[Job] Go Beyond! PLUS! ULTRA! (Akeya/BlessedBeatrix/Luceam/Serilda Sinclair)

Job Details:

When you had travelled the world, seen many sights and even gone through portals to other worlds you might think that you had already seen everything there was to see. And you'd be wrong. While the portals might be a way to visit strange places it still limited you to those limited locations which were linked, and you were bypassing a lot of area in between point A and point B.

Or to put it otherwise, even when you'd seen the world and several others you still had space to explore, and all those places which didn't have a convenient portal leading to them. There was no such thing as having explored everything: the frontier would just keep pushing onwards. The only creatures which could possibly claim to have explored everything worth exploring were those of omnipresent and omnipotent nature, and even with those Akeya would argue that those terms only meant that their limits had yet to be found, not that those limits didn't exist.

Pondering about the nature of reality aside, Akeya had received one of the strangest jobs so far. Apparently her new task was to help explore space. And a planet which couldn't easily be accessed by portal. The job came from the Rune Knights, so she presumed that it was an exploration effort from the magic council itself passed down to their executive branch who then hired some outsider mages who were thought adequate.

Having thought of this the dragoness had frowned at the implications. While she'd definitely become stronger the most likely reason why someone would consider her a good candidate for exploring space... She had been revealing her tricks to the wrong people. If it became common knowledge that she had more than the powers of dark at hand it could become a problem. As long as she was seen as a dark dragon who happened to be cooperative people would be wary but tolerant. If the wrong powers began to see her as someone meddling in the balance between several vital fundamental forces in reality they wouldn't be quite so willing to let her do her own thing.

The dragoness had sat down and considered her options carefully. If she ignored the summons and went into hiding they probably would designate her as a liability. If she went there was a bunch of things they could do, ranging from experimentation to simply killing her. Either way there wasn't an easy answer, in which case... she might as well go and see if she could steer the situation to favour her as much as was possible. Truth be told she was actually interested in the idea of going to space so it wasn't that she had objections to the job itself. Only the circumstances left her suspicious and wary. However if she was going to be in trouble either way she might as well take the path where she both had a better chance of improving her odds and where she could do something that she really, really wanted to do. It would be her first time in space but she already had the feeling that it'd be a lot more enjoyable for her than for most other people.

After all, most people needed an atmosphere to survive.

And so it was that the dragoness arrived at the spaceport. The Rune Knights weren't going so be as reckless as to just hand some mage a shuttle and let them have at it. Swishing her tail Akeya stood outside of the complex and looked up at the tall shiny walls which hid the vehicle which would serve as their ticket to the skies. She wasn't planning to board herself but she still had to get herself registered. Space travel was relatively new in Fiore but the people in charge were aware that it was an extremely dangerous endeavour where they couldn't afford to cut corners. Grumbling about the idea that data about her would be written down but resigned to the knowledge Akeya went through the registration procedures. At the very least she was still written down as an unaffiliated mage as her draconic self and she hadn't had much trouble hiding her guild mark: the visual part was easily obscured and messing with magic perception was one of her specialities.

Once all that was done she returned to the outside as she waited for the other mages to arrive. She had been informed that aside from the scientists that she would be protecting for the duration of the trip there would be three other mages with the same task: one outsider and two Rune Knights. A careful balance to ensure that there were enough executives present who could be considered both responsible and reliable. Akeya snorted as she crouched in the shadow of a building and set herself to wait. Her dark scales resulted in her quickly fading from sight until the only thing left of her presence was the faintest of magical presences, more likely to make someone feel like there was a strong magical background than that there was an actual person. She even went so far as to erase her presence as a living being so nobody with detection tricks would bother her until she was done waiting for the others.

Once one of the other mages arrived she'd get out of the shadows to greet them. Until then her emerald eyes studied the area, taking in the sights of one of the more advanced and strictly monitored places in all of Fiore. She had already suspected as much when she arrived, but some more inspections had made it clear: even a stealth specialist as her would have a difficult time getting into this facility without being detected. The place was filled to the brim with magic circles and magic tools that helped record everything. There was even hextech, that mysterious combination of magic and machine which Akeya had always thought was a curious creation even if she acknowledged the potential threat it posed when used as a weapon. As long as she didn't move she could probably remain unseen, but if she tried to penetrate any further while sneaking...

Gazing up at the sky she looked at the clouds. While there were patches of open air it was a somewhat gray morning. No sign of rain but not the kind of day most humans would want to spend outside. Beyond those clouds and that blue sky was the infinite void of space, filled with countless stars which illuminated the vast emptiness. Her invisible claws dug into the ground in front of her as she kept staring upwards. She didn't fear space: she had little reason to. But she didn't know what it was like up there. In the past she'd flown high, higher than the highest clouds, high enough that she could see the planet curving away beneath her. But that still hadn't been space.

It really was a new frontier, and even someone as stoic as her couldn't deny that she wanted to go there as soon as possible and find out what kind of secrets it contained.

WC: 1,190
TWC: 1,190/7,500

Space, the final frontier, the ultimate danger for any oxygen based lifeform. A job to explore a previously undiscovered and unknown part of space, when Luna heard the call she couldn't say yes fast enough. Along the train ride Luna was studying some research into space travel, and some versions for space travel. One that interested her was the first generation of solar based power, known as the Sunglider series for having a large pod shape with several sails along the top and sides. The amount of effort and risks it would take to enter and exit orbit and survive, however models remain for luxury usage, since it was not mechanically operated it had no engine noise, it was just peaceful.

Luna found the prospect of solar based powers for engines as she found them a renewable source source and the only one self sustaining enough for a long term journey. She then read some reports about a colony that had crashed on Earth-Land, coming from a similar world via a crashed space craft. From what they were willing to share, they use some advanced form of solar based power that used a modified Lacrima to emulate a miniature sun creating what is known as the Dyson class reactor. However it was not a perfect design, still requiring to be recharged by exposure to a sun at intervals.  Still quite the remarkable feet of magical engineering.  

When Luna got off the train she made her way to the facility, putting her iLac away as she was awe struck by the ginormous facility that was housing the craft. Luna felt it best to show up early and go through the registration procedures early, in case there were complications and issues she needed to sort out early. She left her will at the guild hall clear in case she died, but still there were things that the Rune Knights wanted to confirm. Her records and past were clear, however the issue always came back down to her physical details.

Ever since the Fiore government changed her records without her consent or knowledge, she suffered having to correct people but today was just Brobdingnagian  in comparison. During registration she had put down her correct info, but since her human form was no longer considered her 'real' form, more of just a holdover from when she used to be human. She put down her fairy form information in addition to her human, but the Rune Knights seemed to be insistent on verification, Luna had responded by repeating that she can't instantly revert. In the end she eventually caved and turned into her fairy form, measured and weighed to confirm her claims, only to learn that there were further forms to sign. The sight of the fairy trying to sign a pen when she was barely taller then it was a near endless struggle. However when another Rune Knight, their supervisor passed by, curious as to why the fairy was struggling with a pen learned of the situation, only to apologize to the fairy and inform the guild master that there was no need for her to alter herself. The Rune Knight was curious to see what a fairy really looked like, trying to get close to some perverted fantasy and while Luna was on the surface calm and forgiving, she was not entirely pleased for the inconvenience after she expressed her inability to revert for a period of time.

Noticing an empty planter, she explained her state to the Captain and requested the usage of the planter to at least summon one of her bound spirits for support. She did not want to strain herself early on, the Captain was sympathetic to her plight, and after learning that she informed the registrar that she could not return to human form several times, she dismissed the man pending review of his punishments and permitted Luna to use the empty planter. It was not to be used for a couple days so she figured it couldn't hurt to use. Finishing up the paperwork, Luna flew over to the planter and summoned forth the Nature Wolf known as Aegis to come forth.

Fearing that some would be uncomfortable with a canine walking about, and while Woody was the proper class to call for situations like this, he was a known disgrace in his native world for his drinking.   The green wolf was not pleased at all to hear the story, however he grabbed Luna's pack and adjusted it to carry on his back. Luna packed only a few casual outfits, her spare qipao sets, and her winter and swimming clothes. In addition to which she packed 2 strange boxes approximately 15 centemeters in length and width each, both expanded, one into an outdoor kitchenette and the other a tent. He then bowed down and let Luna on top of his head. The fairy gently glided down to the top of the wolf's head.

