The Fearsome Four ♢ Solo

Althea looked around the grandiose streets of Minstrel, marveling at the fact that they rivaled even Crocus on levels of fanciness.  The roads for all sorts of vehicles were paved using bricks arranged into an oriental pattern while the sidewalks were a warm sand color.  Even the people looked like ornaments, all gussied up and with white hair way too tall and frilly clothing.  Their doll-like appearances and high airs were unfamiliar to the young wizard, but she guess that she probably just as weird looking to them.  After all, she was simply wearing the schoolgirl uniform she practically always did in this bejeweled city -- or was it just a town?  Althea really couldn’t tell, but she couldn’t really bother figuring it out.  She was in LeBuque to sort out a problem concerning dark wizards from Fiore with the Musketeers who had asked for a bit of assistance.  And although the locals seemed deceivingly calm, they were all actually moving away from the source of the problem: The Townshed Mansion.

After only a bit of speed walking, Althea reached the gates of the grandiose manor, looking around for the three Musketeers she was meant to do the mission with.  “Pssstt!”  A hushed voice whispered in a not so quiet voice.  “Over in the viburnum bush, Fiorian wizard!”  Slightly puzzled about what a ‘viburnum bush’ looked like seeing as there were a vast amount of flora planted in front of the mansion, Althea simply followed the sound of the voice.  Rather quickly, she was faced with three woman clad in capes and feathered hat, all crouched within the flowered bush.  And without warning, the brunette reached out and pulled the slayer too into the bush.  As soon as Althea was seated on the floor, the blonde one spoke,  “Hello wizard, you may already know this but we are what the Musketeers call the Three Musketeers, Atha!”  The redheaded woman who had been keeping herself busy by buffing her sword spoke,  “Atma.”  Finally, the brunette introduced herself.  “Portha~!”

“Oh, I’m Althea, nice to meet you, Three Musketeers.”  The girl responded, looking over the focused musketeers. “Alright, enough of introductions.”  Atha said, whipping out a map from what seemed like nowhere.  Laying it out on the ground, all the musketeers turned their attention to the parchment.  “We’re stationed right here and from the scouts the Musketeers have sent out we know there are some guards stationed here, here, and here.”  The blonde marked the map with a light pen, a sword signifying the group’s current position while simple x’s were used for the guards’.  “Therefore, we need to take the entrance that isn’t guarded: the windows.”  She said, creating an arrow from the sword straight into the house.  Suddenly, she looked up to face Althea, “You, Fiorian wizard Althea, will have to be the one going in.  We’ll throw you in, too fast for any of those thugs to see at all.  But from there, you’re basically on your own, but we’ll communicate to you using these.”  Atma pulled out a small earpiece in a similar fashion to how she acquired the map and light pen.  “This’ll be a stealth mission, in and out.” She said, getting to her feet and signalling for the others to do so too.  Taking a few steps backwards, the trio of musketeers were all situated behind Althea, angling themselves accordingly to send her into the window. “Remember: we’re counting on you Althea.” The redhead Atma said, the slayer nodding dutifully in response. “Everyone ready?  Alright then, 1,2…”  The girl braced herself for the launch, gaze set squarely on the open window high up on about the third-floor.  “3!”  With the power of the three highly-trained musketeers, Althea rocketed into the air, and soon rolling into the manor with a quiet thud.

“Testing, testing, 123…”  The voice of Atma echoed into the water mage’s ear, “You can hear me, right?” “Mhmm, loud and clear.” “That’s good, but tell me, how does it look in there, Althea?”  Getting to her feet, the girl looked around the dingy room.  “Erm, like an attic.” “Okay, you’re in the third-floor storage room while Sir Townshed is on the 1st floor.  Get there as quietly as you can then out as quickly as possible, okay?  We’ll try and figure out a way for us to get in while you do that.”  “Okie dokie!”  Althea answered, silently opening the door and entering the lavish hallway.

But as soon as Althea exited the dark room, the sound of footsteps echoed from around the corner.  “So you mean kool-aid or is it just fruit juice?”  “Of course I mean kool-aid!”  The two dark wizards turned the corner just as Althea had leapt, hugging a conveniently placed chandelier.  “The red man wouldn’t play us like that, by the way--”  But suddenly the two’s odd conversation was interrupted when the slayer descended from above onto them.  Landing on them and painfully bringing to the ground, Althea punched both of them in the back of the head before they even had time to speak.  “Hey Atma, I just took out two.” “Oh?  Make sure to hide them then.”  Without a moment’s hesitation, the wizard dragged the two unconscious dark wizards into the room she had just exited.  Then, she promptly moved onto the 2nd floor.

