The Magecraft Chronicles II

[Mizagium]

Irritated, Stella crossed her arms. "You still haven't told us what it is?"

"Sparks..." Krysta whispered. "I don't like this anymore. His aura is..." She found it difficult to put into words what she saw and felt.

[Myrdraxxis]

"The price, my dear," Izzy's smile was still in place, but drained of any warmth, "is your soul." His grin widened, exposing pointed canines. "Please, just give it to me. I'd rather not have to take it forcefully."

[Mizagium]

Stella was so taken back by his statement that she only stared at him for a long moment. He said it with such calmness that the sheer ridiculousness of it nearly vanished.

"What? You can't be serious."

"Stella." Krysta never called her by her real name. "His aura...it swirls, darker than night. Auras don't do that."

She took a step back, pushing her friend with her. "You...can't...mean that."

[Myrdraxxis]

"Oh I'm quite serious." Izzy said, beginning to step out from behind the counter. It was a rather surreal scene, considering Izzy looked no older than a young teen. "I specialize in giving people what they want. But there's always a price for everything, and for such a gift, that price is steep."

Izzy stared at Stella, his eyes narrowing. "Now then, your soul please?"

[Mizagium]

"Forget it," she said quickly, realizing he was completely serious. If she could conjure fire, and Krysta could read auras, why the hell couldn't this kid steal souls? "Forget the ring; I don't want it." Krysta's nails were digging deep into her shoulder.

"Sparks!" She was hyperventilating now. "His...power...it's overwhelming...I...can't..." she collapsed under the force of Izzy's power.

[Myrdraxxis]

"interesting." Izzy said, still advancing on Stella. "it seems your friend is a bit of an Empath." he glanced at Krysta. "And sadly, I'm afraid you signed a contract. Your soul is mine." His grin was downright evil now. "I will use force if I have to." He extended a hand, exposing razor sharp nails.

[Mizagium]

((Oh just fucking do it already))

Panicked, Stella called her fire, which was a pitiful orb of fire roughly the size of a basketball. She hurled it at Izzy, scooped up Krysta, and bolted for the door.

[Myrdraxxis]

In a flash, Izzy stepped up to Stella and stabbed her through the chest with one arm. Except, when his hand met flesh, the surface rippled, as if he was touching water. Izzy grinned and ripped, pulling out his hand from the girl's chest. In his hand was a softly glowing blue orb. Stella's soul.

"Thank you so much." He said cheerfully.

[Monika]

((Fffffffffsoulstealing))

"Doo doo doo do..." Cid was humming in his own private bathroom, a hundred times larger and more luxurious than any of the cabin bathrooms. He was examining himself in the mirror, his head tilted back slightly and his nose dangerously stuffed with tissue.

"Oh that Shadow Ella...needs a lucky fella...guy who isn't yella...Hero through and through. Oh that Shadow Ella..."

The bathroom door opened silently behind him. Karl was behind it, his arms folded and his foot tapping impatiently. He heard Cid sing the same song every morning, and it had grown particularly irritating over their days of travel.

"Cid." Karl whispered, glaring at the captain, annoyed.

"I'll be her umbrella...Nice and sweet and mella...Oh that's-

"CID!" Karl viciously roared in a manner only a vampire could, almost startling the life out of Cid. Almost.

"WOAH WHOSAWHAT YOU?!?" Cid jumped about 4 feet in the air in surprise, almost hitting his head on the ceiling of the bathroom and promoting several more gallons of blood to escape his nose. Considering that no more than 2 could be in the human body at any one time, he had accomplished quite the feat.

"Oh...it's just you." Cid laughed nervously, shaking his head, getting more blood everywhere. "Didn't see you there...You vampires really ought to start giving reflections. That'd be a hell of a lot less startling!" Cid laughed heartily, patting Karl on the shoulder before turning around again to look at his nose.

Karl quickly rebuffed the physical contact and snapped his fingers. His reflection suddenly appeared in the mirror, startling Cid even more than he had a second ago.

"WHAT THE HOW'D YOU DO THAT? Cut it out! I can't keep losing this much blood! Eventually I'll run out!" Cid said in a combination of irritation, fear, and happiness with what he had just said. "Heh. Running out of blood. Ahahahaha, I crack myself up."

"Never mind how I did that." A very faint trace of an almost smirk wove its way onto Karl's face. He clearly took pleasure in frightening the who-knows-how-old airship pilot. "I had a question to ask you, Cid."

"Hmm? Shoot, K-Man." Once he restuffed his nose with clean tissue, he hastily began mopping up whatever blood had spilled on the floor.

"Ugh..." Karl sighed. Must he call me 'K-Man'? 'Karl' is just as easy to say, if not more so... "Where exactly in...their world are we going? Being a vampire, I'd like to prepare myself for the whole blending in thing. I doubt a pale skinned, black cloaked mystery man will be well received just anywhere."

"Err...We're going to...um...Am-uh-rika." Cid nervously replied. He began whistling as he continued mopping the blood, more quickly in pace this time.

"You mean 'America', right?" Karl lifted an eyebrow inquisitively, gazing at Cid. He was mopping even more quickly, whistling more loudly, clearly trying to distract Karl from his answers.

"Oh...Yea, that's the one. America." Cid repeated.

"Yes, I gathered that." Karl spat. "But where in America? What state?"

"Err...You know...The one...with the guy...and...stuff..." Cid muttered, whistling at a volume equivalent to that of a black man's stereo while rap music is on. He was quite close to mopping a hole through the bathroom floor.

