The Parfume Spy [Job - Nessa]

There just weren't words to properly express Arcadia's relief and joy. A room here in Fairy Hills was the first place she could call her own since she lost the little hut she called home back in Dragnof. There was nothing special about it yet with only a basic set up that came with any unoccupied room. It could have bare and unfurnished, and Arcadia still would be just as happy. For today, she only saw the potential a little work could do to put her touch on it. Like maybe saving up for an ice lacrima to make it snow lightly inside.

Arcadia shook her head clear of daydreams. There would be plenty of time to think about decorating later. She still had to officially unpack. Yawning, Arcadia threw back her covers, and climbed on out of bed. The young mage wore a soft pink nightgown not unlike a lighter version her few dresses, and her long pale blonde hair a frizzy nightmare. She had slept in.

It had only been her third night in Fairy Hills, and luxuries like sleeping in was something the young slayer had fallen victim to every morning so far. Just lazing around a room she could hall her own had  eaten up her first two whole days even. This morning, she was ready to make it look like someone  actually lived in here.

Bare feet carried her across her room to her pack, drawing the knapsack wide open. Acradia pulled the largest and the heaviest thing out first. Arcadia hefted the cloth wrapped object up onto her dresser with a thunk. . Unwrapping it, revealed the large chunk of ice shaped very much like a disembodied dragon's eye. Deep green eyes misting up, she lovingly  patted over the top of the icy eye. ”Hey, Mom.”

Arcadia went still, sniffing cautiously toward her door. After three days in Fairy Hills, she had mostly learned the smells of everyone who was supposed to be here. This morning was a strange new one. One she didn't recognize from Fairy Hills or from the Fairy Tail guildhall either. Now that she thought about it, she did smell this strange scent the night before. Was there someone else new she hadn't been told about yet?

It was easily something she could find out later, so she turned back to the task of unpacking, moving the couple dresses she had stuffed into her knapsack into the drawers of her dresser.  Closing the drawer on her last dress, Arcadia faintly picked up two other scents she did know. One of  whom wouldn't normally be allowed in Fairy Hills, unless both of them were giving that new person a tour maybe?

That was a question exciting enough to go investigate immediately. Too curious to change from her pajamas or tame her hair,  Arcadia rushed right out of her room, following her nose. The familiar scents grew stronger as she rushed down the stairs, ”Nessa! Aven!”

The enthused young slayer decided taking the stairs normally was too slow, so she hopped up onto the banister to slide the rest of way down.  She laughed as she flew down the banister, leaping off at the bottom.

*Faceplant!*

A miscalculated landing had her splatting face first on the floor. Arcadia rose back to her feet without hesitation, resuming her search. Sniffing at the air, Arcadia turned in a slow circle, ”Big sister?  Brother? Is that you?”



Word Count: 572  (Total: 572/7,500)[/i]

Job Details
The Parfume Spy

WC: 545 / 2500
Total WC: 1117 /7500

Out of every experience Aven'd had in his life, across the spectrum, from good to bad, he'd never once violated the basic assumption that the girls and boys bathing areas were to be kept free of the opposite gender. Thus, it came as quite a shock when, to his dismay, he overheard a rumor that there was a miscreant abusing transformation magic to infiltrate Fairy Hills, to sneak a peek at its residents. He was disgusted by the sheer gall of the stranger, and he'd vowed on the spot to apprehend the culprit with extreme prejudice. That intensity remained as he strode into the compound behind Nessa, naturally allowing her to lead the way, as he was only on a provisionary license into the area, his staunch demeanor erected specifically to distract him from the fact that by taking on the job, he was, for the first time, violating that sacred separation of girls and boys.

Aven's seriousness was abruptly shattered, of course, when Arcadia came bounding down the stairs, in a heart wrenchingly cute display of innocence and clumsiness, falling flat on her face after a playful slide down the bannister. He winced, his guard too far down to have reacted and thrown an Inertia Circle under her to break the fall. She seemed fine, however, and he smiled brightly as she called to them, and performed his usual bow. "It's wonderful to see you again, Miss Arcadia!"

