Heavy metal started to blast in the room and everyone jumped up, wide awake. Everyone but Roxie, who sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes, pushing her hand under the pillow she'd been using and producing her ringing phone.
"Hello," she answered it, accompanied by a yawn. "Oh, hey mom. No, we were still sleeping. That's okay. What time is it? Half past..? Okay." She stifled another yawn and scratched her head. Everyone else was looking at her except for Vanilla, who had flopped back on the bed and was lounging in the sunlight.
"Could you..." started Anka and then stopped. Roxie turned to look at him. "Could you maybe ask her if... I mean... have they already arrested... father?"
"Hey mom?" said Roxie to the phone, eyeing Anka slightly concerned. The boy was fidgeting a lot, and wringing his hands together. "Anka was just asking if.... you heard? Yeah? You did? And now he's... Uh-huh. Has he said anything? Okay. Okay. Home? Are you sure? Okay. Alright. Can you call me again when you find out something? About Annalise, you know. Thanks mom. I love you too. Bye." She hung up and took a deep breath.
"So what's going on?" asked Alex, about to burst with anticipation.
"They've arrested mister Wuopio in suspicion of hexing people. They've been questioning him for a while now, and while he refuses to say much, he hasn't denied anything either," said Roxie, dropping the phone back on the bed and stretching. "Mom said it might be wise for Anka to go home for now. To at least let your mom know where you are. As long as you stay there, of course, because they will want to talk to you too at some point." Anka nodded.
"Would you... mind coming with me?" he asked after a moment. "I don't really feel like being alone right now..."
"Of course we will," said Skye. Olivia nodded enthusiastically next to her.
"Sure," said Alex. "It's Sunday, it's not like we have anything better to do."
Anka smiled softly.
"Thank you."
~x~
While they were having their breakfast/lunch Anka made a phone call. It was short call in hushed tones and it ended with him sending a text message. Alex narrowed her eyes as he rejoined the group at the table.
"Who was that?" she asked. Anka blinked and looked at her.
"Well, I live quite far away from here," he said, scratching his cheek. "So I thought I'd call someone to come pick us up."
"Or Skye could carry us!" chimed Olivia happily, stabbing a fried egg with her fork.
"No," was all Skye said to the matter. She was wrapped up in her own wings and was cradling a cup of coffee in her hands. Roxie snorted into her own cup. Olivia pouted a little, but didn't dwell on it, instead picking up another toast and spreading a generous amount of jam on it.
15 minutes later Anka's phone chimed and he fished it out of his pocket. He quickly read through the message and then turned to the girls.
"Our ride is here," he said. "Is everyone ready?"
The girls exchanged looks and then nodded. They quickly cleaned up what was left of their food and hurried to the entryway.
"Oh, are you coming too, uh, Vanilla?" asked Alex when she noticed the small girl(?) pulling on her coat as well.
"Well duh," she said, hopping into her boots. "I don't generally meddle in the matters of the mortals, but this whole ordeal has been entertaining enough and I'm not planning on quitting now that we're so close to the big finale."
"The... what?" said Alex, frowning.
"Don't try to make sense of what she says," said Roxie, clapping the fae on the shoulder. "Loki's special talent is talking her way out of anything, which means she's the master bullshitter."
"I'm not bullshitting," protested Vanilla, but without much effort. She seemed amused more than anything. "I just know more than you. But that's how it's supposed to be, you know. You guys are the main characters, you can't know too much or there won't be any suspense."
"Ooookay," said Roxie and turned to the other three. Alex was looking at Vanilla very confusedly, but the trickster just grinned. "If everyone's' dressed let's get going."
In front of Roxie's house was a parked car. This in itself wasn't particularly surprising but the car was a sight to behold.
"You have a frigging limousine?" Alex laughed as she came to a stop at the front gate. Olivia peered around her with a grin.
"It's not a limousine... exactly," said Anka bashfully, walking around the group of girls staring dumbfounded at the car. A man around the age of thirty stepped out from the driver's seat and walked around it. He bowed slightly as Anka walked up to him. "Thank you for being here so quickly."
