First Date with an Angel [Job/Blad/Julius]

GRACE UNDER FIRE

It was interesting, how the world would warp and bend itself into shapes you could never imagine. It wasn’t exactly a normal movement, a twisting that followed the everyday rules of physics that had been written down all throughout the inside walls of Sorano’s skull. It wasn’t quite the rigid, logical structures of magic the child had studied either, coiled up in a pulsing shelf of books within her mind. It was neither of these, the way the world moved, yet it was all of them as well. In the end, after having pondered this strange occurrence, she had decided it was a movement that could only be classified as its own. A movement that she couldn’t predict. This current shape was one she wasn’t sure how she could fit herself, into, a mold made just for her in the sequence of things. A mold that was far too big, yet far too small. She didn’t understand right now, either way.

A light step down the rained upon road she went, pretending, acting out a young teenaged girl, thinking and worrying about things like grades, boys, and clothes. It was a brief daydream that fluttered past like that butterfly she had tried to catch that one day, way back when. “Sorano-chan, it’s far too quick for you to catch up with it, you know? It’s far into the future, already leaving you behind.”

And indeed. It always was this way, herself perched in the middle of time, unable to move with the others. For the longest time, she had considered herself to be far into the future, glancing longingly backwards at everything she could have had because of her precocious talents. But now, her shoe tracing the contours of a puddle, the alien thought that she was stuck in the past entered her mind. It was an interesting prospect; one she wasn’t sure she understood herself. Perhaps her physical form had slipped right by the life she dreamt of now, and her mind still hovered at that moment when the butterflies had left her behind.

Looking down, the unassuming child felt the tugging of a familiar paw on the edge of her skirt. “Ah, Hoshi. We should be there soon, okay?” The tabby exceed nodded up at her friend with worried amber eyes. The letter mage had been unusually quiet lately, and while Sorano had never been a fan of over-excessive verbalizing, this was something new. It was no more than a rundown bus station out here, in the middle of nowhere, but it appeared to be the place. “I suppose all we can do now, is wait.” Wait for their partner on another new job.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Out of the corner of an eye, the flickering colors present in an aura entered her field of vision. A complicated aura, signaling the presence of an organism she might have to care about more than the plants and critters scurrying about, unseen. Turning, the child watched as a man that didn’t exactly look like the sort that any mother with a brain would let their kids near walked over to them. A mask covered his facial features, enveloping him within a shroud of mystery. Instantly, the girl was on her guard. His magical signature was one of formidable power, and she had no wish of having to fight him. She had everything set up to flee if needed. Beside her, Hoshi had attached herself to the ground behind Sorano, gripping on tightly. What was this guy’s menacing look? Who in their right minds would go around walking with such a mask on? Whoever it was… Could she keep her self-promise if he turned out to be dangerous?

Suddenly, the newcomer’s aura roiled with something like disgust, pointed at the letter mage. Disgust, annoyance, and frustration. Emotions that the letter mage often disregarded these days. As long as she knew that she was competent enough for whatever laid ahead, it didn’t matter too much what others thought. Yet, today, all she felt was a strange numbness, as if repeating the same old routine for the thousandth time. It was kind of getting tiring, going through the same pattern that went on in every job these days. And then, as she had eventually come to the conclusion of, the man spoke, introducing himself as the person who was to be her job partner. Sorano nodded politely at him, as was the norm, donning the neutral expression she found seemed to keep the older people of society from treating her as if they weren’t sure how she should be dealt with. It was a common occurrence for someone over twenty to sort of awkwardly skirt around topics and speak in high-pitched voices when attempting to work with her, so the letter mage found it easier to just go with the flow for most adults. However, it seemed as though this certain man was going to be a bit different.

Suddenly, the man in the mask bowed down low upon one knee, his voice swelling up majestically from behind the folds of black to declare one of the weirdest things that had ever been said to the girl. “I will be your servant for this job as you wish me to do.” Sorano blinked slowly down at this peculiar person who had just knelt to a fourteen-year-old girl and offered up his service to her. After a few moments of careful thought, she came to the conclusion that the man was either 1) A child predator, 2) Someone genuinely nice and simply dramatic, or 3) He knew who she was, and what sort of position she held, and was trying to use that to his advantage. She doubted the second choice was so. Neither of the other two choices comforted her much however, and a bad impression of her new job partner quickly developed. It seemed that Hoshi felt the same, with a frantic tugging at skirt that usually meant that she felt the urge to run off as far as possible. You see, human beings (and beings with human-like minds) are naturally unaccustomed to change. When it came to someone who’s personality rooted her firmly down to earth and tried to resist change as much as possible, the meting of a completely new character was an event that was extremely discomforting.

Following the initial statement that had provoked this silence, the man then proceeded to ask what her first demand of him would be. Shaking off the thoughtful haze that had hung in the air only moments before, the child nodded slowly, deciding to simply ignore his odd behavior somewhat, and go along with things as she might in a normal job. Perhaps routine was better, in the end. She blinked, then looked forward down the road, scanning for anything that might signal what their task was to be. The client had been extremely vague as to what the details were, so they were currently at a loss as to what their next actions should be. “Well, I suppose we should first try and find the client, right?” Frowning, Sorano pulled the job form out of her bag, scanning it over. It seemed to be the correct location, as far as she knew. She walked out onto the road, the exceed practically glued onto her shoulder. “Sorano, are you sure we should be doing a job with someone like THIS?”

Turning slightly to face her partner, Sorano responded with a steady “Yes. Think about the benefits of completing this job, and consider if you would be able to finish it all by yourself. A daunting thought, isn’t it? Besides, if you’re worried about Mr. Dragoon, I’m sure you remember how you were mistaken about so many of the more suspicious-looking people that have joined the guild in the past. It’s good practice for you, anyways.” Blinking her eyes shut, Sorano ended the one-sided discussion, only for her eyes to snap open abruptly as the reality before her suddenly seemed to rip itself apart. A mesmerizing whirl of colors and light danced before her eyes, the edges of the beaten-down road curling away into nothingness. When an attempt to resist the pull of the pulsing portal resulted in failure, the letter mage grasped on tightly to the exceed’s paw and squeezed her eyes shut. At least some part of her would be hopefully uninjured this way.

Dark eyes flew open in a flurry, senses immediately searching this sudden, new environment. Where was she? What had that light been? As her breathing began to calm, the letter mage regained control of herself, taking a moment to calmly examine her surroundings. Light. There was a large abundance of the substance, giving Sorano a rather light-headed feeling, and a constant humming sound in the air. About to confer with Hoshi, and that unusual man if he came here with them, she could hear the slow unfurling of Hoshi’s wings behind her. “Hey, Sorano… Are we in heaven?”

