The Devil's Bleeding Crown

"Mages come in all shapes and sizes. Where one may falter at something, another may excel."

The Guild Master of Sabertooth was actually quite lucky that he had not wasted time by going to the wrong area completely. While Lamia Scale did still have a branch in Hargeon Town a good many of its members had shifted over to the newer branch and guild hall that was located away from Fiore and within Pandora. Samira herself had been one of those that had ventured away from the old location of the guild and mostly stayed with the new. It was required of her given she was one of the Aces as well as one of the more powerful members of the guild. While the guild hall in Hargeon Town was normally safe the one in Pandora was not, and the strongest mages the guild had needed to be there while everything was getting settled to prevent some catastrophe from happening. A safety precaution that she herself agreed with. Unfortunately, the grand library stayed with the old branch, which meant she had to travel away from Pandora and make it back to Hargeon anytime she needed to look something up. Unlucky for her, but very lucky for a certain Guild Master that was making his way there by ship.

Samira couldn't really remember the last time she had bothered leaving the guild. If she really thought hard enough perhaps she could place a mark on the timeline that highlighted an invasion of sorts. The third call of the Magic Council concerning monster attacks to be more specific. That had actually taken her to Beanstalk Village where she had aided in its defense along with a few notable people. Two of them having more than one title to mark their significance within Fiore. She was indifferent when it came to them. The other though, well, he had lost quite a few points the moment he called her "cutie." That was still a bit cringe worthy for a woman like her. One that did not take any sort of flirtation very well. Past experiences had a part to play where that was concerned, but that was not very important. That incident had been put behind her since she did not really expect to see him again unless the world was coming to an end.

Samira was in the grand library of Lamia Scale, sitting at one of the many tables with books scattered all around her. The third of her spirit trials had been completed and she had passed with flying colors. Well, as much flying colors as that spirit would allow. His power was hers now, but he was less than pleased about it. Still, that meant only two more remained. When they would happen she wasn't sure. The spirits knew, of course, but had neglected to keep her informed. Something she should have been used to by then. It just had to be accepted that the fourth trial could happen at any time no matter what she was doing. Thankfully it would not be that day. Nope. Another sort of mission was coming her way, and once again she didn't even know it. Her research was going to have to be put on a halt and saved for another day.

While the summoner may have been hidden away deep in the quiet library of the guild hall one of her spirits was not. The spirit incarnation of Anhur had spotted Tail Spin flying into town from where he was standing, which happened to be the roof of the guild itself. He recognized it even though he had only seen it once and very briefly when it was flying into Beanstalk Village as he left Samira there to fend for herself. The ship then landed near the guild hall itself, and as he continued watching he saw a man heading towards the guild. Terrific. Even if he were absent from the fight that day he still put the pieces together from what he had been told. One would have assumed a visit from the leader of another guild surely would have meant it was a meeting for Gisen, the Guild Master of Lamia Scale. She was not present, however. The bunny girl was off at the Pandora branch as far as he knew. That or hiding under the couch somewhere to avoid people she did not know.

'Your guild has a visitor,' he said mentally, sending the thought towards the grand library where the summoner was busying herself with whatever knowledge hunt nonsense she was on now. No response was given. 'Samira...' He waited several seconds before growling as annoyance began to overtake him. 'SAMIRA!'

'The guild has many visitors,' her reply finally made, as calm as it usually was despite having just been yelled at by a spirit. Honestly she had been ignoring him until then and had thought he would drop the matter entirely. The mind yelling was starting to get a bit distracting, especially if he was going to use such volume. 'You complained to me just the other day about them. What makes this one more important than the others?' Samira gently flipped the page of a book that was on the table in front of her. No one that also happened to be in the library was disturbed. Her replies were given telepathically to the spirit, and as such the large room remained eerily quiet.

'The visitor is one of those male mages you spoke of from the defensive battle of Beanstalk Village.'

The summoner paused in mid-page turn and allowed the slip of paper to gracefully fall back down in place. That was a piece of news that she did not want to hear. There was a fifty fifty chance that her levels of tolerance would be tested during the visit. Then again, why on Earthland would an Ace or Guild Master of Sabertooth be in Hargeon? Or even taking the time to come to the Lamia Scale guild hall? 'Please tell me that it is the one with the hat.'

'That would be lying, but very well. It is the one clearly wearing an invisible hat. So powerful is this item that it has found me unworthy and will not allow my eyes to gaze upon its magnificence.'

'You have been taking lessons from Susano to increase the effectiveness of your sarcasm, have you?' Samira sighed and leaned back in her chair. Of the two why did it have to be that one? Now she had to figure out a way to not involve herself with whatever reason it was he came here. Naturally she did not immediately assume that he was there to see her personally for a mission. She wasn't so egotistical as that. There had to be some other reason. 'Go inform Gisen of his arrival.'

'Hey, Samira! Did you drop a few IQ points while reading that trash? The rabbit isn't here.'

'Oh.' She may have forgotten that little detail in her moment of self preservation. 'He must be here to see Aiyana then. She is a Wizard Saint so he must need her for something significant. Go inform her, Anhur.'

'Correct me if I am wrong on this, but have we even seen that one before? Would Anhur even know what to look for?'

'I would not. I am starting to think she is a myth because of this.'

A groan of hopelessness came from Samira at that. Two Lamia Scale leaders down, leaving only her to take care of the situation. Time to do some management and give someone else a bit of power! 'Go find Hebisha. The lamia of Lamia Scale should suffice for this.' Instantly she could almost feel the facepalms of the spirits that stayed connected with her mind. 'Did... did you really just skip over yourself?! What the hell?!'

'What you call skipping I call delegating.' That was not enough to convince the spirits otherwise. Samira's brows began to twitch in mild annoyance at concluding that she would just have to see what the leader of Sabertooth wanted. "Fine! I will go!" She shouted vocally while slamming her palms on the table, ending the mental conversation and getting both surprised glances and shushes from others in the library. They went ignored, and the woman stood up to leave the library as well as the mess of books and papers she had made. As far as she was aware she was coming back anyway. "Anhur, has he entered the guild building yet?"

