Family Ties

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 16, Post Number 378

-Sakuramori, outside Octavia Ashford's house, 7:00 A.M.-

Wearing her blue Steel Matron t-shirt and black skirt with backpack of supplies that included her iLac and Silver Dagger,, Victoria climbed off of the Centaur and met her old client Miss Ashford, who had called Victoria earlier in the morning to hire the brunette for a job. However, this was not just any job. Victoria had been hired to go to Capital Crocus and meet her niece Anna, then bring Anna to Sakuramori to visit her aunt.

"Hello Miss Sheridan." Miss Ashford greeted Victoria with a wave of her left hand since her right was holding a coffee mug. Victoria gave a friendly wave in return and walked up to her client.

"Hi there Miss Ashford." Victoria greeted Miss Ashford.

"I appreciate you doing this for me on such short notice, Miss Sheridan. My niece doesn't get out much ever since her parents died three years ago, but she really likes visiting me since we both share an interest in antiques. I would go and get her myself, but I need to stay here because I need to prepare for Anna's arrival." Miss Ashford explained why she did not go get Anna herself. Victoria could understand that reason.

"I'll go get your niece. I just need an address." Victoria accepted the job without any hesitation. Victoria was mildly concerned that she was going to be in for another lengthy ride across Fiore, but since Miss Ashford paid well and always told the brunette everything she needed to know about a job, Victoria did not mind riding across Fiore a second time if she had to. Miss Ashford smiled.

"OK then. I'll give you her address and I'll call ahead to let her know to expect you to pick her up. She's a young blonde woman about your age and height who likes to wear a red dress, so you should be able to find her pretty easily once you get there." Miss Ashford said. Victoria waited until she was given Anna Ashford's address on a folded piece of paper, then read the address to have a basic idea of where in Capital Crocus she was going.

1837 Monarch's Lane.

Victoria wordlessly took off her backpack, opened it up, gently folded the note again, put the note inside the backpack, and closed it up again before putting the backpack on.

"All right, I'll set out for Capital Crocus immediately." Victoria informed Miss Ashford. The client nodded and Victoria climbed onto the Centaur, then cranked it up.

"Thanks again for doing this for me, Miss Sheridan! Just be careful on the road!" Miss Ashford thanked Victoria for taking the job and urged the brunette to be careful. Victoria gave a thumbs-up with her left hand, then gently backed away from Miss Ashford's house. Once she was safely away from the building she turned the Centaur onto the street and gently increased throttle to 3 MPH, then carefully drove through Sakuramori until she was clear of the town. Once she was outside the town limits Victoria increased throttle to 30 MPH and set out for Capital Crocus.

-Capital Crocus, one hour and thirty minutes later-

Victoria had made it to Capital Crocus without incident and was on her way to 1837 Monarch's Lane. It had been an uneventful ride up until she got to Monarch's Lane. Traffic got a little thick near her destination, but it was nothing the brunette could not handle. She turned left onto Monarch's Lane and began driving down the street in search of 1837 Monarch's Lane.

-Monarch's Lane, ten minutes later-

Victoria had reached Anna's neighborhood and was now looking for the house itself. However, she was not able to drive at a pace conducive to searching because she was being tailgated by a blonde young woman driving a black convertible. The Sabertooth mage had a pretty good idea of who it was, but she would not know for certain until she pulled off the road and took a closer look at the driver.

After driving a little over halfway through the neighborhood Victoria spotted 1837 Monarch's Lane to her left and whipped into the open driveway. She pulled up to near the end of the driveway and turned off the vehicle. She saw the blonde who had passed by her slam on brakes, throw the car into reverse, and roll into a stop in front of the house. The driver then drove into the driveway and parked beside Victoria's Centaur.

Victoria froze in place when she got a look at the face of the driver getting out of the vehicle.

It was Francesca Corlone, her old enemy from Rose Garden!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, BIKER BITCH?!" Francesca shouted at the brunette. Victoria's shock quickly turned to irritation as the blonde strode towards her demanding to know what the Sabertooth mage was doing. What Victoria was doing here was none of Francesca's business.

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Victoria frowned deeply. She was not in the mood for this nonsense, especially not this early in the day. She did not want to deal with her old enemy right now. Not until she could take Francesca down once and for all, anyway.

Victoria really wanted to tell Francesca to get lost, but she did not want to antagonize her old enemy... yet. Instead she settled for a weaker jab at her foe.

"Some of us have to work for a living, lady. I'm here on a job." Victoria replied. She risked blowing her cover by revealing some knowledge of the blonde, but she could not resist taking a jab at Francesca. Besides, her cover was not going to last forever. One day even Francesca would catch on that the tall brunette she kept encountering was just an alternate form of Victoria Sheridan, the mage she had "met" several times in Rose Garden back when Victoria was part of the guild Black Rose.

"What are you, Biker Bitch? A mage?" Francesca asked Victoria, getting into Victoria's face shortly after asking the question. The Sabertooth mage decided to answer the question in the hope that the blonde would just go away.

"Yes, lady. I'm a mage." Victoria answered, her patience dwindling with each passing second. She wanted to give Francesca a forceful shove that would send her old enemy falling onto her ass, but if she did that she would get arrested for assault. Instead Victoria remained patient and kept her hands to herself despite wanting to punch the blonde out for getting in her face.

"If you're a mage, what guild are you part of?" Francesca asked.

"What does it matter?" Victoria asked pointedly. Francesca's eyes narrowed and she stepped back. She drew her right hand back and slapped Victoria on the right cheek, causing the brunette's head to turn.

"NO ONE LIKES A SMARTASS, BIKER BITCH!" Francesca yelled. Victoria clenched her teeth. She wanted to knock Francesca on her ass so badly, but the brunette kept her cool. Barely.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm with Sabertooth." Victoria answered in an effort to defuse the situation. She was concerned that giving the name of her guild would blow her cover, but it could not be helped. She did not want to cause a scene.

"Was that so hard to tell me?" Francesca asked in a condescending manner and flashed a fake smile.

"Would it be so hard for you to mind your own business?" Victoria muttered a retort.

"What did you just say?!" Francesca asked Victoria, her smile disappearing.

"Nothing." Victoria replied innocently. Francesca glared at her, but Victoria flashed a fake smile of her own. Without any evidence of what Victoria had said the blonde was forced to move on.

"Rude biker bitch." Francesca muttered under her breath. Victoria ignored the remark and kept up the fake smile until Francesca huffed and turned around, walking back to her black convertible. She got into it and cranked up, then gave Victoria the middle finger.

"SEE YOU AROUND, BIKER BITCH!" Francesca shouted. She stomped the gas pedal and went in reverse, then went forward and drove out of Monarch's Lane as fast as she could go. Victoria was glad to see her go.

