The Words Have Come To Show ... (NYC, April)
Time and again, he had read the messages that had been sent to each of them. Over and over, he reconfigured the various fragments of text. Looking for some pattern. Looking for some alteration that piecing them together might somehow provide. Undoubtedly they were all connected to form some larger, more pointed message. And yet as Julian tried to sort out this little mystery before him, the question remained as to whom had done such. Eight's touch upon the package sent to him and the one sent to Marius had shown Green to be behind it. But Green was a stooge; a patsy, an underling. Green was serving someone else. Someone bigger. Mani? Certainly, the ancient Gangrel had a hand in it as well, but was he truly theone behind this?
No. Mani had been the one to alter their minds and remove the mental and physical evidence of that fateful night way back when. And it was Green that was looking to insight them into acting against Mani; to take him down and remove him. And that too implied someone bigger and more ... manevolent. But who though?
And no matter how much was being told to Julian of that single forgotten night, none of it registed with him. Missing memories. Missing journal pages. Accounts of a dark night when Julian and Marcel had met with the then Prince. Details suggesting that they and the others who were present in New York at the time having a hand in the slaughter of various men and boys at some Italian organization's club. Certainly Julain was capable of that and a great deal more, but the simple not knowing of it irritated him, unsettled him. To do it was one thing. To not remember doing it was yet another completely. And Julian Madeina never did anything without puprose or reason. Unless he had been manipulaed to do so. Manipulated! How he hated that very notion of someone having that much control over him, his mind and his actions. It made him bristle, and the beast within sturred violently inside him. Focus, Julian. Focus!
Once more, he read the various notes. Four of these individuals had received such ... Thomas, Marcel, Marius and Julian himself. Yet there were others present in New York at that time who still remained in New York now ... Moll, Gideon, Sythe and Shade. Four received. Four not ... or atleast not yet ... or perhaps received but not disclosed. His eyes scanned the four sheets of text once more.
To Thomas:
He shall change the course of rivers
He shall breath storms from his mouth
He shall devour the souls from On High
He shall cry tears of fire
And he shall shatter the very heart of mountains
To Marcel:
For who can change the ebb and flow of toothless time
Where the meek bleed upon foreign soul
And beasts break their chains
To Marius:
For who can control his fate
When the unconquered devours itself whole
When the spear of destiny turns on the Romans-made-Manifest
When the Circle sacrifices their mothers
When the Dragons choke on their own tails
And to Julian ... or as Green had indicated, it was Ethan back then:
Listen and watch with a lean and hungry look
And know you walk upon my land
And no matter how many times he read them, his reaction upon reading the last verse ... the one sent to him ... evoked something in him. Something that ate at him. Like a burr under a saddle, it irritated him to no end. Something that seemed familiar and yet not. He rubbed his eyes. The words were beginning to blur now. He had been staring at the same four pieces for far too long. Take a break, Julian. Refresh your mind and come back to it.
He lit a cigarette and opened his email, to begin the process of perusing and deleting the inconsequential. And then a letter from Marius. Information about a meeting between him, Sythe and Russel. Word that Russel was no longer a 'problem'. A small smirk crossed Julian's face as he read that perticular disclosure. Still, his eyes continued toward the bottom of the page.
"At that point a huge black panther lept from a building and landed directly on Russell's head. Russell's head was pancaked. The Panther then eyed both Scythe and I and departed. At this point a large bird circled down and collected Russell's body and flew off to the north. Then a third man approached Scythe and I and introduced himself as Cassius. Cassius for those of you who know nothing of New York City was it's first Prince, a fellow member of the Crone in fact. I, like everyone else, believed him to be dead as he never showed himself again after his initial disappearance. He passed on the warning that Green was not to be killed or else. Green was to be left alive by the will of Mani. We're allowed to torpor him, but not kill. After passing that message, he too disappeared and with his vanishing, mortals and animals returned to the Seaport."
Julian's eyes shuttered wide as the realization hit him. A realization that brought forth a string of curses spoken from a Venetian tongue.
"DOLCE MADRE DI DIO! Come potei ho stato coso cieco!? Ÿ coso! Lo fu stella me nel faccia tutto lungo. Cassiera!! Dannazione lo verso Inferno! 'Magro e affamato guarda.' Il parola sei da JULIUS CAESAR , e il riferimento carattere ... È Cassiera. Coso è Cassiera chi y dietro tutto di questo. È Cassiera chi è lui attrazione Verde corda. Cassiera bisogno ci verso seguire Mania. Quello maledetto piccolo eretto!"
