There once was a man...

It wasn't clear, but it seemed there was an ever so slight flare of anger or hatred behind her eyes as he called her the name of Neo Vulpecela. A natural reaction. The fox spirit had stolen her body and gave her this new one. It was normal there would be some animosity. The thought made him smirk slightly. A fox spirit having animosity seemed almost too fitting. It also seemed that she didn't know much about celestial spirits despite being one. As such she did not know his name and chose to refer to him by his true name. That was fine. He had no issue with that. He winked at her with a grin. "Maybe you'll get to know me well enough to find out the other name some time." he said and then as land was spotted he leaped over the side of the ship and began to run towards the land arriving way before the ship. His reasoning? Well, he wanted to check that it was safe at the point of docking. That and the fact he didn't want Devon having a chance to have a go at him for 'flirting'.

And yet despite that he was still on the ship when Aiyana looked at Mao and himself to ask about getting off the rig. Well, at least he appeared to be. A few seconds after she said those words the Zack on the ship seemed to shimmer and then fade into nothingness. A mere after image and not the true thing at all.

Zack stood on the shore his hand extended scanning around for signs of magical power or strong physical auras. It seemed clear for the time being, but there were some faint auras in the distance. "Best to proceed with caution." he said as he turned to the ship. Devon flew over immediately and began to bob about his head whispering words of annoyance.

"Later. We have more important things right now." he said.

About to agree Mao stopped and blinked a few times as Zack sort of…evaporated. At least her mind processed it until she recalled he could move quite fast when he so pleased, ’Then again he IS known as a Speed Demon…’ Perhaps out of the trio – or quartet if one included the somewhat anxious and spirited captain – he was the most excited about digging up some old treasure? The man went to the extent to refashion himself in some pirate garb earlier…’Maybe he’s really into pirates and other sea legends? Then again the idea of finding some treasure is rather…exciting.’

It reminded the short woman of a couple books, enjoying them yet not really able to grasp the characters’ joy and heightened emotions over some treasure hunting that subsequently turned into a race mixed with chase. ’If the hammer throwing slavers from earlier were any indication I suppose there’s some distinct possibility for chase…err, not that they might necessarily catch up.’ If it became a game of keep away all they theoretically had to do was give the suit to Zack and let the enemies pursue him for a few laps of the island. Some of them would probably fall for it Mao decided as she disembarked and pulled her hood more firmly over her head. The cloud cover she’d enjoyed up until now didn’t reach the island it seemed, sun poking through a few fluffy, white celestial bodies yet hardly hindered.

”So much for a nice, cloudy day all day,” she mumbled, hesitantly stepping on the sandy beach after traversing the aged, yet sturdy dock. People rushed past her, eager to enjoy their newfound freedom and a bit of steady land after experiencing little more than rocking ships for the past while. A couple of the children even went so far as to begin constructing sand castles, giddily giggling whenever waves crept tantalizingly close to their structures, the thrill of destruction at any moment on the tips of tiny fingers. Watching them briefly Mao smiled, their joy a bit infectious before she turned away from the scene of relaxation, the oversized forest inhabiting this island making it hard for her to see too far into the depths. ’We should be careful in case of an ambush,’ she decided, moving to warn some of the ex-slaves sitting in the sand, the parents likely to try and caution the others from wandering too far away. After that she could regroup with the other pair.


For whenever we want some enemies
Chesha carried out 4 launched of one Monster Dice :

, , ,

(Turned one of the strong monsters, as there's only 1 strong available, into 4 weak rolls!)

The man known as Zack made one comment to her, an obvious flirt if any had ever heard one, before making a leap over the ship when land was sighted. It was in time for the man to not notice the blush on her face as she watched him dash off towards land for whatever reason he had; but not before striking a pose with a glinting tooth. 'For someone of such a high rank. He does some pretty funny stuff on jobs!' With him gone for now, and her not wanting to follow suit, left only two of the job takers on the boat until they arrived on shore; Aiyana and Mao.

Mao seemed to have been uncomfortable around her before, but Aiyana was hoping to get through that and try to hold a small amount of conversation with her. Sun poked through the clouds slightly, giving a few glimmers of hope on her dim mood on her thoughts about the Mao situation. Shoes hit the sand as she wondered if she would ever be able to access the things she had forgotten about the newly made celestial spirit; basically everything they had done together.

