Darkness.
The stage is set.
Lights!
Music!
CURTAIN!
The curtain parts and we are greeted with a big ass title card that states in what can almost be described as a whisper that the year is
2141
The place? Marlborough Lines, Andover, Hampshire, in the United Kingdom. 51° 12′ 32.72″ N, 1° 31′ 17.65″ W.
As we cross non league football grounds, a railway station and a flour mill, we can see a mostly industrial town, in which the clouds are grey, yet cool.
Not your stereotypical English weather here, folks!
In this sort of lifeless small town, rooted in traditional thinking, we approach the very basis of this old timey tree of a town: Marlbourough Lines, the official Army Headquarters of The United Kingdom.
At first glance, the building would seem unimportant to most: Beige walls, multiple green doors, surprisingly miniscule.
In fact, its most striking external feature would be its oddly shaped roof.
Ah, but you see…
It is what inside that is important.
And it is definitely true with Marlborough Lines, and as we enter the doors, the hustle and bustle of Behind The Scenes army management is shown to our curious eyes.
Here you will not see men and women in green practice their shooting, however.
Here, my dear friends, is where we find the minds behind the operations.
Men in dark blue high neck tunics and elaborate headwear shuffle along importantly, discussing matters with a dry, formal air.
Everything, even the most trivial of conversations is gravely important.
Bushy beards and wrinkled faces nod and harrumph, and sounds of hurried typing and fax machine dials reverberate in a light room.
One of these bearded men, a Sergeant Arthur Wilson, former bank clerk from Thetford, Norfolk, currently twiddling his thumbs and pacing agitatedly near a big, wooden brown door, made of the oldest and finest yew, is tasked with a most unenviable errand: Deliver the Chief of the General Staff bad news.
The polished wall clock tick tocked the seconds away, causing more and more sweat to glisten on Sergeant Wilson's forehead, as he took out a hankerchief to wipe the droplets away.
"Just get it over with, Arthur old boy…", he told himself, trying to ignore his heart's desire to leap out and travel the world as a minstrel.
Or a dog show judge. He hadn't chosen yet.
"You may come in, Sergeant Wilson.", the gruff yet deathly serious commanding tone of the Chief of the General Staff sounded from within the office out to poor Arthur's ears.
Arthur gulped, his throat almost croaking like a toad as he edged nervously towards the shiny brass metal door knob.
As he wiped his brow once more, he tried to settle his irate nerves.
"Take it easy, old chap. It's just routine. Yes, routine."
He nervously turned the handle.
"Why, you've told him this a million times."
Of course, a small voice inside him couldn't help but retort "Well, he's also massacred you every single time you've said that."
But there was no time to dilly dally.
Otherwise Arthur would get massacred twice.
And there were only so many times that could happen in a day.
Arousing last bits of blind courage, Arthur swung the door open wide, entering the office with a frenzy.
"Sir, I have bad news to report!", he shouted out in attention, saluting the currently turned with his back to him chief.
The office was quite a sight to see: Swarms of medals decorated the walls, maps and diagrams of key hot spots and defensive positions hung on every spot that wasn't filled with pictures of important people meeting the Chief, and shelves upon shelves of thick, detailed books on military history stood proudly, knowledge practically oozing from their yellowing pages.
However, that was not what caught Arthur's eyes, and certainly your eyes would agree.
All eyes would and should dart towards the Chief himself, his imposing and towering stature present even when seated.
His back was hunched in thought, but since no one could see his eyes, no one could tell whether said thoughts were stormy or cordial.
One thing for sure: He would not like the news.
And that was immediately apparent in his dark, turquoise eyes that almost cut Arthur to ribbons without a single word.
The rest of the slaughter would be done with his piercing and sharp voice, one that could slice through air like it was… Well, air.
"What… Bad news, Sergeant?", The Chief asked with a decidedly displeased tone.
Sergeant Wilson took a moment to breath as his voice trembled.
"Well… You see… It's about… Um… Oh, you know…"
"This never gets easier, does it?", he thought to himself.
