Devil's Playground

The Journey
Since setting off from Bantia, the group had been sailing for over 8 hours, allowing each of them time to prepare for the upcoming battle. Dispite this, only June and Fiona seemed like they were actually aware of what they were setting out to do. Jaina was frequenting the bar ever few minutes and annoyingly kept encouraging Fiona to join her. Isa fell asleep in her cabin and hadn't been seen since leaving the port. And Rift was relaxing on the deck of the ship like they where on vacation. Just as Jaina disappeared for the 9th time, Rift glanced across the deck at June and Fiona. "You two ought to lighten up. Getting tense before a fight will just waste your energy."

"It's not exactly like we're going on a normal mission, something this big is cause for being tense" June told her as Jaina noticed a glass in Fiona's hand while her cheeks were bright red as she simply looked down on it, as if lost in the small ripples that the booze made every time she slowly moved her glass.

"Even still. You go into a fight expecting to lose, and it becomes that much harder to win." Rift flashed his pointed teeth into a grin, and his red eyes seemed to cut into the both of them behind his shades. "You don't see us worrying about it do you?"

"What do you know?!" A drunk Fiona said flinging her glass right over at Rift who easily caught it and grinned over at Fiona. "Who the hell are you to think your so much better just because you're calm" She said glaring at him while trying to keep her balance. "You don't know what kind of hell we endured there, there was stuff done to us that would make even this old hag cry" she said pointing to Jaina before walking up to him and grabbing his jacket. "Walk a mile in my shoes, then you can tell me to do whathever!!" She said growling at him.

It didn't take long for Rift to figure out what had happened, between Fiona's hiccupping and Jaina's drunken giggling. He helped Fiona back to her seat before taking Jaina's bottle and tossing it over the side of the ship. "That ain't funny boss lady." From Jaina's laugh, it was obvious that she disagreed. "Look kid, I ain't asking you to forgive the bitch for what she did. Hell, I don't anyone that would. But I know you've been on more than a few fights down the road." He knelt down to speak to her on eye level, despite her still glairing at him. "How many times have you gone into a fight, pissed right the hell off, and had things go your way at the end?" He waited for a moment, though Fiona was still glairing at him. "Trust me kid, it doesn't happen too often."

Fiona just scoffed as she looked away, inside her heart she was wishing that her big sister was there. It wasn't the same without her there, Kat was the one that gave her confidence to believe in those surrounding her. But these people just treated her like nothing that happened to her was a joke. She started sniffing as tears began pouring down her face. June felt bad for the poor girl as she simply put her hand on her shoulder as the tears continued to drip down her face.

"Sober up and you'll get it." He nodded to June, who nodded back, seemingly able to understand better then the now impaired Fiona. He got up, and walked to the railing next to Jaina. As she looked over at the horizon, Rift felt compelled to ask. "So, the hell did you pull something like that for?"

"Same as you." Jaina said with a grin. It soon became obvious she wasn't as drunk as she was letting on. "Just trying to get her to loosen up a bit."

"By giving the kid with absolutely no alcohol tolerance something alcoholic? You going senile with old age or something?" For that comment, Rift resaved a quick jab to the liver by a slightly annoyed Jaina. He lurched a bit, but gave a dry laugh himself after a moment, knowing that she could have done a lot worse.

June watched the two of them, unable to believe that she had trusted her life to people like this. She turned to the sound of a door opening, and saw the other woman accompanying them stroll out of the ship. She had a pair of dark bags under her eyes, and she appeared to only be semi awake. "Oh-no." Noting FIona crying again, she sat down next to her. "What's happened?" Her voice also gave the impression that she wasn't very well rested.

"She's just not used to alcohol and she's still kind of tired, we better put her to bed" June said walking both Isa and Fiona to the rooms as she glared back at the duo before entering.

"Alcohol? She hates drinking, what was she doing wi..." The sound of Jaina laughing from outside caused her to stop and look back at the door. "Oh, come on Jaina." Isa took Fiona under the arm and helped her into bed. "Sorry. She's not the most subtle person in the world, but she means well." She thought for a moment, then said. "Rift's an ok guy too. We'll be alright with them."

"I can handle those two, it's Fiona I'm worried about more than anything" June said helping Fiona out of her clothes and into some shorts and muscle shirt that she packed in her bag before laying her down, watching her slowly fall to sleep as she snuggled into the blanket. "I still can't believe how much this one has grown over the years, the last time I saw her was when I left" She said looking over to Isa.

Isa sat down at the foot of the bed, smiling at the now sleeping Fiona. "She's only been with us for a few months really. But she's opened up quite a bit in that time." She leaned back and caught a glimpse of June's bandaged arm. "Still, what you two must have gone through. I can't believe there are people like that out there in the world."

