"Reave-sama? Can I have some money to go and buy some things?" the small girl looked pleadingly up at her babysitter.
Reave sat still on the couch for a moment, that day's issue of Sorcerer Weekly laid out on the coffee table in front of him, "What kind of things?"
Nina thought for a second "a hay bale or six, three cans of paint, a metal pole, twelve steel arrows, a sandwich and a canoe" she smiled innocently at the solid script mage.
"That's stupid! I wouldn't be a responsible babysitter if I let you do that!" he stood up abruptly, "get Cook to make you a sandwich for free! Here's three thousand jewel for your target practice"
Nina gave him a toothy grin "You're so smart Reave-sama! You always know what I'm making!" she skipped off towards the couch where Devlin and Lyndon were sitting, "Hey Lyn-kun! How's it going?"
"Hey Nina-chan…" Lyndon looked down to the floor to hide the blush on his face, "Everything's good…did you wanna get going now?" he looked up at the bored Devlin for approval.
"What are you looking at me for?" Devlin said to the small celestial mage with a shrug, "do what you want; I don't care"
The two children looked up at their babysitter for a second, then to each other, then back at him then back at each other before Nina spoke, "we have so many positive role models. C'mon Lyn-kun let's get a sandwich for the road". Lyndon nodded and followed her to the guild's bar, "Cook!" she yelled, "hello?!"
"What is it!?" a rough voice screamed from the kitchen, "I'm kind of busy here!"
"Can you make a couple of sandwiches?!" some guild member started to turn to see what all the noise was about, "One with salami and pickles and…" Lyndon whispered softly into her ear, "and one with egg and cheese…" he spoke quietly to her again, "and NO mayonnaise this time!"
"Sure princess!" he replied, "Anna'll be out with 'em in a minute!"
The kids sat down on their stools and waited for their lunch to arrive, "I've always wondered Nina-chan…" Lyndon picked up a juice carton and handed one to his friend, "why does Cook always call you princess? It's not like you're related or anything"
Nina looked down with a small, distant smile "No, we're not. But we might as well be" she took a sip from her juice, "I'm the closest thing to a daughter he's ever had…" the girl turned to her friend, "he found me when I was about four years old; on the side of a road north from here. I was out cold, so he picked me up and carried me all the way here; I've been living at the guild ever since"
"Wow…" Lyndon's eyes widened, "hardly anyone at the guild's even seen his face and you're like best friends? What does he look like?"
"Don't know" she replied with a shrug, "the only way we've ever talked is by shouting back and forth from the kitchen. Why don't you just ask Anna? She sees him all the time"
Lyndon almost spat out his juice "I can't ask her!" he had gone a deep shade of red.
Nina stared at him; puzzled for a moment before her face shone with realisation "Oh. My. God." Her grin lit up the whole room, "you like her don't you?!"
"Shut up!" Lyndon put his hand on her mouth, "I do not!"
"You don't what Lyn-kun?" a serene voice came from behind the counter; carrying a tray of sandwiches.
"Uh…" Lyndon his hand away from Nina's mouth and looked at the waitress; her shining blue eyes, polite nature and curvaceous figure made it no wonder why she attracted so much male attention, "Nothing Anna-san!" he spluttered, which enticed a giggle from the two girls.
"Well okay then" she smiled at Lyndon; making his cheeks even more red, "Here are your sandwiches guys, and a little something for the road" she winked at them as she left a foil-wrapped object on the counter, "Bye!"
Lyndon swooned as she walked back to kitchen before inspecting the item she had left carefully.
"Oh just open the damn thing already!" despite her age, Nina had heard her fair share of curse words from Cook, which she used on a regular basis, "I wanna see what it is!"
The boy slowly unravelled the gift, and grinned as soon as he saw what it was, "Yay; Cake!"
"And it's my favourite kind; edible!" Nina grabbed a chunk and shoved it in her mouth, "Scratch that; edible and delicious!" Lyndon picked up a small handful and placed it into his mouth, savouring every bite.
