Rebel with a Cause - Anarchs

[Keira Kelly]

Dimitri bowed his head for a moment, a gesture of respect. "Well then, I look forwards to hearing from you, hopefully sooner rather than later. It was a pleasure doing business.. with both of you." he added with a smile and then watched as his two guests departed.

The deal done, Marni grabbed the duffel bag and followed Vanessa out of the warehouse silently. Vanessa wasn't talking really and Marni had the things that that girl, Zoey, had said on her mind. She knew her new mentor had said not to trust them, that they were manipulative and dangerous but.. what had been offered had been... hard to resist. It was the only thing that Marni truly wanted right now. She got in the car, staring straight ahead as her caution warred with her loneliness and sense of loss. Having that wisp of hope to get back to her loved ones dangled in front of her... was making that grief fresh again.

Vanessa's voice suddenly filling the inside of the vehicle startled Marni out of her own thoughts. Her wide eyes darted over towards the Brujah. She didn't answer right away, still having been trying to figure out if she SHOULD say anything about Zoey's offer. After a moment, her jaw closed tight and her eyes turned back out the passenger window, remaining quiet, defeated. If Vanessa had guessed the offer, it would be pointless to even humour the idea. She stayed quiet as Vanessa pulled the car over and parked. Marni closed her eyes, preparing for.. anything.

The calm voice that came wasn't what she had expected. Her eyes opened, turning to the Brujah. "Seven months.. isn't that long. I'd tell them the truth.. or at least, the important part of it: I got kidnapped by that damned cult! Everyone knows about them around here..." she answered back, her tone a bit desperate. "That is the literal damned truth of it... Some people get kidnapped and get found even years later! It's only been seven months.... It's more than believable, it's true...." she appealed.

She sighed heavily, head hanging now. "Even if I have to tell them that I was traumatized and need to be a mental ward or something, that I have severe PTSD or something, if I just can tell them that I am not... dead... well.. you know... That I'm more or less all right... That's all I want...." She sat back in the seat, shoulders hunching, once again in a defeated posture. "I just want to let them have some closure..." she added more quietly. It made sense in her own head. Couldn't she get Vanessa to understand? She had a feeling not.... But she had had to make the arguments she had been spinning in her head since she had been told no in the first place.

[rivaan]

"True, people sometimes spend decades missing, only to be found later." Vanessa nodded in agreement as she listened to Marni's near desperate voice. She felt for the woman, but also couldn't simply allow her to return to her old life." But those people weren't transformed into night living blood sucking creatures of darkness that do not age anymore." She replied her counter point right away.

She then sighed as the younger woman went on a speech about giving them closure." Marni, there is exactly the problem. You will NOT give them closure. Not like that." Vanessa said calmly." Look, you are not a human anymore. You cannot live by daylight, you cannot age and you do not eat. If they know you are alive, they will want to be close to you, especailly after being missing for months. How do you deal with family that want to keep you close and safe now that you've returned?" She asked." Saying ptsd and the like will only get you so much time. What about hte other things? How do you explain that you do not appear during the day at all? For your boyfriend, how do you explain to him that you cannot be together anymore? Unless you want to 'gift' him the curse too? You could break up with him, sure, but that's not going to be a simple task as it sounds." She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Main point stands that sure in the short term you may be able to manage the situation, but what about after a few weeks, a month? A year? What then?" The Brujah asked.

"An option to give them closure would be to present them with your death. That way they can continue on with their lives, letting time slowly start to mend those wounds. It's not the perfect solution, but it's the best usual one. I myself left family behind, you know." She stated flatly." But I can see that you are desperate to reunite with them." The brujah added, looking at Marni." I have to give you the proper warnings nad explanations as of what will have to happen eventually. Should you appear before them again, one day, they will be in danger. The closer you are to them, the greater the danger they are in, especially in the situation you are in right now. With the possibility of the Sabbat being after you in the future..."

