[Somewhere Over South Carolina (April 2023)]
"Thanks for tagging along with me." Valerie said to Elizabeth as she leaned back in her comically large seat that was firmly in the back of the first class section of the plane. "I was actually pretty nervous about coming out here all by myself."
"Don't mention it." The young 'earth magic' user replied as she scrolled through her tablet. "Honestly, it's been a while since I've seen anyone from my grandmother's side of the family. And this seemed like a good enough reason to justify coming out here. Plus, there's a potential client that I plan on meeting in a couple of days. So, everything ended up lining up pretty well."
"Makes sense." Valerie nodded in understanding. "But aren't you going to be missing some of your classes, though?"
All Elizabeth could do was shrug at the question. "Attendance isn't mandatory for any of my classes this semester. As long as I turn in my assignments on time, it doesn't matter if I don't even step foot on campus until finals week."
"Must be nice."
"Now that you mention it, have you ever thought about going to college? I know that you guys have a pretty hectic schedule, but pretty much everyone I know who became an agent managed to get their degrees without too much hassle."
"Nah!" The tall blonde quickly waved her hand and smiled. "Twelve years of school was more than enough for me. The whole school thing just isn't really my style. Never has been, never will be. I'd much rather be out there taking down cryptids and training. Sitting in a classroom for too long just makes me antsy."
"I got you."
In truth, Elizabeth could sympathize with the sentiment. She knew that Valerie had been dealing with a nasty case of ADHD ever since she was a kid. So it was understandable that the tall blonde would want to avoid anything that required her to remain stationary for long periods of time. Now that she thought about it, the 'earth magic' user wondered if that had something to do with the whole "berserker state" thing she had told them about.
"I'm surprised that Evan didn't want to come with us, though." Valerie then said as she took a sip of her drink. "He lived in Miami for, like, an entire year by himself, right?"
For a brief moment, Elizabeth's expression changed after hearing those words. And something almost dark seemed to cross her face before the young woman quickly got herself in order.
"Well, according to him, he's seen more than enough of the city to last a lifetime. And I doubt he could've been convinced to make the journey unless it was something important."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
The two women quickly settled into their heated seats and relaxed after that. They still had about an hour and a half before their flight was over. So, they were planning on milking their luxury accommodations for all that they were worth. Elizabeth herself may have been used to traveling like this, but Valerie wasn't. And the tall blonde sorcerer wanted to make sure that she enjoyed every last moment of it.
-(o)-
[Later That Morning, Miami International Airport]
Soon after their plane finally touched down at the airport, Valerie and Elizabeth quickly grabbed their belongings and made their way over to the waiting area for new arrivals. Fortunately for the two of them, they didn't have to wait for long before their escorts for the day made their appearance. And judging by the smiles on their faces, it appeared as though they were happy to see them.
The first of the two newcomers was a tall man with caramel skin, a muscular build, dark brown eyes, and a complex head of cornrows hidden behind a black and blue headband. Thanks to her mana-sensing ability, Valerie could tell that the guy was comfortably in A-rank territory when it came to raw power. And judging by his physique, he was certainly no slouch when it came to physical strength either.
'Damn, he's pretty hot! Maria was right, everyone in this bloodline is good-looking!'
The second person, however, was the one who really got the young 'fire magic' user's attention.
Standing next to the man was a woman who cut quite an interesting figure. She was tall, almost as tall as Valerie herself, with a concerningly skinny physique that immediately made the young woman identify her as being almost anorexic. She had near porcelain white skin, despite possessing facial features that clearly identified her as a Black woman, a set of bright grey eyes, and a head of pale-blonde hair that looked nearly white, styled into a puffy afro that covered the top left half of her face.
'An albino?' Valerie wondered as the two sorcerers continued to approach them. 'I've never seen one before. She's actually really pretty.'
The albino woman also had a few other features that caught Valerie's attention. Not only did she have a massive scar running down the bottom-left side of her face all the way down to her neck, but she also had a cool, cyberpunk-style prosthetic red hand in place of where her left one should be. There was also the fact that she was very obviously an S-rank sorcerer based on the ridiculous amount of mana currently flowing out of her.
