Hunt's End (Luna)

It had now been eight months since she had left her guild to find a cure for the Astral Poisoning. Her left arm, now completely bandaged up. Her fingers hung limp. As people brushed up against it in passing, she winced in pain. It was a indescribable jolt, but one she has managed to get through every day. Through her travels, she had found a cloak helped soften the blows. But everyday, she had to cast more healing magic so she could continue on. Now she was at the Soul Bar. She heard that a golden key was found in the area. It might not be Scorpio, but the huntress was desperate enough to chase any lead given to her. The hood of her cloak also hid her guild mark on her neck. Something that might stand out in this home for the Guildless.

Possible the shortest person in the bar today, the Huntress moved through the crowd and went to the bar at the far end. She signaled a simple order for one drink and sat as a quiet cloaked figure. It was only when the bartender came over with the drink and she plopped down the jewels for it that Mizumi would speak up. "I am looking for the Bearer of the Scorpio Key. Perhaps you have heard something about it?" When her hand moved away from the jewels, she revealed ten times the price of the drink. She was hoping it would facilitate a decent answer. Hopefully.

The bartender noticed the cloaked woman seem to bribe her for inspiration. She looked down at the money at took it, figuring there was no harm in disclosing a name. She looked around and noticed that the keyholder was not present at the moment. She leaned into to the cloaked woman, talking quietly. "Okay, you're looking for a young woman by the name of Lunaris, she goes by Luna normally. She is a fairy human hybrid, human form about 5'4, pink hair, emerald eyes, usually in a red qipao."

The woman looked around before she spoke again, nervously. "If you're here to kill her, run, just run, and don't look back. She is capable of dangerous things. Today is one of the days she comes by looking for a job to do." The bartender seemed to scurry away nervously as the door opened and the very same pink haired woman the bartender had mentioned walked into the bar.

Luna paid the patrons of the bar no mind as she sat at the bar, and tapped twice before a glass of vodka and cranberry was prepared and slid down the counter towards her. However she noticed as the bartender was very nervous, Luna looked up at her with calm and warm eyes but before she could ask, the bartender leaned in nervously and confessed that she disclosed her identity. Luna was annoyed, but was really annoyed that she was sold out so cheaply. "I payed you ten times that amount to keep my identity private!" The bartender apologized several times for cracking. Luna sighed and forgave her, but the bartender would not share who asked.

Luna sighed and took a sip from her drink, and figured best to try and ride this out. In her mind, worst case scenario was her angry brother Hakar wanting money or something that he feels entitled to but won't work for it.

The woman was forthright with the answer, which was good. So now she was fairy hunting. But ti was even better if her target was coming to her. As she took a drink, she adjusted herself on her seat and took a drink under the cloak. She was even warmed of the danger of trying to kill the woman. But before she could assuage her fears, the doors split open and in walked the tallest mound of pink she had seen in her life. Her blue gaze followed her to the bar where the bartender nervously poured her drink and told her about the disclosing of information. But when she went and got angry at the woman, her own stool went quickly back. Mizumi was not the type to let informants get pushed around, especially to protect her.

"She told me." Sternly and too the point, her sweet voice quieted the bar. Was there about to be a fight? Plenty of the guildless started to ease to the edge of their seats to run. The Blunette lifted her right hand in front of her chest and pulled the end of the bandage loose, slowly unwrapping her hand.

One of the patrons stood up. "THAT'S AN S-CLASS EXPLOSIVE SPELL!"

With a bit of excitement, many of the guildless mages started to scramble out of the bar. The sudden declaration only caused Mizumi to pause. But since they were going away from her, she pulled the bandage out to let it unravel, falling from her arm as it dropped back to her side. the strength gone by now, unable to even lift it. As the bandage fell away, purple scorpion claw marks were revealed, numerous images dotting her arm, crawling up to her shoulder. There were at least 75 visible and the train only ran under her clothing. "And I am not looking for you. I came to talk to Scorpio. The spirit of your golden key."

With all information in front of them now, it was easy to tell this was no an explosive spell. It wasn't even a spell. It was more like poison showing in veins. Hell thats exactly what it was.

The lady the bartender had spoken to approached Luna, who was paid little mind by the fairy. Luna sipped her drink seemingly unaffected by the approaching party. However internally Luna instantly knew the girl was sick, her life force was tainted. But Luna was not going to instantly cave into the demands of the woman, as for all Luna knew this was yet another hunter.

