Xinmanzu [Social | Mavis]

It wasn’t an odd view. The streets were stuffed with travelers from every corner of Fiore in these cold days in the end of the year. He barely stepped into the town itself, nor had he even crossed its gate, before he could feel that the giant hordes would make it quite troublesome to let his horse pass. While riding up a hill to get a better view, he commented: “Really… it’s like a cork.” His white horse neighed at the sight, feeling quite worried about their plans to enter the town with such an amount of tourists. Shen could feel its feet tremble a little bit, but stroke its neck a little to calm it down. “Hēi… let’s go,” he commanded it, and it had no choice but to ride down the hill and towards the gate. It did trust Shen, who was its master, but they both knew very well that a horse and its rider seemed ridiculous to let go inside that town at the moment…


“Hey! What do you think that you’re doing, getting here with a damn horse?! Don't you see the streets?!” one of the guards shouted at the upcoming Shen, whose mount made it across the walls and up to the very same guard. His red eye darted into the guard’s two eyes, while Shen let out: “I won’t do any harm. Let me enter.” After those words, he rode off into the town from about a hundred meters in the air; he forgot for a brief second that he just rode up a wall. Soaring in the air like that, he sweated a lot to try and think of how to get back down safely. He and Hēi fell like a rock, but when people spotted the descending figure, it suddenly vanished in the middle of their surprised screams…

“Okay… you have to stay here. I’ll come back later,” Shen informed his horse before leaving it in a nearby inn and walking across the roofs. Thankfully, his horse was quite skilled at avoiding dangers like the one from earlier with its mysterious powers that Shen had yet to fathom. And now that he left it to avoid attention or buzz, he began to take a look around to see if he could find his uncle’s shop…

Mavis Lockheart was currently in her apartment in Clover, readying herself for a trip to Hosenka for a small vacation to get-away from all the violence she has had going on daily, just missions after mission and not clean ones, the dirty get down and beat someones ass, kind of missions. Mavis didn't mind doing this though if it meant further honing her magic and beating up the bad guys for everyone else. As long as it paid money and it felt like it was for the greater good of everyone else, Mavis would gladly take the mission into consideration, memories of the huge beast still ran in her mind that mutated bear, how they had all worked together to beat the damned creature. She was glad she had the team she had because without them it would've been a nightmare.

Mavis had prepped her shower readying herself for a shower, it felt nice to refresh herself like so, it made her skin tinge as it hit her dry, cold skin. She began wiggling like a worm, or as if she was dancing and passing the flow onto someone else; or you could say like a cat when it arches it's body and shakes when it's stretching or it's right-spot is being pet. The woman reached for her dynamic combo of scents that she used on a daily base when taking a shower, her body-wash was called Vanilla Valley, and her conditioner and shampoo for her hair were known as Simply Strawberry. She brought her nose to the containers sniffing them as the scent went through her nose. Happily the woman would use the body-wash to give herself her usual daily scent of vanilla and her conditioner and shampoo for her hair that always had a scent of strawberries. The woman would finish washing and scrubbing her body to make sure she was clean before stepping out.

Making her way to her dresser picking out a lovely outfit that was a mixture of yellow and white. It wasn't her usually attire where she looked like she was apart of the British armada or in her revealing dresses or attire. It was something more delicate and innocent looking. She headed out the door looking for the train that would take her to Hosenka. After several hours the woman had arrived at the town. It was a lively little town, Mavis didn't mind spending a day here.

As Mavis departed; she would come upon a situation of a man being told to get off his steed. Mavis waved at him as she passed the conflict between the guards and the man. Walking further into the town to stop at an inn, with it's own restaurant and it's own ice-cream parlor. Mavis had ordered a strawberry-milkshake sitting down in a booth in the corner. As she sipped her frozen treat she looked around, hopefully her day would get interesting.

… This town was surely confusing. The roofs looked the same, and despite help from the checkpoints at the walls, Shen was having trouble navigating across Hosenka Town. It was as if he suddenly found himself in the same place as before, then moving a little further, only to know that he was completely lost from the very same place. If this continued at that pace, then he would probably never find his uncle. “…” This would’ve been a moment to curse the situation and make an entire elegy of why he didn’t just have a map on his hands, but oddly, he remained calm and controlled. He was looking for his uncle, a family member, after all.

