Star-Crossed!

XXXX (Link later for mission)


Zachary and his spirits there were in shock and awe-- Zachary sure was at the amazing entrance of the starry-lit girl that appared from the mysterious key. Even as Zachary's mind reeled from losing his new friend, the visions that plagued him and the panic of being attacked by crazy, vicious nagas and giant snakes, things calmed down in this serene display of celestial magic. As she appeared like some angelic figure from the stars, she opened her eyes and spoke...

"The star... Please, you must save the star..." she spoke.

Zachary blinked as he and his other spirits would look up on her. Even Nyx, the wisest spirit Zachary had, was baffled by the existence of this new spirit who was remarkably human in appearance. As her words were recognized and the magic surrounding her faded. Zachary caught his breath to speak. "Huh? Save the star? Wait you mean..."

"The STAR, you fool! " the girl, Minu shouted, stepping forward almost to spat at Zachary's face. "Tell me where he is. His life is in danger. Where is he?" she demanded, the serene moment ended with her sudden change of tone.

That only surprised Zachary more as he backed up. "Whoh, whoh-- lady! What are you-- wait, you mean the star critter? He isn't here-- he was kidnapped!" Zachary shouted.

The young girl paused at the words Zachary said, and she backed up. Her expression became calmer but solemn to learn what happened. "Then I failed... I wasn't able to reach him in time, even by casting my key into the meteorite. " she said.

Zachary looked back to Nyx and even Samira, genuinely confused. He would of feared another headache would trigger another vision, but for now... it just was the anxiety of so much happening at once. "Um, I beg your pardon, but who are you? How do you know all of this. Could you please explain things from the beginning?" Zachary asked as politely as possible.

The girl's gaze rose up with surprise as she faced the boy who summoned her. "Oh, I beg your pardon. My name is Minu, daughter of the King to the Northern Star Court, located to a galaxy far away from this world," she said and added a curtsy with her midnight blue dress. "Forgive my rudeness, but my goal was to save an innocent creature from facing a cruel fate that awaited him on this world."

Zachary paused as he recalled what she said. "You mean... the star-shaped creature we found? Is he whom you are talking about?"

"Yes," Minu confirmed, "In order to keep it safe, I was forced to throw my key into the Meteorite it slept in, before it could escape the reaches of my universe. As you could see, my actions were limited up till now. I had hoped I could appear and act, but it seems it is too late...What is your intent with the stratafey, " she asked.

The name surely was one no one here would know, but she knew more about the Star Critter than they did.

WC: 515

Continuation of this thread

The two sibling spirits continued to watch the events unfold while keeping their distance. Their locations being unknown to Zachary and his party and anyone or anything that was related to the earlier attack. As far she they knew anyway. Most weren't able to notice them unless they jumped right at them and said hello. As far as they could tell it was still a useful tactic. Nothing hostile came out to play while they played babysitter. "Huh, there was something hanging out in that key after all. Don't know whether to be surprised by that, or that the kid managed to summon it." The brother of the two commented, unimpressed as always.

"Your dislike for the child amuses me, brother."

"Everything amuses you, and I dislike pretty much every summoner I come across. Their spirits and summons too actually. I can already tell that I am not going to like that one either."

The two had been listening in on the conversation. As much as they could while being where they were anyway. It was enough to get the jist of things most certainly. They relayed the information to Samira through their mental link, and she in turn confirmed that there were no signs of anymore naga, the doctor, or even the giant snake within town. They were gone from that immediate area, and no more reports were coming in through from the local guards.

"Guess the action is over for now then. Unless we count this little meeting over here while I babysit a weakling. I've never felt so bored."

"You have, and do not be rude." One of the portals of Janus appeared on the rooftop that both Susano and Ama were standing on as their lookout post. From it Samira came through and looked down below where Zachary and the unfamiliar spirit were talking. Her two spirits filled her in on the parts they heard and paid attention to. Though, it wasn't much. The conversation hadn't been going for long, and besides introductions and the obvious connection with that star creature there weren't all too many details to report. "I see. Very well. You two remain here to keep a lookout in case her magic energies attract anymore unwelcome guests. If she is linked with that creature then whoever took him may come back for her, whether to take her power as well, or to make sure we do not use her to find their location."

"As expected," Ama agreed and acknowledged the instruction easily. A small smile crossed her face as she said it, knowing full well that her brother spirit was already reaching the limits of his patience and boredom. The issue might have been a critical one for others, but for him it was trivial. He didn't care about the star creature at all, and much less about Zachary. The attack on the town already ended so as far as he was concerned the job for him and his summoner was done. Time to pack up and go back to Joya to finish their original job before the brat called.

Susano made no efforts to hide his disappointment and dislike for that request. It was written all over his face as a deep scowl. "There has got to be someone else better suited for lookout duty..."

Samira just blinked, rather un-phased by the reaction. "There is, naturally, but you are here now. You might as well enjoy the fresh air." And, with that said, she was gone. Janus had activated another portal that she stepped through without another vocal word. The glowing portal of swirling blue particles then appeared near Zachary and Minu. The woman stepped out quite casually and raised her iLac. Pictures were then being taken of Minu to act as visual representation for her journal once she got the opportunity to write down all of her notes for later research. Nothing was said by her as she just went around the spirit and Zachary, taking pictures from all angles. If something were said about her little activity she would only say, "Do not mind me. I am just here for the pictures, and then I will leave if necessary." As far as she was concerned, the only one that needed to be a part of the conversation was Zachary. He was the one tied to the star creature and the key that was within the meteorite. She was just the spectator and was content to remain as such unless her opinion was asked or she felt her voice was required. Neither had occurred yet.

(Samira WC: 764)

Zachary , Nyx and the spirits around listened. Aquila flapped nearby while the white snowy owl was perched on Zachary's shoulder as they listened to the mysterious Minu.

"Stratafey?" Zachary asked, but by then the portal opened up and Samira appeared.

Despite her casual words, Minu was still alarmed by her. At least till Zachary raised a hand to calm her down. "It's okay-- she's a friend. She was there when we found the meteorite and when the star was conducted. But that is whom you mean right? The star critter I had with us?" he asked.

As Nyx tilted her head every so often to keep her sight on everything and everyone there, Minu nodded. "Yes... in your language, he is more commonly known as a 'Star Fairy'. " she answered.

"A star fairy... so it is a creature beyond our world," Zachary said in wonder.

Minu nodded as she looked to Samira, her fears of her fading with the boy's assuraning words. Though she was more concerned about the star fairy's fate than these humans, she knew she had to explain herself. "I will do my best to explain. Where I am from, the creatures-- the Star Fairies-- live freely among the stars, playing on the nebula clouds and planetoids of my realm. From there I care for many things, but they I pay a close eye on. It is rare for them to stumble upon an inhabited world, but when they do-- they are greatly endangered. No star fairy is safe on Earthland, and if he was kidnapped as you say, then he is in grave danger indeed." she said.

"But why? Why would anyone want to hurt him and how is he in danger?" Zachary asked.

Minu paused. While clearly concerned and irritated to explain herself, the fact the two before her were oblivious to the creature's true value made her feel more willing to trust them. The look on Zachary's face was clear. Concern, worry, and pain for the loss of the Star Fairy. She closed her eyes and continued in calm serenity famous for a celestial creature. "There are legends of the star fairies. Though small and child-like in nature, they possess an enormous amount of energy which you humans call magic power. Their magic is so strong, they can manifest almost any wish and bring luck to those in their presences. They are greatly coveted for this... but that is not all. The true secret of their magic, is also what makes them a target," she explained, a hint of sorrow in her voice. "Star Fairies are eternal. They are immortal, their lifespans living for as long as the stars themselves. However, one can take that immortality for their own... but at a grave price."

A lump formed in Zachary's throat as he heard her. "Um... what price?" he asked.

Despite her serene appearance, the hint of pain was on Minu's face as she bared the courage necessary to speak the truth. "For anyone who wishes to steal the immortality of a Star Fairy, they must ... consume its heart. Once they do, they become immortal... and the Star Fairy dies."

Zachary's eyes went wide with alarm and shock. The little creature had that kind of magic inside him. He was that great of importance and he never knew. But more terrifying to Zachary, that someone-- that woman who conned them, would be wanting to...

"No! No that can't be!" Zachary shouted in outrage. "He... Are you telling me the woman who took him will---"

Minu looked to him, her eyes firm but calm. "Yes... and now that I told you, what is your intent? Do you feel cheated you have not known and would of done the same?" she asked.

"HELL NO!!" Zachary shouted, almost startling Nyx on his shoulders.

This, however, actually made Minu's expression look in genuine surprise. She half expected him to be upset someone stole immortality from him-- but that was not the case. What she saw was genuine outrage and alarm.

"That twisted witch wants to kill my friend! I don't care if he gives immortality or not! I don't want to see him die! " he spat out, clearly emotional as much as he was before. While not the best show before Samira, it was clear he was sincere in his reaction.

Nyx, listening carefully up till now raised her voice with a hoot. "Beg your pardon, Lady Minu. I'm Noctura, scholar to the Celestial Realm. I can speak upon my owner and student's character when I say, he had shown nothing but care and concern for the Stratafey. He even refused to hand it over to the kidnapper under the pretense of ensuring its own safety. I can attest that if the safety of this creature is your proper concern, then you have nothing to fear of any human before you now." the owl said.

The intensity Minu radiated still remained, but slowly subsided. "Then I owe you an apology for suspecting your motives. But with that said, I should say there is still time. If he was captured mere moments ago, it is unlikely he will be killed now. The process to rip out his heart requires a lengthy ritual. Plus, the more happy and content the Star Fairy is, the more energy it manifests, like fruit ripe to pluck. Human boy with blue hair, if you choose to save this creature, then when the time comes, you can depend on my aid. " she said, and with it, her form began to vanish, the magic used to summon her not holding as fast due to Zachary's lack of energy. "Please... there isn't much time. Find the Star Fairy... Save him... "

She soon vanished before their eyes in a shimmer of stardust. "WAIT!!" Zachary cried, but she was gone, his grip tight on her mysterious key. With her gone, Zachary felt torn. He now realized the danger his friend was in-- but also knew there was hope to still save him. Nyx could see his fear slowly fade into a stern expression. "Geh... we gotta find him. I don't care what it takes. I will save him."

He turned to Samira, hoping she could help him. "I... I know I am implying a lot from you, but would you please help me find him? Help me stop that witch from killing the Star Fairy?" he asked.

WC:1074

Samira continued her activities as the newly summoned spirit went on to explain a few things, though eventually Samira traded up her iLac for a notebook and proceeded to write notes on what had been said. If she cared about the star fairy's fate it would have been difficult to tell by those around. Unlike Zachary, she had more control over her emotions and wore very little expressions. It wasn't until she knew someone longer and spent time with them that she was more of an open book and allowed more to show. At that moment, none of them fit that criteria so she appeared to be a calm yet uncaring individual as she went about her business. Even the statement of the star fairy's heart being consumed for immortality got little to not reaction. The most she did was raise her gaze from her notebook and stare at them all as if that was the strangest thing she had ever heard.

Immortality? That was it? If someone was waiting for who knew how long for a random meteorite to crash down on Earthland and hope it contained a Star Fairy she had expected more to come out of it. There were several more guaranteed ways to accomplish that right on their own planet! Most of them dangerous, difficult, and generally a bad idea without already having the power to back it up, but it would have been better than waiting a lifetime for something to happen that might not ever occur. There had to be more to it than simple immortality. Even eating an Earthland god's heart surely gave more, and there were plenty of those walking around. Samira had already met some, and they were not even trying to hide or blend in. Still, that doctor was one lucky person to not only have the Star Fairy show up like she wanted, but to practically have it handed right to her. There was credit given for persistence and patience.

As the conversation continued, Samira found it a little amusing that no one seemed to speak of her character or even considered that maybe she would want the star fairy's heart for herself. Minu had already suspiciously asked Zachary that very question, and he had denied such a desire. Samira had expected to be asked next, but she was not. My goodness! Had she finally obtained natural invisibility?! Or did she just come off as too trusting? No, it had to be the former based on Minu's earlier reaction towards her when she had first appeared, which was one of suspicion and understandably so. How that just faded was beyond Samira's thought process. She didn't think there was anyone even more trusting than she was most of the time.

Her humorous thoughts about her newfound invisibility vanished, having been replaced by disappointment. Minu disappeared back to her own realm. Whether it was because she chose to do so or because of Zachary's strength to keep her there had diminished she wasn't entirely sure. The latter she could probably fix by just taking the key and using her own power to call Minu back. No contract had been formed, so Samira's guess was that the one that held the key could call on her. But, she wouldn't do something like that even if it were the easiest and quickest option. Samira also had her doubts on how helpful the spirit would be anyway.

The Goddess wished that Minu had mentioned more on how to find the Star Fairy, or use her power to lead them in a general direction. Without that, they were still on the same step one square they were before, just with much more knowledge about a few things. It was highly likely Minu didn't have such abilities or knew how to find the Star Fairy. Disappointing really, and made it clear that she had over-estimated the spirit in that regard. Else, surely Minu would have added that on at the speed of an auctioneer announcer before disappearing completely.