"Um... who was that?" A voice asked Victoria. The brunette turned towards the voice and saw a young woman with blonde hair, green eyes, and a red dress. The young woman was standing in front of a single-story house with a white exterior and a brown wooden door.

"Just some random stranger." Victoria calmly replied, deliberately hiding the fact that she knew the "stranger" she was referring to. The blonde looked confused for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and smiling at the brunette.

"You must be Miss Sheridan, the person Aunt Octavia said was coming to pick me up to take me to Sakuramori for a visit." The red-clad blonde said. Victoria nodded.

"I'm Victoria Sheridan. I'm part of the guild Sabertooth." Victoria introduced herself to the blonde.

"I'm Anna Ashford." The blonde introduced herself with a smile.

"If you'll give me a few minutes I'll be ready to go to Sakuramori." Anna said. Victoria gave a thumbs-up with her left hand and Anna disappeared back into the house. Victoria walked around the driveway and stretched her legs as she waited for Anna to return.

-Twelve minutes later-

Victoria stood next to the Centaur with her arms folded over her chest. She wondered where Anna was but did not dare go inside the house to look for her. The brunette put her arms by her sides and began to walk around the driveway when she heard the door to the house open. Anna strolled out with a red purse hanging from her left shoulder. Anna had also put on red earrings, red gloves, and a silver necklace. In Victoria's opinion the blonde had dressed up too much for the trip, but she was going to keep her opinion to herself.

"Sorry about the wait, Miss Sheridan. I'm ready to go now!" Anna informed Victoria. The brunette walked towards her Centaur and climbed on, then cranked it up. The hovercycle came to life and Victoria looked towards Anna.

"Climb on and we'lll get going!" Victoria said to Anna. The blonde obligingly walked towards the Centaur, climbed on the back, and sat behind Victoria. Once Anna was on board the brunette put the Centaur in reverse, backed out of the driveway, turned onto the road, and put the Centaur in drive, moving forward at a speed of 25 MPH. The pair were on their way to Sakuramori.

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-Sakuramori, outside Ms. Ashford's house, five hours later-

The pair had taken much longer than anticipated getting to Sakuramori. Part of the problem was that they had encountered a traffic jam on the way out of Capital Crocus, a traffic jam that was caused by someone driving a sports car not paying attention and slamming into the side of another vehicle in the center of a four-way intersection, blocking the road. The driver of the vehicle that was hit somehow emerged with only a broken left arm thanks to sheer luck while the driver of the sports car emerged with no injuries at all thanks to the vehicle's safety features and some sheer luck of their own.

Once the traffic jam had been cleared up after three hours of waiting the pair had made it to Sakuramori with no further problems except needed to take a restroom break in a convenience store in Capital Crocus. After that it had been an uneventful drive to Sakuramori with no traffic jams or encounters with old enemies. Now the pair sat outside Ms. Ashford's house and were preparing to get off of the Centaur when Ms. Ashford herself opened the front door to her house and greeted them.

"Hello Miss Sheridan! Hello Anna!" Ms. Ashford greeted the pair. Victoria and Anna waved at the older brunette as they approached her.

"Hi there." Victoria casually greeted her client.

"Hi Aunt Octavia!" Anna greeted her aunt. Victoria paused for a moment when she heard the name "Octavia" being mentioned. That was the name of her late mother, a person she did not even know aside from the name.

"How did the trip go?" Ms. Ashford asked both Victoria and Anna.

"It was kinda slow. There was a traffic jam caused by an accident at an intersection and the jam took three hours or so to clear, but no one died. The worst injury that happened was a broken arm." Victoria reported on the traffic jam that had held them up for quite some time.

"What Miss Sheridan said. Once we got out of Capital Crocus it was an uneventful ride here... not that either of us had a problem with that." Anna chimed in.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that the trip wasn't too difficult." Ms. Ashford told them. She then turned towards her house and pointed.

"Anna, are you interested in seeing and reading some books from a century ago?" Ms. Ashford asked her niece. Anna smiled widely.

"Certainly, Aunt Octavia! I can't wait to see them!" Anna replied with enthusiasm. Anna walked towards the house while the older Ashford faced Victoria.

"You don't have to hang around here if you don't want to, Miss Sheridan. Anna and I will be visiting for quite awhile." Ms. Ashford told Victoria.

"How long is awhile?" Victoria asked. It was probably none of her business, but she wanted to know so that she had an idea of how far from Sakuramori she could safely go.

"About twelve hours, sometimes longer." Came the reply. The older woman looked around to see if anyone was listening in before leaning close to Victoria.

"Usually longer. Like almost an entire day, even." Ms. Ashford informed Victoria in a low voice. The Sabertooth mage blinked. Ms. Ashford's face had a sympathetic look.

"My niece doesn't get out much ever since her parents died in a car accident. She might look happy on the outside, but inside she's not happy at all. She lives alone and I worry about her mental health, so I let her visit as often as she wishes, which isn't very often. In fact, this is the first time she's visited me in over a year." Ms. Ashford explained why Anna liked to stay so long whenever she came to visit. Victoria felt sympathy for the red-clad blonde. Lawrence Sheridan was the only living family the Sabertooth mage had left, so she knew what it was like to have a small family.

"Oh, OK. I'll let you show Anna those old books you were talking about." Victoria said. If she was not needed here, she might either hit the road and go back to Capital Crocus or she would see if Florence was available to chat.

"Don't worry about hanging around here waiting for Anna. She'll be here awhile. She might even spend a few days here. I'll call you and let you know if she intends to spend the night here or not." Ms. Ashford said to Victoria. The Sabertooth mage nodded.

"OK then. I'll see you later." Victoria said. Ms. Ashford waved goodbye and went inside her house, shutting the door. Victoria turned back to the waiting Centaur and walked towards it, climbing on board and cranking it up. She thought about where she wanted to go before putting the vehicle in motion.

Should she stay in Sakuramori and go see Florence or should she go back to Capital Crocus and see about her uncle?

After giving the matter some thought Victoria decided to go back to Capital Crocus. Her mentor was probably at work and Victoria did not want to bother her. The ponytailed brunette went in reverse until she was clear of Ms. Ashford's house, then put the vehicle in drive and drove carefully until she was clear of Sakuramori. Once she was out of the town she increased speed to 25 MPH and began driving towards Capital Crocus.

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-The Sheridan Estate, four hours later-

Victoria stood in the living room of her home, where her uncle Lawrence was sitting on the couch and watching the television. She could not see what he was watching, but it did not matter because her attention was soon diverted from her uncle by the arrival of another familiar face. The kitchen door opened and Laura walked out of it.

