Chapter 3: Lamia Scale

"Well, here we are," the driver announced as we pulled into Margaret Town. I made sure to pay him his requested fee and thank him before he rode away. After quickly checking into a nearby hotel and setting my bags down, I was ready to see what the Lamia Scale guild had to offer.

The town itself was lovely; it was split down the middle by a long river that I could easily imagine spending my lazy days walking alongside. Local vendors seemed to see the appeal of the river as well, and I picked up an ice cream cone as I continued on my merry way to the guild. The icy vanilla was a perfect deterrent to the humidity, and was easily some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted.

I had just finished licking the cone off of my fingers when I came across the giant green mermaid statue that marked the entrance to Lamia Scale. While I was slightly miffed at how sexualized the mermaid's breasts were, I figured that a statue did not represent the true values of a guild. Also, I knew that complaining about the objectification of women in Fiore was practically a lost cause. I had tried in the past to convince ERA that they should nudge Sorcerer Weekly towards focusing on the power of the women who they were putting on their covers every week instead of only portraying them half-nude, but the Council refused to listen to me.

I walked inside the guild hall. Immediately, something didn't feel quite right to me. The walls were made up of green bricks, and the setting was lovely, but something about it just felt off from the get-go. It's hard to explain, but when I'm choosing a new place to settle into, I usually go with my initial gut reaction. Sometimes, you can know if you'll fit in somewhere the second you walk in the door, and other times, that first reaction will be that you don't feel at home. Lamia Scale definitely fit into the latter category for me.

"Welcome!" a girl with pink hair greeted as I stepped through the door. She looked like she was about eight or nine years old, and I was surprised that a guild would recruit someone so young. "Are you here to put in a job request?"

"No," I smiled back at her. I couldn't help it; she was too cute. "I'm actually just looking at the guild. I'm currently an unregistered wizard, and I'm looking at potential guilds to join." The unregistered part of that was actually true; with my being a spy, Gran Doma wanted me to be as off the grid as possible. Now, however, that would have to change, and I think he knew that.

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed happily. "Well then, welcome to Lamia Scale! My name's Chelia, and I'm more than happy to tour you around."

Chelia…that name sounded familiar. Then I remembered that she was a student who Gran Doma had taken a particular interest in because of her magic skills, which were incredibly high for a girl her age.

"All right," I replied, "give me the rundown. What is it like to be a Lamia Scale mage?"

Chelia gave me more than a rundown; she gave me a non-stop monologue about every place and current member in the guild. It was incredibly informative, and I saw immediately why Grand Doma liked her. Back when I was younger, I acted a lot like she did when I first arrived at ERA.

"So, Chelia," I asked an hour later as we sat at the bar and the barmaid handed us two strawberry milkshakes (Chelia swore that Lamia Scale's barmaid made the best strawberry milkshakes in Fiore, so I figured, why not?), "how do you know so much about Lamia Scale? Are you a member?" I found it unlikely that she was, but I knew some guilds recruited orphans with magical powers and took care of them like family. Perhaps Lamia Scale was one of those guilds.

"No, I'm not a member yet silly; I'm still in school!" Chelia exclaimed. "My cousin was a member though, but she's been gone for a while now. She left the guild. I'm so sorry; I bet she would've given you a better tour."

"Nonsense," I smiled, "I'm sure you did a better job than she ever could."

Chelia beamed, and her smile was almost as bright as the sun. Her poker face was almost as good as mine; I would never have been able to guess that her cousin had been missing for years if she hadn't told me.

"If I may ask," I pried, "why did your cousin leave Lamia Scale? It's an incredibly powerful guild, and if her magic is anything like yours, she could take high-paying jobs. She would have a comfortable life here, I'm sure."

"She left because she found the monster that destroyed her town," Shelia replied, turning somber. "A while back, a monster named Deliora crushed my cousin's village, killing almost everyone there, including my aunt Mary and uncle Bourbon. A couple of years ago, she and two other Lamia Scale wizards met up with this guy that she called the King of Cool or something like that. They left the guild, went to hunt down Deliora, and we haven't heard from them since."

"Chelia, I'm so sorry," I said. "I hope you hear from them soon. Is there anything ERA can do to help? I have some pull there, so I could ask them to send out a search party or something."

"I don't think there's anything you can do," Chelia replied sadly. "But thanks for asking. I think my family will be fine. After all, we Blendys have the power of love on our side!"

I had seen this act before, of a child trying to fight through pain. This was me, when that boy found me in the well. However, while I used logic to cope, this girl clearly used optimism and her faith in her family. I felt bad that I asked her about her cousin now that I knew the truth, but again, wanting to know more about people and solve mysteries was a habit of mine.

"I'm sure you do," I assured her, though I was skeptical. We sipped our shakes in silence. Well, I sipped. She gulped.

"So," Chelia asked me as she slurped down the last of her shake, "do you need to see anything else? Anything you'd like to know?"

"No, thank you," I replied, "I think I've seen everything I need to. Also," I added, "I'm sorry I asked about your cousin. That wasn't fair to you."

"It's okay," Chelia smiled. "You would have found out about it soon anyway. This whole incident made a huge impact on our guild because we lost three members, but we're already bouncing back! I just know it."

"I'm sure you will; after all, with you at the helm, how could you not? Thank you for everything, Chelia. Have a great day!" And with that, I left Lamia Scale, knowing that I would not be joining. Guilds are like families, and they had clearly suffered a massive loss recently. Lamia Scale was impressive, but I wasn't sure I wanted to be part of a family that was trying to rebuild after a tragedy. They needed to come together and fix this themselves as best they could. Otherwise, they would just turn away potential new members, who might mistakenly think that members of this guild would turn their backs on it in an instant if they saw an opportunity to. The only reason I didn't feel that way about Lamia Scale was because I'd heard the story behind why they left from Chelia.

The next morning, I hailed a boar and carriage after I checked out of my quaint hotel room, and asked to go to Beauregard Town. Next stop: Blue Pegasus. I could only hope that this visit was less tragic.