Ah yes, chapter seven. Where everything starts to roll and the mystery is starting to be found.

Huh. Hard to believe I have another three weeks of posting up Round Two of my schedule and I'll be on a break again. Mainly to give myself a break from this story and collect myself, but also to write the chapters for Round Four: 16-18. (I haven't even finished writing up the last of Round Three yet, i still need to do 15 lmao)

I own nothing except for this plot, Cora and Emily! Constructive criticism accepted!

"Y'know Cor?"

"Yeah?"

"The only bad thing about this trilogy is the special effects. Look at those things and compare them to what we have now!"

"Hey! I take offence to that, the effects are awesome!" Edd protests and I can't help but agree.

"They look pretty cool, actually. Just look at those neons!"

"Cora, seriously."

"Seriously!"

Today is a day where Emily spends the hours at my place and we're all watching the Back to the Future Trilogy on Netflix after Em discovered the unlimited internet and TV reception.

At the moment though, Emily is trying to start a debate with us, starting with the special effects, but I'm not falling for that.

"Can we all shut it? Stuff's about to get good."

Almost on cue, my phone goes off, the ping signifying that I have new emails as I roll my eyes in exasperation. Emily sniggers, but I don't mind.

"Nice timing," She grins, pausing the film as I pull out my iPhone and my crew peers at it from over my shoulders, "Who's it from?"

"It's Laurie!" I exclaim, "I hope she's doing okay…"

I open up the email and the six of us read together.

'Cor, Laurie here, obvs. Everything's cool there, right? I really hope so, because at least you're not going through the stuff back here.'

I frown. Jaxx did mention something like that a while back…

'There's been a Big-L bust-in at home led by Uncle Thor, according to the cams and dad, who was there at the time. Lucky for us, none of the letters or their traces were taken or found, but Uncle L mentioned something about a cross and an eagle, according to the cams.'

My heart pace begins to rise as the next part confirms what I think is happening.

'Dad's started to look through his old diaries after that and he's going paranoid whenever someone mentions an eagle or cross. I tried asking, but he just kept mumbling how the past as catching up with him and how he had to find that one diary.

'I'm also trying to make a start on an investigation for this with some of the Ridgies, Harts and L's on our side since of course they'd have some skills from their dads. I'm still wary of Lucky L, though. He's in, but I'm giving very little to him because he's kinda shifty when we deliver letters.'

"Who are those guys?" Matt asks curiously, "Ridgies, Harts and L's?"

"Later, Matt." I cut off before we continue reading.

'I'll be honest: I think Lucky might be the mole. It's not all clear on who the mole is for, us or the Big L, but all I'm gonna get Lucky to do for this eagle and cross thing is the stuff that's not necessary. Y'know, let him play games, boring files to organise, that sort of thing.

'Also, Uncle Thor's sudden interest in the Big L and politics is creeping me out. It's disturbing to the whole family really, even the Ridgies and Harts who aren't with us are trying to keep off from him. It's all the more weird when he said he'd permanently retire 6 years ago.

'I would go on and on Cor, really. But I have letters to pack and send and they aren't gonna keep waiting any longer. Hope you reply and say hi to Em for me!

'Laurie.'

"Uncle Thor's going back into the Big L?" Emily asks with astonishment, only to be replied with an equally stunned shrug from me.

"This is confusing!" Matt exclaims, clutching his head.

"Yeah, what's with all the weird talk about mail and Harts and Ridgies?" Tom furthers on. An idea suddenly pops into my head.

"You're allowed to ask four questions, but there's only one from each of you," I decide, "Who's first?"

"What's with all the mail talk?" Tord asks.

"We really don't send letters, it's a substitute subject matter to cover up the real job of cola-smuggling," Emily explains, "Ever since it became illegal back in 2030, our families use that a lot, even online because we're wary that someone on the internet might be stalking into things that are private and we could easily be thrown into prison, or worse."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh." A collective verbal realisation is heard from the four 'ghosts' before Tom asks the next question.

"Who's Lucky and Thor and who are the L's, Harts and Ridgies?"

My chest tenses and I squeeze my hands into fists, but I take a deep breath and manage to reply without stuttering.

"I'm not comfy with saying who those three groups really are, but I can say that I'm somewhat-distantly related to them and my direct family has the nickname of Golding. My dad is Golding and L descent and my mum is Ridgie and Hart descent, so my siblings and I are a sort of ultimate combination of the four groups. Em's not related to me, but we still nickname her family the Bakers because her grandma used to own a famous bakery. As for Lucky L, his real name is Felix, but since he's Norweigan descent we nickname him Lucky because of translation reasons. Thor is Felix's dad and yes, it's a nickname. I'm not comfy with revealing the full name yet. And yes, I am partially Norweigan because my dad has that descent, but I don't really know that many words from the language. Also, we nickname the police and the law authorities as the Big L so that we don't get confused with my relatives."

"Huh. So till you're comfy with telling us with who these guys really are we'll call you Coraline Golding and Emily Baker." Tom remarks, and I nod with a nonchalant shrug.

"What kinds of cola do you deal with?" Matt's curiosity piques.

"Well, Cor's is cherry and regular coca-cola and all that, since her great-grandpa took the original recipes soon after the ban. My family deals with everything diet: diet cola, diet lemonade, diet Pepsi, that sort of thing."

"Poor you," Edd sighs in sympathy, "To be stuck delivering and drinking diet cola."