"Ah. Transylvania, correct? My favorite state." Karl's smirk began to waver slightly as he lied, hoping that what he was thinking wasn't true.

"Err...Yea! Yea, Transylvania's the one. Love that state. Nice and...pretty. Must've slipped mah old mind!" Cid laughed, slowing down mopping and quieting his whistling.

"Cid." Karl said.

"Yes?" Cid's voice was shaking in front of Karl's CRUEL INTERROGATION.

"There is no state called 'Transylvania'." Karl announced shortly.

"Um...You know...Err...I meant-"

"You've never been to America, have you? You haven't been to Mundus Veritas at all..."

"OKAY! I ADMIT IT! I'VE NEVER BEEN! I FIGURED I WOULD JUST STOP AND GET DIRECTIONS FROM-" Cid slid across the floor, dropping to his knees in front of Karl as if he were begging for him not to tell anyone.

The smirk faded from Karl's face immediately as his thoughts were confirmed. "We have an airship captain...Taking us to a place he's never been...and knows nothing about. An airship captain who thought he could just 'ask directions' in a dimension he's never been to. Is that it?" Karl hissed, cutting Cid's plea off without haste.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT! I JUST...I MEAN...I figured I'd find a place with a lot of money. Like...um...America's leader! I figure once we got to the gate there...You know...Someone would tell me where he lived...and he could lend us some money...You know?" Cid laughed nervously, scratching his head and praying that his logic made sense in front of Karl.

"You have absolutely no idea how America works, do you?" Karl asked, although he pretty much confirmed Cid's ignorance regarding the country several minutes ago.

"Well...I figure it can't be too different...Leaders of territories here are always willing to help out...I figure they've got a friendly leader there...Maybe..." Cid muttered.

"Cid, if you weren't so old and I didn't think you'd collapse, I would punch you..." Karl sighed. "I'm going to go tell the others about this." Karl smiled. Messing with Cid was the first thing to bring him something resembling happiness in quite some time.

"NO! Please don't! Don't make me look dumb in front of Shadow Ella!" Cid pleaded, dropping to the floor and kissing the vampires black booted feet. Noticing Karl's inquisitive expression, he hastily added "...And, uh, Cryon. He can't know either. Heheh..."

"Get off of me." Karl hissed, disgusted with Cid's ridiculous display of cowardice. "I'm going to tell them. I feel they need to know that their captain doesn't even know where-

CRASH! BOOM! OH SHI-

[Monika]

The airship began to vibrate violently before jerking to a sudden halt, almost as if it had crashed into something. Lots of clanking noises and bangs could be heard as various objects fell from their proper place in the cabins and landed harshly upon the floor.

"Gah!" Karl exclaimed. Unlike Cid, he didn't lose his balance. One of those strange vampiric traits he had. The experience wasn't any less bothersome, though. "What kind of auto pilot system are you running?!" he demanded. These things generally don't crash... Karl glared at the captain, struggling to restrain from attacking.

"Err...Funny thing about that..." Cid scratched his head nervously.

"Oh please don't say something that will take away the last ounce of respect I might have for you..." Karl sighed.

"Heh heh...I sorta...never actually put an auto pilot system in..." Cid admitted, hoarse gasps of nervous laughter escaping his mouth.

"..." Karl didn't say anything, his facepalm action saying everything for him.

"Well...You know...It was too much work at the time, and I figured that instead I could just let the ship fly on its own and...pray for the best, maybe? Heheh..."

"Remind me to hire a new pilot before this journey is over." Karl sighed, his obvious disgust too strong to adequately be expressed in words. With that said, Karl glided off out of the bathroom, leaving Cid before he was tempted to commit a felony against the captain.

"Hey! Why is everything my fault! I'll have you know that in the army..." Cid began as he quickly stuffed a few more tissues in his nostrils and followed the vampire. Before he could go on with his rant, however, he was stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw on the deck of the ship: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The airship had just crashed...into nothing.

"Cid...I'm no expert at airships...Probably better at them then you-" Karl sneered.

"Hey! I resent that!" Cid interrupted.

"I'm sure you do." Karl continued, turning away from the captain to stare at what non-thing had hit the ship. "As I was saying, I'm no airship expert, but I assume they are not supposed to stop without reason. Would I be correct in my assumption?"

"Yea..." Cid replied nervously.

Shadow Ella and Cryon ran out of their cabin rooms, the former finally dressed at least semi-appropriately.

"What just happened?" Shadow Ella asked. "I was in my room, brushing my hair when my mirror fell to the floor! That's bad luck, you know!"

"Still as vain as ever..."

"Must you always be so rude, Karl? I'm-" Shadow Ella began.

"As much as I agree with that sentiment, allow me to inform you that I didn't actually say anything." Karl hissed, staring toward the front of the ship. The sky in that particular area had grown darker in color.

"Hmm? That doesn't make any-" she started again, only to be cut off by the mystery voice.

"Ha ha ha ha ha...It's good to know that nothing has changed since you left me." the voice laughed, an ever familiar laugh with a trace of venom glazing it.

"Grr...Reveal yourself!" Karl demanded. Cid, Cryon, and Shadow Ella all got behind their vampire leader, bracing themselves for a possible attack.

"You're not going to say 'please'? Shadow Ella is right. You are quite rude." the voice laughed.

Karl glared toward the front of the ship, where it had almost become night. Oddly enough, the back of the ship was still in daytime.

