[Northeast Texas, April 2023, One Week Later]
Cryptid hunts were not the kind of thing that Maria was used to doing. Far from it, actually. Thanks to her position as an APS agent back home in Charlotte, she rarely ever had to deal with the kind of tedious work that normal agents like Cyrus and Valerie had to go through when hunting down magical creatures. In fact, the most interaction that she usually had with cryptids themselves on a weekly basis was typically reserved for either her own companions or the ones that other 'beast magic' users in the station possessed.
However, as the raven-haired woman, along with the other four sorcerers accompanying her on this trip, tracked down their targets for the day, she had a newfound sense of appreciation for the absolutely dull kind of work that her friends were typically subjected to.
"We're almost there." Sam said to the group from his position in the driver's seat of their SUV.
"How much longer?" Alex quickly asked her brother while casually snacking on a chicken wrap she had gotten during their most recent rest stop.
"Twenty minutes, according to the scanner."
"Good!" Diego Conley-Alvarez added with a smile. "I was getting ready to fall asleep."
"This is why I hate missions like this." Dora Conley-Alvarez then said. "Having to drive all the way out here just to exterminate some cryptids fucking sucks…."
Maria took a moment to glance over at the two new additions to their group. The Conley-Alvarez twins were the two agents that Chief Alexander had told her about when she first arrived here in Texas. Both were relatively new agents, just like she was. And both of them had already proven themselves to be rather reliable, according to what she had been told.
Unlike Evan and Elizabeth, Dora and Diego looked almost identical in appearance. They both had dark brown hair, deep brown eyes, and honey-brown skin, a few shades darker than Maria's. And the only notable difference between the two, aside from their genders, was that Diego was a solid six inches taller than his sister.
Maria had seen the two of them walking around the station here and there over the course of the last couple of weeks. But this was her first time actually interacting with them outside of a few passing greetings and friendly waves.
"Well, look on the bright side…" Alex looked back at her cousin after taking another bite of her food. "Once the El Paso station is finally up and running, we won't have to deal with any more long trips like this."
"I can't wait!" The female twin leaned back in her seat.
"It's not all bad, though." Diego added as she shot a quick glance over to Maria. "At least we'll finally get to see what our new friend here is capable of."
Maria simply gave the young man a quick nod before responding. "I'll try not to disappoint you guys."
"Eh, I wouldn't be too worried about all of that. All we're doing is handling some megahogs. Aside from them being able to use 'earth magic', they're hardly a real problem."
The conversation quickly took a turn when Dora decided to ask Maria a question that's been on her mind ever since they all met up earlier that morning. In truth, the young woman had heard quite a bit about their temporary guest from some of the others around the station over the last couple of weeks. And she wanted to see whether or not some of the rumors were true.
"Hey, is it true that you're cool with the MacNamara family?" The brunette asked.
"Yeah." Maria replied.
"Have you ever met Skye before?"
"I have." The raven-haired woman said. "Only once, though."
"Really?!" Dora practically beamed upon hearing that. "What was she like?!"
"She was cool. She was kinda bossy toward her brother and sister, though. But apparently she's always been like that."
Diego let out a quick smile before speaking. "My sister's a huge fan of her music. She wanted to go to the last show that she had in Dallas, but the tickets were already sold out before she could get one."
"Is she the one who gave you the flying enchantment?" Sam then looked at Maria through the rearview mirror.
"No, Elizabeth was the one who gave it to me. Elaine only gave it to Cyrus the night we all got them."
"Man…" Dora leaned back in her seat. "It must be nice getting to rub shoulders with people like that all the time. We hardly ever get to meet anyone cool like that all the way out here. I mean, you even work directly under the Thunder God himself."
Now that Maria thought about it, she did encounter a lot of big names in the sorcerer world on a near-regular basis. Aside from Captain Mubele and the MacNamara siblings, she had met Ethan MacNamara and Lucas Chandler, too. Both of whom were practically household names across the country. Hell, even Alyssa Blair was one of the more prominent young members of her family based on what she had been told.
"Don't you guys have a lot of popular people in your family, too?" The raven-haired woman then asked. "I've heard a lot about Oliver Conley from Sebastian and Robin. He's your cousin, right? I've seen a lot of his stuff on Instagram."
All four of the Conley cousins instantly adopted the same look of annoyance on their faces after hearing that name come out of the young woman's mouth. Clearly, the man known as one of the ten strongest sorcerers in the country didn't have a positive reputation among the members of his own family.
"Believe me…" Alex said. "Nobody wants to deal with Oliver if they don't have to. He may be strong as all hell, but that guy's…special."
"I'm just glad that he's working as the Deputy Chief over in Houston now instead of being here." Diego quickly added. "I get that he's a capable agent and all, but the guy's a total diva."
"More like a drama queen…." Dora whispered under her breath.
"Really?"
All Sam could do was laugh. "Don't worry. If you ever meet him in person, you'll see exactly what we mean."
"Noted." Maria simply nodded her head in response.
The conversation quickly shifted topics after that. They still had a bit of time before they reached their destination, so the crew wanted to relax as much as possible before having to get started with their hunt for the day. And although she was a bit nervous about it, Maria was able to keep herself calm as she got ready for what was to come.
-(o)-
Character Profile: Diego
Name: Diego Marcel Conley-Alvarez
Alias: N/A
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Birthday: August 14th
Birthplace: Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Height: 69in
Weight: 158lbs
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Race: Hispanic/White
Magic: Beast (Feline)
Occupation: DPA Agent
Stat Chart: B
-Physical Strength - 3
-Intelligence - 3
-Magic Amount - 3
-Magical Control - 4
-Magic Sensing - 4
-Special - N/A
Fun Fact:
-Favorite food is fish tacos.
-Hates dogs.
-Favorite sport is baseball.
-(o)-
Character Profile: Dora
Name: Dora Marcella Conley-Alvarez
Alias: N/A
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Birthday: August 14th
Birthplace: Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Height: 63in
Weight: 131lbs
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Race: Hispanic/White
Magic: Beast (Primate)
Occupation: DPA Agent
Stat Chart: B
-Physical Strength - 2
-Intelligence - 3.5
-Magic Amount - 3
-Magical Control - 4
-Magic Sensing - 4
-Special - N/A
Fun Fact:
-Favorite food is banana bread.
-Elaine MacNamara is her favorite artist/actress.
-Favorite color is red.