Oh, dear. It seemed as if her invisibility while standing still had worn off. Zachary had turned towards her and asked for her help. Yes, he was also too trusting. He also had not considered that she would be a danger to the Star Fairy after hearing all of those details. Or... did people maybe think that she was already immortal or something? Now that would be one hell of an over-exaggeration. Samira stared at him for a moment curiously. She was silent and said nothing, instead choosing to close her notebook by pushing the covers underneath together quickly in a snap. The notebook burst into particles as it vanished back into her storage vault. "I can help you stop the witch from being successful in her ultimate goal, but you are forgetting the one detail that has stalled us for this long. I have already told you that I cannot find the creature or the witch with zero leads. They could be anywhere in this realm or another, and I am not omniscient. I expected the spirit in that key to be more helpful with that matter, but I was mistaken. We remain as we were moments ago." It was a shame that she was not a slayer that could track the doctor's scent like some weird bloodhound. And she knew all too well the strength of a dragon's sense of smell. She lacked one of those as well thankfully. She detested dragons. Still, both of those would have been useful if the witch or the star fairy were still in Fiore or even Earthland though. "I do not suppose that the ability you used before could be used again, could it? The one that makes use of your eyes, I mean. It led you here as it was. Perhaps by using it again we can get a new lead on where they are now." Honestly Samira had some doubts about that ability as well. Based on what she had seen already that day, the ability was new and its use sporadic. To say Zachary had actual control over it would be foolish. Maybe they would get lucky though. If not, hopefully he had a better plan.

(Word Count: 1040
Samira Total: 1804)

Zachary was tense for his plead for help by Samira. He knew he didn't know her too well, or that this might even be none of her concern-- but Zachary trusted her. He just 'felt' that she was someone he could believe in and acted on his intuition. He felt she was a kindred spirit that had care for spirits as he did, so why wouldn't he think she was someone he could depend on. Besides, if someone's life was at stake, would she really say no?

After what seemed like minutes, she finally answered, but was stern in her response how she had no way to find them, if they were still in Magnolia. Zachary felt they were still here, otherwise, his vision would have been somewhere else entirely. Her direct and brusk description of their situation was painfully humbling to Zachary. Still, he couldn't give up.

Her mention of the eyes to possibly find them made Zachary pause. While it did have benefits it seemed, Zachary couldn't even begin to grasp just what his 'visions' were and how to use them. He didn't even know what IT was. "Um... I don't know..." Zachary hesitated, still feeling the headache he had from before. The visions were an odd situation on him, and it made his head spin.

Joining in after being quiet for so long, Nyx flapped her wings as she perched on her summoner's shoulders. "I do not think we can completely depend on that. While it is very curious and potentially useful," the snowy white owl said to Samira, "It is clear that Zachary cannot control it at will, nor do we have the time to delve into it deeper. It seemed to be triggered during moments of high emotional and physical stress. Beyond that, we do not know enough to truly know."

Zachary bit his lip, ashamed of having this problem of all times. He couldn't really care about his 'eyes' right now. He took a deep breath and tried to think. He began to dig through his pockets for his keys, trying to find one who could help.

"Aquila can fly and look around but I doubt he could find them soon enough," Zachary explained, causing the eagle to give a squack as if offended. "Drat, wish I had a spirit that was clarvoiant or a dowser so how am i--" he stopped as the other contents of his pocket spilled out on the ground clumsily. Among them being a pen, his Ilac-- and finally the business card the witch had given him with her fake information. He picked them up and held the card. A part of him hoped he could have a vision holding it. He held it and waited...

... but nothing happened. His eyes didn't even shift color.

He looked at the card, the only thing they had of her and then...

BING! A lightbulb went off in his head and his eyes snapped open with an emphphany.

"Wait-- I got it! I know how we can find them!" Zachary exclaimed. With renewed energy he held the card to Samira to show, and then got one of his keys out-- a silver one with a wolf's head in the key's teeth. "I can't believe I didn't think of this one sooner. Open gate of the--"

Suddenly, he stopped. His body went stiff as Nyx also got curious and looked to her summoner, puzzled by the boy's expression. An embarrassed look crossed Zachary's face and he slowly turned to Samira, as if hesitant to finish the summoning.

"Um... Lady Samira," Zachary asked, his tone a bit hesitant, "I should warn you... this spirit is a bit... difficult. As in, he may offend you and if he does, I am sorry..."

Nyx shook her head, knowing what was gonna happen. With a deep breath, Zachary turned back around and held the key out, this time with determination to summon it. "Open-- GATE OF THE WOLF! SIRIUS!!" he swiped the key ahead of him, causing a flash of light and the 'sound' of the spirit bells.

From it, appeared a lupine creature, clad in a form of blue armored exterior. It stood on two legs, appearing almost humanoid as he growled with his appearance. He arched his back, wagging a big bushy blue tail and howled into the air. The creature was an unusual anthro were-wolf, everything from the claws, tail and canine face, ears and teeth. Realizing he was there and hearing his summoner's call, he turned to them.

"Hey there, pup," Sirius greeted, "Been a long time. Hope you called me to---"

The wolf stopped and soon saw sight of Samira behind him. The wolf paused for a moment, but before anything else could be done, his jaw dropped and hearts appeared in his eyes. "Owwwww-wwwwowow!" he howled, and sprinted right up to Samira. He clearly was a head taller than her, but looked at her with attention-loving eyes as he got rather inappropriately close to her. "Well, hello there! Name's Sirius the Wolf. And what is a pretty little thing like you doing with a silly kid like him?" He soon finished with a lookup and down and a whistle.

Now she knew why Zachary didn't want to really summon him. The wolf was a womanizer-- no pun intended. The owl stared daggers at Sirius while Zachary face-palmed himself in shame for his spirit hitting on the wizard saint. This would not end well.

WC: 914

Zachary seemed hesitant in the capabilities of those strange eye powers of his that started up so suddenly before. When Nyx spoke, stating that the ability was unreliable at current. That could be true, though Samira questioned the accuracy of the owl's theory. The first time the ability showed itself was a moment that had very little if any emotional or physical stress. There was also his current state, which was very high in the emotional area. The eyes should have started to turn and sound the alarms by now while popping out of his sockets. An exaggeration, sure, but still with the same estimated result. They would be reacting and they weren't. And just because he supposedly could not control it did not mean that he shouldn't try to focus on using them. Perhaps that was just one in many areas that they differed. In the past Samira often pushed herself to accomplish more than she should have, even ignoring health hazards to do so. Past friends and colleagues had to be the ones to put a stop to it or be burdened with the aftermath of her foolish ways. So, with that in mind, Samira remained quiet, refusing to act on correcting Nyx or putting her own input on that subject. Though, staying quiet became very difficult when the boy mentioned having Aquila fly around. Samira arched a brow, her expression clearly questioning just what train of thought Zachary had hopped on. If the solution were that easy Samira would have already seen it done herself. The witch couldn't be so idiotic that she'd be in a spot that could be found by flight alone. If she were, the chances that her snake spirit would have found them by now were very high. He was still floating around somewhere most likely. She never bothered to check on his status and just let him do as he wished when she left the store. It was easier that way so long as he didn't do anything that would be troublesome.

As Zachary rummaged through his pockets, the contents poured out of it. Among them being a pen, his iLac device, and a small card. The latter must have been important enough for him to stare at it for so long after picking it up. A part of the witch's rouse perhaps? If that sparked his eye abilities at all that would have certainly been very helpful towards their next step. Alas, nothing seemed to happen. The conversation in her own head with her spirits wasn't proving to be much help either. Many weren't particularly interested in helping Zachary or the star fairy. Those that wanted to help had their limits in abilities or how far they wanted to go to correct things. It would have been a simple matter for Chronos to turn back the clock or take a peek into the timeline to find some clues, but he refused to do so. Hades could have tracked her location by her soul essence or lifeforce, but he refused to oblige. And so on and so forth for each spirit that had access to anything that could have helped. They had so many abilities and wonders at their disposal that Samira herself would never have, but if they didn't want to make use of them for the search then she couldn't very well force them. Their limits and refusal to abuse their power was to be respected. Unfortunately that still meant that she was pretty useless and could offer no aid. The step of tracking down the witch and star fairy would have to be done by Zachary himself.

Suddenly, Zachary was filled with renewed energy and faith. He had found a way to conquer their current dilemma! As suspected the card was important indeed. He showed the card to her, which she took hold of for a few seconds to read before letting him take it again. A fake business card. The witch sure went all out for her little trick. But more than the card though was the fact Zachary had knew which key and spirit would be useful for his plans. He had begun summoning the being connected to the physical key when he suddenly stopped. "Yes?" Samira asked with a curious blink of her eyes when he spoke her name. What came next was a warning of the spirit that was to be summoned. The woman tilted her head and blinked again. It was rather confusing to be giving her of all people a warning about difficult spirits. She had well over forty of them herself. Still, she supposed it was very considerate of him to warn her and apologize in advance. That much she could respect and be grateful for. Her mental self could prepare itself and react with more patience. It was still weird as that was the first time anyone else had ever warned her about a spirit, but there was a first for everything apparently. "I have had my fair share of dealing with offensive spirits. I will be fine, but thank you for warning me," the Goddess of Ishgar told him with a reassuring smile. Her hand motioned over towards the key he still held, and she gave a nod, indicating that it was okay for him to proceed with the summoning. "Please, summon him as you intended. Your idea is the only one we have at current." What that idea was she didn't know, but it was something that wasn't nothing and that had to be good enough.

As Zachary completed the summoning and the spirit appeared, Samira pondered on what was to be so offensive about him. He appeared to be a wolf-like spirit for the most part. His personality while addressing his summoner appeared to be quite normal and friendly. Truthfully, when she received the warning she had thought the spirit would be hostile, rude, or possibly even violent. Many of those spirits she had encountered from other summoners and even some of her own spirits fit that category easily. The wolf, who she concluded to be referred to as Sirius based on the name that was called, was the complete opposite of them all. Then he paused and took notice of her. It was then she understood. The wolf humanoid creature was far worse than she had originally thought. He wasn't driven by violent or hostile tendencies. The Sirius spirit was a flirty womanizer that was so extreme it spread outside even his own species. Samira would have preferred an overly violent and uncontrolled spirit.

Jaw dropping and hearts in eyes was a dead giveaway that the wolf was of that type. It was an effect that happened in many cartoons and picture books. Being a creature of magic, the spirit was able to create that effect in reality. Though, at the time, she sincerely hoped he had spotted something or someone else and not have her within his sights. Disappointment slapped her as the wolf howled and rushed towards her. The spirit got much too close for comfort, spoke some words that she would imagine a random creep in a bar would start off with, and then finished his first impression off with a whistle while looking her up and down. Samira hated being the object of that sort of attention. Very few things made her instantly angry. Her patience, tolerance, and self control were normally too high to be provoked easily. However, the way the wolf spoke and acted around her was enough for her mental state to go from calm to royally ticked. Add on to the fact that she did not consider that to be what Zachary was warning her about, and she was close to erupting. It wasn't even so much about disrespect. That much she was used to. One didn't start at the bottom of the mage hierarchy without running into some form of it. Past lessons just taught her that those types were completely fake, annoying, and one of the worst types of criminals that should be locked up or smited down by every god that existed for their sins.

As the wolf reacted to seeing her, Samira didn't even look at him. Her now narrowed glare just stared straight ahead. What would she do about this? The voices in her head were loud. Many of the spirits laughed at her plight, finding much humor in it for many reasons. Others wanted to destroy Sirius where he stood. How dare he have the nerve to act in such a way towards their summoner! Whichever ones were practically indifferent were busy trying to hold back one spirit in particular. Chaac was one of her original four spirits from when she was a child, and the ancient spirit was one that acted more of a father figure much like Isis was the mother. That unfortunately meant he was vastly over protective when it came to those that were bold enough to flirt with Samira. A dark part of her wished he had been successful at trampling over the other spirits so he could pop up and cut down that wolf. The darkest part of her wished Apophis had taken notice to do the same thing, but much worse due to his jealous nature. A shame neither occurred. There was still time she supposed if it happened again. For his sake though it had better not.

A small wave of celestial energy pulsed from the woman. With Sirius being as close as he was there was a high chance that he would not have even noticed it before it was too late. If it struck him, the wolf would become transparent and unable to move, his body having been banished partially into a different realm. Though, whether he was affected or reacted in time to move out of the way, Samira's words would remain the same. A warning for a warning. "I advise that you not only keep your distance from me, but to also choose your actions and words carefully when addressing me. I am not available, and I do not appreciate those type of approaches. This will be your only warning. Repeat your transgression, and I will have you neutered." Possibly with an axe if she allowed Chaac to do it, but that detail didn't need to be mentioned. The woman took steps away to ensure she was within a comfortable distance from the spirit. She wasn't so rude as to ignore his earlier question, and so she answered. "As for your question, I am here to help your summoner. Provided you can control your behavior and do your part of aiding him first."

If the wolf had been struck by her spell, it would wear off on its own, or she would remove it if Zachary had asked it of her. After that, she just stood there, arms folded over her chest, and waited. Hopefully the boy's plan would work, and she would not need to do more to Sirius than she already had.

(Word Count: 1843
Samira Total: 3647)

The cold, almost grim response was well appropriate considering how hard the wolf had come on to Samira. Every time Zachary summoned Sirius, and never on a whim, the wolf had always made some lewd sexual comment or would hit shamelessly on a female who happened to be around. It took all of Zachary's energy and patience to tolerate the wolf's antics. This time, however, it went as far as him coming on to a Wizard Saint. That would be a fatal mistake.

However-- what Sirius lacked in social grace, he made up for in battle instincts as he sensed the surge of imminent dread and quickly moved back. The wolf seemed to react almost instinctively as most animals could do, but he had a natural sense of speed beyond most spirits could. While not the most 'dependable' due to his personality, the wolf was renowned for being a powerful fighter. However, while the warning Samira gave him was dark and grim, he didn't seem to mind it and kept his distance but still had that cocky wolfish grin. "Oooh, fiesty. Me likey," he said in awe and flattery towards her.

Out of fear, this would escalate further, Zachary interrupted and stepped between the two of them. "That's enough, Sirius!" Zachary said, his tone as firm and strict as he could muster, which was hard for the boy's kinder nature. "We have an emergency and I need your help. Now!"

