Jamie leaned back in her desk chair, stretching with apparent relish as she turned her gaze away from the paperwork spread across the rather expansive desk. Her writing instruments were in reach, and a letter she was just finishing off lay spread out in front of her chair. Her gaze moved to the rather large Lacrima that showed the main hall of the guild, and she watched a moment. The various members of her guild, even some people of Magnolia- those that might need shelter for a few hours, or a free meal were always welcome, and Jamie was always happy to see it happening.
Her gaze moved to the main door, watching it for a moment, before it moved out through her office door- she rarely had it closed these days and couldn't really remember the last time she had had it shut. One thing about there no longer being secrets she had to protect was the openness, the relief... she sighed contentedly, her gaze roaming over the advertised job board, checking to ensure there were still plenty of jobs.
She'd have to update it soon, but for months there had been advertised help for demons... for witches... for all manor of things, and that was one of the main reasons Jamie was calling a meeting of the other Guild Leaders. She had thought that for a while they'd be able to relax, rebuild... gather new members... and for a little while it was like that. It was becoming increasingly evident that she couldn't ignore the signs any longer. She'd been gathering as much intel as she could. She had even heard rumor's of an alliance, of the Dark Guilds- those that they hadn't wiped out, the cunning, the down right nasty- joining together. If there was even a slither of truth, then they had to act.
As much as she wanted a few more years of peace... after everything... It just wasn't possible. They were as healed as they were ever going to be. As Light Guilds- as protectors- they had a responsibility. And she was sure that many wouldn't be opposed to a fight. Shaking her head, she glanced around the room, at the other Lacrima spread through it. Communication lacrima, teleportation lacrima, all, with various permissions, assigned to a person or place. Ways of talking without having to wait or travel. Many innkeepers through the world had one now, making it easier for jobs to be sent through, for rumor's to reach her, and other Guild Masters, faster.
None shone with light- no messages yet. Rising, Jamie gathered the plate she was certain Jarvis had given her- the sandwich on it gone, barely any crumbs left. She hadn't remembered eating, but she had been deep into her research. She needed to check on Sammy, should check on the rest of the guild. Slipping out of her office, Jamie moved behind the bar, setting the plate aside to be washed and glancing to the man pouring a few drinks. A smile spread across her features, before she sighed. "They'll be here shortly" She turned to reach for a plate of food, setting it on the bar, and turning back towards Jarvis, for a moment content where she was.
The sun shone down on the guild hall for Dragon Fang as it always did, brightly and happily. The traffic in and out of the building was high as usual, with clients coming in to drop off job requests and guild members leaving for and coming back from various jobs. Nowadays, most jobs required the guild move in and take care of various monsters that were cropping up more commonly. Vulcans were an especially common, but challenging task, but other monsters were common enough that the newer members and lower powered members could still make a living. This day saw a group of mages returning from yet another strange request for someone to deal with a monster that had never been seen before. This particular monster had been described as a large red skinned canine that had originally been spotted carrying what had appeared to be carrion meat, but when the Rune Knights had moved in to investigate, the monster became incredibly territorial and attacked. No one was seriously injured, but it led to a request being sent directly to Dragon Fang Guild Master Jack. Before he left for the Guild Master’s summit, he dispatched a handpicked team of veterans to investigate the sighting.
Joslyn, sighing heavily as she led the small group back from an unsuccessful search for the beast, had been put in charge of the four man team. It consisted of herself, her longtime partner Zen, and a pair of requip mages who specialized in defensive techniques against larger, more troublesome monsters, which the Rune Knights had recommended having after their own encounter. However, by the time Dragon Fang’s mages had arrived, the monster had either moved on to a new hunting ground after finding out that the other was heavily traveled or was a master at disappearing from sight when it wanted to. Despite the signs that it had been in the area, the team of veterans couldn’t find the beast and so returned to Dragon Fang’s hall in Shirotsume without new information. The Water-Make mage had started somewhat depressed, but after the sight of the guild in all its usual hustle and bustle grandeur, she found her energy again and rushed Zen in after bidding their guildmates thanks and a farewell. Inside, Hunter was, amazingly, having a more controlled boxing match with Jake in the corner of the guild hall that had been reserved for that after the rambunctious Dragon Slayer had started numerous guild encompassing brawls over the years.
Ammy was, as always, manning the bar, handing out orders and servings as they came as their resident cook knocked them out. Most of the orders belonged to clients who were waiting on a chance to submit their request or speak with specific members who had done good work for them before. Usually there’d also be clients and visitors for Guild Master Jack Goran, but he was away on a Guild Master’s Summit, an important event where the guild masters from across the country got together to discuss events and such that had happened. Finishing the match with a draw with his fellow S-Class, Jake left the boxing ring and joined his girlfriend Pyrrha nearby, laughing about one of the trades the two had had while Hunter went to the Bar, where Ammy had a bowl of imported Jade waiting for him to snack on. While the cost of bringing something like that to the guild was normally fairly high, Ammy had personally assisted the trader who supplied it and this was his thank you to the guild. As it was, the Jade Dragon Slayer never complained about it, and had, in fact, expressed his appreciation for it on more than one occasion and, as he did so now as he chowed down. ”Remind me again to meet with this guy personally some day! You’re amazing, Ammy, and I appreciate finally having a reliable source of this rare and amazing delicacy.” Despite being a Dragon Slayer of an Earth based element, only the rare stone could provide him with the power boost and recharge that other Dragon Slayers got from their element. And as mages who specialized specifically in Jade for an earth magic was exceedingly rare, he didn’t have anyone to buy the stone off of personally. Still, Ammy had been happy to oblige with the request, especially since she’d also been able to convince him to supply the kitchen with ingredients she normally had difficulty getting at a lower discount than he was initially going to offer in exchange for the free Jade. His other endeavors were profitable enough he hardly noticed the missing Jewel. Spotting some of the newer members after securing Zen and herself a booth, Joslyn danced over to them, humming happily.
As the town of Magnolia came into view as Damian and Penny approached in the revolutionary vehicle, a small smile crept onto the face of the Blade of Phoenix Wing. Over the last two years, Damian had been in the guild hall exactly twice and both times was to both make sure that the more rambunctious members hadn’t burned down the building and to see if anything exciting had happened while he and Penny were away. When he was gone, he trained, working on both his magical power and skill while keeping his martial skill in tip top shape. Penny was with him a lot of the time, and the two only grew closer as time went on, both as friends and lovers. In fact, just a few days before returning to the guild hall, Damian had proposed to Penny, who had accepted amongst tears and screams of joy. As the pair approached the town, Damian absentmindedly petting Jaëger, their home, after two long years, Damian was reflecting on the first few months after he'd first set out, a long time personal grudge on his mind.
Damian had caught the last train to Crocus for the last hour just in time, his face grim as he looked out the window towards the ever shrinking town of Magnolia as the train got further away. Penny had wanted to come, to find out why he was so dead set on this, the two had become quite the team and she was concerned for her boyfriend and teammate, but he'd told her that this was something that he had to handle alone and that he didn’t want her getting caught in the crossfire. When she made him promise to come back from whatever it was alive, he couldn't help but smile and kiss her in front of the guild. The whooping that came from the aware guild members had caused the Phoenix Slayer to blush while the looks of surprise from the unaware caused Damian a hearty laugh.
The veteran soldier smiled as he thought back on the memory, but then frowned again as he returned to his thoughts on the matter at hand. He'd promised Penny to contact her through a communication lacrima the moment the issue was handled, and he intended to keep that promise, one way or another. Corporal Jason Landricks, now a Lieutenant in the Royal Family's Special Magic Suppression Unit, code name Cerberus Platoon. Wonder if they even know the kind of lying snake their commanding officer is.Jason Landricks had been a promising corporal who served under Damian's father in the Royal Army's Fifth Infantry Division and then continued his service when it was combined with another unit and renamed the 42nd Border Control Unit, the same Unit that had received heavy casualties in what was now known as the Battle of North Forest. It wasn't until a few weeks prior that Damian had even known of Jason's involvement in the ambush that had killed his parents. The man had fallen ill the day before it had happened, but he wasn’t alone, so no one had thought anything of it.
Then, without warning and about three months before this fateful train ride, he got a letter from one of the men who served under Jason as a books keeper of sorts that had also served under Damian's father. The letter said that the man had found evidence that Jason had helped arrange the ambush in exchange for enough gold that he could bribe the right people to turn a blind eye to the circumstances and still live almost as good as the King of Fiore himself from the Mistrallian military. Damian had been too distraught at the time to really pay attention to the finer details, but after thinking about it, he realized that the whole thing had been off. The Scouts went silent just moments before the ambush, but their bodies had never been recovered because there hadn't been bodies to recover. He'd bribed them to abandon their posts at just the right time. Of course, since none of them had since come forward with any word of this themselves, either they were all now dead or had been paid enough to keep silent as well. Clenching his fists, Damian took a deep breath to calm himself. The bastard sat where he did because he'd kept all the people who might sell him out quiet, whether it was with money or brute force didn't matter. He'd been the reason Damian's parents were dead, and now, he would pay for it.
The rest of the train ride was Damian resting and planning and preparing his reasons for wanting into the Cerberus Platoon headquarters. It was the truth that he'd tell; He was an old friend paying a visit to a brave young man who’d once been an idol of respect for the now older Damian when he was a kid. Of course, he needed to remember that the Cerberus Platoon was armed with real anti-magic weapons, unlike the Magic Management Council, who had merely needed to maintain appearances over the last century or so. Thankfully, due to his father’s and mother’s extensive training and his own training regimen since their passing, Damian was fortunate that he hadn't always relied on his magic, he hadn't even known about it until the day his parents died. There was also the matter of remembering to thank the backstabbing son of a bitch for helping him meet Penny; after all, he didn't want to seem ungrateful or anything.
The last hour Damian slept, even though he'd slept several times before, he knew it was better than building nervous energy, though the rest was a fitful one. When the train stopped, Damian's eyes shot open and, with a small stretch, he stood up and exited the car, heading out of the station and towards the headquarters for the Special Magic Suppression Unit. Admittedly, as he moved through the streets of the city, the prospect of the experimental unit was still somewhat daunting. Armed with weapons forged from Magicite, these soldiers were able to cancel out a mage’s ability to use or cast magic for a short time if they broke skin. However, they could also fight to the death, as some mages were too powerful for a single cut to nullify, so he mulled over what it meant for him as he went. Over all, it was about a fifteen minute walk, one that he used to finalize what he would say as he approached the men guarding the front doors, the poor unaware souls that they were. "Stop," the one on the left says, a hand resting on his magicite sword, "who are you and what business do you have with the Cerberus Platoon?" Damian chuckled and held his hands up, trying to be disarming despite the sword hilt poking over his shoulder.
"Just here to visit an old friend, your Lieutenant Jason Landricks. He served under my father in the 42nd Border Control Unit before he was posted here." The man seemed to hesitate a moment, and Damian's hand subtly drifted closer to Andor's hilt as the look of distrust grew on the face of the guard. If these guys try to stop me, Jason will know what’s going on before I can find him and ghost again. I’ll never find him if that happens though.. In the end though, his fears were unbidden as the man he was looking for came out himself, his magicite halberd stored on his back and a cape flaring underneath it..
"Dammy! It's good to see you again!" Damian faked a smile and took the man's hand shake in good grace, though inside he was infuriated. "Tell me, what brings you all the way to Crocus to see me? The Games won't happen again until next year." Damian gave a genuine smile, indicating the man in front of him.
”Heard you’d been given command of your own unit and had to see for myself. Dad had always hoped you’d eventually reach a commander position.” The honeyed words paid off as a stupid smile crossed his face and he beckoned Damian to follow him on a walk through the barracks.
”Ah well, you caught us at a good time. Between your guild exposing the old Council and the overall activity of the legal guilds across the country, we’re still only called in on the most egregious of Dark Guilds.” The two of them stopped in the doorway to a training hall, showing the members of Cerberus Platoon not on guard duty sparring with and without weapons as well as practicing their spells. ”We’re proud to be the first in what will hopefully be a long line of anti-magic platoons. I don’t know if you’ve heard, Damian, but other kingdoms out there are forming even their regular armies out of almost completely mages and if they aren’t full-fledged mages, they’re trained to funnel magic energy into artillery.” Damian frowned at the mention of this and remembered the feeling he’d gotten at the Games in the previous year, about the sense of War waiting on the horizon.
”Let’s just say I inherited dad’s instincts for conflict. Bloody hell…” Still, as they moved away from the training hall and back towards the entrance, Damian couldn’t shake the feeling that the world was a powderkeg just waiting for a reason to go off. The two made small talk on the way back to the entryway, Jason even walking back out to where Damian had been standing when he’d come out originally.
”Well, it was good to see you again, Damian, but is there anything else you need? I’ve got responsibilities to tend to.” Damian’s face was covered once more in a grin as he rammed his fist into the other man’s gut, doubling him over from the pain.
"To see you get what you deserve for what happened to my parents you lying sack of Vulcan shit." The two door guards stepped forwards but Jason waved them off as he recovered, reaching over his shoulder and drawing the magicite weapon on his back. As he slid into a fighting stance, the weapon held diagonally with the blade aimed at the ground and the shaft held in both hands, his demeanor changed, becoming more psychotic than the mild-mannered man who’d been speaking a moment before.
"So that blasted letter reached you anyways? I should have known none of the boys would hurt that old codger, though I’ll admit it took some courage for him to send it to you at all. Regardless, what hope do you have against me, Dammy? Even a legendary S-Class wizard can't defeat our anti-magic magicite weapons and without your magic, you're just a scared little boy." This caused Damian to first chuckle, then laugh and then simply guffaw uncontrollably for a minute, and leaving Jason and his guards bewildered. "What's so funny to you, you arrogant son of a dead man?"
Damian calmed down enough to reach over his shoulder and draw Andor, the dragon fang blade sinking into the concrete a couple of inches when the edge of the blade hit it. "Are you really, truly so arrogant, or foolish, if not both, as to think that I’d let my martial skills wane simply because I gained the use of magic?" Jason’s face became one of indignance, but he didn’t get a chance to reply as Damian rushed forward, bringing Andor up towards Jason's chest at a speed that the man clearly hadn't expected. The attack forced Jason to leap back with a couple of flips before countering with a quick but powerful thrust for Damian's chest. This was countered by bringing Andor around and into the halberd, knocking it up and away from Damian's body before the two settled into comfortable guard positions. ”Allow me to educate you on how wrong you are.”
