Time: April 28th, X820, ~12pm
Location: ???
Objective: Locate
Flowers, grasses, and ferns happily danced under the beaming sun.
A perfectly clear sky stretched above them, inviting the local creatures to come out.
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over a patch of fresh grass.
Chomp!
Riiiiiiiip!
The shadow slowly backed off.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
The blades were mercilessly ground between two sets of molars. Remnants dribbled out of the mouth corners. They fell past a wooly wall back to the grass, where a hoof caressed them.
Tweeet tweet tooweet!
Arf! Arf!
The wooly creature pawed and baa-ed. It started to trot away before a large streak darted across its path! Immediately the hooved animal turned around and trotted the other way. As it ran, the enemy nipped at the heels.
Baa!! Baa!!
Off in the distance, similar calls could be heard. The wooly creature trotted faster towards them.
"Well done, boy! You brought the lost sheep!" a deep voice called.
Arf arf!
The sheep paid no mind to the voice and kept trotting towards the familiar voices. The dog yipped and bounded after it to keep it from straying.
The man sighed and stretched.
"Thank goodness we got 'em all rounded up again," he grunted.
As the man started to follow the sheep and dog, he stopped.
Voices echoed in the distance...Human voices.
The man looked over his shoulder at the hill looming before them.
"For the umpteenth time, Mr. Compass! Are we there yet?!" a woman roared.
"Mavis, you're gonna make me deaf before I'm eighteen!!" a young man snarled.
"Good!! That'll teach you not to eavesdrop ya Poisonous Prick!" she retorted.
"Nashi. Jace. Please. Enough," a third, exhausted voice pleaded.
"Why the hell should we be quiet?! There's nobody here!!" the woman shrieked.
"Quiet! I sense someone ahe–," a fourth, tenor voice interjected.
"Shut up Sun Dude!"
"Kee kee kee kee," a fifth, baritone voice snickered.
"Stop laughing Ice Princess!!"
"No way! Your comedy is on fire, Lava King!"
"I'M A FIRE DRAGON SLAYER!"
"ENOUGH!"
The echoes rippled across the open land.
Small flocks of birds took to the air.
Not even a breeze dared to stir the colorful foliage.
Seconds creeped by.
The man's knees shook. A moment later he turned heel.
He gasped for breath as a small village of oak houses grew closer.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared in both of his peripherals. As he looked over his shoulder, something swept out his feet!
"AHH!" he screamed.
He shut his eyes and braced for impact...Except...there was nothing...
The man cracked open one eye. A gloved hand was holding him by the collar of his shirt. He followed the long glove until it met a long, slender arm. At the end of it was a young man. He wore a beaming smile with slicked back, blond hair and sunny, green eyes.
"Hey! How are you today, sir?" the blond inquired.
"Uhhh, dahhp. Um–"
The farmer was pulled to his feet. Immediately he brushed off his shirt and adjusted his cap.
After briefly looking up at the tower of sun and smiles, he averted his gaze to his feet.
Suddenly, the young man extended his gloved hand again.
"My name's Eli! Yours?"
The older man's eyes widened.
His Adam's apple bobbed.
"Erm, uhh...," he muttered.
"Alright, well it's nice to meet you!"
No response.
Eli cocked a brow. He glanced over his shoulder and nodded.
"Sir, if you don't mind, we're a little lost and I was hoping you could help us out," Eli tried again.
The man's shoulders relaxed a little.
"S-sure thing," he mumbled.
He slowly raised his eyes before stopping. His pupils dilated.
Eli cocked a brow and looked over his shoulder to see five more people.
At the front was a teen woman with large curves, spiky salmon hair, and glaring brown eyes. She had her arms crossed over her chest, popping her boobs from her white, crop tank top. The dark vest and loose, cream pants shook as she impatiently stomped the ground with her brown sandals.
Next to her was a young man her height with spiked back purple hair, a white coat over dark pants, and an ominous green glare. One hand sat in his coat pocket while the other calmly stroked the giant, olive-green snake coiled around him.
Behind the duo was a towering figure cloaked in a black, hooded cloak. Only a pale chin and a few dark, wavy locks could be seen under the hood. A faint, dark aura constantly emanated.
Standing next to the cloaked figure was a young man with deep bags under his half-closed dark green eyes. The greasy, red locks matched the dirty blue coat and wrinkled, dark, skin-tight clothes underneath. One hand was in his pocket. The other held a mysterious device.
Behind the redhead and off to the side was a young man with dark blue hair and an unbuttoned pink shirt with white and red polka dots. Complementary white pants were draped over his shoulder while the red speedo outlined his smooth legs.
Eli returned his attention to the farmer with a sunny smile.
"Oh, these people are my friends. Don't worry, they're harmless to you!"
