Odyssey of a Mage Part III

by mootjeman7

Part III of Odyssey of a Mage. Post Grindelwald era. Atticus Sayre, reincarnated soul has chosen to carry the fate of all Magical-Kind onto his shoulders. A weight that bears heavy on his soul for all that must be done. And it is a weight he intends carry all the way to the very stars. Ruthless, Determined SI-OC. Fem Riddle. Pre-Halo Crossover.

13. Chapter 77

Without further adieu, please enjoy the post!

Note: If you would like to read ahead, the next chapter is available on discord whilst at least the next three chapters after it are available on P^A^T^R^E^O^N / Boombox117

The discord channel is d^i^s^c^o^r^d^.^g^g^/^v^r^8^8^t^6^4^Y^e^7

---

18th of September 1956 – Bulgaria

Dimitar Krum POV

A boot slammed into the back of his right knee and he fell to his knees with a pained grimace, his face angled towards the ground.

He returned his expression back to blankness as he drove down his pain and his anguish he felt for his family and he raised his head back up towards the men that crowded him.

They could not see weakness. Not when the fate of his family depended on him. He had to believe they were still alive.

They were all dressed in the same black robes, robes as black as a starless night, and they bore no symbols, nothing to mark out for whom and what they stood for.

Not that he didn't know who they were. What they were.

The chair's feet dragged along the floor, its screeching carrying a disquieting quality to it in an otherwise deathly silent room.

The white-haired man turned the chair around so that the back of it was facing Dimitar and sat down on it with his arms perched onto the back on the chair, his wand lazily held with a slack wrist.

During this entire charade, the man never looked away from Dimitar, his inhuman mauve eyes not once blinking, and his expression was something he could only describe as a sinister emptiness, devoid of anything resembling human.

"Mr Krum." The white-haired man began in Russian though it seemed like he wasn't exactly a native speaker and he lazily gestured with his fingers "You have an impressive home."

"My family…are they still alive?" Dimitar asked, his voice calm despite the anguish stuck in his throat only held back by a veneer of calmness.

They'd taken his family away not long after they'd subdued them.

They came under the cloak of night with anti-apparation and anti-portkeys blanketing the area. The floo offered no escape, disconnected as it was. It boded nothing but ill if they had gotten that far already.

He could not count on support coming.

The wards did little but delay for a few minutes until they poured in like ravenous carrions. They'd been fast, lightning fast in their attacks and he was unable to fight to full effect, not with his young children so vulnerable…and not against that many.

It hadn't taken long for them to subdue them and after they'd brutally murdered his servants, they'd separated him from his family.

"Curious place too." The white-haired man continued, as if he hadn't heard his question and Dimitar fought to stay in control. "Pretty little forests filled with oak trees, ashtrees and probably all kinds of other types of trees"

He hadn't noticed before, the leathery qualities of his pale as snow face, stretched pale unblemished leather that bore the façade of skin.

Dimitar nearly flinched at the sudden barking laugh, a sound that was caustic and wrong. The white-haired man's expression never changed, the look of barely restrained savageness in his eyes growing wilder and Dimitar had to force himself to keep his eyes up.

"I even saw wild boar running around" the white-haired man said with a sly playful lilt to his voice "Traipsing around the forests by the creek not far from your wonderfully impressive home." He said, trailing a finger across the top of the chair.

Dimitar clenched his teeth as the feeling of dread reached a tipping point not even his Occlumency could mask away.

They'd must have been watching for months.

The boar tended to forage at the other side of the mountains during autumn where the forests were denser and more plentiful in food.

"Do you hunt them?" the white-haired man asked, his voice now devoid of levity and filled with low danger, the savageness in the man's gaze now carrying a razor edge sharpness to them.

"In the summer." Dimitar admitted reluctantly, for now willing to play along.

The fact that he was still alive and his family spared from the butchery meant that they needed him. That was the hope he latched onto.

He just needed to play this the right way.

"Bet you even roast them over an open fire" the white-haired man said with a grin that bore all of his teeth and Dimitar's disquiet grew more and more.

"Ah" the white haired man said with an air of exultation and it was disturbing the way his expression shifted so quickly.

"I can imagine it tasting divine. It must enhance the taste, that knowledge that you're eating a fresh kill made only hours ago with your own hands."

"Can't say I've had the luxury of eating such a fine meal." The white-haired man added with a contemplative tone to his voice as his expression shifted, his eyes gazing away from Dimitar's for the first time since he sat across from him.

The white-haired man touched his chin with his wand "Closest I've gotten to a meal like that were the rats in the camps. No fire though…no such luxuries." For a moment Dimitar thought he heard something more than insanity from the man's voice and made him wonder what camps he was speaking of.

"Your family is safe, Dimitar." The white-haired man said as his savage mauve eyes snapped back to Dimitar. "How long that will be, will depend on you."

Tangible danger and violence rippled out of the white haired man like a sudden wash of poisonous hot air descending down the slopes of a burbling volcano.

"Do you know who we are?" the white-haired man asked, his expression cold but his words said with the intensity of fiery molten rage and Dimitar had to resist the urge to wilt before his presence.

He had not felt magic this strong, a presence this strong since his confrontations with Vinda Rosier…and he had the terrible feeling that this was only the surface of the insane man's strength.

"The Ravenites." Dimitar answered and he kept the anger and fear from his voice.

Like a silent plague, they'd run through Bulgaria. People disappeared, never to be seen again. No one knew, not at the beginning, who was responsible.

Only the allegiance of those who were made to disappear bore any clues as to what it may be related to.

Magical Bulgaria had tied itself to Magical Russia increasingly over the years since the Grindelwald war. The devastation in Bulgaria had not been as bad as it had been in the Ukraine but many among the political hierarchy had supported Grindelwald with supplies and with people so the immediate years had been chaotic as conflict rose amongst themselves as the entire movement collapsed.

Conflict the Russians quickly ended and a conflict made sourer as the ICW intervened and arrested the collaborators only to release them a few years later.

After that and after the Russians stabilised themselves and formed a new government, Bulgaria was one of the first Ministries they sought to ally with.

It had been…productive.

The collaborators were exiled or humbled and their wealth and businesses seized whilst Russian gold poured in. The only dissatisfaction he had with them was their willingness to work with the ICW as much as they were. The ICW stances on some forms of magicks and practices had hardened and were rumoured they were thinking of imposing what can be taught in schools, something could not be allowed to pass.

Still despite that, the Russians had done well and the divisions amongst the populace had been smoothed over by the Pan-Eastern European doctrine they adopted from the Russians.

A doctrine that was to be a counterweight to the growing collaboration and strength of Central and Northern Europe under the ever invasive touch of the ICW.

They've also worked with the Bulgarian Ministry to secretly help them reinstitute some of the ancient traditions to counter the unrest fomented by the undesirables and blood traitors as a result of the mudblood lies and the treacherous allure of the inhuman creatures.

But such cooperation was coming to an end just as it was beginning, he thought with morbid fear as he gazed upon the men before him.

Those who had been staunchest in supporting the Russian way of thinking had been the first to disappear. Not even the head of House Illiev and his two sons with all of their guards were able to protect themselves from this.

Whispers of ravens seen watching Aurors and homes grew louder and people began to believe that ill omens were upon them.

Rumours of villages going quiet and talks of revolutions had been growing louder and louder as weeks became months.

The Russians had come in at their request but they disappeared just as easily. Even Kolya, a veteran of the Grindelwald war disappeared and that had been the beginning that made people understand the gravity of the situation.

Dimitar had hoped being far away from the politics would insulate his family.

It was to no avail.

The man's hand went towards his starch white hair and with a strange gentleness, he smoothed out his already smoothed and combed hair "Good…good…"

"Then you have an idea at least as to why we're here."

"You want my support. My connections."

He did not know what the Raven stood for or who he was despite his best attempts. All nascent Dark Lords had agendas, a cause to rally followers to.

If he understood him better, he could have found a way…any way.

But there was nothing.

