The Wizard and the Void - Chapter Seventeen
Author: Milady Dragon
"I'm going to ask the Avatar for help."
Ianto's words caused a bit of an uproar; some of it of the kind that thought it was a really bad idea, and others excited at the prospect of meeting the elusive Avatar of Gateway.
Pepper had never met the Avatar, despite the fact that she was a Cardinal Wizard and one of Ianto's former Novices. The Avatar was a sentient link to the Deep Ways, created when Lady Rose Tyler cast the original spell that drained the Nameless Demons of their lifeforce, but Lady Rose hadn't been able to control all that magic, and so it had been channeled into what most people thought of as a Cardinal Point …and into Captain Harkness, creating the Deathless. Somehow, and no one knew how, that very act gave this strange new Cardinal Point in Gateway a form of intelligence, and would talk to people when motivated to do so. That motivation didn't happen very often, so Pepper found herself really looking forward to seeing the actual Avatar.
What made it even a more fantastic feat was that Lady Rose had been a Great Wizard, not a Cardinal. No one really understood how she'd done it, and it had never been duplicated since.
"Why is that necessary?" Mistress Maria complained. She didn't look happy, but then Pepper could understand. Anything to do with the Deep Ways made her twitchy, and the Cardinal Master hoped that, someday, her Great counterpart would get over it.
"The Avatar is a part of the Deep Ways that live here in Gateway," Ianto explained. "She may have been a witness to Novice Daisy's kidnapping."
"Why can't the Avatar just tell us?" Grand Master Stephen was intrigued.
"She needs help from my magic to manifest. She could very well have seen something, but is unable to tell us. I'll need to summon her here."
"It used to not be that way," Jack added. "The Avatar could just show up whenever she wanted to."
"But," the Cardinal Grand Master continued, "with the resurgence of magic, she's become pulled in different directions through the Deep Ways, and it's become harder for her to appear in one place. Essentially, the Avatar exists everywhere the Deep Ways do, because she is the Deep Ways, and with more and more Cardinal Wizards appearing, she's being stretched thin. There's just this little piece of her that can communicate directly…with help. Someday, even that part might be gone, subsumed back into the Deep Ways."
Pepper thought that sounded unbelievably sad.
"And you think she may have seen something?" Novice Jemma was practically vibrating in anticipation.
"It's very possible."
"We should do this quickly," Pepper said. "We don't know what they might be doing with Master Phil."
She was very afraid for her friend. It had been bad enough when he was going into danger with the Hawk at his side; knowing that Hydra had gotten a hold of Daisy in order to coerce him into whatever actions they needed him to do was absolutely frightening. What made it even worse was the idea that they still had no real information about what they were planning in the first place, only that it had to do with the Deathless.
And the Widow obviously hadn't had time to find out anything. The assassin's face was impassive, but she hadn't volunteered anything so far, which led Pepper to believe there wasn't anything to add. Everything was happening too fast, but hopefully this might give her something to go on. Baron Nick trusted in her abilities to find answers they were lacking, so Pepper accepted that trust.
"So," Tony spoke up, "when does this thing happen? Whatever this thing is?"
As glad as Pepper was that Tony was with her, he really hadn't known about the Avatar. She knew Ianto would excuse that, since her husband wasn't a Wizard, but there really wasn't time to explain. Pepper would do that herself, when they had a chance. She reached up for his hand, and he took it, squeezing her fingers in a gesture of understanding.
Honestly, he was really behaving himself. Tony could be abrasive and arrogant and argumentative, but he was reining it all in at the moment, probably out of the sheer curiosity he had to be feeling. She'd have to watch out for it later, once things weren't so dire and he had his explanations. Then he'd return to his usual self, she could guarantee it.
The Cardinal Grand Master knew that as well, having had to deal with him before, and he gave Tony a grateful smile for his obvious restraint. "Now, actually. It would work better outside in the garden, where the wards on the property aren't so strong."
And, with that, they all trooped outside. The back garden was bright with flowers and trees, the scent of them pleasant to the nose. Pepper knew that Eirlys was the one who tended it, and it was a tribute to her green thumb that everything was so very lovely. If she wasn't the Baroness Gateway, Pepper would have asked her to come and take care of the gardens at Ferrous Castle.
