Author's Note: All hail the end of part one of this story: Gideon's theme has been wrapped up but by no means think this is the end of his presence in the story. Heck, I'm barely one third of the way through but you probably don't want to hear me whine. You just want to read so- enjoy!

Chapter Eight: God in His Heaven

The place Claudia's information had lead them was cramped and humid. Sydney walked the length of the building with one hand bared and pressed against the wall. Even without the Sight, Gideon could feel the evil of the place, and the darkness that seeped trough ever corner to coat the walls. Despite himself, he shivered from fear and wondered how Sydney could take it. Sydney was pale and shaking as he walked through the corridor, eyes shut but sure-footed. The hall gradually became narrower, and dimmer as they walked until finally Sydney's hands found a door.

The door was simple, white and unassuming, but someone had taken yellow chalk, the type children used on sidewalks and scrawled symbols unto the door. Gideon frowned as he strained to see them: they were put in a deliberate pattern he saw, but unfamiliar. There were a few symbols he recognized from Moon Manor's ironwork, or his own studies of the Runes but these glyphs seemed warped, inverted from the ones he had seen before. He wondered if, when they had been cast, had them gleamed and squirmed under the woodwork as the simple Runic charms he had cast had done in school. He wanted to reach over and touch them, to see if they were warm and surging but as he reached out he felt Sydney grab his wrist.

"Don't." Sydney whispered, hoarsely. He looked sick and tired and Gideon didn't want to know if it was the magic or the weariness of the mission that had worked so hard against him. Sydney shut his eyes again, and pulled away, wincing slightly at the visions that came from Gideon's touch. When he opened his eyes again, he looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. Instead, he turned and looked at the symbols. "Silent Speech." He whispered. "The language of the dead. Someone tried to conjure here."

"Conjure what?" Gideon found himself asking, but the look Sydney gave in reply told him the elder Auror either didn't know, or didn't care to share. Gideon decided such knowledge was something he didn't want to know. "Were they successful?" He asked instead.

"I don't know." Sydney told him sharply. "But get your wand ready just in case."

Gideon swallowed and did as he was told. The Seer looked at him once more to check on him before taking his own deep breath and pushing open the door.

The rank smell of death swelled to meet them. Gideon grimaced and doubled back, forcing air into his lungs as Sydney, older and probably more accustomed to the scent, pushed forward. The room was pitch black but there was a small sound coming from one of the corners as desperate short breaths pierced a quiet mewing.

"Lumnos." Sydney whispered and a wave of light emitted from his wand, throwing light into the dark corners.

They saw the body first. An elderly figure that had once been Jaron was lying on his back, with his face turned aside, eyes shut. The dark brown frock coat he always wore was sprayed under his stout frame and looked almost like wings that had fallen into disarray. His shirt had been torn open and on his chest were craved symbols similar to those on the door. A large circle had been craved and at various points around the circle the symbols had been placed. Using the Runes he knew, Gideon tried to decipher the phrases. He could see summoning spells and binding spells but noticed that these glyphs had burned on the skin as if the body had rejected the enchantment. Gideon squatted beside the body, and reached over it, to bring the face towards him.

"I couldn't wake him." Both Auror jumped, aiming their wands at the corner of the room where the voice had come from.

It was a small girl staring up at them with wide, uncertain eyes. Across her lap, rested Malachi Smith, his head on her lap, and just barely breathing. The Auror was taking long, labored breaths as she stroked his brow, desperate to give him any comfort she could. The girl wore cream color robes although she had stripped down to her shift to use the rest of the robes as bandages. They were packed tight around Malachi's chest, and Gideon knew grimly that whatever rite Rio had tried on Jaron had also been preformed on Smith.

The girl saw their faces drop as realization hit them, uncertain of their intentions; she slipped one arm around Malachi's chest. She was watching them now, warily and when she spoke, her voice shook with authority she was unaccustomed too. "You can't come near."

"What did you do to him?" Sydney demanded.

She gasped but didn't move her grip from around Malachi. "I will not suffer to be spoken too in a such a manner."

