Pilgrimage of Cleansing

Spoiler:

The nun was looking through the boards once more, sighing as she looked up at the multitude of job offers. “Which ones do I cho-“ she began to say before one caught her eye. She collected the notice and read it over, her eyes widening at its contents and who the client was. Kiersa immediately looked around for Aayla, spotting her at a table with a man with blue hair.

She rushed over and almost slammed the notice onto the table in front of Aayla. “We have to do this job. Now!” said the nun, her limbs trembling slightly with excitement, nervousness and maybe just the sudden realisation that she had probably just interrupted a conversation between the two and was being very rude.

Kiersa bowed her head towards the pair. “S-sorry! Th-that was r-rude of me… S-sorry A-Aayla i-if I in-interrupted anything… and s-sorry t-to you too s-sir…” she said, addressing the blue haired man… who seemed to have a passing resemblance to the Water Dragon Slayer.

Aayla's sentence was cut short as Kiersa came over and slammed the notice down in front of her, not much different than she normally did when she got excited. She looked from Cirven to Kiersa with a questioning look.

"Did you give away all your jewel again..."
The young water dragon slayer asked with a light chuckle as she took the flyer and bean to read it over ,speaking to the pair as she did so.


"It's ok Kiersa... uhm, this is my brother, Cirven. Cirven, this is my team-mate Kiersa. We've been working together for a little while now..."
She said lightly from behind the flyer, instantly understanding why she wanted to go. To what degree her understanding of the stuation was however was different, but she knew the nun felt oblidged to help a church in need.

"Yeah, I guess we can do this... shouldn't be too hard.."
She said as she gently pushed herself off of the bench and to her feet.

Cirven grabbed the Kukan in response to the sudden action of the woman. He didn't know what would cause a person to do something like that and then demand that they had to do a job. He released his grip on the hilt of his blade as his sister explained who she was.

"Next time don't come up like that. I almost cut you in half there. Some people can be so oblivious to their actions..." He sighed but then extended his hand to the woman. "I'm Cirven Mizune. Thanks for helping Aalya with some jobs while I wasn't around. I will be around to return the favor now though."

He stood up and walked behind his sister so he could read the paper with his sister. "Oh. So you were all excited to help the church? Its just a church you know.." He was never the type to be big on religion. "But either way we should help them with their issue."

Kiersa blinked at the man for a moment that Aayla called her brother. "J-just... a... just a church?!" she almost shrieked before catching herself, recalling what happened last time she'd made an outburst and drew people's attention.

"Th-this is n-not j-just a church! Th-this is The Holy Castle!" she exclaimed, boggling at this man's blatant disregard. "I-it is the c-centre f-for all r-religions! A-all th-the Archbishops, High Priests, Mother Superiors, Popes... i-its l-like..." the nun trailed off as she tried to think of a comparison for Cirven to comprehend the importance of this place. "The Magic Council! I-it's l-like the Magic Council Headquarters f-for r-religion!" said Kiersa before she coughed slightly and took a few slow breaths to regain her composure.

She immediately bowed her head towards him. "I... I'm s-sorry I b-burst out like that o-on you... I-it was un-unfair, r-rude a-and inappropriate of m-me... I'm sorry." said the nun softly before standing up straight. "S-so... um... d-do y-you still w-want to g-go?" she asked hesitantly, wondering if she'd offended Aayla with her tirade against her brother.

Aayla couldn't help but giggle at the exchange between her brother and her friend arguing over the church. She wasn't very religious herself, but she could respect any churches ideal of looking fowards a higher being, of hope. She only wished that maybe she had these things in the past... it might have made things just a little bit easier to bare.


"Of course we're still going. We both said we would didn't we? The only problem is, I don't think Zinny can carry all 3 of us. So we might have to travel by land."
She stated to the other two. In truth, she meant THEY would take the devil carts and cars to the castle while she flew alone on Zinnath. The experience wth the sailors proved to be a real challenge for the Serpent, so she wouldn't try it again any time soon.

