Los Paraísos: The Flying Albatross

Thunderjerk? Was that an exotic drink or something? The name sounded silly it sent Lucien into a fit of laughter.

The Albatross was a fancy looking restaurant and he made a mental note to find it again later on so he could take a look at the menu. Lucien turned to look at what Estelle was pointing at only to realize that Thunderjerk was a guilder. Was that really his name...if it was then boy, Lucien felt sorry for him. Lucy was much better in comparison, even though it was technically a girl's name. He gave Thunderjerk a wave to be polite before his eyes wandered to the two ladies beside him. They were both really pretty -- wait, what? Was the other one Xan? He blinked in confusion then stared it really was. They had been assigned as partners on a few missions before and man, she was such a killjoy though he guessed they were friends.

Xan hadn't noticed the confused looking summoner yet, instead she was focused on the redhead who had suddenly screamed. Thunderjerk, huh? The name made her smirk, Aria was probably enjoying their leader's suffering. She felt kind of bad for him though and had to give him respect for maintaining his polite demeanor. Dylan walked up to greet them and she gave a bow in return. "It's nice to meet you all, and yes. I'm guessing your the guilders we were assigned to meet as well. I'm Xan and I look forward to working with you all." The guilders looked nice enough, she eyed them all one by one before pausing to stare at Kapi. To be honest, she wasn't fond of animals but the animal in Lisette's arms looked nice enough.

They were a colorful and interesting bunch, that much she could say. Syed gave a greeting and Marcus and Trixie politely assisted them off the bar stools. "Thank you, the pleasure is all ours." Trixie looked a little too young to be a guilder, but Xan didn't say a word. If she was with the guild then Xan didn't doubt the girl's capability. She smiled at the child and gave her a pat on head. "Marcus and Trixie." The girl repeated. "I'll make sure to remember."

Meanwhile, Lucien watched as the ladies began ordering their alcoholic beverages. He would have joined them, but he learned his lesson, so when Syed asked him about a good soft drink he beamed at his friend. "Mountain Dew, or Dr. Pepper...still, you can't go wrong with Coke." The summoner began ordering bottles and bottles of soda and soon enough he walked towards Syed with several bottles cradled in his arms. "You better help me with all this!" He chirped cheerily as he popped open a can and began to drink.Why were they calling the guy Thunderjerk anyways? He was pretty generous and Lucien liked him already.

Before Lucien could think about it some more someone sat down in the chair beside him. Xan wasn't exactly fond of alcohol and decided to go with a can of soda as well.

"Oh, hey, Xan." The summoner greeted with his signature dopey looking grin.

She hadn't noticed him till then, the metallurgist turned her head and for a few moments appeared as if she were stunned. "Lucien..."

"In the flesh and blood," he took a sip of soda, then continued smiling. "Long time no see, oh, yeah! This is Moira-err, boss and Syed."

"It's been a while indeed," She gave Lucien a smile. It'd been almost a year since she last saw him. "Moira, Syed, it's good to meet you." Xandra offered Moira a handshake then when that was done offered Syed her hand as well, but as she stuck her hand in his direction it felt different... Her expression turned into a perplexed one, but she didn't ask any questions and instead gave him a firm shake of the hand.

Los Paraísos: The Flying Albatross



Aria warmly smiled at everyone who introduced themselves, trying to sort out all their names inside her head. Dylan was the polite young man who had greeted them first; Syed was the tall man who had greeted them shortly after while the two in front of her and Xan were…“Thank you Marcus, Trixie,” she nodded and accepted their help in hopping off the bar stool, inwardly cooing at how absolutely adorable everyone was. She sincerely hoped she would become good friends with this bunch of colorful characters, they all seemed to be so fun!

She patted down her dress, smoothing out any wrinkles that may have creased the shimmering fabric when she was sitting down, looking up when she heard Chirp’s sudden statement. She bit back a laugh at how nervous he sounded- looks like he and this group had some history together. A few of the group had taken to ordering quite an amount of drinks from the bar at Chirp’s sudden generosity and she herself took advantage of this proposal, buying two bottles of a very nice and rather expensive wine she had tried a few days ago. She turned to see that the large woman and a blonde woman in a very nice green dress had the same idea as her and Aria briefly wondered if they would be willing to have some kind of drinking party later. It was never that fun drinking alone anyways.

Turning to call Xan over to follow their dear leader to the large tables, Aria paused when she saw that the younger girl was conversing with a member from the large group and from their expression it seemed that the metallurgist knew the man from before. She shrugged to herself, not wanting to interrupt the reunion of some kind she turned back around to follow the ranger to the two larger tables, hoping the meeting wouldn’t take too long. As much as she loved hearing their leader prattle on (hardy-har-har) she didn’t quite fancy the idea of sitting at a table for an entire day.

Los Paraísos

Thunderhawk was being unusually pleasant, to the point that it sounded like it was actually requiring effort on his part. Not exactly a surprise, considering he was surrounded by mostly women, but it was a nice change of pace compared to her more recent memories of him. He didn't even have a retort for Amy's very blunt and very direct comment about his departure.

"Aria, your name is so pretty!" Lisette cooed as she followed the others to the tables. "My name is Lisette, it's super nice to meet you, and oh, this is Kapi! Say hello to the nice Guilder ladies Kapi~" She shook one of Kapi's nubby paws at her.

"Cranberry juice," Selan told the bartender before turning to the new faces in their group. "I'm Selan, it's a pleasure to meet you." she said in her usual polite tone, although she sounded a little more weary than usual. Her drink was placed in front of her with a light thud, the ice tinkling together amongst the ruby red liquid.