"This is amazing!" Lyndon almost moaned with delight, "It was probably made with love…"
"What was that?" Nina turned to her friend as she stuffed down more, "I couldn't here you because of our cake"
"I think you mean MY cake" the deep voice of Telzo Grimm caught the two off guard, "So get out of the way!"
"Hey that's not yours!" Nina screamed at the S-Class mage as he pushed off her stool, "You can't have it!
"Who's gonna stop me; you?" Telzo smirked wickedly as he took a bite out the cake, "Fat chance!"
"Can I have a try?" the sound of a woman's voice made Telzo turn on his stool; right into the path of an oncoming chicken!
"God damn it Darcy when are you going to stop materialising God damn chickens at my face!" Telzo screamed while spitting out feathers.
Darcy looked in deep thought for a second before answering; "When it stops being so much fun; so when I've kicked it" Darcy smiled as picked up a hen out of nowhere and poised herself in a throwing stance, "Now…do I have ta do that again or are you gonna be a big man and leave them kids alone?"
Telzo stood up and spat a feather out of his mouth, "You win this round cowgirl…but it'll the last time…" he stomped off in the opposite direction, after which Darcy winked at the young mages and headed off for the request board to find a job for her to do.
The two children sat back down and finished their cake, being careful not to touch the part that Telzo had bitten into. Nina yawned once they had finished and jumped down from her stool, "I'm just gonna go to the little girl's room and then we can leave okay?" she asked Lyndon, who nodded and began to fiddle with his keys to pass the time. Nina whistled as she walked over to the bathroom and was so caught up in her tune that she didn't notice a tall figure with their back to her standing in her way.
"Hey watch it kid!" the person turned around to reveal a woman with long purple hair up in a ponytail, a voluptuous figure and deep, entrancing red eyes. "I'm looking for a mage that calls themselves a dragon slayer… do you know where I could find one?"
Nina thought for a moment before speaking, "Dragon slayer in training; Nina Lockwood, at your service lady!"
The woman looked Nina up and down before giving her an expertly crafted façade of a smile, "In training you say? Does the mean there are more… 'experienced' dragon slayers at this guild?"
"You're thinking of Mortis and Liliana! They're not here right now, but they're like the best dragon slayers for miles and miles and miles and miles…" Nina kept going for what seemed like hours until the woman bent down and put a finger to the little girl's lips.
"I get it; they're awesome" her smile was so forced that it was uncanny; "Listen kid, can you do me a favour? Just put this piece of paper…" she pulled an ornate parchment from behind her back and handed it to Nina, "On the request board in about a week, but only if those two dragon slayers are still running about okay?"
The woman smiled at Nina before strutting away from the girl and out of the front entrance. Nina quickly ran over the board and pinned the piece of paper onto it without a second thought, and walked away; happy that she had helped someone out.
The woman hid in a dark alleyway and pressed down on her communications device, "Sir; the fail-safe has been secured. Even if Zane fails spectacularly in his mission, we still have a way of obtaining the dragon slayer"
"Good work Lyn, but I do hope that Zane does succeed, as I have now sent Neku to join his cause and cannot afford to lose both of them"
"Of course Sir", she said, "but a back-up plan is always useful. I will contact you again when I am at a safe distance. Lyn; out"
She turned off her communicator just as a police officer spotted her, "You there! What are you doing?" he ordered.
"Oh nothing officer…" she moved slowly towards him, sashaying her hips as she did so, "Unless you want me to…" She grabbed the officer's neck and kissed him forcefully. At first his screams were that of protest, but they slowly turned into that of pain, and finally into immeasurable agony. She let go, allowing him to fall to the ground as a mere husk of a person, barely recognisable as one. Lyn smiled evilly as she walked deeper into the dark alleyway, It's nice to know I've still got it"
Cameron-Thank you everyone who has been waiting patiently for this chapter! :) So I've decided to kick off our regular uploads with the first death of the series...fun right? Don't forget to R & R and see you next chapter!