Women Of Letters

-Lycan Woods, midnight-

"So lemme get this straight. We're out here in woods filled with werewolves, at midnight, so we can deliver a letter to a rich guy named Mr. Wainright?" Abigail asked Victoria.

Abigail was clad in the same outfit that she wore to Sakuramori about three days ago and clutching the Sky Blade. Victoria, on the other hand, was wearing her Azure Armor over her blue t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts with white tennis shoes. Draped over the Azure Armor was her Bandolier, which had proven its worth during the pumpkin hunt with Haraka Omaras in Haunted Village a while ago. Its special properties made her magic weapons even deadlier because their projectile speed was increased, allowing her to hit targets with ease due to higher velocity. On her left hip was the scabbard containing her Silver Dagger, which would be of great value if any werewolves survived gunfire and magic to close in on her and try to go toe-to-toe.

"Yeah." Victoria replied tersely. The Sabertooth mage thought that the errand was a strange one, but she did not turn down the chance for money. Abigail was here because this was one of the two jobs that she owed Octavia in exchange for getting back her family weapon. Since their destination was in the infamous Lycan Woods, this job was certainly no cakewalk, so Octavia could not stiff Victoria on pay or cheat Abigail out of credit for the two jobs that she owed the collector.

"Eh, whatever. If it helps me pay off my debt and it's legal work, I'll do it. Let's just deliver the letter and get outta here." Abigail commented. Victoria was inclined to agree. She did not want to hang around a forest infamous for being a center of werewolf activity any long than she had to. She had seen enough of them during the retreat of Erasmus' militia from the Cursed Lands, where they pounced on men on horseback and often killed them in one attack. Thankfully Victoria and Abigail were authorized to kill any werewolves that threatened them, so if any showed up the pair was allowed to kill them in self-defense.

"Sounds almost like me." Victoria replied laconically. She was motivated mostly by money because being poor sucked. She had been that way for four painful years and did not enjoy it at all. Despite what romantic depictions in movies, television shows, and novels said, being poor was not a happy, carefree life nor a builder of moral character. Victoria wanted to find whoever romanticized the homeless life and punch them squarely in the face until they learned the lesson that being poor sucked.

"You're kinda mercenary, aren't you?" Abigail asked. Victoria looked the blonde straight in the eyes and tried not to be defensive when she gave her response.

"Yeah, I am. Being poor sucks so much that it's hard to put into words. Well, polite words anyway." Victoria answered with authority. Having spent four years on the streets of Capital Crocus in what could be charitably described as a bad neighborhood, the brunette learned how hard life was without a family to look after her or Jewels to her name. She was determined not to go through that unpleasant experience again if she could help it.

"Don't you do something for the greater good every once in awhile?" Abigail asked in a tone that almost sounded like pity.

"I think I'm gonna a public service tonight when we thin out the werewolf population." Victoria answered Abigail. The blonde looked mildly disappointed but accepted the explanation without comment.

[Word Count: 600]
[Total Word Count: 600/7,000]

What was it about Abigail trying to lecture Victoria on public service? The blonde did not give away the Sky Blade as a public service. She sold the family weapon for Jewels and received 150,000 of them in return for her weapon. The brunette kept that observation to herself because she did not want to spark a conflict in the middle of woods crawling with werewolves just when the pair was starting to work together. A conflict in such hostile terrain could be every bit as deadly as the werewolves themselves.

"Let's just get the letter to this guy and be on our way." Abigail spoke up. Victoria could agree to that.

"Yeah. Lycan Woods isn't a petting zoo." Victoria commented while the mages followed the beaten path. They had been advised to avoid the region entirely, but since they had no choice but to go there on a legitimate job, they were warned to stick to the beaten path and not deviate from it unless it could not be helped. Shortcuts meant to take time off the trip could end up taking time off their lives instead because of the entities for which the area was named. Victoria had seen the power of werewolves firsthand during the job to rescue Serena Anderson and had hoped to not see it again for a long while, but she went whereever the job took her. Sabertooth members did not have the luxury of backing down from danger because they were meant to defend the world from dangers great and small.

"Have you ever dealt with werewolves before?" Abigail asked Victoria out of the blue.

