On a Wing and a Prayer

"Shinju!" Kaz yelled as the beam slammed into his friend.  Frantically he raced to her side.  He was used to pain, so he could take a hit or two... but Shinju looked so petite, he doubted she possessed the same constitution.  He knelt beside her to check on her condition.  Thankfully the girl seemed okay, and was already rising without his help.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a light flicker.  Looking up, Kaz saw the beam user condensing an inordinate amount of magical energy.  His hands were above his head, a ball of energy growing quickly, the magic's power whining as it charged.  Kaz rose slowly, eyes locked on the user.  Whatever that spell was... it was something high-ranked, and could possibly kill them.

"It's over, kids.  Say goodbye," the beam user grinned.  He released the spell.  A flood of white energy released, screaming as it raced towards them.  The spell was too large, there was no way Kaz would be able to get out in time... and even with Shinju's speed, he doubted she could completely avoid it, either.  Without thinking he grabbed the back of Shinju's shirt, flinging her behind him.  His left hand moved, twisting the earth beneath them.

The land rumbled again, a wall of earth rising between them and the incoming beam.  Just barely in time.  Even with the shield between them, the exploding light was intense.  It was practically blinding, Kaz closing his eyes.  The entire world shook between the two clashing powers, the explosion unable to penetrate through Kaz's shield.  Finally it ended.

Kaz opened his eyes as the light faded.  The earthen wall remained in front of him and Shinju, but his secret was pretty much blown.  The earthquake might've been too subtle to pinpoint him as the source.  But the earthen wall between them pretty much spoke of his own abilities.  He turned his head around to Shinju, grinning ruefully.  "Wow, good thing this wall just happened to come up and block that attack, huh?  Pretty convenient..." He laughed nervously.  There wasn't much reason to deny it anymore, so even he wasn't sure what he was saying.

Wham! Pain flared in his chest, and he shouted involuntarily.  The impact knocked him completely off his feet, rolling gracelessly on the ground.  The enemy wizard pulled the metal ball away.  It was huge, in diameter, practically a wrecking ball, attached to a chain and rod.  Yet he wielded it without any trouble.  Apparently he had been waiting for the right time to intervene, taking an opportunistic strike when Kaz thought they were safe.

Kaz landed face first into the ground, the blow sending him a few meters away from his original standing point.  He lost his grip on his sword somewhere along the way, the blade tumbling uselessly on the grass, a few inches from his hand.  He was still alive... the pain in his chest clearly told him that.  But he wasn't quite sure if he'd broken anything.  His hand twitched as he tried to pull himself together... but he couldn't manage to lift more than his face.  Shinju was still in danger...

The man with the chain and ball smirked.  He twirled the weapon effortlessly, laughing at Shinju.  "You're next, little girl," he sneered.  His companion, the beam user, was still around too... albeit panting a bit after using so much energy for an attack.

MP 120/150:

Shinju let out a slightly pained yelp as her friend grabbed her and tossed her behind him, summoning a wall of earth to protect them from an intense blast of white light. She slowly stood up, shielding her eyes from the blast. It was intense, and as hot as fire. "Wow, good thing this wall just happened to come up and block that attack, huh?  Pretty convenient..." he chuckled. Shinju knew it was him, and would have made a comment had a metal wrecking ball not three seconds later.  He rolled on the ground like a ragdoll for several feet before skidding to a stop. He was still breathing, but she wasn’t sure he would be getting up.


Shinju didn’t hear the threats of the wrecking ball man. She was angry, and afraid for Kasimir’s life. She stared at him for a long moment, turning back to the man with the wrecking ball and his beam-using friend. Her magic had changed somehow, fundamentally. When had it happened? It was probably during the split second between her shift in her gaze. The wind around her seemed more visible somehow. It was darker, the air around her seeming to have an almost purple tint. Her eyes had changed from their innocent blue to a crimson red. Everything seemed different. Even the thugs had noticed.

“No more,” she told them simply, the frown on her face indicating her displeasure. “You won’t hurt anyone ever again.” Shinju gripped her wind dagger tighter, and they seemed to focus into a tighter, more controlled blade edge. She leapt forward. She’d lost her speed boost when she’d been struck the first time, but she’d held onto the dagger. The wrecking ball guy tried to plow the wrecking ball into Shinju, but she easily dodged it since she was aware of it.  Her dagger plowed into the man’s arm, and he cried out in pain. The wrecking ball disappeared, and he fell to his knees as she shoved the wind dagger deeper into his arm.  She’d completely lost whatever was left of Shinju by now, and was grinning wildly at the sight of the blood spilling out of the man’s arm wound. “But I can make you hurt for what seems like an eternity. That sounds nice and fun.”


MP - 139/400 Sustain wind daggers

Kaz could still hear the sounds of combat continue without him.  Pain wracked his entire chest; breathing was unnecessarily difficult.  But that was okay.  This was... nothing.  He'd been in plenty of bad situations in the past, and nothing had killed him yet.  What would make this time any different?  He wasn't on the other side yet, and that meant he couldn't afford to just lie here like this...

