Anime/Manga: Divine❃Rose

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Zephyr waited til the current conversation had come to a close before speaking up himself. "Hey Midarah, can I speak with you in private when we get back." The ominous warning that the spider demon had left them was still on his mind, which at the very least was something Midarah should know about. That said, when he'd it aloud he wouldn't be surprised if everyone was wondering what it was now. Even still there wasn't much that could be done about that. Zephyr still sat by awaiting his answer.

 

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When Izra had hugged him he was a bit surprised. "You saved us we should be thanaking you," he said with a smile. He watched as Thea got into the carriage and fall asleep. When Zephyr had asked to speak to Midarah about something he did not think to much about it. Zephyr did have a mystery about him.

 

Yukyo put his arms behind his head as he smiled while the cats kept pouncing on Everette. Everette struggled but managed to continue pushing the cats off him. "Please call the cats off and just tell me what you learned, please." Yukyo looked over to Everette and saw exhaustion written over his face. He sighed before telling the cats to hold off their strike. "You're no fun but whatever. Take five guys." He decided to help Everette up to his feet. "Oh well. Might as well explain myself." She shrugged his shoulders before going over to Everette and putting an arm around his shoulders. "Well dear Eve. It seems that our dear Sammy Sam is..........." He paused for a dramatic effect before continuing. "Is...." He paused again before letting go and standing in front of him. "VERY LOADED!! And~!! He has a sister!! Did ya know that??" Yukyo raised his arms into the air fro an added effect as he explained what he knew. "I was very surprised to hear about that. To think dear Samuel was loaded!!! And has a sister!! Very interesting!!" Yukyo put both arms at his hips as he nodded his head.
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Conrad listened tentatively to the information he was receiving, he was visibly shocked by hearing the Guild name as he had a run in with them several years ago, a run in which had lead him to this guild. He looked to Lakoda for a moment and took a moment to calm down and gather himself while listening to Lakoda pitching in and looking at the picture she had drawn. "I agree, we ought to let Samuel rest for now and he can be informed later." Conrad said, looking at the picture again, it was exactly like the mark he had seen on the giant serpent and now that he had a name with the mark it explained why he felt like he had seen it before. Because he had seen it before, but the memory had been buried beneath newer ones and he couldn't place it. "I saw that mark on the back of the serpent... it may be pure coincidence, but I am sure I saw that mark too..." Conrad said, he wasn't going to mentioned recalling the name or now recognizing the symbol that lay before him to just about anyone. He needed to swap some thoughts with Lakoda on the matter later, perhaps even bring this to Midarah's attention.​

 

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The carriage ride back was peaceful enough, with all the excitement of the day winding down. Once they arrived at the Guild, they were met by Nagata who had returned from a mission, and carried Thea to bed. Izra was shown where she would be sleeping and was given a change of clothes, pajamas, basic hygiene products, and a warm meal to fill her stomach. Everyone had officially settled in for the evening, and Master Midarah had retired to her office to speak with Zephyr.

Spoiler: Conversation with Master Midarah and Zephyr

The young master had her rabbit in her arms, stroking its fur gently as she offered a place for Zephyr to sit in a comfrotable dark cherry-wood chair with red pillows on the bottom and the shoulders to make it more comfortable. "Now," the master said as she sat down in a matching chair herself right across from the teenager. The desk was right by her, for she liked to keep an open space between her and her guild mates as much as possible when speaking to them. "What would you like to discuss with me?" Master Midarah inquired as she rhythmically pet Artemis.

Once Midarah herself had gotten situated, Zephyr took the time to sit down in the seat offered to him. It took a bit for him to get comfortable, but that also could've been because of what it was that he wanted to get off his chest. He finally sat still and turned his attention in Midarah's direction. "It's about the Thea, Gavin and I went on. How much about it were you told by the magic council?"