Children took the time to play in the sand, some building sandcastles, while parents and other adults of the group. The woman was tempted to join in with the kids, help out with their small time construction, but the sound of yelling in the distance hit her ears and brought worry about the freed people for a moment as she turned her head to look at Mao and then in the direction of the noises. It looked like a small group was coming for them, and they had what appeared to be weapons in hand as they walked forward. It was quite the large group, including what appeared to be a vulcan if her eyesight was working properly. ”Uh...guys...I think we have a bit more trouble than we realized.”

Zack tilted his head as he saw the approaching opponents. What was particularly interesting was that there was a vulcan holding a barrel and who had a pirate tatoo on his arm and an eyepatch over one eye. Could the group of pirates actually have done the seemingly impossible and recruited a vulcan into their number? Then again from what he knew of vulcans they had a fondness for women in a rather...violent and horrible way. That and they loved food. The life of a plunderer, pillager and potential rapist was probably ideal for them. A quick scan showed that the vulcan was the biggest threat in terms of raw power and those barrels looked dangerous. It seemed he had no choice but to start the proceedings, particularly with so many little kids nearby. "Aiyana, Mao take care of the men. The monkey's mine." With that he suddenly was in front of the vulcan palm striking it in the chest and sending it flying back through the tree line. Amazing it still managed to hold onto its barrel and also flipped around and landed feet first on a rock before lunging back at him. Zack grinned and ran at it. At the last moment he dove to the ground and rolled kicking upwards sending the vulcan skyward. However, as it went up its barrel came down catching him off guard.

He quickly rose his arms to block, but as the barrel hit it exploded with force driving him into the ground hard enough to form a small crater. Then out of nowhere it formed another barrel and grabbed hold of a tree looking down and laughing at him. It didn't appear too badly hurt despite the powerful blows it had received. He wondered if the vulcan had taken over someone and someone powerful at that. It was certainly stronger than he'd normally expect and it appeared to have a form of barrel based requip. That was not normal vulcan magic. They normally possessed a kind of reverse takeover in which they took over a body and it turned into theirs with them gaining the abilities of the possessed. It had to be that.

The ship earlier was likely some patrol group intended to prevent them from reaching the island, though for all Mao knew it may have been the main ship and the people currently attacking were a part of the treasure finding crew. ’What a shock it’d be to discover their ship has sunk.’

Catching the attention of the adults, they were quick to gather the children, the men and hardier women creating something of a defensive circle as the monkey and its men came forth. For a brief moment Mao believed the Vulcan might very well be their leader, but she didn’t have much longer to consider the possibility before it and Zack started duking it out, the man managing to keep the strong opponent away from the group of slaves.

Unfortunately its motley band of brigands were free to do as they pleased, some of the midgets rushing by faster than Mao initially believed their short legs capable of…only to blast – and a few trip – over the sand castles. Having donned her gauntlets the woman could only stare in shock for a moment as some of the short men seemed very intent on destroying the sandy creations for heavens knows what petty reasons. Their sheer audacity and focus proved enough of a distraction however that she failed to notice another pair rushing her from behind and knocking the crystal user over with a surprised yelp. She grunted the first few times they started jumping on her, either trying to wear her down or enrage her – Mao really couldn’t say – but she quickly had enough as the overly large tail swung and slapped the duet off her.

Whipping back the other way the extra limb caught another midget on the back swing, the resounding splash as it landed in the waves and became disoriented from the pull satisfying. Two of the adults converged on it, stomping on the tiny, mushroom hatted fellow further into the wet sand. As yet another charged Mao hissed, glaring at the thing and causing it to rethink its attack. Harmless as they seemed, their silly antics proved somewhat successful if she didn’t watch them, especially given their numbers. ’I really hope there aren’t more hiding in the wings.’

It appeared that Zack would take on the great vulcan that was running with the pirate group, the man flying off to engage in combat to leave Mao and Aiyana to deal with the rest. The adults of the group urgently gathered the children up while they prepared for the aggressors to come to them; aggressors that were quite embarrassing to consider as a threat. The vertically challenged pot heads were apparently trying to get high on mushrooms as they pushed over sand castles and in general caused chaos. Her guild mate, and fellow animal characteristic gifted friend, seemed to have them taken care of; which left her with the two people coming towards her wielding hammers.

