by J. M. Briggs
Morgana must have heard something in her voice because a moment later she gently added, “Alex also keep in mind that the SS was one of the larger organizations. They did more than just the death camps, they were also an intelligence organization and if Paris does hold the key then he would have likely been an administrator there. Potentially doing historical research for the Ahnenerbe if he was one of them.”
It was a stretch and Alex knew it. They didn’t know a thing about this guy other than his name and that he’d been a Nazi. Still, she remembered the distress she’d felt during his memory of the book burning. That didn’t guarantee that he was any good, but maybe he hadn’t been a total monster.
“Also,” Morgana continued after a moment. “A lot of people were trapped by the Nazi regime. If you had a family or couldn’t get out in the early days you were under a lot of surveillance. Not to mention that once the party took over depending on your profession it was required that you were a member of the party. A lot of people faced bad choices between being Nazis and the safety of their families.”
Jenny squeezed her shoulder again and Alex wondered how accurate what Morgana had just said was. It was hard to imagine, but then again she did come from a culture that painted all Nazis as evil for the sake of having straightforward enemies in movies.
“So do you think the Iron Hammer is actually in Paris?” Alex asked to distract herself.
“It would explain why you started dreaming about this life,” Morgana reminded her gently. “Your magic is reaching out trying to find it.”
“Have any of the others ever had dreams? Like mine?”
“No,” Morgana admitted carefully. “But we’ve usually put the artifacts in safe places and recovered them as needed. You’re the first Iron Soul that has needed to use your magic to find them. It is a different set of circumstances.” A loud sigh came through the phone before Morgana added, “I need to do some research and see if I can find anything. You girls get some sleep and bring the boys up to speed. Tomorrow we’ll sort out a plan.”
“What do you think is going to happen, Morgana?” Nicki asked, voicing Alex’s own question.
“I’m not sure yet, it depends on what I find. If there is any evidence that Eckstein was real and had a connection to the Ahnenerbe then it will change what happens next. As I said for now try to get a couple more hours of sleep.”
That wasn’t much of an answer and Alex wanted to protest, but the call ended. Jenny half dragged her back into the bed as Nicki put her phone back. Both of them gave her reassuring smiles and Alex sighed in silent surrender. Putting her head back against the pillow, she waited as Nicki turned off the lamp and went over to her own bed. Jenny’s hand found hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Alex just stared up at the ceiling as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She wondered what Morgana thought she was going to find about some random World War II soldier in one night. Tomorrow they’d plan, but Alex already had a strange sense of what they needed to do. She remembered the sight of the Nazi flag atop the Eiffel Tower and couldn’t help the excited flutter in her stomach. Paris, she’d always wanted to go there.
11
Finding the Way Forward
There was not enough coffee in the whole of the west coast to make her feel better. And Alex knew that with Seattle only three hours north that was saying something. Her whole body ached and she was certain that she could still smell the smoke of the book burnings. There was a dull pain in her back of her head, but she couldn’t seem to turn her brain off. She didn’t want to think about anything at all, but the memories of the dream kept whispering to her like a siren song that she knew meant horrible things.
The weight of her phone in her pocket was difficult to ignore as the temptation to start looking up when the book burnings had taken place and try to learn more about this person she’d probably been eighty years ago taunted her. Of course, she knew from experience that she might not like what she found. It was all a far cry from the ideal of the reincarnated King Arthur who would always be good and save people.
“Here you go.” Jenny said. She set a steaming cup of coffee in front of Alex with a soft clink. “Drink up.”
Alex blinked at the sound of the voice as the scent of the coffee hit her. It was a simple large deep brown mug that looked hand made with hints of blue around the rim and handle. She found the earthy color oddly reassuring. Grumbling at Jenny’s overly cheerful tone, Alex obediently picked up the warm cup and took a drink. The bitter taste hit her tongue, but the rush of caffeine was already doing its job.
“You know,” she said after swallowing a few sips. “I’m not sure if coffee is the best or worst thing we ever created.”
“What?” Nicki chuckled and slid into the seat next to her. “An addictive not restricted substance that millions can’t get through a day without? Surely not.”
“Don’t start, Nicki.” Aiden groaned as he sank into his seat at the large corner table holding his own mug. “Not this morning.” He sighed happily after his first sip.
Alex nodded her agreement and took another long sip of the coffee as she looked around. The coffee shop was fairly quiet thanks to the initial rush of the day being over. It was a pretty old building with the brick exposed on the interior. Local artwork hung from small chains from the ceiling and small cards with prices were next to them. A display of baked sweets was next to the register and the staff was moving fluidly around each other behind the counters. There were a few groups scattered about that alternated between older folks and people their own age. She was so lost taking in the environment that it took her a long moment to realize that the others were watching her and waiting.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Alex told them firmly as she looked into her mug of coffee. “Nicki brought you up to speed this morning and that’s that.”