"Another fact is that they cannot be allowed to simply know what we are. Should that become even remotely possible, actions will have to be taken. Alteration of their memories would be but the most harmless one that might happen. Hunters could appear from the faintest of traces left. Then all the kindred in the city would suffer and not only them because humans would get involved too."

"Bottomline is, how far are you willing to put those you care about in risk?" Vanessa finally asked." Are you willing to see them get possibly seriously hurt? Are you willing to hurt them personally face to face as you have to pull yourself further and further away from them as time passes? And would you be able to stand the possibility of having their memories twisted to salvage a potential breach of them learning your true nature?"

"If you are really willing to take all those risks. Then I will talk with Hans and see what we can arrange. Don't answer me right away." The brujah cut before hte other woman could give an answer to that question." Give it a really good thought. Evaluate the possibilities and the dangers." With that she returned to driving.

[Keira Kelly]

Vanessa's first point didn't way Marni in the slightest. She had learned how to control herself, how to feed properly now. Without knowing what to actually look for in particular, she could hide what she was now from her family, especially if she was only intending a short visit. Besides, it seemed that a lot of these vampires lived amongst humans without the whole world knowing about them... so there had to be ways to avoid that, right? And she was an artist; it wouldn't necessarily be a surprise if she ended up to be troubled.. mentally, even had she not been kidnapped for seven months! It was something she could play towards. PTSD, agoraphobe, mental breakdown.. and more. Plenty of reasons that she could limit contact with them after one reunion.

"It will be closure!" she said again. "Even if I show up just for one night and then take off on them. At least they will know that I am alive and that.. I ran off..." she said, stressing the 'I'. "That's all I want, is the short term." she stressed. "That's all I need... Too much was left... unfinished." She could feel tears begin to flow and struggled to keep them from dripping onto the seat of the vehicle, knowing that she cried blood now. She hit the door with her fist, not hard enough to damage anything but still an outlet for her sudden anger, the blood a final kick in the teeth of what she was now. "Damn him to hell for doing this to me!"

She felt silent, head sinking as Vanessa continued to speak, watching as the blood-red tears fell from her face and landed on her black jeans, disappearing into the material. As much as she wanted more, what she needed was just one visit, nothing more than that, just enough to conclude things. Even.. even... She could go back and then pretend to kill herself, a reaction to the trauma of her incarceration... But no, that was cruel. She couldn't do that. Her shoulders sunk as she finally came to a conclusion. As Vanessa began to drive again, Marni spoke. "I don't need to think about it anymore." she said in a quiet voice.

"I'm not stupid, like you seem to think. I don't want them finding out about this horror behind the curtains either, for their sake.. not ours." she said. "I am not wanting this all for myself either. I'm not lying when I say I want to give them closure." she explained slowly. "Even if that means... giving them my dead body. It would hurt them but.. they would be able to heal from it and not live in an endless limbo of not knowing." She looked over at the Brujah, with red lines trailing down her face. "I want to give them even that much closure... to let them believe with finality that I'm dead. Is that... something you can and would be willing to help with?" she asked, her tone defeated but decided.

[rivaan]

"I have to admit that this was pretty sloppy from him indeed." Vanessa added, throwing a look at Marni." Usually even if he was a toreador, we anarchs tend to embrace people on the outskirts of society, rebels, loners and so on. What's more from what I gathered he hadn't asked or informed Hans that he will be siring you. For that I too am not happy with him. While we do not know the story behind this, I do hold it against him for causing so much harm to so many people. Be it selfishness, arrogance or simply lack of awareness, he caused much pain to so many and mostly your family. For that I'm sorry. Had I known, I would have tried to stop him."

