All things come to a close

Relaxing in the comfort of Master quarters in the Sabertooth Guildhall, Kite had just finished the paperwork for the day and now awaited the arrival of a guild member who had been sent to bring him any mail as well as any flyers that had been claimed by the rest of his members. This gave him time to become lost in his own thoughts during which he had managed to doze off slightly. His rest was no longer than a half hour or so but in that time he managed to sneak a small dream in. This dream was about his old team, Sinful cinders which was comprised of himself, Mao and the former Guild Master of Pharaoh’s call Aiyana. They were based on his Airship Tailspin. Their time was short lived but this dream had managed to segway into another memory with himself and Mao taking on a bunch of thugs and their boss Gragas, the large man who thought he was going to take Mao during their job he recalled his words on that day ”Wh...what makes you think I will just let you take her? I’ll Kill you before that happens.“ it was during this job he had first unleashed his  Demon Force to save his friend but in the end he was too weak to protect her completely but with her help they managed to take him down. The last part of this memory he would recall was his head resting in Mao’s lap with her looking down at him thanking him for the job well done. He couldn’t help but be amused from that statement even to this day. Out of all the things to thank him for it was for completing the job but in the end that was what made Mao endearing to him and cemented herself in his heart as a lifelong friend. The last memory that graced his short rest was the memory of being airborne journeying to a town for a job with his first guild Master Raven. Unlike the other dreams this one was by far the most vivid, so vivid in fact that he could smell the food he was making that day when Raven knocked on his door seeking an adventure. The image of her pointing at his chest which was bare at the time and told him that he saw nothing. He recalled the feeling of the wind brush against his face as Kuro, Raven’s pet carry him through the air. He remembered finally where they were going, they were on their way to complete a job in Hargeon. Despite his disdain for Hargeon started on this day his mind took him to the fond moment at the end of the job where they confronted their mark, the man who had stolen jewelry from a tourist visiting a shady hotel and took him out completely along with his cronies.  Unfortunately this wouldn’t be the last time he went to hargeon in fact It was the first of many times he had been to Hargeon and as long as he could help it he would stay as far away as he could from that town. “Uhm Master Kite…?” the mail boy poked his chest lightly, the sense of touch and him repeating his confused statement was enough to get Kite to open his eyes and sit up. ”I must have dozed off.“ this was partially due to, despite his comfy room it didn’t beat the calming environment of his airship. He would redirect his gaze from the ceiling above to the boy in front of him, ”What ya got for me?“ he would ask as he leaned forward making his chair sit upright and let his red hued iris meet the boy’s brown colored eyes. “Oh right. Nothing new in jobs being claimed but this was addressed for you specifically.” He pulled out the envelope and held it out for Kite to take and with an outstretched right hand he gripped the letter he did  quickly opened to it so he could read the contents of the letter.

”Dear Sabertooth GuildMaster,
You are receiving this letter under most urgent reasons. As about a week ago mages have been started observing and tracking a mysterious fog out at sea rolling towards the town of Hargeon. We aren’t entirely sure what it is but it’s giving off a strange and oddly powerful magical signature, the origin of which is unknown but we haven’t sensed anything quite like it since the Monster attack. Our scouts have determined that you have been to Hargeon enough that the city’s layout is very familiar to you. You are not being ordered by any means to return to Hargeon, you have the ability to disregard this completely but should you accept you may prevent a disaster from occurring. Sincerely, The council.   “

