Fandom [Mission] Demons and the Book of Vongraw

[Lady Warlock]

| Roleplay Directory |​

A Theft is Not a Local Matter
Normally, a theft was something that went through a very different process. Normally it got reported to local authorities - police officers, investigators and the like - and they looked into it as best as they could; if the situation was resolved, then that was a good thing for whoever had been stolen from and if it wasn’t, they were welcome to contact mages on their own finances if they wished. Very few people - very few families - had the pull or authority to request that the magic council reach out to mages for them.

The Haein Family was one such family, though.

They were one such family because of their abilities. Appointed guardians of the demon books of old, they were critical to the magical world because they were the ones capable of returning many ancient demons to the texts they came from; their ability went two ways, though. They could also free them. This gained them the eternal watchful eye of the Magic Council and of the Fioran Government. Each had enough reason to trust and respect the family as they did to fear them and thus a supervising gaze was the most appropriate for the situation. Even the Haeins would not earn the right to have the Magic Council fund the investigation, but the outreach alone would more than likely be enough.

All they had told the magic council was that the Book of Vongraw had been stolen. It was one of the more silent books, the books that nobody talked about. None of its terrors had really ever ravaged the world, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t. Melissa Haein made it clear to the council that this book - just as much as any other - could pose a threat if it fell into the wrong hands. And that was because unlike most things, freeing a demon was something any mage could manage if they knew what they were doing.

Melissa Haein also knew that there was more to the situation, though.

Normally, a theft was something she alone would’ve been capable of handling. Not this time, though. This time was more personal and for her to handle it would be dangerous. It would take a team, and right then, her family was not a team.

Four of her five sons were all fighting amongst themselves. Two daughters sought to leave the family altogether, something she wasn’t sure whether or not she was even allowed to do. Her own husband was threatening divorce because he couldn’t handle the stress that came with the magic his own children now carried in their veins… because of her. All of it was because of Melissa and she couldn’t change that. She couldn’t change any of it.

The only thing she could do was try to get the book back.

That was why she waited on the steps of her family home. Mansion was probably a more apt description of it, though. Every inch of it was white as white could be despite a recent storm having blown through. She was dressed in elegance, too. A long silver gown hugged her thin figure, and she didn’t look a day older than thirty even though the number of children she had alone suggested she was far older than that. And it was there that she would wait for the mages who the magic council would send to meet her on this day, at this time.

Your first post should detail your arrival to the Haein mansion where Melissa Haein is sitting on the front steps waiting for you.

CelticHero37 shadowdude505 Sophrosyne03 Phineas Forge

 

[shadowdude505]

Kyoya Kumori
​

A lone figure in black stood in a cemetery during the early morning fog. The man was Kyoya Kumori of Raven Tail. He stood in front of two graves: one was etched with the name of his father, the other his mother. While there he reflected on the job he had chosen to accept. Hunting down a thief that stole a demon book wasn't something he ever thought he'd end up doing. It was possible that Dark Wizards weren't even involved, but the magic sounded dangerous. As a mage in a Legal Guild it was his job to protect the world around him. After his parents were killed by Dark Wizards, Kyoya had made a vow to keep that kind of thing from happening. If a demon was summoned by someone with malicious intent, there was no telling how many innocents would be slaughtered.

