The Orphanage (Lehanna)

As Elara looked over the job posting, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes and sigh. Of all of the tasks that she could’ve found, she came across this? To play the role of an orphanage inspector and see if there was anything nefarious going on? It sounded like a rather dull job to her and she wasn’t even sure if she’d bother to take it on but the amount of jewels on offer kept her invested and after mulling about it for a bit, the teenager decided that she’d do it after all. A hundred thousand jewels was nothing to sneeze at and as much as she hated to admit it, Elara could really do with the cash. Her guild certainly wasn't generous and she knew that the only way she’d get any money or respect from them was by spreading the name of Plumed Serpent, a name that she was still a bit baffled about. It didn’t sound all that intimidating, in her opinion and she wasn’t sure if she could take herself seriously if she introduced herself as being a part of it. Maybe it would grow on her over time? She appreciated the fact that they’d accepted her though and despite the oddity of the members, she’d fit in pretty well.

With her decision made, Elara would stand up from the bench that she’d been sitting on and headed for the exit, the job posting giving a pretty good map of where the orphanage was. Perhaps if she got this out of the way swiftly, she could return and maybe do a bit of shoplifting. The town locals didn’t seem to be that bright and she knew that she could easily nick a few things while they weren’t looking. She’d never failed yet and she wasn’t going to start now. Her summons were the perfect decoys for her and more often than not, it was they who did the stealing, while Elara just watched from a safe spot. It was all so easy to do with her telepathy, giving her the power to give mental commands and most of her spirits were open minded enough to aid her with her thievery. There were a few who were too noble but she didn’t care about that. They were her minions and they’d do what she told them too. Rengar was her favourite when it came to this type of thing, her stealth proving invaluable.

As she walked, a tall figure would appear beside her, wielding a mighty axe and easily nearly twice Elara’s height. The summoner didn’t even turn her head and simply said, “Is something wrong, Taurus?”

“This mission of yours. There is more to it than there appears to be. I can sense a dark presence from somewhere nearby and it means you harm, should you approach it. Do not take this job lightly, Elara.” Her tone as deep and gruff as ever, Taurus then added. “I insist on accompanying you for as long as I am able. My axe is itching for blood and this task of yours might be just what it needs.”

“Alright then.” Elara replied, “Let's see what it has in store for us.”

With that, the two would resume towards the town exit.

(544 Words)

There wasn’t a moment in her mind that told her this was a bad idea. No, instead the harboring feeling in the back of her head was a mix of anger and worry. This place wasn’t just some random orphanage. In some ways, being an orphan herself, this was more personal than it would be to most or all other mages. However, for this particular slayer, it held a much more significant title to her. It held a home to so many who didn’t have anywhere to go. It helped families that could not bare their own children a chance to build a family. It was a chance to give many others a chance to do anything and be with others. To form friendships and relationships. But, it didn’t mean that much to those who didn’t have to suffer through it… not like she did.

This place was her home… formerly. In between many different foster homes, this orphanage was often the starting point of many different failed attempts at homing the Silver Wolf mage. She tried when she was younger, however one way or another she was pulled back here. If anything had been calling it fate, they were imbeciles. Anyone who believed some higher power was using this as a means to give her a sign, they were delusional. What this was had been petty and selfish parties who didn’t want to normalize or accept others for what they were and instead tossed the child out like trash. Had it not of been for her knowing of how humans such as herself ticked, she knew she would have been much more bitter and resentful of all people. Instead, she held her reservations and built a wall around herself of knowledge and facts. It couldn’t be helped. Knowledge was her copping mechanism.

As the fire mage made her way towards this old home of hers— if she could even call it that, she had paused as someone had been approaching towards from the opposite side of the road. At first, a hand reached up toward the hilt of her large sword fastened to her back, but once she got a longer look at who it was, she lowered her hands to her side. A smirk came to her face and soon it was joined with the light shaking of her head. ”Well well well. I see mommy and daddy finally let someone out of their sight. I almost didn’t recognize you looking like some punk style Barbie, Elara. That stench of Pergrande scum is something you can’t change though.” She snapped, turning from a smirk to a bit of a scowl. What would bring this brat out here of all places unless- …good lord she hoped she wasn’t her partner for this job.

464 words

The trek was a quiet one and for the most part, Elara and Taurus simply walked in silence. The black haired girl couldn’t help but think over her summons words. Was there really something wicked within the orphanage that was causing trouble? It seemed rather stupid to her but she was smart enough to know that her Zodiac was usually right about such things. She had been around a long time and had not steered Elara wrong yet but who would take over an orphanage of all things when there were far more profitable and useful places to use as a base? Maybe it was just some old woman who craved having kids of her own but was never able to or something. It was just so weird and as she idly played with her summoner keys, her mind drifted further into her thoughts. Taurus for her part remained stoic, eyes always on the move, awaiting any sign of a possible attack or trap. She was far more alert than her summoner but that was to be expected. The duo were definitely the type with one being the brains and the other the brawn.

“Elara, company.” The spirit perked up suddenly, one hand moving to her enormous axe as the person came into view.

The teenager looked up and rolled her eyes, motioning for Taurus to lower her axe. “Put your weapon away, Taurus. She is not an enemy. Just a pain in the ass.” It had been quite a while since she had last seen the annoying pest and as she looked over the girl’s look, simply shrugged her shoulders and snapped back. “That’s rich coming from a kid who looks like she’s just walked right out of a children’s book. Tell me, Little Red Riding Hood, are you still trying to find a home or are you just wandering the forests now like a lost lamb?” In a way, she was kind of surprised that Lehanna had managed to get out of Pergrande. It wasn’t an easy thing to do for a mage, something that Elara knew all too well.

Giving Lehanna a cold look and the job coming back into focus, Elara then asked. “Don’t tell me that you’ve come to do the mayor's little job too? No doubt you believe every word he says about it being haunted or something. Does the thought of that scare you? You always were so easy to scare. All I had to do was jump out when it was dark and you’d jump a mile. I bet that’s not changed.”

Taurus, who was watching the exchange with a raised eyebrow, finally stated. “Excuse me for interrupting this riveting conversation but we do have a job to do here. I do not know what problems you have but can they wait until the job is done?”

Elara was not pleased and snapped coldly at her spirit. “We? Who said anything about teaming up with her?

The bull simply looked back and replied. “It is the obvious way forward. Her objective is clearly the same as ours. Why would she be here otherwise?”

“Oh, shut up.” The black haired teenager replied huffingly.

(531 Words)
(1539 TWC)

Frankly, the counter of a nickname was a little amusing to the orphan. She felt more like some grim fairy tale version of Red Riding hood if that had been the case, but looking over her and the woman that stood next to her had been tall enough to put both girls on top of the other to equal this one height. Her eyes flickered between both of them, partly focused on that of the bull horns on the taller woman’s head. ”You don’t have to worry about me Jackie. Just make sure your beanstalk doesn’t lose control of that axe and hurt you too badly.” She chuckled and shrugged her shoulders as her body relaxed a little. ”Im just surprised mommy and daddy let their little princess out of their sight~” As she had taunted them, she could smell something a bit.. different about this woman. She seemed to be a bit more inhuman than she had first anticipated.

