Chapter 3 – Welcome To The Guild
"Your uncle is incredibly intense…" Caminal said as she released all the tension that was in her body with a heavy sigh whilst they walked down the stairs, just having ended their meeting with the Master.
"I could tell that you felt like that with the way you reacted," Raphael replied with an almost tense voice, still being vaguely affected by the experience whist he proceeded to recall the events that had only just passed. "Seeing you like that is such a stark contrast to how you acted for the majority of the morning."
"Don't tell anyone about that." Caminal quickly replied, almost in a huff before looking at Raphael with an expression that seemed torn between disgruntled and disappointed. "I can't believe that less than a day has passed since meeting you and you have already seen such sides to me…"
"You really care about your appearances to others huh?" Raphael noted, looking down at the short girl almost as if trying to figure her out. "Is there any reason for that?"
"One should care about how you come across, as everyone is always judging you at every moment making it important that you always come across as your best self. And even if you were to factor out the various benefits or remaining warry about other people, it's part of what it means to value yourself." Caminal answered with rising confidence, almost as if taking the chance to try and regain whatever dignity that she might have felt that she had lost, once again making sure to walk along completely straight, and almost puffing her chest out slightly.
"So all in all, pride?" Raphael quickly summarised, dragging down Caminal's mood faster than it had been raised, almost making her appear to deflate on the spot for how she had been summarised. "It's not that I disagree with it you know? I think it's important for a person to whole a certain amount of pride as well, but it's also important to find some people that you can simply be yourself with as well."
"Of course, even I need to relax when I'm on my own," Caminal replied.
"On your own? What about having a close friend or family? Like Kim, for example." Raphael quickly jumped in.
"My parents have seen more of what I am like, but I didn't get to know Kimber all that well. She was travelling when we first met and she didn't stay long before continuing on her journey again." Caminal answered with relative indifference whilst they continued to walk along until Raphael gave her a slight tug on her sleeve to direct her to not continue any further down the stairs, but instead stop off at a floor before the ground floor and continued walking along there instead.
"So… you make it sound like no one knows the real you?" Raphael enquired.
"It depends on what you call the 'real me'," Caminal answered.
"Anyone that you don't put on an act of any kind towards, and they know just how to treat you in response, as the person that you are."
"I don't see why you are prying so much into this, it isn't good to delve too much into the life of a person that you have just met. You should be respectful enough to be at least be gradual about these things and not force anything." Caminal then said, breaking the conversation abruptly enough that it left Raphael wondering what exactly had brought upon such a reaction.
"Just idle curiosity, besides, you seemed to be ok with it, but if you want me to drop if for now then that's fine." Raphael nonchalantly answered whilst opening a door into what was clearly a small office space, holding it open politely for Caminal to enter. "Anyways, this should be a key to one of the spare woman's dorms." He mentioned whilst fishing through one of the draws of the main desk in the room, not taking long to pull out a small key that was attached to a keyring and holding it out to Caminal for her to take it.
"Thank you very much, the dorms wouldn't happen to down that hallway where Razi went before, would they?" She asked whilst gracefully accepting the key and having it dematerialise in moments.
"I'm guessing that you just put that into some kind of requip space then, and yeah. Although the woman and men are on different floors, the baths are connected to both floors. I'll show you about briefly." Raphael responded.
"You are going to show me around the woman's area of the dorms?" Caminal then asked, disapproval in her voice as she stared at him, blatantly unimpressed.
"There's nothing wrong with you entering any part of the dorms, it's just better to have a decent reason for doing so if you happen to be caught by others." Raphael quickly replied, hastily defending herself against the blatant judgement that he was receiving.
"So I would also be free to go into the boy's dorms?" Caminal then asked.
"Course, if you have any problem then you can just come and find me regardless of where I am. Although avoid going between floors around bath time, or just late at night in general unless you feel enough importance in the matter."
"Obviously…" Caminal sighed in response whilst she walked out of the room, Raphael following after and closing the office behind them. "But if that is the case, then I would like to take you up on your offer, and perhaps visit Razi later as well…"
"I understand that, although something tells me you are going to hate his room…" Raphael said, now taking his turn to look tired in response, seemingly knowing something that Caminal could begin to take a guess at why. "Either way, I'll take you to your room first so you can start to get used to the place and relax."
"Then please lead the way," Caminal replied, giving a small smile of her own, one that Raphael couldn't help but feel was the first that he managed to see on her all day.
"Ah, Cami-meow and Raphael are coming down now." Kimberly pointed out as she notice the two familiar figures making both Rokumon and Cassidy turn around to first catch a glance of them before Cassidy soon got to her feet wasting little time in heading straight over to them.
"Raphael, can I talk to you for a moment?" Cassidy called out whilst briefly waving her hand, making sure that she grabbed the attention of the two teenagers.
"Who would she happen to be, Raphi?" Caminal asked as she notice the quickly approaching woman as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
"You know that I mentioned that Cassidy would be able to find out what's wrong with Razi? Well, that's her." Raphael briefly answered the short pink-haired girl before turning his attention back to Cassidy who had now closed nearly all the distance between them. "So what's wrong Cassidy? Is it something to do with Mina or did you see what happened when we came in?"
"Mainly the latter, but the former does also apply." Cassidy quickly answered, getting straight to the point before flashing Caminal with a warm, friendly smile. "I heard from Kimberly that you two knew one another in the past, and she also told me a little bit about you. Caminal Sisua, right? I'm Cassidy Fisher, it's nice to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Caminal replied with a curt bow before looking at Cassidy with a slightly more serious face. "Sorry, but I'm a little more interested in the fact that you said that you were here because of what you saw when we came in, does that mean you're here about Razi?"
"Ah, that's right. I was wondering if Raphael, or either of you, knew anything about why he happened to be so disheartened." Cassidy replied, now allowing worry to take over her features.
"We were going to ask you if you would be willing to find out, he changes moods so suddenly during the mission that we can't work out what it is," Raphael mentioned, taking back the attention of the conversation.
