Charlie Wonder hurried through the wondrous villa of his dead father.
Charlie couldn't remember much of anything about Christopherus Gian. He had only been two years old, when Chris had finally passed away from his various illnesses. Sometimes, he believed to remember fleeting images of his father's face; attractive but aged and slightly sickly, always with a cold smile edged into his lips that never quite reached his uncaring eyes. Sometimes, Charlie also thought to remember the smell of his cologne.
But then, Charlie wondered if he only thought to remember Gian's face because he had seen photographs of him. And he wondered if he wasn't actually remembering the cologne that Gian had worn, but the one that Bax had worn at the time.
Bax had changed his cologne then; probably to one that Gian wouldn't have approved of. After their father had passed away, Bax had changed many things quickly, and his version of family life was all that Charlie had ever known.
The interior of the house, however, had changed gradually over time. Once in a while, pieces of decoration would go missing and be replaced by much nicer, more modern pieces. The old stuffy curtains had turned into effective electronic shutters, the furniture and the bedsheets had become more comfortable... Now, fifteen years after his final departure, the house of Christopherus Gian had turned into that of Bax Hench.
And yet, one could never quite escape Gian's silent presence here. The bones of the building, mostly hardwood and white marble, had remained nearly the same. There were some old family photos still up for appearances, and some of the especially valuable collectibles had been kept in the name of good art.
Charlie was never quite sure, if allowing for their father's ghost to haunt his home was a subconscious move, or if Bax did it out of sheer principle at this point.
Embarrassingly out of breath from the run here, Charlie finally neared Gian's old office - now Bax's office. Soon after, his big brother joined him in walking through the hallway.
"You're late," Bax coolly said to him, eyes directed straight ahead.
"You too," Charlie retorted.
Bax looked down at him and dropped the cold act. A warm teasing smirk spread over his face. "Looks like you're picking up all of my best qualities."
Charlie chuckled, and Bax draped an arm over his shoulders as they walked.
"So, what's this meeting about?"
"Actually? I have no idea," Bax admitted. "When someone of such a high caliber requests an audience, you try not to say no."
"Wow, umm, how high of a caliber are we speaking of?"
He meaningfully raised an eyebrow at him. "I believe, something comparable to a queen."
Charlie surprisedly raised a brow back at him. "Why would a queen be talking to us?"
"You can ask her that, in just a moment."
They arrived at the office, and Bax's arm slid off his shoulder as they parted.
One of the assistants stood up from the desk and invitingly gestured at the computer. "Everything is set up, Sir."
Bax nodded to them, as they politely hurried past him and left the office. Then he walked to his desk and sat down in the same chair. Charlie pulled up one of the waiting chairs from the seating area and joined him there.
On the computer monitor, a conference call had been set up, and a number was waiting to be dialled.
Bax daringly elevated his finger above the button of his computer mouse. "Ready?"
Charlie cluelessly shrugged, "I guess...?"
He clicked the call button and they waited in anticipation, as the electronic dial tone oddly resonated from the desktop speakers. Soon after, the call was picked up.
The camera was turned off on the other side; the graphic of a basic silhouette of a person replaced a real person's face. Equally, Bax paused before he activated his own camera, and quickly decided not to do it.
"Good evening, Your Highness," he gallantly greeted.
"Good evening, Mister Hench," a dark eloquent female voice responded. "What a pleasure to speak directly to you, at last. I will say, my men had to put in quite the concerted effort in order to get a hold of you."
"Ah, yes, I apologize for that," Bax replied with a hidden smile, "my security team likes to be overly cautious."
"As they should be, I'm certain," the woman's voice approved.
The more she talked, the more Charlie believed to make out a faint accent of some sort. Yet, as he'd never had the same knack for languages as his siblings, he couldn't exactly place it. All he could tell, by the faintness of her accent and the words she used, was that she was quite old.
"Although they have failed to mention your name to me," Bax pointed out.
"Yes, well, you will soon understand why I'm not ready to publicize my identity quite yet. My people address me as Mother, you are free to do the same."
"Very well, Mother," Bax said and elegantly covered up the awkwardness of how weird that word sounded, coming from his lips. "Here with me, is my younger brother. He likes to tag along for meetings such as this, you understand; to learn the ropes. I hope his attendance doesn't bother you?"
"Not at all," the Mother gallantly replied, "in fact, I find this quite commendable. What is your name, young man?"
He glanced at Bax, who nodded in confirmation. "Charlie Wonder, ma'am," he then politely replied, "it's an honor to make your acquaintance."
"Wonder; what a pretty name," she praised, and something about the way she said it made Charlie blush a little. "Well, Mister Hench, Mister Wonder, I understand you have busy lives and I have no intentions of wasting your time. Let us talk about what brings us to this telephone call, shall we?"
