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This article, A Cold Welcome, is property of DeathGr. |
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This article, A Cold Welcome, is the property of Flame Lizard and cannot be tampered with or referenced without his permission. |
A Cold Welcome[]
It was night, with the sky being filled with countless stars and in a sea, a ship was travelling through the silence and obscurity of the night, with a couple of sailors remaining awake to control the ship and one of them was approached by the captain "is everything ok?" he asked one of the sailors.
"Yes Captain!" he exclaimed while saluting "the sea is good, the wind stable and the passenger is comfortable in her room!" he said and then captain sighed from relief.
"Thank goodness. This one is not a simple passenger, both in status and personality and so, it's a blessing that she hasn't done any complaints or worse, erasing our ship" he ended up saying while sweating lightly, much to the horror of the two sailors. There was a room, a small one with a simple bed and a table with a fruit plate and a lamp where there was sitting a beautiful young woman with pale skin and light blue, almost lifeless eyes. She had white hair in ponytails tied by black ribbons that went past her waist while she was wearing a crown and a black and blue dress that was exposing her navel and abdomen while her sleeves were white and black and had black boots. The young woman was sleeping on the table while the lamp was glowing faintly.
"Master, why did you avoid sending me there until now?" she passionately asked an armored man with short black hair who had his back on her.
"You will understand when you go there. However, don't hate me from what you will discover" he ended up pleading and he turned his head at her, revealing his red eyes, and she nodded coldly.
"Hm?" she wondered as a knock of the door seemed to have woken her up "come in" she said an the door opened up by a sailor who removed his hat in respect.
"Excuse me, Miss. Your lamp was still glowing and I supposed you were awake" he said while lightly bowing.
"Raise your head. It was my fault for saying that I will sleep three hours ago and ended up sleeping on the table without turning the lamp off" she explained in a cold but also apologetic tone while she lightly bowed her head, much to the surprise of the sailor.
"Anyway. I came to announce you in behalf of the Captain that we will reach Bantia's port in five minutes" he said and she gave a cold smile.
The ship managed to reach its destination and when the woman came off it, she saw that the port was devoid of people and she was looking left and right for something, only for her to sigh.
The city they'd arrived in was small and fairly out of the way. Streetlights illuminated much of the port, which from the looks of it was a combination of a ferry terminal and fishery. A handful of warehouses sat on the opposite docks, whereas the ones closer to her looked more like pawnshops and small restaurants. None of which where open at the moment through, a quick glance at a nearby clock indicated it was a little past one in the morning. Not a normal arrival time for a passenger ship, but... for the cargo vestal she'd hitched a rid on, it was probably just another day for them.
"E-excuse me... Miss?" She half turned to look over her shoulder at an approaching sailor, who abruptly lowered his head when they met eyes. "I was jus' wonderin'... What bring's ya here?"
The woman then turned her back on the sailor and began heading towards a cart whose driver was half awake, with her giving him some money which woken him up fully and then she was a step away of entering inside, but she stopped and looked at the sailor with her lifeless like eyes "just a visit" she said and then she opened the cart's window and put her head out "leave me outside the Blazing Soul guild" she demanded and the driver whipped the horses, with the cart beginning to move and her sitting now inside patiently.
Rubbing his eyes, the driver let out a long yawn. "You sure you want to head to the mage guild at this time of night?" He asked, stretching an arm over his head. "Kind'a late to be making a job request, don't ya think?".
Upon hearing his words, the woman's shadow enlarged and two hooded shades with red eyes appeared in front of him, and began circling him, scaring him totally and freaking out the horses "do you think I'm stupid?" she asked with closed eyes in disappointment and slight anger "I go there for another reason. Resume our course and don't say anything again, lest my shades devour your soul" she demanded and the shades disappeared in poufs of smoke.
The driver was still trembling "Ri-right, sorry Ma'am!" he shouted and the cart began moving again, with more speed this time, and the woman leaned on the couch's edge and closed her eyes momentarily. "Miss, we have arrived, miss?" said the driver who was calling the woman who then woke up and descended, with the cart then leaving.
"So, this is the Blazing Soul guild?" she wondered unimpressed upon seeing a three level building in an area full of trees that had a white stone wall as a fence while she could barely see another building on its rear left ""this is her guild"? she wondered and closed her eyes, seeming to recall something.
18 years ago
A group children pranced through a wide canyon full of flowers, bordered by forests on either side. Some were dancing in a circle, others were picking flowers, yet others simply rolled through the field without a care in the world. It wasn't just the beautiful day lightening their spirits, it was the knowledge that they where doing something they'd been told not to. They had been ordered not to leave their town for the last few weeks, but when asked why, none of the adults had an answer for them. It took only a couple days for the warning to fall on deaf ears, and a couple more for a plan to be hatched to sneak away to play. if nobody could tell them what the danger was, it couldn't have been that bad, right?
And so far, that childish logic held true.
One of the children, a small white haired girl, wondered back and forth picking a row of baby blue flowers without paying attention to her surroundings. As such, when her foot fell into the ground a few inches further than she thought it would, she let out a small squeak of surprise. She hopped back and looked for what had tripped her, finding an ovle shaped indent in the ground with three distinct points. Looking around, she found another indent. Then another. Then yet another. She followed the trail right up to the canyon wall and looked up, unsure of what exactly she was looking at, but entirely transfixed by it.
