Shan't Be Intimidated By (a Haunting Tale)

Job:

I figure if we make approximately 10 posts each of 250 words it will be fairly even.  This job is by word count anyways, so just try to count off the person before you, feel free to make your posts longer if you want as well.

Superstitious folk enjoy claiming that various territories are haunted, but rarely is evidence able to be found of such... paranormal activities.  Leah could hardly dub herself an expert in discrediting the reports of such 'hauntings,' but she had seen many a sheet draped over an animated doll, so to speak.  Of course, there were admittedly true necromancers and occurrences of mystical magic, but that was unrelated to these supposedly true spirits that hung around as ghostly residents in certain regions.  The redhead had no problem taking the position of a staunch unbeliever of the supernatural.  And magical creatures didn't count!  This was Fiore, after all.

Fiery locks of hair were draped over her shoulders like a blanket of red spun silk, clinging to her bare skin in the humidity of the day.  Despite the fact that she had expected a place of renowned darkness to be cool and dry (just like one's mouth upon being frightened) the earth seemed moist, though not to the point of being swampy.  It was dark, however, as if the sun's rays bent away from shining on the Cursed Lands, not permitted to bring warmth to the area.  Not that it had been a particularly bright day anyways... and Leah did enjoy the shadows.  With a shrug to loosen up her joints, the mage paused to stretch her arms high over her head.  Having been trekking through the dreary landscape for a while now, perhaps twenty to thirty minutes, she was ready to be at the Haunted Guild already.  According to the battered scroll of paper that had been delivered mysteriously to the GP guild hall, there was some kind of party for dead people going on there: a curious affair it would be if the note spoke true.

But that seemed so far off.  For now, here she was, trudging through the not-quite-muddy, but still rather grime-inducing land of supposed ghosts.  And her new boots were getting hopelessly smudged with Lord knows what.

329 Words.  329/7500 Count.

Job Details and notes:

The abandoned guild, a place where Mashyuu and Itsu traveled and worked to unlock Mashyuu's Light Dragon Slayer magic. The same place he battled with an attractive Necromancer and learned he was still being hunted by a cult that wanted to raise a demon lord. Now Mashyuu and Itsu were being sent back to look into a group of seemingly random people being dragged into the Guild Hall and never coming back. Mashyuu pulled his white and orange boarded vest over his bare chest and ran his large hand through his shaggy brown hair while his left hand grabbed the hilt of the blade strapped to his side and held it in place so it wouldn't clank around while he walked. The God Slayers, glowing blue eyes narrowed and his sight focused on a woman up ahead of him with dark, fire like red hair. Was she wearing leather? Mashyuu grinned, leather was a nice touch and his dark vision let him see everything perfectly. Itsu, the woman in bone white armor with green hair and a rams skull atop her head glanced at Mashyuu then nudged him in the ribs. "Don't. Kenna would be hurt." She whispered to the Earth God. "Hey. Kenna was okay when I was married, she was the one who suggested that I date Kanix and her at the same time. I think she would be okay if I flirted a little. Besides, I think that is someone from another guild. If she isn't and we end up fighting then guess what, we can question her about the missing folks." Mashyuu reasoned with the beauty at his side. Itsu had often been Mashyuu's moral compass and today was no different. He knew that he shouldn't hit on the woman with red hair but it was in his nature to do so. He swallowed a lump and called out to the woman while letting a white light from his Light Slayer magic flare off his body, in case she couldn't see him. "Hey! What guild are you with?" Mashyuu ran up carefully to meet up with the woman and let the light on his body die down when Itsu arrived behind him. "Hi, I'm Mashyuu of Sabertooth. You are?"

WC: 377

“Couldn’t these people be spotted somewhere where there wasn’t any creepy abandoned guild hall?” Umbra complained, clinging to Aether’s head as he walked through the muddy terrain. “And couldn’t the creepy abandoned guild be somewhere else? Like an island in the middle of a lake? That would’ve been so much better!” She shouted to whatever sort of ghastly apparitions that might be swirling around the area, shifting herself from side to side upon her perch on Aether’s shoulder. “If you’re moving around like that I guess you have enough strength to walk beside me?” Aether teased, reaching up to grab under her arms and start to lift. “NO NO NO NO NO NO VERY TIRED CAN’T WALK.” She shouted, pushing down on the undead’s arms prompting a grin across his glamour’s face as he set her back down on his shoulder. “That’s not funny.” She pouted, holding onto his head once again as Aether chuckled to himself.

As they reached the abandoned site Aether spotted three people, one cloaked in a light that seemed to dim, giving him a good look at the people who had gathered. A redheaded woman, a woman with a horned skull resting on her head like a hat, and the figure of a man cloaked in light. Giving a light tap to Umbra’s leg he called her attention to the people in front of them. “Heeeeey!” She shouted, raising her arm away from Aether’s head to wave at the small group that had formed. “Are you guys investigating the missing persons? Or are you the missing persons?” calling out to them as Aether walked closer. “Though from one look you can really tell they’re not regular people.” Umbra mentioned, prompting Aether to tap her leg. “Sorry about her, she isn’t that socially adept.” Aether apologized, bowing slightly and almost causing the young redhead to fall from his shoulder. “I’m Aether Lepan and this socially inept person is Umbra.”

WC: 323

(OOC: Sorry for the long wait, work got really busy all of a sudden but I'll be able to make quicker replies soon!)

A clamorous shouting came from behind the redhead, and she instinctively slipped a small dagger into her hand.  The soft, leather-bound handle was comforting to her nerves, but they were hardly frayed.  Steadily assessing the situation, the mage cleanly vanished the weapon away and smiled diplomatically at the sturdily built young man who seemed so outwardly bright... literally.

"Enchanted, Mashyuu of Sabertooth.  My name is Lise, Lise Ansem.  From Lamia Scale."  With a wry smile, she extended a hand in polite greeting.  Underneath her jacket and out of sight of most people, the Golden Phoenix guild symbol shifted into a beautiful rose-hued lamia.  (It never actually changed, just was disappeared with good old fashioned makeup magic from Magnolia Town, with the lamia created on top.)

