Jozuma was making his his way through the Cursed Lands. The night was very dark the only light source coming from the moon through the warped dead trees and you could only see so far in front of you. The thick stench of the dead filled the air and ominous sounds could be heard from the distance from varying directions. The floor was muddy but still made crackling sounds at every footstep. This place definitely creeped Jozuma out but he had to press on towards the old abandoned guild hall that lied deep in this forest. There had been reports of people going missing around that guild hall and that is was possible that dark magics were at play so Jozuma was told to meet up with a member of an allied guild to investigate. There were also rumors that this place was haunted and the disappearances were the work of evil spirits which made Jozuma all the more nervous. Calcifer spoke up in Jozuma's head with his own concerns. "Man this place is creepy." "I know, hopefully we find this place soon so we can get out of here." After some time of walking through this marshy forest the guild hall finally came into from from the pitch blackness. "Hey, I think that's it." Jozuma walked towards the abandoned old guild hall, it looked in extreme disrepair with rotting wood and moss-covered rocks. As Jozuma approached the building he heard light footsteps in the distance and he turned to see a figure in the darkness. Jozuma kept his guard as it got closer. ------------------------------------------ 264 words
Truly, this place would never cease to amaze the young Eden witch. Or perhaps she should stop thinking of herself as young, seeing how the truth about her lineage come into light a while ago. Thoughts like that were what accompanied Leila when she entered the so-called Spooky forest once again in search of the evil doers that were plaguing the innocent and fragile. Honestly, she has been to this place so many times now that it started to lose a lot if it's creepiness in her gaze. Yes, it's visage was not the greatest, but it wasn't far from the corrupted segment of her own dimension. And all the sounds that echoed throughout this place could be easily explained and associated with either animals, bandits or wraiths that were wandering about. This time she was here because the old haunted gild became haunted once more, something taking residence inside. Whatever it was, it had to go. In fact, the request was so urgent that she had to be going there in the middle of a night. With each breath, a small transparent cloud of steam would escape the silver haired girl's mouth.
She wanted to be done with this as soon as possible. Doing these contracts was usually quite boring, especially when she was alone like this, no one to have fun with. Though that was about to change, as she spotted a figure walking by in the distance. A mischievous smile suddenly ran across her face as she stopped dead in her tracks, concealing her form to the best of her abilities. While playing a nice prank on someone here sounded like a fun idea, there was also a chance this someone was connected to her goal, which would make her job go by a whole lot faster. And so her stalking began, the two blue eyes piercing the darkness, her silent steps performed at a fast pace to keep up. The only problem was, how should she go about this. There was no opportunity presenting itself and it was not like she actually had any experience in this field. So when they both got to the guild and she still had no plan whatsoever, she just tried to wing it, approaching him and thus invoking his voice. Her figure would slowly emerge from the shadows, revealing the midnight blue fancy outfit, one of her hands taking hold of the top hat and tipping it a bit.
The figure emerged from the darkness revealing to be a girl, she had bright blue eyes,silver hair and grayish skin. She wore a very fancy blue outfit as well as a top hat she tipped as she walked towards Jozuma. "Welcome Gypsy, to my secret home." Jozuma quickly glanced back at the old guld hall, he found it hard to believe that anyone would choose to live in a decrepit place like this. Not realizing he was being pranked and thought that this girl could be who the culprit he was looking for which would make his job easier so he began his questions. "Home? You might want to think about relocating buuut anyways." The ground under Jozuma's feet started freezing. "I'm no gypsy, a Mage rather, and might I ask who you are? We've been getting reports of disappearances around here, you involved?" Jozuma thought this girl was a little suspicous but there was a chance he could be wrong so he wanted to listen to her response before he started throwing magic around. ---------------------------------------------- 176 words Personal word count: 440
Last edited by Jozuma on 21st May 2017, 1:39 am; edited 2 times in total
She just had to chuckle a bit when he mentioned that she should relocate. And despite her best efforts to hide it in any way possible, it surely was still audible at this distance, possibly already blowing her cover. But seeing how he continued speaking, she figured she might as well keep on going. Especially when the ground started freezing below his feet. She was always confident in her abilities and if he decided to attack her, she would quickly shut him down with both her own powers and the truth of how things were.
"People these days have no respect for the classics. Buildings these days are made cheap without a spec of quality. But this?! This withstood the test of time! You cannot possibly argue that the abandoned guild hall would make for a perfect home once you look past the cobwebs, occasional hole in the floor and ghost flying by! I admit, they might not be the best of neighbours with the constant moaning, but at least you never feel lonely! Oh, and name's Leila Vergious, mage of Golden Phoenix who was sent here to investigate the possible connections to disappearing people."
At the end of it, she would just stick out her tongue while knocking on her head in silly manner, the golden guild mark surely plenty visible on her outer left thigh just below the skirt she was wearing. It looked like they were here to uncover the same secrets after all.
Word Count: 662 / 3750 Tags: @Jozuma OOC: Too slow Template (c) Izayuki
The girl started going on and on about the greatness of her classic home, Jozuma felt that things were getting a bit off topic until he heard a key bit of information that made him realize that he was being played. "Ramble... Ramble... Oh and name's Leila Vergious, mage of Golden Pheonix who was sent here to investigate the possible connections to disappearing people." She then stuck out her tongue and knocked on her head. Jozuma then saw the guild mark on her thigh and recognized it from Master Yamamoto as the mark of Golden Pheonix, she was telling the truth. Jozuma dropped his guard and tilted his head "Oh..." He then repeated the signature phrase of his master, perhaps he's been around him too long. "Ok..." Jozuma then laughed a little accepting that he fell right into Leila's prank. "Well that's a relief, you got me good, but please don't do that again I was getting really close to leveling this forest." Jozuma smiled and walked towards Leila. Calcifer was laughing hysterically at what happened in Jozuma's head. "Haha you got punked man!" Jozuma quickly retorted. "Hey, I didn't hear you calling out anything." Jozuma didn't realize he was talking aloud at first and cut off there. "Sorry uh ignore that. Name's Jozuma, I'm from Infinity Hydra nice to meetcha! Well it seems we're here for the same reason so why don't we head I and figure this out I'd like to get out of here soon." After the conversation concluded he followed Leila into the old abandoned guild hall. -------------------------------------- 261 words Personal word count: 701
Well, this was interesting. Somehow, for that one small moment, the man in front of her resembled someone completely different with that reaction. It took a moment, but such action became a trigger for the silver haired maiden as she struct her fist onto her palm. Indeed, she now recalled Hero saying something about having a new student and thus being little too busy to help her regain her powers as of right now. So this guy was the lucky boy then? Why, that seemed pretty interesting. And, well, as he said that he was getting ready to level this forest with the ground at which she just laughed as well. Little did this man know that he was standing in front of someone who once was a teammate to his mentor and perhaps was even stronger than Hero Yamamoto. At least until she lost most of her powers which brought here where she was right now.
