Cearbhail:

Man, I was stuck on this for a while, so I decided to introduce another new character. No... not off the top of my head. This has been a thing in the making for a while now, and ... well... I was hoping to introduce this person in the second act ... after Wolfe was killed. But now is a good a time as any to show you the true Master of the Templars. Well, one of them anyway. More will pop up later, but consider this the enemy of the second arc. And I'm sure you'll find out who the hero will be. In time. Anyway, enjoy.

[King John]

"Sire, you have a visitor." One of my guards, Georgie or something, announced as he walked into the throne room. Georgie was a nice guy. He was one of the more dedicated fighters in my legion. Too bad he had to interrupt me during my foot polishing session. Maid Marian was busy scraping the calluses off my foot when he barged into my room. And I don't like it when my guards interrupt my favorite time of the week. Wearing those tough ironed boots was great and all, but it was a wreck for your feet. And Marian is not only great eye candy, but has the gentlest touch on my aching feet.

"Knight, this better be important." If it wasn't, he was so getting beheaded. I didn't get to have Maid Marian do this very often. Always available, I just don't do enough to form calluses. It was simple things like this that I enjoyed, and this guard just interrupted my favorite time of the week.

Georgie swallowed and took a step back. "A strange woman calling herself Goose is here to see you."

Ah, so she was finally here. I nodded to him. "Send her in right away." I wondered when she would come visit me. It had been weeks since she gave me my personal witch crafters. If she was here, it must be important. Must be too important to send one of her trademark ravens with a message written on it.

Georgie nodded as he backed out of the room, bowing to me as he did so. After he backed out of the room, I looked down at the stunned Marian. She was looking for any sign that she could leave. "Come back in an hour. I need to have some private time with my visitor."

Marian nodded, basically putting her head down to the floor. "Yes, milord." She scuffled back until she was far enough to stand up and back out of the room, all the while holding her maid uniform in a curtsey. She was so cute. I couldn't wait to continue getting my feet scraped clean.

As soon as Marian backed out of the room, I felt the tension in the room change. The light in the windows started to dim, the air started to cool. I felt pressure pushing down on top of me. That was a good sign. If the Mother Goose was unhappy, I wouldn't be alive to feel her presence approaching. With a flash of light as bright and sudden as a bolt of lightning, there she stood in the archway. Long flowing black robes with freckled orbs that shined like the midnight skyline in the Milky Way. She didn't have her traditional long pointy hat, so I could see her long raven hair that reached down to her legs. She didn't have her staff either. So… this wasn't a battle then. This was just a meeting.

I rose from my throne. "Mother." I bowed respectively to her as she walked into the room. "May the Father of Understanding guide you."

She nodded. "As He guides us all." She replied dryly. "Do you know why I bring myself to your little kingdom today?"

I shook my head. "Is it because we recovered the Cross?"

She smirked. "Perhaps that had little to do with my visit. Perhaps you know of the white robed assassin roaming your streets?"

I nodded. I did indeed notice him. Tried to find him and kill him. Too bad he was good at getting away. "He's an elusive one."

"That little pest has the lance." She replied. Oh… so she wasn't talking about the same person then. The assassin I was thinking of didn't have the Lance of Antioch. He was just a nuisance that allied himself with the coven. He was a clumsy one that I found amusing to let wander my streets. But he did have his annoying habits of blowing up my kingdom. Him and that second one he brought with him, whoever that girl was. The one that carried the lance was one of my knights. He did wear white, but I didn't think him an assassin. Could he be one of them? If that was true, then there were three of the Templars worst enemies in my town. That would not be coincidence… not when we were so close to finally realizing our dreams of a unified world. Of course the brutal slobs would interfere with world unification. They only wanted disordered chaos, not to mention people to kill. They would do anything to keep the world from having order. I had to deal with them finally.

Mother Goose noticed my blanked expression. She shook her head in shame. "You know of the one I speak, but he's not the one you thought of first?" She walked over to me. "Are there more of those Assassins here?"

I nodded. "At least two other. They've allied with the local witches."

Mother Goose bowed her head in confusion. The air around us started to cool, the already dark atmosphere drawing even closer to us. It was like the darkness around us was pushing closer to enveloping us, suffocating us. "I ordered my daughter to come over here to find and kill the interloper causing problems for our plans." She started to mumble as the floor shook under us. "Are you saying that she is working with these Assassins?"

I shrugged at her question. "Mother, I had not seen your daughter in town." I looked around the room as the darkness continued to push down on us. Mother's gaze did not waver for a second.

