sasha

"it is" Sasha said simply to Trinity's question, leaving it at that for now, but her expression seemed graver then before. She sat down again, and waited anxiously to reach magnolia.

As they did, and Prince scooped Lazarous up, Sasha trotted along behind him, but as he passed Lazarous lver to Shujin, Sasha blinked, ice princess still ringing through her mind. She didn't even get a chance to say to Prince, dont call me that before he was gone, darting in the guild like there was something amazing in there.

She sighed. In the two days after helping Liana, the edolas guild hadn't seen any sign of Edolas Karn, and Sasha suspected that she was gone, dead. And the last time Sasha had spoken with the Edolas version, she had slapped her.

She wouldn't be sorry for that, but she could still feel guilty. So when Prince called her Ice Princess, it only made things worse. She looked to Lazarus, remembering that she needed to get the herbs, but as she entered the guold, and saw Primce hugging a stranger, she stopped dead.

"excuse me, but I was under the impression that you were going to help Lazarus, as you seem to be the only one who knows how!" she said, once more not caring that she was making a scene. And she didn't care about the amusing scene. Lazarus could die, and the big cat man was hugging someone! It was just too much, ontop of everything else.

She drew in a deep breath, recognizing the hysteric that was pretty much controlling her, but she couldn't seem to stop it. Couldnt seem to calm. "just please"a catch in her voice made her stop for a second, and she took another breath "help Lazarus, and hug your boy toy later" with that, she darted up to her room, and found the herbs, coming back down the stairs.

Amaya managed to land safely on the ground falling to one knee but managing to get back up as she face planed herself when Nolan canceled out all the effort she and floe placed into having the sand mage frozen "Damnit Nolan! You completely ruined the frozen prison me and flow managed to catch the guy in...We had him!"She yelled angerly to the God slayer as she wanted to hurt him for ruining all she and floe did to try capturing the guy.

Amaya wiped some sweat from her brow. In this environment she was not the best person to have as she was currently fighting fatigue and the possibility of passing out from this heat. "Either help us and not destroy our attacks or stay out of the way"She added not managing it as a threat but this needed to end soon.

"oh great."she whispered digging her feet into the sand to get a better stance" ice dragon's wing"she said as she ran a hand along her arms encasing them in ice as the temperature in the sand storm around her dropped dramatically" Perfect"she said taking a defensive stance. She took deep breaths before striking out at each coil freezing each one in a large glacier soon having a small frozen hide away. She soon sat down the middle of the frozen glacier hideaway taking in the cold air,hoping that it will help her just long enough to get to the end of this fight. As snow literally began to fall around from the aura of this spell. Soon her small tornado was literally frozen. She sent a few slashes into the frozen tornado sending shards in every direction as she brushed off some snow" that feels better"she commented before darting towards the mage. Once amaya could manage to get close avoiding various attacks she sent several slashes and kicks attempting to possibly encase him in ice once and for all. The ground and area around was starting to freeze but not as quick as it should as she was really wearing down " you stupid sand mage. We are not this monster, we are from the Phoenix Wing guild!stop fighting us!"she added hoping to get him to quit this.

Spell explanation:
Ice Dragon's Wing:
The area around Amaya's arm is immediately frozen over and the air becomes frosted in her vicinity. The aura of this spell can instantly freeze anything that comes into extended contact with it, encasing it in a massive glacier. The use of this spell has the added effect of engulfing the surrounding landscape in a frozen tundra, the coldness of which is intense enough to create snow in the sky.

Lazarus

Everything was still echoey and blurry. He couldn't really tell what was going on, apart from he was being carried. He was being thrown about, and somehow ended up over shujin's shoulder in the guild.

Shujin

He sighed as Lazarus was dumped on him. He scowled, before throwing him down onto a couch in the guild hall. "You're lucky.... you're lucky you have friends that care about you in this guild Lazarus-nii." He got close, to whisper. "You should watch out for yourself Lazarus, accidents happen sometimes." That phrase perked Lazarus, as he realised everything. "Metal make..." A short blade formed in Shujin's hand. He held it in a 'dagger stab' hold, before bringing it down, Lazarus clenching. The thump of blade on wood sounded, as Shujin drove the blade into the wooden part of the couch, right next to Lazarus' head. "They'll need a knife to cut the herbs." With that, he stood back, and walked away.

