"Take your time, Rina." Danate says with a gentle smile. "We can put the competition aside for now. Our main priority is making sure we can make you feel safe in your own home again."
Everyone voices their agreement, including the two conscious Silver Sabelum Mages.
Rina lets out a third sigh, steadying herself, and nods. "Okay...so, you all know I was born and raised in Fiore, right?"
Episode 18: Every Breath You Take
Margaret Town, Fiore | X776
Rina Dawnstone was born to Mariana and Garrison Dawnstone one cool March evening. With Mariana's status as one of Lamia Scale's top Mages and Garrison's as a powerful soldier working for the Kingdom, her parents had high hopes that Rina would be a great Mage someday.
X781
When Rina was five years old, she still hadn't shown any sign that she inherited her parents' immense magical power (in anything that they've tried to teach, at least). While they were a bit disappointed, Mariana and Garrison still loved Rina all the same.
Rina was still eager to try, though, so they enrolled her in Magic school (while still looking into other things their daughter could do for a living.)
X786
By the time Rina was ten years old, she had shown that she did indeed inherit her parents' strength, she just could not manage to harness it for whatever reason.
And so, to bide time until Rina learned how to wield her power, Mariana and Garrison gave into Rina's pleas and took her to audition for Sorcerer Magazine.
Thus, Rina's modeling career began.
X787
It was a year into Rina's modeling career that the first incident happened.
It was innocent enough: a simple letter stating how much they admired the young model and that they hoped she went far in her career.
The letter was signed by an M. Skarsguard.
Garrison was familiar with the family so he and Mariana assumed it was one of the young Skarsguard children with a little crush.
It wasn't the first fan letter that had been addressed to Rina so her parent's saw no harm in continuing to turn the Skarsguard letters over to Rina. After all, they had their own modeling agency. Even if 'M. Skarsguard' wasn't a child, surely they were simply wanting to encourage Rina to become the best she can be.
Who knows? Maybe in the future they would offer a better deal to Rina than she currently has with Sorcerer Magazine.
X788
A year later and the letters from M. Skarsguard didn't stop. In fact, they came more often - along with a variety of gifts and pleas for Rina to come work for the Skarsguards.
Rina, having found another family in the Sorcerer Weekly models and photographers, declined.
X791
By the time Rina was fifteen years old, she had long since been in charge of her own fan mail.
She didn't tell her parents or her friends in Lamia Scale how bad the letters from M. Skarsguard had gotten. Rina would receive several letters a day from M. Skarsguard at the same time everyday.
A year or two ago, M. Skarsguard invited her to do a photoshoot with their agency but by then Rina was also old enough to be privy to certain kinds of gossip; the Skarsguard agency was well known, yes, but they were also known for mistreating their models.
Rina did not show up.
Rina had heard from her coworkers that stalkers were common in their line of work but Rina really didn't think she was old enough or good enough to have that kind of a fan. She was popular, sure, but because she was so young most of her shoots involved her posing with some older models like Jenny Realight and Mirajane Strauss - more so Mirajane when she and the other Fairy Tail members returned from Tenrou Island. Hell, Rina was even commissioned to do shoots with her mother sometimes.
So why was this M. Skarsguard so obsessed with her?
Rina had thought about it a bit more and although the Skarsguard family was known for having an agency, she never actually heard the name of it...
In the summer of X791, Rina's life took a sharp downward turn.
Garrison Dawnstone, perished during the dragon's attack on Crocus (Mariana quickly dissuaded any more idea of Rina becoming a working Mage like her and her husband).
About a month or two after his funeral and making sure that Rina was in good spirits, Mariana went back to her work as an S-Class Mage.
The day after Mariana left, Rina found out just how far M. Skarsguard was willing to go for her attention.
She finally met the man behind the letters - yes, man. Marcel Skarsguard, as he'd finally introduced himself, appeared to be in his early thirties. He was clean, well put together, and had an unsettling smile.
A bit of quick math regarding when he first started sending her letters, Marcel showing up in the middle of one of her shoots (how he got in Rina will never know), and that smile...Rina was creeped out to her core.
