Chapter 9: Chapter 8: Penthouse Meeting

Xenia and Arthur sat across from one another in fine leather chairs within the penthouse suite. Her beautiful yellow dress overflowed from the borders of the chair and onto the floor as she tucked her legs up onto the chair from underneath her dress and said, “It’s so nice to finally meet you in person Arthur. How many months has it been? Six?”

He smiled and nodded, “Yes, just over six months since we began working together.”

Xenia praised him, “I am genuinely impressed with what you have been able to accomplish in such a short time. Having proved yourself, I am prepared to support your ambitions, political or otherwise, in any way I can.”

Arthur’s ego swelled hearing such words from such a powerful figure in the world, “Before we discuss my ambitions, I think it prudent to outline the landscape of the political environment here in my country.”

Xenia motioned for him to continue as she was intent on listening to him. He then said, “Hammond and Morrow are not simpletons. They know this is all a chess match, but they don’t know how deep it goes. Your biggest risk is their uncovering of our relationship.”

Xenia replied, “You do your part, I’ll do mine. And they will never find out.”

Arthur raised his finger, “Now don’t be so sure Princess BloodStar –“

Xenia raised her hand and said, “You may call me Xenia.”

He nodded, “Don’t be so sure Xenia. The two of them consider any and all possibilities. With or without evidence, they have likely imagined this very scenario as we speak. The only things that may change are their degrees of certainty as they uncover additional evidence. While we can be sure they won’t uncover any additional evidence. We can also be sure, they are prepared for every scenario. They will not be surprised by anything we do.”

She laughed, “Oh! Is that so? Will they not be surprised tomorrow? I wager they will be.”

Arthur sternly replied, “Maybe in the moment, yes. But not after they have digested all of the information.” He paused and then continued, “They believe you to be recruiting allies for a world in which you do not fall under Empress Victoria’s protection. They believe your enemies will come for you.”

She scoffed, “Yes, I am so weak and helpless without Empress Victoria. Quite the contrary, I will have never been more powerful once she passes.”

He maintained a serious tone saying, “Yes but will you be able to withstand the collective might of the world if they decide to attempt to extinguish bloodline powers from our world permanently?”

She didn’t immediately respond as she frowned. She eventually replied, “It would be a tall task, but my answer would be yes. It is hard for you to imagine, but my family does not know defeat.”

He threw his hands up and said, “Then why all of this? Why enlist me? Why court the United States?”

She said, “The United States needs my protection more than I need theirs. The Master Families of the world will never relinquish their rule to a democratic or republic rule again. While the United States exists as an example, there will always be the possibility that their people revolt against them in favor of a different form of rule.”

Arthur rebutted, “That may be true, but why would you have an interest in helping the United States then? Again, why all of this?”

Xenia played with her hair as she said, “I am shaping and forming my future world, Arthur. No one likes to be ruled by someone they don’t know. When I become the ruler of the United States and other regions of the world, the people will be cheering for me as I overthrow their armies.”

Arthur nodded, “I see. And if you plan to take over the entire world… then why target the Sage Master Family for conflict?”

She smiled and said, “You surely know your history, don’t you? My vendetta against them is one of revenge. Although Jarek Heraklinos may have fought my mother to a standstill in battle, it was the Sage Family who ultimately forced her into diplomacy. A scenario that I refuse to let play out again.”

Arthur shifted in his seat uncomfortably, “So… you look for international approval to carry out your revenge against the Sage Family?” He paused in deep thought to himself thinking, “She is several steps ahead of me. She really isn’t one to be trifled with.”

He looked up to her and said, “The Sage Family still holds great power in the world, and they still hold a great bond with the Heraklinos Family after working so closely together in the Great War. This won’t be enough to isolate them from their allies.”

She stood up from her chair and said, “This isn’t meant to. It is but one chip to their armor.”

He quickly said, “And what of the Heraklinos Family? What are your plans with them? They are a much more powerful family in terms of combat ability and formidability on the global stage.”

She walked around behind him and began to rub his back saying, “Shhh. That’s enough about me. Let’s talk about you.”

His back had grown stiff from the anxiety over meeting her in person for the first time. Her presence was incredibly imposing; however, the touch of her hands on his back gave him instantaneous stress release. He suddenly felt very calm as he said, “My ultimate ambition would of course be… well it would be the office of the Presidency.”

Xenia gasped, “The Presidency?! Oh yes, I like… no, I love that idea. Tell me what you would need from me to make that happen?”

He hadn’t thought of the details regarding this, but he gave her broad ideas, “I would need an incredibly popular opinion from the population, support from my peers, and most importantly… an unseemly amount of money.”

She continued to rub his back as she said, “Well gosh. I think I can help with all three of those things. I am rather gifted at influencing groups of people, and I have an immense amount of resources ready to lend you at a moment’s notice. You just say the word.”