Even when the bar patrons ran out, Luna sat still, and after the dust settled she put her drink back down and looked at the woman, pitying her plight. "You're not a bomb, you're just sick, literally. However I have every right to be angry with that bartender, as a high value target for fairy hunters I paid for my identity to not be disclosed, more then you paid to learn it. She violated the policy of management."

Luna sighed, not wanting to start a fight with a dead woman decided that there was no harm in at least hearing the story. The golden key was attached to a thin gold chain necklace tucked discretely underneath her collar, but she was not going to simply summon Scorpio because someone asked. For all she knew this lady wanted to snatch the key and run before paying an assassin to kill her to contract with Scorpio. She could not be too careful. The markings on the woman were proof that there was something wrong, and a scorpion was involved.


Luna gestured to the seat beside her. "Have a seat and tell me your story, why are you after Scorpio?"

However, she kept in mind Celestial Law. She was under no obligation to summon Scorpio, nor would any other form but her Scorpio would arrive. She assumed that the girl was unaware of Scorpio's current form, but figured best to keep the girl talking. She figured this was going to be a mess one way or another.

Well at least she didn't deny that she had the Scorpio key. This brought a small smile to her face as she sat down. "It took a bit more effort to get to this point with the last person." With no one else around, she lowered her hood revealing her short crop cut blue hair, gentle blue eyes, leather collar around her neck with the Silver Wolf emblem poking over the top of it, taking up most of the right side of her neck.
She slid her drink closer and took a sip as she had a small flashback to how she discovered her magic. "If you don't mind I would like to skip how I obtained the magic. It was not a...good experience. But the magic I use is a spirit bow that was once the Demigod Orion's. When he hunted, he would boast about killing every animal on Earth. So Scorpio was sent to kill him. The poison he used infused throughout the bow itself."
She took a moment to take another drink, her left arm hanging limp by her side. It took her years of research, even before she joined Silver Wolf just to find this out. Silver Wolf gave ehr the ability to conduct this extensive search. So for that she was happy. Silver Wolf was the first home she ever really had. "The problum comes from the fact I am a Hunter and chef by trade. I feed all the wolves back home, and that requires me to go out into the wild and kill deer, ox, wild goats, or boars. Sometimes, the other things I hunt are so others in my guild don't have to dirty thier hands. Each mark on this arm, is an arrow I have shot from Orion's Bow. They fade away if I go a day without using magic, but it takes one full day per mark. If a hunt takes seven arrows, that's a full week to get down to zero and..." She paused for a moment and unlatched her cloak, pulling it away from her doll-like dress and leather corseted form. Usually she would be wearing puffy shoulder covers, but the pain on her shoulder was too much for even silk and the cloak, and the cloak offered more protection. The marks extended around her shoulder and moved to the point just above her heart. "I am at ninety-nine and one more will kill me."

Luna listened to the story intently, and albeit being intrigued by the prospect of such a legendary weapon, she knew that it had to be removed. She was in no rush to summon Scorpio, not out of selfishness or spite, but fear that she would be in violation of celestial law. Unlike the laws of Fiore, Celestial Law is harsher and quicker to execution or worse punishments. However, she did have to summarize the entire situation with a single point and question. "Please don't mind my bluntness but I had to help raise my four brothers growing up so I picked up the habit of stern lectures. Let me get this straight, skipping the whole process as I am assuming you were quite aware of this for quite some time. You, one above average but not monster tier human received a weapon tainted with a poison capable of killing those with the blood of gods running through their veins and in good health of mind chose to use it on a regular basis knowing that it takes a significant amount of downtime to recover from? Wouldn't the logical thing to be just learn a new magic or buy weapons? Just skip right to the poison that has literally brought you close to death's door to ask some random wizard you never met to potentially break Celestial Laws that can result in my own execution because you could not use any logical alternative like a career shift or alternative methods for hunting?"

Luna sighed and took a deep breath, finishing her drink slowly before she tapped the counter twice for  a refill. She knew at this point she was gonna need it, after all it would not be right to condemn this girl to a horrid death even if easily preventable. "However your luck is not done yet. I am a remarkable healer, aside from the golden key that's the only thing I am known for, let me take a look first."