Curious to wonder what her game was as she tried to get under her skin, she started off with the orphanage itself. She was met quickly with an angry glare. ”Why you little son of a-” Oh, but it didn’t stop there. No, Elara continued by bringing up the past, adding to the fact of exploiting her fears and angering her severely. ”Listen here you little son of a bitch! This is the orphanage I grew up in, so if you think I’m going to sit by and let anything happen to it, you’re sorely mistaken!” She yelled angrily, stomping forward almost until she had nearly fully approached the other teen. ”You know damn right well your parents afflicted that crap by locking me in the cubby under the stairs and locking me in dark closets at the slightest thing!” Her hands became enveloped by black flames, holding one up in the girls face. ”And if you ever bring that up again, I will put my fist through that big mouth of yours and burn your tongue into dust.”

Her face was albeit against the other teens, but quickly stepped away once the tall woman began to interrupt their back and forth. She took her eyes off of Elara for a moment, the flames extinguishing from her hands and looking up to the woman. Hearing the return comment, she scoffed in reply. ”Tch. Work with this brat? You may need to go home before you get a scrape and need to get mommy to kiss your boo-boo.” Leering back to the other teenage girl, she stepped back and turned part way towards the orphanage. ”…If you intend to go in, you follow my lead. I know this place like the back of my hand and we don’t need you getting lost and end up as some new orphan in the home.” With those words, she would begin walking towards the doors to the orphanage, caring not for any lick of a comment she may have to fling back.

498 words
2037 total words

“Your words cut deeper than any blade, Elara.” Taurus uttered as the short tempered girl walked off towards the orphanage. “There seems to be much that you have not told me about your past. What is your connection to this girl? You two quibble as though you are sisters but I must say that there does not seem to be any resemblance between you two, besides your willingness to argue. Was she stuck in Pergrande too, scared to death of her magic being found out and punished for it, like you were? You say that your parents were complete asses all the time but you have never told me why. She speaks as though they babied you, which does not make sense when compared to what you told me.”

“They are absolute slime but they didn’t treat me quite as badly as they did to her. She’d been moving from foster home to foster home for years before my family took her in and it was their disdain for magic which caused my mother and father to despise her. She was always on a short leash and what she said just now wasn’t a lie. They were absolute dickheads to her and that’s why I left after she did. Once she was gone, my magic started to appear and I began to hear the voice of you are the others inside my head. I knew I had to leave after that because they were loyal to Pergrande, meaning that I’d end up being treated as badly as she did.” The dark haired girl answered, not looking her spirit in the face.

“You were just as cruel to her as they were.” Taurus pointed out in return.

A brief smile crossed the girl’s face then. “She was just so much fun to tease. Losing her temper over the silliest thing and getting her into trouble because of it was always a blast.”

“If she threatens you like that again, it will be me who will be cruel.” The bull replied.

Elara thought for a moment and then spoke through telepathy, hiding her last sentence from Red. “Maybe once this job is over, you and the others can teach her a little lesson in humility?”

The smile fading and replaced with her usual cold expression, the two would catch up to the annoyed slayer. Elara couldn’t help but take another shot and asked. “If this orphanage was so good to you, why did you leave? Did you have another one of your temper tantrums and almost burn the place down? Maybe you hit another kid or something because they wouldn’t share their toy with you? You haven’t changed a bit, Red.” She couldn’t help but think back, even if it wasn’t a nice experience overall. Her parents were dictators really and had always pushed her hard, whether it be academically or any other area of her life. What would they say now? Well, who gave a damn about that. She’d go back home one day and show them just how strong she’d become, rubbing their noses right in it.

(518 Words)
(2555 TWC)

Gritting and grinding her teeth was barely quelling the rising anger in her mind. Why did it have to be Elara of all people she had to be stuck with? She could have had a full on stranger and it would not have been a problem. At least with them, she could ignore them and not have to deal with them much. But this one? This hit too personally. Lehanna could only think back to each time the other teens parents would snatch her up from studying or even eating just to stuff her into a small closet. Them locking her inside of it for hours and even full nights induced such a fear that even sleep could not be something that happened on its own. Often times, she had to cry herself to sleep inside of the closet huddled up because her ability to escape or beg for help was toppled by the worry of them coming back to make things worse. Just thinking back to it was harder on her mind knowing one of the causes of it had been not far behind her.

She stopped just before the doors and paused. Her eyes settling onto the door and the slayer could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Flashback upon flashback of each time she had to walk through these doors after a failed attempt of an adoption. Being casted back again and again didn’t hit her so hard until she was ready to step in here once again. She became overwhelmed to the point she couldn’t move, paralyzed with this gut wrenching sensation. From Elara’s point of view, even small droplets could be seen hitting the ground by the hooded girls feet. It wasn’t just Elara’s family that hurt her. All of those that did before them did in some way shape and form and in one fell swoop that hit her all at once time.

”Damn it.. damn it… DAMN IT!” Each utterance of the words had grown from a small mutter to a shout, and with it the doors flew open, forcing herself with as much might as she could. The force of her anger fueled shove forced the doors to slam into the walls, facing in the impact area of the door through the wall. Letting out a huff of air, she rolled her shoulders around in a massaging manner several times and then stopped to take in a deep breath and exhale. She had to stop herself from getting angry. She needed to keep Elara from prodding at her as well, but she knew one false step and she wouldn’t hesitate to attack her… and to her that was a fearful thought despite who the other girl was.

455 words
3011 total words

The doors opened with almost explosive force and for a moment Elara thought that it had been opened from within but once her initial surprise had faded, the answer was far simpler. Lehanna had lost control, as she had always lost control in the past. Her former foster sister was just as rash and stroppy as ever. Honestly, Elara wasn’t sure whether she should roll her eyes or laugh but for the moment at least, she didn’t say anything else, leaving Lehanna to sulk. Obviously, she’d had a bad time here and the black haired girl couldn’t help but wonder for a moment about just what had happened here, both during Lehanna’s time and now. Had the supposed darkness that had taken over the orphanage been there all the way back then? Some nasty piece of work that was using the children for their own ends? The more she thought about it, the more questions came up in her mind. Just what was going on?

Turning to Taurus, Elara would motion her head towards the doors. “Taurus, go in and have a look around. See if you can sense anything going on.” It seemed like Lehanna was too overcome to lead, despite what she’d just said and so she put her faith in her loyal spirit instead. She wasn’t even sure if she could trust Little Red Riding Hood if she was honest. The loathing that they felt for each other was strong, on both sides and Elara was reluctant to turn her back on the brunette.

“Right.” The bull replied, pleased that things were finally seeming to be going somewhere. Taking her double handed weapon in hand, the seven foot bull would make her way inside the large doors of the orphanage. The front hall was awfully silent and there didn’t seem to be any sign of life at all, to the bemusement of the Zodiac spirit. She was constantly on her guard, her axe ready to be swung at the slightest hint of trouble. Every nerve and muscle was ready for combat and her senses were piqued. Eventually she did speak though and uttered grimly. “I do not like this at all. This place reeks of darkness and misery. Where are all the children who are supposed to be here?”

Elara followed close behind her spirit, more than happy to allow her to stay ahead of her. It seemed strange to her and there was a sense of mischief all around. This didn’t seem like any orphanage that she’d ever heard of or seen before and even though her reluctant partner for the job seemed to be losing her mind, the black haired girl turned to Lehanna and asked. “Was it always this gloomy when you were here? This place looks and feels more like a crypt than an orphanage.” Her tone remained cold and hard, eyes fixed on her former foster sister. “I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to run away if it looked like this all the time. What a dump.”