Nessa explained the situation, and brought up a very intriguing prospect. Having Arcadia join them for the job, eh? It wasn't a bad idea by any stretch of the imagination; in fact, there was a lot of merit to the idea. Transformation magic, as a whole, only changed the shape and mass of the object it was enacted upon, not the scent: a dragon slayer, like Arcadia, would likely be able to pinpoint a male scent among all the women in the area! In addition, it would give Arcadia the chance to grow as a wizard without the added danger of death, a win-win across the board. Aven nodded in agreement, "That's a wonderful idea, Nessa!" With a small gesture, he reached his hand out to Arcadia. "Miss Arcadia, would you like to join us in apprehending the culprit? It will be much easier with you along, as in the moment, we're grasping at straws."

The best case scenario was that Arcadia could pick up his scent while ignoring Aven's own male scent, though he wasn't completely sure if his presence would complicate the issue. He'd only the basest of knowledge on scenting abilities, having skimmed over them a few nights when he was researching body enhancement magic. In the end, he'd concluded there were too many variables to include such processes in his Circle magic, what with body mass, muscle mass, hormonal imbalance, and other individual traits that could muddle the success of the circle. At the very least, he could rely on others to provide such an advantage on jobs.

As a small preparation, Aven twirled his cane, and a yellow Lightning Circle appeared at the end, while a blue Overcharge circle appeared next to it, and promptly shattered, causing the Lightning Circle to pulsate with energy. A moment later, the Lightning Circle appeared to thicken, as he multiplied it, causing there to be four total circles stacked upon each other, all attached and moving with the orb at the end of the cane. They'd need a way to incapacitate the intruder once he was found, after all, and the stunning electric shock from the lightning circle would be perfect, as it wasn't very damaging.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Health: 400.
Magic Power: 360.

Multiplication Glyph, Hei: No post cooldown remaining.
Destruction Glyph, Rho: 1 post cooldown remaining.
Overcharge Circle: 2 post cooldown remaining.
Lightning Circle: 4 post cooldown remaining.

Word Count: 607.
Word Count Total: 607/2500.

Arcadia smiled brightly to see what her nose told her from upstairs. After Nessa helped dust off her pajamas, Arcadia greeted the older girl with a giant hug powered purely by enthusiasm. Seeing Aven and Nessa chased way all of the young slayer's morning grogginess.  She glanced to the side, briefly avoiding their gaze in embarrassment, ”Yeah, I'm fine. Don't think I broke anything. Kinda wish you guys hadn't seen that, but I'll live.”

She returned Aven's bow and lifted her deep green gaze, the flush fading away with her renewed smile, and bit of her Dragnof accent slipping through”Hella happy to see both you guys though!”

Her happiness was curbed by the news of why they were both here. Arcadia bit her lower lip in thought, eventually shaking her head. ”Hmm, afraid I don't remember seeing anything odd, but I have smelled a strange new scent...since at least lat night if not before. Arcadia sniffed at the air, then sniffed first in Nessa's direction and finally Aven's direction.  Sniffing back at the air away from them all, she nodded, “Yepyep. That's definitely not either of you. And it's still around here somewhere. I really shoulda noticed it belonged to a guy before. But I have been pretty excited to have a room of my own!  I wasn't really to look for strangers in here. Just thought it was someone in the guild I hadn't met yet.”

Deep green eyes brightened  and sparkled when she was invited to join two of the mages she admired most since joining Fairy Tail. She smiled and started to reach and accept Aven's outreaching hand. The young slayer could be impulsive when she was happy and excited, and that would be why she lurched suddenly giving Aven the same kind of enthused hug she greeted Nessa with instead of just shaking his hand. ”I'd be honored!” Arcadia did slip back bowed when she realized how forward she had been. “Oh uh sorry! I won't let you down.” She grinned so big to Nessa and Aven that she couldn't hide her cute little fangs.

As excited as she was, Arcadia didn't waste too much time getting down to business. She got busy sniffing at the air, trying to pick out the spy's scent from all those that filled Fairy Hills. ”It might take me a little while to pick up his trail. Right now, the best I can say is he's around here somewhere.”

