as much as valentine enjoyed getting his hands dirty, revelled as bones snapped, and skin split beneath steady fingers, he knew that his talents were better suited for the kind of destruction that left no physical mark. no scars, no bruises, just pure, unadulterated, chaos. the third man shrivelling up before him on the floor as he pressed his back up against the wall would be treated to just that. david rosen was one of them. his power was hardly useful, true, but it made him sympathetic to the cause. though that wasn’t to say that he agreed with their methods and fully subscribed to the extremes that would be necessary to ensure their kind’s ascension to positions of power. but that was what the power of persuasion was for. rosen was an excellent politician; eloquent yet brash when the time called for it, he just needed a little re-wiring to be the exact kind of soldier that they needed. && rewiring was something that valentine had grown quite skilled at. 

    valentine gave camille room to work over the two others as he let his eyes screw shut, focusing his energy on sliding through thoughts and synapses like a knife through warm butter. he rewrote, edited, warped, anything he needed in order to make the man more pliable. to make him a gladiator who’d stripped himself of his white hat and was ready to get down and dirty in the trenches when it was required of him. when he was done having his way with him, the man was unconscious. he would be for several days; the process was quite intrusive and valentine was hardly what you’d call gentle.  he brushed his pants off as he straightened, turning to what was left of camille’s victims as he brought a hand down to rest on her shoulder. he didn’t need to tell her enough was enough - the mere thought alone would be suggestive enough to still her motions. with her chest heaving and that wild look in her eyes, it reminded him of something so primal, so fractured, that were he capable of feeling anything he might have reconciled a likeness in it. her darkness complimented his own; it was why she’d been drawn to him hadn’t it?  

                 ❝ while i didn’t care for the begging, i’m disappointed to see                                              you both rendered so speechless. i expected more from you.  ❞ 

 with a flourished hand gesture he snapped their necks and watched as limp bodies fell to the floor, a sigh escaping between chapped lips smeared with blood. he brought a hand up to wipe it away, turning to face the woman standing beside him as he stepped closer. there were merely inches between them now, his hands settling at her hips as his thumbs dug roughly into the skin. while she was nothing but a warm body with a tortured mind to him, that would never stop him from revelling in the spoils of their victory. even with alarms sounding throughout the building and the threat of capture lapping at their heels, he pulled her into a crushing kiss - tasting salt and the metallic tang of crimson staining their lips and poisoning everything they touched. it was a bruising kiss, designed to destroy and burn and never to cherish. it was who they were; who they’d become to survive. it was fire and ice and everything in between. 

                                         it wasn’t  E N O U G H,                                                              but it would do. 

her grip was tightening on the necks of the politicians with every passing moment, waiting for the perfect time to snap their neck and let them die for what they had done. what they had continued to do after she was rescued. their organization was relentless and camille was tortured until she was screaming every single night, never sleeping but waiting in the shadows for her time to get revenge. her blood was always pumping, ready to attack when the moment was right. the alarms in the building came into focus as valentine’s hand touched her shoulder. she fell from the deadly trance, releasing the hold on their necks even a little bit as she listened to her leader speak. his voice was always so soothing and brought her back to her place but that’s not what camille wanted. she was furious that her hands weren’t the ones ending their lives but she was not going to be defiant and killed for betrayal. 

her fingers were tingling with the remaining power in her body and hungry for something, anything. she was glad to be pulled into a soul sucking kiss with the older male. she craved his kiss when she couldn’t have it and used his son to fill in the gaps when he wasn’t interested. she was never looking for a partner in valentine. she enjoyed the heated, hate filled sex that happened between the two of them, allowing it to release the anger that swam through her veins and settled into her brain from another life. camille was on the path of being a killing machine and this was the first step. valentine had allowed her the opportunity to experience the feeling that came with ending another life. the kiss was merely a congratulatory gesture, pleasurable but meaingless. it felt like something camille could get accustomed to regularly. lifting a hand to run through the back of valentine’s sweat filled hair, camille kept her body close to his, nipping and biting for a taste, not wanting to let go even though their mission was far from over for the night. 

