A/N: Freaking yessss! Wonderful news for those who haven't heard, the Fairy Tail anime will be returning on April 5th, just a little over two weeks from now! They'll be using a similar animation style to the Priestess of the Phoenix movie and I personally think it looks great so far in the trailer I saw (which you can either hunt down on youtube or in the Fairy Tail wikia).
I don't think I have anything else I want to talk about, so I'd like to thank Saiyan-Styles, PrinceOfTheMatrix88, WaterDragonMaverick, potentialauthor18, MyDearWatson, Stormhawk99, WrittenWhim, ViennaxSky, Hikari, and LightandDarkHeart for their reviews!
Saiyan-Styles- I have to agree, I thought Jackson Queen was a strange name as well, but I've heard of people with far stranger names that I could type and pronounce in English, just thinking about them makes me wonder what their parents were thinking, if at all. Anyways, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon, but I love a good challenge. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
PrinceOfTheMatrix88- I'm happy that you enjoyed the last chapter, and to hear that the first real fight scene of the story turned out well. Let's hope that I can keep it up in this chapter as well!
WaterDragonMaverick- I'm glad to hear that I got your villains down, and yes, you'll have to wait for the specifics on the how, who, and why Rayner has that curse. Good to hear that Schrodinger came off as enigmatic, yay for spur of the moment decisions! Anyways, that last scene is an actual part of the chapter since everything discussed in it is part of Jayne's profile, and according to it she does write smutty fanfics about her guild mates and her OTP is currently RayMiri. So I hope you enjoy the chapter!
potentialauthor18- It's good to hear that you liked some of the characters introduced last chapter, and yeah, Queen's got a pretty strange name and Oliver's seems to come from Oliver Twist. But yes, as an S-Class mage, Alistar is set apart in strength from the rest of the mages, but you've hardly even seen him scratch the surface of his power so far since Mammon is one of his weaker masks. Wood Dragon Slayer was a good guess, but nope, not wood, but it is something related to something all around them. The strange thing is, I didn't really intend for Malon speaking with the spirits to be a very funny scene apart from her saying that she was going to ask them for directions, but people so far think it's funny and that's alright with me. As far as breaking the forth wall goes, I'd say that they're actually not breaking it since according to Jayne's profile she writes fanfics about her guild mates in an effort to pair them up, with her OTP being RayMiri. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
MyDearWatson- I'm happy to hear that the last chapter turned out well and I've hardly scratched the surface of what Team Camille and Alistar can do with their magic, course there will still be a bunch to show even after this chapter, but still. Yeah, poor Leif can't really catch much of a break, but you'll just have to wait to find out the answer of whodunnit. I don't think anyone really expected Jeorge to become Vladimir, or to have a talking horse friend. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Stormhawk99- *Changes voice to match the old DBZ narrator* Last time on Undine's Cove, Team Camille and Alistar came across trouble while guarding the caravan and are now protecting it from each side, can they overcome their mysterious opponents? Meanwhile Team Ajax discovered an artificial Dragon Slayer beneath the deck of the "Free Spirit", but then the ship seemed to come under attack by an enemy. Can they stop this new foe? And within the Worth Woodsea Team Jace came under attack by a mysterious girl, who is this girl and are our heroes playing right into the hands of their true enemy? Find out now on Undine's Cove.
WrittenWhim- I'm glad that the action sequences turned out well last chapter, I hope I do as good of a job, or better, this chapter since it's loaded with them. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
ViennaxSky- Well I appreciate reviews in any form, so I'm glad that you think I'm doing good so far. I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Hikari- Yep, and now a few characters make their exit this chapter as well. I've never been to an actual rodeo before, the only one I've been to is a restaurant. Anyways, I brought the fate of doing a historical omake for every member of Undine's Cove upon myself, so you've nothing to feel guilty about. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
LightandDarkHeart- I'm glad that you liked that bit at the end so much and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
Credits:
The Information Broker "Euclid"- dreadburner94
Reina Silvette- ViennaxSky
I don't own Fairy Tail!
Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 9
"See? What did I tell you?" a cool voice asked from atop the hill overlooking the caravan, "Four mages from Undine's Cove with rare and unique magics, isn't that what you were looking for?"
The woman standing next to him looked down at his sitting figure, the information broker looked around 26, all things considered, and stood at about 5'9" with a lean, yet muscular build and a light tan. He had short, slightly spiky brown hair that was cut over his ears and fell over his forehead and down to the nape of his neck. The man had slanted blue eyes and a knowing smirk that never seemed to leave his face, and for good reason, the man seemed to know everything worth knowing. He wore a black parka, that had a hood lined with white fur, over a dark red t-shirt with black jeans and black and red tennis shoes.
"You are correct as usual, Euclid," the woman responded with a pleased smile on her face.
Euclid stood up and looked down at the shorter woman, who stood at about 5'3" with pale skin and a curvy build. She had curled, raven-black hair and stormy gray eyes that seemed full of want, and if Euclid needed to guess, he would peg her to be in her twenties, but he knew that she was around 39 despite her timeless face. The woman was also wearing an expensive, black and white, Victorian dress currently.
"I know another bit of information about Undine's Cove that you'd like to know, Reina" the information broker offered, "But you'll have to double my fee to hear it and you know that when I offer a piece of information, that it's worth any price."
Reina looked at the broker for a short while, she knew that when he actually offered something that you couldn't refuse it due to it's value, but she really hated giving up her things to someone else, "I'll be the judge of that actually, what is it?"
Euclid smirked before speaking, "It's about someone once precious to you actually," he answered casually as he watched her eyes grow in shock, "But if you want it, you'll not only have to double my fee, but you'll also have to follow my instructions very carefully."
"...Fine," the woman eventually answered, "What do you want me to do,"
"Nothing much, I just want you to restrain yourself here and only mark one of the mages down there, but not claim them. You can make them forget about you though," Euclid explained as he began to walk away, "I'll tell you what I know back at my office, make sure you have the rest of my payment ready."
Reina watched the man walk off before turning her attention back to the fight going on and she saw exactly which mage to mark as she became separated from her team.
. : + : .
"Edge-Breaker!" Miriam heard the boy call out as he brought a stone ax down on her.
"Night's Creation: Sword!" Miriam shouted as a katana that appeared to be made out of the night sky materialized in her hands in time for her to block the ax.
"You're pretty good," Oliver commented as they locked blades and began pushing against each other, "Most people don't make it through that attack."
"Well I'm not most people!" she shouted as she continued to glare at him.
"Ooh, scary," Oliver laughed as he jumped back away from Miriam and towards the caravan, "Stone Breaker!" he called out as he slammed his hands on the ground, sending razor sharp rocks flying towards Miriam.
Miriam ran straight towards the spell and held out one of her hands, "Vault in the Sky!" she yelled as an invisible box caught the flying stones as she leaped over it and towards Oliver, "Broken Moon!" Miriam shouted as her sword disappeared and her hands were enveloped in a ghostly white, claw-shaped aura as she slashed them across Oliver's torso, leaving crescent moon shaped marks where the claws slashed through.
"Gah! Dammit!" he cursed as the claws were pulled out of his torso as Miriam jumped back, "Solid Emperor!" he shouted as his body was covered by a suit of rock armor as he ran towards Miriam.
Miriam smirked as she fell to the ground from exhaustion after using Broken Moon, "Looks like you fell for it," she mumbled as she held her arm out towards the charging mage, "Night Emblem!" she yelled as the claw marks underneath Oliver's armor exploded, sending him flying back towards the caravan in an unconscious heap.
