"Wait...Aaron's actually coming with us?" Mikayla Dempsy asked with a face full of genuine disbelief.
"Is it really that much of a surprise?" The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow.
"Uh...yeah!" The 'bone magic' user replied. "You usually keep yourself held up in your apartment. I can't even remember the last time you actually joined us on a trip that didn't directly involve work."
The leader of the trio rubbed her chin in thought. "Has it really been that long?"
"Yes!"
"I honestly don't feel like going. But apparently, Hannah already got us the rooms."
"Well, technically, the boss is the one who paid for everything." The strawberry blonde woman said with a slight grin as she used her magic to chill the cup of tea that she was holding. "I tried to tell her that you wouldn't be interested in this sort of thing, but she insisted that we all go."
"It's not like it matters now."
It had been quite a while since the three of them had taken some time off to actually enjoy themselves. Between their regular jobs and the work that they were doing for Iznana, neither Hannah, Aaron, nor Mikayla had the chance to kick their feet up and relax. And now was as good a time as any to take a vacation.
They still had about a month left before the big day they had spent almost half a year preparing for arrived. And there weren't any matters that required their immediate attention. All of their minions were doing an excellent job at capturing and maintaining their growing collection of cryptids, and the money from their other operations was more than enough to keep them stable for a while. Especially when you consider the amount that Hannah was bringing in from her work.
Because they were doing so well up until this point, their boss decided to reward them with a week's stay at a luxury hotel on her dime. And naturally, it was the kind of offer that they would be foolish to refuse. After all, it wasn't every day that their patron went out of her way to do something like this. So, it was best to just take the deal and enjoy a bit of goofing off before they had to hunker down and begin the final preparations for their impending operation.
"Man, I can't wait to try out that spa at the hotel! Or the restaurant! I was doing some reading, and apparently, VIP customers get free breakfast. Which means we get to save money and eat fancy food all in one go!"
"They also have a live performance every Wednesday during dinner. I don't really care that much for jazz or classical music, but that should be fun."
The two ladies then glanced over at Aaron, obviously wanting to hear what he was most excited about. But as per usual, the stone-faced teen just gave them a blank stare before shrugging his shoulders.
"There's a good fishing spot not too far from the hotel. So, I guess that I could give that a shot since I've never done it before."
Mikayla rolled her eyes while Hannah let out a slight chuckle. That was probably the most that they were going to get out of the group's youngest member, so there was no point in arguing with it. At least fishing was better than just sitting in the room all day watching television.
After a few more minutes of going over their plans for when they finally arrived at the hotel, the trio went back to their regular duties. They still needed to procure a few more cryptids for their operation, as well as track down a few persons of interest. But in spite of all that, the three of them were definitely looking forward to a week of fun in the sun.
-(o)-
Early afternoon on the following Sunday, Valerie, Cyrus, Maria, and Freddy arrived at the MacNamara household. And to say that they were impressed with what they were seeing would be putting it mildly.
The group sort of knew what to expect when they all pulled into the neighborhood; this was one of the richest areas in all of Charlotte, after all. However, none of them were prepared for the absolutely massive residence that their charges for the next week were apparently living in.
The house was three stories tall and made up of red bricks and pristine white paint that made even some of the other houses on the street look cheap by comparison. On top of that, the front lawn was easily larger than the size of three basketball courts and was lined with perfectly cut bushes around the perimeter that extended all the way out to the street.
The house wasn't particularly flashy or opulent by modern standards. However, the sheer size of the place made it easy for one to get the point. And that point was that the people who lived here certainly weren't lacking when it came to money.
'And I thought our house was big.' Valerie thought to herself as the group walked up the stone pathway en route to the front door. Back in San Francisco, a house this size would easily cost a few million dollars. And that was on the lower end of the estimations.
'This place is at least twenty times the size of Mom's apartment.' Maria noted. She already assumed that the two MacNamara twins were well off, considering what family they came from. But even she was taken aback by how unnecessarily huge their home was.