  as missions went, this one couldn’t have gone better. their soldiers stormed the building with valentine and camille leading the charge, bodies falling in their stead as they made their way to the main board room. it was almost too easy to cast the dispensable ones aside, a sick satisfaction settling within them as bones snapped and bodies broke as they crashed into the walls of the room. it was a pity, really; the carpeting was nice, plush and white. it was going to be a  N I G H T M A R E  trying to get all of the bloodstains out. 

     the instructions were simple. the three men cowering in the corner were theirs, and pangporn was to take the rest of them into the mail room and S H O O T anyone stupid enough to play the hero. as much as valentine wouldn’t have minded slaughtering them all, there’d be no story to tell with no survivors. 

❝ i’ll let you have your F U N with those two.  ❞  valentine spoke up after a moment’s pause, bringing a hand up to wipe away a trail of blood stemming from a cut on his forehead. no one had touched him, but a projectile piece of glass had nicked him when a plate glass window had shattered. { it was his own fault for being theatrical. it hadn’t been necessary. } ❝  i’ll join you in a moment. there’s something i need to attend to first. ❞  

        he stepped over a broken body on the floor as he crossed to the table, flipping through folders aimlessly without lifting a hand. when he found what he was looking for a smile stretched across his face, akin to that of a cat that had just spotted a plump, rather delicious, looking C A N A R Y.  the government had learned from their past mistakes and started keeping things only in hard copies; perhaps they’d thought that they weren’t audacious enough to attempt a recovery but they’d undoubtedly underestimated them. he folded the papers expertly and tucked them away in his pocket, turning to face camille as he approached her and her victims. 

there was something exciting about cornering a victim; watching them squirm, seeing the panic written so plainly across their features. it was a taste he’d grown to love && had never shied away from. there had always been a darkness billowing beneath the surfaces in him, a monster  H U N G R Y to bare its teeth, and there had been no one left to pull him back from the ABYSS when he’d thrown himself over it. he’d never looked back. not once. 

                                   ❝  well now, if it isn’t two of my favorite government officials.  ❞  

he knelt down before the two men, bringing a hand down to cup the first man’s jaw between his fingers as he squeezed - applying just enough pressure to hurt. 

                ❝  i know what you’re thinking. you’re begging any god out there to listen, to save you from whatever’s going to happen to you.  ❞  a smile stretched across his features, shark-like in its veracity. ❝  but the only god here is me. and i can assure you… no one will be coming to your rescue.  ❞  

the mission was easy. camille was to kill or decimate all those that got into their way, regardless of their power in the government or not. she was eager to accept the position as valentine’s lieutenant when the offer was given and spent a little more time training and seducing to get right where she wanted. she wasn’t one to charm people to their team. she would leave that to pretty boy sebastian. the brother and sister duo that valentine wanted on his side was friendly with an ex that camille was trying to forget. well, most times. the effort to seduce magnus back into bed with her wasn’t worth it when she was sleeping with a man like valentine. one with no feelings or connection other than sex. 

the sound of the bodies falling and shrilling screams coming from their mouths right before their lives were taken caused camille’s blood to rush through her body, her adrenaline in overdrive as she pushed the government officials to the side. she had two men in mind that she wanted to kill with her bares hands and was very certain they were in this meeting. everyone else was an easy target but those men were part of the group that ruined her life and tried to take her blood for an antidote to the mutant gene. as she cornered them into her cage, camille kept a hold on their necks, letting them squirm in her presence and beg for their lives, as she had many years before. there was no stopping her right now. she was going to show no mercy to their pathetic bodies, let them suffer in the pain that she had experienced. 

she perked up when she heard valentine’s voice, following the curves of his body, blood present on his hands and outfit, matching the stains on her own body. it was definitely a sight to see and a victory on their side. she stood back, letting valentine do his worse but not letting the choke hold be released. these monsters were not going to get away from this alive. not while she was standing around. she let a grin pass over her lips as she heard valentine confirm their demise, waiting and playing with the bodies as she was given the order to kill them, allowing them to die for nothing. 

