Hunter stepped off the plane and set foot on American soil for the first time in over a year. The man looked completely different from the one who had left. His hair, which before had been long in a ponytail was now very close cropped. In place of the Armani suits was the loose fitting and comfy white robes he now wore. The largest change was in his eyes however. No longer did they have the cold, uncaring look of a predator surveying his prey. Instead there was a warmness and shine to those silver eyes that had not been seen there in a very long time. Hunter was carrying a suitcase, but it wasn’t his. He’d come to the states with nothing but the clothes on his back. The case belonged to an elderly woman who had been struggling with it. Hunter had offered to carry it for her. Rather than hand it back to her right away he escorted her to the taxi ramp and placed it inside for her. She thanked him for his help before the taxi headed off.

Hunter smiled as the taxi disappeared round the bend. Getting thanked by strangers was still something new to him and it felt good. Having helped the old lady Hunter took a cab himself into New York. While most of his assets had been seized he still had a few million tucked away for a rainy day. He’d accessed one of the deposits before leaving Tibet and made arrangements over the phone. While he was no longer looking to rule the world he still had his organisational skills and setting this up over the phone posed no challenge. Giving the driver instructions he headed to his new home and place of work.

The Spiritual Balance was a great building. Its ground floor was about twice as high as normal and most of the walls were made of glass. There was a small entrance hall with a reception desk, some comfy sofas and oriental plants and symbols. Through the glass walls you cloud clearly see the other rooms. There was a training area for martial arts, a room for meditation, several smaller soundproof chambers for private meditation and out the back a beautiful oriental rock garden. Above was a simple apartment that was sparsely furnished where Hunter would live.

It was here that Hunter would start to make amends. Here he hoped to guide others in gaining the spiritual balance that he had found in Tibet. Despite the cost of acquiring this property he had enough funds remaining to hire a receptionist and afford to run this place for free. He would offer his help to any seeking spiritual balance for no charge. There was one golden rule in Spiritual Balance. No violence. While he would teach martial arts, it would be for balance and self defence, not to hurt others.

He had made sure that flyers were sent to the Mansion, Sanctuary and Mondragon Labs Medical. There were people in all three who would remember him. This would be his chance to start making amends. However that would have to wait until tomorrow. It had been a very long flight, and a cramped plane was not an ideal place to meditate. He could feel the strain of restraining his powers and needed at least two hours of meditation and then a good night’s sleep. The flyers would arrive tomorrow and he felt it quite likely that he would have visitors.

Hunter awoke the next morning feeling refreshed but a little apprehensive. How would people react to his return? He’d made a lot of people hate him. Still he’d come back to resolve that which he’d left unresolved. But before all that there were some more mundane matters to attend to. His new secretary had arrived. He’d hired Ellie after a few phone interviews. What that hadn’t revealed was that she was stunningly attractive. Her straight brown hair stopped just above her shoulders. She had a pale but not unhealthy complexion, striking green eyes and a phenomenal figure which the clothes she wore only accentuated.

“Hello Mr Antonescu,” she said with a warm smile as she extended her hand.

“Please,” Hunter said, shaking her hand as he returned her smile, “call me Hunter. I’ve had too many people call me Mr Antonescu. Now, it will be as we discussed on the phone, but today might be a little different. I suspect that I might get many visitors who want to talk to me rather than sign up for a session. Please just let them through, not matter how angry or hostile they seem.”

She frowned a little at this before smiling and nodding. “Of course Hunter.”

“Thank you,” Hunter said offering her another smile, “Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to meditate until the first person arrives.” He left Ellie to set herself up as he headed through to the meditation and sat down. Trying to clear his mind of his apprehension Hunter waited for people to arrive.

(OOC: I'm not positive on the details of the fliers so let me know if you need me to change anything.)

Meld held a flier in her hand for a place called Spiritual Balance. Upon the flier was information about different martial arts, one of her few true passions in life. Even before discovering that she was a mutant, Meld had spent a good deal of her time perfecting the art of fighting. But it wasn't the martial arts that really attracted her to this place; after all, she her fighting style had been forced to deviate from anything standard to such a degree that learning traditional martial arts was no longer terribly useful. It could be viewed as one of the few disadvantages to having clawed metal limbs, including an extra limb in the form of a tail that no human trainer could ever teach her to use and even few mutant trainers could properly conceive of. No, she had had to adapt her fighting style herself, with every new flesh meld she acquired. The disadvantage was obvious, of course, though there was an advantage in that as well, given that no one else fought exactly as she did.

