TShara

Magical Protection

Ethan was flabbergasted by the whole experience, and for an embarrassingly long moment, he just stood before the creature with his mouth hanging open. He had seen something so far beyond his experience and understanding that no words would greatly alleviate his fears. Only time could possibly help him come to grips with all he had seen. He shook his head and stared at the creature.

“I... I don't know what to say,” Ethan mumbled, staring at the creature. “I need some time to think about this.” And with that he ran off towards home. Honestly, he was too shaken up to spend much time around a group at the moment. It seemed that either hallucinations or an encounter with a magical creature seemed like a good reason to skip a club meeting.

When he reached home, he ignored his mother sprawled out on the couch, and noticed that his father was away. The last thing he wanted was to tell them about his experience. Hell, they would probably have his crazy ass committed to an institution. So he walked down the hall to his room and sat down at a piano he had bought cheaply and had paid for both the cost and the professional moving and tuning himself. Trying to calm his thoughts, he played the “Moonlight Sonata” from memory, along with a few Chopin Nocturnes and a Mozart Sonata.

But after about ninety minutes, he stood up, opened his laptop, and proceeded to research everything he could about hallucinations, magical creatures, and strange sightings from history. There were certain creatures that could change shape at will, which traversed several religious and cultural stories. Most commonly, they were called youkai. Some modern day “pagan-like” religions believed that the youkai had always existed, but in the last few hundred years had gone into hiding to separate themselves from the onward advance of humanity. Ethan had to admit that it sounded eerily similar to the cat-thing's story.

His research and intermittent piano practice lasted long into the night, far longer than he should have stayed up on a Sunday night, as it was a school night, after all. But eventually, Ethan changed into his pajamas and fell asleep.

~*~*~

The next morning, Ethan awoke, dressed for school, and hopped onto his bike towards that dull building where he spent most of his time reading about other subjects on his laptop, or (now shattered) cell phone.

The Rebel Vampire

To Master Alexi's initial comment about Joseph having been with Mois, the vampire merely nodded deeply in assent, the nod nearly turning into a bow. There was no reason to refute or affirm the statement, as they both knew it to be true. Nor was there a reason to make excuses. Joseph was not the type to make excuses for his behavior; he had never had to do so. Even if he were, there was nothing inherently wrong with answering a summons from the elder brother. As requested, he took a seat across from his Master, awaiting his questions.

But when those questions came, Joseph mentally tensed up, though outwardly he still retained his respectfully relaxed position. Master Alexi requested his honesty, and the truth was, he was terrified thatif he was honest on this particular issue, his master would never trust him again. But even though the tone had been that of a request, it had in fact been phrased as an order. Joseph was still soft-broken, and that still meant that he had to follow any direct order given to him, it was just that he was merely able to have his own thoughts about them now. On occasion, he could even find a few loopholes to the orders, though he rarely tried. Now though, he wondered if his breaking would force “complete” honesty on him, or if he could still conceal his more dangerous thoughts. But he had to say something, even now, the spell would not allow for much more hesitation. He could already feel the all-too-familiar migraine beginning to form in his head, and the compulsion to obey beginning to tickle at his body, though it only took about twenty seconds for him to begin his response.

“I am concerned for your safety, Master Alexi. I want to protect this household and to protect you. The more I understand of your plans, the easier that becomes. Any opinions I may accidentally possess on your plans are irrelevant, as I am, after all, merely property. I exist only to serve you, and I wish to do that to the best of my ability,” the head slave replied calmly, his tone sincere.

There, the compulsion and headache were both gone, and though everything he had said had been absolutely truthful, he had managed to avoid revealing his almost rebellious misgivings. Sure, he had always been free to express himself around Masters Alexi and Mois, but thankfully, his true opinions had never been so important to the conversation. He could only secretly hope that Master Alexi would not press further into them now, for he feared reprisal if he expressed them. At the very least, his master would surely never trust him again.

The Rebel Vampire

Alright, we will see then. I... really can't see Joseph initiating that kind of relationship. The reality of his station prevents it. He can never have a truly equal relationship with someone not of his station. Even if he fell in love with Mois, he would never reveal it, except maybe in circumstances like you described. And even if he did, he would not want to form a relationship because he doesn't think that it could ever be healthy. His position does make him very alone, however. He can't fraternize with other slaves either because his rank is above theirs.

Quite apart from all of that, he's sort of like a father to them, so that's makes things a little strange as well, dating someone that you still remember changing their diapers... though I suppose age difference makes less of a difference in vampire stories.

The Rebel Vampire

So I was wondering just how "honest" Joseph should be with Alexi, until I realized he doesn't have a choice. Even with soft breaking, he has to follow an order, and that was intended as a request, but phrased enough as an order that there's really no way for him to avoid it. To make things quick and easy, I'm going to decide that it interprets into complete honesty, even though if he had not said those "magic words," Joseph might have held something back. His thoughts are rather... more rebellious than Alexi expects, I think. Though he would still never betray the Vandros family or try to run away.

Valid question though. There were some pretty subtle hints in Mois' thoughts about a potential romance between him and Joseph. Was I interpreting those right, and if so, is that something you want to happen? I have trouble seeing it working, but I'm willing to work on the idea.

Magical Protection

IC, tomorrow can be Monday. The meeting was supposed to be a Saturday or Sunday, not that it matters too much. :-) I promise I'm getting to posting soon. I'm sloooowly catching up.