"If you insist on being so unsociable..." Massive, red orange flames rose from the ground all the way up the where the airship stood. The flames swirled around, bringing the temperature up to a point unbearable for the average mortal. The flames gave off no smoke as they burned the trees around them, meaning they could be only one type of fire. Hellfire.

Karl entered a battle position, bearing his claws for attack, although deep down in the pit of his heart he knew he was incapable of taking on...whatever was about to happen.

"How adorable. To think you could fight me..." The flames swirled around some more, gathering into a large, glowing red sphere. Slowly the sphere began to stretch and distort itself, shifting into a large, ghastly replica of Jin's head. Similar to Andross' head from Starfox...only made entirely of fire.

"Gah...What do you want?" Karl spat. He stretched his arms out in front of the team, not as much as to protect them as it was a way of saying 'Stay out of this. He's mine.'

"Relax." the fiery apparition commanded. "I'm only here to collect what is rightfully mine." With every word Jin spoke, flames shot out from the head's mouth.

"What do you mean?" Karl glared the head directly in its...eye socket things.

"The airship. It belongs to me." Jin said calmly, feeling little need to explain himself further.

"What are you talking about!?"

Jin sighed for a moment. As he did, the breath he exhaled materialized itself as waves of fire from the giant head, scorching the ship slightly. "This ship is property of Team Deathblade. My team. You all abandoned it, so you no longer get to use it." he said shortly.

"That's absolute nonsense!" Karl yelled. "This is Cid's ship!"

"Yea!" Cid agreed.

"And even though he doesn't know how to use it-

"Hey!" Cid disagreed.

"-it is his property. He built it, so he owns it!" Karl insisted.

"Hmm? You mean Cid didn't tell you?" Jin laughed. More flames shot out from the head's mouth, landing on various flammable parts of the ship.

Karl turned to Cid and eyed him inquisitively. "What is he going on about?" he demanded.

"Oh...that...Hehehe..." Cid twiddled his thumbs a bit and began to sweat profusely.

"I can't believe you didn't tell them!" Jin laugh-yelled. A heat wave emanated from his mouth and enveloped the entire ship. "If it had not been for me, Cid never would have gotten the parts for this ship in the first place! He is indebted to me. He made a point to tell me that before I even made this team."

Karl facepalmed again, momentarily forgetting any anger he held toward Jin and rhetorically asked ol' Captain Cid "Cid...Can you display at least one hint of non-stupidity today?'

"Hey, I-

"No, don't answer. Just think about that before I fire you." Karl interrupted.

The eyes on the giant head slanted, a sign of Jin's growing impatience.

"Regardless of whatever decision this fool may have made, this is our team. You're the one who left us to die near the Frostlands, remember? You abandoned us." Various nods of agreement came from the other team members.

"Oh? I was supposed to let you all betray me, then? Surely you know that traitors can't be associated with me?" Jin smirked.

No response. Karl knew that they technically did quit Jin's team, but he wasn't going to allow Jin the satisfaction of admitting it.

"Need I remind you that I summoned you, created you, created you and helped you build the airship?" the head roared, glancing from Karl to Shadow Ella, Cryon and Cid respectively. The latter 3 each hung their heads down as he said this. "You all owe me something. I could be a jerk and take your soul, but instead I'm taking the airship. Now, surrender it to me before I take it by force!"

"I don't care what twistedly accurate logic you use, Jin! You're not getting the airship of..." Karl shuddered. "Team Friendship..." he muttered.

"What was that?" Jin asked.

"TEAM FRIENDSHIP!" Karl reluctantly repeated.

The head scowled at them all for a brief moment before a genuine smile stretched across its face. "Hahahaha...AHAHAHAHAHA! YOU'RE KIDDING ME, RIGHT?" Jin engaged in some uproarious laughter, nearly burning half the airship in the process.

"Ugh..." Karl sighed, sitting down in mild shame as he waited for Jin to calm down.

"You're kidding me right? You abandoned me and left my team to go on and make...Team Friendship? AHAHAHAHAHAH!"

20 minutes of laughter later...

The head flew over to the side of the ship. The words "Team Friendship" were crudely painted in rainbow colored letters on the side, right over a crossed out "Team Deathblade".

"AND YOU EVEN PAINTED THE SHIP IN RAINBOW LETTERS! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the head laughed some more, burning more parts of the ship, flying back over to the front to continue laughing.

30 minutes of laughter later...

"Oh, man..." Jin sighed, struggling to regain his composure. "Boy, I am almost gonna miss you guys and your antics."

The Team Friendship members (minus Karl, who was still hanging his head in shame) all looked up, hopeful, praying that this meant Jin was going to leave them alone.

"Ahahaha! You guys are too much! I said 'almost'...I'm taking the airship now. But I'll think about sparing you in the process!" No sooner had he said that, the face erupted into an enormous column of swirling fire. The column of fire flew through the ship and then...disappeared.

[Mizagium]

"...And in other news, police are still investigating the unusual triple homicide of the Ghiaccio family, and Rossa Uccello. She and Bruno and Gabriella Ghiaccio were discovered dead in the Ghiaccio family home in Chevy Chase Tuesday night. Eyewitnesses claimed the dwelling suddenly became encased in ice, which later melted. Police initially dismissed these claims, but it was later found that the entire house was soaked through. It has since been condemned and awaits destruction." The screen cut away from the male reporter to show the Ghiaccio home boarded up. "All three victims were found with varying degrees of frostbite and several puncture wounds and appeared to have died through this strange combination."

"Any word on suspects, Tim?" the anchorwoman asked.

