Oogly Boogly [s-rank exam]

The countryside scenery spread out across her, golden fields softly caressed by the setting sun expanding past the horizon.  The sight made Althea regret not coming out to Midi earlier, especially with the amount of jobs she’d taken in that hell hole called Deistro.  Even if she had ways to regulate her body temperature, the place just looked so hot that the blonde ended up feeling all of it anyways.  But never again, instead she’ll be enjoying all of the other countries on Earthland.  But seeing as she was’t actually on a job, Althea was taking it easy.  As opposed to, you know, doing what she came to another country to do, she had been laying around on a hill in a generic light gray sweatshirt and pants for a good part of the day.  The slayer yawned, raising her pale arms in a long, indulgent stretch.  A cool breeze that carried a hint of salt from the oceans whistled through her blonde cloud of hair, disheveling it more than it already was.

You know what, it wasn’t even her fault that she was a bit apprehensive to go ahead and do her actual task.  After all, the weather was getting cooler and soon she wouldn’t have an excuse to just loiter around places claiming that she was on vacation.  Might as well get it all out of her system before people start insisting no one has vacations in the middle of autumn.  Oh wait, wasn’t it already the middle of autumn?  You know what, she didn’t care.  Althea wasn’t getting paid for being anywhere, so she had no reason to rush.  She could just say her train was delayed or her shoe got stolen by a rogue fairy.

“Yes, the infamous Count Sparkles took my shoe right under my nose, well I guess it was under my foot, right?”  She murmured to herself, sprawled out on the hill as she began recounting her totally true story, “And then, you know, we went through Magnolia.  Yeah, I totally blew up an entire block while it was happening too.  That’s also a reason I was late, you know.  You've got to do a lot of paperwork after you destroy some people’s property.”  Unfortunately, Althea had more than enough experience with this.  For someone whose magic focuses more on hurting than being controllable, there were some situations that were… not super favorable.  “So, after I did the paperwork and stuff, I continued running after the Count.  But you know, that fairy is super slippery so he just kind of… you know… opened a portal to another planet.”  Actually, a different planet would be a super cool place to vacation, wouldn’t it?  Were there any hotels or tourist attractions there?  Wait, Althea should focus on visiting every country on Earth Land first, right?

“Anyways, yeah, so like I went to another planet and…”  Wait, writing a planet she’s never been to into the story actually seems like a bad idea.  Oh well, in Althea’s rulebook there were no such things as revisions.  “Okay, so I chased the Count to this planet, and spent ages trying to get my shoe back.  But eventually he slipped up and uh…”  Althea paused, unsure how she should wrap up her super true tale.  You know what, endings are for the weak.  “Yeah, now I’m here.” She said lethargically, yawning once more.

Truly, this was an ingenious plan on part of Althea.  No one would ever suspect she completely made it up!  The twists and turns were so mesmerizing, they’d be too impressed with her storytelling skills to even begin questioning it!  The blonde nodded, a grin spreading across her features.  She had always thought herself to be a horrible liar, but she was feeling pretty good about this ploy!  After all, this was completely prepared, meticulously crafted excuse she was dealing with!  “Alright,”  The mage stood up, turning away from the setting sun and towards the sprawling depths of the ocean.  “Time to meet this Owatatsumi guy!”

Apparently he was supposed to be this “Dragon God” dude, but she’d never heard of him before now.  But then again, she’d never heard of any other dragon other than Tethys, so maybe all of them were like that.  That, or he was just so pathetic his sphere of influence was limited to Midi.  That is what you expect someone who brought a wizard from Fiore just to find something he lost.  But since Owatatsumi was a friend of Mura’s, she had to help him out no matter how pathetic he was!  After all, her mentor had referred to this task as some “investigation work” and doing it would be an “educational experience”.  Well, she couldn't get that annoyed when she was the one who was slacking off.  So, all there was to do was to hurry off to the sea, do… something, and meet Mr. Dragon God!

