>(((*> Running Out Of Air <*)))< (Job - Temperance)

Little Arcadia was glad she had arrived at the researcher's camp on the beach at Crescent Island the day before. Even if she had avoided any issues of upset stomach by flying out here herself, she appreciated having the extra time to settle in and ready herself for a job. She was to meet Selina from the Black Cat Lounge out here. Little Arcadia was ready, wearing a pink tank suit with acute little bows. When Selina came,s he would rise and wave, ”Hey there!   Good to see you again!  Did you get that  safety lecture from that research guy too?  It's cool I guess.  Did he give us enough air lacrima? 'Cuz I'm not sure if he gave me one or two.”

When they were both ready, she would swallow the air lacrima she had been given, and smiled to Selina. ”Let's hit the waves! We gots an artifact to bring back.”

The littlest slayer was extra excited for this adventure, she'd never done any underwater exploring before. She was excited to see all the different kinds of fish, even of the researcher guy did warn that the artifact they were after made them all haywire. She was pretty certain that meant she should avoid taking dragon form while on this job. The little blonde slayer not wanting to risk that turning into a non-humanoid form would let the artifact twist her mind too.

She was kinda amazed at how the air lacrima worked, and hoped it would last long enough to do a little exploring on the way back. Breathing freely inside the air bubble that formed around her head, she dove down a gentle, steady dive ass she also began to put some distance from the beach toward where the artifact was supposed to be found. While it was still quiet around, she took a moment to take in the beauty of blue around her, and the sandy sea floor gently sloping away. Glancing her sparkling faerie green eyes up, she saw the sunlight sparkling with the gentle waves above, and breaking up into rays below the waves.  Arcadia kinda wished it would be the is beautiful and peaceful all the way down.

She knew better though, they'd know when they were starting to get close as soon as they came across any aggressive sea life. Little Arcadia tread water in place briefly, taking a more careful look around. Still all clear, so far. It was then she realized that some of her senses that usually relied on like her slayer sense of smell wouldn't quite work the same. She was pretty sure, while the air bubble made it possible to be down here, it probably didn't translate any scents in the water. Talking didn't work, so she doubted scenting would either. It was a little unsettling to be down to just sight and hearing.

Checking to be sure she had not lost Selina, Arcadia continued her descent in the direction the researcher had said the artifact could be found. As beautiful as it was down here, she was beginning to think how quiet it was too, maybe a little too quiet, especially since she was pretty sure their luck wouldn't hold out long enough to not run into any agitated sea life the whole way down.

WC: 550
Arcadia's Total WC: 550/1500
Combined WC: 550/3000

Job Details

Selina arrived at the port where little Arcadia was already all in her swimming attire. The black haired witch arrived, in her casual attire-- or irregular attire as the reporter Lina. The young girl with her vest, jeans and jacket made her appear far more inconspicuous as she still had a reputation, but doubt it would follow her out here.

As such, she walked and met her at the pier with Hex perched on her shoulder. The black cat wagged her tail as she looked cautiously at the water on the pier, her pointy witch's hat snug on her head. The cat had a nervous tick as she heard about this job.

"Good Morning, Arcadia," Selina said with a smile, and removed her glasses to reveal her green eyes and a kind smile.

The job was clear and Selina was glad she could be a part of it. The thief in her loved the idea of sunken treasure. She would get what the client wanted-- but no one said she couldn't keep what else was down there. The thief inside her wouldn't allow it any other way as she saw Arcadia in her adorable little swimsuit. The girl had a way of tickling the innocence in her, and couldn't help but want to hug this adorable girl...

... even though she was a Dragon Slayer who could more than hold her own against anything as much as she could.

Hex remained in a picky mood as she hopped onto a nearby pole of the docks and kept high as she watched them change. Selina merely gave a flick of one of her cards-- and in a form of requip, she was in a swimsuit-- a trick she used often for a quick wardrobe change or to make men turn their heads.

