A little less of a wait this time for an update ;)

Enjoy and let me know what you think,

Kiad

In the Light of The Dark

How to Raise Wolves

Chapter Four – Gambits and Gambles

It was said that each time a Black was born, Magic herself would draw straws with both Fate and Chance, and the loser would get to choose the destiny of each child. Well, Fate had been on a bit of a losing streak as of late, and as such five children; all born with Black blood and all born over the course of the early 80s (that is the 1980s of course); had been chosen by her to lead the world into a new age. Little under 20 years from then; the turn of the millennium had been set as the date where the future of the earth would be decided, and Fate knew that she needed the upper hand. Leaving things to Chance saw lives lost and eternities burn; and she had seen so many of them during her existence.

Now you may think that this story would be centred around these five children. That it would be documented how the future of the world would be decided, and how eternity either saved or lost. You would be right. But, to understand how these children came to be, we must first look at the man who started the journey. The man who was at the epicentre for the largest gambit Fate had ever attempted to achieve. The man who, not only took these children under his wing, but who shaped each and every one of them into the people they needed to be.

This story; is a about a man. A man named Sirius Black, whose straw had been drawn a little shorter than Fate had intended.

O_o_O_o_O

The Black estate had always been vast. From the very beginnings of the house, each had curried favour with nobles and gained powerful allies both politically and financially. Every Black born, and every outsider who married into the house, had brought with them their own wealth and intelligence, and soon the Blacks had become one of the most influential families in the world. Whilst most of the foreign branches of the family had intermarried themselves to extinction (the family motto having been taken a little too literally); the British line of Blacks still survived, albeit barely. This meant that the lord and head was the wealthiest and most influential figure in Britain, possibly in the world; with that title being passed down from Black to Black until we arrive at the man this leg of our story is set around. A man, who was currently over an hour early to a meeting he himself had arranged.

"Stop fidgeting Sirius." Remus hissed as his mate wrung his hands for the third time in the last twenty minutes. They were each dressed to the nines, Sirius having picked up the tab for both of their dress robes; and they were absolutely shitting themselves. The Black manor had always been imposing, the Lord's study even more so; but it was the prospect of their imminent meeting that was causing Sirius to lose said proverbial shit, and Remus was trying his hardest to keep his mate from turn-tailing it back to Oxford.

"I can't help it." The young Black replied; shifting in his seat. "Why isn't he here yet?"

"Because we're an hour and a half early and any sane person would still be having their breakfast at this hour. I told you that we should have waited." Any cutting reply Sirius was about to make died on his tongue as the door was opened without warning. It had shown a great amount of trust in them, to leave them alone in the Lord's study without the presence of said Lord; and neither of them were in any doubts as to whether the portraits were reporting back their movements to Arcturus.

"So, gentlemen, now that we are all settled and have had time to ingest some caffeine, shall we get down to why we are all here?" Arcturus Black was nothing if not commanding. Though short in stature, his wide shoulders more than made up the difference; heralding back to his younger days, and a successful duelling career. The famous silver eyes of the Black family looked well on his handsome features, and Remus could see that Sirius, rather mercifully had inherited many of his characteristics from his father's side. With long black hair; swept back into a neat bun at the nape of his neck, and a set of black and gold robes; Arcturus Black certainly knew how to make an impression.

"We apologise my Lord for intruding on your morning." Sirius said with a courteous bow; both of them having instantly shot to their feet when the Head of House Black had entered the room. The man waved them both back into their seats, taking his own on the other side of the huge cherry-wood desk.

"I figured you'd be here early Sirius and rose accordingly this morning. It is no trouble." Sirius sat back down, only when his grandfather was seated and bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Now, shall we get down to business? Your letter painted a rather disturbing view, and one which I have yet to consider. Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me everything you know so far?" Sirius glanced at the werewolf at his side, something which did no go unnoticed by the Black lord and cleared his throat.

"In the early months of 1980, a prophecy was made by Sybil Trelawney to Albus Dumbledore. The wording of it is shaky but it stipulated that a child, born at the end of July would destroy the Dark Lord."

"The wording?" Arcturus asked, taking out a quill and a piece of parchment. Sirius nodded to his mate; giving Remus reassurance that it was okay to address his head of house.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..." Arcturus copied the wording down and rolled the parchment up, sealing it with black wax before stamping it with his ring.

