The Masquerade

Espen wondered how things turned out the way they did. His friend Alister was in his own realm and running things there so it was doubtful he'd see him anytime. Especially considering the fact, that at the moment travel was a bit restricted. As for Arlin, things hadn't worked out in the end, but they were still friends. The last he heard of her, she was on some type of project but she was busy with other things.

He missed his friends though. He wished at the least there was a way to get into contact with Alister from time to time but he would just have to deal with it. At the moment, he wasn't at his own home but as a guest in a friends place. Or more accurately their large house, typing something on a laptop in his guest room.

There was a few more things to get done, but for the moment he didn't feel like doing them. There was a bit of tension as of late with..other parties. As a result despite his protest he didn't need one, his clan insisted on a bodyguard which is where Hiromi came in. Espen didn't mind having her around though, she was pleasant enough company.

Sighing, Espen closed the laptop and then laid down on the bed, his thoughts on other things. There was just some slight hesitation of what he was going to do. If Alister was around he'd talk to them about it but he wasn't. He really didn't have anyone to talk to anymore like that, at least not many he was that close too.

And he had a meeting..he wasn't entirely looking forward to that.

* *

Hiromi was waiting patiently down stairs while Espen was getting himself ready. They would be heading out soon after they finished here, and as of late she was never too far away, at least in a place she could get too quickly if something bad happened. There were some other people around, but she didn't know them so while she remained polite, she had a slight distance to herself.

The majority of people present, were demons. Some looked Exactly human, and you wouldn't be able to tell unless you knew where look for very closely. Others, it was obvious at least they not human since humans didn't have wolf ears, or cats. Or any other features of that sort.

Currently, Hiromi was having her head brushed by a child with cat ears. If she wasn't brushing she was playing a bit with her ears, though despite this Hiromi didn't seem to mind having her eyes closed the entire time.

One of the guest came over after, one of the few actual humans present but Espen trusted them so that was enough for her. "You know.." He began. "I've been wondering. Why so overly cautious with this? The Zoanthropes revealed themselves first a while before anything substanial could happen."

The Dog Demon didn't answer him at first. "You. Your kind is what they're afraid of."

They blinked. "..Not to sound ignorant, but I'm confused. I've seen some of what you and yours can do, they're a lot stronger then normal humans."

Hiromi paused again. "Tell me, how many humans are there in the world?"

Once more, they shrugged. "..I'm not sure. I would guess a few billion."

Hiromi nodded. "Taking into account all of us together of the various demon races that are here and still exist, we'd be lucky to push past the million mark. What humans lack in individual power, they make up for it when they come together and the things they create." She gave him a piercing look. "Tell me, how do you propose it ended up this way, if we we're freely out in the open in the past?"

"I'm not sure..why?" The had a sinking feeling on it.

"I'll tell you then. As the humans advanced with their technology and grew and grew in number, we slowly started to decline. Together in enough numbers, the weaker ones who could not hide their apperance were the first target. Keep in mind, even back in the Feudal Era, Daiyoukai were rare to begin with so you had few demons with that kind of power balance it. The smarter ones hid, and adapted, the other ones didn't." She paused. "In the present day, the really powerful demon types are something of a dying breed. All it would take was one wrong mistake, one mishap and a war would pretty much devastate what meager numbers we have left."

"..And yet, despite this, something tells me to follow Espen anyway." Hiromi finished. "I don't know if I'm just being entirely naive..but I believe in them. Maybe one day we won't always have to be in the shadows like we are..." She streched a bit. "I'll be right back."

She left the man to get some space. Espen was taking a bit longer then usual. They needed to get this over with and go from here, but if she was honest, it was in Espen's court. Pretty much the only thing she could do was support and watch after them the best she could. Perhaps it might be a good idea of finding more connections. Every bit would help with what was to come.

Naomi didn't feel right, being in Japan. This was close to where Ross died. She still got a pain in her heart just thinking of him. It seemed that he was looking out for his big sister, all in the time she was sick. Everything he did, it seemed, was for her. Even his death. She felt tears spring to her eyes "Ma'am? Are you alright?" her bodyguard asks. Naomi whips her eyes "No, Randy. I'm fine." she mumbles. Her bodyguard nods "Well, we're here." he says. Naomi nods "Thank you." she says, sighing. She was called to a meeting of, she was told, was of some importance. She had a feeling of what it was, having helped out Arlin with the Zoanthropes gaining their rights (being a Zoanthrope herself) and she had a feeling it had something to do with that.

