Vampire Nation 3: Titan Rules, page 20
“I want to hear them but I have an idea to pose first. What if we brought Apollo and the gang into this? They could help and it would be better for them.” I suggested.
“That was the first idea Ghost shared.” Ares shook his head in wonder. “We call Ghost the smartest because he thinks so much faster. You arrive at the same answers, it just takes you longer. I am starting to feel like the two of you are the same.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment but Ghost sees more than I do. I like to think I can hold my own though.” I looked at Ares and laughed. Holy Shit! That was always going to be funny.
“Okay, you are going to need to share.” Ghost said.
“Reptile has nicknames for everyone. His nickname for Ares is Holy Shit. Apollo is Mary Poppins. Ghost, you weren’t as funny but it fit. You are Mr. Wizard. Reptile is hilarious. You’d never know it to look at him. He was cracking me up when I was reading his mind.”
“What are some of the others? What was your name?” Ares asked. He was smiling.
“Sweetie’s name was cute. She is Aww Puppy. It is the way he thinks it though. It’s drawn out and sweet sounding. My name was Mr. Rogers.” We were all laughing then.
It took a few minutes before we started on the more serious discussions. Of course, Cronus took center stage.
“What did Cronus say?” I asked Ares.
“He thinks you could be the downfall of our kind. He realizes you might be one of the saviors though. He said he will hope for the best. He is going to stay out of our politics from now on. He is still torn over how many vampires he killed.” Ares had been the one to handle Cronus after the fiasco of yesterday’s council meeting.
“He is gone now right?” Ghost asked.
“Yes, he flew out immediately. Well, he drove into Nashville and flew out from the public airport.” Ares sounded a bit sad. I was fairly sure I knew why.
“Is your friendship still intact with him?” I asked.
“It is but it is strained. He knows he should have listened to me to begin with. He hates that I drank from him. It is a little bad here and there but I think we will get passed it.”
“Good. Even with all that happened, I still liked him.” I happily admitted.
“He scared me. I didn’t like being around him.” Ghost commented.
Ares and I looked at each other. We turned to Ghost and stared. He was afraid to be around Cronus but he was close friends with us? Ghost saw the stares and smiled.
“You two are my kind of crazy. I know where I stand with you both.” He explained.
“The rest of the vampire world trusts Cronus completely. Those same vampires are terrified of us. Yet you are the opposite. Go figure.” I teased.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s call Apollo and Sweetie and have them meet us in the lobby. We can talk more comfortably there.” Ghost suggested.
“Did anybody even tell them what all happened?” I asked.
“Obviously, Sweetie knows. The rest might have heard.” Ghost answered with a nod to Ares.
“Yes but you know how stories get twisted around these facilities. I recall hearing how I killed two groups of vampires, Ares, and four council members last year.” I said, shaking my head.
“I heard that one so much I almost believed it.” Ares laughed.
I pulled out my phone while Ares grabbed his. We made the calls to our friends.
We arranged the furniture in the lobby for all of us to sit and feel like part of the group comfortably. Sweetie shared a couch with Ares. Jade and Apollo shared another. The rest of us pulled chairs into a circle. Speedy, Loki, Venus, and Pan all sat quietly waiting to hear the news.
“Okay. We’re all here. What’s this about?” Apollo asked.
“Ares, Ghost, and I would like for this group to join our new cause. We are going to be the ones who watch over the council. We want to make sure the council members stop setting such bad examples. Ares has been doing this for some time.” I wished I had planned my little speech before I started.
“What happened with the killings? I thought we were still watching out for Cronus.” Speedy’s confusion was plain to see.
“I fought Cronus last night. I drank from him. Ares drank from him too. We are now mostly unbeatable for what that’s worth. You guys know I don’t really care about that. Anyway, Cronus has left. Lorac was executed.”
“What? Lorac?” Venus was shocked. “Why?”
She had been turned by Lorac. She was like the rest of us. She liked him.
“He was the one urging Cronus to kill. Lorac was the one who killed some of those vampires in Chicago that I needed to clean up.” I sighed and looked around at them. “In a way, that leads me into what we are here for. Since I was turned, nine council members have been killed. Each one of them was committing crimes that couldn’t be excused. This group will be the ones to keep that from happening.”
“Will we still be working for Arria too?” Loki asked.
“Yes. I might ask Arria to add a few more employees to your detail so she won’t be shorthanded if we need to have some of you elsewhere.” I stopped. I wasn’t sure what else needed to be said.
“I am all for this but what help can we be? You and Ares can handle most anything. Ghost can figure out what is the best course of action. I fail to see the need for us.” Loki pointed out.
“You guys are more important than you know. Why do you think I visit so much?” I smiled. Aww Puppy. Mary Poppins. Maybe we needed to bring Reptile in as well.
Ghost seemed to know what was going through my mind. I was used to that. He decided to explain things in more detail.
“Basically, you guys keep everything in perspective. Apollo has the pure goodness that reminds Titan of what’s important. Sweetie has the innocence that makes Titan want to fight for what’s right in the first place. Pan brings the feelings of others to mind so Titan considers what is best for the whole instead of the one. Venus reminds Titan of what being human was like. Loki has the levelheadedness that keeps Titan from overreacting. Jade, you remind Titan of the good he’s already done. Speedy, I don’t know what you bring but Titan seems to like you for some dumb reason.”
We got a good laugh from that.
I loved my friends.
Later as I thought back to what Ghost said, I realized why the gifting wasn’t clicking. I was basing it on personality traits alone. Part of it was the human personality. I was realizing there was much more to it though.
What did each person hope to become? Which gift would help that vampire achieve his main goal? What effects did each gift really have on the vampire it was given to? Which gift could actually heal the vampire of his human failings?
I was seeing more and more as I thought it through. Dean wanted the power to abuse without fear of reprimand. Only the gift Ares and I shared would provide that in the vampire world.
The mind reading was widely spread because of how useful it was in so many ways. Sometimes it was purely how nosey the person was, like the neighbor who reported the deaths in Chicago. At the same time, Thomas got mind reading because he wanted to know how to help people. If he knew their thoughts, he would know how he could help.
Those that loved to hurt others were usually a poison or fire gift. I’d yet to meet someone with either gift that was really good. Reptile doesn’t count since he only recently became good. He’d been hurt so much he thought it was normal behavior to hurt others.
The illusions were as I thought originally. Those like Sweetie wanted to see a better world. They wanted to cover up the bad they saw around them. Again, the story might change from illusionist to illusionist but the premise remained the same.
After following through with many more gifts, I turned back to my original questions. Why me? Why Ares?
I knew it had nothing to do with desire for power. I was nothing like Dean as far as the abusiveness went. I actually wanted to be held accountable for my actions.
I’d wondered once why couldn’t I have just been a daywalker. I now knew it was because I’d been through too much with the abuse. Life could never be a simple black and white picture.
In the end, I was surprised at the answer I came to see. It fit. I wasn’t sure if the answer for me would be the same for Ares. I didn’t know enough of his human life or inner desires to make those leaps of intuition.
I laughed when my thoughts turned back to Ghost. He would know. He’s probably known from the beginning. It just takes me longer.
I was abused. It was an injustice to have to grow up in that atmosphere. I was poor and struggling through life when all I wanted was a real chance to better myself. I cared for those around me but only as much as their actions warranted.
Since I knew what abuse and struggling can do to good people, I wanted to fix that so others wouldn’t need to suffer needlessly like I did.
The bottom line read simply as I wanted justice. How stupid is that?
Damn, Ghost and Arria were right. I should have just quit trying to figure it out in the first place.
Joe Fowler, Vampire Nation 3: Titan Rules