"I hate to admit it, but these things are pretty cool. I never had to use one of these," Selina said as she put on the breathing gear. "Hex, aren't you coming--?"

"Nope, nope, nu-uh, forget it, no." The cat said as she hopped onto another piece of the pier and began to pace nervously back and forth on all fours. "Not going into water. I don't do water. Ain't got time for water."

Selina sighed as she turned to Arcadia. "Right... Um, Hex has a mild fear of water. Cats, figures. Um, Hex this is a great opportunity. Lot's of treasure down there. I'd hate for you to miss it."

The Exceed cat just turned her head, plainly refusing.

"Fine then," Selina called as she tapped the spare gear. "I guess I won't be taking back any of the yummy, seafood that is likely down there. You know, all the fish..." she teased.

Hex's ears twitched at the mention of fish and seafood-- and her mouth drooled a little. The cat leered at Selina, and shook her head. "Damn you Selina..." the cat meowed and hopped down to put on the extra suit. "I'm gonna be grooming my fur for weeks after this."

It didn't take Selina long to catch up to Arcadia as she swam-- Hex much longer as she looked like a bobbing booie out in the water and trying to swim. Still, they followed suit and tried to keep up.

WC: 546

Rolling for Monsters

The member 'SeaGlass' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Monster Dice' :

Little Arcadia loved that little Exceed. Hex may have been not feeling very lucky, going down on this underwater adventure, but had avoided the Little Arcadia squishy hug! It often came with brushing, hair ribbons and iLac selfie with Arcadia to remember forever how cute they were with ribbons in their fur. Beware to all Exceeds who meet the pale blonde slayer.

Treading water, she smiled and waved to Selina and Hex as they caught up. Being underwater was new experience, she wasn't even very sure how well her magic would work down here. Her sharp senses were limited by the air bubbles around her head.. She didn't have to wait to test either as a swarm of twenty agitated little fish swam in from the side. It didn't take Arcadia long before she realized these fishies were oddly interested trying to take nibbles from her bare arms and legs. She briefly wondered how many Hex could eat at once.

She swam backward out the the school of agitated fish that had surrounded her. Once she had all the fishies in front of her, she spread out her arms and swung them together in front of herself like wings with her hands closed into fists. A cloud of razors sharp ice crystals forming the vague shape of wings as she swung arms. As she brought her arms together, the razor ice shards rushed in a current to fill the area around all twenty fishies, driving them away.

Little Arcadia hoped Hex could forgive her for driving off the fishies. Then she saw one that didn't quite make it out of her wing attack. Snagging it from drifting freely in the water, the little pale blonde slayer swam over to the Exceed and offered the fishie for later. She smiled to Hex and Selina, and moved to swim on further and deeper toward the artifact. Her faerie green eyes more alert than ever for any more agitated creatures lurking depths, especially as it got a little darker the deeper they went.

WC: 340
Arcadia Total WC: 890/1500
Combined WC: 1436/3000

Stats:

(No coding or word count from mobile)

Selina and Hex followed-- while Selina easily could swim gracefully with a perfect swimmer's body for her appearance-- Hex looked like a plump little furball in the water as the best she could do was doggie-paddle through the water despite the flotation devices over her little arms. It didn't help how obsessively passionate Arcadia was to the cat. The cat could only groan in embarassment-- while Selina chuckled, loving how the girl treated her cat friend.

The ice magic as always was beatiful. The only issue with it was the temperature of the water would plummit the moment it was used but small price to pay. As they swam, Selina made a closer swim and caught up with Arcadia. "Bare in mind. I cannot use very powerful attacks here. I can provide some support but many of my cards really won't perform well under these conditions. But if we find some sea cliffs or something it can help. " Selina said as she swam alongside her. "THough... Hex might be able to help here after all."