"Hello Miss Sheridan. It's nice to see you again." Laura greeted her. Victoria raised a hand in greeting and spoke to the silver-haired maid who had entered the room mere moments ago.

"Hey Laura. It's nice to see you too." Victoria greeted the maid who worked for her. Lawrence heard Victoria's voice and stood up from the couch, then turned to face her.

"Hey Victoria." Lawrence greeted her as warmly as he could, which was not very warmly. He was not an emotional man.

"Hey there." Victoria greeted him too. She was not quite used to having him around, so she did not quite know what to say to him other than a simple greeting.

"What are you doing here, Victoria?" Lawrence asked her in phrasing that sounded a lot worse than it actually was intended to sound. The brunette smiled a little.

"I transported the niece of an old client of mine to Sakuramori. The niece might stay there awhile, so I was given permission to leave the town if I wanted. The client will call me if their niece decides to stay with them or go home." Victoria replied with some details of the job she was currently on. Lawrence frowned for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders.

"OK. That sounds easy enough, but I'd still be careful if I were you." Lawrence said calmly. He walked around the couch and then walked over to Victoria.

"I might not be your biological father, but I'm the only real family you have left. I'm concerned about you, Victoria. I don't want you getting hurt out there." Lawrence said to her. Lawrence Sheridan was not a very sentimental man and his voice did not have much emotion to it. However, Victoria did not need a dramatic display of emotion to read his body language and learn that he was being sincere in his claim of caring for her well-being.

"I'm fine, Lawrence. Don't worry about me. If the mean streets of Capital Crocus couldn't kill me, then I think can survive just about anything." Victoria replied. She was feeling pretty confident in herself. She had survived battles with a serial killer, zombies, werewolves, ghosts, demon cultists, literal demons summoned by the aforementioned cultists, necromancers, and more. Lawrence frowned when he heard her claim.

"The mean streets of Capital Crocus almost did kill you, Victoria. Remember those slavers who cornered you in that back alley?" Lawrence asked pointedly. Victoria remembered "those slavers" he was talking about all too well.

"Yeah. I remember them." Victoria replied sourly. How could she ever forget them?

"I found you only by sheer luck, Victoria. If I hadn't found you when I did, you'd been just another statistic of the human trafficking trade." Lawrence reminded the Sabertooth mage that despite what she thought she was not invincible. Victoria did not need a reminder. The encounter with the Maws Of Hell was a strong reminder that she was not invincible. When she looked into the mouth of one she felt a fear she had never felt before.

"Yeah, I would have been just another statistic if it wasn't for you. But I didn't become a statistic. I was pretty damn lucky and I haven't forgotten that." Victoria commented. It was no exaggeration to say that the brunette owed him her life. However, she had become a lot stronger since the night they had met. She had become a lot stronger since the time he had taught her Merces Letifer Magic, the magic which allowed her to become a mage to begin with.

"I know that you remember, Victoria. It's just that I- I... damn. I forgot where I was going with that." Lawrence struggled to finish his sentence while Victoria waited patiently. She did not have to wait very long for him to get back on track.

"I know that you remember what it's like to be a poor street kid who lived off of whatever they could find in a trash can and had little choice but to run for their life whenever someone bigger and stronger even looked at them." Lawrence started talking, regaining his train of thought.

"Yeah. I remember those days pretty well." Victoria replied dryly.

"Once you learned Merces Letifer Magic from me, you didn't have to run for your life anymore. You could fight people who were bigger and stronger than you and you stood a good chance of winning. That's a pretty powerful feeling." Lawrence continued trying to make his point. He was right about the powerful feeling of knowing that she could defend herself from street hoodlums who were used to metaphorically (and literally) shoving her around with impunity. The first time she won a fight against a street hoodlum who had picked a fight with her because she looked weak gave her a rush of euphoria so intense that she smiled for two days straight. Victoria recalled that that victory was one of the first times she had been genuinely happy since she had been thrown onto the streets at only six years old.

If she recalled correctly, that fight had happened one day back when she was fifteen years old.

A lot had happened since that fight roughly six years ago. Victoria had gotten much stronger and was now fighting opponents a lot stronger than random street hoodlums. She had learned a lot about Merces Letifer Magic and had even surpassed her adoptive father in terms of raw magical strength. It was safe to say that Victoria had come a long way from her days as a street kid eking out a "living" in the bad part of Capital Crocus.

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After their exchange of words concerning her past Victoria and Lawrence stood quietly in the living room for a moment as a broadcast from Earthland News Network appeared on the television screen. Lawrence must have been watching Earthland News Network before they had spoken because the broadcast appeared so suddenly that Victoria was momentarily startled. Both Sheridans stood behind the couch and watched the television intently as a woman with short dark hair named Ashline Bariat made an announcement concerning the border clash between Bellum and Pergrande.

A ceasefire had been called between the two countries. That was a fairly good outcome, but of greater interest to Victoria was the report on the number of casualties both sides had taken. The numbers told a story in more ways than one.

Bellum had suffered the loss of 76 soldiers; 21 council mages, 44 crusader knights, 6 clerics and 5 arch priests.

Pergrande had suffered the loss of a staggering 939 soldiers; 345 recruits, 488 officers, 52 Imperial Guards and 24 Paladin-Privates.

The numbers made it fairly obvious that Bellum had managed to rally far more support for its cause than Pergrande. Victoria was genuinely surprised that Pergrande had gotten any support at all considering its stance on mages. She turned her thoughts away from that subject and focused on the television again.

Victoria listened to the rest of the broadcast and learned that the cause of the skirmishes was not known at the time. Ashline also stated that there while there were official investigations into the cause of the skirmishes, there was a greater focus on drafting a new treaty to maintain the uneasy peace between the two nations. Ashline promised to keep viewers updated as more news came in before thanking viewers for watching.

Once the broadcast ended Lawrence turned to Victoria and spoke.

"Hey Victoria, do you know anything about the fighting between Bellum and Pergrande that that woman just talked about?" Lawrence asked Victoria. Her stomach turned flips. He was going to hit the roof when he found out that not only did she know about the border clashes, but that she had also participated in them on the side of Bellum. It could not be helped, though. She would tell him the truth.

"Yeah. I know about it because I fought for Bellum." Victoria admitted to her father figure. After that admission the brunette could hear a pin drop and the mood in the room changed to one of simmering anger. Lawrence made eye contact and frowned at her.  Victoria involuntarily took a step back.

"You did WHAT?" Lawrence asked her. Victoria knew that it was a rhetorical question because he had heard her loud and clear. That question was simply a way for him to try and cope with what she had just told him.

