Oh, this is just a room filled with awe-inspiring women, and we are about to get an earful from my mother. Julia sits close to Drenar at the impromptu conference room that Nick had set up in his den, and had hastily cleared away their bulletin boards, equipment, and various papers to get a simple setup. That slight papery crisp smell still permeates the room, along with the varnish Nick had weaved into the organic looking trim that accents the darker set room. Late morning sun filters in through the simple windows, and she eyes James fiddling with his watch and trying to avoid the gaze of her mother.

The one woman who’s been super silent other than checking on her health. Every attempt to sidebar a conversation has been met with ‘we will discuss it in the morning’ like she knows she’s trying to push this off for as long as possible. Unlike the other two Valkyries flanking her at the table, she’s not wearing her helmet. Julia figures, this one is out of the bag completely. She also keeps getting wayward glances from one of the Valkyries, and she can see a flicker of amber eyes behind the visor. Kiera tilts her head toward her.

“I know what you’re going to ask. I think this secret is out. Go ahead.”

Julia gasps when the Valkyrie in question takes off her helmet, and she recognizes that auburn hair and amber eyes, along with the youthful face that looks like its just edged into middle age. Joey let’s out a gasp when she runs up and hugs her tightly, unable to restrain herself.

“Holy shit, dragon baker?!” Julia exclaims. She stands up from the table, fingers tensed on the surface, and Drenar is gaping like he’s trying to catch a fly. He really needs to work on his reactions, in hindsight. She points at Malena for emphasis, unable to just compute this, then it hits her. She absolutely knows Joey somehow. “Hands off my cinnamon stick!”

“It’s not that strong!” Or that’s what she theorizes Joey meant to say in protest, but her voice is muffled by Malena’s embrace, and her own elation. “Um, hi Malena, I guess the bakery is just the uh–wow you’re strong–a day job?”

“Joey, when I got the word of what was going on, I pulled myself out of semi-retirement and barnstormed to Asqualia. Thank Fates you and your friends are in one piece.” Malena is barely keeping her composure, and eventually lets her embrace lapse. Joey looks amazed.

Drenar's still making that strangled noise like he can't comprehend this. She barely can either, and points accusingly. “Hold the phone, you two have met! Why didn't you tell us shit when we came over to your house?!”

“Tsundere, they really need a minute here,” James says warily and tries to nudge her back to sitting at the table.

“Wait. Hang on. Did I miss something here?” Drenar asks after his brain unbreaks. “How have you two met?”

“Oh, right. The chaos of the last few days. Amaranth Vertimer was my mentor at London Academy. He's how I got into magical creature studies! Now I just take pieces of magical creatures and do magical science with them! Malena lived in town, and when I got here, she would invite me over on occasion!” The explanation is plausible, but Julia can't believe this cosmic coincidence.

“Your whole house smells like cinnamon,” Julia accuses, and Malena smiles faintly. “No wonder why I've craved cinnamon cookies ever since! It's now permanently infused in everything Joey wears!”

“Uh, it’s not, though,” Joey counters politely.

“Joey, you’re a walking cinnamon stick. And I still love you to pieces for it,” Julia declares proudly, and Joey clears her throat and looks like she’s blushing. “Still, question to you, dragon baker. Didn’t fess up anything before?”

“Julia, the second you showed up at my house, I knew something was amiss. I was still under the presumption that…Victor one had still not given the green light for the reveal.” Malena bows her head slightly at this, while examining the occupants of the room. “You might want to hear all the details on this one, first, before you ask your questions. I have a feeling I know what you might ask.”

“It’s more like an observation, Malena. An observation on how all the adults are selfish, blindsided their kids, subjected them to massive psychological trauma, and decided that they knew what was best?” She turns slowly to see that James–ever the cold, calculating rival, just went off like an instant fuse. “You’re right, that’s small potatoes. Let’s talk about important stuff. We went through hell on earth and sent dozens of disposable henchmen to either a lengthy jail turn, or a premature dirt nap. We have been subject to interrogation for the past day and a half. We’re owed answers. By you, the overwatch raven, and–well I dunno who you are, but I’ll bet money you’re someone else we know,” he states with vitriol when he points to the third Valkyrie. She stays motionless in her seat.

“James, settle, please. This is not productive,” her mother states. She really does know how to command a room, and not just because she's the top Valkyrie on the planet. “I want to go over the past few weeks. Please refrain from accusations, calling the adults useless, stomping your feet, or attempting to set anyone on fire.”

“That is a very specific list of things you want me to not do–”

Julia decides this one isn't worth the fight. Not this particular angle. “James, sit down, please. Mom, just don't lie to us anymore. Because we've had a lifetime of that. And some of your reasons suck. Some of your secret-keeping almost got people killed.” The slight shift of her chin is almost imperceptible. She taps her tablet, and scrolls through.

