Rescue From The Haunted Guild

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 27, Post Number 660

-Outside Haunted Guild, late evening-

Wearing her casual outfit with black long-sleeved shirt, long white dress, and brown boots with Shining Light in its holster on her right hip, Lucia took a few moments to catch her breath as she stood outside the infamous Haunted Guild. She felt the wind pick up and blow her hair about as she faced the steps that led up to the front door. She heard a loud female scream from somewhere nearby and her heart sank into her stomach as she felt a twinge of fear.

Her mission was to go inside Haunted Castle and search for a Guildless mage who was a friend of her acquaintance Stella Herschel. The friend had went missing while on a job to locate a book of magic said to be stored within the Haunted Guild. Stella was still a B-Rank mage and was not nearly strong enough to rescue her friend on her own, so she had called Lucia for backup. Lucia had answered the call because she needed to start proving her worth to Luminous Rose and prove that she could take on difficult jobs.

Thankfully Lucia would not be going into the Haunted Guild alone. On her right side stood Stella Herschel. Stella was dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans with white tennis shoes and a brown leather jacket over the t-shirt. She had left her sunglasses at home since this was a nighttime job. Her long blonde hair blew about in the wind just like Lucia's was doing.

"Hey Lucia, thanks for agreeing to help me find my friend. I can't do this on my own." Stella thanked Lucia for the help.

"It's no problem, Stella. It seems like you really need the help." Lucia replied. The starry-eyed blonde to her right nodded.

"You said it. When my dad found out where I was going he wouldn't let me leave the house until I got a stronger mage to go with me. I can't say I blame him." Stella confessed. Lucia knew that to be true because she had to go to Stella's house in Hargeon Town and meet up with her around mid-afternoon. Then the pair had walked all the way here, a process which had taken several hours because neither one of them had a means of transportation. Lucia would have to solve that problem some day, but right now she had higher priorities than thinking about what type of vehicle she wanted to buy.

"My friend went in here about three days ago and I haven't heard from her. I shoulda asked for help sooner, but she's an A-Rank mage. She's a fairly experienced mage who's no stranger to fighting the supernatural. She's taken a job or two to Silent Cemetery and a job to Lycan Woods, so I thought she could handle herself. Now I'm worried that she might have bitten off more than she can chew." Stella informed Lucia that her friend had been out of touch for almost three days before the starry-eyed blonde had called for Lucia's help.

"She told me to wait for her for three days before calling for help for her. I shouldn't have done that, but I promised her that I would wait." Stella said apologetically. Lucia was momentarily displeased by that admission, but hearing that reason made the Luminous Rose mage back off a little.

"OK. Let's go in and see if we can't find her." Lucia said to Stella, letting the matter drop. This was no time to play the blame game.

"OK. After you." Stella said. Lucia wordlessly walked up to the stairs that led to the front door and began to climb them. Stella followed close behind and Lucia opened the door, then went inside the Haunted Guild. Stella followed Lucia through the door and shut it behind them.

-Inside Haunted Guild-

Lucia and Stella looked around them and Lucia began to recall the details of this place. The floor they were on housed rooms that were filled with dusty old furniture and not much else. The hallway straight ahead would lead to them. The stairway to their left that led down would take them to the basement.

"You said that your friend was looking for a book of magic, right?" Lucia asked Stella as the former's memory of the Haunted Guild's layout started coming back. The starry-eyed blonde turned to her and nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. Why?" Stella asked.

"There's a library down in the lower level. Don't ask me who put it there because I don't know." Lucia replied and pointed to the stairs a short distance to their left.

"OK. That's kinda weird, but whatever. Let's get going!" Stella said. Lucia and Stella walked towards the stairs and soon reached them.

"Man, it's dark down there!" Stella commented while peering down the stairs.

"Yeah. And I don't have a flashlight." Lucia lamented. Stella raised her right hand above her head and cast a white ball of light that hovered at shoulder level to her left.

"Allow me to shed some light on the stairs!" Stella said. Lucia smiled.

"All right then. I'll go first." Lucia said. She began slowly walking down the stairs and Stella followed to her left with the light in tow.

[Post Word Count: 880]
[Total Word Count: 880/10,000]

-In the basement, two minutes later-

Having traveled down the stairs and reached the basement without incident thanks to Stella's light allowing her to see the stairs, Lucia drew Shining Light and looked around her and into the darkness looming ahead of her. Stella arrived close behind and stood to Lucia's left. The light allowed them to see down the hallway and revealed several fallen doors lying on the ground.

"Um, Lucia, what are those doors for?" Stella asked the Luminous Rose mage.

"They're the doors to prison cells." Lucia answered with the grim certainty of knowledge gained from her previous trip to Haunted Guild. Stella looked at her nervously.

"Don't ask me how they got there." Lucia repeated her request from earlier. Stella wordlessly looked away from Lucia and down the hall.

"OK. I won't. There are just some things that I'm better off not knowing." Stella said. Lucia silently agreed with her fellow blonde and started walking down the hallway while Stella followed on her left. She was glad that Stella had brought a light because Lucia could not generate one of her own and she had misplaced Lumie... somehow. Remembering the ghosts of the prisoners, Lucia walked far away from the open cells while keeping Shining Light ready in case some ghosts appeared.

"I see that you're carrying a handgun. Can it do anything to ghosts?" Stella asked Lucia. Lucia nodded.

"It's a Holy handgun. Each and every shot can harm ghosts." Lucia answered in the affirmative.

"Great. I just hope we won't have to fight any ghosts, but I'm not holding my breath." Stella said as the two walked down the hallway and past the first two cell doors. Lucia watched them and heard what she thought was the sound of chains clinking, a sound which usually came before the appearance of the ghosts.

"Stella, we'd better step it up. I hear clinking chains and down here that means that ghosts are likely to show up." Lucia warned her partner before increasing her pace from a slow walk to a brisk one. Stella wordlessly followed suit and the two passed more cell doors without any ghosts showing up. They were about to pass the last cell when a blue figure materialized in it and reached out for them while floating towards them.