She took a single sip and had to cover her mouth in shock; she had forgotten to ask for something non-alcoholic, and due to the copious amounts of alcohol ordered by a few of the others, the bartender must have assumed that was what she wanted as well. There appeared to be vodka mixed in, and not the cheap kind, either. Well, it couldn't hurt... Selan rationalized, and took a slow sip. She normally avoided alcohol, finding it needlessly reckless and unhealthy to partake in, but it just felt like "one of those days". Besides, she felt like less of a party pooper for once, even though Moira and Amy alone probably drank enough for all of them combined.

Lisette gulped down her ginger soda and looked around, feeling a little restless from not really knowing what was going on. From behind her glass, her large eyes shifted from Estelle, to Thunderhawk, to Xandra, to Aria, hoping she'd get to find out how soon they could get their mission over with and start enjoying the water park and buying stuff. She had a purse of Gald just begging to be spent on treats and souvenirs!

Los Paraísos

Thunderhawk settled himself into his seat, watching with trepidation as everyone bought themselves a drink and slowly started to introduce themselves to one another, mingling with smiles and laughter as they took their seats. Things were going pretty well so far, right? Right. Everyone seemed to be happy. Buying everyone a drink seemed to be the right thing to do, and a good first impression-

AMY. AMY WHY BUY THREE BOTTLES.

In hindsight he should have expected this to happen from her, but even then he hadn't-

MOIRA. MOIRA AND ARIA. WHY BUY ANOTHER BOTTLE EACH? YOU COULDN’T ORDER A GLASS LIKE A SENSIBLE PERSON?

Thunderhawk’s hand began to shake with greater intensity. Gone. Gone was all of his money in one fell swoop. He was suddenly reminded just why he had abandoned thes people, and-

OH COME ON NEW GUY WHO I DON’T EVEN KNOW. WHY DO YOU NEED THAT MANY BOTTLES OF SODA? WHAT THE HECK?

The gods were really unpleasant to him today. He… he needed a drink. Badly. But…

Well, he could thank the Pride at least for preventing him from doing so by now emptying all of his purse strings. That was something at least. Maybe… hopefully… he could get a reimbursement from Tiberius later or something. Gods he hoped so. He was the one bankrolling this mission afterall… the client, so… he should be the one paying for business expenses, right? Like their rooms, he paid for all their rooms. He could pay for their drinks too, right? Just… just needed a receipt, maybe, and…



“So what’s going on, Thunderjerk?” Estelle asked, sitting directly opposite him with a bottle of lemonade in her hands, looking up and smiling at him with delight. Thunderhawk’s eye twitched. “What’s the mission?”

“Ah… that’s right… the mission…” Thunderhawk hissed with gritted teeth. That’s right, focus on the mission. Focus on the positives too, like how even though the Pride had just rendered him dirt poor… he was the one in charge now. He was the mission leader here. He didn’t to follow Stella’s leadership anymore, as utterly brain-dead and bizarre as the notion of an experienced Guilder such as himself was in following a G ranked rookie in the first place. Now… now she, and the rest of them, had to follow his guide. And so it was, he’d be able to show them all what a good leader and guilder he actually was. To turn any preconceived, negative opinions of him around.

He cleared his throat, turning all eyes and ears towards him. After closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath, they flicked open, revealing a new man brimming with determination and seriousness. A man focused on the task in front of him.

“The mission is this: Young women around the island have been going missing...”

A brief silence followed, with everyone seated devoting their attention to the Ranger… their thoughts briefly away from the tropical paradise they were in, and to the mission at hand. Waiting for the details to be brought to light.

Thunderhawk instead folded his hands and exhaled heavily, leaning back into his seat and closing his eyes. “That’s it. Any questions?”

Los Paraísos: The Flying Albatross

Together the group made their way over to a table, stopping only to get some drinks from the bartender. Thuderhawk had graciously offered to pay for them, which Dylan was sure he immediately regretted when Amy, Moria, and Aria all ordered by the bottle (and some of them multiple!). Unable to resist the allure of a tropical drink, Dylan gladly put a Pina Colada on the tab, but made a note to accept only one drink from Thunderhawk.

Whatever he had done in the past, Dylan was not going to aid in the bankrupting of the Guilder.

Soon enough they were all settled down, Dylan’s icy drink in hand, and eagerly waiting to hear the important mission that Tiberius had sent them on. He lifted the drink up, taking a small sip and enjoying the rich mix of tropical flavors, though he was still able to taste the alcohol through it. Damn, they made their drinks strong here in Los Paraísos!

Then Thunderhawk cleared his throat, and Dylan dutifully turned his attention to the man. What could the mission be? Clearly it was important if Tiberius diverted them from finding the Guild Leaders.

“The mission is this: Young women around the island have been going missing...”, Thunderhawk began, “That’s it. Any questions?”

“Yes!” Dylan exclaimed, “of course we have questions! How many women? Since when? Where did they go missing from?” He held up his hands in supplication. “Yes, yes, I get that you’re our contact here, but that’s not exactly a wealth of information. You’ve got to have more.”

Los Paraisos: The Flying Albatross
Xan's expression wasn't the only one which became confused. Sy too became visibly puzzled when the pair shook hands. He couldn't tell until they made physical contact with one another, but something felt a little odd. Not physically, but magically. What the?

He then caught sight of her expression before he quickly released his grip. That was wierd. "Haha..." he didn't know what to do with himself anymore, and it was painfully obvious. "Probably static... yeah. Sorry about that." With a quick forced smile he quickly averted his eyes back to Thunderhawk, cupping his hands around his soda nervously.

Moira pulled a face. Well, that was probably the most awkward introduction ever. She shrugged at Lucien. Fuck if she knew what happened.