"Is there anything I can help with?" Pepper volunteered. As one of the only other two Cardinals in attendance, she thought she should at least ask.
"Thank you," Ianto said, smiling, "but this is something I'll need to do on my own. Don't be concerned, though, if you suddenly feel as if something is tugging on your magic. I don't believe she'll need you to supplement what I'll be providing, but it could happen."
With those final words, the Grand Master stepped away from the group. Jack joined him, reaching out and taking Ianto's hand. Ianto smiled at his husband, and the silent communication between them was something special to witness.
Someone reached for Pepper's own hand, and she turned and gave Tony the same smile that Ianto had Jack. He might not have been a Wizard, but he supported her in ways that no one would have thought of. She loved him with all her heart, even during those times when he completely exasperated her.
"I never thought I'd live to see the Avatar," Novice Jemma whispered, her voice trembling in sheer excitement. It was so good that these young Great Wizards were friends with Daisy; she deserved as many friends as she could get, and being of a different order to boot was better, showing their group's lack of ingrained prejudices. Perhaps there really was a chance to beat back the taught biases, as long as children such as these were the future.
Then there was Mistress Maria, who looked very unhappy with events. Grand Master Stephen was standing beside her, as if positioning himself to keep her from doing something they would all regret. As much as Pepper respected the Great Wizard, her attitude was very hard to take. The Cardinal Wizard was glad that the other Head of Order didn't teach; instead she left that up to extraordinary people like Master Mack, who obviously cared for his Novices and was leaving out the historical errors about the Cardinals and the Voids.
Although, there were certain Voids out there determined to live down to the reputation of their order.
Thinking about the Voids again had her thinking about Master Phil, because he was walking into a circumstance he knew nothing about. Pepper was determined to try to rescue him and Daisy, and the Hawk as well, no matter what it took.
Abruptly, she felt her magic tingling sharply under her skin, like light pinpricks along her nerve endings. It was slightly uncomfortable, but she ignored her, her gaze going back to Ianto and Jack.
As she watched, a swirl of golden light curled up from the ground, spinning as if whipped about by the wind…which was non-existent in the garden. Pepper could feel her magic reacting as the Deep Ways – because that was what it was – coalesced into a female figure, her body surrounded in a bright aura.
The Avatar of Gateway appeared as a young woman, perhaps in her twenties, with blonde hair and dark eyes. She wore an old-fashioned travelling outfit, trousers and a sweater with a scarf about her neck and sturdy boots on her feet. She smiled when she caught sight of Ianto and Jack. "It's so good to see you both!" she exclaimed. "I'd give you two the biggest hug ever if I had an actual, physical form."
"It's good to see you too, Grandmother," Ianto greeted her. "It's been far too long."
Pepper felt her eyebrows raising in surprise.
"Did he just call her 'Grandmother'?" Tony murmured in her ear.
"That's what I heard."
"Grandmother?" Mistress Maria exclaimed, her voice disapproving.
"Well," Ianto said, turning slightly, "the Avatar isn't technically related to me. However, Lady Rose is my many times great-grandmother. It's how I came about my strong connection to the Deep Ways…it's been in my family line for generations, and I was the first one to be able to access it."
That made so much sense. No one had really been able to explain why Ianto was as powerful as he was, but to be descended from the woman who'd commanded the magic enough to destroy the Nameless Demons…yes, that explained so much.
But that would mean…
Master John Smith, the time traveler known as the Doctor, was Ianto's many-times great-grandfather.
Pepper suddenly wanted to ask how Mistress Maria felt about that…if she'd realized it yet.
"I call her Grandmother because she has all of Rose's memories," Ianto went on. "She's still very much her own person, however."
"I am the Avatar of Gateway," the woman answered. "But I'm happy that Ianto chooses to call me Grandmother." She glanced around at the assembled Wizards. "Oh, it is so good to see two of the Orders working together. I have been watching, and have been disappointed that so much of the old knowledge has been misinterpreted. All Orders must work together if they are to be of assistance to the world."
Her gaze turned to Mistress Maria. "Maria Hill, it has not escaped me that you are continuing on with the tradition of the Great Wizards condemning the Cardinal and Void Wizards in their use of the Deep Ways and the Void. Know this: everything that has happened has meant to happen. That includes the creation of the Deathless, and of Ianto's uncanny connection to my Ways."
