Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, elements, or borrowed plot ideas from any source I acquire them from, specifically KingsIsle. I merely own any original characters I create.

"Blah" = talking

"Blah" = thoughts, writing, sound effects, or flashbacks

"BLAH"= Yelling

"Alright. One, two, and…heave!"

Fate Evergreen stared wide-eyed with the most innocent curiosity as a group of men, two stout humans and a heavy set, bipedal grizzly, pushed off from the ground outside a street side home, straining to place a rather large crate in the bed of a horse drawn wagon. Their task accomplished, the males released haggard breaths before noticing the teenager looking their way and sent him cheerful waves which he returned in full force.

"You coming, Fate?"

Victoria's pleasant call captured the dark haired boy's attention, and he made a slight jog over to her, slowing down before taking some of the bags dangling from her hands.

EXSEED

Chapter Five: The Green Songstress

It was mid-morning by the time the duo had awoken on the beautiful early Saturday, and the looming artificial sun had already began its journey westward by the time they set out for the Shopping District, intent on procuring supplies to cover the next week. Together, classes, studying, and keeping the Exseed out of harm's way was beginning to become a full-time job for the blonde, and her once lazy weekend mornings had morphed into an errand-fest.

A light breeze intermittently blew at their bodies as they walked, ruffling hair, loose sections of clothing, and the various canvases and trinkets that hung from store windows and the colorful curbside stalls lining the expansive streets. No matter how many times he had passed by the area and other like it, Fate could do no more than marvel at the diverse population of the crowd.

Most plentiful were members of his own race, and he found a subtle sense of comfort in the superior numbers of humans. Commanding his interest more were Marleybonians, three of which he passed as intellectual mutters and gibberish spewed from their snouts, most of which flew right over his head. Bug eyed. Playful elves scurried about underfoot, dogging and weaving between legs in a high speed game of tag. Fate admittedly couldn't tell if they were children or adults, though he supposed knowing changed nothing. Both young and old cleared the way at times, intent on avoiding the paths of the occasional imposing Cyclops that trudged through, bearing large rustic sacks on their backs and stooping under stone overhangs that connected shops.

That said, traffic in the marketplace was not as cramped as she had initially thought, though from experience it was bound to grow worse. She approached the vibrant red canvas of a particular stall with that thought in mind and exchanged her handful of golden coins for a few spice bottles, freshly picked vegetables, and a sack full of oven-baked baguettes.

Loud coaxing and animated haggling spewed from every shop and stall as the pair began their journey back towards the commons, Fate happily hauling most of the grocery bags and Victoria musing that, if anything, it was nice to have an extra set of hands to help her. Since her earliest memories, convincing Ty to do anything out of goodwill or chivalry was like pulling teeth, but Fate had been surprisingly well-mannered though inept at the simplest of household chores.

"Can I eat the bread now, Victoria?" A curt rumbling from said boy's stomach preceded his question, the duo stepping through their apartment building's front door and peddling up the rather lengthy oak staircase situated in an adjacent room. Ambrose had been kind enough to set up a 'scholarship' for her and Fate, giving them enough money to cover rent, food, and utilities every month. Once she found a part time job, though, she promised to wean herself off the Headmasters generosity. Accepting handouts usually left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Sure, just as soon as we get to the kitchen." They exited the stairs on the third floor, trotted eagerly down the newly-polished hallway floor, waving to the janitor at the other end, and with a twist of Victoria's key, they stepped in.

If the size of the apartment was any indication, Headmaster had not skipped out when choosing a suitable location for their residence. The apartment building itself leaned more towards a condominium than its namesake, what with its lofty stature and prime location in town. Their particular apartment reflected that perfectly. Two ivory-hued couches and similar recliners surrounded an onyx coffee table, all centered in their spacious living room complete with crimson walls and mahogany floors. The high ceiling gave view to a second story railing and the entrance to the loft's two bedrooms, while the kitchen and breakfast nook lay to the right of the door. After her scanning of the living room and movement into the kitchen, Victoria idly thought that her self-imposed 'weaning' might come later rather than sooner.