Hex bobbed forward, the flow of the water keeping her slower than usual-- and the air helmet also cramming down on her favorite witch's hat. "How, by pretending to be a cat fish?" she replied sarcastically.

Selina just rolled her eyes as she turned to Arcadia. "I can borrow some of Hex's powers, but hopefully she can give us enough cover too. "

Hex was feeling miserable-- but Arcadia offering her seafood did make her a bit more comfortable. When this was over, they were going to need to have a huge dinner in celebration of all of this.

They soon reached deeper into the depths-- and luckily the suits held under the pressure. Finally, they reached an object in the distance. Something that stood out... (choice on you what we find)

WC: 302

While her senses were limited down here, that close call with the fish had the little slayer on higher guard. She couldn't let anything happen to the kitty, Hex. Arcadia was sure Selina could handle herself. Maybe Hex could too, but an Exceed was still more bite size than either Selina or Arcadia.

Little Arcadia was happy when she could make out more details on the hazy dark object in the depths ahead. The closer she got, the more she make out it how it rose back up toward the surface, looming over the sea floor. It was a great rocky reef, more than tall enough to be considered cliffs in places.

She conjured the clouds of ice crystals of her Refraction spell, even underwater they worked well enough to reflect and refract the light around them all to make them all invisible. Closing in on the reef they passed by all kinds of more agitated sea life. The pale blonde slayer held her breath, hoping they all could swim by invisible and unnoticed. She didn't really need to hold her breath, it more instinct.

Staying along the sea floor it was easy enough swim down under most of the sea life. They were close enough now that Arcadia could feel the magic power of the artifact they had come for. Trouble was from the signs of shells and stones stacked around the sea floor so close to the base of the reef, she could tell they were entering an garden laid out by giant octopus. By the looks of things the octopus''s lair was in a a cave at the base of the reef. Trouble was, that was the same direction it felt like the artifact's magic power was coming from.

Swimming up to the to cave's entrance she peered around one side to look in. She could see the giant octopus resting inside, and not far from it was what they had swam all this way for. Arcadia let the invisibility end for the moment so she make sure both Hex and Selina were along with her still. She signaled to look in the cave, so they could see the shape of their dilemma. Could they sneak past the octopus to get the artifact or would they have to confront it?

Arcadia hoped the reef was enough like a cliff to help Selina, because the slayer was sure she would need all the help she cold get it came down to confronting such giant octopus in it's own lair.

WC: 421
Arcadia's Total WC: 1311/1500
Combined WC: 2159/3000

Selina and Hex floated their way down past the beautiful coral reef. The floating fish that swam around distracted the cat a bit-- but Selina pulled her back with a mild tug of her tail to grab her attention. The cat continued to follow as they reached the edge of the cave.

Selina had something to help her adapt to this odd predicament as she touched down to the sandy floor of the coral reef-- and an aura of purple light covered her and Hex on her shoulders. She easily touched the ground and stood there-- gravity taking hold of them for a brief moment. It was one of her cards she clung to in her hand. The "Hanged Man" which gave her the ability to manipulate gravity in small scales. This one, allowed her to walk along walls and ceilings by controlling her own gravity-- in this case, she used it to give herself better traction on the ground while surrounded by water. Hex, too, being on her shoulder was easily affected by it too. She would have given it to Arcadia as well, but the enchantment only affected herself and smaller objects/people.

The view of the shadow of the Octopus was indeed intimidating. She could feel Hex's claws pinch at the back of her shoulder in fear. "I know I said I wanted Seafood-- but I think I can pass on the Octopie!" the cat meowed in a scared manner.

It was then that Selina grinned as she took out another card. "Arcadia... I think I got just the thing to lure that slimy thing out. If lucky we won't even need to fight," She said, or tried to if she was able to listen. Her lack of words made her unsure if she could understand.

