Mory's Special Day
Set some time before Welcome to Chrysalis
“So you're looking for bodyguards?”
“Nah, she’s not in danger, it's just... Ya know, with Mitra on one of’er hunts, and me needin’ to head out too, I’d be leavin’ her all alone.”
“Worried about her old guildmates?”
“A lil’, I guess? I don’t think they’d do anythin’, but if somethin’ happens and nobody’s around…”
“Well. Don’t worry about payment. I’ll talk to Seph when she returns.”
“Thank ya so much, I’ll pay ya back later somehow!”
“I repeat, this is a complete waste of my time.”
Seph turned a couple of eyes towards Ibuki, the rest still focused on the candy lining the shelves. “Didn’t you agree to do guild missions? Are you already going back on that?”
“I did agree to guild missions. This is just you roping me into your own business!”
“Business that Bastly is paying you for, like a mission.”
“I could not care less about the payment, it’s the principle of the thing!”
“Principle of the- how about principle of which brand is better!? I want to get out of here as much as you do, you know!”
Ibuki threw her hands in the air. “Grab them all, how should I know the difference between foods meant for peasants?”
“Fine! I will!”
The silence lasted for roughly half a breath, before Ibuki started it up again. “Why are we even doing this?”
“I’m doing a favor for my friend, and you are not going to ruin it.”
“What friends do you even have? A dark wizard? Another demon? A fellow blasphemer dealing in the black arts?”
“...Well, it’s not quite like that.”
“How is it that my entire nation has been overrun with black magic when I wasn’t looking!?”
“Just help me pick something out already!”
The clerk put his head between his hands and sighed. Thirty godsdamned minutes and they were still at it. They weren’t even buying enough to compensate him for the headache medicine.
knock knock
Slowly, the door swung open, and a girl’s head popped out. She looked outward, noting the Ibuki. And then she looked down, at Seph, and recoiled. Not the best start, Seph figured.
“Hello. We’re here to supervise…?”
Silently, the girl let the door swing open, revealing the inside of a guild hall that had clearly seen better days. Despite the signs of damage and decay, there had been attempts to keep it patched together, to limited success. The girl turned towards Ibuki. “Oh, it’s the egg lady.”
“Egg lady…?”
“It’s a small world, isn’t it?” Ibuki glared a little at the brat. “So you’re this ‘Mory’.”
Seph tried to interject, giving Mory her best replication of a smile. It was the sort of look that would kill plants and traumatize toddlers for life. “I’m Seph, and this is Ibuki. Nameless asked us to sit in tonight.”
Damn it, Nameless! I don’t need minders!
Mory was a little mad at having her evening interrupted. She had had plans, and now an annoyance and a demon would be demanding her attention. Being seen as a child was something she could exploit, until she actually had to deal with the downsides of it!
Well, maybe there was something she could get out of Miss Moneybags…
“Did you bring a present?”
The “babysitters” turned to look at her then. The freaky one turned all of her eyes towards Mory, which sent some shivers down her spine, and the blue one stopped where she was casting some magic formula.
“It’s just, today’s my birthday, and I was hoping that… you’d have a gift for me?”
"Seph, don’t you have something in that head of yours?” Ibuki whispered a little too loudly.
“What? Why are we giving her something?”
“It’s tradition. On the date of one’s birth, they’re given presents. You said the other members of this guild aren’t around today? That leaves it up to us to give the girl something. Well, up to you.”
Seph had never heard of such bullshit before. “What, getting gifts just for being born?”
“Yes! You’ve never had a -nevermind, of course you wouldn’t, demon-spawn. You doubtlessly have a hoard of stolen loot sealed away, just pick something small and give it to her.”
“Fine, fine”, Seph said as she turned her thoughts inward. What did she have in her Gullet, again? Slumbering demons - no, that was a terrible idea. Ancient grimoires, some she had written - same issue, and illegal to boot. Bloody trophies, spare organs, some guy that she had forgotten in there - none of it would be a good gift.
Well, she did have those trophies. The weapons of the Knights of Caelum, who had fought her in the fading days of the Divine Queen’s reign and died to the last man. Most of their weapons she had already corrupted, transformed into demons through the Living Magic, but a few she hadn’t gotten to. Hm. She took another look at Mory.
“You use a sword?”
The girl nodded, gesturing to a sheathed blade lying by the door. “I’m a swordswoman by training.”
Ibuki nearly scoffed. Swordsgirl, maybe.
“What about this for a gift?” Seph reached into her own face, and yanked out a sword. “The Red Knight’s Blade.”
“I said something small.”
“Oh?” Mory seemed interested. Really, it was more about the resale value, magic weapons tended to go for a decent sum.