Well, it seemed as if she was missing a bit step from point A to point C, but she was so excited to share her lie that instead of just running to the shore she used a spell to instantly transport her there.  Kicking off, her shoes, the slayer waded to a point were the waves could lap at her knees.  She inhaled, “HELLO!?”  Her voice resounded across the waves, soon fading into the distance.  After waiting a few heartbeats, Althea shrugged and turned to return back to the scenic hill.  After all, you can’t help it if no one’s home when you come knocking!  She’ll just have to spend the rest of her time in Midi lazing around and maybe even subjugating a beast or two.

Well, too bad for Althea but her master plan never unfolded.  From behind her there was a splash, and in an instant she was pulled under the waves.  In fact, the teen was so surprised to a degree that she didn’t make a peep when she became completely submerged in the cold water.  But even for the few moments she was underwater, soon it seemed as if Althea was once again above ground.  Expect she wasn’t, because water was everywhere.  Expect she wasn’t really because she obviously wasn’t breathing water.  Wait was she?  Just what was this sorcery!

Okay, so the mystery of why Althea wasn’t breathing water while underwater was incredibly ressing, but her immediate surroundings distracted her from this fact.  It didn’t really matter either way since the slayer could breathe in water anyways, so why bother herself?  No, the really interesting thing was the huge building standing right in front of her.  It was made entirely of colorful fragments of coral, coming together into a mosaic like palace.  It looked as if it belonged more in a fairy tale than reality, but there it was.  How did water pressure even work here?  She wasn’t breathing water, but she was in water, how did physics even work anymore?  You know what, magic could excuse anything, so let's just stick with that.

“Ahem,”  The blonde’s gaze was pulled away from the palace and instead towards a dragon, most likely the one who had pulled her to the coral palace without her consent.  How she hadn’t noticed him floating there until then was beyond her. “Owatatsumi-dono awaits you.  This way.”  He easily glided through the waters with his serpent-like body, Althea following in his wake without putting too much thought into why.  After all, she had just been struck by the most shocking of shocks!  First off, the dragon she met wasn’t actually Mr. Dragon God, and was probably just an attendant or something.  And as she traversed deeper into the palace alongside said attendant, even more dragons were spotted.  Who knew there were so many dragons just lying around in one big castle?!

Secondly, what the heck was with the castle?!  Seriously, Tethys lived in a cave where she also taught Althea Water Dragon Slayer magic, but this was more than just an “upgrade”.  The stunning decor, artfully sculpted coral, it was super high class.  And yet the Euphillian queen didn’t even have a single attendant, may they be a dragon or not.  Actually, the closest thing she had t one was Althea herself, right?  She constantly sent the blonde on errands just for the sake of keeping her busy.  Did the water mage just get picked up by the trashiest dragon out there or something?!  Huh, that would make a lot of sense.  Why else would such a powerful being just be bumming around on a mountain by herself?  Althea found it very easy to imagine her dragon mentor being ostracized by the rest of dragon society.  What a terrible excuse for an elder dragon.

But now wasn't the time to think about what a short straw Althea drew, but instead meet Mr. Dragon God with his big fancy house and stuff.  The attendant brought her into a large throne room, every inch and corner bedazzled with all sorts of treasures from the sea.  And on top the pearl encrusted throne was yet another dragon, although this one seemed to be a grade above the rest.  Hm, actually it's probably way more than just a grade.  For someone who can’t even find his lost stuff, the magical energy Mr. Dragon God emitted was off the charts.  It was the type of person that Althea got stronger in order to have huge, grand fights with.  But for the moment, they couldn’t even be on the same standing.  To be honest, Althea never thought she’d met someone who could directly rival Tethys in power, because despite how pathetic that dragon is she sure can pack a punch.  A catastrophic punch.  A punch that’d break every bone in your body.  And she’d only be using a finger.  Why do two freaks of nature have to exist?

Choosing to ignore any potential formalities, Althea swam right up to Owatatsumi.  “Sorry I’m late, I-”

“Oh good, you’re here.  Althea, correct?”  His deep voice reverberated through the chamber.

“Yeah, but Thea’s fine too.  Just to let you know-”

“What are you waiting for, you have an investigation to conduct.”