"I never said or thought that you were stupid, Marni." Vanessa replied as she drove down the streets.They had gotten the weapons and the tapestry. It was time to go to Hans for a little bit. First was the Marni issue and the second was to leave the tapestry for safe keeping. The brujah could keep it in her own domain aka the club, but it wasn't exactly fortified for safekeeping treasures. The Baron could do better job on it and her sire could just take it from him when he arrives in the city next time." You were just emotions and it was normal to be. No one would have expected anything else in this situation. Frankly when I was embraced I punched my sire when I woke up."

"That's possible and often done." She started to explain." It's a regular way to deal with situations like these. Not always, but often. It's the fastest and most sure way to give closer to families of new kindred. I know it's not nice, it hurts, but it's sadly the best option because keeping the facade only prolongues the pain in the long run." She finished her explanation as she a hand through her hair." We will head to Hans, the baron of the city. He will begin the arrangments. I also have a little bit of work with him too."

"Well, I will te you this, your death doesn't mean that you must stop caring for them. They may think you are dead and burried and continue with their lives, but if you really care for them that much, you could just care for them from the shadows. Stuff like giving a helping hand here and there behind the scenes is possible and many do actually." Vanessa gave Marni an olive branch. Frankly the greatest problem was them knowing she was sort of alive and hte possibility of breach in the masquerade. There were no rules against helping your mortal family in secret without htem knowing. People were especially sneaky about it to protect their loved ones though.

[Keira Kelly]

Marni's opinion, her first impressions of Vanessa rose a bit higher at hearing that the Brujah would have tried to stop Tobias had she known what he was doing. Made Marni realize that apparently she had been an unusual choice. Still, it had happened. Being unusual hadn't stopped it from happening. And if it hadn't been Marni, it would have been someone else. It didn't matter if that other person hadn't had family or close friends, their life still would have been stolen from them. What if's didn't matter though. What was, did. This though, she could at least accept Vanessa's sentiment. "Thank you.." she said, trying to control herself now. "For.. caring, for wanting to have helped if you could have..." she said sincerely.

She let out a small laugh, a sharp contrast to the stark lines of red that ran down her face and were beginning to dry now. "You punched your sire?" she asked. She scratched her ear, moving some hair away from it in an idle gesture as she thought. "I wish I could have too..." she added. She glanced over. "You might have thought him a good guy but.... I think he would have deserved it." she said, letting the thought of doing so comfort her, just a bit.

The humour was short lived as conversation returned to tying up the loose ends, faking her own death. Vanessa was right: the thought of it hurt. A hell of a lot. "Having any sort of vain hope for me coming back to them, of not knowing what happened to me, only prolongs their pain just as much. If I can.. end it, end their suffering at not knowing, even if it's by faking my own death," her head sank as she uttered the final two words, "I will." She swallowed back the grief at the finality of that decision.

Vanessa's next words made Marni look over sharply. "You... aren't going to keep me from looking in at them?" she asked in surprise. "I can still check on them, even if from afar?" She gathered she would have to make sure they didn't see her or recognize her but... she could at least make sure they were all right. She didn't have to cut herself off entirely. In some ways though, cutting herself off might be easier though... It would hurt... to see them carrying on, healing, while she was stuck outside the only life she had ever known, able to only peer in. It would hurt a hell of a lot.

Soon enough they were back at the Baron's place of business, the bodyguard letting them inside without issue. They were directed once more into his office and Hans gave them both a curious look before turning to the other Brujah. "Fräuleins Vanessa and.. Marni, was it?" he said in greeting, giving them both hints of a smile and a nod of his head. He turned to Vanessa. "I am surprised to see you here so soon, mein freunde. It was only last night which we last spoke... What matters have you brought to me?"

[rivaan]

"That much is not really a problem. Quite a few younger kindred do it to a degree." She explained with a shrug as she drove the car." In fact I've heard of cases where kindred have taken to look after whole generations in some guardian angel like manner. It's not always the best of decision, but by itself it's not really a problem as long as they don't know it's happening. Most problems arise should other kindred want to mess with you and use your family as bait or a tool to get to you." She added." Well, anyways, I will have some of my people keep an eye on them from afar, provide a protection detail since your situation is a little bit of a special one right now at least until the whole deal with who was actually behind your capture is found and dealt with."