"You guys really aren't worth all of this effort," Alistar mocked as he sidestepped a punch and sent the thief flying with a powerful, darkness enhanced kick, "Asmodeus would've been more than enough to take all of you down," he continued as he jumped into the air over three thieves, "Greedy Kick!" he called out as he rushed back towards the thieves with enhanced speed and sent all three flying with a single kick, "But this was more theatrical, wouldn't you agree?" he asked the five thieves remaining, who were staring at him in shock, "Thought so," he smirked as he held out his right hand as a sphere of dark magic began to gather in it, "Darkness Cannon!" he yelled as the sphere flew towards the thieves and enveloped them in a large explosion, "That takes care of..." he started to say as he was cut off by a scream, "Rayner..." he gasped as he took of running towards where the scream came from.
"Gunblade: Deploy!" Camille yelled as she spun her sword in a circle in front of her, leaving a trail of ten green magic orbs as ten ticks disappeared from her sword, "Wall formation!" she commanded as they rearranged into a wall in between her and Jackson, cutting him off as he came to a hard stop.
"Card Cutter," the thief mumbled as he threw his hand of cards towards the orbs, causing five of them to release an explosion of Wind Magic, "I'm not familiar with this kind of magic," he mumbled as he analyzed what had happened, "I see," he said as he drew another hand and threw it at the remaining orbs as he drew another hand and continued his charge.
Camille smirked as she held her sword up to the right of her head with both hands, "Gunblade: Point-Blank Shot!" she yelled as she swung her sword down on Jackson as he got close enough.
"Too slow!" he yelled as he stopped and sidestepped the slash as it hit the ground, releasing another explosion of Wind Magic that rushed out in several cutting waves of wind.
"Are you certain?" Camille asked as she looked up at Jackson, who was now bleeding from several large gashes made by the wind.
"Tch," Jackson replied as he jumped back and pulled out a whole deck of cards before raising his free hand and snapping his fingers, "Circle Slicer," he mumbled as cards appeared around Camille and began to spin around her, cutting her up as she jumped out of the trap.
"Not bad," Camille gasped as she pointed her sword at the thief again, "Gunblade: Load," she announced as she filled her sword with twelve more charges and dropped a card she had grabbed from the trap, "But why are you wasting your talent with these thieves?" she asked as she gave him a hard stare.
"Sorry, it's just business, but I don't plan on telling my life story to someone I just met," he replied, "Card Counting!" he announced as all the cards he had used so far returned to the deck in his hand.
"That's a shame, and I'm sorry for whatever reasons you may have, but I need to get back to the caravan soon. This battle's taken us to far away from it," Camille replied as she sent her sword back to her requip space and held out her hand towards Jackson.
"What are you doing," he asked with a puzzled look, "I refuse to fight an unarmed opponent."
"I'm sorry, but Rayner's health and safety are more important to me than maintaining my honor, forgive me. Gunblade: Detonate," she mumbled as the card she had held exploded in Jackson's hand, sending him headfirst into a tree. Camille looked down at the ground with a guilty look as she walked over to Jackson's unconscious body and picked him up before turning to walk back towards the caravan, "Who are you!?" she asked as she watched a woman in a black and white Victorian dress step out from behind a tree.
"This Rayner person must be awfully important to you then," the woman replied casually as she continued to walk towards Camille, "But you know, I can't say that I've ever heard of Gunblade Magic before, it must be quite rare," she continued as she stopped right in front of Camille and leaned in towards her ear, "Advent of the Mad Queen," she whispered before kissing Camille on the cheek, causing the young girl to blush heavily.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Camille stammered, "Back away n-," Camille began to say as her eyes lost any life in them.
"I order thee to forget about what transpired here and to continue living normally until I return," the woman commanded before walking away and out of view.
Camille stood still for a while longer before regaining control of her body, "What... happened?" she asked as he looked around in a daze.
