I own nothing here.
After that, all Lelouch knew was that he was being moved somewhere. The fabric of his pants scraped against his legs as he was dragged along in an indelicate fashion by the hands resting on his back. His vision was obscured, eyes covered by a black bag that had been roughly placed over his head as soon as William had led him back to his base. His mind was occupied by other concerns, namely the thoughts of the future and the paths he'd have to take.
In retrospect, the base details he had to consider were simple. The Protestants, the Catholics, and the Orthodox comprised the majority of Christianity's power base. Others had their own tools— the methodologically generalized mass ceremonies being foremost among them, but remained unconsolidated, instead splitting their allegiance among the three main factions.
The existence of three, in fact, was a blessing. It allowed for a tentative balance, and though the current ceasefire looked unlikely to evolve into a peace treaty, no faction would act alone for fear of pushing the others into a rival alliance.
The power struggles of the Churches were the least of his thoughts, even though the majority of what he knew was confined to the spheres of Abrahamic religions. He would have preferred an equal understanding of others but acknowledged his lack of expertise on the matter as unavoidable.
He suspected William was no stranger to the intricacies of the Church himself though; quite the opposite considering how he'd been greeted by his comrades upon his return. He seemed to hold no small amount of sway in the political battleground. An opportunity he could have exploited if not for the fact that the Church would not tolerate him nor could he suffer them.
He could deceive them well enough though, joining their ranks in an effort to make contact with the Heavens they so revered and spread the unseen hands of his influence through religion, perhaps the greatest method of indoctrination man had ever created. It would be trivial enough to take to the cloth and spend his time as a member of their faith. Any sort of inclination he might have had to the idea was dissuaded by his previous experiences. He had no interest in working for an organization that had deceived him once.
One time was more than enough. No, religion had never been his calling, much less the machinations of self-important old men. He did not need the red tape of bureaucracy slowing him down.
He had to work by himself, then, rather than with someone else. There were few things could not be obtained by respected cunning, ability, and most of all power. He lacked the latter but that would have to change if he wished to seize the answers he sought, answers to questions of his own death and its purpose.
In that, he had also considered the Royalty for a brief moment. The magicians he'd disposed of had informed him how the Second Princess of United Kingdoms had been involved in this entire fiasco and he had no doubt the Royalty could provide resources and more importantly, answers matching that of the Church if sufficiently motivated, but with them, the problem lay in the cost of doing so. He had nothing to offer their faction that would match the worth of what he wanted in return. No knowledge he was willing to share, no power he could currently offer.
There nothing he possessed could serve as an initial bargaining chip for the nobility of his homeland that he had no means of contacting anyway. The same would have been the case with Church for that matter had he not been in a position to negotiate with what appeared to be one of their higher executives.
Any attempts to affiliate himself with the fragmented religious factions would meet the same problems, and the various other magical cabals and organizations were too scattered to be of use. The only option left to him was paradoxically his best one.
He could work the intricacies of this new world with the ease of familiarity all by himself, navigating through the labyrinthine twist and turns of circumstances to get his answers.
Thus, plans were laid. William Orwell seemed to be the obvious starting point, considering his apparent position. It was not even a bad option which was why he did not complain when he was forced to sit with his back propped against a cushioned surface—a chair perhaps. A lone pair of footsteps departed and then returned after an indeterminable length of time. He flinched at first at the touch of a cold breeze against his face before relaxing to the soothing sensation when the bag covering his face was removed. Moments later he opened his eyes, his blurry vision refocusing on the face before him, and he exhaled a deep breath when he found himself seated across from him, separated by a desk, and surrounded by the members of his entourage as they dealt with what appeared to be paperwork.
"Lelouch, I take it?" William started, calmly leaning forward as he peered at him with those piercing eyes of his. "Please excuse our crude treatment but I deemed it prudent to give safety and caution precedence over hospitality and comfort."
Looking around the well-furnished room revealed it as a dimly-lit, tidy office, a golden crucifix hanging on the hall behind. Shelves laden with books lined every wall except the one bearing the simple door, giving the space a comfortable, enclosed feel. A single laptop sat on the desk between them, partially obscuring his view of the tea-haired man, who was giving him an open look of curiosity with his sharp eyes.
Lelouch gave the man a nod of acknowledgment after a moment, "I assume that this office belongs to you? So you're affiliated with the Catholic Church then."
William stared at him for a moment before slowly responding, his allegiance could indeed be discerned by taking careful note of the room they were in but he knew that untrained eye was certainly incapable of doing so. "You would be correct in assuming so."
"And are all Catholic Agents so proficient in angelic magic?" Lelouch continued undeterred, a single brow rising in question. "In the usage of Telesma?"
"That information is confidential." One of the women beside cut in sharply, dressed in a nun's garb yet imposing all the same as her eyes narrowed dangerously.
William glanced at her and sighed as if used to this before turning towards Lelouch— he could only give a shake of denial in response to his question. To do so otherwise would be hypocrisy. "Such magic is rare, even amongst those of the cloth."
