Hunting Le Fay

[Blackthorn]

Galen, his uncle Branan, Gideon Ambrose and Riordan Dalcais stood in the great hall of Buckland Academy as they waited for Rose MacLeod to make her way down to them from her chambers. Galen was still befuddled about why Riordan, or Danny as he preferred to be called, wanted to come along on this outing so badly. Maybe he thought this would win him brownie points with the extended family? Galen had no clue.

"I hope Rose gets down here soon so we can use the library," Galen said as he tapped his foot on the rose-colored marble floor of the castle that stood on the outskirts of Edinburgh. "Snape will have our heads if we wander in on our own."
 
"Severus is away at the moment," Rose said as she descended the staircase. "Sorry to keep you waiting. That demon ichor was hell to get out of my hair, and I can't get you the books you want if I have any ichor on me. The books can sense it and will go into a pocket dimension."

"Oh, ain't that a joy," Danny said as he grinned at Rose. Galen rolled his eyes as he was sure Danny would hit on her in short order.

"Thank you for your help, Rose," Galen said as the gentlemen followed Rose to the library that was located on the opposite end of the castle.

[Riordan DalCais]

"What? The stairs don't move?" Danny asked only half jokingly as the group made their way down the hall. "This place looks like that school in Harry Potter. Why don't the stairs move?"

Rose turned and looked at Danny, and the exasperated expression on her face said it all. "This is not Hogwarts. There is no Hogwarts, even if that woman who heads the X-Men's school thinks there is," Rose said as her eyes grew darker. "She might be a millionaire, and she might know a lot about mutants, but when it comes to magic, she is a neophyte."

"Emma?" Galen asked with a chuckle. "Emma wants nothing to do with magic. Trust me. Mother has put her off it once and for all. The only magic wielders Emma trusts are Illyana Rasputina, Amanda Sefton and Megan Gwynn."

Rose looked at Galen and scowled. "Not Stephen Strange? I thought everyone loved him and his Eye of Agamotto and all that Vishanti spellcasting?"

"He seemed like a major downer at that party," Danny added as they got to the library doors. "Then again, that party was a nightmare."

[Shadowmage]

Branan looked at Gideon and rolled his eyes as the group followed Rose into the library. "Thank you again for your help, Rose. I know Le Fay has been a thorn in Malcolm's side for centuries, and I'd be more than happy to send her to the pits of Annwyn for all she's done."

"Just pray she doesn't raise that demon army of hers again. Not the one at the party. The one she had back in Camelot," Galen said as his face turned grim. "I know Iron Man and Doctor Doom got into some sort of drama with that army back when I was a boy, and I would hate for anyone else to live through a nightmare like that."

"Trust me," Gideon said as he held the door open for the group, "the vampire community doesn't exactly want her running around either. She has been known to craft enchantments that counteract daylight rings. Come to think of it, the were community has had run-ins with her as well. She is an equal opportunity pain in the arse."

"If you have any books that might help us shut her down," Branan said as Rose led them into a small inner room filled from floor to ceiling with racks of ancient texts, "we will be forever in your debt."

"Before any of you say another word," Rose said with a grin, "the room works like Siri on an iPhone. Ask for a topic or title, and the room will do its best to locate the tome. Sydney was the one who dreamed this up. If it doesn't work, I'll get you the books the old fashioned way."

[Gideon Ambrose]

Gideon stood in stony silence as he waited for Branan or Galen to pipe up and order a book. He was still extremely antsy about Deirdre being off on her own with her frenemy Andie, but he had to have faith that the ladies would not gut each other while away from their significant others.

"Perhaps Danny and I should have a crack at the literary works that refer to that witch, while you and Galen work on the heavier side with the grimoires?" Gideon said to Branan as Rose motioned to the doorway. "What?"

"If you want literary works, then you have to go out in the main stacks. This room is solely for magical tomes," Rose replied as Gideon looked at Danny and ventured back out into the main section of the library.

"Oh, lovely. Good thing I know the Dewey Decimal System so well," Gideon said as he headed to find a copy of Le Morte d'Arthur in the stacks. "I just wish we knew where to find that demoness and that de-aged offspring of hers."