“Not really, Alex,” Bran countered kindly. “It’s the best lead that we’ve got. You’ve probably been thinking about the hammer so much that your mind and magic reached out to find it.” He offered her a soft smile though his green eyes were a bit sad. “That’s something to be grateful for even if it is a bit rough for you.”
Bran’s explanation didn’t make her feel much better, but it did ease the worry about why she’d suddenly started dreaming about yet another life. Seeing and feeling Arto die hadn’t been a picnic and hadn’t been useful, at least this had the potential to be. She stayed silent and took another sip of her coffee, looking into the brown swirling liquid rather than her friends.
“And Morgana is right that you shouldn’t make assumptions about this former life,” Aiden said. “World War II and Nazi Germany was a mess. Efficient on the surface, but a lot of issues. There were resistance groups and depending on the circumstances you- he may not have had a lot of options.”
“I really don’t want to talk about it guys,” Alex snapped. Then she sighed, putting down the coffee cup and forcing herself to look at them. Vaguely she wondered how messy and tired she looked. “I get what you’re saying, but I don’t want to get my hopes up.” Shaking her head, she groaned a little before adding, “I mean I’ve already got a slave ship captain former life. There’s no getting around the fact he was a nasty piece of work. I was just hoping that I wouldn’t find out I had another nasty life so quickly.”
“I get it Alex,” Lance said gently, giving her a smile as he rested his elbows on the table. “Reincarnation is a bit uncomfortable. Jenny and I know that.”
“It’s not the same thing,” Alex reminded him. Leaning forward herself, she looked between the pair of them. “You weren’t Nazis.” The word tasted bitter on her tongue and Alex was sure it was the years of history, culture and movies and not the coffee.
“Maybe.” Jenny said, tugging at a strand of her hair. “Might have been. It could have been one of our lives, who knows? The point is that you certainly aren’t a Nazi.” Jenny reached over and brushed her hand over Alex’s for a moment. “It isn’t you, Alex. Not anymore and it doesn�
�t affect this life. Remember?”
“You can’t obsess about this,” Lance said firmly. “It’ll mess with your head.” Alex almost flinched at the words, remembering the panic attack she’d had in Bran’s kitchen. Her stomach tightened and a chill swept over her. “But denial doesn’t help either.”
“You two do realize that this doesn’t seem that convincing from you,” Alex huffed as a strand of blonde hair fell into her face. “You are dating now so clearly there is some carry over.”
“Which didn’t start until we’d taken some time to process things,” Jenny pointed out with a frown, obviously a little offended by her point.
“Look I appreciate that you two have experience on this crazy issue,” Alex forced out, trying to keep her voice calm though she could hear a quiver. “But it’s the memories more than anything. I…” she faltered for a moment, all too aware that the others were waiting. “I enter their head, I feel things with them and it isn’t always pleasant. It’s not really about if this guy was a Nazi, it’s just… sharing headspace even in a dream is weird.”
Understatement, but the others’ expressions softened. Alex was aware that they were all exchanging worried looks and was reassured that they got it, at least to a point. She felt a little lighter and inhaled deeply even as her knees turned to jelly beneath the table. From his place on her left side, Bran reached over and squeezed her hand. He caught her eye and gave her a small smile.
“I know,” he murmured to her and Alex was reminded that to a certain extent Bran did. Unlike Jenny and Lance, his visions had actually put him into some sort of contact with the original Bran. “We’ll back off,” he promised. “Just tell us what you need.”
“If you want to talk then let us know,” Nicki added, looking uncomfortable. “We’re your friends, Alex.”
“Exactly,” Aiden agreed with a smile. “Yours, not Arto’s or Thor’s or Gottrich-”
“Gottfried,” Alex corrected with a chuckle. “Honestly what is it with you and Nicki and names?”
She got what they were saying. It sank in and Alex knew that at least on most levels they were right. Yet if the dreams didn’t stop… what then. Jenny caught her eye and gave a small nod of understanding. At least Jenny and Lance did know that it would take some time to process. She wondered if this cold knot in her stomach was something they’d experienced, but didn’t want to ask. Now wasn’t the time. They didn’t really have time for this.
“I should get the tablet set up,” Bran said. Turning in his chair, he reached for his bag. “Morgana should be calling at any moment.”
“That isn’t necessary,” a crisp slightly accented and very familiar voice said behind them.
“Morgana!” Alex squeaked, almost falling from her chair in surprise. “Uh-”
“I said that we’d speak.” Morgana raised an eyebrow as she came to a halt next to their table and stared right at Alex.
“I thought you’d call,” Alex told her. Lance stood up and grabbed another chair from a nearby empty table and set it across from Alex. “I wasn’t expecting you to be in town.”
“Just arrived,” Morgana said, sounding a touch out of breath. She took the seat and nodded to Lance. “I felt it was better to do this in person.”
“You didn’t water travel did you?” Nicki asked quietly, looking around the coffee shop as if she expected to see a fountain or pool of water.
“No, Nicki,” Morgana answered patiently. “I drove up an hour ago and scryed for you.”
“You can get it that detailed?” Bran questioned with wide eyes. “So exact?”
