"Ina, I think it should be you."

The cup of tea dropped a bit too hard on the little coaster, ringing a loud clattering sound through the whole cafe and making everyone at the table wince. "Me? Why?"

5 people were seated at a round table bathed in the sun from the window inside a little quaint coffee shop. They were situated in a corner of the establishment so they could have some privacy. Only four of them could actually touch the floor with their feet when seated. The outlier was a little Atlantean shark that was currently giving the tentacled priestess a nasty side eye. "Why do you sound so opposed to the idea? And why do I have to learn at all?" Gura immediately gained a more smug look. "Scared I'll beat your skills during the first lesson?"

Ina had at least the decency to get a small blush on her cheeks, "N-no, it's just.. uhm." As Ina stammered she looked to Amelia for a rescue. The detective, for her part, was quick on the uptake. "Gura, she's probably just surprised by Kiara's offer. We all know you can be a bit ehh.." Amelia twisted her hand from the wrist in a so-so gesture, "stubborn at times. And if I'm reading the room right Ina just doesn't think she's the best fit for you."

Gura slammed her hands on the coffee table, it didn't make a big impression though due to her small stature. "Am totally not, Watson!"

"You totally are, you little-" Kiara quickly interjected before the half serious teasing match could continue. "Alright, alright!" When everyone was focused on her she gave a warm smile. "I wasn't able to finish my reasoning, guys." She animatedly clapped her hands and gestured to both Ina and Gura. "Gura, you've only been on the surface for a few short years now after leaving Atlantis. You've been able to get by with hitching a ride with us or someone else, but it's just not convenient. Not for you, or for your friends. If you plan to live the rest of your life here on the surface, then you should at least learn how to drive your own car."

Gura didn't lose the grumpy face, but at least she was listening. Her tail was slightly twitching, like an irritated cat. Kiara smiled in appreciation and proceeded to focus on Ninomae Ina'nis. "As for you. Sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that."

Her rosy cheeks hadn't left yet, but she appreciated the probably unneeded apology anyways. Ina gave a nod, "It's fine, Kiara." The phoenix continued, "I think you're the best option for Gura since you are definitely the most level headed of us all, you have a very calming presence, I know you drive well with good mannerisms and I trust that Gura will follow your judgment." Kiara sent a wink to Amelia. "I myself would probably talk too much, honestly, and with Amelia you two would just bicker like an old married couple."

At that Amelia and Gura both gave a scoff. Ina wanted to reply back to the honestly pretty good reasoning, but the one person who kept quiet till now took a sip from her wine and made a disagreeing noise in the back of her throat. "Dude, why not just hire a driving instructor? It doesn't have to be one of us. They know how to teach rowdy teens." And with this she gave a predatory smirk to Gura as she tapped her temple with a finger. "And our little fish out of water may be like 9000, but she ain't that different from a 20 year old up there."

The rest of the table broke out in giggles as Gura was made fun of. Her tail stopped twitching and started swaying back and forth. "I'll have you know I'm over 9500 already, I can take care of myself, miss death."

During their little exchange Amelia noticed Ina had a pensive look on her face, and after a few moments she clenched her fists and placed them resolutely on the table. "I'll do it." Before Cali could reply, she continued. "After the explanation, I agree with Kiara. And while your idea is good too, I just don't think it best if we expose ourselves too much to the outside world. Also lessons can be fairly expensive and I honestly like to teach people." The priestess focused a warm smile on Gura, who had lost most of her grumpy edge already. "9500 years old shark or not, I'll make you a safe user of the public roads!"

Ina had gotten a fire in her eyes that the rest of the table wasn't expecting, especially Kiara. The phoenix perked up though, as if a little lightbulb went on above her head. "I forgot to mention, we should also teach her how to drive a stick. That way she can acclimate to any new car in her future!"

Oh.. a manual car? That doesn't sound promising. Gura didn't have much of a reaction, of course. But Amelia en Calli already had a sympathetic wince ready for Ina. Her little head flaps flopped down and went flat, she took a shaky sip from her tea before answering. "That's fine, I can do both. Ehem.." She didn't sound very convincing.

Kiara either purposefully ignored her reaction or just didn't notice, for she bounced up from her chair and cheerfully clapped. "Great! Now that matter is settled, let me buy you all a nice slice of apple pie. I heard they are totally to die for!"

