Welcome to a secret world that hides beneath the surface of the mundane. It is a world of urban legends and rumors, a world of astonishing deeds and epic battles. Meet its enigmatic inhabitants. Learn their secrets, their desires, their beliefs, their hopes and their dreams. Listen to the tales of pain, injustice, compassion, kindness, courage, cooperation, love, sacrifice and hope. Meet the guardian angels, the warriors, the philosophers, the priests, the phantoms and the wanderers. But remember – once you enter this world, you can never truly leave it.

DRAGONS OF FOREVER: Guilietta’s Curse

I sat on the top of the world, protected by one of the best security systems ever conceived. Every decision I made affected millions of people. I had an intricate web of resources and connections that gave me the insight that most people couldn't even dream of possessing. I had over six centuries worth of experience to fall back on.

Yet there I sat, staring out the window, watching the setting sun. My paperwork was scattered across my desk, untouched and unread. A cup filled with water taken directly from the Swiss grottoes rested by my chair, undisturbed. Occasionally, more paperwork was brought in. I couldn’t bring myself to care.

What have you done to me, Kat? What have you done?

Ever since my first death, I labored to find a way to rein in my emotions, so that nothing, no matter how horrible or heart wrenching, could faze me. I could allow myself to feel pity. I could allow myself to be empathetic. I could even allow myself to be angry. But there is only so far I could allow myself to go. No matter what happened, I couldn’t allow emotions to drive away my reason.

Then, one day, a lovely, infuriatingly impudent girl named Catherine Chase tripped her way into my life.

My mind drifted back to a different evening. Catherine and I were having dinner. At the time, we’ve only been together for nine months. Yet as I looked at her, I realized that if I wanted her in my life, I couldn’t afford to keep my secrets any longer.

As soon as we finished our dinner, I led her to my private library. I ordered the servant to get us some fresh water. This wasn’t going to be easy for either of us.

As she sat across from me, her eyes filled with eager curiosity, I told her that everything she knew about my past was a lie. I wasn’t merely Remus Knowell, a young entrepreneur from ‘out of town’. I was born in the fair city of Verona, in the year One Thousand Three Hundred Twenty Six after the Birth of Christ. To the Cappellati family, my arrival was a welcomed blessing. At long last, my father had an heir. With great hopes in mind, he named me Romeus.

As I grew up, I surpassed all his expectations. No matter what science or art I tried my hands in; success never seemed too far behind. Yet there was one thing I couldn’t grasp. The subtle intricacies of courtship and seduction, which my friends mastered with disturbing ease, remained elusive to me. Oh, there were a few meetings, a few nights of cheap sheets and hasty pleasures, but it was nothing permanent. And, as much as I loathed to admit it, they usually involved golden coins and trinkets.

Then, three weeks after my twenty-first birthday, I met Guilietta.

She was a Montecchi. I knew all too well that, to put it mildly, our families didn’t get along. But on that fateful day, it didn’t seem to matter. From the moment I saw her, I knew that nothing in Heaven or Earth could possibly compare to her. I was completely and utterly in love. And when I found out she was in love with me, I was so elated I was ready to defy the Pope himself if I had to.

For months, we met in secret, savoring every moment we spent together. Countless times, we made plans to leave Verona. We could never go through with them. If we left Verona, we would’ve turned our backs on everything we knew, everything we held dear. We just couldn’t do that.

Then, one day, it all came to a tragic end. In one of the most misguided duels I ever fought, I killed a member of the Montecchi family. I was sent into exile. After pulling every sting and calling in just about every favor, I managed to make it back to Verona. I begged Guilietta to come with me. She had her doubts. The burdens of preserving the family honor weighted heavily upon her. In desperation, I conceived a plan that was as outlandish as it was daring.

During my exile, I heard about a potion that could put a person in a sleep so deep it could be mistaken for death. It took some effort, but I managed to procure it. I gave it to my beloved, instructing her to take it before going to sleep. From what I understood, the potion’s effect lasted for three days. When it would wear off, I would come by and retrieve Guilietta.

Little did I know was that the potion was nothing more then a common poison.

For days, I waited by her coffin, praying that she would wake up. My prayers were never answered. Eventually, I realized the truth. In despair and anger at the cruel fate, I stabbed myself through the heart.

On that day, I died my first death.

Several hours later, I came to. Every part of me felt rejuvenated. All my scars and wounds were gone.

I didn’t know it then, but my death awakened the power that lay dormant within me since I was born. For the rest of my life, it would heal my injuries, protect me from ravages of disease and shield me from the onslaught of time itself. It kept my memories sharp and clear. It gave me insight into the souls of those around me.

