Finding a Fairy

Four

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"Yuri! Do you mind explaining what's going on in here?" Another blonde man with a cloak asked.

"Whoa! This library's unbelievable!" A third man with green-hair mused.

"Oh, man. It's Precht and Warrod," The firs man, Yuri said as he looked up from the ground.

"Our work is done. Let's get going."

This made Adara draw a sharp breath as she turned her body to face the three men.

"What? Did you guys find the Orb?" Yuri asked.

"I said I wouldn't tell," Mavis stated.

"It sounds like they didn't need you to, kiddo," Audra said quietly.

"We've located it, yes," The man with the cloak said.

"What? No way!" Audra said before trying to run past the men and out of the library.

"Where are you going?" The green-haired man asked.

"To make sure you aren't bluffing!" Audra yelled over her shoulder.

At that moment, Audra didn't care if the men were following after her. She couldn't sense any magic on them, and she had been practicing her fire magic. Audra felt that she could fight the men off if she had to.

The Master of the Red Lizard Guild ran into the woods to the shrine where the Tenrou Orb was meant to be housed. It wasn't easy to find so she never thought to check on it over the last seven years. When she arrived, she was stunned by what she saw.

The Tenrou Orb was missing from the shrine.

"This is where it should be, at least," One of the men said behind Audra, "But it's been taken."

Mavis appeared beside Audra and let out a small gasp.

"Somebody beat us to it."

Audra clenched her fists and her head hung.

"I guess some other treasure hunters must've gotten to the thing before he had a chance," The other unnamed name said.

"Let's head back to the main land," The man wearing the cloak said.

"We're not giving up on it. Just gonna see if we can get some more intel back home."

"I know almost for certain who has the Orb," Audra said, her head still hung and her fists still clenched.

"Who's that?" The man wearing the cloak asked.

"Seven years ago, a Wizard Guild by the name of Blue Skull invaded the island and plundered the village. You're the first ones to come here since then so they must be the ones who have it."

"It was a Wizard Guild?"

"That's not good news for us," The green-haired man said.

"Even still, we'll have to pay them a visit."

"Listen, Yuri, Precht, and Warrod, right?" Mavis asked, "My name, is Mavis Vermilion. And for the last seven years, I've been studying strategies for taking on Wizard Guilds. Together, we can beat them. I humbly ask you take me with you."

"The Tenrou Orb is the symbol of this island. Our people have protected the sacred relic for generations. We must fix this. The treasure belongs to the island and it's our duty to see it returned," Audra said, turning her body half way to face the men.

"Just to be clear, we're treasure hunters," Yuri started to explain, "Even if we do find the thing, there's no guarantee we're just gonna give it back to you."

"Then you and I can have another game of wits whenever that time comes," Mavis stated simply.

"That all being said, at this time we share the common goal of finding the Tenrou Orb," Audra said.

"Not to mention you still have to make good on the promise you made. I want to meet a real fairy!"

"Huh?" Yuri asked in surprise.

"Mavis, now isn't the time to be worrying about that," Audra said with a small sigh.

"But, Master, you know as well as I do that he made a promise that if I won the game of wits, he'd take me to meet a real Fairy!" Mavis complained.

"Yes, Mavis, I know. But-."

"Wait, why does Mavis keep calling you 'Master'?" Yuri asked, "She called you that earlier, too."

Audra let out a sigh, "Because she was respecting the fact that I haven't told you my name."

Audra then turned to square her body to the three treasure hunters.

"I'm Audra Yargish; current Master of the Red Lizard Wizard Guild. And we're going with you whether you want us to or not."

"The Red Lizard Guild still has members?" The green-haired man asked.

"Only one but, yes."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"So why don't you tell me why you're really coming with us?" Yuri asked.

"To bring the Tenrou Orb back to its rightful place," Mavis said as she was packing her trunk.

"I mean, you didn't even notice that it was stolen for seven years. So, it can't be all that important to you. We're just after it because it's an S-Class treasure."

"We didn't have any reason to believe it was missing. Only a select few people knew where it was on the island, and it's not exactly easy to find anyway. And, if we had noticed sooner, we don't have a boat to leave the island with," Audra said as she closed her suitcase.

"And, to be totally honest, this is a great chance to finally see the outside world!" Mavis said with a smile, "For Audra, me, and Zera!"

"Who's Zera?" Yuri asked.

"Come on, Zera! Stop skulking around and say 'hello.'"

"Honestly," Audra said with a sigh as she looked to her sister, who was poking out from behind a wall, "You don't have to worry. He's not going to do anything."

"Please?"

"Guess I have to now," Zera pouted before coming out to stand between Audra and Mavis.

"She's a little on the shy side."

"You don't have to make excuses for me."

"It's true though, Flicker. You weren't this shy when you were little," Audra said as Mavis grabbed her trunk.

"Well, aren't you going to pack your suitcase?" Mavis asked.

"I never said I was going with you! And I'm definitely not leaving with some creepy treasure hunter!"

"Uh, that's alright," Yuri started.

"This is probably the most important decision we've ever made. It's a huge deal," Mavis said.

"What do you mean by that?" Zera asked.

"There's a whole world out there and we're never gonna see it if we stay here. It's scary, but we can't hide from it forever."

"And what kind of big sister would I be if I left you here all by yourself, Zera?" Audra asked.

"Fine. I'll go, too," Zera pouted.

"Then it's settled!" Mavis smiled, "All three of us are going with you!"

"Okay," Yuri said slowly, "Hey, Mavis. How old is Zera anyway?"

"He should know never to ask a lady her age," Zera griped.

"She's just a couple months older than Mavis," Adara said, a hand on her hip.

"I don't think I really want this guy to know much about me."

"Okay. Very nice to meet you, Zera," Yuri said, his voice sounding a bit unsure.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Mavis cheered.