That was it! As his disappointed face found the very same inn that he left Hēi in, he got a simple idea. He could always just ask one of the inhabitants; those who are more familiar with this town than he is. Shen was positive that many people were of good choice around here, but he only had to ask one. It would be nonsense to have more than one guide, so he chose the friendly-looking lady at the corner of the booth. He quickly made his arrival, standing before the light-haired girl and spoke: “Excuse me. I need a little help…” His face was lowered as a sign of politeness towards the customer, “… If you don’t mind, I could need someone to guide me to a shop called ‘Hosenka Jinshu’. I’m not familiar with this town and its roads…” He didn't said much else for now, while his red, glowing eye crossed the space between his and her visions.

Mavis sat researching through her archives, watching her friends battle, through previous missions that they had partnered up for together; meaning they went together to achieve one singular goal. She reviewed their battle tactics that way if they ever posed a threat or decided to betray she would read them like a book, and they would stand no chance or pose no threat to her and the ones she loves at that moment, if it was ever to happen. Mavis watched Eternia soar through the skies her battle style a bit aerial-reliant and beautiful, graceful but willing. Ezra's blunt charges and attacks, he was more confident with his power. Luna's quick martial arts, and Chloe's quick but subtle attacks which eventually lead into power-house moves when she got a feel for it. Jack, a new member but confident in his fighting style seemed to do his very best to handle any situation.

A man- er, a boy had approached Mavis. Seeking help, Mavis nodded. It was going to be an eventful afternoon she could already tell. The woman quickly smiled, as he filled her in. Mavis opened a map of Hosenka, the map was a 3-D scale model. Mavis had an arrow pointing to the inn where they were. Looking at the map her eyes had tiny projected screens in front of them as she scanned the map and information on the buildings.


"Follow me." Mavis stated, simply.

She lead the man to the building in short time. "SO why do you need to be brought here?" Mavis asked.

As she escorted him their, she would stand outside the building confused.

The girl nodded in response, which relived Shen. He’d chosen quite the helpful stranger to ask, and he didn’t need to ask others after this. Imagine him walking around the inn with that face, asking people; it would quickly tear down his dignity to be so dependent on others. However, today was an emergency, in which he had to throw his preferring for doing things on his own aside and seek another’s guide. Suddenly, the girl opened up a map across his view, 3-D modelled and far from a regular piece of paper. Was that a part of her magic? He couldn’t imagine other explanations than that, in which he kept silent about the view. He could spot an arrow at a specific place in the town map, and he concluded that it was either this inn or where the destination was. Her eyes were darted into the map with sudden projectiles that looked like long glasses from Shen’s perspective. Her next response was asking him to follow her, in which he kept silent and walked alongside the girl across the roads. His red eye kept watching her, lowered and half-opened and with a rather silent expression…

They appeared before the shop quite quickly, and Shen felt grateful for the girl’s help. He should remember to thank her later, in which he answered to her question: “This is where my uncle works… I just need something; also, would you mind following me? I need to thank you for your help after I’ve met the owner of that shop.” His face expressed yet the empty atmosphere, but his heart was actually quite happy to have received help from this lady. Because of his childhood, he knew very well that one had to thank those who did a favor to him.

His feet would approach the front door, but someone were running out. It was quite the surprise for him, while the sudden man charged at Shen’s direction with what seemed to be a shield with a note on. That would show that it was, in fact, stolen; someone just stole from Shen’s uncle… the next thing that happened was the stranger’s head crashed into the smooth, white ground. Small bolts could be seen on his palm that he used to chop the burglar down, and while the looked at the outcome, his uncle ran out. “… Oh, you..!” the old man roared up, before spotting that very familiar hair spike, “-Wait, is that you… Shen?” The boy nodded, and they did the usual, but mostly heart-softening reunion stuff; a large hug to the non-expressing boy after years of absence and a few questions about how he was. “I’m fine… so is mom and dad,” Shen explained with the steel face on, “… Let’s go inside. It’s getting colder.” His uncle would laugh a little and clap him on the shoulder, while Shen looked at the girl with a nod to follow him into the store. He wouldn’t really let her go before he thanked her properly, and he was positive that she was aware of that. Plus, it was getting really cold, and she too needed some warmth from the store's inside...

