October 10, 2003 – 11:30
"High Mage Rollio?" said Sonylla.
"I almost got captured last night on my way back from the flyball field. I didn't even sleep at home, to make sure that whoever came after me wouldn't find out about my human boyfriend and use him as leverage against me."
They all looked at her.
"You too?" said Emery.
"Yes, High Mage Rollio," said High Mage Finnas, briefly looking at Sonylla before turning his attention to Coralis. "Almost got captured? How did you escape? Agent Gaspart Yoz managed to escape those who came after him but lost consciousness in the back of an alley. He woke up earlier this morning, but will need to remain at our clinic for a few days."
"No offence Finnas, but the answer to that question is pretty obvious if they tried to catch her while she was flying home. Blue doesn't use portals. They would have needed at least an entire team of professional flyball players better than ours to successfully capture her," said Emery.
"This is fortunate for us, but the incident in itself is still concerning. The only reason Gaspart wasn't killed, is because his twinning counterpart pushed energy into him to help him fight back and escape. When Gaspart made it to safety, his twinning partner reached out to us," said High Mage Finnas.
"Meaning more of us should find a twinning partner, especially those who are specifically targeted," said Panjik, looking at Coralis and Sonylla.
"Which is why I called you four here. Blue Thunder and agent Sonylla Windflame, how familiar are you with the twinning binding spell?" said High Mage Finnas.
Coralis and Sonylla looked at each other.
"That would be a brilliant idea, as you both are on many countries' wanted list. You're not typically sent on mission together and you're two different types of mages. If done right and you don't turn on each other, it would tremendously help you both to stay alive," said Emery.
"If not mistaken, it's a little bit like a mate binding, except it's not," said Sonylla.
"More or less. Like with a mating link, you can communicate telepathically and transfer energy to each other. Unlike it, however, you won't feel your partner's emotions unless you enter the other's mind, which you'll be able to do with enough practice. If someone injures one, the other will also feel that injury, to a lesser degree. If you attack yourself or each other, the effect will be amplified and could potentially kill you both," said High Mage Finnas.
"Likewise, if you heal yourself, you will also heal your partner," said Panjik.
"In other words, that would make us harder to kill, provided we don't try to kill each other," said Coralis.
"And if one of us gets captured, the other one can help jailbreak the other one."
"If you two decide to go for it, no one else can know," said High Mage Finnas.
"Except maybe for Sebastian, I think it's probably best if he knows, given how you two are now connected," said Emery.
"All right, I'm down. Are you up for it?" said Coralis to Sonylla.
"Sure, let's do this!" said Sonylla, bumping her fist. "When would we do it?"
"Come to my house tonight. We'll have a short training session and we'll do it afterward. It will take some hours for the bond to form and settle. We'll meet again the following night at my house to start training you with it," said Panjik.
"I have a game tomorrow evening. I'll head to your house afterward."
Back in Montreal, the following day, Frank was growing more worried. Coralis still hadn't come home. He didn't understand why Coralis wouldn't even call him. He was upset, but mostly concerned about her well-being. He didn't want to lose her.
"It may look like it, but it's not against you, on the contrary. I didn't talk to her since Thursday night. When we spoke, she was scared. You know Blue doesn't get scared. I do not agree with her decision to stay away without telling you, but I understand why she didn't come home. She didn't want to lead her enemies to you," said Sebastian, from the other end of the phone communication.
"She was scared? What happened exactly? I don't understand why she didn't tell you where she was."
Sebastian stayed silent for a moment. That was a direct question. He hated the situation as much as Frank did. He didn't know how to vaguely explain the situation to Frank in a way that he'd understand. He hoped that as he talked to Frank, Coralis would come home.
"She didn't know much about the situation when I spoke to her last night. She was being followed and it took her a few hours to lose her pursuers. Something about it makes her think that your phone line isn't secured and she's now genuinely afraid that something will happen to you because of your connection to her."
"But that's for me to decide if I want to take the risk."
"And that's where I disagree with her. I don't think she should have given in to that fear, there has to be another way, but I wasn't with her that night."
"Will you tell me if you hear from her?"
"Sure. I'm supposed to see her tonight at the game."
Sebastian ended the call and turned to Stephanie.
"I think it will be better to wait and see what will happen between Blue and your brother before we decide on a wedding date. I don't want things to be awkward if things aren't resolved between them."
"It's not like it'd be tomorrow anyway… although I wouldn't mind that, to be honest," said Stephanie, while plating lunch before Sebastian had to leave for his flyball practice. "It could also be a good way to force them to talk, I don't want to think that about my brother, but bet they wouldn't be able to keep their hands off of each other."
"Or Blue could decide not to come at all. She's doing this to protect your brother and she's being hunted from every direction. Please don't tell that to your brother, but that night, she almost got captured."
"FOR REAL? Why you don't want him to know? She asked you this? She would need to come if Audrey wants to come…"
"She asked me to remain vague in my answers and didn't tell me much. I wasn't lying to your brother; I didn't talk to her since that night. She doesn't want him to worry more than he already is. I don't think we should tell him about it because I don't want him to do something stupid that would put him right on her enemies' radar."
"Yeah, I could see him doing something that could get him killed under this witch-hunt climate."
"Remember what she did when Audrey got kidnapped. Blue loves Frank, deeply. Now, imagine what she would do if her enemies got to him."
Sebastian ate the last bite and got up to bring his plate into the sink.
"She'd burn down the world... All right, but don't try to pull on me what she's doing to Frank."
"I can never, you're mine already," he said, showing her his finger brand while hugging her from behind.
Later that night, while Coralis was flying to Panjik's after the game, Andrew called her on her hologram.
"Blue, you need to watch your back. I just had to send Lalima into hiding. I think they'll be coming after you next."