"Nip!" He barked, making the pair of marauders jump. A house elf apparated in with a crack and bowed before him. "Take this to Cassiopeia Black, see that she receives it in secret and tell her that I want her thoughts on this by Monday at the latest."

"Yes my Lord Black." Nip replied, popping back out. Sirius knew that however secret they wanted the prophecy to remain; to question his grandfather on this matter was folly, so he shook off his unease, cleared his throat again and continued with his story.

"Part of the prophecy was somehow overheard by Severus Snape, who went on to leak it to the Dark Lord. Voldemort decided to target both the Potters and the Longbottoms, as Harry and Neville could have potentially fit the prophecy. Both families retreated under Fidelus Charms, the Potters to Godric's Hollow and the Longbottoms to The Arboretum."

"And who were the secret keepers?" Arcturus asked, continuing to note things down on parchment as Sirius led him through the sordid tale.

"Peter Pettigrew for the Potters and Madame Augusta for the Longbottoms."

"Why weren't you a candidate?"

"I was. It was thought that Peter would have been the least conspicuous target, and the switch was made at the last minute." Sirius swallowed hard. The guilt that had been eating away at his insides wormed its way to the surface. His grandfather had paused; quill hovering above the parchment and then; with a sigh, those grey eyes, so similar to his own were looking at him in something he could not quite put his finger on.

"It's not your fault Pads." Remus said softly, grasping hold of his hand. "None of us were to know what Peter was. We all trusted each other. With everything."

"Who talked you out of it?" Arcturus asked, fearing that he already knew the answer. Sirius frowned as he struggled to recall the conversation and subsequent debate with James.

"There was me, James, Lily, Peter and…"

"Dumbledore." The Black Lord finished quietly. "You said in your letter that things were more dangerous in the light than what they seemed. Dumbledore has had his wand loose around too many people this time. My best guess is that he was the one who decided the secret keepers, not you or the Potters." The pieces finally clicked into place and Sirius's eyes narrowed. From that point he spilt everything they knew, or at least suspected. The prophecy having being faked, Minerva and Severus having been spelled into silence, Dumbledore leaving Harry on the Dursley's doorstep; all of the information they had collected flooded out in one long tirade which finished with muttered insults towards the old man.

"So, your hatred towards the Headmaster is real." Arcturus stated once Sirius had finished. He leant back in his chair, the now full pieces of parchment scattered around his desk and his eyes fixed on the pair in front of him. He could see the picture more clearly now than he had been able to in years. He could also see the bond between his grandson and the werewolf at his side. "What do you want from me?" He asked.

"I want to come home." Was the almost whispered reply. "I want to be safe again. I want to keep Harry and Neville safe."

"So, the Longbottoms agree with the choice you are making?"

"It hasn't been easy to convince them." Remus replied honestly, knowing that his mate needed a moment to think. "But we have done so, and they agree to follow our lead in the measures taken to keep the boys safe. I have the personal allegiance of Alice Longbottom, and Sirius has gained the same pledge from Augusta. Frank has renounced his headship of the house, passing the seat temporarily onto Neville with the intention of eventually deferring it to Sirius; as Steward of house Longbottom. We still have some concerns, going forwards but we strongly believe that this is our safest form of action." Arcturus studied the werewolf for a few seconds, trusting in the proud posture, and the easy way Remus met his eyes. He also noted the way he still kept a grip on his grandson's hand and his decision was already made.

"What is your relationship to my grandson?" He asked.

"He's my best friend grandfather."

"I wasn't asking you boy." He replied, shutting his grandson up instantly. "I was asking Wolf Lupin here." Remus took a deep breath and figured that now was as good a time as any to grow some balls.

"Moony recognises Sirius as my life-mate and as my Alpha." Remus said, ignoring Sirius's intake of breath and pulling his hand away from the other man's. He didn't turn around to look at him, he didn't want to see the disgust in Sirius's eyes. "To me Sirius is my best friend. The only one I have left."

"I understand that wolves mate for life."

"We do." Arcturus hummed in satisfaction and shot a look at his grandson; who was looking more shocked by the second.

"Am I to take it that this is a discussion neither of you have had between yourselves?" Remus finally turned to look at his mate, dreading what Sirius would say when he finally snapped out of his shock.

