Fantasia Concordat Ch. 03

"I literally cannot talk about it, man. I'm bound by Blood Oath! I swear that's the truth," Henry was practically pleading, which Jack found oddly unsatisfying.

"B-but what I can tell you," Henry added when he noticed Jack said nothing and kept spinning the grenade, "is that it has something to do with you being a mage. My Lord and other important people need to discuss something very important about what that means."

Jack sighed and stopped spinning the grenade. As much fun as tormenting Henry was, he realized Henry was telling the truth. Jack didn't know enough about vampire politics to know if a "Blood Oath" was as binding as Henry implied it was, but he figured Dahlia would have interjected otherwise. He knew he wouldn't get any more out of Henry. Jack smiled and tossed the grenade underhanded to Henry who caught it spluttering and fearfully.

"Relax," Jack added with a small chuckle, "it's a paper-weight."

Henry glared darkly at Jack. Even Dahlia seemed a little incensed at the show Jack had just put on, though he suspected it was because she wasn't told of it before hand. Jack did feel a little guilty about having to scare Dahlia too, but it was really an example of Jack's on-the-spot thinking. Besides, he convinced himself, there had been no opportunity to warn Dahlia. Jack shrugged off her glare and decided to deal with one angry monster at a time.

"You're a fucking asshole, you know that?" Henry's easy smiles and cheap laughs were nowhere to be found.

Jack wouldn't allow his demeanor to vanish as easily though, "Oh, I know," another small chuckle. "Anyway, I've decided I'll go with you to see your Lord."

"Fine," Henry grumbled, unable to hide the fact that he was somewhat relieved.

"So, how are we getting there?" Jack asked. "Is there some kind of magic portal you're going to open?"

Henry just glared angrily in Jack's direction. "No, dipshit, we're gonna take my car."

What followed seemed to Jack to be a near-humorously tense series of exchanges as Jack, Dahlia and Henry got into the small four passenger car and drove off into the night. Henry said little to nothing when Jack prodded him and he seemed to paying positively too much attention to the road and his driving skills. Henry was ignoring him. Jack sank back into the crinkly leather seat, a vacant smile on his face.

There was an odd, sharp feeling of loss in Jack's chest. He realized he was disappointed that Henry hated him after all. It seemed their relationship had gone full-circle and they'd ended just as they'd started; enemies. It seemed especially odd that only a few hours had passed from start to end. Still, the man had easily offered his friendship and Jack had abused his good intentions. Jack told himself that Henry never wanted to be his friend; that the smiles and chuckles were just a ploy to get him to cooperate easier. Perhaps some of that was true.

In a way, Jack was relieved that the distaste Henry felt, now made evident by the pregnant silence crushing the car's occupants, was genuine. Henry didn't have to pretend to like Jack anymore. There was no longer any point in social manipulation. Jack could rest assured that Henry wasn't putting on airs when he grumbled and refused to meet his eyes. This was how it supposed to be. Still, Jack couldn't shake the feeling in the pit of his stomach. It seemed some part of Jack wanted to believe the easy smiles. Jack had wanted to be Henry's friend. How silly of me, Jack mused.

A squeeze on Jack's left hand brought him out of his reverie. He looked over to see Dahlia glaring at him from her spot in the backseat next to him. Dahlia's friendship was one Jack couldn't afford to lose. No matter how refreshing experiencing her completely genuine nature would be, losing her trust was something Jack wasn't willing to do. He had to make things right with her.

"That was some stunt back there, Master." Jack noticed that she seemed to use the polite title only when admonishing him, like a mother calling a child's full name sternly.

"I'm sorry," Jack said honestly, "I didn't have time to let you in on the scheme."

"I didn't even know you were capable of such schemes," Dahlia growled. "Do you have any idea how dangerous threatening a vampire is?"

"I have a feeling I'll find out soon enough."

Dahlia paused a moment. "Aren't you scared? You should be."

Jack looked closely at her face. He couldn't make out her expression in the darkness of the car interior. Even if he could, he guessed she would be doing her best to keep her expression blank. It was only the sudden tightness in the hand still clasped around his that gave her away.

"Of course," Jack snorted, "I'm fucking terrified."

"Then, why?"