The hand holding the letter morphed into a fist essentially crushing the letter in his grip, but despite the sudden tension Kite let out a chuckle due to the irony of it all. ”This is truly rich, not only is that horrid town haunting my dreams and memories but now the Council is asking me to go back. They are a bunch of sly old coots, using my conscience against me here.“ Kite stood up from the chair to walk around the desk where the mail boy was standing and held out some cash for him to take as a tip, ”Thank you. Make sure the rest of the guild gets their postage as well.“ He said to himself walking over to the case on the wall that held his two most reliable partners, a sword that had a rose engraved into it’s lacrima blade and his nameless blade that was created from the broken remains of his shamash. He looked over to his coat which he typically always wore when he went on jobs but instead he decided to leave his sleeveless coat he chose to leave it behind this time and just wear his skin tight top missing its sleeves tucked into a pair of black fatigues that were also tucked into his boots. He then reached out and gripped his rose blade first and lifted it over his shoulder and placed it against his back allowing roots to extend from the blade wrap around his body like a makeshift scabbard. He then picked up his retracted sword and used the trigger to activate the gears to make the blade extend but then retracted once he was satisfied with the test before battle and placed it horizontally against the small of his back. Lastly he held his hand up in front of his face with it open with the palm facing him and concentrated letting a blue flame manifest and burn hot before closing the hand into a fist extinguishing the flames. ”Time to go to Hargeon again.“ he walked to the stand in the corner that held a large lacrima that was made for one thing, teleportation. ”Teleport to Hargeon.“ and in a flash of light he was sent across the land ending up at the entrance of town. He saw from where he was currently standing that the fox was creeping up the shore and docks with tendrils of it flowing through the nearby streets and weaving around buildings, but that wasn’t all he was able to observe. He could also feel the strange signature coming from the fog that was mentioned in the letter. ”This fog.. The council wasn’t joking here. Before I go out and try to fight whatever it is if it's fightable it might be a good idea to get some intel.“ One would think dock masters or even locally stationed knights would have the juicy info but Kite knew better. He headed for a local bar where fishermen and Crew on ships would be relaxing after a hard time on the sea in the fog itself. He walked the streets with his vision unhindered but as he grew closer to the bar he noticed the fog moved equally as close. ”It’s like once in town it’s rate of spreading increased.“ he mumbled to himself as he pushed open the bar door and entered. Once he entered the patrons all turned and gave him a nasty look, following him as he walked passed them, each of them having something to say about his clothes, weapons and both but he paid them no mind as he made it passed the glaring bodies and sat at the bar stool. ”Tough crowd huh?“ but the bartender wasn’t amused in the slightest. “What’ll be mister?” Kite looked at him as he dried a glass with a towel. ”I’ll take rum on the rocks.“

Kite received a rather unnecessary stink eye from the bartender upon ordering his preferred drink which caused him to question the bartender who remained silent, ”Is there a problem with what I ordered?“ the bartender put the glass down and gave the demon slayer a rather nasty glare upon getting asked the question. Kite’s eyes met the bartenders and narrowed his eyes at the man and leaned back on his stool making his posture more straight and proper, ”I should rephrase the question. Do you have a problem with me?“ he asked while shooting a glare at the tender. His muscles tensed up as he grew even more angry and he waited for the answer to his very simple question. The bartender furrowed his brow at the demon slayer and was about to answer but his attention was given to a new customer who had just entered the bar. In turn Kite spun on his stool just enough to get a be able to set his gaze on the gentleman who entered through the same door he had. Kite briefly looked past the hat wearing man and set his sights to the fog outside, ”wow, the fog wasn’t nearly that bad a minute ago.“ he said to himself shocked by the sight of the density of the fog as it was. ”There is definitely something unnaturally ominous with this fog.“ he continued to say to himself even after the door shut, not even ringing the bell that was attached to the door was enough to break his attention away from his current train of thought.  He didn’t even hear the man as he ordered his wine, but he did here the bartender simply say,”coming right up.” Kite looked at the bartender for a moment and then at the man who was being handed his wine. Kite looked at the man’s attire with the first item of clothing to catch his attention was the man’s headwear. He wore a pirates hat which matched the full theme of his outfit. His white shirt , navy pants  and black boots were all common among pirates so Kite was able to surmise that the man was a pirate and judging by how sort of service he received that was what the sort of customer he preferred to have. Kite gave the bartender a fierce look now not hiding how irritated he was but before he could stand from his stool is when hell broke loose. A man wearing a mask of sorts kicked in the door and demanded that everyone put their hands in the air. Kite smirked when he saw the bartender shoot his hands into the air so quick Kite had almost missed it. While the man sipped his wine in protest Kite simply sat there not moving a muscle but listened as the man called out the man in blue demanding his hands join the rest of the patrons but the man instead told the man he was simply enjoying his beverage. The masked man threw a rock projectile at the man who Kite could now assume as Julius but not only was the attack readable for Kite it was also for Julius who dodged with the grace of water and slammed his foot into the masked assailant like a wave crashing into a rock, sending the earth mage into the wall and finishing him off with a water spell. During this the rock that had been dodged by the still flew towards people in the bar. Kite pulled the trigger on his sword which allowed the gears to spin and grin until the entire blade rotated to expose the barrels of his own weapon and had it pointed at the rock and with a quick pull of the trigger shattered the rocked and clicked his weapon back to it’s full rest mode.

