A Mithral Dragon in Modern Britain
Part 6: Arrival and Discovery
Sharanna frowned as she considered the situation. Just what we all needed, a new threat. The Lord of Midnight. She sighed for a moment after the name and stopped to evaluate the situation. First things first. I need to get in contact with Setsuna and find out if she knows anything. Then, I need to get in contact with Vix'nok. I might be dealing with a fiend, but at least I'll get a straight answer. Maybe the Council could help. She sighed again and started thinking about how to get in touch with that enigmatic, paranoid group so as to get some real assistance. For some reason, they liked her enough to give her straight answers on most subjects, if they answered. In fact, her dealings with Vix'nok had come about from them. In any case, they probably didn't have anything to do with this, as it didn't seem large enough to attract their attention. First things first, she admitted and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed in a couple of numbers that accessed her Eyrie's computers. "Aurora, are you there?" she asked the daemon, as such spirits acted as the AI in most large Age of Silver computer systems. They were the largest difference in the systems from their modern counterparts, in fact, in fact, but the system architecture was also incredibly different.
"Of course I'm here," Aurora answered testily. "Where else would I be?" the AI asked rhetorically, her cross tone making the dragon smile for a moment.
"Something wrong?" Sharanna inquired.
"Just some idiot trying to hack into our systems. These fools are getting on my nerves, Sharanna," she informed her mistress. "They aren't doing any damage, but it gets old trying to deal with them for a long period of time."
Sharanna was quite familiar with the nature of 'her' daemon and just how cranky she got when left alone too long without something to do. They're like humans, really. They work better if they're given something to do. "Well, I want you to do a search, both on the Internet and the old Royal Archives that Pluto arranged for you to have access to. Search terms: Lord of Midnight, Belran'il'ka. Both individually and together."
"Yes, ma'am," Aurora responded, noting how serious her mistress's tone was on that last part. "What happened?"
"I'm sure it will make the news," Sharanna replied, looking at the cluster of reporters below the bluff she was watching them from. "Don't be surprised if you hear something about gunshots."
"Gunshots? What? Who'd you shoot?" the daemon asked, somewhere between fear and excitement.
"A rather annoying horse," Sharanna answered as Artemis looked up at her. "Also, patch me in to Pluto."
Aurora acknowledged the order and then she heard a distinct series of tones as the interfaces between the phone lines and the older, Silver Age equipment pinged a bit as Aurora initialized them and set in a 'call' to Senshi Pluto. "Setsuna, are you there?" the dragon asked quietly. "Ah, so you saw, I take it. No, no, I don't need any help right now, the problem has been dealt with. What I need you to do is simple: see if you can find any information about the Lord of Midnight or Belran'il'ka in relation to the Great Hells." She listened to the response for a moment. "Yes, I need it immediately. We could have a situation on our hands down here. A very large one. If this is a prelude to a full scale invasion..." the dragon trailed off and listened to Setsuna's curious reply. "Of course I'm going to call Century House and the Defense Ministry. Why not tell them we could be on the edge of a rather large extra-planar incident? I'm probably the only person they'd listen to on something like this, anyway. Good, good. Next, are there any Senshi in the group of Japanese students coming to Oxford this semester?" She got a rather sharp answer in response and winced. "I know this is not a secure line, Setsuna. I'll let Artemis find them but can I expect some help if this situation gets worse? Good." She hung up and glanced at Artemis as she caught his expression.
"Where to next? London?" he asked quietly as he watched her.
Sharanna shook her head. "No. For now, we need to get to the Safety Office. The agreement that allows me to attend requires that I notify them as soon as possible if I perceive a 'paranormal threat' to the campus. I'd say that a possible impending invasion by demons qualifies, wouldn't you?" she asked rhetorically. She motioned for Artemis to jump on her shoulder.
"Here we go again," he muttered to himself as the pair teleported to the Safety Office. "I hate this..." he trailed off as tendrils of ethereal energy wrapped around the pair and then they shifted through ethereal space to somewhere not of this world.