[Sydney MacLeod]

"Excuse me! Pardon me!" Syd started yelling as she ran through the library and skidded to a halt near the door where Rose was supervising the group looking for Morgan Le Fay. "Hey hey! I'm going back to New York with Granddad. Seems Le Fay's demon horde didn't just go back to their hidey hole."

"Hello, Sydney," Galen said as she started to turn frantically around and waved to all the visitors.

"I said hey when I skidded in," she laughed as she turned to see Granddad Malcolm beckoning her to come back to the main entrance to the library. "And now I need to scoot."

"You mean you need to see if the demon hunter who hangs out with the X-Men is there. The one you asked about at the party last night," Rose added as Sydney gave her a wink.  "Don't do something stupid. Please."

"What could go wrong?" Sydney asked as she blew kisses to everyone and then ran off.

TBC Syd & Malcolm in the SHIELD cleans up thread

TBC everyone else here

[Juno]

"Now where in the world did they get to?" Deirdre said as she made her way through the stacks of books in the Buckland library. She was thrilled Severus Snape was not there at the moment. He was dispeptic on the best of days, and after that fiasco at the Hellfire Mansion, he was likely beyond insufferable at the moment.

"Gideon!" DeeDee shouted as she finally saw her love at the end of one of the long rows of books. "Andie and I were making each other crazy, so I decided a breather was in order. I really don't want to mess up her chances with Galen. And I missed you."

The vampire enveloped Deirdre in an embrace, lingering for a moment to take in the fragrance of her hair. "Your timing is perfect! And I missed you, too. We are trying to find any clue as to why that foul woman Le Fay has wandered back into our lives now. We've only started our work here, but we found out some of the demons are lingering in New York. Sydney and Malcolm just left to help out there."

"Oh, that sounds like a joy," Deirdre replied as she grabbed one of the books Gideon was picking up from a nearby table. "Let's get started!"

[Blackthorn]

Galen looked at his Uncle Branan and Rose, pounding his fist on the table as he looked at the book that had settled down in front of him. "This is taking too long," he muttered as Rose gave him an odd look. "What?"

"There is another way to do this, but it isn't necessarily safe," she said as she placed her hand on one book and let the information flow into her like water into a cup. She stopped just as quickly and lifted her palm to see that magic and information were swirling under her skin now. "One of our students is very adept at this. Autumn Parker."

"Oh no, my mother will kill me if we drag Autumn into this mess," Galen said as he looked over at his uncle. "Mother would not want Salem magic getting into the mix. It would make Autumn a very easy target, and she is a fragile soul as it is."

[Shadowmage]

"Autumn may be a fragile soul to the casual observer, Galen, but she is well studied in the craft," Branan said as he glanced back at his nephew. "I do agree, though, that your mother would have our heads on pikes if we brought Autumn into this. Salem-based magicks can be all too iffy, and I'd hate for that vein to be cut open and bled dry by Le Fay. The Priests are connected to it through the late Joshua Garrett, may the Lord and Lady have mercy on his soul, and the fact Elizabeth Priest was involved in that mess at the party makes Salem magicks a known quantity to Le Fay."

"Why in the world is Le Fay doing this now?" Galen asked as he watched Rose reverse her spell and send the information back into the book. "She's hovered on the edges of all things magical since her days in Camelot. I remember seeing her when I was a boy. She terrifies me no less now."

"Her machinations are, as always, a mystery. The few times I visited all of you at Camelot did not make me think all that kindly of her," Branan said as another tome settled before him at the table. "She thrives on playing mind games. It sickens me no end."

[Blackthorn]

Several hours passed as the group poured over book after book to find an answer to the Problem Le Fay, but it did no good in the end. "Mother is going to be very upset about this," Galen said as he looked at Rose as the last of the magical tomes flew back to its appointed place. "Are there any other resources we could check?"

"Mystic Council library would likely be your best bet, Galen," Rose replied as Gideon and Deirdre made their way back into the room with the others. "I can call over there and find out if they have anything," she added as she said as she scrawled a note on some paper before lighting it ablaze. Galen watched as the fire quickly extinguished itself, leaving the note behind instead of sending its fiery message to the recipient. "That is beyond odd."

"DeeDee, something is wrong," Galen said as he looked at his sister, all the while palming the hilt of his sword. "Uncle Branan, should we go pay Melkir a visit?"