her enemies on spikes of ice, or pull some other bullshit power or magic spell out of her ass because she'd just woken from torpor and had forgotten she could do it.
Meanwhile Brook had to claw and bite and bleed to make it this far. She'd seen a proper elder in action and she was nowhere near that level.
Although, it was kind of touching that 'Dora would try to cheer her up and boost her morale by telling her she was strong. Even if it was a lie it was still a little comforting.
She let that thought lift her spirits a little. The Camarilla may be gerontocratic assholes, the Sabbat utter chaotic lunatics and the Anarchs a bunch of whiny, bullshitting, hypocritical posers but at least she had someone in her corner.
She hurried down the street, keeping an eye out for a taxi when she smiled wryly. There were pros and cons of being as tall as she was.
Con: She was easy to pick out of a crowd.
Pro: Better chance at spotting trouble coming because she could actually look over the crowd and see it coming.
Such as the three oncoming kindred advancing forward, deadly intent in their eyes. Brook's instincts kicked in and she was already moving before they even began to draw their concealed weapons on her.
She dove swiftly behind the engine block of a parked car with a muttered swear word and began shifting her skin to durable scales and assuming her snake-woman hybrid warform, choosing to spend more vitae than usual to transform faster.
Bullets ripped through the air. The crowd screamed and ran. Overall it was panic on the streets of Hollywood.
Fucking bloodhunt bullshit! Fuck Nines and his cowardly ass leaving her high and dry like this!
Brook was now laser focused, no panic, just a familiar seething anger from the Beast within her. This life or death bullshit was becoming second nature by now. Hell, today was even Tuesday.
Within moments she was transformed and ready to act, confident in her ability to hit these ambushing fuckers back. Another flex of vitae and her Serpent's Flesh power was active, beautiful defensive scales covering her skin. Her defenses were solid, especially with her new armoured coat.
Because 'Dora was quite frankly bullshit with that Chimerstry discipline of hers.
The coat 'Dora had created out of thin air was armoured with tiny chainmail links, each the size of a pinhead and made of some unknown but super strong metal. This fine chainmail mesh lined the interior of the coat. 'Dora had said it was mithril, but that was a fantasy metal.
Then again Brook was a vampire now, so fantasy may not be as unreal as she previously supposed. Case in point, she knew a tiny ancient vampire that could create bullshit fancy tinkertech coats out of thin air.
This armour blunted the impacts from oncoming bullets, which when combined with the scales granted by her serpent's flesh power meant she could take the hits without harm.
Even better, the coat was long enough to easily conceal her trusty shotgun - now equipped with some 'dragonsbreath' rounds courtesy of a trip to Mercurio the other night - which meant she could respond to their gunfire in kind.
Slithering forward - low to the ground and trying to keep parked vehicles between her and the oncoming bullets where possible - the serpentine kindred rushed towards the nearest enemy.
The assorted civilians in the area were already running away screaming. Mostly. Some were down and wounded from stray gunfire, possibly even dead. The currently snake-like vampire couldn't see the point of this attack. The chance of a masquerade breach was already high, and attacking in the middle of a busy street was sure to garner more attention.
Thank God monster capes exist, she thought to herself as she began to return fire, the homemade incendiary rounds she got off Mercurio making extremely short work of her first target. If she could end this fight fast enough - and get away afterwards - the situation was probably salvageable as a cape fight of some sort gone wrong. With her scales and snake features she could definitely pass as a Case 53 or a Changer.
Brook ducked back behind the engine block of another poor car when something sharp impacted her back. It was unable to penetrate her coat, let alone her scales. Immediately she spun around and fired out of instinct, her snapshot taking off the head of a Nosferatu - if the hideously warped body was any indication - that had crept up and tried to attack her from behind.
A damaged and slightly bent wooden stake plinked onto the tarmac as it dropped from the grip of a rapidly dusting corpse.
Shaken at the surprise attack Brook formed up an icy sheath of armour to surround her chest beneath her coat. She hadn't figured out how to make the claws 'Dora used yet, but the armour was at least within her capabilities.
Just another way the tiny elder had helped her out.
