Alistair sighs again and stuffs his Communications Lacrima back into his own bag. Just as he's zipping it back up, the other three members of his quintet walk into the room. Alistair watches silently as Mana and Rina walk into the adjoining room. He hears the distinct sound of the girls throwing themselves down on the bed.
Akane glances at Alistair as she follows in after them. "They obviously didn't sleep well on the train." she says. "We can leave to go check in with the agency people after they nap…" Akane trails off, looking around. "Where's Ken?"
"Shower." Alistair answers, jutting his thumb in the direction of the bathroom.
Akane grumbles under her breath and walks into the girl's room.
…
…
"I swear on everything you hold dear I'll return you to Revenant Beasts and I'll deliver you to Marcel Skarsguard myself if you don't take your damn shoes off the fucking bed."
Episode 19: The Ex-Star of Sorcerer Weekly
"This way, come on." Ken says, ushering their group towards the building.
"I hate this." Akane hisses under her breath.
"Suck it up. You two look alike and it's a nice safety measure." Alistair whispers harshly.
Rina smiles happily. "I quite like wearing your clothes, Akane." she says. "They're comfy. Very freeing."
"I didn't ask and I swear on Soasis' name this makeup feels so heavy-" Akane snaps but Mana interrupts her.
"I think you look nice." she says with a smile.
"I will eat you alive."
Earlier…
"No."
"You really don't have a choice here."
"I just made my choice."
"Akane."
"Alistair."
Alistair sighs. "I really don't understand why Mana and Emile like you so much." he says.
Mana raises her hand, "I think she's cool." she supplies helpfully.
"Suck on that, Bickerstaff." Akane says and flips Alistair off. "She thinks I'm cool."
"Mana thinks everything is cool so that doesn't really count." Rina says.
Mana lowers her hand.
Akane groans.
"If I may," Ken speaks up. "While it would be a decent plan, we don't necessarily have to do it." he says.
"Thank you, Ken-"
"Oh we're going to do it." Rina says as she shrugs off her coat and tosses it to the side. "If I can undress Mana-"
Akane blinks. "If you can what-?"
"-while being careful not to brush against her wounds, I can undress you without having to worry about hurting you." Rina says and cracks her knuckles. "Boys, give me ten minutes."
Akane pales. "Don't touch me, Dawnstone."
Alistair and Ken quickly exit the room, shutting the door behind them.
Mana looks between Rina and Akane.
...Fifty Jewels on Rina.
We share a wallet.
I'll let you pick our next breakfast.
Deal.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" Akane screeches as she tries to throw Rina off of her.
Mana didn't even see when Rina jumped her.
"Stop struggling-"
"FUCK YOU!" Akane screams, her face beet red as Rina somehow manages to pull her shirt off.
Mana's eyes widen.
"MANA! My eyes are up HERE you fucking squirrel-"
"Squirrel…?" Mana wonders aloud and shakes her head. "Why are you looking at me like that? I was only looking at that-" she says as she points at Akane's shoulder. "What else would I be looking-?" Mana stops, her eyes moving to look a few inches lower than Akane's shoulder.
Mana's vision goes black very quickly after that when Akane's shoe hits her square in the face.
Now…
The group of five arrive at their destination and before any of them have a chance to knock on the large, ornate double doors, the doors swing open and they're greeted by a familiar face.
Yuki Whiteclaw gives the group a toothy grin, showing off his oddly sharp canines. "I knew I smelled some smokey birds," he says cheerfully. "you guys here for this modeling thing too?" the odd man asks.
Akane gives Yuki a judgemental once over. "We are." she says with a frown. Then, her frown suddenly deepens as she stares critically at Yuki. "Are you over with whatever was making you be a fucking weirdo around Emile?"
Yuki's smile doesn't falter. "Yes!" he says with a mock salute. "Miss Suck Up gave me a very long and boring lecture after someone snitched on me and I have no desire to listen to that again so I solemnly swear I will apologize to Em~ile when I see him again and will be 'normal' around him henceforth!" Yuki says in one breath.
Rina frowns and crosses her arms. "So this is the guy that gave Em that existential crisis?" she asks.
Yuki looks at Rina.
Then he looks at Akane.
Then he looks at Rina.
Then he looks at Akane.
Then-
"What?" Akane snaps.