GRACE UNDER FIRE

As her eyes explored the scene, Sorano realized that somehow, the area they sat in was…darker than the other areas? Still readjusting from the burst of light when the portal had appeared, light and dark confused the child, giving her a slightly dazed feeling. She shook her head back and forth, trying to clear both her mind and vision. She had to focus! They could be in danger! And indeed, the little trio was in danger. Looking upwards, Hoshi’s eyes widened in shock. “S-sorano… we ARE in heaven!” she whispered, shaking in both fear and awe at the majesty of the creature who hung over them, wings moving slowly in the soft light. Following the exceed’s gaze, the letter mage felt her mouth fall open just the slightest at the sight. For a moment, her mind weakened, and her usually iron-strong resolve faltered, unseen barriers fading away into the mists in the back of the organized library shelves. However, as she was accustomed to, she recovered control almost immediately, standing right up and looking about to make sure everyone was here. There was Blad, hand on that mask he wore, staring up almost defiantly at the angel. What? Did he have something to do with this? Could he…be the client?

Questions zipped through her mind, then lined themselves up neatly in careful, concise little rows. She sorted through them as she might a rack of file folders, and shut it, keeping the information for later. Resting a hand on Hoshi to calm the poor thing, Sorano listened carefully to the mysterious exchange that was soon begun between the two people. As more and more angels gathered before the mages, Blad removed his mask with a flourish, revealing a really rather normal face. Honestly, Sorano couldn’t see why he would find the need to keep it hidden. Perhaps to hide from an enemy? She wasn’t sure. All that stood out were his eyes, each reflecting a different color. They blinked up calmly at the angels, and one would step out to the front to confront the man. His formerly proud aura faded away to something more embarrassed, though it was casually covered up with a lighthearted comment. Hearing this, Sorano opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it as the angel responded with a stormy glare and a burst of not-very-welcoming words. She turned to look at the man, then glanced back at the angel in confusion.

It was obvious the two had had history. But, if it was as it all seemed, then was Blad the demon the angel spoke of? And were they in danger because of this man? Her hand rested on her bag already, sensing that something bad was about to happen soon. It was then that she realized… If the angel had said that Blad brought a demon with him, then who was the demon? She hadn’t seen any aura of any demonic creature with him… Her eyes followed the holy creature’s gaze as it was traced back to Hoshi and herself. Oh. She looked back up at the angel, an understanding look in her eyes. “Perhaps you are mistaken, as my companion and I are simply a mortal human and exceed – nothing particularly demonic as far as I understand.” She tilted her head slightly to one side, in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the radiant being’s aura. However, the natural light that rolled off of her in great waves was simply too much for the letter mage to focus on the details of her emotions. Even so, it was pretty obvious that there was nothing kindly in that cold, steely gaze she held.

“You think I don’t know about your tricks, demon? I have encountered many of your kind before – I assure you, demon, I am not mistaken.” Her lip curled in distaste at the group, eyeing each member with a particular dislike, before turning away, her hand making a gesture at the others. As she flew away, she tossed words carelessly behind her, as if they couldn’t mean any less to her. “If you are able to defeat my angels, then you will have proved yourself as non-demonic beings. If not, you’d better hope you’re lucky.” A group of angels would then fly over, encircling the group in a circle of prickly spears and whatnot, all extremely menacing. Keeping them from seeing anything around them, the group silently led the mages to a colosseum-like arena. “Here, you will be challenged by waves of angels. If you survive and manage to fend them off, you will be given leave to return to your world.” The rules were re-explained by one of the angels – a male one this time, before they were led inside the space. Having stayed silent all this time, Sorano spoke up again, looking sideways at the Sabertooth mage. “Mr. Blad, if you wouldn’t mind explaining what this situation is?” The angels were beginning to disperse again, preparing opponents for them to fight against.

While she wasn’t sure exactly what the situation was, she could tell that this man was somehow all wrapped up right in the center of it. Still, it seemed there wasn’t much of a way out of this besides by fighting. Despite all that brain she was supposed to have, it surprised some people how easily the child gave in to simply what others decided for her. If she was going to have to get out by fighting, then fight she would. Flipping her usual small-sized weapons out of their slots, she checked them over briefly before slotting them back into whatever pocket or mirror they had been extracted from. “But anyways, no matter how you are connected to all of this, we will have to end up fighting. The job… I suppose it will have to be forgotten for a moment…” she trailed off, remembering that Blad could very well be the client, and had simply tricked her into this situation. Ah, well. Deal with the angels first, then the mage. She could survive the wait.

Words: 915 | @tagged | Word count: 3.012/8.400

ulla

drip drip drip away.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

The girl gritted her teeth in alarm, watching as the gates creaked open to reveal a horde of angels beginning to move their way. Ah, man… This wasn’t going to be an easy battle. And who knew if this suspicious man would even help? It wasn’t as though he had that much reason to if he really was somehow in the middle of all this. Her eyes shot back over to him, and widened in horror. Wait, what? What was this? Just where she had been certain the mysterious redhead had ben entrapped only moments ago, was nothing. It was as if, could it be? As though the man had completely disappeared from the world without a trace. Not even the pale aural imprint that made up the space a person once occupied existed. Ehh? What had happened? Hoshi, noting the exact same detail had eyes bugging from her head, the former fear only intensifying at this. Now, Sorano was quite certain that the over-confident man had something to do with this whole situation. There was most certainly something about him she would have to inspect.

However? There were more important matters at hand at the moment. Her eyes carefully tracked the movement of the angels as a gate at the other end of the arena was slowly lifted. This suspense! Every movement was carefully planned out by the angelic warriors, a slow fanfare starting up as the first opponent would be revealed. It was a tall, majestic angel that would stride confidently out onto the field, stoical expression decorating the finely arched features. However, it would suddenly stop, turning around with an odd expression upon his face. It began to start forward, moving towards a smaller, human-sized figure. Huh? Was that where Blad had gone? If so… How the heck had he gotten there? Perhaps he really was on her side after all? A short series of expressions danced across her face, wondering what she was to do now. “It seems, this demon is receiving reinforcement…” The heavenly voice boomed across the space, and the letter mage frowned. What? So it wasn’t the redhead after all, but if that was so, then who was it that now stood before the hulking warrior? Hoshi would lift up into the air as far as she dared, looking out for who it could be, and returned, a strange expression on her face.

