Toys... Not such a Fond Childhood Memory Anymore(Job/Solo)

Job Form:

Now, about Sorano, Hoshi, and toys. First of all, please remember that Sorano was once any normal little kid, not an emotionless mage who has tons of awesome powers etc, and Hoshi was once a normal exceed who wouldn't tremble in fright at the sight of a crumb. So, both had rather fond memories concerning toys, and what fun they had playing when they were younger. Sorano remembered the small games that involved beads, rods, and storytelling, the dolls she would wear down to thread, and all those other beloved, then neglected little treasures that children find great joy in. Hoshi remembered balls of yarn chased around their camp, cheerful laughter and nice, warm, fearless days where she had been relaxed and happy, opposed to her today. So, both rather liked toys.

Well, they did. But all this ended as they embarked on a new job... Because, really, once you've experienced the terrors of toyhood, I doubt anyone would see their beloved old action figures the same way anymore.

Toylaten was a rather small village, one that was quite famous for their excellent toys. From dollhouses to human-sized play houses, from games to decorations, Toylaten made them all. However, recently the two girls had found a job request on the board written in the tiniest handwriting they'd ever seen. After reading it over, it was off to Toylaten.

As they flew over Fiore, Sorano turned to Hoshi, consulting the exceed. "What do you think happened there, Hoshi?" she asked, having to raise her voice in the wind. "I don't know, Sorano, perhaps a factory explosion? I've heard those are pretty common in factories. Why not toy factories too? But oohhh, it sounds so ominous and s-scary..." she shuddered. The exceed could beep seen with a shaken, blank look in her eyes, obviously terrified of something. And that something could be anything from horror at the prospect of an explosion, to whether she would get yelled at for using "but" at the beginning of a sentence. Yup, definition of scaredy-cat right there.

Sorano frowned, a dark look on her face. "I think it may be more than that, Hoshi... I'm afraid it may be more..." she muttered, looking straight ahead again. She had been determined to do as much good, save as much lives as she had taken, and this was yet another step on the way. She should be able to handle things, being a B rank now, no longer a weak D or C rank out on a scary-looking job. The air seemed to tense as they neared the village of Toylaten, and Sorano began scanning the ground for human auras and buildings.

"Hey... Hoshi, do you see any people or buildings?" Sorano asked cautiously, dread sinking down on her. "N-no... Sorano..." came the shaken reply. As they neared the ground, still no people appeared, until Sorano bent down to look at an odd pattern of large rocks nearby. Upon closer inspection of these rocks, however, Sorano gasped. "W-what is this..." she whispered, carefully touching the miniature roof of a house. Even closer, she could see small toy-sized people running about in fear at their shadow, terrified for their lives. "Oh, no... Oh no, oh no, fly, Hoshi, fly!" Sorano yelled, having predicted what was about to happen next.

But it was too late. Suddenly, two tiny boys, looking around six years old jumped out, shining amulets flashing around their necks. "Take that!" one shouted, a jolt of light bursting out. And then... With a horrible squashed sensation, Sorano and Hoshi fell, and fell, Hoshi barely spreading her wings in time to slow their fall. As they landed, among the normal sized buildings... They knew what had happened.

"S-sorano-chan... We're toys now, aren't we..."

Word Count: 625

The letter mage herself hissed in pain, clutching a bruised elbow created in their sloppy landing, then shook it out of her mind. Carefully, she sat for a moment, collecting her wits about her, and letting her soothing barrier drop down over her emotions once more. With a calm expression, she stood up, surveying their surroundings. Compared to the buildings around her, which had seemed miniscule a while ago, she decided she was a little shorter than one foot tall. They could easily be stepped on if anyone stepped on them on accident, and it wasn't a risk she wanted to take. She frowned at Hoshi's comment, then quickly nodded. "Yes, I believe we are, Hoshi, I believe we are," was her grim response.

Hoshi squeaked in fright, flopping onto the ground and wrapping her tail around her head, shuddering. "We're all gonna diiiiiieeeee..." she wailed despondently, flopping around as if she had no energy left. Still, she was seriously afraid. What would happen if they were just...stuck here, as mini people? Where would they go? What would they do? How would they survive? However, she still followed Sorano to a nearby mini house, and plopped down on the steps.

"Hoshi I believe those boys from below are the cause of this. Remember those amulets they had? I bet they give them those toy making abilities, then, being too young, they shrunk the whole town." Sorano shut her eyes, trying to recall the magic type. "It looks like a form of molding magic, though, for sure. Perhaps toy-make? It would be fitting for such a town, certainly..." Sorano mused. She frowned thoughtfully into the distance. "However, their auras weren't hostile or menacing, Hoshi. That means that they aren't technically at fault. Perhaps they think this is all a big game, so I'll just have to try and knock them out."

Sorano carefully retrieved her loop of throwing knives, holding it up to the light. They had shrunk along with her, but the size was not what she needed. She would only have to pierce both boys with a knife, and she could track them carefully and efficiently. "Hoshi, I'll be using Kagayaku to put a tracker on the twins, alright? Just... Stay here for now, please, I promise I'll be back soon. Use your magic if anything happens!" she called to the tabby exceed as she walked towards the sounds of thumping and cheers.

Running from the area, Sorano made her way towards the noises, intent on getting a knife in. One of Kagayaku was clutched tightly in her hand, the sharp end pointing backwards to keep from getting in the way. The rest of the knives jingled on a loop she had quickly attached to the top of her bag strap in an effort to keep them handy. Suddenly, however, her auric senses picked up something that wasn't a human, or some molecule. It was something...something potentially dangerous. She stopped in her tracks, and slowly turned back and forth, searching with her senses. Nothing.

Sorano frowned in suspicion, then continued.

Meanwhile, Hoshi sat there, fidgeting quietly. Why did Sorano have to leave her here? She knew that when doing small tasks like these, speed was of the essence, meaning one person was better than two. Still, she had a sinking feeling about things here, but all she could do now was sit. Sit, and wait. It was only as a terribly loud noise burst through the area that the tabby brown head jerked up, and white paws began to flash across the ground towards where her friend had been seen last.

Word Count: 601

The member 'ivyleaf33' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

Sorano had been running down the street, listening to the sound of childish laughter booming over the city, and trying to find the twins. That odd aura she had felt earlier... She had no idea what that had been supposed to be. It was unlike any she had seen before, with an unusual artificial look to it, yet with the latest breath of life. She found it hard to understand, how it could feel so fake yet have emotion. She looked up then, and breathed a sigh of relief. She had been moving the right direction, for ahead of her were the two looming hulks of the twins. It was a rather unnerving sight, being one foot tall and feeling tiny compared to two kids barely into elementary school. She could feel the magical presence radiating from their amulets, and wondered however did they get their hands on those. Perhaps... If she was lucky... Could she maybe convince the twins to stop now? Was it possible? She held her breath, and slowly opened her mouth, ready to speak.

Bam!

A huge mass of fur, teeth, saliva, and plastic slammed into her, sending her tumbling to the ground with a hiss of pain. Gritting her teeth, Sorano pulled loose a knife, stabbing it into the wolf's eye. With a howl of pain, the wolf leapt up, whining and starling. Surprisingly, Sorano's first track of thought was "Oh, my, what an interesting aura this wolf has." And then she thought something like, "Hey, wasn't this the aura I saw earlier?" And finally then, did she think "Oh dear, I think this wolf wants to kill me." Yes, being emotionless had its drawbacks, that was for sure. Natural instincts didn't quite respond as fast, and silly little thoughts cluttered up you're thinking space when, really, you should be making thas split second decision of fight, flight, or freeze. Oh, and as a note, freezing isn't the best option. Trust me.