(506 Words)
(3517 TWC)

Walking through the orphanage felt gut wrenching to go through. Having herself stepping almost entirely like she had as a kid growing up, imagining the kids who were here when she left each time mocking her. Over and over, they pointed, laughed, made fun of her inability to have anyone keep her. The only time they did no such thing was when the home she was at was burned down by the god. She had several burns and some injuries herself and she had to lie to explain what happened. The fact she had kept the sword the god had tried to kill her had remained hidden. She couldn’t risk them blaming her for something she had no control over. But she also didn’t want to risk putting the place in jeopardy by keeping it near them. It wasn’t until she had become emancipated that she managed to carry it along with her whenever she went.

Elara had come in not far behind her, boasting about what kind of place this was. The place was never like this… it had to be since whoever took it over and began doing the things they were doing. Granted, the orphanage was never entirely this bad, but… even this was a stretch of disregard. ”This place as gone to hell since I left here…” Lehanna said softly, but aloud. It wasn’t until it was insulted that she stopped and turned around to face the two. Quickly, the fire mage stormed up and gripped the girl by the collar of her jacket. ”You just don’t get it! But I wouldn’t expect someone who grew up in a home to get at all!” Trying to keep herself from hitting Elara, the other teen quickly shoved her aside to give them some distance while her hands shook with a myriad of emotions.

”My whole life has been in THIS place. I don’t have parents, I never have and it frustrates me to no end! Parents thought they would love this cute little innocent girl, but for one reason or another I found myself back here again and again! Abuse, neglect, second guessing! I’ve been through all of it and at one point I believed it to be my fault. To think nobody ever wanted you and even kids who were here had begun to make fun of you, bully you all because you had a chance to escape have a family.” The girl was in full blown tears, streaming down her face while she still wore a face of pure anger. ”You think all my problems started in your house? They were my breaking point. I was tired of the beatings, the abuse, all of it! And when I hoped someone my own age would try and be sympathetic and MAYBE help the time be bareable, she decided to side with her own parents.” Leaning on the time they had spent together, she had to stop and wipe her eyes clear of the tears there. ”But if you want to be another Pergrande scumbag, try not to be a hypocrite about it…”

516 words
4033 total words

For a moment or two, there was no response from Elara at all. She simply stared coldly back at the crying girl, her expression impossible to read. Oh, she’d listened all right, every word passing through the summoner's mind and given the attention it deserved. It was all coming out now and the black haired girl could feel the heat coming from Lehanna, her emotions almost giving her some kind of fiery aura. The punkish teenager had seen the girl cry before but never like this. There was a desperation to it that Elara had never seen or heard before. She had picked on Lehanna constantly during their time together and she wasn’t going to deny it, making fun of the girl whenever she could. Why? Well, it had been fun but as Elara thought about it a little more, she came to realise that it wasn’t the only reason why. There was something in Lehanna’s words that caused the summoner to turn her thoughts inwards, thinking back to the days that they shared in each other's company. Life hadn’t been as great for her back then as Lehanna was implying and the more that Elara dwelled on it, the more her own emotions started to stir within her.

She’d always been cold in the way she went about things. Never shouting, never screaming but instead bottling everything inside. It had been something that had become natural to her, due to the influence of her parents. Her home had never been the blissful one that Lehanna might have thought and it was the last couple of sentences that caused the anger to start to churn within the black haired girl, her usually cold blazing with it. Even Taurus paused from her scouting, noticing the emotion that was beginning to seep from her summoner. It was such a rare thing to experience and although the bull said nothing, the look in her eyes seemed to match Elara’s, the girl’s emotions reaching her.

“You think that you’re the only one who’s had to suffer?! I spent my entire childhood with parents who thought of me as little more than a god damn doll. They wanted me to be perfect in every way, just so they could parade me around in front of their bastard friends. It was always a competition between me and their friends' kids. Who got the best grades. Who was the best athlete. Who had the most up to date fashion and clothes. They couldn’t give a damn about me and what I wanted but what could I do about it? If I went against them, I’d have ended up in the same position as you. Yeah, I picked on you and yeah, I admit that it did make me feel a little better but don’t tell me that you’re the only one who was hurting because you damn well weren't.” She didn’t cry or shout but her tone was steely, revealing just a little as to how deeply Lehanna’s words had cut her.

(506 Words)
(4539 TWC)

Lehanna had expected nothing less of her former foster sister that she'd come to make no reply to her words, let alone show any emotion during her rather explosive rant. Frankly, the feeling she had after it was all let out had felt so much more relieving, however she couldn't help but have a small sense of regret for putting this on Elara. It tugged with the sense or righteousness she had for showing a Pergrande scum bag their place in the world, but at the same time, she ran away from that world and the magic of her own had her a little worried in some sense. If her parents were truly as iron fisted as they had been when Lehanna lived with them, she could only imagine the kind of target Elara painted on her own back now. It wasn't something she had truly considered until this moment, but now that it had, the anger in her had quelled a little and it allowed her a moment to breath and regain some of her composure.

That composure bent in a whole other direction suddenly as it seemed her outburst had suddenly provoked that of the punk teen. It seemed that prior to Lehanna showing up in their home, the girl was treated in such a very.. old fashioned type of life for any girl. At least, to Lehanna it seemed to be that it was the most logical way of thinking, and though she remained quiet, the gothic teen seemed to only silent allow her to let it out. They were both different and the same and it was a little nice to know that Elara had not been the spoiled child that she had thought she was when they lived together. If anything, during her time, she could barely recall that Elara had begun to change a little even then. The first few days she did recall her being almost somewhat of 'mommy's little girl'.

A light, but still audible exhale of breath left the slayers mouth. When she thought about it, the teen knew that she couldn't hold a grudge against Elara forever. Whether it was a reciprocated feeling was something she didn't care for, but it wasn't going to stop her from playing at the fact she had a little amusement playing this insult game. It felt a bit like a quip of intelligence being able to see how quick one can come up with a good insult at the drop of a hat. "I see..." She replied. She made no other attempt at words, no quip, no real way to tell if she was being sincerely emotionless or if she was just that surprised. It didn't bend her expression too much, so it wasn't something that felt so detrimentally bad, however Lehanna knew it couldn't be something that had no effect on her. "So, is that why you decided to put on a pair of punk boots, a leather jacket, and did.. whatever that is with your hair?"

A chuckle came out of her mouth, shaking her head lightly with it. "Not that I am one to argue clothing options... you should see the clothes I wear now. I'm just short heavy eyeliner and makeup. a couple razor blade scars and some bad taste in music choice from being an emo. This is just.. battle attire. Resistant to my fire, so I have no worries of it incinerated." For the first time since they ran into one another, Lehanna had pulled her hood down, showing off the rest of her head hidden away by it. At that point, Elara would notice the brunette head not adding up to the over the shoulder braid that was a bright red color.