Before she could give it much thought, she felt a tremor in the ground. The singing and dancing of her friends instantly stopped, and everyone looked around to look for the source. When another tremor followed, a flock of birds took to the air from the trees atop the canyon. A creeping feeling shot up the blond girl's spine, and the adult's warnings echoed through her head.
Suddenly, something burst through the trees. The child couldn't get a good look at it, but it crashed to the ground a moment later, shattering into a thousand shards of ice. a moment later something else fell where the first object had, landing with a dull grunt. Whatever it was pushed itself upright with it's huge, leathery arms, it's bright yellow eyes and slobbering maw passing mere feet from he stunned child. Only when it stood upright did the child recognize it. A hunched, bulbus head, stout legs but thick, gangly arms, rough, almost rock like skin covered in nicks and cuts. This thing was a Cave Ogre.
"'Nother 'uman..." The thing growled, raising a large wooden club over it's head. "Out'a da way!"
"Tatsu!" A bright flash shot down from the sky, and the Ogre's club split cleanly in half. Someone landed behind the ogre, and another bright flash lit up the field. "Kaen!" Brilliant orange flames washed against the ogre's back, causing it to roar and howl. forgetting about the child, it flailed it's arms and stumbled into the field, out of range of whatever the flames had come from. In it's place stood a slender woman, a pair of short swords in each hand, brushed her deep purple hair behind her ear. She looked like she was wearing hiking gear, but a little more militarized. She Hadn't even looked at the child yet, instead keeping her eye on the Ogre as it spun and grabbed at the glowing red patch of skin on it's back. "Right... Tough exterior, soft underbelly... Forgot about that." She charged just a the Ogre fixed it's eyes on her. As it reached for her with it's clawed hand, the woman dropped ot her knees and skidded through the flours, her hand a blur of motion as she carved a Kanji into the air. "Rakurai!"
In a flash, a lightning bolt shot from the Kanji, striking the Ogre in the stomach, It stopped the beast cold, then the bold leapt from it's back and crashed into the opposite cliffside. The stink of burning meat filled the air, and the monster slowly slumped forward and dropped face down. The woman slowly approached the beast, cautiously circling around it a few steps, then relaxed her shoulders and rested her hands on her hips.
"Damn... That makes nine. One of them had to have been the chief, right?" She grumbled.
Ecstasy. The white haired girl was frozen like a statue, not only from the danger she couldn't even see, but from also from the beauty and power of the one saving her "W-who are you Miss?" managed the girl to ask the woman who had her back on her, with the girl's eyes being filled with amazement from the moment she appeared.
The woman whipped around, clearly not aware someone else was there. When her eyes fell on the small group of children gathering behind the blond one however, she looked absolutely baffled. "What... The hell? I told them to keep the kid's out of this valley." She stowed one of her swords, in one of the sheaths hanging across the flat of her back and approached the group, who all huddled together. "Hey so... You girls need to head home. Like, right now." She said, ushering the children back towards town. "Unless the chief was one of those two, then you all need to steer clear before-."
"'Uman!!!" A defining roar filled the valley, and three more of the beasts slid down the canyon wall. The one who bellowed was distinctly larger than the others, adorned with yellow war paint across it's face and chest, and carried a makeshift hammer made out of a bundle of rebar and concrete. "No li'le 'uman 'unt's us!" The larger one roared. "It's us who 'unt's you!"
The woman let out a long sigh, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Well... That one is definitely the chief" The two smaller ogres charged the command of the larger one, each wielding a crude, stone axe. The woman shoved the blond girl into her friends, then drew her other sword. "Yeah, you need to get the hell out of here."
With that, the woman charged forward. She and there ogres met one another in the middle of the field, where one of the Ogres opened with a wide slash with their axe. Again, the woman dropped, skidding under the crude weapon. At the last moment, she swiped back, slicing the back of one of the Ogre's knees clean open. As the beast crashed to the ground, the second ogre bore down on her. She sprung to her feet and grabbed onto one of the beasts ears, planting her feet in it's chest. The ogre pawed at her, trying to shake her loose, but she performed a kickflip off of it's chest to launch herself out of it's reach, landing with a backflip next to the first ogre.
"Tatsu!" She called, carving a pair of Kanji into the air with her swords. This time, two glowing blades of magic sliced the Ogre across it's chest in the form of an X, splattering blood across the flowers. The woman stood up, about to write another spell, when the Ogre chief batted the wounded one aside with it's club. Surprised, the woman dove out of the way, rolling upright in a fighting stance as the chief brought his club down again, inadvertently crushing the prone ogre to death. "Damn... harsh." The woman quipped, drawing up another spell. As the chief raised it's club, another Kanji flashed to life "Sen!" The symbol lit up like a floodlight, blinding both the Ogre and the blond child that had remained to watch the battle. As the creature stumbled away, the woman set about her counterattack. "Tsurara!" A barrage of thin icicle launched from Kanji like they'd been fired out of a cannon, jabbing into the Ogre's club arm and freezing it over instantly. "And, Ryūsei!" This next kanji flashed for a moment, then rushed forward with a force the child had never seen before. It crashed into the Ogre chief, blasting him backwards into the canyon wall, whereupon it's frozen arm shattered into nothing. The beast howled, and the woman charged in to finish the job. However, the Ogre lashed back. It grabbed the head of it's fallen club and lobbed it at her. She gasped and tried to stop, but knew she wouldn't have enough time. Desperately, she drew up another Kanji. "Kabe!" a glowing wall of magic jumped into existence before her, but was instantly shattered when the ogre's massive club struck it.