"Quite a beacon you are, Mashyuu.  I happen to be looking for someone not quite so... conspicuous: really, multiple someones.  Do you know anything about missing people from this area?"  She was sure he could probably be stealthy if he wanted to... well, maybe.  But conspicuous seemed to fit the stranger as of now.

And had she even made it to the old guild house yet?  Hopefully, or else the question could possibly be confusing to any locals who knew about the disappearances.  In all honesty however, there could have been people missing from any area around the location of the guild itself, as well, being the Haunted Lands and all.  Great, obscure questioning was her favorite, and so was putting in the effort to talk in uptown city gab.

Then another fellow arrived, this one rather unremarkable in appearance at least.  His presence was instinctively rather, well, unsettling- for no plain reason at all.  Somehow, LA just felt unsafe around the stranger, but her qualms were put to the side as introductions were made.  The two unfamiliar pairs both seemed to have a close relationship to each other, judging by their positioning and the light teasing that came from- Aether, was it?  "Nice to meet you, Aether, Umbra.  My name is Lise Ansem. And I apologize, but I forgot to ask what was your name?"  The latter part of her words was addressed to the viridian haired woman who stood close by the young man from Sabertooth.

The ReQuip mage was tempted to ask what they were all doing here, but decided against it and fell silent briefly until a thought occurred to her.  Pulling out a small, square plastic container divided into little boxes (each box filled with a different type of... something), she offered it to the newcomers as well as to Mashyuu and his companion.  "Oh yes, and would you like a snack?  There is a great variety."  If any of them accepted, she would simply let them scoop some out from whatever section they preferred.  Maybe she would swipe a few if they were her favorites.

481 Words.  1510/7500

"Well Lise, I'm just gonna call you hottie. I hope you are okay with that, because all that leather is really working for me." Mashyuu flirted, giving her a cheeky joke while being somewhat serious. The woman at his side slugged Mashyuu hard in the arm and he cleared his throat. "Hmm oh right, the brightness. Here let me get rid of that. I just didn't want you to think I was some dark creepy thing that was out to hurt you or something. That is never a good thing right?" The light that pulsed off Mashyuu in strong waves died down, leaving the group in the areas natural and some what dark light. "Sadly I don't know much about it. Just that the kidnappings don't have a set type of target. Everyone has basically been taken at random. But I do know the guild house where this is taking place fairly well. I was here to master my secondary magic a few months back. Dealt with a necromancer and some skeletons. Had a rough battle on the roof. But I've only grown stronger since then. Nothing I can't handle now. Still I always use some extra company, and it's dangerous to travel alone these days. Why don't you come with me?" Mashyuu offered while smiling wide at Lise.

Just then two others showed up and introduced themselves, Mashyuu couldn't help but smile. It seemed he always met the strangest people who would impact his life in the oddest of places. He reached a hand out to shake everyone's hand while he, like Lise made an introduction. "Hi, Mashyuu of Sabertooth and leader of The Olympians. Defensive and brawling expert." Mashyuu was sure to make eye contact with everyone to help remember their names. "Hi everyone, I'm Itsu, likewise a Sabertooth Wizard and Mashyuu's constant job partner. I use a combination of summon and phantom magic. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Oh and Lise, don't mind Mashyuu. He is a flirt but is harmless. Besides his girlfriend would rip his soul from his body if he did anything to truly go against what they have. He's just trying to see where the bounds are with everyone." Itsu assured Lise while she placed her hands on her curvy hips. "Okay, so we are teaming up to find these missing people and take out whoever is behind this? Come on, I'll take you to the abandoned guild and we can go over how we want to tackle this on the way there."

The group moved while talking through the eerie fields of the abandoned guild hall, or at least what was the front lawn of it until Mashyuu led everyone to the building itself. The five story building was surrounded by a large but busted chain link fence that had clearly seen better days, like the last time Mashyuu was here, the guild was falling apart but somehow managed to stay together. The red brick of the outside of the building was cracked and covered in what anyone would assume to be blood. Mashyuu could remember his fight with the female necromancer and how the had battled her on the roof, nearly destroying most of it. He wondered if it was still broken to pieces and if the first floor was still infested with skeletal soldiers. "Last time Itsu and I were here the first floor had nothing but undead soldiers on the first floor. Who wants to take point on this?"

WC: 589
Total: 966

Leah had always been one to try for subtlety, so she was more than a bit offended when Mr. Aether Lepan or whatever his face was, just upped and walked away. A slight crinkle arose between her eyes as the redhead stared in the direction the stranger had taken. On his shoulder, the young woman seemed to be a bit confused as well, although that could easily have been Leah's imagination. Perhaps the two would be met again later...? She was not so sure, and having a great hatred for the unsure, the emerald eyed mage turned back to Mashyuu and his partner Itsu. When the other female had introduced herself, she had also given an explanation of her magic, which seemed a unique mix but not altogether particularly interesting to Leah herself. Furthermore, she had gone on to say that her companion was not actually genuine in his flirting; this fact barely but certainly did piss the redhead off a bit. After all, it was almost like lying both to the flirtee and his girlfriend for the sake of 'seeing where those bounds were.' It nearly made the female dislike him straight off the bat when they were still pretty much strangers, even though she was pleased that she wouldn't actually have to deal with possibly offending someone who had to be worked with for a job's sake.

Mashyuu did seem to know the way to the missing guild, which was a relief. Wandering around the Haunted Lands had not been fun for the past few hours; a guide who knew his way around would be most helpful, especially since said guide was also a mage. In addition, he apparently understood the opponents they would face during time there and could plan it out with Leah on how to deal with all the enemies. So the three walked on for a short time before a decrepit building came into view. It was recognizable as a guild hall, the redhead supposed, but she might have missed it; once again, she was thankful for extra assistance in finding her way around. Glancing at Mashyuu, she opened her mouth to ask about those plans to take out any adversaries, but he beat her to it.

