Rise of the Champions - Chapter Twenty-One
Author: Milady Dragon
Phil had a thumping headache.
He'd seen Ianto earlier, when they'd met up before Quorum, and knew he wasn't alone.
Stephen, though, looked as fresh as if he hadn't also expended magic yesterday, which was patently unfair.
Still, they'd had to meet with the Quorum, to warn them about Loki. The other Wizards took it about as well as the Grand Masters had thought…they'd been pissed off and ready to hunt the rogue down and toss him into a cell.
Phil was so very proud of them.
There were a couple who wanted to know if Phil himself was going to challenge Loki. Honestly, he didn't want to, but he knew he'd be up to the task. He'd learned the hard way never to underestimate the Asgardian, and a lot of that old arrogance had been burned out of him on the blade of that damned spear. Still, he was hoping it wouldn't come to that but, at the same time, had a feeling it very well could, and he would be ready. Facing Loki and coming out on top would do more to cement his place as Grand Master than pretty much anything else, including exiling Alexander Pierce to the Void; after all, this was the Wizard who'd won their first encounter, and it would prove that he wasn't the Dark One any longer. It had been the Dark One who'd lost, and it would be Phil Coulson who won.
The Quorum itself didn't last long, for which he was grateful. Phil really wanted to go home to Clint, to spend a little time with his lover before having to come back and deal with the curses on Sir James, especially after the revelations from yesterday. However, he was stopped just as he was leaving by Master John Constantine, one of the two Wizards he was considering for Head of Void Order for the Western Lands. Master John had been the one he'd been waiting to hear from, so he couldn't put off the meeting.
The first time he'd met Master John Constantine, he had to admit he hadn't been impressed on physical scrutiny. The man hadn't seemed to care much for his appearance; his clothes had been rumpled as if he'd slept in them…which would have been a trick since it hadn't looked as if he'd slept in about three days, with rough scruff on his chin and dark circles under his eyes. Phil had also been surprised to learn that Master John had originally come from the United Kingdom, because he hadn't been expecting that little detail.
Yet, there had been something about the man that had impressed him. He was certainly a powerful Void, although not the most powerful he'd met so far; that distinction went to Mistress Penelope Garcia, his other choice for the position. Master John had had this cynicism about him, that spoke more of horrible life experiences than his uncaring about his personal appearance did. Phil had done a little research into the Wizard's past, and had come up with a lot of horror that no one should have ever had to deal with.
"Let's go to my office," Phil suggested.
Master John agreed.
Phil's office was in another part of the Quorum Hall, down next to Ianto's and Stephen's. When Ianto had showed him where it was, Phil had already known that he wouldn't be spending much time there, preferring to be out and doing things instead of sitting behind a desk. So, he hadn't done much to the décor, except to clear away everything that the former Grand Master had used to personalize the space and bring in some new furniture.
In that clean-out, he'd found some rather disturbing Artifacts that Ianto had gladly buried away in the Archives. If Pierce hadn't been outed as the head of Hydra, Phil would have seriously worried for the man's sanity.
Phil ushered his fellow Wizard into the office, shutting the door and raising the Privacy wards without even thinking about it. He'd added a couple of comfortable chairs and a couch to the furnishings, figuring he'd be at least holding meetings within the office, and had brought a desk from home, one that he hadn't been using but had liked when he'd found it stored in one of the upper floors of the Keep. It was of a rich cherry wood, not very large, but then it didn't need to be. The chair behind it was also from home; leather upholstered and well-cushioned, Phil sank into it as Master John took the chair opposite. Their dragons hopped up onto the couch, which was the main reason the Wizard had added it to his office.
Lola was willing to cuddle up with any dragon she trusted. And she obviously trusted Master John's dragon, Chaz.
"Is this about my offer?" Phil began without preamble, linking his fingers and resting them on the desk blotter.
"Yeah, it is," Master John answered, slouching down in the chair a little. "Look, I'm not sure I'm the one you want." He was trying to be confrontational about it, but Phil could see through the façade to the damaged Wizard underneath.
"If it's because of the things you've done in your past," the Wizard answered, "then I'd be pretty hypocritical, wouldn't I?"
Master John shrugged but didn't answer that rather rhetorical question.
"You have to know I did some digging before I asked you to take on the position," he went on. "I know exactly what happened, and I know you did your best, but I also know you aren't the only one to have ever bought into the 'Voids are bad' lies that have gotten spread around."
That seemed to strike something within the other Wizard. "Then you have to know about Astra."
Yes, Phil did. He'd gotten the story from one of the very few witnesses left from events, and possibly the only one who hadn't been driven insane. "You know I can't condemn you for trying to help, even though it went horribly wrong. If I did that, I'd have to condemn most of the Wizards in the Guild, especially myself. You're aware of what the Dark One did, and I know how hard it is to live with that sort of thing. I can pretty much guarantee you that I did much, much worse than you did. And we're both trying to make up for that."
Master John was nodding. "Yeah, it's one of the reasons I accepted Sara's offer of being her Court Wizard."
Phil had figured as much. "I also spoke with Baroness Sara, and she recommended you for the position." He smiled slightly. "She also said that she expects you to still be her Court Wizard, because, and I quote, 'I will kick the ass of anyone who thinks they're going to take John out of this Barony'." It had made him want to introduce Sara Lance to Melinda and Natasha. He had the feeling they'd all get along far too well. "So, you have her support. That is, if you want to throw your wand into the ring."
