"Spain! I'm finally here!"
Circe lets out an awkward chuckle as all the travelers in the airport eye the both of them. "Hunter, get down from there," she said in between laughs.
"Fine, fine," Hunter said. "There are so many places we could go; the Royal Palace, LA Sagrada Familia, the Royal Alcázar."
"Hunter we are here to capture the demon I told you about and then leave," said the yellow-eyed woman.
"And also visit San Sebastián."
Circe sighs. "If time permits," she gave in.
"Yay! Now this is why I say you have the potential to be my favorite redhead," said the sprite.
"What? I'm not?!"
"Your competition's got like four years of a headstart on you," said the dark-haired boy.
"Yeah? Did they save your life in any of that four years?"
"Wow! You're just ... bringing out the trump card huh?"
"I'm only joking. Besides, my hair is light red not just red," she argued.
"Hm ... I guess that makes you number one on my favorite light red-haired list."
"Yay! I'm number one baby!" She shouted drawing a couple of frowns from the security. "What?" She said raising an eyebrow at one of the security men.
They walked out of the airport dragging their luggage along. "So where to now?" Hunter asked.
"The hotel. Thankfully the Bureau has jurisdiction here and by extension, we do too and we have intelligence in the region," she stated. "The demon runs a nightclub," she stated. "We'll go in at night, grab him, and fly back to New Lanes," she stated.
"Why do I get the feeling it won't go as smoothly as?"
"Because you're used to these kinds of jobs."
*THAT NIGHT*
"First time in a club?" Circe asked.
"Not really," he shook his head. "The exorcism business took me to a lot of places in Skyline," he stated.
"Exorcism business?" She asked a hint of surprise in her voice. The sprite never told her about what he used to do back in his hometown but he'd assumed the older woman would look at his Met School file to learn all about him.
'She did say she wanted to learn all about me directly from me," he thought.
"It's what I did in the past. I could see ghosts and darklings so I built an empire exorcising them," he stated.
Circe smiled as her eye scanned the entire club before she moved towards the bar. "Built an empire, huh?" She asked.
They both knew he was kidding about the last part but the fact that she only jokingly called it out made Hunter continue. "Yeah. Ask around; once you mention the Exorcist, they'll point you my way."
The bartender hurried to their front. The club was packed and so was the bar. He was the only one working behind the counters and it was fairly obvious; the customers were all shouting their orders and it looked like he could barely keep up. "What can I get you two?" He asked.
Hunter shakes his head while Circe pointed to a drink that glowed red and yellow a woman was holding in her hand while dancing on the dancefloor.
"Wait, you're the Exorcist? I've been searching for you for years!" She teased.
Hunter laughs as the bartender returned with the light red-haired woman's drink. He placed it on the counter before moving to the impatient customers. "Tell me Mr. Exorcist, what do you feel?" She slid the cup with the glowing liquid to Hunter. He takes a look before sliding it back to her. "Strange. Demon blood?"
"Got it in one! Come on," she said setting a stack of bills under the cup and heading to a door in one corner of the club guarded by two huge, bald men.
"Toilet's over there," said one of them as the duo approached them.
"What?" Circe shouted pretending to be unable to hear them over the loud music.
"Ma'am, the toilet's over there!" He said somehow even more serious than the first time while his partner hovers his hand over his waist. Hunter's eyes shift between the both of them, he could feel the huge energy coming from beyond the door they were guarding but nothing special from them.
"I know," said Circe. "I wasn't looking for the restroom," she added. When the guard saw that the yellow-eyed woman was not showing any signs of stopping, he stepped forward and raised his hand to push the woman but as soon as his hands touch the woman, both he and his partner turn to hundreds of butterflies. Circe turned back to see Hunter's eyes were iridescent. "That was you?" She asked.
"Couldn't afford a fight," he said. "Hopefully anyone who saw that would be too drunk to remember or would think they only saw that 'cause they were drunk."
Circe pushed open the door and they both walked through it. "How did you do it?" She asked.
"Soul magic. They did not turn into butterflies, it's just a bit of visual manipulation or deception. It's easy to pull off since they are just humans but I can't do that for mystics," he stated.
"What's soul magic?" Circe asked.
"It's a new magic I invented --"
"And you decided to name it soul magic and not Heffernan's new magic?"
[Hunter, ditch this woman now]
'Cry! It is the perfect name!'
