A/N: After entirely too long, Chapter 8 is here! We're closing out the first arc, and even as my life ramps up, I feel like y'all are going to love where the story goes next, though the arc won't end in this chapter per se. I'll take a few more Main Guild OCs, and I'll still take business owners, dark mages, and other legal mages. With all that in mind, let's get to it!
10 June X820, Topaz Station, Topaz, Ishvan Autonomous Region 2:30 PM.
"Wyverns?" Wynn asked, as the sky became a shifting pattern; blue, scaled, and angry. Her eyes seemed to narrow at the prospect.
"I don't remember the last time I saw such things..." Grace sighed, clearly remembering something less than pleasant.
"These things aren't as strong as their larger cousins, are they?" Zavid asked, clutching his swords, with a more nervous look upon his face than either companion had known him to take.
"Not at all, Wyverns are small fries, it's dragons that pose the true threat," Wynn explained. "I've fought more than my share of their kind," she sighed, preparing her own magic.
Grace seemed distracted as the other two talked, with her eyes focused on another object in the sky, lower than the Wyverns. "Esie!" She shouted out, as she bolted, faster than a woman her age should...
"Master Diego, I think they're trying to find a vantage point," Altair noted, as the flying boy caught the seasoned dark mage's attention.
"Hm, you may be right..." Diego sighed, looking at the erratic flight patterns of the figure above. "Take care of it."
"Of course," Altair shot into the sky, his own wings providing a much more precise touch, meeting the boy in the air.
"Esie! Get down! There's wyverns!" Margaret shouted, as the wyverns descended. "Shit..." She sighed to herself, as it seems the boy was too high to hear her. Margaret froze for half a second. This was her moment, and the last thing she could do was let down her guild. There had to be some way out of this damn wyvern mess, but how?
Margaret sighed as she looked over to the companions nearest her. Ashelia was forming another whirlwind, Adenna was using her vines, creating a defensive measure, and Penny seemed prime to let off more black snow than she'd shown since coming to the guild. The first gave Margaret her in.
Flashback: 30 January X812, King's University, Karlsborg, Iceberg.
"To summarize, with the invention of Planar Magic, it has become increasingly clear that the solid-state universe model, with only one time, space, and history, is simply inadequate," Professor Lindqvist concluded, looking out on the crowded lecture hall, noting that most students seemed to watch with blank, bored expressions. The exception stood before him, a tall, unassuming redhead in the front row, scribbling notes and mathematical formulae with a fervor akin to a hostage being given food by captors. "Next week, we'll discuss other known, possible conditions under which a plane can exist."
The class alighted from their seats, seemingly very much ready to begin their weekend, while the redhead stayed behind, seemingly intent on learning more. She walked to his desk as Lindqvist began packing away his notes.
"Sir, do you have a bit more time to talk?" The girl asked, seemingly uninterested in the possibility of a "no."
"I suppose, child," Lindqvist acquiesced. He was of course, overwhelmed, but there was something in her enthusiasm.
"Hey! I'm 19!" Margaret Objected, her head immediately sinking as she realized the position she was in.
Lindqvist chuckled. "Well, we'll see if you can prove yourself as an adult," He laughed.
Lindqvist's Office:
"So, I have a few questions about planar dynamics, and I'd love to hear about it from you..." Margaret said, seeing the prim surroundings of the office, and the oddly whimsical fellow who occupied it.
"Well, shoot," Lindqvist answered, warming up. This seemed to be his chance. The chance for him to truly affect a student.
"So, if I understand correctly, our world is fundamentally built out of 'concepts,' per scientific panpsychism?" Margaret began.
"That's right, yes."
"So each other world has slightly more or less of every panpsychic ideal?" Margaret questioned.
"That seems to be the case. The first usable planar magic created was for a universe that we've dubbed Nihil, and in Nihil, it seems to be largely empty space. It seems there, the concept of 'nothingness' is dominant," Lindqvist exposited.
"Right, and so, I think I may have discovered something related to that..." Margaret sighed, as she outstretched her right hand. It glowed with a dark blue light, and gave the room a slight tinge of that in turn.
