undergrounds | It's just one disaster after another

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It's just one disaster after another

1) Statement issued to Circle Daybreak re: Gilbert Norrell, 21st June
For the attention of all Daybreak covens:

You may have heard by now that Mr Gilbert Norrell, High Priest of Circle Daybreak and leader of the Norrellite Coven, has gone missing. His assistant John Childermass is also missing.

We are treating these disappearances very seriously and a full investigation is underway. Attacks on witches, and particularly on senior members of our community, will not be tolerated. However, we do not yet have any direct evidence of foul play and so I would ask you to exercise discretion in this matter. We must not jump to hasty conclusions.

Once we have the full picture of what has happened here, you will of course be the first to know.

My best wishes to you,
Sylvia Redbright, Mother of Witches; Chancellor, Redbright Institute; President of the Night Council

(NB. You may notice that there is no mention here of fae magic or the black tower that appeared above Norrell's home on the day that he disappeared. Sylvia is trying to keep that quiet.)

2) For Lancelot – Norrell's house, Westminster 23rd June
The problem with Norrell is that he's a paranoid recluse. Even getting into his house required a full coven of witches to break the labyrinth spell that would otherwise have confused and trapped anyone who tried to search the place. And after that, the witches were nervous about entering. Though she had sworn them all to secrecy, some of them had seen the dark magic that had hung over the house for near on half a day, a black tower of smoke that had been an absolute nightmare to cover up.

She sent her top Guardian to investigate the matter, but her witches are so spooked that Sylvia deems it necessary to pay a personal visit to the house and confirm that there's nothing dangerous in there herself. Fingers crossed.

She approaches Lancelot first, nodding in greeting. "What have you found so far?"

3) For Natasha – Redbright Institute, 1st July
It's safe to say that Sylvia has a lot on her mind. From trouble with Islington to the mystery of Norrell's disappearance, this has not been a good month. So she's surprised and rather annoyed when she receives a request for a meeting in her office after sundown. Yet another too-long day.

But her PA tells her that it's important and so Sylvia is there at the agreed time, calling for her visitor to come in when she knocks at the door. This had better be important.

4) For Natasha and Simon – Westminster, 2nd July
The news that Simon O'Neill is dead but not gone is potentially game-changing. For one, it means that they have a witness to his murder, which is a huge step forward in their investigation. And it means that she still has a Guardian she thought had been lost – if he sticks around.

Natasha takes her to the street where Simon died. It's late by now, the traffic less heavy. And because Sylvia knows she's looking for a ghost, it isn't long before she feels the familiar prickle at the back of her neck, the cold sensation that tells her a presence is nearby. She doesn't specialize in ghost-related magic, but like all witches she's sensitive to ghostly activity.

"Simon," Sylvia calls, drawing her shawl tighter around her shoulders as she looks around. "Are you there?"

5) EVERYONE READ THIS – A statement from the Night Council, 4th July
On 4th July, the Night Council issues a controversial statement to the leaders of all factions, to be disseminated to their respective communities.

It speaks first of the death of Simon O'Neill, a Night Council Guardian. The evidence is now conclusive, it says, Simon was murdered by an Islington vampire in pursuit of the absurd policy instituted by its leader Raymond Harris which rewards members of the nest for killing werewolves and shapeshifters.

The Night Council strongly condemns this grotesque act, and further condemns this attack on a Guardian which can only be seen as an attack on the Night Council itself. Therefore it demands the Islington Nest cease this barbaric practice with immediate effect, or else it shall be forced to conclude that the Islington Nest is no longer fit to have a seat on the Council.

The statement is signed by Sylvia Redbright, Peter Vrinak, Nora Shannon and Yasmine Merad.

[ooc: Would you like a thread with Sylvia? PM me!]

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This is Natasha's first time meeting Sylvia Redbright directly. She's seen the which before in passing, of course, but she'd been determined to keep her head down, not to draw unnecessary attention to herself as a vampire among the ranks. It had been true when she arrived, a refugee from an embattled and self-destructing nest, and only more true when the local vampires started tilting strongly toward savagery. Then there'd been Jean-Claude's little clean up job, and hiding Alex after her disastrous assassination—Natasha had a lot of reasons not to draw attention to herself.

That had been true right up until she ran into Simon's ghost lingering in the alley where he'd been murdered. Natasha might not like it, but she knows when it's time to put aside what she likes and dislikes and does what's necessary. She might be able to find Simon's killer on her own. She has the skill set for it. But this is bigger than just her, and bigger than taking down one overzealous vampire.

In the end, Natasha knows that she needs the legitimacy that comes from an official investigation. Something needs to be done about Islington.

