Chapter 3: To Build a Guild
February X792
Rike let out a sigh as she sat atop a cart full of planks of wood, the girl slightly bouncing up and down as it moved over the rough mountain pass, carried forward by a large, stone golem that bored Sapphire Golem's guild mark on its back. Rike tried her hardest to keep her arms close to her as she shivered, trying to keep the cold mountain air at bay as the cart slowly and carefully made its way down the mountain.
"You sure you don't want one?" she heard Jules ask again, holding out a box of doughnuts towards her from the other side of the cart.
"I'm fine!" Rike snapped back, "Just keep to your side of the cart… dumb face mercenary."
"If you're sure," Jules shrugged as he went back to snacking, but setting the box down next her.
"We're still so far away!" Rike groaned as she quickly threw herself backwards, laying back into the cart, "I thought you said this kind of work was exciting! How can you just sit here all day with these slow-ass golems!"
"I said it could be exciting. But I don't think anyone really wants to steal planks of wood," Jules clarified.
"Steal!? You mean the exciting part of this would be people trying to rob us!" Rike shouted, scrambling to roll over in the cart and propping herself up on her hands and knees, "You didn't say this could be dangerous!"
"Dangerous?" Jules repeated, holding his left, gloved hand up to his chin in thought, "Nah. This ain't dangerous," he stated as he waved his hand in front of his face.
"Course you wouldn't think people trying to rob us would be dangerous! You're weird! And dumb!" Rike screeched, jabbing her finger towards Jules as she continued to come with colorful words to describe him, "And did I mention weird!"
"I think so?"
"Gah! You're not supposed to agree when someone's insulting you!"
"Nah, you're not. I know you're just blowing off steam. Mercs do this kinda stuff all the time," Jules laughed as Rike put her hands over her face and screamed in frustration.
"Why is it impossible to get under your skin!?"
"Do you want to?"
"I- I… You know what, forget it. I give up. You made it weird," Rike huffed, sitting back down on her side of the cart, letting out a sigh as she stared out towards Lapis Cove.
"If you're sure, I guess," Jules shrugged as he grabbed a fresh doughnut from the box, "Still think you should eat something, might help your mood and it'll pass the time."
"Ugh…" Rike groaned before turning and looking at the half-empty box of doughnuts, scowling for a moment as she felt her eye twitch, "Fine," she relented before taking one from the box. "Can't believe we had to go all the way to the other side of the mountains to pick up wood…" she muttered before biting into the sweet.
. : + : .
"Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice, Miss Velvet," a short, well-dressed man said as Salina stepped into an ornately decorated office, her eyes darting around the room to see various awards and symbols of Seven around the room before they landed on the man sitting behind the large wooden desk.
"It's no bother of course, Mayor Terris, I'm always happy to be of help," Salina stated as she walked towards the desk.
"Indeed. Please, have a seat," the mayor said, gesturing to the two, plush seats in front of his desk as Salina made her way there and sat down.
"So, tell me Salina, how goes establishing your Mage Guild?" the mayor asked, giving the woman his full attention as he leaned forward onto his desk, clasping his hands together.
"I'd like to say it's going well so far. We're still in the midst of construction right now though and I had to send my two mages to pick up a lumber order from the other side of the mountains," Salina explained.
"They didn't have to go all the way to Lavender, did they?" the mayor asked as he tapped on a button on his desk.
"No, Judith was able to secure an order from a logging village just on the other side of the mountain pass to the north. So, it should only be a day trip for them," Salina answered before a maid entered the room with a tray before setting up a small table.
"Tea?" the maid asked.
"Yes please, thank you," Salina answered before the maid began pouring two cups for them.
"Will that be all, sir?"
"Yes, thank you," the mayor replied before the maid cleaned up and left, the two of them enjoying their drinks for a moment before the mayor cleared his throat, "Onto business though. While your guild has yet to fully establish itself Lapis Cove has a, erm… lets call it, a small situation that I believe you could help with."
"Oh? Do tell, please," Salina said as she set down her teacup as the mayor removed the tiny red top hat from atop his head, clasping it to his chest.
