Mermaid Heel's New Flare (Chapter 4)
"So where do you want your Guild Mark, Flare?"
"You see this scar on my left shoulder? Put the mark over it."
"Alright, this may sting a little," Beth warned before pressing down the stamp on Flare's left shoulder. Flare let out a small yelp before looking at her shoulder, revealing a Mermaid Heel guild mark covering her 'X' shaped scar.
"It looks nice. Thanks, Beth," Flare said before she and Beth left to the kitchen of the guild. When they got there, they saw Beth's girlfriend, Arana Webb already there making herself a salad. When Arana looked up and saw Beth, she immediately stopped what she was doing and walked over to Beth so that she could kiss her.
"Hey Beth, I missed you," Arana cooed, whispering in Beth's ear, causing her to blush.
"I've only been gone for five minutes Arana," Beth mumbled, her face still as red as a tomato.
"Well that's five fewer minutes I had to see you," Arana countered, with Flare chuckling in the background while Beth tried to regain her composure as she was still stuck in Arana's vise-like grip.
"Anyway…Arana, Flare is an official member of Mermaid Heel now," Beth said, showing off the stamp of the guild on Flare's right shoulder.
"That's great! Welcome to the team, Flare," Arana exclaimed, patting Flare on the back as Beth used the opportunity to escape Arana's hug. Beth then noticed that there was a mission request on the table, and picked it up.
"Arana, is this yours?"
"Oh…yeah, I was going to go after lunch," Arana explained as Kagura came walking into the kitchen.
"Flare, the guildmaster tells me that you are now an official Mermaid Heel wizard. Congratulations," Kagura said before heading to the refrigerator. When Kagura took a bottle of water out of the fridge, she noticed Beth and Arana going over plans for the request, which Beth was now a part of at Arana's request. "Are you two going out on a request?"
"Yeah, we're going to help this village who has a problem with a burglar. Shouldn't take too long," Beth explained before Kagura pointed towards Flare.
"I want the both of you to take Flare with you on this mission," Kagura commanded, shocking Beth, Arana, and Flare.
"Kagura! You know we prefer doing missions as a duo!" Arana exclaimed as Beth nodded her head in agreement.
"No offense Flare."
"None taken, and are you sure I'm ready to go on a mission?" Flare asked as Kagura firmly nodded before she walked up to Flare and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, the one that had the branding of the Mermaid Heel guild on it.
"Flare, from what I've seen during our training, I think you're more than ready for requests. Plus, this request looks like a fairly easy one, so this should get you used to working with your guildmates and dealing with employers. Nothing is better than on the job training after all," Kagura explained as Flare looked down with her index fingers and thumb underneath her chin.
"Well when you say it like that…I guess I could go with Arana and Beth," Flare relented, causing Kagura to nod in satisfaction while Arana and Beth were anything but satisfied.
"But…Kagura…," Beth attempted to argue, but Kagura looked back at her with a disciplinary glare, causing her and Arana to hug each other in fear.
"Will that be a problem, Beth, Arana?" Kagura asked, with the glare still evident on her face, and a menacing aura surrounding her, even scaring Flare, despite her dealing with what happens when Master Ivan got angry.
"No!" Beth and Arana squeaked, causing Kagura's menacing aura to dissipate and her face to go back to its normal look.
"Well, now that's that settled, I wish you the best of luck on your mission," Kagura said before she walked off, leaving Arana and Beth to stew while Flare walked to the door to wait for her two guildmates. While she was left alone to think, Flare thought about Risley, and how she really did have a crush on her. The problem was that she knew next to nothing about Risley aside from the fact that she was nice and her background. Flare thought that being on a mission with Beth and Arana, who have spent a long time with Risley, could help her get clover to Risley. Maybe they knew what she liked when it came to a prospective partner, and how Flare could win Risley over. A smile grew on Flare's face as she thought of all the opportunities that have been presented with this mission and she couldn't be any more excited.
One Hour Later…
Flare was starting to get annoyed, with all trace of excitement out of her system. She had been walking with Beth and Arana for an hour on a seemingly never-ending pathway in the forest and she couldn't even get a word in edgewise out with them around. Why? Well…
"You look so cute today Beth"
"You look amazing today too Arana, even though you look amazing every day."
"Well you're cute every day, but I just like reminding you."
"Awww…you're sweet Arana."
They had been like this for an hour, flirting and sweet-talking with each other, and whenever Flare tried to talk to them, they just ignored her and continued with their cutesy talk. Flare sighed in annoyance and continued to try and get Beth and Arana's attention.