Mistress Maria looked pensive. Grand Master Stephen looked ecstatic.
She turned back to Ianto. "How can I help?"
Ianto explained about Daisy, and how they believed she'd been kidnapped by an intruder hoping to use her against her father. He went on and told the Avatar about Phil, and the Voids, and what they were planning on attempting.
When he was done, the Avatar sighed. "I did see the young lady being taken. It was by a man, also young, with dark hair. A Void Wizard, with five dragons that acted in concert with one another."
Pepper said something very unladylike. "Grant Ward."
Novice Jemma gasped, while Novice Leo went pale. She couldn't blame them one bit. Pepper could recall the case: how Grant Ward had cast a spell that had nearly killed both of the young Great Wizards. He'd claimed it was an accident, but that had been disproved at the hearing, and he'd been expelled from the school.
It had taken Ianto and his uncanny curse-picking abilities to save both Novices.
"He'd been the Novice of Master John Garrett," Novice Leo whispered.
"I'll bet any amount of money he still is," Grand Master Stephen said. He would have remembered the case as well; as the students involved had been members of his own order, he'd sat in on the hearing at the time as well.
"Do we have any idea where this bastard is now?" Tony demanded. He liked Daisy as much as Pepper did; hence his nickname, Mini Pepper, for her. He enjoyed having her around, asking all sorts of questions, and had once told Pepper that the young woman didn't come to visit enough. He was just as upset about her kidnapping as the rest of them were.
"Not yet," Natasha declared.
"Go," Baron Nicholas ordered.
With a twist of a plain silver bracelet on her wrist, the assassin was gone.
Pepper hadn't even noticed the teleportation magic on the bangle. She was obviously slipping, or else just far too distracted to pay attention.
Ianto raised a single eyebrow, but that was all the emotion he was showing, and Pepper could read it well enough to tell if he was impressed, or surprised. Probably a combination of both.
The Cardinal Wizard wondered where it had come from, and guessed it was like the ring that Master Phil had made for the Baron, and had come from the same source. It was a little too late to ask, and in the end it really didn't matter.
"If the Widow can track down Ward," Baron Nicholas said, "he could lead us to Hydra."
"Hydra is known to me," the Avatar said. "It's not a new concept."
That had everyone's attention. "What do you mean, gorgeous?" Jack asked. Of course, Jack was going to flirt with the Avatar. That was so like him.
"There was a Hydra at work during the Century War that took place in the Western Lands. It was one of the many enemies that Sir Steven Rogers made in his fight against the Despot and the Skull."
"Wait," Tony said, "how do you know this?"
The Avatar smiled serenely. "I may be the Avatar of Gateway, but the Deep Ways is universal. That Hydra conducted many experiments with both the Deep Ways and the Void, despite the magic being locked away as it was at the time; I could do nothing about it, as I was here, and as bound to the spell that had shut magic off from the Wizards. I heard about it through my own connectivity with the Deep Ways, though."
Pepper was stunned. That wasn't something in their history, and she said so.
"That I cannot say," the Avatar answered. "I don't understand how they would have remained hidden from history, and that you didn't know of them. However, I have seen the mortal's ability to rationalize even the strangest things away, and this was a very long time ago. Magic had been dead to the world at that point."
She was right. The Century War had taken place nearly three hundred years ago. Pepper had learned about it from Tony, as he'd had an ancestor who'd been fairly important during the War; his father had been named after that Howard Stark, who was supposed to have been one of those responsible for the discovery of the Paladin, Sir Steven Rogers, who had become lost during one of the final battles in the war. They'd never found his body.
"I must go," the Avatar said, "Ianto is tiring and I don't want to have to tap into anyone else's personal magic. Good luck with your hunt. I do hope you find young Daisy; she's a true delight, and quite powerful. She will be a credit to the Cardinal Order when she's older."
Pepper could tell that Ianto was flagging; if the Avatar had taken that much power from him in the short time she'd been manifested, the Cardinal Head of Order knew she would have lasted only a few minutes.
"Take care, Grandmother," Ianto murmured. "We'll speak again soon."
The Avatar gave him a sunny smile. "I look forward to it."
With those final words, she faded away, back into the golden swirl of energy that had heralded her arrival, leaving them alone with their thoughts once more.
To consider the revelation as well, that Hydra wasn't as new as they'd thought.