It was early in the morning when Lily found herself in the small plaza where various traveler's carriages departed from the city of Magnolia to various locations throughout Earthland. On this particular day the plaza had been quite filled with people, both passengers and guards alike awaiting to board or escort their carriages to the different cities.

Especially now the Dark Rifts had started to emerge it became all the more obvious just how important security could be for traveling. Not that she was worried a dark rift would open up on the road to Hargeon, that amount of bad luck would be a bit over the top, right? Fortunately she was doing quite fine health-wise as well, which led to Nyancelot feeling more comfortable about the trip aboard as well.

Speaking of the Exceed, he was eagerly seated on her lap, chewing on a dango stick as he watched the various carriages depart, and enjoying the petting of his head by his elven mistress. "She likely will be here soon Nyancelot~ We still got a bit before our carriage will depart anyway~" Lily said with a sheepish smile while Nyancelot merely nodded his head and continued sampling his snack.

WC: 200
Total WC: 200/1200

Mia let out a long yawn as she headed towards the carriage departure. The other day or… well, whenever it was given the elven girl had had to sleep it off, had left her brain a bit muddled if she was honest. It was a cool experience of course but it had left her with a fair few questions. Sadly, Mia wasn’t the type to ask them. She never liked to make people feel judged. People where who they were and while she might be unable to resist a few snide comments when faced with certain realities in the moment, it didn’t mean she had to go poking and prying at the elven girl with her today for details on her history. She was here to do a job, and get to know her at her own pace. No reason to make it uncomfortable for the two of them.

She’d been hearing about these supposed dark rifts as she’d came up through the ranks, but she was the learn from experience type of gal in that regard. If she ran into one, she doubted despite the name it wouldn’t be anything she couldn’t handle, winding back her arms in anticipation even, loosening up with the idea that anything with the name ‘dark rift’ behind it must pack one hell of a fun experience with it.

Spotting the elven lass with that surprisingly cute little warrior on her lap, she let out a mild scoff of a chuckle and shook her head. He really needed to pick a lane. Stoic warrior or cute little pet. Ah well, she ultimately couldn’t complain. He knew how to handle himself in a fight and that’s all that really mattered. Raising an arm to bring attention to herself, she strode over in her travel gear, a stylish trench coat and cargo pants tucked into her boots so it still has a slender flow to the fabric despite the clear freedom intended by it’s nature. “Heyyyy. Didn’t keep ya waiting long did I? Just needed to grab a sign off from the guild n’ all that.~” She chimed with a smile, and, adding a bit of playfulness to her entrance, she crossed an arm over her chest and one behind her back, heels slapped together before bowing forward in a rather tight posture. “At your service, oh mistress.~ I hope we will have safe travels under my watch.~” She finished, clearly teasing a little

WC 400/2000

The sight of Mia's arrival quickly brought a smile to Lily's lips, the light wave easily drawing her attention toward the approaching Fairy Tail mage. "Not at all Mia~ You arrived right on time~" The playful greeting of Mia quickly turned said smile into a soft giggle, clearly amused and entertained by Mia's little play. Meanwhile Nyancelot had just finished his snack and turned toward Mia, a smirk on his lips. "I'm afraid on duel will have to wait till Hargeon Ser Mia~ It appears that the forecasts detected building levels of mana in the regions we'll be traveling through so the chance is very strong a dark rift will open."

Knowing that this news would excite the woman he hopped off Lily's lap and approached the carriage. "Either way, we likely should board our carriage, if our services are needed I'm sure the escort will inform us."

And with those words the Exceed drew his sword, nimbly poking the tip into the handle of the door to pull it open while making a playful bow. "Your carriage awaits~" Lily couldn't help but find her giggle turn into a soft laughter at the sight as she approached the carriage, a hand extending toward Mia to offer her help if desired.

It wouldn't take long for their adventure to begin as the carriage left the city of Magnolia behind. Lily clearly was fascinated by the sights of the surrounding scenery, while guards on horseback were patrolling along the carriages.

"The Dark Rifts are a bit of a creepy business, we don't really know what opens them or why these invaders are so hostile toward us, but whatever the case might be... If they are neighterdogooders I will let them taste steel!"