On one occasion, while Mariana was still out on her mission, Marcel knocked on the door of the Dawnstone household during a storm, asking if he could be let in.
That's what did it for her. Rina finally got fed up and admitted everything that was happening to her friends in Lamia Scale.
Together, she and some of Lamia Scale's best went to confront Marcel and his family - of whom she found out were aiding him in finding out everything they could about Rina. However, when they arrived, they were ambushed by a team of Dark Mages hired by the Skarsguard family. They attempted to kidnap Rina amidst all the chaos but fortunately, Lamia Scale's God Slayer sniffed them out before they could get too far.
Rina and the Lamia Scale Mages barely escaped.
When Mariana returned from her mission, they told her everything.
They had clear motive and evidence to accuse the Skarsguards of their crimes but they were an affluent family with connections. Mariana and Rina would get nowhere with their case. Rina couldn't defend herself and she couldn't rely on Mariana and Lamia Scale to protect her from Marcel for the rest of her life.
Over the course of the next few months, Rina quit her job as a model and a reluctant Mariana made plans to have Rina relocate to another country, far, far away from Marcel Skarsguard and his family.
Rina left with the promise that Mariana and Lamia Scale would try their damndest to do something about Marcel.
X792
Zaflior, Valiance
In the beginning of the new year, Rina arrived in the port town of Zaflior on the other side of Ishgar, far away from her homeland of Fiore.
Her legal documents were already settled long before she arrived so Rina didn't have to worry about any of that. All she had to do was find a place to stay…
"OI! DANATE, YOU PUNK ASS-!" she heard an odd, high pitched boyish voice scream out.
"NOVEM, SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" she heard another boy's voice shout.
Rina followed the sound of their arguing and she found a blue haired boy holding some kind of animal in his hands on the shore of a beach.
"I don't recall asking you for your opinion, dummy Emile." came the odd voice again. Rina's eyes widened when she realized it came from the animal.
The blue haired boy pouted. He opened his mouth to speak again but another boy's voice interrupted him: "Come on, Novem, I didn't hit him that hard. We're only sparring."
Rina's eyes followed the sound of that voice to find it belonged to a boy covered in bandages from his hips up to his neck.
The creature in the blue haired boy's hands - Novem - jumped to stand in front of the bandaged boy. "Fine! But I'm watching you, y'know. Only I'm allowed to abuse Emile!" Novem had said.
The boy with blue hair, Emile, rolled his eyes and took up a fighting stance. "Don't mind him, Danate, let's-"
"Ah, hold on." the bandaged boy, Danate, had said and waved his hand at Emile. "It seems we have an audience." he said and in the next second, three sets of eyes were on her.
Rina shrunk back, blushing embarrassedly. "I-I'm sorry." she apologized. "You guys were just so loud a-and I'm new here so I don't know anyone and-" she rambled but Emile cut her off.
"Hey! Don't worry about it." Emile said with an easy smile. "New places can be scary, believe me, I know." he laughed.
Novem ran over to Rina and jumped up into her arms - the ex-model catching him on instinct. The creature stared at her silently, his little nose going a mile a second. "You smell nice." Novem decides eventually.
Danate and Emile walked over to her so they weren't shouting across the beach at each other. "You said you're new here, right?" Danate asked. "Is there anything two Phoenix Fire Mages can help you with?"
"Three." Novem corrected him.
Emile rolled his eyes. "You can't use Magic, Novem."
Danate smiled kindly at Rina. "Being that you are new here, I do feel obligated to inform you that our guild doesn't have the best reputation nowadays but Phoenix Fire is a place to grow, to get rid of anything weighing you down so you can rise anew…" he went off on a tangent about how great his guild was.
Once Emile managed to get him to shut up, Emile simplified the mantra of their guild for Rina and restated that they would be happy to assist her in whatever she may need. This was their base town after all and their building was actually that giant rundown castle-like structure behind them-
"Wait, what?" Rina blinked.