"Even Hero wouldn't be able to properly bring this place down by himself, good sir. At least not with me around anyway. Pleasure to meet you. Don't think I ever worked with anyone from that guild."
Well, everything was for the first time at some point, right? For now, it seemed like the introductions were out of the way and they could enter the place. Though the door seemed rusted shut, which was a small problem. A giant root suddenly unearthed and coiled around Leila before taking a swing at the door, soon replacing it with a hole in the wall instead. A little sneak peek at what her magic was. T'was only fair after he showed her his ice. Though it also caused some rather loud noises that would probably attract anything and everything hostile towards the duo sooner or later. At least they would not have to search for the cause of all these problems.
Leila seemed to know his master very well, it made Jozuma happy to know that he had a strong ally. "You know Hero huh, well it's nice to meet my master's friends and you're probably right but I'm referring less of my power and more of my bad habit of breaking things, Hero hasn't exactly improved that issue." The two approached the door to the old guild hall but it seemed to be rusted shut and wouldn't budge. A giant root unearthed from the ground and coiled around Leila as she made a hole where the door once was. Jozuma hadn't seen magic like that before and it indeed looked powerful making him excited for what might come. Jozuma loved experimenting with magic and was always interested when one he hadn't seen before presented itself. "Woah, nice!" The two walked inside through the hole.
The inside of the guild hall looked just as decrepit as the outside looking like it was slowly rotting away. As they made their way through the main hall full of broken chairs and tables Jozuma could pick up a mixture of smells in the air such, a mixture of blood, decay, a faint wiff of magic, and some foul stench he couldn't discern but no demons so he could atleast rule that one out. sniff sniff "I can't smell any demons around so that leaves either evil spirits or some crazy loon, please let it be some crazy loon also..." sniff "Blood, it's fresh so there might be people still here." Almost on cue as he said that a walking corpse walked around the corner skin decaying and eye sockets empty. "Or zombies that too!" The white of Jozuma's eyes turned black, his sign that he was prepared to fight, and he covered his arm in ice forming a claw. He ran towards and swung at the zombie but his claw went through it and then the zombie completely vanished, Jozuma's eyes turned back to normal and he had a confused look. "Okay that was weird, this place is weird." They continued searching though the guild hall and eventually came down a long hallway with several doors. Jozuma opened each of the doors as then went down the hallway to look inside. Almost all of the rooms were empty until he opened an odd one that just had a short narrow hallway leading to a brick wall behind it. Suddenly, spears started firing out of the wall and towards Jozuma "No no no no no."
Funny Running Away Music:
Jozuma ran out and down the hallway but the spears turned as they left the door and followed him. He called out to Leila as he ran down the hallway. "Duck, ghost spears!" Jozuma ran past her and looked back to see that the spears seemed to ignore her and were only going after him. Jozuma turned the corner and kept going hoping the spears would just hit the wall, instead they turned the corner as well and kept following him. "Oh you got to be kidding me!" Jozuma kept sprinting down the hallway until he came across a door and went through it slamming the door behind him and froze it shut, he found himself in the same hallway he started with Leila. He heard the tapping of the spears hitting the frozen door and let out a sigh of relief which didn't last long as when he looked up he saw spears appearing from the ceiling. "Oh come on!" Jozuma bolted again as the spears dropped from the ceiling and turned again to chase him. Jozuma went into one of the doors he opened in the hallway and came out another door in the same hallway, the spears followed. He waved at who was still nearby Leila really quick and kept running "Hi bye." This started a somewhat comedic event of Jozuma running in and out of doors throughout the hallway as he tried to escape the spears. Eventually one of the doors dropped him in a complete different part of the guild hall and he could see a large door down the way. Still trying to escape Jozuma went through the large door into a small room,in his panic he triggered something as he ran in which made the floor of the room cave in and he fell into the basement area. There he found himself in a strange laboratory filled with corpses on tables and in the presence of an even stranger looking man. The man was very tall in stature, and wore very bulky and dark clothing. He had bulging eyes and reeked of death. The man looked at Jozuma confused and walked up to him. "Who are you?" "Who are you?" "I asked you first!" Jozuma could here the slight woosh of the spears approaching again. "You know what I don't have time for this stay here and I'll come back later." "Wha-?" Jozuma ran off and up a flight of stairs. Jozuma found himself upstairs again and looked back to still see the spears but noticeably less of them. Jozuma stopped and took a deep breath. "Ice Demon Rage!" Jozuma unleashed a blast of magic energy that wiped out the remaining spears, he let out another sigh of relief as it seemed he was finally safe. Jozuma wandered tiredly throughout the guild hall for a short while until he finally reunited with Leila. "Hey back." He was sure that series of events amused her greatly so he let it get out of her system before informing her of what he saw. "It's some crazy loon, he's down in the basement but I'm not sure how I got there, oh and there's a hand on your shoulder." Jozuma pointed to Leila's shoulder where a ghostly hand stood. ----------------------------------------- 963 words Personal word count: 1664
Last edited by Jozuma on 21st May 2017, 6:08 pm; edited 3 times in total
Yes, Leila did remember Hero to be the type of fighter that was slightly... destructive, to say the least. And the act of her breaking a hole in the wall for the two of them to enter was probably not helping that fact either. But oh well, most slayers seemed to have that slightly devastating nature anyway. So perhaps it came with the magic. In any case, they just had to be careful enough to not level this whole building with the ground while they were inside of it. But once they were done? Perhaps just erasing it from the map of Fiore wasn't exactly the worst idea in the world. Then at least there would be no more trouble coming from a haunted building, just a haunted pile of rubble. Ghost were quite adaptable, they probably wouldn't mind the change of scenery. In any case, they were inside now and their search for... whatever they would find suspicious began.
