IC Contact (Genessia)

[lunarlegionnaire]

Hi, you've reached Marc Spector. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you ASAP.

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[lunarlegionnaire]

[It's about 8:30 in the morning when Marc answers. He's at his apartment in Stone Ridge, bacon frying in a pan and looking like he just took a shower. The surprise on his face gives way to a warm smile. This is a first as far as personal messages go.]

Hey, Azalea. Sorry, just got back from gym class. What's up?

[azaleafae]

It's all right. I was just wondering...do you know anything about someone who calls himself...Moon Knight?

[lunarlegionnaire]

[There isn't the slightest stutter or hesitation in his movements. Nothing to suggest fear or wariness at an inquiry like that. But he does look more fully into the screen with a somewhat grave expression.]

He's a vigilante. Someone who puts on a mask and goes after bad people.

[Beat.]

Why ask me about him?

[azaleafae]

Well...we met him the other night...some of my clan and I. When we parted ways, he wished us the blessing of Khonshu. I remembered you telling me that this... [She picks up the ankh she wears around her neck.] ...was also blessed by Khonshu. That's why I thought you might know something about him.

Actually...all I really want to know is how to contact him. I don't know if he owns one of these devices. We had made an agreement...but something came up...

[lunarlegionnaire]

Huh. That's him alright.

[His gaze moves somewhere out the window. It's clear he's choosing his words and thoughts carefully. He'd known it would come to this. Counted on it, in fact.]

...I'm gonna come clean with you, Az. But you have to promise me that whatever you hear stays with you. Okay?

[azaleafae]

[A secret? Azalea doesn't normally like keeping secrets, but this sounds serious enough that keeping it a secret may be necessary.]

All right...I promise.

[lunarlegionnaire]

[Well then.]

Moon Knight is from my world. I work for him.

[There's something in his eyes before he goes on. A man looking back into a life he'd rather forget.]

I was a mercenary years back. I didn't care who I killed for as long as they paid me plenty. But the one time I tried to do what was right, they gunned me down and left me for dead.

[It takes a little effort to meet Azalea's eyes. He's clearly not proud of the man he used to be.]

Moon Knight saved me and showed me another way. I've been his eyes on the ground since then, feeding him information and giving him the resources he needs to protect night travelers and claim vengeance for them when it's too late. He came here a few months after I did, and we were quick to resume our working relationship.

To answer your question: yes, he does have one of our videophones. It's keyed to mine; everything I say or do on this goes to him. If he ever uses them to reach out to people, it's always anonymous... and almost always at night.

[azaleafae]

[Azalea frowns at the story. She can certainly see the regret in his eyes when he does look at her. And in her eyes, he might notice the softness, perhaps in sympathy or understanding.]

I'm sorry...I don't know what to say... I am glad that Moon Knight saved you...

[Now she just feels...somewhat selfish to continue her own story.]

If you feed him information, perhaps you could pass this on to him for me? When we spoke the other night, we talked about going to Everglade on a regular basis for the dragons of my clan to resume their Passage...meaning to train themselves in battle. But...but now Fai has banned us from entering Everglade for a month as a punishment for killing those creatures. He told us that if it was humans that we had killed, we wouldn't have been punished because of that ridiculous law. That's really what we wanted to find out, so we had asked him about it.

[lunarlegionnaire]

[He doesn't find it selfish at all. There's visible concern as he listens. And... a little exasperation at how the law can be perverted to keep one from doing the right thing. Protecting people in this case.]

Sad to say, Guardian Flourite's just doing his job. That law was passed by the mayor himself, though there's reason to believe he was coerced into it.

[He leans back, digesting this new development. Finally, a sigh.]

You guys are lucky it was just a ban. I'm glad you got off easy, and I'm sure MK will be too. I'll let him know about this, though I imagine he won't be pleased.

[Seriously. Laws like this are exactly why he does what he does.]

...and I doubt this'll stop him either.

[azaleafae]

[Azalea sighs.]

