Arc 1 – Some Spirits Walk, Others Fly
Episode 3
X786
Winter(?)
Cosmos City
Sophie knew this was going to be a crackpot of a job. Of course, had she known it would turn out like this, she would've handed it off to Spirit when he asked.
She dodged another flying fist from what used to be Mayor Albertus Rynold Quiterknacker, wrinkling her nose in disgust as his right hand grew back within a minute, muscles wrapping over bone and skin wrapping over muscle. Heat shimmered in the air around them, bits of blue flames still burning up what little grass there was left.
Civilians had long since vacated the area, and so the Cryo Phoenix had no qualms over flinging a large crystal shuriken at the mayor, beautiful in its snowflake pattern and deadly in its razor sharp edges. As expected, he dodged, and Sophie used that split second to start working on the half-formed plan she had in mind.
"Cold-Fire Needles," she whispered, already putting the majority of her magic and focus into the spell. She silently prayed for the small crystals forming around them to remain unnoticed as Quiterknacker leaped at her, the large gash in his cheek already healing.
She dodged another bloody fist as it launched off a gory stump, the visible bone already starting to grow back. (Definitely one of the more disgusting magic abilities she's come across.)
Sophie clenched her teeth as a finger missile grazed her arm. Those were the nastiest, in her opinion, with their gnarled fingernails and honing abilities. Unfortunately, the majority of her abilities were too destructive for a battle in the middle of the city, and it really left her with limited options.
"Cold-Fire Giant Hexagonal Shuriken." Two formed this time, one in each hand, and she used one to defend from the finger missile as it circled back around, flinging the other at the mayor with a deadly accuracy. The finger missile embedded itself into a hole in the snowflake design and the mayor dodged at the expense of an arm. It started growing back.
"What are you?"
The mayor smirked. "I could be asking you the same question, Cryo Phoenix."
Sophie's eyes narrowed, but before she could do anything else, a braid of wavy brown hair rose up behind the mayor.
"Heads up!"
A long claymore's black blade gleamed in the sun, silver designs whirling up and around the blade that were near blinding in the sun as it swung down, taking the mayor's other arm off. He screamed—amputated limbs weren't exactly something one could shake off, even if they could be grown back—and the new girl dodged as he flailed about, a black sleeveless coat's long tails flapping around her thighs. When she landed, she had to push the coat's hood off her head, a green and white bandana wrapped around her wrist.
She looked in Sophie's direction, her grin momentarily making some of her freckles disappear. They both ignored the mayor's screams of pain for a moment. "Thought you could use a hand! The name's Asha, by the way, though you're welcome to call me Ash."
Without the hood and the flailing of the mayor, Sophie could see the brown wrap holding her braid together, a silver feather dangling from it. She was almost positive that the feather did not belong to just any bird. Sophie nodded in a civil greeting nonetheless.
"I-I'll… I'll kill you both! I'll make you suffer the fate of a thousand deaths!" Quiterknacker roared behind her, and Asha rolled her crimson eyes.
"Like I haven't heard that one before," she turned to Sophie, "Do you want to finish him or can I?"
Sophie gestured for her to go ahead. She hadn't yet unsheathed her own sword, Nightglow, and she didn't want to ruin the blade with that thing's blood. It'd probably be a pain to clean later. Asha leapt into battle with a recklessness brought about from a lack of challenge and no real teacher, and at times she was barely dodging her opponent's attacks.
For the most part, however, Sophie stayed out of the way, observing Asha's fighting style and only pitching in when the finger honing missiles came into play. Asha's interruption, in fact, gave her enough time to finish her other spell without the fight distracting her, and when it was ready, Sophie darted into the fight.
"Get back," Asha didn't question the command, immediately running well out of the target vicinity. Sophie held Mayor Q down just long enough for Asha to get out of the way, and then she herself was leaping out of the way as a thousand crystal needles, no longer than her pinky, shot forward with a pinpoint accuracy right into the mayor.
He collapsed with a thud, and Sophie grabbed him by his bloodied shirt. If she could find out where the real mayor went, she could still get the reward.
Asha caught up to her fast, however, obviously with no intention of just leaving it at that. Sophie resisted the urge to sigh.
"You're the Cryo Phoenix! I've heard of rumors about you and several other Spirit Walker mages, but I never thought I'd actually get to meet you." She sounded like she was going to start rambling, so Sophie cut her off there.