The only thing he knew was that the Raven had fought in the Vault, an underground entertainment club reserved only for the pure. That meant his worst fears for what the Raven could be was eased away but it still left him clueless what he wanted.

The white-haired stopped the strange fixation on his hair and with slow movement gripped the sides of the back of the chair, slightly leaning forward, his mauve eyes alight with unbridled intensity "No, no, no." the white-haired man said "We already have that, do we not?" he tilted his head, a glacier slow smile growing on his face.

"Darling Elena. Sweet Ivanka. Smart little Ivan."

Dimitar swallowed harshly. "Yes…you have it." He managed to say.

The white-haired man nodded slowly, the intensity in his eyes dimming slightly "Good…good…"

"Then what else do you want from me?"

The white-haired man smiled and it was ugly sight as the chair creaked underneath him "Everything else"

-Break-

17th of October, 1956

Ferdinand Dolcino POV

He was at sea, awash on a drifting piece of wood, drifting through images and events in his timeline, in his path through Time.

Days and months and years drifted passed him, events and acts that led to this timeline committed to memory. Slowly, events became concentrated as the drifting sea of time slowed, events of greater enormity and meaning and depth happening in matters of weeks and months until a pair of glowing white eyes were before him…

His eyes flew open, his breathing uneven and his heart racing. He closed his eyes momentarily, his intent to regain control over his breathing and his heartrate.

A few minutes passed and he reopened his eyes and gazed upon his room.

It was bare, nothing but cold wooden floor was within this room as he sat in a seated position and only two individuals were within this bare room.

He got up in one fell fluid motion and quick fluttering footsteps approached him.

"Master." The servant reverently said with a bow, its arms outstretched with robes, a suit and undergarments hanging off of it.

He took the undergarments without saying a word and slowly began to dressed. A few minutes later, attired in his suit, he took the robes and the servant bowed lower and left with quiet retreating footsteps.

He was alone now and he allowed himself to clenched his fists tightly, the coils of his muscles feeling like wires of steel with how tightly he was clenching.

It seemed that he was still destined to die.

Destined to die before a turbulent storm of suffocating magic, borne from the one who bore a pair of glowing white eyes despite there being an array of different choices this time.

Eyes that begun haunting his Sight and dreams for more than ten years.

Sayre…

Memories played out in his mind of the duel against Grindelwald, a duel that was seared in his mind to such an extent that it felt like he'd seen it occur in the pensieve only hours prior.

He had become intimately familiar with the phenomenon that was Sayre's magic and the glowing white eyes it produced.

It seemed certain Sayre would undo the work done by generations of Symbols.

A millennia of Design.

But…

But it was not certain.

The future was not set.

They had learnt that concretely when Sayre changed the Design.

The Design generations of Symbols had followed, corrected and witnessed.

Until Sayre arrived and wrecked the twinning timeline.

Sayre had changed a critical point in history that was deemed fixed. An impossibility none of them had considered possible.

And they had not understood how this was possible, could be possible.

Not at first.

Albus Dumbledore had been destined to defeat Gellert Grindelwald and usher in an age of limited peace in Europe with Light magic dominating Europe, most strongly in Magical Britain.

This had been part of the Design since the First of the Men of Symbols, the founder and most talented of their organisation. Generations after him, the generations that still could see beyond their own timelines and added to the Design, had Seen it too.

He was meant to be seen as a Paragon for the 'Light' regardless of dark his soul was.

Britain was meant to remain out of international affairs for decades to come, even as the 'heir of Slytherin' plunged Magical Britain into civil war before coming out of it mediocre and willing to bend heavily to ICW authority.

The expression on his face tightened.

They should have acted then.

When the news of the girl being heir to the Slytherin name became public but even then…even then, the core of the Design had not deviated. The future seemed to be secure even if this was not what was meant to be.

All Seven Symbols had seen the Design remaining true.

Slytherin was still set to plunge Britain into civil war and the outcome remained the same regardless if she was no longer obscured through a chosen name.

That had stayed their hand.

A grave mistake that could cost them everything.

And it all stemmed from Atticus Markus Sayre, the man who had never once been recorded in the Reverent Archives. Not one of the records that twined into the Design had mentioned him and they deemed him inconsequential.

They paid, still paid the price for their arrogance when Sayre defeated Grindelwald.

The Prophecy given to them by Louisa Miranza about the end of Magic had only increased the graveness of the situation but it was not until almost a year later that they learnt the true extent of their mistake.

April the 12th 1944…

The date that the veil had been lifted from their Sight.

A date that was cursed for all Time for how deeply they'd been deceived.

Like a knife planted between two vertebrae they had been rendered paralysed for how all they knew and was to be was nothing but falsehood.

All Seven Symbols had Seen completely different futures to the future they had seen only days prior.

And all those futures were all within nominal deviation of one another which meant that the future they were seeing was true.

They were to die within months of their failed extermination of the Sayre family.

Seeing their future as they did…affected them.

Uncertainty and fear had seeped amongst them like a poisonous cloud eating at their faith like how acid ate through flesh and bone.

Plans to deal with Sayre, the abomination, was immediately scrapped and they had poured all of their resources in understanding how this was all possible…

How it could have changed without them having any inklings and if they could change it back, back to resembling the path to Symbiosis.

It had led them back to remnant records of their predecessors which had been all that remained excepting what they had in the Reverent Archives.

Their oldest predecessors had been capable of Seeing beyond their own timelines, able to see the twinning paths the lives of others took, a master plan that they could alter and shape to fit the Design that led to Symbiosis, the Design generations had followed unerringly for the past three hundred years.

They searched for any and all hints to abilities lost over time, lost through their conflict with the Order of Inheritors, an order that nearly exterminated them.

It had taken them nearly six decades to rebuild and exact final judgment on the Order, a conflict they believed terminally concluded three hundred years ago.

Though they had been unsuccessful in finding a way to regain the abilities they once had, they did find references that indicated how this veil may have come to be.

The First was said to have been capable of manipulating timelines of others, others born and not yet born, with his mind alone, able to alter the path of the river of Time with his understanding and raw strength. A trait that was shared with the Order of Inheritors that he left as a consequence of the Schism.

It seemed that judgment might not have been as complete as once believed for only the Order had known as much – or perhaps more – than the Men of Symbols about Celestial Time. Only the Order were capable of deceiving them to this degree for so long.

They spent years trying to find them but they found nothing.

His fellow Symbols grew impatient and halted any further expeditions, believing the search a wasted effort, an effort that took away time to deal with Sayre who had proven to be a Seer, something that made a dangerous situation worse.

Ferdinand tugged at the end of his sleeves as a sneer formed on his face.

Still…

Absence of evidence was not evidence of absence yet his peers were intent to fall to the same pitfalls that got them in this situation.

For the moment, he acquiesced to his peers on this matter for though they were foolish to dismiss the Order possibly extant status, Sayre was a problem they needed to eliminate.

The sounds of his heels clinking on the cold unblemished stoned floor echoed as he walked towards the double doors. As he opened them and walked through the narrow passageways of the building, his mind fixated on the events these past ten or so years.

They had learnt that the future was far more fluid than they had previously known.

They once believed the timeline a slow river that could be subject to minor disturbances but these disturbances could not and did not affect the path of the river in any meaningful way.

They were wrong.

It was a river that could change directions all the time.

This had been observed when their deaths were delayed again and again through different actions taken as they cycled and dismissed ways to deal with Atticus Sayre.

And in all of this, one absolute seemed to be made clear.

A direct confrontation with Sayre only ended in their deaths as did any form of assassination they could think of and any successful assassination of his family members ended in barbaric deaths.

Conjuring charges against him and his family had the same kind of ineffectiveness.

A shadow of a scowl formed on his face.

Even the successful manipulation of Aurilius Credence proved to be a pointless venture for he did not have the raw power or skill of Sayre.

It had left them at an impasse. They had to act against him but not so much that it drew his attention to the Men of Symbols. In all instances they failed and Sayre resolved to murder them all without hesitation or mercy.

And so they had settled on allying with the discontent British Lordlings to push Britain into civil war but it had been a failure.