But it was not the martial arts that had caused Meld to stand outside the doors of this place, flier in hand. It was the promise of meditation and the finding of spiritual balance that had attracted her to this place. That and the fact that the flier had been found at the Mansion itself, a place for mutants, which led her to believe that if whoever ran the place was not a mutant he must at least be a mutant sympathizer. Of course, even the most ardent mutant sympathizer might have problems with her given her rather violent and well known history against humans, so she was hoping that he was, in fact, a mutant of some kind. The name on the flier itself meant nothing to her.

Ever since coming to New York and discovering her passion for the mutant cause, Meld had been struggling with inner demons, or her inner monster as she liked to frame it. Her sense of touch was forever denied her and her emotions were stunted, to say the least, turned off almost at will when needed especially when her life was at stake. As such she had developed an unhealthy replacement, the one thing she hated within herself, an attraction to violence and the pain of others that she found increasingly difficult to live with. It was almost like an addiction, something that needed to be fed. To feel the pain and suffering of others was to feel and to feel anything was...something that she could not describe to anyone who felt normally, always. It was a substitute for touch and emotion, she knew that, an unhealthy substitute that she only barely kept reigned in and sometimes not even barely. So far it had been unleashed in such a way that she could live with it, but what would happen if it ever got out of control and she wasn't able to channel it in an acceptable manner? What then?

Standing outside in the steps, Meld suddenly came to the realization that she was procrastinating making her entrance. She might almost say that she was afraid, or at least apprehensive, about what she might find within which was ridiculous. What had she to be afraid of, after all, except perhaps finding the help she knew she so dearly needed? Worst case scenario it was a human run place that wasn't sympathetic to a "mutant terrorist" and she would be forced to leave. Best case scenario? Well, she didn't want to get her hopes up. Taking a deep steadying breath, she walked through the door and up to the counter. "Excuse me, I'm hoping to make an appointment to see Hunter Antonescu" Her tail eye blinked behind her. Even in a place like her natural weariness was too ingrained to get rid of.

Ellie was a professional secretary and as such her smile only faltered fractionally at the sight of the odd woman before her. Hunter had told her that he would be accepting anyone willing to obey his rule of no violence. While Ellie wasn’t anti-mutant, Hunter’s silver eyes gave him away as a mutant after all, this was a very odd looking one. “Welcome to Spiritual Balance,” she said with a polite smile, “Mr Antonescu currently free if you’d like to go on through.”

She motioned to the glass doors. With all the glass walls Hunter could be clearly seen meditating in main meditation room. He sat in the middle of the room cross legged with hiw and’s resting on his knees palm up.

If Meld noticed the slightly faltering smile of the secretary she gave no indication of it. It was something she was used to by now and, truth be told, she was used to a lot more serious reactions than that. She inclined her head towards the woman before walking through the indicated doorway.

Meld stood just inside the doorway watching Hunter, feeling unusually unsure of herself. She didn't want to interrupt the man, wasn't even certain what she would say when she finally did speak to him. What was she doing here anyway? How could she possibly think that someone might actually be able to help her? It seemed ridiculous now that she was really thinking about it. The sudden urge to turn and run in the other direction overtook her, yet she remained rooted in place, tail eye blinking behind her.

Shana had found one of the flyers for spiritual balance almost right after waking up. She had spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out if she should go and then if she even tell anyone she was leaving. Deciding not to Shana quickly dressed in a tight fitting black tank top and a loose skirt, slit up both sides for ease of movement. Braiding her long blue hair tightly behind her finnaly she was ready. Then her mind began it's next assault, was she even worthy of this guys time? Would he just toss her out if he found out about her secret? The fear began to smother her, until finnaly she punched her full length mirror, the shattered mirror, cut open her hand in several places, to full of misplaced rage to care, Shana then chucked a hairbrush at her window, cracking it before she collapsed onto her bed and cried at her own failure to be able to make even simple decisions because of the grip fear had upon her.

Steeling her resolve, Shana ripped a length of black fabric from a silk blouse she had and wrapped it tightly around her wounded hand. Looking at her reflection in the remains of the mirrior, shana not for the first time considered just giving up and trying to be male again, but Shana quickly figured she would fail that as well. So depressed and unfocused she became that random objects in her room began flying about, she cringed as her lamp shatters leaving only a broken bulb, some glass and the shade. Various pieces of make up colored the walls as compacts exploded open and lipstick smashed on the walls. Then Shana did something she had not done in some time, just screamed.