However, the letter mage was luckily able to respond fast enough, her hand rushing around to stab on of Kagayaku into the wolf's leg, crippling it and causing it to flop onto the ground. With a sigh, and slight interest, Sorano inspected the blood of the slowly recovering wolf. It was an odd mixture of melted plastic and actual wolf blood, a rather disgusting sight to behold. Nevertheless, Sorano appeared to be extremely fascinated with it, even quickly storing a small sample within a swiftly produced mirror, before standing back up with her knife in a reverse grip. A controlled, calm expression on the young girl's face compared to the terrible snarl of the wolf's was almost comical in the differences.

"Soranooooo!" A yell of anguish suddenly came from behind, and the letter mage knew immediately without turning her gaze away from the wolf that it was Hoshi. "Oh, Hoshi. Didn't I tell you to stay there? It could've been dangerous for you here, and you might not have been able to handle things with your magic," she said in an indifferent tone of voice, though there was a slight tinge of severity to it. "But, Sorano-chan, are you okay? You have... Is that spit on your dress? Eww..." Hoshi cringed at the sight, unable to keep herself from reacting to the gross sight. So what if cats licked themselves clean? Wolf spit? Gross. It probably had wolf cooties in it. After all, cat and dog, right?

Sorano sighed, turning back to her opponent who was lunging at her ferociously. "I'm perfectly fine, Hoshi, though I appreciate your concern," she responded, flinging the knife so it should brush past the wolf neatly. The wolf, of course, responded, bounding aside in fear that the knife would hit it. Sorano took this chance, taking a new knife and jabbing the handle right into one of the wolf's pressure points and knocking it out. With a quick brushing off of her hands, she watched in mild interest as the wolf became completely metal and plastic. She had received no damage from the rough attack, besides a few miniscule bruises from the first impact.

Word Count: 687

HP: 295
MP: 100%
Durations: None
Cooldowns: None
Arrow Count: 20

As Sorano took a moment to recover from the attack, sitting down and breathing in and out slowly to calm her heart, Hoshi looked up to where the twins had been. "Oh...Sorano-chan, you missed them!" she said disappointedly, drooping her head. How would they get out of this now? Hoshi sniffled the slightest bit, causing Sorano to peer down gently at the easily frightened exceed. The look itself was surprising, even if Sorano's expression was as stony as always, a slightly soft light shone in the brown depths of her eyes. Hoshi's sniffling stopped, and she attempted a small smile. Only she knew how fragile Sorano was, and she would do her best to keep the girl from breaking.

"Hey, Sorano-chan, did you discover anything from that wolf toy monster?" the exceed asked cautiously, swinging a striped tail back and forth. She was trying to get Sorano's brain working at its fullest. "Hmm... Yes, actually. I think these twins' magic is mainly based on turning living things, or normal things into toys, and turning toys into real things. It doesn't have too many other effects we've seen so far, after all," she mused, thinking intently. "Otherwise, I believe we can probably assume our enemies are mainly these toys and the townspeople are all in hiding because of them. Ugh... Such troublesome kids."

She quickly stood back up, a determined light in her eyes. "Come on, Hoshi, we'll complete the job, then I'll treat you to something, alright?" she asked in as cheerful a tone as an emotionless girl could muster. The exceed, however, felt it's full effects and grinned broadly, feeling just a tiny bit more confident.

After around an hour of looking for the twins, they were back where they had fought the wolf, frustrated and tired. Neither was in the mood for much more searching, that was for sure. "Maybe we should get rid of some of these terrorist toys first," suggested Hoshi, turning to Sorano after a long, awkward silence. Reluctantly, the letter mage inclined her head, and pushed herself back up. "Let's do this, then," she said in a very unwilling tone. Just as she said this, a Laughing sound erupted out of nowhere. "Ehh?" Hoshi's surprised squeal broke through the peace and quiet at the appearance of a plastic and metal pirate, towering two feet above them.

Sorano hissed, gritting her teeth, and pulled out one of Kagayaku. As she did, a large sword came crashing down near her, causing the two to jump. In a flash, she was writing, and a storm was produced to whirl about the toy. It was good thing it appeared large enough to encompass it, instead of toy-sized as well to both mages' relief. As it fought and roared within, Sorano quickly ducked in, letting the wind push her towards the top of it. Once she had a grip on the pirate toy's shoulders, she began to stab at the surprisingly thick plastic. The pirate roared and raged, but luckily, her storm spell kept it in place. She could defeat him in peace here.

Meanwhile, Hoshi was nervously watching the mini hurricane. She hoped her friend would be alright, Sorano, the only person she didn't fear. It was times like these she felt so helpless, with Sorano having surprisingly strong spells that could hurt her, and having to leave the exceed out. Could her link with Mother Nature have been established, only for there to be no use? It would be horrible if that were so! The exceed covered her face with white paws dirtied from walking, and wished.

Word Count: 600

HP: 295
MP: 85%
Durations: 1/3
Cooldowns: None
Arrow Count: 20

Deep within the storm, Sorano was still trying to get an advantage over the pirate. It wasn't exactly an easy task, however, seeing as it towered above her, three times her height. The tough plastic skin it had was difficult to cut through with so small a knife as Kagayaku. Throwing knives were light and good for long range attacks, but when it came to things like this, swords were definitely better. Giving up on that tactic, Sorano began to leap about on him, forcing him to start grabbing for her. She climbed as fast as she could manage, muscles bunching and releasing to try to keep away from his sword and his hand. Her goal was to try and get the pirate to injure itself, so she could save her magical energy.

However, this pirate wasn't as dumb as she had hoped it would be. He only uses his hand to grab at her, keeping his sword an arm length away. She gritted her teeth in frustration, but forced herself to keep calm. Inhaling deeply, she sprang about at a much faster pace, forcing the pirate to start tiring, his hand going more slowly. Finally, he completely dropped his sword, reaching both hands up to grab at her. With a triumphant leap, she grasped onto his wrist, jabbing Kagayaku into the thinner plastic between his thumb and index finger. As the pirate toy howled in pain, she made her way towards the pirate's face.

From what she had seen on the wolf, it seemed that the eye was a weak spot. If so, then perhaps she could distract it enough to fell it using the storm spell's damage and multiple attacks from her blades. As she finally neared the face, the pirate roared in outrage as she stepped onto the plastic collarbone, trying to hoist herself up. With a yell, she was knocked back, only the wind from her spell cushioning her fall. Yet another hiss of pain was emitted from her mouth, and she slowly got back up. She spun one of Kagayaku around in her hand, firmly putting it in a reverse grip.

In one smooth, arcing motion, she turned to the side, and spun back around, releasing the knife on the way. A soft thud sound could be heard from above, and Sorano stared indifferently up at the now wailing pirate, who clutched his right eye in excruciating pain. Sorano wasted no time, taking the opportunity to let the wind from her storm to carry her back up. Now, she grabbed onto the pirate's clothing, pulling another of Kagayaku out. She did her best to try and get the throwing knife to the pirate's other eyes but he was ready. With a rough heave, the letter mage was on the ground again, more battered than before.

