The Star, The Witch and the Key

Job Reference

It had been a couple of days since Zachary took the 'star critter' home. Even among the small apartment he had begun to rent, he had taken off 'work' to take care of the unusual magical creature he now had to take care of. Though growing smarter and sharper with each passing moment, he still was cherubic and innocent in his demeanor.

Now, as Zachary slept and the sun shined through his window, he heard the soft sounds of the Star Critter's voice.

Zachawy...? Zachawy?

Zachary was in bed, curled up in his blankets as the little star critter hovered overhead. With his tiny little hands he gently poked Zachary in the cheek to coax him awake, but Zachary withdrew into his covers.

However, that soon ended when the creature was spooked by something else-- another creature appearing beside him. A round-shaped spirit that looked like a clock. With a few mechanical sounds, he raised a clock-shaped wand and gave it a loud shake.

BRREEEEEENG!!

"WHA--- Huh?! What the?" Zachary gasped as he jolted from the bed, the sound loud and ringing in his ears. The star critter flew around the room as Zachary regained his senses, and soon saw the large clock spirit standing at his bedside. "Showtime!" he shouted.

The clock spirit, Horologium as he was called, looked up at Zachary with his big face, shaking his body and letting out beeps and boops, as if it was a sarcastic greeting.

Zachary reached for his pillow and was about to smack the clock spirit with it-- till the spirit vanished in a flurry of lights. The pillow passed through them, hitting nothing but air.

As he recovered, he soon looked forward to find the Star Critter in front of him. Good Morwning! he said. For a creature with seemed like a child, he was learning words very quickly and getting to know things quick. He always stayed close to Zachary, having formed a bond with him. He would follow him everywhere, and would be curious about everything he did and who he interacted with.

Zachary soon saw a beeping on his Ilac that he charged on his bedside table. As he pulled himself out of bed, in his star and moon pajamas, he looked to find a message from Samira.

Before they had parted, Zachary had traded contact with the legendary wizard/witch and hoped to learn more about magic from her. While their time was limited, he was grateful and began to trade messages with her, specifically about the star critter's origin.

As he reached for his phone, the star critter flopped on top of Zachary's head, adding to the mess of his bed-hair even more as he checked the clear phone. Luckily it was intuitive enough he could type out enough to send her a message.

"Dear Samira,

Hope you are well today. Hope we can meet up later for lunch and talk. Star Critter (need to find a better name) is okay. My spirits really take a shine to him and vise versa. Still have not been able to use that mysterious key for some reason, but one mystery at a time. Star critter sends his hellos too.

P.S. The little guy is a bottomless pit for sweets. Wonder where he got that from."

He hit send while the Star Critter looked at the text and it bliped away. Zachary looked up at the creature, recalling how much they both liked sweets.

WC: 579

Samira had made her departure from Magnolia Town shortly after completing what most would have considered as a trivial job for someone of her rank and position. This also meant she said her farewells to the fellow celestial mage that she had just met. One of the few acquaintances she had that had a magic similar to her own at the base. A couple of days had passed since then, and Samira was now already in a different country entirely, having left Fiore the day after her last run in with Zachary. She didn't really expect another run in with him anytime soon. Frequent friend visitations wasn't really ever on her agenda, and she was rarely ever in the same place for long. If she was it wasn't even in Fiore. It would be like it currently was, the God of Ishgar keeping herself in the middle of no where studying or exploring something or other. Generally something to do with a request from the council or following a lead to family secrets that were scattered around the world and realms for some odd reason. Currently, she was in Joya, the country filled with a race of cat-like people and the jungle they called home that was protected by a mountain border. Samira had intended to not have contact with anyone that was not within Joya itself for a while aside from important contacts such as the Magic Council. Keyword being intended.

Before the summoning mage left Magnolia Town, she had given Zachary her iLac information so he could keep her updated on the strange creature that he now possessed. It was never meant to be used as an everyday messaging service when bored. Samira didn't even like the technological device except for some of its functions that she used all the time in her work such as the picture functions or its ability to track and make maps as she walked. She hadn't even looked at the thing since leaving town. So who had Zachary been talking to the last couple of days? It certainly wasn't her. No. He was actually talking to a mischievous spirit that was pretending to be her. Well, not so much pretending as it was just being bored and not really saying that it was not Samira answering the messages.

The spirit of Serqet was already holding the iLac when the newest message came. She had been lying on the ground, positioned so her belly supported her weight as she lazily kept herself occupied playing a game on the device while Samira was off doing something else nearby. Serqet didn't really care at that moment. The scorpion tail that had been swaying slowly perked up as the spirit became alerted to the new message that immediately distracted her from her lazy game. "Ooooo! Another one!" A large grin appeared on her face, extremely ecstatic to have another social message to reply to. Just how many contacts she was doing this with was anyone's guess, and one had to wonder if the spirit forgot the messages were really for Samira instead of herself. Serqet closed her game and opened the message to read it. A brow arched quizzically as she did so. "I don't know why he makes these things as if they're a formal letter. Is that a new thing or something?" She shrugged, deciding not to look into it or caring enough to spend time to do that. It was boring being so formal and more fun being herself. Serqet tapped on the empty space meant for her to start her reply, and then began to press the buttons that each had a single letter of the alphabet.

"'Ello 'ello, Zach! I am doing FAAAAANNNNNtastic! XDD I am up for that lunch idea! You're paying right? HA! JK. I'm covered." Some more smiley faces were added in, an obnoxious amount that Samira herself would frown upon considering she would have used zero emoticons. "So where and what time anyway? O_O"

Somehow in Serqet's mind, she had forgotten that Samira and even herself were a few countries over. Not that, that was really an issue. Janus could open a portal easily back into town. It was more of the fact someone still had to tell Samira that she now had lunch plans to discuss that star creature again.... after only two days. Most would have assumed that being in the middle of Joya meant that Samira didn't intend to make such plans that day, or even that week. This is one of many reasons why you never leave your iLac unattended, folks.

(Word Count: 768)

While Samira and her more teen-spirited goddess texted, Zachary was getting ready for the day while juggling the Star Critter's crazy antics. He got some breakfast, and fed his new friend a piece of butter toast, orange juice and water. He ate in small bites but was quite hungry for such a little creature. He studied some books he was dedicated to read up on regarding magic-- and the little star would frequently try to interrupt, wanting to play more than sit and watch Zachary read.

After about a half hour or so, Zachary succumbed to the star's desire and decided to try and play with a ball. THe little star enjoyed it-- playing now between himself and Ruby who also chased it like a cat. Since, the Star Critter came around, Ruby was a bit more guarded, feeling jealous about the new creature flying around Zachary's home.

As the two played, Zachary spotted the beeping of his phone to find the message. Zachary raised a brow at it and paused as he saw the exaggerated text. He was not the type of person who fell into the fads of doing short, incorrectly written messages unless it was for a speedy response. He took his writing seriously in all aspects to not use language that way. It was kind of odd how she responded as it did not sound like Samira AT ALL. His impression was she was a bit more refined for this kind of way of chatting.

Regardless... Zachary tapped a reply as Ruby and Star Critter tussled, which only caused the critter to giggle in a ticklish manner.

"Um, oookaaay," he replied in a more sarcastic term of unease as to how he would verbally reply. "Glad your well. Let's meet up at the Magnolia Bistro along the canal at 1 PM. ,"

He hit sent and finished getting dress. The meeting was about 2 hours away but Zachary felt he would go out, check the guild hall then meet Samira there afterward. "Okay, you two. Let's get going. " Zachary said as he gestured the little creatures towards him.

Stopping their tussling, the star critter and ruby carbuncle ran up to Zachary and rested themselves along his shoulder as Zachary dawned his coat.

***

The trek to the Guild hall was to follow up on any word he requested to the guild researchers. Unforutantely, with both his studies and their resources, they were still clueless on the Star Critter's origin. It was too the point that Zachary thought he discovered a brand new species, so he should just accept it, name it his own way and move on.

ANd by move on, was to accept what Samira's spirit very much advised him not to do. To get attached.

As he walked down the street, making his way to the Bistro to rest, eat and await Samira, the Star Critter found a snug place to hid on Zachary's person--- in the hood of Zachary's Jacket which was now behind his head. It made a nice pouch for the creature, like that of a kangaroo. While inside, it was one of the few times the creature would calm down and nap. Something about being swaddled or being in Zachary's presence put him at ease, when he wasn't flying about exploring or causing mischief.

As they reached the edge of the canal-- light appeared as Zachary sensed one of his spirits come through. THe flap of wings made him realize it was none other than Prof Nyx, his white owl spirit as she perched on his shoulder.

"Good afternoon, Zachary. How is the little one?" she cooed.

Zachary wordlessly gestured behind him and the owl turned her head-- soon spotting the little creature. Remembering the owl from before, the star reached up excitedly at the fluffy owl.

"He is a handfull, but he is behaving. We still haven't found anything yet, but at this point I should just consider naming him and be done with it. He been around us for a few days and is anything but malicious." Zachary explained to his spirit.

"Very true, but I don't think it be as simple as picking up a stray cat off the street." Nyx said as they approached the Bistro. "It would be unwised to get too attached. It may have a home already."

Zachary heard her but didn't really answer. He just hummed, feeling the little guy's pressure on his back. It was too late-- Zachary already developed a bond for the little guy.

As he sat down, it was a bit early from the agreed meeting time as he took a long breath. As he sat down, the star critter floated out from his hood and plopped right on top of Zachary's head with a cute little 'oh'. As a waitress came and offered bread and a menu, Zachary thanked her and waited. Seeing the bread and sweet butter-- the star fluttered off his head and sat on a spot on the table. All the while, Nyx watched vigilantly as the little creature tried to take some bread, but was unsure how to apply the butter. It really did act like a child.

"Oh, brother... Well guess too small hands can't spread butter on bread, huh?" Zachary commented as he proceeded to spread some.

It was at that moment something odd happened as he finished spreading the butter on the bread and handed it to the star. The contact with his tiny hand caused an explosion of light in Zachary's vision.

He reeled back a moment as his vision suddenly changed. He saw something fast-- a brilliant blinding light-- like that of the sun right in front of his eyes. It made him recoil but even with eyes closed, he still saw things. It was replaced by a darkness and a wicked grin of a cloaked figure. Tentrils-- like snakes waved in the air...

The flash ended in a second as he stopped, the little star now looking up at him with confusion and concern.

"Zachary? Zachary!" Zachary snapped back to awareness as he looked to the nearby chair-- where Nyx was perched upon. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Zachary shook his head and tried to regain his composure. "Um, yeah... I'm good. Just-- must of gotten something in my eye," he asked, feeling unnerved by what he saw. He always did have an overactive imagination.

"Pardon me," a calm feminine voice spoke nearby. "Are you by chance Zachary Sirius of Fairy Tail? You're guildmates mentioned you."

Hearing the voice of the woman, Zachary turned around to behind the fence that divided the restaurant to the rest of the street and canal. Looking at them was a woman in a white labcoat-like outfit with a mild skirt. She had fair light skin and elegant composure. She had short blonde hair cut short with the exception of two long locks that reached down and tied in front of her. A gentle smile was on her face as she gazed upon him and the company of the animals around him.

"Um, yes... Can I help you, miss? " Zachary asked.

Her smile gently grew to a more sincere looking one. "Pardon my intrusion during your meal, but I was told you would be here. I believe you and your guild were inquiring about a certain magical creature. When I was informed I came over from Crocus to see if I could be of assistance." the woman said professionally and reached into her pocket-- producing a business card. "My name is Dr. Oliva M. Gorgon. Assistant Director and Manager at the BMD's Cryptid Division."



WC:  1275

"Okie dokie!" The spirit typed as a reply and then hit send. Well that was fun. On to the next thing! She'll inform Samira about the lunch appointment eh... Later. If she remembered. A game app was opened on the iLac and she began to play it. The sound effects were at full volume and it wasn't long before her lazy activity was noticed by another. It only took them about four hours to realize she wasn't helping at all.

"Oi!" Shouted another spirit that had snuck up on the distracted scorpion lady and pulled her back by the tail to further get her attention. "Why is it that the rest of us are working but you're lying there playing around with that thing?" Serquet flicked her tail back and rolled over to face the tail pulling offender. Her mouth formed into an innocent smile. "Because this is more fun and no one noticed me sneak away." The swordsman spirit sweatdropped at that answer. Really? Technically that was true. None of them noticed her missing until the sound of random silly effects echoed through the surrounding area. But it still didn't have to be said! "Bah! Give me that. Samira was looking for that an hour ago."

"Fiinneee." She'd find something else to do to pass the time and procrastinate from anything that ruined her lazy day. The iLac was thrown right at his head, bouncing off it and landing on the ground. Her giggle did not stop him from glaring and grumbling under his breath about having to deal with her. While she certainly was having fun with that immaturity he was not. Her better get a damn new crossword puzzle book after this as a tolerance award. The spirit incarnation of Susano grabbed the iLac from the ground and shut off that annoying game. "Hm?" When the game shut down the iLac was directed back to the message app. He read parts of it, enough to get names at least and for him to take note that the messages next to Samira's name didn't fit her persona at all. He arched a brow quizzically, looked at Serqet, and then back to the iLac screen. He shrugged. It was obvious what was up but it wasn't his problem really. Instead he moved onto the other thought on his mind. "Isn't this that celestial brat Samira ran into back in magnolia town?"

