Wanted! Hydro-Arsonist! (Samira/Lucius, Job)

Job Description:

Samira was a sort of person that could at times be very indecisive, especially when deciding on things she would rather not. The current spirits she was able to summon were not at all amused by her lack of resolve to train herself. She had the magical talent but lacked physical training and rarely took on jobs to continue building her experience. While she had the tolerance to ignore their nagging she knew very well they were correct in their line of thinking and opinion and so she had decided to take on a new job that would require some actual effort. The problem she was experiencing already was on what job to take. The young woman stood silently in front of the job board within the guild halls of Lamia Scale, staring at all the postings. Thirty minutes eventually passed without her taking much notice of the time and still she had yet to make a decision.

'Will you pick one already?! By this point I’d rather listen to you saying eenie meenie miney mo than the repetition of job listings. The more time you spend here is less time being somewhat useful.'

It would figure her less patient spirit would be the one to listen in on her current thoughts. No response was given and no further nagging came. She was alone in her thoughts once more. Letting out a small sigh, Samira reached out and tugged on one of the postings until it came off the board. It was some kind of wanted ad to kill or capture a dangerous man right there in Hargeon. No long travel required aside from getting more information from the town guards and finding the dangerous man himself. It seemed simple enough for any mage that was used to combat oriented tasks, but unfortunately even through her own confidence she was well aware that going alone was not the smartest move for her considering she lacked true combat tactics.

Her gaze went towards the other members of the guild that were around minding their own business. It would not hurt to possibly get the aid of another within the guild, and it would also not be the first time she took on a job with one. All she needed to do was find someone that was interested for one reason or another.

(Word Count: 391)

Just like with her decision of a job, it was taking her ages to decide on who to ask to accompany her. Aside from the member known as Kaori, Samira did not even know the names of the other members. Tragic. She was just about to shout within the room on needing a job partner to gain the attention of everyone at once when a man slightly taller than her approached, waving as he did so as a likely signal he was coming to speak with her rather than browse the board himself. Due to this, Samira did not go through with her plan and remained silent as he spoke. Was he offering to do the job with her?

"Hmmm." The woman stared at him for a moment with her green eyes, trying to get a read on him. The scarred face and strange eye were certainly characteristics that were interesting and probably had a story behind them. Most people likely found him to be a suspicious character on first appearances and the dark clothes certainly did not help with the image. However, she wasn't one to place too much thought on such assumptions and was mainly curious about those two traits that easily stood out. "You have a very unusual eye," Samira stated calmly as she stepped closer to get a better look with no thought about invading the man's personal space. While he may have thought his earlier question was weird, Samira did not nor did she think her fascination with the eye all of a sudden was abnormal.

"To answer your question, I require assistance on a job I wish to take, but I do not personally know many of the members here."

(Word Count: 286
Total So Far: 677)

"Abilities?" Samira asked after hearing the explanation of how the eye itself was actually artificial. It wasn't as interesting as it being a real eye, but if it contained some magical properties her curiosity and the want for knowledge made it so she was still interested in knowing more about it. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw the man's light up briefly but it wasn't until he confirmed her own magical abilities that she took a step back and allowed the both of them to have some personal space once more. As much as she could guess from the statement, the eye could scan what type of magic someone used at the very least. With the eye being artificial it was also likely it could do much more than what was demonstrated. Still, being able to know the magic of another without being told was a valuable skill and asset, and even if the other abilities were unknown to her at that current moment there was a chance she would find more about it later on given he had offered to tag along on her job.

"You would be correct. I see that eye of yours does have some useful qualities," Samira replied with a small smile, hiding the small amount of envy that coursed through her. Aside from being demonstrated or being told such information, Samira had no way of knowing beforehand important facts about others. Her ability to summon the spirits from her keys was all she could do and was probably the sole reason her spirits constantly scolded her for not getting stronger and learning more to defend herself. She certainly fit the stereotypical mage that was weak themselves and made for an easy target to bypass the stronger spirits. At least she found someone willing to do a job with her easily enough and it was someone that also seemed to lack many guild acquaintances.

"Well I suppose we are now considered a temporary team for this job. My name is Samira and you are already aware of my magic. It's all I can do, however. I am not yet experienced enough to have other magical abilities and my dealings with weapons are experimental at best." There were two weapons Samira had some practice in. One was a shotgun for when she did a job in the desert with another guild member and while she did have some instruction with the weapon she was far from being a master and even then she no longer had access to it anyway. The other was a pair of chakrams which she rarely carried with her. Her aim with them was terrible and any ally with her would be the ones injured instead of the enemy with the way her practice sessions had been going.