Espen finally came down the stairs, having finished up what he needed to do. There were still various important leaders of the demon community out and about but not everyone of course. Over off to the side, he could see Koga, the current leader of the Wolf Demons(not to say there weren't others, but he was one of the main ones). He was looking none to happy about something, and his side was his mate/wife Ayame who sort of dragged him along here and there.

"Everyone is almost here."

Espen heard Hiromi just behind him, he was wondering how she always managed to do that. "Almost everyone?"

Hiromi nodded. "About." She said. "Though, there is one more I believe should be arriving soon before we get started. I had heard Lord Sesshomaru was unable to come here at the time." As long as they got this out to some of the other important leaders though, it would do for now.

"I see.." Espen wouldn't admit it, but he was somewhat nervous about this meeting since while there were others behind it already, he was basically in the forefront with it.

"Not losing nerve, are you?" Hiromi asked, as reading his mind. "Just remember, this does not fall squarely on your shoulders. Either we grow as a whole, or we eventually fall as a whole." Espen gave his thanks to that, feeling just a bit better but he'd have to see how things turned out.

Naomi walks in as well. She pauses slightly, seeing all the different strangers there. She was informed that almost All of them were demons of somekind. Being a religious woman, this made her think of many things, like if the forces of Hell were invading Earth, if there Was a Hell, was Ross in it? Her mind was starting to hurt, so she desided to get this meeting over with. What she had to tell them wasn't good news anyway.

Hiromi saw Naomi enter and decided to goahead and greet her and escort them to the meeting room.

"Gladyou could join us." Hiromi said and ushered them in. "The meeting will begin shortly and then you can be on your way. You're a busy woman with other things to do I'm sure. At least you're giving
us this much, more then I can say for others." She mumbled the other part.

The meeting room was large enough to accommodate the people there, Koga was dragged in
reluctantly and there were other in. There was various places and such to sit at one's leisure, or if they wanted to, stand up. Once it seemed everyone more or less got themselves comfortable(or weren't
complaining too much) Espen appeared in the front and center, those who didn't know him as well would know him for his work with Zoanthropes.

"Thanks for giving me your time." Espen said, wanting to get to the point. "I'll get to the point. As you're all probably aware by now, Zoanthropes rights have been granted to them. It took some time but it was managed, the fight for that is far from over as there's still other things to be done. Laws are easier to pass then years of social culture." Then he added. "I thought with that, it would be about time for other races to stop hiding. I think its time we came back from hiding."

This naturally, of course, got some results.

"Are you crazy?"

"That's suicide!"

Koga, irritated slamming his fist against a table. "Shut the hell up and let the man speak! I don't see you cowards doing anything to help. I didn't see any of you going to take a bullet for a race that wasn't even your own. Espen might not be the strongest, but at least he has the balls to Try to do something to help people." Brash and to the point, it got the desired effect and weaker demons that were more vocal quieted down. "So much for demon pride." He mumbled.

Espen gave him a grateful look briefly and continued. "I know this is asking for a lot, and this would effect things drastically being out in the open again so I won't assume to speak for everyone. That is why, this meeting is more of starting talks and getting a larger concenus."

"I'm not sure about this." One of them said. "For one, we managed to get by with how we are. And two if things end up badly this will backfire."

"Angels are known widely by the public." Another pointed out.

One of the guest, a much older demon just..looked at them as if he was retarded for a moment. "Yes. I wonder..could it be that one race basically has almost entirely good press and is presented as pure coming from heaven in religious circles. And another is almost always presented as 'evil incarnate' and a bunch of hellspawn? Never mind there's many demons that come from earth." The old demon said bitterly, sarcasm and venom in their words. "..We should just give up, save them the trouble."

Koga scowled a bit at the old demon. "You're just going to roll over like that? Where's your sense of preserverence?"

"Silly and naive determination has left me along with idealism when my family died, I'm afraid." They said evenly. "..I'll hear Espen out and others, but that's how I feel in the matter. Nothing will change. We should remain as we are."