"Alright lets go."
She stood up from her seat, kindly handing the flyer back towards Kiersa and leading the group out of the hall. Her face started to turn red at the thought. SHE started LEADING a group..?

He laughed at what Kiersa said about the church. It didn't really matter what she was going to say because it wouldn't change his outlook of it just being a building where people worshiped beings that they had never seen or heard.

"I believe there is something." He spoke out after his laugh. "I just don't see a reason to worship something if I am already happy and living a good life. No offense or anything, miss nun. Other than all this religious talk, I am here to help. You should be a good addition to the brother and sister team up we have here I think."

He moved behind his sister as she got up to go. "Aww.. I'm gonna miss flying on Zinny.." He had grown somewhat attached to the his sisters pet after their time being together. "I'll have to feed her something good later to make up for it."

The nun just hung her head and sighed, shaking it slightly at this mans blatent blasphemy. She then looked at him in confusion at the talk of being an addition to the team up. "B-but... I-I was... urgh..." she grumbled, deciding that Aayla's brother was just trying to get under her skin or something similar, although why she couldn't fathom it.

As they walked, the nun looked at Aayla in concern. "W-will y-you be alright? I m-mean... w-with the m-motion s-sickness and all..." she asked, wishing that one of the spells in the Stigmata scrolls held something that cured motion sickness... effectively. The nun shuddered as she recalled the first and only time she had tried to relieve Aayla of her Dragon Slayer induced motion sickness... Even the nun had her limits about what she'd try to heal again.

They soon reached where the caravans and such were kept, with Kiersa finding the one that led to the Holy Castle and quickly boarding it. It was a rather simple looking carriage, all white and surprisingly cool inside.

Aayla couldn't help the giggles that were taking her over as the two talked. Her brother having absolutely no filter on his mouth, and Kiersa just being... well Kiersa! She nudged her brother gently in the ribs once before leading the way out of the guild hall, all the while smiling.

"Cirven... Kiersa and I were a team long before you came by. So I guess, we should be welcoming you into Holy Tempest. Kiersa... try not to mind him too much... None of us have been raised with any religious beliefs so it's a little hard for us. I'm sorry..."
She apologized to the nun, giving a quick bow before Kiersa came up and finally asked her about how she was going to do on the carriage ride to the castle. Her face quickly went red as she fidgeted with her fingers lightly.

"Uhm... well... if you guys don't mind... I.... I'll fly over w...with Zinny while you two... use the carriage... I really don't.... you know... want to be in a carriage again...."
She said softly as she quickly whistled to summon Zinnath and was quick to leap onto her back as the Serpent came flying down.

"Oh OK. Well I feel pretty welcomed to the team then." He didn't mind being the new inductee to the team at all. He had thought earlier that the two girls had helped each other mutually during a job and not formed a team but it didn't bother him either way.

"Be safe, Aalya. I know Zinny will take care of you like she always has but still worries me with your motion sickness." He waited for the serpent to show up and made his way to pet her. "Keep an eye on her, Zin. I got a new teammate to get to know."

He then made his way to the carriage that Kiersa had got into and also jumped in. "Hello miss nun." He said as he jumped in. "I was thinking I'd join you so we could talk more. I'm sorry if I come off brash or anything. It was just how I was raised to be. Any words held back are a chance lost or something like that. Its a line my foster father would say."

After some more talking between the two they arrived at the Holy Castle. Cirven got out of the carriage and looked at the building. "Its like its made of glass. I feel like I might go blind just from the reflection of the sun coming off of it." He reached up above his eyes to stop the reflection from affecting him as much.

Aayla slipped off of Zinanth's back when they finally made it to the church, looking the building up and down as the Serpent folded in her wings and stuck the the back of the group. She hmm'ed and aaah'ed lightly at the dazzling building before she walked forward. Hopefully, the closer they got, the less the light would shine in their eyes.