Yuki tilts his head slightly. "This girl is wearing your clothes. Are you two an item?" he asks.
Before Rina can open her mouth to speak, Akane scoffs. "As if. She's in love with someone that's almost as stupid as her-" she points at Mana.
(Mana hangs her head as Ken pats her on the shoulder and Rina starts blubbering about 'that's ridiculous' and 'he is my friend I'll have you know'.)
"-and she is far from my type." Akane snaps. "Now, if you say anything about this outfit switch or call me by my name while we're here again, I swear to that goddess you and your cult members love so much I will kill you." she says. "Are we clear?"
"First you lecture our Guild Master and now you threaten to kill one of us." a familiar, feminine voice says. "Has Aberrant Hydra done something to upset you...Kacchan?"
Akane grits her teeth.
Victoria approaches the group of Phoenix Fire Mages, "Alright, Glinda is ready when we are. Are you guys ready to go?" she asks them and glances at Mana, still passed out on Akane's back. "Is she alive?"
Veiss bristles. "Yes, she's alive-"
Right on cue, Mana starts stirring. "Hmmm…?" she mumbles, lifting her head up off of Akane's shoulder. Mana looks around sluggishly with half lidded eyes.
Akane frowns, turning her head to glance at Mana.
"Kacchan...so tired." Mana whispers before promptly dropping her head again and passing out on Akane's shoulder.
Victoria Mormo stands beside Yuki and looks at Akane smugly when the younger girl remains silent. "That's what I thought." she says and turns to look around at the group. "Now, I don't know why else you're here or why you're disguised as this other girl-"
Rina raises her hand, "My name is Rina."
Victoria glances at her and continues. "-but I assume it's for something serious. Yuki and I won't interfere," she glances at Akane. "Rina." Victoria nods. She glances at Rina. "It was nice seeing you again, Akane, Mana," her eyes widen when she finally notices Alistair standing behind everyone. "You."
Alistair shuffles closer behind Ken.
"That bratty woman wouldn't shut up about you and your little friend." Victoria snaps. "Do you know how many hours we all spent listening to her rave about the disrespect and the audacity that Mages from Phoenix Fire had to threaten her?"
Alistair clears his throat. "In my defense," he says. "I didn't do anything."
"YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO STOP YOUR FRIEND EITHER!" Victoria screams. "I had to miss lunch and dinner dates with my wife several times because of you - do you know how upset she was!?" she cries.
"Uh-"
"VERY upset, I'll have you know." Victoria seethes. "Whenever Master Nadine gets back from whatever she's doing, we will have words-"
After letting Victoria yell at Alistair some more, the group finally makes it inside the building.
The inside is nothing special...to Rina. While the outside looks like all of the other buildings in Veneto, the inside looks like it was ripped straight out of a billionaire's mansion. What looks to be three stories, polished marble floors, expensive looking decorations, a grand chandelier...definitely not like any other building in Veneto.
Aside from Victoria and Yuki, none of them recognize any of the other faces in the crowd of soon to be models.
But, it doesn't matter because as soon as they merge with the group, a masked, feminine figure standing at the top of the second story stairs taps a fork against a glass, grabbing everyone's attention. "Pardon me, I would like to thank everyone for coming on behalf of my Master." she says, sounding friendly. "According to the records we have of how many of you are showing up, it seems that everyone is now accounted for. Before we get started, allow me to explain everything that my Master requests of you." the masked woman says.
Ken leans forward, whispering to his guildmates, "Also, ah, I forgot to mention, should anything go wrong, do make sure it's actually going wrong before you give the signal." he whispers. "I'm afraid if I use my Magic here it will destroy several rooms and the integrity of the building if we are inside."
Mana really doesn't want to know what that means but nods along with the rest of her guildmates.
"This will be a three day shoot." the woman says. "We would like to get as many candid photos of you all as possible. You are free to roam our facility as you wish while wearing our clothes. We have several pools, game rooms, and much more for you to discover." she says. "We may ask you to come pose for us but most shots will be candid. All shoots will end at midnight and that is when we ask that you leave our facility and come back tomorrow."
"See? It's fine. There's no reason to separate." Akane grumbles. "So if you'd be so kind, I'd like to wipe three layers of skin off my face and put my own clothes back on-"
"And as always, ladies first. Follow me upstairs and we'll get you changed." the masked maid says.
