Joey has seen some strange things in the past few days, but this–this is a true shock she wouldn’t have expected. From Drenar, of all people! With her attuned ears, she swears she can hear a low, subtle ringing like a crystal chime lingering, calm and comforting against the sounds of gentle discussion in the background. The metal itself gleans, almost with its own inner light, and is the purest silver tone she's seen, with just a hint of a greenish tint. “Drenar, do you have any earthly idea how rare this is?!”

“Levine told me. Only Valkyrian Knights carry these daggers, and only they know how to manufacture them,” he says quietly. She squints at the runes. One of them–no, two of them are active and lightly fluoresce. “I found out after our last call. We couldn't risk contacting you again after King got away. Even King hinted he knew what it was.”

“Drenar, these weapons–all their equipment, even–are exceptional. It’s beyond rare. This is a one-of-a-kind piece, where did you get it?”

“Take a guess.” She knows, with the way he’s been speaking, with the undercurrent of his tone, who he’s speaking of.

“You got this from…your mother?” she barely can get it out above a whisper. He nods almost imperceptibly. This possibility is not something she ever thought could have happened.

"She gave it to me on my tenth birthday. And I think there’s a reason why she did so.” Hearing his voice hesitate–just shy of choking up–told her this was important to him. “Someone killed her, because she was a threat to them that couldn’t be ignored. I’m going to bait King, that son of a bitch, with the journals. I'm doing that so I can find out who targeted her, and why. I think everything that's happened, up to and including today, started six years ago. I don’t have proof, but I know my gut feeling tells me it's a distinct possibility.”

“You’re the son of a Valkyrie. A descendant of Luminaires and Valkyries alike.” She stops, her hands at her side. “King said you were important. That Volkir would only trust you to part with the journals. Now I understand why.”

“Of course this was King’s plan.” He takes a measured breath, as if this alone was hard to talk about. “Even if it is, I’m still doing it. You asked me, maybe with not the same words, ‘Why would I risk my life?’ Well, here's why: no one else stepped up to the plate. No one except us. All the adults in our lives lied to us to keep us in check."

"They had reasons Drenar. Probably." Except, she's not sure she believes that, either.

"They had awful reasons." His right hand trembles a little when he says that, and he rubs at it uneasily. "Joey, if everyone lied to you to keep you safe, how upset would you be with them? How dangerous was the threat? I have this not-so-crazy theory that Valosterla ordered my mother's death. Hell, she might have even participated in it."

"But you don't have proof of it."

"She said something very weird at the ranger station. 'Didn't I kill you already?' I thought she might have mistaken me for someone else...but now?" Seeing him this haunted by this past....he's been through a lot, she realizes in a moment of subtle alacrity.

He's not crazy. He’s on a mission to find his past. No wonder he went to such lengths already. “Because you need to see justice delivered.” It’s the only conclusion she can make that comes close.

“I can’t sit idle, even if I had that option. If my mom was a Valkyrian knight…it explains an awful lot on why I was kept in the dark. Julia needs answers too, our mother's were practically attached at the hip since… forever. The Valkyries have earned an unhealthy list of enemies over the years, from what I’ve heard from Levine and Nick. And if that’s the case…she went to an extreme length to ensure Evan and I never stumbled onto this."

“It still could be a coincidence, Drenar. Magical items do find their way to normal peoples’ hands from time to time.” She doesn't put much stock in her own theory, sadly.

"Maybe. But…if that's the case, why are the runes on it activating?" She can't help but notice that they're still active, even with her holding it–an irregularity she can't explain yet. Magical items of this caliber tended to be tied to a single user. That humming sound, that subtle vibration, almost feels like it's coming from her, not from the dagger. "So here I am, completely out of my depth, fighting a war against these black-clad creeps and that maniacal dragoness who enables them. But if she were alive…it’s the task she would have taken without hesitation. Mom was this unstoppable juggernaut of a woman who was my hero growing up. So I have to do this. For her, as much as to keep the Talons from burning down our world.”