While Aegis had his plate full with his pups at home, and keeping troublemakers at bay, he was glad to pick up the slack of, the less professional spirit. The role of Woody is to look out for their fairy, but until Luna is in danger he couldn't care about anything other than getting drunk or finding a brawl. When Luna was on deaths door, Woody had a choice to be the one to save her or break his drinking record, he chosen to break his drinking record, Aegis had no words in any language to describe the level of anger he felt, on par with the day he watched Zixcor gut out the last fairy he was bound with, mostly because Woody ignored Zixcor trying to kill yet another fairy.  He recalled the fight that happened when Aegis returned back to the Forest Beyond the Horizon, it resulted in a fight that reduced Aegis's meager faith in Woody to nothing.

The Nature Fairy sat on her knees atop of the wolf's head, wanting to get some fresh air the canine slowly walked outside. She knew she was not alone, and that there would be two Knights, and one other unaffiliated wizard.  However when the Green wolf walked outside, Luna happened to sense a familiar presence and turned to notice Serilda with two wolves and a man. Luna tapped the head of the wolf and pointed towards the group, who immediately made the connection as he walked over to the group.

Aegis would sit in front of Serilda, he glanced at the astral hound but kept silent as he had to keep Luna's safety in mind. His eyes stared up at Serilda, not quite sure what to make of the woman just yet. Luna looked up at the familiar sight of the noblewoman. "Hello Lady Serida, it has been a while since we last met, glad to see it is under, better circumstances. Are you here for the job as well?"

WC 1157

A nice bonus to being able to hide was that you got the opportunity to check out the situation (and the people) before you had to engage. In this case Akeya had the opportunity to see what kind of people she'd be working with. This mission would take a lot longer than usual so the better she and the rest could cooperate the less of a hassle it'd be. On short missions you could work together with people you didn't get along with but on longer missions strained relationships would cause mental stress and fatigue to build up which would compromise the entire expedition in the long run.

And in a situation like this that could be fatal for everyone involved. Stranded on another planet if things went wrong you could end up unable to return if you didn't work together and kept things functioning.

As you would expect from those under direct command of the magic council the Rune Knights didn't take too long to show themselves. One of them was Serilda, which caught Akeya by surprise to the point that she almost would have moved. Last time that she worked together with the woman she'd been formal but she hadn't said anything about being part of the Rune Knights. That definitely explained how the government had learned about her expanded repertoire of abilities though. It was too late to undo that now, but she should still be more careful in the future.

Serilda's companion wasn't someone Akeya recognized by face, but there had been rumours about someone who'd only just begun making a name of themselves and who'd already achieved ridiculous levels of strength. That was probably this person. As was usual for Akeya she began to calculate her odds of being able to take him down if she ever needed to eliminate him, but the numbers didn't look very promising. If she knew more about his abilities she might be able to think of a plan but the difference in power meant that it would never be an easy task unless he had a ridiculously fragile weakness somewhere in him.

So two Rune Knights, one that Akeya knew and could work with and another one who was definitely powerful enough to both be a respectable asset to the mission and a genuine threat if things went south. Not the worst combination.

The third mage was a curiosity in her own way. Akeya had heard a little bit about the guild master of the Aurora guild but she hadn't known about her being a fairy. Thanks to her sharp senses she could pick up on the commotion as the people in charge learned that the lower ranked Rune Knight taking care of the registrations had pushed her into taking on her fairy form for less than savoury purposes. The dragoness supposed that even amongst the magical police you'd get some oddballs who'd start doing odd things once they thought they could get away with it.

Now that everyone was present it was also time for Akeya to stop being a voyeur and get out of her hiding spot. The tricky part was to not alarm anyone to the point that they'd immediately react with hostility. After all in such a high security facility having someone stealth around would normally be grounds for opening fire on that sneaky person.

As the other three mages grouped up and greeted one another a small orb of light suddenly popped into existence above their heads. It was tiny and weak, too weak to be of any real threat to anyone present. In fact it was unlikely that even your average non-magical human could have treated that light as harmless. After orbiting the three mages twice the light slowly floated over towards the shadows of a nearby building. Once there it hovered in place as it began to slowly become brighter.

With the shadows cast by the building slowly being dispelled Akeya's form also gradually became visible. It started out with a feeling of the air being distorted in that spot, then quickly progressed towards showing Akeya's body but as if made of glass so clear that you saw the way it twisted the light more than the material itself. After that the process sped up as the dragoness carefully stood up and stepped out of the shadow, holding up a clawed hand to recall the orb of light and reabsorb it back into her body while walking towards the other three mages with a serpentine gait.

"I believe this makes all four of us." She studied the other three mages one by one, giving Serilda a quick nod to show she still remembered the void mage. "To keep things brief for the two of you that don't know me, I'm Akeya. I'll most likely be the one taking care of physical tasks along with scouting." She then focused her emerald gaze on Luceam and Mythal. With one hand on her hip she pointed at the two with her other hand. "It seems everyone here knows Serilda so that leaves you two to introduce yourselves so we're all playing on the same field."

It looked like the rest of the facility was also aware that the four mages were now all present. While things had already been busy the air now picked up the atmosphere of hustle and bustle that was iconic for when it was almost time for the deadline and suddenly everyone either remembered something that still needed doing or picked up the pace to make sure they'd all make it in time. While they all had enough time to introduce themselves and maybe hold a brief conversation it probably wouldn't take much longer before they'd be dragged along into those last-minute preparations. Even if they were simply the bodyguards they wouldn't be allowed to come along without at least the most basic form of debriefing to make sure everyone was aware what exactly what was expected of them and how they really didn't want to mess this one up.

WC: 1,009
TWC: 2,199/7,500

If anything, Luna was intensely glad that there was a familiar face on the job, she was almost surprised that she wasn't recognized at first until she recalled that while she introduced herself as a fairy to Serilda, she did not get to witness Luna's fairy form. She usually only turned into her fairy form in somewhat private places or when it is necessary in some cases such as intense injuries. "I suppose that is true, I usually keep to my human form out of habit, plus in most jobs I am in human for as my offensive capabilities deminish as a fairy, but my healing abilities are far superior. Although I am only in this form because a Rune Knight was well, quite willing to lie to my face and abuse authority to see an actual fairy. Said I couldn't list my dual physical information and race as fairy without proof. It was only afterwards that his captain, well, sent him away. Honestly I felt a second longer and he'd ask if I had a tail. Although between you and me, I think he deliberately hid the last contract to see me struggle."

The fairy stroked the fur of the green wolf she was siting on as she began to introduce him to the group. "This is one of the spirits I am bound with, Aegis. " While trying to ignore his wagging tail, Aegis tried to remain professional as he calmly spoke to the Rune Knights. "Hello, I am just substituting for the spirit who should be acting as support. He's, not suitable for a professional environment."

Luna could sense something form as it approached, it wasn't teleportation as it was too slow for that, the fairy nervously looked over as the dragoness materialized, jumping back in a fight or flight response while Aegis seemed to quietly growl at the dragoness. Since this was supposed to be a friendly (allied) environment, both the Nature Fairy and the wolf were wary of the dragoness for a while. Luna floated in the air as Serilda taken charge, she was glad that there was someone else to take charge as she wasn't really qualified given the situation. She admired how pragmatic the dragon woman was and decided to follow suit and explain her own capabilities. "I am a Nature Fairy, my talents lie primarily in healing, but with defensive and long distance offensive capabilities through summoning spirits from another world or just creating plants. I also have a Zodiac Celestial Spirit under contract."

Luna fluttered over to Serilda before she sat down on the woman's left shoulder, figuring that there would be a lot of standing around for a while and exhausting her wings too early would be rough. "Oh, sorry La- er, Serilda, just well, my fairy form's physical stamina is actually sub par for fairy average. Flying has a physical and magical component."

Aegis rolled his eyes as he saw the true problem right away. "Would be easier if you emptied your wings a bit more often. Your dust isn't a bad thing to stock." Luna sighed as she really did not want to have this talk. It's one thing if it is to cover an immediate wound but being caught trying to stock Mediocris Lacrimis is very embarrassing. "I can't, If I do it too often hunters will find me."

The wolf opened a side pocked with his mouth, and noticed the filled bottles of glittering powder and sighed before closing the pocket.