Lindqvist was surprised, but kept his composure. "All right, let me see what I can find about it..." He said, reaching under his desk and taking out a strange instrument.
5 May X820, King's University, Karlsborg, Iceberg.
"My connection to this newly developed magic, Tophet Planar Magic, as I have called it, is fairly personal. I first encountered it by accident as a child," Margaret explained. "From this data," she motioned the projector to switch slides, as a set of graphs emerged, we can determine that the constant aspect of Tophet is, ironically, change. Tophet Planar Magic seems to adapt and improve whatever it touches, and through further development, can even use the user's understanding of an organism as the basis for its creation. I've dubbed Tophet the 'plane of evolution,' for this reason, and I further believe that its primary conceptual basis is indeed evolution. As if to demonstrate this, Margaret formed a Jellyfish, which aimlessly floated through the air for a few seconds, before disappearing. Margaret concluded her presentation, and the professors near her politely clapped.
"Congratulations," Professor Lindqvist said to her, as she exited the room, and met her sponsor in kind.
"Well, how do you think I managed?" Margaret asked, a deep, yet hesitant sigh emerging from her.
"What ever do you mean? You co-discovered a new plane, and established most of what we now know of it, this is nothing short of a revelation!" Lindqvist declared.
"I don't know, I just feel like there's so much more I've yet to uncover there..." The soon-to-be PHD muttered, bringing her head down in the pose that Lindqvist knew well.
"Margaret, that's normal," He chuckled. "It simply means you've discovered a fundamental truth to academia."
"That being?"
The professor beamed before bellowing out: "We know nothing!"
Margaret laughed at that. "Well, I suppose I'll have to work on that whole 'knowing nothing' thing then..." she returned with a grin.
Present Day:
"Wyverns, of course, would have to be much more complex than a simple jellyfish," Margaret thought to herself. She had no doubt that these beasts would easily out speed and lacerate her default creations, so this would be more of a difficulty. "I'm not exactly a biologist," she sighed to herself, and as Ashelia grounded a single, lower-flying Wyvern, Margaret hesitantly walked over. "Ashelia," she called out.
"What do you need?" the elf-like woman asked, as the Wyvern gave up on fighting the wind and reached the ground with a thud.
"It's just knocked out, I'll take over from here," Margaret declared, as she laid her hands on the Wyvern. "I guess I'll have to make it up as a I go..." She sighed, as she felt the exterior as best she could, transmuted a blade of Tophet energy through the Wyvern's brain, and set to work with a notebook and a pen.
"Master Margaret, what's going on?" Penny asked, distraught at her suddenly pensive nature.
"Relax, I know exactly what she's playing at," Adenna assured, as the earth beneath them began to buckle.
"What do you mean you can only do so much?!" Diego demanded, as Violet seemed to strain from the pressure, leaning on a simple house near the train station.
"I mean, this place must be earthquake resistant or something, I can't collapse anything, we'll just have to press on..." Violet sighed.
"You keep working on it," Diego ordered, I'll go on, move out people, and make sure the Project gets to the action building."
"I suppose this is my chance..." Zavid noted, eyeing Violet, getting up from her perch, and rushing in, holding his blades to Violet's throat. "All right, what's going on here, scum?"
Violet sighed. "I thought master Margaret told the whole guild about me..." She muttered, before adding a "that idiot," under her breath.
"Well, I was gone the past few days, who are you exactly?"
"The name's Violet, and I've been trying to sabotage Ibex Skull for the past three months," Violet sighed, against the steel.
"All right, and I can't get to Margaret to confirm that, what am I supposed to-" As Zavid spoke, a collective of Wyverns descended, only to be skewered by the ground itself.
"Trust me now?" Violet asked.
"Maybe..." Sighed Zavid, but I guess I have no choice. What's next on the agenda?"
"Well, I told Diego that I couldn't collapse anything, but I actually made it a lot harder for his forces to come at the Action Building," Violet explained. "As for our next move, I'd say it's picking off Ibex Skull's members. How confident are you solo?"
"I'd say very..." Zavid muttered.
"All right, then you're free to work on this yourself, but don't blame me if you die.
"May I join you?" Asked Wynn, to Violet, seemingly less confident.
