[Austin-Bergstrom International Airport]
The moment Maria walked out of the terminal, the young woman was greeted with the sight of two people waiting for her at the baggage claim area, holding up a paper sign that had her name on it.
The first was a young man of average height who didn't look that much older than her. He had short, curly brown hair, pale skin, and deep brown eyes, dressed in a black and red tracksuit with green sneakers.
The second was a woman, one who looked to be a few years older than the first. She was a bit on the taller side, with long, golden blonde hair tied up in a fishtail braid that went all the way down to her back, grey eyes, the same as Robin and Sebastian, and a slightly sun-kissed skin tone that no doubt came from spending a lot of time outdoors. She was dressed in a simple blue hoodie and black gym shorts paired with some grey sandals.
Both of them were clearly fellow 'beast magic' users based on numerous mana signatures that could be felt coming from them. And they both seemed to be of similar power level. Roughly around B-rank, if Maria had to take a guess.
"So…you must be the famous Maria Ortega we've heard so much about." The man said with a friendly wave as Maria walked toward them with her bags in hand.
The moment Maria was a few feet away from the duo, she took a moment to study their features a bit further. Both of them looked pretty normal as far as she could tell. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the appearances. However, there was one thing that certainly caught her attention.
The brown-haired man looked shockingly similar to Samantha Conley, the crazy woman whom she had met all the way back during the fundraiser. In fact, he looked almost like a carbon copy of the woman, right down to the way that his face was shaped. Almost as if he were a gender-bent version of her. But aside from that, there was something weird about the guy that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Something about him that even her companions couldn't help but pick up on.
"Hello." Maria greeted the two with as much politeness as someone like her could muster. It wouldn't do well to make a bad first impression.
"How's it going?" The man replied with a friendly smile. "I'm Samuel Conley, and this is my sister, Alexandra. Our parents sent us here to come pick you up."
"Cool." The raven-haired woman nodded. "It's nice to meet you."
"We heard a bit about you from our cousin, Robin. She says that you're a solid agent."
"I'd like to think that I am."
"Good." The woman, now identified as Alexandra, said in a cheery tone. "Well, let's hurry up and get out of here before the traffic starts to pile up. It's a bit of a journey back to the house, and I don't feel like being stuck on the road for longer than we have to."
Maria agreed, and without any need for a delay, the trio quickly made their way over to their car and left the airport just in time to avoid the rush of cars that were steadily flooding in from the freeway.
"You ever been to Texas before, Maria?" Alexandra asked the young woman from her spot in the passenger seat of the duo's comically large SUV.
"No." The raven-haired woman shook her head. "It's actually my first time leaving home."
Technically speaking, Maria had been to Texas once before. But that was all the way back when she and her parents first came to the country after leaving Mexico. From what she was told, they were only here for a few days before immediately hopping on the first flight to North Carolina. So, for all intents and purposes, this was her first time being here.
"Well, you're in for a treat!" Sam said with a slight chuckle. "I know we kind of get a bad rep around the country for how crazy some of the people who live here can get. But I assure you that you're in for a good time!"
"Noted."
The blonde 'beast magic' user turned around and looked at the woman before speaking again. "You're not much of a talker, are you?"
"Not really, no." Maria shook her head.
"Yeah, Robin said as much when we asked her about you. It's cool, though. Nothing really wrong with that."
From there, the trio engaged in a bit of casual conversation as they made their way around the city. For a good thirty minutes or so, the two Conley siblings filled the raven-haired woman in on all of the details regarding her stay here in Texas, along with a few other things that she wanted to know about.
For starters, just like she had been told by Vice-Captain Stillwater, their father, Alexander Conley, was going to be the one in charge of training the young woman while she was out here. The man was the Chief Agent of the DPA station here in Austin, but he had set aside quite a bit of time to make sure that she got the most out of what she came here for. And during the times that the man wasn't going to be available on account of his job, Sam, Alex, and two of their other cousins were going to pick up the slack and show her the ropes.
On top of that, Maria took a bit of time to learn about the two people she was going to be living with for the next month.
In addition to being an APS agent like her, Sam also just so happened to command deer-type cryptids, just like his mother. He was also only a year older than her. Something that Maria was genuinely surprised by, considering how the guy carried himself. And the guy had become a DPA member right out of high school.
Alex, on the other hand, had only been an agent for a little over two years after graduating from community college. The blonde woman commanded horse-type cryptids and was even in possession of a pegasus, a rare type of cryptid typically only found in Europe. Which was something that Maria found to be more than a bit interesting, considering how hard it was to get one due to them rarely ever appearing outside of Greece.
"So I'm not gonna meet your father until tomorrow?" Maria asked the two Conley siblings.
"Yeah." Sam nodded in response to the woman's question. "Our dad's busy with work and usually doesn't come home until late. And our mom's in Dallas right now at her company. Which means that you're stuck with us for the rest of the day."
"Hey, it could be worse, right?" Alex shrugged.
"On the bright side, the old man's really excited to meet you! It's not every day that you get to meet a fellow dragon-user. He was practically jumping for joy when our mom asked him to let you stay with us for the month."
"Is that so?" Maria looked at the two siblings with her typical stoic expression. "Well, I can't wait to get started."
"I like the attitude!" Sam joked. "I can tell that you're gonna have a good time here. Plus, when you're not training, you'll get to have a bit of fun around town with us. And there's a lot to do around here, pretty much any day of the week."
"Good to know."
From there, Maria pretty much spent the rest of the day unpacking and getting settled into her new temporary living space. Like she was told before coming here, she was going to be staying in the guest bedroom of the siblings' home. The place wasn't nearly as big as the MacNamara residence, nor did it have as much surrounding land. But it was still much bigger than what she was used to by quite a large margin.
Although she was still a bit nervous about what her training was going to be like, Maria was genuinely looking forward to the experience. This was going to be her chance to really up her game and get ready for the day when she finally faced her father's killer. And she was going to make sure to take advantage of every opportunity that she could get. This wasn't just some random vacation; it was a chance for her to work toward her goal in a new environment. And the raven-haired woman wasn't about to let it slip through her fingers.
'Alright, let's do this.' Maria said to herself as she lay back in her bed and thought about what the next four weeks of her life were going to look like.
-(o)-
Character Profile: Samuel
Name: Samuel James Conley
Alias: Sam
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Birthday: March 10th
Birthplace: Dallas, Texas, United States of America
Height: 71in
Weight: 178lbs.
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Race: White
Magic: Beast (Cervidae)
Occupation: DPA Agent
Stat Chart: B(+)
-Physical Strength - 3
-Intelligence - 3
-Magic Amount - 3
-Magical Control - 4
-Magic Sensing - 5
-Special - N/A
Fun Fact:
-Favorite food is oatmeal cookies.
-Favorite band is Maroon 5.
-Half of his companions are the direct offspring of his mother's companions.
-(o)-
Character Profile: Alexandra
Name: Alexandra Cheryl Conley
Alias: Alex
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Birthday: October 17th
Birthplace: Dallas, Texas, United States of America
Height: 68in
Weight: 140lbs
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Grey
Race: White
Magic: Beast (Equidae)
Occupation: DPA Agent
Stat Chart: B
-Physical Strength - 2.5
-Intelligence - 3.5
-Magic Amount - 3
-Magical Control - 4
-Magic Sensing - 5
-Special - N/A
Fun Fact:
-Favorite food is apple salad.
-Claimed her first companion at the age of 11.
-Favorite video game of all time is Skyrim.
-Alma Mater: Austin Community College (AS)