The Hunters and the Prey - Chapter Thirty-Four
Author: Milady Dragon
Author's Note: There is an incident of child abandonment in this chapter, not having to do with Phil's past. If that's something that may trigger someone, please be aware.
Stephen had taken them to a small house that was outside a village somewhere in the Western Lands, his magical portal opening up onto a dirt path, leading up to a house set back a little from the lane itself.
The house was plain, and unadorned. Painted a pale green, it rose to two stories above the patch of spotty front garden and a gravel walkway up to the darker green door. The shutters on the windows were the same shade as the door, framing three windows in the front on the lower level, and two slightly larger windows on the top floor. There were places on the roof overhanging the stoop, where shingles had been replaced but not matched perfectly, with a tiny dormer window above the porch.
Phil thought rather uneasily that he may recognize the place, and when it came to him he suddenly realized that he'd been there before.
That there might have been a very good reason for Master Mordo to hate him enough to side with Hydra in order to get rid of him.
Some of his unease must have shown on his face – Lola certainly reacted to it by giving out a distressed little whine – because both Ianto and Stephen didn't even move a step toward the house's door before turning back to him. "What is it?" Ianto asked softly.
"I've been to this place before," he admitted. Lola, sensing his distress, cuddled up to his side and offered him her unequivocal support.
Both Wizards seemed to get his inference immediately. "As the Dark One?" Stephen asked.
Phil nodded. "Me and Marcus…we came through here on one of our earlier tirades. We…made a mess of things."
That was an understatement. It had been during the worst of their rampage; neither one had cared back then who they'd hurt as long as they weren't the ones in pain. They'd razed many of the homes to the ground, and had hurt a lot of people. The only thing that had kept them from salting the ground behind them was that they hadn't thought of that sort of thing at that point in their erstwhile former careers.
"Well," Stephen sighed, "I think we probably know the motivation for having someone announce to all and sundry what you'd done in the past." Agamotto, draped across his shoulders, chirped in agreement. However, there wasn't any sort of condemnation in it, which would keep on being a surprise to Phil. He should be completely and utterly condemned for what he'd done, now that it was out there for everyone in the Guild to know.
But then, everyone also thought he was already being punished for those crimes. Phil had to agree with them on that.
"I'm only curious as to why Master Mordo didn't say anything himself in Quorum."
Ianto had a point in that. It was a good question. If this Master Mordo had been some sort of witness, it would have been a simple matter to speak out at the time von Strucker had made his own accusations. His evidence would have been weighed in on at that point.
Phil didn't think it would have changed the Order's decision to name him Grand Master, but it would have certainly damaged any sort of credibility he might have had until he'd proved himself.
Actually, that was really the case now, so it might not have made any difference really. He was just the only person any of the Voids could trust not to be Hydra. It was the only thing recommending him for the job, in his opinion.
"Well," Stephen sighed, "we should go and speak to Mordo anyway. I suspect we'll only get more of the same biased rhetoric out of him that we would any Great Wizard prejudiced against the Cardinals and Voids, but he may have something to say about who approached him."
With that, the Great Wizard took a deep breath and walked toward the door, Ianto and Phil stepping up behind him, flanking him and offering him their unspoken support, their dragons moving along with them. Phil knew what it was like to have a schism like that form between himself and a friend, and could sympathize with losing someone you once thought of as a brother. Because, while he hadn't come out and said it, Stephen clearly felt that way about Mordo. It was obvious in the distress in his eyes.
Raising a hand, Stephen knocked, also letting his magic flair out so that whoever was inside – if they were a Wizard – was aware that it was another Wizard making themselves known. Phil, however, kept his own personal magic in tight rein, sensing that Ianto was doing the same. If Mordo was as much of a zealot as they'd been led to believe, it would only make him more hostile if they flaunted their power in that way.
It was perhaps a minute before anyone unlocked and opened the door, although it had been obvious to Phil that a Wizard was within the modest home. That that person was a Great Wizard just from the wards alone, but he had been beginning to wonder if no one was coming. The man who stood in the open doorway was handsome, Phil's height, with dark skin and dark eyes, which narrowed as he took in just who was standing on his stoop. His tunic was a dark green, trousers black, and while he had the traditional wand at his waist, the Wizard's dagger was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the Wizard's dragon, although he would definitely have had one.
"Stephen," he answered, his words tinged with an accent that Phil couldn't quite identify.
"Mordo." The Grand Master's voice was bland, but from his place at Stephen's left shoulder Phil could tell just how tense the man was.
"I assume you're here because of your von Strucker."
