In the realm of Zariel, every person can manipulate one of the four elements their zodiac belongs to - Fire, Earth, Air or Water.
Tamie Wingfield dreams to become the greatest Zodiac Master of all time. For that, she decides to join the Rose Cruce...
Back in the Order, the friends retold everything that had happened and presented Scott to the members. Scott felt really awkward in such a large group of people who astonishedly watched him and his big red dragon, but they got even more dumbfounded when that giant dragon suddenly morphed into a tall redhead man who looked a lot like Scott himself but had even redder hair and a cut on his eye.
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"Huh? A dragon turned into a human?!"
"Hmm, that is actually possible once the Tamer Class achieves the Rank Seven - the Predator," Diana noted, "I know because my brother was one, so his dog, Bruno, gained the ability to morph into a human whenever he liked".
"That is quite right, child," the dragon who had just turned into a human smirked and leaned onto Scott's shoulder, "I am Fireball - Scott Blutendorf's fearsome companion and friend".
Scott chuckled - his dragon was indeed such a boaster...
Generally, such news - that when one reached Predator rank of the Tamer Class their pets could turn into humans at will - would make Tiger rush into seventh heaven, but now, already perturbed from the previous news - that her father whom she never knew had turned up in all of a sudden - she didn't even pay attention to these details, but instead went directly into the basement to her room with her three pets. She apparently needed some alone time to think it all through.
When the first wave of impressions passed, Scott and Fireball sat at one of the tables together and took two glasses of beer to chill off, while Edmund ran up to Riza and hugged her tightly:
"Well, how did it go? I mean your fight with the Jupiter Celestial Lady - did you make it?"
"Yes," Riza showed him the shining Jupiter gem necklace.
"Amazing! Congratulations, dear!" Edmund grinned and kissed her on the lips. Riza smiled back as a sign of gratitude. Then she exchanged glances with Tamie and turned back to the young man:
"Ed, there was this strange occurrence during the battle..." she retold him of her muse, while Tamie added that her muse couldn't be summoned, "So Byakuya advised us to consult with William".
"Ah, yes, sure!"
They walked up to Goatee's table who had stuck his head into a magazine with some pretty girls on its cover. Seeing this cover, Edmund's face flushed and he adjusted his glasses. The girls instead averted their gaze from it.
"Ugh, you're at it again?!" Goldmund came sneering at his father, grabbed the magazine out of his hands, ripped it and threw it in a dustbin.
"Ah!" Goatee awoke only now, "No! It was the newest issue! Goldie!"
"Don't give me that crap!" Goldmund muttered through his teeth and angrily walked off.
Edmund chuckled at this familiar father-and-son scene and turned back to saddened Bill:
"Goatee, Tamie and Riza have come to talk to you. Riza has unlocked her muse in her recent fight, and Tamie's been having problems with calling for her own muse. Could you please help?"
"Ah, of course!" Goatee smiled at Riza: "So how did it go? Did you win the duel?"
"Um, yes, with the help of my muse... But more important is - why did it emerge in all of a sudden? I didn't even know I could possibly have one".
"And my muse didn't emerge when I summoned him!" Tamie complained.
"Oh, now those are some interesting matters..." Bill adjusted his glasses just like his nephew Edmund would do. "Let's see into it... I'd better call an expert," he beamed and yelled an incantation: "Capricorn Style, Builder Art, Demigod Mode - Summoning the Muse: Eternal Partner, Ivy Steinbock!"
Everyone gasped, including Goldmund, who was there nearby - he was going to call Ivy, his muse?! Indeed, soon the Black Zen of Goatee turned into a blue-to-green light, and out of there, a tall, dark-skinned, long-green-haired, grey-eyed beautiful woman emerged, with a goat-skull-like hat. It was Ivy Steinbock, whom Edmund had talked about. Goldmund brightened and rushed up to them:
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"Mother!"
"Aww, Goldie, long time no see! My boy..."
Goldmund tightly hugged her, exchanging the family warmth. When the first wave of greetings and happiness passed, they got down to business. Goatee explained his muse-wife the whole situation.
"Understood. The first thing I need to do is call both of your muses here, girls. Riza Wagner, please call your muse out with the incantation Billie has just used. As for you, Tamie Wingfield, I shall be dragging out your muse on my own since he's so stubborn as to not obey his Creator's request".
Tamie blinked and shyly shook her hands:
"Ah, no, no, he can often be rude like that... It's no big deal..."
"It is not acceptable for a muse who has earned enough respect from their Creator as to be revived, to act in such a manner," Ivy strictly disagreed and touched Tamie's forehead, closing her own eyes. She then glowed with her blue-to-green energy and shouted: "Emerge, Kokujin!"
Tamie gasped - how did she figure out her muse's name?! Her scroll glowed bright and the very familiar blue-haired boy indeed appeared, however, he looked angry just like Byakuya had predicted - he was sulking and had his arms crossed. Meanwhile, Riza, according to Goatee's instructions, called her muse out too. Edmond and Kokujin both displeasedly eyed Ivy as if blaming her for disturbing their peace.
"Now then, Edmond, Kokujin," Ivy instead smiled at them, disregarding their hostile gazes, "let's go to Billie's room and discuss some important matters, shall we?"
"Since when are we listening to some other muse?" Edmond muttered.
"I'm not in the mood of discussing anything..." Kokujin expressed his own discontent.
They felt the strong heat in front of them, so they fearfully gazed forward - the green-haired woman had glowed with her energy, while her eyes shimmered with maternal rage:
"I said - let's go to Billie's room and discuss important matters!"
Both of the boys gulped and even bowed down:
"Yes, ma'am!"
"That's better," Ivy smiled again as if nothing had happened.
Thus, the three muses excused themselves to their Creators and walked upstairs to Goatee Bill's room.
