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2020-11-02
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2025-10-07
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30/?
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Gold Lotus Gambit

Chapter 7: Chapter 5

Summary:

Holy exposition batman! Harry's got a bit of a monologue at the end but I mean... ^^;;

Yeah, I'd say I'm sorry but I'm not actually. I needed to find a way to merge these concepts in a way that fit both universes- and I think I did okay! I hope you're all enjoying this strange adventure I've decided to take :)

Chapter Text

          Eggsy landed before the bookshop, an innocuous building with the familiar small passageways for Knowledge Seekers tucked into shadowed corners and a familiar insignia emblazoned on the door. He pulled the pai sho tile out from beneath his shirt, and spent a long moment looking between the two, wondering how he got here. Through the windowed door he could see the dim lighting, spirit energy flowing through glass that lined the ceiling, a pale facsimile to the bright lights of a shopping mall or grocer’s shop. A warm, inviting, light that was enough to see and read by without being oppressive- and in the middle of it all, Harry sat on a plush sofa with a glass of amber liquid. He locked eyes with Eggsy through the glass, and Eggsy watched as a stream of water came up and around from somewhere unseen before curling around the handle of the door before pushing it open.

 

          ‘Well,’ Eggsy could hear the laughter in his voice, ‘are you coming?’ Harry hid his smirk behind his glass as he took a sip, the water barely brushing Eggsy’s jaw as it made its way back beyond Harry. 

 

          ‘Ha ha, very funny,’ Harry tipped his glass as Eggsy shut the door behind him with a wave, ‘Y’know I’ve never met anyone from Lotus b’sides you. And, somehow,’ Eggsy looked him up and down, hands in his pockets, ‘I know you ain’t one.’ Harry seemed to roll his eyes, or maybe he just closed them to savour the last bit of his drink, before setting the glass aside.

 

          ‘Come with me.’ Harry rose from the couch swiftly, not a movement wasted, and walked confidently to one of the study rooms. Through the door he could see a desk covered in books and scrolls, a hook on the wall that bore a coat and a flat cap, and tucked into a corner was another of the Knowledge Seeker’s passages. Eggsy wondered what he was thinking, as he followed Harry into the room, just doing what Harry asked when there was no one who could possibly vouch for him. If this went wrong-

 

          But there’s no reason for it to go wrong, he rationalised to himself as he made his way across the room. Harry had had many opportunities to harm him, or to allow harm to come to him, and he’d done the opposite. If he wasn’t crazy Harry had even healed him after the fight at the pub, for all the good it did him now. As if having heard his thoughts, a ball of water appeared before him, though Harry hadn’t moved a finger, and pressed itself to his face. Eggsy hissed, flinched away, but the water pressed further still and glowed and he couldn’t help but sigh in relief as it meandered across his face and throat, healing the bruising and the cuts Dean had given him just hours ago.

 

          ‘Come on in,’ Eggsy opened his eyes, not aware he’d closed them, and as he entered the room Harry shut the door, his other hand gestured toward the mirror Eggsy had entirely failed to notice. Harry stood behind him, at an angle, and Eggsy watched as the water that had been healing him pulled away before returning to Harry’s belt. ‘What do you see?’

 

          ‘Someone who wants to know what the fuck is goin’ on. And you, I guess.’ Eggsy decided that, whatever was going to happen next, he wasn’t giving a fuck. If he spent all his time wondering and questioning every little detail he’d get nowhere fast- but he couldn’t taper his curiosity completely. He didn’t let himself hide the confusion in his eyes, in the slouch of his shoulders, in the ever so slight drop of his jaw- he wasn’t going to lie, no matter how much more secure it made him feel to do so.

 

          ‘Cheeky,’ Harry smiled, one side pulled up yet both his eyes crinkled at the edges, ‘I see a young man with potential.’ Eggsy froze, his jaw dropped just slightly more than it had been before, and he wanted to knock his head and clear his ears. What? ‘A young man who is loyal, who can do what he’s asked, and wants to do something good with his life,’ Harry locked eyes with him in the reflection, ‘does that sound accurate?’

 

          ‘Don’t sound much like the kid you met at the pub earlier,’ So maybe he’s a bit bitter about that.

 

          ‘I’m not in the habit of apologising for the truth- but I am sorry for how I presented it to you. I was not acting when I said I’d had a rather emotional day, and unfortunately part of that I took out on you prior to you luring some more acceptable targets to me. Now,’ Harry gave Eggsy no time to process, no time to accept or reject the apology he’d hidden, ‘have you seen the mover Trading Places?’ Eggsy shook his head, reeling from all the changes of direction, ‘Nikita? Pretty Woman?’

 

          ‘No,’ Harry sighed to himself, and Eggsy felt the sudden urge to apologise.