The Chief, his rifle green high neck tunic and monocle now present, stood up, his large form now even more apparent as he strode towards Arthur, each step echoing in the halls of Arthur's mind.
"In actual fact, Sergeant Wilson, I don't know. If I did know… The matter would have been resolved long ago."
His hands crossed behind his back, his head now lowering to meet the meek man below him, The Chief stared him straight in the eyes. The whites of his eyes to be specific.
"Refusing to report under order could lead to serious trouble for you.", He said with way more than a hint of a threat in his words.
He tugged at the cross adorning Arthur's chest.
"Would be a real pity if someone as essential as you lost their privilege to serve the Queen's army over something as trivial as… Bad news."
His words were loud and clear, and as Arthur gulped one last time, he choked out the message he so feared.
"Understood sir. It's… It's about your son, sir."
The Chief's composure died alongside Arthur's words, his monocled eye twitching and his dulcet tones now replaced with rage and frustration.
"You don't mean…"
He seethed and huffed, slamming the door aside, knocking Arthur down to the ground with a loud thud.
"Back to your duties, Sergeant Wilson!", The Chief barked as he marched down the hall towards the entrance doors with great intensity.
"I will deal with Balthazar personally!"
As the doors swung wide and the sun invaded the premises, a doozy Arthur weakly saluted from the ground.
"As you wish, Chief Cavendish…"
1. Just seeing that there's a title and a tagline and that this story is finally happening is magical to me. A friend of mine and I came up with this back in October 2018, and I've been adding more and more to it ever since!
2. Believe it or not, back when I was consistently making stories for the wiki, the plan was to post this on December 2018 (preferably Christmas). There would be a sequel (which I hadn't chosen yet, and would end up becoming WaffleTail's requested "Is This A Crossover Fanfic?") and the threequel, "The Question", was scheduled for Serend's birthday. As you all know, the reverse happened.
3. Only a few things were clear to me from the start: The title, the plot (at least, parts of it), the villains and the ending. The musical parts were only thought of back in September 2019 after a first viewing of Steven Universe: The Movie left quite the impression!
4. The purple font that stops after Cavendish is on purpose: Purple is the official BI-Sexual color on the LGBTQ+ Flag. It represents his denial. The World is black because most of it (outside of a few close friends) want him to be someone else.
5. I like the intro! The story is written as a movie, a musical and a play, so the whole curtain shebang was fun to add!
6. I must say that another inspiration comes from MelissaFan's musical about Milolissa! It sparked something in me, so thanks, Colleen!
7. 2141's green font (that you can't see) is because of Cavendish, and because it felt kind of soft and homely, before everything goes to the shit.
8. Every detail in this one, from the military uniforms to the longitude and latitude to the locations are accurate. Lot's of research for this one!
9. It was fun writing this chapter! This story HAD to be different to my usual stories, so I spend a lot of time on locations. It feels slower than most of my work, and it was fun to try doing that!
10. It is what inside that is important isn't very subtle, true.
11. Arthur Wilson is one big "Dad's Army" reference, and I love him for that!
12. In general, writing this scene was so different! It really feels like nothing we've seen before in the AU, which is most of this story. It's easily the most mature, adult and sad story yet, and it takes us to places we've never seen!
13. And we finally see Cavendish's Dad! He did appear as a ghost in "This Date Must Work" but it is here that is his true debut! He doesn't feature that much (in fact, once this prologue ends, you won't see him again until the end), but he is important! His presence is the reason Cavendish is the way he is, and he is arguably the biggest figure in Cavendish's life!
I'm sure some of you may find this chapter a tad disappointing: Only 1k words? And it's not even about Cavendish? Yes, I get you. But don't worry! Not only is this chapter important, it will be continued on Monday, where some REALLY big things happen!
In short: Lil' Cavendish. Nuff said.
Please share your thoughts on this one! I'd be more than happy to answer all maner of praise, critique and questions you may have! Here, on , Ao3 or Tumblr, I'll take anything!
See ya then!
The Milo Murphy's Law Wiki Guy.