I know he's just doing his job. I wouldn't ask him to undo it or anything. From my understanding, these laws are supposed to be fair for everyone. That's simply not the case with this one. Those creatures are free to kill whoever they please, and we're the ones who were punished for defending ourselves. How is that fair?

[Through her rant, Azalea looks like she may break down and cry. So she pauses for a moment to recollect herself.]

...As for the coercion, the person responsible for that is called Dracula. I heard things about him, but haven't seen him do anything evil...but there are enough people who speak out against him to believe that he has done some wrong in the past. I wasn't here when it happened, so I can't vouch for or against him.

Just before the law was passed, Dracula marched on the mayor's office with his army. The mayor claims that the nature of the visit was to lend his support, and free the office from control of the Guardians. Why would he need an entire army to do that?

And Fai had just barely entered office as Guardian when that happened. He didn't even have a chance to undo what the previous Guardian had done.

[lunarlegionnaire]

Come to think of it, why free the office from Guardian jurisdiction at all?

[He places a hand beside the screen, as if resting it on Azalea's shoulder. They have a Dracula back home too, and he'd already been told of this one from David Haller.]

Is it true there was a ban on necromancy before Flourite's tenure? Someone must've used that as a chance to get an even more ridiculous law passed.

[Ridiculous... but advantageous to the right people. Or creatures, in this case.]

[azaleafae]

That's what I'd like to know. The Guardians don't even make the laws...or at least they're not supposed to. So I don't understand why the mayor's office needed to be "freed" from the Guardians. Of course, if Dracula did coerce the mayor into making this law, it has to be because he had lost the election for the second time in a row. The timing is just too perfect.

[Azalea lets out another sigh.]

And yes...the ban on necromancy was Ted's doing. I don't know much about it, but it had caused quite an uproar in Everglade. I also don't know how Ted was able to make that law either, since he was just a Guardian. Unless he had also coerced the mayor into doing it. ...In which case, Everglade probably needs a new mayor...

[One that won't be coerced into everything...]

[lunarlegionnaire]

Or new neighbors who don't do any kind of coercing. That works too.

[A couple of fingers against his temple as he goes back over things he's heard about before his time. What he's about to ask runs pretty deep.]

What about the notion that the Everglade barrier runs on fear? If true, wouldn't it mean that Moon Knight and others like him are actually doing more harm than good?

[azaleafae]

[Azalea sort of shrugs on her end.]

I don't know anything about the barrier, really. But if it is true, then those like Moon Knight would be giving the night creatures something to fear...

[Assuming the creatures feel fear, of course. At least the ones that aren't the resurrected dead...]

[lunarlegionnaire]

[Fear of God, huh? His god, but fear all the same. A nod.]

And I suppose fear will always be there, with or without guardian angels watching over the residents.

In any case, the mission is to save lives. Being caught outside at the wrong time is no excuse to lose it.

[azaleafae]

Exactly.

Just make sure that Moon Knight doesn't get banned for being the guardian angel...

[She can't really see how they can keep her and her clan out of Everglade anyway, but she has no reason to go back either...not now, at least.]

[lunarlegionnaire]

Or worse.

[He doesn't know why he's thinking of the Superhuman Registration Act right that moment.]

Anyway... thanks for this. For what it's worth, you'll probably see him again. And I don't mean in Everglade.

[azaleafae]

[The little dragon manages a smile.]

I imagine he would show up wherever there's trouble, wouldn't he?

[lunarlegionnaire]

[A begrudging chuckle, like someone admitting there's some good in his overbearing boss.]

How did you know?

[azaleafae]

Well...he seemed adamant about protecting humans...and other innocents.

...Not to mention he left as soon as we heard a scream. He must have gone to help them.

[lunarlegionnaire]

[A smile.]

Spot-on assessment, then.

[And Lord knows there's plenty of people in need here. In all five cities.]

[azaleafae]

Hmm...I like to protect those in need as well...but Qubine...our clan leader...he prefers to only go after the things that directly threaten the clan.

[But that's not to say that that clan won't help when Azalea asks for it.]

[lunarlegionnaire]

[Looking after their own. They get it.]

Then you both know why our mutual friend has to be out there, regardless of laws or personal danger.