The Wizard and tge Void - Chapter Twenty-Nine
Author: Milady Dragon
Daisy was on her feet in a heartbeat, panic clawing out of her chest as the stranger calmly told everyone in the room just who her Dad really was.
Sure, they'd all thought this would happen, the moment that Dad was confirmed as the new Grand Master of Voids. Grand Master Ianto had thought it would be a previously unknown Hydra member would pop up and blurt it out for everyone to hear, but this…where had this kid come from? Because it was obvious he wasn't a Wizard, and non-Wizards weren't allowed in Quorum unless they were called as witnesses for something. And this kid hadn't been officially called for anything.
The chamber erupted into chaos at Werner von Strucker's accusation. Grand Master Ianto was trying to call for calm, while Grand Master Stephen had motioned another of the ushers forward, and was whispering something in the woman's ear. The usher nodded and withdrew and, while Daisy was certain that both of them would uphold their word about vouching for her Dad, her imagination couldn't help but throw up the notion that the usher was going for the guards in order to take her Dad into custody.
"CAN I HAVE QUIET, PLEASE!" Grand Master Ianto's voice, enhanced by magic, rolled over the noise that had made the room almost intolerable to stand in. It instantly went quiet, almost as if he'd cast a Silence spell as well, although no such magic had been used. She didn't doubt that Ianto had had such a spell ready to use if it had been needed.
"Thank you," he said, his face like thunder. "We are Wizards, and we will remain calm in the face of this accusation." His attention went back to the kid who was standing there as if he really enjoyed the mess he'd just caused. "Now, perhaps we can get the evidence on which this has been based?" His eyes turned toward the Void section of the Quorum. "Master Phillip, would you please join us?"
"Of course." Her Dad left his seat, walking down the steps toward the dais. "I am at your disposal, Grand Master," he said, bowing slightly toward Ianto and then Grand Master Stephen, once he was at the foot of the risen section of floor.
"Thank you. Now," once again his eyes were on Werner von Strucker, "perhaps you'd care to share what evidence you have?"
"My father was King Wolfgang of Buda-Pest," the young man began. "And the Dark One murdered him."
Muttering arose in the chamber. Daisy's heart thundered painfully in her breast. Who could have foreseen this happening? And where had von Strucker come from? How had he gotten into the Quorum chamber?
The thing was, no one besides a very select few knew that had really happened in Buda-Pest, and there were only four eyewitnesses that she knew of. King Wolfgang hadn't been a good man at all, stealing magical children and torturing them for their abilities. Yes, her Dad had been an evil bastard back then, but he'd said that children were a completely different matter entirely, and that he would never deliberately harm one.
Even in his Dark One's heyday, he'd had a certain morality in his actions.
"And you say that Master Phillip is the Dark One?" The woman who'd announced Dad's nomination spoke, voice harsh, and she was staring at Daisy's Dad as if she wanted to curse him where he stood. He stood up to her scrutiny, although Daisy could tell just how upset he was in the set of his shoulders. She knew he wasn't going to back down from this.
"And what do you say, Master Phillip?" Grand Master Stephen prompted.
Her Dad stood there, his gaze on Werner von Strucker's, and even from where Daisy was standing she could see the anger in them.
And the resignation.
He'd been prepared to be outed as the Dark One. This wasn't even one of the ways it would have occurred that they'd discussed, one that they could have prepared for. After all, who could have foreseen that some stranger would just show up? Especially one that wasn't even a Wizard, so he shouldn't have been able to enter the Quorum at all? It had to have been the biggest shock her Dad had ever had, when this asshole had shown up out of the blue.
Her Dad drew himself up, not in pride but in preparation for the hate that was going to be thrown in his direction, and said, "Mister von Strucker is correct. I was the Dark One."
Instead of the uproar Daisy had been expecting, the room was eerily silent.
Several of the Masters of Void were approaching Daisy's Dad, and she knew she just couldn't sit there, despite the promise she'd made back home, when they'd talked about what would happen at the Quorum. She was out of her seat and running down the steps, to put herself between Dad and the others who were pretty much stalking him.
"Daisy," he cautioned her.