Sommoning demons from a book. It reminded him of his daughter's magic, and her mother's. There was another gravestone Kyoya would have loved to visit before making his way to the Haein family's mansion, but that grave belonged to a Fairy Tail mage. Things wouldn't play out well if he showed up there. Kyoya let out a sigh before turning to leave. He'd just have to pay his respects to Brooke Livre in his head. She'd understand.
~~~

Kyoyra boarded a train and took a seat in the very back. He began to look over the job posting again and studied the map provided by the Magic Council so he could find the mansion. He began to wonder how such a powerful book managed to be stolen. A lapse in security perhaps, or maybe someone in the family wasn't as "goody two shoes" as they lead the Council to believe. As much as he disliked how the Magic Council did things, for once in his life he figured there was no better way for them to handle the Haein family. Confiscating the Book of Vongraw would have been like spitting in the family's face. On top of that Kyoya doubted that the Council would have been able to keep the book sealed away for long, if the Magic Council had the book every shady character would know about it and it would only make the Council a bigger target. Executing the Haein family would have been an extreme measure and even after their death, dealing with the Book of Vongraw would still be troublesome. What would make things worse for the Council would be the people's reaction. They would lose a lot of trust from the commoners after a stunt like that, so supervision it was.

After his train ride, Kyoya walked through town and made his way to the mansion. Walking down the path he made his way up to the front porch and the woman waiting on it. "Mrs. Haein, I presume," he said gruffly, mouth covered by his black mask. "I'm Kyoya Kumori of Raven Tail. I'm here to help ya with your missing book problem." After introducing himself, Kyoya took a quick glance behind him. So far it seemed like he was the first to arrive, but judging by the fact that the Magic Council was behind the job postings, he was sure the other mages willing enough to take this job weren't too far behind.

Lady Warlock CelticHero37 Sophrosyne03 Phineas Forge

 

[CelticHero37]

Elizabeth “Libby” Tuck, Aedon Strom and Maxwell Rose
The blistering afternoon sun scorched the earth below as a man in a cream colored fedora and trenchcoat sifted through the crowds of the city. This man was no ordinary human. A shroud of mysterious energy hovered about him as he continued on in the direction of the Lamia Scale guild hall; a building that rested at the top of a grass-covered mountain. Any who noticed him would instantly know that he was one of the mages from the guild. With the atmosphere he carried with him, it was unmistakeable. This was a mage who meant business. Children would stop and gaze in the middle of their games, parents would glare angrily as they attempted to reign in their children’s awe, and general silence followed him.

As the man hiked up the hill to the guild hall, he threw open the door and trudged inside, calling out, ”Barkeep! Throw on some ribs!”

Walking up to the bar, the man ignored the blank stares directed at him as he added, ”Yo Spanky?! Where you at?!”

If the hall hadn’t been silent before, it certainly was now. A red-headed leprechaun girl emerged from a back room, floating on a pot o’ gold and harboring a glare of pure hatred. It was the famous mascot of Lamia Scale, the founding guild master, Patricia C. O’Shae. She eyed the guild members as she seethed, “There be only one wanker dumb enough to call me by that name! So which one a ya unfortunate stooks said it?! I swear, say it one more time ‘n you’ll be sheitin’ gold fer a week!”

Across the main dining room in the Lamia Scale guild hall, a young girl -the youngest in the guild as a matter of fact - had been sitting at a table slowly eating macaroni and cheese while she flipped through the pages of a Magic Treehouse book. There really wasn't too much else to do during lunch and everyone seemed to be too busy to play on this particular day. However, when she heard the guildmaster’s sternness, Libby knew that there was only one person she could be talking to and that knowledge alone was enough to get her to leap out of her seat.

“AEDON!” she yelled his name as she ran right at him and jumped up to pull him into a big hug. If one thing was certain about Lamia Scale’s youngest member, it was that she loved hugs.

Unfortunately, her hugs didn't always work out quite like they were supposed to. This time, like most other times, rather than actually colliding with her guild mate and wrapping her arms around him, Libby found herself sailing straight through him as though he were a ghost. That wasn't quite an apt description, though; in this case, she was the more ghostly one.

Landing hard on the floor with an “Umph,” Libby was quick to turn around and say that she was ok. She also added, “I guess I still haven't figured that out yet,” with some small yet obvious disappointment in herself and a frown upon her face.

The fuming leprechaun turned her attention from the hall to the bar next to her when she heard Libby’s voice. Like an overprotective mother, she hovered down to the girl’s side, flicking a chocolate coin in her hand as she tried to help the girl up, “Oh don’t you worry hun, you’ll get the hang of it eventually.” Up to this point, she still hadn’t realized that the Aedon, Libby had been going to hug was the one and only Aedon Strom.

It was then that Aedon’s order of ribs arrived. Before taking a bite, he reached down and ruffled Libby’s hair, saying, “It doesn’t take any fancy training, kid. Just gotta be confident is all.” With that, he began to scarf down the meal.

Having her hair ruffled by one of her favorite guildmates was always something that would bring a smile to her face even if she had to shift her brown locks out of her eyes afterwards. Confidence was something Aedon had preached to her every time she struggled, but it was still something Libby was struggling with and she sighed as she heard it yet again. “I dunno,” she shrugged. “Maybe it would help if I went on a real mission? Do you think that would help, Aedon?” Even as Libby asked it, she sounded excited by her own idea. She’d been a Lamia Scale mage her whole life, but she still had yet to tackle her first mission.

Following Libby’s question, Aedon froze; the mug he was about to drink from hovering inches from his lips. Then his eyes flicked over to look at Libby with a very stern look on his face. Normally in this sort of situation, Aedon would simply have brushed off the notion, claiming that Libby was far too young to get involved in the dangers of missions. He used to treat the idea almost as a joke. However, this time he was getting a different feeling. Setting down the cup, he turned in his chair and looked over to the guild master.

Patty blushed slightly, becoming overly excited as she realized Aedon was there. Despite that, she began shaking her head as she laughed, exclaiming, “No, no, no. Don’t be silly. I’ve told you before, Libby. Missions are dangerous things for grown-ups. You needn’t worry yourself with such things. No…”

“Patty, you can’t keep her locked up forever,” interjected Aedon. Patty’s jaw dropped. This was the first time she could remember that Aedon hadn’t referred to her as ‘Spanky’. On top of that, Aedon had never questioned her decisions before. She had been happy to see him, but now she wasn’t so sure.

She hovered away slightly, wringing her hands as she stated, “I… but she could get hurt…. No, she can go next year…”

“Now you’re just putting off the inevitable. I’ll go with her, but she’s old enough. Give her a chance,” added Aedon.

Libby was smiling by this point in the conversation and her eyes were as wide as they could’ve possibly been in any situation at all. “REALLY!?” Then her eyes turned to offer a pleading gaze to her guildmaster.

Patty visibly deflated, realizing that Aedon was right. With a labored sigh, she nodded, “Alright, fine.” She then hovered up to go face to face with Aedon as she added, “Now she better not get hurt, I’m going to hold you responsible Aedon.”

Turning back to his food, Aedon scoffed, “Yeah, whatever, Spanky.”

“I’ll be ok! I’ll have my guildmates with me!” She sounded more excited about the mission than concerned about her own safety, but that was likely just a natural thing for her.

Patty glared at Aedon after being called Spanky, but then she hovered down to Libby again and held out a special gold coin, “There, for good luck.”

Libby took the coin with a smile and flipped it around between her fingers as though trying to see if it would spontaneously do something cool. Sometimes magic could do that, after all. Regardless, though, she was grateful for it. Anything from anyone in her guild was a cherishable gift as far as Libby would ever be concerned. “Thank you! I”m sure we’ll be very very lucky! I will have Aedon with me, after all!”

A short figure then came through the door, yawning as he did. “Good morning everyone.” Max stretched his arms out as he tried to wake up after a late night of chasing girls. “I hope you were all doing alright in my absence.”

The leprechaun smiled at Max when he walked in, responding, “Hey there Maxie boy. So how did ya fare last night? Any good tales to tell?”

“Oh, you know how it goes, for a fine gentleman such as myself. I had a trail of women basking in my presence as I showed them a good time,” Max said with a coy smile, “Now I can enjoy the company of the lovely ladies here… as well as my other esteemed colleagues.”

Aedon let out a snort at Max’s comments as he said, “I remember you, you’re that pipsqueak that joined a couple months ago. Yo Spanky, why’d you let him into the guild again?”

“Yes, and what an honor it is to be remembered by you, and here I was worried you would have forgotten me. Though I wish you wouldn’t besmirch my character.” Max said in his usually charmed tone, he had not interacted much with the famous mage of Lamia Scale, but now seemed to vaguely remember his sharp tongue.

