Hunted Return: Blazing Family

Last Chapter: Beginning Task: Nature's Time Bomb

Ghosts of the Past
Though she had gotten up early, Fiona couldn't find any trace of her sister Kat in their apartment. She saw a small note on the door and went over to investigate and quickly saw that it was from Kat, letting her know that she had been called away and would be back later. Soon after she finished reading it, she smelled something cooking in the kitchen, and soon heard someone else in the apartment with her. She drew a pair of knives and creped closer to the kitchen, preparing for just about anything to be waiting for her. She peeked around the corned and saw Shelly and Carra working over a stove, but it was apparent that nether of them knew anything about what they were doing. Out of the corner of her eye, Shelly saw Fiona and turned to her with a smile. "Hey Fiona. Good morning."

"Oh hi Shelly and Carra, sorry I didn't think anyone else had keys to this place" She said calming down and putting her knifes away and walked over to the two. "What brings you by here this early in the morning?" Fiona asked sitting down at the table while looking at the two who were trying to make the stove work.

Giving up on the making anything, Shelly sat down with her. "Well, Kat got called away by Dad again, and she asked me to stop by." She began twirling her pointer fingers as she blushed a little. "We where going to make you something to eat, but...well."

Carra, who was partially hidden behind Shelly, cut in. "We don't know what to do." She said quietly.

Fiona simply laughed at the young girls, moving up towards the stove as she turned it on with ease, "Why don't the two of you sit down and I will make us all something to eat" She said smiling before going into the fridge to see what they had to eat. She began making some fried rice with an omelet and some slices of bacon on the side. "So where is the little dog that was with you Carra?".

Carry finally sat down at the table, after seemingly concluding that Fiona wasn't one to be feared. "He's here somewhere. I thought he was on the couch with you."

A small whine came from the next room, and all three of the girls looked in to see Chico siting on the couch with a long green feather hanging out of his mouth. He turned his head quizzing when Fiona and Shelly blushed, while Carra got up to get him, oblivious to what the feather was from.

"Haha, there he is, where did you come from" Fiona said chuckling nervously as she went over to him, putting the feather out of his mouth and rubbing his head before passing him over to his mistress and getting back to her cooking, trying not to let her nervous behavior show.

Carra was still curious about the feather, and was about to ask before Shelly caught on and changed the subject. "Hey Fiona, you guys don't have a lot of food here do you?" Fiona looked over at Shelly, who quickly began to stumble thinking she had insulted her. "I mean, uh. Kat's always eating at the guild. So, you know, I thought she didn't keep much around here." Shelly couldn't quite get a handle on the wording, but Carra quickly forgot about the feather.

Fiona looked over to the fridge, looking into it as she opened it to find that it was empty inside, "Well, you were right, she doesn't have much in here" She said looking over to them as their three stomachs plus Chico's stomach growled as they all blushed. "I guess our tummy's want something now".

They all sat and thought for a moment, then Carra had an idea. "We could go to the market." Though she sunk back when Fiona and Shelly looked at her.

Shelly smiled a little. "What do you say Fiona?"

"Sure, anything's better than having our own stomachs eat each other" She said with a smile as they all laughed at her joke. Grabbing their purses and bags, the group, along with their little companion Chico, left to head into town. However, unaware to them, three figures could be seen hidden in the shadows as they began to follow them.

Though Merow City was a relatively big place, it wasn't really a big tourist town, so restaurants where few and far between. They found more than enough vendors though, so the 4 of them began browsing food stands looking for something they could turn into a meal. It was crowded enough that Carra had to carry Chico just so they didn't loose track of him. Though she couldn't exactly tell why, Fiona had felt uneasy ever since they had left her apartment. Shelly was leading ahead of them, so she was to busy to really notice. But Carra, who was sticking much closer to Fiona, could tell something was up. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Huh? Oh yes I'm fine, well not exactly, it's just... I've never been in such a huge place with a lot of different people and it's just very new to me" Fiona replied as she looked around, all she ever remembered was seeing people through the forest, this was the first time she was ever with others directly.

Carra turned her head to the side confused. She didn't really understand, or rather she couldn't. "You've never been in a store?"