Magical Protection

So, I keep looking back at this, and I can't think of anything else to say. Yu already essentially said he cannot answer more questions, so I think I'm just going to have him sort of flabbergasted by the whole thing and then do a timeskip. How far would you like me to skip?

The Rebel Vampire

Alexi's seemingly dismissive, and even excited, manner did nothing to dispel the vampire captive's simmering fury. Furthermore, the sheer hypocrisy of his claiming to support free will while blatantly curtailing Erik's own made his blood boil at the thought. He even acted as though he cared for his slaves! Except that if he cared for them, he would let them be free. It was all he could do not to try and strike the man where he stood, though surely that would have only led to a tightening of his chains.

Once Alexi had left, the vampire captive looked around his opulently decorated cell. The sheer ostentatiousness made him want to vomit. He stood up from the bed, and tested the length of his chains. They had been extended to allow a ten foot radius, though compared to the the size of the room, that hardly let him get out of the bed, and certainly did not allow him to even get as far as the restroom. He would have asked what he was expected to do, as there was a chamber pot set on the bedside table. Unfortunately, no food or water accompanied it, however. Unbeknown to Erik, Joseph had held enough sympathy for the captive-to-be to at least provide that basic necessity. But he could never step so far out of Alexi's wishes as to provide him with anything resembling food or water, as much as he had wanted to. Erik would also find not a single weapon in the room, nor anything that could be turned into a weapon in any reasonable amount of time, as in before the prisoner would be caught.

Besides, already the lack of blood and the after-effects of the tranquilizer were beginning to get to the vampire. So, with a frustrated growl, he settled down to sleep.

~*~*~

Joseph forced himself to meet Master Mois' eyes from his spot on the ground. He found it difficult despite being given little choice with the way the elder brother took his face. Forgiveness he had anticipated, but for the elder brother to actually lower himself to meet the slave? That was quite moving. Still, he could never reveal such emotion. It was simply not done. Proper servants were supposed to be invisible, and part of that was repressing any outward displays of emotion.

He understood too well Master Mois' confusion, and he would have replied, respectfully of course. But then the moment was interrupted by the knock on the passageway door.

”I am over six centuries old, and I am capable of using text messages, email alerts, and cell phone calls. Sending an actual person to fetch me is beyond inefficient. Then again, Master Alexi is terribly old fashioned. Perhaps he enjoys the romanticism of it, and well, with as much wealth as the Vandros family has, he can afford to be inefficient at times,” the vampire butler thought, a small smile involuntarily crossing his visage. He bowed low and respectfully the the elder brother, and dared to meet his eye for one last time, when the servant messenger was not paying attention. The look conveyed the reply, “I shall try, and I will protect him.”

As they traversed the passageway, Joseph was silent, simply pondering the conversation he had had with Master Mois. He was rather doubtful about his ability to wring the truth from Master Alexi, however. ”If that eccentric master will not tell his own brother, than who says he will tell me?!” he thought worriedly, becoming increasingly exasperated when he considered the younger brother's strange actions.

“Thank you for delivering the message, Sindrus. Please return to your chores,” he commented to the younger servant when they reached the main mansion. The lad scampered off with no problem, and the head servant walked purposefully to the first floor lounge, by the front hall.

He arrived in only five minutes, and bowed low as he crossed the entryway into the room.

“You requested my presence, Master Alexi?”

The Rebel Vampire

Ahh, fun. I look forward to it. Sorry for the shorter post. It's really hard for me to get back into the "swing" of my stories after being out of them for so long. Between finals and the house burning down, it's been a while.

The Rebel Vampire

The way this wealthy nobleman acted with such immaturity was incredibly strange, and practically offensive, to the vampiric rebel leader. But he tried to remain calm, even while the bastard mentioned the breaking potion treatments, and how he was “working for the good of both their kinds.”

“That is such complete bullshit. Slavery never benefits anyone but the oppressor, so don't act like you are doing anything to help magical creatures by doing this. I will die before taking even the first dose of that blasted potion. I will not be turned into chattel. You have no right to do this, Alexi, and I will not allow it,” Erik replied coldly, his eyes changing into a dark red. Though it was obvious that his anger still simmered below the surface, his tone held restraint. It was calmer now, as though his mouth were barely containing the storm inside him that threatened to rage back at this arrogant human.

~*~*~

The elder vampire listened carefully, for he understood that all of the information Master Mois provided was given in complete confidence and would be important in protecting the household and Master Alexi's interests. He did not 'just forget.' For some reason Master Alexi does not want me to know. I am surprised he does not trust me after all these years. But he would not meet the elder brother's eyes.

“Peace can never come from further oppression,” Joseph replied almost automatically, before realizing what he had just said. Immediately he slid off his chair and knelt on the floor before Master Mois. “Please forgive me. I did not intend such disrespect,” he implored, staring at the older Master's feet. But the elder Vandros had always been less harsh with the slaves even than Alexi, and subconsciously, Joseph suspected that he would not be punished. Still, he was apologizing in the extremely submissive manner that was expected of slaves. He was unable to do anything else.

The Rebel Vampire

In my post, Erik is going to try and say that Alexi doesn't have the right to do this. But in my mind, magical creatures are legally considered property, and there is no way they can escape that status, short of death. Capturing a vampire as your slave is no different than picking up an unclaimed iPad off the ground and calling it your own. Claimed slaves do have some protection under property rights, in that if they are already owned by a human, then harming, stealing, or killing them is a property crime against the owner. So actually, Alexi absolutely "has the right" to do what he is doing, but Erik was referring to moral right anyway.

Is all of that ok with you?