Luciana's POV
I can't believe it! We're in Cosmos! A town dedicated to Celestial Mages. I jumped up and down with excitement, my eleven best friends rolling their eyes as they followed me into the center of the town. I stared in awe at the life-size statues of the Celestial Spirits that littered the streets of the small town.
It had one main street, with lots of stores and shops. It had a few other streets, lined with houses. The town center had gold statues of the twelve Gold Celestial Spirits, and silver statues of the Silver ones.
We walked through the town, attracting strange stares as we moved. In our usual formation, all of us wearing our cloaks, with me in the front and Adrian walking just a little behind me next to Kuro and Keita. Behind them were Rosemary, Kenshin, Yuki and Caroline. And bringing up the rear were Melody, Ren, Konran and Victoria.
Our faces were obscured from view, but chances were that people knew who we are, just because of our reputation as a group. People whispered to each other, probably thinking we couldn't hear. But we could. Every word.
"Hey, get a load of those weirdoes!" a boy said.
"Shhh! Don't say that! What if they hear you?" his sister whispered.
"What of it?"
"Are you retarded?! That's the dark guild Angels and Demons!"
"What, seriously?!"
"Yes! Geez! What is wrong with you?"
"One of man's age old questions…" he smirked. "But you shouldn't talk about yourself like that."
"Why you little…!" the boy ran for his life as his sister chased him.
I laughed as I watched their exchange from the corner of my eye. My friends eyed me weirdly, but I just shook my head at them. They shrugged and smiled, and an angry tick appeared on my forehead as they gave me 'I'm used to it' looks. They paled instantly at my glare, and attempted to smile innocently.
We arrived at an inn on the outskirts of the small town, near the forest, and checked in. The boys are in one room and the girls in another. I told everyone I was going for a walk, and they shrugged, leaving to do their own thing.
Once deep within the forest, I took off my white cloak. Personally, I feel it is far too ostentatious, to wear a white cloak in a group of people with black ones, but the gesture, the fact that they wanted me to wear it, to show that I was their guild master, was touching. So I wore it. But don't tell them I said that. The first thing would hurt their feelings, and the second would make them group hug me again, which pretty much means I would be crushed by, like, 500kg of collective weight, courtesy of my eleven friends.
I sighed heavily, memories of my old friends, the traitors, flowing back up. I banished them from my mind, as usual, but they just wouldn't leave me alone. I sighed again, this time in disgust.
A breaking twig to my left saw me spinning around, releasing a tiny part of my magical energy as a warning. I glared in the source of the sound's general direction. Something flew directly at me.
My dragon slayer eyes saw the golden midnight-blue exceed clearly as it came barrelling towards my chest. The tips of its fur were dusted with star gold, that shined in the sunlight. It's eyes were amethyst purple, and one of its ears were tipped ruby red and its left front paw emerald green. The tip of its tail was white.
The exceed flew directly at my chest and hugged me tightly. I had this brief moment of deja-vu of when Happy used to hug me. Instinctively, I hugged it back. "What's wrong?"
"I… I wanna be a dragon slayer's exceed, but I couldn't find one until now! I found you!" the exceed hugged me tighter.
"Okay… how about we start with introductions? I'm Luciana. I'm a Celestial Dragon and God Slayer. What about you?"
"I'm Tsuki! I can use Aera, and change my form to that of a Silvae (god slayer's 'exceed')!" Tsuki said excitedly.
"Really? Can I see?" I asked, grinning.
"Sure!" a gold glow momentarily blinded me, and I saw a huge gold tiger standing in front of me. It was easily as tall as I am, and I saw two huge wings folded against it's back.
"Tsu-Tsuki?!" I squeaked in alarm. She let out a laugh, though when she bared the huge teeth of hers, I shivered.
"Do not fear, I'm your partner, after all!" she turned back into a small exceed, flying into my arms. I began to walk back to the inn, when I stopped.