       over the past decade, valentine had assembled an army ; an arsenal of gifted individuals, all willing to lay down their lives in pursuit of their ultimate goal. SALVATION. freedom for their kind. it was a kind of peace none of them had ever known, all  V I C T I M S  of a system that scorned, tortured, && murdered anyone who was different. their rage made them easy to shape, twist, into the weapons he needed them to be.  it was why they would win the war that had started in the shadows, their influence slowly trickling into the lives of those who hated them and wanted to see them gone. businessmen, professors, city councilmen - there was no LIMIT to the lengths that his influence had stretched, the webs he’d weaved to tangle themselves in the innermost workings of the system. but there was always further to go, another obstacle to ELIMINATE from the picture before their plan could really take hold… and in this case, it was their government. 

the strike team was assembled two city blocks away from the building. matthew had already disabled all of the security cameras { his technokinesis proving invaluable in accessing their systems, tearing down walls and walls of cyber security to allow them access } so moving through the corridors of city hall would prove nary an issue.  camille flanked his left as fangborn stayed to the right ; they were the two most useful of his lieutenants - the power negator and the reality warper. to their victims it would look like a shooter had stormed the building and slaughtered anyone who got in their path. valentine’s target was the mayor, a man who needed to be disposed of for his own candidate to ascend to power. the more powerful players they had in positions of influence, the easier their take over would be. camille’s tormentors being present in the building was simply icing on the cake - if anyone understood the need for vengeance, it was him. 

         the plan was simple. go in the back, take out anyone who got in their way, and make it to the boardroom where the summit was being held. once they were all dead, they’d be one step closer to a   R E V O L O U T I O N  that had been ten years in the making.   ❝  there is no room for error.  this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. don’t waste it.  ❞ he straightened up, motioning for the others to follow. this may have only been a spark but the inferno that would burn in its wake would torch anyone - and everyone - who got in their way. 

                           It was time.                                                         ROOK TO E5.

@xocamiille

camille had been waiting for this moment since the minute she was broken out of her shackles by valentine and sebastian years ago. it didn’t take long for them to convince her to join their side, to take down those that tormented her for a long time. the ones that she couldn’t get her hands on inside would pay in the end. she would make sure of it. she would torture them as they had tortured her but only worse because there were no powers on their side. she figured that’s where the fear came from with the human race. they were afraid of those that were superior to them and mutants were more common in the world than not. she could not wait to get her revenge. it wouldn’t happen doing the meaningless mission that valentine had assigned sebastian. that wasn’t her style. she wasn’t going to fake nice to anyone. she wanted to kill. 

standing side by side the leader was a high honor for camille. also sleeping with him as a plus as well. though it wasn’t serious, she felt a connection to the older male. she felt the vengence running through his veins when she touched him and the power surrounding him was strong as well. it made her body hot. she finally found someone that wanted to take down the world as much as she did. she wanted the mutants to rise and be the top race. she had to do her time, though. they had to wait it out. there was no rushing into anything that could have a negative reaction to the cause. hearing valentine speak to herself and his goon, camille could only nod her head. she didn’t need to speak for valentine to know she was ready. he could read it in her eyes. camille kept close to valentine’s flank, feeling her own power coursing through her veins as she prepared for the first battle. 

         it was striking how much of a resemblance camille bore to sebastian’s late mother. though he was sure his son had no idea how much. she’d died when he was young and valentine had raised him in his imagine so he couldn’t be all that surprised that their tastes were of a similar variety. but unlike his son, there bore no affection for the woman standing before him in his words or his touch. no, it was purely strategic - his heart wasn’t capable of making room for anyone other than himself. he’d made sure of that. but if stringing her along kept her loyal, kept her as a weapon to be stored in his arsenal for when the time struck, he’d do it. hell, the sex wasn’t terrible either. valentine was nothing if not a person who indulged when the mood so struck him.