"No, Dad," she spoke over her shoulder, holding up her gauntleted hands toward the approaching Wizards, who'd all stopped moving closer. "I'm not going to let them hurt you."
"Novice Daisy," one of the Voids spoke, the man's voice sharp with disapproval.
"He's my Dad," she talked right over the man, "and I'll protect him with every breath I have. You don't know anything about what happened, and you're all acting like you've already judged him."
"She's right!"
Daisy didn't turn, but she couldn't help the smile as Jemma stepped up beside her, Leo with her, followed by Trip and Lincoln.
"Master Phil might've been the Dark One in the past," Jemma continued stoutly.
"But that was a long time ago," Leo piped up.
"He's a great guy," Trip added.
"And we're all going to defend him," Lincoln finished. "Even if he decides I can't date Daisy."
Daisy heard her Dad huff a quiet laugh. "You must be Lincoln."
"Yes, Sir." To Lincoln's credit, he didn't sound all that nervous, but then he was facing toward the gathered Voids and not her Dad.
"You're more than welcome to date my daughter." Dad sounded amused, which was a good thing. Daisy wanted to smile at that, because it meant he'd accepted Lincoln, although he hadn't met her boyfriend yet.
"Thank you, Sir."
"Can we talk about this later?" Daisy asked, although she couldn't help but be pleased. "Like, after we've got this all cleared up?"
"Stand aside, Novices," the woman who'd wanted to announce her Dad as Grand Master ordered. "This man is a criminal and must be tried for his crimes."
"You don't even know what really happened in Buda-Pest," Daisy accused. "You're all ready to condemn him without getting to the truth."
"Novice Daisy is quite right," Ianto spoke up mildly. "How about we call calm down and we'll get to the bottom of things."
"Master Phillip Coulson is now officially under my protection," Grand Master Stephen spoke up, the power in his words palpable in the air. "Anyone who touches him will have to answer to me."
"And to me," Ianto added, his announcement adding to the magic that curled about the dais.
"And me." It was Mistress Pepper. "Master Phil Coulson is a good man, and I will not see him injured because there are those among us who cannot control their emotions."
"Me as well," Master Mack's deep voice joined in on the chorus. Jemma and Leo both were grinning, happy that their teaching Master was also on Dad's side.
The Voids all looked various degrees of confused. "You are all defending the Dark One?" the woman demanded.
"There's more to this story than you know, Mistress Elena," Ianto told her.
Her eyes narrowed. "Did you know about this…Wizard…being the Dark One?"
"I did."
Why that should have caused the shouting it did, Daisy didn't know, but she guessed it had to do with Ianto keeping secrets from everyone and not taking Dad into custody himself. All that she did know for certain, was that these Voids were threatening her Dad, and while she wasn't a Master she was going to use every bit of magic she had to defend him.
"And you were willing to trust him with testifying against members of our own order?" Mistress Elena demanded, once the noise had died down.
"Everything I've said is true," Dad spoke up. "The reason Garrett came to me was that they found out who I was, and he threatened blackmail to get me to do what they wanted. I didn't care about that, and informed Baron Nicholas immediately. As my benefactor, he was the one I trusted to go to about this."
"He murdered my father!" von Strucker spat. "I demand justice!"
"You do not have the right to demand any sort of justice!"
It was another voice, this one female, and it was coming from yet another door, this one near the actual dais. Daisy didn't want to halve her attention, but she couldn't help but glance over to see who was talking.
It was a girl, a little older than von Strucker, with auburn hair and dressed all in shades of red. A boy the same age as the girl was beside her, and looked enough like her to be some sort of relative, despite his silver-white hair. They were both students; the girl, Void; and the boy, Cardinal…which Daisy understood was very rare, since magic followed along family lines, and children from the same parents would hardly ever show as different orders.
"Please come forward," Grand Master Stephen invited the pair. They did so, the boy acting a little skittish while the girl looked like she was ready to kick all sorts of ass. Daisy thought she might like these two.
Ianto was giving the Grand Master of Great Order a single eyebrow, so this was something that had been planned without his knowledge…whatever this was. Daisy couldn't understand why these two kids were important to events, but she trusted Grand Master Stephen so she'd just wait and see.
And keep a wary eye on the Voids after her Dad, of course.