“Huh?” Aedon looked behind him and added, “Oh, there’s actually someone there. I thought I had heard that mouse that’s been running around the guild. Who are you again?”

“So you remember my person, but not my name? Tsk tsk,” Max made his way to the group at the bar, “What a shame for you to have a such a short memory span. I, Max Rose, have already introduced myself to you.” He smiled, let the game of wits begin. Doubtless Aedon would have his comeback at him.

Aedon was about to make another halfhearted comeback when Max mentioned the last name Rose. As a result, Aedon nearly choked on his food. Once he had finally cleared his throat, he exclaimed, “You make me sick! Since when has this become a club for rich kids?!” Looking over to the guild master hovering on the pot of gold, he added, “Don’t answer that… well, come on Libby. Time for the mission. Let’s go.”

Too lost in her own excitement to even realize what was happening, Libby’s first reaction was probably fitting for someone who had no idea what was going on. “Huh?” She followed Aedon quickly, but also objected. “But we didn’t pick out a mission yet and… and I have to pack some things, right? Or… or not?” Given that she had never been on a mission before, Libby really wasn’t sure how this worked, but she was fairly certain that they needed to at the very least pick out a mission.

Aedon walked up and tore a mission off the board, looking down for only a moment before responding, “All you need is yourself, kid… you like books right?”

“Yeah…?” Libby wasn’t quite sure what he was implying with the question, though.

“I am not much of a booking reading sort, but going on a mission is almost always a good time. We shall go forth together. I’ll be sure to dole out any advice you may need Libby. Although Aedon will know more than I do of course.” Max said after he had quickly zipped over to the pair by the mission board.

Aedon threw up a hand and shook his head, “There’s no way in…” as Aedon spoke, he caught a glimpse of the guild master, who was staring at him with a sincerely worried look on her face. Letting out a sigh, Aedon pinched the bridge of his nose before responding, “Fine, but you better not fall behind with those short legs of yours. Come on Libby, you ready?”

“Yes!” came the exuberant twelve-year-old’s reply.

They had to meet with somebody about a book. Aedon had skimmed the description and knew all he needed to, so he shoved the mission in a coat pocket and headed toward the door, flipping the edge of his coat on his way out. Libby was following closely at his heels, although unfortunately, she found herself having to run because she was shorter than him and that would always make keeping up a bit of a struggle. There was no complaint from her, though.

“You two can go on ahead aways, I have some very important things to bring with me on our journey ahead,” Max disappeared in a flash, only to return a few minutes with his arms, and a small pack, brimming with assorted foods, “Just a little something for the road. I assume we are all ready to go then?” Max then picked out an apple and took a great bite from it.

Aedon, who had been squinting up at the sun, reached out and grabbed some food from Max’s pack. Then, after taking a bite, he pointed to the right and said, “This way.”

Meanwhile, back at the guild hall, Patty hovered over to the mission board, still worrying about Libby as she scanned the jobs to figure out which one had been taken. Upon seeing the blank space where she had left the Demons and the Book of Vongraw posting, her eyes widened and she put her hands over her mouth. To make things worse, Aedon had ripped off the posting in a way that left the ‘Demon’ part of the title on the board. She wasn’t sure if he even knew what they were getting into. Clenching her eyes shut, Patty began swirling in circles in front of the board mumbling, “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear… please be safe.”

After Some Traveling…
It had been a reasonable train ride to their destination and Libby had been nearly bouncing up and down the whole journey because she hadn’t really left her hometown on many prior occasions. There was much to see for the young Lamia Scale mage and there were very little things that could demolish her jubilant attitude. And her two guildmates were simply stuck with her just as she was, which likely wasn’t a problem at all. Once they got off, her eagerness continued as she looked up to Aedon and asked, “Where do we go now, Aedon?” She still didn’t know much about the mission he’d pulled off the board and thus had no idea where they were going.

“Good question…” Max tried with blinding speed to get a look at the paper Aedon was holding.

Spindles of electricity jolted along Aedon’s arm as it zipped in front of him, catching Max’s arm mere inches from the paper. Giving Max a sidelong glare, he stated, “That mansion up ahead is our destination. They’re a fairly decent family if I remember correctly.”

Libby’s jaw dropped a bit as Aedon mentioned a mansion and then her little legs started carrying her ahead of the others as she darted into the clearing. “Wow! It is HUGE!” That only goes to show how little of the world the child had seen. Just as soon as she stopped running, she noticed that there was another person already there and she walked right up to him. “Hi! I’m Libby!” What she didn’t notice was the woman sitting on the steps of the house.

Max had watched Libby run off and a couple seconds later bolted to her side as she introduced herself to the mage.

“Always good to introduce oneself Libby, but do not neglect our host here,” Max turned to the women and with a small polite bow, “A pleasure to meet you madame, I am Maxwell Rose. Me and my associates are here to confront what ails you.” Max looked to the older mage who had gotten here first, “I take you are here with the same goal as us?” Max extended his hand. “Hopefully it will be a pleasure working with you. Make I ask your name?”

Aedon’s eyes widened as he realized his two guildmates were nowhere to be seen. With a sigh, he continued forward. Walking past the other mages to greet the host. With a slight bow, he said, “Mrs. Haein. It’s been a while. I hope the family’s doing well.”

 

[shadowdude505]

Kyoya Kumori
​

As if on cue, more wizards arrived. Lamia Scale to be exact; he'd recognize that fedora anywhere. He'd seen it many times in Sorcerer's Weekly when he wasn't looking for it. Secretly he only bought the latest issue to read up on how his daughter and her mother were doing. It did seem counter intuitive to his tough guy image to be caught reading them, especially the swimsuit editions, but he had always informed his guildmates that he was reading the weekly magazine to gain more information on the other guilds, especially their Fairy Tail rivals. Nowadays he only read Sorcerer's Weekly to read up on his daughter, now that Brooke was no longer in the land of the living.

Thinking about his daughter, Kyoya looked down at the youngest Lamia Scale wizard and maintained his usual scowl as he looked at her. He didn't want to give the impression that he liked kids, even though these guys were not Fairy Tail mages. He wanted to stare down the other two Lamia Scale wizards and ask whose bright idea it was to bring a young girl on a mission involving potential run-ins with demons, but he thought if he made a big enough fuss he'd be overselling it; Someone trying hard not to act like a father would only end up looking more like one. Instead he gave Libby a grumpy "Hi," before turning his attention to Max.

"If you want to stop a potentially dangerous situation, then yes, we have the same goal," he replied gruffly. "Kyoya Kumori." He shook Max's hand as he introduced himself, but continued to maintain his I'm-not-enjoying-myself scowl. After shaking hands he crossed his arms against his athletic chest and quietly waited for more questions or for Mrs. Haein to begin to speak; which ever came first. Glancing at the other mages, the thought that there could be a straggler or two crossed his mind. If that was the case, he hoped he wouldn't have to wait long. He wanted to jump into the action before the Book of Vongraw thief had a good chance to use the demon spawning book.

Lady Warlock CelticHero37 Sophrosyne03 JayeTheKat

 

[JayeTheKat]

✾ P●A●L●I●L●A ✾ T●R●U●S●S ✾

CelticHero37 shadowdude505 Sophrosyne03 Phineas Forge Lady Warlock​

.

One rather loud thump sounded from the darkened bedroom of Palila Truss. The rather grumpy woman mumbled incoherently as she moved groggily up to her feet from where she'd landed on the floor. Despite the bright and happy sunlight streaming in through the cracks in her blinds, she was not in a good mood. This was not an odd occurrence, as most mornings started out with her grumpy anyway. She was not a morning person. Needless to say, it was a rather long time before she finally wandered out into the world of the living, and headed to her actual home, the Sabertooth guild hall. Her twin swords were in their rightful location, in their sheaths attached to her waist.

By the time she pushed her way through the doors of the hall, it was bustling with activity. Members who weren't out on jobs sat about chatting and being very much their usual selves. As per the normal day, Palila made her way to the bar to pick up something to wake up, among scattered greetings and smiles. After asking for 'The Usual', she left the bar carrying a mug and wandered to the mission board to see what was available. Her eyes scanned over the requests posted on the board, until she caught sight of a particularly interesting job.

"'Demons and the Book of Vongraw' huh? Catch the thief and get the book back... That'll do." She mused to herself and tore the job request off the board. She popped back over to the bar long enough to let someone know she was taking that mission and return her now empty mug, then headed for the door.

However, she'd neglected to read the meeting time until after she'd already taken the request. She was out the door and halfway down the street when she finally bothered to check. "Well, crap. I'm going to be late..." She sighed, rather irked at herself. She kicked her leisurely walk into high gear and headed to the train station as fast as she could reasonably go.

