Mashyuu and Lise in: Cult of Personality!

Job Details:

"So your daughter, Melissa was it? Yes Melissa is missing and it was after she went to this tower that had a man who is a church leader?" Mashyuu asked a woman who was sitting across from him in the Ace of Spades bar. "Yes, something like that. We have been getting letters from Melissa but it seems so.... well they seem like they weren't really written by her. The why she writes is very different but we know she went there. We just want to make sure that she is safe. Please, go and find out. If she isn't bring her back, we will pay you for the trouble." The woman replied. Mashyuu nodded his approval. "Pay isn't required for this. You have every right to be worried about your daughter and her safety." Mashyuu replied. The woman shook her head and placed the money on the table. "I insist. The journey is long and it could be very dangerous." Finally Mashyuu admitted defeat and sighed. "Okay, but keep this until I get back at least. If not I'd have no real reason to come back." With that Mashyuu stood up and headed out the door of Ace of Spades. Itsu was already leaning against the wall of the bar. "So we are going to help the girl out right? You didn't take this poor woman's money did you?" Itsu asked and kicked off the wall to walk along side Mashyuu. "Yeah we are going to help her. And yes I'm taking the money. I tried not to but the girls mother wouldn't take no for an answer. It's clearly a pride issue. This is her baby girl and she will do anything to make sure she's safe." Mashyuu responded. "Well while you were talking to the mother, I did some digging and found out that this isn't the first case of the same situation to pop up. In fact, other Wizards went here to this tower to see what was going on and never returned to their guilds. Only sent letters saying they were leaving. And this church leader, his name is Mr. Smith and he uses Light or Sun based magic. But we have no idea how many people actually work for him. Maybe we should get Vaia or Imai for this one, hell even Lise or Hikari couldn't hurt if we don't want to get anyone from the guild. Or Ryo, we haven't done anything with him in a while." "I'm working on things with Ryo Senpai. But the two of us should be enough to deal with this group. I have faith in what we are doing." Mashyuu reasoned. Itsu shrugged her shoulders and nodded. "Okay, I trust you with this Mashyuu."

WC: 467

Waves crashed on the side of Captain Buggy's ship as Mashyuu hurled over the edge of the boat, he hated sailing but couldn't help it. It turned out the tower that the poor girl, Melissa, was at had been on an island that only had two ways to get to, either boat or sky ship. Since Mashyuu had neither he had to call in a favor from a pirate he had helped a few times in the past. "Buggy! How much longer till we are there?" Itsu asked while glancing to make sure Mashyuu didn't fall overboard. Buggy stood at the helm of his ship and started to laugh at the Sabertooth Wizard. "HEY! Don't rush a Flashy Captain! Instead enjoy the ride while your friend vomits Flashily! Ah hahahahahaha!" Buggy laughed while tossing his head back and taking a deep breath of the salty sea air. Even with the sun down, Buggy could sail better than most, or rather, his helmsmen could do that. Buggy was just very good at claiming he was the best and in fact he wasn't bad at all.

The ship slowly came to a stop some five miles away from a large island with a massive tower in the center, gleaming in the moonlight, and clearly radiating with power. Mashyuu hurled himself over the edge of the ship, splashing into the water hard with a loud smacking sound. Itsu winced while Buggy ran to the edge of the ship and looked over. "Well Itsu, I'll be here for a while, until you're both ready to return home but I'm not going to the island unless I really need to. Good luck and go save that woman in a flashy way!" The green haired woman flashed a toothy grin at Buggy and kissed his cheek then jumped over the edge of the ship to help Mashyuu swim to the island.

WC: 318
Total: 785

With the help of Itsu, Mashyuu managed to swim up to the shore of the island and rolled to his back, the gentle, cold waves of the ocean coming up to his neck before washing away once again. Mashyuu shuddered from the intense cold and sat up to scoot out of the water and slide higher up the island. Itsu quickly joined him and looked down on the shoreline. "The island doesn't have sand... What is this thing made of?" Mashyuu knocked on the island and felt stone under him even thought it looked almost like marble. "Where the beach should be is glass. It must have been sand at some point. That's strange." Mashyuuu thought about it for a moment and scratched his chin. "Unless the guy who runs this place, or his followers use fire magic of some sort and created the glass as a sort of defense. It would be hard for most people to crawl up a slippery slope of glass." Mashyuu reasoned and glanced up to the sky. "Maybe we shouldn't cause a scene until we at least know where the girl is. It would be bad if we hurt her by mistake in the middle of a fight with someone else here." Itsu added. It didn't take long for Mashyuu to nod his head in agreement. Slowly Mashyuu stood up and shook his body until his clothes weren't dripping wet anymore. Itsu chuckled and patted his back. "Just like a wild animal. Maybe we should let you dry off before we go looking for this girl?" Mashyuu couldn't help but glance at his partner and smirk. His left hand raised halfway up and his hand formed a fist. Lose dirt shot up around him and smashed in on his body, absorbing the moisture on him to dry the Wizard off. "No need. But I don't think it's a good idea to walk around all night if we don't want to fight. Maybe we should find a place we can lay low till the morning."