"Guys…"
"You're so amazing, Arana."
"Hello?"
"You're amazing too Beth, you little cutie."
"Excuse-"
"Well aren't you a flirt, you-"
"GUYS!" Flare yelled, finally at her wit's end of the constant stream of compliments and flirting Beth and Arana were doing. Beth and Arana suddenly stopped talking and turned around to face an annoyed Flare, with their faces looking at her not with irritation, but of confusion.
"What's up Flare?"
"Yeah, did you need something?" Flare resisted the urge to yell at them again as the three continued walking, she took a deep breath and responded.
"Well actually, I had some questions I wanted to ask you guys," Flare responded as Beth and Arana stopped walking and turned to look at her. "I wanted to ask you guys some questions about Risley."
"Such as?"
"Well…firstly, I wanted to know if she's into women or not. Like… romantically," Flare asked, looking down onto the dirt-covered road with a blush on her face.
"Yeah, she definitely a lesbian like us," Arana responded with Beth nodding in agreement. Flare showed off a small smile on her face before continuing her questioning of her two new partners.
"OK that's good to know, is she in a relationship right now?" Flare asked again, with Arana looking at her like she just struck gold.
"No, she hasn't really been in a long term relationship in a while. Just some short flings here and there, but right now she's single," Beth responded, causing Flare to breathe in a sigh of relief, worried that the woman she was crushing on was already with someone she didn't even know.
"That's goo—interesting to know. My last question is…uh…let's say that someone asked Risley out. What…what would she like, in terms of a date I mean?" Flare asked, stammering at how this question made it clear that she was crushing hardcore on Risley. As Flare waited for Beth and Arana to respond, she started pressing her pointer fingers together and tilting her head to her right, hoping that they wouldn't look too much into her question. But, her hopes would go unanswered as Arana grew a sly smile on her face and wrapped her arm around the back of her neck.
"Awww…looks like our new member has a crush on Risley, Beth!" Arana exclaimed causing Flare's blush to grow even more as Beth went 'Awwww' as well.
"Well…yeah," Flare mumbled, realizing that there was no point in hiding it. Plus, maybe Beth and Arana could help her get Risley interested in her.
"That's really sweet, but in all seriousness, if you want Risley to like you, you just have to tell her," Beth explained as Flare looked on her in shock.
"Are you sure…I mean…I don't know if she'll feel the same way…and I'm really nervous about it…," Flare mumbled, not even being able to look at Arana and Beth in their eyes as she began walking again, heading to the village for their job. Arana and Beth looked at each other worriedly before following her to the village. After another couple of minutes, they finally made it to the village, where a man with a giant gray beard came up to them.
"Hello wizards, you must be the Mermaid Heel members that accepted our request," the man said as Beth and Flare nodded before Arana took over.
"That's right sir, and you must be the leader of this village, right?"
"Yes I am, and I am happy you're here because he struck again," the leader responded as Flare raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Who struck again?"
"The thief who has been tormenting our village," a black-haired woman said from behind the leader. Other members of the village, who were slowly starting to come out of their homes, nodded in agreement.
"A thief?"
"He's been stealing all the money and valuables we have in this village. It's been going on for the past couple of weeks and since we are not magic users, we have no way of fighting him off on our own," the leader explained as the three Mermaid Heel members nodded.
"OK, can you describe the person who has been doing this?" Arana asked as the leader nodded.
"Yes, this man was of small stature, but he had a giant chin, purple skin, and had the power of growing spikes on his body, making it even harder for us to fight back," the leader explained as he rolled up the right sleeve of his white robe, revealing several circular wounds on his arm. Flare's eyes grew wider than normal and she started shaking in shock when she heard the description of the thief, which did not go unnoticed by Beth and Arana.
"Flare, is something wrong there?" Beth asked as she put a comforting hand on Flare's shoulder.
"I…I know who's been stealing from your village," Flare said, as everyone in the village, including the leader, Arana, and Beth looked at her in anticipation, not hearing the footsteps heading towards them.
"His name is Nullpudding, and like me, he's a former member of Raven Tail" Flare finished as she started hearing the footsteps growing louder before she turned around, with Arana and Beth getting ready for a fight.
"Everyone! Find shelter and do not come outside until we say it's OK!" Arana yelled as everyone went back into their homes as the three Mermaid Heel wizards prepared for the upcoming threat, noticing the purple blur that was heading for them.