Well, time for the briefing. Moira sighed and rolled her eyes. Eh, Sy will have it. She'll just enjoy her wine. She took a sip. Oh bloody hell she was right to trust Amy's judgement. This stuff was better than the wine she shared with Harrison at Museo! She could almost hear the chorus of the angels already. How expensive was this stuff?!

“The mission is this: Young women around the island have been going missing..." A pause. "That’s it. Any questions?”

Moira was seconds away from spraying a mouthful of wine across the table, the bottle just touching her lips. Instead she stared wide eyed, before slamming her bottle on the table. "You what?!" She didn't even have time to stop paying attention! This was worse than Fenaru! "Fuckin hell...!"

Syed started coughing, having to push his chair back to allow himself to double over. Ow ow ow ow! Unfortunately for him he was in mid-sip, and instead of spitting out his drink it went down the wrong way. He spluttered as someone slapped his back to help him out. What? Was that it? Literally that?

Thankfully Dylan had already started to indeed ask questions; the really obvious sort which should have been told in the first place. "Yeah people don't just... vanish in thin air," Moira scowled, before bringing her head back and taking another gulp of wine. There had to be something.

After thudding his chest a little, Syed's coughing fit lessened enough for him to add a couple of questions of his own. "Do we at least know anything about the women?" He coughed again, eyes watering with pain as he did so. He'll be okay, he'll be okay. "Like, if they're locals or tourists? If they have anything in common?"

Los Paraísos

Well, Thunderhawk certainly put the 'brief' in briefing. Selan reached for her glass at the explanation and took a long, drawn-out sip, seemingly deep in thought.

Lisette looked... confused. She fidgeted with her hands as the others asked the pertinent questions that would follow such a troubling revelation. Her childish demeanor faded somewhat as her natural fondness for investigating and doling out justice came back to the surface. It was, after all, the reason why she begged and begged her father to allow her to become a Guilder.

"Why would they go missing?" she asked. She wasn't completely clueness, and knew about the dangers that women and girls could potentially face in crowded places like this, but the possible 'whys' were eluding her. "Can we get some kind of list of the missing persons?"

Los Paraísos: The Flying Albatross

Like Moira, Amy too leaned back in her chair somewhat, legs crossed and wine glass casually brought to her lips. She raised a brow as Thunderhawk began to relay information about their mission: simply put, finding missing women - and... wait. That wasn't even it. The mission was just "women are missing" - not to dissect clues to their whereabouts, not to interview suspects, not even to scout out the missing persons in question.

Yeah, Amy had a question - what the fuck kind of a debriefing was this? Even she had no idea what facial expression she was supposed to take at this point, so she just continued sipping away at her wine (the three bottles lingering by her feet) while the other guilders shot questions left and right like a game of ping pong.

"Any questions?"

"Yes, of course we have questions! How many women? Since when? Where did they go missing from?"

"Do we at least know anything about the women? Like, if they're locals or tourists? If they have anything in common?"

"Why would they go missing? Can we get some kind of list of the missing persons?"

As if they were in a classroom, Trixie thrust up her hand high in the air and began waving it. "Ooh, ooh! Is this a question game? I'm good at those. Hey, hey Thunderpig, are they just playing hide-n-seek? Oh! What's the area limit for how far they can hide? Have you tried calling out olly-olly-oxen-free yet?"

Moira had already nearly shattered her bottle with an earlier slam; Amy took care not to shatter her own glass by the same manner. Though as it shook within her grasp, her other hand immediately curled into a trembling fist. She spoke in a hushed tone through gritting teeth, with eyes scrunched shut. It was impossible to be in the same room as Thunderhawk and Trixie. "Trixie could you not be two years old for just one day. Please." Amy then looked to her companion, forcing a smile. Trixie pursed her lips, knowing very well what that one meant. "First impressions, kiddo."

The prankster crossed her arms tightly before turning away from the table, her cheeks puffed. The prankster may have been sixteen, but with her density and how calmly and little detailed Thunderpig presented the matter at hand, their "mission" was not something she could even comprehend as serious. At all. "'Least I'm not an old fart. Old fart."

"Fuh. Sorry." Amy said, keeping her eyes rather narrowed as she returned to drinking her wine, keeping the glass close to her lips all the while. Her foot began to tap the air as she waited for answers. Everyone else seemed to have knocked down the basic questions, which hopefully someone had the answers to so they knew where to start. But now the wait on what exactly the situation at hand was began to sink in. Just how dire was it? What kinds of connections did the missing women have? Did... Thunderhawk even actually know the other details? This was Thunderhawk they were talking to.

Though she said nothing more, Amy's eyes wandered to Aria and Xandra next. Perhaps those two could offer something relatively useful instead.

Los Paraísos: The Flying Albatross

That was it? Aria stared at Thunderhawk in complete befuddlement much like the rest of the group did before questions started being pelted in the blond ranger’s way. So this was why he refused to tell her about the mission when she pressed him for it earlier- He had a total of a sentence’s worth more of information than she did. As much as she wanted a quick meeting, this was unacceptable.

She leaned back, watching as everyone expressed their displeasure. Could he be holding something back from them? It didn’t seem like it. Still, he had to have something else right? Like the number of missing people or any common features about the disappearances, like the others were asking about.

Aria leaned back, crossing her arms and catching the eye of the blonde woman who had ordered the three bottles of wine looking at her questioningly. She shrugged in response apologetically before turning back to their mission leader.

“I’m with these guys, Chirps,” she frowned at him rather sternly. “you gave us no information to go on. You didn’t even tell us what our mission is!” She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. “Do you want us to go look for the missing women? Do you want to put everyone in dresses and wigs to act as bait to catch the guilty party? Do you want us to go kidnap more women to add to the list of missing people?”

