TropicalRemix: no he is younger but not by much. I almost want to say roughly the same ago as the youngest counsel members but still younger.
jessielee14: that's the point. Lol great well here's comes the next part.
MoonMama89: they will be making sure the evidence comes into place. I was actually trying to see how the counsel worked in the underworld series so I watched a bit of 'rise of the lycans' and 'blood wars' to get a better idea. Some can be mean prickly ones while others stay silent so I kind of channeled that into this as well. I can't say on the discovery part. She's a better fictional person than most people. Lol here's your new chapter. As for the rest, she'd never cheat on him, we all know that one, yet I've read ones where he's cheated on her, and did everything he could to get her back but have to prove it over a length of time. Usagi being a cheater is just to OOC for me. I started to really like it because she had chibi chibi to love and care for. They actually bonded and THAT is something that I wish Chibi usa could have stayed for and seen during that season. Seeing how this younger child could be nice and sweet and loving towards her future mother and see how a daughter acts towards something they love and respect. Not like how she was. Give her a little taste of reality that she's NOT the supreme princess of the universe she thinks she is. Its why in one of my other fic's I had Hotaru and Usagi have a mother/daughter, older sister to younger sister bond that chibi usa blew up on. she needed to see that her antics weren't for the better. As for mamoru, yeah I hate to say it but I think 'schwarzenegger' in the terminator series had more of an emotional response and he WAS a machine! So yeah anime screwed him up a bit on that front but at least he wasn't cardboard like in the manga nor the crystal series. They gave him depth. And yeah he does act that way in a very literal sense. I think what they should have done was return the shinteou back to him that way there could have been more dynamics to work with, more material to work with so that he could be more involved and less robotic, and yeah fine more romance for the girls but maybe if they didn't try to make sailor moon into more of a G rated kids show for DIC then we could have had something with depth. I wasn't a fan of how he left in stars cause while I know usagi would have insisted that he fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor, I'm pretty sure there are also VERY prestigious universities in Japan that he could have gone to. I know Harvard is one of the best but considering how top rated that one is to one in Japan I have a strange feeling Japan would win…that is if you take a look at who's ranked on the education system for all over the world. Anyways, I wish he would have stayed but it was in both the anime and manga and it just sucked. And yeah they so totally built up her and seiya's relationship up WAY more than her and mamo's which doesn't make sense to me. so I agree on that front. And now I'll stop my rant. lol
OrientalDanceGirl: that you will soon be finding out. 😉 yeah that's going o be a running theme.
4 reviews, nice, so lets see where this one gets us. I know Eldon's pissing people off but trust me things are going up ahead that will shock everyone. I guarantee you all will enjoy it! So please read and review!
A vampire's forbidden love: the lie's that bind us ch.5
Usagi POV
As each new day that passed it was another day of nerves and egg shells for myself and Mamoru was we tried to avoid too much interaction with the counsel members. Most were avoiding interaction anyways but the others were trying to seem like they wanted to be involved. I t was get a tad distracting for the vampires around here. It wasn't usual for them to hang around a coven for more than a few days so for it to be going on a week had a lot of nerves frayed and had even our elder holding up in his room.
It was like only he could tolerate them for so long. The counsel members made everyone feel like scrambling to get away from them wherever they went to. Hovering around and giving people judgmental stares while barely saying a word. Looking down at them. Of course to the counsel they were the purest of the bloodlines. The oldest ones felt that it was better to remain as pure as possible.
For them it lead to nothing 'tainting' the counsel or leading to a sway away from what their own beliefs were. It's why they hovered around here like hawks around their prey now that I was under the microscope. It was rare for a leader of a coven to not be of pure blood. Even more so for the leader to have rose through the ranks from the former leaders 'pet' to put it lightly, and not only rule in his steed but be the one to also having had killed him as well.
It was only the vote and the elders wish and the fact that I was named as the unofficial second in command at the time that granted me the leadership I have now…and it might get taken completely away from me. A year ago I wouldn't have cared really. A year ago I believed all I had was Mamoru, that everyone would be torn over my decision to kill Damon, yet here it was me leading them.