Luna was not much of a leader, true she can do some amazing feats, but the head of t
he Rune Knights was a far superior choice to a small Guild Master, quite literally as well. In the presence of Serilda and Mythal, two renowned figures of power in the country, leaving her feeling quite small in comparison on the inside as well. She was humbled by the request of Serilda, but she was well prepared for this journey. Although she was left wondering if the pay was going to outweigh the preparations she made. She only had four responsibilities and made sure that all would be taken care of for the next month."Thanks but I am fine, already taken care of guild affairs, not to mention hire about four different babysitters, so I got the first month covered until my mother takes over. Basically did everything possible, only thing left is for the Magic Council to send in my stand in for the book work."

Luna mulled on that last point for a moment, she is guild master in title and authority, but her control is severely limited for the time as the Magic Council doesn't trust her completely yet. She was essentially promoted to keep the guild intact as a last act to keep the guild alive after the downfall of it's last form and the previous masters, knowing that keeps making her feel inadequate.  However she was surprised when Aegis spoke up. "She'll about six small empty vials, and an ounce of cursed salt in a separate container. I have no doubts your organization has a supply obtained by confiscation. It's an illegal non lethal poison nearly indistinguishable from regular salt."

Luna sighed as he knew where this was heading, Cursed salt was one of the more common poisons, while not powerful, it has been known to paralyze, and in rare cases permanent paralysis. It is also one of few ways to burn out excess Mediocris Lacrimis and similar forms of fairy dust, naturally even fairies access is restricted and heavily monitored which is why not many are forthcoming, and let piles stock up.

WC 942
TWC 2099

It looked like Akeya's plan of showing herself slowly had paid off: while Serilda and Luna both showed wariness at her arrival neither of them took outright hostile action, giving the dragoness the opportunity to show herself as an ally so things didn't spiral out of control. If she'd showed up abruptly she was pretty sure there'd have been at least one spell thrown her way. It was one of the dangers you had to deal with when you hid your presence but didn't want to startle the people who weren't enemies.

"The fact that you know all three of us is a good thing at least. Means that none of us are complete outsiders in the operation." She answered Serilda when the swordswoman had introduced the other two mages and had stated her pleasure at working with the group. "I'm not in need of any supplies however, unless you happen to have some light and dark lachrima lying around that you really don't need." The odds of her needing them was low, but if Serilda was offering she might as well see if they had some to spare just in case. She also nodded at Luna and Mythal, not going much further with the greetings as she'd already gotten what she needed to know. A healer with some summoning and large scale magic abilities, and a Fallen God Slayer. It wasn't the first time Akeya encountered the supposedly unholy counterpart to her dark dragon magic, although she had to say that this one had a stronger aura than the last one she had to deal with. Then again, that was already a while ago... she couldn't entirely trust her memory to be accurate there. Especially since that other person might still exist somewhere, and might have gotten stronger in the meantime.

"If you're a Fallen God Slayer your abilities are probably similar to mine, although I'm guessing with more raw power and a focus on offensive ability." She observed. She wasn't about to go and pretend that her raw power was on the same level as this guy, although she didn't mind too much since she'd long ago prioritized utility and skill over the ability to destroy things. She was a predator after all, and most predators relied a lot more on cunning, skill and tactics than sheer power.

With that said she looked at Luna when the fairy explained her situation. She'd heard about the situation with the registrator from outside due to her sharp senses. Hearing it from the one who had to endure it still helped drill home the message of how stupid that knight had been though. They were about to depart on a mission where a single mistake could prove to be fatal. Now wasn't the time to push one of the participating mages into potentially putting themselves in a less favourable condition just to sate your curiosity (and fetish). It'd make Akeya smack her forehead if it wasn't for the fact that there were already two high ranking Rune Knights here who could deal with it and get exasperated over it. Instead she raised an eyebrow as the guild master of Aurora explained that she couldn't shed her fairy dust too often in fear of hunters tracking her down. She could imagine that being a problem under normal circumstances, however...

"I understand the fear of hunters, but I would remind you that in the coming six months you will be in a location where practically nobody not part of the expedition could even figure out where you are or what you are doing, much less track and chase you down." She pointed upwards towards the sky with a clawed finger. "There aren't a lot of people who could beat the frontier that is space, magic or not. Even this mission is a massive investment from the Magic Council."

Noticing that Serilda's lupine companion was eager to see her Akeya moved the tip of her tail along her furry back once or twice before it returned to its position behind her. At the same time the draconic assassin looked at Mythal as he asked her about the ability she had used. Of the three mages here (other than Akeya herself) he was the least involved in the conversation so far. Was he just thinking about other things or he was another victim of the curse that all darkness users seemed to have, that they were disinclined to get themselves involved with other people if it could be avoided? Not that Akeya really considered it a curse: dragons were solitary by nature. But it was interesting how often it turned out that the one channelling shadows or darkness was more of an introvert. Given that humans were more flexible in what kind of magic they could employ maybe it was just that kind of person who was attracted to that element.

More importantly she had to quickly think of how far she would answer the question. This man was an ally for the duration of the mission, and Akeya wasn't one to backstab her partners. That said she was a cautious person so 'ally' wasn't the same as 'trusted confidant'. Although it seemed the Magic Council was already somewhat aware of Akeya's situation... Well, they'd figure it out once the shuttle launched anyway, so there was little reason to hide it for the short period of time before then.

"It started out as shadow magic yes. Given that you're a darkness user you should be familiar with that kind of technique. Although I've refined it by adding a second element to it: if I only used the essence of dark for it then another darkness mage would have an easy time picking up on it." She held a hand in front of herself, a sphere of light and a sphere of dark forming and orbiting around one another above the midnight-scaled extremity. "To avoid revealing too many trade secrets, using both light and dark allows me to hide myself in such a manner that neither light nor dark mages can bypass the effect." Closing her hand the two orbs disappeared and she let her arm fall back to her side. "Of course dark magic in itself is already very powerful when it comes to hiding, although most shadow creatures I've come across are more comfortable with the more standard invisibility or just jumping out of dark places, instead of completely erasing their presence."

Thinking about Mythal's own darkness magic she frowned, then crossed her arms. "Oh, and I should probably mention this before it causes problems out in the field: I'm aware that normally God and Demon Slayers can eat Dragon magic but Dragon Slayers can't eat theirs, but in my case eating my darkness would be unhealthy. Dragon magic used by an actual dragon isn't as easily digested as when it's a human merely mimicking it." It was meant as a genuine and friendly warning: if Mythal carelessly tried eating Akeya's magic at any point he might get ill, which might not be dangerous in itself but which could become a problem if it happened during the middle of a dangerous situation (which would be one of the main situations where Mythal might even have cause to eat her magic in the first place). "Admittedly me having both light and dark also contributes to that. Either way, it's better if I inform you beforehand and not when we're in the middle of something."

WC: 1,249
TWC: 3,448/7,500

Luna was not sure what to think as she listened to Akeya and Mythal talk about their dark magics. True she herself was not a god, but since Gods were natural enemies of Demons, who were the natural predator of fairies. However, the words of the dragon in regard to the dust were reasonable, but Aegis spoke up in her defence. "When you shed 15 grand a teaspoon, it can make you wary. Cursed Salt is the safest substance to dispose of her special kind, not all fairy dust is equal." Luna figured best not to take a side on the issue as she did have a slight counter argument to the comment about the frontier of space, there are plenty of dangers out there if there is a lick of truth to any of the stories she read on the way to the facility. "Actually, have you not heard about the Exdraxians? They are a homeless race of space traveling aliens that had no choice but to crash on Earth-Land, According to a rumor one joined Sabertooth, but there was a article on a blog that shown the same woman beating a child so who knows."

She did not relish in the thought of being grateful for the predator of her predator's predator but unfortunately this was no simple situation. She figured best to see for herself what sort of man the Fallen God Slayer was. She listened to Serilda talk to the passing man, wondering what she wanted with the Captain, only to recall that Serilda insisted on punishing him. While she did not want to be the reason for any further trouble, she knew that the man had to be properly disciplined, properly.

