Special Delivery (A rank exam)

It wasn't as though she felt grateful for the opportunity to do a job for the guild, in fact that was really how she did feel about being able to go out to do this. There were a couple of issues which normally she didn't think about. It hadn't been the fact of the travel or what she had to do in order to complete the job, but instead it came down to the location of the job and what would happen when she arrived. The stories told to the young brunette was nothing short of uncomfortable for someone who was unreliable with her magic. Not to mention the weapon she carried with her, however that was something that she could use to her advantage so long as she didn't reveal the fiery properties that lied within it. That shouldn't be too hard as Lehanna had not used the weapon for those reasons anyway. Still, the history and even warnings as she left for this trip to Pergrande was nothing to sneeze at. An entire country whom was so opposed to magic that they'd kill the mages within its walls and most likely prevent the entry of outsiders in fear of whatever set them into this iron fist of hatred they felt against mages.

None of this helped her much that she let Kitalpha pick out her outfit again. Granted, this is what she got for taking out a couple of things from that closet of hers after their trip of the Urban Nights... but man was that woman committed to something. Whether that actually be the motherhood issue that she proclaimed when they were getting prepped to go before or not, it wasn't so much her business. It was just nice to rely on someone else after so long even if it was for something seemingly minute. Even then, she can't say that there was much in the way of relying either. Part of it was just enjoying company of someone despite her seeming to be a little less on par to the teen. No matter, it was already done and frankly so long as she had her documentation, it didn't matter to her what she was dressed in or how her hair was done. Paperwork was all that mattered in the long run and the same went for the research that she had been bringing back to them within the messenger bag on the seat beside her. Along with it had been a couple of text books and notebooks for her own entertainment.

Yes, that's right. A bookworm brought school work to entertain herself. As this task had come up, she had to get an excuse from her school in order to fully attend and volunteered to take the weeks worth of workload on the road with her to do. After all, it would take a while to get up and back, so time was something she had an abundance of. A day and a half up and back each left her four days to get the work delivered and frankly, with her coming from a guild of mages, they may make her have an escort to and from her destination to avoid confrontations. A lot of possibilities came with this and that was the concerning part to her. Still, to have them do the work to begin with had meant they were most likely desperate and if she were that kind of person, maybe she would take advantage of that, but leverage should she get into a rather tight squeeze is always something to keep in mind as well.

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The ride she'd taken once docked in the countryside docks had taken her up to the gates of the country of Pergrande within a couple of hours. Sleeping on the ride over had given her a rested approach on this now that things were coming down to the wire for her. Nerves wracked with an uncertainty of what was going to happen to her in a place like this, but so far it didn't seem like it would be such a bad thing. Would they attack her on sight or discovery of her being in the guild and just take her work from her if they killed her in the process? Maybe she'd get off lucky and they simply threaten her for the information and keep her from entering the country gates. Too many probabilities and with no information gathered on the country's prior experiences recorded on interactions like this, there was no way she could assess any idea of how likely one option over the other was going into this.

Approaching the gates now wasn't the most nervous thing she could have expected. Instead, she had seemed to become a little... irked, to put simply. The gate guard looked down to the blue haired girl whom presented papers from a mage guild. His brow furrowed at the legality of this whole thing, but he moved his attention to the sword on her back. A weapon much to big for someone of her size and fully wound in a neat and tight pattern got him to thinking. "Silver Wolf really sent you?" He asked, ready to test her a little to make sure she wasn't lying. "Yes, I have the paperwork in my bag here to deliver, sir." She replied, only to see him smirk as though he'd gotten a little cocky. "Oh? It says here the item being delivered is that sword on your back. It's a treasured piece of Pergrande history." And that right there got the young girl to shake her head in disappointment. "A place as secluded and shut out of anything magical would never send anything of that degree of importance to somewhere they hated. May I please go deliver this so I can go home? Some of us have schooling to finish, because obviously someone flunked out."

The girl swiftly snatched her papers back from the guard whom simply glared for a moment. Trying to remain collected in front of the other gate guards, he stepped aside and nodded to the two at the gates. They opened the gates and let her inside. "You have no more than 48 hours. Normally we give 36 to visitors, however you're not a normal guest and I was told you were going to need the extra time. Tread lightly, miss." Giving her thanks for both the generosity of the time and the warning, she made her way inside the town. In for not even 5 minutes, a woman would approach her. She wore a white lab coat and a pair of thin glasses on her face. Auburn colored hair tied up in a messy bun and bags under her eyes drooping worse than her bra-less chest. Frankly, nasty to look at, but she grabbed the teen by the hand suddenly. "Oh boy, you must be the researcher! Please, let me show you to your room, Seraph!"

Strange... As she was pulled along, something about her seemed a bit off. Coming to a halt inside a hotel was nothing short of off putting. She saw not one person along the way and being led up to the top floor didn't seem like much to the normal person, but the more this went on, the more her mind began to lay out things deeper and deeper. "Here you go! Please, go on in and rest up. I'll take the research later on and then you can spend the rest of your time here!" Shoving her inside the room, Lehanna had no time before the door was slammed shut and the woman's shuffling feet down the hall had faded. "Crazy, senile pain in the-" A noise began to pick up to her senses... gunpowder? Was she hearing the sound of ticking? Her head examined every inch of the room and it contained no clock. In fact, it was beyond bare. Ok, mages were disliked, but this was beyond nuts.

