Standard Mission: A Bitter Rain

Zephyr Arc - Village

Zephyr vaulted his way to the village quickly, landing at his destination with a loud thud. This prompted the gathering of large burly men to look back in his direction as he slung his spear over his shoulder, shield still held above his head. His long hair had managed to become moistened on his way, which, combined with his face, painted the an almost divine picture... which was broken the moment he opened his mouth.

"Which of you knows what happened here?" He said gruffly, likely a match for their own speech patterns. Cherry nearly smacked her forehead immediately. He'd been carrying himself so well recently that she wasn't expecting his normal tone to pop out here, catching her off guard. He stepped forward towards them as he spoke, the shield above keeping the rest of him more or less dry with the exception of his legs. He'd made enough of a spectacle that anyone in the vicinity would have noticed his arrival.

Gad - Village

Gad sighed, the trace of the Tempus, the demon who robbed his time vanished into thin air again. The demon was supposed to be territorial, but something made him move and that alerted his curse, and he followed that signal to this weird forest.

For some reason, through out his travel to this road, he did not meet any demons and he thought it was probably Tempus' influence that made it possible. However, looking at how faint Tempus' trace was, and how easily it disappeared into thin air. The explanation was the trace had been there for years and as Tempus was a powerful demon, it's trace left the mark for long time until he had arrived where he was now. In other words, he was probably not looking at the new trace from Tempus, but one of the old trace that was left by the demon. Perhaps, even before Gad's encounter with him. So, why there were few demons in this area? Gad had to guess that this place was under other powerful demon's influences.

Gad frowned and sighed again, he should just be happy that he found out the name of the demon that made him into this state. He had to search several reccords to come to this conclusion - then again he was not so sure.

In any case, as he walked further he saw a village. The road to the village was a downhill from where he was. He gave a faint smile, thinking that he could take some rest over there, and he needed rest as he took a long journey to get where he was. As he came close though, his smile vanished, it gave him the vibe that he may not get the rest that he wanted so much. The village was weird as it had rain cloudes over it, and it rained as he got close to the village's area. He quickly wear his robe that kept him warm from his long travels. Soon he saw the gathering of the people.

If it was just that, he would not have cared, but an individual made his appearance with a loud noise, and it seems something was stirring up the crowds as well. "Argh... You got to be kidding me." Gad grunted as he recognized the individual, and his demon. Gad blew his front hair, wishing he could just ignore them. But he couldn't, and so he walked towards what seemed to be a crime scene.

Zephyr Arc, one of the Vanguards he had worked together, said to the crowds. "Which of you knows what happened here?" Gad shook his head, 'That's not gonna work...' he thought it to himself, then again he was not so sure why Zephyr Arc was there, so he decided to wait and see what would happen. Gad's eyes then wondered to the scene, looking at the scene of the attack carefully trying to see what he could learn from the sight itself.

Bitter Rain - Crime Scene

"Please come in out of the rain, we'd like to discuss things quietly to avoid causing a stir."  One of the guards stated with an odd twitch of the neck, as he gestured the vanguard into the building.  The stronger and burly of the two guards looked at the other with a look of confusion for a second before turning to Zeyphr.

"We just noticed the blood, along with the missin..." The guard quickly stated in response to the vanguard's question before a scimitar burst out of the floor and a strange masked human jumped out from a cellar door in one swift and quick motion that tore off the padlock like it was a nothing more than a thin thread of string.

Both guards quickly reached down to their side to pull out their weapons, the one that was acting normally quicker than the guard that was twitching.  However, their eyes widened as the creatures body slowly began to contort and shift, the skin growing darker, hair growing longer, nails growing sharper.  It was a demon!

Spoiler:

"Feel the wrath of Ravana!" The creatured yelled as a wave of frightening stunned energy hit the 2 guards and Zeyphr as the voice of the creature itself was demanding the body stay still a way of fear striking through the guards faces as every inch in their body began to scream with terror as flashes of atrocities committed by these creatures flashed through the the vanguard and the two guard's minds.

The creature then pulled its blades in front of his chest and lunged towards Zeyphr aiming straight for the vanguard's neck attempting to slice it off in one clean cut.

----

Outside in the rainy setting another one was lurking in the outside with a mask on his face slowly walking towards the door, as its hand reached down to grab onto a concealed blade whose shine Gad could barely make out in the pouring water from the skies.

Spoiler:

Zephyr Arc - Crime Scene

Luckily, it seemed Cherry was alarmed for no reason, as the guards showed no negative reaction to Zephyr's little outburst. This, however, did not stop her for lightly punching the side of his neck for it, leading him to rub it with his free hand, knowing full well why he was hit.

The guards proceeded to invite him inside for a privacy and began to explain what they saw... only to immediately be interrupted by a blade bursting from the floor, followed by its owner bombastically following close behind. It appeared the creature was quite confident in itself as it fired a paralysis spell immediately and then lunged at the strongest target in the room with abandon.