She glances at the dagger and runs her finger on the flat of the blade. There’s an almost electric dance between her finger and the metal, the texture a perfect mirror, and it feels slightly warm and comforting.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I dunno. The topic came up, and...I just…I can't keep it close to the chest anymore. It just hurts too much to have to hold all that in. I picked up that you’ve got your own worries–psionics included–and I figured, you might want to know you’re not alone in your situation. I've got plenty of reasons to be worried about my future, and some of it was out of my control. But, now that we’re all here, maybe there’s something we can do about those problems together.” he folds his arms and relaxes on the wall, still deep in thought. This been a long week for this kid, judging by the weariness on his face.

If he got this far, maybe we do stand a chance. The fact that she isn’t alone in feeling the pressure gives her a measure of peace, and she nods after a second. She places the dagger back in the sheath, and hands it back to him. It only takes him a few seconds to attach the holster back through his belt loops, resting just in reach of his hand on his thigh. "Hey, even if you were the son of a Valkyrie, that doesn't make you automatically special, you know.”

"I'd like to be normal, but that ship sailed a long time ago, and I don't mean after I started sprouting feathers, scales, and wings, either, thanks to some deplorable jerks in the Talons. At least the dragon part has some perks," he adds with a wry smile. "Have you ever flown on the back of a dragon?"

"Uh, no, never," she adds with a nervous laugh. Oh no you don't, don't you dare pry out my childhood wish from when I was four years old and up, and use it to win me over!

"Seriously, never?" he asks as if he didn't know just how difficult it was to pull that off, and not be spotted by the rest of the human population! "Well I gotta tell you, it's kinda awesome. Assuming we live past the next few days, would you be down for that? I'm sure Julia would be thrilled, too."

"We just met!" She protests. I hate you, every girl wants to fly on a dragon at least once in their life, but you're so naive you don't know that!

"It also sounds like a perfect get-to-know-you event between you, Kyle, and the rest of us. Plus, it's my chance to get James over his fear of flying, Nick traumatized him on that first flight trying to get to me and the others on Mount Syren." She looks at him and she has no idea how to respond.

"You are so strange, Drenar," she says with a slight sigh, but just this once, she allows herself just the faintest smile. Fine. Maybe once!

"Says the alchemical genius psionic who just tanked a collapsing structure, and then walked it off,” he retorts. It takes all of her focus to not laugh at how absurd it sounded.

Oh you two are just being too dramatic, and I thought I’d heard peak drama between him and Julia, Alex groaned. Hadn’t she just tuned out her psionics?

“Hey, you’re still in the doghouse for making fun of redheads,” Joey countered with a hint of annoyance and points at Drenar. He sighs and raises his hand in the air in resignation. “No, not you, the other you that’s creeping in your soul.”

Ooh, you know what? I’ll risk a little immolation for that level of sass! Alex replies. She swears she can almost picture that smug dragon grinning from one end of his snout to the other.

“I can hear you, Alexander,” she retorts sternly. “Thanks to you, my psionics don’t seem to want to turn off!”

“I thought you said you have control over it,” Drenar responds after a moment.

“I did! Your plus-one did something screwy, he must have!” Of course, she couldn’t imagine just how this dragon embedded in Drenar’s soul could have possibly done that. “Now I’m stuck listening to that smug dragon!”

I'm just misunderstood, lass! You try being dead for seven hundred years! I was a regal dragon of immense professionalism, and a leader of the Luminaires! I just had one vice when I was younger. Redheads. I'm just trying to protect my lad here from getting set on fire. It's really not fun.

“Alex, not helping your case here," Drenar sighs. "Remind me, we never answered that question. Just how close do you have to be to use that ability?” she mulls on the question a little bit.

“Ten meters, tops. Beyond that, it just sounds like static,” she answers.

“Then you just need to be ten meters away from the lustful, long-dead dragon,” Drenar adds with a smirk.

“But then I’d be ten meters away from you,” Joey says with a coy smile. Whoa, Josephine, pump the brakes, why is your logic processor shorting out at the worst time? It’s annoying that as strange as this kid was and that this has trouble written all over it, it's still intriguing.

Oh get it over with and find a closet, you two.

That pushes her firmly back onto the edge, and she crosses her arms and pretended to be glaring at that devious dragon sitting about a meter from Drenar. He's making this anxious face like he wants to apologize, but he doesn't know how. “Oh Alex, I really am not that kind of girl. So rude," she scolds lightly.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Ouch. Be still, my ethereal heart.

