April 22, 1994
Every 4 years, there was an inter-school flyball competition between the strongest teams in the world. During March, regional leagues would host small tournaments to determine which teams will participate. The United Kingdom had 4 flyball teams: two at the Glasgow Elemental School, and two at the Imperial Elemental School. This year, The Brazen Bolts were selected to represent their region at the inter-school flyball competition held in France.
Erik and Henry were looking forward to it. They didn't get to participate in the last inter-school competition because their team hadn't been selected. They heard that scouts for the national team would attend and keep tabs on the players who got their attention. Coralis was also excited at the idea of scouts attending the competition: she was hoping that one day, she would be selected to play for the national team.
It was a 6-day event with 16 teams competing against each other. The 16 teams were subdivided into four groups. The first 2 days, they would be competing against all teams within their subdivision. The best two teams of each subdivision would advance to the quarter-finals, which were held on the 3rd and 4th day. The semi-finals were held on the 5th day and the final between the two best teams was held on the last day.
The Brazen Bolts won all of their games within their subdivision and were set to compete in the semi-finals the next day against a Spanish team. In the mood to celebrate, they went into town for pizza and when done eating, to an arcade to play some human video games.
At 19:30, their team decided to return to their off-campus hotel: their next game was scheduled for 8:00 the next morning so they didn't want to be out late. Coralis, Erik and Henry weren't tired yet and wanted to walk around town and shop for souvenirs. They promised they would be back before curfew.
They didn't buy anything, except for an ice cream cone. At 20:30, they decided to return to their hotel. Coralis started to feel uneasy and thought that something was following them, so they decided to shortcut through an alley. They were almost at the other end of it when five capacuns approached them.
Coralis quickly went into a position to fight them. Erik and Henry, realizing they were in the middle of a human town and about to fight some evil humanoid creatures, started to install some basic wards around them so that humans wouldn't accidentally stumble on them. Erik tried to discreetly walk around the creatures to continue the wards across them and was thankful that Coralis was keeping them busy enough that they didn't notice him.
Just as the brothers finished their wards, Coralis beheaded the last one.
"How did you manage to behead five capacuns on your own without a blade?" said Erik.
"Sis, I know you can fight, but couldn't you have left at least one for us to kill?" asked Henry, smirking.
"I used one of the spells that Swope taught me, pretty effective, huh? If you wanted to kill one, you just had to get faster on your wards. I thought you were pros at that kind of stuff."
"Well, guys, now we need to figure out what to do with them. We can't exactly leave these things in the middle of this alley. We don't want to frighten innocent humans, don't we?" said Erik.
"You're right on that. I think they are the creatures that were following me. Should we warn coach, just in case we're late for curfew?" said Coralis.
Meanwhile, the large amount of elemental magic used in the middle of a human district drew the attention of the French elemental authorities. Two of their agents were sent to investigate. When they arrived at the coordinates, wearing civilian clothes, they saw five decapitated capacuns in the middle of the ground and three elemental teenagers. Henry was about to leave to get their coach. They stopped him from leaving and asked who they were and what happened.
The teenagers introduced themselves and explained why they were in town.
"Care to tell us who you are?" said Henry.
"I am Agent Zaria Milleri and my partner is Agent Matasia Sarali. We are working for the French branch of the EBEE."
"Your school administrators will have to be notified about this incident. While I am thankful that you have set up wards to prevent exposure, that doesn't tell me what happened and why you are here," said Agent Sarali.
"We were walking back to our hotel and decided to cut through the alley. These things came at us. Erik and Henry set up the wards and I killed them."
"Impressive," responded Agent Milleri. "You said your name was Coralis Golmar, do you have any relations with Donny Golmar?"
Coralis' eyes went wide and wondered how they knew her dad.
"Hmm yes, he was my dad… but I never knew him, he died when I was a baby. I spent almost my entire life in orphanages."
