It was a beautiful afternoon, a sunny day that so far had been quite uneventful: Just the way she liked it. Seated at a small plaza near the bulletin board that contained an assortment of request from the locals, the elven maiden had been preoccupied trying to decipher the parchment in her hands. "According to the map we would be in Eastern Fiore currently..." The soft whisper of the elf was barely audible, but to her companion the words were loud and clear. "Yes Lady Lily, according to my sources it seems we will need to take one of the travel carriages to reach this place called Hargeon."

A small feline humanoid was seated on the bench beside her, clad in a regal western-styled knight's armor. The exceed peeked over her arm at the parchment and hummed softly. "But I'm afraid we don't have enough jewels on hand to pay for the trip."

Noticing the gathering of tears in the corner of her eyes the Exceed quickly corrected himself: "Don't panic my fair lady! I'm certain that it will be a trivial matter to gain some funds. You see, this city is the domain of Fairy Tail, a guild of mages who frequently help people in need."

The elf turned her gaze toward her companion and asked softly. "You're going to ask them for help?" To which the Exceed laughed merely. "Nonsense, we're going to do that which every individual does when they desire something: Work for it~"

He gestured energetically toward the nearby bulletin board and explained further. "That board contains a collection of job offers for people to take. Why don't we take a look to see what type of work we can find?"

The elf nodded her head sheepishly as she rose from her seat, approaching the board as her gaze wandered along all the quests. "Oh... It seems some of the local stores are being threatened by bad people... That's pretty terrifying."

Lily muttered softly, to which the Exceed exclaimed in anger. "That is downright villainous my lady! We have to help them! On my honor and stalwart valor, I promise thee: Not a single shop will be robbed while I'm watching over it!"

Lily smiled weakly at the Exceed's excited outburst, asking it with a light tilt of her head. "Don't we need to get hired by these people first?" It made sense to ask if they wanted their help first! After all, she would be meddling in their affairs otherwise. And she was not an meddlesome elf...

Mia wasn’t so sure what to think of this quest on the job board this week. The job was listed as C and… well, she knew she hadn’t quite earned that reputation yet. A hefty sigh flowing out of her nose as she thought on it for a moment, glancing about the guild and wondering if anyone would call her out on grabbing it initially, but moreso than that, seeing if there was anyone she felt she had enough of a rapport with to ask to help her out without feeling weak because of it. Ultimately, she didn’t find much purchase. She tried to not be too prideful a creature, but it was indeed a strong part of how she functioned.

Snatching one of the papers from the board, she slipped out along from the guild, heading off to the stores to protect them from all the hassle they’d supposedly been getting. Dressed in her more flashy tailcoat and resting her tinted shades atop her head. The weather may have been getting colder, but she needed to make an impression to be able to get a job like this.

And… it was proving hard work once she showed up.

“No, I’m telling you, I wouldn’t have been able to walk out of my guild with this thing if I wasn’t strong enough to handle it-!” She hissed faintly, trying not to raise her voice too much with the shopkeep. It was a lie of course, but she was sure she could handle it too.

“And I’m telling you, if you’re some D ranked mage than you’re the bottom of the barrel when it comes to C rank potential no matter what your guild is letting you believe, and I’m not risking this pay on a lass that meek.”

Mia clenched her fist, her eyes flaring, and the instinct to display her potential in the forefront of her mind, but she managed to resist, pulling herself back with a shaky, steamy breath that seemed more a reflection of her magic than anything about the chillier weather. “Look sir, if I go back to my guild for backup, it’ll be too late for your store so you can accept me or-“

“I can pay for bad help or no help at all? Pah. I’d rather close up for the night, cause I’m not paying you just to risk getting cleaned out-!”

“OKAY LOOK HERE YOU OLD FA-!”

Someone really needed to step in here. Fast.

WC 413

It was perhaps an fortunate twist of fate that the shop details listed at the bottom of the request had been these of a store not that far from the plaza the elf had been at. At the same time, she had arrived at the store, the elf overheard a woman talking to the shop owner.

At first her intention had been to wait for them to finish, not really intention to overhear their conversation. However, it wasn't that hard to do it by accident. Hearing the man describe the feisty woman as meek led to a familiar voice to resound in her mind: Meek? Heh, a lass with guts like these looks like she'd be ready to wrestle a centaur into submission.

Meanwhile the conversation seemed to be escalating quite quickly, but it was at that moment a voice chimed from the nearby entrance to the shop. "Nonsense, if you close your store now, we would have come here for no reason at all." Nyancelot declared firmly as he stepped forward, chewing on a piece of dango and after a strong gulp continued. "I didn't get my sword and armor all polished just to look fancy in front of a dango store. No, I came to get work, and work I shall get ser! By regulations of the Magic Council my lady here possesses the right to take on requests of the C-rank caliber or below. As such should the proud lady over there be willing to join our entourage for the night, I'd say your store be pawsitively secured against these vile strongarms of the underworld."