"Sophie Nightgrass," a certain fox joined them moments later, "And this is Miwa. It's a pleasure." Asha's face practically lit up, and Sophie gave into the previous urge, sighing in resignation. She had a feeling she wouldn't be ridding herself of the other girl anytime soon. "What Guild are you from?" The brunette faltered, and Sophie glanced over to see her smile slip a little.
"I'm, uh, not part of any Guild." An eyebrow rose in a slight disbelief. She seemed to be the kind of person that'd be a part of a Guild. In fact, if it weren't for the incident a few years ago, Sophie would've pegged Asha as a Fairy Tail mage. Evidently not.
Sophie knew she was likely to regret what she was going to say next, if at least for the loss of peace and quiet for the train ride back. Maybe she'd get lucky and Asha would prove her wrong on that count. "You can return to Spirit Walker with me if you want." That smile returned full force.
X786
Winter
Lilium
Lilium was always a little on the chilly side, compared to most of Fiore. The summers were pleasantly cool and the fall just cold enough for people to huddle together, wrapped in scarves and sweaters. Thus, in winter a frozen white blanket settled over the town, and the trio of mages were at the head of a path of footprints from the mountain. Once they hit Hallows Square, however, those footprints disappeared in a myriad of others, before the snow itself gave way to stone.
Compared to the summer or fall, the city center wasn't all that busy, but still more than usual as families, friends, and couples twirled and stumbled their way around the ice rink taking up most of the square.
Magnus raised an eyebrow. "I guess Tatsuki was keeping busy."
"There's a skate rental!" Erie pulled the both of them in the direction of the small shop that had been set up—it sold not just ice skates but scarves, sleds, and a host of other things. Jack seemed content to go along, but Magnus dug in his heels and stopped the both of them before they could get very far. (Which, considering Erie's strength, was a fair feat.)
"We're here to get more supplies for the Guild." He waved around the list in his hands, the thin paper flapping wildly in the wind. Erie huffed, but let go of the two boys. Magnus grinned in victory, a brief flash of another side of him before his usual wry expression returned. "C'mon, grocer's this way."
Erie rolled her eyes dramatically in protest, but followed him around the rink nonetheless. Jack followed absentmindedly, and the S-class mage glanced back at him. His droopy blue eyes were completely out of focus, and she shook her head with a fond sigh.
"Earth to Bringer~," she snapped her fingers in front of him a couple times until he blinked and flipped his attention switch.
"I—oh—I'm sorry. I spaced out again, didn't I?" He gave a sheepish smile, and both Erie and Magnus laughed, causing his smile to grow only wider and more sheepish.
"Don't worry about it, Jack. Just go get the eggs." Magnus ripped the list carefully into three sections, handing one to each person. Both Jack and Erie saluted him.
"Roger that, Boss." They escaped into the crowd of housewives before he could say anything, and Magnus just rolled his eyes.
His own list was actually very short, having handed most of it to the other two, but of course that was to keep them busy. The Christmas list was definitely longer than last year, but then, as they gained members, it grew every year.
He still remembered when it was just the three of them—him, Spirit, and the Master. He and Spirit used to come up with elaborate schemes, pooling together what money they had to get a gift for Shekinah… Magnus' smile grew.
"What do you think, Carbuncle? Think we could get everyone in on a big gift for the Master this year?"
Carbuncle yipped his approval.
...
"Think we can get on the ice rink without him noticing?"
Magnus was nowhere in sight, having quickly been lost in the crowd, and the rink was crowded enough that, as long as they kept moving around it, he shouldn't be able to recognize them. Erie was determined to get on that rink, and no one would stop her.
"Shouldn't we at least finish the shopping first?" Jack raised an eyebrow, and Erie snorted, shaking her head before grabbing him by the arm. Jack sighed, but he didn't struggle or protest further as he was dragged towards the skate rental. "If we get caught, this was all your idea."
Erie grinned. "Deal."
X786
Winter
Mt. Spiritus
"It's freezing. Why did I have to come?"
"You're the only one who knows what we'll be looking for."
Spirit groaned, huddled in both his coat and Magnus'. Magnus, wearing another white jacket, rolled his eyes, though that didn't do anything to detract from his amused expression.
"How are you such a wimp with the cold when you've lived up here for years?" Spirit scowled at Erie, who laughed as she jogged past.
