Kyu: There was a major delay on this one, but it's finally here.

Vindi: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: We don't own Mabinogi, we're simply players. Mabinogi is owned by Nexon.

Outlaw Hunters: Chapter 3 – Fashionogi Problems

"Oh?" Skeith raised an eyebrow at Vindiara's declaration of joining the world of Milletians. "Are you sure you want to become a Milletian and no longer be classified as a Human?"

"Huh?" Vindiara looked at Skeith in confused and saw Sheba punch Skeith in the shoulder.

"Stop scaring her!" Sheba whined and watched Skeith give her a death glare. She simply returned to glare and she smiled shortly after when he gave up and looked back at Vindiara.

"I apologize. What I mean is, unlike Humans, Milletians have the ability to be revived. We can't really die until we give the blessing back to Nao. Giving the blessing back is just simply called retiring but very few return until they've been Milletians for decades, sometimes even centuries," Skeith explained.

"Centuries?" Vindiara watched each of them nod. "Why would someone want to stay alive that long?"

"Some say they have a purpose that they can't fulfil in their original life so they wait until the next one," Skeith shrugged. "Sometimes people wait several lifetimes before they feel like they've done what they needed to do, most of the time however, they stay Milletians for a really long time."

"How do you become a Milletian then if you aren't born as one?" Vindiara questioned and saw them look at her with concerned looks. "What?"

"You haven't learned that yet?" Jaiden sounded slightly worried. "It's basics in school."

"No," Vindi saw everyone shake their head. "What is it?"

"Nevermind," Skeith looked at Jaiden. "Do you have the one million gold it takes to make a guild?"

"What?" Jaiden blinked and looked at Skeith in confusion.

"Huh?" Divine scratched his cheek. "You didn't think it'd be free to make a guild did you? Prices are especially high since only idiots make guilds and once they find out our purpose, they're really going to think we're idiots."

"I barely have a thousand gold," Jaiden hung his head. "How are we supposed to earn one million gold?"

"Buy and sell," Sheba, Skeith, and Divine spoke in unison.

"Buy and sell what?" Vindiara questioned.

"Have you ever been on a dungeon run?" Skeith questioned and saw both Jaiden and Vindiara shake their heads. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Well, there's a first time for everything."

He started looking around. "There should be a dungeon around here for us to go through and get something worth a few million."

"Why not Alby Dungeon?" Sheba suggested. "It does have that really rare robe."

"Oh right, let's do that." Skeith replied, giving off a small smirk.

"Let's go then!" Vindiara shouted enthusiastically as she marched ahead of their group. "Alby Dungeon is this way. I used to go by and visit Trefor since my mother would bring him lunch every day."

"Lead the way then," Divine smiled and followed behind her with everyone. "Have you ever been inside the dungeon itself?"

"No," Vindiara shook her head. "My parents told Trefor to never let me inside of a dungeon until I officially became a Milletian."

"You're still not officially a Milletian though; do you think he'll let you in?" Divine questioned.

"Possibly since I'm with you," Vindiara looked at each of them. "I mean, all of you are Milletians so it's okay."

"Actually…" Skeith said, "Maybe you should become a Milletian before we go in."

"Okay!" Vindiara smiled and rubbed her hands together. "How do I start?"

"Well, allow me to explain, since you haven't been educated on this yet," Jaiden said, and stepped forward. "You can become a Milletian in one of two ways. One is to die in battle, and you will wake up to the Soul Stream without any assistance. The other way, however, is the way we're going to do it. With the help of Milletians, you'll be sent into the Soul Stream consciously and you'll tell Nao the path you've chosen to take. Are you sure you want to do this? You have to be a Milletian for ten years before you can retire."

Vindiara nodded and smiled shyly. "Positive."

Jaiden returned a smile. "Alright, let's get started then."

Vindiara sat down as Skeith and Jaiden put a hand on each of her shoulders, and began to chant a prayer.

Vindiara went into a daze, and saw a bright light in the distance. She began hearing strange noises. The light grew brighter, and something came out from that direction. It appeared to be a person…they were hard to make out. Was it the guardian of the soul stream? She couldn't make out who or what it was, because she woke up soon after.

