Urgh, Pergrande (Lore Event)

She didn’t like it at all but Elara had finally decided to go out and take a job involving the defence of a Joyan city. Apparently it was to be the place where a treaty would be signed between Bellum and her own homeland, Pergrande. The black haired girl didn’t believe for a second that her kin would actually keep the peace and that was partly the reason as to why she’d agreed to come. She’d be keeping her eyes on them and any trouble that they or anyone else caused would be dealt with swiftly by her. Truthfully, she wasn’t really in the mood for a simple patrol job and the girl was actually hoping for something a little more action packed. Her slayer powers were growing by the day and as they did, so did the changes to her personality. She felt so more emotional these days and willing to lash out, something which she both feared but kind of liked at the same time. Her spirits had noticed the difference too and more than one of them had commented on it. Some pleased, others not so much.

Felidae City was the name of the place and the young hybrid could be found watching the crowds from the edge of the centre square, her eyes keenly looking out for any trouble. Her employer had been rather stern about the fact that there was to be no trouble which naturally caused Elara to muse that he was expecting it. Some of the locals were rather rowdy, not to mention those from the other nations and the girl was becoming more and more convinced that there would be an issue sooner or later. There was just too much hostility in the air and as voices began to flare up in the centre of the plaza, the girl sighed and cracked her knuckles, starting to make her way through the crowd.

In the centre was a rather loud and boisterous male, bellowing at the top of his voice about how mages were inferior and that the people of Joya should be lucky that the Pergrande government had agreed to visit their country, let alone sign a treaty. Elara was having none of it and once she was free of the crowd, she launched a flaming punch towards the man, knocking him off his feet and slap bang on his backside. With a squeal, the man stood up, her face bright red with embarrassment and fear as the girl approached him.

“How dare you strike me with your foul magic!” He bawled, standing up to his full and insignificant height. “A little brat like you will regret treating me like that.”

“You’re lucky I don’t burn you to cinders, you Pergrande piece of shit. Get out of here before I teach you a real lesson.” Elara countered in an angry tone, her fists starting to blaze with flame.

With a fearful squeal, the man ran off into the crowd, wanting no real part of the black haired girl.

(506 Words)

Traveling across international borders had become quite a pain since the war had broken out. Knowing many others had done the same, it looked as though others had begun to lock down their processes of allowing others in for whatever reason in hopes of minimizing if not fully deterring the idea of starting trouble with them. But it’s not simply one or two. In his travels, the blue haired soldier had seen it in countless other countries. Procedures were procedures and he wouldn’t be one to go against them even if it seemed to be a little more… invasive. A few even seeming to be a little more bewildered by his appearance compared to his documentation. But that was part of the fun he got from this. Not that it was that the only reason he dressed and looked the way he did, however it didn’t hurt to see the look on some peoples face when they finally discovered it.

In comparison to some, the check through the Pergrande borders was not nearly as bad as some would think it may have. Maybe for the fact that Lexi not only did not have an ordinary magic ability anymore that threw them off, or perhaps the fact they assumed he was just any other girl passing by. Either way, he didn’t question a single thing until one of the security workers stopped him and looked into his passport. With not a single glint of confusion, worry, or issue, his Bellum military passport was still up to date and they had looked to him and to his passport several times. “This is a guy..?” He thought to himself as he slowly handed the passport back to the Sabertooth guild member. Flashing just an innocent smile, he entered the country and took a ride into the city for the job he had been undertaking.

Bustling with people it was. Some seemed to be utterly disgusted seeing what appeared to be an outsider to them, others simply pushed passed him as though he didn’t exist. And not once did he stop to confront anyone. He was aware of this country’s prejudices. His family had their own and being so accustomed to it, the opposite effect didn’t take any toll on him at all. But what did was a man who seemed to be fleeing. The look of fear on his face as he stumbled into the blue haired soldier and ran off. It looked like he had seen a ghost. Others seemed to be rather avoidant of a small circle and it drew him towards it. Curious as to what was going on, he chuckled to himself as a smile crossed his face. A young girl had seemed to rile up a couple people and scare away some others by her hand being on fire. A spectacle for some natives here, but not the worst he had seen in his lifetime for sure. ”Woah there, little fire cracker~ You gotta relax or they’ll bring out the guardsmen.” He was simply warning her before someone behind him screamed out about her being a monster.