Arcadia began to scamper about the lounge in an almost haphazard manner. If she had to explain it, it would be like having to find your way by touch alone. She had to start with the widest net possible until she worked out where strongest hints of the spy's scent had been left. The slayer zigzagged around the lounge a few times over before she finally began to zero in on a direction. That direction lead back upstairs. She froze at the first step at an unnerving realization that made her blush brighter than she had even earlier. The slayer wondered aloud, ”Hella sketch.  Did he peek on me too?”

That dreadful possibility seemed quite real now, and sparked a change in the young mage's mood. Both her hands clenched in fists, her young face darkened by determined deathglare.


”This. Can't be allowed.”

Arcadia, furious, charged to the top of the stairs, passing a woman on her way down. A woman who she would have let pass judged by sight alone. The young slayer halted at the top and turned back to face the woman who was no halfway down the stairs. She sniffed the air once more to be sure. The scent was undeniable.

She pointed an accusing finger, ”You may fool our eyes, but you can't fool a dragon's nose! I know you are, perv! You dare peek on me and the other girls here??”

Before Arcadia's very eyes the staircase seemed to lengthen and the first floor to drop away, and it appeared to her sight that the woman summoned a great monster from thin air. A monster that dipped its great maw to swallow the young girl in one gulp. A visually very convincing illusion that happened so swiftly, the slayer had no time to realize the monster had no scent of its own. Arcadia screamed in terror and hunched down with her arms brought protectively over her head. As she believed she as about to be swallowed whole,  her body was swiftly covered in a perfectly smooth layer of ice from head to toe. The ice carried its own seemingly internal glow and was impervious to any harm. It's protection proving unneeded, but the distraction would have been all the spy needed to make good his escape had the slayer been alone.



Activated for Post:

Lineage: Knight of Honor:

Post Word Count: 797

Personal Total Word Count: 1369/2500

Job Total Word Count: 2521/7500

Job Details
The Parfume Spy

WC: 682
Nessa's Total WC: 1227 / 2500
Total WC: 3203 /7500

Stats
Magical Item
HOHC : 60% buff to HP / Spell Damage


Abilities Used
Starlight Comet ::Duration : 1/1 | Cooldown : 0/2
Starlight Guide :: No Cooldown

Spells Used
Starlight Protega :: No Cooldown

The glowing protective layer of ice was quick to flake away into slushy snow on the floor as she stood back up. The armored ice had been so freezing that her arms were still numb, and unable to move.  They flopped freely at her sides. Glancing around, she took a few breaths to help steady her nerves She vowed to listen more to her nose than her eyes until this intruder was caught. Also, she was a bit too flustered still to fully notice any shame Nessa was hoping to not let on to. Either that or she knew to let it pass.

Her faerie green gaze swept down the stairs, glad to find they had stopped moving. Arcadia  raced down, her arms comically flopping to the pace of her hurried gait.  Her expression was quiet serious though as she hurried  to follow  Nessa and her little bouncing star. ”Does that thing have a nose? And uh if it doesn't... how does it smell where he is?”  Smelling the air, she could tell the star knew its stuff, as it seemed to keep hot right on the trail.

The young slayer flushed, ”I can't believe that guy peeked on me.  I hope that doesn't happen a lot. I was kinda liking it here. It's nice having a bed of my own.” She  hurried to follow the star on, breaking into a trot to keep up. ”I can't tell, if the hall is really this long, or  if it's more of that... perv's tricks.”

It seemed the perv was leading them on quite the chase as  the chase picked up speed, on through the spa, into one restroom and back out again. It was all Arcadia could do to keep up. Somewhere along the way int the rapid maze-like chase, she lost track of Aven. ”This guy's faster than I thought... and now I've even lost track of big brother.”

Arcadia's heart rose when she spotted what looked like Aven entering from across the hallway. Her nose and probably big sister's little star  knew better. ”Did you really think you'd fool us? My nose know what you smell like and what Aven smells like, and big sister's magic  seems pretty good at telling that stuff too. Just give up!”