Hearing his master's words, the wolf grumbled as he looked away from Simera and Zachary. "Sigh... why couldn't I be contracted to a cute, busty red-head," the wolf grumbled but soon his tone changed to a more focused one, "Alright, alright... what's the problem, pup?"

Zachary's face was still red-- part from anger having to deal with the wolf, and part embarrassed that all this happened in front of a Wizard Saint Zachary had begun to really respect. "A friend was kidnapped and his life is at stake. The kidnapper left this and we need you to track them," he said, showing Sirius the faulty business card. "Can you do it?"

The wolf blinked at the card and soon got on all fours. Like a traditional canine wolf, Sirius loomed his mussel close to Zachary's hand and sniffed the card to grasp a sense of the smell the owner had. He did this for a few seconds while Zachary waited patiently and Nyx , perched on his shoulder, leered at the wolf awaiting an appropriate answer.

"Hmm, interesting..." Sirius said, sniffing the card and detecting details, "I smell coffee, lab clothing... snakes--odd... and... " The wolf rose up, a serious look in his eye as he looked down at Zachary, the last part of the scent grabbing his attention. "One crucial question I need to know about this target..." he asked. Zachary kept silent and waited, seeing the stern look on his face as he glared. The tension was rising and then... "... is she hot?"

BWONG!! Zachary almost fell over onto the cobblestone street, thrown off by the outrageous inquiry.

Nyx the Owl flew off his shoulder from the lack of balance, her feathers now out in annoyance as bad as an owl could do to imitate Samira's rage. "WHOOO CARES!?" Nyx squawked at the wolf, just as pissed off as a female to have to tolerate Sirius' womanizing antics. "An innocent creature is about to be murdered, you mongrel!"

Regaining his balance, Zachary shook his head and glared at the wolf. "SIRIUS...!" he growled, a rather out-of-character show of his frustration at the werewolf spirit.

"Okay, okay... I'm joking. Stiff old bird," the wolf replied and soon began to sniff the surrounding area. He soon returned to all fours and sniffed the floor, tracing around the ground a bit. After a moment, his tail and ears jumped in attention and he looked to the far south end of the ruined building. A bark came from him and he took off running. "Ready or not--- here I come, baby!!" he called and took off sprinting after the scent.

Nyx soon landed back on Zachary's shoulder, her feathers shaken a bit by her irritation at the wolf's antics. "Well, at least he is uncomplicated..." she sighed.

With Sirius now on the run to track down their kidnapper, Zachary let out a much-needed breath of relief. Still red in his face, he turned to Samira. He couldn't imagine how bad she must have thought of him personally for having his spirit make a pass at her like that. Though he wasn't really at fault, he still felt responsible and ashamed. "I'm truly sorry for my spirit's behavior, Lady Samira," Zachary said, and bowed deeply to her, Nyx tilting a bit to keep her balance. "Sirius has... flaws that make him difficult to work with. God knows I tried to correct them."

All the while, Aquila also was above them, watching everything from where he glided and with his keen eyes. He also was now following Sirius as he ran-- which was like a bull through a china shop through town, making it impossible for them to lose sight of the wolf even if they were a bit behind.

WC: 868

The interactions between Zachary, Nyx, and Sirius were of an interesting and amusing nature. Well, moreso for a normal person that wasn't heavily annoyed or angered. The Wizard Saint herself just watched with a cold stare. Patient while she waited for the wolf to get back to the topic at hand, but still cold. There was nothing to be said in that regard. She knew how difficult spirits could be at times, and though Sirius was how he was, in honesty he wasn't the worst spirit out there. To her he was a criminal, an over-exaggerated description for certain, but to others he'd be classified as a minor annoyance. The boy was just lucky that he didn't have much worse or had to deal with the ones she had to deal with. Yet. Samira was just grateful the wolf spirit took the hint and left her alone now.

Eventually the wolf spirit was convinced to do as Zachary wanted him to, and then took off in a sprint, leaving all of them behind aside from Aquilla, who followed after him. That wolf was going to be in serious trouble if he actually found and approached the witch in the same way as he had approached her. The smart and considerate thing to do was to warn him not to, or pass that on to Zachary, but Samira chose to stay quiet. Let him go through the motion of cause and effect. Actions and consequences.

While watching him go and the dust he created from his sprint rise ahead, Zachary started to speak up, causing her to take the focus off of the wolf's direction and instead shift her gaze onto the Fairy Tail mage. He apologized for the actions of the spirit, and had even gone as far to comment that he had tried correcting them in the past. The woman just sighed and shrugged her shoulders. In the end, there really wasn't much to apologize for. If that was the spirit's personality then that was how he was going to act. She blamed the spirit more than the summoner. "As long as he does not try that again I am certain I can get over it." Maybe. It's possible she'd hold a grudge for some time and not like being around Sirius at all even if he behaved himself from that point on. "He is not the only spirit with that sort of personality regardless, so do not be so ashamed in the future. You are starting to make me feel guilty for being angry towards him." It was true enough. The head bow of shame was a bit much. If she were in a better mood, that probably would have caused her to chuckle awkwardly. "Every spirit has their own flaws. The most you can do is acknowledge them. They are not children, so I would be very surprised if you managed to correct any of them to your satisfaction. Though, we really should not be standing here discussing this. It can wait for later. There is still the matter of the star fairy." Yeah, that was much more important, wasn't it? Instead of taking off after the wolf they were all just standing there talking as if Sirius was going to come back with the fairy. That wasn't going to happen even if he could get away with the creature. His personality wouldn't allow it once he saw the witch, most likely.

"Do you have a means of catching up quickly? If not I can assist there." Samira knew that Zachary at least had Leo that he could use as a method of transportation, but whether he was available or not she wasn't sure. As for her, she had multiple ways of catching up to the wolf, but she didn't really want to leave the boy in the dust like she had several days ago when she ditched him after the fall of the meteor.

(Word Count: 658
Samira Total: 4305)

A sense of relief filled Zachary to know that Samira wasn't too offended by Sirius' antics. True, the wolf would get what he deserved acting all predatorial and horny around other ladies. He really got pissed off when he wanted to talk about meeting or going on a date with his mom. That mental image always haunted him in the worst of times. But the point being Samira understood how other spirits could be and from the impression Zachary got from her, she had seen much worse of summons from her experience.

However, her words made him return to the matter at hand-- finding the star fairy before the wicked witch killed him and ripped out his heart. With that on hand, Zachary was ready to go. He was ready to just run after it, but Samira asked how were they gonna catch up with the wolf. He wouldn't of mind running, but she made a point since time was of the essence. He dug out his keys again and knew his best friend could help. "I can help with that," Zachary said and swished out a key with the head of a horse with wings branching behind it. "Open-- Gate of the Winged Horse! PEGASUS!!"

The flash of the key produced a cloud of smoke and light as a 'neigh' cried from it. A flap of wings revealed a beautiful white horse with golden-hued feathers for his wings from his back. His rich white mane shook as his sapphire horn gleamed in the sunlight. Technically he was an Alcorn, but as the spirit of Pegasus, he was called such. He turned to Zachary and Samira, sensing the urgency to be called forth. Normally, Pegasus hated to be summoned for mere rides, but he and Zachary were so close, he never truly said no to it. "I trust we should make haste, my friend," Pegasus said with a noble tone, and he greeted Samira with a bow of his head, offering to give her a ride as well.

The ride would be very short, if Samira choose to go with Zachary or not, as Pegasus soared high over the buildings. However, the real trick was to find Sirius. While the wolf was fast, it was why Zachary kept Aquila out all this time. Aquila didn't boast being called "eagle eyes" for nothing. He could track anything, see things from over a mile away, even have a sense of telescopic vision and x-ray vision to an extent. Naturally, keeping track of an exciting blue werewolf was a simple matter-- which was seen as Samira and Zachary could see Aquila.

The eagle would circle over a place, being the only eagle in sight in Magnolia. "There! I think they found something!" Zachary cried, and Pegasus flew to where Aquila circled below.

As Pegasus landed, they were in a less savory part of Magnolia-- mainly a large canal that moved out further to the waters that moved away from the town. While Aquila and Pegasus made their descent, Sirius was on all fours at the entrance of a massive pipe, which was more like a tunnel. Water flowed out from it, and the aroma from it was dank, musty and moldy. All the while, Sirius continued to sniff the air around it, and on the ground, the trail stopping there for Sirius at the moment.

Zachary was there but Sirius didn't seem to notice just yet till he spoke up. "Um, Sirius? Did you find them?" he asked, with Nyx soon flying back on his shoulder and Aquila flapping his wings lightly in mid-air to stay there. Pegasus too followed behind, listening to the situation.

Sirius soon rose his head up and returned to his two-legged position. "Eh, well I tracked the smell here but..." he hesitated, and glanced into the dark tunnel and his nose recoiled from it. "The smell is mingled in there, making it hard to track. Either way I just waited here for you before we go in but still, there is a chance it be harder to track with all these other lovely scents in here..." the wolf growled, a clear hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Zachary sighed too. "Typical for a bad guy to escape in the sewers," he groaned.

"Not necessarily, Prof. Nyx spoke up with a positive tone, more so to inform the others, "This pipe is more likely a storm drain system used for the canals in Magnolia. Sewage wouldn't be evacuated here of all places. Tunnels and pipes like these are only more used for excess water during flood or rainy seasons in the event the canals would overflow."

While Nyx took the opportunity to educate them, Zachary realized they had to go in. Knowing it wasn't a sewer pipe, Zachary felt the smell to be more tolerable than before. While not pleasant, it wasn't deterring them from pressing forward.

As Zachary glanced to Samira, Aquila gave a soft caw of distance. "I hate to say it, Z-boy-- but I don't think I am gonna be much help to you underground, let alone in close quarters like this." the eagle said.

"As am I," Pegasus chimed in, which was reasonable him being a flying horse. Flying wasn't likely an easy feat for them if they were underground.

Without an issue, Zachary took out his keys to be ready but more for them. "It's okay. Thank you for all your help so far. If I need you, I'll call you again," Zachary said as he swished his keys. In a flurry of starlight and air, both Aquila and Pegasus vanished before their eyes, leaving only Sirius and Nyx with them. While Nyx didn't require much magic power to keep her there, her presence was always welcomed.

"Okay, Sirius," Zachary said to the wolf, "Lead the way!"

The wolf gave a soft whine and glanced at Samira for a moment. "Ah, the things I do to impress a woman," he said, then led the way into the tunnel.

With Sirius leading the way, they entered the dank, murky tunnel. It was difficult to see, but the tunnel had a variety of utility tunnels that seemed to stretch out to other parts of Magnolia. It was hard for him to imagine how much was underneath the city itself. While being on alert, Zachary kept close to Samira. Nyx also could see without issue in the darker atmosphere, but it still required them to be careful.

After about five minutes, they came to a stop. Sirius paused, looking ahead and torn-- a fork in the tunnel causing them to wonder which way to go. The wolf would drag his head from the left, to right, then back to the left, sniffing the air.

"Errr... damnit," Sirius growled, "It's hard to tell which way. There is a whole parade of smells down here and its making hard to find her. "

Zachary paused as he looked at the two different passages. "Maybe they both exit to the same area, so it might not matter which way but still..." Zachary thought aloud as he held his chin, but soon turned to Samira. "Should we split up to try and see which one she is in?"

"Well, i can go with the lovely lady and---"

"NO!!" Zachary and Nyx said in unison.

WC: 1223

Thankfully Zachary did indeed have his own way around in the sky. A spirit that took the form of a pegasus had been called for such a task. As the winged horse nodded a greeting, Samira did so as well out of respect, but she would refuse the ride. In honesty, the young woman didn't like riding on the backs of creatures as a method of transportation. The only ones she trusted enough and tolerated were that of her spirits that could provide that function easily. Which brought onto why she was thankful Zachary had his own way there covered. Anhur was not around to aid there, but Kukulkan could have been summoned to fly them there. Not that the winged serpent would have been thrilled with the idea. It was highly likely she'd try to eat Zachary instead.

Well, at least now they wouldn't have to see if that was what really would happen. Samira wouldn't need to summon her, not even for herself to ride on. The portals of Janus also wouldn't be used in this instance either. His power was convenient enough, but she didn't need to use it all the time. More importantly though, the Goddess of Ishgar felt that it would be best if she accompanied the boy closely instead of allowing themselves to get separated again. He was more of the rash sort of mind. There was no doubt in her mind that he'd rush right towards the witch if he saw her. The result likely and rightly getting him killed or injured.

Samira removed a key from the golden keyring hooked to her waist. The particular key she now held was unlike that of the ones of her spirits. While those keys were decorative with symbols and coloring of the culture and gods and goddesses they represented and showed no signs of age, this one showed its age. It was dull in color even and could have been confused as something completely worthless. The truth was the opposite. It was a powerful heirloom of her line that bestowed additional power on its owner so long as they were of the Nassar lineage. The summoner closed her eyes, channeling and focusing on its power. After a few short moments, the key began to glow, celestial energy leaving it and swirling slowly around Samira. The energy formed a pair of wings that floated on their own inches away from Samira's back. Though not entirely attached to her they would still grant her the ability of flight one could expect from them. From there, the mage duo would take off to trail after the sprinting wolf spirit. Zachary riding Pegasus, and Samira flying in the air near them. Naturally she also allowed the spirits of Susano and Amaterasu to leave their posts and return to her mindspace. Their job was complete for now.

They would soon have a reason to descend back towards the ground. The wolf had come to a stop. The trail had ended. The cause? The scent being mixed and nearly overpowered by the smells within the storm drain he stopped in front of. "Regardless of what this tunnel is we have to go in. You might as well start getting used to it. This occurrence is more common than it should be." She didn't even want to keep track of how many times she had walked into those underground tunnels. Though, if she had to, that day had already accounted for two of them by itself.