Lucia quickly spun right, took Shining Light into a two-handed shooting grip, and fired three shots at the ghost's torso. It took the three shots to the chest and screamed before disappearing, leaving the two mages alone in the basement. Lucia remained in place for a few moments in case more ghosts chose this moment to put in an appearance.

"Wow. You're quick on the draw, Lucia." Stella said to Lucia.

"Thanks. I have a fair bit of practice with this weapon." Lucia told Stella. The Holy handgun was so easy to use that sometimes it seemed like Shining Light aimed itself at threats and all Lucia had to do was pull the trigger. She had never handled a pistol before purchasing Shining Light in Hargeon Town several months ago, so she was still learning the finer points of marksmanship. She was still not a marksman with the weapon, but she was quickly learning how to use it with a fair degree of accuracy.

"I see a door up ahead. I wonder where it leads to." Stella said to her partner, pointing to the very last door on the right. Lucia lowered Shining Light and faced the door in question.

"It's a door to a library." Lucia answered with knowledge gained from her previous trip to the place.

"That's likely where my friend went before she disappeared. I bet there are clues inside!" Stella said. She walked briskly ahead of Lucia and opened the door, then went inside. Lucia caught up with her and shoved the closing door aside, then turned around and closed it behind them.

-Inside the library-

The two blondes were standing in a library that had wall-to-wall bookshelves that were filled with many old books. It was a treasure trove of books written long before either blonde was born, but Lucia was not going anywhere near them. The last time she had visited the library here angry poltergeists had thrown books at her and hit her in the right temple, causing her a great deal of pain and leaving her open for a killing blow that thankfully never came because she forced herself to her feet and left the library as fast as she could go. Mindful of that experience, Lucia looked around her and waited for the books to fly as Stella faced the other side of the room.

"I'll look for clues. You keep a watch out for anything that might not want us here!" Stella ordered, formally assigning Lucia a role she had already taken. The starry-eyed blonde moved over to the other side of the room and began looking carefully for anything that could help her find her lost friend.

"OK." Lucia replied. She watched the shelves around them for any books starting to levitate off of them, but so far all the books were staying on their shelves. In Lucia's opinion that was exactly where they belonged.

[Post Word Count: 872]
[Total Word Count: 1,752/10,000]

-In the library, six minutes later-

Lucia had carefully watched all the shelves in the room for any signs that the books were about to start flying, but to her relief they had not moved at all. Lucia had also been watching Stella in anticipation of her finding clues, but so far she had come up with nothing. The other blonde was searching every inch of the room with a special emphasis on the bookshelves as Lucia watched over her ready to stop any threats that appeared with Shining Light.

Lucia looked around and noticed that the skull candleholder that sat on the wooden table in the center of the room was now gone. She remembered one being there last time. Maybe she had been seeing things that visit because the ghosts were playing tricks on her. In place of the skull was an open book sitting on the edge of the table facing the door on the other side of the room. Deciding to notify her partner of her find, Lucia called out to Stella.

"Hey Stella, do you think your friend left that open book on the table?" Lucia asked her partner and pointed to what she was talking about with her left index finger. Stella looked towards the book and walked over to the table to examine it.

"Huh. You might be onto something. I'll give it a look." Stella replied. She leaned down and placed her hands on both sides of the book, then began to read it as the light she had conjured hovered overhead. Lucia continued to look around the room for threats as her partner read the book.

"I think I found the book on magic my friend was after." Stella said as she thumbed through the book. Lucia watched as Stella's eyes darted left and right as she resumed reading.

"Yeah. I think this is it. I think. We'll need her to confirm it, though. I'm taking the book with us." Stella said. She took off her backpack, set it on the table to the right of the book, closed the medium-sized gray book, and put it in her backpack. Lucia braced herself for angry poltergeists to begin slinging books at them any moment now.

Stella took the backpack and put it back on, then pointed towards the door behind her.

"We're gonna have to go deeper into Haunted Guild. Do you know anything about what's beyond that door?" Stella asked Lucia. The Luminous Rose mage shook her head.

"I have no idea, Stella. We're going into uncharted territory, so to speak." Lucia replied.

"All right then. Since you're packing a pistol that can hurt ghosts, you go first. I'll follow you with the light." Stella ordered Lucia. Lucia walked across the room and passed Stella to go to the door. She put her left hand on the knob and twisted it, opening the door. She pulled it open and exited the library as Stella followed close behind.

-In the hallway-

The two blondes left the library behind and found themselves standing in a hallway that had wall sconces in which to place torches, but there were no torches in them. There were also empty places where banners could be hung and small empty rooms on both sides of the hall. The doors to the rooms had been taken off the hinges and were nowhere to be found. Furthermore, the pair could see thin drag marks resembling dried bloodstains leading into some of the small rooms.

"I think we found another prison block." Stella opined to Lucia. Lucia looked at the bloodstains and could not argue with her partner's assessment of the area. The Luminous Rose mage approached one of the rooms on the right side of the hallway and peered inside.

The interior was small and stark. She noticed that the room had no window and did not have a bed either. Judging from the points where chains could be attached to the wall, it was quite obviously a prison cell.

"You're right, Stella." Lucia said laconically. On the ground was a dried bloodstain about the size of a manhole cover. She had no idea what could have caused that much bleeding and part of her did not want to know. She turned back to Stella and walked away from the open cell.

"Let's keep going, Stella." Lucia suggested. Stella nodded and the starry-eyed blonde fell in behind the Luminous Rose mage. Together the pair made their way to the end of the hall and Lucia opened the door for them to go through.

-In the next hallway-

Lucia and Stella found themselves standing in a hallway that had empty wall sconces for torches but no other distinguishing features. On the ground were dried bloodstains here and there, but the pair did not have long to look at them because on the other side of the hallway stood six ghostly men in robes. They were glowing pale blue and did not look happy to see the two mages.

