The guild bustled with fear and excitement. Two hours earlier, Alice Nomex of the Moonlight Court had slammed open the door to the master's office and stalked out covered in blood, declaring war on another dark guild. Then the entire Moonlight Court had disappeared into the office, and were still in there, talking softly about something - or in Alice's case, screaming less than usual.
After about three more hours, the door creaked open, and Liselle flounced out, dragging something large and bloody behind her, something that looked suspiciously like the old guild master. All activity in the guild stopped and watched the broken corpse drag across the floor, a sickening smile on Liselle's face as she advanced towards the door. The rest of the Moonlight Court followed her out, stopping in the middle of the room as she carried onwards, probably to dispose of the body.
Alice shifted on her feet, grinning wickedly.
"Well then, you've all seen it, we are currently without a guild master, and I believe as rules go, the one to defeat the guild master is the next one. And so, in this time of war, I declare myself master of Moonlight Insomniacs. Anyone with issues can take them up with me, personally," she purred, cracking her knuckles for dramatic effect.
The rest of the court rolled their eyes at their resident drama queen, but the intention was clear. Some guild members were terrified, slowly backing into the walls like cornered rats.
Veribex stepped forward.
"From now on, we are at war. However, to attack first is not the strategy we will win with. We are going to let them attack, and then observe just what we're up against, so that we may find the most efficient way to combat it. In short, we are now living in a powder keg. Be prepared."
He glanced around at the guild members. They were many, but they were a sorry lot. They couldn't keep up with a team of good magicians. Hopefully the Court could keep their best ones in action, that way they could pick off some of the smaller members. The odds weren't good, but Alice was never one to listen to odds. She would take on the entire dark guild herself if she had to, and be stubborn enough to win. Luckily, she had a guild to back her bull headed stupidity. Not that he would ever tell her that, though. He might end up dead if he did.
And he couldn't die. Not yet. Not now that he had her, as fragile and broken as she was, his Liselle. He needed her, and she needed him. And so he did everything he could to survive and follow her.
The front door slammed open, and Liselle walked back in, aware that Veribex was staring at her with those hauntingly dark eyes. She walked over to him and put her back to his chest, leaning back on his tall, broad figure. Looking at the terrified faces of the little guild scum, she deduced that they had already been given the war 'pep talk' that Alice had worked so hard on to make it as dramatic as possible. Giggling, she pushed off Veribex and followed Sara as she lead the other four daunting Court members out of the room to mercifully give the guild scum some time to adjust to the news.
Sara paused a moment and faced the guild a moment. Her eyes narrowed briefly before they went soft. She smiled and called out for their attention.
"I know not everyone likes Alice, but I do! I think she'll be a good master," she grinned. The guild halted their bustling. Liselle smirked. Jax snickered to himself. Veribex sighed. Alice lightly ruffled Sara's hair. There was the sun again, sticking everything back together.
"Hey, you might have a future in politics," Jax praised. Sara shrugged with an innocent look on her face.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Jax," she said simply. Jax had worn a hoodie today. Sara tugged on it. "Gimme," she demanded. He sighed. Sara did that a lot. Steal Jax's hoodies, that was. She slipped it on and smiled. He looked away awkwardly.
"OTP," Alice murmured to herself.
However, at the same time, Shadow Melody was in a slightly different situation. Ren was agitated, pacing through the guild.
"Hinso, 'sup with Ren?" Someone asked. The white haired boy held his stuffed animal tighter.
"Oh, Drenedis. Well, on our last job with Sina, we ran into Moonlight Insomniac," he murmured. Sina scoffed.
"I don't get why he's so agitated. Just 'cause master said we couldn't go wipe them out now, doesn't mean we can't do it anyway," her fingers twitched. "I know there's at least one I want suffering," she grinned darkly.
"Ha, like your magic can kill," a beautiful girl interrupted. "Little mind tricks can't do shit, dear. I have no idea where your confidence comes from," she smirked. Sina's eye twitched.
"Crisna, don't be mean to Sina," Hinso pouted. Crisna sighed and ruffled his hair. He smiled brightly. "As always, you're so cute!" He cooed. Crisna rolled her eyes.