Listening closely to the description, Leah frowned slightly. Undead soldiers? It really depended how many there were, since she wasn't particularly skilled with large scale combat in an area. Focusing on a single enemy was more of her thing. Nonetheless, she supposed she might as well just dive into it, especially considering that there would be two other mages to back her up just in case (and these two were from Sabertooth, a notoriously brave guild, unless of course they were lying). "I'll go first," she said finally, stepping up towards the rusted metal fence that clearly had been broken before. She was glad for the leather gloves she wore, as the door and the walls around it seemed to be splattered with a dark coppery color that could possibly be blood. As Leah tentatively added more and more weight to the battered door, it swung open a few inches at a time. Finally, she stepped inside, only to be bombarded with a volley of spears that flew from what seemed to be every single visible surface.

The redhead swore in an uncharacteristic show of emotion and slammed the door shut. Listening for the thud of metal heads into the door, she expected to hear the peppering of hits and then have some trouble opening it again depending on how long the shafts were. But there was no flurry of sounds, and when Leah pushed against the oak once more she found it was just as easy to open as the first time. Resisting the urge to swear again at the whole eeriness of it all, the girl stalked over the threshold and into the dilapilated building. Cracked and furniture with chipped or nonexistent paint lay in various states of brokenness throughout the first room she came into, which seemed to be a main room of sorts. There was no sign of any undead activity in the abrupt way she had expected skeletal soldiers, and the girl was just about to continue on through the house, maybe to find a staircase or something, when a quiet creak brought her attention to a door leading out from the large room. It was in the opposite direction than the way she had been planning to go, so Leah only stared fiercely at the open doorway before backing away. A few seconds later, it occurred to her that backing into the darkness wasn't a very smart option in a haunted place, so she reluctantly turned around. Swiftly, she realized that there was set of creaks, like someone walking on the floorboards, that followed a bit behind her wherever she walked. Yet when she turned around to glance at the area, there was no source. Mashyuu or Itsu couldn't possibly be the cause, could they...?

"Mashyuu? Do you know where there's a staircase around here?" She decided against wandering around blindly in the creepy hall if she could avoid it.

859 Words. 2958/7500

As quickly as they came, the man and girl turned and left, as if they were simply a welcome wagon or something. Perhaps they were actually foes that would have to be dealt with later, or maybe they just wanted nothing to do with any sort of undead. That, Mashyuu could understand as Itsu had at one point been afraid of the undead and wanted nothing to do with them. Itsu shrugged and walked with Mashyuu and Leah to the falling apart guild hall. Once there Lise offered to go first and Mashyuu reached out for her but it was to late. "Hey wait you should know!" She pushed the door open and just as quickly shut it. "Most dark guilds are trapped and the front door isn't the best way to get in..." Mashyuu mused and sighed while she pushed the door open again. This time the three entered and looked around the common meeting room where most guild members would simply meet up and decide what evil things they might do from day to day. Mashyuu however remembered battling the zombies that flooded this room last time and smashing them with his golden light covered fists while Itsu was bitten but hid the wound. The sweet sound of Lise's voice snapped him out of his flashback and he looked at her almost confused for a moment. "Eh? Stairs? Well do you want to go up or down? By the way, falling off the roof is not recommended. Just saying. Now.... lets see." Mashyuu's nostrils flared wide as he thought for a long moment about where he was going. His right hand reached forward and swung out to point at a door that was behind Lise. "Basement, lots of Zombies, unless you feel like fighting I wouldn't go that way." Then he pointed up and sighed. "Second floor, mess hall, a place to eat. Then a hall that leads to dorms. Third floor, a not so fun place that has a large room filled with a massive summoning circle. But wait there is more. A small little emergency room. Has some medicine in it and I think it might have some dead bodies. I didn't really look around to much last time. Then I skipped a few floors because I blew a hole through three of them and went straight to the roof to fight that she devil Necromancer who pushed me off the roof and nearly killed me. But I managed to use a very special skill, make it up to her and clean her clock with the help of Itsu here. And the stairs to get there..... are..." While Mashyuu rambled on Itsu took Lise by the hand and led her right where the sounds were coming from and kicked the door off the hinges to reveal a set of steps that had a zombie's upper half on them, clawing at the door until it was knocked off and the zombie was crushed by it. "Sometimes just going for it is the best thing to do." Itsu assured Lise. "Still new to the magic thing for the most part aren't you? If you ever decide you need help, come find me. I'm happy to do what I can." Itsu smiled at Lise and headed up the steps.

"Hey! Don't ask for my help then walk off without me!" Mashyuu shouted while flailing his arms around and racing off after the women. When he passed the door way he turned and looked at the ground under them. Below the wood was thick stone and Mashyuu lifted his hand up hard, filling the doorway with the natural rock to block the path so they couldn't simply be followed. Itsu, dagger in hand pushed the door to the mess hall open and rolled into the room. She came up ten feet away from the door and dug her dagger into the back of a zombies head and pulled it out, slowly lowering the zombie down to keep the other nine from noticing the group. As she lowered herself down, Lise and Mashyuu would surely be behind her. Mashyuu paused for a moment and broke off to the left of Itsu, drawing his blade, Excalibur. He nodded at Leah then drew a deep breath. Without warning he jumped up on a long table and ran down the wooden structure, waving his glowing sword around and shouting to draw the attention of the zombies, making them easy targets for the ladies to deal with however they saw fit. Itsu flung her dagger, tied to the metal cord forward, stabbing the blade into the neck of a zombie who was turning then yanked hard, removing the head from the monster in two fluid motions. As one zombie drew close to Mashyuu he slashed through the air, the holy light sword he held sliced through the zombies skull like a hot knife through butter, taking what was left of its brain with the stroke of the sword.

WC: 841
Total: 1807

It truly was nice having someone along who knew the layout of the place.  Making a note that falling off the roof was a bad idea here (since when was it a good thing anywhere in the first place?) the redhead waited for the Sabertooth mage to continue talking. And oh boy, so he did.  First remarking that there were zombies down the stairs and that second floor seemed like it would be altogether not very helpful (well, he didn't say it in such words, but a mess hall?  Really?), he also went over the odd summoning circle and the fact that he had absolutely no clue really what were on the others.  So much for the guide.  On the other hand, however, there was that little medicine room with corpses, which could come in hand if she wanted to stock up on supplies.  Who knew whether they were still good and of those if any where actually proper and not poisoned or gone bad or such.  Leah decided that it would probably just be fine to stay clear of that area altogether, since it wasn't positively going to be useful.  Then the group was moving, and the redhead felt as though she had no choice to follow the two who seemed to know each other and the layout of this guild so well.  As they were continuing along, Mashyuu kept talking while Itsu herself struck up a short conversation with Leah.  The redhead felt as though the question had been rhetorical, almost as though she knew the mage wasn't really experienced in these kinds of encounters as well as doing missions.  On account of this, the girl kept silent and simply smiled slightly at the encouragement and reassuring words that there would be help if she did require it.

