Book Two of my Mages of Lancet Series. Okay, this one, this one right here, is pretty damned cute. I love this one. I just smile when I write about it. You'll just have to read it to find out, but I do think that it's important to note that Winry and Catori are Bickslow's little sisters, twin sisters from another kingdom. I feel like this is the story for any true Raijinshuu fan.
Oh, who am I kidding? All of my stories are for Raijinshuu fans! I would stalk Laxus if I could. Laxus for president!
To Fiore
Kingdom of Lancet
Kindred Spirit Guild
"Lost Mage to Good Home," Winry read dryly as she blinked at the parchment in her hands. Around her the crickets chirped like a backdrop on her confusion, and the frogs in the swamp croaked just the same.
Just moments ago, Winry had been walking up the spiral stone staircase that led out of the guild. Her intentions had been to go to the nearest town to stock up on bar supplies, but as soon as she'd picked up the massive boulder that kept the entrance of their underground guild hidden, Winry had been stopped by the sight of her king's courier.
Now, she stood there in the swamp. Her pink stained lips glistened in the moonlight, and her boots rested on soggy swamp grass. The fog from the muddy water hovered around her curvaceous body. It swept up around her body then reached out to encompass the courier and the little boy who was glowering at Winry like she was some evil nanny.
"Yes," the courier began. "King Isaac may have taken the Lancet kingdom's throne, but mages are still hunted by rogue noblemen. Without a proper police force, many mage guilds are still being destroyed. This boy's home was raided by a noble's soldiers. He is the only survivor from the raid, and since King Isaac and his personal guard are busy with forming the Magician's Alliance amongst other things, he cannot escort this young man to Fiore. So, he personally asked me to send a request out to Kindred Spirit."
Winry ran a hand through her blue-purple hair. Of course the king was busy, but Winry didn't know what to do with a young boy like this one. Her sister was out on a solo mission in Fiore already, so she wouldn't have her partner by her side. Winry would be alone with a strange young boy at her side and in a kingdom she'd never been before. It would be the first S-class Winry had taken overseas or by herself.
Her hand went to the many purple ribbons that wrapped up her arm. "Well, I suppose that I could at least pin the mission on the board. There've been so many raids and battles with rebelling Normans that the guild's stretched thin as it is. My masters may be able to figure something out for the boy," she admitted.
Back when Winry and Catori had been the masters of Kindred Spirit, they would have hastily accepted such a mission. They would have done so without a second thought. After her father and mother were returned from a former Lancet nobleman's dungeon, the twin sisters had happily handed over the reins to their rightful owners.
The courier gave her a polite bow. "Thank you, miss. I knew that the strongest guild in Lancet wouldn't refuse such a job. Now, I must be off." He lifted his messenger bag. "Many more letters to deliver." The courier used Take Over magic to let wings sprouted from his arms and flew off leaving Winry standing with a defiant eyed young boy.
Both of them stood there in the swamp. The boy glowered at Winry, and Winry looked him over. The boy had to have been around seven years old. His hair was a light green and spiked upwards Super Saiyan style. He sported a trench coat that must have been inspired by the King of Lancet himself. The dark grey trench covered a green shirt and black pants. Around his neck hung a crescent moon on a silver chain.
"You're not stronger than me," the boy grumbled, catching Winry off guard.
The woman raised a purple brow then leaned down to put her hands on her knees. "What do you mean?"
"You're not stronger than me!" he barked. "I don't need your help!"
In a motherly tone that Winry had practiced over the years of dealing with her rebellious twin, Winry replied, "I'm sure that you're powerful, but everyone needs a little help some times. Why don't you and I go inside the guild to see if we can't get you an escort to Fiore?"
"I don't need an escort. I don't need to go to Fiore. I want to stay here and become a part of the King's guard." He crossed his arms over his chest and gave Winry a withering stare.
Instead of dealing with the boy's attitude, Winry encouraged, "I'm sure that you'll become a part of Isaac's guard when you're older, but you need to go to Fiore to get strong enough first. Come inside with me, so we can get you a partner." She extended her slender hand.
The boy narrowed his eyes at her act of kindness. Instead of taking her hand, he looked at the boulder over the door expectantly. "You gunna be able to lift that to go in?" he taunted.
Winry smiled at him sweetly. She was the queen of motherly kindness and patience. If this boy thought that he could tease her into aggravation, he was about to be sorely disappointed. "You don't think that I can?" she asked in her gentlest voice, the voice that was sure to piss him off.
The boy got physically annoyed just like Winry had planned. "I don't think that you could lift that stick off the ground with those skinny arms of yours," he snapped.
Glancing at her well defined biceps, Winry only raised a brow at the boy. Either he was used to being around muscle headed body builder types or he just wanted Winry to feel inferior. No matter.
Winry decided she would turn the tables on him. "Alright. How about we make a bet?" The boy waited for her to continue. "If I'm able to pick up that boulder to move it out of the way, you have to give me your name."
"What do I get?"
"What do you want?"
"If you can't do it, you have to let me go."
"Shake on it then." Winry reached her hand out for him once more. This time, he accepted her offering, and after rising to her full height, Winry dusted her hands together. "One boulder out of the way coming up," she stated.
Winry's body got into position. Her soft hands held the underside of the boulder. She felt the way the grey stone curved, and after getting herself into the right angle, she focused.
