Love What You've Done with the Place {Dracula}

[Vlad Dracula]

An amused smile played at Dracula's features as Hades went on about why they couldn't trust each other. That was refreshing, at least. Most people who tried to recruit Dracula or offer their assistance in his plans didn't have the slightest idea what his plans were, or they had their own ideas and really just wanted his abilities as a stepping stone to get there. The things Hades was saying were much more to his liking - Hades wasn't trying to convince him to trust him, even, just pointing out the ways they could benefit each other. And he wasn't wrong, not really.

"I have no desire to work with any other Olympians," he assured Hades. Honestly, up until Hades had rolled in here, Dracula hadn't even known there were any Olympians who wouldn't automatically throw themselves on the side of the 'good guys,' and he certainly had no desire to hang out with all of them and find out. There was just too much going on there. They were all related to each other, and even if they did plenty of fighting, it was all family squabbles, and he had the distinct feeling that they would all still die for each other. No, he had no interest in putting his hand into that cookie jar, thank you.

"I have done my recruiting in very specific directions. Loners. People with talents they haven't fully comprehended yet, people who already feel cast aside by the main body of people here. That's one of the things that makes this school such a good place to start; there are just so many young people with untapped potential who haven't yet had time to develop any pesky ambitions of their own. There is perhaps nothing more tiring than having to manage two conflicting sets of ambitions just to get one job done."

[Hades]

Hades nodded as Vlad agreed not to work with any other Olympians. Honestly, he couldn't see many of his brethren wanting to side with the vampire. Maybe Artemis, if she was feeling a little more vengeance and over the hunt thing. Hermes might try to weasel his way out of a deal, but he was far more likely to try working both sides of the fence, a position that Hades could at least respect.

As he could Vlad's recruiting. "Sounds good," he said, nodding, "you scoop up the Gothic outsider types, I can nail the desperate. See, these poor young people,' he grinned, "they're in need of such advise. This world's all new and bright and strange and filled with," Hades gasped, fluttering a hand near his chest, "magic! And they're trying to figure out a way out of their just awful situations. So what better way than making a few deals? Particularly with a god that seems to have answers."

Hades chuckled, adding a wink. "Vlad, bud, I started the deal with the Devil thing. Satan's been reading my Spark Notes." He sipped a drink, a little smoke rising from around his lips.

[Vlad Dracula]

"Exactly," Dracula said, pleased that Hades had obviously picked up on the same thing he had. There was so much possibility here, so many bright-eyed young people who were just waiting for someone to mentor them, mold them into the greatness they could become. "I'm curious about something," he said, swishing his wine in his glass and looking over to meet Hades' eyes again. "That deal with the devil bit you mention, it's funny you should mention that, because..." He hesitated just slightly, because this wasn't something he mentioned often, if ever, because as far as he was concerned it was almost always nobody's business but his own.

"Some years ago," he went on, "I made something of a bargain myself, with someone who called himself the devil, in exchange for many of the abilities I have now. Some of them, of course, are just the standard set of gifts one receives when becoming a vampire. But along the way, myself, and members of my family, have had dealings of this sort, in exchange for increased strength, greater dominion over the dead, greater power over the minds of the living. There has never been much I was not willing to trade for the right amount of power. I wonder if perhaps we have interacted before, or if you have a counterpart somewhere..." He didn't say it like it was a real question, more as if he were merely musing over things long gone by.

"At any rate, I am curious," he went on, "When I change someone, from what I understand, their soul is forfeit. And souls are really of no use to me, but I have a feeling you might be more interested in that than I." He took another sip of wine. "I don't know how one goes about collecting a soul, that is certainly your business and not mine, but when I begin to build my army, I think you ought to be there, in the event that you can...harvest the bits I'm not using, as it were."

[Hades]

Hades actually fell silent as Vlad kept going. He couldn't recall having met this guy before, but there were different reiterations of him. The idea of death permeated every civilization, after all. The Greek idea of death lasted and stretched for centuries and across most of the known world. So some bit of Hades extended all over the place. As for this particular deal, with this particular devil?

"Pretty sure if I met a guy as slick as you, Vlad, I'd have mentioned it," he offered noncommittally. No need to show too many cards, not for the moment. Wait and see what Vlad had planned; make sure they were aiming for the same end-game. The bit that followed was nice, of course, started them down that rosy path.

"Usually the souls get dumped somewhere," Hades said, waving a hand. "Got loads of them. But they can be raised again as a sort of temporary army, if it comes to that. Problem is that if you made some sorta deal, I can't touch the souls you pass on to the old guy. Last thing I need is to tick off some sort of other death god, and there are a few of us. But," Hades held up a finger, "if you get them to sign their souls over to me first, or aim for the ones I've got..." Hades trailed off, spreading his arms wide. Yes, their goals would align. And hey, Hades wouldn't mind having a few more Vlads running around this world. The shittier it got, the better he'd feel.

[Vlad Dracula]

"You might have mentioned it," Dracula said, shoulders lifting in a slight shrug as he took another sip of wine. "Or you might have kept it to yourself. I certainly don't divulge everything I know all at once, even when I am acquainted with a person." He looked down into his glass, as if he could see something in the dark liquid far beyond the moment they were currently inhabiting. "But no matter. That was centuries ago, and the person I had dealings with has not spoken to me since. It was never a promise of me harvesting souls for him, it was always rather vague and had much more of an air of future considerations." If the devil ever came back, Dracula suspected he would be expected to do his bidding, fight some unholy war, champion some dark cause.

He turned in his seat slightly, facing out towards the room a little more. "I wouldn't begin to know how to gather up a soul and hand it to you, I suppose that's not really the sort of thing that one puts in a jar and brings to dinner. I only know that when I turn someone, their soul leaves them, just as it would if they had died in any other way. I merely offer this to you in the interest of collaboration. If I am simply throwing away something that you could use, that seems wasteful."

He glanced back out at the various employees working the floor of the casino, and licked his lips. "It will be some time, I think, before that part of my plan comes into play. There is no need to rush into things. Time has always been on my side, not theirs, after all."