“I… I feel like I recognize him, but then again, I’m not sure who it is,” she whispered, trembling slightly from the rather pointed gaze that was cast upon them in suspicion by a nearby angel. The human would appear to taunt the angel, as an angered expression would crease his face. A sharp declaration was made by the warrior, and suddenly he began to lunge towards the two. It was a sudden move, one that the letter mage had not been completely prepared for, thus explaining her rather abrupt action of throwing up a quite spherical barrier around Hoshi and herself. Yet, before she could even prepare to fight back, a sudden pressure zoomed down from under her, and the girl would find herself held like a child in the arms of another. The human from before! A sharp expression bordering on something like dislike slipped over her lucid face, and then ducked as Hoshi flew over her head with the powers of inertia from the grabbing of her tail. “Heeeelp, Soranoooo!” she wailed, being swung about in the most uncomfortable of positions.

The sudden action had caused her to lose control over her Aera, and it took several tries before the snowy white wings were manifested once more. “You alright Sorano? There is no time for catching up now! It seems these angels want a good spanking!” A strangely familiar voice greeted her ears as the wind slowed, and the guild master would attempt to get back to her feet. Safely planted upon the ground once more, she would look up questioningly at the water mage, recognition slowly setting in on her face. Hoshi, too, less dazed now would gasp slightly, confusion and shock conflicting with the customary fear. With a wink, he would tell her to watch and see how much… Julius! Both females’ eyes widened, and the exceed was the very definition of flabbergasted as they stared at the pirate. What? This was the happy-go-lucky Julius they had all known back at Fairy Tail? What in the world had happened since they last saw him, sadly leaving Tetsukazu? Now, he stood confidently before the angel, a rather sassy expression on his face and sassy words to match. He had indeed gotten stronger since she last saw him, huh… Whatever had happened to boost his confidence so?

A shimmering whip of water would manifest from his hand, a sharper, more powerful version of the fun, easy water spells he had been known for, and he would swing it impressively at the warrior who drew his sword again to attack. “Are you angels in for a spanking of your life?” My goodness, the old Julius would never have said something like that! Even though he had been a brave, true companion for any job, this was… something on a completely different level than the knightly “You can’t hurt them!” or “That’s wrong!” of the past. So they had all grown… She could already tell, sinking her gaze into the material of the spell that the water mage was more than capable of beating this creature up on his own, and as usual, she was correct. With deft, powerful lashes of the tool, the formerly grand and frightening creature would flutter to the ground, a heap of disgrace before his companions, all of whom would whisper to one another, tittering at the shame brought upon their kind. The man would now stand upright again, whip beginning to fade as the spell gradually met its demise.

Sorano raised an eyebrow slowly, not sure whether to be shocked or mad or impressed – because honestly, was there reason for an emotionless person to feel ANY of those things? The answer in her mind, was no.

Carefully, the guild master would dust off her skirt, shaking the debris from the battle out of her hair. She would debate what to say for a moment, then shook her head. No need for too much thinking when it came to someone who was as close to a friend as she could get. “Hey, Julius, I see you’re doing well, hm?” It was a tired voice she used, wearily resigning to the fact that she would be fighting through the rest of this with a sassy pirate. “Good to see you again. I’m glad to see you’ve indeed gotten stronger. The guild is… quiet without you, to say the least. But as you have already so prudently stated, there is no time for such sentiments. They’re already sending in the next wave of challengers.” Always one to be practical, that was Sorano. It was so deeply embedded into the very pores of her being that no matter what happened, logic would never escape from her mind.

She would take a knife from her bag, holding it in a reverse grip while her mind had already begun to think of spells to use against the next wave. This time? She wasn’t going to end up being rescued by a sassy pirate again. That was an experience she hoped was a one-time thing.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

The letter mage’s temporary revelation of instinctive muscular movement was quickly wiped away, the mask in place again. “Yes… For change is a natural process of life, is it not?” However, the train of conversation swept on quickly, as if attempting to prove her point once more as Julius’ aura flushed with pride. Ah, yes, there was most certainly some of the Julius of Fairy Tail in there. After all, although change was inevitable, there would always be a bit of the former self in a person as they moved through the cycle of life. Julius was no exception. “Hmm, perhaps a visit would be nice. I feel that the guild would be shell-shocked to find your drastic differences from how they knew of you before.” For a moment, after this exchange in verbalization, a sudden gloom of guilt and sadness came over the pirate, and the child arched in eyebrow in confusion. O-oh, right, of course. Memories must be coming back, of the good ol’ days in the Flame of the Phoenix. Although he had left the guild, Sorano knew very well that it hadn’t been on a bad note. Julius had had his own reasons, and still was very much missed by his guildmates. But seeing him now… It was doubtless to all those that saw him that the water mage was perfectly happy where he was. It would only be cruel to force him back to Tetsukazu and the life he’d left behind.

Quickly, things turned to business at a whisper form the gathered angels, A heated discussion was taking place, anger and slight disgust in the gazes of the supposedly pure and holy creatures, who trew disdainful glares in the direction of the humans. “You’d think they’d be able to tell humans apart from d-demons at least, huh…” Hoshi’s wavery voice cut through the air, and suddenly two more angels appeared. They weren’t quite so out of power – no, not yet! The two females would quickly move back into a battle-ready position again, Sorano ready to write, and Hoshi with muscles tensed to lift her partner up into the air if need be.

Before she had a chance to show off her own skills, however, Julius’ water whip soared through the air, snapping up below the unprotected bottom of the graceful being. Hmm… Neither recalled Julius being so talkative in battle, but it was obvious that that was something else that he’d changed up since his time with the fairies. In a swift movement, the rope-like material looped itself around his body, latching on tight. His very much holy head was slammed into the ground so only his bottom stuck up, resembling an ostrich and stirring a giggle from the usually skittish Hoshi. Well, that was a good sign! Hoshi could operate better with a clearer brain now! Ah, well! She couldn’t simply leave all the work to a lower-ranked mage, could she?

