Fairy Tail||A New Story

It was the early morning, and just like any other morning, in the Guild, a certain woman sat at the bar. Her fiery dark eyes surveyed her domain, watching as fellow guild mates walked in and out and about her Guild. Not many had arrived probably because it was still pretty early but not for her. She was an early bird amongst the sleep ins and she was proud of it. Leaning back on the stool she sat upon, Anaida placed her elbows on the bars countertop behind her and breathed a sigh of content.

However it seemed her peaceful morning wasn’t about to stay peaceful for very much longer. Already she could see some of the more rowdy members coming in both new and old. Anaida didn’t pay much mind to it since she hoped with her being present they wouldn’t do anything stupid. For now Anaida would simply stay where she was and relax while drinking her morning coffee.

Rolling about in her bed, the white haired girl grumbled in her sleep. Pushing her soft pale cheeks into her pillow Roxie scrunched up her face as she dreamed. It was dark, even by her standards which wasn’t all too surprising since she really couldn’t handle the dark even at her age. If it was just dark then Roxie could handle it but she soon found that that wasn’t her only problem; the small girl couldn’t move. No matter how much she squirmed and wiggled she was unable to move, not even an inch. Soon enough she found herself panicking. Her breathe quickened, and she began to whimper in fear as the realization that she trapped slowly began to sink in. Roxies eyes widened in fear, sweat began to drip down the sides of her face as she hyperventilated. Still squirming about, the young girl kicked and screamed but she too found that not even her voice was working probably. And so she continued to kick and she truly was on the verge of absolute terror.

Suddenly a dulled pain ruptured at the top of her head forcing Roxie to wake with a yelp of surprise. “Eh?” blinking a couple times a brief wave of panic washed over her. Everything she saw was odd, out of place so she thought she was still dreaming. Until she realized she was simply on the floor of her room hanging off her bed. Breathing a sigh of relief, Roxie pulled her legs in but found that she couldn’t. It turned out that the cause of her frightful dream was because her legs had gotten tangled up in her blankets. Growling out loud a sudden knock on her door made Roxie jump.

Without waiting for a reply a similar white head peeked into the room. “Roxie are you alright dear? I heard a loud thump from downstairs and your voice.” By then Roxie was sitting upright on the floor with half of her blanket on the ground and her pajamas were messed up. “Yeah I’m fine. I just had a bad dream is all. Now go away so I can get dressed I’ll get breakfast on my way to the Guild.” Nodding her understanding, Roxie caught the flash of pain in her mother’s face before she closed the door on her daughter. A look of guilt fell upon Roxie’s face; she knew her mother still mourned the disappearance of her husband and Roxie’s father. Frowning the white haired girl got up and threw her blankets back onto her bed.

Roxie pulled her shirt over her head and exchanged it for a long-sleeved blouse that was really more of a dress than anything else. Afterwards she slipped her small feet into a pair of shoes and did her hair in its usual hair style. Looking herself in the mirror Roxie grinned and grabbed her guitar and left her room. The moment she did so Roxie regretted it when the sounds of muffled sobbing reached her ears, almost immediately Roxie knew who was crying and why. Walking to her mother’s door which was slightly ajar she peeked inside, and saw her mother sitting on her bed. She was holding one of her father’s shirts in her arms, her face buried into the soft fabric.

Looking down Roxie couldn’t imagine what it’d be like to lose the partner you vowed to spend your dying days with. Sure Roxie missed her father, she loved him with all her heart but she hadn’t known him long enough to truly get attached to him, to truly love him the way her mother did. Taking a step back, Roxie reached out to her mother’s door but her hand hesitated. Finally gathering the courage to knock, Roxie knocked and waited for her mother to give her the okay. The sounds of her mother sniffling as she tried to make herself presentable made Roxie’s stomach drop. “You can come in sweetie.” Taking in a deep breathe Roxie poked her head around the door, “Um I’m heading out now mum, just thought I’d tell you before I left.” Looking up Roxie saw her mother’s swollen red eyes and gave her mother a grim smile. “Oh alright take care of yourself Roxie.” She said; giving her daughter a smile. “I will.”

Walking down the hallway, Roxie stopped at the stairway before suddenly turning around and bursting into her mother’s room. Once inside Roxie rushed to her mother and gave her a tight hug, tears welling up in her eyes. “Don’t worry mum, I’ll be back. I always come back, I promise.” Roxie could feel her mother’s body relax under the tight hold of her daughters arms and she felt her mother’s arms slide up her back as she returned the hug. “I know sweetheart.” Giving her mother one last squeeze she released her mother and left, Roxie made sure not to look her mother in the eye least she burst into tears.

Going down the stairs, Roxie quickly wiped her teary eyes and walked out into the morning sun. Scrunching up her face, the harsh rays of the sun made it difficult for her eyes to adjust to the change in light. After blinking a couple of times Roxie walked down her door steps and onto the path that would lead her to Fairy Tail. Her walk there was somewhat uneventful; she said good morning to a few of her friends, who weren’t part of the Guild, chased a smaller kid who pulled at her guitar and eventually bought herself a morning snack. Biting into her apple the sound of a soft yet juicy crunch was lost to the overwhelming sounds of the market. Grinning with a look of determination Roxie soon found herself standing before the Guild her father was a part of and still was. Taking the last bite of her apple Roxie threw it to the side and pushed the big doors open and entered the Guild.