"She's right, you know." Spirit's scowl deepened as a woman slowed to walk in pace with the two boys, golden eyes dancing in mirth. She was wearing a simple yellow blouse and a white skirt, but she didn't seem at all cold, knee-high black boots moving elegantly across the snow.
"I don't want to hear that from you of all people, Hashimoto." Her long, light blue hair whipped across her face in the wind as she turned, a mock pout on her face. Black fingerless gloves brushed the strands away.
"Aw, what happened to our bond?"
"You've been demoted."
Izumi chuckled from where she hovered by them, her white dress nearly blending in with the falling snow. The pink exceed averted her green eyes and flew ahead when Spirit directed his ire on her instead.
"Doesn't that one look like a bunny?" Elin pointed upwards, craning her neck in such a way that showed off the light orange Guild mark on the left side of her neck.
Magnus looked up—the others had long since given up on attempting to humor Elin's attempts to stave off Spirit's grumpiness. "Actually, it kinda does."
Elin smiled in her dreamy sort of way, but she didn't say anything as Erie suddenly came bounding over a slope, jogging in place and huffing, though it seemed to be more in excitement than exhaustion.
"Guys, you won't believe what I just found!"
"The rock we need?" Spirit groused, and Erie rolled her eyes at him.
"Hot springs! C'mon, let's take a dip!"
"We don't have swimsuits or towels with us," Izumi, ever the level-headed one, pointed out.
"We can just go skinny dipping." Magnus and Spirit's heads whipped to Tatsuki, who smiled back at them, unfazed.
Whilst the younger of the two made his best fish impression, Grimoire recovered quicker, a cynical but nonetheless amused expression on his face. "I mean, I don't mind, but there are children here." His eyes flicked to Spirit, who flushed and smacked him on the arm.
"You're only a year older than me! I'm a legal adult!"
Erie swung her arms around both their necks. "Then prove it~!"
"I didn't think he could get any redder."
Magnus laughed, holding up the bag in his hands. "Relax; Tatsuki and I grabbed everyone's swimsuits before we left."
"You knew those were there?"
The resident Dragon Slayer of the group turned to Erie with a slightly mischievous smile. "Of course. You can't live on this mountain for seven years and not know about your surroundings." She paused. "Well, of course, with the exception of Spirit, it seems."
"Shut it."
...
The springs were steaming, a little makeshift border of rocks surrounding it. The rocks glinted and sparkled, and Magnus sighed as he sank into the water whilst Carbuncle perched on one of the flatter rocks near his head. Izumi perched herself next to Carbuncle.
Spirit was already huddled on the opposite side of the three, hunkering down as far into the heat as he could get. The ends of his dark hair swirled in the water, the rest of it blending into the dark forest behind him. If not for the silver streak, he could've gone unnoticed.
Tatsuki sat an equal distance from them both in a white bikini with gold rims and strips, her long hair pulled up into a bun. Magnus pretended not to notice her large bust—having had a lot of practice after many years—instead choosing to watch Spirit absentmindedly rubbing at his amulet.
"Sorry we took so long!" Erie waved, jogging towards them on her toes, and getting in with a bit of a splash. The snow in her braided hair melted almost immediately, and she pushed it off her shoulder, showcasing the black Guild mark on the breast of her pink bikini. "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to change in the snow."
Elin got in after her, wearing a frilly orange one piece with soft pink polka dots, and Tatsuki rose a brow. "El, dear, you didn't tell us you were hiding a figure under that hoodie." Elin just smiled and shrugged in response, soft pink eyes going skyward as she sank further into the water.
"It came as a shock to me too! She's so unassuming but underneath that nice girl exterior is a monster, I swear!" Erie waved her arms dramatically in Elin's direction, causing the other two conversationalists to laugh.
"But Erie, you're the S-class mage." Elin pointed out, and across from the rest of them, Spirit snorted loudly.
"She's right. If anyone's a monster around here, it's you." Erie growled, giving him a five second warning before she leapt at him, the others bursting out in snickering as Spirit went under, coming up and shaking his hair out a moment later. He didn't get much chance to recover, however, when Erie splashed him, and Spirit spluttered, trying to swim away, only for her to catch his leg and drag him back.
Spirit didn't stop trying to swim, though it looked more like he was flailing about in Magnus' direction. "Magnus, old buddy, old pal…" He spit some water out of his mouth, but Magnus only shook his head, still laughing.
"Sorry, kid."
