A/N: Phew! I'm so excited to finally get this chapter up!
Sorry for the long wait there, but between updating Love Goes Boom, work and the holidays, I've had no time to do anything! I haven't even been able to update Love Goes Boom since its last update! Although, I do hope everyone's holidays were good! But now that everything has settled back down to normal, I should be able to update more frequently.
Also, I know it's going to look like I uploaded two chapters today, but I just uploaded this chapter twice. I had some readers let me know that they were having problems trying to view the chapter! T.T So hopefully by reloading it up onto the site, it will fix it!
I would like to thank all of you that have been sending in ideas still and those of you that have sent in spell lists! Its helped out a lot!
I would also like to thank all of you that reviewed the last chapter!
Blazingfire55 - Glad to hear that you liked the last chapter! And most of the missions will have their own separate premises, but we'll see how things go. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Zades - Happy to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter! And the plan is to have them go to the GMGs after all the missions. I'm sure some other things will come up first before the GMGs, but yes, that's the next big main event for the story. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Reitzel-chan - I'm happy to hear that you're still liking Team Liam. And there may be something between the two...guess well have to wait and see, lol! But I'm glad that you already have a favorite pairing for the story and that you still love the way that Liam is being portrayed. I really do enjoy writing his character! And you'll just have to wait and see for Samuel's background with Kisame, although, it may be a little different than you're expecting. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Resmesh - Glad to hear that the characters are turning out the way they're supposed to and that they're becoming clearer and more real to you readers! And I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying Team Liam (along with Team Titan). They seem to be a popular team right now. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
dreadburner94 - LOL! Glad to hear that you're still enjoying Shaw's character! He's always interesting for me to write. And we'll find out soon enough what's going on with the children of the town! And I'm happy to hear that you like Akemi's scene as well. Both her and Zell are fun for me to write together. And lol, I kept picturing Kisame as the Naruto Kisame after you mentioned the gills under the mask! But really, he's just going to be a fairly normal looking man (even if the other Kisame is now stuck in my head). I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Benthino - LOL! I'm glad that you loved the scene with the Steele family so much and I'm sorry for leaving it on a cliff hanger! But never fear! We'll find out more soon enough! Those cliff hangers are just too easy to use right now, lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Credits
Norman Randulf - dreadburner94
I don't own Fairy Tail!
Please enjoy!
Chapter 9
"Finally! We're here!" Sherry smiled as she jumped off the train that she, Reese and Selena had been stuck on for almost two days straight, "I hate being cooped up like that!"
They had been making their way to a town called Liatris, which was located fairly far from Magnolia. They had come to the town to look into a Treasure Hunter Guild named Chrome Rebellion. The guild had apparently been taking over the town in search for a specific relic.
"Yeah, I think we figured that much out," Reese sighed, running a hand through his silver hair.
"Yes," Selena added, "Halfway through the ride you began to pace the train car and began talking to both the celestial spirits you have contracts with."
"Do you even have any idea how freaked out all those people on the car with us were?" Reese asked.
Sherry sweat dropped at their responses, "But I can't just ignore Ignis and Luna!" she cried.
"Well, they could've picked a better time to contact you," Reese huffed, "All those people were staring at us for the rest of the trip! Look! Even now they're staring at us!" he shouted, pointing to the rest of the people exiting out of the train.
Selena easily smacked him upside the back of his head.
"Ow! What the hell?!"
"They're only looking because you're making such a scene," Selena said in an even tone.
Reese mumbled to himself in irritation, but said nothing else as he crossed his arms.
"Now, I'm sure the Mayor of the town is waiting for us," Selena mentioned, turning to walk away from the train station, "I sent word ahead of us that we would be coming, so let's get moving."
Sherry happily followed the blonde woman while Reese was the last to follow with irritation still written across his face. The town seemed nice enough with a large main town square with houses surrounding it. Flowers and trees filled the open gaps between houses and some of the townspeople nodded 'hellos' to the team as they passed. Selena had stopped only once to ask an older gentleman where the Mayor's office was. They were now walking through the town square towards the large building that the gentleman had pointed them to.
"For a Treasure Hunter Guild taking over the town, the people seem fairly happy," Reese mentioned, having finally gotten over his pouting session, "I don't think we've even seen any of the guild members either," he added as the group was just passing by a small café.
"I suppose we'll just have to keep an eye open for them then," Selena mentioned.
Just after they had fully passed the café, a chair being knocked backwards on the outside patio and a man's loud voice could be heard. The group of three mages stopped and looked back towards the noise, seeing a well-built man standing at a table and glaring at the waitress in front of him.
"You damn klutz!" the man shouted, coffee dripping from his pants.
"I…I'm very sorry," the waitress stuttered, "It…it was an accident!"
"Yeah right," the man retorted, "You saw the guild mark on my friend over there and you figured that you'd get even with us by pouring my coffee all over me!"
