Claire and the local guy sat on the sun loungers either side of Kat.
"Welcome to Mexico Amethyst Sparkle, Diamond Rainbow has told me a little about why you are here." Claire handed Kat a bottle of water and took a drink of another. "You've sensed that a Rift is forming here and you are checking the area to get a lay of the land before you have to come down to fight what crosses over." He finished looking between the women.
"Pretty much, yes, " Kat replied, " is there any thing you can tell us about this? Who are you and how many of you are there? I saw 4 green shards when I was feeling out the Rift."
"We are here to fight what comes over, not unlike yourselves, there are 4 of us with sacred armour, who will fight alongside you." Kat and Claire smiled to each other, 14 was better odds than before.
"Would you be willing to travel as well if we have a situation further afield in future?" Claire asked.
"I would have to ask everyone else first, but personally I would love to." The Waiter replied. "Do you have a phone number I can reach you on to let you know our decision?" He replied, Kat reached over to the bag and grabbed some paper and a pen and wrote her land line number down and handed it over.
"And what do we call you and your group?" Kat asked.
"I am Mateo and our group is The Sacred Jaguar Knights," Mateo answered and looked at them, "We are the last few of a proud warrior line."
Kat looked at Mateo, then closed her eyes and concentrated, listening for the sound that wasn't a sound. She relaxed and opened her eyes, "Can I see your blade?" she asked, holding out her hand.
Mateo reached inside his blazer and brought out a green dagger and handed it over. Kat sat with it in her lap, hands over the knife, eyes closed, she focused on the knife for a while, Claire finished her water and her second Mojito and watched intently as Kat focused on the knife. She opened her eyes, looked over her sun glasses at Mateo and handed the knife back, and took a sip of her Long Island Iced Tea.
Claire spoke up, "You said 4 of you have the sacred armour, are there more of you?"
Mateo looked slightly confused, "There are siblings, some can't use the armour but their children have been able to."
Kat spoke around her straw, "Should have brought some of those DNA tests."
"It'll save time to just take them to the Warden and the armoury, don't you think ?" Claire shrugged at Kat who shrugged back sucking down the last of the Iced Tea.
"We're taking at least one of the British guys on Monday," she said to Claire, she turned to Mateo, "is there a chance one of you will be available on Monday around mid morning to lunch time?"
Mateo looked at them both, "Why?" he asked.
"We might be able to get you more armour or maybe at least upgrade your equipment. Actually, may I have the knife again?" Kat asked.
Mateo look at Kat, "Why?"
"Because I'm going to take it to The Warden and she can have a look at it now and might have something ready for you on Monday."
"How long will you be?"
"An hour tops." Kat replied, Mateo reached inside his blazer and handed the knife back over. Kat took her communicator out of the bag, thought of the Warden and touched the crystal and was gone.
Claire looked at the empty sun lounger, "Well I'd better get another drink and make it something soft with ice," Claire said getting up and hoisting the bag onto her shoulder, "and you'd better get back to work, in fact, I can prop up the bar and you can tell me what you know about the potential breach site." Claire said picking up the empty glasses and following Mateo back into the grounds of the hotel.
Kat transitioned to The Warden's Tomb walked over to the pedestal and placed the green knife on it."Hi,"Kat called out the whisp materialised and hovered in front of her,"while down in Mexico we found a group that has access to a few artifacts that feel like your people's technology, I asked one of them to loan me their dagger so you can look at it and see if the ones able to use this," she touched the hilt of the dagger,"might be able to use the weapons in the armoury back there."
2 smaller globes of light detected from the whisp, one phasing into the blade the other moving over it. They spent a few minutes studying the blade.
"I believe I can integrate our technology with this lesser blade, and others examples of this type of construction."
"I've been meaning to ask how do you do that?" Kat asked.
"I have a few of the construction looms we use to weave our creations, I can blend the metal alloy cloth with this, which will allow the weapon to channel Earth Energy. Any armour they have can be enhanced the same way."
"How would that work?" Kat asked assuming the weave would be on surface of the blade.
"My looms can weave it into the material of the blade itself, they will not look any different to what is before us now." The Warden replied.
"Okay, I'd better get this back to the owner." Kat picked up the blade, "We'll be bringing some of the British guys and some of the group we've just met in Mexico here on Monday, take them to the armoury, see if anything sings to them." She finished, putting the knife in the waist band of her shorts."One last thing, do you have any more of the communicators that I can take? International phone calls are expensive."
"May I see yours again?" The Warden asked.