At this point she was stalling out her options aside from summoning Scorpio, fearing that violates Celestial Law. She would soon raise her hand as she gently raised it towards the girl's arm, fearing she'd accidentally make things worse she activated Nature's mercy, encompassing the girl's arm in a soft, translucent pink light. However Luna felt immense resistance from the poison."Astral Poison has a bite to it... Doesn't look like I can knock off more then seven pegs an hour, but even then I don't think I'll get more then twenty one."

Luna sighed as she pulled her arm down. She turned to the barkeep as she pulled out the golden key from her necklace. "I'm sorry but it's am emergency. She'll die within a decade if she is opposed to amputation. Also add a glass of red wine please." The barkeep nods, and makes an exception as she served the ordered drinks.

Luna stabs the key into the air, before a green magic circle appeared in the air. "Open! Gate of Scorpio!" When she pulled back the key foot steps could be heard as a tall woman walked out of the gate before it disappeared.

Scorpio:

Scorpio picked up the glass of wine before she looked at Mizumi, then back to Luna. "Please tell me she's Astral poisoned and this isn't a contract turnover or set up?" Luna sighed and nodded. "Actually Astral poisoned. Bow of Orion, ring any bells? Scorpio gasped. "Uh oh. I was joking but if this is serious, this is going to be difficult to handle without breaking Celestial Law and having both you and I executed or worse."

Scorpio took the seat next to Luna, and Luna began introducing. "Scorpio, this is Mizumi, current holder of the Bow of Orion, Mizumi, this lady is Scorpio."

Bluntness was not something she was new to. The former slave knew the need for tact, but also when it was not needed. She also understood the difference between being blunt and being offensive. Language was such a delicate thing to dance around. When Luna went into the good health of mind, all she could do was think to herself under distress and fear of life is not a healthy state of mind. Using the bow was what kept her out of the bedroom and alive for so long until she finally snapped. Logic ends when you are punched in the face. But then she mentioned Celestial Laws that could result in her own execution. Not Mizumi's life, but Luna's life. And this brought a look of realization to her face. She had just wasted all this time, energy and life. She could not ask a stranger to put her own life at risk. She had taken lives before directly. This was different. She was usually the Executioner, not the crime.

Her arm was pulled up to look at. The direct contact, even with the protective coating of magic, caused her chest and back muscles to tighten up. Her neck straining to keep upright, while she just looked straight ahead. Her face, porecelain like a doll. But everything from the neck down made it seem like this gentle examination was a roughly applied hammerlock about to dislocate a shoulder around a rusty pipe. Then came even more bad news. While she could remove them. The msot she could remove is twenty one. The expiration time of this decade brought her to a sour end once her arm was released. Before she could respond, Scorpio was being summoned. And out came a red heaired woamn in a silve dress. The two have a quick conversation as Mizumi slowly stands up, picking up her cloak and gliding it over her shoulders, relatching it. The marked arm disappearing behind the curtail once more.

With her bag pulled up with her good arm to the stool, she pulled out a fairly large sack of jewels and sat them down on the counter. Easily twenty times what she bribed the barkeep for. Her hunt was over. It was unsuccessful. With a heave, she pulled the bag over her good shoulder and looked to the three women. "Pleased to make your aquaintence. I am sorry for wasting your time and magic. I hope these jewels will make up for that. Its what I saved to make this journey. I will not make someone risk thier honor or lives for someone you don't even know. If you are ever in the Phoenix Mountains, you should be able to find me around town." With her gear gathered, she bowed her head to the three and started to walk out the door. There was a cave outside of town she could spend the next week in. Purchasing some rations on her way out would mean she didn't need to hunt. Once she got back, she was going have to retire from magic now. Would she even be able to stay at Silver wolf now?

Scorpio was glad that the human girl was willing to not let her problem burden others, however deep down Scorpio felt immensely guilty that the poison meant for someone else and someone else alone was killing another human. Instinctively Scorpio generated a ball of fire that shot to just in front of the door, creating a thin yet controlled wall of fire blocking the door. "Hold up there miss. It's only illegal for me to disclose the details of the original wielder, however I can tell you how to get rid of that Astral Poisoning and restore your natural lifespan, or rather you'll live at least 30 or 40 more years."

Luna looked at Scorpio confused, wondering exactly where this exception came from. She pulled out her iLac and tried to search through Celestial Laws. Scorpio noted Luna's attempt and helped her out. "You want the Contract formation Act, section 14, subsection 10, paragraph C." Luna scrolled to the article and found it, before reading it aloud. "In the event that a large scale effect harms more then the intended target for a period greater then a month, the spirit may disclose any information relating to the subject so long as it is relevant, and will not violate any former contract. Well I'll be damned."

