(( So, its getting a little harder for me to write and complete chapters here with my work schedule, but I promise to get this damn thing done. EVEN IF IT KILLS ME! Lolz. Anyways, another chapter for yall. There may be some stuff missing in this book that will get covered in a mini book I'm writing that just follows Samael and Faith while they're at school.))
Damien had spent the day getting the house cleaned and ready for the return of his twins. Though Damien wasn't a messy man, Alexander was a little terror as of late and has trashed the place. He was happy to have Amy give him a hand with these things, at least to keep track of the little one, who had grown a slight attachment to Amy.
Damien chuckled as he watched Xander sneak up on Amy and clamp onto her leg, screaming how he would never let go before cackling maniacally (a new trick his father taught him for just such an occasion.) It was when he heard the distinct sound of someone shifting into his back yard that his gaze turned to a harsh and angered glare. He saw a distinct figure, built like a fire truck with hair of the same color.
Amy was in the process of setting a plate to dry on the dish rack when two little arms wrapped around her leg, a tiny voice proclaiming Xander's refusal to surrender his hold. Laughing, Amy looked down, quickly drying her hands on a nearby towel. "Oh no! What ever shall I do? I know! Maybe I'll use my secret power - the tickle monster!"
Xander's shrieks of laughter made her smile as she reached down and wiggled her fingers in a mock-threatening manner, before descending upon him and tickling him. She successfully loosened his hold enough to lift him up into her arms and swooped him over to the couch, depositing him as she glanced up. She spotted the strange man, but noticed Damien had as well and left him to it. Instead, she continued to tickle Xander, though she kept an eye on the other encounter in case she needed to run with the little boy for safety.
It had only been a few months since Damien had revealed the world of magic to her, and though she was adjusting well, it still scared her to think of how very vulnerable she was, in comparison to the power he had displayed, as proof of this magic he possessed. As such, she had become rather wary of all guests to the house now, knowing she was only a liability to Damien should trouble occur. All she could do was run and help keep the little ones safe as best as she could.
Damien lowered the bread knife he instinctively grabbed and set it back into the knife block as he waved a hand to the door with a smile, "Look who decided to drag himself out of the grave for a visit. How are you old friend?"
The red haired man drew his cloak off and chuckled in a booming voice, "Hahaha. Gave you a bit of a scare, did I?"
Xander heard the voice and squealed with glee, "Uncle Wyan!" to which he threw himself off of the couch and charged at Ryan McTavish as he entered the doorway. Ryan feigned being knocked back some as he caught the boy and fussed with his white hair, "it's great to see you again lad. I've missed you!"
Xander pouted, "You never come to see us!"
Damien took Xander from Ryan and gave a low hum, "That's daddy's fault. I was only trying to keep you safe Xander. Amy! Come here. This is an old friend of mine!
Xander's gleeful shout reassured Amy somewhat, but she still hung back until Damien waved her forward. Hesitantly, she stepped forward, offering a hand to the man with the booming voice. "Hello, I'm Amy," she said, her voice a bit timid in the face of a man who could easily break her hand by simply squeezing too tight.
She glanced at Damien, gathering a bit more courage and reassurance as she smiled at the newcomer. "Any old friend of Damien's is a friend of mine. It's nice to meet you."
An old friend, hm? And one that didn't visit out of concern for the safety of the children? Amy assumed this man was a part of that odd organization Damien had talked about. Not the magical one, but the one so much more powerful...the Vanguard, was it?
Ryan chuckled as he saw the woman round the corner; she was tiny compared to him, but that was his life in general. With a grace and gentility that belied his hulking frame, took her hand in his and gave it a polite kiss, "Well, it has been a while since I last saw yer, Kelmore. This lass a friend of yers? She's quite the looker."
"Amy and I have been dating over the past few months. Some friends thought it was a good idea I date again, so I did. Amy is so wonderful to me."
McTavish gave a snort of surprise and disbelief. He shot Damien a subtle glance that Damien immediately understood, though he doubted Amy would have. The Irishman shook his head and chuckled again, "Well that is definitely some news to take in, "he said turning to Amy now, "So where'd yeh two meet? Diagon Alley? Gringotts?"