X793
Zaflior, Valiance
Present
"...I was obviously surprised to find out my ship docked right next to a guild." Rina says with a fond smile. "But I figured that it was destiny telling me to get myself in gear - Fiore's methods couldn't teach me how to wield my innate Magic but here I was in a new country right and the first people I met were Guild Mages." she says and laughs awkwardly. "Granted, I still haven't managed to learn but I like to think I can use my Holder Magic pretty well." Rina says. After a beat of silence, her smile falls. "This is the first time I haven't felt safe with Phoenix Fire. I know he's here, I-I know he's the one who took the shirt I gave to Mana. Marcel was sending letters to me when I was a child, moving across the country wouldn't stop him."
Akane cringes. "What a fucking creep." she states bluntly.
Veiss crosses his arms. "Using your power and status to lust after someone so much younger than you because you know you'll be without consequence…" he frowns. "Despicable."
Mana - rather, Mary, when they get a closer look at her heterochromatic eyes, looks at everyone like the answer was obvious. "Why don't we just find him and kill-?"
Akane and Veiss slap the back of Mary's head.
Ken hums as he runs his fingers through his dark hair. "She went about it the wrong way but I do believe Miss Mary has a point," he says. "All we need to do is find this Marcel first. If he truly was the one who nabbed Miss Mana's shirt…" Ken trails off and glances at Rina.
Rina looks down, grimacing. "...then he's nearby." she finishes. "I-I...I know."
Emile frowns as he rubs Rina's back comfortingly. "I still don't get it...you're literally on the other side of the continent. How did he find you?" he wonders.
Calypso narrows her eyes slightly as she watches Emile and Rina. Madelaine discreetly elbows the younger girl, snapping her out of whatever trance she was in. Calypso clears her throat, "A-Ahem, um, your mother...have you not been in contact with her at all?" she asks Rina.
Rina pauses and shakes her head. "No...I just thought she didn't want to write to me until she had something good to say…" she replies. Rina looks up at Calypso and glares daggers at her, "What are you trying to say?" she asks. "My mother is a powerful Mage, even if she were ambushed by some cheap mercenaries that Marcel hired she would not fall-"
Acro interrupts Rina, "Maybe your mom was writing to you but Marcel intercepted her letters," he suggests as he taps his chin. "Like Emile just said, we're on the literal opposite side of the continent in an unfamiliar country. It would take anyone a while to figure out addresses that far away, right?" Acro asks.
"Exactly," Calypso nods and smiles apologetically at Rina. "that's all I was trying to say."
Madelaine hums, thinking.
Alistair glances at her. "What's on your mind?" he asks.
Madelaine doesn't respond for a minute, deep in thought. "...Well," she starts. "this is unfamiliar territory for Marcel." Madelaine repeats. "We know it better." she says and looks to Danate for approval. "All we have to do is find him first and keep Rina busy elsewhere." Madelaine suggests.
All eyes turn to the young man who's been silent thus far, Rina's closest friend and confidant when Emile is out with Akane and the others.
And, of course, one of the most experienced Mages in the room.
Danate glances at Rina's tired and scared expression and steels himself. "I agree." he says and gives Madelaine a small smile. "But first, everyone here needs to promise to not speak Marcel Skarsguard's or Rina's name once we step out of this room. The Skarsguard family is powerful and Rina just told us the length's he's willing to go to get her. This may be new territory for him but money easily buys eyes and ears." Danate says and waits for everyone to agree to his terms. "Good. Now," he smiles mischievously and pulls out a folded up sheet of paper from his pocket. "I was going to take Rina out to do this mission later but this is as good a time as any to go. We're going to split everyone here up into two teams. Team one will be investigating Marcel's whereabouts." Danate says and presents everyone with the request. "Team two will be Rina's shields and the models this requester is asking for...any volunteers?"
"Absolutely not." Alistair deadpans.
Alistair's eye twitches. "I distinctly remember saying no." he mutters to himself. "How did I end up on this team..?"
Rina, Akane, and Ken ignore him.
"Oh dear, I don't mean to sound rude but what in the world could be taking Miss Mana so long?" Ken asks.
Akane crosses her arms and frowns. "I don't know. She's usually one of the first ones to be ready." she says.
"Well why don't you go check on her?" Rina suggests.
"Why?"
"You said it yourself, Mana is usually one of the first ones to be ready. Yet here she isn't." Rina says and smiles smugly. "Aren't you worried? I've seen you look at the hallway fifty times in the last five minutes."
