Chapter 36: Cast Down Your Kings (Part 9)

"I warn you now, you are not going to receive a warm reception. Not after everything you've done and are doubtlessly still planning to do."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about such trifle matters. We're used to being strongly despised by the time we actually leave a place, having a great deal of hatred directed our way before we even arrive will be a novel experience."

"You seem inordinately unconcerned with the danger awaiting you."

"Unconcerned? Yes. Inordinately? Wouldn't go so far as to say that."

Adoniel - Telenia's companion and by far the most bitter and surly Angel Harris suspected he would ever meet - gave the group a scathing look, eventually deciding to give up on trying to intimidate or warn them to tears, the shapeshifter more than happy to have that be the case.

Not that he didn't admire the man's commitment to the bit but you could only hear so many dire warnings portents of doom before growing numb to the whole deal.

Instead the male gazed around the breathtaking scenery that was the base of the 'present day' limestone alps, once more wishing that he had the time to simply explore and enjoy the sights. Considering that he could now change himself into all manner of flying creatures it wasn't even going to be that tricky to see all there was to see, merely winging his way through the skies or gliding from landmark to landmark.

"Alas, it seems I have a couple Angels to drive spare."

"But seriously, look at Est! How can you gaze upon such unbeatable cuteness and say that we'll be treated as pariahs and lepers among your fellows? I think that speaks rather poorly of your quality as people, does it not?"

Merlin's pointing to the girl in question as she rode on Harris' shoulders merely drew a scowl from Adoniel, the Angel confidently retorting, "It matters not how surface level 'cute' one may be. If they are in your company then they are just as dangerous and untrustworthy as the man himself."

The male Angel gave his compatriot a sullen glare.

"Something one of our number apparently forgot sometime during the course of our duty."

With the air of someone who had gone through this particular song and dance countless times before Telenia replied, "I will tell you this as many times as it takes…to have let Harris and the others reach out to Eae on their own terms would have been infinitely more devastating and difficult for all involved than merely guiding them to her with no bloodshed or chaos involved."

"You have to be delusional and corrupted to believe that. Is that very same thought process not what brought death to Charlemagne? To invite the enemy under pretext of an easier dialogue only to be robbed and humiliated?"

Adoniel spat on the ground, darkly muttering, "It is a miracle beyond miracles that your wings remain white as they are."

Understandably reaching the end of her rope Telenia rounded on her companion, harshly retorting, "Not delusional and corrupted, merely confident. A confidence born of having seen this man perform his craft more than any other in Heaven. If you insist on decrying my motivations and loyalty, at least have faith in my experience!"

"Faith is reserved only for one, and unless you have truly taken leave of your senses you are not he! To even suggest-"

"Mom, dad? Please stop fighting."

Both Angels sent the shapeshifter scathing and irritated looks, the man shrugging as Robin was quick to deescalate the situation as she proposed, "Harris' joking aside why do you not let Eae handle this matter? From my understanding you believe her to be in danger yet what lead to Charlemagne's death was the fact that at the end of the day he was merely Human. Your leader is a great deal more powerful than that and should be perfectly alright, should she not?"

"It was believed that the protections offered King Charlemagne were sufficient yet he now lays dead. Those in positions of leadership that cross your path have unanimously come to regret that decision, often for the last time."

"Now that's simply untrue. At least half of those in power I've met are still alive and some of them even like me. Not many, but some."

Adoniel merely shook his head, despite all his complaints and misgivings still leading them onwards as Harris and his companions traded knowing looks.

It seemed even the most recalcitrant and surly of their supposed enemies couldn't help but fall to their charms. Much like how a deer would eventually succumb to a snake's venom.

"Hmm. Maybe not the best descriptor."

Setting that thought aside as the group of six suddenly found themselves on the receiving end of close to a dozen weapons comprised of holy light - bows, lances, polearms and a whole slew of others - Harris peaceably raised his hands in a gesture of surrender before anyone got any funny ideas, remarking, "I see we get the VIP treatment. Does our reputation precede us or is this merely standard procedure for those showing up unannounced?"

"For you? A combination of both."

Telenia's idle observation coincided with a pair of winged individuals - six pinions of white emerging from their backs - quickly descending with shimmering blades extended, clearly not in the mood to take chances with them.

"There exist a multitude of questions we wish to ask of you, Telenia, Adoniel…foremost being why you have brought this man and his companions to us when past experience and events has rather conclusively proven how dangerous of an idea that is."

"I desired to do no such thing."

Adoniel's blunt and unflinching response had all eyes turning to Telenia, the Angel stoically preparing herself for what was no doubt going to be quite the amount of suspicion and dislike as she plainly stated, "I did so because it is my firm belief that it is immeasurably more intelligent to allow this man an easier path to what he wants than to force him to take a more circuitous and destructive route."