  he nodded simply at camille’s words, though it didn’t assuage the doubt that burned at the back of his mind. if his intel was true, if there was a possibility that he had  t w o  other children out in the world unaware of who they really were, it was his responsibility to bring them into the fold. it was their birthright, after all. what kind of father would he be if the earth he scorched vanquished his children without ever having the opportunity to make the right choice? to choose the winning side? “i’d better not.” he replied cooly, handing her a manilla folder with all of the information he’d managed to dig up. his informant had been particularly helpful which was a first for him. robert lightwood was known for being relatively useless but for once he’d managed to surprise him; a feat that wasn’t easy. “i want them alive. both jonathan and clarissa. do i make myself clear? and preferably,” he clarified, eyes narrowed, “of their own volition. i trust that you two can be persuasive enough to get the job done.”

though it’s not normal, camille was used to the pain and angst that was her life. at a young age, her parents pushed her away from their normal, elegant lives. neither of them thought they would have a mutant child and denied her powers to their judgmental friends. camille learned to ignore the hatred but it just fueled the fire within her until she was old enough to run away and start a new life for herself. she found happiness in magnus but ruined that without a second thought when it was too serious. she needed a life that was more free. she was captured by government agents while leaving a club one evening. ones that had gotten word of her powers and her useful they could be the humans. she spent years being a test subject, wasted away in her cell as they tried to find a cure for their so called problem. she vowed since that moment to ruin all of their lives when she got the chance. she had the chance now. she owed her life to valentine morgenstern and she was going to fulfill his wishes. and mess around with him in her free time. just the perks of the job. 

valentine was one that camille looked at for her future. she didn’t want to ruin anything that could lead to the mutants being in charge of the world. their population was much larger than the humans understood. “you won’t. i’ve never disappointed you thus far.” she wasn’t sure about sebastian but she could say that truthfully. camille managed to be successful with every mission that valentine had given her. even the menial tasks. their next one would be quite challenging but camille wasn’t going to back down. they needed more soldiers on their side. they needed valentine’s other children. “you make yourself perfectly clear. it just so happens that i’m familiar with a few of their friends. it won’t be too much trouble. a load of idiots they are.” she smiled, holding the file behind her back as she nodded at their leader. “i hope to be rewarded in the best way when i succeed.” 

      “it’s not about knowing you, or knowing your strengths.” valentine pointed out, resisting the urge to scowl at the attempt at an affectionate nickname. his veins had been plunged with ice many decades earlier and nothing but irritation remained in its place. camille was a loyal servant and meant something to his son, hence why he kept her around, but any affiliation he had with her outside of the cause was strictly strategic. { not that he’d ever let on his true intentions - no, he’d never expose his hand. } her powers would prove to be invaluable when they inevitably came face to face with those who opposed them - who looked to stop their movement in its tracks - so keeping her close at hand was in his best interests. “actions speak louder than words, camille. you know this.” his grip was painful as he crossed the room and took her jaw within his hand, the nail of his thumb pressing in just rough enough to leave a mark. 

women. he’d learned, were easily susceptible. throw a little charm at them, a wink or a few scraps of attention, and they’d be practically eating out of your hands. if you threw in a little affection they sometimes even confused the shift of power to be in their favor. it was amusing, really, and he revelled in it. he let go of her jaw, fingers ghosting over the fading marks left behind as he brought a hand down to rest against the curve of her shoulder. just enough to keep her wanting more. “sebastian will want to jump in with both feet - he’ll strike early, like he has something to prove. your job, my darling camille, is to keep him on his leash. you’ll only get one shot at this… && you don’t want to find out what happens if you fail.” his eyes flashed, though his touch remained gentle; a stark contrast. if he wanted their plan to succeed, wanted to flawlessly execute his plan, he would need both of them at the top of their game. if they failed, well, they would be smart not to come back empty-handed. no one crossed valentine morgenstern and lived to tell the tale. 