"There's still time to change it," claimed the sprite.
"Seriously though, I have so many questions about your new magic but let's focus on the task at hand for now," she said.
They walked down the hall and into an elevator where Circe punched in the highest number on the panel; the seventh floor. As the elevator approached the floor, Hunter could feel the huge energy even more. "There are two guards outside, non-mystic," he informed the yellow-eyed woman.
She nods. "You handle that," she said. There is a 'ding' sound as the cab comes to a stop and the doors slide open. The duo stepped out of the elevator and the two guards Hunter had mentioned looked on confused before reaching for their guns. Hunter's eyes turn iridescent and the men melt into a puddle of water.
Circe smiles as she walks towards the door and pushes it open. "Circe!" The demon exclaimed as he sees the light red-haired.
"What did I tell you the last time we met?" Circe said.
"You said you'll let me go if I promised not to harm any human again," the demon responded.
"A promise you didn't keep," said the leader of the public safety and demon control agency.
"In my defense," the demon started but doesn't finish his sentence. Instead, he grabbed something from underneath his table and throws it at Circe before jumping through the window.
As the projectile flew closer to Circe and Hunter stepped forward to react but before he could reach it, hands began emerging from the projectile, like it was transforming into something different and it burst into flames upon reaching close to Circe. It falls to the ground, burning on and on while Hunter stops dead in his tracks confused as to what had just occurred.
"And that was me," Circe said with a slight smile.
"Oh ..." Hunter said before turning to face the broken window.
[So that's Circe's powers? Interesting.]
"Shouldn't we go after him?" Hunter asked.
"No need, some agents that were stationed outside the club are already chasing after him. They'll inform me when he stops," she stated.
"Ah. What do we do now?"
"The most boring part of field jobs; we wait," She replied.
"We could make it a bit interesting," he said.
"How so?"
"I don't know," he shrugged. "Did you know a group of pandas is known as an embarrassment?" He asked.
"There's no way!" She laughed. "So if I see a group of pandas I'll say: 'Look! An embarrassment of pandas!'"
"If you want to respect the English language; yes."
"Haha!" She laughs. "I guess they are pretty embarrassing," she stated.
"And dumb!" Hunter chipped. "They probably won't be on the brink of extinction if they were a tad bit smarter."
Circe laughs. "Your turn," Hunter stated.
"Hmm," she said thoughtfully. "Okay. Did you know the smell of freshly cut grass is actually a distress signal released by the grass, alerting other plants to the damage?"
"Huh? What would the other plants do? Run?"
Circe throws her head backward and laughs, placing her hand just over her mouth. "I --"
Her thought is cut short when a figure that looks like a hologram appears. "Ma'am," the man greeted. "The demon came to a stop at the port."
"Okay. Have the men surround the place and begin evacuations just in case."
"Yes ma'am!" He saluted before disappearing the same way he appeared.
"Alright," said the light red-haired woman before punching a hole in the air, opening a portal. "Come on Hunter," she said before jumping into the portal. Hunter follows after her.
The sprite exit the portal finding himself at the port where Circe was already waiting for him at. "You found him yet?" He asked.
"On that boat," she pointed. "Hurry!" And with that, the yellow-eyed woman teleports to the boat while Hunter began racing to it. The dark-haired boy looks up at the sky, it was dark and cloudy. "Looks like rain," he noted increasing his speed.
The teal green-eyed boy launches himself as high as he could and lands on the boat between Circe and the demon, the sprite already in a fighting stance.
"What's this?" said the demon looking from Hunter to the leader of the Public Safety and Demon Control agency. "Can't take me on by yourself?" He asked.
The demon suddenly turns, throwing a punch at the year 1 student who blocks the attack with his leg before jumping back and creating separation between himself and the demon.
"I'll let you have some fun Hunter, I'm sure you can handle it," said the light red-haired woman.
"Hm."
"What's that? There's two of you, why should I be the only single one here?" He said before splitting into three similar bodies, like cloning of some sort. "Now we can have fun," said the 'three' demons in unison.
The wind was starting to pick up and the weather was getting even darker with the boat rocking back and forth.
[A storm's coming in]
'Yeah ... I'll have to finish this as quickly as possible.'
The sprite's eyes turn iridescent and two blue figure men appear on each of his sides, one holding a longsword and the other unarmed. The demon's eyes widened but before he could say or do anything, Hunter and the two figures he had created charged at the demons.
