X790, May 3
Lamia Scale
Rage: the emotion that Ooba Babasaama and her two older subordinates shared as they stared at the upper left arm of Platin. That was all they could feel at the sight of the fanged scar left on his arm.
Yuka hoped that he was in some sick nightmare, but nothing changed the fact that Saber Tooth's mark was carved into the boy's skin, leaving a scar for the world to see. "Get rid of it," he barked at Eusine, who flinched at his harsh tone.
Eusine slowly regained his composure, but the alarm remained. "B-but it's Platin's decisio—"
"Platin would agree to erase that mark!"
"Wait!" Ooba gave the scar one last look before she turned to her older subordinates. "Before we get rid of it…we'll need a camera."
"A camera? Why?" Sherry asked.
"This isn't exactly a good time for a photo shoot, Obaba," Yuka added, glaring at the scar.
"And this is no time for jokes, Yuka!" Ooba yelled as she spun a finger at the Wave, which caused him to spin in circles against his will. Sherry and Eusine sweated as they watched the poor man get spun to death.
"Obaba…" Ooba whirled around in a rage, her eyes softening when she met her youngest subordinate's terrified face. "…Just tell me what's going on," Platin pleaded while his blue cap dropped to cover his dark green eyes. "Obaba," he tried again in a slightly louder voice, but the old woman ignored her youngest subordinate's call to her as she spoke with Sherry.
"I always knew Saber Tooth was full of heartless wizards," Ooba said under her breath as she spun her arms. "But attacking a child is too far for them!"
"Obaba..."
"But Obaba, what reason would Saber Tooth have to attack us?" Sherry pointed out, trying to be the only rational mind in this situation. "Saber Tooth shouldn't have any reason to see us as a threat. They have the title of number one and we're number two."
"Exactly!" Ooba spun furiously while she exclaimed, "Ever since the Grand Magic Games started, we've come close to taking the gold but we always came second to Saber Tooth! They know who we have in our ranks and they feel threatened by the possibility that we might unleash Jura and Lyon on them!"
"Obaba!" Platin repeated, trying to get his master's attention.
Ooba pointed a bony finger at Yuka, who stopped spinning. The Wave staggered before he reached for the threshold, gripping it for dear life as he tried not to empty his stomach on the floor. "Saber Tooth has tried to put us out of action and we have the proof! Yuka, find someone in the guild with a camera and bring them over! We have evidence!"
"Obaba...will you please...just—LOOK AT ME!" Platin screamed, his volume loud enough to make the other occupants of the room flinch. It was then that Ooba finally met her subordinate's eyes directly. The blond boy stood on his feet, shivering in fright as he gripped his scarred arm. "...What's going on?" he asked, his voice trembling while his right arm came up to cover the Saber Tooth scar. "I don't understand why this happened, and all I know is that some guild did this to stop ours from doing something! I want answers, Obaba! I want to know what they have against us, who they are, and—" Platin's eyes widened before they drooped; the boy fell forward, only to be caught by Eusine, who placed him on a bed.
"What did you do?" Yuka demanded.
"A pressure point," Eusine explained simply while he dug through his bag. "It was a little unethical of me, but stress isn't a good factor on his health, especially after all that blood loss weeks ago. Aha!" The dark green-haired man whipped out a camera from his bag victoriously.
"A doctor with a camera?" Sherry wondered curiously.
"Occasionally, there are some...abusive cases," Eusine said slowly as he adjusted the camera's features. The doctor prepared to take a picture of Platin's arm, but he lowered his camera at the last second.
"Is something wrong?" Ooba asked.
Eusine shook his head but his eyes said differently. "Come to think of it...before this boy...the first case of a similar kind that I ever took a picture of was of an old acquaintance in my former guild. A young woman...and her child..."
"Y-you don't have to take the photo if you feel forced," Sherry stammered, starting to feel guilty for letting the man bring up a bad part of his life.
The dark green-haired man whipped his head towards her so quickly, Sherry swore she heard something crack. The Doll Attack mage could see a fire blazing in the librarian's eyes, but she couldn't understand why. "No," he stated firmly, his knuckles white as he gripped his camera tightly. "It's something that I want to do. Even if it goes against the wishes of the victim...whatever it takes to bring the culprit to justice, I'll do it."