"I don't even want to know how much a place like this costs." Cyrus said aloud, only for Freddy to mention that it would probably take them at least a decade to be able to afford a home like this on their salaries. Hell, it would probably take Chief Chandler a few years of saving up to be able to put a down payment on a place like this.
As the group got closer to the front door, they immediately took note of the two not-so-subtle mana signatures inside the building. Just from what they were able to sense, the four could easily tell that both of the twins were in the upper tier of A-rank level sorcerers at a bare minimum. The kind of people with enough raw power to cause a small catastrophe inside a city if they felt like it. Which wasn't all that surprising considering that both their father and older sister were two of the country's few S-rank sorcerers.
Once they finally arrived at the door, Valerie took the liberty of ringing the electronic doorbell. Fortunately, the group only had to wait a couple of seconds before a voice came over the intercom.
"Yes?" A female voice said.
"Hello!" The tall blonde began in her best "professional" voice. "My name is Valerie McKenna. Me and my coworkers here are the group of agents that you requested."
"Come in. Make sure you take your shoes off and put them on the shelf. My brother just got done vacuuming."
Without so much as a warning, the front door suddenly opened, surprising a few members of the group. Mainly because none of them knew that people even had automatic doors installed in their houses.
The four junior sorcerers then entered the home before all of them took a moment to pause at what they were seeing. The inside of the house was just as extravagant as the outside.
High walls covered in pristine white paint, accompanied by various paintings that looked like they belonged in some sort of art exhibit. As well as a chandelier made up of some lime green crystals that none of them had ever seen before. If the outside was meant to prove a point, then the inside was just for showing off. Or at least that's what they all thought as they made sure to take off their shoes and place them on the shelf directly to their right.
Before the group could take another step into the house, they were suddenly greeted by the first of their charges. The woman whom they rightfully assumed to be Elizabeth.
The beautiful, dark-skinned woman with deep brown eyes, who was apparently the same age as Valerie and Freddy, was dressed in a royal blue sundress that looked to be made of pure silk. Along with a head full of perfectly twisted dreadlocks styled in some sort of complex braiding pattern that all of them instinctively knew must've taken a long time to fashion.
"Hello." Elizabeth said as she approached the group. "I'm Elizabeth MacNamara, it's nice to meet you all."
"Likewise!" Freddy replied with a friendly wave.
"First things first, thank you all for agreeing to accompany us on our trip. I know that you DPA agents are busy around this time of year since more cryptids are running around. But, my father never lets us go to certain places without security. And my brother insisted that it be you four."
'She even talks like she's made of money.' Maria held back the urge to roll her eyes at the woman's overly proper tone of voice.
"No need to apologize." Valerie then said. "It's what we do."
"That is true." Freddy nodded his head in agreement.
Now it was Cyrus's turn to speak. "Why did you request the four of us anyway, if you don't mind me asking?"
"My brother and I watched you guys handle that ghoul not too long ago, and he was impressed by what he saw."
"I'm sorry?" The 'tree magic' user tilted his head in confusion. As did the others.
"We were on the way home when we sensed the ghoul's mana. Evan wanted to see what was going on, so we flew over and just so happened to watch you guys take it down. It was pretty impressive if I do say so myself."
"Wait..." Valerie interjected. "If you were close by, why didn't we sense you? No offense, but your mana signature stands out. We were able to sense you guys before we even pulled into the driveway."
"We made sure to watch from afar to make sure that you didn't know we were there. Plus...Evan had a pair of binoculars on him that he keeps in his car."
"I see." Cyrus nodded.
"Speaking of my brother..." Elizabeth then turned her gaze towards the staircase. "Evan, get down here and greet our guests! You're the reason why they're here in the first place; the least you could do is say hello!"
"Give me a second!" A male voice shouted from what sounded like the second floor.
About ten seconds later, the other MacNamara twin appeared before the group. And in quite a dramatic fashion.
Instead of walking down the staircase like a normal person, the young man with long dreadlocks, light caramel skin, and pale green eyes descended down to the lobby through the air. He was sporting a pair of khaki shorts and a purple t-shirt along with an expensive-looking silk headband that matched his top.