.

The train ride there was pleasant, albeit slow, and almost as soon as it pulled into her destination, Palila was on her feet and ready to get off. She hated making others wait, and that just so happened to be what tended to happen when one ran behind schedule. However, she'd made it to the town... The trickiest part came next. Now she had to actually find the place, with her sense of direction it was sure to be an adventure in and of itself. The confused young woman wandered aimlessly for a while, until she finally found someone willing to attempt to point her in the right direction.

"Down the street, turn right... Down the street, turn right... Look for the mansion." That was what she chant under her breath after thanking the helpful stranger. She tried, really truthfully did, to follow those instructions, but somehow she ended up taking a left instead of a right. Of course, she didn't catch her own mistake until she came up on a dead end several blocks away from where she needed to be.

"And this is why they don't let me navigate." She muttered as she backtracked and went the correct direction this time. As she'd been told, the mansion she was to report to loomed ahead not long after and she breathed out a sigh of relief. She followed the path up to the steps, but lingered behind the group of mages gathered already. There seemed to be a conversation taking place, and she rather not interrupt. So, there she waited silently for a chance to speak.

When a break in the conversation emerged, right after one Kyoya Kumori stated his name, she spoke up. "Sorry I'm a bit late." She started, a small friendly smile playing at her lips, "Palila Truss of Sabertooth. Pleased to make your acquaintance." She finished her greeting, extending to to everyone and not just one person in particular, and even threw in her customary polite bow before falling away from conversation to let them continue where they had left off if they wished.

❃

 

[Lady Warlock]

Aedon Strom and Melissa Haein

Collab with: CelticHero37​

The afternoon sun would’ve normally been something Melissa was more comfortable avoiding and thus, normally a reason to stay indoors at this time of day. However, the mages would notice as they approached that she was seated almost perfectly so that the roof of her home shaded her body almost completely; the shadows didn’t really make her mysterious or anything like that, though. They simply served to make Melissa appear more comfortable and the reasoning behind that was probably that the shadows truly did make her feel that way. It was warm enough on this particular day for shade to be something people could savor although for mages, they had likely endured worse days in the heat.

“I’m glad to hear it,” she spoke briefly in response to Kyoya’s introduction. To say more right away would only mean that she would have to repeat herself once everyone else joined them so she held explanations to her own thoughts for now.

Shadows around her did nothing to hide her curiosity at the mages who approached her, though, and her eyes watched as some of their interactions unfolded right in front of her. Melissa did seem slightly surprised when one of them approached her directly, and right away on top of that. Looking up at Aedon, she tried to recognize him, but found herself unable to accomplish such a task and she truly hoped it wasn’t a sign that her memory was failing her. “I’m sorry, but have we met before?” It wasn’t that she had any problems at all with politeness, but his courtesy seemed to suggest familiarity beyond what he would know about her through the ad the council had posted.

Aedon gave Melissa a confused look as he responded, “I suppose it’s been a few years, but I’m Aedon Strom. Your daughter, Karissa and I were going out for a while.”

The woman’s eyebrows narrowed even further as she tried to place the information she was being given appropriately in her memory. She was certain that she had never met anyone by the name of Aedon Strom, and she was also certain that she didn’t like the thought of her children having connections she didn’t know about. “Uhm…” she muttered, “I’m still not familiar with you, and Karissa… she…” Melissa didn’t even know where she had been going with that thought, but some dissatisfaction was hovering on the edges of her words.

Meanwhile, Aedon and all the other mages would hear some of what was going on inside the house. Although the words were indiscernible, there was definitely a lot of arguing going on in there and many voices jumbled together, each shouting over the other.

By this point, Aedon was becoming quite confused. He knew he had dated Karissa Haein before, and Merissa had confirmed the fact that this was the right family by mentioning her as well. However, once the raucous began, concern overtook his face as he asked, “What happened to her? Is everything alright?”

“She’s fine. She’s probably one of the ones in there shouting,” Melissa answered, although the mention of what was going on inside seemed to give her a headache. Melissa’s hand reached up to hold her head steady and she sighed a bit as she absorbed more of the shouting and yelling.

“Oh I see… now that you mention it, that does sound rather familiar,” responded Aedon, “Either way, I’m here for the mission as well. Primarily as a babysitter, but it’s still my job.”

“Well,” Melissa sighed, “I suppose it’s time I get to the details of that mission. That is what they’re all arguing about in there.” Her gaze drifted away from Aedon and she looked back to the others who had taken the mission - the ones who hadn’t gotten quite as close as Aedon had and she waved them over. “You’re welcome to come take a seat on the steps,” she said to all of them, “because there’s a few details that I never actually shared with the magic council.”

Waiting a moment, she would give them the time to get closer if they wanted to. Libby, at least, did walk forward and take a seat on the steps whether anyone else did or not. She had a smile on her face and she was excited that she was able to feel important in the situation at hand. The other mage had even introduced himself to her just like she had given her name to him. So far, things were going well for the Wizard ‘O the Wisp.

Finally, Melissa would delve into the details.

“Probably the most important detail that the council will not have told you and that would not have been in your request information is that we actually do know who the thief is. It happened three days ago, now, My youngest son - Koty - had been… acting odd for a few weeks prior to that and then he practically blew up at us at the dinner table that afternoon. Something about not being noticed… something about being sick of being controlled… I had never heard him complain of such a thing before. Then he ran off. It wasn’t until a few hours later that we noticed that the Book of Vongraw had been taken. He was the only one who had access to it.” She definitely seemed distant as she spoke; she still couldn’t believe what had happened.

“I have a little tracking demon tailing him even now, but I can’t leave because someone needs to be here. The Book of Vongraw was not our only book of demons and my children… well…” she tilted her head back to glance in the direction of the still escalating ruckus and she rolled her eyes. None of them would be capable of going to find Koty; that much she at least knew for sure.

Then she looked back to the mages. “I really don’t anticipate that you should have too much trouble. Normally I’d say one or two people would’ve sufficed, but the council… well, they get their panties in a bundle too much. I can give you the last location I received on Koty and then you should be good to go. Any questions?”

Aedon shook his head. The instructions were clear, and he wasn’t surprised at the situation. Some of the memories were returning to him, and the fact that the family tended to be a bit crazy at times was one of them. The fact that he broke up with Karissa was beginning to make sense.

Sophrosyne03 JayeTheKat shadowdude505

 

[shadowdude505]

Kyoya Kumori
​

Kyoya glanced over at Palila after she introduced herself. Hopefully she had heard his introduction to the Lamia Scale mages, he didn't feel like repeating himself. He turned his scowl toward the mansion as the muffled argument could be heard. He was lucky he was a father of a shy girl, if he was a part of her life anyway. Currently he was free of the burden of parenthood, but that didn't stop him from wondering what his daughter was up to.

Even after Mrs. Haein beckoned the mages to take a seat, Kyoya continued to stand beside the porch; though he did lean his back against the railing to make himself comfortable. He crossed his arms as he listened to the woman talk and let out a gruff chuckle at the Magic Council remark. They did give off the impression that they were always stressed about something. If they'd just let him kill all the Dark Wizard threats maybe they'd relax a bit. Even though the job itself was inherently stressful, the Magic Council wouldn't have to worry about Dark Wizards escaping jail if Kyoya had his way.

Kyoya made a mental note after Mrs. Haein mentioned that her son was the individual behind the Book of Vongraw. It proved one of his theories about the demon book mess, unfortunately it didn't prove whether or not Koty was turning to the dark side. "What kind of demons does your son have at his disposal? Book of Vongraw included," he asked. Even if Mrs. Haein didn't think there wasn't going to be much trouble, it wouldn't hurt to be prepared.

Lady Warlock CelticHero37 JayeTheKat Sophrosyne03

 

[Lady Warlock]

Melissa Haein

Despite the question being a rather obvious one, Melissa was still surprised by Kyoya’s inquiry and she wasn’t quite sure why. Normally, she wasn’t permitted to give away information regarding the contents of the many demon books her family guarded because such information could be dangerous in the hands of the enemy. If someone studied the contents close enough, it would also reveal that not all the magic demons in the world were accounted for - that was a detail the magic council guarded with secrecy, too. Panic would riot if that ever got out.