"I was told all that had transpired from the report that was given. That your mission was not what it was written to be, that children had been sacrificed for some time in that village..." Midarah spoke grimly as her heart felt heavy from the circumstances. "And for some reason, the message that was said to have been sent several times to call for help didn't reach their ears. They were afraid there were dark connections afoot, and the Mayor and his people were not acting alone. Thus is why they were reluctant to let Izra go... Though it appears she had completely severed her own ties to the Dark Guild she was previously aligned with. What is on your mind?" Master Midarah coaxed again, looking up at Zephyr while still holding her pet.

As Midarah had recap everything that had occurred on their mission, Zephyr himself was further collecting his thoughts. Though it was really more mental preparations for what he had to say. Part of him still felt unsure about telling this to anyone, least right away and at the same time he knew he'd feel worse should something happen as a result of his silence. Moments passed and Zephyr let out a sigh, ready to continue. "After the demon was dealt with, she'd left a warning of sorts to me. Someone or something is looking to attack the guild, to attack us!"

Master Midarah frowned and stopped her motions, causing Artemis to lift his sleepy head to look up at her. "Zephyr, did she said who or what would be preparing an attack on us...?" she asked calmly. She wanted to hear her guild mate out and not to brush things aside. The Divine Rose had very few enemies as far as anyone was aware, but it was better safe than sorry to be on the cautious side.

"She didn't," Zephyr said. Her words had been dancing about in his head since he was first told them. He'd remember if there was a certain name mentioned. "She only said that they would pluck us off one by one." Repeating those words had caused Zephyr to shift uncomfortably in his seat and what really had him on edge.

Master Midarah could see that her guildmate was troubled by this, and her heart went out to him. She practically raised him since his arrival here, along with some other guild members. She arose from her seat, carefully setting the rabbit down before approaching Zephyr and crouching in front of him. “We will handle this,” she assured him. “It could be an empty threat, or it could actually mean something. Whatever the case may be, we will keep watch. It’s too soon to say anything, but that doesn’t mean we will brush it off.” She placed a hand on Zephyr’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly while trying to give him a reassuring smile. “The Divine Rose will handle whatever threat will come... rest assured.” She then stood back up slowly, and then glanced to the outside window. “It’s close to nightfall now... will you be able to sleep alright?”

The reassuring smile and comforting squeeze to his shoulder did ease some of his worries. It was the actions he'd imagine a mother giving to her young which was fitting given that Midarah was the closest thing to a mother he's had. He appreciated this, all of this from the bottom of his heart. "I know." Zephyr allowed the ease to remain with him as he spoke once again. "I'll be fine, thanks."

“Alright...” Master Midarah smiled gently at him and nodded her head to him. “Then go wash up and rest well, young one. If you need to talk to me or you have trouble sleeping, you know where to find me.”

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The forest itself created a lonely spooky vibe to it. More so with the rolling, evening fog and the sounds of nature echoing here and there; a hoot of an owl, a howl of a lone wolf, sounds of bugs and frogs echoing off of each other.

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Three cloaked figures stepped through the forest, meeting in the middle. As they approached, the forest seemed to grow eerily still.

There were sounds of clumsy feet pushing through the brush and snapping the twigs under heavy feet. The figure on the farthest right was about to step forward when the one in the middle raised up a hand. All looked to the direction of the thickets that were swaying and rustling erratically as someone stumbled through.

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Mayor Nudgav’s chest heaved up and down as he tried to catch his breath. Twigs and leaves were sticking out of his curly, grey hair, his clothes were ripped and torn in various places, and he was splashed in mud and swamp water.

“To think you would be brave enough to show your face here…” The one on the left darkly stated.

“It was not to be this way!” the mayor spat as he regained his bearings and stood on his feet. “You promised the demon would be strong enough to sustain my town and kill all trespassers.”

“And she served her purpose well,” the one on the right responded with a sly grin. “There was nothing in the contract of our demon stopping guild mages. The child that was causing your sacrifices to slow was the product of your own doing. Not ours… You were to rely on the demon or seek to destroy the rat yourself.”

“Your foolish job almost had us exposed.”