Her eyes glowed for a second. The air around the room cooled even further as her raven hair started to drift as if hit by a light breeze. "She is…veiled. I cannot locate her exact location. She is nearby though. Perhaps not in town." Her eyes returned to normal, both of which were focused on me. "If you see my daughter, you will take her from those that would do her harm. The Assassins are not to be trusted. They do not have her best interest in mind and would do her harm if they knew her true purpose in this town." She started pacing around the room. "She is… flawed. Idealistic. Thinks she can change the world. I hoped bringing her down here would bring it all into perspective. Your town hates our kind. One would think that she would finally understand how the world needs to change. But… if she hangs around those Assassins, I do not know if she will accept her coming role in the events to come. She might get radical ideas of somehow saving the world as one of those stupid idiots."

I nodded. "By your will. If I may ask… what is the next phase? What is your daughter's role in the coming events?"

"You will do as you are told." Mother responded as she turned to leave. "You will continue to gather iron and send it to York. Wolfe will continue to export traitors of my Coven to countries to receive their punishment. The Coven here in Nottingham is still under my protection so you shall not touch them. Understood?"

I felt pressure crush my body as Mother turned to direct her gaze at me. If she willed it, I would be killed in a second. I nodded madly as I struggled to stand up on my feet. "You are the Master of our Templar Order, Mother Goose. I will defer to your judgment."

She grunted and turned to leave the room. "Wolfe will continue to lay siege to the holds between Nottingham and York, making our new kingdom larger. Piper will continue the search for the Apple of Eden. And when you find the Lance of Antioch, you will bring it to me in York. Understood?"

I nodded. "Yes, Mother. I already know where it is."

The room was suddenly silent. She turned to face me. Her eyes bore right through me. "You know where the Lance of Antioch is, but you have neglected to retrieve it from the grubby white-robed idiot who carries it?"

I shook my head. "I keep him close to me as one of my valued knight captains. I thought if I kept him close he'd show me the true power of the Lance. He seems to know a lot about it."

She turned her head. "Very well. Let the ant play with Power he knows naught about. It won't be of any real use until the Apple is recovered. Keep the Cross here until you collect the Apple. When you have the Apple, kill the idiot carrying the Lance. Then bring all three items to York. I will call my daughter back and we will begin Phase Two when she arrives."

I nodded to her, bowing my head. There was a second where the cold and the pressure pushed down on me, but they suddenly disappeared. When I rose from my bow, Mother Goose was no longer in the throne room. She was simply gone.

I let my collected breath out as I crashed into my throne. I could barely believe she decided to visit me like that. She never left York for any reason. She normally sent some of her ravens to me with her instructions on them. Still… I wish I knew more about her plans. She was our real leader, the one with all the knowledge of what these items did. I was just a tool to get what she wanted. That's the only reason I continue to lead England in Richard's absence. She knew that killing me would take away all the influence she currently had. All the influence I had in my name as King John. She couldn't get the same amount of influence on her own. She's powerful but not that powerful. Even she cannot command people to respect her rule, not without the help of a cross, a lance, and a very powerful orb. I think that was her plan, and I knew that if I got those items first… I could beat her at her own game. I could become strong enough to overpower her satanic powers. We would have a unified country… without the threat of women and men powerful enough to burn down whole towns with a single thought. Mother Goose might be my leader now, but whenever I got the chance, she was dead. And that means finding her daughter and killing her too. But not yet. If I did so, Mother Goose would know that I plan to disrupt her own plans with my own. Patience. I just need to find the orb and then… well… MY plan will take fruition.

…

[Red]

Dear diary,

Today is December 13th. Today was something. I spent the night at the slave camp with Olin. It wasn't like I slept in the same bed as him, but I did sleep next to him. The guards didn't mind it: me sleeping in the same room as the slaves. Sure, we had a couple extra guards posted at the entrance to the room, watching me the whole night. The other coven members set up their own tent to sleep in. We're not planning on returning to the town until this place is fixed. In the course of one day, we've managed to melt all the snow in the area and warm up the air surrounding the town. Vicky has been the most help of all of us. I watched as she stood over one of the broken buildings. It was amazing. She waved her hand, telling us all to stand back. She had a bunch of lumber and metal laying around the shambled building. She stuck her hands out and the large pieces of wood started to float in the air. The metal started to rise off the ground as well. Then she clapped her hands together. The wood and the metal all flew over to the broken building and next thing I knew the building was good as new. Nailed and everything. Man… Vicky is something else. I shudder to imagine what her mother is like. Good thing she's on our side. I hate to think that Mother Goose may not be a good person.

