Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD. If I did however own it, I have to wonder if I'd actually tell anyone.
Witches.
"No – you – you can't –"
Hyoudou Issei's mind ran a thousand and one lightyears a nanosecond, as he donned a pair of white gloves and twirled a pen in his hand.
"This – you – you won't get away with –"
Immediately compiling and compounding any form of information he had accrued over his sixteen years of life about that single word. A woman thought to have magic powers, especially evil ones, popularly depicted as wearing a black cloak and pointed hat and flying on a broomstick.
Synonymous with sorceress or enchantress. Derived from Old English, Wicca.
Condemned by Christianity and Islam. Viewed as heresy and apostasy.
"No – I can't – anymore –"
Somehow, Issei was finding it impossible to relate the fearful concept of a being with alleged mythical powers, and the laughing, squealing girl in front of him.
"Tickle-Bot, return."
All at once, a miniature lupine-shaped object leapt out of the top portion of the young girl's shirt, before immediately morphing into a sleek silver wristwatch that slapped itself unto his right wrist.
Immediately, the young woman who had finally been given some reprieve, turned to give him the harshest glare she could muster, though, because of how slightly out of breath she was, and her general composure, the glare looked more endearing than it did look threatening.
"I believe an African proverb once said: the frown on the face of a goat does not stop it from being taken to the market." Issei said dryly, before rubbing his chin "Curious people they are, Africans – hundreds and thousands of tribes and the most convoluted ways of making points. Like Rafiki for instance. I swear, so much would have gone easier if someone had taught that damn monkey not to speak in parables."
Le Fay merely pouted some more. "You kidnapped me –"
"No, I didn't. Technically, the definition of kidnap is to steal carry off or abduct by force or fraud, usually for the use as a hostage or ransom." He said plainly "I did none of those things, and you followed me here, into this lab, on your own two feet, without any form of coercion whatsoever."
Her cheeks puffed. "T-that's because you put that tickling spell on me – I didn't know how to get it off and had to follow you!"
Issei merely gestured his hands to the side. "Spell? What spell? I have no idea as to whatever you mean. Besides, shouldn't I be the one worried about my maniacal blond stalker who kept laughing as she followed me everywhere I went?"
Le Fay's face immediately went red. "That's not –"
Issei waved his hand, "All of that is old news, besides, I'm not one to keep a grudge. I don't mind if you're a little yandere, just as long as you don't go overboard with it."
Le Fay gaped. "But I'm not –"
"Anyway, let's get back to business shall we? I'm sure you would not have taken such lengths to sign up as my subject in this experiment all for nothing."
"B-but I didn't –"
"Negativity isn't welcome when I'm in the lab kouhai. 'I can, I will, and I shall' are now your three favorite phrases from now on. Now repeat after me –"
Whatever Issei could have said next was rapidly interrupted by a strong gust of wind which seemed to originate from nowhere. No, it did originate from nowhere. They were inside a university laboratory, with all the windows shut and with decent air-conditioning, yet, there was no explaining the strange gust which had sent his hair flying backwards and his eyes wide.
Or rather, there was no explaining the fact that the focal point of the gust had come from the young girl directly in front of him.
She had a slightly more serious appearance, and her arm was extended out, revealing a walking stick – no, a staff, as her entire posture seemed to have shifted and changed.
One of Issei's eyebrows tilted slightly to the top.
"I-I am sorry, but I c-cannot humor you any longer! My name is Le Fay Pendragon, and though I understand that you seem to be a nice person, I can… not… continue… to…"
She found herself trailing off once she noticed the immediate spark in the boy's eyes. They were shining, quite prominently, as his hands had become an ungodly blur and he began furiously writing on a jotter.
"Casual manipulation of wind pressure and humidity – no possible explanation derived. Subject does not possess any hidden devices on her person capable of conjuring bursts of wind suitable to flip numerous pages of hardback textbooks."
She blinked. "Huh?"
Immediately, he stopped writing, and in a flash, Le Fay stared as her staff was immediately in his hands.
"Wooden walking device - no hidden equipment, gears or levers, no secret compartments, no installed fans no – nothing."
He immediately turned to her, his eyes staring seriously, and Le Fay noted, with some bit of curiosity, that he was staring at her with seriousness in his gaze for the first time she had met the weird, enigmatic stranger.