Though it had kept hr from being splattered, the woman was knocked onto her back. She gasped and looked up, just in time to see the Ogre charging her again. "Stay de'd, 'uman!"
She began writing another spell, but changed her mind part way through. The Ogre's fist slammed into the dirt just after she rolled out of the way. Her spell was one stroke away from being completed, so when she stood up, one last swipe finished it off. "Tatsu!"
A bright flash lit up the canyon striking the Ogre right on the neck. The Ogre had it's back to the child, so she didn't see it's head hit the ground a few seconds before it's body fell. the woman wiped her brow, taking a few deep breaths and admiring her work. With a confident nod, she turned back towards the mouth of the canyon, but seeing the child still watching her made a grimace break out on her face.
"Didn't I tell you to run away, shrimp?" She said, stowing both her swords away. "Your friends where smart enough to listen to me."
The white haired girl's previous amazement got intensified, with her eyes sparkling now and her mouth widening from happiness, with her trying to come closer to the woman who took a step back because she was getting unnerved from the girl's sudden enthusiasm. As the girl was taking a step forward, the woman was taking a step back "who are you Miss? You were so strong and cool!" asked the girl in amazement, with that last word seeming to return the woman to her sense and making her stop moving.
"Ughhh... This job couldn't get any weirder..." The woman huffed, scratching the back of her head. Letting out a sigh, the woman knelt down and crossed her arms over her knees. "My name is Yoshi. I'm part of a mage guild from the next country over. They called us up do deal with your town's little ogre problem." She said with a small smile. "Who're you?"
"I-I'm Hecate!" She managed to introduce herself "You are so cool Yoshi-san!" exclaimed Hecate amazed while looking at her with sparkling eyes still. "I decided. I want to become a strong and cool mage as you Yoshi-san!" Claimed Hecate with a voice full of determination.
"Do ya now?" Yoshi's smile shifted into a devilish grin. She reached out and began roughly ruffling Hecate's hair. "A little shorty like you is going to grow up to be a badass like me, huh?" The ruffling stopped, and she poked her in the forehead. "How do you think you'll pull that off?"
Hecate flinched from the pain and tried to not cry and then looked at her with determination "I will learn amazing magic and train like hell to raise my magic power. I will then enter the strongest guild and become famous!" she explained with pride while putting her hands on her sides.
"Oh wow, you make it seem so easy." Yoshi quipped, tilting her head slightly. Pushing off her knees to stand up, a new thought came to mind. A thought that made her grin grow a little. "But, being a kick ass powerful mage is one thing... Being cool is totally different." She said, trying her best not to burst out laughing. "Imagine you're me, and you just slayed a dragon. Now strike the coolest victory pose ya can."
Hecate was taken aback for a moment but then tried to think what she was asked. After a minute passed, she punched her palm from realization and then her eyes turned cold and gave a cocky smile while putting her left hand on her hip "you were strong dragon, but..." she said with a deep voice and then flared her magic power which took the form of small, bubbling ghost faces coming from her body "...no one escapes alive when faced with the Mistress of the Underworld!" she ended up saying with a cocky tone all while swiping her right hand. Hecate then returned to her normal self and looked back at Yoshi "So, how did I do?" she asked curious and impatient.
Despite this, Yoshi had durned away. She was holder one elbow, while talking into her closed fist. "Yep... perfect." She squeaked, barely able to contain her laughter. Her face was turning red, and she was almost on the verge of tears. When she got home, everyone and their dog was going to hear this story. "Don't change a thing kid. You'll be a total ass-kicker in no time". Hecate was ready to faint from all this praise and then nodded, with Yoshi then disappearing on the horizon.
Hecate opened her eyes and looked again at the guild in front of her, with a cocky smile now in her face "prepare yourself, Yoshi-san. Soon, you will see what true coolness is." She said and gripped her left fist tight. She then reached the guild's door and took a breath, her magic power being exerted in the form a black mist with blue sparks and then opened it, with her seeing in her shock an empty guild "What?" She wondered in a low voice full of anger "Those fools, they left no one to wait for me!?" She wondered and she touched the door, with her slightly ruining it with her grip.
She tried the front door of the first building, and it slowly creaked open. she thought maybe they'd be waiting for her inside, but it was just as empty as the courtyard. It somewhat resembled a restaurant, with booth seats lining the walls, large tables littering the floor, and a long bar top at the back. It was... a departure from how her own guild looked, to be sure. More rustic. A few laps of the building quickly bored her, so she decided to have a seat. Surely someone must be coming along soon, if she just waited, she'd be able to set them right for making her wait. However, after a few minutes, she decided to rest her eyes. Folding her arms on the table, she put her head down and drifted off to sleep.
