September 10, 2003 – 21:30“An unlikely ally?” said Coralis.Frank and the four mages stood in the kitchen around the kitchen island, deeply invested in Veronica’s story.“Very unlikely. A few days later, the citizens’ relentless plea fell into the ears of a sympathetic CIA agent. Intrigued, the middle-aged agent decided to visit them to find out more. He had met the one called Blue Thunder once before, and he remembered seeing a camera surveillance footage showing her and a young male seemingly deactivating a nuclear weapon on an isolated island. He knew she was no evil.”“Fart in the Sea. He saw me and Blue,” said Henry, looking at Coralis. “Erik and Gus were standing guard. We were all wearing an invisible cloak then, but it fell. When we got home, Gus managed to hack into their surveillance system to scrub the footage clean, but he couldn’t find it… that agent must have intercepted it before Gus got to it.”“A CIA agent? What’s his name? I mean, how do we know for sure he won’t do
September 10, 2003 – 22:20“No, probably not, but who knows. Are you still calling it like that?” said Coralis as she pressed buttons on the microwave.“Perfect name for it, doesn’t it?” said Veronica while the others couldn’t contain their laughter.“If you say so. Henry came up with the idea to create a cursed replica of it and plant it in a location associated with my mother’s family because I found it at the same place as the Rawindra Sword and I had to kill two de Lima’s family members for it.”“That way you could find out who’s after it and possibly kill some middlemen in between. That’s a genius plan, I must say. You got no issues with possibly killing more relatives?” said Veronica.“That’s the idea, yeah, and no, I’ve got no issues. They’re no family of mine,” said Coralis as Frank rubbed her back. “Better I go after them before they find me and come for me. The original is believed to work only when an elf wears it, but I will make this one work on any elemental, except for
October 9, 2003 – 22:00Coralis was on her way home from her flyball game. Her team had a solid victory against Morocco. As she was about to enter the Laval skyline, she sensed she was being followed. Not wanting to lead her stalker to where she lives, she decided to circle the city anti-clockwise. She didn’t want to be seen entering the Montreal skyline.The uneasy feeling of being followed persisted and grew stronger. Suddenly, she saw someone floating still ahead of her, so she took a sharp turn west toward Rigaud. She was about to make a U-turn before passing the provincial border, but three people suddenly appeared right in front of her, and two on either side of her, forcing her to take another sharp turn going down.They were trying to capture her.She stabilized her altitude before reaching the top of the trees below her and paused. She was thankful that she wasn’t flying above a town. Looking up, she saw more people appearing from all directions, trying to trap her.Meanwhile
October 10, 2003 – 1:30“How do you think he is going to react? He loves you, madly. You know he is going to be upset and worried sick about you. However, I honestly understand why you may not want him to know where you are. We can’t lie. I mean, we may manipulate some wordings, when necessary, but if he directly asks me where you are… best if I don’t know, you’re right… but I don’t like it.”“Neither do I. I’d much rather be in bed with Frank right now, but before I come back home to him, I need to find out who sent them. These guys weren’t amateur, but whoever paid them forgot that I’m a damn professional flyball player.”“One of the bests at that. That was a dumb move on their part to try to get you while you’re flying.”“Dumb or not, they still tried. When you talk to Frank, can you please remain vague in your answers? I know he will worry and be mad at me. Our apartment is heavily warded, but I don’t know what my enemies are capable of. I need to find out who came after me tonigh
October 10, 2003 – 11:30“High Mage Rollio?” said Sonylla.“I almost got captured last night on my way back from the flyball field. I didn’t even sleep at home, to make sure that whoever came after me wouldn’t find out about my human boyfriend and use him as leverage against me.”They all looked at her.“You too?” said Emery.“Yes, High Mage Rollio,” said High Mage Finnas, briefly looking at Sonylla before turning his attention to Coralis. “Almost got captured? How did you escape? Agent Gaspart Yoz managed to escape those who came after him but lost consciousness in the back of an alley. He woke up earlier this morning, but will need to remain at our clinic for a few days.”“No offence Finnas, but the answer to that question is pretty obvious if they tried to catch her while she was flying home. Blue doesn’t use portals. They would have needed at least an entire team of professional flyball players better than ours to successfully capture her,” said Emery.“This is fortunate for us, b
October 16, 2003For the past few days, she spent most of her time in her London flat. Her flyball team played in Europe and the EBEE had sent her on some cases around the city. Twice, she met with Sonylla, Panjik and Emery in a Pixie-run inn located near Tremblant.She sat on the foot of her bed, listening to her voicemails, just like when she started seeing Frank. It was full when she got back from the flyball field in Bulgaria. Part of her wanted to disconnect it and throw it across the room. She didn’t like the tears coming down her eyes as she listened to them. She didn’t know how to handle them. She hated the situation more than he did.She missed him. She needed him.Another part of her, however, didn’t want to send him the wrong message. She loved him, even if she didn’t understand it. She didn’t want him to think she left him just like that. She hoped that when it was over and the danger had dissipated, he would forgive her and get back to her.She knew however that it probab