"How did you do that? How did you create that gust of wind?"
She blinked, staring at the intense curiosity in the boy's eyes, before she allowed herself a small giggle and smile.
"Magic."
Le Fay Pendragon had admittedly heard a lot of things that people would say when they were faced with the surprising, often unbelievable fact that magic existed, and it ranged from outright shock, to complete surprise and disbelief, to incoherent religious ramblings and crazy panic attacks.
"I think I need to make a phone call."
She had never quite heard that, before.
"You WHAT?!"
"I found a witch. Well, technically I subdued her with my tickle-bot and made her follow me to a lab where I was going to begin conducting experiments –"
"YOU WHAT?!"
Issei grimaced, removing his phone from his ear, before putting his finger into it to make sure it wasn't bleeding. The last thing he needed was for a police officer to stop by and wonder why he was in a blood-stained phone booth.
"Young man, what was our agreement on conducting experiments on people?"
Issei sighed. "They have to be willing participants, death row inmates or the scum of society who have no other redeeming qualities but to be butchered for the scientific advancement of their race."
"And does this girl fall into any of those categories? Hm? Does she?"
Issei sighed once more. "No Ka-chan."
"So would you mind telling me why exactly you wanted to break our agreement? Hm?"
Issei rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Article Four, Clause Three, Section Six, Subsection Twelve of the Hyoudou Matriarch Accord."
There was a brief pause.
"…In the case of conducting studies and experiments on potential lifeforms of origins which are questionable and not humanoid – what? Issei-kun, this is the exception you made in case you ever encountered aliens!"
"Precisely!"
"She's not an alien!"
"I don't know what she is!"
"You said she was a witch!"
"Um… I'm right here?"
"I'm talking to my mother here woman, Jesus, show some respect."
"What?! Jesus is there with you too?!"
Issei palmed his face.
"First you make Harry Potter a terrorist, and now you're teaching Jesus about respect?! YOU HAD ONE JOB ISSEI!"
Issei rubbed his nose. "Ka-chan, I'm not with Jesus."
"You're not?"
"I'm with King Arthur's great-great-grand-daughter."
"HOW'S THAT ANY DIFFERENT?!"
"It's completely different! They're not the same people – well, at least I think they're not the same –"
He paused, turning to Le Fay.
"You're not Jesus are you?"
There was a long moment of silence, in which Le Fay could only stare at the ludicrousness of the question.
"I-I don't think so?"
"Well?"
"She says she's not sure if she's Jesus or not."
"JESUS IS A WOMAN?!"
Issei groaned.
"Wait, did she say you made Harry Potter a terrorist?"
He immediately palmed his face.
This was going to take a while.
Hyoudou Issei grumbled as he rubbed the slightly red palm imprints, staring at the smiling that was now sitting beside him, in a restaurant, sporting a proud and large 'M' in front of it.
"For such a small girl, you have a pretty mean right hand."
She stared at him, smiling, looking prim and proper throughout, though Issei was reminded painfully by the small red palm print on his face that the girl could be vindictive when need be. "That's for defaming Harry Potter."
He gave her a stare. "What, is he someone you know personally?"
"And…" she continued, as though she had not heard him speak at all "...it was also for making you follow me halfway across London, a laughing mess."
Issei managed his lips to twitch. "You blew my expectations out of the water."
Le Fay blinked. "What?"
Issei tapped his watch, and the girl was on guard, prepared for another horrific torture of laughter, but, she was only surprised when instead of the abominable robotic bunny of chuckling death, she was met by a regular timer.
"Seven hours, forty-eight minutes, fifty-three seconds." He stated, plainly. "That's how long it took you to vent out your frustration and finally hit me. It blew my expectations out of the water, because I had estimated at least twelve hours or more. Of course, I suppose I have 'Harry Potter' to thank for that."
Le Fay stared. "You – you were timing me?"
"Of course." Issei said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why?"
"Call it a test if you will – either of your patience, of the limits of your kindness, and to see whether that kindness overreached into timidity – timidity of the incredibly destructive variety." Issei said, before shrugging.
Le Fay merely stared at him, her left eyebrow raising slightly in confusion.
Issei groaned, before elaborating. "Let's be honest, you just spent the better part of seven hours following around a total stranger, who honestly could have done anything to you from drugging you to knocking you unconscious – if you didn't have some level of disagreeableness and spine, I would have questioned how you had not already been impregnated by some moron whispering sweet nothings into your ear."