"I participated in the conflict. I fought on Bellum's side." Victoria repeated herself loudly and clearly so that there was no misunderstanding. The burly man's expression did not change.

"That was utterly stupid, Victoria. The battlefield's no place for amateurs and thrill-seekers." Lawrence commented. It was Victoria's turn to frown. She dug in her heels and prepared to defend her reasons for participating in the conflict.

"I'm aware of that, Lawrence. But Bellum needed all the help it could get. I answered the call because Bellum needed help." Victoria started her defense by citing the urgent need of Bellum. It was not like Victoria woke up one day and decided to go fight in a conflict between two nations for the fun of it. Bellum was going up against Earthland's most militarized nation and needed anyone willing to fight on their behalf. Since she had the strength and the will to fight, Victoria had fought for Bellum.

Lawrence was clearly not impressed by that reason, so she had to try and convince him with stronger reasons.

"I helped Bellum because nothing good would have come from Pergrande's victory. The start of the conflict was the best chance of stopping Pergrande before it really got going." Victoria made another appeal, this time by claiming her participation was in pursuit of a greater good. She had fought for a country's right to exist. She had fought for a people's right to live. Those reasons had to be good enough to convince Lawrence that she had made the right choice by getting involved.

Again Lawrence was unmoved by her reasoning. Victoria was probably wasting her time by trying to reason with him, but she was going to try anyway. She owed him a lot for him rescuing her all those years ago.

"That's great and all, but ideals alone aren't a good reason to fight. The battlefield chews people up and spits them out. Whether you fight for ideals or not, when you're killed you're just as dead as anyone else." Lawrence flatly told her. Victoria clenched her teeth. Her patience had been sorely tested by that remark, but she kept just enough patience to remain calm with him.

"I didn't join the conflict for the fun of it, Lawrence. I didn't fight for a paycheck or for thrills. I fought for what's right." Victoria made one last attempt to calmly defend her decision. The burly man simply scoffed at her.

"Whatever. I'm not buying that at all." Lawrence told her flatly. Victoria took a deep breath and began thinking uncharitable thoughts about her father figure.

This was just a waste of time.

No matter what she said this man was not going to see reason.

He had already made up his mind, so why bother trying to change it?

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Seeing that the two were at an impasse regarding her reasons for participating in the border clash between Bellum and Pergrande, Victoria was not sure what she could say to her uncle and father figure to get him to change his mind. She had explained her reasons and he had a cynical reply each and every time. He seemed to have already made his mind up, so she was not going to waste any more time trying to change his mind.

"OK. You believe what you want, Big Guy. I'm not gonna beg for your approval 'cause it's already a done deal. I fought for what I believed in and I survived." Victoria told him bluntly. Being nice was not cutting it, so she was going to go for the not-so-nice approach. Lawrence frowned and folded his arms over his chest.

"Fine. We'll just have to agree to disagree then." Lawrence replied.

"Yeah, we'll have to agree to disagree." Victoria agreed with him on that point. The brunette turned away and started to walk towards the stairs that led to the second floor. She needed to get away from him for awhile before she said something truly unkind to her father figure.

-On the second floor, Victoria's room-

Having left the living room, Victoria now sat on her bed waiting for a call from Miss Ashford concerning her niece Anna's decision whether to stay the night in Sakuramori or not. She had not heard from her client in quite some time. She and her niece must still be talking about antique books or some other curiosities from the past. That was fine with Victoria... she had already completed part of the job by safely transporting Anna to Sakuramori.

The brunette was a bit tired, but she did not want to go to sleep and risk missing Miss Ashford's phone call, so she put her feet on the floor and stood up. She was going to walk around her room in an effort to stay awake for Miss Ashford's phone call. As she walked around her room she wondered why Lawrence was so upset with her for fighting in the border clash.

Was he upset because he did not want her to get hurt or possibly even killed?

Or was he upset because he still saw her as the helpless street kid he had rescued over ten years ago?

Victoria did not know for certain, but she assumed that it was the latter. She assumed that Lawrence did not see her as an adult. He still saw her as a helpless street kid who could not defend herself or live on her own without his help.

Victoria reached the open door to her room and looked out in the hallway for a moment, then turned back and walked towards the center of the room.

She was twenty-one years old and in possession of formidable magic taught to her by Lawrence Sheridan and Florence Manderley. She had become one of the strongest mages in Sabertooth. She had fought against outlaws, werewolves, demons, necromancers, and demon cultists. She had proven many times that she could win against daunting odds by a combination of firepower, the occasional bit of resourcefulness, and sheer determination.

So why was Lawrence so angry at her?

Victoria thought his reason for teaching her how to read, write, count, and use magic was to prepare her to become an independent adult one day. In his absence she had become an independent adult who was a Guild Mage, who was making her own money, and who owned her own house. Technically the house was inherited from her parents, but the Sheridan Estate had been left to her and was now in her name, so it was her house regardless of how one sliced it.

So why was he still treating her like a child?

The brunette was walking towards the bookshelf on the left wall of the room and trying to find an answer to that question when she heard a knock on the door. Victoria stopped walking and turned around. Lawrence walked into the room with a frown on his face.

"I don't approve of what you did, Victoria. I also don't believe that you fought in the border clash for just ideals." Lawrence said to her. Victoria frowned.

"Then why do you want to talk to me?" Victoria asked him bluntly.

"I want to know what you really fought for, Victoria. What really motivated you to go and fight for another country?" Lawrence asked her plainly. Victoria took a deep breath.

"Nothing good would have come from Pergrande's victory. They don't like mages. I mean they REALLY don't like mages." Victoria replied, hoping that he would take the hint she was giving him about the doubtlessly unpleasant treatment awaiting Bellum's people if Pergrande had claimed victory in the border clash. Lawrence folded his arms over his chest and seemed unimpressed by that reason.

"OK, so they don't like mages. Besides you being a mage, how does that concern you? You live in Fiore. Why go fight for Bellum?" Lawrence asked her skeptically.

"Because it was the right thing to do. Pergrande doesn't like mages." Victoria replied, hoping that he would take the hint without her having to spell things out for him. Lawrence's frown did not let up.

"OK, we've established that Pergrande doesn't like mages. But you live in Fiore. Why go fight for Bellum?" Lawrence asked her again, clearly missing the point she was trying to make. It was Victoria's turn to frown. They were just going in circles with no end in sight and that was getting old really fast. She needed to get through to him somehow, but that was not going to be easy.

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Victoria continued to look at Lawrence as the burly blond man looked back at her and waited for an answer that would make sense to him. The brunette had tried idealistic reasons and he had not believed her. Maybe she should try an approached based less in idealism and more on pragmatism, but that might not work either. Lawrence Sheridan was not easily swayed once he had made up his mind about something. No matter what she said he could easily jump to the conclusion that Victoria was only telling him what he wanted to hear to get him off of her back.

