Building Faith

By Ellf

What is Known Interlude: Archival Views

Disclaimer: Jim Butcher owns the Dresden Files, any other works of fiction mentioned are not owned by me.

Sometimes I envy other children. Normal children. With their normal lives, and their loving parents. With their families, and their rules and their homes. Yes, sometimes, very briefly, do I envy them. It wouldn't do for one such as myself to envy them long. I cannot afford to allow those times to be anything more than a few nanoseconds. My envy could prevent me from performing the function that I was born into.

I am the Archive, but two whom I believe I can call friends call me Ivy. The most common explanation that I give of my capabilities is that the Archive is the summation of human knowledge throughout history. If it has been written down or spoken in oral tradition, I know it. I have catalogued it, and I have filed it away for further perusal if necessary. I suppose a comparison could be made between myself and the American NSA. We both read e-mails and listen to phone calls, but my purposes are far more benign.

My true purpose is one that I don't share much. Only some of my Venatori know my true purpose; those whom I contact and direct to act upon what I find in the information I have catalogued know. Their subordinates typically do not. Each Venatori cell performs its functions to the best of their capabilities. Sometimes they succeed. Other times they do not, and I am required to send out another cell to finish the job.

Hopefully, that would not be the case this evening.

I was officially in town for one specific reason: to act as an intermediary in a duel between two members of opposing factions within the Unseelie Accords. On the one side was Harry Dresden, wizard of the White council, and on the other was Duke Paulo Ortega, Red Court vampire. The two had decided to duel for some reason or another; it truly did not matter to me, but I secretly hoped that Mr. Dresden would win.

He was one of the ones who called me Ivy, after all.

The duel was one of will. I had procured a piece of Mordite, which I then enchanted to be affected by each duelist's will. After explaining the rules in due detail to each duelist and their seconds, I started the duel and retreated to my officiating position at home plate. Kincaid would keep an eye on things from his position in the dugout, where I would return should things turn sour.

In the meantime, my attention was drawn elsewhere. Earlier, a note was written. Now, ordinarily this would not be anything to focus on, but the note writer had intended for me to see it. Faith Carpenter wrote to me.

Ivy,

I'm writing this note because I know you're going to be at the duel between Harry and Duke Ortega. Thomas Raith is Ortega's second, and I may need your help getting him to my sister and I.

I have reason to believe that my friend managed to get her hands upon the book that we had been searching for. Given what the book is and what it's already proven to be capable of, I'm afraid that it might have affected my friend in some way. I only hope that it's not worse than I think it could be.

I hope I'm wrong. I pray I'm wrong, but the feeling in my gut says I'm right. We're to meet my friend Cecelia along with some other friends at Millennium Park later this evening. If I have reason to believe my feelings will come to pass, I'll underline your name in this note. If we're somewhere that isn't the park, I will crumple this note, and I will drive my fingers into it such that it tears in areas. I hope that based upon that, you can find us. Molly and I are new to our magic, and we don't really know what we're doing here, but I know we should trust our feelings. Yes, I know, run-on sentence.

Thank you, Ivy.

Faith

Needless to say, I paid attention to that letter, and directing my attention toward it was taking from my attention on the duel. Faith was… special. She and I were a lot alike. She knew things that someone her age shouldn't have to know, and she had known them since she was my physical age, even if she had not believed then. Shortly before the duel began, Faith underlined my name on the note, the name that both she and Mister Dresden gave me. I needed to be sure to speak with Mister Raith after the duel.

Then it happened. A gunshot rang out across the field, and a swarm of Red Court vampires came in afterward. They dared to break the rules set out by the Accords and myself? I took control of the Mordite, drawing it toward myself and then I sent it through any vampire that dared to get close. They had all removed their flesh masks, making them more inhuman, more bestial, and I would ensure that each of them got what was coming for daring to break my peace.

"Kincaid, down!" I sent the mordite into a vampire that had been coming up behind Kincaid as he was reloading. Sure, I did not truly need to do so for the Hellhound, but Kincaid was my driver. More than that, he was a friend of my mother's and had taken good care of me during his time here.

Eventually, through the combined efforts of Miss Rodriguez, Mister Raith, Mister Dresden, Kincaid and myself, we managed to either kill or force into retreat the remaining Red Court vampires who had attacked.

I brought the mordite sphere back to my hands, and I stared down the White Council wizard, as the remaining duelist who had broken the sanctity of the duel. Ortega had run. Still, I needed to clear things up.

"Who broke the sanctity of the duel first, Kincaid?"

"Couldn't tell," Kincaid answered. It must have happened quickly then. "But Dresden was winning."

I nodded. That was good enough for me. "Thank you for letting me pet your kitty, Mister Dresden. And thank you for my name."

It never hurts to be polite, and politeness begets politeness. "You're welcome, Ivy."

I smiled, nodding. Mister Dresden was a good man.

The note crinkled.

"Kincaid, the box please." When Kincaid placed the box on the ground, I lowered the mordite into it. The piece of Outside couldn't be allowed to touch anything else beyond what I needed it for. Closing the box, I turned to Mister Dresden. "These proceedings are concluded."

"You think?"

I looked at the wizard, but then I turned to Kincaid. "Let's go. It's past my bedtime."

I looked over to Mister Raith, and I sent a thought to him. Simple magic applications. "When you are done with Miss Rodriguez, meet Kincaid and I outside the stadium."

Mister Raith looked to me, and he nodded. The vampire was far more sober than he'd appeared earlier, and that would be very helpful to our purposes.

I would get the help that Faith needed to her as soon as I could. She just needed to hold on tight.

I hoped that Mister Raith would finish up soon, though. It really was past my bed time.