Warnings: Religious content. Not that I'm opposed to it myself, or expect you to be, but there's quite a lot of it here, because that's how a coronation works. I'm not trying to convert anybody to or from anything, ok? *looks innocent* (Rachel: In addition, this episode was not endorsed by the Boy Scouts of America.)
Disclaimer: My current defence against any corporate lawyers who might decide to beat down my door and present a "cease and desist" order from BanDai is that I've been working on this for a WHOLE YEAR now, and if they even tried to shut me down, they'd have hordes of angry fans swarming all over them and plucking out each and every one of their body hairs, one by one by one. Right guys? *looks expectantly at her readers* ... *crickets chirp* ... =o_o;= *gulp* Uh...right? =D
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Episode Fifty-Six: Ascension "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." ~Edmund BurkeAugust 9th, 1902 Lucrezia awoke in a cloud of billowy white that was becoming increasingly familiar with each new dawn. Suddenly, all mornings were beautiful, even the ones that were pouring with rain. Stretching instinctively as the early light shone straight through her fluttering eyelids, she reached over to her right, and her hand landed on an empty pillow. Blinking with a faint smile, she rolled over, propping herself up on her right elbow and tugging the covers modestly closer to her throat. Her smile grew as she found what she needed just a few feet away. Already awake for an hour or more, Milliardo stood at the open double doors leading out to the balcony of their suite, letting the brisk, perfumed air wash over him. He was surprised to find that it wasn't so much the English climate that he missed, but more the smell of the manor's rose gardens, and the chirping of finches and sparrows in all the surrounding trees. Ever since his return, he had spent hours upon hours just standing at the inner edge of the balcony, leaving his shirt hanging over the back of a chair, and the vigils would continue, he told Lucrezia, until he could see England instead of Africa every time he closed his eyes. "It's not going anywhere anytime soon," she reminded him softly. He turned just enough that the sunlight framed him in profile with a brilliant golden-red corona. "Before the war, I might have believed that." Delicately, Lucrezia sat up, plucked a single cotton sheet from the tangled white cloud and wrapped it around herself as she stood. Tucking it around her middle and throwing the excess over her shoulder gave her the appearance of a luminous Neoclassical statue, but one that moved with smooth strides to stand next to the man at the balcony. "Has the world really changed that much since you left?" she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. "The world is the same...it's only the direction of mankind that changes." He leaned back just far enough to close the nearer of the two doors, and reached past Lucrezia to grab hold of the other. "The Empire won't survive much longer, and up until recently, I couldn't understand why...but now I know." Lucrezia sighed, but not unhappily. Milliardo had been talking in such tones since his return, but only in private. He still put on the grateful face of the re-enfranchised heir for the family and the neighbours, of course, saving the deepest thoughts for when the two of them were alone together. He was holding a great deal back, only letting his musings escape a little bit at a time; quite honestly, Lucrezia preferred him that way, mindful of everyone's worries and yet darkly poetic behind closed doors. "Try not to let it upset you today," she said, hugging him from behind as he latched the doors shut. "You don't want to be the only one out there in a bad mood, do you?" Milliardo didn't answer, but at least grasped the arms around his waist. He felt like an awful hypocrite, accepting Relena's invitation to take Treize's seat next to her at the coronation ceremony, but she was so looking forward to spending time together as a family that he wouldn't dare disappoint her. He would sit and smile like a good little citizen as he watched another benign figurehead assume control over a doomed conglomerate, and wouldn't have a single negative thing to say about it. **********The very next day after Treize's eviction from the house, Heero took the elder Peacecraft aside, introduced himself in very oblique terms, and told him something that made Milliardo very surprised. Relena saw it, from a distance, but she said nothing. A few moments later, Milliardo announced that the original family butler, Pegan, had been unfairly forced out as part of the Count's nefarious plans, and that he should be brought back immediately. He and Relena, plus Otto, all got into their private carriage and had Trowa drive them to a sanatorium across town, the existance of which none were previously aware. Milliardo spoke at length to the holy sisters in charge of the institution, after which the elderly servant was released into the family's custody, and Pegan was happily brought home. Once matters were partly explained, the family and staff fawned relentlessly over the sickly gentleman, and for a long while, he hardly had a moment to himself, not that he was complaining. During a lull in the activity, Relena looked in on him from a slightly open door thinking he was alone, but saw Heero with him instead. The pair exchanged words, and Pegan gave the boy something, a small, round object with a golden glint and a short length of chain attached. It appeared to be a pocket watch. Pegan then grasped Heero's hands, closing them around the watch and giving the entire bundle a couple of short shakes to punctuate his quiet speech. Heero said a few words back, and they both smiled; the boy then picked up the tea service tray he came in for and walked out of the room through a different door. Relena saw the whole thing, but again, she held her tongue, waiting for an appropriate moment to analyse what she had seen. Days later, she hadn't come to a conclusion, but it was more a case of 'Out of sight, out of mind' than anything else. Heero had asked for a few days off, and the house seemed to run just fine without his orderly influence. Now the focus was on the upcoming coronation, and while Milliardo was upstairs struggling with a moral dilemma in front of the balcony, Relena was in the parlour, helping Otto convince Pegan to take his ticket to Westminster Abbey. "Please, I insist," Otto said in a quiet tone he hadn't used for months. "I wouldn't feel right sitting there knowing you were stuck here, especially after everything you've been through." "Otto's right," Relena said, sitting next to Pegan on the sofa and patting his arm. "Milliardo and I still remember all those outings to parks and museums you took us on when we were children, it'll be just the three of us again! Like old times!" Pegan smiled weakly. "You are both entirely too kind," he said, brushing lightly at the afghan draped over his legs, "but I'm sure I'd only slow you down, Miss." "Nonsense, we'll just arrive a little early and leave a little late. That will give us plenty of time to make our way through the crowds, and since Edward still recovering from surgery, the whole ceremony is going to be shortened anyway! We'll all be fine!" The old man's heart was about ready to burst, still surprised and relieved that