When Demitri Maximov had awoken from his century of meditative slumber, building his power to levels undreamed of in the Makai, everything seemed poised for his ascendency. Berial, the previous ruler was no longer, and his daughter was known to be a useless dilettante with no interest in ruling. Indeed, there were none who could challenge him.
The demon star, Pyron, and the nihilistic incubus, Jedah had been annoyances, but they had proven, ultimately, to be inconsequential. The former was interested only in destruction, while the latter, in spite of his duped allies, was simply insane.
It was Berial's daughter, Morrigan, who had proven to be the true challenge. Far from a useless fop, she had proven to be a warrior fully capable of standing up to himself in battle. The administration she had inherited from her father was experienced, skilled, and completely loyal.
It was immedietely apparent to Demitri that any struggle between the two would inevitably stretch on. A situation which would definitely favour her superior temporal power. Undaunted, he had chosen to seduce her to his side as a partner, perhaps even an equal one.
As Morrigan had demonstrated little interest in actual rule, this would leave him in de facto command, as well as gaining Morrigan's superlative administration.
In the period immedietely following the business with Jedah, it had seemed that his plans had achieved fruition.
Perhaps he should have known better than to seduce a succubus.
The torrid affair had dissolved as quickly as it had formed. Demitri had attempted to salvage the situation by attempting to slay Morrigan and claim her position, but found that her powers had grown dramatically since the last time that they had truly fought.
Where before, they had been peers, Morrigan's power now was stronger than anything that he had ever faced. Far stronger even than Pyron.
Thoroughly humiliated, Demitri Maximov had fallen into a deep and introspective depression.
It was only when B. B. Hood, having become the Slayer a couple years after the Jedah affair, and trained fully to incorporate her new abilities, nearly slew him that he truly recovered.
In truth, the both of them had nearly slaughtered one another, and only survived because their loyal allies and minions had nursed them back to health. That was the only time that Bonnie Bulleta Hood had been so incautious.
The experience had reawakened Demitri's drive and ambition. Since amassing great personal power had proven to be insufficient, and it was unlikely that he could overthrow or conquer Morrigan and gain her temporal power, he chose to amass his own, on Earth.
Demitri also chose to pursue one of Jedah's strategies, recruiting capable and powerful followers who could help take care of matters more difficult than the common bureaucrat could.
Thankfully for his ambitions, Demitri Maximov had never suffered from the ego and self-esteem problems which had led other vampires to create either mindless thralls or sullen, browbeaten slaves.
Instead, his few minions were absolutely loyal to him, but otherwise unaltered. While they could question or seemingly defy him, they could never truly conceive of opposing him or obstructing his plans. A fact of which he had well appreciated, as it allowed him to properly review many of his potential strategies.
Over the past decade and a half, Demitri Maximov had begun to extend his webs into the shadows of power on Earth, gaining the temporal power that he had lacked. In the process he had also began seeking out those with the potential for power and grooming them appropriately.
He was certainly aware of the Sailor Senshi. Indeed, he had actually observed the entire final battle against the Dark Kingdom personally, prepared to intervene had it been necessary.
While he had not perceived the suppressed makaijin heritage in the Senshi, he had recognized the sheer, untrammelled might possessed by their unprepossessing leader. A power which exceeded even Morrigan's. Ultimately, however, he had chosen to avoid making a play for them. The risk of failure was simply too much greater than the potential benefits were worth.
Where others might allow him to survive, the Senshi had a policy of not only eliminating those who dared challenge them and any who might avenge them, but the very powers they worshipped as well.
Their future successes, even against Pyron's ultimate progenitor, Chaos, had only underscored the wisdom of his decision.
So it would come as no surprise that Demitri's reaction to the revelation of his child's existence would be to scout assay the situation both thoroughly and multilaterally.
Hired investigators, loyal (if human) agents, lesser vampires, and even a few major subordinates were all sent into Azabu-Juuban to determine exactly what was going on.
Hopefully, some of them would manage to avoid the crossfire between the Senshi and anyone else long enough to find out anything useful and report it. A risk which had vexed others in the past.
Finally, Demitri himself prepared to investigate personally. It would just take a few more days to wrap up his business here...
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(Posted Mon, 10 Feb 2003 01:44)
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