Anime/Manga: Divine❃Rose

Yukyo continued running and saw a bridge just up ahead. As he continued to run, eggs had begun to rain down and explode into smoke. The horse beside him had immediately stopped in fear. Yukyo turned his head up and saw a large parrot high above them. "The world? What is that?" The parrot began to shoot more eggs. The eggs had then turned into fists, coming towards them as if it was a missile. He looked to the other horse who were still frightened. He looked back to see Shawn throw a spear at the parrot. In his horse form, he jumped up and as the spear was still flying through. He transformed back into his usual self, using his sword sheath, he used it as a bat and swung at the end of the spear to make sure it hit the parrot. "No hard feelings! Just not a huge fan of birds!!"​

 

A Price Unpaid- Gavin, Zephyr, Thea

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"Good choice," Kyo said to Zephyr. "Although you are from out of town are are considered as guests, you will still have to abide to the rules of the town. Even guests cannot venture out of town past curfew and should stay in their place of residence... Unless the warning bell rings. You can obtain special permission to venture on the streets after curfew, but out of town is out of the question. Too many people have fallen victim to the swamps and the creatures that lurk out there."

He led the group out of the Town Hall and passed the iron gates, which were locked tightly behind them. Kyo straightened his jacket and then brushed it out. "Alright, shall we be on our way to the inn?"

Kyo led them back to the Inn, and as promised, there was a mother cat with a kitten to play with for Thea. There were even some cat toys in the corner for the feline residences to play with guests. Dinner was made and served up to the mages, which was a hearty beef stew with potatoes, carrots, basil, and bay leaves. They would have the chance to discuss their finds and what they have learned collectively all together from the visit to the Town Hall.

As time went on, bells went off to signal everyone that it was 9pm and it was time to be indoors. The mages from the Divine Rose had a special, written permission to be out on the streets at this time if they so chose to.

Everything was uneventful until witching hour came... around 3am.

If everyone was asleep by that time, they would have been alerted to the ringing bells of the clock tower going off, warning everyone there was an intruder on the streets.

Guards were suddenly flooding out of the alleyways and towards the town-hall with torches lit and weapons in hand.

A faint flute music could be heard, and fog was rolling in from the north part of the town. The fog began to pour into the streets, making it hard for anyone to see at least five feet in front of them. It was going quickly towards the town hall to where the guards were going, almost obscuring the group and making their grouping difficult to pair up in.

The sound of a flute suddenly sounded off, yet it was hard to pin point for it seemed to echo EVERYWHERE.

It could have been at the Town Hall, or it could have been at the clock tower. Either way, time was ticking fast to stop this Necos...

The Mages have a few choices to go to; Town Hall or Clock Tower are their best options.

Village in Peril- Conrad, Everette, Samuel

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Samuel nodded his head to the boys. "Thanks, I really appreciate it..." He was kicking himself a bit for being this weak, but Master Midarah instilled in his head that he was making leaps and strides he never had before with his magic. He was more than ready for S-Class, but he didn't feel like it. After hearing the stories about his brother and how he carried himself here in Divine Rose, he didn't feel quite ready to take that mantle up yet. "The river can be saved for later, like you guys said... If we go there now, I'll just hold you guys back by walking slow. Testing these samples is a good idea."

Renza couldn't help but to overhear and stood up with the stick in her hand. "We can go to my house," Renza offered. "No one is there but me. And there's a nice picnic table and bench outside in the yard for you to sit." She smiled shyly and then moved to head in that direction. "Come on! I won't mind if you hang around with me! Everyone else is busy, sick, or sad right now, and I was asked to help out. Let's go!"

Samuel looked over at the other two boys. He smiled and shrugged a little while following after the girl. "Renza's house it is... Unless you guys want to go anywhere else."

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Delivery of Cakes- Shawn, Yukyo, Lakoda

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Lakoda could see that Shawn was trying to make it clear in front of them, but there was nothing being done with the huge fists coming towards them. She could speed forward and hope not to get hit, but it seemed like the huge... parrot-thing timed it so they would get hit even if she was able to get the horses to go fast enough. "We're stopping!" She called out. She brought the cart to a complete stop and then quickly stood up. She made a large magic circle above her, and then unleashed her Sonic Scream magic. The sound waves traveled up like an umbrella over the carriage towards the egg fists coming down towards them in shrill, high pitched frequencies. The egg fists shook a moment, and then broke apart in the air, making globs of eggs fall harmlessly around them. The attack didn't reach where the spear was heading towards, nor Yukyo who was helping with the attack.
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The bird saw the spear coming towards him and cawed loudly that sounded close to a cackle. "Ha! Egg Wall!" With that being said, the bird shot out numerous amounts of eggs at once from his mouth, which then fell apart quickly and made a globby wall that fused together in the air and became solid. The spear ended up implanting itself within the wall instead, the tip of it barely poking through the other side. "CAW! MISSED!" The wall then fell towards the water.