Moira pulled a face and Lucien just shrugged in response, whatever had happened, he didn't understand it.

He took another gulp of soda, enjoying the tingling feeling it left in his mouth. Tiberius and Thunderjerk were really nice people. He continued drinking can after can of soda, in fact he had already emptied two cans before their leader made his announcement. Wait...so that was it? He was expecting an information dump. That was why he ordered so many cans in the first place, so he wouldn't fall asleep or get bored when Thunderjerk decided to dump the information on their heads.

"Geez, that's not exactly a lot of information." The summoner rubbed the back of his head before looking around the room. Trixie and Amy began to argue and a few glasses were slammed onto the table, then came question and answer and it didn't seem as if Thunderjerk knew much, so much for being their leader.

His eyes flitted to Aria then Xan, they didn't seem to know much either. Oh, well. At least they'd get to play detective, but the thought of people going missing in a nice place like Los Paraisos upset him. So much for a vacation...then the woman in the red dress started suggesting things and without thinking Lucien blurted out an answer.

"Wigs and dresses sound nice, we could go incognito then, WHAM, we catch them." He slammed a fist into his open palm. Wait...was she being serious or not? His dopey smile was once again very out of place. He just never learned. "You were serious, yeah? I think it's a grand idea."



The puzzled look on Syed's face mimicked her own, and it was indeed an awkward greeting. "Sorry," she had mumbled, unsure of what to do as well. Static? So he was an electric mage then. Xan nodded her head before heading back to her seat. She took a sip of lemon soda then focused her attention on Thunderhawk.

“The mission is this: Young women around the island have been going missing...”

Really, that was all he had to say? She had been expecting more from a guilder of his rank. Where was the plan, the strategy, the inside information and the little details that mattered? He had given them a sentence and nothing more. No trail, no additional information, no nothing. Xandra let out a sigh, why did she always get stuck with the clueless ones? Questions were tossed across the room and at one point the blonde woman turned to look at her. Xan simply shook her head because Thunderhawk hadn't told them anything, and now she understood why he hadn't. Their leader didn't have much info himself.

"Can we get some kind of list of the missing persons?"

Xan turned to look at the girl with the pet then spoke up too. "A list would help, do we have any photos? Do we even know what the missing people look like? Honestly, just knowing people are missing won't get us anywhere. Do we even have leads?"

Los Paraísos: The Flying Albatross

The loudest sigh ever to be audited in the world was given in that restaurant. Thunderhawk’s shoulders and chest sagged enormously after the reactions of his peers, and the relentless barrage of questions that followed. He didn’t really understand what was so hard about understanding the details of the mission. Women were going missing. Damsels in distress. They go and rescue them. What was so hard about that?

Question after question, no pause or time for the man to even reply. He tried his best to mentally catalogue every single question as best he could… which was surprisingly successful given that he was sobre for once.

But the tirade of questions needed to stop.

A shaking hand slammed against the table.

“Okay, okay, hold your goddamn horses, the lot of you,” Thunderhawk spoke up, eyeing each and every one of the assembled Guilders here in turn. His eyes and fingers then flicked to the first to ask questions – that strange blonde haired man he didn’t recognise who looked far too pretty then a man should.

“I don’t know how many women, or how long this has been going on for, and only an idea where they were taken from! Next!” He shouted, as if answering the question properly, before then turning his attention to the next person. Syed!

“We only know small bits and pieces from some informants who were friends of these missing people! They’re both locals and tourists! Next!”

The finger then darted to Selan, with Thunderhawk stopping for a split second. Hesitating as he looked at the woman before him, and the particularly bad experience he had had with her when they first met. An experience that neither of them had ever really recovered from. But then, it was kind of hard to forgive and forget allowing a bandit to kidnap you. Thunderhawk’s voice turned a pitch higher, and his eyes avoided Selan’s. “…don’t know the exact reason why, but it’s not really hard to imagine… is it?”

“NEXT!” His fingers were a flurry again, this time settling on Trixie and the prankster’s assault of ludicrous questions that had earlier been silenced by Amy. “…they could be playing hide and seek but I very much doubt it. Most of these women don’t know each other and strangers don’t play hide and seek together! Area seems to be the entire island! …maybe! I haven’t tried calling out olly-olly-oxen free yet, but maybe that will work! NEXT!”

Aria. Aria, Aria, Aria. He could feel the veins in his temples bulge and anxiety overcome him already. She did say one thing that Thunderhawk had been considering, however… “Our mission from Tiberius is to find and recover the women and figure out what’s going on! And yes! You’re absolutely right! Our mission is to go out and capture more women! …you idiot.” He turned back round to Trixie and Lisette. “That was a joke, by the way.”

He spiralled around again, this time looking towards Lucien, and just staring at the dopey man. No, he wasn't even going to entertain this weirdo's strange fantasies one iota. His head turned again, looking now to Xandra, who stared back at him with an expressionless face, just blinking back to him.

”We… actually do have a partial list, and some photos, actually. Thank you for reminding me, Xandra.” Thunderhawk finally started to cool down, reaching into one of his belt’s pouches and pulling out a bundle of creased and torn papers, throwing them down onto the table in front. Estelle’s eyes darted down to the documents lying before her.

“Okay, so… we’ll do this seriously now then, shall we?” Thunderhawk leaned back in his seat, folding his arms.

“We’ll go over this, from the top, I guess. I’ll explain my story... A couple of weeks ago I was in Altego, dealing with a couple of missions when I was then contacted by Tiberius, who-”

“CUT THE LIFE STORY” Moira bellowed.