*****
Ami yawned as she sat on the flight out of JFK International. This is going to be a long trip, she thought to herself. She glanced at the girl sitting next to her, who gave her a happy smile. Especially with her around, she thought resignedly. Her opinion of being crammed into a flying sardine can for a large period of time was not improved by being short of sleep or paranoid about the security of her identity. She jumped when Rachel tapped her on the shoulder. "What?" she asked tiredly.
"I was just wondering if you were all right," Rachel told her, giving her a funny look.
Ami sighed. "I'm just tired."
Rachel raised an eyebrow, giving her a strange look. "That's not all, Ami. I'm a hou'ri, not a fool," she countered in heavily-accented Japanese.
"Fine. I'm worried that you'll blow my secret, is that better?" Ami retorted sharply in the same language, drawing a few looks from the other passengers.
Rachel glared at a few of them and they looked away before she turned her attention back to Ami. "Ami, I have absolutely no intention of ever doing something like that. I told you as much last night." She sighed and looked past the blue-haired girl through the window. "Look, I am not your enemy. In fact, I thought we were well on our way to becoming friends. And friends don't tell secrets like that, especially ones that could get people killed. That's simply not decent, reasonable behavior."
Ami sighed. "I suppose you have a point. It's unnerving," she added.
Rachel nodded. "I can understand that. But you needn't fear me. Besides, at least you're human," the half-fey pointed out. Ami nodded suspiciously. "If I don't wear a glamour every time I go out in public, I get swarmed. And we won't even talk about trying to find good earmuffs," she added, grinning. Ami laughed in spite of herself and settled down a little bit.
"So, where are you really from, Rachel?" Ami asked cautiously.
"My father is from Avalon, where the elves retreated after the Twilight fell and the Long Night began," Rachel replied, thinking quietly. "As for my mother, she's from the Shadow Woods region of Montana. I keep forgetting the human name for the area," she added.
"And your parents were... hou'ri like you?" Ami asked quietly.
Rachel laughed lightly. "No, no. A hou'ri is the elven name for a hybrid of an elf and a nymph," the girl explained. "Technically a daughter of the fey, but with far closer ties to the mortal Realm than most, as are many of the children of elves and their fey cousins," she added, her tone taking on a lyrical timbre. At the same time, her accent faded slightly and became highly musical, but also archaic. Ami noticed and watched her cautiously as the fey girl closed her eyes, thinking deeply. "Euterpe is my name amongst the fey, and the original Euterpe is actually a distant cousin of my mother's," she added. "I use the name Rachel Valentine among your kind to avoid suspicions."
Ami looked at her curiously, noting the changes in her accent. "When did you discover your love of music?" she asked, beginning a longer period as the pair built trust on top of a tenuous but durable bond of friendship.
*****
"Do I look like I am speaking in jest, Commissioner?" Sharanna demanded, holding up Belran'il'ka's infernal blade and putting point in the face of Steffan O'Toole, Oxford's Safety Commissioner. It dripped with dark ichor and the dragon growled at the look on the human's face. "I am not a fool or easily deceived, O'Toole. This is not a joke or a prank. We may be on the verge of a serious problem."
O'Toole snorted. "You're talking about dealing with an invasion, girl, and you only call it 'a serious problem'?" He laughed. "Do I want to know what you would call a crisis?" he asked derisively.
Artemis winced as the growl from Sharanna suddenly dropped in pitch and rose in volume before she grabbed the human one-handed. "Why don't I show you?" she suggested before teleporting somewhere else. The feline sighed before slumping down and starting to clean his claws, not knowing how long it would be until Sharanna returned after making her point.
"Sir, there's a call for you from..." the secretary trailed off, noting the distinct lack of both commissioner and the elf-woman that had breeze3d past her a few minutes ago. "Where did they go?" the young woman asked, looking around.
Artemis chuckled. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he commented softly, just below the normal threshold of human hearing.
"You didn't just say something, did you, little kitty?" the secretary asked, staring at him.
"No, I didn't say a thing. This is just your imagination saying you need to get out more, take a vacation maybe," Artemis commented. "Of course there's not a talking cat on the table. That's impossible."
