Newest Additions
Inside a warehouse of an abandoned factory the Fantasia unit waited patiently for their newest members to arrive. The group had been a team for a little over a year now and had completed dozens of missions with a perfect success rate. Their actions made them very highly regarded and admired by their fellow NSA agents. So much in fact that many agents put in requests to join their unit.
Jane and her unit accepted many applications, and reviewed them thoroughly before selecting two new members.
The group waited patiently, sitting in their SUV of in its hatch. Meg sat in the hatch as he fingered her combat knife. Belle sat in the passenger's seat as she fiddled with her gadgets. PH leaned against the side of the car, meditating. Jane leaned against the front, staring at the entrance and occasionally checking her watch.
Another minute or two passed before a purple jeep suddenly pulled in through the warehouse entrance. The group dropped what they were doing and stood up to meet their newest members. They stood at Jane's side as the jeep pulled in and parked a few feet away. The engine was shut off and two women stepped out.
From the driver's side was a women with a copper complexion and long wavy raven black hair that fell just a little past her shoulders and was tied with a pink ribbon. She had emerald green eyes and ruby red lips and was of average height. She wore purple jeans with black flats and a white blouse. She had golden hoops earing and her arms and writs were covered in numerous golden bracelets. She smiled warmly at them.
And everyone on the team thought the same thing. She was gorgeous.
From the passenger's side a tall and slender woman stepped out. She was pale, they all immediately noticed. And had long red brown hair that fell to her lower back. She had large brown eyes and red lips. Her fashion choice was a little odd. She wore a dress of varying colors and black leggings with black flats. There was another thing weird about her.
Her body was covered in stitches.
She glanced at the women and seemed nervous. She took an awkward step back and looked away. Lowering and averting her eyes to the ground.
The other woman came around the car and touched her arm gently. The red head looked up and was met with a warm smile that she returned. With a breath she followed after the black haired women as they made their way up to greet the team.
Jane was the first to step forward to meet them. She smiled and extended a hand. "Hello ladies. Glad you're finally here. Captain Jane Porter," Jane said in a friendly manner.
The raven haired woman smiled and shook her hand. "Hello Captain. Sorry we're late. Agent Esmerelda. And this is my partner," Esmerelda said gesturing to the other woman. "Agent Sally."
"Hello," Sally said softly.
"Good to meet you both. This is my lieutenant, Agent Belle," Jane informed them as she gestured to her second in command. Belle smiled and nodded. "Agent Meg."
"Sup," the brunette said with a nod.
"And agent PH," PH nodded in greeting.
"It's great to meet you all as well. We were both very excited when we were informed you accepted our requests to join the team. The whole agency has been talking about you guys. Right Sally?" Esmerelda asked the red head. Sally nodded.
"Well from your files I'm sure you'll both fit in just fine," Jane replied warmly.
"Oh, question, can you do magic?" Meg piped in addressing Esmerelda. "Your file says you can," she explained.
Esmerelda smiled. She tapped her chin in mock thought. "Hmm…can I do magic?" Suddenly her nose twitched, then she took a sharp intake of breath as she looked like she was going to sneeze.
"Achoo," she said. And then suddenly red smoke appeared out of nowhere and obscured her form. The group wafted the some away and looked to find Esmerelda gone. They looked around in surprise.
"You tell me," came her voice. The women turned to find her leaning against the hood of their SUV. They smiled and applauded.
"Wow, that was cool," Meg said impressed.
"That was amazing," Belle said in agreement.
"That was—" Jane began.
"Not magic," PH cut in. They looked to her in surprise. She shrugged and kept her eyes on Esmerelda. "Sleight of hand. Misdirection. Clever trick. But not magic," she said curtly.
Meg raised an eyebrow. She looked to Esmerelda curiously. "So you don't have magic?"
"I didn't say that," PH cut in again. Meg looked to her. "Hers is…subtler. An illusionist maybe. Or an enchanter," she guessed.
Esmerelda frowned a little. But it was replaced by an impressed smile. "Well it ruins the wonder when the trick is explained. But she's right. That was not real magic," Esmerelda said casually as she walked back toward the group. She strolled up to PH. She looked up to the taller woman and smiled.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Wind Walker. Or should I address you as 'she who walks with the wind and sings will all the voices of the mountains?'" she asked in amusement.
"PH is fine," PH replied evenly.
"You're quite the legend throughout the magic world. I'm happy to be working with you," Esmerelda said in earnest. "Gypsy, at your service," she finished with a bow.
PH raised an eyebrow. And then her gaze fell to Sally. She narrowed her eyes at her, causing the woman to flinch and lower her gaze to the floor.
"PH, something wrong?" Jane asked as she noticed her friend's intense look.
PH remained silent as she stepped around Esmerelda. She walked straight up to Sally, stopping right in front of her and looking down at her. Sally shrunk under her gaze. Not liking her intense look. The wind in the room suddenly stirred.