Immediately, the girl would move to match his spell with a whip of her own, the letters winding around her body in a snake of liquid energy that acted as power source and shield. Her hand dipped inside of the clear blue whirl, and emerged with a long rope of fizzling energy. Pinning Kagayaku through the tip, she hurled it, streamers of light fleeing after it into the leg of the other angel. There! Immobilized! While she didn’t have Julius’ relatively more abundant strength, her strategic sense would work just as well. With leg disfunctioning, she tossed a blade to Hoshi. While Sorano brandished yet another rope of the stuff to distract the angel, Hoshi slipped in from behind to thrust the throwing knife through a wing, keeping him from lifting off as well. Now? It was simply a matter of…

She entangled the whip about his body, knocking him down into the ground with magical strength that was enough to overpower, now that he had lost function of both leg and wing. See? Julius wasn’t the only who had improved. “Are you done testing us? We have already displayed our magical abilities, and I do not believe either reflects anything remotely demonic.” Yet it was to no avail, a shake of the head, and the arena gate would lift to admit even more challengers.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

This time, six angels would enter the arena, a large leap from the previous numbers. The first two that Julius would encounter reeked of bodily wastes, carrying about them a rather menial, low-ranking appearance and air. Immediately firing of a few shots at the holy beings with his new and “improve” sassy tongue, Julius soon had the angels all tense and bristling with anger. The one with the most powerful aura, wielding weapons and a shield made of light stepped forward, responding with his own barbed comment. Since when had Julius started fighting with words, huh? Wasn’t that supposed to be her thing? Hoshi let herself giggle a bit as well, her fear and stress slipping away as they fell into the comfort of familiar combat with a friend. Even if Julius’ personality had changed quite a bit, at the core, he was still the same old Julius, a great friend and ally to have on the battlefield. The guardian angel quickly stepped away, having lost the fight of words. But from his furious expression, it was quite evident that he was not planning on losing in this physical battle.

Right from the get-go, an angel using a poop encrusted shovel as a weapon threw themselves at the water mage, obviously angry about having been insulted before. However, of course it was no match for Julius. A pocket watch that the guild master had never before seen began to radiate a golden light, and Sorano sensed a peculiar energy pattern coming from it. Ah… It was time magic, wasn’t it? Already, she began to feel Luna start to quiver in reaction by her side, feeling mutual energy between the two objects. A small hand was rested upon the silvery surface, sending her calming energy through the material. It was rather ironic how the items’ magic worked on itself, something that dashed through Sorano’s mind ever so briefly before she turned herself back towards the battle. The poop angel had been efficiently knocked out by Julius as expected, and dispatched the other one at just as fast a speed. It appeared as if these shovel-fighters were the weakest out of the bunch at this point, and so the rest would be tougher business to taken care of… There were three of these, the original, powerful-feeling angel with a glowing sword and shield, as well as two others holding swords each. “Hoshi! Start to rough up one of the single-wielders if you can, and I’ll go for the big one,” she told the exceed, nodding reassuringly at her.

The exceed would nod back, wings manifesting as she leapt up into the air. Starting out with basic physical attacks, the two would clash in the air, Hoshi’s smaller size allowing her to flit about the angel unharmed, only once getting nicked with the weapon. It was nothing serious, however, and before long, the angel would begin to falter.

Meanwhile, Sorano was busy facing off with the golden one. Her snake of energy had long since faded, and so it was of no use now. But that was okay, for there were plenty of other spells she had up her sleeve. Fingers playing through the air in a stitching flash of movement, the letters were enscribed right before the somewhat impressed angel. The smell of burning lasted in the air for a brief moment, before the lightning bolt crashed down into the creature. Here, Sorano had the element of surprise. It appeared as though these angels were unaccustomed to her magic, which had led to them not knowing that her writing in the air was the conjuring of the spell. But it wasn’t going to last for long… The lightning hit hard, and the angel had fallen flat to the ground – yet it wasn’t quite done with her yet. Scraping those formerly-glorious white wings from the floor, he rose, shaking himself off. “Heh. Not bad, demon. But no demon can last before the forces of God himself!” A sudden jolt of pain materialized in her leg just as she slipped aside at the feeling of wind brushing by her toes. A cut.

Whirling about in surprise, the angel was suddenly behind her. Fast… Had she not dodged, her leg might have been cut off. As it was, the situation wasn’t exactly beneficial. She fired back fast, a mirror forming in front of an outstretched palm. As she clenched her fingers into a fist, the glass shattered, sending ten, deadly, almost invisible shards at the warrior. There. One eye was gone, and it was now crippled in one wing and its sword arm. The mirror spells all had excellent aim, and the letter mage was thankful for it. “Surrender?” she asked calmly.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

A smirk covered the angel’s face as she slowly pushed herself up from the ground, wiping the blood from the edge of her mouth. She was seriously crippled by now, a sight that was almost disturbing to behold. Watching the angel, blood covered one half of her face, a few of the glassy shards still embedded where her eye was, and her wings drooped heavily on one side. The angel’s sword arm was weakened as well, the wobbling hand barely able to grasp the heavy golden sword. Soft gasps of shock and horror echoed from the spectators, having not expected the amount of power that came from the single small girl. “Julius? How are you doing with the rest?” Calling behind her shoulder, a frown slowly spread over the girl’s face when no response came. Slowly, cautiously shifting her stance to the side where she could see both the angel and the space around her, the letter mage scanned the arena. No sign of the water mage could be seen. Cursing softly under her breath, she ignored the scandalous looks that the sword-wielding angels shot at her, and moved to finish the main one as fast as she could. However, it seemed that she had recovered a bit, swinging awkwardly at the letter mage with the sword. This time, it was easy for her to deflect the blow, dodging the clumsy movements and stabbing an arrow hard into the creature’s sandaled foot. Sandals were such impractical footwear for battle, I mean, there were so many holes in it that an enemy in high heels could easy put you out of commission

Watching as the angel sank to the ground in surrender, the angels at the side quickly hurried in a with a stretcher, carrying the injured one out. Nodding in slight satisfaction at her defeat, Sorano turned slowly to the rest of the angels, tilting her head to the side in slight consideration as to what she should do next. The one thing about battling with angels was that they had such a strong sense of honor – it was almost amusing. Neither of them moved, thinking the girl was still recovering or something, which was really very funny, considering they thought her to be a demon. As for where Julius was… It wasn’t something she could worry about right now. Doing her best to act like she was still disoriented, she made a quick signal to Hoshi with one of her hands, causing the exceed to suddenly dive towards her, entering the space around Sorano as the mage quickly sketched out letters in the air. In a sudden soft boom, waves of energy spread out from where they were, crashing into the angels. Shock quickly registered on their faces as sound suddenly cancelled out among them. It was an effective spell that Sorano hadn’t used much before, and she was glad to have a chance to try it out now.