As much as she wanted to head on in first to prove a point and get things moving again she decided not to. Instead Samira waited patiently for Zachary to dismiss the spirits that stated they would not be of much use at that time. After that, Zachary told the wolf to continue into the tunnel, but not without the wolf spirit first making a comment that was positively eyerolling. Not that Samira did such a thing, of course. An eyebrow twitched, but that was all as she kept her composure. Her lids covered the verdant eyes that would have most likely sent a piercing look of absolute death towards the creature. If looks could kill anyway. Hers did not do such a thing literally. A very unfortunate weakness in some cases. "In many cases silence is the most impressive and appreciated of qualities," Samira retorted, opening her eyes again and taking a step into the tunnel's entrance to follow along.

The celestial wings, while useless for flight in a tunnel, still had the advantage of providing a light source while within the tunnel. Without that light, Samira would not have even entered the tunnel in the first place. In a way it was a disadvantage since anyone hiding out in those tunnels could see it from far off. Samira accepted it as it was though and would not care if it was pointed out. She detested dark tunnels without light and wouldn't be caught dead in one. Unless they all wanted a walking nuke getting nervous and blow up at any little thing they were keeping that light on.

After a few minutes of walking, the mage duo and spirits would come across a split in the tunnel walkway. The scent the wolf had been following had faded even more and there was no possible way he could accurately pick a direction. "Hmmmm." Samira hummed to herself, thinking as she looked at each tunnel. She shook her head, disapproving of the idea to split up, and even moreso when Sirius was suggesting he go with "the lovely lady." Unless he meant Nyx, that left her as the only other female in the general vicinity. She refused to comment on that part and let it slide. "I cannot agree with splitting up. If you find her before I do I question what you would do, or more importantly, what she would do if she noticed you intruding. It is too risky for my liking at your current level of power and experience." Her words weren't meant to be rude or think of him as a weakling. It was just a fact. He already had trouble dealing with the witch's pet. She would be even harder to deal with if she wanted to confront him head on. "I also think even if we sent Sirius on his own that he would be too obvious. A werewolf looking creature I would hope is not a common sight leaping through storm drain tunnels."

Samira had another idea in mind. "Serqet. Loki." At the call of their names, two spirits materialized in a flash of celestial light and sparkles. One being a spirit that looked like a normal woman. If normal women had long golden scorpion tails. The other being a spirit that could take on any shape but generally preferred that of a jester in normal circumstances.

"Yeeessssss? What can little ol' me do for you on this fantastic day?" Inquired the jester, feigning exaggerated cheer and eagerness to be of use. He then took a look around and frowned. "Oh my! Well isn't this an awfully dreary place? I hope I wasn't supposed to bring the sanitizer before coming." The jester coughed and fanned the air around his nose at an attempt to remove the natural smell of the tunnel. "Or the air freshener."

Serqet, the scorpion-tailed lady, couldn't contain her excitement. At the moment she arrived and saw Zachary, she screamed, flailed, and jumped around, ecstatic to see her text pal! Well technically he thought he had been texting Samira and didn't know the spirit was the one answering all of the messages, but that was okay! "HIHI!" Serqet had jumped, prepared to tackle the teenager in greeting, but she was stopped short when Loki pulled her tail and let her fall to the ground, bringing her flight to a crashing halt. "Did you have to summon this one?"

"She is the only one with invisibility, so, yes," Samira replied calmly, Serqet's attempted actions hardly even phasing her. "I need you and Serqet to go down one of the tunnels and report back what you find to me." Generally one would think sending Serqet would have been enough, but that spirit had a way of blowing her invisibility cover. Loki was being sent as well to keep an eye on her and the task. With his power to shapeshift, he could easily transform into something more commonplace for a tunnel of that kind, such as a bug. Also, with their mental link with Samira, they could just report back with their thoughts. It seemed like somewhat of a decent plan. Much better than she and Zachary splitting up or sending the wolf on his own.

The jaster shrugged, accepting the plan without much thought. He clapped his hands together and gallantly pranced towards one of the tunnels. "Splendid! Now, do I go in this one?" He pranced towards the other one. "Or this one? They both look so inviting that I simply cannot choose!"

Samira looked to Zachary and Sirius. "You are free to choose the tunnel you think is correct. They will take the other one."

(Word Count: 1531
Samira Total: 5836)

Like a true Wizard Saint, Samira was wise than Zachary knew. He was willing to take risks, but it was too strong a chance to meet up with the witch divided and risk injury. While Zachary could bet Samira could handle her, he probably couldn't, even with his spirits. The witch was both cunning and powerful if she could command that many summoned creatures at once. Which meant she had a vast amount of magical power. Zachary kept quiet about that, acknowledging the Wizard Saint's wisdom. Also that Sirius would invite unwanted attention.

It was then she summoned a pair of spirits-- one a scorpion tailed woman, whom Zachary had no way to identify-- but the other one was a clown looking spirit. Zachary stepped away from the clown Loki, very nervous about him.

Nyx looked to Zachary, surprised by his frightened expression. "Oh, um, Hi there... Mr, clown spirit..." he greeted.

Zachary knew himself very well, his fears and pet-peeves. He wasn't one who was easily afraid of 'clowns' in the circus, but the look of Loki and the sewers brought up a very eerie feel to him of the 'killer clown' stories that lived in the sewers. And then there was that movie...

"See. This is why I tell you to never watch scary movies like IT at night," Prof. Nyx

Zachary was unsure what they would do-- but it surprised him when Samira gave a choice to Zachary at who would go where. Zachary looked at them with interest, but still cautious of Loki.

"Um... okay! " he said, looking to the lady spirit. "If you two don'tt mind, could you Miss Serqet and Killer Clow--- er, I mean Loki, could do the left tunnel while we take the right?" he asked.

Not the smoothest deflection to his new realized fear of clown spirits...

Either way, Zachary and Sirius with him made their way into the right tunnel and the spirits would take the left. Cautiously, they would make their way forward

WC:336

Serqet rose from the ground and pouted. Why didn't she get a hi?! So rude! She was, after all, the one that had said hi! Loki had ignored the boy entirely until he spoke up. Hearing Zachary speak up, Loki turned his attention to him, but only to correct him on one thing. "A clown? No, no, no. I'm not a clown! This is the apparel of a jester," Loki waved his hand in front of his attire to emphasize the importance of their design. Then he removed his hat and gave a low bow. Not really out of respect or anything, but just for show. The shape-shifter spirit stood straight once more, and the hat that was in his hands vanished in a swirl of magic particles and materialized back on his head. "Call me clown again only if you would like the name 'Twinkle Boy'." A mischievous chuckle came from the spirit following his words. He wouldn't stop at the name.

Right after that had been when Samira gave the two instructions. She had taken notice of Zachary's frightened expression when looking at Loki's current form, but she let it sit there and spoke nothing of it. That same spirit had even made the former Wizard Saint and Goddess of Ishgar feel uneasy at one point long ago. What sort of clown experiences those two had in the past prior to seeing Loki she couldn't imagine. It was a bizarre fear to have. Though, that rational was coming from someone that feared dolls. She couldn't really judge.

Once Zachary chose the tunnel his intuition pointed to, Samira gave a nod towards her two spirits, confirming to them that it was fine to get going towards the other tunnel. "Oh, the left! I do enjoy the left side of things. Right is too favored for my tastes. Lets get going, little scorpion!"

Serqet pouted again, but didn't resist as she was dragged along by the other spirit she was to accompany. "Awww, but I wanted to go with them!" The two exchanged a few more words as they entered their tunnel, but they soon vanished quite literally into the dark depths. Serqet going invisible, and Loki turning into something much too small for anyone back outside their tunnel entrance to make out.

Now all that was left to do was traverse through the tunnel on the right. Zachary and Sirius took the lead with Samira close behind. While it probably would have made more sense for her to take the lead in case anything came at them, she didn't want to take charge. Not for this. Rescuing the star creature was a mission Zachary had taken to heart. Therefore, she would allow him to feel as if he could take the lead and make certain decisions such as which tunnel to take. Thus far, nothing happened or stood out, but there was still a while to go yet. Nothing of significance was in the other tunnel either based on the reports transferred to her so far by Loki and Serqet. Samira remained quiet alert regardless.

(Word Count: 516
Samira Total: 6352)

With the divergence between the two other spirits, Zachary, Simira, Nyx and Sirius ventured to the right passage. Whether there was a logic to left or right, didn't seem relevant but an issue of time to stop whatever nefarious ritual being performed. If they didn't reach the star critter in time, Zachary dreaded to think what would happen. Beyond an immortal wicked witch who probably would make them snake food of them, she would kill an innocent creature to do it.

They ventured through the tunnel for a few minutes, avoiding any puddles or questionable material. It seemed rather uneventful-- till Zachary felt a pain in his head. "OH, not again-- ugh..." Zachary gasped, trying to keep quiet as he felt the sensation rise again. He stopped, making Nyx looked concerned to her summoner. After a moment, his eyes opened again-- revealing the black spacy look in his eyes...

For a brief moment, Zachary saw something. A brilliant light directly ahead. It was as if there was an end to the tunnel, shining right at them like the brink of dawn. It was so bright and brilliant, it was almost blinding to Zachary. The moment he blinked his eyes closed, the vision returned to normal, his eyes no longer of a starry sky-- and his vision unchanged. He looked back into the black tunnel, seeing a fainter glow in the distance.

"I think this is it... we're close," Zachary told Samira quietly.

They would proceed closer, Zachary feeling more certain and aware that their target was nearby. The darkness of the tunnel would yield as magical returns hunger to the walls of the tunnel, and torches, like something from a ritual, would stick out from the ground.

It illuminated the sport nearby, showing something in the center. On a stone pedestal, was black-colored cage-like cast iron, looking like a cylinder birdcage. However... inside was what was more important. The star-shaped creature looking around while in the cage, as oblivious to his surroundings as ever.

"It's him... It's him!" Zachary gasped... and impulsively and foolishly, ran to try and reach the cage.

However, as he was half-way there-- something happened.

From the shadows of the left of the tunnel-- black streaks shot outward like arrows. The arrows jetted swiftly across and shot in front of Zachary, stopping his advance as the arrows easily struck and punctured the stone below.

Zachary froze at the sight, and Nyx on his shoulder flew backwards, alarmed by the vicious strike. As he didn't move, the arrows of blackness slowly moved-- retracting and returning like tendrils, back to the darkness of the wall.

"Well, it seems we have guests..." a voice almost hissed from the shadows.

Zachary froze, now sensing a malevolent aura from just out of view. No doubt Samira would of caught on to it long before Zachary had. Slowly, she stepped out of the darkness-- a woman clad in black. Oddly she was shoe-less now, her toe nails having t he same black arrows like that spell from before. She wore a strange black attire of pants, short at her shins and turned into a single piece outfit . She was sleeveless, which revealed a variety of marks on her arms-- tattoos that resembled scales-- and ended with snake heads at her shoulders. She had a hood to her outfit but drawn down, revealing her blonde hair, beautiful face, and wicked amber eyes.

"It seems that tenacity of Fairy Tail wasn't mere rumor, after all. " Dr. Gorgon spoke to them, no longer hiding her intention.

Zachary glared at the woman as she slowly walked out of hiding, now moving to bar herself between the group and the star critter in the cage behind her. Zachary was normally a kind, considering and loving boy by nature. However, the hate he felt-- the pain of being betrayed and lied to for her to take his friend away made him want to punch her in the face. "Hello, Doctor... or was that all crap too?" he asked, his fists trembling.

A chuckle came from the woman, completely devoid of apology. "Please. Call me Medusa," she said with a soft bow towards them.

He had no clue what Samira was gonna do now, but Zachary needed answers. "I knew something was wrong. All seemed a bit too perfect. The timing of the attack and your offer to take him away-- all in the end you wanted him for yourself! I know what he is now and I know what you are trying to do!" Zachary declared, throwing a finger at him.

Medusa's smirk faded a bit, looking at the Fairy Tail youth. "Where are your manners? It's rude to point at people," she scoffed enormously, yet her tone was unusually cool. She looked to the group, actually surprised to find that they tracked her down. "And how did you even find me anyway. It's one thing to track my minions, but how did you learn where I was."

Grumpy enough, Zachary reached into his pocket  and took out the fake business card. "Next time you want to make a clean escape, don't leave slimy trail," he declared and tossed the card towards her, falling to her feet.

She glimpsed at the card, but paid it little mind. "It seems I miscalculated. I didn't expect you would be able to track me with that faulty card. Nevertheless, it was a worthy gambit to convince people of my more nobler background."

"Enough of your lies!" Nyx caved, her voice like a true owl in the tunnel. "We know you're no doctor and that entire story was worthless. How dare you try to deceive my charge with such faulty lies. " The owl felt defensive, seeing Zachary as her student and charge. Even though she had no combat abilities, she was very defiant to defend Zachary.

"To be clear, they were half-truths. Any true deception must have a sliver of truth in order to get the results you want," she said casually as if they were still at that bistro before. "Anyway, as much as I'd love to entertain you, I'm afraid I must ask you to leave. I have a great deal of research to do... and now I have the key to go through with it." she said, softly reaching behind her and tenderly patting the cage containing the Star Fairy.

Zachary felt his blood boil and his stomach sick to see her so close to the creature. Even though he was in danger, the star fairy just looked on oblivious. It was as if he didn't even recognize the danger he was in right now. Likely the witch's lies continued to make things confusing, even for him.

"Get... the hell... AWAY FROM HIM!!" Zachary shouted-- and with it, Sirius howled.