Bax agreeably nodded, "gladly. What is the nature of this proposition, you have for us?"
"It seems that your family, and my family, have some things in common. I would like to utilize these commonalities, in order to accomplish a shared goal. Mister Hench, allow me to speak bluntly... I understand that you carry a heavy burden with your father's legacy."
"I carry it with pride, ma'am," Bax automatically shot out.
"As you should. In either case, I want to help... eleviate some of that weight on your shoulders. I understand that you have plans. I would like to support your cause, in the hopes that you might support my own."
Charlie sharply looked at his brother in shock. Until now, he had been listening to the conversation with a vague sense of interest, but suddenly his heart rate shot up and his hands felt clammy.
Bax reciprocated his stunned look with a brief glance, yet he kept his attention mostly focused on the monitor in front of him. He was openly intrigued and somewhat skeptical, yet secretively tense, as he asked, "and which is this cause of yours?"
"I believe, the Irish Sanctuary and their allies have ruled the world for long enough," the Mother declared, "and they have done quite some damage in the process. You surely have lots of experience with the oppressive powers of the sanctuaries of the Western World, Mister Hench. I believe that a change is in order."
Charlie suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't quite describe it, but it wasn't even the things that the Mother was saying, which set his teeth on edge. It was the way she said it; so smoothly, too smoothly, whereas it sounded vaguely vindictive.
Bax didn't seem to like the sound of this any more than Charlie did, but he did a much better job at hiding it. "You have the men and the resources to pull off a full-scale invasion?" he questioned.
"I do, or rather, I soon will. My operation is already underway. You might have heard mentions of it here or there..."
This time around, Bax allowed for the surprise to resonate in his voice. "The missing people reports all around Europe; that's your doing?"
"It is, and it's only just the beginning. So, I suppose what I'm really asking you, Mister Hench, is; would you like to join in on the new world order? Or will you cling to what's familiar, as you have clung to your father's great name."
Bax's face significantly darkened, and so did Charlie's, as neither of them had missed the subtle threat. They looked at each other for a moment. Bax thoughtfully stared at the tabletop of his desk for another short moment. Finally, he straightened up and brought a convincing smile to his face.
"I am interested to hear more about this future vision of yours, Mother," he replied, "and I know what it is, you would like from me in return."
"Do you now?" she curiously challenged.
"I already have plans to dispose of Skulduggery Pleasant and his possey. If you share your resources with me, I can speed up the process for you. It's a win-win."
Charlie questioningly looked at him. Bax warningly raised a finger to his lips, so he kept his mouth tightly shut.
"That sounds like an excellent agreement," the Mother contentedly said. "My men will be in touch. I look forward to seeing what use you might make of my arsenal."
"I look forward to receiving it. Have a well-rested evening, Your Highness."
"And to you. Goodbye, Charlie Wonder."
"Goodbye, ma'am," Charlie just about managed to croak.
The Mother hung up the conference call on her end, and Bax hung up on theirs. They sat in silence for a moment, blankly staring at the monitor and processing the recent conversation.
"That was just an act, right?" Charlie asked, as his voice gradually went from a low murmur to a frantic shout, "you don't believe she's really planning to repay us somehow. We're not actually going to help her topple the sanctuaries. I mean, she's crazy! Right, Bax?!"
His brother tensely sighed, got up from his chair, and began walking back to where they had just come from.
Charlie scoffed in disbelief and chased after him. "Bax, you can't be serious!" he pressed once he was walking by his side, "we aren't Warlords! Why the hell would we get involved in this?"
He sighed again but kept on walking. "Look, Charlie... If the Mother actually manages to topple the sanctuaries, that will rip open a giant power vacuum. Every one of our partners and competitors is going to want a slice of that," he importantly explained. "She's coming to us first, because we're the biggest player on the market. Once she goes to the next biggest player, they will notice that we have no stakes in the game."
"Well, then they might question if they should join the Mother," Charlie argued, "and then, if none of us help her, she won't succeed."
"They will also question, me," Bax conclusively said.
"But this is totally against the plan!"
Bax abruptly stopped walking and made him turn by sternly grabbing his shoulder. "This is about trust, Charlie. The plan isn't going to work out, if the system isn't functioning. The system won't function, if our people don't trust me."
"The system also won't work if the world, as we know it, is ending!"
"That's not going to happen. Like you said, the Mother is crazy, and her plan is going to crash and burn. The sanctuaries have already noticed her meddling, and it's only a matter of time until Pleasant and Cain are onto her."
Charlie grumbled unconvincedly.
"We're not changing the plan," Bax assured him, but then clarified; "but we are going to adjust the plan a little to make it look like we're on her side, and that means helping her from time to time."
Charlie grumbled some more.
Bax shot him a somewhat scolding and somewhat understanding smile. "I'm sorry, brother. I hate to remind you, but we're not the good guys."