Not Well

“Tell me Newman, why are you just now coming out of the witch’s classroom? The class ended 20 minutes ago. I’ve been waiting for you and when you didn’t show up I got worried you might have been captured by some nefarious people. Yet when I do a search for you I find you here, consorting with the witch. You lied to me Newman. I believed you when you said you weren’t working for her yet here you are waltzing out of her classroom completely ignoring the meeting you had with me! Or are you two plotting the downfall of the Golden Rose?!” Moira’s torrent of accusations and anger at John just kept coming. Moira’s voice grew louder the longer she went on until, finally, Mrs. Wentworth’s door flung open and Moira’s witch loomed over them both.

“So, this is how the new Warden of the Golden Rose acts, hmm? Throwing around baseless accusations and threatening to kill any magic user that doesn’t swear fealty to your order? How far you have fallen. You are far inferior to previous Wardens and they would be ashamed to see their legacy act like this. At least they would investigate the claims you throw around so effortlessly,” Mrs. Wentworth’s words cut into Moira. She struck a nerve with the young Warden, openly announcing her greatest weakness. Moira recoiled from the words spoken to her, her head held down in shame. Moira knew she was defeated in this fight.

“What would you know of previous Wardens?! You-" Mrs. Wentworth cut her off and continued speaking.

“Mr. Newman had some historical questions that needed answering. Do you propose he go to the Art teacher for such answers? Or how about the Math teacher? Would you rather he get subpar answers only because your order unjustly condemns me? Mr. Newman is a smart young man who knew the best place to get historical answers is from his History teacher, wouldn’t you agree?” Mrs. Wentworth questioned Moira, with a small grin on her face.

“Y-yes ma’am. You would be the logical choice to get answers related to that subject. I may have jumped to conclusions because I did not have all the facts presented to me. I apologize to both of you for the mistake I made. However,” Moira brought her head up, a fire burning in her eyes, “I will see you brought to justice some day for the crimes you have committed witch. But we have agreed that the Academy is neutral grounds so it shall not be here. But someday you will fall by my hand!” Moira announced with the utmost confidence John had ever seen. Moira seemed to be set on ending her Order’s perceived feud with Mrs. Wentworth, whatever it was. Mrs. Wentworth smiled as the girl made her declaration.

“Yes yes, another Warden declaring her intent on ending my ‘witchcraft.’ I have endured against Wardens for a long time and I shall endure even more. You are but a mere footnote in my story, dear Moira. Now, I believe you two have business to attend to. Do say hello to your father for me, won’t you?” And with that, Mrs. Wentworth went back to her classroom, leaving the two to their plans.

“I shall let this pass this time. But do not think you shall be so lucky next time,” and with that Moira left, John rushing to catch up to her. The two walked in silence to the parking lot where John looked around for a limo or some similar vehicle that he assumed would take them to Moira’s house.

“So uh, where’s your driver?” John asked Moira.

“Driver? What makes you think I need to be driven around? I ride this to school every day,” Moira patted the motorcycle that was in front of them. She grabbed two helmets and tossed one to John. “Put this on and get on. Make sure to grab ahold of me too or you might fly off,” Moira informed John.

He followed her instructions and got on and grabbed hold of her waist. Moira started up the motorcycle and off they went. John’s first time on a motorcycle was not how he pictured. He was behind a beautiful girl who was taking him to her house where she would tell him all about magic and a secret underworld he had no idea existed. If you asked John last week if he ever thought this would happen to him, he’d laugh at you and call you crazy. Yet here he was, doing exactly that. It was also at this time that John noticed a problem forming. The vibrations from the motorcycle seemed to be rousing John’s member from its slumber. Shit shit shit! I cannot get an erection while riding on the back of a motorcycle with a girl who thinks I’m working with an enemy of her Order. She’ll think I’m a pervert too! John tried to readjust his seating to make it less obvious but all it did was bring more attention to it. Moira gave him a quick glare to signal him to stop moving and John just gulped and accepted the fact that his dick would be rubbing into Moira’s very nice ass.

Lucky for John, the drive was not that long, a mere five minutes. That most likely had to do with how Moira ignored the speed limits and wove between traffic. John believed Moira did not notice his dick thanks to her not saying anything about it once she parked and they got off. John followed Moira up the steps and into her manor that was straight from the English countryside. John would have thought he was at Lara Croft’s manor if it weren’t for the fact he came to the manor with Moira. A stern looking middle aged man in a suit greeted them as they came up the stairs.

