Chapter Seven: The Ten Kenshi

Here Athan was, standing right on Katherine Bailey/Watson/Schulde's doorstep, and as much as he tried to make a sound, he couldn't find any other way to start to explain himself without seeming completely and entirely out of his goddamn mind.

Kate quickly shut the door.

"Ah! Wait! Mrs.-- Miss-- Madame! This is going to sound completely and entirely mad, but... er... I know who you are; who you really are." Athan pressed himself to the door. It was cold, and he knocked and shouted into it.

She didn't open the door, but her voice could still be heard, "Please, will you please just leave us alone? I understand that you want to kill h-him, but do you have to cause us so much pain?"

"Mrs. Watson," he tried on for size. "Please, it's Athan-- Athan Johnson from primary school. Do you remember?" For a moment, he feared that his epiphany had been completely and totally wrong. Perhaps he shouldn't have come at all. Damn.

There was a pause, but an equally shaken voice replied, "I don't know any Athan J-Johnson. I was home-schooled."

"No, damn it! No!" Athan pounded the door. "Look, Mrs. Watson, Miss Bailey, Madame Schulde, whoever you are! It's Athanatos Johnson! Look-" He reached into his pocket to put on his glasses, but the door in front of him was suddenly opened, and he was pulled inside.

"Don't you d-dare," Kate held him by the collar, and wiped her red eyes with her sleeve. "Don't you dare speak of such things outside my home. You never know who could be listening."

Athan put up his hands. He gave a sigh of relief when she dropped her hand and turned away from him, wiping her nose on a long black sleeve. "I'm sorry," he swallowed. "But er, Katherine Bailey? Is it really you?"

She seemed to hold the same sort of features that she always had, a small nose and bony hands. However, her trademark blonde hair had been cut to medium length. Nothing else could be fairly judged since it looked as if she had been crying for days and was running out of black clothes. She nodded to the question bitterly.

"So you're some big and rich author now. What are you doing here?" said Kate, her voice getting calmer.

Athan shrugged painfully. He chose to respond with, "So you're married to Joseph Allen, now."

She stopped, looking cross, then laughed a little. "Things change."

"Ah, what was the one that I always loved? Modern London's Very Own Nero. Classic. Who would've thought you'd marry the very man you thought to be the Antichrist?"

"And you? Coming here, knowing all of this, plus that Madame Schulde business?" Kate blinked. She wiped her nose a final time and guided him off from the wall. "Won't you sit and have a drink?"

Anthanatos found the house blend of Chai to be surprisingly pleasant, while Kate sat down in the lounge with a bottle of scotch.

"Hard times? I didn't mean to come so soon after the accident," said Athan.

"It was hardly an accident," said Kate, and went on to explain how they had to hide the truth from the public for obvious reasons, but as Jeremy was a public student, it would be suspicious to hide everything. She also told of Clarisse and Luke, her two other children that were taking their lessons at home, where the government provided a few security guards.

Kate sipped her drink, saying, "We can't do this forever. We can't even trust the government for so long. The Individualists are starting to realize that Joseph's slipping the Kimball advice, and with the Primist Party shrinking so rapidly, we'll be alone, soon. But you'd be happy about that?"

"No, actually," he put down his cup. "I'm a Primist now, switched shortly after I realized that things haven't been so good since high school, when they were in power. I've been having a tough time for the past few years. I'm nowhere near an author, let alone a successful one. Then again, you would know hardships better than I."

This seemed to be the right time for Athan to tell his side of the story, which was how he knew her side of the story. Kate agreed, saying it was a very peculiar set of coincidental events indeed.

"So, I thought, there must be a reason. God must have tore down my old life and bring me this coincidence for some purpose. Then, I thought," Athan's eyes lit up as he said this, "Joseph Allen is alive. When he died, everything just got worse. I was thinking--"

"Kate, you didn't tell me we were entertaining this afternoon?"

"Prime-- Ah, Mr. Allen!" Athan was flustered, and he did some kind of combination of standing up and bows and lowering of his eyes and whatever else he could think of.

Adam merely blinked as he said cheerfully, "No, it's Anthony Watson, but I often do get mistaken for our late Prime--"

"Joseph, this is Athanatos Johnson, a former schoolmate of mine," Kate interjected without a beat. "He was just telling me of an unusual set of coincidences that led him to learn of my and your adventures for the past thirty years."

With a long sigh, Adam raised an eyebrow at the man. "Really?" He smiled. "Athanatos Johnson?" He tried to keep himself from laughing, but failed miserably. "Dear God, you're not serious, are you?"

Athan nodded with a cringe. "That's what you get with a Greek mother."

Adam cupped his mouth and turned away, shuddering with laughter, until Kate told him to sit down, when he let sort of a snort out. "I'm sorry... that's hil-horrendous! Terrible." He giggled again, saying to himself in a small voice, "Athanatos Johnson..."