”Oh great...more of the hammer brothers already? You guys are kind of odd, throwing hammers as a form of fighting.”

With that said two hammers flew at her, one being caught midair while another was dodged, before she started charging towards them. Another hammer would be thrown at her, the woman spinning gracefully to have it fly over her shoulder before she through the one she had previously caught at one of the men. The attack struck true, hitting him directly in the forehead as he crumpled to the ground; unconscious and easy to manage for the adults that followed up shortly after to bind him as the woman dealt with the final one. Upon getting close the last hammer duelist grew a worried expression on his face as he tried to back up, like he was trying to get range to try and throw a hammer instead of just trying to use the object as a melee weapon. It was odd, was he not smart enough to think of that? Ah well, all it took was a single left hook to the man's jaw to put him to the ground. 'Now to see how the others are handling the rest...'

Not that it mattered what the vulcan's magic was. It wouldn't last long if Zack exerted even half his strength. He would of played with it more, but he didn't want the others to get too worried about him nor did he want to risk them getting injured whilst he was away. That's why when the next exploding barrel came towards him, rather than taking it head on. He dodged round it and caught it by the rim before hurling it straight back at the vulcan. There was a look of surprise on its face as the barrel hit sending it flying into the sky. Its surprise was only heightened when it was suddenly struck from above by a powerful double legged axe kick from Zack. It may have launched into the air swiftly due to the barrel and even had a head start due to its height, but few things could match Zack in speed even when he was only half serious. He was so fast it hadn't even seen him go past, the smoke cloud from the barrel helping with that of course.

However, the vulcan wasn't downed by such a blow and stood up beginning to stack barrels and barrels of explosives ready to throw them in rapid succession towards Zack, but that was its final mistake. With a flick of his wrist his sword flew down and hit one of the barrels. Time seemed to slow as the sword approached the barrel and slowly slid into it. The vulcan's look of shock was the final one that would be seen on its face that day, or at least in conciousness anyway. For as the barrel exploded it triggered the others to explode. The explosion was quite huge and almost hit Zack high up in the sky with the mushroom cloud of debris. It seemed the monkey had planned to use a more powerful explosive against him. However, it had backfired quite literally.

In a blur of motion Zack flew down to the vulcan and checked its pulse. The creature was still alive and its heartbeat was strong. It didn't appear to have too many bruises or broken bones either. It was crippled but not dead. That was good. There was only one monkey he wanted to bring down and this wasn't it. He nodded and then in another blur of motion he vanished.

In that same blur of motion he reappred on the beach next to Aiyana. "Hey there foxy lady. Did ya miss me?" he said with a wink and then before getting an answer he blurred over to Mao just in time to punt one of the small men flying so he landed head first in the sand a little way away. In another blur Zack was next to it grabbing it by the legs and holding up the struggling creature. "Go cool off." he said and twirled round once before chucking the creature in the sea.

"So anyone hurt?" Zack asked and gestured with his hand. To the surprise of those nearby perhaps his sword would come flying towards him from where it lay in the forest and with a flourish reminiscent of a spiky haired gaming protagonist he sheathed it once more.

These little guys might’ve been entertaining had they been a circus act rather than a part of a pirate’s crew, two of them whirling around her as the others for whatever reason jumbled up together. Turning into a cheer squad she paid them little mind as the duet circling her started kicking up more and more sand, obscuring the mage’s vision and worrying her about the other group’s potential to harass the poor people. They’d suffered enough so diving to escape the increasing whirlwind cloud she outright slammed into one, the little guy making the most hilarious squeak as he cushioned Mao’s fall. If she had to describe it, the sound reminded the tailed woman of a squeaky dog toy. ’Who knew something organic could make the same sound? Odd.’

Dazed as he was, Mao figured a projectile wouldn’t go amiss right now and considering how nicely bunched the others were…

Their hopping and cheering dimmed as they watched the woman grab their comrade by the back of his shirt, other gauntlet-clad hand helping him curl up a bit in his KO’d state. And then she went for it, surprised at how well the little guy rolled on the sandy surface – albeit with a bit of bouncing given the uneven surfacing, but the sheer fact he stayed rolled up was enough cause for a raised eyebrow.

It was a strike.

