THE SKY WILL CRY ; job ; Amagiri

An expansive desert oasis. Mile upon mile of innumerable yellow grains; no signs of life in sight. The sky was barren, relieved of it's clouds to unleash a scorching sun that roasted the ground beneath. Some could say it was a rather mesmerizing sight; the untouched landscape but.. for the occupant of such a wasteland--he begged to differ.

A hood of thin-cloth masked his face to allow temporary respite against the torturous heat. A veil of shadow unfurled itself across facial features to conceal the majority of his appearance. The only prominent attribute were those two-toned colorless eyes; a shining silver in the darkness that his cowl provided.

"I thought Project Oasis would mean a place near some damn water.. I'm dying out here!" Amagiri wailed to the open-air, well aware of the fact that he was completely on his own. Before leaving the Crystalli, it was mentioned that another wizard would be accompanying him. Her brief absence before he set to leave initiated him departing on his own. He figured they'd catch him up later.

"What will they be like.. I've only met a few from the Guild. Pretty crazy bunch." he chuckled to himself; reminded of characters like Theo Silversong and Lester Drynedi. His eyes glistened for a moment, granted a period of brief relaxation whilst he basked in pleasant memories--forgetting the harsh reality that currently surrounded him. Such absent-mindedness was often scolded in the desert though as the sand caught up on his feet. His dream vanished and his face was met with an absurd amount of sand--filling orifices he didn't even know he had. Burning sensations crept over his skin due to a secondary effect of the blazing sun above.

"GOD DAMNIT!"

His exclamation pierced the silent air. A reverberation of extreme aggravation while his fist clenched and he struck the ground. Sand obscured his vision for a moment due to the impact of his combative moment. A wisp of wind silently glided past. The sand faded.

"W-what the..?" Granule by granule, his vision soon returned.. providing him with a distinct image of what lay ahead. "Project Oasis?!"

A building of monumental standards stood out clear-as-day. It's as if it had appeared out of thin-air. Wall upon wall of titanic iron-beams and fortifications of epic proportions. The castle stuck out like a sore-thumb whilst Amagiri lay in the sand--bewildered as to how this visage of tyranny had completely missed his contemplative gaze before.

It took him a moment but this phase of indecision soon passed. Knees creaked and his body groaned as he rose from the sand. Every muscle ached. Whilst unclear based on his bodily appearance alone, it had taken Amagiri several days to walk up to this point. This "Project Oasis" could quite literally be described in a geographical dead-zone. Locals had referenced the location as the "Forgotten Desert". He could see why. Whilst this place had it's occasional beauty with it's incessant landscape and bright-blue sky, nothing memorable stood out about the place. That was.. until now.

"Knalla, Head of the Magic Science Division, here I come!" stepping out again, the white-haired mage ignored the protests that his body emitted. This was his time to shine, a first step into finally giving back to the world, his road to peace would officially begin here.

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Scientists bustled left and right with an assiduous aura exuding from their bodies. Each had clearly gone through a lot in the past few days. Amagiri took a moment to examine the looks on their faces as they scurried past. Their features emanated trepidation, apprehension, fear. The white-haired mage figured it had something to do with the darkened clouds above. A fragile glass ceiling held the building together but how long would it be before that magical lacrima truly spun out of control? Amagiri was familiar with the feeling of losing control.. he wouldn't let it happen here too.

Characteristic absent-mindedness overwhelmed the young mage's body. So much so that he barely noticed as his comrade of the day waltzed in. She looked a little restless but much less so than her male counterpart. Her expertly done pig-tails remained intact and the array of clothes that decorated her figure seemed relatively untouched too.

Wow.. those clothes are thin..

Amagiri flushed a shade of pink as these thoughts passed his mind. He shook his head a few times vigorously in an attempt to dismiss them before she would eventually walk up to him. He smiled at her before bowing his head in an apologetic fashion.

"I'm sorry for leaving you behind! I figured if I got here first, we could make some head-way.. Guess I underestimated how long the journey would take me.." he smiled at her, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. His head remained bowed while those trademark white bangs framed his face perfectly to display this picturesque tapestry of anxiousness.

"I look forward to working with y—!" Amagiri's exclamation was cut short as the appearance of an even more flustered individual bombarded the scene. She was short, her hair wild and splayed in directions Amagiri thought didn't exist. Glasses framed a petité and almost cute face if it weren't for the gaze of insanity that plagued it. A labcoat dangled and swung from her shoulders as an official mark of her employment. She bowed to them both in an eccentric manner; swinging her body back and forth before cutting right to the chase.

"You must be the mages I hired! Glad you finally arrived. Hope you don't end up like the last—" she paused, a maniacal glimmer twinkling in her eye. "I mean.. I hope you complete this mission successfully! Let me explain!" she gestured to the sky above. The glass ceiling that Amagiri had observed before. Thunderous roars reverberated against it's surface and the occasional lightning bolt struck it's steadfast frame; surprisingly, it held firm. "As you know, this is our attempt to bring rain to the desert! It was going smoothly at first. Steady flows, the occasional flood. Then this damned lightning storm had to ruin the fun! This rippling natural energy caused our lacrima to malfunction and now it's going haywire. I need you guys to fix it."

Amagiri's eyes widened whilst glancing up. He had no prior experience when it came to fixing lacrimas and besides.. weren't there meant to be researchers capable of doing the job?

"I can tell what you're thinking. The researchers were meant to fix it whilst you guarded them, right? Well.. they're dead! You see, this isn't just a lacrima that's malfunctioning. It radiates this bizarre magical energy out into the desert and attracts these strange.. beasts. We have yet to biologically identify them but I know you'll be up to the task of taking them out. All you need to do is kill them while fixing the lacrima. Easy, right?" Her grin spread from ear-to-ear. She wouldn't let them react and continued to ramble on. A hand shot from her side while the other grasped tightly onto a clipboard she was holding. "There's a ladder over there. I'm afraid no ordinary airship can pierce the freak storm that the lacrima's energy is creating. Good luck!" her smile faded. With her pitch complete she sprinted off, disappearing into the throng of dancing labcoats and panicked faces that flooded the place like a swarm of angry wasps.

The white haired mage closed his eyes and allowed the two white bangs that neatly framed his face to fall forwards. A shadow concealed his features whilst he resolved to deep thought. This isn't like what she advertised at all.. I guess that's what happens when dealing with mad scientists. We can't leave them hanging at this point but I need to have a serious word with that Knalla when this is all said and done.

A kind smile replaced the crest-fallen look of absent-mindedness. He turned to Valeria with a hand on his hip and spoke.

"What do you think we should do? I'll follow your lead!"

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