"Yep!"

"Its only been two days! Does he really think we don't have anything better to do than take on a social call? Kids these days."

"Well I would say the social call is better than sitting here in the middle of no where."

"I meant in terms of importance. I'm not really enjoying the thrills of scavenger hunting."

The two sighed, agreeing on that. A long silence was there between them until the scorpion spirit got an idea in her head. She sat up and looked up at her fellow spirit with a mischievous look in her eyes. "Want to make a Kindling page for Samira? It'll be funnnnnnn."

Susano blinked and stared. "I have no idea what that even is." But he shrugged his shoulders regardless and handed Serqet the iLac before taking a seat beside her. "But I could use a break. Educate me." And so the two went to work, forgetting the stuff they were supposed to do while also forgetting to even tell Samira about Zachary's message. Before long, the other spirits that were roaming around found them and joined in, but instead of a Kindling account they were now all over the Lacrima Net making fake pages for their summoner. Lacbook, MagiGram, etc, etc. It was absolutely baffling that she had never even made one before. It seemed to be the thing to do if you wanted to be hip in the Lacrima Net world. The world that Samira never really tuned into and it would be her being baffled that they thought she needed or wanted any of those pages. Regardless, for the spirits it was a party of coming up with things to put on the pages, and the iLac was passed around several times over.

Queue in the "What are you all doing?" line once Samira herself made her way over, the last to notice that everyone was gone. The spirit group hushed and pretended that they were the most innocent beings in the universe. While there may have been a bit of suspicion that showed on the summoner's facial features, she still bought that they were just taking a break and playing games on her iLac instead of being up to no good doing other things that she would later have to scold them for when she found out. Maybe she was just happy that the device had been found after she had thought she lost it earlier. She took it, naturally with all the pages of fake info being closed and removed from the screen, and started to mess with it herself to find an app that she needed while walking away.

"Oh, by the way, that kid from Fairy Tail sent a message. You're supposed to meet him for lunch in about five minutes. I think he wants to fawn over that star thing again."

Samira stopped upon hearing that. Her emerald gaze left the iLac screen and she stared at the group of spirits blankly. Blink. Bliiiinnnnkkk. An awkward moment of silence passed by with that same stare until she finally said something, coming to a quite obvious conclusion. "Has it not only been two days?" She couldn't really fathom what there could be to discuss in such a short time period. Surely anything that could, could have been sent in a message. Not that she really would have minded a social call if she were still in town, but... well she wasn't. Had Zachary really expected her to still be there? Even the typical mage was busy doing jobs for their guilds or to get some spare jewels for themselves, add on a couple of titles to a mage and it should be even more obvious that there were things to do. Maybe she came off as the lazy sort. Or maybe the titles made people think that she didn't have to do much of anything anymore. Huh.

"That's what I said!"

"Actually.... five minutes? When did he even send that message? That is very demanding of him. I disapprove. The least he could have done is wait for me to reject it before assuming I would go." Samira was oblivious to the proverbial sweatdrops going down the backs of each spirit's head as she went to check the messages for herself. She began to read the first message.... dating back days ago. Then the replies that seemingly came from her... if she lost all of her senses. All the way to that same day where she said that she would meet him there. Slowly her gaze looked back at the spirits. Most of them vanished in a storm of colorful particles, leaving only Serqet, who was laughing nervously. "I should have known when the iLac went missing."

The woman sighed and turned the iLac off. It was possible to cancel the lunch appointment, but it was rather late to do so now. Zachary was probably already there, and it'd be a bit rude to cancel at that point regardless of reason. Samira would have to settle on just being a few minutes late. While she could get there pretty quickly with the help of her portal spirit, she still needed to put her quest on halt and inform those that she was working with that she would need to disappear for a couple of hours. Thankfully they didn't mind. A problem came up that would need to be taken care of before they could proceed and it was best if they handled it themselves. Perfect enough, she supposed.

♫Enter the fast forward music theme♫

And so with the help of the spirit incarnation of the god of portals, Samira found herself standing on the streets of Magnolia Town. Again. Already. For Zachary and the woman though, it probably wasn't as normal or expected when a large swirling blue portal appeared out of no where to deliver the Saint and God of Ishgar right in front of the Bistro. Oddly enough right in front of their table in the outside seating area even. The portal master was never wrong... unless he was in a cave. He never could accurately predict the twists and turns there and often times his portals, and what went through them, got stuck in the rocky walls.

Samira blinked as her eyes adjusted to the newish scenery and taking notice of Zachary sitting at the table in front of her. "Oh, well that was easy enough," she commented, referring to having to find the boy after making it to the town itself. She half expected it to at least take a few minutes of going from table to table or even asking where he was seated. Convenient! "Hello, Zachary. Apologies for the slight delay. I was not actually expecting a social visit today so it was a bit... surprising." She left out that it was really a spirit that had accepted the social call, and pretty much all of the messages before that. As she approached closer to take a seat, she stopped herself and stood there. Her attention turned towards the woman that also stood near the table. Her ability to sense another's magic or even any spirits they might have had was not going. That was switched off so as to not seem as if she were invading a person's privacy if they preferred others not knowing. As such, her own power levels and strength were also masked and hidden. There had been times when people were uncomfortable with her magic aura and she preferred to not complicate the lives of those in town by just existing. So long as she didn't use any of her normal magic she would seem as if she were a completely non-magical human. Just a look-alike of the real Samira surely.

"Oh, excuse me if I am intruding on the conversation. Are you a friend of Zachary's?" At that point Samira had no real reason to be suspicious of the woman. She seemed quite normal enough. It was just more surprising that she existed since she wasn't mentioned in any of the messages she read previously.

(Word Count: 1754
My Total So Far: 2522)

"My name is Dr. Oliva M. Gorgon. Assistant Director and Manager at the BMD's Cryptid Division."

Zachary took the card from the woman and looked it over. Ruby and Nyx looked it over too-- seeing the elegant text of it along with the bold print of the organization. "The BMD? The Bureau of Magic Development?" Zachary asked, surprised someone from that organization came. The BMD was often associated with the Magic Council for their research and development into new magics and similar phenomenon to aid and protect Fiore. It was a big deal in the magical world. It appeared this woman was a researcher for them.

"Um, hi. I'm Zachary Sirius, Yes. I am surprised but I am grateful to meet you," he said politely as the two shook hands and he held on to her card.

"The pleasure is mine. I am sorry if I am catching you at a bad time, but it seemed your case was somewhat... urgent?" she asked.

Curious now, the star critter came out of hiding-- and peered over Zachary's shoulder, a piece of bread in his little hands. He looked to the woman with innocent curiosity-- and the woman looked back, realizing the creature that was in reference to. She knew it at first glance...

It was then that the portal would open and Samira would appear. The others turned to find a teal green haired woman emerge from the portal casually. As Samira called out to him and apologize for being late, Zachary turned to her with a smile. "Oh, it's okay. I hope it wasn't inconveniencing to you. Your message sounded a bit... not like yourself?" he asked.

Before that topic could be addressed, the star critter dropped the bread and flew right for Samira. Samiwa!! he cried and flew right for her for a 'face-hug'. While one of the morons at the guildhall would tease at thinking the hug was to shove alien eggs down the victim's throat...

... the only harm he could do was smother you to death from his desire for hugs. Since Zachary took care of him, the star was overly assertive for hugs.

As Samira would react to the 'huggie attack', Zachary glanced between her and the Dr who had joined them. "Um, Samira-- this is Dr. Gorgon. She is from the Bureau of Magic Development. Apparently she heard my request for aid identifying what our little friend here is. Dr. Gorgon, she was with me when we discovered the meteorite that contained ... well him."

Though she remained pleasant, it seemed the Doctor had a sense of what Samira was, or rather by her reputation-- but didn't say anything regarding it. She too extended a hand to her to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you too. " she said, "While I hate to mix business with pleasure, perhaps we can discuss this over a meal together if you do not mind. It seems we have much to discuss."

The three of them soon rejoined the table-- as Ruby continued to remain perched on Zachary's shoulder, and Nyx on the railing of the Bistro's outside section. Samira would be nearby on the next chair-- while Dr. Gorgon sat opposite them as she had ordered a cup of coffee. "Well, I won't be the one to point out the obvious, but can I assume the star-shaped creature beside you is the cryptid you are referring to?" she said calmly and calculating.

Zachary glanced to the Star Critter, who now resumed to nibble on his bread as they waited for their order. Zachary ordered two orders of scrambled eggs, orange juice, and strawberry parfe-- to share with his new friend and Ruby beside him. While he was happy to share his food with his summons, he didn't always have the money for them all. The star critter especially had a hearty appetite.

"Yeah, thats him. I have been calling him a 'Star Critter', as i have no idea what to really call him. Its kind of hard to not get attached to him," Zachary explained, looking also for Samira to also give whatever input she had for this official Doctor. "At first, we thought it might be some violent malicious monster from outer space, but the only thing dangerous about him is if you are a pastry. "

The Star Critter looked up to the woman across the table. THough a stranger to the star compared to Zachary and Samira, who had been there the moment of him waking up, he smiled kindly to the blonde woman. All the while, the woman kept a neutral glance at it, trying to keep her thoughts and facts on point.

"Ah, I see," Dr. Gorgon said and took a sip of her coffee.

As they talked, Nyx continued to watch the good Doctor. Something about this woman made the owl's feathers ruffled that didn't give her a good feeling about.

WC: 823

Heh heh, not like herself. Yes, that was exactly what all those messages were. Maybe she would tell him later to call on the iLac if he needed her instead of sending written messages, although technically that plan was a horrible one too with one particular spirit able to grant others her form as a prank or even give it to himself. Using her voice over a call would be a cinch. The solution could be just for her to keep an eye on the iLac and always have it on her person, but that was just too logical. She didn't care enough about the item for that when she could carry around other things instead. To put it simply, the Saint just didn't like that lacrima technology whatsoever. She preferred old fashioned letter writing that would take eons to get to the recipient.

With the woman having been more focused on the unexpected brunch guest, she did not take notice of the small star shaped creature leaving the table and coming for her. Although spoken in a form befitting a toddler learning to speak, Samira recognized her name and turned her gaze back to the table just in time to see nothing but the belly of the creature that had attached itself to her face. She made a small sound mixed with surprise and confusion that was muffled by the new facial makeover that was forcefully placed on her. Well that was awkward. Hugs were not meant for the face. Seeing that her ability to breathe was much preferred than the new living accessory, Samira gently pulled the creature off and stared at him. "Hello to you too," she said warmly, but there was only a small smile there for pleasantries. Taking on the more logical route that one of her spirits had even advised Zachary the other day, Samira wasn't going to become attached to the creature. While he seemed innocent and gentle enough, they still did not know what he was or what he was capable of.

Samira might have seem perfectly distracted by the creature, but she was still listening to Zachary as he informed her of who the other woman standing there was. Being able to multi-task and listen to many things at once was a necessity when over forty voices existed in one's head as it was, which would have likely been more than enough to drive anyone to the point of insanity. The star critter was placed on the table so he could waddle back over to Zachary or whatever else he felt like doing. Now it was back to the woman, who had extended her hand for a handshake greeting. Samira accepted and did the same out of respect. Although, while she did that she stared at the magic researcher with a blank expression. No smile, no suspicion, just nothing. "Gorgon, is it? You have an unusual name." Yes, leave it to Samira to not notice anything about the woman aside from her name, but there was a reason for that. "Was your family named after the ones in myth? The ones with snakes for hair, I mean." It was probably best to make that clear considering the other definition was that of a fierce, frightening, and repulsive woman. Insulting the woman by making her assume she meant the secondary definition was not where she wanted the conversation to go. Was it an insignificant and meaningless topic considering she was there for the star critter? Possibly for everyone else, but not for Samira.

Snakes had a habit of entering her life in various ways, most of them not good. The mission in Hosenka to take out a giant monster snake that was terrorizing the spa town, which had been one given by her previous guild master as her B rank exam. The colossal serpent that was, in the most basic definition, an experimental clone of one of her spirits. That one had caused devastation in its path and was difficult to take down. It almost wasn't successful at all and many had died that day still. She even had a snake spirit or three, with one of them not being the most controlled or tolerable of the bunch. It was a darkness that was often dormant and locked away until needed or he got bored. Samira could even turn into a snake creature herself with her own magic. That wasn't even adding that her previous guild was Lamia Scale, of which lamia were often categorized as half snake creatures. The woman's name being "Gorgon" left the summoner with something to ponder. What would this woman bring to add to the list? Samira was uncertain what to think. There was the benefit of the doubt that she was thinking too deep into that connection and the name was just coincidence. But then, everything else could have been tallied up as simply coincidence as well.

Regardless of how that was responded to, Samira did agree with the woman's previous statement. If she was there about the star critter then there was probably a few things to discuss. Although Samira did not really know what she could possibly add to the discussion. A witness she may have been, but Zachary was the one taking care of it the past couple of days and knew more about it. Her knowledge was limited, and if any of her spirits knew anything they weren't giving those details willingly. They most likely just did not care whatsoever. Samira took her seat and when it came time to order her side of it was small. Being a glutton was not in her nature, especially around other people. She normally ate light, and that time would be no different. A light meal of mixed fruit and water was all she wanted, and so that was what she ordered.

