Pommel Grade
With a squeal, Pommelâs hands went to her skirt, holding it down as she was suddenly whipped off her feet, the ground flying past her as she was held upside down by her ankle. Flailing about, she looked to her attacker fearfully, and was met with a pair of large nostrils sniffing over her, followed by a tongue wildly slobbering over her. Screaming in embarrassment and disgust, the mage forgot her modesty and brought both her hands up to defend herself from her assailant.
âH-hands off you creep! Gross!â Pommel cried out, poking the Vulcan that had grabbed her in both eyes with her fingers. The monkey-man howled, grabbing his face and dropping the pint-sized Pommel, letting her scramble to her feet and across the room. He must have been one of the monsters in the job! Running around the corner, Pommel took a moment to catch her breath, steeling herself. If that was so, sheâd have to prepare herself and defeat him.
His attraction and fascination with Pommel now forgotten in favour of anger, the beast let out a howl before giving chase after the mage, slowing to a stop as it noticed she had stopped to face him. Adopting a slightly lowered stance, Pommel kept her legs wide as she prepared her transformation, sliding up her sleeves and crossing her arms over her chest. âFree-Form Magic: Blade!â With a shimmering glow along her arms, light particles drifted upwards radiating out of her body, becoming brighter, hotter, obscuring the figure of her slender arms into one beam of light. Then, steadily, the silhouette of her arm began to change. Slimmer, longer, tapered. Finally, the brightness flashed outward, scattering the light like fireflies in the wind, leaving the magic complete. From her elbow down, both Pommelâs arms had become weapons, sharp grey steel emblazoned with a cherry red highlight, the blades curved and approximately the right size for her figure. Throwing both her arms down beside her, she swallowed before preparing her sternest voice.
âGet ready buster, because I wonât be holding anything back!â Pommel swung her arms about in an attempt to look cool, swishing them through the air. Instead, she ended up clanging them on the wall behind her and throwing herself off balance, barely catching herself by stabbing one into the ground slightly. Wincing a bit at her clumsiness, she glanced back up to see the ape panicking, howling in alarm before running away.
âH-huh?â Pommel questioned, standing up a bit. âI-I mean- Yeah, you better run! No one messes with the greatest wizard of Fairy Tail!â Pommel puffed her chest proudly, moving to lean back on the wall. Instead, she fell backwards, collapsing onto her back in the snow. Groaning, she reached for her head, only to slap it with the blunt end of her blades. âOwowowow!â Transforming her arms back, she sat up and rubbed her head before a slow and steady groan from behind her grabbed her attention. As did the lack of light. And the rubble trickling down over her. Frozen with fear, she twitched her head backwards to look upward. Staring back at her was a giant creature made of rock and ice! T-that wasnât a wall, that whole thing had been a monster! And from the looks of things, sheâd chipped its back.
âG-good monster⊠N-nice monsterâŠâ Pommel tried to scooch backwards on her rear, but found it hard to get traction on the ice. The snow golemâs eyes narrowed, opening its gaping maw ready to crush her to pieces. In that moment, fear clutched Pommelâs heart, drawing out a terrified scream as she covered her face in a feeble attempt to protect herself.
*Shing!*
"Pommel, unless you wish to fight, get behind me, now.â Pommel opened her eyes slowly, squinting through the flash of light and the loud clang that went through the air. What she saw made her heart skip a beat. I-it was her! And it was her Masamune armour! S-she was so gorgeous! Sheâd heard tales of it, but sheâd never seen her in action before. It was awe inspiring. Wynter moved with all the grace and power of a goddess, steadily beating the creature back without hesitation, unflinching. Unfaltering. Unbelievable! She was perfect. And she knew her name! Arms drawn in front of her, Pommelâs eyes were clouded with sparkles as she stepped back towards the wall, meekly nodding as she watched her idol decimate the Ice Drake.
Wait, Ice Drake? Wasnât that a golem a second agoâŠ-
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"
Pommel stared a moment, barely able to register what she was seeing as the fangs latched into the arm. Finally, reason kicked in and Pommel stumbled back in fear, landing on her butt again as the giant that had been closing in on her also toppled, torso and arms completely melted and dripping to the ground as her saviour threw the second monster aside. Slowly but steadily, her eyes focused in on who it was in front of her, and her lips said the word before she even registered it herself.
âZane?â She blankly asked, staring in disbelief as he fought. No, that wasnât the right word⊠He wasnât even trying! He was barely breaking a sweat fighting those monsters, lecturing her and joking around while taking on the beasts left right and center. Dimly, she registered that the mission was S-Class, that it was Zaneâs mission, but it was all so much happening so fast in the last few moments that she barely comprehended it. Jumping back to regroup, Zane and Wynter found themselves back to back with Pommel between them, the monsters all around them.
"Well, since we are both here, we should be perfectly capable of both protecting Pommel and clearing the mountain. What do you think? Or should we bring her back first?"
Pommel slowly sat up, looking to the situation that theyâd all gotten into because of her. Slowly but steadily, it dawned on her what it all meant. Wynter had come to save her. And Zane, but he didnât matter. What did matter was that this was her first meeting with Wynter andâŠ
And it showed she was incapable. Useless. A failure. A damsel. Something to be protected or shafted off and abandoned. Zane didnât want her here. And chances were, neither did Wynter. She was just an inconvenience. A problem for them to deal with. Her mind going a mile a minute, and with the dangers of the monsters, Zane and Wynter would have barely noticed Pommelâs trembling and tears as her thoughts spiraled out of control. After all this, there was no way that Wynter would want her as an apprentice. Eyes now fully stained with sadness, Pommel began preparing her magic, arms reforming as blades once more.
âIâm not helpless!â She shouted out in a choked voice, recklessly shoving past the two and heading in to fight the monsters herself. Leaping skyward in a spinning strike, she aimed to deal a critical blow to the nearest creature, a winged frog of gigantic proportions, icicles adorning its back. Drawing her blade-arm back, she stabbed straight at its chest⊠Only for it to disappear. Instead, she found herself staring into the black abyss, but unable to stop her momentum as the beast opened its mouth, happily shutting it as the tasty cherry so willingly leapt into its mouth. And with that, Pommel was gone from sight, swallowed by the monster in front of them.
Thankfully, Gorgirogs took a long time to digest their food.