"You will suffer it!" Sydney challenged in return. He crossed the short distance from the doorway to her, and aimed his wand at the creature's neck. "You have no longer have authority, priestess."

"Priestess?" Gideon asked. The child before him looked as if she was barely entering her preteens, and even by Kaga standards she was barely an adult. "She's a priestess?"

"She's more then that." Sydney answered coldly, "She's a member of the royal bloodline, related to Aswin and Betonie."

The girl made a disgusted sound. "Humans and their titles. I am no royal." She spat. "I am Ovate, Guardian of the Mysteries and keeper of the Avatars."

"At any rate," Sydney snorted, and smirked at Gideon. "They're the Kaga upper class."

Gideon frowned as he watched Sydney withdraw his weapon. "How can you be sure she's trustworthy?"

"Simple." He turned and studied the girl again. "Ovates aren't trained in warfare and martial arts. She's a non-combative." He squatted down and touched Malachi's cheek, gingerly. "Kaga are simple creatures, and Kaga Ovates aren't capable of this...butchery." He softened his voice slightly and looked at her. "What happened?"

"Jaron had been alerted us to Aswin's death, and he and I were attending the Fay when a Kage came to us. They said Victoria Hawke had need of us. I didn't want to go, but Jaron was set on it...and we were ambushed en route. Rio took us here...and tried her rituals." Her lips began to tremble as she slouched forward, protecting Malachi from Sydney. She spoke finally after a time, but there was no emotion that clouded her voice. Hers was only the soft, dull cadence of someone recounting a story they heard sometime before. "Jaron told me to keep him safe. Nothing else mattered, he said. Jaron said he had to be taken care of, that's all he spoke of." She murmured, and then looking up, met Sydney's eyes fiercely as if by her actions, she could prove she had no other recourse. "Even as Rio killed him...he only spoke of this Auror." She returned her gaze to the man who rested on her lap. "Jaron died for him. He was an Avatar, and he let himself die for this one...creature. Why? Who is this man that my Beloved would die for him?"

Sydney's face softened, touched by the child's lack of understanding. He reached over and moved as if to touch her but thought better of reaching out to comfort someone who was unaccustomed and unwelcoming of such actions. "He's just a man, no wiser or stronger then any other human. His name is Malachi Smith, and he's the Auror in charge of Interrogations and Intelligence." He licked his lips thoughtfully as he turned to gaze on Malachi's face once more. "But he's my Chief. My leader."

The girl looked up then, and without jealous or rebuke she spoke. "Then it is a fair trade in your eyes, is it not? My Master for yours?" The Seer blinked in surprise and then, after a beat he slowly nodded. She favored him with a small, knowing look before releasing Malachi into Sydney's arms.

Gideon was only mildly interested in watching Van Ness as he lifted the aging Auror into his arms and rushed outside to Apparate to Hecate. He glanced around the home for any sign of Rio but knew, vaguely, that the renegade was gone. So instead, he turned to the girl. She was ignoring his presence as she stood and stretched, before turning to stare at the walls and woodwork of her prison in surprise. Her face was resigned even though she had to be frightened. Everyone was. "Aswin is dead?" She asked quietly.

Gideon blinked in surprise at the calmness of her voice. "He is."

"Then hope for my people is lost. Our messiah has betrayed us, and our prince is slain..." She bowed her head, looking away from him. "It will take time before these wounds can be healed."

"What will you do now, Priest?" He heard himself asking.

The girl shook her head to shake bad dreams. "Keep my vow to Jaron." She told him softly. "He asked me to protect Malachi, no matter what. That is my mission in life now."

Gideon frowned. "It won't be the same for your people now." He told her. "You know that. If you were feared before, you'll be hated now...and enslaved. You know that right?"

She made some non-committal movement. "This is of no importance to me. Policy and the status quo are human ideas, and like all human ideas, they're subject to your first law."

"Which is?"

"Change is the only thing certain." She turned, and Gideon found himself staring into her deep gray eyes. "But for a Kage, Change is not so important. It's just the shadow on the wall. It is the pattern that must be followed so everything will happen as it is suppose to."

