found some Spy x Family stuff I wrote a year ago
don’t expect anything more, but it’s good. So I thought I’d share.
198X
Damian Desmond was going to become prime minister of Ostania. He HAD to. Because a long time ago, one of his closest friends (and the girl he’s been completely infatuated with since he was six) told him to do his best to protect world peace. He remembered it like it was yesterday. It was the last time he ever saw her.
Damian had thought it was a strange thing to say at the time. Stranger still was that she had given him one of her Stella Stars. A star he always kept pinned on the inside of his jacket, where no one else could see. As he looked at it now, he remembered the way her emerald eyes would sparkle. The determined look on her face when she was doing pretty much anything. And how serious she looked at that faithful last meeting. Like she knew that the next day, the Forgers were going to die in a car crash. Like she knew he would never see her again.
He looked down at the star pinned to his jacket and smiled as the crisp morning wind battered his face.
“Anya, wherever you are, I hope your proud”
Damian Desmond was going to go up against the National Unity Party. He was going to spearhead the reunification of Ostania and Westalis, and make both countries better for everyone in them. He was going to end this Cold War once and for all. And he was going to win. For her, who never could, Damian Desmond was going to become prime minister.
—
As Damian walked into his office, he saw Becky Blackbell sitting on his desk.
“Gee, do you always come in this late? We have work to do. And you need to get a new blazer. No ones going to take you seriously in THAT”, she said.
Becky was dressed to the nines, as always. Which made the comment worse.
“This is a good blazer, blackbell. Not my fault you only know how to dress like a 3rd rate hooker”, he retorted.
“RUDE! You DO remember I’m funding your entire campaign, right? You’re lucky I’m here, Desmond.”
“What ARE you doing here, Becky?”
Becky rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. “You idiot! We have that whole team meeting to discuss campaign strategy today. And you have an interview for your new assistant.”
“New assistant? I don’t need one.”
Becky raised her eyebrow. “Seems to me like you do.” She jumped off the table and started for the door.
“Look I’m kind of sick of organising all your appointments and telling you what you need to do. That’s not my job and you know it. So you either go do these interviews or so help me god, I will pull the blackbell companies backing of you campaign.”
As Becky was about to leave she turned around and glared at him.
“The meeting is at two. I’ll send your interviewees in, you better have picked one by then. I left their CVs on your desk.”
And with that, Becky was gone. Damian sat down and groaned. She was always like this.
—
Damien had been through 3 interviews, all complete Rubbish. He swore that he would have better luck pulling random people off the street. He had one CV left.
Anna Fordd.
When he read the name, he gasped a little. A name that sounded so much like…
He shook the thought out of his head. ‘She died a long time ago’ he told himself.
He called this ‘Anna Fordd’ in as he read her CV. It was impressive. Graduated at a top university in Hungaria, speaks a number of languages, extensive experience as a clerk, and a keen interest in politics. And the ability to use a desktop pc. A perfect candidate. Almost too perfect.
He heard a knock on the door.
“Mr Desmond, sir? I’m Anna Fordd. Here for the interview? The front desk told me to come right up.”
She had a soft lilting voice. Comforting. When Damian looked up at her, it was like he was seeing a ghost. Anna Fordd had big green eyes. Anyas eyes. He felt a tug in his heart.
‘It’s impossible’ he thought. ‘She’s DEAD’.
“Mr Desmond, are you alright? Would you like me to get you some water?”
The interruption pulled Damian out of his gaze. ‘People don’t come back from the dead, Desmond.’
“Oh yes, sorry. miss..?” He asked.
“Fordd.” She smiled, still standing.
Damian noticed that her hair was a soft brown colour not pink. She had thick rimmed cat eye glasses, and a red beret atop her head. She was dressed in a simple shirt and waistcoat and was holding a green notebook. Still, her face reminded him so much of Anya. Maybe a distant cousin?
“Miss Fordd. Why don’t you take a seat”
She nodded and sat down.
“I have to say, your CV is quite impressive.”
“Thank you sir”
“You studied in hungaria for a time? What was that like”
“Yes! It was quite fascinating actually. I studied language arts, and did a course on politics on the side. I learned a lot!”
“Is that what got you interested in politics then?”
She gave him a small smile. “No actually. I grew up in Ostania and I saw first hand a lot of the issues the people were going through. A lot of the aftermath of the war still affects people to this day, and I think that’s we need better leadership to actually address it. Your reunification plan… that sounds like a dream now doesn’t it.”
Damian was a bit taken a back. He found himself blushing. He steeled himself and moved on.
“It says here that you can speak 5 languages fluently?”
“Yes! Of course as you can see I am fluent in German, but I am also fluent in English, French, Hungarian, and Russian. I am also conversationally proficient in mandarin and Arabic. Those are harder to practice with in Ostania though.”
Damian looked at miss Fordd a little confused. “Fascinating. Is there a reason you’ve learnt so many?”
Miss Fordd gave a sly smile. One that felt incredibly familiar to Damian.
“Communication with people who are different from us is the first step to peace. I think it’s important to learn how to speak in someone’s language when you’re trying to build bridges between warring communities.”
“Miss Fordd, we are trying to reunite Ostania and westalis. They both speak German, so I’m not sure…”
“Speaking someone’s language doesn’t just mean the words they say! It’s how they say them! It’s about trying to understand the thoughts and feelings behind the decisions they make. It’s about reaching out the hand of peace, letting go of any past grudges. My father used to say that understanding was the first step to world peace. And to understand each other, we need to learn to speak the same language”
Damian sat quietly for a few moments.