Akane grits her teeth. "So what?"
"That means you're worried."
"No it doesn't."
"Yes it does."
"No it doesn't."
"It does."
"I will leave you to get kidnapped."
"No you won't."
"...No I won't." Akane sighs and rolls her eyes as she stands up. "I'm only going because you're being annoying." she says.
Rina and Ken exchange a smug look as Akane walks away.
Alistair sighs and drops his head against the table.
Akane grumbles to herself as she stalks towards Mana's room.
Stupid Rina...even if she is worried, that doesn't mean shit.
If Akane admits she's worried that means she's indirectly admitting she cares and if she admits she cares she's admitting that to herself too and then if something happens to the person she admits she cares about then she's going to feel millions of times worse if something happens to them and gods it took Emile years to get Akane to say they were friends and if anything happened to Emile she would kill everyone and then herself and for some godforsaken reason Mana is making her care a lot faster than Emile could and this is really only spelling out disaster for her mental health and goddammit even Veiss isn't a terrible person to be around-
"Akane!"
Akane nearly faints, jumping out of her skin when she registers Mana's hands on her shoulders and her face all up in Akane's personal space.
"Finally." Mana frowns, concerned. "Are you okay?" she asks as she drops her hands from Akane's shoulders.
Akane stares at Mana like she has two heads before realizing that she was asked a question. She shakes her head. "Am I okay? I should be asking you that, we've been waiting for you." Akane retorts with a frown.
"I was opening something from Cooley. You're the one who walked in here mumbling to yourself." Mana deadpans as she walks over to pick up her bag. "I'm sorry for taking so long." she apologizes.
Akane opens her mouth to speak but gets distracted by something shiny partially hidden behind an end table. "Hm…?"
Mana follows Akane's eyes and tenses.
"What is that?" Akane asks.
"Don't worry about it." Mana says defensively.
Akane narrows her eyes. "Why are you hiding something from me? What are you hiding from me? Wasn't the whole point of this relationship to get me to trust you?" she presses. "Or were you lying to me this entire time?"
Mana grimaces. "I-I...I don't…" she struggles.
Akane waits.
Mana clenches her fist and lets out a sigh. She drops her bag back on her bed and pulls another one out from under her bed. Mana walks over to the end table, pulling out the shiny object. Akane catches a brief glimpse of an ornate white mask with red and gold decals before Mana roughly shoves it into the bag.
Mana stares at the bag, scared almost, and looks back up at Akane. "Can we talk about it on the train?"
Emile, Danate, Calypso, Acro, Madelaine, and Veiss wave off team two as they watch their train disappear into the distance.
"Alright, let's do this!" Acro cheers.
Madelaine sighs. "This isn't really anything to get excited about…"
Veiss deflates when the train goes completely out of view. "I wanted to be on that team…" he sighs.
"Who's gonna want you to model for them when you're covered in bandages and scars?" Calypso says smugly. "I'd be much more suited for the job than you, you ugly pig."
"Eat shit, Aurelia. I wanted to be there for Mana." Veiss snaps.
Emile glances between the two of them. "Is anyone ever going to explain this relationship to me…?" he wonders.
Danate smiles and poses dramatically. "Let's go, investigation team-"
Acro looks at him weirdly. "Danate...?"
"Don't mind me." Danate says as he strikes another pose. "If I don't keep myself in a light mood I will kill Marcel when we find him." he says with a cheerful smile. "Come on, let's go, the Silver Sabelum boys agreed to stand guard at the Phoenix Fire building." Danate says and strikes a pose that should have damn well broken his back.
Madelaine gulps nervously. "Oh dear." she says and clears her throat. "So, where exactly do we go from here?" Madelaine asks. "All we know is that he has connections in Zaflior, we don't know if Marcel himself is here or not." she says.
"Exactly what I did all day." Danate answers. "Except now we're doing it at night."
Everyone nods along as if that's completely fine except Calypso: "Wh-What? Are you guys serious? I'm tired." she whines.