He frowned. "You don't care what will happen to your people?" He asked.

her eyes dimmed. "What will happen, will happen. It is not for me to approve or disapprove. I am to merely perform my duty." She turned and walked out to follow Sydney. "And, for now, it rests with the Auror Malachi Smith."

Gideon understood that then, like Claudia, this child might appear human but would be insulted if called such. She would have no part of his morality, or justifications, or his desires for something more. She was as blinded by her beliefs as his mother Marjorie was. He got the impression from the girl as she disappeared that perhaps her, in her station in life, had glimpsed something y far deeper and more pragmatic then anything he had faced before. Her voice had carried a kind of resignation that only came with wisdom, and defeat that only came with age. He wondered briefly if his role and hers had been reversed, would he react in such a way. He decided he didn't like the answer.

He didn't like resignation. He understood that now, as he stood alone in a place of death. Defeat, he could handle, and perhaps, he could even acknowledge and accept his course would rarely be justified and worthy, even though it would always be needed. He could blame his Slytherin upbringing, or his arrogance, his selfishness, stubbornness or just plain stupidity but standing there now, he swore to himself, he would never resign himself to orders or the status quo. Perhaps in the end he would not beat the game but he would have one hell of a time trying. If he had too, he would change the game itself, and mold it into his rules. He could do after all. He could do anything.

Gideon felt something happen then, somewhere deep inside, as if he were shedding the skin of his childhood- of Illuminatti indulgence and the sense of ownership, and Snakish affluence, to something other then this. He felt raw and uncertain, but still excited. He understood a moment later what had happened.

He had found his reason.

Sydney was waiting for him outside, a slight smile on his features as if the elder Auror knew what had occurred. Sydney stamped out the cigarette he was smoking and spoke when Gideon had reached earshot. "The girl went with Malachi to Hecate. Hawke has the best medics working on Smith. He's going to be okay. She called Tristain and Amissa as soon as I told her." he motioned to the house, and made a bitter sound. "And then Hawke turned right around and ordered Tristain to report here to find out whatever we can."

"Any news on Rio?"

"Hawke has some other teams chasing down leads." Sydney shrugged. "She was hoping that we would stumble across Rio while searching for Smith and Jaron but from the looks of it, Rio found out we were coming."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she left survivors, and I know Rio. She's not the kind of person that would leave any loose ends," He shifted and favored Gideon with a dark look. "She's going to come back one day, Gideon. Don't be surprised when she does."

Gideon shivered and decided his voice would not be strong enough to speak so instead, he looked up to the vast canopy of stars above him. They were beginning to pale as the sun began it's slow climb over the horizon to the new day. He smiled softly.

"Yeah," Sydney said beside him. "Feels good, doesn't it?" He looked up to stare into the deep sky as if everything that mattered could be seen in the dull night. "I forgot how much I've missed moments like this: when you're tired beyond words, and all emotion is spent but you're alive, and you've done your duty the best you could. And you know, that in some small way, maybe just maybe what you did made the world a little safer, and everything that was good…you made it a little stronger."

Gideon heard himself before he could stop himself. "What if it doesn't last? Rio's still out there."

Sydney laughed, "Even if she wasn't, there would always be someone out there. The next guy you fight maybe will be stronger then Rio, maybe weaker but it doesn't matter. The whole point is that you fight."

"Because it's our duty."

"No." The elder Auror turned and met Gideon's eyes. In the darkness, there was wisdom and majesty and something more that in his youthfulness, Gideon could not recognize but would always remember. "Because it's right. Never forget that, no matter what." A soft smile crossed his lips. "There's a good reason for you." He whispered, returning his gaze skyward. "Live for the right."

Gideon laughed at the romance behind his words but agreed with them. "I can do that." He snorted, playfully. "That none perish eh?"

"That's right." Sydney rejoined softly.

"Well, what happens now, hero? We've saved the world, and rescued the orphans and old men, what's next?"

"Breakfast."