Hunter throws a punch at the demon but the latter does well to avoid the attack. The sprite steps to the side of the demon and by now, it was starting to rain. He wrapped his hands around the demon's waist and throws the latter over his head, planting him shoulder first into the boat's prore.
The demon spins, immediately getting back up to his feet. Hunter looked to the side to see that the blue figures he had formed were doing much better than he was. Circe on the other had not moved an inch, forming an energy barrier around herself to stop the rain from getting to her while watching the fight unfold before her.
The rain had gotten heavier and the sea danced with the wind, so much so that it took the boat from the docks and sent it sailing into the sea. Hunter looked to the sides once more and found that one of the blue figures had defeated his opponent and had paired up with the other one to face the other demon.
Hunter throws a right, another right, and followed it with a left but the demon avoid them all, moving faster than before.
The sprite stepped forward again. He snapped his fingers and the blue figure with the longsword throws his blade at him. The dark-haired boy catches it and swings the blade at the demon who barely avoids the strike but not until it had issued a small cut in the arm. The blade disappears from the sprite's hand and another longsword appears in the hand of the blue figure.
Hunter and the demon charge at each other again. The demon throws a punch but the former slides underneath the incoming fist and snaps his fingers again, the blue figure throws his longsword to Hunter and the sprite catches it and lunges at the demon who jumps out of the way, escaping with just a cut to the side of the stomach. The sword disappears from the sprite's hand and another blade appeared in the hands of the blue figure - just like the first time.
The demon looked down at the cut on his body before moving his sight to Hunter. "You're much stronger than I thought - I'll give you that - but there's no way you would beat me," he declared.
The demon charged forward again and Hunter run towards him. The latter snapped his fingers again and when the blue figure throws his blade at Hunter, the demon moved even quicker and grabs the blade, spinning it around his hand and holding the hilt in his hands.
The demon swings the sword at Hunter but as the blade got closer to the latter, it disappears from his hands and reappears in the blue figure's hand. The sprite uses his left hand to slap the demon's now empty hand away before using his right hand which was surrounded with pink energy and punches the demon in the face causing the demon to stagger a few feet back before pausing.
The demon's head move down to his chest to find that he had been stabbed with a dagger from behind. He looked at Hunter and found that the sprite's eyes were iridescent and then over his shoulder to see that it was a blue figure that had attacked him but the blue figure was not the two the sprite had made earlier, rather it was a lady with a petite frame.
"Well p-played," said the demon before he turned into dust.
"Crap! Did I go too far?"
"No," Circe replied. "This means he can't come back to earth; this is a good thing," the yellow-eyed woman assured.
"Alright," Hunter said looking around to find that the wind had already taken their boat far from the port. "You think your agents would come to help us?"
"I really hope so because I don't float," she said. "The sea doesn't agree with me," she added.
[Can't she just --]
'Shush!'
"Well, I don't float either."
Hunter salutes and starts singing as loud as he can over the storm.
"Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain;
For we have received orders
For to sail for old England,
But we hope in a short time to see you again."
"Are you singing Spanish Ladies?"
"Yeah, what better time than now?"
"Hehe; never failing to make me laugh," she stated before doing a salute and joining in on the song.
"We'll rant and we'll roar, like true British sailors,
We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas;
Until we strike soundings
In the Channel of Old England,
From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues.
"Then we hove our ship to, with the wind at the sou'west,
Then we hove our ship to, deep soundings to take;
Twas 45 fathoms with a white sandy bottom
So we squared our main yard
And up channel did make.
"We'll rant and we'll roar, like true British sailors,
We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas;
Until we strike soundings
In the Channel of Old England,
From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues.
"So the first land we made, it is called the Deadman,
Next Ram Head, off Plymouth, Start, Portland, and the Wight
We sailèd by Beachy,
By Fairly and Dungeness,
And then bore away for the South Foreland light.
"We'll rant and we'll roar, like true British sailors,
We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas;
Until we strike soundings
In the Channel of Old England,
From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues.
"Now the signal was made for the Grand Fleet to anchor
All in the Downs that night for to lie;
Then stand by your stoppers,
See clear your shank painters,
Haul up your clew garnets, let fly tack and sheets.
"We'll rant and we'll roar, like true British sailors,
We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas;
Until we strike soundings
In the Channel of Old England,
From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues.
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