"Of course, young master," said the man. His eyes turned to the rest of the group. They were red. "There are your friends, I presume?"
"You have a fucking butler??" Alex wheezed.
"Yeah, my family is kinda... super rich," said Anka. He was blushing quite feverishly. "It's not something I like to, you know.... shout around too much. You understand, right?"
"Of course," said Skye, although she seemed as stunned as the rest of them.
The butler opened the door to the car and gestured for them to get in. No one moved, except for Vanilla, who skipped over to the open door. She stopped and looked the butler up and down. He gave her a smile, and she returned it. They both seemed like they were hiding something, their smiles not insincere, but rather mischievous.
"You seem like fun," said Vanilla. The butler bowed.
"Thank you kindly, mistress," he said. She entered the car. The girls felt like they'd missed something.
"Come on, then," said Anka and they all unfroze, starting towards the car in unison.
~x~
The car was very spacious on the inside, which was very nice because two of them had wings. Anka kept insisting that it wasn't a limousine, but the girls were pretty sure it was. Of course, none of them had ever been on a limousine, so they didn't know, exactly, but they were pretty sure it was.
"Had an, ah, eventful evening, then, young master?" the butler asked about ten minutes into the drive.
"Hnn," said Anka. He was sitting in the front seat and glanced back through the front mirror. "You could say that."
"Your mother was quite... worried when you didn't come home last night," the butler continued after a while. Anka's eyes widened slightly and he swallowed.
"Is she home right now?" he asked quietly.
"Indeed she is," said the butler. Anka tensed even further. "I didn't mention to her I was coming to pick you up, although I suggest you talk with her at the earliest opportunity."
"Thank you," said Anka. The butler inclined his head. The rest of the trip was made in silence.
~x~
"Holy shit you have a fucking mansion??!" Alex shrieked, staring out the window as the butler parked the car. They all scrambled out of the car and stared wide eyed up past the golden gate at the enormous house. There was a large garden in front of it which no doubt would look stunning if it weren't the end of October and all the flowers would be in bloom. But even with a bare garden the view was very impressive.
Anka had walked over to the gate and punched in a security code on the keypad. The gate made a loud electronic beep and started to open.
"I know, I know," said Anka and sighed. "It's super big and way too grand and stuff. But it's an old family estate, so it's not like we could move or something."
"Wait, you've been living here for a long time?" asked Skye. Anka nodded. "But didn't you just transfer to our class, like... this week?"
"Oh," said Anka. "I've been homeschooled until now."
"Of course you have," said Alex as she walked past him and through the gate. Vanilla was on her heel and the others followed soon after. "But man, this place is huuuuuuge! You're like... filthy rich, aren't you?"
"Well, I don't know about filthy, but..." Anka trailed off as he trailed after the girls. The butler had somehow made his way to the front door and pulled it open for Alex, who curtsied with a grin. "No, wait, Alex!" Anka called but Alex was already inside.
The entrance hall was just as grand as the front of the house had been. It was a large room with a high ceiling and at the back of the room was a double staircase leading up to the second floor and beyond. The floor was polished mahogany and the walls white stone, and it looked just like a mansion of filthy rich people. Alex whistled.
"And who might you be?"
Alex turned her head to find a woman standing on top of the stairs. She was a spitting image of a ruthless business woman, her clothes tidy, her hair up in a neat bun, and her heels looking like she could stab a man without a moment's hesitation. She started to descend the stairs with determined strides and Alex an automatic step backwards.
"Uhhh," she said. The woman was very tall, even without heels, and the way she held herself high made her feel even taller. Alex would be lying if she said she wasn't a little intimidated.
"Mother," said Anka, walking up from behind her. The woman glanced over at him. "These are my friends. Guys, this is my mother, Irene Wuopio."
"Oh," said Skye, stepping forward. "Nice to meet you Mrs. Wuopio. I hope we're not disturbing you."