"It would probably be best if we remained together. Splitting up would shorten the time needed to find our target, but it would also make it much easier for one of us to get lost. This place is pretty huge."
Thankfully Leila had a sort of a sixth sense that allowed her to find exit pretty easily, as all she had to follow was the natural energy of the nature all around this place and it's flow inside of the guild. Or they could have just jumped out of the window at any point, whichever would Jozuma fancy more. At first sight, everything appeared painfully normal and ordinary, boring even. Rotting furniture, walls covered in moss and mold, ceiling with holes big enough for a person to fall through them... yup, all boxes were checked out, this was an old building that no one cared for anymore. It was kinda sad actually, as a member of a flourishing guild. Would the halls of Golden Phoenix look like this one day? Surely they would. The tooth of time gnaws on all objects and even concepts in this world, nothing could escape it. Even the mighty immortal creatures felt it eventually. One day, even her guild would be reduced to nothing more than a pile of underwater rubble. Thankfully, something like that was way too far in the future for the girl to truly worry about. Right now, they had a completely different set of problems.
"The blood could be from animals as well. Plenty of injured ones seek shelter and this place certainly provides one. In fact, I'm surprised we haven't encountered a Forest Chimera here just yet. Guess they're not really normal for this part of the continent... oh, and that zombie was probably an illusion. Ghosts usually don't take on a form like that and it is not out of the question that someone lives here and set traps for possible intruders such as ourselves."
With all the traveling she did across Seven, the girl was slowly losing it in terms of determining what dangers they could possibly encounter here. Many mythical creatures lived all over the world and right now, she was still set to those that lived in the neighboring country. Trying to sort out her mind bestiary, she quietly followed her partner through all the rooms and halls until his shriek literally tore her out of her thoughts.
"Ghost... spears... wha-?"
Before she could even process what he said, the figure flew right past her along with several magically enchanted spears following him. And while they did ignore her, one of them did also cut off a small strand of her hair, letting it fall to the decrepit ground.
"What are you talking about, those are perfectly fine murderous spears, not ghost ones!"
She tried to correct him as she started sprinting in the same direction he ran in, hoping she would keep up. Unfortunately, it seemed that she made a wrong turn somewhere and instead ended up in a completely different, yet familiar looking hallway. Sighing out loud, she crossed her arms in front of her chest before examining different painting on the walls. The owners had a pretty good taste it seemed. Didn't take long before Jozuma ran past her again, comically greeting her and then disappearing again. Well then... Hero certainly knew how to pick them, that was for sure. With how things were now, one of them would get lost for sure. So instead of trying to follow him with no success, she would go in the opposite direction. Soon, she was stopped by an army of little girls though. Quite strange, yes? Well, they were all ghosts that only appeared as little girls. And they all had knives. Though even their murder tools were kinda, well... ghostly. Who even knew if they could hit the Eden's witch. Not that she was willing to test it. With another sigh, she lifted her hand into the air as a small piece of wood started growing in it. And the next second, she thew several spinning tops forth, all of them landing on the floor and dancing away. Suffice to say, it was a genius tactic to use against child ghosts. All of the girls dispersed as they chased the toys this lovely lady created for them and soon, the hall was empty again.
"Is there really anything truly dangerous? While they appear evil, all these ghosts are just that, specters of the past that don't even necessarily harbor any hatred in them. Hm..."
Her words were quiet and aimed at no one in particular, as she stood alone. Though only few more steps forward and she was stopped yet again. This time by Jozuma who once again reappeared from god knows where, trying to explain things. But before she could ask him to elaborate little bit more on that crazy loon part, he pointed out there was a hand on her shoulder. A literal hand without anything else.
"Oh, my apologies. Name's Leila Vergious and I'm here with this man to investigate a certain case of ours. I hope you don't mind our stay too much!"
Of course Leila would just turn around and shake the dismembered hand as if this was perfectly common in her life. And seeing how it had no way of answering, it just kinda vanished back into the wall, allowing the girl to turn back at her partner.
"Crazy loon? Are you sure it wasn't just another living dead or an illusion?"