Samira remained quiet as the other two talked, even being silent when Zachary looked to her for some additional input. Once it seemed the conversation stalled with Dr. Gorgon just leaving it as "ah, I see," Samira then finally spoke. "The creature presents no danger currently, yes, but whether that continues to be true is uncertain." Whether the creature grew up into something dangerous, or had hidden abilities it had yet to realize already was anyone's guess at that point. Zachary seemed to forget that part. To say that there was absolutely nothing dangerous at all was highly exaggerated. Samira shifted in her chair as she wondered if she should bring up the key that was attached to the same space rock the creature was. She decided not to for now. That could be brought up later if it helped solve a bit of the mystery. For now, maybe they should ask what the woman already knew or had theories about. "Seeing as you are here because you were given enough information about the creature to gain an interest, I assume you have a theory or know a little something about what he is. I would not think that the Bureau of Magic Development would personally send someone for just any case, so this one must be of more significance than just magic meteorites being involved." It wasn't really Samira being suspicious about anything. It was just simple logic. The Bureau of Magic Development was likely a very busy organization and most likely had several cases across the globe. A personal visit was probably rare indeed.

(Word Count: 1243
My Total So Far: 3765)

Samira joined them without issue and Zachary felt more at ease having a senior wizard with him oppose to handling this alone. Though he had not known Samira long personally, not only did her reputation make him really respect her, but she was a kind and knowing person. Someone he felt he could really trust and turn to when things were bad. Perhaps the Star Critter was too naive, but he too found Samira's presence joyous-- hense the desire to give her a big hug to the face.

By that time, the waiter came over with their food. Zachary took a small bite of his-- but the moment it came, Ruby, the little transparent carbuncle creature on his shoulder crawled down to join the star Critter beside him. As the star proceeded to eat his share of eggs-- sloppily, to be clear, Ruby also began to nibble as well. The two would squabble a bit-- a bit of a distraction, but nothing major as they would share the food.

The woman would glance at the behavior of both the Star Critter and Zachary's miniature spirit, interested in both to some degree. Samira was clearly the knowledge one here to address Dr. Gorgon as she mentioned her family name background and her professional reason to come here. She took her gaze off the star and faced the two mages with a kind smile. "Well it is a bit of a tale to tell. My family had some ties to the events that gave birth to those legends. It more has to do with creatures of stone and earth than anything else. It's really kind of embrassing really," she said with a hand on her cheek, to somewhat hide a blush. After she recovered, she took a breath and returned to the topic at hand. "Well I am glad this mysterious creature has had no sign of malevolent or hostile troubles," she said.

Zachary shrugged and smiled. He gave the star a pat on its head, while its face had bits of scrambled eggs on his face. "Well, unless you consider his little hug-attacks hostile," he joked, earning a giggle from the star.

The woman's expression soften as she looked at the two. "Well, as you imagine the Bureau works in different branches, each with its own priorities and authority of execution. Our branch, the cryptids branch, are a group of magical zoologists if you will. We keep our ears and eyes out for any reports of odd magical creatures not recovered or those who are potentially dangerous for the general public of Fiore. We also helped in the independence statement of the elves to make them not considered creatures, but a respectful independent race. Anyway, I heard the request being spread about your guild regarding information on the creature. I felt such an auspicious find was worthy to personally see the creature. That way I can give you an expert opinion on the subject, " she said as she glanced at the behavior of the Star.

The star critter continued to eat his share-- often tussling a bit with the Ruby Carbuncle, who would give cat like growls or hisses, the two having an almost cute argument between who got what. Though the star didn't vocalize anything, he seemed content all the same.

"So, what is your impression on the creature? There isn't any danger to us or himself is there?" Zachary asked.

The woman took a sip of her coffee as she had a more professional expression on her face now. "The truth is we do not know the full extent of its composition. Have you had any personal changes in your health? Anything at all?" she asked, "Fatigue? A struggle to use magic? Anything out of the ordinary? Or with it?"

Zachary paused for a moment, as he saw how curious he would, wanting to fly off places, have energetic bursts, but sometimes enjoy taking naps at random times. "Um, well at times he would take naps, but nothing beyond that. Nothing that I would consider dangerous." he stated as he took a nearby napkin and raised it to the critter. He gave a happy squeak as Zachary cleaned off his face from the food.

Dr. Gorgon gave a thoughtful look. "According to the reports I collected, a creature like this beyond our planet, isn't limited to just physical nourishment. It has a high level of magical power, it may suggest it feeds off surrounding magical energy. Or perhaps even psychic energy, considering its ability to use telepathy. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but it may be possible it is feeding off your own energy to keep his energy up." she said.

Zachary looked up, somewhat concerned. "Wait-- are you saying its siphoning our magic to keep healthy?" Zachary asked, making the owl nearby flap her feathers.

Seeing the concern on Zachary's face, Dr. Gorgon rose her hands in a dismissive manner. "Oh, I am not suggesting its consciously trying to do anything like that, but on a more subconscious level, like how we require air to breathe. It's not a voluntary action but a biological one. " she explained, "If I didn't know better, I would of said It is a newborn Celestial Spirit. However, if a newly born spirit was in the human world-- it wouldn't have lasted as long as it had."

This made Zachary think, and worry about his little friend. What he didn't say was the fact he had an ability to produce his own 'field' that allowed Celestial Spirits to say around longer. Samira may or may not have sensed it about Zachary, but the reasons his spirits were constantly around him-- in a smaller form anyway, was cause he created an aura akin to the magic of the Celestial World. If Dr. Gorgon was correct, then the same aura he used was keeping the Star Critter alive around him, which explained why he loved his company so much.

"I... Well," Zachary responded, a bit nervous.

However, a soft chuckle interrupted the gloom as Dr. Gorgon waved a hand again. "Oh, please don't worry. It is unlikely that is the case. You would of noticed more than just fatigue from the creature if that was the case. Anyway, the fact is there is still much to learn about it. I can say this for sure, this is an unrecorded historical event. Might I enquire where you found it?" she asked.

"It was inside a meteorite we found-- in the east woods a few nights ago." Zachary explained without hesitation.

Meanwhile, the owl continued to look at the Doctor. After some time, her wings fluttered as she realized something she had to do. "Please excuse me a moment," the owl said to them, a glance also to Samira. "I must check in on something. Please, continue and I'll be back as soon as I can."

With that and a flutter of stardust, Nyx vanished back into the Celestial world. The Star critter saw her vanish and let out a soft coo of sadness. Oooh, fluffy went bye-by... he said in telepathy.

WC: 1190

"Oh, I see," Samira stated with a blink and awe on her face. She did not know much about the Bureau of Magic Development really. It was rarely talked about, and quite frankly it was possible that she forgot about its existence altogether. Honestly contacting the bureau in the past for some of her missions or for knowledge about certain things in general would have had come in handy in the past. Now the woman felt a bit foolish for not knowing much of anything about it. Her family never relied on it while they did their own expeditions and research, and those she knew herself in past and present also had no connections to the organization. It was only natural for her to not really consider it either, right? Right? Eh, maybe she'd give them a visit in the future to discuss a certain unkillable monster problem back on some island she had ventured to before and figure out the magic behind that. For now, Samira kept that to herself. "That is impressive. In that case thank you for taking the time to come all this way personally, and for allowing me to remain here during the discussion." There was sincerity and gratitude in her voice to imply that she meant what she said.

From there Samira remained quiet. While she may had appreciated being there she still wasn't quite sure why. There was very little for her to offer in the discussion. So, to busy herself while Zachary and Dr. Gorgon talked, Samira drank her water and ate pieces of her fruity breakfast. The siphoning of energy theory made sense. Many magical beings, typical celestial spirits especially, drew energy from their masters a lot of the time. It was generally a required expense for them to be of any use in battle. Many could enter the normal realm and remain for some time on their own power, but the amount of time varied. Samira's could stay in the normal realm as long as they liked due to having a certain ingredient in their composition when they were created. That is, the essence of the god originals that they represent. It was a given Zachary's spirit, or even Zachary himself was of similar nature somehow. The carbuncle was always around for lengthy periods of time with zero issue. It was peculiar even as a celestial spirit that seemed to be more of a companion pet than battle spirit.

In regards to the creature being a sort of celestial spirit, it was possible. There was that key that had existed in the same space rock as the star creature. But then again it also was a bit of a silly idea to her. Celestial spirits were in a different realm entirely and most likely were "born" there. Not in the normal world's version of outer space. The key had to be something else, and the creature also of a different origin. Some could be created like hers were, either by god or mortal, but the fall from outer space would suggest aliens were involved, which was probably a far-fetched notion. That too was kept to herself, else the weird alien egg theory would probably cause Zachary to go into another freak out fit of paranoia like he had before the other day.

For some reason Nyx had told them that she needed to go and check on something. That was fine with Samira. She nodded in acknowledgement and let the owl spirit leave with no issue. It must have been important, and really just because spirits were bound to a summoner didn't mean that they didn't have other things to do. Her gaze went back to the other two humans are the table so the conversation could continue. "To be more specific, the creature came from the only magical fragment that was attached to the meteor. The rest was non-magical and seemed to be quite ordinary besides its origin being off planet. That night I reported the incident so the Magnolia authorities have either cleaned up the area or have it warded off until they do. I can take us there if you like." Naturally she was suggesting using her portal spirit to take them to the location near instantly. "If it is the magical parts of it that you would rather examine to add to your data, I believe those ceased to exist once the creature unraveled itself from it." Uncertain, Samira looked towards Zachary to confirm or deny. Unless Zachary had more to add on to what they knew, that only left the key to bring up. Based on the message she had read earlier after she got her iLac back, it was not working no matter how many times he tried. Still, there had to be a connection. Even if she was wrong and the key belonged to the star creature with him as a spirit instead of... whatever other thing he could be, there still would have been a sign magically that could be felt.

(Word Count: 840
My Total So Far: 4605)

"Ah, yes. I did recall talk about the meteorite. It definitely makes some sense to find such an unprecedented creature from such a phenomenon," she mentioned. "As you said, the magic dissipated from that area, outside of the natural magic the forest radiates." Dr. Gorgon looked to the star, having finished his meal and now laid out happily on his back soaking up the sun. "Now, as for the creature himself... he will require more observation. At this point, if he is not a danger to others, this world is not native to it. It may require magic or nutrients beyond the physical. And protection from others. " she said, and calmly smiled. "Would you be willing to allow the BMD to take this creature into our protective custody?"

Zachary's eyes widened a bit at this offer. "W-what?" he asked innocently, feeling his heart drop a bit.

Despite the suggestion, the doctor remained as calm and welcoming as before. If only they knew...

"You must understand. A creature of this significance is not just revolutionary in the study of magical creatures, but to allow him to be in the open may put him in further risk. He should be studied carefully in a place where he can be comfortable and safe. Do you not agree?" she asked, looking to Samira-- seeing her as the adult of the duo.

All the while, Zachary looked stunned. Despite every advice, every attempt, Zachary bad at the idea of being seperated from the little creature. He turned to the Star Critter, giving him a good look. He laid there happily, then slowly opened up his eyes. The sight of Zachary caused him to let out a happy cheer and smile at him. It was what Samira's spirits feared... Zachary had grown attached to the little creature, and he wasn't ashamed of it in the least.

Slowly, Zachary reached up and picked up Astral into his arms like a tiny infant. All the while Ruby crawled up his arm and licked the star's face, causing the creature to giggle and squirm as it tickled. The sound of its laughter spread a merry feeling through anyone who had a heart to hear.

Suddenly, he felt a throb in his head. A gasp escaped Zachary as for a moment, his grip on the star loosened and he fell forward. He braced himself on the table as he let out a cry of pain.

The Star critter looked up in concern, seeing Zachary's eyes closed with pain. Zachawy...? he chirped.

"Ghhheh!" he grunted, probably alarming Samira too as he suddenly opened his eyes-- for the briefest of moments, out of sight of Dr. Gorgon from his hair-- his eyes flashed in a black-color, his pupils changed.

An explosion of color and light flashed in his vision. Only for a second. It was as if it was night with stars exploding all around him in different shapes and colors. For the briefest of moment he saw the Star Critter, flashes of things in the dark. A cage. The sound of a knife-- a hiss-- and finally he saw the color of a humanoid mass in front of him-- in a green sickly aura like a gas cloud, a feeling of malice from it that made him feel nauseous.

"Oh my!" Dr. Gorgon called out. "Mr. Sirius, are you okay?"

The pain and flashes stopped as he looked up-- his eyes back to normal. It happened all in a matter of a second, as he looked ahead.

He saw the doctor before him, looking confused. His impression, his demeanor was different as his eyes rested upon her. His breath quickened as he looked down, seeing the Star Critter and Ruby look up at him with concern.

He shook his head a bit, trying to regain his senses. "I-I'm fine. Just got a little dizzy. Maybe too much Orange Juice or something."