His fist clenched tightly as he gathered his willpower.  Trying to push away the pain, he rose his body shakily.  If Shinju got in trouble because he was sleeping on the job, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself... Another regret that could be added to a long checklist.  Still on his hands and knees, Kaz looked up towards the sound of combat...

He froze.  Everything about Shinju had changed.  Or maybe the world itself had transformed.  The air felt denser and more oppressive.  Or it could have been just the pain in his chest still.  Shinju had cornered her opponent... the words seeming unlike her, as if she planned to play with his life.  "Sh... Shinju..." Kaz tried to speak out, to warn her.  But it hurt to breathe, let alone speak, and his voice was hardly strong enough to carry the distance it needed.  Especially over the man's screams.

He had to stop her.  Mustering as much strength as he could, Kaz rose to his feet.  He nearly lost his balance and fell over, but at the last moment caught himself.  Slowly he put one foot in front of the other.  He passed his fallen sword, doubting that he had the strength to even bend down and pick it up.  But he didn't need it, anyway.  He knew it was naive of him, but he didn't want to see anyone die or suffer again, whether they were his friend or enemy.  Slowly he stumbled forward, panting heavily, and not really knowing what he could accomplish.  But he had to do something...

The evil glint in Shinju’s now red eyes was easily apparent to the pained man in front of her. He was forced down lower as the dagger twisted in the man’s arm, blood running down, but also being sucked into the wind in her dagger, giving it an even more dark and creepy tint.  A beam of light shot at her, and Shinju’s eyes were cast to the side, towards the new threat. She kicked the man off of her, and dove out of the way of the man that was once again assaulting her with beams of searing light.

Shinju’s dagger disappeared suddenly as she clinched her fists. She could hear Kasimir, but at the moment whatever had taken over her personality paid him no mind. A simple plea from someone so inconsequential compared to the man she was traveling with wasn’t going to do much, unfortunately. Casting a hand out to the side, a nova of wind burst out around her, cutting into the man with a razor edge and forcing him off of his feet. Within seconds she was on top of him, pinning him down and raising his head off of the ground at the same time. If she had hit Kasimir, she didn’t seem to notice. She certainly hadn’t paid attention to how close he was.

“And you,” she told the man in a very un-shinjulike voice, “Need to learn to wait your turn. You would have had time to try and run, you know.” She taunted, punching the man in the face, hard. He let out a gasp, crying out in pain. The longer it went the more obvious the dark influence over Shinju was. The aura around her reeked with dark and evil energy, and she was starting to physically change slightly as well. One thing was for sure – whoever this was was in no way the Shinju that Kasimir had gone on the job with.

MP 129/200:

Kaz was just finally starting to get relatively close to Shinju when the 'fight' started again. He shielded his face as the beams of light crashed against Shinju. The impact rocked the earth, its intended target too fast. The wind picked up as Shinju prepared her own attack. Thankfully Kaz was behind her, not in the line of the beam user. Or... maybe not so fortunate, since Shinju proceeded to tackle the man on the ground.

Kaz stopped momentarily, a bit shocked at Shinju's actions still. This couldn't go on any longer. He pushed his body, struggling to hasten his pace. "Shinju, stop!" He tried again, this time stronger than before. The aura around her was visible... he didn't know what to make of that kind of magic. There was a point in Kaz's life were killing was the norm, his opponent just another casualty. He'd been around Shinju's age at the time. It wasn't until after the fight ended that he'd really be haunted. This girl, she didn't deserve to bear a heavy weight like that. Especially since she... something didn't seem to be quite right. He wasn't sure if it was a spell or possession but... this wasn't the the same Shinju he had met. It couldn't be.

"Please," he practically begged. He'd finally caught up to the two of them. Even though he could tell she wasn't in the right mind... he didn't care. He had to stop them somehow. Firmly he moved to stop her hands, knowing she still probably wouldn't stop punching the man. "It's over. We're here to protect people, right? That's why we took the mission. There's no reason to keep fighting," he insisted. His sword was still on the ground quite a ways away now. But that was fine; he had no intention of using it. He wasn't going to hurt her... he couldn't fight against her, so he had to find some other way to make her stop...

It's over. There's no reason to keep fighting. The words echoed as 'Shinju' turned partially to look at Kasimir, her red eyes glinting with a desire to spill the beam user's blood. She wasn't smiling like she sometimes did. She was serious-looking, like there was something going on in her head. She turned back to the man she was on top off, raising her arm again like she was going to punch the man.  Shinju wasn't conscious of what was going on, but she was still able to influence what happened if she tried hard enough. Suddenly, she blinked; her eyes blue again, the very feeling of dread and cruelty in the air dissipating quickly.

“W-what?” Shinju dropped the man with the swollen face and stood up. She looked back at Kasimir, a confused look on her face as she stepped back. They’d beaten the wizards, but she’d blacked out again. She didn’t know why that kept happening. “Sorry,” she bowed to the beam user as he twitched on the ground. She didn’t want to hurt people any more than she had to. Even bad guys like these. “Are you okay?” she asked, turning to Kasimir and seeming like her old self. She grinned at him innocently. “I’m glad we beat them… it looked a little hairy there for a bit. You got hit pretty bad.”