Espen sighed a bit, but continued. "Perhaps. But something to keep in mind, they have technology now that can detect someone by their bio signature. It's only a matter of time before patterns start having others make a connection. At least this way, instead of just them finding out we can at least make the effort we're being sincere and mean no harm. Considering that we aren't nearly as numerous anymore but still managed to keep low profiles by keeping our heads down, I think that may work in our favor."

"And its not much of a stretch." Hiromi added in. "Considering angels are known more commonly, then demons being known isn't that big of a leap. I know some would say they can lie about the race, but that would only go so far before there's one slip up." She motioned a bit to Naomi. "We also have a special guest here. I believe they are a bit more intuned with some of the..political climate then some of us are, all things considered."

That was Naomi's que "Oh!" she says in surprise "Uhhh...umm...W-well, first off...uhh.." public speaking was never one of Naomi's strengths "Mister Brunel is right, the verious governments have devices that can detect the energies of...uhhh...the different races." she mumbles "A-also, I agree that the, umm, demon races.. " she says lamely "S-should remain hidden...atleast for now." she says hastily "The demons and angels who have their wings s-showing, they can be passed off as those Mystics." she points out "H-however, if those who Do wish to go public, please keep in mind what happened to the, uhhh, half demons..." she says slowly "Who came forward...they were met with fear, discord and even violence." she points out "There was even, for the longest time, a serial killer who targeted half angels and demons, by the name of Cedrick Darkside." she mumbles "B-but if I may suggest, for those who do deside to go public, use your races givin name. Saying you're some kind of 'demon' gives the wrong impression, especially to the strong religious type." she says. "That brings up another point. Strong religious types. Like the Hunters!" calls a strangely human-looking demon in the back "They get off on killing our kind in cold blood. In the past thousand years, they have killed off hundreds of thousands of us. Whole families, women and children." he says, slaming his fist on the table "They might be stronger them most of us, but we out number them. We should stand up to those murderers before they can get the chance to exterminate us all." he says in a firm tone.

Espen winced just slightly at the thing about half-demons, he didn't like to be reminded of that. Though there was really only so much one man could do and there wasn't much he could do Then, it still got to him. They were half but he still considered them his people. Though, bringing up Cedrick Darkside Did seem to rub some salt on some wounds judging by a few reactions in the crowd. That didn't really surprise him that some might of been personally effected by them in some shape or form.

Hiromi seemed to agree with Naomi on the other point. She was going to comment when the other demon said a few things. That was another thing they had to worry about. Angry and bitter people tended not to think things through and there was plenty of that to go around all things considered.

While Espen mulled over the response(he decided to Not comment that not all hunters were bad as it was bound to piss some people off), Hiromi was more to the point. "I don't disagree with you." She said then added. "At the same time, that's in reality what they want from us. Think of what it would look like. No doubt that would attract even more attention to us, and what's more many of them are stationed in some churches."

"So a large group of us attacking, could be flipped to be made for us to look like the bad guys."

"That's absurd-"

Hiromi held up a hand before she was completely interrupted. "All I'm saying is, this would basically give them a large amount of metaphorical ammo against us. It would give the hunters credit, the governments could further back this up by finding out the common patterns of energy. Then it can be said we're out of control and need to be 'dealt' with. Even if, and I repeat IF we went the violent route, realistically there wouldn't be enough of us going at once not be noticed. Coupled with enough bad propaganda and everything else..I don't think I'd have to tell you what would happen besides just hunters." She said in a low tone.

"And keeping our heads down, keeping to ourselves and being quite has done us a lot of good." Another one of the guest said sarcastically. "What do you want us to do then? Keep letting them poke us in the eye?"

Here, Espen decided to throw in his two cents. "Of course not. What me and Hiromi are trying to say is to help all of as a whole, and deal with that problem requires a different approach." He nodded to Naomi briefly. "She has a good idea. I know its not perfect, but things like this require time. Using a given actual racial name would go a long way. Some could introduce themselves a bit at a time. Given a long enough time, with people actually Knowing, would go a long way."

"Humans kill each other for their beliefs, what makes you think there would be any change?"

There was only a slight pause, but Espen didn't miss a beat. "That is true. However, keep in mind there has, and still does continue to be change there. People only question their beliefs when its challenged with facts that contradict what they know. ..Though, I admit there is no help for a zealot." He mumbled the last part. "That's the idea."