Meanwhile the elf looked around in confusion, as if she had been searching for this powerful mage Nyancelot had been talking about. It took her at least a few moments before she realized who he was talking about, a finger raised up as she pointed at her own face "M-me? I-I mean, I don't mind lending a hand b-but are you certain Nyancelot?"

The Exceed nodded his head firmly in response. "We'll be fine. Worst case if Hermes doesn't pop up, I'll just take the vanguard role myself. Besides, I think our compatriot is quite able to handle herself in a scuffle as well." It seemed like help had arrived, even if one was a talking cat and the other was a meek-looking elf.

Mia quirked her brow and pulled back as the little cat thing made itself known, her gaze showing clear confusion as she looked over the little creature, thinking she should open her mouth but only finding that it’s words seemed to act in her benefit, surprised by that infact, crossing her arms as she started to calm down. She wasn’t so sure about being called prideful but… well, he was clearly correct, so she shrugged it off and kept her lips shut on that one, allowing everything to flow from the odd little creature’s mouth, not having any personal experience with Exceed as of yet.

Though… the mage at it’s back, C rank or not, did not inspire the most confidence. She didn’t have any personal biases on elves at all, but the way she stumbled and stuttered didn’t instill as much confidence as the feline’s bolder entrance. She leaned her weight back onto a nearby pillar or lamppost, whatever there was to support her back, and let the two converse for a sec. “Hermes?” She asked briefly, not really expecting them to answer to her, but turning her gaze back towards the store keep who seemed to be grinding his teeth about this.

“Right right. If yer a C rank I can’t turn you down from the job, but if the blonde messes this up for you I’m not making any exceptions. You decide to take her on, you take responsibility.”

Mia rolled her eyes, slipping her hands into her pockets, thumbs on the outside. “Don’t you fret missy. I can handle myself, and I’m pretty sure I can handle you if things get a bit too much.~” She cheekily responded, stepping back over, and boldly taking the woman’s hand, bowing over it like one would expect of a noble man or the like, rather than the blonde ruffian she was more akin to. “Mia Kearney. Rare I see a beautiful Princess such as yerself with such a small knight though I gotta say.~” She didn’t mean to insult the feline, he’d done her a huge favor, but it was a nice excuse to call the cute beauty a princess.~

The lady certainly had her way with words. The entire way she carried herself, the prince-like introduction and the way she called her a princess was enough to make the elf blush so strongly that the color reached to her ears. Meanwhile the Exceed laughed heartily at Mia's mannerisms. "Nyahahaha! A pleasure to meet nya Mia, the name is Nyancelot and the princess you're working on charming currently is Lady Lily."

The elf finally had regained her composure after hearing her partner speak, making her nod her head lightly in response. "Indeed, it is nice to meet you miss Mia. A-and don't worry, I might not look like it, but I can handle myself in a fight."

She whispered the last part more bashfully, a closer look at her belt revealing a sheathed dagger and on her back a beautiful bow was resting. "But I can't do much in terms of magic." She sighed gently after the shop owner had gone out of sight, likely to finish up his departure so he could leave the store to the duo to deal with. "Hermes feels I'm not ready for more of his power." The Exceed nodded his head firmly in response. "Rightly so! Even if you might be different from the other Athlas Elves, your body is still mortal my dear lady. If I were to make an educated guess, he likely wants you to grow more as an individual before exposing you to his powers. To wield the powers of a God is a terrifying burden."

Lily smiled weakly at these words, turning her focus back toward Mia. "I... am what human society would call a Take-Over mage? I possess the soul of a god within me." Fortunately, so far there had been no incidents yet, but with dusk settling in over Magnolia it would be only a matter of time before they would be tested against the denizen of the night! With the rumored increase in burglars at night who knew what sort of trouble they could expect!

“Nyaaancelot.~ Right.~” She responded, a hint of cheeky sarcasm in the pleasantness of her tone, but the kind that was more ‘good natured ribbing’ than backhanded insult, rising away from the held hand of the woman before her as the cat got her attention again, crossing her strong, honed arms over her chest as she looked down to the feline, dipping her head a little in greeting. “Pleasure. Gotta ask though you name yourself that or do your parents got a sense of humour about ‘em?~”

She looked back to the woman who wanted to ensure she could handle herself, Mia taking it at it’s face, but then she begun to whisper, revealing that little dagger and her bow, her brow rising with some surprise. She’d clocked the bow before of course but she was still sometimes taken aback that some people preferred not to use magic. “I see… well, I gotcha covered there. I may be D rank but I know more than most how to handle myself.~” She slammed her fist into the other hand’s palm, a flicker of a magic circle between them before it burst into a light spark as her hands collided, grinning ear to ear with unrestrained confidence.

