Death to the Miracles

Wild at Heart

Aya has gathered members of the Strix for a dinner, including Marcel, and is standing at the head of the table to address them.

"Tristan de Martel guided this organization for centuries. He was a radical thinker, decisive leader, and, to each of us here tonight, both mentor and friend. He was, in a word, irreplaceable." Marcel reaches forward and lifts his champagne glass in a toast with a tiny smirk."To Tristan de Martel." Aya gives Marcel a suspicious look, but the others in attendance raise their glasses as well before they drink. Aya continues her speech."Though we grieve his loss, I will not allow that defeat to hamper our cause. We will stand united in the face of this tragedy-- of singular mind and of singular heart." Just then, a pale, blonde-haired young woman wearing a black hooded cloak walks into the room and joins Aya at the head of the table. Marcel seems intrigued by her presence."To that end, I've asked our witch Ariane to conduct an assessment."

Aya smiles fakely at the vampires at the table before turning back to Ariane, who has just lowered the hood of her cloak. Aya seems so busy she fails to notice the figure of a young man approaching her from the shadows.

"Tell me, Ariane-- when you looked into their hearts, what did you see?" Ariane and Aya look around at the vampires seated before them, and they all look curious but slightly nervous. Only a few seem to see the figure but elect to remain silent."Was it loyalty? Or something else?" "Before each of you lies a card. A divination of your truest self. If your intentions are pure, you should not fear what it shows." Marcel is visibly nervous as he looks down at the plate before him, where a tarot card lays face-down. Aya walks over to the man to her left, who looks down at his own plate and turns the card over to reveal a Knight of Pentacles. Aya looks pleased. "A loyal knight." Aya walks to the next man to the left, who turns his card over. It, too, is a Knight of Pentacles. The next woman also has the same card. When Aya reaches the man sitting directly across from Marcel, who shares an anxious look with him before the man rises to his feet and spins so that he is standing nose-to-nose with Aya."I owe no allegiance to you."

Aya sneers at him for the briefest moment before karate-chopping his head clean off his shoulders. The man's decapitated body falls to the floor, and Marcel gulps nervously as Aya walks over to the table and pushes the now-empty seat forward.

"I will not tolerate anyone conspiring to use our present circumstances as an opportunity for a power grab." Aya lifts up the tarot card that was given to the recently deceased vampire so that the table can see it. It's the Hanged Man. After a moment, Aya puts it down and gives Marcel a serious look."And you, Marcel Gerard?" Despite Marcel's obvious fear of what is in store for him, he forces himself to look Aya in the eye."Do you seek to betray me for power as well?" Marcel smiles weakly hoping for the best."I'm hurt that you even have to ask." Though Marcel tries to look confident, his eyes betray him as he reaches down to turn over the card. He flips up the corner to prepare himself for what it holds, but after a brief moment, he exhales and turns the card over. It's the Knight of Pentacles. Aya sighs but otherwise looks satisfied."These are uncertain times. We need to be certain of each other." Marcel watches Aya as she walks back toward Ariane at the head of the table.

Aya moves to speak but is instead cut off when Ariane hands her a tarot card of her own. She waves her hand dismissively, her loyalties did not need to be tested. Ariane holds the card patiently until annoyed, Aya snatches the tarot card from her. When she turns it over, her normally beautiful face twists with anger and confusion. Aya opens her mouth to ask what in the hell Ariane believed she was doing only to be cut off when her head is removed from her body. The shadowy figure presents himself, Aya had freed Sebastian Graves from his imprisonment only to be repaid with death. He kisses Ariane's hand as he steps over Aya's body to address the shocked dinner guests.
"I suppose I ought to start by thanking you all for being here tonight in these troubling times. Tristan de Martel chose me to be his successor in the event something happened to him. As Aya so elegantly put it I will not tolerate anyone conspiring to use our present circumstances as an opportunity for a power grab. I intend to lead the Strix into a better future than Tristan or Aya hoped for."