One of the other demons, female this time, in the corner had their arms crossed. They had black hair and wings. "We Could see about getting a place more for demons and half demons. Like a private island." They suggested.

Hiromi shook her head. "I don't think that's remotely realistic. At least now as things are now. Too many things could go wrong with that."


"I'd like to point out." It was the same female demon from before. "That even angels keep themselves hidden for similar reasons. One would think they wouldn't have too, until you realize some strongly religious may consider them 'false' Angels. After all, they're physical and appear before man--that or for the fact they may be considered 'Fallen'. It's beyond asinine, but that's how some would see it. I bring this up simply because despite their more positive protrayal, even they are weary of letting themselves be known."

That one demon who commented about the hunters, folds his arms "Better to go down fighting..." he looks over to the old demon from before "Then to cowar in shame and fear." he snarls "The only one who seems to have the courage to stand against the hunters, was Count Dracula Vlad Tepes of Castlevania." he points out "However, unlike all of us, he wasn't afraid to stand up for what he believed in. The right to Exsist!" he says "Ever since the battle of 1999, the hunters have gotten more and more bolder. Like they think they're invincible. Like they can do what they please." he looks around the room "And we're letting them. The bottom line is: as long as the hunters exsist, our kind won't be allowed to live in peace." he declares "We need a leader. Someone to orginise us. We need Dracula." he says, confident. Naomi didn't know this 'Dracula' fellow they spoke of, not unless they ment the Bram Stoker one. Still, she was starting to feel like she was overstaying her welcome.

Espen knew something of Dracula, and that they were apparently destroyed. Regardless, this was the Last thing he wanted. People letting their emotions get to them and not thinking things through. However, it did seem some of the others Were behind what the one demon were saying, at least as far as taking the fight to the hunters that is.

The old demon didn't respond at all, or react. To Hiromi, they just looked..old. And not just in the physical sense but someone who was just tired and been through so much they just didn't care anymore. She had been around enough people to know that look. At the same time, for some reason she couldn't help but feel there was a lot more to the old man then he was letting on, but it was nothing more then a mere hunch. It..just felt like they were hiding a very large amount of power. But that might be nothing more then just a feeling. She had no proof after all.

"I think you mean well." One of them said to Espen. "And I like and respect you for what you do and what you did for other non humans. But even if your idea has merit and actually works, it'll take to long. By the time it does, who knows what kind of shape we'll be in by then. Is there nothing else?"

Espen slowly shook his head. "No, we're done here for now. But all I ask is people to at least think before they do anything, regardless."

"The peaceful solution isn't always the best one. Especially when it hasn't been yielding much results. Better then being on the defensive the entire time. You've seen the result, where has it been getting us?" Seeing the 'meeting' for now was at a close, he and a few others came to the demon who had spoke to Dracula. "I don't know much about Dracula, but I'd like to hear more, though maybe somewhere else besides here."

Hiromi watched a moment longer. "..We'll, that didn't go quite as expected but not as bad as expected either.." She turned to Naomi, and actually bowed a bit. "I still appreciate you coming here though."

"Indeed.." Espen seemed to be thinking but smiled a bit sadly at Naomi. "Me and Hiromi have to get going soon ourselves, but thank you for coming all the way here when you didn't have too. I wish we would of met under a bit less trying conditions. Perhaps some other time."

Naomi nods "Thank you for having me." she says, bowing slightly "I only wish I could have contributed more to this matter." she says "I hope you have better luck in the future." she says, then her bodyguard escorts her out. Little did she know, there was a person taking pictures of the people leaving, very descreetly, so no one was likely to notice. He pauses slightly when he sees Naomi and Espen, writting something down, then he lowers his camera and starts off, like he was nothing more then a tourest.

"Say, Brunel, what are you going to do after this?" Koga came up to ask Espen.

Espen shook his head. "Nothing. At least as far as this goes for now. The main purpose of this meeting was to get foundation going to help secure our future. It at least seems to have gotten some thinking and that was the main point. I do agree with that man to a point, we do need a leader of some kind, but that leader isn't me."