'So that's the flying enchantment, huh?' Cyrus looked on in wonder. 'Now all the stuff I read about it makes sense.'
From what the 'tree magic' user had gathered from his hours of research into sorcerer society, this was what the twins' family was famous for. The almost mystical art that many around the sorcerer world called "enchanting".
In simple terms, enchantments could be likened to that of buffs and debuffs in video games. Enchantments allowed a sorcerer skilled in the art to use their magic to temporarily enhance the bodies of either themselves or another sorcerer. While curses allowed one to apply negative effects in a similar fashion.
Ezekiel MacNamara, the twins' grandfather, pioneered the art in the early sixties and quite literally wrote the book on it. It was a skill that was not easy to learn by any measure. Even the most talented sorcerers required months or even years of studying and practice before they could confidently call themselves an enchanter. And such people were few and far between.
On top of that, only those in the MacNamara family knew how to apply the flying enchantment, the only known permanent enchantment in existence. And it was a secret that they guarded as if their lives depended on it. Because of this, only a small number of sorcerers on the planet were capable of free and independent flight.
One group on that exclusive list was the Chief Agents of the DPA and above. The enchantment was basically a gift for earning the position. Valerie had seen her aunt use the ability a few times during training and around the house, and the tall blonde was definitely jealous that her aunt possessed such an ability. Hell, even her mother had it as well.
The second group was close and trusted friends of those in the MacNamara family. All of Elaine MacNamara's known associates, including Zoe Chandler's husband, were granted the ability by the pop star/actress at some point in the past. Which, of course, was something to be proud about.
However, even with the restriction on those who were able to obtain the ability, there were still a few sorcerers around the world who weren't members of those two previous groups that could fly. And that was because they had purchased it from the MacNamara family.
Yes, it was common knowledge around the sorcerer world that the flying enchantment was indeed for sale. However, the price tag for such an amazing ability was currently sitting at a cool twenty-five million dollars per person. An amount so ridiculously high that only the richest among their kind would be able to afford it.
According to the rumors, the Chinese government footed the bill for Wang Jiayi, the second-highest ranked sorcerer on the planet, to obtain the ability. Which was apparently exactly what the woman needed to boost her already impressive fighting abilities to the next level.
The only known exceptions to the rules were Station Nine's very own Deputy Chief Jean-Jacques Mubele and Vice Captain Robin Stillwater. Both of whom gained the ability from Commissioner MacNamara himself for unknown reasons prior to joining the DPA while they were still in high school.
"It's so nice to finally meet you guys!" The silky smooth voice of Evan MacNamara brought Cyrus out of his ruminations once the man was finally on the ground. "I'm Evan. Thanks for agreeing to come with us. I hope we all get along well!"
The taller MacNamara twin then gave the group a smile that showed off his brilliant white teeth and walked over to them to shake their hands. However, as he got closer and closer to the agents, a single thought ran through the minds of both Valerie and Freddy at the exact same time.
'Holy shit! This guy's hot as fuck!'
To say that Evan MacNamara was a good-looking guy would be putting it mildly. In fact, in both Valerie and Freddy's humble opinions, he might've been the prettiest man that the two of them had ever seen with their own eyes. The guy looked like someone pulled him right out of a magazine cover.
For starters, he was tall, easily standing at around six feet five inches in height. Not only that, he was objectively handsome and had a slim but chiseled physique that was ready to burst out of his fitted shirt at any given moment. And his skin was almost impossibly free of any obvious blemishes.
'I didn't even know human beings could look this good! What the hell, did they make him a lab somewhere?! He's literally fucking perfect! For God's sake, he's prettier than everyone in my whole damn family! Even his voice is hot!' Valerie internally screamed as her heart began to race.
'Oh...this is going to be a great week....' Freddy managed to keep himself composed despite the obvious blush on his face.