__________________________________________
(Translation: "SWEET MOTHER OF GOD! How could I have been so blind!? That is it! It was staring me in the face all along. Cassius!! Damn it to Hell! 'Lean and hungry look.' The words are from JULIUS CAESAR, and the referenced character .. is Cassius. So it is Cassius who is behind all of this. It is Cassius who is pulling Green's strings. Cassius wants us to go after Mani. That fucking little prick!")
No. Mani had been the one to alter their minds and remove the mental and physical evidence of that fateful night way back when. And it was Green that was looking to insight them into acting against Mani; to take him down and remove him. And that too implied someone bigger and more ... manevolent. But who though?
And no matter how much was being told to Julian of that single forgotten night, none of it registed with him. Missing memories. Missing journal pages. Accounts of a dark night when Julian and Marcel had met with the then Prince. Details suggesting that they and the others who were present in New York at the time having a hand in the slaughter of various men and boys at some Italian organization's club. Certainly Julain was capable of that and a great deal more, but the simple not knowing of it irritated him, unsettled him. To do it was one thing. To not remember doing it was yet another completely. And Julian Madeina never did anything without puprose or reason. Unless he had been manipulaed to do so. Manipulated! How he hated that very notion of someone having that much control over him, his mind and his actions. It made him bristle, and the beast within sturred violently inside him. Focus, Julian. Focus!
Once more, he read the various notes. Four of these individuals had received such ... Thomas, Marcel, Marius and Julian himself. Yet there were others present in New York at that time who still remained in New York now ... Moll, Gideon, Sythe and Shade. Four received. Four not ... or atleast not yet ... or perhaps received but not disclosed. His eyes scanned the four sheets of text once more.
To Thomas:
He shall change the course of rivers
He shall breath storms from his mouth
He shall devour the souls from On High
He shall cry tears of fire
And he shall shatter the very heart of mountains
To Marcel:
For who can change the ebb and flow of toothless time
Where the meek bleed upon foreign soul
And beasts break their chains
To Marius:
For who can control his fate
When the unconquered devours itself whole
When the spear of destiny turns on the Romans-made-Manifest
When the Circle sacrifices their mothers
When the Dragons choke on their own tails
And to Julian ... or as Green had indicated, it was Ethan back then:
Listen and watch with a lean and hungry look
And know you walk upon my land
And no matter how many times he read them, his reaction upon reading the last verse ... the one sent to him ... evoked something in him. Something that ate at him. Like a burr under a saddle, it irritated him to no end. Something that seemed familiar and yet not. He rubbed his eyes. The words were beginning to blur now. He had been staring at the same four pieces for far too long. Take a break, Julian. Refresh your mind and come back to it.
He lit a cigarette and opened his email, to begin the process of perusing and deleting the inconsequential. And then a letter from Marius. Information about a meeting between him, Sythe and Russel. Word that Russel was no longer a 'problem'. A small smirk crossed Julian's face as he read that perticular disclosure. Still, his eyes continued toward the bottom of the page.
"At that point a huge black panther lept from a building and landed directly on Russell's head. Russell's head was pancaked. The Panther then eyed both Scythe and I and departed. At this point a large bird circled down and collected Russell's body and flew off to the north. Then a third man approached Scythe and I and introduced himself as Cassius. Cassius for those of you who know nothing of New York City was it's first Prince, a fellow member of the Crone in fact. I, like everyone else, believed him to be dead as he never showed himself again after his initial disappearance. He passed on the warning that Green was not to be killed or else. Green was to be left alive by the will of Mani. We're allowed to torpor him, but not kill. After passing that message, he too disappeared and with his vanishing, mortals and animals returned to the Seaport."
Julian's eyes shuttered wide as the realization hit him. A realization that brought forth a string of curses spoken from a Venetian tongue.
"DOLCE MADRE DI DIO! Come potei ho stato coso cieco!? Ÿ coso! Lo fu stella me nel faccia tutto lungo. Cassiera!! Dannazione lo verso Inferno! 'Magro e affamato guarda.' Il parola sei da JULIUS CAESAR , e il riferimento carattere ... È Cassiera. Coso è Cassiera chi y dietro tutto di questo. È Cassiera chi è lui attrazione Verde corda. Cassiera bisogno ci verso seguire Mania. Quello maledetto piccolo eretto!"
__________________________________________
(Translation: "SWEET MOTHER OF GOD! How could I have been so blind!? That is it! It was staring me in the face all along. Cassius!! Damn it to Hell! 'Lean and hungry look.' The words are from JULIUS CAESAR, and the referenced character .. is Cassius. So it is Cassius who is behind all of this. It is Cassius who is pulling Green's strings. Cassius wants us to go after Mani. That fucking little prick!")