"We're dark mages!" - Talking
'We're dark mages!' - Thinking
"We're dark mages!" - Communication via Lacrima / Telepathy
"WE'RE DARK MAGES!" - Screaming
"Fairy Law!" - Spells
[ Here / Now ] - Place / Time
Chapter 2: The shadow of a Tower of Paradise.
[Shadow Soul's Headquarters / 6th October X784]
She hated this. She hated this. She hated this. She hated this a thousand times! The torture Abilene was undergoing was more hateful than she could ever have imagined, and there was nothing she could do to stop it!
A light veil of steam hovered in the air as the young sorceress sat on a small bathroom stool, completely naked and with Red busily washing her hair with so much shampoo that had created a huge mass of soap bubbles. At the same time, not far from her, Blue was carefully cleaning all her treasures while Green, after having undressed her, had taken her clothes and disappeared who knows where. Of course, as soon as she was taken to that huge bathroom, she tried to run away.
Key word: tried.
The moment she was carried into the bathroom, Abilene found herself unable to use her magic and those three maids were much stronger than her. That unsolicited physical contact had made her agitated at first but then calmed down over time, especially as Red began washing her arms and legs with extreme care and kindness, putting more strength only on the most stubborn mud stains.
"I hate this..."
"Desolate, but the orders of the mistress are clear." replied Red without blinking. Releasing Abilene, she bent down to pick up a large bowl full of ice-cold water which she poured onto the girl's head, causing her to scream in surprise. Without giving her time to react, Red picked the girl up easily and, before Abilene could say anything, dropped her into the huge tub that took up most of the room. The young sorceress stirred for a few seconds before realizing that the water was shallow and she could comfortably sit still leaving only her shoulders and head sticking out of her.
"This water has magical properties. Stay inside the tub for thirty minutes and any fatigue you feel will be washed away."
"I hate baths..." hissed Abilene glaring at her behind her wet hair.
"Then start enjoying them, lass, because this bathroom will help you a lot in the future." said an amused female voice as Reveeina entered the bathroom with a smile in her face and nothing but a large towel to cover her body. However, the aforementioned towel soon fell to the ground, highlighting her seductive curves and with a sigh of pleasure, she too entered the tub. After a few seconds of silence, she looked at Abilene, who had moved away from her "You know I don't bite, right?"
"Why old lady here?"
Reveeina's right eye twitched but the woman did not move from her spot "Looks like we have a lot of work to do with you. Aside from your lack of manners, Shirros explained the situation to me but I would also like to hear something from you. Have you really lived alone all these years in the Acantha Forest?" when she nodded, the guild master whistled impressed "Remarkable for such a young girl, many mages wouldn't have lasted half the time without the comforts of the modern world."
Despite Abilene's wary glance, the edges of her mouth curved slightly upward as she heard those compliments.
"I'm pretty sure you know your stuff with magic, but we need to test you first; now let's think about drying your hair, brushing it and-!" Abilene hissed again "Okay, you also have something against brushing your hair..." getting to her feet, the guild master stepped out of the huge tub and Red immediately handed her a large towel. Once wrapped around her body, Reveeina looked back at the young sorceress "Make sure you dry thoroughly at least, then Red will show you around your room and finally take you to our training room for a little test."
Ignoring the woman as she left the bathroom, probably towards those large locker rooms she had seen for a few seconds before being dragged in there, Abilene stepped out of the tub herself and furiously shook her head to remove as much water as possible from her hair. After a few seconds, in which her hair had wrapped around her arms and chest, the girl looked up just in time to see Red offer her a large towel. Taking it with some hesitation, she sniffed it for a moment, smelling the scent of lavender and honey, before starting to dry her body, although she would have preferred to dry in the sun.
"Green got some replacement clothes suitable for you, as all the ones you brought needed to be washed." said Red gesturing with one hand toward a bench in the locker room where a forest green T-shirt, brown shorts, trainers and women's underwear were placed.
Abilene walked over to the clothes without caring she was naked and picked up a particular piece "What this?"
"It's a bra." Abilene's big violet eyes looked at her, filled with confusion "Women wear it under their clothes, on the chest."
"Why?"
"To be more covered, to prevent their breasts from dancing or falling too much, to seduce, to match them with clothes and much more." explained Red without missing a beat.
Abilene nodded with conviction and did not hesitate to throw the bra to the ground before putting on the shirt, followed by panties and shorts.
"Aren't you going to wear the shoes?"
"No, feel better." said Abilene raising a bare foot before looking at the jewels that Blue was still cleaning.
"Fear not, she will carry them to your room once they are all clean." said Red while walking toward the door "Now please, follow me."
Abilene saw her go away but, before following her, she ran towards the pile of already clean jewels and retrieved a silver bracelet with amethysts set in it; after wearing it on her wrist she joined Red and they left the changing rooms, finding themselves in a corridor with a dark wooden floor and three other doors: one directly in front of the one they had exited from, one at the end of the corridor on the right and one at the end of the corridor on the left.
"In front of us there is the men's bathroom, on the right the mixed bathroom but you can only access it wearing a bathing suit. In addition, the interior of all bathrooms is also composed of special stones that prevent the use of magic." Red explained as she headed for the door on the left with Abilene behind her. Once in front of the door, the waitress opened it and Abilene was finally able to admire the huge hall she had only glimpsed just before.
There were at least fifty people intent on eating, drinking or talking among themselves, seated at the wooden tables scattered around the room. Two huge wooden doors on the left were open and some wizards entered and left the hall through them, while on the other side of the room there was a long bar counter and, behind it, a hole in the wall where a large kitchen was visible. The scent that came out of the kitchen was very inviting but Abilene was forced to follow Red to a door just to the right of the one they had come out of. Unlike the others, this one was painted black with a purple house in the center of it, and when Red opened it, Abilene was confused to see another closed door.
Before she could even voice her confusion, the young girl jumped back in shock as she saw the door swiftly move away from her and create a long corridor strewn with doors as it passed. Within seconds, a corridor of several dozen meters had been created before her eyes, but Red did not hesitate to cross the threshold.
"The first guild master was a wizard who was particularly skilled in space magic and the application of her powers to objects and buildings. This building exists in reality and is also very large, but the 'corridor of private quarters' is a collapsing magical space created by her that allows you to create new apartments as long as magical power is offered in return." explained Red walking past several doors, pointing to the nameplates on which the names of the various wizards who slept there were marked.
After a few minutes, they stopped in front of a door on which Abilene's name was marked and, when Red opened it, the young sorceress gasped as she saw a room the size of the log cabin where she had always lived, with the floor entirely covered with green grass and several plants growing from the ground next to the furniture present, while a single light that looked like the sun shone from the center of the ceiling.
Abilene instinctively started to enter the room but bumped into an invisible wall that made her stagger backwards, holding a hand on her aching nose.
"Unfortunately, only Shadow Soul members can enter the private rooms, so you will be able to access your room once you have obtained the mark." said Red with no trace of sorrow in the voice "Now follow me to the training camp."
