A/N: Yo! Dreadburner94 here with chapter 12! I don't think that I have anything real important to talk about today... so onto the review responses!
Although a small note first, all of the names of Euclid's Gem Magic spells came out in German for some reason.
I'd like to thank LightandDarkHeart, WrittenWhim, MyDearWatson, Hikari, WaterDragonMaverick, Fairy Machine Gun, Joshua1277, QueenKazza, FrozenBlast13, and ViennaxSky for their reviews last chapter!
LightandDarkHeart- Yeah it was just one thing right after the other there for a little while in my real life, still have some things that are popping up but that's just how it goes. Yune is a pretty cute character and strange is a good word for Euclid. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
WrittenWhim- I'm feeling much better than I was, still have a bit of cold though, but I can work through that. Anyways, I'm glad that you like Euclid so much and it would be very strange if Undine's Cove was created by a lover's quarrel.
MyDearWatson- Yes, the 'Bandaged Man', they must never know... at least for a long while, but we're not going to see him again (we'll hear about him here and there though) until the last few arcs if all goes according to plan. It's such a relief to hear that the canon characters were kept in, well, character. They were without a doubt the thing I was most nervous about with the last chapter, I just hope I can keep it up in this one as well. I wouldn't say that Euclid is underestimating them, just that he knows more or less everything about them and their abilities, so he's pretty confident in himself and his chances.
Hikari- No, no crises here, existential or otherwise, just being too busy to work on this and being too sick to work on it as well. Labyrinth was a movie by the way. And you'll just have to wait and see who all are going on missions next.
WaterDragonMaverick- Yes, last chapter was one huge exception to my schedule. I was feeling better and I felt the want to write, so I did. Plus I had missed a week without any explanation so I was feeling guilty. I wouldn't say that Euclid has the mind of a child at all, after all, if he did he wouldn't be as nearly of a successful Information Broker. He's just blithe and excitable half the time and manipulative and sinister the rest of the time. Yeah, since you left the history of Schrodinger to me, he's got a bit of a history with Proclus so he's pretty attached to the disembodied voice. As for who Archer is, you all will just have to wait a few story arcs to meet him.
Fairy Machine Gun- Ooh! A new reviewer with a name! Or maybe you've reviewed before under the guise of 'Guest', I don't know. Anyways, I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter and Yune is a pretty cute character.
Joshua1277- Yep, my plans are to keep you all in the dark regarding what Euclid is after up until the very end, so there'd be a bit of a problem for me if you had managed to figure out what the Info Broker is after already. And there is much more to the founding of the guild than a lover's quarrel. If there wasn't, then I don't think that I would be very qualified to write this. Yep, hopefully the race through the ruins will be interesting since Euclid and Aurora are there to spice things up.
QueenKazza- Don't worry, I'm all better now except for what's left of a cold, but that shouldn't last too much longer and it's easily ignored. The Lamia Scale mages were my biggest worry honestly, so it's good to hear that they were kept in character, and Sherry... yeah... that's about all I have to say on her. I have a lot of fun writing Euclid, and he has fun doing pretty much anything (including being incredibly manipulative and villainous), and Aurora is a pretty interesting character as well, but I don't think I'll be going into any of Euclid's gang's pasts for a long time. And showing vs. telling is something that I've always struggled with (but believe me when I tell you that I've gotten a lot better than I was a year ago), so it's something that I'm always looking to get better at. So anyways, hopefully I'll do better at it this chapter since I'm not writing it at midnight and beyond.
FrozenBlast13- Yep, all better now and not as busy, still kinda busy but not busy enough to keep me from working on this. And hopefully the Team Hughes vs. Euclid and Aurora will turn out good, but I'm pretty excited about writing it this chapter and the next as well.
ViennaxSky- Glad to hear that Euclid has caught your interest and Team Ladon and Team Lyon working together is bound to be interesting as well. As for the reasons behind the founding of Undine's Cove, you'll learn all about that in Salina Velvet's Historical Omake that will most likely happen towards the end of the story and yes, you'll be meeting Archer. And real life does have me rather busy at the moment, so it's been rather difficult to find time to write, but next week should be much better in terms of how busy I am.
Credits:
Mindy Everlue- MyDearWatson
I don't own Fairy Tail! Or Lamia Scale!
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 12
Aspen looked down on the ruined Everlue mansion. As the mayor had said, most of it was left unfinished, but enough had been rebuilt so that someone could stay there and still be relatively comfortable and it was large enough to hide people in.