"I don't have a magic eye myself so you'll have to explain yours, Mr..." Samira then trailed off, allowing the one before her to introduce himself.

(Word Count: 493
Tota So Far: 1170)

Gravity magic? Well she certainly had not seen that type used before. She wondered in her mind just how that worked and what the effects looked like, but she saw no point in asking to get a quick answer for her imaginations. The magic would be shown soon enough once they got started with the job. A frown did cross her face as she looked at him in confusion when he asked her for a name. He must have not heard her say it during her rambling about her own abilities. Maybe more concise and to the point sentences were more effective when communicating with the man. "I look forward to seeing this Gravity Magic of yours, Lucius. My family name is Nassar, but I gather my first name would be more appropriate between guild members." She took a short pause, allowing her smile to return once more and adding a break between her sentences so her name would not be missed. "You may call me Samira."

No disappointment showed on her face when the other mage declined to openly share his backstory. A small laugh escaped her, finding the nice and respectable lady comment a bit humorous. While she was not evil by any means it was still funny and a little too trusting of him to assume such a thing in the span of a couple of minutes. Plus, she had not asked of the eye's origins just yet and she did not think the answer would come easily to begin with. No. First it was probably a good idea that she actually show him the information for the job he had agreed to. Then maybe along the way he could share a bit more about himself. "There is no offense. Your decision to keep it secret for now is a move I agree with. I do not always like information given to me so easily, after all, the fun is the hunt for knowledge, not the actual knowledge itself."

Samira held up the wanted poster she had pulled from the job board earlier before and flipped it so Lucius could read it. "This is the job I was thinking of doing. There does not seem to be much information here, but the town guard should at least have the location of where we need to go. What do you think?"

(Word Count: 393
Total So Far: 1563)

My, my, her current job companion sure had a knack for giving out apologies for such minor things. A little bit too well mannered. No matter. He seemed to share similar interests and qualities so, as far as she was concerned, they would get along just fine and maybe even enjoy completing the job. Her eyes blinked at the mention of the oxymoron, and she flipped the paper around to look at the title of the wanted poster she held. "So it is," she observed with a smile. That particular detail had been missed entirely by her and so she concluded in her mind that he was one that rarely passed over the smaller details even if it was just minor grammar. Information was being found out a little at a time and she was patient enough to be satisfied with that.

"Let us be on our way then," Samira said as she folded the wanted ad and made her way to the exit of the guild building, expecting the man she had been talking to before to follow her. Once outside she would head in the direction of the main building of the town guard but along the way a group of them were standing around an open manhole. There was also a crowd of normal civilians watching as a body was being pulled out of the sewers. It was covered, however, and Samira could not tell what exactly had happened to the corpse. She wondered if it had to do with the wanted person on the job ad. Since both of them were a part of the guild located right there in town she saw no reason not to inquire about it. "Excuse me," the woman said politely to one of the guards standing nearby to block the normal civilians from getting in the way. "My companion and I are mages from Lamia Scale. What has happened here? Does it have anything to do with the Hydro-Arsonist?" The wanted posted she had taken from the job board was then unfolded and held up for the guard to see.

At the mention of Lamia Scale the guard's attention immediately turned towards the two mages. He looked at the ad and then nodded. "About time the guild sent someone over. We've been pulling out corpses for weeks!"

"I see. Do you have any further information on him?" The wanted posted was folded up once more and placed with her pocket as she saw no further reason for its use.

"Aside from him being a killer?" The guard scoffed, clearly annoyed by being asked questions when he had no real answers. "Look, we don't have much intel on him. We're not even sure if we're right on the gender. All we know is that he likes to hang out in the sewers and the bodies that we pull up are burned, but not all them come from fire. We're thinking maybe a mix of fire and heated water."

Word Count: 498
Total So Far: 2061

Samira did not say a word as Lucius went to check over the body that had been pulled out the sewers. He may of been able to find more information that way as she questioned the guard. Silently she listened, paying no mind to the attitude that had been aimed towards her. So little information and yet the guard claimed the attacks had been going on for weeks. Was the Hydro Arsonist really that powerful as well as evasive? "Well that would explain the name, I suppose." The woman stated as she crossed her arms below her chest.

'It is enough to go on.' The voice of one of her spirits entered her mind, having heard her thoughts as it processed the information she had obtained from the guard. 'What concerns me is the location. It will be dark and even if you summon Nox her light will be temporary.'

"Yes, but if fire is being used then maybe we will run into a light source before she will have to return to the celestial realm."

'There is also...your condition.'