@Caits @Zarkun @YipeeXD

Despite being blown away and knocked to a wall by a blast of fire, Prince stood up again, hair singed and a little bit of fire on the tip of his hears, soot covering his face, he chased after the Guild Master gleefully. Ignoring the protests as hummed and chased.

"Awe Master~ You know you love me~! One day you'll get use to it~!" Prince cheered before skidding to a halt as Jack put up a fire barrier. Prince soon dancing around the fire, as seeing if there was a hole to slither in to.

"Nyaaaan Master! So mean! I'm so hungry!" Prince whined before ears flicking as Sasha scolded him, but he simply chuckled.

"That's why I told you to go get the herbs as soon as we got here. I could sniff them out but that be a little rude and it would be easier for the one who knows about them to go get them. Unless you need to remind you what they are. And I've done all I can for him, and I need the herbs here so I can prepare them. I'm still using my magic to heal him and im really hungry because of it. So please, could you hurry and get the herbs before Master is no longer distracting me. There's only so much I can handle before I pass out and Master gives off a lot of food. Or you can not do what I asked and yell at me. Meanie, I'm trying you know. I miss Karn." Prince explained with a cheerful smile and playful demenour with a playful whine. Seeming absolutely calm and chill in comparison to the hysteric Sasha who eventually calmed down and finally went to get the herbs.

He found it amusing it was apparent, her role was to simply yell at him. Since he's pretty much the only one who's done something while she sat and panicked and made theories about the culprit and happened to have the herbs, with little thanks, on a empty stomach, to save this guy. He deserved to at least greet the Master a little bit, the guy would stay alive under his magic. But it was understandable. She just better be happy he had enough control not to eat the injured. Still, another strike for not wanting Karn to be here. He wasn't sure why Rian wanted him here. Dragon Fang was quite nice.

Slightly pouting as he had to leave the wall of fire, he suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of Sasha as he zoomed quickly, taking the herbs. "Thank you." he said with a cheerful smile before suddenly disappearing again as he zoomed to the kitchen after grabbing Shujin's knife.

His fingers danced as he made knives sing as they chopped up some herbs in specific sizes and shapes. Boiling them in water at a specific tempt and amount of time. Stirring them gingerly in the pot he poured some in a cup, sprinkling some basil on top before returning where Lazarus was. Forcing him to sit up and lightly smacking his cheek to wake the boy up.

"Listen, if you don't drink this on your own, I'm giving it to you by the mouth." Prince warned with a cheerful smile.

After Lazarus took the antidote, the feline set the cup down and patted the guy's head. "There, now just some rest and you'll feel chipper than all of us buddy!" he cheered before his tall frame suddenly paled, still smiling.

"I'm.. Gonna catnap now....Hope Karn hurries up." Prince mused before promptly falling flat on his stomach, arms crossed over to use as a pillow as he mildly groaned, ears drooping.

Trinity turned slowly from her playing, smiling softly as she listened to Nero speak. So he was going to help her, huh? "Thank you for your help, but... I haven't even told you who I'm looking for, have I?" She had to wonder how he planned on helping her search when she hadn't told him who. As the train came to a stop, Trinity rose and began to follow everyone off, her instruments floating along behind her. As they walk, she dismisses most of them and settles on playing a mandolin.

When Prince just rushes into the guild, Trinity follows him in, though he isn't necessarily her objective. She sends her mandolin away, as well, looking around for Jamie. "Master? Maaaaster~..." She pouts, not able to find her right away. She hears Sasha and Prince still at it, and she sighs softly. Did Sasha not remember they had discussed the herbs before...? This was her guild, should she not be the one to... ah, oh well. It seemed she'd have some things from Vivian to pass on, here.

As for Prince... She walks over to the cat man. It was easy to tell how tired he was, and she could feel his waned magical power. She sits next to him, quietly, and calls out her arrow quiver. She stands it in front of her and breathes deeply, focusing. First, she uses a little bit of Energy Make to create a container, and she fills it with a bit of her own magic power. Around that, she molds manifests that pink arrow with the heart on the end of it. She takes it in her hand, examines it briefly before she's satisfied, and she touching Prince on the back with the tip. It glows softly before beginning to disintegrate in her hand. As it does, the magic power she stored in the container within the arrow is drained, through the tip and into Prince. When it's done, the arrow poofs out of her hand.