Redirecting his gaze to Platin, Eusine lifted his camera up and photographed the boy's left arm. The young doctor took two shots at different angles before he was finally satisfied. He noticed the resident wizards' questioning looks. "I like to call it insurance," Eusine explained as he put his camera back in his bag. The man dug around until he withdrew a large envelope from it. "In case something is wrong with the first, or if the authorities find it insufficient, the others might be able to convince them."
"Is that what's in there?" Yuka asked, nodding at the envelope in Eusine's hand. "An extra boost?"
Eusine sighed with a smile on his face as he opened the envelope. "Was it that obvious?"
"From the way you spoke, it seemed like you learned after taking photos that weren't enough to persuade the authorities. No offense to your photography skills," Sherry cut in this time.
"None taken." The dark green-haired man withdrew three pictures and laid them out on a table in separate categories. The first photo had to have been taken when Eusine found him: Platin lay on the ground unconscious, with his left arm bloodied. One photo sat alone: Platin's arm had been cleaned up in this one, but blood continued to seep from the wound. The last photo Yuka knew was taken after Eusine's surgery on Platin: the boy's arm was stitched up, holding together the fanged tiger scar.
Eusine tapped the last photo, which all eyes were focused on. "This was what worried me the last time I was here. I wanted to think that this was just some random act of violence, but now...Is there any reason Saber Tooth would attack your guild like this?"
"It's obvious, isn't it? They're number one, we're number two: we've come close to beating them at the Grand Magic Games every year."
"But wouldn't it make more sense for them to attack you if you were number one?" Eusine questioned.
"Er...yeah, it would," Yuka agreed.
"So why would they attack you when they have nothing to fear?"
"I'll tell you why." Ooba pointed an accusing finger at the Saber Tooth scar on her youngest subordinate's arm. "We have Jura and Lyon in our ranks, yet we never sent them out for the games. They think we're playing around with them, not even taking them seriously."
Eusine raised an eyebrow. "So by attacking your members, they think you'll take them more seriously?"
"When you say it like that, it would seem more likely that they wouldn't mess with us," Sherry reasoned. "Lyon is one of our guild's top wizards, bested only by Jura the Wizard Saint. Saber Tooth could have fire users for all we know, but they would have a reason to fear Jura."
"Of course they would!" Ooba spun her arms around each other with a smug smile on her wrinkled face. "Over these past few years, Jura has risen to rank of the sixth strongest Wizard Saint! Regardless of rank, all wizards fear my ace's power!"
Eusine shook his head. "If they did fear you, knowing that you had Jura within your ranks, the smartest move would have been to leave you in peace. And—" The doctor's eyes narrowed at the scar on his patient's arm. "Legal guilds aren't supposed to conflict with each other. Their members can have small battles with members of other guilds, but the guilds can never go to war. The only exception to that law—that would be the Grand Magic Games."
"Or maybe they didn't know Platin was with us," Yuka suggested. His head whipped around, eyes trained on Platin's left boot. "Platin's mark is on his ankle and I've only seen him wear boots so far. It's not like Saber Tooth would bother searching for their opponent's mark before challenging them to a fight."
"Unless Platin had his boots off," Sherry pointed out.
"Even if he had his boots on or off," Eusine interjected as he reached for the jar of blue cream, "what kind of people would inflict harm on a child?"
"Monsters," Yuka and Sherry answered simultaneously.
"They're sadists," Sherry continued simply. "Everyone in the country knows it. They've all seen their behavior at the games."
"Ignoring the top five, even Saber Tooth's lower-ranked members have confidence to spare," Yuka admitted begrudgingly. "I ran into one of them on a job and he got on my nerves by saying that Anti-Mages virtually had no offensive power. I thought I could take him: next thing I knew, he wiped the floor with me. I swear, he looked like an older version of Ansen," he muttered to himself.
"Obaba?" The Doll Attack mage inquired, waiting to hear her guild master's opinion on the matter.
"Ugh..." Ooba spun her arms angrily as she weighed the situation. "I'll need to call Saber Tooth's master, but it will be difficult. The old coot is an angry hermit: he refuses to speak with other guilds and he always looks like someone managed to tick him off."
Saber Tooth
"So when do you leave? When will you return?" Rufus asked.
"Immediately," Rietta answered as she went into the kitchen. "And seeing as how I picked three jobs at once," she called from the little window, "I won't be back for a month."
"Oh." Rufus put a hand to his mouth as if he were about to vomit. "I see."
"What, have you really become that dependent on my food?" Rietta shot from kitchen. "And where is that blasted jacket?" she added angrily.
"It would be a lie to say that I don't enjoy your cooking. However, it's not my stomach that I'm worried about."