Damien shook his head and put his hands up, "she's a muggle, Ryan. It's a good thing I've already told her about magic."
McTavish shrugged and simply smiled, "aye. Well a double wammy oughta wake any man up. Doesn't matter though, as long as yer happy Damien, I'm fine with it. He treatin' yer right lass? If he dun, I can always straighten him out fer yeh.
Well, the term 'gentle giant' certainly applied. Amy's smile grew warmer as she became more relaxed in the man's presence, even beamed as he complimented her. What girl didn't like a compliment? "Careful, Damien, he's quite the charming competition you've got there," she said teasingly, briefly touching his hand affectionately as she looked up at him. Amy turned back to Ryan.
"Yes, though, he is treating me wonderfully. He and his kids are wonderful," she replied softly as she smiled. "But I'm curious. Is this Gringotts and Diagon Alley some sort of magical term? I know muggle means someone who can't use magic, but what about the other terms?"
Damien turned and sat himself on the counter and smiled, "Gringotts is a Wizard bank, ran by money hungry goblins. Diagon Alley is like a shopping center for wizards, with Gringotts at its core. Anything you need for wizarding is in Diagon Alley."
Goblins were real too then. Amy wondered just how many magical creatures of legend were real. She had already asked about unicorns, discovering that to her delight they were indeed real, but there were so many other creatures. "Goblins? Well that's unexpected - goblins running a Wizarding bank." She brightened. "You'll have to take me to see Diagon Alley someday then. I want to see this Wizarding world for myself!"
Damien nodded eagerly, "One day I will take you there and I will find you the biggest book, that won't try and eat you on all the things that exist in the magical world."
Amy laughed. Books that tried to eat you sounded a lot funnier than it did dangerous. Such a fascinating world!
He looked over to Ryan and furrowed his brow and lowered his voice some, "Well, old friend, I don't think you came here just to woo my girlfriend from me. You know that's worth a fight..."
"We never really finished our fight back at your school all those years ago," he said proudly and with a smile that taunted Damien.
"And I hope we never have to. As far as I'm concerned, we knocked each other out, so it counts as a tie. It took me a solid week before I was able to walk properly."
"Haha, me too," he chuckled, "but I suppose I should tell yer why I'm here. We've got a new batch of recruits coming in and the High General has asked me to train them. They need a good combat instructor and I can't think of anyone better than you.
Ryan and Damien bantered some, over an old fight from the school years. Sounded more like a sparring match from the teasing way it was referred to, but Amy had no doubt that any sort of fight, for training or not, between the two men was likely to be rather violent and not a good idea for anybody to stick around.
Wait. Combat instructor? Amy looked up at Damien. "Does that mean you won't be around for a while?" she asked, furrowing her brow. "What about the kids?"
Damien's brow furrowed and he paced a little bit around the kitchen. Ryan knew the look on his face and he didn't like it one bit. It wasn't until Amy interrupted their trains of thought that Damien spoke up again, "I dunno if I'm even ready to do such a thing. Couldn't take me more than a few hours a day for a few weeks. How much will I get paid?"
Ryan shrugged, "Knowing the High General, she will pay yer handsomely in either muggle or wizard currency. The combat instructions that yer be teachin are usually early morning and mid afternoon fer two hours a piece. A week at most."
Damien mulled it over and shrugged, "I can do that. When do I start, tomorrow?"
"No. Today."
Damien gave a gasp of awe, "that's too soon! My kids will be coming home from school today. Amy and I were going to pick then up later today!"
"We need yer combat experience, Damien. Remember the kind of training we received before basic and the crap we were taught at basic. The High General wants an expert and yer were the best at what you do. I will have yer back by lunch and Ill stay a bit after to play with the kids."
Damien turned to Amy thoughtfully, unsure of what to do. He wanted to do this, but that left Amy in a tough spot of having to pick up Samael and Faith from King's Cross. She was on great terms with Faith, even using his owl to let her write back and forth with her. But Samael was more difficult and delicate on this matter.
"Is Ethan coming back on the train with the kids?"