"Yeah. You don't want to go toe-to-toe with them because close range is where they're the most dangerous. Their teeth and claws aren't just for show. They're strong enough to knock a man off of a horse with a single pounce and then tear him apart." Victoria answered with knowledge gained from firsthand experience. The retreat from the militia camp was fraught with peril because of the werewolves harassing the cavalry escort of the wagon that she, Serena, and some militiamen rode on. They lost ten men to the wolves, including some hapless men who had been knocked off their horses and torn to shreds.

"Thankfully I don't have to rely just on the Sky Blade. I've got long-range spells too." Abigail chimed in.

"Me too. I haven't encountered any wolves that can use magic yet. I hope I never do." Victoria replied to the blonde. The Sabertooth mage brought out the Silver Dagger that was a reward from the Order of Lightbringers for saving Serena Anderson.

"This is a weapon of last resort because the blade's a lot shorter than their reach. It's a silver dagger and silver's especially dangerous to werewolves... or so I've been told. I'd rather not test that because keeping your distance's still the best way to fight them." Victoria explained to Abigail, who probably did not need a lecture on the properties of silver.

"Yeah. I've dealt with them before myself. I had to kill one that tried to raid Oak Town for a quick snack." Abigail commented. Victoria was curious.

"How did that go?" Victoria asked. She probably should not have asked that question because Abigail closed her eyes.

"It... it was a mess. It broke into a home and killed a whole family of six people before I could stop it." The blonde gave a grim answer.

"Did you have to worry about any of the bitten people turning into werewolves?" Victoria asked another question. Abigail simply shook her head.

"No. It had ripped their heads off and lycanthropy only affects the living." Abigail answered. Victoria decided to let the matter drop because it was clearly not something her companion really liked to talk about. The brunette had unpleasant experiences of her own that she did not like to talk about either, so she understood where the blonde was coming from. It was time to change the subject.

"OK. Let's move on from that and talk about something else." Victoria suggested. They did not get the chance because they heard the unmistakable sound of howling nearby. The wolves were on the hunt for prey and they were uncomfortably close.

"Let's just keep moving. I don't want to be on the menu." Abigail offered a suggestion of her own.

"Yeah. Let's keep moving." Victoria seconded the suggestion. They picked up the pace because hanging around and having a pleasant chat in werewolf territory was not a very good idea. They needed to deliver Mr. Wainwright's letter and leave the area as soon as humanly possible.

[Word Count: 775]
[Total Word Count: 1,375/7,000]

Victoria and Abigail came to a fork in the dirt road they traveled on and had to make a decision without a convenient sign to point the way. Did they go left or did they go right? This seemed like a quandary out of a children's storybook, but the situation they were in was all too real.

"Well... which way do we go?" Abigail asked.

"I don't know. This is my first time traveling in Lycan Woods." Victoria answered truthfully. She was not afraid to admit when she did not have a clue. There was no need for posturing in a place like this. Posturing and pretending to know something when she did not would only get the both of them killed by werewolves or get them hopelessly lost and set them up to be killed.

"To be honest, it's my first time here too." Abigail admitted. The pair hear howling in the distance followed by a piercing female scream floating on the wind. Abigail started to run left and had just started off when Victoria grabbed her left hand and refused to let go. The blonde flashed green daggers at Victoria. The brunette stood her ground.

"It's too late for them. They're already dead." Victoria grimly told Abigail. The blonde broke free and sprinted off to the left. Victoria cursed to herself as she followed her job partner despite the risks. If they wanted to get through this job alive, they would have to work together despite their differences.

-Down the left path-

Abigail was way ahead of Victoria as they sprinted down the left path and came across the grim aftermath of a werewolf attack. A brown-haired young woman in a bloody green tank top and blue jean shorts and sandals whose throat had been clawed out lay sprawled on the road. Her left arm had almost been severed at the forearm by claws and was barely hanging on by a few exposed tendons. Abigail paused and looked at the scene for a few seconds, then ran off to the bushes and vomited into them. Victoria only felt a grim sense of vindication; she tried to warn Abigail, but the stubborn blonde refused to listen to her.

Abigail heaved into some low bushes as Victoria looked around for any sign of the attackers. It stood to reason that the same werewolves who killed the young woman would be waiting nearby to try and get more prey. That line of thought led the Sabertooth mage to an unsettling thought. She knelt down and looked closer at the young woman's body, being careful not to touch it so that she was not pegged as her murderer.