"LOOK, MORE GHOSTS!" Stella warned Lucia and pointed towards them with her right index finger. Lucia raised Shining Light and aimed at the first ghost that advanced towards them. Since she was the only one who could hurt ghosts, she was the pair's first and last line of defense against the angry specters.

[Post Word Count: 890]
[Total Word Count: 2,642/10,000]

Lucia held Shining Light in a two-handed grip and steadied her aim as the ghosts floated towards them. She aimed the weapon at the chest of the first ghost to approach them and held her breath for a second, then squeezed the trigger. She fired once and hit the ghost squarely in the chest, but one shot was not enough to stop it as it floated towards them with outstretched arms and hands reaching for her throat.

"SHOOT IT AGAIN!" Stella urged Lucia. Lucia fired off two more quick shots at its chest and hit with both. The ghost fell to its knees and raised its hands in the air as if begging forgiveness from a cosmic entity before screaming and disappearing in a burst of bright red light that hurt Lucia's eyes a little from the unexpected flare. Lucia wondered if that was a hint to the ghost's fate, but she did not have time to dwell on that.

Lucia quickly aimed at another ghost and fired three shots, defeating it too. She continued to aim and fire at the ghosts until all of them had been banished from the physical plane. Once the fighting was over Lucia lowered Shining Light and Stella stepped out from behind the Luminous Rose mage.

"Nice shooting, Lucia!" Stella complimented her partner, who was still squinting from the sudden bright light each ghost emitted when it was banished from the physical plane.

"Thanks." Lucia replied calmly. The pair looked towards the door at the end of the hallway, then looked at each other.

"Looks like there's only one way to go and that's forward." Stella said. Lucia took the hint and began walking towards the door until she reached it. She reached out with her left hand and opened the door, holding it open for Stella to go through. Stella passed through and Lucia followed quickly behind.

-In the next room-

Stella and Lucia now stood in a rather large chamber that had two doors. One was on the left and one was on the right. In the back and center of the room was a large set of wooden double doors that had a huge chunk blasted out of them like they had been blasted open by something powerful, something like an explosive. Stella walked into the center of the room.

"Which door should we go through first? The left one or the right one?" Stella asked Lucia. The Luminous Rose mage looked left, then looked right. Both doors looked identical, so she did not pick up on any special clue that would guide her decision. Feeling a brief impulse of some kind, Lucia looked towards the left door and pointed towards it.

"Let's try that way." Lucia said to her partner. She hoped that whatever had caused her to choose the left door would not get her into trouble. Lucia began walking towards the door and reached it. She opened it with her left hand and waited for Stella to go through before going in herself.

-Through the left door-

The pair found themselves standing in a wide hallway that could accommodate three people walking side-by-side. On both sides of the hallway were thick metal doors that looked like they were designed to withstand anything short of the most powerful physical attacks or magic. They were barred from the outside, suggesting that this area was yet another cell block.

"Hey Lucia, I know that you told me not to ask you this, but why are there so many cell blocks in this place?" Stella asked Lucia. The Luminous Rose mage shrugged her shoulders. Lucia was about to offer a guess when they heard banging on the door coming from one of the cells to their right.

"HEY! HEEEEEEEY! LET ME OUTTA HERE!" A female voice shouted in between banging. Stella and Lucia looked at each other. The starry-eyed blonde recognized the voice because she began striding towards the fourth door on the right before informing Lucia who the voice belonged to.

"That's my pal Natalie!" Stella informed Lucia. She raced over to the door and forcefully pulled the bar up, then yanked the door open with both hands. Out staggered a young woman with shoulder-length wavy black hair and icy blue eyes. She was wearing a gray hooded jacket and blue jeans with black tennis shoes. The young woman stood up straight and looked at Stella.

"You don't know how glad I am to see you right now, Stella! I've been in that cell for three days!" Natalie told Stella. The dark-haired young woman looked at Lucia.

"Who's that lady with you?" Natalie asked Stella.

"She's my partner, Lucia Winchester. I hired her to help me find you because my magic doesn't hurt ghosts but hers does. She's also got a Holy handgun." Stella explained who Lucia was and why she was with Stella. Natalie maintained eye contact with Lucia and Lucia made eye contact with her.

"Thanks for helping Stella, Lucia." Natalie thanked the Luminous Rose mage for helping Stella rescue her.

"It's no problem." Lucia replied with a slight smile. Natalie looked back to Stella, who looked back at her friend.

"Are you ready to get outta this place, Stella?" Natalie asked her friend. Stella nodded.

"Yeah, but what about that book you were sent to find? Don't you need it so this whole trip wasn't for nothing?" Stella asked Natalie. Natalie crossed her arms and looked at Stella while Lucia turned her attention back towards the door they entered the cell block through. She had a feeling that whoever had put Natalie in the cell was going to appear sooner or later.

[Post Word Count: 944]
[Total Word Count: 3,586/10,000]

"Oh yeah, that's right! I forgot all about the book I was hired to find!" Natalie told Stella. Lucia turned around and looked at the pair.

"Was it in a library back in the first half the basement? The library past a long hallway with prison cells?" Stella asked her friend. Natalie nodded.

"Yeah. I left it on a table in the library. I had just found it when some weird robed guys showed up and took me prisoner." Natalie said. Stella and Lucia looked at each other.

"Weird robed guys? Are you talking about ghosts?" Stella asked Natalie, referring to the ghosts that she and Lucia had encountered on their way here. The dark-haired mage shook her head.

"No, Stella. These robed guys were real people. They're a bunch of weird guys who told me that they were going to sacrifice me to some patron of theirs." Natalie said.

"Not if we can help it, Nat! Let's get outta here before those guys notice you're missing!" Stella advised her friend. Lucia heard the door open and saw a burly man wearing a black robe step into the room. His red eyes spotted the trio of female mages and he smiled.

"Looks like we'll have more than one sacrifice for our patron!" The man said. He advanced towards Lucia, who put away Shining Light. According to the laws of her guild, she was not supposed to kill anyone unless she or innocent people were in danger. She was supposed to reason with evil-doers first.