It worked as well as she hoped, the high-pitched noise crippling them, and allowing her to do her thing. Efficiently, she wrote out a water spell, sending pellets of liquid raining down over the angels, needle-like in the sharpness in which they relentlessly pelted the creatures. While they slowly tried to stand up to face her again, struggling against the torturous sensation of the rain and noise, Sorano poised Kagayaku carefully, sending two of the knives flying at their legs. New gashes appeared on the pale white skin, the angels that had already been weakened by Hoshi’s attacks growing even weaker now, wings shaking with effort to lift them up out of the space, something made even more difficult by the blood now streaming from their legs. Now, Sorano directed her bow at them, sending the wooden arrows into the feathery wings, disabling even that. Pain creased over their faces, still struggling in the sonic dome, and Sorano gently traced out the word “surrender?” in the air, the letters leaving behind a glowing trail. Staring up at it in shock, the warriors’ faces seemed to be in conflict. As she waited, the letter mage carefully tore off a strip of her sleeve, wrapping it around the gash in her leg. She couldn’t take care of it now, that was for sure.

But they had taken too long to decide now, and Sorano was a bit fed up with it already. Handing one of her knives to Hoshi, the letter mage adjusted the amulet around her neck, flashing it to Hoshi in reassurance. Lexa’s amulet would allow the exceed to stay safe, even in the chaos of the whirling sonic dome. Nodding, the feline set out with the knife, flying in behind them and plunging it into one of the angels’ shoulder blades before lithely hopping out of the way. Sorano tossed another one out, and Hoshi chased the other angel for only a few meters before they too fell, and she was able to put them out of order with a quick slash of the blade on their back.

Another round defeated. How much more would there be?

GRACE UNDER FIRE

The door jerked open again, this time the angels starting to look agitated. Whoever this foreign entity was, she wasn’t one to be messed around with. “Quick! Bring in a larger regiment!” someone called out, a rumble of activity beginning around the arena. Sorano scanned her eyes over the door, focusing on the entrance. She was tired from the previous rounds, but she could feel the slow trickle of ethernanos continuing to fill up her origins, energy continuing to refresh her. It would be fine. She could do this. Daring a peek at Hoshi, the exceed looked exhausted as well, but determined. They would be fine. A troop of four angelic warriors entered, a much weaker group of opponents than Sorano had expected. Blinking in surprise, she narrowed her eyes, looking for hidden energy signatures. There were none, and she could only guess at what this might mean. Oh well, no matter. For now, she needed to survive, and to do that she’d have to defeat these angels. Hand flashing through the air, the air crackled with tension before a whirlwind of a storm swept through the arena, causing an alarmed yell to come up from those in the stands. Extending the amulet’s protection to the audience, Sorano moved in quickly to attack.

Hefting Kagayaku in her palm, the girl easily found contact with a feathered wing, slicing into the soft white surface. With a spasm of the muscle, a shriek came from the angel’s mouth, his sword swinging backwards in a clumsy movement. Sorano jerked away quickly, stumbling over her own feet as the knife was jerked out of the ethereal flesh. Instantly, the angels were stumbling towards her, using their swords and their great wings to fend against the raging wind. Quickly, instinctively, she flicked her hand through the letters, pulling a powerful lightning bolt down over the heads of the angels. More shrieks rose up, and one of them seemed to stumble in the onslaught. Yes… She could do this. Feeling more and more of her magic draining from her body, the girl opened her mouth to speak.

As soon as the first word left her mouth, imbued with the power only a mage of words could possess, the crowd stilled. All that could be heard was the raging of the wind and the panting and gasping of those in the arena. Carefully, the letter mage spoke, and the angels listened, rapt with attention. Suddenly, the stood up, perfectly straight, and began to spin around and around. Spinning faster and faster, Sorano continued to weave the story of an amusement park ride, one of those spinning teacups whirling them about until at last! They fell down, too exhausted with the effort to keep standing, swords clattering to the ground. The storm was calmly ended with a brush of Sorano’s hand, and she too fell down, gasping with the energy the magic had required. Was there any more left for her to face? Hoshi rushed worriedly to her side, comforting her, but the guild master brushed her off. “I… I can handle it, Hoshi. We’ll get through this like we always do, yes?” Slowly, her voice stabilized again, and she watched as medical angels cautiously skittered into the arena and pulled away the prone figures, picking up their swords and cleaning away the blood left by the battles.

“Can we go now, please?” Almost begging, Sorano looked around the area, but no one responded. All of a sudden, a trumpet blared, starting up a symphony of music. From the heavens, a magnificent, glowing figure descended into the arena, looking far too holy to even be allowed to reside here. Huh? Who was this? Obviously someone important, judging by the shimmering aura and the fanfare. However, Sorano could still see behind that perfect image, the angered emotions of someone just as human as they all were. These angels…they weren’t all that perfect, were they? Sighing with the effort of keeping herself upright, the letter mage knew that as usual, she’d have to resort to her spirit form. She disliked the fact that she seemed to always be so dependent on it, but there wasn’t a much better idea than to use it in this situation. Perhaps it would demonstrate to these angels the errors of their ways, too – she wasn’t a perfect, holy being, but her spiritual form would show she wasn’t a demon, either. Just your typical mercenary mage, with all their imperfections.

Slipping out of her body, Sorano watched as Hoshi carefully let her body fall into her paws, before lifting it off to the edge of the arena. Soft gasps rose up around the room as the aural form shimmered slowly with light, blacks and whites swirling together in a way that was almost mesmerizing. “That is… A very interesting form for a demon, isn’t it?” The figure finally spoke, looking down serenely at her opponent. Even the audience began to murmur among themselves, doubt filling their auras as they looked down at the very plainly human aura.

“I don’t suppose you’ll take ‘I’m not a demon’ for an answer though, am I right?” Sorano responded just as serenely, her aural voice seeming almost as heavenly as the angel’s. Inclining her head slightly, the tall, beautiful figure introduced herself.

“My name is Gabriella, the divine Archangel. I cannot say I am pleased to meet your acquaintance, but I hope this will be a fair and proper duel we have here. As is expected of me, I will perform my duty in slaying this demon. If this person cannot be slain, then judgement will be in her and her companions’ favors, and they will be set free.” The opening in the skies slowly closed up, and the woman extracted two magnificent, gleaming swords, thrumming with magical energy. “Let us begin.”

It had been a while since Sorano had been involved in or even witnessed a duel of so formal a nature, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. It was certainly strange, watching as the glowing entity bowed down to her, and she hesitantly bowed back. Instantly, the angel charged, not a single trick up her sleeve as she directed a straight blow at Sorano with one of the blades. She was aiming to end this quickly.

