Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, Stargate SG-1, Reign, or anything else I reference.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Rumors and Curses
(Zwickau, Germany)
"What do you want?" Danny asked as he stared at the devil. It was really astonishing how the people of this planet had managed to replicate their ancestor's feat without even knowing that they existed. Qetsiyah and the witches had managed to become a planet bound version of the Ascended and now he was meeting the Earth version of the Ori.
"Nothing too difficult. Right now, just talking with someone alive is good enough." Arcadius said.
"Why should I talk to you?" Danny asked, "Most people would say that I should ignore the devil because he will lead fools to temptation." His own minion was hoping that he would decide to work with her and kill Arcadius. That was certainly a review on the type of company that he was.
"I know that you talk to Qetsiyah. What make me so different from her?" Arcadius asked.
"She does not feast on the suffering of the souls in her dimension." Danny answered him.
"When she was alive, she was a woman that liked to hold grudges and secrets and I do not believe death has cured her of that habit." Arcadius said. "You must have doubts about whether what all she has told is true or worry that she is holding back information."
'He is not wrong.' Danny thought to himself.
"She is having the time of her afterlife torturing Silas." Arcadius said.
"How do you know that?" Danny asked.
"There a plenty of witches willing to tell my sirens things." Arcadius said. There were always a few witches wanting to push the boundaries of what was possible. Those that felt stifled by their covens and wanted freedom. Many times, they lost their way and wound up with his mark fearing the day that they would die and join the others he had claimed. Give them the offer of freedom so that they could die knowing they will be sent to the Other Side instead of to him and they were willing to do him many favors.
"What do you wish to talk about?" Danny asked taking a step and transmuting the ground into a table. He then created a chair for them to sit. Arcadius did not need it, but he might enjoy the gesture.
"What sort of creature are these?" Arcadius asked.
"That is complicated, but they come from very far away." Danny answered.
"Is it where you come from?" Arcadius asked.
"They come from a place farther than I have ever been." Danny answered.
"Are more going to be coming?" Arcadius asked.
"I hope not." Danny answered. "Anyway, I was wondering about the souls that you have in your dimension."
"What about them?" Arcadius asked
"I was wondering if King Henry Tudor VIII was there?" Danny asked. He knew that King Henry was not on the Other Side and given how he treated his wives and the people of his kingdom it would be no surprise if he was with Arcadius.
"No." Arcadius answered
"Really?" Danny asked surprised. If anybody deserved to be punished with hell and eternal torment, he would have thought that King Henry would have qualified. He had been horrible to his wives. He divorced the first, killed the second, let the third die to have his son, divorced the fourth and killed the fifth. Had he lived he may have finished the pattern and let the six die to have another child.
"My sirens did not make it in time to place a mark upon his soul." Arcadius said.
"Why just two sirens?" Danny asked. There had to be some reason why out of all these centuries that Arcadius had only altered Sybil and Selene.
"It would be a waste of power. There are only ever so many evil people in the world at a time." Arcadius said. His mission had only ever been to punish the wicked souls that walk the earth. "Have you heard of the doppelganger?"
"You mean people that look identical to each other?" Danny asked playing dumb, but he knew what he really meant.
"I mean the women that appears in the Petrova family every few generations. I believe you have Katherina Petrova in your vampire army." Arcadius said.
"Yes. What about her?" Danny asked.
"She and the others were something created by Qetsiyah as a result of her elixir." Arcadius said.
"Why should I care about it?" Danny asked.
"You are a man that cares for rare and unique things with a lot of history behind it." Arcadius said.
"You are not wrong." Danny said as he thought back on the countless records of stories stored back on Dinai in his treasure vault.
"Think about it. A priceless existence that will appear through the ages with new stories to tell." Arcadius said.
'That is interesting.' Danny thought to himself before catching on. He was losing focus and getting distracted. Not a good thing when dealing with someone like Arcadius "Do you know something about a city called Kul Elna?"
"I know stories of the city." Arcadius said.
"What kind of stories?" Danny asked.
"Stories of monsters, ancient duels, lost treasures. That sort of thing." Arcadius said being vague on purpose. Even when he was alive the stories of Kul Elna were just that. Simple stories.
'Sounds like a place I really need to explore.' Danny thought to himself. He hoped that his Jaffa would hurry up with exploring the place. "Sounds interesting."
"I have a question for you. Have you ever heard of Expression?" Arcadius asked.
"I doubt you mean emotions. What is it?" Danny asked.
"It is an ancient type of power." Arcadius said.
"I have not heard of it in my searches." Danny said.
"I am not surprised. It is not a power the witches like to talk about. They do not even like to call it magic because of how powerful it is." Arcadius said."