Koga nodded a bit. "I gotcha. You want to take it easy after this, can't blame you. I guess even the best of us get tired of wandering if they'll get a bullet to the face." He chuckled then elbowed Espen in the ribs a bit looking where Naomi had gone. "I saw you looking at her, she's pretty cute huh? I bet you-" He was cut off as his mate, Ayame grabbed him by the ear and pulling him away. "Ow, ow! Damn it let me go woman!"

Espen was partly amused by this. He wasn't sure what he was going to do after this, he knew even this small venture had put himself at great risk possibly but as long as it at Least started the idea then that was all he needed. Truth be told, he was thinking of retiring from this line of work and then maybe settle down one day if he met someone. However, the other man, as much as he may not of agreed with everything had a point. If the hunters were always around, then it meant if he did start a family someday then they would be in danger, whether they were half human, full demon or some other race.

Hiromi wasn't paying much attention to the other happenings. She was mostly scanning through the crowd for anything out of the ordinary, when she found it. It was subtle, she'd give them that but being in the business as long as she was, she knew where to look for.

Hiromi walked up to them. "Excuse me." She said, her tone was polite, but it was also to the point. "But I saw a camera. For the safety of everyone here present, there was a mutual agreement to have no cameras or electronic devices of that sort that can take pictures." That actually made her just a touch paranoid, it was doubtful someone just randomly forgot such an important fact.

The man who was walking stops, looks over to Hiromi "Watashi wa eigo o shiyo shini." he says, then starts off once more, clicking pictures at seemingly random things, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. He stops, taps afew buttons on his camera, looks back to Hiromi, then to Espen "Sayonara!" he says with a slight sneer.

Hiromi frowned a bit reminded why she wasn't too fond of humans, and switched her language to Japanese. (That's all right, because I speak Japanese. No pictures and no camera's for this meeting.)

She showed them a badge, along with something attached to it. (I'm a bodyguard, more to the point along with agency I'm well within my rights just to hold that camera. My clients safety supersedes personal property, especially someone who balantly does something to endanger them on purpose. I can either take it before you can think, empty it and give it back to you. But I rather not do that. Or you can give the camera to me, I empty it, and give it back to you. The choice is yours.)

The guy laughs "I do, infact, speak English." he says "I don't know what 'meeting' you are speaking of..." he says then scoffs at Hiromi's badge "And that means nothing to me." he says in the same tone "So you will leave me alone or I shall call the police and tell them of this 'secret meeting'." he says, then starts walking again "You have bothered me enough. Now be on your way." he waves back to her. Naomi was watching the whole thing and reached in her car and took out a pair of goggles, much like the ones at that senate meeting (the ones that could see a person's energy), and puts them on, tapping a switch on the arms. She blinks at the strangeness of it. Everyone seemed to be surrounded by a different auras. Alot of them were matching, so she assumed they were human, Espen's, Hiromi's and even hers were different colors. So was the guy Hiromi was talking to, which ment he wasn't human!

Hiromi considered her options. They, weren't doing anything legally wrong no more then any other gathering that is. She wasn't worried about the police coming so much as the idea of them finding out just what race was mostly gathered. If the Zoanthropes got treated so poorly, she didn't want to think of what demons or even angels would be treated as. This left her with the option of taking the camera by force, thinking it for all but a bit longer but dismissed it. For a number of reasons.

It still pissed her off, but anger did nothing for the situation. She went to Espen, knowing he and a few more of his clan were still around for the added protection, though they weren't all of the same demon race. "We need to leave." She said simply preparing to escort him out along with the others around to his car. "We've overstayed our welcome here."

Espen frowned. "That man going to be a problem?"

"Definitely." Hiromi said bluntly, some irritation seeping through the professionalism. "I can't say for sure if he's human, but either way he's no friend of ours. They took pictures, of you, and if I wouldn't be surprised of Naomi as well. We may need to contact her again, as a precaution of her own safety as well."

Coinsidering that she had yet to leave, finding her wasn't too hard. However, she was planning on taking off soon. She had an idea of what was going on and she wanted to be as far away from here as she could. She had a feeling that the Hunters had hired a demon to spy on the meeting, find out who all was there, high profile demons and such, then let them know who it was so the Hunters could take them out. It was just a hunch, but she wasn't willing to risk it if it wasn't.

