At the foot of a mountain lays a cavern. Here on the winding road leading up to sabertooth, it would be a nice enough spot to rest for the occasional traveler on foot. However if one were to go deeper, they would see a larger chasm. That chasm, normally in slumber, is now awake with the flashing of lights. Gladiia would find herself in the middle of said lightshow, and not by choice.
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Gladiia didn't really expect her evening to be too eventful, even after receiving the message from her guild master. Truth was it was the first time she had had any contact with one of her guild members outside of the services the guild provides. Course that was her fault, Gladiia wasn't still use to some of her coworkers...eccentric natures. Regardless, she should do this, first impressions mean a lot after all. The people in question were apparently representatives from the rune knights, which given what happened at Joya...It wasn't hard to imagine why they were asking about Plumed Serpent. So she posed as a mercenary who had done work for them in the past, and agreed to answer some questions back at their camp.
The sun was about ready to disappear when she was brought to the actual camp itself. Clearly makeshift with a couple tents and a small fire, honestly these rune knights seem more like interns than actual members. They offered a cheap beer which, after an examination, she accepted. Truth was the interview was hardly anything notable, after a little charm they opened up why they were investigating. Apparently the bar had not filed their tax form yet and upon looking into it, they noticed that plumed serpent members had been reported around the place. Out of pure chance they wanted to see if there was any truth to it.
And Gladiia already had a story to spin for them. Oh yes! The drunken monkey tavern often attracted mages from all around from legal to illegal, so that wasn’t surprising to hear. She herself wasn’t part of the guild but had worked with a member or two in the past, too psychotic for her taste. Well that was funny now that you ask, they did stop showing up a month before the tragedy of Joya and haven’t been seen since. She could tell the lads wanted to ask more questions but couldn’t really press more without accusing her of any wrongdoing. Besides, Gladiia was done here anyways, until Mammon was brought up.
“I’m sorry?” She asked to clarify, one of them replied. “Oh, we were wondering if you heard of a Mammon?”
“I wouldn’t know, how come?”
“Our sergeant has been looking for him.”
“Some stuffy collared type I take it?”
“Not by choice.” The voice replied from behind where they were talking, the owner was a man in a yellow striped suit with glasses, his rune knight's coat was open and draped on his shoulders. “Regrettably my work keeps me in my office. Shame too, I enjoy meeting new people. Sgt. Kizaru, miss?”
“Stralken, Gladiia Stralken.” She accepted his handshake, the two other knights stayed at attention before being dismissed with a hand wave. He walked with ease as he pulled out a paper and hummed to himself. “Well now that you're here we can settle the business with Plumed Serpent Ms. stra-” He didn’t have a chance to finish as a cloud of hot steam suddenly blanketed the area around them, the two rune knights gasping from the pain of the cloud. Gladiia didn’t want to kill them but knowing this much was too close for comfort, and she needed their silence. She moved past the other two rune knights for the sergeant, both on their hands and knees as they began to crawl out of the cloud.
Suddenly she felt it, the change of mana in the air, she looked on as the sergeant smiled and put up his hand in a pinch gesture. Suddenly, beams of light erupted from him as they shot out everywhere. Gladiia was able to avoid the initial blast by retreating away in wind, but they didn’t stop coming, and found herself struck by a couple as she retreated into the nearby cave. Her cloud dissipated from the magic as the sergeant walked into the cave. “You know, if you were wise then you would have ran elsewhere. Being in such an enclosed space will only make it harder to run.” Sgt. Kizaru spoke aloud. “Unless, you don’t intend to?” He received an answer as a ball of hot steam was flung towards him, which he responded with multi-rays of light shooting in the direction. Not only did they cut through the spell, but also blasted away the hand stalactites and walls, forcing Gladiia out to the open.
Though clearly struck from earlier, she didn’t show any slowing down from it. She stood across from the sergeant as she spoke. “You will have to forgive me sir. We folks at Plumed Serpent prefer to keep to ourselves, and don’t appreciate nosy people!” She would have finished with another swing of her lance, another bullet fired at him. He smiled and repeated the same attack, dust kicking up from the powerful rays. Which Gladiia took advantage of by closing the gap in a gust of wind and preparing to swing with the twister. This was effective as the sergeant was sent flying into the air from the twister, and for a moment Gladiia was going to pursue. However she realized just in time that he could levitate, as he stayed put in the air.