'No. He is making his way into the main entrance now.'

"Good. I will meet him there." Samira then paused her steps. "Janus." At the call of his name a mechanical looking spirit shaped in a human form materialized in a burst of magic particles. He was a the spirit incarnation of the god of portals, and making portals was his specialty. Samira planned to use that ability of his to appear where the visitor was, or at least nearby. "Could you please make a portal that leads to the entrance of the guild? I would appreciate it."

The newly summoned spirit nodded slowly before speaking with cheerful enthusiasm at the request. "Of course, my dear! One moment!" Janus turned away slightly and motioned his arm into the shape of a circle. As his arm moved a pale blue sparkling energy followed, filling the circle that would have otherwise been invisible. When the shape was complete, the energy sparked and made a small explosive but harmless reaction. Once settled a magically generated warp portal remained in the air, waiting for someone to make use of it. Unfortunately that someone was hesitating. "Hmmm? Is there something wrong?"

Samira's green eyes stared at the portal, narrowed as she went into thinking mode. There was nothing wrong but... Her gaze shifted over towards Janus. "You go. I will stay here. Consider this as protecting me against meaningless flirtations and awkward moments of being hit on." The spirit's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped in disbelief. "You can't ju-"

"I'll go!" A hyperactive high pitched voice spoke. The source being the scorpion tailed spirit known as Serqet popping into existence in a poof of purple colored magic particles. Both Janus and Samira attempted to stop the spirit as she began to run through the portal so she could meet and greet the super important visitor. If any spirit was going to go out there it sure was not going to be that one. She wasn't serious enough and was more of a playful and embarrassing type. The world did not need to know yet another quirky character that belonged to Lamia Scale. How unfortunate it was that the attempt to stop the spirit had failed, and had even made things worse. Serqet's persistence and energy could not be matched. During the scuffle Janus had been shoved through his own portal. Then Serqet had somehow managed to jump inside while yelling "Whheeeee!" as she disappeared, and Samira had pretty much fallen into the portal when Serqet made her leap.

Lamia Scale may not have had a doorbell that Samira was aware of, but it came with near instant visitor greeting services. It was so top notch and professional that it even knew the person someone came to see and would deliver them right to the door! Well, that's what it would have looked like anyway for Kite's case. The other end of the portal opened up in front of and above the entrance of the guild and its doors. First the mechanical man spirit came crashing down onto the ground, landing on his stomach and groaning. Then came the scorpion tailed woman spirit, landing on the mechanical man in a sitting position with an oof and a giggle. The extra weight only made the spirit below her shout more from the unexpected pain. Then came the green-haired summoner, screaming as she fell from the portal and only stopped when she landed on the two spirits. They both burst into particles upon impact, and Samira would then fall the rest of the way to the ground.

"Owww." Samira sat up, feeling slightly pained from the fall but not really by much. It was actually forgettable after she realized the portal had worked a little too well. She blinked her eyes, staying silent and feeling embarrassed at having made a rather... unique appearance rather than a formal one to be taken seriously given her rank. Already she could picture the Lamia Scale guild master bopping her head with a carrot for it. Probably best to just let it slide and pretend that did not happen at all. Yes, maybe, just maybe that would work and allow her grand entrance to be overlooked. "Hello, Mr. Wilhelm," she began to say respectfully and putting on a small sheepish smile. "Welcome to Lamia Scale. What brings you all the way out here? If you are here to see Ms. Ceostra or Ms. Aiyana they are not currently present." Samira stayed seated on the ground where she landed, having not really gotten to the thought process of standing just quite yet.

"Mages come in all shapes and sizes. Where one may falter at something, another may excel."

Fortunately the comment regarding the right woman falling out of the sky had gone unheard thanks to Samira pretending that all was normal with her spectacular exit from the guild hall. Such a way with words could have annoyed the summoner indeed and make quite the bad start to their conversation. Her greeting seemed to have been taken well enough, although the man visiting the guild had mentioned he had come to the Lamia Scale guild hall looking for her. "For me?" That was certainly an interesting development. Well, almost. Part of her inner self cringed as she recalled why she wanted to avoid him at all costs to begin with. Surely as a guild master he wasn't so unprofessional as to stalk her all the way there just to flirt some more and bug her for a date? That uncomfortable fear had to be exaggerated just a tiny bit. Tiny. What other reason he was looking for her though she could not guess. The two had only met and worked together once. That was not exactly enough to consider them as friends of any sort so this wasn't that sort of visit either. As far as she was concerned the other two names she had mentioned a moment ago were more suited for business matters as well. It was a flaw in her personality. She had her rank within the guild as well as power to back it up, but she would always consider herself inferior and less significant when compared to others.

Kite had also leaned down slightly, extending his hand out to her while mentioning the fact she was still on the ground. Oh... right. There was that other embarrassing detail. Very professional on her part! The cheeks of her face turned a couple of shades darker as they took on a more pink hue, but whether that was because she had overlooked the process of standing up or because his words were rather nice to hear no one would ever know. She had begun reaching her own hand out to allow herself to be helped up, but she brought it back a bit, hesitating to complete the action. Now she was all sorts of confused with how to react. It was easy to get annoyed and angry when she received meaningless flirtations and obvious pick up lines, but things got a little more difficult when it was done in a nice gentlemanly way. Samira couldn't even tell if he was being sincere with that or if what he just said to her could be categorized as a form of lying and exaggeration. She didn't know him very well at all so it was difficult to judge, and she hated it. Nevertheless, Samira convinced herself to take the helping hand anyway. Her hand reached out fully to connect with his and within a few quick moments she was back on her feet and standing. Then she quickly disconnected and took a couple of steps back to have some distance. "Thank you..." Now she felt very awkward and slightly guilty for maybe misjudging him completely. Maybe. Samira was that confused due to some events that happened in her life well before meeting the Sabertooth guildmaster. Her gaze shifted to the side and down towards the ground, and she had begun to run her hands through her long strands of hair. A nervous habit she had picked up some time ago. "You mentioned you came here looking for me?" A question asked to move the conversation along before her instincts convinced her to flee the scene.