629 words
5168 total words

Needing a minute after her outburst, Elara would take a few deep breaths before trying to pull herself together. It had been a long time since she’d blown a fuse like that and it wasn’t something that she enjoyed doing. She tried so hard to keep up her icy persona and to throw it away due to a moment of madness annoyed her greatly, especially in front of Lehanna of all people. It was the brunette who was the one who let her temper get the better of her, not Elara herself. Still, it did feel somewhat good to unload and just let it all out, bringing her a sense of peace for a moment or two. She began to realise then that it wasn’t really Lehanna that she’d hated back then, it had always been her family. What she’d said about bullying Lehanna had been true but was it truly out of hatred? No, it had been her way of just trying to keep herself sane. Without that, she might truly have lost her mind and given in to her loathing and despair. Her past had been just as unpleasant as her former foster sisters, something that linked them together, whether they liked it or not.

“I spent a lot of time in Motor City when I came to Fiore and that’s why I chose to adopt their look.” She finally said, her tone having returned to normal. “No doubt my parents would be disgusted if they saw me like this but to hell with them. If I never see them again, it’ll be too soon and if they try to follow me or send someone after me then Taurus here will split them in two. I’m never returning to Pergrande, no matter what they say or do.”

As Lehanna pulled down her hood and revealed the braid, Elara would raise an eyebrow and flick it. “I guess Little Red is a better nickname for you than I thought and that look definitely matches your temper. I’m surprised you didn’t try and burn me to a crisp when you first caught sight of me. If looks could kill.”

Since the two were at least speaking a little more civilly now, Elara would nod her head towards the large axe wielding bull. “This is Taurus, one of the Zodiac and by far my strongest spirit. I found her slaughtering a bunch of thugs in Motor City and offered her the chance to join up with me. We’ve been together ever since and she introduced me to the rest of my band of spirits. Bunch of weirdos they are.”

“We love you too.” Taurus replied sarcastically, turning to face the two teenagers. “Elara promised me that I would get my fill of carnage and so far, I have not been disappointed. I am not used to hanging around with young people who are quite as frigid as she is. It amuses me to see you two together. Fire and Ice. An interesting combination.”

Elara rolled her eyes and answered huffily. “You are not here to amuse yourself, Taurus. You are here to do what I tell you. Smartass.”

(528 Words)
(5696 TWC)

A special look in the motor city? Well, the loud noises and robust smell of pollution from the factories was something that had always kept her away from it. If that were the case, she might have run into her much sooner than she expected to have, if ever. But she did come to make a fair point about her parents and that brought a smile to her face, though more of the cocky form of one to say the least. "You won't be the only one. I hope you won't be too sad if I ended up coming across them first." The brunette replied, joking so obviously about how much Elara would be upset should her parents end up dead. "I know it would just break your little heart if they weren't sucking up the same air we did. Do you prefer roses or maybe Alstroemeria?" The tone added in her voice showed how little she cared for them and the comfort at which Lehanna had in discussing how little she cared for the health of them.

Again, the slayer couldn't help but chuckle at Elara's comment over her nickname. As her eyes glanced over the other teen for a second, she simply shook her head and let off a small smirk. "Well then I suppose going that route you'd be more like Cinderella. Those wicked stooge parents of yours." Her hand went down the braid as it was commented on with the girl being burnt to a crisp when they met. Her attention shifted away from her as the calm set back into the young girl. "Well frankly, I stopped being angry at it once I earned my emancipation. It's more.. other demons which shifted my rather uptight clothing choices... and the hair, but that's another story."

She chose to try and avoid having to bring up the... carnage suffered by that lunatic to come around again. Still to this day her body suffers aches and pain from it and no matter how much she attempted to shake it, these shooting pains force her mind back to it. It had shot into her knee as the girl explained her story if meeting the rather tall, axe wielding woman. Taurus, zodiac signs, multiple spirits? If her book readings had been correct, was she the type of mage she assumed her to be? But something bothered her with how casual Elara explained the fact they were acting in a more... malicious manner. "You seem pretty relaxed for admitting to the fact you and your celestial spirit had killed people. More so associating yourself with one." She noted, though not seeming very concerned over her own safety.

"I suppose I should tell you ahead of time and out of respect for you telling me your own, I am a god slayer. Specifically of the fire element. Had it not of been for a foster parent prior to my living with your family, I never would have had the magic abilities in the first place." Pulling the large weapon off of her back, she would place the blade on one hand while the other held it by the hilt. "And the irony of me believing in gods, yet this is my proof. A god whom came for the records I had read to gain this particular magic tried to kill me with this. I only put him at bay, but I'm sure soon he'll come back for this.. and me. Until then, it's mine." There was a bout of pride in her story. Even the look on her face showed that she was proud of herself and confident in herself.

615 words
6311 total words

“Tell them I send my love, should you run into them first.” Elara replied dryly, finding the idea of Lehanna meeting her parents again quite entertaining. “By all means, give them the cremation they deserve.” She couldn’t find it in heart to care about them, even if they were her flesh and blood. There had been too much pain and suffering caused for that and she couldn’t help but wonder what their reaction had been to her disappearance. She was an only child and doubted they’d end up having another, at least she hoped not. No child deserved to be born and raised by them, no one. Her tone was as indifferent as Lehanna’s had been, sharing the brunette's dislike for them.

The Plumed Serpent mage couldn’t help but cringe slightly at the mention of being Cinderella compared to Lehanna’s Little Red Riding Hood. “God, if I have to wear a dress like the one she wore then I think I’d lose my mind, trying to walk in that would be a pain. I just hope that one day, I can drive a pumpkin carriage through their house and be free of them that way.” Up until now, she’d been so focused on getting away from them that the thought of revenge had never been her main goal but after her time in her guild, one that was focused entirely on power and malice, it was hard for her not to think that way. Odhran might have been a weirdo but some of what he said made sense to her. “I’m glad that you managed to get over the anger that you feel towards them and me because I just can’t let it go. They ruined my life and they deserve to pay for it.”

Elara could have pried into the demons that Lehanna spoke about but at least for now, she didn’t do that. It appeared that Lehanna’s past had even more pain surrounding it than Elara’s, a fact that the black haired mage hadn’t really thought about. Just what had happened to all of the families that the brunette had been with and why had she been brought back to this place so many times? Was it simply bad luck or was something or someone else involved?

At the mention of her association with Taurus, Elara would simply shrug. “What am I to do? I came here with nothing and ended up living in one of the shabbiest places in Fiore. Life in Motor City isn’t easy, there are gangs and mobsters everywhere and if you don’t toughen up, you’re going to suffer. The only reason I survived was because I made a contract with Taurus and since then, I’ve not had any problems with anyone. She has my back and it’s thanks to her that I’m even able to do jobs like this. I’m a summoner and without her and the others, I’m...I’m.” She trailed off, unwilling to add the word useless. No, she had too much pride for that.

She tilted her head as Lehanna mentioned her magic. “A Fire God Slayer? Heh, that suits you. I admit that I don’t know much about slayers besides the fact they can eat their own element.” As the brunette then proceeded to unsheathe her weapon and tell the tale regarding how she got it, Elara raised her eyebrows. “So, let me get this straight. You fought and managed to fight off a god, as well as take his weapon?” For once, she wasn’t trying to put down Lehanna or anything like that, it was just that the story was a difficult one to accept. Then again, who’d believe Elara’s story about commanding a bunch of lunatics? Perhaps Lehanna’s story wasn’t that unbelievable after all. “What does the sword do?” She then asked. “Does it unleash flames when you swing it or something?”