"What's wrong?" Gideon asked as he stomped his foot down on Rayner's stomach, causing him to cough up more blood than he already was, "Get up and fight!" he yelled as he kicked Rayner in the side, sending him flying a short distance, "This can't be all your capable of," Rayner began to slowly get up, despite the pain coming from his curse he clenched his bloodstained teeth and glared at the large man, "That's more like it," Gideon grinned, "Keep making that face while I kill you, Energy Make: Mjolnir!" he yelled as a large hammer made of lightning appeared above him as he swung it down towards Rayner.
"Forge Magic: Aegis!" Rayner yelled out in pain as a large shield appeared above him, blocking the hammer. Rayner could feel his mark burning on his face as it began to crawl across the bridge of his nose and to his left shoulder, "Mjolnir huh?" Rayner smirked as he held out his right arm as Gideon looked down at him in enjoyment, "Forge Magic: Mjolnir!" he yelled as a steel hammer imbued with blue lightning appeared in his hand as he screamed out in pain and threw the hammer at Gideon who tried to catch the hammer with his free hand.
"Aaargh!" he screamed in pain after a loud snap came from his arm as the hammer fell to the ground and disappeared along with his own, "You little shit!" he screamed as he pulled his necklace off and transformed it back into a spear.
Rayner wore a smug look on his face as his shield disappeared, "Guess you can't use your maker magic very well now huh?" he laughed before breaking out into another coughing fit as Gideon walked up to Rayner and prepared to run him through.
"Just die alrea-"
"Dark Beam!" they heard a voice cut Gideon off as a beam made of darkness flew towards Gideon and pierced him straight through the center of his chest.
"D-damn y-you all..." he cursed before falling down backwards as he dropped his spear and began to bleed out.
"Looks like I'm right on time," Alistar sighed as he ran up to Rayner, "Are you all right?"
"Been better," Rayner laughed before coughing up more blood, "Just slowly wasting away here."
"Rayner!" they heard Miriam call out as she ran up to them, "What happened?" she asked as she saw all of the blood on and around him.
"I guess I should explain," Rayner sighed as he looked up towards the sky, "Even though I didn't want you worrying about me," he added as he watched Camille walk up towards them with the unconscious Jackson Queen in tow.
"You're telling her?" Camille asked as she sat the thief down.
"Yeah," he answered before looking back at Miriam, "A few years ago, not long before I met Camille actually, I was afflicted with a Wasting Curse."
"A Wasting Curse?" Miriam asked in slight confusion.
"It's been killing me slowly ever since I got it and sometimes it makes it painful to use magic like now," he explained, "I have about three years at best to live," he said suddenly with a small smile.
"What!?" Miriam shouted, "Three years! How can you be calm about that you idiot!"
"There is a way to lift the curse, Miriam" Camille interrupted.
"What? How?"
"By killing the man that cursed me and killed my father," Rayner answered calmly, "But there's no way I can beat him right now and we don't even know where he's gone, but we can track how much longer I have by looking at how much my tattoo has grown, see how it's grown?" he said as he pointed at his tattoo which now crossed the bridge of his nose, "We can also slow it down by having Caleb use his magic on me at regular inter-..." he started to say before he stopped suddenly.
"What is it?" Alistar asked as he watched Rayner's face pale to a ghostly white.
"Aw shit," he cursed with an expression of terror on his face, "I forgot about my check-up with Caleb!"
. : + : .
"What's going on up here!?" Ajax yelled as he and Reno ran up on deck as they stopped and looked up at the giant sea monster looking down on them.
"It wasn't the nest of just any sea serpent," Captain Nils muttered, "This is the nest of a Hydra," he said in awestruck terror as he stared up at the serpent and it's five heads.
"Nils!" Ajax called out, "Do your best to keep it from eating your crew or destroying the ship! Reno! Leon! We're going up and taking the fight to it!" he ordered as Leon picked him up and flew into the air.
"Roger!" Reno responded as she ran towards the edge of the ship and jumped off of the railing, "Wind Glider!" she yelled as she landed on a flying skateboard made of wind before flying up to the Hydra's heads with Ajax and Leon as four of it's heads focused on them while the middle head kept eying the ship.