It was only a short two days later when Ina came to a stop in front of Gura's quaint little house. It was just a few roads off of the coast with a heavy seawind at every step of the way. Gura's house was painted a vibrant blue with little gray streaks just under the roof probably signaling shark teeth. Ina remembered with a fond smile the days that everyone would come together to help Gura fix up and renovate her little abode. It was a perfect house for her that also had the needed privacy from everyone else as it was fairly secluded. Ina gave a little sigh as her heart rate slightly increased, her bravado from a few days ago was slipping quickly and while she did genuinely love teaching she hoped Gura would be an attentive student.

She placed the car in neutral and pulled the parking brake before shutting off her purple car. It was a mid size coupe, clean and ran fine, but nothing special. She was happy with it and Ina prayed Gura wouldn't completely destroy the clutch and shifter on day one. The priestess stepped out and quickly pulled her coat close to her body. It squished the wings near her hips uncomfortably close to her body. Often she would also wear a hoodie outside to hide her ear flaps, but they could at least be handwaved away as a new hype of clothing or whatever, so she took the risk. The priestess was already happy that she could will Ao-chan to hide her mass of tentacles, which would make it otherwise impossible to hide in plain sight.

Ina walked up to the steps to the house and before she could even knock the door was already swung open by an excitable Atlantean. "Ina, finally!" She jumped full force into her companion forcing her to stagger back and hug the shark to her body. The force knocked some wind out of her lungs, "Oomph".

Gura was wearing her classic childrens shark costume that she found at the beach store when she first went ashore. Her tail fully peeked out and was wagging like when Bubba saw Amelia after a day of working away from home. After a few moments and a nuzzle into her coat Gura let go of the priestess and stood with full energy in front of her with her hands on her hips in a power pose.

Ina giggled at the girl, "You're in a good mood, especially compared to last time we met."

"Yeah! I did some thinking, and you guys are totally right." She crossed her arms and got a more bashful look, which Ina found absolutely adorable. "I mooch off of you guys for this type of stuff too often. And while I could just use my trident to make a water bubble that travels really fast, it would not help with the whole need to disguise myself from humanity stuff."

Ina gave the shark a demure smile and held out her hand. "I'm happy to hear it, we should go start right away." And just before Gura could grab her hand the shark noticed something. "Hey, wait. Where are your comically sized heels, Ina?" And sure enough, her usual footwear was swapped for a pair of black ankle height boots. One of the laces had a little Takodachi on the end strapped on. Ina blanched at the comment, "Comical!? Are they that bad?"

Gura put out her hands in a placating gesture, yet her sharp teeth were on full display as she grinned at the priestess. "K-kidding, I'm kidding!" Ina gave her an unimpressed raised eyebrow, but relented anyway. "While I do find them comfortable most of the time, they're just not practical when driving. I don't have enough control over the pedals, so my heels are in the trunk."

"Ah, makes sense." She grabbed the reoffered hand this time and they both walked to the purple car. Gura went with a bounce in her step to the driver's seat and Ina stepped inside the passengers side. Once both inside Ina could see Gura's familiar struggle with her tail getting in the way. The shark grunted uncomfortably and finally opted for letting it slightly fold and bend to the right of her. The tail managed to snake just over the handbrake and almost touch Ina. The priestess couldn't withstand the urge and gave a little scratch to the tip of her tail, making it twitch happily.

"You're lucky you're a close friend of mine, Ina. Not every Atlantean would appreciate their tail getting groped." At Ina's blushing exclamation, "That was NOT groping!" Gura gave a cheeky smile, before again frowning and wiggling in her seat. "First thing I do when I get my own is cut a hole in the seat for my tail."

Ina clapped her hands, not unlike a school teacher. "Alright, so the first thing you do is-" Gura managed to cut her off, her eyes had already gotten a predatory glint. She gripped the steering wheel tight, "Punch the gas!" She promptly 'punched' it and was rewarded with.. nothing. Maybe a sad cartoonish noise if their life was an Anime. A tumbleweed that shouldn't exist in their region bounced cheerfully in front of the car away to the fields, nature was laughing at her.

Ina deflated, this was going to be harder than she thought. "..put on your seatbelt." Gura had at least the shame to get a blush on her face while she sheepishly did as told. "Now, Gura. The car actually needs to be on for you to be able to 'punch the gas'." She dangled her keys next to the shark, another little happy Takodachi keychain was strapped to it. "Take my keys, use the biggest one, insert it in the slot right there and turn it right until you hear the engine turn on."