“Enough,” the one in the middle finally spoke up. “You’re giving this poor man a hard time… He surely deserves a drink after the rough day he had.” They then produced a water pouch with a silver goblet, filling it up and handing it to the mayor who took it and drank it up hungrily.

“Th-thank you,” the Mayor gasped between gulps. “I will fix this somehow. It will all be forgotten about.”

“Oh, you’re right,” the one in the middle replied. “It will be forgotten.”

Just then the mayor began to gag and hold his throat. He was unable to breathe and reached out in agony to those in front of them. They looked on, uncaring, amused, or stone-cold. “You’ve done enough damage, old friend. It’s time for you to rest now…” As the mayor sunk to his knees and then fell face forward to the ground, the one in the middle looked to the others. “And what of Rezit? How did their mission turn out?”

“The snake perished, my lord. A guild by the name of Divine Rose took on the job and slayed the beast.”

The man in the middle tilted his head in curiosity. “The Divine Rose you say? Hmm… Most curious... And you. What have you heard of the amulet? Was it retrieved by Jy, Reuben, and Lytton.”

“No my lord,” the one on the left responded. “They were stopped by mages of... er... I believe it was also the Divine Rose?”

“That guild name again…” The man let out a laugh, grabbing at his head and shaking it. “Ah, the Divine Rose… Such fond memories of that quaint place.”

The mayor was gasping out his last breaths of air as vines suddenly erupted from the ground, covering the mayor’s warm body and pulling it into the fog. The middle man chuckled darkly and placed his hand on his hip. “I’ll be damned… It’s only fate we met them of all guilds. Tell the others to keep an eye on them. They are no threat to us so far, just mere nuisances. As for the traitor… She’s in the hands of the Magic Council now.” He gritted his teeth and turned to face the full moon. “That’ll will have to be taken care of in due time. For now, we carry on normally…”

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A few days had gone by since everyone returned from their missions. All reports should had been turned in by then, and Master Midarah had been reviewing them. It was quietly in the abode, rather chilly too. Fall was around the corner, and it was still a little too warm to light the fireplaces. Still, the rooms stayed comfortably cozy to say the least.

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Lakoda walked down to the Main Hall, yawned soundlessly while stretching her arms above her head. She then smacked her lips and followed her nose to the smell of breakfast. She went to grab a bowl of bacon, eggs, and hash browns when she noticed the job board. "Oh, new jobs..." Lakoda walked over to the board with her bowl in hand, picking at bits of bacon and nibbling on them. She scanned over the ones that were sitting up there; one of them was oldish, two of them were surely new. She scrunched her nose at the fishing job, seeing how much jewels were offered. She nearly spat out her breakfast and did a double take. Guild mates would be set for life on rent!

But then another mission caught her eye. She read the first few lines, and then suddenly felt her blood grow cold. She placed her breakfast down on the the table, reaching to the job and gently tugging it off the board. Her eyes read and reread the mission over and over again until realization settled in. Food forgotten, Lakoda gripped the job in her hands and beeline out of the Guild Hall to go find Conrad.

 

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He got into the carriage, which was a peaceful enough ride back to the guildhall. He silently watched as Zephyr and Midarah went off to talk. We stood there for a moment and wondered why he was not invited to join them. Then they thought that everyone had a secret came into his mind. No one seemed to have noticed that Maidarah had gone off with them. Entering the guild hall he noticed that the other two groups were back from there mission. Not really getting a chance to talk to them about what happened on there missions. He knew that what happened on the mission he was just on would get out. There was also a new person in the guild and they could not hide that fact. The one thing that could be hidden would be the fact that Izra was apart of a dark guild. He did not see telling the others going over all to well. That said he did not see a reason not to tell them. All he knew was he was going to leave it up to Izra to tell people. If she wanted to tell people then that was fine and if not that was also fine. He did not bother looking at the jobs when he entered the guild hall as he looked at it when he had left to go get Izra. There was one about a pet and another one about fishing that had a lot of Jewels attached to it. The amount of Jewels seem rather odd and screamed trap to him. With everyone talking to each other or off by themselves he figured that it was time for bed. The first day went by fast with nothing to note but the odd dream he had that night. He could not remember mach about it other then he was someplace dark. He woke up the second day and had the same dream but this time he could see trees. Everything was pitch black. There was some figures that he could not make out and he felt the need to run so he did. he went through where ever he was only to see another person in the shadows. This time he was able to make out that the person was female. He got the sense she was looking for something or someone. That see needed help but then he woke up and did not thing much more about it.