“I could see the coffee shop name,” Morgana explained gently with a soft look of amusement. “Then I used Google.”
Pressing her lips together, Alex almost laughed as Bran’s expression faltered as his brain processed her statement. Nicki wasn’t able to hold in the giggle and Aiden grinned. Jenny looked surprised and a bit thrown off by Morgana actually showing a sense of humor around her and shifted a bit closer to Lance.
“Now if that is settled,” Morgana chuckled affectionately as her eyes traced over all their faces. “We have things that need discussing.”
“Is Merlin back yet?” Alex asked. “Any news?”
“I’m afraid that Ambrose has not contacted me as to his plans,” Morgana said. She shrugged out of her light jacket and hung it over the back of her chair. “He told me that he was going to seek out Sif and confirm that she didn’t have information about the Iron Hammer. He has yet to confirm that he is on his way back to Ravenslake.”
“Can’t you call him?” Nicki questioned with a deep frown that made Alex nervous.
“I have attempted to, but he seems to be out of range,” Morgana answered. As they began to ask more questions, she sharply brought up a hand to motion for silence. “Don’t panic, he may very well still be in the mountains looking for clues. Service can be unreliable in rural areas.”
“Is this unlike him?” Alex asked uneasily. The idea of Merlin simply dropping out of contact frightened her a little though after three thousand years she expected that he could look after himself. “He’ll be alright, won’t he?”
“It’s not unlike him, Alex, so try not to worry. He’s been known to follow his own path at times, just usually not when there is an active Iron Soul life.” Morgana paused thoughtfully and gave a little shake of her head. “Merlin has lived through much worse things and he has magic right now,” Morgana assured her with a slight smile. “He’ll be fine, it just means that he is not going to be a part of this conversation. I’m sure that he’s just trying to follow some trails on the Iron Hammer.”
“So what are we going to do?” Aiden asked, leaning forward and lowering his voice. “You wouldn’t have come all the way to Portland just for a chat if you didn’t have a plan.”
Morgana gave Aiden an approving look, but said nothing as one of the servers came over with her mug of coffee and croissant. She nodded to the server and made them all wait as she took a sip of her drink.
“I called on a friend in Germany, a fellow history professor,” Morgana explained. “Called in an old favor. He wasn’t able to find much on Gottfried Eckstein, but confirmed that Eckstein was a professor of linguistics in Cologne before the Nazis took power. He was married with four children, two sons and two daughters. His family lived in an old village a little outside the city.”
“And?” Alex pressed, her heart racing. “Anything else?”
“Johann did me a favor and only had a few hours Alex,” Morgana reminded her sternly. “He was lucky that Eckstein’s name could be found in relation to the university. Any information on his career in the party is going to take a great deal more time and honestly a lot of luck to find. Many records are long since destroyed.”
“But hey he was a language expert,” Aiden said, giving her a smile. “That would explain why the Nazis may have sent him on an expedition for the Hammer. Probably means that he wasn’t part of the fighting or…” he trailed off with his smile falling.
Morgana said nothing. Alex was grateful that her professor wasn’t in a hurry to offer potentially false reassurances. Her mind turned over the information of the four children nervously. She’d never heard of an Iron Soul having kids before and with them being from World War II she might have grandkids- Alex stopped that train of thought with a sharp little shake of her head. Sitting up straighter she took a deep gulp of her coffee and pretended not to notice Morgana’s gaze.
“So is this friend of yours going to keep looking?” Nicki asked Morgana to Alex’s gratitude since she wasn’t sure she could get her mouth to work.
“No,” Morgana said. “I don’t want to draw too much attention to it. The last thing we need is Arthur catching wind of what we are looking for. He’s already proven that he’s happy to use cell phones to track you, I don’t doubt that he’ll try to monitor what Merlin and I are doing.”
“I don’t remember him being that tech savvy,” Jenny muttered, gripping her mug tightly and clenching he
r jaw.
“He might have kept it a secret or he might be working with some Sídhe descendants,” Aiden offered with a tilt of his head. “I mean if you think about it, they look albino, but too many of them in one place would attract attention. They may work behind the scenes jobs.”
“You think they have jobs?” Lance asked. Then he pressed his lips thoughtfully and nodded. “I suppose that some of these creatures must have some sort of income.”
“A topic for another time,” Morgana cut in smoothly though Alex thought she saw a glint of interest in the older mage’s eye. It was weird to remember that Merlin and Morgana didn’t necessarily stop and think about things like they did. “We have more pressing matters to discuss. Alex’s dreams are most certainly the result of her focusing on wanting to find the Iron Hammer. Gottfried Eckstein isn’t a great lead so far so I will keep digging and see what we can find. Alex’s words about the Iron Hammer being in Paris are our best lead and we need to follow it. There was a lot of chaos in Paris during the Nazi occupation and a lot of effort was being made to preserve historical sections of the city. If Gottfried Eckstein did get his hands on the Iron Hammer then Paris would have been a good place to hide it.”