"I know, I'm irresistible," she winked.
All of a sudden, Ren stopped his pacing. The guild went silent, hoping not to anger him. Sina stood up and crossed her arms.
"Well, Ren?" She asked. He scowled and turned to her.
"Shut up, I just had a revelation. Your stupidity is chasing it away," he hissed. Sina grew quiet and sat down quickly. No one looked at Ren. He started chuckling.
"That Alice, I have a feeling we're quite similar," he smirked. "It would be great to meet again."
"Well, considering Moonlight Insomniacs have officially declared war on us, it won't be long," the shadowed figure of the master emerged from his office.
Ren smirked. "I thought their master was going to sell you his guild? Did he back out?"
The master shook his head. "No, not at all. He was quite intent on fleeing Fiore for a while now. This was his chance. Someone else took over as master. I'm sure we'll be finding out who very soon."
Ren chuckled. "I can't wait." Sina's eyes widened and she shook with excitement. Yes, she could finally kill Sara! That traitor, did she think that guild could protect her? She looked so happy with that black-haired boy. Her lips curled into a dark smile. Sina could finally get her revenge. And she knew just how to do it.
"Oi, Sina," Ren suddenly called. She froze and met his eyes. He had walked over to her and was watching her carefully. "You seem awfully excited about this. More than me," he mused. Sina didn't reply.
Ren scoffed and turned away. One of the guild members was unlucky enough to meet his gaze. Ren simply flicked him on the cheek as he walked by, but that clearly wasn't just a flick. The man collapsed on the ground, writhing in pain. No one said a word as the man slowly died.
"If Moonlight Insomniac wants a war," Ren said slowly, his eyes shadowed. "Then they've just signed their death certificate."
Alice sneezed. She lightly rubbed her nose sleepily. "Who the hell is talking about my guild at this hour?" Sara rolled over and murmured in her sleep. Alice rolled her eyes. "Geez, we're fifteen and she still is a sleep cuddler."
She sat up and looked at the clock by the side of the bed. Four in the morning. Well, no use going back to bed now, she thought.
Sighing in comfort as her feet touched the cold floor, she got out of bed and made her way over to the dresser. The whole ice dragon slayer thing was really quite nice. After slipping on some clothes and a pair of sturdy boots, she proceeded to tie her hair up in a messy ponytail.
She then made her way down the hallway to the front door of the small compound the Moonlight Court called home, and stepped out into the cool autumn air. The sun had not yet come up, and the air was crisp and unforgiving to those not immune to the cold. She grinned.
Jumping high into the air, she landed on the roof of a nearby house. She only touched the tiles for a second before she was off again, spiraling over rooftops, flipping, spinning, covering huge distances in graceful leaps.
She loved times like this. When she could just be free, nothing holding her back, nowhere in particular she had to go, no one she had to see. Best of all, no one could see her.
She made it as far as she could before the sun started to rise, then she stopped, and looked back at the tiny city. It would probably take a while for their enemy to attack, as they probably had the same strategy as Moonlight Insomniac.
She needed a day off. Sort of a calm before the storm. She would only be gone for two days, max. No more.
Grinning, she looked around to see if there were any early morning laborers out. Spotting a newspaper boy scurrying from door to door, she jumped down and landed in front of him with a thud. The boy dropped his papers, and backed away in terror. The Moonlight Court was well known in their hometown.
"I-I don't have any money! I swear! Nothing of value!" He cowered.
Alice chuckled. "Relax kid, I'm not going to eat you. I want you to deliver a message for me. You know where my guild hall is?" The boy nodded quickly. Everyone did!
"I want you to tell Sara that I'm off on a pleasure run, and I'll be back in about two days." The boy nodded again. Alice smirked. "Good."
She tossed him a coin from her pouch, and once again took to the rooftops, making her way to the forest at the edge of town. Landing in a tree, she stopped for a second to contemplate her actions.
What could go wrong in two days that the Court couldn't fix without her? They were her personal team, chosen for a reason. They were capable.
Smiling genuinely - something she rarely did - she took off into the trees, contented to be surrounded only by the sounds of the forest.
Sara woke up with a throbbing headache. She tried to open her eyes, but it was pointless. There was something over her eyes. Blindfold?