“…had a mission for me. He wanted me to come here, to Los Paraisos, to deal with a problem that was going on here. Los Paraisos doesn’t have a Guild, and the island is, in fact, out of the Artar Kingdom. I’m not sure how many of you actually paid attention to that on the boat ride here, but it’s true. This resort serves as a neutral zone between Artar and our neighbouring countries… and so it’s in its own jurisdiction. It maintains its own security, and the like. Which means, working as a Guilder, its hard to get any information about this problem. The island officials have said they’re looking into it and are dealing with the matter, and officially Guilders are forbidden to poke their nose in and conduct any investigation. …but as I’m sure you can imagine… that’s not going to stop someone like Tiberius from doing what he wants.”




“That explains the lack of information,” Marcus interjected, taking a sip from his coffee. The Wind Mage had been silent throughout this whole exchange, waiting in silence for the real discussion, and information to be handled. “It also means we need to be really careful with how we act here, because we don’t have the Guild to back up or support us. So that means, stay out of trouble everyone.”

“Marcus, why are you looking at me?” Estelle’s eyes narrowed.

“He’s right. That list there is what Tiberius gave me, and that’s only the people we know are missing from our country. I figure there’s got to be loads more, but we just don’t know… and Tiberius wants us to find out.”

“Hmm…” Marcus thoughts considered the information carefully. He had a question, but thought it best to save for later. It wasn’t exactly prudent at this time, not in the grand scheme of things.

“I’ve been trying to gain some information. Asking locals, and hotel staff, but… it’s tricky, y’know. Everyone’s kind of tight lipped, and they don’t like strangers butting their nose into things and ruining what’s supposed to be a happy time for people here.” Thunderhawk shrugged. “That’s why it’s got to be run carefully.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Estelle asked.

“Honestly? I’m not sure. I’ve been thinking about that. I know of a couple of prominent spots where women have gone missing, so casing them tonight might be our best shot. Of course, doing that with just the three of us before was easier said then done, but with you guys that should be easier. You could ask around the place too, if you want, but I don’t think you’ll get much more info then I did.” Thunderhawk replied, scratching his chin.

“Hmm… y’know, I’ve been trying to figure out for a while now why Tiberius set me up with Aria and Xandra…” Thunderhawk mused. “And seeing you guys here now, I think I know why. I think he’s planning what Aria said, for you guys to be bai-”

WHAM

“We’re not getting kidnapped!” Estelle screamed, his fist implanted in the toppling ranger’s face.

“Ughhhh…” The fallen Ranger groaned.

“…ah!” Estelle suddenly became aware of her surroundings again, realising everyone’s eyes were on her. Not just the Pride’s, and not just Aria and Xandra, but the whole restaurant. Marcus’ face was cupped in his palm. “Um! Um! I’m sorry Thunderjer- hawk! Thunderhawk! I’m sorry! Ah, let me help you get back up!”

Estelle started scrambling over the table, only for Thunderhawk to wave her back. “No, no it’s okay.” He replied, shocking the Pride with a reaction none of them could have anticipated. “I… guess I deserved that? Whatever, it’s no big deal. …you’ve gotten pretty strong though, huh?”

The short and stocky man got back up to his feet, dusting himself down and wiping the trickle of blood pouring from his nose.

“That’s… the kind of strength I think we might need to solve this case. Anyway, that’s it. I don’t really have any orders for you guys for the rest of the day. If anything, I think its best you guys just… relaxed. Take the rest of afternoon to explore the place and have some fun before we go to work tonight. You guys also need to check in, right? Tiberius got us some pretty good rooms, actually.”

“Aria. Xandra. Go with them. You guys know the area, right? Should be able to help them around… and get to know one another. You guys could probably have a bit of fun too.” Thunderhawk turned, walking away towards the bar to settle the tab. “We’ll all meet again at the Pellagio lobby at 6pm. Don’t be late, and be dressed good and ready to work.”

“Wow… we have the day off…?” Estelle blinked in surprise, before then jumping off her seat and turning around. “Hey! What about you? Don’tcha wanna hang with us too?”

“No, I’ve got some more important things to do,” Thunderhawk replied, paying the man and then walking to the exit, his hand waving over his shoulder before he left, a short whisper too quiet for any of the others to hear. “Like banging my head against a wall...”

Los Paraísos: The Flying Albatross

It appeared that Dylan’s questions had opened a floodgate as the rest of the Pride - as well as the two new girls - immediately jumped down Thunderhawk’s throat in an attempt to illustrate how ludicrously underprepared the de facto leader seemed to be. Thankfully, though, Thunderhawk stopped the barrage of questions and addressed each of them in turn. His answers were sparse, leaving Dylan even more worried until he finally said that he did indeed have a partial list of missing women.

“Well, at least it’s something to work with,” Dylan said, his voice regaining some of his cheer as he sipped at his Pina Colada. Unfortunately from his position he couldn’t really see the documents and pictures, but just knowing they had something was a huge relief. Which was immediately shattered by the realization that they didn’t actually have any jurisdiction in Los Paraísos.

He didn’t know whether to feel nervous or excited. On one hand what they were doing was probably illegal if well intentioned, and they could easily end up making things worse by working against the officials. But...it was also so cool. This made them the rebel heroes, working in the shadows to aid the incompetent legal system. “Hey Trix,” he whispered underneath the flow of the conversation, “you know what this makes us? Superheroes! Masked vigilantes investigating the mysterious disappearances.”

Damn, this would make such a good story!

Suddenly Thunderhawk was knocked down, Estelle standing over him in anger. The sudden action snapped Dylan out of his fantasies. What had he missed? Well it probably didn’t matter, since Estelle quickly smoothed it over and the meeting came to an end.