And then, in the blink of an eye, the real fight began, the two men masters of their chosen weapon and neither giving ground or openings where they didn’t have to. Damian wielded a sword like his father, with speed, power and precision that belied both his age and the size of the weapon, and Jason Landricks the halberd of the Special Magic Suppression Unit, the weapon lancing in and out and making sweeping strikes to try and catch the swordsman off balance with little success. The two men exchanged blows faster than the untrained eye could follow, not because of magical enhancement or outside aid, but because of the increase in speed and strength adrenaline gave naturally, nevermind their existing level of skill normally. Damian struck from the right, Jason blocked with the bottom of the halberd and struck from above, which was deflected to the side as Damian thrust towards his opponent's chest, which Jason dodged by leaping to one side and slicing at Damian's stomach. It went on like this for several minutes, a deadly dance that neither side would lose in, neither side giving nor gaining ground without making their opponent earn it. That is, at least, until Jason made a very nearly fatal mistake. Seeing Damian leave an opening in his guard, he swung too far with the halberd in an effort to disarm the swordsman and Damian took advantage of it, catching the haft with his left hand and bringing Andor’s edge down on it's middle. The dragon fang blade sliced clean through it, more or less destroying the magicite weapon, and he delivered a sidekick to Jason's chest, knocking the man onto his back and knocking the wind out of him. Undeterred, Jason attempted to stand again, but found himself pinned to the ground by Damian’s foot as the city guard regiment with the royal army arrived, the man who'd sent the letter to Damian at their head.
"I hate you for what you did, taking my family from me, taking a future and maybe even knowing my father’s and mother’s families from me.” Damian leaned forwards, his gaze unwavering. ”But I also have to thank you for allowing me to find a new family, and my girlfriend, with Phoenix Wing. Enjoy your cell." Damian stepped aside as a pair of spearmen approached and officially arrested Jason Landricks, taking the former Corporal and Lieutenant into custody on counts of high treason and accepting bribery from the enemies of Fiore. Damian, his parents avenged as he knew they'd wished to be, sheathed Andor and, with a heavy but contented sigh, attempted to leave, but was stopped by a member of the guard garrison and asked to stay in Crocus until the conclusion of the trial, so that he could testify against Jason. Damian, knowing that his word might be the difference between Jason going free or going to prison, agreed eagerly to do his part to see the bastard thrown in jail.
That process took an additional couple of months, but it was a process he would happily endure and he'd already called Penny and talked to her, suggesting to her to come to Crocus. They'd spent the time they weren't attending Jason Landrick's trial wandering around the city and enjoying the sights. This process repeated for two months, until the day they convicted the man who'd been responsible for the death of so many, Damian's parents included, as a murderer, traitor, and conspirator against the crown. Damian stood and watched Jason dragged away, kicking and screaming, never to be a free man again.
Slowly, Damian's mind came back to the present and he smiled softly as the car entered Magnolia. Penny had always complained to him after he’d had Andor reforged that he’d spent too much time learning Kenjutsu and Iaijutsu, but would usually let it go after a bit and simply enjoy his company and he did the same with her. As the car came to a stop he looked to Penny as she climbed out and stood outside the doors apprehensively. "Come on now,” he says as he climbs out and joins her at the doors, ”sure it's been two years, but we're still two of the Guild's strongest members and it's strongest team, despite what Lazarus thinks and his numerous losses in our duels. Let's show 'em we're still kickin'."
Penny gave a nod, but she also knew that several things had changed, and that nothing would be the same as it once was. Two years was a long time for something to happen, and Penny wondered if the guild would be like it was.
And there were still things that bothered her.
------
Penny has never mentioned the night that Solias had come, wanting to talk to Damian. She had sensed the phoenix's presence, and had only reluctantly gone to speak with him, so that no one would have to know. Penny would have gladly told Damian, and in fact had wanted to, several times,
But bound by an oath, she couldn't speak of it.
She had approached Solias, her eyes narrowed, suspicious of anything he would say or do. It was safe to say that she no longer trusted the Phoenix.
"Penelope," his voice was relieved, but Penny just stared at him, blinking and not saying anything. Solias gave a sigh, "You're mad at me, you have every right to be."
"Gee, thanks," Penny said bitterly, "I believed in you. I believed you would help. I trusted you for years. And you just threw that all away. I didn't believe you wouldn't help me, wouldn't help your own blood. You probably never expected me to come into your life. Fate sucks, doesn't it? You hurt me, I thought I had a parent that actually cared. I was wrong. I don't want to talk to you."
She didn't give Solias a chance to speak, instead, she turned and headed back. She didn't look back, although she knew that Solais could give her answers, she decided she didn't need them.
______________
Now that they were home, Penny wondered if she had been rash. She looked to the doors, and took a deep breath. She was sure there was a lot to catch up on. She looked back to Damian, nodded and smiled. "Right. Let's do this, with style of course."
And with amusement, Penny slammed the doors open, flames licking up along the doors themselves, but not burning them, a harmless show entirely for effect.
Grinning at his fiance, Damian followed the flames up with a series of spinning blades in the shape of snowflakes, or they roughly were as it was, blowing into the hall and up to the ceiling before bursting into thousands of smaller, harmless ones as the two dire wolves bounded in and howled their arrival. The spectacle brought everyone's attention to the door where the two S-Class wizards stood with smiles on their faces as Jaëger and Carmilla returned to Damian’s sides. "We're back, Phoenix Wing!" With their arms linked and their fingers interlaced with each other, the pair walked into the guild hall, their home, for the first time in two years.
Damian immediately set about hugging and shaking hands with everyone who approached him, having missed his guild mates over the last two years, but knowing that growing stronger for the sake of the guild and for himself wouldn't happen if he only used the guild training grounds. On top of that, Damian had unlocked the inner secrets of his magic and learned that it went by another name; Arsenal Magic. He used the Wolven Blade Master, a type of arsenal magic that allowed him to use any form of sword while summoning a pack of wolves for his command, though currently it was only Jaëger and Carmilla. With that knowledge, he had worked hard to improve his strength, both magically and physically, ensuring that each of his blades managed to achieve it’s true form.
Looking around, he spotted the guild's resident Paladin inspecting a revolver that the swordsman didn’t remember him having and waved at the man, who returned the wave with a smile on his face. Damian was glad that he hadn't left while he and Penny were away, he could recall a few instances where the man's ability to shield, heal and attack had saved his allies during difficult fights in the past. And nothing could change that he was key in winning those fights. Seeing Lazarus and Sasha sitting at a table, Damian nudged Penny. "We’ll need to take some time at some point and see how they and their little girl are doing."
Damian knew many in the guild probably had a hard time recognizing him after his two years away. He was taller and had added a touch more muscle to the visible spectrum, though how strong the man really was was still a mystery. Turning and giving Penny a quick peck on the cheek before looking over the guild members present. He’d heard that there was still some who had joined recently that hadn’t yet met the Blade of Phoenix Wing and he wanted to rectify that quickly.
Being the famous S-Class mage he was, he also gained a reputation for being short and to the point when dealing with mages who thought he was inconveniencing them and...merciless to Dark Mages. Admittedly, Damian no longer tried to deny who he was or what he wielded, but he never took a life that he didn’t have to. Though admittedly, the number of dark mages who would stand down when told to was slim. Shaking his head, he spots a pair of faces he doesn’t recognize. ”Hey there! I hear you’re relatively new to Phoenix Wing. Thought I’d see how you’re settling in.”
The weather has said sunny weather for the day, but when she woke, it was still overcast. That just made it harder to get up. Oh, but she had some few appointments this morning, she had to, she had to. With a groan, Trinity pushed herself upright in bed and grabbed a comb from the windowsill just next to it. It was a second floor bedroom, up a half-flight of stairs. There was a basement below, something that had been believed to just be crawl space, but that's another story. You took a half-flight of stairs down to get there. The main floor was her workspace and shop floor, where she sold gadgets she had no particular use for, herself, or spoke with customers regarding custom orders. Like the local apothecary apprentice. Poor guy had his leg off in a Vulcan attack, so she'd made him a lacrima-core prosthetic.
The young lady hopped out of bed and slogged her way over to the kitchen area of her upstairs studio living space, wearing kitty pajamas that had a hood and cute kitty ears on it. She flicked on a specialty lamp she'd purchased for mornings like this one, it was very bright. She stuck her hand into the light and manifested a skillet, and then a spatula. The skillet went on the stove and she went into the fridge to get some bacon and eggs.
Luckily, Solar Make interacted with heat and fire similarly to Energy Make, but it just shattered when superheated. At least she could still get it hot enough to cook on.
One breakfast later, Trinity found herself staring out her window, willing the clouds to part. Using the lamp did the job, usually, but sunlight was so much better. Well, her appointments wouldn't wait for the sun. She'd better get dressed and downstairs. Though, she had to wonder how her patrons would feel about her going to work in her pajamas. Would it draw in more customers? Hmm... Maybe the wrong kind of customers. Yes, let's not and say we did.
So she got dressed. Something a little more conservative, today. She went with a button-up shirt and slacks, debating a tie and deciding she couldn't be bothered to put the effort into remembering how to tie it.
As the day went on, Trinity found it difficult to get into her work until the sun came out about mid-morning. She'd already had one appointment stop by, and the other one wasn't due until late afternoon, so she had all day. She reached her hand into the sunbeam coming through her skylight, getting to work on a prototype for her client.
At about mid-day, two familiar figures passed by the window she happened to find herself gazing out of. She had to get up and go look out the window to confirm, but yes, it was Damian and Penny. Good to see them back again. They were likely too wrapped up in coming back to the guild to notice the guild mark contained within the sign of her store. It wasn't a painfully obvious thing, should she have it changed? Maybe... Then again, her guild wasn't always known for finesse, so maybe not.
Aah, but she had to get back to work! Those orders wouldn't make themselves, and the Sun was out.
Magic: Ice Dragon Slayer/Exceed Location: Arriving at Phoenix Wing GuildHall Thoughts: 'I am so happy to finally be back' "We are finally back" With:
Amaya walked through the town with a happy jump to her step. She was more than relieved to finally get back to the place she called home. She had spent the last two years of training and focusing on herself and getting stronger. She had her reasons and the biggest one was from what happened at the Grand Magic Games. There were Slayer hunters and she had been one of their targets. So many of the other Phoenix wing members came to her aide, even if she didn't want it. She didn't do anything to really help them as it was her fight but she didn't actually do anything but be willing to give them what they wished without fighting. She needed to grow stronger and truly find her balance of who she was as a dragon slayer. The training wasn't much help in finding her balance but she did develop a way to assist in battle without having to harm others so maybe she found a way to her own balance.
Amaya smiled adjusting the messenger bag "Cecilia, we are home finally."She spoke sweetly looking down at the messenger bag moving around a bit before a navy blue cat popped its head out with light blue spots. "Really? that took so long on foot." Groaned the cat "I am sorry, I can't handle any moving things." She apologized before moving forwards letting her knee-length hair flow behind her adjusting her white dress coat and beret some as her ice blue eyes glowed brightly a bit excited to get her room back and start working again.
Magic: Darkness Magic Location: Arriving at Phoenix Wing GuildHall Thoughts: Hated traveling but enjoyed the vacation with her new husband and daughter neither the less With:
Rose stretched as the Vehicle stopped in front of the guildhall "Finally We are here...Ugh my legs."She groaned some getting outstretching a bit. She spent the past two years rebuilding and reshaping herself for the better. She trained and Managed to finally take that leap and become one of the S Ranking wizards of Phoenix wing. She had decided against it ages ago out of pure fear but she has grown some with this guild and they became her family as much as her own daughter. She decided, she wasn't going to hide who she was anymore. This was her home and the other phoenix members were her family. Becoming S-Rank was not easy but she never wanted it to be but she pulled through and gained the title Jamie had offered when she first came to the guild. Over the last year, she rekindled her love for lucus and finally took the step of becoming married to the father of her child and the only man she actually ever allowed to live with calling her 'Rosey'.
She lifted her hair before rolling it into a messy bun towards the top of her head pinning it with some ruby red sticks. her rose redeyes looked around. "It hasn't changed one bit? Come on Lucus! I got to check in with Jamie to let her own I am back from my vacation and ready to take up whatever she needs! Elyse, Wake up, we are here." she called to the two in the car. She already went by their home a few blocks away to put their bags away.
Magic: Observer Magic Location: Arriving at Dragon Fang GuildHall Thoughts: Finally made it to one of the many locations she been looking for With:
A small White-haired girl stood outside the Dragon Fang GuildHall, looking up at it in deep looking thought. the girls crimson red eyes watched the building as if in a long staring contest. She occasionally nodded her head or lightly spoke to seemingly nothing around her as faintly there was a ghostly image of her hovering a bit off the ground whispering in her head "Yes. I know, this was what was mentioned in my father's journal. Dragon fang and Wolven Pyre. Yes, they are a bunch of witches with similar situations like mine from what father's journal speaks but...he was not sure of dragon fang...So I need to find out about Dragon Fang. No, It's fine. We will be fine, just come along."She spoke as the nearly visible twin looked like it sighed annoyed with her answer folding its arms in frustration hovering beside her disappearing from existence seemingly.
The small teen sighed shaking her head back to reality "Alright let's do this." she whispered calming her nerves adjusting her pack and the large skin bound tome under her left arm before heading inside looking around. She had no clue who to speak to or who even ran the guild. She was on a whim and felt the need to join this guild over the others she had visited and read about. She just hoped they were a tiny bit more friendly than her contract was about the situation.
Terra Infirma Secret Guild Hall, Mountains outside Hargeon Town
Jonathan Grimmeld was a very proud man. He was guild master of the second strongest dark guild in the entirety of Fiore and answered only to the guild master of the powerful Dark Legacy, a man most only knew as the Wielder of the Storm. Thanks to that kind of autonomy, his guild’s wealth and influence had only grown, despite the rooting out of several of the lesser dark guilds by the likes of Phoenix Wing and Dragon Fang and, more recently, Wolven Pyre. The latter of the three, he’d been assured, would soon be dealt with though, so he wasn’t overly concerned with them. In fact, he was in the midst of conducting business as usual, interrogating a shop owner who’d suddenly had the spine to refuse to pay protection, when one of his A-Rank members who’d been on perimeter duty came running in. “Boss, we got a problem.”
Jonathan turned with an annoyed grunt and nodded. “I’ll be right out.” Turning back to the shop owner as the mage left the room, who was barely conscious, he smiled darkly. “I’ll be back in a moment to continue our conversation, Mister Oudon. Stay right there.” Turning with a chuckle, he left the interrogation chamber and closed and locked the door on the off chance the beaten man tried to escape. Heading down the hall to the security room, he stood in the doorway, annoyed. “Alright, Angel, what’s going on? Some Light Guild do-gooders stumble into our territory again? That’s hardly a reason for interrupting my fun.” Angel, the green-haired young woman who’d gone and gotten Jonathan from his interrogation, faced her guild master and pointed to one of the camera feeds, where a single man wearing a duster over dusty leather armor, slightly clawed gauntlets on his hands as he looked dead at the source of the camera feed.