Despite her dwindling patience, Victoria would try to reason with him anyway.

"I went to fight for Bellum on behalf of the guild that I'm part of." Victoria finally mustered a response. It was a truthful response as well. She fought not only for Bellum, but also for Sabertooth and everyone in it.

Lawrence nodded and let her continue to talk. Victoria did not waste any time in resuming her explanation.

"The guild's been good to me and I figured that I owed them something in return." Victoria replied with an appeal to reciprocity. The guild had taken care of her by letting her be a member and putting up with her tendency to shoot enemies first and ask questions later, if at all. Itori had also tolerated Victoria talking back to her during their job in the Phoenix Mountains.

"OK, so you went to fight on behalf of your guild. That makes more sense than your other reasons, but why did you go fight for it?" Lawrence asked. Victoria frowned. It seemed like her adoptive father was being deliberately obtuse.

"I went to fight for it because I owe Sabertooth a lot. It took me in after my first guild suddenly disbanded. Ever since then I've been part of Sabertooth and if I'm lucky I'll spend my mage career there." Victoria explained a little more about why she went to fight on behalf of the guild she was part of. She faintly recalled her meeting with Ryo Knetegawa that day a few years ago and everything that had happened since that day. For once Lawrence did not have a snide response to her reason.

"And what about the people in the guild?" Lawrence asked without any hint of sarcasm.

"I fought for them too. I don't know everyone in the guild and I'm not friends with most of them, but that's my fault because I like to work alone. And I don't have to be friends with every member to fight for Sabertooth." Victoria informed him, leaving out the part about how she and Itori had briefly clashed in the Phoenix Mountains during their mission to discover and shut down a slaver ring that was said to be operating in that cold, mountainous area. Itori deserved a lot of respect for not arranging for Victoria to meet with an unfortunate "accident" on the mountain after the brunette had argued with the Guild Ace that they should just kill the slavers instead of taking them alive. Ever since that day Victoria had tended to work alone except for working with Abigail Windstrider and a couple of fellow Sabertooth mages whose names she could not remember at the moment.

"OK, I can kinda see that reasoning too." Lawrence stated. Victoria smiled a little. She knew that she was never going to fully convince him that her participation in the border clash was the right thing to do, but she wanted to try and impress upon him the fact that she had carefully weighed the risks before heading off to fight on behalf of Bellum.

"I'm starting to see that there's more to what motivated you to fight than just starry-eyed idealism. There were practical reasons for fighting too." Lawrence added. Victoria blinked and pondered whether it was worth trying to correct his misconception that idealism was the only reason she had participated in the border clash, then decided against it in favor of rolling with what he had just said. There was no point in ruining the mood by insisting that she had practical reasons the whole time.

"Yeah." Victoria said laconically. Lawrence's face seemed to lighten up a little, but only a little.

"I still don't approve of what you did, though." Lawrence said bluntly, killing the good mood that had been staring to prevail.

"And I don't need your approval because it's a done deal." Victoria replied with equal bluntness. While she cared for Lawrence and was glad to have him back in her life, she did not need his approval for every little thing she did. She had her own opinions and was willing to disagree with him if she had to.

Almost as soon as they had begun reaching an understanding the pair reached an impasse again. Lawrence frowned at her and Victoria frowned at him. Neither Sheridan was going to budge on their stance on the matter.

"While I don't approve of what you did, I can sort of respect why you did it." Lawrence admitted to her. Victoria smiled a little.

"I'm glad to hear it." Victoria replied. She was glad to hear that he had some measure of respect for her reasons even if he still did not agree with her participation in the border clash. Seeing that Victoria was not going to budge, Lawrence sighed.

"Look, Victoria. I've never been an idealist. I've never fought for anything other than money and survival until I met you. Then I was fighting for money and survival for the both of us." Lawrence began his own appeal to her. Victoria looked into his eyes and read his body language. He was telling the truth, so she let him continue to talk without interrupting. He paused to take some time to gather his thoughts before resuming the conversation.

[Post Word Count: 984]
[Total Word Count: 6,560/11,000]

After a pause to get his thoughts together Lawrence resumed speaking to Victoria.

"I don't really understand idealism, Victoria. I don't see how someone could run the risk of being killed for a country they don't even live in. Yeah, fighting for ideals is great, but it's not my cup of tea." Lawrence continued. Even without her special ability to see the truth Victoria could tell that the burly man did not put much stock in idealism. He was a man who was firmly rooted in pragmatism.

"I'm not entirely sold on idealism. I won't lie... the paycheck played a part in getting me to sign on to fight for Bellum. But there's gotta be something to live for besides survival and profit." Victoria said to him. Victoria had come a long ways from her mercenary past thanks to the influence of Abigail Windstrider, but she still valued personal profit. If she took a dangerous job, she wanted to be paid a reward commensurate with the risk she took to complete the job. She also liked high-risk jobs not only for the reward money, but for the excitement.

"So you fought for money in addition to all those other reasons you gave me? I hope the pay was worth it." Lawrence said to Victoria with disappointment on his voice. Victoria frowned. She could not win with this guy. She had just handed him a practical reason for fighting on behalf of Bellum and he sounded disappointed in her.

"It was worth it all right." Victoria replied sourly. Lawrence continued to frown.

"If you had been an idealist you woulda turned down the pay and fought for free. You kinda undermined your earlier points with that last remark. You gave me this big spiel on doing the right thing and fighting for your guild and then you tell me that a paycheck played a part in you picking your side." Lawrence said to her with a measure of disappointment. Victoria put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, well, maybe I did undermine my points. But you should know that people's reasons for fighting can be complicated. You've been fighting since before I was even born!" Victoria admitted that he had a point but countered that as a former mercenary he should have known that people fought for different reasons. Lawrence laughed a little.

"Yeah, you're right on that one. People fight for a lot of reasons. I don't quite get your reasons. They seem like a mix of ideals and self-interest." Lawrence commented. Victoria had to admit that he had a point on that one.

"You're right, Lawrence. A mix of ideals and self-interest motivated me to put it all on the line for Bellum. But I still don't regret it. I fought for Bellum and I fought for my guild. " Victoria summed up all her reasons for fighting. Lawrence continued to frown.

"I'm not happy that you participated in the border clash, but I can't really do anything about it because it's over and done with. I'll never fully understand your reasons for participating. But I can sort of respect you for risking everything to fight for what you believe is right." Lawrence said to her in all seriousness. Victoria smiled a little.