"No suspects yet, but they have labeled the Ghiaccio's son, Tristezza" he butchered the name but kept going "as a "person of interest" and are asking that he come forth with information. Eyewitness claim to have seen the young Ghiaccio fleeing the scene shortly after the house was allegedly encased in ice."

"What a strange case," Mary commented.

"Strange indeed, Mary. For Channel 6 news, this is Tim Baker."

"Thanks, Tim..."

Tristezza turned away from the electronics shop window displaying several television sets that aired the news. It seems he wasn't as stealthy as he had hoped, although it was inevitable that someone would have seen the house freeze. Still, he was surprised the news was even releasing those details. None of the other stations said anything more than 'they were murdered'. He smirked. But that's why Channel 6 is fourth in ratings. They'll tell the whole story, no matter how stupid or ridiculous it sounds.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and did his best to look nonchalant. He felt his cell phone against his hand, but ignored it. He hadn't turned it on since Tuesday, lest the police be able to track his whereabouts. If he believed what the Internet said, they could do that even if he keot it off, but Tris wasn't one to buy into conspiracy theories.

No one in DC gave the 23-year old a second glance; he was on the other side of the district from his home, somewhere near Langdon, he thought. People didn't know him here, at least not until the news started airing photos of him in a day or two. As much as they would say otherwise, he was most certainly a suspect, not a simple "person of interest".

Freezing the house, killing them all...how was he to explain it was an accident? Multiple witnesses put him there during the event, and clearly identified him as fleeing the premises after. After the ice melted, all that remained were three corpses, no evidence of mysterious powers, only three murdered people. And he was the only suspect. It was all on him. The police in DC has gotten very intolerant on crime since it surged in the 90's, so the chances of him getting off were practically nonexistent.

With that in mind, Tris set off for New York City, where his Uncle Mario had years ago promised him a place to stay if anything happened. His other hand touched the lucky coin Mario had given to him on his 18th birthday.

I'm going to need all the luck I can get. Pushing aside his guilt and sorrow, Tris trudged onward.

[Myrdraxxis]

To say that Markis was bored would be an understatement. He had done nothing but wander around for almost an entire day, with absolutely no goal. Well, n o goal save dodging the cops who thought he was skipping school. Honestly now....

Markis stopped at the corner of a small bakery and sat down. He clutched his book tightly, watching as people walked by. He watched them, almost enviously. They all had a purpose, somewhere to be, somewhere to belong.

Markis had none of those things. Ever since that fateful night at the shop, he had done nothing but study his magic. He'd heard, through secret channels, that there were magical academies around the world; he'd even tried to find one to enroll in.

But that line of thinking had quickly stopped when he'd learned that his brand of magic was considered a taboo to the rest of the world. Apparently blood magic was considered to be immoral and downright evil in some casesby most magical societies.

Markis didn't care. He'd never been considered to be a good person in the first place. A child soldier, a killer, from a young age, form one of the most violent countries in the world. Adding another item to his list of "reasons to be hated" didn't bother him. The lack of a purpose, however, did.

At least, though he hated it, in the middle east he had had a purpose.

Markis idly glanced around, and stopped. A man was staring at him from across the street. At least, he was pretty sure it was a man; the figure was so heavily clothed it was hard to tell. Markis thought he saw a sword wrapped under some of the clothes, but what Markis noticed more acutely was the way the man brimmed with magic.

The man's gaze locked with Markis' and he began to walk towards the boy. Though Markis couldn't see his face, Markis could almost swear the man was smiling.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan and the others of Dark Wing left the Gate Port and headed into the city, trying to find another place to gather their wits and plan. They eventually settled on a nearby park, which was fairly unpopulated, giving the group their privacy.

"Okay." Ethan said, glancing at all the others. "We need to gather information. We have no idea where the Mage might be. but there's only one Gateport in America, so he would havehad to pass through this city to get wherever he's going. Ideas?"


"We could make contact with some of the local mages. Perhaps someone has seen him." The older of the two hellans -who's names Ethan still didn't know- suggested.

[Monika]

"Gah..." Karl shielded his eyes from the bright flash that accompanied Jin's disappearance. "Accursed fool...Where did he go?" Karl asked to no one in particular. He knew that his incompetent teammates had as little knowledge of the necromancer's whereabouts as he did.

"I don't know and I don't care!" Shadow Ella quickly announced, walking from behind Karl and patting her clothes. Flames from Jin's appearance were threatening to burn her pyrophobic clothing. "He gives me chills whenever he appears..." she shuddered.

"Maybe that could be avoided if you wore clothing for a change..." Karl retorted.

"Hmph!" Shadow Ella snapped. "I'll have you know that this-" she moved her hands dramatically in front of her body as if she were presenting herself for the entire world to see. "-is one of the most conservative outfits I have!" Shadow Ella was wearing a dress that the phrase 'low-cut' could not even begin to describe.

"No surprise there..." Karl hissed.

"Aww..." Shadow Ella went up to Karl and pinched one of his pale, bloodless cheeks. "Adorable! If you wanted to buy me new clothes that badly, all you had to do was say so! I'll be happy to accept your gift!" she giggled, winking at the vampire in some suggestive manner.

"GRR!" Karl quickly slapped away Shadow Ella's hand and raised his own into the air, extending his claws for a brief second. "That's not what I meant at all! If you weren't on my team I'd-

"You'd what?" Shadow Ella demanded in a playful, almost seductive sort of way.