"God damn it, Jaiden, you weren't supposed to take your hand off her shoulder," he sighed and face palmed.

Jaiden cleared his throat and shrugged, trying to play it off. "My bad," he said.

Skeith unnoticeably grit his teeth. "I guess we can just go in then. It won't make that much of a difference."

Jaiden held out a hand to Vindiara and helped her stand back up. "Ready to go?"

She nodded. "Yep, let's go."

The group was led into the lobby of Alby Dungeon by Jaiden and Vindiara before turning their attention to a middle aged man sitting on the steps in front of the altar with a statue of the Goddess Morrighan kneeling with a sword in her hands.

"Vindiara?" a middle aged man named Trefor stood and his black armor shook as his helmet slid forward against his face. "I didn't think I'd see you today after the funeral."

"I'm actually headed out soon after we go through this dungeon," Vindiara smiled and looked at Skeith who stood next to her and pulled out a small fee for the dungeon pass. Trefor handed the right one to Skeith.

"You want to enter for Hebona Robes?" Trefor saw Skeith nod. "So the four of you are going in?"

"Five of us," Skeith corrected him and looked at Vindiara. "She's a Milletian now and she's entering with us."

"Oh," Trefor looked at Vindiara for a moment. "When did you become a Milletian?"

Vindiara nodded, "Dad helped me with the process not too long before he passed away."

"Well," Trefor scratched his chin. If you guys are working for some money, can you do a favor for me? I'll give you a reward in return." He showed a piece of paper to Jaiden. "A girl from Tara went in and has been inside for quite a while. I think she used this prayer to get in."

Jaiden scratched the back of his head and took the paper out of his hands. "Well, I don't see why not!"

"Just make sure she's safe," he let out a small huff. "I'll give you ten thousand if she's unscathed."

Jaiden gave him a wide smile, "Sure sounds like a deal to me."

"I bid you good luck then." Trefor stepped back, giving them a slight nod and stood by the entrance to the dungeon.

The Goddess statue stood tall in front of the group. "Mind if I see that sheet of paper?" Skeith looked in Jaiden's direction.

"Sure thing, man," Jaiden handed it to him.

"Alright, everyone on the altar." Skeith gestured towards the slightly risen surface, and everyone progressively stepped on it. He narrowed his eyes at the paper, reading through it. "If this is what I think it is…" he muttered to himself. He stepped on the altar, turned to face the goddess statue and began reading the prayer out loud. "deíxe mou apelpisía sas , tylíxte mou se af̱tó. deíxe mou sti̱ fo̱liá sou , giatí eímai edó̱. deíxe mou an tolmáte , agapi̱tí̱ vasílissa aráchni̱." The room swirled around them as he finished the chant.

The statue that guarded them disappeared, changing positions, but it's mournful look resided. However, a new passage opened up, which was covered with spiderwebs.

"...Do all dungeons have spiderwebs sprawled over the walls?" Vindiara gave a nasty look at the spiders who resided in their webs.

"Not all of them." Jaiden hid a laugh from the face she was making.

Vindiara looked at Skeith with confusion as he handed her a pile of orange feathers, "What are these?"

"You've never seen phoenix feathers?" Skeith picked up a bundle and handed some to Sheba who placed them in her pouce. "You really do have a lot to learn."

"Phoenix feathers?" Vindiara stood up and dusted off her pants.

"It's the other method of being revived when you don't have any Soul Stones," Divine loaded his cylinder and looked at Sheba. "You'll be our support and heal this time so don't worry about fighting."

"Sure!" Sheba smiled and saluted to Divine and Skeith.

"What are you talking about? She's going to fight," Skeith glared at Divine. "Don't give her an easy ticket just because we have more people."

"Suck a lemon Skeith," Sheba sounded annoyed now.

"I'll suck your lemon," Skeith teased, giving off a mischievous grin.

Divine groaned in annoyance at their bickering as he walked away with Jaiden and Vindiara. "Dungeon excavates can vary on length. I think the three of us ran this once before," Divine pulled a notebook off his belt and flipped through it. "Alby, Alby, Alby..."