Still, she seemed a little down with the sigh and all that. Quirking her brow. “Can’t say I can even guess who this Hermes fella is, but ya got my vote of confidence for a job like this at least. I can’t imagine we’ll be biting off more than we can chew between the three of us.~” She did of course hear the explanation, and that this Hermes was apparently some god, but it didn’t make her worry. If anything, she was excited to see if any of that could be brought out in this job. It’d be cool to see some god or whatever in action!

Bringing up her left arm across her chest in a flex, she rolled up it’s sleeve and presented her guild mark. “I’m reppin’ Fairy Tail by the by. ‘Ow bout you?” They couldn’t distract eachother for too long, but she at least wanted to check that.

WC 357

The feline snickered back at the cheeky sarcasm of the woman, while he clarified further. "It's a purrfect name for one like me. But no, I received the name due to my accomplishments in Caelum years ago." The Exceed was clearly amused at the ongoing conversation yet watching Mia's little spectacle clearly made the elf look in awe and interest at her.

"A guild? Ah~ I'm not a part of any, there aren't really any guilds like here in Fiore back in Athalaran." The girl clarified further as her gaze drifted toward the window. Her ears twitched lightly and Nyancelot's hairs of its fur stood upright as he hissed lightly. "I'm sensing some neighterdogooders approach."

The Exceed muttered as Lily looked at Mia for guidance. Outside a small group, a trio of cloaked figures could be seen approaching the store. "I told you boss, I saw the owner leave earlier. The store is ours to pick clean tonight!" He spoke in an excited voice as another one marched closer toward the door! It seemed trouble had finally reached the duo at long last! Now the question was: what would they do to deal with these villains?

“Oh that right?” She asked, lowering her arm back down into a folded arm stance, not about to judge but definitely surprised to hear it. She had come from another region herself, but she’d only ever experienced and gained an understanding of the structure of Fiore at the end of the day. “I see. I’ll have to keep that in mind if I meet any other elves then.~”

She glanced up at the word of Nyancelot, smirking as it seemed they wouldn’t get the chance to talk for too long, lowering herself a little into a more ready stance as she heard the goons talking, glancing across to her companions for a moment, wanting to make sure they looked ready. She held a magic circle at the ready that formed ahead of her fist, ready to ignite it, but not acting quite yet, just making it clear she could use some decent magic herself as she glared towards the goons that were approaching. “Ya know I’d be a bit quieter if I were you boys.~ I mean ya look plenty shady without pointing out everything I need to know to wanna kick your ass… so, I’ll give you the one off, and assume you’re more stupid than you’re worth, so why don’t you run along before I make sure you can’t run anywhere?~”

WC 223

The thug closest to the door grinned at these fighting words that Mia had spoken. "Ah, seems I was wrong boss, they left us some girls to play with!"

The man at the center, a taller and more muscular one grumbled in annoyance. "You idiot, you told us the store was unmanned! Go and deal with them before they cause a commotion!"

Meanwhile the third thug that had started to walk into the store suddenly yelled in fright: "BOSS THERE IS A FREAKING FERAL CAT HERE!"

The man jumped into the air as Nyancelot swept its sword in the air toward him. "Get down here you ruffian! Come down and eat steel!"

It seemed that Nyancelot was at least taking care of one of them, but the remaining two would have to be dealt with. The one at the door punched a knuckle into his open hand, grinning as he replied smugly. "How about I'll kick your confidence down a notch huh? Then again, I like a girl with some spunk~ it's boring when they don't bi-"

Yet before he could finish his response Lily had disappeared from Mia's side, her body rapidly lunging forward as she reappeared at the doorway.

"Where do you thi-" but before he could finish his words a deep gash of blood emerged on the side of his shirt, from his stomach up toward his shoulder. "Gah- when did that-"

The man tried to turn to face her, giving Mia an excellent opportunity to take the thug by surprise while their leader looked down at Lily.

"Interesting, could barely see you dash and unsheath your dagger like that, perhaps you'll three be worth more entertainment than this store!"

Meanwhile Lily was just absently flourishing her dagger, twirling it in her hand. "... Hermes..."

She muttered softly, her dagger sweeping in the air toward the leader's head who nimbly avoided the slash by stepping to the side. It seemed things had escalated rapidly!