"N…no! I promise! It was just an accident!" the young woman cried.
"Don't lie!" he shouted, grabbing onto her wrist tightly which caused her to yelp loudly in response.
Reese's eyes narrowed at the man as he began walking towards the café patio. Selena sighed a little at his reaction. They would be late getting to the Mayor's office with what Reese was about to do, but she knew that the man at the café deserved it. If Reese hadn't moved to do something, she was sure that she would have done something herself. They both tended to have a sense of honor that they couldn't ignore.
Before the man could take any other actions against the waitress, Reese grabbed onto the arm that was holding onto the woman's wrist. It was then that Reese saw a silver guild mark on the man's forearm that looked like two crowbars crisscrossing each other. He realized that they had finally found some of the members of the Treasure Hunter Guild that was terrorizing the town.
"What's your problem?" the man growled, "Let go of me! This is none of your business!"
"Let go of the woman first," Reese retorted lowly.
"I told you, boy, it's none of your business. Now get lost!"
"Amp: Reinforcement," Reese said, sending his magic up through his hand. His hand clamped down even harder than it had been, almost to the point where it could break the man's arm if Reese pushed down any harder. The man shouted in pain and quickly released the woman's wrist. Reese was about to use more of his magic to actually break the man's arm, but a solid hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"That's enough, Reese," Selena said with an even tone.
Reese let go of the man's arm after hearing Selena's voice, watching as a bruise instantly covered the man's arm where he had been holding.
"You're gonna regret that, you punk!" the man shouted as he and his friends ran from the café.
"Psh, yeah right!" Reese shouted back before turning to look at the waitress, "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she answered quietly, "Those guys are always giving us trouble here, so thank you."
"You're welcome," he said.
"Reese, we need to go," Selena stated.
"All right, all right," he huffed, "I'm coming," he added before he nodded once more to the waitress and followed the other two members of his team towards the Mayor's office again.
"Looks like those guys were from Chrome Rebellion," Sherry said, "And they were big jerks!"
"Well, I would assume treasure hunters wouldn't be very friendly," Selena replied, "They're fueled by greed. That's why they became treasure hunters in the first place – to find more valuable things to either keep for themselves or sell for outrageous prices."
"Hopefully the Mayor can give us more information on them," Sherry mentioned as she looked over at Reese, who was still wearing a serious face, "Are you all right, Reese?"
Reese managed to pull himself from his thoughts when he heard Sherry's light voice and looked down at her. He saw the concerned look she wore and he suddenly felt guilty for making her worry, "Yeah, I'm just fine," he said, letting a smile spread across his face, "That guy just made me angry is all."
"Yeah he was the biggest jerk! Attacking a defenseless woman like that!" Sherry shouted, "But luckily you were able to stop him!" she smiled widely.
"Of course! Like a guy like that would ever be able to take me on!" he shouted as well, both he and Sherry standing in victorious poses.
Selena simply sighed in response before she realized that they were in front of the Mayor's office, "Looks like this is the place," she said, interrupting her friends' victory moment. They all looked up to see a brick building in front of them with neatly cut flower bushes surrounding it, "Let's head on in."
They all headed in quickly, the front secretary leading them back to the Mayor.
"You all arrived much quicker than expected," the Mayor smiled at them, "The name's Omar Wilson. Nice to meet you all."
"You as well," Selena nodded at him, "So it's safe to say that you received my message."
"Yes ma'am," Omar answered, "It was diligent on your part to let me know you were coming, but not entirely necessary."
"That's just how our Selena is," Sherry smiled, "She likes to have her bases covered when it comes to missions."
"Yes, well, it seemed better to let you know ahead of time that someone was coming to answer your problem," Selena stated, "We actually got to see a bit of your predicament on our way here."
"Oh? You ran into some of those treasure hunting thugs?"
"Yeah, but Reese managed to chase them off," Sherry answered, "They were giving a waitress at one of your cafes a hard time."
"It's about time someone stood up to them," Omar said.
"Why haven't you all done that yourselves?" Reese asked.
"We're all about love and peace here in Liatris," Omar replied, a light beginning to shine behind him while flowers floated around him. Both Reese and Selena cocked their eyebrows at the suddenly glowing man while Sherry smiled and stared wide-eyed at one of the floating flowers in front of her, "No one in this town could ever harm a fly! Peace is always the way to go! And love is always the answer!"
"Uh…sure," Reese said, "Well, while you focus on all that love and peace, your town is being terrorized by these thugs."
"I know," Omar sighed, his head dropping down as the light and flowers disappeared. Sherry's own head dropped in disappointment when the flower she was reaching out for suddenly popped and disappeared, "That's why I sent out the request for help. Please help save my town!" he cried, large streams of tears pouring down his cheeks.
"We wouldn't be here otherwise!" Reese shouted, not being able to handle the ups and downs of the man's emotions. This earned him another smack upside the head from Selena.