"Yeah. Sometimes you just have to take a stand for what you believe in." Victoria said to him, hoping to let the subject drop before they reached another impasse and began arguing again. Lawrence seemed content to let the subject drop because he shrugged his shoulders and gave a smile.

"I'm going downstairs for a drink. You want one?" Lawrence asked her. Victoria was about to answer when her iLac began to ring.

"Hang on a moment, please." Victoria told him and rushed over to her bed to grab the iLac. He watched her as she picked it up.

"Hello Miss Sheridan." Ms. Ashford's voice greeted Victoria.

"Hello Ms. Ashford." Victoria greeted her client.

"My niece decided to spend the night with me, so you don't have to worry about coming to Sakuramori to pick her up today." Ms. Ashford informed Victoria. The brunette smiled.

"OK. Thanks for letting me know that." Victoria replied.

"No problem. Thanks for bringing Anna to me. Have a good day, Miss Sheridan!" Ms. Ashford said before hanging up. Victoria hung up and turned back to Lawrence, who was waiting on Victoria.

" I don't have to drive any more today. Do you still want that drink?" Victoria asked her uncle.

[Post Word Count: 750]
[Total Word Count: 7,310/11,000]

-In the dining room, three minutes later-

Lawrence and Victoria sat across the dining room table from each other. In the middle of the table sat an unopened bottle of Albino Gander vodka. In front of them sat regular drinking glasses. Lawrence reached for the bottle of vodka and opened it with ease, then poured half a glass of vodka. He put the cap back on the bottle and set the bottle back to the middle of the table.

The brunette reached out to take it and grabbed it with her right hand, then pulled it to her. She filled her glass a quarter of the way and then put the cap back on the bottle. She put it in the middle of the table and faced her uncle.

"Albino Gander... you have expensive tastes, Victoria." Lawrence commented on the choice of drink. Victoria smiled.

"I don't spend my money on very much. When I buy alcohol I don't settle for the cheap stuff. Or I try not to, anyway." Victoria replied. Lawrence raised his glass and took a sip of the vodka.

"This reminds me of the bad old days. You and me, drinking alcohol in a back alley of Capital Crocus. I'm glad those days are over." Lawrence said to her. Victoria nodded.

"Me too. I hope that our circumstances never get that bad again." Victoria remarked and raised her glass to take a sip of vodka. She remembered the "bad old days" of looking for food in the dumpsters behind restaurants and fighting for survival against the elements and other street people. That was something that she never wanted to go through again.

"Me neither." Lawrence said laconically. He chugged the contents of the glass and reached for the bottle. He poured himself another half-glass and pushed the bottle back to the center of the table.

"I doubt that they will, Uncle. My line of work pays well. I've got plenty of money saved for a rainy day and I live well within my means." Victoria said somewhat optimistically. She saved most of her money and did not go on spending sprees to buy fancy clothing or sports cars. The clothing she had and the DH-40 Centaur served her well enough.

"You've certainly moved up in the world since we last met." Lawrence admitted that his adopted daughter had done well for herself in his absence. Victoria laughed a little.

"Yeah. It wasn't easy, but I managed to get my piece of the pie." Victoria replied and raised her glass to take another sip of vodka. She had earned her piece of the pie through a lot of effort and more than a little luck. In a little over two years Victoria had went from a former street kid who knew only the basics of her magic to an experienced mage with considerable magic power.

"I'm glad that you got it, Victoria. I'm glad that you finally got somewhere and have something to your name other than the clothes on your back." Lawrence said calmly. He took a sip from his glass as he waited for her to reply.

"Me too, Uncle. I'm doing pretty well for myself. I just need to keep it going for as long as I can." Victoria replied. She liked having plenty of money and she liked having her own home. Now that she had both of those things she would have to work to keep them. That was easier said than done.

"Yeah. And keeping the ball rolling can be tough. Take it from me." Lawrence said to her.

"Tell me about it." Victoria replied in a "been there, done that" tone. She had not gotten this far by taking just any old job that came her way. She had fought against tough opponents such as necromancers, demon cultists, and literal demons to get this far in her life. Those kinds of fights tended to be very challenging, but they paid very well, which was how Victoria was able to save up so much money. Lawrence wordlessly took another sip of vodka.

"I just hope you don't get in over your head." Lawrence added. Victoria laughed. He looked up from his glass and made eye contact.

"I'm not being funny!" Lawrence snapped. Victoria was not intimidated by his tone of voice and looked him in the eyes.

"I hate to break it to you, but it's way too late for that advice. You see, I've already pissed off one demon cult and one Infernal Lord who's the patron of said cult." Victoria informed him. Lawrence set his glass down, grabbed the vodka bottle, and poured out another half-glass of vodka.

"I was hired to help rescue some missing young women from a cult and things got hairy real fast. I had to fight my way through cultists and near the end the Infernal Lord himself almost manifested on the physical plane. That's NOT something you want to happen." Victoria gave him a brief rundown of her encounter with Zupazu's Executioners in the Haunted Guild. Lawrence was not pleased to hear that.

"That's really not the kind of people you wanna piss off, but I'm sure you had a good reason to fight them." Lawrence commented on Victoria's enemy.

"Yeah. Innocent people were going to die if I didn't rescue them. Innocent young women my age." Victoria said dryly in an effort to get her uncle to see why she went out on a limb and opposed a demon cult. It seemed like he did not care what went on in the world as long as evil did not come knocking on his door. Victoria was more than a little annoyed by that attitude, but there was not a whole lot she could do about it. Having just gone through one argument with him, she was not quite ready to get into another right away, but she just might have to if she wanted him to see reason.

The conversation ground to a halt as Victoria tried to decide if having another argument with her uncle was a good idea.

[Post Word Count: 1,018]
[Total Word Count: 8,328/11,000]

-The dining room, ten minutes later-

Victoria, having long since decided against arguing with her uncle a second time, sat and watched him drain the bottle of Albino Gander. The burly man stood up under his own power and walked away without wobbling or stumbling. He obviously had as high a tolerance to alcohol as his niece. He also had the advantage of twenty-plus years to build it up before Victoria was even alive.

Having lost interest in her own half-finished glass of vodka minutes ago, Victoria went into the kitchen to pour it out. Once she did that she left her glass near the kitchen sink and walked out of the kitchen, then walked out of the dining room without breaking stride. She was kind of bored and wanted to find something to do with the rest of her day.

After giving the matter a little thought Victoria decided to go to the living room and watch some television. Maybe Fortunate Meteor or Cram School Soda Break were on. If the television was available, she would plop down on her couch and watch those two shows even if the episodes were reruns. She would probably watch car auction reruns if they were on just to do something other than sit around the dining room.

