Sunset and The Shadow

Sunset groaned and tried to remember what happened. The Morrigan awakened Josh. We talked to the twins, Scathach and Flamel. We followed them into the antique shop, invisibly. Then what happened?

The mirror! It was a portal! A leygate they called it. That must be how the mirror in Equestria works; partially anyway. That means if I could find the right leygate I could get home.

Now I just need to become powerful enough that Celestia won’t abandon me ever again. I need to become an alicorn; or something else powerful and immortal.

She stood up and looked around. Smile fading from her face. She was in a church. There were numerous lit candles around the alter which she was standing behind. The alter was ornate and traced in white marble.

She looked around but could not see The Morrigan. The pews were empty and facing towards her. It was dark. She looked up and saw The Morrigan flying near the roof. She appeared to be looking for something down below; probably the twins, Flamel and Scathach; or herself.

Suddenly alarms blared throughout the building. The Morrigan started watching all the doors and hallways into the chamber they were in. Sunset dove back down behind the alter and peeked around the corner.

A second set of alarms blared. A door opened and out came Flamel followed by the twins then Scathach. Scathach was looking sick, as if she was going to throw up. Flamel raced down to the large doors opposite from where Sunset was. The twins had a quick look around and followed him. Scathach followed the twins.

“Don’t touch!” Josh shouted. Flamel tried to open the doors and a third alarm blared. Red alarm lights started flashing. The doors didn’t open. “I told you not to touch it.

“I don’t understand. This church is always open,” Flamel said. “Where is everyone? What time is it?”

“How long does it take to travel from place to place through a leygate?” the girl asked.

“It’s instantaneous.”

“And you’re sure we’re in Paris, France?”

“Positive.”

So we’re in Paris. Probably a famous church and that idiot activated the alarms. The police will be coming and we’ll be arrested. Just great. Scathach thought.

“It’s about four o’clock in the morning; that’s why the church is closed,” the girl continued.

Sunset looked up at The Morrigan. She looked calm. She quickly landed and hid behind the alter with Sunset. “What do we do?” Sunset whispered.

“We wait,” she replied. “We meet with Machiavelli, the head of the secret service. He works for the elders. He will probably be assigned to help with Flamel by his elder. He will probably be coming to arrest Flamel now.”

Suddenly, Sunset could smell something. She couldn’t quite place it.

“Snake,” the girl said. “It’s a snake.”

“Oh, you’re smelling a snake alright … but one that walks on two legs,” Scathach snapped. “You’re smelling the rank odour of Niccolò Machiavelli.

“Every person has a distinctive magical odour, you two smell of vanilla ice cream and oranges, Nicholas smells of mint.”

Suddenly the candles went out. The smell of candle wax grew stronger. The candles all flowed together and formed into a golem. Wind whistled past the alter they were behind and just as quickly stopped.

Sunset could hear the sounds of combat from the other side of the alter. It sounded like Scathach was fighting the golem. Possibly with help from the others. She wasn’t paying too much attention to the sounds. She was feeling their magical auras.

Scathach's was moving very quickly all over the place. Flamel's was at the door; he seemed to be using it to try to unlock the door. The twins were moving around near the golem as well but not as quickly as Scathach.

Suddenly, Josh’s aura activated. He was using it as armour it seemed. Then Sophie’s activated. She seemed to be using it to generate heat. Melted wax splashed beside Sunset around the side of the alter.

Shortly both of the twins stopped using their auras. As did Flamel. They went outside. Police sirens were quite loud now. Sunset got up and headed towards the doors, moving around the side of the room to reduce the chance of being seen. The Morrigan followed her. They stopped to the side of the door.

“Welcome back to Paris, Alchemist,” a male voice – not one she recognised – said.

Sunset resisted the urge to look around the corner. The man continued speaking. She assumed it was Machiavelli. After a few minutes she sensed the girl use her aura. Sunset wasn’t sure what she was doing, so she risked peeking around the corner.

Fog carpeted the area. She could barely see anything a meter away. She tried to sense their auras but couldn’t find anything through the magical fog surrounding the church.

She walked out of the church into the fog. The Morrigan stood in the doorway of the church. A man ran out of the fog barely avoiding Sunset.

The man was tall, thin and had white hair. He was wearing an elegant tuxedo.

“Hello, Machiavelli I presume,” Sunset said in French.

He looked at Sunset slightly surprised. Then turned to The Morrigan. “I see that you followed Flamel. Dee told me you disappeared.” He turned to Sunset. “That must make you Sunset Shimmer. Good morning mademoiselle.” He turned back to The Morrigan. “I hope your plan is coming along. Yes, you awakened the boy, but he is still under Flamel’s thumb.”

Sunset tried to sense Machiavelli’s aura. It seemed drained but very powerful. More powerful than Dee’s by far.

The Morrigan replied, “The boy has seen Flamel make mistakes and put them in danger – especially his sister – he will likely join us if we can distinguish ourselves from Dee and Flamel. The two are too much alike. He has already spoken to Sunset for a time, she will be our best bet.”

“We need to find them first. I can’t track them in this fog, and if they get too far away I won’t be able to sense their auras,” Sunset said.

“Come with me.” Machiavelli turned and strode back into the fog and down the stairs. The fog was starting to clear. Sunset and The Morrigan followed Machiavelli at a reasonable distance.

Machiavelli stopped to talk to a policeman. Once he was done he continued on and got into a car. Sunset and The Morrigan joined him.

“Flamel is in Paris. Where would he go?” Machiavelli asked his driver.

The driver turned around and faced Machiavelli. He removed his sunglasses. His eyes were bulbous and fish-like. “Who are his allies?” he asked changing language several times.

Machiavelli gestured towards his driver. “This is Dagon. They have always been loners. To the best of my knowledge they have not lived in this city since the end of the eighteenth century.”

He pulled out a black laptop and ran his index finger over the integrated fingerprint reader.

Dagon and Machiavelli both switched language to an ancient language that Sunset did not understand.

After several minutes Machiavelli turned his laptop around and showed everyone else. It was a photograph of a man. The man had thick curling black hair that tumbled to his shoulders, framing a round face. His eyes were startlingly blue.

“This is the immortal human once known as the Comte de Saint-Germain. He was a magician, an inventor, a musician … and an alchemist.” He turned off his laptop. “Saint-Germain was also the student of Nicholas Flamel. And he is currently living in Paris.”

“Then why don’t we pay him a visit,” Sunset said.