April 20, 2002 – 15:15
The women looked at each other before returning to the living room.
"Given the circumstances, I'll admit, we couldn't have picked a better elemental guardian for you. If the father tries something shady, he will quickly live to regret it," said Roberto.
"I remember well the night I got attacked by thieves. She jump in against four guys, two ambulances were needed, and only one escaped. I knew she was skilled, and my daughter saw her a couple of times at work, but you sound like you know her and Sebastian very well?" said Molly.
"Coralis Golmar is a full-blooded mage. Like Audrey Hudson, she grew up among humans. I met her at a group home in Montreal, along with her cousin Nadilla de Lima, 12 years ago. Sebastian Larameer is also a full-blooded mage. The sport you mentioned, flyball, is extremely popular among mages, and they both play on the national team. They are very well known," said Roberto.
"Outside the flyball field, Blue Thunder works for the European Bureau of Elemental Energy and collaborates with the Canadian Ministry of Mythical Affairs. Despite her young age, she has quite a reputation. No one in their right mind would want to mess with her," said Vectan.
"Blue Thunder is like a codename?" said Molly, curious about Frank's girlfriend.
"No, but if you ask her, I'm sure she will tell you. I do not know all the details behind that name, but this is how she is known among elemental and any non-human factions," said Roberto.
Meanwhile, Coralis was up in the sky, looping on herself as she threw a ball to Lydia. In the corner of her eyes, she saw a pigeon hovering above her. She stabilized herself, and the pigeon landed on her left shoulder. It spat a piece of parchment in front of her and disappeared. She grabbed it and landed on the ground. Sebastian and Lydia followed. The coach signalled the others to take a break.
"Holy gods from above," said Coralis, reading the parchment.
"They want you to be her guardian," said Sebastian.
"Guardianship? It is not something you can refuse, but it looks like a blood-binding one, this gotta be serious," said Lydia.
"I wonder what the agents found out about her father," said Sebastian.
"It means they suspect something at the very least," said Coralis.
"I want to call Stephanie to find out, but I know she's not with them."
"I felt my pager vibrating earlier," said Coralis, looking at it, "that was Frank. I'll call him back after practice." She turned her left thumb into a panther claw and poked her index with it. "This is going to put some pressure on my relationship with Frank, but Lydia is right, this is not the type of thing I can just say no. I do not know what was said and discovered, but if the father tries something funny, I want to be able to do something about it."
"Saying no would put even more pressure on your relationship with Frank, you know he would think you don't want to get close to him," said Sebastian, watching a third drop of blood landing on the piece of parchment before it caught on fire and disappeared.
Lizzy was anxious. She didn't want to think about Audrey's father, and she worried he would do something to her. She was afraid of what would happen if she couldn't afford to send Audrey to the school she needed to go to.
"How are we going to cover the cost of her tuition and school supplies? And where are we supposed to get what she will need for school?" said Lydia as the parchment sent by Roberto reappeared in front of him.
He grabbed it and looked at Lizzy and Audrey.
"Well, Coralis Golmar, known as Blue Thunder, accepted guardianship and this is binding. In 3 months, you will receive the list of school supplies that Audrey Hudson will need. Blue Thunder will explain all of these details to you."
"As for the costs, in your type of situation, in which a single human parent lives with an elemental child without any recorded substantial assets among our kind, the elemental guardian typically covers everything. Blue Thunder will most likely handle all costs, and I am certain that she will do it without wanting anything in return," said Vectan.
"In the meantime, we will let you and her know if we find relevant information about the father. Any communication between a single human parent and the elemental school, or any CMMA representatives, is usually filtered through the guardian, whose responsibility is also to help you make the right decisions," said Roberto.
When practice ended, Coralis called Frank using Sebastian's phone. Frank was still at work, restocking the snack shelves. He picked up the call and rushed to the bathroom, hoping he wouldn't get fired.
"I'm at work, so can't talk much, but it's about Audrey. Lizzy said something about Audrey needing an elemental guardian, or godparent, and asked if you'd do it for her."
