Blast from the Past

Reoccurring Nightmare
The region of Bantia was calm and sunny as many of it's residents where enjoying their morning, spending much of it going about their normal buisness, all unaware of the lurking danger as a nearby ship from Genosha could be seen.

From the ship stood a single person in a hooded cloak who was looking around, noticing that many were looking at her with a curious look before going about their buisness. The person walked out of the ship, turning to one of the venders as she held a photo in her hand and presented it to him.

"Have you seen this girl?" The person said with a feminante tone.

"Sorry miss, I can't remember every-." The attendant cut himself off when he actually looked down at the picture. "Huh, what do you know? Yeah, she joined up with Blazing Soul a few months ago."

"Thank you very much for the information." The person said as the person paid the vender and made their walk towards the location.

In the next city over, the mage guild Blazing Soul was living up to it's noisy reputation. Mages where coming and going faster than anything. Many others where in the back building, watching their guild mates fight each other in battles of strength. After filing some job papers at the bar, new member Fiona Gulwick decided hat she was due for some relaxation before she headed out on another job. She quickly hurried across to the guilds lesser used, and much quieter, library. There where only a handful of others that used it on a regular basis, and lucky for Fiona, none of them had a reputation for being rowdy.

It was only a short walk to the library, and when she entered, she found it relatively empty. Books lined the walls and the only other person in the room was a white haired woman slumped over a desk on the opposite end of the room. When the door shut behind Fiona, she stirred and looked across the room tiredly. "Oh, hey Fiona." She stopped for a stretch and to yawn. "How was the job?"

"Hey Isa, it was fine. Though I had a few guys pinch my butt, so I had to kick them in the head" She said taking a sit before leaning back as she relaxed. Months of living with her sister had started to rub off on her as she was acting less and less shy more these days. "Anything interesting happen here?"

Isa moved her chair around the desk she was just napping on so that she could talk to Fiona. "Not really. Some counsel mages came by and gave Davin a hard time, but nothing really new there" Isa thought for a few more minuets, then remembered something. "Oh, and most of our teams are out on jobs, so things have been relatively peaceful here."

"How about Kat? Has she returned from her job yet?" Fiona asked looking over at her with a curious look on her face. Ever since she lived there, Kat was always the first she'd talk to with about missions.

"I'm not sure really, Kat doesn't frequent this place very often." Isa soon saw Fiona grow a little disheartened by the news, "Sorry honey. One of the others might know more." Still, Fiona looked down, so Isa thought it best to try and change the subject altogether. "So how are you liking the others here? Who else have you met between jobs?"

"Most of the members so far, I've even met the Guild Master when I came back from my last mission, I have to admit he wasn't like anything I thought" She said stretching her arms over her head looking back at her.

"Yeah, he can be a bit of an odd duck sometimes. He's a real sweetheart around his kids though." Isa slumped back a bit, and she had a slightly sad expression on her face. "Sis couldn't have asked for a better guild master than him." The two sat in silence for a moment While Fiona looked confused by Isa's words. She caught herself before Fiona asked anything and changed the subject again. "So do you have any plans for the evening? You generally head right out again after finishing a job."

"Actually, I was thinking of going to get something to eat right now, especially seeing as how I haven't eaten anything since I left the job site. See you in a bit." Fiona said with a smile as she walked out of the area through the doors. She walked through the hallways, passing through some areas of the guild until she made her way to the main lobby where there was the bar and tables as many of the guildmates were all sitting down and relaxing. Fiona went to an empty table as she waited for a waitress to come and take her order.

It wasn't long before a familiar redhead made her way to the table. "Hi Fiona." Carra said shyly. "What'll ya have?"

"Um just the usual, Fried Rice with pork and some noodles, plus some juice" Fiona said as Carra smiled and went to go put in the other as her dog Chico stayed behind and jumped into Fiona's lap, lying down as she petted him, "Haha, you haven't had much rest, have you Chico?" She said looking down at him with a smile.

