Mendecant Surnaturel, Inc.

[Antony Piers]

Weeding, that's what his father had called it. Every few years, another batch of resourcers were chosen from all over Nebula, coming from the University, failed businesses, and some were found by their criminal records alone, knowing for hacking and no other criminal intent. It was strange, the crowd that gathered within the walls of MSI, and if he thought about it for too long, a slight grin just might break his concentration.

With every slight movement, the gold buttoned, dark leather chair squeaked beneath his wiry frame. The walls were plain, beige in color, an accented with the green that had become the signature color of MSI. On one wall was a myriad of photographs of Superiors before him, all his fathers and grandfathers, and around the edges were his prized investigators and resources. Two portraits, paired together in matching golden frames never failed to make him smile. The stern, cold, and severe Lead Investigator on the left, Raelin Lorcan, clad in her signature black, and on the right, another portrait of a young woman with ethereal eyes and a subtle smile, dressed in a simple shirt and contoured skirt, the lead resourcer, Danae Walker. His daughters, as they had been called...and when it came to the truth, it was far closer than they realized.


Enough reminiscing, he thought with a sigh, looking back to the papers before him, contrasting sharply against the dark mahogany desk. It seemed that this time, the aptitude of the incoming resourcers would be pleasant, at the least. From the University, there were those like Danae, educated in folklore and the English language, as well as the idioms of days gone by. A few others, seasoned with age, were coming from the coast that had once been grand authors and impeccable analysts.


And now came the hardest task, to eliminate those with potential problems that could prove to be a hinderance to MSI. With his silver, round-rimmed glasses perched precariously on the bridge of his nose, Antony set to work again, marking off names as he saw fit. The list would be dwindled considerably, but at least this way, Danae's task would not be quite so daunting.


With the ratio of one resourcer to every two agents, she was always forced to make the most cuts at the end of the preliminary training sessions. Antony had never complained of her decisions, and of course, Danae had never spoken a word out against the tremendous weight of the task, but just the same, Antony knew and made motions to rectify the situation.


With another scratch of his pen, one more young man was denied. Glancing at his watch, he found it hard to believe that he had been sitting in silence for a full fifteen minutes without being interrupted. Determined to waste not another rare, free moment, he looked down to the paper before him once again, scratching off yet another name with no mercy.

[Danae Walker]

Danae walked briskly down the hall, tossing a smile here and there to the younger members of MSI as she worked her way through the labyrinth of hallways to Antony's office.

She came to the dark double doors and raised her hand to knock, knuckles rapping gently against the wood. As silence reigned and she never heard his voice beckoning her in, she frowned and slowly turned the knob, pushing the door open.

Peeking inside, she saw him hard at work at the desk and had to smile. Slipping inside, she shut the door behind her and watched him for a moment.

Clearing her throat, she tilted her head. "Hello, Sir..." Danae greeted him, her eyes bright as she watched him. Uncle Antony, her savior when the world had turned cold and bleak. He had always been there for her, like a second father...Or perhaps like a first father. It had always amazed her, the way he so easily slid into the role after her parents were killed on a mission. Never once did she hear him complain or suggest that she leave MSI. In fact, he had made her promise to stay...

[Antony Piers]

"Hello, Sir..."

He had heard the door open long before that soft voice drifted through the air, but upon lifting his head and seeing the vision before his eyes, a smile lighted his face, carrying all the way into his eyes.

"Sir? Who's this sir you're speaking to?" he asked in a soft, joking manner, beckoning her inside with a wave of his hand. "I could've sworn I was Uncle Antony..." Rolling his eyes back in his head, he scratched at his chin, as if pondering the statement, then once again, he looked upon her with a smile.

Pride swelled within him whenever he saw her walk into a room, and the same sentiment followed Raelin. They were his daughters...Ah, but if they only knew.

"Tell me, darling...To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? I had thought you'd be much too busy these days with your wards to visit an old man like me."

Though hardly fifty, and with more than a century left to live, thanks to the gods and their gifts in return for his services, he had never considered himself old, but when face with her bright youthfulness, it became harder to convince himself of his own youth.

[Danae Walker]

Her heart seemed to melt when Antony smiled at her that way. She had been to young to wow her parents and cause that proud gleam in their eyes. Seeing in now in his subtle green orbs made her smile just the same.

"Sir? Who's this sir you're speaking to? I could've sworn I was Uncle Antony..."

Chuckling, she shook her head, easing down into one of the overstuffed chairs on the other side of his desk. "I'm sorry...Just habit, what with all the young ones running around at all. Wouldn't want to start a rumor of favoritism," she told him, her hands folded in her lap as she glanced at the papers on his desk.

She saw the title of resourcer, and saw several names scratched out and others circled. She could see the tiny question marks for potential resourcers and other marks that made the paper look more like an algebraic equation.

"Tell me, darling...To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? I had thought you'd be much too busy these days with your wards to visit an old man like me."

"Well, you had been barricaded in here for quite some time, or off roaming the countryside...I hadn't seen you and merely wanted to check in. How are you, Uncle Antony?"

[Antony Piers]

"I'm sorry...Just habit, what with all the young ones running around at all. Wouldn't want to start a rumor of favoritism."

He chuckled as he watched her...So graceful, like her mother. In his eyes, she held none of her father, save for the calm demeanor that allowed her to be a resourcer. But then...Ah, that couldn't be true either. She was her mother's daughter. If she only knew...