“So let me recap what I've gotten from Dillenger and the reports from SAF. You all Awakened, felt threatened by the Talons, decided you knew best, and…went on a crash course for the entire week on what not to do in a crisis. And yet you all managed to fortuitously run into Levine and Nicholas, who just so happen to be the top tier talents of SAF.” Julia tenses her fingers on Drenar's leg because she sees that look on his face. He's pissed off. And for a lot of different reasons. Her mother almost looks amused at this.

“You also forgot the part where you didn't clue us in on Veil protocol, Mom. Might have been important!” She still gets in one light barb. Her mother, however, is unconvinced.

“That reveal was coming. I'd seen your eye color change and suspected you might be Awakening, though I thought we'd have more time. We’ll tally that one as an oversight on my part. A lot of what I'm about to reveal was coming at some point, anyway. Now, let us continue.” and so she did, for about another five minutes and summing up actions–do Valkyries get anything done when they have to do this kind of paperwork crap?! That must be the boring part of the job.

They reach the end of the summary, which dovetails into the arrival of the Valkyries at Asqualia. Her mother looks a little more wary after having summarized this awful few weeks and sets the tablet down at the rustic table. Not a word has been spoken by anyone else for five minutes.

Her mother looks at them sternly in turn, the slowly advancing sunlight highlighting tiny streaks of bright strands in her raven black hair. “I would say that this is the single most reckless series of rash decisions and poorly thought-out planning I've ever heard of. Including you, Nicholas, and Levine. By an immense margin. And it runs contrary to your service records. This is so dangerous, so anathema to the normal procedure of Veil protocol, that I’d ground all the teenagers with attitude involved until you're somewhere in your thirties. And that I'd see resignations from you two.”

“And you're not gonna do that, Kiera.” Drenar crosses his arms, and gives her the stern look right back. Looks like Drenar has picked up that soul-piercing glare from her, finally!

Her mother folds her hands on the table, looking immensely composed, given the circumstances. She's not entirely wrong. When given the facts, they had made some bad decisions. Mom finally lowers her tone a shade. “But, then I need to remind myself that some of this…situation…could have been avoided. It could have been entirely negated if those you should have been able to trust…came forward with critical details.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“And?” Drenar asks impatiently. Boy, he's gotten bold. He'd never challenged his mother like this before today.

“Drenar…Julia…Josephine… everyone else gathered here…” she looks at them in turn, focusing on their expressions. She can see the tension melting from her face, a little bit at a time, and her tone is softer at the edges now. “Given the circumstances, I’m proud of you all. You all stood against merciless killers, obtained critical evidence of the Talon's activities, and defended dozens of lives in the past week. And you’ve all had to endure something no parent wishes to see their children go through.” She sits back in her chair, all the sternness dissolved from her high-arched cheekbones. “What you all have uncovered is a festering wound in the mage world that could have dire implications for the rest of the world of consequence.”

Julia stands up with Drenar in turn, as do Joey and Angela. “We want answers, Mom. You know what this is about. And I think you know how this started. It started six years ago. Didn't it?”

Her mother motions to the idle Valkyrie, who goes to secure the door, and pulls out a device that looks like a cell phone, and she taps a few buttons. Kyle takes an interest, head tilted and eyes sharpened on the brass and silver armored Valkyrie. “We’re secure. Ma’am, are you sure this is–”

“This has always concerned family. And now we have brought trouble to our doorstep, Victor Seven. Now, as for the rest of you, what I am about to say, does not leave this room. Are we all clear on that?”

“Good on my end. Nick?” Levine asks quietly. He nods silently, then points to Drenar. “You might want to start.”

“Alright. I guess I'll start. My mother's alive, Kiera.” Drenar goes straight for the throat on this one, and his voice is remarkably reserved even as there are a few gasps in the room. Levine nods quietly, and glances at her mother briefly. Drenar continues before the commotion can break the flow of the discussion. “Joey can confirm it. She visited the Asqualia Research Center, one year ago, and gave her Luminari.”

“Brass and silver armor, verdant eyes, dark hair, about one-eighty centimeters. And also a close resemblance to her son, even if I only could see part of her face through her magitech visor,” Joey adds in a soft tone. “She came there for one purpose: to give me the single most important relic of the Valkyries to care for. Me. A girl from the middle of nowhere, Missouri. What she did was so unthinkable, that I couldn’t believe it. Not until Luminari started reacting to my presence–and then later, Drenar and Angela, specifically. When Alex–Drenar’s drakensoul–identified the blade, we knew it couldn’t be a coincidence.”