The two agents glanced at each other. Donny Golmar was known for summoning this kind of evil creature. They knew that Donny Golmar had been killed in the same raid as Lord Meozo but to find his daughter with five capacuns that she just slayed couldn't be a coincidence.
"Did you know that your father was known to summon and lead these creatures?" said Agent Milleri.
"NO! All I knew about my parents was that they both worked for Lord Meozo and it got them killed, which I think they deserved at this point. I swear to you, I have absolutely no interest in following in their footsteps. This is not the first time Lord Meozo sent people after me and I'm tired of it."
"She is telling you the truth. This is the second time he tries something to get to her. The last time he sent two demons to school and they almost kidnapped one of our friends. She doesn't want anything to do with him," said Erik.
"It seems he is truly back, then. We had another incident involving students during the last End-of-Year holidays. I can't give you the details of it, but I will tell you that it also had Lord Meozo's signature," said Agent Sarali.
"The teenager involved was also the orphaned child of one of Lord Meozo's associates. I think we will have our hands full this year if that monster is back. You said this is not the first time he sent people after you, when was the last time?"
"About a year ago," said Coralis.
"Thank you for answering our questions. You have been very helpful. Agent Sarali will take you back to your hotel while I clean this mess up. We will see you again before you leave France. Good luck at your flyball tournament. Stay good."
Coralis was still covered with the creatures' blood, she desperately wanted a shower. When Agent Sarali and the teenagers arrived at their hotel room, their coach turned his hologram off.
"WHERE WERE YOU??? It's 22:20 and you returned here with the French elemental authorities? I just spoke to Principal Arthurio, because I had to report that you weren't back yet. You knew they were to contact me for a head count at 21:00. Now, he wants to have you three expelled because you have been caught past curfew too many times and we're in a foreign country representing the school."
Coralis, Erik and Henry had their head down. They didn't consider that they could ever get expelled. They thought they could eventually get a suspension, but not expelled.
"Sir, I am Agent Matasia Sarali. I work for the French division of the EBEE. I will personally contact your school administrators and I will strongly recommend against expelling them. They would have been back on time for your curfew if they hadn't been cornered by five capacuns."
"Five what? If you fought these creatures, how come you are still alive and uninjured?" asked Larry.
"Because Blue is that good, sir," said Henry, grinning.
He was relieved to hear that Agent Sarali was going to speak on their behalf so that they wouldn't get expelled.
While Coralis took a shower after the agent left, Erik and Henry gave Larry more details about what had happened. They were his best players so their coach hoped that Agent Sarali would be able to convince Principal Arthurio not to expel them.
The next day, they won their game against the Spanish team. For the rest of their stay, they decided to stick to their hotel and the flyball field. They didn't want to run into more trouble. They won the semi-finals against a Chinese team and the final against an Argentinian one.
The French agents came to their hotel before they return to Scotland.
"We wanted to let you know that we spoke with your school administrators. Coralis Golmar, Erik Fullemon and Henry Fullemon will not be expelled from the Glasgow Elemental School. Given the severity of the situation and considering they weren't caught doing anything wrong, it would not be in anyone's best interest to expel them. They were defending themselves against Lord Meozo's goons and would have been back for curfew if it wasn't for that," said Agent Milleri.
"If we have more questions, we will contact you," said Agent Sarali.
"Thank you," said the teenagers at the same time.
"Stay out of trouble! Coralis Golmar, please, keep resisting Lord Meozo and don't fall for his charms and false promises. He will only lead you to your doom," said Agent Milleri.
"Nah, she won't follow that lunatic, we are keeping her too busy playing flyball, she's got no time for him," said Henry.
Coralis chuckled. She didn't know what she would do without them. She missed Nadilla, but she knew her cousin also had people in her corner. Flyball was her life and she dreamed of being part of the national team, that's all she wanted to do.
The moment they arrived at school, they were called to the principal office. Martha was there with the twins' parents and other school administrators.
