When Olga had recovered from her defeat in Rouen, she hissed to Albert Simon of how, though he had spared them and warned them not to interfere anymore, the harmonixer and his friends had still gone to the church. Although she had managed to kill Father Doyle before he had said too much, she hadn't been able to stop them.
"And," she'd rasped, "the other woman has been investigating your past. From what she said in the hotel, she has discovered much."
Then, Simon had only smirked, knowing that the blonde was completely off-track, delving into his teacher's past instead of his. "Oh? Then perhaps I should return the favor. Find out what you can about this 'Margarete'," he ordered Olga.
For Olga, a master of illusions, obtaining information on any person was not a difficult task, one she was capable of handling while still on the mend and which kept her from any notions of exacting vengeance. The information she had returned with was rather...interesting.
"Malkovich," Albert Simon said aloud, pondering after Olga had left him. It was the spy's codename, though apparently from their meeting in Rouen she had trusted Yuri and Alice with her true name. Born into a middle-class family, a spy of France, she was a woman with such mediocre magical talent that her skills were trivial next to the fledgling Key of Light, indeed, even compared to the Chinese adept accompanying them.
She was the odd one in the group. All of the others had exceptional talent, an innate ability. Orders alone could not be making her stay with this group; it would be easier for her to escape her superiors than his familiars. It seemed out of place for a woman like her to be involved in this struggle.
Out of place...and wasn't that what made her perfect? he thought, smirking. Centuries ago, he had argued that birth should not play a part in people's lives, that everyone should be as equals. That one of his enemies should be a woman of no especial talent, willing all the same to pit herself against demons and monsters...
Wasn't that just perfectly ironic?
That there was a woman such as her …could it be possible that the times were changing? That perhaps equality, true equality, was in reach?
Simon considered this, his face devoid of its customary smirk, his light eyes roaming the stone walls of Calios Mental Hospital. It was called a hospital, but truthfully it was a prison for the Friar Knights' enemies. Once, he had been the prisoner and not the captor in a place such as this. The memories of those days spent behind bars had become layered over with the dust of years on end, but he never forgot the day of the trial, that day when he looked upon the hard countenances of men and realized mankind as a whole would not listen to reason.
Yes, there were exceptions, such as himself. In a population of millions, it was statistically bound to happen that there would be a few exceptions; aberrations. And when they overstepped their bounds they would be crushed by the masses simply for possessing rational thought.
And this Margarete, this "Malkovich", was so much the same. She traveled her own path, but sooner or later she would anger the powers that be. Then—she would either submit to conformity, like his cowardly teacher had, or she would be broken. Or perhaps, just possibly, she would understand what needed to be done and join his side.
The last thought caused Albert Simon to blink, and then shake his head with a soft snort. How impulsive he was being! Even if such an event were to occur, it would bring him no benefit. She was a talented spy, yes; but her talents were not the sort he needed. At an earlier time in his life she might have been useful, but now—now his success relied on the natural gift only two possessed. A smirk grew on his face as he laughed at himself. In the end, he seemed to have the same criteria as the men in Nuremburg did. An eye only for those with the proper "birth", as it were, with no respect for work and effort.
It was exactly why this world needed to be cleansed. No one should have the same condemnation he had faced befall them…especially not the lovely Miss Zelle.
Author's Note: So, yeah, it was a little weird. I'm not completely happy with the ending, but I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it and typed it about four times before deciding this was probably good…well, as good as I'd get, anyways.
It's titled "Aberration" because I got a little tired of seeing Yuri/Alice and Kurando/Anastasia all the time. (Which is not saying I dislike those pairings. Heck, at least half my stuff has Yuri/Alice in it.) So I decided to post an unusual pairing for the fun of it. Sparda volunteered the pairing of Albert Simon/Margarete. As you can see, this didn't turn out to quite be romance, mostly because I wanted to avoid making anyone ooc or anything au, but it was still pretty fun to write.