Sayuri Takashi

Sayuri looks at Ariel, "They seem pretty good. I like the larger rooms but the middle one is nice enough. I don't expect to have a ton of people over but ya know. The distance is great. Do you wanna keep looking or just take a room?" she leans against one of the walls, crosses her arms, and looks out a window, "I sort of wanna look around but getting a job soon would probably be a good idea..."

sasha

Sasha watched princes work, wishing she could do more, but she had very little knowledge of herb administration and only the basics of first aid. So as Prince worked, she did too, on a small token, a thank you gift. She had only since Prince glomping his guild master briefly, but her memory was pretty good, and it wasn't too hard to imagine in anycase.

She scultped ice into a small statute, and when she was finished, it appeared crystalline in nature, it wouldn't melt, and was a perfect replica of the hug, right down to guild Master Jacks somewhat horrified expression, and Prince's utter joy at being able to hug one of the people he obviously cared about a lot. She had made something like this, once, for Mayt and she wondered why she didn't made more, but as she swayed, she remembered the enegy it took to make ice that doesnt melt.

Gritting her teeth, she remained upright, watching as Trinity seemed to tend to Prince. Embarrassed now, Sasha went over, and put the sculpture down in front of Prince. "thank you" she said softly, not even sure the cayman could hear her, "im just so tired of losing people. So tired of things happening. Thank you, for everything" she turned, returning to Lazarus side, but as she looked around the guild hall, she could tell something had happened here.

She recalled Trinity calling out for Jamie, and wasn't it odd that there was another guilds guild master here? Wouldn't Jamie have spoken with them? She looked over to Jarvis, who looked somewhat grim, to little Elyse, who seemed upset, to Rose's worried expression, and she stopped mid step. No, if Jamie was dead, there would be more commotion. So...had Jamie left? If it was the only option to protect the guild, then she knew Jamie would have done it.

She continued to Lazarus's side, glancing to Mayt, still unconscious at a table. SAsha wished she could move him, but she wasn't strong enough to lift someone taller and bigger then her. Maybe that was something he could look at. She hesitated, looking to the man Prince had hugged, everyone else seemed occupied, and she made a detour towards him.

"excuse me?" she said, the weariness evident in her voice now, "are you able to take Mayt to one of the couches over there? I'm not strong enough to carry him, and im worried he might fall off the chair" she could guess why Mayt was like this. She had been there after all when he had had the swarm of memories wash over him as his mothers Magic failed in Edolaz, and she suspected that something similar had happened here, as his Mothers Magic returned.

@Lugubrious@BrodZ11711@Amaya Tamashii
Crap, he screwed things up on this mission. This was the first time that he had to actually use team work against such a powerful opponent like this. He'd though that he would be able to take Bert down this with this attack while he was immobilized in the encasing of ice, but his attack freed the lunatic and ruined the a chance for Fleo to possible to take Bert out in that one attack. Still to get hit by Ash God's Bellow, an attack with incredible destructive power, and still be conscious is surprising to say the least even if he is an S-class mage. The damage was mitigated by that sand shield so of course it wouldn't have turn Bert into the same smouldering ashes that smashed against him. It's unlikely that even Fleo's attack would've done him in if he didn't already have a counter set up already. It wasn't worth thinking about it now. It's happened and how he would have to make up for it with a greater effort for team work, that is if they weren't going to die from his mistake.

Nolan landed back on the sand with a somersault to break his fall. He shot a glare at Amaya for her spitefulness, but unlike her he was able to keep his damn mouth shut before he could say something spiteful to her. The last thing they needed was a giant pissing contest while they were fighting with their lives on the line. He was soon surrounded by a flurry of sand blades that swirled and coiled in every possible direction, the sand began to cut around his body, leaving small cuts with blood dripping out. "Ash God's Fury." Streams of ashes began to swirl around his limbs, protecting him of the onslaught of the sand. He held his arms out and then the ashes blasted off him, smashing against the sand with equal force thus canceling them out. "Amaya don't you get it?! That disillusioned man is the one who killed his guild! You'll die if you try to reason with him!" He yelled at her trying to get rid of any thoughts of talking her the sand mage out of violence. There's no way an invisible water monster could use ash, dust, destruction, and ice magic. This guy would've realized it if he wasn't off his rocker.

Lucas appeared by his side saying that he had an idea. There were alarm bells and sirens telling to not do it; this guy had poor control of his magic and he didn't even know the guy at all. He was just there at the time and just came along with Amaya. But he sighed and punched Lucas' fist. "Alright."