One of the attending Angels looked fully ready to dispute the point before pausing, eyes narrowing as if listening to some distant shout before his lips pursed in evident displeasure.

"Eae has instructed us to bring them before her."

"Oh, well isn't that convenient, we were on our way to see her ourselves."

Harris' amused comment didn't seem to endear the new arrivals to their newly met escort as they formed a wary ring, shining weaponry pointed inwards as they quickly but cautiously lead them further into the mountains for a silent half hour, eventually coming across a small and completely ordinary collection of tents that didn't seem particularly fitting for a character as important as Eae. Or a host of Angels but seeing as Harris had technically been homeless for the majority of his time in this world he figured he wasn't allowed to sass other people for their living conditions.

"Stay here."

One of the six wings strode off into the tent as the rest of the Heavenly host kept a close eyes on the shapeshifter and the rest, almost a minute passing in uneasy silence…and with a brief flapping of fabric the tent was opened wide, a figure that could only be Eae herself striding through with purpose in her step as Harris raised an appraising eyebrow the Angel's way.

A wide, billowing dress of muted white's and blues while a veil covered the lower half of her face, leaving only the pale skin of her face and shockingly blue eyes on display, flowing aqua hair cascading down her back while armored boots and gauntlets completed the image of a glacier military leader.

"So you are the famed Harris Xavier causing such grief and anxiety among our kind."

In stark contrast to her frigid appearance Eae's words were soft and comforting, a bit of a dissonance between presentation and reality as she calmly strode forward to stand no more than a few paces before Harris and company.

"And I will freely admit to a great deal of curiosity as to what you hope to accomplish by coming here before me, in the heart of my forces."

Her eyes narrowed in what was obviously a rebuke of some variety or another.

"While you have made it a habit to wander as you will into enemy and ally territory alike as if you were immune to the consequences rest assured I will not suffer your whims and wiles as the others have. Do keep that minor bit of information forefront in your mind, if it so pleases you."

"And yet despite all of that here I am. That speaks for my certainty in my manners, doesn't it?"

"We'll discover the answer to that in short order."

Eae's gaze drifted to where Telenia and Adoniel were standing off to the side, both Angels stiffening at the attention as the ten-winged woman mused, "Inept at stealth those two may be they are nonetheless of our blood and our home…you will be offered the benefit of the doubt in intention until you elect to prove otherwise."

"Well THAT'S not going to take very long."

Deciding not to voice that particular thought Harris instead shrugged, as if the threatening words meant little as Eae gestured with her hand, asking, "Would you care to sit?"

"I think we would."

The six-winged from earlier wordlessly levitated a large table and collection of chairs to the center of the camp, depositing them as Eae smoothly sat herself in one of the proffered bits of furniture, Harris and co following suit as Est plopped herself directly onto his lap.

What followed was a few brief seconds of contemplation from the Angel, the new arrivals content to give her it.

"You know word of your actions has become so widespread that it would be more accurate to say that the odd ones are those who have NOT heard rumors and hearsay. Something made all the more odd by your companions and their origins…or perhaps I should say lack of origins."

"I did aim for exoticism when beginning my recruitment."

Eae let his comment go unaddressed, turning to Merlin while stating, "Your name is notorious enough all unto its own. Yet that you have returned to the world at large under the apparent authority of an unknown as a woman begs more than a few questions."

Merlin was all too happy to answer the general inquiry, chirping, "I had my time in Camelot, served my purpose as advisor and creator of the Knights of the Round. I merely have a new purpose and overarching goal to provide my service and talents towards. And as for becoming a woman rather than man?"

A positively roguish grin adorned her lips.

"Well let's just say that it's a form more suited to handling a sword being sheathed in the stone."

"I see."

Eae's tone was as dry as could be, turning to Robin as she idly commented, "You have the look of a scholar yet your draconic features suggests at quite the intriguing heritage. Most beings descended from Dragons tend not to pursue academic arts other than as a means to an end or occasional flights of fancy."

Robin returned the Angel's smile with one of her own, promptly correcting her with, "A strategist, actually. You weren't wrong about my scholarly pursuits merely being a means to an end, even if I did enjoy it."

Eae displayed clear interest at that confession as Robin continued with, "I've heard of your reputation and some of the tactics you've employed in the past. Quite clever and forward thinking of you to use Humans - who so many Devils think of as a resource rather than asset - to bring down a supposedly superior and powerful foe."

"I take it you serve as Xavier's chief tactician, then?"

"That is my distinction, yes. A service I provide that he does not offer nearly enough compensation or attention for."

"I'll remember that during our next quarterly report."

Merlin rolled her eyes at the interplay, languidly stating, "And yet again I find myself passed over in favor of less exciting individuals. Honestly, is there any point to me being me?"