"There's no need to be rude, Reese," she said calmly before turning to look at Omar, "I understand that you're under a lot of pressure, but any bit of information that you can give us about Chrome Rebellion and what they are hunting down in your town would be very helpful."
"Yes, of course," Omar replied, straightening himself out, "Chrome Rebellion is a fairly large Treasure Hunter guild. I really don't mind them hunting down a treasure here, but they are completely taking over Liatris and ransacking all the shops and homes in order to find whatever it is they are looking for. I've met up with their Guild Master, Barnaby Kraken, a few times to try to sort things out. He's a pretty level headed man, but he's extremely focused on whatever it is they are trying to find. He has stated every time we meet that he and his guild will not leave until they've found what they're looking for, but he would do his best to keep his guild under control."
"Tch, doesn't seem like he's doing a great job of that," Reese huffed.
"What exactly are they looking for?" Selena asked.
"Barnaby won't tell me," Omar answered, "But he keeps mentioning the stars and a guardian spirit, Byakko. His exact words were, 'Byakko will reveal all our treasures'."
Sherry's eyes went wide when Omar brought up the name 'Byakko'. She felt her heart suddenly pound hard in her chest while both Ignis and Luna began to talk to her at the same time.
'Byakko!' Ignis shouted, his loud voice echoing through Sherry's body, 'We must find Byakko!'
'He's one of the Celestial Beast Guardians!' Luna yelled, her voice much higher pitched than Ignis's.
'You must find him at all costs!' they both shouted.
"Shut up the both of you!" Sherry shouted, surprising the other three in the room.
A long silence passed through the small group until Omar finally spoke, "Is she all right?"
"She's talking to the voices in her head," Selena stated as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Reese smacked his palm to his forehead while Sherry dropped her head in shame with a large sweat drop falling down her head.
"Why do you have to say it like that, Selena?" Sherry cried.
"I don't understand why you're upset," the blonde woman answered, "It's true, isn't it?"
"Selenaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Sherry whined.
Reese sighed at the two women before turning back to Omar, "Just ignore them for now. Do you know where Chrome Rebellion has stationed themselves?"
"Yes," Omar said, "They are set up just outside of town to the north. It's actually by a large cave, so you shouldn't miss it."
"Great, thanks," Reese smiled, "We'll have your town back to normal in no time."
"Thank you!" Omar shouted as he began crying again, "Remember peace and love!"
"Uh…yeah, thanks for that advice," Reese replied before grabbing onto both of the women, who were still going back and forth, "Come on you two. We have work to do."
"But she's saying I'm crazy!" Sherry shouted.
"I never said you were crazy," Selena retorted in her usual even tone, "I simply stated that you listen to the voices in your head."
"Ignis and Luna aren't just voices!"
"And she has names for them," Omar mumbled as his own sweat drop slid down his head.
"Now the Mayor thinks I'm crazy too!" Sherry sobbed, "Selenaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" she whined again as large tears poured out of her eyes.
"There, there," Selena said, awkwardly patting Sherry's head.
"You two are the biggest weirdoes I've ever met," Reese sighed, before earning a bop on the head from both women, "And so cruel too," he added with a pout.
. : + : .
"Are you sure that you five want to go up Mt. Hakobe?" an older gentleman asked, giving the group of five Thunder Stone mages a worried look.
"Yes, we do," Walker answered, wearing a thicker black long sleeved shirt, a black scarf and a pair of black gloves in order to handle the colder weather of the mountain, "We have a mission to complete up there."
"Well, if you're sure," the man said, "I'll take you as far I can go with the carriage, but after that you'll all be on your own. Besides the freezing cold, there are also Vulcans and Blizzardvern that run wild up there."
"We're well aware of that," Quinn retorted. She wore warm, black leggings underneath her shorts that were tucked into her boots, a long sleeved white shirt under a green, short sleeved hoodie that stopped above her stomach, a dark green scarf and her own pair of black gloves to fight off the cold. She would have worn more clothing, as Quinn was not a fan of the cold weather, but she had to limit herself in order to move around properly on the mission.
The older man nodded at them before he gave one last attempt to get the group to turn around, "There's also been word of some strange happenings up there too. A lot of people say it feels like dark magic."
"Look old man!" Yuna suddenly shouted, becoming irritated with the man. She wore a thick green jacket in place of her vest and a pair of blue gloves, "We don't care about what's all going on up on the damn mountain! Either you're gonna take us there or you aren't! So which is it?!"
"Whoa there, grizzly bear," Diesel said as he yanked her away from the man by the back of her jacket. Diesel had only added a simple pair of black earmuffs to his outfit. Ink stood beside him with only a bright orange scarf added to the leather jacket he wore, "The man's just trying to do his job, no matter how annoying he's being at the moment."
The man gave Diesel a hard look in reply.