“Yeah, but just before this I was-”

“Mura came before you to collect the clues, all you have to do now is to deduce who the culprit is.”

“I was late because-”

The attendant from before whipped out a scroll erecting himself as he read it aloud.  “First, Scratch marks on the hall…”

She was completely ignored.  Not a single dragon in the room paid heed to a single word she said.  Apparently what time she showed up was no concern as long as she found the bead things.  But then why did she spend so much effort coming up with such an amazing excuse?  The tale of Count Sparkles stealing her shoe will never see the light of day.

“...feather with reddish and yellowish lines across it in a fashionable nature.”  The attendant looked up from the scroll. “Did you get all of that?”

Althea was jolted out of her disappointed daze, “Huh?  Oh, um, yeah.”  She said, obviously having not listened to a single word.

Owatatumi nodded, seeming to be too distracted with other matters than to notice Althea’s BS.  “I’m glad you feel that way, but I implore you to visit the actual sites of the clues.  You may be able to derive more from seeing them in person than from words.”

“Erm, yeah, that works.”

The Dragon God turned to hs attendant, making a gesture swift gesture before turning away from the two.  The attendant bowed to their employer, approaching Althea.  “Follow me, I’ll take you to the clues Mura-dono discovered.”

Althea swam after the attendant, noting that despite the fact they were underwater she barely felt any resistance at all.  First she can breath air there, next it’s like there’s no gravity.  Magic really is, well, magical!  But suddenly, while the two were still moving down the palace corridors, the attendant began speaking while they both moved.  “Your name is Althea, correct?”

“Yep!  But Thea’s fine too.”

“Yeah, I gathered that.  Well, I’m sure that soon it won’t matter in the slightest.”  The attendant’s slitted yellow eyes narrowed, “I truly don’t understand why a person such as you is the apprentice of someone like Mura-dono.”  Althea didn’t speak, imply shooting him a concerned gance.  The attendant sighed, “You see?  You don’t even know what I mean by that.  Okay, I’ll spell it out for you.” The attendant stopped, Althea doing so as well.  “Owatatsumi-dono trusts Mura-dono greatly, so when he suggested that you finish up this case he, of course, accepted.  But now I see that it is impossible for you to solve this case.  Try not to embarrass yourself."

Althea didn’t retort the attendant, her royal blue eyes simply glued to his yellow ones unyieldingly.  It was pretty uncool of him to assume she wouldn’t be able to handle detective work simply because she got distracted for a second.  Actually, Mura had probably gone through the most tedious pat for her.  Not having to wander around the huge palace for tiny clues really helps.  But then this attendant guy comes by and is all like, “don’t embarrass yourself”.  If Althea can win a Kahoot competition, she should be able to process information to form a conclusion.  However, she didn’t feel like it was worth the effort to explain this to the attendant.  Why bother yourself when the other party probably won’t care anyways?

Either way, the pair soon made it over to the clue closest to Mr. Dragon God’s chamber, the weird cell of blood just kind of floating around the water.  There was nothing wrong with it visually, the red stain moving around normally, but what happens when you get close to it.

“Itsumade?  Itsumade?”

As soon as Althea came within arms reach of it, those words continued to echo through the halls without rest.  The voice was absolutely monotone, droning on and on without the hint of rest.  “Erm, less than… tsu like tsunami?  And then, um, true sky?  No, that can’t be right…”  Althea’s Midian was extremely rusty, but it was times like this half-forgotten knowledge comes in handy.  If you think that her knowing the language is surprising, what’s even more mind numbing is the fact she used to speak it fluently.  Before that, she just forgot how.  “Oh, I got it!  Until when!”  Good job, she deciphered the language, but not to decipher the meaning.  Althea’s brows furrowed in thought, “What does blood want to know how much time until something?  Until when do my hot pockets get out of the microwave?  Until when can I go on another vacation?”

The attendant sighed, using the tip of their tail to nudge Althea away from the blood.  “Stop that, that darn voice is too loud, we’ll bother someone.”

“Ah, okay, right.”

“Alright, onto the next clue.”  The attendant was about to move onto the next hall before they abruptly stopped.  “Actually, this one is the only clue that it matters about you being close to it.  I’ll just tell you about the other ones.”