At last, she gave in. "Solid Script: Oil!" she yelled, releasing a huge squirt of the stuff all over the pirate's face. Yup, that did the trick. While slipping and sliding in the stuff, as well as being splattered all over in what it had been picked up by the wind, he fell with a thunderous boom. She frowned at the sound of houses being crushed, and hurried over to check for any damage to life. Luckily, everyone had fled once they heard the battle raging outside. She quickly called off the storm with a wave of her hand, and started checking the giant pirate out. Hoshi flew up as well, looking down uncomfortably.

The pirate was half buried in rubble of Lego blocks and silly putty, looking remarkably silly. Melted plastic lay all around it in a shade of red, causing Sorano to raise an eyebrow. So, these toys had been crafted to be as real as possible, quite the remarkable task for such young kids, really.

Word Count: 638

HP: 275
MP: 80%
Durations: 2/3 Storm, 1/2 Oil
Cooldowns: None
Arrow Count: 20

Sorano plopped down beside Hoshi, looking pretty tired. It was tough fighting an opponent three times her height and width, with tough armor-like plastic skin. It may have sounded ridiculous, but that pirate had been a tough opponent. The letter mage let herself slowly breathe in and out a few deep breaths, then stood. "Come on, Hoshi, we've got something we have to do," she intoned solemnly, her face showing no sign she was at all tired. The exceed would stare up at the girl with admiration plain on her face, before moving towards her with a determined nod. She couldn't let Sorano take all the light, after all.

The two girls made their way down the shrunken street, looking about them. Sorano began to think, prioritizing certain things. "Okay, Hoshi, first, we should see what effects being turned into a toy has on the citizens. We might feel normal for now, but that may be because there is a duration of time before anything happens. It may just be because of our magical aura, too," she decided aloud, making her way up to a Lego house. After knocking on the door, it finally creaked open, a man poking his head out. "What is it... I thought we'd already decided to stay inside until everything's gone..." he mumbled, looking uncomfortable.

Sorano bowed politely first in greeting, then explained their goal to him. The man looked flustered all of a sudden, and a little excited. "Could you possibly help?" he asked, grasping the girl's shoulders with his weathered ones. Sorano tilted her head to one side, and replied with, "I shall do my best, but am unable to guarantee success." That was enough for him. He led her inside, bringing a young woman over. With one look at her, Hoshi's eyes widened in horror. The woman's face had almost completely become wax, and some of her features were dripping off. Now, the man tenderly scooped some of the wax up, and tried to put it back in place. "My wife...she was one of the first to be affected. By the time I was shrunk as well, she had already began to transform. Please! I'll do anything, just save my Yasuko!" he begged.

Sorano carefully thought for a few moments, her face growing troubled. So people would actually become toys after too long, and she guessed toys would eventually become real as well. Not good, not at all good. With gritted teeth, she stood, and turned back to the man. She needed information, any he could give her. "Do you know who the twins are? If so, would you mind telling me what they're like, and who their parents are? Also, how do they have those amulets?" The man frowned as he considered the questions. "Those two are orphans that were dropped on the mayor's doorstep one day. They were found with those amulets, and they've never taken them off. They go by the names of Chip and Chen. Like most kids, they adore kids, but take it to the next level.


"We would watch as they stared at the toymakers constantly, so focused and quieter than usual we let them be. However, they have always been troublemakers. I believe that all they think this is is a game." As the man finished, Sorano turned back with a grim expression and a brisk nod at him. "You have no idea how much this could help. Thank you for all of your assistance. I sincerely hope we can help in getting your wife back to normal."

The two shook hands firmly, and the mages exited the Lego house. They started out in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. They had to hurry things up now, after seeing Yasuko's condition. "Okay! Hoshi! We can do this!" Sorano yelled, turning to stare intently at Hoshi. The exceed pumped a paw in the air, and the two smiled at each other. As long as they had a guildmate nearby, Fairy Tail mages were practically invincible, after all. It was what made the rowdiest guild so amazing and perfect for the two unwanted girls.

Word Count: 688

HP: 275
MP: 90%
Durations: None
Cooldowns: 1/5 Storm, 1/3 Oil
Arrow Count: 20[/quote]

The two girls raced down the street, trying to find the twins. From what the man had said, it did in fact seem that they were just fooling around. All they had to do, now, was find a way to end the game in a way that was satisfying to the twins. After all, having grown up with two little brothers, she knew that unless they were satisfied, no one was satisfied. The memory brought the slightest twinge of emotion to her mind, though the letter mage quickly shook it away. Now was not the time.

As she continued to think while running, a lot snarl brought her attention to the roof of a house. The weird half-alive aura of the opponent's before could be seen, and before long, the long, furred muzzle of a toy wolf could be seen. Sorano sighed tiredly, glancing over at Hoshi. "Looks like more work for us, huh?" she muttered, before slipping an arrow into her bow. She quickly shot it, barely missing the creature's eye. Instead, it bounces off the hard surface, leaving no more than a small dent in the plastic armor.

Sorano frowned as the wolf retreated, then tensed as loud footsteps could be heard growing closer. Before long, an eye patched plastic face was staring at her from above. Sweat slowly dripped down the letter mage's face as she faced the two. She would have to quickly finish them off so she could help Yasuko, and anyone else like her. With this jolt of determination, Sorano slipped in a new arrow, aiming it at the pirate. Naturally, the toy reacted angrily, pulling its face away. However, at the last second, the wily mage had switched aim to the wolf, who had been peering down triumphantly a moment ago. Now, he howled in pain as he fell back, the feathered end of an arrow protruding from its eye.

The familiar look of absolute focus settled back on Sorano's face, and she slipped the bow back into her quiver. She doubted arrows would work again. She now had her hand on the ring with Kagayaku on it. In a fraction of a second, the throwing knife was out, held in a reverse grip by Sorano. The wolf came first, enraged at the offense. Sorano's knife drove him back with strategic stabs at weak points. The wolf couldn't do too !much more other than to keep jumping and dodging. She hoped to have it tired out by the end of this quick bout, so it would be a much more convenient defeat.

To keep them concerned, a cloud was written out, and almost immediately afterwards, powerful stinging droplets of water would rain down on the toys. To her satisfaction, the watery projectiles pierced holes through the plastic unlike many of her physical attacks. It must have been the magic on the toys not being strong enough to hold up against experienced, practiced magic. Though the boys' amulets were certainly powerful and made them a force to contend with, they lacked the knowledge and experience of a mage like Sorano. As they struggled in the rain, Sorano took advantage, hurling one knife in their direction, aiming at the eye as usual. This one barely missed, creating a deep dent in the side of the wolf's face. Her second throw, however was rewarded with a dull thoom, as the blade entered the soft part of the toy.

The wolf, now blind, began to stumble around in confusion. He howled in pain, and quickly merged back into toy form with a last stab of Sorano's Kagayaku. The toy hardened completely into plastic, and legs grew stuff and unmoving. Now for the pirate...

Word Count: 616

HP: 275
MP: 80%
Durations: 1/3 Water
Cooldowns: 2/5 Storm, 2/3 Oil
Arrow Count: 18

Well, the pirate... It was obviously enraged at the casualties dealt to its wolfish friend, and it charged at them, sword raised, giving them both a great view of the roof of his plastic mouth embellished with deadly metal teeth. Lovely. You would totally never expect him to be trying to kill you, right? Right? Well, as this pirate charged at them, Sorano kept her cool, walking cheerily fight beneath the pirate. It was so large that if she stooped just the slightest bit, it had stepped right over her. It turned, staring in shock, then received a throwing knife to the mouth. Best feeling ever, that.