Some hours later, the sun began to creep in through the windows. Hecate remained snoozing in one of the booths, shielded from the sun's rays. so, when someone finally did show up at the guild, she slept right through it. "Did, I leave this open?" A large, muscular man an stepped through the door. He had dark skin, and short blue hair held back with a red sweatband. a thin yellow muscle shirt clung to his abs and chest, and dark grey combat shorts reached just past his knees. "Damn, Jaina's going to be real miffed if those racoons got in again." He approached one of the center tables and dropped a large gym bag onto it, then took a content look around.
Which, is when he noticed the woman snoozing away in one of the booths. He took a step closer, doing a double take in disbelief. "Uh... Hello, Miss?" He tried speaking softly so as not to startle her, but Hecate didn't even flinch. She didn't look like a thief, or a homeless person just looking for a place to spend the night, but her presence here, and how she got in, where a mystery to him. "Miss, wake up."
Hecate then woke up and then saw a tall muscular man with brown skin, green eyes, and greying blue hair. He had a guild mark located in the centre of his chest and was colored bright red. He also had several tattoos on both arms an his back and had a red headband to keep his hair out of his face. He was also wearing a yellow muscle shirt with a blue collar and a pair of red wrist bands and had a pair of baggy blue held up with a large belt and sandals. She was firstly taken aback and then coughed.
"You are the Guild Master Davin Vamiro, yes?" she asked and he nodded, with her eyes seeming to have become colder "I'm Hecate Inanis from Angel Blade" she introduced herself and he seemed to freak out "I may have arrived a little faster, but to think that no one would exist to receive me...pathetic" she said in a scolding manner, with Davin having an apologetic look.
"Uh..." Davin hummed, unsure of what to say. After a quick glance at the clock hanging from the wall, he only had more questions. "Sorry, I thought you'd be coming in the afternoon..." It was a poor excuse. but he couldn't have messed up the timing that badly, could he? and even if he had, the two others who had helped organize this little event certainly wouldn't have. "How long have you been waiting here, Ms. Inanis?"
She then placed her hand on her forehead and shook it in disbelief "Seriously..." she said disappointed and irritated and then took some steps away from him "I would like to see my room." she demanded and then, a black portal appeared that dropped two large luggage bags on Davin who managed to catch them, with the two seeming quite heavy as they dragged his hands down for a second. "Before I leave for three hours..." she said with her hands on her hips. "I have to ask, about Yoshi."
Of everything, that last bit caught Davin's attention. "Yoshi?" He said with a double take. He looked her over for a moment, his eyes growing a little sadder. "Did uhh... Did you know her?"
"She is the sole reason I became what I am today" she said while looking at the floor and having a warm face and smile "and so, I wanted to see her again now that I am an S-class mage" she said and looked back at Davin who retained his sad look.
"I see..." Davin nodded slowly, placing Hecate's bags on a nearby table. He ran his hand through his hair and let out a sigh. He slowly strolled to the building's side door next to a large corkboard full of job fliers. Holding the door open, he beckoned for her to follow. "If you'd come with me for a sec..." When he looked back at Hecate again he was still smiling, but his expression was filled with sorrow. "There's something you need to see."
Hecate followed him then without hesitation and after a while, she was hearing him talking and her expression ended up being that of shock, then despair and then sadness, with her shedding some tears which she then wiped off and went back to her usual self while leaving the room she was in.
A few hours later, more people had arrived at the guild. Most of them settled down about the tables, knowing there was something going on today but not knowing what. Many of them ignored the unfamiliar woman sitting by one of the back booths, instead forming their own little groups to converse amongst themselves. Davin remained standing at the door, greeting each new arrival. At one point he stepped out for a moment, and returned with a pair of teenager's in toe. "Hey, Ms. Inanis. These two are my kids." He said, a bit of the happiness returning to his expression. "This here is Leo, he just made S-class this year." He ruffled the hair of the young man to his right. He was fairly short, shaggy blue hair that resembled his fathers and dull blue eyes. He shook his father's hand away, but his hands never left the tummy pocket of his bright yellow hoodie. "And this is-."
"Hi." A small girl hopped out from under Davin's other arm, offering a small wave and a smile. "I'm Shelly." When Hecate looked up, her stomach almost caught in her throat. Purple hair, bright Blue eyes, a confident, yet childish smile. Apart from being far younger, this girl was the spitting image of Yoshi.
"What is this human sized eggplant?" she wondered in disgust and placed her hand in her mouth as if ready to vomit while pointing at Shelly, with Shelly being shocked and then buffed out her cheaks in annoyance. Her complaints fell on deaf ears as Hecate began walking away in order to introduce herself at the rest of the guild. She reached the center of the room, with all the whispering circles now looking at her and whispering between themselves more intensely now "hello, mages of the Blazing Soul, I'm Hecate Inanis of the ally guild Angel Blade..." she said and then began exerting her magic power that filled the area with a black mist that was slowly dropping the temperature and gave almost everyone present some shivers"...I hope that this small guild of yours and you mages will show me some pleasant time for the upcoming seven days" she said while bowing her head lightly and now there were shades roaming inside the hall like a tornado, but a tap on the shoulder from a nervously smiling Davin made her stop.