Lakoda was clenching her fist as she saw what Shawn and Yukyo were up to. Good, we can get away while he's distracted-

A sudden blur swooshed by the wagon, and Lakoda suddenly disappeared from where she was standing moments ago.


She suddenly reappeared in front of the wagon, standing against a young man with blond hair and a hood on his head. A knife was suddenly pressed to her neck, and Lakoda stiffened.

"If you don't want your friend's throat here to be slit, surrender now!"
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Back at the inn, Zephyr hadn't done much outside of sit back in a nearby chair and try to sort through he information that he was given while at the town hall. He was pretty focused on his thought, thus didn't notice at all when a kitten had made its way over to where he was sitting. When it rubbed against his leg though, he did notice and looked down at the small animal. After meeting its gaze for a few seconds, Zephyr ended up picking it up and playing with it in his lap. He felt odd about being treated dinner, but didn't have it in him to decline their offer so he simply ate what was before him.

Afterwards Zephyr didn't sleep, in fact he didn't have any plans on doing so. He stood by the window to catch sight of the first hint of fog. That would be when he would head off on his own to find the flute player. Therefore he was caught off guard when the bells started ringing. Following that shock, he spotted the fog rolling in outside and quickly made his way out there right after Thea. He knew that the town hall and the kids there were the target, but his attention went to the clock tower. From that high, sounds could possibly travel throughout the town. "You go with Thea, there's something I need to check." He instructed Gavin before running off towards the clock tower, making him a mask to ideally shield him from the affects of the fog with his magic. The fact that he'd run off on his own had reminded him of all the times he'd done that in the past in the guild...and the subsequent lectures he'd gotten from Midarah.

 

Conrad smiled when Samuel thanked the two of them. "Anytime after all we're all in this together." Conrad said. "Which also means we look after each other." Samuel had agreed with the plan to save the river for later and Renza sorted the problem of where they were supposed to go. His heart went out to the little girl, caught in the middle of this disaster all alone. He looked to Samuel when he asked whether they had other plans, he had been the one to suggest to ask Renza for a hand and he shook his head. "No, Renza's place sounds perfect" He said before turning to the girl already being thanked by Everette and smiled. "We'd be happy to go along with you." Conrad added, before following the others to Renza's house. Everette told Samuel that he'd need to give them some directions where they should be to help and Conrad nodded in agreement. If there wasn't an aweful lot he himself could do, he'd play with Renza so she would at least get some more happiness in these dark times.​

 

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Seeing that he was out voted in going to the farm it looked like he did not have much of a choice in going back to the inn. He thought about going off on his own to the farm, but seeing how dark it soon would be and having no clue on to get get to the farm he followed the others back to the inn. Kyo soon led the group out of the Town Hall and passed the iron gates, which were locked tightly behind them. Kyo led them back to the Inn, and as promised, there was a mother cat with a kitten to play with for Thea. As soon as they reached the inn and he found a spot to fill Zephyr in in what he learned. He filled Zephyr in by saying, 'that everything had happened at least six times since over the last three months or so. There is always fog that rolls into town. That this kind of fog has a mind of its own. It seems to move on its own, and it makes it hard for anyone to see in. It also seemed like the flute player could only pick one person to take and the sleeping seemed random. He also expressed his concern to Zephyr that it might be a inside job because it seemed to easy for everything.' After Zephyr had told him what he had learned he thought that perhaps that there was some kind of sleeping pill so that the children slept through the flute playing.

Dinner was made and served up to the mages, which was a hearty beef stew with potatoes, carrots, basil, and bay leaves. He did not really touch the food and his mind was on what they had learned at the town hall. Soon they went up to there room which Thea was put to bed. He didn't sleep, in fact he didn't have any plans on doing so. He stood up and watch out a window. Thea soon jumped out of bed and walked out to the street to see what was going on. He let out a sigh thinking that it might be best for her to stay put but then another thought came to his head that said it was possible that when they came back she might be gone. Thea had said, 'We have to check on my new friends! Make sure they are alright!' He did not have much of a choice. Not long after Zephyr said, 'You go with Thea, there's something I need to check.' He followed close behind Thea. He thought about going after Zephyr but the idea of leaving Thea by herself was not a option. He gripped something small and silver in color in his hand ready to use if he had to.