Each time it seemed like they were finally succeeding, events slipped out of their hands and another path became the timeline and happened.

It was at that point with dawning grim realisation, that he begun to understand that Sayre may actually be trained in the ways of Celestial Time and it made the nature of their conflict graver than it already was.

Just as the Order of Inheritors and the Men of Symbols could see the checker squares on the board, Sayre could see the same. To make it worse, it seemed like he was capable of manipulating Time to similar degrees as the Symbols could.

A chess match on a board made of Fate, each of them intent on winning their future.

Seers were capable of peering through the window of time, through shattered and distorted glass, weak forms of the true Sight the Men of Symbols had mastered and they had come to understand that Sayre was a Seer not long after the veil was ripped away.

They had Seen this truth in their timelines but unfortunately it had been far too late for them to act upon it. Throughout history, male Seers were killed as soon as they were discovered at a young age, the threat they posed to the Design was too great.

The Men of Symbols had worked carefully since almost the beginning of their organisation to incite the unacceptability of male Seers in the magical world.

Over the ages, they had riled powerful families to band together to eliminate any male Seers due to the perception of the threat they posed to their families whilst also working to force families with Seer talents to hide and diminish their children's talents until their potential was nothing more than a shrivelled husk.

Grindelwald had been one of these children.

Surviving female Seers were killed clandestinely through various methods intended to seem natural. Over the course of history, Seers having a natural short lifespan became accepted as their deaths became attributed to the 'toll' their visions had on their bodies.

Some may believe this to be excessive but Sayre's interference had shown the consequences of the actions of those who could peer through the window of Time...regardless if they were simply talented Seers or capable of True Sight.

His fellow Symbols dismissed his reasoning for it would have to mean that either the Order of Inheritors were still in existence and still working against them or it meant that Sayre managed to learn on his own somehow.

His scowl deepened.

They were intent on ignoring the warning signs either option presented.

For now, he would let the issue go. They still had time to reset the timeline…and to change their minds. Otherwise…

The scowl on his face was flushed away as a blank expression took root.

The uncertainty of their future did not have entirely negative consequences. He was beginning to learn, to understanding the power of choices.

How to make them, when and when not to make them.

The doors clunk open and his eyes surveyed the room. It seemed like everyone but the central three had already arrived with three other seats occupied.

Full assemblies happened more and more frequently over the past ten years, to the point that they were all permanently staying in Alexandria, a decision that ran counter to however nearly every former generation of Men of Symbols operated.

Before, each Symbol was stationed in key locations as stated by the Design and ensure that the path was followed and it was a sign of where things were headed that the Design was given less and less priority as the time of their deaths approached.

There was nothing in the room save for the black round table where along its outer circumference there were seven seats though three were closer together.

There were Seven Symbols but they were not all equal.

The Three were the leadership of the Symbols – and of the ICW.

The doors opened with a clunk a few minutes after his arrival and the three named Smyma, Ephesus and Sariel walked through the doors that closed with a thud.

His eyes switched towards the other three symbols who sat a little straighter. Pergamom, Sardis and Loadicea, all of whom were of equal rank to him though they were on average a hundred years older than he was at sixty eight.

Candidates were selected at age six but never became a Symbol until one of the Seven was dead and only a few in every few generations rose to become a Symbol.

They would be recruited and trained and taught the right path and if one was fortunate, they would be trained in the ways of Celestial Time.

He himself was Seen by Sariel and tested in his childhood in Sicily before he was taken away to be trained at the Cardinal Synkentronos, the Alexandrian school where those directly under the command of the Men of Symbols were trained.

"Symbols." Sariel, the unofficial leader of the three began, his emotionless eyes roving around the room "The dog days of the unveiling are upon us."

Silence permeated the space for a short few moments.

They all knew how close they were getting to this day.

The day their war with Sayre rose in degrees.

"Our efforts prove to be insufficient." Loadicea said with a displeased tone. "Our tilt has delayed confrontation but the outcome remains the same." Hints of anger crept through his aged but deadened expression. "We must find something more."

"Do you have a suggestion?" Ephesus questioned, his brown eyes peering at Loadicea with a cold air around him. "An alternative course that we may tread upon? Perhaps you have Seen something none of us have." Ephesus gestured with a sweep of his hand "Share. We are eager to hear what solution you offer."

Loadicea deadened expression broke slightly before he regained composure "I have not Seen anything significant in my timeline that offers a solution."

Ephesus nodded "Of course." And though it was said calmly, undertones of dismissiveness was apparent in his tone. An air of superiority born out of the superior detail he could see from his timeline.

"The course we have set is the course that is most optimum as we know it." Sariel continued, his hands now bundled in front of him.

"Directness has proven to lead to failure. Indirectness has proven insufficient. Only through proxies have we seen measures of success and new openings forming."

"It is through this method that we have managed to rebuild somewhat of a resemblance of the Designed path we tread." Ephesus added.

"Have we truly managed?" Pergamom questioned cynically "We are outside of the nominal path laid out by the Design. It has become impossible to know if Symbiosis is still destined to happen."

Pergamom added "And none of us here have seen beyond 1975 when the last one of us is set to die regardless of our choices so we do not know if the foretold events will even come to pass for Symbiosis to begin" he said with grimness clear in his voice.

Silence fell once more within the chambers.

That was the crux of the matter. A millennia of work carried out by generations of Symbols no longer had the certainty of happening.

A Design followed tirelessly for hundreds of years.

Now…more or less completely broken.

His eyes circled around the chamber.

Blank expressions hid thoughts of denial and fear. For men who had lived a hundred years knowing the future, the uncertainty of the future was as paralysing as the uncertainty of death was for those who feared death and judgment.

The schemes of allying with petty and delusional insects from the Northern parts of Europe was as much an overreaction to this uncertainty as it was to Sayre and Illos and their ability to attract followers from Magical World.

They had even decided to let Eastern Europe fall to a dark Archmage in the hopes of using him to alter the circumstances favourably towards them and to Symbiosis.

"We have altered our deaths for the past ten years with success. I do not need to remind you that most of us were meant to die by 1947 had we stayed on our original course." Sariel said with a cold tone that cut through the room mercilessly.

"We will alter it again and Symbiosis shall remain achieved within our lifespans. The threat that Sayre poses to us, to Magic and to Symbiosis shall be eliminated. This is an absolute." Sariel said firmly, his gaze moving from one Symbol to the other.

"We have placed our agents around the world and they worked tirelessly to make it difficult for Illos to gain the allies that they want. We have made Europe a hostile place to Sayre and his people. We will contain them."

"Contain but not eliminate." He spoke up for the first time.

Sariel's gaze fell upon him "It is the best option available to us. Illos is inaccessible to us and no decisions we have made has altered that fact."

"We could use Britain against them. Lure them there. We know of the intentions they have with the British." Sardis suggested.

By the time they understood why Emily Sayre had remained behind, they had lost the initiative and could only react…something he was getting increasingly tired of.

Emily Sayre had never been considered a true threat, a danger yes but nowhere near to what Atticus Sayre was. She had no talent for Divination and so she could do nothing to affect the course of the timeline once Atticus Sayre was dead.

The timeline they saw also indicated that Emily Sayre would remain irrelevant even as Britain descended into civil unrest, a civil unrest they had been considering to push into becoming a civil war in order to bring the timeline back into the Design.

And once again it had been a timeline changed at a point they could not feasibly act without directly interfering until it changed again to what it was now…a timeline that showed Britain in a union with Illos.

The political structure of the British Ministry could no longer be easily manipulated to prevent it from happening, only delayed. The deaths of the Blacks and other individuals determined to maintain the previous status quo had ensured that eventuality.

Ephesus bid Sardis to expand and he did "We know that there was a severe breach of the Statute a few years ago." Yes, and they intended to force concessions from Britain for this breach, concessions that would force them away from Illos.

"We could push to create circumstances that led to them being on British soil, away from the safety of Illos." Sardis finished.

"We rejected this path." Sariel stated.

"Yes and we are no better off in this timeline." Loadicea interjected with a bullish tone "To follow our current course is foolish when we know it is certain to fail."