((Wrong Location.))

John tossed and turned in his bed, he could hear screams and the sound of a woman crying. He quickly sat up in his bed realized it was just a nightmare. He then turned his head and saw a shadowy figure; it was the shape of a female. It faded away, but John felt like it was still watching him. This had happened to him before, but he hadn’t experienced the nightmares in over a year. He wondered why he was being terrorized by them after so long. He inhaled and exhaled slowly trying to calm himself down. His heartbeat slowed down, the breathing seemed to help him keep calm. He stood up and walked toward the window next to his bed. He pushed the window open and let a cold breeze in, the view from his apartment was beautiful. He could see that the sun was rising by the mix of blue and orange in the horizon. He turned from the view with a sigh, he wished he could look longer but he had to leave.

He showered to wash the sweat and his worries away. After he had finished he looked at the mirror on his wall. He didn't feel like he was being watched anymore and assumed it was all in his imagination. He chuckled not because it was funny, but because it stopped him from feeling the sadness that was coming. It had been six years since the mission and he still couldn't get over it. But he wasn’t going to let it consume him, John put on a loose black t-shirt, brown pants, and casual shoes.

After washing his worries away with the cold shower he made breakfast. As he sat at his table sipping coffee, eating eggs, and reading the newspaper he felt old. John caught himself smiling at the thought and then wiped it from his mind. He looked around his place seeing all the things he had created. The chairs, table, and even the decorations on the wall, almost everything in his apartment was created by him using his magic. He cleaned up his apartment and took one more look out the window before he grabbed his coffee and walked out to make his way to the guild.

He sipped his coffee slowly savoring the flavor. He could see the guild hall in the distance, the building was beautiful. It had been his home for ten years, inside that building was where the people he loved helped raise him. It was because of Fairy Tail that he learned how to truly control his magic. The members of Fairy Tail were his true family and he would do anything to protect that bond. As he entered the guild hall, he looked around and saw who had already arrived. He ran his hand through his slightly wet hair as he walked around the guild. As he made his way toward the bar he noticed the guild master, Anaida, sitting on a stool. He placed his cup of coffee at the bar, nodded to his guild master, and said “Morning” He sat at the bar and sipped his coffee and tried to seem happier than he was. He was happy to be at the guild, but his memories had a grip on him that he couldn’t fully escape from. He knew Anaida could see through him, she was always perceptive.

For any other resident in the quiet countryside of city, home to the Fairy Tail guild, the cheerful cheeping of birds and rays of sunshine would be a sign of good fortunates to come. Not so far the mage currently occupying an overflowing desk, her blonde hair falling elegantly across her face. A single page of parchment served as the woman's pillow for the night, smudged ink indicating Elizabeth had been translating something before falling asleep. Her bandaged hands slowly flexed and opened as she stirred awake, her crimson eyes drowsy from sleep. A low moan of pain escaped from her mouth as the cheerful sunlight filled the room as she opened the curtains above her desk, why did her head feel like it was being assaulted by trumpets?

Running a hand over her face as she slowly began to piece the events of the night before, at least to the best of her ability. A seedy, rundown pub, a perverted old man known for his archeology exports, and her giggling like some ditz. Her eyes snapped open as her recollection came to close, as she felt a shutter run down her spine as the attempting fondling of her form as the Lady in Red's sensual body and her coping with the interactions through copious amounts of alcohol. Elizabeth had managed to drink the gentlemen under the table and walked off with her prize, a fair trade and an official mission. Leaning back in her chair she scanned through the job flyer stating "Archeologist, seeks knowledgable companionship while surveying the local mountains. Reward to be discussed". In her idiotic mindset, Elizabeth found herself being used a pack mule by a bumbling pervert whose comments nearly made her punt the fool off the mountainside. The reward was almost not worth it as the archeologist requested that she assume one of her more 'favorable' forms for company at a bar.

~Thank goodness, the Lady's form has a high tolerance for alcohol.~ Elizabeth thought as she gently leafed through her reward, a series of papers in horrible condition, but containing hordes of information of the local mountainside and their rumored ruins within them. However, her magical endurance seemed to of failed her as she stumbled through her door, utterly intoxicated. In her state she had only managed to make a few notes before passing out on her desk. Glancing down at her stained paper, and then back at her hands, she swore under her breath as she glanced in the mirror, in which several large ink stains covered her face. Wiping her face with a wet rag, a shiver went down her spine as came to conclusion that she would have to take her discovery to THAT PLACE . THAT PLACE in which accidents involving fire, ice, and a variety of liquors happened from dusk to dawn, her precious reward's bookshelf life would be endangered with every passing moment.

~This has to be done though. I can't wait on this~ Elizabeth thought as she gently placed the book, alongside her normal satchel filled with her needed supplies such as paper, spare ink-wells and quills. Smoothing out her crisp black robe, she grabbed her custom-made belt and gently placed a leather-bound book in its holster alongside a pointed griffin quill. Satisfied with her appearance, she began her annual walk to the THAT PLACE. Various townspeople called out in greetings of well-wishes, good mornings etc. Thankfully the positive reaction drowned out a few harsher calls about various bills that members of her guild had not paid yet. After about five minutes she had arrived at THAT PLACE.