Muttering something against invisible walls, Abilene followed the red-haired maid once more and, once they were back in the main hall, they went to a door on the right, still painted black but with two purple swords crossed over it. As with the previous door, this also showed another closed door from which a corridor was generated, albeit smaller than the previous one, with only a dozen doors, each of them numbered. Without hesitation, Red went to the door number three and opened it to allow access to Abilene, who found herself a large square room made entirely of carved stones. Waiting for her she saw Shirros and Reveeina, near the wall on the right.
"Nice of you to join us." said Reveeina with a smile as Abilene approached them "Here your test will take place. It is simply a matter of showing your magic against one of our members."
Abilene tilted her head to one side and then looked at Shirros, but the masked wizard shook his head "It's not me, your opponent should be here soon."
As soon as he said those words, he turned to look at the door and Abilene heard heavy footsteps behind her. Turning to see who had just entered, she found herself looking at a wall of tanned muscle covered only by a grayish-blue short sleeved shirt with a black vest over the top. Realizing that those were just the abs of the newcomer, Abilene looked up and also had to tilt her back slightly to be able to see the head of the seven-foot-tall man who had just entered. In addition to the mass of muscles that made up his body, the thing that the girl immediately noticed about him was the black metal knight helmet that completely covered his head and face, complete with two horns attached to the forehead.
The giant looked at her without saying anything for a few seconds before putting one knee on the ground "Hello, young girl, I'm Atonnis Bohnke. You must be Abi, am I right?"
Abilene, on the other hand, stared at him with her mouth wide open before pointing a finger at him "Big!"
A quiet laugh came from his helmet and that deep voice was heard again "That's true." he then stood up again, dusting off his black leather pants that were tucked into matching black leather steel-toed boots with spikes on the edge "Mistress?"
"She's all yours, Hammer." she then looked at Abilene "Now you need to fight against him. Obviously it's not a serious fight, you just have to show us how you fight and how you use your magic." Abilene swallowed, noticing the obvious difference in build between her and Atonnis, but when her mind was on the verge of a small crisis, Reveeina added "If you fight well, Shirros will give you more shiny gold!"
Shirros turned so quickly towards his mistress that his neck almost snapped instantly but Abilene didn't notice that and, after a leap backward, she immediately created two whips of vines which she used to attack her opponent. Atonnis did not try to avoid the attacks and raised his arms to protect himself. The two whips hit him on the forearms with remarkable speed and, looking at his skin, the giant of a man could see two long red marks where he had been hit. Without losing the rhythm, Abilene tried to hit him again with more lashes but this time her opponent moved his arms at the last second so that the whips wrapped around his forearms, before grabbing the vines with both hands.
Having already experienced a similar situation recently with Shirros, Abilene immediately detached the whips at the base and from the palm of her hands created two more with which she tried to hit him again, but aiming for the legs. Atonnis, as before, did not move and let himself be hit in the legs, feeling the same force of impact he had felt on his arms a few seconds before. Noticing that her attacks seemed to have no effect, Abilene narrowed her gaze and detached again the vines before pointing the palm of her right hand at her opponent.
"Vine Shot!"
A long, sharp-tipped vine darted at Atonnis faster than the whips, and the man raised his right arm to protect himself. A moment later, he felt a sensation similar to the sting of a hornet on his forearm and, looking at that point, he saw the tip of the vine sticking into his flesh, with drops of blood running down his skin.
Reveeina whistled impressed "Not bad. Atonnis has muscles of steel, yet you managed to make him bleed."
"That's enough for me." nodded Atonnis while removing the vine with his left hand "She is good and can still learn a lot."
"Glad to hear that." the guild master walked toward Abilene "Now here's what we're going to do. First of all you will get your guild mark, after which I will introduce you to another teacher for you who, together with Atonnis, will help you in the first few weeks here with us. Do you agree?"
Abilene seemed to think about it for a few seconds, but in the end it was more than she had hoped for when she decided to follow Shirros, so she nodded to the woman who smiled "Very well, then follow me to my office where you will receive your guild mark. Shirros, you have a mission to carry out, while you, Atonnis, stay on hold. I'll have something else for you soon."
The two nodded, but when Shirros turned to the door to leave, he found himself standing in front of Abilene with an open hand to receive something and her big violet eyes staring intently at him.
"Treasure!"
Shirros stared at her in silence for several seconds, ignoring the guild master's soft laugh; he couldn't see his face because of the helmet, but he was sure that Atonnis too had an amused expression on his face. Sighing heavily, his hands moved under his cloak and he pulled out a gold coin which he gave to Abilene, who immediately took it with bright eyes before returning to Reveeina.
"I'm sure you'll get along particularly well with Niidia." chuckled the guild master before beckoning Abilene to follow her. A few minutes later, the two were back inside Reveeina's office, whose carpet had been cleaned by Shirros himself, and she was sitting comfortably behind her desk. Suddenly, she opened a drawer and took out a black disc the size of a serving plate, surrounded by a gold frame and four thin legs of the same material, then placing it on the desk, along with a simple dagger.
"Now, Abi, I need you to hand me an item that you always carry with you or that you are particularly fond of. Before you get upset, I'll hand it back to you in a few minutes, it's required to get the guild mark." explained Reveeina with a calm voice. The young girl remained silent, wondering what might be the right choice, until she raised her right arm and took off the silver bracelet she had taken back earlier, handing it over to the black-haired woman.
"This first treasure."
"This is the first treasure you've got?" Abilene nodded "Perfect, then we can finally begin."
Calmly placing the bracelet over the black disc, Reveeina then took the dagger in her right hand and, after gently grasping Abilene's right hand, looked her straight in the eye "This is the first and last time I will hurt you, I promise you."
Abilene swallowed before nodding hesitantly and the woman made a cut in the palm of her hand, making the young girl wince in pain, before passing the dagger into her left hand and cutting herself the palm of her right hand. Placing the dagger to one side, Reveeina opened her bleeding right hand as if to give a handshake and, with much hesitation, Abilene squeezed it with her wounded hand. Their blood started dripping onto Abilene's bracelet and seconds later, a dark aura enveloped the black-haired woman, while a dark green aura surrounded the girl's body.
"We are different, but in the dark we are the same..."
Abilene looked at the woman with confused eyes but then her lips began to move on their own, surprising her "We are shadows, but in the dark we are one..."
The two magical auras surrounding them began to blend along their arms before moving on to the rest of their bodies and Abilene felt like a new force within her.
"Your strength is mine, and my strength is yours..."
"I am your shadow, and you are my shadow..."
The blood on the bracelet began to turn black before evaporating, creating a thick dark aura.
"Forever united, forever together..."
"One Soul, One Shadow..." breathed Abilene before the magical aura instantly vanished, leaving her gasping in the chair with her head spinning and a strange feeling of disorientation. Looking confused at her hand, she was surprised to see that the cut was completely healed and that there was now the symbol of Shadow Soul tattooed on the palm of her hand.