"Yes ma'am.." Gura for her credit did listen and follow her instructions to the letter this time. The engine turned over for a short two seconds before roaring to life with a small growl. "Then you need to check all your mirrors and make sure you can see clearly around the car, you want to be able to see if there are any possible chumbuds on the road so you can avoid hitting them. Adjust them if needed." Gura did just that as she smiled at the 'chumbuds' mention and swiveled her head around to check all three mirrors, she only briefly adjusted the rearview mirror.

"Good, you're listening well." Ina got a slight mischievous smirk, "For a shark at least."

That got the rise out of her she was looking for, "Oi! I'm a great listener, hmph."

Ina didn't say anything extra to mess with the girl, "Left from the steering wheel is a little stalk. Push it up and down to signal which direction you're going. You need to do this every time you make a turn, so people know what you're thinking." She dutifully tried both options presented to her.

Gura's eyes lit up, "Oh oh! I know what else to do, put it in drive!" The priestess' eyes widened in horror as she saw Gura push the shifter directly forward into third gear. Ina couldn't reply fast enough before the damage was done. The shark was physically much stronger than a human or even herself due to her Atlantean heritage, so Gura had no issues with pushing it through the resistance the engine gave her. The screeching noise was an onslaught to her ears and Ina's head flaps went flat to her skull in pain. Gura shot out a scared noise and quickly dropped her hand from the shifter. The car tried to lurch forward, but due to the parking brake it stayed on the same spot as the engine subsequently stalled, petering out with a pathetic noise.

Ina gave Gura the biggest scowl she could muster. It looked out of place on the normally reserved girl. "No, that is in fact not what you do next."

The shark's face was as red as a rose, she couldn't look Ina in the eyes. Her tail was as stiff as a board. "So, uh. What should I do next, s-sensei?"

Ina gave a small huff, but calmed down significantly after seeing Gura's guilty state. The gearbox took a hit, but it's not instantly broken after one mess up, luckily. This must've meant Kiara with her being able to keep a level head. "First push the stick gently back into neutral, you can slightly wiggle it left to right to be sure if it's actually free for now, but don't make it a habit." Gura silently did as told. "You can now turn on the engine again." It shook for a few seconds, but started back up again in a reasonable time frame. "Now, what you've seen our friends do does not apply to my car. They drive an automatic, that means they only have 3 states: drive, park and reverse. The car handles everything else." Ina pointed at the shifter, the top diagram clearly demonstrating her 1 to 5 and reverse options. Gura made a little 'ah' in the back of her throat and gave a shy smile to Ina. "I think I see where I went wrong."

Ina wasn't very impressed, but acquisitioned anyway. "Good, so in my car we have to do more manual work, hence the name. You have three pedals under you, right is gas, middle is brake and the extra left one is the clutch. This one doesn't exist in, say, Kiara's car." And now she said that, the true reason for her being pushed as the instructor came clear embarrassingly late. ' I'm the only one with a manual.. '

Gura slightly twitched her feet above the pedals, not daring to actually touch any of them after her failure from before. "And just from where your tail is, that's the handbrake. You pull it up when you're done driving. This prevents it from just rolling away or getting pushed when parked. Any questions yet?"

"No not yet, I think it's clear till now, Ina."

She sighed again, "Now you need to push in the clutch, this is crucial so we don't get the horrible noise from before when shifting." Even the whispers and blathering from the Ancient Ones on her worst days was still easier to deal with than hearing the gearbox getting choked out of life.

"Put the parking brake down, push in the little button and you should be able to set it down." Gura listened dutifully and did both actions. "Now you have the clutch in, you can safely change gears. You go from 1 to 5 during driving, you start at one and keep shifting up when the speed increases. So for example when we're on the highway, you should often be at speed 5."

Ina was impressed at how Gura's demeanor had changed after that big mess up from before. She neatly slotted the stick into one without any painful scraping noise and immediately made eye contact with Ina for the other instructions. "Now the trick is to give a bit of gas while you're slowly letting up the clutch, you'll feel it grab hold and start driving forward. When that's done you can let go of the clutch entirely, but keep the same pressure on the gas pedal, it won't keep driving itself."