Mia sadly wasn’t the one to act first, but with the little cat handling one of the more easily intimidated goons, it seemed that Lily was more action than she was words as she darted into the scene so fast Mia couldn’t quite keep up herself. Rather than feel envious, or shown up however, it just empowered her, a bright grin flashing across her features, and with the first goon distracted, she was quick to move in and take advantage of the distraction! “This way punk!”

Calling out, he turned his head just in time to get a fire empowered fist right to the bridge of his nose, knocking him off balance to say the least and dazing him for sure. He quickly shifted to try and put his guard up but his instinct was to protect his already hurting face, which Mia called with ease. Her fists started to aim low, and rapidly to boot, pounding his wide open gut with repeated blows, and the moment his bodily instincts told him to go for the guard down below, Mia was a half move ahead of them, already swinging her arm back and launching it into another shot through his skull, empowered by flame once again, cauterizing the point where she shattered the bridge of his nose the moment she made the mark. He was left reeling on the floor, rolling left and right while she held a confident smile. “How you doing with the boss Princess?~”

It seemed that the boss was indeed a cut above his goons. Even while drawing upon the power of her God Soul, the man had been able to keep up with her speed which created an impressive display of martial combat! When Lily's dagger came thrusting at the man's throat, he was just fast enough to dodge the killing blow and yet when he tried to counter-attack by jabbing at her with his fist she had already lunged out of range again!

It was clear that they were in a stalemate. However, that wouldn't remain the case for long. A soft whisper escaped from her lips, a magic circle emerging underneath her feet when the girl suddenly lunged forward at an even faster pace than before! The thug clearly noticed this increase, for he panicked and raised both his arms to intercept the jab of her dagger, but it was at that moment, mid-lunge that something peculiar happened.

The trajectory of the girl's motion seemed to change, a magic circle erupting underneath her feet again as she lunged away diagonally to his flank and then a jab at the side of his torso was made! An attack that collided cleanly as the dagger sunk into his body, and with a pained grunt the man collapsed onto the ground shortly after she withdrew her knife.

The man was bleeding, quite badly at that. However, as the girl approached him, her dagger spinning lightly in her hand a familiar voice called her out of her trance, making the girl fumble for her dagger and turn toward Mia. "H-he is dealt with."

In the meanwhile a scream came from the center of the store, as Nyancelot had seemingly won his fight as well, for a single slash of his sword had hit the bum of the thug, exposing his underpants and making him fall onto the ground with a loud thud. "I surrender! I surrender!" The man cried out for mercy.

“Seems like it…~” She commented, a hint of disappointment in her voice, but mostly, she held a clear, genuine sense of being impressed. The woman before her even stumbled as she’d been spoken back to her despite the impressive display she just pulled, but actions clearly spoke louder than words, and Mia saw nothing in her actions worth of doubt, pulling up to her and taking her hand somewhat forcibly if need be, tugging the meeker girl into her front to connect shoulders. “Nice work. Definitely callin’ on you if they don’t let me take a C rank in the future.~” She teased, primarily joking, but also, not.~ Girl seemed to have her wits about her.~

The blonde whirled around at the sudden scream, worried perhaps that they’d made a blunder with the cat, but only bursting out laughing as the criminal cried in surrender, shaking her head with a cheeky grin, walking over to kneel down and give the little Exceed a firm clasp of the hand too before focusing on the goon. “Not the first time I’ve heard someone cry that and certainly won’t be the last…~ Why don’t you stick around till I make sure that shop keep pays up?~ Not gonna have him stiff me just cause we left a mess and ain’t got you punks to show for it.~”

WC 224

Fortunately, it seemed like the thugs weren't in a state to go anywhere at all. Lily meanwhile smiled sheepishly at Mia's energetic response and suggestion to call upon her should they need to take another higher ranked mission in the future. However, it seemed the fight was finally over, for the last criminal nodded his head zealously at Mia's words, hoping it would at least keep the cat from turning him into a kebab. Speaking of said cat: The exceed sheathed his sword and gazed up at the two ladies in front of him. "Justice has been served! Well done Lady Lily, Mia." The knightly exceed marched around to the front of the store as the door opened, the shop keeper walking in to look in bewilderment at the three criminals that were collapsed in his store.

"What in Illumin's name happened here?" Fortunately, it didn't take long for an explanation to be made, a confession from the criminal soon summoning the rune knights to the store to take away the criminals while the old man sighed loudly. "Perhaps I was wrong about you lot: Here is your pay, and some extra for ensuring nothing got stolen."

After handing the duo their pay he suddenly changed his mood again. "Now go on, go back to your adventuring business! I got all this blood to clean up from my floor before I can open my shop again!"

To which the Exceed had already done so, marching out of the store humming some cheeky song about punting bandits. "I guess I should make sure Nyancelot doesn't get into more trouble~ I hope to see you again soon Mia~"

[exit]