Author's Note: This is a "novel-length" version of a role-play my best friend and I are working on. This is alternate universe, and as such creative liberties will be taken. Elements from the manga and the light novels are present, but a majority of the influence is from the anime. I own only fan characters/original characters; the canon (c) Yoshida et al.
Prologue
Virgil had arrived at Buckingham Palace as soon as he had heard the news. The queen had reached the end of her time on this earth; the doctors were anticipating a quick, peaceful death, though they had been surprised that she had clung to the final thread this long. She would not rest, she said, until Virgil had promised her to find the angel.
He was led to the queen's chambers at once. Tall, pale, and fair-haired, Virgil Walsh could have easily passed as a relative of the royal family rather than a noble. Upon entering the chambers, he was greeted by the heavy, stale smell of illness and impending death. On her death bed, the queen had already begun taking on a pallor, her eyes sunken and her cheekbones very prominent. Her grey hair formed a pillow about her head, a pale halo crowning her in anticipation of her passing.
As he neared the bed, she slowly opened her eyes. Hazy with fatigue and illness, she could barely find the faculties to form the words. He sat down on the edge of the bed, grasping her hands. They were cold, ice cold, and felt so fragile he was frightened of breaking them.
"Edward is dead," she said, her voice barely above a hoarse whisper. "There is only one hope left for the throne."
"My queen?"
"Find her," she rasped, as if in desperation. "Find the Angel of Albion. She still lives, I know it."
"Where will I find her?"
The queen's pale, sickly face arranged itself into lines of sadness and regret. "I do not know. She was taken to a convent, that was all I was told. The exact location was never revealed to me."
Virgil watched her steadily, but tenderly. This task was not going to be a simple one. Regina was the queen's granddaughter, and had been taken out of Albion after her father, Prince Edward, had been assassinated - under the orders, Virgil assumed, of the Rosenkreuz. Her location was known by very few people, and they had been sworn to secrecy on pain of death. She was marked for death by the Order, that much he knew; they were not so stupid as to think she was dead.
"Find her," the queen rasped again. "Find her, bring her to Albion, and protect her. The Rosenkreuz Order must not find her."
Virgil nodded. "I will. I swear it."
At this she seemed relieved. She relaxed, and with a soft sigh, fell into eternal slumber.