Her face immediately went beet red. "I – I –"
"Oh come on! It's just the blatant truth! I believe this part of the world has rather noticeable rates of teen pregnancies, and knowing – wait – please tell me you know what the birds and the bees are? No one can be that sheltered!"
She pouted, her face going redder. "That's mean Hyoudou-sensei! I-I- k-know what they are!"
Issei let out a brief sigh. "Good, that saves me the trouble of having to –"
Issei stopped abruptly.
"How did you know I was a doctor?"
Le Fay blinked. "Huh?"
"You just called me Hyoudou-sensei."
Silence.
"How did you know my name?"
"Um, I must have heard your mother, on the phone –"
Issei's eyes narrowed. "My mother never calls me that. Why would your own mother call you by your surname or title? No – I never mentioned my surname to you – I never even said it in passing –"
Le Fay was smiling, she was smiling in that nice, sweet way that was expected of an innocent girl of her demeanor. That was expected of a young, sheltered, innocent woman without an evil bone in her body. She was smiling quite exactly in the manner of the cute, reserved, potential-love interest of an anime male lead.
Except, human beings were not that one-dimensional, nor where they perfect.
By the time Issei realized this, he found himself frozen to his seat, as Le Fay Pendragon let out a long sigh and moved closer to him. All at once, he realized, that he literally could not move, and at the exact same time, all five of his senses were drawn to the form of the girl that sat beside him. His eyes could not stop themselves from staring at her developing mounds and fantasizing about her creamy thighs. His ears could not help the concurrent rhythm that was the girl's heart. His nose could not help but take in her aroma of perfumes and condiments. His throat and lips could not help but be dry at the thought of claiming her suckle jaw as his.
She immediately stretched over towards him and smiled.
"You really shouldn't ask too much questions Hyoudou-sensei."
Issei's mind was whirling, his heartbeat was pacing, and he was trying to do whatever he could to stop himself from thinking – because all he could think of, was the woman in front of him, and that was very, very bad.
"This – this doesn't make any sense – this doesn't fit your character archetype –"
She laughed, genuine laughter, he noted. "My what?"
"Your character archetype – blond. Cute. Dedicated to service. Diligent. Innocent. Nai –"
All at once it clicked. The word, that one word, when it had come to the forefront of his vision, when he had seen it, blinking brilliantly more than anything else – It wasn't because the girl in front of him was naïve.
She was too naïve.
Naïve to a degree that was impossible.
A degree, in which she would have died the instance she made contact with society.
"Oh, do continue Hyoudou-sensei. Perhaps you believed me easy to read when we first met?"
Of course she had been easy to read, for heaven's sakes she had been wearing –
His mind came to a stop once more.
"Why would a witch be wearing clothes that would easily make her stand out in Modern London? Clothes that clearly identify her as a witch, even when she's supposed to be hiding that fact? Why would she even go to the lengths of embroidering her full name under a witch's hat, whereas the initials would be just as sufficient?"
Le Fay smiled. "Why indeed?"
Issei found it incredibly rare to find himself so rather flatfooted.
"And of course – you just happened to bump into me in a manner that destroys my cell phone – my central hub for Kiki –"
Le Fay was still smiling, except, curiously, it wasn't malevolent, nor was it scheming nor manipulative. It was not the smile of the cat that had caught the canary, nor was it one of condescending smugness.
It was the pure, innocent smile of a young teenage girl.
And that was what amazed him the most.
"What is my name Hyoudou-sensei?"
"Le Fay Pendragon."
"The last part, can you say it again?"
"Pendragon."
"Just once more, pretty please?"
"I don't see what your point is –"
"Three syllables sensei." She said, "Three syllables. I believe you should have dabbled in onomastics, the study of names? Tell me then, what would the historical, anthropological, psychological and sociological consequences of being named 'Le Fay Pendragon'?"
All at once, he realized his grave miscalculation. He could think of numerous implications of harboring that name, and most particularly, one stood in his mind most prominently.
"I am a direct descendant of King Arthur – the One True King of England. By that merit, myself and my brother have direct ties to the throne. Direct, ties."