Looking past all their bullshit Eae curiously asked, "And where have you served as a strategist before, if you do not mind me asking?"

"I doubt you would have heard of it. A kingdom called Ylisse, where I served as the court tactician, magician and a number of other odd jobs and roles."

"You are correct, I haven't heard of such a place…should time and circumstances permit it I would very much like to sit with you and discuss what our mutual responsibilities in those positions entailed."

"The feeling is certainly mutual."

Finally staring at Est as the Sword Spirit calmly sat on Harris' lap - the shapeshifter idly stroking her thighs in relaxing motions - the Angel seemed at something of a loss as she asked, "You are easily the most bewildering of all, a new addition who seems to share no historical name I am aware of or even appear as particularly involved with the proceedings, if you will forgive my bluntness."

The woman's eyes traced over the group, noticing Merlin and Robin's hair colors that weren't too dissimilar to Est's own.

"A daughter, perhaps?"

"Lover, actually. Come on, introduce yourself."

The Elemental Waffe briefly inclined her head, distantly stating, "Terminus Est," before lapsing into silence as Eae took her words in stride, musing, "A lady of few words."

Harris was just privately amused at the clear differences between this world and his old one when it came to judging by appearances. If he'd called Est his lover back home people would have rightly been wondering what the fuck he was doing. Here everyone just assumed she was older than her outwards appearance might suggest.

"Well, I suppose there is little point in beating around the bush. Why are you here, Xavier? You've taken the effort to bully and browbeat my soldiers into acquiescing to your designs as opposed to your more destructive antics, but for what purpose?"

The Angel arched an immaculate eyebrow.

"I assume it is to somehow destabilize or ruin our own plans and directives in favor of your own, much as you've done in the past? Or is it too presumptuous of me to assume I warrant the same treatment?"

"There's no right answer to that so allow me to be blunt and say, yes. We're here to rain on your parade."

Eae seemed to take his words in as much stride as one could expect from her, a brief sigh escaping the woman as she leaned back in her chair, hands folded in her lap and legs crossed in a posture of complete relaxation before musing, "Well this is quite the unusual puzzle. I don't believe I've ever had the dubious pleasure of an opponent stating right to my face that they intend to 'rain on my parade' with nary a weapon in sight."

Harris resisted the urge to smile as the Angel leaned forward in spite of herself, inquiring, "Then in this grand scheme of yours am I permitted to ask questions?"

"But of course. Not a whole lot to gain by showing up, stating what everyone already knows and then leaving without a backwards glance. That would defeat the purpose of this very meeting."

"Very well then…what do you hope to accomplish during your stay in Lombardy? Your current situation seems tenuous at best, if what we have gleaned of your forces and allies is accurate."

The woman's relaxed posture shifted, placing her elbows on the table before resting her chin atop them, veil concealing the limbs and creating quite the mysterious image that the male wondered was intentional.

"You currently serve Lucifer but if your time among Beelzebub's cohort is any indication it's merely an alliance of convenience, as I fail to see what this Satan can offer you over the other. And the feeling is mutual, he clearly does not expect you to succeed or has engineered you to fail, if the pitiful Extra Legion forces he has assigned to you have anything to say on the matter."

She raised an eyebrow.

"One does not relegate a force of a few ragtag hundred to stand against several well trained and marshaled thousands and expect them to be victorious in a three way battle. Feel free to correct my assumption that Lucifer intends for you to do battle with his nominal allies as well."

Smiling at her deductions thus far Harris merely replied, "If you think my odds are bad right now they would have been immeasurably worse if Lucifer had granted me an actual regiment of properly trained and equipped soldiers."

"We have a bit of an affinity and soft spot for the unconventional and unloved."

Robin's addition caused Eae to hum in contemplation, Harris stating, "I'm Intrigued by your conclusions thus far, by all means continue."

"And further provide you with all that I know and suspect? I've already been quite generous and courteous with the current situation in Lombardy as we understand it."

"You've been generous and courteous with information that we have no way of verifying or confirming is all you know. Humor me."

The Angel met the shapeshifter's gaze, neither individual backing down for a number of seconds…and Eae's eyes briefly narrowed in what could have intrigue or mirth, resuming the conversation with, "Your ultimate goal here is likely to be one that involves the saving or sheltering of what you perceive as innocent lives. That was one of your primary reasons for killing Charlemagne, after all, his professed scheme to bring low and murder the men and women who served the fleeing king."

Genuinely impressed at how Eae was one of the precious few to correctly summarize his motives during that whole campaign Harris replied, "If nothing else allow me to congratulate you on the correct deduction that I undertook my actions with the intent of saving people, everyone just assumes Charlemagne was killed for clout."

"I will afford you the benefit of the doubt, that you are fully aware that your actions may very well lead to considerably more destruction than if the Christian King had been allowed to live."

"And I greatly appreciate your faith."