"Well, to my great shame, our fair city has fallen victim to a group of thugs in recent months and naturally, as mayor of Lapis Cove, it is my responsibility to see to it that the streets are once again made safe, as it were, yes?"
"I see, yes, continue, please," Salina nodded along as the mayor cleared his throat before hopping off of his chair, disappearing behind his desk as the three-foot-tall man began to walk around the room.
"These hooligans call themselves… oh, what was it… it was something ridiculous I'm sure… Right, they call themselves the Blood Razorz Gang, truly ridiculous. A bunch of ne'er-do-well hooligans they are, they go around harassing good citizens of Lapis Cove at night, mostly, but I fear it's only a matter of time before they grow bolder."
"Has the town guard done nothing?" Salina asked as she watched the man pace about the room.
"They've tried their best to contain this, of course, but have been unable to catch any of them so far. But that is where I was hoping that the mighty Salina might be able to step in and handle this problem for our fair town," the mayor finished giddily, "Oh! Naturally there will be payment for you and your guild if that is the concern, I believe the going rate for a mission like this would… oh… what was it now… Ah yes, five-hundred thousand Jewels."
"Well, naturally yes, I will happily help with this problem as I am able to and that is a very generous offer for this type of mission. Even without such a generous offer on the table I believe that this is a good opportunity for my guild to endear itself to the people of the town," Salina replied as the mayor's mustached face broke out into a large smile.
"Oh, dear Salina, you have no idea how happy hearing that makes me. Reelection is coming up soon and this is just the boost I need," Mayor Terris admitted as he happily made his way up to Salina and began eagerly shaking her hand as she slightly leaned away from the man, "I'll be eagerly awaiting the best of news soon then!"
"Yes, of course," Salina sighed as began to wonder if this would be worth it before she tried to grill the mayor for details about the gang.
. : + : .
"Ugh… that took forever!" Rike groaned as she hopped off of the cart and onto grassy ground below before she heard a loud thud, turning her head to see the golem that was controlling the cart moving to start unloading it as other golems from further out began to approach the cart. Rike quickly moved out of the way as Jules nonchalantly followed along, the now empty box of doughnuts tucked under his arm.
"Always forget how long that trip takes," Jules muttered as he looked out to sea, where the sun was now setting, turning the sky all shades of brilliant oranges and yellows before moving further inland towards the construction site, Rike eventually following him, the duo eventually spotting Salina speaking to a man they recognized, a guild mark resembling two crossed nails with a hammer in the middle in brilliant orange on his bare, right arm.
"But that should do ya for the foundation. It's been reinforced with the best of earth magics to ensure you got the most solid of foundations, even here near the beach, or else Adamantine Nail ain't the best construction guild in all of Seven," the man promised as Salina inspected the ground, kneeling down as she tried to sense the magical energies.
"Will this need to be reapplied every now and again?" she asked as she traced her fingers over the ground.
"Oh, every five to ten years most likely, but our work is good, so it'll last closer to ten," the man answered, "But Judith made sure to set you all up with a very good warranty on that, don't worry, so if it fails, for whatever reason, we'll make it right again."
"Good," Salina said as she stood up, turning to look at Rike and Jules.
"Lumber's here now, boss lady," Jules called out as Salina walked over to the two of them.
"Everything went smoothly then?" she asked.
"Yep!"
"It was so boring though," Rike groaned.
"That's good though," Salina answered, looking down at the young girl, "Believe me, boring jobs where nothing happens are a luxury for a mage."
"That's not helping at all," Rike sighed as Salina let out a small laugh.
"You'll understand in time," the guild master stated before turning to Jules, "But speaking of jobs that aren't entirely boring, I spoke to the mayor today."
"Bet that was fun, what'd the old fogey want?" Jules asked, leaning onto his left leg.
"He has a job for us, a bit more dangerous than escorting a lumber cart for the guildhall," Salina began as the other two mages gave her their full attention, "He wants us to deal with a gang that's been causing trouble in Lapis Cove at night, the Blood Razorz."
"Oh… I've heard of them… I'm… not going to have to help with this one, am I?" Rike asked, seeming to shrink in on herself as she crossed her arms while bunching up her shoulders.