A faint smile appeared on her lips as she placed her hand on the strong double doors of the guild she had called home for the past couple of years. The mages guild of Fairy Tail was a place of chaos and destruction, yet Elizabeth had found herself settled down quite quickly in the guild after learning how to deal with rougher members of guild. Nodding her head in greeting to a listless Guildmaster Anadia Quincy, she quickly settled herself in corner of the guild, far away from ominous looking caskets full of beer. As she placed the fresh parchment and cracked open her book she mumbled under her breath "So, is this the calm before the storm. Well then, good morning Fairy Tail..". Soon the sound of quill against paper vibrated throughout the quiet guild hall.

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Bare feet made no noise upon the dirt ground as the strange haired female moved swiftly towards her home. A small white fabric bag was thrown over her shoulder with a plain brown rope tying it closed and she walked with her head held high, tough she was given another false lead. Despite coming back from her little quest nearly unharmed (her clothes were dirty and a few bruises and scratches littered her pale creamy skin) a rage similar to a dragons boiling fire unraveled within the girl.

Sera soon reached her home, not only two blocks from her Guild, when he starting scanning the herds of people for her target. On lookers watched the red head wearily. Her temper was getting the best of her, and with each step she took the paved ground beneath her feet simmered and steam rose up, someone was going to meet the dragon daughters rage today, and everyone near by didn't with to be a part of it. Once her target was in sight, in the market place at his fish stand, Sera started towards him. The crowd split for her n the account that steam was raising from her skin that was turning pink like the after math of a sun burn.

Yukio Kimura, a scrawny man with black slimy hair and pale ashy skin. The man had his back turned from Sera, that was his first mistake. She stopped her bag to the ground with a thump, the man turned, he didn't have time to process what happened next. Sera slammed the man into the wooden stand behind him, both her fists steaming and bunching up the fabric of his shirt. Slowly,she lifted the man from the ground.

"Kusotare," She seethed, "You set me up!" Sera shirked and shaking the paling man, her hands close to bursting into flames. Everyone in the market area stopped to watch, knowing the fury of a Fairy Tail Guild member if provoked. The man struggled helplessly as Sera clenched her teeth so hard on lookers could hear them grinding together.

"If you ever send me into a trap again," Her hair cast a shadow over her eyes, making them seemingly glow red like the embers of a fire. "I will castrate you." She puffed out steam from her nose, simmering the mans skin until he had a mild burn, and then she released him. Sera turned without another word, lifted her bag from the ground, and headed home. The imprints of her feet had been burned into the ground where she was standing, and the mans shirt where she had held onto him was burnt slightly and crispy.

"Idiot," She tisked under her breath.

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Aina wondered sightly around the guilds pub, watching as the few early risers of the guild shifted into their daily actions. Aina sighed to herself, wishing more of her friends were early risers like herself. The pink haired girl tilted her head to the side and pretend to be in deep though for about thirty minuets. A sudden thought seemed to awaken the pinket.

"Baa-Chan~!" Aina called in her soft child like voice before throwing her small form at the elder mage and wrapping her arms around the woman in a possessive hug. "Baa-Chan~! Baa-Can~! Can you guess what day it is, Baa-Nee-Chan??" The young child called out in a sing song voice as she hng off her her beloved Guild Master. Out of everyone in the guild, apart from Sera, Anaida was the one person Aina adored the most. Despite the nickname that the other woman loathes, Aina used it out of a show of affection, like a cat killing a bird and leaving t for it's master on the front step.

"Today is the day Sera-Nee-Chan comes back! Aren't you happy Baa-Chan?!" The girl gave the older woman one more affectionate squeeze before dancing away to fawn over other guild members and joy about her friend returning from a month long journey. She danced around the room chanting in an almost tribal manner 'Sera-Nee-Chan' over and over again, until the large doors to the guild reticence swung open and a red head stepped in. She fire haired girl smartly side stepped the pink haired girls enthusiastic hug and swiftly went to greet Anaida and explain how her lead had been flase and an ambush.

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The sun rose on Fiore, streaking the sky with the brilliant hues of dawn's first light. The mosaic above painted a beautiful scene in the chilly morning air to any who cared to glance skyward. Merchants, traders, and various other townsfolk scurried out of their homes and into the streets, ready to take on the day as it began anew, leaving endless possibilities to any that cared chase after them.

The masked man apart from the main square was not as optimistic as as many of the simpler folk around him this day. Clad in a wreath of dark clothing, it appeared as if the man casting his gaze into the water of the tiny stream that wound through the city was wrapped in an aura of shadow. Legs dangling over the edge of the bridge, Virgil watched the waters as they moved steadily to wherever their path would take them, his finger gently tapping the edge of a plain, yet slightly old looking book her held in his grasp. He had gotten to nearly the edge of town when he felt the book digging into his back, the pressure of his belongings pressing the book against the cloth of his bag. When he dug out the nuisance, Virgil knew he had to turn around. He knew he wasn't ready to leave.