"Well, what happened then?" Cassidy asked, her attention perking up, making sure that she would miss out on any important detail about the matter.
"During the mission, Mina was in a tight spot so I gave Razi the clear to help her out a little bit and to listen to her orders. He jumped straight at the Aquafiné and knocked it back with one blow but then he landed in the water, and you can guess how that started to go for him." Raphael started to explain somewhat nonchalantly whilst making sure for himself that he wasn't missing out on any information.
"I tried to help him out of the water by making him a bridge but he only froze up in response to it until he was attacked again before he could manage to get out of the water. And then when I did manage to get him back to the land he remained in his poor mood." Caminal then explained, taking over for Raphael when it came to the actions that she had done whilst Raphael himself merely nodded in confirmation, telling Cassidy that he had seen everything just like her. "I didn't happen to upset him somehow, did I? But I don't recall anything bad about my actions and nor did Raphi."
"What do you mean Razi froze up when you made a bridge for him? In fact, how did you do it as well?" Cassidy continued to enquire as the story completely had her interest as well as her bewilderment.
"Well, I used my magic to create a bridge made of crystal." Caminal began to answer whilst she held out an open palm where for a few there were sparks of blue lightning before it settled down to present a miniature model that replicated a small crystal bridge just as she had made earlier that day complete with a miniature Razi.
"This is incredible! I didn't think that you would have such incredibly magic!" Cassidy couldn't help but comment in awe as she admired the sculpture that had been so quickly and easily produced, yet it also wasn't long before a frown began to find its way onto her face as if she had realised something. "But, this wouldn't happen to have been exactly like what you made before, right?"
"It is, is there something wrong?" Caminal earnestly replied with worry and curiosity setting in around the matter.
"Raphael, if you look at the crystal, does it remind you of anything? If you couldn't call it crystal what would you call it?" Cassidy suddenly asked, putting all her attention rather seriously onto Raphael to his mild shock leaving Caminal to continue to ponder just what was going on between the two.
"Um…" Raphael hummed to himself as he took the time to closely inspect the sculpture that Caminal held. "It's pretty, kinda like refined ice?" He finally mentioned, choosing what he thought to be a fitting description for the reflective crystals that likewise held a similar blue.
"Exactly," Cassidy replied as if it was enough to answer everything. "Don't you remember about ice and Razi?"
"That they never meet at all since he basically hibernates in the guild during winter?" Raphael quickly responded, not quite getting at what Cassidy was trying to get him to understand whilst Caminal could tell that Raphael was either forgetting or didn't know an important detail.
"And why do you think that is?" Cassidy continued to ask, clearly displeased and almost exasperated with Raphael.
"Something to do with the wolf part of him, I guess? Not that wolves hibernate as far as I'm aware." Raphael guessed again before seemingly getting fed up as well. "You know you could just get straight to mentioning whatever I'm missing out on."
"Razi is afraid of ice and all things relating to it!" Cassidy then almost shouted at him if it was something obvious that he should have always known whilst Caminal went into shock.
"He's afraid of ice? But why would that be the case?" She couldn't help but ask whilst she thought about the scenario before having it finally click with what she had done to the younger boy.
"More accurately, some would call it PTSD. Before he came to the guild he had a rough life, and nearly all of it was spent in a wintery town…" Cassidy replied. "But Raphael should know even more than I do, considering that he was in the guild when Razi came whilst I wasn't. Even if you weren't the ones to bring him back you have had far longer to learn about him."
"I didn't think of it as a topic to approach, and he never went and mentioned something either!" Raphael desperately replied as to his defence, not that he couldn't shake off a sense of guilt still. It was a fact that he should have known the quirky wolf boy far better, yet Cassidy still knew everyone in the guild almost perfectly.
"I can't believe you…" Caminal sighed in disbelief, her hardened face spelling out all her current disapproval towards Raphael and he couldn't help but look away with a building sense of shame.
"Well… it's not like you did anything wrong, even if you could have done something better…" Cassidy then said with a heavy sigh before pulling herself together again. "I know that you wouldn't mean to leave him on his own, however, and you rarely have a way with words…"
"I'm not that bad…" Raphael blandly replied, knowing perfectly well just what Cassidy happened to be digging at.
"But somewhat awkward." Cassidy simply replied. "Don't worry about Razi anymore, I'll make sure to go and talk to him before dinner. I'm sure that he'll understand and come around."
"I can tell however that you are doing a good job at taking care of Caminal however, as you're seeming getting along rather nicely already." Cassidy then said with a warm smile, making sure to finally move the topic along to brighter topics. "I'm sure that Raphael will be able to take care of all your problems but please feel free to ask me some things as well, ok Caminal? And Raphael, be sure to be more attentive with her, to avoid something like this with Razi." She then finished with a bright smile before turning around and hurriedly making her way towards the dorms, clearly quite eager to begin righting the wrongs that the pair of them had caused.
"Thank you very much!" Caminal called out as she watched her leave before vanishing from sight, "I really shouldn't have done that then… I must have made quite the horrible impression on him already…" Caminal couldn't help but mention when it was finally just her and Raphael once again. "But I also can't believe that you wouldn't have caught on sooner." She then said, turning to look at Raphael who almost seemed lost in the moment as he continued to look down the hallway until he flinched.
"I could bring up the point that you made before about not wanting to answer too many questions so soon you know," Raphael replied, his voice now lacking some energy to it.
"I meant that you should take everything at a pace, not stop altogether…" Caminal replied before taking another glance at him. "You should… just be a little bit more mindful from now on. So long as you are not seeking to be cruel then it's fine, and I don't know anything about how things have been during the time you're been in the guild, so you might not be as in the wrong as you think you are."
"Roundabout support hm?" Raphael couldn't help but quip to Caminal's slight irritation but more embarrassment. "But saying something despite not having been here to make the judgement call…"
"It's because I haven't been here that I can say those things." Caminal quickly shot back. "But, would you mind showing me to my room for now? And possibly anything else that you can?"