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(Edinburgh, Scotland)
"What do you want?" James asked with anger in his eyes as he stood before her.
"I just want to talk." Mary said as she looked at her half-brother James.
"I am not sure what good talking will do. The last time we talked your mother and I ended up in a dungeon." James said.
"I put you in there to give you time to think." Mary said. Her mother had been reluctant to give up power and accept the way things were going. So, she had no choice but to make a decision. James disagreed with her decision and so she had to place him in a cell alongside her mother.
"Time to think. You locked us in the dungeon Mary." James said.
"If I had locked you in your rooms, you would have tried to escape." Mary said. Despite the state of Scotland James and her mother had allies they could turn to if they had managed to escape their rooms. Keeping them in the dungeon watched over by her new soldiers was the best way to make sure that they were safe while they came to understand how things were changing.
"Because you are not yourself. How can you not see that?" James asked.
"You just do not understand." Mary said. She had been very similar before she understood King Daniel. Now she understood the only way forward was with his help.
"You have fallen under the spell of that sorcerer. Your head is clouded." James said as he walker closer to her. He stopped because the soldiers around her were moving to hold their swords.
"I want you to understand that there is no fighting this. With King Daniel's power it is better to work for him." Mary said to James. James and her mother had been in trouble long before she had arrived. She had no idea what King Daniel would do to him if he met her brother, and she would hate to lose him because he was too stubborn.
"Why have you come to talk to me and mot your mother?" James asked.
"I am planning on talking to her as well." Mary said. Despite the issues she had with her mother she wanted her to understand how things needed to be. She had found a way to take England. To bring forth the wish they had worked forward to all of her life.
"You cannot expect us to change our religion to follow some foreign sorcerer and his pagan goddess." James said.
"His title is king." Mary said.
"He has not been recognized by the Vatican, so I refuse to accept his claim to kingship." James said.
"Why are you being so stubborn?" Mary asked.
"He has corrupted my sister and seeks to take control of my home. If you were free from his control, you would understand." James said.
"Join me and we can bring peace to Scotland." Mary said. She was finally back in Scotland to help her people but now she was here, and her people wanted nothing to do with her. One family dedicated to bringing peace and ushering in an era of peace.
"You will never be able to tear down the faithful in Scotland. Whether Protestant or Catholic we will fight for what is right and true." James said.
"Guards return him to the dungeon." Mary said with a sigh. She did not want to resort to threats, but she knew if they did then it would end in blood, and she doubted that it would be hers.
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"How are you feeling?" Francis asked Mary who was sitting in her courtyard and enjoying the nice weather.
"I feel conflicted." Mary answered.
"Is this about John Nox?" Francis asked.
John Nox was a Scottish minister that was critical of Mary and believed that should be removed from power. He was close with many Protestants lords throughout the country. They had been wary of him from when they first heard about him in France.
"Not right now." Mary answered Francis. She wished it was about John Nox. She knew that no matter her stance they would not have gotten along with each other. He would not rest until she was off of her throne and out of the country. He wanted a democratic council to take her place and rule Scotland.
"Then what is on you mind?" Francis asked.
"My mother and my brother." Mary said.
"You want them out of the dungeon?" Francis asked.
"I just wish that they would understand." Mary said. Her family believed the Vatican could topple King Daniel and they would not be convinced otherwise.
"Give them some time and when they learn what happened to England and Rome, they will agree that it is for the best that they convert." Franics said as he sat down next to her and held her hand.
"It hurt to see the betrayal in their eyes." Mary said.
"Do you want me to contact Sage?" Franis asked her.
Sage was a new member of their court. She was a tall woman with red hair and able to toss a man across a room with little effort. She also had the ability to compel people to do whatever she wished. King Daniel had sent her to them to help coordinate the soldiers they had and make sure that none of them were at risk of becoming a threat. She preferred to live in the town than stay in the castle.
"I do not want them to be forced to join us." Mary said. She wanted her family to be on her side of their own free will. They had protected her country while she was younger and under constant threat of assassination. To take away their free will was something she would never do no.
"Alright if that is what you wish." Francis said.
"How is your father doing?" Mary asked wishing to change topics from her family.
"The last letter he sent stated that he has marched for Calais." Francis said.
"Are you worried?" Mary asked. If something happened to King Henry while he was at war, then Francis would become king of France. It would help make their dream of a United Kingdom easier, but it would be a difficult adjustment period. Francis would have to decide whether to continue helping prepare for the war here or go back to France and lead the soldiers to prevent and invasion by Louis and Elizabeth.
"I am worried about the lords back in France." Francis said.