The commotion inside the bar must have drawn the attention of the earth mage’s  comrades  because suddenly drop in air pressure and the increase of wind smacking against the windows. The wind was loud and the noise of the people panic was enough to cause his hearing to be less than sharp but he still got up from his stool and  turned to face the direction of the door. Just as his red eyes locked onto the door it as well as the wall it was connected to was ripped straight from it’s foundation from the sudden appearance of a tornado that creeped into the bar drawing everything that wasn’t nailed down and sucked it all up as well as those unfortunate to not have a hold of anything. Kite could feel as the tornado tried to suck him in as well but that wasn't going to happen, while his weapon seemed like an average sword it's true weight kept him from actually being pulled in but he walked towards the tornado until he reached the edge of the cyclone and ignited his fiery aura radiating blue light causing an intense heat to spread throughout the bar and he was the epicenter of it . This heat allowed him to go through the wall of wind and fog with his hands up to protect himself from the debris but he entered the eye of the tornado which was a bit more calm than the rest of it. ”Flame Demon’s Eruption“ which released an explosion of flames to flare out from the demon slayer which created enough heat and force to disperse the tornado. Fog and smoke filtered into the ruined building, the tornado was done but he knew it wasn’t over suddenly cutting through the smoke was a person wearing a different colored and styled mask than the earth mage with a blade extending from their hand slashing horizontally at Kite’s head from behind. Kite acted quickly and reached down with his left hand and pushed down on the collapsed weapon that was holstered across small of his back and pulled the trigger to extend the blade out. With these two motions instead of hitting his head the wind blade hit the sword instead. ”Not a bad idea to attack me from behind.“ he said as he turned to his right slightly chambering his leg for a kick and extended, pushing his foot into the wind mage’s chest with a variation of a back kick. This created space for Kite to spin and face his opponent and smirked, ”Do you have anything to do with this fog?“ but the mage remained silent and instead charged at Kite again with another wind blade. Kite blocked the attack with his blade utilizing a reverse grip and pushed it up and back exposing the chest of the wind mage. Kite was not one to let an opening be wasted, ”Flame Demon’s Exorcising Strike“ with his hand open and fingers pressed against the chest of the mage, he collapsed it into a fist and with his shoulder as the power thrusted his knuckles into the point of interest, from the impact of the punch searing flames exploded shooting over the Airbrand and sending him out into the foggy street where more of his friends wait. He put the point of his sword into the ground and looked over at Julius, ”Looks like you know how to handle yourself in a fight and you’re a man who likes his alcohol as much as me. Wanna help me take care of these bastards then join me for a drink?“



”“

Kite’s strike on the airband sent him flying out to the street where and he smirked content with the results of what had happened. However part of his was hoping that the airbrand would get himself up to retaliate or do something but he just laid there unmoving barely visible in the fog despite only being a few feet away from him. That is when the man who had also engaged with the masked mages approached him from outside the bar with his green bird accompanying him. Kite remained relax as the man approached him, he didn’t recognize him as an enemy or any sort of mild threat. Kite’s question would come right after the man approached him and thanked him for taking good care of “it”. Kite didn’t know what it was. [i]”is he talking about the air mage? I am sure he didn’t mean that or the bar for that matter.“ he looked quickly at the missing wall. Between the tornado and his flames the bar was ruined. It wasn’t until the man reached up and pulled the pirates hat off the top of his head and it wasn’t until it was dusted off that Kite fully understood that somehow during the fray the hat managed to plop onto his head without him even realizing it. ”I honestly didn’t know it was there.“ he said. Luckily for the man his hat didn’t get damaged by the airbrand or his own flames. Kite’s question would then be answered by the man who had said he would be more than happy to have a drink with him and introduced himself as Julius Seas and his parrot as Squable who in turn asked Kite how he was doing. Kite smiled and was going to introduce himself to the man but before he could two additional wind brands revealed themselves and interrupted Kite's introduction. Before they attacked Julius asked if there would be dessert as well to which Kite shrugged after looking at the sorry state of the bar, ”Even if this place did serve any kind of desserts I'd say it's safe that they are out at the moment due to destruction of property.“ the wind mages set their sights on Julius and Kite watched as two beams of air struck Julius. Kite was shocked and angry in one second but Julius splitting into a flock of seagulls after the attack hit.