"I tried to tell you Pads." He whispered. "On the bridge last week. You blew me off so I assumed that my feelings for you run deeper than yours do for me. We've been kidding ourselves for months. Best friends don't share a bed. Best friends don't tell each other that they love each other. They don't kiss each other good morning, or wrap each other in a hug at random moments. Being best friends doesn't feel how I feel when I'm around you. I know that you don't feel the same, and that's okay. I meant it when I said I would never leave your side; Moony won't let me anyway, but I can't keep doing what we're doing if you tell me you don't feel the same."

"Remus…" Sirius trailed off, trying and failing to string a sentence together in his head that didn't make him sound like a compete twat.

"It would seem you have things to discuss between yourselves." Arcturus said, when it was clear his grandson wasn't going to continue any time soon. "I would be happy to welcome you into our family Remus. As my grandson's mate, and as eventual regent, when Sirius takes up the headship. For now, you both should return to Oxford. Tell the Longbottoms that I am happy to welcome them into the family, and that if they wish to keep their allegiance to us secret, I would be happy for the Longbottom seat to remain dormant until young Neville comes of age. I assume you have other plans in place for the boys and I suspect that blood adoption will be on the cards soon enough. I give my permission for this to go ahead, and will happily accept both of them into the house of Black, and allow them to take up our name. Anything else can be sorted when you have had time to digest things between the pair of you." He stood and both men recognised the dismissal and got to their feet.

"Thank you for your support Lord Black." Remus said, giving a bow. "We will not fail you." Arcturus smiled at that and nodded his head in acceptance of the werewolf's service.

"Toujours Pur." He recited, satisfied when his grandson automatically repeated the words back to him before he and his mate left.

Yes, the Black's had always chosen their spouses well. It would seem as though Remus Lupin was set to continue that trend on his own terms.

O_o_O_o_O

Minerva found herself wondering how things were going between Sirius and his grandfather. A Parley between estranged Blacks was always a momentous occasion, and more often than not came to wands, if the stories were to be believed. She herself remembered the Parley between the three daughters of Cygnus and Druella Black. She had been one of the first wands on the scene, when the courtyard was warded to prevent stray spells from hitting the rest of the students.

Andromeda had been a demon against her two sisters that day, keeping up with Bellatrix and Narcissa as easily as any accomplished dueller, and showing that she was just as much of a Black as any of them. She remembered the purple starting to bleed into Andromeda's eyes as the young metamorphagus became more enraged. She remembered Bellatrix's giggle as she managed to hit her younger sister with a cutting curse, and she remembered how a shiver had gone up her spine at the sound that would, in future; haunt the battles between the light and the dark. It was quite clear how short Bellatrix's straw had been drawn, even at the tender age of fifteen.

"You look worried." She spun around at the voice and the light knock on the door of her classroom, only to find her long-time friend leaning against the door frame. "Should we be worried?"

"Ask Sybil." Was her dry answer. She had protested the employing of the witch in the first place and now; knowing what she did, she detested even the sight of the woman who had come to apparently teach Divination at Hogwarts. Filius Flitwick stepped into her classroom, shut the door and waved his wand; clearing the portraits of their occupants.

"What's going on Minnie?" He asked quietly. Minerva sighed and sat on the edge of her desk, not even bothering to notice her friend hopping up to sit on one of the student desks in front of her. "Tell me."

"I can't." She said quietly. "I wish I could Filius, but I just cannot."

"You are worried for the boy." He stated rather than asked. "You looked disturbed when you returned to the castle at Halloween." She nodded, allowing him to believe that Harry was still at the Dursley's for his own sake as much as hers.

"Do you know that feeling when you think something terrible is about to happen?" She asked. "When you feel that something is wrong, in the pit of your stomach?"

"I believe in a witch's intuition." He replied with a shrug. "In the concern over a child, whether it's hers by blood or not, a witch always seems to know when things are not as they should be. Believing in foresight however, would put me in danger of sounding like our good Divination professor." Minerva snorted at that, and pushed the feeling away to the bottom of her stomach, swallowing hard and attempting to clear her mind. "You look like you haven't slept in days." Filius said quietly, his concern for her clear in his features. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"What would be the point?" She asked tiredly. "What has happened, has happened, and what will happen can't be stopped. Voldemort is gone and we should all be celebrating our continued survival."