Aspen jumped down out of the tree she was sitting in and ran up to the side of the building, figuring that if someone was hiding out here then she shouldn't just walk through the front door,
"Temperature Magic: Thermal Flux," Aspen whispered as she placed her hand on a window and melted away the glass before reaching in and unlocking the window, "This place is relatively clean for a place that's been abandoned," Aspen muttered quietly to herself as she looked around, her eyes eventually falling on an expensive looking tea set, "And this looks like it was just used," she observed as she walked over to the door and slowly opened it so that she could look around, leaving the small room behind when she decided that no one was in the large foyer.
Aspen walked through the large room, sticking to side under the ruined balcony so that she could hide in the shadows it provided, "It looks like the second floor has been left untouched by the repair efforts," Aspen mumbled as she observed the completely ruined staircases, "So that's a large part of the mansion that I don't need to check," she reasoned since most kidnappers want something in return for the hostages and keeping them upstairs was most likely too dangerous of an area to keep them in.
"There's a hole in this window!" Aspen heard a voice shout from the room that she was in, "Someone's broken into the mansion!" she heard the voice continue to shout as she ran into the nearest room to see a rusted, golden toilet that resembled the face of the mansion's former master, Duke Everlue.
"Damn, of all the places to hide in," Aspen cursed as she quickly looked for a place to hide in the small bathroom, her eyes landing on a small hole in the wall behind the toilet, "There's a draft, a secret passage?" she muttered as she examined the hole and began looking for something to open up the passage way, "Ugh... really? In there?" she moaned when she eventually found a lever inside of the Duke Everlue-shaped toilet, "Better than getting caught," Aspen sighed as she rolled up her sleeve and reached into the toilet to grab the lever, the wall behind the toilet opening up as she pulled back on the lever, "I'm just going to deny that ever happened," she mumbled as she pulled her arm out of the toilet and ran into the secret passage, the wall closing behind her.
Aspen followed the passage farther and farther down, eventually coming to what appeared to be the sewer that ran beneath the mansion, "Thermal Sense," Aspen called out as she held her hand out in front of her, before taking off to her right where she sensed multiple, human-shaped shifts in temperature, believing that they might be the missing people.
"Stop right there ugly!" Aspen heard someone call out as she reached the room the people were in, "You're trespassing in Madame Mindy's home!" the person continued as Aspen turned around to see four hideous maids behind her.
"Where did you...?" Aspen mumbled as she looked at the wall behind the maids and seeing four holes in the wall that hadn't been there before, "Earth Magic," she observed.
"Hey stop ignoring us ugly!" a skinny maid with a large head shaped like a sideways oval demanded.
"You're the ones who've been going around kidnapping people aren't you?" Aspen asked as she finally acknowledged the maids.
"Yeah? So what? They all deserved it!" a plump maid with pointy ears retorted.
"After what they all did to Duke Everlue and Madame Mindy's parents they're the villains here! Not- Ack!" the first maid started to say as Aspen leaped towards the maids and elbowed the woman in the face.
"Thanks for admitting it," Aspen said coldly as she picked up the maid by the face, "Thermal Flux!" she announced as she began to freeze the maids face until she went unconscious, "Which one is next?" she asked as the other three maids dived into the ground, "Thermal Sense!" Aspen yelled as she side-stepped and grabbed a maid as she jumped out of the ground before throwing her into the next maid, "Glacial Lock!" Aspen yelled as she froze the maids and the air around them.
"You'll pay for that ugly!" the final maid yelled as she grabbed Aspen's ankles and pulled her into the ground.
"Arid Haze!" Aspen yelled as she was roughly pulled through the dirt, causing the moisture around the maid to heat up, quickly causing the maid to tire out enough so that Aspen could break free and stomp on the maids head until she was unconscious. Aspen climbed up out of the hole and looked at all the scraps on her body before walking back over to the door and opening it, seeing seven people sitting inside, five children and adolescents and two adults.
"Who are you?" an older man with gray hair and a small, dark gray mustache asked.
"Aspen Weathercroft," she answered, "Your mayor hired me to get to the bottom of these kidnappings and to find you all."
The man's expression lit up before turning to one of shock, "Behind you!" he yelled as Aspen turned around and saw a wall of Rune Magic form in the doorway with a young woman on the other side of it.
"Madame Mindy Everlue," the woman said in a cold tone as she introduced herself.
. : + : .
Where did those two go?" Hughes wondered as he, Ziv, and Zain ran through the ruins.
"I don't know, it's like they disappeared," Ziv responded between breaths as they continued running, "Wait!" Ziv yelled suddenly as she and her teammates stopped.
"What is it? Why're we stopping" Zain asked impatiently.
"Do you feel that?" she asked as she placed her ear against the wall.