Akane's face falls. "Fuck my life."
"I still think you look nice." Mana says.
"Oh Mana." Rina sighs.
Alistair and Ken exchange a look.
"Are they going to be alright?" Ken wonders.
"Probably not." Alistair deadpans.
Mana's and Rina's eyes widen when they see the wide selection of clothes.
"I've never seen so many clothes...ever." Mana gasps.
"I've seen a lot of clothes but I've never seen so many clothes of this quality." Rina says in awe, walking up to one of the racks and flicking through the clothes.
Akane looks between the two of them warily. "They're just clothes." she says slowly.
"I had to wear a potato sack for almost a decade, Rina." Mana deadpans.
Rina stifles a laugh when Akane's face drops.
Akane bristles, flushing embarrassedly. "That's not - th-that's - I didn't mean-" she stammers.
Mana can't hold it in anymore and bursts out laughing.
She's going to kill you.
Akane's hair starts crackling.
"Oh dear heavens." Rina sighs.
"I'm going to kill you."
Mana gasps in mock offense. "How rude. I almost died once…" she trails off. "twice...thrice?" Mana thinks. "Quad...four...what's the word for four?"
Akane facepalms. "I'm-"
"Rina Dawnstone? Are you here?"
The three of them freeze.
Akane turns around with a cheerful smile. "That's me! Ehe~" she says cutely. "You need me for something?"
Rina's face drops. "Is that really how I talk?" she mumbles, unimpressed.
Mana's jaw drops. "I didn't know her face could do that." she whispers to Rina.
"Do what?"
"That!"
While Rina and Mana whisper-argue back and forth about what the hell Mana is talking about, the masked servant who called out Rina's name approaches Akane. "My apologies for yelling your name but it appears that you didn't hear, you are on the list of people we would like to have modeling our swimwear." he says with a small bow. "You'll find one of my coworkers on the other side of the room helping everyone choose their swimsuit."
Rina and Mana instantly stop arguing.
"Uh…" the servant sweats nervously.
Akane slowly turns around to stare murderously at Rina. "Akane," Akane says with a sickly sweet voice. "What is the nice man talking about?"
It's Rina's turn to start sweating nervously. "W-Well, Rina, I, um, I'm guessing because, uh, you know, you have so much experience in the field th-that, er, you're wanted for the - um, the more interesting shoots because, uh, they recognized your name?" she stammers. "R-Right, M-?" Rina turns to look at the girl next to her to find an empty space in Mana's place.
"...M-Mana?"
"Akane." Akane coos, her hair beginning to crackle with embers once more.
"Rina!" comes Mana's voice suddenly, sounding all too pleased with herself. The masked servant, Rina, and Akane turn to look at her, giving Mana three very different reactions when they see what she did. She smiles, "I know how much you care about your career even though you're temporarily retired from modeling full time and I've seen your pictures so…" Mana holds up a large pile of swimsuits she knows damn well Akane wouldn't be caught dead in. "I picked some out for you that I think you'll love!"
"M-Miss, please don't take different kinds of clothing to different areas-" the servant cries.
Rina flushes, cupping her face. "Can that even be called a bikini…?" she whispers to herself.
Akane's eye twitches.
Ken sighs when he hears Akane's very distinct voice screaming upstairs. "And there she goes." he says.
"There she goes indeed." Yuki says, coming up from behind Ken and Alistair. He pushes himself in between them and slings his arms around their necks. "So, why don't you little fiery birdies tell me why you're really here." he says with a knowing grin. "I've only met that little hot head twice but even I can tell this kind of mission isn't her thing...and then there's the outfit switch."
Alistair narrows his eyes at Yuki. "Aren't you obsessed with Emile or something? Why would we tell you anything about what we're 'really' doing here?" he says, making air quotes with his fingers.
"Because," Yuki drawls. "Like it or not, I am an ally here. And I can smell the uneasiness coming off of all of you birds." he says and sniffs dramatically. "You reek of anxiety."
Ken laughs sarcastically, "And here I was thinking I washed it off in my shower earlier. My apologies." he says and locks eyes with Alistair.
Alistair sighs. "Fine." he says. "We would...appreciate it," he pinches the bridge of his nose. "if you kept an eye on Rina." Alistair says with a pointed look. "She's never been outside of Zaflior and we would hate for her to get lost."