It was frustrating, but not exactly surprising, when Bert witnessed Powder Keg collectively dealing with his Sable Dance. He did draw some satisfaction from the fact that two of them bled now thanks to his sand blades' handiwork, and as he watched from atop his pillar, Lucas -who didn't appear to have reacted to the Dance, instead going for a fistbump with the dark-haired boy- received a healthy slash on the back of his leg. Before he could examine further through squinted eyes the interaction of Lucas and Nolan, his attention strayed to an oasis of ice in the middle of his Sand Tumult: the frigid terrain resulting from Amaya's defensive Ice Dragon Wing. When she began her approach, Bert readied himself, but not to such a degree that he was oblivious to the advancing Fleo, whose Siroccos bore her from sand tower to sand tower in a quest to get closer. Judging by Fleo's height advantage, she'd reach him before the Ice Dragon Slayer would.

His suspicions proved double correct when the words “Vortex Impact!” sang out from his right. Turning away from Amaya for the time being, trusting his Sand Tumult to impede her enough to prevent her getting to him preemptively, Bert crafted a sand shield -albeit with arms aching from the aftermath of the burning Ash God's Bellow- and held it out for Fleo to kick. His surprise was palpable, then, when Amaya popped up behind him and shouted at him before attacking. Caught by surprise in his miscalculation, Bert span around to defend himself with his shield, and immediately a casing of ice enveloped his shield courtesy of Amaya's kick. Her next attack shattered the shield, but Bert, frozen not by her ice but momentarily by her words, hesitated. Phoenix Wing, the hero guild? And since when did water monsters have such varied powers anyway? For just a second, Bert looked upon the scene from an outsider's perspective. That hesitation allowed Fleo's skull-rattling spinning drill kick, the Vortex Impact, to connect with his lower back. Empowered by the dusty rotation, her foot was driven into the sand wizard's back with force, prompting him to yell in pain and anger.

However, the Vortex Impact's weakest iteration wasn't nearly enough to stop him. Amaya, having obviously seen this, aimed another strike at Bert, but he wasn't ready to give up quite yet. Reaching behind him, the sand wizard grabbed Fleo, who by this time had lost enough momentum to be merely hanging in the air, by the throat. “Gurhk!” she garbled as Bert swung her lightweight frame around bodily, positioning her directly in the path of Amaya's kick. The dusty woman didn't have time to protest before she was accidentally frozen, and a wrathful kick from Bert pushed her right into Amaya, and together the two fell from the tower. Wiping sweat out of his eyes, Bert stepped to the edge of his tower to look down and see what happened, unwittingly exposing himself to Nolan and Lucas, who he'd momentarily forgotten.



Nero shrugged cheerily. “Doesn't matter! When you're ready to start lookin', just tell me who, or even where. Or just ask for a power boost that'll make it easier for you. If I made you a foot taller, you'd be able to walk through any crowd and see everyone! Doesn't get any more neato than that, heh!” When the jolt of the train announced the journey's end, the genie was among the first to his feet. Eagerly he stepped from the carriage, expecting Prince to take care of Lazarus if he thought of the afflicted light mage at all, before waltzing out the doors and onto the platform. Without anything better to do than find wizards with wishes, he decided that he'd continue to tag along with the Phoenix Wingers and head back to the guild hall. On foot, the cross-town trip of Magnolia took some time, even on a direct route, but with a sick man in tow the Balsam squad made it back in remarkably good time.

Upon reentering the hall, Nero raised both arms theatrically. “Ta-dah! Lazarus got sick, we found Sasha's long-lost bro, and I didn't curse anyone, I swear! ...Not effectively,” he muttered the last bit. After that, he didn't pay much more attention to his former comrades, particularly in a minute or so after Trinity started doing something weird to the catman.

He found his way to the bar again, and after recognizing him the tender suppressed a grimace. “...can I help you?”
“Yes, hello again! Did you save my potatoes?” Nero cracked up. “Just kidding! It's been, what, five hours? They'd a' probably gained sentience by now.” The bartender's stoic face cut through his mirth like a razor through skin. “'Cause of mutation...? Ah, never mind. You'll learn to laugh some day, friendo. How about carrots? Have any a' those?”
A few minutes later, the dark mage had wolfed down his carrots. Either he hid a prodigious appetite, or food had been paltry for him as of late. As the bartender watched Nero finish off the last bite, he smirked, and asked, “You know this food isn't free, right?”