Zephyr held the urge to smirk, Spell Eater having swallowed its spell the moment it hit him. Feigning having fallen prey to it, he waited until it closed in with its blade... then released the spell right back in its face, forcing the creature to fall to the very same effect it had just put the guards under. Finally letting the smirk bloom on his face, Zephyr proceeded to punch the unmoving demon in the solar plexus, Boost still active. He probably didn't need to do this, as it had provided the perfect spell to capture it itself... but he figured the added intimidation factor would help when he attempts to interrogate it.

Meanwhile, Cherry fluttered off his shoulder and quickly cleared the paralysis effect from the two guards, before returning to her perch as Zephyr walked over to the slumped demon, grabbing its weapon and tossing it to one of the other men as he landed a heavy foot on its chest.

"Right. Ring of Gaea?" He began his questioning. It didn't really even need to answer, all it would take is reacting to the name for him to infer a yes or no. A simple, yet effective tactic to get things started.

Gad - Following Zephyr Arc and Others

Gad eyes followed Zephyr and others, and he followed them as they decided to move away from crime scene. The guards were ordinary folks, even so Gad kept his distance.

The reason he deicded to be stealthy at this point was simple. Gad had suspicion that the people in this village might have been influenced by demons and all things happening here were just a show to lower Vanguards' guards. Besides, he knew Zephyr Arc and his pixie - as far as he remembered about them, they were not an easy duo to taken down that easily.

But soon, his well trained senses spotted the masked being making its appearance from the outside of where Zephyr and Guards went in. The figure had the concealed blade, and before Gad could rationalize what that being was, he rushed with his weapon, slashing his doubled Scythe diagonally, its blade emitting freezing aura.

"I don't think you are invited, demon." And Gad could hear the noises from inside as well. "I guess you did not come here alone." Gad stared at the demon, and as he was not so sure how powerful that demon was, he casted his spell to himself, "Invisible Armor."

He had learned to be careful with his every counter with the demons - he learned it hard way, and he was not going to risk it.

Crime Scene

"Weak fool, can only win off our strength!  But, you'll pay for underestimating us not after we found such a delicious source of humans" The demon spat as it it completely ignored the question and weakly attempted to spit a wad of spit in the vanguards face.  It seemed to get more infuriated by the moment as it raised its hand towards cherry.

"I'll enjoy watching your friend die, Enrage!" The demon shouted as cherry would feel a wash of berserk wanting to attack anyone in its path.  Followed by the other demon nodded to the other demon at the door.

---

The demon at the door took a quick glance at Gad, his body began to shift from its human form as his skin grew dark as black, his skin become consumed by tattoos and his fingers began growing larger and larger razor sharp nails.  He quickly jumped back barely dodging his attack as his eyes immediately glanced over at the situation his ally was in.

"Makes sense a vanguard can see through our disguise so easily... but."  The demon stated as he rushed in and grabbed Zeyphr from behind holding the vanguard in a lock as he dug his nails into his arm with him facing towards one of the guards, "You're not going to steal that spell or this one!"

The demon rose his other hand as wave of energy from the enrage spell collided with the other guard, the guards face shifted and contorted his eyes directed towards the pixie in the air who had just healed him from the stun spell.

The guard began to pull out his sword as he dashed towards cherry, his sword at the ready.  The other guard's eyes widened in shock as he dashed in front of the pixie and blocked the blow doing all he could to protect her form the attack.

"What are you doing?!" The man yelled with fear in his voice, as he looked at Gad pleadingly noticing the vanguard standing at the doorway.

Zephyr Arc - Crime Scene

"That's a yes then." He replied as the demon began its little speech. Answer clear, and it plainly obvious the ugly thing had no intention to answer any questions anyway without... significant persuasion, which he really didn't have time for, Zephyr unceremoniously plunged his spear into its face, just as it began raising his arm. He'd been playing nice with the more friendly demons as that had direct benefits to their missions, but what many, including the creature he'd just ended didn't seem to realize about him was that he well and truly hated demons to their bones. Many may walk and speak like people, but to him, they were little more than rabid dogs to be put down.

As he did so, he heard the sounds made by Gad and turned around, just in time to see another, similar demon charging at him headlong. The demon was upon him before he had the time to intercept with his shield, allowing the creature to attempt a headlock. Unfortunately, it had chosen perhaps the absolute worst target for such a maneuver. Just as it felt like it had gotten him into a proper hold... its quarry seemingly slipped away out of its grasp. Zephyr cast Shift and shrank himself, them slipped between the offender's legs before it could get its bearings.

Charry, having been afflicted with Enrage, but with no ability to actually deal any real damage in her diminutive form, floated in place for a moment, unsure how to act. This lead to the first guard jumping in her defense as his Enraged friend charged at her. Then, slowly... like someone in-between sleep and wake, she vaguely recalled a spell she'd learned when she'd been given a power up by Titania. She brought her hands in front of her, slowly and clearly in a trance, before beating her wings with fury and sending forth... extremely weak blades of wind at the guard's back. Perhaps due to the fact that she'd never used it while conscious, and had actually forgotten she had it to begin with, the resultant attack was far weaker than it should have been. However, it was still enough to tear up the poor man's clothing and put light gashes reminiscent of cat-scratches in his back.

