Sunset and The Shadow

“Two people inside. Both powerful,” Sunset said, turning towards The Morrigan.

“Must be Saint Germain. I’m not sure who the other is though,” The Morrigan replied.

“What do we know about him?”

“He’s immortal, but no one knows how. He trained as an alchemist under Flamel. And he stole the secret of fire magic from Prometheus.”

“He stole that from Prometheus? How?”

“Prometheus was training him, but he got impatient. At least that’s what I heard.”

“Okay. Fire magic and alchemy. Somehow able to survive stealing from a powerful elder. And he made himself immortal without anyone knowing how. Anything else I should know?”

Sunset and The Morrigan were outside one of Saint Germain’s houses in Paris. He had multiple. This was the third they checked, the others were empty. The pair were at a distance from the house to avoid being noticed. They were observing the auras of the pair inside the house. Sunset was more experienced at it so she was better at it than The Morrigan, but both were able to detect powerful auras at a moderate distance, as they were doing then.

One of the auras came out of the house and headed towards them at a pace that would likely translate to a brisk walk to the person it belonged to.

They saw that it was Saint Germain. And so they followed at a distance to avoid detection.

The plan was for Sunset and The Morrigan to get the twins to join them while Machiavelli dealt with Flamel. Sunset would try to distract Scathach and if it came to a fight The Morrigan would take her; it’s easier to beat someone if you can negate their strengths. The Morrigan would be able to fly while fighting Scathach, staying out of reach, while attacking with magic or her bow which she had hidden beneath her cloak.

Sunset had her swords in her backpack she carried along with the other things she had packed when she left.

They followed Saint Germain to the base of the Eiffel Tower. They didn’t follow him under the tower, however. Sunset inspected the tower. It’s a beautiful piece of architecture, she decided. But it seems to serve no other purpose. Possibly a display of power and wealth, to build something this magnificent for no other purpose.

They watched Germain weave through tourists and join a familiar group. They could see the twins: Sophie and Josh, Scathach and Flamel. The two alchemists seemed to greet each other warmly, and Germain kissed Scathach’s hand in an old fashioned greeting.

Suddenly the quintet was on alert. They must have noticed something. Sunset and The Morrigan tried to be inconspicuous in case they were seen but quickly it appeared that they were not. They saw Flamel give Sophie something and leave. Then Germain led the twins and Scathach back the way he had come. Towards Sunset and The Morrigan.

As they were leaving a large number of heavily armed and armoured police ran into the square. Flamel ran away from the others out the opposite side of the square. Sunset felt someone use magic and looked toward Germain just as he bared his arms. The scent of burnt leaves filled the air.

Butterflies flew off of Germain’s arms and into the air. And an explosion of light surrounded the Eiffel Tower.

The sight was breathtaking and drew the attention of everyone in sight. An amazing fireworks display was going off around the Eiffel Tower.

The police however quickly regained their discipline and returned to chasing after Flamel.

Sunset and The Morrigan quickly headed back down the road they had come and turned down an alley. They waited for the auras they were looking for to pass them by. Then they came out of the alley slowly and turned to follow after them at a casual pace to try to avoid notice.

Germain led the twins and Scathach through a gate that led into the garden of his house. Sunset and The Morrigan were following their auras so they didn’t need line of sight. They were in a different street so that they couldn’t be seen by their prey.

The unknown aura came out of the house. They felt three auras light up. Two of them lit up at the same time; the unknown aura and Sophie’s. The unknown aura quickly returned to normal while Sophie’s continued to blaze wildly. Her aura interacted with her brother’s and it sparked to life as well.

They heard a terrifying scream. It probably came from Scathach. It was hard to tell if it was from fear or joy; but they felt Scathach’s aura run towards the unknown one. Sunset and The Morrigan quickly ran towards the wall surrounding the house to try to listen in.

Both of the twins’ auras stopped blazing and felt subdued, as if they had spent all of their magic; which was quite likely, given how they were burning through it. They could hear Scathach and another woman talking, very excitedly. They seemed to know each other.

The other woman was called Joan. Apparently Scathach and Joan were friends and hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Sunset wasn’t able to ascertain much more as they were talking extremely quickly in French. Sunset could speak French as it was very similar to Prench but couldn’t understand it well enough to understand all they were saying.

After a short while of Scathach and Joan talking in rapid-fire French and laughing, Germain interrupted them, “Joan,” he said politely.

“Francis?” she replied.

Germain, or Francis as he was called, introduced the twins to Joan. The scent of vanilla filled the air as Joan’s and Sophie’s auras came to live.

“I would like to introduce my wife, Joan …” Germain continued.

“Your wife!” Scathach squealed.

“Whom you – and history – know as Joan of Arc,” Germain finished.

The twins, Scathach and their hosts went inside. Sunset turned to The Morrigan. “I read that Joan of Arc was killed long ago.”

“I thought so too,” The Morrigan replied. “It seems she survived and became immortal somehow. Scathach likely saved her. If she did the English would have lied about it. There is no way that they would have admitted to a young girl saving Joan of Arc single-handedly; which she would have done. She probably found immortality with Scathach’s help too.”

Sunset and The Morrigan got into the car that Machiavelli lent them and waited for either of the twins to be alone.