Scorpio nodded, and snapped her fingers as fire briefly appeared floating in the air until it took a rectangular shape before forming a scroll with glasses on top. Putting on her glasses, Scorpio soon unrolled the scroll. "Alright, Astral poisoning, you have quite the number of options, especially if you have Lunaris here willing to help. Her abilities are impressive, but if she used them on you in any of the following: Fountain of purity, located in the most dangerous area of Sin that has killed gods on sight for even looking at the border only to bring them back to life and torture simultaneously starting with the pain nerves then- nevermind. The fountain of Purity restores innocence, and has been known to make warlords so passive they couldn't even hunt a trapped rabbit. Then the other option if you want Luna's help is the Fountain of Youth, you should know what that can do. I think Luna's second cousin is the current guardian though. If Luna used her healing abilities while you bathed in either fountain that should eradicate the Astral Poisoning."

Scorpio unrolled down the scroll further as she paused, letting the options sink in for the human before she would bombard her with the others. "However, you do have other options, if you marry or bare the child of a poison god, dragon, demon, one of their slayers, the poison will burn itself out. The former set requires a true love marriage, so faking isn't an option. Lastly, there is a way I can do it right here, right now."

Luna was genuinely confused as to why she waited to use the instant option for last, however she saw the tone shift. "There is a spell I can do only in cases like this, it's called 'Celestial reverse', only able to be used when something curse level affects a target it was not meant to, and can undo what has been done. This spell requires you to sacrifice how the curse transferred, and will completely reverse the effects occurred since you received that bow, time included."

Luna almost dropped her glass when she realized what that meant. She looked at Scorpio with genuine shock. "You don't mean, she'll-" Scorpio nodded. "Mind and memories intact her form would be as it was before she touched the cursed bow, life span and everything restored." Luna's eyes opened wide as she started to feel dizzy at the whole weight of what was being said. "Still, those, are, hefty options."

Scorpio put down the scroll and her glasses before taking a sip of wine, and looked at Mizumi. "Astral Poison is no joke or light matter. It has infected her very being, her body will be the least of her worries in a year if she does not get proper treatment."

Mizumi’s exaunt was interrupted by a wall of flames. It wasn’t the first time she would have had to walk through hell, but it did seem that it was done in the same manner someone might have walked over, placed their hand on her shoulder and said stop. Just more of an intimidation tactic. Something that didn’t bother her at the moment. She was one arrow from death. Rather than die at someones magic, she would do it herself. It was the life she had led. But it seemed this was not a thought that was needed as it was Scorpio telling her why it was illegal. She then started to list off options. First was locations Lunaris could heal her in. First was the Fountain of Purity. A pretty much Death Sentence it sounded like. Nix that. Then there was the Fountain of Youth. It was pretty famous, but yeah, she would be taken back to a younger age. Nix that. The next option was baring a child. For other reasons than her needing to do it from love, that was not going to happen so, Nix that. The last option was the first one to actually cause fear to cross her face. Not just Nixing that idea. She was completely Phoe-Nixing it. Burning that option to ashes and scattering it to the winds.

She turned around and looked to the two. They seemed to have a grasp of what that last option could mean, but they didn’t know really. The options to remove it seemed to be centered on ‘Don’t touch the bow in the first place.’ But the last one caused her to clench her fist. Her left arm raised from the cloak. The air whipped around her hand forming a curved longbow comprised of air and magic. Translucent and intangible. White veins coursing through it. ”First. I have yet to touch the actual bow itself. Just its magical effigy. It first came to me when I was on the brink of death and allowed me to live. And that is why I can’t do that final option. Or the one before that really. If I was returned to that state, just before I was first given the bow. I know I would lose my magic, but I would also become that thirteen year old girl who had eaten a total of three meals in three months. Who was worked everyday with no muscle build. I already know the poison is bad. Already had a Poison Dragon Slayer try eating it and he got violently ill.” Tears welled up in her eyes as her arm drop down hard to her side, the bow dissipating in the air. ”I didn’t come to ask how to eliminate the poisoning completely. I’m not Sinless, I’ve killed innocent people, many times forced, other times not.. I was just hoping to find out someway to mitigate and ease the poison. So I can provide for my guild in whatever time I have left.”