A/N: And here's chapter 25! The last chapter of my part of the challenge.
And we have another setup chapter since I'm rotating through all of the groups since these missions are more or less all happening at the same time.
Anyways, I'd like to thank Master Of Anime224, SaiyaStyles, WaterDragonMaverick, PrinceOfTheMatrix88, potentialauthor18, GhostOfOnyx, and MyDearWatson for their reviews last chapter!
Master Of Anime224- Happy to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter well enough, although we've got more setup this chapter as well due to how I'm handling the missions this time around. And well, the last chapter was only about 200 words longer than the one before, but anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
SaiyaStyles- I had a lot of these missions picked out beforehand, although I had MyDearWatson's help in coming up with them all. Anyways, I'll try to keep that in mind and I hope you enjoy the chapter!
WaterDragonMaverick- What indeed will Rhia do? Well, guess you'll just have to wait and find out. I hope you enjoy the chapter!
PrinceOfTheMatrix88- Happy to hear that you enjoyed the team dynamics between Arashi, Yune and Styles last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one as well!
potentialauthor18- Yeah, the first mission from last chapter is definitely more light-hearted in nature and yeah, poor Kimi, she got stuck with two of the more odd personalities in guild. Ladon just can't stay awake and who knows what Horace might cook up in the name of science. And yeah, Alistar might've drawn the short stick to get stuck with both Malon and Jewul at the same time, but I'm sure Salina might've done it on purpose. And considering Yune's personality she may have drawn a short stick as well. As for Ziv, Jayne and Miriam, things will get kinda hairy for them in future for sure considering what they're up against. Now that I think about it, Ziv seems to have pretty bad luck so far when it comes to her missions, first Euclid and Aurora, now Nightmares and an Etherious. Any who, I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter and well, midterms are coming up so I'm not sure if I'll get to do much of anything, but before that is fall break, so I might try and get something up then.
GhostOfOnyx- Happy to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter! And yeah, I try and keep all of the characters distinct from each other, it's easier with some more than others, but still. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
MyDearWatson- Yeah, I'm pretty sure only a miracle could save 8-Island at this point and I imagine that this Master Thief is only the STEALTHIEST thief that ever lived. And yeah, conflict was probably going to happen no matter who Styles got paired with at this point and poor Yune, caught in the middle of it. And that back story calls for a Historical Omake actually, for both involved parties, but they'll have to wait for some other time. Asides for that, yeah, they'll really need to get their act together if they want to live. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Credits:
Chance- WrittenWhim
Nevara the Crow- Falling Lanterns
Chloe Llinos and Taimi- dreadburner94
I don't own Fairy Tail!
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 25
"Now don't forget that I'm counting on you all to guarantee my safety!" the nobleman repeated for the umpteenth time before finally letting his guards shut the door to his carriage. Aspen, Kaiyo, Sean and Jean were in charge of escorting this nobleman from Hargeon back to his estate near the border of Bosco, and as there weren't any railroad tracks heading in that direction, they were to escort the man on foot, protecting him from anyone who might be targeting him for any reason.
"Why does the noble have to be a fat man?" Jean moaned as he walked next Sean.
"I'm sure he can hear you," Sean pointed out with a shrug, but doing nothing to stop the Exceed.
"Why couldn't he have been a big busted- Gah!" the Exceed screamed as Aspen picked up by his tail, the cat having to hold onto his hat so that he didn't drop it, "Lemee go! Lemee go!" he continued screaming as Aspen started roasting the cat's tail.
"Then learn to think before talking," Aspen hissed lowly before throwing Jean ahead of them.
"I apologize for my friends' behavior," Kaiyo apologized to the nobleman through the carriage window.
"No need," the noble chuckled, "They are quite entertaining to watch and the cat has already received its punishment it seems."
"It's a pretty normal event actually," Kaiyo sighed, remembering when the cat's antics had been focused on Kiyeda for a time, "That reminds me," the Raven Mage said lowly, punting Jean even further ahead of them once they reached his unmoving body.
"How has that cat not learned his lesson yet?" Aspen huffed as she walked next to Sean.