"Then suffer with me!" Both Elin and Tatsuki moved to the far side of the spring as Spirit latched onto the other's shoulders, dragging them both down to a watery grave. By that point, Erie was laughing too hard to seriously keep a grip on him, and Spirit kicked free, pushing Magnus in her direction as a diversion. "I hate all of you."
The conversation devolved into easy banter after that, the Guild members all comfortable with each other after four years living together. Thankfully, there was little splashing or drowning involved after that, and Spirit sunk low into the water once more, occasionally shoving his wet hair out of his dark eyes.
Fingers gently ran along the rocky edges of the spring, clearing away the snow. They paused over a particular area, sparkling and glinting in the evening light, brushing away more of the snow. Spirit gently pried the large crystal out from where it must have served as part of the spring's makeshift borders, leaving a hole where it once sat. He washed it clean of the dirt and snow in the water. Little bits of light danced on the water, and Spirit understood what his grandmother wanted.
He kept quiet.
X786
Winter
Spirit Walker
The Guild was notably emptier than usual by the time Aysel braved the cold floors instead of his warm bed, though he was pretty quick to climb on Kitty before heading out to the corridor. As long as he didn't put his ratty white—though they were so dirty it was hard to tell—sneakers on the floors, thick socks aside, he was warm in his sweaters and a pair of sweats. He'd decided to put his brown "I love you a chocolot!" sweater on top today, if only because Shekinah usually gave him a second cup when he did. That woman knew how to appreciate chocolate puns.
Half-lidded eyes the color of melted gold looked around at the sparse number of members actually in the building. The lack of pupil often freaked newcomers out, though a single conversation would fix that issue fairly quickly.
Riley waved as Aysel entered the room, pausing in what appeared to have been a very engaging talk with Bringer. "Hey, Aysel," Bringer turned at the interruption, but he too smiled and waved.
"You're up earlier today." Aysel climbed off of Kitty and shrugged, yawning.
"I wanted hot chocolate." He replied, and a hand came up to play with one of the eggshell white strands of his hair, which fell to his shoulders in gentle waves, no rhyme or reason to its order.
He climbed atop one of the barstools, and Shekinah smiled brightly at him as she delivered on his chocolatey wish. "One hot mug of sweetness coming right up!" Aysel's smile widened.
With Aysel now awake, that brought the current member count to five (if one included the master).
"Where is everyone?" It wasn't Aysel who'd asked the question—though he could make a pretty good guess on the few places they might have gone—but a young woman standing in the doorway, looking around with wide eyes. "Are they all on missions?"
"Hiking, actually," Riley replied, head tilted in observance of the brunette. "Welcome back, Nightwalker. Who's the new girl?" Sophie didn't respond, letting the new girl—Asha Kalama, known in her region as the Storm Spirit apparently—introduce herself.
"It's always nice to have new members," Shekinah smiled gently at Asha, pulling a folder and a stamp out from beneath the bar. Riley raised an eyebrow.
"Don't you usually keep that stuff in the office?" Shekinah just smiled at him, handing a form over to Asha and holding the stamp up.
"Just fill out what you can of that; the Magic Council can be stingy about their paperwork, but there's no need for you to worry about it. Now, where should I put this?"
Asha only had a moment of thought before she tugged her shirt down far enough to expose her left shoulder. The footprints of Spirit Walker appeared silver on her skin, allowing the other present members only a momentary glimpse before it disappeared back under her shirt and coat.
Shekinah nodded, seemingly almost to herself, before turning to the whole of the group of mages present. "Now that that's settled, I have a favor to ask all of you."
...
"…What are we doing in the graveyard again?" Lola scowled at the faded headstone that stood there, mocking her. The dead eyes of the stone angel stared back smugly.
Aysel smiled back at her reassuringly, which only served to aggravate her more. Usually Aysel was reassuring—Lola blamed it on the barren graveyard. The place creeped her out, especially as the sun was setting.
"The Master asked us to deal with this since Spirit is out." He replied as if she didn't already know that.
Seemingly oblivious to her obvious discomfort, Asha continued to gush over everything. "I can't believe you guys actually have a haunted Guild! I'd always thought that just to be a rumor. So, are ghosts like actual specters with the whole see-through shtick or…?"
She trailed off, but there was no need for anyone to answer as a pair of feet glided across the dirt and dead grass, and they went silent as the woman tilted her head, appraising the area with a grace that belied the living.