Gura stuck out her cute little tongue in concentration as she revved up the engine. It was a bit much at 3000 RPM, but the car did start driving, if a bit stuttery. Gura's tail flopped about a bit as did her head flaps before the car started rolling down the empty street. Gura's eyes got a renewed shine in them and her tail started thumping happily. She actually did it! She started driving without anything exploding! ' Suck on that, Watson! '

Ina let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in, it seems she may not die yet today. She smiled at the shark, her little fang peeking out. "Good girl, Gura. That's the first step for today!" The praise made the Atlantean absolutely preen with pride.

The lessons over the next few days certainly weren't without issues. Gura had problems with deciding when was the best time to shift a gear and how to combine that with braking properly without having the engine stall. The shark also did fairly well in the beginning, but now she was getting impatient, especially with the clutch, so the nausea-inducing shocks from the car were sadly increasing. Sometimes the gearbox or clutch definitely took a beating and Ina was really not looking forward to her next annual checkup. The fact that the priestess could sometimes smell something funny should be warning enough for her, but she promised everyone she would teach Gura, so she did. And while the Atlantean definitely had more stuff to learn, she was slowly improving with everything.

One afternoon around a week later Ina did finally permit Gura to drive in a busier residential area. Nothing like New York luckily, but there were plenty of obstacles, stop signs, animals, rules to follow and fellow people to avoid. Gura was getting frustrated at the stop and go type of driving. She growled in the back of her throat as Ina slowly petted the tail in her lap, trying to keep the shark in at least an okay mood. Her focusing on Gura's situation, their safety and also still teaching her new stuff, made Ina not notice the nondescript white van that was tailing them from a distance for the last half hour.

Gura had to stop for a crosswalk, the brake being used fairly roughly, making Ina lurch forward in her seat and slightly dizzy. The shark, for her part, at least nodded politely at the old grandma holding her hand up with her small dog crossing the street. But her grip on the steering wheel made her knuckles color white while wisps of red color began trading their place in on the blue streaks in Gura's hair. "Is this seriously like 80% of driving? I'm getting antsy from the millions of rules here! And half the time I can't even get up to speed before I have to stand still again!"

Ina scratched Gura's tail softly in a place she knew the shark especially liked, hoping to alleviate some frustration. "For now, yes. You need to get completely comfortable with controlling the car and anticipating certain situations. And that means driving in, I guess you could say, boring streets with grandma's and kids you need to look out for." Ina gave a smile to Gura, which she didn't show any external reaction to. Making the priestess rather sour. Gura slowly started driving again now the grandma was on the other side. "I can't directly control the car for you or step in when things get dangerous, so I need to be able to trust you."

Gura saw an opportunity to lash out, the anger was getting to her and she knew Ina wasn't the person responsible, but she just couldn't keep it in. "Don't you trust me then? Do you think I'll just decide on a whim to hit a wall and wreck your car?"

Ina narrowed her eyes at the shark. She didn't notice Gura driving a bit above the speed limit, "Wrecking the car is the least of my concerns. What if you hit a pedestrian or even hurt yourself?"

"Pssh, I'm tough."

"Not hitting a wall at 80 kilometers per hour tough!"

"How would you kno-" The girls were slammed forward in their seats, the seatbelt blocking most of the momentum and transferring it to their bodies. Ina's car screeched as Gura tried to wrangle control back from the car. She grit her sharp teeth and miraculously managed to just get the wheels straight before they could spin out of control. "What the hell was that!?"

After getting her bearings, Ina looked out of the back window and saw the white van, it was getting ready for another ram. There was a sizable dent in the front and she could just make out a driver and the passenger, they both had facemasks on revealing only their eyes which glowed a sickly purple. ' Magic users, of course. '

"Ina, what should I do?!" Gura sounded panicked, she wasn't ready for this, she was just getting the hang of shifting gears at all! Time slowed down, the priestess had to make a choice. ' I don't have enough time to safely swap places with Gura and we definitely can't have a magic duel between normal citizens. ' Ina's mouth was in a thin line, resolute.

"Gura!" The shark in question looked at Ina with wide eyes, her small red streaks had consumed the remaining blue of her hair. "They're going to try to run us off the road, you'll have to drive to a more secluded area so we can deal with them safely! I think they're magic users!"