Lily had gone quiet for a moment, her gaze lingering on the distant hills. "I see now what you meant earlier Nyancelot, mana is being drained from the surrounding environment, it's only a matter of time before a rift breaches into our world."

Nyancelot nodded his head lightly in return. "Ah right, your eyes allow you to see the flow of mana, don't they mistress? All-though I secretly hope they will prove a challenge enough so that you need to use your other eye! It never tires me to see one of these bad guys being all confused when you warp away one of their spells or weapons!"

Lily smiled sheepishly at Nyancelot's remark as she turned to look at Mia, wondering what she was thinking about the journey so far.

WC: 400
Total WC: 600/1200

“Ahhh. As a loyal mage should strive to do.~” Despite her words it was clear they were all to be taken with a somewhat mocking tone. Mia was far from the stick up their ass, ever loyal down to the last straw types. She was very much more the do as she pleased type. Not to the detriment of a job, but if her own sense of right, wrong, or general morality contrasted with the end result of a task, she’d much rather punch her employer in the face than see it to the end. Being on time, specifics. All that was a bit blegh to her too. So long as she got the job done, no one should rightly be able to complain about how she got it done. In her mind at least.

Hearing about the dark rifts though, her brow did rise a little, smirking down at Nyancelot who seemed to know how to get her motor running for a job like this. Idly stretching her arms back again she didn’t say anything specific to that, but it was clear she was more than a little eager for some potential chaos on their journey. “Lead the way, sir knight.”

She let the Exceed, as she’d come to know it by now, open up the carriage and followed Lily inside, making sure to take any seats opposite her if the carriage allowed and leaning back into her seat with an idle gaze out the window. She was technically gonna be on the job this whole time afterall so she needed to make sure she was keeping an eye out, slow, calm breaths as she watched the scenery start to pass them by little by little.

Her attention could still be captured by some curious comments however, blinking back to focus on Lily as Nyancelot mentioned her eyes. “What’s this about your eyes?” She asked, curious to what was going on here. Nyancelot mentioned something about warping something away? As far as Mia was aware, special magic tended to be exceptionally rare and difficult to control. You were basically fucking with reality itself afterall.

WC: 355
Total WC: 755/2000

Hearing Mia's question brought a brief smile upon Lily's lips as she raised a hand to her pure white eye. "My eyes are a bit special, in the sense that I was born with a mutation in them according to what I been told. See how one is like entirely white? Most would think I am blind in that eye, but I actually have a special sight through that eye. I can see everything clearly around me, even behind my back. Should someone try to cast an invisibility spell my eye would allow me to see through it. However, the amount of detail I can perceive grows less the further away someone is."

The girl brought her finger toward her other eye, the crimson one with the enigmatic pattern in them. "The other is what they call a 'Kamui' eye, it allows me to distort reality in a particular spot within my line of sight."

Nyancelot peered from his seat beside his master and chimed in amusement. "Whether it's a weapon, a magical spell or even the clothes you're wearing right now, all it takes is for you to be within her reach and ZOOM! bai bai goes the clothes."

Hearing Nyancelot's remark caused Lily's face to turn scarlet red, averting her gaze from Mia for a moment as her ears twitched lightly in embarrassment after which the elf finally calmed down enough to look back at her companion. "A... But it's not like I pull them into nothingness~ My Kamui eye is connected to another dimension, a small pocket dimension I can travel into, or even take others with me. But the process is a bit exhausting on my body."

Lily admitted shyly yet after the explanation a voice called out from outside. "RAIDERS! A RIFT HAS BREACHED UP AHEAD!" It seemed some of the vanguard escort were already starting to engage in the clash against these raiders.

Nyancelot hopped off his seat and looked at Mia with a knowing grin. "Want to bet I'll take down more than you today?"

WC: 350
Total WC: 950/1200

“Ahh… benefits of-“ She hesitated for a moment, glancing to Nyancelot. The next word out of her mouth was going to be ‘reincarnation’ as a cheeky quip, but she wasn’t actually aware how much this young woman knew about her own nature. She thought for a half second, long enough the pause was notable but not offputting, rubbing the side of her neck as she switched it around and commented instead- “Being born special, I guess.” Which, in itself, was kind of true. It just didn’t get into the finer specifics. Her brow burrowing inwards as she tried to think of other ways to dip around that if she nearly slipped again.