The pair stood silently for a few moments and then continued up the shore of the beach to the flatland of the the stone island. At its center was a massive tower of sparkling marble that even with his ability to eat stone, Mashyuu knew he would never be able to consume all of. "Holy crap, that thing goes up for what seems like forever!" Mashyuu shouted while pointing at the massive building. Itsu, wide eyed and alarmed grabbed her friend by the mouth and pulled him back into the shadows. Ten men, all dressed in robes with suns around the necks rushed to where Mashyuu and Itsu had been standing just moments before and lit up their hands. "Did you hear someone shout?" One asked while the others looked around. Mashyuu's mouth opened wide and absorbed the light that would have hit them from the glow of the Wizards hands. After a few moments of looking around the men moved on, figuring whatever they had heard moved on.

WC: 516
Total:  1301

Together Itsu and Mash scurried around the island until they couldn't hear anyone and leaned their backs against a stone wall only to slide down it and sit. Mashyuu's head hung low between his knees and Itsu patted his back. "Between the boat ride, the swimming and running I could pass out right here." Itsu chuckled and picked up a small stone and put it in the Slayers hand. "Eat up Super Slayer, we have a long road ahead of us in the morning. That girl is in danger if there are guards roaming around at night with magic like that. This place is more of a prison than anything else. Come on, lets find a place near the beach to rest and we can come up with a plan in the morning." Mashyuu chomped down on the stone and nodded while he stood up. "Alright, lets roll." Under the cover of night the pair left the flatland of the island and headed back towards the beach...

It didn't take long for the duo to find a cave that was so deep that water didn't touch the back end, leaving it bone dry, a suitable place to rest and hide out till morning. The night proved to be a difficult thing to sleep through with all the tossing and turning both Mashyuu and Itsu made on the hard stone. Both were fully awakened at sun up however when blaring horns rang out over the island, the cave causing the sound to echo off the walls. Both Sabertooth Wizards shot bolt upright from their sleep and darted out of the cave to the beach in order to see what was going on. Mashyuu sat on the sand and picked up a discarded stick that had washed ashore and started to draw in the sand. "We need a plan. Simply storming a place like this isn't going to work without some major reinforcements, or at least a distraction." Mashyuu mused. Itsu dropped to her knees and rubbed her chin while thinking about the task at hand. It was true that simply storming in was a bad idea and she knew just what to do. "I'm gonna go get a layout of the land and see if I can join the cult. I'll see you tonight. With luck I'll be able to find Melissa at the very least so we know what room she is in inside that big tower." The suggestion was bold but a great idea nonetheless.

"Okay, I'll go around the island and see if I can take out any scouts who wander around the beach in the mean time." Mashyuu added and pointed back to the cave. "Meet here at sunrise. If not I'm gonna charge the place that night to make sure your safe." Itsu nodded with a serious look on her face and gave Mashyuu a thumbs up. "Lets do it."

WC: 492
Total: 1793

"What's your name, dearie?" a kindly woman with wrinkles (the type at the corners of one's mouth and eyes that came from smiling too much) asked Leah as she put an arm around the redhead's shoulders.  The mage had to resist the urge to flinch away, but she managed it and replied that of course her name was Lise Ansem, distinguished mage.  Unfortunately, it seemed that the elder hadn't heard of her name before (no matter, that was the point) but she agreed to hire her anyways.  "Of course, and Lise dear, you're sure that you'll be able to save my adorable little Lissie?  Come to think of it, your names are so similar that I'm sure it must be fate!"

The mage's jaw tightened just barely at the comparison.  'Lees' and 'Liss-ee' hardly sounded the same, but this was a paying client, so there was no need to get her... her jacket in a bunch.  "That's amazing, m'am.  Now your grandson is the one whose daughter is missing, correct?"  Maybe if she could deal with him he'd be less overbearing (was that the right word?  The old lady was frightful but not in an intimidating sort of way).  After all, the man didn't even bother to meet with the person who was supposed to rescue his daughter.  "Oh no dear, my Reynolds is very busy, very busy indeed.  I am well prepared to give you all the details of this mission that you should need, though, of course!"  With that, the woman smiled expectantly at the emerald eyed girl, who offered a strained smile.  The mage reached for the milkshake that she had picked up on the way here.  Although she had decided not to drink it during the initial meeting between herself and the client, there wasn't exactly a reason not to now.  So with that in mind, the girl drank the mixture of apple and toffee flavoring contentedly until the wrinkled old lady burst into a sudden fit of screaming.

"GET OUT!  Get out of my house right this instant young lady!  I'll report you to the Magic Council if you don't get going right now!  And don't even think about using force in this mission, do you think you're going to get my little Lissie killed?  No m'am!  I want espionage, and only espionage until she's safe and nothing can touch her!  Don't think you can cheat me, I know how you youngsters work these days!"  And with that, she shoved the redhead rudely out the door, causing her to spill her milkshake on the way out (and not even have time to apologize, clean up, or even grab the now mostly empty cup).  When the slab of wood slammed behind her, the emerald eyed mage blew her hair out of her face and glared darkly at the door.  "Where was this island again?" she wondered out loud as she set off down the street, requipping her clothes as she walked.  Of course, the splattered dessert wouldn't automatically disappear since the garments weren't magical, but it would prevent staining until she could put them directly into a wash or something.  "Is it even an island?" Leah grumbled as she stuffed her hands into her pockets.  "Is this gonna be like the Sky Tower and absolutely impossible to find?"