As it stumbled back in shock, Sorano carefully decided her next move, deciding to use a Reflection spell this time. As the mirror formed in front of her hand, the pirate roared in rage, swiping down towards her. Her aim then slipped, and the mirror cracked. Pieces flew off in all directions, causing Sorano to dive to the ground, yanking Hoshi with her. A sharp stinging sensation came from her arm, and she looked to see a thin slit on her art had been cut by a mirror shard, and blood slowly oozed from it. Clenching her teeth to block dull the pain a little, she looked over to check if Hoshi was alright. To her relief, the exceed was shocked, but unharmed.

The pirate roared again, most of the shards still having hit it. Sorano grimaced, then rolled herself and Hoshi to the side, avoiding a sharp slash from his sword. Yanking the thickest ribbon off her dress, she bound her hand quickly and shook Hoshi to her senses. The exceed nodded, and flew out of the way. Sorano raced towards the pirate, sliding to the side last second and hurling a knife towards its eye. As the knife found its mark, she leapt onto the pirate like she had the first one, hissing out loud at the sharp sting in her hand. Blood seeped through the decorative cloth, staining the violet red.

She pushed through the pain, however, still moving upwards. As the blade flew at her again, she avoided it narrowly, a gash appearing in the plastic skin instead as she had hoped. Continuing upwards, she found that this toy was much stupider than the other one, and kept slashing with its sword even when it kept hurting myself instead. "Get back here little fly!" It shrieked, the noise grating on her ears. She decided that she didn't ever want to hear the pirate sing. Ever. Just the thought made her feel like her ears were bleeding.

Instead of getting back there like the toy had commanded, Sorano deftly took a knife, and slammed it into the pirate's eye. A choking noise emanated from his mouth, and the horrendous thing fell back, Sorano falling with it. However, what she hadn't anticipated was the one last raising of his sword. She quickly rolled away, but not before the shiny metal edge pierced the same arm. Gripping it, and hissing in pain, Sorano edged towards Hoshi. "Sorano! W-what... Ah!" the exceed whimpered in shock. She dug through the letter mage's bag, pulling out a mirror. She reached inside, pulling out a bandage and wrapping the girl's arm.

"Th-thanks, Hoshi," Sorano whispered, slowly sitting back up. It was times like these, that she hates how weak she was. She had seen people in her guild like Mura and Gamon receive cuts as bad as these, yet barely bat an eye to the pain. However, she had the strength and sensitivity to pain of just any barely-teenage girl, and that was rather high.

Word Count: 610

HP: 250
MP: 80%
Durations: 2/3 Water, 1/1 Mirror Shard
Cooldowns: 3/5 Storm, 3/3 Oil
Arrow Count: 18

As Sorano carefully fixed up her wounds, Hoshi worriedly looked around, trying to keep an eye out for any more toys. It was natural the exceed was worried, for even though Sorano could successfully block out many emotions and feelings, pain had always been one of the hardest. After all, it was natural little girl behavior to be extremely sensitive to pain. It was embedded into their systems, and therefore hard to get over. It didn’t help that her upbringing had been fairly quiet and sheltered and living the painful life of a battle mage was extremely difficult for her to adapt to. She knew Sorano well enough by now to know the stubborn girl would never admit to her weakness and her difficulty at adapting. Battle mages were injured severely on a regular basis, or getting some disadvantage or the other. It wasn’t something meant for girls who had gone to boarding school and lived with fairly rich parents. It had been a difficult decision that her friend had made, with support from both herself and Anna.

“Sorano…” she whispered softly, pressing a dirtied white paw down on her hand’s pale hand, on which a drop of blood from her wound fell. “Don’t you dare overexert yourself, Sorano!” she yelled desperately, digging her small burr-like claws into her hand. She could feel Sorano’s muscles tensing in surprise though her face showed nothing, looking down uncertainly at the new beads of crimson liquid that was forming on her hand, staining Hoshi’s fur red. “Hoshi, don’t be so quick to move like that, okay?” she said in a tone that most would simply reckon to be stony and cold, not concerned like she could hear. As far as the tabby knew, she was the only one who could actually recognize the remnants of emotion in the letter mage’s voice besides Anna.

The exceed stayed in the position for a few more seconds, breathing hard. “Sorano, I know things are tough for you, being such a young mage!” she blurted out, a little shocked at her own words. She wasn’t one to speak up, or talk at all really, and she paused for an awkward few seconds before continuing. “I know you hate to admit it, but with such a good understanding of emotions by now, you should know how much you want to grow up and be an experienced mage like everyone else, right?” As the dark-haired girl turned away, Hoshi lashed her tail angrily, and raised her voice. “But please, Sorano! I know you want to get stronger, but going all out and injuring yourself unnecessarily trying to do things you cannot accomplish simply isn’t the right way to go about it! Kinzoku-san, Seas-san, even Kensho-san! They’re all older than you, and stronger when it comes to strength! Yes, even Kensho-san! That’s something you’re simply gonna have to accept, I think! And besides, you’ve got years of training before you can start getting up to their level! Just one bad scratch can mean the end of anyone, even such a powerful person as Heero-san!” Breathing heavily, the exceed glared at the back of Sorano’s head.

The letter mage turned, and observed Hoshi carefully. She seemed a little bit taken aback, or was that just her imagination? The exceed bowed her head worriedly, ears flattening in embarrassment. “Eto… sorry, that probably wasn’t in my place to say…” she said softly, but stopped when she felt a small hand rub the top of her head comfortingly. “Thank you, Hoshi. I promise I won’t push myself too much!” the girl said, a small smile on her face that was obviously forced. The exceed smiled, and hoped that would be so.

Word Count: 617

HP: 250
MP: 80%
Durations:
Cooldowns: 3/5 Storm, 1/3 Mirror Shard, 1/4 Water
Arrow Count: 18

After tightening the last bandage, Sorano stood, and smiled wanly down at Hoshi. “Come on now… We promised that man we would save his wife, right? So let’s hurry, before it’s too late!” Hoshi nodded quickly, hurrying after the letter mage with worry in her amber gaze. She knew Sorano’s determination was astounding, something most might not expect. As she looked basically emotionless all the time, no one could see how hard she really tried, how much she really sacrificed to get stronger. And that was what made Hoshi sad. No one noticed, so no one could help her. Hana was observant enough to notice it at moments, and she thought she might have seen just a slip of understanding in Mura’s gaze before. But none of them had been able to be certain enough to offer help, which just went to show how dangerous Sorano’s condition could be. She overexerted herself so much, and though Hoshi had scolded her countless times, she never listened.

Sorano soon heard the snarl of a wolf toy nearby, and immediately, that loop of knives was out. Hoshi didn’t know whether she should appreciate those knives or not. They would certainly give Sorano a boost in fighting, of course, but it had so much more potential to kill people than the darts it had replaced. Sorano had tried to get away from violence, but being dragged back down into this life of battling… Hoshi felt that it was only making Sorano’s life worse. Looking down, a hard, sad look on her face, she turned away once again. How could she possibly get the strong-willed girl to listen? Just how? She likely knew Sorano better than anyone else, yet… She could only watch as Sorano charged up against the wolf, astonishing speed letting her slide past, parrying its blows with a knife and shield.