When the group approached the area, Serilda announced that she had business to attend to. Luna noted that Serilda was holding the box with the contents her spirit wolf had requested on her behalf.  Luna slowly floated through the path, roughly five feet off the floor and onto the shuttle, and was amazed by the ship. Luna and Aegis followed Serilda to the quarters assigned to Luna. Aegis secured Luna's pack before he stopped, visibly annoyed."I apologize you'll have to excuse me for a while. Ter is calling, one of the pups got into a snag." The Nature Wolf's body broke apart into green light particles that dispersed. When Serilda was leaving to attend to her other duties, Luna figured it best to tell her what she was about to attempt. "I think I can switch forms, but it will be painful."

Luna looked at a clock annoyed, while time has passed, she still had quite some time before she could safely return to human form. She placed her hand against her chest, trying to feel her own heartbeat as when she first discovered her fairy form she thought it was the wings that were screwing over her ability to go between, but as it turns out it was her heart. The trait for possessing such a organ is a rare one, and overwritten any trace of humanity. Since her heart was a pure fairy organ, and the rest of her was a tenth human, it caused an imbalance. It was only times like these that made it become a major issue, even though Luna had absolutely no intentions on trying to 'fix' that defect.

However since takeoff was within the hour she had no real choice in the matter. She grabbed an empty vial from her bag and put a funnel over it before turning her back to it, she made sure no one was watching as she flapped her wings a bit forcing out some of the glittering dust before taking a bit herself and swallowing it, hoping it would make things easier on her internal organs. She flew to the door and locked it before she would descend to the floor and envelop in a pink light. Outside the room screams of pure pain could be heard as her form violently shifted from the tiny fairy to the human. She had to cast off her items and Qipao which were the first things to form. She needed to retract her wings slowly as they integrated back into her body while she returned to her larger size.

After the transformation was over, Luna was on her knees and feel onto her hands, sweating and breathing heavily in pain for a moment. She put all her belongings away safely before she put on her Qipao, and made her way out to the designated place for takeoff.  Luna was in great internal pain as she put stress on her various systems to perform such a feet. She was still straightening out her clothes before she sat down, hunched over for a moment as she stabilized herself. After buckling herself in, she made a quick glance to Serilda, her emerald eyes were full of bitter pain as if she just came back from her breaking point. "I am normally not one to suggest enhancing punishment, or be aggressive, but I want that bastard to suffer brutally."

Luna braced herself for the journey as the shuttle would be taking off into space, nervous about if the ship would hold. She breathed slowly and carefully as she felt nervous about the pressure of the spacecraft being shot into space. She would have loved to watch the view but until the ship safely left oerbit her eyes were closed. Once they were safely in space, Luna unbuckled from her seat and stood up slowly. Feeling a rush of endorphins as she felt like she just went through several rounds in a boxing ring with a god. "This has been, quite the trip already. Sorry about what I said earlier Serilda, just what's left of my humanity gets in the way sometimes. Unlike me, my mother and sister are pure fairies and don't suffer the delay, it's just the delay issue is very personal."


WC 955
TWC 3054

With Serilda having confirmed that she would ensure the delivery of the requested items that was one task taken care of. Akeya hadn't come here expecting to be offered free goodies (especially since she was here as a bodyguard, not as a guest) but once it was offered there was little reason to say no. Those lachrima would serve as a good energy boost if she ever came in a situation where she really needed to pump herself up. In space itself that would probably be unneeded but there was no telling how dangerous the planet they were visiting would turn out to be.

While the leader of the Rune Knights was distracted by that task Akeya listened with a tilted head as the wood wolf claimed that Luna's fairy dust was unusual and that even in space it might not feel too safe to freely gather it. As the fairy herself then followed up that there had been sightings of an alien race that arrived in Earthland the dragoness had a thoughtful look in her eyes. "The wariness is to be expected but that doesn't mean you should be listening to it. That there's rumours about aliens though... that's more important. Given how big space is it's still one of the safest places if you want to be far away from those who would try to hunt you down, but I'll admit that if there's aliens which have found Earthland that safety has at least somewhat been compromised. We'd have to figure out how likely it is to encounter them during a random journey though..." She stared off into the distance as she tried to calculate it. Everyone knew that space was big, but how big was it effectively? If you left a trail of fairy dust just outside of earth's atmosphere how likely would it be that someone would encounter it before it faded away? Did fairy dust even fade? Questions that she could be asking before she decided that now was not the time for a thorough investigation of the fairy race.

She nodded in response to Mythal as he explained that he considered his own use of his magic unorthodox. "My usage also appears to be a bit unusual. I'm more utility oriented than most." She had taken the magic of dark and light dragons and turned it into a bag of tricks. A bag of tricks that could kill if needed. While she had plenty of combat abilities as well she was at her best when she could get creative with how she applied her magic.

"Thanks. I can say that combining light and dark was a challenge, but the results were worth it in the end." It had resulted in her nearly dying, but even so. Controlling two of the biggest opposites in existence and being able to merge them was definitely worth a near death experience.

She was glad that Mythal didn't argue against her warning of not eating her darkness though. She was pretty sure that there would have been God and Demon Slayers who would have protested and boasted if you tried to tell them they couldn't eat a dragon's magic. It was good that she was working together with someone who took the warning seriously. "Eating another's magic is considered provocative or hostile, so the warning is mostly a precaution. And I understand, I'll make sure not to eat your magic either." While her draconic nature meant that other slayers had a hard time eating her magic it didn't miraculously allow her to eat any type of dark magic without repercussions. If the man said that his magic had a chance of being toxic for her she wasn't going to put that to the test.

Taking the delivered lachrima Akeya went with the others when it was time to get onto the ship. First they were shown the parts of the ship that they needed to be familiar with, including the rooms that would act as their own. In the case of the dragon she wasn't too interested since, depending on the results of her test, she probably wouldn't be using the room a lot. However she still listened and explored the ship so she was at least aware of what was located where. It would be incredibly embarrassing if she got lost or didn't know where to go in certain situations.

Hearing screams of agony her fin-ears spread wide and she walked over to Luna's room. Checking the door she found it locked, but on the other hand she didn't sense anyone other than Luna in the room and she appeared to be growing in size. Taking it that the fairy was turning back to human she left it be and returned to the seats where they would be strapping themselves in.

Honestly she didn't really want to do this, but Akeya didn't think she could get out of using the normal method here. She wanted to fly out on her own strength but they'd reached the point in the trip where if she didn't follow protocol it could get complicated and annoying. She'd just have to endure the clumsy ascension managed by machines until they were high enough that she could put herself to the test. Once that was done she'd be free to move as she pleased.

Having strapped in she was rattled and shaken together with everyone else as the shuttle struggled to break free from the chains of gravity and launch itself into the far beyond. It was an unpleasant process, especially since Akeya wasn't fond of vehicles in the first place. Fortunately she managed to fight off the nausea as she waited for the roughest part of the journey to end. Or at least the roughest part before they had to land.

"This is definitely a first. But now I must go and stretch." Removing the straps that helped secure her to her seat she stood up and walked over to the big window... and then turned into a flash of light and stepped through it.

---

On the other side of the window Akeya grabbed the side, hanging on for a couple more seconds to make sure her momentum and direction matched that of the ship before she let go. As she had expected because there was neither gravity nor atmosphere here nothing was slowing either her or the ship down, and the ship had already reached the stage where it didn't need to burn fuel to keep moving. The result was that even without touching the ship she roughly maintained the same distance from it as both she and the shuttle floated through empty space.

Space was for many people a death sentence. No air to breathe, a vacuum which threatened to tear you open... there were many reasons to fear space. If you weren't suited for it.

"Lack of breathable atmosphere doesn't appear to be a problem, body is resisting the pull..." There was no sound because there was nothing to carry the vibrations, but she muttered to herself anyway as she went over her mental checklist. "Eyes not blinded by sunlight... sunlight safely eaten... darkness safely eaten..."

The void was cold. Unless you could eat it. The sun was hot. Unless you could eat it. A dark dragon would have to hide in the shade because in space the sun's warmth would slowly roast them. A light dragon would have to avoid shade because they'd freeze in the void. But if you had both...

"No atmosphere to get in my way... no gravity well to slow me down... only dark and light... I could get used to this."

Giving in to the desire to really stretch Akeya's body quickly began to change shape. Her scales now covered her entire frame as that frame quickly became much, much bigger. Her wings spread out, her tail became longer, her horns lengthened as her face turned into a reptilian visage. Her scales went from their usual midnight blue to a mixture of light and dark: they shone like stars where they reflected the light of the sun, and turned into the deepest void where the light couldn't reach. Within mere seconds the humanoid dragoness had turned into a full-fledged dragon, one of light and dark who freely moved about in outer space where dark and light were the dominant factors.