"You are undead," PH said lowly.
Sally stiffened. She fiddled with her hands nervously. She'd heard of PH. And what she did to her kind. The stories were not pleasant.
"Yes," Sally whispered softly.
The room was silent. PH's teammates were a little surprised by her curt attitude. She was being…unfriendly. PH got on well with nearly everyone they met. They'd never seen her hostile to anyone but an enemy before.
"Is that a problem?" Esmerelda challenged as she stepped between them. She stood in front of Sally protectively. Obscuring her from PH's view. She narrowed her eyes at PH. Not appreciating how she was scaring Sally.
The wind suddenly settled as PH took a step back. "Problem? No problem," she said shrugging. But the team wasn't quite convinced.
"Well, enough of that. I've reserved us a table at a nice restaurant where we can get to know each other better. Shall we?" Jane asked the new members. They smiled and nodded in agreement.
With that the groups piled into their separate cars and Jane led the way.
"So you're a zombie?" Meg asked Sally curiously. The group was at a little steak house and seated in a large booth. Sally was sandwiched between Meg and Esmerelda, not wanting to be anywhere near PH who kept shooting her looks.
Sally looked to her right and smiled before nodding. Sally was shy around people she didn't know. Many people were unnerved by what she was. She heard nasty remarks before.
"That's cool," Meg said smiling wide. "Zombie teammate. How awesome is that!?" she asked the group.
They chuckled at her excitement.
"So do you feel pain?" Meg asked curiously. Sally shook her head. She didn't. "Like none at all?"
"No," Sally responded quietly. Meg pursed her lips. And then she suddenly picked dup her fork and stabbed her in the arm.
"MEG!" Jane shouted at her teammate.
"It's ok Captain. It doesn't hurt," Sally said with a small and shy smile. Meg pulled the fork out and looked at it.
"No blood. Cool. So nothing?" Meg asked. Sally shook her head.
Jane rolled her eyes. She looked to Esmerelda. "So this is our outfit. Minus one member. Agent Mulan is with us on and off. She does a lot of undercover work," Jane explained.
"Yeah. I actually heard about this unit from her. She said you were quite the little dream team."
"Oh well we do our best. And yes, we have become quite—MEG! STOP STABBING SALLY!" Jane shouted at the brunette who'd been repeatedly stabbing Sally with a fork in her upper arm to see if she could get a reaction.
Meg flinched and smiled sheepishly before setting her fork down. Jane shook her head at her and sighed. She looked back to Esmerelda and smiled.
"Sorry. Now as I was saying, yes, we've become quite the well-oiled machine. Our success rate is perfect. And we're glad to have you with us. I've read your files. It said you're n infiltration and undercover specialist as well?" Esmerelda nodded in confirmation. "Excellent. With your skill I'm sure—MEG!" Jane snapped as she looked back at the brunette.
Meg glanced over to her as she'd been heating up the bottom of a spoon with her lighter to test if Sally would feel any pain from the heat. She lowered her spoon and lighter and smiled innocently. Jane rebuked her before ordering her to switch places with Belle.
With that they listened to Esmerelda's story. She was from France originally. She was part of a special order known as the Court of Miracles. They were a secret group of gypsies who used their magic to hunt monster who preyed on human kind. They'd been persecuted for centuries and even been hunted by the Order of the Paladins for accusations of witchcraft and conspiring with monsters, until their old leader died and was replaced by their new one. Who then joined forces with the gypsies before joining forces with the NSA.
"That's agent Paladin right? The new leader?" Jane asked.
Esmerelda nodded. "Yep. He's also my significant other," Esmerelda revealed. The women were surprised to hear that. But smiled.
"What about Sally?" Meg asked.
"Sally was created by a Dr. Finklestein. He found the research journals of the Dr. Frankenstein and replicated his experiment. Reanimating dead tissue and here she is," Esmerelda explained. The group gasped, save PH. Sally ducked her head shyly.
"A revenant," PH said lowly. She frowned into her glass. Sally flinched and rubbed her arm. It was technically what she was. She wasn't a regular mindless zombie who only craved flesh, so revenant wasn't too far off.
But it was a term used for evil creatures. And she wasn't evil.
Jane and the others looked at PH in bewilderment. This attitude was completely out of character. PH only sipped her drink, either not noticing or ignoring their looks.
With that the rest of the evening passed in relative pleasantness. The team learned more about their newest members and welcomed them with open arms.
Most of them.
It would take some time, but PH would get past her issues with Sally being among them. She would risk her life to protect her as a good teammate should.
And thus that was the day that Ragdoll and Gypsy joined the Fantasia Unit.
So this is when and how Eserelda and Sally joined the team. The reason PH is hostile towrds Sally is becase she doesn't like the undead. As a shaman and monster hunter she's had encoutners with undead beofre, usually in situations tht required her to excorcise or banish them. So she's a little mistrusting.