Birds of Prey

**Date Started:** September 20th
**Date Completed:** September 26th
**Previous Role-Play:** N/A
**Users Involved:** User:PuddingCups,User:Jmayfie01

**Setting**: Clover Kingdom
**Characters Involved:**
* **Coral Peacock:** Jacques Cavallier
* **Clover Kingdom:** Rosa Morisot, Fiona Morel

## Trouble In Paradise

A beautiful blue sky stood above a delicate brown horse drawn carriage. Inside was two people, a young former noble and her rich uncle who was supposed to be giving her work to do so she could earn money for the family. Lost in thought, Rosa looked outside the window at the various flora that covered the forest road and wondered what it would be like to live such a simple life again, not worrying about money and being able to see her friends without them being disgusted by her status.

“You know, I’m doing you a great favor by getting you a job with my associate. He has a thing for young girls like yourself so you might just get a husband.” The heavy set man sitting across from her laughed, grabbing a large turkey leg that he tore into pieces. Rosa didn’t care about marrying some old man and she wasn’t going to be taken in like some lost bride, she was going to escape this life and fix the problems the clover kingdom has.

Unbeknownst to the two in the carriage, a few bandits were lurking this area looking for their next target, someone rich and weak. Truly that was the definition of her uncle but Rosa was neither rich nor weak. Her royal blood would help her magic but the only problem was her lack of skill, for now though, she would sit in the carriage until they got there.

This road was not a common one. In fact, it was a rather dangerous path through a thick forest with the road barely visible. It wasn't often people traversed down such a winding road, one filled with societies undesirables. Unfortunately, the others roads had been closed. Blocked off by a previous storm that had knocked several, heavy trees into it's path, a mess that was still being cleaned up by none other than the Coral Peacock Squad.

Meanwhile, the wagons wheeled churned, bumping on rocks and alerting a nearby camp of bandits some distance away. One of the three men yawned and stretched, awakening from a deep slumber and approaching two other grimy looking suspects hunched over a campfire, warming up a pot of beans. "I think we finally got one! Hehehe!" He cackled excitedly, patting his two comrades on the back. They groaned, shaking the pot before they looked behind him, amazed at the rather extravagant carriage. "No way!" "Is that.. it's gotta be a noble somewhere in there! That carriage is worth more than... well me!" They swayed and swooned like children to candy, putting their plan into action.

"Multiplication Magic: Triple Threat!" One of the men called out throwing a single dagger which then turned into three, jamming itself into the wheels of the carriage, causing it to buckle. The horse reared in fear, braking free from it's reigns and galloping into the distance leaving only the driver and the two passengers behind.

"Hehe! Good job brother." "Yeah yeah, nice." The three thieves approached the broken down carriage, peeking through the windows. "Ehhh! We've got a fatso and a pretty little lady!" "Score!" They cheered, "Don't you worry. Just give us all your money... and we'll try to make it not hurt." Pulling a steel crossbow from his grimoire, he aimed at the large, plump and bald man.

Everything was going smoothly a few minutes before, she was simply listening to her fat uncle ramble on about the joys of marriage despite the fact that he had never been married and the various rumors that he was a homosexual in denial. Her eyes were glazed over like newly cut glass and she was lost in thought until the moment three daggers landed in the wheels and caused the carriage to jerk to a stop. “Oof-.”

Naturally, the cowardly horse that was drawing the carriage got scared and ran off. Rosa was shocked but she wasn’t terrified, this was her chance to escape this situation and hopefully get out of the grasp of her uncle. Her grimoire glowed a pink color, a paint set hovering beside her with a lovely purple paintbrush.

Her mana surrounded her, glowing a red color but as she heard the men’s voices, Rosa decided it would be best to keep it low and act weak. She quickly hid her paintbrush behind her shirt, letting her grimoire stay in it’s pouch on her hip.

As the bandits spoke and yelled out their orders, the bald fat uncle started going on a long rant about how he was a noble. “How DARE you attack a noble carriage! You’re nothing but filthy rats that are under my thumb. If you beg for forgiveness I’ll consider it..” The older man crossed his arms expectantly, waiting for them to comply.

It was awkward at first. The fat man didn't show fear, but resentment! Even with a crossbow aimed at his head, he shouted at the three criminals, comparing them to filthy animals. There was a long pause, a silence, before a sudden burst of laughter. "AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!" The brothers cackled, slapping their knees. "No thanks." And with that, the man was gone. Even though he was a noble, he had forgotten one thing, when you've hit rock bottom, it's hard to go any lower. Sadly, these thieves were as low as low could be and the only place to go was... well up!