camille had been through a lot over the past few years. she broke a few hearts, ended up in a research facility and escaped thanks for valentine and his son sebastian. it was a mess and she was not happy about being doubted by someone that she worshipped. valentine morgenstern was a visionary. he had a dream and he was going to make sure it was run smoothly and world domination was going to happen. camille found her way up the chain and had snuck her way into his bed. a very high honor. she knew she couldn’t screw up this plot if she wanted to stay on his do not kill list. she wasn’t going to allow sebastian to screw it up for her, either. glancing up at valentine as he said her name, his fingers sending shivers down her spine. he was so evil but it turned her on so much. if she could have it her way, she’d be jumping him right now. alas it was not good timing. “our actions will prove that we’re worthy of this assignment. sebastian and i can take care of it. we’re on your side at all times.” 

she glanced over at the blonde, nodding with a fake smile. “right, sebastian?” she lifted a hand to touch the other’s shoulder, allowing valentine to see the slight affection between the two of them. “sebastian won’t attack under my watch, not until the moment is right. we will retrieve the others unscathed.” she nodded along with what she had said. unscathed for now was what she really wanted to say. they would be gone if they disagreed with the plans over time. each one of them. even if valentine didn’t want to rid the world of the humans that tried to take away her powers, she would. in due time, of course. their end was coming. she glanced up at the older male, lifting a hand to rest on his chest. “you don’t have to worry. i promise.” 

         the warehouse was quiet. it wasn’t unexpected - he’d told them to be discreet.  over the years, the circe had grown. what had started as a group of his close friends and associates rallying to change the world had become a movement that went further than anyone could have ever imagined. business owners, political activists, criminal masterminds - they were just a handful of the individuals they’d collected over the years as they grew and flourished in the shadows. a weed that polluted flourishing gardens, wrapping its stem around anything beautiful and watching it shrivel and  d i e. 

                  they’d done their waiting.       it was time to emerge. 

“good. you’re both here.”  he didn’t need to see his son and camille to know that they were present, their mental signatures as familiar to him as his own. he leaned up against the desk as he waited for them to come forward, arms crossed loosely over his chest. “it’s time.” he continued, straightening up as the projector clicked on and whirred to life, slides shifting behind him as he stepped out of the way. “we’ve been hiding in the shadows for far too long. it’s time we stepped into the light, show the world what we’re capable of.” he paused, a malignant smirk twisting cruelly across his features. “what you’re capable of. if,” he paused, “you’re up for the task.” it was more of a statement than a question, eyes boring into the two of them. there was no resisting his orders && he knew that they wouldn’t be stupid enough to start doubting themselves now. no, valentine had groomed his followers to accept his word as law; his son and camille would be no different. after all, they were united - fighting for a common goal, to see mutants rise to their rightful place to the top of the food chain where they belonged. this was the natural progression of their movement, the next move in an ongoing game of chess. the humans simply didn’t know they were playing. 

@xocamiille​ @eldestmorgenstern​

when camille had run into a group that worshipped valentine morgenstern, she thought she found her savior. for too long, she was hiding her powers from the world and enough was enough. she had had it with the rules of society and rules in general. that was overrated. working behind the scenes in the circle was kind of her happy place. she could play with her powers and overtake the others to prove she’s strong enough. also, she got to mess around with two pretty good looking men. it was truly heaven in this terrible world for her. people to torture, a world to overthrow. mutants would rise again and she would be on the winning side. 

walking into the warehouse after receiving valentine’s call, camille kept her arms crossed against her body as she approached their leader. she had been working with his son, sebastian for a while now and knew that was the best place to be. next to the second in command. literally sleeping in his bed every single night. it was perfect. though, sometimes she couldn’t stand him and thought back to when she dated men like magnus. ones that worshipped her unlike men like sebastian but that was another story for a different day. with her eyes focused on valentine, she nodded her head. “of course we’re up for the task. we wouldn’t be here if that weren’t the case. we’ve been training and plotting this moment for a while now. it’s our time and we’re going to take it. don’t you know us better than that, val?”