Chapter 160

"Alright, group meeting!" Valkyrie called. They were scattered around the ground floor of Corrival's mansion. It was clean and beautiful, but also almost exclusively made of dark oak or walnut and only a few dark shades of deep red, purple and green. The green was only in the handful of fake plants scattered about too. All the furniture was soft, and the rugs were plush, so it still felt cosy despite the sombre first impression.

Her family came in from the three bottom rooms they'd slept and rested in that day. They sat on the sofas and waited patiently.

"I've given it some thought, and I think it's time to put on paper exactly how the next two months are going to go," Valkyrie told them.

"Is the contract two months?" Fletcher asked.

"Yes, didn't you read it?" Valkyrie asked. He shook his head and checked his stupid hair in the massive mirror again. "Oo-kay. Well, we have until tomorrow and then we have to get back to America, then the two months start. Bear in mind it's about to be December so we need to choose how we want to do for Christmas."

"Together," Tanith voted immediately.

"Yeah, Val, we want Christmas together!" Dexter said in pretend anger.

"Shut up. I meant, when are we meeting and how much time off are we asking for. There's always stuff going down on Christmas and we might be needed," Valkyrie reasoned.

"It's been a big year for us all," Nadia said. "We all deserve time together for Christmas."

"Okay, we'll ask for those days off. My suggestion for the time goes like this then. We go over tomorrow. We then spend the first week and a half working lightly, training and trying not to piss off the Sanctuary. I am then abandoning you and taking Nadia with me. You'll be working still, so nothing will change. After the week me and Nadia are gone for, we'll meet you back wherever you are and we have another week of work and then we'll take Christmas Eve, Christmas and then Boxing Day off. We won't be allowed New Year's because there's always way more trouble then than on Christmas."

"True," Saracen nodded.

"After that, it's going to be a stream of work I expect. Probably some travelling. We'll still get time off between missions and we are allowed full access to all the information first-hand from now on which is nice. Plus the contract is only two months, whereas before we had another three months there. We'll be working on trying to track down the American Spider den while we are working. Hopefully being on the big-shot missions and getting to talk to the criminals will reveal some secrets."

"I'm not sure what we'll do about the house though," Nadia said, her voice a little higher with panic. "It won't be ready in two months! We'll have nowhere to go!"

"Baby, we'll stay here," Valkyrie comforted her. "If we're lucky the house will even be done."

"It won't be," Erskine said and the others chuckled at her expense. "The designer and architect had to make a bunch of changes to our original plans so that the structure will, you know, not fall down. It's going to take even longer than we thought. It might not be done until June or July."

"What will happen after the two months," Solomon took over seriously, "is me and Valkyrie going away for probably a month alone. I need to continue researching the Necromancer artefact the Spiders possess, and Valkyrie needs to keep training with her new magic. Norma and Helana, the Necromancer's I've been working with, have found a place we can train and research more seriously, as well as eventually do perform the Magic Keeping ritual. From there it'll be a handful of days in recovery. We can't risk going to someone like Kenspeckle or we risk the procedure being noticed."

Valkyrie nodded seriously. "We'll make preparations for that while we're in America."

"I know," Solomon said again. He really hated this idea. But at least he was trying to help.

"Is there any other news?"

"Only a few updates on the Spiders. A few were caught and questioned but they managed to escape like those other prisoners a while back," Dexter told them. "Corrival and Meritorious are pretty sure they know who the spy in the ranks is this time though. They said that the spy will have settled into their prison sentence nicely by the time we get back."

"I mean, at least they know who the spy is. I assume it's no fun information?"

"Not really, just old locations and names we already had or suspected," he shrugged.

Valkyrie tutted. "Alright. Well, I figured me and Nadia would leave you guys to mope and go visit Crystal since we're here."