The puppy barked twice in response, while Carra returned with Fiona's drink. Chico jumped away as Carra moved on to another table. From behind her, Fiona heard one of the other mages call out to her. "Hey speed girl, you seen your sister and the metal head around here?" She recognised the voice as one of the S-Class mages of the guild, an older man with one eye and a bad attitude. Something about him made her uneasy, but Carra was always saying he was a good guy at heart. "Boss man want's to see all the S- Class guys stat."

"No I haven't, she told me that she would still be out on the job until tomorrow" Fiona said glaring back at him as he grinned and went out to meet up with the master. Even though Kat told Fiona that many of the people didn't really mean what they said, she was getting a bit annoyed by them. She shook it off and began to drink her juice, looking around to try and find someone she could talk with.

Many of the members where too busy with there own dealings to pay her much attention. Just as she began to lose interest in making conversation, a silver haired woman with several missing limbs sat down next to her. Fiona recognised her as Jaina Donwheel, a mage she met when she first arrived at Blazing Soul. "Hey there kid. How's the working life treating ya?" she said with a sly grin.

"It's decent, I can't say I get bored easily" Fiona replied as she took another sip of juice from her glass before looking back at the woman. "What brings you by the guild? Don't you usually steer clear from us?" She asked with a curious look on her face.

Jaina waved Fiona off. "Naw, I can come and go as I want. Only one bugged by it is the magic counsel" She leaned back in her chair and grabbed a bottle of Rum from behind the bar. "I stay back mostly to keep them out of Davin's hair though." she took a swing from her bottle before offering some to Fiona.

"I'm bad with booze, especially after the last two incidents with Zaraki, I decided to never drink again" She said slowly feeling herself feeling nausious as she drank some more of the juice until it was done. Carra came a few minutes later with food in hand as she handed it to Fiona who thanked her before starting to chow down. "What made you want to sit with me of all people?".

Jaina took another long drink before explaining. "A few reasons really. First to make sure that you're not having any problems with that 'condition' of yours." Jaina motioned to Fiona's stomach for a moment before continuing. "And second, because I like to see how the newbie's are doing."

"It's been going good so far, no form of natural disaster has happened so nothing has been triggering it as of late" Fiona said taking a fork full of rice and eating it with ease before looking back at her, "Though I'm worried, there hasn't been any attempt at me ever since I left Genosha, it makes me uneasy" She said with a worried look on her face.

Jaina laughed a bit. "Well, many wouldn't consider that a bad thing you know?" She took another drink from her bottle, and seemed no closer to being even a little tipsy, despite the bottle being nearly half empty already. "Just let it go already. We proved that they can't get to you at the guild, and I doubt they'll send more members out here just to get arrested. By know, trying to get you back will only cost them."

"Maybe... In any case, with the recent job I took, I have enough jewels to pay for next few months of rent, so I can finally enjoy a little downtime until Kat retuns" Fioan said finishing her food before thanking for the meal.

"Alright hun, see you later." Jaina got up at the same time as Fiona and headed over to the bar again while Fiona decided to go home for the day. Despite the guild still being busy, the town by comparison was practically empty. After a few hours at the guild, Fiona was enjoying the piece and quiet while on her walk home.

However, in the depths of the shadows, lurked a figure that was keeping it's close eye on Fiona as she entered the shopping arcade. Some of the boys began howling at her, wanting her attention, but she ignored them before continuing towards a sweets stand, having a craving for some spicy sweet candy. She stopped there as the old woman behind smiled and looked at her. "Hello Fiona dear. What would you like today?" She asked in a kindly tone.

"Um just the usual granny, oooh and you got some of these, they're my favorite" She said with a smile as she grabbed the snacks and handed them to the old lady, who rang her up after being given the jewels. After leaving the arcade and heading for home, she found herself on a secluded pathway as she was eating a chocolate bar. A figure in the shadows looked onward, jumping up from the tree as an attempt to slam down on top of her, but Fiona quickly dodged and rushed backwards, taking a good look at her attacker.

The only thing she could see was a long brown cloak, the owners face hidden under the shadow of a hood. Several scenarios ran through Fiona's mind, though the most likely one she knew all too well. "Who are you?" She asked shortly, retreating a pair of knives from a pack on the back of her belt.

The cloaked figure simply drew back their hand, shooting out a bolt of black lightning from their hand as it flew and aimed right towards Fiona.