(645 Words)
(6956 TWC)

Lehanna couldn’t help but chuckle at the comment of her wearing a dress like Cinderella. She had not thought of it entirely until Elara seemed to be thinking about how much she would hate being dressed up in something like that. The fire mage was the opposite in that sense. Though she wasn’t a pretty princess type of thinker, she did always have a small glint of hope that some day she could have a Cinderella type of ending. Someone to be a bit of her knight in shining armor to rescue her from one of the deplorable homes she had lived in at the time. But, it never happened. She had to become her own knight and save herself. Now she just wished to do it for others as well. ”I don’t know, you would probably look very lovely in a dress.”

She had blurted out those words without so much as a thought and she paused immediately. Her face flushed a bright pink and she quickly averted her gaze. ”I-I-I didn’t mean it in any sort of way… just trying t-to uh.. t-try out being positive towards one another. You know… for the jobs sake.” There was no way to hide the embarrassment she felt for how the words poured out of her mouth. But she had to live with the choice of words that she had put out there. ”A-Anyway, about the carriage bit…” Lehanna began, clearing her throat before she would continue to try and calm herself back down. ”You should look at the bigger picture. Why ruin one family when we could just level the entire god damned country. Screw em all! ” Not normally one fo advocate for violence before, the level she was ready to jump to was something of a 180 from their last interaction.

Admittedly, when Elara came to justify the actions she and her summon had used to make it in the Motor City, the brunette simply shrugged the problem off. Knowing the struggle of being alone in a new place at their age, having to do what it took to get by was an inevitability. The lengths at which Lehanna herself strove towards to get just into the school she wanted had been a lot more than she bargained for when she was able to live on her own. ”I suppose you’re right. It’s pretty hard to get around in a new place when you’re alone… but I’m glad you have someone to help protect you, Elara.” For the first time since they met, a sincere smile came to her face. No blushed cheeks, no hesitation in her words. It was easy to tell she was sincere. She knew the same struggles her foster sister had gone through and it made it a lot easier to connect in that way. She despised her for so long, but after their stories came to light, there was a new perspective to paint her in and it was a lot brighter than the former.

”Yeah… admittedly I hate spicy foods, but yet fire tastes very umm.. delicious.” The Silver Wolf mage giggled at the albeit baffled girl as she questioned her fight with the blacksmith god. ”Mhm~” Was all she could reply before the other teen girl wondered about what the sword could do. She lifted it up, resting the top side of the blade on top of her left shoulder. ”Somethin’ like that, yeah. Yet, I can’t eat the flames that come from this and it’s normal colored fire too. So I have to hypothesize that my own magical energy cannot be eaten by my own self, if that makes sense.”

610 words
7566 total words

Elara’s eyes widened at the sudden compliment and her cheeks turned a little pink as well. She hadn’t expected to be complimented like that at all and the summoner didn’t know how to respond. Her gaze would turn so that she was looking the opposite direction from Lehanna, the slayer’s words still ringing in her ears. She appreciated them but couldn’t help but be embarrassed nonetheless. It wasn’t as if she’d never been complimented before but they’d always been false niceties that the other family's parents had almost spat at her. She’d never blushed then, why was she now? There was just something so sweet about the way that the brunette had said it that she was at a loss for words for a minute. “Well...Well, thank you for the nice words and yes, I guess we should be civil to one another. For the job, yes, the job.” It didn’t sound like something she’d normally say but she’d been struck by such a strong sense of awkwardness that the usually quick witted summoner was at a bit of a loss.

The slayer’s words about the carriage thankfully eased the tension a little but Elara did find what Lehanna said to be unexpectedly violent for her. “I’d like nothing better than to go back there and teach them a lesson, once we’re strong enough, but is that something you’d really want to do? I have nothing to lose and will gladly take the risk but haven’t you found a new life here in Fiore? Would you really want to risk the happiness that you’ve found? The scum of Pergrande treat mages so horribly and we both know that if we got caught by them, it wouldn’t be pretty. We’d have to hit them with everything we have, without any doubts or worries. We’d have to be all in.” Elara had never truly understood why her people despised magic so strongly, her parents had just tried to fill her mind with propagande. To trust the will of the Pergrande people and all that shit. She had to admit that early on, she’d believed it but that was until her interactions with Lehanna, as well as the sudden realisation of her own magic.

Elara had honestly expected some kind of lecture regarding her and Taurus’s methods but to her surprise, Lehanna seemed to be more reasonable, even agreeing with her to a point. The smile that the brunette gave her was genuine and it was clear that if anyone knew how tough it was to start again with nothing, it would be the brunette. A small smile would briefly cross her features. “There’s been so much that she’s taught me since we joined up together. More than my parents ever did. Not only that but I even actually joined a guild recently, one who seems to have a fondness for summoners. They don’t follow the Magic Council and they sure as hell aren’t nice but with them, I think I can become powerful enough to do what I wish to do.”

When Lehanna went on to speak about her magic and sword, Elara would reply with a slight smirk. “Well, you’ve always had a fiery tongue so I’m not surprised that you’d find eating fire tasty. I think I get why you can’t eat your or your sword's flames. It would be like eating your own...you know.” Her smirk grew a little, before her eyes would return to the blade. “I tell you what. I wouldn’t want to be hit by that damn thing. I bet it leaves wicked burns behind.”

(600 Words)
(8166 TWC)

Either Elara was being a little more mocking about her rather flustered comment over trying to act a little more civilized for the sake of the job, or she had been equally as embarrassed as the brunette had been. She made an attempt to look back just to make sure and possibly have to come up with some excuse should she look to be on the brink of laughing at her, but as her eyes flashed over, she had been a little surprised by it. There was a rather big shock in realizing that Elara even had those kinds of emotions given what she knew of her before and now. However, perhaps the fact of how she had blown up to an extent to Lehanna had come to make her realize how emotionally volatile she could be… or both of them for that matter. In one way or another, the summoners parents were the straw that broke more than just one camels back and it would eventually end up coming back to haunt them for sure. It was only a matter of when.


The young slayer raised a brow when she was asked about committing such an act. For a moment, she had to look and make sure that Elara was serious. After a moment, she began to smirk. The smirk began to evolve into a chuckle. ”Sure, let me consult my fictitious family.” A light wave of her hand in a dismissive manner had quelled her laughter. ”Besides, after the war between Pergrande and Bellum, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to do damage if not level that miserable, shitty country without many or any ramifications. At least Bellum would house us happily for it, I’ll tell you that much.” She responded, sounding as though she’d done the research into the idea. She had, but not so much on the scale of destroying the whole place. Two birds, one stone, perhaps.

She had watched a smile— a genuine smile form on her face and it had the Silver Wolf a bit flustered. She had never seen even this side of the girl and for a change it was nice. It brightened her own smile in knowing she managed to find somewhere to feel nice and accepted. ”Im glad you have somewhere to be safe and cared for. The guild I joined is quite the same in a sense. We don’t really follow the council and their research department is astounding! I’ve felt the closest to a home there since the foster parent who taught me my magic.” She paused suddenly as a chill went down her spine. A cross between just the cold and the feeling as though they had been watched the whole time they were here. ”Oh, that shivering chill reminds me. I still have that odd thing where my hair and eye color changes when I’m cold. I still haven’t figured out exactly what it is, but I have a good inclination it’s my magic that’s somehow causing it.”