Outside of the building, she found a very short, old man, panting heavily as he held what looked like a very long stick with a golden sort of cross at the top. Well, she guessed he would sort of be able to use it as a spear against the little demons... if he used it right.

"Excuse me... sir?"

The little old man looked up at the trio with a desperate look on his eye, scanning their bodies quickly and finding the Sabertooth logo on Aayla's arm. He sighed in relief before speaking.

"You three must be here in response to our plea for help... Thank you very much... please... the relics in the church are priceless and these monsters are running amok! Oh how displeased the maker will be if I allow this travesty to continue... please... you must not waste time... but please please please be careful not to break anything!"

"Of course sir, you have our word as Sabertooth Wizards."
She said with a smirk before glancing back to Zinnath, who had quickly taken it upon herself to take to the skies, out of sight of the church for fear they might think she too was a demon.

The member 'Aayla' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Kiersa was silent for most of the trip to the church via the carriage, answering stuff that let him know what she'd done with Aayla prior, and informing him of her magic. Upon their arrival she looked at the blue haired man worriedly. "N-now... p-please... no offense... b-but l-let me o-or Aayla h-handle the t-talking p-please..." she urged softly. Upon meeting the client she bowed her head quite low, the old man returning it with a bow of his own head. "Ah, Sister. You have the condolences of this old man for what happened to your convent." The nun bowed her head once more. "Thank you your Grace... I promise, we will do everything in our power to cleanse this holy sanctum of the creatures infesting it." she said respectfully, bowing once more before she began to lead the group through the sacred halls.

"I'd always imagined coming here one day... the relics here date back so far beyond memory its unbelievable..." she said softly, taking in a slow breath, a smile on her face... until she saw it.

This thing...is a floating pile of mud, with holes for eyes and a huge mouth. It was hovering in the air before them, flinging mud and dirt all over several relics and paintings. Kiersa's eyes narrowed at the sight of the demon as she quickly took up an L-Stance. "Burn in the Maker's gaze demon filth. Stigmata of Longinus!" she intoned, her chest spurting blood beneath her robes as the lance of Holy magic surged forth and struck the demonic creature, its energies causing it to howl in pain as it looked at the trio of wizards.

The beast began to flee. "Oh no you don't... Aayla, get it into a Water Lock, Cirven block its retreat. We cannot allow it to escape, this thing... this thing is the leader of them, I can feel it. Go!" she ordered, racing forwards after the demon. "Don't break anything!"

Cirven respected the nun's wishes and zipped his lips as they spoke to the panicking old man at the front of the building. He thought of how annoyed he might be if something kept wrecking his room every time he cleaned it as a way of understanding what the Holy Castle was going through.

"These relics sound like if you touched them that they would crumble to pieces. What ever is doing this might possible hurt more than just the church." He stopped speaking as they saw the floating pile of mud. Cirven had a bad feeling that he would somehow get what made up the monster on him if he wasn't careful and tried not to imagine the smell it had.

"Got it." He out ran the beast and cut off its exit before it could get away. He removed his katana and pointed it at the floating grim and muck. "Kiersa, you should have the honors."

Suddenly Kiersa stopped stuttering and was dealing out orders as if she had been doing it her whole life. Aayla had no problems with this seeing as she wasn't exactly leader material anyways, it was nice to just let her friend take charge like this. She brought her hands forward, and as Kiersa asked of her, she began to cast her spell.

"Water Lock!"
She called out as a large bubble of water sprung up around the mud monster...thing, trapping it in place as it attempted to flee. She was quickly noticing however, that the monster was just using the water to dilute itself, becoming bigger and bigger as it expanded in her water lock. There wouldn't be enough time for her to run up and touch her spell, dropping the temperature to freeze it, so she just concentrated with all her might in keeping the thing contained as it just soaked up her water.

"Kiersaaaaa....."
She called out to the nun, hoping they would do something before her spell exploded and mud flew everywhere.