Emile smiles and pats Calypso on the back. "The faster we find out where Marcel Skarsguard is hiding, the better. But if you really get that sleepy, I'll carry you-"
Novem, on top of Emile's head, chimes in: "But you're already carrying me-" he starts but Emile quickly stops him there.
"You're only taking up space on my head, stupid furball. I can carry Calypso on my back." Emile says and smiles reassuringly at Calypso. "We all know you're still new at this, we won't hold it against you."
Again, everyone nods along...except Veiss. He doesn't say anything but stares cryptically at Calypso.
"S'fine with me!" Acro declares. "Are we splitting up?"
"We'll go in pairs." Danate answers. "Emile and Calypso, you and Madelaine, and me and Veiss." he says. "If you see or find-"
"'Veiss and I'." Madelaine coughs.
"-Marcel alone, don't hesitate to apprehend him." Danate continues. "From what Rina has told us, we know that he makes other people do his dirty work. He's weak on his own." he explains.
Calypso frowns confusedly, "Hold on, I have a question. It is nighttime so most places have closed down for the night, right? How are we going to investigate those?" she asks.
Acro puffs his chest out, a prideful look on his face. "Despite what everyone else thinks of us, Zaflior still respects us as a guild." he says.
Danate smiles at Acro and nods. "Exactly that. They're extremely loyal to us and we pay that back in kind." he says. "We're protecting them and Rina from a dangerous individual."
Calypso still looks terribly confused. "Okay...I mean, I get that part, but how are we going to get into the locked buildings?"
"Every business in town has provided us with the hidden location of a spare key."
"..."
"Emile has the locations memorized, don't worry about that."
"I'm not..." Calypso sighs and facepalms.
Danate beams at the group as he strikes another back-breaking pose. "Does everyone understand their roles now? Me and Veiss will take the east, Madelaine and Acro will take the south, and Emile and Calypso will take the west. Understood?"
"Aye aye!"
"For Rina and Zaflior!"
"For Rina and Zaflior!"
On the train to Veneto City...
Alistair, Rina, and Ken stare at Mana like she's crazy.
To be fair, by the way she's been accidentally calling Madelaine and Acro by the names of her missing siblings, she kind of is.
Akane is the only one that looks perfectly fine with Mana's explanation for her odd behavior.
"So…" Rina blinks and looks down at the ornate mask in Ken's hands. "It's...talking to you?" she asks.
Mana nods. "Its voice sounds muffled but...yes, it's talking. I can't understand it."
...
"Have you been sleeping well recently?" Alistair asks
Mana groans and slinks back in her seat. "I'm not - I'm fine. It's talking to me - I - Master Nadine told me something about Mask Magic on my first day in Zaflior." she says and recounts what Nadine told her and Cooley.
"I have an idea of what could be happening." Nadine says, once again putting an end to the bickering before it has a chance to really begin. "There have been stories of children in another country using masks to transform into all sorts of creatures. One of them got their hands on The Mask of Mujura, an ancient artifact that was used by an ancient tribe for its bewitching rituals. The Mask's wicked power eventually became so great that it was sealed away to prevent a terrible catastrophe. However, since the ancient tribe vanished, no one accurately knows the true nature of its power." she explains. "The Mask of Mujura was believed to have become so evil because it became possessed by a spirit. If you blacked out before we saw you physically drop to the floor, it's possible that your voice changed because it wasn't your voice at all."
Mana shrinks back, "A-Are you saying I'm possessed?"
"Not necessarily. The spirit resides in the mask. When you blacked out that gave an opening for the spirit to tap into your magic and put the mask on themself. Why you have the mask most likely resides in your blocked memories...or maybe the spirit knows."
"...s-so if I'm hearing something from that," Mana shoots the mask in Ken's hands an accusatory look. "That means there's a spirit in there too, right?" she says. "I don't know whose spirit that is - I don't want them in control of my body and I don't want them in my head."
Akane looks at the mask more thoughtfully. "Didn't you say that you had an off switch for Mary one time, Mana?" she asks.
You what-? Mary snaps but Mana instantly tunes her out.
"Yeah." Mana answers.