"Silence!" Karl snapped. His ears began to flex as he turned his head from side to side, scanning the ship. "Do you hear that?"

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Shadow Ella looked around to see what Karl was trying to listen to.

A faint, soft rumbling sound could be heard coming from somewhere on the ship.

Karl went over to the side of the ship, confirming his suspicions. The propellers on the sides had started rotating again. "Cid...I thought you said this aircraft didn't have an auto pilot system..." Karl quickly began making his way from the back of the ship up to the captain's chair, the place where all of the controls were.

"It doesn't." Cid said with a hint of anger in his voice. Why does Shadow Ella give him all the attention... he mentally pouted, crossing his arms. "I normally just put a rock on the accelerator and pray we don't crash." he added.

"Tell me, Cid...Does this rock steer as well?" Karl stood right next to the captain's seat, gazing at the steering wheel with a mixed expression of confusion and concern.

"Ohohohoho." Cid laughed deeply, shaking his head. "And he says I don't know anything about airships! Crazy, isn't he?" Cid elbowed Shadow Ella in jest in a sad attempt at getting her to laugh. She quickly moved away from him, delivering one of her light energy slaps across his face. Well...That's a step up. Cid thought, a stupid looking smile appearing on his face. It quickly faded as he remembered that he was talking to Karl. "Oh yea. No, the rock doesn't steer the ship. It just goes straight. Simple physics, mah boi."

"Then tell me, Cid...Why is the wheel moving?" Karl continued looking at the wheel, which was spinning wildly from one direction to the other.

"What'choo talkin' 'bout, Karl?" Cid made his way to the captain's seat, only to confirm Karl's words. "Uh...I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen." he laughed nervously.

Hopeless buffoon... Karl thought to himself rather than insulting Cid any more. He had filled his quota for the day. Instead, he walked back over to the side of the ship and stared over the side of it. Trees that were firmly planted in the ground seemed to be getting closer to them with each second. "We're moving. Toward the ground. Cid, remove the rock before we crash!" Karl commanded.

"Uh...I already did..." Cid held up the large stone above his head. It was apparently his pet rock from the strange suit it was wearing and the words "Cid Jr." inscribed upon it.

"Then why are we still-"

BOOM!

The ship violently shot downward, hitting various tree branches. The temperature began to rise, much as it did when Jin had been there moments ago. Karl continued to stare at the various objects the ship was flying toward, noticing something he didn't particularly want to notice...It seemed the sky was getting darker as they flew downward and the ground was nothing but a torrent of flames. It was like they were traveling into the depths of Hell itself.

"Ha ha ha ha ha...Have you ever controlled an airship from the inside? It's quite the exhilarating experience!" It was unmistakably Jin's voice, and it was indeed coming from the interior of the ship.

"What are ya doin' with mah ship!?" Cid bellowed, dropping his rock and grabbing the steering wheel. He immediately withdrew his hands; the wheel was extraordinarily hot to the touch, burning each of his palms.

"Do you not remember? I told you I was taking the ship. I suppose you didn't expect me to do this in such an...unorthodox manner, then?" Jin laughed. The ship's acceleration pedal went forward, moving the ship even further toward the shadowy vortex that had appeared on the ground, completing the fiery abyss that lie below.

"Of course we didn't!" Karl snapped. "Get out of the Friend Ship right now!" I can NOT believe I just said that...

"AHAHAHAHAHA! I swear, I may have to keep the name just because it's so funny..." Jin laughed uncontrollably, prompting flames to shoot out from the ship's engine. Abruptly stopping, he hastily added "Seriously though, you guys might want to get out of the ship unless you want to crash into the ground in a most grandiose explosion of fire and darkness."

"Grr...First sensible thing you've said all day!" Karl yelled, stepping onto the side of the ship. "But rest assured, you'll pay for this, Jin!"

"Yea! No one messes with...TEAM FRIENDSHIP!" Both Shadow Ella and Cid struck various poses as they said this. Cryon shook his head and Karl gave another exasperated sigh.

"AHAHAHAHA! Man, I might die of asphyxiation from all this laughter..." Jin remarked.

"I hope you do!" Karl spat, and without another word he grabbed Shadow Ella, Cryon and Cid, and jumped off the side of the airship. "Hang on, everyone!"

"Oooh...I always knew you wanted to carry me!" Shadow Ella giggled.

"I'm carrying all of you! Don't flatter yourself!"

As they argued, fell, and argued some more, the Friend Ship crashed straight into the ground. A massive eruption of fire and dark energy waves accompanied the collision, sending Shadow Ella, Cryon, Cid and Karl far off course from where they had intended to land.

"Looks like Team Friendship is blasting off again!" Cid yelled as the four were blown off into the distance, a bright flash following shortly behind.

"What the devil are you talking about?!" Karl demanded. I am undoubtedly surrounded by idiots...

[Razgat]

(Since there are people in New York (one...) ....and since it may be convenient....can I bring in my character? The academy guy? Or at least introduce him into the story?)

[Mizagium]

((Stella and Krysta are in NYC))

[Myrdraxxis]

((No, they're in Boston. Markis and Qwaser are in New York. And Yes))

[Mizagium]

((I need to pay more attention to locations))

[Monika]

"Ooof...My spine." Cid landed on the ground with a loud 'thud'. "Is that any way to treat an old man?! Why, if I were 40 years younger I'd..." Cid muttered, shaking his fist as he continued lying upon the earthen floor.