"So umm..." Davin spoke up to the room of somwhat confused looking faces. "This is Hecate. She's here for the guild exchange program in exchange for Kat. Try to help her out if she needs anything, and..." He trailed off, watching the last of the shades circling around the ceiling fade away. "Try to make her feel welcome. Her guild is a fair bit bigger than ours, so it might take her some time to adjust."
A thrum of agreement rung though the guild, and people began to leave after a little while. A couple members grabbed a job on the way out, but most of them ignored Hecate. Despite the guild-master's words, her greeting apparently hadn't gone over that well. In just half an hour, almost everyone had left. "Well... That was interesting." Davin shrugged, trying to put a positive spin on things. He brought a pair of plaits from a small serving window on the opposite end of the guild, placing them on a table between Hecate and Leo. "Hey, I'm going to go find your sister. Be nice, ok?" He said, tapping Leo on the shoulder.
The young man nodded silently, and Davin left through the side door after a moment. A few awkward seconds passed, before Leo reached for one of the small meat-buns they'd been brought. "So..." He stuttered, not quite sure what to say. "You're an S-class mage too?"
"It depends" she replied while cutting some meat and eating it, with him seeming confused "if you mean S-class by your little guild's standards, then no." She casually replied while eating her meal without a care in the world "first things first, you are a child, around fifteen or so?" she wondered and Leo was still silent and she stopped eating for a moment "even if you are S-class in magic power, making someone your age an S-class is preposterous as you surely look the emotional type, one that easily would let his emotions consume him and make rash decisions" She explained and then resumed eating her meal.
A flash of anger lit up the youth's eyes but, remembering his father's words, he bit back any sort of retort. "I'm ninteen..." He spoke softly, taking a small bite. "What else is there?" He asked with small shrug. "Any time I ask Dad about it, he says it's because he thinks I've got a lot of potential. But I know there's more to it than that. All the other S-class mages in the guild are way stronger than I am."
Hecate was looking at him as he was talking and then chuckled "fufufu, I apologize, but from what I saw and sensed, your S-class mages could easily be defeated by our airhead Ouranos" she said laughing coldly "as for you, even one or two of our non S-class mages would easily be able to take your spot" she claimed while looking at him with her eye's edge and then resumed eating.
"O-oh, umm... I'm actually the only S-class mage who showed up today." He said sheepishly. "Kat, that girl my dad mentioned, headed off to your guild. One of them ahs been off on a job for the past week, and the other never showed today..." He shrunk into his seat a little, like him being the only one who showed up was somehow some sort of insult. "Isa is still around though. She doesn't have any sort of official rank, but she's way stronger than any of us."
Hecate paused for a second, with fork suspended in the air from her error in judgement, but then resumed eating "Oh? I would like to spar with this so called "strongest woman of Blazing Soul" she said with some eagerness in her voice. She then finished her meal, with Leo staring in disbelief Hecate placing her plate over five more and she noticed "what's so shocking? I haven't had any decent meal these days" she explained in her usual cold, lifeless tone casually and began walking away. She then paused and looked at Leo who was still eating deep in thought and she cleared her voice "since we came to know each other and you are the Guild Master's son..." she said and she began flaring her magic power to Leo's surprise "...how about a little duel?" she asked in a haughty tone.
Leo did a double take, much like Davin had before. "You mean like... a fight?" He asked looking around the guildhall. "With me?" Hecate didn't respond, instead just looking down her nose at him. With nothing to go on but Davin's words of being a courteous host on his mind, Leo slowly raised himself out of the booth and nodded his head. "If that's what you want to do, there's a training arena out back." He circled around the guild to a small door next to the bartop, which he promptly pulled open and held for her to follow. "Just... So long as we don't take it too seriously."
Following Leo outside, the pair of them headed to a large square building behind the main hall, inside of which resembled a gymnasium. A handful of bench sets lined the length of the building, and a small control panel on the wall opposite the entrance. Leo pushed a few buttons then turned a diel, and a low, electronic whining sound filled the air. When he stepped inside the arena with Hecate, translucent walls of magic rose from the ground around them, closing off at the ceiling.
"Ok, We have five minutes before the barriers come down." He said, motioning to the control panel. "We'll have to stop after that, but I can restart it if you still want to fight."
"Of course" replied Hecate and now both went at the guild hall's center while both were twenty steps apart from each other "let's begin" she said after bringing a massive black-and-blue pronged spear from a portal and then began gathering magic power in her hand and then extended it "Umbral Wave!" she calmly said as she rapidly fired shade skulls towards Leo.
Unprepared for such a direct attack, Leo stumbled back a step. Hecate's spell had almost fully closed the distance, but in that time he was able to strike back. "Strato Burst!" With a waved his hand, and a barrage of small beads of light clashed with the shades. The spells collided with an array of bright pops, but Leo still had to dodge to the side as the last gasp of magic brushed past him. his body began to glow a vibrant yellow, and he dropped to one knee. "Meteor!" Like a sprinter, he took off like a shot, flying all the way around the area behind Hecate before abruptly steering in to head for a direct attack.
"I can't believe it, I'm fighting her son, and he's actually not half bad" She thought happily. "feel the power of void" she said coldly and then a great amount of magic power was gathered in her hand, with Leo sensing it "Void Lance!" she shouted after unleashing a black beam with blue sparks.
