Argent Echo

“Indeed we are such travelers,” Lynn replied, though the way she partially said the line through clenched teeth meant she wasn’t fond of what appeared to be some sort of passcode to prove they were the right people.

The woman’s face lit up, her smirk turning into a wide smile. “Excellent. Let’s get to work then.”

The SUV’s engine cut off and the woman threw the door open and hopped out. John blinked when he took in her outfit. She wore a black leotard with red accents around her collar and breasts, a short white jacket that only fell to just below her full breasts and light gray boots that stopped halfway up her thighs.

As she approached them, John noticed her hair wasn’t just white. Numerous strands were dyed in pastel colors, white flowing down to purple, then to blue. The color took more shifts in hue down her bangs, turning to green before terminating in light pink.

‘Well, she certainly stands out,’ Senka remarked. ‘Even more considering how dressed up we are.’

John agreed with Senka and his eyes flicked from the woman as the rear passenger side door of the SUV opened. A woman in black and purple jumped out, her posture far more reserved than the first woman’s. She wore a black jacket with a large collar that hid the lower half of her face and covered her whole torso. The edge of a pink skirt poked out from the bottom of the jacket and the sleeves were detached from the sides, each held on by a vibrant fuschia band.

A violet stripe ran down the length of the sleeves, which matched the bows she used to affix the twintails she had styled her silver hair into. She seemed to notice his gaze and leveled a glare at him with eyes that matched her accessories.

“Enough with the angry eyes, Barbara,” the other woman said, giving John the impression she was the leader of this outfit. “We’re on the clock. Start getting things ready.”

The now named Barbara nodded before heading to the trunk of the SUV as the leader sauntered over to Lynn. She extended a hand to the blonde, a smile on her lips.

“You must be the partner Martius mentioned. Lynn, right?” she said in an overly cheerful voice. “Name’s Aria. Hope you’ll find Argent Echo’s services to your liking.”

Lynn nodded and shook her hand. “I was under the impression this was only our meeting place.”

“What, some simple forest clearing not what you had in mind for this?” Aria quipped with a grin.

“Doesn’t exactly scream ‘staging area for sneaking into a Kingdom’,” Vivian spoke up, drawing Aria’s gaze to her.

“Well, I’m not sure what sort of experience or learning you’ve got under that pretty red hair of yours,” Aria remarked with a disarming smile, “but let’s just say we’ve got ways to make this the perfect spot.”

Vivian flushed, both at the woman’s shameless flirting and her dismissal over her question, but before she could say anything about her understanding of things, Aria called back to Barbara, “You got everything?”

Barbara poked her head out from behind the SUV and nodded.

‘They certainly aren’t the type to mince words,’ Senka thought.

“Oi,” Beth shouted, stepping towards Aria. "You don't have to…"

"Beth, that's enough," Lynn tersely said, a hand shooting out to stop the younger Gryff from advancing further. "Let them work."

"Listen to your elders, kid." Aria grinned. "We aren't being paid to chit chat or answer questions."

"Then maybe you should be working," Aeolia spat from her perch on Beth’s shoulder.

"Looks like I've hit a nerve," Aria commented. "Guess we should pick up the pace."

Almost on cue, Barbara slammed the SUV's trunk closed and walked a short distance back from their vehicle. A large duffle bag hung from her shoulder and something silver poked out from the partially open zipper.

Barbara pulled it out, giving John and everyone a good look at it. It was around a meter in length, half looking like a tent spike and the other resembling a tuning fork. Barbara swiftly drove it into the ground before beginning to circle the clearing, periodically placing another spike into the ground.

'Do you think I should risk using Observe on it?' John asked Senka.

'They don't seem keen on sharing information,’ the spirit remarked. ‘And being in the dark isn’t a position I like being in any more than you or the others. However, poking around what amounts to their trade secrets might lead to them calling off the deal. Even if that is an unlikely outcome. I doubt they were paid everything up front.’

‘Well, I’m not going to just sit on my hands,’ John thought, closing his eyes. ‘I doubt they could guess I’m scouting with Arcane Sense, right?’

‘Probably no more than just looking,’ Senka mused. ‘Perhaps try to sense things without closing your eyes, just to avoid looking like you’re snooping.’

