September 10, 2003 – 22:20
"No, probably not, but who knows. Are you still calling it like that?" said Coralis as she pressed buttons on the microwave.
"Perfect name for it, doesn't it?" said Veronica while the others couldn't contain their laughter.
"If you say so. Henry came up with the idea to create a cursed replica of it and plant it in a location associated with my mother's family because I found it at the same place as the Rawindra Sword and I had to kill two de Lima's family members for it."
"That way you could find out who's after it and possibly kill some middlemen in between. That's a genius plan, I must say. You got no issues with possibly killing more relatives?" said Veronica.
"That's the idea, yeah, and no, I've got no issues. They're no family of mine," said Coralis as Frank rubbed her back. "Better I go after them before they find me and come for me. The original is believed to work only when an elf wears it, but I will make this one work on any elemental, except for the five of us, as a precaution."
When the microwave beeped, she pulled the bag of popcorn out of it and poured its contents into a bowl, which she placed in front of Erik.
"Thanks, sis."
"If the plan works as intended, it will end up in a CMMA vault somewhere, but just in case it somehow comes back to us, it's best if we're immune to it," said Sebastian.
"If it ever comes back to us, I suggest that Blue dumps it with the original one, so no one would know which one is the real one and which one is the cursed one," said Henry, refilling his glass.
"You lot are now among my favourite people. Now, what is the cursed one going to do to the wearer?" said Veronica.
"It certainly won't make the wearer immune to silver. You know how most elementals out there are allergic to silver, the purer the line the more severe the reaction is to it. The five of us in this room will be immune to it, yes, but not anyone else. Upon contact with the skin, it will burn it until the silver from the necklace comes in contact with blood."
Gus pulled the bowl of popcorn toward him.
"And then we wonder why your enemies fear you so much that they want you dead," said Stephanie.
"People should know better by now than messing with her. If they're smart, they won't even dare to look at your brother," said Erik.
"They dug their own grave when they orchestrated a witch hunt with Blue in the middle of it," said Gus.
"Given how strong her enemies are, she needs to be as deadly as they are, if not more, if she wants to stay alive. I wish she could hide and keep a low profile, but realistically, we know she can't do that," said Frank, with his hand on her lower back.
"Right," said Coralis, glancing at Frank before returning her attention to her phone, still sitting in the middle of the kitchen island. "Gradually, the iron minerals in blood cells will turn into silver minerals. Won't kill instantly… more of a slow and painful death."
Seeing as their guests were seemingly fighting over the bowl of popcorn, Frank pulled his phone out to call for pizzas.
"And that's for whoever touches it, doesn't need to wear it. The purpose of the Silverling Heart isn't just to give silver immunity to the wearer, but also to create silver stuff," said Erik.
"Whoever wants it for what the Silverling Heart is supposed to do, will either wear it without realizing it burned their skin, or will hold it long enough to try to make silver, meaning long enough for the pendant, or the chain, to touch blood. Lore says it only works if the wearer is an elf, but you know a lot of mages and fays won't know or try it out anyway," said Gus.
"Whoever finds it might wear it just because it looks pretty, thinking it won't work on them, but oh well, still one less enemy," said Henry.
"If it works as intended, whoever tries to make silver while wearing it, before turning up dead, of course, will instead make coal dust. We also read some accounts where the wearer had been able to turn existing material into silver, so I'm also planning on making it so that if the wearer tries that, well, stuff will turn into coal dust instead."
"Damn, girl, you're almost making me wet. If you're ever in need of a job, please talk to Father," said Veronica.
"Your country wants me dead, remember? Anyway, Gus also found us the address of the de Lima family house. When I'm done with it, at the following nightfall, one of my panthers will drop it on their back porch. Their house is warded against elementals, but not against shifters. A black panther can blend in fairly easily in the black of the night."
"Someone there is bound to pick it up, recognize it and try it out," said Henry.
"The following day, I will call High Mage Finnas to tip him off on the whereabouts of the Silverling Heart and to make sure he instructs whoever he sends there to wear strong anti-silver gloves. After all, it was reported stolen from a Scandinavian tomb. We want the EBEE to think that the CMMA found the Silverling Heart at the de Lima's family home, that Blue never had it in the first place," said Sebastian.
"If it gets picked up by the EBEE before the CMMA gets there, or if no one there touched it long enough and did anything with it, so that the agents sent there can't locate it well it should still be a matter of time before stories leak," said Erik.
"Either way, even if the plan doesn't work, it should get them off my back as far as that damn necklace is involved. If people think the de Lima had a fake one all along… well it ain't on me," said Coralis.
"You guys are definitely my favourite people now. Mind if I tell Hendrick about it?"
When Coralis ended the call with Veronica, she started spelling the necklace replica. She had it done by the morning. Before she left for Dallas, Simone, a 33-year-old panther from her clan, came to pick it up. Coralis put it in a small black velvet bag, to make sure it wouldn't harm her clan member, and gave it to her.
"Thank you for doing this. Let me know if something comes up and can't drop it where you need it."
"You don't even need to thank me for it. For you, I'd do anything."
The next day, Sebastian told High Mage Finnas about the whereabouts of what the EBEE believed to be the Silverling Heart.
"Believed to be? If it is indeed the Silverling Heart, why would the agents need to put on anti-silver gloves? If we send elves there, they should be fine, no? Unless there is something you aren't telling me that we should be aware of?"
"How secure this connection is?"
"Fair point."
A few days later, right after the flyball game against Brazil ended, High Mage Finnas reached out to Sebastian and asked for him and Coralis to stop by his house on their way back home. When they got there, still in their flyball uniform, High Elf Yalor, High Fay Ellya, Emery, Panjik and some others were there.
"Now, we can't get a more secure place than this to talk. What have you two not been telling us regarding the Silverling Heart, or whatever that necklace was?" said High Mage Finnas.
"Sebastian may have been the one to tell us about its whereabouts, but based on records from the Department of Family Affairs and her very unique energy signature, we know that Blue has a connection to the de Limas," said High Elf Yalor.
"I also remember hearing about someone breaking into your London flat looking for it," said Panjik.
Coralis and Sebastian looked at each other. She wanted to ask them if they found the necklace and if the spells worked but figured that she would need to tell them first that it wasn't the Silverling Heart that was found. She nodded to him and proceeded to tell them the full story, starting from the moment she had to duel her relative for the Rawindra Sword.
Emery and some others chuckled.
"That's a very well-thought-out plan, I must say, which makes me wonder if a similar story was behind the Vase of Crimson Sky," said High Fay Ellya.
"Uh, yeah. The stories and plans were different, but there are similarities between them, I guess. That vase was the first time I made a cursed version of an object and had no idea if it would work. The Silverling Heart was the second one and I don't know if it worked. It didn't matter if the spell wouldn't work, the goal was to get the EBEE to stop searching for it and I don't think they should have the real one," said Coralis.
"While I believe they're right to fear you, I think you made the right decision," said High Mage Finnas.
"I sent Zahir and Boukya there. They found Anita de Lima's mother lying dead atop a pile of coal dust, on her stomach. She was sporting a blueish-gray skin and clutching the pendant. Two of her sons were lying dead next to her. One had a deep burnt mark on his chest, the other had one on the palm of his right hand. The necklace chain was broken, leading me to believe they fought over it. Coal dust was all over the room," said High Elf Yalor.