"What!? Are you crazy? I can't do this, I've just started last week!" Both girls were again launched forward in their seats when the van made contact with the back. Gura made a choked noise at the slam. The metal crumple zone screeched as it gave way to the pressure. The check engine light went on with a ding on the dashboard. Another hit like that and the back wheels would be toast. Ina made a choice, "Gawr Gura! You can do this, I'll give you the instructions to follow and we'll be fine, yes?"

Gura didn't reply fast enough for Ina's liking, "Yes!?" She repeated.

"Alright, yes!"

The van was readying another ram, this time on the corner wheel, probably to debilitate the vehicle for good. Ina knew her car didn't have the horsepower of a race car, but she was sure her little scrappy coupe could outpace a big heavy van probably filled with people willing to attack or capture her. "Gura! Shift to two, let up the clutch moderately and punch it!"

The shark did as told and with laser focus she shifted back, let the engine get up to the higher RPM with some stuttering and subsequently fully stepped on the gas. It was clear that the coupe wasn't a powerhouse, but even slower cars got a nice boost from the high RPM's. The van was almost able to hit the corner, but was too slow due to the sudden speed increase. They didn't expect this, the two Myths were driving like a grandma all week!

"Good Gura, you dodged them." She heard the rev limiter bounce against the max speed of the engine, making it slightly stutter. "Let off the gas, break slightly till we're at 50 kilometers per hour and take a right at the barber shop!"

Again, Gura's hands were white from the pressure and her previously blue eyes were just black pinpricks now, her tail was so stiff you could knock out someone with it. Still she listened, stepped on the brakes without making the wheels slip or lock up and promptly threw the car around the corner, tires squeaking. "Yes, that's it!" Ina cheered, but the victory was short lived. The van driver had more experience both with driving itself and the bus they were using, so they had no problem lugging the heavy van around the corner just like Gura did. Their only disadvantage was that they took longer than Ina's car to accelerate.

"Alright Gura, I know an industry zone not far from here, it's mostly autonomous delivery robots as far as I know, so that's the best place we can take a stand!"

The shark punched the gas again, forcing the car to work hard to move towards the rev limiter. There currently was a large stretch of road before them, the only thing that Gura saw in her hyperfocus were the kids playing near the sidewalk at the end of it. She barely had the focus and time to growl out in the back of her throat, "INA, KIDS!"

The animalistic noise was surprising to Ina, but quickly forgotten in the moment. "I'll deal with them! Shift to three and give gas till you hit the limit again! Keep the car straight on the road!" At Gura's curt nod Ina took her que to call upon the power of the Ancient Ones. Her tentacles stayed hidden, but her book flashed before her in a puff of smoke. Within seconds she found the page she was looking for. Just before Gura could bite out another warning that they were getting too close to the children, Ina closed her eyes and focused her magic on them. A huge gust of purple tinted wind came from nowhere and slammed into the children as Ao-chan vibrated with their raw power. It was rough, but the children fell safely inside the bushes next to the house, no worse for the wear.

Ina let out a sigh as the energy faded from Ao-chan and herself. She didn't give herself much time to recover though as she barked another order to Gura. "Between those two houses on the left! There is a path we can fit through that the van can't!" The book went away with another puff of smoke. "Brake, shift to two, push the steering wheel all the way to the left at the green lamppost and mid turn push the steering wheel to the right before centering it at the end!"

Gura gave another growl at the commands, 'Was that the only way she could communicate at this stage?' Ina has never been in a life or death situation with her in the few years that they've known each other, so she had no frame of reference. There wasn't much left of the Gura she knew, she almost could've just been a feral shark. But it was made clear to Ina that she definitely wasn't just that as the Atlantean again followed her commands to a T.

Gura almost looked like a professional driver, she expertly shifted gears and kept control of the vehicle even as it slightly slipped in the grass in between the houses. There was a little sideroad for bikers they slammed onto behind the houses. At the end of the lane there was a left corner and straight forward there was a heavy metal fence that blocked access to the industrial complex Ina was referring to. Big red warning signs were all over it.

The van behind them didn't anticipate the girls moving in between the houses, so they were too late at swiveling left. The van slipped out of control and did a few turn arounds before slamming on the side of a lamppost just after the two houses.

Ina heard the crash and smiled, her gamble and smaller car had paid off well against their assailant. Victory was again short lived as the metal fence was clearly in their way. Gura growled and as she again floored the gas the shark managed to point at the fence. Ina had to make a choice again, and it was one she didn't like the possible outcomes of. It was a risk she had to take. "Gura, drive as fast as you can and push it directly through the fence. I'll strengthen the front of the car!"