'Treasures and Traps: A Guide to Runes and Ruins.'

The book was simple and detailed exactly as one might think, but Virgil smiled as he tucked the small tome back into his bag and made the short trip back to his tiny apartment. Elizabeth had given it to him a day prior, and he had finished it during his missed time the past night. His pack made its way to its designated spot in his simply furnished room as he made his way to the wardrobe on the far wall. His clothes were not worn from the night and a fresh pair would have been a waste, but his mask was needed to be replaced. Row upon row sat inside the wardrobe as he replaced his current and pulled a new one. Cracked and missing a large portion from the left side of it's face, Virgil's eye was exposed as he drew the sheet off of the mirror outside the door. He could only hold his own gaze for a moment before the sheet was replaced and he quickly made his way out the door, book in hand.

Minutes seemed to dissipate as Virgil's eye scanned a few key pages from his book as he ignored the whispers of those he passed in the streets. Before long, he found himself standing before the double doors of Fairy Tail, Fiore's pride and headache. His beloved guild. Doing as he always did, Virgil slid in without a word and as inconspicuous as possible, keeping out of everyone's way and apologizing to any the he blocked on his way into the main hall.

Virgil's path would bring him close to the bar and he paused for a second to equip his other hand with a small cup of tea. The aroma perked him up instantly as he regarded the other two seated at the bar. "Ma'am." He regarded their guild master politely and nodded to Johnathon nearby. "Pardon me."

With his tea in hand and the precious book in the other, Virgil spied what he was searching for in a corner of the room, apart from the commotion that normally surrounded the hall. Peering over the shoulder and past the blonde head atop to the parchments sprawled along the table. Lifting his mask slightly to see better, Virgil pointed with his book hand to a large ink blot on the paper. "You missed a spot Elizabeth."

Shinzaemon woke before dawn, a habit he'd developed long ago. After all despite his lineage being that of priests,wizards as they were called here, his line family had been poor and essentially lived as farmers. With a grunt he lifted his old and sore body out of bed and began his morning stretches and exercises, another habit long since cemented in his day. The stretches started simple enough, but grew increasingly difficult and by their conclusion some two hours later the old man was drenched in sweat. Shin proceeded to shower before changing into his usual outfit, the robes he'd inherited that boosted his Heavenly Arts-magic as it was called here. Aside from the robes he packed a set of beads-once more an old heirloom- this time coming from his former master in what Fiore called Territory Magic, money, and finally a small set of scrolls. He left his house at perhaps five in the morning if his gauge of time was accurate.

This had been a rare morning for Shin, there had been no letters,visitors or gossip indicating he needed to see a part of his extended adoptive family immediately. That didn't mean he didn't still do a quick form of rounds or wouldn't do one this afternoon, but it meant his morning was far quieter than usual. However, the scope of his free schedule allowed for a rather interesting encounter- a certain angry Dragon Slayer. His smell probably gave him away despite his own lack of shoes, he'd long since recognized the lot had impeccable noses. The fact he'd followed the girl would only increase the likelihood of his detection, however he truly didn't care on that matter.

" Anger and the actions of those who indulge cause more problems than they solve young Dragon Slayer." His tone was calm and level, utterly neutral if one were to be precise. Since this was more of a reminder than a lecture, Shin saw no need to attempt adding a name to his advise. The relative volume of the neighborhood was lower than that of his voice, and he was well within easy hearing distance.

"Assuming the man had actually intended to set you up, your threat is more likely to ensure his future success than discourage him in the future. A calm and dignified response much more intimidating than a child spitting fire, nor does it hurt the image of those around you. If my years have taught me one thing, those that lose their calm first are also the first to lose."

Hannah

There was nothing quite like the morning sun... Or rather, nothing quite like pulling a kart full of brand new weights down the market place. Hannah made quite a lot of noise in the early morning, as she stringed along training equipment on her way from Holly's (whom she had probably woken up with said noise) house to the guild. Hannah was in good spirits, enjoying and even humming to the rattling sounds that followed behind her. She had bought it with the reward for her latest mission, but not for herself. No, all this was for Aaron... Although he did not know it yet (nor had any say in the matter) Hannah intended to set it up before he would arrive in the guild this morning. Nothing quite like bench pressing to start off the morning, right after twenty laps around the guild hall and a hundred sit-up's!

When Hannah neared the market plaza however, she found a crowd around a blazing pillar of fire. Hannah knew what that meant; Sera had returned from her mission and she was not happy. Hannah pushed her way through the crowds to see what played out, but the target of Sera's anger had already ran off. Instead, Shinzaemon was there to give Sera his advice. Although Hannah would always take the old man's words seriously, she did not feel that was what the dragon slayer needed at that moment. Instead, Hannah walked up to the pair (rattling, noisy kart prattling behind her) and reassuring touched Sera's upper arm.