"Much better. Compared to this living on the planet feels like being stuck in the mud."

While there wasn't any air for her to fly through the fact that she was pretty much swimming in light and dark meant that propulsion was actually even easier than back on the planet surface. She circled around the shuttle several times as she tested out her movements in space before she was satisfied and turned back into light, flashing back inside the shuttle and turning back into her humanoid form.

"Fair warning, I don't think I'll be spending much time in the shuttle unless you have need of me." She had a grin on her face that was very uncharaceristic of her, and she was looking out towards space with an expression of excitement that would leave those familiar with her wondering whether this really was the same austere assassin who at most smirked and showed approval of things. The way she was currently acting it was clear as day that she had found something fantastic and had to restrain herself not to immediately step out of the shuttle again.

WC: 1,584
TWC: 5,032/7,500

After witnessing the display of the celestial dragon, Luna was in awe. However the Nature Fairy seemed to spend most of her time in seclusion. Nature Fairies are not meant to spend time in space, the Wakusei Portals are tolerable as that is instant, but space travel seems to bring out the worst of Luna. No one had seen much of her, and she had rarely spoken with anyone, and most of the crew believed that she had gone insane when the most conversation anyone had gotten out of her was from a fern in the lounging area. Aside from one meal a day, 

Throughout the journey, rumors had spread that she had lost her mind as even though she can talk to plants, not talking to a human seemed to be odd, however no one ever wanted to call her on it. She stayed out of sight, and when she did not eat for three days the crew members drew straws to see who checks on her. They did not want to bother the other wizards as the power couple of Rune Knights seemed to be busy, and the dragon too scary to approach. So they opened the door slightly and poked with a spare broom stick, however the broom stick came back missing a few inches. Luna spent those days in an intense meditative state to prevent the lack of Nature around her to cause insanity.

When the ship landed on Constantine, Luna ran for the doors at an alarming speed. She could sense the natural life, and that was possibly the only thing that could rejuvenate her spirit. While not a jungle, this was the best thing could get at the moment. She breathed in the air as she seemed to calm down from the state she was in earlier. She felt like a fish put back in water. "Just sedate me for the whole journey on the way back."

However Luna could hear the small vegetation around, their voices were small and Luna could not initially make it out as they were all in unison. However the Nature Fairy was uneasy, fidgeting her fingers and seemed spaced out as she felt an odd sensation, a dark ominous feeling from the grass. However the voices seemed to grow as Luna seemed to sweat, as the tone of voice used was not very peaceful to her. She tried to remain calm but her state of mind was on thin ice considering the ordeal she had just been through.

However the voices became clearer, as they all overwhelmed Luna who started to back up nervously as she could hear them. "Unnatural, unclean, unwanted. Unnatural, unclean, unwanted." She started to get nervous as she looked around. She thought it was just everyone in general, travelers from a foreign planet. She nervously spoke to the local wildlife, hoping that she could clarify this. "Sorry, we're from another world, I know we seem unnatural to you, but we are as alive as any other being. Please, if you'll let me explain."

However as a harsh wind blew, Luna heard every single voice from the plants and animals possible scream at her telepathically. "IT IS YOU THAT IS UNNATURAL, UNCLEAN, UNWANTED, UNNATURAL. DIE, CLEANSE THE UNNATURAL!" Luna felt pressured, and cornered as the voices grew loader in her head with malicious intent. She clutched her head trying to push out the plants and small animals but they seemed to grow loader, darker, her heart was racing.

Tears shedding from her eyes she shouted back at the wildlife "ENOUGH!" and in that moment, in most of the area within sight all the plant life seemed to stick up and grow, Luna had forcefully evolved the plants, but they seemed to dry out and die off, as Luna forced the plants to evolve so far that they couldn't sustain the state and die, leaving stones, dirt, and now dust for quite some time.

Luna had fell to her hands and knees, vomiting out at what had just transpired, shaken by the events. The small animals seemed to disperse out of fear, and Luna stopped hearing any aggressive response from the world around her. She calmed down enough to try and make a somewhat cogent sentence. "The life, is wrong, something wrong, uncleansed, dark, something, wrong, corrupt, the life, is wrong. Something, impure, something dark."

Some of the botanists and wildlife scientists were murmuring, annoyed that their subjects were now gone.  However around her elbow, a pink liquid oozed out and formed a seed, dropping it into the ground before a twisted root shot up, untwisting halfway as it formed the platform that a magic circle formed on top of, and out of the circle flew out a human sized fairy with glorious butterfly wings. The Princess of the Forest Beyond the Horizon soon looked around. She was clearly not impressed on the situation. "We're not on Earth-Land?"

She discended down to the traumatized Nature Fairy, sensing the issues she was having with the land, and sharing the same conclusion. She looked over to the plants, and lightly rubbed Luna's back. "Poor thing, how long have you been here? Nature Fairies are pure beings, this world is full of dark energy."

Tierra stood up and looked at the ship that carried the crew here and had a stunning realization that not only was Luna put in a bad environment to bring a Nature Fairy to, but she was out of a planet for a while. She turned to Serilda and figured that better to explain to someone what just transpired. " I am Tierra, eldest princess of the Forest Beyond the Horizon. Excuse Lunaris's actions, I sensed her duress and came out of her survival instincts. You see, wherever we are, the plant life here has adapted to darkness. That affected the plants, which in turn affected her, as they probably told her something along the lines of killing herself. However not all the plants are dead, there are still some that are asleep, nocturnal."

Tierra looked around, wary of what may come. "However, you humans are disgusting at times. You don't belong on this world, species of your caliber have no place being around here. "

WC 1041
TWC 4095

Whether people took note of her being unusually excited or not was of little importance to Akeya as she had much better things to be occupied with. Namely space. It was big, there, and given that almost nobody else could survive in it in a way it was all hers to occupy and mess around with for the duration of the trip. While she did accompany the rest of the bodyguards for the tour around the ship so she at least knew where everything was she mostly did it out of courtesy and so she wouldn't get lost at a critical time than out of actual interest. While there was something awe inspiring at just how expansive this shuttle actually was (expansive enough that a whole troupe of scientists and their guards could be on it for three months without going absolutely crazy) at the end of the day it was all just so much area which was inferior to what was outside of the reinforced and meticulously constructed walls. The books and the labs would under normal circumstances have attracted her attention since she usually was easily drawn in by new knowledge.

It was just that it still didn't compare to space.

While she did occasionally pop back into the shuttle the dragoness wasn't lying when she said that she would be spending most of her time outside of the shuttle. This of course meant that she wasn't spending as much time getting to know the rest of the crew but anyone who knew the assassin would have known that she wasn't the type to socialize for three months on end anyway. As soon as she left the confines of the manmade construct she'd return to her draconic form, flying about and revelling in the sensation of space. A world much vaster than anything that she'd ever encountered before yet so open and empty.

Swimming through the void she could see the stars like countless gem sparkling in the black seas. She could see how thousands upon thousands of pinpricks of brilliant cold light formed rivers and streams. When you were stuck on a planet you could see the vague forms if you were in a place without much light. If you were in a city or another location with excessive grounded illumination you would be lucky to see more than a couple of faint lights amidst endless darkness. Here out in space you could see the true nature of the cosmos. An endless expanse where light and dark mixed, danced around one another and formed elaborate patterns.

She could have seen some of this from the supposed safety of the shuttle. But a window couldn't compare to having it surround you on all sides, and it would have bereft her of the sensation of the void itself. Hot and cold at the same time, lacking any form of obstacle or restraint. She hadn't been aware just how much the atmosphere pressed down on you until she had experienced this absolute lack of atmosphere.

Even better, she was learning from this experience. Aside from having a nearly limitless amount of energy at her disposal since she was constantly eating both light and dark she managed to reach speeds which would have been impossible back on Earthland. Even light wasn't immune to the force of a gravity well, but out here she could move so fast that she could actually see herself moving from one planet to another within acceptable timespans. While she wouldn't be able to replicate this kind of speed exactly once she was back stuck on a gravity well she was pretty sure she'd still be faster than before, having had three months to train herself and having plenty of time to think of how to best adapt this kind of speed to planetside movements.