“It’s impossible though right? We can’t ever really understand what goes through someone’s head. No one can read minds of anything”
Miss Fordd smiled softly. “I believe in your goals, Damian. I believe in YOU. I think that regardless of how impossible you think it is, that you still want to try, right?
“We can’t ever fully understand each other, but seeing your campaign, I see you reaching out a hand. Isn’t that really the same thing?”
Damian sat with that thought for a few minutes. The clock ticked. Damian took a deep breath and smiled.
“You’re an idealistic idiot, you know that, miss Fordd?”
She looked at him with an obscene look of shock and confusion. “I’m … sorry mr Damian sir I didn’t mean to……”
Damian laughed. “You’re hired, dummy. come with me to this damn meeting and I’ll get you introduced. You can start tomorrow.”
Damian saw Miss Fordd’s eyes light up. She jumped up, saying she won’t let him down. And she followed Damian out to meet his campaign.
—
Damian entered the room to see Becky working a clunky, yellowed desktop pc. He brought miss Fordd to her.
“Blackbell. Let me introduce you to Miss Anna Fordd. My new assistant.”
Becky looked at Anna and gave her a hug.
“Thank GOD. Desmond’s been working us to the bone. I’m Becky Blackbell. Desmond’s publicist and only donor. Our team is small, but I’m sure you’ll get along great!”
She smiled and turned miss Fordd around.
“That over there is Ewen! He’s managing the finances. Over there, is Emile. He’s in charge of planning. And there’s Bill Watkins. He’s acting as our legal expert.”
Becky kept introducing people as they trickled into the room. As the meeting was about to start, Damian sent miss Fordd to make some tea.
“So.” Becky started. “I have gathered you all here today to start the plans for Desmond’s campaign. First of all, Damian, I want you to make it clear what your goals are. After that we will discuss any changes that may need to be made. Damian?”
Damian stood up. “Um yes. What our campaigns main focus will be is the reunification of the East and West. I have already talked to a number of westalian politicians and bureaucrats as a part of my position as minister of foreign affairs, and there seems to be some support on the idea by the westalian government. The problem will be convincing the east.”
Miss Fordd put up a hand. “Well what do the common people think?”
“Excuse me?”
“The people of Ostania, especially the older generations, may hold resentment towards westalias for the destruction of the war. They might not immediately be happy with the idea.”
“Well it’s not up to the common folk what the government does.” Damian retorted.
Miss Fordd shook her head. “The people need to be confident in the idea. If not, reunification could end up just restarting the war.”
“Ok so we need to convince the public that it’s a good idea then!” Said Becky. “We can send out fliers about the benefits of it!”
“I think you’re focusing too much on the reunification plan.” Said miss Fordd.
“What do you mean! Thats our campaign! That’s why you joined us in the first place, isn’t it?!”
She laughed and flashed a sly grin. “You’re kind of stupid, huh Mr Damian. If you try to force the public to accept such a big change, it will feel like to them that you’re just some rich private school kids playing with the lives of the common folk. The Eden elite.”
Damian went red. “Well what do YOU propose then, miss Fordd?”
“You talk to them. Listen to them. Figure out what they really want. And instead of offering an outright choice, offer a referendum.”
“Will that not just make our position weaker though? If we give the citizens control over the decision, they might vote against it! Then what good would that do!”
“The people need to feel heard my you, Damian. They need to feel like you have their best interests in heart. They need to TRUST you. You need to earn their trust.”
“Ok…”
“And that starts with listening. And learning to speak their language…”
—
That evening, Agent Starlight of the Ostania-westalias coalition intellegence network reported back to base. Her mission had started off as a success.
“Agent Twilight, sir. I’m here to update you on my progress with operation bondman.”
Twilight sighed. “Anya, for the last time, it’s NOT operation ‘bondman’. Its operation ‘bauderman’.”
Anya got a stern look on her face and pulled a fist. “Operation bondman” she whispered.
Twilight sighed.
“Alright, Anya. What do you have for me?”
Anya took a seat on twilights desk. “Well papa, I managed to get the job as sy-on boy’s personal assistant! All thanks to my feminine charms.”
“Feminine charms huh?” Twilight scoffed.
“Shut up, papa. Anyway. Sy-on boy was instantly taken my me. He was thinking all about how ‘similar she was to Anya forger’ and how he ‘missed her so so much’”
“And he didn’t catch on? Even though you chose such a similar name?”
“Eh. Sy-on boy doesn’t believe in ghosts or necromancy or whatever. And he doesn’t suspect at all that we faked our deaths.”
“Alright. And is the campaign going well?”
“Not. At. ALL. They don’t have much contact with regular people so they’re a little out of touch. Don’t you worry though, papa! I’ll keep them on track! World peace depends on it!”
Twilight smiled at his daughter then. ‘I’m so proud of you, Anya.’ He thought. Anya pulled him onto a bear hug. “I love you too, papa!”
Twilight laughed. All these years, and he still wasn’t used to Anya’s strange ability to read minds.
“Anyway. Now that that’s settled, Yor made dinner. She wants to see you”
Anya audibly groaned, but she was smiling. “We’re going to die tonight, aren’t we”
Twilight pulled out a leaf of indigestion medicine with a cold, calculating smile . “Not today, Anya. A spy must always be prepared”