Her face puffed suddenly into a pout as the other teen teased her about her “fiery tongue” being fitting for her magic. ”I-I- Excuse you!?” She stammered out. Her arms folded at her chest, she huffed and turned her head away, cheeks still puffed out. ”Well princess, I guess a prissy girl like you found just what you needed. You never could do the work on your own, so I guess summoning things to do it for you is right up your alley…” With one last, minor huff of air and a roll of her eyes, she would speak up again. ”B-But yes… it does.”

609 words
8775 total words

“I don’t know, I thought you might have found a new family during your time here.” Elara replied coolly, trying to throw the brunette’s mockery back in her face. “That’s what you’ve always been pining for, isn’t it?” She couldn’t help but notice the eagerness that was in Lehanna’s voice when she spoke of Pergrande’s destruction and she sounded delighted about the prospect of dealing more damage to the country. Elara hadn’t paid much attention to the war between Bellum and her home, not caring much but she’d at least heard that Bellum seemed to have come out on top, which was a pleasant thought. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you were already planning on dealing some damage to them although I bet you’d end up getting caught by yourself.” The coldness was starting to creep in again now, the black haired girl having been rather annoyed at Lehanna’s flippant response to what was actually genuine concern from Elara. “You’re going to need someone to watch your back otherwise your big mouth and short fuse will just get you into trouble, as it always does.”

Elara had half expected a rebuke to her having admitted that she had joined a dark guild but Lehanna didn’t seem too troubled about it, which was surprisingly a relief to the summoner. To hear that her former sister had actually found a guild of her own caused her smile to widen ever so slightly. “So you do have a family of some sort, after all. Why am I not surprised that it would have something to do with books and research? You always did love to read, despite the fact that you never got much of a chance while we were together. I’m happy to hear that you found somewhere that appreciates and nurtures your talents, instead of looking down on them but would they not disapprove of us attacking Pergrande? Seems like attacking a country wouldn’t be a great research topic to me and I wouldn’t want Little Red to get in trouble with her new family.” There was an element of teasing in her voice but she wasn’t straight up taking the piss out of Lehanna. Her guild just didn’t sound dark like hers.

A smirk crossed her features as Lehanna flustered about her jab at her regarding her tongue and she placed her hands on her hips. “Why should I have to do the work when I can have my spirits do it for me? I can quite happily complete my jobs without any risk at all to myself which just means that my form of magic is more suited to a more intelligent mage who uses her brain like me rather than fiery thumper like you.” After a few moments of thought, she added cheekily. “You know, I think I’ve figured out why your hair and eyes change. I don’t think it’s because of your magic, I think it’s because your only braincell has burnt out and needs recharging.”

(504 Words)
(9279 TWC)

Lehanna had seemed to have a look of surprise and realization on her face. Was she actually being given reality slapped in her face by this girl in such a way that she had been thrown off by this? The one who ran away from her own family had been telling her information that she didn’t expect to have heard. She had seemed like someone just delivered a blow to her isolated wall she had built after her encounter with Prada and it left her to feel rather awful for it. Sure, the reason she joined hadn’t been to make a family out of the members she came to meet and know, but she did end up finding some interesting and special characters among them. That look on her face turned into a bit of a saddened point. She wasn’t so much prepared to have that noticed in such a way, but now that it was out there, she couldn’t help but hold that in her own mind. ”I… I hadn’t thought of that…” She spoke lightly, not realizing it was said aloud. The more the cold reality was spat in her face, the more she began to reflect on how distanced she had made herself as of recent. Harboring nothing but anger and resentment.

No matter what she did, she couldn’t shake the memories and what it stirred up in her. Excruciating pain and nonstop for hours on end and leaving her waking up in flaring pains. Some nights having to look herself over to make sure that she wasn’t missing a finger, a toe, tooth, or some other piece of her. The recalling of this all only did to make her body shake in both great fear and anger in one rolled up emotion. And yet, she was silent. The slayer could not come up with a single word to say. Her mouth simply hung open, choking on the utterance of even a small vowel. Why was this so hard to talk about? What would she even call it? No matter what she thought and wanted to say, each different way of explaining that night kept hitting a wall. Choking on that first syllable, unable to push it out of her throat and mouth left her to do nothing but swallow it back down.

There was a thought to fire back to her taunting little comments. Her mocking tone has been something she thought to be more amusing between the two, but something was different with Lehanna currently. She couldn’t speak. She turned her head away quietly and made a quiet sigh. What was she to do? To say? It was amusing to her that Elara thought of herself as this superior person, but in her mind, the last thing Lehanna could bring herself to do was play this little back and forth. Even as she had continued in her playful insult over the unique attributes of her magic on her body, the Silver Wolf mage said nothing. Unable to make the utterance of a word, she just shook her head. It seemed that the summoners words hit her so hard that it made her feel upsetting to try and continue this banter right now.

”I-I can’t do this…”

It was the first set of words she could muster from her mouth, and she immediately turned and made her way towards the door. Maybe she didn’t have it in her to be a mage anymore? If she felt this way over one instance, should she just stop and quit? But the last thing Elara would see before the hood of the brunette went up was a trail of tears rolling down her cheek.

615 words
9894 total words

The summoner didn’t say anything at first, simply watching the brunette as she headed towards the exit. It had all been banter but it seemed as though she’d been a little too accurate with her words. Had her speaking the truth truly shaken the brunette so much that she couldn’t handle it? Elara, for once, wasn’t all that sure what to do. Should she go after her? Should she let her go? She just wasn’t sure and it wasn’t anything that Taurus could really help her with either. It was up to her. A part of her took a bit of pleasure in the fact that she’d won their verbal barrage but the more she thought about it, the more she started to feel something else stir within her. Guilt. The truth was that she hadn’t meant to hurt her former sister and her stomach started to churn at seeing Lehanna so upset. What was going on? It’d never been like this before. Then again, it wasn’t the same anymore. She’d seen a side of her former sister that she’d never seen before today and they’d both opened up. The dislike just wasn’t there anymore.

Elara sighed and shook her head. She couldn’t just let Lehanna go, not like this. The black haired girl could see the tears trickling onto the dusty floor and that was the last straw. The guilt was just too much to bear and she moved forwards, catching up with the brunette and taking her trailing hand without even thinking. She knew that there was a risk that the slayer might strike at her for suddenly doing so but she didn’t know what else to do. It felt like the right thing to do and that was all that mattered. Her cheeks turned a little red and her words were a little slow in coming but eventually, they came to her.

“I’m...I’m sorry, OK? I didn’t mean to upset you and I had no idea that you felt that way about your guild. I just assumed that you thought of them as family. Please don’t leave. I know that you’re still hurting and that’s something that’s going to take a while to go away but maybe if we do this job, it’ll help just a bit. Stay with me and let’s get this done. I promise that I won’t bring up the past anymore or tease you too much. If you don’t want to talk about what’s bothering you so much then that’s fine but if you do, I’m here to listen. It...hurts to see you like this and I feel like shit for being the reason for it.” No taunts, no cold tone, she was just speaking openly, her hand still clasped around Lehanna’s. “We’re...We’re the same, you and me. We’ve both had a rough past and if we don’t...don’t stick together then we’re never going to get over them. Don’t throw away what you’ve gained since your emancipation, Lehanna. You’ve become so much stronger.”

Gently, she’d try to pull Lehanna back so that they were looking each other in the face again, a touch of pleading entering her tone of voice. “Please. Don’t cry anymore.”