"I don't mind," Agreed Violet.
"What's this!?" Diego shouted, ready to behead the nearest unfortunate soul as he stared down a wall seemingly made from the street, a mere few blocks from the Action Building.
"Sir, it's all around the council's setup," Castor confirmed, coming in from a side street.
"Violet..." Diego sighed. "Castor, Spread the word! We have a traitor on our hands!"
Sweat dripped from Margaret's brow as the fibers formed from her hand. The formation of a wyvern was an odd sight, with its internal organs haphazardly stacked along a skeleton forming in the same moment. Margaret had decided to forego the scales, valuing a short timeframe over a complete specimen. Adenna and Ashelia were helping keep Wyverns away, with a thicket of thorns from the former and a powerful wind from the latter. Wyverns attempted to strike, but couldn't stay.
That was what Margaret needed. "Now!" The guild master called out, as the last few holes on the subject closed, and she launched the figure upwards. "Damn," she thought, the wings were imperfect. It wouldn't kill the plan, but it would make it more of an uphill battle.
The grotesque, half-alive wyvern sputtered a bit, as one of Xander's pets met it, and promptly tore it to shreds.
"Shit..." Margaret sighed, as the viscera rained on the three mages below. "Looks like we need a new plan."
"I can at least ground them with my wind," Ashelia assured the other two.
"All right, good, let's go with that," Margaret sighed, as she sat down, seemingly strained from the experience.
"Right, so, we've got-" Esie's shouting to his comrades below was cut off, in an instant.
"What's he saying?" Erika interjected, confused.
"Well, I think it's to do with whatever those shadows are..." Cal sighed, as he noticed the sky, just below the cloud cover, shift ever so slightly.
"I don't suppose you know what those things are?" Valeria sighed, as a wyvern dipped towards the team.
"I've got half a clue..." He sighed, drawing his guitar. "Erika, Valeria, Lunick, cover me."
"Well well well, what have we here?" Altair quipped, as he tackled Esie, sending the latter to the ground, where Altair stood above him.
"Just trying for a bird's eye view," Esie managed, his fear plain to see.
"Well, we can't exactly have that," Altair sighed, with a slight cruel grin. "Now, I suppose there's only one thing to do..."
"Don't you dare!" Another voice rang out, as an ethereal shield took Altair by surprise, sending the short dark mage flying into the nearest building. "Esie, let me take care of this!" Grace shouted, as she came into view.
Inside the Council Action Buiding, Topaz, Ishvan Autonomous Region, 3:00 PM.
Artemis sighed. The battle outside seemed rough, and inside of the Action building just seemed... Safer. Not quite her speed, but guard duty suited her. It wasn't a matter of much other than a sense of duty, she guessed. Of course, the others were a bit different in tone...
"Ugh! Why are we stuck on guard duty!?" Hazel sighed, as the three Phoenix Gear Mages sent to aid the knights on the inside emerged and stood awkwardly opposite Artemis.
"Probably because we're the ones who overslept," Silvius quipped, and upon seeing the woman in front of them, immediately flashed finger guns, as though to indicate interest.
Artemis rolled her eyes. "In any event, do you think you're ready to take on whatever makes its way into the action building?"
The third mage spoke up. "Well, we are guild mages, I think this is more or less our job as much as it is yours."
"Yeah, I guess we are kind of the ones that have to do the shit that's actually hard..." Hazel snarked, in kind.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that..." Artemis sighed, as she sized the other mages up. She didn't have much time to think that, as an awful sound of earth being moved interrupted her thoughts.
"All hands! We need all hands! The base commander's voice rang out from the intercom. "Breach in the sub-basement!"
"Well, it looks like you have a chance to prove it," Artemis said, as the three mages followed her down the nearest staircase.
Action Building Sub-Basement, 3:05 PM.
Bodies were strewn everywhere, the foot soldiers from the Rune Knights went down much more quickly than expected. Something was wrong, at least to Artemis' eye. Ibex Skull's forces weren't supposed to be this strong, and yet four low-level members did all of this, not to mention the blatant hole in the wall...
"Stay close," Artemis directed the other three, as the reinforcements filed in from all sides. "I'm not so sure this is normal..."