the family could forgive him for his unexplained disappearance. "Well...if Madam will insist that I attend...I can't very well refuse," he acquiesced with a growing smile. Relena smiled back and hugged his arm. "Otto, go see if the carriage is polished yet, and tell Trowa we'll be leaving early." "Yes, m'lady." Otto left the parlour and trekked down towards the kitchen. There wasn't anyone else he could think of to whom he would rather give up his seat to something as monumental as the first crowing of a British monarch in nearly a century, so he wouldn't be the least bit bitter over having to stay home. Already planning how he would relax with the whole house to himself, for he had heard the housemaids voting to line the streets along the parade route, he looked around the basement for the first available person who could tell him the status of the carriage and horses. Hilde was there, and she pointed him to the stables, so he went straight outside. Coincidentally enough, Duo had taken a three-day vacation at the same time that Heero did, and Hilde gleefully took over the chef's duties with the understanding that she expected some juicy gossip when he got back. She hummed her way through collecting the breakfast dishes together, and it was just as she took the first load of plates and bowls into the scullery for washing up that the vacationers returned. Duo opened the door and stopped just above the half-flight of steps, leaning back against the doorframe with a contented sigh, tucking his hands behind his back. Overtop of plain brown slacks, he wore a red plaid flannel shirt like something out of an ad for lumberjack college. "I love nature," he breathed out blissfully. Heero appeared next, in tan trousers and a black turtleneck, carrying a duffel bag which he tossed down to the bottom of the steps so he could lean right up to Duo, with one hand propped up on the door frame above the chef's head and their noses just a pinch apart. They both looked ridiculously pleased with themselves. "Nature must be equally smitten with you by now," he said, snagging the end of Duo's braid with his free hand and toying with it. "Still...we knew it couldn't last forever." "Rats." Heero smirked and let go of the chestnut rope, simultaneously leaning closer to covertly kiss Duo's cheek. "I'd better see what the family's plans are." Reluctantly, he jogged down the steps and crossed the kitchen to the servants' stairwell, catching a goodbye smile from Duo as he looked over his shoulder. Once he was gone, Duo reclaimed his workspace, looking over the structured chaos of the kitchen as he yawned and stretched both arms over his head. Hilde, who had been crouched in the pantry, desperately hanging onto a giggle, leapt out and pounced on Duo, twirling him around in a hug. "You're back!" she squealed. "Quick! Tell me all about it! Where did you go? What did you do? Spill it!" Duo grinned, dashed to the stairs to make sure no one was listening, and rubbed his hands together briskly. "Okay, we left here Wednesday morning, right? I didn't have a clue where he were headed, but we ended up on a train to the Lake District!" Hilde gasped. "You went all the way up north? Where did you stay? How could you afford it in the middle of the tourist season?" "Hold on, I'm getting to that!" said Duo, adding descriptive hand gestures to his story. "So we get off the train and take a ride down to this little village, right? Real rustic, homey-looking spot...Heero acts like he's picking out a restaurant at random, 'cause by then we're just about starving, but when we get inside the one he picks, there's this huge chocolate cake with 'Happy Birthday' spelled out on it with vanilla frosting and little chunks of purple rock candy!" "Ohhh!" Hilde clapped her hands over her mouth and chirped with delight. "I think the whole village must've been there, including this one guy at the piano who could play any song I asked for, without looking at any music!" "Neat! What then?" Duo's eyelids lowered slightly, harmonizing with a growing smirk, silent indicators that things were just getting interesting. "So, after dinner, we walk a little ways out of the village and we get to a lake...this absolutely gorgeous lake. The sun's just starting to set, and the water's so still that it looks like glass, and there's trees and meadows and little lagoons all over the place, and a guy with a boat. "The guy with the boat says he'll take us on a tour of some islands for sixpence. It was already getting late, and I didn't think he looked too trustworthy, but Heero seemed to think it was a good idea, so we got on the boat." Duo straightened up and held both hands up dramatically. "We get to see one island, and then the guy looks at his watch and says, 'Whoops, I forgot I'm supposed to ferry some other poor saps from A to B, I'll have to drop you off on this island and come back later', later meaning, 'whenever the hell I feel like it.'" "Oh no," Hilde gasped, her face falling in anticipation of worse news. "So he drops us off on this island," Duo continued, "and I'm thinking, 'We're not seeing this guy again until morning, I'll bet. Some first semi-official birthday this turned out to be,' right? And just when I'm all miserable and feeling sorry for myself, and kinda ticked off at Heero for getting us stranded out in the boonies, he turns to me and he says...are you ready for this?" Hilde bounced with excitement, squeezing her little fists close to her neck. "Mm-hm!" "He says..." Duo quickly wrapped both arms around Hilde's waist and whipped her around to lean backwards at a passionate angle. "...'He can't be very observant if he thinks it's safe to leave you here alone with me'..." Purely for demonstration purposes, Duo planted a thick, luxurious kiss on her lips, then hauled her back upright and watched her eyes bulge as he stepped away. Again, she covered her mouth and squealed like a schoolgirl. "I can't believe it! You're so lucky!" Duo blushed. "Well, I overdramatized it a bit, but you get the idea." "Did he kiss you more than once?" "Heh...yeah." "More than twice?" The smirk got smirkier. "Maybe..." "Did you do anything else?" "I don't have to tell you everything," Duo said coyly. "Rrrgh!" Before she could start hyperventilating, Hilde calmed herself with a deep breath. "Okay, so where did you go after that?" "After that?" Duo asked innocently. "Nowhere. That's where we landed, and that's where we stayed, right on the island! We went camping!" Hilde scrunched up her face at all the convenience-deprived images that word resurrected. "...camping?" "Yeah! Right behind us where we got dropped off, there was a whole pile of rented camping equipment hiding in a clump of trees! A tent, and food, and a cast-iron skillet, and a do-it-yourself hammock, and all kinds of stuff!" "But...it's all so...so primitive," Hilde whined, unable to mask her disappointment. "Camping's not romantic!" This time, Duo scrunched up his face at her audacity. "Whaddaya mean? Where would you have sent us for a few days of 'alone time,' some frilly, fruity-puss hotel with linen tablecloths and lace curtains? Yuh-uhhhhck!" Proudly defiant, he puffed up and thumped the centre of his chest with one hand. "Nooo, we went on a man's vacation! Hiking! Swimming! Fishing! Hunter-gathering! Sleeping to the sounds of crickets and voracious grizzly bears! Getting up at the crack of dawn and jumping into the frigid waters