Me giving out orders and taking in the compromises where it was best for everyone. Me…the one who wasn't born of vampires, who didn't grow up in it but who was thrown into it. Now I lead and now I was under intense scrutiny of their eyes. It was as if a shadow had fallen over the estate with them here. It was also beginning to feel like doubt was being cast upon myself as well. I still expected to see vampires looking at me cross eyed but I received nothing other than reception and friendly faces.
It was a warm comfort compared to the hollow vacant eyes of the counsel members that roamed about. One of two female members who went by the name Kitiara, she had a personal preference to work with our knives and swords in the basement, having a small section of it dedicated just for her own private practices while they were here. And what a counsel member wants a counsel member gets.
The lead of the counsel where the majority of the decisions were based came to Chikao. He was probably one of the oldest if not the oldest of the elder members, but no less stronger in any manner. While he was a smart and intelligent one he was also, personality wise, blunt at times, a bit cold and very much by the rules. I saw him mostly hovering around the office now, preventing my lunch breaks with Mamoru for the time being, looking over files and how I had treated it since Damon's permanent absence.
The third one I had gotten to know on more than a first name basis as the rest tended to stay in their rooms to themselves and not bother fraternizing with the lower level vampires was the one that had been the snippet ass that talked down to me in the manner he had been. He seem younger in appearance than the others but was older than Kitiara by over a hundred years. His name was Naoyuki.
He disliked me definitely. It took me a week to find out that he disliked me namely due to his growing friendship with Damon over the past few decades. Something I had been unaware of as Damon and I didn't visit the same meetings together. When I killed him Naoyuki deemed me unfit in his own opinion to rule where Damon left off, but the other counsel members knew at the time that it was more so out of anger than his duty and over ruled his decision.
He apparently still had a grudge against me for my actions. I was actually looking for him as I wanted to explain things to him and see if I could perhaps make his see reason or at least understand my side of things when it came to that matter. Therefore, he could see me as the leader I was and not for the person Damon made me out to be in his eyes. I could talk to him about it since it wasn't case related and more personal related.
He was one of the few members that declined an escort wherever he went within the estate. The others had at least a few vampires as personal servants to follow around them. Feeling he was powerful enough to kill without needing help as he put it on more than one occasion. Perhaps if we spoke and he saw things from my perspective he could see the type of vampire I really was and now what Damon made me out to be.
I found him in the tea parlor drinking some tea and blood, "Sir." I spoke as he barely gifted me with a common courtesy remark, "We cannot discuss the details of your case outside of the chambers." His words were cut and cold. "That's not why I'm here." I bit back the remark of 'I'm fully aware of that' and instead I strode up to him as I sat in the seat opposite of him. I didn't want to be within range if he decided he wanted to take a swipe at me out of sheer principal he felt alone.
Not that I thought he would, but I didn't know him that well. "I just wanted to explain something to you. Unrelated to the case." I expressed. He barely flinched his brows in response. I took that as 'whatever, go ahead'. "Damon was your friend I get that." He looked at me with a barely repressed expression of 'be careful what you say'. "But Damon was more than your friend…" I had to tread carefully here.
"He was a leader to us all here, a son to our elder and even a brother at one point. But he's also the same vampire that took me from my home, my family, blackmailed me into becoming his 'concubine' to save my family, turned my then fiancée into a vampire who's bloodlust drove us out of the old coven we lived in, before making me into the skilled fighter I am now. There can be a lot of both positive and negative things said about him." I assure.
"I mean he made me into someone that could be counted on, could be valued as not only a second in command but as a leading figure." I began so that he could see that Damon didn't name me second for nothing. There was a good reason for it and it wasn't to be his mate as he kept me as a mistress type for all that time. To long of time in my opinion but still the story remains the same.
"I'm not in my position today as the leader here because of politic crap or because I had the right blood running through my veins to do so. I'm here as this coven's leader because I worked my ass off for hundreds of years. Learned everything I could to be the best of the best for my coven." I said with conviction, "For the safety of us all from the human world and for their safety from our world and the Lycans. No matter what I will continue to work hard as I always have." I told him.