A few second passed before Nero, eyes uncharacteristically wide open, peeped, “What?”
“Yeah, it's not much, but you have to pay for food here.”
Nero's thoughts drifted back to when he'd played with a coin in Balsam—his only coin. “Do you take wishes?”
“Sure,” the tender said, still grinning. “I wish for exactly enough money to pay for your food.”
After a few seconds, Nero patted his pockets. “Um, I think I left my wallet in my other poofy pantaloons, so I'm gonna hafta owe you. But you'll get your wish! Scout's honor.”

Putting a couple fingers up to her lips she pondered their options. Looking for alternatives wouldn't be a bad idea. After a minute she spoke. "I think you're right. We should see what other options there are in town. Then we can go get a job." Getting a job together also insinuated another thing. "So does that mean we're a teammates then? We just need one or two more and we'll be a full team for bigger jobs." This was exciting. Man the Light personality was so much better. She'll probably keep it for a while.

@Demous

Sayuri Takashi

"A team huh? Doesn't sound like a bad idea. Especially considering I really only know one other person in the guild. Hmm... Maybe she'd join if I ask her to," she pushes herself off the wall and heads out into the streets. She looks at the roof of a nearby building frowning before shaking her head and continuing on, "So just look at a couple more before deciding?"

Lazarus

As the remedy was given to him, his insides wriggled with the addition of new found health. The moment the solution touched his lips, colour started to return to his face. A gush of air filled his lungs, as he gasped desperately, his body now allowing him to breath properly. He panted for a little while before looking around in a daze, before catching eye's with Shujin and scowling. Sasha was next to him. "W...what happened to me?" All he remembered before the train journey back was falling to the ground.

Shujin

As prince took up his knife, he scoffed a little. Once the remedy was complete, deformed the blade, reabsorbing the metal essence. He nodded to Sasha. "Now that your companion is safe... I guess i'll be going." He turned on the spot, throwing his hood up.

Jack, making sure to keep the wall of fire between him and Prince at all times, looked at the girl who'd just spoken to him. She was a member of Phoenix Wing, that much he could tell not just from her mark but also from the way she was concerned with it's members. She had asked him to move a member named Mayt. Looking around, he had no idea who this Mayt was, so he turned back to her.

"I must apologize, my dear, but I haven't the slightest idea who Mayt is. And I'm afraid I can't stay much longer either. My guild recently gained a new member and I had best get her back to the Dragon Fang guild hall to meet her guild mates. If you point him out, I will lay him down. Oh, Jack Goran, Guild Master for the guild Dragon Fang." He offered her his hand for a hand shake and a smile, the kind only a truly caring person could give.

"If there was a joke in there, I'm completely missing it." Joshua said, shrugging. He had no interest in prolonging the conversation, instead wanting to get this job done and over with. It should be simple enough, stopping some thieves from hurting the resort anymore then they already had. While he hoped violence wouldn't be necessary, he was more then prepared to use it. The question was how far would the thieves push him. He might need to use his ice blade to make their lives more difficult but that was probably all he would need. Hopefully it would stay that way.



Before either Amelia or Elyse could reply to the answers given tot hem, a small amount of chaos ran through the guild in the form of a cat-man chasing after the master from the other guild. Both girls watched silently, Amelia cracking a smile while Elyse freely laughed at the sight. When things finally settled down, Elyse got out of her mother's arms and ran over to Prince, Penny and Jamie completely forgotten. She poked Prince's ears a couple of times before turning to Rose.
"Mommy, kitty. Can we keep him, please?"

Amelia managed to chuckle at Elyse's question but she had other things on her mind. Prince was the first person she had seen with features that stuck out. Other then herself and her wings, she had only ever seen normal looking people before now. Looking over at Master Jack, she left Jarvis' side and walked over to him.
"Do you know that man?" She asked him, tilting her head in a curious manner. While her curiosity was keeping her brave right now, she was nervous underneath the surface. Like most people, Jack had never seen her wings, or Amelia herself for that matter, before now. She was scared about how he might react to them.

Jack, meanwhile, watched the entire situation unfold without the slightest change in her expression. She reached for her daggers, incase the cat-man kept on going after Master Jack, but thankfully things settled down before she felt the need to interfere. She watched everyone move around and talk to each other, with a young child bothering the cat-man while two other girls bothered Master Jack, who was busy. Walking over, he glanced between Master Jack and Sasha
"Can we help? Master Jack was just in a fight and might be a bit tired but we should be able to assist." She said to Sasha.