"The ritual ended successfully. Welcome to our family, Abi." smiled Reveeina before pointing at her hand "For your information, that is the mark of our guild and it can become invisible if you want, it can also change shape and position on your body, but each change consumes a drop of magical power and is considered as a spell, so some wizards adept to identify certain things could spot you among several people." she then took the silver bracelet, handing it to Abilene "Now this bracelet is full of our magical energy and will allow me to find out your position thanks to a spell. This trick has helped me several times to find members who have been injured or captured."
Still stunned by the ritual of becoming a member of the guild, Abilene took the bracelet and put it on her wrist before standing up.
"Go downstairs and eat something, tell the bartender to put it on my bill. When you've recovered from your dizziness, I'll call you into my office for your trial by fire."
"Trial...by fire?" repeated Abilene tilting her head to the side.
"Yes, your first mission. I already know which one to give you but I need to call your teacher first. Nothing complicated, I assure you." said Reveeina with a smile on her face "You will only have to exterminate a guild of mercenaries."
[Hargeon / 6th October X784]
In the port area of Hargeon dedicated only to storage warehouses and ship repairs, a man ran at breakneck speed among those huge buildings, never looking over his shoulder. His red kimono was damaged in several places and the sheath of a katana hung from his waist, but the weapon was no longer in his possession, while his hair, black and white, fell free along his shoulders.
Totomaru was not having a good time in his life.
Everything was going perfectly until Phantom Lord's guild master received a request to find Lucy Heartfilia and bring her back to her father. All normal, they had already accepted similar missions in the past, but when Jose discovered that Lucy had become a member of Fairy Tail, he decided to go beyond just completing the mission. A war against their rival guild, complete with an assault on their main building and some of their mages.
From then on, everything had fallen apart. Fairy Tail, after an initial moment of disadvantage, had responded to the assault, destroyed their guild and defeated all their strongest wizards, including all those in the other locations of Phantom Lord. Totomaru himself had fought and lost against that hateful dragon slayer, even though the final blow had been taken by a stripper and a huge silver-haired man.
Then, a few hours after the defeat of their guild, Totomaru had received a letter from Sol and Aria, two members of his team, inviting him to join them in order to take revenge, but not of Fairy Tail, but of Shadow Soul, the dark guild their master had told them about. Obviously Totomaru had ignored the letter, took a suitcase and left Oak Town, headed for the capital of Fiore in order to change his life. Yet it seemed that the gods did not want to give him respite, because as soon as he got off the train in Hargeon, to be able to rest for a few hours, he was attacked by a girl with long, wavy brown hair and amber colored eyes as soon as he left the main road.
The fire mage had tried to fight, but his body had not yet fully recovered and that girl was a monster in all respects, having immediately forced him on the defensive.
"Damn it all..." groaned the young mage while leaning against a wall in order to catch his breath. A hand went to his side, where his opponent had managed to hit him with a powerful kick, and he gasped in pain "I must have at least three broken ribs...who the hell is that girl?"
"Shadow Soul's Asteria Nikos." said an amused female voice above him, sending chills down his back. Without being able to stop the slight tremors of his body, Totomaru looked up and saw her there, on the edge of the warehouse ceiling, intent on staring at him with a maniacal smile on her face "But you can also call me Nebula!"
Without giving him time to react, Asteria jumped off the roof to try to hit him with a kick from above, but Totomaru threw himself forward and narrowly avoided her attack, before turning to her and assuming a fighting pose, albeit imperfect. Unsettled by the unsuccessful blow, Asteria looked at him with that smile still on her face. She was a young girl with a tanned complexion, shorter than Totomaru but with a slim and trained body, complete with multiple piercings that covered both ears and her hair gathered in a high side ponytail.
"So you still have some energy in you, great!" she said before running toward him with the intent to attack her opponent hand to hand, but Totomaru immediately created a red magic circle from which he generated a jet of scarlet flames, however Asteria grinned at the sight of the flames "Meteor!"
Being enveloped in a golden aura, Asteria nimbly avoided the fire attack and closed the distance between her and Totomaru before hitting him with a violent kick to the head, made even more painful by the black leather combat boots she was wearing. Her opponent tumbled to the ground, but still managed to point an arm at her and hurl an orb of blue flames, however Asteria also dodged that attack with superhuman speed, reappearing on top of Totomaru before stomping his wrist against the floor, breaking it instantly.
Totomaru's screams echoed around the empty dock but Asteria ignored them and put even more pressure on the limb under her boot. Almost hearing the silent warning, Totomaru did everything to hold back the screams, just biting his lower lip until it bled.
"So, Totomaru of Phantom Lord, would you mind telling me why you were headed for Crocus? Or was it just the last stop before arriving at the Fiore branch of the Magic Council?" asked Asteria before grinning "Of course you are free not to answer, it will be more fun to rip the answers out of your mouth!"
"I...I wasn't going...t-there to sell you to...them!" groaned Totomaru, almost crying as he felt his bones being crushed more and more under her boot "I wanted to change! I...gah...I swear!"
"Change what? Your hairstyle?" wondered Asteria before raising her foot, just to kick him in the stomach. With a dramatic sigh, she grabbed the hem of her white tank top, paired with blue short shorts, to shake it in order to let some air in "Come on! I have all day to bring you to death but it's too hot so I want to go for a cool drink!"
"I left Phantom Lord...to...to become a teacher." breathed Totomaru still on the ground "It's the truth! I also refused to join Sol and Aria who were planning to attack you!"
"Oh yeah...the mistress told me something about it." Asteria shrugged regardless of that detail "Killing someone unfairly isn't exactly my style, but maybe it's best to ask my guild master first." and putting a hand in the pocket of her shorts, she pulled out a small Lacrima for communications.
After a few seconds of waiting, Reveeina's voice was heard in the air "Asteria, to what do I owe the pleasure of the call?"
"Hey boss, I wanted to tell you something about the mission you gave me. I found the fugitive but he claims he wants to change his life and become a teacher. He also said he turned down the invitation from his old guild mates. Can I kill him?"
Totomaru stared at her in shock, given the simplicity with which she had asked to kill him but Reveeina didn't sound much different "It's your call, really. We also have spies in Crocus and the lower ranks of the Magical Council, so if he tries to blurt out anything, he'll die before he can speak. Our goal is ultimately to keep rumors about our guild to a minimum, so if he doesn't speak there is no need to kill him."
"Sounds good to me, this guy didn't even put up a decent fight." said Asteria before approaching Totomaru and hitting him with a kick in the head, knocking him unconscious "Done, he's out cold. There shouldn't be any problems with the injuries I inflicted on him earlier either."
"Very good, Asteria. With this, only Juvia Lockser and Gajeel Redfox are missing."
"Can I go after Gajeel? Fighting against a dragon slayer should be fun!" asked Asteria with a grin on her face, excited at the idea of such a fight.
"Unfortunately we are still looking for them, Juvia has already abandoned her apartment in Oak Town, same story for Gajeel." replied the voice of her mistress "But rest assured that I will notify you as soon as I know something. In the meantime, why don't you get some rest? You haven't taken a break for several weeks and I know you hate the heat of summer. Go to our contact in the city, there you will find part of your reward."