‘Good idea,’ John thought as he opened his eyes. He ignored the visuals of the clearing and focused his mind on the feeling of magic around him. He ignored the sensations he was already familiar with and turned his attention to the nearest unknown presence.

Aria’s aura was cool but felt more like touching chilled metal over something like ice. It was rigid and clung to her body like armor, only perceptible by closely focusing on her. There was, however, a sort of pull that drew his attention from her. There were several minor, almost magnetic, tugs vying for John’s attention, but one was significantly stronger and it drew him to the bundle of spikes Barbara still had yet to plant.

They radiated the same cool metallic feel as Aria but thrummed with a steady beat, almost like a heartbeat. And in time with the waves coming from the woman who carried them.

In contrast to Aria’s rigid aura, Barbara’s flowed around her in a way that reminded John of both Aeolia and Beth, though the silver haired woman’s moved in a far more controlled way than theirs did, reminding him more of breathing than the wind.

‘Ok,’ John thought as he let Arcane Sense fade. His eyes swept over Aria and Barbara to see if they noticed his mystical examination. ‘Seems they didn’t notice. Or don’t care that I did. So, guessing Aria has some metal based magic. What do you think Barbara’s magic is, Senka?’

‘Given the similar feeling to Aeolia and Beth, I think it’s safe to assume she has a major wind element to her ability,’ the spirit surmised. ‘I’m curious as to why those spikes are linked to both of them. What is their purpose?’

“Can we at least get some cliff notes on what we’re going to be doing?” Lynn suddenly asked, unable to keep quiet. “A bit much to ask us to keep quiet while you plant things into the ground.”

“Fine, fine. Guess some customer service is expected when directly working with clients,” Aria flippantly said. “Once Barbara gets all these spikes down, we’re going to open a barrier and from there, we start the real work.”

“How is opening a normal barrier going to get us into Detreye?” Vivian asked, her voice full of skepticism.

“Looks like you need to pick up more knowledge.” Aria grinned at Vivian and John took a step closer to the redhead.

“Done,” Barbara cut in with the first word uttered since their meeting, walking up to Aria. Her voice was the opposite of Aria’s, low in both tone and energy.

“Alright then,” Aria said, clapping her hands together before placing a hand on Barbara’s shoulder. “Let’s get this show on the road. Try not to fight the pull. Could end up being messy.”

Then Barbara began to hum as she raised her hand upwards. It was a sustained low note and John felt like his bones were vibrating. A glance around showed everyone was feeling the same thing. Other things were affected by Barbara’s intonation: Aeolia flinched slightly, the liquid in Lynn’s vials were disturbed as if they were being repeatedly flicked, and all the cars let out groaning sounds like they were suddenly filled past their weight capacity.

Then, John felt the telltale tug of being pulled into a barrier and fought to keep himself from resisting the pull. He was rewarded by maintaining his footing as reality shifted, only slightly losing his balance for a moment as the barrier formed and Barbara ceased her humming. Vivian hadn’t been as fortunate and she swayed as if the ground wasn’t stable.

“Got you,” John said as he slipped his arms around her. Vivian looked up at John, a light flush on her face as he helped her right herself. His arms remained around her afterwards as they looked around.

Everyone besides Aria and Barbara were looking around and Lynn took a somewhat unsteady step towards the pair.

“What the hell was all that?” the blonde alchemist demanded.

“Just setting the stage,” Aria dismissed.

“Could have done with a warning about the noise,” Aeolia groused. “Some of us have sensitive ears.”

Barbara shrugged before she began to hum again, far more softly this time, and walked over to one of the silver spikes.

“You brought over the cars,” Vivian said, a note of amazement in her voice.

“Is that some big achievement?” Beth asked while Aria’s expression turned smug.

“There’s a reason most people will just stick with copied bits of furniture or things made directly in a barrier,” Vivian explained. “It takes a lot of effort to move something as large and complex as a vehicle over. And to do three at a time, without contact while drawing all of us in, is…”

“Impressive, right?” Aria interjected, a shit eating grin on her face.

“Those stakes have to be some kind of amplifier, right?” John asked. “No reason to put them out beforehand if they weren’t.”

“Nobody likes the guy who gives away the trick," Aria responded, her cheerful tone fading slightly.

"I don't think treating something as dangerous as this like it's some kind of circus trick is very helpful," Lynn countered. "Martius hired you to get us into Detreye unseen, not for little barrier tricks."

