This Country is Bonkers! | Job | Enola Gay

Enola and Anguis ran around the Shohei manor like chickens with their heads cutoff. They were working like mad women to get everything they needed for the long journey ahead of them. After taking a job due in Seven, the two were preparing themselves for the lengthy trip. They expected to be there for a few days if not a week; they did not expect to be working entire time but hoped they would be able to get some more vacation time in while they were out of the country. They had gathered up a pile of suitcases packed with clothes, hygiene supplies, and just general cleaning supplies (in case Enola felt like cleaning of course). The two had even packed themselves a bag full of snacks to carry them all the way there. Just as well, they stuffed their pockets with Jewels in case they wanted to get some souvenirs, buy more food, or ran into some sort of emergency that required money.

Even after it seemed they had packed everything. The two cousins had to make extra sure they brought everything they wanted and ended up going to a store to get whatever they thought they needed before leaving.

---

WC: 201/200
PC: 1/25

Enola was worried about leaving the manor in the charge of the two butlers, but Zan had done pretty well on his own thus far so the maid tried to hide away her worries. She nearly broke down in tears when it was time to say goodbye, but Anguis made sure to end waterworks by reminding the drama queen that they would be back in a week at the most. Rather than giving a proper goodbye to her would-be friends, the lamia simply grunted before taking a handful of the bag and slithering away, expecting the maid to be wise enough to follow her to the train station in Hargeon Town.

The two arrived at around noon. They had expected to arrive earlier but all their excited packing and the fact that they had to go shopping for more junk had delayed them and made them much more late than they had hoped for. Enola was already losing her mind from the lateness, one of the badder rules that a maid or butler of any caliber could break. Anguis reassured her cousin that everything would be just fine since Seven's unlucky problem was not likely to go anywhere without them.

---

WC: 200/200
PC: 2/25

The train conductor was rather shocked at the amount of bags the two cousin had brought with them. He was mostly surprised that they were able to carry all the bags with just the two of them, though Anguis' serpent-like strength made it much easier than if a regular human was doing most or all of the work. At this point, the train conductor was not so surprised by the snake tail attached to Anguis give that the lamia along with her cousin frequented the trains and had made the train conductors more accustomed to the oddity that was Anguis Pisa.

Once everyone was situated where they needed to be, the train engines whirred and steam began blasting out of the train as they slowly took off and began building momentum until they were at full speed, or at least the recommended speed for a train. The maid was still somewhat frantic that they were so late that they had not managed to make it to the train that was scheduled before the one they had actually taken while Anguis did not seem to care in the slightest; in fact, she wanted to take a long nap to get he train ride over sooner.

---

WC: 204/200
PC: 3/25

For an hour, Enola stared out the window as her cousin sat in the seat next to her, completely out of it. Neither one of them had really been looking forward to the train ride itself since they were both sane people who could not find that many redeemable qualities in riding a train for a long time. Still, the maid managed to entertain herself buy staring out the window and finding interesting sights. They passed several beautiful scenes such as a farm, a forest, and even the edge of a cliff where the ocean could be seen. It appeared that every where they went, only the sweet sight of nature was to be found.

At some point, the train had gone into a tunnel, creating an odd whirring sound (no doubt generated by the wind created from the train escaping through the tunnel) that woke up the Lamia from her slumber. She was unhappy to awake and not find herself in Seven to say the least. She groaned and tried to lull herself back to sleep but it proved to be too great of a task for even Anguis to sleep anymore. Had she actually managed to go back to sleep, Enola might have thought she was dying.

---

WC: 209/200
PC: 4/25

As her cousin moaned and groaned about how long the train ride was, Enola got the idea to entertain them by going over the job details again. Enola reached into her housemaid uniform's pocket and plucked out a fanciful envelope with a less than spectacular seal on it. She carefully unclasped the envelope's opening and slipped out the piece of parchment inside.

The maid adjusted her glasses to squint down at the text of the letter and remarked, "Let's go over this one more time just to be on the safe side."

"Fine. It's better than staring as this frigging train's ceiling."

"A woman has made a few mistakes with her magic and caused a bunch of chaos. Objects are flying all over the place and a mad tiger is on the loose."

"A tiger. Pfft. I'm so scared!"

Enola sighed and placed the letter back into its envelope before placing it gently into her pocket once more.

"Just try to be safe. We don't need you becoming cat food, understand?"

"Yes, mom! I understand! I'll be a good girl, just like you've always wanted me to be."

Anguis stuck her tongue out at her cousin who was nearing an stress-induced stroke at that point.

