Look What You Made Me Do (Lancelot)

[Guinevere]

Back in the days before they had been pulled back to their respective worlds Guinevere knew who really ran this town, she knew where the real power had been, and if this recent anomaly had something to do with portals, guaranteed, it had something to do with this place. After all, she used to work here. Granted it was as a receptionist but even as a receptionist you get to know a few things, you see a few faces and in her time there she had seen the strings that the Grayle Corporation had pulled. Armed with her bow, and her sword she had headed out to her old place of work, looking to see if any of her previous employers were still there…or at least…if there was any information on the Anonymous CEO that used to run the corporation.

Standing in front of the doors, seeing the growth there…well…it would appear not. The entire building appeared to be encased in vines, however through the brief gaps in between…it looked like the interior was relatively untouched. Interesting. She climbed up a little to see if that would give her a better look through the vines and into the window of the building, to see if there was any movement in there.

She was glad she had decided to ‘alter’ her red medieval dress, ripping it at the front so that it flowed out behind her and had grabbed a pair of brown leggings from the mall. It meant that climbing up proved to be a lot easier. She made a mental note to actually have a dress like this made on her return.

Looking in the window, she saw her old reception desk…it was clear…empty…no growth, no signs of decay…nothing…like it was just waiting for someone to return to it…to begin their work again…

“Interesting,” she said out loud.

She reached for the knife she had picked up early and began to attempt to cut through the vines, however the vine she was currently standing on began to retract for some reason and she found herself falling backwards…

[Lancelot du Lac]

.. into a familiar set of arms. Lance's arms would certainly feel familiar to Gwen, and that sensation, that embrace, lingered for perhaps a moment longer than was strictly necessary, a little more than was strictly proper, and not nearly enough for at least one of the two involved in that embrace. Lance righted his Queen soon enough, before nodding his head to her. "Your highness."

God, how he just wanted to add "Gwen" to that. Especially here, now, alone, technically away from their burdens and their responsibilities. Except that they'd never be free of either, would they? Not Lancelot du Lac and Queen Guinevere Summer, oh no. They'd trade in for new ones: mentors and parents now instead of knight and queen. Still, that didn't completely explain why Gwen had come here.

Lance? He'd followed her. As he always would.

"This is a bit far from the school," he commented, drawing out his sword. The well-worn but well-cared for blade of Summer tapped a nearby vine. What was Gwen looking for here? What sort of answers would be here, so far from the school...?

[Guinevere]

The minute she landed in the arms, she knew instinctively whose they would be. Of course they would be his, of course he would have followed her here, ever the loyal knight. Her arms, a mind of their own apparently, clearly acting on these instincts briefly wrapped themselves around his neck. She looked into his eyes…and felt herself being put back on her feet all too soon. She smiled at him warmly, ignoring the ever present pang of guilt that appeared every time she looked at him.

“Thank you Sir Lancelot,” she said softly, smoothing out her dress and placing the knife back in her belt.

The name felt so formal, in this place in this time. Back home it had felt natural, they each had their positions and duties…but here…the words seemed so…cold.

“Lance,” she added quietly with a slight smile.

Another pang of guilt.

She looked back at the building when he mentioned she was far from the school and said, “Merlin seemed to have things covered there…and…well…from what I remember it was Grayle Corp that used to have all the answers…”

‘What are you doing here?’ she wanted to ask…but, there was a part of her that knew why he was here…he was here for her…he was looking for her.

‘All I do is hurt him…why does he still follow me…’

Instead she said, “Want to help me break in?”

[Lancelot du Lac]

"Gwen," came the almost immediate response, Lance's own voice soft, as if afraid to break the moment. Again he felt that urge, to just sweep her up in his arms, to do something stupid and possibly manly at the same time. It nearly made him smile.

Fortunately, her next comment made it easy to cover his mirth over the insane situation. "He's got it more than covered," he agreed, nodding. "Hopefully he'll get enough spine to try for Headmaster," because they needed someone like Merlin in charge. Plus, if Merlin was in charge, then all the people Lance didn't want in charge couldn't or wouldn't take over: Gaston, Arthur... Gwen herself. Because Lance was willing to bet that Gwen was determined to stay here, likely thinking she could help, dragging Lance and Tristian right along.

"You mean like old times?" asked Lance. Without waiting for more of a response, he stepped forward, swung his sword once, and brought it down, severing a few vines. "If I'd known you'd want to be breaking doors, I would've kept the armor on," he looked over his shoulder, letting his gaze linger for just a bit longer. They had a goal, some reason to be here. Personal... anything could wait.