-In the living room-

Victoria walked into the living room to see that her uncle had claimed the television and was watching a combat sport that looked like mixed martial arts, but she could not tell because when she finally walked close enough to see what was on the television the show cut to a commercial break. Victoria did not stick around to watch the commercial and began to walk towards the stairs. Since her uncle was watching the television, she was going to go to her room and sleep for awhile.

-Evening, 8:45 P.M., in the living room-

Wearing her wrinkled blue Steel Matron t-shirt and black skirt with her hair hanging down freely after taking it out of its usual ponytail, Victoria walked down the stairs and into the living room. After sharing drinks with her uncle she had slept for several hours and woke up in the evening with a bad case of dry mouth. She was heading towards the kitchen to get something to drink like bottled water or a Cherry Charge soda.

Victoria found Lawrence sitting in front of the television watching a rerun of a car auction that had been filmed in Motor City. People were bidding on a black limousine that once belonged to some movie star who had lived and died long before she was ever born. As Victoria stopped to watch the auction Lawrence suddenly turned his head left and faced her, startling the brunette.

"Hey Victoria. You're awake." Lawrence greeted her. Victoria recovered from the surprise and faced him.

"Yeah." Victoria laconically replied.

"At least you can still sleep. Me, I've been awake ever since 5:00 A.M. and I can't go to sleep, not without a lot of effort." Lawrence informed her that he had difficulty sleeping. Lawrence did not dwell on that subject long... instead he jabbed his right pointer finger at the television and spoke. People were furiously bidding on a black limousine with a body style that was really old.... it had to be at least a few decades old.

"Look at that, Victoria. Those people are bidding 600,000 Jewels to buy an old limousine that once belonged to some old Western movie star from fifty-something years ago. His name was Dean Alltree or something like that." Lawrence changed the subject from his problems sleeping to the auction. Victoria was astounded that people would even consider paying that much for an old limo. It definitely had to be because someone famous once owned it.

"I could do a lot with that six hundred thousand Jewels. Hell, I could buy my own house in this city for that much!" Lawrence declared what he could do with the money that those people were willing to spend on an old limo. Victoria agreed with him. She too found it ridiculous that people would spend so much money on a vehicle they would probably not even take out of their garage, but what they did with the money they had worked for was their business.

While they were talking the bid jumped up to 750,000 Jewels. When he heard that Lawrence turned his head to face the television and slammed the open palm of his left hand on the seat of the couch. As bad an idea as it was, Victoria could not help but to smile.

"Those people are absolute idiots if they're willing to bid that much! I wouldn't pay 100,000 Jewels for a limo of his! I wouldn't even pay 50,000 Jewels!" Lawrence ranted at the television. Victoria laughed a little at her uncle's animated ranting. She had never seen him this riled up about something so trivial and it was amusing to her.

[Post Word Count: 832]
[Total Word Count: 9,160/11,000]

-The next day, Victoria's room, 8:30 A.M.-

Unable to sleep any longer, Victoria woke up in her room and rolled over until she could sit up on the edge of the bed. Once she did so she sat up for a few moments before standing up and reaching for her iLac to see if anyone had called. The brunette checked her iLac and found that no one had called or texted. Once that was done Victoria set it aside and walked towards the door to her room to get a bathcloth and towel for a shower.

Victoria was not sure if she was going to have to take Anna Ashford back to Capital Crocus today or not. She was going to take a shower just in case she had to. She just hoped that Ms. Ashford did not decide to call her while she was in the shower.

-Victoria's room, 9:15 A.M.-

Having taken a shower and gotten dressed in her white Steel Matron t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts, Victoria's hair was hanging freely as she checked her iLac for any missed calls or text messages. She did not find any, but she put the iLac in her pocket so that she would have it with her if Ms. Ashford, Abigail, or anyone else called her. Victoria then went downstairs to see how her uncle was doing.

-The living room, 9:17 A.M.-

Victoria walked down the stairs and saw her uncle sitting in front of the television. She walked around the couch and found that he was watching an old black-and-white Western movie. It was one of those hokey "singing cowboy" Westerns with a cowboy holding a guitar sitting in front of a campfire and playing the instrument while singing about home. Victoria was not sure what the appeal to those movies was, but to her they were about as appealing as a trip to Silent Cemetery.

"Hey Victoria. You're just in time to see a Dean Alltree movie." Lawrence greeted Victoria and told her who the singing cowboy was. Victoria raised a hand in greeting.

"Is that him?" Victoria asked for the sake of making conversation. She was not really interested in the movie. She had not grown up with Westerns and thus they had no hold over her.

"Yep. He was an OK actor for his time, but somewhere down the road he fell victim to typecasting. For the longest time that kind of movie was all he could get work in. Whenever he tried to get roles in more serious Westerns he got turned down half the time. The times he did get a role in them he always got stuck as the singing cowboy and he was almost always presented as comic relief." Lawrence gave her a bit of backstory on Dean Alltree and how he fell prey to typecasting. Then he told her that the poor guy's character was treated like a joke in the serious Westerns he did manage to get work in. Victoria frowned.

"That's just cruel." Victoria laconically remarked. She did not care for "singing cowboy" Westerns, but being typecast in them and then having his character reduced to a joke in gritty Westerns was just a giant middle finger aimed at Alltree. Lawrence nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. It's like some directors trying to make names for themselves were telling us that this movie wasn't gonna be your daddy's Western. I thought it was just people taking gratuitous cheap shots at Alltree just because they could." Lawrence commented. Victoria was inclined to agree.

"There's making a name for yourself, there's making a gritty Western that's different from the Westerns before it, and then there's just kicking a guy when he's down." Victoria added. Alltree's case sounded a lot like the third option. Again her uncle nodded in agreement.

"Yeah." Lawrence replied laconically. Victoria decided to let the matter drop and move on to something else.

"What do you plan on doing today?" Victoria asked her uncle.

"Probably watch old Westerns all day." He replied with complete honesty. Victoria laughed. She had no problem with him doing that. She could also respect the honesty with which he told her that.

"That's fine with me. I'm waiting to see if my client will call me with a request to take her niece back to Capital Crocus or not." Victoria told her uncle what she was going to do with her day, which was a lot of waiting around for a call or text message. The brunette was fine with that.

"OK." Lawrence replied. He then went back to watching the television. Victoria left things at that and went on her way to the kitchen to get some bottled water or a canned soda while waiting for Ms. Ashford to notify her if she needed to go to Sakuramori and return Anna to Capital Crocus or not. Maybe she would get a call or text message soon.

