I was Stone and He was Wax

Aveline wearing her newly crafted uniform, carefully walked down the dark, cramped hallway, looking for Dick. She was wearing a modernized dress from the 18th century that would have been worn by an English lady, army pants, black boots, and the turquoise Venetian mask with the feathers that Richthofen had picked out for her. She hated this level of makeshift bedrooms, but they had little choice considering that the main level was designed to be a museum and the level below that was command center. Damn it (a word she had picked up from Dick), which room was his? Was it the fifth or seventh room from the staircase? She could never remember and all the doors looked the same and she didn’t have anyone like Guardian Ira to ask. She had grown to appreciate not having his monotone voice in her head, but she did miss him at times like this. Well, one way to find out, right? She inhaled sharply before wrapping her hand around the doorknob and opening it.
“Dick?” she asked, tentatively stepping into the dark room.
Her first thought was to ask Guardian Ira to turn the lights on for her, but she reprehended herself and felt around for the…light switch? Affirmative, she’s pretty sure that’s what they called it. Ah, found it. She flipped it and gasped as the overhead light sparked on and revealed a small, sparse room and every inch of the walls were covered in…digital memories, except they were real and physical. Normally if she wanted to review a moment that had passed, she would have to ask Guardian Ira to pull it up, but here they were. She walked into the room, her mouth open in awe, as she studied the photos, trying to understand their importance.
“What are you doing in there?”
She squeaked as she jumped and whirled around. Standing in the doorway was the intimidating Jean Moulin. While Dick had never banned her from talking to him, he had warned her about him. Not as bad as Richthofen apparently, but still a bastard. He was wearing a black trench coat, a grey scarf wrapped around his neck and tucked into the coat, his grey fedora tilted to a specific angle, giving him a rather dashing appearance as well as allowing for his blue, white, and red Venetian mask with the bird beak. However, the part that scared her the most were his metallic hands with the sharp claws.
“I was uh looking for Dick’s room.”
“Two doors down,” said Moulin, pulling away.
“Who’s room is this then?” she asked, chasing after him.
“Manfred’s.”
Her eyes widened and she glanced into the room again. By the Guardians. She followed Moulin into the next room and he stared at her, far from amused.
“I don’t know how they do it Hyperborea nowadays, but around here we ask for permission before barging into each other’s rooms.”
“Oh,” said Aveline, biting her lip, “I’m sorry, it’s just…you won’t tell him will you?”
“No,” he said, turning away and unbuttoning his coat.
He was halfway done when he peered around his shoulder and noticed she was still there.
“Yes?”
“They say you knew him, before…”
Moulin took off his coat and threw it on a chair with a sigh.
“I knew Oswald.”
She stared at him uncertainly as he took off his fedora, revealing rich, black hair.
“Dick says he’s dangerous and I should stay away from him.”
“I’m sure he says the same thing about me.”
“Is it true?”
“We’re all dangerous, but you don’t have to worry us. We’re not going to hurt you.”
She frowned when she noticed that he refused to take off his mask. She scrunched up her nerve and took off hers. He smirked.
“You should only do that with people you trust.”
“That’s why I did it.”
He sat down on his bed with a sigh and began to unlace his boots.
“You got your answers, now go.”
“How did you know him?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because I sympathize with him.”
He stared at her warily before gesturing to his chair.
“I’m assuming you want the full story?” he answered her inquisitive glance.
“Oh!” she nodded her head and sitting down.
He tossed his other boot to the side and studied her.
“You know what the Oswald Procedure is, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I used to help Gua-I mean Hector perform it.”
“Do you know what it actually does?”
“It…it’s unpeaceful, that’s all I know.”
“It damages you. They cut out pieces of your brain and try to repair it, but they can’t. And with Manfred, Hector cut too deep. Too much is missing, he’s never going to be fully functioning again,” said Moulin, running a hand through his hair, “One of these days I’m going to have to.”
He left the sentence unsaid and Aveline stared at him uncertainly.
“Why does Dick hate him?”
Moulin glanced at her.
“You can ask Dick that.”
“I did and he didn’t really give me an answer.”
“We’ve hurt a lot of people, Manfred and I, a lot of Time Keepers. Many of them were his friends.”
“But you didn’t know…the Guardians they lied to us.”
“You spend a few more weeks with us and you’ll find that doesn’t matter. It’s impossible to forgive once someone you care for, someone you’re close to, goes or is destroyed by the Guardians.”
She looked down at her mask with a frown.
“Is Oswald Manfred?”
“No.”
She looked up.
“Oswald is a part of Manfred, but they’re not the same people, not anymore.”
“But it’s Oswald Dick hates.”
Moulin shrugged.
“How did you know him?”
“I was a Collector and most of my Collections went to him for the Oswald Procedure. After they killed his wife and performed the procedure on him, they sent me to find him. I didn’t.”
“But you stayed.”
He nodded his head.
“Why?”
He studied her and she felt a rush of annoyance.
“I’m a Time Keeper too, aren’t I?” she snapped, jumping up from the chair, “Maybe I haven’t been on any field missions like you and Manfred, but I’m here and I’m helping anyway I can.”
“I went to Canaris first. I knew who he was, what he was, and I thought I’d get both of them-Canaris and Oswald-and be a hero,” said Moulin, holding her gaze, trapping her in place, “Daniel took me to him, because somehow he knew. I don’t know how, but he always knows. He’s recruited over three hundred agents for us and he’s never been wrong.”
She faintly nodded her head, feeling that was all she could do.
“Manfred wasn’t wearing his uniform or anything. He just stood there and, for the first time in my existence, I understood what the Guardians were. You can’t turn away once you see it. You’re compelled to fight. So I became a Time Keeper, worked as a field agent for a little bit, was caught, managed to escape, and now I’m here.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly as he looked away, releasing her, “I’m still so new. I’m learning….just one more question, please.”
He stared at her expectantly.
“Those things on his walls, what are they?”
“They’re photographs, physical representations of the past.”
“How?”
“After Manfred joined, Themistocles decided each member would have a number of memories printed for them, in a physical form. That way, the Guardians couldn’t tamper with them and we’d have a record of who we were.”
“To help you remember?”
“There’s no remembering if you undergo the Oswald Procedure.”
“Then what’s the point?”
“To have something of who you were, an anchor to help you rebuild.”
She frowned, “Those are Manfred’s memories then?’
“No, the few he has left are untrustworthy. Those are our records. They’re everyone Oswald ever performed the Oswald Procedure on. He keeps them in his room so he can begin to understand who he was.”
Her face fell.
“Does it help?”
“In a way.”
She nodded her head and slipped on her mask.
“Thank you,” she said, walking towards the door when she stopped short. On his bedside table were four photographs. Moulin frowned but make no motion to stop her and she walked towards them. There was one of Manfred and Moulin together in uniform, one of Daniel Carpenter aka Canaris, Director of the field agents. He was a dark, handsome man with a funny sense of humor. There was a picture of a pale, thin woman with long, straight black hair, and almond eyes that penetrated into Aveline’s soul. She must have been a Time Keeper as well although Aveline had never met her before. And finally there was a picture of a round girl with brunette pigtails and a wrinkled nose as she laughed, freckles dancing across her face. Aveline smiled and turned to face Moulin.
“I knew you weren’t as cold hearted as everyone said you were.”
“Goodbye.”
She whirled around with a smirk, leaving Moulin alone.