Fiona rolled to the side and threw her knives at the hooded figure as the lightning carved through the earth where she was just standing. Enhancing her knives with her Velocity Magic made them fly nearly to fast to see.

The hooded figure transformed into her lightning form as she went up in an instant, barley dodging them as the person was seen floating up, but not before they shot out two more strikes right at Fiona, making it much more difficult for her to dodge.

Fiona tried to roll again, but room to maneuver in the alley had run out. She dodged the lightning bolts by a hairs breath, but was now trapped in a corner. Her assailant hovered overhead, and lightning arced all around them. Just as they where preparing to attack again, a chain shot out of the ground and wrapped around the hooded figure. Fiona looked around confused, but then spotted another mage from Blazing Soul crouching with his fist against the ground. Another of the S-Class mages, this one with pointed teeth and always wearing shades, though Fiona couldn't quite remember his name at first.

He stood up, pulling a chain from the ground as he rose, which pulled the assailant to the ground. "You people just can't take a hint, can ya?" Though he soon changed his focus to Fiona. "You alright kid?"

"Ugh.. Yeah, thank you Rift, but how did you know I needed rescuing?" Fiona asked looking at the man with a curious look on her face.

"Your big sis asked a few of us to keep an eye on you when she's not around." He said, not taking his eye off Fiona's assailant. "Me, Leo, Jon, Isa, we all took shifts watching your back since that little dust up you had 'few months back." he thought for a bit longer before remembering something. "Oh, and Jaina tagged along a few times too. She's taken a real liking to ya you know." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Wait, tagged me?!" She quickly said, but saw that the cloaked figure had gotten free, grabbing the chains as her arm was revealed a bit to look demonic. With it in grip, she quickly used her Lightning to create a connection right to Rift as it shocked him greatly, leaving smoke coming from his body.

Fiona looked worried as he seemed to wobbled for a second. Through the smoke, she saw him flash his pointed teeth, then slam his palm with his fist. "Iron-Make: Grand Shot!" He called, as 4 small sword blades extended from between his fingers, shooting towards the figure at incredible speed.

The cloaked figure dodged, but still found one of the swords striking her shoulder as the person fell down to the ground, slamming hard. The hood fell off to reveal the person as a woman with blue-grayish hair as her appearance was seen that veins from her body were popping out as she was breathing heavily.

In that instant, the light from one of the streetlights turned on to show her, which caused Fiona to recognize her immediately.

Learning from his last mistake, Rift used his magic to create a pair of large metal staples and used them to hold the woman's arms to the ground. "You don't got to stick around you know." A metal sword formed in his hand, which he held over the woman's stomach as he glanced at Fiona. "I can wait for the cops alone if you want to get some rest."

"NO!!!" Fiona yelled as she disappeared in an instant, slamming right into Rift, sending him flying right into the building, crashing through as she pulled off the staples, moving to look at the woman face to face, "June... Are you okay?" She said in a tender voice before the woman pushed her aside and ran off into the night.

While Fiona looked in shock, the wall next to her came down and Rift was standing their rubbing his neck. "Damn it, you really are Kat's sister." Though once he took note of the situation, he regained a more serious tone. "So I take it you know that one then?"

All Fiona could do is nod as she stood up and dusted herself off, looking back at him with a tear in her eye before she wipped it off. "Yes, but I can't say more, not until we get somewhere private" She said before walking with Rift to a different location.

In the shadows, June was still shaking as she looked at Fiona walking by, trying to keep herself in control so she wouldn't try to come after her again.

"So what's the deal exactly?" Rift asked after they had been walking for a while. "I thought you had the time from hell with your old guild? Why stick your neck out for one of them after all that?" Fiona continued to walk ahead in silence, though Rift couldn't really tell if she was ignoring him, or just hadn't heard what he had said. "Hey kid, fill me in here."

"She wasn't like any of them growing up, I don't know the whole story about her, but June Platter was forced into becoming part of my mother's guild" Fiona said looking over to Rift, "Even when everyone else would hate me for being her daughter, June often showed me compassion, something I never got from anyone in my entire life. Though after she was forced to tend to another division far away, I never saw her again until today" She said with tears rolling down her eyes.