"Sure." Came the simply replied as Raphael began walking at a leisurely pace in the same direction that Cassidy had vanished, making it easy for Caminal to keep up. There were some rooms that they simply walked straight past yet Caminal could still read the signs on the doors, telling her things like the toilets, library, storage and more whilst they walked down a slope that soon turned into a bunch of stairs. "The first floor is the girls, go one further down and you get the boy's floor." He mentioned as they came off of the stairs, only vaguely gesturing at the continuing stairs that went further down either side of the main stairs they had just come down.
"And your room should be this one." He then said after their pair of them had walked down a somewhat spacious corridor before stopping before one door in particular that unlike plenty of the other rooms, didn't have a name or some kind of label on it.
Caminal needed nothing further to tell her to step up to the door, allowing the key she had recently received to manifest in her hand again before taking it the lock and twisting it, getting a smooth click in response as she felt the door open for her.
Automatically she twisted the nob of the door and opened it to go inside, walking in and observing the room slowly, taking it in for what it was whilst Raphael let the door close behind them before leaning against the wall allowing Caminal the chance to take it all in.
The room wasn't anything that was terrifically large, but it certainly wasn't small for a single person either as it had plenty of space to move about despite the basic double bed, bedside table, draws and wardrobe alongside a coffee table with pillows on the floor to sit at. There was hardly anything that would suggest it was a girl's room from how basic everything was, but it was obviously because they didn't want to start styling the room towards any particular design that the inhabitant possibly wouldn't like.
"Do you like it?" Raphael eventually asked whilst Caminal continued to poke about the room, sitting on the bed and spotting the doorway to a toilet area and tap.
"Am I allowed to decorate it how I like?" Caminal asked in response.
"It's your room."
"Then it's certainly quite comfortable, I just wouldn't know how long I would be able to take a bland interior like this," Caminal said with a sigh.
"Understandable, if you could somehow live like this forever then I would start wondering how, unless you just spent all of your day outside and doing other things, but even then…" Raphael said whilst taking a better look at the room himself, his voice trailing off making for an unusually tense silence in the room. "I haven't done anything yet that you're against, have I? Or is there something that I should know, Caminal? Well aside from anything that might just be a part of who I am at least." he then suddenly asked, completely gripping Caminal's attention also in shock.
"Is something wrong? Did I say something?" Raphael couldn't help but ask the girl that was now staring at him almost as if there was wrong with him.
"No, it's just that's the first time that you have called me Caminal, for the whole day it's just been Mina from you." She replied, shaking off the feeling as if it had just been almost uncomfortable to hear.
"So you would rather I call you Mina all the time?" Raphael then guessed with a growing smile, amused at the response that he managed to get out of her in such a simple way already.
"You can call me whichever, I don't care," Caminal replied practically in a huff as she shifted to look away from him on her position on the bed. "But the other odd thing was that you suddenly care more about how I've been perceiving you, a change that suddenly isn't hard to work out why when I've been with you the whole time." She then continued, allowing her voice to get a little softer.
"I believe that as long as you don't go and start pretending to be someone else then it's fine, it's good to make sure that you know everyone that you often see but I guess that you don't need to know every detail about them if you aren't particularly close…"
Hearing this it was now Raphael's turn to go quiet as he processed what Caminal had just told him, leaving her in an almost suspenseful silence as she couldn't help but wonder just what kind of conclusion he was drawing now in his mind.
"Your likely one of the most complicated people I have ever met… and possibly struggle to be honest as well in some regards." Raphael finally replied with an exasperated sigh that had Caminal light up in response.
"Just what are you talking about now! Are you trying to upset me now?!" Caminal shouted out as her emotions began to go all over the place, unable to help but feel that she had just been completely toyed with whilst grabbing one of the pillows from her bed and throwing it at his face.
"I'm not, I'm not! Sorry! Sorry!" Raphael began to frantically apologise as he caught the incoming pillow and quickly began to use it as a shield against the endless onslaught of pillows that Caminal was creating and throwing at him.
"Hmph, as you should be. You shouldn't ever respond to someone like that after they try helping you…" Caminal huffed as she finally relented her barrage, now allowing all the pillow's that she had created to fade away into nothingness.
"Dam it, if you can just do that then you would win a pillow fight every time…" Raphael mumbled as he threw back the lone pillow that he was holding, the only real pillow that Caminal hadn't created to throw at him.
"I don't think that is what you should be taking away from this." She scolded.
"Alright, I get it! I mean that I'm sorry, at the very least those are the things to keep in my head." He said before he managed to regain some vigour. "And, thanks." He then added on, the simplicity of his message helping leave its mark on Caminal who likewise completely recovered herself.
"You're welcome," Caminal replied, completely recomposed as if she never had any little outburst at all. "And if you would like to start making it up then you could start showing around everywhere that I might like to or should know about." She then mentioned with a small smile.
"My pleasure, if you'll come with me." He responded with a smile of his own, opening the door for her to her elsewhere around the guild…
"Razi? It's Cassidy, can I come in?" Cassidy called out after having knocked on another of the dorm rooms in the guild, making sure to carefully listen to any voice that would hopefully respond to her.
"It's open." A mostly familiar voice called out to her in response, sounding slightly muffled, something that Cassidy hoped was simply because of the door. Yet pushing down her worries she opened up the door to see the sight that was Razi's messy room, various things were decorated, or rather littered, around the whole room but the most important sight at that moment was of Razi laying on the bed, severely lacking his usual energy whilst wearing a smile that was clearly more akin to a mask. "Hi Cassidy, was there something that you wanted from me?" Razi asked with his continued forced demeanour.
"Nothing at all," Cassidy replied with a soft smile whilst finding her way to the bed, making sure not to trample or trip up on anything that happened to be on the floor. "I was just a little worried about you. You didn't seem ok, as if something had happened during your mission."
"Nothing happened, there's nothing to worry about Cassidy, I'm fine!" Razi quickly began to insist as he almost bolted upright on the bed, waving his hand as if to dis sway her from continuing.