The secretary nodded and backed out of the room. "Right, right. I'll, um, just take the rest of the week off," she agreed, stuttered. "After all, I'm obviously under too much stress, right?"
"Right," Artemis replied, smiling slightly. He laughed as he watched the secretary literally run through the door.
He looked up several minutes later as a flash of light filled the room. "... and that is what I call a crisis!" Sharanna finished the statement she'd been making before they teleported back. The commissioner looked a little green, but he nodded.
"I think I believe you," he replied shakily, his pale complexion flushed. "In that case, what do you recommend?"
Sharanna sighed. "First of all, make sure your officers are up to standards and think about raising them. Also, issue firearms to them. I will alert certain friends within the government of your need of special ammunition, and see to it that they allow you requisition more if needed. The commissioner nodded, sighing heavily.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble that will be?" he asked. "They're trained to shoot, yes. But the government..."
Sharanna cut him off. "Will do exactly what I tell them to do. I am the only expert they have on such matters, and unfortunately, my attention and presence will be required here, as this area looks as if it will be the focal point of any attempted invasion."
The commissioner nodded. "Fine, fine. I'll get my officers guns. Anything else?"
"Yes. Contact me at this number immediately if anything happens. At any time. We need to be on watch. There are others coming to Oxford, allies, and far too many defenseless innocents. We must defend them," Sharanna replied, handing him a business card. "The first number will put you in touch with Her Majesty's Secret Service. Ask for the Omega Office and tell them what has happened, and that Starsong will be in contact shortly."
*****
'So, Ami, what's your favorite part of coming to England?" Rachel asked, leaning back in her seat.
Ami smiled slightly. "Getting to see my father more often," she answered.
"Oh?" Rachel asked. "He's British?" she continued, noticing a few things she hadn't picked up on before, such as Ami's complexion and her facial features.
Ami shook her head. "No, German. But he's attached to the German Embassy in London, so I'll get to see him more often. I haven't really spent much time with him in four or five years," she admitted quietly.
Rachel winced. "My apologies. This is the first time I'll have been away from my parents for any real length of time."
Ami smiled bitterly. "Trust me, I can tell you what it's like," she replied, closing her eyes. "With both parents. I barely ever see my father and my mother works so much that there are months I might as well live alone sometimes."
Rachel looked over at the girl. "Maybe you'd like to help me get through it then?" she asked, as much to distract Ami as for any other reason.
Ami smiled a little. "Sure. I'm sure we could all use a friend. And Michiru could probably use someone to practice with," she added softly before perking up a little bit. "There are some stories I'd love to tell you but really shouldn't be told in a public area."
"Security?" Rachel asked.
"Security," Ami confirmed, seeming to drift a bit into sadness.
Rachel sighed. "Do you know anything about the dragon?" she asked finally to get Ami out of the seemingly morose mood she was drifting into. Ami yawned loudly all of a sudden as she thought about it. Okay, I gues she's just tired, Rachel though to herself.
"Some. We have a friend in common. Someone a little like you," Ami added. The look on Rachel's face was classic. But she didn't have a chance to respond, as the pilot chose that moment to start his descent into Heathrow, and doing so, brought four girls into the wilderness.
Author's Note: Demon, daimon, and daemon are three separate things in this story. A daimon is an artificially created demon (a la SMS), a daemon is a type of spirit that the Silver Age technomancers bound, with the spirit's agreement, into large computer systems to increase efficiency and awareness, and a demon is a soul-sucking minion of Darkness and Evil. Fiend, used in that sense, is a term for any being from the lower planes, while demons, devils, and a couple of other groups are types of fiends.
Timbre (pronounced tam-ber) is a musical term denoting the qualities of a tone. The precise definition escapes me at the moment.
As has been mentioned before, Starsong is the English equivalency of Sharanna, her elven name, and the term is related to her draconic name and heritage.
Thank you to Troy "Silver" Stanton for allowing me to use the idea of Ami having a German ancestry. Go read his Sailor Moon V stories if you're old enough (the man is not kidding on the advisory, folks), they're great and a source of amusement to me for a long time. His site's at www.sailormoonv.net.