It pertained to the mission, though, and they deserved to know what they might be getting into. Melissa hoped her son wasn’t in such a state where it would come to a fight, but if it did, demons were unavoidable.

“He will only have access to the demons in the Book of Vongraw and my son is not strong enough to pull the most powerful of them out of those pages yet.” He was only fourteen. “That book has a pair of twins… fire and ice twins, that enjoy dancing. If they’ll listen to him, it might take more than one of you to defeat them, but those are the two he would summon.”

For a moment, she wondered if she should detail more of what the book contained. Swallowing harshly, Melissa added a few more comments. “Zajaar is the most powerful demon in that book. He’s a demon of shadow fire and he was the weapon of choice of a mage who nearly brought the entirety of Crocus burning to the ground before he was captured. Shadow fire is fire you cannot see, but that burns just the same.” And that was the demon that the council worried over.

The mage Zajaar had worked with, the one who’d attacked Crocus almost long ago for time to have forgotten, was currently locked up in Black Vox prison.

shadowdude505 JayeTheKat CelticHero37 Sophrosyne03

 

[Sophrosyne03]

Maxwell Rose​

Well, well well… and here I thought our missions would be just guys…plus Libby... Max was glad to have such a lovely young woman here for the same mission, Gives me a chance to use my expansive vocabulary. Max loved being verbose, and tried to come up with unique complements for all the ladies he came across. She introduced herself as Palila Truss from the Sabertooth guild. Max had considered joining Sabertooth, but the guild wasn’t, in his mind, as refined as he would have liked, prompting him to join Lamia Scale. Neither guild was short on beautiful faces.


Max could hear Melissa Haein speaking in the background, but he was too lost in his own thoughts to listen to everything she said, something about fire and ice demons and someone named Koty. Thinking about guilds reminded him of his own guildmates currently here with him. Aedon Strom was the famous S-class mage of Lamia Scale, but he was often away on missions, or personal business. Due to Libby’s age, she was someone Max had yet to spend a lot of time with. She was like a kid sister in the guild, but they kept different hours, mostly because Max would be awake almost all night and asleep during the day.


After the exchange between Mrs. Haein and some of the other mages, Max turned to Palila.


“It is such a pleasure to have your company here on the mission Palila. A truly magnificent name for one such as yourself. I look forward to benefiting from your perspicacity and swordsmanship on this mission. My name is Max, in case you didn’t hear my introduction earlier.” Max said in a low and honeyed tone. He looked up at her face with a subtle grin as he gauged her reaction to his compliments…

JayeTheKat

 

[JayeTheKat]

✾ P●A●L●I●L●A ✾ T●R●U●S●S ✾

Palila moved a little bit closer to Melissa when the woman started her explanation but didn't go to sit on the steps. She was perfectly fine standing anyway. As the explanations and following questions progressed, the young woman listened silently, and when it seemed all the questions had been asked and answered, she was more than ready to go catch Koty and bring him back so he could face up to his wrong-doing. Still, in the case of anything else popping up last minute,
or anyone else, she didn't say anything about leaving.

It seemed her mind would not get bored though, as another member of their team opted to speak to her. To be completely honest, she was surprised the small statured man bothered to, as usually most didn't even notice her until she did something significant. She didn't really say anything for a while after Max's rather verbose introduction, though she did turn her attention to him and off of Melissa. Mostly she was just trying to figure out if Max was actually trying to flirt with her.

After a minute, she returned a politely friendly smile. "It's very nice to meet you, Max. I can't say how much help I'll be, but I look forward to working with you." Her answer was light and customary and paid no heed to the fact that the man had been trying to flirt. She smiled once more and then looked back to Melissa and the others to see what was going on and when they could actually get going on this mission.

❃

 

[Phineas Forge]

Eko Gannon
​

Eko's right hand wiped some crumbs from her face as she continued chewing the last bite of her sandwich. Standing up, she raised both arms above her head. Her posture stretched her back and she raised herself onto her tip toes, stretching her legs as well. Stopping made me late, but I just had to eat: I was starved, she thought to herself as she shook the cobwebs out of her joints and muscles. Truth be told, she could have arrived on time and eaten while the group of mages traveled, but her refusal to eat in front of others negated that plan.

Physically ready to travel, Eko's hands reached up to her ponytail. She adjusted it, ensuring it was centrally located on her head. As her hands moved back to their original position, she lightly touched her earrings, ensuring they were still there. Looking down, she visually inspected the rest of herself, wanting to maintain her symmetry. With that last bit of preparation, Eko started back towards the Haein residence where the assembled mages were supposed to be meeting. She just hoped she arrived before it was too late. She knew she'd be in trouble if she missed the mission entirely, considering some of her guildmates were assigned to the same mission. In a gust of dust, Eko fell into a full sprint.

Eko's High Speed magic made short work of the distance and, moments later, she came sliding to a stop a few feet from the assembled mages. She recognized the ones from her guild, Aedon, Max, and Libby; the latter two she was particularly not fond of. The other three, Melissa, Palila and Kyoya, she didn't recognize, correctly presuming that two of them were mages while the last was the client; she just didn't know which was which.

Damn, being late sucks, there's this stupid awkward situation. When the hell do I get to shoot something? she thought, before opening her mouth. "Aedon, sorry," a characteristically short introduction from the gun toting lady.

shadowdude505 JayeTheKat Sophrosyne03 Lady Warlock CelticHero37

 

[Lady Warlock]

Libby Tuck
There was a question bubbling in the forefront of the twelve year old’s mind and her eyes flickered through all the other mages present as she wondered if any of them was going to ask it, or if any of them had even thought of it. If they weren’t asking it, did that make it a silly question? Libby was the kind of youngster who would doubt herself when it came to things like that, particularly since this was her first mission and she was desperate to be helpful in whatever way she could manage it. The more she looked at everyone around her, though, the more she needed an answer.

Eventually, the question nearly boiled out of her. “How are we going to find him? What’s a tracking demon?” The way that Libby asked it made it apparent that the term “tracking demon” had her a bit nervous already, but she wasn’t quite terrified just yet.

Melissa’s gaze drifted to the young girl and she smiled a bit. “No need to be afraid,” she began. “Tracking demons are actually kind of cute although I don’t think he’ll stick around for long enough for you to see him.” Without waiting to see if that explanation made any difference, Melissa reached behind her and pulled out what looked like a journal of some kind or another.

When she opened it up, it unfolded into a map. “Tracking demons are quite simple, really. Each of them is bound to a book like this one and the book contains a map. They’re only useful in the parts of the world that they have seen because their map only fills in the parts of the world that they have seen and as you can tell by this map, this demon has only seen a small portion of all of Fiore.” Only the northwest portion of Fiore was filled in. The rest of the map was completely whited out. There was also a little blue dot on the map that seemed to be moving albeit slowly. “The blue dot represents the demon and this one is tailing my son. So if you go to the dot, you should find him.”

Currently, the blue dot seemed to be hovering in the small forest northeast of Oak Town. The map went white near the forgotten desert. Melissa’s home, meanwhile, was just west of Oak Town.

“Oh,” Libby remarked. She looked at the map strangely for a moment or two and then asked, “Can’t we just draw in the rest?” It seemed like a simple solution to her.

Chuckling at the child’s idea, Melissa shook her head. “I wish it worked like that. You could fill in the map, but the demon would not show up anymore. They fill in their own maps when they come back.”

Holding the map out to whoever would take it first, Melissa added, “You guys should take this with you when you go.”

Turning around to look at everyone else, Libby had just noticed that there were two new people in the group. One of them she knew and the other was a woman she hadn’t met yet. A smile blossomed on her face as she leapt off the steps and approached the woman first. “Hi there! I’m Libby! Are you coming with us on the mission!? It’s my first mission, you know!” None of the possible fear that she might have been holding remained in her anymore.

Without much of a pause, she turned and waved to Eko before addressing Aedon. “Do we go find him now, Aedon?” Considering that it was her first mission, Libby didn’t intend on pretending she knew what she was doing at all.

shadowdude505 CelticHero37 JayeTheKat Phineas Forge Sophrosyne03

 

[CelticHero37]

[font=Lightnin']Aedon Strom[/font]
Lead the way!