"I'm sorry Razi but it clearly isn't true. Nearly everyone could tell that something was wrong with you, and whilst Raphael and Caminal didn't realise what they did wrong at the time, they do now." Cassidy said, frowning with worry with a soft, sympathetic voice that still managed to remain firm enough that Razi knew better than to try and refute her words.
"But they did nothing wrong… I made a mistake and Caminal tried to help me…Raphi did nothing wrong as well…" Razi mumbled in response. "If anything, I did something wrong because I'm an A-Class wizard, I shouldn't have ended up in that situation."
"That isn't true Razi, making mistakes and doing wrong are completely different things." Cassidy quickly interjected, making sure to grab the boy's attention. "You tried to help her as quickly as possible, and that's all that matters. However, I think another reason that you are really struggling, is because of the bridge that Caminal made for you."
"Wait, how do you know about that?" Razi couldn't help but ask as he now stared at Cassidy with a sense of bewilderment.
"I asked Raphael and Caminal about what happened and what could have upset you, and managed to pick up on the detail of what kind of bridge that Caminal made you. It was a crystal one, but it reminded you of ice, didn't it?" Cassidy answered before she swiftly continued pushing along the conversation to the point that she knew what Razi needed most.
"But it wasn't ice, it was crystal." Razi tried to point out only for Cassidy to shake her head.
"That may have been the case but your mind initially registered it as ice, and you reacted poorly to that then didn't you?"
There was a moment of silence between them when Cassidy had asked this whilst Razi's head lowered a little, as he shrunk down slightly as he finally began to completely discard the act that he had been putting up for the last couple of hours that had been spent getting back to the guild.
Cassidy took this as a sign of everything that she had been expecting, gently wrapping her arms around Razi and hugging him close. "It's alright Razi, everyone has their fears and all kinds of them and there is nothing wrong with that. We typically all have them for a reason and yours is certainly no exception." She spoke to him with an almost motherly voice. "You were reminded of before you came to the guild, weren't you?" she then guessed.
"Mm." Came the simple response as Razi opted to merely hum instead of attempt to give any more of a vocal answer.
"I wouldn't know everything about you from back then as you could guess why, and despite how long you have known each other, Raphael seemed to have no idea just what your fears were. Have you ever told him?"
"No… I didn't want to talk about it, and he never asked…" Razi replied again, Cassidy thinking for almost a moment that there was a faint sob in his voice, prompting her to rub against his back slightly.
"Then he would have had to have worked it out for himself… he might be observant but he doesn't always draw the right conclusions…" Cassidy couldn't help but say with a sigh before she pushed the thought from her mind. "How do you feel about Caminal then?"
At this Razi stayed quiet for a moment, either in thought or leaving it as an answer in and of itself. "You understand that she didn't know, don't you."
"Yes," Razi replied.
"And she doesn't mean any harm, she's worried about the fact that she might have hurt you as well," Cassidy said only for the wolf boy to remain quiet in response whilst he ruminated over the new member that had joined them.
She had been nothing less than intense for the majority of the day, yet he himself didn't need to be told that at the end of the day that she wasn't a bad person either. There had been numerous times where she hadn't hesitated to snap at him for apparently doing something wrong, but whenever she had seen that she had gone too far she tried to apologise, even if most of it went over his head, not understanding why she did some of the things that she did.
Yet, at that moment he couldn't help but view her entirely differently. His mind couldn't help but view her spell-like an attack as at first the sight of ice flickered through his mind before the memories began to flash across, memories that painted over Caminal and her words from someone trying to help him to yet another person who hurled abuse and harsh words towards him without hesitation.
A situation where fear and sense of danger began to kick in and he couldn't help but feel some sense of instinct beginning to rise within him. Even just remembering how he had felt at that moment had him moving his hand to a small pendant of a crescent moon that hung around his neck with an almost trembling hand.
The fear that he had felt at the moment was something that had gripped his heart, but the fear of those sensations was great enough to almost drown it out. He knew what they were, he knew and desperately wished that it would never have happened, that he never wanted to have to experience anything like it again. And the pendant he wore gave him reassurance.
'The master said… that everything would be fine…' he mentally told himself as he carefully yet firmly grasped it, allowing himself to calm down again.
"You don't hold anything against her, do you?" Cassidy asked, her voice breaking Razi's thoughts and dragging him back to reality as he looked up at her. "Would you say that she has at least just given you a bit of a shock?"
"I suppose so…" Razi eventually replied as he started to regain himself slightly.
"Do you want to keep some distance for a little bit? I won't say that it's ok to do so forever but I understand if you want at least a little space for a day."
"No, I don't want to avoid her! She's a part of the guild now and she did nothing wrong, I don't want her thinking that I hate her or something." Razi quickly replied as he looked at Cassidy with earnest eyes that showed more conviction than before.
"I'm sure that she would understand if she were told what was going on, but I won' tell you to stay away from her if you are really alright with it as well. I'm sure that if you want to see her or Raphael then perhaps over dinner soon will be the best time? I'm sure that they'll be together as well."
"Right, I'll tell them that I'm better then…" Razi said before finally composing himself, yet despite his improved mood, he was still not quite as energetic as usual, telling Cassidy just enough about his current state still.
"Do you want me to stay with you for a little bit until it's time for dinner?" She finally offered, something that the younger boy was relatively quick to accept, simply wanting to enjoy her more comforting presence for a little bit longer, at least until a better source of comfort finally showed up in the form of dinner…
"And this is the library," Raphael said as they approached what would be the final room on the small tour around the guild, having covered just about everything except the few places that Raphael naturally couldn't go.
As he made the announcement he pushed open rather large doors that weren't that different from the entrance to the guild, yet unlike them seemed to be notably lighter as Raphael didn't seem to need to exercise much force to open them, quickly revealing the final room.