Dr. Gorgon had a concern look on her face. "Have you had such dizzyspells? It could be the creature. It may be best if we did bring it to our lab to make sure it's not a risk to you." she suggested.

The offer began to sound more insistent, than out of concern. He had to admit... the flashes and images started happening the longer he had been with the creature. Still, as he looked at him, the pain didn't matter than how he felt holding the soft creature in his arms.

A sigh escaped Zachary as he turned to Samira. Though she been very quiet and kept things to herself for the time being. Still, he somehow knew she would agree with what he was about to say. "I'm sorry... but, I don't think I can just hand him over like this," he said, "I believe you mean well, just it wouldn't be responcible of me to just hand him over to you. Maybe we can see your organization in person before we discuss giving him to some organization for study. I want to be SURE he is well looked after, and not put into some kind of pod like those Lacryma mad-scientist shows." he said, a clear picture in his mind.

Samira knew after the long-time how rich Zachary's imagination was. The Doctor blinked at this, but soon showed a kind smile on her face. "Oh, of course. I understand completely. You are far more responsible than I suspected Fairy Tail wizards to be. They are good to have you in their ranks." she commented.

Meanwhile, as they happened to discuss things... something began to brew in the streets of the canal where they were sitting. Slowly, Zachary felt that strange 'headache' slowly coming on again. He was starting to think the Star was indeed having an effect on him at this point, but perhaps it was something else...

(Forecasting enemies soon ... :P )

WC: 972

Now the woman had made a mistake that would make the Wizard Saint finally grow suspicious. Well, aside from the mindset that anything with a snake symbol or something was out to get her in one way or another. Her suggestion of taking Dr. Gorgon to the crash site was dismissed. In actuality, it seemed like the scientist was not even interested in it at all. That... was very strange. Samira was caught off guard by it actually. Considering she came from a family of researchers and dabbled in it herself she knew how certain things worked, especially when it came to the more passionate ones in the field. A typical researcher would have wanted to see everything related to what they wanted to study. It didn't matter how small or less detailed it could have been. They would have been convinced there would have been something to add to their data and logs. It was even stranger that Dr. Gorgon had mentioned all the magic of the crash site and the piece of the meteorite with the magic aura was gone. There was no possible way she could have known about the latter. Zachary had not confirmed or denied if that part still existed. As for the crash site, it was highly unlikely Dr. Gorgon had checked it out already to come to that conclusion. Just a moment ago she had not even known that the creature came from such a phenomenon. A thin green brow raised in arching fashion, indicating for a moment of her suspicions and slight confusion of the matter.

The spirits connected to her mind that were ignoring pretty much everything up until that point started to pay attention. They could feel and sense their summoner become more alert all of a sudden. It took very little time for them to be caught up on their own. Being connected to the mind had its advantages and so they now knew everything Samira did. Like little angels and devils on her shoulders they spoke their opinion. Some wanted her to go with her distrust. Others assumed that there was likely a logical explanation or that Samira was thinking too much into things. Not all researchers were the same, after all, and it was clear Dr. Gorgon was more interested in studying the creature itself. Someone else could come by and take notes of the crash site. It was reasonable, but doubtful. 'One of you get in touch with Jacobs and Easton. I want them to look into the Bureau and Dr. Gorgon.' True as it was that Samira herself did not have connections to the Bureau of Magic Development, that didn't mean that she lacked connections at all. Those two likely knew quite a bit about it and knew many of the higher ups.

'Eh? That's kind of far, isn't it? I haven't looked at a map of Fiore in ages. You'd be done with this little meeting by the time we got there and asked.'
'I feel as if I have been forgotten by this team of spirits....'
'Oh, right. Portals.'
'Nonsense. I do not want you to make a mess of things by going there personally without me. Just use my iLac. They are waiting on a message from me anyway for the Joya update.'
'Well we COULD, but you took it with you.'
'Oh, that is correct.'

All the while Dr. Gorgon had mentioned that she and the Bureau take the creature to keep him safe and to study it. Samira was still listening even with her mental conversation going on, but it was probably hard for others to assume that she was listening when she started to lean in her chair to reach inside her pocket. The iLac was brought out and then tossed inside a small blue portal that appeared randomly beside her. It was gone as quick as it had appeared. Samira herself rested her arms on the table and went back to how she was before, as if nothing had happened at all. Not like anyone was paying attention, right? They were oblivious while they discussed things! Then she realized the other woman was looking at her. Oh, right, she had asked about whether she agreed or not. "Perhaps. That is not always the case with some creatures, however." It was a reply that was neither agreeing or disagreeing. In the case of the star creature she doubted he was in much danger from normal people. He would have been treated as a pet by most. Such other wonderful and unique creatures existed, accompanied by mages just as unique as they were on some occasions, and they got along in the open world just fine. The only concern Samira ever had was the safety of others while being around the star critter, not the safety of the creature himself. She would have not hesitated to destroy him if it came down to it regardless of his innocent ways at that moment. Such were the ways of a mage that was in a monster slaying guild for a very long time, and was now in a guild that protected their world from things outside their own world and realm. The star creature fell into that category. Zachary seemed to not really know about that, but then, last she checked she never gave a full introduction that went into her life details.

Regardless, technically, putting him in a place for study for his own safety was not a valid argument for Dr. Gorgon to use to convince her. Gorgon and Zachary only cared for the creature itself. Samira was more interested in what it could do and how dangerous and uncontrolled it could get with time. More than likely once the star critter was taken away for study, whatever dangers it was capable of would be kept secret and left alone. Samira would rather have it with Zachary and his guild where she could keep an eye on things herself periodically. At that point, it seemed she would have to do her own research to find out anything for certain.

The conversation came to an abrupt halt when Zachary shouted and leaned forward on the table as if he were in pain. "Zachary?" Samira at first went to touch his shoulder during his little spell. Why, she wasn't entirely sure. That seemed to be a very common response for people whenever around someone that went through an alarming experience, as if a touch was supposed to cure them or ward off whatever it was that was inflicting such pain. She was apparently not immune to that same caring reaction despite her usual attitude of keeping people at a distance. However, she stopped and retracted her hand before it reached its destination. Zachary's eyes had changed, if only for a very brief moment. A second perhaps. They had turned black suddenly and then that effect vanished, seemingly returning him to normal as the pain he had felt passed. Obviously Samira didn't know if that was normal for him or not. She barely knew the Fairy Tail teen, but it was still concerning all the same. To be honest, it reminded her of her own times of random pain caused by a certain spirit of hers. Hopefully he was not going through a similar experience as she always had. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously when he mentioned that it might have been a case of too much orange juice. Right. Even she wouldn't believe that one unless that was some very magical orange juice with serious side effects. He seemed fine for now though and so she went back to sitting calmly in her seat. Whatever that was she could ask about later.

After things had calmed down the conversation moved back to where it was before. Zachary refused the suggestion of allowing Dr. Gorgon to take the creature. If Samira hadn't already inwardly cringed at the boy assuming that a magic laboratory worked like some adoption organization where he could see the environment before making his decision, then that effect did come into existence the moment he mentioned shows about mad scientists. It was a good point, but any knowledgeable organization would put on a pleasant facade during a tour and hide the real works, experiments, and how they do things elsewhere. Still though, the scientist seemed to not mind his refusal. There wasn't even much disappointment really. If not for her earlier statements Samira would have believed that the woman was just mature and very understanding. Now there were some doubts there, but it was not worth mentioning or bringing up. As far as she was concerned the conversation was coming to an end. All that was really left was for Zachary and Dr. Gorgon to make an agreement on the lab visit, assuming that was even something that was allowed or worth the effort, and whatever other details the boy wanted to give.

Samira had opened her mouth to say something and add on just a couple more things. No spoken words came out, however, and her lips came together once more as her mouth closed, having said nothing at all. It was generally difficult to hide magic auras and signatures from experienced mages, even more so when it came to the handful of mages that were as powerful as she. It was a rare talent and at that moment whatever was preparing to cause trouble did not have it. The Wizard Saint could sense it, however small it was, but more importantly a headache of her own had formed suddenly. A certain spirit of hers picked up on it too and was sounding a warning, causing the sensation that made her feel as if her skull was about to explode. A sensation that she kind of wish she wasn't used to. That might have been a bit abnormal and worrisome if she told just anyone that really, especially with how easily she could remain composed as if the feeling was not there at all. Regardless, it was beneficial all the same. A signature she might have otherwise ignored had now gained her attention.

"Excuse me. I have to go check on something. Please continue." Having excused herself properly by letting them know, Samira stood up from her chair and left the table to go investigate. Those left at the table would not be alone for long, though. As soon as Samira stepped away golden spirit particles appeared in her seat until they formed and solidified into a black furred cat. The cat blinked as it sat in Samira's chair and then made the effort to hop onto the table and sat there. Cutely, it mewed. It was the spirit of Bastet in a normal cat form, summoned to keep an eye on things there. Aside from the fact it was obviously a spirit, it could probably be traced back to Samira just by the fact the cat wore a ridiculous amount of golden jewelry that was of similar origins to its owner.

(Word Count: 1842
My Total So Far: 6447)

As Samira excused herself, she left the small little cat there that meowed up at them. The Star Critter who was finished with his breakfast, looked at the black colored cat with curious eyes. Ooooh! he cooed in interest and hovered up to get a better look. He levitated softly above the miniature cat. Zachary saw it too, presuming that even Samira had a power similar to Zachary-- to have his spirits around in a familiar capacity but at lesser strength. Either that, or the cat was a summon of that intended size.

The star hovered over-- between his ribbons and round shape, it probably is tempting bait for the cat to want to bat her paws at him or play with his ribbons on his back. As the cute scene played out, Zachary felt the buzz in his head. It was becoming a bother to him-- and then once more, he had another flash. This time, a more of a feeling as he saw that sickening green color of a haze...

... his eyes didn't change color this time, but he caught a glimpse of something else. In the distance, masses of the same green color lurked nearby, slowly surrounding from below where he looked. The moment he blinked, his sight returned to normal, seeing the street, cafe and everything. His eyes had been focused on the green-- which now was over a nearby manhole in the cobblestone street against the canal. He looked at it for a moment.

"Mr. Sirius, is everything okay?" Dr. Gorgon asked.

Before Zachary could answer, he saw the manhole crack open-- followed by the gaze of yellow eyes.

"LOOK OUT!!" Zachary cried, feeling an undeniable sense of dread!

The manhole shot upward-- along with some pieces of the stone road. It wasn't just there-- but two more also erupted, and from it emerged creatures...

Reptillian creatures that loomed out with the lower bodies of serpents or snakes-- but with humanoid features. Black scales with violet hues, and arms coming out of torsos. Most appeared male in design, but their heads were long and serpentine. Some had whips, others swords, or just their simple claws-- and they all came lunging for the Bistro.

Screams came out as Zachary saw the total chaos as they came. They immediately jumped over the railing of the restaurant and proceeded to attack.

"N-Nagas!?" Dr. Gorgon shouted, alarmed as she jumped out of her seat. "Quickly! Get out of here and get---OOPH!!" Before the Dr could reach for her Ilac or anything to be of aid-- one of the Naga struck as it charged with its large body and struck with its large tail. The whip caused Dr. Gorgeon flying backwards and her back slammed into the stone wall of the building. She crumbled to the ground, clearly hurt from the assault.

Zachary got up and quickly grabbed the Star critter, and Samira's cat into his arms. "Are you kidding me?!" he grouled as he got some distance, trying to keep away from the Naga. Of all time for Samira to take off even briefly! "Everyone, run and get out of here!" Zachary shouted as he ran away from the Naga.

Once he got some distance, he fumbled for his keys-- and soon drew one. The only one he could think to use that could fight multiple foes at once. "Open-- Gate of the Fox!!" Zachary shouted, causing the silver key in his hand to shine and he slashed it before him. "Tamamohime!"

The light flashed to reveal the keyhole magic circle-- and a puff of smoke. From it appeared a regal-looking humanoid fox with yellow fur and purple designs on her fur. She stood there poised and elegant as she appeared. "How might I serve you, Lord Zachary?" she said in a formal greeting.

Zachary panted, between the headache and the scare of the Naga attack. "Naga... attack. Please, defend us..." he wheezed, holding on to the Star Critter tightly to keep him safe.

The fox's eyes eyed a few of the serpents nearby. "As you wish," she said calmly, her voice confident.

The first of the snakes took notice to the summoned vixen and charged with a sword. As it slashed to reach her-- she quickly took to the air with an acrobatic jump and flip. While in the air-- she extended her arms wide and released a strange flurry of slow moving light-shards. They appeared like pedals or shards of glass as they hovered before her. " "Hoshi No Tama!" With her cry, the shards of light suddenly shot forward with renewed speed and struck, slicing into the bodies of three of the nagas closest to Zachary, and caused them to let out cries of pain as the celestial lights struck.

Finding a few more Naga now moving to attack some of the restaurant visitors, Tama was quick to sling another volley of "Star Jewels" at the attackers and buying time for the other humans to escape.