"More than likely, yes."
"Send word to have the kids meet Amy at King's Cross instead of on Platform 9 3/4. Amy if you don't mind doing me this huge favor, I would greatly appreciate it. It'll only be a couple of hours at most and Ill be back soon or Ryan will lose a lot more than his hair."
"Right... You still have your old uniform?"
"It's only been almost 5 years. Why would I throw that?"
She sobered quickly, and watched the interaction between the two men. She didn't react, even when Ryan said that Damien would be starting that day. Xander, who had been toddling around, grabbed onto her leg with a giggle, and she leaned down to pick him up, balancing him on her hip. "You're getting heavy there, kiddo," she chuckled to him as she shifted her weight before looking up at Damien.
"I think it'll be good of you to get back to this military thing," she said with a small smile. "I'm sure you miss it - you didn't even throw out the uniform, for heaven's sake! Don't worry about the twins; I think you showed me where the entrance is. Even if I don't know how to get onto the platform, I can be there when they come out. It won't be a problem." She bounced Xander a bit, looking at the young boy with a grin. "It'll be an adventure!"
With that, she turned back to Damien. "Don't worry about getting home soon; I'll take care of things here. You just concentrate on what you need to do." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you when you get home then. You won't be needing the car, right?"
Damien smiled weakly and kissed Amy back as he walked past her to the stairs, "I'll be right back." He went into his locked study and drew the symbol meant to unlock it, pushing the door aside and looking around for the box with his uniform. He found a small box under the desk labeled "Work" and dusted it off, pulling out from its case, a black uniform, complete with badges and stars. He quickly changed, waving his hands over areas that needed fixing or resizing to do so and walked out of the office feeling strange. It had been too long and the familiar comfort of the uniform made him slightly nostalgic.
He came out and stood before them, taking in the moment quietly. He walked over and picked up Xander from Amy's hip and tossed him up in the air quickly and swung him, "Alright, Daddy's gotta go. You behave for Amy and I'll be home soon. Thanks again Amy. You can take the car, just be at Kings Cross between platforms 9 and 10. I'll be back soon."
She smiled and gave Damien a peck on the lips as he made his way towards the back door, where there was a slight gust of wind and the two men disappeared in a blink of an eye. Despite having seen Damien do this many times, it was still something that Amy would never get used to. She looked down at Xander, who glanced up at her in return with a smile. She smiled and pecked his forehead, "I guess it's just us for a little while. Why don't you go get ready so that we can go and pick up your brother and your sister."
Some Time Later:
The only noise that echoed through the cabin was the sounds of the train moving along the tracks. Faith was busy reading the Book of the Dead with her glasses randomly slipping to the edge of her nose, making her having to push them up to the bridge. Her white hair was tied in a neat braid down to the middle of her back as she dutifully studied. Across from her was her brother, whose short white hair clashed with the bruise on his cheek and a scowl upon his features. Next to him was their mentor, Ethan Minsk, who was busy fiddling with a small bird that brought him instructions for when they arrive. He gave Samael a light nudge and tried to get the boy to smile by making strange faces, but Samael was clearly upset.
"Clearly boy, you don't like this whole situation. Care to talk?"
"No…"
"You don't like the fact that your father is with this Amy, I take it?"
Without missing a beat, Faith spoke up, while her face was still buried in her book, "He misses Mum and feels that Dad is cheating on Mum."
"No one asked you Effie. It doesn't bother me that Dad is with someone, but it does bother me that she isn't even of wizard blood. Thins out our bloodline. If they decide to have a baby, gods forbid… The child will more than likely end up not being a wizard or an alchemist. I just don't want to see the Kelmore bloodline die because he decided to mess around with some muggle gold dig…"
"Watch yourself Samael," Faith said as she looked up and closed her book. She crossed her left leg over the right and sat back into the seat, "I miss Mum too and at first I was skeptical. Amy is a nice woman and she loves Dad. She loves us! She isn't in this for Dad's money or to try and take away the love we had for Mum. She's just trying to be there to support us and to help Dad return to some semblance of a normal life."
