She had no more words. Timmy got up and started clearing the dirty dishes. "I got these. Go rest everyone!" After a round of thank you's, everyone did just that. Shalt stopped by his room, got his ability book and posted himself outside Lana and Vorden's room. He would study while ensuring she was not disturbed.
Inside the room, Sil took over and asked why she didn't say anything to anyone.
She shrugged, "it seemed insignificant to all the things going on here. You have been busy with your own preparation and trying to help Borden. He's such a cool guy. I want him to be saved as well. I've been focused on training Caser and learning from Serene. And now, today, I found these treasures in Quinn's library! I'm going to look even more closely tomorrow. The information I'm looking for may be right under our noses. I'm hoping we won't get stuck here but I want to make the most of our time here so I won't need to come back."
Sil smiled, "In that case, let's go get in the shower and I'll give you another present."
She chuckled and bit her lip, "does this mean we aren't fighting any more?"
He picked her up and headed toward the bathroom, "it means I should never have fought with you to begin with." He kissed her tenderly. "I really am sorry."
All the tension left her body and she melted into him as they enjoyed the night together.
The next morning, Quinn got called to a Council Meeting. They had to figure out what to do with the soldiers. There was a lot of back and forth and quite a bit of the game "Not It." The King had announced that not only were the soldiers an issue but every single vampire spy they had among the humans was suddenly unresponsive. A team needed to go to Earth and conduct an investigation into their silence. This team needed to be able to blend in.
Eventually, it was decided Quinn would take a small team leaving behind his knights and Erin. Paul would be turned into a vampire. A member of the First Family would also go to make sure Paul didn't tell anyone about the vampires. The remaining soldiers who accompanied him, about 120 after they were attacked by the wendigos, would remain in the dungeons to ensure Paul's cooperation. There would be weekly verbal and monthly in-person reports on the progress of the mission, handled by the First's member. The turning of the humans as was previously mandated had been postponed as their unique abilities would be required to accomplish the mission. Quinn left the room feeling truly accomplished.
Upon returning to the castle, Quinn called everyone into the dining room and gave everyone the update. There was rejoicing that they could return to the military school. Logan had calculated classes would resume soon and was trying to figure out how that would look to his parents if he wasn't there. Those that came with Quinn would return with him as well as Peter, Fex, and Shalt. Quinn said they would get further information later and dismissed his friends to relax or do their own thing. Layla and Cia went to see Amy and Xander to find the transfer had gone through and they were heading to their new home in the tenth pooling area. Erin and Fex sparred in the reception area. Fex was close to evolving so Lana and Shalt watched from the steps so they would be out of the way. They needed Lana to see this so she could support Shalt better when it was his turn.
Just after the spar started, Royal Knight Dwight arrived with Paul to have him turned. Lana was torn because she wanted to watch but there was something more pressing. She decided to follow Quinn, Paul, Leo, and Dwight to the throne room. She asked Shalt to post outside the room. Quinn went off on Paul over the treatment of the students at school and she could not have said it better herself. Leo helped Quinn find his calm. She watched Paul get turned which was her first time watching this process. She now understood a bit about it. Dwight reiterated the mission. There would be someone there in the morning from the First then they would leave at that time.
Lana nodded along at the instructions, "Sir Dwight, Sir," she said nervously, "I'm the tenth's unofficial intelligence officer. I was wondering if I could get a copy of the files on all your missing agents so I can help The Tenth find your people."
Dwight looked at Quinn who nodded, "you'll have them in the morning before you leave."
"Thank you, sir!" She said with a smile. She then looked to Paul, "I have a vampire attached to me on special mission. When I go out to investigate things, he will always accompany me. I don't know how that will look on the day to day as he will remain at my side but I leave that between you and Quinn to figure out."
Paul nodded as he tried to get used to his new body.
"May I take my leave?" She looked to Quinn and he nodded with a smile. She wanted to make sure it looked like Quinn had complete control of her in front of the Royal Knight to help ease him about the humans around Quinn. She left the room with Shalt falling in step. She heard Dwight talking to Quinn, a door close then footsteps as he followed her out.
Lana sent a message off to Serene using Max, telling her to bring a bunch of pots for the plants she had in Quinn's garden. She knew no one in the tenth cared about them and having her come to the tenth to study when she had her own greenhouse was stupid. Moving them to her personal area made a lot more sense. Serene had been studying them because these plants didn't exist on the planet. Frankly, a few had become extinct on Earth as well. They would still be extinct if she had not learned from those books. She intended to see if she could purchase her own copies of them at some point. She had not learned everything those books had to teach her yet. If she could bring back something that was extinct, revive entire ecosystems, she wanted to do that. Earth was still beautiful but she was still only a shadow of her former self. If Lana could help her, she was going to.
Later that night, she decided before turning in to see Quinn about the crystals they got on Caser's training trip. She asked him if he wanted them but he said he didn't. They earned them, they could keep them. She only spent half of them on the book for Shalt. She decided to just hold on to them. There could be a use later.
Early the next morning, Quinn informed everyone to pack as though they were not coming back and meet in the throne room. He had been awakened by Edward stating Dwight was there with the teleporter and so was the person from the First. Lana didn't want to leave Sil's bed knowing school would have them sleeping separately again. She had packed the previous night for both of them, even before she saw Quinn about the crystals. She found more treasures in the library while Quinn was arguing with those slimy leaders so those were packed in her bag. That nice outfit was in Vorden's. She was almost out of food for Caser so she had room for the books. Vorden went to get Borden from Logan while Lana went to check on Shalt who was just leaving his room. He looked nervous. Lana gave him a clap on the back and a smile. Then took him back upstairs. Everyone was starting to file in. Dwight handed her a thick packet. She took it with both hands while looking him in the eyes to show her sincerity in helping Quinn complete his mission. She refrained from opening it in front of him though she really wanted to. She felt it could be seen as a sign of disrespect or distrust. She would show she trusted him to give her what she needed.
The person from the First was a female who insisted on shaking everyone's hand. Her name was Kaz and she seemed to be more childish than Lana. Her hair was in pigtails and she looked cute. The girls were the last to show up because they needed to say goodbye to their friends. Lana had said her goodbyes the day before expecting to leave soon. Logan had created a box to attach to Vorden's leg to conceal Borden. It simply looked like he had a toolbox attached to his leg.
Dwight stated the mission one more time for the sake of everyone in case anyone had any questions. There were none. He had set the teleporter up at the end of the red carpet just before Quinn's throne. He started it up. Everyone lined up and put a hand on the shoulder in front of them. Shalt was in front of her, Vorden behind her. Quinn was at the front. Leo, Erin and Edward said goodbye to everyone as they left. They all walked through to begin a new school year.