WC: 832

Samira wasn't actually too far away from the Bistro when the attack began. When she had left she had used Janus as a way to teleport herself to a different area of town, closer to where she could feel the strange magic and presence. Although when she stepped through the portal and her feet met the concrete, she could sense whatever it was moving. Underground in the sewer system, and now it was clear there was more than just one thing. The mass numbers were drowned out by the larger magical presences that she had noticed earlier. The woman turned back to look in the direction of the Bistro, wondering if she should have left, but it was too late now. There was a slim chance whatever it was, was headed for there for brunch, right? To her, the sewers were just being used as a method of travel in general with no malicious agenda. That didn't mean that she should not complete her investigation, however. The magic presences that were still there, moving more slowly than the rest, was concerning and not to go ignored.

A nearby manhole cover was removed and the Goddess of Ishgar used the ladder within to make her descent into the darkness of the sewers. There was a recollection of the last time she had entered the depths of a town's underground labyrinth. That had been in Hargeon and at the time when she was a very low skilled and ranked mage. She had a fear of entering and getting stuck in dark places like that, but that fear was long gone after that mission. Fighting and defeating a serial murderer had a way of blowing up one's mind and letting them know there was more in life to be afraid of than a dark tunnel that, by itself, was harmless. The key that belonged to Nox released itself from Samira's keyring and hovered near her while glowing a soft light, acting as a minor light source in the dark just as she had back then. Not that it was needed for very long.

As she got to the bottom of the ladder and looked around she noticed a larger light source around the corner and in a different tunnel. There were voices as well, female, or at least from what the woman could guess. There was an odd tone in it that reminded her of a snake. Well, snakes of the magical variety that she had heard before. Quietly she approached and continued to listen. There was talk of the attack on the Bistro. The summoner rolled her eyes and resisted all urges to facepalm. Of course the attack was at that area as she left. She hadn't intended to leave Bastet to guard the place for that reason, but now she was glad that she had. Before she could communicate and figure out what was going on though she first had to take care of the beings down there. Samira peered around the corner while against the tunnel wall to see three scaled beings that made her earlier thought accurate. More snakes. Or rather Naga. Same thing in the end as they were all related to the one reptile she was growing tired of seeing besides dragons. Unlike the ones attacking above ground though, these were female and looked to be spell casters rather than ones that fought in the front lines with weapons.

"Intruder! Ssssseize her!"

Samira blinked as she heard that and stopped peering around the corner to back up and see another spell casting Naga that had slithered from the tunnel across the one that distracted her. Whoops. That probably should have been checked before she got too comfortable with spying. Well good thing she never declared herself as a top notch stalker or that would have been very embarrassing. The three other serpentine creatures heard the alarm and hissed. They opened a portal that began to unleash the soldier type of Naga that were attacking above ground, except these were now going after a single mage that failed at the whole spying thing. It was odd really considering she had several abilities to make it work easily but it was a lesson to be learned, she supposed.

A quick barrier spell was used to block the first wave of spells and attacks, and then she combined it with another spell that enhanced the barrier to then knock back the attacking Naga into walls and even each other. They still had to be dealt with though, and she had no intention of using an immobilization spell on an entire army of Naga when the ones in the sewers and the ones up above were combined. They had to be eliminated completely to end the threat to the town. Unfortunately, many of her spells would end up doing a huge amount of damage to the town itself in the process. She had to be careful and very selective. There were a few options, and in the end she chose a spell that was like a spirit but wasn't. It was an ancient unnamed deity that was connected with her ancestry and lacked any sort of key. The deity came once called, taking the form of a humanoid shaped translucent aura that attached itself to Samira and gave her its power. Part of it's energy aura separated and split into thin segments that solidified and lashed out at the Naga, impaling them all. One group was taken care of but there were bound to be others. The segments retracted as Samira stood there and contacted Bastet.

"Bastet, there are serpentine creatures in the sewers. I heard them discussing attacking the surface. Has that happened already?"
"Oh, it happened. I couldn't even say anything before that boy grabbed me from the table like some stuffed animal. I'm a spirit, not a helpless feline!"
"So he is all right then."
"Well enough. He has a spirit fighting against the attack to allow time for the rest of the civilians to flee. The boy himself seems to lack any combat capabilities. He makes your former self at his level look competent."
"What about the woman from the bureau?"
"Unconscious after being hit by a Naga. He just left her lying there. I can only assume due to his panic. He must not have that much experience, or lacks the ability to remain calm. Hmph. Amateur."
"That is a bit rude, but I digress. Help out where you can. I need to clear out whatever is left down here. I am sure with your help he can handle things up there. I will send others to aid as well. They will be there shortly."
"I do not really care about fighting, but I suppose I can be of some use. I will naturally have to take some of your power to access my own properly. Unless you intend for me to fight in this form."
"Do what you must."

The small cat got out of the hold the boy had on her and jumped to the ground. During the descent her body began to glow a bright golden light as it grew and changed shape. When the light faded, the actual spirit form of the cat stood there. But not for long. She moved swiftly to strike at incoming Naga with her claws, and with her increased speed they couldn't keep up very well before they were attacked and left to be nothing more a pile of scaled bodies that probably weren't very well suited for boots. "You, boy!" Bastet cried out to Zachary. "If you have other spirits then use them before the one you have gets overwhelmed." Other than that, she didn't care what he did. The cat spirit made her way towards where the Doctor fell, clearing out Naga in her path along the way. If the woman was still at the same spot, the spirit would kneel down and start to look her over. "Are you all right?" She obviously knew the woman had to be in some sort of pain after that collision, but the question was more to be considerate. "I am moving you to safety." True the spirit knew of Samira's suspicion of the woman, and by default she too was suspicious. But that suspicion was only in reference to the woman being just that. A normal woman with an agenda. They didn't consider that she was more than that.

(Word Count: 1412
Mt Total So Far: 7859)

The initial shock of the attack had made Zachary act, but he soon noticed one thing he should of acted to. The doctor who was knocked unconscious by the attack. With Tama proceeding to ward off the first wave of Naga. As this happened, he felt the cat pinch at his arms and wiggle out while Tama caused harm to the Naga. "Ouch-- hey!" he cried, before the cat suddenly transformed, becoming a 'cat woman' with a whip and golden attires on her body. "Well... that was unexpected," Zachary gasped as joined the cat.

As she barked at him, ironically, and tried to rouse Dr. Gorgon herself, Zachary took out another key as Tama hopped around, delivering a smack to one of the Naga's jaws with a well-placed kick to send it flying away. However, there were over a dozen of them trying to get to them-- but interestingly, their eyes were aimed at Zachary. He was the only wizard there outside of the spirit, and the only one now holding their ground as he held the Star Critter tight in his arm.

"Alright, alright!" Zachary said as he took out a second key, one that could do his usual ground and air tactics. "Open, Gate of the Eagle! Aquila!!"

The slash of the key caused a flash of light and smoke as an eagle's cry sung through the air. From the smoke emerged a brown and white eagle, adorn with golden like armor along with his talons, and breast feathers. The adornments had blue gemstones in them, marking him a true celestial spirit. "Ey, Z! How you doing? Lovely day to stretch your wings and take a flight-- uh?!" Aquila stopped squawking as he saw the sudden presence of naga around. "Oh boy, you must have Hades bad luck to keep running into trouble like this. "

"Would you please?" Zachary called up to the eagle, his voice stressed in sarcasm to the danger they were in.

"Eh... I would have preferred to get brunch with some tasty mice-- but I guess snakes are the next best thing!" the eagle playfully replied. It was the play of the fact eagles tend to eat snakes-- though naga was a bit oversized for such a thing, hense the joke from the wise-cracking eagle.

Despite Bastet's urging, she didn't respond as she was likely out cold-- or pretended to be if they suspected her. She was breathing but she was unresponsive to her urging or touch. She would move but either angle, she appeared to be unable to do anything, or cause anything...

With Aquila now in play, the bird flew high over the street and canal as he aimed for a rushing Naga-- coming for Bastet. "Kitty-Kitty! Heads Up!" Aquila cawed and with a flap of his wings, released a sharp blade of wind that sliced through the air-- and impacted with one of the nagas-- knocking its sword out its claws and delivering a hard gash against its chest.

Meanwhile, Tama kept her back close to Zachary, her large tail up in alert due to the number of foes. "There are so many... How could they entered the city without anyone's notice? " the fox thought aloud. As another Naga approached, the fox released another storm of lights-- repelling the attack and keeping Zachary safe.

All the while they seemed to want to get closer to Zachary, the Star Critter in his arms watching the scene as if oblivious to the danger of what was going on. If it felt any fear, he didn't show it.

Another one came-- this time with two snake heads on one body. Each naga was uglier than the last... but it begged the question. Why were they there? What were they after? And why were they coming after Zachary with all abandonment?

As the fox and the eagle provided support-- the ground began to rumble by something far worse coming... Something was moving below-- if not in the sewers, stormdrain-- than the aquaduct itself as movement could be seen in the water as well.

"Oh snakeys!!" Aquila squawked as he slung blades of air at them, enough to cause wounds to them while Tama used her dazzling jewels of starlight to confuse their advance. "Youre a bit too big for me till I cut you to pieces!"

Zachary grimaced, not liking the idea that his eagle companion joked about eating them.

WC: 738

There was no response made by the woman. Understandably so the cat spirit figured. As far as Bastet was concerned no response meant there was permission and acknowledgement that the doctor would be moved and the woman could not argue about it later on. It was the much more logical and efficient path than having to listen to someone that didn't want to be moved for whatever ridiculous reason. She was considerate enough, which was more than what some of her other spirit kin would have given. She was about to pick up the woman and move her away from the battle scene when she heard the words "Kitty kitty." The cat ears on her head twitched as she listened further and heard the warning. Seeing as she was the only one out that could accurately be given such a label she could only assume it was meant for her. The spirit turned and looked up to see a naga had come up behind her, but had been disarmed and injured by the white eagle spirit just in time. The feline spirit in human form stood up and kicked it away before it could recover from those attacks, and in that bought time she quickly knelt down, scooped up the seemingly unconscious doctor in her arms, and began to run off and away from the center of the fighting.

Surprisingly, maneuvering around the naga and getting away was far easier than she expected it to be. It was if the two of them, or even any of the civilians that had fled the area, were not the focus. There had been the thought that it was just a random attack of creatures wanting to cause harm, damage, and even attempt to take over a part of the city... as foolish as any of those plans were, especially the latter since the town they chose had a popular and powerful wizard guild right there. Yet it made some bit of outlandish sense. It had to be wrong though. Their focus was centered on the bistro. The attack didn't even attempt to spread further into the city. Odd.

The spirit ran into an open shop that had other people hiding within, and it was there that she left the doctor, placing her gently on the floor and then leaving the store without a word. No naga had followed and there weren't any even there before she had arrived at the shop. It was as safe a place as any for now. With that done, Bastet headed back towards the others that she left near the bistro. They should have been fine. The boy had two spirits helping him that seemed capable even if he was defenseless to do anything other than stand there. She wasn't worried at all for having left him in that time. It hadn't been too long, after all. Plus, it wasn't really her job to act as his constant guardian. She already had a summoner to look after, and from what she could tell Samira was fine. Busy with clearing out the sewers of the serpent creatures, but still fine.

(Word Count: 522
Samira Total:  8381)

Thankfully, the cat spirit belonging to Samira was quick to take action and duck when Aquila warned her about the Naga, even added to defeat the Naga. Despite their seemingly blind attacks towards the Bistro, they were thinning out the attacker's numbers. When there were seemingly a dozen, now there were just about 6 remaining. Still, they tried to move in waves, which Tama took quick work to repell with her shards of light. The fox was good, but she was quickly becoming overwhelmed by the need to keep attention on the enemy and her summoner to protect. "They certainly are relentless," the fox sneered with her bushy tail puffed out in irritation.

Aquila on the other hand was having a ball of a time slinging blades of wind and knocking away the enemies as they came. For the time being, things were calm. Even the cat spirit was able to safely rescue Dr. Gorgeon and secure her at a shop nearby where others were hiding.

However, as the cat had delivered the good Doctor to the safety out of the combat of the street... the rumble returned. This time at the Bistro, it was much more violent as the water in the nearby canal bubbled and rose. THe fox's fur stood on end by the disturbance...

... and soon from out of the canal the water shot up and a massive object arched out. To their horror, out from the canal rose a GIGANTIC snake. Unlike the Naga, who were more humanoid creatures of lizard-like features, this one was more of your traditional snake-- which had grown a hundred times bigger than any snake by natural standards. The serpent was black, limbless and a true serpent, being as wide as 5 meters wide. Its body was pitch black, with yellow specks and 'arrow-like' lines that snaked across its body. Its yellow serpent-like eyes roamed about as it slowly got its senses, but by comparison-- it was the scariest of all the snakes around.

The water from the canal had overflowed from its upheaval, its body still in the water as it lurched its massive head over them-- its eyes fixated forward with interest and its tongue flicking in and out. Slowly, its gaze came to Zachary as he looked in fright to the horribly large serpent.

"Eh... i think this is one of those eyes are bigger than my stomach situation for me, but she doesn't look like she has that problem!" Aquila quipped, but his voice in awe at the giant snake who was looming at his level of height in the air.

"Aquila!" Zachary shouted in annoyance.

The snake let out a horrendous hiss as it snapped its jaws forward-- trying to get to Aquila who fluttered in the air. Luckily, the hawk was fast as he quickly darted back and up to avoid the snake's fast jaws and reflexes.