“Well, you shouldn’t have made fun of the young woman with hair the color of passion, Alex, so don’t be surprised when we retort back.” She notes that he does keep directing his gaze slightly upwards when he’s speaking to Alex. It’s a bit of a tell, which is interesting. “Alright, I think we’ve talked long enough. I think you need to show me this armory you guys mentioned. Much as I enjoy the intimidation factor of a sword on my back, mages tend to use automatic crossbows to make up for their lack of melee.” Joey smirks, pulls a small rod off her belt, and twists a small dial–much to Drenar’s surprise, it extends to a six-foot-long staff of mage steel. “Did…did I just get one-up’ed?” he asks nervously.

“Why, yes, I believe you did,” she adds with a grin and goes through a series of deft maneuvers. It's a simple and effective weapon and carries a few minor enchantments to her preference. “I’ve done gymnastics since I was four, so acrobatics and using something like this for balance aren’t that foreign to me. I don’t practice much. Just a few hours a week.”

“Hmm. Your form is pretty good.” he puts his hand to his chin, and is looking at her while she goes through this routine. No. He's evaluating. “Stance is good, too. You’re quick.”

“I’d like to think I am,” she replies coolly. If there was ever one thing she likes about being a Kitsune, it's that they have unnaturally fast reflexes. Drenar does too, but his are off the charts, even for a dragon. I wonder how I would evaluate that. Ah, focus on it later Joey, she reminds herself. “Now if you’re going to ask if I’ve had practical application… there’s been a few times. Nick could tell you.”

“I’ll just take your word for it. I’m going to guess it involved bopping large, dangerous magical creatures in the face with that thing. Never underestimate the power of a stick. Or something like that," he adds wryly.

“As a general rule with magical creatures, you keep your distance. Bopping them on the nose means you already made a mistake,” she counters politely. She twists the staff back to the compact form and adds it back to her belt. “Well now, where did the time go, I wonder?”

"Fast, in a word."

"Hey, what's the holdup?" Julia, James, and Angela come into the hall from the conference room, looking irritated with Drenar, and James glares at both of them before pointing at the room. "Did you guys forget we're in a crisis?"

"Just sorting some stuff out," Drenar replied. "So, what's the verdict?"

"Still waiting on our frenemy," Angela replies, her arms crossed and looking intensely at Joey. "So what's up with you two and 'sorting stuff out' that sounds super evasive?"

"Eh, I was reading his mind to make sure he wasn't a Talons sleeper agent. He passed," Joey replies. This is either the dumbest risk I've ever taken, or the smartest. Angela shrugs.

"Psychic powers are seriously a thing? I thought Nick was joking."

"Uh, yeah, sis, they are," James counters.

"They totally are!" Julia chimes in. "I have questions!"

"No, we have actions. Everyone's leaving Asqualia, except for anyone with military training or basic mage defenses," James once again sounds like an utter buzzkill, and Julia sticks her tongue out at him. "Speaking of psychic powers, is he as cracked in the head as I've believed for all these years?" Drenar rolls his eyes when James points at him.

"Oh no. It's worse." Joey grins slyly while Drenar pinches the bridge of his nose. "I presume Zameren pushed for evacuating civilians?"

"It’s best to not take the chance, they'll relocate and work off-site. Levine and Nick are about to make an announcement," Julia relays, and grunts irritably. “We’ll use the lift by the library, as far as we know, no one else knows about it but us.”

"We hope," Angela replies, and doesn't take her eyes off Joey. “Hey, uh, can I ask a favor?"

"Eh?" Joey is suddenly being bombarded by requests–this is such a not-normal day.

"I heard you throwing some shade at Alex earlier, which suggests you can hear him. I need…a second opinion with mine. Her name is Samarina.” She can’t believe this group can be so out of tune with the rest of the mage world, and find the idea of a psionic fascinating and helpful! Or, maybe they’re remarkably ahead of the curve, she hopes.

"So, you're cool with me tuning–"

"Yes! If it's just surface thoughts, just ignore my deranged train of thought ideas and focus on the salient ones!" Joey stares at her, utterly stunned.