Karl had thrown each of the Team Friendship members onto the ground except for Cryon, who had drifted away from them and was free falling on his own. Karl softly landed on his feet, right between where Cid and Shadow Ella lay on the ground.

Shadow Ella, very ninja like in motion, shot to her feet and dusted off her dress angrily. "Hmph! Some people have no idea how to treat a lady!" she yelled.

"I do!" Cid cried hoarsely, still on his back.

"Both of you, silence, please!" Karl snapped. His slightly pointed ears began twitching again. Much as he did aboard the Friend Ship, he began scanning the area.

"What do those lovely ears of yours hear this time?" Shadow Ella giggle.

"A little help here!" Cid moaned, struggling to turn over as if he were a turtle lying on its back. Cryon finally landed gracefully on the ground and concentrated on Cid for a brief moment. Shards of ice materialized in the air and flew at the pilot's back. It wasn't quite acupuncture, but the pain from the frozen needles were enough for Cid to shoot straight up into the air in anguish.

"Ouch! Thanks, Cryon..." Cid laughed, plucking the frozen thorns from his back. Cryon nodded as they both walked up to Karl, who was still looking from side to side.

"A...faint...low buzzing sound..." Karl muttered. His eyes finally locked on to the source of the noise: Their destination.

"The Gateport!" he exclaimed. Karl was staring directly at the portal that led to Mundus Veritas. A smattering of mages were crowded around it, eager to go to and come back from the other world. Before Karl even began to make his way to the gate, something crossed his mind.

"Wait just a moment." Karl announced. Shadow Ella, Cid and Cryon, who had all begun walking toward the gate, stopped and turned around.

"Yes?" Shadow Ella was the first to ask. Cryon remained calm. Conversely, Cid sort of began shaking very slightly, slight enough that only someone with superior vision could notice. Someone like Karl...

"Jin just crashed our ship, correct?" Karl asked.

"Yes, of course he did! He got fire all over my dress!" Shadow Ella whined, pointing out the singe marks near the bottom of her clothing.

"And the explosion that resulted blasted far off from where we were before, correct?" Karl asked.

Oh boy... Cid thought. Karl glanced at him as if his thoughts could be read.

"Uh-huh. But I don't see where this is going..." Shadow Ella said.

"When we were all the way over there..." Karl pointed into the direction where a few flashes and sparks were coming from, presumably from the explosion. "...Cid said we were almost to our destination."

Ohhhh boy... Cid began whistling the same tune he had during his earlier inquisition.

"So how can an explosion that has presumably blown us hundreds of miles off course get us right next to our destination?" Karl, Cryon and Shadow Ella all simultaneously turned toward Cid, who was trying to creep off behind one of the trees.

"Get back here." Karl demanded.

Cid nervously took a single step toward where the rest of the group was.

"Don't make me come over there, Cid."

"OK I ADMIT IT!" Cid once again slid across the ground (which should have been impossible on the rocky earth) to Karl's feet, kissing them and pleading. "I'M DIRECTIONALLY CHALLENGED! I can't navigate worth anything! Back in my military days we were always given clear directions but now I'm on my own...I'm sorry! Please don't tell Shadow Ella!" Cid cried.

"Get OFF of me, you idiot! Shadow Ella's right there!" Karl yelled, pointing directly to his right. Shadow Ella was definitely there.

"Oh yea...Heheheh...You didn't see any of that, Hot Stuff!" Cid quickly got to his feet and wiped his eyes, meandering toward the gate as if nothing had happened.

"Of course I didn't." Shadow Ella asked in very slight disgust and very heavy confusion.

"You're definitely being fired soon..." Karl muttered under his breath. "Come on, everyone. The sooner we get there-"

"-the sooner we get back. We know, we know..." Shadow Ella sighed. Quickly, the trio caught up with Cid, now staring at the gate.

"Hello there. Can I help you folks?" The gate attendant, apparently a very annoyed blond woman, was staring at the four.

"Yes, we'd like to-" Cid began, but Karl pushed him out of the way to prevent him from saying something idiotic...again.

"We're going to Veritas." Karl said hastily, apparently in quite the hurry to get the trip over with. "Where exactly does this gate go?" As a spirit creature, Karl had more-or-less free travel between the two worlds without the need for a gate, so he wasn't familiar with human forms of travel.

"Washington D.C. Nation's capital. Their leader, President Obama lives there. Blah blah blah..." The attendant had obviously recited the same thing many times that day and was far too annoyed to continue. "It's all in the pamphlet, buddy." She forced a dozen brochures about America into Karl's arms, much to his annoyance.

"Grr...Thanks." Karl hissed. He turned around to Cid, who was smiling in semi-confidence. "You lucked out this time, Cid. This plan of yours had better work." he whispered.

"Look, I don't have all day. Are you guys going or what?" the flight attendant yawned, tapping her watch impatiently.

"Yes, we're going! Cut the attitude!" Karl yelled. The attendant's eyes widened; she was visibly startled by being yelled at. "Sorry..." Karl hastily apologized. "Anything we should know. Proper attire? Things like that?"

"Um...N-no, sir. You all look v-vaguely humanoid e-enough. J-just s-step on through." she whimpered.

"Thank you. Let's go." Karl rapidly walked through the gate, followed by Cid and Cryon. Shadow Ella stood behind for a split second to say something.

"Don't mind him. He's just a little uptight. I have that effect on men." Shadow Ella giggled, patting the attendant on the shoulder. "Too-da-loo." she waved good-bye, stepping through the gate. With a loud, low sounding ring, all four teammates were whisked off to...a platform high above ground, right near the Lincoln Memorial.

