Arrivals (Open)

All she could remember was falling. Holly had fell from the sky, again. It wasn't an uncommon thing to happen if she wasn't paying attention to how dry her leafy wings were becoming. However, in hot dry, climates, flying was sometimes a necessary part of her job. A guildless wizard, she sold her services to those in need of growing things. Trees, grass, crops, it was all in a days work for the blond. But now, she was in a strange place once more, but this was not where she had been flying before. These were not her current employers, they were not dressed the same.

She had wandered in from the flower field nearby, carefully removing green pigment imbedded from crushing plant matter after she fell, presumably. As strange as she felt these people dressed, Holly knew she was the odd one out. Her heavy, white dress wasn't really appropriate for this kind of weather. For a time she considered asking someone where she was, but thought better of it, fearing they might think she had gone mad, not knowing where she was when she herself had come here... somehow. It was best to wait and see how things worked themselves out.

Before Holly could continue on, a small child came up to her and tugged on her dress. Smiling a little, she knelt down to the little girl's level. "What is it, little one?"

The sheepish child in pigtails stared at her for a moment before looking away. "Are you one of the heroes the elder called? He said he would call heroes. What is a hero?"

For a moment, the blond thought of how to respond but then decided to play along. "A hero is a person who does nice things for other people when the people really need their help because they can't do it themselves." Maybe she was called here to help these people, however, she didn't remember it. Also, why did the kid say others were called? Surely one dragon's apprentice was all they needed to do whatever she had done to that field. Those flowers were beautiful and seemed unique to where ever she was. Then a thought came to her, if there were other wizards she might could identify them from their guild tattoos. "Do you know what other heroes were called to help or where they are?"

The girl shook her head, her hair flopping back and forth as she did so. "Bye bye." The child skipped off to, well, wherever children go when they skip off. This left Holly alone once more. Maybe, if she could get up a little higher she could find someone else who stood out.

"Wing of the jungle dragon." A magic circle summoned large banana leaf like wings to her back. After a little work, Holly managed to get into the air and over the rooftops. From here, she could see the town made of log cabins. There were certainly towns like this in Fiore, however, the thing that got her scared was the large, rusted cog sticking out of the ground toward the field. "I don't remember ever seeing one of those."

Her eyes returned to the town streets, not wanting to think about the weirdness she had just seen. However, a new kind of weird appeared below her. This time, it's the kind of weird she would welcome. A well dressed young man was walking on the path she hovered over. Compared to the plainly dressed townsfolk, she stood out. Slowly she began to descend, careful not to aggravate the balance that was keeping her in the air. When she landed, a bit more roughly than she would have liked, having released her wings a bit too soon, she began walking toward the stranger.

With green eyes and keen perception, Holly gave him one more look before waving and smiling. Her sales pitch self was clearly coming to the surface a lot today. "Hey, do I know you? We seem to be the only two people who stand out around here and I thought we might have worked for someone around here not too long ago or something." She winced a little, realizing that what she was saying sounded dumb and confusing. Two things she didn't like and she herself was the cause.

The strange, and proper, young man seemed to be as lost as Holly was. It was a little disappointing, but at least now she knew she was not going mad or had amnesia. He introduced himself as Kaito Akimoto and the blond girl immediately wanted to give him the nickname 'Kai', however she stayed her natural urge to rename people and things. She needed to keep in this one's good graces. After all, another wizard could be helpful.

“What a lovely coincidence, I'm unaffiliated as well. My particular skills are sought after so there's hardly any wandering to my travels. It's mostly just going from one job to the next. Naturally there is an off season, but even then people find things for me to do.”

Holly surprised herself with the enthusiasm with which she spoke. The legacy her mentor left her was something to be prod of, for certain, but to brag so obviously, she must really enjoy it. A tinge of red spread over her face for a moment. Ambrose always told her she needed to be more humble. “Sorry, I got a bit carried away. My name is Holly Tropius and I am a plant mage.”