The Atlantean only gave an acknowledging growl as Ina closed her eyes again. Purple magical runes came from Ina's hand and pulsed with power as her thick tentacles snaked out of the magic circles, broke through the side windows and promptly wrapped around the front of the car, effectively cocooning it in a protective layer of purple flesh. Just in time as Gura shifted to three without Ina telling her to and subsequently hitting the rev limiter as they smashed through the metal fence.

Ina made a rather concerning pained moan as the car got slight air before roughly hitting the ground and skirting to a spin in the middle of the facility. Ina's magical runes flickered in tune with Ina's pained gasps and clenched eyes, but she held firm. Everything around them was flat concrete, some autonomous delivery robots were around them and when their sensors noticed the purple car smashing through their area they let out a string of concerned beeps and quickly scurried off to their charging centers out of safety.

After a few seconds of spinning and screeching tires the car finally stopped and since Gura forgot to push in the clutch as she was braking, the engine stalled out and was laid to rest with a pathetic cough of smoke out of the partially crushed tailpipe. The Atlantean kept the red streaks in her hair, but her eyes widened and lost their sharp edge when she heard the pained gasps of Ina beside her. Gura's voice still had a noticeable growl, but she could at least articulate properly again. "INA! Oh my god, are you alright? Where does it hurt?"

Ina finally opened her eyes, her left hand supporting her other one as she made sure to keep breathing. "My, haa.. protective trick worked, heh. I-It really hurts though.."

Just now Gura came completely to her senses as she noticed the tentacle based barrier. The shark immediately jumped out of the car after unhooking her seatbelt and inspected the front. The engine bay was mostly alright, but the problem was Ina's tentacles. Most of it was still there, but there were nasty gashes and blood pooling underneath them from the deep wounds. Gura could smell the blood now and it made her even angrier than before. Her heart rate increased and before she went around to Ina's side she made sure to summon her magical trident with a growl. Watery streams emitted from one of her hair accessories and slowly formed into the signature weapon of Atlantis.

Gura had to make an effort to articulate again. "Ina, what.. s-should I do?" She took a deep breath, "Hospital?"

Ina had to take a moment to breathe in and out in small gasps. "N-no, I can regenerate, but I need t-time for that."

Before Gura could answer the priestess another shockwave went through the fence surrounding the complex. A purple magical rune strikingly similar to those of Ina formed around one of the other entrance gates for autonomous robots and promptly glowed with a massive energy that Gura hadn't seen in a long time. The metal fence simply melted away at the energy and immediately after four people dressed in what Gura could only describe as old school gray wizard garbs came running through. They had black masks on, but most of it was ripped or damaged. They looked like dorks, but they were dangerous and Ina was in an unmovable state.

Ina gasped at the magical runes, the shockwave forced her tentacles to painfully constrict against the energy. Cracks formed in the concrete. "T-time we don't have." Gura was getting ready to fight or die trying. Her eyes were completely black again and her tail was twitching erratically. Ina managed to touch Gura's arm before she could take off. "Please Gura, leave b-before they hurt you. They want me, I think they're worshippers of the Ancient Ones. They don't agree with me being Ao-chan's vessel."

Gura growled in reaction to Ina, but the priestess knew her anger wasn't directed at her. She wasn't scared of her shark, but she was scared for the Atlanteans life. People worshiping the Ancient Ones for long enough are able to wield powerful magic. Normal humans could never be as strong as her, but if they went in groups and combined their power it was a lot more dangerous. Ina tried to get up, she had to convince Gura to leave or to get help from the rest of Myth at least, but it wasn't possible and the pain made her sit back down with a loud gasp. Ina could already feel the tentacles healing themselves, but it was taking too long for her to be of any use. She regretted using one of her own body parts and not a different type of magic to protect them.

Gura managed to ground out two words between her growls, it took the shark considerable effort. "Trust me." And immediately she sprung into action, leaving Ina behind. Gura by now had gotten a better look at the intruders. Three men and one woman, they all had their eyes on her while the wizards were simultaneously preparing some kind of magical spell as there was a huge round magical rune under the four of them.