"And yet you are left wondering why it feels so empty?" He asked, recognising the grief in her tone. "We lost people Minnie. All of us lost someone we cared for. But living for the dead will serve only to trap us in the past. I believe that Lily and James would want us to live for ourselves rather than them. And, to live for their son. There is no telling what kind of life Harry will have before Hogwarts, so we must still be here to guide him when he comes back to us."

"You sound like Albus." She muttered tiredly, rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn. Why was she so tired?

"I like to think I have my moments." He replied, hopping back off the desk and resting his hand on her knee. "Get some sleep Minnie. The students need us, and we all need you." She watched her friend leave and envied his ignorance. She checked her pocket watch and decided to miss dinner. She needed an early night.

O_o_O_o_O

Alice Longbottom liked to think of herself as a strong woman. She had come from a family fabled for its scandals and worked her way up in the ranks of wizarding status. The Longbottom name was a good one; strong politically with good solid allies and a wealth worthy of boasting about. Meanwhile the Prewett name which she had left behind was all but dead. Her male cousins (her only decent relatives) were dead and their sister had been married off to a Weasley. She missed Fabian and Gideon dearly, but she was glad of her non-association to their sister. Molly Prewett had been as vile as they came, and her arranged marriage into the Weasley family was more than she deserved. That she was a Dumbledore's woman just compounded the hatred Alice felt for her and she was glad to have been able to shed her maiden name.

"Are you quite alright?" Augusta asked, taking a seat opposite her and pouring them some tea from her forgotten tray. She nodded and attempted to smile. It was weak at best and her mother-in-law offered her a knowing smile in return. "We should not worry. Arcturus is a reasonable man, and both of those young men have a good head on their shoulders."

"I wasn't thinking of them actually." She admitted. "But now that you mention it…"

"Forget I did then." Augusta butted in, waving her off. "Tell me instead what you were thinking about."

"My cousins." She said quietly. "And how lucky I was to be accepted into your family. I know that the Prewetts haven't the best reputation."

"Did you know that my aunt married a Weasley?" Augusta asked, sipping her tea. "And Sirius's immediate aunt on his father's side married a Prewett. I know both of those families and my acceptance of you was based on none of my previous experience with them. I accepted you because you love my Frank, and you make him happy. If I judged you for your family, I would be nothing but a hypocrite. My grandmother was a Yaxley, and her mother was a Flint. It was only my mother's marriage to my father that moved us from out under the Black name; my great grandfather after all, was Phineas Nigellus."

"I hadn't known that."

"And now that you do, does it make the slightest bit of difference?"

"No. No of course not."

"There you go then. Stop worrying about what might have come of you and start worrying about what might still come of you. Of all of us. There are difficult times ahead my child and we will need to stick together if we are to navigate our way through them smoothly."

"Do you think what we are doing is right?" Alice asked. She had made her mind up the night the idea was raised, but it would be good to hear it from Augusta. After all, Frank still had his doubts and had no issues in voicing them to her, regularly.

"I think we are doing what is best." The older woman replied with a shrug. "Whether it is right remains to be seen, but I believe that as long as we stick together, and stick with Sirius and Remus; we won't sail too far from reason." Alice blew out a sigh of relief and finally took a sip of her tea.

Yes, she was a strong woman but, it felt nice to be reassured every once in a while.

O_o_O_o_O

She could feel something changing within her family. Her father had been edgy when he had arrived for dinner that night, and she had never seen her father edgy unless he'd had a tongue-lashing from her grandfather. Pollux was an unpleasant man, and she admired her father for putting up with the Lord's peacocking and temper tantrums for so long. She'd noted that her father's behaviour hadn't gone unnoticed by her husband either, and she wondered what had happened to cause such ripples in her family.

"We need to talk." She nodded and shut down the Floo by which Abraxas Malfoy had just departed and Cygnus Black followed her through the manor into one of the private sitting rooms. Lucius was asleep on one of the settees; their son snoring into his chest, and she had been left to entertain both her father and Abraxas whilst father and son slept through the after-dinner drinks. She couldn't find it in herself to resent her husband for his rest, Merlin knew that they both needed it, but she had wished that they'd waited another couple of weeks before hosting their respective fathers for dinner. She shook her husband gently on the shoulder and he awoke almost instantly; glancing towards Cygnus and sitting up, taking care not to disturb their notoriously light-sleeper of a son.