“But to try to kill me? Tell me, what does the guild offer you that is so valuable to risk your life for?” He began firing a continuous ray of light downward as he followed the running Gladiia. She ran for a half circle as the ray carved into the cave floor. Seeing that it wouldn’t run out quickly she dashed forward and used an updraft to catch up in the air. It seemed she had caught him off guard, until he suddenly erupted in a sphere of blinding light. She cursed as she fell back down hard to the ground. The light died down as he stayed afloat in the air looking down. “Well?” He asked, looking down.
Gladiia actually laughed, her politeness breaking for the moment. “I am with the guild to hunt knight. Need there be any more reason?”
“Maybe for your guild ace, but not you.” Gladiia paused at that. He knew more than he should, This was bad.
“You could had killed my two cadets out there but instead let them live. Even your prior activities suggest something more, Demon’s den sounds familiar?”
“Who are you, and how do you know so much?”
“You want the truth? You will have to tell me your truth first dear. But perhaps you need more motivation…” He would cross his arms and place his hands in front of his shoulders with the ‘Ok’ symbol. Gladiia’s senses suddenly picked up a massive increase in mana as blasts suddenly shot out in a wave of light bullets. Gladiia quickly became the air, but even this only held for so little as the barrage rained on her. Caught in the corner, she sensed the blasts beginning to focus around her, her ability to duck and weave was growing slimmer as the pain became more blinding. “Tell me Gladiia, why are you ready to die for the Plumed Serpent!?” The blasts suddenly stopped as light pulled into where the sergeant was floating at.
Gladiia herself was in bad shape, her leather armor had now multiple openings in it, the skin underneath was red and black from burns. Even her hat now had a few new holes into it. Gladiia stood in place as she felt the mana in the air focus in on the point above. She didn’t really know if she could move right now, and knew her spells were exhausted. Sensing the end, she gritted her teeth, spear at the ready.
“You want to know so badly?! I stay here for I need their power to protect the things I love!” She shouted as the blast of light came down. She felt the air heat around her as it approached, but something tugged in it. Going on instinct, she focused the last of her mana in the air to create steam. As the light hit it, it suddenly began to grow thicker, and even began to spin. Soon, a vortex of wind and steam spun around her, the light blasting into it dissipated as it hit it. This would go on for a minute, both spells keeping their strength until both faded at the same time.
The end resulted in the wind suddenly blowing outward, the asthma killer in the air was banished to the outside and the walls leaving the two figures across from each other. Gladiia was thoroughly exhausted now, using her lance to stand. Sergeant Kizaru was a polar opposite, still standing tall, albeit the white on his cloak was stained brown and black, otherwise he was fine.
“You know, that’s far more benevolent than most in your guild.” Gladiia only spat in response to his statement, blood staining the ground. It seemed the moment could stretch on forever before suddenly she felt power. Fearing an attack, she quickly realized that the source was coming from her coat pocket. Reaching into it slowly, watching the sergeant to ensure she could try to do something, she pulled out the mirror to see a spirit in the reflection.
“Call from Sir Mammon. Answer?” “Do so.” The sergeant replied for Gladiia. She looked confused at him, then at the mirror in her hand and was shocked as the image morphed into the recognizable tycoon. “Ms. Stralken! So glad I can reach you, tell me, is Sergeant Kizaru there?” “...Yes. You would like to speak to him?” Gladiia said, her polite tone barely hid the bewilderment in her voice. “Ah Mammon. It’s very hard to get a hold of you these days.” The sergeant walked forward close enough for gladiia to hand off the mirror, which she did. He walked further away until he was out of the cave. Gladiia took this opportunity to quickly scavenge for…well anything. Dusty air and dirty water were quickly consumed in a desperate attempt to recover. And while her lungs will surely hate her later in life, she found enough to where she felt energetic enough to move again.