Gura didn't spare any time. With an animalistic snarl she slammed the bottom of her trident before her on the ground. The weapon glowed with blue energy and water formed directly around Ina's car. It slowly came up from the ground in a circle, it pulsed with life and energy as the protective barrier rose to well above the car. Just before the water formed one round ball it resembled the teeth of a great shark that snapped on its prey as it closed its mouth.

' There. ' Gura thought somewhere in the back of her anger riddled mind as her red hair flashed with light. ' Ina is safe from danger. ' It managed to calm a part of her mind. Later she would be embarrassed at how not unlike a noble Atlantean she was thinking in this state, but like a feral shark. The water barrier was a technique she learned from one of her most trusted friends back in Atlantis. ' Nothing these mere humans can come up with will break through my barrier. '

It looked like the magic preparation of the attackers was complete. Gura had accidentally taken too long in protecting Ina and not herself, but she wasn't without any tricks left though. The purple magical rune on the floor throbbed with large amounts of energy and as it released a shockwave went through the region that made Gura take a step back. More severe cracks formed in the reinforced concrete floor. She glanced back and saw that her barrier was fine.

The four wizards all had their own books now accompanied by an ominous purple glow. They looked way too smug for Gura's liking. She managed to growl out a response and it sent chills down everyone's spines. "Only four of you?"

The man in front managed a reply first, sounding way too sure of himself. "You two managed to knock out over half of our team with your little driving stunt. We were sure you were still learning to drive. One good hit and with both of you knocked out we could've easily taken the priestess and our savior back to us." His book didn't look similar to that of Ina, but it had the same vibes. He inspected a page and a moment later a purple staff came from thin air into his right hand. He had to take a second to properly grab it and harness its power. "But it seems you two have done half the work for us already, so we will only have to deal with you, sea dweller."

That was the last drop. How dare they act so smug, so cocksure? They were talking like they already got Ina and that she herself was just easy pickings. They had strongly underestimated her. Gura gave her last angry snarl before lighting up her trident and forming multiple water bubbles from the three prongs that promptly flew at record speeds at the humans. The man in the back didn't expect it so quickly and wasn't fast enough with summoning his own weapon. The water collided right into his chest and was flown multiple meters back into a part of the remaining fence. He slumped down, unconscious.

The other three fared much better, they each used their purple staffs to slide through the attacking water like butter. The water unceremoniously fell to the ground, suddenly with no magical properties anymore. The man at the front looked smugly at Gura, but she had already seen enough. They were focused mostly on magic and summonings, they would be no match for the hand to hand combat Gura preferred. Or rather, hand to trident.

Gura tapped her trident on the ground again as it gained a strong blue glow. The humans readied an energy sphere from their books, the sphere hanging ominously above them before shooting at lightning speed to the shark. Gura gave a shout that sounded more like a growl and jumped into the air just as quick. The sphere missed their target and it blew a huge hole in the ground that she was just standing in, if that was a direct hit it would've done a huge number on her, she had to admit.

With speed unfathomable to the humans, Gura used her trident to send a burst of water energy behind her, shooting the shark directly at the woman now last in the group. She brought the bottom of her trident down directly on her head from the air. She had no time to react and promptly fell to the floor in a heap, a nasty bruise forming on her head.

The man that had not spoken till now gasped in terror at the shark. He put his hand up in the air and chanted, "Veteres mihi potestatem quam postulo." Gura didn't understand a word, but she didn't need to to kick his ass. In his hand formed another sphere, just like the one from before, but way smaller. It shot at Gura, but the shark in her animalistic state didn't even think to dodge it. She opened her maw, caught the ball of energy inside it and chomped down. Hard.

The force hurt her teeth, but she didn't get any lasting damage from it. The energy dispersed partly out to the air and partly inside the shark. She didn't even have to touch the man before he passed out from sheer terror, falling on the ground and hitting is head rather roughly.

Gura didn't get time to celebrate, the last man whom she appointed leader in her mind was still active and had already readied another slam of his staff against her that she quickly blocked with her trident. This man was considerably stronger than the other three wizards, but alone he still was no match for the Atlantean. As Gura forced the man back through sheer physical strength alone she snapped her teeth at him and growled. The book in his hand glowed a bright purple, even more than the other attacks and before Gura knew it a purple spear formed behind her and pierced right into her shoulder.

The blood splatters from the attack fell onto the man as Gura slightly staggered in her assault. It was a smart hit she had to agree, but the blood smell was making her whole vision red and she couldn't control herself anymore. Gura gripped her trident tight and snarled loudly in his face as she forced his spear against his own chest, pushing him to the ground. New additional smaller cracks formed around the bigger fissures in the concrete as result of the pressure.