She spent considerably more time with Serilda than with the rest of the crew for the duration of the trip, if only because Serilda was the only one who could safely come outside with her. She was pretty sure that for Luna it would have been a death sentence since she couldn't imagine fairies having anything that protected them against the various threats of space, and while Mythal might have been able to pull it off she considered it the smart decision on his part that he opted out of that. Even for Akeya herself it had been something of a bet whether it would actually work out, although a relatively safe one since the moment that she felt that it was going wrong she could have turned back into light and moved back into the ship.

Of course communication outside of the ship was a bit of a tricky business. Even if both she and Serilda could survive just fine that didn't mean that there was magically an atmosphere which could carry the sound, so speech was right out unless they were in physical contact with each other and even then it was a very clumsy affair. For Akeya's part she decided to not waste any time trying to somehow communicate with sound despite the difficulties and instead resorted to morse code using sparks of light on her scales. While part of her appearance was her body automatically reflecting the vast void and the countless stars around it she could make her scales sparkle and dim according to her will, resulting in an elaborate rhythm of flickering lights. Which naturally required some effort and training before it could be used for real-time conversation.

When they reached their destination, Constantine, Akeya didn't bother to get back inside the ship for the landing. Instead she plummeted down next to the shuttle, feeling gravity once more begin to dictate her movements and the atmosphere once more get in the way of her and freedom. Fortunately she'd learned enough from the experience that through shifting between light and dark she could reach a state where it didn't affect her as badly as it normally would, allowing her to avoid being burned to a crisp as she instead shot down like a comet of pure elemental power and land with relative safety. While she had to admit to being disappointed on the other hand she was still someone who took her job seriously. Three months of vacation was long enough, time to get to work.

Given that they were here to make sure the scientists were safe the first task was to scout the area and see if there was anything of danger. The original scan, searching for beings of magical might, showed nothing which was a good start. While there might be creatures on this planet who were plenty powerful without possessing magic that at least meant one major source of trouble wasn't in the vicinity right now.

The second step would be checking for any large creatures. Akeya frowned as she looked around. While there were plenty of creatures who were large and strong those usually at least partially relied on magic. If there were no creatures of substantial size that would remove another potential threat, as those could be powerful without needing any magic at all as their sheer mass allowed them to finish you off by stepping on you.

As she was doing this scouting she noticed that Luna had left the shuttle and was doing... something. The dragoness tried to figure out what exactly was happening but couldn't place it at first. It was only when the fairy shouted something and all the plants first grew and then died that she realized that her companion had been trying to communicate with the plantlife and apparently hadn't gotten the response she'd been hoping for.

Looking back at the scientists Akeya noticed that Serilda had begun helping them set up their equipment. It looked like the humans were eager to get started and she couldn't really blame them for that. Now that space was no longer distracting her she was also very interested in seeing what kind of strange and new sights this world had to offer. It was already clear that there were plants and critters made of similar materials as those on Earthland, but was that all? Would there be different creatures?

She'd leave that to the scientists to figure out for now as she walked over to Luna to see what the problem was. With the second fairy arriving the dragoness stayed at a respectable distance and folded her arms, watching with one eyebrow raised as the newcomer introduced herself as some kind of royalty and explained that these plants felt off. "If the plantlife here has adapted to a different type of energy than what the plantlife on our planet uses the scientists will definitely be interested in that." Commenting on that Akeya glanced back at the scientists once more and indeed some of them did look very interested. Akeya had spent enough time on the shuttle to at least be somewhat aware of which of the humans had which field of expertise and, unsurprisingly, the biologists were taking an interest even if they were keeping their distance after all the plants had first blown up and then died off.

The comment about humans being disgusting had Akeya raise her other eyebrow before stepping close enough that the fairy could hear her clearly without her having to raise her voice. While she didn't care if the humans were insulted she got the feeling that this fairy was talking to the expedition at large. Which included her. "It is a good thing that you specified that the humans are the issue. I don't think Luna would have appreciated if you ended up in pieces because you showed up and acted like you owned the place and could render judgement towards a dragon." She said this with a calm and neutral tone of voice, then just like Mythal she turned away without another word, although she returned to the group of scientists rather than moving away from them. "I'll be going scouting unless anyone has need of me. I'll be back in either an hour or when I find something that could be dangerous." Once the group of researchers had assured her that they thought the three other mages would be enough protection for now the dragoness spread her wings and jumped into the sky (she'd turned back into her humanoid form once she had safely hit the ground).

Flying high up she could do a good job scouting for any obvious threats without having to move about. Once it was clear that there wasn't anything like a big monster wearing a sign saying 'I am going to eat you' she got down to the more thorough -and tedious- part of scouting. Covering large areas and putting every square meter of land under careful scrutiny.

WC: 1,804
TWC: 6,836/7,500

Tierra expected the backlash, but not the gross level misunderstandings on all parts. She let the dark slayers say their piece, in her eyes there was no point in trying to stop either, and her abilities do not work on dragons. Chasing after them would be a fools errand, especially when she was the one with the worst chances surviving on this planet. However, Tierra knew that her best chance to explain anything was with Serilda. Luna was still shaking, but when she was given water she water she quickly drank half the bottle at least before she sat up onto her knees, still trembling.

Tierra's first priority was Luna's health, she knelled down beside the girl and slid her and throw one of the sides of Luna's Qipao, to her back for a few moments. Luna couldn't even bring herself to flinch at the moment as she was sorting out her thoughts, trying to mentally reboot herself. "Your gold heart is fine. Lucky too, it seems to be filtering out the toxins a fair bit. Probably why you were rejected so harshly." Pulling out her hand, she proceeded to reach down Luna's back, checking out various points spiritual points on a fairies body. "Oh dear, it really has been 3 months... I thought I was counting wrong. It's a miracle you held up this well after this." Luna's breathing slowly calmed down, back to normal. Although it felt as though she was still looking a million miles into the distance.

Tierra sighed, resisting the urge to lash out at every single human here, but she knew it wasn't their fault. "Luna is fine, psychologically damaged and possibly traumatized for three lifetimes, but since this should have killed any other Nature Fairy, it's hard to tell. I wanted to come sooner, but sadly, I couldn't force a Gate root on that tin can of yours since there isn't enough ambient life force to create a gate twig. Three months ago, the green wolf, he was filling in for the guy who should have stopped Lunaris from ever stepping foot in that thing, but he did not know better, not his fault since the guardsman was drunk as hell. I was babysitting my father at the time."

Tierra sighed. She grabbed a dead blade of grass and looked into it very carefully, trying to determine if she was in fact correct. The humans on a research mission to this planet could turn into a deadly situation if she was wrong. "This planet, all of you should have stayed away from here. This planet sees little light, so it has adapted accordingly, either generating its own, or surviving in the dark and adapted as such. Every planet has their own ambient energy, your home world is a neutral class given it's mix, most worlds are similar with a slight deviation one way, but here is more then slight. The world has adapted itself for pure darkness, there is no corruption or taint as dark is the norm here, reflected in the plants and small critters that essentially started bullying Luna. As such, this planet is a paradise to a dark attributed slayer as they can consume nearly anything here. Your friends might even blend in if they're lucky."

Tierra looked around, still unconvinced she was aware of all there was to this world. She had an ominous feeling, there was something that she could not sense. "However, when I said you humans are not welcome here, that was just me forwarding the planets message. All the creatures and plant life here are small, which is odd. I can't sense anything immediately big, perhaps nocturnal predators... Species of your size and caliber might upset natural routines if we're unlucky. But if the prey is small, i think they're supposed to be small for best chance of survival."

Luna stopped shaking, finally able to calm down enough to focus as she recalled most of what was said. "So what you're telling us is, we're upsetting the food chain?" Tierra nodded before she looked Luna in the eyes. It was clear to her Luna was trying to push her feelings deep down as she tried to stand but started to wobble, Tierra caught the nature fairy and slowly sat her back down.r "Hun take it easy! Don't push yourself. You can't run into danger as you are now."

Luna sighed, a tear rolling down her cheek as she clenched her knee. "Damn it, why am I so useless..." Tierra patted Luna on the back. "You're not useless, you're the only one that can revive these people if they foolishly run to their deaths. Also you are still in emotional aftershock. First up is sadness and self esteem apparently, basically you got a whole cluster of blocked feelings to go through. No one is holding anything against you. Hun, switch forms. I can't help you as quickly in this form."  