"I'll take that," responded Aedon as he took the book Melissa was offering to them. He squinted down at the map as he analyzed the information, ignoring the other mages for a moment. It may have seemed discourteous, but was not intended as such. Aedon generally kept to himself, choosing to embark on high priority quests and missions by himself so that he wouldn't have to worry about hurting others or having them get in the way. He did have a team in Lamia Scale that he worked with occasionally, but this time was different. He was here for Libby, who caught his attention when she asked her question.

Nodding, he turned to Libby and said, "Well, unless you have any other questions, that seems like a good idea." Going down to her level, Aedon held out the book, "Why don't you lead the way, Lib?" Handing her the book and pointing at one of the spots on the map, he continued, "We're here, see?" then pointing forward, he added, "and that's the direction the dot is in. Pay attention to certain things marked on the map to help guide our way. I'll be right here if you need help, but you're a smart kid. So just give it your best shot."

Aedon's eyes shot up afterward, ready to send a glare at anyone who might try to protest. He was here to help her gain confidence in herself, and if someone was going to try something that would make her second guess herself, they had another thing coming. Of course, Aedon wasn't there to be an antagonist. He had no problem working with the others. It's just that Libby was his priority at the moment. She was the reason he took this mission, and seeing as it was her first mission, he realized how damaging it could be to her ego if the other mages started treating her like a burden rather than someone who could help them.

 

[shadowdude505]

Kyoya Kumori
​

Kyoya let out a gruff sigh as he overheard Max and Palila's side conversation. In Kyoya's mind, now wasn't the time to flirt. There was an important mission at hand and Kyoya didn't want to sit around any longer than he had to. He listened to Melissa as she answered his question about the demons at her son's disposal. He glanced down at Libby after the explanation of the fire and ice demon pair. She was lucky Koty couldn't summon the most powerful demon in the Book of Vongraw, by the description of it, Zajaar would have been too much for the girl to handle. Maybe even he wouldn't be able to defeat such a thing, not that he should be worrying about it, if what Melissa said was true. Assuming Koty turned to the dark side, If he had been hiding his true nature from his own mother, it was possible he had more secrets.

Kyoya quietly observed as Melissa explained the tracking demon map to Libby. He wanted to take the map as Melissa was handing it off, but Aedon ended up claiming it as Kyoya shot a stern glance at the late Lamia Scale wizard. He didn't say anything as Aedon handing off the book to Libby. Watching the two, he got the impression that this was Libby's first mission. Kyoya wanted to make sure that this wasn't the girls last mission, but unlike Aedon, he kept his protective feelings deep down inside him.

"Lead the way, kid," Kyoya said gruffly as he stopped leaning against the stair railings. Personally he would have loved to use her name instead of "kid," but he still had his I'm-not-a-father image to maintain. Hopefully the others would realize that he was trying to encourage her in his own gruff way.

Lady Warlock CelticHero37 JayeTheKat Phineas Forge Sophrosyne03

 

[Sophrosyne03]

Maxwell Rose​

Well now I get to be in the company of two women instead of one… What went from a mission full of guys…plus Libby, now has two lovely ladies taking part. It was refreshing that Palila reacted politely to his compliments, which was a nice change of pace. Better than a predictable slap in the face… A thought that came to mind when anticipating the more likely reaction from Eko Gannon, who now had shown up. I hadn’t expected her to show up for this mission… well I guess I’ll try to pick up where we left off…

Before Max could say anything to Eko, he was distracted while hearing Libby ask a question of Melissa Haein. He paid little attention to Melissa’s answer, but instead gave his attention to Aedon transferring the tracker demon book from Melissa to Libby. This will be a good chance for Libby to practice useful skills for future missions, and at least Aedon is nearby if she needs help… I suppose…


Max also heard the terse reply of Kyoya going along with Aedon’s ‘Let Libby lead the way’ thing. Not much of a conversationalist this fellow… Max was surprised, based on his appearance, that Kyoya was the type to just go along with this… Could he really be a softy inside, or is he just being polite…

Max decided to drop that chain of thought to focus his attention on Eko again. “What a surprise to see you here Eko, I’m glad you could join us. It is always a pleasure to be in your company,” Max mused with a smile. He then paused for briefly and took on a more serious expression, “If you don’t mind my saying so, your entrance here was a bit sloppy, at that speed you might not stick the landing, but end up tripping over yourself. I am always willing to help people refine their high speed magic. All you have to do is ask.” The smile returned to Max’s face, but he tensed himself for Eko’s reaction.

Phineas Forge CelticHero37 Lady Warlock JayeTheKat shadowdude505

 

[Phineas Forge]

Eko cringed a little at Libby's wave, unsure of how to properly react; luckily, she didn't have to worry about it for long because Libby quickly turned her attention to Aedon. Eko glanced at the other mages, catching the stern glance from the darkly dressed fellow. Normally she'd have just shot her own stern glance back at him, but in this case, she knew she'd messed up and the glance was well warranted. Instead, Eko focused on Aedon's response to her arrival, or lack there of. See, that's why Aedon ain't so bad. Some punks woulda made a big ole stink about being late, but he just ignored me, she thought to herself. Patty would have undoubtedly called me out in front of everyone and made me feel rotten, not Aedon though, she mused as the group focused on Libby... or so she thought.

“What a surprise to see you here Eko, I’m glad you could join us. It is always a pleasure to be in your company,”

The chill ran through Eko's spine, starting at the bottom and moving up through her shoulders. Max's voice had that effect on her, it was that disturbing to her. Max was like the oil to Eko's water, the ice to her fire, the cat to her dog, the yin to her yang. They were similar and yet didn't get along at all. The gunner tried to ignore him at first, figuring that would be the best option. Maybe he'll go away on his own, she thought, but of course, she couldn't have been that lucky.

“If you don’t mind my saying so, your entrance here was a bit sloppy, at that speed you might not stick the landing, but end up tripping over yourself. I am always willing to help people refine their high speed magic. All you have to do is ask.”

Eko's face went red with rage, heat emanating from her entire body. Without even realizing it, her left hand had moved down to the pistol on her hip, its fingers slowly encircling the grip. She turned to Max, "Listen you little twerp, I'll take you anywhere anytime..." Eko said, her voice raised, showing her anger. After a slight pause, her rage subsided slightly allowing a semblance of intelligence to return. She leaned towards Max, whispering so only he could hear her. "'Cept durin' a mission. Yer tryin' to bait me an' I'm not fallin' fer it, punkass." Her hand slowly slid off the grip of her gun, a deep breath escaping her mouth as she tried collecting herself.

Sophrosyne03 Lady Warlock CelticHero37 JayeTheKat shadowdude505

 

[Lady Warlock]

Libby Tuck
As the map was placed in Libby’s hands and as it was suggested that she lead the way, the young girl looked absolutely dumbfounded and lost on what to do next. She held the map in both hands and she held it so tightly that her knuckles turned white; there almost seemed to be the thought in her head that it would fly away if she loosened her grip at all. That fear could have just as easily been very real, though. Libby’s magic could very easily shift out of control and then the map would indeed slide straight out of her hands.

“Ok,” she muttered. Libby’s eyes drifted to all the other members of their group, wondering if they would be ok with her leading the way. She wasn’t afraid that they wouldn’t be ok with it; she knew that they were all nice people, after all. At least, Libby held on to the faith that they were. She was that kind of person.

Watching as Libby started leading the whole group, Melissa called out, “Good luck!” Although she would’ve liked to add the request that they bring her son back safely, something held her back from adding that in. Even Melissa wasn’t quite sure what it was and another part of her knew that she didn’t want to be responsible for anything that happened to them. Something was out of place and Melissa simply didn’t know what it was. Luck seemed like the best thing she could give them.

Little did she know, the coin that Patty O’Shea had give Libby was absorbing that wish in her pocket. Even Libby didn’t know what the little coin would do when the time came. All she knew was that, for now, she was following a little black dot on a half filled in map and once she started walking, she started to feel just a little bit like she might know what she was doing. It was enough to put a smile on her face as she walked into the woods that surrounded the mansion that had astounded her by it’s size. It was only after she’d walked completely out of sight that she noticed that there were two mages who weren’t with them… who were falling behind.

Stopping, Libby turned around and yelled back for them. “Eko! Max! We’ve got an important mission to do and it’s my first mission!” The tone of her voice implied that they had to get it right simply because it was her first mission.