There were no bite marks anywhere and no signs of feeding on the corpse. If the wolves were not hungry and were not trying to turn her into one of them, why did they attack? Victoria's stomach turned a flip. Were the werewolves smart enough to attack and kill someone, using the sound of screaming as a lure to attract more prey? This was one of those times that the brunette hoped that she was wrong.

"We could have saved her." Abigail said in a low tone of voice that was bordering on accusatory. Victoria felt somewhat guilty, but she had a feeling that the young woman was dead before her scream ever reached their ears. The Sabertooth mage kept quiet and let Abigail talk.

"She might still be alive if we hadn't dawdled." Abigail continued in an accusatory tone.

"I don't think there was anything we could have done." Victoria argued. Abigail did not want to hear that kind of talk at all. She frowned and jabbed a finger at the brunette.

"I bet you would have tried to rescue her if there was money involved!" Abigail stopped beating around the bush and openly made the accusation. It was Victoria's turn to frown. Money had nothing to do with her decision to refrain from rushing to the rescue and everything to do with keeping the two of them alive.

"Oh, so you're throwing that in my face again, huh?" Victoria asked.

"Yeah, I'm throwing it in your face! You're only in it for the money! Don't even try to pretend otherwise!" Abigail retorted. The brunette clenched her teeth. She was trying so hard not to say or do anything that she would regret later.

"Believe what you want, Abigail. Maybe I'm just trying to keep us alive. We're in the middle of werewolf territory and they've already killed at least one person tonight. I'm trying to keep us from becoming statistics!" Victoria shot back. Abigail was not backing down. Neither was the brunette.

[Word Count: 780]
[Total Word Count: 2,155/7,000]

"I'll believe what I want to, Victoria. I believe that you're only a mage because it pays well. You don't believe in anything other than money. You don't fight for any higher purpose, any higher goal. I believe that's all really sad." Abigail continued calling out Victoria on the latter's perceived faults. Victoria's self-restraint had almost run out. She was not going to take this verbal abuse lying down.

"You have a power that others would kill to have and what do you do with it? You sell yourself for money like a magical prostitute. As long as you get a thrill and some Jewels out of it, you don't care about anything else." Abigail added. Victoria desperately wanted to hit the sanctimonious blonde in the face so hard that her children would be born dizzy. What did Abigail know about the life of a mage? If she had lost her family to the trade, why did she ever come back to it? Wasn't she the one who sold her family heirloom just to get away from that life?

Those questions ate at Victoria the more she thought about them. Abigail should have known when to let a matter drop, but her mouth ran away with her. She asked the question that finally set the brunette off.

"Do you fight so hard for money because you were poor?" Abigail asked. Victoria's face turned red and her fists clenched.

"Why are you trying so hard to be a martyr? Do you think it'll bring your family back? Do you think it'll make up for you selling your birthright for Jewels?" Victoria asked bluntly. She had had enough of Abigail's lecturing her like she was the lowest form of life just because she wanted to have some financial security before she died. Unlike Miss Windstrider, Victoria did not have the luxury of a famous family name to fall back on. Abigail's face turned red with anger.

"Quit being hung up on the fact that you were poor for awhile! So what if you lived on the streets? A lot of people have lived on the streets and they've moved on! Get over it!" Abigail shouted at Victoria.

"You were the one who sold the Sky Blade because you lost family members to the mage's life! You sold it! Not me!" Victoria angrily shot back.

"I'm not gonna be your whipping boy because you don't want to face up to what you did! You lecture me about fighting for money like I'm garbage, but you're no better than me! You sold your Sky Blade for Jewels and I bet you didn't give a single one to charity!" Victoria roared her anger getting the better of her. Abigail bit her bottom lip in anger. The brunette knew that she had just struck a nerve.

"GO TO HELL!" Abigail shouted.

"Don't tell me to go to Hell unless you can make me go." Victoria retorted. Abigail brandished her Sky Blade.

"Don't give me any ideas!" Abigail warned her.

"So this is how it's gonna be, huh?" Victoria asked rhetorically.

"I guess so." Abigail answered angrily. Victoria took a deep breath. Fighting would not solve anything.