"Little lady, have you praised the sun today?" a voice interrupted the redhead's complaints as she sauntered down the sidewalk.  Huh?  The girl turned to meet eye to eye with a smiling man dressed in white and gold robes, clutching a stack of pamphlets to his chest.  "The Sunny Tower welcomes all newcomers!  You'll be surprised at what can be revealed to you and unlocked through the studies available here.  Praise the sun!" he announced before handing her one of the booklets and continuing on his way, walking in the opposite direction.  With a dubious expression on her face (though not at an angle where the stranger could see it) the mage rifled through the pages.  Is this how they dragged Liss- Melissa into this mess? she wondered before snorting and tossing the brochure like thing over her shoulder towards the ground.  She did requip it before the item could be lost (after all, it had been free and furthermore, could be both a source of information and an excuse to enter the tower.  Speaking of which, the girl paused for a moment to recall what had been on the front page of the informational handout.  Walk until you feel a magnetic pull due east, then continue until you witness our beautiful research center.  Shaped like an ancient tower and over fifty stories tall, this structure stretches towards the sun so as to better educate our disciples in the mystical ways of improving life.  Leah felt like spitting on the ground at the very thought, but it bothered her how vague the instructions were.  But if Melissa could find the tower (a ten something year old girl, right?) she could too.

Basically, all she did was literally follow the directions, and they did indeed lead her where she wanted to go.  The Sunny Tower, hulking and dark against the orangey sky (why it wasn't blue despite the fact that it was midday without sunset, she had no idea).  Just as Leah was about to walk straight inside, somehow feeling the tug of magic at her core, she caught a flash of green hair that seemed oddly out of place here among the white and golden robes.  Her curiosity piqued, the girl turned to her left and headed in the direction of what she had thought at least to be turquoiseish hair; it'd had the right texture and hue, but maybe it was just vines after all... nope!  It was Itsu!  The girl's mouth quirked up into a half smile when she saw the woman, but then a pair of white and gold robed figures strode up behind her and demanded that she halt.  Because of the interruption, the mage lost track of her former job partner, but she supposed they could eventually meet again if things turned out that way.

"You there!  What business do you have here?" one of the robes asked, and the redhead smiled beatifically.

"I've heard about the wonders of the sun and I seek to learn more," she murmured before casting her eyes down.  The girl was thankful that she had chosen a simple, pale yellow dress to put on instead of trading her leather for more leather earlier.  At least that spill had been good for something.  Although they tried to be discreet, the two strangers traded looks and one mouthed something like, 'Another one for the archmage,' before the other nodded slightly and turned to Leah.  "Follow us," he announced before turning sharply on his toe and leading her up the path and into the tower.

1145/4250 Words.

Itsu casually smoothed out her hair after a night in the cave and made her way to the tower above. Itsu climbed the rubble of the beach, over rock and hill until she once again stood on flat man worked stone where a massive tower stood proudly at the center of the island. This tower of reflective stone seemed to touch the sun itself at its peak. "Wow, it's much more impressive in the day. Hmm, well. I guess I should get on with it." Itsu mused to herself and started to walk to the tower when she saw Lise being escorted by two men in white and gold robes towards the tower. Itsu cleared her throat and in her cutest voice she shouted then ran towards her friend. "Hey! HEY SIS!" As fast as she could, Itsu ran up to Lise and grabbed her by the hand, brushing against her and smiling, to let her know that Lise wasn't the only good doing Wizard in the area. "Sis I'm so glad I finally caught up with you. I got lost when I saw the beach, I had to take a look. You could have waited for me ya know! Hey who are your friends? They're cute." Itsu winked at the men, making them blush while remaining silent.

The guards looked at one another with a red blush on their face then cleared their throat and started to speak but Itsu cut them off. "No need to worry boys, I am wanting to see what this place is all about. So you can just continue on your way to do whatever it you are doing with my sister here and I'll just tag along silently." Itsu assured the two men. She grabbed the hand of Lise and giggled cutely, playing up the idea that the two were very close sisters...

Silently Mashyuu used his enhanced senses to smell out some of the guards of the island, following them to a small watch tower where they stood on a raised wooden platform looking out towards Buggy's ship. Mashyuu swore under his breath and extended his left hand. A bow of blue light in the shape of a spider web appeared in his hand while Mashyuu pulled a magical bow string back to his cheek. "Hail of Arrows." The God Slayer muttered and activated the magic of his weapon then released the bowstring, launching a volley of magical arrows into the two guards and the small tower they were on, shattering the tower in the process. A moment later the guards fell into the water only to be washed away by the tide. "I hope Itsu is doing okay up there..." Mashyuu muttered to himself.

WC: 459
Total: 2252

Leah blinked in astonishment when a wild Itsu came galloping out of nowhere. She had admittedly caught sight of the distinctive hair earlier, but the emerald eyed mage had half assumed she was hallucinating since she doubted that the woman would fall for something like this cult promoting the sun and its mystical powers. Fortunately, it was definitely the summoner in the flesh (a fact confirmed when the taller woman clasped the redhead's hand and flashed her a brief smile) and one could assume that Mashyuu wasn't too far behind. Since apparently the two females now were close siblings, the girl gazed at the green headed mage with subtly feigned surprise and a slight bit of annoyance. "I told you not to wander off! Now what will these gentlemen think of us now? We were supposed to try to join their ranks at the first opportunity this morning," she chided Itsu gently. (Harshly would be too contradictory to the subservient demeanor she had assumed earlier). "But they are cute, aren't they?" she whispered as softly as she could while still being audible to everyone within a nearby vicinity. "I just hope that we aren't set back in our glorious mission to fulfilling the real goal of life," the redhead worried in as subdued of a voice as she could make it seem.

The robed figures seemed largely unconcerned with the two's banter, although they exchanged brief looks. "We'll take you to one of the higher ups," one said in a grave voice, but a certain suspicious tint of unsurety lingered in his tone. Catching on to it, the ReQuip mage questioned hurriedly but with the slightest doubt lingering in her voice, "Perhaps it would be best if we were to go ourselves, on our own? I... I hate to be so forward but I think it might allow us to prove ourselves. To be so passionate about learning from you that we might find our own way and not inconvenience you any longer, as fellow servants of the sun," she explained. It seemed clear to Leah that the pair wasn't exactly accustomed to either welcoming newcomers to the cult or keeping a lid on what was really going on here. Hopefully the two would welcome some responsibility being lifted off of their backs, and they did.

"Yes, that seems like an, uh, a splendid plan! Yes, we have to get back to the group, don't we Achs?" a robed man quickly interjected before she could say any more or change her mind about needing a guide. "Yeah, and we could probably catch up with the other initiates, I dunno where they went, weren't there supposed to be ten of us?" the second mage wondered out loud as the redhead stifled a smirk and bent her head slightly so her hair fell forwards to obscure the edges of her lips. "We're right thankful for your help, aren't we, sis?" the girl murmured politely with a curtsy. As she dropped the hem of her daffodil colored skirt, she nudged Itsu barely. "If you would just show us to the exit...?" Leah hinted, keeping any trace of impatience from her words.

"Of course, right this way!" The group moved along up the path until they came to a door of wood, set in a doorway carved carefully from the stone that comprised the tower. It wasn't actually an entrance that the mage had noticed when simply walking around before encountering anyone; they must have curved around and found where people not visitors or highly important got in. Gracing the two mages with another smile, the redhead curtsied and thanked them profusely until the two backed away and left as slowly as they could (although she caught sight of them breaking into a frantic sprint as soon as they were supposedly out of sight, thanking her special vision for that). It seemed someone had gotten lost just like Itsu had faked having been. "So tell me sis, where is your cute little friend?" she asked in a conversational tone as she unlatched the door and held it open for the green haired woman to go through. Maybe after they figured out exactly how to unlock it or managed to grab some robes or something, they could come back for Mashyuu. Unless of course, the summoner had just left him behind stranded on an island somewhere snoring like a rock and weighing about nine tons. The redhead wouldn't have been surprised at anything these two got up to.

Just then, Leah spotted a hook on the wall a few meters away from the door. Surprisingly, this tower was actually quite large in circumference and she doubted that it was actually as fragile and ready to tip over as the mage had assumed on first sight. Of course, it wasn't nearly as modern and study as the Sky Tower, but that had been a different affair altogether. With a shrug, she headed towards the hook, which seemed to have a pair of keys dangling from it. Though her suspicions were aroused by the fact that there were keys inside the doorway (the actual entrance had been locked in some strange way, as the two mages from earlier had concealed their method of opening it), the girl began to reach for the large keys when a slip of paper nailed to the wall caught her eye.

The fish key will open the west gate. The horse key will open the east gate. Please return any keys that you use, and initiates are strictly not permitted to touch the keys. Use your medallions. Apprentices are free to use them if accompanied by a mage.

So they were like backups then? Or to be lent to somebody who didn't have one of these... medallions. Either way, it was safe to say that aside from patrols, it didn't seem like the inhabitants of the tower actually left the building very often. That only added to both the mystery and assumed enormous size of the interior. Speaking of which, Leah was so very tempted to explore; this urge was only increased by the fact that there was the start of a winding staircase right in front of her, which went up at least eight meters before it turned the corner too much to be visible any longer. Still, it looked like there were multiple levels to this thing (and there had to be, right? The nature of a tower and all that, as well as different places for people to stay and study). All of them were something she wanted to check out. Turning to Itsu, Leah murmured, "Sis, where should we go?" Her feet itched to ascend the stairwell until the climb yielded something interesting, but maybe they ought to take a key back to the brown haired young man who was undoubtedly lurking somewhere. Unless the summoner really had just up and left him, in which case the emerald eyed female was perfectly fine with just moving on right that instant. She hadn't actually caught sight of him on the island yet.

2328/4250 Words.

Itsu couldn't help but giggle at Lise and how she was working and wrapping the guards around her finger with what seemed like no effort and soon enough she had convinced them that the ladies only needed to be walked to the door of the tower. A few moments later the women were alone and standing inside the tower. Itsu glanced out the door to make sure they weren't being followed while Lise grabbed up some keys and asked about Mashyuu. "Oh. I didn't know you thought Mash was cute. He's on the island and taking out the guards so that when we find the girl... You are here about the job to get the girl and make sure she is safe right? I think its safe to say that she is not safe here, this place is weird. Anyway, He's on the island and I'm supposed to meet him later tonight to tell him about what I find. If its possible I'd like to get the girl to Buggy's ship tonight. He is anchored out there waiting for us." Itsu explained softly so that only Lise would be able to hear her. It hadn't dawned on her until that very moment but for the first time Itsu hadn't seen Lise in skin tight leather, instead she was in a nice dress and it made Itsu blush. While Mashyuu had always like the strong type of woman, Itsu liked the gentle looking ones more. "Lise.... If you're trying to sway me to go on a date with you, that dress was all you needed to begin with." Itsu flirted and gave the red head a playful wink.

After being asked where they should go, Itsu reasoned with herself that Melissa wouldn't be on the first floor so decided that the pair should move on. "We have to at least figure out where the non wizards are staying on the tower. I bet its men and women on different floors. I'll follow your lead if you are okay with that?" Itsu drew her dagger and placed the blade against her palm so she could use it quickly if needed. The women walked up the flight of rounded stairs and into possible danger...

Back on the islands beach, Mashyuu was running as fast as he could with a group of ten Wizards behind him all launching spells at the Slayer. Mashyuu waited until he had a good twenty men behind him then stopped, letting his feet dig into the beach until he left small craters where he stood. A wide and deadly grin spread over his face and he turned to face the men. "Do you guys know who I am? I really think you should run, because I noticed that you are all using light based magic, and I happen to eat light and crap rainbows. Do you really want to get involved with that?" Mashyuu asked and cracked his knuckles while the twenty men all lit up their hands and feet with bright light. Mashyuu started to chuckle and walk slowly towards the group, making them each take a step back in turn. Who would willingly walk towards a group of twenty men who wanted to hurt you?

WC: 542
Total: 2794

The member 'Mashyuu Kumonosu' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Monster Dice' :

The redhead couldn't resist a laugh when Itsu commented on how she had referred to the brown haired mage as cute.  "I do think he's cute, only the best for you... sis," she finished with a wink.  It seemed that, at least judging by the summoner's words, Mashyuu was indeed on the island and very busy at that.  He wasn't lollygagging around on some island and eating rainbows and pooping unicorns (was that how the phrase go?  Nevermind) and was instead battling guards or something.  So much for making fun of him and how he was supposedly napping the day away.  With a small nod at the other female's words, the girl prefaced her assent with a "But definitely, he's cute," before she jumped back into the actual mission.  "I'm here for Melissa," the redhead confirmed with a slight wince as she remembered the disastrous conversation she'd had with that old lady, the grandmother.  "Suffice to say her family members are worried."  It was ambiguous what exactly was going on here in the Sunny Tower; after all, the girl who was supposedly in danger had actually sent back letters dictating just how well she was faring.  If Leah had been left to decide herself, she might have come to poke around and maybe (lowkey) steal some things (those mediallions were solid gold, right?) but the daughter of a stranger might have been her last concern.  After all, if she wasn't dying or in the process...

With a shrug, the redhead took a peek out of a window and almost fell backwards down the stairs when she witnessed the one and only Mashyuu running like a chicken with its head cut off (well, maybe a little bit more dignified but still... maybe like his pants were on fire?  Or like twenty mages were chasing him?  Yeah, like that).  And indeed, twenty mages were chasing the young man, and Leah winced at the idea of them all being in for a nasty surprise before she regained her former lull of climbing the steps and passed by the square of a window.  Meanwhile, something even more embarrassing was the fact that Itsu had begun flirting with her at some point.  A few words lingered in the back of the emerald eyed girl's brain, having entered there at some point while she was distractedly scaling the staircase.  Even further, a mental image of a winking green haired summoner flashed bright in the mage's mind, and she almost tripped again to fall to her doom.  Thankfully, her balance was not really impaired by her surprise, it was only her reaction time which was slightly delayed.  Of course, that in itself could get a girl killed, but anyways, the point was that Leah was utterly not focusing on the mission at that moment.  But she would.

Clearing her throat with a quiet cough that turned into a small fit of hacking (darnit, how did people manage that subtle ahem anyways?) she nodded minusculely (was that a word?) to Itsu as the two came up on the first landing, now at the second floor.  "The first floor was probably filled with guards, you're right," she said, her response indicating that she agreed with the woman on not stopping there.  "But I expect the non-mage quarters to be located somewhere closer to the middle of the floors, perhaps we should go through some of these rooms and- ahem."  The redhead, having been cut off mid sentence by an abrupt and somewhat rude opening of the door (so rough in fact that it slammed into the wall behind, clearly these people hadn't heard of wall guards or door bumpers and she expected to see a hole in the drywall from the knob if she ever visited this tower again) coughed quietly to cue the protocol breakers in (a group of robed figures that soon came into view).  However, her irritation was soon offset by both surprise and practicality when it dawned on her that these were actually enemies.  Terrific, and just as she had managed to perfect that annoyed and sharp hem-hem.

"You all are female, right?" she asked in a detached tone, meeting eyes with the first four to five robes and finding that their features seemed both distinctly similar and feminine in the most expected and predictable way by current standards.  "So then Melissa might be on this floor," Leah finished her thought out loud before drawing her High Imperial Daggers and twirling one blade on her right index finger tip.  There were about fifteen mages in the room, ten dressed in white and gold robes while the other five were in pure gold.  It was the latter group that the redhead's eyes had flickered to when she had briefly examined faces.  "This is perfect, then!" the female suddenly squealed as she threw her daggers up into the air, letting them sink into the ceiling with a hidden wince at the dullness it would bring to her edges.  "Those guys downstairs told us to find the first open set of quarters, apparently they're near somebody named Melissa?  She just like, joined or something?  Right sis?" the girl thought out loud, poking Itsu with impatience and a few questioning blinks.

3200/4250 Words.

Mashyuu took a step forward, the men took a step back, again Mashyuu took a step forward and again they stepped back. The God Slayer opened his left hand and closed it repeatedly, each time he did so a small tornado of sand exploded out of his palm and vanished each time he closed his hand. "You should all feel bad for coming here and joining a cult.
Do you know what you could have achieved if you worked for an actual guild? I'm so sick of dealing with cults, necromancers and pirates. You guys are gonna get my full fury in about five seconds." Mashyuu complained while the men put up their fists and charged the God Slayer, figuring that it was either fight or die they all attacked. Mashyuu frowned and ducked a punch then balled up his fist. "Rising Dragon Fist." He casually said as he came up and drove his heavy fist into the throat of a cult member and knocked him out in a single blow. The God Slayer spun around on his heels and drew his sword in order to gain some distance on the others. With the intent to harm well in Mashyuu's mind he slashed his weapon twice and commanded it to use its power. "Kings Cleave!" As he slashed a third time in a wide arc his weapon launched a curved blast of energy, knocking out ten of the twenty men, leaving only nine more standing. Mashyuu gave his weapon a fancy flourish and replaced his weapon in the scabbard while the cult members all stopped and looked at one another and the force of power Mashyuu was showing. "Would you believe that I haven't even used one of my actual spells yet? Imagine how bad things are gonna get for you if you don't run for your lives?" Mashyuu baited the men. Each of the men all turned to look at one another then nodded up and down. "Okay sure. You win man!" One of the members said and pulled off his medallion and tossed it aside then the group took off running. Mashyuu raised his brow and walked over to the golden trinket and picked it up. "Hmmm. Wonder if this will get me inside the tower easier?"

Mashyuu found himself on the flat of the island, the robes of these wizards over his body and the hood pulled up to mask his features. He couldn't help but grin ear to ear at the thought of meeting up with the others but he also wanted to fly up to the top and start beating everyone up, first though he needed to know that the girl was safe. Mashyuu sighed and headed to the tower to join up with Itsu...

Inside the tower, Itsu was flailing her arms around when Lise said that Itsu and Mashyuu were a good match. "Lise no! You have it all wrong! Mashyuu and I aren't together like that. We were when we were teens but no. Hehe. Mashyuu and I are very good friends, maybe the best but far from lovers. His girlfriend is... I'm cute, but his girl friend is drop dead ten out of ten perfect, just like you." Itsu admitted with a deep blush on her pale skin. The woman continued to follow Lise up the steps and watched as she glanced out the window and seemed stunned to see something. Must have been Mashyuu getting into trouble. If Lise could already see what was going on, Itsu could only imagine what Mashyuu was getting into and who else could see him. "We should hurry up."

The pair moved up the stairs and a door near by was forced open to reveal a room of women in robes that looked like they were all part of the cult. "Nobody here is a kid, we should just kick their faces in and see who wants to talk when they are all bruised and battered." Itsu suggested and started to swing her blade on a portion of the cord that was tied to her dagger. Quickly she flung her dagger out to hit a woman in the shoulder with her dagger, digging the blade into a woman's shoulder. Itsu tugged hard and called out. "Phantom Speed!" Itsu vanished and appeared behind the woman, leaving an after image in her place. When Itsu appeared again she was sparking with power and slammed both her fists into the woman she had stabbed, knocking her out in a single well placed strike. She glanced over her shoulder at the other fourteen wizards and smiled wide, it was time to beat some Wizards up.

WC: 786
Total: 3580

Are these guys strictly against pacifism? the redhead thought with no little exasperation as Itsu completely threw out any idea of tricking their enemies into allowing them to go further into the level and maybe see if Melissa was about.  With a soft sigh, she bent her knees and pushed off the ground, leaving behind small marks from her boots as she sped towards the ceiling.  The girl grabbed her daggers by the hilts as soon as she was within reach, the pulled them out and used the change in her direction of momentum to swing her feet around so that now her soles were resting on the ceiling.  Immediately, her first thought was that she was wearing a dress without shorts underneath, and if gravity did its work... the emerald eyed mage promptly yanked her knives out of the ceiling and dropped to the floor, smoothing down her skirt.  "I don't suppose you could just talk before we fight...?  No?  More's the pity," Leah mused out loud with a brief sigh when not a single one of the robed women came forward with any kind of information.  Not that they even really knew what the two strange mages were looking for... perhaps the females ought to have explained better before jumping in to battle.  But that had hardly even been an option even if she had tried, the ReQuip mage reflected.

Drawing her Mercenary's Daggers, she smiled gently at the nearest woman, one of the more elderly cultists.  She didn't seem to be intimidated by the weapons at all, but as Leah approached she felt the trepidation coming off of the woman increase.  Since most of her abilities were meant to either kill an opponent cleanly and quickly or were defensive and supportive in nature, the emerald eyed female was just a bit lost on what to do now.  She certainly couldn't just go on a killing spree and murder the fourteen remaining mages... right?  With a wince, she spun one of her knives, threading it between the fingers of her right hand over and over again as she thought over this conundrum.  Well, there was one thing that she could definitely do to get out of fighting.

"Shield of the Judiciator!" Leah cried as she held her arm up towards the ceiling.  Forming around her arm and in front, a beautiful golden shield that shimmered even under the dimness of the interior of the tower was clear for all to see.  The mage thrust it towards the elderly woman so that the crest of angels' wings shone brightly into her eyes.  The cultist cowered backwards, but unyielding, the redhead stepped even closer.  "By this Divinity, I declare you to be heretics, forlorn of the sun!" she bellowed in as commanding of a voice as she could muster.  "If you do not renounce your actions right this instant, I will unleash holy Judgement upon you!"  At the word Judgement, a glittering, translucent set of armor began to materialize around her.  Soon, she was wrapped in the golden, but hard and tempered plates of shining armor that almost seemed to glow from within.  "Tell me!  Tell me where the girl Melissa is, or else you will all be executed," she finished with a voice that dripped with malice simultaneously with her sweet golden girl tone.

From near the back of the group, a young woman who was more of a girl than anything pushed through the crowd of silent robed figures and threw herself at Itsu and Leah.  "Please, just- just don't hurt us!  We, we're innocent, I promise!  It was the Sun Mages that made us do everything!" she sobbed, and the redhead bit her lip as she stared at the weeping mage.  "Melissa is staying on the sixteenth floor, but this morning, we- we saw her leave with the- the Archmage.  He's taking her to the top of the tower to- to s-sacrifice her.  Th-there are fifty floors, and he's set traps for you on each one, he knows you're here!  W-We were supposed to distract you so you can- hn!" the girl dropped like a stone when one of her fellow sun apprentices whammed the female on the back of her head with a frying pan.  Where the heck had that thing come from?  There was no time to debate it, though, because the women were already pushing forwards, and Leah wanted no part of this now that she knew where Melissa was: even if the top of the tower was a trap.

"Itsu, I'm going!" she announced loudly before she burst out of the room and back onto the stairs' landing.  Without another word, she hurried up the steps, reflecting that this was going to be a long journey.  Though certainly, it wouldn't be one without interruptions, if the sun apprentice was to be believed about the numerous traps set up.  When had he known?  How had he known?  Wait, was it even a he... oh yes, the girl had said that, didn't she?  In the midst of her inner arguing, Leah had missed a step and she tripped on the hem of her dress, unaccustomed to the feeling.  With a huff of annoyance, the girl picked herself back up and quickly made back up the five steps she had fallen down (thankfully, there had been no injuries involved).  There wasn't a point in stopping on the sixteenth floor, probably, if the Archmage had already taken Melissa to the top.  But it might be worth it to take a route not so direct... maybe they should enter some random floor and try to go through the ceiling?

4141/4250 Words.

Itsu watched at Lise deal with the cultists rather swiftly then take off to catch the girl before she could be killed. Itsu huffed and wrapped up dealing with the remaining cultists then took off up the steps, clearing house against anyone who moved in to try and attack Lise from behind. She could have teleported Lise to the roof but it seemed Lise had forgotten about that. "Come on Mashyuu... we need some help now." Itsu muttered under her breath while she struggled to even make up the lost ground that Lise had made between the two. While that was happening Mashyuu was running towards the tower when the blue eyed Wizard felt a sudden burst of power from the roof of the tower. Mashyuu tossed the medallion in his hand aside and flexed his forearms, stretching the bracers on his arms to activate the magic. The ground under him ripped up and created a surf board like structure that floated up into the air and raced towards the tower. Once there it, with Mashyuu atop it rocketed up into the air flying past windows while Mashyuu shouted. "Itsu!!!" He had no idea that Lise was in the tower or that she was about to jump through the window above him and land on his flying platform.

When Lise landed on the platform of earth Mashyuu flashed the woman a smile and grabbed her hand. "Fancy meeting you here. Going up I take it? Hold on tight." Mashyuu commented and soared up higher. Once at the roof Mashyuu floated the platform over the roof and landed on the top of the building at its edge. At the center of the roof were four mages in vibrant robes with magic aimed at a small child, commanding them was clearly the leader of the cult. The roof itself had clearly been fashioned into an alter to sacrifice lives on. Mashyuu snarled and lifted his left hand. A blue field of light surrounded the roof as the God Slayer spoke. "You will not harm that young child. Mashyuu, God Slayer of Earth Commands it. Light Dragon's Domain: Transition." He demanded, then he and the girl who was in the middle of the four wizards traded places so that she was standing next to Lise. The Wizards were surprised to see that Mashyuu's body absorbed the light that the men were giving off like he were a plant that grew stronger on their power. "A tower of stone and you guys are feeding me! Oh man this is awesome. Can I show you guys something cool in return?" Mashyuu asked then stomped the ground and swept his foot around in a circle, causing the ground to roll and trip the four wizards up, knocking them over. "Earth Gods Molten Wave!" The roof super heated and released a wave of magma that burned the four men, hurting them but not taking them down.

At that moment Itsu burst up to the roof from a flight of near by steps and saw what was happening. Without a word she charged the small girl and tackled her, taking both herself and Melissa off the roof in a close held cradle. Just before they hit the ground Itsu teleported with the girl and made her way back to Buggy's ship so that Mashyuu and Lise could fight without harming the girl or having to worry about her.