Well that didn’t sit right with him at all… Quickly, Alexander turned to face him and the gentle natured soul was still there for the time being. ”I’ll give you 10 seconds to apologize to the young lady or I’ll be sure to show you a real monster, sir.” A mild threat and in the same demeanor as his prior laid back comment to Elara, Lexi was suddenly met with the Pergrandian man’s fist colliding with his face. His head jerked to the side, still standing without having moved a single bit. “You are all the same! Wait until the day we wipe your kind out and Pergrande becomes the-“ He stopped suddenly as his throat was gripped tightly, enough to stop him from even breathing. ”So much for kindness I suppose…” With an exasperated sigh, the crude citizen was picked up off the ground by the blue haired male before being thrown away into a nearby dumpster.

Brushing his hands clean of the incident, Lexi simply turned around and walked towards Elara before extending a hand. ”Might want to join me now. We’re gonna want to move before he brings friends o have to throw away like trash too.” A smile returned to his face as though he hadn’t just assaulted the aggressive man a moment ago. But should she join in, he would move through several alleys, side streets and eventually ducking into a small coffee shop and pulling them to a table. ”Just lay low for a little while. I lost them a bit back, but it’s best to stay off the streets for a little while.” Lexi would pause, placing his arms on the table as he examined the punk teen. ”So firecracker, what’s brought a mage to a country like this? Surely not for the hospitality.”

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It was lucky that the blue haired boy had dealt with the mouthy Pergande moron before Elara had, otherwise it might just have gotten a little more messy. She had so little tolerance for her kin and would’ve quite enjoyed smacking him around a bit too like the other guy. Still, it did bring her some joy to see the fool get his just desserts anyway, saving her the trouble. If this was how things were going to be that day then the black haired girl wondered just what on Earthland was going to happen. She didn’t want to alienate herself from the Joyans, who didn’t seem all that bad but the fact that there were so many Pergrande natives around drove her nuts. She hadn’t fought in the war herself between the two nations but she kind of wished she had, if only to unleash her spirits on a few of the horrible people. Her whole life had been spent having to listen to her parents' horrible beliefs and values, which made her violently sick these days. They’d been so intolerant and she was thankful that it hadn’t completely rubbed off on her.

When he offered her his hand, she took it after a few moments of thought. Better to follow him than stay where she was and the black haired teenager knew that her outburst hadn’t really helped things. It’d probably just stirred the pot even more so which hadn’t truly been her intention. In truth, he looked more like a girl than a guy but there was something about his manner that pushed her towards the latter. He seemed friendly enough anyway and Elara didn’t feel all that awkward around him, as she usually did whenever she met someone new. There was a new found sense of confidence around her that made her former self seem like a bit of a reclusive schemer, which wasn’t all that far from the truth. Now? Well, she still wasn’t quite sure. There was still a great deal about herself and her new gifts that she didn’t know which she had to admit she quite liked. Before gaining her new powers, she’d never have lashed out as she had just now, instead letting Taurus do the work for her. There was something inspiring about being able to look after herself and it granted her no shortage of pride.

He led her to a small cafe and once they’d both taken a seat, Elara found her gaze briefly wandering for a moment, before returning to meet his gaze. “I was hired to patrol the city if I’m honest with you. With all the Pergrande and Bellum stuff going on around here, the Joyans were eager to hire a little extra help to handle any problems. They seem to reckon that something big's going to go down in order to make a mess of things although they don’t seem to know just what. Wouldn’t surprise me though as you can’t trust anyone from Pergrande. They’ll just stab you in the back at the first opportunity. Scumbags, all of them. I’m Elara, by the way, what’s your name?”