She attempted to move her limbs, but it felt like they were strapped down with something. This something was oddly fuzzy and mildly disturbed Sara. Her heart started beating faster. Where was she?
"Hinso, did you really have to use those handcuffs?" A girl asked. From her voice, she seemed to be pouting.
"Of course! Cute things deserve more cute things! And fuzzy things are cute!" A high pitched yet definitively male voice resounded throughout the room. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.
She racked her brain trying to think of the last time she had met a little boy. And then it hit her. She had tried her very best to erase the experience out of her mind because of her unfortunate family reunion.
But she remembered him, the weird boy who had called her cute. The other people called him Hinso. Yes, that was it! Hinso! She had a good idea of what was going on.
She had heard two voices, and if she remembered her sister, she never shut up. That meant that she wasn't here.
She cleared her throat loudly. "Shadow Melody. Where is my sister?" She spoke calmly and clearly, as if she was in control of the situation.
She had spent enough time with the world's biggest drama queen to know that if you acted like you had power, that you were in control of your situation, it made others think that too.
It made them nervous, on edge. And Sara needed every little detail in her favor right now.
"Been here the whole time, Sara," she heard Sina scoff. "You're acting so confident. I wonder where it comes from."
"Must be genetic," the other girl chuckled. "You do the same thing. Act confident, that is."
"Don't you dare say we're similar, Crisna. I'm nothing like her," Sina hissed. Sara tilted her head. So far, there was Hinso, Sina, and Crisna. She hadn't met Crisna before.
"True. After all, your sister is more of a Rosa Indica. You're… Huh, Solanum lycopersicum," she could hear Crisna smirk.
"Crisna," Hinso drawled. "That's a bit much!"
Sara was trying to figure out what those words meant. Was she obnoxiously using the scientific names for plants?
"You bitch!" Sina yelled. "Don't compare people to tomatoes!" Sara chuckled lightly.
"I'm sure you're as red as one right now, dear sister," Sara said. She was quickly slapped, but didn't make a sound.
"Don't talk to me," Sina hissed. Sara clenched her jaw. She wouldn't give Sina the satisfaction of crying out.
"Hey, Sina. Ren told us not to hit her," Hinso said quietly. "He said something about saving that for later."
Sina scoffed and seemingly stormed out of the room. Crisna chuckled. "As always, such a temper on that girl. That's why she'll never get a boyfriend!"
"Cris, you didn't have to be so mean," Hinso pouted. "Yeah, Sara is a rose, but I think she's more of a white rose. Sina would be a red one."
"No, that would imply Sara was innocent. If they're both Rosa indicus, Sara is red and Sina is black," Crisna answered.
"Aww, why do you think she's not innocent?" Hinso asked. Sara's lips twitched. She tried to look for her chalice before she realized she didn't have it. She was completely helpless.
"Remember when we found Sina? Sara likely also was travelling alone. There's no way a kid on the street could survive on the road without losing their innocence," Crisna said casually. Sara smirked.
"Depends on what you believe is innocence. If you know all about Sina, you should know that innocence was gone before we were even on the road," Sara interrupted. Crisna giggled and Hinso hummed.
"You're so fun! Unlike Sina, who just is angry all the time. I guess someone saved you from turning out like her," Crisna mused. Sara tilted her head. Saved…? Ah, Alice. It had to be Alice. Sara felt pain in her chest. Where was Alice? Why wasn't Alice saving her yet?
Someone entered the room. Sara carefully noted the sound of the footsteps. "Ah, she's awake," he purred. Sara bit her cheek.
"Yes, Ren," Hinso answered softly. Crisna made no noise. Were they afraid of him or something?
Ren continued to walk until he stopped in front of Sara. She continued breathing calmly. She felt fingers on her face and she resisted the urge to bite him.
"In this light," he began, tilting her face, "you are rather cute. I can see why Hinso wants to keep you," he chuckled. He suddenly froze. "Who hit her?" Sara tried not to smile as no one answered. She had an advantage over Sina now. The room seemed a lot colder than it was before. "Let me ask again, who hit our hostage?"