He closed his eyes in ecstasy from her back rub as he dreamed of becoming President of the United States. He thought to himself, “If all goes according to plan, this will be the easiest political advancement in history.”

She suddenly stopped rubbing his back to his dismay as she said, “I am going to change out of this unwieldy dress and into something a lot more comfortable.” She walked out of sight into her enormous dressing and bathroom area, and she called out to him, “You know. Arthur. I treat those loyal to me very well.”

Arthur listened as he heard her shuffle around in the other room. He knew she treated those loyal to her well. Very well. Since they had entered this mutual relationship, she had propelled his political career through avenues he didn’t even know existed. Of course, she had gone through a labyrinth of financial transactions to transfer him clean money. She also found it quite easy to mask her otherwise illegal donations to his political campaign. It was no surprise that the heir of the BloodStar Empire would be immensely wealthy; however, what did surprise him was her apparent full understanding of the U.S. legal system. She employed lobbyists, attorneys, campaign directors, and many more positions within the country that he and no one else knew anything about, and she utilized these chess pieces flawlessly. She had shown great talent, and he was quite confident she would be successful at any long-term goals she had in mind.

He thought to himself, “Yes, this is the beginning of a revolution that I do not want to be on the wrong side of.”

She reappeared with her hair up in a bun wearing a plush, waffle-patterned white robe with her family insignia embroidered beautifully upon it. She sat back down across from him and hugged herself as she said, “That is so much better. I love a good robe at night.”

She then leaned forward and said, “As I was saying, I treat those loyal to me very well. And I am not just referring to money and power. I can give you life with my healing talents. I can give your loved ones life. I can even give you the power of life.” She leaned back in her chair and said, “Well. For a few uses anyways. Not permanently.”

Arthur furrowed his brow at this monumental news, “You would share such a powerful tool in the world?”

She smirked and said, “Like I said, I treat those loyal to me very well.”

Arthur was floored. The privilege of living a longer life free of disease was priceless. For him to wield this power himself would give him an enormous amount of influence in the world. He questioned her further, “How do you accomplish such a thing?”

She continued, “Just as other ki users can coat items of interest with their ki such as Ashrok’s nightmare ki. I too can imbue ki albeit with much more limitations. My ki has always been a bit less stable compared to other users of my aptitude. However, my family has developed a stone which holds my healing talents quite well. We call it… The BloodStone.”

This was all news to him, and his mind swam with the possibilities this stone could unleash. As his mind raced, she continued to detail the stone, “I can imbue enough ki for 3 complete healing uses. Use it on yourself, use it on your family, use it on your constituents, or use it on someone that offers a good moment for your political campaigns.”

She could see his eyes filled with extreme interest and lust for such a stone. “I could have this stone readied and presented to you at my departure from your country in front of the other lawmakers as a token of my appreciation for facilitating my visit to the U.S. It would also serve to show the others what a magnanimous ruler I can be.”

He snapped out of his thoughts, “But that would mean in two days? And you have no ki reserves remaining. You completely spent it all today at the hospital. Surely you can’t have recovered so quickly?”

She gave him a devious smile, “Recovered? I was never depleted.”

He was speechless. He thought to himself, “If she wasn’t depleted, then how much ki did she have left in reserves? She’s a monster with her aura if this is true.”

She once again ripped him from his thoughts saying, “I know what you’re thinking. Just how much did I have left in reserves then? To put it simply, I could have healed every single patient in the hospital before even feeling it. Healing requires very little aura from me because it is natural to my blood. In fact, most of my techniques involve blood one way or another, and they all use very little ki. As a trade-off, however; my techniques outside the realm of blood drain my reserves much faster than an average user’s ki.”

Arthur nodded, “That is certainly befitting of what some, including myself, would call the most powerful and gifted ki user of our age.”

She stood from her chair and said, “All of this to say, Arthur, that if you remain loyal to me, you will become a very powerful man. One of the most powerful in history.” She then yawned and said, “But as a beautiful princess, I do still need my beauty sleep.”

Arthur stood from his chair, and said, “Thank you for having me. The gala was a smashing hit, and I look forward to serving your Empire for many decades, hopefully centuries, to come.”

She outstretched her hand to him, and he leaned in to kiss the top of her hand as she said, “Such a gentle kiss. A true gentleman. I look forward to giving you everything your heart desires.”

She then turned and made haste to her bedroom as she called out to him from afar, “Nero will see you out. Goodnight, Arthur.”

He nodded and exited the room to find Nero waiting for him. His heart raced at the sight of Nero who was an enormously muscular and powerful man in both physical strength and ki aura. Nero motioned to him, “I will see to your safe return to your transportation Senator Davis. Right this way.”

Arthur followed along behind Nero as he made his way down to his limousine. He was ready to get some rest for the big day tomorrow.