"The ground's shaking," Hughes muttered as he noticed.
"It sounds like... footsteps?" Ziv said as she continued to stand with her ear against the wall.
"Get back!" Zain yelled as he pulled his sister and Hughes back away from wall just before the stone was sent flying by a large, horned creature.
"Haha!" they heard a familiar voice laugh, "It's been too long since I fought something like this!"
"You should be more careful, Euclid," a dull voice chastised as the monster roared angrily before charging again, tearing out more of the wall in between them in the process.
"It's a... Minotaur," Hughes gasped as they looked at the large beast, "They still exist?"
"I thought those things all died out!" Ziv yelled as they stood back up and prepared to fight.
"They'll all be dead once we're through with it!" Zain yelled as he took off his necklace and transformed it into a sword as the trio ran through the hole in the wall and after the Minotaur.
"Gem Magic: Blitz Ein!" Euclid yelled as he held out a yellow gem that released a bolt of lightning magic towards the Minotaur that crackled around the beast's arm before exploding, "No effect," Euclid muttered as the monster just shrugged off the lightning and kept charging, "Aurora!"
"Of course... Euclid," the girl muttered as she drug her hand across the stone wall, "Static Magic: Boundary Field," she mumbled as a field of static electricity appeared around her hand before flowing down the wall and creating a field of electricity between them and the Minotaur that caused the beast to stop in it's tracks and roar out in pain upon contact with the field.
"Moon God's Bellow!" they heard from down the hall as a stream of black magic with a pale blue outline flew towards the Minotaur and exploded upon contact with it's back, scarring it. The Minotaur slowly turned around to face the three newcomers before letting out a loud roar and charging down the hall towards them.
"Heh," Euclid smirked, "This way Aurora!" he yelled as he ran down a hall with Aurora right behind him, leaving the three mages alone with the Minotaur.
"That coward!" Ziv yelled as she watched them run off, "They could at least stay and help!"
"Can't do anything about it now! Here it comes!" Hughes yelled as the Minotaur ran down the hall at full speed, "Acid Magic: Acid Whip!" Hughes yelled a whip made of acid formed in his hands as he swung in a broad arc in front of the Minotaur, burning a crater into the ground and causing it to trip, "Now!" he yelled.
"Sun God's Howl!" Ziv yelled before releasing a stream of black magic that had a pale yellow outline towards the ceiling above the Minotaur as Zain released his own Howl towards the beast as they watched it get buried beneath the rubble, "Is it dead?" Ziv asked cautiously.
"I think so," Hughes answered as they heard another roar behind them as they turned and saw another Minotaur charging at them.
"Artillery Shot!" they heard Euclid yell from a hall that the Minotaur was running past, the beast falling down into the wall when a bolt of fire magic flew into it's side and exploded, "Nice catch, Aurora," he said with a smirk as he walked out of the hall with a large, silver plated pistol in his right hand.
"Nothing escapes my Spirit Tracker Magic," the young girl said with a hint of pride in her emotionless voice as they examined the monster's motionless body.
"Hahaha!" Euclid laughed as the pistol disappeared back into his requip space, "One shot was all it took! That man really did help make that magic!" he shouted as he continued to laugh until he calmed down, "I guess I'll really have to keep my end of the bargain now," he said in a sinister tone.
"That guy is trouble," Hughes mumbled, "We should get out of here," he said as he took off down the hall with Ziv and Zain behind him.
"Haven't we seen a spell like that before?" Ziv asked as they kept running in the opposite direction of the strange man and his accomplice.
"Yeah!" Zain shouted, "Doesn't Ca-," he started to say when a field of electricity cut them off.
"Going somewhere?" Euclid asked nonchalantly from a side passage in front of them, "Heh... hahaha!" he laughed when he saw the trio's serious expressions, "Don't worry, we're just going to restart our little competition from here," he said in a sinister tone as the electrical field disappeared and Aurora appeared next to Euclid.
"We should just kill them," she said coldly, "Leaving them alive is dangerous."
"I'd like to see you try!" Zain yelled as he stepped in front of his sister.
"Killing them would be a bad move," Euclid said suddenly, shocking the trio, "They have their uses and it'd be boring to just off them," he stated casually as if talking about killing people was a normal thing.
"You're a monster," Ziv mumbled in disgust, "You're treating killing people, killing us, like it's a game!"
"Isn't it though? Humans are such interesting creatures, I love them all really," he responded with a large smile on his face, "Figuring who they are, what they've done, what they're going to do, how they think, what it'll take to drive them insane! Everyone in this world is just so interesting and fun! I love them all!" he continued as he gestured and moved around theatrically before stopping suddenly as his arms dropped down to his side and his back to the trio, "But... I want to know... No... I NEED to know..."