"Whatever... maybe I'll go out and get something to eat..." Taking the bag off of her back, she would hold it over the bed when something made her stop. The ticking was louder now. Tossing the bag to the floor, Lehanna laid down on the ground and instantly she had spotted the source of the ticking. "Oh shoot that's a bomb!" Her body jolted back and a hand cupped over her mouth while her mind tried to process this action. Was this whole thing a farce just to kill a single mage? Or was she being targeted for some reason? The girl immediately jumped up and went over to a closet to see a couple of pieces of clothing inside, but quickly walked outside the room and began inspecting the floor she was on.

Entirely empty.

Taking several minutes to go through each room, she came back with several items. A black cloak, a small canister of gasoline, and a manila folder of papers. Stuffing the folder into her bag, she laid it on the hall floor and then made a trail of the gasoline from the middle of the hall into the room up to the bomb strapped bomb. Coming back outside, she got her sword and bag back on and snapped her fingers. A small, black flame flickered on her index finger, balanced for a moment and then letting it fall. Landing on the trail of gas, it would shoot on into the room and quickly the teen would make for the stairs when a loud BOOM would shake the building. Moving down to the lobby, she could see people crowding around the front of the building now. Throwing the hood of the cloak up, she would make her way for the back door and slip out of the streets from sight.

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Knowing now at this point she'd be hunted, she had to make her way to the city wall. It didn't matter if it had a gate because how urgent this was she would MAKE one if she had to. Now paranoid out of her mind at this point, Lehanna had to get through the town as quick as she could. If she tried to stay and defend herself, it was her word against the rest of the town and with how paranoid people were about mages, this could be so easily turned into her trying to destroy their town. This couldn't be happening. Paranoia filling her mind as each intersection of street and alley got her shooting her head in all directions, making sure to keep zigzagging about as to avoid being spotted easily. Continuing along her path, a hand reached out from the shadows and grabbed her, followed by two more that got hold of her other and the third over her mouth. "Shh, you'll get caught if you scream. Just come with us, hurry!" A voice warned her, the way it was told getting her to relax enough that they quickly let her go.

The strangers began to lead her down a hidden alley they went through halls and down stairs until they reached an opened area. Seeming to be almost like a whole small district hidden within the town's depths. "Where are we? And who are you?" She wondered, seeming demanding about it, but the few who grabbed her up were quick to show. They were varying ages to her, all seeming at least a couple of years older, however still teens themselves. "I'm Rachel, but everyone here calls me Ruby." The first girl spoke up. Shoulder blade length red hair as equally shaded to diagram pictures of the color and bright, clear green colored eyes. "You're in the underground of Pergrande. It's where the refuge mages hide while they go in and out of the country." The next spoke up. Long blonde hair and a pair of glasses to brighten sapphire blue eyes.

"Now that the way is sealed up again, that's Sammy. And I'm Avery." A third voice spoke up as they stepped back over from the way they'd just came from. "I take it you're the Seraph's kid?" She gave a questionable look on her face, though it was obvious to the third person how right he was. Now that she could see him, his short and ruffled dusty brown hair kept clear of a pair of emerald eyes that showed a very rigid glare her way. "Didn't your parents ever tell you about this place?" Sammy piped up, only furthering the girls frustration and annoyance as this continued. "Woah woah. One at a time." Finally she spoke to break their pace enough to think for a moment.

She took a moment to look over the type of living situation they had all been in. Houses made of the earth itself, no real sunlight and the area only lit by firelight. Looking back to the two girls, she wasn't able to let out a word before Avery stepped in front of her, his arms folded at her chest. "Get a good look? This is what happened to our parents when yours fled like cowards. They left the others here to keep scrounging while they probably are big names in some other country, am I right?" He got right down into her face, met with only a look of someone who could care less to hear what he had to say. "Hey, lay off Avery. None of that's on her, just chill." Sammy spoke out, watching a thin wall of ice come between the two. "You all speak like you know me, or know my parents, but no matter what you think happened, implying is only going to make you look like an ass."

She would walk around both the small wall and the annoyed older teen. "So what do you know, Seraph?" The third teen asked, sitting back against a wall and simply watching quietly. The slayer pinched the bridge of her nose in a bit of annoyance as to this entirely. "It's Lehanna. Please, just stop with the last name. I get annoyed enough in school with that." Apparently, it didn't seem to go over well with Avery. "Oh yeah, rub that in our faces too, why don't you! Next thing you know you'll tell us you have some fantastic life, huh!?" Trying her patience seemed to be what he was after and while she was ready to explode, something else seemed to beat her to it.

Metal shuffling got her ears ruffled and the girl quickly turned back to see a troop of Knights showing up through a hole in the wall. "You did so well to hide out, but you've been found out after so long. All it took was forcing you four out of hiding~" A woman's voice spoke through the fading cloud of broken earth. Her voice both deep and silky in tone and as she came to view, the look in her eyes spelled trouble. "Boys, go round up the others." With one unison, "Yes admiral!", they began to march towards the group of teens. Two things quickly occurred with a unison act. Spikes of the earth around them shot out from the walls and ground, halting the movements. Meanwhile, the area behind them became blacked out by shadows and a wall of ice patterned with large looking snowflakes. "Not this time, you witch! Sammy, Ruby! Go grab your weapons and get them out of here. Kid, you with me?" Avery smirked and looked over to the younger teen, who let out a sigh. "I don't have a choice, do I?" She asked, grabbing her sword and as she would pull it away from her body, the wrappings would burn to ashes and resting the large sword on her shoulder.

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