Phil had been expecting Master Mordo to deny any sort of accusation, and yet he was coming right out and giving voice to the information they'd received from Werner von Strucker. In fact, Mordo seemed almost proud of it, as he stood tall and straight in his doorway, staring down Stephen even though the Great Grand Master was a little taller than the other Wizard.
"And you would be correct."
A small smile twisted Mordo's lips. "Then I suppose you should come in." He stepped out of the doorway, allowing the three of them to enter.
The house within was as modest as the outside. The entry was narrow, one half of the space taken up by a staircase the headed up to the second level. The walls were unadorned, lined with an understated pale green and pale blue wallpaper. An open archway on the right led to a sitting room; on the left was what would have been the dining room, but had been converted into a make-do casting chamber, judging from the wooden book stand in the center that would have held a moderate-sized gramariya easily.
There was a dragon sitting in the entryway to that room, alert to the three interlopers in her Wizard's home. She was mottled black and brown and green, almost a camouflage pattern, intense brown eyes staring at them intently. She was a little larger than Lola and Myfanwy, who were eyeing the new dragon with interested antagonism. Agamotto was looking at this dragon avidly, and a little sadly, and Phil was reminded that Mordo and Stephen had had the same teaching Master and had been friends before their ideological falling out.
"You aren't denying it." Stephen didn't phrase it as a question. He also didn't introduce either Phil or Ianto, but then Mordo would have known who they were anyway.
"Why should I?" Mordo shrugged. "You already know what I did, and I'm certain you know the reason why, as well."
"There are actually two reasons," Phil chimed in.
Mordo gave him a skeletal-looking grimace. "Very good, Grand Master."
He made the title sound like a curse.
"But I'm not Hydra," Mordo went on. "I'd never ally myself with Voids."
"You didn't need to say anything about that, either," Stephen commented. "Knowing you the way I do, the moment I heard your name I knew you were doing it for your own purposes, even if Hydra put you up to it."
"They approached me, knowing my history and my beliefs. I went along with it for personal reasons." His dark, intense eyes met Phil's; the Void Wizard flatly refused to look away. "Of course, it didn't do any good. The Voids still accepted you as their leader. But then, that's simply not that much of a surprise, given how ambiguous Void morals are."
Phil wanted to rant at him a little. After all, it had been that attitude – aimed at him by his very own parents – that had brought about the birth of the Dark One.
The Greats simply didn't understand the connection between the Void and its Wizards. And explaining it yet again wouldn't do a damned bit of good, if what Phil was seeing in Mordo was correct. After all, he'd heard the testimony in the Quorum, about Buda-Pest and Phil's participation in that affair, and was obviously not taking any of that into consideration.
It wasn't as if Phil wasn't ashamed of what he'd done. He was. Fucking ashamed. But there was no way to go back and change anything, only to move forward to make up for what he'd done. Besides, that life had brought him Daisy, and he wouldn't trade his daughter for anything.
The smirk on Mordo's face flickered a little, as if Phil's own stare was unnerving him. And maybe it was, because the Void Wizard wasn't backing down. Honestly, Phil was tired of backing down. He was tired of hiding, tired of being a hermit, although he'd been happy with that life for a long time. He'd gained friends in the days since Hydra had made its presence known, had gained a lover that he'd wanted for years, and was ready to live his life no matter where that led.
"You really have no idea." Stephen shook his head in despair. That was all he said, before drawing himself up, putting on the pride that Mordo seemed to wear so easily. "As Grand Master of Great Order, I officially put you on record as breaking the rule of the Quorum. We shall discuss your punishment at a later time."
"And I would do it again," Mordo vowed, "if it meant bringing that man's crimes against the natural order to light." His finger stabbed right at Phil, and the Wizard had the rather childish urge to bite it.
He refrained. But that was only because he needed to keep his dignity wrapped around him in the face of Mordo's disdain. It seemed to unsettle the man just a little, which the Wizard counted as a win. He was pretty sure it was because he wasn't acting like what Mordo expected the Dark One to act. But then, Phil had changed so very much in the years he'd given up being that evil bastard and had concentrated of just being Master Phil Coulson.
He was proud of Master Phil Coulson. And he honestly felt as if he had something to be proud of.
Phil gave the other Wizard a grim smile. "I'm well aware of what I've done, and I'll be paying for that for a very long time. However, you could have put my daughter in danger by your actions, and that I cannot let stand. She is a very real target for Hydra, and if you had succeeded in getting me out of the way, it would have made her vulnerable to whoever Hydra has in Void Order. You may be prejudiced, Master Mordo, but I cannot see that you'd put children in danger."
