Changing of the Guard (Interlude One)

[Clara Hart]

Clara woke up from a sound sleep, for once no dreams intruding into her night's rest. She thought herself untouched before she started to get ready for the day. And the noticed something was terribly wrong.

"You, explain!" Clara growled at her reflection. The mirror had fixed itself more than once since the last time.

"I told you, you look too human. I'm making you better, Clara darling." The other voice said, using her reflection to do it.

"You gave me a second pair of nipples!" Clara snarled in rage.

"I'm going to give you a lot more than that, sweet Clara." A figure appeared in the mirror then, only barely within the confines of the glass, and even then it was too broad to fit. A female figure, what the Alien Ship would know as a Crusader.

And also the true shape of the Source. Her fur was red and white striped, and she had three glowing white eyes. She wore multicolored robes and dresses of unknown make, covered in jewels of every hue.

"I am going to give you a body worthy of my legacy. The most powerful body my people have ever known." The other voice purred as the hyena-like snout of the Source moved.

"What are you?" She asked, almost afraid for once in her life.

"I am the rightful ruler of every people. I am a god and a queen. And I am the key to your power, the Source of All Magic. There is only one thing that can defeat us and it is stirring as we speak. Send your soldiers against it before it can act, Clara, and your rule will be uncontested forever."

[Isabella Martinez]

Bella sighed at the bars and slumped down on her bed. Seven months imprisoned by her father's assassin. Seven months and not a question asked of her, except, 'Why do you think you are here?' Bella refused to have an answer for Clara Hart. Even if she had any clue as to why.

The only light so far had been, curiously, one of her captors. Chris. Granted, he was not the most pleasant of company, but he respected her. Kept her from charging to her death against Clara.

Somewhere, maybe he was even attracted to her.

Bella shook that off. Of course he was not. Clara had made perfectly clear what his stance on humans was, if his own blustering did not enforce that enough.

But, still, Bella found herself drawn to him. And if it was stockholme syndrome, she was glad it was for the gentle lion, and not the sneering shapechanger even now enetering the basement in a blonde woman's guise. If there was someone behind that appearance, Bella's heart went out to her, in the unlikely event she was still alive.

"I guess it's my turn to guard the bitch. Isn't that lucky." Nate sneered.

"You will be guarding yourself then?" Isabella said casually, causing him...her...whatever...to appraoch the bars.

"Maybe I should teach you a lesson, huh babe? Like how to keep it in your pants and not go after my man." Nate said in a rather obvious threat that left Bella a bit clueless.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Bella replied.

"Oh, you know. I've seen you give him your big pretty eyes. Maybe I should just rip them out. Have Omega heal you up." Nate said. By his...her tone, she was not certain he did not mean it.

Nate stepped forward. The bars recognized he was a mage and opened wide. Bella tried to back away, but Nate grabbed her arm and he was much stronger than he...she looked.

"If you scream it'll hurt more." Nate said darkly, with a smirk as he saw terror start to come to Isabella's eyes. "So, please, scream."

"I'm not going to give you the satisfaction." Bella said as she spit in Nate's eyes. He/she growled and threw her on the bed and pulled a knife.

And halted when a low growl sounded from the foot of the stairs. Both pairs of eyes turned, one with shock and one with hope, as Chrsitian stepped into the basement,

[Christian Monroe]

Christian growled as soon as his sensitive nose caught the scents coming from the room beyond.

Nathan was in the room. He was angry. Isabella was frightened. Someone was threatening his mate--or at least who his fucked-up genetics and over-active hormones were trying to tell him was his mate. At that, instinct took over.

The tall teen moved purposefully the rest of the way down the stairs and into the room. His strides didn't falter when he saw the scene in front of him--Nathan with a knife in his hands standing over Isabella, who was sprawled out on her bed. Another low snarl let out of his chest, lip curled.

"Wait!" Nathan yelped, stumbling back a step and dropping the knife. "Sh-she was trying to escape--,"

Christian snatched the currently-female Mage up by the hair at the back of his head and then yanked him around, slamming his face into the bars. The furred male ignored the other's pained screech, using his hold to grind Nathan harder into the unforgiving metal before leaning close.

"Clara says the girl's not to be harmed," he growled low, voice trembling with how much willpower it was taking not to tear the other one limb from limb right now. "So if I ever see you anywhere near her again, I'm going to rip your god-damned throat out. Got it?" Nathan just whimpered a little, so Christian lifted him up slightly and slammed him back into the bars again to punctuate his second, "Got it?!"