Silence reigned for a few moments until Sariel stated "Very well" and he closed his eyes.

Faint glimmer of magic surrounded him as he walked through his own personal timeline. Sariel was their most talented and was capable of altering his timeline with little pause. He reopened his eyes and his eyes were as hard as steel

"We will fail and we die within weeks." Sariel said and the room once more descended into silence though he saw Sariel closing his eyes once more, the glimmer of magic returning dimly.

He spared a look to Loadicea was as still as a rock.

"Your fear is palpable Loadicea." Smyma stated coolly and that snapped the old man out of his daze, a slight narrowing of his eyes noticeable on an otherwise blank expression.

"A fear that is justified. We have tried and tried to return towards the Designed path to Symbiosis and each time it fails the moment we try to eradicate the very abomination that led us in this situation." Loadicea stated and his expression graver

"And we are no closer finding a way out."

"I agree." Sariel stated and drew attention to himself. His eyes remained closed "It is why I suggest we abandon our attempts to adhere to the Design." He stated to the shock of the room, this time his eyes open.

Shock permeated throughout the room and even he was surprised. He had surmised that this was an eventuality but he never thought or Saw Sariel committing to this path.

Sariel raised his hand, preventing Sardis and Pergomam from speaking.

"The Design is broken." Sariel began. "It has been broken since the veil was ripped from our eyes and we were able to see the truth. Perhaps we saw the truth for the first time ever." Sariel said with a disgruntled note to his voice and a spared glance at him, one that seemed to mean something more.

Sariel continued "The culmination of hundreds of Symbols spanning over a thousand years, all of them contributing their Sight of the future for a future of Symbiosis can no longer be relied or worked upon."

Stunned silence filled the room at what Sariel was saying.

Not that he believed him wrong…no he was right and it had been the truth ever since the veil was removed. But to abandon the Design all together…

"Heresy…" Loadicea hissed out lowly as he rose from his seat…his face contorted into pure anger though Ferdinand saw hints of fear in the aged man's gaze "What you speak of is heresy. The Design has guided generations of Symbols towards Symbiosis. It is the road our predecessors have slaved to build with blood and sweat and it is the road for us to walk. It is our duty to correct the timeline to the Design."

Sariel faced the angry look of Loadicea completely unfazed. "We have all studied the Design for decades. We know it intimately. We also know that the events of the past ten, close to thirteen years, have led us down a path that makes it impossible to correct into the Design. It has rippled beyond our control." Sariel stood up, his tightly clenched fists supporting him as he leaned forward, his expression thunderous and his presence leaking of deadly intent.

"Our duty is to see Symbiosis. It has never been to protect the Design. The Design was our roadmap, yes, but it is now as relevant as a map of the world six hundred years ago. That is our failure." Sariel said, his voice now bearing signs of anger, one that boiled and threatened to spill and scorch all within reach.

"But we shall not fail to reach Symbiosis nor shall we let Sayre end Magic. That is a failure that I shall not permit to happen."

A dangerous glint entered Sariel's eyes. "Even if I must sacrifice half the world to achieve it" and Ferdinand could believe he would do exactly that if he must.

"Shall we vote?" Ephesus suggested, cutting through the tenseness that permeated the room. Both Loadicea and Sariel sat down.

"Yes. Those for remaining committed to correcting the timeline to the Design?" Loadicea called out, his hand rising. Ferdinand looked around. Pergamom's hand rose slowly and Sardis looked tempted to join but as a few more seconds passed, he kept his hands down. Loadicea looked furious as he brought down his hand, knowing that no one else was going to agree.

"Those for abandoning the Design but remaining committed to seeing Symbiosis reached?" Ephasus said to the room, his own hand raised. One by one, the hands rose in the air, including that of Sardis…and that of his own.

"Outvoted by five to two, we are now set to carve our own path towards Symbiosis." Ephesus stated and a scrape of a chair echoed as Loadicea left the room without any further say. Sariel shared a look with Ephesus for a brief few moments before Ephesus broke the gaze and turned towards Loadicea's retreating steps.

Loadicea's pride and fear may end up costing him, Ferdinand mused.

The vote also seemed to herald the end of the meeting as Sariel spoke up.

"We shall meet again a fortnight from today to discuss our next course of actions now that we are freer to act." Sariel said to the room and as he got up to leave

"Thyatira. Stay." Sariel said and he turned around, facing Sariel "I have matters to discuss." Sariel nodded to Smyma and Ephesus before they left and soon enough, he was along in the room with Sariel.

"Tell me of your thoughts on Sayre." Sariel simply stated, clearly unwilling to delay matters.

"Sir?" he asked, caution creeping within him. 'had he changed his mind about…'

"Tell me of your thoughts on how we deal Sayre knowing that he is capable of the True Sight." Sariel bluntly stated and he startled a little before he recomposed himself. He heavily frowned internally.

Whatever Sariel had Seen whilst he'd been in this room had been enough to completely alter what Ferdinand had seen only hours prior.

"Presuming he's capable of detecting changes in the timeline as readily as we are?"

Sariel nodded slightly and Ferdinand continued, his tone guarded "We must find a way to delay choices made until it is too late to counter."

Sariel frowned "You mean near the moment?" after seeing Ferdinand's nod Sariel looked contemplatively before he met Ferdinand's gaze "It may be impossible."

Ferdinand shook his head "Our predecessors must have been capable of it in some capacity given they combatted the Order." Ferdinand gave Sariel a meaningful look "We must figure it out if we want to survive and bring about Symbiosis."

Sariel said nothing for a few moments before he looked up and into Ferdinand's eyes "Then I will grant you leave to focus on this. I will speak with the others and let them know of my decision and the importance of your mission." Sariel said as he turned to leave though he stopped briefly.

"Do not fail, Thyatira. You have raised my expectations. I expect you to meet it." Sariel ended before he walked away towards the doors, his footsteps the only sound in the room.

Ferdinand's eyes hardened.

He knew a command for what it was…just as he knew that Sariel would not accept failure without making him suffer consequences.

-Break-

2nd of November 1956 - Illos

The Triffin chirped excitedly as he floated a few dices of meat towards its beak and it snapped one of the dices out of the air with its small but sharp beak.

The Triffin was a creature of beauty.

It was similar to a Griffin through it was several orders of magnitude smaller, no greater than a hawk or owl in size with ear tufts that were similar to that of some species of cats. It had deep purple feathered wings on its back with a broad tail with eight stalky tail feathers that it used to attract females.

It had a wingspan of about seventy to a hundred centimetres with a tail plumage enabling sharp and quick directional changes. The wings melded perfectly with the purple and white fur on its underbelly and its legs making a truly beautiful animal

"He's calmer than you said he'd be." Atticus said aloud as he continued to float diced meat towards the Triffin. To come here was a nice little break from the monotonousness of the office, endless meetings or wading through Time.

"Could be that he's focused on the meat." Henrik Kolffson said a little perplexed even as he looked on a little warily and ready to intervene at a moment's notice.

"Though I've noticed that some of the aggressive species we've let out into the open are generally mellower." Henrik added.

It's because of the magic that's in the air, Atticus mused. The density of magic had been growing steadily since they'd activated the Mithril veins.

Most knew by now that magic was stronger in Illos than it had been a year ago though he kept the exact reasons to the High Council and some select Overseers.

He had not exactly considered the effects it would have on the animals beyond that he suspected that it would be nurturing them as it was nurturing to the people.

It seemed he was a little of the mark with the way they were more in tune with the magical environment they created.

Most habitats and forests and jungles had a kind of…flavour, a kind of presence that developed over time. Not sentience but a kind of intelligence.

With the way the magical field was set up, it was possible that it was taking on characteristics of his presence, of what the field that powered the wards was meant to do. Above else, it was to protect.

And it could be that this was influencing the behaviours of the animals in some way.

Unexpected but quite useful.

His Sight of large arrays and numbers of magical animals out in the open made a lot more sense now. "Shall we head further into the forest?" Atticus suggested to Henrik.