“Sounds fairly useful though, if you’re looking not to get backstabbed… and the other one?” She asked, inviting any information about the other eye, which she claimed could distort reality… yeesh. And she thought the reincarnation was special before. Mia resisted any comment on that. It was interesting, but it fed into her fear, or more, annoyed worry, that some people were just born better or whatever. Yeah, no way to sneak up on her, and she could actively warp reality with a stare. Why did she even need her here again…?

She let out a low breath and turned her eyes out the carriage window, trying not to actively comment as she scanned the environment around them… not that she needed to, she now learned, but still.

“Well you seem more than capable at least… just be sure not to warp my clothes away unless you want a show.” She teased faintly, trying to keep the mood light. Her gaze drifted again only to hear the voice call from outside the carriage. Without much hesitation, she shoved the Carriage door open, catching the edge of the Carriage and climbing up onto the roof of it, more akin to an animal than a person in her flow as she tried to get the better view, calling back to Nyancelot as she took in the scene. “Yeah as if kitty cat.~”



WC: 350
Total WC: 1100/1200

It seemed that Mia would have quite a sight to behold as she climbed onto the rooftop. Further down the road, seemingly a few meters away from it a giant gaping hole had been torn in reality from which group after group of armed humans were seen storming toward the carriages. So far it appeared the guards escorting the caravans were holding their ground, being more experienced and better equipped than the raiders but the question was how long they would be able to hold back the tide.

Nyancelot had already hopped out of the carriage and started to leap from carriage to carriage, his small and light frame making it easy for him to use his feline agility properly. Meanwhile Lily had peeked out from the carriage and turned to look at Mia.

"If you and Nyancelot can create me a path to the rift I can try to distort the flow of mana that is keeping the rift open~"

Of course Nyancelot was more than eager to do his work as he finally reached the raiders, his sword sweeping through the air as he beheaded one of the approaching raiders and after stabbing a second one in his chest he called out playfully to Mia. "Where are thou Ser Mia~ You're missing the fun part! I'm already two ahead!"

WC: 200
Total WC: 1150/1200

Mia rose to a full stand at the scene before her, cracking her neck to either side, before pressuring her knuckles against each opposing palm till she heard those satisfying pops, a wild smirk forming up along her cheek as she got herself feeling nice and limber. In the back of her head, as she was often want to do, picturing a nice little tune to beat some ass to. She had no idea if these punks were some different dimension shit, made entirely of Mana, or whatever the fuck they were. What she DID know is they were causing trouble, and today? It was quite literally her job to deal with them, throwing her arms out to either side with a magic circle at the edge of her knuckles, her arms engulfed with spirals of flame as she psyched herself up.

“Whatever you want Lily.~ Just don’t expect me to slow down for ya.~” With a battle on the horizon, it was hard for her to keep her mild grudges and frustrations with the nature of the elf woman, grinning to herself as she darted over the carriages. A little less agile than Nyancelot himself but she had longer legs to compensate it seemed, bounding from one to the next before finally leaping over the heads of the carriage guards and down into the mess of other-worldly bandits, drop kicking a burst of flame to disperse them and make immediate room for Lily to move forward behind them, before sweeping the same leg about in a circle, pushing off her hands, and creating a spiral of flame before she landed back on her feet with a surprising bit of grace for the burly lass.

“I dunno, I think I count a good five in that drop alone! Don’t go counting any Lily gets, that’s cheating!~” She chimed back, wild grin as she charged forward into the fray, sweeping under a spear that came for her and uppercutting the attacker back into the ground. A glancing blow of a thrust blade to her right, grabbing his hand around the hilt of the sword just to tug him harder into a blow from her left first to knock him down to the ground, calling back out each time she took one down with a burst of fire. “6-7- OH WOULD YA LOOK AT THAT LUCKY MR 8!”