"Rina." Yuki nods. "Understood." he says with a wry smile. "Understood indeed." Yuki says as a servant calls for the men to follow him to their changing rooms. "Hoo boy, I can't wait to see what we get to wear."
Alistair grumbles something under his breath while Ken smiles cheerfully. "This is going to be fun. Nothing can go wrong when everyone here is being paid to look good for the camera." he says optimistically.
"So, what?" Mana asks. "We just...hang around?" she asks, confused. Much to Ken's delight, Mana is wearing a big, poofy gown similar to what he was trying to get her to try on during their game of hide and seek. She hates it.
Rina nods. She's wearing something simpler (after Akane threatened her to not get her name attached to some kind of frilly outfit): a traditional red shirt, a black coat, and black shorts. "I've done - I've heard about shoots like this before." she catches herself and turns to Akane. "Isn't that right, Rina?"
"...Yes." Akane deadpans. She's hiding her outfit under a puffy white robe.
Ken laughs. "Come on now, Miss Rina," he drawls. "are you really not having any fun?" Ken asks. "We're being paid to hang out and look pretty, isn't that what you're best at?" Ken teases. He looks as though he simply inverted his outfit, Ken's usual all black suit being swapped for a white one and a gold tie.
Alistair sighs. "I don't think poking fun at her is going to make the situation any better." he says. To Alistair's relief, they approved his choice of clothing: Ken's discarded black suit.
"Well I think-"
Akane slaps her hand over Mana's mouth. "Tell me what you think one more time and you'll never think again." she says lowly.
Alistair is losing track of how many times he's sighed since grouping up with this team. "I bet the investigation team is doing better than I am…"
Last night in Zaflior…
Emile stares up at Calypso with wide eyes.
Now normally he would be looking down because he is taller but as of right now Calypso is a ten foot tall tiger dangling a suspicious man by his shirt between her teeth.
That's not something Emile sees everyday.
"Uh…" Emile blinks. "I guess...I guess that's one way of catching him?" he says unsurely and shakes his head. Emile smiles, "Nice job."
Calypso wags her tail which causes loud thumps against the ground that makes Emile a bit nervous because they're wandering around the entirety of Zaflior in the dead of night.
The man dangling from Calypso's teeth looks terrified.
Emile smirks and crosses his arms, a smug look on his face. "Alright, fucko, tell me who you're working for."
The man opens his mouth to speak (or scream) but much to Calypso's and Emile's horror, the man starts gurgling out blood instead. Startled, Calypso drops him and releases her Take Over, transforming back into a human. "Wh-What the hell!?" she cries. "I didn't - I didn't hurt him - I-I don't-" Calypso starts panicking and drops to her knees.
Emile rushes over to the man. "I-I know - I know." he reassures Calypso as he tries to find the cause of the man's bleeding. "You didn't do anything." Emile's eyes widen when his hand brushes against the man's neck. "What…?"
"E-Emile?" Calypso asks.
Emile doesn't say anything, instead summoning a bit of his Elysian Magic to give them some light to see. The light reveals several long, thin red spikes sticking out of the man's neck. "What the hell?" Emile gasps. When he looks up, Emile doesn't expect the look of dread on Calypso's face. It's almost as if she recognizes the spikes. "Cal-?"
"Run." Calypso whispers.
Emile's stomach drops. "W-What?"
"R-"
"Oh Calypso," an unfamiliar, feminine voice says from behind Emile. "I'm not here for you. I could care less about you." the voice says sweetly.
That voice...the mere presence of whoever that is behind him…
Emile is terrified.
Both of them stay frozen, staring at each other in fear, unmoving as the man on the ground bleeds out in front of them.
The false sweetness disappears from the woman's voice in her next sentence: "Something of mine has been taken away from me." she says, displeased. "What can you tell me about that, Emile Solflare? Be honest with me and I won't reunite you with your dead priestess." the woman says, the glee returning to her voice.
Calypso gulps.
Emile shivers. He knows he can't beat whoever that woman is. Her mere presence terrifies him to his core, he can't move. He can't even look at her.
Shit.
PF x AH x SS
A/N surprise bitch
i bet you thought you'd seen the last of me
no but i did in fact not realize i haven't updated since july i am terribly sorry
i got a bit cheekily confused because i've been writing scenes in my notes app kekw
anyways
so
halloween special chapter or no