Aria's eye twitched. "A little showmanship doesn't detract from our skills. But since it turns out you guys aren't the type to appreciate that, might as well skip to the end. Barbara, you good?"

The twin tailed girl shook her head as she walked around the edge of the clearing, tapping each tuning fork spike as she passed them.

"Since you're going to pester us about it, here’s what’s going to happen,” Aria said. “Barbara needs to match the frequency of this barrier to Detreye's. With that, we can synchronize to the Kingdom, which will keep this barrier powered for a good long while, so you don't have to worry about the cars. Then, we punch through and meet Martius. You lot go about your business and we get paid."

She's probably leaving out a good amount of the actual magic, but at least we wore her down enough to give us the basic rundown,' John thought as he watched Barbara circuit around them. A few times, John thought he could hear minor shifts in the tone of the forks as Barbara tapped them.

The silver haired girl stopped at one of the spikes and repeatedly flicked it until it held a steady, low hum. Barbara nodded to Aria who clapped her hands together once. The remaining spikes all began to ring out in the same tone, the barrier now filled with a constant drone.

“Yea, more noise,” Aeolia muttered as the image at the edge of the barrier began to distort. All around them, the forest shimmered as if it was significantly hotter beyond the spikes but one spot directly behind the cars distorted far more than the rest, green and brown swirling around into a murky mess before fading into an image of a barely lit room of gray stone.

“Is that...?” Vivian asked.

“Our little hideyhole in Detreye? Yep,” Aria answered with a proud grin. “All we have to do now is push through and we’re done.”

“And how do we ‘push through’?” Lynn inquired. “Something tells me it’s not going to be as easy as a simple stroll in the park.”

“No more effort needed than popping out of a barrier,” Aria clarified before her head cocked to the side slightly. After a moment, a frown appeared on her face. “OK, maybe we’ll need to make more of an effort. Seems the boundary is a bit tougher than usual. We’re going to have to do the push as a group.”

“So much for easy,” Lynn muttered under her breath, prompting Beth to nudge her sister. After a moment where the sisters glared at each other, the blonde asked, “How are we doing this?”

“We just have to push through at the same time instead of trying one after the other,” Aria explained as she walked up to the edge of the barrier.

“Right,” Lynn remarked, her diminishing patience clear in her tone. “Let’s get this over with.”

The blonde led the group to the edge, taking her place right next to Aria. John ended up on the opposite side of the smuggler and he noticed something. Two black lines poked out from just below the cuff of her jacket sleeve, meeting at a right angle that pointed down towards her fingers.

‘Didn’t see that before,’ he thought as everyone got into position, Kiera slipping next to him. For a moment, he was worried she may not be able to funnel her mana into the barrier, but as he began to draw out his own, he sensed hers begin to gather around her, edging towards the barrier.

Worry lessened, John concentrated on his mana and began to will it outward, immediately feeling a resistance to it. Even with his focus honed in on his mana flow, John could sense Aeolia’s, Vivian’s, Beth’s and Kiera’s mana mingle with his through Arcane Sense, though there were odd patches of blankness that separated them at points.

Skill Level Up: Arcane Sense Lv. 4. Passive detection enabled when using mana.

In an instant, the voids in the buildup along the barrier’s edge became known as Lynn’s, Aria’s and Barbara’s mana flared against his perception. There was also something else, a deep and cool presence he hadn’t felt before that seemed to be layered above their mingling mana. And it was flowing from Aria at the same time as her own mana, drawing everything to it.

Before John could even think to comment on it, reality buckled and John felt himself pulled forward before everything spun around in a chaotic whirl far worse than being pulled into the trap barrier had been. Then everything went dark.

Consciousness came back to John and he groaned as his body began to register the pain of their journey. He braced his hand against the ground to sit up, but instead of cold stone, he felt something slick with water. His eyes immediately snapped open as he **** himself up.

He was greeted with the sight not of some bare room, but a corridor, dimly lit by a series of glowing crystals. The faint sound of running water rumbled below him and he registered the stale and musty air around him.

New Quest: Scattered Sewers
Your attempt to sneak into Detreye went a little sideways, didn't it? You better find everyone and get out of the city’s sewers before someone or something finds you somewhere you really aren’t supposed to be in.

Rewards: 1000 EXP

“Of fucking course.”

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