A Long Day(Job)

While Perry was not assigned any Trading Company official business quite yet, he was trying to make use of his "free time". And what better way to spend it than going to a festival and join in on the fun. Magnolia was a little bit out of the way for him this time around, but heck, Perry was sure that there would be a lot of people. A lot of distractions so that he could finally satiate his proverbial hunger for thieving. It was getting to the point where he nearly believed he turned into a magpie, he wanted to steal nigh every shiny thing he came across. Perry couldn't remember the last time he craved to act on his hobby that badly. If ever, if he had to be honest. It was getting kind of frightening. He surely didn't want to offend his newfound employers, after all. Nova assured him time and again that his time would come and Perry had to believe that.

Thankfully that belief would provide some rewards. The young man weaved in between the folks who were going from attraction to attraction, from stall to stall. His companion was there with him, though he explored at his own pace. Even though Perry wasn't particularly tall, he was sort of easily spotted when one knew what to look for, so Nova would easily find him, should the need for it arise. Perry wanted to keep Nova close to him, because of what happened in the Neutral Grounds, but at the same time he wanted to say that people of Magnolia were more open minded than the slobs of NG alleyways.

Perry's skilled sight spotted a few potential candidates for a little pickpocketing and he did just that. Swift and silent, his fingers pulled out the Jewels out of pockets and wallets without anyone noticing. He slipped the acquired currency into his own pouches, his thieving urges being calmed down. Sadly, those pickpockets were severely unsatisfying. Once again he felt like those people were just begging him to steal their bloody possessions. The young man sighed as he took off his monocle and cleaned it with his gloved hand. Perry then put it back where it belonged and started walking. Perhaps just enjoying the festivities would do him better.

However, there was one issue that arised as Perry browsed the many stalls that littered the main street of Magnolia. He noticed that the very air was thick with magic and the more time he spent milling about, the stranger he felt. As if something was sapping away his strength, making him feel kind of sloppy and tired. Then it dawned in him. Since it was a celebration of summer and all that, it was kind of fitting that he, being one with shadows, would feel kind of spent. Then again, he had no idea about the true cause of that feeling, just that something was affecting him. And he didn't like it.

The young man bought a festive lemonade at one of the food stands and pushed through the crowd of people. He wanted just a tiny breather. Being smushed by tens of people was not his vision of an ideal afternoon. Perry managed to get out of the confines of the crowd, finding himself at what he presumed was an imaginary edge of the festivities. He sighed a sigh of relief, when he noticed a young man being pulled by a robed woman towards the festival. It seemed like a scene where an overly excited girlfriend was trying to get her boyfriend to go where she wanted to. Perry would grin and give the young man a thumbs up. "The festival's neat, if you like large quantities of people in one place." He would say with a little chuckle. But then he noticed that the young man in question had a very certain attire. Attire that Perry didn't have on, because he didn't think it was neccessary to represent the Trading Company during a festival break. "I'm sorry for asking, but are you perchance affiliated with the West Fiore Trading Company?" Perry would try to ask. He could be entirely wrong as he was very new to the Company, but maybe he had found a fellow employee in a proverbial haystack.

At first, it didn't seem that one of the strangers that he chatted up seemed to be too pleased, but at least he humoured him and was polite about it. Though Perry could agree that some of the activities smelled of autumn, rather than summer. The young man took a sip of the refreshing festival drink he had in his hand. He still actually didn't know what it was. But it was good and that was all that mattered. The stranger then answered the question that Perry asked a few moments prior. The thief was very much glad that his guess was right. The stranger not only confirmed Perry's guess, but also provided a name and occupation within the Company, as well as inquiring about Perry himself and the festival.

The charming young man would take a few steps towards Haraka. "I'm Perry. Pleased to meet you, Haraka." He would tip his top hat, as he introduced himself. "I am the Company employee myself, albeit an extremely fresh one." And it wasn't an exaggeration. But it was also the reason why he didn't know Haraka or vice versa. After the pleasantries, the young man would slightly shift his body towards the festive crowd. "The festival is fine. Not the biggest fan of the games myself, but the food and drinks seem pretty good." He would share his little review of the Magnolian festival of the summer solstice. That being said, Perry would be down for a game or two. Provided that there was a cute girl to impress, of course.

