The streets of Hendon Myre were bustling with people. Out of all days, it had to be today that it was extremely crowded.
Lots of stands were set up for selling and trading goods, and Manjin had managed to lure in a lot of people with the promise of rare items from a pot.
As Miaxiang and The Ripper walked through the crowd, hardly being able to check out the topic of each stand, they swept over to the outskirts of the town, Grand Flores.
"If you want to get to Sky Tower, you have to be skilled enough. We're going to train ourselves in the multiple forests here." The Ripper told her. Miaxiang nodded.
"Let's go buy you a gun." The Ripper took her hand and they started moving over to a back alley. Miaxiang hesitated.
"A gun? Why would I need a gun?" She asked. The gunner smiled at her.
"You need to be able to fight if you want to get back up to Empyrean. I'm going to teach you how to shoot." He instructed. She thought about it for a moment but was stopped short when the two reached their destination.
It was lit up, neon signs on the walls, and there was a large cauldron. A girl, with pink hair tied in two low pigtails, dressed in a red dress with a white chest, a black shawl, black stockings, metal heels, and a large, black witch hat was brewing something in the large pot.
Probably a witch.
"Polaria." The Ripper said. The witch looked up from her recipe and smiled.
"Yo! It's good to see you again!" She exclaimed. "Oh, who's this?" She asked with a cheerful voice.
"This is Miaxiang. She fell down from Empyrean." The Ripper told the witch. The witch, Polaria, stood staring at Miaxiang with her eyes widened.
"Is this the Second Princess?" The witch asked, not taking her eyes off of Miaxiang. The Ripper nodded.
"Oh, interesting!" Polaria hopped on a broomstick. The broomstick had a wooden handle, the bristles were purple and in a slight paintbrush shape, slightly cubed. The broom zoomed around and floated in the air in front of Miaxiang.
"You can call me Polar." The witch held out her hand. She looked at it then took off her black glove with a giggle. Miaxiang and Polar shook hands.
"Please call me Mia." Miaxiang said. Polar gave her a warm smile.
"I've always wanted to be close to someone of royal blood." The witch flew around, sitting on her broom. She moved back to her cauldron, still sitting on her broom.
"Anyways, what are you here for, Ripper?" Polar asked.
"I'm going to teach Miaxiang how to fight so that she can get back up to Empyrean with no trouble." The Ripper told her.
"So, you need a gun?" The Ripper and Miaxiang both nodded. The witch threw a small, sealed bag containing coins over to The Ripper. He caught it with one hand.
"Get me Rainbow Mermaid Scales. If you do, I'll make you a gun empowered with magic." The witch smirked as she saw Mia's reaction.
"A magic gun?" Mia was mesmerized. The Ripper grabbed her hand, waved to Polar, then walked away with Mia.
"Mermaid Scales?" Mia looked up, asking The Ripper. He sighed.
"She always wants the hardest things to get. You can only get Mermaid Scales from mermaids, you know, and those are only found in the Middle Ocean!" He exclaimed.
Mia pointed to a stand not far from them. "Are those Rainbow Mermaid Scales?" She asked. The Ripper immediatly hustled over to the sale and Mia followed after him.
"Where did you get these?" The Ripper asked the merchant with shock. The merchant, who had short, blonde hair was smiling.
"The Middle Ocean, sir!" He said with pride. The Ripper looked at him with suspicion.
"How much?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of the merchant.
"50,000 gold each, please!" The merchant said with a cheerful voice. The Ripper's jaw dropped.
"50,000 each?" The merchant nodded happily. The Ripper sighed through his nose, then slammed the little bag on the wooden stand, in front of the mermaid scales.
"I'll take as many as you got." He said. The merchant smiled and gave him 20.
"20? He had that much?" Polar asked, holding up a single scale. It glittered in her hand.
She set the scale down with the others. "He's interesting. I'll have to go see him for myself." She said. She turned to the two in front of her.
"A magic gun coming right up." The witch grabbed potions, tubes, and bottles of strange artifacts from her cupboards and poured them in the cauldron. They created a purple, pink mixture. She added in a Rainbow Mermaid Scale and winked at Mia. The mixture released a puff of smoke.
After a few moments of silence, along with the witch's eyes glued onto her piece of work, a purple, transparent gun appeared from the cauldron. It was empty.
Polar grabbed the gun and handed it over to Mia. Mia felt a bolt of energy surge through her veins as soon as she touched the gun. She looked up at its creator and smiled. Polar returned the gesture and turned to The Ripper.
"I hope your training goes well." She told them. He nodded. "Thanks. I'll see you around." They waved and the witch waved back. As the two approached the forest to train, Mia looked at her gun once more.
"I'm really going to use this?" Her hands trembled, the thought of killing people flooding her mind. The Ripper looked down at her with no emotions shown. He looked back up.
"Come on. Every second counts." He walked forward. She stuffed the gun back in her pocket and followed after him.
They approached a group of goblins. The goblins licked their lips, seeing the humans. Mia shook with fear. The Ripper grabbed her shoulder.
"Grab the handle." She did as she was told. "Aim." She pointed the tip of the gun at the face of the enemy. "Put your finger on the trigger." Her finger slipped down to the trigger.
"Shoot."
The goblin fell down, dead, a hole in its forehead. Mia stared at her accomplishment.
She felt like she could do anything she wanted.
She could do anything.
As if it were instinct, she shot the other two goblins, in the exact same spot as the last.
"They're horrible creatures. They kill people." The Ripper shot one in the chest that was on his side, trying to strike him. Mia turned around and shot one from right behind him.
"I'm not afraid anymore." Mia told him. He smiled.
Suddenly, the two heard a blood-curdling scream come from the direction of the town.
"HELP ME!" The voice shouted. Mia and the Ripper ran back to Hendon Myre as fast as they could.
Mia's eyes widened at the sight.
Goblins had struck the town, destroying property and killing people.
"9 year olds should cover their eyes." The Ripper told her, placing his hand over her eyes. The other held his gun.
She took his hands off of her face and looked at him, annoyed. "I'm 12, not 9. I can handle things like these."
"Did something happen in Empyrean?" He asked, shooting down as many goblins as he could. Mia joined him.
"We were attacked once. Maids and butlers died right before my eyes."
"Ah, I see. That sounds terrible." The Ripper pushed a girl out of the way. "Get to safety! Hurry!"
"Everyone, stay still!" A large voice boomed through a megaphone. Mia and the Ripper looked up. Standing there was Polar, holding a megaphone in her hand. She held a thumbs up to Mia and the Ripper.
"Florae! Jack o' Lantern! Pluto! Jack Frost!" As Polar said these words, the 4 familiars flew to different parts of the town, helping the citizens and killing off the goblins. In a matter of minutes, the familiars had finished defeating the threat.
Polar smiled. She flew over to Mia and The Ripper.
"That's terrible. I didn't think something like this would happen." The witch said. Mia looked away, her face portraying sadness.
"Do you guys have a place to stay for tonight?" Polar asked. The Ripper shook his head.
"You can stay at my place for the night." She told them. The Ripper and the witch exchanged thanks.
"Come on, let's go." The three went to Polar's apartment.
"Get a good night's sleep. I want to take you guys somewhere tomorrow." Polar said as her hand hovered over the light switch. Mia opened her mouth to say something but Polar flipped the switch and said cheerfully, "Good night!"
Mia sighed as she fell asleep in the guest bed she was given. The Ripper fell asleep on the couch.
Next Chapter: Poison Thunderland