As soon as the report had finished, Ren had excused himself to take a bit of a breather off to the side. It wasn't so much that he was physically exhausted, more so mentally. One moment he had been dealing with the issue at the cathedral, the next he was all of a sudden thrust into the midst of a battle, with absolutely no clue as to who or why they were fighting. That reminded him, Leon... hopefully someone could do a better job at helping the poor dead child find peace. Ren decided he'd take a trip over to the cathedral to check up on things once he got the chance. Hopefully things would turn out well for them all. His musings were interrupted by Ander and his greetings. "Hello Ander," Ren smiled. "You've been fighting as well, I assume. How'd that go?" Ander didn't seem too badly off, as far as Ren could tell, so it seemed as if the fight hadn't been too bad. Or perhaps the other man had already had a chance to heal up and rest. With the report out of the way, Mizuki made her way to a secluded corner, somewhere close enough so that she would hear when it was time for the last fight, but far and hidden enough so that she wouldn't be able to be seen at first glance. She'd also drawn her sword and was polishing it: all of this, combined with the mixture of shadows and lighting, made for quite an intimidating appearance. Not something she intended, but if she'd known she wouldn't have minded. It would keep fools at bay. As she wiped down her sword with a cloth, removing the grime from the cold blade, she surveyed the guild hall before her, and in particular watched what everyone else was doing. That idiot kid was making a fool of himself as usual, Thomas was it? Some girl seemed to be entertaining him as well. Whether she was really impressed, or playing along with him, Mizuki couldn't tell. The S-class member, Caliborn, was speaking to a few people, mostly women interestingly, although the one guy that had spoken to him had been both angry and sad it seemed. About nothing of significance, mind, she was sure. She watched this man leave and make his way over to... that man. The target greeted the other man with a smile, and seemed to be friendly with him. How can he smile? He's a killer. He's a traitor. He's lying to this guild just by being here. How can he smile? She gripped her sword, grinding her teeth slightly. How can he be so calm when he's caused so much chaos?
That didn't go too badly. Alastor was down within moments of Ren and Mizuki entering the fight, and he hadn't managed to do any damage. Wonderful! The man wasn't quite out of it yet though... Alastor apparently had a few parting words. Words that were quite interesting. "If you needed our magic, you could have asked for it," Ren told him, not entirely sure if Alastor could even hear him at this point. "I for one would have given it to you." He shrugged, and turned away, leaving the unconscious wizard for the authorities to deal with. "Too late now, we'll have to deal with this a different way." He left Alastor behind, trying to focus on the task ahead... whatever that was. Arriving late to the battle meant that Ren had no clue what the hell was happening, but from what the enemy wizard had said, it seemed as if someone called Ezekiel was also attacking the guild. And Keira... who was she? ~Later, at the Guild Hall~ Mizuki had made her way back to the guild hall, keeping an eye on Ren, and had even looked around to see if now would be a good time to take him out. There had been too many of the other guild members around, however. She would have to bide her time, for now. It bothered her although that she hadn't dispatched of him earlier when she'd had the chance. Such an opportunity might not present itself again. Before long they'd arrived at the Guild Hall, and Evanora was requesting a report. Not that Mizuki was the one to give it, and besides, she couldn't give a complete one. "Myself and the other guy," she motioned over to Ren, "charged in at the last as backup. One of the original team should give the report. The ones who didn't go down, that is," she stated, looking over at Silvia and Alessia. "We don't want any holes in the report."