*SLAM!*
Sting rushed into the guild hall with Lector on his tail. Rogue and Frosch, however, entered the building calmly, though Frosch possessed a worried expression.
"Although some would argue that they have every reason to worry if you're not around," Rufus finished as Sting came closer to the bar.
Sting came to a stop at the bar when Rietta came out of the kitchen with her jacket on. "Please tell me it's not true," he pleaded with the chef.
"They have to be wrong, right?" Lector added, sweat dripping from his whiskers after flying back to Saber Tooth at top speed under the unforgiving afternoon sun.
Rietta narrowed her eyes. "Did the word really travel that fast?"
"Don't avoid the subject!" Sting cried, his eyes wide with fear. "Just tell me the others are wrong! They said they saw you near the request board today!"
"Do you really want the truth?" Rietta drawled, receiving frantic nods as her answer. She looked at Sting in the eye as she told him bluntly, "Yes, I'm going on a mission."
"NO~!" Sting and Lector collapsed dramatically on the diner's side of the bar, waves of depression rolling off them. "My stomach...suddenly I'm starving..." Sting moaned.
"My fish...my fish is burnt..." Lector groaned as he lay face-down on the counter. He could already see how his fish would be served for the next few weeks.
Rogue rolled his eyes at his fellow Twin Dragon's behavior. "Wimps," he muttered, though strangely, a faint green tint could be seen to his skin.
"Fro's hungry," Frosch whimpered.
"Stop being melodramatic, boys!" Rietta barked as she lifted the horizontal panel that allowed her to leave the chef's side of the bar. "You're in Saber Tooth: surely you can handle one month of eating somebody else's cooking?"
"But...but you make it better, Rietta," Lector pointed out weakly as he lifted his face off the counter. "The other's don't taste the same as yours."
The navy-haired woman's eyes sparkled at the compliment. "Thank you, Lector. But flattery won't keep me in this guild."
"Y-you don't have to leave," Sting stammered, trying to block Rietta's path to the doors. The glower he received for daring to stop her made him want to run, but he managed to hold his ground. "I mean, don't you get a large enough salary just from working in the kitchen?"
Rietta's eyes narrowed dangerously, making Sting squeak in response. "In case you haven't noticed, Eucliffe, women aren't subservient to men anymore. If a man wants to live, he needs to know how to lead his own life without a woman doing everything for him!"
Sting gulped as the demonic chef towered over him ominously. Rufus nodded in agreement with Rietta's words while Rogue looked away and said, "It was nice knowing him." In Saber Tooth, Rietta was probably the most dangerous woman alive after Minerva. No, she was as terrifying as the master himself, and all she did when she was in the guild was cook for the others.
"Plus, I need to take a job before the old coot gets on my case," Rietta added, jabbing a thumb at the stairs.
"WHAT?!" All occupants of the ground floor jumped when they heard their master's voice—amplified to more than its normal volume—bellow from his office on the second floor.
"Don't tell me he heard that from up there," Rietta muttered, covering her eyes with her hand as the master came out of his office. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stood up as Jiemma came down the stairs. There were whispers and mutters as the members of Saber Tooth wondered what was going on, but all conversations ceased the second Jiemma's feet touched the floor.
No one moved as Jiemma's eyes scanned his guild. Just by looking at him, anyone could guess that something was wrong. The only question was: who was going to be excommunicated?
"So," Jiemma began, watching the facial expressions of his subordinates, "I received a call from the master of Lamia Scale." Some of the members sneered at the name while others remained composed. "She gave me very interesting information concerning one of her members. Now tell me: did anyone have contact with a Lamia Scale wizard?"
Everyone looked around the guild, eyes meeting before their owners quickly turned away. It was a ridiculous question: why would any of them have contact with a rival guild?
Master Jiemma's magic radiated off his body, causing some to step back a little from the sheer force. Impatient eyes looked upon the guild, warning the subordinates that he was serious. "Well? Do I need to beat it out of every one of you until I get an answer?" he growled. Even with that threat, no one seemed willing to answer.
Sting's head whirled when he caught movement from his periphery, coming from a young man with spiky light brown hair who looked around sixteen or seventeen. He recognized the teen...a little: Sting only knew that he was a new recruit from last year, but the name was difficult to remember.
The teen came to a stop just a few feet away from Jiemma, holding his ground firmly. Light brown eyes met the menacing eyes of the master, never yielding to the fear that many would feel.