"And as far as we know, your situation with Mary is a little different, right?" Akane asks. "Mary's soul lives in your body, not the Black Mask. From what you just told us, it sounds like this voice you're hearing lives in the mask." she says, giving Mana a pointed look. "So-"
"Ah, forgive me for interrupting, Miss Akane, but why do you seem so fine with Miss Mana hearing a voice the rest of us do not?" Ken asks politely.
Akane shrugs. "We don't always hear Mary speak but she's here, as we all know. Why does Mary have to be the only unfortunate soul trapped out of her body?"
Ken acquiesces, "Fair point." he says and looks down at the mask in his hands. "It is a rather pretty mask, even if it's a bit cracked." Ken says and looks back up at Mana. "Is the voice the only thing scaring you?" he asks.
Mana shakes her head. "It feels...hostile." she says with a frown.
The five of them exchange looks.
"Maybe it's better we don't worry about this for now." Rina suggests. "If keeping it in the bag helps, then that's where we should leave it, right?"
Alistair nods. "I agree."
Akane nods at Ken, "You hold onto it then." she says.
"I - I mean I don't mind, but why me?"
"You're going to be sleeping in a different room than us. The farther that thing is away from Mana, the less we have to worry about and we can all focus on Rina." Akane says. "Just stick it in your bags, it's not like you can hear the voice."
Alistair sighs and looks out of the train window. "Again, I agree," he says. "It's bad enough that brat forced me to be on this team - I have no desire to stand in front of a camera." Alistair grumbles.
Ken laughs as he puts the mask into the bag Mana packed it in and packs that bag inside of his luggage. "I'm sure it was a compliment, Mister Alistair," he says confidently. "You're a handsome man and these lovely ladies are stunning as well." Ken says with a smile. "We'd all make perfect models for...what was the name of the agency, again?"
Rina shakes her head, "The paper didn't say, but, are you saying Danate didn't pick the others to be on this team because they're...ugly…?" she asks awkwardly.
"No, no, no!" Ken shakes his head. "I'm just saying, we are a rather photogenic bunch but Danate is a smart boy, he sorted us out very smartly." he says. "Miss Madelaine is a pretty girl but she's not the most sociable - I don't believe she would do well in front of a camera. Mister Veiss has bandages covering his entire body and he refuses to take them off. Also, Miss Akane and him on the same team…" he trails off.
Akane crosses her arms defensively. "Hey, we worked perfectly fine together while we were in Arkcester and Soncha Kapa." she says.
"Emile said you tried to choke him out after I got thrown across the forest." Mana chimes in.
"Sh-Shut up!"
Ken continues, "Likewise, I believe Mister Danate is also aware that Miss Calypso's best relationship in Phoenix Fire is with Mister Emile and of course, Mister Emile is just as eager to teach Marcel Skarsguard a lesson in manners." he says.
There's a beat of silence.
"You forgot about Acro." Rina says.
"...No I didn't." Ken says with a shiver. "If you need me to explain why that child is not on this team then…" he shakes his head and shivers again. "Still, I have to wonder about Miss Akane, though." Ken says thoughtfully. "Is that temper the best thing to have in front of a camera?" he wonders.
"Fuck you." Akane snaps.
Rina smirks. "Oh we don't have to worry about that, Ken." she says smugly. "I've seen her temper disappear in...interesting ways over the past two months…"
Akane stiffens.
Mana looks at her curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Nevermind that, Mana, I've been meaning to ask you about that book you're always writing in." Rina says, side-eyeing Akane. She holds back a laugh as the older Mage starts bouncing her leg, a blush already crawling up her neck.
"Are you okay?" Mana asks worriedly.
Akane 'hmph's in response.
"Mana~." Rina calls.
"Oh - right, sorry." Mana apologizes and turns her attention back to Rina. She smiles brightly, "It was a gift from Akane! Aside from all of the clothes you gave me, it was one of the first gifts I've gotten in a long time." she explains cheerfully.
Akane's blush darkens.
Rina grins. "Is that right? You know, I think Emile also told me that Akane told him that he was one of her closest friends, too, right? What were his exact words…?" she taps her chin, pretending to think. "Oh! That's right, she told him that he was like an annoying little brother to her. She must care about you guys a whole lot, right?"
Akane slumps down in her chair, trying to hide her face.