"I asked him that once," Sean answered, "All he said is that it was because he's a magical cat. Whatever that means."
"How does that even make sense?" Aspen asked while pinching her forehead.
"It doesn't," Sean sighed before noticing a large group of people on the path in front of them, "This is troublesome…"
"This belong to you lot?" a large muscular man, clearly the leader of the bunch, asked, holding Jean up in the air by his tail. The man stood at about 6'6" with an overly muscular build and tan skin. He had unruly black hair that fell past his shoulders and beady, black eyes. He wore mostly furs and leather, his outfit resembling a stereotypical bandit, and he had a claw weapon strapped to his right hand.
"Sean~," Jean moaned as he swayed back in forth in air, "Help your poor grandfather."
"Stop the carriage!" Kaiyo instructed as he ran up to stand next to Sean and Aspen, "Are they bandits?"
"Slavers more likely," Aspen said lowly as glared at the group in front of them.
"Please, we're simple merchants," the large man responded, his men snickering behind him, "Our business is perfectly legal. We just… Outsource the production of goods to other countries. Tell you what, give us the girl and we'll let the rest of you lot go. What do you think? Pretty good deal right?"
"I knew that Hargeon and the area around was plagued by slavers from Bosco… But I won't tolerate this!" Aspen screamed as she charged towards the slavers, Sean and Kaiyo taking off after her.
. : + : .
"Heh… Perfect," a smooth voice mused, "That's right Aspen, show me what you can do now," the man continued after he had moved the piece that represented Aspen on the mental chess board in his head forward, causing the girl to attack and lose her cool when she normally wouldn't have.
The man simply went by the name of Chance, opting to not use his real name most of the time. He stood at 6'4" with a lean, but strong, build and lightly tanned skin. He had dark gray eyes and his somewhat messy maroon hair was cut shorter in the back than it was in the front. Chance wore wine colored button down shirt under a black vest with a pair of dark pants and dark gray running shoes.
"Euclid really is a top-notch Information Broker, everything's been spot on so far," Chance smirked as he watched Aspen's battle with the slavers, "Well then, let's see how she performs under pressure then," he muttered as he moved her piece into the path of danger.
. : + : .
"So how are we going to break into there?" Varic asked as he, Hughes and Roseala looked down at the fortress said to be the lair of the Bandit King.
"Well, we've got to get in there to recover that stolen artifact," Hughes muttered, "I could melt our way in through a wall."
"And what are we going to do if someone finds the hole?" Varic retorted.
"Good point… Hey, do you have any summonings that could fly us in?" Hughes asked while looking at Roseala.
"Um… I do… But… Well…" she mumbled while fidgeting nervously.
"What?" Varic asked, a curious look on his face.
"I guess it's better to show you," Roseala mumbled as she pulled out her book and opened it, "Fable Magic: Nevara the Crow!" she announced as a tall and lanky girl that had black hair and dark eyes appeared. She was wearing a black, feathered dress and she had two black wings and a black feathered tail protruding out of her back.
The woman instantly had an irritated look on her face once she realized that she had been summoned, "The hell have you summoned me for this time?" Nevara asked in a horribly rude tone.
"Uh…" Roseala gawked, unsure of what to say to her summoning.
"What? Spit it out already girl," the crow demanded, her patience beginning to wear thin.
"Hey, you could at least try treating her with a little more respect!" Hughes shouted.
"Oh? Sorry human, but I don't take orders from you."
"Y-you old crow!" the acid mage retorted, only to find himself flattened on the ground as soon as the word 'crow' had left his mouth, Nevara glaring down at him.
"Stop! Please," Roseala begged as Varic just watched the situation unfold, "Nevara, I wanted to ask if you could fly each of us into that castle."
"Do I look like a taxi, girl?" Nevara asked.
"Sorry," Roseala apologized, a guilty look on her face.
"Fine, I'll get you all over there," the crow eventually huffed, a mischievous smirk creeping onto her face.
"Oh? Thank you!" Roseala said happily as Hughes got back up.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Varic sighed, worried about what Nevara might do.
. : + : .