After a short moment of silence in which Athan stopped caring what his hero thought, he said, "It's true, I've seen Elizabeth Ferguson's mind while doing a favour for the World Temporal Corps, and I read Madame Schulde a few decades ago. I've only recently put two and two together, and I believe some greater power has led me to you, Mr. Allen."

"So, do you want an autograph or something?" Adam asked, drinking from Kate's glass.

Athan licked his lips and said with great difficulty, "I was perhaps wondering... if you would get into politics again. We need you." His face was sincere and he didn't hold a salesman smile. Instead, it was a grim face, one that made Adam shiver.

"Please, believe me, Mr. Johnson, I've been trying. I have persuaded Kimball into going against her party, making acts in laws to the benefit of people that deserve them, but that can only last for so long until she gets pissed. In fact, just yesterday she threw her coffee at me, told me burn in hell, all of that PMS."

"I'm not talking about being a puppeteer," insisted Athan. He sat up and ignored his tea. "I'm talking about being a symbol; a leader. Not a public one, of course, but I don't know... an object to give the Primist party hope and make them cohesive again."

Adam downed the rest of the scotch, and Kate, annoyed, filled it up again, taking a shot of her own. "Unfortunately," he said, "doing anything like that is out of the question. Now, I don't know if you know this, but there's a group of approximately fifty people whose sole purpose in life is to make sure I'm dead. They've recently found out that I'm not dead, and I'm currently under house arrest while their hunting me down like dogs onto a fox."

"Is that all? You're afraid that they'll kill you?"

Sipping at his glass, Adam made an eye at Athan. "I'm sorry," he asked. "Was that a serious question?"

Kate sighed, "All of us are in danger. They'll go through the entire family just to get to him."

Athan blinked at them, as if the answer was clear. "Well," he said. "Then, we'll help you. If all you need is safety and security, if we provide that, do you think you could return the favour? Help us out in the future, when you are able?"

Adam tried to look noble and aloof, but found himself unable to. "I'm sorry, what are you talking about?"

"If there is an organization aimed to killing you, there should be an organization aimed to protecting you. Without the worry of being shot, you should be able to bring the Primists back to power, and meanwhile make sure the families of those that risked their lives for you would be in power. Correct, Mr. Allen?"

A thin smile spread upon Adam's face like a knife through butter.

"Wait, who would even want to do that?" Kate asked.

The nine plus Athanatos were seated all within a round table that was located in one of their's basement. They were excited, a bit loud and chatty as they were all good friends there, and the ones who were not were quickly made so. They were all friendly, and a few conversations eventually were made, one talking of politics, one of each other's children, nieces, and nephews, one of the Manchester football game, and one of a serious discussion the chicken-egg paradox.

All conversation ceased once Adam and his family entered the basement.

"Right..." Athanatos stood.

"No, why don't we all introduce ourselves in this awkward sort of place?" one small woman with bright red lips stood, and didn't wait for an answer. "It's a grand pleasure to meet you, Mr. Allen. I'm Callisto Tenniel, Animator." She tapped some nails on the table, and they started to dance like ballerinas. She sat and smiled.

The person to her left blinked, and made some grim expression, stood and said, "Gareth Nehru, Teleport."

One by one, they stood, stating their names and abilities. There was Suzy Tarantino, ESPer, next to her best friend, Julia Clark, Technopath, whose favourite cousin was Mackenzie Scodelario, Hawk (a.k.a. enhanced sight), next to a man she'd just met, Bishen Bettany, Elastic. His good friend from the Academy was Emile Weir, Healer, who was seated next to the attractive Florence Gibbon, No-See, sister of Jonas Gibbon, Self-Liquifier, who completed the ten in all. Some were more willing than others, but they were all up to meeting the late Prime Minister.

"We've all come up with a pact, just for insurance if you'd like to review it please, Mr. Allen," Athanatos slid over a few papers to the man, who picked them up with interest. "They state that we will do everything in our power from keeping you, Kate, and your descendants from psychical or psychological harm, injury, near-death or actual death. In return, you forever do what is in the best interests for the world and us, your most loyal subjects. We will also see to that our children will protect you and your children, and their children, and so on and so forth until the end of days, as long as your promise is kept. How does that sound?"

He reviewed it, three times with some hesitation, and then Kate, Clarisse, and Jeremy reviewed it, finding it fair. Wasn't it just an agreement to save their lives? They signed it neatly at the bottom.

The ten also reviewed the pact a second time, making sure they weren't doing anything they would regret. Wasn't it just an investment for their own future descendants? They signed it neatly at the bottom.

Later during the meeting, they came up with codes and names and symbols that would hold their secrecy. They all agreed that it would be quite fashionable to be named the Ten Kenshi; "kenshi" as in swordsman, not a great "kensei," but something near it. They smiled and they loved it, as much as they loved having a round table.