Later, I learned that were others like me. Some were remarkably old. Others were comparatively young. To the rest of humanity, they were immortal. Yet even they couldn’t avoid the Grim Reapers scythe. A simple decapitation was all that was required.

”Since then, I tried to live my life to the fullest,” I finished, “I can’t say it was easy, but in the end, it worked out quite well, don’t you think?”

Catherine stared at me incredulously.

“Prove it.” She demanded.

I could see in her eyes that she didn’t need any proof, but I knew that she would never admit it, so I humored her. I slashed my wrists. They healed before a single drop of blood could touch the carpet.

I told her about my role in founding Meridian City. I recalled it in precise detail, like it was yesterday.

For what seemed like an eternity, Catherine just sat there. Then, she said that she needed to run some errands she forgot about. She promised that she would call me the next day.

I knew better.

“Mr. Knowell,” a jarring, yet pleasant voice interrupted my thoughts, “Ms. Sage wants to speak to you.”

I tried to regain my composure.

“I am sorry, Laura,” I said, “What did you say?”

“I said, ‘Ms. Sage wants to talk to you’.”

“Did she tell you why?” I asked

“No.”

May was a very capable, intelligent young woman. She was very involved in the world’s elite social circles, which gave her access to very valuable information. Yet, for all her virtues, had an obnoxious habit of calling me about every trivial annoyance she experienced throughout the day. Her call could be important. It could also be completely superficial. Normally, I would take a chance and, if necessary, indulge her, but on this day, I wasn’t in the mood.

“Tell her to call me back in two hours.” I finally said.

“She won’t be happy about this….” Laura pointed out.

“You have my permission to hang up on her.”

“Thank you, Mr. Knowell, but I don’t have a death wish.”

“I’ll take full responsibility,” I assured her.

“Thank you. Because, you know, I really, really don’t want to end up coming to work tomorrow all corpsified and stuff. I mean, don’t get me wrong, dead people are cool and all, but they make lousy secre…”

I hung up.

Laura was a good secretary. She could juggle hundreds of phone calls and sort through mountains of paperwork. She made keeping impatient businessmen at bay seem like the most natural thing in the world.

Yet sometimes, I couldn’t help but wish she came with a ‘mute’ button.

Now, where was I?

Weeks passed. It took her some time, but eventually, Kat made peace with my true nature. We began seeing each other again. Yet, despite her reassurances, there was still something between us. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. And, as much as a loathed to admit it, it drove me out of my mind.

Meanwhile, Kat began attending the police academy. My schedule was already busy. With Kat gone most of the day, we barely got a chance to see each other. So when I learned that she would finally have a few days off, I decided to do something special.

I hired a private helicopter to fly us to Siberia and drop us off in a heavily forested region east of Yenisey River (app. 92 degrees latitude and 66.8 degrees longitude). If my memory served me, there was a small cabin about two kilometers to the north-east. We’d have some hiking gear and enough food to last us a week. The helicopter was ordered to come back and to pick us up precisely seven days later.

Most women I knew would shriek at the thought of spending a week in the middle of a forest, miles away from hot showers, shopping malls and ATM machines. Thankfully, Catherine was nothing like them.

“When can we go?” she asked as soon as I finished explaining my plan.

“How about right now?”

She smiled: “Sure. Let me get my jacket.”

Twenty minutes later, we were in the air.

We slept through most of the helicopter ride. While we hiked though the forest, I concentrated on finding the cabin. Kat tried her best to be helpful, which, in her case, involved making stupid jokes and singing off-key. I found it oddly comforting.

When we reached the cabin, we wound up spending an hour unpacking our supplies and cleaning up the mess. Thankfully, the last person who used the cabin left some firewood, so we had one less thing to worry about. I spent another half an hour cooking us some dinner. Back then, Kat couldn’t cook anything that wasn’t preserved or frozen, so she passed the time by reading “A Taming of the Shrew.” Judging by the cover, Kat swiped from my private library.

I made a mental note to find a way to give it to her as a present.

After the dinner was finished, I set up a makeshift table and invited Kat to “dig in.” She tried to make fun of my cooking, but she soon realized that she wasn’t fooling anyone.

Some time later, we sat by the fire, reveling in each other’s warmth. There were no noisy executives, no decency-impaired paparazzis, no power plays, no intrigues, no obligations…. We were just a man and a women sharing one moment of perfect beauty.

“You know,” Kat said suddenly, “I’ve been thinking.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, your story seemed awfully familiar. Did Shakespeare swipe your diary or something?”

I chuckled.