"And what about you sweet cheeks? You gonna give us the same attitude? Or are you gonna fork over the fortune?" The man with the crossbow said, putting his foot up on the window of the carriage, his brothers standing beside him. "Those jewels sure look nice." "Yeah, and those velvet seats too! What a find!" They chimed but stopped at the snap of his fingers. "She's mine." He huffed, pushing his brothers back with his muscular arms, causing them to shriek, their bottoms hitting the floor as they raised their fists in anger before giving up.

He was clearly the leader of their pack and like all dogs, they were forced to obey. He simply had a more powerful bark and certainly a stronger bite.

“I’m yours? Well don’t you think you should read up on me before buying a new pet? I’m a lot of responsibility.” The young woman rolled her eyes, leaning against the carriage. “I guess I can thank you for killing my uncle, but he’s the one with the money while I’m bout as rich as you three.. And considering you’re resorting to robbing children, I can assume you must be poor.”

However, the girl was buying time so she needed to try and give them a story worth telling so she could get some time to paint an escape. “I was a noble once, I enjoyed such a pleasant life of luxury and the best of friends. I soon learned that once you lose your status, everything else soon comes with it, including any of the ‘friends’ you once had. You may want riches boys but soon you’ll be fighting over it until there’s only one left..” She blew the leader a kiss.

The three brothers stopped to listen to her words. Maybe they meant something. Maybe they were powerful and inspiring. Unfortunately, this was the wrong crowd. They laughed in her face, spit flying as if a hurricane had blown through. "AHAHAHAH! A former noble... oh please! No one cares what you once were. We care what you are now. If he's loaded and you're not, well then we've got the real prize here haven't we?" He snapped his fingers, his brother going over to the dead uncle and looting his body for jewelry and gems.

"And you... you've got quite a bit of magical power. That's rich in a sense..." He rubbed his chin, questioning what type of magic she might use. "As for us fighting, you need to know one thing if you're gonna survive out here. The strongest wolf leads the pack." The man cackled before letting out a wild howl, his brothers joining in.

“The leader of the pack may be in charge but in just one quick move, he can be dethroned. Nobody can stay king forever.” She watched as they looted her uncle’s body. “Magic power means nothing if you aren’t loved by the nobles, captains won’t take peasants if they aren’t amazing at magic and I won’t be fooled into that rat race.”

Rosa’s paintbrush appeared behind her hands, leaning up against the carriage as she dipped the paintbrush in a red color, drawing a quick circle on the carriage to activate for later. “One of these days, someone in your pack will dethrone you and you’ll be at the bottom.. Eating their scraps.” She placed her hand in her pocket, taking out a piece of hard candy.

“If you really wanna show off your power then you should fight each other to prove dominance over the other members of this little group, or should I say wolf pack?”

The man was clearly angered by her words, the brothers soon met his furiousness after they harvested their share of riches. "Who are you to make demands of us!" "We could kill you little girl!" They growled, kicking at the buckled down, nearly destroyed carriage. The leader held his hand up, stopping them from speaking.

"I've got a much better idea." His grimoire flipped through several pages before landing on the spell he required. Extending his arm "Steel Magic: Weapon Wheel!", three swords of steel were formed in the sky, circling around each other they flew behind him like a boomerang and rotated around in the sky. "Multiplication magic: Triple Threat!" The other brother shouted, causing two more of the same spell to appear. Three rotating blades of swords then flew towards the carriage, working in perfect synchronization they were able to slice the carriage directly in half.

This had caused dust to fly up, causing their vision to be a bit hazy. None of them expected that the girl had died but surely it had scared her off or made her shut her mouth. It seemed none of them notice the girl painting, and if they did, they paid it no mind.

"Oh no the carriage is gone, whatever will I do.." She said sarcastically. Rosa moved to a piece of the rubble, grabbing it and taking out her paintbrush as she drew a red little star on it and threw it at the bandits. "Here you go boys!" As the piece of carriage flew towards them, the red paint exploded which made a somewhat loud noise and some black smoke. "Your steel magic is boring compared to my artistic expertise." She flipped her hair, thinking that she was much more powerful than them.

Her eyes wandered to the destroyed carriage, feeling bad for her uncle in the slightest but overall she didn't care that he died because he never cared about her happiness. Her parents were desperate for money and this seemed to be the best way for them to handle that, even if it was cheap and basically selling your daughter as a bride to make some quick money.