She set her grocery bags down on the kitchen counter, then breathed out a laden sigh, plopping into one of the recliners in the living room. It was at that moment, as she could hear Fate munching on his selected baguette from the kitchen, that she noticed two things: the brown-haired, purple robed boy snoring softly on her loveseat and, his black-haired, deep blue robed counterpart leaning back into the room's other recliner.

Two seconds of complete silence passed, and her once confused look warped into one of pure annoyance, the sound of her previous sigh apparently having awoken Ty Stormwhisper and Tala Mythhammer. The former released a boisterous yawn, stretching and running a hand through his hair as he sat up.

"Finally. What took you so long?"

"We were in the market all morning. I actually have to go out and buy my own food now." She countered, regarding the two boys with a curious eyebrow before heading back into the kitchen. "Do I even want to know how you two got in here?"

"Well it wasn't anything illegal." Tala explained, dangling the ring of his own on his index finger. Fate, armed with half his baguette by this point, wandered over to the two boys and plopped down next to Ty as the sounds of a knife hitting a cutting board and rustling bags provided white noise to the novice wizard's words. "Ambrose had a key made for each of us. You know, just in case we ever need to check up on you two."

"Great. Now Ty can come here during the middle of the night and eat my food." Victoria breathed out, her attention drawn to the counter space in front of her. "I'll have to buy a lock for the cabinets now." She returned to the living room seconds later with two plates in hand, each topped with a sandwich constructed of lettuce, tomato, a white cheese, and neatly sliced cold ham, laying one on the laps of both her guests before levering herself into the remaining recliner. Both boys uttered thanks before having at their meal. "So what brings you two over so early?"

Tala was the first to respond, swallowing his mouthful before answering. "Well the Headmaster called us into his office this morning. He said there's something we might want to look into. Are you familiar with the name Lady Oriel?"

"I think so." The blonde pondered, leaning back with eyes shifting upward towards her high ceiling. Fate's eyes simply darted between the three students as each one spoke. "Isn't she some wizard who lives on Unicorn Way?"

"Not a wizard. She's a seraph, and a powerful one at that." Ty corrected. "Anyway, Ambrose told us that the crystal fragments that treant cut off still hold parts of the Exseed's power, and he thinks that Oriel may hold clues on synthesizing them back into Fate."

"At the most, the Headmaster said to just give her this letter." Tala reached into his pocket and pulled out the aforementioned, folded object, a folded note with an 'H' shaped crest at its center.

"And here I was looking forward to a near work-free weekend." Victoria sighed, standing to her feet.

The dark haired boy chuckled at her comment, rising to his feet with her. "At least it's nothing strenuous, and if we go now we'll have the rest of the day off."

The remaining two joined them, Victoria grabbing the now empty plates from Ty and Tala before venturing towards the kitchen. As she returned from placing them in the sink, Fate entertained the thought of grabbing his long sleeved, hooded robe from the coat rack to the right of the entrance, a thought supported by his fair haired co-inhabitant, and with a clear objective the four set out, the door closing with a soft click behind them.

o o o

"So where does Lady Oriel live? Unicorn Way isn't exactly the smallest section of Wizard City." Victoria mused skeptically, the thought coming upon her as they neared the raised large, wrought-iron gate that funneled into Unicorn Way, the street's name carved into the gray brickwork above.

"Ambrose said a student familiar with the area would lead us there." Ty curtly responded, leading the way with staff in hand.

The journey from her loft hadn't been as nearly as long as the one through the shopping district, closer in length to her daily commute to Ravenwood. As she had predicted earlier, said district and the commons were filling with energetic bodies as noon drew nearer; bodies of students enjoying their weekend off or heading to Saturday classes, street performers whipping around in jester-like uniforms while holding out a hat for whatever gold coins might come into their possession, bodies of stoic scarlet-draped armored guards standing at full attention with spear in hand.

One such guard regarded the four with a wary eye as they approached, sizing each of them up before stopping his eyes on Fate for a longer time, whose hood perfectly concealed his face. Since Fate's assailants could recognize his face, Victoria's initial thought was to keep it thoroughly hidden when outside campus territory, though she could now understand how suspicious it would seem to a guard.