"If you wanna go fight a bunch of werewolves by yourself and be a martyr so that you can prove that you're better than street trash like me, go right ahead. I won't stop you. While you're fighting the good fight, I'm going to go carry the letter to Mr. Wainwright and get paid." Victoria informed Abigail in a tone dripping with sarcasm. There was no point in them fighting. They already had enough to worry about without going at each other's throats in werewolf territory. Victoria wordlessly turned around and left Abigail standing where she was.

-At the fork in the road-

Victoria found herself standing back at square one. Again she had a choice to make. Did she go left or did she go right? Since the left was a no-go, Victoria decided to take the path not taken before and go right. She had just taken five steps down the path when a familiar voice called out to her.

"Wait for me!" Abigail called out to Victoria. The brunette slowed down and let the blonde catch up to her. She wondered what caused the high and mighty Windstrider's change of heart.

"It wasn't the right time to be a martyr, was it? Were you scared that you'd die without an audience to see you?" Victoria snarked.

[Word Count: 750]
[Total Word Count: 2,905/7,000]

Abigail did not look happy about Victoria's less than complimentary response to her decision to come back. Victoria did not care. The Windstrider needed to be knocked down a peg or two before she was removed from the game altogether. The world did not worship martyrs or regard them as heroes. They paid lip service to those who gave their lives for a good cause, then after a few weeks moved on and did not give them a second thought.

"Why are you so cynical?" Abigail asked point-blank. That was a very good question that did not have a very good answer.

"Are you afraid to feel anything? Are you afraid to believe that there are some things worth dying for?" Abigail continued to ask Victoria.

"I don't believe in being a martyr. People don't care about them or really respect them. People have short memories." Victoria replied dryly. She was undoubtedly making Sabertooth look bad with her misanthropy, but she had to make a point. Not everyone understood what it took to risk everything for a cause with no guarantee that their sacrifice would even change anything.

"The world takes good people, chews them up, and spits them back out. I've seen it happen so many times before on the streets. They get taken advantage of in so many ways I can't even begin to list them all." Victoria continued to explain. Abigail held up a hand to interrupt and the brunette let her jump in with a rebuttal.

"The world's a cruel place, but there's no need to write everyone off as uncaring. People need heroes to stand up for them. There are some threats that normal people just can't handle, and that's where us mages come in." Abigail argued. Victoria could not argue with that line of reasoning. That was part of the reason she stayed in her line of work despite the perils. People without magic rarely went toe-to-toe with demons and lived to tell the tale.

"I'm with you on the people needing heroes. I can't argue against that." Victoria voiced her agreement with that point. The brunette had been bullied by bigger, taller kids when she was on the streets and hated the feeling of helplessness. Like "Burr" had said a long time ago, magic was an equalizer for those who were not physically strong. However, not all people were born with the ability to use magic. That was where mages were supposed to come in.

"Then why are you so cynical?" Abigail repeated the same question that had sparked the entire discussion. Again Victoria did not have an answer. She stood about in silence for some time, unable to come up with a compelling reason for her attitude.

"I've grown up on the streets of Capital Crocus. It was rough, to say the least. I saw the worst of humanity and had to bury my optimism to survive." Victoria started to explain. Abigail again raised a hand for rebuttal but this time the brunette shot it down. She was not going to brook being interrupted this time.

"People who were supposed to help the poor people didn't. The police didn't do anything to help when we were robbing and killing one another, but if one of us stole from the "good" side of town they had no problem grabbing and beating up any homeless person they could find to get the stolen item back. The rich people thought that we should all die off because we were wastes of life. Charities tried to help the best they could, but they simply weren't able to help so many people because they didn't have enough funding. The rich gave to charity only when it was convenient for them, which wasn't very often." Victoria explained further. She hoped that she could be forgiven for not being so trusting of her fellow man. If she could not be forgiven for her misanthropy, she could live with it. Victoria did not expect to be friends with everyone in Earthland. She was not going to run herself ragged trying to make friends with everyone in Earthland.

[Word Count: 688]
[Total Word Count: 3,593/7,000]

"I'm sorry you feel that way. It must be hard to trust in people who are supposed to help you only to see them not only refuse to help, but also join the ones abusing you." Abigail said to Victoria.

"I don't want sympathy. I'm long past the point that it would help." Victoria said flatly. Abigail looked surprised and almost hurt by the brunette's blunt assertion.