From here, she could see the powerful determination in Sorano’s proud posture, clenched teeth as her knives would fly at the grotesque creation that the toy was. She was unrelenting, but the wolf refused to back down as well. It leapt at her again and again, and Hoshi could see Sorano slowly beginning to falter on her injured side, her movements growing more and more sluggish. However, her stance was still certain and determined, and Hoshi knew that the letter mage knew when she couldn’t do something. Having begun to work more and more with melee fighting instead of depending on magic for battling, the bystanding exceed could see obvious improvement in her fighting skills.

Finally, the exceed held her breath as one sudden turn and leapt from the wolf sent Sorano tumbling back, crashing into some bushes. She had had the sense to roll and soften the impact, but Hoshi could see red slowly, and gradually beginning to fade into the thick white of the bandages. Sorano was unwilling to heal herself due to the side effects. Hoshi wished she could use her light ability to heal Sorano, but she knew better than anyone how inconvenient Mother Nature’s rules of contract could be. There was many a moment when she wished she could use one specific ability, but Mother Nature gave her something else.

Finally, however, Sorano carefully aimed one glinting blade, and sent it flying in the wolf’s direction. With that one powerful hit, the blade sank right into its throat, causing it to slowly melt back down to the ground. By now, Hoshi could see how shadowed Sorano’s expression was and how labored her breathing was before she steadied it with some quick meditation strategies. “Don’t worry about me, Hoshi!” she said quickly, as the exceed came over to check.

Word Count: 612

HP: 240
MP: 90%
Durations:
Cooldowns: 4/5 Storm, 2/3 Mirror Shard, 2/4 Water
Arrow Count: 18

Hoshi grit her teeth in anger and frustration, but relented. She lashed her tail back and forth, tears welling at the edge of her eyes. A memory would fade into her mind as she tried not to yell at Sorano, or scream in just the pure frustration and the combatting personalities inside of her. Her usual quiet, shy, nervous personality told her to be quiet, but the side of her that had once been; the side of her before her life had been turned upside down was determined to help her friend. It felt as though her head was being ripped apart, revealing a series of some of the most life-shaping memories she held.

A peaceful night, her littermates all curled up around her. The moon shone benevolently through the cover of the trees above, and through the gauzy fabric that made up their tent. She purred in happiness, breathing in her brother, Tsuki’s scent. He smiled back, with a sleepy “G’night” before burying his nose beneath a furry tail, snuggling into the bed. Hoshi yawned in contentment, small jaws opening and revealing tiny teeth and a pink tongue before she, too, tucked a tail over her nose. Before long, the whole litter was fast asleep, listening to the sound of their mother’s purring. However, Hoshi couldn’t sleep for some reason. Of all the kits in her litter, she’d had the most aptitude for magic so it wasn’t surprising that she could sense the presence of extremely hostile magic coming their way.

Suddenly, she would shoot up, fur on end and back arched. With a terrified yowl, she would scream at her mother, her littermates, to get up, GET UP! She tore out the tent, tripping in the fabric and bringing the whole structure down on her family. She gasped, looking back, and vainly attempted to untangle them. Though they squirmed, and they squealed, the tent remained on top of them. Hoshi broke into an anguished cry, just as the power of that magic grew strong enough. It seemed almost silent, that moment, as she was thrown away from her littermates, still trapped beneath that tent. The terrible screams of her family, the people who she loved the most echoed in her mind, as tears spilled from amber eyes. Terror resonated in her pitiful mewl as the exceed kit tried to open underdeveloped wings, barely making it away from the explosion in time.

By the time it was over, she was already running. “Tsuki! Oga-san! Minna!” she wailed, but there was nothing for her to cry over. All that was left in that area of the Tsuki Mountain was a crater, spreading a mile in each direction. By now, the poor exceed was completely numb from shock. She could only stare in horror, then collapse. By the time Sorano had reached her, she was nearly unconscious from lack of food and water. What happened afterwards with Sorano and herself didn’t help, either. The equally shell-shocked girl would take her in, both being in a similar situation. Together, they would run, but their purposes were different. Hoshi ran away in guilt that she had caused her family’s demise. Sorano ran to take revenge on whoever had killed her family.

Sorano… She could still recall that beautiful white aura that she had produced, but then, as she watched from the forest, her eyes blurred with the images of blood flying. Little at first, and spilkt blood even Sorano had regretted, but before long, every moment of her life, blood flew. Redness clouded her vision, Sorano’s beautiful white aura stained a pitch black. From then on, she couldn’t keep herself from jumping at everything, fearing all.

Word Count: 613

HP: 240
MP: 90%
Durations:
Cooldowns: 5/5 Storm, 3/3 Mirror Shard, 3/4 Water
Arrow Count: 18

Knives gently sandwiched between fingers, Sorano would continue, keeping her senses wide open for any trouble. Glancing back at Hoshi, a shadow passed over her face as she saw how dark the exceed’s expression was. “Ne, Hoshi, are you alright?” she asked, tilting her head, then wincing at the pain the small movement caused her shoulder. Hoshi glanced up, a slightly surprised expression quickly passing over her face. She nodded quietly, looking away. Sorano stared at the exceed for several more seconds, trying to tell what was wrong when Hoshi’s eyes widened at the sound of footsteps, and Sorano quickly whipped around. Led by a wolf, whose tail was moving mechanically were two pirate toys, eerie painted grins slowly turning to life. Sorano flipped her hair lazily behind her shoulder, a signal they had practiced over the years to signal that Hoshi was to get back. Lifting a blade, Sorano let it fly, straight and true, right towards them at an astonishing speed. Clipping the wolf and bouncing off the pirate behind it, she started the skirmish.

Sorano was determined, that was evident. With a burst of hand movement, words forming “flash” burst out, exploding in a harmless bit of light at the toys. As they were slowed and confused slightly by the light, Sorano began her spells. “Solid Script: Dark.” Immediately, a dome appeared over them all, casting the battlefield of toys into darkness. She could feel strength filling her up, and she breathed in the energy that the shadows offered to her. With a flash of her hand through the air again, a wall of flames would burst up, splitting into three sections, each flying at one toy. Having to stay in the middle, Sorano would have to rely on long range attacks. It was a good thing that she specialized in long range, then. Her teeth gritted against the pain, the letter mage would continue on, Doing her best to keep them at bay with shots from Moriko, the rather flimsy bow slinging out wish-steel arrows continuouslytowards their eyes or cracks in their forming.

Gritting her teeth whenever she moved too far out of the center and the weight of the dome began to sink again, she knew another spell was in order. Knowing her magical power was beginning to sink dangerously low again, she let her hand doodle out a longer word than her other spells. Likely the longest word she had, the smell of rain and acrid smoke suddenly emerged. Carefully using her eyes to position in in exactly the right position, she would squeeze her eyes shut as the giant bolt crackled down to earth, blasting directly atop the wolf and the waves around it hitting the pirates. Having dealt a large attack with her signature spell, Sorano gazed with mild interest at the melted plastic that had once been the wolf, and resumed her fighting, focus directed on the pirates. Recovering swiftly from the shock, they would charge forth at her again.

Sorano, breathing in deeply, and out deeply would now have to think of some other new move. She barely had the energy to use too many spells if she was to confront the twins, but going on like this wasn’t a good idea either. She would glance uncomfortably at her bag, in which she knew there was her own little library in mirrors packed with books. She hated to use her books for power, but it would seem like she might have to use it in the end. Would a confusion tactic work instead? She gazed at the toys auras, noting how they were unaccustomed to emotion at the moment.

