Note: excuse grammatical errors.
chapter 2
"Jeez, what took you so long?" Tilith scolded the two Summoners sternly. "The monsters could not have been that strong, right?" She put her hands on her hips, and she was pouting at the Summoners' lateness. Well, Noelle had to admit: the both of them took a rather long time. She knew because a few minutes ago she had checked her watch, and the time stated that they had taken about one and a half hours to get through the plains.
"No, in fact, I ran into one of the top-class Summoners, Karl. Thanks to the five gems he gave me and my summon, I was able to sweep up the monsters, however I also took the time to talk to Karl about the Spirits that dwell in Grand Gaia. Also a little bit more time introducing ourselves." Noelle placed a hand on Stephan's shoulder. Selena, Zephyr and Mifune looked at them with incredulity.
"You get along rather quick, don't you, Noelle." At first, every one of her Spirits had called her 'Master' or addressed her by adding '-sama' after her name. Then soon before they exited the plains, she had told the two of them that it's fine to call her by her name. Initially, they had trouble just addressing Noelle by her name. However it only took them just a few minutes to get used to calling her by her name.
Noelle felt her cheeks slightly burn as she let go of Stephan's shoulder. "Back at Earth - our world - I always had a hard time making friends. The friends I have back in Earth all included me, and I played with them ever since." She shook her head as she continued, "also at school it feels as though I have a lack of presence. That's why I enjoy Grand Gaia, I was able to become good friends with the three of you." I looked at Tilith, Minty and Stephan.
Minty smiled genuinely as she replied, "some people are good at including others, others are not. If you're you, everybody will accept you the way you are. Don't worry, we'll be at your side." Her expression abruptly changed as she continued: "Ah, I almost forgot: this is a token of appreciation from the Imperial Captial Randall. They said they had to thank you for clearing up the monster mess and so they said to give this to you." Minty held out two shiny gems, one for each of them.
"Also, they said each time you 'clean up a monster mess' in the areas to come, they will offer you a gem. If you save them, it really adds up, as there are a lot of places for 'monster cleaning.'"
Noelle and Stephan grabbed a gem. Stephan then stated, "okay, I have five gems." He had an enthusiastic look on his face as he glanced over at Minty, silently asking her for permission to summon. Minty nodded, prompting him to summon. Noelle took a step back as Stephan let the gems float as he had his hands out in front of him, his eyes closed in deep concentration.
Soon enough, a red door appeared before him. Stephan slowly opened his eyes. He then placed his hand on the antique summoning door. It opened just as he touched the crack of where it was supposed to open. Once again, there was a blinding red light that they all had to shield their eyes from the light. When the light diminished, they opened their eyes.
In front of Stephan was a girl with silver hair pulled into a low ponytail. She had calm teal eyes and extremely light skin tone. She had on a mysterious looking armor covering from her elbow down to her hand. It was white like the clouds with a single golden jewel implanted in the armor. She had on a dress with the top half a gray and black color, and the bottom being white. She had on low-heeled black boots. Also behind her were eight blades, all of them emitting a aquamarine colored glow.
The girl quietly inspected her surroundings as she stated, "where am I...?" She placed her right hand gently on her forehead as she looked up to see Stephan. She stared at him for a considerably long amount of time before she introduced herself in a monotone voice: "my name is Sefia. The citizens of Grand Gaia also tend to call me a 'Blade Storm.'"
Stephan smiled genuinely as he also introduced himself, "Stephan's my name. This is Mifune." Stephan took a step aside, revealing the quiet samurai. All he did was nod, although Noelle was certain that she saw Mifune's eyes spark with surprise, maybe. She slightly tilted her head, curious as to why Mifune would be surprised at Sefia. Sefia seemed to return his gaze with the equal look.
Sefia sighed as she inquired Mifune, "do you know...a girl-"
Sefia's inquiry was interrupted by Mifune, which surprised Tilith and Minty greatly, however Noelle did not know why that is. It is indeed possible that they are surprised because Mifune interrupted Sefia? Or is it just that their surprised Mifune even bothered to speak to the element that rivaled each other for probably as long as the elements were even born, which is more than ten thousand years ago.