Jonathan laughed and grabbed the intercom. “Boys and girls, we have a guest at senser 4 on the east side of the base. Joey, Hannah and Garrom, go say hello to the poor sap.” Three affirmatives answered the intercom and the dark guild master set down the mic. However, Angel still seemed nervous as the man then began walking towards the camera. Jonathan wasn’t worried about it at first, except the man didn’t stroll past when he reached the hidden observation machine’s position, but stared right into it. “Angel, how long did that man stand there for?” The man’s black hair was stirring something in the guild master’s memory, but he couldn’t quite place it yet.
“About ten minutes, boss. Usually most people will come in and move through. Hell, we don’t really see anyone but hunters and such through this sector. But something abou-” Her answer is cut short as the man finally speaks.
”Jonathan Grimmeld. By now I would hope that whoever you have watching your perimeter has gone and fetched you. Terra Infirma has been found guilty of the practice of participation and solicitation of illegal jobs and using dark magics. By decree of the Magic Council and the Royal Family of Fiore, you are to be given ten minutes to all come out and surrender.” He grins as he turns around, the mocking words of the three dark mages Jonathan had just sent out coming through, laughing and whooping and telling this man how he’d screwed up real bad by hanging out in Terra Infirma territory. ”But then, I was never really good with time.” The guild master had no chance to either answer the man or warn his guild members as the duster moved back to reveal twin revolvers and suddenly the man’s identity raced to the front of Jonathan’s mind. Dark Legacy had warned about him, an elite Mage Hunter, the last of his Order,but deadly enough to be a one man hit squad who specialized in hunting dark mages. Knowing the danger his guild was in, the dark guild master did the one thing he could and hit the emergency alarm as the entrance to the hidden guild hall sealed itself shut.
One of the three whom the guild master had sent out, Joey, barely managed to catch the sound due to his Wolfman takeover and suddenly he was concerned. The boss sealing the guild hall over one guy? Wait, but we- His thought’s cut short as one of the two revolvers comes free of its holster, the sunlight glinting off the light blue metal and a round exits the barrel of the gun, the enchantment engraved upon it glowing brightly. Garrom, a street fighter who’d mastered brawling, was the first target and took the round to his chest. Fortunately, the enchantment kicked in before the bullet entered the body and chains ensnared the man from ankle to chest. As he tumbled to the side, Hannah moved in with a manic grin, unaware of the danger she was in, swinging her favorite magic hammer with wild abandon. Hannah was one of the guild’s S-Class dark mages, her hammer Tuddles acting as a catalyst for her unique version of Crash Magic. While previous examples of the magic had simply caused difficult to repair damage, Hannah’s could turn everything within fifty feet in front of her into a hot mess and anyone caught in the zone of impact would be reduced to little more than messy puddles of what used to pass as people.
However, as Joey moved to flank the man in the duster, his claws bared and the form’s bloodlust taking over, it was clear Hannah wanted to make a smear of the man personally as she didn’t aim for a more general impact to try and catch him, laughing like a lunatic the whole time. It proved a mistake as the man’s footwork matched his aim and marksmanship. She swung from the left, he spun underneath the blow and danced back even as she swung back to try and catch him. Joey lunged at him from his left and the man’s counter attack, a spinning roundhouse kick, caught him in the side of the head and sent him sprawling away from the pair even as he backflipped away from an uppercut from Tuddles and its wielder. ”Miss, I hope you’ve made your peace.” Joey’s bloodlust and dazed brain barely had time to register what he’d said, but before he could call a warning to Hannah, the man moved in between swings, the barrel of one of his revolvers kissing the bottom of her chin. ”Boom.” Two shots, two down as Joey struggled to his feet and the man turned to face him, one round from each revolver spent.
“What the fuck was that?!” Joey had never heard of Rune Knights taking a dark mage’s life before and so when he captured Garrom, he figured they were dealing with a member of an elite Rune Knight unit. But watching him end Hannah without a second thought…”What the fuck are you even?! Rune Knights don’t kill anyone!” The man snorted at the comment, taking more of a fighting stance as Joey used his takeover magic to move from a Wolfman to a Snakeman, a rarer and harder to find take over that Joey had spent five years hunting in a country across the sea.
”Boy, if I was a Rune Knight, your street fighting friend wrapped up in chains would have been more than enough to handle even the best of what I had to offer.” Striking hard and fast, Joey’s tail moved to knock the man off his feat, but instead, he was hit with intense pain as the end of his Snakeman’s tail flew from the rest of his body, magic energy glowing from the blade mounted under the right hand revolver’s barrel, his body having just finished a cutting motion. Even as the shot forced him back to his human form, he shifted to the Bearman takeover, charging forwards to try and tear his opponent apart with his brute strength and powerful jaws. The duster clad man merely chuckled and dodged around the clumsy charge, two shots resounding from the revolvers as they blew out Joey’s kneecaps. Now the young man was trapped in his human form and couldn’t move anymore. The mage approached slowly as the young man, now panicking as he realized the danger he was in, tried to crawl away. Thoughts flew through his mind unbidden, first of denial, then anger than outrage, and then, as a heavy boot planted itself in his back and stopped his panicked crawling, acceptance. ”Sleep in peace, lad.” A fifth shot rang out, and one more dark mage found their life snuffed out without their permission.
The man in the duster breathed in deep and glanced at the brawler, who’d given up breaking out of the chains. The man had worn himself out trying and now he could do little more than lay there and pant. ”If you don’t stop trying to get loose, I’ll have to put one in your dick for good measure.” The dark mage’s response was to flip off the duster wearing man and resume heavy panting. Garrom knew when he was beaten in strength and skill, an important skill to get out of street fighting alive and this man...Garrom didn’t want to pick anymore of a fight than he already had. The man in the duster turned away from the combat area he’d just turned into a slaughterhouse and approached the location he’d marked the dark guild’s members coming in and out of most frequently. It was all of two minutes of feeling around before he found the barely noticeable crevasse that was in the middle of the front doors in the boulder’s face. He could also feel the magic seal that was supposed to keep the door from being forced and that made him smile again. Holstering one his revolvers, he flicked the breach on the other open and replaced a spent bullet casing with a new one, the enchantment glowing brightly.
”Knock knock, Terra Infirma.” Firing the round dead center, the doors blasted inwards upon its impact, causing harm to the two dozen dark mages who had expected him to force his way in far more traditionally. Most of them ended up with broken limbs that prevented any further resistance, but the ones who had managed to find their footing by the time the man in the duster passed by found themselves in chains. His method of clearing out the dark guild was fairly standard for the lessons he’d learned growing up, though performing them on his own as he was now made the process take longer than if he’d had a proper squad of three. Ah well, do what you can with what you got, as dad would say… It was after finishing securing the mess hall he found her, a green haired gal who was attempting to use Song Magic to seduce him and lower his guard. There was no hesitation as the bullet fired from his revolver found its way through her forehead. ”Siren Song magic. That’s both rare AND dark. Take that secret to your grave, soulless wench.”
The last room he entered was the Guild Master’s hall. It was standard for guild’s associated with the True Patriots alliance he’d found, as those who worked under a trio of powerful dark guilds often benefited greatly from it. As he pushed open the double doors, the sight of Jonathan Grimmeld greeted him, the man’s unique dark air magic flowing around him. “You took your sweet time getting here, Mage Hunter.” The figure in the duster didn’t reply, instead allowing the doors behind him to close as he reloaded both revolvers. There were no non-lethal rounds in the cylinders this time and wouldn’t be unless the man was sure he could afford to capture the Dark Guild Master. “Not in a talking mood? Good, I prefer getting straight to the fun anyways.” Not granting a reply, the pair lunged at each other, the right revolver taking aim….
Back in the clearing where the first two Dark Mages had died, the Rune Knights were still pulling out the members of the now disbanded Terra Infirma, the right hand guild to the head of this crazy alliance that Arthas Drenmur had spent the last year and a half hunting. The captain grimaced as what was left of the guild master was brought up and turned to the Mage Hunter. “You couldn't have at least tried to bring them in alive? These guys knew stuff.” Arthas grunted.
”He wouldn’t have talked and you know it. Besides, the Dark Air magic did more damage to him than I did, seeing as more powerful spells suck the oxygen out of the body to empower them. I just...finished the job.” The captain’s sigh was audible within the town itself almost.
“OK, fine, so maybe he wouldn’t have. Still, your job is to-” The mage hunter stopped the captain mid-sentence.
”My job is to find dark mages and their guilds and deal with them. The methods and techniques used to do so are mine and mine alone to decide, captain. So do not presume that I am unfit to do anything simply because you lack the spine to do so yourself. Dismissed.” While it was clear the Mage Hunter’s words had caused a level of irritation within the Rune Knight Captain, he didn’t argue and left to make sure that removing the captured and wounded was done before nightfall. Arthas himself simply sat and watched, taking note of the dark mages who were being cooperative and those who refused to even act like they would cooperate for future reference in his report back to the Magic Council.
Speaking of, as he took a sip of the coffee one of the Knights had given him, he wondered again if he should still send his reports to them. Phoenix Wing had exposed a deep rooted corruption within the old Council and it raised questions about the integrity of such a body. Ach, too much thinking on it. For now, wrap up this assignment and we’ll worry about the rest later.
"Yeah, got this lacrima from some Dark Guild wannabe. Supposedly did some underground work to make some black market stuff. Quality ain't great, but hey, couldn't pass up the chance of having a lacrima like this eh?" laughed a brown haired man who pretty much screamed dumb rich kid. His brown eyes sparkling with overconfidence as he took a sip of some red liquid from his martini glass. Sitting beside him at the bar, Karn... or rather Edo-Karn was sitting next to him, twirling her blonde hair with a index finger as wide green eyes sparkled while staring at this peacocking man.
"Ohhhh wooow! You're so resourceful! Such a smart and handsome man is so rare to find." Edarn cooed with a awestruck voice, giving a bright dumb blonde kind of smile.
'Unsurprising how much you are manipulative.' 'And a complete and utter...' 'Really, you just don't have any dignity. Completely useless. Completely a waste of space.'
Edarn ignored the voices in her head, within her soul or mind... ah whatever. Echoes, Ghosts. She gave a bright smile as the man handed her the lacrima and gave a bit of a giggle as her slender fingers played with the purplish black glowing orb, rolling it against her index finger. It certainly was ominous looking, if it was actually legitimate however was yet to be seen. Even if this guy was confident it was, honestly he didn't seem the smartest tool in the shed. She had spent the night here, doing a little multi-job. Do a little singing up on stage, chat up this bloke that often comes here to pick up girls. Waving his money around and boasting of his connections.
"For me? What's it do?" Edarn continued with awe, flashing another naive smile despite having a good idea what this particular thing does.
Giving a slight twitch of a smile, the man ran a hand through his hair nonchalantly and smirked. "Oh just a bit of beauty magic. It'll make even the dirtiest backwater trash into a drop dead gorgeous babe. Why not give it a try babe? Make that cute face of yours even cuter. All you got to do is activate it is to say Please Me." he grinned, a glint within his deep brown eyes, seeming to have a difficult time hiding his impatience.
"Alrighty then. Hmmmm Please Me~" Edarn chirped in response, as she made a little bit of a dangerous gamble. Rumors say girls would often disappear after this, those naïve enough to fall for this trick. This lacrima wasn't for such a simple purpose, but supposedly to cause women holding it to succumb to complete servitude just like that. Just be a walking puppet for those to play with for little while or whatever Dark Guilds needed them for.
After she spoke, the man beamed before leaning closer and placed a hand on her thigh, fingers wrinkling her dress as they unabashedly touched her. Edarn's face went blank, although it seemed the man hadn't bothered to check to see if the lacrima had worked. By his aggressive actions, it seemed the rumors and theories were correct. Edarn's expression remained blank as she felt a hand travel along the thigh, and another to her flat chest. Her green eyes did shift to the right to lock eyes with the nervously concerned barman, Joe, whom gave a silent sigh of relief as she did. Mmmm seemed even lack of eye movement was a sign of it working. Guess she scared Joe with her daring ploy as well. Suppose it be a hassle if it had worked and Joe had to call the guild to bail her out of this predicament she got Karn and herself in.
It was then the man stiffened and froze, seeming to have found something utterly shocking. When he looked up to meet green eyes, Edarn gave a innocent smile. "Gotcha." she chirped before slamming her knee up right between his legs, her right palm slamming into his face and pushing him away from her. Brushing down the green dress she was wearing she got up from seat and set some jewels on the bar counter.
As the guy was on the floor whimpering or something, Edarn brushed a hand along her neck, fingers running through the blonde hair and waved to Joe. "Here tell the guys I did my part. Have them study this lacrima and report to GM if you find anything interesting regarding the Dark Guild making these." she said as she tossed it to Joe before winking at the man on the ground.
"Thanks for the help big boy. Hate to give you them blue balls but I gotta go. Toodles." Edarn spoke before walking out of the place, green eyes squinting at the sunlight. Morning must have already come before she realized. Still with a shrug, she walked along the streets of Magnolia.
These red shoes were uncomfortable, and she heaved a sigh at having to wear a impractical outfit. Still it did the job and it was one Karn had wanted out of all of them. It was at least not a ungodly amount of pink this time around. Last night had earned them a bit of food, and some extra money for her to buy some more mechanical parts for some projects. She felt her nightly outing tiring, but it was worth doing the job.
"Wow that was fun! I dunno if you should of hit him that hard though? He didn't hurt us after all." Karn's voice spoke out from within her mind. Which caused her to simply give a sigh in response, a swift facepalm, before running it up and into the blonde strands.
"He was a creep and did plenty of things." she simply responded out loud, looking like she was talking to herself, but she didn't mind it.
'You enjoyed it.' 'Hard to believe you didn't just keep it up all the way through.' 'Perhaps you were just pathetic and a coward though teehee.'
Voices echoed once more but Edarn just shrugged a bit as she continued walking, listening as Karn piped up with questions and started to ramble but she wasn't really listening. However once she stopped in front of the doors to the Guild, her blank expression stared at the doors. Closing her green eyes, she sniffed, trying her best to identify the smells that are within. She had gotten a bit better over the couple of years, however it was still difficult to actually utilize a acute sense of smell. The many scents of the Guild just ended up giving her a migraine.
"Dammy and Fira are back!" came Karn's excited voice that ringed in her mind, as expected he'd be able to identify who all was in there.
Edarn did not share the excitement as she just looked at the doors for a long moment. It was a pretty rare sight for her to bother interacting with the Earthland Guild Members, well mostly a certain list of people. Interaction only happened if her input was really required, otherwise, she secluded herself from them. A part of her hated them, even though it was just stupid to do so. It was unfair of her to do so. But the whole entire thing was just unfair as well. Her logical and emotional sides didn't align well when it came to this situation. Or maybe she was just insane, and this was the only way to hold herself together.
It was easier to be numb than in pain.
For the most part, Twinkle Toes was the only Red Flag that did occasionally try and speak to her. Edarn responded, mostly for gains in research and assistance but even her presence just...