"Aomori." The fingers of his right hand flexed while Jiemma scrutinized the teenager carefully before he spoke. "The warlord's grandson?"
"Yes, sir," the young man answered.
"So exactly what business did you have with scum like Lamia Scale, eh? Who was it that you ran into, boy?" If Sting didn't know any better, it looked like Jiemma was challenging Aomori or whatever his name was to answer.
"The one that I ran into," Aomori said, "the one that challenged me to a duel was the Anti-Mage."
The magical aura around Jiemma dissipated at once. The master eyed his new recruit carefully. "Did I hear you correctly? The Anti-Mage challenged you?" Jiemma inquired.
Aomori nodded. "Yes, sir."
"I assume you won that little spat?"
A small sneer crossed the young man's face, though Sting couldn't tell just by looking at his eyes. A mask covered the lower half of Aomori's face, shielding it from view. "Yes, I did."
A small chuckle escaped from the guild master before Jiemma boomed with laughter, surprising many of his subordinates. It was rare for Jiemma to be amused by anything. "So it couldn't have been you, then," Jiemma murmured, turning away from his subordinates. "Unless there are others?"
Unable to keep his curiosity down, Rufus ventured a question. "Master, if I may ask why Lamia Scale's master called you?"
Jiemma wheeled around to look at his guild members again. "Apparently, one of our number attacked a Lamia Scale wizard and left a scar in the shape of our symbol as proof," he stated. All eyes traveled around, wondering who would do such a thing to another guild and what their motives were. "But none of you would ever lower your dignity to mark scum with our symbol. Trash doesn't need to be given the honor of wearing our mark." Many of his subordinates nodded in concordance with this. The master turned his head away from his members. "Dismissed," he barked before he journeyed back to his office.
All eyes watched the master's ascent to his office; their owners never relaxed while their master was still present. Only when Jiemma disappeared behind did they allow themselves to unwind.
"Who the heck is that guy?" Sting muttered while keeping an eye on Aomori, who proceeded to leave the guild with a flyer in his hand.
"You're not the only one in the dark, Eucliffe," Rietta added next to him, placing a hand on her hip. "Aomori's a bit of a dark horse."
"What's his last name?" the Light Dragon Slayer asked. When no one answered him, he turned to see nonplussed looks and Rufus face-palming himself. "What?"
"Aomori is his surname," Rufus informed, rubbing his forehead. "His given name is one that no one seems to know."
"It may have something to do with him being a newbie," Rietta interjected. "Master addresses new recruits by their surnames. Only when they've proven their worth to him will he ever use their actual names. Which brings me to you, Lore," she added, stressing his surname when she turned her head in his direction.
Sting and Rogue took a large step back, recognizing the glint in her eyes. Rufus had no idea what he did to the woman as far as he could remember, but he sincerely hoped she wouldn't skin him alive. "What have I done?" he asked indignantly.
"Haven't you been training for the games? You do recall that the festival is a little less than two months away," Rietta reminded with a raised eyebrow.
Rufus narrowed his eyes in annoyance at Rietta's remark on his memory. "How could I ever forget, Rietta Devine?" he returned, using the chef's surname just as she usually did with him.
"So are you training at all?"
"I have been."
"So are you doing anything tomorrow?"
Rufus tapped a finger to his temple. "I have nothing scheduled, as I recall."
Rietta dug a hand into one of her jacket pockets. "Then you wouldn't mind if I asked you to do something, correct?"
Before Rufus could say another word, Rietta withdrew her hand from her pocket and hurled something towards him. The Memory-Make wizard held up a finger: the object—revealed to be an envelope—stopped in its flight. Using the same finger, he motioned for the envelope to come closer and it floated over to him.
"So you have trained," Rietta commented, watching the blond wizard open the envelope to disclose its contents. "Telekinesis is a skill you've never shown prowess in until now."
"It's a basic magic that's easy to learn and utilize," Rufus said, pulling out from the envelope a ticket to Crocus. A wave of nostalgia washed over him when he read the ticket's destination.
"Ahem?" Rietta jabbed a thumb towards herself, a displeased expression on her face. "Two telekinetics in this guild, if you recall?"
"What business do you need me to conduct in Crocus?" he asked. He didn't mind going to Crocus: it was the city where he was born, after all. The masked wizard only visited Crocus on a few occasions: for the games and for his parents' memorial. Sure, the lively atmosphere of the royal city was annoying. But no matter how many times he went to visit, he would always feel homesick when he returned to Saber Tooth.