"No. I want you to get more experience with your magic before I send you out to fight people," Salina stated as Rike let out a sigh of relief, "Jules and I will be handling this one."
"We going tonight? I've got no problems with starting tonight if you don't," Jules announced as he rifled through one of his pockets with his free hand, fishing out a small lachrima crystal, "I'm still all stocked up since nothing happened on that trip today."
"That was the plan, yes," the guild master stated before turning to Rike, "You should go home for tonight though, it could get dangerous on the streets once we start rooting out this gang, the younger girl nodding, "We'll walk you to town, let's go," Salina ordered as the three of them began the walk to town, Rike becoming lost in her own head as she only vaguely listened to Salina and Jules talk about how they would handle the mission and what their roles would be in a fight.
She was relieved that she wouldn't have to be getting into any fights already, sure the guild had existed for a few weeks now, but she had only escorted golems around as they got things ready to build the guildhall, no way was she ready to fight gangbangers! Even if she had done a bit of magic practice with Salina. No, the two of them were much better off without her for this mission, no doubt about it, she'd only get in the way, definitely, yep, that's all it is. She definitely wasn't just scared or anything, it's just better left to more experienced mages is all.
"-without us?" Rike suddenly heard Salina say, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Oh! Yep! Definitely!" Rike quickly responded, Salina and Jules looking between each other before the silver-haired man shrugged.
"All right then, have a good night and be careful on your way home," Salina waved before her and Jules took off walking into town, leaving Rike behind.
"Wait… what?" Rike mumbled as she began to look around, seeing that she was on the edge of Lapis Cove now, "Eh! I… I wasn't lost in thought that long, was I!?" she shrieked as she began to scramble back and forth, "I… I definitely can't handle this! Look how low the sun is now! It's practically night! It's dangerous out here!" she cried before running off, "No! Wait! I can't do this alone!" she screamed before running back in the other direction, "I- I need… but… No! They're walking right into danger! I can't go that way! That's too dangerous!" she continued before scrambling back in the direction she came from.
"Gotta get home! Gotta get home!" Rike panted as she sprinted along the outskirts of Lapis, her legs starting to burn as she ran across the cobblestone streets before she eventually had to stop moving, just stepping past an alleyway and leaning against the corner of a building while she panted, unaware of the hand reaching around her before it grabbed her by the face and pulled her into the alley while she let out a muffled scream before she was slammed into the wall, her vision obscured by stars for a moment before she could see the man who had grabbed her, a sketchy looking man in a leather jacket with a black, greasy pompadour.
"Quit struggling girly, I ain't gonna hurt you," he said while pulling out a switchblade knife, "Well, not without some financial incentive I won't," he threatened while putting the knife up to Rike's face.
"I'm thinking a good ten-thousand Jewels will be enough to guarantee the safety of your pretty little face, what do you think, eh? Ain't I generous?" he chuckled as he adjusted his hand so that Rike could speak again.
"Let go of me!" she hissed, quietly adjusting her hands into position for her magic, "I-I'm warning you!"
"I'm warning you~ pah!" the man mocked back, moving the knife down to his side and away from her face as he pulled her closer, "Or what?" he spat back as Rike dropped her hands before swiftly kicking upwards right between the man's legs as he yelped in pain and quickly dropped to the ground before Rike took off again, "Get back here!" she heard the man yell as he scrambled back up to his feet, Rike turning her head to look back at him before running into what felt like a brick wall, knocking her down onto her rear before she looked up, seeing a massive, muscular woman with red hair towering over her.
The woman let out a huff of annoyance as she looked down at Rike before her eyes landed on the man chasing her.
"Finally caught ya, you bitch," the man panted while looking down at the ground, "You're gonna pay for… for kicking…" he trailed off as his eyes went from Rike down on the ground to the large woman standing over her, "I… I mean… Roxanne… what a uh… lovely night to see you… on… heh."
"You causing problems again, Rakazz?" Roxanne asked lowly as she stepped over Rike and towards the man, who was slowly stepping back from the woman.