Walker sighed heavily at the fact that he was already having to do damage control after their mission had barely started, "Sir, please excuse my friends," he began, trying to sound as polite as possible, "But we would really appreciate it if you would give us a ride up the mountain. Just take us as far as you can and then you can be rid of us. We understand all the dangers that come with Mt. Hakobe, but we are mages and we can handle ourselves."
The man was quite for a long moment before he let out his own sigh, "Fine, get in the carriage."
"Thank you," Walker said, feeling relief that he had managed to convince the man to take them after both Yuna's and Diesel's comments.
Just as the group began to climb into the carriage, something caught Quinn's eye. She saw a young boy attempting to get people to take pictures in town. She smiled softly, thinking it appropriate that they all get their picture taken for their first mission.
"Wait!" Quinn called out to the man driving the carriage, "Just give us a few minutes!"
The man nodded at her and waited patiently in the driver's seat of the carriage.
"What now?" Walker asked.
"We should get our picture taken," Quinn smiled at the rest of her team.
"What for?" Diesel asked, "I already see enough of all your ugly faces every day."
"Geez, you really are an idiot, oil slick," Yuna huffed at him, "It would be to commemorate our first mission."
"Exactly!" Quinn grinned.
Walker finally smiled, "I like the idea. Let's do it."
"Guys, we should really get going. We don't want to waste the day light," Zander said, finally deciding to speak up. He had simply changed his gray t-shirt to long sleeved, gray shirt to help with the cold. He stood in the carriage, having been the first one to climb into it, and stared at his team with a straight face.
"Well it looks you're outvoted," Quinn smirked. She walked up to him and pulled on his arm to get him to move, "Stop being such a grump and come take a picture. You've been straight faced since we left the guild. Where's that infamous smirk you're always wearing?"
"I thought you hated that smirk?" he asked with a huff as Quinn successfully pulled him out of the carriage.
"It suits you better than such a serious face," she answered, "So lighten up, unless there's something else that we should be worried about," she added, giving him a knowing stare.
Zander sighed before finally managing to pull a smirk onto his face, "Of course not. You worry too much, Quinn-y."
Quinn's eye twitched at the nickname, "Stop calling me that! You know how much I hate it!"
Zander simply stuck his tongue out at her in response.
"Gah! You're so immature!" she shouted as she turned away from the redhead and walked over to the boy who was taking pictures, a vein popping out of her forehead when she heard Zander snickering behind her, "Excuse me!" she continued to shout, not being able to control her anger at the moment.
"Y…yes?" the boy stuttered fearfully.
Quinn realized what she had just done and sighed heavily in response, hearing the rest of her team laugh at her in the background. She took a deep breath before she continued, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout, but would you be willing to take our picture?" she asked, motioning to herself and her team.
"Of course!" the boy smiled widely, "Just stand together and I'll get it taken."
"Great," Quinn replied with her own smile, "Come on guys!" she called out to others as they began to move towards her.
Diesel stood at one end with Ink sitting on his shoulder. He leaned down onto Yuna's head, much to the young woman's displeasure. She stood with her arms crossed, but wore a smirk nonetheless. Walker stood in the middle with a wide smile, his arm wrapped around Quinn's shoulder. Quinn smiled brightly beside Walker as she looped her arms around one of Zander's to make sure he would stay in place for the picture. And Zander finally let his true, infamous smirk spread across his face, slightly leaning in towards Quinn for the picture.
"All right, stay right there," the boy said, lifting the camera up to his eyes. He clicked down on the button to snap the picture, capturing that one moment forever, "We'll get the picture developed in the next day or two and you all can come pick up a copy after that at the picture store in town."
"Thank you," Quinn said before they all turned to finally climb into the carriage. Once they were all settled in, the carriage began to move, "So do we have a game plan?" Quinn asked as she crossed one leg over the other.
"Well, we don't even know what kind of magic that these dark mages use," Walker answered, "So it may be a bit hard to think up a plan of attack. We may just have to wait and see what kind of magic they use and then make our plan from there. There's five of them, so we'll just match up the best person to fight them when the time comes."
"I suppose that will have to do," Quinn said.
"Why is the guild even on Mt. Hakobe in the first place?" Yuna asked, "I mean, it just seems like a really random place for them to be."
"We'll probably have to wait to find that out as well when we find them," Walker answered, "Maybe they're lying in wait until they decide to attack Magnolia."
"If that's the case, then how the hell did we even get a request to take them out?" Diesel asked.
The entire group became quiet at that question. They hadn't really thought of where the request had come from, considering they had been too excited about the large reward that came with it.
"It could be a trap," Yuna mentioned.
"Well, it's too late to turn around now," Walker said, "If there is a dark guild up here then we need to stop them from whatever they're planning."
The rest of the team nodded in agreement.
