The radio blared some rock and roll while the windows were completely rolled down. The music practically blasted out Val’s ears, given that it had to play over the loud gusts of wind.

Over all of the noise, she asked, “How much do you love your new master?”

Foofy had his head sticking out of the window, despite their speed making his eyes nearly shut and his jowls blow all the way back. His tongue flapped away and sent a horizontal waterfall of slobber against the back window.

“Good boy!”

Val had the pedal to the metal, colloquially speaking—not in actuality, but nearly. They blazed down the highway in the left lane without any worry for police on patrol. Given how she had stolen a vehicle already, they just needed to get to Altis Point as quickly as possible. There would be cops on her tail soon enough, regardless of how fast she drove, so Val enjoyed her freedom on the road.

Indeed, she ended up speeding past a black and white car that had laid in wait in the access road, nothing but a blur. Sirens started up, just as red and blue lights flashed and lined up behind her.

“Foofy, it’s the fuzz!” Val cried in mock horror.

Actually, this could be a bad situation for them, depending if her ability would work or not. Over the past month and a half, Val had done a good job at strengthening Keep the Peace, so she had faith in herself.

She glanced at the side mirror to gaze upon the cop behind the wheel who chased her. Focusing on him, she let the wave of energy rip out from beneath her ribs. Directed for that one human, Val laid Keep the Peace over him and fought to manipulate his emotional state. In doing so, she felt his mind relax under the pressure of hers.

Accordingly, the cop car slowed alongside the rest of the traffic down to the speed limit, and then under it. The flashing lights blinked out, and the siren no longer assaulted her ears. Because of his overly relaxed state, the police officer had given up the chase.

“Woohoo!” Val shouted. In victory, she whooped and hollered, only wishing that Foofy would join her in celebration.

He pulled his head away from the window for a moment to look at her, then stuck his snout right back out again.

Her blood pumped through her veins with the surge of adrenaline. Val had already felt like she was on top of the world, driving fast and playing music loud. Her beautiful Dobie by her side only contributed to her high spirits. Now, evading the police with her divine blood make her mood soar all the higher. Val had just used Keep the Peace successfully on a moral human for the first time.

How was that for resolution to a high-speed chase? She pumped one fist in the air while she kept the other hand on the wheel. “You have the coolest master in the world! I hope you know that,” Val said to Foofy, adding on, “and I have the coolest doggy!”

She continued on with her reckless driving, weaving through the lanes whenever somebody in the leftmost lane did not move over fast enough. Without a doubt, she was a menace on the road, but at least she was having fun. Foofy seemed to be enjoying himself too.

Thanks to the way that she had taken this car after being freshly refueled, they had nothing to worry about on their way to Altis Point. Any police reinforcements that tried to stop her would have to answer to her Keep the Peace.

Hence, Val drove on and followed the directions of the GPS until she reached her destination. She barreled down the exit ramp so fast that her foot had to slam on the breaks to avoid an accident. The tires squealed from their effort to stop in time.

Within the bounds of Altis Point, Val needed to drive slower to ensure that she did not cause any accidents. Also, she needed to be able to look all around the streets to park the car, preferably a place where it could be left for a while. The man would need some time to retrieve his vehicle before being towed. In the end, she had to settle for a metered spot which would work, since Val had an absurd number of coins on hand.

For once in her life, Val felt grateful that she had stuffed coins into her wallet till it had nearly burst. She was the type of person who used cash everywhere she went and let all of the change accumulate. Now, she unloaded her coin collection into the meter until it had a good number of hours.

With only a couple of quarters left, she went searching for a payphone. While Val could just use her cellphone, she did not want the crime being traced back to her

Leaning against the phone booth, Val relieved her cringey moment in which she had stolen the car. With the phone number fresh in her mind, she slipped the coins into the slot and dialed the number.

The voicemail picked up, so Val left a message.

“Hello, sir. This is the girl who had stolen your car. I’m really sorry about ruining your day, but also thank you. I really needed to get to Altis Point, where I have it parked….” Val gave the street address and also informed him of the number of hours in the meter. “Again, thank you, and I’m sorry.” With that, she hung up.

Looking down to Foofy, a tight smile pinched onto her face. “What do you think? Did we do the right think?”

All Foofy could do was blink at her in response.

Only Val would care about stealing a car in the most moral way possible. Hopefully she had not caused undue strife to anybody in the mortal world. In only a matter of time, she would remove herself from this world and reposition herself where she rightfully belonged. The Summit of Asenscion seemed so close to her now, Val could practically taste her goal in the air.

Now that Val had arrived in Altis Point, she only needed to walk to the coast and find the boardwalk. There, she would seek out Lady Margus just as Ross had in the past.

Character Update

* New information is marked in cyan.

* All entries are based on what Val knows.

Valentine (Val) Title: None Rank: Demigoddess Attributes: None Abilities Name Class Description

Keep the Peace

tactical

- calm agitated creatures

- can sense the baser emotions of others

- works on animals up to the size of dogs, as well as mortal humans

- can manage multiple animals at once, according to their strength

Mind Blast

combat

- weak, physical blow from the mind

Past Insight

cognitive

- watch a replay of the past

- three pieces of initial information are required

- can stay in the tunnel of time for up to one minute

- real time passes slower in the vision

- can fast-forward through time in a vision

- one day cool down after a failed vision