So she carefully stalked outside. Before her she saw the two cadets bringing out their weapons upon seeing Gladiia, but the sergeant waved them at ease. With uneasiness, the three exchanged glances with each other before lowering their weapons. The conversation ended quickly after, and Kizaru walked over to hand Gladiia back the mirror. With a simple wave, he would begin walking away with the two cadets in tow.
Ensuring they left, she quickly contacted Mammon on the mirror. “Ms. Stralken! You look pretty bad, something happened?” He asked innocently enough. Gladiia bit back a growl as she took a breath and spoke. “Sir Mammon, forgive me for my language. But who the hell was that guy and why did he know so much about the Plumed Serpent?”
“Ah, Sergeant Kizaru of the Internal Revenue Service of the Rune Knights. He merely was here to ensure we turned in our revenue statements and the likes. I forgot after dealing with other affairs.”
“We pay taxes? Aren’t we an illegal guild?”
“Ms. Stralken! You have to know, being considered illegal in the eyes of Fiore and actively going against them are two different things. And believe me, any true dark guild will not find themselves running for long if they don’t pay the tax.”
“But, if they know about us, why don’t they come after us? Especially after Joya!”
“Oh dear! The Fiore government is separated into branches. They hide things regularly from each other. The IRS themselves only care when we pay our taxes, they let the other branches worry about other legal matters.”
“I…they were the ones Master Odhran was worried about?”
Mammon paused as the sound of papers shuffling could be heard.
“Oh! I did neglect to tell him we would be getting a visit. Please let him know that the matter has been resolved. Now I must go, have a pleasant night dear!” And with that she was left staring at herself.
She could only wait seconds before throwing the mirror to the ground, allowing it to be smashed into millions of pieces. Her face was in a snarl at the whole ordeal she just went through. After taking a few minutes to rant quietly to herself, she sighed and sat by the remains of the fire. As she inhaled the flames, sending a warmth through her, she reflected on what she said. She had not at all been thinking when she proclaimed her reason, but could not deny the truth of it. What threatens the things I love to make me work here? She thought to herself as she looked up into the starry sky, the black in between each twinkling light taunted her, as if it held the answers she sought.
WC: 2,222(1,000 for exam, 1,222 for job)
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Gladiia didn't really expect her evening to be too eventful, even after receiving the message from her guild master. Truth was it was the first time she had had any contact with one of her guild members outside of the services the guild provides. Course that was her fault, Gladiia wasn't still use to some of her coworkers...eccentric natures. Regardless, she should do this, first impressions mean a lot after all. The people in question were apparently representatives from the rune knights, which given what happened at Joya...It wasn't hard to imagine why they were asking about Plumed Serpent. So she posed as a mercenary who had done work for them in the past, and agreed to answer some questions back at their camp.
The sun was about ready to disappear when she was brought to the actual camp itself. Clearly makeshift with a couple tents and a small fire, honestly these rune knights seem more like interns than actual members. They offered a cheap beer which, after an examination, she accepted. Truth was the interview was hardly anything notable, after a little charm they opened up why they were investigating. Apparently the bar had not filed their tax form yet and upon looking into it, they noticed that plumed serpent members had been reported around the place. Out of pure chance they wanted to see if there was any truth to it.
And Gladiia already had a story to spin for them. Oh yes! The drunken monkey tavern often attracted mages from all around from legal to illegal, so that wasn’t surprising to hear. She herself wasn’t part of the guild but had worked with a member or two in the past, too psychotic for her taste. Well that was funny now that you ask, they did stop showing up a month before the tragedy of Joya and haven’t been seen since. She could tell the lads wanted to ask more questions but couldn’t really press more without accusing her of any wrongdoing. Besides, Gladiia was done here anyways, until Mammon was brought up.
“I’m sorry?” She asked to clarify, one of them replied. “Oh, we were wondering if you heard of a Mammon?”
“I wouldn’t know, how come?”
“Our sergeant has been looking for him.”
“Some stuffy collared type I take it?”