Nadia smiled and there were a few more comments on stuff they wanted to do in America concerning Sanctuaries and officials – plus the outcome of the man Tanith had found in Griever's home. He was a low-level official for the Sanctuary but had nothing to do with the mission. He'd been 'publicly humiliated' and had to wait until massive cutters had been found to get him off the walls due to the other, more important issues at the time and the fact no one had wanted to help him. The woman, a mortal, had her memory wiped of the magic, returned to her family and was receiving some money as compensation. A nasty way to put it, but at least she could afford therapy, Valkyrie supposed. Hopefully she'd never regain her memory and have to live through that all over again.

After Tanith's final story, they left. They had one of their own cars that Valkyrie took the wheel of and they were quiet most of the way. When they got to Haggard, they held hands and Valkyrie decided it was a wonderful idea to walk to her Aunt and Uncles house.

"I thought you still hated them," Nadia questioned.

"I do. So much so I want my Uncle to know that his daughter is learning magic," Valkyrie said with an evil grin. Nadia tried to glare but ended up laughing. "I'm joking. I'm not going to tell him we're teaching Crystal magic. I'm just going to plant the seed that we might be so he'll get really paranoid and upset but won't be able to ask her because he couldn't ask those things just in case she doesn't know about magic. See?"

"Seems like psychological warfare to me," Nadia told her.

"I'm okay with that," Valkyrie grinned and kissed her girlfriend. "We're at their house now."

They sighed and walked up to the front door. There were four cars at the house now, so both Crystal and Carol seemed to have been gifted with their own. Valkyrie knocked.

It only took a few moments for Beryl to open to front door. She gasped loudly like she really was shocked to see them. "Stephanie! Oh my goodness, what are you doing here?"

"Hi, Aunt Beryl. Me and Nadia were passing through and we thought we'd see how you were," Valkyrie said, trying to seem chipper. "Could we come in?"

"Of course!" Beryl said quickly, stepping aside. They were taken quickly into the kitchen. "Fergus! Stephanie and her friend is here!"

Valkyrie sucked in a deep breath and let it go. Nadia just smiled and squeezed her hand. "Is Crystal and Carol home?"

"Yes they are, I'll go call for them," Beryl said, rushing from the kitchen and shouting for her family to come downstairs. Crystal was first down. She and Valkyrie hugged and then Crystal and Nadia hugged.

Fergus had his eyes narrowed on them but didn't say anything.

"How have you been?" Valkyrie asked Crystal. Carol hadn't come down.

"Good," Crystal said, grinning widely. She'd lost some weight, Valkyrie noticed.

"You're looking good, what have you been doing?" Valkyrie complimented.

She blushed and looked down at herself self-consciously. "Oh, I've been going on a lot of walks recently. Do you think it's helping?"

"Helping? You look good anyway Crystal, don't be silly," Nadia rolled her eyes. Crystal blushed even more. "How's work going?"

"Really good," she nodded. "I've been getting some extra shifts, almost saved enough to move out now."

"Yes, Crystal has decided to stay in Ireland for another year," Beryl cut it in a sickly voice, coming up and putting her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "You know, she was thinking of moving to Australia but now she is going to move nearby and do some classes!"

"Ooh, really," Valkyrie grinned. "Sounds good Crystal."

"Ha, yeah," Crystal said awkwardly. "Err, Mum, I have something I want to show Steph, we're going to go upstairs."

"Oh okay," Beryl said. "Do anyone of you girls want a drink?"

"No thank you," Valkyrie said, and Nadia asked for some tea. They made small talk and then went up to Crystal's bedroom.

It was only a small room, but it had a wardrobe, desk and chair, dresser and a single bed. It was mismatched and so obviously given to her as a child.

"Sorry it's cramped," Crystal said shily. "Here, sit on the bed, there's more room. I'll take the chair. What happened then, I thought you were staying in America for ages?"

"So did we, but a mission went wrong," Valkyrie told her. "Like, really bad. We had a friend living with us, a teleporter called Fletcher. We've known him for a while. Anyway, he had a girlfriend who has also been living with us. Turns out she was a spy and along with some other people in the Sanctuary, our government, they told the enemy where we were and got us caught. I got beaten up pretty bad. Tanith, Nadia and Laila all got kidnapped but we got to them before anything bad happened."