She held the other card-- all of which was waterproof by the way-- and revealed it to as "The Moon" . A beautiful card of two images, one upside down and the other right side up. The symbols of illusion magic. She gave the card a gentle wave through the water-- and just like how Arcadia's ice reflacted light, so to did the water and sparks the card gave off took shape.

Beside Selina appeared a duplicate of herself and Hex on her shoulder. The illusion moved with life of its own, and a kin of personality very similar to Selina's. Though the illusion was indeed just that-- something that matter could easily slide through, it sounded and moved no different than the original. An untrained illusionist could easily fall for this trick.

With a mental command, Selina ordered the illusion into the cave-- catching the Octopus' attention. The moment it did, it attempted to swim away, trying to lead the beast on a chase out. If it worked, the enemy would be distracted, and allow them to retrieve the treasure without the eight-tentacled monster on them.

A chill went up Selina's back at the thought of tentacles on her. Still, she saw as the illusion would torment the octopus-- and slip out of its grasp and lead out of the cave.

The littlest slayer watched and smiled conjured an illusion a level of complexity above her own since it involved sound. Sound was one thing she was not able to achieve with the tiny ice crystals as mirrors and prisms she could call on. She watched in nervous anticipation as the illusion of Selina and Hex  entered the cave.

Her heart racing a little until the moment the giant octopus took the bait. She grinned big and gave a thumbs up back to Selina and Hex after the great cephalopod vacated its cave in pursuit of the illusion. Arcadia peered back into the now empty cave.  The way was now clear, nothing in the way of the artifact. Though it did cross her mind that the octopus could return before she got back out with the artifact. She would just have to swim as fast as she could in and back out, and to ensure she was at her fastest the little slayer willfully entered Dragon Force.

Little Arcadia in Dragon Force:

Her pale blonde hair turned white and sparkling faerie green eyes turned glowing crimson. The chill of her aura froze small flakes of water here and there around her. With the surge in magic power through her body,her dolphin kick provided all the extra kick needed to speed into the cave than she could otherwise. She secured the artifact into her satchel, and speedily swam back out. Little Arcadia was greatly relieved to see the giant octopus still occupied by Selina's illusion.

Little Arcadia:

She smiled graciously to both Selina and Hex, patting her satchel to indicate they had what they came for. Arcadia let Dragon Force drop, now that she was safely outside of the cave. Her hair regaining its pale blonde and her eyes returning to  their usual sparkling faerie green.

Arcadia pointed back toward the surface, and to make sure the octopus  nor any other agitated fishies would follow them,  Arcadia recast her Refraction spell to wrap them all safely back in invisibility. The little pale blonde slayer began to swim back to the surface and the island. Hopefully, all the sea creatures would be back to normal once they got the artifact far enough away from them.

WC: 365
Arcadia' Total WC: 1676/1500
Combined WC: 3045/3000

Selina didn't just wait while Arcadia had swam in. She was just inside as much as she was, leaving one card just outside the cave. She took this chance with her own bag to scoop up some of the treasure surrounding the artifact. No shame in taking extra from sunken treasure. Selina scooped up as much as she could within her own sack-- while Hex hung on to her's mostly full of fish.

However, the illusion wouldn't last long outside as the Octopus would soon catch up. As it would try to grab Selina-- his tentacle just slipped right through the image. After a few touches, the illusion spell broke and her form vanished. While the Octopus was confused, Selina sensed her illusion spell fail, and that time was about to run out.

WC: 256
"Time to go," She said to herself and grabbed tightly to the stuff she grabbed. With a simple thought she blinked and vanished with Hex on her shoulders. The next moment Arcadia would see them-- Selina was outside of the cave, with their own bags. She had teleported rigth to the card she had left behind, even when surrounded by the water. With their goal in hand, they would swim up back to the surface.

If all went well, their ruse was enough to make the Octopus not bother to come after them. Still, it couldn't hurt to be cautious. Letting go of the gravity spell, Selina and Hex began to swim back up along with Arcadia to turn in their catch.