But anyway, I can't wait to get home and tell Robin and Malik about all the stuff we did. If we continue to get public support like this, I think we'll be able to show off our traditional robes in town without having to worry about vegetables being pelted at us. At least this port town is accepting us well enough. We have knights watching our every move, and they escort our group everywhere in the town, mostly with swords sheathed. The leader of the knights for the port seems pretty nice towards us, but that's only because he trusts Olin. That and he likes seeing Olin and me hanging out. It's odd, but I don't really mind. I like being with Olin, and if someone thinks we make a cute couple, I'm more than happy to agree.

Oh well, time to get some dinner and plan our next day. We're going to finish up the majority of the dock. When I say 'we', I really mean Vicky. She won't say it, but she's getting worn out. I see her arms shaking during our breaks. She can barely lift a spoon without dropping it once or twice. She laughs it off as catching Lucy's clumsiness, but I can see the heavy bags forming under her eyes. She's doing too much to help. She needs to rest. Think I'll tell her to stand down for a day. She needs to rest. And since I am the new Mother of this coven, she has to listen to me. But first, we have a training session.

Mother Red.

…

"Ok, Mother." Vicky called from the other side of the snow-covered training circle. We practiced in a large open field outside the port town. The guards left us alone for the most part, but we always drew a small crowd when it came to seeing us training. Vicky pulled off her overlarge duck-shaped hat and tossed it to the snow. "Time for you to attack me with everything you have."

I took a deep breath as I brought up my fists.

Vicky shook her head. "Nu-uh. None of that punching and kicking stuff. This is not Assassin training. We're mana users, so we will use our mana. I've shown you a couple combative spells. Be creative. You too Lucy!" She screamed over to Lucy, who was right beside me. "Both of you, attack me with everything you have."

Lucy groaned, rolling her eyes. "Why doesn't Muffet or Mary have to join us? Or Leroy?"

"Because they aren't as strong as you two!" Vicky screamed at us. "You two are the closest thing I have to sparring partners. Now, come! I want to actually stretch my spiritual muscles tonight. Game time begins now!" With that the snow surrounding Vicky ripped off the ground, gathering around her like she was in the middle of a snow globe. She didn't wait as she started waving her hands. The snow flying around her started speeding up but that's not all that was happening. Snowballs that had formed in the snowstorm brewing around her flew at us. Ah… a snowball fight. Ok, I can deal with that.

As the first snowball flew at me, I dove out of the way. My Assassin training started kicking in and my head throbbed as my "Sight" activated. There was a pulse and time slowed down for me. Snowballs became very visible as they soared over to me. My body reacted as if it knew exactly what to do. I rose off my knees, twisting my hips and leaning away as a snowball flew past me. I began dancing, spinning, and diving as more snowballs flew at me with deadly accuracy.

Lucy screamed in horror and surprise as her face was suddenly filled with snow. She didn't have much time to prepare before more slammed into her body. Before I could even turn to look at her, she resembled a living snowman. She looked purely shocked that I had been able to dodge as many as I had.

I turned my attention back to the whirlwind that was Vicky. The snowstorm gathering around her was only growing stronger. "You two better do better than that! I don't want to win another game 300 to nothing." She mocked from behind her snow veil. My head pulsed again with that feeling that I should move. I followed my body's instinct, jumping and jerking my body. Snowballs flew across my body, barley missing me as they did so. The snowballs continued to come, turning and flying back at me. I continued to dodge. Lucy continued to scream in horror as snow slammed into her.

"That is it!" Lucy finally screamed as a fire erupted around her body. "You got that down my back!" Lucy screamed as a torrent of fire roared around her white robes. She gathered her hands in front of her. The fire gathering around her body started to form around her already lit palms. "Teine!" She screamed and the fire around her only grew stronger.

"Ah… Irish, huh?" Vicky's voice came from beyond the fire. "Good focusing spell."

I felt another pulse, this one strong enough to knock me flat to the ground. My head started to spin but my Sight was kicking back on. My feet moved for me and I ran away as a wave of snow burst from the ground around me.

"You better start getting offensive, Mother!" Vicky called out. "Your lesser is showing more initiative than you are."

I could barely see through the blizzard that was growing around us. But that's why I did all that training with Malik. He did force me to train in a freezing river with grabbing fish. He did blindfold me and force me to walk through an obstacle course. And doing that had taught me how to see when I couldn't see. The Sight, as we called it. It was time I used it for real.