The aural warrior dodged quickly, leaning down to one side as she directed a slash of aural energy back at the angel. This would not be an easy fight. Gabriella retaliated easily, leaning away from the slash and slashing back with both blades in a cross pattern. One of them nicked her spiritual form briefly, and she gasped at the pain it created on the darker parts of her form. With a sharp movement, she directed her magic into the ground below her, thrusting it up around the woman. Finally, the blow seemed to land, and Gabriella’s face contorted briefly with pain. At least she could be hurt. An enemy was defeatable if they could be hurt – an emotionless enemy, or one who couldn’t feel pain was the worst because they couldn’t react. They wouldn’t react no matter what, and you could never find their weak chinks until they were dead on the ground before you. Despite having fee qualms against killing, Sorano still preferred to get her work done through verbal means. She wasn’t known for her diplomatic skills for no reason.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Gabriella’s swords swing at her time and time again, the archangel pressing forward relentlessly. It seemed she’d chosen a bad opponent, hadn’t she? Sorano was barely able to fly out of her grasp each time those shining surfaces flew at her. Goddamn it, why was she so powerful? As a mage who was already very experienced and gifted with generous amounts of magical power, it was always a slight surprised when faced with opponents this strong. It had been a while since she was the underdog in a situation, and her mind took her back to those days of training with Anna Litbell, her first mentor in magic.

Sitting on a tree stump in that familiar little clearing, Anna had grinned mischievously at the quietly blinking Sorano. At that time, her emotions had only recently been locked away, and she was inexperienced with dealing with her own lack of response at anything. Looking up at Anna, the young woman had seemed like the most perfect person in the world, flipping her blonde ponytail confidently behind her as she smiled down at her. That day, Anna had been dressed in the clothes that came to inspire Sorano’s outfits when out on the field. A sturdy piece of leather, laced tightly with magically created strips of string wrapped around her stomach, over a crisp white blouse. The sleeves had been cut off to ensure easy movement, and long cutoff gloves of white and gold fabric stretched down from her upper bicep all the way to her fingers, looking sleek and professional on the older mage’s figure. Her blouse and outfit in general was all decorated in golden highlights, matching her golden locks. Unlike typical battle mages, Anna had always worn something akin to a skirt, a strip of golden and white cloth hanging down from the leather belt both over her front side and her back, allowing for free movement but also a distinct sense of style. Anna never did anything without looking her absolute best, after all, something Sorano had never quite learned from her.

With belts, two of them were slung across Anna’s hips, more for holding weapons and pouches than holding up her leggings, which were sleek, black, and tight-fitting. In fact, a pouch hung on both sides of her hips, attached tightly to the belts and holding all sorts of important supplies. Unlike Sorano, Anna was a battle mage who specialized in letter magic. She’d never learned mirror magic, and as such had to rely on more traditional methods of holding supplies. Tall boots stretching just above her knees, they were trimmed with gold strips, and equipped with spurs on the heels that sprung out whenever she hit the heels against something. Her hair itself seemed to be equipped with weapons as well, a battle mage being ready for any possible situation. Daringly, Anna had always worn her gorgeous locks up in a long ponytail, something your typical female warrior would never want to do. Hair was a very painful liability if pulled upon, and it was logical to cut it very short if not shaving it entirely, or to pin it tightly to your head. However, Anna had managed to develop a method of keeping it long and still being able to prevent this incident. Seeing, threaded throughout the locks were braided sections of hair, each embedded with a strip of sharp metal barbs, a slight current of electricity running across each. It was designed to be unable to hurt herself, but plenty able to cause harm to any opponents. Her earrings were of the same material, keeping opponents far away.

Beside her, on the ground, Sorano could see the woman’s quiver, decorated with the crest of her name in gold – she’d long since distanced herself from her family, whom she’d never been close with anyways. Within them were golden arrows fletched with magical feathers from her familiar – a golden firebird whose feathers could be used to ensure every arrow flew strong and straight. Her bow was there as well, short and sturdy and carved of strong oak wood. It gave off a golden shine, revealing that it too was magically effected to be virtually indestructible.

However, that was not the focus of today’s session. They’d learned the basics of using bow and arrows in battle, but now Sorano would be taught the basics of street fighting – just simply doing hand-to-hand combat with a stronger opponent. “Remember – it’s not about fighting honorably, Sorano. Your opponent is stronger than you – there’s almost no chance of winning by playing fairly! If you were to play fairly, you’d be dead in a matter of seconds, you hear?” Patting her on the back, Anna stood up, stretching slightly. “Come on, let’s get this started!”

“E-eh?” Surprised at the sudden charging of Anna, Sorano stumbled backwards, tripping over her own feet and landing in a heap at the mercy of her mentor. Anna didn’t slow her assault, though, springing over her figure and placing a single finger on her throat. “Don’t be so sloppy, Sorano! We’re fighting here, you know? You gotta learn to defend yourself!” Pulling the girl back up, Anna plopped down on the round. “Okay! You put your hand at my throat, and we’ll see who’s smarter here, hmm?” Awkwardly, Sorano placed her finger on Anna’s throat, screeching when Anna’s steel-toed boot tapped her in her…private place. Stumbling away, Sorano curled up in a ball, face red with embarrassment.

“See what I mean? You gotta do all the dirty you can, because that’s your best bet at beating a stronger opponent, yeah?” The blonde laughed easily at Sorano’s mortified expression, pulling her up from her crouched position. “You can do this, come on! I believe in you, okay, Sorano? You can’t let me down, right? I literally saved your life!”

Play as dirty as possible, huh? Letting out a soft breath, Sorano carefully sat down in the middle of the arena, feeling numb from the effects of this body. She’d never quite tried this before, but hey, it was worth an attempt, wasn’t it? Gabriella, seeing she had sat down, stood as well. An angel’s sense of honor was ridiculously powerful, and the archangel refused to play dirty in any way. It probably wasn’t anything that would improve her image in the eyes of these people, what she was planning on doing, but her survival was very important to her. She’d rather not be killed up here, wherever this was. Heaven? Who knew? Even if it was heaven, she somehow doubted the validity of this place. Carefully, she pushed her entire spiritual energy into the floor of the arena, totally disappearing from sight. She had no idea whether the angel was technically a mage or not – she used abilities similar to a mage’s, yes, but she couldn’t be sure. Still, even if Gabriella could sense her energy, she gave no implication of it, instead standing there, looking around with narrowed eyes.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Suddenly, she was everywhere, and she could feel everything. Gasping instinctively at the situation, she tried to use this new dimension of senses to figure out how to go about things. Eventually, she located the huge mass of energy that was the archangel she was after. Blocking every other angel’s presence out of her mind, and ignoring the dark shell that her slumped body was, she carefully gathered her power around the entire arena, spreading out the power with a simple thought. Perfect. Evenly distributed now, she suddenly pushed herself downwards, entrapping the archangel in a coating made of her own spiritual body. Screams emanated from all over the area, the archangel herself letting out a muffled gasp as the darkness of Sorano’s energy spread itself over the angel’s holy and pure entity. The contamination worked both ways, after all. Flinching at the pain of the holy light, Sorano forced herself continuously into the angel, slipping into her very being and gasping in pain even as Gabriella let out a terrible scream that seemed to break her eardrums. What she was doing was extremely risky – she knew that perfectly well, but she wasn’t going down without some sort of a fight.

