Collab between Myself and Burthstone
Luna stopped in the middle of a small intersection of alleys, and looked up at the now-overhead sun. Her solar magic would be at its strongest right now, she noted to herself, so she should save the stored lunar power until it was absolutely necessary. Taking a breath, she continued on. She was starting to be able to see the wall around the grand castle, maybe it was in bounds after all, and it had just been closed off so that they could prepare in advance. If that was the case, what terrible beasts lurked in there, waiting for the first unfortunate contestant to head into the castle.
As she took another corner, she found herself on the main street that lead directly to the castle. That didn't seem quite right, but maybe there were pockets in the maze where people didn't want things happening in front of their house. Or maybe they wanted people to head to the castle. Regardless, she was on her way to the gate, and there didn't seem to be any obstacle to stop her from entering like she had anticipated. In fact, she made it to the gate, opened it, and went into the courtyard without any resistance at all. It put her on edge. In her head she had imagined at least two gigantic stone guardians on one side of the door. But as it was, the courtyard was almost eerily quiet, and the young sorceress steeled herself for something, anything, jumping out at her at any time as she began wandering towards the entrance of the Castle.
Amelia wondered through the streets at random. She seemed to be getting lucky, since she wasn't coming across anymore wild animals that had been released into the streets. She took her time, enjoying the sights and keeping an eye and ear out for her competitors. From the sound of the announcements before they had started, it seemed like they could take each other out if their paths crossed. She lacked confidence in her ability to take on another mage, but if it came down to that, she had to try.
After a few minutes of wondering, she found herself in front of the castle. Looking up at the impressive building, she took a few seconds to admire it before noticing one of her competitors was already there. Amelia was going to leave until she noticed the guild mark on her opponents neck. Iron Enigma. The guild that took Trinity and Mithera. Realizing she might be able to get answers, she walked into the courtyard, preparing for the possible fight.
Luna went over to one of the trees in the courtyard, about halfway to the doors to the castle, and she gently pulled a branch down to look at the leaves. She smiled as she remembered that one of their previous hideouts had a forest of trees like this growing near it. She and Melina would play hide and seek in there all the time with a couple of the other kids in Iron Enigma. Luna had been the oldest of them, besides Melina of course, and she wondered what they were up to right now. Probably being a nuisance for the guild members taking care of them, but maybe they were watching Luna.
After a moment, Luna heard footsteps and she immediately glanced over to see a girl that looked younger than herself. Was she another trick or magical construct here to attack her? No, Luna remembered seeing this girl with Phoenix Wing the other day, she must've been taking the place of one of the people that were supposed to be a contestant for Phoenix Wing. The white-robed girl quickly pulled her hood on, and muttered a spell before her face was hidden in shadow again. Not speaking a word, Luna waited to see whether this girl meant to fight, or would do something else.
"
You're a member of Iron Enigma right?" Amelia asked, trying to hide any nervousness in her voice. The woman in front of her wasn't very tall, and she seemed to value hiding her face, as she pulled her hood up and seemed to use a spell to cast a shadow over it. There was no way it was hidden that well by a hood naturally. Taking her mind off that, she focused on her objective."
I heard your guild took some of my guild mates. I want to know where they are."
Luna blinked when the girl accused her guild of having kidnapped some of Phoenix Wing's guild members, and she shook her head. However, when Luna spoke, her voice was calm, almost cold.
"My guild has done no such thing, and I don't appreciate you accusing us of doing such a thing." She crossed her arms, looking like she had no intention of changing her answer. If Amelia hadn't seen Luna with her hood down, it would be easy to mistake her as another magical being created to fight contestants as she was now.
"
Then why was one of your members in their room this morning?" Amelia asked, her eyes narrowing. She knew she had no evidence to back up her claims other then what she had heard but that meant nothing. She needed something obvious, otherwise it could've been a guild like Frenzy Plant, Rider's Blade, or Tough Love. She doubt Dragon Fang had anything to do with it, as they were close to Phoenix Wing and she didn't know enough about the other guilds to think one way or the other about them.
Luna sighed softly, and her slight smirk was hidden under the shadow that covered her face. She had just misinterpreted a situation, and her voice was bordering on relived as she spoke again.
"Deyja was there to tell your guild master that it had come to our attention that Trinity had been kidnapped last night by Nightshade Silphum. We're good sports, and we want the games to be as fair as possible, so we thought we'd inform you that it happened and who did it. I figure Deyja probably climbed into her room from outside to avoid whomever was in the main area. He's pretty shy about people." The mage let her arms fall back to her sides, relaxing her posture some, anticipating the Phoenix Wing mage to understand and back down.
"
Telling us would be a good way to throw attention off yourselves." Amelia said, trying to think on her feet. She normally hated talking, but she had to keep doing so to try and find something out."
It could be that you sent him there to try and throw us off while you keep both of them. I don't know why you would want them, but I know that you're guild isn't my guild's ally. And I will take you out if it means getting my guild mates back."
Luna gave a confused look, and pulled her hood down, figuring that if this turned to violence having it up wouldn't help anyway.
"Both? I had only heard of Trinity's kidnapping. Regardless, I'm pretty sure I would've been told if we'd kidnapped any of your members." The Eclipse mage unintentionally clinched her fist, but she made herself relax. This was all just a misunderstanding, right? However, this girl seemed to believe that fighting her would help get whomever the second guild member back. While Luna couldn't deliver on the guild member, she figured she'd be forced to deliver on the fight. Who knew what she would face in the castle, and the girl was between her and the exit.
"
How's to say they wouldn't tell you. Maybe you're not trusted enough to be told." Amelia said, though she was frowning at this point. If this woman was telling the truth, then maybe there was nothing to be gained by trying to force it out of her. On the other hand, she had a chance to take out the Iron Enigma mage in the current event and possibly score some big points, thus helping her guild. Not only that, she could prove herself to other members of her guild, like Rose, who doubted her abilities. To her, those possible rewards outweighed the risk of being eliminated from the event herself.
Normally, she would rather avoid a fight, but in this case, she would have to make an exception.
"
Either way, I'm not going to just let you leave. We're also obstacles to each other, and I hope you won't hold it against me if I take you out."
Luna shook her head, and moved back into a combat-ready stance.
"I'm S-Class, the only things I'm not told about are the Guild Master's own projects." Regardless, this girl seemed like she wanted a fight, and with how she had been accusing her guild, Luna was ready to oblige. She had to keep herself from grinning when Amelia practically declared she was going to fight her.
"Well, I guess I have to oblige you if you're looking for a fight. But you're in for a disappointment if you think you can take me down. Blade of Sol!" She held her hand up, and a very bright flaming halberd formed in her hand, and she held it with the shaft against her back, the blade and point behind her and close to the ground.
"Your move first." Luna had planned to avoid fights, but her back was against a wall, and this girl had practically insulted her guild. Cathris felt as if she had to show that was not OK.