"I know, the agents sent me a pigeon," said Coralis, pausing for a moment. She sighed. "It's fine, I accepted it, but it was a blood agreement, which means there is more to her situation. Did you talk to them?"
"I don't know anything about that. I told Lizzy I'd ask you and get back to her once I know your answer. Didn't talk to her again after that."
"We have a bit of time before the game starts, is it okay if we pass by her place?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I'll let her know you're on your way. I'll get back to you if there is anything."
Once again, Sebastian followed Coralis. They landed on the same spot they used the previous time they went to Lizzy's apartment. She opened the door and immediately hugged Coralis, sobbing.
"I don't know why, but I thought for a moment they would take my daughter away. Thank you for your help," said Lizzy and let go of Coralis to hug Sebastian. "You too, Sebastian, thank you so much."
She released him from the tight hug to let them in.
"We don't have much time, we're not done with work, but we wanted to stop by to check on you. What the agents sent me was a blood-binding guardianship, meaning that if Audrey's father, or anyone else such as her original guardian, tries anything against her, it gives me the right to retaliate as I see fit. It also overrode the previous guardianship. Did they tell you more about the situation?"
"They said they had to investigate him and wanted to make sure he wouldn't take her away from me. They didn't know if a guardian was appointed to her by him, so they also wanted to override it just in case. They said he lost all rights on her," said Lizzy.
"If they are investigating him, he will never have custody of Audrey," said Coralis, remembering when Roberto and Vallia visited her group home. "When agents killed my parents, I was placed in a human orphanage to be hidden from some people instead of with living relatives over investigations."
"If they suspect the father to be involved with certain groups, it explains the blood-override," said Sebastian.
"Seems to me your laws are a lot more severe than ours," said Molly.
"They have to be, or it would be chaos in the entire world and the human race wouldn't be safe from us," said Sebastian.
"They said they will let me and you know if they find anything important. The agents who came here knew you both well," said Lizzy.
"Everyone kind of does," said Sebastian.
"They also said to ask you about how to get the school supplies when she gets the list and how to pay for them. I also want to know about the tuition cost and how she will get there. Is it like a boarding school?" said Lizzy.
"It is like a boarding school, yes. When they send you the list, they will send me the details regarding where they want students to gather for pick-up. As for the costs, I'll handle it and I'll take her shopping when the time comes," said Coralis.
"I have a question. The agents sent a parchment to Coralis through a pigeon. Is it your normal way to send out mail?" said Molly.
"It's still the traditional way for most of us. Families who live in elemental hubs or rural areas usually own a pigeon carrier. Mages like Blue who live in the city among humans and are always on the go can't exactly own one and will use different methods. Holograms are more popular and practical nowadays," said Sebastian.
"I don't need a pigeon carrier to get messages across. My hologram can receive documents and media files. If I need to pigeon-mail something, I've got a junk-mail receiver disguised as a gumball machine I can also use to send out mail."
"However, for what the CMMA agents needed to send to do a guardianship override, a pigeon carrier was needed. They probably had one stationed on the roof just in case."
"They knew where to find me," said Coralis.
"We must return to work. We're leaving Monday night for South Africa and will be playing the entire week abroad. Before the season ends, we should take you to a flyball game, it'd be a great way to introduce you to that world," said Sebastian, then looked at Audrey. "It is your world now."
Soon after Coralis and Sebastian left, Frank parked by the sidewalk in front of Lizzy's apartment, and Stephanie parked behind him a minute later. Audrey told them about their meeting with the agents who came and how they knew Coralis and Sebastian well.
"Everyone in the elemental community knows them," said Stephanie.
"I think taking you to a flyball game is a great idea. I'm glad Stephanie convinced me to go when I found out about them. I loved the experience. Whether you like it or not, Audrey is one of them. Especially if Coralis is now a godparent to her, you definitively need to have seen at least a game before school starts," said Frank.
"Despite everything I heard over the past few days about Coralis and Sebastian, I will not change my mind about them. As your mother, I'd have known if there would have been something sinister going on, and she would never have saved my life that night if she was evil. I don't care about what they turned out to be. I still think they're good for you two and will help you protect their secret at all costs."