"Oh no, that sounds really bad," Crystal said, eyes wide.

"It was for a few hours but we've been in Ireland a few days now and we all feel a lot better. We're going away for another few months."

She tried to hide her disappointment but not very well. "Ah, that's too bad. I have to show you what I've been doing though!"

She clicked her fingers and a bright flame came immediately. It extinguished when she wanted it to, and she was able to move a piece of paper across the whole floor.

"That's really good!" They told her supportively.

Valkyrie grinned. "You're going to get to be a mage."

"I know! I'm really looking forward to you guys coming home and helping me with it, I'm struggling with water," she admitted. "But I've got flames down."

"I was the same," Valkyrie nodded. "It's just a whole lot of practice. We'll help when we're back and the house is finished."

"Sounds good," she smiled. "I drove past the house and saw it was busy with people renovating it. They're working really fast, the extension must almost be in by now! But then they put some trees up at the front gate and I can't really see the house anymore."

"We added them for some extra privacy," Nadia told her. "As soon as we've settled back in you'll have to come visit."

"Totally."

"How's the whole Carol thing with school going?" Valkyrie asked.

Crystal sighed and looked at her phone instinctually. "Not good. She's not been talking to me much except through text, and that's just to pick fights. I'm just ignoring it now and focusing on finding a place to move into."

"I assume the classes are you learning magic."

"Yeah. And then I'll need to take some magic tests, I bet, so I can work in magic places? I want to get a good job."

"I'll hook you up with something," Valkyrie promised. "What did you study at college?"

"Just maths and accounting."

"Well, that's very versatile. I can hire you in my company or find someone who needs an intern or something like that for you. Or I might be able to get you something at the Sanctuary but it'll be a pretty bottom of the barrel job there. They don't often like taking young people, but since you're my cousin they might make an exception. But you need a name first. Have you thought of one?"

Crystal twisted a few times in her chair. "I've thought about it. Like, a lot. But I can't think of something that sticks. I liked one for a time but it didn't feel like it was, you know, sticking like you said it would."

"That's okay, you still have time," she said reassuringly. "Can you tell me what you were thinking of?"

She hesitated. "Well, I liked more normal names. Like, I prefer Dexter and Nadia to Valkyrie and Ghastly, like you said there was that difference. But I don't know which one is me. I've never considered any name other than Crystal."

"Anything on last names?"

"Nothing again. It's going to be basic, right? Like, Cain has meaning. I don't do anything like you do," she said self-consciously.

"You don't need a name like Cain," Nadia said. "My last name is Robin, after the bird. It doesn't have to have a meaning that everyone understands so long as it has meaning to you. Cain is a real name with bad connotations of killing siblings. But Valkyrie identified with it because of its other meaning to make trouble. Don't think of other people's views of it, just your own."

"But I tried that," Crystal said. "There's just a lot of words in the world and I can't find the right ones for a name."

"Don't get unmotivated now," Valkyrie grinned. "You'll find the right one, I'm sure of it. Tanith didn't get hers until she was fifteen and she knew about magic from the moment she was born, you've only known for a few weeks. Text me as soon as you work it out."

"I will," she smiled.

"Have you been reading those books I gave you?" Valkyrie asked.

"Yeah," Crystal said, going to her wardrobe and pulling out the stack from under a hoodie. "They've really helped me actually." The books were on beginner level magic, and two were on the history of the Mage community in Ireland and a fun one from the Monster Hunters. "I feel like I might be ready for a bit more though."

Valkyrie pulled out her phone. "Let me call someone quickly." She dialled China's number while Nadia jumped in to show Crystal how to work on water. "Hey China, it's me."