Her assumption proved correct as he called out. "Hey, you in the back. Let me see your face." The boy sent a look towards Victoria who only nodded for him to comply. The guardsman watched him for a moment, noticing the nervousness in his visage, then backed off, apparently placated by it. "Alright, you seem fine enough. Sorry about that. Just these reports about some hooded roughneck attacking students have put our ranks on edge."

The four nodded in comprehension, and with a verbal queue from the man moved forward through the vast tunnel, whose walls were covered in softly glowing ivy that substituted as a light source. The shining tendrils only seemed to grow in luminescence as they drew further inward until the once gray stone that encapsulated their path became naught but a lime green. The ivy soon gave way a few minutes later to a warm, ethereal sunlight, and the quartet stepped out into Unicorn Way proper.

Green was all that could describe it. Pure, undiluted green stemmed from every leaf on every tree that provided needed shade from the beating sunlight, every shrub and flower that gave life to house yards, and every blade of grass that lined the cobblestone pathways on either side. Birdsong tittered in the highest reaches and warm winds ruffled loose clothing and leaves, though more so than that, every aspect of nature seemed to move along with some hidden biological rhythm; like one single organism.

Their path soon came to a crossroad in the middle of a busy square, causing the group leader Ty to pause and consider the proper direction. Of his many trips to Unicorn Way, he had mostly familiarized himself with the lay of the land. Further evidenced by the majority of student traffic, the east road led towards the Ravenwood-owned dueling arena, of which the four could make out its domed, leafy roof and sandy colored walls. He had little knowledge of the west path, but the northern route definitely held access towards the famous Unicorn Park, and as the group came within its boundaries they laid eyes on the towering statue for which it was named.

Several varieties of flowers dotted the grass throughout the park and small children released themselves to their more energetic instincts, running wildly around despite their parents' best efforts to corral them. A small group sat at the center of the park, near the wide circular fountain that served as the statue's base, and attracted by the sounds emanating from them, Fate branched off from the group and wandered over to them.

As the boy approached, he not only noticed the serene faces of those gathered around but the numerous fairies moving about also. He became wholly entranced by their dance, ducking and weaving in and out of the assembled crowd, their transparent wings releasing some sort of radiant dust in their wake. His eyes soon looked forwards towards the source of the sound, primarily the two figures seated upon the fountain's edge.

The one on the right, a boy around Ty's age swathed in dark-stained green robes, raised his eyes as Fate approached and regarded the young teen with a smile. A worn strap draped across his torso, ending in a faded messenger bag hanging at his right hip and the gnarled wooden staff leaned against him sprouted various types of leaves from its apex.

Initiate Theurgist: Ceren Nightchant

In Fate's eyes, the leftmost one was much more peculiar than the other. Her short red hair and lithe frame at first confused him, though he eventually deduced that she was female. A jade-stained tank top covered her upper half and a short coffee brown sarong wrapped around her waist, held up by numerous tough belts that crisscrossed across her hips. Snow white pants tucked into fitted knee high boots, and a russet sitar which had seen its fair share of play rested across her lap, strings beautifully plucked in a soothing pattern by her slender fingers. She made no movements as he stopped to stare, only continuing to play without rest.

Journeyman Theurgist: Aria Nightingale

Whichever fairies and pixies decided not to join in their race's dances took seats either beside the two people or somewhere on their form, one even dangling her diminutive feet from her place on the head of her instrument. The sight and sounds together were truly one to behold with the boy's limited experiences, and his wonderment was broken only by the opportune arrival of his three escorts.

"Come on, Fate." Victoria beckoned, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We don't have time to-"

"Hold on a second, Victoria." Ty's voice effectively halted her attempt, though as she turned around she noticed that his eyes were on neither of them; rather fixed upon the two individuals seated upon the fountain. At the same time, the one on the right moved from Fate to the Diviner, and a look of pleasant surprise crossed his face. Both moved towards each other and eventually met in the middle, the crowd ignoring them in favor of enjoying the music. As the other three walked towards them, Ty continued. "I think we just found our guide."

"Good to see you, Ty." The male held out his hand, to which the storm wizard gladly accepted. "It's been a while since I've seen you last."

"It sure has. Victoria, Tala, Fate; I'd like you all to meet Ceren Nightchant. He's in my graduating class." The trio and life wizard all took turns exchanging handshakes, before Ty elaborated further. "This is my sister Victoria, and her two classmates Tala and Fate."