“We met back in 1586. William was a simple merchant who specialized in selling grain. He hoped that I would help him to expand his business. After looking over some of his papers, I realized that he possessed an unparalleled mastery of written word. Unfortunately, his education left much to be desired, so he had no idea how to use his gift. I agreed to assist him in his business ventures as long as he let me tutor him. To help him along, I told him a few stories and asked him to find a way to improve them. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“Wow…”

“So, which version do you prefer?”

“I dunno.” Kat sighed, “I’ve always hated ‘Romeo and Juliet’.”

“Why?”

“Because, it’s just so… lame. Romeo said a bunch of glorified pick-up lines and, voila, Juliet is all like ‘take me, take me hard’. If some guy tried that with me, I would’ve called the cops.”

I laughed.

“There was no balcony,” I explained, “Shakespeare made it up. He thought it would be more dramatic. As for ‘glorified pick-up lines’ I spent days perfecting them. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make 14th century Italian high verse rhyme? I don’t think so.”

Kat chuckled.

“You know,” I smiled, “I was thinking about serenading you, but if you think it’s nothing but boring pick-up lines…”

“Oh no, please, serenade away. Just don’t do it in my backyard.”

We looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“You know, I think Shakespeare didn’t do you justice,” Kat said as she stifled her giggles, “Sure, you’re a sappy romantic, but you got other great qualities. You’re smart. You’re funny. You can kick lots of ass if you have to.”

“And I am a good cook. Never forget that.”

“I couldn’t if I tried,” Kat rolled her eyes.

Our lips brushed together. Next thing I know, we fell into each other’s embrace, indulging in one of the truest, simplest expressions of unbound affection. Whatever reservations I still harbored ran for their lives.

There were still many frontiers we hadn’t reached, frontiers I yearned to explore with Kat, but for time being, this was more than enough.

Then, just as suddenly, Kat pulled away.

She looked troubled.

“What about Juliet?” she asked quietly, “Was she anything like Shakespeare described?”

“It’s ‘Guilietta’,” I gently corrected her. “She was more responsible, more self-conscious and less impulsive then his Juliet, but for the most part, William captured her quite well.”

“Do you miss her?”

“I used to,” I admitted. “At least at first. As years, decades and centuries passed me by, the pain became easier to bear. Things changed. I changed. Eventually, I found love in the arms of other women…”

“But Guilietta was The One, right?”

“I…”

RING!!!

By the Holy See! I wasn’t ready to deal with this. I needed time to sit back, reflect and maybe, just maybe, think of the future. But the world wouldn’t even give me that.

I reached for the phone.

“Rem, this is Maya,” a voice on the other end of the line grumbled. “I’ve been trying to reach you for the past ten minutes, but your secretary keeps hanging up on me. Thank God I knew your direct line.”

“The secretary be dealt with,” I deadpanned. Maya didn’t seem to notice.

“Good,” she said. “Now, can you please secure the line? I don’t want Sammy Choi to get a…”

“Already done.”

“Oh…Ok. You sure?”

I decided to ignore that question.

“Right… Anyway, I have something important to tell you. It’s about an honored member at a certain prestigious club.”

A sharp chill raced down my spine.

I re-routed the call through several equatorial satellites and added two extra levels of encryption. Just in case.

“Tell me everything,” I ordered.

And she did.

By the time our conversation was over, whatever hope of peace and quiet I had left were blown to smithereens.

Kat was in even worse danger then I thought.

“Anyway, “ Maya prattled in the background, “Enough about that. Derek Nigma came by my office today. He is so cute I could just…”

I hung up, put her number on a 4-hour block and sent a “quick-freeze” virus to her cell phone. Just in case.

I leaned back in my chair, struggling to reign in a pounding headache. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.

Catherine wasn’t going to be happy with me. As a matter a fact, she would probably be mad enough to reveal a few of my secrets. It wouldn’t be anything major, but it would be enough to keep my lawyers occupied for months. But despite all that, I could not just stand by and let Catherine walk into something that might get her killed or worse…

I didn’t dare to finish that thought.

“Mr. Knowell?” Laura inquired over the speakerphone, “Is this a bad time to tell you your one-a-clock appointment is here to see you?”

I smiled. At last, some good news.

“Actually, my dear Laura, your timing couldn’t be better. Send them in.”

I accessed the room controls. With a few clicks, a pair of comfortable foldout chairs popped out of the secret compartment in the floor. With another click, an automatic water purifier came to life and spat out a few portable water bottles.

After all, it’s not every day that had a privilege of hosting legends.