He stood by his desk with a black sheet of paper laying on it. The only thing visible was the words Divine rose. Putting the paper way and walking over to the window he wondered what he should do. The last two days nothing really happened and he was staring to get board with not doing anything. He knew of the job that he was going to take the only problem was finding people to go with him. At this point he thought about joining Zephyr in the training hall. After the last mission it would not hurt to stay on top of things.

 

Yukyo sighed as Everette responded to his exciting news. He crossed his arms in disappointment before letting out an exaggerating sigh. "Well that's anti-climatic....sigh...Well there goes my fun." Yukyo shrugged his shoulders before starting to make his way out of Everette's room. "Well....enjoy your rest, Sleeping Beauty. Come on guys, we gotta find a new target. Unless some of you guys want stay with Sleepy over there." Yukyo exited Everette's room along with some of the cats while 2 or 3 of them stayed behind. Once Yukyo closed his door, he tried to think of another plan. Another idea had struck through him. "Alrighty my feline friends....Your mission.....Roam through the guild hall!!" Yukyo pointed his finger up to the sky as he placed on hand on his hip. The cats nodded their head as they ran off into different directions. "It's fun being me sometimes but it can be so exhausting but it's worth it..." Yukyo felt his tail swish from side to side as he made his way to the Job Board. He glanced over it and saw one job was filled to the brim. "Well that's not happening....Oh well." He shrugged his shoulders before over-hearing Thea. "Um, does anyone want to do this with me?" The young man looked over and saw the job was to pet-sit. He shrugged his shoulder before ruffling her hair. "Why not? Shouldn't be too hard..."Yukyo then recalled his last job before quickly knocking on wood. He decided to take the pet-sitting job and join Thea for said job.
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His conversation with Midarah did help him feel at ease, the underlying concern he felt was still there and not going anywhere anytime soon. Zephyr managed to distract himself from it over the coming days with a variety of things. His usually training routine with the occasional new thing thrown in there to help with his magic, plus speaking with Izra. All this had made it so his worries were not at the top of his mind, but unfortunately, there were still there, leaving him with little to do beyond trust in Midarah's words and not dwell on this.

Now, however, Zephyr found himself in a new predicament, he had no idea what to do right now. He didn't feel like training right now, nor did he wish to visit the library. He'd ponder on this as he walked towards the main hall and stopped upon hearing a small mewl in front of him. The reason being that there was a little kitten in front of him, staring at him. Zephyr stared back at the kitten, then the latter walked up to his leg and rubbed its head against him. Crouching down, Zephyr picked up the kitten and it very quickly found its way to his shoulder and perched up there. This seemed like something Yukyo would know about this.

The stray kitten had effectively given him something to do as he made his way down to the main hall, he spotted Yukyo by the job board next to Thea. He still needed to get a look at those anyway, but first thing first. "Hey Yukyo, you have something to do with this?" Zephyr motioned to the kitten that was still comfortably perched on his shoulder.

 

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Knowing what job he wanted to go on he figured that it was time to look for someone to go with him. Pet sitting would be a nice relaxing job or so he hoped. With the way things happened on the last mission he would not be the bit surprised in something happening. He knew that some sort of animal magic might be helpful on this mission so he figured that he should ask Yukyo to go with him. Leaving his room and deciding on going for a short walk around the castle would not hurt. He wanted to stop by the training hall anyways to see if Zephyr was there anyways. Walking out of his room and down the hall he felt like he did not sleep for a few days. He could not help but to think about the dream he had the last two nights. He wondered what it all met but then the thought of it was just a dream came to his head and he continued on his way to the training hall. Once there he saw that he was completely unused and empty. In fact it liked like it was not used in at least a day and a half. He did not think Zephyr would miss a day but he figured that he should just go ask him when he saw him. He was bound to run into him at some point. He continued on his way and headed towards the job boards.