Sure enough soon they arrived at the Baron's place and Vanessa smiled when they met with Hans." Hello, Hans." She smiled, this time skipping on the formalities since they were busy, he was busy and they all could spend time a hell of a lot more productively if pointless stuff was skipped over.

"Actually, I'm here about two different things." She added and put forward the container for the tapestry." I need you to look after something for me and my sire." The brujah stated with serious voice." Recall that he mentioned wanting to get a tapestry a while back? Well here it is, The fall of Carthage, the original." She added and placed it on the desk." I'm kind of unable to look after it back at my place for the moment, it's not as safe as it could be since I will not be spending as much time there for the moment. Anyways, my sire will come to pick it up sometime soon. It's not magical, but for our clan it's a pretty big deal..." She explained. The history of clan Brujah wasn't complete unknown. Quite a few outside people knew it when ironically some of the young Brujah didn't. Her sire was actively working to fix that issue and make the scattered pieces of the clan that were all aimless and searching for purpose gather up and learn their past.

"That's hte first thing as for the second, I believe you will find it somewhat easier or at least good to hear." The brujah said and gestured to Marni." We've been talking and came to an agreement on the topic of how she should deal with her past life and still living relatives." Vanessa ushered Marni forward so she could speak about this herself. It was Marni's life after all, this directly affected her, she should be the one to speak.

[Keira Kelly]

Hans' eyes grew wide as he looked at the container which now sat on his desk, having just heard what it contained. "Mein gott... you found it?" he asked. "Yes, yes of course I can watch over it until your Sire arrives. I can assure the tapestry's safety." he promised, his hand almost reverently hovering over the case. Though Hans was not as old as some Kindred, he was old enough.. and having lived through some of the most turbulent times in history, he had always had a keen interest in history, both human and Kindred including Brujah, his clan as well. He had been taught by his own Sire both about Carthage and art. This particular tapestry had been long sought out.

In fact, the Fall of Carthage had personal meaning to him. It represented those who thought themselves kings destroying paradise. Hans' own life had been a fight against those in power using that power to destroy, using their power to start a war that raged across Europe and slaughtered millions. The Ventrue who had decimated Carthage might as well have been the same as the European leaders who decimated their own continent, the leaders he had chosen to fight back against which had ultimately led to his own Embrace. "I have a safe place in which to keep this and will do so until your Sire arrives." he added. "Now, what other matter do you bring?" Han's brow arched at Vanessa's introduction to the second topic but then left it to the fledgling instead of explaining herself. He turned to the young one.

Marni's jaw dropped. She hadn't really expected to be thrust into the spotlight here. Truth be told, what had been 'decided', wasn't really her first choice either.. at all, but a compromise that she still wasn't all that sure she wanted. It would have been easier to have had the decision forced on her than asking for it, is what it came down to. A part of her, a bit part of her, didn't want to say it. But what choice did she have? Her expression turned sullen. "I've been told that I am not even allowed to say goodbye to the people I care about. I was murdered, caged and tortured for months, and... I am not allowed to.." she began but trailed off, seeing the look on Vanessa's face. She sighed, resigned. "If I can't see them, can't tell them that I am all right, that I am no longer missing, I want to at the very least give them some closure, even if it must be presenting them with my 'dead body'." she said, putting air-quotes around the last bit. She didn't want it to sound like she really wanted to die. "So they don't have to wonder anymore... so they can put their hopes and fears to rest after seven months of hell..."

Hans frowned slightly. "You want to fake your death." he said after a long moment.

Marni shrugged and then slowly nodded. "I guess so. I mean... I'm probably already presumed dead... All it would need is the police to find me...." she trailed off, unable to add 'dead'. "Are you able to help with this?" she asked.