"Kikuri?" Mifune interrupted. He looked down to the ground, looking rather uncertain. Who in the world is Kikuri, Noelle wondered. The name was Japanese, she knew that for a fact. It's also the same as Mifune. Both their names are Japanese, so it could be possible that they come from Japan? Or a world in which Japanese was it's official language?
Sefia nodded. She explained to all of us of her and Kikuri's relationship, "we...fought together...in the war. Kikuri was pretty sadistic, however somehow I still managed to cooperate with her. She said that I was amusing...or something like that, before she proposed that we fight together. Really, for me, there was no choice. If I declined, she would torture me to death."
Mifune sighed as he replied: "Apparently, that is exactly what Kikuri is known for. I can tell by that expression on your face that you didn't like Kikuri...at all. If you did, then I think there's something wrong with you." He shook his head, gripping the sheath of his katana tighter. Noelle wasn't familiar with the name 'Kikuri.' Is she someone to be hated?
"Um..." Noelle sputtered out unintentionally. Both Sefia and Mifune turned toward her direction, waiting for her to speak. Noelle ever so slightly blushed as she inquired, "um...who's...Kikuri...?" Her voice was extremely hesitant, the reason unknown.
Mifune gritted his teeth as he replied briefly: "You don't want to know, trust me. Her summon rates are rather low, so you needn't worry. If I would describe her in one word, though, it would be 'demon,' which I'll admit: I'm a demon in a way."
Noelle didn't ask Mifune how he was a demon in a way. Abruptly, Tilith broke in, completely changing the subject: "Okay, well now you have a new ally, Stephan, congratulations!" She smiled before her expression hardened as she explained: "If we walk a little bit more, we should reach the Cave of Flames. It's said a beast with claws dwells in that place...it gives me the chills! Anyways, you guys. Are you familiar with fusion?"
Both Noelle and Stephan shook their heads in return. Well Noelle knew the meaning of 'fusion.' However in Grand Gaia, she got the instinct that fusion in this place was different than that of Earth's definition of fusion.
"Oh, well. Now's the best time to explain it." Tilith beamed delightedly. "Fusion is a way to make your Units, or Spirits, stronger. What you can do is place a Spirit next to the Spirit you want to fuse, and you just have to concentrate, just like in summoning. After that, fusion is completed, however, once you fuse a Spirit into another one, they'll disappear, and you can't get them back. Why don't you guys try it? Do you have any of those Slimes? Burny, Squirty, Mossy..."
"I have a Squirty." Noelle stated.
"Gloomy." Stephan said as he stood up.
"Okay, well you, Noelle, can fuse your Squirty with Selena, and Stephan, you can fuse your Gloomy with Mifune." Tilith smiled as she clapped her hands together. "Go on, try it." She prompted them.
They both nodded as Noelle set the Squirty next to Selena, and Stephan set the Gloomy next to Mifune. Zephyr and Sefia took a step back, not wanting to interrupt the fusion process. Noelle and Stephan concentrated like they would do for summoning until the Squirty and Gloomy started to glow and it seemed to disappear and the light that they are now went inside of Mifune's and Selena's body.
Both of them seemed to glow just for a second before going back to normal. Noelle hesitantly asked the two of them, "um...do you feel...stronger?" It was the best word Noelle could come up with, and she couldn't really think of any other way, really.
They slightly smiled as they nodded in reply.
"That's good..." Noelle stated. She then checked the time on her watch. "Wow, does time fly by. We should get going into the Cave of Flames." She smiled as she walked ahead. All the others followed behind her. The grass started getting more shoal the further away they were from the prairie. It seemed reasonable, Noelle thought.