"It wasn't easy having to deal with that kind of torment. But we lived and survived it, so forgive us if we're a bit aprihensive about returning back to that hell hole." June said looking over to her young friend as she slowly carressed her hair.

Isa smiled a little, despite looking like she was about to fall asleep at any moment. "It's ok, I think we all are." She gestured towards the door lazily with a small chuckle. "Some people just deal with it differently is all."

"I know, I was never the type to ever really let myself get too close to this, especially considering all that happened. But Fiona, I heard that she has a sister?" June said looking over to Isa.

Isa seemed to wake up a bit at the new topic, though she still had bags under her eyes. "Oh yeah. She's one of the top mages in the guild. Her and some of Rift's teammates came by Genosha a while back." She smiled back down at Fiona again, who had seemed to curl up in her blankets while the two women where talking. "We never did get all the details. But from the sounds of it our guild ace wreaked one of your branch divisions." She stopped for a moment, then quickly corrected herself. "Her. One of her branch divisions."

June chuckled a bit as she went over to carress Fiona's cheek, "It's fine, technically I'm still part of their guild, until I can truly be free from this hellish curse" June said standing up as she walked to the door, "Keep an eye on here, I need to have a word with Jaina" She said opening the door. She saw that Rift had seemed to have left while Jaina was simply looking out into the ocean and the night sky. She walked up to her as she stood next to her, "You sober enough to talk?" June asked looking over to her.

"Please, I never get that drunk. Least, not as long as I can remember." She chuckled to herself at the little conundrum she had just rimed off, before looking back to June with a more serious look, despite she hadn't stopped grinning. "What's on your mind?"

"Look, I know you want us to have faith, but if push comes to shove and Fiona is going to end up being captured by them, I want you all to grab her and get out of Genosha, make sure she doesn't come back. At this point, I don't care whether or not I die, but I will be damned if I see her go back to such a hell" June said with a trembeling voice as tears began pouring down her face.

Jaina seemed to immediately get serious. "Trust me, I ain't losing any more people to some dark guild. You can put money on that." She watched June sob for a moment, then leaned back in the ship railing with a sigh. "But let me get this straight. Push comes to shove, you want me to ditch you and turn tail? Because I honestly think that would kill her faster than anything." June looked confused, so Jaina explained. "Kid was balling her eyes out when she thought her sister was caught in dear Mommy's trap. She didn't want to leave without her because she didn't want to live without her." Jaina took another drink, from a bottle June hadn't noticed she had. "Besides, we pull something like that, I don't think we COULD stop her from going back."

"Huh... She has grown more than I remember... In any case, knock her out if you have to, burn the map, anything. Just make sure she never tries to come for me again" June said wiping her face as she looked over to Jaina with a serious face.

Jaina sighed. "Fine. If it makes you feel better, we'll turn and run if things go south." She nudged June with her elbow as she turned back to the ocean. "But don't go writing us off just yet. We know what we're doing."

"Thanks" Was all June could say before turning back to see the ocean as well, at any other time it was ordinary for her, but on this night with the clear skys and the moon, it was the greatest thing she had ever seen in her entire life.

Forming a Plan
It had been a long voyage, but The group had finally made it to the safe zone in Genosha. Their where very few departing the ship, so the dock was fairly scarce compared to the one they had departed from back in Bantia. As such, it didn't take long for Jaina's group to spot the envoys from Phantom Breaker. A pair of girls with dark skin stood at the other end of the dock. Jaina recognised The smaller one immediately, and rushed forwards, giving her a tight hug with her one arm. "Aww, you've grown up so much Tori. You still adorable though." She cued.

"Gaaahhh.... Thank...Uh who are you..?" She said being crushed to death as the other readied her staff just in case this was some kind of attack, but lowered her guard when the others came on.

"You must be the group that master Jayapura told us about, I am Maya Akahada, me and my younger cousin here are the welcoming party" She said bowing in respect.

"Name's Jaina." She said to both of them before looking only at Tori. "Me and your dad go way back." She chuckled while rubbing the top of Tori's head. "Last time I saw you, he could fit you in the palm of his hand."

"That seemed so long ago, but it's good to meet you I guess... Fiona!!!" She said yelling with joy as she moved out of Jaina's grip and went to go hug her.

"Hello Tori, it's been some time, it is very nice to see you again." She said hugging back as June smiled and looked over to Maya.

"So what do we do now?" She said as Maya walked over to the driver and whispered something to him, nodding as he began the drive back to the guild.

"For now, simply enjoy the cruise, you will be seeing somethings, but they will not harm you in anyway" She said bowing as the group decided to take their seats. June and Fiona were together with Jaina and a captured Tori on her lap while Maya was sitting with Rift and Isa.

