==========> Introduce the Prophetic Ten

Harley inched closer, hoping for another opportunity to hold Euphraxia's hand.

"S-say...you sure you need me?" she asked nervously. The man had been big and rich and full of energy Harley felt small and useless in comparison. "I mean, I'm not very rich, ya know--I live on a farm. Sorry if I didn't tell you earlier..." In fact Harley had. Many times. But surely that couldn't be right if this beautiful woman still wanted to associate with her.

She smiled at Harley, glad that she was more normal than the man she had just spoken with.

"Of course! I'm positive you're the one I need. You're the Harley I need." She laughed slightly. "Don't worry too much."

In a few seconds, Bane returned. "I'm ready!" He announced, carrying a large pack on his back. "I'm ready, can we go now??"

Euphraxia smiled awkwardly. "Y-yes..."

"M-m-m-my name's Harley," she stammered, reluctantly offering her hand to the man in front of her. Seeing men was a rare occasion for Harley; her father had died when she was small, and she had no brothers. Though she didn't want to tear her hand away from Euphraxia, her mother had taught her manners.

"What's your name again? I'm not good with names, but I'll try to learn, I promise."

"I'm Bane!" He shook her hand with both of his. Sometimes, he forgot how strong he was. "Bane Howlsong! This is gonna be fun, don't you think, Harley??"

Trying to hide her horror, Harley shook back as firmly as she could; though not as large as Bane, she was tough from years of daily labor.

"Y-yeah," she stammered. "Fun..."

-x-

Tefarious von Dread sat in his room, paging through a book. It was a well-acclaimed book about sex, love, war, and religion--it filled him with disgust. In an ideal world, only one of those would exist, but this certainly wasn't an ideal world. Love was impossible, but religious conflicts and war and famine and sluttery plagued the land. It filled him with disgust.

A servant girl knocked on his door, interrupting his inner rants. He groaned inwardly, slicking back the pink hair that was only half the reason people frequently mistook him for a woman.

"Come in," he called calmly enough, putting his copy of the Bible down. She blushed, winking at him; though her obvious crushed irritated him, he showed no sign of it.

"There's someone to see you at the gate," she announced shyly. Sighing dully, he stood up and walked past her without another word. Whoever it was, this had better be good, he decided.

Euphraxia held the summons in her hand. She hoped that the next person was not going to be as strange as the last two. Harley had yet to stop asking her if she was the right person, and Bane refused to stop making jokes and asking if they were going to save the princess soon. Frankly, she felt a headache coming on.

"So, what's this guy like?" Bane asked.

"I don't know." Euphraxia replied, a slight edge to her voice.

"I hope he's nice," mumbled Harley just as the door opened.

Tef stood in the doorway, looking slightly irritated.

"I heard some people were looking for me? Who are you? I've never seen any of you before in my life." What a motley crew, he thought as he looked them over. The largest one seemed the most respectable, but even he looked far too upbeat to be anything but annoying.

Euphraxia offered up the paper.

"You have a royal summons." She said simply.

Bane, who looked exuberant as always almost started to speak before Euphraxia hit him in the stomach to silence him.

"You're to go on a mission with me and eight others. And these two are two of the others." She motioned to them. "Please, read over the letter and prepare to leave as soon as possible."

Harley scooted behind Euphraxia so she could be further away from Bane. Luckily enough, the new group member was a woman, but Bane was still pretty scary.

Tef scowled every so slightly and handed the paper back to her.

"I'm in the middle of my schoolings--I have no time for a quest. I devote my life to the pursuit of peace. Alone."

Euphraxia smiled, but it was not an entirely pleasant one at all.

"No, it's not optional at all." She replied simply, her irritability seeping into her voice. "It wasn't a suggestive, it was a request; please pack your things and be ready to go soon."

Bane, whose abs of steel hadn't felt a thing, spoke up again. Albeit a few inches further away from Euphraxia.

"It'll be fun!" He insisted excitedly. "We'll go on adventures together and we're all get famous from saving the princess and it'll be awesome! I mean, it'll be scary, but that's okay because I'll protect everyone!"

Euphraxia wanted to hurt Bane so badly. But she restrained herself. Barely.

Harley didn't want to hurt Bane, per se, but she couldn't suppress a wish that he would just go somewhere else. She was confident three girls could do fine on their own, anyway.

"And if I deny your request?" replied Tef with a sigh, casting a glare in Bane's direction. That one would be the worst, he could just sense it.

"You can't." She replied simply. "If I have to, I'll take you by force."

Bane frowned slightly. "Force? Really?"

Euphraxia smiled as pleasantly as possible. "Yes. Yes, by force."

Harley blushed as she realized that it might've been better if she had resisted Euphraxia more.

"...Ah, oh yeah, I guess we'll have to take you by force," she added a minute later, when she had finished spacing out.

Sighing, he shrugged.

"...I don't want any fight. I will go with you, but don't expect me to be the greatest asset--I detest conflict."

She nodded.

"I do so hope to avoid conflict...But if things comes to that, there will be others to take care of fighting." She smiled warmly at him. "You should never have to fight at all."

"...Good," he replied reluctantly, giving all of them a judging look. "...I suppose I will go and fetch my bags now."

-x- ((Survivor is next LOL))

Euphraxia did not want to enter the shop, but that was where the next man lived. She, in fact, refused outright. She was tired of walking, but more, she was sick and tired of listening to Bane chatter on incessantly.

"Someone else go get him." She hissed at the rest of the group. "If I go in there, I will kill someone."

Moreso than just being sick of everything, she was also genuinely afraid. For an apothecary, it was really creepy looking.

"...They won't listen to a girl like me," said Harley loudly. In reality, she wasn't scared at all, but she wanted to stay as close to Euphraxia as possible.

Sighing, Tef shrugged his shoulders.

"I might as well go in, if the rest of you are too lazy."

"I'll go too!" Bane volunteered eagerly.

Euphraxia just gave him a look of death and he quickly said, "...I'll stay here and protect the girls."

"Whatever," said Tef, walking fearlessly into the shop. Whatever lay ahead, he was sure he could handle it he was a magic prodigy, after all.

The apothecary was just was creepy on the inside as it was on the outside. Strange plants were growing everywhere, actively moving and slithering across the floors and the walls.

In the back, a man named Isare Nightmaker was busy feeding his meat-eating plant. He cooed pleasantries to it, kissing it on it's plant-y nose and petting it's stalks.

He paused when he heard the door open, and came out from the back room. His hair covered his eyes, and was a deep royal purple color.

"Hello." He smiled at the visitor. "Welcome to the Nightmaker Apothecary. What can I do for you...?"

"I have a royal summons for you, it would seem," he said cordially, doing his best not to take in his surroundings. "You're joining me and some others on some kind of quest."

He smiled wider.

"A royal summons~? Is that so~?" He was, indeed, very intrigued at the thought. "What are the other like?"

"...Fair enough, I suppose," he replied after a moment of thought. It had been hard to come up with words that weren't insulting. "In any case, they're outside, if you'd like to meet them."

He smiled.

"Oh, yes, I'll be out very soon. This sounds exciting~" He purred, wriggling his creepy, long fingers. "I just have to pack a few things..."

"...Look forward to working with you," he mumbled awkwardly. He backed out of that creepy shop as quickly as he could.

-x-

Mariette stared at the group of people in front of her with scrutiny, downright scowling at them. They were getting mud on her pefect library floor, after all.

"A royal summons, you say?" She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, impatiently drumming her fingers on the cover of the book she was holding. "Why on Earth would the nobility be calling on me to save someone?"