"Alright, guys! We have reached the Cave of Flames." Tilith announced to the exhausted crowd. To be honest, it was only Tilith and Minty that were completely energetic because they were both able to fly. The rest of them had to walk. Tilith then led the way towards the entrance, and when she stepped in the heating cave, she immediately started to break sweat. She didn't get how people were able to make it through here.
Zephyr wiped his sweat on his forehead as he said: "This place is more hot than I had thought." Despite him saying this, he seemed - after wiping his sweat - completely fine, as if it was room temperature in this burning hot place. This was definitely not a place to have any consolation, so why did everyone in Grand Gaia state that witches, humans (the gender being girls) whom know magic and sorcery dwell in this burning cave?
Tilith laughed genuinely despite the current situation as she commented: "Heehee...Zephyr, I don't know if you realized this yet, but what you just said rhymed!" She had a wide smile plastered onto her face.
Zephyr nodded as he replied, "yep, I noticed that." Well, Tilith heard of Zephyr a lot of times; he was most known for his observing skills. Just like now, he knew that the phrase he stated had rhymed.
Abruptly a voice coming from behind the bunch stated in a menacing tone: "And so what are you doing here, in this really hot cave?" They turned to see a girl with messy pink hair and the same colored irises. She wore a black dress rimmed with red stripes. She had a red sash and hanging down from the sash were jewels of blue and orange. Also on the right, hanging down from her sash was a skeletal (replica?) human head. She had black gloves as well. She had light skin tone and on her head was a black witch's hat with a human head skeleton on the hat. She had on black high heeled shoes and she was sitting on a broom.
Tilith whispered into Noelle's and Stephan's ear, "that's Liza, a witch whom wanted to become a priestess, however she ran away in pursuit of magic." Tilith suddenly sensed a power coming from behind Liza. It wasn't extremely strong, however she knew that the power was coming from that of a Summoner. By the feels, the Summoner was a girl.
Abruptly a figure came charging toward Liza and she used a sword to stab Liza. Liza gasped at the pain and turned to see who had stabbed her in the stomach. Blood was leaking out from the wound and the figure's sword was dripping with Liza's blood.
"Tch...who are you?" Liza asked, clutching her stomach tightly.
"I don't give my name to people who hurt innocents." She replied as she attempted to slash at Liza again, to no avail, as Liza created a fire barrier. Liza, without saying anything, then covered herself in flames to retreat. Well, at least she's gone, but they'll never know when she would pursuit them again.
The bunch then looked at the girl. Tilith also closely inspected her features: she was shorter than Noelle and Stephan and she had olive skin tone and long wavy black hair. She was thin and she had brown eyes that were also big as well. She also was clad in turquoise armor. That was the simplest way Tilith could describe the girl standing before them.
The girl introduced herself in a quiet voice, so quiet that we all had to stay silent to hear her name: "my name's Sayomi. Sayomi Tora. It's a pleasure to meet you guys."
Noelle introduced herself to Sayomi as well: "My name's Noelle, it's nice to meet you! Also, this is Selena..." She pointed toward the blue haired girl, "...and this," she jerked her head to Zephyr's direction, "is Zephyr."
"My name's Stephan. You can call me Steph if you want to, though. Mifune is the samurai and Sefia is the girl who has eight blades behind her." He gestured toward the units.
Tilith also introduced herself: "my name's Tilith, one of the goddesses sent here to be your guide. Also this small girl is Minty, an acquaintance of mine." Tilith smiled genuinely at Sayomi. Tilith then asked Sayomi, "do you have any Spirits?"
At that question Sayomi seemed a little hesitant before she nodded: "Yeah, except...he can be a little bit..." She seemed to be searching for a right word, "...troublesome." She finished.
"Troublesome?" Noelle repeated.
She nodded as she held her hands out until a magic circle...a red one, was visible on the ground. Red particles formed together for half a second before dissipating, revealing a boy with berry red hair, ocean blue eyes, similar to the color of Noelle's eyes. He was clad in gold and red armor and also had on a green and gold cape...maybe. He wielded twin blades made of silver and around one of the blades were two necklaces, one was blue the other a deep purple color.