Her mother sits there, stone-faced, and the only reaction is a slow blink. Is her mother even breathing? She's fairly certain dragons still need to breathe, no matter how awesome they are.

“Kiera–say something. Anything. Tell us that we’re not chasing a ghost. Tell us that she’s alive so that we can know for sure. Or tell us that she’s kept a body imposter trying to live up to impossible standards.” She more than subtly draws close to Drenar–she wants answers just as much as him.

“Trisha is alive.” Kiera’s answer draws more gasps from the room, James saying something rather unsavory, and an outroar from Nick. She motions for silence and then puts a hand out for Drenar to continue. His reaction is a shaky exhale like he’s trying not to break down right then and there. Joey carries the emotional overload for him, just as well. “That is the terrible burden I have carried since the events six years ago. I will get into that in a minute.”

“So, she handed the single-most important object the Valkyries have in their arsenal, and gave it to a total stranger. Why?” Joey doesn’t let up, and Julia has immense respect for her. Very few can stand up to her mother on this level.

“To ensure it found its way to the hands it needed to be held by.” Her gaze follows the room–to herself, to Joey, Drenar, and Angela. “The secret of her survival has been held by three people: myself, Malena, and Gale. We were the first responders. And what has transpired since then has deeply troubled me.”

Drenar stands there, looking stark, before he slowly shakes his head in disbelief. “Kiera…you should have trusted us. All of us. This was not your call. I deserved to know that my mother was alive. Because you know what happened next.” Her mother bows her head slightly. The realization that what transpired next, would never have happened if she’d told them the truth.

You know this was your fault. Her unerring glare at her mother tells her what words cannot. And her mother knows it. Drenar stands there, stoic, arms crossed, and waits for her mother to say something.

“I know. It has weighed on me every single day since then. And I can never take it back.”

“That’s an understatement, Mom.” she rises from her seat before Drenar can stop her. “You have held this from us for six years. What we are, who we are, and where we need to aim our ire at. Now, you can tell us what the crisis is that was so desperate, you completely destroyed our lives.”

Her mother looks taken aback. “Julia, I think you need to dial it back a bit. I’m getting to that part. This is no simple matter. The dangers of this knowledge can’t be understated.”

“Really? The deadliest dragon bitch on the planet wants our heads on pikes, Mom. I very much doubt you can top that!” Drenar sighs and nudges her. He doesn’t want this to boil over, based on that subtle tilt of his head and a few hand signals that she picks up on.

[Let her talk.]

She takes the hint and turns back to her mother. “Okay. Let’s rewind the clock. What happened six years ago that kicked this off?”

“I have one guess. Surprisingly, it isn’t Valosterla.” Drenar sounds as somber as a funeral right about now. She would put a reassuring hand on his, but he slowly rose from his seat. “Kiera. I know who attacked her. It was the Conclave, wasn't it? What’d she do, step on their toes too many times? Find some scandal? Val would have been dancing on her grave–and likely mine and Evan’s, given her history with Lyssa, if she knew she existed, or had a pin on her identity. So tell me, who was so desperate–so utterly insane–to even attempt it? Val indicated there were dozens of bodies, and even her knowledge was limited. And that Valkyries were cleaning up the mess.”

He crosses his arms and lets out a soft sigh. “Kiera. We've been through hell on earth. I can't do this without answers–”

“She was attacked by a splinter group in the Conclave. One that bridges that blurry gap between the Talons, and those who are supposed to represent order.” Joey, Kyle, Levine, and Nick all recoil in horror near-simultaneously. Drenar squinted, as if he couldn't believe what he heard from her mother. Kiera bows her head, and her fingers are tensed on the table. “All the evidence we have of their involvement is incidental, some of it was destroyed. I can tell you what happened that day, Drenar. And why we had to hide the truth.”

“Kiera, you've been like a second mother to me, so please tell me everything. Even the parts you know I can't bear to hear.”

“You have my word on that.” Drenar sits down, looking tense. Joey’s right next to him, and Julia notes they're...holding hands?

When has he ever held hands? This is truly a sign of how bad off he is, talking about this subject. Then again, she’s not surprised. Drenar was broken to pieces after his mother’s presumed death, and reliving this doesn't help keep the glue of the last six years intact, either. Joey, he might still break down at some point today, so whatever your psionics can do to keep him from falling apart, use them at your discretion. Joey glances her way, mouth open in response, but eventually clams up. Kiera doesn’t let the gesture go unnoticed and raises an eyebrow. Does her mother know something about Joey that she doesn’t? Drenar interrupts the thought process before she can process this further.

“Alright. What happened that day?”

Her mother lets out a slow exhale. “Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.”

----------------------------------------

Click here for the next chapter on Patreon!