Ren was just about to turn and head to the gates of the Cathedral when a sudden burst of white light blinded him, and it seemed as if it wrapped itself around him, enveloping him for a few moments. Then, almost as suddenly as it came, it withdrew, and Ren found himself back at the guild. "Interesting..." he muttered. To his immediate right was a dark haired woman he hadn't seen before, and she was holding a rather large sword. "Any idea what's going on?" he asked her, although he was sure she was just as confused as himself. Mizuki kept her sword raised, staying alert and scanning their surroundings. "Of course I don't, but there's a battle going on here. The tension in the air, I can feel it. And also a large magical source coming from that way. Let's go." She dashed off towards the fight, staying in cover as much as she could along the way. She'd also noted that her current companion was none other than her target, but that could wait. "Why is it just us two?" Ren asked thoughtfully, managing to keep up with the agile warrior in front of him. "Where are the others do you think?" "Stop asking questions," Mizuki snapped. " Yet to arrive. Already fighting. Dead. I don't know, but lets finish this fight and figure it out later." A sudden thought almost stopped her in her tracks. Why did she need to fight? This could be a perfect opportunity to kill her target. A dead body in the midst of a battle wouldn't be so out of place. But would he go down so easily? She could take him off guard easily, but even then there was no guarantee of a one hit kill. Right now was not the time to get into a full blown fight with him. There was that, but she also didn't want to put things aside right now. She wanted to fight in the battle. Why so, she wasn't so sure about. "We're here," Ren announced as they arrived to the room where Alessia, Zwei and Silvia were facing off against Alastor. Worryingly, two more were down on the ground, and the enemy seemed to be not to bad off. "Hello ladies and gentlemen! We're here to help you whoop the ass, pardon my french, of that toady" he proclaimed, pointing at Alastor, "riiiight over there! En garde, foul toady!" Mizuki ignored the other man, and was already sprinting towards the enemy, sword ready at her side. Time to kill this second rate excuse for a dark guild member. Ren used Aero. Mizuki used Quick Blitz.
Putting one point into Erza for 2 magic. Also buying a Magic Armlet for 155 gold. (Not sure if I can equip this right away, so if not I'll remind you of this later :P ) I'll go post an IC post now :P
Mysterious Labyrinth Mizuki frowned slightly at the suggestion that Thomas and Gaius would be in the same team. That was probably one of the worst combinations possible right now. However, seeing as they were already trotting off anyway, it didn't seem like there was much to be done about it. "I'll keep them from dying," she told Mikasa as she headed out the door. "Ra will help, I'm sure." Babysitting. Great. She'd leave most of that to Ra anyway, since he was supposedly the leader of 'Team King', or whatever they called themselves. At least the two could fight. Or at the very least act as cannon fodder. How had two idiots like them even been accepted into the guild? Then again, the entry requirements hadn't been that stringent to begin with. Which is why two dark guild members were even able to get into the guild to start with, she noted to herself, absentmindedly tapping the hilt of her sword. ~~~~~A few moments later...~~~~~ Two hallways, one left, one right, and while both were in some way unique, they both had four doors. Interesting. "I suggest we go left," Mizuki told the other three. "We already took a left, so if we continue to do so we may be less likely to get lost." She paused, thinking over this again. "That said," she continued, "this house isn't quite normal. It may be that we won't be able to find our way back purposely. But this is all we can do for now. Thoughts?" she asked, although really it was Ra she was asking. He at least hadn't made a complete fool of himself. As for the other two, they would most likely not be of any help. Evtheven Cathedral Ren took a few steps back away from the Shadow, holding his staff defensively in front of himself to confront this new threat. He wasn't afraid, but he need to protect both Ander's possessed body and Leon inside it. That, and this thing, whatever it was, would probably - all of a sudden realization dawned on him and his blood ran cold. "...Leon?" He flinched slightly as Amanda attacked, and had to keep himself from stopping her himself. This was how it had to be though. Ren took a step forward as if he could simply dispel his fears by taking a closer look. "Leon, this... you can't do this. This is wrong," he pleaded with the Shadow. "I don't want this, and your real father certainly wouldn't either. You're letting us both down. Please." As desperate as he was to believe that Leon could hear and would comply with him, Ren knew that this wasn't going to work. This would have to be solved by force, for the time being. "Leon, I don't want to this, but you leave me no choice. I have to decide between the lives of my comrades and the children in this place, and the selfish desires of a single dead child." He just looked at the Shadow for a few moments, as if to give him another chance to give in. "Why must I make decisions like these?" he muttered sadly to himself, for a moment almost helpless to act. Then he straightened up, preparing his attack. No more hesitation. Ren used Aero.
Evtheven Cathedral Ren's face clearly showed the relief he was feeling after seeing that the girl was unharmed, a smile having spread across it - only to have his facial expression changed into complete and utter bewilderment as Ander grabbed onto his arm. "Guy, what... what are you doing?" Ren asked confusedly. "If you're coming on to me, I'm sorry, but I don't swing that way, okay? Let go!" Ren tried to pull away, shaking his arm to release the other mans grip. Then a sudden realisation flashed across his mind. He looked more closely at Ander, a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Leon, is it you?" he asked tensely, gripping Ander's arm firmly. Please let this just be some poor joke or an atrocious attempt at hitting on me... Mysterious Labyrinth "You're done now, right?" Mizuki asked the other team members over her shoulder as she walked up to Mikasa. "Someone should look out for more enemies as well," she added. "Mizuki," she said, now talking to Mikasa. "Can you stand now?" From what Mizuki could see, the other woman was fine now. The door hadn't done any serious damage, it had just hit Mikasa at an unfortunate angle. Lucky for the ghosts, or they would no doubt have all been taken out by a single blow of the S-class wizards weapon. "Hemlock, how frequent are attacks like these, or do they happen at all?" she asked the butler. The information could be important. If they were frequent, then they'd be sure to keep an eye out for more of such attacks. If it wasn't a regular occurrence though, that could indicate that the ghosts or whatever entity was controlling them knew they were here. She waited for the butler to provide an answer.