Word Count: 2060 / 3750 Tags: @Jozuma OOC:Sorry about the wait, should be able to reply much more frequently now Template (c) Izayuki
Leila shook the disembodied hand and sent it on it's. Jozuma didn;t expect the ghost hand to just leave so nicely as his experience in this house so far, i.e. the spears, hasn't been exactly a positive one. Leila then turned to Jozuma asking if what he saw was merely another one of the undead or an illusion, the image was still fresh in his mind and he was sure that it wasn't. "If it was an illusion then it was pretty damn specific there's an entire lab down there, people strapped to tables, the guy looked like he was working on something before he saw me. I don't know about you but that sounds like a classic dark mage scenario to me, smelt like it too. Anyways I got lost at some point so we're going to have to find a way to get down there." Leila and Jozuma continued together to find a way back into to the basement area. The building proved to be a bit of a maze and they took several turns through decrepit hallways and through several doors but couldn't seem to find any stairs to the basement area. Spirits came and went, some acknowledging them but none attacking them on them on the spot. They came across a crossroads with the hallway they saw a ghostly boy at the intersection staring at them. The boy gave off a faint blue glow and had pitch black eyes. Jozuma, remembering Leila's interaction with the hand, tried to handle this with a different approach, perhaps he had misjudged the spirits here. As Jozuma walked towards the boy the boy started to step back, it appeared that he was more afraid of Jozuma than Jozuma was of him. Jozuma, with his mind more at ease, slowed his pace and started walking more calmly towards the boy. When Jozuma got close enough he knelt down and spoke in a soft kind tone. "Hey do you know where we can find a creepy guy here, big, bulging eyes, weird clothes." The boy nodded and pointed to the the hallway on the right. Jozuma smiled and thanked the ghost child. "Thanks a lot little buddy." The boy smiled back and nodded before vanishing. Jozuma looked back a Leila. “Huh, that was fairly nice.” Jozuma and Leila went down the right hallway. Eventually more paths started popping up so Jozuma went to ask one of there floating balls of light that passed them occasionally. "Hey do you know where we can find the basement." The ball of light moved towards a door to another hallway. "Thanks!" This continued for a while with Jozuma asking spirits for directions until they finally came were lead to a larger door with a stairwell behind it and in front of it was what appeared to be a ghost butler standing in front of it. He was a very tall spirit wearing very nice clothing and oddly had a tire sticking out of his head. He held a bloody mace in his hand which gave Jozuma a bad vibe but, going off how nice the other spirits have been, he was willing to give this one a chance as well. Jozuma walked up to the butler repeating in his mind “be nice, make sure he’s not bad, if he is THEN you can rekill him”. The butler bowed and greeted both of them as they approached him. “Oh some more curious travelers, welcome, I’m Bob of Bob’s Servant Services. I have happily served the residences of this guild hall for years to my dying breath in fact.” The butler laughed. “It’s nice to have visitors but I’ll have to ask you to turn back, the area below is not safe.” “Hello, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to insist you to let us pass we’re looking for a man down there then we’ll leave.” “Oh, him, he took residence here a few months ago. I don’t know what he’s doing down there but he frightens the children. Also ever since he arrived the spirits in the basement have become restless and there have been newer, angrier spirits appearing as well. I have since kept guard here to make sure no one enters but if you two can rid this hall of him it would certainly be a great weight off my shoulders.” Jozuma nodded. “That’s what we’re here for.” “Then good luck to you good sir and you my fair lady.” The butler bowed before moving aside and Jozuma and Leila made their way down the stairs to the basement. As they went down the stairs they could here the ghost butler call out one last warning. “Do be careful down there the basement is just as a maze as it is up here! The spirits down there are also very restless and might not be as welcoming!” Jozuma called back. “Understood thanks!” When they finally got down to the basement Jozuma’s nose picked up the reeking scent he smelt when he was in the lab. Jozuma picked up his pace following the scent through the maze-like basement with Leila following not far behind him.
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Last edited by Jozuma on 14th June 2017, 12:01 am; edited 1 time in total
Well, at least he didn't freak out when Leila started interacting with the ghostly hand. The last thing she needed was a slayer mage attacking something so close to her and getting her as well in the heat of the moment. While heat was her primary enemy as the nature's mage, frost was not exactly all that pleasant either. Cruel winters were very good at killing off exposed flowers too after all. And the silver haired maiden like to think that she was such a beautiful flower herself. Though that was clearly for others to judge, rather than herself. What was not so nice was the fact that he did not know how to return to the basement. He was a professional mage and a slayer with sense that the girl envied, was it really so hard to retrace his own steps? It was slightly annoying, but it looked like they would have to go back to exploring the building to find out what he really saw. Though his words managed to also confused the girl quite a bit.
"Saying that it was highly specific and then classic dark mage scenario in the same train of thoughts is not really... nevermind, this place has seen a lot over the year. I would not be surprised if we could find echoes of the past from just about anything you can imagine, regular ghosts or dark mage ghosts included."
Wraiths and bound spirits could take on just about any form they wanted to, so this wasn't exactly helping them much. But oh well, they will figure out exactly what he saw if they ever manage to get back to where he actually was. And so Leila followed the slayer as he decided to lead the expedition. He seemed... quite eager to take on the leading role here. The Eden's witch didn't really mind, but if he didn't know where he was going, was it truly the best idea to just blindly follow him? At least he managed to adapt a little friendlier approach to the beings that reside in this place, which did make the girl somewhat impressed. Most slayers she met in the past were quite the brutes and would use raw power first, ask questions once they found out that their punches were not very effective.
"I'm not exactly sure what happened to this place that it became completely abandoned, but most spirits that do not move into... wherever you're supposed to go after death, are bound here by agony. Unfulfilled promises, desires that they could not taste, things like that. Most of them are doomed to eternal suffering, unless someone manages to help them move on. This usually forces the spirits into one of two categories. Gentle ones that are helpful and more afraid of all around them and ones that try to cope with such agony by inflicting pain onto others. I'm sure you can figure out which kind is dangerous and which isn't."
It was a good thing that the girl had a bestiary in her head. It was something she needed as a traveler who walked this world, alone until now. And she was always eager to help along the way. Person can learn a lot when they are begged by peasants to dispatch of a ghost that is plaguing their well, or even lift a curse off of a princess from a kingdom that is slowly falling apart. They just had to be careful not to get lured into a trap by a vengeful spirit, as that would be without a doubt quite problematic. Eventually, they ran into a butler as well. Though his aura was slightly different to the rest of the mansion's inhabitants. Not a ghost per say maybe? More like a ghoul or another undead creature. Though he still looked quite humans, safe for the tire sticking outside of his head. He too was quite helpful and deserved a bow in response from the lady in midnight blue armor. And finally they would be on their way down to the basement. Good thing too, as Leila wasn't exactly interested in spending her whole day walking around this place and finding nothing.
"I was starting to get ready to use my magic and level this place with the ground. I hope your illustrious dark mage is really somewhere around here."