WC 400
Total 1500/2000

Nyancelot couldn't help but smirk in return as he parried one of the raiders his blows. "Nuh-uh! that drop still counted for one!" However, with the quick work Mia and Nyancelot were making of their enemies Lily had joined behind them, flanked by the escort guards. They weren't sure what to expect, but soon the young elf took a fighting stance as she started to channel her mana through her body, causing it to manifest in that familiar golden aura of hers.

Raising her hands upwards into the air the caravan guards blinked in bewilderment as they noticed the streams of energy flowing from all around them into the air, rapidly collecting into a massive orb of energy. The mere sight of it clearly meant something to Nyancelot who became almost as excited as a cat who was fed catnip. "SHE IS GONNA DO IT! SHE IS GONNA DO IT! MIA GET BACK AND RAISE YOUR ARMS INTO THE AIR, I PROMISE YOU WON'T REGRET THE SIGHT!"

As Nyancelot slashed down his final enemy he pounced backwards and raised both of his arms in the air. "IT'S BIG! IT'S STRONG... IT'S LILY's SPIRIT BOMB!" The raiders who were already starting to break formation from the overwhelming power of the fiery fairy, soon spotted the massive orb that was floating high in the air above the carriages.

"Farewell~" Was all Lily whispered as she made a throwing motion with her arms into the direction of the breach. For a moment it looked like the raiders were left speechless as the massive orb descended toward them. Some tried to throw some spells at it, others tried to flee back into the breach, and rightly so for the moment the sphere collided against the breach the disruption of mana was akin to a magic nuke, the explosion that followed causing the winds to blow with such a backlash Nyancelot was send flying backwards onto one of the carriages. "HAHA THIS NEVER GETS OLD TO WATCH!" However, poor Lily's energy had been spend for the girl's aura dissolved and she collapsed onto her knees.

WC: 360
Total WC: 1250+

“Oh as if I easily took out five of ‘em with that eruption! You need to get yer eyes checked mate!” Mia kept up the banter with an idle glance in the feline’s direction but not so much as to lose her guard, a barrier of fire appearing up the side of her forearms to divert a bladed strike and ducking in low to get a swift gut punch from the opening he’d left in his own defenses in the process. Her breaths were getting a little heated taking on so many people, a task she never really had to perform when dealing with D rank missions and the like, but she kept her wits about her and kept barrelling forward, making the path as clear as she could for the elven woman coming in behind her, dipping off to the side of each attack or absorbing more blunt weaponry directly just to guarantee a more successful counterstrike.

Mia quirked her brow as Nyancelot told her to get back, noticing the streams of Mana as Lily seemed to be charging some larger attack, more than a little bewildered but trying to shrug it off with a- “Alright I ‘spose…” Not sure what raising her hands was going to add to this, but dipping back with a couple of hops behind Lily, and doing as instructed by Nyancelot, who she could say she’d never seen so excited, earning a chuckle from the blonde herself. “Y’okay there ya axcited little furball?~”

Mia watched the eruption of magic flow before her, but she wasn’t the type to be awed by sheer mana or how it was displayed. It was an impressive sight to say the least, but she was a very ‘in your face’ style of fighter, and she appreciated the nature of that to it’s fullest extent. She knew that long range, or devastating magic like this had it’s benefits, and it certainly helped them prevent any losses with the caravan guard today… but it lacked the personal finesse Mia appreciated. As the tails of her trench coat flew back from the burst of wind, squinting to look through the radiant gold that disrupted the rift, she kept her focus on the world ahead of her, focusing on the rift to see if it dissipated, and making sure there weren’t any lasting bandits who’d suddenly make a break for them.

Especially with Lily suddenly dropping to her knees-

“Woah there luv. You alright?” She asked, dropping down beside her quickly and resting a hand firmly on her back with the other around the front of her shoulder to keep her sitting upright, wanting to be sure she didn’t just fall down fully while rubbing her back to ease any tension or nausea the exhaustion may have left her with. “You doing okay there…?” She asked, her mixed feelings about the girl not doing much to stop her worrying about her drop there. She was human enough afterall, even with those pointy ears of hers.

WC 2000/2000