Nihility ~A Bitter Rain - The Apothecary~


The rainy weather was so nice. Sure, it reminded her a bit of the swamp where she had mixed emotional memories of her family, but she had grown to be able to push those feelings of negativity behind. Nihility looked up at the ashen sky and let the cold rain wash down her face. She closed her eyes and slowly swayed her body with outstretched arms. Taking in that sweet rainy scent, she exhaled refreshingly.

"Ah. I love visiting the Village during this season. The weather has never let me down. It washes away all my worries."

Tyrian slowly came to a halt as they reached The Apothecary. "We have arrived at the shop, My Lady." The Bicorn informed as he lowered his body for Nihility to slide down with ease.

"Thank-you Tyrian. You have always been considerate throughout the trips here and back, especially in the severe weather conditions." Nihility brushed her demons mane as she slid down it.

"Just doing what any being in my place should be doing." Tyrian straightened up once Nihility was back on her feet.

"Alright, alright. I won't question your humbleness. I just think that it is in good spirits to always show appreciation where warranted." Nihility started to walk towards the shop and motioned for her trusty Bicorn to de-materialize back into the Vanguard Gauntlet as she pushed open the door and entered The Apothecary.


~~~~---~~~~

The moment Tyrian vanished, Pix flew out and zipped around Nihility.
"Switcheroo successful!!" The High Pixie reported with arms folded confidently. "The Purple Monster, shall continue to sulk inside." Pix smirked as she flew towards the counter and took a seat upon a glass jar.

Nihility nodded, acknowledging the report she was given by her flying fairy and walked towards the counter to greet Wren.

Before she could let words escape her pale lips, Wren smiled while taking a bag out from under the counter and holding it in front of her, "The usual is it, my dear Nihility?"

The young lady had her right fist held with a single finger unrolled, "Ah!" she made a sound in surprise and then sighed in defeat. "Yes, please. You beat me to it. Hehe." Nihility sheepishly chuckled as she placed her palms on the wooden counter, ready to examine the ingredient's.


"What? You don't trust me?" Wren spoke accusingly as her frequent customer attempted to undo the knot of the bag that was given to her.

"Aah, of-course I do!!" Nihility frantically waved her hands in embarrassment.

Wren simply smiled and brushed off the apologetic lady. "I'm only teasing you. Don't take it to heart sweetie." She then tapped onto the wooden counter, "Payment then, will be the same as usual. Hmm."


Nihility nodded assertively, took out the pre-agreed amount and placed them next to the pouch containing ingredients that she uses in the recipe of her Maga Recovery Pills.


Seeing as their main transaction was completed, Pix flexed her wings and fluttered over to the door.

"So, will that be all? Or may I indulge you into sniffing some of my new floral essences." Wren pointed at the neatly grouped collection of tinted glass bottles on the shelf next to the Stained Glass window at the far left of the counter. "I'm sure they'll help you relieve stress, or simply brighten up your day, or even calm your night to fall into a sweet dream."

Spoiler:

The shop owner was placing her charms on the captivated customer when screams erupted around the shop and blurred figures of the screaming villagers were seen running past from outside the window.

"I'm sorry, Wren. Thanks, but hopefully next time." Nihility worriedly thanked the Apothecary's owner and rushed to exit the shop.


~~~---~~~

Her Vanguard training kicking in, Nihility surveyed the area and quickly spotted the commotion at a house, far off in the distance.

"Pix! let's go see what is happening."

The Fairy had already been alert at the first sound of the screaming villagers. She zipped left and right, her razor sharp wings slicing through the Heavy Rain alongside her Vanguard partner as they made their way through the shifting crowd towards what they'll soon find out to be a bloody crime scene.

Gad - Crime Scene

Gad narrowed his eyes at the demon who did not hesitate to attack Zephyr - As long as it was one on one, Gad had confidence in Zephyr to take care of that demon.

Gad turned his attention to the guards and Zephyr's trusted companion. Gad quickly casted small area of "Crushing Guilt" under them. The dark circle created shockwave that affected the raging pixie and the guard. The raging guard could feel his exhaustion doubled, and every move he tried to make felt slower and heavier. The uncontrollable rage would exhaust him, and Gad spell made the guard to exhaust even quicker. The guard that was affected by the berserking aliment should be fainted in no time. Gad stepped between Pixie and the guard who weren't affected by the berseker aliment, who Gad conisdered as ally. "When your friend faints get him and yourself out of here. Angry Pixies are quite dangerous and frankly, i am not good at protecting people." Gad looked at the Pixie who would be going through the same aliment effect, hopinig that it would be enough to buy time for Zephyr to finish the demon and save the pixie.

Nihility ~A Bitter Rain - The Crime Scene~

Pix and Nihility eventually arrived at the house. The villagers were either running away from it or grouped together at a safe distance and poking around over each other's shoulder's to see what was going inside.


"Excuse me~" The Vanguard attempted to squeeze her way through the thick crowd. "Vanguard on scene. Just trying to do my civil duty. Please let me through. Thanks." She pleaded, though her soft voice, like herself, was getting hushed by the patter of Raindrops and the exclaiming onlookers.


Fortunately, for the High Pixie, she didn't have to go through this slowed down pace. Pix Zipped over everyone's head and zoomed into the house.