"I am unfamiliar with angelic magic, Telesma based or otherwise, and I have several questions I would ask pertaining to its nature." Lelouch leaned forward. "I propose an exchange of information."
The pause that followed his suggestion gave William ample time to speak. Even so, the response only came after a short pause and a bundle of sharp glares sent in his direction by the rest of the occupants in this room. "Ask away. Magic systems themselves are no great secret, even if angelic."
Lelouch wasted no time in his reply, "You mentioned other systems; there are alternate branches of magic?"
"It would be more accurate to describe them as different trees entirely. There are as many forms as there are species in this world, and then some. There is certainly no lack of Gods to choose from. The only element they all share, and even this isn't concrete, is that they require energy input from the user."
Lelouch narrowed his eyes, it was information he knew already but the analogy regarding trees was something not lost on him. He knew of the existence of the Phases and Gods, and that had simply sprouted more questions. Not that he was expecting any answers to be found here.
"I thought you were experienced in deciphering grimoires?" asked one of the nuns asked, a hint of growing suspension shining in her eyes. "You should be aware of all this."
"I've been indisposed for quite some time, you can say. I would not be wrong to say my knowledge regarding the recent magical achievements has been based entirely on second-hand sources." Lelouch answered, nodding his head in acknowledgment as he ignored her narrowed eyes. "I've heard of magicians trying to create a unified system but it turned out to be nothing more than a condensed account of Hermeticism. I wished to learn of the more recent discoveries in the field."
It was the most he was willing to reveal about his current situation. But his deflection of the question had apparently worked as the nun slowly nodded, accepting his answers for now.
Willian leaned forward after his apparent subordinate broke eye contact. "You wouldn't happen to be a religious person, would you?"
"No," he decided, "I wouldn't be." Having the existence of omnipotent celestial beings confirmed was all well and good, but it would require significantly more than that to cause him to place his faith utterly in the hands of another.
William simply nodded, apparently nonchalant about his imminent defeat. "Speaking of which, I suppose you'll be wanting to return after all this?"
Lelouch narrowed his eyes, and his next words came out rather strongly. "I had assumed that would not be an option."
William nodded, lacing his next words with far more encouragement than rightfully required. "Sorry to disappoint you but this is the second time you've assumed correctly."
The man waved his hand and a pair of waiters entered once the doors opened, gracefully placing an open newspaper before him and several plates of food on the counter ahead in practiced motions. William motioned to him, becoming him to eat "Can I offer you a drink? Wine, perhaps?"
His amethyst eyes narrowed, and he refrained from snapping in response. "Apple juice."
The man paused and then smiled slightly as he stood and beaconed waiters serving them and subtly showed him the sword holstered in his waist. "You have not eaten for an entire day. Do not hesitate."
Lelouch nodded and carefully took in his surroundings once again. Unfortunately, the open door showed nothing but an empty corridor and closed doors occupying both its sides. He returned his attention to the man before him, his gaze once again matching that of his host. " No food to eat nor any water to drink, and an entire day of marching without rest with hands bound and head covered by a crude rag. I don't suppose you've brought me here because you wished to dine and laugh together."
William simply nodded and only began speaking after Lelouch finally took up a plate and started serving himself. "I shall be blunt here. Our purpose here is to retrieve a highly dangerous memetic hazard whose signature has been creating subtle distortions across this vast desert since the dawn of the twentieth century that almost devasted the natural balance of this region of the world, a devious anomaly that befuddled even the greatest of our experts and would have continued to do so if not for a young protege our ours who goes by the name of Orsola Aquinas who identified the true nature of this clearly malevolent deviation."
William leaned backward, a thousand emotions flashing through his usually stoic eyes and his lips curled as if remembering something particularly unpleasant. Lelouch felt an unpleasant shiver of trepidation run across his body as something unpleasant clenched around his heart. The suddenly heavy golden band on his finger gleamed innocently.
"An original grimoire." The man finally spoke, his expression tightening.
"Two years ago, I presented the Pope with a recommendation that we organize an operation to retrieve the grimoire as soon as spring arrives. The sudden surge of earthquakes along the fault lines of the Sinai Plate and the rapid increase in the 0frequency of desert storms in the Judean Desert, however, created a tense situation that gave us no choice but to begin the operation fifteen months ahead of schedule."
Lelouch followed the man closely— this was not just any common agent of the cloth as one might have initially thought, but a high steward of the Church at work. A man who clearly belonged to the highest hierarchies of the Catholic Church. "Now, two years spent trying to locate this elusive grimoire, and most of our spiritual arms are out of action, and we've lost three of our expeditionary teams. Influenced by our strong presence here, the other supernatural factions have signalled their neutrality rather than join our effort. The only good news is our presence in this region has greatly accelerated negotiations between the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church since both have found common ground on the subject of grimoire retrieval."