"What? Me? Naw… never!" he stammered as the woman reached out and picked the man up by his shirt, lifting him up to eye-level with her golden, amber eyes.
"Seems to me ya are," the woman growled, "Hey! Girlie! He causing you trouble!?" she roared back at Rike, the much smaller girl simply nodding in response before snapping out of it.
"He pulled me into an alley and threatened to cut me with a knife," Rike answered, almost robotically as she watched the scene in awe.
"Little bitch! You kicked me in the…!" Rakazz started to shout back before Roxanne let out a bellowing laugh.
"You kicked him? Right in the dick?" the woman laughed, looking back Rike, who began nodding earnestly, "That's funny. I like you, Beanie," Roxanne stated as she walked back over to Rike, still holding Rakazz up in the air while she bent down and held a hand out to pull Rike onto her feet, "What do you want to do ol' Rakazz here?" the large woman asked, Rakazz mouthing 'Let me go' over and over, Rike giving him a deadpan stare.
"I wanna ask him a question first," Rike answered.
"Shoot," Roxanne shrugged, holding Rakazz to where he could look at Rike a bit better.
"Are you with the Blood Razorz Gang?" she asked, immediately causing Roxanne to burst out laughing.
"This little bitch? With the Blood Razorz? That's rich, you must've left quite the impression if she thought you were rolling with those psychos!" Roxanne laughed while holding Rakazz up to her face to speak to him.
"I- I'm not, no. But uh… you wanna find 'em? Got some kinda score to settle? I can take you there, if you uh… let me go," Rakazz pleaded.
"As if little Beanie wants ta…"
"I want to know where they are," Rike said, cutting Roxanne off.
"Well color me impressed again," Roxanne chuckled before holding Rakazz out in front of Rike again, "Go on, tell her," she commanded lowly.
"So, uh… you know the old lighthouse? The one that got shut down after they built that new one with the giant lachrima?" Rakazz began nervously, "Rumor on the street is that's where their boss likes to hang out these days since it's not in use anymore. That's uh… what I know, so can I uh… go now?"
"The old lighthouse… I gotta tell Salina," Rike muttered before looking back up at Rakazz, "He can go, but you can have some fun with it if you want to," she said as she looked up at Roxanne whose face was now breaking out into a smile.
"Better hold onto to yer butt, Rakazz," Roxanne smiled as started to spin.
"Wait… no! Roxanne!" the greaser tried to plea before Roxanne launched him across town, taking a moment to watch and admire her work, "So tell me something, Beanie, why you wanna find the Blood Razorz?"
"Well, I don't really want to… But my guild master is on a job looking for them! She's gonna take down the whole gang!" Rike declared, looking up at Roxanne with an almost defiant look.
"No shit? You with that new guild that opened up on the beach then?"
"Y-yeah, I am."
"Heard about that, heard it was some big shot mage from up north in charge. So, you wanna tell your boss what's what then and where she can find her problem?" Roxanne asked, Rike nodding in response, "All right then," she said as she reached down and picked Rike up, flexing her left arm and holding it still as she set Rike on top of it like it was a bench, the smaller girl holding onto Roxanne's forearm for stability, "Let's go find your guild master then."
"Wait… what?" Rike gawked as she held onto the arm.
"Gotta let her know where she can find her problem. 'Sides, I want these streets cleaned up too, got siblings to look after and all that," Roxanne explained as she started walking through town, "And I never say no to a good fight either," she finished with a dark chuckle while Rike could only wonder how she ended up in this situation.
A/N: And there we go, chapter 3! Hope you enjoyed it!
Credits:
Mayor Niall Terris – Dreadburner94
Rakazz – Benthino
Roxanne Caine – Benthino
And with this chapter, I can solidly say that submissions are closed, sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter out, life has been a bit of a pain lately after I reinjured my back, but it seems to be all better now so I should hopefully be able to get back to writing with some regularity. But anyways, a big thank you to everyone who submitted characters and once again I apologize to anyone whose characters didn't make it into the main cast. It's gonna be a slow burn for character introductions for now though as the guild gets built up, but I hope you all enjoy getting to see the guild get built up over time. Thanks again for the interest in the story!