Beneath the Sea

A week had passed by since the introduction of Luna to Desperados, and her brief scuffle with Artemis Reznik. Though the two weren’t exactly on good terms; they wouldn’t be enemies with one another exactly. The duo held a competitive rivalry surely, but beneath it was a form of…respect, an understanding of some sorts. Luna had to reveal her past as a mage of the guild known as Lochness Tooth, and the manner in which her guild was destroyed by Dark Mages. The mere mention of those creeps stirred negativity to dwell up in Artemis’ soul, for it reminded him of something that he never wished to share with anybody, something he didn’t even share with the guild, despite them knowing full well of it.

But, because of their mutual understanding toward the cruelty of Dark Mages and Guilds alike, the two were able to empathise with one another. They understood how it felt to lose loved ones by the monstrous hands of darkness, and were equally as determined to make sure that they would exact justice. And yet…Luna was strange. It was almost as if, though her goals were exactly the same, she had a completely different outlook to Artemis. It was almost as if she had no care for the world anymore, simply existing as a tool to carry out vengeance of some sort.

“Are you thinking about her, Artemis?” Raziel nudged, causing Artemis to snap out of his brief trance. “You could say I am” he replied unenthusiastically, as he stood up to pace around his room. “I’m…not sure what to think of her past experiences.” Artemis told Raziel, who nodded in affirmation. “I agree with you. The way she sees things is very different from how you see it.”

“Heh, you’re always knowing how to read my mind, eh?” Artemis nodded with approval, Raziel grinning back “You’re going to let her be our partner?” Artemis pondered for a moment, stroking some imaginary facial hair “Not at all. Unless we’re forced, that’s a different case.” Raziel just giggled slightly, as he continued to put himself into bed. “You get some sleep as well. You’ve had a long day.”

Artemis yawned almost mechanically, before responding “Yeah, of course.” Soon afterward, he went to his drawer, taking out a pair of navy board-shorts. His first course of action was to remove his shirt. As he pulled it off, his tense abdominal muscles were exposed slowly, defined even more with fairly tanned skin, which soon rose to show his defined pectoral muscles, and finally his broad arms. His body was covered with beads of sweat, exhausted from the activities of the day. Slowly, he unclipped the buckle of his jeans, letting the constricting dark denim slide down his legs, leaving him almost bare, aside from a pair of short boxers with striped blue patterns. Taking his shorts from his bed, he slid them on and over his legs before stretching his arms outward.

“Alright, sleep time.” Artemis told himself, pulling out the covers from his bed and snuggling in, the night was long ahead as he drowned beneath the sea of his dreams. In the meantime, Luna had also begun to get accustomed to her new room. Soon enough, she had finished the cleaning of her room, and was able to loosen her stress from a shower. Coming back into the room, Luna was shown to be in a simple white towel, covering her ample breasts, highlighting her slender frame and exposing her rather curvy legs. Unlike normal, her long black hair was actually left free, allowing it to reach even beyond her ankles; sprawled on the floor.

“So, this will be my life now…” Luna thought out loud to herself, as she tied her hair into a long ponytail. Taking her towel off her body, Luna’s body was soon covered by a navy sleeping gown. She tucked herself in the bed comfortable, and wished the world a good night.

The rooster sounded its horn, and the morning sunlight touched the tips of the guild. But some of the guild members were already in action; as a result, causing hype among the neighbours, who were shouting at them.

The one making the noise was Norma Cenva, of course. The zombie was prattling around the Guild listening to extraordinarily loud bass, and Priscilla had to be louder in order to stop her from doing so. Such actions woke the entire guild up in a tired, irritated manner, and the two were banished from the guild in order to do a mission.

And so, they went on their way, apparently to take down a few Dark Mages who were terrorizing a town.

“Priscilla~ Are we there yet?” Norma moaned, as she continued walking. Priscilla yapped “Two minutes!” before continuing on her way. They were in a large forest, with no apparent exit for at least another 500 metres. But Priscilla had been this way a number of times prior, and so wasn’t exactly scared, though Norma was obviously anxious.

“All of this is your fault.” Priscilla told her, as Norma brushed her head to the side. “All I was doing was listenin’ to some music.” Priscilla sighed, and she continued walking in the silence that was this forest.

Fluttering in the wind; laid a black cloak. Without any sound, it fluttered in the near-absent wind. Surrounded by the greenery, an average-sized figure appeared, with nothing revealed but an eye of golden brilliance.

“The world is a place for perfection, I must admit.” He whispered to himself, as the dark forest glimmered with a radiant gold. The leaves changed color; appearing as nothing more than golden coins within the sunlight.

Priscilla and Norma were caught in surprise; covering their eyes from the light of the trees, Norma shouted “What!?” while Priscilla attempted to navigate through the extreme blindness. Suddenly, she felt a rise in magical energy, and in an attempt to pinpoint it, realized that the golden light faded.

“What…what just happened?” Priscilla was in utter confusion, and quickly told Norma “Stay on guard, someone must be here.” Though reluctant, Norma took a guarding position along with Priscilla; who had taken out her Storm Cloth and began to electrify it. “Who’s there?” Priscilla shouted, and instantaneously a man wrapped in black flames appeared before the duo.

“Yo.” He muttered to the duo, who immediately pointed their gaze to them. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to be used as scapegoats today. The name’s Nosferatu by the way.” Nosferatu told them, as his eyes suddenly glimmered golden once more. Immediately, a chain of golden magical energy manifested from his eyes, which whipped like a snake and immediately propelled to the duo, with Norma taking the offensive and smashing it into pieces.

“Heh! Is that all you -!” Norma was interrupted in her confidence as the shattered pieces of the chain immediately pierced her in the stomach, binding her as they reattached, before propelling and hanging off of a large tree near them.

“Norma!” Priscilla shouted in vain, as soon afterward, a golden prison-like structure encompassed her being, constricting her and leaving her helpless to the exploits of the man known as Nosferatu.

“I’m…sorry…” Was all that Norma could mutter, as her helpless frame saw Priscilla lie unconscious in the golden prison.

“That wasn’t hard.” Nosferatu told himself, before grinning maliciously. “Now…to start step two.”

Fin