Reunion - Megan (Private)

Megan sensed the emotional shift in her guards well before the door opened. She didn't get up, just leaned further back into the red leather sofa that rounded the far corner of the room. Wrapped in a black Prada, and sipping a dry martini, she watched as a familiar face returned to her from the distant past.

"I am Time, grown old to destroy the world,"Â? she said to her guest as he entered the room. "It's been far too long."Â?

Edgard looked at Megan. Her hair was a little different, and she was dressed in a way that he had not expected, but other than that she did not appear to have aged a day since they had parted company nearly 7 centuries ago. He focused his mind onto a single stream of thoughts, and projected it into Megan's consciousness

[ Time is the only undefeatable foe. I have seen the world and everything in it since I left your side, and one thing I have learned through my centuries of war is that it is Time alone that can unmake an empire. It is the passage of Time that has fueled my desire to seek you out again, and only with the passage of Time have I at last found you. It has, indeed, been far too long. ]

"You haven't changed at all, have you?" Megan asked, unable to prevent a smile from trickling across her features. His speech, in all its melodrama, had been nearly identical to the one he had given to her when he asked leave to go fight the French in what came to be known as the Hundred Years War. She regretted losing him then, but had respected him enough to leave him to his own calling. As she gained more influence in the world, she assigned no one to find him, to track his movements, to bring him back. Not because she didn't care, but rather because she knew that if he were to return, it would be on his own accord or not at all.

She put her martini down and rose to her feet, the silk dress hugging her form. Walking over to her old friend, she kissed both his cheeks in greeting, and then took his arm and motioned him to the nearby sofa.

"Wont you come sit with me? We have a lot to catch up on, you and I."Â?

Edgard moved across the room and seated himself at one end of the sofa. He leaned back against the supple red leather and threw one arm out over the endpiece. It was a very comfortable sofa. As Megan moved to seat herself, he sent her another thought.

[ I see that Time has been good to you. You have become a very wealthy and important woman, as I knew you would. What is it that you do to occupy your nights, these days? ]

"Far too much, I'm afraid,"Â? she responded, taking a seat beside him and crossing her legs. "There never seems to be enough moonlight to take care everything that needs to be done. The clan has grown since your departure from it, unexpectedly some might say. The world economy has been... kind."Â?

She looked over at the warrior sitting beside her, and doubted very much he had come back after the better half of a millennia to find out how much free time she had. She decided to cut through all the formalities.

[What has brought you back, after all these years?]

Whenever Megan spoke directly into Edgard's mind, he knew that was a sign she was getting down to business. He had hoped to learn a little more about what she was up to in this age, but he could also understand her reluctance to detail her affairs to one she had not seen in 700 years. He would answer her questions, first.

[ I have looked for you, over the centuries since we last parted ways. You are not an easy woman to find, and at first my drive to find you was not so great as to motivate me to scour the earth as I have over the last few decades. As time passed, I came to realize that a life of endless war is not something that anyone should aspire to or be content with - especially not ones such as ourselves. When I realized this, I knew that I would have to abandon the lives that I have known and start anew. You helped me do this once before, and I believed that you would help me do it again. You have always been one who strived to become something greater, and I would like for you to show me the way. I spent centuries killing people. At first, it was the butchering of the French whom I hated, but over time it became merely an act of habit. It was the only thing I knew, and with every life that I meaninglessly took, I felt myself slipping closer and closesr to becoming a soulless beast that could do nothing but kill. You once saved me from death, and now I ask you to save me from something far worse. ]

Megan listened to his words and couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She knew first hand the dangers of being trapped in an unchanging world. Her time in Anantya had been just such an experience. War was a constant, static event. After time, all that remained was to find new, more efficient ways to kill, but in the end it was always the same. Life was taken, reasons were given. When she looked into his eyes, she saw some yearning for peace in a world that worked at every path towards bloodshed. She didn't blame him for feeling lost, but at the same time wasn't sure what redemption she had left to offer him. Was her world so different from his own?

"If it is a home you are looking for,"Â? she said. "You have always had one here."Â?

Relief rushed over Edgard as he heard her words. It was the answer that he had hoped for and expected, and hearing it made him feel as if a great weight had been lifted off of him. He felt as if he could finally begin again.

[ Thank you for your kindness. If I live another thousand years, I will still not be able to repay the debt that I owe you. But, I want more than a home - I want a life. I want to be a part of something worthwhile. Will you tell me more about your clan and its ambitions, so that I may find a place for myself in it?]