Looking away from the stranger, Holly took a moment to again survey her surroundings. There seemed to be no other wizards here and certainly no sign of guild activity. Could it be that this was some little known village with no magic? Such concepts were strange to her and surely there was at least one person born in this town that held magic.

“Could I confide in you a moment?” Holly made sure no one was listening. “I'm not completely certain we are in Fiore anymore. I mean, one moment I'm flying over an area I was about to turn green again and the next I'm waking up in a field of flowers nowhere near the village I was assisting.” She paused a moment unsure if she should continue, but decided it was for the best. “I was a bit afraid I was going mad, to be honest. However, with our arrival, I'm not so certain what's going on.”

Holly watched in amazement as the snowflake formed in Kaito's hand. It was beautiful magic, to be sure. Although his skill could destroy plant life, there were ways they could work together. However, it was her hope that there would be no need to fight and that whatever it was they had to do to be on their way was a simple matter. She listened as he spoke and mentioned the townspeople saying he fell. Naturally, with the kind of hold she had over her wings at times, it was already assumed. She shook her head to indicate she remembered nothing for the sort.

“I only assumed I fell as that is what can happen when I don't focus on my wings. Any little rip, change in the wind, or distraction can make me lose control of the magic. Like my mentor always said, concentration is the grandfather of wisdom, or was it knowledge.” She pondered this a moment before shaking her head and sighing.

“I suppose I shall have to return home and look at his journals again to remember. We should get to searching for a map. I believe I saw an inn over that way when I was in the air.” Holly pointed down the road to her right. “Maybe we can get some information there, or at least a drink. If not, then I suppose they surely have a town hall.”

The bond began walking forward, unsure what kind of pleasant conversation to make as they traveled. If they were going to be working together she could inquire on his past, however, it might be a bit too soon in the journey to do so. She pursed her lips in thought, debating the intricate details of social interaction that were usually her greatest bane. Well, she had already learned a little bit about the strange gentleman, she might as well ask a bit more.

“So where in Fiore are you originally from?” It was probably a good place to begin. After all, when they found a map she could point it out to him and perhaps get him back home. Surely his family would like to see him return. It was too bad she could not say the same for herself. Ambrose, her mentor, had been gone for many years and was surely going to be gone a few more in the least. His business was clearly keeping him busy, whatever business it was he was into.

For a moment Holly thought. She had not been flying over this land, but other another. The people certainly were not the same as before and neither was the village. Something felt wrong and it gnawed at her from inside not to know what it was. “I must have been flying here or else I'd have not fallen.” It felt like more of a question posed to herself than an answer to the young man she was speaking to. Frowning a little, she decided to push it to the back of her mind and focus on the task at hand.

She listened as he spoke of where he was from, he didn't seem to keen on providing details so she decided to drop it. Not everyone was proud of where they were from nor did everyone reminder their roots as fondly as she did. People liked to forget things on purpose some times, and she was no different. Holly saw Ambrose as her father, not the people who died long ago and left her alone to be cared for by the dragon. She giggled a little at his joke about being surprised that he was an ice mage. She was not at all surprised, maybe that was why it was funny. Holly didn't really understand humor.

Kaito inquired about her own home, and the young woman was more than happy to oblige him with information.“I did indeed grow up in the tropics. The island was large but I learned every inch of it at a young age. My mentor saw to that. Even after I forgot some things that I really wanted to never think on again, he would remind me that it was the painful memories that teach us the greatest lessons and make us much stronger. It's thanks to him that I've made it as far as I have and one day I intend to thank him for it. That is, whenever he returns from whatever far away business he had that kept him busy for so many years.”

At that, they entered the inn, having just arrived at the door. For a small town, the place seemed strangely lively. There were other people here, oddly dressed, and didn't seem to be from around here. Some were deep in thought, some crying, some staring off into the distance in clear disbelief. Others seemed to be taking whatever was going on in good stride. Holly was growing more suspicious and felt as if the color was slowly draining from her face. There was something bad going on here.