 

A Price Unpaid- Gavin, Zephyr, Thea
Town Hall

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"Come on, Men! We're not letting him get away this time!" The guards were swarming around the City Hall, spears out and ready to use. Some guards had already fallen on the ground some way away, deep in sleep. The flute seemed to echo from the south one minute, then the north, then the west, and from the east the next, making the men very anxious as they pointed their spears in the direction they thought they heard the music.

"Sir! Which way is he?!"

"Gah! Shut up so I can hear!"

Clock Tower

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Fog was now pouring from the clock tower. The sound of the flute seemed to echo all around in this area and switched up tunes to play a haunting, yet soothing melody. The guards that were around the clock tower were all knocked out, snoring loudly and slumped on the ground unharmed. Somebody could be inside at the very top where the fog was coming from, and then again... maybe not.

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Village in Peril- Conrad, Everette, Samuel

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Renza hunched her shoulders when Everette ruffled her hair and giggled in response to his encouraging words. With Conrad's encouragement as well, Renza suddenly went up to the two boys and grabbed their wrists, tugging them along. "Let's go then!"

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Samuel chuckled to himself with the enthusiam from the little girl and how fast she seemed to attach herself to Conrad and Everette. They were both really good with kids and knew how to stay positive around them. He walked behind them as Renza led the way, which ended up to be at a very small, humble house. Grass was overgrowing as well as flowers, but the weeds seemed to be tamed for the most part. There was a picnic table with benches, true to Renza's word.

The little girl finally let go of the boy's wrists when she got closer to the house and giggled as she ran a little ways ahead. "Make yourselves comfortable!" she exclaimed with her hands in the air. "I think I still have some homemade bread I made the other day. I'll go check!" Before anyone could stop her, she bounded off towards her house, humming happily to herself.

Samuel shook his head with a little laugh and then set his backpack down by the picnic bench. "Alright, so we pretty much concluded that whatever is making them sick has to come from the water, right? Because of those farm animals getting sick when they came into town. But if that's the case, how come Renza isn't sick? And why are those animals not getting better?" He asked as he pulled out notepads, a small case, a vile stand, and a few other equipment. He opened the small case to reveal a mini microscope, quickly setting it up. "So what now? I haven't seen anything like this before. It seems to be fluctuating which waves of people getting sick one week, and leaving everyone alone the next. But how is that possible?..." He frowned as he pulled out the viles of blood he collected and placed them in vile holders close by the microscope and gestured to another vile holder for the boys to put their samples of water on there. "There's... one more detail I failed to mention. I was able to get a lot of people from death's door, but I couldn't make them completely better... It was like... Something was still inside of them that stayed in there, no matter how much healing energy I poured into them."

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Conrad couldn't help but smile as Renza grabbed both his and Everette's wrist. He cast a glance to Everette with that same smile. When they arrived at the small house that Renza called home, despite all that happened it didn't seem to be in too terrible condition, the grass was a bit long but he could hardly fault that in these circumstances as it didn't matter.

As Renza went inside to grab the bread Conrad settled down at the picnic table, watching as Samuel set up. Samuel gave them some additional information and Conrad started to think. It didn't make sense that no matter how much healing energy was put in the people remained sick. "Could it be that it isn't exactly a disease but rather something polluting the water? Something that doesn't leave the body by itself?" Conrad theorised. "If the compound remains in the system then perhaps that might explain why they don't get better even when not being anywhere near the source of this mysterious illness." It was just a theory but they weren't dealing with an outbreak of an ordinairy disease here.​

 

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The closer that Zephyr got to the clock tower, the morr he noticed both the fog pouring out of it as well as the guards that were asleep down below. So far he hadn't felt any hint of drowsiness, meaning that his mask was working. Well enough that he was on the ground asleep like them. Stepping into the clock tower, the young mage started to head upward towards the top.

 

A Price Unpaid- Gavin, Zephyr, Thea​

Once Zephyr got to the top, there was a figure standing in a gap that was just above the clock face. An open window of sorts to the outside world and a good look out place.

Spoiler

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The flute music had continued to play, echoing all around. Zephyr would have felt drowsy, but not up to the point of passing out. The figure stopped playing the flute and turned to face the intruder that had just arrived. A hood was obscuring their eyes from view, and a large cloak enveloped their whole body. They stood there, staring at Zephyr for a moment as if studying him up and down a moment. Suddenly, the being smiled and then took a few steps back towards the edge. Without a word, the being with the silver flute fell backwards, only to be enveloped by the fog below.