As soon as his thoughts were brought back to the solstice, he felt tired again. The thief would sigh in frustration. "I've got to ask you something." Perry would turn his head towards his newfound fellow employee. "Do you perhaps feel tired today all of a sudden? Like somebody sucked a bit of life out of you? Or is it just me?" He didn't have a clue as to why he felt in such way. He had a few guesses, of course, but it never hurt to ask an another on that particular matter. Besides, he was no scientist or scholar or whatever. There was no way that he would be able to find the source just like that on his own.

However, after he asked that of Haraka, Perry felt something. Or rather, presence of something or someone. His senses, being distracted by the feeling of tiredness, couldn't precisely pinpoint their strength or location. The thief's body would tense up. He hoped that he was just out of his mind because of that strange feeling of being drained.

The other Company employee exchanged pleasantries with Perry, while adding a bunch of other things, like how his magic worked and whatnot. It felt like a bit of an information dump that Perry had never asked for, but he reckoned that he knew a bit more about the guy without pressing him further. The young man took a mental note of what Haraka shared for future purposes. After Perry said that he wasn't a fan of the games, Haraka suggested some different ones, but that wasn't Perry's issue with them. It was mostly about the simple fact that he could just snatch one of the prizes, instead of trying to win a most definitely rigged game. That was if there was no lady to impress present, of course.

After Perry asked whether Haraka had a similar feeling to his, the answer was surprisingly positive. Though kind of weird. Perry didn't even want to know what the other man meant by 'his baby William'. The thief wanted to reply to the man's question, but that was abruptly cut short, as a fireball made a swift appearance, damaging the goods that Haraka had with him. Things went blurry after that.

Somebody was going to yell something about summer, but the crowd had quickly fallen into panic. The sudden shift of the atmosphere took Perry by surprise, but that lasted for only a few moments before he composed himself. Haraka had sprouted wings and a tail and started to essentially go ham at the attackers. Perry couldn't even get a proper look, before Haraka and the attackers disappeared from his line of sight. "Damn." He muttered under his breath. As if it wasn't enough, Nova was still nowhere to be seen.

The mage saw some commotion up ahead, mixed with ice that probably belonged to Haraka. At least Perry now knew that there was something lurking around. But those that were locked in combat with his fellow employee were not the only ones that were present. The thief's sight was momentarily impaired by a sudden flash of light, as two womanly figures appeared. Perry took a few steps back, bumping into somebody and briefly lost his balance, though he managed to stay on his feet. After his sight cleared up, Perry noticed that the source of the blinding flash were indeed womanly figures, but they appeared to be made of pure light. And they seemed to have it out for him.

A ball of light was sent his way by one of them and the thief's reflexes kicked in, getting him out of harm's way. Though he was sure that the execution would've been better had he not been feeling tired. Before the elementals could strike again, the mage would close the gap and kick one of them with void imbued leg, while quickly following up the attack by setting off a void explosion in front of him. That set off even more panic, making Perry roll his eyes. He was hoping that nobody would get into his way. Unintentional casualties would be quite unfortunate, that was for sure. Thankfully, the elemental that was on the receiving end of both the blast and kick disappeared into sparkles, but the other one was still alive.

The elemental saw the opening and decided to capitalise on it, by punching Perry with its light-infused fist. The mage got staggered a bit, as the light seared him a little bit and he took a step back. He had an affinity for shadows and darkness, after all, so the light was his natural weakness. Perry grit his teeth as his leg lunged out again, taking out the second elemental. As the specks of light dissipated, the thief sighed a sigh of relief. He got rid of the two elementals that had it out for him, all while there was a panicked crowd around him.

But the relief didn't last long. As if on cue, a shimmering yellow portal ripped open in the sky and a creature dropped out of it. A combination of a man and beast landed heavily onto the pavement. "Summer will be eternal!" He would yell out as people ran out of his way. Summer being eternal was among the last of things that Perry would ever wish for. It felt like the man-beast could read his thoughts, as Perry was pretty sure that his gaze stopped on him. Or maybe he just looked like natural mischief that could disrupt his plans. Though that was going to be excatly what he was going to do.