A flyer was given to her, one that had been delivered to him that very morning. That got her attention and focus to the point that she went back to her serious demeanor and forced the awkward feelings she had away for the moment. "This morning?" Her eyes switched back to him as they widened in surprise at hearing that. Huh, he was the type to actually not dilly dally and procrastinate. He was a guildmaster for a reason she supposed and not just because of power. Another misjudgement, but not one that made her feel awkward. Just ashamed really for her assumptions. That was quickly tossed aside as well into her forgotten feelings corner to deal with at another time. For now Samira took the flyer and began to look over its contents as she listened to Mr. Wilhelm speak more on the topic.

From what she gathered it was a mission given by the council itself and she could see why. A demon army needed to be dealt with before disaster happened. Now things made a bit more sense. Their last meeting was during a monster swarm and all mages that took part in that were shown that they could deal with numerous enemies at a time. An army would not be all that difficult for any of them. The only problem she could see was that her experience with handling demons was nonexistent. Samira had dealt with dragons, monsters, cloned celestial spirits, different types of mages, dolls, but never demons. How much of an asset she would be she was uncertain, but it looked as if out of all allies that were involved in the Beanstalk Village attack she was the only one available or easily found. Although him mentioning that he did not know the location of Silver Wolf was amusing to her. Had she not needed the library that was in Hargeon that day he would have been out of luck with finding her as well.

"That does make sense, but..." Samira had let her words trail off as he started to speak again after a slight awkward cough. She had intended to tell him about her inexperience with handling demons of any kind. It would be rude to interrupt though, wouldn't it? Especially when it was in the form of an apology. Another surprising trait she had not thought would come from him at all. Samira stared blankly at him as she tried processing it. If she actually had dreams she would have assumed the current encounter was one for it was all too unbelievable. Then he lowered his head and asked for a second chance. Someone else may have taken it entirely different than she did.

There were a few seconds of silence after he had finished speaking. Then a sound came from Samira, one that indicated that she was attempting to hold back laughter. It was a failed attempt, however. A hand went to cover her mouth as she kept trying to suppress it. That did not work either. The laughter could not be contained and exploded from the woman until she was holding her sides. "I am sorry," she said in between breaths and random giggles. "It is just-" Another wave that prevented her from explaining properly.

Assuming the Sabertooth guildmaster didn't take complete offense to his apology being laughed at, Samira would calm down with time and try to speak again. If he had turned to leave she would force herself to stop long enough to ask him to wait. Either way, she was wiping tears from her eyes while trying to get back to a normal breathing pattern. "Apologies for that." Another small giggle that escaped despite her intentions to stop completely. "I do not think I have ever received an apology for being flirted with before, and if I had it certainly was not like yours. Your words were the equivalent to one a man would use when asking a woman for a second chance at a serious romantic relationship because of a great error on his part. Your transgression was not that severe, and we certainly are not of that category of relationships. You went hilariously and unpredictably overboard. I did not expect it." Naturally the part where she was avoiding him the moment she found out he was within range of the guild was left out. He didn't need to know that. Samira already felt silly enough for doing so in the first place after getting such an apology.

"As for this," she held up the flyer to try and bring back the conversation back to the reason he even came to Hargeon looking for her. "I have no experience dealing with demons. Had this mission been dealing with a different type of enemy I would be a lot more confident in my ability to help you with this." The flyer would then be handed back to him as if she were declining the request she come along. It was probably a scenario he had not expected. Given the apology he had assumed she would refuse based on the persona of himself he had displayed back in Beanstalk village. Samira had honestly worked with worse. Simple flirtations could easily be overlooked and dealt with in comparison so that was not it. Her declination on tagging along was because of her inexperience with that enemy type, and thus she considered herself a burden in that regard. She disliked bringing allies down for any reason when it concerned herself. There had to be someone else he could ask even if his trusted Ace was on another job and Leila's location was unknown. Her spirits remained quiet during the interaction and did not try to persuade her otherwise. Throughout everything she had been through since becoming a member of her guild she never did change the way she looked at herself. "Sorry, but for your sake I am going to have to decline, Mr. Wilhelm."

It now seemed Kite would be having to spend a few moments convincing Samira to tag along with the mission. That or somehow getting her onto his ship before she could react and by result it being much too late to bother leaving. Either way, once she was successfully recruited the summoner would sigh deeply in exasperation while folding her arms across her chest. "I do hope you have a proper plan that does not include the phrase 'winging it.'"

"Mages come in all shapes and sizes. Where one may falter at something, another may excel."

Samira had been told that she didn't need to be so formal and was free to call the Sabertooth guild master by his first name. It was a relief for Samira really to have that allowance. Being formal took work, but given his leader position proper respect had to be given until told otherwise. Afterwards though she had a feeling the conversation was going to go into the realm of him convincing her to tag along. Bringing up her ability was more of a stab than a compliment, and for a second her neutral expression faltered to show it. Others relying on her because of ability and power was something she always considered a mistake. That sort of thing came from her spirits, not so much herself. She had recently unlocked more abilities for herself after reaching a certain point in whatever destiny timeline that was set up for her an age and a half ago, but there was little experience with using them all. Then there were other things no one was aware of except for herself and the spirits connected with her. Many complications could come up that would make her more of an enemy than an ally. Overthinking things just a bit? Probably. Her inferiority complex did not really help either. So many excuses for turning down the job offer could be made and Kite's past flirtatious attitude was at the very bottom of the list.