Aria. Xandra. Go with them. You guys know the area, right? Should be able to help them around… and get to know one another. You guys could probably have a bit of fun too,” Thunderhawk advised. “Don’t be late, and be dressed good and ready to work.”

“Dressed good?” Dylan echoed in confusion. “Do you mean dressed fancy or dressed prepared for a stakeout? And just how are we supposed to have fun? Women are going missing, we should be doing something right away!”

Los Paraisos: The Flying Albatross
Moira rolled her eyes and leaned back even more as Thunderhawk spoke. To be honest, she had already sort of drowned out most of the questions being thrown about. She really wasn't interested in the answers either. All she wanted to know was where and when and she'd be there.

It didn't look like she was getting even that right now.

Syed took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his furrowed eyebrows twitching. Perhaps unsuprisingly, Thunderhawk was somehow worse when in charge. What the hell did he expect?! He was the one who said 'that's it', if he had more to say he should have said it! He pushed a hand through his hair. Was he baiting them? Trying to wind them up? If he was, it was working. For him at least. It was taking all he had to not start sparking up.

Instead he decided to browse through the crumpled and torn paperwork, trying to find anything they might have in common. Race, class, even just hair colour. If it was something like he was thinking of, he would imagine there would be a... type. The thought made him sick, but as usual his brain leapt straight for the worst situation possible.

He continued to listen throughout though, trying his best to not let Thunderhawk's sometimes patronising manner get to him. Although the knowledge that Guilders were forbidden to work here was new to him. He thought that there must have been some sort of arrangement. Well, that put a spanner in the works.

Moira blinked a couple of times. Awareness was never her forte. "We're... not in Artar?" she stared, her eyes wide. Her mind was blown. She had never left Artar before. "Why didn't anyone say anythin' earlier?"

She would have probably stood at the front of the boat bellowing about crossing the border if she did.

Even she pulled a face a little at the idea of setting up some of the group as bait though. Thank fuck Estelle shot that one down. Everyone bar Amy was younger than her son. The thought of offering up girls young enough to be her daughters as a trap to fuck knows what... no. No, fuck that. She trusted her friends in situations of life or death before, but this was different. A glance to Syed (who was absolutely glowering at the spot Thunderhawk was before Estelle clocked him) confirmed that his thoughts were along the same lines. They both opposed it.

They had no backup after all.

And with that they were to split up and relax, with the intention of meeting up later. Which Dylan quickly protested. "Our best chance is probably at night, love," Moira sighed. Well, she guessed that was why. She sat back and downed some more of her wine.

Syed glared at nobody in particular. Even if that was the case, but how the hell could he relax or have fun with something like this on his mind?

Los Paraísos: The Flying Albatross

So there was at least some information on the women, no matter how incomplete it was. This was the first she had heard about the resort being independent from Artar, but like Chirps said it was hard to dissuade Tiberius when his mind was made up. In other words this wasn’t just a simple rescue mission or anything, it seemed like the group would have to do some information gathering as well. She gave a small grin- she did prefer these kinds of missions to those that required more brute force than brains. Not to mention if they ended up needing bait she could always-

WHAM

Aria jumped slightly, the loud crash and scream having distracted her from her thoughts as she stared at where the red-headed girl had just planted her face in Thunderhawk’s face. He was surprisingly calm about the whole matter as he got to his feet, dismissing for the day and leaving the restaurant but not before instructing for her and Xan to help the newcomers find their way around the resort.

Murmurs rose from the rest of the group as a rather grim atmosphere fell over the two tables, the others discussing the matter at hand as she watched on. With the ranger gone it seemed she and Xan would be assuming guide/temporary leader duty. After a short moment she stood abruptly and stretched, before clapping her hands together to get everyone’s attention. “Well, you all heard Chirps. How about we all head to the hotel before enjoying our free day?” Before anyone could protest against relaxing when such an important matter was at hand she lowered her voice so the people around them couldn’t hear her and quickly continued on. “I’m not saying that we should forget about the disappearances for today, but we are at a resort and if we go out and start interrogating people we’re going look suspicious, get found out and maybe deported, botching the entire mission.” Judging by what Thunderhawk had said they would have to be careful about not being found out as being Guilders. “Instead we could go out, have fun and mingle with the people here to try to get more information from them. People’s lips are looser when they’re relaxed and enjoying themselves, after all.” She crossed her arms and nodded wisely as if she was imparting important wisdom to the masses, before grinning. “Now that’s all sorted out, let’s get you all checked in and prepared to hit the beach or casino or water park or wherever you guys might want to go! It’s not every day you get a chance to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Paraísos!”

Los Paraísos

"We're... not in Artar?" Moira balked, blinking rapidly.

"Nope, we're pretty far southeast, kind of close to my country," Lisette said, running her finger over the condensation collected on the outside of her soda can. "There are people from all over the place, I could tell by the outfits they wear. They're made with fabrics and dyes from plants native to their regions..."

The conversation turned to their next move, which was decided to be attempting to enjoy themselves despite knowing there were multiple women missing, and virtually no leads to go on. As much as Lisette wanted to enjoy that water slide, she wanted to conduct an investigation!

“Instead we could go out, have fun and mingle with the people here to try to get more information from them. People’s lips are looser when they’re relaxed and enjoying themselves, after all.”

Aria was right, and both Lisette and Selan nodded in agreement.

Along with several others, Selan heavily opposed the idea of using any of the girls as bait. Considering all of the unknown factors of their mission, it seemed enormously unwise to put any of them in that kind of situation, unless they could handle themselves. Although Thunderhawk nonchalantly allowed Selan herself to be kidnapped back in Tabul, even she found herself in over her head when trying to save herself, and likely would have perished in the castle collapse if it hadn't been for...