"Well, well, well. What kind of pickle have these people been thrown."

One demon was downed while another was being crushed by some invisible force, alongside a civilian in a guard uniform. It didn't take long for Pix to realize the situation. These were fellow Vanguards on duty and a Pixie not being totally sweet.

"Now, now. This won't do at all." Pix zipped around to be above the two beings acting as brutes. "People need to be calm and collected during a strife."

The High Pixie raised her arms as Maga engulfed around her and directed it towards her Fairy kind. "Fair Folk's Favor!!" She then repeated the same for the struggling guard. "There. Now fight your differences like civilized beings. Hmm." She chirped.

Pix fluttered about with her arms crossed and head raised high. Surveying the two like a referee of sorts, ensuring that the duel was fair.


~~~+++~~~

Meanwhile back outside, Nihility was not making much headway and finally lost her composure.
"Let-meEE-DO-MY-JOB!!!!" The frustrated lady yelled out as high as she could. "AaaaaAAAH!!!"

Upon hearing such screams, the villagers instantly dispersed a couple of feet back.
"Wha- what is that!!" one of them shrieked while pointing towards the Banshee.

Nihility cocked her head to the side. Her rain drenched hair slapped onto her face and shoulders. Her ghastly pale face illuminated under the night's ambience. The dress she was wearing, stuck onto her figure, didn't help her plight as it made her look even more like a walking corpse.

"Ehh!!" She screeched. "What do you mean by, what is that?" Nihility pointed her own finger back at the young girl. It looked like she was about to curse her right then and there.

"Noo!!! It's another one of those Demons!!!" The villager shrieked and covered her face as if she was going to get slapped or something by the scary woman in the grey drenched dress.

Nihility sighed and dropped her arm. "Could this get anymore bothersome on my day off." Wiping her hair away over her head and revealing her full clean face, the Vanguard continued. "Like I kept saying before. I am a Vanguard, trying to get to the house and help with the situation. But you here have made a tight wall and are hindering me from passing through."


The villagers looked at each other baffled. Like this was the first time they were informed of such a thing.

"Huh? Well, why didn't you say so from the start." The man gently pushed his fellow onlookers to open up some space. "Here." He pointed towards the house now clearly in view. "Mrs. Vanguard, please hurry and save the people inside. Some demons have been slaughtering our men. Though other Vanguards are already on the scene."


Nihility huffed a bit, nodded at the villager and walked over to the house, but not without thanking them, though still a bit frustrated. "Thanks... about time."

Crime Scene

While the remaining demon was wearing a mask, his face was static unmoving almost like a computer was out of space and froze, computing how it was going to process all this incoming data.  The demon's head shifted towards the pixie and guard who were now acting normal but exhausted, then his head shifted towards the now little man running between his legs, then his eyes glanced over to the..... human girl?  Entering the room.  Then his head shifted towards his dead comrade.

"I surrender." The demon stated frankly as his body shifted back to its normal state, and he raised his now normal human looking hands in the air as he turned his head down towards the tiny Zeyphr blurting out a phrase to not get himself killed, "Ring of Gaea you said?"

He removed his mask revealing a more demonic visage, his skin had shifted from gray to pale but his eyes were black with his demonic fang protruding out of his mouth.  Fangs that have been sharpened to the point that touching them would draw blood... with enough force they looked strong enough tear through anything even human bones.

"My comrade and I aren't from any faction, if anything those factions made things more difficult for us.  We're just trying to find a source of consistent food and humans are the most rich..." The demon stuttered holding back his hunger for a few moments as a drop of saliva feel from his mouth and landed on the floor beneath him leaving a barely noticeable dark spot on the blood splattered floor beneath him, "This was a good place, since that man has been neglecting his duties so the rain provided good cover."

The demon glanced at each of the vanguards with a worried look on his face, his eyes drawn to the blood splatter on the ground.  He slowly rose his hands to point towards the opening in the floorboards.  As the sounds of light moaning and murmurs could be heard now that the sounds of combat has ended.

"I can help you find him... I have an idea, provided you don't kill me for my feedings.  That human should still be alive though you'll need to stop the bleeding" The demon quietly stated.

His eyes suddenly lit up with a flash of inspiration, one of his fingers raising in the air "And of course, help you apprehend the others of my kind that lurk here!"

Gad

Gad stared at the demon that surrendered, "I will quickly check it out." Said Gad, with medical training he received from the doctor, he should have no problem in stopping the bleeding of the victim. "Don't make sudden move." He warned the demon. It looked like the demon knew something that may help other Vanguard's quest, which he was now willing to be part of it.

Gad opened and went under to check the source of the sound. with his weapon ready. He casted another round of "Invisible Armor" as he went down.

Zephyr Arc - Crime Scene

Zephyr slipped out of the demon's grip and quickly slipped between the fiend's legs. As he then raised his arm and trained an arrow up at it, the creature quickly surrendered and volunteered any and all information it had in exchange for its life.

While he'd immediately executed the other one, lowered his arm and returned to his normal size. The other demon's mistake was not co-operating, while this one was apparently completely willing to sell out his kin to save his own skin. He rested the shaft of his still-bloody spear on his shoulder as he faced the demon.