“Not by choice.” The voice replied from behind where they were talking, the owner was a man in a yellow striped suit with glasses, his rune knight's coat was open and draped on his shoulders. “Regrettably my work keeps me in my office. Shame too, I enjoy meeting new people. Sgt. Kizaru, miss?”
“Stralken, Gladiia Stralken.” She accepted his handshake, the two other knights stayed at attention before being dismissed with a hand wave. He walked with ease as he pulled out a paper and hummed to himself. “Well now that you're here we can settle the business with Plumed Serpent Ms. stra-” He didn’t have a chance to finish as a cloud of hot steam suddenly blanketed the area around them, the two rune knights gasping from the pain of the cloud. Gladiia didn’t want to kill them but knowing this much was too close for comfort, and she needed their silence. She moved past the other two rune knights for the sergeant, both on their hands and knees as they began to crawl out of the cloud.
Suddenly she felt it, the change of mana in the air, she looked on as the sergeant smiled and put up his hand in a pinch gesture. Suddenly, beams of light erupted from him as they shot out everywhere. Gladiia was able to avoid the initial blast by retreating away in wind, but they didn’t stop coming, and found herself struck by a couple as she retreated into the nearby cave. Her cloud dissipated from the magic as the sergeant walked into the cave. “You know, if you were wise then you would have ran elsewhere. Being in such an enclosed space will only make it harder to run.” Sgt. Kizaru spoke aloud. “Unless, you don’t intend to?” He received an answer as a ball of hot steam was flung towards him, which he responded with multi-rays of light shooting in the direction. Not only did they cut through the spell, but also blasted away the hand stalactites and walls, forcing Gladiia out to the open.
Though clearly struck from earlier, she didn’t show any slowing down from it. She stood across from the sergeant as she spoke. “You will have to forgive me sir. We folks at Plumed Serpent prefer to keep to ourselves, and don’t appreciate nosy people!” She would have finished with another swing of her lance, another bullet fired at him. He smiled and repeated the same attack, dust kicking up from the powerful rays. Which Gladiia took advantage of by closing the gap in a gust of wind and preparing to swing with the twister. This was effective as the sergeant was sent flying into the air from the twister, and for a moment Gladiia was going to pursue. However she realized just in time that he could levitate, as he stayed put in the air.
“But to try to kill me? Tell me, what does the guild offer you that is so valuable to risk your life for?” He began firing a continuous ray of light downward as he followed the running Gladiia. She ran for a half circle as the ray carved into the cave floor. Seeing that it wouldn’t run out quickly she dashed forward and used an updraft to catch up in the air. It seemed she had caught him off guard, until he suddenly erupted in a sphere of blinding light. She cursed as she fell back down hard to the ground. The light died down as he stayed afloat in the air looking down. “Well?” He asked, looking down.
Gladiia actually laughed, her politeness breaking for the moment. “I am with the guild to hunt knight. Need there be any more reason?”
“Maybe for your guild ace, but not you.” Gladiia paused at that. He knew more than he should, This was bad.
“You could had killed my two cadets out there but instead let them live. Even your prior activities suggest something more, Demon’s den sounds familiar?”
“Who are you, and how do you know so much?”
“You want the truth? You will have to tell me your truth first dear. But perhaps you need more motivation…” He would cross his arms and place his hands in front of his shoulders with the ‘Ok’ symbol. Gladiia’s senses suddenly picked up a massive increase in mana as blasts suddenly shot out in a wave of light bullets. Gladiia quickly became the air, but even this only held for so little as the barrage rained on her. Caught in the corner, she sensed the blasts beginning to focus around her, her ability to duck and weave was growing slimmer as the pain became more blinding. “Tell me Gladiia, why are you ready to die for the Plumed Serpent!?” The blasts suddenly stopped as light pulled into where the sergeant was floating at.
Gladiia herself was in bad shape, her leather armor had now multiple openings in it, the skin underneath was red and black from burns. Even her hat now had a few new holes into it. Gladiia stood in place as she felt the mana in the air focus in on the point above. She didn’t really know if she could move right now, and knew her spells were exhausted. Sensing the end, she gritted her teeth, spear at the ready.