For a terrible moment, Kaz thought he'd failed to reason with her. But then, slowly, Shinju returned to normal. The raised fist dropped uselessly to her side. A surge of relief washed through Kaz, and he nearly fainted as all the tension left him. It was what had mainly kept him on his feet. Now that the fight was over, with the adrenaline leaving his system, the pain felt nearly overwhelming. His initial reaction to Shinju's question was that he felt like he was on the verge of dying. But her face looked so concerned, he stopped himself when he opened his mouth. Instead he winked. "Yeah I... I'm fine," he tried to reassure her. "If there's one thing I can do well, it's take hits. I bet after a night's rest I'll be as good as new tomorrow." Completely not true, but whatever. He'd survive, at the very least.

His smile faltered. He still didn't really know what to make of her 'transformation' into her darker side. And now she was acting like nothing had happened. "You uh... are you okay too?" He asked tentatively. He didn't mean her physical health - she hadn't even been hit, as far as he could tell. He saw the light-beam user twitch, still on the ground after Shinju's attacks. Were there still other enemies about? Kaz prayed to God that there weren't. And then immediately regretted his prayer, considering God had gotten him in this mess in the first place. "Maybe we should head back to town for now..." He suggested, more keen to get away from potential danger. Mainly he was just concerned about Shinju reverting to her demonic self.

“Of course I’m okay… I only got hit that once,” Shinju reminded Kasimir. She had a few minor burns and slight tears in her tank top from the beam that had hit her in the stomach earlier, though the burns weren’t as bad as it looked like they should be when she inspected it right then and there. “They should be unconscious for a while. We should tell the people where they are and get some money,” she decided as she turned around to head back into town. “If you’re sure you’re okay then I suppose that’s fine,” she informed him.

“I thought that looked like it would really hurt though.” She walked slightly in front of Kasimir, wiping the sweat from her brow. She had had fun up until Kasimir got hurt, and after that she supposed she was happy since he seemed to be okay. Or mostly okay at least. “It wasn’t so bad though, right? Twenty five hundred jewels for each of us. You can have more if you want it though,” she offered him with a shrug. She held her hands together behind her back and seemed to be in a rather good mood again. “Let’s not spend it at the bar full of awkward squawking.”

Kaz frowned a bit and followed after her. Shinju hadn't caught the true meaning of his question. In fact, she didn't seem to have any recollection of what had just happened at all. He opened his mouth to ask her... before realizing that he might just re-awaken... whatever that thing or aura was. He changed his mind quickly. "Y-yeah..." He wasn't sure how he should be acting right now. The last few moments had been so intense, and Shinju was acting like her old self. ... He was starting to think that being around her was a bad idea. Not for his own health, but rather for others. Shinju had reacted to him getting hurt. It seemed like them going on future missions... would be a terrible idea.

"I'm okay, really," he insisted, ignoring his body. "It just ah, surprised me is all." Silently he absorbed her offer of the money. At first he'd insisted on a different pay rate, but now arguing seemed like a bad idea. "That's more money than I need. But I think I'm going to catch some sleep after our report." It was getting pretty late. He was extremely worn out from the fight. But mainly it was a good chance to get away. Tomorrow, he would be leaving Onibus. Where exactly... he wasn't entirely certain. But he was convinced he and Shinju should separate as soon as possible.

The sun was low in the sky by the time they returned to Onibus, and reported the success of their job. Kaz let Shinju do most of the talking since... she was the Fairy Tail mage, after all. Plus, he had a lot to think about now.  Silently he took the money without arguing, mainly because he wanted this whole day to be done and over with. He turned with a weary smile to Shinju. "Well, thanks for doing the mission for me. Sorry I wasn't much help." Not playing it up this time. He'd felt pretty useless compared to the wizard before him, regardless of her age. "Do me a favor though. Ah, I guess I'd rather have it be a secret that we met and did this job, so I'd appreciate it if you avoided telling your guild or... or well anyone else, really." She'd seen him use magic, but the subsequent events had his mind focused on other issues. It might be better for both of them to just act like it had never happened.

Shinju wasn’t entirely happy that Kaz seemed to be so ready to just go off on his own right after they were paid, but she supposed she couldn’t argue with is being tired. He got hit pretty hard, after all, and she hadn’t entirely expected him to come with her in the first place. He seemed a bit awkward or something, she couldn’t quite place it. But she supposed she might just be imagining things. She wasn’t actually sure. In response, she simply nodded as she handed him his jewels. She had snuck in about another 5% with a note wishing him luck when he was distracted a few minutes ago, and didn’t plan on saying anything about it.

“Well, stay safe and rest up then,” she told him with a happy grin. “Maybe we’ll see each other again one day. I bet that’d be neat. Maybe you can meet Light then.” She put her own jewels in her money pouch and made sure it was secure, adjusting the goggles on her forehead. She’d started wearing those again even though she hadn’t in a while. They always seemed to make it through fights unharmed. Maybe they were lucky. She waved at Kaz, deciding she should get back to her own injured friend anyway. “Bye, Kaz!” she grinned as she took off in a sprint to make it home quickly.
-Exit-