"I see we have some visitors," a feminine voice stated.
Everyone froze.
Eli looked past the man at the same scenery as before.
A moment later, a trio warped into view in front of the houses!
There stood a woman with one hand on her hip. She had curly blond hair, blue eyes, and was dressed in an elegant gray blazer and pencil skirt with black high heels. Her jewelry consisted of studded earrings, a small silver chain around her neck, and red lipstick.
On either side stood two figures in brown, rucksack cloaks with their hoods up. Their dark boots were coated in mud.
Reiki narrowed his eyes.
Air immediately left Jace's lungs.
Cris put a fist against his palm, emitting cold streaks.
Nashi's fists started steaming as drool seethed from her clenched teeth.
Cal didn't move.
Eli stepped forward with a wave and a sunny smile.
"Hello! We're looking for a small town around here. It's supposed to be in plain sight yet I believe we're a little lost. Would you mind helping us, please?"
The woman smirked.
"Hood 6–" the figure on the left shifted in place "–divide them among us."
'What a suspicious order,' Reiki mentally noted.
Out of nowhere, a giant whirlwind erupted!
Everyone was swept off their feet and thrown around!
"AAAHHHHH!"
The redhead squinted against the vicious wind. He watched the navy-haired and pink-haired mages disappear into a gray fog.
"Nashi! Cris!" Reiki cried.
In a flash of yellow light the Heavenly Body Mage dashed towards them...and crashed into a thick wall of wind!
He was thrown back and started to nose dive to the ground!
Reiki deactivated Meteor and tumbled in the air until he safely landed with a squat.
A moment later, the air rushed out of his lungs with the surrounding whirlwind!
In a rainbow flash, he found himself in a different place!
"What...is...happening?!" he gasped.
"I'm asking the same question!" a deep feminine voice shouted.
Reiki looked up and to his right.
Cal stood there with her left arm extended, her palm facing the horizon. The edges of her cloak barely fluttered. A few wisps of her hair flew out of her hood.
The redhead staggered to his feet against the vicious gale. His coat and hair flew to the side. As he dug his bare toes into the soil, the loose particles were swept away.
Upon regaining his balance, he slowly opened his eyes to view...a massive, whirling wall of wind.
'That's a tremendous feat,' he telepathically noted.
'Yes. We're in a column of violent wind. You and I are near one edge of the circumference. And it appears that the three of us are alone," Cal replied in her head.
Reiki squinted against the flying debris.
'Who else is here?'
He shielded his face whilst digging his heel into the dirt.
After blinking out a few pieces of dirt, his pupils widened as they zeroed in on a target.
A hooded figure in a brown, rucksack cloak stood facing them on the opposite side.
'Damn it. I was hoping to be able to question Catie instead,' Reiki snarled.
'Same here. It looks like we'll have to get past this one first,' Cal added.
'Nashi. Cris. Please be safe.'
'Eleodoro, please don't die.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cris groaned as he pushed himself to his hands and knees. His unbuttoned shirt felt ready to rip off his chest at any moment.
A black, gloved hand appeared in front of him.
"Need some help?!" a tenor voice called above the howling wind.
The navy-haired mage looked up, only to have his bangs block his face.
He snagged the hand and rose up.
Immediately he turned away and pushed the hair out of his face.
"Cris! Close your eyes!"
The Ice-Water Mage shut his eyes.
"Aurora!" the other voice called.
A brilliant light flashed behind Cris.
He turned around to see a solid wall of glowing colors shifting in place. His blue orbs widened as he followed it all the way to the top of the column of wind. Cris' eyes scanned its width, which stretched from one end to the other.
"This looks like the aurora I've heard about!" he exclaimed.
"Cris, look past the barrier please!"
The Ice-Water Mage held his hair back as he looked up and to his left.
Eleodoro stood there with his hands extended in front of him, his palms facing the horizon.
His stiff locks barely twitched.
Only his keys on his right hip jangled with the hefty gusts.
"Wh-where's Reiki! And Nashi! And Cal and Jace!" Cris cried.
"I don't know! But it's just us three!" Eli shouted.
"Three?!"
"Look ahead!"
Cris squinted past the gorgeous display of moving lights.
Standing there was the blond woman in a gray blazer.
Her narrowed blue slits drilled past the barrier into Cris' soul.
"Yeesh! Maybe we should've let her know ahead of time we were coming!" Cris exclaimed.
"That's probably Catie!"
"Wh-wh-what?! We're facing her?!!"
"Yes! Do you have any coordinated moves!" Eleodoro shouted above the wind.
"Huh?!" Cris cried, looking at the taller blond.
"Moves that you do with either Reiki or Nashi! Or both of them! It could be in the past, too!"
"Uhhh, no! We don't do that sorta thing!"