"Never would I have ever imagined people would just ask me to read their minds. Why are you all so weird?"

"Joey, are you aware of the crazy stuff that's been happening to us for a few weeks? Name another mage or dragon who got thrown into this much chaos in this short a time!" Angela states. Her demeanor does remind her that it's almost like looking at a reflection of herself. "Also, no added spider phobias, please."

"That one is baked in," Joey retorts. "Alright, let's give this a try." Joey tunes in just a little. “Hello Samarina, I’m…the resident medium? Seriously I can’t believe no psionic has ever bothered to contact a drakensoul,” she mutters.

“Well, you’re the first! This means you get to corner the market! Get a penny for our thoughts?” Angela suggests slyly. Joey glances at Drenar, and remembers Alex's rather unique take on things.

“For Alex, I’d have to pay money to not listen in,” she sighs. This secret is out of the bag, and hopefully, no one digs any deeper and realizes only kitsune have psionics this potent. “Sam, give me an indication.” That static wash hasn’t even started when Samarina speaks.

A soul-touched? Oh, you are curious. Joey’s eyes widen at this, and Angela raises her eyebrow.

“See what I mean? She’s a little…out there with some of her phrases, and I think she knows things in a weirdly abstract way. Is this some kind of draconic ability?” What Angela doesn’t realize is that ‘soul-touched’ is another way of saying kitsune, among respected academics who had cast aside bigotry and bias. Angela peers at her, and is probably trying to figure out why she’s looking so anxious. “Joey, we have had enough blue screens of doom for the week.”

“Oh, it’s fine, it could be that she had a very good intuition in her previous life.” It’s not fine, this dragon knew in two seconds! Am I becoming that bad at blending in, or is it because these kids are so weird?

Hmm. Angela, let's give her a moment, our friend is…protective of her privacy. She has not opened to many. Angela squints, and looks like she has burning questions to ask aloud, but eventually shrugs.

“Okay Sam, I’ll roll with it.” Angela lets out a soft sigh, and motions with a gentle tap on the side of her head. Joey takes that as her cue to listen in. Okay Joey, I’m getting the vibe that you’re more than you let on, but please, don’t let stigma keep you from using your psionics!

“Huh?” Angela sighs as if she didn’t get her point across.

Look, I heard enough from the hallway to indicate that there’s a lot of stuff going on, and aside from your super sleuthing and saving Asqualia already, we need every edge we can get. Don’t let an ability with a potential good go to waste. Just nod, smile, and assuming we live past today, we should talk.

See, I told you I like her Angela! She’s cute.

That warmth she gets from Angela more than radiates through her thoughts, and Joey rubs the back of her neck and blushes–as does Angela, who also shies away from that. Besides detonating Curtis, making an alliance with a megalomaniac, and meeting these guys, this bothers her more? She needs a mental head check after this is over, though she is flattered that a dragon thinks she’s cute.

“Hey, spill it! You both went rosy-faced, I want in!” Julia says almost gleefully.

“I will not take credit for the words from the plus-one inside my head,” Angela pushes back forcefully, and Julia pouts. “Well, this is at least a very interesting option–we can have a medium for talking to our drakensouls.”

"See? Told you. Think outside the box," Drenar says casually. She doesn't mind that wry smirk this time.

"Well, I suppose it’s one good thing. But please, secrets guys? Big mage world stigma." They all nod practically in unison–how did they time that so seamlessly?

"Sounds legit," James shrugs.

"Sounds like mages suck at not accepting all magic," Angela adds.

"Sounds like Drenar can't ever hide a single thought from me again!" Julia beams.

That's why she's so interested, Joey thinks with a smile she tries to hide. "Hey, I'm not for hire like that!" She pushes back lightly.

"I can offer samples of my draconic heritage, free of charge. And my undying appreciation," she adds with a grin. It's almost amusing, watching Drenar wither and fight the urge to reply something unsavory to Julia. Moral compass Joey, moral compass. That phrase is now stuck in my head, Drenar, even though it is kinda catchy.

"I was getting the samples, anyway," she sighs contentedly.

“Uh, kids? Our megalomaniac is on the line.” Levine’s gruff statement brings back the grim reality.

They still have a job to do. And it’s not going to be easy, or pleasant.