Much like the rest of the guild, the majority of the walls were made out of nice stonework whilst lined with wooden beams that acted as support whilst adding something to the aesthetics of the domed room. All along the walls were countless bookshelves that were so tall that they would tower over any person as sliding ladders were attached to them were, even more, were well-positioned to make corridors in the room.
Yet it was the overabundance of shelves and books that helped make the middle of the room stand out even more, as a spacious walkway remained straight to the other end of the room where there was a small clearing with a few tables and chairs with a fireplace as well, whilst there was a lone person sat down and completely engrossed in her book.
"Who would she happen to be?" Caminal asked, pointing out the woman to Raphael only for him to flinch in response. "What is the matter?" She then asked, taking note of Raphael's reaction to the woman that was quietly reading.
"You know when we told you that there was someone that you should make sure to prepare yourself for?" Raphael replied, his voice almost a whisper as he leaned towards Caminal some more to make sure that she would be able to hear him, and only her.
"I take it that this is that 'Órla' that you mentioned before then," Caminal said, keeping her eyes fixed on the woman, doing her best to take in everything about her that she could tell from their distance in the attempt to work out whatever it was that warranted preparation.
"That's right… you can't tell right now but she'll shock you in about every way possible…" Raphael said as he resumed standing at full height. "I know you said that you don't want to avoid anyone and honestly she isn't that bad, but do you perhaps want to meet her later?"
"No, I am here right now so I should make sure to introduce myself," Caminal answered with a resolute voice before taking a few steps forward.
"Well, I've got you back but also don't say that I didn't warn you." Raphael couldn't help but mention as he began to tag along from behind.
Despite Raphael's warning Caminal still couldn't see anything that he could have possibly have been talking about, yet she could tell that he likely wasn't pulling her leg either from how much that he had been insisting alongside how much he had already helped her.
Even as she was approaching all she could tell about the woman is that she had rather long, glossy hair that managed to cover her facial features whilst she had a tall and slim build as she sat in her chair with a sense of class that contrasted with the patchwork of a dress that she wore, stitched into an old Victorian styled dress whilst being composed of a verity of shades of browns, greens and blacks.
"Excuse me," Caminal called out as she finally neared the table, standing not too far behind the woman, making sure her voice was soft and holding her hands politely in front of herself whilst Raphael began to approach her side, trying to guess just what Órla would try to do this time.
"Oh?" Órla responded as she shifted slightly, "You wouldn't happen to be calling out to me, would you?" She responded as she turned out to see just who was trying to talk to her, and the moment she did Caminal completely lapsed back into pure horror and shock.
While it had been none too clear to her before, it had become all too obvious now to Caminal about just why Raphael and Razi had warned her about Órla, as her face was deathly pale whist littered with what almost appeared to be cracks whilst what would have otherwise appeared as a friendly smile was lined with razor-sharp teeth.
But it wasn't the worst part about her, as Caminal was glad that one of her eyes was covered up by one of her bangs as her eyes blatantly weren't human but instead were compound much like insects instead.
There was only one small part of Caminal's mind that managed to remain calm in the face of the sight that she saw thanks to the warning that she had received. She could only inwardly praise herself for not having let her voice loose somehow, yet Órla only smiled as if she had just managed to read in her mind at the moment attempting something further.
At first, Caminal froze in mere disbelief as she looked upon the practically a monster of a woman as she swore she saw something shift on her face, and then on closer inspection, she saw what it was and immediately regretted it. A small living thing, almost like some sick mix of a beetle and silverfish shifted about on her cheek before suddenly walking toward her eye and burrowing behind it whilst Órla continued to act like there was nothing wrong, not even having realised what happened.
Caminal couldn't help but cup her mouth in pure disdain and disgust whilst her body completely recoiled with a slither of fear entering her as she rapidly continued to think about just how correct Raphael had been about her, yet at the same time, how nothing could have prepared her for it.
"Órla, that's enough. Mina can't take anymore." Raphael firmly spoke up whilst completely allowing Caminal to step back into him, falling to his chest in the practically instinctive sense to find anything that would offer her some safety or protection against whatever on earth was sitting before her, still with a chilling smile on its face.
"Mm? But you know that I'm not doing anything, this is simply what I'm like." Órla nonchalantly replied whilst her gaze refused to leave Caminal's. "Doing something would imply something like this." She then said, much to the alarm of Raphael yet before he could say or do anything for Caminal several of the… creatures… then crawled out of her eyes and some then into her mouth.
It was this slight that had completely brought Caminal right past her limit as she couldn't help but scream out loud in horror, a flash of a beautiful, glittering royal blue flame quickly manifesting itself into existence as it lashed out at the monster that was before her until it all vanished as quickly as it came, the short girl quickly losing all her strength as she completely fell into Raphael's arms before her consciousness soon followed…
"Grzegoria! What the hell was that?!" Raphael shouted out as he held up Caminal, completely drawing the resting girl into his arms to comfortably support her.
"I just thought that I would give her a little scare, it's just a little fun! Everyone reacts so differently as well." She replied almost with a shrug of her shoulders.
"You cause this a little?" Raphael deadpanned whilst gesturing at Caminal. "She was already plenty scared with just the one bug!" Yet despite earnestly listening to him, Grzegoria didn't seem to care, or rather understand at all, instead merely blandly looking at Caminal not understanding what she was supposed to be spotting.
"But you're just fine, you know you almost make it boring." She then said.
"That's only because of how long I have known you," Raphael shot back before glancing off to the side. 'And I still haven't gotten used to that crap still…' he couldn't help but think to himself before shaking off the thought. "Either way, you're going to need to give Mina some room, and then apologise… whilst likely having nightmares for a while…" he mumbled at the end.
"Perhaps, maybe, but I didn't mean her any harm. And you can't keep me away from her, we've just met! There's so much to ask!" She said with such excitement and enthusiasm that it was almost concerning considering she was talking about another person.