"So you knew her. That explains why you stuck your neck out for her." Rift thought about Fiona's story for a moment, then became confused about something. "Wait a minute, why's she here coming after you then? No offences kid, but that doesn't exactly scream 'compassion' to me."

"I don't know, but I know that will be staying, which means tomorrow I will find her and get to the bottom of this before something bad happens to her" Fiona said as she had reached her apartment and entered to sleep off the attack that occurred.

Looking for answers
Through a night of inconsistent sleep, Fiona hadn't felt very rested when the sun rose the next morning. Thoughts of her friend June had been flying through her head all night in between brief bouts of sleep and nightmares of her mother. By the time she had arrived at the guild Fiona could feel her eyes growing heavy, but was to awake to attempt sleeping again. While she sat at one of the empty tables on her own, Rift quietly sat down next to her. "So you want to find this person right? I can round up my team and a few others, one of the guys has that Dragon Slayer nose thing. We can search through the town and..." He was quickly cut off by Fiona before he could finish.

"No, I need to do this alone, especially since me and her have history, leading a team to find her would only keep her hidden even more" Fiona said as she finished her juice and stood up.

Rift stood up to stop her. "I'm going to level with you, that idea sucks. If she's here to take you back, you going alone isn't an option. That, and she proved last night that she's stronger than you." Fiona glared at him, but Rift continued. "No teams, but bet your ass I ain't letting you do this alone." He flashed her a smile of his pointed teeth. "Your sis would kill me."

"Fine, but don't get in the way, last thing I need is her getting a panic attack over you trying to..." Before Fiona could continue, the doors opened and Jaina walked in.

Walking right up to Fiona, she sat her down and looked at her with the most serious expression Fiona had ever seen. "What went on last night?" She asked shortly.

Fiona looked over to Rift, as if saying not to tell them anything, then looked back to Jaina, "Nothing went on, there was just trouble with someone who thought I was someone else, but we took care of it" Fiona said taking in some more juice that Carra provided for her.

Jaina waited till Carra was out of earshot, then turned back to Fiona. "Don't bullshit me shrimp. I know the look of someone loosing sleep when I see it. Especially from overthinking things." Jaina sat down between Fiona and Rift, as she had began to raze her voice a bit. "So tell me what happened." Despite her stern expression, it sounded more like she was begging they anything else.

Fiona was struggling not to be drawn into Jaina's stare, but quickly gave in and told her about everything, "Look, I know Kat told you to keep an eye on me, but it's not like I'm some weak little girl who needs to be rescued every single second, I do have the capabilitiy of an S-Class Mage" She said looking at them.

"Strength or not, family changes people." Rift said while crossing his arms. "For the longest time, Kat didn't think she had any family left, so she's just watching out for you."

Jaina razed her hand in front of his face to interrupt him. "If this is the same person you knew before, do you honestly think you'll be able to fight her? Injure her so bad that she'll be unable to come after you again?" With a small look of pity she continued. "You aren't like that, you proved that when they came for you the first time."

"I don't know... Even if she came here to kill me, she didn't show any muderous intent, especially if she wanted to get me back. Almost everyone in the guild would bend over backwards for my mother, but she... she didn't have the instinct or desire to kill me, it was if there was something else" Fiona said standing up as she looked back at them, "I have to find out for myself, and I need to do it alone" Fiona quickly used Slowing Magic on both of them as she took off running with her Velocity Magic, already reaching a good half mile away from them.

Far from Marow City, June was resting behind a waterfall. She was hastily working to mend the wound to her shoulder, as their was still a blade sticking through it from the fight the night before. Due to blood loss, her hands had become cold and didn't quite respond the way she wanted, making delicate work next to impossible. She heard the sound of water breaking over something, and looked up and was surprised to see Fiona looked down at her. Not sure what to think, she just stared back at her, completely surprised that Fiona had sought her out.

"Haha, well looks like you found me, how did you know where I would be? I didn't exactly tell you much about my past" June said groaning in pain as Fiona quickly rushed to her side, giving her a special medication as she took it and found her scars healing already.