The wolf jumped well overhead of Zachary and moved like a blur. His howl echoed, as did his movements as he moved like a blur. He hopped between the floor, walls and ceiling with his enhanced hunting speed. He followed the scent and now he could smell the target without fail being so close to her. Surprised, Medusa saw the blurring movements, and caught a glimpse in the corner of her eye as he rushed for her left.

"Now you're---" Sirius growled, now practically on top of her and got a good look at the miniacle, good-looking, blonde doctor.

Sirius screeched to a hault and soon was on all fours before the witch, looking up at her with hearts in his eyes. "-- MY KIND OF WOMAN!! " he barked.

All the tension in that sewer pipe just sputtered away like a deflated balloon, and Zachary looked dumbfounded that his summon had stopped his attack mid-strike to flirt with her. Even Medusa was confused by the wolf's unusual behavior.

"Hey there, baby! Any chance you wanna have me as your Spirit? " Sirius panted, now nuzzling her leg.

"YOU TRAITOROUS MUTT!!" Zachary cried out, almost comically at the absurdity of it all. He should have known better... almost all the time, he could never really fight a woman. Another reason why he was embarrassed to use Sirus.

After recovering from the initial shock of the flirtatious werewolf, Medusa gave one of her calm, sensual smiles. "My, aren't you an adorable puppy..." she cooed, humoring the wolf.

SKRITCH!! Suddenly, from right below her-- those same black arrows came shooting out and struck right into Sirius' body! The wolf went howling as he was sent flying through the air. His body was already breaking up with starry energy where the arrows had gored him.

"Whoooo!! Call meeeeeee....!" he howled as he disappeared back to the Celestial World.

"Unfortunately, I am not a dog person," Medusa added, her tone amused to see the wolf vanish.

Zachary and Nyx watched as Sirius vanished mid-air, still asking for her to call him. Zachary's face was red with embarrassment and the owl flapped her wings softly, her face plastered with disappointment. "A truly stellar screw-up, even for him..." she sighed. Zachary groaned as he put a hand over his face, wishing he had not summoned him-- even if he did track Medusa down.

Running a hand through her hair, the black arrows slowly vanished from her body, vanishing into the air as she addressed the wizards before her. "Honestly... let's not do this. Waisting my magic on a silly little boy like you is hardly worth my time..." she said, but then her gaze drew more to Samira near Zachary. "YOU on the other hand... i knew you would be a thorn in my side. To think I would have to contend with a Wizard Saint of all people. Samira Nassar... you're reputation precedes you." Medusa said, showing an almost sincere form of praise to the blue-haired lady.

WC: 1637

Another incident regarding Zachary's new eye abilities occurred while they traveled through the tunnel. Like before, it ended just as quickly as it had started, yet also gave some information that was useful. Whatever it was he saw it led him to believe that they were close and had chosen the right tunnel. Samira mentally sent an update to her spirits that were traveling through the other tunnel. They had confirmed that nothing was in their tunnel so far. Though they did also mention that they came across another fork in their path. Rather than call them back, Samira let them continue on with the exploration. Just in case. "Remember my words from before," Samira stated, reminding the teenager not to do something completely stupid to prove her earlier concerns right.

The tunnel's decor would change the farther they went. Torches stuck into the ground and lined the walls, and there was a familiar sense of magic usage that was hard to miss. Something else was there too. A sinister presence that was not unlike her dark serpent spirit. Samira didn't like it. If they hadn't found the witch then it was certain that they had found something abnormal. Or what should have been abnormal. Secret cults and organizations living underground wasn't too farfetched for a tale turned reality. On closer inspection, there was also a cage nearby, and within it the star creature. That was too easy actually. It was suspicious. Of course, before Samira could say anything about it or suggest anything remotely close to a plan, Zachary charged right in.

"Wait! Stop!" Samira snapped, though whispering her demand so as not to completely blow any kind of surprise they might have had left. It was too late though. That boy was determined to prove that he lacked any kind of rational thought in favor of letting his emotions drive him towards the road of stupidity and accidental suicide. She did nothing to stop his advance aside from that. Perhaps she could have in that small window of time there was, but Samira was someone that believed in consequences for actions. He chose to ignore her words and the logic of common sense. Zachary would have to deal with whatever came next himself.

What came next was, thankfully for the foolish boy, a swarm of black arrows that pierced the ground instead of his body. The "doctor" then revealed herself, though now in an entirely different wardrobe and showing off body marks that made Samira question just how much that woman liked snakes. It was to the point of obsession if the woman were not a snake herself in disguise... which actually could have been entirely possible. Samira listened to the conversation they all were having, grateful that the attention was away from her and that she was allowed to think and communicate with her spirits undisturbed. It didn't take too long before she noticed that Zachary, unsurprisingly, was starting to lose his cool. The conversation had peaked and the time for an actual fight was approaching if that path were to be taken. Then that womanizing wolf howled, reminding Samira that he was even still in the room. She frowned deeply as he went in for an attack first. There was a bit of hope that they could avoid a fight entirely. Yet it seemed Sirius was just as careless as Zachary was. Gung ho even. Then he stopped mid-attack to flirt, completely shameless in his course of action and words. Samira facepalmed. She wasn't be if she was supposed to be glad that the wolf saw a more worthy pursuit or frustrated that his uselessness had taken that direction. The end result of it all being the end to the wolf's journey as he was sent back to the celestial realm after being attacked. Even his parting words made Samira wish she had not even been there to see it all happen.

Samira stepped away from her original spot and got nearer to Zachary. The wolf was gone and Nyx wasn't a spirit that really provided much protection from what she had seen so far of the owl. That left the teenager completely undefended, and at that point Samira couldn't very well stand there anymore. Hopefully he had already learned something about not charging in recklessly and understood just how lucky he was to still be in one piece. It was then that the woman that called herself Medusa commented that Zachary was hardly worth her time and effort. Although, she didn't fail to mention that she knew there would be complications with a Wizard Saint involved. Then it was topped with a coat of sugary flattery. "No more than any of the others," Samira replied flatly. The comment towards her reputation and rank didn't amuse her, especially given who it came from. That woman was just lucky that it was her in the tunnels that day instead of the others that would have already tried to subdue her if not kill outright after her attempt at attacking the city. "I am afraid I am at the disadvantage. I know nothing of who or what you truly are. You are powerful in your own right, however. That much I know of for certain."

The Goddess of Ishgar casually stepped in front of Zachary then. Her eyes remained focused on the snake woman. Serious and piercing now as the emerald gaze shifted from the neutral look they had before. Hopefully Zachary wouldn't make yet another error by dashing out in front of her. She could protect him in a fight, that was simple enough. But, if she could, she wanted to avoid that route entirely. "You took that creature under false pretenses. I am sorry to say that none of this was a part of the earlier conversation. We will be taking that creature back now. I am sure you understand why this is not a humble request and why we will not be leaving without the creature. Intact and unharmed, of course. You have but this one opportunity to take the less troublesome option." If the witch decided to fight, Samira would be ready for it. Moreso, she was also ready if the witch tried to run off with the cage that held the star fairy. Playing the tracking game again was not on her to-do list. As unfortunate as it was, Samira could take a guess at where things were heading. The witch went through a lot of trouble that day to get what she wanted. She wasn't going to let it go just because Samira politely warned her. If only situations of that category and scale were ever that easy.

(Word Count: 1116
Samira Total: 7468)

Zachary felt ashamed he was that reckless, even more ashamed that his summon pretty much almost turned on them in the face of the femmefatale witch who stole his friend. Okay, perhaps Sirius wouldn't of seriously betray them, but still... he didn't get the appeal the wolf had with any women that crossed his line of vision. But for the time being, Zachary had no other spirits. He couldn't summon Pegasus or Aquila back due to their location, and most of his spirits were down for the count. He bit his lip, nervous.

However, the voice and gesture of Samira made him snap in attention. She soon stood before him, acting as the vanguard now. While, he could guess why compared to the pathetic display he showed... he was grateful all the same. The sheer confidence, and aura of magic she presented. It wasn't overpowering, but it was ... refined. Honed. Focused beyond anything Zachary saw in Fairy Tail or anywhere else. Even Medusa was impressed.

For the moment, Zachary stopped and tried his best to keep his cool. Still, the sight of the star fairy crammed in the cage behind the witch was infuriating. Despite what his brain said to keep calm and not act, it didn't stop his hand from reaching into his pocket and gripping his collection of keys there.

It was now Samira who engaged the witch, Medusa, who listened with interest and amusement of her own. "Now, I didn't lie completely. I DID work with the BMD... least till my department was terminated." Medusa said, as if to spin more half-truths.

"Imagine our surprise..." Nyx hooted in her direction.

The conversation got more direct as Samira explained their actions, and demanded that the Star Fairy be returned immediately. After the mention of the 'less troubled option', Medusa's only reaction-- was a sudden chuckle that escaped her. "Oh, I beg your pardon. That just slipped. I understand your position... but you see, I have come too far in my work to stop now. There is so much I must do. And this little creature is but the first step." Mesua explained.

"What do you want with him...?" Zachary rasped, his tone struggling as he clearly was growing emotional in fear that she would do what Minu warned. "He's just an innocent creature. He's no harm to anyone so why do you want to hurt him? I deserve an answer!"

Amused, Medusa gave a soft smile. "Very well. Like I said, my research was with the BMD. However I was focused on a very specific and forbidden field. If you and your Wizard Saint are as smart as I suspect, you may know the ramifications of such research." she said, a hiss escaping her as she glared at them. "... Immortality."

Zachary's eyes widened a bit. What Minu said was true, but that wasn't the only thing. "Immortality? But that research was..."

"Forbidden?" Medusa completed for him with a scoffing laugh, "It's adorable you think the government wouldn't do what it says never to do. Even so, my methods were too 'extreme' they called it. Either way, prolonging life is simple enough. Infinite life is another matter altogether." she explained. Slowly, she reached behind her and tenderly stroke the cage containing Astral. "At least, until now that is. "

"You are such a liar. Everyone worthy of the name wizard knows the tragedies-- yes, TRAGEDIES-- that follow researching Immortality," Nyx hooted angrily, her wings flapping in the air. "Entire kingdoms suffered the consequences. Idiots would strive for eternal life, even killing their own citizens to test their results. It's truly the devil's errand. The only way to test your results was to kill the subject, and if they didn't die-- you were successful. It's inhuman!"

While Nyx laid out the clear facts and history of the terrors' Immortality research have given rise to, Medusa listened to it without complaint or protest. She clearly knew the legends and facts to it, especially if she had worked to unravel its secrets...

"Well said. I do wonder how you know so much, but I presume your feathered friend is a knowledge Spirit. But I will admit, for a pesky Fairy Tail brat, you are quite well-informed. However, what I aspire to is beyond your understanding. And neither Fairies or Saints will stop my ascention." she explained with a cold resolve in her tone.

The ominous chill she gave off was clear now and Zachary couldn't help but realize a small fact. The prolonged conversation, even in the face of a wizard saint. The fact they were all there discussing this. There was only one reason she felt that confident and chatty with them...

... because she had no intention of letting them leave alive.

WC: 795

As expected, the snake witch chuckled and couldn't take Samira's words too seriously. The more troublesome route it was then. Always. In truth, Samira hated having to be in such a position. Things were much simpler when she could rely on others to protect her and also have them deal with the troublesome monsters, wizards, witches, and all other sorts of calamities brought upon by forces that did not align with the current side of life. She had, had to become much more independent and reliable on her own very quickly. If she seemed confident, it was because she had to look the part and believe it herself. They were, after all, far from a walking away peacefully solution now. That became even more apparent as the Medusa woman started to talk more of her plans. It baffled Samira on how Zachary and Nyx were so surprised by it. The information was already a theory they had heard before. All she did was confirm it.

The conversation was reaching its end. A chill in the air and coming from the witch was all Samira needed as an indication to it. As far as she knew, Zachary was defenseless. He still had Leo to use so there was some luck there for him. It would be much preferred if he took an opportunity to escape while she dealt with the snake witch, but it was doubtful that he would listen even if she suggested it. Not without that star fairy even if she promised that she would make sure to not leave without it. It would be easy in theory. However, theory was just that. It wasn't concrete information. They were in her little hiding place now. The possibility of traps, especially around the cage, was there. She could just... blow it all up. That was a tactic she had learned a long time ago from another and had accepted. Probably too drastic right then though, but it was put on the side table of her mind for later.

Samira accessed her own storage of magical power, and from that a spell of her own was called on. Zachary, herself, and Nyx were covered by a pale blue shimmering and transparent overlay that had a mild glow to it. While it appeared as if it would do no more than shed a soft light in dark places, the overlay was actually a thin but very durable barrier. She could have gone on the extreme defensive, but the Wizard Saint felt that one alone would suffice. The snake witch's power needed to be tested first before she could figure out what needed to be used both offensively and defensively. Samira didn't like going overboard like some others, but underestimating threats was also something she preferred not to do. "I would ask you to run while I deal with this, but previous evidence shows that you would not listen," Samira told Zachary quietly. "If you act, make sure you think it through first. It would shame your guild of Fairy Tail if you lost your life here doing something reckless once more." It was the only warning she could give for right now. Unlike the snake witch, she didn't really want to spend twenty minutes talking. All that needed to be known had been said, and she had no comments of her own to make. Anything else could wait until there was a change of location and a snake witch subdued.

After that was said, a burst of celestial energy pulsed from Samira and spread through the area. It was the exact same one that had been used against the wolf spirit earlier, but this time it had a much longer range and moved quicker. Naturally Samira would go for the tactic that involved immobilizing the witch first. It was less destructive, after all. It would also allow her to assess how Medusa would react and counter, giving Samira more information on how to best proceed.

Meanwhile, the spirits of Loki and Serqet kept up with their tunnel adventure. They had found another exit that led to another part of the city. There were many other ones to explore. If they got lucky, maybe they'd find one that looped around close enough to where Samira and Zachary were.