I took a deep breath as I closed my eyes. I could hear the roaring wind gathering around us, the building hurricane of snowball flying around, the snow veil Vicky had called up. There was a pulse and I could feel the fire's heat of Lucy somewhere to my right. I could vaguely see her figure in my mind, where she stood at least. She was launching ball and ball of fire at the training field. She was throwing blind though. The snow and the wind were ruining whatever aiming she was attempting. Her spell would leave her hand and then fizzle out seconds later. Vicky knew that Lucy was only good with fire spells. I was a little different. I didn't really do much with fire, no. I was better at manipulating air, like Vicky.

I continued to focus as a mental pressure started to form in my mind. There was a spot somewhere in the middle of this mess, where I could feel the eyesight of Vicky watching for me. There she was. She was waiting too. I released a breath as I started waving my hands around. I was calling the wind to follow my direction. To break free of the raging blizzard. I felt the raging blizzard surrounding me start to die down as I started creating my own wind veil. While that was building, I reached down with my free hand and scooped up a ball of snow. I packed it down and held it up to where I could 'see' Vicky standing at the middle of the storm. I only had one chance at this, better now screw it up.

I brought my free hand up and directed the wind to disrupt the snowstorm in a straight line to Vicky. While it did that, I used more wind to launch the snowball from my hand. The blade of wind breaking through the snowstorm left with a slash of my free hand. I watched through closed eyes as the snowstorm split in two as my spell broke through the exhausted Vicky's veil. I could clearly see her in my mind. She was barely standing on her feet, breathing heavily, her eyes drooping. She was barely even awake. No wonder she wasn't fighting back. She wanted this to be as over as we did. Well… wish granted.

I gathered wind in my snowball hand, right behind the snowball. I compacted as much of the wind as I could in the small space of my hand and aimed the wind to fly right into Vicky's face. I wrapped a thin line of wind around the snowball to keep it wrapped into the spell itself. And now… to finish this. I willed the snowball to fire with as much speed as it possibly could handle. And that's when I screamed. I threw everything I had into launching the snowball with as much wind as possible. And that snowball took off like a crossbow bolt. And slammed the exhausted Vicky right in the left cheek. She didn't even have time to respond.

The snowstorm was quick to die down. It winded down, slowly dying until it was a light glitter in the setting sunlight. Vicky lied in a perfectly drawn circle in the snow. Her white robes were covered in the snow from my snowball, her face practically looking like a snowman. Hey… it's not like I used a small snowball. The one I formed was about the size of my head. I meant for it to explode… and it did. It exploded all over her face. She needed a nap… and now she was napping.

I brushed my hands off and turned to look at Lucy. "Ok, that's game. I win."

Lucy's fires died down with a heavy sigh. She looked at me and then over to Vicky. "You beat her?"

I shrugged. "Lucy… haven't you been watching her lately? She's tired and using too much mana. She was bound to make a mistake sooner or later. I just did her a favor and knocked her out."

She scratched her head at that, shrugging. "Ok, whatever. I'm just glad we can go eat now."

I looked outside the circle to see Brian and Olin watching us. Olin shook his head in amazement as he ran into the circle. "Red, that was… awesome? I think that's the proper word for this." He ran up, throwing me into a hug.

Lucy only shook her head. "Ok, I'm totally going to find me a boyfriend now." She called out to me as she turned to leave the training circle. "See you at dinner. Don't take too long."

I didn't bother watching her leave. I was too busy burying my cold lips into Olin's for warmth. Yeah, warmth. They were so warm and welcoming. As was the rest of his body pressed up against mine.

While I was busy making out with Olin, Brian was busy running up to the unconscious Vicky. "Vicky!" He called out as he started brushing snow off her body and face. He bent down to grab her by her arms. He started dragging her through the snow back to the village. "Don't worry, I'll look after her until she recovers." He called to me as he dragged her away.

I directed my gaze over to him for a second. That's kinda funny. I used to see Vicky do the same thing for him whenever he got hurt. She'd drag him back to the pub to tend to his wounds, and now he was going to return the favor by watching out for her while she napped? I think that was nice of him. It might be a matter of honor with him. He did feel somewhat indentured to her for taking so much care of him as she did. This was probably his way of paying her back for all the help she gave him. Either that or he likes her. I hope it's the latter.

I turned my attention back to Olin. "Ready for dinner?" I asked him through pressed lips.

He nodded. "Yup. Tonight is gruel with a side dish of muck."

"Mmm… muck. So much better than slop." I replied with a laugh. I love this so much. I did not care what was going on back in town. I'm sure Malik and Robin could watch over themselves for a couple days while I stayed here and kissed my boyfriend. I mean rebuild the town. Eh, who cares what I call it. I'm doing both on a daily basis.

Cearbhail:

Just a little fun with snowball fights. We'll find out what's going on with Vicky later on, in a couple chapters. Back to Malik for now.