Kiersa nodded as it became encased in the Water Lock, and Cirven blocked its retreat. "Taste the blades of the divine! Stigmata of Damocles! Double!" she intoned, her hands falling lifeless at her sides, blood dripping from her wrists as the holy magic surged from her arms. Seeing the beast enlarge itself on Aayla's water infuriated the nun. Not only did this beast dare to defile this most holy of sanctums, but it also dared to pollute her friends Water Magic?!

The nun charged at the beast, her blades swinging away at the creature through the Water Lock. One strike, two strike, three strikes, four strikes she got into the creature before it exploded into mud, sending the nun flying into a nearby wall and falling to the floor. "Urgh..." she groaned, dismissing the blades as she rubbed her head looking around. The creature had escaped the Water Lock and was diving... for the ceiling?!

It seeped through the floor, giving a leering cackle as it fled. The nun grumbled as she slowly got to her feet. "We've... got to find that thing... fast..." she groaned, pulling her hand away from her head and sighing at the sight of her own blood... before she realised that this time the blood wasn't because of her Stigmata. "...Oh Maker..."

Spoiler:

Civen quickly figured out how much he wasn't going to like the nun using her magic. She was bleeding while using her blades and Cirven didn't like any of his friends being hurt by anything. She did explain on the ride there that her magic hurt her in order to be used but he didn't think it would hurt her that much so quickly.

"You OK, Kiersa? Our health is more valuable than some mud monster's. If you need to rest then stay here while we deal with the monster. Would rather not see you get hurt like that anymore."

Cirven then quickly ran off to search for the beast himself. He found it moving around not too far away from they last saw it. It seemed to be moving as if it were injured.

"Hey mud-ball!" He used the dimension inside the Kukan and pulled out the thunder dragon scale and pushed it onto the hilt of the Kukan. "Meet Alastor!" In a flash of light the Kukan changed into six katana that Cirven held in both of his hands between his fingers. The monster turned to look at him as Cirven waited for any back up to show before attacking.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

"But... Kiersa I can't trap it! It's just absorbing my water!"
The young dragon slayer stated worriedly, glancing back at her friend and wincing slightly at the sight of the blood covering her. She had to buy the girl clothing that wasn't white so she didn't look like a murder scene at the end of every mission. 

She took a deep breath and looked back towards Cirven who had pinpointed the sludge thing and took a deep breath before running up to her brother, placing herself into a badly formed fighting stance as water formed over her hands, creating claws. The same thing happened with her feet, creating talons.

"Ready to try again..?"
She asked hesitantly before bringing her hands forward and creating another water lock around the creature to keep it in place.

Instantly, the sludge creature began to absorb Aayla's water again, diluting itself so that it would slowly grow into an even larger sludge demon, or at least dirty up enough water to soil the church again...

From Above, Zinnath flew circles above the church, a worried look on her face as she wished she could be inside helping the dragon slayer with this demon.

combat stats:

"I'll be fine..." groaned Kiersa at Cirven, frowning at his suggestions. "It is not just a "mud-monster". That is a demon... and I will not allow a demon to defile this holy sanctum any further..." she growled, following behind the pair. She shielded her eyes as the sword Cirven was wielding suddenly flashed and turned into six new swords. He'd mentioned something about this weapon on the carriage ride over... she thought to herself before looking to Aayla.

"So long as it makes it weaker. Mud and dirt thin out in water. It may be getting larger, but simultaneously it is getting weaker." she said assuredly before she took up an L-Stance and aimed her hands at the trapped creature. "Don't wait for my signal, just strike at the damned creature." she said to Cirven before intoning her own spell. "Stigmata of Longinus!" Her chest once more spat out blood as the Holy Lance shot forth and impaled itself into the demon, its very essence causing it to howl and shriek in pain as it tried to escape once more.

"Did you call it...A demon..!?" Cirven's eyes widened in a sort of fury as he looked at the creature. Each of the six blades surged with electricity as he quickly moved towards the mud demon. Images of his father and step-mother covered in their own blood flashed through his eyes along with the thoughts of how he could not find his sister.