"What's happened?" He asked. "Has news of our Lord finally reached your ears?" Cygnus shook his head and took a seat, gesturing for Narcissa to do the same.

"I had a visit from my father two days ago. There is something happening within the Black family which could change the tide of this war."

"What is it father?" Narcissa asked, reaching out to take one of his hands upon seeing how this news had affected him. "Tell us what's wrong."

"Arcturus Black hosted a Parley today." Her face drained of colour and she noted her husband's complexion matching hers. There were several estranged Blacks with whom their lord could Paley with, but only one would cause this much upset in both her father and grandfather.

"Sirius." She whispered. Cygnus nodded gravely.

"Though he was never officially disowned, he has lived apart from the family for long enough to be considered estranged. It was with him Arcturus met today, and your grandfather believes that Sirius is making a move back to the family."

"Crawling back with his tail between his legs now that his best friends are dead." Lucius snarled; shifting his son in his arms. "This is Dumbledore's doing. I would bet that Sirius intends to hand the Black estate over to the light's war effort."

"Is that true father?" Narcissa asked. "Is that what he intends?"

"I'm not entirely sure my child." He replied softly to his youngest daughter. "If it is; he has gone a funny way about it. Arcturus can sniff a lie from a hundred marks away, and Sirius is claiming that Dumbledore has been using compulsion charms on his own troops, going as far as to obliviate Minerva McGonagall on several occasions."

"The mutt is lying." Lucius hissed. "It makes no sense for him to do either of those things when his followers flock to him in their droves."

"Yes it does." Narcissa replied. "If he has done something to lose McGonagall, or if what Sirius is claiming is correct then he will have lost two of his biggest supporters. It only takes one of them to break through his spells and his whole house of cards folds. If this is true father then Dumbledore has made a huge mistake; and Sirius re-joining the family could be the very thing that ends this war." Cygnus considered his daughter's words carefully. He hadn't looked at it from that angle yet. He had been too busy worrying that this was all just some ruse; his thoughts going in a similar direction to his son-in-law's; and his concerns fuelled by his father's paranoia. Clearly the meeting between Pollux and Arcturus had not ended well at the weekend, and he wondered just what had happened between the two senior figures of the family.

"This is a folly." Lucius hissed again. "Surely you can't believe this Narcissa?"

"I don't know what to believe." She admitted. "I just know that if this is true, then we may be getting a visit from my house lord."

"I will send word if I find out when that will happen." Her father said, leaning over to cup her cheek and kiss her forehead. "Try not to worry my child. Things will smooth themselves over, and this may be no more that your grandfather's famous temper." She nodded and rose to show him out, her mind already running in a million different ways, trying to decipher what this might mean for her immediate family. The Blacks had always put family before anything else, and her marriage to Lucius hadn't exactly been well received by her head of house; who clamed that the Malfoys were nothing but jumped-up goat herders who had been chased out of France with their tails between their legs.

To be fair to Arcturus; that statement was almost completely factually correct.

O_o_O_o_O

When the knock on his door came; it was not unexpected, but it was certainly inconvenient. He placed the stasis charm over his cauldron, making sure it held before stalking to the door to his quarters and wrenching it open, ready to chew out the person who dared to interrupt him whilst brewing. It was a shock to the system though when instead of an unruly student, out of bed after curfew; he instead found his colleague and former professor standing in the dungeon corridor.

"Professor McGonagall." He greeted, quickly conquering his shock and stepping aside to invite her into his chambers.

"How many times have I asked you to call me Minerva?" She asked, making herself at home on one of his settees. "I have something to discuss with you. Something of great importance and security." He finally found it in him to shut the door and move over to his living area, offering her a drink and raising an eyebrow when she curtly refused.

"How may I be of assistance?" He asked, taking a seat in the armchair opposite her and leaning back to study her tired face. She hadn't been sleeping. He noted. Had any of them though? Really? The lead up to and subsequent fall out of Halloween had hit all of them hard; and he had not yet had a night where he had managed to sleep all the way through without waking from a nightmare at least once.

"I have something to show you, and I want to trust you to enter my mind to look at it."

"What is it?" He asked, more out of interest than courtesy.

"A memory of a discussion, between you and I. A discussion that took place six months ago."

"And, why may I ask does that require my entering your mind?"

"Because I believe it may have been taken from you without your knowledge."