Leo did a barrel roll narrowly avoiding Hecate's spell but throwing him off course. He past her by a few feet to her left, tucking and rolling across the ground before leaping to the air once more. "Celestial Rings!" He called, gathering his magic in his outstretched hands. when he banked back around again, a pair of glowing, razor thin disks had sprung into existence, which he lobbed at Hecate like frisbees.
"As if toys like these can do something" she claimed unimpressed and extended her hand "Counter Void" she said and then, a portal appeared before her that swallowed the disks and then fired them back almost instantly.
Just as quickly however, Leo caught the disks, flipping himself over in mid air as he did so. When he made a fill rotation, he brought his hands together, reforming his last spell into another. "Strato Burst!" He called with more enthusiasm, unleashing a rain of tiny beads of light at Hecate.
Hecate calmly gathered magic power in her hand and created a black lance with blue outline "Void Pierce!" she shouted while throwing the spear that splitted up into numerous ones, with her lances now colliding with the beads of light, with both mages smiling from each other's power and ways to counter-attack "you are not bad boy" said Hecate with a cold smile.
Leo Didn't hear the compliment though, he was too busy dodging through the volley of spears that'd been fired at him. At one point it became too much, and he tucked into a ball. "Orbiter!" A bubble of light appeared around him, shielding him from the assault, but pushing him back against the barrier wall. Seeing no easy way out, he undid his magic and dropped out of range, allowing the spears to batter the barrier. He knew he didn't have the ranged advantage, so he landed in a crouched position and launched himself at Hecate again. "Meteor!"
As Leo was swiftly coming towards Hecate, she simply tapped the ground with her halberd and unleashed a pitch black wave with red eyes "Shade Possession" she calmly said. Then, much to Leo's surprise, the floor's wood tiles became pitch black and began moving, with numerous now wood tiles extending and trying to catch Leo while some formed a wall between him and Hecate.
However, by that time it was too late to stop. Leo crashed through the wood like it where nothing.
The both of them where showered in splinters, with Leo tumbling to a halt at the far end of the arena. More dazed than hurt, he looked back at Hecate while holding his head, unsure if that little fumble had caused her harm. "Sorry... Are you ok?" Despite his concern, a small smile crept across his face.
"Hmph, as if something like that would concern the Void Queen" She said almost insulted and then grabbed her halberd with two hands "also, if you think that you can best me in close combat..." she said and was ready to bring it down on him "...you are gravely mistaken!" she said.
Surprised, Leo dodged out of the way with a summersault. It landed with a crash, one side of it's blade buried in the floorboards. When she summoned it, he just assumed that massive thing was some sort of staff. It looked way to cumbersome to be used as a actual weapon, let alone by someone of Hecate's slender build. Seeing her twirl the thing over her head was a sight to behold. Still though, being physically overpowered was nothing new to him, and he'd learned that he was at least a little faster than she was. If he could get inside that halberd's reach, she'd have a very hard time getting away from him.
Before she could bring the weapon to bear again, he rocketed forwards. "Meteor!" This time he kept low to the ground, trying to sweep her leg's out from under her before she could brace for another swing. However, much to his suprise, Hecate stabbed the floor and used it to jump high and avoid the assault, with her catching her halberd and using them momentum to spin and then bring it down on Leo who then created a sword of light and intercepted her blow. Their weapons were creating sparks and both were not giving in an inch, all while having smiles of excitement on their faces.
Now that she was caught in mid air through, Leo saw an opportunity. A magic circle sprung to life under his feat, and an array of seven ethereal swords rose from the ground, one of which replacing the crude one in his hand. "Seven Star Swords!" He cried, rocketed towards her with the blades trailing after him.
Sparks flew from the shaft of Hecate's halberd as Leo's sword scraped across it, and in an instant he was upon her. Three of the blades fanned out over one another, following the motion of Leo's arm to make a wide, sweeping slash.
The swords were almost ready to slash Hecate who remained calm, with her then being surrounded by a violet magic aura and suddenly, a pack of shade like dogs appeared from the ground that lunged at the swords, with them landing further away from their mistress but the swords ended up destroying them by exploding in their mouths. Both mages were keeping their excited smiles, but something caught Hecate's attention by the edge of her eye and landed away from him, all while opening a portal to store away her halberd "seems we have company" she said coldly and with a hint of disappointment while dusting her clothes off.
Leo remained in his fighting stance, taking a moment to catch his breath. He didn't even register that she'd said anything until she turned her head away from him. "W-what?" He gasped, following her eyes to the arena entrance to find his sister watching them. Shelly stood holding her elbows, and turned her head away when he looked at her. He wasn't sure how long she'd been watching their fight, but clearly she disapproved of it.
"Hey Leo." A chipper voice drew Leo's attention to another woman who was present, one one that sent a shiver up his spine the moment he noticed her.
"Uh... Hi Jaina." He said meakly, the remaining swords of his last spell fading away.
Even at the best of times, Jaina cut an imposing figure. She was slender, maybe a little younger than Davin with long, shaggy, grey and white hair, and red eyes. Well, A single red eye. the other was covered by an eyepatch. What was more, her left leg has been replaced by a peg-leg below the knee, and her right arm was just... gone. All this though, paled in comparison to her expression. Despite wearing a confident grin, she looked pissed. "Ya having fun with your girlfriend there?"