Again the perv tried to use a monster to unnerve the young slayer, but this time she only flinched. He chuckled, “Won't fall for the same trick twice huh?  Well..maybe you should just take a little spa time too.”

The parfume imposter-Aven snapped his fingers and Arcadia's nightgown seemingly turned to a loose spa towel. With her arms too numb and useless, her towel fell right down, turning the young slayer's face beet red. Thankfully her  extra long pale blonde hair seemed to keep the wizard at least as modest as the towel could have. She snarled, ”Runnin' out of ideas, perv??”

She took off after him again, with no magics of her own capable of dismissing the illusion. The monsters she at least could ignore, but intruder proved he had at least one more wrinkle to add. The young slayer came to a sliding halt, just barely avoiding a spike-lined pit trap that appeared in front of her. She tried to balance on the edge, though  that was useless with no useful arms to balance with.  Staring down into the spike-lined pit, she leaped, conjuring wings of pure hoarfrost to glide over the illusionary pit. That hesitation as all he need to disappear around another corner, and gain enough time to change appearance yet again if he so chose.  ”Come back here and let us pummel you!”


WC: 604
Arcadia's Total WC: 1973/3750
Total WC: 3807/7500

Job Details
The Parfume Spy

WC: 779
Nessa's Total WC: 2006 / 3750
Total WC: 3979 /7500 [I've subtracted Aven's WC for the sake of submission]

Stats
Magical Item
HOHC : 60% buff to HP / Spell Damage


Abilities Used
Starlight Comet ::Duration : 1/3

Spells Used
Starlight Boost :: 40% speed buff to ally touched.

Arcadia held out her arms far out wide to keep her balance after landing. She sighed at herself for falling for another of the intruder's illusions when Nessa ran over the very spot she had sworn had just had a trap door. Really she should've known better, but then you can't take such things for granted. Not when other wizards are involved.

To her great relief, Nessa's spell lifted the horribly embarrassing illusion from her body.  She was even amused by the soft glow she was left with. The young slayer giggled, ”I'm a night light lacrima.” Arcadia's amusement quickly returned to her determined focus, as she also noted how much more light her limbs all felt. She nodded to Nessa, turning her sparkling, faerie green gaze up to the older girl, ”Thanks, big sis! I kept hoping disbelieving would make it go away. I mean it kinda helped with those monsters of his, but I guess that didn't make it go away, just kept me from freaking out.”

The pale blonde slayer stared to follow the little ball of starlight once again, and checking with her nose every so often. Though she started to think, ”I've only lived here fore like three days now, but I'd swear Fairy Hills is not this big, not even on the first floor.  I think his biggest trick might  making it feel like a maze of halls when it isn't. Does he have us going in circles, just so he can stay ahead of your bouncy starlight ball and my nose? This sweet night light spell ya gave me, makes me feel  extra speedy too. Maybe I can speed past him next time we catch up, and trap him between us. Though it's gonna be hard to hit him if she's still looking like Aven.  Uh..if can tackle or hold him, maybe you can remove his disguise face? Then we can punch his real one...   or tie him to turn him in... I guess that's right thing to do, but... I really wanna punch his face in.”

She growls in frustration, ”We'll get him!” Arcadia scrambled on up the nearest hallway wall, her bare feet and hands frosting and unfrosting themselves as she climbed toward the ceiling. With the combined natural slayer speed and starlight boost, the young slayer  reached the ceiling in no time. She skittered along the ceiling in a gecko-like fashion, following Nessa's starlight ball and her own nose once more.

More proof of the impostor using his magic to twist Fairy Hills' hallway into a seemingly unending labyrinth came when they came upon a dead end. It was a dead end big sister's starlight probably went on through, which gave Arcadia pause. Her nose told her their quarry was ahead, but her faerie green eyes didn't see a way to go in that direction.  The young mage experimentally reached one hand from the ceiling toward the dead end wall, and found her hand went through just like the ball... so she skittered on after it.