Which is why the vampire is there, and why when she walks in it's with the air that she absolutely belongs there. It's not ego. It's not even self-confidence. It's the stoic certainty of a KGB agent with news to report. She stands straight, hands folding behind her back and clasping there. "Chancellor Redbright," she says evenly. "Thank you for meeting me on such short notice. I promise I won't waste your time."

Sylvia knows without having to ask that Natasha is a vampire. No one else would ask to meet at such a late hour. So it's no surprise that they haven't encountered each other directly before, but Sylvia is immediately impressed by her professional manner.

She nods, smiling. "Thank you, Natasha. I understand you have some important news."

There's not much more that Natasha can do by way of preamble in this situation. Still, her mouth tightens slightly and there's a brief hesitation as she considers how to beak the news.

"I'm sure you know what happened to Simon O'Neill," she says; it seemed like a safe assumption that she'd know when one of her employees was murdered. "I went by yesterday night to pay my respects, and you could say that I ran across a lead. Simon is still there. Haunting the scene."

Yes, she knows what happened to Simon O'Neill. Her eyes widen and she stands up from behind her desk, leaning forward.

"His ghost is there?" It is more likely to happen when people die sudden or violent deaths. The spirit of the deceased is too shocked or angry to take the proper next step, and they linger around in the mortal realm instead, often without any idea of what to do in order to move on. "Poor Simon..." She shakes her head. "Did you speak to him? What did he say?"

"We spoke, briefly. He wants me to figure out who killed him." Not especially surprising for the ghost of a murder victim. With vampires... in some ways, it was expected.

"He didn't have a clear memory of what happened, but he gave me the basics of what he did know. Vampire. Male. Shorter than him. And Simon says he smelled like campfire smoke."

Left unsaid is the fact Natasha has already stated putting out feelers. Nothing that could be called an investigation at this point, just touching base with a few contacts to see if there was any gossip that might help narrow down a starting point.

"He's in about the shape you'd expect, given the situation."

She purses her lips. Vampire, they already knew that from the way he had died, but the other details are new. It certainly gives them a new lead. A witness, in fact.

"You're aware that Simon was a shapeshifter."

It's not quite a question, more checking that they're on the same page. They have no confirmed motive for this murder yet other than a vampire doing what vampires do, but it isn't hard to think of one.

"I'm aware. He made a handsome dog." The answer is dry, but not quite stoic. She's done fairly well at keeping an impartial face, but Sylvia's statement reminds her of when she and Simon had met and she doesn't bother to entirely hide her fondness for the kid.

"I figure whoever did this probably knew too."

"I agree. But Simon was more than just a shapeshifter. He was also a Guardian."

There's a short pause while Sylvia lets that sink in. This death is far more significant than a student dying, tragic as that is. It means there's a possibility that the attack was politically motivated. Or even that the attacker knew that Simon was a Guardian and didn't care. It shouldn't happen. No one in London should dare to murder a Guardian, as if he was another unfortunate tourist who got jumped by a callous vampire.

She continues: "That makes this Night Council business. And an extremely sensitive issue, given that the attacker was a vampire and we all know who has been encouraging vampires to attack shapeshifters. We have to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible, and as discreetly as possible. Simon might just be our best lead. Have you spoken to anyone else about this?"

She'd rather keep this as contained as possible.

That, Natasha didn't know and it comes as a surprise. It only takes her a moment to process the new information, but it does change things. Natasha has been assuming it was being a shapeshifter that made him a target. While she can't rule it out, she understands when Sylvia explains that it opens other possibilities.

"No," she answers, he tone a little more grim as she responds. "You're the first."

At that, Natasha wets her lips, considering a new possibility. "Should I take that to mean that makes the investigation above my paygrade? Because I told Simon I'd be looking into who's behind this."

And while she doesn't have much in the way of qualms about lying, she'd rather not go back on her word on this one.

This is above Natasha's paygrade and Sylvia already has a Guardian on the case. So she could thank Natasha for her contribution and leave things there. But an investigation like this needs all the resource it can get, and here she has a volunteer. That leaves two questions: one, is Natasha up to the task, and two, can she be trusted with it? Sylvia can't forget that the woman she's talking to is a vampire, even if she is a member of the Outreach team.

Her voice softens a fraction. "Why do you want to help him?"

That's a loaded question. Loaded because Natasha knows that it has the potential to be a lot deeper and a lot more probing than it seems on the surface, but also because Natasha herself isn't sure just how much she wants to examine her motivations. There's a lot going on there, not all of it entirely altruistic. Things she doesn't intend to drag out to classify for another person.