"There's no need for things to get violent. Just let us go." Lucia warned the man as she invoked her Strength Of The Righteous spell. Lucia channeled magic into her body and golden gauntlets appeared on her hands. While she was trying to uphold the laws of her guild, she was not naive and she was certainly no pacifist. She would fight if she had to and judging from the man's response, she would have to fight.

"Then just submit to us. We promise you a quick end on the altar!" He said to Lucia. Lucia frowned. Things would have to get violent after all, but she was not going to kill the man unless it could not be avoided.

The man rushed towards Lucia with his hands outstretched and Lucia raised her fists in front of her face to prepare for hand-to-hand combat. She waited until he got within striking distance, then sidestepped his rush and approached him from behind. He turned to face her and she drove her right fist into his face, causing him to stagger back. He quickly recovered and threw a haymaker at Lucia's face. She ducked under it and hit him in the stomach with a one-two punch combo that sent him staggering back again.

Lucia stepped in and slugged him in the face with her right fist, knocking him off of his feet and sending him sprawling onto the ground close to Stella and Natalie. He started to sit up when Stella forcefully kicked him in the side of the head with her right foot and knocked him out.

"He's gonna have a hell of a headache when he wakes up." Stella commented. Lucia flashed a thumbs-up with her right hand and Natalie and Stella immediately began dragging the unconscious man by his arms into the cell that Natalie had occupied. They soon left the room and shut the door, barring it again.

"That should keep him out of our way while we try to get outta here." Stella said to her fellow mages. Natalie turned to look at her friend.

"You said that you found a book on the table in the library. Mind if I see it?" Natalie asked Stella.

"What? Now?" Stella asked her friend incredulously. Lucia was also incredulous, but she did not show it. She turned back to face the door and watch for more robed men who might have heard the commotion and were on the way to check it out.

"Yeah. Now." Natalie answered firmly.

"But more of those robed guys are probably on the way! We need to get outta here while we still can!" Stella protested.

"Now, Stella." Natalie repeated her demand. Stella sighed. Lucia turned back to face the pair.

"OK, Nat. You win. But we don't have very much time. Look it over and be quick. Make sure that it's the right book because once we get outta here we're not coming back for a long time." Stella told Natalie. She quickly took off her backpack and unzipped it, then stuck both hands into the backpack. She produced the book and handed it to Natalie.

Natalie opened it and began to read through it. Lucia saw the dark-haired mage carefully read the first few pages while Stella was beside herself with worry that they were taking too much time when they needed to get moving. After a tense minute or two Natalie shut the book and handed it back to Stella.

"Yeah, this is the one my client hired me to retrieve." Natalie told Stella.  Lucia was glad to hear that. Even though she was not as visibly nervous as Stella, she was apprehensive and did not want to stay here any longer than she had to. Stella quickly put the book into her backpack, zipped it closed, and began jogging towards the door with Natalie close behind her.

"We got what we came for. Let's get outta here!" Stella told Lucia without stopping to look at her. Lucia too began to jog towards the door, which was being held open by Stella. Natalie passed through first and Lucia passed through second. Stella passed through the door and shut it behind them.

[Post Word Count: 954]
[Total Word Count: 4,540/10,000]

-Outside the prison hall-

The trio of mages emerged from the prison hall and looked around them. So far their escape was going as planned. They had subdued the prison guard and had not raised any alarms in the process. All they needed to do was get out of this area and they would be in the clear.

The trio wordlessly ran for the door that would lead them out of the area and were halfway to it when out of the door on the opposite side of the prison hall emerged over two dozen mages wearing black robes. The robed men started shouting at the trio to stop, but the trio kept running for all they were worth. However, they soon found their escape blocked by a shimmering red barrier that had popped up between them and the door.

"Damn it! We can't get out!" Stella shouted. The trio turned to faced the robed men and saw that they were badly outnumbered. There was no choice. They would just have to fight their way out of this trap.

"I don't want to have to use violence. Just let us go and we won't come back." Lucia offered a deal. If the trio were released they would not come back here. The offer was rejected with a hearty round of laughter from the men.

"We can't let you go that easily. Our patron demands payment and you're the perfect currency!" One of them, a man wearing a black robe with a silver skull pattern on the torso, rejected their offer just to be certain that the trio knew that they were doomed. Lucia frowned. It looked like there would be violence after all.

"Well, that didn't work, Lucia." Stella snarked. Lucia ignored the remark and prepared to fight.

"If they won't let us go, we'll just force our way out!" Natalie said. With peace no longer an option Lucia steeled herself for a struggle. Natalie raised her hands above her head and began creating a bright blue ball of magic while Stella held her hands palms out in front of her and began channeling red magic into them. Lucia raised her right hand and began to channel magic into it.

Some of the robed men, convinced that their prey was hopelessly trapped, began advancing towards the trio.

"Rocket's Red Glare!" Stella called out and fired the spell she had been powering up. Two basketball-sized balls of red magic hurtled towards the men and hit two of them, exploding in bright red bursts of light and knocking the two men about five meters backwards. They went sprawling onto their backs as Natalie launched her spell.

"Azure Blast!" Natalie said before "throwing" the giant ball of blue magic energy towards a cluster of six enemies standing near the back of the hall. The ball landed right in the middle of them and exploded in a burst of blue light, sending them flying about like someone had scattered a formation of plastic toy soldiers with a swipe of their hand. The men landed on their backs and slowly moved while moaning in pain.

Bursts of black fireballs began flying towards the trio, prompting them to scatter and begin dodging the attacks. Lucia fired a Seeker Bolt aimed at one of the men in the back casting fireballs. He saw the golden homing projectile too late to dodge it and took the hit in the head, falling backwards and landing on the ground unconscious.