"Yes, lovely," said Irene, glancing at the girls and then turning her attention back to Anka. "And where, if I might ask, have you been?"
"Uh, I was... we were over at Roxie's house. Doing a group project for school," Anka said, recovering quickly from the death glare his mother was giving him. Roxie gave a small wave as Irene's eyes flicked to the group again.
"I see. And this was so important that you had to leave in the middle of the night?" Anka looked guiltily down and scratched his cheek, but said nothing. "Tell me, young lady, what do your parents do?"
Roxie blinked in surprise but regained her cool quickly. "They're an art dealer and a police detective," she said with a sweet smile. Roxie could really play the part of a sweet young girl, despite her rash nature and somewhat wild appearance.
"A detective?" said Irene, more to herself than to any of the other people in the room. "I suppose that's good enough." She turned back to Anka, who flinched. "But that does not excuse you leaving the house without informing me about where you're going and with whom. I want you to know I am very disappointed in this kind of behaviour, and I sincerely hope it won't happen again."
"Yes, mother," muttered Anka as his mother talked, keeping his eyes to the floor. "It won't, mother."
Irene let out a huff. "Now," she said and turned to the butler, who had appeared inside as well. "Sebastian, if you would be so kind as to take these young ladies back home. I do believe that I have some more things I need to discuss with my son." Alex noticed Anka grit his teeth as the last word fell from Irene's perfectly colored lips, but she wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. "It was... nice to meet you girls. Now, if you'll excuse us."
Irene gave them a very forced smile, placed her hand on Anka's back and guided him towards the stairs. The girls were left standing in the entrance hall, confused about what to do next when the butler spoke up.
"This way, if you please, ladies," he said, bowing slightly and gesturing at the front door. The girls looked at one another, slight disappointment apparent on several faces, and then they exited the house.
Once they were all packed into the car again, and the butler asked where they wanted him to take them, they realized they didn't exactly have a plan.
"I suppose we could go back to my place," suggested Roxie. "Wait for mom to come home?"
With no real objections they settled for that, and the butler shifted the car into gear. As they got out of the car parked back in front of Roxie's house, he spoke up.
"Oh, excuse me, but may I have a moment, mistress," he said, addressing Vanilla, who turned to look back at him with an amused quirked of an eyebrow. He motioned her closer and then whispered something in her ear. It was weird, because Alex, who was standing very close to the two, would swear she could hear the words, but she couldn't understand them at all. It was incredibly nerve wrecking.
A sly grin grew on Vanilla's face as the butler kept talking. When he finally pulled away and she let out a small laugh, followed by, "I knew you'd be fun." The butler grinned as well, toothy and white.
"I am glad, mistress," he said and then got back into the car and drove away. The girls regarded Vanilla for a moment, unsure how to proceed.
"Well, then," she said suddenly and spun around, walking to the front door of Roxie's house. "In we go!"
"Well what the frick was that all about?" asks Roxie as Vanilla stops at the door. She blinks up at the Valkyrie before calmly starting to go through the keys on a key chain. Roxie's key chain.
"He was just catching me up to speed on this evening's plans," she said easily, flicking between keys. "That's not something you need to worry about, though. At least not yet." She flashed Roxie a smile and unlocked the door, stepping in and leaving poor Roxie flabbergasted on the doorstep. Her friends walked past her into the house, giving her sympathetic pats on the back.
"What the Hel, Loki?!" she finally screeched and rushed inside after them.
________________________________________________________
I reeeeaalllyyyyyy don't want to end this part yet to this point buttttt I have no time to write atm and I really want to get this out sooner rather than later. After this it should be one more part which will appear.....!!!! sometime!! Tomorrow, maybe. Or Saturday. Before Monday at least. Yeah.
Ohh boy did I have trouble with this one! I mean I know
Pie out.
P.S. If someone wants to give me a topic for the final part you're welcome to do so. Otherwise I'll just decide it myself, like I did with this one.
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