"Yes!" Nathan finally shrieked. Christian pulled the other mage from Isabella's cell then, and shoved him away with another disgusted growl. Nathan stumbled several feet, then straightened and whirled. 'Her' forehead now had a rather large, already bruising welt on one side that had split slightly and was starting to bleed. Nathan sneered up at him hatefully.

"Fucking asshole! What the fuck does she have that I don't, huh?!"

Christian did his best to hide any reaction to those telling words, ignoring Isabella's now-wide eyes as they flickered to him questioningly. Instead he bent and picked up the knife that Nathan had dropped and tucked it into his boot. Then the lion-like teen slowly straightened, greenish-gold eyes narrowed.

"Get out."

"She's a human for Chrissakes, Christian--!"

"Now!"

With his straining temper, that one word came out more of a lion-esque roar, but Nathan got the hint. The shape-changer finally turned on his heel and pelted from the basement.

Christian glared after him for several moments, a soft growl releasing out of his chest at every exhalation due to his lost temper. Finally however, he was able to get a hold of himself, for the most part. He turned slightly to Isabella, finding the pretty girl just starting to rise up into a sitting position on the bed. He cleared his throat somewhat gruffly then, attempting to sound casual and not as overly-concerned as he really was.

"You alright?"

[Clara Hart]

Bella nodded. "Yes, luckily, you saved me before he could hurt me."

They locked eyes, a tender, grateful expression on her face, before Clara's voice sounded from the stairs.

"Report upstairs immediately. There's an urgent mission that needs done." She leader said before disappearing back upstairs. The look between Christian and Clara continued for a few more moments before he turned and wordlessly walked upstairs.

The whole core group of Orphans was there waiting for him.

"My mother has put something in motion that jeopordizes our mission." Clara said when they were all assembled. "She has begun to unearth and put into service the Alien Ship. It contains something that can stop us all. You need to stop them before they succeed."

"Stop the Alien Ship?" Stefan said incredulously. "How the hell are we supposed to do that? And how do you know it can hurt you?"

Clara gave him a withering look, and the youth backed down immediately. "I just know. I also know I, unfortunately, cannot accompany you. Whatever countermeasure they have will affect me many times worse than it will affect you." She turned to Gloria. "Prepare to leave immediately. You will need to teleport to get there in time."

"Clara, I can't get that kind of distance with so many people. It..." She began. Clara cut her off with only another glare.

"Don't argue. Find a way." She insisted before turning on her heel and walking to the basement.

[Christian Monroe]

Christian slowly suited up for battle, expression blank. The others were still in the main room, arguing amongst themselves. Trying to figure out how they were supposed to carry out Clara's orders. Orders that were, for all intents and purposes, a suicide mission. Christian, however, didn't fear death. That had gotten beaten out of him a long, long time ago. Yet as he secured the heavy vest over his furred chest, he did find himself tensing up a little with worry. Not for himself, however, but for someone else.

If he did die today, there'd be no one to look after Isabella.

Christian stared down at his clawed hands for a moment, outwardly blank-faced but inwardly in turmoil. He supposed he could keep fighting it. Keep denying it. But right now it felt pointless and ridiculous to continue the charade. However it had come to pass, he cared for her. A lot. It didn't matter that she was human. He just didn't care.

And he might not give a damn about what happened to him, but he was suddenly loathe to leave her behind, knowing that her future was so uncertain.

To that end, Christian turned from getting ready and sniffed out Omega, where the mute girl was tending to some of their injured. She turned to him when he entered, and Christian motioned with his head for her to step aside for a private word. Though cautious as always, Omega did so.

Christian didn't mince words, not one for idle chatter, as neither was she. "This mission Clara's sending us on, I'm probably not gonna come back from." The other girl's expression didn't change, she merely nodded solemnly. Christian sighed somewhat. "Listen, Nate's dropping farther off the deep end with every passing day, and he's taken an irrational dislike for the girl, Martinez. And if I don't come back . . . I was wondering if you'd keep an eye on her for me. And him. Make sure he doesn't hurt her. Please."

The last was the hardest to get out, as evidenced by how rough his voice had become.

Omega surprised him then by lifting a hand, and gripping his shoulder in a surprisingly comforting squeeze. She met his stare, however, and nodded again, this time firmly. Christian returned the gesture, the thanks in his golden eyes before he turned away and headed back for the front room. Off to go stop this Alien Ship somehow. Off for round 2 with the Snake. Off to go end his sorry existence, once and for all.

Christian remained silent in the background as the others continued to try and figure things out, glancing somewhat sadly toward the basement door.

Goodbye, Isabella.