Maria couldn't even deny that their charge for the next week was quite the looker. Now that she thought about it, even his sister was just as gorgeous. Elizabeth's flawless skin was practically radiating in the sunlight coming from the window above the front door. And her hair had an almost impossibly luscious sheen to it that made it clear that she took great care in her appearance.
Apparently, everyone in this family was just dazzlingly good-looking. So on top of being insanely rich, the MacNamara's had practically everything going for them in terms of both looks and talent.
"Okay, let me make sure I got this right." Evan then said as he shook Cyrus' hand. "You're Cyrus Moore, the guy with funky 'plant magic' that lets you make trees."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. MacNamra." Cyrus replied, albeit a bit curious as to how the young man knew all of that.
"Please, just call me Evan! Mr. MacNamara is my father." The dread-headed teen replied with a quick laugh before moving on to the next person. "And you're Freddy Price, Chief Zoe's favorite bookkeeper."
"I didn't know that I was famous." The 'dark magic' user kept his cool but still gave the man a wink. "I look forward to working with you!"
"¡Eres María Ortega! Escuché que Theo consiguió otro talentoso usuario de 'magia bestial' en sus filas. Si eres la mitad de bueno que Robin, entonces sé que no tendremos nada de qué preocuparnos durante los próximos días." Evan then turned his attention to Maria.
"Uh...Encantada de conocerte." The woman replied with a surprised look on her face, not expecting the guy to speak perfect Spanish. It was only then that Maria remembered that their sister had produced quite a few Latin pop songs in the past, songs that her mother loved listening to while she was at work. She took note of the fact that Evan spoke the language with a semi-pompous Castilian dialect, which made her wonder where he picked it up.
"And you must be Valerie McKenna, Chief Zoe's niece! I heard that you've been solo hunting cryptids like crazy ever since you got here. I can tell just by looking at you that you know your way around a gym. You know, I appreciate a woman who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty."
"W-well, thank you!" Valerie stuttered out while failing to hide the wide smile that appeared on her face. At least someone appreciated the work that she put into maintaining her physique. And the fact that the person who complimented her was hot as all hell just made it that much more satisfying.
Once the greetings were out of the way, Evan took a second to give the group the once-over. Yeah, these guys were exactly what he was looking for. A group of sorcerers that were actually around his age, so he didn't need to worry about them following him and his sister around during this trip. The guys that his father usually sent were cool and all, but they were way too stuffy for his tastes. This was simply a much better option.
"So...I take it that Chief Zoe already briefed you guys on what you're going to be doing for the week?" Evan then asked the junior agents.
"We're going to be acting as your security detail while you're on some sort of work trip, right?" Freddy replied.
"Pretty much." The dread-headed teen confirmed. "I have to attend a conference and meet up with some of the people that I work with. And to be honest, it's going to be a pretty dull affair. However, everything's pretty much only going to take place in the mornings. There's not going to be anything for us to do in the afternoons unless it's important. So, half of our time out there is going to be pretty relaxed."
"Cool." Cyrus nodded with a grin on his face.
"I, however..." Elizabeth then spoke up. "...am going to be meeting with a client who wants me to design a dress for her. The whole thing shouldn't take more than a few days since I'm bringing some of my materials with me. So, while Evan and his kabal of nerds are doing whatever it is they have going on, I'm actually going to be working."
"Sounds simple enough." Valerie said with a confident smirk. "Low risk, with very little chance of anything going wrong."
Evan smiled at the tall blonde. "That's right! And since I know how our father likes to work, I'm assuming that he also gave you guys some instructions on trying to convince the two of us to avoid any clubs or bars while we're at the beach?"
That comment made the four agents pause for a moment. It was true that they were instructed to do so, but they were all under the impression that neither of the twins was supposed to know about that.
"Figures..." Evan let out a quick chuckle, followed by a sigh.
"Are you really surprised at this point?" Elizabeth asked her brother.
"Is there a specific reason for that?" Valerie asked the two.
The twins exchanged a knowing look with one another before Elizabeth gave her brother what looked like an annoyed shrug. Obviously, there was something to this arrangement that neither of them liked, but it was impossible for the others to know what the deal was. However, they were able to receive an explanation that made sense in their opinion.