"How many have turned away from King Henry?" Mary asked.
"They may not say it for fear of being killed but many lords are sending supplies, men, and weapons to England and Italy in secret." Francis said.
"How is Catherine dealing with this?" Mary asked. She doubted that Catherine would let any potential threat to her family walk freely. She had been under constant threat during her stay in France and that was because Catherine believed in a prophecy that told her she would lead Francis to his death.
"You know my mother. She is coming up with some plot to remove threats to the royal family." Francis said.
'A lot of French nobles are going to find themselves poisoned.' Mary thought to herself.
"Bash wants to send Lola here." Francis said.
"Why?" Mary asked. She was still dealing with the fact that her oldest friend betrayed her and slept with her husband.
"Bash wants to join the army to avenge Diane's murder." Francis said. Apparently since it was so hard to reach his father their enemies had decided to strike at someone he loved instead. They burned Diane's chateau to the ground. They left her head lying on a pike for his father to find.
"That still does not explain why she has to come here." Mary said. She would prefer if they remained in different kingdoms for the rest of their lives.
"He wants Lola and the child to be in a safe place while he is away." Francis said.
What made this situation worse was the fact that she was carrying his bastard child. The two of them had been trying to have one since they had gotten married and still have not succeeded. Looking at her would just be a constant reminder of their failure. She would have liked to refuse but the child was innocent in this matter. It would not be right to punish it for something it could not control. She would not be like the people that she had grown up fearing. Someone that would kill children because it would be beneficial to them.
"This is not an easy thing you ask of me." Mary said. Lola had betrayed her, but it was hard to not think of the years they had spent together as children and the challenges they had overcome at French court.
"Lola can stay in the town below. We give her guards and have them report daily." Francis said.
"Kenna and Greer are going to want visit her." Mary said. Kenna and Greer had been busy since returning to Scotland. Kenna had been tasked with overseeing the building of an estate that King Daniel would approve of when he was visiting Scotland. Greer's father was given mining rights in the new world, and she was acting as his assistant to learn how to do it on her own. Her sisters were enjoying life now that they no longer had to be rushed into being married.
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(London, England)
"How are you doing today, Lady Pierce?" Queen Elizabeth asked as she crossed paths with Lord William's cousin. Behind her was her oriental handmaiden Pearl and her daughter Anna.
"I am feeling rather well." Katherine said as she smiled at her.
From what she had learned from Margaery she had been traveling to avoid a rather persistent suitor. He had presented himself as a kind man but turned out to be a monster. When she had run home to warn her family to cancel the marriage, he followed her and burned down her family's estate with her parent's inside of it. Nothing could be proven though and so she had fled Bulgaria and tried her best to stay on the move. Recently the lord that had been chasing her had met a rather unpleasant end and so Katherine was staying with Lord William while she prepared to return home and put her family's affairs in order.
"Would you like to come and have tea with us?" Sansa Stark asked.
"I wish that I could, but I have an acquaintance that I have to meet with." Katherine said.
"We would not wish to impose on you." Mya Baratheon said.
"I would not mind doing that another time." Katherine said.
"We shall have to schedule some time together." Queen Elizabeth said.
"I can't believe how brave she is." Sansa said. She lost her family at such a young age. She could not imagine what it would be like to be on her own running from an obsessive suitor.
"She has been through much." Queen Elizabeth said. Everyone was trying to force her into a marriage but from what she has seen when the nobility got married it ended in infidelity, violence, and or murder. Was it such a wonder that she wanted to put it off for as long as she could?
"So, what are the latest rumors going around court?" Mya asked Margaery as they sat at their table in the garden.
"I heard that Lancel Lannister is going to be marrying Amerei Frey" Margaery said.
"Really?" Sansa asked shocked. The Freys had been under-lords to her mother's family for generations. The current lord of the family Walder Frey was an old man that had been around since Queen Elizabeth's grandfather had been king.
"Well seems that time has not managed to squash Lord Frey's ambition." Queen Elizabeth said.
"That girl is going to eat him alive." Mya said. Amerei Frey was a girl that enjoyed everything that life had to offer and had a lust that she doubted Lancel could keep satisfied. She was like a female version of her father.
"I am surprised that Lord Tywin let that happen." Queen Elizabeth said. It was no secret that Tywin Lannister had disliked the Freys since his sister's marriage to Emmon Frey.
"There is something else." Margaery said.
"What is it?" Queen Elizabeth asked.
"You are not going to like it." Margaery said.
"What is it?" Queen Elizabeth asked wondering why Margaery was acting so reluctant to tell her.
"There is talk of a curse." Margaery said.
"A curse?" Sansa asked.
