undergrounds | A Spring Tradition [Lambeth raid]

The Unsuspecting
Early morning

At dawn, most people are still asleep, nestled soundly in their beds. Some might be stirring, but all is quiet. What is about to come? Has no warning. Except, if one's extremely perceptive, an influx of the feel of magic in the air.

Still, that could merely be the fault of the changing of the seasons, as the Seelie Court begins to grow in power.

The Surprise
Late morning

At precisely 11:11, something in the air shifts. The fae who had walked in -- that she cannot make a door still aggravates Lagertha extremely -- have changed their purpose. They are no longer merely idling around.

Instead, their magic is used to force open doors or windows.

The news will later report a rash of break ins, with jewellery and pieces of art going missing. Expensive, especially unique things (be they magical or not) are the prize. Cash? Matters little. Three children, left unattended for too long, also vanish.

The Aftermath
Early evening

Circle Daybreak made a fine show, Lagertha will give them that. She let those who opposed her see her as she is, not as she pretends to be. 'Lacy Brook' is still uncompromised.

And it is Lacy who sits at a coffee shop in Lambeth, listening to the news report. The angry police, the 'distraught' parents making a plea for the return of their children.

You shouldn't have been passed out drunk when your son was crying, she thinks as she listens to one single mother weep and wail. That boy? Is far better off under her care in the Other Realm. And she fully intends on keeping him.

"What is the world coming to?" she murmurs as the news story ends.

To her credit, she manages not to look or sound pleased with herself when she says it.

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Would it please him? An odd sort of question, but he focuses more on Childermass now.

"Yes, of course. If you have seen anything at all to help then please, tell me. The first day or so of a disappearance is the most critical, especially in situations like this. If we are to have any hope of finding he child or pressuring the fae into returning it we need to move quickly."

Childermass nods. He had expected such a response from the other man, but had asked to hear it in his own words. "Near as I was able to see, there was but one participant in this act," he notes, glancing sideways at the other man. "A woman. Fae woman. She did not appear to act unkind towards the boy, if that should make a difference at all."

He pauses a beat, before admitting, "Perhaps I may have been able to stop her, but I admit, not knowing if there were others who may have been lying in wait, it would have been a risk. One such that I was not willing to take. To wind up with both of us dead would have helped no one."

"Even if she is kind to the child that does not mean no damage is done. The fae have their own customs and behaviour, different to ours, and they age differently. They can tire of children before they are grown."

Flicking through on his phone for something to make notes he glances up at Childermass again.

"Can you describe her? The fae you saw."

Childermass shrugs slightly, knowing how it will sound but then again, are not all fae odd in appearance to some extent? Especially when all of their glamour is dropped and they are in their truest, least human form?

"A Shieldmaiden," he replies. "She appeared like a warrior queen. If I had any guess, I'd say that she's old. But I do not think that any of the nobles themselves would be sneaking into this realm and plucking children from their homes." He gives another shrug, before he offers simpler details. "She was blonde, average height. But from the looks of her I would not care to face her one on one, to be true."

Blonde, average height, appearance of some sort of fighter. Lancelot makes idle notes of Childermass' description, trying to think if he can remember any who fits such a mental image as he frowns at his phone.

"Was the child unharmed when she left with them? Did they seem willing to go, or was the child unconscious at the time?"

All important questions, as they will influence how easy it is to coax the child back.

Ah, such a noble heart this man has. Childermass shifts to lean against the building behind him. He's been on his feet all day, and it wears on a man, regardless of whether that is the norm or not.

"She walked away with him," he responds. "How she got him to come with her, your guess is as good as mine. Some children need little coaxing in such matters at all. He did not appear to be harmed, however, no. Whatever her purposes, or your opinions about such a person, she did not seem to treat him unfairly. For a person who was effectively removing a child from their own home, of course." He offers another little shrug.

"Harm does not need to be intentional to be done," Lancelot points out, frowning up at Childermass thoughtfully. "However content the child may be, harm is being done in removing them from their home. Taking them to another culture. Changing their perception of the world without even meaning to."

Lancelot knows well enough the fae who took him may have, from their perspective, been rescuing him. Yet it has still ended up with patches of his life missing, and that is damage in and of itself.

"Mmm," Childermass tones, which could be a confirmation of the other man's words, or it could be a simple acknowledgment that he said them. It's hard to tell with him, really. He leans back against the side of the building where he stands, taking in the other man and the conviction with which he's made such a statement. It suggests that this is personal, although for what reason Childermass cannot say for certain. Not yet, anyway.

"Perhaps so," Childermass replies after a moment. "Although is not such an experience also defined as learning?" He raises an eyebrow. "And if knowledge were harm, there would be far more stupid people in the world, I think. Or far more damaged, for that." He shrugs again. "It is all in the matter of one's perception. Of course, you being a Guardian yourself," he says, revealing he knows exactly who it is that he is talking to, "I have no doubt what perception it is that you have on the matter. Sir."

Lancelot's brow furrows slowly at Childermass' words, less at the revelation that the man knows who he is (he hasn't kept quiet that he's a Guardian, after all, he thinks he's reasonably well recognised by now) and more at the suggestion inherit in what Childermass says. That he has some preconceived ideas based wholly on his affiliation.

He presses his lips into a thin, unhappy line.

"The fact that something is being learnt is not separate from harm being done," he says finally. "Nor is it the same thing, If you are content to leave a human child in the hands of the fae that is your prerogative, but I intend to see the chid returned to its family."

Childermass raises a careful brow at the other man's words. It's clear that he obviously feels some sort of personal connection to this child and returning him to his human family, although he wonders how much he even knows about where it is that he's come from. Where it is that he's so insistent on returning him to.

"And the fact that a place is considered to be one's home, that certain people are blood kin, that does not mean that it is the best place for a child to be raised," he points out. "But I am not content to do anything. I am merely stating a fact."

He studies Childermass with obvious wariness, but gives a single nod finally. Lancelot is not someone who rises easily to an argument and he isn't about to start now.

"Then you will help?" he prompts. With the child. With tracking down what happened, getting it back. Anything he can. Lancelot is only one person, and he's not one hundred percent sure this is exactly the right situation to call Faolan in on. Not considering what he's up to.

Childermass gives a moment's pause. Will he help with the child? Well as far as he's concerned it isn't strictly necessary. But he's here anyway, and the other man may be a lot of things but he's a Guardian besides them. Refusing to aid a Guardian, no matter how soft that person might seem, could come back to bite him later on. And not just him, but Norrell as well.

So Childermass inclines his head slightly after giving the question the consideration that he should, before responding. "If you should require it... I am here."

A Spring Tradition [Lambeth raid]

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