Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a figure appeared walking the streets, face seldom. People of Adventure Bay watched as the figure - a woman - made her way to the guild, and hastily got out of her way. It wasn't long before a guild member, Ryder, whom had been out and about chatting with girls, spotted her and froze. Instantly recognizing the orange-red hair, her freckles, stern brown eyes, leather jacket and green pants, the PAW Patrol wizard took a step back and made his way towards the guild to warn everyone.
Inside the guild, things were as light-hearted as ever, with beers passed around and people chatting.
"Hey, Sachi! Another round!" A voice called out. The white haired woman smiled.
"Okay, here I come!"
"Come on, go out on a date with me Sachi-chan!" Kaiser said, and Sachi blushed while a girl with black hair with white tips glared at him.
"Don't start this again," Anja growled, folding her arms. Sachi just laughed.
"But, dear," She started, using some of her magic to transform her face. When the smoke disappeared, it was revealed to be someone...not Sachi. "You have a wife, don't you?" She asked, and Kaiser freaked.
"Please stop that, Sachi-chan!"
Watching the scene was Mandy and Vivi, the card mage shaking her head.
"One of these days, I'd like to drink in peace." She said. Vivi tisked, folding her arms as she frowned in disapproval at her.
"Dear, you really shouldn't be drinking so much. It's not good for a young lady to drink as much as you do. How would you ever get a boyfriend like that?" Vivi asked, making Mandy choke, and then stare at the wizard before her, eyes wide and jaw dropped.
"M-Miss Vivi, you shouldn't say those things! And besides, you drink too!" She said. Vivi frowned and cocked her head to the side.
"But I'm older."
"And I'm not a child! I appreciate the concern, I really do, but I think I can handle myself." Mandy said, giving the woman a smile. Vivi clicked her tongue, giving Mandy one more stare of disapproval, before returning to her drink. Heaving a sigh of relief, Mandy also went back to drinking. Meanwhile, Marshall was near the bar, groaning, face in despair, and Joey happily munching away on fish.
"I have to go on a job soon." He muttered.
"Aye. We're running out of food money." Joey agreed.
Chase, who had been too busy sticking his nose inside a book, looked up and glared at him.
"You should've taken that 2,000,000 jewels we had last mission; then you wouldn't be in this mess." He said, returning back to the book. He frowned. Then again, my rent's coming up soon. I need a job as well, but...
"Hey, Chase. Whatcha reading?" Marshall asked, appearing over his shoulder. The dark mage wizard shoved him away, glaring.
"It has something to do with what that wizard had said on the way back on the guild." He said. Marshall blinked.
"I thought I told you not to worry about it." He said, frowning. Chase frowned as well.
"I can't! Not if I-" He paused, and look down at the ground. Not if I know about it. Not if I was taught about it from the very person your guild hates. Not if you knew the truth about me. He thought, not realizing how tense he was until a hand landed on his shoulder, making him look up. Marshall was staring at him with narrowed blue eyes, but somehow, Chase doubted Marshall was angry.
"Hey," He said, in a very firm tone that broke no argument and surprised Chase. "Don't worry about it. It's obvious this thing has been bugging you since that wizard spoke that word. Whatever may come our way, we can face it, head on, together. And we'll win. So relax."
Chase just stared at him, eyes wide, before he smiled and nodded, closing the book.
"Okay."
"He liiiiikes him!" Joey said, startling the two mages. Marshall blinked while Chase glared at him, blushing. Everest, who was not too far away from the bar, cocked her head to the side and looked at Chase and Marshall, curious.
"Why are you rolling your tongue like that you stupid cat?" Chase gritted his teeth. Joey didn't say anything, but grinned wider, fish in his mouth. It was obvious the cat wasn't going to say anything else, no matter how hard Chase was staring at him. Breaking the slightly awkward silence, Marshall turned to Chase.
"Wanna go on a job?" The fire mage asked. Chase smiled and went to the board, where all the missions were.
"Already ahead of you!" He said, and looked at the board, trying to figure out what kind of request he would like to go on. "Looking for a magical bracelet, dispel the magic on this cursed cane, fortune telling using Astrology, a Monster Hunt in a volcano?!" Chase shook his head. "There sure are a lot of things wizards get ask to do." That's when Sachi came over.
"If there's one that suits your fancy, just tell me. Master is off at the regular meeting." She said. Chase blinked in surprise.
"That's right. I forgot that most masters usually gather up in an area to give regular check ins. The Magic Council had say something about it at one point." He said. Sachi smiled.
"Oh? You know the Magic Council personally, then?" She asked. Chase just smiled, albeit, nervously.
"Only one. He...took me in when I had nowhere to go, and has taught me how to use my magic for good." He said. I think. Most of my spells are dark, and later on I realized that I only have one or two light spells in comparison. Still, it's not like he's setting me up for failure, right? Why would he suggest a light guild if that was the case? Chase thought.