Seeing no problem with the proposal, Asteria nodded before putting the Lacrima away and heading to a magic shop not too far away. Walking in the shade most of the time to avoid a bit of the heat of that summer day, she finally arrived in front of that normal-looking room before entering without any hesitation, ringing the bell above the door.
"Welcome, dear customer! How can I help you?" asked an old man wearing a huge wizard's hat that covered his entire head.
Asteria walked over to the shop counter and, after pulling some jewels out of her shorts, put them on the wooden surface, making sure her hand was visible from under the hat and, at that moment, the Shadow Soul mark became visible on the back of her hand "I should pick up something that arrived today."
The man was silent for a second before nodding vigorously "But of course, dear customer!" he took the payment and went to the back room before returning with a small wooden casket "Here! Hope you will shop from me again!"
Asteria picked up the casket before heading for the exit "Depends on how the work goes, have a good day." and after returning to the street, she went to slip into a side alley before taking a seat on a large abandoned crate.
"Let's see..." opening the casket she was pleasantly surprised to see a large wad of banknotes. As she reached into her shorts, she pulled out of her pocket a small apparently empty leather bag, which was actually a magical bag, where an infinite amount of coins and bills could be stored. Being that she hated the heat, she tried to carry as few things as possible and with her she had only that magic bag and a book attached to her shorts by means of special black straps. After securing the bills, she looked inside the chest again and pulled out a ticket for an all-inclusive stay at the famous Akane Beach resort hotel.
"Not bad, I will need a vacation there for sure, at least to avoid this damn heat a bit."
Jumping down from the wooden crate, she threw the casket away before heading to the train station to buy a ticket and head for her well-deserved vacation.
Without knowing that it would be anything but relaxing.
[Unknown Location / 6th October X784]
A group of three was walking along the deserted road hidden among rocks and trees. Abilene was one of them and she observed in amazement the surrounding environment which, although similar to the forest where she had always lived, was also different and she could understand it above all from the scents and sounds of nature. Once out of the main door of the guild, the girl had discovered that she was at the base of a huge rock positioned in the center of that area, far from everything and everyone. However, the most surprising thing was that the door she had come out of was not set in the rock face but in the shadow generated by the sun above, giving a strange effect similar to that of a mirage.
Atonnis, who was at her side, explained to her that only the members of Shadow Soul could sell that door and open it, while anyone else would see only shadow and nothing more. The big man had been assigned to accompany her on her first mission to see how she was doing, and Abilene was again surprised when she saw him arrive with a huge war hammer; the weapon consisted of a huge block of metal, covered with spikes all over the surface, and a long wooden pole wrapped in leather bindings making a cross pattern.
She was sure that the weapon was heavier than her.
"So, are you ready for your first mission?" asked a gentle female voice on her left, making Abilene look in that way.
There was her second companion, as well as second teacher for her future days in the guild: Reina Kuunari. The young woman at her side was at least six inches taller than her, with a lean and athletic physique, slightly broader shoulders than the average woman, and a fair skin tone. Her long, wavy hair was dark indigo, held in an elegant, loosely tied knot at the back of her head while her eyes golden and were watching her without ever wavering.
"Ready?" repeated Abilene looking ahead "Never done things like this."
"Yes, the first mission is always difficult for those who are not used to it. This is why our guild master tries to assign missions of this type to newcomers, as well as assign them supervisors." her golden eyes shifted to Atonnis "He and I are now considered to be instructors within the guild, having been doing this job for several years."
"How long?"
Reina smiled at Abilene "I have been in the guild for twelve years, while Atonnis for seventeen. We both have at least ten years of experience raising new recruits, so if you have any doubts or need help, you can always ask us."
"Thank you." Abilene smiled back at her. Normally Abilene would have been more wary and suspicious of a stranger, yet Reina had only shown her smiles and had been kind since she met her, even though her eyes were strange, as if the smile on her lips didn't reach them. Abilene had seen a similar look in some animals of the forest where she had lived; mostly wolves, foxes, and the occasional bear.
Her thoughts on her travel companion were interrupted when the three found themselves in front of a small mountain several tens of meters high. It was nothing impressive, but for Abilene it was still something new and her eyes shifted to Atonnis as he began to climb without difficulty.
Pausing for a moment, he looked at her before pointing towards the top with one hand "Up."
Without saying anything, Reina approached the rock surface and grabbed two ledges with both hands, which were covered in fingerless black leather gloves, and point one of her black leather boots before pushing herself up. After a few meters of climbing, she looked towards Abilene "We will not always have a straight road in front of us, moreover this mound guarantees an excellent view of the surroundings."
Abilene nodded at the explanation and, pointing one hand up, activated her magic. A long series of vines grew from the palm of her hand before sticking in the middle of the mound, thus creating a sort of rope that she grabbed with both hands before placing her bare feet against the rock and start climbing the obstacle in front of her with ease. In a few seconds she reached and passed Atonnis who, despite being climbing at a constant speed, was significantly slower than her, however as soon as she reached the end of her rope of vines, she noticed that Reina had already reached the top of the mound.
Apparently those toned arms and legs weren't just for show.
After creating another rope of vines and then reaching the top, Abilene hoisted herself up just in time to see Reina dust off her skirt, which was very different from other skirts that Abilene had seen before. It was a black, high waist, cargo pleated skirt that ended mid-thigh, with an asymmetrical look, being noticeably longer on the left side than the right. The young woman wore it paired with a pair of compression shorts, black thigh-highs and a black, sleeveless turtleneck, with white detailing along the shirt.
"You are fast." noted Abilene looking at her.
"Experience and exercise mostly, I do well with climbing." replied Reina while removing the bandolier full of throwing knives that she carried hanging diagonally from one shoulder along her torso. Removing a knife, she began wiping its blade with a cloth "We still have a few minutes before Atonnis arrives, speed is not his strong point. I heard you lived in a forest. Is that right?"
Abilene nodded before sitting down on a nearby rock, enjoying the breeze blowing at that height. The seconds began to flow quickly as the two exchanged a few words and Abilene quickly realized that Reina seemed to prefer nature to cities, going so far as to spend a lot of time in different forests when she was on a mission.
As expected, after a few minutes, Atonnis reached the top and looked at his two companions before moving to the other side of the clearing where they had arrived. Abilene approached him and noticed a small valley surrounded by mounds and hills smaller than the one they had climbed, with a crude fortress in the center made entirely of wood and stone. If at first glance the place seemed enormous, it was actually very small and close to them; Abilene could clearly see two men stationed in front of the gate of the fortress; most likely if they had looked up, they too could have seen them, especially given Atonnis' size
"They worked quickly I would say. Two weeks ago there was nothing here." said Reina looking at the small building with calm eyes and the bandolier again over her chest "Now Abi, the first part of the mission begins. I want you to take a walk around the fortress and observe any weaknesses, number of enemies and anything that catches your eye. Once done, come back here and we will decide how to act. Be careful not to be seen, we don't have to act in silence but the surprise effect is always something that is better to exploit."
