End to Sins

@Victoria Sheridan

It had been a crazy few weeks since the most recent job that Sarah and Victoria had pulled together. In that time, Sarah had mostly been busy solving "problems", which mostly consisted of citizens who were upset with their neighbors for borrowing tools and not giving them back in a timely manner. This was not what Sarah had signed up for when she decided to follow the path of a mage. But then, there was a lot more than fighting involved with her line of work. Just recently she'd had to talk two toddlers out of a tiresome tantrum, with the help of Victoria.

If she could survive that, she felt she could survive just about anything. As she walked into the Red Dragon Inn, she could see the X ranked mage tending bar. She didn't want to bother her right away, though, so instead she decided to open up her iLac, and see what popped up on her news feed. What greeted her was something appalling. A rash of murders had occurred in Era, and the Rune Knights hadn't been able to do anything about it due to there forces being elsewhere at the time.

This needed to be solved quickly, and Sarah had a good idea as to who she could rely on to help her do it. She sauntered up to the bar, seeming like she had a question on her mind. Normally she would have ordered a particularly strong drink, considering the week that she was having, but in this case, she didn't think that was such a good idea. "Hey, Vic, nice outfit today. Really, you look great. I was just wondering if you might be bored enough to help me take care of a problem in Era. Apparently someone's been going around killing people, and they haven't been stopped yet. Just seemed like something that might be worth looking into, if you're up for it."

Sarah had recently received her A rank certification, after a fair deal of training, and had wanted to test out her newfound strength firsthand. She didn't quite know her strength at this point, and was anxious to find out just how much stronger she had become. She was getting ever closer to her goal of being one of the top mages in Fiore, but she still had a long way to go before she reached that point. At this point, she could only hope to not disappoint her fellow guild members. "I mean, it's not like you have to go, but I don't think I could handle it on my own, and to be honest, you're one of the few people I've actually spent any measurable amount of time with in this guild."

Sarah didn't mean any offense with anything she said, but she also had a way of accidentally saying too much. "I mean....well, I thought it might be nice to spend more time together." Her voice seemed to get quieter with each word of this sentence, before she sat down at the bar, and looked away in embarrassment. She wasn't sure why she still got so nervous around Victoria. The woman had literally seen her at her worst, as well as seen her in the form of a disfigured toy. Sarah just couldn't shake the feeling that she might say the wrong things around her, and that caused her to act in a manner that could be considered odd.

"So....would you be okay with doing this job with me? I know I'm not as strong as you are, but I really feel like I could be useful if I tried, and I really need your help. All we have to do is go to Era, arrest someone, or someones, and bring them in alive. Seems simple enough to me, but at the same time, Era usually has at least a few Rune Knights at their disposal. If they're having trouble, just one A rank mage might not be enough." She was doing her best to praise Victoria while asking for her assistance on this job.

The two seemed to get along well enough, but Sarah sometimes felt like a compliment here and there might not hurt things between them. "So, you in?" While she'd been asking for Victoria's help with the job, Sarah had been re-wrapping her hand wraps, to ensure that they did not come loose in the time that it would take to get this job done. She looked a bit frazzled from the previous few weeks, but otherwise, she was in peak condition. After waiting for a response, Sarah walked outside and flagged down a coach, which appeared to be empty.

She generally preferred to walk, when able, but she felt as though this job was urgent enough to warrant a bit of motion sickness. She would be more than willing to help Victoria in before getting inside of it herself, and sitting across from her. "Hey...so...I know I've been acting a bit funny since the mall incident, and I'm sorry about that. It's just...how do I say this....I feel safer around you, if that makes any sense. You're the only one that's seen me like that. You're the only one who's really seen me. The rest only seem to see what I show them, but you seem to really understand me, at least, at times. That's why I like to spend time with you so much. So...when we get back from this, I was wondering, do you think you might want to go do something fun with me, like going to a park or something?"

Sarah was rarely vulnerable around anyone else, but she felt like it was okay around Victoria, because she had been there for Sarah at her weakest moment. It was something that the redhead would never forget, the way that Victoria had gone out of her way to search for her in the middle of a rather tricky situation, and found her covered in little more than a shopping bag.