She shook her head looking over to her, "I never been around public areas, I was mostly trained to keep with the shadows and make sure no one would see me" Fiona replied as she kept close to the two girls, not wanting to be seperated from them.

They heard Shelly calling them over, so Carra didn't push the subject further. When they got closer, they saw Shelly pointing to a stand with a bunch of assorted fruits on it. "How about these?"

As Carra and Shelly where talking back and forth, Fiona couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. It wasn't just discomfort about being in a crowd, it was something else, something she couldn't really explain. She was so deep in thought that she hadn't noticed Shelly trying to get her attention. "Hey Fiona." She said waving her hand in front of her face. "Are you in there?"

"Uh yes, sorry, um the left one" She said looking back at them before looking around the area, she could sense something was in the air, but couldn't figure out what.

Shelly began looking out in the same direction Fiona was. "Do you see someone you know?" Before Fiona could respond, she was bumped by someone behind her. A slim man behind her apologised, and continued into the crowd, disappearing a moment later. They hadn't seen his face, but Fiona could have sworn she saw a small grin on his face as he passed by.

"Not exactly, I just feel like there's a strange feeling in the air, as if someone was trying to come near us and hurt us" Fiona said as she looked around, trying to see if there was anyone who would look suspicious.

"Hurt?" Carra repeated, her face losing all color. "Shouldn't we run away then?" She gripped Chico a little tighter and slumped her head over him. Weather it was for comfort or to protect him, Fiona couldn't tell.

Shelly looked over the crowd again, but in truth she had no idea what she was looking for. She studied Fiona for a moment, before asking. "How can you tell?"

"I don't know, it's just a strange feeling that there is something more in the crowd" Fiona said as she looked around, the feeling was getting stronger with each passing person.

The three of them watched people walk by, slowly growing more nervous as the thought of someone hunting them grew in their heads. With nothing to go on, Shelly took Carra and Fiona's hands. "Come on, let's get going." She said while tugging them down the street.

Fiona nodded as she walked hand in hand with her two younger friends and Chico, she knew that there was a dark energy here, a familiar energy that she remembered feeling during her time she lived in Genosha with her mother, but she shook her head and tried to ignore the feeling as she continued looking around some of the vendors for some foods.

Above them on one of the rooftops, the three mages from the night before watched the girls walk away rather fast. "Great job Luko. You scared them off dumbass." the woman said to the thin man.

He put his hands up. "Well? The hell are we waiting for? We know where she is and she's only got a pair of kids with her, so excuse me if I don't see the point in waiting."

"Quiet you two." The third man commanded. He explained further while flipping through a small notebook. "We're waiting because we don't need any other problems. If we kill those other two in the crossfire, their guild will trace it straight back to us. And Phantom Breaker and this guild seem to be close ally's, we won't be able to take the both of them at once."

His companions nodded, then the three of them headed to the next building over in the direction Fiona, Carra, and Shelly had gone. They kept just close enough so as to not loose sight of them, but far enough away that they couldn't be detected by the oblivious Fiona.

A Choice
The group had walked down several streets before stopping to look at the food stands again. Shelly and Carra had forgotten about the thought of someone coming after them, but the entire place still had Fiona on edge. At this point, she couldn't tell if she was just being paranoid or not. "Hey Fiona, what kind of food do you like?" Shelly asked, snapping her back to reality.

"Uh, well... To be honest, I've never really had a taste for different foods, all I ever ate was simple soup and salad along with simple meat and rice" She said as the duo, including Chico looked at her in a comedic way with such shock faces.

Carra was the first to speak. "Like, never ever?" Nether of them could comprehend what Fiona had gone through. For the most part, they had led happy lives, always having someone to fall back on. But it was only now sinking in that Fiona had to deal with all these things on her own. Worse so that the one person who was suppose to comfort her was the one causing her so much pain.

Shelly puffed out her cheeks. "That won't do, we're going to find you something you like today. No if's, and's, or but's." She ran ahead and put her hands on her hips, as if about to make an important announcement. "We'll buy a bit of everything until we find a food that you can call your favorite." She said in a serious tone.

Fiona blushed at her proclimation, but simply smiled and laughed as she saw the young girl trying to act serious. She knew that it would take time, but like her sister wanted her to do, she would attempt to trust the same people that she trusts.