"It is a curse that was placed on the royal family after King Henry had those villagers hanged during the Northern Catholic Rebellion." Margaery said. The peasant had risen up because they had feared the men King Henry was surrounding himself with. They had underestimated his wrath and the lengths he would go to crush them. Thousands had died to the king's order.
"What is this curse?" Queen Elizabeth asked.
"The curse was that his children would produce no sons and it would end with a daughter." Margaery said.
"That is nonsense." Queen Elizabeth said thinking of her brothers Henry Fitzroy and King Edward.
"Both of your siblings died without children, and all know of your reluctance to marry. It worries them." Margaery said.
"How has this nonsense even started?" Queen Elizabeth asked. This "curse" was not something that she needed spreading around her kingdom. It would make her life even harder. Superstitious peasants might even join Mary or Rome if they feared that she was going to fall and end the Tudor line.
"We need to find out who is starting these rumors." Queen Elizabeth said. Rumors and lies had brought down her mother and she refused to let it happen to her.
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"How is your mission going?" Fared asked.
"Good." Katherine replied as she looked at her overseer. Her duty was to oversee the English court and make sure that nothing happened outside of Daniel's plans. For some reason he wanted the Queen of England alive even though he was in charge of the kingdom that she was invading. It would be so easy for them to kill her.
"Have you seen the weapons that Rome has sent?" Fared asked
"They have arrived, and Prince Louis is showing them off in front of the men in the castle." Katherine replied.
"How many do you think that they are going to be moving?" Fared asked.
"They were planning to attack in the summer with three thousand men but that has changed." Katherine said. The attack in Gresit had angered Rome and they wanted to respond to Daniel's actions. Four priests had been killed in the attack; a reverend had been maimed, and ten sisters had been traumatized at the destruction. They did not want a repeat of such an action in Rome. It was said that whenever King Daniel's name was mentioned it caused the Pope to shudder in fright.
"Anything else?" Fared asked.
"There is talk of heading to the Orient and hiring assassins to kill King Henry." Katherine said.
"Do you have any idea who they are thinking of approaching?" Fared asked.
"They are thinking of approaching the Kure Clan." Katherine said.
"What do you know of the Kuren Clan?" Fared asked.
"They are a tribe of humans that for hundreds of years have been breeding and training to bring their skills to the peak of human potential." Katherine said. She had gotten the information about the Kure clan from Pearl. Stories of the Kure Clan were told to children to scare them to behave.
"I will inform the king of this information." Fared said.
"Is there anything else that you require of us?" Katherine asked.
"King Daniel wants one of you to compel Robert Dudley to convince Queen Elizabeth to have a picnic outside of the castle." Fared said.
"Why?" Anna asked.
"He has his reasons and that is all you need to know." Fared said.
"If he needs our help, shouldn't we know what he is thinking.?" Pearl asked.
"He is our king. You do not need to understand his reasoning just follow his will. He is the man chosen by the goddess Nirrtti." Fared said as his eyes took on a hard look.
"We understand." Katherine said wishing to move on. Fared had a distrust of vampires and thought they were no better than savages. The only reason he accepted this position was because he was ordered to.
"Contact me again at the regular time." Fared said before his image vanished.
"Well, that went well." Anna said in annoyed tone.
"Why did you do that?" Katherine asked as looked at the youngest vampire in the room.
"I just want to know why we are doing all of this." Anna said. They were each tasked with different missions. Katherine was to become close with Queen Elizabeth and her ladies in waiting, her mother was to become the target of Henry Stuart (Lord Darnley) affection and she was tasked with compelling people in taverns and bars to spread the story of a curse on King Henry's line. If he was trying to have Elizabeth's countrymen rise up against her it would be one thing but instead, he wanted them to protect her and make sure no harm came to her. If it did, they were to heal her and then compel her to forget what had happened.
"He wants something from her but doesn't trust us enough to get it." Katherine said.
"I just hope that this does not end badly for us." Anna said "
"Why don't you find something nice guard to eat. It will calm you down." Pearl said to her daughter.
"Very well." Anna said as she left the room.
"Your daughter sure is energetic." Katherine said.
"When are you going to talk to your daughter?" Pearl asked.
That topic was something that Katherine wanted to avoid at all costs. King Daniel had revealed to her in their second meeting that her daughter Nadia had become a vampire and had been searching the world for her while she was on the run from Klaus.
"I have no idea what to say." Katherine said. She had survived this long by being clever and running really fast. Nadia would want her to be honest and emotionally available. She had not been either of those in a very long time and she was not ready to begin to try.
"Start with a simple hello. You both have eternity to get to know each other." Pearl said.