"Die!" He yelled out as if he dropped into a dark trance he swiped both hands down onto the creature and then backed up. "Kiren!" He swiped one of his hands horizontally and sent out a bolt of electricity towards the creature made up of murky water.

Cirven huffed and puffed from the anxiety of the thoughts that were swarming his mind but then calmed himself. He lost his focus over the Kukan's form which caused it to revert back to its regular form. "..Is it dead yet..?" He spoke out between breaths.

It kept getting harder and harder to contain the mud creature within the water lock, even harder when Kiersa and Cirven stabbed at it. She bit her lower lip to keep her concentration however, as soon as his brothers swords came to life with lightning, she gave a shriek before accidentally dropping her spell and stumbling backwards away from everyone. It wasn't quite lightning so she wasn't too afraid, mostly just startled. She accidentally backed up into one of the pedestals, tripping onto her butt and groaning lowly as one of the artifacts they were meant to protect fell, hit her in the head and landed in her lap. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she rubbed her head before picking up the artifact and replaced it on it's stand.

"Owwww...."
She whined, rubbing her head before glancing to the other two, embarrassed by what had just happened.

"Sorry, I'm sorry..."
She muttered before quickly trying to get back into the game by running towards the mud monster who at this point, splattered into the floor to appear somewhere else.

combat stats:

Kiersa shook her head slightly as her vision went a little blurry for a moment, putting her hand to the back of her head and frowning at the resulting blood oozing from the earlier wound. She takes her habit and presses down on the wound for a little bit to try and force it to stop before she looks over at Aayla. "It's alright... no more Water Locks I think... it may be diluting and weakening it, but its also making it easier to slip through the Castles walls and floors..." she said softly before starting to resume the chase for the demon.

Upon spotting it she takes up the L-stance once more. "Stigmata of Longinus!" she intoned, once more firing the holy lance at the demon, a wave of nausea washing over her even as the demon shrieked in pain. Gritting her teeth she ran towards the creature, arms wide beside her. "Stigmata of Damocles! Stigmata of the Seraphim!" she intoned, her right arm generating the blade of holy light even as her left created a divine shield. The mud demon flung a large glob at her, striking against her shield before she thrust the blade into the beast, the mere touch of the energies coursing through it making it let loose a terrible cry of pain.

She took a quick glance around this hall before grinning and diving to the floor. "You're clear Aayla!" she yelled, covering her head with her hands as the holy spells dissipated.

Spoiler:

He watched as the mud creature took in his sister's water lock and seemed to just gain more abilities from it. He grew annoyed that the demon could even do that on top of it doing it to his sister's spell. He went to attack the creature again but stopped as he heard his sister hurt herself.

"Aalya?" He looked at her surprised that she had been such a klutz to do that and then had to hold in his laughter. "Be... More.. Careful" He said in between small chuckles and then focused back on the enemy.

He watched the exchange between the the nun and the beast and then ran in when he found an opening. "My turn! Form change!" Cirven used the Kukan's dimension again to grab the ice dragon scale and placed it on the hilt. "Kaikias!" The Kukan changed into a claymore like blade made of ice and planned to use it to keep the creature in place with its elemental properties. He then slashed down the blade onto the mud abomination but as he did the creature spat out some mud at him. Both attacks connected and Cirven quickly jumped away.

"Ugh.. Gross.." He tried to get the brown liquid off of him by flailing his body but didn't have much success.

Spoiler:

"I'm ok, meanie"
She stated as she ran passed Cirven, sticking her tongue out before leaping forward at her enemy, her face suddenly growing far more serious. Water began to form around her hands and feet, forming jagged yet flowing claws as Cirven too sprang into action beside her. He chose to transform his sword with an icey scale, perfect! As Cirven cut down on the mud monster, Aayla leaped into action.