The other Wizard looked touched at the Baroness' words. "Yeah, that sounds exactly like something Sara would say. She…gave me a chance when she really didn't need to. I owe her a lot. But, I'm still not sure…"
"I don't even know if the Order is going to go with my recommendation or not," Phil said. Which was true; he could put Wizards up for consideration but, in the end, it would be up to Void Order to ratify whatever decision he'd made. If they didn't want Master John as Head of Void Order for the Western Lands, then it wouldn't matter what Phil wanted in the end. "And I have another Wizard that is also in the running. So, it might not even be you. But," and he leaned forward, the better to look Master John in the eye, "I think you were made for this. I need people in positions of power who understand what it's like to be Void and be the target of prejudice because of the flavor of magic running through their veins. Yes, the other candidate also has that sort of shadowy past that would make them good at the job, but you…not only did you carry around the perceived stigma of being Void, you let that stigma rule you until it literally caused the death of an innocent girl. Astra Logue hadn't needed to die, if only you'd gotten the support you'd needed to be true to your nature. Instead, the people in your hometown wanted you to counter an evil act, and you chose a more evil act to do that, because you hadn't seen another way. You'll carry that around with you for the rest of your life. However, you'll also be a visible symbol of just what that sort of prejudice causes. And I need that, Master John. I need symbols, because that is the only way to prove that the Greats are damaging people with their rhetoric. But it also proves that we can rise above it, and be better than what the Greats claim we are." He had Crystal as yet another symbol, and that had swayed a lot of people within the Guild to see what damage words and actions could do; she was a child, though, and Phil would never let her be used in that way. Now, he needed an adult, someone who could actually do something about it.
Damn, he hated having to be as ruthless as all that, even if it was in a good cause. It needed to be done, though. But at least Master John was an adult, and could make his own decisions.
Master John actually looked moved by Phil's words. "I don't think I've ever heard it quite put like that before."
"But it's true." Phil had no doubt that it was, not after everything he'd heard about John Constantine.
"Yeah," he sighed, slumping even further into the chair, as if he was truly relaxing for the first time in years.
In that moment, Phil knew that he really wanted this man to lead the Order in their home country. That he was perfect, in that he wasn't perfect. He'd made disastrous mistakes, and was doing his best to make up for them. That he would be willing to take the steps that would be needed to be taken in order to make things better in the end. That the ruthlessness Phil could see in him would stand him good stead with anything that may come up in the future.
He'd been impressed by Mistress Penelope, but she didn't have the darkness inside her that Master John did, and he had this terrible premonition that he was going to need that darkness before things would get better. He hated to feel that way, but it was as if the Void was warning him to be prepared.
Yes, Stephen was ready to bring charges against Thaddeus Ross to the Quorum, for his unlawful experiments into discovering a way to rid the world of all Cardinals and Voids. In fact, he'd planned on doing that within the week. However, Ross had allies, and Stephen had admitted that Emil Blonsky, Ross' main accomplice, had managed to vanish completely. It was yet one more problem they had to deal with, and Stephen was confident that it would end a large part of the prejudice that was within the Guild.
Phil, though, wasn't so certain it would be that simple, just by getting rid of one bigot. There were still others, and Ross had spread that hatred around, corrupting Wizards who might not have gone along with that sort of thing if it hadn't been shared by such a powerful Wizard. He'd been reticent to say anything, but Phil believed that it could make things worse, putting Ross to trial, because that would give the cause a martyr that may do more harm if he was in jail than if he was free to keep failing with his plans.
Still, it needed to be done. Even if it brought Ross' plans to light for others to perhaps take up the cause.
"All I ask," he said, "is consider it. And, if you decide not to accept, or if you do and the Order doesn't ratify the appointment, then perhaps we can still work together to get rid of the stigma surrounding Voids. Because it's only going to get worse if we don't draw a line in the sand."
"I'll think about it." Master John stood.
"Excellent." Phil rose as well, holding out his hand to shake. "Hopefully I'll be speaking to you again, Master John."
"Nah, it's just John. That 'Master' shite is bollocks, and I only put up with it 'cause I'm expected to."
Phil had to laugh. "Then it's Phil, because I feel exactly the same about being called 'Grand Master'."
The smile he got back was wry and filled with good humor. "I get the feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Phil had to agree. It was nice to have yet another ally within the Order. He really was hoping that John would accept the nomination, since he had a really good feeling about it. They could work really well together.
As John and his dragon left, Ianto was just outside the door, apparently hovering. Phil waved him in. "Did he accept?" the Cardinal Grand Master asked.
"He's considering it, but I think he'll do it."
"Excellent." Ianto sank into the chair that John had been sitting in, and Myfanwy jumped up on the couch to join Lola. "We need more examples of Void and Cardinal prejudice out in plain sight."
Phil knew for a fact that the Cardinals didn't get it as bad as Voids did, but it was still there. "That's basically what I told him in the pep talk I gave him."
"I bet it was lovely. I'm sorry I missed it." Ianto sighed, rubbing a hand across his forehead. "So, are you ready to help with Sir James?"
Phil nodded. He'd almost forgotten about his own headache, in his discussion with John. "I need to go home for a bit, then I'll be back." He really wanted to spend a little time with Clint. He also needed to thank Daisy for helping when he'd been unable to. He was so very grateful to her for it. He hadn't been able to say it as much as he'd wanted to, too distracted by his worry that Loki would appear at any moment and do something horrible. He had been able to work on the protections around her, although he would never be completely satisfied with the results.
He was her Dad, he was supposed to be overprotective. And no amount of eye rolling on his daughter's part was going to change that.
He needed to do some work with Crystal, as well, but she was going to be staying at the Keep so it wasn't as urgent as it had been with Daisy.
Phil also needed to draft letters to the parents of Daisy's friends, asking for permission to cast his own protections over them. He didn't think there would be much argument, but he didn't want to do anything without them knowing.
There was a lot to do before they could get together to start curse-breaking over Sir James. And not a lot of time to do it in.
He would best get started, then.