"Lise, lets take these guys down!" Mashyuu shouted over his shoulder while he drew Excalibur and slashed it around through the air. The four mages pulled themselves up while Lise dealt with their leader. Each man engulfed their hands and feet in magical light and attacked. Mashyuu threw his weapon up and clashed the blade against a pair of fists while moving forward to avoid the others strikes. Mashyuu opened his palm and pushed backwards to motion at his foes behind him. "Earth Gods Combo: Part One!" Three pillars of stone shot up and smashed into the guts of the men behind the God Slayer, knocking them clear off the roof. The men tumbled down half way past the tower before they managed to use their magic to fly back to the edge of the building and pressed their palms together. "Oh enough of you two!" Mashyuu shouted while he smashed his swords hand guard into the face of one Wizard then dropped low and called out. "Earth Gods Basilisk Wall!" A massive stone wall shot up in front of the two men who were flying just as they unleashed a blast of magic, hitting the wall but barely put a crack in it. The two gazed at the wall and suddenly their legs became stone, dropping them from the sheer weight of the their legs, taking them out of the sky... Mashyuu lifted his sword up high and slashed the air in an angled pattern. "Kings Cleave!" His sword cut the chests of both men that were still standing, sapping the air from their lungs, not killing them but easily knocking them out cold.

WC: 856
Total: 4436

Clearly, there were fifty floors in this tower. Leah rolled her eyes at the sheer ridiculousness of it all, because after bashing through door after door and interrupting random robed mages in the middle of talking, bathing, dressing, praying, and training (simply to avoid any traps that were on the stairs, she went through the ceiling almost as soon as she got inside the rooms) the redhead was extraordinarily tired of this ridiculousness. Just as she was getting ready to throw herself out the nearest window (there was one right nearby, barely two meters away, how perfect!) emerald eyes caught sight of a distinctively brown fluff of hair that was odd to see on this island where everybody seemed to wear robes. Could it be... ? The mage narrowed her eyes into the sun before she reluctantly put a hand up to shield them from the distracting rays, completely ignoring the clamor behind her, of strange mages trying to decide how to deal with this weird redhead who had suddenly shot up through the floor and was apparently sightseeing from their window. But Leah wasn't even thinking about them, regardless of whether they were about to blast her from behind with some kind of sun burst. Instead, her mind was focused on that mage who was currently surfing on air, steadily rising up to the top of the tower (and definitely at a speed that surpassed her current floor/ceiling ruining technique).

"I'm hitching a ride, don't fall just because I'm heavy!" she warned before the girl shoved her foot against the windowsill and leaped forwards to tumble onto the rocky slab of earth, thankfully landing on both of her two feet with little in the way of balance issues. Mashyuu seemed to roll with it though, and he even offered her a hand which the mage took with a brief murmur of thanks, using the assistance to get to her feet and have a better view of when it would be appropriate to jump off. "You know me so well," she joked in response to his assumption that she was indeed going up. It wasn't hard to tell; what other reason was there to jump on a random surfboard belonging to another mage that was rising to the top of a tower? Come to think of it, that might be a one time only kind of experience...

The two were up on the roof top before she could hardly realize it, and without another beat of hesitation the brown haired young man was already missing and there was suddenly a little blonde child at her side. Leah was tempted to wrap her arms around the girl, since it was clearly the missing Melissa, but before she could react a cloaked man was sprinting towards her and throwing curses right and left. Instead of letting their charge fall into danger, the redhead scrambled to get far away and off the surfboard that was still hovering midair but would surely be drained of magic sometime soon, since Mashyuu was no longer on board. She tried to tackle the man, but he wasn't having any of it and backed up until he was at enough of a distance that trying to run in order to get close would yield only a bunch of wounds all over her body from magical assault. Squinting at the man (it was actually quite difficult, as he seemed to have this strange golden crown adorning his head that reflected every single bit of the sun that hit it into all directions). When she was trying to get a clear focus on her opponent, however, he suddenly moved and was up in the air before she could blink again. Which was actually quite nice, otherwise she might have missed it and been searching for something that was preparing an attack from above.

"Two can play at that game, sir," she muttered before the Stormbird-Feathered Cloak was out and draped across her shoulders. Without further ado, the redhead sped up into the sky and reached out to stab the man right in his heart (who deserved mercy for kidnapping and trying to sacrifice children? Besides, it would be faster and he didn't seem interested in compromising about safety). But right before her High Imperial Dagger could connect, his skin suddenly seemed to glow with an otherwordly light and she had to force her eyes closed before they could be permanently seared, causing blindness beyond just simple magical effects. When the redness disappeared and she felt it was safe to open them again, he was gone; although the burns that were scattered over any of her exposed skin were a tell tale sign that he was indeed trouble that should be taken down as soon as possible.

Speaking of exposed, the girl suddenly gulped when she realized that yes, she was still wearing the skirt. Hopefully Mashyuu and Itsu were too distracted by their own fighting, duties, or even had enough of a sense of honor not to- damnit. The emerald eyed female dove to the ground when she saw the Archmage right below her, gaping up into the sky. "You- frikking pervert!" the mage snarled before she grabbed out every single last one of the blades from her arsenal, hurtling the mass at the robed man. Despite his attempts to blast them out of the way with rays of sunlight and blind her, the weapons were already sent and he was speckled with holes in the end, leaking out blood all over the stone of the roof top. "Messy, but the job got done too, so that's something I suppose," she thought out loud as she landed and resisted the urge to spit on the ground or on the guy's corpse. That kind of disrespect wasn't necessary, right? Either way, since everything was all done and Itsu seemed to have taken the girl away, as a glance around realized, the redhead smiled at the idea of a successful mission. Jumping off the roof top and trusting in her feathered cloak to keep her safe, the emerald eyed girl shouted out one last goodbye to Mashyuu and the green haired summoner, if she could hear. Now just to brave that grandmother again... maybe she ought to leave her pay alone and just take it as a learning experience?

Pfft, like that would ever happen.

5204/4250 Words.