Silence took over the carriage, the team lost in their own thoughts for the time being. Quinn took the moment to look over at Zander, seeing a serious look across his face again. It was strange to see such a look on the man's face. Even when fighting those three giants from her last mission, he hadn't worn a look like that. She had wished that she would have had more time to question him back at the guild about why he wanted to take this mission so badly. It just seemed very out of character for him to be so persistent about something like a mission. And it was more out of character for him to look so serious. She inwardly sighed, deciding to not think on the subject any longer. It wasn't like she was going to get any answers on it without questioning Zander himself and that wasn't going to happen in the carriage with the rest of their team in hearing range. Before Quinn could start thinking about anything else, the carriage suddenly stopped.
"Looks like this is where we get off," Walker said, opening the back door. Wind and snow rushed around them, looking like a dangerous snow globe, "This really better be worth it," he added, staring flatly at the weather.
"I can't believe I agreed to this," Quinn said, staring at the snow with her own flat stare.
"Oh, come on you two! You afraid of a little snow?!" Zander shouted as he jumped out of the carriage and threw snowballs at both Walker and Quinn. Both snowballs hit them directly in the face. Walker and Quinn stood frozen for a long moment while the others laughed at them. They quickly wiped their faces of the snow, their eyes landing on redhead.
"Zander!" Quinn shouted, jumping out of the carriage and chasing after him, "Get back here! You're going to pay for that!"
"Hey, it got you out of the carriage, didn't it?!" he shouted back to her.
"Aren't you gonna chase him down too?" Diesel asked, looking back at Walker, who had exited the carriage himself.
"I'll get him back eventually," Walker smirked, "I'll let Quinn handle it for now," he added before looking over to the driver, "Thanks again for the lift."
"No problem," he replied, "Just be careful up here. I wasn't joking about strange things going on."
"We understand," Walker nodded at him before walking in the direction that Zander and Quinn had ran off in.
"Take Over: Black Bear!" Yuna suddenly shouted from behind Walker and Diesel. In a blink of an eye, the small green haired girl turned into a large, black bear. She began running passed the two men and Ink, swiping back a large amount of snow at them with her paw.
"I hate her," Diesel said flatly, wiping off snow from his face.
"Looks like I have two people to get revenge on," Walker smirked, shaking snow off himself as well.
Yuna kept on running to catch up with Quinn and Zander. She managed to reach them in time to see Quinn tackle Zander down into the snow. Quinn smashed Zander's face deeper into the snow before flipping over to land on her back and make a snow angel. Zander popped his head out of the snow to send a glare over at Quinn, white fluff sitting on the end of his nose.
"I thought you hated the cold," he said when he saw her smiling while still making the snow angel, "Yet there you are rolling in it."
"Well, we're going to be stuck up here for a while, so I might as well make the best of it," she answered, "Besides, didn't you ever play in the snow as a kid?"
Zander didn't answer her as he looked away from her. Quinn quirked an eyebrow at his reaction, but she didn't have a chance to question it when Yuna was suddenly in her face. Quinn laughed loudly when Yuna's bear form started sniffing at her and nudging at her with her nose and paws in play. Quinn lifted herself from the snow and tackled the large bear to the ground. The two girls continued wrestling while Zander stood and dusted himself off. Walker, Diesel and Ink had finally caught up to them just as the girls were rolling rather close to the edge of the mountain. Right as Walker was about to call out to them to stop them, a large body busted through the cliff side.
All of the men's eyes went wide as a Blizzardvern exploded through the ice and snow and rock, the large, dragon-like creature letting out a loud roar. Their eyes then fell to the two women who had gotten caught within the explosion and were now falling down with all the rubble and snow.
"Shit!" Walker cursed, being the first of the men to come out of his shock. He tried running towards the women, but the large Blizzardvern landed right in front of him to block his way.
On top of the draconian creature was a man of average height, standing at 5'9" with a light tan and a muscular build. His black hair was slicked back with a single streak of gray hair running through it. His neatly trimmed beard and goatee were also black with specks of gray throughout it. His left eye was covered with a black eye patch with a scar appearing out from under it while his right eye was droopy and violet in color with a ring of blue around the pupil. He wore a dark violet, long sleeved shirt and black pants with a brown leather belt. The pants were tucked into silver greaves. Over top of his shirt he wore silver alloy body armor with a black trim that was fastened by brown leather straps and gold buckles. He wore matching armor on his arms and shoulders along with brown leather gloves and a black sheath hanging from his left hip, the handle of the sword having a burgundy cloth wrapped around it. Finally, he donned a black shoulder cape over his right shoulder that was a dark violet on the inside and had his dark guild mark stitched in gold on the outside of it.
"Zander Ealdwine," the man atop the Blizzardvern said with a cold voice and a cold smirk.
"Norman Randulf," Zander growled in return.
"Move, you bastard!" Diesel shouted, worried about the two women that had fallen over the edge.
"Memory Take: Wind Glider!"
"Take Over: Falcon!"