Edarn shook her head and waved a hand as she took a deep breath. "Go say hi then." she said as the green eyes closed and she completely released the control over this body.
Karn's expression melted from Edarn's expressionless face to one of bright sunshine, a smile plastered on his lips as he busted through door like a barrel of nerves. "Dammy and Fira are back! Welcome back! How are you two?! Did you have fun?! Did you travel the whooooooole wooooooorld?! Do you have any epic stories to tell?! Did you eat a lot of good food?!" the blonde chirped and cheered, as he hopped and skipped all about the guild, twirling around in the dress with utter glee and excitement. So happy to have friends return once more. His rambles got directed more to Penny since Damian was trying to interact with others, but his green eyes gleamed brightly.
He respected Damian and Penny a lot. They were S-class Wizards and top of the Guild. It was awe-inspiring. They were everything he wasn't. They were strong, brave, respected, leaned on, kind and caring. Karn had once perhaps dreamed to be like them, and like many wizards, be a S-Class Wizard. But it was one he had simply given up on. He just wasn't good enough, not confident enough, not strong enough, not brave enough. But it was fine, if he could just help with little things too.
A yawned escaped from a man lying up on a wooden beam in the rafters of the Guildhall, a red tail lazily hanging over the side. The tall feline clad in red was writing in what looked like a thick book, humming a soft tune as he did. Occasionally he did watch the activities of his Guildmates, especially when Hunter started his usual challenging rounds. Guild Master Jack was off on some meeting, so sadly the feline man could not bother him today. Fluffy ears twitching as the doors opened, Prince looked down with his teal gaze and gave a bright toothy smile. "Hello Hello there power team. Welcome back." he purred as he rolled on his stomach to look down at Joslyn and Zen making a return.
It was good to see they seemed alive and well at least. Prince looked to the doors as they opened once more, this time a girl wandering inside. Ah, perhaps another newbie? Seemed to be getting more and more as of late. Stretching out, Prince closed the book he was writing in and put it in his bag before standing up. Stretching and giving another yawn before leaping down and landing gracefully onto the floor of the guildhall. The tall man wandered over to the silver haired girl and tipped his hat in his greeting.
"Well hello there good lady! Welcome to Dragon Fang! My name is Prince, pleasure to meet you!" he chirped before holding out his right bare clawed hand out as if to handshake.
The last year for Belius had been one that was... Quite different from prior to joining Phoenix Wing. He hadn't stayed in any one place for longer than a few or several months, often having to change accommodation, then towns, then cities, though never really going beyond the borders. As a result he's built up quite a few known acquaintances, just no more than that. His guildmates were at first rather eager to see a new powerhouse join their ranks, but when they soon learned of his habits to make things more "interesting", and thus, more volatile, he was suddenly no longer a favourite to ask for help. That phase only lasted maybe a month at most. These days, he's only ever relied on for missions that guarantee a difficult fight, or ones with zero fighting whatsoever.
His reputation was mixed, while he is a known force in combat, and a wild card for missions, he was a guy that was pretty open to getting things done. When he was new there were a few guildmates that had him do errands, which he did, to an extreme effect, so much so that they begged his forgiveness. He had no idea what was going on but went with it anyway. Despite the way he acts, his years of working many different jobs for money prior to becoming a mage really showed, having seemingly random knowledge in various topics.
Today however, he was completely free, open schedule, he figured he'd just relax in the guild hall for awhile with all the buzz going on, something about a meeting? He was perched up on the second floor of the hall overlooking the first floor, sat at a table with a drink and a book about agriculture. Why agriculture? He had a job he'd completed earlier where he had to help a farmer, so he had a sudden interest and picked it up from the library.
"Damian!"
His ears caught wind of a familiar name, he turned from his seat to lean over and look down at the first floor as a familiar presence entered. So he's finally back. A lot in Phoenix Wing know the story of Belius' recruitment, he challenged them when Damian had happened to be around. After a fight that caused a great deal of collateral damage, and various debris in the shape of swords strewn about, he was eventually defeated, and shortly after his defeat, Belius signed up.
"Yo Damian!"
Grabbing the railing, he leapt over, doing a somersault before landing right between Damian and the other new faces in the guild in a superhero landing no less.
"I see you're back, just in time for a rematch!", he dramatically pointed his finger at Damian, some who heard this had frozen for a moment in fear, before he dropped his pose and continued.
"Is what I'd normally say! I do want that rematch though, but maybe after all of this buzz and somewhere with more room. Instead how about we get a round of drinks instead? You guys got a great selection on tap here", well, Belius was clearly settling in just right, personally at least.
The light of midday broke through the thick, verdant canopy of the guild hall, streaking a natural radiance among the few members of Wolven Pyre as they went about their business. Men and women occupied the oak tables, their pint’s heavy with ale and bellies’ with laughter and merry jaunts. Witches accompanied by their familiars set about their various tasks for the day; their mage friends happy to lend a hand and vice versa. Coiled up at the bar was Nigel, Priscilla’s familiar. The boa constrictor usually accompanied the Guild Master wherever she went, but had been left behind to observe the guild in her stead whilst she attended the Master’s Summit in Magnolia. He slumped his head low and appeared to be quite forlorn; as much as a reptile physically could. If he could speak, he’d probably lament being separated from his mistress for so long. Though it would seem he would have no need of words to express such a sentiment.
“Oh, cheer up would you ol’ Nigel?” Meredith chirped from behind the bar counter, stirring herself up a well deserved noon martini. It was five o’clock somewhere, after all. “It is a testament to Prissy’s trust that she would feel comfortable to leave you behind. Try not to dwell on it.” Nigel drearily slithered to face away from her, a low hiss escaping him. Even if it were the case, it didn’t change how he felt about the situation. Meredith took a sip from her drink, rolling her eyes at the sheer dramatics one snake could produce. She spied a few mages eyeing off the job board in the corner of her eye. A fruitless endeavor, unfortunately. As predicted, the mages shook their heads in frustration before sauntering back to their seats to find some way to pass the time.
It’s to be expected. Meredith sighed, finishing her drink in a single, well practiced swig. Despite Wolven Pyre’s official inauguration as a Light Guild over a month ago, it seemed the public’s view of them had yet to change much. The jobs trickled in pathetically; barely enough to keep the wizards who relied on them afloat. People just weren’t open to the idea of trusting a group of witches. It would take time to build it up. Meredith knew this, yet she couldn’t help but feel wary of their future if the jobs didn’t start to come in. Already a handful of new members had decided the guild to be unworthy of their time, setting off to find more popular guilds. Of course they’d always have their loyal members; the family they had built before the guild’s inception. All it would take would be one big job, something to put them on the map and draw attention to the good deeds of both the witches and wizards who called these halls home.
Nigel stirred as a small flame sputtered and danced beside him. The black candle had been lit by Priscilla on her departure and she had assured Meredith that she would use it to notify the guild of her arrival in Magnolia town. It would seem their esteemed master had sent the sign. Nigel slowly lowered to the ground, shifting through the guild hall towards the stairs that lead to his master’s chambers.
Meredith decided she may as well get comfortable. Today seemed as slow a day as any. She was content to lounge around and wait for something interesting to happen. After all, one never does quite know what to expect.
Magic: The Swordmaster, Shifting Sword Style Location: Brianna’s Home to The Phoenix Wing Guildhall Thoughts: ‘What do you want Tearsy? W-Wait, they are back…?’ Interacting: Penny @MarshiestMallow, Damien @Zarkun, Belius @Sho Minazuki, Karn/Edo-Karn @Silver Fox Mention: Regan Hadou @CitrusArms
Brianna slowly woke up from her bed in her two-story home in Magnolia Town, which she had yawned. She did remember something that happened around a week ago, which was that Regan Hadou, her master left after she rested and was alright with it. Because it would be a bit clingy to force someone you met early to stay at your home. However, Brianna was immensely grateful for her master. Hadou helped her with many things, like realizing what her parents were trying to get through. ” God, why does it have to be so early, but I remember something the guild is waiting for… I think people are returning today? Isn’t that right, Tearsy?” Brianna questioned towards her glowing sword that was safely on its sword rack. Better to ask her sentient sword rather than guessing, always better to be reassured than not.
A voice pierced the veil of reality, which only Brianna could hear since Brianna did ask her a question. Tearsy sighed slightly about everything, but Brianna being not being like her younger self is endearing, to say the least. ” Yes, a whole bunch of people is returning, Brianna, sweetie. I do believe it's the man you fought to get your ranking in Phoenix Wing.” A beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to Brianna only. The sword glowed a brighter bluish silver while in its sheath since she was happy to answer Brianna’s question.
Brianna had one of the cutest looks on her face, terror, and happiness mixed since it's primarily because Damien was terrifyingly strong. He must have gotten stronger throughout his travels of being gone. In terms, Brianna got up like there was a bit of not wanting to be late for anything type of deal. She grabbed her sword and took as quick of a shower as possible. For one, as such as herself, even though it was embarrassing to hear her sword tease her while she was in the shower. Her face was red as can be as a tomato, but she couldn’t stop blushing like a tomato from her sword’s teasing ways.
Afterward, Brianna put on her favorite outfit that she loves to wear since it fits her with pinkish-blue tennis shoes since being in a rush would be slightly annoying to wear high heels. ’ I’m happy that I get to see all the people returning now! It’s time to make some friends and find a team I could be apart of… I should’ve done that sooner… In all honestly...’ Brianna thought with a smile on her face and red lipstick on her perfect lips. It’s nice to be prettied up for the day of everyone is returning, that is. She always had a preeminence for being ready for any event, whether it's sad or happy.
Brianna got out of her house, with Tearsy on her waist, and was walking towards the Phoenix Wing Guildhall, with a little skip in her step. She had a beautiful smile and couldn’t help but hum a specific tune along the way. One of her favorite songs was growing up; after all, she sang primarily by her mother. She approached the doors to the guildhall and noticed something off with them like they were given a show of force to open; it must be Penny after all. The two strongest guild members love to show off sometimes, even with her doing similarly sometimes. She had sighed since she’s been a bit scatterbrained of late; she hasn’t really been in the game with her guild, she’s done her best during jobs and whatnot.
It’s just she hasn’t had made any long-lasting impressions on everyone; besides, she talks way too much. ’ Huh, I wonder what my father would do in this exact moment? Oh, right, he would probably say don’t worry about it and take a plunge into the unknown to gain friends for a lifetime rather than being a side character.’ Brianna thought, trying to remember what her father would say in this situation exactly.
At that very moment, Brianna decided to open the doors to see who’s all there, and her smiles noticed Penny, Damien, Belius, and Karn. She cutely giggles a bit because Karn is always sunshine and rainbows with how goofy he can sometimes be, but the other one is a bit of an ignore everyone type of person. ” Awwh, Welcome back, Penny and Damien! Karn, you are your sunshine self as usual! Uhh, Belius, why are you trying to get a rematch from the strongest in the guild again?” Brianna questioned Belius mostly as a confused look on her face appeared. Her sword was glowing on her waist in a lighter or darker bluish silver because it fluctuates much. She always had one infectious friendliness towards people, even though she’s heavily naive and innocent and a bit too trusting.
A voice pierced the veil of reality, which Brianna, both Karn’s, Penny, Damien, and Belius can hear since it had a beautiful, charismatic giggle. Tearsy couldn’t help but understand the hard time to get into a team since Brianna a bit of a scatterbrain young woman. ” It is so lovely to speak to you all. The strongest power couple is ever known to Phoenix Wing finally returns, so lovely to speak to you two, particularly Penny and Damien. Tearsy is my name, and please don’t wear it out, by which meaning I am the sentient sword on Brianna’s waist, the Sky Tears Sword, if you don’t feel like calling me by my nickname.” A beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to Brianna, Penny, Damien, and the other three.
The sword glowed a brighter bluish silver while in its sheath since it wanted to add something to the conversation. It didn’t forget the other three, though, since they are always so unique. ” I might as well interject somewhat, but Brianna, Belius wants to fight Damien again because he wants to get stronger; it's simple as that. As well, it’s so lovely to talk to Edo-Karn and Karn at the same time, and one has the most beautiful aura ever, and the other is so joyous and cheerful.” A beautiful young adult female voice telepathically added to the previous statement. Tearsy said it was speaking that Edo-Karn is a woman, and Karn is such a sweet and loving guy. It glowed significantly brighter because of it but not too bright to blind people.
Brianna sighed slightly about what Tearsy had said and waved towards Karn since she forgot there are two souls in one body. She was waving at Edo-Karn more likely since she had spaced the entire thing. ” Uhh, whoops, sorry about that Edo-Karn, I did forget about that, la la la.” Brianna said, with a bit of a song near the end. It was mostly because she doesn’t really like it when she forgets things imperative. Edo-Karn is definitely really important not to forget about because she sees everyone who is that sad and depressive as a let down somewhat, much better to have happiness in your heart than utter ignore everyone else type of deal. However, Brianna finally got why Edo-Karn was named that way, and she must be from a different reality; it does make the most sense.
Magic: Derio Veri Magic (Soulerian Magic) Location: Dragon Fang Guildhall, 4th Floor, Cailyn’s Room to the 1st Floor Common Area of the Guildhall Thoughts: ‘ Mommy, let me sleep some more… Ugh… my hearing is so much better now...’ Interacting: Joslyn, Ammy @Zarkun, Keiko @BlackMaiden, Prince @Silver Fox
As such, Cailyn was sleeping soundly until her ears twitched slightly because it could hear much more noise happening downstairs. She slowly opens her eyes and sighs about the interruption to her sleep, but Dragon Fang is one of the few guilds that’s pretty busy with all the hustle. ’ I must say, there’s some ruckus downstairs… I do wonder… about that.’ Cailyn thought with a slight smile on her face. She got up from her bed and yawned a bit tiredly; interrupting one’s catnap is a bit rude, but this guild is pretty friendly nonetheless. It took her to eye her eerily creepy looking sword, leaning on the dresser in her room. ” Purrfect. I do hope you are doing well, Soul Bane Katana.” Cailyn spoke really happily towards the sword, with a thick accent.
In the back of her head, a familiar voice appears there for her since she’s the only one that can hear it. ’ I am doing well, Cailyn. Many thanks for activating the curse on thou, please keep at it so we can be fully Soulerian.’ A Female sounding voice sounds very familiar to Cailyn, however not. It’s a bit eerily familiar, but it always had a deeper meaning to what it wants Cailyn to do, all the time.
Cailyn smiled happily in hearing what the Soul Bane Katana said, which always gets her more active in the morning. She decided to take a shower before going to the lower floors to mingle with the other guildmates. Her ears twitch when water goes over the Touched One runic script, which is on her left leg in Astegardian script. It always stings her, but it's better to keep clean than allowing herself to be dirty. It was only like a not a long shower, but she needed it to be wide awake for whatever shenanigans going on today. She helped herself to get dry and putting on her favorite casual outfit, which is a black tank-top, with the words Imaehe Jesi in Astegardian script, and below it shows Recovery Magi. Basically, her favorite casual outfit is in all black, with black high heels to requite to show she loves high heels.