Leah was honestly just especially glad that Mashyuu had explained about how going to the basement was not exactly the best plan if fighting wasn't exactly one's goal.  But then...

How the hell did we end up in the basement? she asked herself darkly with no small amount of confusion involved.  The group was currently obviously surrounded by zombies.  Fighting simply for the sake of fighting, which was the advertisement for a desire to head down to the basement, honestly wasn't her forte, and the redhead inched towards the staircase.  She didn't remember that the way down was blocked with stone until she felt it behind her back.  When had that even happened?  Could she just head up; was it wrong to leave Mashyuu and Itsu down here?  They seemed so delighted to be slicing up zombies though!  If one could call shouting having fun.  Speaking of that guy's shouting, it seemed to be a magnet for attention, since a large majority of the undead that she could see were shambling towards the male mage.  Now she felt responsible for helping him out, a fact that Leah cursed colorfully to herself about.

She carefully sidestepped a zombie that was slowly lumbering towards her before she realized that it had been in fact aiming for Mashyuu and completely ignored the redhead standing right next to it.  Well, that was something to take advantage of.  Blinking to shutter the surprise that had shown clearly in her expression, (although nobody was really looking to be honest and it was pointless) the mage shrugged mentally and requipped a pair of Imperial Daggers.  As she slashed placidly through undead flesh, Leah wondered briefly if this was what adventurous people did in their spare time.  She doubted it, as the fighting quickly became very dreary and monotonous.  The distraction that Mashyuu had caused only lasted for so much time, but by then, the emerald eyed girl had gotten into the swing of things (and so had her knives).  Severing their heads did the trick, but only for so long; on account of this, she had fallen into the habit of cutting the half-rotted bodies into as many individual pieces as she could create without spending needless time on it.  That was a hard estimate to make, but Leah supposed it had to be done.  Otherwise, she would have headless corpses lurching around the place and grasping for some mage to rip apart or eat.  Or some mixture of the two.  Shaking herself back to the present, the girl found that there were no zombies in the immediate vicinity of the mage.  A few still lingered over near where Itsu was, but she doubted they would be able to move soon.

Oh, Leah was just realizing, as she paused to look at her surroundings since there didn't seem to be a need to focus solely on fighting any longer.  They hadn't gone down into the basement; there just were zombies everywhere, and the group had actually attempted to go up the stairs.  In fact, they were in the mess hall, located on the supposedly boring (well, that was true) and peaceful (certainly not) second level.  Boy, did she feel like a complete ditz now.  Since when had her sense of direction been this bad?  "Are you done?" she called to Itsu without glancing at the woman.  Mashyuu might hear and reply as well, which would be a bonus, but she could see that the young man was doing just fine.  She hadn't expected a horde of zombies to be able to take him out anyways, especially with that sword of his; Leah knew good craftsmanship when she saw it.

912 Words.  4711/7500

You switched from useage of Lise to Leah at some point and I'm not sure if that was intentional.

Mashyuu's blade cleaved through the air as he whipped his blade around. cutting through the face of a zombie and the throat of another. By the time Mashyuu had cut down his foes he noticed the red haired woman had used magic to produce a pair of daggers. Was it really magic or perhaps an item she had that allowed her to conjure up the dual weapons. It didn't matter in a quick series of strikes she had leveled the playing field, leaving only a few zombies left on Itsu's end. The woman jammed her blade up into the mouth and skull of a zombie, kicked it hard in the chest and knocked it out the window along with the one behind it, clearing the mess hall of all the zombies in the room. The Earth Slayer's ears tweaked and twitched, the sound of a giggling girl behind him caught the man's attention. He twisted around but saw nothing. His glowing blue eyes narrowed in annoyance while the man looked back to the group. Mashyuu lashed his blade around, spraying blood off this weapon to splatter on the ground below him before he carefully slid the glowing sword into the scabbard, the light fading as the weapon locked into place. Mashyuu dropped to a knee and looked over the ladies to make sure that nobody was hurt. "Yup, I'm done here!" Itsu shouted out to the others. Without saying a word she slipped her weapon into a small scabbard on the small of her back and joined the make shift team. She placed her hands on her hips while she smiled at the group. "So, do we need a break or can we keep going? Anyone hurt? No. Well, Lise... I would really like to know for sure what your magical powers are. It will help us work together better if we knew what we all were bringing to the table." Mashyuu started to explain.

He hopped off the table and twisted to start walking towards the stair well that moved up in a circle to the next floor. The Slayer was still worried about moving up when he kept hearing a small girl laughing behind him. half way up the broken and creaky steps he stopped and looked behind the group then glanced down to the ladies behind him. "Am I the only one who hears that little kid laughing?" Mashyuu asked. Itsu glanced behind her and shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry Mash, I don't hear anything. Maybe there is a girl playing outside... that is dangerous though." Itsu mused. Mashyuu nodded his head and shrugged. "Must be my enhanced hearing then. I'll just have to keep an ear out for any danger." Mashyuu continued up the steps and stopped at the door that was up. "I knocked the off the hinges last time I was here. Someone else must have come around and actually started using this thing again. Is everyone ready for a possible fight?" Mashyuu asked while looking over his shoulder at the ladies and letting sand start to pour out of his body like a spring flowing with water. He waited for a moment then shoved the door open, rolling into the dark room that once held a large summoning circle and expected a fight to break out but was shocked to not have to deal with anything in the dusty, empty area, at least not yet.