In the Immortal community, few names invoke as much controversy and passion as Ricardo Vengeros and Mei Peng (or, as they preferred to call themselves nowadays, Richard Drake and Miyoko Takenouchi). Their first death came at an early age, which, I suppose, was their greatest strength. Few people, mortal or immortal, would believe that a pair of youths who looked no older then eighteen were born in the time when Christopher Columbus was still learning his primers. Over the course of four centuries, Richard and Miyoko developed a bond that withstood the tests of time, death, betrayal and prejudice. They reached a comfortable, almost subconscious understanding that never ceased to amaze me. Apart, they were merely skilled martial artists with considerable experience in espionage and infiltration. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with.

And, in the end of the day, they were among the select few I could truly trust.

Several minutes later, the pair entered the office. Although they tried to look defiantly cheerful, their postures betrayed a certain degree of weary stress. As usual, Richard arrived in casual attire. Miyoko wore an outfit that would send the elite European fashion designers into ecstatic seizures. According to my security system, their clothing concealed fourteen different weapons. At the glance, I could only see four.

I made a note to ask them about it later.

“Hey Rem,” Miyoko waved. “Sorry we’re late. A certain cop bi…”

Richard put a firm hand on her shoulder.

“We ran into some trouble,” he explained. “Nothing we couldn’t handle.”

Miyoko shot him a dirty look. Richard looked back, unfazed.

“Whatever,” Miyoko finally relented.

“If this is bad time…” I interjected.

“No, Rem, it’s OK,” said Miyoko. “Richard and I will discuss it later.”

Richard smirked.

With a defiant glare, Miyoko went to get the water bottles.

“Anyway,” Richard continued. “ I take it this isn’t a social call. Do you have a mission for us?”

I took a deep breath. Something told me this wasn’t going to go smoothly.

“Not exactly,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“What kind of favor?” Richard inquired. A hint of worry crept into his voice

“I need you to keep an eye on someone,” I answered, “without revealing your presence. I hope it doesn’t sound too challenging.”

Miyoko shook her head. “No, not really.”

“So, who’s our charge?” Richard asked.

“Catherine Chase,” I said.

“WHAT!”

Miyoko, who had been sipping on her water bottle, coughed violently.

“You are out of your mind, Rem!” Miyoko screamed as soon as she regained her composure, “There is no way in hells we will ever do anything for that tsigu! ”

I didn’t realize it right away, but halfway through the conversation, she switched to her native Cantonese.

It took a lot to get Miyoko to speak her native language.

Richard handed his beloved a box of Kleenex. She used them to freshen up.

“Sorry, Rem,” he said, “We’re not interested.”

I shook my head.

“Richard, listen to me.” I pleaded, “ I am well aware of the animosity between you and Catherine. Normally, I wouldn’t even think about advising you about your private quarrels. But circumstances force me to deviate from my usual policy. Catherine got herself involved in something dangerous. Unless you assist me, she might not escape unharmed.”

“Good,” Richard replied dryly. “If you ask me, you should just let her do what she wants. Maybe she’ll learn something.”

“Damn straight.” Miyoko added.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Richard and Miyoko loved life. Having taken quite a few of them, they understood how fragile and precious it would be. They might joke about it, but they would never willingly allow an innocent person to be killed.

“Seriously, though,” Richard continued. “I know that you care for Catherine. I know that there is big bad world out there that most mortals are barely aware of. But you, out of all people, should know that you can’t protect her 24/7. She needs her space. Besides, Catherine Chase is a smart, capable woman. If you tell her about our world, she’ll be more then able to take care of yourself.”

“That’s the problem,” I replied. “ I told her about our kind. I told her about the Masquerade, the Darwin Project, Enigmatic Angel, Spooks, Seers, Masters of Unorthodoxy, everything...”

“Wait a minute!” Richard exclaimed. “You would’ve never told that to anyone, unless…”

“See, I told you they were together!” Miyoko piped in.

“You got it from Sammy Choi!” Richard countered sarcastically. “What was I supposed to think?”

“Hey, be nice. ”

“I am sorry, mei-mei. Truth hurts.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I interrupted. “Catherine left me six years ago.”

“Really?” Miyoko wiped her smile off her face. “What happened?”

“I’ve been trying to figure that out for the past six years. She just packed her bags and left. She didn’t return my calls. When I tried to visit her, she went out of her way to avoid me.”

“She probably needed time…” Richard suggested.

“Time for what! Everything was going perfectly. We didn’t fight. Hell, we barely even argued. We were going to get married, for God’s sake. Everything was set up and ready to go. But no. For some reason, that just wasn’t enough.” I walked over to the bookshelf on the right side of the room. “Goddammit, this is not how civilized people do things! They talk to each other. They discuss their problems. They don’t just run away in the middle of the bloomin’ night without even bothering to give me a bloomin’ call!”