Arcadia maintained the invisibility all the way back to the surface. The octopus would be freed of the artifact's effects, never knowing how it disappeared from its lair. Breaking the surface, she sprayed the excess water from her lips. She brushed her wet hair from her face, and swam the rest of the way in. Walking up onto the beach, she wriggled her toes into the sand.

She opened her satchel and pulled the artifact out, holdiing it triumpantly over her head, "We got it! and we got it without becoming fish food! What else did we find down there?"  

Figuring to walk while they talk, Arcadia started down the beach while listening to Selina and Hex on the way to dropping off the artifact.


Total WC achieved

The invisiblility spell was handy as they soon reached the surface, Selina emerging with a flick of her hair like a mermaid from water. Hex literally bellied up with her stash of fish, looking like a fuzzy beach ball with the floatation and air gear over her head. Their mission was complete and not only that, Selina got a score of wonderful sunken treasure-- and Hex a five-star worthy sea-food buffet as they swam back to the dock and client to deliver the relic.

The moment Selina removed her air gear and stepped out of the water-- she used a simple flash of her cards to become fully dressed. She would of stayed in her swimsuit if there were any hot guys around, but she felt not to let her 'flirtatious' side out too much with little Arcadia around. She was beginning to really like her, and wanted to be a good example.

Unlike a certain black furball. Poor Hex, however, struggled as she got her fur still in clumps of moisture that refused to smooth out. "Stupid, stupid water... Why does the most wonderful food in the world has to be in it. "

"Because life has an ironic sense of humor?" Selina commented, smirking to her feline friend as she would lick her paw to groom herself. While the cat would cast Selina a dirty look-- it would be a good opportunity for Arcadia to come over and try to soothe the poor cat by drying her off with a towel.

Naturally, Selina kept her details about the extra treasure to herself. She wasn't about to tell the client about the extra money, unless Arcadia insisted to. Either way, it was a good job and was glad she had the company of such a sweet person. She actually respected her-- for a guild wizard.

Selina was able to relax as they got in the final part of the job and she walked with Arcadia-- and Hex in toe as the little cat tried to smooth out her hat. "So... how did you learn to use ice magic like that? That seemed... odd for ice." she asked, curious.

WC: 360 --- WC for job complete

Little Arcadia was happy to help dry of Hex, making the kitty all frizzy with a towel. The little slayer also let the Exceed finish unfrizzing her own fur. Arcadia meanwhile pulled n a little summer dress over her damp suit.

The hand off of the artifact was painless enough and Arcadia said nothing of the extra treasure. Walking on out of the client's office she glanced back over her shoulder to Selina and Hex, "Oh... Uh well little ice crystals make all kinds of optical illusions naturally, like rainbows, moonbows, sundogs.. I just learned to conjure and control how tiny ice crystals bend and refract light. And I learned ice magic from my mom, Khione Glacier. She was a great ice dragon who lived in Dragnof. I'm pretty sure I'm about the only left from there. Lotsa stuf changes when yer under a Sphere spell that long."

(Writing under the assumption that they didn't know about she was a dragon slayer in intro topic)

Hex didn't fight back as Arcadia desired to help dry her off. Though the cat hated to be coddled as such, she knew the child wasn't completely crazy to not help her when she was down. As much as Hex hated to admit it, she was growing fond of Arcadia for her love of her. A few purrs would escape her at times as she would pet and help dry her off with a warm towel. However, the mention of an ice dragon raising her was a surprise. "Riiiight... and I'm the great pumpkin," Hex said sarcastically doubting the claim she was raised by a dragon. "I knew this girl was a few fish short of a pond."

Selina just rolled her eyes at Hex's sarcasm as she shouldered her catch of treasure. "Hold on a second," Selina said, actually being a bit more believing of the young girl. "Are you trying to say your magic... is Dragon Slayer Magic?" Selina asked, her eyes wide a bit in surprise by the little girl's claim.