October 24, 2003Frank returned home in the middle of the night from a concert, where he had been interviewing the band. He knew that Coralis had a game in Europe that day, but his sister told him that they would be playing at home on Saturday. Coralis and Sebastian usually head back right after their game when they played home next, so he was hoping she’d be home.But she wasn’t. He looked at the time. He wanted to call Stephanie to see if Sebastian was home, but at 3 in the morning, he figured that his sister was probably asleep and he didn’t want to wake her up. He looked at his empty glass of whiskey in the middle of their living room table and the half-empty bottle next to it. He sat in front of it and filled his glass, hoping that it’d help him get some sleep.He missed her. He needed to know if she was okay. He wanted to believe she didn’t leave him, but it was becoming more difficult to hold on to that idea. He needed to know that she was still with him, that he was still in h
October 30, 2003 – 17:00Frank pulled by the sidewalk in front of Victoria’s apartment. He was about to text her that he was there, but he saw her walking out of her door, so he closed his phone and dropped it in the glove box next to him.“Ready? Didn’t forget anything?” said Victoria when she climbed into the backseat and fastened her seatbelt.“As ready as I’ll ever be, and yes, I’ve got everything I need. I’m super nervous, I’m not gonna lie, but I need to do this. Thanks for getting me in.”“As if I would want to miss that. Plus, they’re playing The Imperialists, you couldn’t have picked a better game to do this. Her three musketeers will witness it.”“Her 3 musketeers?”“That’s what I used to call Coralis, Gus, Erik and Henry at school. Gus may not be there, but Sebastian makes a better one now.”Frank and Stephanie laughed.“I can see the analogy,” said Frank.“Sebastian convinced him that he wanted tonight’s game. Frank wanted to do it last Monday, but a game against Russia… l
December 23, 2003 – 21:00 The Northerners were playing at home that night. When the game was over and she and Sebastian were about to take off to go home, Coralis received a call from Emma. She signalled Sebastian to wait and put the call on speakerphone. Emma was in a panic.“BLUE, can you come RIGHT NOW?”Sebastian suddenly got worried.“Where? What’s going on?”“Is Stephanie okay?”“Here at Red Crescent pack. Yes, Stephanie is fine. She left Healing Moon at 9 to go home. She’s not here.”Sebastian was relieved to hear that and swore that if Stephanie still wanted it, he’d complete their bond when he got home, even if he knew Coralis was probably right: the mark was a seal.“I’ll be on my way. I’m close by,” said Coralis, ending the call, and took off, Sebastian following her.“What do you think happens this time?” said Sebastian, as he was trying to keep up with her.“I don’t know, but I’m guessing she couldn’t reach out to anyone at the CMMA. Remember the last time they got a hol
December 20, 2003 – 00:15 (Scotland Time)Coralis closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wanted to rip their eyes out and strangle them, but she knew these girls were humans, most likely heading to the same destination as she. She believed Frank when he said nothing ever happened with that actress, but she didn’t like these girls talking that way about her man.She was thankful to have her wrist binds so she wouldn’t break storefront windows by accident. Her eyeglasses only prevented her from using her eyes to direct her elemental energy and to camouflage their elemental colour but without her wrist binds, her elemental energy still leaked through her pores and she could still use her hands to direct it. She walked away and headed to the bar before she did anything to these girls and ended up in jail.Her flight landed in Montreal early morning. She had a game in Mexico in the evening but decided to skip practice time just so she could spend more time with Frank before she had to
December 19, 2003 – noon“There is still a hold on your name, right?” said Erik.“In Scotland? Why not in London?” said Henry.“Yes, but considering Blue Thunder is technically a citizen of England, she doesn’t have jurisdiction over me. I could still be walking into a trap, however, so I still made sure of that. Not sure why she wants to meet there, but I think it’s better there than in London. Even with a hold on my name, I’m not too keen on walking around the SIS headquarters. Taking my flight from Scotland instead sounds like a better idea anyway.”She tried to call Frank on her way to Scotland but got no response. She hoped he was still asleep and tried not to overthink it, but she was worried. As she was hovering above the meeting spot, Frank called her back.“That was you trying to call, right?” said Frank as soon as she answered.“Yeah, everything okay?”“Yes. I was in the shower. Wanted to take my phone in the bathroom just in case you’d call, but my scattered brain forgot it