"Of course Your Grace." Henrik said with a nod.

'Your Grace…' Atticus mused inwardly as they walked deeper into the Lonis Forest with a couple of silver armoured guards at their back.

And as they walked deeper through the forest, they came across markings of deer, boars and a few glimpses other mundane and magical forest dwelling animals amongst the tree tops.

Ever since he'd ascended to Kingship, there was hardly a moment he wasn't shadowed by a pair of guards, at least when he was in the open like this despite the fact that this was Illos and there was hardly anyone that could either get the drop on him or actually harm him.

He could dismiss them but his Council united in their protest any time he did such a thing. Apparently they believed it to be a good practice to institute now for when they unveiled to the Magical World.

Restrictions he disliked but respected and consented to.

Becoming King had been a long time coming, ever since he took Emily to the stars but it had never really been because he wanted that power, not in the way most people wanted it. It was the best way to influence the destiny of his people…the destiny of all magicals.

To become an example to his people, to act and abide by values he espoused and promoted so that it became easier and quicker for his people to adopt those values in a way that was organic.

An example that one day he hoped he'd be at heart just as he was in appearance.

A hope that perhaps was more optimistic than it was realistic…

In any case, being that example also meant that restrictions such as having guards covering them would have to be abided if he wanted to show that even he, an Archmage and builder of Illos, was not exempt to do what he wanted without reason.

They were not absolute rulers and everything they built, the governmental system, the separation of the state in terms of legislative and executive bodies, even ensuring a Council of magical races so that protection of rights of different sentient beings was ensured, all of it was done to so that a stable, powerful nation could last the ages.

A nation for which they were constitutional Monarchs of so that they could always right the ship when it seemed it was veering away from ideals such as meritocracy, progressiveness, duty, inquisitiveness and innovation with soft power instead of absolute power that would have felt imposing and dominating.

And this social contract they and their people signed, this Kingship granted to him by his people was to see all of what they were building protected…whether or not it was against internal or external forces, human or not, mattered not.

And even though everything he had done had geared towards them granting this Kingship to him, using means and choices to get the people to grant them this privilege that betrayed the spirit of their immeasurable trust, he had every intention to protect what they were building…and fulfil every promise he made to them.

For Emily, this was a different role than she had envisioned so many years ago but she had still taken to it like merman took to water. Especially now that she was getting involved more publically.

Nothing had changed for the Council of Representatives, they were the legislative body of the state and always would be, but they were never the complete executive body of the state, elements that Emily had taken interest in, particularly when it came to cultural elements and obscure magical research.

As they treaded onto the slightly wet forest grounds with intermittent sounds of birds and mammals sounding out in the distance, Henrik spoke up and broke him out of his thoughts "Around here…can you feel it, Your Grace?" Henrik questioned.

Atticus tilted his head and let the reins of his magic slightly lose "I can feel it. It's slightly out of balance."

Henrik frowned as he nodded "The release of more magical animals, particularly small predatory birds and reptilians has thrown the balance of the forest."

"I've read the reports of the Conservers." Atticus said as he glanced at Henrik before he began to walk again, towards the small waterfall he knew was located near the centre of the forest. "I cannot agree to their suggestion, not without the safeguards the Offices have been tasked to create."

"Tailoring those wards specifically to rats, other kinds of small rodents might take months. Maybe even years. By the time they're ready, the forest might be even more out of balance." Henrik voiced out concerned and Atticus looked at him from the corner of his eyes.

Henrik was passionate about ecologies and achieving perfect balance in them. His work in the habitats was the reason why so many were up and running so quickly and without much fault owing to his family magic.

He and those of his family could sense and feel nature to startling degrees of sensitivities. They could feel what dwells in the forest, what grows in it and how healthy it was. A nifty talent that allowed his ancestors to survive arctic lands with limited and unsteady food supply.

"You must have other suggestions then that you haven't yet voiced or reported?" Atticus said as he stepped over a fallen tree trunk.

It was unusual nowadays to be involved at this level in matters of Illos. It wasn't unimportant – nothing in Illos was unimportant to him – but typically he'd be given reports about such things at which point, depending on how much authority he had in dealing with the situation, he'd decide or suggest a route.

Naturally, it helped that his Sight more often than not was able to offer a solution with the best long term ramifications.

"The forest is top heavy – by that I mean the kinds of prey that is available." Henrik began, his brows furrowing "We hadn't expected the growth of the populations to be as extreme as it is. We expected a curved growth instead of the explosive growth we've seen and with the delay in arrival of the Gryphons, Hippogriffs and the smaller more docile species of mundane wolves, it's becoming a problem that further throwing the forest into imbalance. If we remove large percentages of the large prey population, we can, for now, reduce the imbalance significantly until we can solve both issues at the same time."

"I can't imagine the Office of Environment would have refused this request." Atticus said with a frown as they were getting close to the waterfall.

"They likely wouldn't have" Henrik agreed "But they would not have liked my solution for what to do with the prey."

Atticus glanced at him and wordlessly bid him to continue.

Henrik hesitated for a moment before he spoke up "I would like to grow our Hawlions population."

Atticus glanced away from the man as they arrived and the Thestral herd came into view. As he carefully made his way towards them, and having calmed the nearest one to him, he began to pet the beautiful animal.

"They're as dangerous as nundus. Their skin is only penetrable through the use of the strongest – and darkest – piercing spells." Atticus said after a long while.

"I know." Henrik said as he got closer and Atticus turned to the man.

"But they're also a lot smarter." Henrik said passionately. "Their aggression is borne out of their confinement, not because of their nature" Henrik paused for a moment "At least not entirely." He admitted.

"We don't have an environment for them to grow into. The few that we have would cause havoc in any of the environments we put them in let alone increasing their populations" Atticus stated. They ate more than dragons did despite being on average five times smaller in size and volume.

"We still have habitats that aren't in use. We can easily create another savannah and plains habitat just for them." Henrik told him and Atticus said nothing for a few moments.

"We will cull them when they grow in too great a numbers." Atticus warned finally after making the appearance on deliberating on it. He'd already decided to allow it despite his misgivings. Emily would at some point figure out a way to alter them make them more…amenable.

As they were, the lions were absolute menaces. They'd found the last few hawlions cubs not that long ago, about a few years ago, in stasis at a base belonging to a centuries dead Dark Wizard. They'd been hunted into extinction centuries ago with the last Hawlion spotted sometime in 1724.

During the Statute of Secrecy implementation, most of the dangerous magical creatures were exterminated if they proved too difficult to manage and weren't protected politically like the Thunderbirds or other XXXXX animals were.

To find Hawlions during their trip in Africa had been a surprise and he hadn't been able to find it within himself to leave them there so he'd brought them here, still in stasis, until he had enough trained people who could manage the animals.

Henrik looked dissatisfied for a moment before he nodded "Yes, Your Grace." Henrik paused for a moment before he bowed a little deeper "Thank you."

Atticus inclined his head in acknowledgment before he returned his attentions to the herd of Thestrals. He'd brought a few mating pairs over from the Forest nearby Hogwarts and purchased a few pairs of the years. They were an un-rowdy lot and he like their quiet presence.

"Tell me about where you think we should set up another forest or environment out in the open and what animals we should populate it with" Atticus said without turning to Henrik.

It was about an hour or so later that he made it back to the Main Tower and proceeded to have another few discussions with Rowe and various Overseers until he went for his meeting with Sandra discussing the planned improvements passed through the Council of Representatives and what impacts that she was expecting it to have.

His last meeting ended up with Parkinson where he went over some of the reports from Europe, particularly the new developments in Bulgaria and some Balkan Ministries before finishing up with his present assessment of the reception they'd receive around the world.

It was late in the evening that he finally made it home and he arrived to an empty home. Emily likely was still occupied with the alchemic research she was doing with some of the talented lot in the Office of Magical Innovation and Technology.

It was how he found himself lounging with a book in his arms, enjoying the peace and quiet that he had found so little as of late, so much so he barely registered her arrival.

"You're reading Tolkien again?"