"Nice to meet you all. You must be the group Headmaster told me of." All four nodded in near unison. "I wasn't given much information past that, so I suppose I should ask. What business do you have with the Lady?"

The quartet exchanged concerned glances, wondering about the best course of action to take. At some length, Tala cleared his throat and brought out the folded letter. "We're not entirely sure. He only told us to hand-deliver this note to Oriel."

"How strange. A simple note would have no need for four deliverers. Even a single fairy would have sufficed." His confusion soon gave way to acceptance. "Though I suppose Headmaster knows what he's doing. Let us depart immediately."

Instead of stepping towards a direction like Victoria had thought, Ceren whipped around behind himself and made several calling gestures towards the girl still upon the fountain. He finally grabbed her attention, head rising from her sitar strings and a pair of emerald green eyes no different from Fate's locked on to the assembled party with a reserved smile following after. The fairies around and on her departed like startled butterflies as she stood to her feet, the middle of the sitar neck clasped in her fingers and the two long arms of the striped scarf around her shoulders falling down to the back of her ankles. The music died with that, and the seated listeners dispersed with the fairies, though not nearly as quickly.

"This is Journeyman Theurgist Aria Nightingale. She's offered to accompany us today." Ceren explained as she approached, the four beginning another round of greetings, this time with bows instead of handshakes. As she was about to greet the last in line, Fate, she paused and stared; a stare whose silence drew on until the boy shrugged at his other companion's silent questions. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she spoke.

"You're very different from the others."

Her statement caused Ceren to lift a confused eyebrow and the others to send each other nervous glances. She had obviously noticed something about Fate, though at least from the warm mirth of her smile, there were no ill intentions in her words. The redhead whimsically spun around and began walking northward around the fountain and moments later Ceren gestured for all of them to follow her lead.

o o o

Private O'Ryan stepped from the confines of his one story abode with a sigh, locking the door behind him and venturing down the crowded roadway towards the Hedge Maze, his most recently assigned guard position.

News of the attacks in Ravenwood the other day had definitely set the Wizard City Guard ranks on edge, most of his Unicorn Way comrades being reassigned to bolster gaps within the school territory with hopes of preventing further incidents. This had left the remaining sentries to fill in the resulting gaps, and almost all had seen an increase in hours on duty. O'Ryan himself had just barely managed to fall asleep as he returned home from his shift at three in the morning, and was already heading back to his post, albeit unwillingly. As his eyes drew upon the white stone exterior of his assignment, he was left with the hope that the person behind the attack would soon be caught and he could return to his normal sleeping schedule.

The packed streets petered out into near empty walkways and something peculiar caught his weary eyes as he drew closer. To the left of the front doorway, the familiar form of his coworker Private Connelly stared downward, supposedly in conversation with the three odd figures in question. All wore dark cloaks to shield their bodies, tattered at the bottom, and as the Private entered earshot he could just make out what the shortest one uttered.

"I will not repeat myself again. Open the door, foolish mortal."

"And I won't tell you again." Connelly barked back in disdain, face growing more heated and his spearhead pointing towards their position. "Nobody sees Oriel without proper authorization. Now leave before I arrest you."

O'Ryan could understand the gist of what was happening from their exchange, and he soon placed a free hand on the middle perpetrator's shoulder, speaking roughly. "Son, you might want to do what he says. We'd be glad to let you in later if you just—"

The Private's voice caught in his throat as he was shoved backwards and before he could register what had happened, the sound of rasping metal preceded a swift diagonal slice across his front side. He began to fall backwards, eyes catching the naked scimitar bore in the cloaked figures bony grasp just as his back connected with the stone beneath.

(Author's Notes)

Wow it's almost been two months since the last update. I apologize for that, to those who are still reading. In between my main project, I'll try to update this one whenever I can.

So this is a different take on the Unicorn Way arc, as you may already be able to tell. Everyone except the new female in this chapter is actually an in-game character. OC's will be inevitable in a story like this, so I'm trying to give canon characters like Ceren Nightchant more prominence.

As always, feedback is appreciated. And thanks to Sci-fiwizardman and QueenGaga for reviewing.