As was always their way.

[Guinevere]

She smiled when he used her shortened name. It was good to hear, especially from him. They had been so proper, so formal, so dutiful all this time…she could feel a touch of the warmth they once had coming back…but only a touch…how long would it last?

Laughing when he spoke about Merlin she said, “What? And leave Arthur’s side? Never. The thing about Merlin is that he doesn’t actually like being in charge. He loves being bossy, but actually leading? He hates it. So I’m afraid your hopes might be a bit dashed there.”

Merlin would of course make a wonderful headmaster, he had the right temperament and the right attitude, however…she was not certain how long he and Arthur would remain here once the portals were back up and running. In fact…she did not know how long she would stay here. Oh she had a couple of reasons too…however there was her Queendom and her people…they needed her too…

She looked over at Lance and thought ‘But in Tintagel…we can just be us…’

“Just like old times,” she said with a grin, moving forward to start cutting the vines, placing a hand on one of them so that she could get a better grip, “although from what I remember we never actually broke in to Grayle Corp. You’re forgetting, I used to work here, you were the frequent unofficial visitor that always turned up to distract me.”

She looked over at him and smiled, “not that it wasn’t welcome.”

As she brought her knife down on the vine the one that she was holding moved of its own accord. Gwen stepped back in surprise. It had moved slightly to the left, as had a few of the others behind it creating more a gap. “That was strange,” she said frowning and reached out again.

As she brushed her hand against some more vines they separated, some moving left and some moving right…all of them slowly clearing a way forwards.

“That’s…very…strange,” she said, before turning to look at Lance and saying excitedly, “I’m going in.”

[Lancelot du Lac]

"I don't know; he seemed to be considering it. You've got to admit, he's one of our best options," plus Lance didn't want the school to end up in someone worse's grasp. Surely they'd learned how poorly that would turn out with their previous Headmasters/Headmistresses? Had they ever had one that actually put the students first? Lance wished he could think of one, one that had felt welcoming, would actually help these lost students, one that didn't just let them get kidnapped to go on elaborate quests or just drop them on a cruise ship and hope that worked out...

...this school really sucked.

"I didn't realize I was so distracting," he commented, flashing another smile. The memory felt fresh; being here breathing new life into it, into them, perhaps. So many years of stodgy court life started melting as they moved forward, another adventure. "It's actually reminding me more of the old hedge maze,' he admitted, looking at the vines. He noticed Gwen cutting, seeing something shift, and he had to spit out a curse.

"Magic," he added, looking around. "This place probably wants someone to take over," he tightened the grip on his sword. "It's pointless to tell you not to go, isn't it?" Lance sighed, rolling his shoulders. "Pointless to try and go first. Well, go on then. I'll watch your back," here he had to smile slightly, "not that it's that bad of a view..."

[Guinevere]

Gwen winked and said, “You know me so well.”

Turning around she put a little extra ‘wiggle’ into her walk as she started to move through the opening that the vines had created, leading straight to the front door of the building. As they carefully walked along she said, “You were always incredibly distracting, then again, you still are. Watching your face during some of the one to one meetings I have with ambassadors is especially entertaining. I have to work so very hard to keep a straight face.”

They reached the front door and before she could reach for the handle the door itself opened a little. She looked around at Lance, “I think you might be right.”

She opened the door a little more so that the two of them could walk in to the vast reception of the Grayle Corporation. The interior was…untouched. It was as if nothing had changed, the only difference was that it wasn’t heaving with people. The white tiles of the floor looked like they had just been recently cleaned, the magazines had been arranged neatly on the waiting area coffee table and her old reception desk looked just as it did before she had left for the island. The place was…immaculate.

“Of course, Grayle Corp must have some sort of…I don’t know…magical counter magic? Something that would stop what has happened to the likes of the school from happening to their property maybe?” she theorised, she really had no idea.

Whilst knowing a lot of people that could do magic, including Lance, she had never actually looked into finding some of her own. She knew that her ancestors, the Queens of the past, had been capable of such things, prophecy mostly, but there were a few other tricks they had as well, and Ina, her old lady in waiting when she was a girl, had always tried to teach her but she had never been interested or patient enough to learn.

“Is that possible?” she asked Lance.

She started heading for her old reception desk and said, “if we’re going to go investigating any further, we’ll need a pass. Assuming all the electricity in this place is still working.”