"And I'm sure you'll use your magic for that either way even if it creeps her out even more, could you spare someone's feelings for once? You have the master rather concerned at times, and Razi might become paranoid one day. I'm amazed he isn't yet actually…"
"But people don't show off everything about themselves when alone, you need people to probe for it and even then people never ask the right questions, there are some things that they never ask about someone. And even you must be curious about Razi, I mean I know I'm different but there's an explanation for that, yet Razi is always such a mystery. Don't you want to know how he works? Functions? Just where he came from and what he is?"
"Not particularly…" Raphael answered as he had to back away as Grzegoria had been getting close and closer to him with overwhelming excitement. "And when no one but you is asking a certain question, then maybe you should take the hint that it's not ok to ask such things!" he then said, making sure to put his foot down against the bug lady.
"Either way, try to curb your interest for at least a few days. I'll know if you don't and no one wants any more trouble on the subject…" He sighed before glancing back at the doorway that they had come from, already thinking of leaving. "If you must then I'll signal if it's ok or not for you to sit near us at dinner depending on Caminal's mood. And if you send any of your… bug things… then I'm certain she will burn them all to the ground if I don't first. No one likes those things stalking them, it's really unnerving…"
"Well, that's alright, I'm certain that we'll learn some things about it somehow. But two things." Grzegoria said with a smile before seemingly getting more serious for the first time. "They're not 'bug things' unlike any normal arthropods they might not have any actual names due to their nature, but don't refer to them like that. You could just call them my babies!"
At this Raphael was struck silent, completely at a loss about what would be the most appropriate way to respond to what he had been told, or even how he felt about it until he decided to better shake the unpleasant sensation off. "We'll?" he then questioned, more so out of wanting an escape.
"Ah," Grzegoria said as she froze up for a moment as if she had been caught red-handed. "That was just a slip of the tongue, nothing more, don't worry about it! Haha!" She quickly and awkwardly answered whilst rapidly scratching the back of her head yet her behaviour was something only even more painful than before, but Raphael didn't care about it at the moment. "Well, how about the other thing, something more important. You called her Mina, but also Caminal, which one is it?"
"I'd recommend using Caminal unless she says otherwise." Raphael briefly responded as he made sure to pick Caminal up and into his arms, turning around to finally leave Grzegoria back to her own devices with whatever she had been studying, something that was clear from the sight of numerous books on the table that now on a second evaluation were all littered with bugs that were seemingly trying to read.
"I see, well I hope to see you soon at dinner!" Grzegoria said with a smile as she waved him off.
"Till then." Raphael said, doing his best to smile back before leaving the rooms, allowing the door to close behind him, separating him and Caminal from the bug lady and her 'babies'…
Caminal stirred slightly from where she lay on the bed until her eyes finally cracked open, allowing her to take a glimpse of where she was, immediately seeing only a vaguely familiar ceiling of one that she was sure that she had only seen before a little earlier that day, whilst she could tell merely by the sensations of what she rested upon that she was on a bed.
"What happened?" Caminal thought aloud as she slowly pushed herself to be sitting upright on the bed until her memories managed to catch up to her, the sight of the numerous creatures crawling out, over and into that woman's features.
There was no delay then in her clutching her hands over her mouth as she tried to suppress her disgust that still lingered from the experience, almost completely regretting having tried to remember what had happened.
"You remembered it all huh?" Another voice then called out to her, only to her mild shock however as she turned to see Raphael sitting down on a cushion of the ground that wasn't all that far from her.
"A man shouldn't enter and stay within a woman's room so nonchalantly…" Caminal replied albeit with a voice that was a bit quiet even for her softer tones.
"You fainted at the sight of her, wouldn't bringing you back here be the best thing for you? And as for leaving or not… well I don't know." Raphael said with somewhat of an awkward voice. "Just, do you have to attack me like this after I tried helping you? I mean this wouldn't have happened if you had listened to my warnings and saw her later."
There was silence in the room for a few moments as Caminal let the words sink in as she knew every last one of them to be true, except for one part. "There was no way that I would ever have been prepared for something like that… It was out of a horror story…" Caminal faintly replied, gently shifting somewhat on the bed. "But, thank you for looking after me."
"It's nothing really. Honestly though, one of us is going to get into a lot of trouble with the master, possibly both of us." Raphael said managing to gather some of Caminal's attention. "He might just say that I shouldn't have brought you to Órla and then tell her that she never should have done that in the first place…"
"But we only met because of my insistence. He can't blame you for that." Caminal pointed out.
"Well, maybe if you tell him that then he might go lighter, yet at the same time he might not care…" Raphael almost groaned.
"How long have I been out?" Caminal then asked as she moved so that his legs were hanging off the bed were her shoes, the only thing that had been taken off her person, were nicely set out just on the floor.
"Just a little while, I think it will be about dinner time soon but are you even feeling good enough to eat a meal yet? It wouldn't be pretty for you to suddenly feel horrible again and throw up on the spot."
"I should be fine…" Caminal answered before taking the time to check herself, making sure that she really didn't feel queasy around her stomach anymore. "But, um… she won't be there, will she?" she couldn't help but ask already knowing what the likely outcome would be. Even if she managed to hold everything in she was certain that she would never have an appetite so long as she was around.
"Well yeah, she has a room in the dorm since she usually has a hard time finding rent anywhere else if you can guess why. But even those who live elsewhere still eat here as well, I've told her to stay away unless I say it's ok however, not only will I not be the only one looking out for you there but her attention might be taken up more with other people instead. Possibly. Hopefully…"
"Whenever people end their sentences like that you only make yourself sound uncreditable!" Caminal then snapped in response.
"Órla's a wild card! No one can be certain!"
"It sounds like she has no morals!"
"You're not exactly wrong…" Raphael then said, swiftly ending the tiny argument between the two as Caminal almost lapsed into a sense of realisation, feeling that it was almost something that she should have realised sooner. "Anyway… if you feel like it then we can get dinner. I already mentioned that I would cover your meals for now, didn't I?"
"Thank you very much for doing some much for me." Caminal calmly replied with a bow before slipping her shoes on, being ready to leave whist Raphael made sure to do the same.