The explosion was damaging, creating a circle of black plumage that blocked their vision and caused coughing. Though the boom hadn't quite hit them, flying debris was sent in their direction causing a few bruises. Unfortunately for the red-headed artist, she had been outnumbered. Even if she was a noble, with a high amount of magical energy, being loved by mana, it meant nothing if she didn't know what to do with it. If she couldn't control it to the best of her ability.

The final brother raised an arm, summoning a strong gust of wind which blew the black smoke away, showing the three brothers standing side by side, ready for combat. "She's done it now." "Big time." The two younger brothers smirked, one going to the right and the other running to the left.

"Who cares about paint?" The older brother said, his grimoire flying in front of him. "Any attribute can work just fine, depending on how you use it. Us three, we're a perfect team. You're about to witness that first hand and nothing you can paint is gonna save you." They laughed at his remark, preparing yet another attack for her to respond too.

"Steel Magic: Battle Axe!" It was a small, normal sized axe but that changed when his brother got involved. "Multiplication magic: Times two!" This compound magic caused the axe to double in size and strength. "Our compound magic is unbeatable!" The elderly brother yelled, bringing the axe down in an attempt to take the girl down with just one move. Meanwhile, the other brother had summoned healing winds for the group, their scrapes and bruises from the explosion vanishing within an instant.

Rosa's attack turned out to be rather useless, at first she thought that all that smoke would at least give her a smokescreen but turns out it did not. The men weren't as dumb as they looked and that attacked fuel their rage even more. Her eyes didn't show fear, despite her feeling a slight bit. The girl sighed, looking at the three boys. It seemed that they were preparing some kind of combo attack and honestly, she probably wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it and that's when Rosa put her hands up, and admitted surrender. "I'll admit when I'm defeated."

An idea popped into Rosa's head a moment before and she was about to act on it, raising her paintbrush in the air and dipping it into three different colors. "But that won't be today!" She shouted loudly, hoping someone would hear it. Even if they didn't hear it, the image would light up into the sky. As the paint swirled around her brush, it was launched up and formed together to make a beautiful woman holding a flaming purple torch burning brightly. "Hopefully someone notices it.." Rosa whispered, trying to think of an escape route just in case this didn't work.

## Here Comes The Calvary

Fiona Morel had been flying through the sky on that fateful day. Minding her own business, judging the Clover Kingdom from a safe distance, as per usual. Only a week or so ago she had lost in a rather tragic duel. Well, according to Fiona, lost was a strong word. She preferred the term 'strategical yield' as in her mind that stupid swordsman had cheated anyway.

Though, just like normal, it seemed trouble always found her. Or more like she found it. Shot up into the sky was a colorful display, a warning signal or a flare perhaps of a woman holding a torch. It seemed like a cry for help... Fiona kept flying, in fact, she flew faster. She didn't have the time to deal with such a situation and she really didn't want to help anyone. Ironic for a young witch wishing to become a Magic Knight.

It was only when the strongest gust of wind she had ever experienced reached the sky and pulled her down like a vacuum, sending her into nest of nearby trees that it was no longer optional. As the branches hit her on the way down to the forests floor, Fiona landed with a thud. Looking up she saw a rather disturbing scene. Three robbers, or thieves, attempting to attack what appeared to be an innocent painter! A magical one? Fiona could sense her mana. What an odd situation.

Seeing one of the men with wind circling his fist, Fiona knew it was him who had, perhaps by accident sent that wind at her, but he was going to pay one way or the other. Then of course she saw the giant battle axe looming over the innocent damsel in distress and out of the kindness of her heart, or perhaps the pressure of now *having* to do the right thing; she decided to save her.

"Dryad's Saddle!" Fiona called out, running toward the crowd, trying to ignore the destroyed carriage which appeared to have been nearly blown to bits. Mushrooms sprung up over the man with the axe, taking over his body and mind. The weapon then grew heavier, nearly out of his control and with a wag of Fiona's finger, it fell behind the man.

"I'll teach you not to knock a witch off her broom." Fiona huffed, grabbing her staff and preparing for a fight. Looking towards the girl, the one she has presumably saved the life of, Fiona scoffed. "God. You look so pathetic, and with such a strong mana reserve? It's embarrassing." Maybe it wasn't the time to say such a thing but Fiona was always herself no matter the situation and though the girl didn't know her quite yet, in Fiona's language that was as nice as a pep talk gets.