’Oh dear, I think I did put a bit of force into it too…I may have gotten carried away,’ she fretted, long ears lowering as one of those claw-tipped fingers lightly tapped her lower lip in worry. Some of them went flying into the water while only a few somewhat recovered – perhaps more from shock than anything – only to be met with wallops from some of the adults. It would seem vengeance would be their’s, and Mao tried not to feel too much sympathy or pains for them since, well, they had earned a bit of it.

Distracted as she was however, Mao failed to notice the other little fellow charging her as if to avenge his comrades, punted by the speediest of men and then further flung to the seas as kraken bait. ”Ah, thank you,” she murmured, tilting her head as he sheathed the sword. The way he went about it seemed familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, vague visions of someone and a TV coming to mind with a faraway voice remarking that he wished he could do something like that.

’Well…someday I’ll remember.’ Rather than dwell she tried for a more cheery thought as the people in turn started hollering and cheering victoriously at watching some of their foes vanquished – and getting to help in their defeat. Where there’d been merely budding energy now stood revitalized morale (despite the destruction of their sandy creations).

”We should probably try to find the treasure as quick as possible and leave as I’m sure these people want to return home. And…I’m not sure where their captain is, but he doesn’t sound like a good fellow.” She worried about leaving the people alone, but at the same time the woman wasn’t entirely sure where on this large island the treasure might be…though admittedly a small part of her wondered what it might look like, a little excited at the prospect of finding a box of shinies. While she wouldn’t admit it out loud her tail gave her away a little, swishing in the air a bit as both ears perked up.

It seemed everything had gone well! Zack had come by and taken out the last of the little shroom heads after beating up the vulcan while Aiyana had made her way back to both of them. Cheeks grew hot as Zack's words from mere moments ago registered. One of the strongest men of Fiore was hitting on her, and she was too shocked to flirt back at that very moment. Maybe it was his power, or just what he was in comparison to her. He was like her, in a way, that no one else could. Zack could understand her! Maybe she should try to get closer? Or maybe it was just a phase... Either way, they had a job to do! ”I'm fine, but we need to find this treasure and find out just what the One Piece is!”

As she said this, an 'Italian-like' accent filled the air with words for them all to hear. ”Mama Mia! What did you a do with my a crew!” Looking around would prove fruitless as the words seemed to be coming from the other side of the island. Without warning, and almost hitting the poor girl in the head, a cannonball went by at amazing speed. After recovering from almost taking a head shot, the newly made celestial spirit looked in the direction of the attack to see a man, dressed in black along with a magnificent black mustache, leaping at them in great bounds. It must have been the pirate leader! He was obviously using some kind of magic to do what he had just done, as he had no cannon or ranged weapon to shoot cannonballs from! ”It's a me! Blackstache! I'm a going to take a you out for what you have done to my a crew!” With those words multiple cannons would magically appear to fire random objects at not just the three mages, but at the others that were there as well!

The cannon were firing wildly and going towards multiple people. He began to blur about using his sword to block cannonballs, but the amount was too much for even him to handle alone. Thats when he grinned and activated a spell. Zack seemed to split straight down the middle forming two zacks. One was night black from head to head with eyes glowing pale blue. The other was pure white except for his pale purple eyes. The two of them began to move about in perfect sync slicing through cannonballs and knocking others out of the way. As they did each began to glow brightly the colour of their eyes and their speed increased to much higher levels "I'll keep the people safe you bring down Blackstache." both Zack's said in unison as they continued to defend the men and children. He wouldn't be able to keep this up forever, but the two Zack's together would be able to defend these innocents for a while whilst the other two dealt with BlackStache.

"You're lucky I can't get to you." The Zack's said together as they continued to defend. Together or even as a single entity Eclipse and Celestial Zack could easily wipe the floor with this guy, but as he didn't know Mao or Aiyana's magic he had no way to know if they were capable of defending these men without letting any of them get hurt. Sure he could heal some of them, but it would be much better if they didn't get hurt in the first place. He just hoped Aiyana and Mao could do it. "Show him what you've got ladies."

He had to keep these people safe no matter what. But the cannon speed was getting faster and more wild. It was harder to predict. That was when Devon flew out and grew to full size in her silver armor using her spear to defend against more the cannonballs. Her focus was to keep the children safe. "Children gather together. I can help you better if you aren't scattered." she shouted to the scared and terrified children.

