The Ally
A week passed, and Vincent hadn't returned. Jet and Virginia both believed that he was just toying with them, waiting for them to start seeing things around every corner, and to go crazy. Neither one of them were going to give him the satisfaction, they stayed cool as cucumbers. Lilka and Ashley were behaving nicely, knowing that there was something wrong, and their parents didn't need any other problems complicating their lives. Let's just say that life was good for them at the moment.
But Virginia wanted to become prepared for if there was going to be a battle. She needed some more information than was found in her mother's journal. So one day, she and Jet locked the house up and headed for the house of her mother's old friend, the midwife Victoria Maria Syliana.
Victoria was a Shaman of fifty-two years of age, only a year older than her mother would have been had she lived through her sickness. She had golden yellow hair and brown eyes, and had a lion's head pendant around her neck, showing that she was from a family that paid tribute to Justine. Born under the Zodiac Sign Virgo, she wore a brown robe with golden borders, much like Virginia's blue one. It was a Shamanistic tradition to make their patron Elemental Guardian the one who presided over the element of your Zodiac sign, and to wear a robe with the symbolic colors of that Guardian. So she was a servant to the Earth Guardian Grudiev, in the same way that Virginia called on Schturdark.
The woman was the best midwife that Ekatrina Roughnight Maxwell had known, her childhood best friend. Victoria lost her husband in an accident after becoming pregnant with his child, so she had moved to a secluded cottage, where another midwife she'd known had birthed the daughter. Since she lived in solitude, she was able to use her powers a little more freely than most Shamans. That was the main reason that Jet and Virginia had elected to live in the middle of a forest, the other two being the fact that some people still try to go after them for a bounty, and Ginny's enjoyment of nature.
"Excuse me, ma'am," Virginia spoke up, "I would like to know if you're Victoria Syliana. My name is Virginia M. Enduro, Ekatrina Maxwell's daughter. I need to talk to you about something important."
"Little Ginny! Great Grudiev, I haven't seen you since the day your mom died. I'm sure you wouldn't remember every person who came to pay their respects to our fallen princess, you were pretty upset back then, and I remember seeing you cry. But you might remember the woman who dried your tears, and gave you some home made cookies. That was me," she admitted.
Virginia exclaimed, "That was you!? Sorry, you were right, I wasn't in the best of spirits. Oh, before I forget, this is my husband Jet, and our children Ashley Alexander and Lilka Jane. Can we come in for a little bit, this is something that only you can help us with, as you know more than we do."
Victoria ushered the Enduros into her house. "Emily, can you make us some tea and bring in some cookies? We've got important guests here today, and I want to give them the best hospitality that we can manage. Sorry it won't be much, Your Highness, but we do live in the middle of a forest."
"So do we," Virginia told her, "It's really nice. But seriously, I've got to speak with you on a very important subject. It could be a matter of life and death for myself, my husband, and our friends. As well as my daddy's brother and sister-in-law. Did you see the article about Grandfather's murder?"
"Yes, I did. Who in the world could have done such a thing? I was originally going for the fact that he might have found something of value, and some rogues had gone after him, but his belongings hadn't been gone through at all. And why in the heck would he use magic, and risk giving himself away to fight, unless the enemy was a monster or demon, and he was away from town?" she inquired.
Emily called, "Mother, the tea is ready." Then, she came into the room. Only about a month older than Virginia, she was born under the sign of Gemini, and her patrons were Fengalon and Justine. She was wearing her Shaman's robes, the lion's head necklace, and had blue hair and brown eyes.
Victoria smiled at her daughter. "Thank you, just put it down in the center of the table. Come and sit down, relax. I'm sure you don't remember Virginia too well, you were only eight when the two of you last saw one another. But I do remember you trying to cheer her up after her mom died by showing her your new bracelet. Let me introduce you to the rest of her family as well."
So Victoria introduced her young daughter to the Enduros. After that, a young girl came into the room. She was only about five years of age, and had blue hair and green eyes. The girl was wearing blue Shaman's robes, and dragging a teddy bear along the floor with her left hand.
"Cecille," Emily stated, "These are friends of mommy and grandma. Now, I would like you to go and play somewhere while we talk, I don't think what Auntie Virginia has to say is of any interest to you."
"Ashley, Lilka, you go with her. It'll probably be more fun for the two of you if you're with a kid your own age than hanging out with a bunch of adults like us," Virginia suggested.
All three kids ran off, already talking about what they like to do. They were really happy to be able to go and play somewhere, adult talk was often boring. Cecille, however, was also happy to have someone her own age to play with, having no siblings or close friends. Although Ashley was a little bit annoyed that he had to play with a duo of hyperactive young girls, he got enough of that at home.
Emily said, "Don't mind Cecille. She's just lonely, what with no friends her own age around. Her father would move our family to the city, if only he wasn't always experimenting with magic as a hobby. He's a Shaman too, met him at a party that mother held for some friends a few years back."
Victoria looked at her guests. "Now, you say that you've found out something about your grandfather's murder. Do you know who did it, and why he had attacked in the first place?"
"Yes, I do," Virginia told the women, "You've got to give me some more information before I can try to track him down though. For the killer is my own twin brother, whose existence you and mom kept a secret, so's not to upset my father since he was busy with his work."
- - - -
Teefa's Last Words…
Like the robes and necklaces? They have religious significance to her people. Well, here's how it goes. I've taken the four Elemental Guardians, and put them equal to the Zodiac signs of the same element. That is, Moor Gault=Aries, Leo, and Saggitarius; Grudiev=Toros, Virgo, and Capricorn; Fengalon=Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius; and Schturdark=Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. The colors of their elements (red, brown, green, and blue) is the color of the robes of people born under those signs. And the robes are exactly like the one Virginia wore in "The Heiress". The necklaces are the symbol of which High Guardian they pray to, which differs from family to family. Although it isn't uncommon to change which one you worship, like with most religions. Most people shape their virtues based on the one their Shamanistic parent would pray too, unless both were Shamans and worshipped a different one. Virginia's family worships Raftina, since that's the one she's most like.