In a chair in the middle of the hall sat a solitary bored looking wizard, not looking anywhere in particular.  Althea immediately recognized that sneaking around him was not an option, so she attacked, leaping at the man.  Her punch connected to his head, causing him for fall over out of his chair.  “W-What?  Intruder?!”  He said, fumbling into his pockets to get something.  But, before he could do anything, Althea had kicked him in the face.  But, the dark wizard then had time to get to his feet, promptly summoning a creature afterwards.  His summon was this sort of large incest with scythe-like blades for arms.  It immediately went for the slayer, the girl dodging several of its attacks before dealing out a high kick that sent it flying through the roof.  Turning her attention to the creature’s summoner, Althea sat on top of him, simply punching him four times and then stopping.  Not because he was incapacitated, but because the floor collapsed below the pair.  Apparently, the dark wizard’s summon had cut up the floor while fighting Althea, his missed attack aiding in his pursuit.  Moving midair towards the chuckling summoner, she gave him two additional bruises, leaving him out for the count.

But the damage was already done, and the young wizard landed right in front of someone she could assume was the dark wizards’ boss and a well groomed man tied to an armchair.  “Hey, are you that Sir Townshed guy?”  As a response, the gagged man nodded, but then the wizard stared upwards at the gaping hole above. “Erm, sorry about your house.  I’ll repay you by beating that guy next to you.”  The previously silent dark mage couldn’t help but laugh at Althea’s words.  “You?  Beat me?  Hah!  You must be joking!” The man assumed a fighting position, Althea doing the same as a response.

Then, in a flash, he was gone.  Confused, she looked around for him, but then she felt a blunt force against the side of her head.  Quickly, about five more consecutive blows were dealt as the dark wizard punched the girl’s back, sending her crashing into a wall.  Coughing up a bit of blood, Althea stumbled back onto her feet.  But, a grin slowly etched across her face.  “Okay, it’s time to test which is quicker, your teleportation or my reaction time.”  First came the sound of roaring thunder echoed through the sky, then the heavy sound of rain against the mansion.  The slayer enhanced her abilities, gesturing for the dark wizard to once again come at her.  And promptly, he did so, teleporting to her back the same way he had before.  But just as he did, Althea whipped around, dealing a roundhouse kick to his hip.  This one blow rocetgted him into a bookcase, the literature cascading down onto him.  Getting to his feet, the dark wizard leaned on the fine shelf before disappearing once again, the bookcase going with him.  A shadow then appeared on top of Althea, the slayer promptly jumping upwards to meet it with her fist and consequently the dark wizard.  Mid air, the two faced off against each other.  “How do you..?”  “Well, you’re kind of predictable, and I just sense your magic and react accordingly.  Pretty easy when you think of it.”  An annoyed expression then appeared on the dark wizard’s face, a deep set frown present on his features.  And just like that, the fight resumed, the teleportation wizard being first to dish out attacks, all of which Althea managed to narrowly block.  Then, the slayer let out a flurry of consecutive punches, although only three connected.  But that was all she needed to finish things off.  Reeling back her leg, she performed the same powerful high kick she had on the summon from before, sending the dark mage flying into the air.

Landing neatly on the ground, Althea turned to Sir Townshed, quickly untying him from the chair and releasing his gag.  Getting to his feet, the noble faced the Fiorian wizard, bowing gracefully before speaking.  “Thank you very much, miss.”  “No problem, and you can just call me Althea!  I learned a thing or two from this fight, so don’t sweat it!”  Almost as if on que, the Three Musketeers burst through the wall, concerned expressions fading once they spotted Althea standing next to Sir Townshed.  The trio proceeded to rush over to the elderly man and young girl, putting their weapons into their utility belt.  “Sir, are you quite alright?”  Portha asked, a note of worry still present in her tone.  “Oh, I’m quite alright girls, although my house is another story...”  Finally, the woman turned their attention to Althea, Atma taking a step forwards towards the slayer. “We are very thankful to you Fiorian wiza - no - Althea.  Is there any way for us to repay you?”  Althea thought for a moment before replying, beaming.  “Well, just the usual jewel payment and one of those cool hats will do!”