"We need the official paperwork for the games," Rietta stated. "It's not a free-for-all: we can't just go in without obeying the rules. I assume you can handle this task?"
Tracing a finger over the ticket that would take him to his former home just for tomorrow, he smiled slyly. "Consider it done."
A girl with nine ponytails bundled together by a sturdy ribbon sat on the pink shore, holding a fishing rod with its line cast into the water. She was waiting for someone, or something. But whoever it was seemed to be taking its time.
"Did I keep you waiting for too long?" a boy's voice asked from behind. The blond girl with nine ponytails turned her head to see Platin standing there, keeping a hand on his signature blue cap.
The girl relaxed at the sight of the schoolboy. "It's just you, right?" she asked. "Arriette's not—"
"I managed to lock her in her room. She won't be able to get out until morning," Platin informed, sitting down next to the girl.
The girl smiled sadly. "That's never stopped her before, has it?"
Platin laughed lightly as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, she has complained that the sudden blood loss made her lose her balance. I don't think she'll want to come out to dance anytime soon."
"...She's always like that." The nine-tailed girl tugged sharply on the line and met some resistance, igniting a small flare of hope within her as she reeled in the line. But the gleeful feeling didn't reach her expression, which remained forlorn. "She takes the spotlight no matter what it'll do to me, but she'll hide in her room once I'm injured so she doesn't have to hear you scold her for being reckless."
"Hey." Platin flicked her forehead, which pushed her back a little. The girl looked at Platin, shocked to see a disappointed expression on his face. "You do realize what you're saying about yourself whenever you say stuff like that, don't you?" he warned. "What you are, what we are—"
"Except I'm not!" The girl cried, whipping her head so quickly that her nine ponytails almost slapped Platin in the face. "I'm not like any of you! I'm not brave; I'm not daring; and I'm not smart! If I were, none of you would be here and I wouldn't be stuck like this!" The girl bowed her head, allowing her blonde bangs to cover her eyes while her shoulders shook. "Just...just go away, Platin," she whispered. "I'll be gone any day now. The last thing I need is pity."
She heard Platin stand up; she could practically feel his disgust and disappointment. She waited for him to walk away; what she did not expect was for him to grab her by her arm and lead her away from the lake. The girl clawed at Platin's hand, trying to loosen his grip on her, but it never budged. So she had no option but to follow him unwillingly, oblivious to his intentions. The girl tried to look at Platin, but the blue-capped blond boy wouldn't spare her a glance. For some reason, it aroused a feeling of nostalgia within her. Somehow, she knew she experienced this before.
Platin finally came to a halt, jerking the girl forward before releasing her. The girl opened her mouth to object to Platin's treatment of her but the words were lost when she took in the scene before her. She had no idea what it was, but it resembled a junkyard. Piles of debris towered over the blonds, engulfing them in their shadows. The girl could see shards, fragments, even chunks of what must have been her—
"Do you see now?" Platin asked. He motioned to the piles of junk around them. "Did you think that little lake was the only place that was damaged? No: every time we take over for you, the process of deterioration only speeds up. And faster because you won't lift a finger to help. So we try to do it for you, but the only person who is capable of repairing everything is in his room because you carefully avoid anything that brings attention to him."
"But I—"
"The three of us may be unhealthy for you," Platin continued as though the girl never said a word, "but that doesn't stop Julian from trying to help in any way he can. You know it's true: he's the one who could keep you here and restore everything to the way it was."
Platin grabbed the girl's hand again; this time, she didn't try to resist. The boy led her over to a corridor with two doors on either side. The girl tried her best not to look at the door marked by a painted pair of ballet slippers; the same applied to another door with a question mark painted upon it. Letting go of her hand, Platin motioned to the door marked by a pair of glasses painted on its surface. "It's time to call Julian back. When you're ready, feel free to knock on his door."
The girl stared at the door hesitantly, making Platin shake his head at her action. "I know you're hesitant, but let me ask you this: has Julian ever done anything that put you in danger?"
Platin went over to a door with a blue cap painted on it, which must have been his room. Once he went inside and shut the door, he left the nine-tailed girl outside as she contemplated what she would do.
Just around the corner, a light brown-haired boy chuckled as quietly as he could so he wouldn't be detected.
Sorry for the late update, but I have finals coming up. And with those tests, it's harder to find inspiration to write.
Yes, Rufus uses Telekinesis in this story. Even though the manga didn't show him using it, the anime did.