“You want to know so badly?! I stay here for I need their power to protect the things I love!” She shouted as the blast of light came down. She felt the air heat around her as it approached, but something tugged in it. Going on instinct, she focused the last of her mana in the air to create steam. As the light hit it, it suddenly began to grow thicker, and even began to spin. Soon, a vortex of wind and steam spun around her, the light blasting into it dissipated as it hit it. This would go on for a minute, both spells keeping their strength until both faded at the same time.
The end resulted in the wind suddenly blowing outward, the asthma killer in the air was banished to the outside and the walls leaving the two figures across from each other. Gladiia was thoroughly exhausted now, using her lance to stand. Sergeant Kizaru was a polar opposite, still standing tall, albeit the white on his cloak was stained brown and black, otherwise he was fine.
“You know, that’s far more benevolent than most in your guild.” Gladiia only spat in response to his statement, blood staining the ground. It seemed the moment could stretch on forever before suddenly she felt power. Fearing an attack, she quickly realized that the source was coming from her coat pocket. Reaching into it slowly, watching the sergeant to ensure she could try to do something, she pulled out the mirror to see a spirit in the reflection.
“Call from Sir Mammon. Answer?” “Do so.” The sergeant replied for Gladiia. She looked confused at him, then at the mirror in her hand and was shocked as the image morphed into the recognizable tycoon. “Ms. Stralken! So glad I can reach you, tell me, is Sergeant Kizaru there?” “...Yes. You would like to speak to him?” Gladiia said, her polite tone barely hid the bewilderment in her voice. “Ah Mammon. It’s very hard to get a hold of you these days.” The sergeant walked forward close enough for gladiia to hand off the mirror, which she did. He walked further away until he was out of the cave. Gladiia took this opportunity to quickly scavenge for…well anything. Dusty air and dirty water were quickly consumed in a desperate attempt to recover. And while her lungs will surely hate her later in life, she found enough to where she felt energetic enough to move again.
So she carefully stalked outside. Before her she saw the two cadets bringing out their weapons upon seeing Gladiia, but the sergeant waved them at ease. With uneasiness, the three exchanged glances with each other before lowering their weapons. The conversation ended quickly after, and Kizaru walked over to hand Gladiia back the mirror. With a simple wave, he would begin walking away with the two cadets in tow.
Ensuring they left, she quickly contacted Mammon on the mirror. “Ms. Stralken! You look pretty bad, something happened?” He asked innocently enough. Gladiia bit back a growl as she took a breath and spoke. “Sir Mammon, forgive me for my language. But who the hell was that guy and why did he know so much about the Plumed Serpent?”
“Ah, Sergeant Kizaru of the Internal Revenue Service of the Rune Knights. He merely was here to ensure we turned in our revenue statements and the likes. I forgot after dealing with other affairs.”
“We pay taxes? Aren’t we an illegal guild?”
“Ms. Stralken! You have to know, being considered illegal in the eyes of Fiore and actively going against them are two different things. And believe me, any true dark guild will not find themselves running for long if they don’t pay the tax.”
“But, if they know about us, why don’t they come after us? Especially after Joya!”
“Oh dear! The Fiore government is separated into branches. They hide things regularly from each other. The IRS themselves only care when we pay our taxes, they let the other branches worry about other legal matters.”
“I…they were the ones Master Odhran was worried about?”
Mammon paused as the sound of papers shuffling could be heard.
“Oh! I did neglect to tell him we would be getting a visit. Please let him know that the matter has been resolved. Now I must go, have a pleasant night dear!” And with that she was left staring at herself.
She could only wait seconds before throwing the mirror to the ground, allowing it to be smashed into millions of pieces. Her face was in a snarl at the whole ordeal she just went through. After taking a few minutes to rant quietly to herself, she sighed and sat by the remains of the fire. As she inhaled the flames, sending a warmth through her, she reflected on what she said. She had not at all been thinking when she proclaimed her reason, but could not deny the truth of it. What threatens the things I love to make me work here? She thought to herself as she looked up into the starry sky, the black in between each twinkling light taunted her, as if it held the answers she sought.
WC: 2,222(1,000 for exam, 1,222 for job)