(524 Words)
(1850 TWC)

They hired someone so young looking to patrol a dangerous city like this? To be honest, he was impressed to think of they would have hired her that she would have the skill to back up the necessary needs to go up against Pergrande. Still, there was no shortage in his smile or joy to hear he had met such a fiery person to join him in this job. ”Funny enough, I’m actually here for the same reason. Didn’t expect to work with such a young firecracker like yourself, but hey— big things come in small packages.” He gave a big, toothy grin and a chuckle, elated a bit in his joke without trying to be insulting. His intent was more a compliment but also to just poke at her a little bit. Call it sibling humor if you will, but he had plenty of experience in his family and no shortage of pent up time not being able to expend it while he served in the military.

”Frankly, I’m surprised they let me in here with my Bellum passport. Though my military ID is still valid passport material, it does mark me as inactive and discharged. Honorably of course.” He reached into his black overcoat and pulled out a small passport booklet and set it down on the table, motioning for Elara to look if she so chose. ”Allowing someone of the enemies nationality into your country is tricky… and it’s not as though they didn’t try to put a tail on me. But… they’d have to try harder than that to chase this skirt around~” Leaning back in his chair, he would pick up a menu and glance over it for a moment before setting it down. ”Well, it’s nice to meet you, Elara. Do you mind if I ask just a couple questions? Some I’m sure are coming such as age, parents, etcetera? If it’s easier, just tell me a little about yourself and I’ll return the favor. Asking me whatever you want while we’re here. We have the time, so no need to beat around any bushes with me.” The way Lexi sounded in asking her was in a relaxed tone. Trying to keep things civil, but most importantly not trying to baby the younger girl. If he had to be honest, he saw a bit of a young Gaia in her and it made him a little more interested to learn about her and try to connect.

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She glanced down at his passport when he put it down, confirming that despite his rather feminine appearance and voice, he was in fact a guy and a confident one too. His humour was a little wacky though and Elara had to admit that being called ‘Firecracker’ constantly was beginning to grind her gears a bit. She didn’t say anything about it just yet but a tut did escape her lips once or twice, a sign that it was bothering her just a bit. Still, he didn’t seem to be malicious with his teasing and he was OK in her book. Better than most of the people she’d run into anyway, besides Lehanna, who seemed to be the only person that she got on with. She blamed it on her background and the pair of assholes that she called her parents.

“I suppose I can tell you a bit about myself.” She perked up after a minute or so. “I’m fourteen, fifteen in January and sadly I come from Pergrande myself, so I know better than most how horrible they can be. My parents are pretty high up on the food chain there and spend most of their time mingling with the other snobby pieces of trash. Always attending balls and gatherings, while treating me like their little princess and dressing me up in dresses. Wasn’t much of a life really and once my magic started to appear, I ran off before anyone took notice of it. I had to change my look and harden up a bit but I ended up living in Motor City, which sure as hell helped me with that. They’re a horrible bunch and the gangs are always bothering me. Luckily, my spirits and my slayer spells are more than a match for them.” She sounded confident enough and saw no reason to hide anything from him.

After taking another glance at his passport, she then raised an eyebrow at him. “So you’re a Bellum boy, huh? Must be a pain walking around here with all of the Pergrande scum walking the streets. I don’t think the Joyans are too keen on them either and I can’t really blame them but I got to say that they seem to be taking this all in their stride quite well though. I spoke to a couple of the natives in the streets and they were awfully friendly, almost a little too friendly. I guess that’s just a Joyan thing. Anyway, since I’ve opened up a bit, how about telling me a little about your background? Life in the military must have been fun.” There was a touch of sarcasm in her voice in her last sentence. The military was rather cringy in her opinion and she had no interest in ever becoming a member of any nations force, no matter how much they offered.

(477 Words)
(2739 TWC)