"So now that introductions are over, How much do you guys know about her mom?" Rift asked, pointing to Fiona. "You know? The crazy one with the weird name?"

"Sabriel, not much we know about her aside from my dad and uncle told me, which is never even think about going to her or after her" Tori said as Jaina brought her closer to her chest, causing her to be smothered by her superior breasts.

"The Master also told us about the situation with Ms. Fiona over there, though she may have been our enemy in the past, but now we consider them our allies" Maya said bowing in respect as she excused herself to grab some refreshments for her company.

"That sums it up pretty well, I'm sorry for having to do this to you guys, especially after much you did for me, but if it means I can get my friend here the cure she needs, I will come back to even this hell hole" Fiona said gripping her pants as she looked at Maya.

"Ain't no trouble kid." Rift said, while Maya returned with some refreshments. "Do we know what kind of fighting strength she's got?" Nobody spoke, so Rift continued. "I mean, I assume she's been a pain in your ass for a while now. None of our guys went up against her last time, it was always that ghost thing or some golem of hers."

"Each one of her mages have a powerful connection to the natural enviorment around them, the more they draw from it, the stronger they become" She said passing each one of them a drink. "It's almost impossible to fight them, especially since their territory seems to be working for them than everyone else so we often steer clear from them".

Rift took a drink from the cup Maya had handed him. "I ain't talking about her lackeys." he set it down again. "I'm talking one on one, what sort of damage can she dish out?". Their was no answer, so Rift just started to guess. "Ice, fire, Take-over?" Still silence. "Caster? Holder? Can she give me a heart attack by being in the same room as her? Come on, give me something."

"No one has ever faced her before...." Fiona said as her hands began shaking from the memories that flooded back to her, "Not a single person who she fought had ever lived to tell about it, and even if they did, they wouldn't have been able to come up with any kind of strategy" She said as June brought her closer to her.

"She only fights when she wants to get serious, never any other time." June added to it as she held young Fiona while trying to get her to calm down.

Rift leaned back in his seat and flashed a grin with his jagged teeth. "So she's not use to fighting unprepared?" Despite the lac of actual information, he seemed satisfied with this one point. "That's rich. Coming from the one who seems to use fear like a weapon." He thought for a moment, then looked back at the group. "Wonder what she'd do against someone with no fear?" both he and Jaina had a bit of a laugh, though the others began to question his mental state.

After what seemed like hours, which was spent passing through the rapid waves that kept splashing back and forth on the ship, the group finally arrived at what appeared to be the calm belt of the area as many saw a small entrance into the mountain side. Apon entering the cave, they all came to look at the guild ace, Konoha Akahada as the boat was brought to a small platform and docked.

"Hey dad, we found them" Tori said standing up as she and Maya went to go hug him before walking over to help the captain with a large fishing haul he gathered. Konoha looked over to Jaina.

"Well, it's been a long time hasn't it?" He asked grinning his sharp teeth at her.

"Oh, don't be coy. Come'ere ya big ogre." Jaina jumped and swung her one arm around Konoha's neck, though his height compared to hers left her dangling around his neck like an ornament. Rift and Isa laughed at the display, till Jaina looked around behind Konoha. "Where's old Funny Whiskers at?"

"If you're talking about the old man, he had a meeting to go to involving some new changes for some of the citizen's in Utopia, so he'll be gone for a full week, so you're stuck with......" Konoha looked over to see both Fiona and June, which caused him to get angry as his body began sparking out, both Rift and Jaina stopped him in his tracks while Isa went over to protect the two.

"Hey, what's with that energy, you know who I am!" Fiona said glaring but realized it wasn't aimed at her, but at June.

"Why is she here?! The old man didn't say anything about allowing Her to our guild!" He said in a serious tone.

"Cool off ogre." Jaina said with a quick punch to the ribs, though Konoha took it rather well compared to many of the others who had received the same. "She's the reason we're here. Mommy dear has something she needs, so we're helping her to get it back." She began charging electricity through her fist, which was still pressed against his chest. "Unless theirs a problem?" It was less of a confrontation, more of a playful jab.

Konoha simply glared at the woman before looking down to Jaina, "You're lucky that I have to keep my cool, especially since our last encounter" He said calming down before cracking his neck and leading the others to the lobby.