Mana nods eagerly. "You know, when we came back from Arkcester, Veiss got Akane to admit that we're friends-"
"Those words never left my mouth." Akane grumbles, pulling her hood over her face.
Rina leans back in her chair, pleased. "What do you think?" she asks, turning to Ken.
Ken's purple eyes dart between Akane and Mana. "Very interesting, very interesting indeed...excellent work, Miss Rina." he says, fist bumping Rina. "Note to self, make a list of everyone Miss Akane cares about…"
Alistair sighs as he goes back to looking out of the train window. "I'm surrounded by idiots."
Veneto City
The next morning…
Mana groggily opens her eyes to find Akane standing in front of her with a raised hand.
…
…
…
"Good morning." Akane says.
"...Were you going to slap me?"
"Obviously."
"Why?"
Akane huffs and puts her hand down. "Don't complain. You weren't waking up when I tried nicely." she says. "Hurry up and get your bag before the train leaves with us on it."
Mana yawns and stands up, looking around. Ken and Alistair are gone - Rina is standing nearby looking just as groggy as Mana feels. She reaches up and pulls her bag out from the overhead compartment, her eyes widening when she reprocesses what Akane said.
"You were nice to me!?"
"Oh shut up." Akane groans.
"So where's Ken and Alistair?" Mana asks.
"They went ahead to check into the hotel and make sure our rooms are…" Akane glances at a sleepy Rina. "...secure." she says. "Come on, keep up. I've been to this hotel before, I know the way."
Mana nods with a yawn and follows behind her, making sure to keep Rina in her peripheral vision. Can't forget the purpose of their true mission after all.
Mana?
Yes, body roommate?
We'll be talking about the off switch you have for me later, but, about this mask from Papa…
…
I know how you feel about it but wouldn't it be for the best to see exactly what it can do for you? You've figured out how your Magic works, haven't you?
You know I have. I use my Magic Power to use the mask's power. Mana answers. But since our situation is...unique, once I exhaust your power, I get exhausted too.
Exactly. Mary says. Mask Magic would technically be a variation of Requip were it not for the souls living within the masks. With this new mask… Mary trails off.
I'll think about it.
Alistair frowns as he holds up the mask to the Communications Lacrima. "Mana says she hears a voice coming from it." he says. "Seen or hear anything like that in your life as a soldier?"
Nelio's face stares back at him from the Lacrima as he studies the mask. "No...looks cool, though." he says. "Is she going to put it on?"
"That's still up for debate." Alistair says and leans over to grab Ken's bag to return the mask. "How are things over there?" he asks, unzipping the bag.
"Danate split everyone up into pairs to look all over Zaflior for this Marcel guy." Nelio says and waves his hand. "And before you ask, yes I'm following Calypso. She and Emile are fine." he yawns.
Alistair doesn't say anything as he tosses Ken's bag back onto his bed. "At least you're being useful. All I did was check the room's security with Ken and as soon as we were done he hopped into the shower." he sighs. "Anyways, shut up and get back to work."
Nelio gives him a wry smile and a mock salute. "Copy that." he says and his face disappears into fog.
Alistair sighs again and stuffs his Communications Lacrima back into his own bag. Just as he's zipping it back up, the other three members of his quintet walk into the room. Alistair watches silently as Mana and Rina walk into the adjoining room. He hears the distinct sound of the girls throwing themselves down on the bed.
Akane glances at Alistair as she follows in after them. "They obviously didn't sleep well on the train." she says. "We can leave to go check in with the agency people after they nap…" Akane trails off, looking around. "Where's Ken?"
"Shower." Alistair answers, jutting his thumb in the direction of the bathroom.
Akane grumbles under her breath and walks into the girl's room.
…
…
"I swear on everything you hold dear I'll return you to Revenant Beasts and I'll deliver you to Marcel Skarsguard myself if you don't take your damn shoes off the fucking bed."
PF x AH x SS
A/N ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
rina backstory
mana new mask?
danate jojo pose
not proofread ggs
SUBMISSIONS ARE FINALLY CLOSED...unless?
edit aug 18 - updated because the next chapter would've been less than 3k :BARBARA: