Episode 4: Veneto City

Akane, Mana, Veiss, and Emile (Novem once again asleep on his head) sit in one of the train booths and review the request with Veiss.

'SISTER IS MISSING, PLEASE HELP'

My younger sister, Calypso, hasn't come home in three days and I haven't heard anything from her. It's not like her to disappear like this without telling me where she's going. I don't have any offensive Magic myself so I can't go searching for her without endangering myself. I can't take the chance that I die; no one else would be looking for her. We live in Veneto, a small town just north of Wisteria. I fear someone or something may have taken her into the forest surrounding the village. My name is Ogygia, her older brother, please help me. I'll pay you everything we have saved up.

"Seems easy enough. A simple search and rescue, right?" Emile says, leaning back in his seat. "Mana should be able to handle that."

Mana raises an eyebrow. "Me? What about you?" she asks.

Emile shakes his head, "You're taking the lead on this." he says. "Veiss, Novem, and I are here as backup." he says. "This is all you and Akane."

Mana frowns, looking between the boys in confusion. "Just Akane and I?"

Emile nods, "Akane has...issues she needs to work through." he chimes in, glancing at Akane.

Akane just scoffs, crosses her arms, and looks away. Veiss just sits back and listens.

"Can I take that as permission to explain?" Emile asks. When Akane doesn't answer, he continues. "So, like we said before, we've been a team for almost a year now. We work well together but…" he fiddles with his kimono awkwardly, glancing at Akane again. "someone is still very hesitant about trusting the rest of their team as backup and trusting them to fight beside her - them." Emile corrects himself quickly.

Veiss yawns, shutting his eyes. "C'mon, Emile, you literally just said Akane has issues she needs to work through. Mana isn't stupid, you're obviously talking about Akane." he says.

The comment earns him a sneakered kick square in the face.

"...Fuck you, Akane." Veiss says, his words slightly muffled beneath Akane's sneaker.

"Did I say you could speak, Dregliark?" Akane snaps, digging her heel into his face.

Veiss' response is too muffled to decipher.

Emile sighs. "So, like I was saying," he says. "Akane and I agree that if we want to keep working together we need to help her."

"So you thought the best way to do that was to get a complete stranger to join your team. Smart." Mana says mockingly.

Emile just takes it all in stride and smiles. "It was Akane's idea, actually. No one in the guild was fitting the bill and then, well, you showed up." he shrugs.

"Me." Mana repeats with a frown, still not entirely sure what they want her to do.

Akane sighs and flops back in her seat, still glaring at Veiss. "I got a good feeling from you." she says with a shrug. "I mean, I don't get any bad feelings from anyone else in the guild, I just…" she trails off, looking down with a frown. "I don't know how to explain it." Akane says. "I know nothing about you except for the fact that you're a quintuplet, you have amnesia, and you have Cooley's daughter in your head. But, Master thinks you're a good person and Veiss here can apparently back up your story. If I can get myself to trust you completely, a stranger to everybody, then I can get myself to rely on Em more." she says, turning to look back at Mana. "That aside, we want to help you too."

"You and Mary." Veiss adds. There's a red outline of Akane's shoe on his face that looks like it's probably going to bruise but nonetheless he seems unfazed. "Neither of you deserve what happened to you," he says. "I was talking to these two on our way to the train while you hung back talking to Mary, I'm guessing, and they agreed to let me in on this because I know you two."

Emile nods. "That's right, say hello to the newest member of Team Cheddar."

"That's the worst one yet." Akane says. "No."

"What she said." Veiss says in agreement.

Emile continues, "We don't want to make it seem like we're using you solely to help Akane - even though we do want you to help Akane - we want to help you too." he says. "Whatever leads you find about your siblings, Revenant Beasts, or ways to separate you and Mary, we're there." Emile says with an easy smile.

Mana looks at them in disbelief. "You'd do that for us?"

"Obviously." Veiss says, unable to resist a small smile.

Akane can't resist a smile either, "I wouldn't have picked you out if I didn't feel like returning the favor."

"And none of us would have annoyed you into teaming up with us if we didn't like you as a person." Emile agrees. "Same goes for you, Mary."

I like them. I still have no idea how these two very different personalities - now three very different personalities - came to be on one team but I like them, even if they're a weird combination. Mary speaks up.

Mana stifles a laugh and relays her message. Veiss, Akane, and Emile share a look. Then, they nod in unison.

"That's a story for another time." Veiss says. "I know their story and it's...interesting, to say the least."

"Yeah, it's a bit of a long one." Akane nods.

Emile stifles a laugh, "That's what she s -"

"Do you want another scar on that pretty face of yours, Solflare?"

"...No."

"Anyways," Mana clears her throat. "I think we're here." she says, looking out of the window.

They're fastly approaching a decently sized city surrounded completely by water - other than the city's land, the only solid ground in sight is the causeway the train is running on. And sure enough, the intercom turns on: "Now arriving at Veneto Station. Car four: please gather your belongings and prepare to depart the train."

Emile, Veiss, Akane, and Mana step off the train, the latter looking around in awe until Emile takes Novem (still sleeping) off his head and stuffs him in his kimono, leaving his head poking out of the neck.

Mana looks at him weirdly, "Um...why?" she asks.

Emile frowns, a troubled look on his face. "People get weird about him because he has two tails." he says, patting Novem's head. "Someone even tried to take him from us on the last mission we were on, that's how this happened." he explains, gently petting Novem's injured ear.

Veiss pats Emile on the back rather roughly. "Don't worry about him so much, Emile. You have two more sets of eyes with two people looking through one pair of, remember?" he says. "Mana, Mary, Akane, you, and me. Five times the protection now."

Mana nods, giving Emile a reassuring smile. "Both Mary and I will keep our eyes peeled for any weird animal fanatics." she says. "Novem is a part of the team too, right?"

Emile hesitates, glancing down at his friend. "Maybe he shouldn't have come. This is our first time going outside of Zaflior since we -"

"Relax, Solflare." Akane sighs, patting Emile's head. "The doctor said he was good to go, yeah? And now that we know the weirdos will go as far as attempting to kidnap him, none of us will let our guards down about the stares." she says.

"But-"

"I won't let my guard down either, Emile."

Everyone's eyes go to the creature in Emile's kimono. Novem yawns, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "I've memorized their scent. The stronger it gets, the closer they are. And I can use my hearing." he says, looking up at Emile. "Exceeds have their Aera Magic, Vulcans have their Take Over Magic, and I have super totally awesome senses." Novem says. "Now will you let me out of here? It's too stuffy." he whines.

Emile grumbles as he takes Novem out of his kimono and puts him back on his head, "This is the first I'm hearing about these senses of yours…"

"That's because you never listen to me."

"You never listen to me either."

"When you first met Akane and that happened, you wouldn't shut up about how you thought she was still hmmmmph-" Emile grabs Novem by his snout and shuts him up, giving an innocent smile to an unimpressed Akane.

Akane crosses her arms, glaring at Emile. "You thought I was still what, Solflare?"

"Um-"

"Are you the Mages who accepted my request?"

Emile lets out a sigh of relief as he's saved by the stranger. The group turns towards the sound of the voice: it's a short, nimble looking man. There's nothing particularly remarkable about him - he has tan skin and strange, emotionless red eyes and black hair styled into a simple buzz cut. He's wearing simple common clothing: a tunic, pants, and shoes.

"Maybe." Akane says, stepping up. "We're from Phoenix Fire, who're you?" she asks.

"Ogygia. I was sent word that Phoenix Fire Mages accepted my request, thank you." he says in a hollow voice.

He's probably just sad about his sister. Mary theorizes when Mana shivers at his cold tone of voice.

"Yes and no." Ogygia says. "I am sad but this is just me."

The group stares at him in confusion.

"The hell are you talking to?" Emile questions.

Ogygia raises his hand and points a finger at Mana.

"I-I didn't say anything." Mana says defensively, tuning out Mary's panicked rambling. "So, what, you have telepathy or something?" she says.

Ogygia puts his hand down and stares at her silently. "Or something." he answers. "Your voice doesn't match the one I heard in your head." he says. "Why?"

Akane looks at him warily. "That's none of your business. We're here to find your sister, not play twenty one questions." she says. "So, tell us what you need to tell us and we'll be on our way."

Ogygia stares at Mana for another moment before turning to Akane. "We've lived here our whole lives and my sister tends to feel cooped up here. She likes to leave town erratically but she usually comes back the next day. She tells me if she's going to be gone longer. Calypso didn't say anything when she left this time so she should've been back two days ago." he explains.

"Does your sister have a boat or something?" Emile asks. "You mentioned something about the forests and it'd be expensive to just leave by train everyday." he says.

Ogygia shakes his head. "She uses Transformation Magic and leaves via the surrounding water."

"And you think she goes into the forest?"

"I know she goes into the forest."

"Right…" Emile sighs. "Well, I think those are all the questions we have, right guys?" he says, turning to glance at his teammates.

When each of them nod, Ogygia informs them he'll be in the town square all day everyday until they return. And with that slightly creepy comment, he's gone.

"I don't like how he knows there's another voice in Mana's head." Veiss says once Ogygia disappears from view. "What if he puts two and two together and realizes that the voice is someone else entirely? He could spread that around - along with the fact that Mana's from Phoenix Fire - and Revenant Beasts could come looking for her." he says with a worried, angry frown.

"For what it's worth, that guy doesn't look like he socializes with anyone." Novem points out. "He's got a creepy vibe. Plus, he said he and his sister have lived in Veneto their whole lives."

Mary, what do you think? Mana asks.

Mary's silent for a minute and: I agree with Novem. Ogygia seems harmless, but…

Mana frowns. "But what, Mary?" she asks out loud.

The others turn to her, their expressions falling. "What's wrong?"

I've been thinking about it since we read the request and I'm not too sure from where but Calypso's name sounds familiar.

Mana's heart drops. "What?"

"Don't keep us in suspense, Mana." Emile pouts.

Mana frowns, a chill running down her spine. "Mary's not one hundred percent sure why but Calypso's name sounds familiar to her." she reveals.

Veiss frowns, a chill running down his spine as well. "Calypso…" he repeats. "Now that I think about it…"

That makes everyone go silent - except Novem, "Well that's kinda stupid." he says. "Wasn't Mary taken by Revenant Beasts when she was five? She never escaped before she was merged with you so there's only one reason that name should ring a bell." he says as a matter-of-factly. "And Veissy recognizes it too. What other answer is there, dummies?"

"Not necessarily." Emile says. "Dark Mages have family and friends too. What if Calypso is just related to someone in that way?" he counters.

"Dark Mages can also have Dark Mage relatives." Akane retorts. "She could be just as bad as whoever Mary and Veiss heard that name from." she says, a distrustful look on her face.

Veiss shakes his head in disagreement. "Or she could've been another prisoner." he points out. "And what about her brother, Ogygia? Sure he was a little weird but other than him hearing Mary's voice, he seemed harmless. Either way, if you knew that someone you care about is involved with a Dark Guild, you wouldn't go to a Legal Guild to rescue his Dark Mage sister." he says.

"Or she could keep that side of her life to herself." Akane says. "It doesn't matter what this guy says about his sister telling him everything. Everyone has secrets." she says, crossing her arms. "We should keep our guard up."

What do you think, Mana? Mary asks.

Mana pinches the bridge of her nose, You know what I think. she responds.

Well tell them that.

Mana sighs and clears her throat. "I agree with Akane." she says, finally speaking up. "We should keep our guard up until we find and meet her for ourselves." she says. "There's no harm in being cautious."

Veiss sighs, "Fine." he agrees. "So, what's the plan?"

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, this was my thing when I was a kid."

"Exactly. When you were a kid."

Mana waves Akane's concerns off, "C'mon, trust me." she says. "I can't do any spells with the Darkness Magic that stupid mask gave me but I've been practicing on rehoning my skill with Air Magic...it's not much to brag about but I'm getting it back." Mana says, determined. "Mary thinks that with enough practice, I'll be able to use it in conjunction with my Darkness Magic." she says and closes her eyes, focusing.

Akane sighs and drops to the floor. "I guess there's no harm in it…" she mumbles to herself, recalling what Mana said earlier. Akane needs to trust her. That's why they're here.

She looks out to the body of water surrounding Veneto. They all agreed that she and Mana (and Mary by default) would be in charge of searching the forest for Calypso. There weren't any trains or boats coming for a while so Mana came up with the idea of trying to use her latent Air Magic to levitate them across the water. The girls didn't really have any other options so Akane's only objection was how long Mana went without practicing or using her Air Magic.

Veiss, Emile, and Novem are tasked with looking around the city for Calypso just in case, to determine if any suspicious activity related to Revenant Beasts was going on, and to investigate the creepy brother, Ogygia. If the boys finish their search before the girls return, they are to meet them in the forest.

Akane shivers lightly and frowns, "What…?" she mumbles, shivering again when the wind around her starts to pick up. Akane turns to Mana, her eyes widening when she sees Mana's hair and clothes whipping back and forth. "Well that explains that." she whispers. "I'll be damned." The wind picks up speed and starts to roar in Akane's ears. She shivers again and grumbles under her breath, untying the jacket around her waist and pulling it on. "Are we good to go, Mana?" Akane shouts over the roaring wind.

Mana doesn't seem to hear her, instead letting out a deep breath and shaking out her arms.

"Mana-?"

Mana opens her eyes suddenly and grins at Akane. "Let's go." she says, grabbing Akane's hand.

Akane pales as Mana starts running towards the cliff, dragging her behind her. "W-Wait a second-!"

"No time, let's go!" Mana says and jumps off the cliff, Akane in tow.

Akane's screams are barely heard over the sound of the roaring wind. She climbs Mana like a monkey and desperately clings onto her like a backpack. "You're insane." Akane hisses, her face stark white as she looks down. She's not afraid of heights but the distance between them and the very dangerous looking water is very unsettling.

Mana looks back at her as best she can, her green eyes full of mirth. "Sorry. I just felt something click and I didn't want to lose it." she apologizes. "But look! I did it! We're levitating!"

Akane glares at her, "Shut your pretty little mouth and get us to the forest." she says.

Veiss, Emile, and Novem watch Ogygia from a nearby alleyway. Like he said, he's waiting in the town square. But that's literally all he's doing. Ogygia is just sitting on the edge of a fountain. He's not talking to anyone, not reading, not anything. Just sitting and staring off into space.

Veiss and Emile share an unsettled look. "What's the hell's up with him?" Veiss wonders outloud.

"I don't have a clue." Emile says, huffing for a moment when he feels Novem go limp on his head. "Is he sleeping again?" he asks, continuing when Veiss nods. "Whatever. Anyways - and I'm asking this in the most polite way possible - do you think there's something mentally wrong with him?" he asks.

"Probably." Veiss agrees without hesitation. "Have you ever met anyone like that?"

Emile thinks for a moment. "Kind of. When I visited Arkcester again a couple years ago I ran into this guy who kind of reminded me of you and Danate, actually. He wore a bunch of bandages too and he was kinda scary but we talked for a bit. Turns out I just met him at a bad time - it was around the anniversary of his entire village's massacre." he says and sighs. "Maybe it really is just a combination of how Ogygia is normally and being sad about his sister missing." Emile says.

"Maybe. We'll check on him later." Veiss says, nodding at Emile. "Let's go ask around about Calypso." he says.

Emile nods and follows after him. "So, what d'you think of Mana and Akane?" he asks. "I really want this whole thing to work out in both of their favors but I'm not sure it'll work."

Veiss shrugs. "You know I'm not all too familiar with how you two work but I do know Akane struggles to rely on you - I've heard some of your conversations with Danate. You never get an 'in the moment' chance to prove that she can trust you because she takes control of everything. So that's what Mana needs to do: prove that Akane can trust her with her actions." he says and starts to smile. "Both of the girls have black hair so they're bound to get along great eventually, right?"

Mana hops off of and disperses her Magic, still carrying Akane like a backpack. "Akane?"

"Hm?"

"We're on land now."

"I'm aware."

"You can get off of me now."

"I can't feel my legs."

"Yeah, for sure." Emile agrees. "They'll be fine."

Veiss nods.

They wander around Veneto for about an hour in search of any places bustling with people where they can ask questions. Eventually, they come upon a three story bar called Rialto. When they enter, they get a few weird looks from the patrons.

"Jeez, can't a guy come into a bar for a nice non-alcoholic beverage?" Emile says, sticking his tongue out at the patrons staring at him and Veiss.

Veiss sighs, "You are the most unfunny guy I know, Solflare." he mumbles under his breath.

"I'd be happy to get you kids a drink so long as you pay for it."

The boys turn towards the sound of the voice: it's a very well endowed older woman behind the bar. When Veiss sees Emile get the look on his face, he quickly pushes past him and smiles politely at the bartender. "Hi, we're not actually here for a drink." he says. "We're mages from Phoenix Fire."

"Oh?" the bartender says. "That's quite a ways away. We usually only have visitors from Silver Sabelum." she says.

Veiss shrugs. "We took the bullet train." he says. "Anyways, how long have you lived here?" he asks.

The bartender smiles, "Born and raised. I inherited this place from my parents. Why?"

"Is there anything you could tell us about Ogygia and his sister?" Veiss asks.

"Or yourself." Emile butts in, smiling dreamily at the bartender. "I'd love to get to know you bet-"

Veiss clamps a hand over Emile's mouth and smiles at the bartender again. "Ignore him." he says.

The bartender shakes her head and laughs. She hums for a minute, thinking about Veiss's question. "I'm afraid I've never heard of this Ogygia. Are you sure he's from here?"

Veiss and Emile share a look.

Emile takes Veiss's hand off his mouth, "We were told that he and his sister Calypso have lived here their whole lives." he says seriously. "Are you sure you've never met them before?" he asks.

The bartender nods. "I'm positive. I know everybody in this city from the rich folk to the people living on the streets." she says. "I've never heard of or met those siblings."

"I can't feel my legs."

"Right…" Mana says. She readjusts Akane so that she's more comfortable carrying her, "so, where to first then?" she asks.

"I dunno. Like Novem says, onwards and upwards." Akane says.

"Oh, you want to levitate again? I need to concentrate for a bit but I'm sure I can do it again -"

"No." Akane rejects quickly. "Let's just walk for a bit. You keep your eyes on the ground for anything and I'll keep my eyes on the trees." she says.

Mana nods. "Alright.

Akane, still being carried by Mana, taps the side of her head when she goes silent for a while. "Are you okay?" she asks. "I can walk now, if that's what's bothering you." she says, wiggling out of Mana's grasp and jumping to the ground.

Mana shakes her head, a frown on her face. "It's not you. I just...I think I've been here before." she says. "Like I said to Master and Emile, I don't know how long I was running and hiding for before Emile found me but I hid in a lot of places. I think this is one of the forests I stayed in." Mana says, deep in thought. "And if this is the forest I think it is…"

"Mana?"

Mana's frown deepens and she turns around to face Akane. "I think I kn-" she stops her eyes widening. "Akane move!" she suddenly shouts and without even giving Akane an opportunity to react, Mana shoves her to the side.

"Mana what the fu-?" Akane stops whatever tirade she was about to go on when some sort of purple dark energy erupts in the spot she was standing on previously - the spot Mana is on now. "M-Mana!" she coughs, breathing the smoke from the explosion. She scrambles to go check on Mana but pauses when she sees a silhouette sit up. "Mana?" Akane calls.

Then the silhouette stands up and Akane very quickly realizes it's not her teammate - whoever it is is much shorter, almost like a child. Calypso, maybe?

But why would she attack them?

"Hello? Who's there?" Akane asks.

The figure doesn't say anything. Their silhouette only grows as it approaches Akane until it steps out of the smoke.

It's a little girl. She doesn't look a thing like Ogygia though so Akane figures it's not Calypso. The girl has fair, pale skin and is wearing nothing but rags. She has short bright orange hair and strangely familiar sky blue eyes.

"Who are you?" Akane asks, glancing between the little girl and the now visible silhouette of Mana's collapsed body. "Did you create that explosion?" she asks.

The little girl gives Akane a small smile, "I suppose you wouldn't recognize me." she says, her voice terribly familiar to Akane. "And yes, I did. Although that was meant for you, I guess it worked out in my favor."

What?

And why does her voice sound so familiar?

…

…

...

The little girl ignores the question. "Anyways, now that you know I tried to attack you, I guess I need to take care of you, don't I?" the girl says. "How annoying." she sighs. In a flash of orange light, a simple silver pistol appears in the girl's hand. She points it at Akane, "Daddy was supposed to give this to me before Revenant Beasts took me away, did you know that?" the girl says. "Uncle Finn went back to our house after everything and found it. First thing I'm gonna use it for is to kill you and then-"

Akane pulls her arm back and balls her hand into a fist as it starts to glow with her Magic, "Chain Fist!" she casts and swings her arm forward. A bunch of chains appear roughly taking the form of a fist. It flies forward and hits the little girl, pushing her back. When the girl's back hits a tree, Akane twists her hand over and makes the chains wrap around her and the tree. She stands up and glances at Mana's unconscious body. Akane glowers at the little girl. "First of all, Mary doesn't call Cooley 'daddy'. Second of all, never once has she referred to that bastard as 'uncle'." Akane says. "Third of all, she isn't a little girl anymore. So really, who are you? A Transformation Mage or an illusion?" she demands.