"You three are lucky that the French authorities spoke so fondly of you," said Principal Arthurio after they sat on the couch across where Kief and Barla Fullemons sat, a wide rectangular table between them. "I struggle to believe that Lord Meozo would be back. The CMMA and EBEE are very competent and did destroy him, almost 14 years ago."
"No offence, sir, but the French agents who investigated the incident are part of the EBEE. If they say that Lord Meozo had sent five capacuns after Coralis Golmar, who are we to question them? I'm glad my sons were there to help.
"That is a theory. It could also have been some of his loyal supporters trying to reassemble the group under a new leader, possibly a descendant, which would also explain why they seem to be after Coralis Golmar. We all know that her parents were very close to Lord Meozo, hence why she had to be hidden in the human system with her cousin. She and her cousin still have living relatives who worked for Lord Meozo," said Principal Arthurio.
Coralis stared at him. She didn't know she had relatives who were alive and wondered if Nadilla knew. A part of her wanted to go to her parents' storage unit in London, to see what else she could learn about them. Another part of her, however, wanted nothing to do with them, and that part of her was winning. She decided against asking Martha if she could take her there.
"If Lord Meozo is after her, we need to ensure that she can defend herself against him, or at least be able to resist him. You know very well that if he wants Donny Golmar's daughter to work for him, he can make her to," said Martha.
"No, I believe that she will be fine. I doubt anyone will confront her on school grounds. She has fought against his associates just fine so far. The French authorities recommend that she resumes her classes like normal, and that's exactly what she will do."
"This year, we will be able to have Coralis under our custody for the entire summer. Her group home is currently full and the system has more children to place than space available so they approved us as… how do they call it… foster family for June, July and August without her having to go back or them having to visit us. We will do our best to keep her safe."
Coralis sat between Erik and Henry. They both hugged her at the same time, all three had a wide smile on their face.
"Oh, this is great news. Roberto said something about you being unable to apply as a foster family the previous years," said Martha.
"The human legal system is very complicated. We would be filing for adoption instead and the CMMA is willing to help, but can't say the same for the EBEE and we need them for some of the requirements. By the time we have everything ready, she will probably be an adult," said Kief.
After the meeting, the teenagers went back to their dorms. Coralis was excited at the idea of staying at Eric's and Henry's house for the entire summer. She knew that Nadilla also had a friend whose family wanted to adopt her and had her as a foster child for the past two summers.
She knew the Fullemons had been wanting to adopt her but were unable to. In group homes and orphanages, people came and went. Even those like her who never were adopted would eventually be moved to a different home or a foster family. She got along with most of the children she was placed with, but never saw them as siblings.
With Erik and Henry, it felt different. If they and their parents wanted her as part of their family, it didn't matter to her if they couldn't apply for adoption: she would see them as such.
Later that evening, Martha and Swope visited Coralis in her dorm. Maribel and Victoria were there, but their other roommates were out.
"Martha told me what Principal Arthurio said, but we disagree with him. We will not back down and will continue our private lessons. If it were up to me, I would ask you to also come on Friday nights, but it'd become more difficult to keep it a secret. I was very proud to hear how you quickly beheaded five capacuns."
"Thank you, I used one of the spells you taught me. As much as I was skeptical about the necessity for additional lessons at first, I will admit that they have turned out to be very useful and I am thankful for them. I am sure that Lord Meozo will send more people after me. I will keep killing them all if I need to."
"Aah, I'm happy to hear that!" said Swope, smiling. "What you just said proves Principal Arthurio wrong. What your regular classes are teaching you isn't enough but this stays between us."
"Principal Arthurio thinks that if Lord Meozo is back, he will not confront you at school. I wouldn't be so sure about that, he could confront you anywhere. I strongly believe that it is a matter of time before you come face-to-face with him. You heard it too, your parents were very close to him, so he has his eyes on you. When he comes for you himself, we want you to be able to stand a chance against him, to resist him," said Martha.
"I will not let you down, I promise you that," said Coralis.