Jack pondered the question for a moment.

"I guess you could say I have a special relationship with fear." He waited for Dahlia to interrupt. She didn't. "When I'm afraid of something, I push myself towards it. It gets me into trouble sometimes." He made a dismissive hand wave and chuckled humorlessly. He'd barely let the mask slip.

Dahlia squeezed his hand harder. "Well I'm scared." Her voice was dangerously quiet.

"Of vampires? Henry might be a sourpuss now, but I think I can take him." Jack flashed an easy smile, hoping his joke might help calm Dahlia down. It didn't.

"No, Jack," Dahlia kept squeezing, "There's more going on here. I can feel it. Something terrible it about to happen, I just know it."

"I will protect you." Jack said without hesitation, remembering at the last second to add a smile and turn the cheesy line into a joke.

Dahlia seemed momentarily stunned, so Jack decided to lean in closer and keep speaking. "Let me be afraid enough for both of us. Trust me, I'm used to it."

"Alright love-birds," Henry said without looking back, "we're here."

Whatever Jack had previously thought a vampire coven's lair might look like, it was certainly not the unassuming warehouse they now walked through. Jack was a little disappointed not to see macabre furnishings and art pieces of some gothic mansion or to see coffins and posh looking vampires sipping blood by the wineglass. As Dahlia and Jack trailed behind Henry, who was walking in an angry, brisk pace, Jack barely noticed the forms of vampires hiding in pockets of space between crates and shadows. Some of the vampires looked downright dirty. Before today, if Jack had come to this warehouse knowing nothing about magic, he would have assumed it was a small community for the homeless. Maybe that's all vampires really were, Jack thought, just weird homeless people who drank blood. Jack had to stifle a laugh.

"Down there," Henry said, speaking for the first time since leaving the car.

He gestured with one arm to a set of stairs leading downwards to a well-reinforced metal door. Two guards stood on either side of the door, each holding a submachine gun. Not as well suit to the current situation as the pole-arms of old, Jack thought. When Henry made no indication that he was moving any further towards the door, Jack understood that he was meant to enter the door without him.

As Jack approached the door, one of the two guards gracefully marched over and opened the heavy door by yanking on one of the handles. The door slid to the side, revealing the chamber within. Finally, Jack saw some scenery that coincided with his preconceived stereotypes of vampire culture. The inner chamber looked to have polished marble floors and was well lit with very ornate furniture. He was at once glad that Dahlia was by his side to bring some familiarity into the moment. He briefly considered grabbing her hand, but decided against it.

As he crossed the metal door's threshold, the change in sounds of his footsteps, from a dull thud on concrete to a sharp clack on the marble, seemed to be symbolic of the jarring transition from the dirty warehouse to the posh interior. There was no doubt in Jack's mind that he was quickly approaching the audience of someone important. The conflicting scene since entering the door raised the question; if they could afford such lavish furnishings as the ones that surrounded him, then why did their people look so beaten down? Jack found himself already disliking this "Lord".

As he and Dahlia clacked along the marble floor, Jack quickly spotted a man sitting alone at a table, sipping from a tea cup. As Jack approached, he made out the man's features. Long golden hair, pale skin, soft facial features, and an incredibly well made suit; one tailor made for his slender figure. The man exuded such a stereotypical image of a rich nobleman that Jack expected to find a butler, complete with towel and a silver tray waiting behind the man. There was no butler.

As Dahlia and Jack approached, the blonde man looked up from his ornate tea cup and smiled slightly. Jack found it hard to believe that this vampire ever smiled genuinely and if he did, that smile never reached his ears or eyes.

"Jack..." The blonde man spoke in a throaty voice, licking his lips afterwards, as if tasting the name on his lips.

"Yes, it seems you know who I am but..."

"Jack, be nimble," the blonde man began, cutting Jack off and taking a sip of tea, "Jack, be quick. Jack, jump over the candlestick."

"Like I haven't heard that before." Jack did his best to roll his eyes and appear nonchalant and hide the fact he was already disconcerted.

The man's eyes flicked up to Jack's face once more, "I'm afraid you weren't quite quick, or nimble enough this time, Jack."

"Right," Jack said gruffly, not sure how to respond. "I suppose you're the one who will explain why that is? Explain what candlestick I'm about to sit on?"