Selan realized she had been steadily drinking her cocktail during this train of thought, and promptly put the glass down on the table. She was done for now.

"Very well, let's get ourselves checked in. I'd like to go to the beach, myself." She could a nice lie-down under an umbrella, to give herself time to relax and sober up a little. Not being one to drink often, her tolerance level was rather pathetic, and the beginnings of a tipsy feeling were already creeping up.

"Someone has to come to the water park with me!" Lisette cried, scooping up Kapi and her bags and getting to her feet.

Los Paraisos: The Flying Albatross
“I’m not saying that we should forget about the disappearances for today, but we are at a resort and if we go out and start interrogating people we’re going look suspicious, get found out and maybe deported, botching the entire mission. Instead we could go out, have fun and mingle with the people here to try to get more information from them. People’s lips are looser when they’re relaxed and enjoying themselves, after all.”

Syed's expression immediately softened. He didn't think of that. He just... urgh, yeah, calm down. Stop letting stupid things get to you. He focused instead on Aria, giving her a small smile. Thank the gods she had more of a level head than he did. "Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you."

Moira shrugged. Yeah, there was that too. In fact that probably made more sense than her thought that they were just going to lurk around wherever they were told to and pounce on anyone who looked a bit dodgy.

Syed finished his soda, stood up and pushed his chair back under the table, before slinging his bag back over his shoulder. "Come on then, the sooner we get rid of our stuff the better." His eyes cast over her sword - the thing was so huge, and it was really starting to worry him now they had the knowledge that they weren't actually supposed to be here. People don't tend to carry weapons while on holiday, and there were a few people in their group with them.

Moira said nothing for a moment, bringing her bottle once more to her lips. Well so far they had some for the waterpark, some for the beach. She supposed if they were supposed to be gathering information, it'd be better if they split into smaller groups than one big one. Also screw the idea of a waterpark.

"I won't mind trying out some of the bars," she said nonchalantly as she squinted at the label on her bottle. Bloody hell she didn't even know what half of the words on here were. She turned to Aria and Xan. "You reckon there's some bars on the beach? I won't mind the beach either if it's got bars."

She then looked up to her partner, who was starting to look a little fidgity. Urgh, fine. She too got up, her chair scraping loudly against the floor. She kept her grip on her bottle, however. "Alright then, ready when you lot are."

Los Paraísos: The Flying Albatross

The harsh reality of the situation at hand soon began to kick in on Trixie after Estelle pretty much screamed "kidnapped" at the top of her lungs. Oh... oh no, kidnapped? They're not children-victims, are they? Before the thought process could manifest any further, Dylan caught the worry on her face and quickly put an end to it. He leaned towards her and cooed, “Hey Trix, you know what this makes us? Superheroes! Masked vigilantes investigating the mysterious disappearances.”

To which Trixie immediately grinned back. "Really? Ya think so?" The man proceeded to dismiss the idea of enjoying the park's attractions - just like a real superhero would, right? Sacrificing free time to save others, even if the saving process is really complicated? She looked to Estelle next, though she looked like she wanted to take the day off like Thunderpig and Mister Tiber suggested. Soon enough the others spoke up too, wishing to divide their interests and take off towards the beach, water park, bars...

"Psst." Trixie cupped her mouth as she leaned back towards the matter artist. She paused for a moment, scrunching up her face as if trying to remember something first before continuing to pester the young man - as well as the young lady seated not too far from him. "Psssst, Dy-lan. Oh and pretty lady"—she waved emphatically towards Xandra—"hey, you too! Looks like everyone's gonna go out and have fun before we prepare to wrap up the mission like a present. Cuz we coo', we got dis. So whatchu guys plan to do now then?"

As much as she wanted to see Syed zap everyone at the waterpark and turn them into dead fish, it seemed like with Moira that was definitely not going to be the case. Going to the waterpark sounded kinda boring now - but she wasn't much a beach person either. And last time she tried to follow Amy into bars she got kicked out, quite literally and quite painfully. So maybe these two had a better idea of fun?



While Aria gave solid reasoning behind why they should enjoy their day over rushing to locating the missing women, Amy watched, intrigued. "Smart girl," she winked. "I like her already." The mission was a pretty dire one, and it could get worse if they sat by the sidelines - but it wouldn't do them any good to get themselves kicked out right away either. So what better way to enjoy their "vacation" at the famous Los Paraísos than to get absolutely smashed?

As expected, Moira seemed to be on the same level as well. Without Tiberius' (and Thunderhawk's) offers to pay, the duo are living the dream they couldn't even think of back at home. "Hah! Bar-hopping already - all paid for too? This day could not get any better." She grinned widely at Moira, only for her to return facing the table again and finishing her glass. Right. That curse thing between her and Syed - the mage was going to be there too, wasn't he? He didn't seem much like the drinking type, either. Oh well. They'd have to change that before he tries to stop them himself. Hah.

She looked back towards Aria and raised her glass at her. Amy was never particularly outgoing until she joined the Pride basically everywhere they went, and with the day being basically their holiday, she was more eager than ever to spend the day with some friends - new and old. "Hey. You seem like a girl who knows how to hold her drink. You fancy a little bar-hopping with Moira and myself? I'm Amy, by the way."

Thunderjerk began answering questions right and left before he dismissed them. They wouldn't be meeting up till later at night, so they had the rest of the day off.