Cailyn put on jewelry on her Soulerian ears, which always requires to have them its tradition at this point and her day to day routine most of the time. She also put on a beautiful jacket, which protects her ghost-like appearance in terms of her arms. ” I should probably get… some sunscreen on, so my skin doesn’t burn...” Cailyn spoke a bit worried, since she always had a problem with the sun, with a thick accent. Therefore, she put on sunscreen on the exposed parts of her skin, so she doesn’t have to worry about it, though thankfully, she’s wearing black, blue jeans for once.
Cailyn still loves her dress that she wore to get here, but it's sometimes for a bit of change. She looked at herself for a bit, put on some beautiful red lipstick, and put on her black rose corsage, which she won’t ever stop wearing by her right ear. ” That’s all I need to do now.” Cailyn spoke happily to herself, with a thick accent. Afterward, she decided to put her daggers in their beautiful black holders, which is on her belt. As well, Cailyn went to get her most prized possession, the Soul Bane Katana that was leaning there. She had to first put the sword’s sheath on her belt, which came with an area it can be attached to. However, Cailyn kept holding the Soul Bane Katana, which had swirling purple energy going around it. It was for show, even though it was a bit eerily creepy to keep holding onto a sword, but some of the time, she put it in its sheath.
Cailyn sighed and decided to put her precious weapon back into its sheath because it's only for show and not an actual weapon to fight with. It was a bit hard for her to do that to the Soul Bane Katana since her obsession with it is a bit harshly unable to get over. However, after Cailyn put the sword in her sheath, she’s going to check out how everyone else was doing downstairs. She would relax in the common area on the first floor since the food here is amazing; her ears twitched slightly. It felt odd not having Jack here, but he was at a heavily important meeting.
It took her a while to walk all the way downstairs, to notice it is as lively as ever with Hunter, Jake, and everyone else doing their usual routine. She was walking towards Ammy to get some of that wonderful food, but a question hit her ears, specifically from Joslyn. ” I’m doing well, Joslyn. It’s like you are always looking out for everyone else, which is nice, by the way.” Cailyn said with a thick accent. Her accent kind of makes her sound like she added an e into Joslyn’s name, even though there is always a mistranslation between the people in Fiore and where her ancestors came from, the Grand Kallos Continent. She smiled about what’s going on, always grateful to see this place active.
” Therefore, I might as well ask, what were you guys doing on that job?” Cailyn questioned with a curious look in her eyes, which shifted to a cat’s easily, and her left ear twitched slightly and with a thick accent. She had much to ask about, but she looked at Ammy and smiled happily. ” Can I get some smoked tuna with peas and carrots? I want something fishie today, and it's always good to mix it up sometimes.” Cailyn said with a smile towards Ammy with a thick accent.
Her ears twitch slightly when she hears Prince welcoming back the power team, which she looks towards him and waves. ” Oh hello, Prince, it's nice you finally woke up from the rafters.” Cailyn said with a smile on her face and a thick accent. As well, her ears twitch to notice the door opened again, and she decided to turn around to see what’s the fuss about. A young girl looked 15 years old, wandering in the guild, she smiled happily. However, the look on her face was the worry, but Prince has to eat.
” Aww, cute, it's a sweetie walking into our guildhall; what’s your name? My name is Cailyn.” Cailyn said with a thick accent, but she had a beautiful, wonderful smile on her face. She always enjoys seeing children; it reminds her of someone in her past that’s still alive but can’t for the life of her remember where her daughter is.
The swordswoman hadn't even drawn her sword for this opponent. A Forest Vulcan, the lecherous thing. "Didn't know you things went after older women. Well, let me," she leaned past a punch and whirled around, driving her elbow into its ribcage and sending a shockwave through its body, stunning it and maybe fracturing or breaking a few bones, "teach you a lesson! That was it. Now…" she grabbed the monster by its fur and hoisted it up, heaving back and lifting one foot before throwing her weight forward again, "get LOST!" With a shockwave behind it, she sent the monkey soaring through the air, into the next forest over. Regan clapped her hands together before turning and continuing her pleasant forest walk, all the way back to town. Nothing else decided to bother her.
While Brianna was walking in the park of nearby Magnolia, she was humming a beautiful tune, which was a part of her childhood. It had always been her favorite song that her mother sung to her before she went to bed, living at her estate. She had always made the effort for her to sing around the children at the park since they always liked her musical talent with songs. “I hope the kids really enjoy my new songie, I picked out for them.” She had a beautiful smile on her face, all the while trying to watch her step because the last thing she would need is to trip.
Master Hadou had herself a seat in the same park, watching the children play and laugh. It was something she considered to be a great privilege in life, to watch the future generations play and laugh without worry. It was something worth protecting. Hopefully, that Vulcan wouldn't bother anyone again for a while. Lecherous thing. She took a slow, pleased breath and let her head fall back as she relaxed in the sun. I'm the only lech allowed 'round these parts, hah.
A voice that pierced the veil of reality specifically spoke to the one who had that specific thought in the park. “That’s a very interesting thought you have, there, Ma’am, or would you like to be called Master? Oh yeah, my name is Tearsy, If you are wondering.” A Beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to Master Hadou directly. Obviously, there was a sword on Brianna’s waist inside of a beautifully crafted sheath, glowing a bright bluish silver glow.
Regan's eyes opened sharply as the foreign thoughts entered her mind. She sat up, scanning the park. Master will do, for now... Who was probing her mind? Enough to know to call her Master. Her eyes landed briefly on the glowing sword, but moved on. She'd heard of sentient swords, but never encountered one. This is certainly a jarring introduction, if that's what you're after. Show yourself. A name isn't the most informative thing, Tearsy. She shouldn't cause a fuss without knowing for certain there was a threat. If it was, indeed, that glowing sword, it may have no other means of communication. Wouldn't she be the fool, then. Nevertheless, she guarded her thoughts, not wanting to give anything important away.
Going by the voice, it could also have been the young lady, the owner of the glowing sword. Telepathy was a tricky thing, though, and she had no guarantee the owner of the voice was even a woman… which brought her back to the sword. The thing was glowing, it was obviously at least magical. Calmly, she stood, and walked slowly toward the humming young lady, as though to get a better listen to her admittedly beautiful voice.
The same voice pierced the veil of reality, which spoke to Regan inside of her mind, kind of giggled slightly. Tearsy had always had a certain fondness for interrupting people’s thoughts only because Brianna is too easy to interrupt much of the time. “So it is, I suppose, but you did look directly at me, Master. I’m the glowing sword on the waist of my wielder. If anything, you are pretty smart in trying to guard your thoughts from me. But I gleaned much from that first thought in question. In terms, Tearsy is what I usually go by but my name is the Sky Tears Sword of the Lyffobelt Family, their only Sentient Sword, that goes based off of emotions compared to serenity of mind.” A Beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to Master Hadou yet again. Kind of hard not to know of the one of the richest families in Fiore, which sells flowers to anyone who wants them.
Brianna was still humming, while walking towards the children to give them her beautiful singing voice. One thought at a time, was flowing through her head, but something interrupted that thought when she saw someone approach her. She stopped slightly and looked directly at the older woman who was approaching her. “Uhh, what are you doing? Why are you approaching me? Hmm… what was I doing again?” Obviously, Brianna looked a bit confused and was trying to think about what she was doing from before. However, she never really saw this woman before though and kind of wondered why she did approach her.
So it was the sword. It claimed to be, but she had little reason to doubt it. The… flower people? Have a sentient sword… huh. Keeping two conversations straight was going to be an exercise, as the young lady carrying the sword noticed her approach and turned to her.
A small laugh pierced the veil of reality, inside of Regan’s head, and the beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to Regan. “Lyffobelt Family is a wonderful family after all.”
"I heard your singing, and thought I'd like to hear it more clearly. It seemed to me like you were headed for a particular spot, so I wanted to move closer. It's not a bother, is it?" She was rather guarded, but maybe that was a good thing. Probably, yes. The sword had mentioned something earlier, first thought? First… ah! She had to keep herself from getting visibly flustered, keeping a calm face for the young lady in front of her. H-hey, now, I'm not like- Well, that thought wasn't entirely true, was it. Telepaths were so bothersome... I have morals and standards, unlike some. It was more of a joke than anything. You can read my mind to see the truth of that, at least. Regan strode slowly to the nearby fountain at the center of the square and found herself a seat. As she sat, a ball bounced toward her and almost passed as the kids chased it. She stopped it with her foot and kicked it back. "Please, I'd like to hear more, if you'd let me."
Brianna had thought some, while the woman talked, but had a smile on her face when she heard that this woman heard her singing. It made her remember what she was doing in the park in the first place. “Oh no, I almost forgot I was going to sing for the children, thank you for reminding me. And it’s not a bother.” At least, there’s some good news this woman helped her in being reminded about singing for the kids. She walked towards the fountain, which is where the children were awaiting for her. Brianna smiled happily, when the woman told her to please sing more. “Yes, I would love to sing for everyone who wants to hear it!” So much energy in her voice, it is like she always has energy to spare, a bit hyperactive. Brianna took a small bit of time, but she remembered what song she wanted to sing. She started to sing the wonderful song, which she was humming.
The sword on the waist glowed even brighter, around Brianna’s waist, which was primarily because of what Master Hadou thought next. “Trying to joke about you being a Lech, is a bit funny. It is better to be into what you like, rather than not. Or you are being a bit of a negative nancy so to speak.” The same voice spoke from the Sky Tears Sword, which couldn’t help but stop giggling at her.
Brianna had given her blessing, which left her to fend off this surprisingly forward sword. The young lady's voice was beautiful, as was the song she sang. Far be it for me to deny my appreciation of women. Regan laid down on her side, along the edge of the fountain, lounging a bit as she listened. She seemed happy just to sing for everyone, what a wonderful young lady, but… she'd forgotten what she was doing so quickly, just from that small interruption? She decided to cut the girl some slack. We've all walked into a room and forgotten what we entered it for. They’d only just met, after all.
A small giggle pierced the veil of reality, inside of Regan’s head. “Hehe, women appreciation day should be every day honestly, Master.” A Beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to her. Tearsy enjoys appreciating women including her own wielder, even though she somewhat dislikes how naive she is.
If anything, this woman and the sword were exactly the same, meaning into women by much. “If it had been a joke, you wouldn’t be trying to hold your form from blushing like a tomato.”
Anyone would get flustered after having their personal thoughts read. If you must know, I was making a comparison to the forest Vulcan I just threw into next week. Compared to that thing, I'm a saint. Jokes aren't always falsehoods. And here she was, explaining herself to a sword.
“Ha ha, ha… A Saint wouldn’t try to compare themselves to a lecherous creature as the Vulcans. Those things are quite disgusting creatures, thank god my wielder didn’t have to deal with one of those yet.” Tearsy’s voice telepathically spoke in a slightly worried tone and emphasised yet. It would be a quite horrible thing in all honesty, Vulcans are the worst creatures ever.
Regan had to keep herself from chuckling aloud. I know I'm no saint. You aren't good with jokes, are you? Is that the sword part of you, always playing conversation straight? Heh, with any luck, that vulcan won't come back.
Tearsy gave a chuckle, “in terms, it's mostly because of the emotions of my wielders. Is why I am not really that good at joking. Vulcans not coming back would be a lovely thing.” A beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to Regan Hadou. As such, it has always not been good at joking, but it focuses on teasing over trying to get better jokes. “How do you like my wielder so far, Master?” Obviously, it was like the sentient sword was interrogating Master Hadou.
Brianna had always enjoyed singing for anyone who wanted to listen, her tempo of the song was perfect and she definitely had much energy. If anything, the song had a hint of a story but the one thing about Brianna, she doesn’t really understand the point of the story. It’s a bit lost on her understanding of what it means anyways. However, she completed the song and smiled happily at everyone, while she looked at the woman who was laying down at the fountain. “Thank you for listening to my song everyone! As well, my mother used to sing it to me when I was little. Hopefully everyone has a different interpretation to the song as I do not really understand the meaning behind it.” It’s a bit of an understatement since her mother didn’t really tell her the meaning behind the song.
It’s a little quick for that question, isn’t it? What, are you searching for a suitor for her? Hmph, you voyeur. I guess that's all you've got, though… A sword that was into women, would wonders never cease. Regan stood and clapped lightly, smiling as she approached the young lady at an easy pace.
It laughed slightly and it’s glow got much brighter because of what Master Hadou asked. “Perhaps. But it's mostly because of her naivety, trustfulness and wanting her to unlock what her parents didn’t allow her to experience. All because of failing a trial to wield the Callous Lightning Sword, a serenity of mind type trial. It is why she has that lightning-shaped scar on her left hand.” A beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically told Master Hadou what’s going on with her wielder.
Her left hand? Ah, yes, so there is. This conversation with the sword had her distracted, she should have noticed earlier. I mean, she's cute, but young for me. As a true warrior should, she appreciates children, even singing for them. How long have you been doing things like this for, anyway? She wouldn't let herself be grilled by a sword.
The sword’s voice was a bit good at teasing people, but the master’s question next was great. “To be truthful, I’ve been doing this longer than 280 years, which is how long I’ve been in the Lyffobelt Family. Seven whole generations. But your thoughts are the closest to what I want my wielder to understand.” The Beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically explained how long its been in the family for. So you've been watching young women for that long, huh? You must be happy… or frustrated. You seem satisfied, though. “Yes, I’ve watched so many women grow up into beautiful adults caring for children. It is what I live for to watch many young women around a waterfall cleaning themselves… Even though technology has definitely made an impact on that.” A beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to Regan. Shouldn't you look for someone more her age? I'd already been given my first sword by the time she was born. That part of her thoughts made Tearsy giggle and laugh a lot, which is somewhat true but her wielder is an adult. “Her age? Brianna is only 15 years younger than you. She is 20 years old, but a more experienced woman would be much better than trying to find someone who’s suitable to her in her age bracket.” A beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to Master Hadou. It realized that it said her wielder’s name to Master Hadou but it would be better to say it than leaving it for interpretation or so the older woman could guess. A slight nervous laughter came from the sword’s voice, as well, its bluish silver glow got slightly dimmer because of its realization of what it did.
Brianna? Hah! Almost 300 years and you still made that slip-up? Tsk tsk. Don’t worry, I’ll cover your ass. Aah, but you don’t have one... "Your voice is beautiful, darling. Ah… you do know you don't have to admit that you don't know the song's meaning?" She gave a soft chuckle, smiling warmly.