"Neutral, is it? And you just happen to know our query and where to find him?" Zephyr asked, not quite trustingly. It seemed Gad, who'd arrived at an opportune moment was handling the situation with the victim, there was only one thing keeping him from focusing on the demon. "Nihility. It's been a while. Sorry for putting you to work immediately, but could you please go check on the pub? Samael should be there and might need a hand..."

Then he turned his head back to the demon. "Now, as for you." He said, his eyes rife with the promise of violence. "You've seen what happened to your friend there, so I hope you'll be smart enough to not lie to us, yes?" Having entrusted Nihility with backing up Samael, he had nothing else keeping him from his interrogation.

Cherry, on the other hand, woke from her stupor with the ailment clear from her kin. "S-sorry!" She blurted out, quickly casting her healing spell on back of the guard who'd shielded her. "I'm sorry!" She yelled once more, before following after Gad to help the victim. Her healing abilities would definitely be more useful there.

Nihility ~A Bitter Rain - The Crime Scene~

Pix, upon witnessing that Cherry, upon shaking herself off the Raging Ailment, instinctively went about about healing the injured; was taken by surprise.

"Oh! So you two weren't quarreling from before?" The confused pixie strafed left and right looking at the people's actions. "Well, that means all the action is already over. Humph" Pix pouted for a second before flying back to Nihility.

"Did you see that!? I broke up a fight. Am I not a great healer of battles." Pix chirped about proudly, waiting for praise.

Nihility rolled her eyes. "From where I'm standing, I'm pretty sure you were cheering for them to fight."

"What!!!? Me? Nooo!!" Pix muttered in obvious fake disbelief which could be seen from her jovial facial expressions."

Spoiler:

Upon Zephyr, mentioning to check up on Samael at the pub, Nihility sighed.

"Come on! I just arrived. Have you seen the thick crowd gathered out here." The Vanguard clasped her face with both her palms and pulled down on her skin with an exaggerated growl. "Urrrgh!" Her gaunt face stretched and revealing her sunken eyes glared at the Rakshaka demon. "You better service us with good intel and obedience, or what happened to your partner would be the least of your concern when I'm back."


Nihility spun around and exited the building. Looking back at the curious crowd, she shook her head. "Nope. We are not doing this again."

Pix, sensing her partner's discomfort, immediately chirped in. "Ooh! Ooh. Is it time for the Baton-Pass?"

Nihility nodded and raised her arm. The Fairy gave a salute as she burst into Maga, seeping into the Gauntlet.


Tyrian made a triumphant neigh as it materialized next to the Lady Vanguard and then bent down for her to get on.

"Let's make haste to the Pub and check up on the other Vanguards at there."


Nihility sliced forward at the rain with her arms stretched out as the duo Vanguard and Demon partner galloped ahead. The villagers quickly darted and dove away to make way for the wild pair.

Underground - Gad

As carefully climbed beneath the creaking and unstable floorboards to where the demon had pointed, they were plunged into a deep darkness for a moment one that seemed almost unnatural.  Their eyes began to slowly adjust to the light, as they could make out one figure in the distance of a human figure twitching on the ground.

The underground was vast, various tunnels that seemed to burrow far far into the distance that seemed the expand the whole town.  There was also a very faint sound of digging that could barely be heard like a mole was digging around somewhere far away.

"No, Stay away.  Don't eat me!"  The human screamed in terror at Gad waving their arm fully stretched out before they desperately pressed their hands on the ground and trying to push themselves away from the supposed 'demon' they saw.


Crime Scene - Above Ground

The demon appearance seemed to fade further as it became more monstrous and scaly in a darker black pigment color that consumed its skin.  Its fangs grew larger and horn began to protrude more out of its head.  The red hair on its head looking more and more like a mane for the beast.  

"Somewhat, it was my job to keep lookout when suzzy-o fellow left." The demon stated stuttering on the name for a few seconds before continue with its spiel while pointing down towards the floorboards, "There's these mole demons that can detect maga and use it to avoid predators, so we forced them catch the scent of suzzy.  They're harmless otherwise so it's easy to bully them into it."

The demon seemed somewhat proud of this for a few seconds before pointing in the direction of the other side of town.

"It was strange, the moles said they detected him near the inn, pub, and lastly apothecary some time ago but then his signature just vanished.  They say they catch traces of him in that area town once in a while, so we just avoid that part of town for the most part." The demon stated a bit concerned as he watched Zeyphr cautiously for a reaction, "I just assumed he wanted some alone time, you know?"

----
Nihility - Route to Samael

As Nihility quickly made her way back to the pub on her valiant steed, she noticed that the the windows of the pub were completely black.  The building looked closed for all intensive purposes, as a few of the regulars seemed to be standing outside grumbling to each other in a frustrated tone.

"They never close!  Or at least that one woman is there to yell at us if we try to come in."  Some burly woman commented to an equally burly man who seemed to be nodding in agreement.  Before a loud slamming noise could be heard from inside the tavern.

"Vandals!  NOW?!  Are you serious?!"  A women's voice yelled, as she pushed out the doors to face the customers revealing it was hazel the women running the bar from earlier with Samael and all the regulars standing with her, "Come on in and spend more coin, gonna need some coin to fix that giant tunnel beneath us."