"Hey! If you have wings, why am I carrying you?!" I yelled, as she flew off towards town, laughing when I made chase, swinging my fist in the air angrily.
She burst into the room, with me still running after her. I lunged at her, and tackled her to the ground. She squealed happily when I tickled her. I scooped her up in my arms and spun her in a circle. When I looked up, I saw my whole group sweat dropping at me.
"What?" I asked, tilting my head to the side to show my confusion. They continued to stare at me, and I took a semi-defensive stance. "What?!" I still held Tsuki in my arms.
"Um… do you mind introducing us to your… friend?" Adrian asked uncertainly.
"Oh! This is Tsuki! She's my exceed from now on!" I grinned happily. They sweat dropped again.
"And… how did that happen… exactly?" this time it was Caroline who spoke up.
"She tackled me during my walk. Then she turned into a humongous tiger. Then she told me what her name was. Then she said she wanted to be my exceed!" I smiled again, and my friends fell over, anime-style. "Guys?"
After a while, we sent the boys to their rooms, though I had to threaten them to assure that they wouldn't be back later. They scurried away, fearing for their lives, while everyone else laughed, rolling around on the floor and clutching their stomachs. Even Tsuki.
"So… truth or dare?" Rose suggested with a cheeky grin.
"Okay!" we chimed happily. Five minutes later, we sat on the floor in our pyjamas. Rose was wearing a silver nightie that reached her mid-thigh, with lace straps. Kuro wore a similar one, but white with petal sleeves. Caroline was wearing a soft yellow singlet, with matching shorts. Melody had a red nightie that reached her knees. All four were made out of silk.
I was the odd one out. I had long, dark blue, soft cotton pants that rested low on my hips, and a gold tank top. My hair was in a ponytail, with some hanging down over my shoulders.
Caroline started. "So, Kuro. Truth or Dare?"
"Truth."
"Have you kissed a guy before?"
"Yes…"
"Who?!" we all demanded at once.
"Keita." Her. Twin. (I apologise for the incest. I lost a bet with a friend and had to put something of her choice in, and it was this or… something that shall not be named. Sorry. NOT MY FAULT!)
"WHAT?!" we yelled.
"Well, it's natural to share everything with my brother, isn't it?" She. Doesn't. Get. It.
"Not that much!" Caroline exclaimed.
"Oh. Really? Because we've already…" she trailed off, unwilling to share anymore details. Thank god.
"Can we change the subject now?" I asked, trying desperately not to judge. And failing. Miserably.
"Yes. Thank you! Kuro! Ask someone truth or dare!" Caroline demanded.
"Okay… Rose! Truth or dare?"
"Dare, of course."
"Um… okay…" Kuro looked around the room, obviously searching for inspiration. "Go pick up that spider, and drop it out the window." She grinned evilly. We stared in shock, our jaws on the ground.
"Ew! Do I have to?!"
"Yes. It's in the rules." I smirked cruelly as she gingerly approached the huge, black and hairy spider. She raised a shaking hand, and in less than a second scooped it up and threw it out the window. She squealed in disgust the whole time. She ran to sit back down, glaring at us while we laughed ourselves silly.
"Shut up. Caroline, truth or dare?" she glowered.
"Truth."
"Do you or do you not have the hots for Yuki?" she grinned. Caroline blushed madly.
"I do not!"
"You have to answer honestly." She said blatantly.
"Fine. I don't not like him…" she mumbled, embarrassed. Then Caroline turned to me.
"Luciana! Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Kill-joy…" she muttered. "Hey! I know! Tell us about your past! Like your childhood and stuff!" I tensed.
"Sorry girls, I don't do backstory. Next question." My expression gave no room for argument.
"Fine. Do you have a guy you like?" I went bright red.
"Aha! So you do! Who? Who? WHO?!" I leaned over to whisper in her ear.
"Adrian."