"It's not all that bad," Em snickers, "I like having regular cola too, but it's even when it comes to deciding between the two. There's also another three families who deal with Pepsi, lemonade and fizzed water respectively, but we rarely get any deliveries from those guys."

"I would ask about what happened to Dr. Pepper, but the thing is…why are you guys here?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, why are you here in Durdum Lane in the first place?"

"My dad has the owning rights to this house and Em's parents with hers. We were having a rough time with all those deliveries and all that trouble of keeping it hidden when our parents finally noticed that we needed a decent break. So my brother and sister took to renovating this place to its glory state and dusted off the rest of the budget on Emily's place. Em and I are gonna stick around for two months before we have to head back to the pod suburbs for work." I manage out in one breath before panting for air.

"Also, Dr. Pepper got busted 12 years ago. Cor, remember the trial?"

"So staged," I laugh at the memory, "Even when we were six we could tell how dramatic it was. Wasn't your dad bawling his eyes out every time he saw it?"

"Nah, that was yours. Jaxx's face when he saw the judge though."

I giggle as I remember the screwed-up look on my then-11-year-old older brother whenever he saw the infamous Judge McCoy, but I'm stopped when Tord raises his hand.

"You're getting off-topic-"

"Sorry."

"No no, it's fine, but you did notice the documents I knocked to the floor back in the basement, right? The ones behind the photo frame?"

"So it was you!" I exclaim, "You're the one that got me searching up on Eagle's Cross!"

"You read them, right?"

"Barely. The handwriting's a mess and I can tell that it keeps changing between Norweigan and English, but there isn't really that much to read, no." I shake my head.

"Tell you what: We'll help you with the research on Eagle's Cross-"

"All of you?"

"Tord, you can't be ser-"

"Yes, all of us – if you give us a starting point on what we're looking for. My diary pages aren't expected to hold all the answers."

"You wrote those?!"

"What's the starting point?"

"Hold up," Em butts in, "Isn't Eagle's Cross mentioned in a comic or something?"

A ping from my phone and a quick read-through from Jasper's recent email confirms it: the mention of Eagle's Cross was a biblical mention alongside John the Baptist in the Tintin arc of Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure. However, it's all that he can send to me through the permission of dad's proxy. When Em peeks over my shoulder and reads the email, her face lights up.

"I read those books a million times before!" She exclaims, "At the end of the arc, the treasure was found in Marlinspike, the captain's family home, not the shipwreck of the Unicorn."

"So?"

She opens her mouth to say something, but hesitates for a second before going ahead; she became close to blurting out something that I didn't want out yet.

"So what if your dad has some sorts of connections to this place, apart from rights? It might or might not be ancestral like Haddock's, but the Operation could've been named Eagle's Cross because your dad had something to hide within this place? Like the treasure?"

The boys' jaws drop to the floor. My heartbeat speeds up in excitement and I feel a grin split across my face.

"Emily, you're a genius! We gotta write this down! And other possibilities too!"

"That's a pretty good start," Tom whistles appreciatively, "But we're…y'know. How are we gonna research?"

"Don't be ridiculous Tom," I retort, "If Tord knocked down that frame in the basement, then of course you should be able to knock down files or books or mess with the computers to get something up. Let's get down to business."

Me, Em, Tord and Matt stand up and start to leave the living room, but I stay back behind a wall with my neighbour when a convo between Edd and Tom pique our interest.

"Edd, did you notice something about those two?"

"What are you talking about?"

"There's definitely a few things that those girls aren't telling us-"

"They don't want to explain it right now Tom, give it a rest-"

"Edd, they act like they know something on why we're…like this."

"Look, just keep up the act and we'll all figure this out later."

Em and I exchange a glance before we head to the attic, pull out empty notebooks and pens and begin writing the possibilities and theories of Eagle's Cross and dad's secret behind it. I give her a worried look for a moment and she puts a finger to her lips before continuing to write in the notebook.

Not now, Cor. We gotta make 'em believe we're falling for this.

A few hours later, Em and I are rubbing our hands to try and relieve the pain from them after writing so much. Printed websites, dusty diaries and age-creamed documents are everywhere on the kitchen table and Matt is dizzy from messing with the 22nd century internet for so long. At least he's pretty dedicated.

However, all we can manage to properly gain from the research is:

· Dad is hiding something in or under the house, and he's probably got some pretty deep connections to it too.

· He sees Operation: Eagle's Cross as some sort of saving grace from something – what is it?

· There's something about fluxes and watches going on with Eagle's Cross too, according to Tord's notes that he translated.

"Ugh," Emily groans, "My brain hurts, Cor. I'm tired."

"So am I," I yawn, "Tell your crew about this tomorrow because I'm intending to drag everyone we want into this. But get some rest for now Em. I'll head to bed as well."

After Em leaves, I head to the bathroom and start to brush my teeth, rubbing my sore and tired eyes with the other hand as I notice Edd walk in.

"What are you doing in here?"

"Just wanted to say g'night, Cor."

"That's sweet of you. Thanks." I respond sleepily, turning around to face his outline when I frown and notice something.

"Is anything wrong?"

"Is it me, or are you nearly opaque without that mirror?"

"…Stone the cans. I am! The others might be too, I think."

"Nice. All those mirrors flashing lights into my eyes are getting kinda annoying. G'night Edd."

"Night. Sweet dreams."

You too, gramps.