He barely looked at me differently. It was almost as if my words were merely air to him but I continued onward, "Damon made me into a lot of things…" I swallowed, "Made me do a lot of things…but in the end…" I looked into his cold seemingly careless eyes, "It was his own selfish desires that made me do what I did. I didn't want to have to kill him…" his eyes shifted, "He left me no choice." I stated as he put down his tea.
He looked at me in the eyes and said, "I almost find this humorous." His voice was taunting. It was mocking even. It had me pausing and wondering if what I just said to him actually got through or if he simply didn't care. "You trying to appeal to me as a human could. A plea…a near beg of useless information…pathetic." I kept my mouth shut as he continued forth, standing up as he verbally bashed me in without care. My problem was I couldn't say anything back at him…not the best decision when you were dealing with a grand elder.
"Damon did what he did to you because he was better than you." He looked down at me as the few other grand elders did to. Looked down at the other vampires. Servants to them to do their dirty work for them. "We all are. It's only the few new counsel members that share new views on how to look at you. Views that for me are tainted with weakness and lack conviction that the old world had." He looked disappointed in his fellow counsel members.
He stood up carrying his blood-filled tea with him. Looking out the windows like a mere observer rather than the cold-hearted dick he was. Like he wanted them to be more hateful and power hungry like he was sounding to be. "Damon could and would have continued to treat you as an animal and I wouldn't have cared." The words cut deep but I refused to let him see how bad he hurt me. Keeping a stone wall up in his very presence.
I refused to shed so much as a tear to his comments. I had a feeling that any emotional response would have lead to his dissection of me further. His stance as he drank his blood-filled tea spoke volumes to his lack of empathy or willingness to care for anyone other than himself or his own personal views right now. I was also beginning to understand why he was left alone during these times now.
"He could have beaten you within an inch of your life or have snapped your neck till it came off and I'd still sip tea with a smile on my face, uncaring of how you felt about it." I was getting the sense that he was nearly as twisted as Damon was. No wonder they were friends. This had been a mistake, "You want to know what your problem is…?" I didn't answer as I knew he'd tell me anyways as he looked out the window at the now gone sun light. The rays peeking out giving a beautiful illumination to the otherwise bleak words.
"Your problem is you actually think your worth something." he looked at me, "Your nothing more than a stand in till that elder of yours picks his sword back up and takes his place as he should have when Damon was viciously murdered. He could have but he choose instead to have you be in command. The very pet that murdered him" he commented. Man did this grand elder hate me.
"It didn't matter that you had been picked as a second in command, not to me." I resisted the urge to slam him verbally for his remarks as he was a high ranking elder but it was hard as he was being unusually cruel to me. Perhaps he was taking advantage of not being in the presence of the other grand elders. Using the opportunity to NOT have to curb his tongue to what he wanted to say to me.
He walked up to me as I stood ready to leave the negative atmosphere. He blocked me as he looked me up and down. His eyes made me feel used, cheap and disgusting. Like he was dressing me down visually as he had just done to me verbally, "Damon had good taste…" he took a greedy sip from the cup and set it down as he was done. Standing fully back up he placed a finger beneath my chin and I had no choice but to let him.
To avoid looking a grand elder I the eye when prompted to was a sign of disrespect and to avoid physical touch when it was so simple was an act of aggression towards them that was seen as an attack. He would attack me afterwards and no one would or could stop him unless it were to be another grand elder. He gripped my chin in his hands and even though the look in his eyes spoke of appreciating my body he made it look nothing more than cheap and degrading that I was even here in his presence.
His next words stunned me, "But a pet whore no matter then dressing, no matter what she's become, no matter who she holds in her court, is still nothing more than a pet whore." I clenched my fists and couldn't help my eyes flaring up in anger, yet I made no move against him. I couldn't do so without a physical provocation from him and even then I had no witnesses to what was happening here. To what was being said. He smiled with both his lips and his eyes making me want to wipe it from his face.
"Go ahead…strike me." he egged on. "I loved to see you land on your back…it's the only worthwhile place of a pet of your stature anyways." He was goading me on purpose I realized. I saw that he was trying to use my anger against me so I forced my anger back and regained myself, "You can say whatever you want to…sir." I made sure to say 'sir' with as much lack of respect as I could afford to.