The trio were holding their own so far, but they needed to figure out how to lower the barrier keeping them from escaping. They looked around for clues and Natalie soon spotted a figure in a red robe holding his hands out in front of him as they glowed red. She pointed towards him and the two blondes saw him... if they could take him out the barrier might fall. Stella and Lucia joined up and focused their attention on the mage.

"We'll take him down together." Stella said. She put her hands out in front of her and they glowed red. Lucia channeled golden magic into her right hand and aimed at the red-robed mage, then fired a Light Burst spell at him. The baseball-sized projectile hit him in the torso and went off, blinding him in a flash of golden light. He yelled in pain and Natalie reported that the barrier flickered.

Seconds later Stella's Rocket's Red Glare spell hit the man with both projectiles and knocked him back. He sailed back about five meters and hit the ground, where he passed out.

"The barrier's down! Run!" Natalie told the two blondes. She ran for the door while Stella and Lucia did the same. Lucia drew Shining Light with her right hand and aimed at at the men, then began firing as she ran for the door. She was shooting more to force the men back than she was shooting to wound or kill them. With Lucia providing suppressing fire the two blondes hurried for the door being held open by Natalie and Stella went through first.

Lucia urged Natalie to go next and the black-haired mage did. Lucia ran through the open door last. She grabbed it with her left hand and slammed it shut behind her.

-In the hallway leading to the library-

The trio gathered in front of the door and took a deep breath. They had managed to escape the trap, but they were not out of the woods yet. They still had a haunted guild hall to go through and the robed men were sure to pursue them.

The trio faced the door at the opposite end of the hall and began running again. They needed to get out of this hallway as quickly as possible before the robed men caught up to them. If they got trapped by a barrier again there might not be a second escape.

[Post Word Count: 986]
[Total Word Count: 5,526/10,000]

-In the hallway leading to the library-

The trio had made it down the hallway a quarter of the distance when the door to the room they had left behind opened up. Lucia looked back and saw several angry robed men chasing them, including the man wearing the black robe with the silver skull pattern on the chest. The trio picked up their pace and reached the halfway point before the fireballs began flying again.

The trio ignored the projectiles and hurried to escape their pursuers. After what seemed like forever they reached the end of the hall. Natalie flung open the door and Stella hurried through. Lucia urged Natalie to go through and she did. Lucia went through last and slammed the door shut behind them just as a black fireball slammed into the door.

-Inside the library-

The trio stopped to take a quick breath. Lucia put away Shining Light while Stella and Natalie ran around to the other side of the wooden table and began pushing it. The Luminous Rose mage saw what they were trying to do and quickly got out of the way so that they could push the table against the door to buy them a few seconds to run for the hallway that led to the stairs that would take them out of the basement.

Stella and Natalie pushed with all their might and the heavy wooden table began to move. They pushed until the edge of the wooden table was up against the door. The pair took a quick breath and leaned over while putting their hands on their knees to recover from their exertion. They then stood up straight and faced Lucia.

"We'd better get going, guys. That table won't buy us very much time." Natalie told the two blondes. Stella looked at her friend and nodded in agreement.

"I agree. Let's get going!" Stella said. The trio briskly walked for the door that led out and just as Natalie's hand touched the doorknob there was a loud BANG on the door they had blocked with the table. They saw the table budge a little and knew that they did not have very long to make their escape.

"GO!" Stella urged them. Natalie opened the door and went first followed by Stella. Lucia brought up the rear again. She heard another forceful BANG and the table budged further. Not wanting to waste any more time, Lucia left the library and slammed the door shut behind her.

-In the basement hallway-

Lucia rejoined Natalie and Stella on the other side of the door and found herself facing the long hallway that led to the basement stairs. The three mages began running through the hall and heard ghostly moaning coming from nearby. They kept moving as fast as they could go.

"Damn it, not those ghosts again!" Stella complained. Lucia drew Shining Light as she ran and saw ghosts emerging from the empty prison cells to their left. She aimed and fired on the run, firing three shots and clipping a female ghost in the right arm with one of them but not banishing her. Lucia did not stop to finish the job. She kept running and did her best to keep up with Stella and Natalie, who were further ahead down the hall.

Eventually she reached the stairs where Natalie and Stella were waiting. Lucia took a moment to catch her breath, then faced her partners.

"We're almost out of here. We've just got to get up these stairs and go out the front door." Lucia told them. Stella and Natalie looked up the stairs, then turned back towards her.

"All right. We've come this far, so let's get go all the way and get outta here." Stella said. She began jogging up the stairs first followed by Natalie. Lucia heard moaning from the left and turned to see that a ghost or two had gotten far ahead of the others. She quickly aimed and dispatched them with three shots to the torso apiece, then put Shining Light away and began running up the stairs to keep ahead of the ghosts pursuing them.

-Upstairs, at the entrance to Haunted Guild-

Lucia finished jogging up the stairs and turned right to find that Stella and Natalie had waited on her. Despite their strong desire to leave this place and never return they had waited for her to get up the stairs so that the three of them could leave together. Lucia was glad for that.

"This way, Lucia! Hurry!" Stella said. Lucia saw that Stella was holding the door open for her. Lucia quickly ran out the door and Stella followed.

-Outside Haunted Guild-  

Lucia and Stella hurried to rejoin Natalie, who was waiting for them about five meters from the front door. The two blondes ran to rejoin their fellow mage and once they reached her paused to take a breath for the first time since they had freed Natalia from the prison.

"Do you think... think we're clear?" Stella asked Natalie. The black-haired mage shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, Stella. I hope we are." Natalie replied.

"Maybe we should keep going until we're in a city or town before we keep talking." Lucia suggested to her fellow mages. Stella looked at Lucia.

"Yeah. Good idea." Stella commented on Lucia's idea.

"We've gotta get to Hargeon Town to give the book to my client, but it's a long walk from here. Guess we'd better get going." Natalie informed them. With that the trio began walking briskly away from Haunted Guild and in the rough direction of Magnolia Town. It was going to be a long walk to Hargeon Town and they had better get going before those strange robed men started chasing them again.