"Glass Dragon's Scales!" Ajax shouted as his body was covered with hundreds of glass scales, "Take me in Leon!" he ordered as Leon flew him towards one of the Hydra's heads, "Glass Dragon's Punch!" he yelled as he hit the head with a magic enhanced punch, sending it flying down towards the water, "Reno! Cut it's head off!"
"Wind Blade!" Reno yelled as she swung one of her arms, sending a blade of wind flying down towards the fallen head, cutting it clean off, "Yeah! Take that you overgrown lizard!" Reno shouted as she watched the head fall into the water, unaware of the head sneaking up behind her.
"Move!" Ajax yelled as he and Leon pushed her out of the way of a cloud of poisonous gas.
"That was close," Reno sighed, "Thanks Ajax, I forgot about it's poisonous breath."
"That's not all we forgot about," Ajax replied as they watched the stub left by the severed head grow two more heads at a rapid pace, "Remember what your old man said about Hydras?" Ajax asked.
"That's right," Reno gasped as she remembered, "The only way to kill it is by cutting off all of it's heads at once."
"So let's see if this works," Ajax said as he held out his left arm, "Glass Dragon's Sword!" he yelled as his arm transformed into a large sword made of glass, "Suck on this you dragon wannabe!" he screamed as he swung his sword straight through two of the Hydra's heads until it got stuck in the neck of the third neck, "Damn," he cursed as he watched the severed heads grow back, giving the Hydra a total of eight heads, "This isn't good," he muttered as his arm changed back to normal.
"Father!" Leif yelled as he stumbled onto the deck, "What's going on?"
"Leif!?" Nils yelled as he saw his son, "What are you doing? Get back below deck!" he yelled as the Hydra let out a fierce roar and swiped it's tail across the ship, destroying the mast and sending most of the crew, including Nils and Leif into the ocean.
"No! The ship!" Reno screamed as she watched the crew fall into the ocean.
"Nevermind the ship! What about the crew!?" Leon yelled in response to Reno's misplaced worry.
'What... happened?' Leif thought as he sunk deeper into the ocean, 'Did that monster... do this?' he wondered as he saw his unconscious father sink deeper into the ocean, 'But what's this urge?' he asked himself as he opened his mouth and began inhaling the salt water before coughing back up the water, 'Salt?' Leif questioned as his canines elongated and his pupils thinned into slits, "Salt Dragon's Great Pillar!" heyelled as he slammed his hands down on the ocean floor, causing a giant pillar of salt to rise up out of the ocean with the crew on top of it.
"Leif!" Reno gasped as she watched the pillar rise out of the ocean, "He did it!" she exclaimed in celebration.
"Perfect," Ajax smirked, "Reno, keep the Hydra distracted for a moment, but don't sever any heads! Leon, take me to Leif!" he yelled as Leon flew him down towards the salt pillar as Reno engaged the Hydra, "Leif!" Ajax called out as he landed on the salt pillar.
"Ajax, what is it?" Leif asked as he stood up from helping his father get the water out of his lungs.
"I need your help," Ajax answered bluntly, "The only way we're going to win this fight is if we manage to take off all of that things heads at once. You'll be taking off the three heads on the left and-"
"Wait!" Leif interrupted, "How do you expect me to do that? I don't even know how I did this," he said as he gestured at the pillar.
Ajax smirked before answering, "Instincts, Dragon Slayer's are known for them. You'll know what to do when you're ready to do it," Ajax answered as he placed a glass covered hand on Leif's shoulder, "So be ready for us to call out our spells, c'mon Leon!" he explained before Leon flew him back to Reno.
"Instincts huh?" Leif sighed to himself as he eyed down the Hydra.
"Wind Gale!" Reno yelled as a gust of wind at one of the Hydra's heads, sending it flying backwards, "Ajax!" she exclaimed as she watched him fly off to her right, "Did you talk to him?"