She does want to, though, and she doesn't think Sylvia would swallow a story that wasn't at least mostly true.

"He was a good kid," she says, only a second too late to seem entirely natural. "When I started working here, he was kind of afraid of me, I think. He didn't realize I'd be working with him. He might have gotten a little growly with me, thought I was here for the students and wanted to protect them even though he wouldn't have lasted long in a fight. But when he figured out what was going on, he apologized. He was friendly. He actually went out drinking with me and let me try to teach him to play darts."

Would Sylvia understand what that meant? Hard to say, and Natasha might rather she didn't.

"I owe him for that."

It's a good story. It's exactly the kind of story she wants to promote at Redbright, in fact: members of two different supernatural species who might initially regard each other as enemies, but come to realise that what they are doesn't define them. They can work together. They can be friends. And Simon was... Well, so harmless, really, it's hard to imagine why anyone would want to kill him.

"I see," she says. "Of course, he was your teammate too. Forgive me for asking, but are you qualified to carry out an investigation of this kind?"

Sylvia receives information on everyone who applies to join the Outreach team, but she can't be expected to remember the details of every single person.

Natasha might not have been entirely forthcoming about the details of her past, either. Bad habit. She hadn't lied, but she also hadn't gone into the details regarding her history before she was turned.

She brought he question on herself, and now it's hard not to laugh.

A pause as she clears her throat, considering if there's a tactful way to answer that question, then a resigned smile as she says, "My qualifications might be a little out of date, but up until 1964 I was an active KGB agent. Not coincidentally."

It seemed far-fetched sometimes, and it would be if she'd been snatched off the street rather than chosen and groomed specifically for her skills.

"After that, you could say I was a special consultant through until 1990 or so."

...Well, that's unexpected. An actual Russian spy. Sylvia laughs out of sheer surprise, but something about the way Natasha conducts herself makes it seem perfectly believable.

"Until you were turned?" She can only imagine what kind of nasty Russian mob got hold of Natasha in that case. The turf wars between the vampire and werewolf gangs there make London seem a peaceful haven in comparison.

"More or less. Hard to stay in active duty after that." If Natasha sounds a little rueful, it's not entirely faked. Not exactly sad or sorry, but... she knows how it sounds. Taken objectively, he life had taken more than one seemingly unbelievable turn. Most of them out of her control.

Sylvia's imagination probably isn't too far off. Especially in the past twenty-five years, the nest in Moscow had lost its veneer of legitimacy and become more and more a mob. One that was losing a war.

"I would say I have the skill set for this investigation."

"It sounds like you do." She's willing to give Natasha a chance on this one. Vampire she may be, but Sylvia has heard nothing untoward about her work at Redbright so far. This will be an opportunity for Natasha to prove herself. "Well, I wouldn't want you to break your promise. You'll join Faolan, the Guardian leading this investigation. I'm sure he'll appreciate your expertise. In the meantime, I'd like to visit Simon myself. He needs to know that he has our full support."

And ideally, she'd like to bring him back into the fold. As Natasha knows well, death isn't necessarily the end in this world. It can open up a new chapter.

"Faolan," Natasha nods. She knows him. Looks like they were going to have to stop pretending not to know what the other was about, or that it didn't matter. She nods. That was never destined to last. "I've met him. I'll touch base."

That will wait, though. At least for a little while.

"I can show you where he is." Not that she wouldn't know where Simon had died, but this way Simon would know she was behind Sylvia finding out. Plus, it kept her in he loop. "Anything we can do for him..." Well, Natasha is here to help.

Sylvia nods. "I'd like to consult a medium from my coven first – to be sure that I have the best advice. Let's arrange to meet at the same time tomorrow. You can take me to Simon and hopefully we'll do what we can for him."

She approaches Natasha to shake her hand goodbye. A show of trust is always good, Sylvia thinks, to give those who might otherwise feel like outsiders the chance to earn their place. And she rather suspects that Faolan and Natasha will keep each other in check. Now that will be an interesting conversation. She'd like to be a fly on the wall for that one.

Natasha takes Sylvia's hand to return the shake, her just slightly cool, dry and professional. For her, it marks a sort of deal. At least an agreement. Natasha already works for the institute, but in this issue in particular, she's working on their behalf and on Simon's.

"Tomorrow then. Should we meet here, or somewhere outside?"

"Outside, by the entrance." She smiles. "I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night."

For Sylvia, it's the end of the day. Time to go home at last. For Natasha, she presumes, it's just the start.

Sylvia's not wrong about that. Since Natasha has freedom to investigate the murder, she doesn't plan on waiting until tomorrow to get started. With a last nod, she'll let herself out.

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It's just one disaster after another

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