with just a pair of shorts between us and hypothermia!" He paused and switched from his tirade voice to his cute little mouse voice. "Not to mention toasting marshmallows in front of the campfire." Hilde rolled her eyes. "You are a marshmallow." "Oh, stuff it," Duo snapped with a sharp display of his tongue. "Point is, it was a great surprise! We both had a blast! And Heero managed to pull the whole thing together without me getting the least bit suspicious! He's a good little organizer, y'know that?" Rolling up his sleeves, Duo went to grab the duffel bag and pulled a red and white checkered picnic cloth out of it, which he billowed out over a clear section of the kitchen floor when he saw that Hilde still wasn't convinced. "It's not as bad as you think, come on!" he prodded, lying down on the cloth. Hilde laughed, then shrugged, then daintily lowered herself to the floor and laid down next to him on the cloth. "So, explain this sick fascination with playing hobo. I thought you enjoyed having a roof over your head." "It's not just being outdoors that's great, it's...it's knowing you're totally and completely isolated together in perfect solitude...it's staring up at the stars, trying to pick out constellations..." He pointed up at the ceiling, indicating different groups of pinholes in the great bowl placed over the Earth. "There's Aquarius...and Pegasus...and the Swan...the Big Bear...the Little Bear.....the Squirrel, the Chipmunk..." Hilde giggled and slapped his arm. "...and there's Walter, the guy from the fruit stand who's always rearranging his kumquats!" The pair of them started laughing and couldn't stop for several minutes. At last, they clambered awkwardly to their feet, and Duo gathered up the checkered cloth and stuffed it back in the duffel. "Yeah...this was the perfect getaway," he sighed. "I'm glad you had a good time," Hilde said, picking up another armload of dishes to be washed. "If anyone ever deserved a few days off with a great guy, it's you." Duo smiled. "Thanks." As she walked back through the pantry and disappeared, he glanced over his domain and was pleased at how well it seemed to have been managed in his absence. Just as he picked up the duffel bag and was about to cart it upstairs to the bedroom to sort through it, Heero came down with a letter in his hand, and stopped him. He looked sombre. "This arrived while we were gone." "Sounds serious. What's up?" Heero kept the envelope, to study the postmark, but handed the single-page letter to Duo. "It's your friend, Giorgenson. He wants to meet with all of us, today." Duo glanced up after struggling through the first line-and-a-half of chicken-scratch writing. "Who qualifies as 'all'?" "You, me, Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei. He expects to see us outside Westminster as soon as possible this morning." Heero paused and took an official-looking writ with a shiny red seal on embossed, semi-translucent stationary out of the envelope next. "There was also this," he said, holding it up. Duo took the writ as well, and had an easier time deciphering the typewritten content. "...'This document entitles...five persons...gallery seating'...what the...what does this mean?" "Apparently, the five of us are going to the coronation. It's all been arranged." The shock on Duo's face was quite plain. It was absolutely inconceivable that five common kids like them, four of them lowly servants, could ever aspire to even be on the same street as the King of England, and now they would all be in the building to see him crowned at last. The concept was daunting, and the mystery was no clearer than before. **********Following Giorgenson's instructions, the boys quickly got dressed up in the best clothes they could find. Heero had no trouble locating something suitable in his wardrobe, Duo wore his black frock coat even though it really didn't suit boys his age, and Wufei pulled a black satin tunic out of nowhere, embroidered with a rust-coloured crane standing in a pool of water. Trowa was also taken care of by his coachman's uniform, for he would have to drive the family to the centre of the action and then meet up with the others a little bit later. Quatre, however, was an outdoor labourer with little other than work clothes, and had to go scavenging through the attic for appropriate attire. He emerged with a gray suit that was a little long around the ankles, and he felt silly rolling up the cuffs, but it was either that or trip over every two steps. He hoped that they wouldn't bump into Relena's brother, else he might have recognized the clothes he once grew out of. Carriages and cabs were hard to come by that morning, and the trains were terribly crowded, so they made their way to Westminster Abbey partly on foot. It was tiring, but the views of the celebratory decorations were magnificent. Every street was coated in banners and bows of red, white, and blue, and veritable oceans of flowers in the corresponding colours had been harvested and put on display in every window. The streets were getting dangerously crowded the closer they got to the cathedral, and more than once, they came upon an impassable line of policemen and had to backtrack a short distance. When they finally made it to the west entrance of the imposing Gothic building and politely shoved their way through the anxious mob, Trowa was already there waiting for them, and their reunion was brief. All five heads were drawn up to the twin spired towers and the gleaming facade full of arches, niches, and stained glass windows, but the boys didn't have as long as they would have liked to appreciate it. A man's voice called out to them, and they all turned. A giant gray mushroom cap was headed their way, with a head and a body somewhere underneath. "Wait up, kids! Hold on a minute!" Duo smiled and stepped forward to greet the man as soon as he emerged into the small clearing, but something about his general manner made the chef stop and frown. Professor Giorgenson had come to meet them as promised, but he didn't seem his usual wacky self. "Hey," Duo greeted him, "been waiting long?" "No...not very long at all," the Professor said plainly. He had on one of his usual lab-type coats, with one hand in his pocket and the other nursing his pipe. He kept looking over his shoulders oddly. "You said you wanted to speak to us before the coronation," Heero said, taking out his pocket watch and flipping it open. "You've got about twenty minutes." Giorgenson's head tilted down a bit, and he did something none of the boys had ever seen him do, not even Duo. With his pocket hand, he took off his shiny spectacles, folded them up, and tucked them away in his inside coat pocket. They could all see his silvery gray eyes with the snatches of hazel quite clearly, and for that, he looked terribly old, and very tired. "I'm sorry, boys...I haven't got the time now to tell you what you need to know. I've been busy...tying up loose ends in preparation for today...I just couldn't manage it." Duo shrugged. "Don't worry about it, we can meet up after. This royalty thing can't possibly take up the whole day, people have gotta go home and cook dinner, y'know." Giorgenson pursed his lips under his bushy moustache and continued to look a little deflated. "I think I may be all out of afters." When they all looked totally confused, he centred himself in front of Duo and slipped the free hand back into his