{Job} Caged Solutions {Solo}

Althea Eventide ♢ Fairy Tail ♢ D-Rank

Althea walked down the alleyways of Bellum, a small leather bag in her grasp.  She wore a pair of brown-tinted sun shades, a tangerine colored scarf, and a loose red jacket.  Instead of a skirt, she had a pair of short jeans on and black-and-white striped tights.  But the entire scene made sense since there was no alleyway in the first place.  It was an expertly made illusion, created by the slave traders that she was searching for, meant for keeping unwanted visitors out.  Althea pulled a small slip of paper out from her brown leather pouch, placing it onto the floor before taking a few steps backwards.  In no time at all, the floor disappeared, leaving a dark hole in its place.  Usually, the young girl would’ve been all over how amazing it seemed, but at the moment she was focused entirely on the mission she was on.  There was no time to be impressed by spells that seemed to defy the limits of magic.  Stepping down into the darkness, Althea took a deep breath, ready to complete the in-and-out job.

At the end of the tunnel was light, other people, and the sight of plenty of money being passed around.  It wasn’t the most fancy slave trade, but not too shabby either.  The slave traders were all spread out amongst the crowd, but Althea could easily pick them out from the rest.  After all, it took an A-Rank wizard to create an A-Rank illusion.  Looking around the area, she could pick out plenty of other people who wielded magic of some kind, but not as nearly impressive as the slave traders.  It was clear no one there had the power to take them on - unless someone ridiculously strong was just concealing their power - but the likelihood of that was low.  Either way, Althea wasn’t even in Bellum to fight anyone, just to save a couple’s kid who got taken away.  Weaving through the crowd, the wizard was soon able to find what seemed to be the slave’s quarters.

Cages lined the walls, all of them filled with lean, ragged children of all ages.  Some of them were able to lift their heads to see the source of the footsteps, but others were either too weak or just didn’t care enough anymore.  There weren’t actually too many slaves in the hallway, only about 12, but the cages reached down into the darkness.  They’re probable planning on getting more…  The very thought made Althea want to blast the entire facility, but she knew that she could do more if she just focused on her job.  Clenching her fists out of loathing, Althea yelled into the darkness, “Hey, anyone here named Kri Riddle?”

A filthy hand stuck out of one of the cages, waving around frantically, “T-That’s me!”  A quivering voice exclaimed.  Examining the cage, Althea noted that Kri’s ID was number 3448, something she needed in order to make the ‘purchase’.  Looking around the cages, Althea noticed that barely anyone else was paying any attention to her by now.

“Hey, do any of you other guy’s want out?”  She asked, taking a step deeper into the hallway.  But all the wizard was met with was silence.  Turning her back to the children, Althea was about to walk out when one other voice pierced through the sober silence.

“It’s number 3456!  Don’t forget!”  Turning around to the source of the cage, Althea grinned at the sight of a small child’s eyes burning fiercely amongst others that only harbored sorrow.

Proceeding back on her route, Althea ran off, calling to slave number 3456, “I hope my clients don’t mind getting two kids instead of one!”