Suddenly finding motivation through the pain, Gabriella reached up with her swords, trying to hack away the aural layer that covered her body. However, even as it sent jolts of pain through Sorano’s aural body, she was slicing into her own flesh as well, long gashes spilling out a shimmering scarlet blood. Somehow, she’d expected it to be gold or silver, but these ‘angels’ seemed to be much more human than she would have expected of such entities. Even as she flew up, Sorano’s aural mass stuck on, covering her wings with the mixed energy, and drawing that down as well. The angel desperately tried to cast spells, trying to purge the darkness, but Sorano was by now too much integrated with Gabriella’s body for her to possibly hurt her opponent without hurting herself in some way as well. Slowly, as Sorano spread throughout all her pores, her bloodstream, and filtered into her mind, the great angel slowly began to falter, crouching down on one knee and barely supporting her body with her great swords. By now, she must be in terrible agony, if the letter mage could guess from the pain she herself had experienced from the angel’s attacks.

Carefully, positioning herself to ensure she didn’t hit any vital organs, Sorano used the aural form to press sharp blades of the substance through Gabriella’s skin from the inside, creating cuts that spilled more of the shimmering liquid. The screams returned, anew, as if the audience could feel her pain just as much. After only a few of these, however, Sorano knew that it would be too dangerous for her to continue. Instead, she began to focus on the wings, pushing feathers out of their positions with slow, careful insertions of magic, even as Gabriella’s screams increased to a torturous volume.

Finally, after what felt like forever trying to uphold this aural form, the angel cried out into the heavens. “Please! Stop! I-I give up! Please, if you truly are not a demon, I believe you will be able to heed my request and release me from this agony!” Easing out almost instantly, Sorano pushed her aural form back into her body. Collapsing on the ground, Gabriella let out rushed, angry breaths of relief after the pain of so many impurities within her body. “Alas… The pain is sin and blemish… It is so great, I cannot imagine how anyone could possibly put up with it!” She wailed aloud, before a horde of angels rushed to her aid, applying their healing magic over her body to heal the few wounds that were actually inflicted. They would find that only minimal physical damage was actually done.

Slowly, aided by the use of powerful purging and healing magics supplied by the medical angels, Gabriella stood upright again, eyes looking hallowed her former beauty lowered by a good deal. “I…I had no idea.” Slowly, the angel approached the severely injured Sorano, who had barely managed to get up into a sitting position. “You… You’re not a demon after all, are you? You just have such terrible pain inside of you, all the time… Alas! We have been such selfish creatures!” Crying out in humiliation and shame at some strange reason that neither Sorano nor Hoshi could comprehend, she fell down before them, brilliant wings enclosing them. “My children of the worlds below, I apologize so sincerely. We have wronged you, I say. We have wronged you! We angels, we could never know the pain you experience constantly, that pain you feel from all your impurities on a daily basis. I pity you, yes I do, but I respect you also for being able to live with the curse of Adam and Eve. Alas, how are we meant to help in passing judgement if we know not how the ones we judge feel?”

With her proclamation, the audience murmured amongst themselves as well, slowly lowering their heads in deference. Slowly comprehending the situation, Sorano shivered as Gabriella laid her hands on the letter mage’s shoulders, sending a trickle of warm, comforting energy through her beaten body. Slowly, the bruises and cuts all over her body faded away, the pain melting into the comforting glow of the angel’s wings. Gabriella stepped away then, folding her arms before her and dipping her head. “I deeply regret my kinsmen and my misconceptions about who you are, and we promise we shall never make the same mistake again. Young lady, you have changed the way we operate forever.”

Sorano blinked again, still feeling slightly woozy and confused. Oh well, things were definitely going her way, and she was happy enough about that. “Oh, no problem… Could you please just let us go back, then? It would be the least you can do.” Honestly, she was tired, and she was dirty from the fighting. She could use with a nice, long nap, but it was obvious it wasn’t something coming anytime soon. “Oh, no! We have much, much more than that to gift to you!”

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Gabriella reached forward, clasping Sorano’s much smaller hands within her own. “Dearest child of the worlds below, we simply must compensate for our mistakes in some way. You cannot simply expect us to be able to live with this guilt within our bosoms! Please, we will give you anything you desire, anything at all!” The offer was certainly tempting. Sorano considered it for a moment, but shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. There’s nothing in particular on my mind right now. I’m living a life I’m fairly satisfied with right now, and I prefer to do things myself.” As usual, the letter mage was always a bit mistrustful of some things. She liked to get as much paperwork done as she could herself, and only trusted her aces to finish up the rest due to the long trust she had in them. She took some sort of weird emotionless pride in getting things done herself, and she knew it looked good to higher up mages and officials when she did so. This was no different.

Gabriella, however, was not particularly pleased, and let out a long sigh of disappointment. “But… I feel like this sin I have committed cannot be healed with so simple an act of sending you home!” Suddenly, a gasp was pushed from her mouth, and the angel pulled Sorano to her feet. “My dear child, I will teach you a special spell for you to use in times of danger, to summon one of us entities in a time of your greatest need. We will be there to protect you whenever you have need of it, I promise you!” Sorano tilted her head to the side slightly. This was actually a really good solution. Spells were always good to add to her inventory, and could easily be combined with her solid script to improve things. This looked good to her, so far.

“Alright, I’m good with that. Shall I just learn right here and now?”

“Of course! What better place could there be?” Gabriella carefully placed her wings over Sorano’s head, andshe felt a strange thrill of a foreign energy entering her body, taking root in her first origin. Interesting. She’d heard of such things happening with slayer mages when lacrimas were implanted within them, but never had she had a foreign power placed within herself. It was strangely thrilling, this sensation of gaining power. After all, what energy the angel was gifting her was quite a good amount, one that would easily make for a strong spell. After a few moments, Gabriella lifted her wings from the girl’s head, features serene once more. “There. I have gifted to you a connection us most angelic beings. With this magic, I grant you the ability to imbue this angelic energy into a spell of your own making. From your previous battles, I had gathered that you are a letter mage, am I right?”

Sorano nodded dumbly, still giddy with the rush of magic. “With this, you can craft any spell you wish out of it. It will increase your capacity in magic just enough to fit another powerful spell in, and should protect you from darker forces when using it. Perhaps you should give it a try?”