Samira bit her lip at the words. She had not realized when taking the job that she would need to enter the sewers. Closed off spaces, tunnels, small rooms, caves, all were things she normally avoided due to having a minor condition of claustrophobia.

'Lighten up, Sunshine. Our summoner will be fine! She's got us and a guild mate too. It's not like she is going to be crying in some corner the moment she gets down there, right?'

The first spirit sighed in exasperation. Samira had serious spirits like him so why was he the only one to ever speak his mind? He grew tired of having to deal with the more carefree ones. 'So be it. Just don't summon Agni. He will be useless.'

'I heard that!'

The green haired woman just shook her head after listening to the conversation. There were points to reason with from both sides and considering she was already there and dragged someone else along there was no reason to turn back. She just had to suppress her anxiety as much as she could until the Hydro Arsonist had been dealt with. "Lamia Scale will be handling this criminal. Keep everyone away from the sewers until we return." With her instructions given to the guard, Samira made her way over to the manhole where Lucius was already waiting. She stared at the opening and already she could feel herself feel a bit anxious even without entering. It was going to be quite a challenge completing the job before even reaching the enemy at that rate.

"It seems our target is somewhere in the sewers and may have a combination of fire and water magic. There really was not much else the guard could tell me. We may even be dealing with more than one enemy down there give the circumstances." She then turned to face the other mage. "Are you ready?"

(Word Count: 498
Total So Far: 2559)

12-29-19 Edit: Posts above this one complete the C rank group WC of 3000 for original turn in. New Samira WC starts with this post and ends here.
Word Count: 498

Samira gave a silent nod as Lucius decided to go down first. Even if she kept it to herself she was grateful for the extra time to mentally prepare herself without being seen by her fellow guildmate. She watched him climb down the ladder, disappearing into the darkness below. Another wave of tension went through her and her whole body was telling her to make a run for it and not go down. Her mind forcibly denied herself that instinct and she took a few deep breaths to keep herself calm.

'You will be alright, Samira.'

Another silent nod as one of her spirits comforted her. Soon after she heard the yell from the other mage, warning her of a small amount of water but otherwise nothing else noteworthy. Positioning herself so that she could place her feet on the ladder steps and grip onto the sides, Samira slowly made her way down into the sewer tunnels. One step at a time. One step at a time. Eventually she made it down to the bottom step and allowed herself to land on the watery ground with a small splash that echoed throughout the tunnels. She nervously gripped her left arm with her right hand but otherwise she kept her composure and followed along after the gravity mage. At least so far the sewer tunnels were not as dark as she originally thought they would be. Small lacrima powered lights hung on the walls and even though they were dim it still produced enough lighting so they were not walking around in pitch blackness. "Indeed," Samira agreed just before she was given a silent signal to stop. She did so without question and waited until an unfamiliar voice spoke. The water then began to move and a figure was formed from its surface.

Her green eyes blinked once the enemy had formed. She had expected something a little more intimidating but what stood before her was a cute little cuddly creature made of water. It seemed more huggable than dangerous to the point she managed a small chuckle. The creature heard the suppressed laugh and steam started to flow from its body as it grew angry.

"We can't have you mocking us either," the water spawn said as it sprayed a stream of scolding hot water at the two mages. Samira stepped to the side, barely avoiding the attack and could still feel the heat from the water as it passed. She went for the keys she had latched around a large keyring around her hip and took hold of one. With a quick motion, she slashed the key through the air and said the typical summoning phrase. "Open, gate of the Avatar, Goddess of Venom! Serqet!" With a flash of light a portal between the celestial realm and the normal plane appeared but it disappeared just as quickly with what seemed to be nothing exiting from it.

"Oh, you're summoning me first this time? How fun!" The spirit that had been summoned could not be seen through normal means. At least, not by those of equal power. She was temporarily invisible and even the water spawn was confused by the sudden voice of the being it could not see. It grew even more furious as the spirit laughed loudly. "Aw, come on, Samira. At least give me something that looks tough." The little spawn was threw with the mocking. It started to spray streams of scolding water everywhere in order to find the mysterious spirit but each time it would miss and would be followed by mocking phrases such as "missed me", "almost", and "nice try." Eventually the poor spawn split in two down the middle, having been slashed by the scorpion-like tail of the spirit. Her invisibility ended the moment she attacked and could clearly be seen standing in the water near where the water spawn had been.

"Aw, too fast." The spirit crossed her arms for a moment in temporary depression that lasted all of a few seconds before perking right back up and jumping towards her summoner. "You're doing great, my summoner! I knew you wouldn't go crying the moment you got down here!"