"W-what?" Leo gasped in disbelief, and Shelly did a double-take. "No, she... Just wanted to have a match."
"Never seen you smile like that for a match before." Jaina shrugged, strolling around to the console to disable the barrier. "C'mon, your old man is looking for ya." She stopped a moment, casting her firry red eye at Hecate. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, but she broke contact after a moment and walked back to Shelly's side. "Bring your new friend too."
All this talk was uninteresting for Hecate who then gave a quick look at Shelly and how she was behaving, with her smiling fired up momentarily without anyone noticing and then followed the others in silence.
Jaina kicked the door to the main hall open, making the waiting Davin jump in surprise, and strolled inside. "Hey Davin, I found your wards." She growled, pulling out a chair for herself and unfurling a newspaper. Shelly dropped down right next to her, appearing to read over her shoulder, but almost instantly began stealing glances at Hecate. "All three of 'em."
Shelly dropped down right next to Jaina, then looked to her father, who bit his lip. "Ms. Inanis, this is Jaina. She's sort of our nonofficial guild doctor."
"And Babysitter." Jaina added, nudging Shelly with her elbow to get her to stop.
Davin nodded slightly, clearly not appreciating Jaina's attitude, but choosing to let it go. "So how do you like the place so far?" He asked ,motioning around the guild in general. "I've been told it grows on people."
Hecate then sighed in disappointment "I will try to be as polite as possible. To be honest, the guild in general is very lacking in size and comforts when compared to our own, but when it comes to prowess and people..." she said and then gave a smiling look at Leo who turned his head at her and got confused by her sudden change "...it's quite a nice place" she said and Leo replied with a smile.
Shelly puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms; she didn't like this woman. She was rude, disinterested, mean... And she kept trash talking their guild. If she didn't like it here, she could just go home and they could get Kat back. But the thing that perturbed her most of all though, was how Leo was acting around her. He was never particularly personable, but seemed to have no problem around Hecate. What's more, she'd seen him smile more since she got here than he had in the last month. She knew the only reason she noticed that was because of Jaina's girlfriend comment back in the arena, but that didn't stop it from bugging her.
Speaking of Jaina, it took another nudge from her to break Shelly from her thoughts. "Wow, you're right. She's exactly how you described." She muttered under her breath.
Oblivious to this, hearing Hecate give their guild any form of praise seemed to lift a weight off Davin's shoulders. "Well, I'm glad to hear it. And I think I've got the perfect way for you to get settle in too." He reached around the bar-top to pull out a small file, flapping it open to display a mix of hand written notes, official forms, and a topography map. "I got a call from the Magic Council before closing up last night. They've got an emergency monster hunting quest."
"If it's such an emergency, why the hell aren't they dealing with it themselves?" Jaina spat, barely looking up from her paper.
Davin furrowed his brow in disapproval. "Those pirate raids out east are getting out of hand, so they're diverting a lot of their Rune Knights to crack down on 'em." Shifting his attention, his usual chipper expression returned. "A herd of Gulper Toads has wondered to close to a farm up in the northeast, and they're devouring all the livestalk. it's only a matter of time before they try to eat someone." He slid the file closer for Hecate to see. "They requested an S-class mage to handle it. But the job is yours if ya want."
Hecate took the flier and read it quickly "alright, I will accept it. It's only natural to help during the exchange and so, I will go tomorrow with Leo here." she casually said with her cold tone while ending up pointing at Leo.
"W-what?" The siblings said in unison, though Jaina seemed to be the only one to notice Shelly's reaction.
"Sure, why not?" Davin shrugged, giving Leo an approving nod.
"Wait, wait..." Leo backed away defensively when Hecate glanced at him. "You don't need my help. You can take care of them on your own."
Davin let out a sigh, but kept his smile. "Oh, c'mon bud. She's only here for a week, and we're sending her out on a job on her first day. Why don't you go with her and keep her company?" At that, Shelly fidgeted uncomfortably, causing Jaina to glance at her with a raised eyebrow. "It'll only be a few days at most. What else have ya got planned this week?"
"Also, I don't know anything about this country, so it would be perfect to have someone show me around" she said while touching his left shoulder.
Seeing this, Shelley sprung to her feet. "I'll go too!" She barked as her chair toppled over.
Davin, Leo, and Jaina all looked at her with confusion. The room fell silent for a moment, during which Shelly's face began to turn red from embarrassment. Davin eventually processed what she had said, and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. "Uh... Sure, Shelly. You can-."
"What? No way." Jaina scoffed, tossing her paper aside. "Baby girl, have you ever even seen a Gulper toad?" Shelly slowly shook her head, her stomach dropping a little. "They're big, bigger than your daddy even. They're also ugly as hell and smell like shit..." She trailed off when a better way to dissuade her came to mind. "They've got these three little fingers on their tongue. They'll spit it out at and grab ahold of ya, then yank you in and swallow you whole." As she spoke, she began making a grabbing motion with her hand. First at Shelly's hand, then arm, then shoulder. Shelly shook her away when she got to her face, but it looked like the point had been made. "Trust me. Leave this one to your brother and the Chuni over there."
Davin shook his head. "The what?"