"Please," the man gave a hollow smile as he set his tea cup down gently, "Have a seat, both of you."

"Now before I begin," The man waggled a finger at Dahlia and Jack, "I want to warn you that I will not be interrupted. If you have questions save them for afterwards. I'm afraid you're short on time."

Jack nodded his compliance and gestured for Dahlia to do the same. Dahlia looked disapprovingly at the man once before grudgingly nodding her assent. The man picked up his tea cup and smiled again. Jack could tell this smile was more genuine because it was asymmetrical. The man didn't force its perfection on his face so Jack knew it was involuntary. Still, the emotion behind it was not happiness. Jack guessed it was closer to nostalgia, but given the unconventional nature of the blonde man, he couldn't really tell.

The man had a matching saucer for his tea cup, which he cradled gently in the hand not wrapped around the tea cup itself as the he took a gentle swig of tea. A sip so slight, that Jack wondered if he really drank any of the liquid or if he merely brought it to his lips out of habit. The man sat with his slender legs crossed and perfect posture in his cushy chair. One didn't have to understand body language to realize the blonde man was royalty, or at least considered himself to be. And so it was that the next words from the blonde man's mouth did not surprise Jack.

"My name is Lord Allister, and I reside over all of the Kindred vampires in this area." The man took another gentle sip of tea.

"I ordered a couple of my subjects to bring you to me a few hours ago. I have already reviewed their report on how they failed and from what Henry told me, I'm surprised that he was able to convince you to come here peacefully." Allister gave Jack a pointed glance with his eyes. Jack nervously avoided his eye contact, still wary from his previous encounter with seductive vampire eyes. Jack wanted to say something snarky about Henry, but silenced himself, remembering what Allister had said previously about interruptions.

"Apart from my duties as the Lord of this region, I also answer to a higher authority. Your Grimoire here has no doubt told you of the existence of other beings of magical origin. Vampires are perhaps the least prolific of this category, I'm afraid."

"There is another dimension that parallels this one in which many of these creatures come from. It closely resembles what popular human culture would identify as Hell, and as such you would likely consider its inhabitants to be demons. Following me so far?" Allister arched his eyebrows and waited for Jack to nod. He did.

Allister continued, "In this parallel realm, which I'll call 'Hell' for the sake of this conversation, there is a group of 'demons' with considerable political authority whose job it is to oversee the machinations here on Earth. They are known as the Fantasia Council and I hold a small position within this organization."

"Ah, so now we get to the questions burning in your mind," Allister said noticing the responsiveness in Jack's eyes. "Why do I have an interest in you?"

The Lord let the unanswered question hang in the air as he leaned over and placed his tea cup and saucer on the table, apparently finished with its distractions. He folded his now empty hands into his lap. ""The answer to that is because you are a mage, a human mage."

"But why does the fact that you are a human mage matter? Well, Jack, that is because the Council banned humans from magical contact and destroyed all of their magical Grimoires over a thousand years ago."

"...Destroyed?" Dahlia squeaked out. Her face was impassive, but Jack could see the slight tremor in her hands clasped in her lap.

"I thought I said no questions!" Allister snapped, scowling at Dahlia. He looked back over to Jack, sighed, and started again.

"Obviously they did not destroy all of these magical Grimoires, because you have one sitting next to you. The problem, my dear Jack, is that you have contracted with a Grimoire after the Council explicitly banned humans from doing so. I'm afraid to say you're in a bit of trouble."

Jack felt a cold lump forming in his stomach as he processed Allister's words. He connected the pieces and knew what Allister was about to tell him before the lopsided grin and perfect teeth opened to speak the words.

"As for my interest in you," Allister paused to grin, "I am somewhat responsible for what happens here on Earth, seeing as how my coven and I reside here. You can understand why the Council would kindly ask me to retrieve you for them."

"So, I've just..."

"Delivered yourself into the belly of the beast?" Allister interjected. "Precisely. But if it's any consolation to you, you wouldn't have been able to run had you known beforehand. The Council has power beyond human comprehension and your fate was sealed the moment you pressed your hand to that cursed book." Allister flicked his hands disgustedly over to Dahlia, who was staring blankly at the surface of the table. Her complete silence scared Jack more than anything.