And she had to say this with her chest squishing against his arm? Focus, Hyoudou – Focus –
"But yet, we're in hiding. Being "protected" by the Golden Dawn as though we have something to fear from the outside world. Tell me, wouldn't you think that people in line to one of the oldest Monarchial systems in the world should be treated a little more like, royalty? Is it so much of a far-fetched idea?"
She let out a sigh. "Of course, we're not. England's Queen is little more than a figure-head and the monarchial system has been all but abandoned. Then of course, there is the fact that revealing our status to the world would cause chaos as researchers and scholars like you – " she bopped him on the nose "– would be left in shock at discovering that King Arthur really did exist. The discovery would reshape everything they believed and thought to be myth – and of course, it would reveal the supernatural factions to the world, causing problems for everyone."
She glowered. "And so, we live our lives like hermits. Watched like lab rats. Forgotten like used tissues."
Truth be told, Issei had only focused on one part of that entire thing.
"You – you know who I am?"
At this point, she laughed once more, and what made it more and more bone-chilling was the complete and utter sincerity of the laughter.
"The real question you should be asking Hyoudou-sensei, is who doesn't know who you are?"
Oh snap.
"Hyoudou Issei. Once-in-a-Millennia Child Prodigy. Schooled everywhere from Harvard, to Yale, to MIT. Guinness Book of World Record Holder for the youngest person in history to accrue twelve PhDs and Thirty-Seven MDs. Founder and CEO of Honest Technologies and Laboratories. Creator of the Open Children Foundation. Lead Archeologist in the discovery of the ruins of El Dorado. Philanthropist, Billionaire, Inventor and Scientist."
She smiled, taking a cup of coffee to her lips, sipping it, and giving him a wry look.
"Am I missing anything?"
Issei grinned. "You forgot to mention my penchant for harem anime, and my love of classical literature."
She giggled. "Cute."
Issei, despite himself, managed to smirk. "You know, I'm somewhat impressed. Here I thought you were an empty-headed, overly-kind blonde girl who'd cling to me like a lost puppy or gain some sort of romantic inclination for me because I called her pretty and act kindly to her a few dozen times."
Le Fay let out an amused smile. "What type of girl would fall in love with a boy simply because he shows her kindness?"
"Girls of the abused variety."
Le Fay blinked.
"That's not nice sensei."
"'Nice' is for people who are bothered that their unfiltered opinions will garner them social rejection, and as such filter their words as necessary to avoid negative social backlash."
"Ah, but not you – surely you don't care about any negative social backlash? Because – as you said – you don't lie."
"That's right. I don't."
"So then," Le Fay smiled, "Tell me – what do you think of me so far? Of this encounter?"
Issei hummed to himself.
"You smile a lot."
Le Fay couldn't help the smile that came to her face at that, confirming the boy's words as fact.
Still, Issei's eyes roamed over the girl's form, once more, this time around, he did so very carefully, and strangely enough, he wasn't doing so in the perverted manner.
Words snapped up, from one to the next, and his eyes picked them up, sharply, allowing no reprieve from one to the next.
"You know," he said, out of the blue "Most people are unable to grasp that someone can be kind and yet, at the same time be clever. It's quite interesting isn't it? Kindness is naturally associated with meekness and docility, and it's difficult to imagine a quote-unquote 'kind' person being ambitious, or cunning or even intelligent. As though intelligence removes one's ability to feel empathy or compassion, and you need to be hopelessly optimistic or helplessly naïve to maintain a positive, generous outlook in life."
Le Fay Pendragon managed to stare at him in surprise.
"Um – thank you, I suppose? Though, where's this coming from?"
"Oh, don't mind me, I'm just making random observations because I'm stalling for time to allow the wristwatch I placed on the table turn back into my tickle bot and attack you."
Silence.
"Huh?"
"TICKLE BOT! NO MERCY!"
"TICKLE COMMENCING!"
No sooner had the object left its initial point, had Issei regained his ability to move. As indicated, the tiny tickle bunny of death slipped under Le Fay's robes once more, and the young girl was unable to stop herself from bursting into a mad, incoherent mesh of laughter.
Issei wasted no time as he leapt from his position, and dashed out of the restaurant as quickly as his two legs were capable of carrying him. He bumped into one of the McDonald's employees on purpose, pilfering the man of his iPhone in a quick slip of his hands, before turning down the road and tearing away from the restaurant like as though the hounds of hell were on his feet.