"I'm assuming that all of you know who our sister is?" The dark-skinned woman then turned her attention to the group.
"Kind of hard not to." Freddy replied. After all, the woman was one of the most famous people in the country.
"Well...unfortunately, because of her popularity, we sometimes have to deal with tabloids and paparazzi stalking and taking pictures of us. Or even trying to get an interview for their websites. On top of that, we have to make sure to keep a low profile when out in public to avoid making her look bad. It doesn't happen all that often when we're just out about here in the city. But those creeps always find a way to track us down when we go out of town."
"Seriously?" Maria raised an eyebrow.
"Our pain in the ass of a sister goes through a lot of effort to keep her image clean. The last thing she needs is pictures of us partying it up at a club making its way onto social media and people asking her questions about it."
"I guess that makes sense." Valerie rubbed her chin in thought. "That's kind of lame, though. I mean, you guys have your own lives to live. I can't imagine keeping yourselves out of the public eye is easy."
All Evan could do was shrug. "Eh...you get used to it. It's been like that ever since we were kids, so it's really not a problem for us at this point."
"Besides...." Elizabeth interjected. "...she makes it up to us whenever she gets the chance. Sometimes...."
The junior agents would be lying if they said that they didn't feel a bit bad for the two dread-headed siblings. Having a billionaire grandfather and a superstar older sister was no doubt something to brag about. But, having to readjust your own lives in order to keep someone else's public image looking good had to have been a major inconvenience.
Luckily for them, sorcerer society was a secret for the most part. On top of their grandfather and sister, they had a father who was a high-ranking government official. Something that, no doubt, put a huge target on their backs on a normal day.
'They would make the perfect hostages.' Maria thought to herself. 'Everyone knows that their family is rich as hell. If anyone managed to get their hands on these two, they would probably demand a king's ransom in order to avoid a disaster. And their family wouldn't really have a choice in the matter.'
After a few more minutes of small talk, the group finally decided to start making their way to the hotel. It took a while for Evan and Elizabeth to pack their things into their cars, but with the help of their new security detail, the process went by a lot faster than they planned.
From that point on, they all hopped into their vehicles and quickly pulled out of the neighborhood. Evan, Valerie, and Freddy were in one car while Cyrus, Elizabeth, and Maria were in the other. Of course, the 'dark magic' and 'fire magic' users just so happened to volunteer to ride with Evan at the same time. But none of the others had a reason to disagree with either of them riding with the young man, nor did they really care.
"Pretty nice ride you got here." Valerie said to Evan from her position in the passenger seat of the man's truck.
"Thanks, I just got it a few months ago!"
"I bet! This is the newest model, right?"
"It sure is. I had to sell my old car when I moved back up here. And I always wanted a truck, so I thought I might as well get one."
Freddy couldn't help but take a moment to admire the interior. "Payments on this thing must be a pain in the ass, though."
"I wouldn't know. I bought this one outright from the dealer." Evan said nonchalantly.
"Seriously?" Valerie failed to hide her shock. "This truck had to cost at least forty grand."
"Thirty-five. But I managed to talk the dealer down to only doing thirty."
"Wow." Freddy whistled. "How long did you have to save to afford this?"
"Like three months. Luckily, I was hired to do some software programming earlier this year that covered the costs with a little leftover."
"I always heard that you tech guys make a ton of money. I guess the rumors were true."
"You make a lot more doing freelance contract work like I do. Well, as long as you have decent connections and know which jobs to take. Working at a big tech company is cool and all, but the fact that my job gives me the freedom to do independent work is a godsend. Plus, it gives me a lot of free time."
'Smart, good-looking, charming, and rich? Man, this guy is literally the full package.' Valerie thought to herself while making sure not to stare at the guy. Of course, her main focus during this trip was to make sure that she properly did her job. But, if he just so happened to do a bit of flirting with her charge during that time and managed to secure a date with him, then that was perfectly okay, too.