pocket. "I'm sorry, son...but after today...there's a chance that you might not see me again." Everyone gaped, especially Duo, who threw in a lost puppy expression and a shake of his head for good measure. "But why? You're not gonna pick up and move just when things are getting interesting at our house, are ya? We've got so much to tell you!" The Professor shook his head right back. "What happens to me now may not be up to me much longer, but I don't want you worrying about a sorry old goat like me. Regrets never do people any good." The boys didn't know what to say; the man's voice sounded so serious, so final...it tugged curiously at Quatre's sixth sense so hard that he impolitely probed further into the strange man's aura, and swallowed at what he felt. Giorgenson didn't expect to see the next sunrise. Duo didn't have a sixth sense, but he knew something was very wrong regardless. "There must be something we can do..." In a perfectly smooth motion, Giorgenson snatched the spectacles out of his coat, put them back on his face, and dipped the hand back into his pocket. "If you and your friends are ever looking for quality higher education, I hope you'll give Oxford a try." He took the hand out of his pocket and held it out to Duo. Both he and Heero noticed that the hand was tilted palm down, an odd angle for a handshake. Cautiously, Duo took the man's hand and felt something thin and cold being pressed into his. "Remember, don't take any wooden nickels, and don't trust anyone over thirty." Duo forced an insincere smile. "You got it." "Take care of yourself, kiddo. And say goodbye to Lulubelle for me." Giorgenson took his hand back, leaving the cold, thin object behind, and walked away. After a few paces, he turned around, pointing a thumb at the cathedral. "You think they'll let me smoke in there?" Duo thought about it, then shook his head. "Nah." Giorgenson shrugged, snuffed out his pipe, and put it away, disappearing into the crowd for good. Heero stepped up to Duo's side and whispered in his ear as they both fixed their eyes on the Professor's line of retreat. "He palmed you something?" "Yeah," Duo whispered back. "It feels like a key, but I'm not gonna look at it until we're out of here." "Good thinking." Dazed by the surreal encounter, the boys left the clearing in the crowd and made their way to the north entrance, as dictated in the letter. Officials at the door had serious doubts that the strange youths had any right to enter, but a look at the writ with the red seal was just barely enough to get them in the door--and once inside, all five of them froze. The interior of the building was cavernous, and the tenuous notes of the pipe organ echoed with perfect resonance. A highly-polished black and white tiled floor reflected massive beams of sunlight that burst through hundreds of panes of coloured glass, in between massive stone pillars that stretched up to giant hovering arches in the brightly-lit ceiling. To the right, towards the west entrance, the church was lined on either side with wooden tier seating where the choir was housed, backed by decorations of royal blue and gold that reached all the way to the nave, where the bulk of the guests were seated. To the left was an area raised by a few steps, on which sat the altar, shining like the sun, the coronation chair which had been an integral component of such ceremonies for generations, and a set of thrones and stools, upon which the King and Queen would sit and kneel at different points in the service. Nothing they had ever seen before was so awe-inspiring, and it kept them mute and paralysed in heavenly wonderment. The boys were beginning to block traffic, so an attendant stepped forward and showed them to five empty seats in the third row of a bank of wooden chairs with an aisle down the middle, systematically spread over the floor of the north transept. As they took their seats, Wufei was closest to the glittering altar to their left, and the rest lined up eastward towards the choir with Quatre on Wufei's right, then Trowa, then Duo, then Heero. They were surrounded by dignitaries, politicians, religious figures, aristocrats, and military officials; the five commoners looked very out of place, and drew many stares. Directly across from them, in the south transept, there was another large bundle of chairs with an identical aisle down the middle; there seemed to be a sizeable gap in the second row. Off to Heero's right, down the long promenade of black and white checkerboard tile, he saw that there was only a little opening through which most of the spectators could see the main attraction, and realized that the five of them must have been placed among the highest of the high. He was instantly impressed that Giorgenson had the same quality of connections as Jeffrhyss. In that far-off seating area, filled with the same wooden chairs, sat those who weren't quite as important, socially, to sit with the visiting dignitaries and heads of state, but who were still very well connected. In this group were Pegan, Milliardo, and Relena, who had no idea of who was sitting a stone's throw away from the carved wooden chair upon which Edward would be crowned. Up at the front of the church, the boys were still bedazzled by the architecture and atmosphere, but all of a sudden, Quatre wasn't feeling too well. Tiny eddies of nausea fluttered against his belly, and a short spurt of dizziness soon followed. He slumped forward slightly, and Trowa was quick to prop him back up again. "What's wrong?" he whispered. Quatre raised a hand to his own cheek and felt how hot his face was. The sick feeling dissipated with Trowa's words, and he straightened up. "I'm alright." Maybe that was just leftover tension from what I felt coming off the Professor. Only seconds later, the nausea and dizziness returned, and he scrunched up a little, clutching at his stomach. "...no, I'm not..." A small pocket of concern developed around the gardener as both Trowa and Wufei tried to figure out what was wrong. Heero was too engrossed with reading the programme to notice. Duo would have put his two cents in if not for something across the church that caught his eye, something that he thought might possibly be the worst possible sight that could have been inflicted on them, at that time or any other. He reached up with a quivering hand and slapped Heero lightly on the shoulder. "H-Heero?" Heero looked up at him. "Hn?" "Look what just walked in." Directly across from their seats, six men and five young boys about Heero's age walked in through the south transept and occupied the empty seats in the second row. The first man was rather average-looking, clean-shaven, with a fringe of gray hair and a black suit. He carried what looked like a miniature treasure chest. Following him was a teenage boy dressed all in white, and then came Lord Jeffrhyss. At the sight of the man, Heero found himself compressing his spine in an effort to hide behind the man sitting in front of him. The church was still so noisy that he never heard the characteristic 'thok-thok-thok' of the ominous peg legs on the floor. Duo silently alerted the rest of their group, and soon they were all watching the grim parade, now the obvious cause of Quatre's psychic distress. The eleven newcomers were arranged in alternating ages, with one teenage boy separating each of the grown men, almost like junior escorts. After Lord Jeffrhyss came