"Whatever helps you sleep better at night." I smirked with my eyes as much as I could and kept my lips tight to avoid actually smirking as I wiped part of the smug look from his face. Since when does an elder let that much of his personal issues get in the way of a case to this degree? I wondered. Feeling suddenly boxed in and in need to escape to think properly I made to leave when he grabbed my arm.
He may not have looked like he had muscles but his grip was that of steel on my arm. He did have several hundred years on me. "No matter what quip you throw…no matter what heroic speech you give to empower those around you…pure bloods will always be more valuable as leaders than their worthless pet whores. You are nothing compared to whom should be in charge around here." He harsh whispered words of disgust were only echoed further by his release of my arm.
Like he was disgusted he even had to touch it or me in any form. "Mark my words…Usagi…you won't be enjoying your perch as leader for much longer. I will make sure of it myself." As he turned around and left me to leave off on my own. Dismissing me from his presence as I walked away. Great…I just spent the last five minutes getting dressed down verbally to learn he definitely had it in for me and wanted me gone. Good to know.
I did however feel like I needed a shower after this. Right as I got around the door I heard him say something that left me highly suspicious, "Stupid pet doesn't know who she's up against." Something about it spoke volumes and not because of the words but of how it sounded. He sounded banal about it. Like he wasn't saying it regarding himself but for a third party. It was confusing as I walked further down the hallway. That's when I saw Eldon.
He passed me by. His near cheerful expression had me utterly curious as he whipped around a corner to vanish going towards where the counsel member was. My suspicions rose now on the words I heard coupled with this. I needed to know more about Eldon. I needed to know if it was him for sure on the counsel being here or if it was someone else. I had a weird feeling he was feeding information to that member but with so little knowledge of him I couldn't make an accusation against him.
Not especially if he had a grand elder member in his pocket. Question is how and why if he was new? Plus I rarely saw that counsel member before at the meetings I had gone to and I didn't recall him being so verbally cruel. Perhaps there was a decorum he used when around the other members and in private. So being that there were only a few vampires around here I trusted with everything I made sure the circle of who would be in on this little project was small.
I sent out a mass text to Mamoru, Rei, and since Minako was here, her to and ran into a messenger telling him to let the elder know of a meeting in my office in ten. The leader of the counsel would be enjoying the fruits of his own delights for another hour at least around this time as he'd requested the same thing every day for the past week. A willing female vampire to give him a massage.
Thankfully we didn't need to worry about providing it. He just wanted the uninterrupted time. I suspect he had his own entourage of help to do it for him. I didn't question it I just wanted my office free for the time I needed it. I arrived first and saw Rei and Minako arrive shortly afterwards with Mamoru leading the rear shutting and locking the door behind our elder, "What's going on?" Rei asked. "We have a problem." I spoke as everyone wondered what was going down right now.
Mamoru POV
I got her mass text message while I was working in the basement area. The grand elder down there kept looking at me every so often making me wonder what was going on through her head and wanting to steer clear of her and the blades she was working with. I used the text as an excuse to leave and shut all my research down. For some odd reason I didn't trust these counsel members and the more nervous my mate got around them since this case started the more untrusting of them I got.
Especially when it came to that grand elder that hung out in the tea room frequently. So when she sent out a very short but urgent group text I took off. Expect for our elder, whom she had a messenger retrieve him from his room. I saw the messenger skip past me to go retrieve him so I waited the extra few to ensure he'd be right behind me. "You know what this is regarding?" he asked me.
"Not a clue but I know were about to find out." I remarked, "And have you asked her yet?" he asked me, "Not the best timing." I commented. He agreed as we all met in the office area. Usagi behind her desk as I locked the door behind our elder as he was the last one in. The moment I locked the door Rei asked what was going on and her response was, "We have a problem." It sounded worried.
"What do you mean? Is there something new happening?" Rei asked. Was there an update on the Lycan clan we didn't know about that she found out? I wouldn't doubt that she somehow found out something and was updating us. Usagi had this unique net system of retrieving information that gave her this edge over others. "I think Eldon has a counsel member in his back pocket." We were looking at her with shocked faces.