Word Count: 1,001
Personal Word Count: 1,001
Total Word Count: 1,001/16,000

-Red Dragon Inn-

Wearing her white Steel Matron t-shirt under a black apron and black skirt with white tennis shoes, Victoria was working her lucrative side job, which was to sling drinks for the customers of the Red Dragon Inn. She had served up two Long Island Iced Teas, a Pina Colada, and two Dirty Ashtrays for customers so far and was in the process of mixing a Bloody Mary for an immaculately dressed middle-aged female businesswoman who was on lunch break. Victoria was not sure if drinking alcohol on lunch break was a good idea, but it was not her place to question the lifestyle choices of her customers. The brunette had no room to throw stones because she had drank on the job to the Phoenix Mountains in order to deceive a few slavers she had engaged in conversation to buy time for Itori to chat up a local who had information on the human trafficking operation. While it was done to buy time for the Sabertooth Ace, she had still taken a few drinks on the job and had thus lost any right to criticize the life choices of others.

Hell, she had never had the right to criticize the life choices of other people. Victoria had lived a rough lifestyle before becoming a mage and getting access to money, personal power, and a steady supply of alcohol had only made it worse. While she could keep the drinking under control due to her tolerance and the risk it posed to her brand of weapons-based magic, the temptation to just down six Screwdrivers and feel numb for awhile was always there thanks to her life on the streets. Victoria had even more reason to drink after what had happened in the village that had been coated by Phaaz that fateful day.

However, Victoria was not going to let alcohol rule her life because there were people who were counting on her. As the second-most powerful member of Sabertooth behind Samira Nassar, Sarah, Itori, Gaia, and the other members of Sabertooth were counting on her to be responsible and help them when called upon. She had also given her word to Ryo that she would not harm his guild while she was part of it and she intended to keep her word to him even though he was no longer Guild Master. That trust was one reason Victoria had not given in to the worst parts of her personality.

Victoria had finished making the Bloody Mary and gave it to the appreciative businesswoman when a flash of red hair and a familiar voice caught Victoria's attention. The brunette looked towards the source and saw Sarah sauntering her way. Victoria had worked with the redhead twice before and they made a good team... Sarah provided the close-range muscle and flashes of inspiration and Victoria provided the long-range firepower and non-lethal measures when needed. The brunette tended to work well with most of Sabertooth's membership due to her abilities and those of Gaia and Itori meshing with her own. Victoria could tank thanks to her Azure Armor and healing magic and they provided the brainpower to catch anything Victoria missed.

Victoria listened to Sarah request her help for a job in Era, which was the home base of the Magic Council, the governing body of all the mages in Earthland. According to the redhead, someone or a group of someones was murdering people in Era without pause and she needed help apprehending them because as an A-rank mage she might not be strong enough to tackle the job alone. That was all Victoria needed to hear.

"I'll be glad to help, Sarah. Lemme call in my replacement first." Victoria said to the redhead before making a last-minute Screwdriver for a young adult female customer. Victoria quickly made her favorite drink with perfect measures of orange juice and Slatheron vodka, then handed it to the young woman, who raised the glass in appreciation before downing the Screwdriver in one chug. Victoria then left the bar and walked to the back of the tavern, where a couple of employees were sitting and listening to some sappy pop music about a date in Rose Garden waft from the radio. One of them was a brown-haired teenage male who was so skinny that Victoria could break him over her knee and the other was Marceline, the refugee from Silver Moon Inn that Victoria helped get a job here so that she would be safe from the Corlones when Black Rose disbanded.

"I've been called to do a job for the guild. Do either of you know how to bartend?" Victoria asked them. The lanky brown-haired youth raised a hand.

"I've got this." He said confidently. He grabbed a black apron from a coat hanger and tied it on, then went up front to take her place. Victoria took off her own apron and hung it up, then left the break room to go meet up with Sarah. Victoria stepped out from behind the bar and met Sarah face-to-face.

"I'm gonna need to go and get some gear before we set out. If this killer's as dangerous as you say they are, I'll need it." Victoria said to her companion. Victoria would need her Azure Armor, the Bandolier, and the Crown of Persephone. They were handy items that had saved her and her companions on more than one occasion, so she would take them along on this adventure as well. Being able to tank damage, fire her weapons at a higher velocity and at a higher rate of fire, and heal more effectively were three abilities that were always good to have no matter who she worked with.

She recalled Sarah expressing that she liked to work with Victoria and felt safer around her. Victoria had not heard someone express that sentiment in a long time. Maybe it was because the two shared a fondness for alcohol and fighting. Maybe it was because Victoria was the second-strongest mage in Sabertooth. Maybe it was both.

"I kinda like you too, Sarah. You don't judge me for who I am. And we could go to the park once this job's over... if you feel like it. You can follow me to my room or you can wait here... it's your call." Victoria said to Sarah, expressing a bit of that which she kept hidden. The brunette then set out for her room to gather her gear before the pair hit the road to Era.

[Post Word Count: 1,087]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,087/8,000]
[Total Word Count: 2,088/16,000]