Thanks to a ton of writing that I was able to do over my December Break, I have two new stories in my Mages of Lancet Series to show to you all. I hope you enjoy Book Five, Spirits.

To those just now reading the story and who may wind up interested in the series as a whole, here are the story titles.

(The Adamine Terra Series)

Hunt and be Hunted

Tablet and a Tome

Magical Massacre

(The Mages of Lancet Series)

Demon Within, a story of King Isaac and Kagura

Modeling Under Snow, a story of playboy Prince Urian and Mirajane

Lost Mage to Good Home, a story on Bickslow's little sister Winry and Master Laxus

Hired to Kill, a story of an untouchable assassin named Katja and Rogue

Spirits, this one you're looking at right now

NOTICE!

I will have more in this series. I still have the rest of King Isaac's guard. So far, Hollis Flight is paired with Millianna, Sven Saab (Katja's brother) is with Chelia, and Felix is with Meredy. Also, if anyone of you are familiar with Adamine Terra's mother dragon Firmalione, I will be writing a story for her. She is paired with Acnologia because for reasons that I won't share, the dragon becomes a human.

Now then, back to Spirits...

Prologue

She remembered it so vividly. The water, the spray of salt across her skin, and the way her lungs floundered in her chest for air. She'd plunged into the icy water head first. Just when she'd thought she was going to die, her sister had come for her.

With blue-purple hair waving underneath the water, Winry Polterom dove deep. Twelve year old legs kicked hard in the water, and a reaching hand stretched out. But, it wasn't a human hand. The hand that stretched forth was the hand of the catalyst her soul had been transferred into.

A body made of stuffing, stich work, and cloth reached out in the raging waves. With this new body, Catori cried for her twin sister. With this new body Catori was rescued from a fate worse than death.

When her wet, stuffed animal face breeched the surface of the water, Winry held her sister's lost soul tight in her arms. Powerful blasts of ocean rage slammed the girls in their faces, and their blue eyes hastily searched for two humans bodies lost in the tides.

The bodies were of their big brother Bickslow and the body Catori's soul had been born within.

All around them cannons blasted. Mages and Lancet Normans, humans unable to wield magic, fought. They fought. They bled. They died. Despite the cacophony of chaos around them, the sisters frantically searched.

Without a mouth that could speak Catori was forced to hold onto Winry. Her sister became her voice. Winry cried, "Bickslow! Big brother!"

Bickslow… Catori remembered his name as well as she remembered the sight of his body being hauled from the sea. Pirates reached for his large frame. They snagged him by the arms, hauling him inside of a wooden ship. Without a mouth to speak with, Catori couldn't direct her sister towards their brother.

Instead, Catori was forced to watch her sister scream in vain to the various rowboats that were sent to collect refugees. With fear chilling her soul to its very pit, Catori mentally screamed. She screamed in rage at the Lancet Normans. She screamed for revenge. She screamed for freedom. She screamed at the sight of her brother's limp body being taken off to only Spirit knew where. When Winry was hauled up from the water by unseen hands, Catori's stuffed animal body was drawn up with it. She was hauled up and away from the only brother she had.

Vroom Vroom

Kingdom of Lancet

Guild Kindred Spirit

Impatiently, Catori lurked outside of the hallway. She stalked in the shadows like a weary predator, but this haunting movement of her body wasn't in rage. It was in excitement. Her entire form was shivering with adrenaline, excitement. She just couldn't sit still, and with every damned second that her twin spent in her bedroom fixing her hair was another second that Catori hastened in her pacing.

Today was an extremely important day. Today was Kindred Spirit's time to shine. The Grand Magic Games, a mage festival to test the strength of mages to find the strongest guild, was being held in the Lancet kingdom for the first time. She couldn't wait to see the opponents from Fiore, and she couldn't wait to show her big brother just how powerful she'd become.

Only a year ago had the family been reunited. Princess Adamine, princess of Lancet, had come back to the kingdom, and with her was an army of mage guilds. One guild in particular? Fairy Tail.