"Euclid... You shouldn't say anymore," Aurora interrupted as Euclid fell silent as he bent down and picked up a rock.
"Right..." he mumbled before turning to face the trio again, a smirk on his face again, "Once again we start when the rock hits the ground! All the previous conditions apply," he announced as he threw the rock back into the air, both groups taking off once the rock hit the ground.
"We can't let someone like that win," Hughes hissed, disgusted with Euclid.
"Yeah, someone like him shouldn't even be allowed to walk freely," Ziv added as they ran, "He treats people like toys!"
"So let's win this thing!" Zain yelled as he pumped himself up as they ran further into the ruins.
. : + : .
Wilhelm sat in between the sleeping Ladon and Yune with an agitated look on his face while the four mages from Lamia Scale sat across from them. Fortunately the carriage was wide enough for all seven of them to fit in it, but it was a tight squeeze on the Lamia Scale side.
"We should be arriving soon," Lyon announced as he broke the silence, they had been squeezed into that carriage for about an hour and Wilhelm's legs were beginning to cramp up and Ladon's head was awkwardly leaning on Wilhelm's while Yune leaned against his arm.
"About time," Wilhelm grumbled, "Hey, Yune, wake up," he said as he gave the girl a small push to wake her up.
"Yaaaaawwwwn... morning already?" Yune mumbled as she sat up rubbed her eyes, which had small tears in them from yawning.
"No, we're here," Wilhelm answered as Yune remembered where she was and what she was doing.
"That's right the mission!" she exclaimed a she tapped her open hand with her fist.
"Now I just have to wake up Reginald," Wilhelm sighed as he looked at the sleeping man next to him, "Oi! You look like a dog," he said coldly towards Toby.
"WHAT'D YOU SAY!" he started to shout as a black snake appeared and wrapped around Toby before exploding.
"You're noisy," Ladon grumbled as he opened an eye and looked at the crispy Toby while the rest of the dog-man's team looked on in shock, "I guess the rides over then," he said with a yawn as he stretched out his arms before opening the door and stepping out of the carriage that had just stopped, his team and the Lamia Scale mages following him out.
"You remember the name of the guild we'll be fighting, right?" Wilhelm asked Yune as they stepped out of the carriage.
"Umm... Demon... Skull?" Yune mumbled as she tried to remember.
"That's right," Lyon said as he walked up to the two mages, "We'll be fighting the Dark Guild Demon Skull. It's a small guild with only five members, but they've been causing too much trouble for such a small guild."
"Right, so the Magic Council figured that they're up to something and wanted some Legal Guilds to come and take care of them," Wilhelm finished.
"Isn't that odd though? That the Magic Council is sending Mage Guilds instead of the Rune Knights?" Yune asked while Yuka and Sherry were making sure that Toby was alright.
"It isn't the first time this has happened," Ladon said quietly, "Our guild has been asked to handle a situation like this before, but that wasn't long after our guild was founded," he explained.
"Really? Who went?" Yune asked.
"Salina lead the mission herself since it was just her, Rayner, and Camille at that point," the tired man answered.
"How do you know so much about it?" Wilhelm asked, "This is the first I've ever heard of it as well."
Ladon was quiet for a short while before answering, "I joined the guild not long after it happened," he said quietly, "We should get moving," he said suddenly as he started walking in the direction of the Dark Guild while Lyon eyed him warily as he followed.
"That means Reginald has been a part of the guild since almost the beginning," Yune said with a slight bit of awe as she started following the man.
"I wonder..." Wilhelm said quietly to himself before looking over at the other three Lamia Scale mages as they finally got Toby in working condition again before they followed Lyon and the others towards the Dark Guild.
"There it is," Yuka said quietly as the seven mages looked down on the Demon Skull's headquarters from a cliff. It was fairly large for just five members, being a large building that had a dome shaped like a skull that was carved out of stone with four black towers on the corners on the black domed building.
"Looking at the building, wouldn't you say that most likely a member lives in each of those towers while the guild master lives in main dome?" Wilhelm asked as he tried to figure out a plan of attack.
"So should we try to tackle them one at a time or all at once?" Yune asked.
"Splitting up sounds like the most effective plan," Lyon answered, "It'll keep them from providing support to one another if a battle drags out too long. Yuka and Toby will take the northeast tower."
"Ooon! Leave it to us!" Toby yelled as he stood up.
"Calm down and be quiet Toby!" Yuka hissed, "Do you want them to know we're here?"
"Ooon..." Toby mumbled in apology.
