July 6, 2002 – 18:50
Frank looked at Vic. He didn't know how to answer it.
"Blue wouldn't willingly do something that would endanger King Matthew's family. I don't know what you heard about the vase or what was said about that specific case, but you know that she's probably their most competent agent," said Victoria, looking at Frank from the corner of her eyes.
"I know that. Some elders at the CMMA want her to transfer to their crime and security department, so I'm not questioning her skills. The Vase of Crimson Sky is said to grant vampires who bathe in it godly powers, including allowing them to reproduce and give birth to heirs. I know the EBEE wanted her to inquire about it, and that it got stolen," said Ralphonse.
"Wait, the EBEE wanted Blue to inquire about that specific object, and it then conveniently got stolen? That sounds shady like hell," said Jennifer.
"Some CMMA elders think so too. The thing is, there's a rumour circulating, originating from London. The thief has been found dead and decomposed in the vase, the majority of his clan members were found unresponsive on the ground, and they still are, which leads some people to believe that it's a different vase that got stolen. King Matthew confirmed to have retrieved his family heirloom, but didn't elaborate."
Frank tried to keep a blank face on. He wanted to laugh but refrained from doing so.
"In my opinion, it's not a bad thing that the thief stole the wrong one, if that's the case. I don't know why the EBEE wanted Blue to ask about it, they never told her why, but I do know that she was fighting a vampire war outside of Chicago when it got stolen. I think the thief deserved what happened to him," said Victoria.
"Or maybe the information believed to be known about that vase wasn't accurate," said Jennifer.
"Vampires exist? She fought a vampire war?" said Molly.
The game started as Victoria and Ralphonse answered Molly, and everyone stopped talking. It was the first playoff game of the season.
"Wow, I definitely wasn't expecting this," said Lizzy after a few minutes.
"Me neither. I see now why Stephanie wouldn't stop talking about it," said Molly.
"So… Blue Thunder is the team captain?" said Lizzy.
Audrey stood by the railing, mesmerized by what she was seeing. There was no window separating the field from the spectator sections, but there was an invisible barrier behind the railing.
"Yes, this is her first season as such," said Hector.
"If the team wins the Silver Cup, it will be their third one since Blue, Lydia and Sebastian have started playing for them. It'd been decades The Northerners didn't win any cups before that," said Jennifer.
"During the first round of the playoffs, they will be playing up to three games against Mexico. The first team to win two will advance to the next round. For the semifinals and the final one, it's only one game," said Ralphonse.
"The agent was right, I am going to make a lot of people jealous at school," said Audrey.
"That sport is pretty enjoyable to watch. Is there a way I could watch the games at home?" said Molly when the first period ended.
"There is, my dad watches flyball whenever he can. However, I'm not sure how that works if there is no elemental living with you," said Victoria.
"I can understand the secrecy around your world, and I'm not upset anymore that Blue didn't tell me sooner about it. If she can't, could she come to my place to watch flyball games? I'm sure Blue could set that up at home."
"Yeah, she could. On that, Blue and Sebastian have been following the rules when it comes to revealing themselves to their human partners, so yes, you could watch any flyball game you want from home and your mom could come to watch them at your place, or Lizzy's, considering Audrey is an elemental."
"Honestly, seeing that we're about to enter dark times again, with the rise of radical groups wanting to break free from the secrecy and rule over the human population, I think that it is a good thing to see many humans in the box reserved for the team's guests. It reflects where the team's members stand on the topic," said Ralphonse.
"Rule over humans?" said Lizzy.
"Are we in danger from your people?" said Molly.
"Agreed, well, their beloved captain and goaltender have been seeing one romantically for quite some time," said Hector.
"Blue and Sebastian would never fight against us, I'm sure of that," said Audrey.
"Yeah, but Blue doesn't want to publicize it to protect him. Why do you think she let people believe for so long that she was seeing Princess Veronica? Besides, Audrey is right. Lunatics may try, but you know that Blue will never stand for that, neither will Sebastian, and the rest of the team for that matter," said Victoria.
"That's what I mean. Blue and Sebastian are both involved in that mess, and neither would ever fight along these radicals because of their ties with humans," said Hector.