“So she got cold feet,” Miyoko snickered. “Who could blame her?”

“What are you implying?“ I asked darkly.

“Face it, Rem,” She explained. “ You may be good at the whole gentlemen’s gentleman thing, but when it comes to long-term relationships, your record really, really sucks! What did you call it? ‘Guilietta’s Curse’?” I nodded. “ Every time you get anywhere with someone, mortal or immortal, something always, and I do mean always, goes wrong.”

Once upon a time, I promised Guilietta that I would love her forever. But, as I once told Catherine, things changed. While Miyoko’s assessment of my relationships was rather bleak, she had a point. Every time I came close to finding true happiness, something always got in the way. Mortality. Death. Jealousy. Greed. Misunderstanding.

Sometimes, it truly felt like Guilietta was stalking me from beyond the grave, punishing me for breaking a promise I couldn’t bear to keep.

“See, here is what I think happened,” Richard said as he sipped from his bottle. “You told Catherine about us. You told her about parts of history that, for one reason or another, didn’t quite make it to history books. But Catherine is a very inquisitive, very persistent woman. She wanted to know more. You figured that she was asking about stuff she was better off not knowing, so you dodged the questions. Then, you took measures to ensure she’d never have a reason to ask them again. Does that sound right?”

I nodded.

“Now, you’ve known Captain Chase for a lot longer then we did,” Richard continued, “but as far as I can tell, she hates beings lied to. She hates being manipulated, even if it is, quote-unquote, for her own good.”

“So what are you saying?” I asked. “I should have told her everything? I should have let her make stupid mistakes?”

“It would’ve been a good start,” replied Miyoko.

“But… I know better. She shouldn’t have to make the same mistakes I once made.”

“You know,” said Richard, “when I was a young boy, I asked my mentor: ‘what is the secret of true love?’”

“Love is a fire,” I said in Italian, “burning brightly within the vast forest. It is up to you and your beloved to keep it lit. You must do it carefully, lest the fire grows beyond your control. You must do it harmoniously, lest the fire overwhelms you both. You cannot keep the fire burning all by yourself, but together, you and you beloved will be able to sustain it for the rest of your lives.”

When I first met him, Richard was just a foolish, naïve boy who was just beginning to come to grips with his immortality. He looked at me like I was an angel from above.

Lord, how times change.

“You forgot it somewhere along the way, Romeus,” said Richard. “And you suffered for it. For your sake and the sake of whoever you wind up with, I hope that you never forget it again.”

“Richard?” Miyoko piped in.

“Yeah?”

“I appreciate that you’re trying to help Rem and all, but we gotta go. My gig starts in an hour.”

“Crap,” Richard glanced at his watch, “you’re right. We better get going. Listen, Rem, something tells me that you and Catherine got lots of issues to work out. You need to take your time. But whatever you do, try to remember that sending covert operatives to spy on your ex isn’t going to help.”

“Besides,” Miyoko added.” It’s been a long, long day. Last thing I want to do is run around the city, chasing after pig-headed police captains. Richard is going to take me to my gig. Then, we’re going to come back to our apartment, lock the doors and have hot, sweaty, mind-blowing sex, and there is nothing anyone or anything can do to stop us. Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” I smiled.

They went out the door, leaving nothing but a trail of whispers in their wake.

I leaned back in my chair.

There was so much Richard and Miyoko didn’t know. So much they didn’t understand.

Yet, they shared something that I’ve been missing for quite a while now - strong, boundless, unconditional true love. I never realized how much it benefited me – and how much it’s absence weakened me.

I made a note to give Richard and Miyoko a bonus for their next anniversary.

After all, it’s not every day that a teacher gets a privilege to learn something from his student.

They couldn’t understand what I saw in Kat. I suppose I couldn’t blame them. In the past, all my lovers had something in common with Guilietta.

But when Catherine came along, I discovered, much to my surprise, that I was falling in love with someone who was nothing like my first love. I began to wonder if I really needed another Guilietta to make my life complete.

I never told that to Catherine, did I?

And now, she will never know.

A pop-up window flashed on the computer screen.

You have 1 high-priority message in your secure Proteus account

“Open it.”

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To: GM-Druid01(a)proteus . com

From: RedRider3(a)justicecon . com

Cc: GM-Druid38(a)justicecon . com

Subject: Yep-Leung accounts

Grandmaster Druid.

You’re never going to believe what I saw at Warden central…

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To be continued…