Chapter 63

April 20, 2002 – 15:15

The women all looked at each other and they headed back 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, I didn't stay to watch her fight, but she did 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 both of them very well… and what about Sebastian?" said Molly.

"Coralis Golmar is a full-blooded mage. Like Ms. Audrey Hudson, she grew up among humans. I remember meeting her at a group home in Montreal, 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 both of them 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 her son's girlfriend.

"Not exactly, 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 in the elemental world and among other non-human species," 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 set herself to land 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 this looks like a blood-binding one, this gotta be serious," said Lydia.

"I wonder what the agents found out about her father," said Sebastian.

"I wonder the same and let's face it, if he tries something funny, I wanna know about it and be able to do something."

"I want to call Stephanie to ask what is going on, 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, and I do not know what was said and discovered, but Lydia is right, this is not the type of thing I can just say no."

She let three blood drops land on the parchment. It caught on fire and disappeared.

"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, right as the parchment sent by Roberto reappeared in front of him.

He grabbed it and looked at Lydia and Audrey.

"Well, Coralis Golmar, also known as Blue Thunder, accepted guardianship and this is binding. In 3 months, you will receive the list of school supplies that Ms. Audrey Hudson will need. Blue Thunder will explain all of these details to you."

"Blue Thunder will most likely cover all costs. I am certain that she will do it without asking you for anything in return," said Vectan.

"In the meantime, we will let you and her know if we find out any helpful 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 uh, it was a blood agreement, which means the agents must have found something else. 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 some 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 a few days prior. Lizzy 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 quite 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.

"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 would be continually in danger from us. Some elementals want to break free from that, which keeps us busy. Maybe they thought her father was involved in an anti-human group," 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, don't worry about it, I'll take care of it and I'll take her shopping when the time comes," said Coralis.

"We need to get going. We're leaving Monday night for South Africa and will be playing the entire week abroad. When we get back, we should take you to a flyball game. Stephanie will happily tell you all about it, but it'd be a great way to introduce you to that world," said Sebastian, and look 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 few minutes later. Audrey told them about their meeting with the agents who came and how they knew Coralis and Sebastian well.

"Well... everyone in the elemental world 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 their world. I loved the experience. Whether you like it or not, Audrey is one of them, she's part of that world. Especially if Coralis is now a godparent to her, you definitely need to at least have seen a game before school start," said Frank.

"Despite everything I heard over the past few days about Coralis and Sebastian, I am not going to change my mind about them. As your mother, I'd have known if there would have been something sinister going on, and she would have never saved my life that night if she was evil. I don't care about what they turned out to be," said Molly, wiping a tear coming down her eyes, "I still think they're good for you two and I will help you protect their secret at all costs."