@Lugubrious@Amaya Tamashii

"Alright Nolan. Look, he's completely fending Fleo and Amaya off with ease, it seems his magic is much more lasting then all of ours. I agree, my magic is unstable but right now its under control. Now, I think you should get on my shoulders, i'll rocket jump as forward, it'll be fast, like light. But then if you rocket jump off of me, you'll be even faster, possibly breaking the sound barrier, hit him with one deadly move, I could possibly rocket jump once again after you've hit him, hitting him with one of my own attacks. Got any ideas?"

Using Crash magic to rocket jump huh? Well to be fair there were crazier things he's heard than that though this certainly was going to be one of the most reckless things that he'll ever do. There was an even more likely chance that this guy's unstable magic would blow Nolan to tiny pieces, but then again it didn't seem like he didn't have all that much of a choice. Bert was certainly holding his own against Fleo and Amaya, but it seemed like he was starting to hesitate. Whatever the case, the sand mage was distracted and now he had to make the decision to finish him off while they still had the chance. "Just don't kill me or else I'll curse you to never control your damn magic." Nolan said as he hopped onto Lucas' shoulders.

"Too late, my father already put that curse on me." Nolan climbed up onto Lucas's shoulders. "Might want to hold on!" He gave a little chuckle, he knew this wasn't Nolan's idea of a plan. The air around Lucas and Nolan started to become heavy and dense, Lucas was beginning to conjure the magic in the air around them into this next move. "I need you to count or this will fail. When the explosion goes off, you have exactly 3 seconds rocket off me, and sooner, you'll kill me, any later and the speed will kill you." Lucas's eyes were going from yellow to gold. Crash: Bakuhatsu Roketto! (Explosive Rocket) Lucas's feet exploded the ground beneath them, launching both Lucas and Nolan towards the open Bert at lightning speeds.

If there wasn't a better time to say that this was the most suicidal thing he's ever done, this was the perfect time. The g-force acting against his body was greater than he ever felt ever before; his face was flapping and shaking from the force pushing against it and his eyes were squinting against the wind and sand against his eyes. "One...two...three!" At the count of three Nolan had leaped off Lucas and hurled straight towards Bert with both hands on his sword, ashes enveloping the blade with purple speckles of heat glowing on it. The ashes then seemed to be extending the blade's reach and width, making it seem to be more like a giant cleaver than a simple katana. "Ash God's Rising Saber!" Using the momentum to increase the power of his slash along with his Ash God Magic, he swung the blade straight up once he was in range of Bert. The ashes around the blade increased the slash's destructive power, enough that it could decimate just about anything that gets caught in its wake with ease, just like every other technique of a God Slayer. After all, they are described as harbingers of destruction.

Sasha

Sasha looked at the woman who seemed to want to interfer, probably just looking out for her guild master, but Sasha didn't like the looks of her. She seemed not to know one of her own guild mates, if Sasha's assumption that Prince was in Master Jacks guild was correct, and that was suspicious enough to Sasha.

And the girl didn't seem to have the same guild mark as Jack. Sasha hesitsted, not wanting to appear rude, but also not wanting to accept this girls help. She hesitated, but then said "just need help with Mayt" she said, pointing to him, slumped over the table, "I was asking Master Jack to help. I'd try to move him myself, but it's been such a busy few days, and im tired." she looked back to Master Jack, and said "if either of you could help, that would be good"

She returned to Lazarus, relieved that he was awake "you were poisoned. Prince helped to treat you" she said softly, looking to Shujin, hesitating once more. She sighed, wishing things could be simple instead of complicated. She didn't know what to do, and she just wanted to rest. "I don't think you should go." she said, doubt once more creeping into her thoughts. Even if Shujin wasn't reesponsible for this, she decided she wanted to keep a close eye on him.

jarvis

Jarvis looked over at the commotion with Prince, frowning as he took in the whole situation. Laxarus seemed to be hurt in someway. Jarvis was about to go over and check on him, when Prince went over and seemed to help with the herbs that Sasha brought down.

he looked to Rose, and gave a soft sigh, "I should get started on...figuring out what to do" he said, as everything seemed to be okay for now, and he now needed to make sure everything was okay.

penny

Well. Penny has tried. She watched as Prince glomped Jack, and was then thrown off. She had the feeling that Jack didn't like cats, and felt a little sorry for Prince. She wasn't a hard hearted person, and so, as Prince pretty much laid on the floor, Penny retrieved a blanket, and went over to him, and Trinity. She threw the blanket over him, and then went to the bar.