Her eyes darted to a board marked 'information'. On the board was a map. Her companion had already found this and was looking at it. Just as she got close enough to see what was going on, he said exactly the words she was afraid to hear. She examined the map closely and it did not look like any part of Fiore, let alone the world. Holly was rendered speechless. There were clearly not even in the same world anymore, that or someone was making a very elaborate joke. No one she knew would do such a thing.

“It... it seems like we may not be anywhere near Fiore anymore. In fact... in fact we may just be on another world altogether.” Holly took a deep breath. She needed to be strong, brave, and brilliant. “I suppose we are in for an adventure. We have our magic and thus can survive anywhere.” Pausing a moment, she remembered what the child from earlier said. “When I first arrived here, a child said something about an elder calling heroes. I think our best bet would be to find this elder, who I assume is a very powerful wizard, and humor him so he sends us back.”

This was a very uncomfortable situation for Holly. She didn't work with people often and she didn't do well when she did. It was uncommon for her to be compatible with other people. Sure she was pleasant and tried to be friendly, but her magic was unusual in many ways that they would not expect. Holly knew what to do and tried to convey it to those she worked with but they never seemed to understand her or they chose not to listen to her instructions. Hopefully, this wouldn't take long. At least this time the person she was working with was pleasant.

Holly observed the picture of the old man Kaito was pointing to. He was indeed an elder but she was unsure if it could be the right one. There were plenty of old people here in this world, just as there had been in Fiore. However, not all of them were important or had magic strong enough to bring people to a completely different world. Her eyes narrowed as she thought on this. With a sigh she shook her head, blond strands tossing about as she did so.

“It's worth a shot, but if this is going to be our process, it may very well take a long time. Perhaps this particular wizard is famous. If we asked about and referenced his magic ability maybe someone would point us in the right direction.” It surprised the naturally solitary mage to suggest such an odd thing. However, it was like working for her, sometimes talking to people was the only way to learn the truth behind the problem she faced.

Turning to face the room of people, holly frowned. There was hardly a single person here that was dressed like the people of this world. Even the barmaids seemed to be employed from elsewhere, the cat ears on some of them were a dead giveaway. Even the person manning to front counter seemed to be from elsewhere. Perhaps it would be best to see out this old man in hopes of just getting information about the one they really wanted to find. She turned her attention back to the board.

“Thankfully the writing here is the same as back home or we might have some issues with a language barrier.” Holly began as she took a closer look at the ad. “It seems he's here in this village at least. I wonder if they list things from the entire world or just this village.” The last sentence was one more thinking out loud than asking a question. “Let's go find this guy and hopefully get some decent answers. I'm ready to go home and find a guild. Did I mention that was to be my next task?”

As the young woman spoke, she led the way out of the strange place they were just in. “Amazing an important person wouldn't be found in a place like this.” Holly led the way to what seemed to her the second largest log building in the town. It had ornate stained glass windows that didn't really depict anything. It was as if someone took a bunch of colored glass shards and melted them together. “How curious.”

Holly peered quietly at the immaculate dwelling of the supposed elder. For a magic user, he was certainly well off, even for the best of them back home. Normally, they kept some of their earnings and gave some to their guild as a sort of 'finder's fee' for the work they accept. Perhaps magic users in this world were harder to come by and thus they earned more money for their deeds. For a moment she forgot she was with someone else and instead of keeping her thoughts, rudely, to herself, she should share them more openly. “The way this place looks you would think him a great leader or perhaps the only mage in the world.”