Magic:

It was only as it swooshed by her head did Mao come to realize something: he wasn’t just firing cannonballs, but other things too. A poor teddy bear had just whizzed right by, though she doubted soft cotton filled it, the thing would probably be decimated by the people’s new protector duet: Zack 1.0 and Zack 2.0, or Light Zack and Dark Zack. Really it all depended how one wanted to view them as they talked in tandem like twins, the sound a bit eerie in some ways. ’Good, they should be safe at least,’ though they couldn’t leave the split fellow on the defensive forever.

Besides Blackstache seemed to be realizing he might not make it through that particular barrier, a pair of cannons manifesting and blasting gods-knows-what at the two female mages.

”Watch out!” she bellowed, tossing a gemstone in front of Aiyana as she ducked to the side, hoping the other Sabertooth mage would make it out of the way, but if not at least the spell could help absorb some of the blow. A sound of pain escaped Mao as the writing desk slammed into her side, sending the woman reeling into some nearby flora while the opalescent mirror activated where Aiyana was or had been. Normally it’d be a wall, but with the attacks as strong as they appeared to be she’d forced the thing into a curved shape, the thing shattering even as it managed to send the dangerous rubber chicken back at the source: the stubby captain.

”Mama Mia! Thas’sa spicy chicken!” he hollered, bounding out of the way with an oddly audible noise as the chicken impaled and destroyed a boulder behind where he’d been. ”Someone’s got to put a collar on you vicious ladies! Yo oh! It’ll have to a be me!”

Focusing on the target – sure the other girl would be down and out for a bit – he created another cannon to fire just that at Aiyana: a dog collar.

This would be the time for a witty line and comeback, but this is Mao and sadly Blackstache had no warning as the fist slammed into his face, sending the man twirling in the air like the ballerina he may or may not have dreamed of becoming when he grew up. Another punch kept him twirling a second longer before he righted himself mid-air with a fist raised up as if victorious, winding Mao with a bowling pin to the stomach courtesy of another cannon, a second shot sending the woman flying and bouncing against the ground as something flew from her hands. He only started to question the odd growths now rapidly covering his face and right arm – though intrigued by the pretty gemstone nevertheless and wondering how much he might fetch for it if he could pry it off first – before another stone flying through the air caught his attention. A gloved hand reached out to catch it, hoping for even more plunder, but alas it exploded in his grasp and dusted him in a cloud of dusty blue smoke.

”Ooh, you’u tease! You’ll pay for this!” he crowed when a voice he hadn’t heard in years whispered behind him.

”Blackstache…why…why didn’t you come for me? Why…I was just in the other castle…you never came…because of that I had to marry Lord Bo”

”NO!” he shouted, whirling about to see a vision of the love of his life – something only he could see, leaving the people to think he spoke to a mere moss covered rock instead – ”I had to find the One Piece a for you! Without it I can’t a join society, for I am but a poor plu….man!”

’It won’t be long, but at least she’ll have an opportunity,’ Mao thought as she laid on the ground, trying to regain her breath as the numbness started fading and gave way to pain.


Spells used:

Spoiler:

The man was so odd, but very dangerous! He used magic to create cannons, which then fired the most random of objects at them! While the first had just been a cannonball, Aiyana had been prepared to dodge what looked like a rubber chicken before hearing Mao yell for her to watch out. Turning as she dove, the young woman watched in terror as Mao took a hit from a desk before the chicken bounced off of Mao's spell and went flying back at the mustachioed pirate captain. The spicy chicken hit a rock, even as the man before them complained about if before shooting a dog collar at Aiyana. Dodging it was easier than before, having known it was shot at her, and her aggravation became anger when she saw the fight end with Mao passing out as the pirate captain turned around to discuss something with some imaginary character; most likely a side effect of Mao's crystal magic that she used.

Not wanting to make the fight last too long, Mao unconscious on the ground, the young woman charged the man and blindsided him with a tackle that took him down to the ground. A thud would be heard as the mustached pirate's head hit the ground before he spit out a line of words. ”Princess, I swear I'll get you back!” A fist would swing at the celestial fox, the girl leaning away from it as she punched into the part of his face not covered in crystals. ”How dare you hurt Mao, I'll make you pay!” The words were quite territorial, and violent, as the man suddenly found himself being pummeled while straddled but the nine tailed fox girl.