Mavis looked around at the ground as they arrived, he had simply thanked her she nodded her head, she didn't know why he was thanking her she had nearly just helped him through the confusing similar architecture town and no more than that. She should really be on her way and go back to helping her guild out by doing a mission here and there to spread the guild name, however it seemed this man wouldn't let her run off so easily, he invited her inside. Everything now was just quick to happen, some man ran out got hit then his uncle came out and he told his uncle his parents were okay. She was confused but she kept it a low-profile not wanting to seem like a low IQ being, so she just smiled in the background and kept her eyes locked on the other two. Mavis' smile turned from a pretty smile to one of an awkward one when he invited her inside with them both.

She wasn't one to be rude but just in case this man was a threat and Shen and this was some secret rape operation towards girls who had kindness to help strangers, Mavis prepped her senses to fight when she needed too. Sick, these men wanted to use her for being kind- well they might she couldn't just drop to conclusions so suddenly. Mavis simply bowed her head as she walked in, but quickly getting in the corner of the building, that way they couldn't sneak up on her, even if they wanted her to be warm, or the boy she guided the inn was a small half-mile walk the other way.

She stood confused, did he not think she was capable of getting back to the inn? Or was it that stupid pride men had where they had to help out a lady.

"Well um. Nice place you got here." Mavis softly spoke.

The old shop looked just as lively as always; the faint lighting gave an evening-like atmosphere, and the reflection on the metallic objects on the walls, nets and other places shone out as a light show, attracting many people to the peculiar shop in the middle of the biting cold. A typical blacksmith that every town needed, or so Shen’s uncle referred himself as. Several hundred, perhaps thousand miles from his home country, the old man had settled here in the Spa Town to spread his wisdom and live his life, but things could get out of hand, especially in these months where the roads had never been more filled. For a guy who lived of selling, this was a golden opportunity for him to attract tourists to his shop and let them have a look; not all tourists were pacifists, after all. There were always the groups of collectors or pure-blooded warriors, men and women, who sought for the exotic products of a true member of the Dao family. He surely lived up to his name in Shen’s mind.

Now, while his uncle reached into his layer, what about the girl in the corner? Judging by her facial expression, and by her choice of position, things seemed to confuse her a little… perhaps she felt a little intimidated by the strangers. For Shen, there was nothing to worry about; in fact, he frowned at her worrying, as if she didn’t trust him. Yet, trust wasn’t really familiar with him, or so he felt. It was completely normal to feel worry in situations like these. Even so, if she was a mage, then what was there to worry about? It wasn’t as if he was any more experienced than her, or so it appeared for him.

His uncle came up from the hole in the ground, wielding a large chain mail sack of stuff. He pulled a few weapons out; a collapsible silver sword and a few other notes. “Your father would've been eager to give this to you with his own hands… but I guess…” the uncle spoke softly with a sinking tone as he spoke. Shen’s eyes lowered a little by the last words, before he received the items. He bowed his head in gratitude and respect, before turning back. “Make sure to return once in a while, ya boy; and don’t mind bringing that cute girl with you again..!” the uncle spoke up as Shen moved. Without any response, he made it to Mavis and said: “I guess that you can find your way back to the inn yourself… but at least, let me offer a drink.” His eyes would scroll to the side and look out of the door, “If you decline, then it's fine, but I would shame my family if I don’t repay you properly… besides, manners.” He would then move out and hope for the lady to accept his offer, while having this heavy gravity inside his stomach for some weird reason…

Mavis stood watching the uncle disappear and the nephew, being the boy she had guided him here, he was giving her looks as if he was offended, did he know she was intimidated by the strangers, this wasn't like her but she wasn't familiar with Hosenka or it's residents so of course naturally she would be defensive; but only in this scenario or in battle. Mavis looked at the ground disappointed, for everyone's mental well-being she would change her emotions, her attitude towards them to her more open-self like how she is around Clover or on Missions or better yet with her guild-mates. She smiled up at his uncle when he came back from where ever he had gone and gave the boy some kind of weapon, it was interesting, what was it even for? A weapon maybe? Mavis didn't know but either way it was quite the weapon if that was truly it's purpose, Mavis hadn't yet made anything weapon-like for combat but it'd be smart, maybe a gun... or something of the sorts, it would be interesting.