Mordo stepped right up to Phil, so close that the Void Wizard would feel the man's magic sparking against his personal magicks. "She is a Cardinal. They are just as unnatural as the Voids."
In that moment, Phil couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled up and burst forth. "You really believe that. You really have no idea what you're talking about, do you." Explaining the relationship between the Void and their Wizards wouldn't do a damned bit of good, not to someone as close-minded as Master Mordo obviously was.
Mordo's expression turned affronted. "Using the Deep Ways and the Void is wrong. The ancient Wizards had the right of it."
"I'm not going to argue it with you. You will never accept anything I tell you, because you're so certain you're right and not even the truth will change your mind. However…"
Phil cocked his head. Whatever he'd been about to say was lost as the Void spoke to him.
Well, 'speaking' wasn't the correct word. Communication it was, but it wasn't anything as prosaic as speech. This was something that thrummed deep within his soul, like a siren song only he could comprehend, with the strong connection to the Void he had.
"What is it?" Ianto asked quietly.
Phil blinked at his fellow Grand Masters. "There's something…" He turned his head, trying to catch what the Void was telling him.
To everyone's total surprise including his own, Phil was back out the door and walking toward the village, Lola taking flight overhead. He had no real idea why he was doing this, only that the Void was leading him on, and there was no way he would ever be able to ignore that signal.
The others were following him. He paid them no mind at all.
The village was laid out in concentric circles with a green in the exact center. The main street bisected the circle, businesses lining the dusty road, and Phil strode toward that green, ignoring the looks he was getting from the few villagers who were out and about at that time of the day.
He had a feeling he knew what they would be seeing: a man who looked as if he wasn't going to let anyone or anything get in his way, his eyes gone black with Void. Someone fey and inhuman and unstoppable.
He didn't care. It wasn't important in that moment that they seemed to be afraid of him. He'd sown such fear too many times to count for it to bother him, although a small voice in the back of his mind was telling him he should care, that frightening innocent people wasn't something he should be doing.
The Void was drawing him on. Anything else simply wasn't important.
He could just make out a thin stream of Void, leading him onward. It was coming from the green ahead, and Phil followed it. He had no choice.
Well, he did. But he wasn't about to make another one when this one was so obviously right.
There was a rather fancy raised gazebo built on the green. Its wooden eaves were carved into swoops and whorls, abstract patterns that added to the gazebo's charm. White paint gleamed in the sun, polished wood on the floor, four steps leading up onto it.
The area wasn't quite deserted, but no one was actually in the gazebo. In fact, if Phil wasn't mistaken, the villagers who were on the green seemed to be avoiding the place, one woman nearby actually cringing a little when Phil stepped up onto its wooden plank floor. It creaked slightly under his boots as he walked to the exact center, turning on his heel to contemplate the view before meeting Ianto's eyes, from where his friend – as well as Stephen and a confused and angry Mordo – were standing, watching him. The dragons were keeping back, except for Lola, who landed near the short steps leading up into the gazebo, her gaze on his, and the Void was within her as well, spinning within her whirling blue eyes.
"What do you see?" the Cardinal Wizard asked softly, the accent on the word 'see' obvious.
The Void Wizard knew what his counterpart was asking. So, he blinked, bringing his magical sight fully into use.
There was a small area of the gazebo floor that was coated with Void.
"Someone's here," he said, before he could even realize that was the truth. "Someone calling out to the Void for help."
"What are you doing?" Mordo demanded, his face dark with anger.
"The Void is alive, and it's telling me someone needs me. It's led me here."
Lola bugled loudly, as if she was calling out to whoever was nearby that left that stain of Void on the gazebo floor. They were beginning to gain quite a crowd, but Phil disregarded it in favor of casting his senses outward, to locate who was in trouble enough that the Void had decided to intervene.
"You speak as if the Void was alive," Mordo scoffed.
"It is," Ianto answered. "It and the Deep Ways are alive. From what I understand, the Void even has its own heartbeat. It also chooses its Wizards. As does the Deep Ways. We don't have anything to do with it, except to accept that decision."
"Something's moving under the gazebo," Stephen interrupted. "I can just about see the shadows shifting."
That had Phil out of the gazebo and kneeling on the ground, not caring that he was getting grass stains on the knees of his trousers. He leaned forward, and saw what Stephen had from farther back: a shadow a little paler than the ones under the floor was shifting, and it took the Void Wizard a moment to realize he was seeing a dragon.
