The War has Barely Begun

[Shere Drozdov]

"You can't just take away these people's rights!" Shere stood up in her seat in the large, hollow room. The walls were made of stone, and her voice echoed and bounced off of every corner. However there were no corners. The room was round like a great tower.

Vaisan Castle was one of the most powerful meeting places in their world. The International Council came together many times a year to this place. Today was one of those days. The council was meeting, as well as the royalty from each country, several dignataries and ambassadors, and, of course, the Darkalan Dynasty. This was why the debate wasn't going so well. The Dynasty still had too much power over the government.

Change was still needed. Even after the first rebellion.

From the center of the room, Cody glared. Her brother was not one to tamper with. She knew that but didn't care. Shere could take him. No contest.

"Says the anarchists! These people are not even aware of the rights that they own! Why should they notice if they were absent?"

She held back all she could to maintain her royal dignity. However, a lot could be let loose otherwise. "If you start hunting them down and closing them off, I believe that they will! These people are already being slaughtered by the so-called Vampire Hunters! Locking them out will surely destroy them all!" she growled.

Cody had no right to hurt the people in the Mortal World. No right. Several Dynasty members and other people in the room began shouting protests at her. I can take it. This is my ground.

"Lady Drozdov," began the Speaker of the Dynasty. "How do you expect these people to care? How do you propose that they even realize that they can escape? Those people are Lost."

"Do you even have any supporters?" Cody snapped back. Oh, brotherly love.

"Many." She gestured around the room as she found them. "Clytemnestra Zenton, Sorrow Zenton, Elizabeth Becketh." Everybody in the Dynasty's stands turned toward Elizabeth and Sorrow. "That's right. Your own members. Who else? Jeff Waylin and your own princess. Lucina Sagavir, and you and I both know how this council would be running if Leviathan was here!" A silence hit the room. It was a low note that she hit, but entirely necessary.

The quiet was interrupted by a cough from the other side of the room. It was Thaddeus. "I, too, support this cause. We cannot allow ourselves to repeat history. Remember that you do not have all the power here." His comment was directed toward the Dynasty. Thaddeus had made some mistakes in the past, but he was now a good king, and usually made the right decisions. However, he was also against anarchists like herself.

Shere's eyes swept the room, waiting for someone to try to argue with him. They wouldn't dare, she thought to herself with a smile.

Another man cleared his throat. This time it was the Speaker again. "That... may be so, my Lord, but we do hold the choices of the people. We speak for them." There was an awkward pause in between the next statement. "And if I am correct, you yourself said that the people are the most important when concerning laws." An uproar rose at this statement.

People all around were rising in their seats, yelling out protests, shaking their fists, and pounding their desks. Others were confused, or trying to maintain order at least. All attempts failed. No one spoke out against the king, especially the Dynasty. With so many conspiracy theories going around, no one trusted them anymore. When they put just one toe out of line, people started a riot, claiming that they were trying to take over again, or that they were starting more wars.

Is this what our nation has come to? This government was a mess. The people had no true representatives. The Dynasty was an excuse for one. A very bad excuse. They never spoke with the people, they were never appointed by the people, so therefore, they are not for the people. Darkala's princess knew how to straighten this all out. She always did. But where was she now?

[Hunter Schindler]

Hunter Schindler could not believe what he was hearing. Close off the doors? Could they even do that? It was bad enough that the other Lost vampires wouldn't be able to get in, but he wouldn't be able to get in either. The vampires who have homes and lives in both worlds would have to choose one or the other. The idea was ridiculous.

"I have an objection to make," he spoke up. The people in the room were still in chaos, so he remained unheard. This was easily fixable. Hunter turned his head toward Sylar, and he nodded back. Instantly, Sylar thrust out both palms to the center of the room, releasing a sort of forceful wave. It was harmless enough to not knock anyone over but still got attention. The uproar faded to a quiet murmur.

Hunter cleared his throat and began again. "If you wish you close off these doors, you must have reasons." The Speaker seemed caught a bit off guard for a moment, but he collected himself quickly. You didn't think that you could get away with this that easy, did you?

"Oh. Of course. Well, there's always the issue of stray humans wandering in on accident."

"A world of vampires cannot handle a few humans?" he countered.

The Speaker cleared his throat again. "There is also the issue of Rogue Vampires. We cannot let them escape into the Mortal World to wreak havoc."

"That is a fault on your part, your prodigious-ness, if I may say so myself." Hunter smiled gently as he continued. "Any escaped Rogues are under the responsibility of your prisons and jailers. You cannot punish the rest of the race for your carelessness." More murmurs of government officials arose at his words. He had them now.

Across the room, his eyes met with Shere Drozdov's. She nodded ever so slightly, as to not attract attention. Beside her, Derek looked at Shere in a confused manner. Or more in a way like, what are you planning now? Hunter hoped that he’d understand soon enough. Derek was in a good position, and they couldn’t risk him becoming an enemy. That would be something, he mused. Husband and wife fighting against each other in war.

An interesting idea, but Hunter would never let that happen. He needed the Drozdovs to focus on the future and not their relationship problems. The future was what was important now. Hunter ran off the list of names in his head. The list of signatures of the anarchists. His name was the seventh. Sylar’s was next. His job was to memorize the names so that the paper could be hidden well enough that no one would ever find it. Not even the hider.

Hunter was surprised that the first war had even ended, what with all of the revolutionists still running amuck. Not enough was changed in the War of Andria. He suspected the war ended so abruptly because of how angry the princess was. Not many knew why she was so angry, but he did. The death of Ramon Zenton made her impossible to ignore. His words will decorate the walls of cathedrals for centuries to come. Hunter's mind ran astray thinking of all of these conspiracies and paradoxes. If you really thought about it, there was also a small group opposing the princess for cutting the war short. Most of them were from Salem, so it hardly mattered. There were still those rumors about Matthew Hollbrook going around.