"It's nothing, anyways, come on then. We should get there before all the good seats are taken, and you should get to read what the menu is." He said whilst getting to his feet and heading to the door and holding it open, leading Caminal out of the room.
"There's a surprising amount of selection here." Caminal couldn't help but comment as she and Raphael sat down at the counter to the café reading the presented menu whilst drinks of tea and soda were sat before them respectively.
"Well, there is the whole guild to feed after all. Plenty of different people with different tastes." Raphael answered as he quickly scanned over the menu once again, almost in boredom as he waited for Caminal to make her own decision before ordering.
"I suppose so, it must mean a lot of work for the people working here however, oh, do you mind if I have a sushi set?" Caminal said before pointing out at her choice on the menu.
"Sure thing," Raphael replied before raising his hand to call over someone to serve them, all the while unintentionally catching the attention of some others.
"This is where you have been, Cami-meow." A familiar voice suddenly called out to them, getting the pair to turn around to see just who had called out for them only for them to notice Kimberly approaching them before propping herself up beside Caminal, having to climb onto it slightly to make up for her short stature. "So, you've basically spent the whole day with Raphi now. Do you understand how annoying he can be now?"
"I admit that I have seen some poorer sides of him." Caminal began to reply much to the disbelief of Raphael who looked at her almost betrayed whilst she didn't react to him at all. "But doesn't everyone have some kind of shortcoming? I think that he's a good person that I have much to thank him for, and at least he doesn't call me a silly nickname like you do. I personally don't see what you have against him."
"It would have been nice if you led with that." Raphael couldn't help but mention it mainly to himself as he began to relax again.
"Well… he's… you'll understand soon enough if you continue to spend time with him, or even without. But he's been calling you Mina hasn't he?" Kimberly then said, not even looking at Caminal anymore whilst she skimmed the menu before pointing to the decision to the person who was serving everyone, quickly making her choice known and in a fraction of the time that it took Caminal to make her own.
"His name is better than yours, that's a name that I would expect a child to come up with for me," Caminal said in almost matter of fact tones.
"But it makes you sound so much cuter! And I like it!" Kimberly said with a sense of disappointment, sinking in her seat slightly from how her friend was acting about it.
"But I don't!" Caminal firmly replied as for once her voice sounded like she was beginning to get upset with the messy-haired girl.
"Why not?" Kimberly asked as she rested against the counter, waiting for whatever silly or faint excuse that Caminal would come up with.
"Well, why don't you like being called Kim or Kimmy?" Caminal countered, holding her composer significantly better than her friend.
"That's irrelevant to this, we're talking about you right now!" Kimberly argued back.
"You know, you seem like arguing sisters somewhat. You bare enough similarities and differences for it." Raphael then quipped at random, breaking the tension between the two girls only for them to look at him fiercely as if he had said something wrong yet even their combined glares held little effect against him, and he still completely thought his own opinion wasn't that wrong either.
The two of them were short and overall physically between the appearance of a child and an adult, whilst different shades by both had pink hair and they argued in a way that was only possible for people who were familiar enough with one another to a certain extent. Even when combined, the sight of the two upset girls was more remising of upset children than of angry women, in fact, the combination only helped ease the discomfort and fear that a man would have usually held.
"Ah, Caminal?" Yet another voice then called out to them, completely removing the tensions as the group of three shifted their attention to work out who the newcomer now was only to bear witness to another face that she had already managed to meet earlier that day.
"Oh, um, your name would be Cassidy, wouldn't it?" Caminal replied, her face instantly softening as she recalled the woman. "How is Razi doing, he wouldn't happen to be upset with me still would he?"
"He doesn't hold anything against you at all, he knows that you didn't do any of it deliberately, in fact, he didn't want to leave you with any misconceptions like that actually…" Cassidy said with a warm smile before stepping to the side to reveal the short wolf boy that still had his tail in between his legs with a downtrodden expression.
"Razi… I'm really sorry about everything, I really didn't mean to scare you like that at all and-" Caminal was quick to begin apologising as she completely turned around on her stool to make sure that she was properly facing and giving all her attention to the younger boy.
"It's alright! Cassidy was right, I don't blame you for anything… and I wasn't scared either…" Razi quickly cut in, guessing at the kind of response that was quite likely out of Caminal from the way that she had always acted since first meeting her. "I was just shocked…"
"Are you feeling better now?" Raphael then asked as he also faced the boy, his voice a bit softer than what it had been earlier ago whilst in response, the boy simply nodded to answer bringing some relief to Raphael. "It's good to hear that you have nothing against Caminal but… I should also apologise. I've known you for years, ever since you got here and I still didn't know…"
"But isn't that natural? I never told you." Razi replied, almost bewildered from the sudden apology.
"Razi, when you have known a person for a particularly long time people tend to pick on some of the bigger bits of information about them, like if you have any phobias, especially since I have been through multiple winters watching the way you act," Raphael replied with a weak smile at the bewildered boy. "If you don't even know that then maybe I'm not the worst in the guild after all."
"I don't think you should be taking the time to allow yourself to feel better right now in such a way…" Caminal mentioned with a disgruntled voice, giving Raphael a sideways glance.
"No no, Raphi is fine! He teaches me things like that every now and then! It is a proper lesson right?" Razi then cut in with a sense of eager curiosity.
"It is one of those moments where he is correct Razi." Kimberly then answered for them with a sense of boredom.
"Then I should make note of it right if it's good manners to know these things! I mean I always thought that it was shamed on by people to try and learn about others discreetly like that." Razi said with complete earnestly that I made people wonder for a moment where he would have happened to have gotten such an idea until it finally clicked for everyone at once.
"Grzegoria." Raphael, Cassidy and Kimberly all said at once as they shared glances with one another.
"Razi, what Raphael said is true, but it also does get to the point where what you said is true as well, and it's important that you don't go trying to learn things that others aren't comfortable with you knowing." Cassidy then said as she knelt down slightly to allow her to better get a look at Razi's face whilst he completely listened to her looking much like an obedient puppy. "Grzegoria is an example of someone who takes it too far, not that we would have to tell you that what she does causes discomfort to say the least."