Feeling better protected against further surprise attacks - though a second Nosferatu on this apparently four-man coterie seemed unlikely - she resumed trading gunfire with her attackers, swapping out her beloved shotgun for her Brokk to conserve her limited supply of incendiary munitions.
They'd obviously been banking on their nosferatu friend to end the fight in their favour, because with their buddy a pile of dust behind her they seemed to have no other options aside from plinking shots at her, obviously unwilling to get too close.
Not that she could quite blame them. Brook was self-aware enough to know she was a monster in close quarters despite being a weak fledgeling.
Already the curvy Setite was making plans, spawning off one of her little minions out from her tail where it was hidden from view. She just had to wait for the right moment and…
"Now!" She hissed at it once the enemy kindred on the left had paused to reload his submachine gun.
Her little critter darted off like a shot, slithering out from beneath the bullet-ridden car - and thank God this wasn't one of those video games or it'd have blown up by now - she was using as makeshift cover.
Her minion did it's job perfectly, drawing fire from the other kindred and allowing Brook to make her own aggressive push forward, rushing at the one who was still busy reloading.
Her pet was unfortunately shot to pieces - rapidly dissolving into a puddle of foul-smelling goop the way they always did if they died - which allowed its attacker to get a couple shots off onto her before she reached her own target.
She tackled the bulky kindred, her own boosted strength more than a match for the man. This had the benefit of dropping them both out of the sightline of the other gun-wielding vampire, and now with them both on the ground her lack of legs proved an advantage as she began to wrap him in her tough, constricting coils.
With him pinned for the moment she whipped out her shotgun again. Reloading would be almost impossible for the moment, which meant she was limited to the two bullets she had chambered.
Those were more than enough as the skinnier kindred found out firsthand as he moved over to assist his trapped ally and met a similar fate as his dusted Nosferatu companion. With him dead she focused on tightening her muscular coils and simply crushed her trapped victim until his body couldn't take the strain, whereupon he simply collapsed apart in a fiery burst of ash.
Dusting herself off she rose to her full height and looked around. The street was clear for now, however there was now the sound of sirens in the background moving closer.
She needed to get off the streets, right now. The last thing she needed was getting caught up here when the PRT began poking their nose into things. Not much she could do about the three suspicious piles of dust, but she could at least grab their weapons.
Honestly this blood hunt must be driving people insane or something if four fledgelings - this group must've been even fresher than she was - were trying to take her on. They certainly weren't that much stronger than all those Sabbat lunatics she'd killed alongside Yukie last night.
She'd just finished snagging the last of their weapon when she heard the sound of tires come around the corner. Her head darting up she saw it was a familiar taxi with a familiar driver.
"Just a taxi driver, my shapely ass." She muttered, about to slither over before remembering that she needed to drop her transformations and allow her legs to reform. With reluctance she lost her tail and scales before quickly trotting over.
"Where to?" The driver asked in that deep voice of his as she buckled herself in in the back.
"'Dora." She stated simply, leaning back and sighing now that she had a moment to think.
Ugh, she just wanted all the bullshit to end. Then she could get on with her life. She just wanted to study history, maybe even become an archeologist, damnit. Dusty tombs and archeological digs don't shoot back at you.
Probably.
Giving it some thought it was pretty obvious in hindsight that kindred had been involved in all sorts of things all throughout history. With the curtain pulled from her eyes she had a chance to actually study history properly. Hell, she may even be able to get interviews with the actual people involved in some ancient events!
That was what she wanted. Study history possibly even become some sort of respected adventuring archeologist/scholar like Beckett. And learn some more magic of course. Magic was cool. Oh, and spending time with Heather of course.
Archeology, magic and Heather. That was what Brook wanted. None of this constant life or death bullshit with manipulative jerks on all sides that ended up leaving her high and dry.
But first she needed to get through tonight. And get the key from Xiao. The curvy Setite still wanted to know what was actually inside the sarcophagus. She had some suspicions of course, as 'Dora was not subtle in the slightest.