"Took you long enough." Karl hissed as Shadow Ella finally made it through. "Come on, let's hurry." With little explanation, Karl grabbed Shadow Ella, Cid and Cryon again, jumped off of the platform onto the ground, and began running in some random direction.

"Hey! You have to pay for those!" one of the attendants at the gate called after them. "Get back here!"

Apparently, Karl had stolen a bunch of Earth clothes from the shop atop the platform. "He must be out of his mind to think I'm paying a hundred of this mortal world currency for a bunch of tattered costumes. Blasted overpriced souvenirs..." Karl explained his motives for stealing, all the while running past various senators, congressmen and other government officials to dodge being captured.

[Razgat]

Dolan sat within his office, going over his notes. He had been studying a boy he suspected had magical powers, but wasn't sure yet. He was very good at hiding it, but Dolan was also very good at discovering it. He was sure there was some sort of magical ability in him, but he hadn't pin pointed what exactly. The most interesting part was that his parents weren't magical. "Interesting..." Dolan flipped the page to look at his most recent notes. Once he had a good interpretaion of the boy, he would seek him out and offer him a place in the Mundus Varitas Academy.

The Academy, located in NYC, was a very descreet school, but it had to be. They couldn't allow nonmagical humans to know of it, but it was also very important. Some magical beings weren't able to go to Mundus Magica, and they were going without education. Being Head Master of the school, it was Dolan's job to give them proper education. The school also served as a link between the magical world and the human world, so of course, Dolan knew everything that happened in both worlds. But that wasn't just from the information he received by mouth or letter.

Dolan closed his eyes, focusing entirely on the boy. He could see him, sitting on his own inside his house exactly a week from now. The boy looks to be eating soup, but his face turns to disgust when he discovers it is cold. After checking his surroundings, the boy places the bowl onto his hand and warms it. "Fire...the boy's power is fire. Ms. Anderson, could you come inside, dear?"

A young woman, dressed in a skirt and glasses, appeared at the office's doorway. "Yes, Mr. Ranjit? Is there something you needed?"

Dolan smiled charmingly at the young woman. "My, you look rather pretty this afternoon. And yes, my dear, if you could please contact the admission staff and inform them of a young Mr. Peter Wicker whom I have discovered. Tell them to report to me when they are ready to fetch him, alright?"

Ms. Anderson blushed and nodded. "Of course, Mr. Ranjit. Right away, sir." She hurriedly turned to complete her task.

Once she was gone, Dolan returned to his notes. Being a powerful seer, it was almost too easy to find out everything he needed to know about his students. The only trouble was finding them. His powers were more focused as long as he knew what to focus on. He could very well look at the future as a whole, but that would require far more energy than neccessary. He prefered to find them on his own.

He checked his list once more. "I'm sure the Admission's Office has more than this list. Perhaps they took on more work for themselves." Dolan suspected they took on the work because of the Mage of the Beginning. With the Mage being somewhere in the human world, and Dolan being their link, he was, indeed, contacted and informed. He offered his seeing abilities, but they told him there was a team already on it. He suspected the team might ask for his services, but he wondered if he really would help them. Looking into the future of the world, he was afraid of what he might see.

[Monika]

BZZT...BZZT CRACK CRRSH CRACKLE RAWR

The above is the wholly accurate representation of the sounds made as Jin and his new 'Friend Ship' completely disappeared. The flames, the darkness, Jin and the ship itself...All had vanished from the forest in Mundus Magica with a bright, blinding flash, leaving behind absolutely no trace that they had ever been there.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ahahaha..." A massive eruption of fire and a very sinister, echoing laugh signaled Jin's (and the airship's) arrival as he appeared in Mundus Veritas in some patch of trees on the outskirts of the District of Columbia. Having harnessed Lyceras' power to freely warp between the two worlds, he was able to completely bypass using the gate to go from dimension to dimension, thus explaining how he was able to take such a foreign piece of technology to the mortal realm.

"It's good to be back!" Jin chuckled. Although he had never been to Mundus Veritas before, he had spent many years watching it, giving him a comfortable familiarity with the world.

"Friend Ship..." 'Ahahahahahaha I can NOT keep a straight face while saying that...' he thought. Struggling to retain composure, he said again "Friend Ship...Don't go anywhere. You would seem to be a strange piece of technology to the inferiors here, so it is important that you are not seen. If anyone even comes within a mile of these woods, camouflage yourself and execute the trespasser as silently as possible. Understood?"

The propellers on the ship began spinning as if it were saying 'yes'. Whatever Jin had done to the ship had apparently given it at least some sort of sentience.

"Excellent. Be back after my quest is complete. Remember, execute!" Jin smirked, and without further ado he dashed outside of the forest and right into the main area of the nation's capital, stopping somewhere near the Lincoln Memorial. Shoving his hand into whatever sort of pocket feature his leg armors had, he rummaged around a few moments before retrieving what seemed to be a list of goals to achieve. There was but a single thing written on it in large, bold, italic, underlined, 52 point font: 'Destroy Mundus Veritas.'

"Ah, right. That's what I came here to do." Jin smiled, staring at the paper almost dreamily as he walked around the capital. He always knew what his goal was, but reading that paper brought some sort of semblance to happiness to his heart, as if the list were the planet's destruction himself.