Abilene nodded before approaching the edge of the cliff and creating another rope of vines with which she began to abseil, vanishing shortly afterwards among rocks and trees that grew sporadically.
Once he was sure she was gone, Atonnis looked at Reina "Your thoughts?"
"I think she is a smart girl!"
"Your real thoughts." said the giant stressing that particular word.
As if a switch had been pressed, the smile slowly faded from her face, leaving room for a mask of indifference and calm. Crossing the arms over her chest, she looked back to where Abilene had disappeared "She seems okay. From our short chat I realized that she is not used to being with people and, except for some theft or fighting, she has no experience of the real world. I don't think she ever killed anyone."
"She can grow, give her a chance."
"Our mistress told us to stay close to her, but you'll mostly have to watch her. I have to go on a mission the day after tomorrow and forgive me if I'm not very optimistic about Abi." said Reina before sitting on a rock "Let's hope she doesn't mess around..."
After about an hour, Abilene returned to them and apparently no alarm had gone off so she was able to do a full circle around the fortress without being seen, which was already something positive for Reina.
"So? What did you see?"
Abilene pointed at the fortress with a grin "Big house, made of wood and rock, strong base, high windows, one door, two men outside!"
"..."
"..."
"...and?"
The young girl blinked confused "And?"
Reina looked at the building "We can see or deduce what you told us by looking at the fortress from here. Did you discover or see anything else?"
"Mmmh...oh! I found these!" putting a hand in her shorts, Abilene took out a handful of strawberries which she showed to her two companions before eating some "Want to eat?"
"Thank you." said Atonnis before taking two strawberries.
Meanwhile, Reina was doing her best to remain calm 'Well I couldn't expect much from a girl without any training, I should compliment her for doing everything in silence.' and after eating some berries, she looked down at their target "I guess we'll have to do it the old way: a frontal assault. There shouldn't be too much trouble, our information says these are all mercenaries without a shred of magic."
The grin on Abilene's face seemed to change, becoming more aggressive and malevolent "Can I make them suffer and scream?"
"Only if they can fight." said Atonnis with a firm voice "We are dark mages, not merciless killers."
"Also, you may have to kill someone. It is not mandatory, as our mission is only to destroy their guild, but do you feel ready if the time comes?" asked Reina looking at her with calm eyes, not knowing what to expect from that girl.
"I killed wolves before. I've hurt people in the past." explained Abilene rolling her shoulders "I can do! Won't fail!"
"Good, then we can go."
Using the ropes created by Abilene earlier, they quickly descended the side of the mountain and came to an otherwise hidden path among the rocks. After a few minutes of walking, they finally saw the fortress and the two guards did not take long to locate them. They both took up their weapons, which were nothing more than a sword for the first and a halberd for the second, but even at this distance the three wizards could see the low-quality equipment they were wearing.
"Abi." said girl looked at Reina who took a knife in her hand, before throwing it with precision and striking a root in the ground halfway between them and the two mercenaries "Atonnis and I will walk normally. You have to defeat those two guards before we get to the knife. Do you think you can do it?"
Without hesitation, Abilene ran towards the two opponents, pointing both arms towards them "Vine Shot!"
The two mercenaries easily dodged the two frontal attacks before running towards her to intercept her but Abilene somersaulted forward avoiding their blades before turning to their backs. Pointing a hand at the man with the sword, another magic circle appeared in front of her hand "Vine Cocoon!"
Before the man could react, a large amount of vines wrapped around his body and, although he managed to cut some with his sword, the rest managed to completely immobilize him, leaving only his surprised eyes visible. His partner tried to help him, but Abilene attacked him relentlessly with two whips of vines, finally managing to wrap one around his right arm. He was physically strong but Abilene still had her fight with Atonnis in mind, so instead of trying to bring him towards herself, she took advantage of his inattention to run towards him and hit him with a kick in the chest, causing him to fall to the ground. Unfortunately for him, he didn't even have time to raise his head, when his whole body was wrapped in vines, completely immobilizing him.
After a deep breath, Abilene looked at her two guild mates and saw them a few steps away from the knife thrown by Reina, who smiled at her "Good job Abi, I've seen far worse."
Abilene smiled back at her before turning to the fortress, from which came shouts and laughter in equal measure, as if a party were in progress. The three wizards approached the two wooden doors and, while Atonnis reached for his war hammer, Reina looked at Abilene "This is the last part of the mission, and it will be another test. Once the doors are broken down, I want you to locate the leader of these mercenaries and deal with him. Atonnis and I will take care of keeping the others away from you."
Stopping in front of the doors, Atonnis looked at them brandishing his weapon "Ready?"
Abilene nodded while Reina was enveloped by a white glow for a moment. As the light faded, the young girl could see that her guild mate was now wearing an ashy gray cloak that covered her back and left side of the body, with patterns of black clouds lining the end of the cloak, while in her hands she held two twin chain scythes connected by silver chains coiled around her forearms and leather-wrapped grips. While the right blade was obsidian black with bright blue ornate detailing, the left one was stark white with the detailing being bright orange.
"Ready."
Atonnis nodded back before hitting the door with all his strength, destroying it in a single blow and hurling the pieces of wood inside the main hall, where all festivities were suddenly interrupted and all those present turned to observe the three wizards as they did their entrance.
"Who the hell are you?!" shouted a shirtless old man with a big mustache and two crossed sabers behind his back "Do you know who we are?! We are the 'Grizzlies of War' and we don't like anyone who interrupts our parties!"
"He didn't even give us time to answer." noted Reina with an arched eyebrow while Abilene stepped forward pointing a finger to that man.
"You!" he looked at her "You boss here?!"
"Ah! Of course I'm the boss of this guild! I'm Roderis, the strongest mercenary of Fiore"
Abilene turned to look at Reina with a grin on her lips and both thumbs raised.
"Yes, good job good job. You found the boss!" the sorceress wanted to hold back more sarcasm but just couldn't make it at that moment "He's your target, go and get him!"
"Are you here to fight?! You will regret it! Kill the big beast boys, but keep the two girls alive! We can always have fun once the party resumes!" ordered the man with an all too obvious grin on his face unsheathing his weapons and, at that signal, all the mercenaries shouted before running towards the three invaders. Abilene sprinted forward avoiding a couple of arrows to go directly to Roderis as his two companions split to face the other mercenaries.
Reina leapt high and then landed with one foot on a mercenary's face, crushing his head to the ground. His close companions turned to Reina to attack her but the sorceress threw her twin scythes before spinning on herself, opening deep cuts on the bodies of the nearest enemies. Some tried to throw their weapons such as spears and hatchets, but Reina started moving her right arm quickly and the black scythe seemed to move like a snake, hitting all the bullets before they could get too close, while the white scythe hit them soon after, giving life to a dance of blades and blood that forced the mercenaries on the defensive.
Suddenly a man bigger than the others came forward with an imposing tower shield, against which both scythes collided without being able to destroy it. Grinning victorious, the mercenary began to advance towards Reina with his shield in front of him before trying to strike her with his ax, but the young woman took a side step and at that moment her weapons returned to her hands, however she immediately threw the black blade towards another mercenary, hitting him in the chest, before grabbing the chain connected to the white scythe with both hands and stretch it over her head, thus blocking her opponent's ax.
