Alice's hands were still planted onto Isshum's chest, pumping her potent healing magic through his body. It was a very flimsy effort to keep him stable, but Alice had never encountered a fit caused by someones own magical power. With sudden urgency, Isshum's body sat up in front of the doctor. She pulled her hands back, sighing with relief. He spoke to her, concerned for the burn on her shoulder.
"I'll be fine," She directed her gaze to the burn, pressing her Mending Palm against it and wincing at the sudden touch. At first, it was painful, but as the healing magic began to nestle within the damaged cells and begin repairing and replacing them, a wave of sudden relief washed over her. "Just a little mark, is all."

Alice looked over to James, who was still sitting next to Isshum while wiping the tears out of his eyes. He stood up, determined to be of some help.
"I'll get water!" Running off through the guild, James disappeared and left Alice alone with Isshum. The doctor helped the young man stand up, moving him over to a bed to sit down for a further inspection. Rummaging through vials and pills, Alice tried to find something that would help him; but she decided that what he was really lacking at the moment was magic power.

"Here Isshum, I know what will make you feel better." She took a step over to the boy, holding her palm out in front of his face. A brilliant, golden light consumed her arm from her shoulder to the tips of her fingers. "Partial Take Over: Angel Soul" The light scattered, gently floated away in tiny threads before completely dissipating. With it gone, it was clear to see that Alice's arm had transformed into a large, charred arm that was much larger proportionally to the rest of her body. The arms veins pulsed with magic, and an intense heat radiated from beneath the skin; giving an almost molten effect underneath the ash that coated the skin. At first glance, it looked as though the arm could crumble into soot at any moment; but there was an odd power surrounding the limb, a fire that when gazed upon would inspire even the most broken of men.

"Here, eat this." At her command, a gold and white flame began to splutter forth from her fingertips. Igniting with her will, the flame engulfed her hand and then her arm with it's comforting warmth. "This is the Divine Flame of the Angel Uriel, it has healing properties; which are augmented thanks to your affinity to the flame as a Dragonslayer."

@Renny



April didn't have time to object to being grabbed by one of Beatrix's puppets and flown across the sky of Cedar City's twilight, but that didn't stop her from complaining all the way to their destiny. Although it seemed as though Beatrix couldn't here her string of insults, which was probably a good thing in hindsight. When they came to land, April spun out of control upon exiting her "chariot" and fell on the floor.
"Uugh..." Staring up at Beatrix, her face pale, she spoke in a trembling voice. "Never do that again." Standing up, April stared up towards the sky. The beautiful array of colors was something that she had always loved about this place. She wanted to stay here forever, but when she heard that Beatrix belonged to that Guild she just couldn't pass up this opportunity. She hadn't expressed her desires to the older mage yet, and it seems like she would have to wait as her companion showed up.

April stared at the man who Beatrix introduced as Sage. He didn't look old, but he wasn't a teenager. His presence was intimidating, but April was never one to let such things bother her. She turned to Beatrix, and then back to Sage; deep in thought. After a moment, the young girl blurted out the first thought that came to her mind at Beatrix.
"This guy's creepy. He looks like ten years older than you as well; talk about a pervert. You sure this is the right guy?"

@Kitsune
@Akashi Mayhiro

The two had surprisingly arrived at his location 'Guess she can follow orders for once', but a certain little girl and caught his eye 'that's April....interesting.' As the two landed near Sage. Beatrix was the first to speak up. "I have helpfully discovered and even rescued the girl. we may take out leave of this place, which I do suggest."

>That is the best choice....the cult that captured this girl and many others are coming soon, This girl must be kept safe from them, she doesn't know what kind of acts they will do to her.

"This guy's creepy. He looks like ten years older than you as well; talk about a pervert. You sure this is the right guy?" Sage looked at her for moment before looking back at Beatrix, but not with sending her a note.

>I am 'right' as you have put it. Please to no address me as a man who take pleasure on seeing female body parts or undergarments. I have no interest in them..that time has past long ago.

Turning his backs to them he wrote his final note before they set of.

>We head to the station, now.

@Leslie Hall @Kitsune

Beatrix could not help but laugh a little at the pairs interactions, these two were certainly unique in a lot of ways to say the least and because of that it amused her to no end. "Though as silent as one of my puppets Sage is a good man" She held up the note that had been passed to her, showing just how fast the man could write "He is a rather interesting conversation partner if you are a fast reader, however he is right on this account we must take you away from here as though the cult may be after you I suspect the guards are still looking for us!"