[Post Word Count: 963]
[Total Word Count: 6,489/10,000]

-Hargeon Town, twenty hours later-

Having walked all the way from Haunted Guild to Hargeon Town because they had not realized that Clover Town had a train station until well after they had already entered Hargeon Town, the trio were about to collapse from exhaustion. In between the long trip to Haunted Guild, rescuing Natalie, fighting the robed men who wanted to take them prisoner, and then escaping Haunted Guild, Stella and Lucia were visibly exhausted and wanted nothing more than being able to sit down for awhile.

However, Natalie still had to find their client and give the book to them before this whole adventure could be considered officially over. Natalie strode with purpose towards the client's house, guiding the two blondes as she did so. She had guided them into the "upscale" part of town and was urging her companions to follow her despite the fact that it was all they could do to stay on their feet.

"C'mon guys, the client's house is this way!" Natalie said, motioning for them to walk towards her like she was a tour guide. Stella and Lucia kept putting one foot in front of the other and eventually reached Natalie only for the dark-haired young woman to dart off further down the road. Stella turned to Lucia and made eye contact.

"Did I mention that Natalie is energetic?" Stella asked the Luminous Rose mage what the latter hoped was a rhetorical question. Natalie was doing well for someone who had been imprisoned in Haunted Guild for almost three full days. Lucia gave a small smile.

"I could hardly tell." Lucia replied facetiously as the two blondes kept following Natalie. The moment they caught up with her she went right down a street named Wallace Lane and stopped at the fifth house. There she waved to them again, but this time she remained in place.

"This way!" Natalie called out cheerfully. Stella and Lucia turned right onto Wallace Lane and walked down an immaculately clean sidewalk past four large and beautiful houses until they caught up with Natalie again in front of the house that belonged to the client. Once the trio met up she smiled at them.

"Hey Stella, do you still have that book from the Haunted Guild?" Natalie asked her friend. Stella wordlessly took off her backpack, unzipped it, and pulled out the book. Stella then handed it to Natalie before closing up her backpack and putting it back on.

"Thanks, Stella! I'll just run this in to the client and I'll be back as soon as I can!" Natalie told them. The dark-haired mage then walked up a paved path to a house with a sturdy wooden double door made out of a dark wood, possibly mahogany. She pressed the doorbell on the right doorframe and was soon admitted into the house by a young woman dressed as a maid. The door was shut behind Natalie and the two blondes were left standing outside the house.

It was a large, white two-story house with mahogany double doors that had brass doorknobs. The windows were all immaculately clean on the inside and outside and reflected so much light that it looked like they were sparkling. The path to the door was clean and perfect; there was not a single crack in the path and not a single stone was out of place. Lucia was not sure how much money it took to keep the property looking perfect, but she was sure that it was not cheap.

Stella pulled her iLac out of her right pocket and quickly brought up a menu. Lucia watched the starry-eyed blonde start typing out a text message. Stella saw that she was being watched and faced Lucia.

"I've gotta text my dad and let him know that I'm back from rescuing Natalie. He made me promise to text him once we got back in town." Stella explained what she was doing.

"All right then. I'll keep an eye out for Natalie while you do that." Lucia said to Stella. Stella went back to typing out her text message as the Luminous Rose mage watched for Natalie to return with her reward money for successfully delivering the book. Lucia took a quiet breath and watched the front door open.

Natalie emerged with a big bag of Jewels and an equally big smile. Lucia turned to Stella.

"Hey Stella, Natalie's coming out of the house." Lucia informed her partner and pointed towards the mage. Stella finished typing out the message and sent it. She then looked up at Lucia and smiled.

"Thanks for helping me rescue Natalie. I mean it." Stella thanked Lucia for helping her as Natalie walked towards them with an air of irrepressible good cheer. The dark-haired mage reached them and held up the bag of Jewels.

"As you can tell, I got a really big payday for the job. When I told the client about those robed guys who imprisoned me they gave me hazard pay and an apology. They also told me that they were going to send a message to the Rune Knights about the men since based on my description he thought that they could be a dangerous cult of some kind." Natalie informed them. Stella and Lucia blinked.

"Um, well then... what do we do from here?" Stella asked Natalie.

"There's nothing else we can do, Stella. I know that I'm not gonna take another job to Haunted Guild for a long time!" Natalie said. Stella and Lucia nodded in agreement. Neither blonde was up for another trip to Haunted Guild, not unless they had no other choice but to go there.

[Post Word Count: 944]
[Total Word Count: 7,433/10,000]

"So what do we do from here?" Stella repeated her question to Natalie. Natalie kept smiling as she gave her answer.

"Let's go to your place, Stella. Once we're there I'll split the payday with you guys." Natalie suggested. Stella frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

"No way, Nat. Keep your money." Stella bluntly turned down the offer to split the money. Natalie frowned back at Stella.

"It's my money and I choose what to do with it. I'm splitting it with you guys since you went out on a limb to save me from those weird robed guys." Natalie insisted while maintaining eye contact with Stella. The staring contest persisted for almost a full minute before Stella finally relented.

"Fine, Nat. You win. We didn't rescue you for any kind of reward, but if you insist on giving us a reward, I won't turn it down." Stella informed her friend. Natalie quit frowning and smiled again.

"OK Stella, Lead us to your house!" Natalie instructed Stella. The starry-eyed blonde wordlessly turned on her heels and began guiding them away from Natalie's client's house and towards her own home. This would be the first time that Lucia ever visited Stella's home.

-Inside Stella's home, thirty-five minutes later-

"Hi Dad, I'm home! And I've brought a couple of friends!" Stella called out. The trio wiped the bottoms of their shoes off on a mat at the door and walked through the small foyer into a living room that was of average size. It had a television on a stand sitting against the wall in the center of the room, a few family pictures on the walls, and a brown cloth couch on the left wall. Standing in the living room was a man who turned to face them.