Professor Giorgenson, then three more gentlemen whom Heero couldn't recall ever seeing before. One had thin, spiky hair of an unnatural grayish-brown, and a black kerchief covering his face from just below his eyes downward. Another was short, stout, and had a thin black moustache that pointed to either side in two sharp little darts. The last man was tall, broad, and completely bald, and had a permanent frown that couldn't have been scrubbed off, even with steel wool. All five of the young boys accompanying them had glimmering eyes brimming with fierce determination. These were certainly no grunts; they were agents. "I know him," Heero said quietly, looking at the fair-haired boy between Jeffrhyss and the man with the treasure chest. His hair seemed to be thinning prematurely, and his eyes were set quite shallow, adding to the slightly depraved look on his face as he grinned evilly around the room. "He's a high-level agent, and a master at sword fighting. He was on long-term assignment when I left...must've just got back." "Who are the others?" Duo whispered. "Don't know." Three chairs down, Quatre peered in between the heads of the people in front of him, still clutching the front of his shirt. "I do." Everyone looked at Quatre. "Third from the right...the one with the black moustache..." He paused to take a deep, shaky breath, then stared straight ahead, boiling with repressed anger. "It's Hassan...the man who murdered my father and set my sisters at each other's throats!" The group's eyes all snapped to the moustached man at once, and stuck there until Trowa made another startling announcement. "That man with the cloth covering his face...I think I've seen him before..." "Where?" Heero asked, not taking his eyes off the row of strangers. "At the shipyards where I grew up, on the Mediterranean," Trowa recited numbly. "A group of pirates tried to recruit sailors for their crew, me included. They took orders from a man who looked just like that...always masked..." As their attention shifted, Duo saw that something was really wrong with the visual proportions of whatever was under the black kerchief. "What's the matter with his face?" Trowa swallowed. "If it is him, his nose is gone." Duo gagged. "You're putting me on." "No one was exactly sure what happened to it. Some said he had it slashed off in a bar fight, others said he had leprosy." The other four cringed at the thought of exposing a large group of mostly-innocent people to such a gruesome affliction. Between them, they could now identify four out of the six men, leaving Wufei to make his reluctant contribution. "That big bruiser on the end was mine," he groaned. "He was my first master, the one who thought I'd never amount to anything." Heero exhaled slowly. "Well.....fate has a sense of humour after all." What in fact they were looking at was five professional associates, five young bodyguards attending purely as a formality, and one neutral stakeholder, guarding the little treasure chest. The boys had to let it sink in for awhile that they were each connected, through everything from casual acquaintance to long-term harassment, to Lord Jeffrhyss and the thick morass of pure evil that surrounded him. Through several seconds of intense staring, Duo made eye contact with Giorgenson, and the Professor grinned back, comically stretching out his moustache as if to say, 'Roll with it.' Duo then looked up and all around at the holiness of his surroundings, and was filled with an angelic sort of calm. The others were morbidly tense, and he felt the need to do something about it. "Hey...you guys?" he whispered, grabbing their attention. "They're over there, and we're over here. There's hundreds of people around us, and tens of thousands of people outside, so I don't want any of you getting freaked out by those goons. They can't get us, they can't hurt us...right now, this minute, they can't do anything to us. And don't forget, either...we're in a church. Nobody can get anybody in a church, so everybody relax." They were all impressed by Duo's strength, and Quatre felt their collective level of anxiety drop with his bolstering words, so they were alert and attentive when the ambient music ceased and the ceremony finally began. Several important church figures were assembled far away at the west entrance, and as the choir sang the opening litany, all were directed to stand for the entrance of the King and Queen. In the larger part of the audience, Relena got a chill as the choir switched over to the strains of the Psalm 'I Was Glad When They Said Unto Me,' a traditional tune that had been sung at many coronations in the past. In through the west doors marched the Archbishop of Canterbury wearing his finest vestments, and following him were Bishops carrying religious artifacts and Lords carrying swords. Lords and Ladies, peers and peeresses, knights, dukes, and all sorts of aristocrats accompanied them. All eyes snapped immediately to the man of the hour, Albert Edward, or 'Bertie,' and his bride, Alexandra, who marched along with the others in a simple, dignified rhythm. How thin the King looks! Relena thought as the royal couple passed by. His Majesty had recovered from his illness, but not without significant weight loss, and while he was still a husky fellow, he wasn't nearly the great balloon of a man he used to be. He wore a long cloak of purple velvet, trimmed with ermine and decorated on the shoulders with bright bows. A thick chain of medallions hung low around his neck, over a gold smock and white stockings, ending in polished white shoes with gold accents. Alexandra was an even more splendid sight to behold, in a gown of golden gauze with a long crimson train, trimmed in ermine as well. A similar chain of medallions hung over her dress, but room was also made for a blue sash over her left shoulder, an ornate and glittering necklace that almost completely covered her throat, and a star-shaped brooch on the bodice of her gown. Her dark hair was swept up and piled on top of her head in delicate curls, and though she was no longer a young woman by any means, she was still slender, pretty, and youthful, unlike her husband, who had quite a lot of gray in his beard. Relena was mesmerized by the procession, and felt utterly plain in her white lace gown. It must be wonderful being the Queen. As the royal couple made their way past Heero, he barely noticed. His eyes were fixed on Jeffrhyss and the fair-haired agent on his right hand. He had to know what they were doing there. He had to know why his master would be so openly exposed with all his associates. Heero looked up to his left, and suddenly there was a collection of relics on the altar, and the King and Queen were seated. Not long after, the Archbishop and four highly decorated gentlemen presented Edward to the people standing in each of the four cardinal directions, beginning with the east, towards the altar. "Sirs, I here present unto you King Edward, your undoubted King," said the Archbishop. "Wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?" In accordance with the preprinted programme, the people standing to the east all declared, 'God save King Edward.' This was repeated three more times in a clockwise circle, and Heero paid close attention to the six old men. They were actively participating, though they seemed disinterested. They're here to purposely witness Edward assuming power, Heero decided. They weren't invited, they invited themselves so they could make sure everything happens the way it's supposed to...but why? At that precise moment, Jeffrhyss noticed Heero's presence and for once, he actually looked surprised. It was difficult to tell the difference behind the dark spectacles, but Heero could tell. After puzzling over the matter briefly, Jeffrhyss looked over at Giorgenson and frowned nastily. Giorgenson looked up at the architecture and whistled a few innocent notes. All Heero could hope for was that word wouldn't spread to the rest of Jeffrhyss' entourage, lest the others recognize some members of Heero's entourage, thereby putting them at elevated risk. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Next, with the King sitting in the ornate antique coronation chair, the Archbishop began a kind of swearing-in. "Sir, is your Majesty willing to take the Oath?" "I am willing," answered the rich, warm voice of the bearded regent. Everything went smoothly as Edward answered in the affirmative to a long series of challenges issued by the Archbishop. There was frequent prayer and pontification, many songs taken from the traditional English hymnbook, and a Benediction, after which all those in attendance were required to kneel for the Communion service. This was particularly amusing for Heero, for Jeffrhyss sneered distastefully at the thought of having to kneel to anyone or anything, but ordered the youngsters on either side of him to help him down anyway. "Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires, known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit..." Jeffrhyss was clearly suffering from having the concept of God rammed down his throat, grimacing in agony as he was forced to take in large volumes of what he considered to be superstitious claptrrap. Heero was laughing on the inside. Looks good on you. "Christ have mercy upon us," the congregation suddenly chanted. Heero blinked, then looked down at his programme. Everyone was supposed to respond to the Archbishop at the same time, and he missed it. Duo could tell he was feeling a bit sheepish as he flipped through the booklet in his lap, looking for his place. The chef reached out and squeezed his nearest hand, then pointed out the spot where they left off. Heero looked up and was met with an understanding smile, causing him to marvel at how relaxed and confident Duo looked. In the ceremony, some excerpts were read from a great book on the altar, and the people were made to stand again, following which a sole voice in the ruff-collared choir sang out a series of long verses labelled in the programme as the Creed. Heero looked over at Duo and saw that the boy was faintly mouthing out the words from memory, looking wonderfully serene. Quite the difference, Heero realized in a flash of inspiration. This entire building is an anathema to Jeffrhyss, but Duo is completely at peace. He seems to understand everything that's happening here...maybe that's why he seems so relaxed. I was only given the bare minimum of objective instruction on organized religion, so I couldn't begin to guess what it is about it that puts Duo at ease but sets Jeffrhyss on edge, but it's difficult to argue with results...I wonder if I should ask Duo to explain it to me... Again the congregation was asked to kneel for a hymn and a prayer. Quatre found the proceedings strange and alien, and felt the tiniest bit afraid that his father was sitting in the afterlife, shaking his head at his son for being in a Christian church. He firmly reassured himself that it was no more than an outing with his friends...and then his eyes were dragged back to Hassan, the wicked usurper and traitorous aide. I was guided here to see the face of my true enemy, he declared silently. Nothing else here matters. As soon as this gathering is finished, I have to warn Yasmeen and the others that this fat scorpion is here, so they can prepare themselves for danger. I'd do it now...but I'd only draw attention to myself. The people all stood, the choir sang once more, and the King and Queen were anointed with Holy Oil. Well...the music is quite pretty, Quatre thought with a smile, and besides, it would be rude to leave early. He felt better, and decided to relax and enjoy the rest of the spectacle. The next portion of the ceremony involved presenting the Sword of State to the King, accompanied by more vows and prayers. That caught Trowa's attention, for it looked like as finely-crafted a piece of weaponry as he had ever seen. His mind flew back to his days in the Spanish navy, when the sailors would sometimes wile away their off-hours with mock sword fights. When the pirates arrived and made their proposition to the men, to join their ranks and share in ten lifetimes' worth of plunder on the open waters, some men left and some men stayed. The pirates had high hopes for Trowa, being so young and so talented, and spent countless hours training him in the black arts. Trowa never understood why, but now wondered if the spiky-haired man with the black kerchief over his face was grooming him to be an agent like Heero. If that's true, he couldn't have been very pleased when I ran away to England. I wonder if he'd recognize me now... "Receive this kingly sword, brought now from the Altar of God," said the Archbishop, handing it in its scabbard to the King, "and delivered to you by the hands of us the Bishops and servants of God, though unworthy. With this sword do justice, stop the growth of iniquity, protect the holy Church of God, help and defend widows and orphans, restore the things that are gone to decay..." Trowa wondered, while the Archbishop rambled, how quickly he could leap over the two rows of spectators in front of him, jump up into the sanctuary, grab the sword, and behead the three men whom he was sure had done evil, before the Lord Chancellor and the Earl Marshal could wrestle him to the floor. Giorgenson would be spared for his kind help, and so would the two bald men on either end of the delegation until he had proof that they were as crooked as Jeffrhyss. The teenagers he would judge on their individual merits, time permitting, until he was either shot or... I couldn't do that to Quatre, he thought with a smirk, looking down. While I know I could do it if I tried, I couldn't burden him with that kind of guilt. After deciding to just sit there, he felt calmer. One piece at a time, the Archbishop next gave to the King a sceptre, a rod, and an emerald ring, each with their own symbolism, proclamation, and special meaning. The glint of gold attracted Wufei's attention, though quite unpleasantly. He hated the colour and shine of gold, barely tolerating it in his daily life, because he associated it with Meiran's death. For that, he blamed his previous master, among other people; the bald man still hadn't noticed the boy, and was sitting there very boredly. Wufei narrowed his eyes at him. My dream was solely to make Treize pay for my suffering, but you deserve just as much pain as he does. I never thought I could get to you before. The whole organization seemed untouchable...but I can show you all how wrong you are. Someday. He felt more vigilant, a new goal having been set. Next came a critical point in the prescribed chain of events, and the delegation of darkness to the south suddenly paid remarkable attention. As the people rose to their feet yet again, the Dean of Westminster