He looked up from his book and saw her walking into the living room dressed resplendently in tasteful green and light purple Losi clothing.

He only shrugged a little as he met her gaze "I admire Tolkien's view of the world."

She made her way across to him and sat next to him, her body flush against his. She sighed a little "A view brought on by trauma and PTSD" she said as she looked up to him "Hardly a view to venerate. Especially given it is a standard that can never be reached."

He hummed softly as he closed the book and let it lie in his lap "Yet it is also something to aspire to…even if impossible to reach."

Her hand went up to his face and she clutched gently onto his chin and she directed his face towards her. "Yet he is also keen on order and fulfilling the role you were born into. Do you admire this as well?"

"I admire it as equally as I loathe it." Atticus admitted to her as he grabbed her hand and gentle placed it down into his lap.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a light frown before her eyes flickered understanding "This is about the Raven" she guessed correctly.

He hummed affirmatively. "Yes." He said as he leaned back, his head resting on the back of the sofa. "He's finished getting Bulgarian leadership under his control and is making inroads with Balkan clans with increasing success."

"In a smart way too…winning them over with promises that he actually delivers on in exchange for loyalty whilst making dissenters disappear." Atticus said with a sigh.

The man's ideology was…simple to say the least. It wasn't exactly blood purism was more opportunistic and catered to the people who he was seducing…or coercing to his side.

After all, Atticus didn't believe the Raven had any specific beliefs, only goals that he would do anything to see accomplished.

The Raven was the last gift of Grindelwald, a tortured soul that Atticus had set on a path of destruction. Perhaps it was always meant to be, perhaps Atticus only had a minimal effect on him but nevertheless he had contributed to what he became.

Grindelwald had many prisons…prisons of all kinds. Some of them were hosting political prisoners that Grindelwald held over influential or powerful people and others…others were used for experiments like the ones in Belgium and the one that Raven had survived was just like it.

It had changed him, Atticus believed, whatever they did to him and he wasn't speaking psychologically. Unfortunately, he had not unlocked his sight by the time the things were done to the Raven were finished but he had Seen what could happen to him not long after he grew the strength of his Sight.

In some possibilities, Atticus, Emily and their guards had confronted the man and killed him and his followers. In others, they seemed to reach an accord that lasted a few years before inevitably Atticus killed him.

Atticus had chosen to make the path that would get the Raven into power easier.

Some people who might have been able to warn others of the rising threat he presented were removed of off the table, most of them being spelled unaware of what they had found and others were made to die in accidents.

In some instances he'd even helped the Raven in recruiting people to his cause and it was paying dividends now especially as the MOS were content to let him be.

In a few decades, after his personal vendetta was complete, he'd be able to challenge the ICW like Grindelwald once did regardless of what they intended.

And this time…this time, the ICW would not be able to cope…even with the abilities of the Men of Symbols. He would see to that personally.

In all of this, there was a huge cost.

Muggles were more or less spared of the violence especially since the Raven wasn't interested in the muggle world and likely was far more aware of the threat the muggles presented should it spill over given his links to the Russians, but the magical cost?

The end result would be a population traumatised and decimated by another war that would make them easy pickings to incorporate.

"If we don't do this now…before we move, you know how likely it'll be that another Dark Lord will come into existence within decades of arrival." Emily said, breaking him out of his thoughts and he looked at her.

She continued as her blue eyes stared up at him "And this war, whenever it happens, helps keep the ICW attentions away from us as we work in South America, Africa and the Far East. Work we need to do if we want there to be a peaceful exodus."

Atticus smiled briefly as his hand rose and brushed her silken hair behind her ear.

Whilst Europe had the highest concentration of magicals, obviously it was not the only place where magicals resided. Out of a world population of somewhere around 1.3 million magicals, six hundred thousand were in Europe or in the Near East – countries like Turkey, regions around the Balkan and Caspian Sea – whilst the Americas held roughly four hundred thousand magicals, nearly half being in North America.

The rest were scattered around Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Exodus would not be accepted by everyone, not as things were now. Most lived in perfect ignorance of the muggle world, especially in the developing world…more so than the Europeans or the North Americans.

They wouldn't see nor would they fully comprehend the precariousness of the situation if it was pointed out now or even just before it was happening.

But once it was happening, once the muggles employed the technologies that will put the world in surveillance and Exposure actually happens…

By that time, they expected to have made alliances and treaties with many of the world's magical populations tying them all together and convince them of the merits of leaving Earth for pastures new.

Merits he didn't think would be too difficult to convince them off once threats of war or against liberties or actual violence happened.

Especially when the muggles found out about what their people did and had done to the muggles for centuries with regards to their memories or how much land they'd cornered off for themselves in order to maintain the secret of Magic.

At present it totalled to something like ten percent of the world's surface with much of it being very rich and fertile soil.

Paranoia and fear would then take things further about what else magicals had done to the muggles if they could so easily take so much land and alter people's memories.

Conspiracy theories that wouldn't see the light of day by normal people would suddenly be not so ridiculous if dragons and unicorns actually did exist.

The point of escalation would be low…so very low.

Fanatics – on both sides – would boil the situation to tipping point.

Solutions provided by muggle governments – 'if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear by registering' – would be rejected out of hand and harden positions and at that point…

He would not let it get to that stage.

He had no desire in a war of survival for either people and they would patiently wait until Exposure happened and offer this solution to his people.

There would be some magicals that would prove to be stubborn and refuse any entreaties. Those…will be dealt with and forcefully moved whilst the weakened European nations would be absorbed into Illos or made into a state under its control.

And for all of that to work, for all of that to even have a good chance of succeeding…they needed the ICW as weak as possible and unable to pose a problem but still somewhat relevant.

After all, they needed an inept ICW to compare themselves to.

With the floundering Men of Symbols directing too much of the ICW focus on him, it would leave them in a too much of an indecisive position to act against the Raven in time to contain him.

And one by one, they would pluck their tools and would-be-tools from them until the ICW were left with little more than numbers to deal with the two Archmages and their army of followers.

He would start with plucking the first few amongst the Men of Symbols.

"Without him, we would have had to be more proactive…and that would have only lead to further rebellious events down the line." Emily stated and he nodded silently.

As it was, establishing the new order across planets and star systems was going to be tumultuous.

Knowing history, establishing a confederation or federation style union should be less violent and more stable than what they originally intended with absolute rule and certainly less bloody than the uncomfortable route of conquest and subjugation.

With their ability to literally choose which squibs to make magical, they no longer needed the absolute numbers of the wizarding world…not when there were millions of squibs to choose from and would swear undying loyalty to them.

Moving the magical world off-world was an endeavour that he felt was something he owed to the magical world…and it was also what he was tasked to do by Ancients.

"Tolkien would characterise that as allowing an evil for a greater good to flourish." Emily said and he turned his gaze at her and she bore amused glints in her eyes.

Allowing or committing acts of evil for a greater good has been the phrase all despots, tyrants and dictators once used to justify their abhorrent acts.

Emily making jest of it…

More often than not, he wondered if he was one of them with what he did and what he planned to do. Some plans that not even Emily was privy to…

Especially the evil he would have to commit to ensure their backs were secured…no matter how humane it was.

Exodus would not be the end of Magic on Earth. Magicals would still be born in the form of squib-descendants.

Unless the future Office of Far-Sight could find an alternative way…

He would be forced to engage the plans he'd made with Alice.

Despite the heavy guilt and shame he felt at those plans, he allowed himself to smile falsely as his hand gently caressed the book. "If only the more stiff upper lipped nobles knew that the person they sworn themselves to was well acquainted with works of muggle writers. I'd love to see their reactions."

She hummed a little, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips "Their ignorance is my advantage."

He laughed a little as he looked at her a little amused "Bet it helps when you quote some of the more quotable writers and philosophers to them."

The corner of his eyes creased as mirth wrote itself on his expression as he began to imagine one of the purebloods recognising her phrases from books they read but would never admit to doing.

Her eyes narrowed at his mirthful face and he couldn't help it and he let off a little laugh and decided to tell her what he imagined.