 

          ‘Alright,’ Harry shook his head, as if to clear it, ‘my point is that a lack of silver spoon may have set you on a path- but you don’t need to stay on it. If you’re prepared to adapt, to learn, you could transform.’ Harry took a deep breath, and Eggsy felt as if he was finally getting it.

 

          ‘Like in My Fair Lady?’ Harry looked down at him physically, seeming to forget the reflection before them, with wide eyes and twitching lips. A joke he’d somehow told but wasn’t in on.

 

          ‘Well, aren’t you full of surprises. Yes, Eggsy- like in My Fair Lady. Only in this case,’ Harry paused, a look in his eye that Eggsy couldn’t identify, ‘I’m offering you the chance to be a Kingsman.’

 

          ‘A “bookkeeper”?’ Eggsy used his fingers to emphasise how little believed the façade.

 

          ‘A Kingsman agent .’

 

          ‘Like a spy?’ Eggsy raised a brow with a grin, not truly believing what he’d said but pushing the envelope of Harry’s patience- or so he thought.

 

          ‘Of sorts.’ Apparently he was more on the nose than he’d thought, but he couldn’t help but scoff. What about today did Harry think was worth doing all this for?

 

         ‘Dean’s fixing to weight me to the riverbed and mum’s done nothin’ to stop him and his wreaking havoc around the joint. There’s only so much I can forgive and forget, you get me? D’you really think I’ve got anything to lose?’

 

          ‘Young man I have no doubt that you have a great deal to lose- but you also have a great deal more to gain, just as your father did.’ Harry glanced at Eggsy through the mirror, eyes soft in a way Eggsy couldn’t quite describe, and all he could do in reply was swallow and nod once. For better or worse, he wanted to know where this went- he wanted to know even this miniscule fragment of his dad’s life, and damn the consequences. He’d given up so much for the sake of his mum and her wishes- this was going to be for him .

 

          Harry stepped up to the mirror and extended a hand, placed it fully onto the glass before stepping away with a firm nod. There was a loud click, a shift along the floor’s edges, and the room began to fall. Not fast, just a steady shift downward that wasn’t accompanied by the harsh clang of machinery or the sound of rock shifting. Eggsy couldn’t help but look up, at the ceiling as it grew too small to see, at the walls as they shifted from paint to metal to stone and back to metal again, then back down at the floor as if hoping to see the mechanisms that powered it.

 

         ‘Shortly after Kuvira’s defeat at the hands of Avatar Korra,’ Harry began, distracting Eggsy thoroughly from the room at large, ‘a prospective member of the White Lotus grew a bit jaded by the organisation having been reduced to the protectors and trainers of the Avatar. They had once been much more than that, powerful leaders in their own rights helping to protect the world from the shadows. He saw that their new structure inhibited the types of assistance they were able to offer- and as he spoke to members of the Nations he found that they agreed.’ Harry peered at him from the corner of his eye, a look somewhere between cunning and understanding on his face. ‘After all, the police had not stopped Amon or the Red Lotus- and Kuvira had nearly defeated the Avatar despite all of her guided training. Who could protect the people, if their guidance had left such exploitable weaknesses? Never mind that the Avatar is just as human as the rest of society, but they saw her as a deity and treated her and her actions accordingly. There could be no flaws; at least, none that couldn’t be quickly explained away.

 

          ‘But that’s beside the point. The people of the four nations began to galvanise around a set of movers released by VGI that featured Non-Benders, Benders, and Spirit advisors working in tandem to protect the world regardless of societal status, skill, or political affiliation. The Kingsman became a symbol of justice and peace regardless of borders; there were radio theatrical productions and televised programmes, school plays and novels- it wasn’t uncommon to find people bearing their symbols tattooed to their body or stitched into their clothing. Desna decided to capitalise on this and formed our organisation in an effort to gather people who wished to preserve peace and protect life. The Avatar was a single flawed being, bridge between worlds or not, and though every group has their faults he decided that the potential benefits far outweighed the risks.

 

          ‘As we look around us today, the Avatar has become far less important than they were in the past. To be frank, the Avatar and thus the Order of the White Lotus have become effectively defunct in light of society as it stands now- and at least the last three Avatars, if lifespan estimates are correct, have been born and died in utter obscurity. We care more for the stars of the latest mover and political celebrity than any supposed bringer of balance; and the benefits of multi-bending became less impressive with every derivative discovered and harnessed by the masses. Kingsman, shadowed as it is and always has been, has stepped into that protectorate role; we work outside of bureaucracy to ensure the safety of the world, no matter the actions necessary to do so, with no care for recognition of our sacrifices.’

 

          Eggsy wasn’t sure what to do with the sheer quantity of information thrown at him just then- it was too late to turn back, not that he even entertained the thought beyond wondering if he was vaguely worthy of such a risk. He was here, in a seemingly endless lift that had once been a study, the future looking more and more impossible by the moment.