"Yeah, he'll be cutting off the three heads on the left and I'll be taking the three on the right, so that leaves..."
"The middle two to me," she finished.
"Yeah, so get ready," he responded as he held out his right arm, "Leif! Now!" he yelled as he transformed his right arm into a giant sword and began to swing it as Reno began to cast Wind Blade.
Leif jumped from the salt pillar towards the Hydra as his left arm transformed into a giant cleaver made of salt, "Salt Dragon's Cleaver!" he screamed as the three spells severed each of the Hydra's heads clean off as he continued to fly past the Hydra and land in the ocean behind it.
"We did it!" Reno cheered as she flew over to Ajax and gave him a tight hug around his neck, "We beat a Hydra!" she continued to cheer as the Hydra's body fell into the ocean.
"Air..." Ajax gasped as his face began turning blue.
"Whoops! Sorry," she apologized with a small laugh as Ajax gave her a look before flying down to where Leif had landed in the ocean.
"You're awfully lucky that you landed in the ocean after doing that," Ajax smirked as he watched Leif swim towards the boat.
"Why's that?" Leif asked between strokes.
"Hydra blood is incredibly poisonous, like it's breath, and you had it all over you," Ajax explained.
"I... see," Leif mumbled as he realized how close he came to dying back there as he reached the ship and saw Reno helping the crew back over to it, "Mind giving a little help?" He asked as Ajax landed on the ship and gave a Leon a nod.
"Got it," Leon said as he flew down and picked Leif up.
"Thanks," he smiled as he was sat down on the ship before paling and falling over as soon as it moved due to his motion sickness, causing everyone around to sweat drop.
. : + : .
"Not my what?" Malon repeated quietly as the girl swung her hammer at Malon again, "Phantom Magic: Intangibility!" she yelled as the hammer and the girl flew straight through her, 'What were they trying to tell me?' Malon thought as she threw the hook end of her chain up into the trees and swung away, "I'll handle this!" she yelled, "Try not to die a horrible death!" Malon continued to shout as she and Willow swung away through the trees with the mysterious girl hot on her tail.
"D-Did we just get ditched?" Jace stammered as he watched them leave.
"Yeah, but I think we've got bigger problems, hear that?" Fareth responded as he looked around the forest.
"We're surrounded onii-chan," Rave pointed out as several types of monsters creeped through the woods towards them.
"There's something strange here," Jace responded, "See? Look at their eyes, they're all purple and red and look like a cat's."
"Quite a few Forest Vulcans, an army of Goblins, and one or two Wyverns," Fareth said as he pulled out his sword hilt and filled it with his magic, causing a blade of flames to erupt from it.
"So in other words," Jace smirked, "Whoever takes down the most wins," he added as he drew his Tachi sword.
"You always have to make a competition out of it don't you?" Fareth asked as he glanced back at Jace, "But sure, I'm game," he said as he dived headfirst into a horde of Goblins, "Fire Dragon's Wing Blade!" he screamed as the flames of his sword grew and expanded before he slashed in a large arc, taking down several Goblins and even a Vulcan and a few trees.
"Tch, show off," Jace muttered as he took off his headphones and gave them to Rave, "Hold these for me Rave," he said as he threw his sword up in the air and took a maker magic stance, "Ice Make: Wolf Pack!" he shouted as a pack of ten wolves made of ice came to life and ran into the horde of monsters ahead of Jace as he caught his sword and ran in after them, slashing and weaving through the Goblins and Vulcans, "Water Dragon's Tail Whip!" he shouted as a stream of pressurized water shot from his sword as he swung it around, cleaving anything unfortunate enough to be in it's path in two.
"What do you think you're doing copying my move?" Fareth asked as the two of the wound up back to back in the middle of the monster horde.
"Your move? What do you think you're doing copying my move?" Jace yelled back in response.
"Yeah! It was onii-chan's move first you copier!" Rave shouted in support from above them.