Her expression softened as her lips pursed in an attempt to hide her own amusement, likely at the idea of one of her people being wracked on the idea that she might actually also enjoy reading muggle books but would never find the courage to find out.

She rolled her eyes at him when she saw his mirth rise even more at her own amusement at the scenario but as she sat up a little, her expression turned a little serious "Still, back to the subject at hand...Tolkien does have some merits. It is a useful viewpoint to channel for the masses who resonate with much of it." She looked at him with inspecting eyes.

"Fortunately that is all there is to it and thankfully there isn't an all-powerful god who has reduced the universe to a good and evil duality. The universe in all its greys is a far more interesting place to exist in." Emily finished.

'I wouldn't be so sure there isn't all-powerful god, Emily' Atticus mused to himself, his mind turning towards Manu, the Precursors and whatever it was that lay hidden in the fabric of the non-physical reality.

A fabric that distinctly bears the lines and threads that bound individual consciousness's in some way or another.

A fabric intrinsically tied to fate.

And through the understanding of this fabric, deconstructing the flow of the coming history would be made possible.

Divination in the form of Sight and Prophecies, Fate in the form of observable lines and threads within the fabric of the non-physical reality, and predictive arithmancy in the form of a precisely defined model of behavioural patterns created from the study of history and past events along with a statistical element generated from probabilities and patterns of average human choices taken from a large population pool…

All of it would combine to form a way to be able to peer down Living Time with unrivalled accuracy and allow them the ability to manipulate history that would lead them to the ideal path for the majority of the magical peoples, if not everyone.

Perhaps then he would be able to sit back and let the collective efforts of his people guide their civilisation instead of his tainted and blood soaked hands.

He could then focus on the greater questions about consciousness…and the threats that lie beyond their space.

"Anyway" Atticus said, his head shaking a little to banish the heavier topics before his arm swung over Emily's shoulder and he pulled her in slightly.

"Tell me about your day. How is the terra-alchemy research going?" he asked her with a curious smile, one that morphed to carry hints of affection as he watched her eyes alight with interest and fascination as she began to speak.

-Break-

13th of November, 1956 – Illos

Sandra Saunders POV

The doors to her office opened.

"High Chancellor." Her secretary said as she led Kane in.

"Thank you Patricia" Sandra said, dismissing the woman before her eyes fell on Kane "Eric. Take a seat."

Kane inclined his head as he sat down in the offered seat before her desk. "Tell me good news Eric." She said, immediately getting to the point.

"I'm afraid it's not exactly good news." Eric said as he unclipped his case and brought out his documents.

Her eyes narrowed, her lips thinned displeased. "What is it this time. Would they like us to reword some phrases in American English?" she asked harshly.

It might not have been that petty but the number of delays due to some seriously inane reasons was wearing her out and she was getting to the point of cancelling negotiations all together.

'Though I doubt I have that kind of authority' she thought to herself.

She'd have to go through the High Council and only with the approval of the Chief Representative, Atticus and Emily would she be able to end it.

Rowe would undoubtedly agree given his own frustrations with the situation though Atticus and Emily were a little more unreadable.

Likely because they both already knew the outcome of all of this.

"Not so much." Eric said with a sigh. He was the primary negotiator assigned to MACUSA to conduct these trade agreements and proposals of 'closer ties'.

After Atticus had spoken to his Aunt in MACUSA, they'd began negotiations in a similar vein as they had done to Japan…a negotiation that was ongoing for two and a half years!

"They agree with the final proposals…in principle however the Clito Beauclerc administration has effectively admitted to me" Eric smiled sardonically "Off the record of course, that the President is effectively leaving this to be dealt with by the next administration." He said as he passed over the documents.

Sandra leaned forward and absently took it and lazily flicked through the pages as her mind ran through what Eric told her. "So our conclusions are pretty much right then" she said as he looked up to Eric.

Eric nodded grimly.

"She knows that we're six months away from re-joining the magical world and her second term ends in November next year." Eric paused momentarily before continuing.

"Instead of complicating her legacy by presenting trade and cooperation treaties to Congress that would have bad optics given that her nephew is King of said new nation, a King that might not have been a trigger to MACUSA leaving the ICW but certainly contributed to the circumstances…" Eric trailed off.

"Yes, yes." Sandra said impatiently as she closed the documents and peered away to her window where the skyline of the city was there be gazed at.

Sandra understood the President's position, she really did.

Illos would have a target on its back, politically speaking.

MACUSA had managed to navigate their exit from the ICW relatively well, establishing better relations with South American nations along with improving their own domestic economy – with no little help from Sophia and the Sayre businesses – but willingly getting into bed with Illos who had the appearance of no alliances or treaties with any other nation?

With an ICW that was surely to react critically badly?

By leaving it in the hands of the next administration, she would absolve herself from the difficult questions she would face whilst at the same time granting the new administration to look at the agreements without the baggage she has.

She wondered why they had them continue with negotiations as she had little doubt that they didn't know where it was going.

"When you say they admitted..." Sandra said finally, breaking away from her thoughts.

"I went out for a few drinks to one of the Ritz hotels the affluent members of MACUSA tend to frequent." Eric said as he leaned back in his chair. "It was there I came across a few members of her cabinet."

Sandra frowned lightly and Eric picked up on it "Nothing was done breaching protocol or anything else, of course." He assured her and she nodded in acceptance.

Generally speaking, she ran her ship above the board and expected the same of her subordinates. Eric continued "A few drinks after, they were a little looser with their tongues and confessed their own frustrations with the situation, especially since the agreements would see MACUSA benefit more than we would. It was then they insinuated that the President didn't like the optics one bit."

Sandra tapped her finger on the table and a few moments passed.

"Halt any further work on this." She said as she gestured towards the documents "It may well be wasted parchment this time come next year."

Eric sighed before he nodded "Yes madam. Do you want me to redirect more resources on the proposals to the French?"

"Yes." Sandra said as she leaned back. Both MACUSA and the French Ministry knew about Illos and had sent delegations to Illos in the past year.

The secret of Illos was only paper thin now especially as they had not demanded most of the strict secrecy measures. It wouldn't surprise her if ICW would know soon…if they didn't already.

Still, she was confident that they were pretty much untouchable.

Their population was twenty six thousand now with expected population increase to thirty five thousand by 1960 and the defences of Illos…

Well, she doubted the entire Auror force of the world could breach those defences.

"And prepare for our proposals for the Australians and the Brazilians" she told him. Australia they already made inroads with – they had a number of associates working in their ministry – but nothing official until now. The Brazilians would be their gateway to the rest of South America.

"I will inform the High Council of this situation in our next meeting. Thank you Eric." She said and he nodded before he got up and made his way out of her office.

It wasn't much later that she made her way towards Atticus' office.

She nodded to the guards before she was let through to his office and he was standing there manipulating some kind of holo and as she neared she saw that it was some kind of code.

"Sandra" Atticus intoned a little distracted as he continued to type on the holo-design. "Did we have a scheduled meeting?" he said as he paused briefly and turned his gaze towards her.

"No." she said with a shake of the head "I had something to share but if you're busy…"

"No, you're here now." Atticus said as he stepped away from the holo and gestured towards the seats by the window that overlooked the city

"What is it anyway?" Sandra asked as she walked towards the seats.

"That? Oh just the barebones of an intuitive program." Atticus told her as she sat down. "Mostly it'll be defining physics and chemical behaviours along with how objects will behave in defined parameters or conditions." He said as he sat down, taking a few moments to comfortable.

"It'll be used as the backbones of a Design Software Package geared towards designing ships and other engineering projects."

"I didn't think you were involved in too much of that side anymore." She commented curiously.

Whilst not much had changed since he and Emily had been made Royals, the division of labour over the years had seen Atticus' involvement in the more 'groundwork' diminish. Something that she knew he didn't like all that much but still had to do simply for the fact that there were so many other things that needed his attention.

Emily's permanent return also helped alleviate a lot of his involvement though she tended to be more involved in cultural side of things, bridging differences in a meaningful way like the building of a Temple dedicated to the more spiritual side of magic.