“Wait, so this is the guy we’re looking for’s blood, right?”

The attendant seemed annoyed that Althea had completely ignored his words, but with a deep sigh the agitation passed.  “Yes, the person who stole Owatastumi’s tomoe beads is definitely the same person who shed this blood.”

“Ah!  Okay!  Then I don’t really need to think, do I?”  Althea chirped, promptly beginning to swim farther down the hallway.

The attendant, slightly shocked by this new development, quickly found their bearings and pursued the blonde. “Wait!  You’re not supposed to roam around unsupervised!”

“Yeah, that’s you you’re here!”  Althea chirped lightheartedly, picking up the pace and not showing any sign of slowing down.  And so the dragon attendant was left with no option other than making sure Althea didn’t somehow manage to kill herself or something.  This was especially a concern seeing as the pair ended up leaving the confines of the coral palace entirely, entering some incredibly rough waters.

The attendant gritted their fangs as they fought against the intense current, “Alright, I get it you have something to prove, but don’t be an idiot.”

“I’m not being an idiot!”  Althea called over the rushing stream of water, “I’m getting back the toomaye beads!”

“Tomoe beads.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said.”

The waters only got more disturbed, and if strong currents were present underneath the water, Althea couldn’t help but feel bad for those on top.  But all that effort paid off, because in the center of the ridiculous currents was this weird bird thing with a dude’s face.  But what really caught the mage's eye wasn’t its unique form but the beads held in its claw.  That sealed the deal for this little creature, but one can never be to careful.  Don't want to punch a random bystander by accident!

“Hey, are you the culprit?”

“Itsumade?  Itsumade?”

Yep, that is definitely them.  Wow, they really can’t shut up, can they?

“Itsumade?  Itsumade?”

“Hey, could you not?”  Althea asked rather nicely, but even despite that the dumb bird didn’t flipping stop.  How was this thing underwater anyways?  They weren’t within the corale palace’s air breathing effect area.  You know what?  Magic, that’s why.  But as usual, Althea has more pressing issues other than how this bird was managing to stay underwater with no issue for their wings or anything.

But anyways, the bird thing refused to listen to Althea, the slayer’s patience thus reached its limit. “I’ll hit you.” Althea clenched her bandaged hand into a fist, “If you don’t stop, I’ll hit you.  Erm, really hard.”  She clarified, even though the more words she said the less threatening she became.  Either way, seemed like it was somehow effective, shutting up the bird creature for a moment.  But alas, it was only a moment, and soon it once again resumed.

The attendant, having been too stupefied by the situation finally spoke, “How… did you know?  And that creature… of course!  The Itsumade!  It all matches up, the feathers, the claw marks, and even the hair.”

“Yeah yeah, but do you know how to make it shut up?”

“Hm?  Oh yes, I can take care of this situation.”  The dragon attendant’s eyes travelled from the blonde to the feathered yokai, and did a quick swish of their tail.  In an instant, although they hadn’t used magic nor directly touched the itsumade, the being’s head was swiftly detached from the body.  “And now all that’s left is to recover the tomoe beads and return them to Owatatsumi-dono.  But please do tell me how you found the fiend.”

“Eh?!  How did… what?!”  Althea’s shocked gaze travelled from the dragon to the corpse and then back to the dragon.  “That was SUPER COOL!  How did you do that?  I found the dude by just following my nose, but you...”  The teen was at a loss for words.

The attendant carefully took hold of the tomoe beads, “Huh?  I just swiped with enough force to make a force that could cut off the head of this flimsy creature, it’s a little something I picked up from my master.  I’m more shocked your sense of smell is so keen.”  The attendant moved back to the side of Althea, “Anyways, now that this has been recovered, Owatatsumi-dono will likely grant you a wish.  Sorry for doubting your capabilities, but do you have anything in particular in mind?”

Althea had no hesitations in her answer, “The cool thing!”  Her eyes still sparkled with childlike splendor.

The attendant however, was slightly perplexed, but simply shrugged and started swimming back towards the coral palace.