"I don't have any real proof just yet but that's what this is for. Though I don't believe I'm wrong I want the proof to have it present for the remaining counsel to see for themselves, so I need to have you guys out there as my spies. Sir, obviously I'm not asking this of you, but I did want you to be in on the loop of what's going on." she stated indicating to our elder, "I accept this." He told her, "What do you need from us?" Rei asked.
Ever since Damon died the two female vampires that beforehand barely got along were now becoming good friends. It was as if without Damon's presence they were able to bond and not be held back by the bitter one sided feud that came with the knowledge of who was more preferred and who was treated secondly as a 'pet' to Damon over the decades. Rei was there for Usagi as was Minako now even.
Minako having come in to help out from her own coven at Usagi's request recently and leaving her second in command to take care of things in her steed. "I need you Rei to run interference for me and that grand elder Naoyuki. He's a piece of work…" she turned her head a bit, "Got a real set of brass ones to, to be putting so much personal animosity against me for things regarding Damon." Our elder looked at her, "I didn't realize they were so close." He noted.
"Me either…but he made his stance regarding me perfectly clear. I think their working together to get rid of me as the leader. The way Naoyuki sees me I'm just a stand in for you…sir. And that's the nicer way of explaining it." She muttered flinching just slightly making me wonder what had happened while she went to go talk to him. She said she'd be fine so now I wondered what was all said in the end.
I could sense my mates distress as I walked up to her out of unconscious thought alone as she kept talking, "Minako I want you to follow Eldon around. Something is up with him and I think it has to do with what Naoyuki was discussing with me in depth about." That's when I saw our elder look at her concerned, "He made his dislike of me duly noted. Apparently his friendship with Damon was growing and he disapproved of my leadership status here." Obviously there was more to it than that but no one pushed right now.
"If their working together to get me out of here as leader I need to know why and I need the proof of it. As it is Naoyuki shouldn't be allowing his personal feels towards me to steer his decision making reasons." We saw our elder agree with her, "IF he is allowing his personal feelings to interfere with this case then its reason enough to have it thrown out. He did seem particularly negative during the first hearing." He noted.
"I thought he was just supposed to play the devil's advocate but it seems not to be the case." She noted. "If I'm wrong about Eldon, then I'm wrong but prove me wrong." She stated. Her plea was heard, "No matter what we're here for you. There is something up with that Eldon that I don't like and something that seems oddly familiar about him yet I can't quite place it." Rei stated letting her know she was going to help.
"I'll keep an eye on him. To not follow basic decorum when speaking to a leader of another coven perturbs me. It's disrespectful and I don't appreciate the way he looks at you or me." that had us looking at her, "I think because we have a similar resemblance he looks at me differently…like he doesn't respect me either but forces himself to at least act like it." She commented, "It really sounds like he has it out for Usagi." Rei noted. "If this progresses further I'll call Makoto in on it." Minako said.
"She'll be happy to help pull anything out of him." That had Usagi commenting, "Make sure she doesn't do anything that could get her in trouble with the counsel being so close by. I don't want anyone to suffer any consequences because of my orders. Only do what you can within reason. I also want to make sure we stay off of that grand elders radar and Eldon's radar." She noted as the girls listened.
"What about me?" I asked her, "You've got the sciences to work on. Just keep it away from both of them to. Your progress is taking real shape. Something we haven't seen in our history before. You down there working is making history for us all. Finding a reversible cure so that people now have that choice to make is unprecedented." She walked the few steps towards me, "Mamoru what your accomplishing is something we've never seen before." I looked over and saw the glimmer of happiness on the girls faces.
"We didn't have that choice…not that we regret where we are in life now but we know that the path is a difficult and dangerous one. Not everyone is cut out to be a vampire and you have the smarts to give people that option." She told me. It made me feel more confident in my work here more so than I thought possible. I looked over and saw our elder looking at me with near expectancy. I realized maybe he wanted me to propose now. I went to grab the ring when I realized I didn't have it on me.