They all blinked at the rich looking armor he had, maybe. The boy had a nice voice as he said: "Zelnite. That's my name." He introduced himself.
Sayomi seemed grit her teeth as she added, "he's a thief; he keeps stealing things from me." She sighed as she shook her head. "However he's good in battle, because we get more Zel and Karma from the enemy."
"Is that so?" Noelle inquired. It would be nice to get a little more Zel and Karma than usual.
Tilith then stated. "Those are called Leader Skills. You have Zelnite as your leader, and so that's why you get a boost in Zel, Karma, and other things. There are a great variety of leader skills, and you can change your leader any time you wish, except in battle. For example, Selena's leader skill has the ability to boost the attack of a Spirit whom has the power of water. Zephyr's leader skill is reducing damage from those bearing the light power, Sefia can boost the attack of those bearing the power of light, and Mifune can increase damage on the enemy when Spark is visible."
Noelle tilted her head as she inquired, "'Spark?' What's that?"
"Well, to put in simple words, Spark increases damage when you're putting in a lot of damage at the same time, so if Sefia attacked at the same time as Zelnite, then Spark would most likely happen, and extra damage will be dealt to the enemy. Just keep that in mind during battle." Tilith smiled.
Noelle, Stephan and Sayomi nodded.
"Also, Spark is good when you're having a pinch in a battle. Simply put, the more Sparks you produce, the better." Tilith explained. "Anyways, beware of that beast with claws. Me and Minty will make our way through this cave first." Without letting any of them speak, Tilith hurried along toward the exit.
Noelle sighed as she said, "well we should get out of here too."
The others nodded, although they looked a little scared. Noelle tilted her head as she inquired: "hey...what's wrong?"
"Uh...Noelle, it's behind you." Stephan stated as he pointed behind Noelle. She turned to see two figures, however it was pretty much already too late, as the figures were charging toward them and made Noelle black out...
A.N.: Wow, I'm glad you guys like my story. I'm getting views from a different variety of countries, and it makes me happy, in fact. I really appreciate the reviews as well, if you read the very top of this chapter, I said to excuse grammatical errors. That's true. I'm not a perfect writer and so I will ask kindly of you to excuse the errors, and correct it in your mind. So now, I added another OC submitted. Also, I'm only accepting 10 OCs, and 7 OCs have already been submitted, so there's not a lot of time left! If you want to be in this story, then be one of the last three to submit! Also, if you guys are wondering when will Luther, Phee, Nalmika, Uda, Zellha, Kajah, Ulkina, Kuhla, Rowgen, Tia, Narza and Kuda will appear, then to answer that: I've no entire clue. I know they'll appear and when they do, I can make them Noelle's or one of you guys' Spirits. (I actually have Uda, so I guess Noelle will have him, hehe. XP) Anyways: A brief thank you to the following:
Seth98: Thanks for the favorite! Appreciate it!
Garth Kaiser: Thanks for the favorite! Appreciate it!
Prisionera de Azkaban: Thanks for the follow! Appreciate it!
And also I will reply to reviews.
TrueDragon117: Thank you for the compliment, the more the merrier, after all! Also, to be honest, I don't have Zephyr yet, however I'm working on it. I think my third rare summon was either a four star Shera or a five star Kajah!
Prisionera de Azkaban: Hehe, thank you, that's my Brave Frontier IGN. I intended for her to be cheerful, so yeah. Speaking of Brave Frontier, if you wanna friend me, then I'm open for slots; my ID is 3605693597. Any yep, your OC appeared in this chapter, though I highly apologize for not putting a lot of dialogue and not matching the personality, I'm not very good at sarcastic personalities, however I will try my best!
Garth Kaiser: Thank you, I feel so happy that you like it! And yeah, I'll accept your OC! I'll have you in the story soon enough! I'm just going in order, and it makes things easy because all of the OCs submitted were by Private Messaging (so far)
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Review and tell me how you guys feel! See you! -Anime Moon Jade