“Tell me what happened.” Hannah asked Sera. She felt for her guild-mate, always chasing even the faintest lead. Hannah occasionally joined her, but even though she prided herself in her tracking skills, Hannah had been of little help in the search for Haitxuck as of yet. “Come to the guild with us. Your family will help you. Won't we, Shinzaemon?” Hannah nodded at the old mage, as she put her arm around Sera. Even if the search for her dragonic father proved fruitless, Hannah wanted to reassure Sera that she had Fairy Tail to count on.

On the outskirts of Magnolia lay a small, sandstone brick house. It was hardly the most lavish or decorative of buildings, but its owner was a simple, no-nonsense sort of a man. The inside was impeccably looked after; not a single speck of dust settled on even a single piece of furniture. If there was one thing the house's owner hated, it was disorder. Everything had to be perfectly clean and in exactly the right place at exactly the right angle. He also had to have a routine that was kept to by the minute, and that meant waking up at seven o' clock, on the dot, every morning.

As the short arm of the clock on Seto's desk clicked into place above the number seven Seto's eyes snapped open, fully awake. There had been no alarm to wake him, but still Seto awoke at exactly seven o' clock each morning, as if he had been subconsciously counting the ticks of his clock while he slept. To add to the list of oddities was the fact that he was always fully awake at seven; there was no slow transition from sleep to consciousness for Seto, he was wide awake or he was fast asleep. He immediately rose from his bed and got dressed in his usual attire within seconds, grabbed his katana and marched out of the house. The first thing he did every morning was train, even before his breakfast.

Half an hour of rigorous training in the woods behind Seto's house had left him slightly sweaty, so as he did at half seven every morning, he undressed and took a shower. As much as he liked the feeling of the warm water cleansing him, he made sure the shower took no more than ten minutes, including drying and redressing.

Even after all he had already done, his next destination was not Fairy Tail. It was a twenty minute walk down into the centre of Magnolia, and a rather calm and pleasant one that gave Seto time to think about what he would do for the rest of the day. He wouldn't have to work as hard as many of the other guild members as he owned his house and didn't have to pay a mortgage, unlike many of Fairy Tail's members who had to work continuously just to pay the rent for their flats. Being an S-Class wizard was hard work, but it paid well; pay for S-Class jobs was sometimes as high as millions of jewel. It had been a lot of work getting enough money to buy his own house, but Seto still continued to work as much as he did before he had bought it.

To his disappointment, Seto arrived at his destination a minute late, a small café rather unimaginatively named "Café Magnolia". He came here every morning for breakfast and had the same thing every time, a cup of tea, two buttered croissants and a boiled egg. The lady who ran the café found it rather amusing that he had the same breakfast every single morning, but didn't mind; he was by far and away her best customer. Seto finished his breakfast at the usual time and immediately afterwards set off to the guild.

As Seto walked through the double doors of the guild hall he saw that many of the mages had already turned up. Seto could never be sure who would turn up in the morning because none of the other wizards stuck to the same tight schedule that he did. He went straight to the standard request board and surveyed it for a suitable job.

Miyuu woke from her nightmare again. She was panicked, that was the first time that she had a nightmare that vivid strike her as she slept. Miyuu looked at her hand, which the knuckles looked a bit bloody since she probably punched the wall in the terror that was present within her body. With a heavy sigh to calm herself, Miyuu soon rose gently and using her rather light weight, moved silently to the area she designated her changing area. In her one-room apartment, she has no real bedroom, kitchen, living room, and so on. The only separate room is her bathroom, which only contains what is necessary, nothing special. Thus she doesn't have 'rooms' and 'closets' but specified areas where she put the furniture to act like walls and by her bed, she keeps a little privacy curtain, though never really closes it unless there is a guest over, which is really rare. Thus she began her morning routine, get dressed in her usual clothes, eat some of last night's leftovers, and head out to the Fairy Tail guild.

It wasn't like Miyuu was poor, rather, she had a good amount of money to suffice her desires, she just prefers saving money and living off the minimum. Soon she was out her door, scarf around her neck, and rather covering her face a little, and blue ribbon tying some of her white hair back. She exited her building and stretched a little before moving on with her day, a gentle breeze went through, which her scarf, ribbon, and hair caught. She proceeded to walk against the wind, almost loosing her ribbon in the process, what occasionally happens when one does that. Yet she kept going with her trip. Eventually she reached from where she was, close to the docks of the city, to the guild house. She entered through the double doors and saw a few others had come in, she payed no mind to them and sat by Anaida before speaking to the bartender, "Hm, just a coffee please." Miyuu asked, it was sharp, though polite. Though she turned her head to Anaida and spoke, "Why, good morning Ms. Anaida." That was a little less sharp, but her daggered words were still present in her voice. Her hand had stopped bleeding, but ached from her earlier punch.