"Hello – this is Siri – how can I help you to – "
"I don't have time to chat with you, you laughable excuse for a pale imitation of an Artificial Intelligence Program." Issei said, without missing a beat, his eyes still flicking backwards just in case.
His fingers blurred through the device, bypassing root folders and accessing the internet in seconds.
"Download Kinetic Improvisation Knowledge Interface."
"Password required to install program K.I.K.I."
"Vi Veri Universum Vivus Vici."
By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the Universe.
"Password Accepted. Installation Complete."
There was a brief pause.
"Issei-sama? What's going on, why are we –"
The heavy echo of soft, feminine laughter reached his ears, and Issei swore as he turned his attention behind him, where, without a shadow of a doubt, the laughing form of Le Fay Pendragon seemed to be in hot pursuit.
"I may or may not have made the stupid mistake of underestimating a witch born from the union of King Arthur-bloody-Pendragon, and Morgana-bloody-Le Fay."
"Underestimating?"
"I had assumed she was a Class-D Female Anime Protagonist."
"The ones with little to no history, personality, or memorable traits?"
"Exactly."
"Hahahahaha – Come – hahaha, oh heavens, my ribs – back here!"
Issei could only blink as he found himself being suspended in place by another indescribable force, one, which he would have likened to the effects of a telekinetic hold. He tsked under his breath, his mind slowing to a crawl.
She wouldn't risk using showier or more fanciful demonstrations of 'magic', despite it being late evening, they were still on the streets, still within the range of cameras and people, and as such, it meant that he could and would escape if he played his cards right and evaded whatever technique she used to halt his movements.
There had to be a range of limitation, otherwise she would be a goddess with the ability to freeze the movements of everyone, everywhere in the world. This of course worked with the assumption that this 'magic' of hers operated on a form of logic, though, as far as he was aware, that was a contradiction of epic proportions.
"I must ask why we are fleeing away from her Issei-sama? My initial scans of body language and brain wave patterns indicate that she bears no ill will or malicious intent towards you."
Issei grit his teeth as he tried to move. "That makes it even worse! It would have been preferable if she was trying to kill me, or maybe even kidnap me – but she's not, and she went through the trouble of researching me, which means she's trying to recruit me as her ally."
"Recruit you for what?"
"Something certainly dangerous, potentially and most probably illegal, and something that will put me in the crosshairs of this 'supernatural' world, which I do not want to happen!"
He still couldn't move, much to his chagrin, even as the laughing girl got closer and closer, causing him to bite the inside of his cheek as thought after thought escaped his mind.
If only he had some of his gadgets with him, but no – he had to listen to the advice of his mother and not take them along.
"Damn it Ka-chan, listening to motherly advice is supposed to save your life, not put it in peril!"
Thankfully, there was always a savior in the form of Kiki. The revving sound of a car echoed loudly down the street as a sleek black BMW raced down the road, and in seconds, without even bothering or attempting to slow down, the car swooped in, driver seat door open, but no one in the vehicle, as it pulled up directly beside him and bumped into him, allowing his immobile form to crash into the car.
The door was slammed shut once the sole passenger was confirmed, and it immediately zoomed off with a powerful roar of the engine, leaving Issei sighing in utmost relief as his eyes hit the rear-view mirror, and watched the blond haired form of a laughing witch become smaller and smaller until it went completely out of sight.
He regained his ability to move once more, and he immediately adjusted himself into a proper sitting position as he took a deep sigh.
"Thanks Kiki, I owe you one."
The self-driving car, now being remotely controlled and piloted by Kiki, merely gave a hum, which echoed from the vehicle's radio speakers.
"Forgive me for asking Issei-sama, but, if you were not interested in whatever she wished to offer you, would it not have been better to merely listen to the offer, and then refuse it?"
"No."
"No?"
"N. O." he said, rubbing his knees which had been slightly hurt by the surprise boarding into the vehicle.
"A refusal of an offer adds a sense of definiteness to a matter, which is just as bad as accepting. Saying no would either cause her to go for a more desperate tactic, or force whoever she's allied with to become curious as to the reason of my refusal. Instead, if I never hear the proposal to begin with, the result is uncertainty which will fade away in time, as long as I make myself scarce."
"Are you positive Issei-sama?"
