The Exceed Slayer

Team

“Way to go, Lynx!”

“Whoo!”

“I can’t believe someone actually wielded that nightmare!”

This is what ambushed me when I walked into guild the day after the trial. We had gotten back pretty late the night before, and I had a rare occurence of sleeping in that morning. The last thing I expected was a surprise party.

“I guess I can see you as an actual rival now,” Emerson sighed.

“Em, she’s older than you and beat the snot out of you a couple days ago, so you have no room to talk,” Ray teased.

“Silly brother,” Marek chimed in.

“Two against one isn’t fair!” he complained, but gave me a smile when Ray wasn’t looking.

“Ly-nx, Ly-nx, you’re so amazing!” Ray cheered in my ear.

“You guys were watching kid movies again, weren’t you?” I asked, but laughed. The Anthlings showered me with confetti, cereal, candy, basically whatever small objects they could get their hands on. All the attention overwhelmed me, so I took refuge in a quiet corner. When I did, I came face-to-face with an unfamiliar black-haired girl.

“Wow… it’s pretty loud,” she said awkwardly.

“Tell me about it,” I agreed, “but it’s usually a lot quieter.”

“Oh, really? I thought so, but there weren’t many people around because the master wasn’t here.”

“Trust me, it is. You new?”

“Yes, I joined the day before the S-Class thing. My name is-”

“Reese! There you are! And you’re hiding too, Lynx!” Ray exclaimed.

“Too many people,” I protested. Ray just laughed.

“I hear you!” she agreed, “by the way, Opal needs us to watch Amya again tomorrow. You in?”

“Sure!”

“Um, can I help?” Reese spoke up, “I always help my mother with my little siblings, so I’m not completely new at that.” Ray smiled at her, then looked at me. I mentally sighed, knowing where this was going, but nodded.

“We’d love for you to help!”

The next day, Ray, Reese, and I picked up Amya and took her to a tiny island in the middle of the lake. Neither Reese nor I had ever been there, but apparently it was one of Ray and Amya’s favorite places to hang out.

“But it’s a secwet!” Amya whispered.

“Don’t worry, our lips are zipped,” Reese told her, pretending to zip her lips and lock them.

“You have to keep it secwet too, okay Pwincess Penny?” Amya said to her doll that she dragged everywhere. Ray gently took it and said in a high voice:

“Of course, Amya! You’re the princessiest princess and my best friend ever!” Amya shrieked with laughter, Reese giggled, and I shook my head at “princessiest.”

“That’s not even a word,” I muttered.

“Play along,” Ray elbowed me. We let Amya show us around the island: there was a flower patch full of butterflies, a tiny beach rough with pebbles, and a peach tree showering pink blossoms in the middle. We unpacked our picnic lunch under the peach tree.

“Hey, Ray, any idea where Jacob went?” I suddenly asked. I hadn’t seen him around the guild since before the trials.

“Who’s Jacob?” Reese asked.