Jayne wasn't her only caller tonight.

The chappel attached to the Lucero estate was as beautiful as it was tranquil. Along the left-hand wall, a series of tall stained glass windows depicted the story of Saint George, patron saint of England, and his battle with the dragon. The right-hand side depicted the patroness of Spain, Teresa of Ávila’s four steps of the ‘ascent of the soul’. Finely constructed wooden pews, a vaulted ceiling, an altar that would be more at home in the Vatican, and an organ behind the pulpit were the room's main features. Presently the organ was being tuned by Father Torrez. Priest, and long family friend of the Luceros. He was a tanned skin man, with an air of peace about him. He was younger than Lord Lucero but had not aged as gracefully. He favored his right leg when he walked, indicating an old injury.

A troubled Lord Lucero took a seat in the front pew, Father Torrez noticed his friend and got up from the organ to join him, “Miguel... my friend, I’ve seen that look before. No more giant talking mushrooms this time, I hope.” His friendly demeanor would’ve made anyone else who did not know the Darkmoon order think the man was joking.

“Yes... keeping secrets from those whom you ally with, for their own benefit does not a clear conscience make,” he smiled weakly, “I think I’d rather deal with mushroom right now though.” He chuckled softly.

The priest cracked a mirthful smile, “but anyway, since this isn’t the confessional box, am I correct in assuming you need a friend, and not a priest right now?”

“As perceptive as always, James,” the lord looked over to Father Torrez, referring to him by his given name. The two were on a first name basis when there wasn’t a crowd about. “I am a Catholic, but I also a father, those two things shouldn’t conflict with each other, and yet here I am.”

“Is this about the order’s latest charge?” James asked; the appearance of ring bearer was so rare that news of it spread quickly, even to his quiet wing of the estate.

“One and the same, I’m afraid. Maria felt so guilty about nearly killing the girl in a misunderstanding, I assigned her to personally see to the girl’s protection. I mean, it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. It would give her the chance to atone that she sought. Also, Maria and she are only a few years apart, and you know how Maria is. Despite growing into a beautiful young woman, her sense of duty has always kept her from being any sort of sociable.”

James nodded, “seems perfectly reasonable so far. You put the two into a situation where they had to deal with one another and hoped it would help Maria open up. Might be risky as far as your responsibilities as a chapter captain go, but it makes perfect sense as a father.”

Furrowing his brow, Miguel nodded, “now I wonder if perhaps it was too effective.” He saw the confusion on James’ face, “the two have become close. Honestly, I haven’t seen Maria this happy, since before... well the rest of our family.”

James cut him off so he wouldn't have to finish that thought, “My friend, so far I have yet to see the problem.”

The lord bristled slightly, “there’s something not quite right with this girl. Yes, she’s a powerful mage, easily a prodigy. That alone wasn’t enough for concern. But... well. I’m going to look into it a little more. You remember Bighat Brogan, right?”

James chortled, “the mage who when left unattended discovered the communion wine? Yes. Yes, I do remember.”

“Well. Obviously, I am no mage so I couldn’t sense what he did, but something about the girl actually rendered Mr. Brogan reasonable. Something about her frightened him, yet said he trusts her. Implicitly. After only a four hour lesson, and I believe it took less than a day for my daughter to reach the same point. I can’t help but feel like there’s something about this girl that makes people want to like her.”

“I see. I’m guessing you’ve ruled out her being a font of charisma and personality?” James inquired, only half-joking.

Lord Lucero snorted and suppressed a laugh, “perhaps. All it took was a great deal of trauma and isolation to draw her out of her cocoon and make her the social butterfly she never was before. No... I saw a bit of my daughter in her as far as being socially isolated. Though Maria is more capable of handling herself than this girl. At least I fully believed so until today.”

“So, what I’m getting is... your daughter has found a friend that makes her happier than you’ve seen her in years, and now you may have a reason to be concerned about her proximity to your daughter?” James added to that, “no other reason?”

Miguel’s old friend knew him better than he himself often enough, “there is one other reason. This is perhaps the point of this where being a father and a Catholic are at odds for me.”

The old priest smiled knowingly, “you think the two might have a feeling beyond friendship for one another, and so fast at that?”

There was an uncomfortable silence. “Yes.”

James sighed and looked towards the altar, thinking about the situation, “I have no children, but as a priest, I can offer this advice I’ve given to young priests. The hardest thing to accept sometimes is the choices a member of your flock makes. Everyone comes unto God in their own way. The church tried otherwise in the past obviously... **** conversions. I am of the opinion that no one forms a meaningful relationship with God if they’re **** into it. That path only grows bitterness and resentment. So even if you believe a member of your flock is being lead astray and into sin, you must be mindful they make their own choices,” The old priest smiled and turned to his friend, “failing that, you have to remember Christ came to save the sinners, if we never sinned we wouldn’t need saving now, would we?”

That got a laugh out of Miguel, “that’s quite insightful advice. I’m still concerned about the speed at which this young woman builds trust and acceptance. But trying to separate her and my daughter, I think... I think it would do more harm than good,” he grinned at his old friend, “I suppose advice such as this is why you’re not a bishop or cardinal?”