After all the times it tried not to say Brianna’s name, this is the first time it has ever messed up this badly. All because of Regan’s multiple thoughts within her head, which show a specific certain displicine to the martial prowess with swords. “Y-Yeah should’ve been more careful in saying that. Whoops.” A Beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to Regan, with a definite sweat drop type feeling to what it meant.
Brianna smiled kindly when the woman that wanted to hear her sing gave her a compliment, which she gave out a small giggle and blushed because of it. “Thanks for the compliment, ma’am. Uhh, that’s what my mother always told me but I quite didn’t get it anyway. But our family is always truthful in what we don’t understand.” A bit strange to say, but it is one of the mottos of the Lyffobelt Family.
“Being honest doesn’t mean you have to admit everything. If someone asks, then sure, but… ah, well.” The sword had a similar vision of a personal paradise, it would seem. They were more similar than she might like to admit. Though, it may have also been the sword’s peculiar perspective combined with their similarity that bugged her, just a bit. Something about the aspect of watching them grow up and still being like that after them, probably. But it was a sword, so she couldn’t really judge.
“Umm, that is good...” Brianna was nice to know people all have their own type of advice to give to her. She tries to hold as much as she can. “My father supported me, I wish he was still alive… So he could give me more advice.” It always frustrated Brianna that he died but her father knew the risks of whatever mission he was on.
Oof, heavy. “What's your name? I'm Regan.”
“That is a really nice name, Regan.” Brianna giggled cutely at hearing a question about her name, not realizing that this woman is speaking to her sword. “Brianna Este Lyffobelt, is my name, I am the firstborn daughter to Neila and the Grand Lightning Swordsman, Zachery…”
"Wh-what? Thundering Zachery is no more?" She had to stop herself from asking more questions. It was doubtful that Brianna would wish to speak of it, it would surely only serve to put a damper on her mood. They could talk about it later, maybe, if the conversation steered that way. Or if Brianna seemed open to the discussion, but, again, doubtful.
Brianna tried to smile, but it was still slightly frustrating to her that her father died. “Yes, he’s gone… the mystery behind his… mission for the Council is rather mysterious. But he’s the type to never go into detail for it.” She tried to keep on a happy smile but the feelings of not having her father helping her along the way really didn’t help. However, her family had set traditions to keep themselves with their head held up high.
“I’m sorry, I… hadn’t heard.”
“It’s alright… I recently learned of it myself… Nelia, the Rose Swordmaster knew it before me.” She loved her mother but hearing her mother cry on the other end of the cellphone was heartbreaking.
Change the topic! “You know, I'd like to treat you to lunch for your performance."
“Oh, I would love to have lunch, I am a bit hungry.”
Regan held her arm for Brianna to take, before she’d lead the way to the markets. “What do you like to have at this time of day?”
Brianna giggled really cutely about the question Regan asked. She had to honestly think about that question for a bit since it has always been mixing up Lunch with Dinner sometimes. She put her arm around Regan's arm and was being led by her to the markets. “Hmm… Usually I would go for some BBQ Sausage Sloppy Joes with a healthy salad and a sweet tea.” Obviously, Brianna usually drinks sweet tea during lunch time, but during dinner she usually gets out the alcohol. “If it was dinner, I would get out one of my expensive wines or any alcoholic beverage really with a wonderfully good steak and all the sides with it.” She giggled slightly because it's always a hard task to not have Dinner and Lunch mixed up sometimes.
”Ah, we’ll find a nice barbeque place. I can’t promise they’ll have sloppy joes, but I’m sure they’ll have something else just as good. Like ribs. Mmm, ribs.” She had to defeat her old man to even leave? … She is a bit of an airhead, isn’t she. And interference can mean multiple things, you know. Just… let me do my thing, huh? Not that you seem to have much mind to stop me. Regan reached across with her free hand to clasp it over Brianna’s, squeezing gently to comfort her.
Brianna felt Regan’s free hand, clasp over hers and gently squeezing it. She giggled really cutely, since it does help her get over the feelings of loss. It’s really nice to be cared for by people. “Yeah, it would be nice to find one. Ooh, yeah Ribs also sound good too. Hehe, thank you for inviting me!” Brianna was extremely happy about all this, being taken to a Barbecue place is great. In terms of how happy she was, started humming a tune different from the song she sang. It was a tune about eating some wonderful food. She’s so full of energy that really enjoys many things. It was a bit funny but Brianna was jumping up for joy for being invited to lunch by Regan.
“Aah, you like ribs? Tell me, ribs or steak?” Regan watched Brianna jump up and down excitedly, at the mention of going out for lunch, as much of an adult as I am, huh? If you say so... It was a nice sight, at any rate. She likes to bounce, doesn’t she.
“Ha, ha, ha… Yes, she does but it would be much better...” Tearsy’s voice telepathically spoke to Regan, hinting at innuendo.
Creeper.
Brianna thought a bit hard about what Regan asked, specifically. “Umm, I would rather eat Ribs with you. I like really any type of meat product.” She had a slight bit of an amazement of her words, she was happy to eat lunch with someone else anyway.
The master chuckled softly, “as you should, if you want to fight with a sword. The protein is important for your muscles.” She took the opportunity to give Brianna’s bicep and tricep a squeeze, half sizing her up and half checking her out. “There are other foods that can provide it, but meat’s really the most straight-forward.”
Brianna couldn’t help but smile at when Master Hadou chuckled at what she had said. “Yeah, I know that better to get protein anyway.” She giggles slightly when Regan squeezes her bicep and tricep, because it slightly tickles. “Yeah, I agree I like straight-forwardness of meat.” Brianna didn’t have any idea why Regan squeezed her bicep and tricep. It still tickled nonetheless, which she was a bit ticklish in every which way. “Uhh, that tickles, Master.” Of everything, Brianna remembered something important. “Oh, yeah, Tearsy, are you there? Did you introduce yourself to Regan Hadou, the master of her own type of weapon style.” She looked down at her sword, which was glowing brighter than usual, odd to say the least.
The sword’s voice pierced the veil of reality and gave a small sigh, spoke towards Brianna and Regan this time around. If anything, she was going to play dumb with Brianna since it wouldn’t be right to tell her wielder that they have been talking this entire time. “Sweet Brianna, finally being courteous. Tearsy is my name, don’t wear it out, now you hear, Master Hadou.”
Ah, better play along. She looked around when she heard the sword address her again, as though surprised, before her eyes landed on the glow from the sheathed weapon, “oh, your sword speaks? I’ve never met a sentient weapon before. The only trick mine does is that it doesn’t cut anyone. Ah, but you mentioned… Tearsy is integral to your sword style? Interesting… you don’t often find a sword style reliant on a particular sword.” Look who’s talking. “I suppose because the particular swords are few and far between. Aah, I hope I get an opportunity to see it in action.”
“Brianna, how about you tell a bit more about yourself to Regan, it would be lovely to hear you explain yourself.” Tearsy’s voice telepathically spoke to Brianna and Regan. It was a bit of a constant balancing act to keep Brianna in her own peaceful world. In terms, she wasn’t interfering but since they were talking about Zachery, it would be better for Brianna to say something about that subject.
With what Tearsy brought up, it made Brianna a bit embarrassed kind of forgot about all that minus her full name. However, with what Regan brought up really interested her too. “That’s a nifty study, but I am into wine. It would be a nice idea to try that, hehe. Oh yeah, a little bit about myself… I like using swords, Tearsy is the reason why I won against Zachery, if it weren’t for its Shifting Sword Style, I would probably be unable to defeat him and still unaware of the world, stuck at home.” The Shifting Sword Style is one of the reasons why her mother is called the Rose Swordmaster. It didn’t really interrupt her train of thought since it was an interesting time to try anything. She was definitely much happier now than she was when she learned of her father’s demise.
She defeated Zachery? Really? Did he really not hold back, even against his daughter? Such policies tended to crumble when faced with that kind of a situation. A careful balancing of his own pride and his feelings for his daughter could result in him restricting himself from certain moves or techniques, or from using his fullest power but still fighting her with great strength. She never had to fight her mother just to leave, she inherited her sword and left normally, to see the world and grow stronger from challenges her mother could not present her.
The sword’s voice pierced the veil of reality and giggled at what Regan’s next thought to the conversation was. “Yes, it was a part of the trial to see if she was ready for the world to join the guild she wanted to. Zachery is quite scary, when it comes to never holding back. Six hours of constant fighting a duel to end all duels basically. Brianna is definitely an airhead, He wanted to show how determined a foe would be to kill her, so he used his entire arsenal of skills against her, but she lived. From that duel of attrition. If anything, Brianna came a long way to impressing Zachery to defeat the undefeatable Grand Lightning Swordsman.” Tearsy’s voice telepathically spoke to Regan. It was a hyper dangerous duel, but thankfully Brianna won with all the training she had.
Brianna saw the look of surprise on Master’s face and giggled, everyone usually gets a bit surprised by a talking sentient sword. “Yes, Tearsy loves to speak to me telepathically. She’s a wonderful person, even though sometimes she teases me. Tearsy is definitely integral to the Shifting Sword Style, right now she’s in her base form! Which uses Wind Magic and her Telepathy Magic. But it's better to show than tell the rest, but it wouldn’t be a good idea to make a scene even though I do love her second form.” Brianna was going through the motions since she loves to talk about Tearsy, it’s like a constant for her. She giggled at the entire thing, when heard the Master say the next thing. “Yeah I would love to show Tearsy’s Shifting Sword Style off!” Her facial feature was so happy and completely engrossed in talking about Tearsy.
Teases you, huh? Yeah, I bet she does… you're ticklish, too, oh jeez. Tearsy was probably listening to her thoughts right now, too. Better be careful. “Her second form requires a good release of power or something? Does she keep the telepathy magic? If you want to show it off, we can go find something to practice on after lunch. Maybe see if there’s another Vulcan about. I don’t feel bad about beating those things to a pulp. I wonder if their meat’s any good…” Her old guild master would know. Hmph.
Brianna smiled happily, when Regan asked those questions about Tearsy’s Second form. “Yeah, it requires a lot of my magic power for Tearsy to shift her form from what it starts out to its second form. Her Telepathy Magic is apart of her core being, which means no matter what form she is in, she’ll always have her Telepathy Magic. It is one of the core tenets of the Sky Tears Sword as a whole, her shifting ability is quite beautiful. Uhh, I could try to practice on a Vulcan since it would be lovely to kick something’s ass with my Shifting Sword Style. Umm, I have no idea if Vulcan Meat is good to eat though...” Brianna was so happy in talking about Tearsy and getting so hyped for showing off is always so awesome.
The sword’s voice pierced the veil of reality and giggled at Regan’s thoughts. As such, it was like the sword was awaiting for some thoughts from Regan to tease or something. “Yes, I definitely do tease, Brianna, a lot. She’s so cute when she gets tickled. I wonder what type of spots you are ticklish… he, he. Oh sorry, I might as well leave you again… since your thoughts are quite interesting.” Tearsy’s voice telepathically spoke to Regan. Of all times for the sword to interject would be Regan’s own thoughts. However, the sword did go back to silence, while it was resting within its beautiful sheath. “You know, I’ve heard that expensive wine and cheap wine don’t taste any different for the price,” it had been something she tried herself, though she had chosen more che I’m more for a strong beer, myself. Stouts are one of my favorite kinds. Ooh, or a good rum cream, if I just want to sip. If you like tea, have a long island. We can have a drink over lunch for the occasion.” Spend the afternoon into the evening with the young lady, and then take her… she’s traveling, so not taking her home. She’ll find out where Brianna was staying later. Shouldn’t stay with her, that’s too fast. She hadn’t exactly made her own arrangements for where to stay, though, but she wasn’t opposed to camping.
Brianna couldn’t really understand that expensive or inexpensive wine tasted the same, but Regan knows that difference. She has a smile on her face for now understanding there’s a difference by Regan’s knowledge on wines. “Oh… I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah. I heard about some study or something, and I tried it out myself, too. I asked a barkeep to set me up with some expensive glasses and some cheap glasses… more cheap than expensive... I closed my eyes, tried ‘em out and tried to pick out the expensive ones. Couldn’t tell a difference. Then again, I’m not really into wine, so maybe you should try it out, too?” She looked at the lady on her arm. Something about such a pretty young thing on her arm made her happy, but she wouldn’t allow herself to get too wrapped up in that feeling.
“A Long Island Tea sounds like a really great thing to try. Hehe, yeah drink over lunch for the occasion!” She was excited. It has been awhile since she tried something new anyway. If anything, she had always seen A Long Island Tea on the menu at those types of shops but never knew it had alcohol in it. She cutely giggled at the whole thing, it's always nice to meet new people who knew more things than her.
“Heh, shall we extend our plans into the evening? We can do our tasting over dinner.”
“Yes, why not! Evening is a wonderful thing and dinner is also another wonderful thing.” She was all for the idea of having lunch and dinner with Regan.
The sword’s voice pierced the veil of reality, yet again, with a slight giggle to it. “At least, my wielder isn’t underage for you, she’s as much an adult as you are, Master Hadou.” A beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to Regan Hadou with a much better understanding of what’s going on. As an adult, Brianna has much more choices than she did as a child living in the Lyffobelt Estate.
Seriously, though, could you not be such a creeper? “You know, If you’re looking for a mentor, I’ve only been wandering around as it suits me for the last year or two. My full name is Regan Hadou, current Master of the Hadou style of swordsmanship.”
“Sure, I would love to be mentored by you. You are such a nice lady. Hadou Style of Swordsmanship, what does that entail?” Hearing a new style of swordsmanship always interested her since she uses the Shifting Sword Style form of Sword Magic. Meaning, she had a cute look in her eyes and on her face.
“The Hadou Style teaches to subdue your opponent with minimal harm. Sometimes, that isn’t possible, it is true. Unfortunate, but true.” Breaking bones was the preferred method of victory, if harm must be done, and then debilitating attacks, like cutting tendons. Bones heal better.
Brianna had to figure out how to respond to the Hadou Style, which took her a bit while it was going through her head. “Uh, that’s definitely interesting it makes sense that you don’t want to cause harm. But luck of the draw usually will cause more harm if they don’t cooperate with you.” It was the best she could respond with since it sounds like a unique style compared to the ones she learned.
“Yeah, it is difficult, usually, to subdue an opponent without causing them some amount of harm.” It was why her style actually did not rely heavily on the sword. They could discuss it more over lunch. ”We also couple swordplay with magic. I can send shockwaves out through my sword or my fist, for example.”
“Swordplay is always fun with magic. Shockwave Magic is an interesting magic to use with swordplay.” She had a happy smile on her face because she so enjoys magic that works well with swords. Brianna couldn’t help be happy and giggles slightly at the same time. If anything, she’s grateful she met Master Hadou.
“I’ve been beating up vulcans and saving merchants as I travel, things like that.”
“Those monkeys always give me the creeps.”