Mostly, she was just doing this to draw the moment out for the boy. A part of her enjoyed the agitated face he was making with his orange eyes. After drawing the moment out just a little longer, Winry hefted the boulder up.
The boy's once narrowed eyes widened, and his jaw unhinged itself. With an awestruck expression, he watched Winry walk daintily over with the massive boulder in her arms. Her biceps didn't even quiver as she lay the boulder on a switch that would seal the door back off once they'd entered the guild.
Her hands gestured towards the elegant wooden, arched doors. They were engraved with the story of how Kindred Spirit came to be as a guild, and when the boy's eyes settled on the carvings, Winry did her traditional greet to anyone entering Kindred Spirit for the first time. "Welcome to Kindred Spirit, where all of our souls resonate as one," she chimed.
Spyro rested at the head of the guild. In his hands was a mug of his favorite dark lager, and in his lap was his wife Vixen. It was astounding. He finally had her in his arms. After years of her body being sealed away in a castle and her living as a phantom stored inside a silver necklace, he had her body. Ever since being placed back inside of herself, Spyro hadn't let the woman get away from him.
Now, he sat with her in his lap and drank with the rest of his guild. Vixen had a bottle of malt liquor on her lips, and when the woman caught sight of her daughter entering the guild with a young boy holding her hand, she put the drink down.
"Win? I thought you were gone to get Ignatia more liquor to stock the bar, not pick up stray orphans?" Vixen wondered, her voice gushing at the cute little boy on her daughter's arm. It had her thinking of how much she wished her eldest son, Bickslow, would hurry up and have a baby with his dragon slayer lover.
"I was, Momma, but I got stopped by the king's courier. He gave me a mission regarding Ajax, my new best friend," Winry explained, pushing the young boy from behind her to show him off.
The boy appeared awestruck. His wide, orange eyes took in the sights of the guild, and he appeared too stunned to speak. Despite his awe, he was clinging awfully hard onto Winry's hand. Shy?
Ah! Vix wondered what Bickslow and Adamine's child would be like! Before she went running to a communicator diamond that Adamine had left in order for Bickslow to talk to his parents long distance, Vixen's mind halted at the words King and Courier.
"King Isaac sent us a job?" Spyro intoned from behind his wife. He made a motion, and Vixen turned her body into an intangible phantom. Spyro rose right up through her body to step towards his daughter. "What does it entail?"
"It's an overseas S Class mission where one of us takes Ajax to a good home through the Magic Railroad. His family was murdered, and Isaac sent the mission to Kindred Spirit specifically."
The Magic Railroad was a series of underground tunnels, wagons, and ships that took mage children out of the country and to kingdoms where mages weren't hunted for their abilities. It was connected to each and every magic guild in Lancet. The whole thing had been organized by the Princess of Lancet, Adamine Terra, herself. Fiore was the main destination for the railway, but there were other countries mages could escape to.
Spyro ran a hand against his jaw line. "Sounds like a tough mission. What's the pay?"
"It's five million jewel, so that translates to fifty thousand coin."
Dollar signs might as well have been flashing in Spyro's eyes. Eagerly, he stated, "This sounds like a wonderful chance for you to get out of the kingdom for a bit!"
Winry's jaw dropped, and Ajax suddenly pulled from his surprised state of shock. Winry protested, "But, Catori isn't here to go with me, and-"
"Ah-ha! No ifs, ands, or buts! You don't get out of the guild enough. It's no wonder you have no sense of direction. If you got out more, you'd know how to get places," Spyro exclaimed to Winry's obvious horror.
Her face burned scarlet, and she cast her eyes to her mother for support. Spyro was all about Winry getting out and adventuring, but Vixen understood Win's shyness. She encouraged her daughter to do things at her own speed. Still, Winry saw no assistance in her mother's eyes.
Vixen replied, "I think it's a wonderful idea, Spyro. Besides, you could stop in at Fairy Tail and encourage Adamine and Bickslow to hurry up and get married. I'm not getting any younger here, and I would like to get a grandchild sometime this century."
Immediately, Winry understood. This was all about her big brother. Ever since Princess Adamine and Big Brother owned up to how they felt about each other, Winry's parents had been harassing them for grandchildren. Their mother often cooed about babies with brown and black hair and facial tattoos. That and Spyro wanted another boy to pass down the Polterom family name since Bickslow was their only boy.
Winry felt her lips attempting to form a complaint, but her father was already pushing her out of the door. Vixen was packing a backpack for Winry as well. Before either her or Ajax could make a sound, the guild door was locked behind them and her father's voice came over the outside intercom. "You have enough money to stay as long as you like, and I'll contact Cpt. Kenwae to get you a ship ready. Look out for guards and don't talk to strangers until you get into Fiore. Have a safe trip. Mom and Dad love you, Win!"
With her jaw agape Winry looked at the boy who was refusing to hold her hand. He had his arms crossed back over his shoulders, and as soon as Winry took a robotic step forward, he growled, "I wish my escort wasn't as weak as you are."
It already looked like this mission was going to be a pain in Winry's ass.
Ah! I love Bickslow's parents. They're just as crazy as he is.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this tid bit. Our star, or should I say Thunder God, will be entering soon. I promise to have chapter two up tonight.
Review me, and if you're a follower from a previous story like my Adamine Terra Series that started this all or from Mages of Lancet Book One, Demon Within, give me a holler. I love to know I have returning readers. Stalkers are cool when they just stalk your writing.