"She never leaves me alone…" Razi couldn't help but whine in response as his tail and ear's once again completely dropped.
"I know she doesn't and we keep trying to stop her. But, you've learned something new now haven't you?" Cassidy said with a smile, hoping to cheer the boy up again.
"Yup!" He answered happily and energetically, once again finally like how he used to be, a sight that people couldn't help but feel at least slightly reassured by.
"Come on, I'll pay for your dinner this time as well as an apology still. Get whatever you like." Raphael then said whilst patting the spare chair beside him, much to the boy's excitement as he leapt up.
"Can I even have one of those drinks that I usually don't get as well?!" Razi asked cheerfully as can be.
"Nope, your still too young." The response came instantly, shooting the kid down in no time at all for Razi's brief disappointment, but he didn't let it bother him for too long. Despite asking the question he knew he was going for broke, there had been better chances where he had asked before yet each and every time, no matter who he asked he was always met with the same responses.
"Why don't you give him a sip at least? What would the harm be?" Kimberly then suggested with a sly smile.
"You know what the harm would be," Raphael answered blandly with a sigh before gaining a smile of his own. "But go ahead if you want, just be prepared to accept the consequences when they come." To this response, the short girl quickly clammed up once again with a disgruntled demeanour, clearly not being willing to be subject to the punishments that would come with whilst denying her fun for the night.
"Well, I hope that you all enjoy yourselves and I'll see you all tomorrow." Cassidy then said with a friendly wave.
"See ya." "Bye!" "Have a safe trip home!" Raphael, Razi and Kimberly quickly responded, being sure to give a small smile and wave back at the older woman before letting her walk away, leaving Caminal slightly confused.
"She doesn't live in the dorms?" She couldn't help but ask as Cassidy let the guild.
"Nope, that master prefers it that anyone who can should try and live in a place of their own, yet Raphael is an exception to that." Kimberly was quick to reply as a bowl of salad and lemon and herb roasted potatoes were placed just before her.
"That's about the only exception made for me that I would agree with being true for the record." Raphael agreed whilst he received a large serving of Bolognese and garlic bread was served to him at the same time.
"I see, I guess that makes sense however, I wouldn't understand it if he wasn't willing to house his own family when he has plenty of rooms for it." Caminal said, receiving her sushi dish on an authentic pallet with a wide selection of different fish.
"Raphi gets no rent so he basically never struggles with money," Razi added on whist his tail was swishing behind him whether he knew it or not, and his faint salivating only made it obvious why.
"You should have better control over yourself than that! People will think your some kind of animal otherwise, you should have been raised with some manners, right?" Caminal couldn't help but said, making Razi sink down again in his spot.
"Calm down a bit Mina, food's just the one thing that Razi get's really passionate about. Although that doesn't mean I'm about to share. I'm paying for you meal already so just wait until it comes along, you did order later than us. Not to mention it's just a whole bunch of meat."
"It takes time to cook Razi," Kimberly added on, wasting no time starting her meal without shame. "And sorry but this has zero meat with it so I'm not giving you anything either." She quickly added on.
"Aww…" Razi couldn't help but faintly whine to himself, yet he perfectly accepted the circumstances until he noticed something else instead. "Bug!" He suddenly pointed out a familiarly horrible silver insect that was calmly sitting on the desk between Caminal and Raphael.
There was zero hesitation from the three in response to Razi's words either, whilst lightning sparked from Raphael and at least twenty different burning kunai suddenly shot forth from Caminal, Kimberly reached for the silver blade on her back and swung it with blinding speed, the assault of the three annihilating the small bug and severely damaging the counter as well.
Razi shrunk back with a sense of terror of the ruthlessness of the three mages, simply staring at the scorched, deep cuts done to the counter whilst the meals were still somehow undisturbed, and he wasn't alone in this either. There were plenty of others who looked on, perfectly understanding just what had likely happened before they then turned away, wishing to think nothing more about the situation.
"She always tries…" Kimberly said with disbelief before carefully inspecting her meal, making sure that there were no more horrible surprises.
"I warned her…" Raphael grumbled as he continued to look at the damage they had done. "Mina, are you feeling alright?" he then asked, glancing at the girl hoping that she wasn't reminded of the horrible experience that she had earlier that day.
"I think I might have lost my appetite a little…" she admitted with a frown whilst looking back at her untouched meal, almost hesitant to think if it really was untouched or not.
"Well, take a bite and that might change. I'll tell the master about this later. I honestly did tell her to give you some space." He mentioned giving his own meal a try before Caminal finally brought herself to do the same. None of the three mages batted an eye or thought their reactions were even the slightest bit overblown as they instead made sure to finish their meals before anything else threatened to ruin it, all the while Razi couldn't quite shake off the vague sense of fear, making a silent oath to never upset the three of them at once, ever.
Sorry, this took so long, I have been travelling recently, but I hope that the quality makes up for this, however! I hope you have enjoyed it. I admit there was one more character that was supposed to be introduced but to get this out sooner I had to cut out a scene so they will make their appearance next time! Also, everyone will be leaving on jobs tomorrow so how do you all think that will go? I will be doing that team be team however despite all happening at the same time, who do you think the teams will be?
Characters:
Grzegoria Laurinaitis - Elements08
Reviews:
LuxuryKiwi: Yup, when I got Caminal I liked the idea of someone with such crazy magic yet having it in the hand of someone so inexperienced and a little on the weaker side. I hope that I continue to make her interesting. And Kimber and Rocchi couldn't help but make great friends with a dynamic like that! I'm glad that the subtleties are getting through as well.
Naterthegreater: I'm glad to hear it all, and I hope that I can continue to make fights interesting and stay true to Cassdies character! I also hope that Orla was another interesting character and that you continue to look forward to some more. One more left in the guild, and even more behind that as well!