Carra watched Shelly march off with stars in her eyes, in aw of her friends determination. Fiona was about to follow, but was stopped by a sounds of echoing voice in her head. "Hey there brat. Having fun with your little friends?" Fiona spun around quickly to look for the person responsible when another message came through. "Don't make a scene unless you want your friends to get caught up in this."

"You! Why are you here?! How did you find me?!" She said with her mind back at the person, she knew who the person using Telepathy was one of the three retrival mages that was assigned by her mother, Sabriel Gulwick, to capture or retrieve anything she needed.

There was silence for a moment. "You really got to ask? Boss lady sees you as her property" Fiona was a little disheartened to here that. Thinking it was one thing, but hearing the words from someone else seemed to sink in more. "So this is how this is going to go. You're coming with us, no questions. You do that, and we don't harm your little friends. Understand?"

Fiona grinded her teeth as she looked over to Carra and Shelly, in her mind she knew it was the best choice for everyone, but in her heart, she knew she couldn't abandon those she cared about most. "Fine, but we meet on the far side of town, alone".

Again there was a pause, like the person who was contacting her was contemplating something. "Fine, but make sure you don't keep us waiting. I'd really hate it if something happened to the bubbly one and the redhead over there." Silence followed, and Fiona just stood still. She didn't want to go back, but she couldn't put her friends in danger because of her selfishness. Was this better? To just give in and let her mother have her way? Or should she risk a fight and put everyone in danger because of her.

She couldn't come to a conclusion ether way, but knew that she wanted her friends to be safe. Just as she thought to leave, she heard Shelly behind her. "Fiona? Is everything alright? We don't have to the food thing now if you don't want to."

"What? Oh no it's fine really, it's just I kind of forgot to get something from the apartment, how bout after you gather the ingredients, we meet at the guild for a feast" She said with a grin before running back towards her apartment, only to be stopped by Shelly.

"Your lying." She said seriously. It was strange to see Shelly without a smile for once. "What's wrong?" She asked again as Carra got back to where they were standing.

"Nothing's wrong I swear, I just need to go grab my thing" She said pulling away, but immediatly was stopped by Chico who was bitting down on her boot as if to pull her back to them.

"Something's bothering you Fiona. We can help with whatever you need." Shelly pleaded. "Is it that feeling again?"

"Is someone's after us?" Carra asked, looking around at the crowd again.

Fiona looked at the two with pleading faces, it made her heart ache as she looked down at Chico who was doing puppy dog eyes himself, wanting to get something out of her. "They're not after you.... They want me to go back with them to Genosha" She said whispering so only they would hear.

Carra picked up Chico and looked to Shelly, who seemed to be thinking of a plan. "Ok let's go then." Shelly said with a smile. Taking Fiona's hand, she began to lead them all away from the market. Fiona was confused, Shelly didn't seem very concerned about her situation, at least not that she was letting on. They turned onto another street, this one was much smaller than the last and lined with pawnshops.

"Wait, where are we going?" She said trying to figure out what Shelly was planning, "I have to meet them at a spot outside of town, we can't just go deeper into it".

"You don't have to do a thing." Shelly responded without looking back at her. Glanced in every shop, she stopped and did a double take in what looked like a dojo. "Hey Terra. Over here!" She called to one of the people training.

A pink haired girl with bandages covering her entire right arm waved, then walked out to greet them. "Hey guys. How're you doing?" she said while wiping sweet off her forehead.

Carra sort of sunk behind Fiona, putting her in front of the girl called Terra. Shelly leaned in closer and said. "We need your help with something." She paused for a moment while Terra nodded. "Some people are after us, after Fiona, and we can't fight them alone."

"What?" Terra asked half laughing, thinking it was a game. She looked to Fiona for some form of hint as to what was going on, but it didn't take her long to realise that they weren't playing around. "Alright. I'll go get the others, just don't stop moving ok?"

"Shelly, will you please stop for a second and tell me what's going on?" Fiona said with a serious tone in her voice, she wasn't the type who liked being kept in the dark, especially when it came to her friends and their safety.

"Calling for help." She said shortly. "I'm not as strong as a lot of the others, and Carra can't fight at all." Fiona glanced down at Carra, who nodded in agreement. "We can't protect you alone, so Terra's going to call the others to help us."