James gave a playful gallic shrug but reluctantly nodded, “I may have had some spirited discussions on the finer interpretations of Catholic doctrine with my contemporaries over the years.” He cracked a small grin at that answer, "but if you believe in the providence of God as I do, then I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.”

Lord Lucero took a deep breath and stood, he put a hand on Jame’s shoulder, “and for that, I am grateful my friend. Thanks for the talk. I’ve got to go make some arrangements to learn more about this girl’s powers.”

As Miguel walked away James quipped, “ah yes. Got to learn about the future in-laws,” teasing his friend, with a grin.

Looking over his shoulder, Lord Lucero suppressed a laugh but fail to hide a smile, “baaah!” He waved his hand dismissively as he left the chappel.

...

It wasn’t until the girls were back in Maria’s bedroom that Jayne saw her phone flashing, “Oh! Damn, I forgot to check for messages.” Jayne stopped at the door to pull off her boots, Maria went to sit down to take hers off since hers had laces going up the sides to secure them.

Picking up her phone and putting in her pattern to get by the lock screen she saw...

You have 8 new messages from: Tasya Grothia
Glad to hear you’re up and about! I may stop by later to check on you.
Hey. Are you in? I’m at your door.
Okay. Sorry, I guess you’re not in right now.
Hope you’re okay though.
Hey. It’s me again. Right, you can see that from the cell phone.
Ok. I’m not good at this... I wish we met under better circumstances but I really would like to see you again. Doesn’t have to be soon.
Just... anytime you get a chance let me know you’re ok.
I hope you don’t hate me for having bailed on you like that
Please, say something?

Jayne paled as she felt a bit of guilt welling up in her, “I need to make a phone call and let someone know I’m okay.”

“Sure, you need some privacy or anything...?” Maria asked, not wanting to be invasive, as she figured so much of Jayne’s life has already and will continue to be scrutinized.

“Nah, but thank you!”

...

“Of course Sir, I can be over there tonight and get some equipment for readings set up ahead of time... Actually Sir, if you let me stay in the room overnight I could do a sleep study as well. No, I don’t mind sharing. Okay, Sir, I should be there after dinner.”

Tasya had just gotten off the phone with Lord Lucero. She was excited she’d be able to see Jayne again, but these circumstances gave her pause. “What have you gotten yourself into, Jayne?” she asked worriedly.

When she got back home she had noticed a strange, but not unpleasant scent... Honestly, it was quite pleasant. But in the kitchen, her bracelet, in which she built an arcane detector for her personal safety and awareness, began to vibrate since it was set to silent mode as well a small LED flashing angrily.

Using her own powers limited a though they were as well her instruments, she detected that there had been a massive spike in arcane energy. Her kitchen seemed to be the origin point. After testing it seemed as though there was no remaining threat. But she wondered if that had occurred when Jayne was here. That's one of the reasons she went over to try to see her at the dorms. Jayne didn’t seem like a mage, that’s why she asked her to stay away from the lab equipment and notes. Which it seems like she did. But if she had been here when that much arcane power had activated... she didn’t know what could have happened.

Her phone rang, playing her distinct ringtone. It was a clip of the priest unit from an old RTS game.

wololo wololo

She looked at the caller, ‘Jayne Bronwen’

Her palm suddenly felt a little sweaty... what was the social thing to do? If she answered right away would that make her seem too ****? Three rings seemed like too much. She waited for the second ring before answering.

wololo wololo

“... Jayne?”

“Tasya!! I’m so sorry I haven’t called earlier. It’s been so crazy. They just found my phone for me this morning but I forgot to check it because the clothes they gave me didn’t fit and I had to borrow some... and just. I’m sorry, and yes, of course, I’d love to see you again. I mean you saved me from that... I don’t wanna think about it. But I feel like I owe you. I don’t know how I could ever repay you for getting me out from there.”

That was a lot to process as Jayne had just poured out so much positivity and emotion, “how would you like to see me tonight?” she asked without stating the reason for her visit.

“Oh... I’m not home right now. I’m a guest at... well I don’t know if I’m allowed to say.”

“The Lucero estate,” Tasya answered for her.

“How... did you know?”

“Well... I had a job offer from Lord Lucero tonight to study a new mage’s rather curious powers. As interesting as that was I almost turned him down until he told me who the mage was.”

“I...”

“When I left home, I was certain you were no mage... So it would follow that between then and the time you were introduced to the Luceros something happened to you. Given the readings I got, I can only assume it happened here. I was” her voice trembled slightly, “worried something happened to you.”

Jayne was quiet for a moment, “I didn’t tell you because I was scared and didn’t know what happened... or that anyone would believe me. I thought magic didn’t exist outside of media like books, movies, and games. Heh... if I’d known you knew anything about this I probably would’ve gone with my first instinct which was to hide under the covers until you got home.”

She liked the idea of Jayne under her covers. “We can talk all about this later, I’m going to be late if I don’t start packing my equipment into my van now,” she thought of a flirty way she could end the phone call... something that would almost certainly make Jayne think about her, or so she hoped, “by the way... as part of all this I’ll be doing a sleep study on you. So I’ll be sharing the same room as you...” she tried her best to sound coy, or sultry or something. She didn’t know, but she was trying.

Click

“What... hello?” Nothing. Jayne turned to look at Maria, “uh... so we’ll be having a guest tonight.”