Unlike Hex, she was more incline to believe her.

Little Arcadia smiled and nodded, and she also  backed away from both Hex and Selina. She was gonna need some room for her demonstration, as she transformed into a juvenile dragon made of nearly solid living ice about the size of an elephant.

Arcadia as Juvenile Ice Dragon:

Light shone through her now translucent form, and whether there was clouds in the sky or not, a gentle snow fall  drifted down around the beach as soon as she took the form of an ice dragon. She still held the same sparkling faerie green eyes as she held her maw partly open in what was meant to be a draconic approixmation of a smile. "And my adopted mother was Khione Glacier, a great dragon made of lving ice, like I am now only far greater in size, you'd mistake her for a mountain from a distance."

The display before them was magnificant. Selina knew that this little girl had more to her than met the eye-- but Hex was just blown away as the little cat was soon so frightened by the dragon's appearance that she let out a sharp meow and scurried behind Selina. The woman just looked up at the beautiful dragon-- though made of ice she was incredibly smooth and beautiful.

"Unbelievable... but how ... I mean, dragon slayers can turn into dragons too? And are you human or dragon?" Selina asked her mind full of questions.

Hex peeked over behind Selina's legs as she now regretted doubting the girl. "Now I really worry whenever she says I'm so cute she could eat me..." the cat said in a half-joke.

"So you were taught this magic by a real dragon, huh. I am actually kind of jealous to think about it." Selina said with a smile, getting used to the little girl's dragon form.

Arcadia  offered the  best approximation of a smile she could give Hex, the juvenile dragon of ice lowering her head down closer to the Exceed's level. "I wouldn't eat you literally. It's just a figure of speech. Mostly... but even that wouldn't be on purpose. So uh dun worry about that either. I pretty much got that whole going feral thing under control. Pretty much."

The ice dragon settled down on her belly, resting her head down in the sand. "I can't speak for all modern dragon slayers. But yeah.. my mom was Khione Glacier. One of the first dragons to teach slayer magic, and far as I can tell, all the orginal humans taught slayer magic slowly turn into dragons. So I guess I started human. Don't know now."

Selina raised her hand up slowly but gave the little girl in a dragon's form a pat on the head. She couldn't help but pet the girl as if she was still normal size. "I'm a bit conflicted knowing treating you like a little sister I never had when your a full-size dragon when you want to be," Selina commented as she still felt affectionate to the little girl. "And here I was worried I was a bad influence on you."

Hex soon hopped up Selina's back and rested on her head, her chin against the crown of her head and witch's hat snug there too. "Well just don't flirt around with the baddies if she is around if you are so worried. I swear... you Umbra Witches sure like to show off."

"Hex!" Selina scoled, but the cat only gave a 'cackle' laugh like a mimicked witch. With a sigh, Selina looked up to Arcadia. "But thanks for inviting me. You know, we make a good team. I have to admit, my opinion of you guild wizards were not the best, but its nice to find someone as free thinking as you."

Little Arcadia:

While Selina was patting her head, Arcadia reverted back to a human little girl. She smiled up to her, and over to Hex. "Long as they're not the kinda baddies that go around eating babies or stealin' peoples rent jewel then they don't got nothin' worry about from me. Besides I'm tryin' really hard to not let my dragon side turn ME into a baddie. If I did, I'd be no better than the traitor, Acnologia. I guess I got the Dragon King, Sol to thank that he finally got some kind of justice. I'll never be as weak as that traitor was. He may have been strong enough to kill my mother, but only weak-willed scum would let their magic turn them into a destructive monster that would turn on their kingdom. To think he was my hero."

She shook her head, the distant look that had grown her faerie green eyes during her little tangent clearing away with a deep breath. She regaine da smile, "I'm sorries. ANyway Yeah we do make a good team. Just send word to me, if you wanna go on any job. Next time I'll remember to bring my brush and hair ribbons!"