"Wilhelm, can you take the northwest?" Ladon asked.
"Sure, it'll be over quickly," he answered confidently.
"Yune and Sherry should take the southwest tower then," Ladon stated, "That way they can split up if the fights in the northwest and southeast towers are still going on."
Yune cautiously looked over at Sherry, still not entirely sure on how to interpret her speech, "I can do that," she said confidently after a short while.
"Our love will overpower the enemy," Sherry stated dramatically.
"I'm not in love with you!" Yune shouted with a deep blush on her face while Lyon just sighed.
"I can distract the guild master while you take the southeast tower," Reginald stated.
"Are you sure?" Lyon asked with a shocked expression, "I can probably fight and beat their guild master by myself."
"It'll be quicker if you all take out the mages and then come and back me up, so that we can overpower him with numbers."
Lyon looked at Ladon for a short while, not necessarily happy about not being the first to fight the guild master, but his plan was a good one, "Alright, we'll take care of our matches quickly before coming to help you," he sighed as he agreed with Ladon before the team split up to head towards their objectives.
. : + : .
The sun began to rise in Hargeon as Camille, Rayner, and Miriam stepped out of the jungle, Camille having requipped into a new suit that had a jacket with a split tail.
"Next time you plan on camping in the jungle, give us all a heads up or leave a note," Rayner asked with a smirk, "Miriam was running around like a madwoman looking for you," he added with a snicker that was cut short by Miriam hitting him in the arm.
"Don't listen to that idiot," she said with a slight blush, "You know how much he makes stuff up."
"You shouldn't make fun of Miriam so much, Rayner," Camille chastised like an older sister would.
"Whatever," Rayner said as he shrugged off the scolding, "I've got to go take a dragon down a few notches so try not to disappear anymore!" he exclaimed as he took off towards the male dorm.
"Shouldn't he take things more seriously?" Miriam asked as they watched Rayner trip in the sand before hastily getting back up while laughing at himself.
"It's because of his curse that he acts like that," Camille explained, "If he... If he isn't able to lift the curse, then he at least wants to be able to die without any regrets," she said solemnly.
Miriam stood there quietly for a minute, "I see..." she eventually managed to say, "So he's an even bigger idiot than I thought."
Camille looked at the girl for a moment, knowing that she was only saying that to hide what she actually felt, "I have some business to attend to with Master Velvet," she stated, "So I'll be headed off as well now."
"Eh?" Miriam gawked, "Did something come up?"
"My master gave a warning about a potentially dangerous individual in his letter," Camille explained, "So I need to bring it to Master Velvet's attention immediately."
"Always the serious one," Miriam sighed, "Fine, I'll find something to keep me busy in the meantime," she said as Camille entered the main building and went up the stairs before walking to Salina's office and knocking on the door, eventually hearing a muffled 'come in'.
"Mas- Um... Salina," Camille called out as she entered the office to see Salina sitting at her desk and actually working on her paperwork.
"What?" Salina asked when Camille had stopped talking, "Is it really such a surprise to see me being responsible?" she huffed.
"N-no! Not at all Salina!" she said with a slight bow, as if apologizing, "Um... my Master left a warning in his last letter that he wanted me to bring to your attention!"
"Oh? What about?" Salina asked as she looked at the young woman curiously.
"He said that an information broker named that was going by the name of Euclid has been causing trouble all around Fiore, but it was incredibly difficult to even gather that much information on him," Camille explained in a serious tone, having regained her composure.
"Hm... I see," Salina muttered as she sat and thought for a moment, "We should tell the S-Class mages to keep an ear out for any information on him then, but to be able to hide his tracks so well..."
"He must be very talented," Camille stated as if finishing Salina's thought as the older woman quickly wrote down five notes before standing up and opening the window before letting go of the notes as they flew towards their destinations.
"Well, we'll see how well his talent matches up to Undine's Cove," the guild master said confidently.
A/N: And there it is! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!
Now I remembered something that I needed to address. I am looking for two more mages for a legal guild that is not Undine's Cove. But I'll only be taking the two that I like best that are submitted before the next chapter is uploaded. So if you submit a mage for this guild, remember that I won't give you a definite answer on whether or not they'll be accepted until I upload chapter 13. So please use the OC form in the prologue when creating your character. I forgot to mention this, but there are details about this that I need to discuss with anyone that is interested in trying to get a submission in for these two characters spots that I don't want to make public yet. So anyone interested should contact me first to get these details.
Anyways, I'll have the chapter up sometime next week, I'm looking at Thursday right now to give you all time to get in submissions, but no promises on the exact date.
Please remember to review!
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