A Grand Soiree [Open to anyone with potential business at the NYC branch of the Hellfire Club]

[ngm_hellfire]

"There hasn't been a party like this in years at this location, has there?" Sebastian turned towards Tessa, or rather, the clone of her that Essex had made for him. It was true, though, there was an energy in the old place that hadn't been seen ever since before he died for the first time. They didn't know yet, that he would take this moment to make his reemegence into the public eye, but there were rumours that there would be a grand surprise.

"No, sir. Attendance at the New York branch's soirees has been declining for some years." Tessa replied crisply. He wondered, vaguely, what the original Tessa would think of this pitch-perfect copy of her. As for Tessa's part, she was aware of Sage's existence and regarded it as nothing more than a vague curiosity.

Sebastian continued to watch guests filing in through the cameras at the command centre he'd installed some years ago beneath the halls of the Hellfire Club.

"What about my would-be heirs?" Sebastian spoke with a faint sneer. Disappointing as they were in many ways, they were his family. His legacy. They would have to do. He couldn't have another Shinobi on his hands.

"I expect they will both attend. I've spotted Stephanie, but but Alistaire as of yet." Tessa replied again.

"Good. And others have been invited too. The Braddock and the Worthington girls." Sebastian turned again towards the monitors. "Keep a close eye on the witch, would you? I won't have her ruining my night."

"Yes, sir."

Sebastian lifted a glass of fine whisky to his lips and took a slow sip, watching the event unfolding before him. A grand collection of the finest of New York society. A fine audience for him to emerge before, like the phoenix.

Comments

[lena_essex]

"Not that we're allowed to take tonight."

Lena turned around, a brilliant and brittle smile on her face.

"Or at least, not now. Later? Who knows." Lena laughed. "You must be Selene. It's an honor to finally meet you. You could say you're my idol. My role model, as it were."

The strange, horizontal pupils of Lena's eyes dilated and contracted as she took in the dazed looking brunette. Her nostrils flared slightly.

'That's very generous of you."

[ngm_hellfire]

"Of course. Even Sebastian isn't normally so stingy. In any case, he'll die soon enough by our reckoning. Let the dear boy have his moment." Selene smirked coolly as she guided Kayla over to where Lena was. The deadened girl followed without a hint of resistance. "We will have our fill, soon or later. Our kind always do."

Her smirk broadened into a smile that looked friendly from a distance, but was relentlessly sadistic up close. "Well, now that we're together in the same circle, we'll just have to get to know each other so much better, won't we?"

[lena_essex]

Lena gently laid her hand on the girl's arm, and leaned in, lips brushing the dark hair, like she was sharing a confidence. She inhaled deeply. If one was standing close enough, like Selene, one might see a hint of glowing, ghostly mist pass from Kayla to Lena, and a slight pallor and dryness come over the brunette girl's face.

"Ahhh." Lena's sigh was dreamy, then she took a step back and clapped her hands together. "She's just lovely. So much power, and such a conflicted soul. I'm not surprised you want to keep her as a prize, but it must be difficult not to gobble her up."

[ngm_hellfire]

"She's useful to me for now. Under my thrall, she will serve as eyes and ears for the Hellfire Club at Xavier's precious little Mansion. And Shaw and his creature Crane over there are laying their claws into Miss LeBeau while we speak. It would be simply foolish for me not to contribute." Or, indeed, to have her own agent of sorts there. She had important enemies at that school. People whom she wanted to keep an eye on. But for now, it was just about time to send Kayla back to Brianna. A small magical illusion covered up Kayla's somewhat haggard (the pallor barely showed up on her, fair as she was) features.

"Rest assured though, I'm very much looking forward to gobbling her up." Or keeping her as a pet. It was difficult to decide sometimes, which way to go.

"Sebastian ... the darling. The thing to remember about him is that he is a mortal like any of these other fools. He'll die eventually if he doesn't get himself killed first. And well, you, I, and your father, we don't have that problem. A much better basis for the Hellfire Club in the long run, no?"

[lena_essex]

"Of course. A spy in the House of Xavier would have so many uses." Lena smiled, catlike. So useful that Lena had planted a hook of her own in Kayla's brain. It was so easy to do, and to bury it deep, when they were weakened from an energy feeding like that.

"He likes to think himself immortal, doesn't he? Shaw. Look upon his works, ye mighty. Nothing beside remains."

Why yes, even a demon clone can have a classical education. Sinister saw to that.

"Daddy always was fond of Shelley. You're right, it's all about the long term."

[ngm_hellfire]

"One day, we will have our reckoning with the House of Xavier." Selene replied, twirling a glass of wine about. "Who's to know what shape exactly that will take ... but in the meantime, it is good to know what they're up to there. Fools though they may be, they're powerful fools and they've matched the Club before."

"He is essentially a politician. Fit to be humored by the real rulers of the world, not to be one of them. He serves his purpose for now."

Selene could appreciate that, though she'd learned at an entirely different set of classical educators.

"Your father's a man of taste. It's good to see him step out of his laboratory. It makes the world more interesting."

She wasn't stupid. Sinister was a potential rival and a very dangerous one. But that simply made things more interesting.