Chapter 718 – Angels and Intel

Chapter 718 – Angels and Intel

John still loved cathedrals. Sure, they were overdesigned pieces of immense impracticality, but that was part of the point of their existence. Cathedrals were the highest places of worship; their entire purpose was to make one feel the presence of God through their design. Even from the outside, the church loomed in an odd way above John. In one way, it imposed him, on the other, he felt respected.

The idea that an inanimate object, a building of all things, could respect him was incredibly odd. Regardless, that was his impression. Marie waited for him with one of her slender eyebrows firmly raised. “You look at this building with more veneration zhan a sweets addict looks at a chocolate orange.”

“That’s less bloomy than your usual metaphors,” John couldn’t help but respond with a joking observation.

“It is a-“ Marie began to correct him.

“A simile, yes, sorry.” John waved off. “Potato, potahto. Anyway, I just really like big stone buildings with impressive windows and cultural value.”

“As a leader, I find function to be more important zhan form.”

“In this case, form is the function,” John retorted, causing Marie to fall silent for a second.

Then she bowed her head in a literal display of bowing to his wisdom. “Touché,” she conceded the point, and they finally headed inside. The second they were past the grand wooden door, the French noble looked to her potential lover with anticipation. “I am awaiting this surprise of yours.”

“Hmm, we’ll see if it happens at all. I don’t have control over it,” he told her.

“Is it another part of your Gamer abilities?” Marie wondered.

Hesitantly, he shook his head. “No, I think this is something else that Gaia just tangled me up in. I don’t know exactly why.” He kept his voice respectfully low; this was still a church after all. “Honestly speaking, I’m looking forward to what she pulls out of her head next. Gaia’s involvement, indirect as it is, usually works out to my benefit, even if I have to dance around like a monkey for her amusement.

“Your powers, your life and your character continue to intrigue me,” Marie chuckled. “It is no wonder that you attract such a circle of capable and beautiful women. The willpower you display in handling so many at zhe same time is commendable.”

“So, you can make compliments,” John acknowledged in a surprised tone.

Rolling her eyes, Marie responded, “I’m fully capable of ‘zhe compliments.’ I do not often have reason to praise aspects of strong characters. Zhere are many more weaknesses in others that need addressing.”

“Well, do less of that last bit and more of the praising and you’ll make a lot more friends,” John told her as they arrived in front of the altar at the cross section. “Do you want to take that oath?”

“Hmm.” Now it was on Marie to hum thoughtfully, taking off her hat and looking up at the cross and Christ hanging from it. Placing the hat on a nearby bench, she then joined her hands in the typical prayer pose, closed her eyes and lowered her head.

John had expected her to say what she swore out loud, but she kept it between herself and God. On a surface level, this annoyed him, just because he wanted to hear her say it. If she took her faith moderately seriously, then her making that oath quietly would be more effective though. Words to other people were fallible in formulation. Words to God, if one believed in that, for those only intent really mattered.

“I have offered and I have asked,” Marie broke her silence and picked up her hat again. “We shall see if that haz any impact on my behaviour you regard as positive. I will expect something to be offered to me in return.”

“Slavery is deeply dishonourable,” Marie simply stated. “I want to see it fought and abolished at every turn.”

“Seems more like an American or British mindset to have than a French one,” John joked and earned himself a poisonous glance that could have come straight from Lydia.

“Zhe world likes to forget that the French abolished slavery before either did,” she stabbed his chest with a finger. Her honest annoyance emphasized her accent immensely, “While zhe world at large iz often disappointing, I ezpected better from you. Stupide, très stupide!”

“Je vous demande pardon,” he quickly apologized in French. “Was just meant to be a joke, the French have made numerous historical contributions.”

“You’d do well to remember zhis,” Marie crossed her arms. “You Americans like to joke about white flags and boast your accomplishments, seldom remembering that your independence was thanks to our contribution.”

John could only nod, to show he agreed and to dissuade her. It seemed to work, so he returned to the original topic. “If you insist on tagging along, I won’t say no. It just won’t be pretty by any description and thus not what I would normally want associated with a date.”

“I’m not a weak-willed woman that needs to be protected from bloodshed, I am Marie of house Damocles, the Illuminati’s foremost family,” the same insisted, and it was decided.

“Your foreign affiliation is exactly why you should think carefully about getting involved,” John reminded her. “If you insist, then I will not stop you, but whatever consequences are born from this are yours to bear.”

“I’m no patron god, I bear no obligations to withhold myself.” Brushing an unruly strand of her black hair behind her ear, Marie stood her metaphorical ground. “Aside, zhese are only slave traders, no? Nothing for anyone to take offense over.”

“As far as the Intel goes, yeah,” John confirmed.

What he had received from Gaia had been the location of (hopefully) New York’s last remaining slave trader guild. How they had survived the past few months was a mystery John would look extensively into later. That their location was overlooked was easily explainable. As long as they were outside of the border of the Hudson Barrier, hiding from anyone who wasn’t a Fateweaver was quite easy.

How they received new humans to sell and had arranged to get things done without Scarlett being notified in any fashion, however, was the more mysterious part. For the latter, explanations could be easily found. As far as the former was confirmed, John would look into the part the police force dedicated to this area played. There weren’t a lot of people, so any corruption should be quickly identified.

Along with the location, he had also received the levels of all members of that guild. Information that would have been valuable for other organizations, but was limited to twelve people in this case. Twelve people of no particularly impressive numbers or standing. Which was also why John had decided to end the date in favour of waltzing in there by himself and cleaning things up.

As much as he preferred spending time with Marie, if he allowed the misery of whoever was stuck down there to continue for longer than needed, he would have felt like the scum of the earth. None of that showed on his face, though. For the moment, he kept calm, almost joyful. There was no need to channel his anger before it was actually time to strike.

“We can’t know if they have customers or other potential threats present, though,” he gave her to mind.

“Zhen why are you going by yourself?”

“Because I have six lifelines to burn and am basically guaranteed to have control over the Protected Space once I get in,” John told her. “I’m just saying that I can’t guarantee that I can protect you.”

“I won’t need your protection,” she stated, “my decision is made.”