As if on cue, a monstrous rock creature joined the delegation of dark mages, with its apparent cause riding atop it: A middle-aged woman dressing as she must have in her twenties, holding out her hands as though she was clutching invisible puppet strings.
"Yes, keep fighting!" Sherry laughed, as the mages before her mechanically raised their arms, and, in sync, called forth a concussive wave that downed the reinforcements, save for four mages.
"I guess this falls to us..." Artemis sighed, with Elya, Silvius, and Hazel all activating their magic in tacit agreement.
Outside the Action Building, 3:10 PM.
I don't know why I didn't think of this in the first place..." Margaret sighed, as her Jellyfish started to down the wyverns as the sky cleared slightly. "Stick to what you know, I always say."
"Margaret, just a heads up," Adenna began, as she pointed to the sudden abundance of wyverns, heading for their position.
"Shit, who's telling them where to go?" Margaret fumed, as Diego, Xander, and the Special Project scaled the wall.
"Fuck..." Diego sighed, as he observed the powerful mages before him. "I take it we're found out," he half-laughed.
Topaz Streets, 3:15 PM.
"So, should we just patrol this area then?" Zavid asked, as Violet touched the street-wall, seemingly admiring her own handiwork.
"I suppose so, if Master Margaret and Adenna are as strong as you say, then they'll be able to handle Diego, though the Special Project is a bit of a wildcard..." Said Violet.
Wynn looked around, seemingly paranoid. How do we know that Ibex Skull didn't leave some people behind for this?" She asked, placing a few runes on the wall in front of her.
"We don't," Violet agreed, as two figures appeared, from opposite ends of the street, one in a velvet suit, the other with no shirt and a strange crown. "And there they are."
"What do you know about them?" Zavid asked, as the three closed the gap between them, standing back to back.
"Well, Oz, the pharaoh looking guy, is the stronger of the two, he's from Lost Horizon, and may have been master of a smaller dark guild himself, Castor, the one in the suit, is one of the stronger members of Ibex Skull, and his magic is a solid script type. It can be a bit unpredictable, but he lacks Oz's raw power. That being said, Oz's magic is a bit odd, he can distort things, reverse their effects and positionality, things like that. You can't take either one lightly," Violet explained, as she entered a magical stance. "One of us should be able to take on Castor, while two should fight Oz."
"All right, I'm already seeing this Castor guy..." Zavid muttered, as he dashed off, swords drawn. In the same moment, Violet started warping the other side of the street with her magic, tripping Oz. Wynn followed suit, placing runes in a line, preparing for Oz's attack.
"Are you sure about this?" Erika questioned, as Cal tuned his guitar.
"Trust me, this is our best shot," Lunick affirmed, as Erika ate the fire from her lighter and Valeria flexed her metallic arm.
A lifetime ago, with frozen eyes they closed the door
Suddenly I realized what locks are for
No trusting them anymore, lights are out
"Fire Devil's Rage!" Erika bellowed, the fire providing cover against the wyverns.
Empty the stare, innocent and unaware, dragged out from my home ,my lair.
Earmarked me, hurt me, burned me.
The walls around me, eyes surround me, feed my fear again
I must be freed or I will die before the harvest moon, my friend
I do not have another year in me, you've gotta set me free
"Golden Thoughts!" Lunick declared, as a set of bird-like constructs came out of his hand, meeting the next wave of Wyverns. It didn't hurt them much, but the glare of light confused them enough.
The dream is alive, I can run up the hills every night
Go around and see another side of the tree
Freedom has a meaning for me, howl with me
Fear in the dark, I advise you
You cannot see the eyes, they grow behind
you
It's my song they now sing to you
You stand no chance
Elya started glowing with a purple hue, and expanded that aura to a shield above herself and the others. When a wyvern touched it, it was sent back several feet, seemingly forced backwards.