(Word Count: 715
Samira Total: 8183)

The tension of cold cruel bloodlust was thick in the air surrounding Medusa. Zachary couldn't help but feel that focus between the two-- one a wicked witch with no sense of morals to strike for the kill... and Samira who showed a serene form of power. However, what surprised Zachary next was when he was about ready-- he saw a sheen of energy come up around him. It was not his doing, and not from any spirits! They were gone with the exception of Nyx, and he knew she couldn't produce this kind of power! Hell-- even his strongest spirit couldn't do this. Samira was the one to speak to him, making it clear now it was her. It was both a protection, but it seemed to also keep Zachary contained too as he reached out and touched it-- feeling like a protective bubble.

Samira's words were sharp, almost stinging to Zachary. He did feel ashamed. He did act recklessly and embarrassed how his stronger spirit, completely ruined things. (Sirius if it isn't clear :P) However, he couldn't just sit and do nothing! He couldn't let his friend stay in the witch's clutches. "I'm really sorry about before, Lady Samira," Zachary explained but kept his feet firm and his fists clenched tightly, "I know I am just a burden to you but-- I can't leave him here. And a Fairy Tail Wizard never abandons a friend!"

"Oh, please... " Medusa interjected with sarcasm, "Are you trying to get me to cry or gag?"

Her quip was cut short by the sudden wave of Celestial Energy that Samira just blasted right out at her. The amount of power was incredible as Zachary saw it illuminate the tunnel. While the light of the shield illuminated more of their surroundings, the blast was far more luminous as it jolted for Medusa. She barely had to bat an eye to summon it too. There was no short amount of awe Zachary had for Samira's abilities.

Medusa saw the wave of magic. She was about to dodge, but it came too fast and struck her. The wave hit her, but soon she felt her body stiffen-- her arm having reached something briefly before it hit. Medusa was stuck there, and she glared at Samira.

"Now you are a woman more my speed," Medusa commented with a playful tone, still sounding cocky despite having endured such a hit. "But don't worry. I wouldn't dream of not giving your little friend some party favors."

Despite the paralysis she was under-- an aura of magic radiated from her. "Since you both are Celestial Wizards, I am sure you will appreciate this," she said and revealed the object in her hand-- a strange key. Parts glistened with gold, but it was marked by a strange black-serpent coiled around it.

"What? No way-- ?!" Zachary gasped.

"Open, gate of the Snake Charmer," Medusa commanded, her voice echoing through the tunnel. From the key she held, a black mist began to seep from it. "Ophiuchus!"

The black smog drifted forward, even obscuring the light that caught Medusa. It grew in size, and soon a hiss could be heard inside it! Slowly, the smoke began to fade, to reveal a hideous, scary creature. Naturally to Medusa's taste and the name, it was a snake, but not like any other snake they saw today. It was almost as tall as the height of the sewer tunnel, a long, serpent body with yellow markings-- the signs of the Zodiac on it. It reached up to take on a humanoid torso, and that was when things got creepy. It appeared as a strange woman, almost Egyptian styled with her attire-- save her hair was made of smaller snakes. To add to the horror-- her 'arms', started as regular arms with snakes wrapped around it-- till her very arms ended with two, huge snake heads on each one. Each head snapped and hissed-- revealing even a smaller snake-like head inside their mouths.

"Ugh... " Zachary gasped, taking a step back at the sight of the clearly monstrous snake creature. It was hard to imagine THAT was a Celestial Spirit of all things.

"Ophiuchus, entertain our guests , will you?" Medusa commanded, causing a hiss from the large creature.

It was then that with one of its creepy hand-heads, Ophiuchus roared and released a large puff of black and green smoke that billowed outward towards Samira and Zachary. Seeing just being a cloud, it would appear harmless.

But that would be a fatal mistake.

"Hoot-hoot!" Nyx hooted, flapping her wings in alarm! "Careful! That's POISON GAS!" she cried to inform Samira.

Zachary felt the pressure build. Poison was a dangerous element in magic. Subtle and easy to miss, but if you got hit you would pay consequences later on that would destroy you from the inside out. The smoke was far-reaching (AOE) and began to spread towards where they were. Even if Samira could protect herself from the noxious gas, Zachary in the shield was another matter. As the smoke began to brush against the boundaries of the light that Samira put up around Zachary-- suddenly it began to dissolve with a hissing sound. Bit by bit, the edges of the bubble began to break down.

"Not good," Zachary said as he reached for his keys-- but the only spirits he had that could repel poison gas-- were the ones he couldn't use in here. Even if they blew the smoke away, it would have few places to go in this tunnel. He only had a hand-full of spirits left to use.

Zachary held his breath as he backed up, as the smoke began to come to him. "Open-- Gate of the Great Bear..." he began to summon, but he soon hid his voice, to

All the while Medusa watched to see how Samira would handle the smoke. The poison wasn't merely dangerous to inhale or touch, but acidic as well to eat away at a protective spell as it did.

WC: 1007

The spell had struck the snake witch, surprisingly easy considering her words before. Had she let that happen on purpose, knowing full well that the move would not cause great harm to her and was only meant to immobilize her? One would have expected that from a typical and normal legal mage, wouldn't they? Samira was no different in many circumstances. Medusa's cockiness and confidence was still strong as she spoke, and soon it became clear as to why. The witch was able to summon a creature, a celestial spirit no less, with the same name of the thirteenth Zodiac. Whether or not it was the true mythical spirit she wasn't sure, and frankly, right then was not the time to think about that.

The lamia-like spirit heeded its master's command and obeyed. As "entertainment", it released a black and green cloud that Samira could guess that it was poisonous. Medusa was not at the point where she considered escape so a harmless smoke cloud to be used as a getaway tactic would have been a silly option. Nyx shouted and explained what the cloud was, confirming her theory. "Appreciated." Samira replied, remaining calm and passive despite the cloud starting to eat away at the thin barriers that covered herself, Zachary, and the owl. Much like Zachary, Samira had spirits that could blow the gas away with ease, but there were few places it could go in that tunnel. It had to be destroyed entirely.

One by one Samira rapidly thought of the options she had to do just that. But, she didn't have an infinite amount of time to do so, even if she appeared to be taking her time and not very reactive. It was still a worrying situation and not one to pretend was of a minor importance to ignore. In the end, Samira chose to use a spirit that was capable of dealing with the smoke cloud. As a spirit of magic, it was her specialty. A radiant portal appeared with the coloration of a sunrise as Samira mentally summoned the spirit. The key on her keyring that was connected to the spirit glowed brilliantly as she was called. There was the feeling of warmth coming from the portal as the spirit's magic soared through the tunnel with her presence. Not so much only the comfortable feeling of physical warmth, but the metaphorical type as well. Isis, a spirit of magic and healing. Samira's very first spirit and one who's power had grown over time just like the summoner had.

Various hieroglyphics soared through the air in separate lines. One of black, one of red, and one of gold. The red glowed strongly, having been fueled further by taking Samira's own energy. The hieroglyphics swirled around the tunnel where the poison cloud was and pulsed, the image characters becoming larger for a second and sizing down again as the energy left them. The result was the poisonous cloud turning into particles that fell to the ground and faded, their magic having been removed and thus the spell becoming no more. The black hieroglyphics were of a different sort than the red ones. They directly went for the mutated snake spirit, each character image attempting to strike it one by one. The golden ones remained by Samira, increasing not only the strength of her own magical abilities, but some of the golden symbols would float around Zachary, and if he allowed them to, would increase his own power as well and that of any spirits he managed to summon.

"Serpents are always surrounding you, dear Samira. Your natural snake charm is worrisome," commented Isis, her lips forming a concerned and worried frown.

"If I were a charmer for that species we would not be having to fight one," Samira candidly replied. Seeing as how Medusa was currently immobilized, though Samira was of the assumption that wouldn't last much longer with the witch's strength, and the enemy spirit was likely preoccupied with the hieroglyphic barrage, Samira saw no immediate danger that was obvious. She needed to test that theory. They couldn't stand there all day. And it was better for her to do it than Zachary. So, she took a step towards the cage, followed by a few more. Stupid? Yes. Very much so. Yet it had to be done. The most she could do was keep alert, mentally prepare herself, and quickly plan out her options if things went south.

Isis remained by Zachary and watched her summoner enter the more dangerous side of the tunnel. She too prepared herself to eliminate anymore dangerous spells that would come from either the snake spirit or its master. She only hoped it was simple magic like the poison cloud that they would be dealing with.

(Word Count: 797
Samira Total: 8980)

The poison was worrisome as Zachary wanted to summon but was at a loss as the poison began to seep into the protections from Samira's magic. However, it was then she summoned another spirit-- and a beautiful one at that. From the portal emerged an elegant goddess with feather-like wings beneath her arms. With her appearance, hieroglyphs flurried all around them! First and foremost-- the ones that made contact with the gas released a pulse of magic, then the gas dissolved in a brilliant glow of golden dust that magically faded. Zachary's eyes widened at the power of that spirit. "Whoh... Holy anti-magic!" he exclaimed, recognizing the signs of the magic. Even more, the same glyphs remained around the field, the black ones starting to fly towards Ophiuchus. As the snake got pelted by the glyphs-- and some it slithered around to avoid, the others had a strong empowering effect on Zachary and on Samira.

With his confidence risen, Zachary took out another spirit-- the one he was going to use before. "Open-- Gate of the Great Bear!" he cried and slashed the key before him, pointed to the ground. "Garnet Grizzly!"

The sound of the gong went off-- but no spirit appeared. For a moment, Medusa chuckled. "What's the matter, sweetie? Performance anxiety--- hm?" she teased with the obvious sexual pun but was interrupted by a rumble beneath her. The moment she saw the concrete 'crack', her eyes widened with the need to move.

The moment she skipped backward-- the ground erupted below her with a violent shake. A roar echoed as something large shot out from the earth below the pipe and stone. Revealed to both Medusa and Samira-- emerged a mighty and large bear with dark fur! The bear appeared ferocious, and dawned with large crimson armored was worn along its front arms and paws, its back, and covering the upper part of its face.

Garnet Grizzly was one of Zachary's physical brawling spirits. While not the most versed in magic, it made up with its brute strength and ability to manipulate the earth-- including digging and tunneling underthings, for sneak attacks, escapes, or utility situations. Normally he was an intelligent spirit and friendly as most Celestial Wizards, but clearly now he gone full-feral mode to fight as he sensed his summoner's need for defense and combat. A bear's roar echoed through the tunnel as he brought up a paw to swipe down upon the witch.

Medusa jumped back a distance, growing closer to the cage where the star was. The smirk she had was gone, clearly not expecting a sneak attack from below. "Looks Like I will have to punish you, after I deal with the wizard saint..." she hissed and crossed her arms. "Nake Snake Cobra Cobra, Nake Snake Cobra Cobra." Her slow and steady chant was ominous as suddenly, her 'shadow' seemed to produce something. Strands of darkness seemed to emerge from her and reached upward around her body, like coils. Her arms continued to twist and turn with her conjuring. "Vector ARROWS!!"

With her cry-- a barrage of arrows went flying everywhere! They arched, twisted and turned in the air through the tunnel. They shot in many directions-- aimed towards the Bear, Isis, & Samira!

WC: 543

From behind her, Samira could hear Zachary begin to call on a spirit of his own. That pleased her. He now had the strength and mind to participate. The whole thing was, after all, his idea. An underground tunnel wasn't exactly a comfortable spot to be a spectator, especially when at least one of the snake women there did not have the option of bringing the whole thing down completely off the table. Since Medusa was occupied with the bad habit of toying with Zachary, Samira just kept casually walking towards the cage that held the star fairy. Nothing was stopping her. The witch's priorities were interesting to say the least, in Samira's opinion anyway. From the sounds of the comment though, it sounded as if Zachary's spirit had not appeared. That effect alone wouldn't have surprised Samira. Spirits could be fickle creatures at times, and she had often had that happen herself with her own collection of personalities. Medusa would be wrong though. The Wizard Saint could sense the magic involved. The call had been successful. She was sure Medusa would have had the capabilities and power to sense it as well if she were more focused instead of taking the opportunity to tease. Well, her mistake with underestimating Zachary would leave the witch with quite the surprise and disadvantage. Sort of.

The ground rumbled and cracked, and an instant later a giant blue furred bear wearing battle armor burst through the tunnel's concrete surface directly below Medusa. Such a beast was sure to make even Artio stare in awe. For a brief moment. That particular spirit of Samira's didn't often come off as being impressed by others. But a bear such as the Garnet Grizzly? Now that she could appreciate. Unfortunately, even with the advantage of a surprise attack, Medusa was far too quick and nimble. She had avoided the bear's swipe with ease, and at the end of it, was closer to the cage and now in Samira's path. The green-haired summoner stopped moving forward. So much for the distraction. Now the other woman had made her a primary focus. Although, then again, that was another advantage from a different viewpoint. The witch's attention was off of Zachary. Samira preferred it that way. Perhaps he could sneak over to the cage and release the creature or grab it while she kept the witch and her summon too busy to do anything about it. There was still the concern that, that would have been way too easy to hope for, but they had to eventually do something. Regardless, there was the matter of the snake lady to worry about.

Samira simply stared when Medusa started to make her magic chant. Or, at least, that's what Samira presumed it to be. Surely it being a tune sung by the number one fan of all snakes would be a bit ridiculous. Then again, that would not be the most silly of things the woman had come across in her life. The chanting was slow, which only served to allow Samira and Isis to expect the worst and prepare for it. The same sort of snake-like moving arrows from before were released, sent towards Garnet Grizzly, Isis, and herself.