That army of mages from Fiore had liberated the Norman tyranny that had stolen her big brother from her when she was twelve years old. Now, Catori was twenty four years old. She was ready to kick her brother ten ways to Sunday then dance on top of his unconscious body. All those years of elder brother bullying were going to be kicked in the balls, and Catori could get started on her way to the capital Lance if Winry would hurry her prissy ass up.

Stomping her foot in one of the few feminine mannerisms that Catori had, she stalked back to her twin's bedroom door. She knew what Winry was doing in there. Ever since Winry and Laxus had hooked up a year ago, the girl had taken her time fixing herself up when she knew Master Laxus was going to be around. It sickened Catori.

As a proud member of the pansexual community, Catori didn't understand the need to Super Girlie-fie herself when in the presence of her chosen lover. Catori threw it all out there when she found someone she liked. She didn't hide herself behind make up, clothing, or a false front. And, while Catori wasn't accusing her favorite and only twin of such, she just didn't get the whole I must be sexy for him philosophy.

Turning in her knee high leather boots, Catori flattened herself against Winry's door. She dramatically whined, "UGH! Winry, if he wants to screw you, he'll just screw you. There's no reason for you to get dressed up just to take it all off."

A shocked squeal erupted from the other woman's bedroom, and in a predictable motion Catori's body tumbled forward through Win's open doorway. With a successful grin Tori tumbled back up to her feet.

Winry howled, "Tori, that is not why I'm getting dressed up! Holy Ghost, you're worse than Bickslow and our dad combined!" She was about to leap on her sister, but Catori predicted the move.

Slyly, Tori slithered around Win. Before the other woman could recover from the tackle, Tori had Winry in a headlock. Like the tomboy she was, Catori did the only reasonable thing an oldest twin could do in this situation. She mussed Winry's perfectly spiraled blue-purple locks until they were nothing but a purple fuzz atop her skull.

True to her magic, Winry clenched her sister's arm tight. The many ribbons that she wore came alive with the activation of her Partial Possession Magic. The next thing Catori knew she had her hands tied behind her back. A hairbrush bonked Tori on the top of her head, and Winry hastily set to rights her perfect locks.

"You should have been a boy," Winry hissed playfully. Her tongue stuck out as Catori snickered in her bonds.

"And, you should have been a princess, Mrs. Dreyar." Catori's own tongue shot out from between her rosy lips. The tongue ring she had glistened in lamplight, and in the mirror it reflected the emblem of Kindred spirit, two crossed scythes. The symbol on her tongue matched the tattoo across her left cheek, signaling to everyone that Catori had once been the master of this wonderful guild.

The brush Winry was done using to fix her hair flew in the air to smack Catori in the forehead. The red faced Seith Mage barked, "I am not Mrs. Dreyar. Cut that out! The Missus and Mister jokes are reserved for Big Brother and Mina only. You got that?" Like she was holding a dagger, Winry stuck her tube of hot pink lipstick out in warning.

Yeah. She might as well have been holding a dagger. No. Wait. Catori would have rather it been a dagger. Winry loved putting make up on her rebellious twin, and Catori loved running away from her when she had the wicked tools of girliefication.

Ignoring the threat as best she could, Tori grumbled, "Hurry up. Dad said we could ride my bike if we wanted to leave before the rest of the guild."

Ah. Her bike. It was a beautiful piece of machinery that Catori loved as much as the loved the guild, her family, and Princess Adamine, future wife of Bickslow if the Polterom family had anything to do with it. The sport bike was sleek black. It took curves like the hands of a lover, and Catori could go from zero to sixty miles per hour in one point two seconds. Ah. Yeah, the craft was a beauty.

As if Winry knew it would ruin Catori's bike riding fantasies, she mentioned, "It'll ruin my hair and outfit."