Mysterious Labyrinth Mizuki sheathed her sword as the ghosts dying screams faded away. Too easy. Looking around the room to see how the other team members were doing, she noted that while none of the other enemies had been taken down yet, some were well on their way to being defeated. That said, the some of the other team members had taken some nasty knocks themselves. They'd probably be able to tough it out though. Mikasa was still down, and the people from the other guilds didn't look like they were doing much other than gawk at their fighting skills. Wasters. Hopefully the other ghosts would be taken down soon. This was just a distraction from the main goal of their mission, and an irritatingly boring one at that. Evtheven Cathedral Ren looked down at the child, a mixture of concern and regret traced on his face. He hadn't wanted it to happen this way. Finding the body had been a long stretch, and even if they had there had been no guarantee that it would have helped Leon leave this world. An exorcism might the only way to finish this, much as it pained him. "Yeah, you do it," Ren mumbled quietly. "I don't have any experience with this anyway." He knelt down beside the child, giving both Leon and the girl a quick hug. They'd both suffer from this, undoubtedly, but it was for the best. Wasn't it? Before he could let his doubts interfere, he gently pushed the child towards Alessia. "Do what you have to do," he grunted, staying with his knee to the ground, not taking his eyes off the child.
Mysterious Labyrinth Well, this wasn't going as planned. Ghosts were pouring into the room, Mikasa was dazed in the corner, and it just had to be Leon who had helped her. Perhaps he wasn't as bad as he made himself out to be, Mizuki grudgingly admitted. She wouldn't tell Leon that though. First things first, it was time to dispose of these ghosts. They didn't look all that tough, really. She reckoned even Thomas wouldn't have much trouble with them. Mizuki paced calmly towards the closest enemy, drawing her sword deliberately, making no unnecessary movements and gauging the distance between the ghost and herself. She waited until she was just two steps away, before suddenly whipping her sword up, taking a lower and wider stance, before driving the sword upwards towards the ghost. She was trying to end this in one strike, any more would be a waste on such a weak enemy. Mizuki used Quick Blitz.
Mysterious Labyrinth Mizuki didn't think the butler would be able to tell exactly why Tsuda had wanted the house abandoned, he would have said so right away, but perhaps Tsuda had recorded his reasons elsewhere. Maybe in a journal or some other document. Something like that would be most likely found in the study or library. However, this was all assuming that there was something written, which they had no reason to believe. Something they did have to go on though was the house, and the friends of the teenager who had disappeared. That was the clearest starting point that Mizuki could see, so she decided to go from that point. "Hemlock, do you have a floor plan of the house?" she asked the butler. "we'll need to search it. And the friends of the teenager who disappeared, it would be convenient if we could talk to them. Same for anyone in the Blue Pegasus guild who knows anything about the disappearance of their guild member, although I doubt we could get in contact with them any time soon." She glanced over at Mikasa, questioning with a look if she approved of this train of questioning. While Mizuki was confident that this was the correct way to proceed, she also kept in mind that this was Mikasa's mission, and that she should be able to direct their actions as much as possible. Not quite Mizuki's style, but she had to fit into this guild.