Isis once again released the hieroglyphics, with the multiple red ones colliding against many of the swift moving dark arrows. Perhaps not all, but enough that the Grizzly would be less overwhelmed by them and her action would also keep herself safe from harm. The black hieroglyphics served to once again keep the lamia-like creature distracted and moving. As for Samira, she stood there and watched the arrows come for her, but they struck something else entirely. Samira's connection with her spirits was very strong, and with that great bond came a vast assortment of abilities that allowed them to act without being traditionally called upon. The spirit of Chaac materialized directly in front of Samira, acting as a barrier that absorbed the damage of the arrows as they struck him. The weaker celestial form of the spirit disappeared immediately after, the ability having completed its intended purpose for the moment. "I am afraid that I must correct you on a detail that some may consider significant," Samira told Medusa quite casually and without any sort of anger or displeasure in her tone despite having been attacked. "Your plan to 'deal with the wizard saint' is flawed. To deal with me requires first dealing with those that are bound to me. Skipping this step is ill advisable."

With that said, Samira demonstrated her words by calling on more spirits. She had surpassed the need to call them in the same way as Zachary long ago. With a thought of their names the rifts between dimensions appeared as two glowing and shimmering portals. Kali had leapt through the red one and wasted no time charging towards Medusa with the intent on slashing her through with the wielded scimitar and trident. Clones of Kali split off from the original during the charge, and though they were only spell created clones, they were more powerful in their strikes than even the original as they were powered by Samira's magical strength.

The other spirit was that of Nu Wa, who slithered elegantly from the white portal. A lamia spirit for a lamia spirit. Different colored crystals floated near the white scaled lamia. They combined into a larger multi-colored version that began to hum just before firing off a multi-element beam towards the enemy summon. Hopefully soon it could be removed from the fight entirely. Or, that was the intent at least. Samira really didn't want to have to resort to her own Zodiac key to deal with it.

During this, if Zachary were still there, Isis would look to Zachary. "Young Zachary," she began to say, her voice carrying a kind warmth that one might not have expected of a spirit that had just used a method of violence before. "Please save the star fairy. We will do our best to keep them distracted."

(Word Count: 1009
Samira Total: 9989)

The events of the fight worked well as Garnet Grizzly was now active on the field, along with Sumira's power and summons. Her mastery of the magic they held was marvelous to behold, even in such a dire situation. Naturally, Zachary couldn't hold a candle to that level without the aid of Leo the Lion.

Medusa had been on the offensive now, trying to attack Samira and the spirits, but once again, thwarted by Isis. The bear barely had to defend himself as the runes reacted to the attack. Further due to the number of spirits she summoned, Nu Wa and Kali-- the two quickly turned the tide of Medusa and her single' powerful spirit. As Nu Wa attacked, the spirit Ophucus was indeed struck and assaulted by the attacks. It hissed in pain, bits of poison gas spitting from its maws. However, Ophucus was still powerful. As it did take on great damage, its body didn't fade. It was indeed a strong spirit, one not easily put down.

At the suggestion of Isis, Zachary realized now was the time. He glanced at Samira, seeing how she was handling herself. "Grizzly!!" Zachary called.

With a mighty roar, the bear raised his forepaws up into the air and slammed them down! The impact caused a massive quake along the ground, which tore up the terrain further below Medusa and Ophucus.

As they both distracted Medusa-- now was the time. Zachary quickly charged. He ran right for the cage, hoping to find a way to get the star fairy out. He ran for the cage, passing through the smoke of the dust and chaos. He was almost there, the star fairy's face clear through the bars and almost smiled.

"I Can--"

SHRKIK!!

The sudden sharp pain and lash were shocking to Zachary! It happened so fast, he didn't even realize it. But the look of happiness disappeared from the star's face as he saw it. The bars of the cage suddenly protruded-- stretched up and struck Zachary! Snakes-- more of those same arrows as if the entire cage was made of them. The spears slashed across Zachary's side, making blood stain the ground and his clothing. His cry echoed as he was flung through the air, his keys also tossed aside from the impact.

His mind reeled, shocked by the damage he endured. He was now a few feet away from the cage-- blood now stained on his hands. Pain burned in his body as he felt the shock of his open wounds. The arrows of the cage had pierced his body, causing him to now bleed profusely in a matter that if not treated, he would bleed out.

"MASTER!!" Garnet Grizzly roared, shocked and infuriated, adding to his furious power.

Zachary's keys were scattered several meters away, making them out of his reach. Despite the pain, he tried to move-- to the star, his focus to save his friend.

Meanwhile in the cage, the star fairy watched in a mix of confusion and concern to see Zachary on the dirty ground, bleedy. His big eyes almost seemed to water at the sight of him so grievously hurt. Zachawy... Zachawy... fwiend... Astral spoke, the voice bearable to all in their heads. In that moment, the star began to glow, illuminating the surrounding area more. The celestial glow began to stretch, reaching as far as the little creature could do from within his 'cursed' prison. The glow reached Zachary, covering him with its warm glow as the magic from the mysterious creature reached.

It was then that it happened... the glow of the light soon mixed with the blood on the ground, as well as on Zachary, from his open wounds. It seemed to meld with it, and with that, Zachary felt the pain and lack of energy suddenly start to dull. In a matter of a few seconds, the light faded, to reveal the wounds had faded.

Medusa, had been cocky to learn that the boy was stupid enough to attack her cursed cage. In truth, her cage was but a cluster of those same snake-arrows she controlled. Anyone who recklessly tried to reach it would have met the same result. But she looked surprised to learn the star's magic reached out and healed him.

Her battle paused that moment, her division now torn by the foolish attempt to rescue the star, but also how the star's power allowed him to extend his 'immortality' into a healing magic to others. "Enough of this. The brat is a distraction. Opheucus-- devour him!" Medusa ordered.

Opheucus turned her attention away, and charged for Zachary, having only just recovered. Zachary's eyes widened as the massive snake jumped and charged to attack. His eyes wide with alarm when...

..."RRROOOOAAAAARRRR!!" A blur of white suddenly erupted from out of nowhere! The mass of it with a large polearm emerged, delivering a fierce kick right into the wicked Medusa's face. The impact was so strong it repelled the snake away.

Zachary looked in shock, not for just the fact he was now healed-- but that HE appeared. He only just noticed the glow from under his shirt. Pulling the cord around his neck, he saw it. The golden key he held there-- Leo's key. As the light faded, the humanoid vision of Ajani appeared-- also known as the noble Leo the Lion. "Foolish boy. Never allow yourself to lower your guard. Still though, your foolishness is only matched by your unwavering kindness. So that has to count for something," the white lion said, his back to Zachary-- till he turned with a toothed grin to him. "You should of summoned me sooner." he said flatly.

"L-Leo?" Zachary gasped, so much happening all at once. "Sorry... I knew you didn't want to be summoned for small matters. I knew you--"

"True, our contract does include not being summoned for simple trivial tasks... but still, this is a foe that would be remise of me to consider 'trivial'. " the lion growled, brandishing his polearm.

Medusa now had a genuine grimace on her face. "Impossible. That insignificant maggot of a wizard has a Golden Zodiac Spirit as well?" she hissed, now annoyed not only contending with Samira and her impressive collection of spirits, but also now a Golden Zodiac spirit from an enemy she had underestimated.

"Master of Opheucus, hear me well." Leo growled, "I do not condone fighting against my own kin of spirits, especially with the most vicious of my kind as Opheucus herself. However, know if you threaten my master and those he hold dear, I will not hesitate to kill you where you stand."

WC: 1110

As was suspected originally, there was something off about that cage. It had been a trap, one that was more powerful and lethal than she had originally anticipated. Medusa, even with her confidence that she was going to destroy them without fail, still had the smart idea of making sure that security measure was in place as a precaution. If it hadn't been there, Samira would have made sure to quickly send Zachary, with the star creature in his possession, and his spirits on their way out of that deathtrap tunnel while she took care of the witch or even made her own escape. As unfortunate as it was, the boy had been the one to spring the trap. Isis had been hoping nothing would harm the boy in his attempt so long as they kept Medusa distracted, but it was not his fate to come out unscathed. He wasn't dead, thankfully. He had his own luck that spared him the journey to the other side to meet the gods of death to judge him. However, if he was not healed immediately he would surely be too far gone and die. While Samira did have spirits that could easily resurrect on her side, it was not something to count on. Rarely did they use that power. Else, it would have disrupted the balance and order of things, and if one was to be pulled from death then why not everyone else in the world? It was a messy practice that was better left not becoming a habit.

Isis had left her position to run towards Zachary before anything more happened to him. Her summoner and fellow spirits would be fine without her. He needed her more. Or so she had originally thought. "Hold on, Young Zachary. I will not let you die this day." The spirit gently assured him while kneeling on the ground beside him. He had tried to move towards the cage more, which only served to make him bleed even more. It would not be her that would heal his wounds and restore his strength, however. It was that of the star fairy. The creature had begun to glow in its despair at seeing its friend injured. The celestial light spread and reached out to the boy, enveloping him and healing his wounds completely. "By the power of Ra," Isis muttered in disbelief at what she had seen. The star creature had hatched not so long ago and already it was so powerful. She stood up and stepped aside to give the boy room, and then even more so when the enemy spirit came lunging forward to attack. The Zodiac key of Leo came to the rescue and swiftly dealt with that matter. She left the two then, allowing them to get their words in and focus on the enemy spirit instead. With Zachary back in battle shape, she could return to helping her own summoner.

Speaking of Samira, she allowed her spirits to continue their assault, but with her taking notice that Leo had come into the picture and was conversing with the snake spirit, she mentally requested her spirits to switch targets and to focus on the snake witch entirely. Surely the lion spirit had it handled for now. She had full confidence in him and Zachary to take care of that. Plus Grizzly was also still around. If she could take care of Medusa, then that enemy snake wouldn't be an issue for long regardless. Her own Zodiac she kept on standby. There was no need to bother him with the fight yet. Her current assortment of summoned spirits would suffice for now. If she needed to, she could also just go in herself.

(Word Count: 620
Samira Total: 10,609)

Medusa's look grew from peeved to wickedly angry. Despite the hood, her frustration was showing by how much trouble this was becoming for her. Not only was Samira's own spirits and magic being a hand full for her, -- which was why she left the Fairy Tail kid to her snake summon. However, it was not that simple with the bear summon AND now Leo the Lion, the current ruler of the same constellation as well. Whatever short comings Grizzly had-- Leo more than made up for it.

With Zachary healed, despite his confusion, he made sure to stay clear from the cage now, realizing it was capable of attacking people as well, but still kept in range to be near the star critter. The star continued to look to Zachary, his big round eyes almost sparkling with affection and innocence.

Despite his weakened state, Zachary rose up to his feet. With Leo there with him, despite his disapproval to everything going on, he was there. "Leo, please... help defeat this snake monster. We can leave Medusa to Samira for now, but let's focus on the summon for now. " Zachary asked the lion he summoned.

The lion didn't turn to face him, but let out a soft growl. "Agreed," the lion replied.

With the new aid of Leo, Grizzly roared. The massive bear charged for the three-headed snake creature and dug into it with its claws. Despite the bear's aggressive nature, the snake already began to breathe out poison gas again. The gas did hurt the bear, but he was aggressive in his attack, the poison eating at his armor as he attacked vigorously.

Leo too raced in, with his polearm in hand. As one of the snake-headed arms spewed poison, the lion struck and brought down the bladed polearm on the snake. The bladed weapon sliced off the arm of the snake beast, causing the poison it was spewing to stop, but also caused a hiss of pain from the spirit. THough its 'missing arm' was replaced with spiritual light, as a spirit's true body never could be damaged. Still, a missing limb would hurt like hell.

Back with Medusa, she knew she would be overpowered soon, but she was not about to give up too soon as she glared at Samira and her summons-- Kali and Nu Wa. "So it seems there is more to Fairy Tail than I gave credit for. Still, you are a far bigger threat. I could kill that boy well after I finished with you. " She said, causing tendrils of dark arrows to form around her.

"Vector Arrow-- TIMES THREE!!" With a throw of her arms, zig-zagging arrows shot through the air around her and towards them. It didn't matter if one was stronger than the other-- her goal was to overpower them with numbers. If done right, an opening could present itself and the wizard saint could be exposed. Needless to say, the witch didn't hesitate to find any cheap shots to take and strike to end a fight quickly.

Clearly, the witch was cunning, but Samira would no doubt be able to power through and strike. Ophiuchus was likely her strongest summon, and why she divided her magic thus. Her strongest summon to deal with Zachary's own magic, while her own personal magic to take on the wizard saint.

WC: 561
TWC: 10,583

Fairy Tail again. Samira's expression went blank. Even the spirits paused and trailed into wtf territory. Did... did the witch really not know about many of the major players that were in that guild? Sorano, Nessa Cordelia Lux, Mura Kensho, Arcadia. There was even a chance that Aven Alveron had gotten more powerful by that point. Plenty of time had passed since the last time she saw him use his magic in that duel during one of Fairy Tail's festivals. There was no telling what walking calamities were in there now to give the guild even more of a name... as if having a large list of Wizard Saints and Gods of Ishgar of past and present were not enough to make their power known already. Anyone with a partially working brain would have known to to get on that guild's bad side if they wanted a good day. More importantly though was the complete absence of Sabertooth's name. Was Medusa just putting Sabertooth on a higher pedestal and knew that she would expect trouble when running into a mage from there? They did have a history of being highly persistent and resilient, after all. That guild, too, also had a lengthy list of mages whos names were known throughout the country. Kite Wilhelm, Ryo Knetegawa, Kenna Terrynhain, Victoria Sheridan, Itori, Luna Mira, and even herself. So, why did Medusa not mention the same thing about Sabertooth? She kept getting called out for her Wizard Saint status so it wasn't as if the snake summoner viewed her as insignificant. Everyone knew she was in that guild, right? Just because her guild tattoo was covered didn't mean no one knew, right? Should... should she have been allowing it to show the entire time?  Sabertooth deserved its credit for being a block in the road for that obnoxious woman. Not just Fairy Tail! But, well, that might have been just a passing petty thought that made Samira's inner mind eye roll.