Hiromi spotted Naomi and went over. "Miss Sylibus?" She said. "I just wanted to let you know something before you left. There was a man earlier, who took pictures here when there was suppose to be none present. I just wanted to let you know to be on your guard, just in case." If it was hunters, then she didn't think they would go after Naomi. Zoanthropes weren't 'monsters' after all though she disdained that word. However, she knew from personal experience that hatred could and was often irrational.

Naomi desided that she was being paranoid and didn't want to live her life like that. It was how Ross lived and it didn't end well for him at all. She didn't want that "Thank you for your concern. But that young man was outside of the building taking those pictures. I don't see any problem with him doing that. Now, if he were in the meeting, then I believe there would be cause for concern." she says with a smile "However, I don't believe him to be a problem." she says.

Hiromi still had a bad feeling about the whole thing and the fact with how they acted didn't sit well with her. Still there wasn't much to be done about it. "Very well then."

Espen was thinking for a moment. Ultimately, life was short even for one of his kind he had at best a human's life span at this point in his life. His kind tended to live relatively shorter compared to other demon races. That was why when an thought came to him, he decided to follow it.

"I'm normally not in Japan, I'm in New York. However, I would like to get to know you under a less tense arena." Espen retrieved one of his cards and handed it to Naomi. "Up to you of course. I don't plan on being in Japan much longer then another day or so."

Naomi looks a bit suprised "Oh. Well, I would enjoy getting to know you better, but I'm planning on leaving Japan tonight." she says apologetically. But I shall be staying in New york for a bit, while I work out some business arrangements." she says, smiling at him "I would be delighted to meet you then." she says. She hears what sounds like wings and looks up to see atleast four armed men in Mystic armor flying down and land gracefully. They break up, securing the area, one of them start towards Espen and Naomi "Uhhh...Espen, what's going on?" she asks, slightly worried.

Espen was going to comment when he noticed what seemed to be Mystics coming in, he wasn't sure why they were here. Perhaps they were here under Alister's orders? He couldn't be sure. However, if they were Mystics he was sure they hadn't come looking for a fight otherwise they Could have just as easily blown up the place while everyone was caught off guard. Still, he wasn't sure about the armor.

As for Hiromi, she didn't like the situation. If they weren't too skilled or powerful she thought she'd be okay against one or two of them. But four, even if they were only moderately skilled she didn't like her odds against.

"I'm not sure.." Espen said slowly, but cautiously as one of the Mystics(least he thought) came forward. "Can I help you?"

The Mystic guard says nothing, but looks from one to the other, each noding. Then he looks towhere they came from, nods, then looks back to Espen "Apologies. We needed to secure the area for the arrival of our Lord Arch Bishop." he says as more wings are heard. More Mystics had flown into view, some with leather wings, some with feathered wings, all were different colors. And in the center of all of them, was Alister! He lands just as gracefully as the others "Espen! My friend." he says, smiling "It's good to see you. It's been...close to a year now, hasn't it?" he asks "How are you?"

Espen was caught off guard by this but slowly smiled. "Indeed, it has been. I didn't expect you to show up here of all places. I'm well Alister, just tying up a few loose ends is all." He motioned to Hiromi. "This is my bodyguard, but she's also my friend Hiromi. And this is a new friend of mine, Naomi."

While she didn't expect this, Hiromi took it in stride and bowed lightly. "Pleasure to meet you, Alister."

Alister nods "The pleasure's all mine, ladies." he says, smiling at the two. Naomi seemed almose entranced by Alister's beauty "M-my pleasure..." she mumbles, looking away "I-I have to go." she says "My plane's departing within the hour." she mumbles "Espen, until later. Alister, a pleasure." she says as she hurries off to her car. Alister nods to Naomi as she departs "So, what's been going on here?" he asks, looking around "I'm told there was a meeting of somekind. I had hoped to make it in time to say a few words. Seems that I missed the party." he chuckles lightly. "Come my friends. Let us leave the owrrying for later. We have much to talk about." he motions for Espen to follow him to a waiting privet charter bus.

Espen watched Naomi leave, he was looking forward to meeting her later but right now that could wait. "It was a meeting for my kind, though I'll tell you the finer details when we get settled down. Then I can talk more about how you've been as well."

'So this is the friend Espen talked about..' Hiromi was curious of what they were like in person, since she only heard about them. This was a chance to do just that, he was pretty handsome, too. However, there was far more to things then just looks.