"I see. Well, the regular meetings are different from the Council meetings," That's when she looked at another guild member, a painter, named Francois. "Francois, may I use a light pen?" She asked.
"Qui." He said, handing her the pen. That's when Sachi started to write in thin air, drawing the diagram.
"The people on top of the world of magic are the ten members of the council, connected with the government," She started. "Their job is to bring order to everything that goes on in the world of magic. And on the chance that a wizard commits a crime," Chase winced at that. "They pass judgement on them." You don't have to explain - I already know from experience. "Then, below them are the organization of guild masters, the Guild Master Leagues. They circulate the decrees of the council, smooth out communications between the guilds in the same area, and keep us unified. " She smiled. "It's a pretty tough job."
"It sounds like it." Chase agreed.
"Keeping the guild's alliance is very important. If you're not careful,"
"THE DARK GUYS ARE COMING!" Marshall shouted, causing Chase to jump ten feet in the air. The fire mage couldn't help but laugh while Chase glared at him.
"It's true though. Those 'dark guys' really exist. Dark guilds." Sachi said with a frown on her face. At that, Chase tensed and slowly turned to face the white haired bartender, a look of horror appearing on his face. Seeing this, Sachi immediately covered her tracks. "I guess you already know about that, and I'm sorry for bringing back any bad memories."
"I wouldn't call them bad, it's just," Chase frowned. Lonely. Empty. Without feeling. The guild I was with didn't have the same...atmosphere as this one. "I learned a lot in the guild I was with. But...I was never close to any of them. And the master wasn't exactly the type of person you could just open up to, like Goodway."
"That sounds sad," Sachi said, frowning. "What was your guild master like?"
Chase frowned. Greedy, cheater, arrogant, power-hungry, and strict. You've probably heard of him, his name is Albert Humdinger, one of the many guilds that was your rival. Disappeared when the guild disbanded, and never even got a goodbye from him when he'd left. The other members, I have no idea where they went. A voice said in his head and Chase flinched.
"He...he wasn't the nicest person around, but, he wasn't cruel either. He's more like...stoic and cold, like an ice block." He said.
"Like Everest?"
"What the hell was that fire bastard?!"
"You heard me, ice cube!"
"Come say that to my face moron!"
The two wizards watched as Marshall stormed over to Everest and began fighting. Sighing, Sachi turned to him.
"Anyway, has your master ever told you why dark guilds form the way that they do?" She asked, and Chase shook his head. "They don't belong the league. They usually use upper handing meanings to get what they want, and the Council won't allow something like that in the alliance."
"So most of them went rogue?"
"That's one way to put it." Sachi said, and Chase nodded his head, understanding. Meanwhile, Marshall was right back to his side, with a bleeding lip.
"Did you pick out a job yet?" He asked, grinning. Chase gave him a wary glance.
"Aren't you going to do something about that lip? You're going to get blood all over yourself." He said, a little concern. Marshall laughed.
"Nah! I had worst! You should see Everest, though," He said. "Anyway, we're a team, and since we picked out the last mission, it's your turn now!"
"Right." Chase sighed, and just then, the doors bust open, revealing a panic-looking Ryder.
"We've got trouble!" He shouted, causing everyone to look at him. "Ace is back."
Silence. Absolute silence. Chase wondered if anyone had done a time spell without knowing, when terrified shouts filled the air and everyone began to scramble around the guild, looking just as panic as Ryder. Chase watched the madness unfold before him, stunned.
"Is...Ace really that scary?" He asked. Sachi smiled.
"I think it'd be correct to call her the strongest female wizard in all of PAW Patrol right now." She said, which, really, didn't help with the feeling in Chase's gut. He swallowed nervously, eyes locked on the front entrance of the guild. He could hear feet stomping outside, and Chase really wanted to melt into the ground. Some of the members in this guild are pretty strong already, he thought. If what Marshall, Everest, and Joey said is true, then...oh my god, what have I gotten myself into?!
"It's Ace." Anja said, sweatdropping, a nervous smile on her face.
"That's Ace's footsteps." Kaiser commented.
"Ace is coming back." Vivi said, the only person with a smile on her face. Chase sweatdropped. Everyone's losing their shit, and she's the only one who looks happy to see this Ace person. He thought. Just then the doors open, and when it was revealed of a girl, who couldn't have been older than Chase, the dark mage sighed. She's not ugly, but...WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE CARRYING?! He thought as the orange haired wizard sat down, what look to be, a tooth. Of some large monster. Chase didn't know what to think.
"I have returned." She said, brown eyes strict and stern, and they almost reminded Chase of Humdinger's blue, stern, eyes.
Oh boy.