Samael simply sighed, as he appeared to be covered with multiple cuts, bruises, and some cut marks over his arm along with some of the regulars who seemed to be more showing it off as a code of honor to the other regulars.

"We should grab some antidotes from the apothecary, we don't know if the poison applied to JT could be more lethal." Samael commented as he glanced up to see a terrifying figure in the rain riding a monstrous steed.  Everyone turned white, Tulip the flower demon petals seemed to wilt in the face of this fearful presence.

"Oh it's Nihility" Samael commented still a bit pale, as he pulled the collar of his cloak a bit to let off some steam.

Underground - Gad

"Don't worry, i am not a demon. I am a Vanguard, a human." Said Gad, trying to calm down the human that he had spotted, "Are you alone? Or are there others?" He asked. Looking at where they were, he could definitely see that it was huge enough, not for one but many humans to be 'stored' as food.

"Would you do the honors?" Gad asked Cherry politely, as he was not the one who was linked with her, it was entirely her will to heal the human in front of her.

Gad, however, still did not lower his guard. The place was too spacious, and it meant there could be other beings down here. Besides, the demon they had encountered above did not look like a capable demon that could create such huge burrows, matter of fact as he could still hear the sound of something digging the ground. Gad turned to the human once again, "Are you really alone?" He asked the human once again.

Nihility ~A Bitter Rain - At the Pub~

Tyrian stopped right in front of the pub, raised it front legs high into the air and stood there with steam emanating through his snout.

Nihility flicked her hair to her side.... or at least tried to. The wet mangled hair were a bit too heavy for a fancy hair flip and the maiden ended up simply puffing at it for a bit which too didn't do much.


Eventually dropping down into a puddle, the Vanguard swiped her hair away with her hands and walked on towards Samael.

"Hey, I was just out shopping when I heard some commotion further down. Seems like other Vanguards were already at a scene of some demon's attacking civilians. Looked like they had it covered so, Zephyr sent me to check up here.."

Nihility looked about at the damage occurred all about the place.

"What exactly happened and how may I assist?"

She asked but at the same time she was already giving out the hand motion for her demon to switch through.


Pix was out in a jiffy and already whizzing around everywhere.

"Oh, What do we have here? Another battle? Welp, Time to do my thing." Pix fluttered over the injured people and began throwing heals left, right and center.

"You get a heal. ""And you get a heal." As soon as she was done with one, the hyper Pixie was already at the next person but also returning back to Niihility for quick snack. "And I get a heal." catching a Maga candy into her mouth before zipping off to cast her heals over another civilian. "And now you too get a heal."

Pix suddenly dropped onto Samael's head. "Oh, Did you also want a healing?" Not really waiting for an answer, "Wasn't really a question because you too get a healing!!" Maga would wash over Samael as the High Pixie healed the Vanguard of their sufferings and she was then off to help another villager.

Zephyr Arc - Crime Scene

Zephyr stood listening to the demon speak, now having the leisure to take a minute with two more Vanguard on the scene. It appeared these creatures were using another, more docile breed of demon as bloodhounds to detect what he assumed was the rain demon's husband. That name certainly didn't sound correct, so he wasn't about to go around using it and confusing the group or potential witnesses.

Tapping the spear shaft on the shoulder he was resting it on in thought, Zephyr spoke. "Alright, so you've got your own little bloodhounds that just happen to have our target's scent, so you can use them as an alarm system to avoid him, then?" He nodded to himself as he finished his summary, more to affirm he'd gotten his thoughts out correctly than for confirmation from the creature he was speaking to.

"Great." He smiled a suspiciously beaming smile. "Bring them out. Spread them around the village if you have to. Find me his general whereabouts and point us there. I'll give you... five minutes to get started." He said, still beaming. His smile was clearly rife with threat of violence.

Underground

The human's eyes seemed to relax just a bit when Gad finally said the word 'human'.  A panicked but joyful smile appeared on his face but he didn't seem to be moving.  It seemed the main was affected by some kind of toxin.

In the dim light, the man seemed to be wearing what looked to be a well made leather vest with various sheathes and satchels on his person.  The buttons of the satchels appeared to be worn down and covered with a hefty amount of dust while others looks like the have been torn into only covered with a somewhat dried red blood.

The light glow of the spell of Fair Folk's favor washed over the unmoving man.  The glow closed up the various gashes in his body, but his jerks and movements didn't seem to change at all showing that he was still struggling with moving his body.

"Well...." the man muttered in a defeated tone as he looked up at the opening from upstairs that Gad came through, "If you dealt with those monsters, then only those moles should be left.... but they never attacked me or anything...."

Almost on cue, the rustling sound became louder as two demon-like moles burrowing into the tunnel.  They locked eyes with Gad for a few dark moments before slowly approaching the vanguard stopping every few steps in gauge the human's reaction.

Spoiler:

When the demon was close to arms reach, the drill that appeared to be the demon's noise made a loud and high pitch whirling noise as the sound of rustling could be heard from all directions now.  The demon slowly holding out what appeared to be a lava rock to gad that appeared to still be warm to the touch.