“Mistress Brighton, Lord Brighton is expecting you and your guest in his study,” said who John assumed was the butler.

“Thank you Reggie,” Moira turned to John, “This is our butler Reginald. He’s been with the family since before I was born. Don’t make him mad,” Moira glared at John when she said that. A quick Observe showed John his relationship score has dropped down to -39. Oh great. She hates me again. John began to regret this decision. He suddenly felt like this would end badly for him.

“John, come on! We can’t keep my father waiting!”

“Oh, right. Sorry. Let’s go.”

The two continued through the foyer of the mansion into the main hallway. The hallway had various antique tables with various vases from all over the world placed on them. There were many doors in the hallway but they were all closed except for one towards the end. The door that Moira was directly heading to. John took in the layout, trying to find a place to stash the rune that Mrs. Wentworth gave him but all the places seemed to out in the open to be able to hide it. The two entered the room and stopped before the desk of Lord Brighton who was writing a letter. John cast Observe on him.

“Sit,” commanded Lord Brighton. Moira and John followed his instruction. Lord Brighton continued to write as he began a barrage of questions.

“What group formed him Moira? Is it the Dark Velvet, the 33 Scions, the Cabal? Or is this her doing?”

“He is not affiliated with any of them father. He seems to be a late bloomer blessed by the Lady herself. He only got these powers this morning yet has proven to be quite adapt with them as I explained earlier,” Moira finished and sat quietly waiting for her father to respond. Her hands fidgeted the whole time.

“Hmm. I see. So the Lady has blessed you with these powers. You are a lucky lad. Or a cursed one, depending on who you ask. You have the potential to change the status quo of the Abyss power structure. As such, you are in grave danger. Become a vassal of the Golden Rose and we can ensure your safety. You will be required to follow our rules and if you disobey any order given to you, you will be punished accordingly,” Lord Brighton informed John. He then handed John the piece of paper he had written. It appeared to be a pledge of fealty to the Order of the Golden Rose. If John signed this he would become a pawn of the Golden Rose and could not do any of the ideas he had begun to have.

“No,” John said sternly. “I have no intention of becoming a pawn of your order. But I also do not want to become an enemy of it. I’ve seen what Moira can do and if there’s a whole order similar to her, you’d be powerful allies or grave enemies. I’d much rather have you as allies however. Is there some way I can be just an ally of you instead of a vassal?” John knew this would end with him gaining a powerful ally or most likely dead. But he knew if he became a vassal of the Golden Rose Mrs. Wentworth would most likely kill him. So there was no reason not to risk it.

“Hmm. You have courage to so brazenly cast aside being a vassal to the Golden Rose. It does make me question your intentions. But you did save my daughter from a slaver, so I believe we can come to an agreement. Moira, show the boy around while I write up another contract that is more to his liking,” Lord Brighton ordered his daughter.

“Yes father. Oh and what of the attacker?” Asked Moira.

“Ah yes. From what I can gather, he is affiliated with the German Empire. He appears to be from an old line, one thought dead to history. It seems the branch survived in the Abyss. His powers are unknown. That is all we know for now. We are waiting to hear back from some other contacts,” informed Lord Brighton.

“The German Empire? Didn’t that dissolve at the end of World War I?” Asked John.

“The German Empire has been around since the Holy Roman Empire. Once that was **** to dissolve in 1807, they went underground, controlling the German area in the shadows. They eventually regained power through the German Empire being formed in 1871 until the end of World War I. They have several holdings in the Abyss and real world, enough to make them one of the 7 Great Powers of the Abyss. The Order of the Golden Rose is another one of these powers. We will teach you about all this at a later date.”

“Oh. Because I got some information that seems to indicate he is a Nazi, not a Roman.”

“He is both.”

“Both?”

“Yes. The Nazis were the third attempt at the German Empire. However, it was controlled by different leaders than the first two. Since the fall of the Nazis, there has been a power struggle between those of the Holy Roman Empire and the Nazis for control of the German Empire. Currently the Holy Roman Empire controls the Empire’s lands. But if this William works for the Nazis it could be possible they are making another push for power. We must prepare for such possibilities. I can now see why my daughter believes you could be an asset to us. Now go so I can write this new pact,” and with that, Moira and John left Lord Brighton so Moira could show John the rest of the house.