She did not choose to elaborate on the matter of them being hunted by the authorities and instead commanded her throne to start making its way towards the station "Though I would grab you to fly once again sadly only two of my puppets can fly and leaving either of you without a escort is not my style! So, let us hurry along" She made sure to stay in the alleyways for the most part however it was then they came across a patrolling group clad in the same robes that the cultists wore before. Seemed like they were done with hiding now that the group knew who they were but thankfully they had not started anything yet nor had they spotted them.

"Hmmm Fighting them in the middle of this populated area would be unwise..."

Plus as she peered back towards April she could feel the girl may not have had much left in her after that last battle that they had, they didn't have any time to rest after all. "Then how about this?" Using a small Ex-quip she pulled out one of her faceless dolls, holding it in her arms she smiles away with glee "All I need is a little bit of your magic power April dear, after all your appearance will be enough to fool them..." If she agreed the wires from Beatrix's hand would snake around the girls wrist and start drawing power much like some hook up magical devices, but only just enough. Either way the girl choose to give power or not, the puppet master had to do something so she would attempt to craft it without the power if the rainbow mage did not give up a little bit of it.

The end product with the power would have been a perfect copy of April in appearance, right down to EVERY detail, one could have even called it a work of art, though the one without power only had the clothes it would be enough she was sure... "Good, good~ Sadly it cannot speak with this level of power but your apperance is surely enough to catch their attention!" Gesturing for the doll to move it soon headed out into the streets, running away from the group of cultists in a attempt to draw them away. "Ok, it should be a straight shot to the station."

@Leslie Hall@Akashi Mayhiro

"Very well then," Kuroko spoke up after hearing Nigel's opinion on the two jobs. "We'll do the second one. I'm up for it." Nigel nodded his approval and turned his attention towards Aiden. "Sorry, guess I should've started with a hello, huh, my bad? And of course, we wouldn't mind having you on board, Tech-head. With you on board, this will be easy pickings." Nigel smiled upon hearing Aiden thought so much of him. "Excluding that, I kinda need to talk to you about something anyway," he added. "Hmm? I wonder what would that be..." Nigel thought curiously but opted to wait it out and let Aiden talk to him when he felt ready.

As the two were talking, Kuroko had shouted out a few times, trying to garner the other guild mage's attention on the other job their little team of three decided no to take. "Just put it back on the board and someone is bound to get it," he told Kuro.

"Slushie-head was clever, but you're going to have to try harder than 'Ice Dragon' before you can best me in the giving of crappy nicknames, Lead Head. but keep trying, it amuses me," Aiden said, to which Kuroko quickly retorted, "I was never really a trash talker... snowball." Nigel sat there and watched as the two exchanged a couple of snarky comments. "Anyway, I suggest we get going. We got a train to catch. It will take us to where we are needed." At that, Nigel stood up from his seat, "Yeah, let's get on with it then, no point in wasting any time now, is there?" He said while shooting a glance at Aiden before promptly following close behind Kuroko.

@Raijinslayer
@Lmpkio

Aiden merely chuckled at Kuroko, his only response being a mutter "clearly", before Nigel chose to chastise him slightly for holding things up. "Yeah, alright, I gotcha Tech-Head. Last one out of me for now, I promise." Aiden gave a grin before heading out with the other two to their destination, tacking the other request to the wall in case anyone else was interested. After a long, painful, vomit-inducing ride by train to the nearest station in tegards to the mission site, Aiden wasn't feeling too good.

"Ugh, I fuckin' hate trains, and cars, and boats, and all the other forms if transportation known to man. Why does this only happen to Dragon Slayers'?" Auden complained before he once again empyied the contents of his stomach into a nearby shrubbery. Once that was done, the group would head off to the mansion, any comments that Kuroko or Nigel felt like making regarding the scenario would be met with angered glares and warning growls. By the time they made it, Aiden would be mostly back to normal, though he'd still grip his head on occasion in pain if things got too loud.

"Whelp, here goes nothing. Hope this guy is less of a prick than the request made him out to be." Aiden muttered as he pulled the rope next to the mansion doors, ringing the rather fancy, if agonizingly loud(to Aiden), set of bells that the owner had put up to alert him of guests. Needless to say, Aiden's mood had gone to shit rather quickly, and he was starting to regret his insistense on this mission, and it hadn't even started yet.

@SilverDawn

@Lmpkio

@Vec

@Raijinslayer
@Vec
@SilverDawn



As the three were on the train, Kuroku would look over to see Aiden looking greenly-sick as ever. At first, he wondered why he was even sick in the first place, but then he remembered. All dragon slayers couldn't handle transportation.

"Ugh, I fuckin' hate trains, and cars, and boats, and all the other forms if transportation known to man. Why does this only happen to Dragon Slayers'?"

The Black Ice mage would only shrug.