The man lost the strength to hold his book of power and as it fell to the ground every ounce of smugness and energy immediately left him. Gawr wanted to kill him, it would be so easy. He was an easy prey for Gawr and she had him right where she wanted him, groveling at her feet with no magic to defend himself with. Gawr snapped her teeth at him again as he whimpered in fear. But just before she could take her kill she felt someone else get out of her water barrier a few meters away and suddenly perspective and massive relief flew back into her mind. ' Ina is safe, these humans aren't a threat anymore. ' The barrier fell to the ground in a small wave of water.

Gura's eyes slowly got their familiar blue color back, yet the red streak in her head still remained. Ina was slowly staggering outside the car, she looked in pain, but the tentacles had already slipped back around her own body and she could see the bleeding had stopped for the most part.

Gura was back in charge and she was revolted by her previous thoughts. Sure she absolutely despised these humans, but they didn't deserve death. The man still groveling underneath her was pathetic, but he should still be inside prison and held accountable for his actions. The shark quickly slammed her forehead against his, dropping him to the ground and just as unconscious as the rest of their group. His staff and book left within a purple puff of smoke.

Gura stood up as she took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes. A few moments of calm later and her red color finally gave way to her familiar blue. The trident glowed fiercely for a second before exploding into water particles and promptly condensing themselves inside her little accessory again. She held her left hand against her right shoulder as she walked haggardly to Ina, who was already wide eyed after noticing the damage. Small droplets of blood were seeping through her hand, maybe it was a bigger hit than she thought. Damn human.

"Oh my god, Gura! Are you alright, let me see your shoulder." Ina forgot her own pain as she inspected Gura's wound. She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. "This is all my fault, they wanted me! Not you!"

"Hey, hey ssh.." Gura's voice was still rough from her earlier state. "I-It was my choice to defend you. Just as it was yours to defend us with your own tentacles." The shark took a step forward, but fell to one knee as she grit her sharp teeth. Ina gasped in concern. "There is no one to blame but those horrible humans for this. They wanted me wiped from the picture, and to take you hostage for Ao-chan's power."

Ina hiccuped as she tried to keep in her tears, "I-I figured as much when we got attacked. This isn't the first encounter of my life against them."

Ina quickly stood beside Gura as she tried to stand up again, using her arms to support Gura and to walk her to the car. Her tears were forgotten in the urgency. "We should get you to a hospital right away, Gura!"

She didn't have the power to object, some painkillers sounded really good right now. But she did point at the heap of unconscious humans. "What about them?"

"I'll send a message to the police, let them deal with it."

Gura was dropped inside the passenger seat with a hiss, Ina didn't care that there was blood getting all over the upholstery. The priestess with a small groan of pain that she wasn't able to smother summoned Ao-chan and went through some pages. The shark didn't get what she was searching for, "Anything you need?" The priestess ignored her.

Inas eyes glowed a bright purple as she held her hand out over Gura's wound. It burned pretty bad and Gura had to stamp down on the instinct to growl at the person causing her pain. It luckily only took a few seconds and Ina was looking at her again with her normal slightly tearful eyes. "There, sorry for not explaining it. I've stopped your bleeding, but we should still go to the hospital to get everything checked out and clean."

Ina stepped around the car right into the driver's side. She first leaned over Gura, making her blush a bit with the contact to take her seatbelt and safely click it in the receptacle. She then did the same for herself, set the car in neutral and then started the car. To her surprise, it actually spurred to life. It didn't sound very healthy and her dashboard was full of lights that shouldn't be on, but the thing was functional.

Just before Ina wanted to drive off, Gura made a little noise that got her attention. The shark was a bit dazed from the pain, but her eyes and smile were as kind as can be. "Thank you for trusting me to, heh.." She had to cough, "punch it, as I would say." She affectionately tapped the plastic interior of the car.

Ina's face was as warm and inviting as the sun on a clean ocean. "No problem, Gura." She put the car into first gear and slowly started driving, "Seeing as how you handled yourself back there." And at this she had to give a little giggle, "I think we're done with the boring streets for the future. Let's step it up a notch, yeah?"

Gura's smile was full of teeth and happiness, "I'd like that, Ina."