As Jin read and walked (somehow not walking into a single person or tripping over a single object), many people began staring at him. Was it because he was reading and walking at the same time? No, that was commonplace around town, senators always reviewing bills and lobbyists always looking over their bribes. No, Jin was being watched because he was still wearing his all too demonic looking skeletal armor, something definitely not a reasonably oft happening occurrence. Eventually, after Jin had gotten out of his trance like state, he looked up from the paper and noticed that a medium sized crowd had gathered around him, staring in shock, awe, fear and various other emotions that would accompany seeing Jin.

"What are they all staring at? Have they never seen a necromancer before?" Jin muttered inaudibly under his breath, laughing for a moment. No, of course they haven't. But what are they... Jin's thoughts trailed off as he looked down again, this time not at his paper, but at himself. Oh my...I neglected to put on 'normal' clothes...

One bold man in the audience of spectators- a tan guy, roughly Jin's height with an equally tough appearance - decided to make a grand mistake and comment on this event. "Hey, freak! Halloween isn't for a couple months! Let's laugh at him, everybody!" the man yelled. Perhaps a handful of people in the crowd - 10 maximum - laughed as the man suggested. The rest sort of dispersed, far too frightened by the soul piercing glare Jin shot them.

"Hahaha...That wasn't very nice." Jin slowly strode over to the man, looking him straight in the eye. Such an act scattered the remnants of the crowd, who weren't up to be witnesses to any potential crime.

"Yea? What's your point, freak? It's your own damn fault for wearing such retarded clothes out in public! Go back to Dragoncon, weeaboo!" the man crossed his arms and laughed heartily, trying to draw the crowd back with his arrogance. It didn't work.

"Oh, you are absolutely right. My clothes are far too inappropriate. My apologies." Jin said with a half-bow. "I suppose you'll just have to give me yours, then." An all too eerie tone of sincerity graced Jin's words, catching the man off guard.

"Ha...Ha, you must b-be out of your friggin' mind! Get your own clothes, assuming you haven't wasted all your cash on anime! R-Right guys?" The man looked behind him, and there wasn't a single person within 100 feet.

"Hm? Oh, you misinterpreted me!" Jin smiled, shaking his head to show the obvious misunderstanding. "I wasn't actually asking you, so you couldn't possibly refuse!"

"W-What the hell are you-" the man began, but the air was forced out of him, almost as if he were being choked by some invisible force. He began to flail wildly, but it was to no avail.

"Shh. Don't struggle. It will only make things much more difficult. Jin lifted his hands into the air, and on cue the man's shadow rose from the ground. It had a jagged white hole where its mouth should have been, giving it a creepy, vicious appearance. The shadow wrapped around the man, enveloping him in a dark blob of...whatever shadows were.

"Hellfire Flash!" Jin shouted, althought not loudly enough for anyone far away to hear. A bright flash bathed the area around Jin and the man in a bright light, preventing anyone on the outside from seeing them. From within the barrier, Jin began to speak. His voice echoed from the walls of light as he spoke.

"Tell me, young man...Are you familiar with the Golden Rule?" Jin laughed.

The man had regained the ability to speak for a brief second and hastily replied. "W-Where am I? Wh-What are you doing?" He was unable to see anything from within the light barrier except for...light. Seeing only white and hearing only Jin's echoing voice would drive many a person into madness, so merely expressing slight fear was an admirable accomplishment.

"Answer the question." Jin growled. One could hear the impatient tapping of his foot echoing across the barrier.

"M-Maybe I have! Wh-what does that have to do with anything?" the man was trying his hardest to be strong, but the blinding light and Jin's menacing tone were getting to be too much.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you...You just tried to humiliate me, correct?"

"Y-Yea, but I was just-

"Ah ah ah." Jin wagged his finger disapprovingly, although neither of them could actually see the motion. "Clearly, you must want to be humiliated yourself. Quite the masochist, aren't we?" Jin laughed.

"B-but I-" the man's tone grew more and more fearful with each second. Fortunately he never got to complete a sentence, because his quivering voice could get quite annoying after a while.

"Shh. It is time you were taught a lesson! Ha!" Jin yelled, and in an instant the light barrier faded. Once the light had cleared, the two stood there much as they had before the instant, relatively unchanged...minus their attire. Jin's armor had completely disappeared, and he was now dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a button down shirt with the American flag. Inscribed upon the back was something about hating the Japanese. These were the exact same items the man had been wearing moments before. With such logic, you would expect the man to be dressed in Jin's armor, right? Well...

"Ah, a perfect fit. I truly thank you for letting me borrow your clothes." Jin bowed before the man, who was shivering in the cool D.C. air.

"W-What? How are you wearing-

Yet again, Jin cut the man off mid-sentence. "Hey, freak! National Nude Day isn't for a couple months! Let's laugh at him, everybody!" Jin mocked the man's words from earlier and dramatically pointed at him. Lo and behold, the man was wearing absolutely nothing. When he finally noticed this, he hastily used his hands to cover his more...intimate parts.

"Wh...What's going? How did you?! I..." The man's cheeks, which had been tan moments ago, were now a ridiculously bright red. A very, very large crowd, perhaps ten-fold the size of the one that had formed earlier, had gathered around the two. Each and everyone of them was laughing at the man this time, much unlike the light smattering of about 10 people who had laughed at Jin earlier.

"You! I...How...You'll p-pay for...

"Shh." Jin took a step closer to the man and whispered eerily into his ear. "Under normal circumstances I would have killed you, but today I will leave you to learn a lesson instead. My good mood today is your life. Let us not do anything to end either of them, shall we?" With that, Jin gave a final wave and smile before disappearing into the crowd...