Here we skip a little over a decade.
"Do you think the Marcus Brothers were Catholic?"
A boy pressed the 'back' skip button on the DVD remote he was holding to replay the chapter he'd just watched.
"Do I think the who were Catholic?" Asked a female voice. The girl who spoke didn't look up from the homework she was doing.
"The Marcus Brothers!" The boy sighed in an exasperated tone. "Don't you pay any attention at all, Wanda?"
"Yes. To the things that need attention to be paid." She stood and walked over to the television, turning it off.
"Hey!" He shouted indignantly. "I was watching that!"
"Homework first, Pietro. Then you can watch that vampire slayer killer thing."
"Vampire Hunter D," he corrected her scornfully, pulling out the chair to his desk.
"As for the Marcus Brothers – they're fictional. You'd do better to focus on math and less on silly fantasies."
"It's not a silly fantasy!" The silver-blond shot back. "It's real. Even Father Anderson says so!"
The brunette rolled her eyes.
"Oh really? Father Anderson told you that vampires exist and that hunters have to go around killing them?"
"Well, not exactly…"
"See, then? Not real."
"Nuh-uhn!" He smiled superiorly at her. "I heard him telling Deacon Kurt one night that vampires were dangerous and that a hunter's life was not one for a young man."
"So what are you suggesting?" She laughed. "That Father Anderson is a vampire hunter in his spare time or something? I hardly think so."
Realizing she wasn't going to believe him no matter what he told her, Pietro turned sullenly and faced his books.
"Not like he doesn't disappear mysteriously every now and then," he muttered under his breath.
His sister, however, still managed to overhear.
"Pietro, you act like the orphans are his only duty. He does have other functions as a priest, you know, not to mention orphanage business that can't be taken care of here or even in Rome. I don't see why you think it's all so suspicious."
He sighed.
"It would just be cool if he was, is all," he said, hunching his shoulders and letting the matter drop for the moment.
In his office upstairs, Paladin Alexander Anderson was having a discussion that was just as heated with one of his superiors.
"Ye cannae make tha suggestion tae heem!" he protested.
"Anderson," Enrico Maxwell continued, "Do see sense. He idolizes the profession and would follow you into it most willingly – "
"Only because ye suggested it!" Anderson burst in.
"And," he continued obstinately, "He would be of a great deal of use if his abilities are anything like what Father Renaldo represented them to be. Besides which, Anderson, be realistic. His appearance would never be accepted in any parish."
"Th' orphans accept him," Alexander muttered sullenly.
"Only because of your influence. You cannot expect the world at large to be so forgiving or accepting. If you force him out into a public priesthood he will meet with nothing but derision. Allow him to join the ranks of Section XIII and he will be an invaluable asset to the Church and ourselves. Perhaps even to you," he said with a smile. "Kurt is certainly cooperative enough with you and a partnership could benefit you both."
"Ye will nae tempt me wit' such ae suggestion," he rumbled.
"Why not simply make it his choice?"
"Because he's nobbut a youngin'! He does nae know wha' he's choosin'!"
Fr. Maxwell narrowed his eyes.
"Very well then. So this is your assessment of the matter. I am sorry to do this to you, Alexander; I know how protective you are of all your orphans. But the boy's talents and the situation cannot be overlooked. He will come with us; this is an order I give, as the head of Section XIII." His lips quirked into a smile. "In fact, perhaps I should be the one to ordain him; and as he is twenty-five we need not even wait."
Anderson ground his teeth. Damn it, Renaldo, why did you say anything? He hadn't even realized that Fr. Renaldo, upon coming for a visit, had seen Kurt transport. Kurt thought they'd been alone and hadn't thought anything of it, but Renaldo had apparently returned with a report of Kurt's powers to Maxwell.
"Just like Heinkle and Yumi…" He sighed as Maxwell turned away from him.
"If I'm not mistaken," he retorted icily, "They were willing as well."
"Done!" Pietro crowed triumphantly.
His sister turned in her chair, disbelieving.
"Pietro, you can't be done with all of that. It's only been fifteen minutes."
"See for yourself," he said smugly, holding the completed worksheets out to her.
As she looked over them, he walked over to the DVD player and popped in a difference disc.
"And now, time for 'Once More with Feeling.'"
"You've watched that episode seven times this week already!" She protested, slamming the worksheets down. "I'm tired of it!"
"Don't you have homework to do?" He grinned as the menu came up.
"Jerk!" She glared at the television and the picture winked out with a spark.
He glared at her and tried to turn the television on with no success.
"Thanks a lot," he snapped. "And you can tell Father Anderson about it."
Flopping down on the bed, he soon lost himself in a Castlevania game on his Nintendo handheld; he would have read, but the newest Anita Blake was not yet translated for the Italian market. Wanda looked at him and frowned; sometimes she wished that Father had never read them Dracula as children; it had captivated Pietro's imagination all too thoroughly. She was worried about more than that however. Lately, Pietro had been doing things quickly. Well, more quickly than usual, for he always did things quickly. When he ran he seemed to get to his destination, whether it was down the stairs or across the room, almost instantaneously. And he was completing tasks – even completing them well – at a rather unsettling rate.
There was also the matter of herself. Having no other word to describe it, things seemed to happen when she was around, particularly if she was agitated. Electronics malfunctioned, people tripped, glasses shattered. So far there were always other explanations to be provided and she had escaped scrutiny or reprimand. Soon, however, she felt certain that she would cause an incident to large to be ignored. Pietro barely noticed both these developments; or at least he worried himself little over the reasons and repercussions.
Rising from her homework, she left the bedroom unheeded by her brother and went up stairs to seek Father Anderson. She found him sitting at his desk, silent, his head in his hands.
"Father?" She asked uncertainly. "Is something the matter?"
He looked up at her and force a smile.
"'Tis nae you must trouble yerself wit', lass. Wha' did ye want teh talk about?"
The pre-teen bit her lip and looked at the floor.
"Father. Father… Father."
"Yes?" He asked gently.
"Father," she said, looking up at him with slightly misty eyes, "I think Pietro and I are strange."
And that will wrap it up for now. :) More of Kurt the next chapter as the plot finally starts to pick up and get underway!