Before moving on to explore the rest of the library that Akira was now allowed access to, he sought out the young British-Pakistani youth, Mahzi. He was in a side room restocking the shelves with books that only a short time before had been rapidly removed to the safety of the basement. This was the young man Bradbury had referred to as ‘Gawaine’.
Akira knew of only one character bearing that particular name and that was from his childhood books. Lauded as the most faithful of Arthurian knights, Gawaine’s heroic exploits had always thrilled the young ‘chai’.
He had particularly loved the tale in which a newly beheaded apparition had picked up his head and mounted its magnificent steed only to remind the shocked Gawaine that he would be back a year to the day to the day to repay the blow that had so inconvenienced him.
Quite different from the ‘Green Knight’ that had just attacked this bastion of learning.
“Pardonez-moi” stuttered Akira. Mahzi’s eyebrows raised in surprise. Taking that as a good sign, he continued, “Parlez vous le François ancien? Je vouderais comprends ce livre?”
“Sorry, not a word.” He answered in a broad Birmingham accent. He paused, “Not totally true I did do a year of French in high school. Why?”
Akira stared at him for a moment and continued in English. “Ah, Ophelia has recommended I read this genealogy of the Steadman family but it’s in medieval French and I sort of wondered..?”
“Whether I knew every language ever spoken? Nope, my teacher used to complain I didn’t even know English, never mind another language. That’s one for Ophelia I’m afraid.”
“So Gawaine? What was that about?” The young man blushed and straightened his skull cap before replying.
“I personally find it hard to believe. I’m a good Muslim you understand, so Dr. Bradbury’s belief, theory really; that I’ve inherited the mantle of Gawain is a bit hard for me to swallow, even if I do appear to have his ‘gifts’. You know the mystical strength and stone-like Armour? I was unfortunate to have been the first to touch… Anyway I sort of got it, powers, memories and all, from an artefact supposedly Arthurian from the 6th century.
It’s very limited though, I seem to get progressively stronger towards noon, and then start to weaken again until the sun sets and then I’m ‘normal’ again. It’s the memories I struggle with – his memories I mean; so warlike and brutal. Not something I could share with my Imam.”
Akira could see he struggled with the burden. “So these memories? Do you remember his encounter with the Green Knight by any chance? Bit different from today’s attacker, eh?”
Mahzi looked at him in surprise… “Actually it was either the same creature or something similar. We’d encroached on the Green and the dryad attacked us. Actually it was I, he, Gawain… He attacked it first and cut off the creatures apparent head. Hah, can a tree die if you cut off a branch? The creature just gathered it up (it looked like a head to make it easier for us to negotiate with it, not for its own benefit you know). Negotiate? Hah, I answered its call by trying to kill it. I was the barbarian, the beast; not it”
“And his steed?” “What steed? It travelled through the green…” “And how did you escape the attack a year later?” “I don’t know I’m not totally sure he did… It might have been he was sacrificed. Druids were still a common sight and still practiced their beliefs.” He looked embarrassed and changed the subject.
“So were you involved in the Birmingham Incident, in the recovery relief? If so, I’d like to thank you.”
“No, I wasn’t registered then.” Akira remembered about a year ago when a large part of Birmingham (a perfect sphere 1.3 kilometre in radius) has vanished completely taking thousands of people with it. Hundreds on the edge of the incident had been injured or killed and hospitals and emergency services had lost power making the whole situation difficult. It was still a complete mystery what had happened and the crater was still fully quarantined while investigations are ongoing almost a year later. The Protectors team had been investigating at the time and have vanished along with everyone else.
Birmingham accent! Of course. “Were you..?” “Yes my whole family was inside the sphere, I, I was lucky, I was at Uni’ at the time. It was located outside the radius and as a result, I survived.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be, there were thousands of people lost that day. It’s the not knowing for certain… ANYWAY, translation… You need to either persuade Ophelia to help or possibly a translation spell..?”
He picked up the book and skimmed through it. “Well, seems there is one name that shows up again and again… Intermarrying with the females of the line century after century; ‘de Pêcheur de rois’?
Not sure what that means but its applied to people with the same name as the founder of your line ; Khalid Maghribi Al-Zhedma also known as de éternel – ah, the undying ? Was, is Khalid a common name in your family ?”
When Akira failed to answer he continued, “Lots of links to the Vandaleu and Vervaine families so strong mystical heritage and even the occasional link to the Sylvestri’s. That’s quite a heritage – three mystical lineages intertwined through a single, almost unknown family – the Steadman’s?”
Superhero Adventures, UK Style 