Without waiting to see if the two high speed mages listened to her or not, Libby turned her attention back to the map and kept walking. She noticed that the fastest way to get to the dot involved going through town and she wasn’t sure if they should go that way or not. “Aedon, should we go through town or should we go around?” she wasn’t sure which way was the best although she did know that going through town would be faster. Regardless, they would be walking for at least an hour.

CelticHero37 JayeTheKat Phineas Forge Sophrosyne03 shadowdude505

 

[JayeTheKat]

✾ P●A●L●I●L●A ✾ T●R●U●S●S ✾

Palila watched the map get passed to the youngest of their rag-tag party, made of mostly mages from one guild it seemed. She spared only a slight glance towards Eko and Max before she fell into following the girl, who's name she had yet to actually learn. She wasn't sure about trusting someone new to missions to lead the way, but she certainly wasn't going to speak out against what had already been decided by Kyoya and the other man. If she was someone who paid any attention at all to wizard politics and news, she'd probably know who the other man was, but she didn't care about all that. Thus she'd have to wait for a reintroduction.

She caught a glimpse of the half-completed map over the girl's shoulder before she moved into keeping a polite distance from everyone. It wasn't like she didn't want to chat. It just didn't seem like Kyoya and Aedon, who she now knew the name of thanks to the girl's question on their path, really wanted to hold a conversation with anyone.

Palila did glance back to Eko and Max a few times, wondering what was up between the two of them. From what she gathered, Eko didn't seem to like Max much and Max just seemed to be out to antagonize the woman. Whatever was going on, she hoped they wouldn't let it interfere with the mission. They'd probably find themselves in trouble with a particular few of their teammates for that. She focused solely on following the girl again after a while, deciding she really didn't care about those two and their antics anymore.

❃

 

[Sophrosyne03]

Maxwell Rose​

I really should stop doing such childish things… Max had to keep a straight face as Eko yelled at him for critiquing her high speed magic. He had meant his criticism in earnest, even if he did phrase it in a playfully teasing way. Watching Eko shout at him and call him a ‘punkass’, made him want to burst out laughing. Me… a punkass…what a joke… He didn’t know why, but over the short time Max had known Eko he was certain of two things; they were completely incompatible people, and he thought it was funny when Eko got angry with him. Max let out an internal sigh, This is ungentlemanly of me… I really should stop antagonizing Eko…


Max then heard Libby call out to him, and immediately he raced to her side. He looked at the map over her shoulder and heard her question to Aedon. It’s a little disappointing that she has to lean on that crutch, perhaps I can help Libby make up her own mind… Max tried to piece together what exactly they intended to so during the mission, from what little he has gleaned due to his inattentiveness. I have to at least look like I have a good idea of what’s going on here… Ugh… I really should have listened more carefully…

“You are the leader Libby, you get to decide what to do. Just take a moment to think about it.” Max said in a supportive and gentle tone, “Perhaps we should try to catch our quarry by surprise, I certainly hope the thief doesn’t have any friends in town to tip him off. It would not be helpful if anyone thought or knows we are coming for him. Would we be able to get any more information beyond that which Mrs. Haein has already provided for us? Perhaps we only need this map to ascertain the location of our book thief.”

Max pointed at the map as he said his last sentence and paused for a few seconds. “Those are some of your possible options, Libby. Aedon and I believe in your ability to choose a good path for us to follow.” Max then took a side glance at Aedon, hoping for further support, and maybe advise, from the talented mage.

CelticHero37 Lady Warlock JayeTheKat shadowdude505 Phineas Forge

 

[CelticHero37]

Libby Tuck and Aedon Strom

A small lump formed in the back of Libby’s throat as Max tried to encourage her to make up her own mind because she felt that her guildmate really didn’t understand what he was asking her to make decisions about. Catching someone by surprise sounded like a good idea to Libby just as much as it seemed to sound like a good idea to Max, but she really didn’t have any clue how to orchestrate such a plan on any level at all.


“I don’t know how to plan anything sneaky, Max,” she mumbled, suddenly feeling entirely inadequate. The only thing she did know for sure was that they needed to go to the black dot on the map.


Sighing to herself, she decided that for now, the only thing she could do was follow the map. If that led to the town, it would and if it didn’t, it wouldn’t.


“Hey, zip it Mr. Rose, commented Aedon as he moved in between Libby and Max, “The only reason you’re here is because it made the guildmaster more comfortable. Libby knows her options, she’s just uncertain. That’s natural for a first mission. She still needs to make this decision on her own. If you just lay out the options for her, she’ll never learn to think for herself.”


Looking back at Aedon, Libby was suddenly even more uncertain than she had been before. “What if I screw up, Aedon? The lady… she made this mission sound like it was important. I don’t wanna make anything bad happen…” The problem wasn’t that Libby didn’t want to try, but she wasn’t used to having any weight on her shoulders at all and suddenly she had a lot there.


Letting out an irritated sigh while glaring at Max, Aedon turned to Libby and said, “Nothing bad’s gonna happen, Lib. We’re here to help. But you’re the one in charge. You’ve got the same info we do. So you just gotta use that smart head of yours and figure out what you think is the best course of action.”


Her eyes found Aedon’s and Libby sighed rather dramatically. “Ok…” She didn’t sound very confident in herself, but nonetheless, Libby looked down at the map again and started drawing little lines with her fingers as though trying to figure out which route would be the straightest. Then she looked up at everyone and said, “I guess we’re going through the town because it’ll be fastest, I think.”


What Libby didn’t know was that at this time of morning, the town would be bustling and take time to get through. Aedon smiled and asked, “You guess? You think?” Aedon shook his head, “Everyone’s wrong at some point, kid. So don’t waste your breath affirming to people that you might be wrong. All you’ll accomplish there is getting others to second guess your decision. Even if you end up bein’ wrong, say it with confidence. Got it?”


Sighing, Libby felt like she would never get this whole thing right. “Well, I can’t exactly say that I know, Aedon,” she mumbled softly, “because I don’t know. I’ve never done this before.”


“There’s a first time for everything, Lib. If you’re afraid of being wrong, you’ll never learn. You don’t have to be right, you just have to give it an honest try and make your decision with confidence. Alright?” responded Aedon, remaining patient despite Libby’s trouble.


It was hard for Libby not to just keep tumbling into her melancholy, but she was also beginning to realize that it wasn’t really going to yield anything even remotely productive for her to keep doing that. She looked at the map again, still thought that going through town would be the best option, and decided to declare it again. She was definitely exasperated with the whole situation, but she tried to sound more sure of herself, too. “Let’s go through the town,” she said. “It’s a straight path and that seems like a good thing.”


With a nod, Aedon added, ”That’s the right thought process, kid. That’s the direction we should go. Given the time of day, though, I’m gonna bet the town’s gonna be busy. So we’ll keep an eye out for that. We can go around if it seems too crowded. Sound good?” Libby had made a decision with confidence, so Aedon had no more reason to push any more decisions on her at the moment. She had earned a little help.


“Oh.” Libby hadn’t thought of the town being busy at all, but she wasn’t about to disbelieve her guildmate, either. “Yeah.” She nodded affirmatively. “That sounds like a good plan.”


Libby was content to continue leading the way with that plan in mind and that was exactly what she did. She was starting to feel a little bit better about herself, too, and that was evident in her smile as well as in… well, other things. There was one instance where Libby was walking while watching the map intently and she proceeded to walk straight through a tree, coming out on the other side and barely even realizing that some of her newfound confidence helped her control her ability that much better. Only a few days ago, the same task would’ve left her stuck in the tree or worse.


The walk itself wasn’t too long or far at all. They saw the outskirts of the town before too much time had passed and Libby could already see the hustle and bustle of everyone getting to their morning jobs, whatever they might be. “Uhm… we should go around,” she decided. She led the group close around the outskirts of the town because if they wandered too far away from the town, it would’ve just been equally as far out of their way.


For her, their pace was fairly quick. It likely would’ve been slow for some of the other mages in their group, though, simply because she was shorter than most of them were. Libby didn’t even realize that, though. She felt confident enough now.


However, all of that shattered when something seemed to go off closer to the town… still on the outskirts, but just through the trees alongside them. It was loud and it echoed like thunder. Libby jumped and the heat of flames reached them.