"Then what do you want?" Abigail recovered her courage and asked another difficult question.
Victoria almost laughed. That was an easy one to answer.

"That's easy. I want Jewels. I want good alcohol. I want a few people I can possibly call friends. I want to stand up for people who can't defend themselves." Victoria answered.
Abigail did not look impressed.

"That's hardly a coherent ideology." Abigail commented with some degree of sarcasm.

"I'm not Wizard Saint material and I never will be. I'm too mercenary and too fond of alcohol. But that doesn't stop me from being a mage who helps people." Victoria asserted. She knew that she would never be able to live up to the examples of Samira Nassar or Astrid Foss and had no problem admitting to that. Victoria was not a Rune Knight in shining armor, but she did not have to be one to do what she could to give a modest shove back whenever evil reared its ugly head.

"Well, at least you're honest about what you are. I can kind of respect that. I've met plenty of mages who puffed themselves up as avatars of virtue only to fall flat in the worst of ways." Abigail replied. Victoria laughed at that statement. The same thing happened to her in Capital Crocus whenever she heard politicians make campaign speeches promising to end corruption and clean up the city. They typically found themselves embroiled in scandal when it was discovered that they were firmly in the pocket of some rich family or business interest. It sounded like Miss Windstrider was as disenchanted with people as the brunette was but was not as vocal about it as the latter was.

"Heh. I'm sorry to disappoint you because I'm not some amazing super-mage who embodies virtue. I'm just a street kid trying to make her way in the world. What you see is what you get." Victoria commented in a self-deprecating tone. She would leave being avatars of virtue to the Wizard Saints and do her own thing. The Sabertooth mage would content herself with handling the cases that the vaunted Wizard Saints were too busy to handle. That was the brunette's preferred way of doing things and it was the best life for her.

"Maybe you could become a Wizard Saint if you'd fight for something besides yourself. You've certainly got the power to do so." The blonde suggested in a hopeful tone.

"It's a nice thought, but no thanks. They don't need me taking up space. They wouldn't look too kindly on a bartender in their ranks. Besides, I'm the farthest thing from a virtuous person." Victoria asserted again. When she was a street kid she had stolen from fruit stands to stay alive. She made and sold alcoholic drinks to people, thus likely contributing to alcoholism and the unpleasant consequences that stemmed from it. She took dangerous jobs not out of a desire to serve others but out of a desire for money. There was no place for someone that selfish in the Wizard Saints.

"Again, I don't care for your viewpoint, but I can respect your honesty." Abigail grudingly conceded. She had not given up on exhorting Victoria to shape up into a saint, but she had decided to wait until a better time to try again. Victoria would give credit to the blonde for trying, but it was a wasted effort.

"Don't be like me, Abigail. Someone needs to be a hero who others can look up to." Victoria said half-jokingly. The brunette was not hero material, not by a long shot. She was not even sure that joining Sabertooth was the right decision because she was among mages who truly aspired to be heroes. Ryo, Imai, and Gaia were the best examples of that. Gaia actually wanted to be a Wizard Saint and Victoria had no right to stand in her way by taking up a space.

[Word Count: 724]
[Total Word Count: 4,317/7,000]

"There's still good in you, Victoria. I've read about some of your past jobs and how you stood up for the homeless people of Rose Garden and Hargeon Town. I also saw how you fought the corruption in Hargeon Town's police department despite the risk to yourself." Abigail said to her in a tone with praise and optimism in it. Victoria was tired of arguing with her job partner, so she went with it. If she was truly in it just for the money, she would not have bothered to take such dangerous jobs and risk making dirty cops angry at her because of the trouble they could bring down on her head.

"Yeah. I may be a selfish person who fights for money, but sometimes I can do the right thing without someone have to wave a bag of Jewels at me. I don't like people who abuse the homeless, I don't like corrupt cops, and I HATE slavers." Victoria agreed with her job partner. The tension between the two was beginning to fade away. Maybe just being frank with one another was what the pair needed to finally reach a middle ground.

"We'll have to work on the fighting for money part, but the rest is a good base to build off of." Abigail conceded. Their conversation was interrupted by howling and three werewolves jumping out of the nearby brush and landing on the path in front of them. The two mages got ready to fight: Abigail brandished her Sky Blade and Victoria brought out her Light Machine Gun.