Again, the girl nodded, raising her head to focus on a point upon the ground. Doing her best to think of a spell as fast as she could, she decided to try adding angelic attributes onto another spell. Raising a hand, she scribbled out the letters for one of her spells, then focused, channeling the power from the angelic energy given to her into the letters. The stream of powerful energy wrapped itself around her, bathing her in its blue glow, but something was definitely different. A gasp came up from the audience, watching as the blue light suddenly flashed into a pure white, the stream of energy pushing away the shadows around her until it became almost painful to look at. “Oh jeezus Sorano, you scared me half to death, you know?” Hoshi’s voice came faintly from behind Sorano, who now cautiously extracted a whip of the material from the stream. Carefully directing it towards a spot in the center of the arena, she pulled it back, and struck, the light blinding as it tore into the arena floor. A burst of silence followed, and the whip disappeared, lessening the light somewhat. Instead, what had happened was that the spell had torn a perfect hole through the center of the arena, leaving no rough edges or rubble behind. It had also seemed to have amplified the abilities, strengthening the spell so that it caused far more damage than it would normally do. “Wow, that was pretty interesting,” she muttered, causing the snake of energy to disintegrate with a wave of her hand. The light faded away, and everyone was left blinking with confusion at what just happened.

“Well, that certainly makes for a powerful spell, but I don’t think it would be of much use in my usual jobs…” Pondering the question as the angels looked on, the letter mage proceeded to write in the air again, coming up with a new spell on the spot. She didn’t do this often, but it seemed like a good occasion for it. Carefully, she pressed her focus and concentration into the letters, pushing them out so they formed an umbrella over her head. Releasing the magical energy, a sudden rain of golden and white light fell down upon them, bathing the stands in the rays. A surge of peace and energy went through Sorano as one of the rays fell upon her, and happiness rose from people all around the stands as well. Being naturally curious about whether this effect could do anything else, the letter mage then conjured up a little creature of dark energy, sending it out beneath the rays. It easily melted away at the touch of one of them, and her answer was confirmed. A spell that operated a lot like one her light spell, except based on multiple hits as opposed to an area of effect. She could certainly work with this. Slowly, the dome faded, and she brushed her hands off. There. She’d found another spell to add to her inventory.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Sorano turned and bowed to the archangel, slightly surprised when Gabriella bowed back as well. “Is the magic to your satisfaction?”

The letter mage nodded diplomatically. “It will fit in perfectly, thanks for gifting it to me.” Turning around, she bowed to the audience of angels as well, knowing that polite etiquette would earn her more respect. Gabriella was already turning around, drawing a portal in the air in order to transfer them back home.

“Once again, child of the worlds below, we, the kingdom of the heavens bless you and thank you for teaching us about our faults and how we can better serve your people. Hopefully we will be able to make judgements with much clearer minds in the future, and we hope our people will continue to hold a peaceful relationship.”

Sorano nodded once more, then an idea came to mind. Perhaps she could get a bit more out of this situation as well. “Archangel Gabriella, would you mind listening to a particular idea I had that came to mind?” Already, her brain was turning, fixing down the details of the idea. She might even be able to elevate the guild’s position with this, right? She’d gain more positive recognition as well. “Would you consider forming a complete peaceful alliance between the heavens and our guild, Fairy Tail? As a sign for you newfound respect of us humble beings, it would be an excellent move on both our parts to secure this new view of us. It wouldn’t have to be much – just permission for Fairy Tail members to leave freely if they ever find themselves stuck here, as long as they show their mark, and our support for all of your species down on earth – we would provide shelter for them if they were in any danger. After all, angels are treated differently than they are up here – not everyone is as knowledgeable and respectable as I am.”

Gabriella pondered the point briefly, before answering. “I think we should actually simplify this – it would be difficult for us to provide support to everyone within this kingdom, and would be difficult for you to rush to the aid of all our species in your own realm. Instead, I think it would be better for us to simply use this as a diplomatic relationship that is mainly symbolic, and just treat each other nicely when we come in contact.”

Sorano nodded, liking this arrangement much more as well. Her decision had been made quickly, and it was obvious that no amount of fast thinking could beat more thought-out decisions. She reached over to roll up her sleeve, revealing the blue mark upon her shoulder. “Here is our guild’s mark, something for you to recognize.” She pulled a mirror out of the year, magicking it so it would reveal whether a stamp was real or fake. “Here you go. Simply reflect it in this glass, and you should have confirmation of whether a mark is real or not – one of these are as much a part of our body as our eyes or nose.”

The archangel took it in her palm, and shook Sorano’s hand in agreement. “Alright. We have us an agreement then. Wishing you pleasant and safe travels!” The guild master responded in kind, bowing multiple times on her way to the portal. Hoshi was already at the entrance, fluttering impatiently. She understood the importance of Sorano leaving good impressions and forming peaceful relationships in situations like these, but it took ages to talk something else, which was unbearable to the impatient creature. Waving one last time, Sorano would leap out the portal, the exceed close behind her. Another mission well down. As she plunked back down on that rural road, the letter mage reached down to see that something else had dropped with her. Pulling up a pouch, her eyes widened as she quickly opened it up. “Jewels?” A shocked gasp emanated from Hoshi’s mouth as well, and the two spilled the coins out, gaping at the amount. Evidently the angels had left them something else to take with them, and while it felt awkward, Sorano certainly wasn’t going to say no to them. After all, the efforts she had gone through in the whole ordeal were just as bad as bad as going through a tough job. Maybe she kinda deserved it too.

A yawn burst from her mouth, and the letter mage stuck it into one of her mirror containers. The whole thing had gone better than she hoped. While she’d had no idea she would be sucked into some random place in the middle of the road, she’d gotten a new spell, alliance with a whole kingdom, and money out of it as well. She’d even gotten to see Julius again, and met that odd man… Oh, right. They had disappeared, hadn’t they? She could only hope that they were transported back to Earthland, but they could have been illusions as well. Maybe created to try and reveal her demonic identity? If that was the case, then the angels were more clever than she would have expected. She had no doubt there were particularly intelligent people out of their kind, but their sense of honor was so strong that they would probably never resort to such levels. A soft sigh left her mouth, and Sorano rubbed her head wearily. It was probably better for her mental health if she were to put that behind her. She had enough problems to worry about now, anyways, as a new guild master. “Well Hoshi, there isn’t much else to do now except to go home, am I right?” The exceed smiled back, looking tired as well. “Alright. I’m so ready to get a shower, get all nice and warm, and go to sleep. It was interesting, but sleep sounds even more so right now.” And with that, they went back home.