Minsk smirked and nodded; his protégé had matured quickly since the kids had started learning alchemy from him only a few months back. He had a great feeling about Faith doing great things, though her brother couldn't be said much the same. He required a different kind of training; one that Minsk couldn't provide, "Faith's right, Sam. Your father has spent his entire life dedicated to you, Faith and Alexander after your mother passed away. He always loved your mother and I can attest to how deeply in love the two of them were. When your mother died, it took everything to keep your father from falling apart. I wouldn't be surprised if this Amy isn't helping him along with the recovery. It's not like your father hasn't earned some comfort and happy…"
"SHUT UP! How do you know how I feel, huh? Mum is prolly rolling in her grave right now… Dad is capable of doing things most alchemists aren't capable of. He can just bring her back using the Book of the Dead."
"ENOUGH! Never say that," shouted Minsk as he stood up. His presence became larger and Faith jumped as Minsk closed the distance between himself and Samael, "NO ONE HAS EVER LOVED ANY ONE MORE THAN YOUR FATHER LOVED YOUR MOTHER! Neither you nor anyone else should ever try to bring back the dead. It's unnatural… The results are horrible. I have seen the travesties that have occurred in the name of love. There is nothing in this world that would make your father happier than to have your mother back, but your father knows what can happen when you mess with the dead and the living… Your father is smart enough to not make an attempt at playing god."
Faith was backed into the corner of the cabin and had a look of terror plastered across her features as her mentor had turned from the calm and collected monk like man that she was used to seeing to a nightmare she hoped to avoid seeing in the future. Samael only glared back at Minsk until the message sank in. He sat back and turned away from Minsk and looked down to the floor while the mentor sat back down. He looked to Faith and reached out a hand to her with a calm smile that belied the anger that welled inside him towards his young student, "Its ok, Faith. You're brother just needed a little… Tough love."
Faith eyed him with fear in her eyes, pulling her feet up to her chest and covering them with her skirt, "You never said anything about THAT, sir."
"And you never will see it again until you are in serious danger. The only person who has ever seen me do that is your father," said he in an almost monotone voice, "Now, calm yourself. I'm sorry. Samael, you will behave yourself in Amy's presence and should you have any issues with her, be polite and tell her to just leave you be. She will respect that, I promise. Your father will only be a few hours a day, so I'm sure you can make some time to practice. Now, we're coming up to the train station."
The remainder of the ride was silent, though Faith was able to return to normal after having come to grips with the fact that her mentor was adamant about the subject. Once they arrived to the station, Faith grabbed her bag and trunk and followed behind Minsk and Samael, who dragged himself out exasperatedly. Through the hidden gateway, they stood in the middle of the busy station of Kings Cross on the muggle side, where they were greeted by a squeal of delight and a friendly smile. Faith watched the scowl melt away from her brother's face as the youngest of the siblings made a flying leap into Samael's chest, bringing a smile to her lips. She set her trunk down beside her brother's and went up to Amy and wrapped her arms around her, "Hey! It's great to see ya! We heard that dad was called back to the Vanguard. I'm sure we'll all behave for you just fine until dad gets back, wont we?" She said, shooting a glare back to Samael.
The boy looked to Alexander and couldn't help but smile, even standing in front of the evil woman who was taking his father away. He nodded and moved to grab his trunk as Alexander jumped up and sat up on his shoulders. Minsk stopped Samael from walking away and turned him around, "Listen boy. I understand your pain. Believe me. Give it time; sit down with your dad and talk to him. I know you two don't talk very often."
"You must be the kid's teacher, Ethan Minks?"
"Minsk, young miss. I prefer mentor over their teacher. These two teach me a great many things as have other students over the years. You must be Damien's girlfriend, Amy?"
Amy gave a simple nodded as she offered her hand to him, which he took gratefully and placed a soft kiss upon it, "a pleasure I'm sure miss. Its high time you all get heading back, I'm needed back at the White City." He turned on his heels and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Amy with the kids.
"Well, he's a strange fellow," Amy said quietly as she grabbed Faith's small satchel.
"Yeah… a strange man with strange habits," said Samael teetering back and forth to elicit a giggle from his brother.