Luna let out a breath as a pink magic circle appeared beneath her, her form covered in a pink light before shrinking down to her fairy form. Tierra slowly stood up and put Luna on her shoulder. "She'll be fine. Exposure to me and unfortunately the plants should keep her calm-ish. I'll keep them quiet at the least, but their presence is better then nothing. First priority should be to search for any obvious nests. I think we're in worse danger then you can imagine."

WC 909
TWC 5004

For Akeya the matter of the fairy had already lost importance in the face of exploring the planet. From the beginning the dragoness had little interest, the warning mostly having been given so the newcomer didn't think she could just blab her mouth about whatever she wanted without repercussions. Besides, the celestial dragon was still feeling a buzz from having been in space so she wasn't in the mood to get really angry. At most mild annoyance.

And she found exploration to be much more interesting than what some stranger said anyway. While it was true that covering every square meter was something of a bore there was also a lot to learn, and Akeya was a dragon who hoarded knowledge like other dragons hoarded treasures. A new planet meant there was a lot of things for her to learn about. How had life evolved here? What kind of landscapes would they be dealing with? Of course given that the scientists were earthbound they couldn't exactly go explore the entire world, but she could at least have a map of the surrounding miles of land so they knew what they were dealing with.

One of the first things that she picked up was what others were also noticing: there wasn't any lifeform of size. There weren't even any trees. There were some plants which rose up above the grass but even those were at best dwarf trees and didn't do much to stand out. In fact if you flew high enough and crossed your eyes the landscape below would look more like an unending sea of green without any significant features. Of course those with enhanced senses could still make out the differences and notice those sparse exceptions, who still blended in with the rest quite well. Combined with the lack of large animals this left Akeya with some big questions about just how things had evolved on this world: why was everything limited to small and average sizes?

While she wasn't a scientist Akeya wasn't stupid, and she was also a curious individual with a thirst for knowledge. So when faced with this question she began to try and form some theories. From what she knew about trees one of the reasons they could grow so tall on Earthland was because plantlife was based around absorbing sunlight, and trees competed with one another by trying to be the biggest so they could catch the most of that coveted resource.

Looking up at the skies Akeya frowned, thoughts racing through her head. There wasn't a lot of sunlight here. There was a star close enough to act as something of a sun, but either this star was a lot weaker than the one Earthland rotated around or there was a lot more distance... Earthland plants would probably not grow very well here either. But there was a lot of green on the ground, so obviously the plants here had found a way to thrive even if they'd chosen for growing wide rather than tall. Was a lack of sunlight for tall plants the only answer? If they were growing fine with little sunlight they had little need to grow tall...

But that still left the question of why there weren't any big animals. Animals didn't care much for how much sunlight they got aside from how it affected their sleep cycle. Little sunlight would promote creatures which either can see well with little light or who rely on other senses than their eyes, but it shouldn't have a significant effect on size. As was demonstrated by many herbivores it was easy to grow big even when there weren't any big plants to eat, and predators could grow big from the herbivores. With how much plantlife there was around food shouldn't be an issue, and while the stuff growing here might end up being unhealthy for creatures from Earthland due to a difference in chemistry creatures living on this planet shouldn't have any issue with it...

Taking a nosedive Akeya returned to the ground, where she stood still and closed her eyes as she focused on her ears, her nose and her feet. She could smell the plantlife... but it was foreign so it was difficult to discern whether there was any alien animal scent in there. So feet and ears it was. It took several minutes of standing completely still, making sure she made no sound and acted more like a statue and a living thing, before the assassin could say with certainty that there was something aside from plantlife here. Very faint tremors from the ground, the sound of footsteps and the rustling of creatures making their way through the grasslands. But it all originated from small creatures.

If there wasn't anything of size in this place the only answer was that something made growing big unfavourable. Taking back off into the sky Akeya began to scout for something else. Looking at the skies and at the ground she tried to find anything which could lead to whatever restricted evolution to small creatures. Gravity wasn't an issue, Constantine's gravity was close enough to Earthland's that even the scientists could walk about, although she was pretty sure some of them were getting distracted by the fact that with some effort they could jump over one another's heads.

Still, compared to space it was pretty heavy down here.

Finally finding what she was looking for Akeya flew over to a cave at the foot of one of the mountains, the only things that broke the rather flat surface of the planet. Presumably this meant Constantine had a crust similar to Earthland's. Maybe she could find a volcano. For now she hovered in front of the cave, then breathed deeply and emitted a single sharp yell after which she focused on what she could hear with her ears. Judging from the way it echoed and rebounded the cave went on for a very long time, which was affirmed by how she could feel the darkness stretching out within.

If nothing could grow big on the surface the next thing to explore was the underground world. Letting her clawed feet touch the ground the dragoness entered the cave, her emerald eyes seeing as clearly in the dark as if it was Earthland's noon. So far as caves went this one looked pretty normal, although a bit more spacious than most. Was that normal or had she just found one of the bigger ones?

Moving forward slowly and carefully Akeya was on guard when she encountered them for the first time. Amidst the darkness little pins of white light began to show up, which quickly turned out to be eyes. Given that Akeya was blending in with the darkness and moving silently they hadn't noticed her yet, but watching so many batlike creatures move about inside the cave the twilight mage began to get a suspicion what the issue might be with growing big.

There were too many of them. There hadn't been any near the entrance of the cave but now that she'd gone further underground where the light couldn't reach they were everywhere. The walls, the ceiling, the floor... it would be difficult for someone to advance any further than this wouldn't touching one of them accidentally, since they eagerly filled up the space between the stone walls as well, their wings rapidly flapping to carry them from one spot to another. And judging from what she could see these things were carnivorous, similar to bats (although she wouldn't want to see a bat try to fight one of these things).

It was too early to be certain, but Akeya had the feeling that the answer to nothing being big outside was that somewhere in its evolutionary path this planet had given birth to something even more dangerous to big animals than civilization on Earthland: a type of relentless carnivore that would breed like mad and which could go wherever it wanted.

Unmoving she tried to figure out what to do next. Pulling out and warning the others might be the best idea, but if she came back emptyhanded that would leave them with no way to learn more about the threat. Should she try to capture one? If she tried the rest might come after her... Shaking her head the dragoness placed her hands together. It'd be a cold day in hell before she let herself be scared off by a couple of bats.

Gathering energy she tensed her muscles, ready to move, ready to act upon the first opportunity that presented itself. Her reptilian eyes watched the movements of the swarm deeper in the bowels of the ground, waiting and waiting... when the opportunity came along she struck without hesitation: one of the batlike creatures had strayed a bit further from the rest. Reaching out with one clawed hand strings of darkness shot out and wrapped itself around the little carnivore, which immediately began to screech and frantically try to shake off the bindings. Not waiting to see how the rest would react Akeya began to dash back towards the entrance with her prisoner in tow. Behind her she could hear the sound of many things chasing her, wings beating with such frequency and amount that it sounded a lot like the rainfall in a heavy storm. Fortunately for the intruder, she was faster.

As she ran Akeya glanced over her shoulder, then shot out another set of dark bindings to grab another one of the glowing-eyes-fliers. More screeching followed, but by then she was outside and could fly away with two specimen tidily tied up. The mass that was chasing her flooded out of the cave entrance as if a stream, but then quickly retreated back towards the safety of the darkness. The two that couldn't leave due to Akeya having grabbed them began to move with even more franticness, apparently desperate to escape the sensation of the light upon their bodies.

Looking at them the one responsible for their predicament considered her options, then rolled her eyes and covered their entire bodies in spheres of darkness. Almost immediately they quieted down somewhat although they didn't stop struggling against their bindings. She didn't care much if they were in distress or not if they went completely crazy it would make them less valuable as research specimen. And they might hurt themselves.

Flying back towards the camp she noticed that the scientists were working hard at studying their surroundings, some of them gathering samples from plants while others were studying the ground or were even investigating the nature of the air around here (Akeya counted herself fortunate that she didn't need to breathe, so even if the air was toxic it wouldn't hurt her unless it was particularly nasty).

With a burst of light she grabbed the attention of the people on the ground before she went down and landed, were she quickly moved to some of the scientists who appeared to be interested in the biological aspects of this world and thrust the bound bats into their hands. "I found a lot of these in a cave. The more we know about them the better, but if you need to expose them to light make sure they can't move first because they seem to hate strong illumination."