Her expectations on him trying to persuade her to take the offer were proven to be false, much to her surprise. He mentioned not forcing the choice onto her and that just caused her to blink a few times as she looked at him while also repeating those words in her head to confirm that it had been accurate. "Wait, you are not-?" Before she could get the words out he had already taken hold of her hand to shake it and thank her for her time. Naturally telling her to have a good rest of her day was also added in. He was going off to fight a demon army, and she was staying nice and cozy in the Lamia Scale guild hall. Somehow telling him "you have a good day too" seemed a bit out of place. "Right... good luck," she replied softly as he turned to leave. Samira did feel somewhat bad for having to decline. The mission was a complicated one and even on paper it sounded dangerous. However, as she watched him begin to leave she was firm in her belief that she was doing him a favor. There had to be someone else more fitting as a partner for the job.

'Nope. There's no one else.'
'Ditto.'
'No one at all, girlie.'
"And what makes you all draw that conclusion?" The summoner asked of the spirits that were in her head and had been hearing and watching everything from Samira's point of view.

'Because you're always asked dead last when it comes to things like this.'
'Is true.'
'Pathetic.'
'He did mention his Ace and the Silver Wolf leader before you so there is some truth to this.'
'Psh, so much for that cake walk, huh? More like he got stuck with you and anything is better than nothing. Well, so long as they don't die by a simple poke like all of those crummy weaklings walking around.'

"I was not last. I doubt he has asked all the other high ranking mages of Fiore."
'Yeah, because knocking on the door of every mage known in Fiore and asking them to go on a suicidal mission isn't weird at all. He apparently only considered those that were in that monster swarm. He even just now said that he was on his own. The guy must be a real loner to have no other connections. Sad. Well, was nice knowing him for those five minutes. He'll look pretty in one of those glorified worm food containers.'

And so back to the impulse to act before Kite had truly left. It was ridiculous. The spirits had a point. He had been dead set on either her coming along or going in all alone regardless of all the other powerful and notable mages that might have tagged along if asked. That was just madness! Why was it that she always ended up as a sense of reason when paired up with another? She wouldn't be staying up at night with worry on whether he was okay or not. They didn't know each other well enough for that sort of thing. However, it would be a lie to say if word came back that he had failed and died during the mission that she wouldn't feel guilty about letting it happen in the first place. That left one possible solution to save her future self from such a thing: tag along and ensure he didn't get himself killed. Facing an entire demon army alone with god knows what as its commander. Insane!

The answer given towards her question of a plan was almost facepalm worthy. Almost. He actually didn't say they would be winging it thankfully, but there was no plan made at all. Step one had been asking her to come along. Depending on how that went then a plan would be made. "I see." Then something else decided to chime in to state that making up with her was a higher priority. Samira wasn't really that knowledgeable when it came to ship technology, but she had seen talking mechanisms inside them before. EDI must have been another one of that kind. She stayed silent and stared rather blankly as Kite interacted with EDI. If it had not been regarding her she might have laughed a bit. "It really was not that bad..." She was only made uncomfortable back then and earlier when he arrived because she disliked flirtations. He may as well have accidentally killed her nonexistent puppy with the way he had prioritized the apology.

A simple nod was given when he stated he'd fill her in on demonic details. Up the ramp and into the ship she went and with the gesture to continue following she did so. She listened carefully and remained focused so as not to be rude and to gain the information she needed to be more useful. The explanation made them sound not too different from what she was used to. There were monsters that could be just as crafty and had powers that may have been unknown. It generally depended on the species and just how old they were since the ancient ones had many variables. The ones on Pandora being an example of that. Still, she was sure demons were on a much more higher scale of dangerous, especially for the higher tiered ones, and that was without going into worrying about exorcism and possession. Now if only she had demon slayer magic or even anything that was holy. The closest she got was her spirit of the light element. At least that one was also one of the more powerful ones.

Samira remained silent even as he came to pause his words. Her head tilted slightly, wondering why he had done so. He spoke again, stating having someone like her around was better for his sake then she had originally thought. A reversal of her own words when she had said her refusal to come along was better for him. Once again an unintentional stab. Compliments were something she just did not take well when it came to her ability. He was already setting high expectations she wasn't sure she could fulfill. "Careful. Overestimating people can be unwise. I guess we will find out soon enough which of us is right when it comes to my case." Words said as her lips formed into a small smile to hide the fact she was actually worried by what sort of standards he actually had for her. They had only seen each other's fighting ability once. Briefly. However, she did not want to argue. He was set with his line of thinking and she was now already onboard. There was little point to debate. They either came back alive, or they didn't.

From there she decided to move along and keep walking, expecting him to follow along. Weird considering she had no idea where she was going and it was his ship, but it felt awkward to just stand there while that sort of conversation was going on. "I suppose it is rather obvious that I lack demon slayer magic. Hurting their physical bodies can only go so far as well. That may work for whatever this army has for its frontlines, but I have my doubts on the hack and slash tactic working against those that fill the roles of its captains and officers. Even less so when it comes to the leader. I do have other spirits that may be beneficial as far as support and utility are concerned, so that is a silver lining at least." If there was anything she did have it was utility, or so she had been told on many occasions. That was far from satisfying back in her lower rank days since she preferred being powerful enough like others to completely skip over that. Currently she was glad for it. There were too many unknowns with the job Kite had been given by the Magic Council, and since it was not an army of monsters that relied on instinct like before they may be needing to get a bit more clever with their strategy.

"I also suggest unless we want to go in swinging, which I do not advise given the circumstances, that we land before even reaching the land these demons have claimed. It is a bit too obvious and makes us targets instantly. We would be fighting blind. Unless..." Samira's eyes narrowed and her eyebrows twitched just thinking about the other suggestion she had. It was almost ridiculous with how many times it actually worked in the past. "Unless a good portion of the army gets blown up first. I could tell you stories on how many times that has worked when it should not have. I still to this day do not comprehend how. All logic had been defied. In essence, because of past experiences I have learned that if you lack a plan or are out of ideas, just blow things up." A suggestion that might have been surprising for the Sabertooth guild master to hear from her. It was hard for her to even say it in the first place. But... it was there and usually worked.