”Momma mia! I'a can't go out a like this!” With those words a cannon showed up right next to her, the girl having no way to move to dodge, before the crystals in his face suddenly shot inward. A groan left the man before he passed out, the pain of everything too much for him after all the searching he had done on the island.

Getting up swiftly, Aiyana ran to Mao to try and rouse her. Once they did that they could hurry and finish this mission so she could take her back to the guild for proper treatment. While kneeling next to Mao, holding her up slightly on her knee, Aiyana looked to the double Zacks. ”Thanks for protecting the people, there's no way me and Mao could have done it as well.”

As the man fell to the combined assault from the two girls the cannons fell silent and into nothingness once more. The two Zack's slammed back together as mist and then he ran over to Mao as well arriving at around the same time as Aiyana. He focused for a moment "Ninpou Mizugameza no Namida." he said swinging his sword in an arc. A burst of healing energy surged from it towards Mao filling her with energy. As the energy flowed through she would feel any wound she had slowly healing themselves and her physical strength and speed would be boosted greatly. Yet she was not the only one who received this. Instead, it also flowed into Aiyana. "You two ladies did a great job. Beautiful and deadly. Who would of guessed it." he said with a wink and then looked over at the irritated Devon and just shrugged causing her to huff and shrink down to her smaller form before flying back into Zack's mantle. "Hope that spell helps. Don't want to have any scars ruining your bodies."

With a flourish he sheathed his sword once more and then looked over at the crowds of people. Getting the treasure would now be pretty easy for the most part. He blurred over towards Blackstache and bound his arms using some rope that he seemed to have got out of nowhere. In reality he'd blurred back to the ship first and then to Blackstache. Once bound heavily he took him to the ship and locked him in the brig before returning to Aiyana and Mao. "Right, now shall we get that treasure?" Zack asked curiously wondering whether they were up for it. "I can carry you if you need it Mao. Don't want you to strain yourself." He tilted his head wondering if she'd accept the offer. She seemed quite an independant sort of woman. So it wouldn't surprise him if she turned it down.

"Or we can wait a bit till you're recovered. I don't sense any magic power nearby except ours. So we should be okay to wait." Zack said thinking about it. "Or we can get you to the ship with the civilians."

Magic:

Mizugameza no Namida:

A dry groan left Mao as she came too, the temporary black out ebbing away as the stiffness in her side continued to increase. The jarring served to trigger its annoying wrath, ensuring the woman couldn’t ignore it as she carefully sighed: the worst part about the desk had been the corner jabbing into her, the edge of desks always a secret enemy of people even when they’re not being fired with cannon speeds. Within a matter of seconds of hearing Zack’s voice some of the ache ebbed away, though her general middle section remained a source of pain with too much movement, a wince escaping as she tried to sit up more on her own. Yet the magical energy didn’t dissipate, leaving Mao hopeful that the pain would only continue to lighten.

Breathing became easier blessedly.

The bowling pin might’ve been subconscious revenge taken for his allies, or perhaps more karmic payback she decided even as a light blush dusted her cheeks and eyes darted off to the side. With the options laid out before her the tailed woman considered them, sure that the final one was probably best for her health at this instance…but she remained hopeful that the spell would leave her at most with bruises if not just a little tired from the day’s overall events. And besides…

A hand pulled at one of her ears, creating a curve as she rubbed the tip, ”Err…well, I’ve never found a pirate’s treasure before…and I’m curious what it might be if he was so desperate to get it, so if you don’t mind then I’ll take you up on your offer for a ride.” She wasn’t too keen on waiting, now rather curious since it seemed as though their nemesis desperately wanted this treasure for some reason, one that sounded a little sad as she caught glimpses of the illusion in her downed state, but the idea of walking too much sounded tiring right now.

The civilians seemed to have had enough of the beach as the adults started herding the children back towards the ship to await their heroes’ return. One child broke away from the pack, making a beeline towards them despite his parents calling after him, though they gave up quickly enough, content to watch and wait for him. He managed to only stumble as he neared the trio, huffing and puffing as his wide eyes merely stared until finally he could speak, ”I just…wanted…to thank you…guys. I know it’s not much, but we found sand dollars while we were making sand castles.” Three more or less intact sand dollars were pulled from his pocket, small hands offering them until each person accepted the “reward” and then the young lad would beam greatly, ”Thank you so much for saving us!” Both parents smiled as he raced back to them, finally able to herd the boy towards the ship with the others.