After arriving at the lobby, Fiona experienced an extreme case of deja-vu. Almost every mage turned and made ready to attack the second they had laid eyes on June. She was torn, happy that it wasn't her this time, but sad that Juna was now experiencing it. They moved to a more private area of the lobby, and somehow Rift got stuck explaining the situation. "So that's pretty much how things when down. We need this cure the kid's mom's got, so we came to raze hell." Through the entire explanation, Konoha sat silently with his arms crossed, glairing at June anticipating her to make a move. Rift noticed this, so he figured prof would get Konoha to lighten up. He turned to June and said. "Might as well show'im. No point hiding it any more."

June nodded and she let out a deep sigh as her arms started changing, making Konoha quickly attempt to strike her before she could do anything, but was slammed down by Jaina and Rift as they held him and waited for him to see the marks. Konoha immediatly calmed down as he saw that the curse was up to her shoulders, recognizing it from some of the guild mates. "This is bad... I can't believe how far it's along and you're still alive" He said with a serious tone.

"The witch kept me at bay by giving me an antidote that pushed back the curse, but if I don't take it within once every three weeks, it will go even faster than normal and eventually consume me after two days. Believe me, I'm not here to fight anyone" June said as Fiona looked at Konoha and nodded.

"Alright then... So what did you guys have in mind?" He asked as the waitress brought them all drinks as he took a long swig of his booze.

"Told you already." Rift said, letting go of Konoha and siting back in his chair. "We raze hell with what's-her-name, while these three look for this cure." He gestured over his shoulder to Fiona, June and Isa. "Unless someone want's to stick around for some payback, I don't see any reason for us to stay longer than that."

"A, that's by far the stupidest plan by far. The problem isn't exactly beating, that just adds to it. What the problem is, is that their true location is in a very particular plane. The area is always constantly moving and changing enviorments, something like that can only be stopped by Grand Shogun, something only the guild master can do" He said with a serious tone.

"Well, she's seemed to have found a way move around." Jaina pointed at June. "Unless she's got one of these Grand Shogun things as well. Their must be some way to navigate through the place that her guild members use to come and go. Like that boat rout we took on the way in."

"The Guild Mark we have acts as a sort of balancer, but it's not enough to cover every single person, believe me if there was any other way, I'd be more than happy to share it, but that's the only way I know" June said with a sigh as Fiona patted her shoulder and looked over to Konoha.

"How long until Master Jayapura returns?" She asked with a worried tone.

"At the most, four days, until then you're welcomed to stay here" He said finishing his drink before being called by someone, "Eat, you all must be starving" He said before telling the waitress to bring them all some food and refills.

Not long after Konoha had left, Jaina slipped away after him while the others where busy eating. She was much more versed in the Guilds layout, and it didn't take her long to track down Konoha in the vast maze of hallways. She caught up with him just as he had finished a conversation with another guild member. "Hey Ko, where's Yolanda? Haven't seen her since I settled down in Bantia." He looked back at her with a grimmest, though she was looking around the room and failed to notice. "Have to say, other than the skin, Tori's like a little version of her." She looked back at Konoha and stopped when she saw his face. "What?" She soon got that she was missing something. "What's wrong?"

"Yolanda left me a few months after you left" He said in a sad tone as he went towards a window to open it as he could see the clouds covering the sky as it blackend a bit. "She... She couldn't handle seeing me go into action, always worrying if I could ever make it back home. So she took Tori and left to live in a safe zone for about her entire life. She only came back when her mother died, wanting to take me out, but all she wanted was to see her father again. Can I ask you Jaina?" He said looking over to her as she nodded. "I never regret marrying her or having Tori, but if I had chosen you, would things have worked out different?" He asked with a curious tone.

Jaina seemed to space out half way through Konoha's explanation. Hearing about the death of a close friend shook her, more so than she thought it would. She snapped back just in time to hear the end of Konoha's question, and quickly composed herself before answering. "Course it would. Change one thing, change everything." She leaned on the wall next to the window Konoha was leaning on. "To many things would be different to know for sure if you'd be better off. No use thinking about it now." She began rubbing the stump of her right shoulder with a more somber look than usual. "We all make mistakes. But you'll go mad thinking back on every one."

Flashback 13 years prior

"Come on Ogre. Come get me." Jaina taunted from down the street. Tiny Vulken like creatures where crawling all over the town, and only a small group of mages where their to defend it. Despite being greatly outnumbered, they where having no trouble dispatching them, other than the fact that their seemed to be an endless horde of them. Jaina turned to face down the street and razed her arm. "Shock Cannon!" a massive serge of electricity jumped from the palm of her hand, frying whatever was caught in it's path. Those that weren't hit took shelter in the alleyways and open windows, though they quickly immerged after the attack subsided.

"Geez Jaina, you don't have to go overboard, remember we still have to make sure everyone is safe" A female said as Jaina looked back to her friend Yolanda pushing another villager away, yelling to get to safety as she turned her attention back to her.