"Valkyrie, it's good to hear from you," China said down the line. She sounded just as she always did. "This is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, you know I mentioned having cousins? One of them has found out about magic and we've discovered she is capable of using it. She's got a basic understanding but needs some more help. I wondered if I could send her your way for some resources and if you'd guide her along, so to speak."

"Another Edgley? I'm not sure this world can handle that," she said through a laugh. Valkyrie's lip itched up at the sound. "Perhaps you could introduce us?"

"I think we have time, we'll meet at the library."

It took some doing to dislodge Beryl from Crystal and let her join them on a drive. Fergus was sat stoically in the living room glaring at the television and actually didn't cause a fuss, but Beryl could not be convinced that her adult daughter should be allowed to leave the house without knowing where she was going. It didn't help that she asked to see Valkyrie's driving licence and she had to admit she didn't have it on her. She actually just didn't have one but she was a more than capable driver. Crystal told them to go ahead and spoke to her mother until Beryl was angry and then joined them. They all heard the door being slammed shut from inside the car.

"She's not happy," Valkyrie said, looking at Crystal's unbothered face in the mirror. She was probably used to it.

Crystal just shrugged. "Parents."

It was a quiet journey to China's apartments, but Nadia made sure to talk to Crystal about the history book she'd been reading the whole way over. She also told her more about the Dead Men which was obviously very interesting to Crystal.

"We're here," she smiled. "It's the third floor up."

They went that way and Valkyrie took pleasure in watching Crystal look around and made very sure to get to see her face when they met China in the centre of the books.

"Alright, that's enough," she laughed quietly, taking Crystal's elbow so she wouldn't fall over.

China laughed. "Meeting new people is always fun. How are you, my dear?"

"Grand, of course," she smiled, leaning on the desk. Nadia shily stood behind her. She was always unnerved by China's beauty whenever they met, and Valkyrie didn't think Tanith's view of China had exactly helped. It was a healthy wariness, Valkyrie supposed. "This is my cousin. She doesn't have a name yet."

"It's wonderful to meet you," China said, holding her hand out.

Crystal stumbled forwards and very delicately took it to barely shake and then stumbled over to Valkyrie and hid behind her also.

"Oh my god, you guys need to get a grip," she whispered to them through a laugh. Crystal's face was incredibly red and there was no doubt what she had thought about in the last few minutes. Nadia just glared up at her. She turned back to China. "Are you doing this?"

China smirked. "Perhaps."

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. "Do you think you can help her with finding what she needs?"

"Of course I can," the woman said flippantly. "In fact, I've called over a tutor to help. He'll be a while yet. He'll be able to teach your cousin everything she needs as quickly as possible. She doesn't have long before the Surge and people who do not have a good grasp of magic beforehand do not make good sorcerers, after all."

"Mhh," Valkyrie hummed seriously, looking behind her. Crystal looked embarrassed but a bit better. "We'll have to work out where you're meeting them, but I'll work something out."

"I'm sure you will," China smiled.

Just a filler. But let me tell you, next chapter is going to make you SQUEAL!

Lord Duck The Second: Even better name than before! I have put a lot of effort and time on this fanfiction so I'm glad you appreciate it, I probably should have focused more on my school work but this is my downtime project. Yeah, I had to skirt around those true names pretty hard. Darquesse opens a whole bag of jellybeans I didn't want anything to do with. I wouldn't mind doing something on her in the future but not here. This is meant to be more on family, Val's love life and fun stuff than anything else, even though the work/war side plays a big part in the plot still.

Demise Rim: You are welcome, although I don't know what you're thanking me for ;) Refresher chapters are needed, that's why I like putting up pregnancy times and now how old Laila is on occasion at the top. My timelines either skip months at a time or its three chapters per day because so much happens. So sometimes a chapter has to be dedicated to reminding everyone (myself included) wtf is going on. I guess I'll have to find a new girlfriend for Fletcher, that could be fun. There's always Crystal, or he can just be an annoying flirt for all eternity! Suggestions welcome.