Hans returned a grim, sympathetic smile. "Poor liebchen... Yes, I do have such connections to do this. It would be a foolhardy Kindred leader not to have puppets within the police homicide sections." he answered. "There are enough amongst our numbers who... lack some discretion. As it is these homicide detectives who deal in matters of dead bodies, it helps for them to be able to filter out discrepancies for the Kindred community." He paused, thinking of what would need to be done. Having her just found would lead to many questions, especially from the family. It would be better served to construct a story in which a culprit was found and punished.

He looked over at Vanessa. "Are you looking into this cult that this young lady accused of her incarceration?" he asked. "Would it be helpful to be able to gain entry to such a place, say if all these cult members were found dead... along with the kidnapped and imprisoned body of Fräulein.. Lacroix, was it?" When Marni nodded, he continued. "We can have all on the premises of this 'church' of theirs killed in an inscrutable way, and have a tip called into my thralls in homicide.... Before the call is made, however, you would have free reign to search the premises for clues.. as well as preparing the young Fräulein for her... performance...." he added to Vanessa. "That is... if you think there might be anything of interest along that avenue? This way it would tie up many loose ends with the culprits, at least in part of it, get rightfully blamed."

[rivaan]

"Yeah, took a while, but it showed up." She nodded a confirmation." The damned setites had it... somehow. Let's not get digging into that, because the answer of how it happened, might lead to even more trouble." She added with a sigh. She highly suspected the Setites had probably somehow either stolen it, or gotten someone else to steal it during the past eras. The tapestry was missing for a bloody long time, exactly how long wasn't sure, but it's traces start to vanish and change hands around the year 1200. give or take. After which it shows up a few different times in different hands, but never in the hands of the Brujah clan.

After that she listened the exchange between Hans and Marni and nodded." That would certainly do quite fine actually. Would speed up the investigation quite a lot." Vanessa confirmed her agreemnt to the extermination plan. This would do quite a few good on top of helping Marni with the problem. FIrst of all taking care of a danger for the masquerade and the kindred and kine in the area, limit possible sabbat infulence and take care of a pawn group for Ditko, if they were tied for him indeed, which let's be honest they most likely were and then there was the fact they could perform a complete search of all their assets and the like for clues.

"There's just one problem, wouldn't extermination of this group raise the attention of it's backers?" The Brujah asked in some concern." We've long suspected Ditko's involvement in this group and in turn he's been suspected of dealings with the Sabbat. If we truly just decimate them, we will hve to act fast, to pull the entire investigation to a close before he could hide his tail and bail somewhere else and cover his involvement." Vanessa mentioned, thinking about it.

"To pull off this, we will need a diversion to pull away his attention for a day or two." She pondered for a moment." If we could stir up the cammies and the sabbat to fight near his area, he will have most his attention preoccupied there, for example."

[Keira Kelly]

Hans winced at hearing about the Setites. They were a necessary evil, unfortunately. Not to be trusted in the slightest but the best at getting whatever one could want... if one could pay the price. One just had to be careful that said price was not one's soul. He nodded. "It matters not how they obtained it. Just that it was, at a practical cost." he agreed. The topic of the other young neonate though was tragic, pitiable. While the Masquerade had been just as vital in his time, they still had had more leeway than there was now. Technology and the spread of education and information made it so much harder to push the limits in this day and age. Hans, at least, had had the opportunity to see his family, give goodbyes, though under the guise of evading the authorities. This young woman had no such recourse. Poor liebchen.

Hans gave a short, humourless laugh. "Yes, yes it would raise attentions. But... at this stage, things are volatile enough that we can disguise such a... cleaning of house. Or.. perhaps..." he stopped, pondering, his eyes slowly turning to settle on Marni. "If Ditko was indeed behind the attack on your Sire, if he is the mastermind of this.. cult, he must know of you by now, of your existence." he said. He turned back to Vanessa. "Even better then. How could he question a young Kindred, returning to the place of her incarceration.. and dare I say, torture? and taking vengeance upon the people that held her. Who could question such motives? Leave perhaps one witness to escape, one that is only allowed to see this young Toreador's return." He sighed. "I can assign someone to you who has abilities in editing memories for just such a purpose, in fact." he added.