But little did she realize that this dark mage was prepared for this. After all, he did see the other mage eye to eye not that long ago, it was obvious he would figure out that these two could become easy prey for him under the right circumstances. And so, a single wire was enough to set it all off. And the girl did not notice until it was far too late. A loud explosion would echo through the entire haunted guild as the structure shook at it's very foundation. Naturally, this also created a proper cloud of dust and other things you probably shouldn't breathe in. And when Leila finally regained her balance and vision, she was in a different section of the basement, everything around her collapsed. What a lovely thing, separating her from Jozuma. As if this place wasn't enough of a maze already! Now they had to find each other again, as well as the necromancer who was clearly nearby. At least the nature's mage was confident in her abilities, so even if she was to face the enemy alone, she would probably win one way or another. Though she did hope that it would not come to something like that, as it was always good to have someone watching your back, no matter how powerful you were.
Advent had been continuing on his wanderings, it had all been to much of late and he found that he couldn't think straight no matter what he tried and it concerned him deeply, much to the point that he didn't exactly care where he ended up. "A legal guild member who is bloodthirsty at times..." he whispered to himself as he thought on the one he called Zenni. He knew the elder male was a good person but the fact he had such blood lust within him caused him to wonder if everything was as it seems "Does he call that guild home in the hopes they'll help him with his illness?" he didn't realise it was something that was dead set in Zenshin, to him such a thing was an illness and though he knew that some couldn't be cured he hoped that he could find a way to help his friend, he just had no idea as to how he could do the impossible.
Sighing he scratched his head as he thought about the duo of Zeno and Tito and what had transpired on the last job he was on with them and Zenshin. He had broken a law of his magic and allowed another to see within his soul, it meant the two were as close as family.. no that wasn't right they were closer. They could hide nothing from the other, their thoughts, feelings... histories everything was shared between the two teens it was almost like a single person living within two bodies. Of course they had their own magics and personalities but at times even those had the potential to mingle and it might not be for the best for anyone if that kind of thing happened since they were both chaotic and scatterbrained at the best of the time. Advent was just glad that his parents were welcoming of Zeno though even now he knew he was going to get lecture after lecture about peering into places he shouldn't and making forbidden bonds afterwards but still he didn't care fair was fair in his mind.
Before to long the white haired youth stopped scratching his head as he moved it almost as if trying to get his bearings which was impossible given he was wearing a blindfold but then even if he wasn't he would normally have the same issue given that he was blind. "Where have we found ourselves?" he questioned to what would seem no one his hand reaching out to feel old moss covered walls. He took note of the cracks and guessed that this place must have been old "It's like home?" he almost questioned "I mean it feels like it's being reclaimed by nature" he pouted almost as if he had been told off so tried to elaborate as to why he said what he had but soon his hands went to his ears his eyes clenching under the blindfold "What is it with the dead recently?" he couldn't help but question, it seemed like he was correct in hating people as all they seemed to do was harm each other and anything weaker than themselves often for fun or profit.
"I really hate people" he said with a slight disdain, he didn't hate all people just most of them it was actually quite bad since out of everyone he had met since he had came to Fiore he could count those he liked on one hand which was quite depressing even for the long white haired youth. "So what do you think this place use to be" he seemed to ask to what was thin air his head tilting slightly as he heard a reply "An old guild hall?" he sounded shocked at the information that he had just been given by unseen forces though he wasn't at all surprised, he was actually more surprised that he hadn't come across more like this one if he had to be honest with himself. He felt tired and knew he had to cleanse but something deep inside told him that it would have to wait given what had taken refuge within was none to nice and was using the spirits or at least when they were living for some heinous and inhumane crimes.
Slowly he moved into the old guild hall, the moment he did however his hand went to his head as he felt the onslaught of voices attacking him at once begging to be released from the damned place. It was something outside his capability at the moment, he knew he wasn't strong enough and it ate at him for being so weak "I can't help you by helping you cross" he whispered, his voice was truly sorry to the ones who where now forced to call this place home "I can however punish the one who done this to you all" he said his hands moving to become fists as he took in more information from them "he's doing all this to resurrect his dead wife?" if it hadn't been for the murdering of people and going against the natural flow of the cycles he may have deemed it romantic like one of the stories he was told when he was younger; but really at this point it just made him want to hit someone and the mad man who used this place as a laboratory seemed as good a person as any.
"Well they say they were taken from their guilds with a promise of a job" he scratched his head a little continuing to walk a little his footsteps making not a sound as he moved which was for the best given he had no idea what was indeed lurking deeper within what he now deemed the guild of the dead. "So what exactly happened to them?" he asked turning his head to the left, some of the language was still hard for him to understand given his native tongue but he was doing well considering. It was then he stopped realising something "Whatever happened to my living shadow?" he enquired his thought process being derailed once more as he realised he hadn't seen Rhyolo in some time. "I really should find him this would have likely been right up his ally and if not... oh well I could have dragged him still to be my eyes" he said to himself with a thoughtful nod.
After a few seconds he dropped his hand scratching at his sleeved arm the corrupting marks were itchy and throbbing it was like having a constant poke that something was wrong and needed to be sorted "Yeah, I know..." he huffed listening to his parents "but it's not to bad I can deal with those after investigating here and if there's no one here I'll just do it before I leave since there are plenty of people here to help" he explained to them. In truth he had no idea if the people locked within the desolate tomb of a guild were good or bad but at this point it didn't exactly matter as they would help him with this one sole endeavour to remain who he was even if they didn't like it, it was what guardians of each veil had deemed and give they were the ones who now decided their fates it was best not to upset them.
His hand moved to touch the wall and were it was still kind of moss covered the parts that weren't felt almost damp and slimy to the white haired youth making him draw his hands back quickly. He knew this was the natural order but still he didn't expect to feel it inside a building. "The spirits here need some help cleaning" he sighed shaking his head it wasn't as if they couldn't do such things after all those who raised and taught him were dead and still managed to do things, but then again he started to think they might be oddities within the realm of death. Continuing to move he listened to see if he could hear anyone or anything living within the halls of the place and to his surprise after a while he did "Are they looters?" he asked himself his tone both angry and saddened at the thought of someone desecrating what was a mass tomb.