"Yeah but..." Shelly trailed off, thinking of a way to convince her Dad to let her go. Anything to keep her brother and Hecate from being alone together. Something told her that nothing good would come of it. "C'mon dad, you said we should be good hosts. I want just want to help out too..." All of it was a lie of course. It didn't feel great lying to her own father right to his face, but there was no way she could let her brother alone with this woman. "Please?" She begged.
For the most part, it looked like Davin didn't know what to think. He didn't dwell on it too long though, and turned to Hecate. "What do you say Ms. Inanis?"
Hecate had a disappointed look "Chuuni comment aside, I have a question..." she said while trying to not have a shade bite Jaina's butt and then pointed at Shelly "....this human sized eggplant goes on missions!?" she asked in shock and disbelief as if it was something impossible. She then took a breath and relaxed "since you all are so hospitable, I will accept this thing in our mission and I promise to return her safe and sound. Since she is surely dead weight, she will just sit back and allow me and Leo to swiftly end this mission" she said with calmness and pride in her voice.
Puffing out her cheeks, Shelly's irritation grew. "I go on jobs all the time..." She muttered.
"I'm gonna hold ya to that." Jaina said, raising her paper again. "Anything happens to baby-girl or her brother, I'll turn ya inside out." Despite her threatening words, Jaina kept a jovial tone. Which made it hard to tell if she was being serious or not. "But, seeing as how you're such a badass, you should have no problem watching their backs against a horde of fuck-ugly, bloated, toad freaks. right?" She grinned up a her, her last word carrying a little more venom then the rest.
"Jaina..." Davin groaned with disapproval.
"You sure have a way with words, for a mindless, no breast tomboy at least" replied Hecate with a cocky smile, with father and children being freaked out from her statement.
A vain popped in Jaina's forehead, she turned, about to unleash a flurry of curses that'd make every sailor Hecate met yesterday blush. Her vision passed by Davin first however, crossing his fingers in the shape of an X and shaking his head. Between that and Shelly standing well within earshot, Jaina held her tongue. "I... think I need a drink." She growled, kicking off the table to her feet. On, the way past, she ruffled Shelly's hair, nodding to Hecate and whispering. "Give her hell for me."
She strolled to the back of the building and crouched behind the bar. After a soft popping sound, she appeared once again with an upturned bottle of rum in her mouth. "Ok... well I think that's enough of an introduction." Davin said, clapping his hands together. He didn't appear to know what to make of this, but at least he'd stopped Jaina from lashing out. "We've booked a hotel back in town for you to stay, Ms. Inanis. Why don't you spend the rest of the day getting settled, and you three could head out tomorrow?"
"Thank you very much" said Hecate while bowing her head at Davin "even if there was a way to stay here, I would have ended up fighting that gorilla and fall to her level" she explained coldly and then looked at Leo "anyway, see you tomorrow Leo" she said with a smile and a warm voice as she was heading outside the guildhall, with a grin being formed on her face.
"Leo, you mind showing her there?" Davin asked, to which Leo nodded without a word. He and Hecate left, and after waiting a moment to let the door swing closed, he looked back to the bar-top. "So Jaina, any thoughts?"
"Mm-hmm." Jaina nodded, still gulping down one mouthful of rum after another. "She's a bitch."
Davin's shoulders slumped, but Shelly spoke up first. "I don't like her either..."
"That a rare thing to hear from you. You're usually the first one to warm up to people." Said her father, raising an eyebrow. Shelly's eyes never left the door, and after a moment of this, Davin thought it best to just ask. "What don't you like about her? Sure, she's a little snappy, but we've got a handful of members like that here too. And they never bugged ya this much."
"Because she's..." Shelly trailed off, to embarrassed to tell him the truth. "Mean..."
"And full of shit." Jaina yelled from the back.
Ignoring that, Davin knelt down and placed his massive hands on Shelly's shoulders. "Well, you don't have to go with them." She shot him a look that pointedly told him she disagreed, so he decided to change his tune. "But... If you really want to, try to get along with her, ok? Call me if you need anything." Shelly nodded slightly, her gaze returning ot the door. "Atta girl." He said, patting her shoulders and standing up again.
Before she left, Shelly threw her arms around him, "Love you Dad..." She muttered before marching out the door after them.
He waived to her, then when the door was shut, he spun around and walked to the bar top. "So... what do you not like about her?"
Jaina half placed, half dropped the bottle on the counter, which Davin had to catch to stop it from spilling everywhere. "Told you already. She's a bitch. And you, for some reason, are being weirdly lenient with her."
He sighed, recognizing Jaina's mood. "Have ya tried getting to know her a little first?"
"Sure I did. You were there. So I maintain: she's a bitch" She shrugged, gesturing to the discarded newspaper she'd left behind. "By the way: if she talks shit about my baby-girl again, I'm going to tare her face off."
She reached for the bottle again, but Davin snapped it out of her reach just in time. She furrowed her brow at him, fully expecting a confrontation. What she didn't expect however, was to see Davin grab a small whisky glass from the shelf and poor himself the tinniest bit of liquid from the bottle. He drained it a moment later with a single swing, shaking his head for the sharpness of it, then handed the bottle back to her. "Well... Put a pin in that. Because I think there's something you should know first."
Next Chapter - Gross Journey