To her disorientation, Arcadia discovered a hallway beyond the wall even more contorted beyond reality than the hallway left behind. She called out to the impostor, ”You know, we will find you. These little tricks of yours will only make things worse for you.” The pale blonde slayer resumed following Nessa's ball of starlight down the M.C. Escher nightmare the impostor had twisted Fairy Hills' hallways into visually.  Ahead of her, her deep faerie green gaze picked up movement. A couple different Avens criss crossing the hallway ahead. Visually very confusing, but she trusted  her nose and big sister's magic to not be fooled.

She sped along the ceiling, not falling for the decoys she passed along the way. With her boosted speed, she was something of a skittering blur. She flipped from the ceiling and landed back behind the impostor Aven. The impostor looked oddly at the softly glowing slayer girl before he took off. Arcadia grinned, showing her cute little fangs a little more prominently than usual.  Knowing she was chasing him back toward Nessa now, the pale blonde slayer held her distance, and did not chase at full speed.  

Arcadia wanted to be sure she had big sister's immediate help available before  tried to close in. She took leisurely pace in her pursuit, but made sure he knew she was not too far behind him.

She felt her face flushing beet read again, just thinking about how many times this guy might have peeped on her in the last three days or  how many of the girls in Fairy Hills he had gotten away with spying on until now. Thinking over such things made it really hard to keep her anger in check. ”Hey Nessa! Do you think we'd get in trouble if we beat his face in... then turn him in to the Rune Knights?”

WC: 815
Arcadia's Total WC: 2788/3750
Total WC: 4794/7500

Spells

Ice Dragon Glacier Geckowalk, Duration 1/3

Job Details
The Parfume Spy

WC: 850
Nessa's Total WC: 2856 / 3750
Total WC: 5644 / 7500

Stats
Magical Item
HOHC : 60% buff to HP / Spell Damage


Abilities Used
Starlight Comet ::Duration : 1/3

Spells Used
Starlight Boost :: 40% speed buff to ally touched.

Sinking an icy fist into the intruder's face was very much what the young, pale blonde slayer really, really wanted to do. She planned on doing just that, as soon as Nessa managed to dispel Aven's pretty face from the intruder. Arcadia slowed her pursuit, coming to a halt a fair distance from big sister. The slayer was not going to let the intruder by her of she could help it, so she hung back to more easily cut off his angles past her.

Arcadia stood ready to pounce the instant Nessa's starlight melted the intruder's face to normal. Only, she found herself witnessing the intruder sink to another despicable low. Seeing imposter-Aven move in like that to Nessa made the young slayer blush. She hadn't really thought of the two as more than guildmates in the short time she had known them.

She felt the brief pang of a schoolgirl crush dying before it really took hold. The teen slayer was also secretly crushing on one of the bar staff back at the guild house, so she barely noticed. Arcadia liked the idea of having new family better. That was harder to come by, and now that she thought about it, Aven and Nessa were pretty cute together. If they weren't already a thing, she might have to do something about that. Maybe.

She shook her head clear, remembering that wasn't Aven. That intruder's illusions felt like they had way of playing mind tricks, at least, that's what Arcadia was sure of now. She called out to Nessa, "Don't listen to him! He's not the real Av-"

Thankfully, Nessa had already overcome the impostor's new sweet talking angle, and he was revealed as he truly was again. Arcadia wasted no time lurching in throwing and landing a pair of punches square on his face. She hauled him up from the floor with greater ease than any other girl her age or size, preparing to deliver an ice-filled roar straight to his face.

That would be when the intruder proved to have at least one more trick up his sleeve. He would need it because despite being bigger than the young girl, he was no match for a slayer's enhanced strength. The intruder interrupted her roar, smashing a glass vial he palmed up literally from his sleeve.

A soft pink, highly hallucinatory sleep gas rose up from the released contents. Almost immediately, Arcadia began to see butterflies made of the purest white light swarm all around her. Unlike his other tricks, these were only visible to Arcadia. She felt herself growing drowsy, and how easily that let the intruder turn the tables on her.