Without any prompting, Lola was wriggling under the low floor in order to meet the new dragon. She barely fit, and for a heartbeat Phil wondered if he'd have to pull her out, if she'd get stuck. There was an inquisitive chirp that echoed out from under the structure, Lola's bright curiosity flowing across their bond. Phil himself would never fit, but he laid flat on the ground the better to get more of a look into the darkness.
The source of the Void call was under that gazebo
"There's no need to be afraid," he urged. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"Do you promise?" came a child's voice, scared and trembling and female.
"You have my word. I'm like you, can't you tell?"
Phil sent out a light pulse of his magic, hoping she would be able to feel it. There was a gasp. "You are," the voice said in wonder.
"My name is Phil, and my dragon is Lola. What are your names?"
There was silence, and even though Phil couldn't see her, he just knew the child was considering what she should say. Finally, she answered, "I'm Crystal. My dragon is Lockjaw."
Phil couldn't help the smile. "Hello, Crystal. Lockjaw. It's nice to meet you both."
"No one wants to meet us," the child's voice was suddenly full of suspicion.
"Why is that?"
"Cause I'm bad."
Phil's heart stammered in his chest. "You can't be that bad, Crystal."
"I'm so bad my parents didn't want me." No child's voice should sound that resigned.
The Wizard did everything in his power not to let his anger show. Not want her? How could anyone reject an innocent little girl? "Why do your parents think you're bad?" He was dreading the answer, because he was certain he already knew what she was going to say.
"Cause I'm an evil Wizard."
"Oh, sweetheart." It was his worst nightmare…someone trying to convince their child that they were evil. It brought back all the memories of his own parents, and their conviction that because he was Void he was evil. It had led him on the path to becoming the Dark One, to becoming the evil that his own parents had been convinced he was.
He wasn't about to let that happen to another child.
"I swear to you," he continued, "you aren't evil. We're the same, you and I, and I have friends who will tell you that I'm not."
There was a rustle, and Ianto was down on the ground next to Phil, his cheek laying on the grass. "Hello, Crystal…I'm Ianto."
"You talk funny. So's your name. It's pretty, though."
Ianto laughed at that. "I'm from a land that's across the sea."
"There's a place across the sea?" There was such wonder in her voice Phil wished he could pull her into his arms and just hug her.
He suddenly found himself wondering if Daisy would want a younger sister. Because, if Crystal had been abandoned, then she would need someone to look after her. She was Void; it would make sense it would be him. After all, he'd already adopted once and Daisy had turned out pretty well, even if he did say so himself.
"You're different," Crystal said.
"Yes, I am," Ianto confirmed. "But I also have magic, like you do."
"Are you evil?"
"I'm afraid not." His voice was dry, but the Void Wizard doubted the little girl would notice. "Neither is Phil. He's a good man."
He could hear someone scoffing off to the side, knowing it was Mordo without looking. It wasn't like Phil could blame him for his opinion, but at this moment it wasn't helping.
"You should leave her be," Mordo did say.
"And why would we do that?" Stephen inquired, his voice sharp.
"She's Void. None of the villagers will want her like that."
"Well," Phil snarled, raising up enough in order to pin Mordo with a glare, "I'm not one of your villagers, and I want her."
There was a sudden rustle from the darkness under the gazebo. Lola was backing out, and Phil couldn't help but sense her joy as another dragon followed her.
This dragon was all in shades of brown, although there was a faint, iridescent sheen to his scales that made them almost reflective. He was a smaller than Lola was, although Phil could tell it was more because he hadn't been eating enough and not because he was just naturally that small. There was a single horn on his head, except it was split and almost resembled a tuning fork, and it glittered like pearl in the sunlight.
The moment Lockjaw was out from under, both Lola and Myfanwy jumped him playfully, giving the little starved thing all the loving they could. There was a giggle from under the gazebo, and a blonde head emerged, followed by a child who looked to be about seven, also on the sharp end of malnutrition.
She was a pretty thing, even though her skin was smeared with dirt and her hair was tangled into knots. Her dark eyes were watching Phil warily, even as she was obviously getting the full blast of her dragon's happy emotions. "You really want me?" she asked timidly.
"I think the question is," Phil told her, sliding into a seated position, "is if you want me." He had to admit, he was scared; this would potentially be one more loved one he'd lose to death. But there was no way he couldn't not be there for her, if Crystal wanted him to be.
A pair of thin arms flew around his neck as she hugged him. That was his answer.
Over her head, Phil could see Ianto nodding, his blue eyes glittering with unshed tears. "Congratulations," the Cardinal Grand Master said, grinning, "it's a girl."