presented the crown to the Archbishop, a sparkling concoction of jewels and crimson velvet, with one massive diamond as a centrepiece and topped off with a cross. Reverently, it was placed upon Edward's head as he sat in the antique coronation chair, and the people shouted out resounding echoes of 'God save the King!' Simultaneously, the Lords and Ladies in attendance to the royal couple all put on their own crowns. Relena was particularly entranced by the long row of white-gloved arms that cascaded up and down again as the peeresses all donned their coronets at the precise moment when Alexandra was crowned Queen. The Bishops then placed Edward on the throne, and a rapid, shortened procession of Dukes and Earls knelt and swore fealty to the new monarch. The cannons were fired, the trumpets sounded, and the choir belted out impassioned anthems, culminating in the choreographed declaration of the people, 'God save King Edward! Long live King Edward! May the King live forever!' Exactly on cue, the organ struck a series of chords, and everyone sang 'All People That On Earth Do Dwell' to round out the afternoon. Duo, unlike his companions, was able to put his worries on hold. He was enjoying the colourful pageant, and felt somewhat proud to be a part of history. Instead of fixating himself on the six old men, he listened to Heero's bashfully restrained singing voice, watched with a smile as Heero glanced repeatedly down at the programme all through the communion in case he missed something he was supposed to do or say, and fought off a grin as Heero deliberated for several seconds before joining the rest of the congregation in the Lord's Prayer, a third of the way through it. Giorgenson had told Duo not to worry himself to pieces, and he obeyed with a glad heart. Everyone knew the ceremony had been curtailed somewhat, but it was still a long affair with many more presentations and rituals. At one point, Wufei began to nod off, and Quatre had to elbow him twice to keep him awake--and just in time, too, for a significant event was about to occur, starting with a final ministration from the Archbishop. "...and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always. Amen." The people stood, and the choir sang the Te Deum Laudamus. The new King rose from his throne, carrying the Rod and the Sceptre, and went with the Archbishop through a passageway to the right of the altar and disappeared, along with the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Groom of the Robes, and an entire flock of other dignitaries that had participated in the ceremony. As soon as they were gone into the Chapel to conduct some secret business, there was action in the south transept. Jeffrhyss looked haughtily at Giorgenson, who slowly brought his hands up behind his neck and fiddled with something, eventually taking a long, tarnished silver chain out from under his shirt and gathering it up into one hand. There was something dangling at the end of the chain, but no matter how hard Heero craned his neck, he couldn't discern what it was. Giorgenson gave the chain to the boy on his right, who gave it to Jeffrhyss, who gave it to the fair-haired agent, who finally gave it to the balding man with the treasure chest. The balding man then drew a similar chain out from under his own clothes, and this one definitely had a tiny key at the end, which he used to open the chest. He placed Giorgenson's chain inside, carefully swung the tiny lid shut again, and locked it. The whole process was completed in plenty of time before the King re-entered the cathedral and was prepared to leave by his various attendants. For the very final segment of the ceremony, the King and Queen processed back towards the west entrance with their entourage as the people sang 'God Save the King.' For the first time that day, Duo abstained from what everyone else was doing. "Did you see that?" Duo leaned over and whispered to Heero. "I saw it." "What do you think?" "...I don't know yet." After that, everything wound down fairly quickly, for the action had moved outside. The roar of the crowd could be heard past the west doors, as the royal couple got back into their golden carriage, presumably on their way to Buckingham Palace. The guests got up and milled around inside the cathedral, rubbing elbows for a little while before slowly filing out, trying to preserve the magical feeling for as long as they could. Relena desperately wanted to get closer to the front of the church where all the world leaders were sitting, for there was no way she was getting out the back for quite some time, due to the crowds. Leaving Milliardo to look after Pegan, who needed to sit down for awhile after the moving experience, she skittered about the nave and made it all the way to the choir boxes, where she stopped to have a look around. Just then, Heero was making some quick executive decisions. The eleven-man delegation on the south side got up and walked out in an orderly fashion, and Giorgenson tossed one last smile Duo's way. Not wanting to let them get away that easily, Heero asked for volunteers to try and head the group off at as many exits as possible, and four hands flew up. He quickly delegated them each a door to guard, and the four of them ran out the north entrance to encircle the building. Heero tried to follow Jeffrhyss and Giorgenson directly by cutting straight across the sanctuary, but every few steps, he was stopped and greeted by a different guest, to each of whom he had to keep explaining that he was there as a guest as well, not to serve drinks. Just west of his position, equally boxed in by spectators, Relena was trying to edge closer to the altar. The papers had reported that several foreign guests who had arrived for the previously set date of June 26th had gone home already, and so she studied as many faces as she could, trying to figure out who had stayed and who had not. She saw something monstrously, outrageously, brain-crunchingly inconceivable, and froze. Barely visible in the sliver of space between two much taller heads of state, looking as out of place to Relena as a crouton in a vat of pasta salad, was Heero. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, hoping that she had simply hallucinated, creating a false mental image from her residual infatuation with the boy, but he was still there, standing among the highest of the high. It just didn't add up. When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being one of these privileged people, being so admired, so envied...and Heero, Heero of all people, a foreigner, a commoner, and my employee is standing with royalty and heads of state!! What in Heaven's name is happening here!? Relena was grinding her teeth all the way back to the nave, where she told her family it was time to go, immediately. Heero had not only failed in following Jeffrhyss, but was getting fed up with being mistaken for an usher and began telling people he was the Japanese Ambassador just to get them off his back. By the time he got to the south transept, his master was gone. When he made his way outside and regrouped with the rest of his team, they all had long faces; Giorgenson and the others had vanished without a trace. Despondent, Trowa went to ready Relena's carriage, and the other four began the long, bewildering walk home. **********Otto had a nice long nap while everyone was out of the house, a rare and fabulous