Vindiara saw the confused look on Divine's face, "What is it?"

"This would be classified as Advanced Alby, judging by the looks of it," Divine murmured. "Dungeons are like underground castles; multiple floors, multiple monsters, multiple difficulties."

"Oh, I see," She said, holding her hands behind her back as they entered the next room; the first few had been cleared.

Inside were wounded creatures, but were still alive. "What are these?" Vindiara looked around at them.

"They're larvae," Skeith stabbed one and put it out of its misery. "They contain cocoons that we need for making our chest keys at the end of the dungeon. But for some reason, these were all left wounded but not dead, as if someone gave up trying to kill them…"

"Maybe it was the girl we're looking for," Sheba suggested.

"Maybe. Let's hope all of the rooms were like this." Skeith and Divine killed the rest of the larvae and collected the cocoons, and moved on to the next room.

The following rooms and floors were either rooms with a small amount of enemies left, or doors with opened locks, as if someone had been there already. However the last few rooms of the third floor were infested with monsters, no sign of anyone else having gone through there.

Skeith narrowed his eyes at the change "Why are these untouched…" He muttered to himself.

Divine gave a small shrug in return "Maybe we passed her up?" he replied to the rhetorical question.

Final Room

"This should be her room." Divine muttered, holding the bright red key in his hand. He turned towards the rest "Everyone ready?" He asked, hoping for a yes.

"Who's room?" Jaiden asked, looking over the rest. "The girl we're looking for?" He added on, wondering why she'd have a room in a dungeon…

"No, Arachne, the owner of this particular place." Sheba replied, "A Fomor thats one of the greatest weavers, her cloth sells for millions." She added on, steepling her fingers together at the small thought of money.

"Oh… Great! So two birds with one stone." Jaiden replied, giving off his signature grin.

"If she has made any." Skeith chipped in "A lot of adventurers come and seek her cloth for themselves due to its magical properties." He explained, taking the key from Divine's hand. "So she may of been stolen from recently, and hasn't recovered." He added on, putting the key within its lock and turning it.

The giant metal lock fell from its chains and onto the floor with a loud clang, letting the stone door slide open. Inside, a decrepit old woman sat at her weaving wheel, before looking up and letting out a loud screech. Spiders crawled out from cracks in the walls , forming a barrier between her and the hunters.

"She doesn't like being stolen from." Skeith replied, drawing out one of his swords.

"She's MINE!" A female voice called out, before weaving in between the group and straight to the witch. With shield posed first and dark armor scraping against each other, she smashed through a small section of the spider wall and slammed into the witch.

The small warrior's sword swung in to strike, but Arachne swatted her away, the air crackling around her. Getting right back up, she tried to go in again. Spiders swarmed around her legs, forcing her to her knees.

And that is when the witch struck. A crack of lightning went through the Warrior, and towards the group, hitting both Vindi and Divine straight through the hearts. Vindi fell over while Divine managed to stay on his feet. "Was that-" he asked, before the answer quickly came after.

The warrior got back up and started to run to the group before disaster struck true. Three

bolts of lightning rained down from the heavens, charring their bodies and stopping their hearts on the third strike.

Soul Stream

Vindiara opened her eyes slowly and she was standing in a vast world covered completely in white as she stood on one of the many platforms that she could see. She looked around in dismay and confusion.

"Welcome to the Soul Stream Vindiara."

Vindiara turned and widened her eyes at who was standing in front of her. She'd only heard stories about her and seen drawings but she wasn't entirely sure if she was real, "Nao?"

Nao giggled and smiled, "I am Nao, Guardian of the Soul Steam. I take it that you've heard of me?"

Vindiara simply nodded and gapped.

"Since it's your first time here in the Soul Stream," Nao began, "I should begin by asking you the basic question I ask everyone who enters here."

"What?" Vindiara looked up at her with slight confusion.

"Do you wish to continue living or do you wish to stay here?" Nao questioned.

"What?" Vindiara raised an eyebrow.

Nao giggled at her confusion. "I'll do the honor of explaining what I mean by my question. When I ask if you wish to continue living, I'm asking if you'd like to become a Milletian."

"Of course!" Vindiara responded enthusiastically.