As they finished up, Mavis had stood by the door, awaiting the boy. It would be in her best interest to actually loosen up, if he was a guild-wizard she wouldn't want to start any rivalry for her Pegasi friends. Her ears caught onto something the uncle said that bothered her, "father." Did he not have a father? Another thing that it brought up was her past... her father, that cold killer, one day Mavis will strike her father down and kill him, kill him just as coldly as he had done her, and she- she would laugh; just like how he had done when blowing her mother's brains out, she was only an infant at the time.

When he walked over to her he suggested they go get a drink, Mavis only nodded in response, hiding her face with her bangs. She was on the verge of tears and she rather this stranger not see how emotionally weak she was, Mavis knew that strength wasn't all about hiding your emotions but that's what she had learned and picked up from her father and she couldn't shake it. As they walked back to the inn, entering the bar section of the inn, Mavis looked at her fingers twiddling with them, she looked nervously at the boy this time her eyes are dry.


"Thank you... you really don't have to get me a drink though." Mavis smiled, it was a small one though, a smirk.

She looked around the room, before turning back to him surprised at her own self for not introducing herself, "Oh right. By the way I'm Mavis Lockheart, I hail from the guild Blue Pegasus."

Mavis had introduced herself to the man however hopefully he would do the same and he wouldn't be a foe to her guild. Mavis had ordered a strawberry vanilla mixed wine drink. She was all for anything with Strawberries or Vanilla add the two together and she would surely down it in mere seconds. Mavis looked at the boy, listening to anything he had to say to Mavis, she was all ears.

Shen waved back to his uncle and the shop, before continuing across the street. Perhaps he should visit his uncle again once in the future, or twice, or as many times as possible. Heck, his dear uncle; it would be suicide for his honor and his family’s honor to leave out a family member like that… then again, who could explain his little ‘trip’ to this country? What could explain all that, except a soul that longed for the least attention from one whose vision was absent from the little boy. Shen couldn’t but lower his eyes at the thought, but shook his head a little. Now was today, and he was among people, and especially in the other girl’s presence… or somewhat. Her face was covered in bangs as she gave a nod in response to his question, in which more questions rose up on the lightning mage’s head. Was something mattering her? Was he being a bit too intimidating? Or did she just hit something? Either way, being Shen’s company for the day, it would obviously trigger his curiosity, and even make him worried of her. However, she showed no signs of pain, or so it appeared like. Just in case, he wanted to trigger her focus by commenting: “We’re here.” The same inn as Shen met her from. By moving his head a little to the side, he could clearly see that Hēi was loyally waiting for her master to return. Shen lifted a quick hand towards it to let it remain calm, even though that its master had arrived.

When Shen looked at Mavis again, he could see the dry eyes from close quarters. Her facial expression wasn’t that well, too. Perhaps he really pushed her nerves, despite not even intending to in the least. Although, as she thanked him, he felt that the situation was a little better now, in which he kept silent about her expression. He didn’t smile back, but nodded slowly to make sure that something was replied to her for the cute, little smirk that she did. “I see,” he replied as well. She would then introduce herself as Mavis Lockheart, and just as he guessed; a mage, from Blue Pegasus, that was. He ordered a stronger drink, a more peppermint-mixed wine drink. He would look back at Mavis and return the favor of introducing: “I’m Shen. Shen Dao. A mage from the guild Golden Phoenix.” He would lean on his sleeves while his red eye made its way into Mavis’ eye, curious of what happened earlier. Not being able to cast the curiosity away, he asked: “I’m glad that you’re okay with this… but something was odd before. Don’t you trust me..?” It was straightforward, and his red eye wouldn’t let her out of sight as it closed in, half-opened and with a bright, red, small glow erupting from the center… nothing special but mere curiosity.