It resembled more of a boa constrictor, but never did Zachary ever imagine one could grow to be that huge, even in fictional stories. It was then that Zachary realized these snakes couldn't be mere creatures alone-- this one was magical. This one may very well had been conjured, but by whom and why?!

"Zachary! Look out!" Tama shouted.

Zachary's briefest thoughts drew him back as the Snake lunged towards him, trying to ram its way into their space. However--- Tama was quicker just briefly-- enough to pull Zachary back and out of the snake's range...

... however, in his place, Tama was forced to take the hit and cried out as the snake smashed her into the wall of the bistro, hitting so hard there was a break in the brick wall. Tama let out a brief groan as she was now placed in the inverted crater, her body going limp from exhaustion. Her sacrifice saved her summoner-- but the moment she took serious damage, her body flickered and she vanished, recalled back to the Celestial World to heal and recover.

"Tama-- NO!" Zachary cried, concerned to the state of his Celestial Spirit Fox.

The snake soon loomed over-- and with its approach, the other Naga were starting to slow down, almost as if to fall back. Meanwhile, Aquila got into it now as the bird let out a cry and began to fly across the snake's field of vision. "Heeey! Wanna see a real chamer, snakey! DOn't take your eyes off the birdie!" Aquila tried to antagonize, but it was only minorly distracting the snake.

There was a sudden gastric gurgle in its throat as it's mouth began to expand-- and with it, it let out a mighty hiss. Aquila had no time as he soon let out a cry-- and the snake spewed out an inky black cloud of smoke that easily swept over the air around it and began to encompass the Bistro-- and Zachary along with it.

WC: 816

As Bastet made her way back to the bistro she felt a powerful magic nearby. She slowed her movement for it didn't feel as if it came from an ally. It was dark and felt abnormally similar to another spirit that belonged to Samira's team of celestial spirits, but similar was all it was. It wasn't him and it wouldn't have been good news even if it were. Although whatever was coming could have been just as bad. Her eyes darted to the water as the strength of the presence grew and at that moment a giant black and yellow colored serpent had burst through the waters of the canal. Screeching, the cat spirit jumped back and maneuvered herself until she was out of the way of the snake's path... And the water. Especially the water that was flying everywhere from the disturbance and threatened to soak her through.

Now the entire area was covered in water and puddles, and there she was, clinging to the pole of a shop sign so that she wouldn't have to touch the wet ground. Bastet cursed her luck while clinging tighter so she wouldn't slide down. So much for her being of much help. The snake was free to do as it pleased with no one or thing to turn it into a new pair of snake skin boots for the nearest giant or two. The other spirits controlled by the boy tried, of course, but they failed to do much against the serpent even together. Bastet couldn't judge them harshly. They had done their job with the group of naga, but it was unfortunate that with the serpent they had encountered an opponent that was too much for them in their current state of power.

Was the large serpent summoned by a hidden naga somewhere? The cat wondered this as her eyes looked all around for one that had been missed. The remaining few naga creatures did not look as if they had any magical capabilities. Those that did were down in the sewers where Samira was. A pity they had not all been taken care of before the beast arrived. Now the boy was in quite a bit of trouble. The fox spirit had been taken out, and the bird was useless against the creature. Bastet's ears twitched furiously. Why did he not immediately act and get another spirit out there? He was practically defenseless! At least when Samira faced such a creature she had weapons at her disposal to compensate for a missing spirit or two. This kid appeared to have none! "Am I going to have to rescue him myself?" She thought out loud to herself as her eyes narrowed angrily while looking at the giant snake and then the ground that was covered with water. Nope. It wasn't worth it. That boy was snake food. He wasn't her responsibility, and she wasn't about to make the ultimate sacrifice to save him. She would just continue clinging to the pole of the sign and watch everything go down. Unfortunately her ability to spectate the scene would be severely limited. The spirit's annoyed expression went completely blank, at first being unable to process what she was seeing until her brain came up with a reaction befitting how ridiculously bad her luck was. "Of course it would make a smoke cloud. The boy  clearly needed a more challenging element added on."

The spirit went into her thoughts and reached for Samira's mind to communicate telepathically. 'Samira, I doubt you were foolish enough to send the winged serpent, but please tell me that you sent Susano my way. His power of the winds is needed currently. Preferably before the Zachary boy is swallowed by a monstrous snake.'

'Monstrous snake?! What is going on up there?'

'If I had to guess I would say you fell for a distraction. A powerful magic has created a monster to attack the Bistro. There are no people left there except the boy. Either whoever owns the snake is seeking revenge for poor service by destroying the place, or the target is him and he has made an enemy of someone.'

'Is he all right? Are you able to get him out of there?'

'Uh...' The cat-eared woman looked down at the ground and then back up at the smoke cloud. It was going to be very embarrassing to say that she couldn't get over there because of a little water. That fact would just have to be masked slightly. I am currently unable to make it over to him. I assure you that I have tried my best and have reached a very challenging obstacle that I cannot overcome. But back to my question. The wind swordsman. Is he on his way? The snake has covered the area of the bistro in a smoke cloud. They can easily be removed with a breeze, I would guess.'

Samira sighed. 'I did not send him. He is more destructive than I would have liked for where we are. It is Ama and Athena that are on their way to you with Janus. They are delayed due to what was going on down here.'

'I suggest sending him now. He can catch up. I assume you are on your way back?'

'As far as I can tell everything is clear now. A further investigation will have to be done later. There is no time now if what you say is true. I do not need another incident that rivals what happened in Hosenka, or-'

'Or that little fun adventure with that clone of mine?' A different voice spoke and forced its way into the conversation. A mental hiss came from the cat spirit, but the other spirit ignored the reaction. He didn't care about that cat at that moment, or ever really 'Now that WAS fun. So many serpents having a grand ol' time causing a bit of chaos and destruction. I do not know whether to be proud or annoyed at how common it is. Or are you just an unlucky summoner to be surrounded by the species? Or maybe it is considered lucky. I wonder. Say, can I go and say hello?'

"No."

'Oh, you're no fun. I promise to not completely destroy everything when I give that common water snake my very friendly greeting.'

"Friendly greeting and destroy are not words that are often in the same sentence and equate to being a good circumstance. So, again. No."

'Hmmmm. Well asking was just a form of consideration. I have no intentions of listening. I am inviting myself to this party. I suggest you hurry along and catch up to me on the surface if you dislike this arrangement.' Samira could feel a bit of her magic energy being forcefully drained as the spirit partially forced his way into the mortal realm. It wasn't in full form just yet. That would have to wait until he had exited those small enclosed tunnels. At that moment he instead was materialized as a ton of tiny particles that made the image of a snake that slithered in the air. The particle snake took off, his laughter not only echoing in the tunnels but also within Samira's mind.

"Wait! Come back here!" It was no use. The particles that made up the spirit were long gone in the distance of the dark tunnels. Now things had really turned for the worst. There would be not one, but two monster snakes wreaking havoc on the town, and one of them she was responsible for! Samira clenched her teeth and withheld the urge to use her more powerful abilities and forms to force him back violently. Yes, he would have to be stopped and forced back before he did any real damage, but she couldn't go outright bonkers doing it. The other one was another matter altogether that she would have to figure out how to best deal with when the time came. Once again she would have to use her portal spirit so she could quickly get back up there before all of that. Hopefully by then it wouldn't be too late to help Zachary.

'I can always bri-'

"I am not about to allow three monster sized snakes loose on the town! Two is enough!"

'Sheesh. Just trying to help for once.'

(Word Count: 1392
Samira Total: 9773)

Zachary coughed violently at the sudden smoke screen, making any and all vision around him impossible. He tried to keep his hands over his star friend, so his own breathing wouldn't be impeeded, but still it was difficult. "Aquila!--Cough-couch--blow the smoke-- cough!" Zachary struggled to shout to his companion.

Able to hear enough, Aquila began to flap his wings, sending blind air blades flying in general directions -- likely away from the ground to avoid hitting anyone , but even so it only cleared small pockets of space. He didn't have a move that allowed him to clear the wide area.

However, Zachary knew of one who could help. With his free hand, he tried to reach for his keys and summon a Spirit to help once more. "Open, Gate of the Winged Hor--"

It was in that instant the snake lunged right from the right of Zachary with a snap of its jaws. The incoming snake made Zachary jump back, but caused his keys to clatter to the ground, falling from his hands. He quickly tried to grab them... but that was when it happened.

It opened its maw with its hiss-- and its tongue came shooting out almost like that of a chameleon or something else. It shot right at Zachary and with shocking accuracy, wrapped itself around the star in his arm. Before Zachary could fight back, the little guy was yanked out of his arm and swung up into the air. A squeak coming from the little star critter.

"NO!!" Zachary screamed, struggling to jump back to his feet. The snake loomed up, and in a swift motion, the star disappeared into its mouth like he popped a sucking candy.

Outrage turned to Terror as Zachary saw the star get 'eaten' by the snake, not caring if he had to get eaten by the snake too to get him back. "NO-- GIVE HIM BACK YOU BASTARD!!" he shouted and ran for it-- but tripped over a fallen chair from the bistro's stables. He landed face down and banged his knee into the metal of the furniture. The pain was all that was needed as the snake swiftly slithered out of the smokescreen.

In that odd moment, likely viewed from Samira's cat spirit, the snakes had suddenly began to retreat. The Nagas had withdrew and began to slither away to either the sewers or the canal as their bigger ally had come from. Whether or not they would know that the star was eaten by the large snake, the snake now seemed to take no more interest. It now slithered out of the smoke it created, and came back towards the water it had lurked from. Diving into the water, it overflowed its banks once more as it crept in and slithered away, its body and tail soon vanishing into the water.

"Z! Z-Boy! Where are you?!" Aquila called, trying to flap his wings about to clear some air around him, but there was still few areas he could clear with his magic alone.

The smoke still caused Zachary to suffer both visually to see, and breathe. Luckily, this smoke wasn't poisonous but if it had been, things would of been much, much worse.

WC: 537

"As the wind swordsman would say, for 'celestial's  sake!' Where are they?!" Demanded the cat spirit, still clinging to that shop sign that was her safe haven from the wet ground and water below. The smoke was still clouding things from her vision, but it was not difficult to see the naga creatures slithering out of it and making a getaway. Well, some anyway. Those that went into the canals would have a much easier passage than the ones that ventured back into the sewers. To say that was now less than safe for them was an understatement. They would all be eliminated if they slithered right into the pathway of the incoming particle snake that had volunteered himself as part of the rescue team and reinforcements. The cat ears on her head twitched furiously once more. She was normally a patient enough spirit. Certainly not the strongest of virtues for her, but for her to feel that anxious was abnormal. Perhaps it was because she was being a bit useless, and she knew it. Time was going slower the longer she waited, even if the amount of time that had passed since her last communication was just a short while ago. Bastet was worried, she realized. The spirit was so used to being around strong wizards and mages that didn't need any sort of babysitting. The boy might have been one of the first ones that her summoner was around that required aid to such an extent.

"It's leaving?" The cerulean blue eyes blinked and then narrowed suspiciously as they watched the large snake move from the cloud of smoke and enter the waters of the canal once more. It had vanished below, using it once more as a travel route until Bastet could no longer even sense it. Had it been called back to its master? Oh wait. The boy! "...I don't know whether the boy is dead, or I was right about the revenge for poor customer service." The collection of particles that formed the snake spirit flew from the sewers. For a moment the sparkly particles looked around, and then the partially formed snake spirit hissed angrily, apparently not all too pleased that whatever fun he had planned was ruined because the large snake had fled the scene. "And there is the other one," Bastet sourly commented to herself. Nothing was said to her supposed spirit teammate. The last thing the feline spirit desired was to gain any sort of attention from that one. Instead she watched the particle snake smoothly moved through the air and over the canal. It kept going, likely trying to find and trail the other snake from above. She figured it was a waste of time since she couldn't even sense it anymore herself, but Bastet wasn't going to point that out. Let both of the reptile beasts leave for all she cared. It was one less thing to worry about currently.

As the snakes left the flash of a portal opening up appeared and through it were the spirit incarnations of Athena and Amaterasu. In a quick fashion they dealt with the remaining naga that were too slow to reach the exit points, and even attacking the ones that had already made it into the waters. Of course, unlike a certain cat spirit they were not going to let an obstacle such as a little water stop them. Well that was nice, but what about all of that smoke? "Ama! Where is that brother of yours? I requested his assistance ages ago!"

Reacting to the call of her name, the swordswoman quickly backtracked towards the voice. To her surprise, the voice was coming from a pole. "Bastet, you know transformation magic? And the form you chose to use is that of a pole. This amuses me. I now see why you were needing assistance."

"I'm not a pole! Now stop acting ridiculous and answer my question!"