The small group were not unaware of the dark tendrils surrounding the snake witch. She did little to hide them. As she wasted time calling out her attack, none of them stood idle. If any of them had to guess, they could assume it was another launch of snake arrows, but multiplied by three. An interesting choice for a name, but Samira herself supposed it was very practical and to the point. Perhaps too on point considering it did little to surprise any of them.  

Kali was angry. Did that woman really think more of the slithering disgusting arrows would help? "Pathetic!" The four armed spirit shouted furiously. It was insulting enough for Medusa to assume that she could deal with their summoner with death as a result. It was insulting to assume that she had an advantage with numbers. It was insulting that she was wasting her time with complete nonsense and not just standing still to be cut down and have her existence be ended. The dark blue skin of the demonic-looking spirit started to turn a deep red. Her power grew as her anger did, and that very emotion took on a life of its own. Red swirls of energy surrounded the spirit, and as those nasty black arrows soared toward her, she spun herself around, her scimitars slashing through the air and sending beams of death and destruction to collide against them. Clones of herself were created once more to take the hits for those beams, as her real true body leapt from its spot on the ground and over towards the snake witch. Unfortunately for Kali, her weapons only struck a mass of those arrows. They had slithered over the snake witch and formed a defensive sphere around her. Parts of that sphere poked out, appearing as needles that were stuck in backwards of a round pin cushion. The spirit leapt backwards, narrowly escaping that ball of spears as each vector tip popped the barriers that were around her. Powerful barriers that had been placed on her not only by Isis, but also by Samira. She growled, her fangs showing and her white glare growing more intense as her eyes glowed even more brightly. "Isis! Be useful!"

The two spirits that had been called out had their own set of arrows to deal with. The red heiroglyphs of Isis could only get rid of so many before even more appeared. With how things were going she needed to keep her concentration on keeping her barriers up and strengthening them. She didn't want another occurrence of what happened to Zachary just mere moments ago. Unless, of course, Kali was referring to her place as the spirit avatar of a goddess of magic itself. Should she have been able to severe Medusa's ties to her own magic? Possibly. If such a thing were to be abused. Isis had no interest in that no matter the circumstances. Samira could pull that off as well, but the summoner often shared that same understanding. They were not so desperate just yet. "I am doing all that I can within the limits that I am allowed."

"Useless!"

Nu Wa was doing pretty much what she had done before. The colorful floating crystals around her shot their own beams of magical energy to collide against the arrows. If Medusa's plan was to overpower them with a numerous amount of snake arrows she was going about it the wrong way. She was but one being making one move. Samira and her spirits could do the same to win the numbers game. The lamia knew this and saw no reason to get so upset like Kali. She could just go about her day carefree and with a content smile on her face even if she was getting bombarded by arrows. Although, perhaps, maybe she was just over confident. It had been so long since there was a true enemy that could overpower a single spirit under Samira's command, let alone the summoner herself. To the lamia, Medusa hadn't shown that she was that much of a threat yet. Aside from catching Kali off guard with that defensive tactic. Now that was interesting to see and a lesson for the angry spirit to learn. "Be careful, my dears. Don't rush in without a thought. You might just get skewered." Nu Wa stated, her bright smile indicating she was purposely giving advice that was too late to give. That only made Kali growl again before leaping back into action to take care of the next arrow assault.

As for Samira, yes, she had taken the time and effort to conjure celestial shields and barriers around herself, spirits, and even team Zachary over there. They sparkled and swirled with pale blue and white light and got stronger with each layer added. The black arrows collided against her own shields and then bounced off to zigzag in another direction. Powerful, but not quite enough. Although, it appeared now Medusa had shown her own ability to act on the defense as well. That needed to be broken. By not too much, of course. "Nu Wa, assist me, please," Samira requested, her voice calm and gentle despite an inner part of her wanting to curse that snake woman for ruining such a wonderful day and delaying her from the job she needed to get back to in Joya.

"Of course, dear," the lamia spoke as her snake body gracefully moved to be at the summoner's side. There didn't need to be any further instructions. Their minds were connected and so Nu Wa already knew where Samira was going. She and Samira would both use a spell in unison, the two spells being used to hit the snake witch and her defense simultaneously for additional power and hopefully little resistance. Like before, the lamia spirit's crystals combined and unleashed a multi-colored beam towards Medusa. As for Samira, she used a strong but simple spell. The power of all spirits, summoned and unsummoned, was called and fused with her own. The massive amounts of energy took the form of an energy aura that swirled around the mage. It didn't stay for very long. Like Nu Wa, Samira unleashed that energy and sent the bright white beam soaring through the air towards the enemy. The two spells hit their mark, and it caused a small explosion of power that shook the tunnels and caused the walls to crack. Small debris began to fall from the cracks and shaking, and the dust swirled around in the air. It made the end result hard to see until the dust cloud cleared.

The sphere of arrows was broken partially, revealing Medusa's face that had absolutely no worry or concern on its features. Instead, a sly smile was there. The sphere exploded into many arrows that lashed out towards everything and everyone there. Many hit the walls, causing even more cracks and making the place even more unstable to be in as more pieces fell to the ground. One important detail was that the snakes had been enhanced and were now covered in a purple glow. It allowed them to pierce through the shields and barriers completely, hitting both Kali and Nu Wa and causing them to poof into particles. Kali's clones also disappeared and Nu Wa's crystals fell to the ground and broke into pieces before also disappearing. Isis was safe where she stood, mostly because she was further in the back and the gaps between snake were bigger there.

Samira didn't have much time to react to anything. As soon as she felt Kali's essence disappear her mind knew well enough what had happened, but her body wasn't as quick. A different barrier was put up around her, one that was supposed to protect from such lethal attacks that made barriers meaningless, but it was also weaker in its defensive power to compensate for that extra layer. The multitude of snake arrows didn't have to pierce it. Some bounced off, but the rest were able to make the thin magical barrier shatter into celestial particles. The snake-like spears continued forward, piercing through Samira's body and pushing her back until she was impaled on the tunnel wall. The fact she was wounded was obvious. Blood leaked from the stab wounds and soaked her clothes while also dripping to the floor.

A hieroglyph appeared on her forehead, glowing with the intensity of a small sun. It begun to heal her injuries and disintegrate the snake spears. Oddly enough, even if she didn't have any sort of healing power the injuries would not have been something to cause her worry and concern. Her status from being wounded was less significant to her than the fact that it would have angered something else entirely. The spirit that was only partially in the normal realm earlier would take great offense to it, and in that moment she first felt those snakes arrows stabbing her she could sense that he had felt it too. It was as she had expected. He had never truly returned and was lingering around somewhere above ground. Until he felt that pain. The snake composed of nothing more than swirling particles turned around immediately and shot through the air, quickly reaching one of the openings to that underground tunnel and spreading into the other tunnels until he had found the one that had the party he had not been invited to. Not that he had any interest in it any longer until then, of course.

The tunnel darkened as several of the torches that had been keeping it lit went out as the snake went by. Unlike before where he barely had any presence, his power was now growing considerably and adding pressure to the room. With Samira having been weakened, as temporary as it would be, and his anger increased by someone having the audacity to bring ill will to something of his, the locked seals of his cage loosened. He didn't need the summoner's permission to enter that world now. He could just take that necessary power from her by force. The four spirit seals of Amaterasu, Ra, Nu Wa, and Kukulkan were an extra measure to keep him sealed, and they had worked so perfectly in the past for the most part. But, Nu Wa had also just been weakened, and Ra was not there. The last two had zero say or power to hold him back now.

"So this is what the entertainment was," he spoke, sounding amused at first as he took notice of the other snake spirit in the room. The rest were insignificant. He didn't care for Zodiacs and even less for the other... qualities. Then there was that other woman. He could sense the affinity for snakes. Not that such charm worked on him. He only cared for one being. Well, two technically, but the fact was she was not either of them. "And you are the one that has hurt my dear summoner so." Once again he sounded amused as his particles slithered around, growing larger. He was taking Samira's power slowly, draining her just enough. The locks became weaker. He had ignored the words said to him by both Isis and Samira that told him to remain as he was. She was holding back. That was what got her into that mess in the first place. He would not.

"Insolence!" An explosion of dark magic erupted from Samira, and a different portal appeared, one of darkness and chains that unraveled and broke one by one. The snake spirit started to become whole and take the full shape of a very large cobra. Larger than the scaled worm that belonged to that disrespectful fake snake charmer. His body took most of what was left of the room and he had to coil around himself to be somewhat comfortable in that tight space. Not that he cared too much. He planned to bring it all down anyway. His opened jaws formed an orb of energy that grew bigger as he put more power into it. He didn't care to send it sailing over towards a small target that could dodge it. Instead he just released it in front of him without aim. The orb crashed into the wall and exploded, filling the room with the energy and obliterating the walls, the ceiling, the falling debris, the other tunnels it traveled to, and whatever else was in its way. It was safe to say that underground complex wouldn't exist as it used to after that. Samira was unconscious and unable to stop it. Isis did her best to try and mitigate the harm it would do towards her summoner, herself, and those on Team Zachary, but her barrier was not enough to completely overpower that of his abilities. "Janus! Move us!"

The portal spirit answered. Samira disappeared as a portal enveloped over her form and took her. Isis also disappeared. He would, of course, use his efforts to save Zachary and his spirits as well, but there was always the chance their will power would exceed his own and they would be left there to fend for themselves. The same applied to the caged star critter. He would naturally attempt to save him, but it was possible the witch's magic would prevent such a thing. In the end, all he could do was try. His priorities were to Samira and his own allied spirits. The snake woman he didn't even bother trying to extract. Regardless of how things played out, Samira and Isis would be back where they were before they all started to follow Sirius; the quiet ruins that Zachary was led to by his visions. Zachary and his team would also be there if they allowed Janus to transport them, unless something went horribly wrong.

As for Loki and Serqet? Where had they been the whole time? What happened when things fell apart? Well, they had a super adventure with some thieves that had just got done robbing a local store in town and had come to those tunnels to hide temporarily. They encountered the thieves, who did not take kindly to their presence or their curiosity over the bags of jewels and trinkets the group carried. It was a minor encounter really. As soon as the group of humans saw the weird particle snake enter the tunnels they dropped their loot and took off. The two spirits contemplated what to do with the dropped loot for a few seconds. But, they too decided things had gone way too far. Considering they knew who that snake was they didn't really feel it was worth getting involved. Things were about to go boom. They could just come by later and pin a note on the stuff or something. For now, they got the hell out of the normal realm and went back to their own.

(Word Count: 2816
Samira Total: 13,425)

Zachary Total: 10,583
10,583 + 13,425 = 24,008
22,000 used for 100Y Freeform

New Samira Total: 2,008

(Insert for new mission link)

Things went black-- Zachary recalled the grand fight in the tunnels underneath Magnolia. He saw Leo charge at the Snake Charmer Spirit while Samira and her own summons fought against Medusa the snake witch. It was then that in a dramatic moment that things went dark. Samira summoned another powerful spirit, conjuring dark magic to rival the tunnel's darkness as well. Things went black after that as Zachary the last image of things was his spirits fighting the serpent and the scream of magic energy that followed.

"Master! Master, Wake up!" a voice spoke.

Zachary groaned as he strained to see, opening his eyes. It wasn't long till he found himself staring up at daylight, his vision lightly obscured by Leo's face. The large, white lion-man knelt over him in concern as he was there. Soon also the face of a certain bear appeared.

"WHOH!!" Zachary shouted, jolting upright from where he was on the cobblestone floor-- in the ruins where they had been before. He now was back where he was, unaware of how they were teleported. Samira was there-- but not Medusa. She had been lost in the chaos of what had occurred down below. Further, Zachary could also see that his Bear Spirit, Grizzly resulted in his smaller form. The one mighty armored grizzly bear was a 'teddy bear' like creature with leather straps around his paws and a 'Bears cap' on his head. He was far more friendly-looking than his earlier incarnation, as Samira might notice.

But most importantly, Zachary realizes one thing that needed to be seen. He soon grasped he passed out, was elsewhere-- but realized one thing they needed to know. "The Star! Where is the Star Critter!?" he said, his voice almost in a panic.

Ooooh... the chime of telepathy echoed.

Not too far from them, on its side, was the strange cage that Medusa had and further was the creature. It was in that instance, the bars of the freaky, living birdcage had shimmered-- then shattered before their eyes. The likely result was Medusa's magic being either too far, or worn off to keep the creature contained, but it soon left the little creature free and unincumbered by the evil cage.

It took either of them a bit of time to register the fight was over, and the little guy was no longer in danger. Finally able to float up into the air, free of the cage, a wide smile showed on his cherubic face. ZACHAWWYYYYYY!!! the star cried and flew over to him, making a bee-line right for his face.

"OOOMPH!!" Zachary fell over again as the star flew right into his face, hugging him to the point of almost suffocating him. Both Grizzly and Leo looked in confusion as the Star affectionately attacked the boy's face. After a moment, Zachary reached a hand to gently pry the star off him, a sharp intake of breath following it. "E-easy! I almost died once today, so don't want to die by suffocation either..." he gasped, realizing Samira was there as well.

Leo let out a soft growl. "You were lucky. If Samira's spirit didn't pull us out, we all would have been destroyed by that spirit she summoned. " he said, trying to keep a straight face in the display of overwhelming childish cuteness.

WC: 554