Word Count: 609


HP: 320
MP: 80%
Durations: 1/1 Fire, 1/1 Dark, 1/1 Lightning
Cooldowns: 4/4 Water
Arrow Count: 13

Her eyes would narrow in determination, as she waved Hoshi over. The exceed would cautiously step closer, looking pretty intimidated by the humongous pirates. Compared to them, she was no more than an ant they could squash with a single step. Sweat trickled through her fur, causing her to want the scratch at it but she kept her attention on her friend, slowly nodding. "Please, could you place a paw on Luna?" the letter mage asked, evening down and extending the arm with the beautifully carved shield attached to it. Hoshi's eyes widened in surprise, knowing that her touch would cause everyone around them to suddenly feel scared, the emotion she seemed to always be feeling. Then, her gaze fell on the pirate's again, and suddenly she understood Sorano's purpose, a new light appearing in her amber eyes.

With a shaky smile, she placed a dirtied white paw on the pristine surface and let all her fears and uncertainties flow into the mirror. She could feel Sorano tensing, her emotional barrier on full-time trying to keep the artificial emotions that Luna would transmit out. She watched with worry as sweat dripped down the girl's face, but she knew that Sorano's mind was especially powerful in that area and she could resist her own weapon's ability, at least. However, she smiled as she saw that the toys were not having so good a time. The pirate's were hit with emotions, something unfamiliar to them full-on and had no idea what to do. It helped that this emotion was fear, and immediately, one began to clutch it's head in horror. Running in circles, it suddenly collapsed, shivering with fear that it had never known existed until now.

The other pirate was a little slower to respond, hesitating a moment before realizing that it was experiencing this horrible new sensation. Sorano, meanwhile, not quite ready to fight them yet in her state of mind would sink to her knees, her head clutched in the hand that wasn't extended out towards Hoshi. The exceed hated the thought that her friend was having such a terrible experience because of the fact she was touching the shield, but she knew things would go horribly wrong if she released it. As Sorano released a long, deep breath, her face finally smoothed over again, turning to face one of the crouched pirates. It was then that a somewhat terrifying thought hit her, one she didn't like to think about too much.

If these toys, who were without emotions could be so drastically impacted by just a simple effect of artificial emotion, how would she react to exposure to emotions? The letter mage froze in her tracks, slight horror flashing over her face. Would she run around in circles, too? Would she scream and wail and cry too? Would she curl into a ball, wishing to just disappear, too? Sorano's grip on Kagayaku grew slippery, the knife almost slipping from her sweaty hands. Finally gathering up her determination and courage, she approached the first one, sending in two arrows and two knives in important spots, then observing as they melted into masses of metal and plastic.

She would watch the melting pirate, having left Luna behind with Hoshi, and leaned down to stare into its shot plastic eye. How could such empty shells look and behave so human? Was she this way, too? Just an empty shell that looked like a human, something that had once been admired, something that had once felt love and hate and pleasure and fear. It was a terrifying thought but Sorano didn't know how to react. How should she react? How? How?

Word Count: 609

HP: 320
MP: 80%
Durations:
Cooldowns: 1/2 Fire, 1/4 Dark
Arrow Count: 11

Sorano stared woodenly at that one defeated pirate for a few more seconds before Hoshi nudged her with a paw, bringing the girl back to her senses. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Sorano rushed towards the second one, sending knives and arrows into it as well. This time, she barely lingered, not wanting to be pulled back into such bewildering and dark thoughts. After all, she was known for being calm and collected, right? It would look bad if she were to lose her composure in a battle, especially with Hoshi watching. She knew the exceed trusted her with her own life, and she wanted to live up to those high expectations.

Turning away, Sorano would tilt her head back up at the sky, then bend down, slamming her hands over her ears repeatedly a few times, shaking her head vigorously from side to side. She had to focus on the task at hand! She had to! Smiling wanly and failing at Hoshi, the letter mage would say, "Don't worry, please, Hoshi! I can take care of myself so don't mind me!" With that, she turned briskly on one heel, continuing down the road to try and locate the twins. Concerned, Hoshi flew to catch up. Those terrible and nerve-racking thoughts squeezed slowly into her head again, her fear beginning to get the better of her.

Could Sorano have a mental disease? She knew already that the girl had unusual mental circumstances, but she was perfectly sane, right? She didn't have any sort of bad condition, right? Right! No, wait, what if she was being taken over by a demon? What if she was losing control over her abilities? What if her barrier broke again? What is her best friend changed, and would remain changed forever? These what-ifs echoed throughout her head, and the exceed had to work hard to keep from curling up into a tight little ball, ignoring the outside world. She hated feeling this fear all the time, feeling like she couldn't do a thing.

Sorano herself was rather confused. While she could usually calmly sort her thoughts out neatly, making her an excellent strategist, these thoughts didn't make sense with her previous beliefs. She knew that emotionlessness came with consequences, but if it really made her just like these plastic toys... What truly was she? Could she even be considered a proper human anymore with no emotions? Emotions built up a human's choices, everything they did was powered by emotion in some way. But if she wasn't a human anymore, what was she? Was she a puppet? Some toy like those pirates, overwhelmed with emotions?

But then, if she released those emotions again, she didn't want to be overwhelmed by sudden grief, perhaps, or did her time emotionless and making up with the fact take away the worst of it? Sorano was overwhelmed with these puzzling thoughts, and worries. The biggest one, however, was still the reason she had no emotions. What if... what if that frightening red returned? The red haze of anger and grief that drove her to do terrible things? She could barely remember the memories of those few weeks, they were so clouded with red hate and anger. If that returned... Sorano didn't know what she would do then.

Deep inside, hidden away from her barrier against emotions was a small knit of fear, one that never disappeared. One that was added to, each and every day. Would she fly into that mindless rage again? Images of precious guildmates, dead, ripped apart, and her own body, being strangled by her spiritual body. If the haze was too thick, even her own physical body would be seen as an enemy and she would kill herself. Hoshi, slain and laying nearby. These images flashed by one after another in that small, hidden knot.

Word Count: 641

HP: 300
MP: 80%
Durations:
Cooldowns: 2/2 Fire, 2/4 Dark
Arrow Count: 9

Just as Sorano was beginning to calm down again, shoving the knot far away into the depths of her mind, a footstep would shake the earth, causing the two fairies to immediately duck behind a Lego house. Peering around cautiously, Sorano's body tensed as she saw the twins. Standing at four feet tall, they were more than four times the size of Sorano, and simply humongous to Hoshi. The exceed cowered back in fear, though she did know that if she was to use her abilities at any time, it would be now. Taking a deep breath, the feline would nod in determination at her partner, smiling as Sorano nodded shortly back. No protective flip of her hair this time. She would make sure Sorano didn't take them on all by herself.

Stepping out, Sorano would gaze up at the boys, taking in a deep breath of air. "Okay, Hoshi, take me up!" As the air rushed past her, Hoshi's wings pushing them higher and higher, the girl felt a slight lurch in her chest. She hadn't fought such a difficult enemy by herself before, having done so many jobs with teammates and guildmates recently. Well, she knew she at least had Hoshi by her side, too. She could barely think of a time when she was ever alone, now that she really thought about it. Only when her family had just died, for the briefest period of time she had been completely and utterly alone before meeting Hoshi. What would she be like now if not for the exceed kit she had found in the forest? Would she be empty? Lacking any real purpose? Wandering around the land? Dead? In a dark guild? There were so many possibilities that could be worse than her current situation, and for a moment, she was thankful.