"The others? You mean the guild?" She asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah. There's no way these guys will take you back with the guild here to fight for you." Shelly said confidently, with Carra nodding in agreement again.

She looked at the two girls, in her mind she could remember Kat's words about trusting them and believing them, but she never imagined that they would actually come through with her unless she was with Kat. The realization drove her to tears as she fell to her knees, sobbing with tears of joy that she really had a place in this new region with her new family.

Just as she was about to get up again, she felt Carra pulling on her shoulder, and heard Chico growling at something. She looked over to her and saw that her face had gone pale. She felt Shelly move to her other side as Fiona saw the thin man from the food court grinning down at the three of them. "Didn't he say don't tell anyone? Because I could have sworn that's what he said."

He seemed to wait for a response, while Shelly pushed Fiona toward Carra. "Go, run away." Carra nodded and wrapped both of her arms around one of Fiona's and began tugging.

Fiona looked back over at Shelly, not wanting to leave her behind, but her sister's words rang in her head as she nodded and went with Carra and Chico.

Luko watched Fiona and Carra run off, then focused his attention of Shelly. "So you think you can buy some time or something? Is that the plan?" Shelly didn't say anything, only stared back at him. "Come on, say something already." Shelly backed away from him, then put her arms up in front of herself, preparing for a fight.

"Oh well, I guess it's your funeral" Luko grinned evily as he focused his mind, using Telekinesis to force up some earth as he pushed it towards her, wanting to smash her head.

Shelly ducked under the rocks, rolling out to the side as they crashed down where she was standing. She looked up at him and pointed above him. "Anvil." As mettle letters formed above Luko's head and rained down on him.

Luko quickly jumped back, still getting hit in the head by one, but was able to dodge it before it did serious damage, "You just made a big mistake" He replied with a smile as he focused magic into his hands, blasting forward with Light Magic at her.

Shelly tried to dodge again, but revived a burn mark on her shoulder from the laser. She squealed as she hit the ground, but quickly rolled over and pointed at Luko again. "Flames." She shouted, sending a torrent of fire toward him. He stepped back a couple feet, but it fire stopped and formed a wall in front of him. Just as he was about to investigate, he saw Shelly through the flames with a large notebook in her hands. "Pict Magic: Cannon." She yelled again, as a cannon jumped off the page. It planted itself on the ground and shot a yellow ball of magic at him through the fire.

The blast managed to land a direct blow on Luko, hitting him square in the chest as it pushed him back, however Shelly was shocked to see him still standing as he grinned at her, "Well that one did sting a bit, but your still too weak" He said dusting himself off as he sent out a barrage of light beams.

Shelly ducked behind her cannon, but it didn't provide much protection from the volley of lasers being shot at her. As the cannon slowly chipped away, Shelly received a few more burns from the light as it passed. As the attack subsided, she got back to her feet, but began to wobble as her whole body ached with wounds. She raised her arms again, preparing for another clash.

"Do you really want to die trying to save someone who you just met a few days ago? Look, all we want is her, just tell us where she is and I'll let you go, simple as that" Luko said at her as he could tell she didn't have enough strength left in her for another fight.

Shelly huffed a couple times, she wasn't really build for direct confrontations like this. "I'm not telling you anything." She said while gritting her teeth. "She doesn't want to go back, she's happy here." Shelly began building up magic in her hands. "It doesn't matter who comes after her, you'll have a fight either way. Volts." She through her arms out in front of her, shooting electric letters at Luko.

The volts felt like small tickles at that point, "So disappointing. Oh well, everyone has their time" Luko said charging a beam of light directly at her with his entire hand, making sure she'd have no other place to go.

Shelly fell back on her butt, thinking she was about to be blown away. Without warning, something flew through the spell forming in Luko's hand, to fast to really see, slicing his palm clean open. He stopped dead and clutched his wrist, then saw the glint of an small blade imbedded in a wall out of the corner of his eye. He spun around to see a man with shades and a rust colored vacation shirt starring him down. Shelly smiled at the sight of him, while he simply gave Luko a condescending grin.

"Who the hell are you?!" He growled with a serious tone, Luko didn't like anyone touching him, and getting a nasty wound was the worst thing ever for him.

