by Victoria Sheridan 2nd May 2020, 1:50 pm
-Outside Haunted Guild, midnight-
Dressed in her white Steel Matron t-shirt and resized black skirt with Azure Armor and Bandolier clanking over the armor, Victoria also carried her trusty Silver Dagger because tonight she would be going into the Haunted Guild on behalf of the Order of Lightbringers. Her mission was to wipe out a cult that had taken refuge in the Haunted Guild, secure their books, scrolls, and other effects for disposal by the Order, and rescue any people they had intended to sacrifice for their nefarious purposes. Victoria felt a sudden gust of wind blow her ponytail about and heard female screaming floating on the wind while she waited for her Order partners to get here before going inside to start the mission. Having traveled to the Haunted Guild twice before, having fought for her life in the arena at Haunted Castle, and having recently been to Sin to fight and kill a rogue scientist who experimented on live human test subjects, the screaming was nothing but background noise like the music at Capital Crocus Mall. Victoria knew a little about the history of Haunted Guild and had been inside of it twice, so she knew what to expect from the rundown place.
The screaming was simply an unfortunate by-product of whatever had happened to make the Haunted Guild haunted; the exact nature of that occurrence was still a mystery and not too many people were keen on investigating it. Victoria was not interested in solving that mystery either. She was not the scholarly sort who had the patience to devote any great length of time to the research necessary to learn what had happened to the Haunted Guild. She was a fighter who did best when pointed at a target and told to take it out. She just wanted to turn cultists to Swiss cheese, save any captives they had taken, complete the mission, and get paid.
The tall brunette listened to drawn-out male screaming come from the Haunted Guild while looking around for her partners from the Order, who were due to arrive any time now. Maybe they were just a bit late in leaving Holy Castle because someone had forgotten to take their favorite weapon or put on their armor. Maybe they were busy fighting zombies or werewolves who had ambushed them on the road. At any rate, Victoria would wait for them to show up before going in. The cultists were probably expecting company and had set up elaborate defenses... or they had just crammed the corridors with cultist soldiers, spirits, and any other minions they could throw at Victoria and the Order.
-Twenty minutes later-
Victoria had reached out with her ability to sense magic and detected a pair of signatures approaching from behind, so she turned around to face them and saw Amberlin and Serena walking up. They did not recognize the tall brunette standing before them and paused when they saw her. Victoria realized that she had spent so much time enjoying her new form that she had forgotten to find a way to let others know that she was the same Victoria Sheridan they had known before, only taller and more attractive.
"Uh, hi there. I'm Victoria Sheridan. You know, the short chick who looked like a guy that you guys worked with before?" Victoria awkwardly introduced herself to the shorter mages. Amberlin and Serena remained unconvinced and silently readied some kind of Holy magic to blast her with. Great.
"Hey Amberlin, wait a minute before you start slinging Holy magic at me! I'm the one who went with you and Minerva Anderson to Haunted Castle to save Serena, remember? I'm the one who helped you fight in Henry Capella's arena, remember?" Victoria asked the pink-haired mage and recited a few details from their last job together. The tall brunette did not have any special weakness to Holy magic, but the sheer magical firepower that Order clerics could bring to the table meant that they were not to be taken lightly. If they could turn zombies, werewolves, and demons to dust with their spells, it stood to reason that they could make humans have a bad day too.
"Hey Serena, remember that time I rescued you from here? That was the job where I got my Silver Dagger from your pals at the Order of Lightbringers!" Victoria asserted, presenting her Silver Dagger as proof of her claim. Amberlin and Serena backed up and continued to prepare their spells.
"She might be a shapeshifting demon who killed the real Victoria and stole her appearance and memories. Don't be fooled!" Serena warned Amberlin. Victoria was beside herself with frustration. Serena had drawn the wrong conclusion from what Victoria had told them.
"I'M NOT A SHAPESHIFTER!" Victoria yelled indignantly. She dropped the Silver Dagger, then took off her armor and bandolier and set them on the ground.
"Look at me. I've worn this same Steel Matron t-shirt, this same Azure Armor, this same skirt, and this same Bandolier for many jobs now. Do you really think that a shapeshifting demon could kill me, steal my gear, and tell you the kind of details I just told you two?" Victoria asked them pointedly. The Order clerics hesitated and lowered their hands for a moment.
"Well, she DOES look kinda familiar. She's also got the same magic signature as Victoria." Amberlin said to Serena. The shorter brunette remained unmoved.
"We're near a place taken over by cultists. They can summon shapeshifters to fool us. Don't be fooled!" Serena countered. Amberlin looked at Serena and tilted her head, then nodded. Both mages brought their hands back up and showed looks of determination.
"She's a shapeshifter who's gonna report us to her masters! Blast her!" Serena shouted.
"OH COME ON!" Victoria shouted indignantly before scooping up her Silver Dagger, Bandolier, and Azure Armor and running towards the door of the Haunted Guild with her gear held in both hands. This was NOT how she imagined this job would go. Instead of a by-the-numbers sweep through Haunted Guild with two Order clerics for support, Victoria would most likely have to fight the cult while avoiding her supposed "friends."
[Post Word Count: 1,030]
[Total Word Count: 1,030/11,000]
Last edited by Victoria Sheridan on 26th May 2020, 12:27 pm; edited 1 time in total