---

WC: 205/200
PC: 5/25

The train continued, occasionally stopping in cities to drop off old passengers and pick up new ones. The desire to get off the train and either take a restroom break or go sopping for something new was strong in Anguis. Enola was firm in making sure that her cousin was not going to get off that train. She was prepared to hold the lamia's hand and make sure she did not leave. Thankfully, it did not come to that after Anguis reluctantly put away her resistance and sat not-so-contently in order to keep her dear cousin throwing a fit anymore than she had to.

Once they had crossed the border on the train and entered into the strange nation of Seven, they spotted a billboard welcoming anyone crossing the border. Those still on the train at that point though had to supply the appropriate officials with government-issued passports, which Enola had but not Anguis; fortunately, Enola was able to pass the lamia off as a pet, which Anguis put up a fuss about until she was quieted down by the fact that ere was no other way to enter the city and complete the job they had been task with.

---

WC: 200/200
PC: 6/25

Once the train had made it to the station of the city in Seven, Enola and Anguis gathered up all of their bags and tried to escape the small metal doors of the train along with the rest of the of crowd but it was rather difficult given their sizable inventory. Several people had ended up knocking both the women down, causing them to drop their luggage quite a bit. To say the least, they were more than frustrated by the time they got off the train. Not to mention that they were both already tired if not completely exhaust from the train ride, but they also had to deal with the swarm of men and women who tried to get on the train just as they were getting off their moving, metal Hell.

"Where do we go now?"

Anguis spoke with a tone of tiredness. She clearly just wanted to find a bed she could rest her aching body on rather than deal with the job at hand that night. The maid's attitude toward the matter was not that much different from her cousin; she was tired from the trip as well and wanted to sleep more than anything.

"Let's just find a place to sleep at."

---

WC: 208/200
PC: 7/25

The two wandered about the nighttime streets with a mass of luggage hanging around their bodies. They stood out as an odd pair, even in a land as strange as Seven. It would come as quite a surprise to many that the two cousins had not been mugged in the murky then and there. Once their feet had crossed into a brick road, the maid pointed with a free finger (a rarity in that moment) toward a lit tavern at the far end of the street. Beckoning them to rest their weary heads at the establishment for the night, Enola and Anguis carried their bags up to the wooden building and entered into a rather lively sight: imps and fairies, pixies and sprites, humans and elves galore! The spectacular sight was akin to a fairy tale.

The best perk pertaining to the moment was realized as no one made a fuss about a maid and a lamia entering the tavern (or "pub" as they called it) with a plethora of baggage. Everyone was already weird; they had no quarrels about other weird people! With a great heave of her body, Enola dropped her luggage near the doorway and made her way toward the man she perceived as being the owner of the establishment.

---

WC: 213/200
PC: 8/25

Enola clasped her gloved hands together and bowed her head respectively toward the older man who cared for the oak-wood bar.

"Excuse me, sir."

The aging gentleman ceased wiping the counter repetitively and raised his head to meet the gaze of the humble maid and grunted, "Hm?"

"My cousin and I would like to request room for the night at once."

The man peered his gaze to the far end of the bar where Anguis was conversing with two rowdy fellows sharing their drinks with the flirtatious vixen. The man could not perceive how two people of seemingly different species could be cousin, failing to realize Anguis' state as a lamia was not a biological one but rather one brought about by the manipulation of nature.

"Cousin? Eh, whatever. Sure, you got a room for the night."

The man reached under the bar and felt around the counter below with his wrinkled hands before pulling out a large, metal key with a large ring at the butt end.

"Here. Don't mess up the room or I'll kick you lasses back to where you came from."

He forcibly handed her the key, possessing impatience when it came to foreigners such as those two.

---

WC: 202/200
PC: 9/25

Enola curtsied in thanks, disregarding the old man's rudeness before walking to the end of the bar to fetch her scandalous cousin. It was not enough that the lamia had to flirt with the two men she befriended, but she felt it necessary to swindle the love-stricken men out of several drinks. Before the maid could reach the lamia and scold her, Anguis was already stinking drunk.

Amazing. She was too tired to walk any further but not too tired to drink herself drunk.

The maid approached her inebriated cousin and grabbed by the arm, yanking her away from the bar rather forcefully before grabbing their bags and telling Anguis, "Come along, Anguis. We must get to bed at once. A long day awaits us in the tomorrow."

The lamia groaned, still basking in the fun but quit her resistance as soon as she saw her bed. Without even thinking about it, Anguis hopped up on the bed, nearly causing it break with the weight of her tail, and drifted off before Enola could even remark about her cousin's behavior. Instead, Enola simply sighed, slipped into her night robe, and got into her own bed. Despite the noise of the patrons in the other room, sweet dreams were afoot for the woman.