[OOC: Sorry! Wrong location! >~<]

She could feel it just behind her, it's breath against her neck as she pushed harder and harder to escape. Her breath was shallow and heavy, she had been running for hours and yet the beast had not slowed. How was it possible? How was she still going!
Driven by fear she pushed herself further and further, beating her small wings and she zipped and swerved trying to escape the things clutches.
It was to fast! She was to tired... Her wings became sluggish and she felt herself falling towards the running beast. It sensed her weaknesss and slowed down, running just behind her as she continued her slow descent into the beasts mouth.
Turning round, she felt herself give up as she stared into the familiar golden eyes and sharp teeth in powerful jaws that waited for her. Tears pricked her eyes and she waited for her death...

~~~

Tiny slowly opened her eyes to hear the sound of soft birds greeting her. She had survived? How was that possible! She paused and took in her surroundings and trying to rid herself of the sleepy daze. She was at home... She hadn't survive, it was a dream... Not... Real...

Giving a small sigh, Tiny rose to her feet and walked over to the mirror in the corner of her small room. It was time to get ready for the day that awaited her. Arriving in front of her mirror, she grimaced at her hair which stood up in a curly haired mess, small bags hung under her eyes and she looked all around a mess.

Moving towards the bathroom she quickly had a shower before pulling on her simple white dress and making her way down stairs, feeling much better now that she had gone through her normal morning routine. All she needed to do now was grab some breakfast and then she would head towards the guild.

Quickly setting off some toast, she waited patiently for it to pop and adding an unhealthy amount of butter. She had always loved lots of butter with her bread, or as some joked, bread with her butter. Finishing up quickly, she opened the door and took a deep breath as she looked out into the street.

Two second later she was around 10cm tall and a set of blue wings that spread and lifted her into the air as she made the journey to the guild at hyper speed. Moving quickly, she found herself at the guild a few minutes later and smiled as the familiar building came into view.

Flying up to the guild doors Tiny was lucky enough to be able to slip through the gap of the closing door behind Miyuu who had entered a few second prior and had not noticed the little fairy following her in order to get inside before the door shut.

Hovering for a moment and surveying the scene, most of the wizards in the guild and arrived and it appeared there had been a little of a build up of people by the bar which didn't surprise her and caused the small girl to smile with mirth. Seto was checking out the job board, surprise surprise, and Aina seemed to be jumping around the place like a made thing. Elizabeth and Virgil were in the corner of the room talking.

Everyone seemed busy and caught up in their own conversation, until she spotted the white hair of the youngest guild member. Grinning, Tiny quickly flew over towards the messy haired girl, a trail of fairy dust behind her, and dropped down onto her head.

"Hi Roxie, lovely morning." She greeted the girl, leaning down over her forehead so that she came into the young girl's view and offering her a cheerful grin. "What ya doing? Wanna come on a small job with me later?". She asked. Roxie was the only other member in Fairy tail, that she was close to, that had a Rank of C.

[OOC: Sorry about making Roxie and Tiny friends without asking but I thought because they are part of the the younger generation in the guild, they would probably be close.]

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Sorry, wrong place.

Opening your eyes to see the sun rising over the beautiful lake in Fiore would be considered the most peaceful relaxing thing in the world. At least, to Damia it was. So relaxing in fact, that he never wanted to wake up in the morning. However, like always, he slowly rolled out of bed until he fell on the floor and rolled around some more until he grew tired of it. From that point, he stood up to make his bed and went to eat. After eating he cleaned his bowl, went to take a shower, and from there he was ready to set foot on the road to his guild. Most people who saw the boys room would think that he was some type of neat freak even though that wasn't the case. He just liked to do as little work as possible to get the job done. As he saw it, by cleaning after yourself after you do something, you don't have to ever do those all day chores he dreads so much. Nope, a calm comfortable day sounded much better to him. He'd even settle for a loud fun day. Now that he was on his way to a place where days can vary, he hummed a little tune, excited to figure out what type of day it would be.

The walk was nice enough to tell him that nothing was really going on this morning. After his first wild morning in the guild, he found that he should always expect a burning set of buildings or random crowds of screaming people. This was just to relieve shock, but that didn't stop it from being an everyday possibility. Making it to the guild hall without any incidents happening the lad was free to enter his second home.

"Hey. I've been waiting for you," a familiar voice called.

"Huh?" Damia looked over to see it was none other than Garr, the latest victim to his schemes. "Oh. Good Morning, hehe."

"Don't hehe me pal. You told me that the guild master was giving rewards to those who mopped the whole floor and I was lucky enough to think to ask her before I started mopping."

"Wow really? Good job man. You cracked my evil scheme."

Garr spat into his holding cup. "Yeah, well now she wants to see you. So who's laughing now? Hehehe." The dwarf of a man walked away happily.

The words he left behind only seemed to slowly seek in Damia's stomach. There was nothing more time consuming than the hour it took to clean the whole entire guild hall. If that wasn't bad enough, the one person who he had to listen to no matter what. The one person who could make him do all the chores at once with no questions asked. The one person in the guild who he conceded to. She was the very same woman who he had to speak to. Passing through a couple of his guild mates, he quickly said "hi" to each of them before going in front of the woman. "Uhhh. Hey auntie." He greeted. The woman gave him a stare which almost made him leave the scene. "So uh... Yeah...... I was ...... Yesterday......" He quickly noticed that he had no excuse that he could give to her while she was looking at him like that, so instead he just bowed his head waiting to get hit.