Both women's shouts hit the men's ears, causing them to look towards the cliff side to see a large, dark brown falcon shoot up into the air as well as Quinn, who looked like she was floating in mid-air. Under her feet was a large skateboard-like shape made out of wind to allow her to move freely through the air.
"It seems the young ladies are tougher than they appear," Norman said, looking back down towards Zander, "I suppose it wouldn't be any fun if they went down as easily as Sieglinde, would it Zander?"
"Shut up!" Zander shouted, anger beginning to overtake him, "Leave them alone!"
"You have a soft spot for both women?" Norman asked, "You do remember what happened to the last woman you cared for, don't you? Why don't we watch and see how well they can fight off the others from my guild."
"Oil Dragon's Roar!" Diesel shouted, sending out a wave of power and oil towards Norman and the Blizzardvern.
"Ice Magic: Ice Wall!" Norman shouted in replied, dragging his left hand from the bottom right of his body across the left of him. This caused a large wall of ice to erupt from the ground in front of himself and the draconian creature he sat on. The roar hit the wall, chipping several large pieces from it. Though, it kept standing through the attack, protecting Norman. Once Diesel's attack was finished, the Blizzardvern smashed its tail through the rest of the ice, slamming it into Diesel. This sent the man flying backwards with Ink quickly running after him, "I would suggest sitting still for the time being unless you want to be eaten in one bite."
"Tch," was all Diesel replied with as he managed to sit back up after smacking into the mountain side.
Norman gave them another icy smirk before snapping his fingers. Suddenly, four more Blizzardverns with the other four mages of Norman's guild riding on their backs appeared around Quinn and Yuna. Yuna instantly flew higher into the air, two of the mages following after her. This left the last two mages to take on Quinn.
"It won't be that easy," Quinn said lowly, narrowing her eyes at the men.
One of the Blizzardvern let out a roar as the mage atop it ordered it to move forward.
"Memory Take: Liquid Fire!" Quinn shouted. She suddenly spit out a stream of lava at the large creature coming at her. The lava directly hit the Blizzardvern, sending the creature down the mountain side with a painful screech. The mage that had been controlling the creature jumped from its back and landed on the Blizzardvern that the second mage was controlling.
"Seems the woman has some surprises," Norman said, "But all good things must come to an end."
"Quinn! Look out!" Zander shouted, seeing one of the men pull out a long whip.
"I don't think so!" Walker yelled, focusing in on the whip, "Weight Manipulation: Heavyweight!"
The attack was sent towards the whip and in an instant, the man holding the weapon was struggling in keeping it up.
"What the hell?!" the man shouted.
"Let go of it!" the other man shouted, "We can't stay flying with that thing!"
The man instantly dropped the whip, watching it bust through the rocks below him from the sheer weight of it. They looked up to see Quinn smirking at them as she grabbed onto her sai. She controlled her Wind Glider to move forward fast, hitting the man that had been holding the whip across the cheek with the end of a sai. A long scratch instantly appeared with blood leaking out of it.
"Get her!" he shouted, holding a hand to his cheek.
The Blizzardvern quickly took off after her, the fight now becoming a race.
While that was going on, Yuna was higher up in the air still dodging the other two mages. She had managed to make several scratches on the men's faces with her sharp talons. She flew just a little higher in order to watch Quinn outrace the Blizzardvern that was after her. Right as Quinn was passing over the men on their team, the mage controlling the draconian creature sent out a blast of Wind Magic at her. This knocked her off of the Wind Glider and into the mountain wall across from her. The second mage pulled out another whip from his re-quip space and used it to catch both of her wrists within it, causing her to drop her sai into the snow. She hung in mid-air, clenching her teeth from the pain of being slammed into a rock wall. The two mages laughed as they brought her to hang right in front of Norman.
"Quinn!" Zander shouted.
"Looks like you have an extra soft spot for this one," Norman smirked knowingly, lifting Quinn's chin up with his right index finger, "She's a fairly pretty one too."
"Don't touch her!" Zander continued to shout, pulling out his standard steel sword. Just as he was about to attack Norman himself, the older man pulled out his sword from the black sheath. It was a dark steel katana with a Darkness Lacrima implanted into the pommel of the sword.
Norman easily set the blade against Quinn's neck, "You remember Twilight Sliver, don't you, Zander? One bad move from you or your friends and I'll slice her neck with you own master's sword."
Zander stayed in his defensive pose until he saw Norman push the blade hard enough against Quinn's skin to draw a small amount of blood. Zander growled lowly as he slammed his sword back into his gray sheath.
"Good choice," Norman said.
A sudden cry from Yuna's falcon form caught everyone's attention. She had her talons aimed out towards the whip in order to rip it in half. Just as she was about to slice into the whip, the other two mages that had been chasing her threw a large rope net over her. She let out another loud, falcon cry right before one of the mages smacked her against the head with rock, successfully knocking her out. This caused her to revert back to her normal, human form.