Hovering in front of the children, she would come to eye level with one. The boy blinked, startled for a moment, then grinned. "Look at this, Chip!" he yelled, "It's such a cute toy!" He immediately reached out grubby, and humongous fingers clumsily grabbing at the two. With a yell, Hoshi swooped out of reach, but this only seemed to goad the kids on. Chip joined in with his brother the two swatting at the mage's while Hoshi wildly swerved back and forth to avoid being hit. Sorano would try to talk to them, starting by asking them what their aim was.

"We wanna make lots toys!" Chen yelled, smiling cheerfully, "Toys are good! Toys are fun! I like toys!" Chip would chime in as well, saying, "Grown-ups and other kids no fun, some mean. Toys are bestest!" Sorano exchanged a glance with Hoshi. So, apparently these kids didn't like life here in Toylaten. What did the other people do to make them so unhappy, she wondered? However, there wasn't much time to think as Chip swatted at them again. "Playing with toys fun!" he trilled, grinning broadly. Suddenly, the letter mage realized why they did all this. They actually thought this was fun! Being so young, they didn't realize that what they were doing was wrong, and so continued to do it. To them, this was all just a game. Not about lives. She would have to approach them like this was a game, too.

"Hey, Chip-chan, Chen-chan, how about we play a game?" she suggested cheerfully. Immediately, the twins were interested. She knew it would catch their attention, the way it had caught her younger brother's so many times. "Okay, so, we're playing tag! If I touch one of you, you have to freeze. If you touch us, we have to freeze, got it? Okay! Let's go!" she hoped that with this, she could get them to respect her a little more.

Word Count: 628

HP: 290
MP: 80%
Durations:
Cooldowns: 3/4 Dark
Arrow Count: 9

The two boys, now intrigued, would step closer to listen, actually blowing the two away a little with the air they displaced in their movements. At that size, they could cause buildings to topple by sprinting past them. It was a disturbing and rather frightening thought, so Sorano temporarily cast it from her mind. After all, who wants to see a skyscraper of Legos collapse from a kid running past? "So, you mean, like freeze tag? With teams? Awesome!" Chip's voice boomed loudly above them, and both girls grimaced as the power of their breath and sound waves hit them. Not a very pleasant sensation, if you would believe.

Sorano nodded cautiously. She would have to choose her words carefully, and build out a plan. To keep them from trampling houses and people, they would have to move further away. Then, she and Hoshi could easily dispatch them with hiding skills and a speed advantage at being small. "However, let's find a bigger field to run on, shall we?" she asked, implementing her new ideas. To her great relief, the boys exchanged a glance, the Chen spoke up. "Definitely! We know where the bestest park in the whole wide world is!" If he hadn't been a giant to the two, the boys would look rather cute, with dimples and missing front teeth that caused a slight lisp in Chen's voice. It would be hard for anyone to ever hate them.

The two follows via Hoshi's Aera magic wings, soaring through the area. The exceed cringed and flinched with every step the monstrous toddlers took, feeling even more sensitively with each look cast upon before how much it hurt for bugs, critters, and how annoying it was to plants. They had to grow new seeds, new sprouts, new this, new that, new everything. It made the exceed glad she wasn't a plant and she breathed a small sigh of relief of as they circled the the park. As the toddlers gave a wobbly, uncertain countdown, they started. People stared in surprise at the boys stomping around at the ground, as they could not clearly spot the shapes of Sorano and Hoshi.

Driven mad by terror, the exceed flew erratically and crazily, leaning out and away of Chip and Chen for countless times. Sorano did very well as well using last minute movements to stay away almost like she hid from them every now and then. After a few minutes of this, it was obvious the boys were board. Suddenly, a gun shot from out from Chip's amulet, making it obvious that he was the more impatient of the two. It was very clearly a toy gun, but death incarnated for the fairies. Chen, seeing his brother break out the weapons, formed a foam sword, grinning wildly. Though it was foam, both mages' once again knew that it would cause a scary amount of damage.

Toy bullets raced through the air, joined with a ginormous foam sword whacking lazily at them. Angered, Sorano would scribble letters though the air, forming , hurricane of weather elements. As the wind, water, and ice bits whirled into one big mess, she would shoot it straight at the boys, entangling them in its swirl of elements. "Hey, that's not nice, Onee-chan!" This did cause people to slowly move away from them, seeing as this would be a mage fight, a fight where absolutely no one was prepared for what was about to happen.

As they struggled to untangle themselves, Sorano would gesture for Hoshi to move down a little lower until she was at each of their shoulders, and quickly made a tiny little paper cut sized incisions in their skin. Immediately, small screens appeared above them, each tracking their location so the letter mage would be able to easily locate everything.

Word Count: 637

HP: 287
MP: 65%
Durations: 1/3 Storm
Cooldowns: 4/4 Dark
Arrow Count: 9

With a yell, Chen looked up, sudden hatred appearing in his eyes. "Hey! You cut me!" he wailed, bringing the fact to Chip as well. Both boys would wail and whine for a bit, before slowly turning to stare in anger at Sorano. Hoshi slowly cringed away, bringing Sorano with her. Sorano remaining cool as always would simply paste a smile on her face, saying, "This is all a part of the game, kids! After all, it barely hurt, right? Just a simple little device to help me win! Can you try to beat me now that I'm so powerful?" Darting around them and attempting a triumphant pose, the boys' spirits rose again. A competitive grin on their faces, the two leapt at her, trying to grab the two. It was lucky that Hoshi was so good at running, no, flying away from people, or they may have been killed.

The letter mage's current focus was to see how they would use their amulets in battle, and what strengths and weaknesses they had. Children were clever things, she knew. After all, still being barely a teenager, she knew that children saw so many things that adults always seemed to miss. Their understanding and view of the world was much different than an adult's and their minds were flexible and open to new ideas. These two shouldn't be any different, and Sorano knew she should keep her eyes sharp for any unexpected attacks.

Soon enough, her prediction came to life before her eyes. Finally giving up in just jumping around and grabbing at the two, they would turn to their amulet abilities once more. This time, huge super soakers appeared in their hands, and a blast of water was shot through the storm at the two. Barely getting them below the splash, the gigantic water droplets caused Hoshi to crash to the ground. Groaning as she forced herself back up, Sorano grimaced as she glared up at the twins. They were still treating everything like a shame, not caring that Sorano could've broken a bone down there.

She slowly pushed herself up again, hands out and prepared to retaliate somehow... These twins really made things difficult and much more complex. After all, they were still children and seriously injuring them would damage her reputation as a legal mage as well as cause her to stray from her goal. With a heavy sigh, the letter mage quickly wrote out a few letters, directing the spell at the twins. "Solid Script: Wind!" Adding few to the storm, the powerful gust sent them tumbling back wards, the whirling water and wind of the storm pulling them back under.

However, the spurts of water from the water guns kept coming, and Sorano was forced to dive for cover multiple times. By the end of it, she was completely soaked through by the powerful jets of water. The twins were soaked as well, laughing the entire time. However, they were growing bored of this back and forth battle, and it was evident in their faces. Sorano's muscles tensed as she prepared for whatever was about to happen next. The twins were huddled together in the edge of the mini hurricane, snatches of their conversation catching in the girl's ear. She shot a furtive glance at Hoshi, the exceed looking just as tense. This was no laughing matter. These twins' were freakishly powerful, and who knew what their amulets could do with the free and limitless imagination of children? Not to mention the fact that Sorano's mental condition right now was unusually weak. Who knew what would happen if an especially powerful attack was unleashed?