Meanwhile the hyperactive and quirky spirit from earlier had decided to pop into the mortal realm once more. Rarely was she used for combat, and rarely was she even summoned intentionally. A girl spirit has to get out as much as she could! That meant defying a certain summoner whenever she wanted. She poofed into existence near the duo but remained quiet, and her invisibility had made her unseen. As far as she knew anyway. Samira was distracted with listening to the man speak and had not noticed her. Whether the other could sense her or not she also was not sure about. Serqet, the spirit with the golden scorpion tail followed along, her plan being to scurry off elsewhere the first chance she got so she could explore the ship and most likely cause much chaos by pushing random buttons and interacting with other things. Then she overheard Samira's suggestion. "Blowing things up is bad. Someone could get hurt, you know!"

Oh... whatever cover she had, had been blown. Whatever. Her invisibility disappeared and she latched onto Samira from behind and embraced her tightly. Meanwhile her tail swerved over in Kite's direction and was held up in the air for him to take as if she were offering her hand to shake. "Hi! I'm Serqet!" A giant grin was on her face and could only be matched by the deep frown that was on the summoner's face. "I'm sure you've heard all about me by now and how positively awesome I am!"

"Awesome is an understatement, and not in the good way."

"Heeeyyy. That's mean!" No matter. The spirit with the short attention span was near instantly happy again and was back with her focus on Kite. "Your name is 'Kite', right? That's a funny name honestly..."
"Serqet..."

The spirit did not seem to hear Samira, that or most likely was ignoring her. Whichever one did not matter. She released the green haired woman from the hug and quickly moved so she was standing face to face with Kite. "Hey! If I tie a string to you and threw you off the ship would you fly? Come on! Lets try it out!"
"He is not a literal kite!"
Serqet stepped back a bit as she turned her head to look at Samira with confused and innocent blinks of her eyes. Then she turned back and leaned in towards Kite with her hand at the side of her mouth to whisper. "If you want to see if she can fly instead I'll help. She's awful to deal with when cranky. Save yourself now."
"I AM NOT CRANKY!" The spirit that had shown up randomly was then force dismissed, her form turning into a swirl of purple colored magic particles. "Awwww," could be heard until it faded away as well.

Samira calmed herself down while attempting to force away the headache she was now getting before speaking again. Twice in one day the ridiculous spirit had decided to make things worse and very awkward. With a small sigh she went back to her normal demeanor. "That is an example of what you have to look forward to. Have you changed your mind yet?"

"Mages come in all shapes and sizes. Where one may falter at something, another may excel."

The poor summoner could only let out a hopeless sigh. She had slightly hoped he would change his mind after seeing the random stupidity of one of her spirits. All of them had their own quirks, some worse than others. The poor girl even looked to the side, avoiding eye contact when she had been asked if she had a spirit that was capable of recon. Not so much in embarrassment, although that was one thing. More of shame really. The very first spirit he had gotten to know was the very one that would have been suited for it due to her stealth ability. That personality flaw made it impossible to take the suggestion seriously if she were to even say it. It was awkward, and already she was having to shift uncomfortably in her new seat at the dining table. She cleared her throat and forced those feelings away. "That actually was probably the best spirit for the job," she replied with absolute sincerity, as if the foolishness and how easily the spirit blew her cover was nothing to worry about. It was, of course, but that didn't mean she wouldn't at least try to seem as if she had any sort of faith in the spirit. That and she came to the realization that if no one was going to take them all seriously then she at least had to pretend to! No matter how questionable it was.

The other idea that Kite had presented was one of them dropping in to cause an explosion while the other disrupted and attacked another part of the army. That made sense to her too, and either of them were capable of both tasks. "Hmmm," Samira detached the keyring that was connected to the loop of her shorts and placed it on the table. The keys made jingling noises as they all clashed together with the sound being louder as they hit the table. Obviously she herself was not going to be suited for any sort of sneaking with the amount of noise coming from those keys alone. Not unless she left them on the ship, which would not be a very wise idea. She began to concentrate as she detached some of the keys from the ring and placed them in an organized grid of rows and columns. Each one glowed softly, the spirit they were connected to resonating just from the short amount of time she touched them.

All the while she was listening to the Sabertooth Guild Master communicate with EDI. What that was fully was unknown to her. There were some theories. Such as it not being a person with the usage of the word "it" unless Kite was so cruel as to take away someone's humanity from them by not using the proper pronoun. Samira did not consider him as such. So that left it with being either a powerful creature or an object that worked as a weapon. There were no creatures seen at Beanstalk village aside from the monsters and what came from the magic of the mages involved with the village's defense. That left it being a weapon. One she didn't quite pay much attention to at the time of the invasion, but did recall something of that sort being used. "This 'Yammato'. Is that the weapon that was used briefly during the incident with the summoning circles?" Samira processed the damage that had been done during that incident, but in her mind that was rather inconclusive. The weapon may not have been at full power back then. Still, EDI had given her answer. Not enough information to determine how useful it would be. So much for taking out the entire army with it. That was more realistic though. The main explosive tactics that could take out overpowered monsters were from a ship far larger than Kite's. That did not make it any less disappointing when it came to making things extremely quick and easy.

"Serqet is really the only spirit I have that is capable of full stealth." Samira began as she pointed to her key on the table. Then her finger went to different ones that were laid out. "Loki and Anhur are capable of disguises as well as creating them. Whether these demons can see through them or not I cannot say, so that may not be the best method." Another key was shifted to. "The spirit of Bastet can transform into a cat. Her magic is hidden while in this form because in a technical sense she has none, so they would not be able to detect what she truly is. As far as they are concerned she'd just be a normal cat that has entered the camp from the nearby woods. As long as they do not try to use her as some sort of sacrifice for a demonic ritual that could work." Obviously the stories she read concerning demons may have been exaggerated and taken too literally. It was doubtful the demons themselves would try and sacrifice a black cat. "Nox can create darkness and hide us within it long enough for us to get to where we need to be once we know where to go. Janus can also be used to create portals should we need them. That is not even going into all the spirits that are capable of more crowd control and stalling tactics. Theoretically, we should be fine when it comes to dismantling the army itself. It has worked on plenty of monsters and humanoids alike in the past. If you say demons work in a similar manner then there should be very little issues. Perhaps I would be better suited for attacking their flank because of this. How explosive can you be?" Any and all doubt that she originally had, had evaporated during her explanation and even volunteering herself for attacking. For the moment that part of herself had been replaced with a more focused and serious woman. She leaned back in her chair and waited for a response. Samira had not gone into the spirits that were capable of doing lethal damage or tearing the place up. They existed, and if need be she could also be in charge of causing mass devastation towards the demon army. Ra in particular came very handy for that. It was not something she enjoyed doing, however.