Crime Scene / Underground

The trembling demon quietly listened to Zeyphr's words as it redonned its mask and returned to its previous human-like state.  It turned towards the opening in the floor boards as it peered down to see what was going on, as it held its empty hands out constantly visible to Zeyphr to see.

"Bakemogura! Suzzy!" The demon roared out, as it turned its head back towards Zeyphr in that moment his expression undefinable due to the mask.

"Follow me, we can't stay in the rain long due to its divine enchantment.  So, we'll need to follow the moles to the location underground." The demon flatly stated, as it dropped down into the underground in front of Gad.  The Mole from earlier breaking out into a sudden fearful spasm and immediately lunging headfirst into the ground and digging a tunnel straight down as it left the lava rock behind.

The man's eyes widened as he tried to move but couldn't so he desperately shut his eyes instead, weakly trembling at the sight of the demon.

"BAKEMOGURA! NOW!" The demon called out again as one of the moles gave a quick and fearful nod, as the drill on his nose began to whirl loudly and it began to dig in the direction of the other side of down, leaving a large and ample size size tunnel behind it that had the height and width of a normal sized human.

Pub

The villagers seemed to let out a relieved sigh, as despite their bravado the healing energy of Pix seemed to close many of those battle wounds, leaving only a light scratch in the warm light's wake.

"We ran into a couple of demons that looked like the guardians of the shrine but a lot more aggressive and hostile. They have some kind of potent poison on their claws." Samael stated as he pointed back into the inn gestured to the left side of the establishment, "JT, one of the villagers, hit a nasty dose... you can try healing the poison with your pixie, but I was going to visit the apothecary to try and find an antidote since one of the villagers said it came from a stronger demon."

Samael paused for a few moments as he seemed lost in thought.  He glanced at the cuts on the other villagers before turning his gaze back towards Nihility.

"Other then that, we'll need someone to scout the tunnels, make sure there aren't anymore of those bastards lurking around that might ambush the villagers while I'll grabbing the antidote" Samael stated in a now worried tone, "I can make you look like one, maybe you can catch them off guard."

Gad - Underground

"Don't worry, that demon won't do any harm to you any more." Said Gad, making sure victim was not tied by any ropes.

"Perhaps something is still in effect." Gad muttered looking at the victim's struggle to move. When the victim mentioned about harmless demon, Gad furrowed, "I see... " Then Gad heard the noise and saw the 'moles'. Gad stared at the mole, cautious of its movement.

When it came close to Gad and opened its what seemed to be its hand with warm rock, Gad blinked, the harmless looking creature came to Gad with a stone that was warm to touch, and Gad took it gently from it. It was definitely warm, alright, and Gad did not know what it was for.

"Uh... thanks?"

Then the demon came down and ordered the moles. Gad turned to the human, "No worries. He is not going to be a threat." Than Gad eyed at the demon. "What did you give him? Why is he not able to move properly?" He asked the demon before they progress further with what other Vanguards may come here to do.

Nihility ~A Bitter Rain - At the Pub~

The Vanguard listened attentively to Samael's instructions.
"Understood. Worry not, these demons shall not trouble the civilians as long as I'm pulling their tails and whipping them into submission."
Nihility tapped her Whip-Sword at her waist which was acting as a fancy belt.

"Pix. Go see what you can do for JT and then we will head into the Tunnels."


The High Pixie fluttered her wings and flew over to the Civilian lying in pain inside the pub. She attempted to use her healing magic but soon after a few attempts realized that she couldn't fully cure away the poison. Disappointed that she couldn't heal the person. Pix flew back at Nihility's side and reported.

"That person is drunk on his poison and doesn't want to be cured by my magic. I did my best but he's at fault, not me. Humph!"

PiX crossed her arms and strafed left and right over Nihility, buzzing and cussing incoherently as the two ventured into the back of the pub and into the Tunnels.


Realizing that the reason why Pix couldn't heal the man might have to do with what Samael said about the poison being administered by a strong demon, Nihility tried to calm her Fairy down.

"It's alright dear Pix. Here, have your treat and feel better."

Nihility handed the sulking pixie a Maga Candy which she happily swooped it out of her partner's hand and began sucking on the blue ball.

Underground (Zeyphr and Gad)

The mole like demons dug deeper into the underground, tearing through dirt and rock at an alarmingly fast rate as various small stones flung back and collided with the vanguards.  The vanguards were walking at a brisk almost running pace to keep up with the mole, as the illumination of the area grew darker and darker as time went on.

"Almost there." The masked demon commented in the dark his voice quivering a bit more and more like some kind of scared rodent as time went on  until a small dim light punctured through the darkness.

"Here we are, looks like Suzzy is upstairs"  The demon commented as the mole pointed his drill like noise and hands up towards the ceiling.

Looking over the room, it appeared to be various boxes and storage material labeled with different plant names found throughout nearby or in the town.  A few of the plants seemed to be sitting in a pan of damp soil with a small dim light shining on top of it as the stalk of the plant seemed to be reaching out towards that light along with other kinds of molds in and powders that sat in glass like containers.

