chapter 22 : Marcel's Empire

He arrived in Louisiana and drove to the town of Monroe where he saw something that surprised him.

On a big billboard he saw Lenny's photo for an election campaign, he was in fact the mayor of the town and it put a smile on Harper's face.

Leonard Summers, a vampire over 130 years old was the mayor of Monroe so he was curious to meet this old friend.

The fact that Lenny looked a bit older really intrigued him as well. 

 This evening, Lenny was at home with his wife in his arms and near the fireplace when they heard a suspicious noise in the kitchen, Lenny stood up to look, being on guard but saw nothing except a piece of paper that said "I know what you are." 

 "Lydia, it looks like we have a problem..." Lenny said as he returned to his wife but saw her completely silent as if paralyzed with fear while Harper stood nonchalantly in front of her.

 Harper: It's been a long time, Leonard...

 Lenny: HARPER ?! It's really you… ?

 "In the flesh my old friend…" Harper gave him a smile and Lenny came to hug him.

 Lenny: It's been so long. Why did you disappear like that ?

 Harper: It all bored me and I wanted to see the world. Besides, I had an argument with the originals.

 Lenny: I don't know what you said or did to them but Klaus threatened to massacre the whole gang, it was his brother who dissuaded him because he feared that it would attract your wrath. Ah, my bad manners, I present to you my wife Lydia.

 Harper: She's a witch.

 Lenny: Yes, I don't know how you guessed but she is indeed a witch.

 "It's nice to meet you, Lydia…sorry again for scaring you." He said as he kissed her hand.

 Lydia: There's no harm, it's an honor to meet the regulator.

 Harper: The regulator?

 Lenny: That's the nickname the witches gave you in the old square. They knew that the balance of the truce and the system of prosperity of New Orleans came from you. The most informed vampires know who you are and that there is a vampire who can stand up to the originals, who respects other communities and doesn't harm innocents.

 Lydia: It's thanks to you that wolves, witches and vampires were not only able to get along but above all prosper there. It became obvious when you disappeared.

 Harper: Were you there?

 Lenny: Lydia is almost 100 years old now, she uses a powerful spell to significantly slow down her aging.

 Harper: Oh! You are really gifted !

 Lydia: Unfortunately it came at a cost. I am condemned to infertility until I die.

 Harper: You were planning on having a child with a vampire?! It's biologically impossible, we are infertile too. Adoption is still possible , you don't need to be a parent to be a mother.

 Lenny: So, you're back.

 Harper: I'm only here for a visit. I want to know why you are mayor and how you deal with public opinion about your unchanged appearance.

 Lenny: Lydia takes care of my appearance. An illusion spell on me that wears off after several hours but since Lydia is my personal assistant she renews it. Marcel had the idea of ​​not maintaining his control in New Orleans but he wants to make the entire state an empire that he'll rule from the shadows. He asked us, the former district leaders, to take control of the main cities in Louisiana.

 Harper: And with other communistes ?

 Lenny: He's doing the best he can to maintain the system you created. Fortunately, he is a good leader and he has our loyalty because unlike the originals he did not abandon us and watched over our prosperity as well as that of innocent humans.

 Harper: Are you loyal to him ?

 Lenny: Absolutely, he's a bit like my big brother. Javier and Sadie are also under his command but for Arthur and Dutch, they are dead. Dutch had tried to take power over Marcel and you know Arthur, he followed him but they underestimated Marcel, his strength and intelligence allowed him to beat his opponents. Marcel didn't kill them directly, it was Sadie who killed them.

 Harper: Looks like I missed a lot. Can I sit down? We are in your house.

 Lenny: Don't talk nonsense, make yourself comfortable Harper. By the way, how did you get in? The house is in Lydia's name for her safety, I meet the vampires under my orders elsewhere.

 Harper: I have developed several tricks over time. Isn't it too difficult to manage them? They have a restraining spell ?

 Lenny: No, they don't. In fact, this was Marcel's genius because he carefully selected the people to turn. We favored candidates after several tests to test their humanity and loyalty. Once transformed, Marcel himself moved to guide them, teaching them to dominate their instincts, to feed on innocents without putting their lives in danger but to only kill criminals. Fortunately for us, humans have become more and more numerous and execrable, there is no shortage of criminals to kill. By being present for them and knowing each of their difficulties, Marcel had their total loyalty.

 Harper: He was always very smart and I guess it must have taken a long time. For Arthur and Dutch, what exactly happened?

 Lenny: You warned us that becoming a vampire would increase certain traits in our personality. Dutch after the departure of the originals knew that Marcel was not as strong as them so out of pure greed and thirst for power, he turned his vampires against Marcel and Arthur followed him. Arthur Morgan was not a soft man you know, he was my friend and one of the rare white people to ignore our differences at the time but he had an easy hand in killing and especially when it came to following Dutch this part of him it was horribly aggravated.

 Harper: Let me guess, they killed more and more humans and started creating an army of new vampires?