"You owe me nothing,"Â? she said to him without hesitation, reaching for her drink. She took up the glass and brought it to her lips. The vampire sitting across from her had served well in his brief stint by her side, and she felt no need to drag out his archaic sense of duty. Megan never told him, but she hadn't saved his life out of any sense of kindness or pity. She never made a vampire without some sense of purpose behind it; there was always a use for her dark progeny, an investment made in their future. He was no different.

"Evenhet has grown a great deal from the clan you knew,"Â? she went on. "Through Meridian Apex, we have business holdings in fifty-seven countries, traffic in millions of dollars worth of antiquities, and through various other business ventures manage to take in approximately eleven billion dollars annually. As the world pushed towards a global market, our influence increased exponentially."

Antiques? A viable trade for someone who has been alive since before the birth of Christ, but Edgard certainly didn't know a damn thing about them. He had a fairly good idea of what kind of activities were included in the "other business ventures", and he doubted he had much experience in those arenas, either. Edgard was a quick learner and could most likely handle any job Megan came up with, given time, but he wanted something to start on immediately. He decided to revert back to his area of expertise.

[ When I was coming in, I noticed your two large pets that you have posted outside They look pretty tough, for humans, but if a vampire such as myself had come here with intentions of violence, you and I both know that they would not even be an obstacle. I know that you are perfectly capable of defending yourself, so I suspect that you keep them more for show than anything else. Thus, my suggestion: Keep your two toys and let them wait outside and keep the drunks from bothering you. Let me be your personal bodyguard, instead. With you and I working together, I doubt there is a vampire in existance that we could not defeat. I am much more effective, and while I may not be as pretty as those boys, I promise you that I can be much more... intimidating. ]

With the last word, Edgard stretched out his muscles and limbs into an aggressive stance that made him appear twice his true size, and his face twisted into an angry snarl, revealing his huge and bared fangs.

(Fierce Visage on, for demostration purposes only).

A few moments passed, and Edgard resume his normal pose, and his twisted snarl was replaced with a slight smirk as he waited to see the lady's reaction.

(Fierce Visage off)

"They are pretty, aren't they,"Â? she said softly, looking towards the door. He was right of course, they weren't much of a defense, but they did serve an important service. Megan kept herself attuned to their emotional state when she was out. Should they come under attack, they were skilled enough to hold off someone like Edgard long enough for her to meet the would-be assassin on her own terms. In essence, Sebastian and Jeremiah were a living alarm system. The fact that they volunteered for such a position gave evidence to their loyalty. That they were human proved so much more.

Still, she thought, it might be interesting to have a real bodyguard for a change, a vampire. If he had really spent the last 700 years in warfare, he would seem to have the qualifications.

"You would serve me?"she asked.

[ I would. I doubt you need a bodyguard all the time, but in those times that you do, you need merely ask and I will be at your side. At other times, I can other things. I must confess that I know little of the business climate in this country during this era, but I am resourceful, and a quick learner. What do you think? ]

There was always a use for her dark progeny. Always. Megan smiled, the same mischievous smile that she invariably offered when she got what she wanted. She knew now that she had made the right decision in turning Edgard so many years ago. He would serve the clan, as he was meant to then. Only now with centuries of combat experience. A fair trade in her eyes.

"As you wish,"Â? she said to him warmly. "Welcome home."Â?

Edgard was glad to have finally made it home. With their business talk concluded, Edgard felt light and almost giddy - he was very eager to get out and test himself once again against the world. He just needed a little bit of direction, he smiled, and projected:

[ It feels good to be home. What now? ]

"Perhaps some new clothes,"Â? she said, eyeing what Edgard was wearing with obvious distaste. "I can't have someone working for me wearing..."Â?

She paused, searched for the appropriate word and failed to find it, "well, wearing... that."Â?

Getting up, she walked over to the bar where she had set her purse down. She reached inside and pulled out a thin leather case, and from that a small plastic credit card.

"There's a place downtown that sells suits, Italian. Giorgio's. Tell them I sent you."Â?

Edgard paused a moment before accepting the card from Megan. Was there something wrong with his clothes? He was not at the height of fashion, he knew, but he at least thought himself to be presentable. Ah well, Megan always was picky about that sort of thing.

[ Thank you. I will put this to good use. ]

He smiled. If his mission was to go out and buy expensive Italian things, he had a few extra stops to make. He gave Megan a small bow, turned on his heel, and walked out of the room.

((ooc: Edgard out))