Eae's eyes narrowed slightly, her tone nonetheless even as she continued on with, "Factor in the mildly uncertain but entirely possible tale that you had a significant part to play between the recent pact sealed between Japan and China, where the former purportedly obtained justice for their slain empress, even if neither is willing to admit it outright. But a murdered god is a rather difficult event to hide."

Once more leaning back in her seat the Angel mused, "On paper these seem like childish and impulsive actions brought about by sheer luck and bullheaded stubbornness, a casual disregard for the rules leaving all sides in perpetual uncertainty and limbo as they attempt to divine your overarching motives."

Harris didn't bother hiding the smug, confident grin upon his lips.

"Except for you."

"I have practice viewing events from a Human perspective, or at least from viewpoints outside the accepted and expected norms."

"Using this outside perspective of yours what would you say to me throwing you a hint?"

"I would by no means be adverse to it."

Gesturing with his hand the shapeshifter stated, "Recently I visited the banks of Lombardy to see if they would be willing to help with a little project of mine. Taking into account all that you've observed and heard what do you make of that?"

"...I cannot honestly say. But it certainly informs this next course of action."

With a burst of light and hum of ambient energy golden chains inlaid with curved lettering bound the four within an eyeblink, shining lances of burning holy energy manifesting over Eae's shoulders as the rest of the Angel cohort surrounded them from every angle, weapons and armor at the ready as they slowly but surely closed the distance, moving in lockstep and clearly ready for trouble of any kind.

Harris curiously tested his bonds, finding them to be completely and utterly unyielding although an experimental shifting of his finger proved that whatever they were meant to do it didn't stop him from changing his body at will.

"That's just a bonus then. Let's see where this goes."

Maintaining an air of polite intrigue as any sense of affability vanished from Eae's features the Angel coldly announced, "Every other fool may have overlooked your proclivities or past actions in order to reap the benefits of your labors or outright believed they could control you…I believe differently. And I would very much like for my dignity, integrity and very existence to survive this coming campaign."

"That makes you a damn sight more intelligent than everyone else I've encountered during my time traveling across the land."

Eae didn't lose her icy composure in the slightest, cooly stating, "Surrender yourself and your companions to me and you have my solemn word that no harm will come, that you will be imprisoned only to the extent that is necessary to keep you from escaping."

Harris rolled his eyes downwards, since his neck was rather uncooperative.

"Well I've always been curious about bondage…didn't think I would be the one on the receiving end though."

"This is no joke, Xavier."

"No, it isn't…but it is funny."

Meeting the Angel's gaze the male idly asked, "Do you know the downfall of being smart, Eae?"

"I'm sure you'll enlighten me."

"It's that you can always be relied upon to do the smart thing. Which in this case is ensuring that I can't get up to my usual bullshit. Est?"

The woman got it at just around the same time the tiny girl shifted into her sword form, cutting away and destroying the shackles that had contained them in a single swipe as Robin retrieved a Warp staff, light embracing and whisking them away in the blink of an eye as dozens of Holy rays scored the earth where they had been just a second prior, the interior of their temporary base greeting them with little fanfare.

"Well that went well, don't you think?"

Ignoring the blinks and stares from Sirzechs, Serafall and Grayfia as they essentially warped back into existence Merlin rolled her eyes, wryly commenting, "Even my attempts at diplomacy did not go awry so quickly."

"I doubt that. Excellent work, Est."

The sword spirit happily accepted his head pat as Serafall released a tired groan, asking, "Do I even want to ask what just happened?"

"Depends. How much of a headache do you want?"

"Do not lose your composure. Dispatch scouts and observers to our predetermined cities and locales, make doubly sure that any bank or institution of money has extra surveillance. Is that clear?"

A chorus of affirmatives sounded out, Eae contemplatively staring at the scorched crater where she had attempted to prevent her foe's escape.

"Telenia? I require your thoughts."

The lesser ranked Angel swiftly appeared at her side, expression grim and resigned as she clearly expected retribution and punishment for her perceived failure.

"What do you make of Xavier's actions with this latest escapade of his?"

"...I wouldn't hazard a guess at his motivations but whatever his designs it seemed of paramount importance that you be made aware of his actions with the Human banks, enough so that it was worth revealing the rather critical ability of Est to seemingly sever any kind of magic restraints."

The ten-winged nodded, slowly musing, "Now the question is whether he wants me to interact with them or not? He gave away only enough to make it a flip of the coin whether we would be calling his bluff or playing into his hands…"

Eae gave the kneeling Telenia and stiffly standing Adoniel - both obviously expecting retribution and chastisement - a look of sympathy.

"I will assign both of you tasks soon, this matter is no fault of yours."

She strode away, already coming up with the next steps of her campaign.

"And I believe I understand why you consider this man such a headache to deal with."