Catching her breath Shana looked at her room to see what her temper tantrum had left in tact, it was easier then counting what had not been smashed. With a sigh and a few more mental lashing against herself she left, cringing as a picture fell from her wall adding more shards of glass to the floors already large collection. She ahd to do this, she ahd to try and be confident, maybe this was what she needed and if not at least maybe she could get closer to it. Leaning against the wall she let out a sigh and looked down at her cursed body, the sham of an image she had constructed for others to see, but in her mind she knew it was fake, just pretend.

Noting her failing to steel herself against her own mind she forced herself to leave and soon was outside the gates of the mansion. Looking at the Map again, Shana soon became quite lost despite looking right at the map. With a number of more swear words against herself Shana asked for directions and was soon pointed in the right direction though Shana was sure the sneers of those nearby were all directed at her. Even so she forced herself to keep moving, several times she considered a taxi but then the memory of what happened when she first reached america began to haunt her mind. If she took a taxi it would happen again, how could people not tell she was just a boy playing at being female. Taking a deep breath she constrained her thoughts, she was female and she went through this every few months. Inner peace was why she was going what she needed so she did not try and jump out a window one of these nights.

Looking up she realized she was at the building, it was rather beautiful really. But could it really help her, she hesitated more and then made herself go incide. She saw another mutant at the desk and lined up behind her explaining she was here top make an appointment as well. "I am here to make an appointment, as well" she said ina meek voice. SHe smiled at the Metallic Mutant before her having never seen her before. With a sigh and a lot of will to keep calm and not run away like every bone in her body told her to, she waited to see what would happen and who this Hunter was. She hoped this place would be what she needed so much to feel whole and confident in herself, if that was even possible, she mused.

Hunter was aware of Meld the moment she stepped inside the doorway. Were he not limiting his powers he’s have known about her much sooner and in much greater detail. Pulling himself out of his meditation Hunter opened his eyes. “Good morning,” he said as he rose to his feet. Even with his powers in check it was a graceful move. As he turned to offer her a warm smile he took her mutations in with no flicker of alarm. He’d seen a lot in his time and this didn’t surprise him.

“Tell me,” he asked as he walked towards the woman, “What can I do for you?” She seemed torn between asking him something important and running away. Rather than push the subject he just smiled reassuringly and let her tall him why she was here in her own time.

Meanwhile Ellie greeted someone else in the lobby. “Of course,” she replied to Shana politely, “Please go through.” When Hunter caught sight of Shana he offered her a reassuring smile. Even without his enhanced senses he could tell from here that Shana was genetically male. However he would wait for introductions before drawing any assumptions.

As Meld stood, rooted in the spot, her tail eye blinked bringing into focus a blue haired woman currently speaking to the receptionist. The woman was vaguely familiar to Meld, having seen her once or twice around the Mansion but she had never spoken to her before. She could only assume that the stranger had gotten a copy of the same flier that had brought Meld to this place though she had no idea what, exactly, about the flier had attracted her here. Could it be that she had problems with violence also? Somehow she doubted it, but it was difficult to tell simply by looking at someone.

Meld's meandering mind may have continued in that vein except that the man she had come to see had gotten to his feet, walked over to her and began to speak. The man's silver eyes gave him away as a mutant and that gave Meld an instant sense of comfort. A mutant might actually be able to understand, or at least better than a human might understand.

"I'm not sure if you can," Meld answered. Once again she felt the urge to flee and once again she forcibly suppressed the urge. What was the worst that could happen anyway? She show a rare moment of vulnerability? "But your flier mentioned spiritual balance and I guess I'm in need of a little balance in my life." In other words, she needed to figure out how the hell to suppress the monster that urged her to bring pain and death to others, even when such actions weren't always appropriate. "I need to learn to temper my inclination towards violence." She almost couldn't believe she had spoken the last part out loud and had no idea why she had even mentioned it. It certainly wasn't planned that way.

Hunter listened patiently and let Meld explain why she was here in her own time. When she finally told him why she was her he gave her a reassuring smile. “I know more about violence that you could ever know,” he told her honestly, “and have destroyed more people than you’ve met in your life. I’ve had had to come to terms with what I have done. I will tell you now that it is not easy to face up to what you have done but I can promise you that I will help you along that journey. If it’s a journey you want to take.”

That was the hardest thing Hunter had had to do in Tibet. Compared to facing up to the atrocities he had committed over four centuries learning how to restrain his powers was easy. While he has not yet forgiven himself about what he had done, and doubted he ever could, he had accepted it. He now hoped to help this woman before she spiralled down into the hell that he’d been through.

