C13: The Old Squad (P1)

Elijah knew just the way to do that.

"Yes, we know the way now... But... You said something about going in guilds didn't you?" A mage asked Elijah, raising his hand.

"Indeed I did. And all of us are already traveling in guilds, except for... My guild." Elijah suddenly sounded unfortunate. Yes... her squad. The many people she shared thousands of secrets and journeys with. And she knew that all of them were there standing somewhere in the crowd.

"I'm sorry guys... But I had to do that..." she spoke to everyone in the crowd. "Can you join me now, guys? We're still a team, right?"

-

Alan didn't know what was happening. He turned to Winry, and she seemed to be aware of it. "Huh... Who is the team?" He asked from her.

Aether was also standing beside them. He explained the situation to Alan.

"The guild was known as the Shadow Phoenix. The best guild there ever was. Winry and Elijah were the leaders of the group...

"There were 6 members including the two sisters... Luke Dalahad, a man of royalty who came to us...." he continued.

"...Blind Lucy, a blind and poor girl, but with the pure physical ability to sense with her ears, she became our Hawkeye. Next up is Owl... A silent and strange boy. He had quite a past, you'll learn when you meet him. And last of all...

"Riza Hime. Half demon, half-fae. She's a beauty... But her heart, not so much. You'll just see what I meant when you meet them."

Alan didn't like the sound of that... But it did sound like something graceful. But Alan had one more question... "But why did they disband the guild?"

Aether's expression instantly changed when Alan asked him that.

"Hmm... There was another member. Rox Ridger. The one who leads the team from the shadows... The one who knew everything. He died in a mission; killed by the Midnight. So, they disbanded, hoping that they won't get to see any other members dying."

Alan could get the situation now. No wonder all of them were so good. So at the time he was sitting on the throne... These people leveled up from the shadows.

'Pretty Impressive...'

-

Elijah looked down... Waiting for the group members to stand up. Some whispers went by from second to second and finally;

"Fallen out of shape, have you?"

A woman's voice came from the mass crowd. Her tone was something strange... Seductive, one could say.

Elijah's face filled with a joyous smile and she looked up. The whole crowd made way, making a line between a clear path between the two of them.

"Hi... Riza." Elijah said, almost in tears. Riza Hime, more popular as the midnight flower... Or the Red Succubus.

Her hair was long and as white as snow except for a lock of hair as red as blood, that dangled over the eyebrows and two black goat horns. But from all her beauty, her body was the one that could not be overlooked.

Even Alan hasn't seen large breasts such as that. And her slightly transparent dark dress just made her body even more appealing. Her waist was so wide and her body was more refined than a goddess's.

"How's it going, Elijah?" She asked from her with a seductive expression on her face.

Elijah placed her hands together as if she was praying to God and whispering to herself; "Thank you for changing your minds guys. We have to move on, now..."

"Owl! Lucy! Dalahad! Come out boys and gals! We've got a mission to complete..." Riza declared to the crowd. She knew that they were there, hiding in the crowd.

"Aghh... I just can't deny it when it comes out of your lips, Riza." A manly voice came from the crowd. The group stood back once more, making another line between Elijah and the boy.

Quite long white hair and wearing a white woolly coat with a hood. And hung on his neck was a necklace with a golden cross... The cross represented the Dulahad Family. A royal family which had been somewhat popular among the villages... But not much respected in the great cities.

Alan knew that he was Dulahad right away.

Sigh... There was quite a loud sigh in the crowd. Once again, the crowd made way... For a little girl... Or was she just short?

"I'll join too if you guys want me to." She said with quite a prideful tone.

Out of the others, she was quite strange. She had two completely sky blue eyes that gave out a certain glow. She had twin pony tails held together with black ribbon bows.

"Hmm... Lucy, you've grown quite prideful." Riza spoke with a calm tone.

Hahaha! She chuckled. "Last time I saw you, you were just a darling little girl. Such a tender and sweet face... The cutest eyes ever!"

"Stop it, Riza! Hmph!" She blushed when she heard Riza calling her tender. She was quite the shy young, compared to her tone.

Alan could clearly see the lines connecting to a single person. "So... This is the Shadow Phoenix huh?"

Elijah was standing in the middle of the whole crowd. She lowered her head to show her gratitude to her old squad members. "Thank you... You guys." She whispered under her breath.

"Wait... One is missing." Alan noticed that there was one more line. Who was it? There were only 3 lines... And there must be four.

"Now now..." Riza's voice caught the attention of the people once more.

"Come out Owl. We know you're there."

Indeed... The missing person was Owl. But, everyone in the Shadow Phoenix knew he was there. Elijah had a sweet smile on her face.

Alan was quite surprised to see that even she had such an affectionate smile.

"Come on Owl..." she whispered.

Flap! Flap! The sound of the flap of two wings took the attention of the crowd. A grey owl came flying towards Elijah and landed on her shoulder.

"Hi... Owl." She said with an affectionate tone. The little owl rubbed its face against the girl's cheek, and Elijah blushed a little.

"Owl! Stop it!" Elijah flushed. "Glad to see all of you are together with me... Here. It could've been a long time since we got to see each other, but we're still the Shadow Phoenix, right?"

The whole crowd was silent. Then, the three in the crowd started to move towards Elijah.

They stood in front of her and now, they were all in the middle of the large crowd.

"Hmm... Owl, we can't let you share the moment alone!" Dulahad laughed as he ran towards Elijah and hugged her tightly. "Good to see you, Elijah."

Elijah was so relieved. She was almost in tears. Riza and Lucy jumped into the reunion too, giving each other a group hug.

"Thank you for coming guys... I missed you so much." A tear ran down Elijah's cheek.