"Dunno. But keep it together, I do believe we are near our destination."

They then come by the mansion where their mission must be done.

"Whelp, here goes nothing. Hope this guy is less of a prick than the request made him out to be."

"If he is, we'll give him a cold shoulder." Kuro remarks with an intentional pun as he awaits the owner to open.

---

As the various guildmembers stood outside of the gate, the mansion gave off an eerie feeling, despite it looking as if it was constructed within the past 3 years. It was quiet. Very little movement came from within the mansion and the only movement outside of the mansion came from outside came from a slowly dying wind. The cool breeze rattled the gate, breaking the silence. After a minute or so more of waiting, a tall figure came out of the mansion. What appeared to be a young man wearing an old suit hobbled out of the front door towards the gate. It was an odd sight to see someone so young with a bad leg, but nonetheless, he was there. The man slowly walked towards the gate and once he arrived at the gate, unlocked the half-dozen of locks that closed the gate. The man was absolutely silent. Even the way he released the locks left little noise. After the final lock fell, he dragged the gate open. His silence was broken by three words.

"Please follow me."

His voice left very little impact in those who listened to it. Each word was spoken wearily and with fear. He barely looked the guildmembers in the eye when he spoke. What little glances they could take of his eyes would reveal a slight look of desperation behind those dying marbles. Without so much as an whisper, he silently walked back towards the mansion's door and inside of the eerie home.

Those who would follow the young man would see that inside of the mansion was even more desolate that outside. The lobby of the mansion was large. In a vain attempt at security, everything that could be hid behind was tossed out of the mansion. Only the more expensive objects (vases, paintings and things of that sort) were left on their pedestals or walls. Even the chandelier was removed. To the right and left were stairwells, both curved in a circle and leading to the same place. Without any further hesitation, the man walked up the stairs.

It became apparent once whoever followed reached the second floor that the extent of paranoia gripped whoever "redesigned" the bottom floor tightly. The second floor was extremely dusty. What should have been fulled with maids had been replaced by small spiders. The man ignored the dust, as he always has, and walked to the hallway on the left. This hallway was slightly more lively than the rest of the second floor. It contained significantly less dust. Instead, small amounts of dirt was carried through the wooden floor. Upon reaching the final set of large double doors, the young man stepped off to the side. He opened one side and held it for the guildmembers who followed him.

The room was much different than the rest of the mansion. Instead of being empty, room was filled up with valuable goods. It appeared to be a fortune within the room. Despite this, the less valuable items were tossed around without remorse. Paper littered the floor. Trash huddled to one side of the room. It was a mix of luxury and waste that gave a off-putting appearance. However, there lay one spot against the side of the wall with almost nothing in it. There lay a grandfather clock, clicking every second. The time was 11:45. 15 minutes to midnight. Within the center of the room was a short man who seemed to be in his early 50s. He certainly wasn't attractive. Whatever looks he had would have faded when he was 10 years old. He was extremely chubby and short, but not fat. He wore what seemed to be a brand new suit as it was still extremely stiff. It appeared as if he had no relation to the young man from earlier. He paced around the room in a high panic. He muttered incomprehensible words to himself, so much so that he didn't notice the doors opening and anyone walking in.

Overall, the train trip was uneventful to say the least, except for the occasional vomiting by Aiden. "Ugh, I fuckin' hate trains, and cars, and boats, and all the other forms if transportation known to man. Why does this only happen to Dragon Slayers?" Aiden said before heading to a nearby shrub to finish business with his angry stomach. Although Nigel felt bad for Aiden, it didn't stop him from chuckling at his friend's misfortune. After all was said and done, the trio headed to their destination, the clients mansion. Nigel immediately started feeling strange. He didn't know, but something just gave him a sort of eerie feeling about the whole area in general. "Mio. Yes, master? Deploy the surveillance MkC's, spread them out around the mansion. Report anything remotely suspicious to me. I don't like this place one bit," Nigel finished his little inner conversation with Mio and turned his attention to Aiden who was already dishing on the client.

"Hey, don't go calling people names out of nowhere. The guy might have been in a hurry or something. I know if someone was out to kill me and I couldn't do anything about it, it'd be pretty pissed," Nigel told Aiden before spotting a young, tall man, coming out of the mansion, slowly hobbling his way towards the front gate. After waiting a couple of minutes for the man to open all the locks placed on the front gate, he told them to follow him inside the mansion.

