Saturday, 1 November 1800 1:30 a.m.
a bit further down the aforementioned road
"So that's how I'm going to take over the world!" the small Chinese girl chirped happily.
"With.......hamsters?" her companion arched an eyebrow.
"Nononono!" the girl exclaimed. "By diablerizing the Ventrue and then taking all their money. Weren't you listening, Maria?"
"Well....I was trying to....but you did say something about hamsters." Maria Giovanni looked confused.
"I said I wanted to get a hamster. I also want to get a salamander. But that's after I take over the world."
"Oh......is that it.... You'll forgive me for saying so, Mei, but you don't seem like the type of person who would try to take over the world."
"I...don't?" the Cappadocian looked on the verge of tears.
"Well........I don't know....maybe you could... If you gave everyone something and made them owe you a favor...." the Giovanni suggested.
"But...I wanna diablerize them!" Mei sobbed, looking every inch like a five year old throwing a temper tantrum.
Maria shook her head. Why had she agreed to travel with this girl? Oh, right. A breakthrough in Giovanni/Cappadocian politics. If it worked out, the clans wouldn't be trying to kill each other anymore. Plus, she and Mei both being representatives of their respective clans, they needed to learn to get along.
"Oh well!" Mei stopped sobbing as quickly as she had begun. "I have a sudden craving for ice cream."
"Ice cream?" Maria arched an eyebrow. "You can eat food?"
"I think so....."
"Well, okay....."
Mei yawned. "Do you know any good bedtime stories?"
"Um...not really."
"Didn't your parents ever tell you bedtime stories?" Mei asked.
"Not really...."
"Why not?'
"I....don't know. They were too busy, I guess."
"That's sad. We have to find someone to tell us both bedtime stories when we get there!" Mei smiled happily.
"Um...okay." Maria attempted to return the smile. The Cappadocian's attitude baffled her. A clan obsessed with death...you wouldn't think she'd be this cheerful. Quite an anomaly. But she was a sweet little girl. Literally little. Mei couldn't have been embraced at any older than eleven. She was small, cute, and from what Maria knew of her so far, very nationalistic. She made a mental note to say only good things about China.
She cast a sidelong glance at Mei, who had become engrossed in watching an owl in a tree the carriage was passing by. The girl acted like nothing was going on upstairs. That alone was enough to put Maria on her guard. People who couldn't tell right from left often had far deeper levels of understanding at their disposal. Levels of wisdom and secrets that most Kindred could only dream of. She would be careful to keep an eye on this fluffy little girl. There were more ways to hold power over someone than by force, politics, or even money, as the Giovanni did. There were other ways. Mei might just be another fluffy little child who never really caught on to the bad side of Kindred existence. Then again, she might hold the keys to the secrets of the universe.
Maria would stay on her guard- and on Mei's good side- just in case.