WC: 577
Total: 2384

The room seemed to be clear of any of the living dead (with the exception of Leah herself, but the girl hardly could count herself as a zombie) so with Itsu's confirmation, the group moved out of the room.  Oddly enough, there seemed to be something troubling the Sabertooth mage; he glanced behind himself once as the party exited the room and then another time as they scaled the rickety staircase.  Finally he mentioned something about a small girl... laughing?  That was odd, but the redhead had thought she heard footsteps earlier when there was certainly no person directly behind her.  It had turned out to be the zombies, but they had been on the second floor, while the occurrences had taken place on the ground level.  Something was just plain off about this house, and the mage did not like it at all.  Still she refused to believe in haunted things, but that didn't mean there wasn't strong magic and meddling happening here.  As Itsu replied in the negative, Leah said the same in fewer words, opting for just "No, I heard nothing of the sort," in case just a lone 'no' would be missed.  That ended up apparently being unlikely, for in his next breath the young man mentioned his enhanced hearing, which brought the topic back to the earlier question he had posed.

"I'm a ReQuip mage, using mostly small knives and daggers," she said without the slightest bit of hesitation.  "And you two?  You mentioned enhanced hearing," she elaborated.  It was an odd thing to ask for someone's magic without volunteering the details of the nature of one's own, but she supposed it was fine in the end.  They were allies for this mission, and Leah had no true objections other than just a general dislike for giving away any unnecessary information.  Of course, this seemed to be a must.  As she thought over her uncertainties, Mashyuu seemed to be observing differences in the guild hall between its current state and that which he had left it in after whatever previous visit he had taken here.  This she didn't mind, because information saved lives; nonetheless, it made her uneasy to think that there were people living in a place like this.  Was that where the footsteps had come from?  But she had seen nothing following her.

Either way, the young man had apparently not had any misgivings about venturing into the room (or at least, he chose not to show any), so as Itsu was also following him, Leah went ahead and did the same.  Once he had glanced back and presumably made sure that everyone was ready for... whatever lay ahead, some kind of pale dirt flowed out of his body.  Then the redhead realized what it was and almost snorted at her stupidity.  Sand.  So rock on the other doorway, and sand now, with light at the very beginning... what did that make?  A holy earth magic user?  Earth Demon Slayer could be a long shot, but something told her it would make sense.  Focusing her thoughts back on the mission and the current situation as the possible-Slayer's movements stilled, the girl bent down and scooped up some of the sand on a whim.  With barely a wrinkle of her nose in distaste, she swallowed a mouthful and brushed the rest off against the outside of her thigh.  She had been hoping that he would eat a snack, but no matter; this worked out for her abilities' purposes just fine in the end.

Then suddenly, the brown haired mage was barging into the room, but Leah took just a moment to glance behind her through the window at the top of the landing.  She was wary of whatever lay inside the dark place and just wanted to-

Leah's forehead suddenly crinkled in consternation as she heard the soft tinkle of something like, well she didn't really know, but perhaps the clink of a spoon against a china plate?  The girl held her breath to better hear the sound, and she heard the thin jarring noise of a spiderweb of cracks, spreading out quickly and almost reaching the edges, but where were they?

Right in front of her, the window exploded, shatters of glass splashing across the floorboards and creating nicks in the leather as the emerald eyed girl whirled around and covered the back of her neck.  All her reservations about the shadowy room were well and truly gone as the mage sprinted inside.  Immediately, the dank smell of mold and heavy air hit her nose, and the redhead almost gagged at the sheer disgustingness of the feeling it left on her skin everywhere.  Leah immediately turned to the side and tried to back against a wall; it wasn't necessarily the most clever idea considering how disadvantageous it was in fighting to be boxed in, but the hard wood against her shoulder blades made her feel safe.  At the same time, the shadows were even darker somehow at the edges of the room, so she could probably slink into them and disappear with the help of magic if push came to shove.

Of course, lurking around just couldn't be done forever.  What exactly was this room, anyways?  Mashyuu had mentioned something like a summoning circle, and his description had been so foreboding.  To her, however, the inky blackness of it all was kind of comforting.  Maybe his previous experience had just-

The floor of the room lit up with a complicated arrangement of triangles, pentagons, and smaller circles overlapping in various places with an enormous circle whose diameter almost equaled the width of the room.  Fiery in hue, the hellish light lit up the room to the extent that although it was dim, every corner appeared to be illuminated at least a little bit.  That was just great.  Out went any thought of escape- oh, but she did have Mashyuu and Itsu.  They had to have a plan for whatever monstrosity emerged from this gigantic circle, right?  Leah was about to turn to her companions when she noticed a shiny, pale sort of thing beginning to peep out of the ground.  In all honesty, it rather resembled a boiled and peeled ostrich egg (multiplied in size a few times as well), but any similarities soon vanished as the strange thing continued to rise up and a tire popped out of the floor at right angles to the mysterious summon.  As more and more emerged, Leah realized that the speed at which it did so also increased as more of the thing came out, almost as though it became sentient and was clambering out of the pits of hell to greet them at the door.  Soon, she was staring at the back of a men's tuxedo that seemed to be quite the worse for wear, with multiple streaks of rusty "please let it not be blood" and a few rips here and there.  The striped dress slacks would have been funny, except for right after they became fully emerged, the gargantuan man slowly rotated around with heavy steps, the sound of which rumbled through the floor (no thanks to his battered loafers).  It was some kind of manservant, like that of an old family who still lived in a mansion and kept a staff of fifty maids.  But it wasn't really a manservant; more like a manslaughterer, whose intentions Leah found to be quite clear as the- creature finished turning around and met eye to eye with the redhead.  Suddenly, the blood splattered mace in his hands was all she could see.

Don't move a muscle, she thought to herself, and maybe there will be enough shadow for you to hide in.  He can't really see you.  He'll go away soon.  It's just a coincide-  Then he was stepping towards her and the girl threw all her hopes out the window (they were shattered, just like the window).

1323 Words.  6611/7500.

Sorry if this post gets long to read, I was having a lot of fun in the latter parts.  TLDR; Leah's a ReQuip mage, asks what you are but kind of figures it halfway out, a window randomly breaks, she goes in the room, the butler dude appears, she's panicking.