"Damn, cuzzo…long time no see! It's been what, four, five years since the last time we saw you? Ever since the old bat finally kicked the bucket? Man, you've gotten big!" Julian Owens said once everyone was now within speaking distance of one another.
"Nice to see you too, Julian. How have you been?" Elizabeth replied with a warm smile that Valerie had never seen the woman give anyone before.
"Pretty good, can't complain."
The 'earth magic' user then turned to face Valerie before motioning her hand over to the two new arrivals. "Valerie, these are my cousins, Julian Owens and Mary-Anne Owens-Conley."
"It's nice to meet you!" Valerie greeted the two with a friendly wave. She wanted to make sure that she was as polite as possible to avoid any mishaps.
"Likewise." Mary-Anne said with a calm smile.
"So…you're my mom's newest project, huh?" Julian proceeded to give the blonde a look up and down before giving her an approving nod. "Well, you look pretty tough, so you shouldn't have too much trouble dealing with what she has planned for you."
"Thanks!" The 'fire magic' user smiled.
"These two are both agents working for the DPA station here in Miami." Elizabeth then said as she continued to introduce the woman to her two relatives. "Julian's the Vice-Captain of the station's APS squad, and Mary-Anne's the newly-appointed Deputy Chief. And on top of being a member of the Research Association, she also just so happens to be my cousin Ethan's longtime on-again-off-again girlfriend."
Mary-Anne simply smiled and rolled her eyes after hearing that.
"Oh, cool." Valerie nodded in understanding before a thought suddenly popped into her head. Then, before she could stop herself, a rather bold question came flying out of her mouth. "Wait…but aren't you guys, like, related?"
"My father is adopted." Mary-Anne quickly countered as if that was all the explanation that was needed.
"Don't worry, we're not like those cousin-fuckers in the Conley family down here." Julian's words were immediately met with an unimpressed glare from the albino woman. But all he did in response was shrug before letting out a quick chuckle. "What? It's not like I said what everyone else isn't already thinking."
When it came to American sorcerer society, especially within the Nine Families, marriages and relationships between family members weren't exactly an uncommon occurrence. Granted, with how big the families themselves were, you'd almost never hear of close relatives getting with one another.
In actuality, genuine incest between sorcerers was much more common in Asia, mainly in places like Japan and India. Over there, at least from what Valerie has heard, a lot of the big sorcerer families routinely practiced some type of "bloodline purity" nonsense that she never bothered to understand. The kind of thing was never going to fly here in America.
"Anyways…" Mary-Anne quickly turned her attention toward Valerie. "We'll be the ones showing you around for the day and helping you get settled in. Your training doesn't start until tomorrow. And Aunt Zharia wants you to get some rest since you're going to be hitting the ground running in the morning."
Valerie practically lit up after hearing that. "Can't wait! You guys don't know how pumped up I am for this. I've been looking forward to this for weeks!"
"I like this one!" Julian said in a joking fashion. "I can see why Evan spends so much time with her."
"What do you-"
"Now, now…" Mary-Anne was quick to cut the woman off. "Save the jokes for later after we're done helping the girl get settled in."
Elizabeth then placed her hand on Valerie's shoulder and gave the 'fire magic' user an apologetic look. "Don't mind him too much. Julian has a bad habit of poking fun at people at the drop of a hat. He's been like that forever. To be honest…I think he's compensating for something."
"Very funny, little girl." Julian rolled his eyes. "Now then, let's get the hell out of here! I wanna grab some grub before we head over to the house. We already got a reservation at a pretty nice steakhouse."
"Sounds good to me!" Valerie agreed. "I haven't eaten anything since this morning."
"Then what are we wasting time standing here for? Let's get this show on the road!"
With that, the group began making their way over the car that the two Owens family sorcerers came here in. Along the way, Elizabeth took the time to ask the albino woman a question that was on her mind.
"What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be at work right now?"