Why did she have to be the only S class here, and awake?

She sighed, looking over as Nero tried to get food, on an I.O.U basis. She sighed once more and said "put it on my Tab, Lucian. The creepy clown guy might just curse you if you don't"

Jack chuckled at the other Jack's attempt at being nice. That was good, that was progress in and of itself. "I'm not that tired, Jackie. I can move one unconscious man. I would ask that you help Prince up though, make sure he's OK. It seems he's exhausted a lot of magic energy today." He had, unfortunately, noticed the way that the girl who'd asked for his help gave Jackie, as he was now calling her for the sake of not becoming confused, looked at her with distrust. Perhaps she'd missed the explanation that Jackie was new. Ah well, with time, things will improve.

Walking over to the unconscious man, who had been identified as Mayt, he hefts him into a fireman's carry and moves over towards an unoccupied couch. "Pity Jamie and I didn't get to talk properly, seems there's a story behind your state of consciousness at this moment." Laying him down, he turns to move towards Jarvis when he's intercepted by a young girl with wings. While it was odd, they were beautiful and they were more pleasant to look at than Prince could be some times. "I do, he's a member of my guild. He'd informed me that he was going to find a friend, but didn't tell me where he was going. Sneaky little catman..." Smiling at the young girl, he turns and approaches Jarvis and rests a hand on the man's shoulders. "If you ever need anything from me or my guild, don't hesitate to contact us. We're always willing to help."

He realized he hadn't gotten the young girl's name and goes back to her. "I apologize, I didn't introduce myself to you. Jack Goran, guild master of Dragon Fang in Shirotsume Town. Might I know your name?"

With Bert looking on from on high, Amaya and Fleo crashed into the ground. The impact partially freed Fleo from the grip of her ice, but it didn't do much to improve her situation, for the second that she hit the earth was the second she, and the Ice Dragon Slayer as well, began to sank into Bert's treacherous Sand Tumult. All because of a small misfortune in an intense moment, things suddenly seemed bleak for half of Powder Keg.

Of course, with the sand wizard's eyes on the girls below, the action ahead was lost to him. Even if he had been fully intent on fighting Nolan, his bag of tricks would have been useless against the combo attack's rocket-powered speed. As the Ash God Slayer picked up speed, however, so did the adrenaline rushing through Bert's system, slowing down his perception just enough to fully and coherently understand that his curtain call had been issued. It was in this moment that Bert knew how deeply he'd screwed up, and in that bare instant, he felt a greater sorrow. Lights out, then. It was a pretty good life. A pity I that history will only remember me as a killer, when I was really just a killer's pawn.

Then the Rising Sabre, wreathed in searing ash and glittering ripples of violet, sheared cleanly through him. Its infernal heat allowed it to shear through flesh and bone alike, though with enough deviation that the huge cleaver exited through his collarbone rather than the top of his head. Without a second passing, every grain of sand in the vicinity suddenly lost all magical property, and the sand castle crumbled. In a grand landslide the sand fell, degenerating into nothing more than a dune speckled with ice. Lucas and Nolan fell to earth, but there was no sign of the remainder of Bert's body; buried it was in the sand he had wielded in life.

Lying on top of that sand, though, were two curious objects. One was Bert's hat, discarded in the battle, and the other was a strange little artifact. Though the size of a pine cone, it was teal in color, and on closer inspection turned out to be a carved fish, glowing brightly, though every second that glow faded. When the light had died down completely, the statuette melted away into mere water—a soggy patch on the sand, soon to evaporate into the impartial sun.

In a burst of sand Fleo jumped to her feet, shaking the coarse grains from her hair and spitting them out. “Yuck! He got me again!? This guy's a major douche canoe.” After clearing her face, she looked around, still hyped up for a fight. “Where'd he go? I lost sight of him after he grabbed me....did we win?” A grin appeared on her face. Evidently she hadn't seen anything.