The three men were very, very confused about the situation. That was around the time when the wind mage realized he had made a grave mistake, when his wind had blew away the smoke earlier, it seemed to have hit the witch as well. Though the girls were still outnumbered, it seemed to get a lot fairer.

"Uh oh boss, I think I-"

"Yeah, I can tell. Way to ruin the plan. This one might be trouble..." The brothers seemed to agree but their leader laughed it off. "All I see is another piece of meat to put on the cutting board." His grin was creepy, scary, spooky. He was missing teeth and the ones he had were less than attractive. His hair was unkept. He was poor. Fiona was bothered.

Shooting a large mushroom at the man, and then another, and then another, she attempted to pelt him away but the basic attack was no more than pebbles to the rather experienced magic bandit. "Steel Magic: Butterfly Net!" He called out, forming a net of steel that then slammed down on the young witch, putting her in a type of restraint spell where she was suddenly... unable to use magic?

"Gah! What the-" Fiona frantically tried to escape but it seemed helpless, without her magic she was nothing. There was only one thing in Fiona's mind, she should have left this painter to die!

Just when Rosa was planning out her obituary, a strange girl appeared from above, seemingly being knocked down from the sky. Rosa was confused at first but the girl then started attacking the bandits and seemingly saving her, maybe this girl wasn’t so bad and could be a potential friend.

That was until a large steel net slammed down on the mushroom girl and she screamed that she was unable to use magic. Ross looked at her, raising an eyebrow. “Seriously? Your weakness is butterfly nets..” She took a moment to pray that a more competent witch would drop down from above but after about two minutes, the only thing that dropped was Rosa’s standards.

Even if the girl had a strange weakness, she still saved Rosa from a life of ugly husbands and for that, she would have to repay Fiona. Rosa closed her eyes and picked up her grimoire and paintbrush, flipping through to look for a spell that could save her new friend. Going through countless of empty pages did nothing for her, realizing that she really didn’t have many spells.

“If you truly are a part of me, give me a spell that will let me save her..” She whispered to her grimoire, pleading with it. The grimoire glowed a beautiful silvery color and new words started being written in it. “I swear to god if you give me a spell that paints pretty faces on ugly girls..” The words continued until a new spell appeared. Rosa looked down at her book, reading the name out loud. “Maiden of The Silver Moon?” It was worth a try but Rosa wasn’t completely sure what it did and turned to the picture to begin replicating it with her paint.

She focused her eyes on the target, dipping her paintbrush in the white and blue colors on her paint set. “Here goes nothing.” She said, sending the colors out as she started replicating the drawing inside her book until a beautiful woman with silver hair and a thorny bow came into existence, aiming her arrow at the target.

“Maiden of The Silver Moon!” Rosa yelled, having the woman fire three glowing blue arrows towards the men. The arrows left a trail of water behind them, swirling around the men until they formed flowing chains that tightened themselves around their entire body, sealing off their magic. Once that was done, the steel net on Fiona started vanishing and Rosa stood there proudly. “Wow, did not expect that to actually work..”

Fiona was amazed by the magic, painting was a rare attribute. One she had never seen before. She hid her emotions, focusing on the bandits who appeared rather shocked. Restrained by arrows shot by what appeared to be a painted goddess, the look on their faces was precious. They seemed to be as shocked as Fiona. Unlocking a new spell happened only in the most emotional of situations and it was no small feat.

"Hm. Perhaps you aren't as useless as I thought." Fiona adjusted her hat, much shorter than the paintress she was forced to look up before turning back to the men who dared attack them. They appeared to be struggling, just as she had been, they tried to escape the watery chains. It was a testament of magical strength, if Rosa had more magic power then they'd be fine. Fiona was excellent when it came to magic sensory and only one of the brothers posed a real threat. Their leader. He grunted and squirmed, slowly but surely the water chains fell from his body as he angrily shouted. "YOU MADE A MISTAKE!" His grimoire flipped through the pages rapidly, unlike the girls in front of him, he had no need for new spells.

Fiona was tired from both the fall and the net which had drained some of her magic but she was confident that her and Rosa could hold the man off, until he made his next move. The move that all but said check mate.

"You think one new spell is gonna save you? Against me? Leader of the Silverwolf Bandits? That paired with a bunch of mushrooms?" The man laughed. "Steel Magic: Hunting Wolf Pack!" Spontaneously large metallic wolves, nearly his own size, appeared around him, they snarled and growled. There had to be at least six of the magical metal beasts. Their teeth sharp, their claws long.