"Woah…" Asha breathed in awe, barely audible even in the wintry silence. The woman, even though she appeared to be lacking the ghostly aura one might expect—unless they counted the slightly out of date dress—was a sight to see all the same, her face frigid with a kind of distant beauty. "How do we know she's a ghost?"
The woman turned, revealing the skin peeled away from her back, the back of the dress torn and thus allowing them a full view of her spinal cord, sinewy strings of muscle barely attached to the bone. Riley closed his eyes and thought of adorable puppies and flying cats in an effort to hold onto his stomach.
Jack smirked just a tad in his direction. "That's how."
Sophie gave them both a frigid look, leaning slightly closer to Asha and whispering lowly. "The Guild sits in the midst of a large energy source, so 'ghosts' tend to gather here. Normally only a select few in the Guild can actually see and communicate with the local ghosts, including the Master, but when their presence becomes visible to the rest of us, it becomes a haunting."
Riley groaned pitifully when he moved. "Let's just get this over with before I lose my lunch."
Aysel nodded, standing and announcing his presence to the woman, though being careful to maintain a fair distance between them. "Excuse me, miss," the woman whirled around, and Riley sighed in ill-hidden relief. Aysel continued to keep up his cheerful, steady presence.
"Hugo?" She had an unplaced accent, voice in a lilt that indicated nobility.
Aysel shook his head. "I'm afraid not. My name is Aysel Porter; I'm a mage for the nearby Guild."
From back behind the singular mausoleum, Lola rolled her eyes while the S-class mage continued to chat up the dead lady. "Why do the rest of us need to be here again?" She hissed, though no one else really seemed to be paying attention.
Riley was still actively avoiding eye contact with the specter, Asha was still ogling it, Bringer's head was up in the clouds again, and Sophie was astutely ignoring her.
"In case this conversation goes south." Okay, perhaps she wasn't ignoring her. (It was always hard to tell with the frigid ice queen thing—which by all rights should've been the Ice Lord's thing.) Lola sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. She had yet to see that happen in her two years; and though there were lingering horror stories, it was hard to believe when one lived in a haunted Guild.
She was proven right when Aysel came back with a bright smile on his face. "She's not going to leave quite yet." Or not.
"Why not?" Riley may or may not have sounded slightly hysterical, eyes pointedly looking away from where the ghost was walking away, back to them. There was a reason he didn't usually do exorcisms.
Aysel shrugged. "It's a…. Hugues family issue."
Bringer, now back online and in the present, looked at them with an only mildly concerned expression. "That's not going to cause problems later, is it?"
Lola's lip curled at the thought. "Don't worry; I'm sure you're safe. You're one of the last ones a woman like that is going to go after."
He scowled, but elected not to say anything about it. For now. "Let's just get back to the Guild before I get frostbite on my ass."
So I'm pulling the plug, and all slayer submissions are officially closed; Spirit Walker submissions are also officially closed. :)))
If I've already given you the okay to create a character but they have yet to be completed at the posting of this, then go ahead and keep on working. I won't be accepting any new characters from here on out for Spirit Walker. Any characters that I do get either won't be accepted or will be rerouted to an open Guild.
Therefore, I'm still accepting characters for Wilted Rose and the Neighbors Guild! I won't be able to continue after the second arc if I don't get at least five characters for each because of the GMG arc. (And I can assure you, that will not be the only time they'll appear.)
Also, I apologize for this taking much longer than the other two chapters. A lot's been happening, haha. :p I do want to thank GiantPsychoGecko for checking up on me in the wake of Harvey, though. Luckily, I live on a large hill, so the worst of it was a lack of sleep.
In retrospect, though, this chapter definitely went longer than planned. You can probably expect that chapters will be around this long in the future, if not longer; especially if I take as long as I did this time.
Characters We Met:
Asha Kalama – Eighteen years old, the mage known as the Storm Spirit is one of the newest members. By WhitewolfLune
Tatsuki Hashimoto – AKA the Ice Lord, she's nineteen and has been a member for nearly seven years. By altajir95
Izumi – An Exceed and Tatsuki's best friend. They're always together, no matter what. By altajir95
Aysel Lachlan Porter – One of the resident S-Class mages, he knows his age only to be somewhere in the late teens. He joined the Guild six years ago. By Canima
Kitty – Aysel's giant, black Irish wolfhound dog. He's two years old and tends to carry Aysel around on his back, especially in winter. By Canima