Mysterious Labyrinth While all this talk of the buildings renovations would surely be fascinating to a historian, Mizuki wasn't so easily impressed. The butler was saying a lot, but nothing that helped them right now. Mizuki thought back to what Hemlock had said earlier. A teenager and some guild member disappearing. Fox fires spotted in the area. All things she wanted to ask the butler about in more detail, but right now there was something in particular she wanted to ask. "Why was this house left uninhabited?" she asked immediately after Hemlock had finished talking, barely giving him time to take a breath. "Did anything in particular happen to drive the people living here away?" Evtheven Cathedral So from the sounds of things, Leon had been swept away by the waters in the aqueduct. The more he thought about it, the more his spirits sank. Damn, this was depressing. Ander giving the Pastor a hard time wasn't helping things, but Ren could understand that the other man was probably deeply affected by this whole experience. Leon though, he was obviously trying to get people's attention. He wasn't doing this to harm the children, obviously, or anyone for that matter. It was purely an attempt by Leon to get a reaction from people. And it was certainly working. "I think we need to go search along the aqueduct," Ren said quietly. "Leon is still playing hide and seek. That's why he's banging with the stick. He wants us to find him," he sighed sadly. "Pastor, can you lead us to the aqueduct?" Ren asked the clergyman. "I know the police couldn't find anything, but maybe with Leon around we can get him to help us find him."
Evtheven Cathedral Ren watched the child on his lap thoughtfully. Leon was in control now, but was the child that was being possessed aware of all that was going on? In a way, it would probably be better for her if she wasn't. At least if she wasn't conscious she wouldn't be traumatised by the experience of her body being controlled without her will. Small comfort, but still. Ren was only half listening to the conversation going on around the table, but he heard Ander say he wanted to be the one to question the Pastor. "Yeah, sure," he shrugged. "I don't mind you asking him the questions. Much of a muchness, really. We're all here if we need to say something." Mysterious Labyrinth Mizuki sighed and pressed her fingers against her forehead in exasperation. She was by no means used to working in a team, but these two, Thomas and Gaius, made things ten times as difficult. She gave the other three members of Team King a quick, questioning look, as if to ask "Why are you in a team with these guys?", and then stepped forward. "Thomas, go talk to Leon. He's more on your level of intelligence. Gaius," she paused for a moment. "Correct question. Wrong approach. Less yelling next time. Hemlock," she snapped, suddenly facing the butler, "if you want this problem solved, answer the question. Tell us where the spirit is, or how we can find it. We'll deal with the rest." Mizuki was getting tired of this. Despite her snappy, bossy commands, she was not enjoying this. She didn't like dealing with people, whether they were clients or subordinates. Her preferred job was one where she didn't interact with anyone, except with a blade, for its duration. This mission, however, had only involved talking, and too much of it. It was giving Mizuki a headache.
Mysterious Labyrinth Leon. A waste of good oxygen, as far as Mizuki was concerned. Furthermore, he was giving Mikasa a hard time, and while it was awkward for Mizuki to have to defend her superior, especially one as capable as Mikasa, the circumstances demanded that she give a response. So since she did have to say something, might as well tell him what she was really thinking. "You're not a real wizard," she told Leon coldly. "Talking asses don't count." She turned away from him, having had enough of him. She needed to focus her attention on the mission and the team. "I suggest we ignore the fool in the corner. Hemlock, is there anything else you can tell us?" she asked the butler, probing him for more information.
Evtheven Cathedral The spirit behind this all was a dead child. Damn. "Leon, was it? That's a nice name," Ren told the child in front of him, hoping that Leon could hear him. This had to be stopped though. Leon couldn't be allowed to continue possessing other children like this. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Leon, I want you to stop this," he told the spirit firmly. Chances are Leon couldn't hear him, but he had to try, for the child's sake. "You don't belong in this world anymore. Your daddy isn't on this side either. You need to go over, and you'll find your father there as well. Can you do that for me, Leon?" He looked into the child's eyes, searching for some flicker of recognition, something that would assure him that the message had gone through. Otherwise, this whole debacle might end in an ugly way.
Evtheven Cathedral Ren took a step back, taken by surprise by the child. "I suppose she isn't a wisp," he muttered quietly, looking down curiously at the child. The poor thing, she thought he was her father. He lifted his hand to pat her on the head, but hesitated, unsure of if he should. It can't hurt, can it? Just be gentle. He rested his hand lightly on the child's head, and went down onto one knee so that he could talk to her face to face. "I'm sorry, little one. I'm not your daddy," he smiled sadly. He paused, unsure of what else to say. Reassure her? Or try to show her he understood how she felt. Worth a shot. "I miss my daddy too," he told her gently. "I haven't seen him in a very long time. It's hard not having your father around, but maybe we can help each other to get through it, hmm? I'll help you, and you can help me. Does that sound good to you?"