-(o)-
Meanwhile, in the other car....
"So, this car was a gift?" Cyrus asked Elizabeth while looking out the window.
"Yup!" The dark-skinned woman answered while changing the song on the radio. "My sister did a commercial for the car company, and they gave it to her for free. She said that it wasn't really her style and decided to pass it on to me as a gift for getting into college."
"That was nice of her."
'This thing probably costs as much as Mom makes in a year.' Maria thought.
"So you're in school right now?" The 'tree magic' user then asked.
"I am. I go to the university in the city."
"Let me guess, business major?"
"Was it that obvious?" Elizabeth said with a grin.
"We were told that you were a fashion designer, so it seemed to make the most sense."
"What about you? I know that you two are a year younger than me. Do you guys have time for school while doing all of your DPA agent work?"
"I finished my associate's degree a couple of months ago, but I'm taking a break to focus on my job for now." Cyrus replied. In truth, he was a full-time student up until his powers awakened. After he officially joined the DPA, he decided to power through the rest of his required classes while he was still in his probationary phase with Ayako.
"Already? You must've done that accelerated learning thing my brother did. I don't know how in the world you people can do that. I prefer taking my classes at a regular pace."
"Understandable."
"What about you, Ms. Ortega?"
"I'm just focusing on work right now." Maria answered in her usual stoic tone. In all honesty, she wanted to go to college like some of her old friends in high school did. But her family didn't have the money to afford it. So, she chose to put that dream on hold until she had some more cash saved up.
That and she didn't need anything else distracting her from the ongoing hunt for her father's killer.
"Makes sense. I wanted to take a year off to focus more on designing, but my mother shot the idea down when I brought it up. Ya sabes cómo son las madres, siempre quieren lo mejor para ti, incluso cuando es un dolor de cabeza." The dark-skinned woman said in the same pompous Castillian accent as her brother.
"No puedo discutir contigo en eso."
'I should really brush up on my Spanish. I barely understood about half of that.' Cyrus thought before Elizabeth decided to change the subject. The last time he even attempted to speak it was when he was still with his ex-girlfriend.
"So... 'tree magic' and 'beast magic', huh? Those are pretty cool to have. I've only met a couple of 'beast magic' users before. All of them were kids that I went to school with from the Conley family. And unless I'm mistaken, 'tree magic' isn't all that common in North America."
"That's what I've been told."
"I bet the guys in the Blair family would love to have that kind of power under their thumb. I'm surprised they haven't sent someone to convince you to marry into their family already."
"Funny, my partner and Freddy said the exact same thing a few months ago."
"Well, they know what they're talking about."
"What about you?" The young man then asked. "You have 'wind magic', right?"
"Nope!" Elizabeth shook her head, surprising both Cyrus and Maria. "I have 'earth magic'."
"Really?" The 'best magic' user couldn't help but ask. Unless she was mistaken, everyone in the MacNamara family were 'wind magic' users.
"Yes, I'm an 'earth magic' user just like my mother. Apparently, it's not that uncommon for twins to inherit different powers from their parents while still in the womb. So while Evan and Elaine gained our father's power, I got our mother's."
"Interesting." Cyrus said as he nodded in understanding.
Actually, that did make a lot of sense. And it certainly explained quite a bit in his opinion.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that Evan and Elizabeth were fraternal twins. The woman had dark skin and brown eyes, while her brother had pale-green eyes and skin that was slightly lighter than his own. Elizabeth looked a lot like their father and had their mother's magic, while Evan and Elaine possessed their father's magic and took more after their mother in terms of looks. Apparently, sorcerer genetics were just as weird as they were for normal humans. Which was something that the 'tree magic' user found interesting to think about.
Both groups continued chatting amongst themselves as they got further and further away from the city. They had a four-hour road trip ahead of them, so there was plenty of time for everyone to get to know each other before they arrived at their destination. And overall, they all seemed to be getting along rather well.
Unfortunately for the hexad of young sorcerers, neither of them could've predicted what this little journey of theirs would eventually lead to in the coming months.