“Yeah, they’re assholes, don’t ever get caught by one. Thankfully, they aren’t that tough.”
“I must thank you for taking my wielder under your wing, Master. If anything, you will help her, why would I interfere, when I am a part of her reason why she’s outside of her estate and living her life to her fullest now. As such, not many people have dueled the Grand Lightning Swordsman and succeeded in defeating him, with the reason he never holds back. My wielder defeated her father in single combat to even leave her home.” A beautiful young adult female’s voice telepathically spoke to Regan. Hopefully, what she said peaked Regan’s interest since the Grand Lightning Swordsman, was one of the greatest of the Magic Council’s Enforcers.
Brianna shivers at what Regan Hadou said about those annoying monkeys. She didn’t really realize they could capture people like that. “Ehh, I don’t want to know what they do to people who they capture… that sounds so wrong. Better to not walk in the forest to hopefully not deal with those Vulcans.” It was something she didn’t want to think about.
The sword’s voice pierced the veil of reality, yet again, with a bit more of a giggle more like a laugh. It was a bit of something that feels funny, because hearing that from people is like a common place outside of a massive estate that Brianna lived for most of her life. “Out of everything, you are the first person I’ve met that actually is serious about what you thought. It is nice after all. Some people are just focused on many other things over the little things, like confidence.” Tearsy’s voice telepathically spoke to Regan. The sword’s glow got a bit brighter, while glowing a bluish silver glow. “Yes, I see real growth in Brianna over what she was like as a little girl.” Tearsy’s voice telepathically responded to Regan, because it's true she has grown up beautifully. Mostly has her mother’s figure but as a 20 year old woman over, how old Nelia is.
Dishonesty in one’s own mind will only hinder one in combat.
The sword’s voice pierced the veil of reality and gave a small sigh of agreement in what Regan had said. “Definitely true, in that case. All the while, Zachery never had any of that within his head during that six straight hours of a duel. I should know, I was talking to Zachery while he was dueling Brianna.” Tearsy’s voice telepathically spoke to Regan. The sword had been speaking to Zachery the whole time? She might know something more, then. She’d have to have a good conversation with it. Between the telepathic interference and whatever this Shifting Style entailed, it must have been something to keep up with. If there was ever a lesson to show her the determination of an adversary, it would be his own death… The young lady had endurance to speak of, to fight against her father for so long. You wouldn’t guess such strength or vitality, to look at her. She must be quite fit. She still had her doubts of Zachery bringing his all against her. Maybe he used all his techniques, but did he really use them to their fullest? She just couldn’t see it happening, from the perspective of him as her father and from the perspective of her actually defeating him. Then again, maybe his age had been catching up with him. After all, if she had the truth of it, he had fallen in battle. Was his loss to her an omen, then? She should meditate on these thoughts later, now was not the time. There were other things at hand.
Regan Hadou Somewhere in the Fiore countryside
After that nice little mini vacation in Magnolia, it was time to get back to it. Regan had a whole guild to track down. She'd heard rumors from several merchants, of a local thuggery of dark mages. Not a guild presence, but she didn't really have enough information to say what it was, either. Just that they have appeared on the roads around this place. If they were staking out this area, they might be someone she was looking for.
The bounty hunter checked her handheld LLD (Liquid-Lacrima Display) map. "It's supposed to be around here. Cause it's that road, and that road, and..." She put it back in her pocket, figuring she'd just wander around a bit more and stumble on it. As she did, meandering through some local woods, she started to hear some kind of commotion. A hustle and bustle. Now curious, she wandered further in, carefully watching her step for traps.
She found a building that would seen abandoned, if it weren't for the number of people she could see coming and going. It wasn't crowded, but it was clearly occupied. She saw tarps and other coverings hung in the air to cover from being seen from above. There were shopping carts outside that the people were using, was this some kind of secret market? This couldn't literally be a black market, could it...? Well, she could probably find a lead here. Tidius needed to peddle his wares somewhere, this seemed perfect. There didn't seem to be a dress code, so she pulled out a hand basket and made her way inside.
At first glance, it seemed like a regular department store, but as she wandered further in, she noticed details. The way the shirts were decorated, for one thing. Depictions you'd never find in a regular store, like certain pubic figures getting murdered. Definitely black market. As she went further, she found an entrance to an underground area. There was a whole shopping mall, sitting abandoned. As she looked closer, there was a lot of steam infrastructure in the building, old and broken. An old steam mall that was abandoned because of the war, 30 years ago? Interesting, but not why she was here.
It was a magic shop she stopped in front of. She looked the shop over, noting the "no questions" and "don't touch" signs. That makes business difficult to conduct, doesn't it? Committing the instructions to memory, she entered the shop. Regan nodded to the shopkeep before looking over the wears he offered. Her eyes stopped on a Holder-Type Make magic. They were calling it "Energist Maker". Holder Make? That wasn't anything she'd ever heard of before. The device itself seemed to be just a rod of some sort. "Show me this one."
The shopkeep came around the back of the counter and plucked the very one Regan was eyeing, holding it in his hand and activating the magic. The rod extended with a glowing golden material, almost like hardened light, "10k."
"Oof. Hold on now, it's a Make. Mould it." The shopkeep obliged her, forming it into a disk and then pinching at it with his fingers. The substance bends and flexes to his touch. He then holds up a piece of paper and cuts through it with his newly-formed chakram. "Mmm, ok. 6k."
They haggle back and forth before landing on 7k, and Regan leaves with a new lead in her hand. It wasn't much to go on, but she could follow the trail of this piece of merchandise. She had a feeling she knew where it came from.
Before she could make it far, a group surrounded her. She tucked the holder magic artifact away, eyeballing the thugs that had come from the surrounding woods to corner her like this.
"Sorry, lady, you need to join our loyalty program before you shop here." One of the goons spoke.
"Oh? That's the first I've heard of it."
"Yeah, tell you what. We'll run a special, just for you." His tone was rather threatening. The group chuckled, flashing brass knuckles and brandishing bats.
"Oh yeah? What wonderful news, sign me up." Were these even mages? No matter. The first one charged her and met her blade swiftly. Pain flash through his body before he fell, his body in shock and not realizing it wasn't harmed. As quickly as it had come out, the blade was back in its sheath. "Was that the sign up procedure? I think we're done."
The leader hesitated before ordering his other two companions in to attack her. The first, she deflected his knuckles off her sword and countered with a cut across his guy. As she did, she kicked the third assailant and launched her with a shockwave into a tree, and then had to twist past a spike of ice coming her way from the leader. A mage! Regan charged him, sword in hand, chopped another icicle in half and ended the fight with a cut from his hip to his shoulder. They'd all wake up soon, but she needed information. She carried that young lady she kicked earlier off to somewhere she could tie her up and question her.
As Damien went to do what she should- mingle with the new members she had already seen in her quick glance- Penny couldn't help but take a few moments to herself. She had greatly missed the guild- and that shocked her. After everything... it was nice to have a place to come home to. A place to call home, even if home wasn't a place. She shifted lightly, letting herself relax as she let the scents- the scents she had dreamed off, the scents that had led her back here time and time again... the scents of home- wash over her. The scents of food, of the drinks everyone had, the smell of books, of paper, of every member.
She sighed contentedly, happily. Yeah, it was good to be home.
Her attention brought towards the rather energetic young person dancing- flouncing- around the guild hall. "Karn" Her voice full of warm, Penny watched as he came towards her- for she was certain that it was Karn, and not Edarn. Eitherway, she was happy to see them. "It's good to see you." She was not surprised at all to see Igantius rise up from where ever he had been and fly over. Penny reached up to him, letting the Exceed settle on her shoulder. Yet another thing she had missed- and that surprised her too. But Ignatius worried if he was too far from Rajah- and Penny liked knowing there was someone who could keep an eye on things. Such as her rather energetic and definitely a trouble-maker niece.
"How are you?" She asked Karn, her gaze settling on him once more, smile still on her features. It faded slightly as Brianna joined them. SHe shifted, knowing she ought to be welcoming to the newer members. It was still somewhat... unnerving to have those thoughts projected into her mind. "Thank you. How have things been, you've been doing well here?"
The howling wind and falling rain was deafened by the roaring thunder, flashes of lightning striking the peaks above the old stone bridge. On the bridge itself, two mages were drawn into a full on magical clash. The first wore a light blue mantle, a white robe and carried a metal looking staff in it's grip. The second was dressed fully in black, hooded and cloaked and armed with a sword.
The darkhooded man moved with slower yet more trained steps, his arm movements were that of a trained and older one. The other individual was far quicker, yet not as refined in it's casting. A blast of fire shot out from the darkhooded figure, a massive bolt of lightning came from the sky to collide with it. The echoing sound of the lightningbolt striking the stone itself sent tremors along the mountainside. Heavy breaths came from both of the adults on the bridge, their grip around their respective weapons of choice was tightening. As if it was their very lifeline. Their footing on the bridge became more entrenched.
"Dracon flare!" The darkhooded figure screamed out, while at the same time the other figure screamed out a spell of it's own. "Holy aerial!" Was soon uttered, and a golden bolt of lightning struck the middle of the bridge with such force that the bridge itself was cleft in twain, sending both the mages tumbling down the mountain crevice. Then came a deep rumbling sound, being followed shortly by the howling winds and the falling raindrops... then came the darkness.
[BOINK!]
It was with a slight bump that the young mage woke up, finding itself in the back of a wagon carrying hay. Oh that was true, this was after all a way to avoid having to walk all the way to Magnolia. "Aouww..." The mage lamented softly. And then with a yawn, some armstretching and wiping of the eyes, Mandi's gaze soon began scanning the town for things of interest.
'So this is Magnolia?' The young mage thought in a ponderous manner, taking in the sights of the town. There seemed to be plenty of things to inspect, and most surely alot of people to talk with. Mandi couldn't help to ponder on what kind of people one would be able to find in a place such as it. Was there even going to be hotsprings or mixed bath areas? The mage peeked over the top of the wagon to the driver, who was still unaware of his thoughtful passenger. There was a time for paying for caravan rides, and there was a time to bounce. This was certainly a time to bounce, and with little further ado Mandi crawled to the back of the wagon and jumped down with both feet on the ground.
"Yuush! Here at last~ Oho! Would you look at that." The young mage lifted one of it's hands above it's eyes in a spectating manner, right towards the direction of a clothes vendor which had some girls browsing the wares.
"Whoa that looks great~ Neat wares." Mandi chimed in as one of the girls was checking out a dress, which in turn they both blinked and looked at the young mage.
"Thank you, I think this dress is pretty." The girl holding unto the dress said with a warm smile.
"Oh... the dress? That's fine too." The young mage began to tap it's chin with a finger after rising it's gaze by just a slight bit to get leveled with the girl, offering her a playful wink.
"Uh..." The girl lowered her own gaze before raising her arms and folding them before her chest, looking to her companion momentarily before going back to Mandi.
"Catch ya later~ I've got a town to exploradicalo!" It didn't take the mage long to close it's eyes and smile in the general direction of the two girls and the vendor, while passing them by with both hands crossed behind the neck. This was no doubt going to be an eventful day, and if it wasn't intending on being that way it could always be helped along the way. After all, if a soup was not flavourful enough it could very easily be spiced up with the right ingridients. A sprinkle of this, and a sprinkle of that and all of a sudden there could be alot of various scenarios which could benefit opportunistic foxes or creatures like them. But more than that, foxes were very cunning and very sly, for one moment you think you might understand them, and then poof... they have stolen your lunch and you are left blinking and wondering what just happened. Mandi obviously found foxes to be fun creatures, especially the more playful looking ones.
'I wonder where the library is... maybe if I could find the village idiot I could ask them? Shouldn't be too hard to find one.' Many were the thoughts that travelled through the young mage's mind, surely there would be answers not too far away.
A gentle voice rung through the mage's ears. The surrounding was hazy and from far off there was a familiar figure approaching him from the fog. "Ariel?" He made his way over and despite getting closer, he couldn't actually see her face. Even squinting it was as if there was some blur that kept him from seeing her face. "Hey, what's going on?" Slowly he walked over to her and as he did so things were becoming more clearer. Ariel was just coming into view and what one would think would be an expression of joy turned into one of pure terror because this thing had her face, but had Dalton's face!
The thing then shouted with the Exceed's voice, "Nolan wake up!"
With a chilling scream, Nolan jolted up from his bed with a cold sweat, panting as patted himself down to make sure that he was not in a dream anymore. By the gods above that was a cursed image forever burned into his head. The slayer turned to face the Exceed who was standing on his bed with his arms crossed and already dressed with his trademark sunglasses and pompadour, tapping his foot impatiently on the bedsheets. "Ya done screamin' or what? We need ta go ta work an' we haven't had breakfast yet!" He hopped off the bed and looked up at him like an impatient child waiting for his parent to get out bed.
Nolan squinted at him and glanced at the clock. Okay yeah he actually should have woken up earlier, but for this reason? The reason this little shit scarred him for life was because he was hungry? The little bugger was lucky he didn't get thrown out the window at lightspeed! "You really are a bastard." He grumbled and kicked off the sheets. It was time to get ready for the day, as uneventful it probably was going to be.
Beside of his training, his modeling career, his promotion to S-Class, the last couple of years had been extremely uneventful. For some reason, everyone decided that they needed to start travelling for their training or for their own personal issues; Damian and Penny were basically having a two year long date and Rose was working on her love life with her beau so Nolan was actually the only S-Class that was constantly around for the majority of that time. Amaya was training and Ariel went off for a year to sort herself off before coming back though now she had been out for two months because she was recruited by Sorcerer Magazine and decided to take up their offer.
Sure there were newbies, but most of them were just fucking annoying, especially Belius. That battle maniac drove him up the bloody wall, not to mention he was unpredictable so he was more of a liability for missions that required finesse. Then there was Brianna and while he personally does not hold much against her beside her emotional outbursts when she has had one too many, her sword is a completely different story; that sword does not know when to stop teasing him for being skittish around most women. Other than that most of the new members that have joined have either not caught his eye or were simply too scared of him to approach.
Well, something did happen recently; he and Jack Goran, the guild master of the Dragon Fang and one of the Wizard Saints, had become more acquainted with each other recently and, well... That was a story for another time.
Mage and Exceed were walking down the streets of Magnolia and just as he across from the guild, he could hear a commotion from inside, Karn especially rung true. "What's going on?"
Nolan pushed open the doors and what he saw was a duo he had not seen in quite awhile. "Can't say that I was expecting you two to be here." He said as he approached Damian with Dalton trailing from behind. Of course Belius was already making a ruckus this early. "Hey, settle down. The man just arrived back home and you want to pound down a grog?"
"Kill joy." Dalton for one would have loved to go for a round of drinks though given his tiny stature he would have been done after the first mug.
He shot Dalton a sharp glare before focusing back on Damian. "Anyway, finally settling down or do you have anywhere else you plan to be?"