Word Count: 608

HP: 270
MP: 55%
Durations: 2/3 Storm, 1/1 Wind
Cooldowns:
Arrow Count: 9

Suddenly, one of the boys turned, playfulness tinged with anger flitting across his face. In his tightly clenched fist was an amulet, that amulet that gave them the power to create these horrible, sick toys. Slowly Chen turned around as well, that look of pure innocence his expression relayed making Hoshi feel sick to the stomach. His amulet was clutched equally tightly in his hand, and Sorano trembled slightly as the two were pressed against each other. A flash of light, blinding the girls burst out all around him as the amulets touched, a small explosion blowing them back wards several feet.

Standing slowly back up, her chest heaving, Sorano squinted into the light as it slowly faded, eyes widening, then narrowing in concentration at the sight that had appeared before her. It was huge. Towering over their heads, shining in all of its plastic and metal glory was a whopping 8-foot tall toy robot. Now, keep in mind that our favorite heroines of this little adventure are a mere 11 inches in height and so this was seriously huge to them. At the very top, the letter mage and exceed could barely make out the sight of two figures, Chip and Chen. They would seem to be controlling the giant machine, using levers and such to slowly move it forward, clomping step by clomping step.

"What in the name of nature..." came the choked whisper that trickled out of Hoshi. The terrified exceed was quite literally scared stiff, legs barely trembling in fright. The tabby slowly sank to her knees, eyes quivering in their sockets as she stared up at the abomination of plastic. It may seem amusing to anyone reading, that they were in deep trouble because of a toy made of plastic, but this was something else. It wasn't natural, it simply wasn't right. Up close, one could see every tiny ridge that formed the texture, the shockingly shiny surface that shielded whatever inner workings it might have. If one were to have stood there and attempted to look this gigatron in the eye, one would finally realize how terrifying this was.

If one were to actually think about this situation as well, it would only grow more terrifying. An abomination of a toy, towering above you eight times your height. It could easily crush you in a step or so. Not to mention it was controlled by two toddlers who thought everything was a game. Two toddlers who thought this was all a game, who had no idea they were tearing peoples' lives apart, that they were killing people. How could they? Having lived their lives only knowing happiness, games, each other, the love and adoration do people... It slowly dawned on Sorano just simply how deadly innocence could be, and it terrified her. Somewhere, deep inside, her emotions stirred, moving sluggishly within that barrier. You understood nothing, so everything was okay. Everything was just very simply...a game.

"Solid Script: Dark," the letter mage would suddenly intone in a monotonous voice, a shadowy dome suddenly extending over the area. Only part of the monstrosity's form fit inside, but it was enough to begin leeching health and Magi from it, transferring the energy into Sorano. Sighing slightly in relief at the onslaught of energy, Sorano opened her eyes again, fixated on her target. This time, she let the lightning fill up inside her, let the world's meaning completely and utterly fill her to the uttermost, before releasing it in one big push. As electricity crackles briefly for a moment in the sky, Sorano quickly shoved it to the side so it avoided the toddlers and hit only the machine. Shielding her face with Luna held in front of her, she could feel the heat of the blast from here still. Yet it still stood.

Word Count: 637

HP: 268
MP: 40%
Durations: 3/3 Storm
Cooldowns: 1/3 Wind
Arrow Count: 9

Now Sorano was determined to win this. As the orbs embedded in theNowhine's chest shot off lasers in all directions, Sorano would do her best to dodge them and avoid as much damage as she possibly could. Calming her mind with a gentle mental touch, she focused on what was causing the most harm right now: the lasers. With a quick glance at the orbs that produced these lasers, Sorano nodded once to herself, quickly, before beginning her plan. "Hoshi, activate your nature abilities, please. Our current targets are those laser-shooting orbs on its chest. We're trying to disable them, at the very least rendering it dysfunctional."

As Hoshi concentrated on calling up the powerful presence of Mother Nature, Sorano would carefully aim one of Kagayaku, sending it shooting up into one orb. There we go. One out of six orbs gone. She would use up all her knives for this task, then switch into her aural form. As in aural form, things could get a little tricky, she preferred to use physical weapons and whatnot before entering the mode. Now, the next two missed, resulting only in making small dents and scratching the surface of the train. The last one hit its mark, though, and the orb shattered. Only four orbs to go. She did like their chances now.

Powerful bursts of heat could suddenly be felt from Hoshi's end, her powerful wing beats sending flares of the element at the twins. Lasers were now directed at her as well, but the flames generated by the exceed's wings could mostly speed her right up and get her out of the way. Hoshi remained in the back, where her flames could push the machine back slightly with Mother Nature's very impressive abilities.

Meanwhile, Sorano began to morph as well. A bright aura surrounded her, one that was blank with the occasional undertone of color. It was a piercing white, one that penetrated into even the deepest of shadows. It slowly expanded, pulling itself slowly from Sorano's physical body and forming a figure of its own. Reaching over to catch Sorano as she fell, unconscious, Aura Sorano paused for a moment, getting used to the weird feeling of her current situation.

Word Count: 370

Quickly passing her own limp physical body to Hoshi, Aura Sorano looked up at the machine, face completely indifferent to things. This was what was dangerous for Sorano, as someone possessing no emotions. Her feelings were amplified in this form, making it easier to forget her 'society rules' an extra emotionless Sorano, in other words. Her anger had been amplified in this form in the past, her terrible grief and thirst for revenge. It had resulted in hundreds of people massacred, and her presence on the mountain that had once been her home a terrible oppressing feeling upon everyone else there. Even the wildlife there, they remembered. They remembered, and they feared, and they hated.

With an inward sigh, Sorano rushed forward, arms loosing powerful slashes of aural energy, tearing up the ground. They hit the machine soon, starting to dent the material with the pure, white aura that glowed around the girl. The machine began to fight back, the twins eagerly scrabbling at the controls, powered by their amulets. "The bad guy got a power-up!" Chen squealed, leaning forward in intense concentration. "Aw yeah, we're gonna beat it!" Chip chimed in, leaning forward as well. Neither wanted to be outdone, which made things a little harder for the aural mage. Though she didn't have to be quite so careful about fatal wounds in this form, she would still begin to lose energy and slowly break down. By the time she returned to her physical body, she knew she would be much too tired to do anything else.

Rushing forward, Aura Sorano would attack the robot furiously, white slashes of light crisscrossing the it while doing her best to avoid the boys. Focusing on the orbs in front, she would send precisely aimed bullet-like bursts of aura at each, soon having all the lasers disabled. Now, her greatest problem was gone. Going on to attack the machine without as much need to dodge and run, she could truly go all out. Punches, kicks, slashes, they all hit their mark as she could adjust the attacks slightly with her mind. In one especially powerful kick, a leg fell from the monolith, and a punch brought down an arm. Teetering on one leg, it fell, unresponsive to the twins' furious jiggling of controls. As it hit the ground, it became obvious the twins had passed out. The amulets burst apart in twin sparks of light, and suddenly, the mages were back to their normal size. A normal village nearby could be seen, with the sound of people rejoicing within.

After scooping up the twins, giving them to the village leader, and giving him a dive on helping the boys so this wouldn't happen again, the Fairy Tail mages collected their payment and went on their merry way back to the guild.

Word Count: 469