"Ughh," he softly grunted. Raising his head and rubbing it with his right hand he said, "So yeah, I'll get the broom now."

While sweeping he noticed that everyone else was enjoying their morning conversations so he scanned the area to see who he could mingle with. Over to his right and where the bar was, he saw Sera, Hannah, the old man, Anaida, and Miyuu, who seemed to hate him for some reason. Across from the bar over to the mission board, he saw Seto and Aaron. He really didn't feel like having a conversation about working. Soon he saw Roxie and Tiny, but he waved off the idea about hanging out with them so early in the day. "Wow." He thought out loud. "I'm really getting old huh. I use to have a whole bunch of energy in the morning." Since it seemed like a good idea to let everyone talk amongst themselves for now, he kept on sweeping in hopes that someone would come in and talk to him............and that he would never have to sweep again.

The sun was busy shining down by the time Holly decided to lift her head from a bundle of blankets and quilts. She vaguely remembered Hannah crashing through the crisp morning silence at some point but that was a fuzzy memory of the past. Holly was no early riser, and despite being a pretty girl she rose like the dead. Yawning dramatically, she rolled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom to try and control the flowing mane of blond hair she had, as well as get ready for the eventful day ahead. The rent for her apartment this month was fastly approaching and therefore it was time to find another job.

It took quite some time to select the right underwear and outfit for the day. Eventually refreshed and looking pretty in a floaty blue dress in the shape of a bluebell, Holly rushed down the street waving at a few locals she recognised. A slice of toast hung from her mouth as she tried to run and chew at the same time, a more difficult task than she initially thought. On her way she could already hear the murmurs of Sera being back, a rumour she gladly chose to believe. The dragon slayers had a peculiar relationship, leaving Holly craving and despising Sera at the same time.

Reaching the guild a few members saw her coming and hastily removed themselves from firing range. The sheer looks of panic on their faces fired her up even more. Bursting through the open doors she tumbled over a bar stool but managed to keep her footing. Climbing on top of the stool, and earning a few groans, her bright eyes scoured the guild for a flash of fiery hair until they settled on the one and only... "SERA!" She yelled.

The sun shone, brighter than usual. It was as if someone had turned up the brightness as it pierced through the woods like a knife through butter. Julius rolled over before jumping up as if someone had thrown water on him. Squinting his eyes he tried to make sense of everything that happened and why he was in his bathroom lying on the floor.

"You do know that we have you outnumbered right?" A brutish looking man said as five other men dressed in tattered clothing surrounded Julius.

"I don't think that's ever mattered before. And gentlemen I'm not going to fight you all will be fighting yourselves." Julius laughed as he turned around and began walking away. In a matter of moments there were screams of fear as Julius disappeared into the darkness.

"Damn it!" Julius yelled as he splashed water on his face. He looked at his reflection in the mirror noticing his trademark golden eyes. It was supposed to be a simple job, sneak into the bar, steal the treasure back and return it. So how in the hell does it turn out that they have a dark mage hiding in the ranks, even though he got the treasure it still seemed to be mind boggling.

He grabbed his brown towel and wiped his tan face, not remembering the time. Ten past seven, he was running late but it didn't really matter seeing as how he had a long night. He ran into his room, hopping over his stool and grabbing a blue dress shirt and white tie; running out the house without having his shirt on yet, he caught a few glances as his black and white crest shone in the middle of his chest.

He noticed a couple of burn marks that were imprinted to the ground and thought of only one person. The red haired dragon or spit fire as he called her, Sera. This made him a bit more excited, because he could possibly see the elegant and ever beautiful Holly. Walking through the doors, he took in everything. The S class mages each in their own corner, the guild master drinking, the old man and the dragons. He gave a small nod to everyone as he went behind the counter and began prepping meals for everyone that would be going on a job.

((wrong location again!))

A faint smile appeared on Elizabeth's face as she allowed the tranquil scratching of her quill drown out the slowly waking Fairy Tail. The few early-risers exchanged greetings with one another and a few began breakfast. A low growl in her stomach reminded her that she herself had not eaten and the scents of morning food were beginning to distract her from her task. With a huff of annoyance she hunched herself protectively over the paper that was now scented with smell of fresh ink. A few minutes passed by as another distraction entered her view, a book titled "Treasure and Traps: A Guide to Ruins and Runes" as well as the familiar hand that held it.

A quiet voice reached her ears "You missed a spot Elizabeth." , her crimson eyes darted down to the parchment before her and her faint smile turned into a firm line as the large splash of ink ruined the pristine snow white color of the paper. Nearly giving a childish huff out loud, before settling for sulking with her head on the table. With a practiced hand she gently took the offered book before using it as pillow to prevent any more ink accidents like her morning.

After about five minutes of well-earned sulking she glanced up at Virgil and the coveted tea in his grasp. Her eyes calmly searched the mask before her and finally spoke lightly "Seemed you enjoyed the book I lent you, although I am surprised that you showed up this morning. I do believe last time we talked you were ever so determined to leave without a trace. How dramatic of you Virgil.." Her tone was playful and light, perhaps even a bit more cheerful that her shy friend had once again not yet carried out his plans of leaving.