The mercenary gritted his teeth in an attempt to overwhelm the mage, but Reina was stronger than expected and managed to step aside and make him lose his balance. Just as other opponents were about to throw themselves at her, thick gray smoke escaped from her cloak, enveloping them all in a thick smokescreen. Inside, some cries of pain were heard and within seconds, Reina emerged unscathed, leaving behind the bodies of the defeated mercenaries. Without even slowing down, she began to swirl her right scythe quickly, thus creating a sort of shield against which arrows shot from nearby archers bounced.
The aforementioned archers paled when they saw her look at them and hurl both scythes in their direction. With flawless control of her weapons, Reina was able to spread the two weapons before converging them against her opponents, decapitating all four of her mercenaries in one fell swoop. As the corpses slumped to the ground, Reina turned her gaze to the rest of the guild and saw that some mercenaries had fallen into the trap of the vines of Abilene, who was currently fighting with Roderis, while the others were engaged against Atonnis, even if they were clearly at a disadvantage despite their numerical superiority.
To prove that point, a man fell beside her destroying the floor, without moving. Another suffered the same fate when he tried to get too close to Atonnis and then was hit by the war hammer that threw him into the air without giving him time to defend himself.
Soon after, Atonnis grabbed a table with one hand and threw it at a group of mercenaries before turning and blocking another enemy's greatsword. Pushing him back thanks to his physical strength, the giant then did not hesitate to hit the mercenary from above, destroying his weapon and skull in a single blow. Releasing his weapon momentarily, Atonnis turned to block a spear with both hands, breaking the pole easily before grabbing the face of the mercenary who had tried to attack him and smash him to the ground.
Two mercenaries dressed in a lighter way than the others tried to run around him with daggers in their hands, using their superior speed, but Atonnis surprised them by extending his arms outwards with the palms of the hands open, in front of which two purple magical circles were created "Blade-Make: Sword!"
A long sword blade wrapped in a purple aura materialized from each magic circle, which he grabbed at the base before spinning. Given his size, he wasn't very fast, but using his magic was more than enough to allow him to cut the two mercenaries in half before letting go of his weapons, which dissolved into purple mist.
Grabbing his hammer in one hand, he raised it in time to block the advance of another enemy's spiked mace, before striking it with a second blow, destroying it completely, leaving the mercenary stunned at the sight of his shattered weapon. The man had no way to attack again because Atonnis swept him away with his weapon before advancing towards one of the last remaining mercenaries, who tried to fire a dart at him with his crossbow but Atonnis simply tilted the head to the side and avoided the bullet before smashing the enemy's skull with his hammer. The last three mercenaries screamed for courage and ran towards him with their swords but, brandishing his war hammer with both hands, Atonnis struck them sideways, throwing them all at the feet of Reina who was approaching calmly.
Taking a brief glance at the corpses at her feet, Reina then looked up at her companion "All clean here, let's see how the girl is doing."
Across the hall, Abilene dodged two saber blows before jumping behind a table to put some distance between her and the mercenary boss, but Roderis kicked it off like it was made of paper and tried again to decapitate her. The girl did a somersault to avoid it and created two whips of vines with which she tried to keep him at a distance, succeeding for several seconds but the old man was more skilled than expected and with precise blows began to shorten her weapons, forcing her to fold back to create new ones.
"Ah! You'll have to do more if you want to defeat me, little girl!"
The young sorceress growled in annoyance as another whip was torn apart by Roderis's blades. Normally she would have simply avoided a fight with someone stronger than her, preferring to take refuge in the trees of her forest, but now that she was part of a guild, although it was still a new concept for her, she couldn't do it now. Pointing her left hand towards him, she launched a frontal attack forcing him to take a side step and at that moment created a whip with her other hand, managing to lock his left ankle before yanking her whip, causing him to fall to the ground.
Roderis quickly stood up after cutting off the vines but then realized that Abilene was accumulating more magical power and, opening her hands, she shouted "Thorny Whip!"
Two long whips darker than the previous ones, completely covered with large thorns, were created in her hands and with two violent lashes, she left marks in the floor, destroying the wood with ease.
'Damn me and my mouth...' thought Roderis with a worried look before engaging her in another fight but, much to his own surprise, he couldn't cut those whips like the others, being much more resistant, and after yet another blow blocked by those plants, Abilene took a step forward before moving both whips and wrapping them around Roderis's arms, thus preventing him from attack. Making him fall to the ground again, she did not hesitate to kick his hands and make him lose his grip on his sabers.
"I win!"
The sound of applause rang out in the guild hall and Abilene turned to Reina, who had a satisfied smile on her face "Good job, Abi. Now you can let him go."
The young girl looked at her confused, but Atonnis nodded "It's okay, don't worry."
Not wanting to disobey their 'order', Abilene knelt to remove the whips from Roderis's arms who winced as the various thorns came out of his skin, before letting him stand up on his own. Once on his feet, he rubbed his arms with a sigh "Geez...you found a very combative one this time. She has a fire inside her that I haven't seen in a while!"
"You can thank Shirros for that, he brought her to the guild. Plus I think I made you a lot worse when you faced me." replied Reina with a chuckle before noticing Abilene's increasingly confused gaze. With a smile, she pointed to Roderis' chest where a grinning skull was tattooed and, under Abilene's incredulous eyes, the skull changed shape to become the guild mark of Shadow Soul.
Abilene pointed at him while looking at Atonnis and Reina "Old man is guild mate?!"
"That's correct, young lass!" laughed Roderis "I have been a member of Shadow Soul for fifty years, but now age prevents me from going out on a mission, so I am used as a 'first mission' for new recruits. My magic is also useful for this purpose." and with those words, all the corpses of the mercenaries stood up but there was no more blood around and all of them were wooden dummies.
"Roderis possesses a very unique puppeteer magic which he combines with a brief control over illusions, so that he can create fighting people who appear to be alive." explained Reina "Atonnis and I both had to face this 'guild' on our first mission, even though it once had a more serious name..."
"What can you do, by now I will have changed the name about twenty times." laughed Roderis before looking at Abilene "As for me, you have successfully completed the mission. I will report everything to the mistress as soon as I have rested a little. Welcome to the family!"
Abilene could not say why, yet seeing the smiling faces of Roderis and Reina (and perhaps Atonnis too but because of the helmet she couldn't say for sure) and being told that she was now part of a family made her feel extremely good. Smiling back, she opened her hands as if she were waiting for something.
"Treasure!"
"..."
"..."
"...what now?"
"Mission done! I get treasure!"
"She wants gold or jewels." explained Atonnis with an amused voice "Shirros had to give her several coins already."
Roderis laughed heartily at those words "Ah! What an amazing young lass!"
Abilene took a step forward, staring intently at him and the old wizard noticed the tip of a thorny whip slowly coming out of the palm of her hand "Treasure."
"...I take back what I said. She is a scary young lass."
