They stopped by the city of Malba.
"Feels good to be out of that forest, no offence Moriko."
"Mikage Forest isn't for everyone." She smiled.
"The locals call it Spooky Forest."
"Yeah, that's my fault. Whenever I found people trespassing I'd scare them away." Her tone changed somewhat. They could hear the regret and sadness in her. "I wanted to protect the forest, but I was so lonely."
"Well you've got us now! And this awesome marletplace!" Erueka sprinted off to the market.
"She does realise that she didn't bring any money..." Nevaeh looked in her pockets and bag. "Oh no! I forgot the bring any too! How are we going to buy food and supplies now!" She began bawling.
"Didn't you say that guilds complete missions in order to gain money?"
"Yes, that's true. That's actually a good idea, you can see what it's like being a full fledged guide member on day one!" Nevaeh wipes her eyes and out her hands on Moriko's shoulders. "You're young still... but you're safe with us! Now let's go find that ice feind..."
They shortly found Eureka stuffing her face with street food. She was eating that fast they couldn't even see what she was eating, it was all just fast blurs.
"Ummm Eureka..." Nevaeh began trembling a little.
"What? I'm eating. If I talk, that's less eating."
"Yes but..." she leaned in to whisper. "How are you paying for that..."
"I noticed I forgot to bring some money. Then I thought, you know who will have money, my good pal Nevaeh!" Nevaeh went white, as if her spirit had just left her.
"Eureka... I didn't bring any money too..." and with those words, Eureka also turned white and dropped the meat on the bone she was half way through eating.
"Then... I just ... stole all this food..."
"Okay, we just do what we always do. Make some money and pay it off after."
"Yeah no problem, no problem... except how are we going to find a job in this place?"
Hey there!" A man's voice called out to them. "I couldn't help but hear you need some money and quick."
"Ummm... yeah?" The three girls remained skeptical of the mans intentions.
"Well as it so happens to be, you see, I need a job doing. You see I go out to a lively little island, called Nikoba Island. The soil is great there and I use it to plant all my crops and raise livestock. The problem is, it's all closed off now. I can't get access to it at all!"
"Nikoba Island? I've never heard of it. Have you Eureka?"
"Can't say I have." She was disappointed in herself. She was known for having studied the map of Fiore as a child and mapped out every location where the two had been on jobs and vacations.
"Yes, I'm not surprised. It's not on any map, you see. It's a very small island just north of here. It's my own private island."
"Wow! You have your own island! That's so cool!"
"Had... I've not been able to go there for some months now."
"Why? What happened?"
"Well it must have been three or four months back. I was in my boat, on my way to check on my livestock and see if my vegetables were ready for harvest. I don't go often as I let the animals roam freely. Anyway, as I approached there was a huge rock formation stopping me from getting onto the island at all. The island was surrounded by these rocks, you see. Then I also noticed the dark shadows above it. I thought it must be some kind of magic... but no one around here would help me. Now I'm struggling to make ends meet. Will you girls please help me?"
"Of course, mister." Moriko answered before any of them had chance to discuss it.
"Excellent. And for payment, I won't charge you for all the food you just ate at my buffet." He has a huge grin on his face.
"This is your place?!" The girls were shocked.
They made their way north to the sea.
"Great. How are we going to get to the island now?" Eureka sat down on the concreate, staring out to the ocean.
"Yeah... didn't plan that far ahead."
"What's the problem? We can just take a boat." Eureka and Nevaeh frantically shook their heads at Moriko.
"There's something you need to know about Dragon Slayer magic." Nevaeh crossed her arms and legs.
"It causes motion sickness..." Nevaeh finished.
"If we got on any moving vehicle... we'd just be sick and unable to move." Just the thought of this was enough to make the two heave.
"Okay... so ... what are we going to do?" Moriko asked as she stared out to the glistening sea. Just then, two voices could be heard in the distance.
"Nevaeh!"
"Eureka!"
The girls turned and they saw Luna and Sol flying towards them.
"Why would you leave without us?" Luna buried her head into Nevaeh's shirt.
"Yeah. Don't you know we're tough enough to come along with you!" Sol began punching the air and tensing his upper arms.
"Sorry, we just thought maybe it'll be too dangerous for you guys. If anything happened... I don't know what I'd do." Small tears began to well in Nevaeh's eyes.
"We're a team. We're in this together!"
"Those cats are talking... and wearing clothes!" Moriko began to freak out.
"They're not cats technically, they're called Exceeds. And they can do more than just talk and wear clothes!" Neveah and Luna were looking intently at each other.
"Yeah, only problem is there's three of us so one will have to stay behind for a while." Eureka knew Neveah would volunteer to be last.
"Exceeds can fly, Moriko."
"Wow! Really?"
"Sure we can, look at me!" Soo started flying all over the place, doing loop-the-loops and all sorts of tricks. Moriko was too gobsmacked to say anything further and so sol took Eureka and Luna took Moriko. As Luna was about to go back for Nevaeh they saw something coming at them across the water.
"Hey guys!" It was Nevaeh, she had mad a surfboard out of fire and was smoothly flying across the ocean. "This is awesome!"
"Wait, she's not getting sick?"
"I mean, it's not a vehicle so why would she. Trust her to come up with something like this. Classic Nevaeh." Eureka out her elbow on Moriko's shoulder and leaned on her.
"You guys need to try this some time!"
"It does look fun, but we're here on business." Eureka started dragging Nevaeh by the ear. The five of them searched the island high and low but there was no such luck.
"Right I'll check the west side!" Said Nevaeh.
"I'll check the right!" Eureka ran to the east of the island. Moriko day staring out to see, then she squinted. Some time went by and the sun began setting. She suddenly let out a shriek.
"Nevaeh! Eureka! Get back here now!" The two came sprinting and we're out of breath.
"What's ... wrong? Did ...someone ...attack you?" Nevaeh was panting so much.
"No. You're gonna be so mad. But I was sat here right, I was just looking out at the ocean and the more and more I focussed the more I could see it."
"See what?"
"The island..."
"What are you talking about?"
"Nikoba Island... is there." She pointed to where she had been staring and the girls looked. It took a while but as their eyes focussed they could finally see it.
"You mean we've been searching the wrong island all day!" Nevaeh screamed. Disappointed the girls then made their way there. As they got closer they noticed there was something seriously wrong. There were rock surrounding the island that curled upwards and inward like a sort of protective shell and above was a void of darkness.
"What are we thinking guys? Dark guild?" Eureka tilted her head to the right slightly.
"It's some kind of powerful magic, whatever it is." They flew over the rock points and as they looked down the island looked almost barren.
"There's no crops left..." Nevaeh out her hands over her mouth.
"Poor Mr. Nikoba..." Moriko was almost crying. They landed and the ground was dry, but no dust lifted as they walked. There were a few withered plants here and there. The island was larger than the other and despite its lack of vegetation it had many hills and uneven land. It was clear where there were fields though.
"You smell that, Eureka?"
"Yup."
"There's two people here."
"Want is to fly ahead and see?" Luna and Sol were ready.
"No, it could be dangerous."
"Yeah, Nevaeh's right, stay close. Moriko, you too." As they cautiously explored the island they scented they were closing in on the source. Then rocks came flying at them.
"You shouldn't have come here." There were two girls stood together, one with red hair and one with platinum.
"We just want to be left alone!"