Just as she spoke the lights in the reception came on, whirring back into life and lighting the entire area. Gwen paused, looked around and said quietly, “I…I think it might be motion sensors…?”

Shaking her head she lifted the wooden bit to get into the reception pod and continued, “I used to have a machine that I would slot the passes into that would determine what kind of security clearance they would get, if I can just find the right pass for one of the executives then-…”

Her old computer whirred into life and the little machine that was attached it beeped. There was already a card sticking out the top. As she looked at the screen she saw her own picture appear, her old picture from when she first worked here, with all her old details in it. “Ok…ok…” she said quietly, “this is…totally normal.” She thought about it for a moment and said, “for Grayle Corp.”

[Lancelot du Lac]

My was that wiggle distracting. Lance paused, simply enjoying the view for several long moments. Truly, there was no one else like Gwen; Lance had certainly looked. Her comment had his lips twitching. "I live to serve," he drawled. "Apparently that includes serving as an acceptable distraction,' he kept his body tense, running counter to the conversation. He wanted so much to simply relax, to be himself, to release the tension. But to do so now may be to sentence them to some sort of torment.

Lance didn't like already being right.

The place unnerved him. Its cleanliness stood in stark contrast to the world, abnormal in a world filled of abnormalities. "It's entirely possible the place took on a life of its own,' he gripped his sword tighter, "or that whoever was in charge still is." He looked around again. He agreed some with Gwen's theory: it could be simple counter magic, and he nodded. It could also be the place itself. Or it could be that someone still lived here. Or...

... "Trenale wants us here," he said with confidence. "It purposefully brought people back, willing or not," he looked around. "I have a funny feeling we'll find everything we need."

The lights seemed to confirm it, and when Gwen turned, Lance merely quirked a brow. He followed, heading into the reception pod. The beep made him nearly draw the sword, and he certainly stepped forward to pull at the card, studying it.

"Does it know you're a queen?" he asked, almost as if speaking to the building. He looked at Gwen, his expression hard. "It... or whoever is in charge, it might know that you'd come back here. Maybe you're supposed to take over,' he did not relish the idea; his hard expression confirmed it. He looked around. It had dragged him here too... literally the only one of them with training in healing. With new people, from what Merlin had said. It also reminded Lance of what he'd argued with Merlin:

"It may also be for the best if we attempt to take control," he held the card out to Gwen. "Better we help the new batch of unsuspecting students than someone else. Someone like those in the past," because the past had been... rough. If nothing else, Lance wasn't going to let history repeat itself, and he had a feeling that Gwen would agree with that sentiment.

[Guinevere]

She looked at the computer screen and said, “No, it’s all my old details that are on it. Maybe it just recognised that-”

As she spoke the text on the screen in front of her began to change, line by line it updated, noting that she was a Queen, that she was married, changing her emergency contact to ‘King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot’, that she had son… That made her frown, she tensed, “if the person who ran that place is still here then we are definitely going to have words.”

She didn’t know what it was about seeing Tristian’s name there, but she did not like it. It had been her choice to work for Grayle Corp back when she was younger and despite some of the stories she heard about some of the more secretive department she did think that the corporation did mostly good things for Trenale and the school. Still, there was so much about its operations that she did not know, that she still did not know, and until she did she did not want Tristian anywhere near it. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to drag Lance into it. Then again, asking him to stay behind was an argument that would only waste time and an argument she would almost certainly lose.

Gwen hesitated for a moment, then nodded and took the card from Lance’s outstretched hand, “ok. Let’s do this. I highly doubt that Grayle Corp would just leave all this for someone to find, they always had a plan, and they always had a back up plan just in case the plan failed. They will have something in place.”

With the card firmly gripped in her hand she headed towards the lifts, scanning it. It made a beep noise which was followed by a bing noise as the lift doors opened. An electronic female voice said, “Welcome to Grayle Corp your majesty.”

Gwen looked at Lance before getting in the lift, which eerily, was already playing that elevator music that was often found in the lifts of tall buildings. She looked at the panel to the side and all the different floors, “So what do you say? Shall we try the ‘Magical Transportation and Alternate Realms floor? Or should we just head straight to the top?”

[Lancelot du Lac]

Lance too noticed the line changes, and he stiffened, eyes narrowing. Like Gwen, he did not appreciate seeing Tristian's name showing up there. Gwen's son might not have been Lance's, but that didn't stop him from loving the little guy, from definitely putting his life in front of Tristian's, blood of Arthur or not. He nodded slowly as Gwen spoke about having words, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword all the tighter for it. Yes, there would definitely be words exchanged.

Card for now. "I just hope you're not their fall back," Lance said bleakly. He recalled his conversation with Merlin, his suggestions there. Was that why the school had pulled them specifically? Merlin as Headmaster, Gwen as CEO, Lance there to patch everyone up... it really did seem like they'd pulled people ot fulfill roles, as well as to fill the halls. And given how this place kept treating them.

He stepped in right behind Gwen, keeping close without being too obnoxious about it. Over the floor, onto the elevator, looking right at the panels. As Gwen asked, he leaned forward, tapping the top floor. "Let's see if anyone's in charge," he said as the doors started to close. He'd never actually been much higher than that, since he'd only come here to visit Gwen. He looked around as he did, looking back to her. There was so much he wanted to say, but he knew one thing was at the forefont of both their minds: "I don't like that Tristian's name was on that. How did it figure that out?" He frowned, again gripping his sword hilt tight. This sort of nonsense was exactly what he'd been dreading. He looked up at the numbers increasing on the display, each clicking them closer to potential answers.

[Guinevere]

Gwen looked over at him as the two of them stood in the lift and smiled fondly at the man that had stood at her side all these years. It had never failed to please her how much he had come to adore Tristian. Of course, in her eyes it was physically impossible not to adore Tristian, but still this man, amongst others, had many reasons not to think kindly on that child…but he did…and it made her so happy. She knew it made Tristian happy too. She was fairly certain that no one would ever be able to usurp his hero and idol, his father, but there were plenty of people that came a very close second, including herself, and she was ok with that. Her son, like her, had a lot of love to give, she was happy to share it.

“Magic probably,” said Gwen with a shrug, “This whole place is steeped in, it was one of the reasons they decided to set up their Headquarters here. This is just one of many you know, they have more buildings like this one in several different lands…well…maybe not exactly like this, in some places they dress them up so that they don’t stick out so much, castles and what not. I tried to find the one in our lands but I never could, possibly they don’t have one there yet.”

The lift started to ascend and the jerking motion moved her closer to where Lance was. She smiled up at him but did not move away again.

“The thing is, as…shady as this place was it did provide a useful service to the town of Trenale and Tintagel Academy, it provided new arrivals with start-up money, places to stay, it helped them acclimatise to this new world or else help them find their way home. It managed some of the portals, it funded the school, it generally kept everything running smoothly…until the war that is…but even then they were right there on hand to offer a safe haven…and who knows what they were doing during the war…”

As she looked at all the different levels on the panel; ‘Research and Protection of Magical Creatures’, ‘Dimensional Security Services’, ‘Magical item Research and Storage’….yes….there was definitely some shady aspects to the company as well, but she knew a good many people that were grateful for the Grayle Corp and the best start that it had given them.

“So…are you glad to be back?” she said looking up at him as the elevator continued to play an instrumental version of ‘Killer Queen’.

[Lancelot du Lac]

Magic, that had Lance grunting again. He had to agree though: it was probably magic that did this. Either magic or technology. The thought that this place had several buildings like this unnerved him slightly. Just how far reaching was this place? And again, its shade had him wondering. It certainly made him step closer to Gwen, not that he needed much of an excuse to do so.

Which perhaps helped him understand what she was saying. He was silent while she explained, and found himself reluctantly agreeing, again. It all played all too well into what he kept insisting: this place wanted them here to run it again. "So it probably wants you in charge," he concluded after a bit of silence. "So that someone who's good and just is handling that and helping people. Just as we should put Merlin in charge of the school," Lance let out another breath, reaching up to rub at the back of his head. This... how everything seemed to keep locking them into roles, falling into place, it bothered him.

Which just had him laughing dryly at the question. He gave Gwen a rueful look. "I hate it here," he confessed, before looking back. "The magic, the technology, the chaos it brings into our lives... the only good thing about this place is that you're still here,' he looked down at his hands, opening and closing them. "Guess I should also add that here I can just be a healer, which is nice," though back home he'd all but been offered the position of court healer too. Thanks to modern training, he was ahead of most of the locals. He looked up to the numbers. "What about you? Are you happy to be here? With Tristian?"

[Guinevere]

It made sense, what Lance was saying, about this place wanting them to take on their respective roles. After all these years it had pulled them back here, there was no denying that in some strange way Trenale was some kind of sentient thing. However, why her? Why all of them? Why had they been pulled back. These were the sorts of questions that she always believed that Grayle Corp had the answer too, now she was beginning to suspect she might be wrong.