There was silence for a moment. Nothing contacted with the ground, which was a good thing... one could guess.

The flute sounded off again, this time just a little ways from the clock tower. The hooded figure would have been spotted by Zephyr if he looked. They were positioned between the road between the Mayor's Mansion, and the Town Hall, not moving as they seemed to look up where Zephyr was. It was as if they were either taunting him, or wanting him to follow them.

 

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Zephyr spotted the figured right as a drowsy spell had hit him, but he was able to shake it off. He'd taken a step closer to the figured right as they'd noticed him. There was no distinguishing features that stuck out to them, but the flute that they were holding was all that he needed to see. This was person that they were after. "Hey, wait!" Zephyr was a second to late as the figure had already made his way fallen off the clocktower. There was no sound of anything hitting the ground, a good thing is a sense, but more reason for Zephyr to look for the hooded figure. The flute was heard once more and again he spotted the figured, standing still. Was he trying to play a game with him? "Fine then, have it your way." From where he stood, he took a crouched position. "Memory make, armed gear." His legs shown in a bright light as Zephyr leap from the clocktower, felling glad that anyone who was around to see this was fast asleep. Magic graves covered his legs just in time for his landing, but he still tucked and roll then ran off in towards the hooded figure. He would play this little game, but it would end with him catching them.

 

Village in Peril- Conrad, Everette, Samuel


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Samuel listened to both of the theories as he pulled out the water samples that Everette corrected. "Something polluting the water, maybe... Perhaps some kind of parasite? I don't know about magic though," he said to Everette as he rubbed his forehead. "I mean... There would have to be some things to considered... Like if they made any enemies recently, a relic somehow was unearthed, or so forth..." He pulled out another little container that was labeled "Test Kit" and opened it to reveal a couple of viles with eyedroppers sitting in clear liquid, each of them clearly labeled and color coded.

"Alright, since it seems to be something in the water, this kit will hopefully help us determine if it is something in the there or not. Each vile contains a liquid that will only change colors if there's something to react to; orange is disease, purple is magic, blue is polluted with other foreign substances, and green is poison. If there's none of those in there, none of the colors will react..."

Samuel chuckled nervously as he fiddled with his glasses and then laid out four petri-dishes, labeling them with a ripped piece of paper as "Well Water". "I kind of came up with this system after studying some potion books. Alright, I'm going to test for diseases first..." One drop in one dish filled with a little bit of the well water, nothing happened. Samuel took his notebook and quickly jotted down the results. "Pollution..." The same result, nothing. "... Magic." One drop, and the water slightly reacted, forming a swirl of purple before fading out to a light pink. Samuel blinked at it and then looked up at the boys. "Magic then..." Samuel mumbled. He then picked up the last vile and held it over the other petri dish, afraid of what was to come. "Poison..."

A drop fell in. And like the magic vile, a hint of green suddenly appeared, only to fade out to a lime-green color. Samuel paled a bit and sat back on the bench a moment. "Possibly Magic... and poison...? Seems like very little of it since the reaction wasn't strong or stayed around, but still..."

He quickly set up the petri dishes for the rain water, feeling some anxiety swell within him. After testing for all four substances, nothing showed up in the rain water. Everything was clear. He sighed out in relief and wiped his forehead, looking at the other two. "... I guess the river will be the next best option to look..." He looked up at the sky to see that the sun was going to set soon and pressed his lips in a thin line. "I don't know if we'll make it in time to inspect it thoroughly... unless one of us can see in the dark," he half-joked.

 

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In the distance he could hear guards saying, 'Come on, Men! We're not letting him get away this time!' The Town hall entrance was right there. Guards were everywhere swarming around the City Hall, spears out and ready to use. He was hopeful that they had not tried to use them on him yet. Looking around he could see that Some guards had already fallen on the ground some way away, deep in sleep. The flute seemed to echo from the south one minute, then the north, then the west, and from the east the next, making the men very anxious as they pointed their spears in the direction they thought they heard the music. Hopfully Zephyr was doing well in the clock tower. At one moment the flute stopped playing for a moment. Then the flute sounded off again, this time in a different place all together. "He is moving." That was when Thea said, 'Let me through! Let me in. I want to make sure all my friends are okay so I can stop the flute man if he tries to take them! I am allowed in! I am a mage with Divine Rose!' He turned to Thea and said, "If they open the gate more then one child might be lost." As much as he did not like the idea it would be for the best if the gate stayed closed. He turned to the guards mad that he did not ask earlier. "Is there another entrance?" That said he was sure he would have noticed another entrance to town hall.