The new arrival only kept his smile, then pointed upwords to the sky. "Dude, you just kicked the worlds worst hornets nest." Just as Luko was about to question him, a bright light shined in the sky and shot down at him, blasting him to the ground.

Luko grunted in shock, then looked up to see a smaller man with blue hair glaring down at him. Shelly's eyes lit up at this new arrival, despite her still bleeding and exhausted. "Leo!" She looked back to the other man. "Rift, you found me."

Rift moved to where she was siting and helped her to her feet, stabilising her when she wobbled a bit. Leo on the other hand kept his eyes on Luko. "Why are you after my sister." He asked, anger burning in his voice.

"This is none of your concern, all I want is the girl, Fiona Gulwick, but your sister won't give me the information." He said looking at Leo as his magic began to spark up, "Either she tells me or I take you both down".

Rift laughed as Shelly sat down on a box to rest. "You ain't really helping your case you know."

Leo didn't say anything, but the anger in his eyes intensified as he surrounded himself in light. Without a word, he shot up in the air and immediately came back down again, slamming Luko hard enough to crack the ground below him. Shelly winced away at the impact, she never did like her brother like this, even if it was to protect her.

Even with his powerful magic, the attack dealt a major blow to Luko as he was unable to move now, however there was a grin that appeared on his face, "Took me a bit to search through that mind of yours girly, but now we know where that girl is" He said laughing before passing out.

The three mages stood confused for a moment, then Shelly reached up to feel both sides of her head with her hands. "Oh-no. Oh-no oh-no." She had felt light headed for a while, but assumed it was just from taking too many hits in the fight. But after Luko passed out the feeling faded away. "He can use Telepathy, they know where Fiona is." She began to panic.

Leo removed his hoody and draped it around her shoulders to calm her down. He was more occupied with making sure his sister was alright before worrying about another. Rift put his hand on her shoulder. "S'alright kid. I'll look after them, you done enough for one day." He turned to leave, but patted Leo on the shoulder. "We got this, take care of your sister." Leo nodded as thanks, then Rift took of down the street while Leo waited for Shelly to recover.

Wrath of the Tyrants
After Leaving Shelly to fight off there pursuers, Carra, Fiona and Chico where running through the city. Following Terra's advice, they had taken several turns at every opportunity. Fiona was new to the city, and just followed Carra, but after so many random turns, she soon became lost, adding to there predicament. Looking down every street at a crossing, Carra blushed and looked at the ground. "Sorry, I don't know where to go."

"This is bad, we can't afford to be out in the open for too long, especially since there's still two more after me... Wait! What about Chico, could he lead us back to the guild?" Fiona asked looking at her with a hopeful look as she grabbed Carra's shoulder.

"I uh..." Carra stuttered a bit. "I don't know, he's not a tracking dog." She looked down at Chico siting in her arms. He didn't look back, but instead continued to look down the roads in front of them, turning his ears to any sound. "I have a way to signal people, but last time I did it we got attacked by bad guys."

"Look, at this point they aren't after you, it's me they want. You need to get to a far enough distance and then signal and hide, I'll try to hold them off as much as I can" Fiona said looking around before pushing Carra away.

Carra immediately wrapped her arms around Fiona's waist, like she was giving her a big hug. "No. I promised Shelly I'd stay with you, and that's what I'm doing." Despite her words, Fiona could feel Carra shaking in fear against her bare stomach.

"Carra, listen to me, you have done so much for me, not just you but the entire guild and believe me I know how scared you are, but just like I put my trust into Blazing Soul, I want you to put that trust into me" Fiona said looking at her with a determined face. "I swear, I will be fine, now go!" She yelled at her with a serious tone, making Carra jump back in fear.

Carra clutched Chico, her lip quivering and her eyes becoming watery behind her glasses. "You better come back." Without another word, She turned and ran down another street, away from Fiona and whoever was chasing them. When she disappeared from sight, Fiona took a deep breath, then began looking around the streets for anyone else with them.

"Alright Mokuba, Mai, I know you two are hiding out there, here I am" Fiona said with a loud tone as she looked around, from one of the shadows, while the other was seen teleported right in front of Fiona with the other following her lead. "I wondered when you would stop hiding from me" Fiona said glaring at the two who simply smiled at her.