"Usagi I…" I didn't get the chance to finish as Minako cut in, "She's right." I looked over to her, "I hadn't originally wanted to be a vampire. I got used to it and now it's who and what am but it wasn't my original decision. You giving people this chance, that choice is something I wish we had." My work was genuinely being appreciated around here. "She's right." Our elder stated. His expression that now of 'later' as he continued.
"While we could always use more vampires in our line of work, if you have a vampire who hates what they've become you have a less manageable side to control." We all knew who he was referring to. Diamond. He hated being a vampire so much he became overcome with his own blood lust and killed so many. "I'd get more work done down there if that grand elder wasn't looking at me every so often. Maybe I'll get more research done on it in our room than down there." I noted.
"Yeah try that for a bit. Give yourself a break from the lab." The slight twinkle in her eyes read that I'd be getting more than a break later on but her face never showed the signs of it. "So everyone's on task while I deal with the running of this place and the counsel elders?" they all nodded to her words, "Sir?" she looked at him, "You will still be in on the discussions with me no?" she asked.
"Hai." he responded, "Usagi I want to be in on one of them with you both as well. Explain from my perspective what happened." I told her. She looked concerned, "Mamoru - " before our elder cut her off, "It might be a good idea. It's been over a week now and he's back to full strength. He might even garner persuasion towards you." He suggested, "If so then yeah I'd like you to be there." She smiled and seemed less anxious than before.
The girls began to file out and leave as they dismissed themselves as our elder shut the door again to give us a bit of privacy. "Now what is it?" I asked her. She tried to be dismissive about it but I wouldn't let her, "You know as well as I do that I can feel it within you." I told her. Our sense of body language beyond that of what her friends knew of her as we were more connected than they were due to the history.
She sighed, "That grand elder truly hates me for what I did to Damon." I pulled her in and held her close, "You did what you had to do." I told her recalling that day with absolute clarity while I was conscious. "Yeah he doesn't seem to care what happened to me, he sees me as less than nothing. He's really way old school and I'm a pitiful excuse of a vampire to him. I'm nothing more than a 'pet whore' as he so lovingly kept repeating." She admitted.
I couldn't help but tighten my grip on her as I felt her pain as if it were my own. That pissed me off that he felt he could talk down to her and get away with it simply because he was higher ranking but unfortunately it did make sense. Women weren't seen as high ranking anything back then. If you did have a woman on a counsel seat it was merely due to her bloodline and that was all. Usagi wasn't of pure blood as they were and he from what I was hearing held a firm grip of the old ways of thinking.
Being that there were at least two women that I'd seen as a part of the counsel more than likely he tolerated them due to the purity in their bloodlines and nothing more. It was an unfortunate side effect of the history of majority of the world. Women during that time were seen as objects, trophies to be owned even. Second class citizens…so for Usagi in his mind's eye, for how she came to be here she was less than nothing to him.
It was sad but the truth. Had Usagi not had her agreed position she might have had a chance to be seen as at least someone but due to Damon's lust for her she became his 'pet' instead and it was now coming back to her in the form of this dick counsel member and that Eldon asshole who sought to rid us all of her, "No matter what happens I'll be by your side." I told her as she looked up at me.
"I can't…" I avoided getting choked up, "I refuse to live in this world without you by my side." I put her hand to my chest, "This heart beats only for you." She began to get misty eyed as I now did, "Wherever you go…I go." I told her, "I don't deserve you." She looked at me with such beautiful blue eyes that I tore at me that that dick had torn her down to make her feel this way, "No Usa…" I held her close and tightened my grip.
"I don't deserve you…yet I get to have you for the rest of our lives together. Don't you DARE let what the asshole said to you let you feel any differently about it. He doesn't know you. He's stuck in the old world ways of thinking. He's – his mental growth is stunted." I joked in a serious tone to which she gave a half a chuckle to. "Let him have his views, it just means that he's blind to the beauty that is you in and out." I told her.
"Less competition for me to." I joked. She laughed until her face turned in disgust, "I think he actually does see some attraction towards me to." She said, "The way he looked at me…I felt dirty…disgusting…like he was undressing me…" her words were barely above a whisper as she spoke about the meeting. I hated how he made her feel and wanted to rip his eyes from his sockets just to blind him permanently.