Kaito called out to the house as he knocked and Holly waited patiently, slowly taking in the exterior of the log mansion. If it was impressive on the outside, she was excited to see how it looked on the inside. Before she could attempt to peek in a window, the ornate wooden door opened. For a moment, Holly expected to be face to face with someone but rather she saw no one, until she looked down. A girl of around eight or ten stood at the doorway. She was dressed in a frilly pink dress and kept a stern look on her face. Her curled hair framed her face well and looked much like a young girl just come from a princess tea party. However, anyone who looked into her eyes would know this was far from the truth.

“You said something about speaking to the elder, did you not?” The young girl drew herself up in a rather dignified way, as one would expect an important lady of court to do. Although this might be strange to some people, Holly assumed it was a normal occurrence in this world or that the girl was simply playing house with her grandfather. All the same, it was best she treated this as she would any other job.

Holly smiled and nodded. “Yes, it's kind of complicated but we believe we may have been caught up in a spell he cast. Of course, we are not completely certain it was him, but we are looking for the elder who cast the spell.” Again, the young woman's awkwardness was showing and she quietly kicked herself for it. She had nothing to fear of this child, however, if she wasn't nice to her then maybe the elder wouldn't send her home.

“Oh, yes, it was he who summoned people here. Do come in and make yourselves comfortable, I will see if he is well enough to speak with you. Whom may I say has come to visit?” It was strange to Holly to hear someone so young speak so formally. Again, she tried to silently dismiss it as a game of a child.

“My name is Holly, and my friend is Kaito. We're from Fiore and would much like to return home soon.” The plant mage was careful to be polite, however, that did not stop the narrowed gaze of the girl focusing on her. Holly took this as a sign she wasn't well liked.

“Just your names is enough for now.” With this chastising comment, the girl was off to fetch the elder.

For a moment, the blond waited, to be sure the girl was gone, before speaking to Kaito. “I think maybe you should do more of the talking, that went badly. I'm not the best with talking to people. I mean, I do well enough on the job, but this is different.”

Just as she said she would, Holly remained silent as they were led back to the elder, whom was left bed ridden by, what she assumed was old age. However, the thought crossed her mind that it would have been a product of using too much magic. She shuddered at the thought as a twinge of worry over her mentor crossed her mind. All the same, she remained quiet for the time being, allowing Kaito to handle this discussion.

The elder listened as Kaito spoke to him and nodded. He sat up in bed slowly. Holly observed the lack of life in his eyes and quickly began to silently tally up other symptoms. Although his best bet would be bed rest, there were herbal potions that would make him more comfortable and quicken the process. Again, she remained quiet about this, listening this time to the elder. “I am sorry for dragging the two of you all this way. However, I had very little choice. Our world...” The elder stopped a moment to get a better breath. “Our world is losing magic. Very few of us contain enough to conduct business the way our ancestors did. I called everyone here to save our world, to return the magic to us.”

Holly was curious now. She tilted her head to the side, almost wanting to question what had been said, but refusing herself the opportunity. The elder seemed to catch on to this and smiled a bit. “Come now, dear, speak your mind.” Sighing a little, the blond gave up on her vow of silence. “First thing first. You are clearly suffering from an over use of your own magic. There are potions that could be made from herbs that would not only make you more comfortable but also speed up the process.”

The old wizard chuckled in such a way that reminded her of her mentor when she would say something unexpectedly brilliant even in his eyes. It startled her for a moment, but she soon relaxed again. “That is not what I expected. However, what you see in me now is what much of our world is also experiencing. This is nothing if it leads to this world regaining the strength and beauty it once had.”

Nodding her head, Holly first considered the flowers. “The flowers I woke up surrounded by, for example? They were like nothing I've ever seen. I should show Kaito while I'm searching for herbs.”

“I do want to warn you both, that there is a dark presence in this world, one I dare not ask you to confront directly. That is the cause of the drain of magic from this world.” The elder looked at both of the young mages, unsure what their abilities were but measuring their magic potential. He nodded as if he had decided upon something important. “I also want to give the two of you opportunity to travel to your home and back. When I am strong enough, I shall send you to retrieve something from your world that has ended up in this one.”