’I suppose even if the treasure is little more than dust this trip was worth it,’ she thought, staring down at the sand dollar, the back a little cracked and yet no less precious. She’d make sure to stash it carefully, eager to not break it during her offered piggy-back ride as they’d traipse off to find this “important treasure.”

Even as Aiyana held up Mao, Zack cast some kind of spell that began to heal the wounds the two woman had obtained throughout the fights today. A sigh of relief was made as Mao awoke, although obviously in pain, as Zack complimented the two of them again. ”Thanks Zack, you were quite the hero saving everyone. Not to mention such a perfect gentleman with the two of us. Maybe we can do a job together again after this sometime. Would LOVE to get to know someone like you a bit better.”

Her words were followed by Mao's answer to the question the guild master of Blue Pegasus posed to her, a decision to be carried on the man's shoulders so she could be involved in finding the treasure. ”In that case let's get to finding it! The pirate captain had the map, so let's get it off of him and get to the treasure!” Allowing Zack to take Mao, Aiyana went to the unconscious man and dug through his pockets until she pulled out a folded up map. Unfolding it was half finished before a child ran up to them and have each a decently intact sand dollar they had scrounged while building sand castles. The act was surprising, and very adult-like in character, for a child to do. Creature in one hand, the celestial fox spirit opened up the map and looked over it to find they were not far off from their goal; about one hundred yards to their right is where it should actually be.

”Well...this is convenient. It says it's just one hundred yards to the right of me! Shall we try and dig up this fabled treasure so we can get Mao back to the guild to rest?” While Aiyana was excited about buried treasure she was worried about Mao. She had been injured, and surely she would want to rest, read, and get some sleep after they were through with this today.

"I'd be a pretty poor wizard saint if I couldn't save people. Besides, they call me the speed demon for a reason." said with a wink and a flirtful smirk. He liked saving people and he was fast and kept training to be faster for a reason. "As for being a gentleman. Well, if thats the way you see it. I was just doing what I thought and felt was right. If that makes me a gentleman than so be it." As he swept Mao up and onto his back for a piggy back he noted his hands were on her butt and that didn't displease him in the slightest. Just for the heck of it he gave her a little squeeze as he did so. "Let's get going. Sooner we find the treasure, sooner we can go on another job together. I'd love to get to know you two a bit better myself." he added as a reply to Aiyana.

Fortunately, the captain had the map to the treasure and even more fortunately it was right near where they were currently located. He followed Aiyana, who was leading the way until she indicated the spot. He gently placed Mao down and then looked at the spot for a moment before pointing down and glowing a faint blue. Without another word he sunk through the ground and down into it eventually coming out by a large treasure chest. Larger than he'd expected. He nodded and rose back up from the sand and conjured a shovel out of light.

"The treasure's down there alright." he said and then looked at them. "You two sit back and relax. I'll dig it up." With that he began to rapidly dig into the ground tossing the sand away from the pair. He seemed to be a blur of motion and every now and then after images faintly formed padding the side of the tunnel to solidify it a little and stop it collapsing. It would take a bit to get to it as it was quite deep, but eventually he struck wood. He nodded and began to dig around the sides. He'd dug the whole specifically the width he had so that he  would be able to dig around it. That's why he had gone down with his spell for analysis. "Well, this is probably the third greatest chest i've seen today." he said flirtingly as he used his strength to lift the chest out and slam it down on the side of the pit.

It was then a rather cruel idea formed in his mind. One likely from Ophiuchus, but it had its funny side as well. "How about once we've taken out what's inside...we rebury the treasure chest and give the captain back his map. Let him dig for it to find it empty."

A small “eep!” escaped from Mao, the girl’s cheeks darkening a little though she’d chalk the squeeze up to him making sure he wouldn’t drop her as Aiyana looted the unconscious man. Luck shined on the group with the treasure not too far off. ’Good I won’t have to burden him too long,’ she thought, deciding that the blush’s lack of retreat must be due to the sun overhead and not because of her sudden proximity to the “Speed Demon.” She kept her arms looped around him so they’d rest on his chest, anxious against accidentally choking him and kept her tail low to avoid unbalancing him as they trekked through a bit of foliage to the X-marked spot.