The wall they came through was make of finely placed stone bricks that have now been tarnished by the moles digging.  Though, it didn't seem like it was the first time a mole as here as a large hole hidden behind one of the shelves could be barely seen at the angle they were coming in.

However, what appeared to be the most noticeable was the ladder leading up towards a cellar door above it that was on the ceiling of the basement room they were in where they could faintly make out the conversation of the apothecary staff and Samael discussing finding an antidote for the poison that afflicted JT.

Underground (Nihility)

When Nihility and Pix headed underground, they climbed down into the hole that was created that the owner had been complaining about.  The dark hole lead down in a very poorly lit tunnel, the only light seeping in from the bar above her.

There were a few tunnels that she could explore, one pathway was faintly lit that appeared to be blockaded by some kind of shelf where she could hear faint voices that sounded familiar to the other vanguards.  The tunnel towards the shelf would lead towards the Apothecary.

The other two tunnels were extremely dark, and one lead outside of town towards where the shrine would be while the other lead back towards the opposite side of town.  While both of the other paths were pitch black, the vanguard could barely hear some strange noise from the tunnel that went to the other side of town.  It was the sound of faint rustling of dirt and rock along with some barely audible whispering.

The shrine tunnel however was completely and ominously silent, the only detail that could be noted was that the shrine tunnel seemed a lot more stable and built then the other tunnels filled with various sturdy beams and support that showed a lot more care when digging.

Nihility ~A Bitter Rain - Mid-Tunnel~

Nihility made a twirling motion with her finger. Pix nodded and sent herself into the Gauntlet. Tyrian silently materialized beside the Vanguard and bowed down to have Nihility mount him.

"Tyrian, let's go give them a little jump, shall we." Nihility whispered and smiled mischievously as she gave her partner a silent command.

The Bicorn nodded, his hooves lighting up as he charged Maga through them and unleashed into a sprint with Fleet Foot firing off, giving them a sharp boost.


It would have taken just a few short moment to reach the end of their tunnel and come upon the source of the whispers.

Tyrian, would abruptly halt, sending a cloud of dust upon stopping right behind the beings.

Nihility would peer down at them with a cheerful smile.
"Hey guys, what ya up to!? I'm here to help... Teeheee"

Zephyr Arc - Tunnel

Zephyr allowed the demons to lead the way. It was doubtful they they might abruptly turn on his at this point, as the creatures were within his reach and would clearly knew they wouldn't last a second if they tried anything. Even if a horde were to jump out in ambush, he would certaily take them with him... and the lead demon was far too cowardly to take that risk.

Thus, he followed along without a word, bringing his shield up in front of him to fend off the gravel being flung their way as the group continued onward. Once the mole broke through a clearly man-made wall, Zephyr stepped out as the lead demon explained that their quarry was just upstairs... what was strange, however, was that he could hear Samael just above as well...

Doubting the demons would dare to lie, especially when they went to the trouble of bringing him here to begin with, Zephyr wasted no time climbing up and out the cellar door.

"I don't suppose any of you is actually named... Susano-O, was it?" He declared aloud, Cherry producing the trinket from the rain demon for emphasis.

Apothecary

As Zeyphr climbed the ladder to the cellar door he heard Wrenn urgently call out for Guy.  She told him among inaudible murmurs hindered by the sound of the cellar ceilings the vanguards were in to go and the back and collect the antidote for Samael to heal JT.  The faint some of rummaging, foot steps on the ceiling, but oddly enough a faint song could be heard coming from presumably Guy's lips as the song echoed through the basement.

Oh queen of the valley, how long has it been ~

when we said our farewells, how dark the clouds became ~

the rain carried my woes, so you shall always know....

how hard it is on our souls, to be apart for so long ~

but do not worry, for I will always return ~

just like how the sun will always rise ~

and with our reunion new life will begin to arrive ~


Moments later Zeyphr burst through the back cellar doors calling out to the others in the store, as Guy stood over the vanguard with a perplexed and startled expression.

"No sir, it's just me and Wrenn here?!  Unless that's your friend's name?" Guy commented in a confused and startled tone, his voice identical to the one that was singing the song earlier, as he reached out his hand to help the vanguard out of the cellar.

"H-How did you get in there?!  Why are you in there?!" Wrenn called out startled, as Samael's eyes seemed to shift between the vanguard, guy, and Wrenn like he was watching some kind of soap opera.

Tunnels

The two mole like demons jumped back for a moment, as they looked up at the absolutely terrifying creature standing above them.  Was it some kind of demon who wore human skin?!

"UHH, sorry, we just accidently dug into this other tunnel system and weren't sure how to proceed." One of the moles cried out in fear, as he bowed his head to the vanguard and pointed in the direction of the more structured tunneled Nihility had seen from earlier.

One of the moles looked between the two of them with a startled expression, as he rose his paw almost as if to be called on.

"We think it leads to that shrine queen's place, since her stench is strong in those tunnels, almost like she's down there herself."

The two jumped in fear as a rock from their poorly done and collapsing tunnel crumbled next to them, afraid it would be the queen of the valley at any moment.