"Requip eh? That's cool. Haven't met many of those Wizards in the past. Honestly. As for me, I am a dual Slayer. Earth God and Light Dragon. Then I have my sword here, Excalibur. Oh and this bow." Mashyuu lifted his left hand to show a small cross attached to a chain hanging off his wrist that pulsed with a faint magical glow, ready to be used whenever it was needed. "I use summoning and... I create things mostly. Either buffing myself or creating things to help me in a fight. But don't worry about me. It's good to have you on our side Lise." Itsu chimed in while she continued the climb up the steps...

Mashyuu raised a brow and stood up straight, his head aimed down while he looked at the summoning circle below him. His dark vision allowed him to see in the near pitch black room without any effort. He was about to talk when his ears twitched yet again. Mashyuu dropped low as the glass shattered and Itsu jumped down the stairs, avoiding the window shattering in the process. The sand that was leaking out of Mashyuu's body started to swirl around him and ready itself for the use of a spell but with no actual earth under Mashyuu to manipulate, a large majority of his earth magic was already off the table. Sure he still had his defensive spells and a few offensive spells but his combo spells weren't on the table aside from his third one, his explosive field was gone and so was his molten blast. Still it didn't bother Mashyuu, he had some spells left, and his weapons. Plus if all else failed and he was injured a great deal, the Goddess inside his body, keeping the once dead husk of a man alive would take over and do what was needed to keep him alive.

Under the Slayer, the runes of the summoning circle started to light up and Mashyuu wasted no time in eating the light, restoring what magic he had used earlier to keep his magical reserves at a full point. There was no point in trying to evade the light as most of the room was one giant summoning point. Instead Mashyuu waited and watched as a massive man, in a bloody and dirty suit came up from the ground and turned to face Lise, silent in his motions he lifted a bloody mace and attacked the woman who was trying to use the shadows as cover. As the mace lifted up Mashyuu dropped to a knee and decided to use the earth he created to save Lise instead of helping himself. Once called Sabertooth's Paragon of Defense, Mashyuu was about to show why. The sand slipped along the ground and stopped in front of the woman and started to rumble while the mace came down, everything happened in just a split second but to Mashyuu and surely Lise it felt like an eternity. "Earth Gods Basilisk Wall!" He shouted. The sand hardened into stone and spread out and up, breaking through the roof above and into the next floor. The stone wall knocked the mace up, and away from Lise, putting a massive barrier between Lise and the massive man with the mace.

The butler took a step back and turned his gaze to Mashyuu, his face twisted into a sick, terrible grin. "Ah, Mashyuu, Itsu. The cult welcomes the two of you back. It seems you have brought a guest to my lovely home. Alas, the last time you were here I was out and unable to take care of you the way any butler should. I was actually gathering the guests that are on the roof, waiting for dinner. Would you care to join them? Or would you rather I take the goddess out of you, and put it in this small woman before me? I don't know if her body can handle something like that, but.... it would be a good test to see what a God's spirit would do to a mortal never meant to be a vessel." The man stated then glanced over his shoulder as Itsu appeared in the door way with her dagger drawn. "We are about to fight right? That is what's happening?" Itsu asked. Mashyuu nodded and glanced at Lise with a grin on his face, assuring the red head that while they might not have a real plan, the Sabertooth Wizards had been in plenty of fights to know how to handle themselves. "Okay, Hewey, Dewy, Luey, rise from your graves, defend us with your lives!" Itsu's dagger lit up with a faint red light and in front of her three skeletal swordsmen materialized, swinging great swords over their shoulders while pointing at the Ghost like Butler. "Itsu, The roof, the hostages are on the roof!" Mashyuu shouted. Without saying a word Itsu understood and started to run to the left with her skeletons, going to make sure the hostages were rescued while leaving Mashyuu and Lise to deal with whatever the hell this thing was. "Okay buddy! Lets see what you're made of! Mashyuu screamed with rage as a golden light flared up around his body and pulsed in waves, changing his brown hair to a golden and wrapping his limbs in burning holy light that would heal his allies and harm any undead it touched. Deciding to make a quick attack Mashyuu called out. "Light Dragon's Domain: Transition!" As he shouted, a massive field of faint blue light filled the room and Mashyuu changed positions with the wall he created, allowing Lise to move however she needed while Mashyuu was now standing directly under the Butlers jaw. The Slayer's knees bent while he summoned up all his strength for one direct blow. "Rising Dragon Strike!" He shouted while jumping up with a twist. His balled up fist slammed into the jaw of the taller man, burning the Butlers chin from the holy light. While the attack wasn't actually a spell or anything like that, it was a strike he had learned from a series of accomplished Martial Artists and he had kept the strike in his arsenal ever since.

WC: 1045
Total: 3429

Well, look at that.  She wasn't dead after all.

The girl hadn't closed her eyes to brace for the impact; instead she had throw herself to the side in the hopes that the bloody butler would not have fast enough reflexes to react to her change of position.  However, it all seemed to have been unnecessary, since a wall of sand and soon to be stone sprouted out of the floor and pierced the ceiling, creating a barrier that the enormous man's weapon only glanced off of.  That was nice.  Furthermore, she noticed that the light Mashyuu had swallowed had caused the atmosphere of the room to dim enough that at the edges, there actually were shadows.  It was a silly thing to be going on about, but if she could reach those... but probably only after the wall was dropped would such an idea work.  Leah had the ability to literally melt into the shadows and disappear to the unenhanced eye for a short period of time, which was perfect for sneak attacks.  Since the manservant would probably target Mashyuu now that she was apparently unreachable for the time being, it would be a good opportunity to formulate some way to be helpful without getting herself stupidly killed.  From outside the confines of her barrier, the redhead heard Itsu questioning what was going on and then yelling out words that were unfamiliar to the girl.  Presumably, they were either the names of the summons she had mentioned earlier or they were simply the spell's casting.  Either way, the wording boded for more necromancy involved, which the mage felt slightly uncomfortable with (but she had been around so many zombies today that who the hell really cared anymore) but could manage just fine.