Victoria did not waste time with a preamble or a declaration of intent. She simply aimed and opened fire on the werewolf on the right side of the roughly triangular formation. It danced in place as its body was riddled with magic ammunition, then collapsed onto the ground with bullet holes all across its upper body. She aimed and fired at the one in the middle, but it ducked a Five-Round Burst and started to run on all fours towards its tormentor. It had reached the halfway point when it was hit by a silver crescent that passed through its body and then dissipated. It paused in place and split vertically down the middle, its two halves falling into the road and spraying blood.

Victoria had just aimed at the surviving wolf when it looked at her and sprinted for the brush, avoiding a Five-Round Burst as it fled into cover. Victoria lowered her weapon and looked at Abigail.

"We'd better get going, Abigail. It's gonna come back with plenty of friends real soon. We don't wanna be here when they get back." Victoria urged the blonde as she briskly strode past the blonde and the werewolf Abigail had split with her sword.

"Right behind you!" Abigail called out, jogging to match pace with the gunslinger.

-Thirty minutes later-

The pair had proceeded down the right path at the fork in the road and had a feeling that they were not going the right way. They were now in an area with trees and brush lining both sides of the road, which made it a perfect ambush area for the lycanthropes. The mages stuck to the middle of the road the best they could and walked single-file with Abigail leading the way and Victoria watching their backs.

"I don't know if we're going the right way, Victoria." Abigail expressed her concern. Victoria was thinking the same thing, but she did not voice that opinion and sow doubt because they needed to keep moving. They did not have time to stop and second-guess themselves because that would make them easy prey for the four-legged beasts currently hunting them.

"Me neither. At least we know that we're looking for a Mr. Wainwright. Not too many people live this deep in the Cursed Lands, so he should be pretty easy to find." Victoria replied. Abigail snorted.

"The keyword is should." Abigail answered sarcastically. Victoria was with her on that one. Just because the owner had a distinctive home or was one of the only people who lived so far out did not mean that it would be easy to find them. She hoped that they could find Mr. Wainwright soon. The pair stopped when they heard more howling.

"We'd better get ready for another fight." Abigail suggested.

[Word Count: 725]
[Total Word Count: 5,042/7,000]

-One hour later-

The pair had walked through the path and had spotted a large fortified stone wall with a mansion nestled a good distance away from the walls. That was likely Mr. Wainwright's house. If it was not, maybe the pair could request entry and get some directions to their destination. They turned to look at each other and rejoice in their good fortune. Their feet were getting tired and both of them needed a break from the constant walking.

"Hey, do you think that's it?" Abigail asked Victoria.

"I certainly hope so. I don't wanna turn back around and have to go traipsing through those woods again. My feet hurt." Victoria tried to sound optimistic but did not sound very hopeful. In her experience, if anything looked both easy and promising there was usually a catch. Maybe they could get lucky and not run into any catches that would jeopardize their mission and their safety at the last moment.

"Well, let's get going then!" Abigail said. She started leading the way while Victoria watched their backs. After about six minutes of brisk walking they were at the thick wooden gates of the mansion. There was an intercom system with a white button that was presumably used to communicate with those who guarded the gate. Abigail wasted no time in jabbing it with her right index finger while Victoria aimed her weapon at the woods and watched the surrounding area for werewolves.

"Um, hello? Is anyone there?" Abigail asked.

"State your business." A male voice said brusquely.

"I'm Abigail Windstrider and with me's a mage from Sabertooth named Victoria Sheridan. We have a letter for Mr. Wainwright. It was sent by a collector named Octavia Ashford who lives in Sakuramori." Abigail stated their business with Mr. Wainwright. The pair waited for a response. Moments later they got one.

"We're opening the gates now." The voice announced. The wooden gates opened and the mages put away their weapons. They were faced by a brown-haired man with a brown mustache and a suit of armor somewhat similar to Victoria's Azure Armor. He was holding a scoped magazine-fed rifle. Other men stationed on the wall were similarly equipped.

"Come in and be quick. Werewolves are out." He urged them.

"We've already run into a few of them." Abigail commented as the pair hustled through. When they were inside the gate shut behind them. They followed the lighted path to the front doorstep and knocked on the thick wooden doors flanked by actual old-fashioned brass lanterns with burning wicks. They were answered by an older man with white hair and wearing an immaculate brown three-piece suit.