December 19, 2003 – 09:00Coralis and Andrew entered the meeting room, dragging a restrained Xanita with them.“What is this?” said Alfredino.“Xanita Aza is the one who killed Minister Luke Massina and we sent a copy of our evidence to British authorities,” said Andrew as he played the video timeline assembled by Erik and Henry. “Do you want to handle her yourself, or shall I hand her to the authorities?”“It seems we owe you an apology, Blue Thunder,” said Rolland, watching the video.“The warehouse we searched never had any cursed weapons. It was merely a ruse Xanita used to get Blue and me away from the hotel. Want to tell me again how in gods worlds Massina’s murder got pinned on my apprentice when we were nowhere near the vicinity of his hotel?”Phraton tried to say something but Alfredino quieted him, using magic to shut him up.“JORGIE! Jorgie Fluk gave me that tip about that warehouse!” said Xanita, panicked.“Oh, we know about that, don’t you worry. Unlike you, he’s been mak
December 11, 2003“WHAT?”“I still need to find evidence to prove it or force her to confess, but I was right. Blum was protecting someone. Xanita never received a tip about that damn warehouse.”“That explains why Gus could never find anything relevant or suspicious about it, besides someone tampering with their security cameras.”“Basic human material wasn’t difficult to tamper with. We probably were the only two elementals to have ever set foot in there. Do you know if Sebastian is available tomorrow?”“I don’t know. We don’t have a game tomorrow, but lately, I talk to him only when I’m in my London flat. Only place I can talk safely.”“I’ll check with him then. Remember when Xanita said she had a call to take and came back with that so-called tip?”“Yeah, and thinking of it, she was also the one who sent us to that warehouse.”“She had been talking to Jorgie. Erik and Henry are on their way back to where you guys live, they’ve been a great help.”“Jorgie? The same Jorgie who’s bee
December 9, 2003Early in the morning, while Frank was busy preparing coffee, the doorbell rang. He stopped what he was doing and frowned, wondering who could it be.The bell rang again and again. Coralis came to his mind and he dropped the spoon of coffee grind that he was holding to rush to the buzzer. He pressed to unlock the door below and opened his entry door to find out who it was. Down the stairs, he saw Samantha, panting. She looked up toward him.“Hey, M. Blue! Sorry to show up at this time; I didn’t know where else to go.”“Uh, it’s fine. Come in,” he said as he let her in. “What happened?”“My mom just found out about me. She wasn’t supposed to be home, or I would have gone to Tom’s aunt probably, I don’t know. During the full moon, I can’t control my shift, but I can usually shift back just before dawn.”Samantha paused. She stood, her legs slightly apart and leaning over, her hand resting on her knees.“Your mother came back while you were still in panther form?” said Fr
November 23, 2003“If you must know,” she said, forcing herself to speak sweetly, “he does not reside in London. He is busy with work and I am obviously occupied away from him.”Behind her calm demeanour, she was raging. She knew that Rolland had something up his sleeves by letting her stay at her London flat instead of locking her up in a cell. She wanted to kill the guard and fly to Frank, but she knew doing that would make it worse for them. She had to let them think she was playing their hand, no matter how hard it was. She missed him.He let go of her cloak and she jumped down on her back porch. Once back inside, she activated a custom mute-ball before calling Frank. Her pager went off as soon as she put her hand on her phone. It was her contact from MI6.“Blue Thunder on the line.”“It’s been a while since we talked, you and I.”“Given the recent events, can’t say I missed you, no offence.”“Can’t say I blame you. A report recently came to us from Clear Valley, which contradicts
November 14, 2003Before she could leave the meeting room, a furnace appeared behind the elders. Rolland stood and grabbed the casting iron lying on top of it. Its tip was shaped like a small straight line. With his other hand, he took the can of silver that was next to it and sprayed silver on the casting iron tip.Watching Rolland make the preparations to bar her EBEE tattoo, she felt relieved. She would no longer be attached to the EBEE. She would be free.“It has been brought to our attention that you recently took a mate. Do you understand that mates are a distraction in our line of work and a potential weapon to be used against us?” said Rolland as he approached her with the casting iron.“I understand,” she said, looking at him as she wondered if he meant it as a threat.Rolland pressed the casting iron three times on Coralis’ skin, where her EBEE tattoo was. The three burned lines formed what looked like a triangle. Lines all intersected with each other, except that a line wou
November 7, 2003 – 22:30“There is a lot of truth in what Sebastian just said and it’s probably exactly what happened. Gods from above know how many traitors want Blue and me out of their way. Blue, I heard about the summon and I urge you, do NOT surrender, not yet at least,” said Andrew.“You know they will send the entire cavalry if I don’t and Frank would probably be the one who ends up paying the price. I can’t do that to him.”“We’ll find a way, we know you didn’t do it,” said Stephanie.“I see you’ve got company.”“I’m with Frank’s family for his aunt’s birthday.”“I’ll be brief then. I was with you at the warehouse that night, I know you didn’t do it. When Blum called me, I remember seeing cameras outside of it. Even if these cameras have been tampered with, we should be able to prove it and argue that it was a setup. We will then need to make sure that ALL five elders are present so that Alfredino and Phraton can’t have a majority.“That way you can appeal for time to clear yo