"Water Dragon's claw!"
She growled out as she slammed her claws into the creature again and again. Every time she struck, the mud monster began absorbing her watre, and so, as it did, she  brought her hand over to the ice sword and conncted the monster to it, quickly freezing the part of the creature that was attached to her. She did it again, and again, and again until finally, the mud monster was completely frozen against Cirven's sword. She finally stepped back away from the creature, panting lightly at the physical exertion of her attack.

"Try to absorb that..."
She grumbled, a little miffed that the creature attempted to use her to grow bigger.

combat stats:

The nun slowly stood back up once the demon was destroyed, rubbing the back of her neck. "N-not wh-what I h-had in m-mind..." she admitted softly. "B-but it w-worked... L-let's go s-speak with his Grace." Kiersa said, starting to lead the way back to the Archbishop.

"Ah, you have returned... I can only presume that the menace is destroyed?" he asked of them, Kiersa giving a bow of her head. "It is your Grace. We encountered the ringleader of sorts for the infection, and purged it from this world." The Arch-bishop smiled and nodded at her words. "I'll go collect your reward then... Sister, if you would care to come with me, there is something I would like to speak to you about in private." The nun blinked before slowly nodding. "Of course your Grace..." She looked back at the others as she followed behind the man, giving a shrug and a mild look of confusion before they entered his office.

"It was a terrible thing, what happened to you and your order Sister... So much lost from that foul scourges retribution for its imprisonment." said the Arch-bishop, Kiersa looking down at the floor. "Y-yes your Grace..." He went over to a chest of drawers and pulled out the satchels of jewels... along with one other item. He offered her a key. "As the last of your order Sister, I feel you should have this. In your current line of work, it may prove of more use than sitting inside a Vault. I trust you know what this means." he said, placing the key in her hand.

The nun looked down at the key for a moment, confusion clear on her face before the sad realisation of his words came into effect. "S-surely y-your G-Grace..." she stammered, the old man shaking his head. "This is a time when the relics should be gifted, not locked away... Let us only pray the demon did not claim it in his destruction. Now... that will be all Sister. I'm sure your friends are getting anxious." he said before chuckling. "There are all those wild and sordid stories after all about what those of the cloth get up to behind closed doors."

Kiersa looked at him blankly. "Stories your Grace?" The Arch-bishop shook his head and sighed kindly. "Ask the pointy eared lad if you want. He looks the sort to indulge in such speculation. Go with the Maker's Blessing my child." he said, the unspoken signal that Kiersa was to definitely leave now. The nun bowed and left... then returned with a blush as she had forgotten the satchels for the others, bringing the Arch-bishop to chuckle behind her.

She soon returned to the others and handed them their jewels, looking down at the key in her hands and sighing. "I... I w-won't be g-going back with you t-to the g-guild h-hall f-for the i-immediate f-future..." she said, clutching the item tight in her hands. "I... I've g-got to..." Kiersa swallowed before she looked at them both. "I-I've got to g-go h-home... Th-there's s-something I've g-got to g-get..."

Cirven saw how the creature kept absorbing his sister's strikes so he moved closer to her so that she could use his sword as a way of fighting against that. Each of her strikes became colder than what it was absorbing from her earlier and lead to it become more damaged by her.

"Ice Coffin." Cirven lifted up his sword and struck the creature one last time as his sister did, this time sending out a small blast of ice with the slash and freezing the creature along with his sister's strikes which helped do the same. "Finally." He dispersed the ice form of the Kukan and returned the scale back to it's dimension.

After the fight with the demon he decided to be quiet again as Kiersa spoke to the Archbishop. He didn't want to say anything that could lead them to getting in trouble or getting Sabertooth looked at in the wrong way. The nun went off with the Archbishop for a short time and returned speaking that she wasn't returning with them.

"Well where ever you are going we will follow. We are a team now after all. I'd rather you not bleed yourself to death because we weren't around too." He smiled at the nun. "Different views or not we are still a team, you know. So hope you can deal with our stubbornness."