luxury. When the housemaids came rampaging in through the front door, giggling and crowing over everything they had seen, that was his cue to wake up and rejoin the real world. They found him quicker than a pack of bloodhounds, burst through the parlour doors carrying various brightly-coloured objects adorned with portraits of the King and Queen, and immediately began a disorganized session of 'show and tell.' "Look at the souvenirs we got!" "Isn't this the most gorgeous coffee mug you've ever seen?" "Just look at my new pen an' pencil set! "You should've been there! Everything was so beautiful!" "Look at my collector's plate! There's a whole series, and I want them all!" "See my new teapot? Doesn't Bertie look handsome?" "What do you think of my new cameo earrings? One's Bertie, and the other's Alix!" "Where's your souvenirs? Didn't you get any?" "You haven't been sittin' around in this place all day, have you?" Otto yawned unwillingly. He just couldn't get as excited by the whole ordeal as the ladies, and he also couldn't see much point in bringing home a lot of cheap mementos, half of which were stamped with the wrong date. Still, not wanting to deflate their spirits, he paid polite attention and said something nice about everything they brought into the house. While he was soothing their egos, he thought he heard the back door open and close, but thought little of it. Several minutes later, after the maids had trotted up to their room to put their priceless pieces of art on display, the family came in through the front door, and Otto heard the clatter of the carriage rolling down the side of the house to the back yard. He went to greet them right away. "Sir, Miss...did you enjoy yourselves?" Relena was getting good at that fake smile. "It was very nice, Otto, thank you." Milliardo didn't say anything while he removed the thick red coat of his uniform and hung it on the hat rack, but Pegan was more than happy to take his turn speaking. "And I must thank you, Miss. Only a few days ago, I never would have believed that I could have come home, and not only that, but to see Victoria's successor crowned with my own eyes...I shall never forget this day!" "And it was a long day for you, wasn't it, all that kneeling and standing," Relena cooed, taking his hands briefly in hers. "Why don't you go have a rest in the drawing room, and I'll have Heero bring you up some tea." "A fine idea, Miss Relena," Pegan said, shuffling off down the hall. "Otto, is Lucrezia here?" Milliardo asked, having put on his more casual fern green blazer. "No, sir," Otto answered, "Miss Lucrezia and the Baroness went to Piccadilly, but they expected bo be back by tea time." Milliardo nodded. "We'll take our tea in the conservatory when she returns," he said, walking out of the foyer. Relena used the exchange to slip away, not wanting to waste energy on any prolonged conversations about how her day went. She had bigger fish to fry. She wanted to know exactly what Heero was doing at Westminster Abbey, how on earth he managed to lie, cheat, or bribe his way inside, and why, out of all the important people in London, in England, in the world, he ended up in the coveted seating area next to the sanctuary instead of her. It was unthinkable. It was unbelievable. It was totally unfair. She looked in every room on the main floor and moved up to the second floor within two minutes. Fists balled, brows knit, and heart pounding out angry jungle rhythms, she instinctively went to the study and threw open the door, somehow sensing that her quarry was inside. Naturally, Heero was there, innocently dusting the top of the marble mantle over the fireplace. He slowed the motion of his dust rag and carefully peeked over his shoulder at her, then returned to his work. Relena seethed. "And what sort of a day did you have?" she demanded with false pleasantry, stomping up next to him and folding her arms. Heero stopped dusting and only half-turned towards her. "Fairly ordinary, m'lady." "Was it now?" she hissed. "Well, I...you.....we were...I saw....." She sputtered and spat, and waved an angry finger at him, but she couldn't form the words she wanted to say. She could feel her face turning red, and had to abort the mission. "Please prepare tea for Pegan and myself in the drawing room," she blurted out, a second or so before turning on her heel and flying back out of the study at top speed. Heero didn't have the energy to guess what she was angry about. After Relena fled to the other end of the hall, she stopped and leaned back against the red paisley wallpaper and sighed. What's the matter with me? I choked! I panicked! Why couldn't I let him have it!? Slowly, she brought both hands up to her face and sighed, bending her head down towards the dusty carpet. Heero did not add up, and just when she desperately needed to understand him, she still couldn't understand herself. **********The odd exchange with Relena bounced off Heero very easily, for all the compartments in his brain were full with other problems. After delivering tea and biscuits to the drawing room, he landed in the kitchen, where Duo was sitting alone in his chef's gear, staring at the kitchen table with his arms folded. Sitting on the table was the little key Giorgenson had given him. Duo had done a good job of putting aside his concerns during the ceremony, but now that it was finished, they were bubbling to the surface. "What do you figure they'll do to him?" he asked without looking up. Heero was at an unpleasant loss. "We can't be sure they'll do anything to him. He could be perfectly safe." "Yeah, but the way he was talking outside the church...he wouldn't be all worried and serious like that if he didn't expect something bad to happen." Duo reached out and pushed the key around on the tabletop, tilting his head to the side. "He thought he was gonna die. The biggest threat in the whole room was sitting right next to him. I just wish I knew..." It was sad, watching Duo fret over someone he hardly knew, but who went out of his way to help him when he needed help the most. Heero walked up behind his chair, draped his arms down around the boy's neck, and rested his chin on the top of Duo's head. Duo left the key alone in favour of holding on tightly to those arms, and soon pulled Heero down futher to nuzzle his neck, drawing strength from his best and sweetest source of comfort. With determination and a little luck, they felt they could probably figure out just what the key was for, but there was no guarantee that it would help save the Professor from an uncertain fate. It might already have been too late. |
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| Next, in Episode Fifty-Seven: The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Giorgenson's key unlocks the deadliest of secrets when the boys go off in search of answers, both to the mysteries of their lives and to the connection between Lord Jeffrhyss and Count Khushrenada. |
We're going to release a LONG page of historical notes to go with this, because such a huge event has a lot of details to go through. Keep watching my main page, and in the mean time, I'd like to declare this other site to be required reading: http://www.westminster-abbey.org The official site. =^_~= This has fabulous interior panoramic views of the cathedral, and I think you should all take a look. Apart from that, next episode will be on August 19th. See you then!