---

WC: 212/200
PC: 10/25

That morning, as the sun was coming up, the old man who had lent the pair their room for the night knocked impatiently on the door, ordering them to get up as their time with the room was up. Enola awoke with a throbbing heart, her blood racing from the fact that she had slept in like her less-responsible cousin. The honest mishap made the maid wonder if she had been letting loose on her rigorous discipline, with the painful thought being accompanied by a grimace and a chill up the spine. She was, after all, used to getting up at five or six in the morning, not nine in the morning! Her whole world might as well have been crashing down around her. Enola rushed to the bed of her still-sleeping cousin and shook her awake, ordering her to get up and get dressed before they were thrown out onto the streets in their night attire.

The two rushed to get themselves prepared, throwing all their old clothes into their bags rather sloppily, a fact that hurt the maid scourged by extreme OCD. Within the period of ten minutes, the two had packed all their bags and were out of the tavern.

---

WC: 203/200
PC: 11/25

Finally obtaining a moment's peace, Enola and Anguis carefully walked along the dirt road, passing several awesome sight along the way. From what the two cousins could see, there were far less humans in the land of Seven than there were in their home country of Fiore. The dominant species, from what the could tell, appeared to be elves. The guards they passed were elves, the children playing gardens were elves, and a majority of the people they passed by were elves. The country was clearly a little behind in technology, but it more than made up for it with its abundance of magic.

"Ugh... where is this place!?" the lamia groaned, annoying by the constant walking (or slithering in her case).

"Rather close, it seems." The maid pointed up to one of the route signs which designated that their destination of Glowflower Lake was just a short walk to the west. Upon seeing the sign, Anguis was not sure if she should have been relieved that they were so close or feel shattered and defeated that she still had to travel any further than they had already come. Ultimately, she chose a combination of the two childish emotions available.

---

WC: 200/200
PC: 12/25

Once the two had passed an evergreen forest, they came upon their destination and marveled at the structures of Glowflower Lake. The houses all looked so masterfully crafted, flowers decorated the entire area, and everything was positioned around a large, crystal-clear lake. The entire settlement looked as if it had been left completely untouched by the regular denizens of society, un-corrupted by the sways of regular men and women. There was something unsettling about the whole scene though: there was no one walking about the dirty sidewalks or patronizing one of the man friendly-looking shops. The duo approached the town with caution, frightful that the aforementioned problem had gotten out of hand and done away with the settlement's inhabitants. As they entered on to the main walkway of the town, they felt they were being watched by many eyes, the source of which remain a complete mystery to them.

The two quietly drifted to the address mentioned in the job's parchment that they had brought with them. The maid slipped out the piece of paper and studied of the directions once more until they were lead upon one fo the buildings at the far end of the sleepy little town.

---

WC: 200/200
PC: 13/25

Hilda's house was reminiscent of a gaunt little cottage that could belong to no one else but a witch. It was covered in tacky lawn ornaments but had colorful flowers to give it a more vibrant yet creepy look. Enola and Anguis gave each other an odd look before approaching the wooden door and knocking on its frame. There was a brief moment of silence until the door came ajar with a loud creak before a figure rushed the two into the house immediately.

"You are Hilda, correct?"

"Aye, that I am! You two must be those Fiore mages I sent for, eh?"

"Indeed."

Hilda was a beautiful elf to say the least: she had long locks of blonde hair, her frame had just the right amount of plumpness, and her unmentionables were definitely the cooked-up fantasy of some teenage boy. In short, she was quite pretty,  a fact that irked the easily jealous Anguis to no end as her self-consciousness seemed to lurked out of the surface of her mind in the form of a soured expression. Hilda even dressed better than the lamia, sporting an old fashioned witch's uniform that she sported much better than most women could.

---

WC: 200/200
PC: 14/25

Hilda invited the two into her living room, a room that did not impress the duo as much as the outside of her house did.

"So, let's get down to business, yes?"

"We already know what to do.Beat up your flying furniture, watch out for a tiger, and make sure not to flaunt around your mistake too much."

"Oh... yeah, that pretty much it."

Enola sighed and felt her head throb as her cousin's unnecessary rudeness played against the maid's nerves like fire on a piece of paper. Hilda, as enthusiastic as Enola on most days, did not seem to mind though; in fact, she gave her scaly friend a pat on the back before heading back to the front door and beckoning the two Fiore mages to follow her.

She opened the door in a dramatic fashion and announced, "Well, since you two seem to know everything beforehand, you had both better get to work at once. Good luck!"

The energetic elf practically shoved her two guests out of her house before even five minutes had passed. Enola tried not to take offence ot the matter since they had a job to do, but Anguis was clearly upset by it.

---

WC: 202/200
PC: 15/25