The dark gaze of the light spirit shifted upwards, now spotting the other. She grinned, amused even more seeing Bastet cling for life against that shop sign. It was interesting how she could find anything humorous when just right next door to the nearest smoke cloud was a teenage boy probably struggling to breathe, but well, Ama found most things to be amusing. "Brother is delayed. As you were told I was released first alongside Athena. He and Samira should be here any moment now." The grind faded as a question now formed in her mind. "Where is-"

Another portal appeared, and from it jumped Samira and another one of her spirits, this one the incarnation of Susano. "Ask later, and move now unless you want to get blown all the way to some random uncharted kingdom!" The male spirit shouted to his sister and the others. "I am getting too old for this..." An older voice said just before the portal closed. The voice belonging to Janus, who was having his portal magic used much more than he would have liked in such short intervals. He needed a vacation, or some portal assistant. "The smoke cloud is all that needs to be removed. Please do not overdo it," Samira instructed with great concern because of the words he chose to use. A gentle wind would have probably sufficed. The way he spoke made it sound as if he would unleash a windstorm on the entire area!

The wind swordsman had already took his blade and positioned it so he could do just that; unleash one hell of a windy hurricane from it to get rid of that smoke. "What? I never overdo it." Everyone around him rolled their eyes, clearly knowing that he was lying about his original intent. The power he was going to use diminished greatly, and when slashing the sword to release his wind spell it was done carelessly and without effort. It was all that was needed for mediocre winds in a small selected area. Despite the lowered power and the disappointment of the spirit that controlled it, the breeze was strong enough to collide with the cloud of smoke and cause it to begin to spread and drift away.

In a very short time the air was clear enough to see Zachary and Aquila. Although the human of the two was clearly not all that well from all the smoke exposure he experienced. Samira rushed over to help and make sure that he was well besides the obvious breathing issues. With the clear air though he could recover from that, and if not he was going to get ported to the nearest doctor. "Zachary! Are you all right?" She had not yet noticed that the star creature was gone, and if the boy tried to get up or take off Samira would attempt to stop him and make him stay still so he could recover properly. Even go as far as to use a spell to do it. Mummy wrappings would appear on her body, as if it were armor, and more of those same wrappings would shoot out to latch onto Zachary and keep him there and a bit tied up. This would only be if he tried to go after the large snake, however. The Goddess of Ishgar was determined to make him stay put and not do something as stupid as that in his current condition. Mentally, Bastet had relayed the information that the large snake had left for unknown reasons so she was at least caught up with that much. One of her own spirits was also still tracking it down, much to her dismay. But if he eventually found it then that meant she would be able to as well. If not, that just meant it had left the town, which was a plus as far as the safety of the town was concerned.

(Word Count: 1312
Samira Total: 11,085)

The swirling smoke did enough chaos for Zachary and Aquila both. The had no clue how much aid they would get but soon the summons from Samira, calling the gods in physical form made for even more welcomed support. While Aquila still flapped in the air among the suffocating cloud, the winds caused by Susanoo soon swept most of it away, leaving the bird freed and able to see clearer again. "Whoooo! Who cut the cheese there? Though nice to see again!" Aquila said as he saw the crew of gods and Samira nearby. "Thanks-- Oh, Z! Where are you buddy-boy?!"

As the last of the smoke was blown away, Zachary was revealed down on the ground, having tripped from the furniture. His left leg's pants were torn and a bit of blood could be seen where he scratched his knee-- a normal gash that while not critical, still looked like it hurt. He still propped himself up on his hands to keep up, having been coughing from the smoke. His lungs finally cleared, he got to see that he was soon in the presence of Samira and her spirits that made her so revered.

Aquila flapped nearby as Samira attended to Zachary as she asked if he was okay... but Zachary shook his head, more upset than hurt. "No... No I'm not... They took him! That big stupid snake took the star critter!" Zachary shouted with a slam of his fist on the stone ground.

He did indeed tried to stand up, though his gashed knee wouldn't go unnoticed and he did feel the twinge of pain. A simple bandage would help but still, it looked more painful than it actually was.

He was clearly upset and infurriated, more so of himself for not being able to protect his new little friend. "The snake... ate him! I... !" he would attempt to run in rage, but he was soon stopped by Samira, blocking his path and protruding some sort of 'ribbon' from Zachary's point of view. "We have to go after them!" he shouted in protest

Zachary, by nature was a kind and courteous person. He rarely showed anger or hate, but when he was pushed into that state by whatever means, he could easily lose his cool and his language could become a bit ruder than he usually is. A person who had a lot of repressed feelings from a rough childhood.

"Z-buddy, take it easy! Breathe, grab a latte!" the eagle said, joking around at the remains of the bistro with its empty occupants, broken glass and torn up a cobblestone street.

"A snake ATE our friend and you want to talk about taking it easy!?" Zachary snapped at his bird spirit, "He's gone and I... and I...." his stress began to take a toll on his breath, already labored from the smoke.

With Zachary unable to really go, Samira soon used her bandages to actually tend to his knee. Though not a major injury, it certainly helped him and keep the wound clean.

Poof!!

It was that moment that another puff of smoke appeared, another Celestial Spirit and once again, the wise and wise-cracking Nyx reappeared with a flap of her fluffy white owl wings. "I'm back. Sorry it took so--" the owl paused as she landed on a flipped over leg of a chair and saw the ruins of the street. "It seems I missed a bit, haven't I? "

Oh, nothing much. Snake monsters came out of the sewers and attacked, and a giant python ate the little star-critter before I could. And no one saved me anything to eat..."

Zachary gave Aquila a mean glare for his sarcasm. Even Nyx could only take so much sass from her fellow avian friend. Clearly, Zachary was in no mood for jokes

Nyx would listen carefully as they recounted what happened, and Zachary would recover a bit if he could, using those few minutes to get his head and breath together. While he was clearly wracked with worry, he had to do something... but could he? For all Zachary knew, his little star friend was already dead as a snake's dinner...

It was then he began to feel another headache coming on. The strange sensation he had before the snakes attacked.

WC: 688

The jist of the situation was that the giant snake that had come from the depths of the canals and had been an ally of the invading naga had eaten the star-shaped creature and then took off. Peculiar. Either the snake was drawn to the star creature's presence and power and thought it could benefit from eating it, or there was something both Zachary and herself were unaware of. A bigger picture to the whole situation that was covered up by the distraction. The first option was still odd if so, however, because of the naga that were with the serpent. The snake would have just come alone if it were drawn to the magic, and if the snake was some sort of creature the naga worshiped or wanted to get powerful enough to be considered apocalyptic then they would have just obtained the seemingly helpless creature for themselves and taken it to the snake's lair. She also now doubted that the bistro or the town itself were the intended targets. While there were a number of them, it was still too small of a number to accomplish such a goal. The damage to pretty much everyone and everything was also strangely minimal if destruction were the intent. Aside from attacking Zachary, the naga were not even trying.

There was something else to all of it, and it was bothering Samira and her spirits. Naturally her suspicions about Dr. Gorgon were still there from the earlier conversations and the obvious sprinkles of deceit, but Samira was not connecting any dots between the attack and the doctor. It seemed like an illogical thing that was quickly dismissed in her mind. After all, the doctor herself had been injured and had seemed just as alarmed from the attack as everyone else. Too many eyes were set on obtaining the unknown creature, apparently. One way or another. It was a shame that the naga and snake were the ones that had won. Locating it would be nearly impossible even with her abilities. Samira wasn't a tracker of that sort, and there were limits on her spirits as well. For now though, she was thankful enough that Zachary stayed still for the moment instead of foolishly being persistent about running off after the thing.

Healing the knee was a simple matter, and once the mummy bandages had done their part, Samira dismissed them. They were not necessary anymore to keep him there. At that same moment of dismissal, Nyx had returned in a puff of celestial smoke. The other bird summon had saw fit to explain what had happened to her. Although, the summary was a bit lacking, and Samira too saw little humor in the words chosen. "Now is possibly not the best time to speak of such things," she commented rather nonchalantly despite being a bit annoyed with Aquila as well. It was hard to decide whether her own spirits were even more mature than that. One always thought about eating as well, and would have loved to eat the star creature for its cute appearance, but even that one would have chosen words a bit more carefully. Maybe. It was possible Samira was given them all way too much credit. "That said, the summary is accurate enough for the most part. Zachary was attacked up here by naga that were accompanied by a large snake. If I had known it would be this common for snakes to be attacking cities I would have tried putting a stop to them all after the incident in Hosenka long ago," Samira sighed as she spoke the last part. Damn large snakes always appearing everywhere she went. It was always during certain highlights of her life too, so it was starting to be a frustrating thought on figuring out what made the current day so important.

Samira's own snake returned, the flying snake particles flowing smoothly through the air above the canal until it changed direction towards Samira. The particles reduced in size until they were small enough to coil and drape around Samira's shoulders. Then they solidified to form into an actual snake instead of a particle one. A cobra to be specific. "My new 'friend' has left the party before I could say hello. I am so disappointed and bored now."

"Do you have to be there?" An agitated Samira inquired with a twitching brow. The spirit being out at all, even in a less powerful form, was not something she desired and much less with him being so close to herself.

"Would you rather I be at full size and destroying this oh so very lovely town? I can always change my mind." He snicked, somehow finding a way to do that even as a snake. The answer to that was an obvious no. He ignored the presence of Zachary and the other spirits for now since he just didn't care that they existed at all. They could be mere flies for all he cared. Even his own team of spirits were often ignored. Although he did give one quick glance at the two trying to get the cat down from that pole and onto the ground. It wasn't going very well to the point that Amaterasu just cut down the pole and let it fall, taking the cat with it as it fell into the waters of the canal. That was one way to solve that problem.

"Did you at least get any indication of where the snake was going?"

"Going? If I had I would have followed for a lot longer than I did. It disappeared. Things that are called from another realm or were created magically do have the annoying habit of doing that. You should know that as the summoner that you are, right?"

As the snickering reached her ears once more Samira had the thought of tossing him at Aquila to eat. Unfortunately, that would be easier said than done and would have mostly resulted in Aquila being harmed than the other way around. Such a shame. Regardless of her dislike of the spirit though, he still had some information. The snake was gone. It could have been anywhere by that point, and they had no leads to follow. This also meant that there was no way to destroy it and rescue the star creature before it was too late, if it wasn't already. "I am sorry, Zachary, but I do not think rescuing him is an option that is still available to us." With her power, she could technically have several spirits out searching the perimeter and slightly beyond it, but if the snake were in another realm, or heaven forbid another random country, there was just no way. Not within a very short time limit. They needed more concrete location information, and she just did not have the ability to come up with that out of thin air.

(Word Count: 1153
Samira Total: 12,238)

While the presence of the new 'snake' spirit that Samira had unnerved Zachary a bit, it was clear it was under her command. He would of joined in the banter, but he was clearly distraut. Even more so to hear Samira , wisely but curtly state, that saving the star critter was beyond them. He shook his head, unable to believe it. Unwilling to believe it. His heat began to throb again as he urged himself to stand.

"NO... I refuse to believe that," Zachary weakly shouted back, trying to regain the strength to go on a search himself if he had to. He didn't trust the word of the snake, but his sense of logic was going out of the window than accept the loss of something, even a pet-like creature like the star to be gone. "I cannot... I cannot... Ugh!"

Zachary fell to his knees again, his head now throbbing and Nyx flapping her wings in alarm. "Zachary? Zachary, what's wrong?!" The owl hooted, concerned for her student and summoner.

The boy grasped the side of his head, feeling the pain suddenly rush in his head as he tried to fight it... but couldn't. Then he opened his eyes, this time in clear view of Samira as he snapped them open, she could see it. Zachary's cornias were as black as the night sky, specks of light twinkling in them like the stars themselves as his eyes had changed completely, reflecting the cosmos itself.

Zachary's senses blended and fell away, his mind tossed into a whirlwind of images... till he finally stopped to see a strange vision before him. A ruin, tossed crumbled buildings littered along the canal, and finally, the naga around them. He saw it, oddly from a perspective he couldn't account for. He saw also the large boa emerge to the ruins and seemed to hiss at something-- and vomit up a small object onto the ground.

The little, yellow, star-shaped creature came tumbling out, dripping in disguisting clear goo that clung to his little body. Though he couldn't 'hear', it could only imagine that the creature said something like 'slimy' in its cute telepathic tone.

As it recovered, it looked up, finding a shadow descend over it.

"Ah, there you are, little star," a voice spoke. A woman's. The voice was familiar to Zachary but he couldn't place it.

The naga and snake all paused and looked to the woman, as if with respect and revere. As the image got clearer, Zachary could see the star critter look up, seeming to recognize the woman.

It revealed to be the blonde woman from before, clad in her lab coat but now with a smug, almost sinister grin on her face. "I been waiting a long time to find you, my dear..." Dr. Gorgon spoke

By the time Zachary recognized her, his vision blurred once more, he felt the scene spin as he was yanked back and out of what he saw.

"Gah!" The eyes returned to normal no sooner than a few seconds by Samira's time but much longer to Zachary. What he saw caused his heart to pound in his chest. What he saw and who he saw now flush in his head. For a moment, he thought it was all his imagination but his blacking out like this was having too much trouble to just be his own creative mind playing tricks on him.

The fact Samira would see his eyes transformation would make it clear he had not been simply suffering a mental episode alone.

"Z...? You okay..?" Aquila asked, hopping over on his talons to wave a wing in front of him . "Earthland to Zachary-- psssht! Come in--"

"WILL YOU STOP!" Nyx squacked at her avian spirit and looked to Zachary, having observed the 'eyes' as well. "Zachary, can you hear me? What happened? Are you okay?"