"I-it was S-Sina, sir," Crisna stuttered. Ren tutted.
"Should've known that girl would do something like this. Ah, now we can't claim she's unharmed. Well, that Alice girl would be infuriated if we said 'slightly harmed.' Perhaps this is better," Ren murmured.
"Alice is going to be infuriated that I'm not there in the first place. She already knows I'm gone. You're living in a powder keg," Sara smirked. Ren chuckled. He leaned his face closer to Sara so that she could feel his hot breath.
"Exactly what I wanted," he purred. "I heard they declared war on us. Their guild master is too much of a coward to do something like that, so he's dead. Who's the new master, Sara?"
Sara's fingers twitched. Another advantage. They didn't know the new master was Alice, who was stupid enough to charge in without a plan.
"I asked you a question, sweetie," Ren placed a hand on Sara's neck as a warning. Sara was struggling not to laugh. Like she was scared!
"Oh, so you did," Sara hummed. Ren tightened his fingers on her neck. This was a dangerous situation. "You really want to do this? Alice won't give a shit what the new master says. Neither will the entire guild. Let me tell you a little about our politics, Ren. If the master is king, then I'm the priest. I whisper the words of advice. If the master is king, I'm the shadow king. It was clever of you to take me, but at the same time dangerous. Like I said, powder keg."
"You? Shadow king?" Ren chuckled. His fingers loosened and Sara felt his palms slightly sweating.
"Queen if you prefer," she maintained her smirk. "In short, I'm the most important person in the guild. The sun to the moon."
Ren released her and stood up quickly. "Hinso, Crisna. Get Sina and Drenedis here. We have a war to discuss. Sara will help us."
"But, Ren," Crisna piped up. "Is it really a good idea to have the enemy listen in?"
"It's not like she's going back anytime soon," Ren said casually. "Besides, Sara is an item-holder mage. Sina has her magic item. We only have to keep her guild away from her."
"We will go get them, Ren," Hinso said quickly. They left the room. Ren stood still a moment, likely deep in thought. He turned on his heel and yanked the blindfold off of Sara's head. She squeaked, caught off guard. Sara blinked in the sudden light. She was face to face with Ren.
His ice-like eyes seemingly stared into her soul. She tilted her head slightly. Despite seeming so intimidating, he looked empty. The door clicked and her eyes flicked to it. The four entered the room. Sina immediately glared at Sara. Sara also recognized Hinso. There were two others. She assumed one was Crisna, and the other was the 'Drenedis' they mentioned.
She set her gaze to a cold, amused stare she had seen on Alice's face so many times. She vaguely wondered if this is what the other girl felt like through her infinitely amused dimenor. If it was, she felt pity for her friend.
Shaking herself back to the situation at hand, she noticed that they were all staring at her. Sara smiled at them, closing her eyes.
"No time to watch me. You've got a losing war to plan, Shadow Melody."
Ren scowled, then his face broke into a relaxed smile similar to Alice's. Which is to say, not relaxed at all, and rather terrifying. Sara giggled. He looked about as intimidating as a wet kitten.
All her time with Alice meant that Ren was an open book to her. He wouldn't be able to hide anything from her. Right now he was nervous. He felt that she wasn't scared enough.
And she wasn't. Alice was far more powerful than he was. The only time Alice used that smile was when she was hurt. She would never stoop so low as to be nervous over a battle.
These kids were amateurs, made confident by power they probably didn't know how to properly use. She giggled again.
Looking straight into Ren's eyes, she shot him an amused grin. "Nervous, are we?" Surprise and fear flickered in his eyes, but they quickly regained their previous cold look. He stalked over to a small table in the corner of the room, and the others followed.
"Think what you want," he grinned sickeningly, "by the time we're done with you and your guild, you will wish we had killed you with the rest of your little friends."
Sara sighed. So that was her sister's master plan. Oh, so scary. Emotional damage.
They would have to try harder than that to hurt her. A lot harder.
Besides, there was no way they could even touch the Moonlight Court. Alice would never let that happen.
If these kids tried to take on Moonlight Insomniacs, they had a world of pain coming. In the form of a stubborn and quite merciless ice dragon slayer.
AN:
Eon: well
Arts: well.