Aedon could see Libby’s confidence growing because of what had happened, and he looked over to Max with a raised eyebrow as if to say, ‘See?’ However, when the explosion occurred, his calm face became serious. After squinting in the direction of the noise, Aedon looked down to Libby and noticed she was shaken by what had happened. “Hey, Lib,” he said, “Hold this for me, would ya?” with that, Aedon slipped off his fedora -- revealing the golden blonde hair underneath -- and put it on Libby’s head, sliding it forward in front of her eyes as he said, “Everything’s gonna be fine. Just stick with me, kid. Got it?”

Lady Warlock Sophrosyne03 JayeTheKat shadowdude505 Phineas Forge

 

[shadowdude505]

Kyoya Kumori
​

Kyoya followed behind Libby and noticed her uneasiness at being made the leader. Even though his daughter was an experienced wizard, he could imagine Skylar having a similar reaction; but as much as he wanted to give Libby some advice, he ended up staying quiet and kept his eyes on the horizon to make it look like he wasn't paying attention to the conversation between the Lamia Scale wizards. He would have ended up saying something like Aedon did anyway, albeit more gruffly.

Once the group reached the town, Kyoya took a quick glance at the map before using his shadow magic to become a shadow himself. He darted from shadow to shadow as he followed Libby and the other mages. They were getting closer to Koty and the shadow mage wanted to catch him by surprise. Though maybe Koty managed to catch a glimpse of the mages before they could see him. The sudden eruption of flames quickly caught Kyoya's attention. Still in his shadow form, Kyoya darted toward the flames to get a better look at what was going on. One thought he had was that this was the work of the fire demon from the Book of Vongraw. "Maybe he can control the demons after all...," he thought, now expecting an ice related calamity to occur.

Lady Warlock CelticHero37 JayeTheKat Sophrosyne03 Phineas Forge

 

[Sophrosyne03]

Maxwell Rose​

Thanks for restating my point Aedon…Max thought grumpily. Meanwhile Aedon was gaving similar words of wisdom to Libby. How is telling Libby her options stifling her ability to make up her mind? If only she could eventually think about things on her own, and take time to think critically…. He felt annoyed that Libby didn’t seem to understand the meaning of his advice, while preserving her unwavering faith in Aedon. Can’t blame her for putting more trust in Aedon… She has a stronger bond with Aedon, someone she has known for some time…. I wish she would take me seriously as well… But how do we get there? I wonder….


Max was happy that Aedon was able to boost Libby’s confidence, even though his words were only slightly different than his. She took the lead with confidence as she led them to town. Seeing the size of the crowd lingering outside town, Libby decided that the group should go around instead. A wise choice… He was pleased with Libby’s decision.


As they were walking around the town Aedon gave him a smug and condescending look, taking full credit for Libby’s rise in confidence. How noble of you to reiterate my points, after you said they wouldn’t help. The part about making mistakes may have been some sage advice, I should have said that as well. However, thinking that telling Libby to consider her options doesn’t help decide what to do is ludicrous…


Max then heard a loud noise and jumped back. Putting his hand on his rapier, Max raced a short distance ahead of Libby looking around for any hostile presence. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Aedon gave Libby his fedora. If was clear he was offering her comforting words. He felt a twinge of jealousy at the closeness of their relationship. Max always tried to be friendly and polite, to hide his inner childish tendencies, but wasn’t able to make a deep connection with someone that wasn’t hired by his family.

Lady Warlock CelticHero37 shadowdude505 JayeTheKat Phineas Forge

 

[Lady Warlock]

Libby Tuck

To say that Libby was shaken by the explosion was a small understatement. The young Lamia Scale mage was actually very near to the brink of panic, and it wasn’t a light version of panic either. She didn’t know how she was supposed to lead when things were blowing up. She barely knew how to keep herself out of explosions let alone how to stop them or prevent them from happening.

However, there were already things in place to keep the impending breakdown from happening, namely her guildmate Aedon Strom was already taking actions to ensure that she felt safe and to take some of that responsibility off of her shoulders. Libby felt the weight of his hat upon her head and her shoulder length brown hair flew wildly in a few odd directions before settling in front of her eyes so that she somewhat resembled a sheepdog. She chuckled at that and then brushed her hair out of her face. Libby shook her head playfully and gripped the rim of the hat firmly. She wasn’t going to let it go anywhere.

“Your hat, Aedon!? You’re asking me to hold onto your hat!?” Her eyes were flooded with awe as she looked up at him although Aedon himself probably wouldn’t see her eyes because the hat kinda covered them. “I… I think I can do that, but… uhm… I might need you’re help investigating this… stuff.” She was trying to play it cool and she wasn’t sure how well it was working out for her. Libby had every intention of sticking with him, though.

“We should probably go l-l-look into this… thing…”

Libby grabbed Aedon’s hand and very slowly started walking towards the sound. She had noticed that a few of their other companions were already heading in that direction and she knew that sooner or later, they would have to check it out for themselves. It was too close to where they were heading to be able to ignore it.

Although it might take the two of them a minute or two to get to the scene, some of their other companions might get their a bit sooner than they would.

What they would find likely wouldn’t be what they were expecting. There were no demons at the scene and there didn’t seem to be any immediate violence either. There was, though, a wooden building on fire and there were people running around screaming and trying to throw buckets of water on the scene. Lastly, there was a young boy lying flat on his face and crying. He had burns on his left side - the burning building was incidentally on his left - and no one from the town seemed to have quite noticed him yet. A single wire was wrapped around his ankles. It had snapped quite recently.

“If we don’t stop this, there’s no telling how far it could spread!” one of them screamed. The wind was already blowing sparks all over, threatening to light the grass that led into the forest around them. It certainly was a dangerous situation.

Sophrosyne03 shadowdude505 Phineas Forge JayeTheKat CelticHero37

 

[shadowdude505]

Kyoya Kumori
​

After seeing the source of the fire and noticing that there weren't any demons around, Kyoya rose out of his shadow mid run and continued to run toward the civilians. He didn't want to scare them by appearing seemingly out of nowhere; that could cause them to momentarily think he was an enemy and take away much needed focus on putting out the burning building. There wasn't a whole lot his shadow magic could do to put out the fire. Water magic would have been much more effective, but it was his duty as a wizard to help out the citizens of Earthland.

Doing what he could, Kyoya took a quick look at his surroundings and was one of the first to notice the kid laying on the ground. He ran over to the kid and began to investigate. Kyoya's eyes glided over the kid's burns and settled onto the wire. "A trip wire?" he thought as he carefully pulled it off of the kid. "Did Koty know we were on his trail? Or is this something else?" The answer to that question wasn't very forthcoming, nor was it that important compared to the injured kid and the fire.

"Max, this kid needs medical attention. Rush him to a doctor!" Kyoya gruffly ordered. He remembered the boy teasing one of the mages about helping her with her high speed magic, which meant that Max either had a variant himself or was just swift on his feet, if he wasn't trying to be cocky.

Now that he had delegated the kid's condition to someone else, Kyoya turned his attention to the fire. "Shadow-Make Wall." The shadowy Raven Tail mage constructed a solid wall out of shadows between the burning building and the forest. It was a temporary solution. It should keep the fire from spreading, but it didn't put it out. Kyoya would have to leave that up to Aedon's water magic or to someone else's brilliant plan.

Lady Warlock CelticHero37 JayeTheKat Sophrosyne03 Phineas Forge

 

[JayeTheKat]

✾ P●A●L●I●L●A ✾ T●R●U●S●S ✾

Palila was startled at the explosion, and stopped in her tracks. After a second, she rushed forward towards the source of the explosion. The building on fire and the chaos of panicked civilians were what her eyes were met with. She glanced to Kyoya as the man dealt with the injured child and then she focused on the rest of the chaotic event. She couldn't do anything about the burning building, but that wasn't even her main concern. Her concern was the number of bystanders there were so close to the fire. They had no idea if Koty was still lurking about, or if he'd summoned any sort of demons, and if something happened they'd be in danger.

So, she found something to stand on to make herself taller, more visible and put her hands up around her mouth. "Alright! Please listen to me! Running around screaming isn't helping anything. What you all need to do now, if you're not trying to help with the fire, is calm down. Gather yourselves together and clear the area. We are mages sent by the magic council and we're going to do what we can to help, so just calm down." She called, raising her voice to try and be heard. She repeated the phrase to calm down several times to make sure that message got through to the panic ridden minds.

Palila stayed where she was for another minute or two, then got down to stand on the ground again. She wasn't going to be much help magic wise, so she seriously hoped one of the others had a plan to deal with the fire. Kyoya had his wall up, but there was no guarantee that would contain the fire completely.

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