"Now, one final question to answer I believe. Why did I mention you were short on time earlier? That is because I notified a representative of the Council as soon as you entered this compound and they are on their way here as we speak. They should be here any moment."

Jack shot up from his chair so suddenly that he had to grab the back of it for support for fear of losing his balance. Allister did not blink at his sudden outburst. Dahlia did not look up from the table and her hands had stopped trembling. Jack looked around the room for any sort of escape route, but knew it was futile before he even began. The only exit was the door they had come in and beyond it were dozens of angry looking vampires. Jack knew he was defeated.

"Let me give you a piece of advice, Jack," Allister called to him calmly from his seat at the table. "Don't trust anyone that you meet in the coming days, especially if they claim to be your friend."

Jack examined Allister's face and found his usual lopsided grin, but this grin was different from the others; it was put in place to hide something. Jack swore he detected a subdued tone in Allister's last warning, but could not really place it. He didn't really care much at the moment.

"Oh my," Allister breathed and straightened his jacket, "Speak of the devil."

Jack flinched and looked up as he felt the familiar surge of magic permeate throughout the room. Jack shielded his eyes as a purple flash erupted from the center of the marble flooring. When Jack opened his eyes, three figures stood in the center of the room radiating magical power.

All three appeared to be female. Two of them were clad in armor, barring a helmet. Their faces were eerily similar in structure, yet both were also equally beautiful. The two armored women could have been twins, each sharing short-cropped blonde hair. They stood on either side of the third woman. Jack felt his mouth involuntarily salivate when he saw her. She stood taller than either of her imposing female guards. She wore only a delicate, tight fitting robe, with a slit up one side revealing quite of bit of leg, ending in dangerously spiky heels. Her skin was an inhuman shade of purple, her hair a few shades away from black. She rested a single hand on her generous hips, a bored expression on her face. Jack could tell right away that this woman was important, or at least she believed she was.

"Lady Alice," Allister boomed cordially as he stood in greeting. He bent down low in a subservient bow. The woman did not return the gesture.

"That's Lilith to you, Allister," Alice replied, a cold snap in her voice.

"Of course, my lady," Allister immediately apologized. A forced smile found its way onto his face. Suddenly Jack understood what he had meant earlier about answering to higher authorities.

"Is this the human?" The woman waved a hand in Jack's direction, still seated at the table. She appraised him quickly with a once over of her eyes. She did not take notice of Dahlia, still staring at the table.

"Yes, my lady."

"Very good," She snapped her fingers and pointed towards jack, "Bring him with us, we're leaving."

The two armored women stepped away from Alice's side and strode confidently towards Jack. Their faces didn't twist or soften from their blank states as they flanked Jack on either side and removed him from his seat, none too gently.

"Easy ladies, I'll come quietly." Jack wriggled defiantly in the arms of his captors.

The women turned wordlessly towards Alice, questioningly. Alice only sighed and nodded. The women released their iron grips on Jack's arms. Jack noticed one of them grab Dahlia and forced her from her seat as well, but Dahlia offered no resistance. Jack began to protest for her sake as well, but was silenced quickly by the disapproving glares of Lady Alice.

"Come. We've already wasted too much time on this."

Jack and Dahlia were each led into the small circle which surrounded Lady Alice in the center of the room. Jack briefly glanced at the runes and tried to decipher its purpose, although he already had a pretty good idea. It was a teleportation rune, something quite beyond Jack's current capabilities. He couldn't even tell where it was meant to go.

Alice muttered a few quick incantations, and suddenly the circle was filled with magical energy. For a few seconds, the air was so saturated with it that Jack felt he was going to choke. It was like a thick fog making it hard to breathe. Then there was a purple flash of light, and all his senses seemed to end at once.

"So where exactly am I going, again?" Jack turned around to ask his stoic captor, whose only reply was to shove him forward once more.

After they'd teleported from Allister's reception hall, their group had split up. Alice and the second armored guard keeping Dahlia in tow had gone down a different corridor, and Jack was prodded along the stone hallways by the remaining guard. All attempts at conversation had died the same way. The woman said nothing and shoved Jack forward, leading him somewhere.