"Thank you mam" she said to ellie trying her best to be warm and friendly and not to run away. Shana walked in to greet Hunter and forced a smile onto her face, though her worry betrayed her anyway. "Hello, sir, My name is Shana" she said unsure if she should say anything further. She did not wish to offend the man after all. SHe did her best to relax now w that she was here, though her heart felt like it could go to the moon as fast as it was racing.

She then took a look at Meld, and tilted he rhead as she took in meld's body. It wa s abit scary to her, though she did not grasp the metal was not just covering flesh. SHe gave a nod to the other woman as well. Shana saw the man's silver eyes and figured he must be a mutant or into colored contacts but the latter seemed unlikely given his dress and the place she was at. The Israeli woman waited for his instructions trying to be patient, brimming with questions and holding her bandaged hand, from her own loss of temper. This was it, her chance to run was pretty much over, she had to face this now and she told herself it was for the best.

Meld didn't know what to make of the silver eyed man. When she mentioned violence, far from shying away from it he seemed to understand it. More than that even, he stated, quite directly, that he had personal experience with it. The unusual thing was that the way he spoke led her to believe that he had far more experience with violence than Meld herself did, unusual only because he didn't appear to be much older than she was. "Why would you want to help me?" Even having come her of her own free will, she couldn't help but be at least a little bit suspicious.

As unusually understanding of her issues with violence as Hunter appeared to be, she wasn't nearly so certain about the newcomer, Shana. However, rarely being one to give much consideration to the comfort levels of others, she decided her best option was to discount that fact. If the other woman was uncomfortable then so be it, perhaps that would simply force her to leave. If she wasn't, so much the better. "I'm Meld."

Hunter could see the confusion on Meld’s face. Despite his age Hunter looked in his mid twenties. Her question made Hunter smile and chuckle. It wasn’t condescending, but instead light hearted. “The reason I will help you is simple,” he said still smiling, “you asked.”

Hunter took his focus from Meld leaving her to ponder his words and offered Shana a warm smile. Taking Shana in Hunter went out on a limb. “Hello,” he said in perfect Hebrew, “I am Hunter Antonescu. How can I help you?” Shana’s nervousness was almost palpable. Until she said why she was here Hunter wouldn’t know if could help her. He could see the bandage on her hand and the faint blood soaking through it. In his mind he redoubled his efforts to restrain himself. Even not needing blood Hunter was well aware that he was addicted to it. He didn’t need it but he wanted it. Despite his internal struggle he didn’t let any of this show on his face.

"I'm not sure anyone can really help, but i was hoping to be able to learn confidence in myself so that i can interact with others normelly and so that i can put trust in myself" she said the words came slow but rang true to her. She had to stop herself from crying as said them. Holding up he rhand she went on "This happened because i argued with myself so long on wetaher to come here, that i began to question myself and if i could be helped at all" she said which was true, their wa smore to it, but Shana wa unsure if she could trust this guy that far.

"I worry about hurting myself because i question everything i do or ay so much that i get depressed" she admitted further, the words were comming faster and Shana was beginning to think that she might have been better off going to a consoler or something. Maybe she wa sin the wrong place for the type of help she needed, but she hoped if she could gain confidence she would be all right. "I do not like to hurt anyone or anything, in fact i like to think of myself as a pacifist" she said a bit rushed at the end.

People who helped simply because you asked for it were normally people who weren't being honest. While she didn't detect any sense of dishonesty in Hunter, she also knew that she had never exactly been the best judge of the way people acted. If it came down to predicting a move in a fight, she was one of the best. If it came down to trying to figure out lie from truth and the person in question was a half decent lier, well, then she was out of her league. At least she knew her weaknesses though.

Meld wasn't sure that there was much of anything she could say to Shana. She knew very little about lack of self confidence, perhaps because metal limbs and claws led to some amount of confidence almost by default. Everywhere she went people looked upon her with fear. If that wasn't confidence building she wasn't certain what was.

"What makes you think that you even can help me?" Good to establish that before she even thought to go any further.

To Shana first Hunter said, “You have come to the right place. I know how to instil confidence in people, am a pacifist myself and most important of all believe that everyone can be helped if they want to be. If I cannot then I will do what I can to find someone who can.” It didn’t take a telepath to guess that Shana’s insecurity most likely stemmed from the reason she dressed as she did. While he didn’t know if she was a mutant Hunter had actually met people who were transgender and had some experience in that area.

Turning back to Meld he said with a sad smile, “I have inflicted more violence than you can imagine. I’ve been far worse than you and yet here I stand today, a pacifist who is looking to help people. I’ve been through the process you want to go through. I can help you through it.”