Kat pulled hers out and placed it on the lecturn. The 2 whisps detached again, one flew into the communicator the other sat beside it. One device formed in the whisp, it moved to the side and a second device formed or was transitioned in from elsewhere in the Tomb. Kat took the wrap skirt off and used to bundle the 2 new communicators and the knife up, taking her own in her hand she focused on the beach she'd been on and touched the second crystal and was gone.
She arrived on the beach and looked around for Claire, spotting their footsteps leading to the loungers, then Claire's and Mateo's footsteps leading into the hotel grounds. Kat followed the trail to the gate and had a look around the pool area, spotting Claire's hat and shorts at the bar.
Claire spotted her walking over and snapped a photo on with the pad.
Mateo put down 2 fresh drinks, Kat looked around, checking for any other workers watching or cameras covering where they were. Not seeing any Kat slipped the knife out of the bag and slide it over the bar under her hand, Mateo picked it and put it back in its sheave without fuss, smiling all the time at the pair.
"One other thing Mateo, back in the 90's we had these," Kat said bringing out her communicator.
He looked at it, "I had a phone like this back then too, I'm surprised it still holds a charge."
Kat slide a second one over, "This one's for you. You can reach us without having to dial internationally. It holds its charge as long as we get it near one of ours every few weeks. And I can think of worse places to spend an afternoon once a month." Kat said looking around the pool side and beach, she turned to Claire," I got one for the British guys as well, so we need to swing by Cornwall before we go home."
"Oh no." Claire joked. "So Monday, one of us will be in touch and will meet you on the head land at the top of the beach near the Punta Prima Hotel." She told Mateo, turning to Kat she held out her arm, "Let's walk you, and I'll tell you what was told to me while you where away." Claire filled her in on the hotel being an "adults only" establishment, even doing the air quotes and touched on some of the details Mateo had told her.
The pieces finally came together and it clicked into place for Kat,"Oh my god! That explains the purple throbing and veiny nature of this one."
"You know the second time I was close to a penis was that tape of your ex husband right?" Claire asked.
"No, where is this going?" Kat replied.
"That was only the second time I've seen one, and even I worked it out when Mateo was talking to me."
Kat stopped walking and looked at Claire, "You've not been with anyone since Prom?" she said incredulously.
"I didn't say that, I said I'd not been with a guy since then." Claire finished the sentence, the rest of it not needing to be said. "I work at the FBI, it's a fairly conservative place, I keep my sexual preferences to myself, and if anyone asks about me not seeing anyone, I show them the scar and explain the whole no kids thing and it shuts them up, " Claire looked into the distance, "what about you, why haven't you been seeing anyone else since the elephant pants man"
Kat smiled at the memory, took a drink and started walking again. "I've not felt right since him. I've dated a few people but it's always fizzled out. It's like a part of me still feels bad about the break up, that I'm no longer with him, and I had the kids. I didn't want to keep coming home with different guys, or even worse the wrong guy who stuck around because of the money or because of who I'd been. Did anybody ask you to wear the outfit, either the cartoon or the real one while you do it? "
" Morven did, the one time." Claire said the words like every one was an immense weight, and smiled sadly to herself," We left for Trinty the next morning, she held my hand tightly all the way there from the Tomb."
"Oh," Kat hugged her, 'I knew you were close... "Kat didn't know how to end that sentence and so changed the subject back to her and Lincoln," Lincoln asked, a few times. I kind of stopped changing, told him it had stopped happening about 18 months before the stuff powered down." Kat looked at her own drink, "He offered to buy me the slutty version of the amethyst outfit," she smiled and stired the drink with her straw, "I was wearing it when we made the tape."
"Which one was the slutty version again? I'm trying to remember the difference between the sexy and slutty here. And picturing you in it."
"Sexy had the skirt that covered even my flat ass, and a proper bikini top, the slutty version had the belt and a bikini top that can best be discribed as dental floss and a purple g string. Still cost $125 for so little material."
"It'll be the purple dye," Claire replied eye brows raised , "very expensive is purple dye" she said nodding, drinking and looking at Kat.
Kat laughed, "Keep walking, Diamond, we need to reach this hotel so we can get some photos and a lay out." They linked arms again and carried on walking along the beach.
Claire started talking, almost unburdening herself, "Morven held my finger as we got ready, and gave me this smile that lit her face up in whole new way before we went into battle. And then we lost her. And you in short order, it was hard afterwards in the hospital. I told my parents and Morven's about us, they couldn't really be mad at me for long while I was in bed on a drip and had just had a hysterectomy, so 4 parents ranting at me while I was off my face on morphine was great as I don't really remember it much."