"Oh my god! I knew it! I just knew it! I mean after all, you guys are practically glued at the hip."
"Caroline…" I whined, clamping my hand over her mouth
"Oh, fine!" she yanked my hand away. "I won't tell anyone! Happy?"
"Very!" we continued the pointless game of embarrassment, and a few dares included the very inappropriate 'make out with the person next to you'. I had to give the poor girl (not mentioning names) a quick peck on the lips, before apologising profusely. (Another part of the bet. I'm really sorry if you find this gross, but FYI I have nothing against gays, and no, I'm not telling what the bet was) She laughed and waved it off.
"Though I might have a crush on you now…" she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and we all laughed, the awkward tension gone.
General POV
At breakfast time, the boys came bursting into the girl's room.
"WAKE UP! Luciana! Everyone! Get up!" Adrian yelled.
"WHAT?!" the half-asleep girls roared at him, one in particular especially terrifying. A blond one.
"Blue Pegasus has sent a team here to take us out! Apparently, people have been so terrified of us, that they actually requested mage guilds destroy us!"
"Well, who did they send?"
"These three boys… quite attractive actually… except for the fact that they are flirting with every girl in town, and some pervert who keeps posing and talking about perfume. He's super creepy!" Yuki shuddered.
"That sounds like the Trimens and Ichiya. And yes, they are all perverts." Luciana clarified.
"They're not touching my sister!" Keita roared at no one, his arm possessively around Kuro's waist.
"They're not touching my best friend!" Adrian yelled at the same time, wrapping his arm around Luciana while Caroline, who was holding Yuki's hand, lifted her eyebrows suggestively. Luciana mirrored the motion, eyeing Caroline's grip on Yuki's hand. Caroline stuck her tongue out in a way that said 'well, at least I could tell him how I feel'.
The group talked strategy, as well as how to incorporate Tsuki into their attacks. The golden exceed was just happy to be included, and quickly changed into her Silvae form. Everyone but Luciana jumped in shock.
The thirteen walked outside, hidden by their cloaks. They had already agreed not to take them off when they're fighting, so they can still be themselves when they weren't.
They stood on the main street. Luciana stepped forward. "Is there no way we can convince you not to fight?"
"Not unless you decide to surrender, and reveal your identity, men." Ichiya said. The cloaked figure in white's head dropped, as if disappointed, or upset.
"Very well…" her tone was pained. "Let's not do this here. People could get hurt. Follow us, if you please." She turned and began walking down the road, with the black cloaked figures following close behind.
Soon, they found themselves standing in the middle of a field. The Blue Pegasus members looked around in confusion. They had been under the impression that these people were ruthless killers who never let anything stand in their way, murders. One of the people with a black cloak pushed her hood from her head, revealing pink hair and red eyes, and a pained, pleading expression.
"Please." She said. "Stop this. You have done nothing wrong. We do not want to fight you."
One of the perverts (trimens) stepped forward. "What do you mean 'have done nothing wrong'?"
"Isn't it obvious? We do not like hurting innocents. We only fight Dark Guilds, and even then, only if they've hurt people, or done bad things." Another stepped up, a boy with shaggy brown hair and grey eyes removed his hood.
"We know our reputation is bad, but we really don't like hurting people." A boy with purple hair joined his friends.
"Look, how are we supposed to know all this is true, anyway? You're a Dark Guild! Sorry, but we're gonna fight you, regardless." Another Trimens said.
The boy was about to reply angrily, when the figure in white placed her hand on his shoulder, shaking her head almost imperceptibly. She turned to the four opponents. "As the Guild Master, it is my duty to fight you. I can guarantee you now. You will not lay a hand on my friends." Her voice was completely different; it was strong and cruel, and as cold as ice. She stepped in front of the group, a gold exceed flying beside her, the usually cute creature now glaring fiercely. She removed her cloak completely, revealing a girl with long golden hair and gold eyes.
"I will be your opponent."