Not that she was going to actually open the blasted thing, 'Dora warned her not to and the elder hadn't led her astray yet. No, she'd leave that to LaCroix - assuming he managed to pull the key back out after she finished shoving it up his ass - and instead would just ask 'Dora to tell her the truth. The tiny elder did promise to explain things after everything was done after all.
But first she had to make it through this damn blood hunt first. Useless fucking Anarchs! She was still pissed off that Nines could easily clear her name, but instead they were going to keep quiet about it so they could pull a surprise attack on Kuei-jin territory instead.
She huffed angrily in annoyance. Like the Kuei-jin would still be there after 'Dora finished with them.
"Did your talk with the Anarchs not go well?" The taximan asked, stirring her from her thoughts. He was watching her in the mirror - rather creepily actually - whilst still deftly avoiding other traffic on the road.
He was definitely not a ghoul as she'd originally thought. Most likely he was a vampire. Though then the question was why was he bothering to drive her around everywhere?
Honestly Brook was a little taken aback. The man was always pretty silent while driving, one of the reasons she'd originally thought he'd been 'Dora's ghoul. Well that, and they definitely knew one another somehow. Now that she was sure that he was a vampire she was even more curious as to his connection to 'Dora. But that could wait for later.
"Yeah, you could say that." She sighed, answering his question. "Leaving me high and dry so they can take advantage of the situation."
"It seems that kindred are kindred, no matter the label. The Anarchs are… a curious experiment. Their passion and drive for 'freedom' may be their greatest strength, or their Achilles' heel."
Brook snorted. "Freedom's never free."
"True. Their rebellion has already failed in the eyes of many. Do you feel their notions of freedom have any real possibility?"
Brook considered the question for a moment. "No, not really. Not without a lot of bloodshed." She replied honestly.
"But imagine, if they did fight off their enemies and hold on to the Free State. It could inspire others to come, and together, construct a new Enoch." The driver mused.
Brook snorted. She remembered 'Dora's rather passionate rant at the monastery the other night - in between trying to teach her Glaciem - about how recreating Enoch wasn't going to work in modern times, not without fully reuniting all the kindred under a single banner like it had been in the First City. And also probably dropping humanity back to the stone age. "Yeah I think that ship has sailed."
"Perhaps it has. The world has changed much since the days of Enoch."
Something about the way he said that just didn't quite sit right in her mind.
"Who are you? What's your connection to 'Dora. Are you her Childe or something?" She asked, throwing out one possible reason for this vampire to be ready and available to drive 'Dora and her around town whenever she needed it.
"Oh, I am merely an old wanderer. I simply see people to their destination." He chuckled. "And 'Dora, as you call her, has not sired anyone."
Ugh more cryptic nonsense. Would it kill anyone to actually tell her things straight.
May as well humour him. "And what is my destination?"
"That remains to be seen. Remember, vampire, it is the blood of Caine which makes our fate."
"I'm not sure I believe in fate." She replied, turning away from the conversation to stare out the window at the passing cars.
"Thanks." Brook said to the taxi driver as he finished delivering her to Chinatown.
She felt lighter somehow, after that talk with him. It was hard to place, but in the end she shook it off. It was probably just the feeling of relief at getting things off her chest.
The caramel-skinned kindred walked down the street towards the Golden Temple. So far nothing seemed out of place in the slightest. The streets were still bustling with people, stores still open, the air filled with the sounds and smells of a lively community.
It was only when she neared the gates to the Golden Temple things began to feel off, and it took her a moment to realise why.
The Golden Temple itself was silent, none of the strange chant-like singing going on. No soothing, tranquil music playing.
Just silence.
Unnoticeable until one approached close enough, the noise usually drowned out by the hustle and bustle of Chinatown's streets.
She pushed open the gate and let herself inside, smirking at the evidence that 'Dora and Yukie had passed through.
It was hard not to notice when there were blood-drained corpses - with looks of shock and horror on their faces - scattered about and one of those ice golems waiting for her.
The golem motioned for her to follow and stomped off, and with a minor shrug Brook followed.
Hopefully 'Dora left some of them alive. She was feeling quite thirsty from that fight earlier.