"I'm telling you that I took down the most bandits!" Rayner shouted as he argued with Ajax, the two men arguing over who had won their competition during the mission as they walked back to Hargeon through the forest.
"And I'm telling you that since I took down the chief that I win!" Ajax countered as the two men butted heads, Leon sitting on Ajax's shoulder.
"Really mature you two," Kiyeda sighed, thoroughly sick of the two men's fighting.
"Shut it you!" they shouted in unison.
"Oh? Are you two still sore that I was promoted to S-Class in first trial?" Kiyeda asked innocently as she rubbed salt in their wounds.
"If you hadn't have kept flying around everywhere I would've won that fight and you know it!" Ajax shouted.
"And if it wasn't for Alistar, Camille and I would've whipped both you and Kaiyo!" Rayner added.
"If I remember correctly, it was Camille who was the S-Class candidate, not you," Kiyeda chuckled, "Or do you remember differently?" she asked, leaving Rayner at a loss for words.
"Idiot," Ajax huffed.
"You keep your mouth shut!" the Forge Mage snapped as a sound caught Ajax's ear.
"Quiet," he demanded, holding a hand up to Rayner.
"What?"
"I said quiet!" Ajax growled as he covered Rayner's mouth with his hand, "I heard something," he whispered as a figure burst out of a nearby bush, the figure letting out a loud shriek and collapsing on the ground upon seeing the three mages and Exceed.
The figure was a young girl who couldn't be any older than 16 and she was covered in cuts and bruises, as if she had been in a fight. She stood at 5'3" with a very thin build, pale skin and a small chest. She had short, brown hair styled into a bob cut and large, forest green eyes. The girl was wearing a fine, forest green colored tunic over a ragged, brown tunic with a pair of white, cloth pants that were tucked into a pair of brown boots.
"Chloe!" a small, female voice called out as a small brown Exceed dressed in a small, green dress, flew out from where the girl came from, "More of them?" the Exceed gasped upon noticing the three mages in front of the girl.
"More?" Kiyeda mumbled, unsure of what the flying cat meant as Ajax started sniffing the air.
"We're not alone in this forest," the Glass Dragon Slayer mumbled as he lowered his hand from Rayner's mouth, letting the man speak again.
"Were you chased here?" Kiyeda asked the girl in a kind voice as she bent down to be at eye level with her.
"Chloe… Don't trust them," the Exceed warned as she landed on the ground next to the girl while giving Kiyeda a hostile look.
"It's alright Taimi," the girl mumbled, "I think we can trust them," she added as she slowly stood back up, "My name is Chloe, Chloe Llinos. And this is Taimi."
"Chloe…" Taimi whined, "We don't have time for this, we need to escape."
"Escape from what?" Kiyeda asked, "Is someone after you?"
"Yes," Chloe started to answer as Taimi cut her off.
"We don't have time to explain Chloe! Hurry!" the Exceed pleaded, trying to drag Chloe along with her.
"Get down!" Rayner shouted as he shoved the young girl down, "Aegis!" he announced as a loud noise reverberated throughout the area as a golden spear impacted off of the magic shield.
"Here comes another!" Ajax shouted as Rayner moved to deflect the second one, although the only noise heard was the sound of metal cutting into flesh as Rayner's blood sprayed into the air.
. : + : .
"Is this the report?" Euclid asked as Proclus dragged a folder to the Broker's feet, being unable to set it on the desk due to being a cat.
"Yes," Proclus answered as Euclid picked up the file, "Kyria has been working hard lately. Gathering information on this man was no small feat."
"So this is the doctor who's been going around implanting Dragon Lachrima into people. Looks like we've got a whole list of his 'patients," Euclid muttered as he read through the file, "Heh… Tell Kyria that she gets a bonus and a week off for her good work."
"Of course," Proclus responded as he jumped up onto a chair, the cat's eyes turning back to normal as the spirit left its body.
"Now… What exactly does this man hope to gain?" Euclid muttered as he went back to reading the file.
A/N: And there it is! Chapter 25 and the end of my part of the challenge! I hope you enjoyed it!
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