She went from manhandling the intruder, ready to blast him point blank with her icy dragon roar to being held as his human shield. The young slayer knew needed to keep fighting, but these glowing butterflies wanted to take her somewhere peaceful. Somewhere where none of this mattered, so she surrendered to them. Despite how heavy her body was feeling, they buoyed her off with ease. Arcadia slumped into sleep, held up only by the intruder's arm around her torso.

When the butterflies cleared away, Arcadia found herself standing in the middle of an alpine meadow in full summer bloom. No longer a swarm, the glowing butterflies were spread out over the meadow lending an extra ethereal feel to the place. The whole meadow filled her with a sense of peace and relaxation. At first the pale, blonde slayer had to wonder if she were dead or back under a Sphere-like spell.

Arcadia refused to believe she was dead, and couldn't remember anything at all from her time in magical hibernation under Sphere. This was different. Way different. Up ahead over the crest of a slight hill in the meadow, she heard music. She was drawn up the hill, the young slayer darting through the waist high wildflowers to reach the top of the hill. Just past the gentle rise was an encampment full of dragons and humans all celebrating together. Among the dragons, she made out her own mother, Khione Glacier. She was talking to a small family of humans.

The young slayer laughed and waved excitedly, calling out as she rushed ahead toward the celebration. ”Mom! Mom! Mom!! It's me! Arcadia!” She sprinted through the flowers, fast as her bare feet would carry her. The great ice dragoness lifted her head toward the young slayer's shouts. The great ice dragoness lifted her mammoth clawed hand and waved Arcadia over.

Arcadia leaned into her sprint to get any extra burst of speed she could. As she drew close enough to make out the faces of the family Khione Glacier was talking to though, another spark of recognition struck the pale blonde wizard. They were her family too, her human family. The ones she lost to so young to dragon attack.

Yet here they were, her two mothers just casually chatting away in the middle of the celebration. Glancing around, she began to recognize the other humans and dragons present. She had known all of them in some capacity or another back in Dragnof. Maybe she was dead after all. Arcadia was home again, somehow she with that. If this was the afterlife, then she would be happy to stay.

She would miss Nessa, Aven and all of Fairy Tail, but she was certain she'd see them again someday. The funny thing is, as soon as she thought all that, both Nessa and Aven joined the little gathering, and they quietly pointed out where all her other friends from Fairy Tail were gathered around the band responsible for the music filling the meadow.

Everyone she could have hoped to be here was here, and they were all getting along and having the time of their lives. It was the instant perfection that brought doubt to the back of Arcadia's mind. The young slayer decided it wouldn't hurt to double check her circumstances before joining in the celebrating. She went and hugged all three of her families, though she thought things over.

If Nessa and Aven were here...then what was it..that intruder creep killed them too? No that creep couldn't have been strong enough to take down all of Fairy Tail, and everyone was here. Also, the more she thought about, the more she realized, she didn't remember what her human family had looked like. Arcadia grew uncertain these were even her true family.

The more certain she was these weren't her real family, the dimmer and more faded the festivities and meadow grew around her. Slowly, she grew aware of the world outside her dreams again, until she startled back awake in the middle of the impostor's little speech. He was slowly backing toward the exit, using her as a shield.

Impostor: “She really is quite lovely, even with those little dragon fangs. But still too young be any fun. You on the other hand... I'm just sorry you haven't been staying here. I'm sure we could've had some real fun. Sadly, it's time for me to go. So if yo-”

Still groggy, Arcadia fought through the sleeping spells hold her enough to elbow, and then throw the impostor back to the ground straight in front of Nessa, ”Light 'im up, big sis!”

WC: 1217
Arcadia's Total WC: 4005/3750
Total WC: 6861/7500



Spells

Ice Dragon Glacier Geckowalk, Duration 2/3

Job Details
The Parfume Spy

WC: 920
Nessa's Total WC: 3776 / 3750
Total WC: 7781 / 7500

Stats
Magical Item
HOHC : 60% buff to HP / Spell Damage


Abilities Used
Starlight Comet ::Duration : 1/3

Spells Used
Starlight Boost :: 40% speed buff to ally touched
Starlight Encasement :: B Rank Burst Damage