"The dark lord does not enter minds simply to take a few memories." Severus snorted, amused at her ignorance. "He enters minds to shred them. Being in front of him is like playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded pistol. I assure you that if he'd been anywhere near my memories; I wouldn't be sat in front of you now."

"I wasn't referring to your lord." She replied, dropping all pretences in regards to his mark. "I was talking about mine." The pieces fell into place and Severus growled. "Dumbledore has been inside my head Severus. And, I believe he's been inside yours as well." He nodded his acknowledgement and asked if she was ready. "Be gentle. I have only just rebuilt my shields." He nodded again and easily slipped into her mindscape; arriving in a large field, a farmhouse sitting in the distance.

"This is where you grew up." He noted and she appeared next to him, nodding to confirm his theory. They set off through the barley; heading for the farmhouse, and she opened the door, allowing them both access. "This is Lupin's work." He stated, noting each level of her mindscape and recognising its subsequent protections. "The field is full of mines; the garden is full of deadly plants and the door has some ridiculous booby trap upon it that could have only been concocted by the mind of a prankster." She neither confirmed nor denied his allegations, only leading him deeper into the cottage, taking him up the stars and into her childhood bedroom. She opened her closet and pulled out a vial from the top shelf, handing it to him and nodding towards a pensive on her dresser top. He raised an eyebrow but didn't speak as he poured out the memory and entered the dish.

Five minutes later and they were both back in the land of the living, and his quarters at Hogwarts. He sprang up from his chair and stalked over to his liquor cabinet, pouring himself three fingers of brandy and throwing it back in one hit. "What do you want me to do with this information?" He asked; once his nerves had been calmed and his anger had abated.

"Keep it to yourself, but use it to fix what is wrong within your own memories." She replied. "I have a plan, and I have allies who are moving into some very powerful positions. You will receive a visit next week and receive your instructions, from now until then; keep this to yourself. It puts more than just you or I at risk." With those final words she stood and let herself out of his apartment, leaving him with the task of fixing his mindscape. Brewing would have to wait.

O_o_O_o_O

Amelia looked down upon the small bundle in her arms. Little Susan was happily sucking on the tit of her bottle, staring up at her aunt with huge blue eyes, unaware that she was now an orphan of war. Looking after her niece had certainly been a learning curve for her, and it was staring into those blue eyes that made her miss her brother terribly. It was clear from the few wisps of ginger hair and the little upturn at the end of her nose, that Susan had inherited many characteristics from her father, and Amelia had no doubt that the resemblance would grow stronger with age.

She had moved them both into the Ossuary; the ancestral home of the Bones family last week, and she had started to contemplate on how far into the house politics she was going to have to throw herself. She loved her job, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that she was good at it. Her quandary now stemmed from the knowledge that if she made the cut for the Director's job, she would lose the house seat in favour of a ministry one; taking a cut of two votes, whilst limiting her on what she could actually vote on.

She had always wanted to make the world a better place; but she was finding that the ministry was releasing the criminals faster than the aurors could arrest them, and she had to consider the possibility of her being able to do more good within the Wizengamot if she held her house's seat. For her niece's sake more than anything. She knew that Dumbledore was after the grey houses. He liked to collect influential individuals like cards in a deck; coveting his aces like a poker player covets their chips.

All she had to do, was decide whether to fold or bluff.

O_o_O_o_O

Yes, our tale is beginning with the journey of Sirius Black, and his quest to raise five of Fate's children. A noble cause for a hero, even a hero who may be a few cards short of having the full deck. A hero who is not actually a hero, but a father. Sure; he is a father who Fate is hoping will raise her children to save the world rather than bring about its destruction and the burning of eternity, but still; just a father.

But you see, in every great story comes a wealth of supporting characters, and this story is no different. Yes, some of them are considered by the world as a touch mad. Some are natural born turncoats. Some are as stubborn as mules and, some are not even supportive of our hero. However, each and every character has their own part to play in the grand scheme of things, and as more players are brought to the table, the more crowded our story becomes.

So, Fate's Gambit is in motion, straws are being drawn, hands are being considered, and houses of cards are wobbling with uncertainty. The table is becoming more and more crowded, and the stakes are far more dangerous than a simple game of Russian roulette.

So, tell me; are you keeping up?

I will not deny that I have been watching Good Omens recently, and the narrative throughout has driven the tone in this chapter. It's something a little different so let me know what you think!