(532 Words)
(10426 TWC)

There was so much in her mind that had been stirring recently that it felt like the words from Elara’s mouth had been what broke the camels back in a sense. Ever since Prada, Lehanna was left to feel as though she had no pride or confidence in herself. This outer change in her appearance was just an outcry of that and she knew that, but it mattered not what she thought others thought of it. She felt better in it and more comfortable so to the slayer, she had no real care as to what they had to say. What mattered to her was trying to forget what happened and get back to trying to learn, but everything began to change since then. She questioned her intelligence for one, which had been the one thing that she always held to. How could someone who had been as smart as she claimed to be end up being so gullible to a ploy like that? And how could she not of found a way out of it? What it boiled down to was she was just far too unprepared to be a mage and for that, she knew it had to end here.

She was certain she would be fought out about wanting to resign and simply go back to schooling, however she couldn’t see her being able to stomach the time nor have the heart to go back up to the hall and tell them. The thoughts and scenarios played out in her head until she felt something grab hold of her hand. Her body and head snapped upright suddenly and at first she took hold of the sword still in her free hand and prepared to swing when it settled onto her that she wasn’t in this orphanage again as a discarded child. Elara’s voice spoke up and the words popped her back to reality in this very moment. She didn’t turn around, not even so much as her head from the other teens words. She had stared down at the floor, still finding it difficult to be able to talk about anything, but Elara seemed to be doing all of it. The simple fact she apologized spoke stories for how different she was since they lived together.

But one thing got to her that had begun to upset her in a whole different manner. The lord she began to blame herself for it, the more Lehanna grew to be angered by it, however she didn’t look in any way that she was getting troubled by it. With the girls second hand clasped around her hand, the god slayers eyes grew a little wide, masked from Elara’s view by the hood. Was she… serious? This wasn’t just some ploy to get under her skin… she was being genuine. But what threw her for a loop was that the other teen tried to move her around fo face her. As she would, the hooded teen would immediately lunge forward slightly and wrap her arms around the girl with a tight gripping hug. ”Y-You aren’t to blame… it’s all my fault and you shouldn’t beat yourself thinking it otherwise, but…” She would pull herself away from the hug, leaving her hands rested on the girls shoulders. ”After this job.. I think will be better to tell you the full story.” She informed her.

Now felt like the time she should stop holding it in. If she could put her trust in anyone to tell, Elara had shown her that she could do just that. She felt a heavy string between them formed from this and she wouldn’t let it be broken if she could help it. ”But I am serious. I don’t blame you for anything that happened. Your parents punishments gave me a harsh form of claustrophobia, but I can manage that. It’s.. something else that I have gone through since joining my guild and.. it’s too long of a story to explain here.” She smiled even through the leftover tear stained cheeks on her face, trying to do her best to relax the worry the summoner might have over her role in the torment she suffered in Pergrande in their home.

702 words
11128 total words

There were a few moments where Elara thought that Lehanna might actually strike her for having reached out to her but to her immense relief, that hadn’t been the case. The fact the brunette had gone for her sword on impulse showed all too clearly as to how upset she was and the black haired summoner had felt her stomach drop, the guilt churning even more. Just how much pain had the brunette suffered in order to respond in such a way by reflex? The Plumed Serpent pondered over that for quite some time, never having thought much about it in the past. She’d never really considered the feelings of her former sister back then. It only caused her guilt to increase now but once she’d actually uttered an apology out loud, it actually made her feel better about it all. They’d both been suffering back then, struggling to handle the horrible treatment from Elara’s parents and now that they were both finally free, that pain could hopefully be left behind, given time.

Yet, in the end, Lehanna did respond to Elara’s plea although not in the way that the summoner had feared. She suddenly felt herself being pulled into a hug by the brunette, taking the punkish teen completely by surprise. It wasn’t something that she was used to and at first, she was rather stiff, almost like a statue but as the hug persisted, she opened up, her arms wrapping around the brunette’s form. Lehanna felt so warm and as they embraced, the summoner could feel her stomach settle again, the guilt melting away. The words that were uttered meant more to Elara than either of them probably knew and to be forgiven truly did bring her some measure of peace. It was as if at that moment, any remaining distrust that they might’ve had for each other disappeared and the summoner would no longer look down on her former foster sister. Did that mean that she wouldn’t tease her anymore for fun now and again? Well...that was a different story.

When the two finally broke apart and Lehanna spoke about being willing to talk about her past, Elara nodded. “Thank you for forgiving me. I wasn’t lying or pulling your chain about feeling guilty and I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulder. I hope that one day we do get the chance to set things right with Pergrande and my parents but whatever this issue is that you’re struggling with is more important right now. I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk and if there’s something that has to be done in order to make you feel better about it or sort it out then I’ll be there for that too. I don’t care about the fact that we’re in different guilds or anything like that. Your happiness comes first.” That last part came out of her mouth before she’d thought about it properly and her cheeks briefly turned pink again.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have a smart way of covering it up either but it appeared that Taurus might have, for the bull would suddenly utter. “By the gods. What is this?”

Elara turned to her spirit to find the bull being approached by a group of children although judging from the looks on their faces, they were anything but in their right minds. The summoner’s eyes widened. “What kind of scum would corrupt a child?” She asked, genuinely stunned.

(579 Words)
(11707 TWC)

The reaction that Elara had to the sudden hugging that Lehanna had given to her had been unexpected. She had expected to fight her from pushing away and face an onslaught of verbal lashings from her about personal space and touching her and all that. Instead, she felt the pair of arms wrap back around her in a supporting manner. Her whole body relaxed at that moment, albeit slumping on the ebony haired girl if not for the weight of the sword as well as Lehanna herself would topple them both over. It felt nice to open up again. Nice to be able to put her trust in someone again and if anything, she felt more open to the options of the world and what might come from it. A new chapter with Elara could lead to a wonderful friendship with her former foster sister as well as easing up on the rather motherly and eccentric Kitalpha. If she were lucky, maybe Elara’s talk of family would only grow to become more literal than she expected it to have been.

Listening to the summoner speaking to her, the words coming out of her mouth had made her eyes widen just as quickly as it did putting a smile on her face. Tears began to well up again, but these were of joy than of sadness or anger. It didn’t change until she blurted out the words that rang in her ears for quite a moment. It brought her face to turn a light shade of pink, but quickly chuckle in a bit of amusement. ”So that’s what you did the bit of shaving for. To help deflate that over inflated ego of yours.” She continued to giggle before giving a joking and light jab to the girls arm. ”But don’t think because we’re square I still won’t keep this up.” With a bit of a teasing wink, she would try and lighten the mood back up a little bit. She needed something to hide the fact that she had been a little flustered by the girls comment, but wouldn’t let her notice it if she could help it at all.

The sound of footsteps caught the slayers attention. At that moment, Taurus had taken notice of the same thing that caught Lehanna’s eye just after the steps. Multiple children of all varying ages had approached them and she had looked over to Elara. Even she seemed concerned for the children in how they had been turned into these.. things. One of them caught a particular eye from Lehanna as she noticed one of them had a very distinct scar on his forehead coming down from his hairline. ”I-Isaac? Isaac is that you!?” She albeit rushed around Elara and even the summon herself towards the kid. As she got close, the child’s eyes began to glow and three of them lunged forward. One delivered a punch into her stomach, the second right next to it, and the third directly in her mouth. Their strength combined had sent her flying back onto her back, sliding several feet. She let out a couple of coughs before sitting up, spitting a bit of blood from her mouth before quickly getting up to her feet. ”Im going to burn this bitch alive, I swear…” She growled, now wiping her mouth clean of any trickle of blood from the blow to her face.