"How come?!"
"I dunno! I just listen to Reiki and Nashi blazes her own path! That is, until Reiki stops her from burning the whole town down! Literally!"
The shield of lights started to flicker.
Catie sauntered forward. She twirled her curls around her right hand.
"Alright! Then let's do this! You attack, and I'll try to coordinate with you!" the Sun Mage ordered.
"Will that work?!!" the Ice-Water Mage shrieked.
"I'm optimistic it will, yes!"
"But, I'm not as smart or as strong as them!"
"Who is 'them'?!"
"All of them! Reiki! Nashi! Rosemary! Raiden! You! Cal! Jace! Even Skyler's abilities surpass mine! Not to mention my parents practically defeated real demons at my age!"
The shield flickered again. This time, it faded slightly.
Eleodoro's green eyes directly met Cris' blue ones.
"Crispin! Stop comparing yourself! You're much stronger than you think!!"
Cris furrowed his brows.
"You don't say that sorta thing to Nashi!!" he screamed.
"I don't need to fan Nashi's secure yet ego flames! Besides, she's not here right now! We, meaning you and I, need to focus on working together to get past Catie so we can get home!"
"You don't say that sorta thing to Reiki!"
"Again, I don't need to! He's built up enough external self-confidence over the past two and a half years!"
Crispin clenched his jaw.
He slammed his fist against his palm.
A light blue seal appeared beneath him.
Streams of cold air emitted from his hands.
"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THEY'RE SO SECURE?!?!"
The shield flickered away.
Simultaneously, Cris separated his hands.
He twisted his body forward.
And threw his arms towards Catie.
"ICE-MAKE: WAVE!"
SHING! CLANG! Hisssssss
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Around the same time Eleodoro put up Aurora
Steam violently hissed from Nashi's head as it dissipated into the hurricane.
Her sandals and claw-like nails dug themselves into the dirt.
The wind nearly tore off her scarf.
Her spiky hair was thrown to one side.
Both her vest and her knee-length pants violently flapped.
"He smells like Guthrie," she snarled.
"I can smell it. This scent matches the one I remembered," Jace growled beside her.
His legs were splayed as his dark boots dug themselves in place.
One hand held his unbuttoned coat in place. The other rested against Blakey.
Her thick body was loosely coiled twice around him with the upper third of her body raised up.
Facing them was a hooded figure.
The person's arms were spread apart. This opened the cloak, revealing a black set of clothes. A sword made of concentrated wind was in either hand.
Nashi gritted her canines.
"Today's the day–"
She charged forth, lighting her fist on fire.
"–that Guthrie comes home!!"
The Fire Dragon Slayer's arm blazed against the howling wind.
"Nashi! You idiot! His wind will extinguish your flames!" Jace screamed.
"HURAAHHH! FIRE DRAGON'S ROCKET BOOST!"
"I can hear it! He thinks Fairy Tail abandoned him! He won't be coming back so easily!"
"I'LL BURN THOSE FALSE MEMORIES! I'LL BURN 'EM UP!"
Her sandals tore up the ground as she sprinted.
The fire behind her charred the torn debris to ashes.
Jace glared.
"Now I understand a little bit why Metallico hates you."
Blakey hissed.
'Burns much. Burns much.'
His lips twisted into a smirk.
"No s***, Blakey. She sears through everything without thought or hesitation."
Nashi squatted and leapt into the air!
She angled her wrists to send her against the wind toward her opponent.
The hooded figure remained still.
The Fire Dragon Slayer pulled back her left arm and threw it forth!
"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"
Immediately, the two wind swords crossed.
Nashi's left fist made contact at the center.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Her flames seared the swords to crips.
She landed briefly to plant her left foot forward and her right foot back.
Twisted her waist.
Drove her right shoulder forward.
Pushed off her right foot.
Straightened her arm.
And sent her fiery fist directly into the hooded figure's face!
FWOOOOSH!! BOOM! Tsssssssss
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Around the time Eleodoro put up Aurora
'So, you're going to ask first, right?' Reiki wondered.
'What?! No, I was waiting for you to start,' Cal objected.
'I never start these conversations. Nashi and Cris typically do the introductions.'
'Yeah, well, I rely on Eleodoro to strike up a greeting.'
The hooded figure parted their coat and extended their arms in front of them.
A mini tornado erupted and rushed forward. Its diameter and speed exponentially increased as it approached its target.
Calypso lunged with her left foot forward, arms in front and behind, and palms pointed outwards. A silver seal with a moon on it appeared beneath her. A whirlwind of shadows started at her feet and quickly grew until it clashed with the tornado.
'Shadow Wind,' she thought.
Simultaneously, Reiki held out his arms on either side. A golden hemisphere surrounded the duo behind the shadow whirlwind.