Fiona felt a strong magical presence. This one wasn't simply because of the wolves, someone else was here! Fiona knew that the girls couldn't win alone, not with their magics against his experience and so she decided to use her brain. "Follow my lead." She mumbled to the paintress.

Gripping her staff, anyone who could sense magic would feel the strong flow of mana. It wasn't caused by Fiona but she could surely trick the man. It felt like one hundred warlocks gathered into one and the man broke a sweat, his hairs tingling. "You've made a grave mistake... messing with a witch." The man's wolves barked, snapping their jaws at the witch but holding back and waiting for their masters command.

"You can't be that strong! A young little witch like you!"

"Oh but I am. Do you want to call my bluff?" Her magical aura seemed to raise, something the man could see.

"I-" He began to shake and tremble, thinking of the consequences if that truly was the witches magical power. His theory was proven wrong within a matter of seconds.

In that instant, humming could be heard from the top of a nearby abandoned building, Thornwell Orphanage. A place which doubled as the bandits hideout. The crowd looked toward it's roof, seeing a man with dressed so oddly. In a large feathery hat and a flamboyant outfit, it was easy to mistake him for a girl as he was a very pretty man.

Leaping off of the roof and onto a broom, he side straddled it, flying over to the scene with one hand on his chest and the other pointed upward. "My my! What a splendorous delight! Three big bad wolves lurk in the forest for their prey! A witch and a former noble! Well, I'm afraid to tell you..." The man suddenly became very sinister. "The hunt is over!" He cheered wickedly, his grimoire glowing a bright pink. "Aroma Magic: Attraction Mist Perfume!" He cheered as a pink perfume leaked from it's pages, entering the nostrils of the men. Even the two restrained by the painting spell.

Their eyes glowed a vibrant rose color. "Now be good boys and put your weapons away!" The eccentric male clapped, causing all of their magical spells to vanish, including the wolf pack. "YES MY SIRE!" They shouted in unison. "Now since you want to act like dogs... let's take that to the next level." He kicked his feet with glee and giggled, the men dropping to their knees, their tongues falling from their mouths. "Good boys." They waited to hear their next command but it didn't come.

The broom lowered to the ground as the man approached the damsels in distress, the broom vanishing in thin air. "I'm terribly sorry that I arrived late ladies! I had business to take care of!"

Fiona blinked. Who was this guy? He was weird and feminine, like nothing she had ever seen before. Her eyes wondered to the paintress, maybe she knew? Fiona could feel his magic. So it was him.

Even with Rosa’s strong magic power, that spell had taken a lot out of her and she wasn’t prepared to fight a bunch of steel dogs. This may have been the end for the two if a random homosexual hadn’t came and saved them. She watched as the man used some sort of perfume magic to take control of the bandits bodies.

She looked over at Fiona as the young girl looked back at her, seemingly asking if she knew who the mystery crossdresser was. “Is this your boyfriend Fiona?” She smiled, looking towards the man. “Wouldn’t think that was your taste but something tells me you aren’t his either.. So maybe it’s not your boyfriend.” The red haired girl giggled, putting her grimoire and paints away.

“Either way, thank you for saving us.” She bowed to the man for a second out of respect before getting back up. “I am Rosa Morisot, Which correct I am a former noble.” Saying the words left a bitter taste in her mouth as if she didn’t want to remember that fact about herself.

“You have a rather strange magic, I’ve never seen a magic that deals with aromamancy.” It was truly a unique magic but so was Rosa’s, this was due to the clover kingdom’s mages having strayed from the basic elements of nature and creating more unique and arcane type spells. Something that other kingdom’s looked down upon.

Fiona wasn't amused by the joke of the random man being her boyfriend, a remark which made her scowl at Rosa. The mysterious man only laughed. The bandits continued to pant, still acting like dogs.

Fiona looked towards the man. "His magic pales in comparison to the witches' forest." Fiona hmphed, crossing her arms. "I'm Fiona Morel. Are you going to stand there and gawk, or are you going to introduce yourself." She huffed.

The man wasn't offended. "Ah yes! Silly me... sometimes excitement gets the best of me! I have to say, I'm surprised neither of you knew or guessed! I am Jacques Cavallier, captain of the Coral Peacocks!" He bowed, but not normally. Almost as if the curtain was closing on his show.