Before the 'little girl' can answer, someone starts clapping. Akane tenses when an unknown voice starts speaking: "Very good! She is a Transformation Mage but since she never met little Mary and doesn't possess Spatial Magic, those were my illusions." a young man's amused voice says. Akane whips around, turning to the sound of his voice. She turns around just in time to see him rising out of the ground from the shadow of a tree.

The young man has short black hair and much more startling and dangerous looking red eyes than Ogygia. He's wearing a black shirt with the design of a red pentagram under a white jacket and plain blue jeans with red and black sneakers.

"I can't believe Mana's been hiding with a trashy Legal Guild." he snarls, staring at the black emblem on Akane's right hand. "I didn't want to believe it when I was told someone accepted our bait but here she is." he says, glaring at Mana who's still unconscious.

"Who the hell are you?" Akane asks, quickly moving to stand in front of Mana.

The young man smiles mischievously. He puts a hand on his chest and bows mockingly, "Kenji Onizuka, at your service." he says. Akane tenses when she sees the black mark on his hand - it looks like the handprint of some creature. She doesn't know what creature but she knows who uses that print as its emblem.

"You're with Revenant Beasts." Akane states. Behind her, Mana whimpers, starting to wake up.

"That's right. And I'm here to bring Mana back home." Kenji says, his smile falling as he glares at Akane. "Get out of my way. I have orders not to kill anyone but I'll gladly disobey." he says, his hands crackling with purple darkness.

"I guess you didn't get the memo." Akane says sassily. "Mana didn't like it there for some odd reason." she says sarcastically. "That place isn't her home." Akane says, creating a long chain and cracking it like a whip. "You're not taking her without a fight."

Kenji grins madly. "I'm so happy you said that." he says and cracks his knuckles. He holds his hands out with his palms down, "Shadow Storm." Kenji intones.

Akane watches as Kenji's shadow shrinks as if he's absorbing it. Then multiple shadows start to burst out of Kenji on all sides, violently thrashing around. The nearby ones reach their arms out and start beating Akane down, forcing her to her knees. "What the hell?" she grunts. Akane makes the chain in her hand longer and wraps it around her hand and arm like a gauntlet to protect herself from the shadowy fists.

She glances at Mana, still stirring herself awake. "Good. That means she's okay." Akane mumbles to herself. She glances at the fake Mary she has chained to a tree. The 'little girl' seems to have passed out - most likely from Akane slamming her body against a tree and the chains around her constricting her breathing.

Oops. Sorry not sorry.

"Come on!" Kenji says, grinning wildly at Akane. "You said you were going to fight so fight!" he shouts, dispelling his shadows and rushing at Akane.

He's quick, but not as quick as Emile or Mana. Akane grabs Mana and slings her over her shoulder. She jumps away from Kenji and slams an open palm against the ground when she lands, "Chain Eruption!" she casts. The ground under Kenji lights up for a brief moment before multiple chains burst forth from the ground. Some start attacking Kenji while the rest attempt to get a grip of his arms and legs in an attempt to bind him.

Akane takes the opportunity to check on Mana. She sets her down against a tree, sighing in relief when she sees bleary green eyes looking back at her.

"I'm okay." Mana says before Akane can say anything. She's gently holding one of her sides, "I think that explosion broke one of my ribs though." Mana says with a frown.

Akane scoffs, "You think one of your ribs is broken but you're 'okay'?"

"I've suffered worse."

"Er-"

"Anyways, I think that explosion was created with Darkness Magic." Mana says, brushing her off. "And if it is, I think I can recreate it." she says, calling for her mask the way Emile taught her to. "Black Mask." Mana mutters, the mask forming on her face and turning the whites of her eyes black (the mask's name is courtesy of Emile after their second sparring session).

Both of the girls ignore Kenji's demands to 'get rid of these annoying ass chains' and continue their conversation: "Are you sure you're up for that?" Akane asks, unsure.

Mana waves her off, "It's just a broken rib." she says. "It's not like the attack drained my Magic Power."