"Mages come in all shapes and sizes. Where one may falter at something, another may excel."

"I cannot say. She can be unpredictable." Samira replied, answering the question seriously instead of taking it as a sort of joke based on the one the spirit had done with his name. Regardless of it being a joke or not, it was cause for concern for sure. Her only stealth spirit being the most hyperactive and childish. Something went very wrong with her creation... that or someone with higher power really wanted to troll the summoner that made a contract with her.

Samira remained quiet and stared at the keys she had laid down on the table as Kite went over the details regarding the ship's weapon. So that was out as a major source of attack, at least until they found the leader. Assuming such a thing would work on the one that played that role in the demon army. Some of her spirit uses were also marked off the list, but it was really only something she took under advisement. No doubt they would still be tried if it came to it. Him mentioning he could get used to seeing her a bit more confident was unexpected. Samira had even dropped a key she had picked up to return it to the main ring. The small item clinked as it hit the table. She had set her eyes on him at first in bewilderment but then shyly glanced away. She was eternally grateful that he had moved on to answering her question about the explosions he could cause instead of lingering on the previous statement.

Samira took a small exhale to re-compose herself and get back to being serious. "In that case I suppose we know what our roles will be then," she replied, barely even acknowledging the flame he had created or showing any signs of being impressed. Mostly because she couldn't exactly look at him with a straight face at that moment, and another reason being she got the point. A visual display wasn't entirely necessary. Rising from the table, Samira collected the rest of her keys after hearing EDI's announcement. That was going to be another problem. With over thirty keys in her possession and on her person at all times she wasn't exactly the most suited person for infiltration. Too much noise. Oh well. It would be dealt with if it became an issue just like always.

"That plans sounds decent enough for the moment. We should wait for Serqet to come back with information before we split up though. Or come up with a signal in case something were to change or go wrong, along with a meeting point.... You do not happen to have telepathy, do you?" It may have seemed like an odd question, but she was completely serious. In the past all she had worked with were users of some form of telepathy to make that communication so much easier. Even her spirits worked that way with her. A shame she didn't have a spirit capable of linking with Kite in such a way to provide that ability.

If Kite had said no her only reply would be "I see" before turning to make her exit from the room and head towards the ship's exit as well. "We will have to do the other suggestions I made then." If he had said he did have telepathy, well, that would be a little surprising indeed.

As soon as the ship landed and allowed her to leave it she did so. Being told to start the next step wasn't required. The spirit had appeared yet again in full excited glory. Serqet jumped for joy and was just about to unleash a high pitched scream of joy when she saw Samira's glare. That loud scream turned into a high pitched whisper scream. "I'll be right back! Until then you should like get closer and hide. Big ships make for easy targets!" And then the spirit vanished, her invisibility power taking action. Step one of the plan was a go.

"She will be able to tell me everything from a distance, and be able to find us so leaving here is a non-issue." Samira informed Kite if he had been nearby and ready to go as well. "We should not linger here for too long." So, true. Even if they were not directly at the army's base camp they were still close enough that patrol units were wondering around. Some had to have seen the ship come in for the landing or heard it.

"Mages come in all shapes and sizes. Where one may falter at something, another may excel."

A large flame in the shape of a man sticking his arms out to the side. Well, that was an interesting signal. She could have sworn something like that was used to call on superheroes in stories, but Samira supposed it would do the job. Much better than yelling and screaming for help anyway. She gave her nod of approval. "Very well. That should be unique enough. Unless these demons make a habit of having similar firework shows. Sending a spirit to find you should I need extra aid should not be an issue either." Which one would be the messenger she wasn't sure. It was best to not designate one at that time. Naturally the stronger ones would be assisting her in any fight she may be in, so one could assume a weaker one would be sent to find Kite. But! The weaker ones also had their uses and may not be available for the messenger task. Surely any random spirit would suffice and he would be able to tell they were ally and not foe. Well, most of them. Samira also did not question his ability to see souls. Not only was there not enough time before the ship landed for a proper explanation of how and why, but it was not exactly the first being she met that was capable of seeing souls in some form. Even one of her own spirits had the ability to distinguish between a variety of souls and their alignment. Perhaps she would inquire more about it after the mission.

It didn't take long at all after landing for things to go a little unplanned. Already a group of the demon army had become alert to their un-welcomed presence and was heading in their direction. She was later to the realization than Kite was and only noticed after his aura lit up and radiated a heat that made her step to the side because... it was hot. He should probably not do that near other people, unless those people were ones he wanted to burn. A scolding was in order but she would not get around to it before he let her know of the incoming enemy. Her glare at him shifted over to stare out further ahead and it was then that she could hear some of them as they made their way to the ship. So much for that. Now they would have to make sure none of them made it back to the main camp to alert those that remained there. "I hear them. We should-" Samira stopped speaking when Kite brought up that he had a plan of his own. One that she disagreed with, but not really for the reason he thought. "But-"

Her gaze went to the hand that was on her shoulder as she listened to him tell her not to worry about him. She stared at it and blinked. Well this was awkward. In no way was she worried. All she wanted to do was correct his plan a bit. Her head turned back so she could look at him once more with a confused stare. Why had he automatically assumed that she would be worried? "Actually, I was not-" Then a small push was done to send her forward as a hint to get going before he took off running to meet the group of demons that were coming to investigate the unknown ship and take care of those that had traveled within it. "Uh... okay? I do not even know what just happened."