"You're a beautiful woman…I'm not shocked he saw it but his way of expressing it was just to make you feel low. Don't let it get to you. He's not even worth your next breath." I told her as I pulled her face up to kiss her. She held me closer, "I know…I just want this done and over with." She said, "Me to…me to." I kissed her again as a knock came to the door. "Must be time for the next meeting. Want to join this one?" she asked.
"Absolutely. I would love to see what this is like." I stated, genuinely interested. "Just make sure you don't back talk or speak without being spoken to." She warned as she opened the door. The messenger just gestured to where to go to. As we started to walk towards the meeting room I saw Eldon begin to walk in the opposite direction of us both. I took her hand in mine for comfort and restraint of my own desires to act out against him.
Usagi POV
We passed by Eldon as he was coming back from the direction of the meeting room making me suspect him further of what was going to come and to be honest more anxious as well. I wondered if he was feeding them more information that was twisted to make myself appear that much worse in front of them? It seemed to be the only explanation but I needed proof of this as well as a why.
Eldon didn't know me nor Mamoru so why the extreme hard on he seemed to have against mostly myself? He didn't even come from this coven. I needed to know more. Hopefully the girls would come up with something. "Going to the gallows?" he asked in passing, "I didn't realize a decision had been made." I stated back coolly. "It's only a matter of time before they see how you are as a leader." He clapped back.
"Or a matter of time before you leave back for your own coven once the truth is seen. Cause I'm not going anywhere." I stood my ground. He barely gulped as he said, "Guess we'll see…after all the case has majority against you…but we'll see." He stalked off before I could say anything further. "He's just trying to rile you up." Mamoru reassured me. I knew but somehow it seemed like Eldon did know more…either that or he was one hell of an actor.
I nodded as we strode further ahead and met with the guards at the door. Our elder met us there, "I will be here as your advisor." He stated as I nodded then spoke, "We need to speak with the counsel. Usagi, our elder and Mamoru." I announced ourselves. They let us pass to go inside as we saw them convening inside. "I see you have made progress with the Lycan pack." Kitiara said as I pursed my lips.
"We've narrowed it down further yes, but we still need more time to find them." I began, "What we came here today with was Mamoru's account of events from that morning." I stated as he stood forward. He already had the presence of a professional and respective attitude and knew what to and what not to say. "Usagi and Eldon had gone into the sewer systems to look for further traces of the Lycan pack." He began. "When we first got there, there was no live scent of them left there just what was." He continued.
"When she and Eldon left inside I stayed behind to still have signal from the outside. Several minutes later I smelled the scent of a Lycan, an older one within the tunnel with me. When it revealed itself to me we engaged in a fight. Being that I'm not several hundred years old I had to rely more on skill than muscle as it was able to whip me around pretty good." He admitted, something that was fact but still made him look bad in front of the vampires before him as one even smiled in response.
"When I got impaled by the rebar I felt my flesh tear and my vision begin to waver so I made sure to keep the Lycan within my sights but then I noticed something strange about its actions." He stated, "Like what?" Kitiara asked, "I had several uninterrupted seconds to think. To realize that I was slowly sliding on the wall. My body impacted at a near horizontal angle so as it slid my muscles pulled at the rebar." I stayed silent as he spoke.
"The lycan gave me a few seconds as I heard Usagi come back in with Eldon. I was already losing a great deal of blood from the wound and knew I would be losing more and then some soon." He was getting to the part where they were most interested. That much I could see from the expressions on their faces, "I felt my vision waver till she got up and pulled me down from the rebar." He looked over to me.
Unable to help the desire to send me a comforting look even as he spoke, "If she hadn't I would have lost consciousness and lost even more blood." He was trying tell them there was a possibility that had we ditched him there was a chance of death…it would be on if they caught onto that or believed him. "And for this she lets a Lycan go?" the insulting voice came out from our left.