"You two are quite a rare find... holding your own against one of the most wanted bandit groups in Clover? Exceptional really. In fact..." The man put a finger to his lips, as if he was thinking about something. "Would you be interested in joining my squad?" He smiled politely.

Fiona was shocked. She wanted to scream! Now she had an easy way in, she didn't even have to take the exams. The pesky test which seemed to be taking forever and ever to start up. Still, she played hard to get. "Whats so special about your squad." She stuck her nose up in the air, as if she was better than that.

Rosa listened to the strange man talk, overall uninterested until he said that he was a captain of the magic knights squad because that truly interested her. “I don’t know.. I’m not that great with my magic and I’ve never thought about becoming a magic knight.” She looked at him, considering it but being hesitant.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the captain but it was more her doubting her own abilities. Rosa didn’t want to join something only to be seen as a joke among squad members. Though this was the case, she didn’t hate the idea of joining the magic knights since the pay was good and she’d be able to get respect again.

Some of her former friends had taken the magic knights exam and gotten in, ignoring her when she tried to congratulate them. This was her chance to show them that she was better than any of them could be, the coral peacocks wasn’t the best squad but it definitely wasn’t the worst! Yet she still hesitated, not being one hundred percent sure.

Jacques thought of why they would hesitate. Fiona, the witch, was clearly playing hard to get. As if she had any other options. Rosa, the painter, simply seemed nervous about going through such a big change. Luckily, Jacques had quite the silver tongue.

"I assure you Coral Peacock is no joke. Though I am fairly new to the position I assure you our rank will only go up." Jacques talked as much with his hands as he did his mouth, making dramatic gestures as he spoke. "What is a peacock without it's feathers Fiona! Nothing!" The man then pretended to faint, nearly falling to the floor before getting back up suddenly. "The exam is oh so far away!" He pointed into the distance. "And I am right here! Offering your dreams, your ambitions!" He spread his arms wide out. "You'd be a fool not to accept." He laughed pretentiously, almost as if he was making fun of her. "Or are you simply afraid you don't have what it takes..." He approached the girl, patting her head before moving on to Rosa.

"Hm?" Jacques laughed again. "You're afraid of failure? Haven't you already failed enough. Being a disgraced noble, how far can you truly go darling?" Jacques seemed rude and harsh, but he had a point. Then he burst into excitement, throwing his arms up into the air with a bright smile. "Of course you'll be laughed at!" He suddenly appeared beside her. "It will take trial!" He appeared by her other side. "Error!" And then back in front of her. "That's the beauty of growth dear!" Springing back into the air, his broom suddenly appeared, this time large enough for two others to ride with him.

"Now, do you accept? I won't ask again!" He extended a welcoming hand, his last sign of hospitality.

Fiona was angered, how dare he claim she was incapable of doing such a task! Being a magic knight. While he preformed for Rosa, her anger only grew. She'd show him! She show all of them! She was gonna be a magic knight. When he offered a helping hand, Fiona took it, straddling the broom along side him. "Of course I'll join, but not because of you." She pouted.

Rosa was hesitant but the man started speaking words of wisdom, even if they were a little rude and harsh. He had a point, she was already at the bottom and this was her way to get back on top, even if it was a rather random way to do so. She would excel in this squad and become stronger than any of her friends so she could crush them.

It also wouldn’t hurt to learn how to control her magic a bit, so that would be a win win if she got to learn how to control it. On top of that, her carriage is broke and her uncle is dead so there’s no real way home and since the man is offering a ride, she’s decided it would probably be best to accept. “I’ll join.” She said decisively, hopping on the broom.

Jacques clapped a few times in excitement. "Delightful!" He cheered. Fiona interrupted him. "What about them?" She questioned, pointing at the bandits who still behaved like dogs. "Ohhh, yes! I do suppose they're a bit of an issue. My my, what to do..." He was puzzled. "Go turn yourselves in!" He waved his hand as if shooing them away and they raced on all fours towards the nearest town to do exactly as they were told.

Fiona was shocked. "Will your magic truly last that long? The next town is so distant, what if they were to break free and get away?" Fiona questioned, appearing very condescending.

Jacques laughed. "Impossibly my dear. My mana reserve is exceptionally high and for your information... no one has ever broken free." He said this in a very malicious but joyful tone, a strange combination.

"Now off we go!" He yelped as they flied into the distance, no doubt to the Coral Peacock Headquarters.