She hardly knew anyone who would give up as much power as either of them.

They could have easily ruled with absolute power from the moment the Sayre family had been exiled but he instead limited the accumulation of power for anyone, including himself.

It seemed more distant than it actually was, when Atticus had told her and Derek about his plans for a new nation, a nation that he was going to build on equality, meritocracy and progressiveness, a nation without the bigotry she had seen so much in Britain.

He delivered on his promises and she knew that even his ascendancy to Royalty wouldn't change that. His title only confirmed what he had been in all but name anyway.

Atticus smiled a little "I'm only helping speed things along –" His 'helping' likely meant doing the work of several people at once. "– With Moira involved with Office of Space, things are picking up a lot more speed. There is an over-reliance on magic with the ships and should there go something wrong…" Atticus trailed off before he flicked his fingers lazily and two glasses materialised before they were slowly begin filled with water.

"Ah. I see. So the temporary grounding of any further missions is likely a little more permanent?" Sandra questioned with a mild frown as she took the glass of water that was floated towards her.

Bishop had reported a few Council meetings back that Overseer Laset had delayed a third mission to Mars until May '57. From the sounds of it, it would be longer.

"Simply said…yes." Atticus stated to her before he drank from his glass.

He leaned back in his chair relaxed when he continued "At present we're drafting up a number of engineering projects that we want completed in the next three years and most of it is geared towards creating a hybrid ship." Atticus said with a pause, his hand rotating the glass of water absent-mindedly

"With many of our recent migrants academically talented in the sciences, including many of our associates who worked for Derek's companies as engineers or scientists, we have a pool of people who can contribute significantly in hastening our technological advancement. Especially in Aerospace and physics."

Sandra drank of her glass of water before she peered at him "Has recruitment begun yet?" she asked. Many of the migrants Atticus spoke of were recently made magicals, many of whom were working only part time whilst they were brought up to speed academically – magically speaking.

Knowledge Crystals helped significantly in that regard but they had little experience in manipulating their magic which meant it still took years of effort in order to become familiar with their own magic.

In truth, them working part time was also a boon for the moment as there weren't a whole lot of private tech or business jobs available which was most of the recent adult migrant backgrounds.

It was a bit of an issue as most Illosians were employed directly by the state.

The pureblood population of Illos tended to fill in more 'traditional' roles such as working in the potions, merchant, services and bespoke product production whilst the former hedge wizards and witches dominated the food industry.

It was a challenging problem, the limitations – limitations as a result of the progressive way that Illos took care of most citizen needs – they faced especially given that they wanted to grow their economy but there weren't many avenues to grow into – except for increasing their international trade which should open up new business ventures as a result of the advancements they made and were making.

Part of the reason why they wanted to get the negotiations with MACUSA finished so that when they were re-joining the magical world, they had a readily available market to feed their economy.

"Yes. At present there are a number of engineering projects already posting job openings with one of them – the MagBeam Propulsion project – nearly having fifty percent of its staff openings filled." Atticus explained to her before he rounded up with "It'll be further explained in our next Council meeting in a few days."

Sandra nodded before she steeled herself a little, her eyes a little harder "The negotiations with MACUSA are dead in the water." 'As you probably already know' she thought to herself and as if he read her mind he nodded.

"I'm aware. I knew it was unlikely to succeed the longer it went on." He smiled a little thinly "The President may be my aunt but she is President first and foremost. She's always been dutiful, never more so than to MACUSA itself."

He looked away towards the skyline of Illos "She understands the political ramifications of being too close to me even if it is Illos that MACUSA enters an agreement with." He was silent for a few moments and she observed him a little closely. He seemed a little worn. 'When was the last time he slept?' she briefly wondered.

"Already MACUSA was made to isolate itself from most of the wizarding world as a consequence of their withdrawal from the ICW, a withdrawal that was influenced by the ICW aggression towards my family, a Founder House of MACUSA." He said as he turned towards her

"Of course it wasn't the reason why MACUSA withdrew, the ICW acts and inaction during the war is the primary reason and my sister's businesses were more than a welcome addition to the American economy but nevertheless, it was a point that the media accentuated. For my aunt to then present a bill that ties MACUSA closer to Illos so soon after we arrive at the world scene and at the end of her second term…"

Sandra remain silent for a few moments as she digested his words "Then why not ask us to call off the negotiations?" she queried him.

"It was the best course of action." He said with a sigh "Whilst the proposals will not be revisited for some time to come" 'How long was 'some time'?' she thought to herself "It will not take nearly as long for it to pass once the Keller administration is in office"

Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment before her eyes widened as she recollected who he was referring to "Keller, the current Californian Enclave Senator?" She'd grown to know much about the MACUSA organisation over the years, including somewhat from her husband who had several interests in California.

Atticus nodded "He'll win the next Presidential race. Handily too." He said musingly before he rounded back up to her "Whilst my aunt was never going to agree, she did ensure that there would be little to disagree with once the Keller administration picked it up. It will be seen as a 'win' given how favourable it is to the Americans."

With the surplus of rare flora ingredients, high quality materials such as wardstones, magically conducive metals of similar qualities to Goblin Silver, and other more 'entertainment' products, they were able to offer this to the American at very reduced rates.

Any administration would see an uptick of approval based simply on the material goods that it would grant MACUSA access to. It was the political side that caused issues…issues that the Keller administration would be largely free of.

"And" Atticus continued, an almost sly glint in his gaze "It also helped Mr Kane and the rest of the negotiation team get more experience in dealing with tough negotiators, something that should prove immensely useful down the line."

"Is the future looking that difficult?" Sandra frowned a little concerned.

Atticus said nothing for a moment "Yes…and no. Difficult at the beginning, yes but we manage to adapt and excel. We are a young nation, one with little experience in politics, collectively, anyway, but as time goes on we will be able to adjust and lead."

"That explains very little." She said a little drily.

Atticus smiled a little "I know…the vaguer I explain, the less impact it has later on." He let off a small sigh "It's not ideal…the way I'm disseminating information to you."

She mulled it over for a few seconds "Can you at least tell me if we make allies within the next five years? Other than Japan?"

"We will." Atticus confirmed "Britain and Ireland will be our allies within a year after our return."

"Britain…only a year?" she asked surprised before she gained an understanding as to why that might be "Her ties with Ouroboros" she stated, already understanding how it was related.

"Her ties with Ouroboros are very strong and the affection the British magical world holds for Emily is arguably stronger than the affection they hold for me. They will stand by us." He told her.

She looked at him sceptically "You defeated Grindelwald. You were their Golden child for years prior to that."

Atticus looked at her a little humorously "And look how quick public opinion changed through a few years of concerted effort."

She pursed her lips. He did have a point. Magicals tended to have the memory of goldfish at times…and they could be quite gullible. Still, she did not think he could so wrong to think the British people wouldn't value him more than they did Emily.

She had nothing against her – she was friendly with her after all – but Atticus was truly someone special in her eyes. So much of what they accomplished and would accomplish would be because of him and she had faith that people would really understand that.

"Alright" she said with a nod "So it seems like the negotiations weren't a total waste of time." Sandra said with a sigh before she sat back, a look of tiredness on her face "It would have helped had I known." She said almost a little accusingly.

Atticus looked at her a little empathetically "You would have behaved a little differently" 'And that would not have fitted in how you saw things' she mused internally. "And how would it have helped?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"Had you known?"

Her lips pursed "I would have known that we were not negotiating for a current agreement but rather a future one with a different administration. The majority of our energies could have been focused elsewhere."

"True but it could also have led to it dragging on longer if you took people off of it." He returned gently "Would you not have sent someone else in Mr Kane's place?"

'I would not have if you told me not to' she thought to herself but she decided to end it here instead of arguing a lost argument. She knew him well enough he had his quirks of dealing with things.

She drank the last of her water "Very well." She said as she stood up "I will see you later." She paused a moment "Derek is coming to visit this weekend."

Atticus smiled at her "I will be over on Sunday." He promised.

She gave him a small smile before she left.