[Akane Beach / 7th October X784]
Stretching on the deck chair where she had been lying, Asteria picked up an iced drink and took a sip, enjoying the coolness.
"I have to congratulate the mistress again. She really knows how to make her underlings happy." said the young girl while looking at the other residents of the resort where he was staying. She had arrived that morning and, after a cold shower, she had immediately started enjoying her vacation among the pool, cool drinks and tasty food; the special umbrella above her was also something unique, being a magical item that released fresh air around it, thus preventing her from feeling hot.
"I don't know...I would have preferred something different."
A sigh escaped her lips as she turned to look at the boy sitting under the umbrella next to her, with a frown on his face "You should learn to enjoy your breaks, Naco. I know you'd rather do something than sit idle, but the last thing we want is for you to fry your brain with those sparks of yours."
"Fuck you. The only good thing about this place are the desserts." replied Naco while eating a slice of apple pie accompanied by vanilla ice cream "Couldn't she have sent me somewhere else? Maybe somewhere you can fight..."
"You're hopeless. At least Grady is enjoying the vacation." replied Asteria, looking at the their guild mate talking to a group of girls on the other side of the pool.
"Only because they listen to his bullshit about his alleged victories enraptured, and I'm sure he will have told the same thing at least five times, always adding some details." groaned Naco eating another piece of pie. Both he and Grady had been sent there to enjoy a vacation after the success of their last mission, but Naco would definitely have appreciated something different as a reward. Maybe a chance to take on a certain Fairy Tail lightning wizard...
"Eventually they will get tired of listening to him. Now shut up and enjoy your vacation, your muttering is making me feel even warmer...you don't want me to kick you in the pool, right?" asked Asteria with a dangerous edge in her voice while a subtle aura of energy began to surround her body.
In response, Naco showed her a grin generating some electric sparks along his arms "You can always try, Nebula."
"Geez, hard not to understand why the air is denser here. Do you want to hit each other or what?" came the voice of Grady as he walked toward them with a raised eyebrow "You made the girls run away."
"Then I'd say we saved them from the umpteenth story you were about to tell." replied Naco with a grin, earning a scowl from the older mage "If you want to remedy this affront with a healthy fight, I'm ready."
"Children, don't fight." said Asteria with a low chuckle.
Grady snorted "I'm older than you, Asteria. And the baby here is only a year younger than you."
"Go to hell, both of you. Isn't there something to do here besides wasting time?" asked Naco with an exasperated face, having already finished his apple pie.
"Mh...well the sun is already setting and i have heard that this resort has a casino. Shall we go there?"
"Why not? A couple of poker hands could be fun!" nodded Asteria while standing up, already feeling the sun on her skin "Ugh...I hate the summer..."
A few hours later, after a shower and a succulent dinner, the three wizards entered the casino, looking around to decide where to start playing. The casino was quite large, with slot machines, roulette tables, poker, black jack and so on.
"Is it me, or is it hot in here too?" wondered Asteria waving a hand for air.
"Well if you were wearing anything other than those boots you would feel less warm." pointed out Grady while looking at her feet.
"Nah it's not that, this place is just very hot." replied the girl with Grady and Naco both sweat-dropping at her dismissal.
"Dear customers, would you like to play here?" asked an anonymous-looking man showing them a deck of cards and the currently empty table.
"Let's go with poker then, I'm feeling lucky tonight." said Naco and, having nothing better to do, the three wizards of Shadow Soul sat down in front of him, who began shuffling the cards.
However, much to their surprise, the first card that was shown in the center of the table was all white with their guild's mark in the center. All three looked at the dealer with calm eyes, sensing the magic surrounding his body, until Asteria smiled "It's been a while, Faye."
The card dealer smiled at them and in an instant they felt as if they had just entered a bubble, only there was no longer a man in front of them, but a young girl, slightly smaller than Asteria, with warm-ivory skin and a lithe and athletic figure. She had expressive burgundy-red eyes and thick ash-blond (almost white) hair, kept shoulder-length in a half-up/half-down style held in place by a coppery rose-gold hairpin with a few locks of hair framing her soft-featured face.
This was Sylva Harlaown, a member of Shadow Soul whom many often referred to as Faye, sometimes forgetting what her real name was, but she had never corrected anyone on what to call her.
"Two weeks, if I'm not mistaken. I see you are enjoying a vacation." replied Sylva with a small smile, continuing to shuffle the cards with her hands covered by black fingerless gloves, equipped with a metal plate on the back, and combined with thick vambrace bracelets. Being that she was sitting on a stool with one leg crossed over the other, the three mages seated in front of her could see part of her lightly-armored combat boots paired with a thin mid-sleeved cream-white cotton shirt and a pair of tan oryx-leather breeches, complete with a dark green scarf tied around the waist, with the knot on the left side.
"I guess you are here on a mission, since you have disguised yourself with your illusions." offered Grady with a calm voice, being used to the magic of that girl who was already part of the guild when he joined Shadow Soul.
"That's right, I'm tracking Juvia Lockser on behalf of the mistress." said Sylva before looking toward the slot machines. The other three followed her gaze and saw the aforementioned sorceress walking with a black-haired boy towards the bar "I spotted her just this morning and I already sent a report to the guild master, but I didn't think she would send all of you for a single target."
Naco snorted "I guess we're not the ones who have to look after her. If you sent the report today, we received the tickets for this resort yesterday and I don't think the guild master has the power to predict the future. But I can always take care of her if no one comes forward."
"Besides, you spotted her this morning but haven't acted yet? Your magic is not suitable for everything, but I thought you could face someone like her alone." added Grady, holding Naco back with a hand on the shoulder.
"Unfortunately I could not act otherwise. For some reason she always kept herself within fifty meters of that black-haired guy, Gray Fullbuster from Fairy Tail." explained Sylva with a calm tone of voice, catching their attention "I also confirmed the presence of three other Fairy Tail wizards at this resort: Lucy Heartfilia, a relatively new mage to the guild, Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer, and finally Erza Scarlet, an S-class mage."
"This could be problematic. If we attack Juvia, it is possible that the Fairy Tail wizards will assist her...from what I Can see she seems to chat as if nothing had happened with Fullbuster." said Asteria staring at the back of their possible target "It might be fun to face them all..."
"Do not even think about it." said Grady staring at her with his only eye "I'm pretty sure you and Naco want to fight, but we don't have a plan and we're in the middle of a resort. I doubt the guild master will appreciate destroying this place due to a conflict between us and Fairy Tail."
"Tch...spoilsport..."
"You're no fun..."
Grady rolled his eyes "I hate being the adult here..."
"Kyaaaa! Erza you're amazing!"
The four dark mages turned to a nearby poker table, where a small crowd had formed intent on observing Erza Scarlet as she won yet another hand. However, at that moment a young dealer came to Erza's table and began to deal cards; not being too close to the table they couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was obvious that the boy's presence had shocked Erza. Before they could try to understand anything, they heard a scream in the direction of the bar and saw Juvia slumped to the ground as a huge man, about the size of their comrade Atonnis, was watching Gray Fullbuster. As if all that wasn't enough, in the distance they saw people running away from what looked like a man made of square blocks as he was threatening someone with a gun.