”I.. don’t know how we should try and beat them… any ideas?”

579 words
12286 total words

A frown crossed Elara’s features as Lehanna was swiftly knocked back after being punched by the children. They were far stronger than a typical child and the summoner spent a moment or two trying to figure out the answer to the brunette’s question when she’s recovered enough to ask it. Elara could fully feel Taurus’s killing instinct and knew that her spirit would attack the kids with her full power in defense of her but was the summoner OK with that? No, she supposed she wasn’t. She’d been told by her guild master that in order to achieve power, anything and everything had to be considered but killing orphans? That caused her to doubt and as the children began to swarm forwards, the black haired girl made a decision. “I don’t know about you but I’m not going to stand here and kill a bunch of kids who’ve been possessed. Maybe if we knock them out and take out the source then perhaps they’ll return to normal?”

Pulling a summoning key from her ring, she’d utter. “Sona! Come to my aid!”

The moment she spoke those words, the sounds of music could be soon heard, before a beautiful blue haired woman appeared beside the summoner, a musical instrument in her hands. Smiling gently, she’d flick her eyes over to Elara and speak. “Greetings Elara. How may I help you today?” Turning her gaze towards the sight in front of her, a frown would then form. “Hmm. This is quite a pickle, isn’t it? Surely you do not wish for me to attack these children? That is against the contract that we made between one another.”

Elara shook her head before replying. “I’m fully aware of what our contract states, Sona. What I want you to do is to play a lullaby and make them drowsy, so that they are weakened enough for them to be knocked out. You’ll do this for me?”

Cracking her fingers, the musical spirit would obey her summoner's commands, her hands gently playing across her instrument, causing a blissful sound to start to emerge from it. Musical notes would start to appear a short time later, travelling from Sona and heading towards the children, with most if not all eventually being struck. They were somewhat resistant and unfortunately didn’t fall asleep completely but perhaps they were slowed enough to be vulnerable? There was only one way to find out.

“Taurus! Get in there and make sure that they won’t cause us any more trouble but no killing them. Are we clear?” She ordered, her domineering side coming back to the surface again.

“Understood.” The bull replied, seeming to be a little disappointed by the order but still, she was loyal to Elara and began to move into the fray. The Zodiac spirit didn’t have too much of an issue with her objective, having enough control of her axe to stun rather than kill outright.

“Good! Lehanna, if you wouldn’t mind helping her out?” Unlike with Taurus, her tone wasn’t as bossy or snappy. It was a request rather than an order.

(516 Words)
(12802 TWC)

Lehanna had taken a moment to herself in Elara’s time devising her own plan to close her eyes and keep herself from bursting in flames, so to speak. She was worked up before in a stew of extremely different emotions and the logical form of her brain had been on a fritz from being introduced to it. Several large, deep breaths had been the only sound to leave her mouth while the punk girl had brought about another of her summons. It wasn’t until about the fourth or fifth breath that she had gotten herself under enough control to let her rationality and reasoning take the rightful piloting of her thoughts and planning in her mind. Her body had even relaxed some and enough so to be noticeable if she were being watched. But in that moment, her attention turned to this new summon that had been joining them. A very well endowed woman who seemed to almost be floating and it was enough to make her raise a brow. But then again… magic was such a fickle and illogical type of subject some times, so why try and make sense of it right now?

She did manage to do exactly what she didn’t plan to do in raising a brow to the woman’s music playing. It wasn’t until the notes began to form in the air and travel over did she realize that magic could even affect sound itself. There were a number of resounding ideas and thoughts in her mind over the idea of taking to using such a thing for advancing many fields of science, but she quickly shook her head of that thought when Elara called her by name. There wasn’t a nickname, no insulting style of comment made. Instead, Lehanna shrugged and held up one hand. A small ball of black fire formed in her hand. With her arm outstretched towards the children, she had realized what that music had actually done to them and her plan quickly shifted. ”Taurus, watch yourself.” She gave a quick warning before she would use her spell.

The small fireball shot from her hand at an alarming speed, but remained at a smaller size. Aimed exceptionally well between all the children, it would hit the ground right behind the crowd and cause a small explosion. The force from the blast dispersed the children, some being knocked out instantly from the initial force while others had hit walls and doorways of nearby rooms. A small bit of smoke billowing lightly in the aftermath of the spell before the gothic teen responsible for the action simply folded her arms at her chest. ”I’m not much of one who’s used to incapacitation. At least in larger groups, but hopefully anything we run across from here on out is killable.” She said in a cold and rather calm tone of voice. ”But do know if whatever we come across that isn’t human, with the exception of the person in charge, they’re going to burn to death in the most excruciating fashion possible, got it? And this isn’t negotiable.” She made a slight glare towards Elara and Sona separately before she took off walking down the hall of the place.

She didn’t wait for any answer, nor did she really care to hear any. She was going to have her way whether it cost her everything in the end.

565 words
13367 total words

The black haired girl had to admit that she was a little surprised that Lehanna had followed her instructions, half expecting an insult in return. As it was, everything turned out alright and the children had been taken out of the fight. With the slayer and both of Elara’s spirits working together, the first fight appeared to be well and truly over. However, the summoner didn’t have to be psychic to tell her job partner's mood from her tone of voice. Lehanna wasn’t even shouting and screaming any more and her tone was rather similar to how Elara’s was most of the time. Cold and unfeeling. Neither the teenager nor Sona spoke for a few moments after the brunette’s statement, pondering to themselves, before they eventually looked towards one another.

“Be careful around her, Elara.” Sona quietly stated, a frown forming once more across her face. “If you’re not careful, you may end up being burned in her flames as well. She’s cracking under the pressure and I fear that she might lose control completely.”

“I’m not going to just sit back and leave her if that’s what you’re suggesting.” Elara replied. “We have a job to do and more importantly than that, I...I think I’ve finally come to understand her after all this time.”

“That’s your call to make but if you two are planning on just laying waste to everything else you find then I’ll be returning to the spiritual realm now. I’m not suited for this kind of work and just seeing those children sickens me. May I leave, Elara?”

“Yeah, I’ve nothing more for you to do. Go back now and thanks for your help.”

“Of course. I hope that you’ll call upon me again sometime. Hopefully in a nice place.”

With that, the spirit would briefly turn into a pillar of light, before disappearing. The summoner had to admit that Sona had left her pondering with her words but there was no time for that now. The longer that this scheme went on for, the higher the risk to not just the two mages but to the warped children as well. Why did she even care so much about them in the first place? Was it empathy towards them or was it the fact that the sight of them had hurt the brunette so much?

With a shake of her head, she would swiftly catch up to both Lehanna and Taurus, the spirit seeming to be quite willing to follow Lehanna’s lead. Once she reached, she’d answer Lehanna’s demand, her tone returning once more to its usual one. “I’ve no issue with killing non-human entities and am more than willing to have Taurus and the others lay waste to them but whatever or whoever is causing this must not be killed on sight. We need to know whether it’s reversible and that’s not negotiable either. No temper tantrums when we come across them. At least not until we’ve figured this all out.” After that? Well, Elara didn’t care all that much either way.

(508 Words)
(13875 TWC)