"Yuna!" Walker shouted as he watched one of the mages throw the rope net with Yuna in it over his shoulder.
"Looks like you couldn't do anything yet again, Zander," Norman laughed, "But if you'd like to try your luck a third time, you can come find the women at the top of the mountain. That's where I'll be waiting for you if you have the guts to show up."
"Norman!" Zander shouted, the name echoing across the mountain as he flew off with his guild and the women.
"Zander! I swear to God! You better show up!" Quinn shouted down to him before she got too far from her team, "And you better bring my sai too!"
Both Walker and Diesel sweat dropped at her words, surprised she was still able to find a reason to be mad at Zander in all of the chaos. They quickly turned their attention on said redhead to watch him drop to his knees in the snow.
"Dammit!" Zander shouted, punching a fist into the snow.
Ink quickly jumped down from Diesel's shoulder to where he had seen Quinn's sai fall. He easily found the black steel weapons in all the whiteness around him. He picked them up and ran back over to Zander, who was now surrounded by both Walker and Diesel. He handed the weapons over to Zander and the redhead clutched onto them tightly.
"So," Walker began in a serious tone, "I think you have some explaining to do, Zander."
. : + : .
Terran and Kimera teased each other at the front of their group as they walked through a town called Iris. Hikari smiled softly at the pair as she walked next to Mahrin-Kah while Flora walked directly in front of her. She currently had her Flute Scythe attached to a holster on her back.
"So Rin-chan, I hope the train ride from Magnolia to Iris wasn't a bad trip for you," Hikari said, looking over at the nervous girl, "I know that Terran and Kimera can get a little rambunctious when they're cooped up for a long time."
"It was fine," she answered, looking towards the ground.
"And you don't need to be so nervous around us either," the Dragon Slayer smiled gently, "I want to be your friend."
Mahrin-Kah was quiet for a moment before she finally glanced over at Hikari, "Why?" she asked, rubbing her hand up and down her left arm.
"Well, Anna trusted our team enough to take you in and I want to keep that trust," Hikari answered, "Plus, I like you and I think you could use some friends. You're always so quiet at the guild that I've barely noticed you."
"I don't want to upset anyone," Mahrin-Kah replied.
"Upset?" Hikari asked, trying her best not to laugh, "Have you seen our guild? People are fighting and arguing more than half the time."
"They all seem angry," the blonde stated.
"They're not angry," Hikari retorted, "That's just how they show they care."
"I don't understand," Mahrin-Kah said, "Doesn't fighting with someone usually mean that people are angry?"
"Not all the time," Hikari smiled softly, "It just shows how much people can open up to each other. Look at those two, for instance," she said, pointing towards Terran and Kimera.
"Shut up Terran!" Kimera shouted, "I'm not clums-" she started, but was cut off as she tripped over a rock and face planted into the ground.
Terran roared in laughter, "Yeah, sure, you're not clumsy!"
Kimera jumped up from the ground and turned fire-filled eyes on Terran, "It's not funny!" she shouted, stomping down a foot.
"Careful there," he said in between his laughter, "You might trip again."
"Terran!" she shouted in reply.
"See?" Hikari grinned, "That's just how those two are, but it's because they care for each other that they can be so open with each other. Don't you want to be close to other people like that, Rin-chan?"
"I suppose it would be nice," Mahrin-Kah answered, watching Terran and Kimera closely with hopeful eyes. She quickly shook her head, turning her attention back to the ground, "But it's probably best if I don't make waves."
Hikari sighed at the blonde's words, wishing that she had more confidence. She suddenly felt Flora patting her leg.
"Don't worry so much, Hikari," Flora smiled up at her, "We just need to give her more time. Be patient and keep talking to her and she'll eventually open up."
"All right," Hikari replied, smiling down to her Exceed.
"So what's the exact mission again?" Kimera asked, turning to look back at the other two girls.
Flora was the one to answer as she pulled out the request form that she had rolled up neatly, "It looks like the museum back in Magnolia is requesting to have a lost relic found so they can place it in one of their showcases. The museum curator got wind of this specific relic being here in Iris and they actually sent a team of archeologists already to look for it."
"So why did they request us then?" Terran asked.
"It seems that they have come into a bit of trouble during the excavation," Flora answered, "Looks like the cave that the artifact is buried in has been booby-trapped."
"Booby-trapped?" Mahrin-Kah repeated nervously.
"Yep," Flora answered, "They're afraid of sending any of their people in since they may get hurt. They figured that sending in mages to retrieve the relic would be much safer."
Mahrin-Kah let out a small 'eep' at the thought of having to take on all those booby-traps. She didn't understand how the other members of her team looked so calm and even excited about the mission. If it wasn't safe to send normal people into the cave then how is it any safer sending in a bunch of teenage mages? She had really wished that Anna hadn't been so persistent about finding her a team. Now she had to take on such a dangerous mission and who knows what kind of condition she would come back to the guild in.