“Well…if they need someone to do it then I’ve made a career out of helping people,” she said and the pointed to one of the floors, “there you go, you can be head of ‘Medical Services and Magical Disease Control.’ First item of business, look up dragon pox.”

She was trying to joke with him, lighten the mood, try to hide how much this place was seriously making her nervous. Could she do it, could she really take on Grayle Corp? She already had a Queendom to run and as well as that she helped Arthur run Camelot, not to mention Tristian, did she really have time to do this as well…

…if it helped people.

She looked round at him as he spoke about his time here. She at least had good times here as well as bad, for him…it seems to have just been one disaster after another…except her. She smiled and said, “Well…I’m glad I made your time here more bearable…you did the same for me…”

She thought about his question and said, “Strangely…yes. I’m worried about things back home, but then I always was, even when I was here the first time, and I can’t imagine the state I would be in if Tristian was not with me. I think it will be good for him to see this place, now that it is back up and running…I just always felt…that little bit freer her…somewhere…where I could be myself and do the things that I wanted to do rather than being weighed down with duty and responsibility.”

The doors let out a ‘bing’ noise and opened. “Although…that might change,” she said under her breathe.

The doors opened to a reception area. There was a small waiting area with white coloured comfortable seats and a sleek looking white desk that looked like it might be for a receptionist. To the side of that were two double doors, mirrored, with ornate silver handles on it. In fact, mirrors appeared to be a common theme around the room. She took a deep breathe and headed towards the double doors, as she passed the receptionists desk she noticed a bowl of fruit. Smiling she picked up an Apple and threw it to Lance, whilst taking one for herself. “May as well eat now, who knows when we’ll next get a chance,” she said with a shrug, delaying going through the double doors.

[Lancelot du Lac]

Lance snorted at the mention of medical services and magical disease. "I'll stick with being the on call medic at the school," though he'd been called a "murse" for years, he was pretty used to it. He may grumble, and he still didn't want to be here, but he knew that the students needed someone looking out for them, helping them out, keeping them together. If this school was going to pull people, then people like Lance, like Gwen, like most of the ones brought back, needed to be there to help them out, and to make sure that what happened to them didn't repeat... or worse.

The mention of bearablitity had Lance smiling, rubbing at the back of his head, almost embarrassed at the admission. "I keep thinking I should disagree..." said Lance, sighing. But some part of him didn't. He stared at the numbers, wondering if being here really was the best for Tristian. He supposed if they were here...

bing.

Lance walked out, trying to actually get ahead of Gwen. This was a fool's errand, and he knew it before he even tried it. Sure enough, she got ahead, heading straight for the fruit. Lance caught it, giving it a cautious look. He'd already seen that most of the food in the area seemed magically contained, but, still.

"You really think it's a good idea to eat fruit that's clearly been magically handled in a place known for magic after being taken here by magic?" he asked, arching his brow. He nodded toward the apple in her hand. "You eat first. Then if you fall into an enchanted sleep, at least I'll have a reason to kiss you before I say I told you so."

[Guinevere]

The ‘Murse’ had a point. Was she really prepared to eat this just because it was the first piece of food she had seen since arriving and wasn’t sure when she would see another? She was almost going to put it back, seeing the logic in that particular statement when Lancelot made his next statement. The apple was halfway back to the bowl when she stopped and looked round at him.

She smiled.

Raising the apple so that she was holding it in front of her, she walked towards him, the same playful smiled on her face and a glint to her eye, a smile and a glint that had not been there in a long time. At least not genuinely. “Well,” she said quietly, when she was standing right in front of him, inches away from his face, “I guess we’ll see.”

She lifted the apple up and took a bite.

She chewed.

She swallowed.

She shrugged, “pity.”

Turning on her heel, she walked towards the double doors, reaching out to push them however they opened of their own accord before she could.

The room beyond was completely white and had ceiling to floor windows all along one side. On the other were mirrors, reflecting the sky on the other side, making it look like another row of windows were there also. To one side, in front of the real window was a long glass board table with what looked like a map of Trenale and Tintagel etched on it. In front of the mirrors was a small seating area with large comfortable looking white chairs and a glass coffee table with another bowl of apples on it. At the very end of the room, was a glass desk and a large white desk chair.

“I don’t know about you,” she said to Lance, “but I kind of want to sit in the chair.”