"Is this really all that Dragon Slayers amount to these days?" a wyvern asked as it landed on the ground in front of them.
"Did that thing..." Fareth mumbled.
"Just talk?" Jace finished with a wide eyed look as the wyvern seemed to smile as best as one could.
"Not only I," the wyvern said.
"But every beast in this forest spoke to you humans," all of the monsters said in unison around the two Dragon Slayers.
"What kind of magic is this?" Jace asked in shock.
"No idea," Fareth responded, "But if we can just find his real body and take it down we should be able to kill the spell, cause who knows how many monsters are in this forest," Fareth explained as he looked around, "You ready?"
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Jace said as he pulled his war fan off of his back and unfolded it, "Born ready."
Fareth smirked as he heard Jace's answer, "Alright then, let's go!" he yelled as they charged into the sea of monsters.
"Joker Magic: Trip Shot!" the girl yelled as an invisible wave of energy flew towards Malon, causing her to lose her grip and balance and fall to the forest floor.
Malon quickly pulled her chain back to her and threw it again to keep herself from turning into a stain on the ground, "That was a bit too close," Malon sighed as she hung in midair with Willow floating next to her.
"Did you have a nice fall?" the girl asked as she landed on a branch not too far away.
"Ufufu, well aren't you the funny one?" Malon asked with twisted smile and laugh, "But it would be such a shame if you were to wind up as a pile of rotting flesh here," she said in a malicious tone as she felt some spirits wander towards her.
'Not... your... enemy...' the spirits whispered as they faded away.
"Jewul Poe Andi," Malon said suddenly, shocking the girl since she had never told Malon her name, "Not my enemy," Malon finished as her face turned to a hard expression, "That man lied to us," she said as they heard clapping off in the distance as they turned to see the elderly man sitting atop a horse that had purple and red, cat-like eyes.
"Very good!" Jeorge shouted as he continued clapping as his body was enveloped in a bright light, revealing his true nature, "But I had hoped that you wouldn't have figured it out, how did you do it?" Vladimir asked as he jumped off of the horse and sent it off, "None of you seemed particularly smart on our trip here."
"Vladimir!" Jewul spat upon seeing him, "What are you doing here? How are you even alive?" she asked with a snarl on her face.
"Uh uh," Vladimir said tauntingly as he waved one of his fingers, "I'll answer your questions as soon as you answer mine," he said with a smirk.
"Your really wanna know huh?" Malon said to herself as she began to use her chain to start swinging back and forth, "Well I guess I could tell you, but what would the fun in that be when I can show you?" she snickered with an insane look on her face as she began laughing, "Phantom Magic: Spirit Summoning!" she shouted as the various spirits scattered about the Woodsea began to take physical form, "I don't care what you all do!" Malon shouted out to the spirits and ghosts, "But the only one you can kill is him!" she commanded as she pointed at Vladimir as they began to fly around and cause havoc.
"I suppose I should keep my promise then," Vladimir shrugged as he sidestepped a spirit, "It was none other than my dear Horsey-kun that rescued me on that dark day that you slaughtered my Dark Guild and I'm here for revenge of course!" he explained while gesturing theatrically, "And now my dear Horsey-kun is busy slaughtering two little dragons and a cat! Now how about we get started!?" he screamed with an eager look on his face, "Wire Magic: Garrote!" he announced as a razor sharp wire cut the chain that Malon was holding onto, "I wonder if you'll survive this? Cheshire Magic: White Rabbit!" he called out as a wormhole opened beneath Malon as she fell.
"Trick Card! Float!" Jewul yelled as she threw the card at Malon, causing her to float when it hit her, "You don't want to fall in there!" she called out as Malon took a relaxed pose while floating in the air.
"There aren't many dark and ominous that holes that I do want to go in," Malon snickered as she grabbed hold of her chain again and began swinging on it before launching herself into the air and turning invisible, "Now what should I do?" she wondered aloud to herself as her voice echoed throughout the Woodsea.
