February 16, 2002 – 22:45
As soon as she was up in the sky, she called Sebastian's hologram.
"I was literally about to call you, assuming you also had to take off to Chicago. Want me to drop Stephanie off at Frank's with a mute-ball? How did it go?"
"Pager went off right after I ripped the bandage off by telling him that my work relates to the supernatural and that I belong to that world. I couldn't even elaborate beyond the revelation that I'm a mage. Holy gods from above, I forgot to mute his room, so please, yes, send him Stephanie with a mute-ball. I honestly don't know what he's thinking right now, he looked like he was in disbelief, but I think he was about to freak out."
"All right, I'll drop Stephanie off at his place and will not repeat to anyone that you didn't mute his paper-thin walls before getting started, and I will thank the gods that I never had to be in your shoes."
"Don't worry about my brother freaking out, he'll get around, I'm sure. If not, I'll make sure to remind him for the rest of his life what he's missing out."
"Please don't. I mean, thanks for talking to him, but if he can't handle it… it will hurt, but I need to respect that. Just let me know if you think he poses a risk to expose us all. I'm about to land to pick up Eva, will talk to you later. Thanks for doing this, it means a lot to me."
Frank was pacing his dorm room. He didn't know what to make of what Coralis revealed to him. He was mad at Coralis for not telling him about this sooner, upset at his friend Victoria for not telling him when he started seeing Coralis, and even more upset at his sister for hiding this from him when she knew it all. She was supposed to be family.
He didn't want to talk to Victoria because he wasn't sure if she was like Coralis and if he could still trust her.
However, he was glad to finally be able to fill the blanks on what she was doing when she wasn't with him. He wondered what she meant by being in the middle of a vampire war. She mentioned vampires, werewolves and witches, what else was real? She said she was an elemental, but also said she was a mage, what was that? He wanted to know more, and even more about what she was exactly.
He then figured that Coralis wouldn't be telling him any of this as a condition for moving in with him if she had ill will against him or if she was an evil creature. He was pulling his phone out of his back pocket to call his sister when his dorm room buzzer went off.
"Who is it?" said Frank as he pressed the button to unlock the main door.
"It's me," said Stephanie.
He went to wait for her by the elevators. She saw her brother as soon as she walked out of the elevator and brought her index finger to her lips before he could say anything, warning him to stay silent. The moment his door closed behind them, she pulled out the mute-ball that Sebastian gave her.
"What is this? Did Coralis send you?"
She put her finger back to her lips. Once the mute-ball evaporated, she threw herself at her brother to hug him.
"I'm so so so happy to finally be able to talk about all of this with you," said Stephanie when parting from him. "That was a mute-ball. It's meant to soundproof this room so no one else can overhear us. Coralis was so nervous that she forgot to mute your room before getting started with the revelations."
"I guess I can't stay mad at you now. So, she did send you? Wait, Seb works with her, is he also like her, and what about Vic?"
"Seb is like her, yes, and so is Vic. Well, almost. They're a different kind of mage. And before you get mad that I knew about him before you found out about her, in all fairness, he never had to reveal himself to me because I knew about them when I met him."
"How? I mean, you told me that you met him at a bar, right?" said Frank, sitting down beside his sister.
"Yes, we were at a werewolf bar. Coralis warned me that she was going to tell you about her tonight and asked if I minded answering your questions, in case she had to leave for Chicago in the middle of it. I think she suspected that you wouldn't want to talk to Vic? Anyway, Sebastian also had to go to Chicago, so he dropped me off here with a mute-ball before going there."
Frank sat down and covered his face with his hands for a moment.
"Werewolf bar? I'm having a hard time believing what I heard. It feels like a prank, but somehow, I know it's not. I'm not gonna lie, at the moment I'm mad at everyone who knew and didn't tell me that my girlfriend wasn't human. I should be repulsed."
"But you're not?"
Frank looked at the empty bottle of wine on his table and got up to grab beers from his refrigerator.
"Why would she be telling me that, insisting on it as a condition for her to move in with me if she would be a dangerous creature? I mean, maybe she is dangerous, but I don't think she is to me. A part of me doesn't wanna hear anything about her, but another part wants to know more… and that part is winning. And no, I'm not repulsed," said Frank, handing a beer to Stephanie.
"I understand you're mad at me and everyone else, but you're family. I've told you that I've seen Coralis at work a few times. That's how I found out about what she is. Well, I suspected she wasn't human when I heard about what she did to save Mom, but at the time, I thought she was a werewolf and I couldn't just ask her if she was. She is dangerous, yes, but not to us. If she would have been dangerous to you, I would have told you to dump her."
"Wait? You thought she was a werewolf when you met her? How? And how exactly did you find out about her and Sebastian? I mean, before the bar. And what is she exactly? She said something about elemental and mage, but isn't it the same as a witch? And how do we know for sure that they aren't against us?"
"I've known about werewolves for a few years. Some of my childhood friends are werewolves, and I happened to witness shit I shouldn't have."
"Clarissa?" interrupted Frank.
"Yes. And no, a witch and a mage aren't the same thing. My workplace deals with a lot of werewolf attacks, although they very rarely involve humans. When we get patients that exhibit abnormal behaviour, or we're dealing with a crime that has an odd supernatural element in it, we can't exactly call the police, so uh, that's where Coralis comes in. I've seen enough at work to know that she is one of those making sure that the evil ones don't win."
"She said that she had to leave to go to a vampire war. Last night, you and Sebastian implied that she could have gotten killed where she was sent, was that true? I'm sorry if I'm asking questions quicker than you can answer them, my brain is in a million places right now."
"Yes, we weren't lying about that, and don't worry, I know this must be overwhelming for you. The situation is very complex. Coralis can tell you more, but yes, she should never have been sent there and is most likely fighting off a horde of rogue vampires and goblins as we speak. Sebastian is there to make sure the vampire conflict doesn't spill to human towns nearby, but he isn't on the battlefield."
"And that's the job she's technically an intern?"
"Yes, and ooh I need to tell you all about flyball. Flyball is their primary occupation. You need to come to watch a game, you would love it."
Stephanie proceeded to explain to Frank what flyball was. She was on her feet, mimicking gameplays and knocked the empty bottle of wine down the table by accident. She picked it back up while continuing on the subject, and set it back on the table as if nothing happened.
"I think I want to go see that. Are they playing at home this week?"
"You should tell that to Coralis, that you want to go to a flyball game. I think she'll be happy to hear that. Yes, they are playing home, I think they have three home games this week."
"I'll page her, but I don't know if she'll call me back tonight. This is overwhelming and I'm still upset… but I need to know more."
"I can reach out to Sebastian," said Stephanie, putting her hands in her pockets. "Uh, I forgot my phone. Mind if I use yours?"
Frank handed her his phone. She dialled Sebastian's number and put it on speakerphone.
"How come you can talk to Sebastian on the phone, and I can't?"
"Sebastian got a cellphone, and she does not. They have a hologram device that can be used as a satellite phone, but Coralis refuses to call us with it. She'll tell you why, but I think she has good reasons."
"Hey, Frank! So, uh, how is it going?" said Sebastian when he picked up the call.
"Overwhelmed."
"Is Coralis with you? Frank wants to go to a flyball game and, well, he wants her to call him back when she has a minute."
"She isn't with me. She is in the warzone fighting against Lucas' associates."