Issei took in a deep breath and sighed. "Think of it as a will-they-or-won't-they situation. Romantic circumstances in harem comedies are interesting and tense because you don't know if the people involved will ever get together or not. The minute they make their choice, the intrigue is lost due to the concrete definiteness. Humans, despite what they may think, are more invested in the uncertain than they are in the definite."
"But Issei-sama, if that's the case, wouldn't she be more interested in finding you instead?"
"Which is precisely why I'm making myself scarce Kiki. The uncertainty and intrigue will hit a point of diminishing return sooner or later, just like watching a bumbling harem protagonist agonize for over a hundred chapters about whether or not the girls he likes also likes him back, even though everyone around them can clearly see it. After a point, you toss your hands in the air and scream 'fuck it'."
There was what sounded like a pout coming from the speakers.
"You really love referencing harem anime Issei-sama."
Issei's left eye twitched. "Kiki, when I was three, my goal in life was to become a Harem King. Tell me, what kind of idiot would I have been to not research the complexities of harems and to not watch as much fictional material centered on a theme that was my life's goal?"
He shook his head. "That's like saying that my dream is to become the greatest soccer – oh wait, we're in England – football, player in the world, and yet I never watch a single match. Come on, no one can be that stupid!"
In an alternate universe, a brown haired boy entered a series of sneezing fits.
"…as long as you don't start thinking you're a harem protagonist Issei-sama."
Issei's looked appalled. "Heavens no. Being a harem protagonist is unadulterated torture. Either you're illogically clumsy, aggravatingly indecisive or serially abused. Most times, you're all three."
The vehicle made a sudden, harsh stop at a red light that nearly caused Issei to smash his face into the glass, and served as a reminder as to why seatbelts where invented.
"But, that can't be completely true Issei-sama. I think some of them are kind, compassionate and generous –"
"Towards females. Members of their own sex are either their mentors, rivals, enemies or competitors but never allies or friends, and as such, eliminates the need to show generosity or compassion towards them."
"Okay… but there are others that are fierce, loyal and strong –"
"Blatant tokens to numb the ache of their already irredeemable personalities."
"Oh but there are some of them that aren't indecisive, but are capable, confident and –"
"– and are empty facsimiles whose hyper-competence and absence of flaws makes them the furthest thing from human."
There was a moment of silence in which only the soft humming of the engine could be heard.
"You really hate harem protagonists don't you Issei-sama?"
"Oh you have no idea."
Elsewhere
Le Fay Pendragon pouted as she finally arrived at the Stonehenge. Sighing to herself, she tapped her staff unto one of the large slabs of rock, making three soft taps before, to the ordinary eye, she phased through the stone and vanished.
She then appeared in the middle of a large room, tugging away at her cloak and removing her hat as her gaze then turned to someone else who was in the room, someone with similar blond hair, but of a darker variety, wearing a pair of glasses and staring at a book.
He sat on a large chair easily reminiscent of a throne, and he snapped his book shut upon noticing the arrival of the woman.
"Well?"
She sighed. "I'm sorry Ni-sama. I had the Red Dragon Emperor in my hands… but I think my approach may have scared him off."
The man nodded slowly, his eyes closing in brief contemplation.
"Did you tell him about the existence of his Sacred Gear?"
She shook her head. "I didn't mention anything about it, not until I'm certain of his allegiance."
He nodded. The young man swayed immediately to his feet, his gait poised and royal, his form elegant and regal, as though the very floor on which he walked on recognized the superiority of his blood and the right of his claim.
"Very well. Leave him be for now and continue with the plan until a more suitable opportunity arrives. Regardless, I do not have much time to spend with you before Vali and Kuroka get suspicious. Here – keep these hidden."
He brought out two swords. Two shining, glistering, swords – except these were swords that were no mere swords. Swords, that despite their limited power as it was, broken, they still possessed a strange, soft hum, as though the blades resonated with the duo in front of it.
"The Excalibur Fragments." Le Fay breathed.
He nodded. "Just a matter of time, sister. When Excalibur becomes one again– we will make our move, and we will take back what is rightfully ours."
Le Fay could only smile, and nod, as she stared at her brother, and as she stared at the proof that all of this was happening, and that this reality, the one in which she would help her brother accomplish his dream – that they, together, would once more rise and make the world remember the name –
Arthur Pendragon.
"… by the way, I recently heard that Harry Potter is now a terrorist? I think we should look into recruiting him."