He frowned for a moment. "Yes, a distraction as well would be advisable. Information can be leaked.. to both parties." There were other Toreador he trusted, ones he could use to pass on the information, the bait as it were. While these Toreador, just like this neonate's sire, were loyal to the Anarch movement, most still kept in close ties to Camarilla Toreador in hopes of keeping conflict from occurring. He need not tell these Toreador the whole truth, merely that there might be something of Camarilla interest at such a location near Ditko's domain. If he had Ditko himself arrive and.. 'accidentally' allowed the traitor to overhear that the Camarilla was staging forces to go after something, well, Hans did not doubt that the Sabbat would show up at this location as well. Ditko's territory was close enough to the border between all three factions that it would serve a good enough distraction. "Give me three nights." he said finally. "And there will be enough conflict to distract Maximilian Ditko." he assured.

He looked at the young Toreador again. "I am sorry, Liebchen that you must do this but.. it is better this way. You must be found along with the deceased cult members. I can be sure to have the police arrive before Ditko can learn of the elimination of his pawns, and have my own trusted.. colleagues in the appropriate positions to have your 'remains' removed from the scene and transported to the morgue immediately, before sunrise." he explained. "They will keep you there during the day, and... es tut mir Leid... I am sorry, but have your family identify you as you sleep in the day. The morgue is secure from sunlight but.. this must be done. They must see and accept your death, liebchen."

He looked to Vanessa. "The following night, my colleague there will release Miss Lacroix into your custody once more, Vanessa." he added. "And the ties.. shall be severed and tied off cleanly. Wounds can begin to heal. For the assault on this 'church', how big of a force do you think you shall require to be sure of the job?" he asked. "Choose any number of Kindred that you trust which you need... they are to join you at my request. I will contact you once I am sure that both faction move in on Ditko's territories, likely three nights hence."

[rivaan]

"Hmm that is true..." Vanessa agreed and looked at Marni." You up for some vengeance, Marni? It's a pretty good chance for you to put yourself to the test and manage to grasp your capabilities." The Brujah added, looking at the young toreador. Marni barely had concsious control of her disciplines, best way to get used to them was to just be forced into using them and going on a killing spree on beings you hated was a pretty good way to activate the more combat oriented ones and Celerity did count under those to a degree.

"Very well, 3 nights it is. Once he's distracted, we shall have some fun at his lil side project." The brujah said in low voice. She herself was ratehr concerned of that church, the information seh was getting of their activities even before learning they actually had a kindred captured was enoguh to consider dealing with them. She didn't simply because of the uncertainty of Ditko behind it and wanting to collect more information first. Now the wait was over, it was time to act and those crazy bastards were going to get it, just as all the people they have harmed so far." Just perfect too, enough to get you some quick crash course in disciplines activation."

"Hmm... for the assault..." The brujah mumbled adn thought about it, running some names through her mind. She also looked at Marni again and smiled. Guess Marni was going to be meeting the locals soon." I have some ideas. Should all answer the call, I do believe 7 people should be more than enough, a little bit of an overkill, but better safe than sorry." Vanessa replied, already having 5 people in mind. These were people of similar status like her, well not Elysium owners, but well respected and with good reputation and of acknowledged strenght. People in the Anarch community she could turst to do the job and not betray them. With the mixture of a few different clans she had in mind, between all the members they were going to be a force to be reckoned with.

She smiled, it's been a while since the gang has gathered. She wasn't always an Elysium owner, she got in her fair share of troubles and this group could do wonders. They certainly cause a whole lot of messes and then solved them because no other option. It was going to be fun.