December 24, 2002 – 17:45
"Uh, kind of," said Coralis, looking between Frank and Raymond, confused.
"BRO!" said Frank, quickly turning to his brother. "They aren't witches and they aren't here to kill you."
"Sorry about that," said Linda, walking to them to collect their winter coats and bags. "Raymond found out when Sebastian and Frank arrived. He asked questions about Audrey school's situation and why you were the one to pick her up. He doesn't know everything yet."
Audrey was holding tight to Coralis, which didn't go unnoticed by Frank. It meant a lot to him that his family was accepting of Coralis and how close she and Audrey became. Lizzy got up the stairs and went around Raymond to meet up with Coralis and Audrey.
"Sebastian and Lizzy said they were mages, so they're witches, aren't they?" said Raymond.
"No, Ray, they aren't," said Stephanie, looking at her brother through the railing. "A witch and a mage aren't the same thing. Let us explain it to you before you jump to conclusions. You weren't there when Audrey went missing."
The basement had no wall between the stairs and the main floor. A railing was the only thing that stood between the stairs and the floors.
"I've seen enough to accept them as they are. You also need to keep their secret, son," said Molly, standing next to Stephanie.
"Did you have any trouble picking her up from school?" said Lizzy as she hugged Audrey. "Did you come here directly or did you stop at home first to drop your stuff?"
"I hate having to travel by plane, but we made it here, so no major trouble," said Coralis while watching the argument between Raymond and his family.
"We came here directly. I only brought a backpack with me and I gave it to Aunt Linda," said Audrey.
"Thank you so much for doing this for us," said Lizzy and she got up to hug Coralis. "Don't mind Raymond, he'll understand, like we all did. My daughter is still the same to me. I agree with my sister; you and Sebastian are like angels sent to us."
"Uh, I just did what needed to be done. We're no angels, but I appreciate the sentiment."
Audrey ran to Frank and Linda handed Coralis a glass of wine.
"Let's all continue this downstairs. Dinner is almost ready and we'll open up gifts afterwards. I don't want to overwhelm you, but be ready to answer questions tonight. I know my husband has had a lot of questions since that night, and we didn't see you guys since."
Louis brought more foldable camping chairs and Coralis took one of them. Frank took one and put it down next to Coralis. Audrey sat next to her mother.
"Lizzy, High Mage Finnas called me as I was leaving for the airport. Pier is going to be transferred to an isolation centre in Yukon for his part in Audrey's kidnapping and for fooling the system when registering her to the WES. They couldn't get him for making deals with humans, as he explained that night, but the fact that he never revealed himself to you was accounted for when judging him for the school registration infraction."
"You travelled all the way to Newfoundland to pick Audrey up or did you pick her up from the airport?" said Raymond.
"For how long is he going to be there?" said Louis.
"Thank you, I'm happy to hear that," said Lizzy while passing her arm around Audrey's shoulders. "What about his mother, Mousse?"
"Do you know if they'll release her?" said Sebastian.
"I picked her up in Labrador, at the school gathering spot for pick up and drop off," said Coralis, looking at Raymond, then turned her attention to Louis. "He is going to be there for 30 years. When Audrey graduates from school, she will be allowed to contact him if she wants to, but not while she's a minor, not even through me."
"I'm liking your system more and more," said Louis.
"As for Mousse, they were considering releasing her after the new year, as they couldn't prove that she was involved in the kidnapping. However, when the CMMA investigated the Glozos, Prince Charlie went down on the Waldorf clan. Turned out, one of the clan's heads didn't want to go down alone and last night, she sent videos and recordings of her communications with Mousse to the CMMA."
"The Waldorf clan is a spiteful one, isn't it?" said Sebastian.
Linda called everyone to the dining room: dinner was ready.
"Yes, but remember what Princess Veronica said about what we found at one of their warehouses before we burned it down. The Waldorf clan were continuing research started by Lord Meozo and even had a tunnel linking one of their blood dens to the WES. They weren't happy with me being on Audrey's trail, to begin with, now imagine when they saw Princess Veronica on their cameras."
"Princess Veronica? Wait, you even have royalties?" said Raymond.
"Yes and no. Depends on the species, if I can put it that way, and depends on bloodlines and region. Prince Charlie and Princess Veronica are vampires from Chicago. They rule vampires over a large portion of North-Eastern United States, making sure that none of their vampires become a threat to humans," said Sebastian.
"That Princess Veronica has been a very good help during the first 24 hours, she's a badass too," said Louis.
"Oh my God, there was so much blood on you two when you came back from that house," said Molly.
"Yes, when it comes down to taking down vampires who go rogue, she's a warrior I can count on," said Coralis.
Sebastian started laughing and Frank nearly choked on his drink.
"What's funny?" said Raymond.
"That'd be a story for another night, I don't think you're ready to hear the one behind the Vase of Blue Sky. I'm sure Princess Veronica would have helped Coralis anyway, but let's just say that she also felt like she owed her," said Frank.
"That's very mildly put, you weren't with us when we were in Chicago to collect information and burned down that warehouse in Cochrane. Coralis could ask anything from King Matthew and she'd get it," said Sebastian.
"I'm sorry if I sound like an asshole, but I'm trying to make sense of all of this. Coralis and Sebastian aren't human, I get it. They're mages and I'm still not understanding the difference between mages and witches. So is Audrey. Audrey got kidnapped by her father, and Coralis went after him, but vampires got killed, or burned? What about Dwayne, his cousin? I remember him, I think," said Raymond.
"At birth, a guardian is usually assigned to an elemental child, which is the equivalent of a godparent. When we found out about Audrey, given the irregularities of the situation, the CMMA appointed Coralis as such. When Audrey got kidnapped, it was her responsibility to find her. Turned out, Audrey had been kidnapped by Dwayne, who was her original guardian," said Frank.
"You're quickly learning about our laws and customs, I'm impressed," said Sebastian while refilling his plate of food. "From the school, she followed a tunnel that led to a blood den, that's how we found out that a vampire clan was involved in the kidnapping. Coralis is very well connected to the royal vampire family of Chicago, so we went there to collect information."
"Prince Charlie gave us the address of where that vampire clan was based, well the one he managed to find. We raided that warehouse and found there the address of the Glozo family house. One of the Waldorf's head tipped off Mousse, and they were gone by the time we arrived. We killed more vampires there and found out with which coven they were affiliated," said Coralis.
Sebastian chuckled.
"Bet they'll never cross you again. Holy gods from above, we must have burned down at least a dozen witch houses, they were fleeing you but could never run far or hide."
"Well, that got us the location of Dwayne's cabin. One of them got smart and talked."
"That must be when Pier showed up at Lizzy's to make the duel's deal," said Frank, refilling Coralis' drink before turning his attention to his brother. "You asked earlier about Dwayne. In the end, she killed him in a duel and we got Audrey back."
"If you have all that power at your fingertips, and clearly, you're deadly, what stops you from killing us all right now?" said Raymond.