Perry, however, was taken by immense surprise, as the creature that had fallen out of the portal just sprinted ahead, aiming straight at him. His feet scrambled to finally move, but he was more so prepared for a very painful impact. However, somebody else saved his hide. The hairy man-beast was stopped dead in its tracks. Long black hands were holding onto it, keeping it in place. Perry's gaze immediately moved to the side and saw his companion, Nova. "You look like you could use some help!" A shout rang in Perry's head and he smirked in return. "Yeah, you got me there." The thief would laugh, as he heard his name being called. Haraka was probably looking for him. "Right over here! We got a bit of a situation on our hands!" The mage would yell, hoping that his fellow employee would follow the source of the voice. "Let go of me!" The portal beast would growl as he struggled to get free from Nova's tight grasp. To add fire to an already growing flame, Perry would conjure a ball of flaming void, that he then threw at the being, letting void burn slowly damage the creature. That only got more growling and more struggling as a response.

While the beast didn't seem to be too fazed about the shadowfire ball that Perry had hurled at him, the burning was slowly taking its toll. But thankfully, not only Nova had showed up, but Haraka made an appearance aswell. There was hope of them taking down the beast, after all. It had already been damaged by the thief and the otherworldly creature, but Perry reckoned that it would still take some effort to bring the herald of summer down. The other mage froze the ground around him that apparently made most of the surrounding people fall asleep, according to his own words. About which Perry couldn't wrap his head around in the heat of the moment, so he just left it that. The man went on to strike the portal man-beast with his eku, but again, it strangely didn't seem to be too fazed by it. Oh dear.

Haraka asked about Perry and Nova's well being. It was a nice gesture, but not necessary. The attention was kind of nice, though. "Yeah yeah, we're fine. We just need to get rid of this hairy overgrown goat, before eternal summer becomes a thing." Perry would reply to his fellow employee's concerns, throwing a few insults alongside it, as he adjusted his monocle. The remark that the thief said made the man-beast visibly furious, as he struggled even more to get out of Nova's grasp. Nova hissed, as his little hands were yanked and he let go under the pressure. The beast was free, but the struggle made him take a bit more damage from Nova. But the point was that he was no longer held in place.

Nova let out a shrill, as he unleashed countless beams of chaotic energy through the spots on his skin. The beams burned the man-beast, making him take more damage. However, when the beams shot through Perry and Haraka, they would feel some of their lighter wounds mending. "Now that's a useful trick!" The thief would approve of his companion's move. "Yeah, I'm pretty cool, if I do say so myself." A cocky answer would ring in Perry's head. The mage would smirk. It was time for him to finish this. They were wailing on the creature for a while already and Perry was starting to become impatient.

Much to the thief's surprise, the beast very quickly closed the distance between them. Perry let out a high-pitched yelp, as he tried to jump away, but to no avail. The beast swung with its fist and hit the mage, sending him backwards. His body suddenly felt incredibly wobbly, just like his self-esteem. His view shook from side the side and removed the sensation by shaking his head a little, trying to correct his senses. The portal man-beast was preparing to charge into Perry again, but thankfully, his reflexes came through, at least this once. A veil of shadows appeared around his right arm and he decidedly pointed his index finger at the creature. As if the shadow was alive, it slithered along the ground, towards the creature. As soon as it was within striking distance, Perry motioned with his hand a closed fist, which the shadow mimicked. A shadowy hand took hold of the man-beast. He loudly roared, clearly displeased that he got bound once more.

The mage would sigh a little, as he ran his hand along the side of his body, making sure he still looked presentable. "Alright pal, you're really going down." He would say as he winked at his otherworldly companion. Nova knew what to do and dashed over to him, readying himself for an another attack. Perry would take a few steps towards the struggling man-beast. The mage would then summon a volatile ball of void in front of him that steadily grew larger. "Say bye to your everlasting summer!" He would wave as he overloaded the void ball, making it explode in a radius in front of him. At the same time, Nova unleashed the chaotic beams again. Shortly after the dust settled after the joint attack, the creature slowly fell onto the ground. Perry had to side step the body, due to its size, so that he wouldn't get crushed. That certainly wasn't an end that he anticipated for himself.

The mage would let out a sigh of relief as his body felt incredibly heavy, adrenaline slowly fading. The corpse that was then lying on the ground started to faintly glow, as it turned into colourful petals that got scattered through the breeze. Even though the man-beast himself was not a looker, at least his death was rather pretty.