"Don't look so worried, Rin-chan!" Hikari grinned over at her, "There are five of us to take on all those traps! We'll make it into the cave and back out in no time!"
"Maybe you better stick close with her when we enter the cave, Hikari," Terran suggested, watching as dozens of large beads of sweat poured down Mahrin-Kah.
"Of course! I won't let anything hurt her!"
"That's what you said on the last mission we went on about me," Kimera mumbled, sending Hikari a flat stare, "And I still ended up in the hospital for three days."
The beads of sweat started to roll down faster on Mahrin-Kah.
"That's only because you managed to trip over a crack in the ground and tumbled down the entire length of that mountain," Hikari retorted, "Up until then, things were going great!"
Mahrin-Kah was on the verge of fainting until Terran interrupted the two girls.
"Um…maybe we should talk about something else?" he asked, fanning Mahrin-Kah in hopes that she really wouldn't faint on them.
The two girls stopped arguing and looked over at the other two members of their team, sweat drops of their own falling down the sides of their head upon seeing Mahrin-Kah's current state.
"Anyways," Kimera began, "What's the relic that we have to retrieve?"
"It says here that's it's called the Mage's Chalice," Flora replied, "But no information other than that, so hopefully the archeologists that we'll meet up with soon have more information on it."
"Well what are we waiting for?" Hikari asked, "Let's get going!" she shouted happily, pulling Mahrin-Kah with her while the other three followed.
Soon enough, they group made it to the cave where the dig had been going on. They received a few odd stares since most of the people in the area were a bit older than them and were dressed in worn looking clothes. Eventually, Kimera bumped into a young woman while she was looking around the place.
"I'm so sorry!" Kimera said, clapping her hands together in front of her.
The young woman laughed at her reaction before speaking, "It's quite all right," she said, "You all look a bit lost. Is there anything that I can help you with?" she asked.
The mages looked up at the woman to see that she was in her mid-twenties with long brown hair thrown up into a high ponytail. Her bangs fell into hazel eyes and she wore a warm smile. She had on a pair of old jeans, brown boots and a white t-shirt that had dirt smudges all over it.
"Yeah," Terran answered, "We're mages from Thunder Stone. We're here to answer the request sent out to retrieve the relic from the cave."
"Great, you're here finally!" she smiled, "Although, you all seem rather young."
"Don't worry about age," Hikari smiled, "We'll get the job done no matter what! We promise!"
"All right then," the woman replied, "My name's Stevie Turner and I'm the one running this operation."
The mages all made their introductions, Hikari giving the woman Mahrin-Kah's name so she wouldn't have to stutter it out.
"So, would you be able to give us any more information on this chalice so we know what we're dealing with?" Flora asked from atop Hikari's head.
"Of course," Stevie answered, "It was named the Mage's Chalice because it was believed that any person who drank from it that did not have magical powers would gain them. Though, it's just a legend. The cup can't really give anyone powers, but it is very old and priceless. That and with the legend surrounding it are the reasons that museum wants it so badly," she explained as they began walking towards the entrance of the cave, "Honestly, I would get the chalice myself, but after digging away the entrance of the cave it set off one of the traps. It almost shot an arrow through one the digger's heads. That's when I contacted the museum to let them know that I wasn't about to sacrifice my workers for a cup that doesn't even do anything. So that's where you all come in," she said. She then looked worriedly over at Mahrin-Kah who practically looked like a ghost at the moment, "Um…is she alright?"
"Yeah, she's fine," Terran laughed nervously, fanning Mahrin-Kah again to make sure she wouldn't pass out, "She just gets a little nervous about booby-traps."
"If you say so," Stevie said, "Well, here's the entrance," she began, motioning towards a large cave opening, "I need to go check up on a few things, but if you need anything before you head on in let me know; otherwise, good luck!"
The group nodded at her before she walked away. They quickly returned their attention back to the cave entrance.
"Well, I guess it's now or never," Kimera said.
"Rin-chan! Wake up! It's time to start our mission!" Hikari grinned widely.
"Oh no," Mahrin-Kah groaned, "I'm going to die."
"You're not gonna die," Terran laughed, "You have us around to keep you safe," he smiled widely.
"But…but what if I fall down a hill like Kimera?" Mahrin-Kah asked.
"Well, you're not a klutz like her, so you won't fall!" Terran answered.
"Hey! That's not funny!" Kimera shouted as the two entered the cave.
"Let's go, Rin-chan," Hikari said, gently pulling on the blonde's arm, "We'll complete the mission together."
Mahrin-Kah sighed heavily, but followed Hikari and Flora into the cave nonetheless.
A/N: There you go! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!
I'm hoping most of you will be able to figure out where I got the inspiration for Omar Wilson! LOL!
I'll have the next one up soon!
Please remember to review!
Yours Truly,
MyDearWatson