WC: 1,888
TWC: 8,724/7,500

When the parties returned, both fairies felt a sense of dread in the area. While never a direct consciousness, to Nature oriented beings like select kinds of Fairies and Nymphs, they could feel the feelings of the enviornment and sometimes the planet itself. While Neutral worlds like Earthland, where the balance is often chaotic and shifting can be hard to read, this planet was clear as day for them to read. They were getting a message of hostility, they were unwanted. Both were in great concern for the scientists and Serilda, especially the biologists. Tierra was resisting the urge to just forcefully try to get everyone off the planet. Tierra was glad that she and Serilda were starting to get on the same page, all things considered. "I generate holy energy, so that should work as Luna's breed leans towards holy alignment. I'd force her back to Earthland through several means, but those require too much paperwork. It's sorta dangerous to just throw a Fairy across planets through our world."

However, the situation started to get a little more tense when Akeya returned after collecting bat specimens for the biologists. It was clear that the differing needs for light could pose a problem, as there appeared to be two ways this could result if too much light was used, fight or flight. The fairies had followed Serilda when she too was curious about the creatures. The information that she gathered was thorough, however the amount of teeth was what was on Luna's mind. However both fairies were disagreeing with the scientists that it was safe to examine the creature yet. Luna tried to explain that it was too soon to examine individual creatures, but the scientists were having trouble taking someone who was in poor mental health seriously, until Tierra chimed in. "I'd return those to where you found them. These appear to be a lower class gatherer species, preys on the small or what bigger beasts leave behind. But more importantly, I think day is like night, where species like these are vulnerable, when night falls it will pose a threat."

However, when the four mages reunited, it was clear that night was going to be a major concern. Luna agreed with the need to pack up the equipment and hide back in the ship. Serilda suggested some form of camera to observe the world. However Luna's condition has been somewhat improving throughout the time, unfortunately for everyone else, she moved from self loathing and depression onto a much more, difficult stage. "Oh, you would just love that wouldn't you? Disgusting humans, you take pride in your claimed top of the food chain viewing all other life as yours to do whatever you please, destroying nature in it's path. Maybe it's you that should be observed like some caged animal while you get slau-" Tierra quickly covered Luna's mouth with her finger, sweating as she was very nervous about what Luna was going to say if she was not stopped. "Okay, she's out of depression and self loathing, unfortunately at this point it's her pent up anger and natural prejudice towards humans, which might be boosted by the planet. Years of your kind's greed has left a bad imprint of fairies."

Tierra figured better to change the subject back to the matter at hand, she figured that the solution was simpler then it seemed. "Don't we have two dark slayers right here though, and one is a dragon too, surely they an see in the dark or with advanced hearing by echolocation? We just need to be careful, as for all we know there could be species with such powerful instincts or magic ability to know when they are being observed. But most importantly, cameras might not be enough."

Tierra looked up at the sky, worried that sight was going to be a major hindrance on this planet. Luna pushed away the finger, and noted the same thought. "Sight will do no good if these creatures have ways to fight without it."


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Akeya wouldn't say that she had been gone for very long, since she did make sure to move fast while exploring, but she was still surprised that they would still be busy with Luna's problems by the time the dragoness came back with her prey. Given that the people in charge had elected the fairy to come with them she had assumed that the nature mage would be a valuable asset once she got her bearings, but so far the assassin was left wondering how long it would take before she'd get over the drawbacks of being stuck in a spaceship for months, followed by being dumped onto an alien world where the plants weren't as friendly as back home.

Well, it wasn't really her concern. She'd do what she needed to do, and the people she had to protect were the scientists, not Luna and that princess she'd apparently called upon to help out. While Luna's healing abilities would be useful if the planet turned out to be too hostile and it was good to receive the opinion of someone who had a close connection to nature the scientists were the ones with the training and knowledge to obtain the desired knowledge of this place. And Akeya was good at avoiding injuries herself so she didn't think she personally would require the fairy's aid.

But it was still good to have Serilda join her to help study the batlike creatures upon her arrival. In response to the question how far away she'd found the critters the dragoness pointed in the direction of the cave. "I encountered these things in a cavern roughly eight kilometers from here in that direction. And yes, there were a lot of them, enough to cover practically every surface. I had to travel deep beyond the entrance to find them, and they quickly retreated once I made my way to the exit. As I said, they seem to hate the light and respond badly to being exposed to it, but at the same time are highly aggressive in the darkness... as long as they are in groups." She looked at the two she'd captured, which first got handled by Serilda before the scientists got to work with the fresh specimen. "Given how quickly they reacted to my presence I believe that they may be responsible for the fact that there aren't any large creatures outside: even something with a tough hide would get swarmed at night, and they make their homes in the caves so diurnal creatures can't hide there either."

At the suggestion of not exploring too far the dragoness folded her arms, glancing around towards their surroundings before nodding. "I agree insofar as that we should remain close to the ship for today. Tonight we can learn about the conditions of the nocturnal state of this place, and after that we can plan how to explore further afterwards. Hiding near the shuttle might be safer but wouldn't do us any good, since we do need plenty of samples if we want to learn more about the planet."

The discussion about how to proceed from here was interrupted when first the princess told them to return the two batlike critters, and then apparently Luna's state of mind changed from misery to anger as she lashed out towards the rest of them. Akeya listened to them with narrowed eyes, even her joy of space being worn down by these two. She was aware that illness could harm one's ability to be rational and reasonable, but now the two fairies were just being downright antagonistic and obstructive to the actual objective.

It was a good thing that Mythal spoke up and informed the haughty one that they weren't going to just abandon the mission just because the nature loving fairies didn't like things being out of place. Akeya would have been quite a lot less gentle than he was (which was saying something, since her fellow slayer wasn't exactly being sweet about it either). Once the man finished Akeya followed up with a sharp glare. "I would suggest that the princess returns to wherever she came from. If Luna is already having trouble enduring this world having a second fairy whine about how we should all leave and not touch anything isn't going to help us." She leaned forward towards Tierra, her voice sharp. "We are here to learn about this planet, and whether you or the planet likes it is irrelevant. Anything that gets in our way will be dealt with, terminally if necessary."

Returning her focus to the group she looked at Serilda and Mythal. "The scientists can leave some recorders outside, but I'll be keeping watch as well. The darkness never bothered me anyway. Mythal probably could join me but I think I'll be fine by myself." Maybe she could get some more specimens if those batlike creatures were as aggressive during the night as she anticipated. If she was a straightforward fighter she would have been worried about being overwhelmed, since the amount of those little flying monsters was not a joke, but Akeya had never believed in fighting fair.

Believing all important things to have been said the celestial dragon turned away to help the scientists prepare for the night. All equipment would need to either be inside the shuttle or nearby so it could quickly be moved inside at the end. The scientists wanted to get as many samples as possible before nightfall, which Akeya couldn't blame for (being a curious person herself). Once they had the samples they could do most of their research inside since the shuttle had been built to serve as a lab as well.

---

Night came faster than expected, which made Akeya glad that they began preparations early. Along with gravity being slightly less than Earthland's it looked like the day/night cycle also was faster, which might also feed into there being little that could survive during the day despite the apparant threat only showing up at night. On the other hand it might not... Akeya shook her head. She couldn't really make an accurate call on this one. She'd have to ask an expert whether shorter days would influence the development of large creatures.

The austere assassin was standing on top of the shuttle, watching darkness quickly blanket the land as the distant sun disappeared behind the horizon. All the scientists were inside where they would be safe: while thousands of those critters could most likely kill anything made of flesh there was no indication that they would be capable of damaging the hardened construction. She hoped for their sake that the other mages were also inside, because she doubted that they would enjoy being outside during the dark hours. Even Mythal, although he'd fare better than the rest.

Not that she doubted their fighting power. If they fought seriously Mythal would most likely crush her mercilessly. His power was nothing to mock or look down upon. However what was needed for this scenario wasn't raw might, but the ability to cheat like nobody's business. And while Akeya could admit other people being better at fighting than her she had some pride in her ability to not play by the rules, whether those rules be the rules of man or the rules of nature.

Staring into the distance, towards where she remembered the cavern being, she squinted as she saw some movement from far away. It looked like things were about to get started.

WC: 1,250
TWC: 9,974/7,500