"Hello there. I'm Mr. Wainwright. You said that you have a letter for me from Ms. Ashford?" He asked. Victoria slung her backpack off of her shoulders and fished out the letter, which had somehow not been wrinkled during transport. She presented it to its intended recipient.

"Here it is." Victoria said. Mr. Wainwright took the letter into his hand and opened it. He read its contents by lamplight and appeared pleased.

"Please, do come in. I have something I need you to take back to Miss Ashford. I don't want you to wait out in the cold while I go get it." He bade them. The pair wiped their feet off on a mat at the door and entered the palatial dwelling. They had just completed the first part of their job and were waiting to undertake the second part, which would be more difficult than the first. They had to make the return trip to Sakuramori to take whatever Mr. Wainwright wanted delivered back to Octavia. The pair was certain to face plenty of opposition on the return trip.

-Inside the Wainwright mansion-

They found themselves inside a lavishly appointed home complete with a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The furniture was of an older style and made out of expensive wood, possibly mahogany. Inside the foyer was a pair of armed and armored men who stood guard with shotguns. It was hard not to be awed at the lavish surroundings that the mages had found themselves invited into.

They were facing a living room with a large fireplace that hosted a roaring fire. Off to the right side was a leather sofa in front of a wooden bookcase that was taller than both of the mages if one stood on the shoulders of the other. There was a sliding ladder off to the side that Mr. Wainwright had to use to access the books on the higher shelves. In the center of the room were two leather chairs that Mr. Wainwright and another person could sit in and face the fireplace.

"Don't feel obligated to wait in the foyer. Go, get something to eat. I'm sure you're tired and hungry after traveling through Lycan Woods. You'll need to be ready for the return trip." He said to them before walking upstairs and disappearing into a room, presumably his private study. The pair followed an older woman wearing a blue dress into the kitchen, which was as luxurious as the foyer. It had black-and-white checkerboard tile and a nice granite countertop that reminded Victoria of the kitchen in the Corlone mansion. in the corner was a well-stocked pantry filled with flour, sugar, and other ingredients necessary for cooking items from scratch. The older woman turned to face Abigail and Victoria.

"What would you two like to eat?" She asked them with a smile on her face.

[Word Count: 922]
[Total Word Count: 5,964/7,000]

The pair sat at a simple circular wooden table and ate a simple meal of salad and filet mignon. It was the fanciest meal that Victoria had eaten in quite some time. Abigail was clearly in the same boat as Victoria because she acted like she was almost reluctant to eat something like filet mignon. They hoped that it was not their last meal. Getting through the Lycan Woods on their return trip was going to be a challenge.

"Hey Victoria, do you think that we're gonna have to fight our way out of Lycan Woods?" Abigail asked between mouthfuls of filet mignon.

"Definitely. They may be werewolves, but they're not dumb. They know we've gotta come out some time. They also know that we've gotta pass right through their territory in order to get back to Sakuramori." Victoria opined. She wondered what Mr. Wainwright wanted them to deliver to Octavia. Was it another letter? They would get a chance to find out from the man himself because he entered the kitchen.

"I take it that everything's satisfactory?" Mr. Wainwright asked his guests.

"Yes sir." They replied in unison.

"Splendid. Whenever you're ready, I have the letter that I'd like you to deliver to Miss Ashford." He said, placing a letter onto an empty space beside Victoria. The mages soon finished their meal and washed their hands. Victoria placed the letter into the backpack at her feet and made sure that it would not be crushed by any of the items within it. She then closed the pack and put it onto her shoulders.

"I've got it. We'll make sure that the letter gets to Miss Ashford." Victoria said to Mr. Wainwright.

"Splendid. Do be careful out there. And good luck to you both." He said to them before turning around and walking to the living room. Victoria faced Abigail.

"Are you ready?" Victoria asked her companion.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She replied. Victoria accepted that answer because it might not be possible to ever be completely ready to run a gauntlet of werewolves. Between the two of them, the letter was certain to get through to its recipient.

The pair walked out of the kitchen and into the foyer, where they were sent off by their gracious host.

"Good luck!" He repeated to them before the door shut behind them.