"Let me explain the role of a Milletian first," Nao looked over her shoulder and up at the many platforms above her. "Being a Milletian means that you'll serve the people of Erinn as a medium between humans and the Goddesses. You'll fight against Cichol who is the God that governs the Fomorians."

"Hmm," Vindiara continued to listen to Nao.

"The benefits of being a Milletian is being able to be revived after you die," Nao explained.

"Oh," Vindiara sighed in relief.

Nao shook her head, "Milletians never truly die unless they decide to retire as Milletians. Once a Milletian retires, they're capable of joining me here in the Soul Stream to spend the rest of eternity."

Vindiara thought for a moment before looking at Nao again, "So after I leave here, I won't be able to be officially named 'dead' because I can be revived by you or someone else?"

Nao nodded.

"And I'll spend most of my life as a Milletian that serves as a medium between Humans and the Goddesses?" Vindiara watched Nao nod again. Vindiara smiled broadly, "I can do that."

"I'm happy to hear that," Nao walked over to Vindiara and took her hand. "We're going to need you in this new battle coming up, you and the Outlaw Hunters."

"Huh?" Vindiara watched Nao wave her hand over her own and watched several stones appear in her hand. "What are these?"

"Soul Stones," Nao responded. "You can offer these to me once you come back into the Soul Stream and I'll revive you while providing blessings to all your equipment and armor which will help it last longer."

"Oh, thank you," Vindiara felt herself begin to float and she looked at Nao. "You're sending me back?"

Nao nodded, "I'll see you soon."

Back to Reality

Vindiara woke up just in time to see Jaiden land the final blow on Arachne before she cried out in defeat and disappeared into thin air.

Sheba was sitting at her side as she gained consciousness. "You okay? Did you go to the Soul Stream?"

Vindiara nodded, sitting up and looking around the room. "Is everyone else okay?"

Sheba looked over at Divine who had also lost consciousness, but was revived by Skeith. "Yeah, they're fine."

Vindiara looked at the girl they stumbled upon. "What was she thinking?"

Sheba shrugged. "I dunno, but she's the one Trefor's looking for. We'll patch her up and bring her back unharmed."

Divine stood up and walked over to the abandoned weaving wheel. It was still spinning. "Can I have everyone's cocoons?"

Jaiden handed his over first, glancing into the treasure room which lied just ahead. "There's a total of eight chests, so we should only make two keys, considering the lost girl gets one as well."

"She got me killed...why don't we just make three and open her chest?" Divine narrowed his eyes at the girl who had just gotten up, and ignoring all of them, walked towards the treasure room.

The girl mumbled underneath her breath. "The motherfucker didn't tell me she had Thunder…"

"Well that'd be kinda mean, don't you think?" Vindiara gave him a half smile as she handed over her cocoons as well.

Divine gave a heavy sigh. "Very well." He took the cocoons in hand, and sat down on a stool by the wheel. He weaved two keys, and gave them both to Jaiden. "You can do the honors."

Jaiden smiled and nodded, gesturing towards him. "Why, thank you."

By the time Divine and Jaiden entered the chest room, everyone else had already made their way in. They all opened their chests with no sign of the Hebona robe. He looked around, holding his yarn keys. "Hmm…" He made his way to the corner of the room, and opened two chests right next to each other.

No Hebona. But, there was a decent amount of gold, which is all that was in the other chests. "Well...that's alright. With the money we all got from the money and the money Trefor will give us for returning the girl, we could sell the remaining cocoons to other Milletians and gather enough money to make a guild."

"Trefor is paying you to come back with me?!" The girl said with anger in her voice as she opened up her chest. She turned to look inside her chest, with a Hebona robe laying inside. She clutched it in her hand and fist-pumped it into the air victoriously. "Yesss! I finally got it!"

Skeith looked at Jaiden and sighed. "Damnit Azakai, you picked the wrong chests."

The girl turned to Skeith, confused. "How the fuck did you know my last name?"

Everyone in the group exchanged silent, astonished looks.

"My name's Zakan Azakai. Why were you ref-" She paused, and looked at Jaiden. "Fucking hell, I stepped into a soap opera."