The thought of having some fun in the sun was nice, but hearing about so many missing people had put a damper on what was supposed to be a problem free day. Still, there was no use disagreeing. They'd have to wait till evening before they could start their investigation. The lady in the red dress confirmed what Thunderjerk had said and Lucien nodded. She made a very good point. It was a once in lifetime opportunity, getting a fully paid Vacation to a place like Los Paraisos. "Alright, sounds like a plan to me." He grinned at Thunderjerk then at Aria and Xan. He couldn't wait to dominate some waves and just soak up some sun.

Selan stated that she wanted to go the beach and Lucien grinned cheerily in response. "I'm tagging along. Surf and sun, here I come."



He expected them to relax while people were missing? The idea was a challenge to accept, but orders were orders and it would be just bad if they got themselves kicked out.

Nighttime would be best and despite how silly he seemed, Thunderhawk was higher in rank than any of them. Surely, he knew what he was doing, right? Well, she hoped he did. Xandra would have let her thoughts wonder if not for Moira asking about good bars. The girl blinked at the older woman before nodding her head. "Yes, you can find a lot of good ones near the beach, though wine is Aria's forte." She gave her friend a small smile and there was a mischievous glint in her eyes. She'd rather Aria showed them around if they were looking for bars. Xan smiled at Moira and Amy. "I'm sure she'll be happy to show you around."

The mettalurgist didn't really have any plans. She'd probably just show their new companions around or something.

"hey, you too! Looks like everyone's gonna go out and have fun before we prepare to wrap up the mission like a present. Cuz we coo', we got dis. So whatchu guys plan to do now then?"
She turned her head to see Trixie and the polite young man from earlier. Wait where they talking to her? Trixie waved and she waved back before giving them both a quizzical look. "Hm, nothing really? Aria and I are going to show you to your hotels...then," she hesitated for a moment. They seemed nice, "if you don't mind, I might tag along." She nodded her head and gave both of them a smile. They were a lively bunch and it was an interesting change of pace.

Los Paraísos: The Strip

The trip to the hotel Pellagio was, thankfully, a short one. Passing out from the Flying Albatross and into the bustling crowds and heat again, The Pride followed Aria and Xandra’s guide, after Lisette momentary confusion in trying to remember where it was. On and on the group travelled the short distance to the plush and expensive hotel, with Estelle quickly stopping at a nearby vendor on the way to order a delicious ice cream.

The Pellagio was unlike anything they’d ever seen before. A giant, elaborate fountain in the front of the hotel shot forth many bursts of water, the droplets coalescing and transforming into wild and beautiful, colourful shapes. Of warriors with swords on horseback, charging against might leviathans. To serene and graceful figures, dancing atop the water’s edge and more.

Estelle’s eyes were so focused on the brilliant scene, that she almost walked smack into the Pellagio’s front doors, until she was stopped by Aria darting just in front to open them for the group, and one by one they all filed into the hotel. Estelle’s jaw gaped open in wonderment and disbelief, at how tall the ceiling above extended, floors upon floors of rooms overlooking the lobby below. The intricacies and details… all of it was just… absolutely amazing.

And then Estelle, and all of her friends were then suddenly shocked out of their senses.

“Brooooos! What’s shaking? You’re finally here! Awesome! You guys sure took your time though, huh?”

Rocking his body to either side as he strode towards them was none other then the man himself, a cheesy grin plastered on his face and two pina coladas held in either hand. The man was sporting the swankiest pair of shades to ever grace the world, and rocked a sweet as could be open tropical Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts and flip flops. He extended the two glasses out, one for Amy and one for Selan, handing them over before waiting for them to reciprocate, before then spinning on the spot and kicking one hip and leg out, stopping before the assembled Pride in one of the man’s trademark, fabulous poses.



“Eyyyy~ I missed you guys!” Don’s teeth sparkled. His eyes then widened and blinked, as he looked over the rim of his shades and spotted the two new strangers. His smile grew more brilliant. “And who are you girls?”

“Shall we get checked in?” Marcus asked the rest of his companions in the Pride, not missing a beat or step and continuing straight on to the reception desk.

“Ooh! Ooh! I wonder what the rooms look like?!” Estelle skipped beside her friend.

The Pride would take thirty minutes to check in, find their rooms and settle down their luggage, taking some time to acclimatise to their surroundings and get ready for their day’s activities. Meanwhile, Don was left to entertain Xandra and Aria… in the way only he knew how.

“So... who are you guys?” Don asked amidst a bright grin.

Los Paraísos: The Strip

"Where have you been!? If you want to keep running off, then that's fine by me, but stop coming back like this!"

... At least, that's what Selan was saying in her head. Her hands wrapped around the frosty, almost criminally-large glass, and gave him a reluctant "Thank you." She took a small sip of the drink through its red straw -- Of course it's alcoholic.

She gave Don a dull expression and walked straight to the reception desk to get her room key.

---

Los Paraísos: Selan's Room

Selan flipped on the light switch and put her drink on the nightstand. It was a very nice room, she had to admit; much bigger than her "home" back at the Guild in Clockwork, and the furnishings were lovely. It all had to be expensive, and wondered if all Rank A Guilders were capable of affording places like this.

Aside from taking a brief moment to glare at the mini-bar in the corner of the room, she didn't take too much time getting ready. She plopped her bags down next to her bed, reapplied her sunscreen, grabbed a towel and a beach umbrella, picked up her drink, and headed back down to the lobby to wait for her beach companions.

Los Paraísos: The Strip

She found Lisette back downstairs already as well, looking positively giddy; she would have doubted that the girl had even gone to her room at all if it weren't for her bags being absent, and she had a towel clutched in her hands as well.

"You're going to like the water park, Kapi!" she was saying to the capybara. "They've got a big water slide, and maybe they'll let you sit in those little pools for babies and stuff!"