Nero turned toward the source of the voice. Penny, though easy on the eyes, gave of the impression of tenacity, and her assertiveness to judge him poorly didn't discredit the notion. Fortunately, the genie's smile weathered opposing forces with greater fortitude than many seawalls the continent over. “Hidey ho! People are a lot like food, you know. You can't really say something's awful until you try it. Otherwise, nobody would eat turnips at all! Uh, not that I'm trying to defend turnips...they are pretty awful. Maybe not a good example, heheh. But cursing him? Never! To use power without reason is to make power meaningless. Funnily enough, a guy I knew once said that before being cursed. Bottom line is, eventually I'll earn some money, and then I'll pay. Not many places give you food before saying the price; I'd hate to lose access to this one. Hell, I might get three meals a day for once! Wouldn't that be hilarious?”

So saying, Nero eagerly removed a small vial from his pouch and poured a drop of it into his water. He waved a hand over it, muttering, “I summon the power of the Law of Embodiment,” and the entire contents of the cup transformed to match the drop, becoming a dark yellow-green liquid. Of this Nero drank deeply, and sighed in satisfaction once done. It seemed that he fostered no commitment to further conversation with Penny.

Nolan fell from the great height, but slowed his fall down by emitting ash from his hands and feet, breaking his fall enough for it to decrease the damage. He watched the entire sand castle fall in a land slide back into the desert though he could not see Bert's corpse. It must've been buried in the sand. The battle was won, but victor did not taste as sweet as he hoped it to be. It was a foul, bitterness that could only had been felt when it was a hollow victory. The man was just a lunatic that had to be put out of his misery, not a villain that reveled from murdering his own friends and family. It wasn't as plainly black and white as he saw it to be. He pondered about it as he laid on his back and looked up at the sweltering sky, beads of perspiration traveled down his face and neck. Nolan tried to stand back up, but a throbbing headache came out of nowhere like a sucker punch and he fell back on his back. Everything was moving in circles around him and he vomited everything he ate today violently. Experiencing that much g-force in that short amount of time was a shock to his system once it finally caught up to him.

It took a bit, but he found the strength to stand back up. He spat whatever other vomit there was out of his mouth and grabbed his canteen from his belt and sipped some water to regain fluids. Nolan walked a bit and then found Bert's hat, the only thing that was left of the poor mage. He knelt down and picked it up, placing it on his head with a heavy sigh. "You fought magnificently. Thank you for being our opponent." Nolan bowed his head politely and then turned heel, walking towards Fleo who seemed to be out of the sand. She seemed to be way too energetic after this battle. "We won, but don't feel too happy about it. We killed a lunatic that had nothing left to control his actions. There's no joy I can find from that."

He just walked past her and then stopped to say, "Fleo, do me a favor. When we're going back to Magnolia you drive. I need a nap." For one second there may had been a soft smile on his face. Or it could've just been the heat getting to her.

The red-haired mage chuckled as Wes asked about the cube. "Yeah, I finally got those made. Breaking the cube will send out a pulse of my magic, to scan the environment and send out a signal. Means I can save your ass in a pinch. If you need it, that is," Maddox explained. He took a pause to drag on his cigarette, finally burning it to the filter and tossing it on the ground. He casually squished it under his boot, to guarantee there would be no accidental fires. "I won't stop you if you want to walk. Just figured I'd lend a hand to an old friend."

The smile faded now, his serious expression returning. "I realized something while you were gone. I had lost my purpose." There was a brief silence. "Getting you back gave me a purpose. I discovered how weak I've become when I have nothing to strive for. So don't think I'm hiding any anger about your decision to go. The act of finding you allowed me to find myself." The grin returned as Maddox put his fist against his chest. "I couldn't even stand up to one of the bad guys. Some lousy piece of work I am, huh. But don't worry."

"I'm not failing again. While I'm still here, no harm can come to Phoenix Wing. So you don't have to burden yourself with that either." His fist went back to his side now, but the grin didn't vanish. "I'd lend you some cash, but for some reason I don't think I'll ever see it back." With a chuckle, Maddox finally turned away from Wes Gusto. "Good luck, friend. Hopefully the next time we meet up, you'll have everything in order." With a dismissive wave, Maddox began walking towards the guild hall.

Wes Gusto was always a mysterious fellow. The first time Maddox even met him he only learned his name. He and Wes used to be the strongest, the best at what they did. Only the Gravity Mage was ever able to keep Maddox on his toes. But Wes was more than a sparring partner. He too was running from his past by staying at Phoenix Wing. Both of them were criminals, in their own respects. Neither had ever told the other about their past, but somehow they had both come to understand. "See ya, Wes."