(Word Count: 697)

"Of course not." Samira replied to her spirit, slightly annoyed by Serqet mentioning something along the lines of crying just for being in the sewers. She recalled the conversation before but she didn't really take the statements before seriously. "And do try to have a little less fun at our expense." While she herself was fine from the attacks during her spirit's playful game with the water spawn it was hard not to notice poor Lucius being in the way of some of them. Well, it only made sense protecting her was more of a priority and he was more of an after thought. "Hmmm, only if he gets my name right. I'm an old spirit but even I don't know what a Sarquat is." Samira sighed. Yes, he did poorly pronounce the name and it reminded her of when he forgot her own name moments after she had introduced herself. The gravity mage must of been someone that either had short term memory loss or was just very bad with names in general. Still, he did compliment them and just as she was about to speak on that and press on further a much more intimidating voice echoed through the tunnels.

In short time the other mage was quick to react to a fireball that had originally been aimed her way and was followed by the destruction of the creature that had made the attack. Just earlier she had mentioned wanting to see just how gravity magic worked, but that was before she found herself traveling around the town's sewer tunnel system. Her mind was distracted and the small debris that had fallen from the attacks just made her imaginations go off into theories of cave ins and being stuck in the tunnels. "Huh?" Her attention came back when questioned over the enemy that had been defeated. A water elemental that had been on fire? Well it was clear it had been on fire and the remains were that of water. Peculiar. "I suppose so." Her eyes stared down at the water and once again it started to move and form into another creature. A small water spawn like the one before was beginning to form but now Samira was not amused by its cuteness. She was ready to leave that place and it was apparent that they needed to keep moving or they would be stuck there with an endless wave of elementals.

Samira walked over and simply stomped on the creature as it was half formed. It turned back into water but it reformed behind her and sprayed a stream of steaming water that was aimed for her but instead was blocked by Serqet, who moved in the line of fire of the attack. "Owwww!" The spirit had been burned by the watery attack and even her own body was steaming from high temperature. "That hurt!" Her golden scorpion tail swiped at the small water spawn several times in her anger and it became water once more. The spirit was weakened now and with the request of Samira she disappeared in a flash of light back to the celestial realm.

With the current spawns gone and her spirit recovering, Samira proceeded to walk further down the tunnels. "We should keep moving. If we do not we will eventually be swarmed." Her pace quickened but more for the fact of her rising anxiety than the reason she had stated.

(Word Count: 572)

Serqet Cd - 6

"Thank you for the consideration, but you will make my spirits jealous by saying such a thing," Samira replied with a small smile. The thought was appreciated, but she was not exactly a damsel in distress. Well she was a damsel and she did show some signs of distress, but it wasn't to the point of story book fantasy. She had to learn to overcome her fears, as well as her flaws, and allow herself to grow without depending on others all the time. There was also the fact her statement was more than just a small joke. Some of her spirits actually would get jealous and moody if they were not called on because some normal mage was protecting her instead.

They walked a bit further with Samira unaware of the mental conversation between Lucius and the mage spirit within. Although, if she had been a part of it she would of likely thought the conclusion made by the spirit was absolutely ridiculous. If she were afraid of water then she sure chose the wrong town and guild to be in considering the outside surroundings. The summoner came to a stop when Lucius tripped and soon began the small battle between he and the water spawn. Samira cringed slightly as she watched punch after punch make impact on the once cuddly creature until it perished. Such a method was completely unnecessary and very unpleasant to witness, especially given he had his magic. Surely he had not worn himself out just yet or maybe he was just saving his energy for when they found the criminal. Then he came out of the fight by saying it was fun. Fun? Likely the last thing she would of used to describe it.

'It is a logic among men. Do not try to understand it.'

'What?! You told me the other day cutting off both my heads would be the most fun you have had in years!'

'Yes. You males act like brutes and bash your opponents like primitives and call it fun. There is an art to using a weapon to slice your opponent in two.'

'What about the men that use weapons instead?'

'Secretly women.'

'Oh, so I'm either a primitive with low intellect, or I am very confused.'

'Precisely.'

'Are we really having this conversation when Samira is in the middle of a mission?'

The conversation cut off from Samira's mind and all she could do was shake her head. She was never alone with them around, but sometimes it was just too much. Luckily it was enough for her to just drop her opinions on how the monster had been dealt with and even more so allow for some of her anxiety to decrease due to the distraction. They continued once more and along the way she heard the man beside her actually state he would give more information about himself. That was quick. Had she really earned his trust so easily? She was clueless to the fact it was more of a motivator than anything but nonetheless it got what she wanted the moment she first saw that eye. "We shall have to do our best to survive then." The fears she had before temporarily subsided and was replaced with a wave of determination.