"My dear, I do believe it's far too late to worry about such a thing as that. You and Raelin have me wrapped 'round your fingers, after all," Antony told her, a fond smile dancing across his lips as he placed his hands on the desktop, disregarding his work for a moment, for her.

"Well, you had been barricaded in here for quite some time, or off roaming the countryside...I hadn't seen you and merely wanted to check in. How are you, Uncle Antony?"

He chuckled heartily, reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose as was his habit, as if he thought that too much laughter might shatter his stern reputation. "And here I thought none would miss me..." he trailed off, watching the way she sat, so composed. "I'm fine, dearheart...Just as always. And how are you?"

He had heard someone whispering about an affection the young woman held for a certain vampire, Marcus Trellan. He wondered if those rumors were true...And if she would tell him in her own time.

[Danae Walker]

"My dear, I do believe it's far too late to worry about such a thing as that. You and Raelin have me wrapped 'round your fingers, after all."

When he looked at her that way, she couldn't help but wonder what was passing behind those sea blue eyes. They were the color of secrets, the color of truth, and the color of a legacy intertwined with the threads of centuries. It made her smile, just thinking of him, his heritage, and all those things he knew that he had shared with them. "And you wouldn't have it any other way," commented Danae finally, one dainty foot rocking back and forth to the beat inside her head.

"I'm fine, dearheart...Just as always. And how are you?"

Dearheart...No one else in this formidable world would use such a pet name, she thought. No one but Uncle Antony Piers. "Oh, I'm...I'm fine, Uncle Antony," she said and gave a nod, perhaps to convince them both. Sometimes, she didn't feel fine, with the constant questions that went unanswered about that mysterious day her parents died, or those whispers she could hear when she closed her eyes at night. All those things...and then him, the one who saw her as only his resourcer, to her knowledge.

"I'm just fine..."

[Antony Piers]

A hearty chuckle erupted from once-sealed lips as a twinkle began to cleam within his seagreen eyes.

"And you wouldn't have it any other way."

"Touche, my dear...Touche," he said with an affirming nod, watching the poetry in motion that was Danae Walker with a fond, yet fading smile.

Her words, her demeanor...All of her screamed that there was something far more complex than inadequate resourcers and new recruits swimming within her mind.

Suspicions confirmed, he supposed...He knew, for certain and from experience, that only matters of the heart could make a person, normally so steadfast and focused trail off that way.

"One more 'fine', Danae, and I'll be forced not to believe you..." Though his words held a hint of sarcasm, there was a firmness that could not be missed.

Though hardly cold-hearted, he knew that love had no place in MSI...It never had. It only brought heartache and dark secrets, skeletons of a past.

[Danae Walker]

"One more 'fine', Danae, and I'll be forced not to believe you..."

She smiled at that, a smile forced and veiled, then shrugged her shoulders like she would never normally do. Antony put her on the spot, and that unnerved her more than it should have.

As a resourcer, she always knew how to avoid confrontation and mask her emotions....but not with Antony Piers who knew her, unfortunately, inside and out.

"I really am okay, Uncle Antony...Just lots to do and less than enough hours in the day."

Wasn't that her usual response?

[Antony Piers]

Body language is a Mendecant in itself, a storyteller that has been around since the beginning of time. Antony knew that though Danae spoke confidently, her mannerisms told him all he needed to know, that something, however far under the surface, was bothering her.

"I really am okay, Uncle Antony...Just lots to do and less than enough hours in the day."

He gave a slow nod, clasping his hands before him and resting his chin on the plateau that his curled fingers created. "I see..." responded Antony slowly, wondering when such secrecy had ever come from his Head Resourcer. "Well, whenever you deem my worthy, my child, I'll be right here and willing to listen."

A slight pain rose from his heart. Did she not trust him enough to tell him what the others seemed to already know? Or did she worry more for the vampire in the midst should she solidify the rumors he had heard in whispers down the hall.

"Miss Walker...Marcus Trellan...Ah, now there's a story," he had heard them say.

[Danae Walker]

"Well, whenever you deem me worthy, my child, I'll be right here and willing to listen."

She offered a half-hearted smile and gave a simple nod in return. "You're worthy, Uncle Antony...There's just nothing to tell, nothing to say."

Danae could tell he knew something, just from the way he watched her so closely, more astute than normal as he stared. She smiled at him again, rising from her seat and folding her hands behind her back.

"I'm afraid I must be off," she told him, knowing that if she did not leave soon, she just might be pouring her heart out in minutes...No one knew the true degree of the things that bothered Danae...No one except Raelin. "I'll be seeing you soon, won't I? To discuss the new resourcers?

[Antony Piers]

"You're worthy, Uncle Antony...There's just nothing to tell, nothing to say."

He gave a slight nod to her, accepting her words for what they were. Sometimes, he was able to forget that the bright eyed, innocent child had grown up...While some of her innocence remained, and on the days when the wind toussled her hair, the child he raised would sonmetimes break through...

But today, sitting before him now, he saw the woman she had grown up to be. Another nod off acceptance, and he gave her a smile, promising to be there should she ever decide that he would be her confidante again.

"I'll be seeing you soon, won't I? To discuss the new resourcers?"

"Of course, my dear..." he agreed, standing as she did and walking around the desk. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he looked into her eyes and could nearly see the warring in her soul. "I'll come to you this time..."