"Heaven's Shield!!"
BLAM! POW! WOOSH!
A new whirlwind of dust and debris exploded from the epicenter.
The redhead immediately shielded his eyes with his arms.
The black-haired mage turned her head away.
'I thought Moon Magic required more energy to use during the day. Especially compared to Territory,' he noted.
'It does,' she replied.
'Then why use Shadow Wind?'
'It's the 3rd weakest spell in my arsenal. Plus, at high noon, Moon Magic is at its weakest. I merely wanted to test this wizard's strength. It held up pretty easily. How did Heaven's Shield do?'
'I expected a much bigger impact.'
As the dust cleared up, the hooded figure lowered their arms and took a few steps forward. The internal wind began to die down significantly while the walls continued to whir.
"Calypso and Reiki, correct?" a feminine voice asked.
The duo promptly straightened their spines and glared at the figure.
"Rest assured, I, Hood 6, wish to negotiate. You came here seeking information. And I'm willing to give it to you. Providing you prove yourselves worthy," the figure continued.
'How much do you trust that?' Reiki inquired.
'Not at all. We should just aim to leave,' Cal confirmed.
'Agreed.'
Reiki held his hand behind his back and transfigured nine swords made of lightning.
"Jiu Liexing!" he cried, throwing them forward.
Hood 6 held up their arms and generated another tornado.
Not long after its release, a rainbow flash surrounded it...and froze the wind in place!!
Just as the lightning stars were about to collide, they disappeared in the same manner! An instant later they reappeared at the other end.
Hood 6 immediately put up a small shield of wind around their body.
BAM! ZIP ZAP!
Reiki's jaw dropped and his eyes bulged out of his head.
'WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!'
'Territory manipulates the properties of a space. That includes teleportation, heating, and cooling just to name a few.'
'...'
In another rainbow flash, the frozen whirlwind exploded into wisps!
'You act like this is brand new information,' Cal stated, relaxing her left arm.
'It is for me!!'
'I will admit my mom has not exploited this Magic's full potential. There are limitless rules.'
'Also which Magic are you going to actually use?!'
'Territory. As I said, Shadow Wind was merely a test.'
Hood 6 held up her arms. Another gust of wind started to form around her.
Calypso clamped down on her lip.
'Okay, so–' he thought.
'Reiki.'
'Yes, Cal?'
'W...We need to...,'
'Need to what?'
'...,'
'Cal?'
'Work...t-t-together...'
Reiki gulped.
The internal wind rapidly sped up.
'I estimate this will take seven minutes at most,' she quickly added.
He crouched down and planted one hand on the ground.
Once again, his coat and hair were swept to the side.
His eyes shut against the swirl of memories.
'Seven minutes,' he repeated to himself. 'That's only seven minutes of my twenty-four hour day. It's not like we haven't been working together already! No...this is different. This is legitimately us coordinating our Magic...That's never happened before!! What if we...'
His lungs heaved air in and out.
Domus Flau flashed in front of his eyes.
The cheers and screams roared in his ears.
Reiki hands tore at his scalp.
"Gahh!! Stop!"'
He looked up and saw a black hole with millions of stars against the clear sky.
It practically sucked the air from his lungs.
"No! No! No!"
A glow appeared in his peripherals.
His gaze whipped down to horizon-level.
A pale yet bright light appeared in the distance. It flickered between a dark abyss and a bright ceiling.
"Mavis, please stop this!!!"
Amongst the abyss he watched the sphere of stars hurtle off.
Tears started to pour down his cheeks.
A reddish-orange glow appeared.
"NO! PLEASE STOP!!"
'Reiki!' a woman's voice called in the distance.
Reiki felt his muscles freeze.
'Reiki!!' the voice called again.
The wind grew rougher. His coat was ready to tear off.
WOOOOOSH!
"REIKI FERNANDES!" a voice called.
SLAP!
Everything in the teenager's mind flashed away as a sharp pain flooded his right cheek.
Standing at the edge of his clear vision was Hood 6.
In front of her were remnants of wind and shadows dancing in tandem.
He looked around.
'A column of wind? Right, today is April 28th, X820.'
"Reiki!"
His head jerked to the right.
Cal stood there, staring down at him.
'Crap. Sorry about that,' he thought to her.
'Please, Reiki.'
'...Okay. I'm counting down seven minutes.'
Cal's shoulders lowered.
As she turned to face Hood 6, She opened her left hand inside her cloak.
'Enchant,' she thought to herself, 'Anti-Blood. Anti-Wind.'
Heck. So sorry to leave y'all unupdated for a while. I was really struggling with how to make this chapter work with what I have with for za futureeee. Anyways hoped y'all enjoyed it!
Don't die! Be safe! Be happy!