Comforting An Old Acquaintance

-Inside Jasmine DuClare's house, 421 Croesus Street, early evening-

"I can't believe it! It actually happened!" Jasmine DuClare exclaimed in excitement, waving a partially folded newspaper at Diana in the fashion one would wave a rolled-up newspaper at an unruly dog. Diana was confused. What had happened to get her so excited? Was her older sister Kathleen OK?

"What happened?" Diana cut to the chase and asked the brunette directly instead of trying to play guessing games. Jasmine simply smiled at her and unfolded the newspaper. The brunette triumphantly marched over to the standing blonde and handed it to her. The newspaper was called the Crocus Daily News and the headline was in all capital letters.

"CORLONE FAMILY BROKEN UP!" The headline trumpeted. Diana now saw what the brunette's excitement was all about. The DuClare family's enemy had been defeated by a mage who traveled into the sewers of Rose Garden and uncovered an operation to hide captured citizens of Rose Garden until they could be sold to slavers. The intrepid mage also managed to capture seven ledgers full of evidence documenting the Corlone family's illicit dealings, which ranged from murder-for-hire to extortion to organizing and running slave trafficking operations. With such damning evidence arrayed against them, the family was in very deep legal trouble. Diana was intrigued enough to read the body text of the article.

Diana read that her old enemy Francesca was currently on the run and that Corlone family lieutenants were being arrested left and right. Family properties were also being confiscated by authorities. While the batch of new revelations on their criminal activity had all but dried up, what was already known was enough to make sure the Corlones still at large did not dare pop their heads up in a social venue for a very long time. maybe Diana could go to Boomslang without having that annoying blonde bimbo pop up to ruin her night.

"I see." Diana commented softly. Jasmine had tears streaming down her face.

"It's over. My parents and brother... they can finally rest in peace. The police have solid evidence that the Corlones had my parents killed. That piece of garbage Francesca had my brother killed when he turned her down. But now they can finally rest in peace." Jasmine said to Diana. She suddenly lunged at the blonde and hugged her, crying into the mage's shoulder. Diana kept quiet and let it happen. A tiny bit of Diana wanted closure for her family too. Despite how her parents treated her, Diana wanted revenge for them.

"What about your sister, Kathleen?" Diana asked Jasmine. The latter pried herself away from Diana's shoulder and stood up straight.

"She's OK. She'll be OK. The Corlone hitman assigned to take her out was caught hours before he was scheduled to make the hit." Jasmine informed her after surfacing for air. Diana watched as the brunette turned away and composed herself before drying her eyes with tissue. She appeared to finally be at peace with what had happened. Maybe the deceased DuClares had finally found peace thanks to the mage from Rose Garden. A small part of Diana certainly hoped that they had.

"Anyway, thanks for being here for me. I know it's not as exciting as stopping a hitman, but I appreciate your help anyway." Jasmine said to Diana with sincerity. Diana was glad that she could help one person without killing another. Maybe the blonde was getting too soft to be in the "business" for too much longer. People in her "business" who went soft did not last too much longer after their change of heart.

"It is no problem." Diana said to Jasmine. Jasmine produced a small bag of Jewels and handed them to Diana, who pocketed them. The brunette then smiled at her.

"Next time we meet, maybe we should go to Boomslang. I heard that DJ Krill's gonna perform a live concert at the club. I may be able to get us VIP tickets!" Jasmine suggested. Diana would not object to that. She had taken a liking to the club and its atmosphere, especially the music.

"I would be glad to." Diana said to Jasmine.

"Great! Now I know you're busy, so I won't hold you up here. Thanks again for coming by!" Jasmine said to the blonde, opening the door for her so that the mage could leave. Diana carefully walked down the stone stairs and heard Jasmine shut the door. The blonde reached the end of the steps and continued on her way home. She was glad that Jasmine and Kathleen had finally gotten closure, but more importantly she was glad that they would finally be safe from the Corlones.

[Word Count: 800]
[Total Word Count: 800/500]