Quietly the long haired youth made his way to the sounds he heard stopping for a brief moment to get his bearings but that wasn't enough, he had no information on what was a head. "If I go in blind..." he stopped snickering at what he had said only just realising what he had said "Okay let me rephrase that..." his tone some what serious though it still had its undertone of happiness "I shouldn't go forward without knowing what's happening" he corrected himself opening a near by door "Excuse me... I need some help" he asked what seemed to be a crying spectre, his facial expression saddened as he moved forward to try and comfort her but as he went to touch her she almost seemed to vanish though the crying could be still heard. Advent had to admit it was the first time that something like that had happened to him and it caught him off guard "So not everything as it seems?" he questioned to no one particular.
Walking out the room he knew he had little choice but to go to where the voices could be heard and hope that they weren't aggressive but then he didn't hold much hope for that one. Slowly he moved to where he heard the female voice and tilted his head "Um... hi" he said not sure if she would attack him but he had a feeling that she was sort of in the same boat he was at current. He then scratched his head realising that not long ago there had been a loud noise and thought that she may have some idea on what had happened "Well you're definitely not dead... um... what was with that loud bang? Did a wall fall down on this tomb?" he asked cautiously walking forward towards the nature mage a smile on his face boy he was wishing they weren't an enemy but if worst came to worst he could bind and run til he could think of another course of action.
Stopping a little in front of her he tilted his head once more before bowing his head a little towards her "My name is Advent, you are?" he enquired to the other. His guardians gave him what they could tell physically about her "Zen-Ze says you have a good aura about you" he commented passing on the message from the youngest of his guardians as he brought up his head "Why are you in this guild tomb?" he enquired not knowing why anyone would want to come in here willingly. He knew he had but he was a special case in more ways than one and would be the first to admit it if he could get away with it, this unfortunately was not the case as his parents kept him on a tight leash when it came to most things about himself. For now he would wait for her replies before making any assumptions as with that information he would decide what his next course of action.
Still coughing as some of the dust filled her lungs, Leila had to take a little bit of a time to regain her compose fully. A trap like that was truly unexpected, simply because of its scale. If anything, she expected something magic-based, considering they were facing a dark mage. If Jozuma didn't trip off the spears earlier, they would have probably been in much better shape now, or even already finished. But instead, they got completely separated and there was nothing the Eden's witch could do about it now. With a barely audible sign, she would place her hands on her sides, only to then nearly jump out of her own skin as she heard a voice behind her. They were in a haunted building that was filled with restless dead popping out of the walls, but Leila managed to stuck herself in the moment and forget all about that for a bit. So with her little shock, she would take several steps back and assume a defensive position.
Naturally, something like that was needed, as all that was there was a seemingly young boy clothed in a darker attire, long silver hair much like her own and a blindfold covering his eyes. There was a chance that he could have been the dark mage Jozuma mentioned prior, but his description didn't quite match that. His magic on the other hand.... somehow, it's tone felt sinister to the female. In the end, there was absolutely no need to worry about it, considering he did not move in to attack and instead started speaking before he would calmly approach. Still, Leila rather remained in a cautious position of mind, making sure there was enough space between them for her to perform parry or cast a spell if he decided to go for a surprise attack.
"H..hello. Yes, I am in fact very much alive, all things considered. And that 'loud bang' you heard was a make-shift bomb setting off. It tore apart one of the stairways to where we're now."
Saying that, the girl would look around her once more. Considering how long she was wandering around previously, she figured that was the only way to the basement. Which clearly wasn't the case, unless this new gentleman was capable of traversing through solid matter. Not that such thing would be impossible, provided he would control a specific type of magic. He would also give his name as he bowed, showing that he adhered to manners, unlike many that would be in his situation. Then again, she still wasn't completely certain he was on the side of 'good'.
"Name's Leila Vergious. A wandering mage employed by the guild Golden Phoenix. Feel free to inform whoever Zen-Ze is, that I prefer to introduce myself rather than being scanned in any way."
While her words may have sounded little harsh and cold, she was smiling as she said it all, clearly showing that she didn't mean it in a negative way, but rather as a small lecture that it may be rude to gather information about those around you like that. Though if that translated across, she did not know, seeing how the boy had his eyes completely covered by the piece of cloth.
"Me and another mage of Infinity Hydra came here to investigate reports of missing people. We already figured out there is a dark mage, presumably a necromancer, somewhere within the depths of these ruins, responsible for the kidnappings. He was also presumably the one who used that bomb as a trap in order to get rid of us. I intend to capture him and present him to the magical council for a trial."
And with that, he should be on the same page as she was. Since she had absolutely nothing to hide, she had no problem telling him all of this. But that was only her own story. This boy surely had an explanation as to why he was here as well, something that could serve as a good point for deciding if he was an enemy, or an ally. Or perhaps just an innocent bystander who she should get out of here as quickly as possible. And so she would try to nudge him a little with her words.
"It's only polite to state your own intentions as well when you ask someone. Not to mention that this is an official Magic Council request, I'd prefer to know who I'm around if at all possible."
Advent moved to sit down as the other spoke the flats of his feet touching as they most often did when he was sitting listening to everything that was going on "Necromancer?" he scratched his head for a moment turning his head "I'm sure I've heard that term before..." he muttered as he tried to get the information from his head but it seemed to be a little frazzled at the moment from having so many voices going on around him "Could you help me remember?" he seemingly asked the wall but seemed to puff out his cheeks and cross his arms as he became seemingly pouty "You lot are no help really." he huffed before sighing, his left hand going to his head tapping it as he tried to find the information needed but he was still finding it hard none the less after a few minutes of a deeply pouty face it seemed to lighten up "Found it!" he explained happily "A necromancer brings the de..." his happy smile seemed to fade and something more irritable seemed to appear.