The seagulls merged back into the form and shape of the man and soon Julius was himself but now he was on top of the mages with hs water whip in hand. In a split second, almost in an instant Julius had disposed of the mages. It was way too fast for Kite to see so he had to remind himself to ask Julius how he did that. Kite turned and walked back to the bar but instead of taking his seat he jumped over the counter and ducked under seeing if there was anything left worth drinking. After a moment Kite found an unbroken bottle of sweet red wine with a cork in it. The demon slayer held up his index finger and pushed it into the cork and used his higher body heat to melt through the cork until he could firmly grip it and pulled it out with a pop. ”Only thing not broke. Come drink we need to talk.“ he put two glasses on the table and poured the wine in both until equal volume and took a sip of the wine before putting the glass down. ”You asked earlier, my name Kite Wilhelm. The demon and Guild Master of Sabertooth.“ he looked at the man soon after with a serious expression, ”You are a mage of some serious skill. I'm guessing a guild mage. Have to ask. Are you here for that job as well?“ he would take another swing from his glass
”cuz if you're not and you happen to be looking for some reward money I could probably use ya for this particular job. he waited for the man to answer and then recalled his earlier question, ”oh that's right. How did you dispatch those last two so quickly? Water magic and time magic?“

After Kite poured Julius some wine into a drinking glass he then poured some wine into a glass of his own. It was a red wine, the kind he prefered over white wine. He held the glass like a normal glass not by under by the stem but in a less classy way. He didn’t care much for the whole looking classy or showing class, there was alcohol to drink and he would be sure to drink it all the same regardless of technique. He lifted the glass and pressed it against his lips letting the sweet liquid enter his mouth and down his throat. It wasn’t as sweet as he he would normally like his wine to be but it wasn’t too dry so it was enjoyable all the same. However it would seem that the man known as Julius was pleasantly surprised by the sheer quality of the wine that was found in a near dive of a bar as well as the remarkable chances that it remained unscathed along with the glasses, a table and a set of bar stools. While Julius and his parrot began to squabble with each other about the bird drinking the wine especially after an apparent attempt on a hawk’s mate. Kite wasn’t entirely paying attention to their argument and sipped on his drink some more before finishing the introduction he wanted to give earlier. After revealing himself as the Guild Master of Sabertooth Kite watched as Julius’ eyes went blank and sort of spaced out only for a moment before shaking himself back to reality and explaining at time when he was at a party held at the guild hall, it puzzled Kite to which party Julius was referring to but he soon brushed it off and made a remark on the nickname that belonged to him, the Demon of Sabertooth. It was a nickname that was directly linked to his magic, his demon slayer magic which was taught to him by Asmodeus, the demon king of Fire. Julius then offered up his ear to hear Kite’s heart sobbing story. While the gesture didn’t go unappreciated Kite had no interest in sharing the details of his past to a stranger. Perhaps one day he would learn of his past but that was unlikely after all, the last person who came into contact with his past was Izayuki, master of Black Rose and a dear friend of his and she got hurt as a result of it. ”Perhaps that would be a story for another day.“ he would say in a nice way to dismiss the idea of his story being shared but he would lift his free hand into the air and conjure forth a azure ball of fire, ”As for the nickname. Legal guild or not, it doesn't change the fact that I am a demon slayer. Therefore i was taught this by a demon. It suits me well and we will leave it at that.“ he would say before taking a final sip of his wine.

It was after this discussion that the talk about Julius being a guild mage as well as his possible interest in taking on this job with Kite, and questions were asked about his abilities such as the water ability he showed as well as the time lapse he was able to create. Luckily Julius was in a sharing mood and explained that his pocket watch is able to adjust his own time as well as have some fun tricks to go along with it. ”yeah nifty is a good word for it.“ and now to answer the questions Julius had about the job. ”Yes, the fog that is blanketing this town is part of my this job.“ he would pause and nod towards the street outside the bar, ”Its an unnatural fog and the source is what I am looking to deal with. It would seem those mages we dealt with moments ago may be tied to it in some way. So simple we take down the bad guys. Send the fog away and get paid for it. Pretty easy.“ he would nod his head and smile. ”So did you or Your partner see see anything before you arrived at the bar?“

”“