Damian's instincts kicked in before his brain did as Belius jumped down from above and as a result Andor was already a third of a way out of the sheathe, poisonous magic circling around what blade was exposed before the S-Class mage realized what his arms were doing. "Perhaps later, Captain Rowdy. Looking to get settled in here at home again." He then turned his attention to the young swordswoman with the form changing, and apparently talking, blade at her waist. "Glad to hear it, Brianna and...pleasure to meet you without crossing blades, Tearsy," and along came the ever exuberant Karn, singing and asking questions as always and bringing a genuine smile to Damian's face as he laughed, "and of course its always a pleasure to see you, Karns. Stories can wait a bit, there's still people I've yet to see! As for food, well, I've got new recipes to try another day."
Damian surveyed the crowds as he spoke, once more spotting James as he continued going over his revolver, though he now also had a book in front of him, but no sight of-Ah, there's miss Rose with her lover and child. Glad to see they're doing well, though that still isn't... As if thinking of him was all it took to summon him, the voice of the man Damian had been looking for came from behind the former soldier. "Can't say that I was expecting you two to be here." Damian turned to face the guild's newest S-Class mage as he addressed Belius for good measure. "Hey, settle down. The man just arrived back home and you want to pound down a grog?" And of course, the furry purple cretin couldn't just shut his mouth.
"Kill joy." Damian and Nolan both shot the Exceed a venomous glare that sent would send a more reasonable person or creature scurrying for cover, though rarely did the pompadour touting cat do the reasonable thing where Damian was concerned. "Anyway, finally settling down or do you have anywhere else you plan to be?" Damian put a hand on Nolan's shoulder and grinned wickedly as he beckoned out to the guild.
"Nolan, my friend, Penny and I just spent the last two years travelling. It would be a crime if we didn't come back to stay after so long and I figure what better way to kick things off than a four way exhibition match between Phoenix Wing's S-Class mages? Got a special request from a few of Magnolia's townsfolk that we give them a show." He got louder so that the rest of the guild could hear him. "In fact, Magnolia thinks we should resurrect the Fantasia Festival!"
After having walked for awhile and taken in the various views that Magnolia was providing, a peculiar building drew the attention of the young mage. A guild hall to be precise. What manner of things would be kept within such a place? There was only one way to truly find out. Mandi's eyes began to wander over the architechture of the building itself and the pathway leading into it. Just how many people had walked here with the hopes of seeing the inside of the place, and how many had been truly able to explore all of it. Such questions would surely yield answers in dear time, and time was a thing of importance. The mage walked in a somewhat jolly manner up to the doorway, whose doors had previously been opened by someone else. The mage tilted slightly to the side, peeking inside before moving inside. Mandi's ponytail bouncing up and down in rhytm with each jolly step.
'Well would you look at that...' The darkhaired mage thought to itself as it's eyes wandered along the floors, the walls and ultimately the ceiling itself. Soon after looking over the various decoration, it was time to look at the various people scattered about.
'Guild mages hm? No surprise seeing them in a guild hall. They were more rare in mountains after all...' The mage bit it's lower lip slightly, before adjusting it's backpack slightly to make sure it was neatly in it's place. That things remained orderly like that was important, even if everything else would be chaotic.
'Time to not draw unnecessary attention to myself... calm like water.' The red-eyed mage thought before coughing into it's hand, before taking a slight jolly stride forwards towards a gathering of people. It was time to select one of them, the young mage settled on one with very fierce red hair. Bellus.
"Whoa~! You must be a guild mage! You look really strong~ Are these guys your fans? Bet you have some really impressive spells!" Mandi assumed a ponderous facial expression while tapping the chin with a single finger, the mage's eyes looking at Bellus and then over at the others gathered. The head tilting from one side to the other, and the ponytail flapping about in conjunction with said movement. Mandi adopted a smiling face soon after, with eyes momentarily closed.
Magic: Observer Magic Location: Arriving at Dragon Fang GuildHall Thoughts: two cat people. Boy and girl = ? With:@Landaus Five-One@Silver Fox
Keiko didn't expect to get any attention right away as she was more wanting to just look around and observe; maybe find the guild master without anyone really noticing her or observer. Somehow that plan backfired as two feline-like humanoid creatures approached her. She was first introduced to Prince who confirmed that this was the dragon fang guildhall and that his name was Prince. Definitely, a name she might give a pet someday. She watched him extend his hand before hearing the second feline-like person move to them. this one a female named Caitlyn. So do they do travel in packs? Maybe they were a couple? Keiko shook the thought from her head, it was rude to assume. "It is nice to meet you both. my name is Keiko Armenshia. I am here to possibly observe and maybe join the dragon fang guild as I have researched out of the three top light guilds that could hold the answer to what I seek might be found with Dragon fang."She spoke in an upright, respectful tone tilting her head to the left halfway through the introduction before the large skin bound tome under her arm moved and lifted up as a ghost-like mirror image of her held the book before moving back behind her as she paid it no mind.
Magic: Ice Dragon Slayer/Exceed Location: Phoenix Wing GuildHall Thoughts: nervous of the change With:
Amaya moved into the guildhall, sidestepping out of the way of those around her, trying to not be in anyone's way or attention before finding a booth to sit her bags down allowing Cecilia to climb out and onto the table. Amaya took a seat, letting out a relieved sigh to finally rest her feet, stretching along with Cecilia "Hey where is the mother hen, I haven't seen him in a while."Spoke Cecilia as Amaya looked around "Honestly I figured he would have gotten here before us..Hopefully, he is alright and nothing happened to him. I wonder if he has grown any these past years."Spoke Amaya with a smile looking around allowing her heightened hearing to take note of each and every conversation going on in the guildhall. Things were a bit quieter than she happens to remember. She heard something about a tournament among the S class mages and Nolan's to his exceed's conversations as well as what Damian spoke with Rose and those around him. It was a bit relaxing hearing all was mostly calm and good. Nolan was always loud so that was nothing new for him. Damian was always surprised by one thing or another. It was good to see nothing really changed while she was away, that was always a blessing in her book.
"Did I hear something about putting on a show? It would be a shame to destroy the town after the peaceful rest it earns with all of us traveling for so long."Teased Rose making a beeline for Damian, pushing some hair out of her face "though I will say, It is good to be home where I can actually relax with so many built-in babysitters" said Rose folding her arms "How have you all been since we were all last here. I want to say around the time of those massive dragons and the world trying to tear itself apart ya?" asked Rose trying to remember the last point in the two years she had been away from the guildhall. She examined each and every one of them as she didn't change much still a busty woman with her long hair though her hair was a hell of a lot longer now. Her red eyes scanned the room "I see only one of our two slayers back but her typical companion isn't with her but It seems she is fine with it. A lot of the young ones I sense have gotten a lot stronger...I am tempted to see how far they have come themselves."She added having a slightly more open about her own magic type of attitude compared to her old attitude of preferring not to fight or do anything that had to show anything about herself. She was a lot more in tune and outgoing that was for sure.
Karn’s smile only brightened as his wide green eyes sparkled up at the fellow fire based wizard. ”And it’s super duper good to see you!” he chirped, seeming not to mind at all that his fired off ramble of questions were left unanswered and was simply happy to be there talking with Penny. At the question, he gave a gleeful laugh as he waved his arms up and down excitedly like he was some bird trying to lift off.
”Goody good! Well yes and no cause Eddy has been trying to get me used to water over the past couple of years by collecting seashells and well I try I really do but the water is riiiiight there and it’s big and fully ready to swallow and gobble, so other times I like helping around town and Eddie does the things with the gizmos and knickknacks I have no idea what are but seem fun but I’m not allowed to touch them so instead I try and take care of that egg but it still hasn’t hatched yet. Yesterday Eddy and I spent the whooooooooole day shopping and we tried to ask ZZ and Zenny to come with us but they were busy with something that ZZ said I couldn’t handle which I dunno why but maybe they went swimming or something but hey Eddy bought us this dress then we went to some place with uh aliiicooohaaaalll and Eddy banned us from drinking there because she doesn’t want to test out what that does if I drink it yet and I dunno why but everyone there wanted to buy us lots of drinks but anyway Joe, the bartender there, paid us to sing something and we sang and danced then we took a nap in the back and then we came back out and started talking with this guy which Eddy said I wasn’t allowed to talk to and she’d handle it and they started talking about some like weird looking lacrima and some Dark Guild and then we got told to say a thing and then he started touching us all over I guess he wanted hugs or something but then Eddy kneed him and we left and then we came back here.” Karn rambled at quite a fast pace not even taking a breath. Finally he had to pause in order to take a another inhale of oxygen.
Whirling his blonde head around, his green eyes sparkled as a familiar girl with dirty blonde hair approached. Raising his right arm, he waved enthusiastically. ”Hihi Bri-Bri and Tearsy!” Karn cheered a greeting, eyes sparkling before within the instant his cheerful face fell to a complete monotone the moment the voice entered their mind. It was difficult at times, defining voices, and those who actually communicated that way was a challenge to recongize. Considering Penny’s reaction though this one was real.
Edarn’s half lidded gazed looked at the sword as her arms cross over her chest. ”Unless Utility over there actually likes eating dirt, that’s most likely.” she responded calmly at the mention of why jolly saint over would be talking to sword for brains D over there. At the compliment, Edarn’s expression didn’t change for a few heartbeats before just arching a eyebrow.
”Mm being flirted by a sword is definetly a new one, but hey willing to edge it out.” Edarn remarked in a deadpan joke. Her eyes had been focused on staring at the sword rather than anything else. However her green eyes did glance toward Penny beside her as she heard Damian.
The minute she did, her senses warped. It started with white noise, until it was now just a insufferable ringing in her ears. It was so loud, she could hardly hear anything. Echos of chatter, explosions, screams, crackling... her vision of the light atmosphere turned dark and ‘Penny’ was pointing a spear to her throat. Her mouth was filled with the taste of rusty iron, of salt and of ash. Her nose could smell smoke and blood while her body felt numb and heavy. Her skin crawled and prickled, as her muscles felt like they were spasming.
As she looked at Penny, there was a compulsion. For her body to attack or suck in cover. Fingers around the throat until something snaps.
‘Fight.’ ‘Kill.’ ‘Rip, Tear, Swallow.’ ‘Gotta survive got the get the job done. In the way. They are all in the way. Go. Move.’ ‘Do something useful pathetic weakling.’
Voices echoed whispers into shouts, willing her to utterly snap. Instead, she closed her eyes and thought. ’Trees make oxygen for our sorry asses and we breath carbon dioxide for them to breathe. The world spins. Water evaporates into the air only to fall back down on our heads. Cycle cycle cycle. Don’t tell a girl she’s fat. Don’t touch the damn glass at the bakery and leave grubby fingerprints. Propel that mechanism to get the wings to...
Quiet quiet quiet. No fault but here. It’s fine. I’m fine. Numb it. Just numb it. Can’t hurt them. Can’t hurt this body. Can’t. Won’t. Refuse. Foreword not backward. No other way. Determination until the end. Gotta endure. Endure. Endure. Endure it.’
Counting backward from ten, her hands twitching to reach a cylinder in her pocket, she slowly opened her green eyes once more with the unchanging blank expression. The only indication of her mental instability was the slight clenching of her jaw and a bead of sweat on her brow. It had all been within but a moment as her gaze locked with the fellow blonde that had addressed her.
At the apology, Edarn just arched a eyebrow before slowly uncurling her arms and raised her left hand. Middle finger gingerly curled along her thumb while the others stuck out. Before briefly in a light swift manner, flicked Brianna’s forehead.
”It’s fine, I didn’t expect much else.” Edarn mused with a teasing smug smirk before once more the cheerful joyous expression came out.
”Teehee thanks a lot Tearsy! How are you and Bri-Bri doing today? I was just telling Fira alllllllllllll about yesterday!” Karn chirped in blissful cheer, repeating Penny’s question of how the two were. He then turned to Damian and smiled brightly in awe and threw his arms up.
”We should have a cooking day sometime then!” he chirped, and once seeing Nolan, the feminine boy waved his arms gleefully in greeting to the ash god slayer. His cheer grew at the thought of watching such great and fantastic wizards show off their superior skills. He was perhaps about to say something until he completely stiffened. Green eyes darting around, he spotted a man clad in yellow and had a strong scent of water on him.
Karn was smiling brightly still as in greeting, but he had found himself hiding behind Penny, hands gripping the back of her clothes as his entire body trembled. He could hear a sigh coming from his mind as Edarn saw the situation but she didn’t say anything else to lend aid to his plight.
Glancing his one good eye to the fellow feline like individual, Prince gave a toothy grin in response. ”Ah well you know, cats need their beauty sleep.” he chuckled, ears twitching which caused his hat to move. As his handshake was denied, the red head chuckled as he let it fall and placed his hands on his hips. Tilting his head as he examined the young lady he gave a soft hum.
”Ahhhh I see, wonder what you’re looking for?” he hummed before continuing. ”Our Guildmaster is unfortunately away for a meeting, but you are welcome to have a look around and ask us any questions if you like. Some of our top class just came back.” he cheered as he pointed to the power couple with a thumb. It was too bad to not get a taste of the newcomers magic, he couldn’t help but be curious and he was hungry. But it can’t be helped. It might spook her away anyhow.
*She can't settle on a name. Most locals know it as simply The Workshop
Should she be feeling so stiff? Trinity stopped to stretch for the third time, taking a leisurely walk around her workshop as she did. As she did, she came up to her tracking calender, where she marked down what time she'd worked in a day by filling it in with a marker, leaving gaps to represent breaks and other time off. Mmm, that was no good. Most of the month was filled in so far. There was no way anyone from the guild was going to let her off with working today away, especially when Damian and Penny just came back. Some of them would even drag her away. She had to get her last appointment taken care of before that happened.
She grabbed the address book from the locked drawer by the landline and dialed the number for the client she was supposed to see that evening. A quick conversation later and the appointment was successfully moved to right now. Her stomach growled at her and she considered how long it would take for her client to arrive. She had a little bit of time, so she ran upstairs to get some food.
One fixed plate of french toast later, and Trinity came downstairs to eat and wait for her client. It didn't take them much longer to arrive, though Trinity was still eating, and watching some EarthTube videos on her handheld LLD. She shut the video off and grabbed her pad of paper, turning from the workbench and motioning the customer in.
The interview was rather short. She caught on to what their needs boiled down to, and she sent them off with a ready-made converter kit. It turned out they wanted to convert their home steam power to electric power. If they needed help with installation, they could give her a call, but it was likely she might be unavailable to work, soon. Just for a little bit.
She sent them off with a smile, and was left with a choice... Go to the guild now, or try and crank out that last bit of work before she got dragged away? Maybe she could even get some work in on her secret project, heh. She decided she would at least try and finish the repairs from the morning's first appointment. If the sun stayed strong, she could probably do it.