"Hey, this place is more fun than I thought." said Naco with a grin on his face.
Asteria simply looked at her fellow female mage "Faye."
"Already done. No one can see us unless they come to this very table." replied Sylva with a calm voice, yet serious voice.
Something big was about to happen and they were all sure of it. The question was: what?
Back at the bar, Juvia reformed in front of Gray with her arms outstretched "Juvia won't let you lay a finger on Gray-sama! Juvia will be your opponent!"
"Juvia...!"
"Go and find Erza-san! She's in danger!"
"Mh? You've already found her?" asked the man while touching his temple with two fingers "Then mind if we tidy things up on our end?"
Juvia narrowed her gaze at him "What are you-?!"
"Cursed-Sword Style; Fifth Form..." recited a female voice to her left, shocking both Juvia and Gray. The water sorceress barely had time to turn in that direction to see a young navy blue-haired girl holding a red energy katana in Iai stance. With an unnatural speed, the girl sprinted forward and attacked with a wide swipe, slashing Juvia in the chest and under Gray's astonished eyes, a wave of ice sprang from the wound that blocked Juvia as she fell backwards with an open wound on her chest.
The swordswoman brought the blade back to her side, exhaling from her mouth "Helheim."
Gray tried to reach for her while creating a construct of ice, but then he heard the voice of the man "Darkness Magic: Dark Moment."
In the blink of an eye, darkness engulfed the entire room.
"What do you think is going on? I'm pretty sure I've seen the flash of a gun now."
"I don't know Grady, I just know that I perceive several sources of magic in this room." replied Sylva in a low voice "Now try to be silent. If there are no external noises, I don't know how much my illusions can do to cover your voices."
For a few seconds now, the entire room had plunged into darkness as if there had been a blackout but luckily the light returned at that moment and they immediately noticed that only Erza, Lucy and the blond-haired dealer were left, while all the other people had disappeared.
'No, they have not disappeared. They were captured...' thought Asteria looking at the cards on the ground, where she could distinctly see a person inside every single card.
Under the eyes of the four dark mages, Erza started talking to that boy, who was apparently called Shô, but after a few seconds, Lucy was captured by a strange cat girl and shortly thereafter the huge man from before, the square man and a navy blue-haired girl arrived.
"Millianna...Wally...Simon..." Erza then looked at the girl "W-Who are you?"
"Aki Tamashiro." said the girl with a calm voice "We're here to take you with us, Erza Scarlet."
"That's right, you're coming back with us, nee-san!" said Shô with a huge evil smile and, before Erza could stop them, a gun-wielding hand materialized behind her before shooting her in the back, causing Erza to collapse to the ground.
"Mark acquired, let us fall back." said Simon while lifting Erza in her hands all the while Shô was starting to cry like a baby.
"Nee-san...you're finally coming back...to the Tower of Paradise! I bet Jellal will be smiling ear to ear!"
Once Millianna had Erza tied up, the kidnappers headed for the exit but Aki slowed to a halt and watched Lucy, still on the ground and close to being killed by the cat girl's magical laces. After a few seconds of silence, she walked over to a table used to serve snacks and took out a sharp knife before approaching Lucy, who looked at her with terrified eyes.
"W-Wait! P-Pleas-!"
STAB!
"With this you should be able to free yourself before you die." said Aki after driving half of the blade into the floor near Lucy's arms. After making sure that Lucy hadn't fainted from fright, she turned around and walked towards the direction where Erza's kidnappers had disappeared.
All under the interested gaze of four dark mages.
"She didn't kill that girl while he was helpless on the ground. I can respect that." said Asteria while looking at Aki as she left "And I can tell she's pretty strong."
"Yeah yeah, you want to follow and fight with her, but first we should contact the mistress and tell her what happened here." said Grady before running out of the casino with his three guild mates, ignoring Lucy as she was intent on breaking free.
Half an hour later, the four members of Shadow Soul were hiding on a naval dock and Asteria had a Lacrima in her right hand, currently on.
"Did I get it right? Did that wizard actually say Tower of Paradise?"
"Yes, mistress. We couldn't hear the whole talk but those wizards seemed intent on getting Erza Scarlet back there, like she ran away or something. And they named this Jellal as their leader." explained Sylva with a calm voice "From what we could see, Fairy Tail's Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster were helpless on the ground, while Juvia Lockser was imprisoned in a block of ice with a wound on her chest."
"Probably because they were taken by surprise, otherwise they would not have been able to defeat Phantom Lord or become S-class wizards." Reveeina didn't seem impressed by that part of the report. She wanted to take care of Juvia more systematically, but now she had a bigger problem on her hands "Did you see where those wizards went?"
Asteria nodded "Yes, they got into a big boat and set sail. We can no longer see the outline of the ship but we know the general direction. Do you want us to follow them?"
"Yes, you absolutely must reach them and stop their leader. If what I think is true we have a big problem ahead of us. I will contact you as soon as I know more." ordered Reveeina before adding "Be careful, I still don't know what you will have to face."
The four wizards nodded before putting the Lacrima away and heading to a boat to start the chase but then Grady noticed something about his guild mate.
"Why are you grinning, Naco...?"
Said boy looked at him, grinning even more "Well I wanted something more than a vacation and now we have to chase some unknown wizards on a mission where we don't know what lies ahead. I said I was feeling lucky tonight!"
"...just get on the boat. Please."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Hello everyone, SoImAWriterSoWhat here for you. Did you like this second chapter? I really hope so. We got to know more OCs, some more than others, and we will get to know many more in future chapters!
As always, I remind you to notify me if there is something wrong with your OC, so that I can change the way I use them! As you may have read, we are headed for a clash with Jellal and company, and there will be several factors different from the canon but you will find out in the next chapter!
I apologize for the delay but I have had big problems in the family and the work has kept me busy! I hope to be able to bring another chapter at least before the end of August! Also I apologize if I have not replied to some private message, but I have had a lot of things to do and I have not been able to keep track of the messages to which I replied.
Small note at the end of the chapter, in the previous chapter I modified a single part for the introduction of Aki, who now no longer has her sword on the back.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: THE OC RECAP CAN BE FOUND ON MY PROFILE, SINCE IT WAS GETTING VERY LONG (ALMOST 4 PAGES)! I REPEAT, THE RECAP NOW CAN BE FOUND ON MY PROFILE!
Users who have yet to submit their character:
- News Boss
- MakeMeOrBreakMe
- vanillard
- gfxfgh48
- Flaming Fate Zero
- NitroTheKidd88 (two OCs)
- Kage kitsune of light
- LuciferXIII Trollkaiger Green
- Derekjay2000 (second OC)
The list above is not to rush people, but just to show how many people are participating, or want to participate in the fic; if all these OCs are accepted I will be very close to closing the applications with a total of 18 OCs.
That's all for this chapter. I hope this story interests you and leads you to show your dark side with this guild! I await your reviews and your OCs. See you soon!