"You know that the Mistress would never have really let you go, it was actually adorable that you thought that you had a chance" Mai said smiling as she placed her hand on Fiona's cheek, but was smacked away by her.

"The deal was no outsiders at the edge of town." Mokuba cut in. "From what I hear, Luko's dealing with some brat half way across town. So you want to tell me why that is?"

"They wanted to protect me from the likes of you two who want to bring me back home, and believe me, that's something that will not change." Fiona said grabbing a throwing knife, but hiding it as she looked at the two with a glare.

"Fiona, you can either just give up and surrender, or we will beat you within an inch of your life, I'm sure the mistress won't care after all" Mai said as Fiona attempted to slice both of them, but missed as the two jumped back to avoid the attack.

Stepping back farther than his partner, Mokuba glanced down the street Carra had used to run away. "How about that kid then? You may not care about yourself, but I wonder what would you do if those kids where in our grasp?"

Fiona glared at them with an expression that mimicked her mother's, making them both flinch back as she pulled out her knifes, "You even think about touching her, and I won't care if I die, but I will take you two with me!" She quickly used Velocity Magic to send two knifes thrown at them flying as they both dodged.

"That was a bad pet" Mai said as she focused and shot out Chain Magic from her hands, wrapping it around Fiona's body.

"Figured that would get you to slip up." Mokuba grinned as Mai began to pull Fiona closer. "Make this easy and just cooperate already, no more threats, no more fighting." Fiona continued to pull against the chains, but had little success getting free. "We all leave and your little friends are safe forever. How's that sound?"

Fiona glared at the duo, jumping up and kicking the two back as the chains disappeared, letting her free as she threw two more knifes, using Slowing magic, then threw more and more, using the same move all over the area until there were flying knifes stuck in mid-air. "Die" She released the magic and had them flying at her.

Mai quickly ducked behind Mokuba, who grinned and shot an arm out. Instantly, Fiona's throwing knives stopped mid air, caught by a wave of ice. "Come on, this is just pitiful now." He kicked the wall of ice down, shattering as it hit the ground. "Boss want's you back in one piece, but your not giving us much choice here." He stomped his foot and sent a wave if supercool air along the ground, causing thick layer of frost to form as it passed.

Fiona started feeling colder and colder as she threw a knife and used velocity magic, making the knife break through the ice, but was slowed down and grabbed by Mai, who then used her Shadow Magic to phase into the floor, moving past the wall and wrapping around Fiona as she started to push down on her neck in a sleeper hold.

"Now just let go, it'll all be over soon....." She whispered as Fiona fought and fought with every bit of strength she had, but could feel the cold air along with the hold was making it harder and harder for her.

As Fiona began to pass out, Mokuba suddenly detected the smell of something burning. Before he could tell where it was coming from, Mai howled in pain and rolled away from Fiona. He looked back to see a small distortion in the air, then a trio of people appeared behind Fiona out of thin air. Fiona's vision was blurry from lack of oxygen, but she could tell the closest one to her was emitting an intense heat from his outstretched hand. "Have to say, problems seem to follow you everywhere newbie." His nickname seemed more like an insult than an address.

Refocusing her vision, she realised she recognized him from her first day, the one with the incredible fire magic. Before she had a chance to remember her name, a girl with red hair wearing elegant clothes stepped up and got in her face. "Listen, this means nothing. Raven's mine, got that?" Raven seemed to sigh in annoyance behind her back.

Fiona looked at the two, despite them both not liking her, they stood right in front of her, protecting her from Mokuba and Mai. "How did you two find me?" She said with a confused tone.

The third one among them, a man with a mess of dreadlocks, helped her to her feet. "The kid found Terra again. She's taking care of her at the guild." He stepped closer to Mokuba and Mai. "Speaking of which, just how exactly were you able to track her down?"

"Her magic energy is unique, all we needed was to sense her, and poof we found her" Mai said with a growl as she looked at the group.

Raven stepped up. "So your the one's Zumma warned us about?" He seemed more disappointed than surprised. "Guess we didn't have much to worry about after all." The other girl stepped up behind Raven, seemingly backing him up.