’How…? What kind of magic does he wield?’ she pondered, having seen so many different tricks in one day it was hard to exactly lock onto a type. Later, when simple shifting didn’t occasionally force a sharp intake – though the pain continued to lessen, bless his spell – she’d ask him, and settled for watching the man get to work. He practically turned into a dirt spouting fountain with occasional break in spirts to ensure the thing didn’t collapse and thanks to him a chest was hoisted out in little time at all. ’What other chests has he seen?’ A spot of jealousy sprouted, not quite catching the real meaning as the woman considered if she’d missed some other treasure chests or not.

The suggested idea was so shocking and unexpected a snort escaped immediately followed by a few giggles as she held her ribcage. A bit cruel in her opinion, however she couldn’t fully sympathize either between the fight and the fact the man intended to sell people into slavery. Even if the reason had been pure she liked to think there existed better routes he chose to avoid, trying to cheatcode life. ”Assuming we let him go, it’s hard to say which would be a worse punishment at this point…but…what’s in the chest?” This was a legendary treasure that supposedly caused the naming of the island after all and the captain believed it to be the answer to his problems – or it seemed like he did.

It wasn't long before they reached it, and Zack uncovered it. The three looked at the chest for a moment, musings happening from Zack that had Aiyana grinning at the hilarity it would cause; though not for the pirate captain. ”Well, you can see this great chest any time you want, just let me know when you're available!” The words would be spoken as Aiyana walked closer to the treasure chest, reaching out to find out it was not locked tight. A simple opening of the chest would reveal....a swimsuit? A one piece swimsuit no less! It made so much sense, and made none at all! How could this be the almighty treasure buried on Divide Island?!

Not thinking too hard on it, the celestial fox had the brightest of ideas. ”I'm going to try this on!” Thoughts for the others went out the window as the group suddenly found themselves looking at a naked nine tailed fox as she quickly removed her clothing to put on the bathing suit. It fit nicely, though a little tight at the chest, as she spun around to show it off to the two. The dark purple suit wasn't quite her color, so she verbally complained about it. ”It would be great if it was red though!” Within moments the swimsuit would turn a light red, as if changing to the wearers want to the color it would be. What an interesting magical clothing to have! It would be fun for going to beaches and pools!

”Well, guess we should give Mr. Stache his map back and rebury this before we take everyone back home.” Picking up her own clothing, Aiyana folded them before holding them in one arm as she looked at the other two that had stayed until the end. ”Today was fun, we should do stuff like this more often!”

Zack grinned as she mentioned the chance to see her great chest anytime he liked. He liked that thought very much though it seemed he wouldn't have to wait long as inside the treasure chest was a rather odd item, a one piece ladies swimsuit. Without even seeming to care about them being there Aiyana stripped off, and Zack's arousal became quite obvious at  that, and put the swimsuit on. It seemed it could change colour at will which was quite impressive, but it also seemed a little tight on Aiyana and nipples could clearly be seen.  

"Yeah i'll rebury the chest." he said and then an idea came to his mind and he chucked in a few coconuts into the chest before dropping it to the bottom and burying it in the sand again. It didn't take long, less time in fact then it took to dig it up. "Though personally i'd rather bury something in that chest of yours." Zack said off handedly to Aiyana before lifted up Mao once more. "Or yours." he added as he carried her back towards the Captain.

The three put the map back on Captain Stache and Zack untied him using a blade extending from his boot. It would be a while before he awoke and in that time they would be long gone the treasure found and the mission complete. "We should definitely do stuff together again. How about next time we just go to the beach for the day?" In truth this was more just for personally wanting to see them again and also wanting to see Aiyana in that swimsuit again and possibly Mao in something similar.

Back aboard the ship Zack explained the situation causing the captain to laugh at the thought of 'Old Blackstache' finding nothing but nuts in the chest. It didn't help that Zack had quickly set up some camera lacrima inside the chest as well so they would be able to see his face streamed live to a device Zack had. Ah, the memories would be good, but the mammaries he had seen today were much better. He had enjoyed today even if it had been a cake walk