William frowned, pausing to let his words properly sink in. A moment later, he continued— calm and composed even speaking of a sinking endeavour he himself was spearheading. "We have not been able to successfully deal with this. In the past two years alone there have been almost three hundred reported incidents, and almost a hundred lives were lost in the process. These took place in the Hebron Mountains, the Judean Desert, and parts of the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean. Thankfully, no major population centre was damaged beyond a reasonable extent but the conceptual nature of these artificial disasters has ensured that almost every supernatural faction remains vested in mitigating the potential damages. The Catholic Church is simply the foremost amongst them."
"Then I am fortunate that it was your magnanimous organization that rescued me." Lelouch nodded, before continuing. He was impressed by the prompt response to the emerging threat, but this explanation however did not convince him. "But an original grimoire, regardless of the knowledge inside, would always be bound by the range of its own mechanisms due to its inherent nature. How can a single grimoire create distortions encompassing what appears to be an entire nation?"
William glanced up at him, eyes sharpening ever so slightly as his back straightened. He had previously called himself an expert but to figure this out in moments with just a crude description. He was informed, knowledgeable and perceptive— more so than most of his subordinates who were considered the elite amongst those of the Catholic Church.
"That same question had troubled our scholars for quite some time. They even had to bring in the expedition team to solve this quandary." William chuckled, but there was no laughter in his eyes. His tone soon turned serious, "Investigations revealed that the cause of this widespread devastation is the distortion and adulteration in local leylines. Some magician decided to plan an original grimoire on a cluster of local leylines a thousand or so years ago."
Lelouch felt his brows rise a bit higher in genuine surprise. He had not been expecting something so drastic. "A leyline, you say?"
Original grimoires, as far as Lelouch knew, worked actively to disclose their contents only to those who wished desperately for knowledge in its purest manifestation. They were instruments created to spread knowledge that had claimed geniuses in untold thousands, in numbers beyond continuing, beyond understanding. History had been rewritten time and again by those who wielded them and even lords who owned mountains and seas would look upon their owners with envy.
What would happen if such a treasure were to be placed right above a leyline? Right above a vein of power whose roots had entangled entire nations in its complex webs?
"Strangely enough, Temple nearby where you were found was located right above the core vein of the leyline I had previously mentioned."
Lelouch could barely keep his amethyst eyes from widening in surprise, as his heart almost skipped a beat. The revelation left him breathless and paled as his mind reeled, a thousand thoughts flying through his head. He gently brushed the golden band on his finger using his other thumb, suddenly understanding the implications.
"How long would it take to neutralize this threat?" Lelouch asked, unable to think of anything else.
William pinched the bridge of his nose, a habit of his from his days as a mercenary whenever he entered serious contemplation. "We can secure the coastlines relatively quickly and the Judean threat can be reduced by suppressing future distortions along the leyline—my staff is already drawing up a plan. But I don't believe the mountains and the plains can be secured, not only are they simply too vast to be covered but the leyline sometimes segments into branches across these regions. The only way to completely neutralize this threat is to secure the source, and its location is currently unknown."
"I suppose you've made significant progress in containing the damages."
"Yes, I suppose we have." The tea-haired man shook his head with a rueful grimace as if he were speaking of something ugly and sinful. "But this venture has been bad for the church. Our patrols these days do not pass contagious points but take the long way around. Four of my men were lost last month."
"I'm sorry about your loss." Lelouch closed his eyes, almost as if genuinely sorrowful before he leaned forward. "But what can I do for you?"
"In the next few days, the Church of England and the Vatican would sign an agreement to host an exchange program in which both would agree to exchange knowledge and mutually work together to further develop the library of original grimoires that the Puritans have developed. Their rivalry would continue but matters regarding those forbidden books would be administered mutually, safely." The man picked up a pen from his desk and admired the instrument before glancing at him, eyes hard. "Considering your self-proclaimed talents, certainly unique but so far untested, the Church has a proposition for you. Work under us to retrieve and deliver to the Puritans safely, the grimoire contaminating nearby leylines. In return, we might consider initiating the procedures for your release."
"It would be that simple?" Lelouch was rather skeptical, even though the man had been nothing but forthright with him. He knew from experience that such assurances tended to be broken quite easily.
"Not quite, no." William easily admitted, appearing not even the slightest bit remorseful about it even as he refrained from bristling. "But it would make things much easier, wouldn't you agree?"
The rhetorical question begat no answer, and instead, he asked for a final confirmation of his suspicions before resigning himself to his situation. "And would I be treated more fairly if our period of mutual cooperation were to be made more permanent?"
"No." William honestly answered, "Are you thinking of joining our organization instead of going your own separate way, perhaps?"
No, he was not. There was little benefit, and it would only serve to alienate him from the Protestants, the Royals, and perhaps all other magical cabals. He was handicapped enough for now. "Not at the moment, no."
"Then I believe this is farewell." William nodded, "My companions would escort you to your future companions who oversee grimoire decryption. Aureolus Izzard and Orsola Aquinas would be your overseers, I believe I've mentioned them before. One word of advice— relax and do show enthusiasm towards our cause. It would make your time here much easier."
Thanks for reading.