"I needed an excuse to get out of the office for a while. I've been saddled with paperwork for the better part of four days now, and this was a good enough reason for Uncle Norman to let me leave for a bit." Mary-Anne answered in a cool tone.
"Makes sense."
"When did you become a Deputy Chief?" Valerie couldn't help but ask.
"A few months ago."
"You like it?"
"It has its ups and downs." Mary-Anne replied with a somewhat exasperated expression. "The pay is great, but I mostly spend my time doing admin work that no one else wants to deal with. To be honest, I still don't get how Ethan and Theo have been able to last this long. I feel like I'm gonna go crazy one of these days."
"Sorry to hear that."
"It's cool." The albino woman simply shrugged. "It comes with the territory."
Valerie then decided to use this opportunity to ask the woman a question that had been plaguing her mind ever since she first laid eyes on her. "Sorry if this sounds…uh…rude, but what happened to your hand?"
The woman took a moment to hold the metallic red prosthetic limb in front of her and wave it around for a second before answering. "It got bitten off by a cryptid around nine years ago. Damn thing also gave me this scar before I was finally able to kill it. Word to the wise, never try to fight a muck monster in the dark. Those things are slippery as all hell."
"Man…that had to suck bigtime." Valerie winced at the thought. She had heard more than a few horror stories about agents getting brutally mutilated by cryptids when they were out on missions.
"It is what it is." Mary-Anne shrugged. "But hey, at least I was able to get this new one soon after. I still miss my original one, but this one works just as well."
"Well, I think it looks pretty awesome!"
"I would hope so! Your uncle was the one who made it after all."
"Seriously? Uncle Lucas made that?" Valerie's eyes widened in shock. She, of course, knew that her uncle was known for his work in making artificial limbs for wounded soldiers and amputees. It was basically the guy's claim to fame in the scientific community. But she never heard about him making new limbs for DPA agents. Then again, she really shouldn't be all that surprised.
"Yup! He even gave me some in different colors for whenever I feel like switching it up."
"Neat!"
With that, the group made their swift exit out of the airport before heading over to the aforementioned steakhouse to grab a bite to eat. The 'fire magic' user had a long day ahead of her tomorrow based on what the others had told her, and she wanted to make sure that she got enough rest before she started her training. That being said, Valerie was more than hyped for what was to come. This was her chance to really set herself apart from her peers and work her way up to the top. And she wasn't about to let this opportunity slip through her hands under any circumstances.
-(o)-
Character Profile: Mary-Anne
Name: Mary-Anne Patricia Owens-Conley
Alias: N/A
Gender: Female
Age: 30
Birthday: August 3rd
Birthplace: Miami, Florida, United States of America
Height: 70in
Weight: 101 lbs.
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Grey
Race: Black
Magic: Beast (Medusozoa)
Occupation: DPA Deputy Chief Agent, Magical Research Association Member, Cryptozoologist
Stat Chart: S
-Physical Strength - 2
-Intelligence - 4.5
-Magic Amount - 5+
-Magical Control - 5+
-Magic Sensing - 5+
-Special - 5
Fun Fact:
-Favorite food is jambalaya.
-Alma Mater: University of Miami (BS), University of Florida (MS)
-Has been dating Ethan MacNamara off-and-on for over ten years.
-Went to high school with Ethan, Elaine, Jayson, Michiko, Lucas, Robin, and Jean-Jacques.
-Favorite animal is the lion's mane jellyfish.
-National Rank: 66
-World Rank: N/A
-(o)-
Character Profile: Julian
Name: Julian Tyrell Owens
Alias: Jules, Red Lightning
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Birthday: April 6th
Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
Height: 74in
Weight: 197lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Race: Black
Magic: Lightning
Occupation: DPA Agent, Chef
Stat Chart: A(+)
-Physical Strength - 4.5
-Intelligence - 3
-Magic Amount - 5
-Magical Control - 4.5
-Magic Sensing - 4
-Special - [Redacted]
Fun Fact:
-Favorite food is apple turnovers.
-Alma Mater: Tuskegee University (BS)
-Favorite hobby is baking.
-Once stuck his hand into a beehive on a dare and got stung over 40 times.