They'll kill for me, steal back my freedom, set me free
It's my minions versus thee
Fiery the vengeance, hate will drain me
The walls around me, eyes surround me, feed my fear again
I must be freed or I will die before the harvest moon, my friend
I do not have another year in me, you've gotta set me free
The dream is alive, I can run up the hills every night
Go around and see another side of the tree
All I want is to be untamed and free, howl and dream
The dream is alive, with the moon on the hills every night
Run around and see another side of the dream
Freedom has a meaning for me, you can't tame me
"Guys!" Valeria shouted out, as wyverns swooped lower, seemingly gliding on the ground.
"Shit," Erika agreed. "You have something for this?"
You will remember the day you crossed my path
Leave me without a guard and you feel my wrath
What you have done to me has made me bitter and cruel
I'll see that all the hate you spread returns to you, you, to you
The walls around me, eyes surround me, feed my fear again
I must be freed or I will die before the harvest moon, my friend
I do not have another year in me, you've gotta set me free
Valeria nodded curtly as she touched the ground with her steel arm. Seconds later, the ground burst with scraps of metal, sending the wyverns reeling.
The dream is alive, I can run up the hills every night
Go around and see another side of the tree
All I want is to be untamed and free, howl and dream
The dream is alive, with the moon on the hills every night
Run around and see another side of the dream
Freedom has a meaning for me, you can't tame me
The dream is alive, I can run up the hills every night
Go around and see another side of the tree
All I want is to be untamed and free, howl and dream
The dream is alive, with the moon on the hills every night
Run around and see another side of the dream
Freedom has a meaning for me
As the song ended, the wyverns looked panicked. In a second, they had gone from ravenous monsters to scared house pets, suddenly landing and hanging their heads.
"What did you do?" Erika asked, observing the sudden change.
"I made them experience despair. They're too consumed with pathos to fight. We have some time before they get the fighting spirit back," Cal explained.
"All right, what do we do until then?" Elya wondered aloud.
"Well, there's gotta be some mages from Ibex Skull around right, maybe we'll find one of them," Cal offered, as another figure entered the square.
"Close enough, though I'm a bit higher up," Marianne laughed, as she emerged from the shadows.
Outside the Council Action Building, 3:15 PM.
"Master Margaret, I think I see how these Wyvern are being directed!" Ashelia called out, as Adenna produced more thorns to compensate for the increased assault.
"Get closer!" Margaret reprimanded. She couldn't let Ashelia show their hand. If she was right, Ibex Skull ought not to know, after all.
Ashelia complied, as she inched closer. "It's the guy without a nose, I see small magic circles form any time the behavior changes," She whispered.
"Can you get to him?" Margaret questioned, noting the thicket of thorns between the two sets of mages.
"I think so, I just need a few seconds."
"I'll give you that and more," Margaret agreed, as she stood in front of the elfish younger mage, and sent out another volley of jellyfish.
""Earthly fangs, rage against those who dare to defy me! Ground Dasher!"" Ashelia declared, as the ground suddenly shifted beneath Xander, and a rocky crag clocked him straight in the head, forcing him down.
A minute passed, and then the wyverns near the party seemed confused. No new commands, no injection of magical suggestion, they were without purpose, and in a place that was both foreign and unpleasant. Without much though, most flew away. While some stragglers would remain, the assault on the city was indisputably over.
"You bastards won't live to regret that!" Diego called out, as he ate his way through the thorny barrier.
"I'll take him," Adenna said, seemingly insulted by Diego's actions.
"Right, and I'll deal with the one in the cloak," Agreed Margaret, figuring it had to be her, what with Violet's warning of a "Special project..."
A/N: More than a year! I'm really sorry, it's been a year for me, and for everyone else, and finding everything I needed for this was a bit of a struggle. Now that we've gotten part way through the finale though, I think I have a clearer idea of where to go from here, and because of that, I think chapter 9 will be out much sooner. Either way, the winner of the last contest is... No one, because no one submitted an OC. Usually, I'll give a certain contest a rest for a while if no one enters, but this time, because of the long wait, I'll just run this contest again, to reiterate: The rule forbidding children of canon characters doesn't apply to this contest. In fact, your submission must have been raised by Erza and Lucy. They can be any gender, but must have been adopted as a toddler, and been in a dangerous place before then. They must also be 20 years old, and wield a planar magic. I'll give you more information about Planar Magic if you want to hear more.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and until next time!
