Chapter 21: A Magical Gathering

(12 weeks 6 days after birth of 8th Campione)

Alice

"…ice. Princess Alice, are you awake?"

Ugh…I was rather enjoying that brief moment of undisturbed rest.

"I am now Miss Ericson, what's the occasion?"

I slowly and weakly push myself up until my aide lends a hand by putting a pillow directly behind me, all the while explaining, "It's strange. Not more than a few minutes ago a postman dropped off a letter directly at our front door, not at the postbox."

That garners my attention immediately.

"Don't your wards typically turn away regular Humans from getting any closer than a few meters to the premises? And even most Mages for that matter?"

She nods, appearing more than a little offended that her protections were so easily circumnavigated before continuing with, "They do. This was no ordinary mail-carrier, although I examined the letter for almost an hour straight and found no traces of any kind of harmful Magic or substance on it. Apparently someone went to all the trouble of proving that my protections aren't as secure as I thought, just to deliver this message."

"Hmm…well we might as well read it then."

Miss Ericson proceeds to open it and then hold up the letter for me to read, a smile slowly gracing my face as I view it's content.

"My my…how bold of them."

Jack Milburn

"The Monasteries would like to invite all parties this letter reaches to formally attend a meeting hosted by the 8th Campione 4 days from now at the Harry M. Smith Conference Room in San Francisco, 7 p.m. local time. We strongly advise your attendance, as matters of great importance will be discussed at this gathering."

…Well that's certainly interesting, but…why did I get an invitation of all people?

Maybe it has something to do with me being on good terms with John Pluto Smith? Yah, now that I think about it, this probably has alot to do with that…

"You seem perturbed Mr. Milburn."

I almost jump out of my seat as a female voice suddenly speaks up directly behind me and I whirl around, relaxing once I see it's Annie Charlton.

"Don't startle me like that Charlton, I almost had a heart attack!"

With an expression of cool indifference she replies with, "Perhaps you should start paying closer attention to your surroundings then. On an unrelated matter, I see you received the same letter I did."

I spare a glance at the slip of paper and nod before asking, "Are you planning on going then? I know you're a close confidant of JPS and everything…"

She seems briefly conflicted before giving a decisive nod and says, "We'll both go, my King has a feeling that this matter will be of significant importance to our future."

I simply nod but catch Charlton muttering under her breath something that sounds like, 'Freedman' and 'ridiculous'.

Does she know someone from this organization?

Paolo Blandelli

Now this a strange turn of events. I believe this is the first time in decades, if not centuries, that a Mage Association has so openly reached out to other organizations and called for a gathering.

Oh, the letter didn't specify exactly what groups would be attending, certainly, but if the Copper Black Cross received an invitation I think it's a safe bet that most other Associations connected to Campione were asked to attend as well.

A small smile crosses my face as I can't decide whether to be annoyed or amused at the presumptuousness of a hitherto unknown association calling upon older organizations to come running at their slightest beckon.

Well, perhaps this meeting will shed further light on the issue…

Giovanni Kranjcar

…How impertinent. Suggesting to us that attending their meeting will prove to be more beneficial…what presumptuousness! This 8th Campione certainly has quite a bit of nerve suggesting to us that we don't want to miss the congregation of his 2-bit Association…

If Salvatore Doni hadn't already tracked down this 8th Campione and challenged him I would have 'advised' him to do so! The temptation to ask Marquis Voban to put this Godslayer in his place is tempting, but…perhaps for now a more subtle approach is called for.

Making a snap decision I place a call to Osmund Giancollo, the head of the Knight Enforcers.

He'll get me some answers.

Sayanomiya Kaoru

Oh man, I can already tell the old farts are gonna be pissed. I give a wry glance at Amakasu who responds with a shrug of his own.

This newly born 8th Campione is certainly ambitious, not to mention more than a little optimistic. I mean, what was that whole deal with wanting to change the Association's way of viewing Campione? Talk about wacko.

"You think we should inform King Kusanagi of this?"

I give my counterparts words some careful thought before shrugging and replying, "That's really gonna be up to the Elders. Besides, in between the Diavollo Rosso and Fairy Knight being in contact with their own organizations, there's no shortage of information outlets for him to learn of it on his own. Let's be real here, the less opportunity there is for Devil Kings to get in each other's business, the better."

"A fair point. While King Kusanagi does tend to be far more reasonable than other Campione…yes I think that's for the best."

I heft the letter and eye it critically before rubbing my eyes.

"This is gonna be a nightmare…I'll catch you later, I'm gonna have to meet with some very old and grumpy people now."

Iceman

It's a good thing Alec isn't here right now to receive this letter, I doubt he would have been all that impressed…

Actually, on 2nd thought he probably wouldn't have cared all that much in the first place. He's always disinterested in anything that doesn't have to do with his research or potentially screwing over the Witenagemot. Still though…this Campione is certainly quite bold, calling all Associations like that and expecting them to all attend.

Alec also mentioned that this Campione might have interfered with a Royal Arsenal operation a few months ago, so he's already in an uphill battle in regards to earning our cooperation.

I'd best attend this personally and ascertain things for myself.

Jereth

"And thus the die are cast."

Creele yawns and leans back in his chair, hands behind his head and muscles that would shame a body-builder on full display.

"You think we made that trail obvious enough for the Associations to find and follow?"

I shrug and crack my neck, boredly replying, "Well they're not altogether stupid, just naive and bumbling. I think they'll figure it out in a couple days. Shipments of platinum, gold, silver and other Magic conducing metals being dropped off in an out of the way warehouse in San Francisco, where the meeting is taking place, should do the trick just fine."

I lean my head directly over the back of the chair and stare at Tim.

"Think you and a few other Esoterics can handle things over there?"

He negligently waves his hand from where he's leaning on the wall and flippantly says, "No prob Boss. We'll just go with the usual catch-and-detain loadout and give you a call once we've got any potential troublemakers under lock and key. Any bets on who pulls the trigger?"

I glance around the room and Audrey volunteers first with, "$20 on The Crosses and HCC sending over trouble."

"I'll take that bet. In fact I'll raise you $40 that it's just the Bronze Black Cross." Creele adds.

I smirk and go with, "$40 on Royal Arsenal, HCC, and the Crosses all getting in on that. I made that letter sound super condescending for a reason."

Eliza gives me an exasperated look and asks, "You know there's probably easier and more subtle ways of figuring out which Associations are gonna be our troublemakers."

"Meh, I'd rather get this settled with sooner rather than later. We can save subtle for later. So are you betting or not?"

She gives me a sour expression and is silent for a moment before grumbling out, "$40 on just Royal Arsenal."

I smirk and turn to the last member of our little group.

"Well Tim, what's your take?"

"Why the Hell would I bet on something that would just make more work for me?"

I shoot him a wry look and dryly reply, "You know you could at least pretend to not be a lazy fuck."

"I'm a lover, not a pretender."

"…Jesus Christ you're something else. And I mean that with every bit of passive-aggressive anger I can muster."

"Love you too Boss."

I mentally weigh the odds of successfully slipping a primed pipe bomb into Tim's equipment bag before he leaves but eventually sigh and discard the idea.

The guy's too crafty too fall for such a simple prank.

Creele drags my attention back to the present as he asks, "You got your lines all worked out Bat-Gwai?"

I smirk and reply with, "Yup. The Mage Associations are about to be introduced to Vincent Freedman in style."

Paolo Blandelli

Well I'm surprised. The sheer number of representatives from different Associations is nothing short of miraculous, given the dubious and rather debatable credence of these, 'Monasteries'.

The meeting room doesn't do much to impress me, being entirely free of any kind of Wards or protective enchantments, something usually highly prevalent at most meetings between Magi.

Carmel, my accompanying guard, had looked more than a little aghast at the low level of protections and had quickly joined the other Association's contingent of bodyguards in keeping an eye on everything.

At least the room has a pleasing aesthetic to it, with a large rectangular table capable of seating at least 16 people set in the middle of the floor, bookcases lining the walls and an excellent view from an attached veranda. I mentally chide myself for being so easily distracted and instead start taking stock of those who are already present.

I share a friendly nod with Giovanni Kranjcar and immediately raise an eyebrow at the confidant smirk he sends me after we share our brief greeting.

Someone has something planned…

My mouth sours as I catch sight of Iceman already seated and merely offer a terse nod that he languidly returns before going back to ignoring me, neither of us really in any hurry to start acting out old grudges.

I go ahead and take the farthest chair away from the representative of Royal Arsenal, a seat next to an American looking fellow with a red-haired woman flanking him, the 2 of them apparently acquaintances.

Deciding to make a good first impression I politely ask, "Forgive me if this is rude, but I don't believe we've met before?"

The man gives a slightly nervous smile and replies with, "I'm not surprised, the 2 of us aren't from any 'official' Mage Association. We're more along the lines of sidekicks to John Pluto Smith. I'm Jack Milburn, you're Paolo Blandelli I assume?"

"You would assume correctly."

The serious looking woman interjects with, "While it is very nice to meet you indeed Mr. Blandelli, I would like to clarify that you received the same message we did from the Monasteries?"

I raise an eyebrow at the woman's brusqueness but nonetheless reply with, "I imagine I did, seeing as how I am at this meeting after all. And I don't believe I got your name?"

She cooly adjusts her glasses and says, "Annie Charlton, assistant to his highness John Pluto Smith."

I open my mouth to reply when all of the sudden there's a happy little giggle that I recognize all too well.

I turn around and sure enough Lady Alice is 'sitting' in the one remaining chair, her eyes eagerly taking in all of the gathered representatives.

"Well now isn't this a wonderful surprise? So many gathered by an organization many of you no doubt deem of little consequence…have you all gone soft?"

There's looks of irritation from the HCC members comprising of the Seishuuin, Kuhoutsuka, Renjou and Sayanomiya heads as well as Giovanni, while Milburn just seems mildly confused and Charlton indifferent.

Funnily enough it's Iceman and myself who seem amused at Alice's words, likely because we're well acquainted with her enough to know she's rather gifted in being able to stir up trouble.

"And yet you yourself are in attendance Lady Alice. Does that not imply you are just as curious as we are?"

Simply meeting the elder Seishuuin's gaze she cheerfully replies, "Of course I am! But I imagine it didn't rankle my 'pride' to do so…"

Seeing the increasing looks of annoyance I decide to step in and stop things before they get too out of hand-

-only for the meeting room's door to open and 3 figures to walk in as if they own the place.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, representatives of the Mage Associations. I'd like to thank you all for attending on relatively short notice and hope you are enjoying the accommodations we've provided so far. Oh, but where are my manners? My 2 companions with me are Ellis and Adrianna, while my name is Vincent Freedman."

The 2 guards accompanying this Freedman I immediately peg as extremely dangerous, largely due to their demeanor.

The smaller one, a young looking girl with slate-grey hair, might have a Witch or 2 in her ancestry, I can spot the tell-tale signs after spending most of my life communicating on a regular basis with people like Lady Alice and Giovanni's granddaughter. Unnaturally smooth skin, and an ageless looking face with a slight hint of etherealness. Witches tend to be among the most 'fair' and beautiful of Human woman, falling only short of the Goddesses and Hime-Mikos themselves.

It's also the reason I'm so wary of her. Despite the natural beauty Witch blood provides, there's a harshness to her features that has me slightly on edge. An angular jawline and cheekbones, reminding me very much of an avian raptor, and eyes that wouldn't have seemed out of place on a hungry crocodile.

As for Adrianna, well…it's easy to figure out why she seems threatening.

The only people I've seen carry themselves with that much confidence and ease are trained martial artists, the ones who've studied their craft for decades and can show the benefits of that training at the drop of a hat, should they be pushed to do so.

Quite the pair of guards this Freedman has…

And that says nothing about the man himself.

Standing tall at slightly less than 2 meters or so, wearing a pin-striped suit and bowler hat over a red undershirt complete with black gloves and shoes.

Hmm…makes me think of someone dressing as an American prohibition era gangster for Halloween.

What would be an amusing getup is somewhat ruined by the eery sight of his eyes, one orb a startling crimson and the other almost pure-white, leaving his pupil seemingly floating in the middle of a white canvas. I don't sense any illusion-based Magic on it, and I doubt that's a contact lens…the 8th Campione certainly knows how to pick companions at least.

I'm startled out of rumination as Freedman makes a small gesture with his hand and his 2 companions smoothly walk outside, shutting the door behind them as they do so.

"I'd first like to apologize for my King's inability to attend today and he has charged me with carrying out his will in his stead."

I'm curious if the part about a Devil King apologizing for his absence was genuine or Freedman just making empty small-talk.

"On that note, I suppose we may as well start with the meat of the matter, said matter being why we all asked for you to attend. Before we do so however, are there questions that any of you would like to ask? I'll attempt to answer them to the best of my ability."

It's Charlton of all people, not the HCC or Witenagemot faction like I expected, that leans forward and asks, "Mr. Freedman, what exactly are the Monasteries? We have discovered very little about the plain facts regarding your group and I personally would appreciate a more detailed explanation."

He jovially nods, not appearing worried or nervous in the slightest as he casually replies with, "Well we're a relatively new group, likely why none of you have thus far learned much of anything about us. And we're not an association in the manner that you all are, we have a much different structure. Suffice to say the Monasteries are something quite different from any current organization."

Which really tells us nothing new, but makes it rather difficult to complain that we were told nothing. Standard political maneuver that never ceases to annoy it's targets.

"So you have nothing of real consequence to tell us, but nonetheless called us here? That takes some nerve Freedman."

I internally sigh at Kranjcar's attitude of being constantly affronted by these unknown people.

To his credit the Monastery's representative merely smiles and agreeably nods, calmly replying with, "I understand entirely Mr. Kranjcar, and allow me to explain just what it is we hope to accomplish in calling you all together."

He clasps his hands together and stands straight, adding to his already impressive height, and boldly announces, "It is my King's hope that, with the Monasteries acting as a sort of intermediary, the various Mage Associations pool together their resources. Magi, money, Campione, anything and everything. By combining these strengths my King believes that a very comprehensive and powerful security net against Heretic Gods can be formed. In between the Seers, Hime-Miko, Witches and all sorts of other precognicient people nothing will slip past our notice, allowing an unprecedented level of peace to come over the world, now that the threat of Heretic Gods is no longer quite such a serious one."

We're all quiet for a moment.

And then a moment more.

Giovanni Kranjcar

"That is ridiculous!"

Is this man mad?! Or is his Campione merely a naive fool?

"You expect us to work as one in the pursuit of a goal that is certainly impossible, pretending that every grievance and conflict between us never happened?!"

The infuriating man merely shrugs and easily replies, "Well considering our enemies are Gods, I would have put the word 'petty' in front of 'grievance and conflict', but you seem prone to take such things rather seriously. And on that note, why do you think such a feat is impossible?"

"Because centuries of experience has taught us that attempting to fight a Heretic God or deny their incarnation has proven useless. Nothing short of a Campione can deal with such a being."

For some reason Freedman seems to find this amusing as he humorously says, "Centuries of experience hmm? Truly impressive…although I find it rather interesting that you rely so much on a Campione to solve your Heretic God problems, when one Marquis Voban seems to spend a great deal of his time and energy on summoning said beings himself…"

I don't have any good answer for that and merely settle for a growl in order to buy myself a second to think of a rebuttal.

"Now now gentlemen, let's all try to stay civil here."

I glare at Lady Alice for interrupting but she just gives me a friendly smile, Freedman turning his attention away from me without a second glance.

Damn brat…well no matter. My men will have already begun raiding that warehouse of theirs at this point, provided they're on schedule. We'll see who has the last laugh then.

"Mr. Freedman, may I ask about what you meant when you mentioned the Monasteries acting as an intermediary?"

I bring my attention back to the present as Freedman turns to that Charlton person and amicably replies, "Absolutely Miss Charlton, ask away."

She pushes her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose and bluntly says, "If you wish for your organization to act as the go-between Associations that would imply you have the power to enforce the rules you set down. Are we to just take your word that you can do so, or do you have proof?"

I inwardly smirk at her question. Everyone will no doubt be learning rather quickly that these Monastics aren't as impressive as they're pretending to be.

~"That's great! It starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane. Lenny Bruce is not afraid..."~

…Is that his phone?!

Freedman smirks and takes the device out of his pocket, happily replying to Charlton with, "You have impeccable timing Miss Charlton. Unless I'm horribly mistaken, the proof is right here. Listen well everyone."

He taps a button on the screen and holds it up, the display now showing that it's in speaker mode.

What is he planning?

[How about we start with your name?]

[…Osmund Giancollo. I'm the leader of the Bronze Black Cross Knight Enforcers.]

…What?

Tim

(A few minutes earlier)

"I've got movement. 4 bodies coming from the west, 4 from the south. Go ahead and start things off?"

I give a lazy nod of my head and blandly reply, "Yah, let's get this over with, I'm freezing my balls off out here. Damn, the Bay can get cold at night…"

The other 3 Esoterics whose names I never bothered to learn (we're gonna go our separate ways after this, so none of us really made the effort) all give low murmurs of agreement and move to their positions, not in any particular hurry.

Well, I don't blame them. This little mission is looking to be more and more of a cakewalk by the second.

I gently ease my head over the lip of warehouse we're currently set up on in Pier 70, looking around to see if I can spot the incoming Mage Association chumps.

Lo and behold there they are, furtively dancing from shadow to shadow, trying to skirt the edges of the few light posts set up around the area, obviously not willing to use any cloaking spells for fear of drawing attention.

Pfft, a circus clown with a rocket launcher would be more subtle than these guys. One of the goofs quickly moves around a flickering door lamp, evidently forgetting that he's doing so against the backdrop of an entire city, perfectly outlining his silhoutte.

Seriously, someone needs to give these dudes a stealth 101 course…

I quietly whisper out, "All set?"

3 quick nods are my only reply and I happily hit the alarms on the car keys laid out next to me.

All of the sudden 4 different vehicles around the building start wailing and flashing, their security systems causing quite a racket and briefly freaking out the approaching Magi. I smirk and chuck 2 flash bangs towards my side of the building while they're still jumpy, quickly unholstering my weapon and counting to 3.

No sooner do I finish my count than I hear a startled curse followed by several deafening BANGS as the grenades go off and I lean out from my hiding place, MAC-10 machine pistol at the ready. I can't help but smirk at the dazed figures stumbling about the parking lot and let loose 2 short bursts, dropping my 2 targets within 3 seconds. A quick check of my Brothers shows them all lowering their weapons, bland expressions on their faces like this was just another day on the job.

"Alright guys, let's pull them inside and finish things up for tonight."

Standard Monastic counter-capture technique. Surprise the target with some unexpected noise or action, in this case the car alarms, and then capitalize on that split second moment of relief that it's not an attack before they start thinking, 'hey, isn't that alarm kinda convenient?'.

Done and done.

I drop down from my perch and roll to absorb the impact before lightly jogging to my 2 charges. I grin as I see their bodies locked into impossible rictuses of contraction, muscles unable to relax themselves thanks to our special bullets with a Hold Spell engraved on them.

Having been shot with one of those rounds myself, I can confirm that it hurts like a bitch.

I offer a friendly smile as I slap a pair of Magic cancelling handcuffs on the both of them before throwing them both over my shoulder.

"Pleased to meet you gentlemen, and welcome to the Monasteries."

…Oh wait, they probably still can't hear me. Dammit.

Osmund Giancollo

…Urg…what hit us? And why does my body hurt so badly?

"Oh good you're awake. Good timing too, I was about to get the smelling salts. And those fuckers are nasty, lemme tell yah..."

I blearily open my eyes and try to focus but for whatever reason my eyes can't seem to work properly, only providing me a blurry, dimly lit outline of a man sitting directly across from me. I quickly cast a Spell to reinforce my body and break free…only to find my Magic unresponsive and sluggish.

"By all means don't let me stop your fun, but I feel compelled to tell you that as long as you're my prisoner, you won't be able to access any sort of Magic power. We've gotten pretty good at taking Magi hostage."

I hack out a cough and blandly say, "We were set up, weren't we? That warehouse was just one big bait, wasn't it?"

"Bingo! Like you said it my man, our King figured one or more of you Mage Association types would try to 'put us in our place' so to speak and decided to leave a bit of a bread crumb trail for you to follow. And whaddya know? It worked like a charm."

I can't help but grimace at this bit of news and try shifting in my seat. To my surprise aside from the handcuffs I'm not bound in any other way. In fact I even have all my clothes on.

Thankfully my vision clears and I give the man across from me a closer look.

Average height but muscled build, a shaved head atop otherwise plain features, although he's heavily tanned in an uneven fashion, suggesting natural exposure rather than an artificial one.

I guess this isn't a typical interrogation then…

"Your face says you're wondering what exactly this whole thing is about."

"…The thought had crossed my mind."

"Well here's the deal pal. My King would like for you to tell me who exactly it was who ordered you to go ahead and try to screw with us. Simple as that."

Unlikely.

So instead I reply with, "Where are the rest of my men?"

He merely chuckles and replies, "That's for me to know and for you to wonder. Now, if you don't mind…"

He takes out a cellphone and quickly makes a selection before setting it down and smiling, asking, "I hope you don't mind if I make a recording of this conversation, so let's begin again shall we? How about we start with your name?"

I briefly debate answering that before shrugging and saying, "Osmund Giancollo, I'm the leader of the Bronze Black Cross Knight Enforcers."

"Ok thanks. Now, would you mind answering who it was that ordered you to attack the supposed Monastic storehouse?"

"…Not particularly."

The man just smirks and lightly says, "Well that's a darn shame then…"

His tone makes me tense and I resignedly ask, "I suppose this is the part where you torture the information out of me?"

He just snickers and replies, "Oh Hell no. Torture is great for getting people to talk, it's getting them to talk about the right things that it sucks at. I have a better way to make you want to just tell me everything I want to know. Here."

He leans forward and undoes the handcuffs, shocking me into inaction before he puts a plain manilla folder in my hands and says, "Well? Go ahead and read what's inside."

I narrow my eyes at the man and mentally weigh my chances of overpowering him now that I have my Magic back…only to suddenly find the barrel of a gun poke the back of my neck.

"I'd also advise against doing anything hasty, my friend over there has quite the itchy trigger finger."

I inwardly curse and resign myself to doing what he says. I hadn't even sensed this person behind me, who knows what else they might be hiding.

So instead I open up the folder and start reading…only for my blood to run cold as I do so.

"H-how did you-"

"Now that's not important. What is important is that we take attacks against us quite seriously. You can either give us a name…or you can watch as we declare your Bronze Black Cross organization guilty as a whole. If we can't go after the ones responsible, a good ol' fashioned massacre should provide a clear enough message to the other Organizations, don't you think?"

I barely hear him, my eyes are glued to the papers in front of me, bewildered and frightened at how thorough this information is.

Records of hidden bases, locations of training grounds for apprentices, all sorts of things that we keep closely guarded even from other Mage Associations. Especially from other Associations…how in the Hell did these people get ahold of this kind of information?!

More than that, I find myself torn…

My granddaughter Felia just began her Mage Apprenticeship at one of these locations. If this man is telling the truth, and they carry out their implied threat…

It doesn't escape my attention that these people didn't even have to use Magic to capture us, aside from the restraints. Everything else was just clever misdirection and excellent timing.

If they do resort to Magic during these hypothetical assaults…

I take a deep breath and let it out in a shuddering breath. Kranjcar can crucify me after this if he wants too, but…I don't have it in me to risk my granddaughter's life.

"We were ordered to attack you by-"

Princess Alice

[-Giovanni Kranjcar, the head of the Bronze Black Cross.]

The room is dead silent. I decide to hold my peace for now and glance at the rest of the room's occupants, gauging their responses to this rather startling turn of events.

The H.C.C members look like they just swallowed something rather sour, eyeing Freedman with a sort of wary caution. Paolo and Iceman outwardly appear to be relaxed, but their tense postures and unblinking gazes give away the seriousness they're treating this with. The representatives from J.P.S's retinue seem rather awkward, as if they're not quite sure what to make of this whole scenario.

Kranjcar, on the other hand, looks downright livid.

Slowly putting away his phone as the call ends, Freedman silkily says, "Well, isn't that interesting…all we called for was a friendly little meeting, and instead someone takes the rather obvious bait we'd hoped no one would…what to do, what to do…"

His nonchalant attitude is clearly making everybody tense and just as Kranjcar opens his mouth-

-Freedman suddenly seems to teleport directly in front of him, a small gust of air marking his passing as the Bronze Black Cross head suddenly finds a small hold-out style pistol jammed into his eye, an unnerving grin on the Monastic ambassador's face.

"Much like my associate said over the phone, we take attacks against us quite seriously. So, in order to send a message, I think a demonstration is in order…"

His finger slowly tightens on the trigger and I feel my doppleganger's eyes widen.

He isn't actually going to…

Paolo and Iceman apparently have the same thought, moving as if they want to intervene before Freedman kills-

Click.

There's a pregnant silence before Freedman widely smirks and flips the gun around in his hands before racking the slide open-

-only to show that it was empty the entire time.

"Message received I think."

He hops off the table and while Kranjcar looks unfazed, his hands are clenched painfully, knuckles standing out clearly and pale white as the blood is kept from reaching his veins.

The room lets out a collective sigh of relief before Freedman pointedly clears his throat and, with an expression of disappointment, says, "Well I think it's a rather safe assumption to make that most of you aren't all that interested in actually working together."

I have to hide my amusement as most of the Magi in the room bristle at that and one of the H.C.C members speaks up with, "Not all of us-"

"But you didn't disagree when Kranjcar over there when he mentioned you all having have a bone to pick with each other, now did you? And while I think we've rather definitively proven my King's point that we most certainly can enforce the rules we all would agree to play by, I doubt you're all ready for such an action."

This time I can't keep my smile hidden at these mystery people so cleanly kicking these stuffy old Magi all over the place.

It's about time someone shook things up around here, I was beginning to worry no one would ever take steps to prepare for that vision I saw…perhaps this little drama will provide a catalyst for everybody to get their collective rears in gear.

One can hope.

"So what exactly do you propose Mr. Freedman? While I can't speak for my colleagues, I find myself still curious about this overarching goal of yours, however overly ambitious it may seem."

That's Paolo for you. Never one to discount any possibility, however outlandish.

Freedman just smirks and instead replies with, "How about this? About 50 weeks from now the Monasteries are holding an event we call the 'Family Reunion'. We'll send out invitations to all of the Magi associations and you can decide on your answer during that time. Until then, think over your options."

His words carry clear dismissal and while I imagine many of the leaders here would demand proper respect, his tone suggests, 'don't let the door hit you on the way out'.

Deciding that that I've seen everything I need to see I merely chuckle lightly and announce, "I thank you for the invitation Mr. Freedman, and hope to see you again at this 'Family Reunion' of yours."

To my, and no doubt everyone else's, surprise Freedman swiftly takes off his hat and offers a low bow to me before politely saying, "The pleasure was all mine Sage Princess. While my King was unable to attend, he would like for you to know that he holds your work at minimizing the damage caused by Heretic Gods and other supernatural disasters in high regard, and would gladly listen to any of your requests, should you ever have any for him."

Dead silence.

A grin equal parts surprise and excitement comes to my face and I graciously reply with, "I thank you for your kind words Mr. Freedman, and am humbled by your King's generosity. If I may be so bold as to do so, may I request an audience with your King in roughly a weeks time?"

He amicably nods with a relaxed smile on his face.

"I'm sure he would be happy to do so. He no doubt wishes to speak with you on a great many issues himself."

He offers one last bow and I let my Doppleganger fade, savoring the looks of alarm and shock on everyone else's faces-especially Iceman's-before my vision briefly goes dark and I return to my normal body.

"Welcome back Princess Alice, did the meeting go well?"

I immediately snicker before suddenly coughing-damn body-but take it in stride.

Every power has a price.

"Better than well Miss Ericson…I think we just hit the proverbial jackpot here."

She raises an eyebrow at my odd choice of language but I couldn't care less.

For the longest time the Witenagemot has had to use it's vast knowledge and myriad political connections to keep other Associations and Campione from running all over us…but then out of the blue a newly born Godslayer publicly announces that he'll offer aid to me personally without nary a condition attached.

I can't wait to see that smug Black Prince's reaction…

And that brings a close to the first large scale interaction between the Monasteries and the current age Associations! This chapter was weird to write since I had originally pretty much finished it but then lost it in the great laptop crash of 2017 and had to subsequently reconstruct it.

Unfortunately a few school projects and other stuff, in addition to some of the lost writing, are gonna take a bit longer to sort through than I'd hoped and there'll be another 2 week break between this chapter and the next.

On the other (hopefully) more pleasant side of things I finally found a good place to include an interlude on the overall goal of Jereth and co! It'll be published after the next chapter goes up and here's hoping people like it after all the waiting I've put you poor bastards through.

On that note, toodles till next time!

pwashington: I have alot of fun writing the interactions between Eliza and Jereth because they're both sort of passively aware that the other is interested in them, but don't really have a clue where to go from that XD there'll definitely be a more personal understanding between them a bit farther down the road

Sacchin: Yup, I know I'm probably just repeating myself at this point but I feel like Pandora doesn't get nearly the attention she deserves as a character. Being married to Epimethius would give someone more than a few ideas on how to manipulate professionally :D

Griffin13: Thanks! Nice to know it went over well, I wasn't sure initially how to approach the scene. Should Pandora be enraged, melancholy? Stuff like that lol.

Kshail: Starting on the Interlude chapter I'm going to start including the list of Authorities for every chapter (gives me some time to make sure I get everything right) and there'll be details on Svarog's Authority then. As for equipping others with his weapons? Well, there's a catch to it...but one not Monastics will probably be too worried about ;)

HelpfulNudge: Much appreciated, Svarog's power is definitely a big part of Jereth's future arsenal, and like Svarog hinted, there's a bit of history behind him and the Monasteries. And yah, Jereth can definitely be a sore-ass loser sometimes.

Piddle: I hear yah on that note. The Light Novels tend to portray the older Campione in a more humorous light, but that doesn't really cover up the fact that they're constantly trying to screw over the world half the time.

Guest: OH NO HE DIDN'T. but yah, like I've been saying all along, it's both fun as Hell (and slightly horrifying) to write a character who's kinda a douche.