Before long an assault of fireballs sailed through the air towards the duo. They were bright as they flew towards them which made them easy to spot at a distance and avoid it. Samira quickly ducked, allowing the heated balls of fire to go past her. As she raised her head, her hand went for another one of her keys. “Open, gate of the Avatar, Goddess of Destruction! Kali!” She shouted as she stood up fully and called out to the spirit with the key held forward. A tall blue skinned woman with four arms appeared from within the portal and as soon as she arrived she did not hesitate to use one of her held scimitar to bat away another incoming fireball. "Am I really the only one available?" The spirit asked with a hint of annoyance. She could clearly see the fire spawn in the distance due to the glowing flame of its body. "Tch, and such a weak opponent as well." Regardless of her own frustrations Kali ran at full speed towards the elemental, using her scimitars to send the fireballs towards the tunnel walls. Once close enough, her third arm that held a trident threw the weapon at the creature but it evaded, its body turning into pure flame causing the weapon to sail right through it. Kali was having none of that. Activating her special move, her attack speed increased greatly and the two hands that each held a scimitar slashed wildly multiple times. Even though her blades would not hit the creature due to her distance, the speed of the attack created a wind force that was just as damaging. The wind moved the water within the sewer, and soon a wave of water was headed in the direction of the fire spawn. Upon impact, the fire of the spawn was put out as it became drenched and before it could ignite itself once more it was stabbed by the two scimitar Kali had previously wielded. She had thrown them in order to ensure a quick blow before it could turn into pure flame once more. The core of the elemental lit up and exploded, sending a small shockwave of heat in every direction. Luckily none had been near enough to take the full force of the explosion.

Kali retrieved her weapons and made her way back to Samira, ready to scold her for daring to summon her instead of using a weapon of her own. The spirit came to a stop when she noticed Lucious and sent a glare his way. "What is this?" She demanded while pointing one of her bladed weapons at him.

"You have been following the events from my thoughts since I took on this mission, have you not?" Samira was confused by her spirit's reaction and had no idea on what Kali had meant. The spirit had to of known all the details by now, including the fact she was on a mission with another guild member. She had even just been in the mental conversation moment prior.

"You are as blind as Serqet, who failed to mention this to the rest of us." Kali did not take her eyes off of Lucius as she spoke, but seeing as he was not a current threat she pulled back her weapon. Something was off about the man. He was human and a complete stranger, and yet something was familiar. It was almost as if there was another being attached to his own human spirit. She could not place it and therefore she did not trust him.

(Word Count: 1143)

Kali emitted a low growl at the strange mage's words. She was not satisfied nor did she appreciate the remark regarding her appearance even though she had plenty of self esteem. The temptation to eliminate him where he stood was great but judging by Samira's face the celestial spirit could tell the girl would not allow her to attempt it. Far too trusting or far too curious. Either one displeased and annoyed Kali. A voice then echoed within the tunnels, one that did match that of the earlier elementals. Samira narrowed her eyes, thinking. The voice sounded higher pitched than she thought would of come from the arsonist. Then again, the town guards did mention the gender information may of been incorrect.

"We need to find the source of the voice. It sounds like we are going to be toyed with before we are confronted," Samira told the others before all the small lacrima lights on the walls went out, leaving spirit and mage alike in complete darkness. "I grow weary of this. Summon someone else." Kali took initiative to depart the normal plane on her own. While she sounded heartless towards leaving her summoner in such a fate there also stood the fact she could not see in the dark and she would rather leave entirely than risk looking foolish. Kali did have a reputation to keep and she would not easily create a scenario for the others to mock her over.

The summoner's breathing hastened. Not only was she stuck underground in a sewer tunnel, but now there were no lights at all. She had to at least get some light. Her hands went for the keyring that was attached to the loop of her pants and completely took the whole thing off. Even though she couldn't see, she could still feel the shape of the keys. Each one was different and it should of been easy to find the one containing Nox. Unfortunately, in her panic she dropped all of the keys and heard them splash into the shallow water they stood in. "My keys!" Now it was time to panic more. She and her spirits were not at the point where they could just appear on their own even if they could leave just fine. They needed to be called! Samira got down on her knees and started to sift through the water to try to find them, paying no mind to anything else that was going on around her.

"Aw, lose something, sweetie? I'll make a little light for you." A large amount of fire then went through the tunnel towards their location, with the attacker's location still hidden somewhere in the distance.

MP: 85

Serqet CD - 4
Kali CD - 5

WC: 448