Zachary looked around, realizing he was still in the remains of the Bistro and looked up to Samira. He swallowed hard as he struggled to find the words. "I... I saw... He's not dead. I saw him. I really saw him. I'm not crazy here, I actually SAW him..." Zachary said, realizing what he saw in his mind was as clear as day... His expression went from panicked to calm realization, "The Star Critter is alive... and with Dr. Gorgon!"

Aquila looked confused, tilting his head. "I... think he is missing a few meteors short of a belt ," the eagle sqacked.

"I'm not crazy!" Zachary argued with his spirit.

Nyx, however, didn't doubt the boy's word. "Actually, that is what I went to check. ANd there is evidence to support this." the owl hooted, supporting her summoner as she addressed the other spirits and Samira. "I regret I wasn't there to see... but there are two key facts I know about snakes like the ones that had attacked. They are cold blooded..."

"-- and delicious?" Aquila added.

Prof. Nyx turned her head to crossly glare at the eagle. "... and they digest their food VERY, VERY slowly, you buzzard!" the owl stated.

If it took long for food a snake had to break down, then snakes could also use their own bodies to transport things. Meaning, the star critter's survival was indeed possible.

"More importantly, however," the owl said, "What I left to find out, was to do a background check on the 'good' doctor. She was indeed with the BMD... emphasis on was."

"What?" Zachary exclaimed, the vision of the woman now being less noble and more of a manipulative witch.

"Yes. She was fired from the bureau of magical development over 15 years ago for illegal experimentation," she explained, putting the doctor in a worse light.

Zachary was stunned, a mix of both hope that his friend was indeed alive... and realization why all this chaos was happening. "But if that is true then... " Zachary turned to the cat spirit who was having a miserable time in the canal and now soaking wet. "Um... Cat...Woman... Spirit... Lady?" Zachary asked, "Where did you take her?!" he asked.

There was only one way to tell if all of this was right....

WC: 1023

The boy seemed to take the news as well as anyone could have, Samira supposed. He denied the truth of their limits, of course, and by that factor denied that the creature was long gone. For such a short amount of time he had grown quite close to the star critter, which had been warned about previously. Samira disapproved of it, but that moment was hardly the time to comment on it with full one hundred percent honest criticism. She sighed while closing her eyes, preparing herself to go into some comforting mode instead that was still realistic to the situation. It was odd being the one to have to do that instead of someone else doing that for her for a change. "I can understand how you feel, Zachary. However," The gentle lecture would remain incomplete for now. Zachary cried out suddenly, in a similar way as he did earlier before the attack. "Again?! What is happening to him?"

The bird summons didn't seem to know anything about. It clearly wasn't normal for him if they were concerned about it. Not that it being normal was a good thing either. Samira had seen those eyes the first time they changed, but now she was able to get a better look at them. She took steps back to distance herself away from the boy. Not because she feared whatever it was, but because upon seeing those eyes once more she almost acted on instinct to attack him. In truth, that was not the first time she had seen such dark eyes. There were differences, of course, but it didn't stop her mind from flashing back into the past and seeing those memories instead of what was right in front of her. The similarities made her uncomfortable, even more so if she almost acted out based on things from the past.

The second episode of whatever magic that was lasted but a few seconds. Not that Samira was counting. She was busy enough with calming down her magic energy, which had increased the moment her heart rate did upon flashing back to those dark times. It had gone unnoticed it seemed with the newest piece of information that had been brought to light. For that Samira was grateful. Else, it would have resulted in her explaining why. Her eyes narrowed upon hearing the news, though. Her suspicions were partially correct, though it was worse than she expected. The comments of Aquila went ignored. It was not only a foolish statement but not something that she was in the mood for any longer. "There are many abilities that use the eyes as a source for magic. Given what had just transpired I am not willing to believe that he is crazy, Aquila, nor should you regardless of what is said. There is always some partial truth to even the craziest of stories." Samira turned her gaze on Zachary now. "Unless you still want to try and convince everyone it was the orange juice."

With that said, Samira was not going to stand around any longer than she already had. There was enough information there to put her suspicions to truth, and as she walked away she could hear certain details that Nyx had found out about the doctor. Interesting really, but that was no longer the core focus for her. If Zachary's vision was true and he was not going through some mental episode, then that meant Dr. Gorgon was the one responsible for the naga and the giant snake. That could not be tolerated. Samira also feared what that woman had planned for the creature that was full of mystery. Considering not even they were aware of what it could do, the possibilities were endless. Still, it all had to be checked out first, and that was by checking in on the place Bastet had left her.

'Oh, lucky me. There may be another chance to say hello. I almost had to entertain myself by going after the birds over there.' The cobra around Samira's neck said with a rather cheerful attitude. He kept it as a mental statement though rather than let the inferior summoner and spirits be allowed to hear it. 'I am getting the feeling from your silence that you aren't going to allow me to play if we find the woman responsible for this little fun-filled outing. A pity. The more you keep me locked away then the more likely I will free myself at the most inopportune moment.' The snake turned into particles again and left the slow moving ride of the Saint's shoulders. Once again he moved through the air, heading in the same direction as Samira towards the shop.

The other spirits had remained to finish getting Bastet out of the canal. It was successful for the most part aside from the cat spirit gasping for air and shuddered from the fact she was now soaking wet from the waters. She hissed and clawed at her fellow spirits, who just either laughed or tried their best not to. Athena turned away and coughed to ease the laughter that was about to come out. "Excuse me, Zachary." The spirit nodded his way respectfully and then turned to follow her summoner.

The swordsman spirit was the next to look down at Zachary, but the most he did was shrug and wave carelessly as he started to walk away to follow Samira. "See ya, kid. You should probably stay out of this one if everything checks out and we're dealing with a mad doctor or whatever she is. You'd just get in the way."

"Brother..." The swordswoman said nothing to Zachary personally, though it was clear that she disapproved of the words used towards the boy. He still had a use even if he had been overpowered before. It was something to learn from.

"What? Someone had to tell him. Would you rather he get himself eaten instead of some furball? Come on. Lets speed up ahead." In a gust of wind and a flash of light, those two spirits were gone. They had quickened their speed and ran off to get to the shop even before Samira, who was taking her time getting there.

That left the cat spirit. Bastet twisted and squeezed her tail as if it were a towel to rid it of any water that was still there. An odd thing to do really and should have hurt but she didn't seem to be bothered by it. After that she started to remove parts of her armor and rid those of water as well. "I left her at a shop where others were hiding from the attack. She was still unconscious at the time. I would be very surprised if she woke up and got out of there in such a short time. She had better have a twin sister or I am going to be rather upset by this." Her tail pointed in the direction Samira and the others went. "Just follow them."

(Word Count: 1171
Samira Total: 13,409)

Zachary Total: 9473
Thread Total: 22,882
10Y WC of 22,000 Complete
New Samira Total: 882

Zachary had went to talk to the spirits, but was put off by the masculine, big one with the straw hat and sword that talked down to Zachary. He was blunt, calling him a kid and only getting in the way. That made his eyes wide with offense as he would protest. Though its sister tried to stop him, he still said he wasn't able to help and the two sped off. "H-Hey!! Get back here you jerk!" Zachary called, but the swordsman was long gone.

When he turned to Baset, she grumpily said where she left her, while trying to dry herself. While he would of stayed and tried to help, he was too worried to stop and nodded. "Thank you!" he said to the cat and ran to where the other spirits were heading.

Zachary ran as fast as he could, despite the cries from his other spirits to stop or slow down. The pain in his knee had lessened greatly, so he could press on, but he was more concerned by what he saw. He had to be sure his 'vision' or whatever the hell it was , was correct.

As he reached the shop where many people had gathered for safety, the Knights had already arrived trying to bring some sense of calm to the people there. Luckily, no one questioned if he was among the survivors or not, and not another Fairy Tail Wizard who blew stuff up. As he got inside the store, he looked around but couldn't find anyone that looked similar to Dr. Gorgon.

"Excuse me?" Zachary asked a random strange of a woman with black hair and summer dress, "I'm sorry but did you see a woman being taken in here, unconscious ? She would be in a white lab coat and blonde hair tied to the sides with bangs."

The woman paused for a moment, already a bit frazzled by the events of the Naga attack. However, she did lighten up with realization. "Y-Yes, we did. A cat creature brough her in. The others tended to her, but she soon rose up insisting she was fine. I thought she was here but..." the woman paused, looking around and the woman was no where around.

Zachary gritted his teeth as he realized the truth. The whole attack and her getting injured-- it was all staged. Samira would probably figure it out too. The image of the star critter being picked up in the ruined building made Zachary's blood boiled as he stepped away from the woman to try and think...

... and then it hit him. The image had flashed so much he recalled it like photographic memory, and where he knew to go.

Before Samira, Nyx and Aquila could get there, Zachary took off running again in the opposite direction. THe two birds looked confused, their own feathers flying about as they stopped in the air. "Hey-- Z! Come on! You're running around like a chicken trying to fly the coop." Aquila quipped with another stupid joke.

Zachary didn't care, being more like a person possessed by fear to stop what he saw coming true. He didn't understand why, he didn't care-- but he KNEW where to go.

A few blocks away along the canal was an area under construction he had seen every now and again on his way to and from the Guild Hall. He recalled the buildings in the background and the shape of the torn walls and how they looked. With any luck, perhaps they were still there and he could find them.

No doubt that Samira would be perplexed by Zachary going in the opposite direction, but he clearly knew the direction he was going... but was he too late?

WC: 626

The sibling spirits had made it to the shop long before Zachary did. They scouted the area but did not see any signs of the doctor that Bastet had supposedly left there a short time ago. Even from the roof of the shop they did not see any signs of her in the distance, though they did lack the ability to see through walls of buildings so it was hard to get an accurate account there. She could have been around the corner a few buildings over for all they knew. Either way, she wasn't where she was left.

Zachary ended up making it to the store himself. Naturally before Samira and the others since he was in the mood to rush into trouble instead of remaining calm. From their position on the roof, they could overhear the conversation between the boy and someone else that had been hiding in the shop during the attack. So, that was the story. Technically speaking it was not a good enough story to jump to conclusions, but it was opening a few more doors to the story and possibility. Then like a fool he sped off once again instead of waiting for even his own spirits to catch up to him.

"And there he goes again. We are going to ignore it, right? Babysitting wasn't my plan for the day."

"He seems to know more than we do. The woman in there did not give information as to where this Gorgon went off to. Where else would he be going if not following some lead he had come up with himself?"

"Hopefully to jump off the nearest cliff he can find."

The two spirits mentally sent what information they had to Samira and the others. The Goddess of Ishgar had noticed that Zachary was speeding off in a random direction after leaving the shop. Something like that was a bit hard to miss. She made no effort to quicken her own pace, though. "I suppose we should be thankful that he does not yet know how to utilize teleportation magic. Follow him for now from a distance, and do not let yourselves be noticed. If there is trouble where he is going it would be beneficial if you can provide surprise aid rather than be expected."

With that said, the two spirits did as told, leaving the roof of the shop and secretly following Zachary as he made his way to wherever. Samira was going there as well, but still taking her time doing so. She could always get there pretty quickly if needed. For now, she preferred going at her own pace and making sure all the naga had indeed left the town.

(Word Count: 451
Samira Total: 1333)

Zachary sprinted to the area where he hoped to find his friend and the evil witch. There was no real clue if what he saw was truth or some hallucination, but he didn't care. He soon reached it-- the ruins from his vision. He recognized the surrounding buildings and canal. He reached the spot where he saw the snakes and naga gathered. ...

... but when he got there, there was nothing there. He saw turned bolders, a yucky pool of liquid, which Zachary presumed was what the snake spat up the star critter... but nothing more.

"D-Damnit!!" Zachary swore, falling to his knees, and slammed his hands into the stone.

It wasn't the smartest thing, as it hurt the sides of his hands, but he was now distraut. He didn't know where his friend was, he didn't know what was happening to him. He felt like his mind was fraying at the seems. He didn't know what was going on and it was coming at the cost of his new friend.

Tears streamed from his eyes, realizing whatever he saw was too late. What was the point to see it if he couldn't do anything about it?

By then, Aquila and Nyx had flew after him as did the other spirits of Samira could catch up. They would find Zachary on the ground, upset and confused.

"Z! COme on, Z! Calm down. Talk to us, Buddy-bird!" the eagle squacked.

Nyx, more serious than the chummy eagle landed beside Zachary and tried to sooth him with her soft feathers. " Zachary, please talk to us. What did you see? I can only guess you are suffering from visions, so what are the visions?"

"I-I don't know... I really don't know what I'm seeing. It doesn't make any sense to me," Zachary breathed, trying to regain his composure, "Colors are wierd at times, I see images of things or people that I shouldn't, like a dream... What is happening to me?" he asked.

A shift in his weight caused something to clatter out of his pocket. He looked down to soon find the strange black and starry-materialed key he found with the Star Critter's meteorite. Zachary slowly picked it up, realizing that important detail he didn't remember till now. The witch never took an interest in the key but it came with the star. Still, he knew nothing about it, nor the words to activate the key...