Catori could have dropped to her knees in anguish. She wanted to go to Capital Lance to meet Fairy Tail at Port Regale before they got in. Members of the king's royal guard were going to meet with each guild to take them to their hotels. With a recent increase in mage murders in the country, the king was taking special precautions to make sure the Grand Magic Games went smoothly. When he heard that Catori and Winry might be coming on the day Fairy Tail arrived, he'd eagerly encouraged their escort services. Now, if Tori could just get Winry to stop being such a girl, they could be on their way.

Deciding that falling to her knees in anguish might be the right thing to do at the moment, Catori promptly dropped down. With Winry's ribbons unlocking her hands, she held them over her head. Catori pleaded, "Please, Winry. Oh, great and powerful Winry Polterom, bestest baby twin in the whole wide world, please, come with me to Port Regale. Dad won't let me go by myself because he doesn't want me to harass Pretty Boy Freed, so you have to go to make sure I stay on my best behavior."

Winry shook her head, and Tori couldn't quite say that she blamed her sister. Catori Polterom was number one in the art of hunting down the prettiest of boys. She hunted them like a cougar, and Freed Justine was one of her favorites. He ran, and Catori loved to chase.

Freed had yet to fall for her advances, but Catori refused to give up! Well, part of her refusal was because no one else had sparked her interest, and another part was just because her family's natural tendency to torment people he or she liked came out when he was around. Did she want to go one on one with Freed in a serious relationship? Oh, hell, no! Did she enjoy watching his baby blues light up in hysteria when she came prowling around the corner for him? Oh, hell, yes!

Either way, Spyro Polterom, aka Dad, didn't want Catori interrupting what he and Vixen Polterom, aka Mom, thought was possible marriage between two of their kids. Yeah, Catori's cougar-like tendencies tended to ruin romantic moments, and every time that Catori's spidey senses tingled at the idea that either Winry or Bickslow were having an intimate moment with their significant other, she loved busting in there to ask absurd questions.

One such instance was when Bickslow was finally having his first kiss with Princess Adamine. Catori had burst through the door to howl, "Big Sister Mina about to get her some!"

Another moment had happened between Winry and Laxus. The two were in a heated make out session, and Catori just happened to be strolling by. She popped her head in the door to ask, "You kids alright in there? Need some snacks, maybe a condom?"

All in all, Catori wasn't invited on double dates, and since Bickslow had been asking some particularly curious questions to Winry, Spyro and Vixen suspected possible marriage between the runaway princess of Lancet and her Seith Mage partner in crime. Yes, Catori was to be on her best behavior during the Grand Magic Games. It sucked.

Catori kept her bowing position on the floor for a moment longer, and after a while, Winry finally let out a slow sigh. She dropped to her knees in her white dress then huffed, "Fine, but you have to promise me something."

Lifting her head, Catori tilted her head. "What?"

"You have to promise me not to ruin anything between Bix and Mina. Evergreen and Freed are suspicious about the way the two of them have been acting, and Laxus told me that Bickslow has been acting out of character. Now, Lancet natives don't propose the same way that Fiore natives do. We have no clue which custom Bickslow might pick," Winry explained like she was giving away some big secret. Likely, she was. If there was a sister that Bickslow confided in, that sister would be named Winry. Bickslow treated Catori like a little brother, and that was just how Tori liked it. Still, she was just a smidge jealous that Win knew more than she did about this situation.

Nonetheless, Tori put her hand to her forehead in mock salute. "Mission Don't Screw Potential Chance at Baby Bickslows and Minas begins now. Anyway, can we get on the bike now? Tori likes to go Vroom Vroom, and Tori can't go Vroom Vroom if Winry doesn't hurry her ass up!"

Okay, Glitter Spires, I hope you saw the tidbit that was made just for you because of a comment you made in Magical Massacre. Hopefully, I got a reaction out of you because of reasons that I'm not going to outright say. Heh. Heh. Heh.

On another note isn't Catori just the most lady-like person you've ever met? I mean, really, and most of you thought that Bickslow was a pervert. Just meet his used-to-be-before-Tenrou little sister.