 

A Price Unpaid- Gavin, Zephyr, Thea
Town Hall
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The figure seemed to flinch when Zephyr landed so hard on the ground. Seeing that he was fine though, the figure continued to play, not mind Zephyr coming closer and closer to them. Until they looked to their left and caught something in the distance.

Suddenly, it seemed like they evaporated in smoke. There was silence for a moment, and then flute sounded farther away, closer to the Town Hall.

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"We can't let you in here!" The Guard spluttered at Thea. "As far as I know, there isn't another entrance-"

That was when the fog became thicker, and then guards became uneasy. The flute music suddenly sounded off as if it was around them and some guards who took off their ear protectors fell straight down into sleep.

"Over there! It's Necos! He has a child!"

Sure enough, the fog parted for a moment to show a cloaked figure carefully leading a child with bright blonde away before they were blanketed in fog once more.

 

Conrad listened carefully and took Samuel's words in consideration. They didn't know the exact source and what exactly lead to the water being contaminated, if it were a simple disease it could have been as simple as an animal dying in one of the streams leading into the river contaminating it, sonething that far out wasn't too uncommon. But this wasn't some simple disease, or the herbal remedies would have helped.

He watched as Samuel worked the principle of the test being simple. He watched in anticipation as Samuel added the indicators to the water samples. There was no disease, no pollution, but magic and poison. "I think we should inform the Chief of our findings, make sure the situation doesn't get worse now that we know where it comes from." Conrad said, before cracking a smile at Samuel's joke and adding. "That river isn't going anywhere, we can just leave early in the morning and see what's going on. This magic poison or whatever it is exactly must be rather potent if people get this sick, either that or they built up a high dose. Either way this explains some of the oddities." Conrad would have hated it if there was nothing he could do to help, it frustrated him to no end, but now they were making progress and hopefully they could solve it all so that Renza could be a bit more carefree again and everything would just go back to normal for the village.​

 

Shawn watched as the spear had no effect on the wall the chicken thing made a wall. The spear disappeared from the wall. This person clearly wanted something, most likey one of the two that was following them from before. "What do you want, what guild do you belong to, and were is your friend that was with you from before?" It was clear this person was some sort of mage probably working with the chicken thing. Perhaps at some point he could trick them. He wasn't going to surrender yet, but he also wasn't going to put Lakoda in more danger. He wondered what Midarah would do. No matter what nothing was worth losing someone. He also really didn't expect an answer from this person. He really couldn't risk anything right now, really wishing he could make stone cover appear around Lakoda.

 

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The first thing he noticed was that the flute player was still on the move. It seemed as if the sound was closer to the Town Hall. They were standing by the town hall so the flute player had to be close. The guard then said, 'We can't let you in here!' Yea it would be far more dangerous to open the gate then to keep them closed. Then the guard said, 'As far as I know, there isn't another entrance.' Then he cut himself off as a thicker fog came in. He readied himself for battle. The flute music suddenly sounded off as if it was around them and some guards who took off their ear protectors fell straight down into sleep. Well that was stupid he thought. Then someone said, 'Over there! It's Necos! He has a child!' How necos got a child was beyond him. They were at the only entrance as far as he knew, which met another way in and out of town hall. Sure enough, the fog parted for a moment to show a cloaked figure carefully leading a child with bright blonde away before they were blanketed in fog once more. "It is time to go Thea." He just had to hope that sooner or later Zephyr would find them. He was ready to chase after the flute player.

 

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Zephyr was perplex as to why flute player was simply standing there as he continued to get closer and closer to them. It was already shown that they could get further away in the time it had taken him to get up there himself. Whatever the reason was, Zephyr would be certain to question about it when he had caught them. Or so he thought. Right as he'd reached out to grab them, they had vanished. "Dammit, where they'd go this time." Zephyr looked around for any signs of a person or sounds of a flute. Moments later when he did hear the flute, he realized where it was close to. "The town hall!" Just like that, he was back running after them. His approach to the town hall was greeted with not the best of things to hear.

"Over there! It's Necos! He has a child!"

Looking ahead, past Thea, Gavin and the guards, he just barely managed to catch a glimpse of the hooded figure vanishing the the fog. As he ran past them Zephyr quickly said "I'm going on ahead after them" and headed after the fog. He could still hear the sounds of the flute, which to him meant that there was still a chance to catch this guy.