The pair walked down the lighted path and back to the gate, where some of the men were shooting at werewolves because they spoke about how fast the lycanthropes were and how hard they were to hit. Still, they had already killed four of them before the gate opened. The pair walked outside and the gate was hastily closed. Abigail brandished her Sky Blade and Victoria brought out her Light Machine Gun.

"OK, let's get going. We don't need to hang around in case the werewolves followed us here. I'll take the lead this time since I can keep their heads down with this weapon." Victoria said to Abigail. The blonde looked mildly impressed with the brunette's take-charge attitude.

"OK then. Lead the way." Abigail said. The brunette set out at a brisk walk while rifles fired above them, driving off six werewolves that were not wounded or killed. Victoria helped the wolves along by firing her weapon at them; she actually hit one in the back with a Five-Round Burst and brought it down just before it could jump into the bushes. A rifle shot from the wall finished off the wounded predator and cleared a path for them to continue the return trip.

-One hour later-

The pair were back in the woods with brush on both sides. Victoria continued to lead the two-woman team through the woods. So far they had not seen any more werewolves, but that did not mean anything because the werewolves had plenty of areas from which to ambush them.

They had reached a small clearing in the path when seven werewolves jumped out at them and barred the way. Again Victoria opened fire without warning, killing one of the wolves by pumping it full of magic rounds until it dropped. The remaining six charged at her. Victoria used full-auto fire to hose down two more before the other four wolves closed the distance. Abigail jumped in front of her and said a pair of familiar words.

"WIND REAPER!" She called out while swinging the Sky Blade horizontally. A silver line cut through the wolves and lingered for a second before they paused in place. Blood spurted from their arms and chest as the werewolves literally fell apart. Abigail grabbed the brunette's arm and urged her to hurry up before more wolves arrived. The pair broke into a run and hurried down the path before more werewolves could catch up to them.

[Word Count: 802]
[Total Word Count: 6,766/7,000]

-Eight hours later, in Sakuramori-

The two mages had to fight their way through more werewolves before they were clear of the Cursed Lands. Altogether the pair had accounted for seventeen werewolf kills and wounded two more. When they reached Sakuramori at the break of dawn, Abigail put away her sword and Victoria dispelled her Light Machine Gun. The latter also took off her Bandolier and put it away in her backpack, then fished out the letter from Mr. Wainwright and took it into her hands. The mages walked through the streets and found Octavia Ashford's home.

Abigail knocked on the door and Octavia herself answered the door.

"Hello there. Do come in!" Octavia bade them. The pair wiped their feet off at the door and entered the apartment.

-Inside Octavia's apartment-

"I see that you two came back safely. How did it go?" Octavia asked the mages.

"We had to kill a few werewolves to get there, but we made it. Mr. Wainwright got your letter and gave us one to deliver to you." Abigail answered the query. Octavia raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Did he say what it was about?" Octavia asked them.

"He didn't say a word. All he said was that he wanted us to deliver this to you." Victoria answered before handing Octavia the envelope. The client carefully opened it and read the contents. She appeared pleased with what was written because a smile spread across her face.

"I knew that I could count on you two. Well done." She said to them. She walked into a back room and came back with a bag of Jewels. She handed the Jewels to Victoria.

"That's payment for a job well done." Octavia said to her. She then turned to the blonde.

"That's one of the jobs you owe me, Miss Windstrider. Complete one more job and the debt will be settled once and for all." Octavia assured Abigail. The blonde looked happy to hear that. Abigail had probably expected to be cheated and forced into perpetual servitude in exchange for the Sky Blade, but Octavia seemed like someone who would keep their word. Victoria hoped that the blonde would be free after completing one more job because she did not want to see the idealistic mage taken advantage of. The world needed more people like Abigail standing up for the little guy and fending off the darkness.

"I'll keep in touch. I may have another job for you soon." Octavia informed them before the pair left the apartment. The collector gently shut the door and the pair made their way to Florence Manderley's home. They needed somewhere safe to sleep for awhile before going their separate ways. Victoria needed to get back to Ace of Spades and Abigail wanted to go back to Oak Town and make sure that nothing bad had happened in her absence. That could wait... they wanted to get some sleep before going to their respective homes.

[Word Count: 494]
[Total Word Count: 7,260/7,000]