"Nobody since then?"
"No one that felt the same, there's been a few woman, a few experimenting at College, a couple of other very discrete liasons at work. But no one who's face lit up that same way. And you?"
"You know about Anton."
"No, Angel's older brother?" Claire asked.
"Yes, well that wasn't a good idea so we kind of called things off, Lincoln was a chance meeting again after getting back on my feet. I think I loved him, I certainly felt bad about sleeping with any one else afterwards for a really long time, and I didn't want to send the wrong message to the girls. Amy seems to be handling this time of her life better than I did."
"To be fair your teenage years were pretty much open war between your parents and you, the people who you should have been able to turn to, you couldn't. You're doing a better job of parenting than yours managed."
"Having everyone calling me Kat and not An or Su didn't help their mood, they saw it as another abandonment of my heritage and acceptance of the degenerate American ways."
"Do Thea and Amy have Korean names?" Claire asked to change the subject.
"They do, Amy's full name is Park Jebikkoch Chea Amy Green, and Thea's full name is Park Jebikkoch Hyum Thea Green."
Claire had her eyes closed and was working out of the translation, "Jebikkoch means Violet doesn't it?" she asked Kat
"Lincoln never did get that one."
"And that's their generational name?"
"It is."
"Chae, Chae, Chae..." Claire concentrated, " is colour?" Kat nodded, "Hyum wasn't one I ever learned, so go on." Claire finished.
"Hyum depending on how it's written can mean deep, dark, profound or mysterious." Kat explained.
"And how do you write it in Hanji?" Claire asked. Kat stepped to one side and drew out the Korean symbol with her foot, Claire watched. "My written Korean is worse than my spoken, so which one is that?"
"Mysterious" Kat supplied.
Claire smiled, " You named your daughters Park Violet Colour Amy Green and Park Violet Mysterious Thea Green?"
"I did."
"You dad joked both your kids names?" Claire asked.
Kat had a huge smile on her face. "And I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for your keen mind and years of FBI training." She laughed.
"I'm phoning child services when we get back home." Claire said looking serious.
"You do that and your not getting any of the Bulgogi I've had marinating since last night."
"Is that the one you used to do for my dad, the Korean BBQ?" Claire asked.
"It is, yes." Kat confirmed.
"I'll let it slide, I missed your bbq." Claire looked around at the hotels around them. "The next one is the one we want."
Kat looked at the beach side of the hotel, noting the cameras on the fence looked over the beach rather than the pool. The side walls were larger, with space to drive a hummer between the walls of the hotel and its neighbour. They circled the building, the wall next to the road was lower again at the driveway entrance, a line of pine trees and a very discreet fence threaded between the trees blocked off any view of what the screen shot showed to be a pool, they went into the lobby to see if they could find a way through and explore the grounds but there was blocked security. They did get map of the hotel, noting the beach side was what was referred to as clothed and the pool on this side with the trees and high walls was referred to as the naked pool. They were able to get into the bar from the lobby and ordered 2 waters and 2 coffees. Kat closed her eyes and focused, feeling the throb and pluse of the growing Rift, most powerful on the naked side, but it snaked all over the grounds. They finished their coffee and took the water bottles back onto the beach, completing a circuit of the hotel. Kat sketched out the Hanji for mysterious in the sand again and looked at low wall surrounding the hotel. "Cornwall?" She said looking up at Claire.
Claire slipped her communicater out, thought of the hotel on its cliff top and touched the crystal, taking Kat with her as they flew over the Atlantic. They reached the helepad, the temperature noticeably cooler than it had just been, going from 91° Fahrenheit to 71° Fahrenheit in seconds.
They walked into the lobby, "Is anyone in down stairs?" Claire asked the guy on the desk.
"I can ring and check for you, who should I say is here if there's an answer?"
"Claire Diamond and Park Kat Green" he dialed and waited, smiling blandly at the pair.
"No answer, I'm afraid."
Kat reached into her bag and brought out the other communicater she'd been given, "Can you give this to the guys downstairs, it's a communication device that means we can reach them, let them I'll be in touch on Monday."
She handed it over to the receptionist, and they walked out side and transitioned home, finding the girls back and Peggy and Struan waiting in the living room. Kat got a shower and changed first, then Claire got a shower and Kat started cooking the Bulgogi and fresh noodles.
She realised how much she'd much missed cooking for lots of people, and resolved to invite everyone over next weekend for a meal.
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