Project I: The Witch and The Warlock - The Gifted and The Cursed

S1: Chapter 29 - Team

 

Chapter 29
PYRRHA

"Is that a genuine Soul Gem?" the girl asked me. 

"Huh?" 

"Is that a real Soul Gem?" she repeated. 

"You mean this?" I asked, holding the crystal of my necklace. 

"Yes." she calmly replied.

"I think so. I don't really know. So this is called a Soul Gem?" I wondered. 

"Yes, it is. You seem new here. Are you?" she asked. 

"Yes. It's my first time here."

"Ah. You're one of the new recruits. You guys seem to be plenty this year." 

"Are you all by yourself?" she asked. 

"Nope. My friends just went off somewhere and will be back in a while." 

"I see."

"How about you? Are you alone?" I asked. 

"Not really. He went inside to do something; I stayed here instead f accompanying him. He's very troublesome." she sighed. 

"What your name?" I asked. 

"Aerl. You could also call me the Intruder if you want. I really don't care much. What's yours?"

"Pyrrha. I still don't have my Inside Identity though." I answered. 

"You'll find out soon when you're already going to the battlefield." she smiled softly. 

"Why are you asking of my Soul Gem is real?"

"I just got curious. Those were pretty rare, you see. Most of us got this Customized Man-made Witchblades. There are also attempts of imitating a genuine Soul Gem so I got intrigued. Most were failures and some have succeeded imitating one but it's not as powerful as a genuine one. The true Soul Gems possess unique and powerful Witchblades" Aerl said. 

"Do you also have a Soul Gem?"

"Sadly, no. But I have a customized weapon for myself." she answered. 

"How long have you been here?" I asked. 

"Almost 4 years I guess."

"Wow."

She looked around and seems like something caught her attention again.

"See you later." she said and ran off. 

After that, I finally reunited with the others. 

"We should better go inside now." Dante declared and we all agreed.

We entered an area similar to an amphitheater. We were welcomed by the simple Victorian style facility with a touch of futurism. There's also a smaller teleportation crystal floating by the entrance. The four of us sat beside each other as the others still went looking for their places as well. 

"Children, please settle down."

We heard a familiar voice from the speakers. We saw Lady Arwen standing on the stage in front of a microphone. All of us quiet down by that very moment. 

"Good afternoon to all of you. For the newcomers, I shall introduce myself. I am Lady Arwen, who is also the Commander-in-chief of the Operation: Witchcraft. I am simply known as the Commander. Today, we shall discuss about these alarming situations happening these days. We have received several reports from the office and most reports show similar strange turn of events. The appearance of monsters near crowded areas is very alarming for it may cause havoc and destruction to people and property anytime. It might be common yet the concern is that the monsters seem to target a particular range of area. The monsters seem to gather round in this area. We shall have a clearing operation to this whole area. As I could estimate by the number of participants in here, I think we could finish this little by little in this week. The initiation period shall be shortened for this operation. 2 hours from your schedule will be lend to it day by day this week to wipe them all out clean. Teams made up of two or three pairs shall be deployed in different parts of the area. You can register your team by simply linking them together. It shall be updated on your Scroll. For the new recruits, this mission shall be your test similar an entrance examination. Fight to protect. Fight to defend. And for the last order, don't die in the battlefield and stay safe. Within 10 minutes, you must finish your entire requirement because you and your team shall be teleported into your assigned area. You are dismissed."

Lady Arwen exited the stage and the people started to get noisy again. Chattering and talking to each other. I noticed some group of people gathering around. They must be linking their scrolls already. 

"Seems like everyone's ready. The four of us will do fine!" Nauri exclaimed. 

"Hello there. Are there any free slot of another pair in your group?" a tall boy asked us shyly. He has tan skin and decent looking hairstyle. He's wearing an orange mantle and casual clothes.

"Yes, there is." I said. 

"That's great! Hey! I finally found one for us!" he yelled at someone from the crowd. 

"But didn't I told you we'll be fine alone-" a girl said and she stopped when she saw me. She looks familiar. Wait a sec-

"Aerl?"

"Ah, Pyrrha! Wait a coincidence." she said. 

"You guys already know each other?" the boy asked. 

"We met earlier that the peristylium." she said. 

"Anyways, I'm Glarion and this is Aerl. Thank you for letting us two be a part of your team!" Glarion said and bowed. 

"Glarion? Aerl? I remember now why you guys looked so familiar..." Jack said. 

"Aren't you two used to be each other's nemesis 4 year ago?" he asked and surprised them. Both of them blushed. 

"Well, it's a long story." Glarion scratched his head. 

"I'm glad that you two finally became friends." Dante smiled. 

"Thanks."

"Guys. It's time to take out our scrolls. Dante and I will take the lead." Nauri said and we agreed. 

We formed a circle together and held out our scrolls. After that, the gems started blinking for a while and then a light beam for these connected our scrolls on the center. After that the gems all change into same color as the scroll gem of Dante and Nauri. It's now all color violet. 

"Everything's all set now!" Nauri exclaimed. 

"Good luck for the six of us." Glarion said sheepishly. 

"Let's all have fun!" Dante smiled. 

Several minutes later, we are finally deployed into our destination.