"He needs to be dealt with" he said coldly moving to stand up dusting himself off from the dust and debris that was on the floor "He goes against the natural cycle and it's not permitted by the guardians of each cycle" he explained his head turning back to the one named Leila "I am not a threat to you, if I were I would have attacked you the moment that I was at the door and not let you see me" he explained knowing somewhat the other would be thinking given he would be thinking the same thing if he where in the same position as the other. His words and tone showed he was being honest about his words and he hoped she would come to the same conclusion that it would be very rare for an attacker to introduce themselves if they had the upper hand "Then again given how I was raised I would still have introduced myself so my enemy was aware... it would be a shameful victory without honour if I didn't fight on equal ground with an opponent don't you think?" he would ask her as he turned around towards the door.
"Oh Zen-Ze didn't scan you, she's is a nature and life mage so she's more in tune with certain types of magic" he explained calmly "If she was to as you so bluntly put it 'scan' you she could likely know your type of magic but all she can tell by looking is that you're a good person" even if Zen-Ze did indeed pry into the others kind of magic he knew for a fact she wouldn't give him the information but also knew that Zen-Ze would never pry like that especially since she was content that the other posed no immediate threat to Advent's safety. "She apologises that you feel violated. She said that it wasn't her intention she was just glad to see such a warm aura and wanted to keep her son safe" he conveyed the message as best he could the language was still a bit difficult for him but was managing better than most his parents had in learning it.
"The dead already told me what had been happening here in regards to being lured with the promise of a job, being kidnapped or falling victim to the man within when they accepted the task from the magic council" he felt sorry for the souls that had fallen here and hoped that when the man was dealt with they would find some sort of closure, perhaps even being able to move on before they could become vengeful and start attacking people themselves because if that happened he knew he would likely have to come back and not as a nice kind of person to tend to them such was his task it seemed. "Oh thank you for at least stating what you had with a smile" he said with a goofy grin as he turned on his heal forgetting the information he had been given. He knew how it looked his normal three partners thought him bi-polar, schizophrenic, scatterbrained as well as a few other choice words and most of them were true.
"Infinity Hydra?" he blinked under his blindfold for a moment before a wide grin appeared on his face, he had been a member briefly and though it didn't match well with him he had at least tried his best before parting on good terms with it's guild master Ardere. "I was a member there for a little while, I had never heard of guilds before and after meeting Ardere I thought it might be a good place for me..." he sighed shaking his hair his snow white hair dancing around him "Unfortunately it wasn't the right fit for me and I left the guild not on bad terms mind you and I hope Ardere still views me as a friend." his voice was soft and saddened as he thought on the events that happened a little while back. He knew however if he ever wanted to give it another try when he had experienced more that he would be welcomed back with open arms "One of my usual job partners... I call him my living shadow but he's called Rhyolo is a mage from that guild I think I lost him somewhere in Hargon town..." he stated his hand moving to the back of his head scratching it "Perhaps I should put up missing flyers" he said thoughtfully but then that would never happen given that he revered trees and even if he hadn't he didn't know how to read or write so couldn't even have made them in the first place.
He broke out of his own mind and looked to the other with a grin once more "Sorry about that, I just worry about my shadow is all." he explained feeling a poke on his head he turned to look listening to what was being said to him "Oh, I didn't realise she asked another question..." he sighed listening to it being worded by his guardians before turning around looking to Leila once more "Sorry, I get distracted easily" he apologised bowing once more for a few seconds before standing straight hoping the other would understand but if she didn't there was nothing he could do about it because he couldn't change how she thought of him nor could he change how he was. "Oh magic council... my teacher told me about them... they're the magic parents that say what is and isn't allowed and which guilds are good and bad" he said in an excitable tone remembering something without having to go look for it in the labyrinth he called a mind.
"Oh... um... I can't give a lot of information on me, my parents don't like it and I don't feel like getting swatted, lectured or having additional training today" he explained in an almost sheepish voice "As I have said you can call me Advent as I'm not allowed to say my real name. My magic I can't speak of full stop..." he explained that one and his name where the two big rules that he had to follow and he had yet to break them for anyone. Well there was Zeno but that was a special case and technically he didn't tell him so much as he seen everything. "Um... I'm not a native to Fiore so I am travelling and learning along the way, my unique perspective allows me to do things others might find weird or creepy" he wasn't wanting to go to far into what he meant by that even if pushed how exactly can you explain you hear and talk to the dead, those waiting to be reborn and those newly born as well as spirits of the living "On my travels I found my way here and heard calling from inside the guild hall that is more a tomb and came to see if I could help... this is when I met you." he hoped his explanation would be enough for the other but if not he would answer the questions she may still have to the best of his abilities without breaking his rules.
Leila already met a fair share of strange people on her travels. But this one... oh, this one was certainly up there. He was speaking to himself, though it was not really that hard to figure out there were actually other creatures around, be it in this actual world, or another plane of existence. Not that it really mattered in any way, to be honest, the boy was free to be as odd as he desired. But at least he now created some more distance between the two wizards, creating just a little bit more comfort that could embrace the silver-haired maiden.
"Yes, he needs to be dealt with. Because he is a dangerous individual who is kidnapping living people and most likely killing them."
She already told him why she was here and what they were most likely up against. The fact that Advent wanted to dispose of the enemy simply because of the magic they were using, or at least that was how it appeared to the girl after hearing his little speech, didn't exactly please her all that much. But at least, in this case, the one they would face was indeed guilty of serious crimes. At the end of the day, it didn't really matter why they wanted to fight him because of that. Still didn't stop Leila from being mightily tempted to mock the boy just a little bit, as she used to in the past. Saying something like 'These guardians sure must be slacking if they didn't even realize this until now' or something similar. It was actually a while since the girl last questioned goals and morals of those around her. Even her favorite saying that heroes are nothing more than weapons of the wealthy ones wasn't used for so long... but that was probably for the best anyway. Especially now that she was one of these heroes herself as the 'Rising Star'.
"Trying to introduce yourself to me before the fight would be indeed honorable, but it could also end up in your head suddenly rolling on the floor. It's easy to idolize the world around us, but the reality is harsh and honor rarely present in the hearts of those that occupy places such as these. Just a fair warning for the future."