"Welcome back, Stella!" A middle-aged man of average build with short blond hair and blue eyes plus black stubble on his face greeted Stella, Natalie, and Lucia. He was wearing a gray three-piece suit with red tie and black dress shoes. He looked like he worked in an office job of some sort.

"Hey Dad! These are my friends Natalie Williams and Lucia Winchester! You've met Natalie before, but I doubt you've met Lucia!" Stella greeted her father and introduced her friends to him. The man looked at them and smiled.

"I'm William Herschel, Stella's father. I worry about her a lot. I know that I'm holding her back from being a real mage, but I can't help but to worry about her. I don't have magic like she does, so I can't go help her if she gets into trouble." He said to them. Natalie smiled.

"I wouldn't worry too much about Stella, Mr. Herschel. She's a good mage. She also really brave and won't hesitate to take big risks to help people." Natalie told Mr. Herschel.

"I agree, Natalie. My daughter's a good mage and a brave one, but I still worry about her. Her younger sister's got magic too and I'm dreading the day she becomes a mage like Stella. But I can't keep them at home all the time because I'm afraid of what might happen to them." William laid out his quandary to Natalie before turning to look towards Lucia.

"Say, I've heard my daughter talk about a Diana Winchester a few times before. Is she related to you?" William asked her. Lucia nodded.

"She's my younger sister." Lucia replied. The man smiled.

"Diana was Stella's first choice of partner, but when she couldn't get Diana she sent out a notice to you. I'm glad it found you and I'm even more glad that you took the job. I can't thank you enough for helping Stella rescue her friend." Mr. Herschel informed Lucia that her younger sister was Stella's first choice of partner and thanked her for taking the job despite not being the first choice. Lucia did not take offense to being told that she had been the backup plan.

"I'm glad that I could help Stella, Mr. Herschel." Lucia replied calmly. Mr. Herschel smiled again.

"I'm glad that everyone made it out safely. From what I hear Haunted Guild's a dangerous place to go, even for a mage." He said to the three mages.

"Haunted Guild's definitely a dangerous place, Mr. Herschel." Natalie seconded that opinion.

"I agree with Natalie." Lucia chimed in.

"I agree with them completely, Dad. If it wasn't for Natalie being in danger I wouldn't have gone anywhere near the place." Stella informed her father. His smile did not falter as he heard that.

"Well, it's over now. You three made it back safely and you did what you set out to do. You should relax and celebrate your success!" Mr. Herschel said to his daughter. Stella smiled.

"Yeah, you're right, Dad. We'll go to my room and talk things over." Stella said. She wordlessly took the lead and Natalie and Lucia followed Stella into the back of the house to go to her room for a bit of privacy. There they would presumably split the earnings from Natalie's job... if Natalie still wanted to do that.

[Post Word Count: 857]
[Total Word Count: 8,290/10,000]

-In Stella's room-

After speaking with Mr. Herschel for a bit and agreeing to go to Stella's room, the trio were now in their hostess' room. It was a small but comfortable room with a bed in the left corner, a few framed movie posters on the walls, a desktop PC with a computer monitor and tower a short distance to the right the bed, and a white wooden dresser sitting against the center of the right wall. Upon it sat what looked like a framed family photograph of Stella, her father, and a couple of other people. Stella walked over to her bed and sat on it, then took off her backpack and set it on the floor between her bed and her computer desk.

"Well guys, I've had enough adventure for one day. How about you?" Stella asked her fellow mages a rhetorical question. Natalie and Lucia nodded in agreement before Natalie walked over to the bed and began opening the bag of Jewels she had been carrying ever since she had gotten paid earlier in the day. Lucia stood back in front of the dresser while Natalie stood in front of the bed with the open bag.

"It's time for me to pay what I owe to you guys for the rescue." Natalie said. She turned over the bag of Jewels and poured them out. Jewels cascaded out of the bag, causing quite a racket. Eventually the torrent stopped and Natalie was able to start the work of corralling any loose Jewels that had fallen off of the bed and onto the floor. Once that was accomplished Natalie looked at the starry-eyed blonde.

"Counting all of these is gonna take awhile, Stella. I hope you have plenty of spare time." Natalie said before plunging into the unenviable task of counting out the Jewels and separating them into equal piles to ensure that everyone got an equal share.

-Twenty minutes later-

After counting each and every Jewel she had poured out of the bag Natalie had separated them into three piles of equal size and had arranged them in a triangle. Lucia did not know how Natalie could persevere in such a task, but she had managed to complete it. Now it was time for everyone to get paid.

"All right, ladies. I've counted out everything and now everyone's gonna get an equal share. But first lemme scoop my share back into my bag." Natalie said. The black-haired mage took the bag into her left hand and Lucia walked over to help hold it open while the former began scooping the bottom left pile of Jewels into it with her right hand. After roughly two minutes of scooping Natalie had collected her part of the money and tied the bag closed again, leaving Stella and Lucia to claim their parts.

"This wasn't necessary, Nat. We didn't rescue you for any kind of reward. We rescued you because you were in need and you were my friend." Stella told Natalie in a serious tone of voice. Natalie frowned.

"Just take the money, Stella. I owe you two big and I'm paying you back for your trouble. That's final." Natalie insisted. Lucia took off her backpack, unzipped it, and began scooping the bottom right pile of Jewels into her backpack. After two minutes of scooping Lucia had claimed her portion. She zipped the bag closed and stood up straight, then put the backpack on again.

"Thank you for the money, Natalie." Lucia thanked the dark-haired mage for splitting her pay with her. The Luminous Rose mage had taken the job to help her sister's acquaintance. Money was a secondary concern to Lucia.

"You deserve a lot more than that for helping me and my friend, Lucia. You took a big risk in helping me. It's the least I can do." Natalie said to Lucia. Stella smiled.

"You didn't have to give me that much money, Nat, but I'll take it." Stella said. Natalie smiled.

"Just be quiet and take the money already." Natalie said with mock sternness. Stella left her share where it was and gently stood up from the bed while Lucia watched. Stella walked over to her dresser, opened one of the drawers in the middle, and pulled out a bag, then walked over to her bed and began scooping Jewels into the bag with the help of Natalie, who held the bag open.