“It’s an enchanted blade. Channeling a little magic power covers it in different forces.” Seph turned the blade, and a part of it caught alight in dull red flames. She shifted it again, and a golden panel formed across the edge, turning the blade flat. She handed it over to Mory, who took it gingerly. “The ethernano channels are shallow, and the lacrima socket broke long ago, but it’s still good for some simple tricks.”
“Wait, hold for a moment.” Ibuki grabbed the blade, halting the hand off. “You can’t give a child a flaming sword.”
“Oh, it’s also cursed!”
Ibuki leapt back as though scalded. “How is that supposed to make it better?”
“I needed to correct you. It’s a lot more than a flaming sword.”
“You definitely can’t give it to a child then!”
“I don’t know, she seems to like it.” Seph gestured towards Mory, who was busy swinging the blade through several forms, watching the glittering flames with something like wonder. Maybe the creepy one wasn’t that bad?
Ibuki’s stomach sank.
It had quickly been decided that a proper party was impossible - Nameless and Mitra weren’t there, after all, so it would be an altogether smaller affair. But Mory had sniffled a little, and Ibuki decided that maybe she should do something.
“Brat, do you still have those eggs?”
Mory nodded.
Wait. The girl still had the eggs meant for her friends? And it was her birthday, with her friends absent… Ah.
“Hmm, I can demonstrate why I had wanted those eggs, and prepare a dessert. I’m sure it’s the best use they can be put to.”
“Oh, that would be kind of you, but our cooking lacrima is dead.”
The two considered the situation for a moment, before Mory turned towards her sword.
“No, that would never work.”
It was working, with only one small flaw.
“Is the pudding supposed to scream like that?”
“No, it absolutely is not.” Ibuki started stirring harder.
The guild hall didn’t have much in the way of decorations, but they had pulled some festive lightning and ribbons out of some dark closet somewhere. Seph had been helping Mory put them up, when a problem occurred. The old ladder splintered, and Mory fell. Thankfully, there was something softer than the floor to aim for.
Taking a few steps off of the squashed black mage, Mory noticed some candy scattered around the floor. “What’re these?”
Drawing herself together, Seph stood up and looked around. “That? Some treats we bought before coming here. A just-in-case measure.”
“So, when you’re hit, you spit things out?”
Seph shrugged. “It’s only when I’m keeping an item close to hand that it can happen, but yes.”
Mory thought for a moment. “Oh, I have an idea!”
This was a terrible idea!
Seph ducked underneath the gleaming blade, pushing off the wall to pick up speed. She needed to get away from the sword-wielding maniac. Of course, Mory was hot on the pursuit, a brief burst of magic to her legs letting her crash into Seph from behind. As agreed, several bits of candy flew out, and Seph bounced off the wall on the other side.
“I’m starting to see the appeal of the sword!” Ibuki shouted from down the hall. “Double points if you get the head!”
Oh, she’s enjoying this far too much!
The chase continued for several minutes, but eventually, Mory had cornered Seph on the second floor, right up against the balcony hanging over the main hallway. Slowly, she crept closer, blade held forward to cut off any escape route. Her smile was sickening. “Just lie down and accept your doom, lootbag.”
There was no other option. Seph jumped off the balcony. Unfortunately, the half-ready decorations caught her.
Nameless had finished her business way earlier than she’d expected, so she was heading home. Nobody had been interested in joining Chrysalis yet, but they were bound to get a couple if they kept putting out those fliers!
Now she just had to make sure everything had gone well at the guild hall. Sure, the building was intact, but it sounded like somebody was getting beaten repeatedly inside. Slightly worried, Nameless practically kicked the door down.
“I’m baaaaac-guh” Something slimy hit her right in the face as she stepped in. Nameless fumbled with it for a moment, before she managed to pull it off her face. It was - a blob of eyes. Nearby, a body was tangled up in ropes, hanging from the ceiling. Mory stood underneath, surrounded by small piles of candy, trying to hide a glowing sword behind her back, while some blue-haired chick was eating popcorn in the corner. Wait, that blob was familiar.
"Seph!?”
The disembodied head blinked a few times, several eyes slowly focusing in on Nameless.
“Hey… Could you get me down?”
Despite the rocky start, the evening ended fairly pleasantly. After Nameless established some ground rules with her guildmaster as to what’s polite to do to someone’s friends, she’d ended up keeping the two mages over for the night. It was only fair, really. The exact details of that dinner would be lost to time, after Ibuki got drunk and threatened everyone involved into never talking about it. Afterwards, Seph convinced the group to watch the sunset and the stars. And after that, when everyone fell asleep, she picked up Ibuki, and returned to Hob House.
Later on, Mory would admit to Nameless that she made the whole birthday thing up to score free gifts.
Hob House would go on to patent the ‘Demon Whacker’, against Seph’s vehement protests. After Alaric added the blindfold, it would prove quite the hit at parties.
And finally, the Chrysalis guildhouse would burn down for some inexplicable reason. Mory, generously, chose to not look into the matter and cast no blame.