She would then finally speak out again after Advent explained that he was no threat to her. Willingly putting yourself into a vulnerable position against a blood-lusty individual was just about the least smart thing you could do after all. With a sigh, she would turn her back toward the still speaking boy and start looking around while listening to him. At least for a while, but she felt it necessary to interrupt him during a certain part of his dialogue.
"Good person? This Zen-Ze should probably get checked out, for I am no such thing. This warm aura is nothing more than the kindness that still remains in Eden, my world. A mask that I'm wearing."
She was a mercenary who would take different contracts for money. And while she had her standards, as well as being part of a legal guild... she did not think herself a good person. After all, she had killed. Yes, compared to other 'legal mages' she had done nothing wrong. But even just the fact that she killed a single person during her entire life was something indescribable. It was a grave sin she would carry on her back for the rest of her nearly infinite life, never being able to get rid of it. While saying these words, her feet would walk on the stone ground as she examined the room, placing her ear on the walls as well as checking out the furniture around them that wasn't completely rotten away. Surely there was some way out of here that could lead straight to the necromancer. But once again, she was swept by the boy's ramblings, not that they were all that unwelcomed. Having background noise like this that she could focus on rather than this damp place was actually quite nice.
"The universe still has an interesting sense of humor I see. His name is Jozuma, maybe you two met then. We'll have to find him sooner or later. He was actually the first mage of Infinity Hydra I met, ever. You guys seem to be rather scattered about the place."
The little comment about calling someone a living shadow was left with no response from the girl, as she honestly did not know how to react to something like that. In fact, she became much more focused on a small crack in the wall that she managed to find, trying to look through it as she kept one of her ears still toward the room in order to hear Advent's words.
"Well, I can't exactly force you to give up any information, so... there is something on the other side... Yeah, your life is your own. Everyone has secrets. Though I find them kinda useless if they're not shared with at least that one person you trust more than the rest of the world. Alright, here we go!"
Suddenly leaping back from the wall, she had decided that it was a high time she recalled her earlier words about leveling this place with the ground. Extending her hand forward, a thick and powerful root of a tree would find its way between the stones and start growing around the nature's wizard, suddenly swinging at the wall at full force, easily breaking it into pieces as there was very little resistance from the inanimate object.
"Listen... it doesn't matter if you're a mage or not, I am the one carrying out the will of Magic Council here. As such, I can't allow a bystander to get involved on the off-chance you would get hurt. Feel free to follow, but I'll make this quick!"
And just like that, Leila would leap through the newly created wall and start sprinting toward a certain room that just radiated with dark energy. It was where the necromancer resided, her final destination in this place. Suddenly bursting into the room didn't give the strange looking man much of a chance to even say anything other than
"So you have managed to-"
As a multitude of roots suddenly emerged from the ground right in front of him, intending to crash into his body and entangle him. Thankfully for him, it seemed that he had more talents than just reviving and controlling corpses, as he swung his hand down in a vertical line, creating a black mass that would start struggling against the organic matter. Though that also had a little flaw, as he could not see through his own dark purple spell, missing the fact that Leila's body dissolved into the air and reappeared right behind him, her right arm completely morphing and transforming as her flesh turned into wood. Without hesitation, she would strike forward with her first that now resembled more of a drill than anything else, forcefully pushing into the man's frame. The impact had enough potency to actually push him into his own spell and shatter it into pieces, further sending him into the roots that coiled all around him, properly immobilizing him as he fell unconscious. With few heavy breaths from the sudden onslaught she performed, the girl observed her handiwork and wiped the sweat off of her forehead.
"That was way easier than I though it would be... now, how do we get out of this place again...?"
Advent couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow "I'm not talking to myself, I am talking to my parents" he said as if he could read the silver haired girls thoughts, this of course was far from the truth it was more to do with the fact that everyone he had come across had found him more than a little strange, if he was asked he wouldn't deny the fact he knew he was weird. "And believe me I am far from the strangest thing in this place" he grinned scratching at his cheek as if he knew something the other didn't which in this case was true but he knew that the other likely knew a good few things that he himself didn't and that made him slightly curious suddenly, but that would have to wait for a later day given the darkness that was in this place.
"No 'most likely' I'm afraid..." he stated in a matter of fact way "He is murdering them" he finished before leaning on a wall his arms crossing on his chest as he continued to listen "I wish they would hush down because with them speaking it is hard to get my thoughts together" he continued with a sigh almost as if he was defeated when it came to such things curious as to what the other was doing. He understood that the maiden might not accept the reasons for why he would do such a thing but then he wasn't asking for her permission he was just glad that their goals were the same on this occasion because if they weren't this would make this task even harder. He smiled contently as he continued to listen to the taps on the "Different cultures" he said with a shrug not caring enough to go into it further.
He snorted a little walking over to the girl "Zen-Ze has never been a bad judge in character, the fact you care enough about those this man shows that you are not bad person and thus proving her correct." he said with a small chuckle, he really didn't want to get into semantics with the woman but it would be clear that who he was now wasn't who he was when he first entered the room. "The guardians often do" he chimed in "As I said I am no longer infinity hydra, it wasn't the right place for me I found" he explained his voice seemed saddened as he spoke his heat tilting to the side as he heard the wall open and another's voice "So he's the one? I thought he'd be more... I don't know... terrifying" he said his hands going behind his head as he allowed the other deal with him walking into the room after it was done.
"If I was to get hurt that would be my call not yours" he said bluntly stepping over the body "Leto... I require help" he stated a woman appeared out of nowhere behind him. The woman was slender wearing a white and golden hanfu her dark hair tied back with a single golden wire "What's wrong Advent?" she asked looking at the mages body not understanding why he would be needing help "Could you destroy the wall please" he asked of the other without another word the woman walked over and punched the crumbling wall a few times creating a way to the outside "Thank you Leto" he said watching if she faded and walked through the wall leaving the body for the other to drag back to the magic council.
![Master [1000]](https://i.imgur.com/AQXM4xC.png)
![Senior [500]](https://i.imgur.com/Nmfn8cD.png)
![Novice [250]](https://i.imgur.com/lrYlde6.png)