 Lenny: I see you know them well, Marcel attacked them before they plunged the city into chaos. He managed to unite the witches and even the wolves against them and it was Sadie who killed Dutch before finishing off the already weakened Arthur. It didn't make us happy but too many innocent people were going to pay the price, especially Sadie, Dutch and Arthur were the ones who saved her at the time. Since then, Sadie and Marcel have been a power couple in New Orleans.

 Harper: What about the others?

 Lenny: Javier manages the city of Baton Rouge, Karen looked for you for a long time but she came back and manages Lafayette, we rarely see each other but she gives excellent results and apparently she watches over the descendants of Tilly and John, witches apparently.

 Harper: Thank you for all this information Lenny, it's really nice to see you again my old friend.

 Lenny: Harper please be our guest. You'll do us a great honor, truly.

 Harper: This won't bother your wife ?

 Lydia: No, on the contrary. It is truly an honor to welcome you.

 "So I'm going to stay a little, thank you for welcoming me into your home." Harper said smiling and spent several days with the couple.

Lenny introduced him to his lieutenants, there were a few vampires from their era who recognized Harper and greeted him with respect .

To thank Lenny, he performed the aging ritual on him and after three days during which his body had aged almost 400 years, Lenny had become much stronger and this gave him much more confidence to lead his men.

 Harper left them to rush to Baton Rouge where he met Javier with whom he celebrated before giving him the same gift as to Lenny and Javier was delighted beyond words, he was an excellent leader and very versatile who had the loyalty of his men as well as the friendship of Marcel.

 Finally, he arrived in New Orleans even bigger than that of our reality because its prosperity since their time had attracted people.

Racial segregation also contributed greatly because New Orleans under their influence didn't take racial differences into account and gave all types of workers opportunities to prosper, not to mention security.

Harper was delighted to return to this place, the city was beautiful and naturally clean, the people seemed to live peacefully under Marcel's rule in the shadows.

He had the mayor and the human administration under his total control sometimes through terror and other times through charm.

Marcel had perfectly assimilated both Klaus's and Harper's methods to shape his reign for almost a century.

 Of course, there was still a struggle for power with the other factions even if the wolves were a little further behind.

The Crescent Clan had had tremendous internal struggles and experienced tragic losses. A wolf named Richards Xavier Dumas had mounted a rebellion to massacre one of the ruling families, the Labonair family and thanks to Marcel's information network, he was able to intervene in time to prevent Haylay's parents from being killed when she was still a baby.

 They had to leave the area for their safety while the wolves remained under the leadership of the Gerreras and the Kenner family (Jackson's family).

They had weakened but Marcel had done nothing against them, he could easily annihilate them but as long as they respected the rules of the alliance, there would be no problem.

 Harper finally arrived at the Mikaelsons' old residence where Marcel and Sadie now lived. When they saw him, they were particularly happy to see him again because that same evening, Marcel organized a big party in his honor.

They were in the VIP area chatting and drinking in an extremely good mood when with a little worry in his voice, Marcel started asking Harper questions.

 Marcel: So why are you back after all this time? Klaus was pissed and told me that you almost killed Kol, he almost attacked your team if Elijah hadn't calmed him down.

 Harper: Lenny already explained to me what happened when I left. I indeed attacked Kol under the gaze of his brothers and sisters, neutralized by my magic.

 Marcel: Why?

 Harper: He attacked one of our servants, these women worked for us of their own free will, they also fed us and I gave them my word that no harm will ever come to them but this kind of savage was brought out of his comatose by Rebekah and starving, he killed one of these women.

 Sadie: You attacked the most powerful and feared vampires in the world because for a single innocent soul.

 Harper: He made my word seem like a joke and his brothers got in my way even though I warned them. They may be original vampires but not gods free to do what they want. (to Marcel) I can sense the worry in your voice, you are aware of my strength, that I am someone far too dangerous to fight and you fear that I covet your kingdom.

 Marcel:…

 Sadie:…

 Harper: I already have everything I need, my friends. Marcel, I am quite proud of the work you did, of the time and patience it took you to establish your empire over Louisiana, I'll never envy someone who put in so much effort to get what he has today. In fact, I came to reward you…

 Marcel: (stands up) Reward me...?

 Harper: That's right, reward you. You have shown your leadership qualities by appropriating the best that you observed in the Mikaelsons and me to be the respected emperor that you are today. The problem is that others will covet what you have built on our foundations but you don't have the strength of the rank you have reached. A vampire over 500 years old could claim this position, he would have the strength to defend his men.

 Marcel: So stay here, if you are around and you help me then nothing and no one will be able to threaten us or our men.

 Harper: Unfortunately, my friend, I'm based elsewhere at the moment, but I'm still going to leave you something that will help you greatly. For now, let's enjoy this happy reunion "Marcelus" .

 "It's been a long time since anyone called me that…" Marcel responded happily before taking advantage of the evening and talking about more cheerful subjects and introducing Harper to his close friends.