Evtheven Cathedral Surprisingly, poking his head over the fence hadn't resulted in some deranged wisp trying to nom on it. Very surprising. And to top it all off, someone had actually found a child, of all things. Very strange, the child was obviously an anomaly in this wisp infested place. Ren hurried over to where the kid was. Seemingly she had been hanging out by the trash bins, just like junior delinquents did. Suspicious. Very suspicious. Ren's eyes narrowed as he examined the child, keeping just out of arms reach in case she really was a wisp and would suddenly transform into her true form and proceed to attack his face. "You sure this is the kid that was missing?" he asked the Pastor in a suspicious tone. "Can't be too careful you know. Just look at those dazed, confused eyes. A sign of evil if I ever saw one." Anxious to settle his fears regarding the girls allegiance or lack thereof to the Forces of Darkness, Ren reached at with his staff and gently poked the girls forehead. And again, just to be safe. And a third time. He considered a fourth, but decided to let the child/disguised wisp react to his initial proddings.
Mysterious Labyrinth Mizuki shook her head. "Excuse me, I don't think I made my question clear," she told both Mikasa and Jenson. "I am not asking why the job wasn't public, we are all well aware of why that wasn't done. I am asking why the job was not given to just one guild, instead of pitching four groups of wizards against each other. Yes, perhaps it will speed things up, but I don't think by much. Furthermore," she added, "gathering this many people from different places isn't great if you want to keep things low key. I think this just over complicates things. It should have been kept simpler. But," she muttered, "it's too late for that now." She looked at the other guild members. "Any ideas on how to approach this problem?" Evtheven Cathedral Well, three wisps, no kids. This day care/orphanage contained more monsters than children it seemed. Would the parents have been happy about that? Never mind, he would just have to continue searching. The next potential hiding place that caught Ren's eye was the fence. An obvious place for a child to hid. Kinda too obvious. There was almost certainly a wisp behind there as well. The RNG had made that much clear. Ren peeked over the fence, his staff ready to blast windy fury at the first sign of trouble. Hopefully he wouldn't be too trigger happy and accidentally attack a kid. That probably wouldn't look good on his job record. Ren looked over the fence.
Evtheven Cathedral "Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Ren sighed in exasperation. "You are the third dumb idiot I've had to deal with so far, and I really need to be doing something else. Like finding kids who may or may not be possessed by an evil spirit. So, if you don't mind," he continued, aiming his staff at the wisp, "get wrecked." Taking a wide stance and channeling his power to the top of his staff, he held it their for a second before releasing it as a concentrated ball of air and really, no one is going to read this so really I'm just typing words for the hell of it, to make my post seem longer and also because right now I'm in one of those moods where I say much more than I need to. Ren used Aero.
Alright. Only one tablet left. Surely this one was safe. It had to be. Of course it was. Come on, what were the odds it was another enemy? Oh, RNGesus, be with me... Ren checked tablet 3
Evtheven Cathedral Ren was beginning to think there weren't any children in the place, only the cold ethereal bodies of whoever had been buried here. There was probably a graveyard nearby as well. "Sorry, wrong house," he told the floaty thing. It didn't respond. "I don't suppose you could let me go on my way?" Still no response. "Thought not," he muttered, and shot out another wind spell from his staff. Ren used Aero.
Evtheven Cathedral Well, that wasn't too hard a fight it seemed. The wisp thing had gone down without Ren even receiving so much as a scratch. Which raised the question, had he really killed it, or was it just some sort of illusion? Well, whatever it was, there were still kids to find. "Hey, kids, there's monsters out here! We need to get you home right now!" He stopped, realising that if the children were listening, they would be scared witless by his announcement that they were probably in terrible danger. "But don't worry!" he reassured anyone who might be listening. "I'll keep you safe! Just come out, for goodness sake!" He checked behind another nearby tablet. Hopefully this time he wouldn't be attacked by some ethereal laughing monster. Ren checks tablet number two. Mysterious Labyrinth Mizuki raised an eyebrow at this Leon guy, unimpressed by his strutting. He wouldn't be worth the time, she decided. This Callegari girl, however, now she was interesting. Her power would be extremely useful under these circumstances. So much so that she could probably win the reward without much of a problem. Sparkle and Blaze didn't stand out in particular, other than the fact that they also came from a guild. The best, apparently, but that wasn't saying much in some of the guilds. In fact, why was this man playing them off against each other like this? There seemed to be more to this than he was letting on. She turned to speak to him. "First off, your name. We need to know what to call you. Second, you're playing each group of people off the others. Are you that desperate to get rid of this ghost? Why not put out a normal job request?"