-The living room, 9:21 A.M.-

After a search that took a bit longer than it should have, Victoria emerged from the kitchen with a bottle of water in hand. She twisted off the cap and took a swig from the bottle. She then reached into her right pocket and pulled out her iLac to check it for notifications. Victoria did not have any missed calls or text messages. With nothing else to do, Victoria hung around in the living room for awhile and watched the Western her uncle was watching.

[Post Word Count: 912]
[Total Word Count: 10,072/11,000]

-10:15 A.M., Victoria's room-

Having went upstairs to get away from the Westerns her uncle was watching, Victoria had spent the past few hours going through the books on the bookshelf in her room to see if there was anything interesting to read. The book of drink recipes that had belonged to her father had a few interesting recipes that she would like to try making. There was a mini-bar in the basement of the Sheridan Estate, so she had a place to practice making the drinks before she tried making them for paying customers at Red Dragon Inn.

Victoria had set the book on the foot of her bed and was searching through the other books on the shelf when her iLac began ringing. The brunette walked over to the bed, picked it up, and answered the call.

"Hello? Miss Sheridan?" Ms. Ashford greeted Victoria.

"Hi Ms. Ashford." Victoria greeted her client.

"I've called to let you know that Anna has decided to go back to Capital Crocus today." Ms. Ashford informed Victoria that her niece wanted to return home. Victoria had slept off the alcohol she had consumed yesterday, so she was sober enough to drive. That was good because the client was counting on her to take Anna back home safely.

"All right. I'll start heading for Sakuramori shortly." Victoria replied. She began walking towards the door while listening to the client.

"See you soon." Ms. Ashford said before hanging up. Victoria shifted the iLac to her left hand as she grabbed her backpack of supplies with her right hand. She was going to be in for a bit of a drive, but at least she would be earning her pay instead of coasting to an easy payday.

-Three hours later, Sakuramori-

Despite encountering a couple of fender benders on the way out of Capital Crocus, Victoria had made it to Sakuramori without incident. She had just parked the Centaur in front of Ms. Ashford's house when the door opened and out stepped both Ashfords. Anna was wearing the same red dress she had worn when they had first met.

"Hello there, Miss Sheridan. I'm ready to go back to my home in Capital Crocus." Anna said to Victoria.

"All right then. I'm ready to go whenever you are." Victoria told the blonde. Anna turned back to her aunt and hugged her one last time, then climbed onto the back of the Centaur.

"Thanks again for doing this for me, Miss Sheridan." Ms. Ashford thanked Victoria for her work in bringing Anna to her and taking her back home.

"No problem." Victoria said to the older Ashford. Victoria climbed onto the Centaur, cranked it up, and began to go into reverse as Ms. Ashford waved goodbye to the duo. Once Victoria was able to turn onto the road she did so. She slowly and carefully drove out of Sakuramori until she reached the outskirts, then increased the speed to 25 MPH once she was clear of the town. It was going to be a long drive back to Capital Crocus and with any luck it would be an uneventful drive.

-Capital Crocus, 1837 Monarch's Lane, three hours later-

Coming into Capital Crocus Victoria and Anna had to sit in traffic for almost an hour because of another fender bender involving a sports car and a "soccer mom" van. Once they got past that scene it was an otherwise uneventful drive to Anna's house. The Sabertooth mage pulled into Anna's driveway and slowly drove up to the house, then parked the Centaur and turned it off.

Anna climbed off of the vehicle and Victoria followed suit. The red-clad blonde walked up to her front door and fished her house key out of her purse. She unlocked the house door and turned back to Victoria.

"Thanks for taking me to Sakuramori and bringing me home safely." Anna thanked the brunette for her services. Victoria gave a thumbs-up with her right hand.

"I'm glad I could help." Victoria said. Anna then went inside her house and shut the door behind her, then looked the door. With her work here done, Victoria climbed back onto the Centaur, cranked it up, and carefully backed out of Anna's driveway. She then began to drive towards her home on the outskirts of Capital Crocus.

[Post Word Count: 720]
[Total Word Count: 10,792/11,000]

-Victoria's house, one hour and fifty minutes later-

Having completed her task of taking Anna Ashford back to her home, Victoria had come upon yet another traffic jam on her way to the city outskirts. This one involved two sports cars; a cherry red convertible had slammed into the rear end of a bright green convertible. Both drivers were young blonde women and they were arguing back and forth over who was at fault for the accident. It had take over an hour for Victoria to get through the traffic, but now she was home.

Victoria walked into the living room from the garage and had left her shoes at the door. Victoria walked in to find her uncle still sitting in front of the television and still watching Western movies exactly like he said he would do. The brunette decided to not bother him and went upstairs to her room without breaking stride.

-Victoria's room, three minutes later-

Victoria had set her backpack on the floor to the left of the bookshelf and had just opened up her backpack to retrieve her iLac when it rang. She looked at the screen and saw that Ms. Ashford was the caller. Victoria answered the call and brought the device up to her right ear.

"Hello?" Victoria said.

"Hi Miss Sheridan. My niece let me know that she made it home safely thanks to you. I can't thank you enough for your work." Ms. Ashford again thanked Victoria for taking on the task of ferrying her niece to and from Sakuramori.

"It's no problem at all, Ms. Ashford." Victoria assured her. Even though the job was offered to her on short notice, the brunette did not mind the short notice. Ms. Ashford was a good client of hers and Victoria did not mind going the extra mile for her.

"If I need your help for anything else I'll give you a call. I'll talk to you later, Miss Sheridan. Thanks again!" Ms. Ashford said before hanging up. Victoria lowered her iLac and walked to the foot of her bed, then picked up the book of drink recipes she had set there hours ago. She set her iLac on the foot of the bed and took the book into both hands, then began thumbing through the pages again.

Victoria would have to go to the basement minibar to see if she had the ingredients needed to make some of the drinks in the book that had caught her attention. Two of them were the Long Island Iced Tea and the Silver Bullet. She would go to the basement minibar to take stock of what was already there and go buy anything that was missing. Victoria needed to learn a few new drink recipes before she started bartending at Red Dragon Inn again. Since she had a full minibar in the basement of her home, what better place than home to learn how to make some new drinks in a relatively stress-free environment?

Her uncle was a drinker and would likely try some of her creations. He would also give her honest feedback on the quality of the drinks she was making so that she would have some idea what she was doing right and what needed to be improved upon. It was not a formal bartending school, but at least it was a start.

With the book in her left hand and her iLac in her right hand, Victoria left her room to go down to the basement and refresh her memory on what kinds of alcohol her late father had left behind. She recalled gin, vodka, and tequila, but she was not sure what else was down there. Now that her work for the day was finished, now was as good a time as any to find out.

[Post Word Count: 636]
[Total Word Count: 11,428/11,000]