Mashyuu yelled to his companion something about the roof and the hostages; that had been their goal, to rescue the innocents who had been kidnapped by an unknown enemy and held here in the Haunted Guild.  It was a smart idea to tell her to move on, especially considering that while she was loath to fight any battle that wasn't necessary, Leah was confident that they could win against this overgrown butler.  Especially because she was going to be invisible and who doesn't feel like they can accomplish anything when their enemies can't see them?  Crouching back into the shadows against the wall, which were even deeper because of the tall slab of stone that the Sabertooth mage had created, the emerald eyed girl quieted her breathing and focused her magic, gently fading out of sight.  Knowing that eventually the barrier would crumble, she waited and was not disappointed.  A bit sooner than expected, it just downright vanished- no, it had moved to the other side of the room, and now Mashyuu was standing in front of her.

He seemed to be using some kind of light based attack, which did not bode well for the shadowy kind of magic she was relying on right now, but everything would nonetheless be fine.  And that enhanced punch had seemed to hurt, Leah reflected with a slight wince as she watched the brightness actually seem to sear the pale man's skin.  Immediately moving along the wall, trusting in the fact that she wasn't visible to anyone at the moment, the girl made it halfway around the perimeter and was now experiencing a sense of deja vu as she stared at the butler's back.  Through one of the many tears in his waistcoat, she could see a white dress shirt that was just as raggedy as the jacket.  Her expression dry at the amount of mess it would probably cause if the creature was as human on the inside as it appeared to be outwardly, the red haired mage requipped her Mercenary's Daggers and flipped them experimentally, one in each hand.  The weight was perfect.

In one smooth horizontal movement, the girl lunged out from the shadows and sliced cleanly through the man's torso, one blade entering and exiting the body from either side of him.  It was really her luck that the butler had raised his arms, one to reach for his chin and the other to raise his mace once again; it had created the perfect target for what she wanted.  "Hard Luck," Leah muttered, naming the blades' ability to cut through just about everything.  Turning away after she saw that the butler had been successfully eliminated (but not waiting to check whether guts did spill all over the floor) the mage smiled dryly at Mashyuu in return for his reassuring grin from earlier.  That wall had been perfect, and now they ought to help Itsu.  Surely, the woman was strong and more experienced than the girl herself, but the mastermind behind all of this mess- they didn't know exactly who he was yet or what he was capable of.  With that in mind, Leah squeezed behind the stone barrier that now stood near the doorway where the brown haired young man had originally casted it from.  Her goal was the rooftop, and she took the stairs two at a time.

853 Words.  8509/7500.

The rising fist staggered the butler, forcing him to clench his jaw in pain while lifting his mace to bring down on Mashyuu but before he ever got the chance Lise made her move, sweeping in from behind the man and driving two daggers into his sides and as far as Mashyuu could tell the strikes had killed the man or killed the man again, or something. Mashyuu wasn't really sure but he did huff, finding that he had entered his golden state for what was basically no reason. "They always talk a big game but never follow through with it. How upsetting." Mashyuu mused to himself and started to follow Lise. Without a word he grabbed her by the waist and then reached for the wall he made. "Stairs are to slow, come on!" He conjured a hand hold on his wall and it moved up as he grabbed it, propelling the duo to the next floor where a massive hole led to the roof. Mashyuu could hear Itsu and her skeletons battling what sounded like a massive brute. "Lise, I'll help Itsu with the brute and whatever else is up there. Can you handle the Necromancer up there? Stay on your feet and keep moving. They tend to have strong death magic but can't take many hits nine times out of ten. Now, lets go!" Mashyuu asked and explained.

Again a light blue field appeared around Mashyuu and he whispered. "Transition." Instantly Mashyuu and Lise had appeared on the roof, two tiles had taken the place of the two that were a few floors below the roof now. At the edge of the roof, under the stars, the necromancer had his back turned to the wizards, floating in the air and looking up at ten hostages who looked like they were going to be drained of blood. However there was a massive zombie brute stomping around the roof, nearly beating Itsu and her last remaining skeleton to death. Itsu was covered in blood, panting heavily and barely keeping her legs under her. The zombie, nearly eight foot in height, had a few cuts but clearly had been getting the better of Itsu. "Hey, tag out! I got it from here!" Mashyuu shouted to Itsu and instantly traded spots with her. The Zombie Brute was already reaching its arm up to slam into Itsu and smashed Mashyuu hard instead, causing dust to fly up into the air, but Mashyuu remained unmoving, a large fist atop his head but he seemed almost unaffected from the blow the monster landed. In truth the strike hurt like hell but he needed to show Lise that there was nothing to worry about.

Slowly Mashyuu lifted his hand, light condensed in his palm as he spoke. "Light Dragon's Holy Shower." The man let a blast of holy rays of light flow from his palm, smashing into the body of the zombie, driving it backwards as it howled in pain, its grey, leather like skin searing from the pain that Mashyuu inflicted upon the monster. In a blind rage, the monster roared, shaking the entire building to its very core. "Okay, well it looks like we aren't gonna be taking any chances with this guy. Earth Gods Intercepting Sand!" Mashyuu called out, letting sand explode out of his body and swarm around him. With that he drew his blade, letting the silver steel flare with sparking light, signaling that there was a harmful intent the user had.

The two started to circle one another then in a burst of speed, the Zombie rushed forward, its large arms moving to drag it along the floor of the roof faster than Mashyuu expected. It slammed its head into Mashyuu's chest, driving the air from his lungs but never knocked the Slayer back or even budged him. Instead the man simply lifted his sword high. "Kings Cleave!" He called out while swinging the blade. It exploded with power and cut a massive wedge in the monsters left shoulder, severing its arm from its body from sheer force of Mashyuu's swing. It was then that the monster realized why it hadn't harmed Mashyuu, his sand had moved to block the attack, just barely stopping the majority of the monsters momentum.

The monster pulled itself back and extended long claws that looked like they could deal some real damage. Mashyuu's glowing blue eyes went wide and he took up a defensive stance with is blade in his hand. As the monster unleashed a flurry of strikes Itsu called out from Mashyuu's side. "Phantom Speed!" She teleported to the monster's side, slammed her fist into its knee, and broke the bone. The strike knocked the Zombie down and Itsu vanished again, then appeared on the back of one of the hostages, only to teleport away with them to get the hostage to safety. She continued this while Mashyuu and Lise battled respectively.