'The plan of an idiot starting! I am guessing he forgot that you could just put most of those weaklings to sleep.'
'Transform them, or you both.'
'Stop time long enough to bypass them completely.'
'Make them nice so they don't fight!'
'Have them fight over me! ...what? Oh fine. Have those disgusting beasts fight each other then for no reason.'
'I could have just possessed the one in charge and had him order the rest to change direction...'
"All right. That is enough, I already know. There were a lot of things that could have been done before rushing off and making a bunch of noise and flashy battle moves to draw even more attention when that is what we need less of!"
'All part of the plan. Only thing he is missing is you being worried. So, are you?'
"No, but he came up with an on the spot plan and took off before I could argue. I am starting to think I should be if that is how the rest of this mission will go..."
'Hey, isn't it a little sexist to just assume the girl in the group is going to worry about the fight happy moron on fire when he charges ahead to conquer multiple enemies?'
"Susano..."
'Just asking.'
'Taking bets now on if he will run up to the main demon with no strategy at all and get his ass kicked!'
Samira facepalmed and got going herself to get into position.

On Serqet's side of things, she had managed to sneak her awesome self into the camp. Of course she played around a bit. Switched things up to cause confusion among the demons, moved things around when they weren't looking, whispered insults that made them think it was some other nearby demon talking about them... very minor things that somehow did not get her caught or have them thinking anything of it. Such fun only lasted a few minutes though as the demons of the camp started to get excited and soon a sort of horn to signal an alarm had gone off. Then they had begun to leave the camp entirely. The scorpion tailed spirit watched with wide curious eyes, wondering what was going on. Surely those sillies she left earlier had not done anything to draw attention to themselves so soon! Her shoulders shrugged. Oh well. She had her own thing to do. Her spying techniques continued, but it was way less fun with no one around. Or was it completely empty? She could feel other things around, but not see them. Powerful things. Serqet kept going until she spotted one, and then another, and another. Ten total that she could find. All of them had a sort of glowing seal upon them that matched the entrance door to a sort of castle-like building. She dared not go near that door. A terrible power was coming from it that gave her the skeevies. Still she wondered what it was for. The best thing to do was to ask! She waltzed up to the nearest demon that had one of those glowing seals, although still invisible. Not that it mattered in the end. "Hi! I'm Serqet! What's that door for?" Obviously things did not end entirely well for the spirit. She was sent back to the celestial realm by a simple slap. How rude! The information she had was then sent to Samira telepathically. Well, after the rest of the spirits mocked and made fun of her after she told them what happened.

"That could be where the leader is then. Nothing else significant stood out?" Aside from the seals on the ten others that remained in the demon base the answer was no. If she had to guess each of those demons were a sort of lock on the door. One of her spirits worked like that, and it was a very obvious thing to do in even fictional stories. With her voice in a whisper she communicated with her spirits... sort of forgetting that she really should do so telepathically so she couldn't be heard period. Eh, details. "We just need to clean up here then and get over there but..." As Samira crouched down to keep hidden from the demon group she could tell how big it was and she sighed. Damn. Outnumbered was an understatement and she could not go all out. Not all of them were demons. Rather they looked to be normal people that had the misfortune of becoming slaves to the demons. Their appearance was quite pitiful and miserable. They were an enemy but she doubted it was by choice. Holding back even a little could be fatal. Maybe if she worked around them all and eliminated the demons. Perhaps those under their control would no longer fight. "All right, kill the demons but just knock out the rest."

'Eat the demons, and eat the rest too. Got it.'
"No!"
'Fine. Let the rotting masses of walking flesh live just so they can slowly rot somewhere else. They'd be more useful as my lunch, but you know, have to play nice for some damn reason.'

Ignoring that comment, Samira summoned up three of her spirits. Kukulkan, Amaterasu, and Nu Wa. The swordswoman and the lamia stayed with Samira to fight the demons, but as for the large winged and feathered serpent she began to move around the battlefield in search of the Sabertooth guild master. Not really to help him but to pass on information. It would not do if he wasted all of his energy on the common demons and mortals. There was supposedly something much bigger ahead and plenty of them. Her serpentine body generated powerful wind gusts that pushed many of the demons and mortals away before they got close, and that was pretty much all she did besides running right into them because they were in her way. Although every now and then she smacked a demon with her tail for funsies.

Eventually she did find her target and moved in closer, showing absolutely no caution whatsoever even though she could have easily been mistaken as a demon pet. "Not a demon so don't hit me unless you want to be hit back." The serpent's voice echoed and was loud enough to be heard even over the rest of the noise. To show further that she was not on the enemy's side she hit a group of demon and mortal alike with her tail and sent them flying away to land on others. She didn't really care. "Got word from the stupid stealth scorpion. Don't use up all of your energy by making flashy moves here. The real power houses are still at the base. Ten villains with glowing kill me signs on them, and then something else. We don't know what it is, but it's bad and probably going to kill you both. Sounds great, right?" The serpent waited for a response but then showed a sign of agitation and turned her head and neck slightly to glance in the direction she had just come from. "And this is why you kill everything that is on the enemy side whether they are willing fighters or not." The spirit turned back to stare at the guild master. "Seems the number of mortal prey and their demon masters is becoming overwhelming. That happens when you get choosey instead of unleashing one giant lethal attack to end the lives of everything around." The large winged snake hissed a snicker and then begun to leave. She had a summoner to get back to and bail out. Maybe if things were bad enough she could eat a few of the enemy units.

"Mages come in all shapes and sizes. Where one may falter at something, another may excel."

The winged-serpent spirit's instincts had been correct. Samira had gotten herself into trouble and slightly overwhelmed but it was nothing that she could not handle. She had the other two spirits and her own defenses to keep her out of harm's way. It was going to take a lot more than any of them had to get through that combination. If it were not for the humans she could have used a spirit that could handle higher numbers and obliterated her side of the field already. But alas, she just had to be someone that was picky in that type of scenario. That meant taking the much more harder and slow route. It was not very effective, but because she knew what may be waiting ahead she did not want to waste too much of her tools and magic energy just yet. That made it even more difficult.