"That may be, we all know that humans aren't our enemy, they never were and never should be, but we're still on the verge of a war. In my opinion, what happened to the vampire clan responsible for the theft of the Vase of Crimson Sky is a good thing, and it must have set tremendously some radical groups back. The vampire found dead in it was a slimy piece of hellshit," said Ralphonse.
"Like I said, Blue knows what she's doing," said Victoria, sipping her drink.
Once again, when the game started, everyone stopped talking for a few minutes.
"Why is everyone calling her Blue Thunder?" said Molly.
"I keep forgetting to ask her about that," said Frank.
"I don't think any of us knows the answer to that. She's always been called that way, as far as I know," said Ralphonse.
"Roberto Swanson, one of the agents who met with us, said he didn't know all of the details behind it, but to ask her," said Lizzy.
"I know why. It's a nickname she got at school when she was 11. Roberto was the agent who handled her file when she was a ward of the state. He knows why her guardian requested for her to be called as such outside the school grounds, but he doesn't know where the nickname itself came from," said Victoria.
"Sebastian said he asked her when they started playing together as reservists, but she kind of dodged the question," said Stephanie.
"She couldn't talk about it at the time. There is a reason why she grew up in the human system. She had to be hidden from some people. Why do you think she ended up fighting Lord Meozo at school? He had been targeting her for years, so when The Northerners recruited her, Martha, her guardian requested that she be signed under her nickname to protect her when she was outside the school."
"Makes sense, she was still a minor, the school has a certain duty to protect their students," said Ralphonse.
"It wasn't the school requesting it, Principal Arthurio is a tool. Her guardian did. Lord Meozo wanted her to join him, like her parents, but she didn't want to hear anything from him. Martha didn't want more people coming after her, especially her mother's relatives."
"The day she and Sebastian stopped by my place after the CMMA agents left, she did mention that she'd been placed in an orphanage to be hidden from some people instead of with living relatives who were under investigation," said Lizzy.
"Yes, she was. When she destroyed Lord Meozo, shortly after signing for The Northerners, Martha requested people to only refer to her by her nickname when talking about what happened to their relatives outside the school but by that point, everyone had been calling her like that for years, and most students didn't even know or remember her actual name."
"People came after her anyway, after she destroyed Lord Meozo," said Ralphonse.
"Yes, but for different reasons. 'You killed my leader, so you must take his place' kind of logic. Trust me, it was no fun, it was exhausting for her and that's why she ended up signing with the EBEE. No one can find out about Blue's civil name, especially now that she lives with Frank. That nickname isn't protecting her, but keeping both names separate helps her protect him from her foes."
"Like two different people, two different lives," said Hector.
The Northerners won the game 13 to 8. After the game, Sebastian offered to drop off Stephanie at her apartment, so that Audrey could fit in Victoria's car, but Andrey insisted on flying again. Coralis didn't mind, so she told Lizzy she'd take Audrey home and wait until she'd get back to leave.
"You knew what Sebastian's dad was talking about when he mentioned the vase, didn't you?" said Victoria as soon as they all got into her car and she activated the soundproofing.
"Yes, we spoke to Princess Veronica last night. I'm sure I could have trusted Sebastian's family, but I didn't know enough about the other people there."
"The spell she put on the vase, it worked?" said Victoria as she started driving.
"Yes. Inside the crate you gave me when you helped me move her stuff, was an antique cherub sculpture made of ivory, sent by King Matthew as a thank-you note. It even rendered unconscious some vampires living in Chicago."
"Holy gods from above! Yeah okay, I see. She told me her plan about that vase, but she wasn't sure if it worked, other than the part to let the potential thief take the replica."
"Princess Veronica gave us all the details. Her family doesn't want people to know that it was a different one, that Blue made a cursed replica of their family heirloom for the thief to take, and I honestly understand why. Besides us, I think only Eva and Sebastian know."
"The team is behind their captain big time, they wouldn't rat her out, but yeah, the less who knows, the better. She can fight her enemies, but she'll go ballistic if something happens to you and no one wants to see that."