He got there and saw Thea, Yukyo and Zephyr standing by the board. Glancing at the bored he noticed that two jobs were missing one of which was in Thea's hand. This met only one thing at that was there was a third job at some point and he wounded what it was. He turned to Zephyr and asked, "Is everything alright? I stopped by the training hall and did not see you there. In fact it looked like it was not used. If you want to talk I am here." He did not know what else to say at the moment. He then looked at Thea who looked to be healing alight. He did not know what to really say to her. "Hi Thea good to see you." He then gave Yukyo a simple nod to say hello. Then he waited for something to happen.

 

He had been doing nothing for a few days with Midarah finally back he could talk to her, but given what they just learned it was highly possible she didn't know anything at all so he decided to wright her a letter:

Spoiler: letter

In my mission,we ran into two people and a bird, there names were were Reuben, Lytton, and Jy. They are from a dark guild named hydra claw. Conrad mentioned that the mark from that guild was probably on a serpent he fought on his mission. Wanted to see what other information you could gather from this information ~ Shawn

He ended up putting the letter in MIdarah office where she would see it. He didn't feel like mentioning the fact that they already had a member of this dark guild inside there guild with information spreading like wildfire. He walked to the job board passing everyone there reading what was there with the pet sitting one gone which was probably in Thea's hand. "I'll go with you Thea if that's the pet sitting mission." He really didn't feel like saying much of anything else.

 

Conrad had some more food with Lakoda and Shawn, that evening Conrad had asked Lakoda if she had a moment and since the two of them were partners since Conrad had gotten here she could talk to him. He told her about the mark and how it had been there four years ago with the mages he fought. Why the mark had been familiar when she had drawn it and the name tying it all together. Following her advice Conrad went to Midarah with the information. It wasn't the first time he had raised his concerns with the Guild master and like before she listened and put his mind to rest. Not long after Conrad himself took his well-deserved rest.

Over the next several days Conrad busied himself with making up his report leaving out no details, he also spent his time training and studying the book that Shawn had given him, there wasn't too much useful information in there but he still went over it as the subject intrigued him. Conrad had slept in a bit that morning due to having stayed up late studying the tome. He freshened himself up and got ready for the day. Leaving his room to head for the main hall he ran into Lakoda she seemed a little shaken. "Good morning, Lakoda. Is everything alright? You seem a little shaken." Conrad asked her, he saw the paper she was clutching in her hands, she had been on her way to find him by the looks of things that meant it was going to be important.​

 

Yukyo looked over to see Zephyr with a small kitten perched on his shoulder. He refrained himself from laughing as he spoke. "I see you made a new friend." "Hey Yukyo, you have something to do with this?" Yukyo remained silent for a moment as he tried to come up with a response. "I feel offended good sir!! Wounded truly. Why in the world would I have anything to do with this? Absurd really." Just then, a few cats went over to Yukyo, rubbing against his legs. "Ummm.......I can explain." Yukyo then looked at the job board again until one word stood out to him.....Fish....It was as if his eyes became stars as he just stared at that one word. "FORGET THE PET!!!! WHERE ARE THE FISHES AT?!?!?!" He looked at the board again before seeing he would need at least one other person with him. He immediately looked at Thea before composing himself. He bent down to Thea's level before speaking. "So Thea, how would you like to go to the ocean with me for this job? We'll get to see the ocean, see the pretty water, see some tasty- I mean pretty fish. Would you like to accompany me on this job?" He smiled at her to try and convince her to join him.
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Lakoda was grateful to run into Conrad. She immediately handed him the slip of paper and began to sign without using the charm to translate what she was saying. "It's her. I know it is. After all the searching, this HAS to be her." Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her hands moved with vigor behind the words. "The words, how they're describing what's happening, 'voices of loved ones but not finding them', 'a maiden singing'... that has to be my voice!" It was about ten years ago her voice was taken from her, and her life turned completely upside down. The only ones to know her true story were those who had been in the guild the longest, one of them being Conrad. She rarely opened up about that night to those just coming in. It took her years to feel included within the guild and to be trusted with everyone else besides Master Midarah, Samuel, Everette, and a handful of others.