"Tch, I suppose I'm at a disadvantage here," Vladimir mumbled as he watched Jewul leap towards him in an attempt to smash him with her hammer, "Razor Barb Coil!" he yelled as a wall made of barbed wire wove itself together and blocked the attack.
"Phantom Claw!" Malon shouted as she appeared behind Vladimir with a purple mass shaped like claws on her hands as she slashed him in the back, forcing his attention off of his spell and allowing Jewul's hammer to smash him in the back as he fell down against the ground, breaking several of his ribs.
"Is he dead?" Malon asked as she squatted down and poked him in the side.
"I'm afraid not," a voice far deeper than Vladimir's answered through his body as it stood up and opened it's purple and red, cat-like eyes, "But I'll make sure that you have an opportunity to correct that in the future," the voice continued as it made the body hop away and disappear.
"Wait! Get back here!" Jewul yelled as Vladimir's body vanished, "He's gone..."
"Hey! Malon!" they heard a voice shout from the forest floor.
"Jace!" Malon gasped as she grabbed Jewul by the hand and leaped down to the forest floor with the younger girl in tow, "We were tricked!" she yelled suddenly after landing on the ground with Jewul.
"Wait, what?" Fareth asked in confusion.
"That old guy tricked us!" she shouted, "That means no money!" she continued as she watched Jace, Rave, and Fareth's faces fall into an expression of shock.
"So all of this was... for nothing?" Jace moaned in despair, "That means we're going to be even more broke than we were since we have to pay for the boat tickets!"
"But that means we'll be catching all of our own food out of the ocean!" Rave shouted suddenly with some drool on his face from the thought of all of the fish they would be eating.
"At least someone's happy," Fareth sighed as he pinched his brow.
"So anyways, what are you going to do now Jewul?" Malon asked as she decided to ignore the boys moaning, "If you were to stay here, you might get possessed by a spirit and turn into a ghoul!" she added cheerfully.
"I dunno," she answered blithely, "But it might be interesting to watch someone turn into a ghoul."
"If that's the case," she grinned in response to her opinion of 'ghoulification', "You should come with us then, since I like you."
"Did you seriously just invite someone to join the guild because they think that watching someone turn into a ghoul sounded interesting?" Fareth asked the insane girl next to him as Jace continued to fret about money.
"Yep!" Malon answered happily, "Is there something wrong with that?" she asked with a creepy look on her face, to which Fareth could only shake his head in disbelief.
"I think I'll decide when I get there," Jewul answered with a grin, "After all, I won't listen to somebody unless they're stronger than me."
. : + : .
Rayner and Caleb stared at each other in silence, eying each other down.
Rayner gulped nervously while being supported by Camille, "I-" he started to say when a senbon needle suddenly hit a pressure point in his and Camille's necks, rendering them both immobile as they fell onto the ground.
"Why... me?" Camille asked before she froze up completely.
"Because your responsible for reminding him about his check-ups, and he missed one," Caleb answered in a cold and intimidating tone as he grabbed Rayner by his hair and Camille by her tie and began to drag them to the infirmary.
"S-scary..." Miriam stammered as Caleb stopped suddenly.
"And I expect to see you two there soon," he said as he turned his head back towards them as his glasses caught a sun glare.
"Yes sir!" both Alistar and Miriam shouted as they straightened up in a salute as Caleb continued to walk back to the infirmary with Rayner and Camille in tow.
"But I'm not even injured..." Alistar mumbled when Caleb was out of earshot.
"And my injuries aren't that bad are they?" Miriam moaned.
A/N: So I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Now then, I need to inform you all that I'm taking next week off from writing. So there'll be no new chapter next week. It's been getting to the point that I haven't been able to work up the energy to write until Friday, so I figured that it was time for a break so I could recharge and be refreshed for the next part of this arc now that I've finished the first three missions. So look forward to a new chapter the week after next!
Your very, very tired host,
dreadburner94.