Of course. Life wouldn't be complete without that ass in here. We turned our heads to him as I went to speak but our elder stopped me. Thankful for the moment of support and clarity as he spoke on my behalf I noticed something seemed odd in the room. A scent I recognized but couldn't identify. And it was strangely in the direction of that dick grand elder. I felt like there was someone else in here.
I wondered how the others didn't smell it themselves especially being grand elders…unless. I thought back on it to my many, many decades spent reading up on the myths of vampires and what covered their scent as long as the vampire had never smelled his or her scent before, preventing even a grand elder from scenting them. It was the same thing that repelled Lycan's, wolfs bane.
Someone had on wolfs bane to cover their scent. The elders wouldn't notice it as it was just a typical flower that budded around. I looked around and noticed that there were no signs of floral life in the meeting room which meant someone had it on them. I narrowed my eyes as I looked over at Naoyuki as he and our elder verbally sparred respectfully towards each other. It was like a skilled tennis match that neither were backing down from.
My ability to parallel process and multitask enabled me to have heard every part of the conversation as our elder came to my defense on the subject and made it clear how unwise he felt certain things Damon did were as an example to the elders. It didn't help the expression on Naoyuki's face as he seemed sour faced that his friend wasn't being represented well even by his own father.
"My good son, while I do believe your intentions are for the best to know everything is pertinent in ensuring a fair case if heard to the counsel." He stated, "And is it fair sir that your son, a future member of this grand counsel was murderer by the vampire you defend as if she were your own. The same vampire that Damon held as a pet for himself." Naoyuki said. "Hai, I will state that she started out as a pet but has greatly exceeded any expectations that befell her. Hell it's why my son himself named her his second." Our elder stated before turning towards the rest.
"Make no mistake my good friends." Our elder said as he dismissed Naoyuki as Naoyuki had with me to a degree earlier today making me feel a bit vindicated in the process, "I loved my son beyond a shadow of a doubt…he was the only child I ever got to raise fully and I will always love him and treasure his memory. But we must all admit there was a reason why Usagi was being groomed to take over this coven. He was showing a weakness that we couldn't afford especially as new counsel member." He stated.
"Perhaps the weakness was in your harboring of unjustifiable feelings towards a pet." Naoyuki stated, his tone definitely more irritated than before. Our elder merely smiled, "And what are those?" he asked, making the concerns sound like air. "The weakness you harbor of caring for her as if she was your child when she's merely your honorable son's pet." He sneered the ending part as the other counsel members looked to him.
"Not that that is an inaccurate statement…" he looked over at Naoyuki, giving him a warning face as he responded, "But we've also been partied to Usagi's words of wisdom and the reasons why for Damon's abrupt death. And while we are all saddened by a future counsel member's death it was justified as it would have made this counsel as a whole weaker and that's something we cannot afford." The grand elder in the center retorted, "Without using the recent mention of Damon as part of this case, Usagi…" I looked up to him.
"While I do understand that you care for your mate and that he cares for you, the intelligence received gives us the impression that you took your mates health more seriously than the mission objective." His words had me gulping just a little bit but also curious to. He gave me information that he's technically not supposed to. "We will need more time to review this new testimony." We were then dismissed as he gave me a blank expression.
It was as if he was trying to help us without saying anything. I knew it had to do with Naoyuki and whatever he was telling them. However, it also had to do with whomever was feeding him information and my bet was on Eldon. That scent in there was too familiar and lead me to different areas of suspiciousness. Something was going on here and I had a feeling that as much as I hated to admit it, Naoyuki was being led astray for Eldon's selfish purposes.
Or they were truly in league with the other. Now I needed to why it was so for Eldon. For Naoyuki it was based on his hatred of me from Damon's death but why did Eldon have a hard hate on for me? And why was there the scent of wolfs bane in there when there was none in sight? The clues were starting to form more and more as we dug deeper into this webbed mystery and the more clues we got the more it pointed to Eldon.
After all wolfs bane was only when we had been in that sewer area. I knew that the other entrance to the area was through a field of it. So why was that scent in there unless someone has been out that way. Only one vampire knew of it and the other that might know wouldn't do anything to betray me or my trust. What are you up to Eldon and why the hell are you gunning for me?