Or what would have been a mansion, if there was anything in it. There were no furniture of any sorts, nothing that one would probably find placed on the lobby of a big house like that. Then, the man slowly and silently walked up the stairs, with the trio closely following behind. At that time, Nigel was seriously beginning to think the place was abandoned because he failed to see how anyone would be able to live inside the place. However, his questions were soon answered as the young butler opened a door and signaled them to enter a room. And what a room that was. If someone asked Nigel to define the word "contradiction," Nigel would only have to show them a picture of that room and then one of the rest of the mansion's interior. The room was filled with all sorts of valuable goods, a sight that would surely make any greedy merchant's mouth water.

Nigel also noticed a short, round man, quickly pacing around the room, seemingly stressed about something. Nigel figured that he was their client. *cough cough* Nigel coughed, trying to get the man to notice them.

Aiden looked around the mansion as they walked through, his head calming down with every step thankfully, letting out a low whistle as he took everything in. The place obviously used to look really nice before their client clearly lost his marbles over this assassination attempt. Not like he could blame the guy, though, anyone would go a little screwy if they're life is under threat. This guy just went a little screwier than most. When Nigel got on him about calling the guy a prick, Aiden simply shrugged his shoulders. He went by what he saw, and while the circumstances were trying, the guy sounded like a prick, so that's the assumption Aiden would go under until proved otherwise.

When they arrived at his little treasure hoard, Aiden decided to take a more direct route to gaining the man's attention. Walking past Nigel, he walked up to the pacing figure, talking loudly and plainly as he did so. He didn't want to startle the fat cat too badly, as he was clearly dealing with some major paranoia and stress. Wouldn't be any good if he gave the guy a heart attack and did the assassin's job for them.

"Hey rich guy, you're bodyguards from the Wizard's of Fiore are here and ready to rumble. So, not that we're here, mind telling us what kind of enemies we're going to be dealing with here?"

---

The man's self-interested pacing was cut short as the pink haired mage coughed. His nervous pacing stopped as he looked towards the mages. A brief period of silence was cut short by the aggressive nature of one of the men. He had pushed his way to the front. Rather than the chubby man in a suit being paranoid, it was much more as if he was upset at the entire ordeal. The man listened to what the light-haired boy said. After a brief recollection of the chubby man's pride, he began to answer those questions.

"I, am Gered Profiteur. I am the owner of this mansion. I don't quite need to introduce myself, as there are only 10 minutes until it, so I'll make it short." He said. His voice was prideful. He spoke in such a manner that was much more composed than he actually was. "6 weeks ago, one of my... business partners had received a letter. It stated he would be murdered at midnight. Of course, men of my caliber get death threats every day, but by the next morning, he had been slain. Another week passed, and the same thing happened to my second partner. Not to long after, we began to buy the service of guards. Needless to say, that didn't help. The next morning, everyone had been slain. Since then, I am the only one left. Until recently, I thought I was safe. Until one week ago. I had received this letter. Gered had said.

Once he finished his background upon what was happening, he took out a letter from his coat pocket. The letter seemed to be scrawled on with a child-like writing, as if the hands that held the pen didn't know, or couldn't, hold onto it properly. The letter read "Midnight. One week. We are coming." It was quite a contrast for such ominous words to be written so childishly.

"If I survive through this day, I will see that each of you will receive one fourth of this room's treasure. Each one of these objects is a priceless artifact that is exceedingly special."

It was true. The objects in the room were absurdly expensive, some even fetching up to twenty million jewels by themselves. Each artifact seemed to be enchanted by some sort of mystical, ancient magical energy. It also seemed as if none of the artifacts had any sort of combat use.

"Also, I shall give you each 5... No, 10 million jewels along with it!" He said. He didn't know what else to say. That was it. He looked back at the clock. Its loud clicking filled the room with an air of paranoid solemnity. 5 minutes until midnight. "I do not have anything further to say, as there are 5 minutes left until midnight. Any questions?"

@Raijinslayer
@Vec
@SilverDawn



Kuroku was hesitant on asking Gered on showing proof where they'd find this... 10 million jewels from, but ultimately had nothing else to say. He shakes his head at his response.

"I'm all good." he simply says, looking around at his teammates as if he was expecting them to ask any of their own questions.

Damn did this mansion remind him of all the ghost stories he hears back at the guild...

"Nope, sounds pretty basic to me. So, now that we have the job, I say that me and Nigel handle patrols, and you, being the S-class here, keep an eye on our target. With Nigel on our side, we should know when they infiltrate easily enough, but we shouldn't let our guards down. Obvious advice, I know, but never hurts to be careful."

With his piece said, Aiden would wait to see if anything else needed to be said, before summoning his Naginata and proceeding to begin his patrol, keeping his senses open to for anything strange noises or smells. Just because Nigel would know the assassin's location the instant they stepped foot in the place, it didn't mean they could sneak up on him if he walked thorough here without a care in the world.