Kukulkan was not hard to miss on her return. She dove down right in front of the summoner and knocked away the small swarm of demons that had gathered, taking all the hits that were meant for Samira for herself. "That is actually starting to hurt. These pitiful creatures are starting to piss me off," the serpent hissed before leaving to take care of some more. The horse bulldozing itself over the enemy units was noticed but the snake ignored it. The fact he followed her was of no concern. For her. For Samira it was another story. Normally help would have been appreciated, but he was taking it too far and it was clear that they were not on the same page.

Samira had already disapproved of the way things were going before. Now it was getting irritating if not horrifying and outright unacceptable. Kite had taken no issue with shooting the human slaves that were likely forced into fighting. There was a chance they would have taken off or surrendered once the demons around them had been slain. It would have been foolish to do so before then so Samira could understand from that point of view. Technically speaking the same could be said for the lower demons acting on the wishes of the higher classed ones out the of fear and a desire to live. Technically. She wasn't getting any sense that, that was the case, however. They were all more brutal and definite with their attacks. Unlike many of the humans that hesitated and seemed to be lacking in the combat experience department.

There had been some small hope that she could heal some of them when the fight was over. Those that had not died instantly from the shots anyway. There was a spirit in her arsenal that was capable of it easily. That idea would not be able to be acted on. Every single one of them that had been shot ended up being turned into the same simple roses that had started to grow out of them. Some of them even getting crushed and demolished after being stepped on from others in the demon army. It would probably be quite dumb and ridiculous to assume they were still alive and could be transformed back. A simple confirmation from her spirits that focused on the dead side of things made it clear enough without her asking Kite himself what that spell was. If she was less than happy before then she was dipping into the negatives right then.

That was it. The last straw. They had just started and already she had, had it. Killing in general she generally took no issue with. The demon corpses lying around was proof of that, and she had killed beings categorized as monsters before. It came with the monster slaying guild territory. There was only one time she had killed a human though. An action taken in self defense when she was a mage of very low ranking and power. It had not ever been done again. Yet, there were others around her that did it often, and he proved to be another one on an every growing list. If he had just waited for the recon to be completed they would have known about the weak slaves and could have adjusted the plan. She should have been more assertive and bossy before he took off. Now they were in this mess, and she was not about to have the rest become future bouquet arrangements.

"Chronos." Nothing more needed to be said to the spirit in question. He had answered the call and already knew in which form to take. Instead of himself showing up as a living and moving summoned spirit he had taken the form of a staff. A staff to be used by the summoner herself with his power at her disposal. She gripped onto the weapon as it appeared and waved it in an arc shape in front of her. A surge of energy pulsed from the staff, flowing further from it and expanding in a circular area around the summoner. The effect of the magic was harmless as far as damage went. Only what could transpire after could be catastrophic for those caught in it.

Lesser demon and human slaves alike immediately stopped in mid-place, ceasing all action. They were frozen in time temporarily. Just long enough for the other summons to go around and do some serious damage before the demons could even realize what had happened. The ones affected by the spell anyway. Those outside of its range were still very capable of reacting. Kite and anything else relating to him, such as the fire horse, were also unaffected by the spell. Completely intentional. Samira couldn't very well give her a piece of her mind if he was stuck in place! As for the unaffected demons and humans that were outside its range... well the flying serpent made sure to be a nightmare for them. She found out that even demons sizzled when being struck by bolts of lightning from the storm she had created overhead. However, they did not taste good at all. After that realization she refused to get near any of them and just let the harsh winds she was known for take care of the rest.

The current moment of madness had passed for now. Those that weren't dead or completely unconscious had retreated in various directions. All that remained was to venture deeper into the base. It was worrisome really. Samira and spirits knew that the stronger demons were still there, most likely the leaders of the mass forces. Not one of them came out to give any orders or direction like they should have. Perhaps those were all very disposable and they would find even more being summoned from some demon realm. She wasn't sure. The mystery could wait though.

Samira waited for Kite to approach and say anything, not that she would even reply to it if he had. If he ever got off the horse he rode and got close enough, the poor man would find that he would not be thanked for the back up. The only thing he got was a good whack on the head from the staff Samira held. It might have hurt if it landed. His defenses and mobility she didn't know too much about. What she did know was that she was being easy on him. If she had actually decided to slap him it would have hurt a lot more and probably would have sent him flying to the other side of the forest. That occasionally happened in the past. A benefit and a curse from sometimes accidentally allowing her magic to impact something so simple as a common slap. Her being pissed at the times she did that didn't really help much with magic control. "What is wrong with you?!" She shouted, her expression and tone clearly indicating she was annoyed, angry, and very disappointed. "We had a plan! A simple patrol would have been easy to handle while we waited for more information, but you rushed in like some lunatic and alerted the entire army prematurely! And because of that lack of intel we could not account for the humans that were involved! Now a good many of them are dead!" While having those deaths on her conscience was a good source for her anger towards him, there was also the fact that there could have been traps or something else they did not predict. The recon was even ruined before they could find any information about the stronger forces. Hell they could have been able to ask any of the freed slaves for such basic information or anything else they knew. Now the ones that were left alive were probably not going to say much of anything once they were awake and able to move. Kite had made the mission several times more difficult than it would have originally been if he had just stayed put!

"Someone please remind our summoner that I am not a combat spirit. I was not meant to be used as a club even in this form," the staff spoke in a pained tone from the headache he now had after being used as an instrument of violence towards the Sabertooth guild master.

'Hm, should we instead remind her that standing around yelling at someone in enemy territory is a bad idea to begin with? It's not as if the place is empty.'
'Nah, lets just keep watching the show from here. The ones out there can handle it.'
'Sometimes I worry about how little help a good many of you all are.'
'We'll be helpful tomorrow.'

As for the three other spirits that had been summoned, they did not pay attention to the yelling or conversation at all. They were too busy actually focusing and watching for anything else that might come their way. You know, the important thing of survival.

If Kite never got off that horse of his Samira's words would still be the same but he would be free from the head whacking. For now.