It didn't take long for the zombie to pull itself up and slash at Mashyuu again in a flurry of strikes that the Earth God was just barely able to parry. Before Itsu could get the last hostage Mashyuu shouted to her. "Itsu, leave him!" He called out, a plan already going on through his mind. Zombies didn't die when they were hurt but crushing every bone and muscle in it would surely do the job. The Earth Wizard lifted his leg and kicked hard against the Zombie's chest. "Back off! Dragon God's Meteor Swarm!" he stated. Mashyuu formed a massive stone in his hand and wrapped it in holy light before he sent it smashing into the Zombies head. The force of the blow melted the skull of the Zombie and sent it stumbling back. "Light Dragon's Domain: Transition!" The Zombie and the hostage traded positions, with the last remaining Hostage safe in Mashyuu's arms as he rushed to catch the person who had been moved to the zombies last location. A moment later the zombie fell to the ground and splattered...

WC: 1016
Total: 4445

Well, she had been planning to take the stairs. Really, were they so bad? Maybe if the girl took them three at a time, then they would arrive to save Itsu just fine; how about tha-

"Hn??" Leah let out a yelp as the Slayer hooked an arm suddenly around her waist, yanking her with him as he latched onto the stone slab that had been created earlier. "Godamnit, ye li'l punk, I'm gon' na- damnit.". She absolutely loathed being forcibly moved around, but on the other hand, it did indeed sound as if Itsu was in trouble. Judging by the sounds themselves she was able to hear once they were only a floor away, the summoner wasn't fighting the wizard or necromancer or whoever was behind this; there were huge thuds from smashing and battering strikes and unearthly groans. Mashyuu finally dropped her on the roof before yelling something to Itsu and disappearing. Leah found him right in front of the zombie, pulling a stunt similar to the one he had in the circle room except there had already been a strike sent flying at the location he moved to.

Holding back a slight wince, the girl smiled as encouragingly as possible at the brunette and green haired female before scanning the area for the mastermind behind this all. If he wasn't anywhere she could see that meant he was- behind her. Leaping up into the air, the girl immediately summoned her Stormbird-Feathered Cloak to wave from her shoulders, fastened securely around her neck. Now armed with the power of flight, Leah zoomed a ways away from the roof top to avoid the gigantic burst of dark magic that had been sent to her previous location. She sometimes hated fighting these long range types, but it meant if she got close enough they'd be even weaker that way. With a thoughtful countenance, the redhead stared as the necromancer, who was now motioning for her to come down. Although her instincts screamed that of course it was a trick, why on earth else would he want her to eliminate the brief advantage she had bought herself, the mage soared a little bit lower. She was within hearing distance, should he want to say anything.

And say anything, he certainly did. "Listen to me. You know nothing about this.
These people don't deserve to live! My wife died trying to save a friend of hers, and nobody remembers her except me. I loved her more than anything! I have to bring her back no matter what, I can't live without her! You don't understand!"

Leah's expression grew grave as the man prattled on and on about resurrecting his wife. "I know a way to resurrect the dead with nothing lost from mind," the girl shouted at the delusional mage, but all attempts to make her language nice and properly understandable faded away with her next furious yell. "An' Mashyuu or Itsu migh' too! Ye've no righ' to take these mizerable peoples an' like as turn em' into zombies. If ye was left alone ye'd turn yer wife into one of em brainless beasts lumberin' aroun' an' only wantin' to kill folk!" Admittedly, Hero had died after resurrecting her, and that kind of thing never came without a steep price. Moreover though, the price was definitely not the lives of however many poor souls had been turned into zombies and were stashed either in the basement or previously the mess hall. Only dark magic was that demanding, she thought.

"I don't care," the man said coldly as he raised up his hands to direct them towards Leah. "I don't care what she is. I just need her- I need to be held in her arms just one more time, and then she can kill me for all I care. Or I'll send her back to the spirit world and kill myself," he finished with a furious expression as he sent a small, low-powered blast of dark energy at Leah.

With a bit of dubiousness, the girl muttered, "Hurricane Surge," and immediately what seemed to be a miniature sea storm surrounded her and sucked the attack right in. Flying back to the roof and taking the storm with her, the girl dropped right in front of the dark wizard and requipped two Imperial Daggers. He seemed surprised by her close appearance and even took a step back. "Yer a nutter," she finally realized, gesturing rudely towards the necromancer. It was out of character for her to be rude to anyone, but the emerald eyed mage didn't take kindly to people trying to turn her into a zombie. As she stared darkly at the man, however, his expression unclouded just a bit.

"I'll kill you," he said, dashing forwards and producing a small dagger that had been hidden in the confines of his billowy navy cloak, "And use your life force to bring her back! Ha, why didn't I think of it already? I'll hunt you forever, little mage!"

That didn't help the girl's mood one bit, and she snarled with scorn as the man ran at her as fast as he could. Clearly the idiot wasn't used to melee combat, for he swung haphazardly at her in a horizontal cut with the dagger before he was even in reach. Not even bothering to dodge, the girl calmly requipped twenty of her small throwing knives in a circle around her, immediately levitating them into the air with her magic. "Sinister Steel," she mumbled as the weapons began to spin slowly, then faster, then even more quickly still. The end result was a circle of flying daggers that cut into the man as Leah dashed forward with two Imperial Daggers clutched in either hand just in case. But there was no need. He was well, and truly dead by the time she was in range to dice him up if that weren't already the case.

All of her knives disappeared as the girl stared down at the not-very nice looking corpse of the necromancer. Leaning forward on impulse, she rifled through the robes that enveloped much of the body and found his left hand, which had a silver wedding band on it. Immediately after, she checked his pockets to find that there was a similar ring in a black velvet pouch, the fabric now soaked with the dark mage's blood. The redhead, after fishing the two items out, glanced over at Mashyuu and Itsu. They seemed to have finished, so she flicked one of the rings towards the brown haired mage and flew off the roof with a satisfied expression. Yay for more money! And she had this piece of jewelry, too, which might as well give her- ugh, what was that smell? Leah glanced around furtively before realizing that she had landed off the roof just two meters away from where the splatters from the zombie were able to reach. Immediately turning to fly father away and as much as she could to get home, the redhead shouted to the Sabertooth pair as she left, just in case they could hear. "Thanks for everything," was all she said.

1194 Words. 10719/7500. Job ended.