"Right…" Akane says and sighs. "Fine. I'll...trust you. For now." she agrees. "What do you need me to do?"

Mana smiles, "Keep him still with those chains. If I can actually do it, this is the first spell I'd be casting in a long time and my aim is probably gonna be a little off." she says, standing up on shaky legs. "And I want to see if I can get anything out of him."

Kenji stops fighting with the chains on his legs when he sees Mana stand up. He grins, "Mana! You're awake, good. Get rid of that pest for me, will you? It's time for you to stop hiding with the guild trash and come back." he says. "Master is waiting for you."

Akane freezes, her heart dropping as she glances between Mana and Kenji.

Mana frowns. "Who are you?" she says. "Mana is my sister's name." she lies.

The Dark Mage actually looks a bit thrown off. "What? But that mask - that's hers." he says and glares at Mana. "You know I'm not stupid, Mana. You yourself told me that you all have different birthmarks on your face -" he says, pointing at the corner of his mouth. "Yours is here, just like Mana's."

"And how would you know that if you can't see my face?"

"Because I know it's you, Mana."

Mana shakes her head. "Not Mana. Morgan." she corrects. "And if you know my sister like you seem to, you should know that we're quintuplets. Not only do we have the same face, we also have the same type of Magic." she lies. "So, what, you're looking for her?"

Kenji stares at her in silence. Then he starts to smile mischievously. "Come on Mana, we both know you don't look like your siblings anymore. And didn't we put an end to Morgan's life? Together?" he says.

Mana pales. "Wh-What?" she stutters. "N-No we didn't. I wouldn't. I-"

Kenji groans. "Oh come on." he says. "Why are you pretending you don't know me?" Kenji asks. "Yeah, okay, we didn't kill Morgan. Bad joke. Sorry." he says, rolling his eyes. "I would understand if you'd only just recently been merged with Finn's damned niece, that would explain this apparent amnesia, but-" he stops, his red eyes widening slightly. "Finn's damned niece." he whispers. "Is that brat still alive?" he asks Mana.

Mana grits her teeth. "I don't know who you're talking about." she says.

"Mary." Kenji snarls. "Stop playing dumb-"

"Akane." Mana cuts him off, giving her teammate a look.

"R-Right." Akane nods. She raises a hand and clenches her fist, making the chains that were previously stationary pick Kenji up and quickly bind his arms and legs together.

Mana pours her Magic into her hands, dark red energy taking the shape of a sphere. She charges at Kenji, raising the sphere above her head.

Kenji grits his teeth. "What the hell do you think you're-!?"

"Darkness Flare Bomb!" Mana yells and lobs the sphere-like bomb at him. When it hits Kenji, it creates a huge wave of pressure that throws him clear across the forest, his cursing Mana and Mary getting quieter and quieter until he can no longer be heard. Behind Mana, Akane has to quickly create a chain and lasso a tree to keep from going flying along with him.

Mana drops to her knees, letting out a sigh of relief. A hand goes back to her side, supporting her broken rib.

"Well," Akane says, letting go of her chain. "Congrats on finally casting a spell." she says.

Mana shrugs, staring at the ground with a confused and troubled look on her face.

Akane sighs. "Look, I'm not going to pressure you to talk about everything that guy said. We'll talk about it when we're back with the boys." she says. "But in the meantime, what should we do about her?" she says, gesturing to the person she has chained to a tree.

Kenji's spell has worn off and now they can see who they're really dealing with. It's a girl who looks to be around Mana and Akane's age. She has long, wavy purple hair with a purple ribbon headband and lightly tanned skin. She's wearing a long sleeve light purple top under a white button up jacket. Her top is tucked into a matching white skirt and black belt and she wears purple boots. She starts stirring awake and slowly blinks her eyes open. "Huh..?" the girl mumbles, confused emerald green eyes looking between Akane and Mana.

"In the meantime, I think we need to get her back to her brother." Mana says, still staring at the ground. "There's something else here I want to check but I'm pretty sure that's Calypso."

Akane looks at 'Calypso' suspiciously. She doesn't look anything like Ogygia.

The girl finally speaks up, "Um, yeah I'm Calypso but I don't have a brother. Who are you? How do you know my name?" she says.

Akane sighs, "Well that just makes this even more complicated." she says. "Who the fuck is Ogygia?"

PF x AH x SS

A/N And that's a cut on episode 4 xx