Once that chore was done Stella walked over to her dresser again and put the bag inside the middle drawer, then shut it.

"Well, now that everyone's claimed their share, what do you guys want to do from here?" Stella asked them. Natalie looked at her hostess.

"I'm going to go home and let my parents know that I'm OK. They're probably worried sick about me." Natalie told Stella. Stella nodded.

"OK Nat. I'll walk with you." Stella said.

"I'll go too." Lucia added.

"Thanks guys. I can handle myself, but I won't turn down the offer of company." Natalie accepted the offer of an escort despite not really needing it.

"All right, Nat. Let me just tell my dad where we're going before we set out for your place." Stella told Natalie and began to walk towards the door. Natalie and Lucia followed her out of the room and to the living room.

[Post Word Count: 890]
[Total Word Count: 9,180/10,000]

-Outside Natalie's house, forty minutes later-

After Stella had let her father know where they were going the trio had made their way to Natalie's house, which was close to the harbor side of town. As the trio stood outside of it Lucia took a look at where the dark-haired mage lived. Natalie's house was a simple one-story house made of brick with no real decoration or distinctive features save for a white doorframe housing a gray wooden door. Other than those two minor details it was simple housing that nevertheless did its job of providing shelter to its occupants.

"OK guys, I can take it from here. Thanks again for rescuing me!" Natalie said, bidding them farewell for the time being.

"Later, Nat!" Stella bade her friend farewell.

"Later, Natalie." Lucia told Natalie goodbye.

The dark-haired mage then walked up to the door and rang the doorbell positioned on the right of the doorframe. The door soon opened to show a burly middle-aged man with short black hair and a gray t-shirt with blue jeans and work boots and a middle-aged woman with shoulder-length wavy black hair wearing a white apron over a green long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans with sandals. They were obviously glad to see Natalie after an absence of almost three days.

Stella and Lucia watched the Williams family embrace for a few moments, then turned around and headed back for Stella's house. They did not want to hang around too long and wear out their welcome. Besides, Lucia had to get back to Luminous Rose Guild Hall and sleep awhile before she began to look for her next job. There was always someone who needed help and Lucia could not afford to rest on her laurels.

-Outside Stella's house, forty minutes later-

Having taken a leisurely walk back to their destination, the pair had taken a bit longer than it should have to return to Stella's house, but they had arrived safely. Now came time for Lucia and Stella to go their separate ways for the time being.

"Well Lucia, it's been quite an adventure." Stella said to Lucia.

"Indeed it has." Lucia commented. Stella laughed.

"You sounded like Diana just then!" Stella commented on Lucia's choice of words. Lucia laughed a little before the door opened and Mr. Herschel emerged.

"Hi Stella! I'm glad to see that you made it back!" Mr. Herschel said to his daughter. Stella turned to face Lucia and smiled.

"Well, I'd better get going. Say hi to Diana for me if you happen to meet her before I do!" Stella said. Lucia waved goodbye to the starry-eyed blonde as she walked towards the front door. She and Mr. Herschel disappeared inside the house and shut the door, leaving Lucia standing outside. With her task complete, Lucia turned right and began to walk for the outskirts of Hargeon Town. It would be a long way back to Luminous Rose Guild Hall.

But before she left Hargeon Town she needed a good cup of coffee. Perhaps "need" was too strong a word, but the point remained. Lucia wanted a cup of coffee or two before she set out for Luminous Rose Guild Hall. With her new objective in mind, Lucia set out in search of a local coffee shop to visit.

-Inside Hargeon Brews, twenty-five minutes later-

Thanks to the help of a friendly local Lucia had managed to a local coffee shop named Hargeon Brews, a medium-sized coffee shop with a pronounced nautical theme for its decor. There were old fishing nets hanging from the ceiling and orange life preservers hanging on the walls, but thanks to someone with an eye for interior decorating, they were few and far between and did not saturate the coffee shop. As a result the nautical theme was clear without it going overboard, so to speak. Lucia was sitting at a small square table on the left side of the shop while waiting for her double espresso to be delivered.

In the meantime she listened to the music playing overhead, which was an accordion piece she did not recognize. It was an upbeat accordion piece that sounded like it was the start of a sea shanty, but the singing never started. Instead the accordion continued to play and at some point in the piece a flute or other woodwind instrument started playing too.

Lucia's attention was diverted from the music when her double espresso was delivered to her table in a styrofoam cup. Lucia thanked the employee and waited a few moments for her coffee to cool down before she sipped from it. After roughly a minute Lucia picked up the cup with her right hand and sipped from it. The powerful coffee was exactly what she needed.

Lucia sipped from it again and felt energy return to her. She felt ready for the trip home, but she would finish her drink before she set out for the guild hall. She did not need to lug around a styrofoam cup.

-Outside Hargeon Brews, twelve minutes later-

After finishing her coffee and relaxing inside Hargeon Brews for a few minutes before steeling herself for the trip ahead Lucia left the coffee shop and stopped just five steps from its entrance. It was going to be a long walk back to the guild hall, so she had better get going. Lucia took a step forward and began her lengthy trip home while she still had enough caffeine to make her feel like the trek was doable.

She had had enough travel for one day. She had traveled to Haunted Guild in the company of her sister's acquaintance Stella Herschel, explored the basement, and rescued Stella's friend Natalie. She, Stella, and Natalie had encountered a group of hostile robed men who might have belonged to a cult and fought their way out of an ambush. The trio then escaped a pursuing horde of ghosts and escaped Haunted Guild before walking all the way to Hargeon Town to turn in the book that Natalie had been sent to retrieve.

Lucia hoped that her next job would not involve quite so much travel. However, she would go where the job took her. But looking for her next job could wait until she had slept a little... after she made it back to Luminous Rose Guild Hall, that was.

[Post Word Count: 1,059]
[Total Word Count: 10,239/10,000]