 

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Lakoda turned to where she felt the hand on her shoulder, seeing Everette being there. She bit her lower lip, wondering how to answer him. She was hopeful this was the hag that took her voice, but she was also skeptical and frightened this could actually be it this time. She pointed to the paper she handed Conrad and began signing again. ‘There was a job posted this morning. It sounds very close to the hag, that awful creature who took my voice and murdered my family.’ Her hands began to shake as well as her breath as she realized she finally found the thing that she had been searching for years. It was too good to be true, but this description of this creature couldn’t have been more close to the hag than the other jobs she and Conrad took up in the past. ‘I have to take this job. This could be it. I could get my voice back.’

 

When she handed him the paper it soon proved him right. This was important, he followed the signing that she did and read the job posting again and she was right the descriptions seemed in line with what she said and the story she had told him four years ago after their first mission had gone so wrong Midarah had to come get them. "It most certainly seems to point in that direction, Lakoda, this is the best lead we have had since we started our hunt." Conrad signed, Everette joined them asking what was going on. "I am going with you on this mission, there is nothing you can say or do to change my mind about that. I promised you I'd go with you and be by your side when confronting her, remember?" Conrad remembered the promise he had made Midarah too, it was the same he had made Lakoda, that he'd be there with her to find that hag. It had lead them on a few missions together, all false leads. He had silently sworn bloody vengeance on the hag for what she had done to Lakoda and if he closed his eyes he could still see her tired and tear-stained face as she had knocked on his door in the dead of night. "I understand completely Lakoda, I'll go with you, no doubt about that. Everette will you join us too?" Conrad asked continuing to sign, he knew Everette was another person in Lakoda's circle of trusted friends and he figured they could use the extra manpower here. The day was finally here then, he had alays remained optimistic about getting Lakoda's voice back and now they had a real chance at it, deep inside of him he felt something stir in anticipation, but Conrad wasn't going to make use of that power unless absolutely necessary.​

 

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“I didn’t doubt you for a minute you are coming with me,” she signed with a small smile. She then looked to Everette when Conrad asked him if he would come along with them. His response caused her to tear up, and she immediately hugged him tight. “Thank you,” her charm rang out as she kept him close to her. Everette had been with her since the beginning of her journey here in the Divine Rose. He even opted to learn sign language along side her, giving her a person to talk to as well as be her voice the first couple years here. When she became strong enough, he found her the charm she wore around her neck so she could “communicate” to others without worrying about them not understanding her. Not everyone was eager to learn sign language like Everette was

Lakoda finally let go of him and wiped away her tears before hugging Conrad as well. “Thank you,” her charm said again. “Both of you... I wouldn’t be able to do this alone.” She let go of him and looked to each of them before stepping back. "I'm going to find Master Midarah to approve us for the mission. As soon as that happens, I'll pack up and be ready to leave soon afterwards. She couldn't afford to wait another day to go by with this monster on the lose. Especially if she was still wrecking havoc. "I'll come find you in a moment."

With that, Lakoda bounded off back to the Guild Hall to find Master Midarah. When she came through the double doors, she realized the Master wasn't sitting at her usual spot by the fire. Perplexed, Lakoda turned to leave, wondering where the master could be at... As she was wandering down the hallway to figure out where to go, Lakoda spotted a familiar face. "Maria, have you seen Master Midarah? I'm looking for her to approve for a job," she said with her charm as well as signed.