Her eyes once again focused on the mess before her, before grasping the ruined parchment gently one hand and presenting it to Virgil "A fair trade don't you think? My book for this piece of parchment..hopefully that rune magic of yours can somehow fix? I would really prefer not to rewrite these notes..". In all honesty she did not know the full extent of his magic or what tasks he could easily perform with it. Perhaps cleansing ink from paper was within one of his runes? Her eyes once again blinked slowly as she took in the mysterious mask, resisting the urge to see the face under it. She was naturally curious about many things, and that mask was just one of them.

---

---

Virgil took it all in as he watched his dear friend's reaction to his appearance and the fine details that arrived along with him. "It wouldn't be very polite to leave when you still need me so much..." He said curtly, a bit muffled by his mask, as he indicated the sheaf of paper and cacophony of ink blotting it in what seemed like the most inopportune parts. He was quite pleased at his own response he found, being faster and much more intelligent of a comeback than he was normally used to in his exchanges. But even his small moral victory wasn't enough when he felt Elizabeth's brilliant gaze boring into the shield protecting his face from prying eyes.

Try as he might though, he still fidgeted a bit under her gaze as he took a seat across from her and tried to concentrate on the pieces of parchment before him. "U-um...." Clearing his throat, he pushed the cup of tea across the table toward her while he kept his gaze averted from her eyes, letting his hair fall a bit around the mask to help the mask in protecting him. "No doubt you skipped breakfast again..."

The paper was standard parchment as he tested it's weight and fingered the edge to test its consistency and thickness. The ink was thoroughly soaked through, obscuring Elizabeth's delicate script in quite a few more areas than he had initially suspected. The was no telling how long the ink had to set overnight to do the kind of damage it had already caused. Virgil had to mentally check himself before letting out an exasperated sigh at this happening. It was an affront to any sort of literature to let something like this happen. But his friend knew that better than anyone, he couldn't imagine how she must feel at it having happened to her own works. Which made his next words that much harder...

"I can't fix these papers..." It pained him to say so, but he wouldn't lie about it, not to Elizabeth. "The ink is too far set in, anything to remove it could destroy the par--" He didn't just stop his sentence, he cut it clean off with an abruptness that would have made a tavern wench blink. But the gears in his head insisted on shutting him up to allow them to work their magic. The eye visible to the world, peeking out from the shattered part of his guise, flashed an intense shade of vermilion as he poured a bit of his Écriture into the parchment in his fingers. The words lit up in the same intense light as they lifted slightly from the paper. materializing as words in the air. Shuffling through the sheaf before him as he held his concentration, Virgil pulled a fresh piece of parchment and settled the letters onto it, recreating the notes on the first. "Maybe not as good as new," he stated a little dryly, "but as good as any copy can be."

There was plenty more to do, and boasting wasn't his style as he continued the process on the other blotted sheets in the stack. It became easier and faster with each sheet, and he was quickly aware of how crowded the guild hall was becoming. People were storming about and becoming louder as the seconds ticked by. Virgil almost had a mind to leap across the table to hug his friend for choosing a spot away from the commotion.....Almost.

"Everyone is in a particularly rambunctious mood today..."

*Edits! Wrong place.

Seto stood before the request board, his arms folded over his chest, scanning it for any jobs that paid well. Unfortunately, today was not a great day for jobs, but there was one that made Seto chuckle quietly to himself: "Find missing dog". To most people it would seem idiotic to ask such of people who were essentially mercenaries, but with the noses of Fairy Tail's dragon slayers locating a missing pet would not be too difficult, providing it hadn't strayed too far.

“Seto.” Seto turned his head slightly to see Aaron approaching, “Found anything promising yet?”
"Nothing particularly exciting." Seto replied with his usual blank slate of a voice, "It's even worse than usual. The most appealing offer is escorting a merchant caravan through the desert for a day, and it's only going at three quarters of the usual rate." Seto let out a quiet, weary sigh before continuing, "I might just take an S-Class quest; my only other options are doing nothing all day or having my services trivialised." Seto stepped to the side to give Aaron a clear view of the request board and leaned back on a nearby pillar, "Anything there that catches your eye?"
Seto usually wouldn't talk so much to his colleagues, but it was clear in this case that Aaron was attempting to make small talk. Seto was respectful enough to try and make small talk back, but that did not mean that he was any good at it.

After a few weeks away, Zane finally returned back. The Dragon Slayer dragged himself off the train before collapsing on the platform, he lifted his head for a moment before going back to laying on the platform for a few more minutes, "I wasn't mean't for that kinda travel, I'm gonna be sick... he then dragged himself to a garbage can. Most of the people didn't stare or even paid attention as this was always what happened to Zane after travelling on any mechanical means of transportation. It still didn't stop a few people from asking if he was alright. His only reply was a sort of grunt as he barely moved from his prone position on the platform.

After gathering his strength and letting his stomach settle, Zane made sure he had everything before moving on, he'd decided to stop by the Guild and check up on everyone before going back to his place for some much needed rest and relaxation after his time away. Along his way he bought a few things from the stalls, which he promptly stuffed inside his bag that contained a few books and other things that he needed on his travels.

He walked through through the door and glanced around, he took in a deep breath. It was good to be home after the trip and it looked like everyone was already here and the day was already under way. Zane smiled as he moved towards the bar beginning to cross the room, he spotted the Guild Master who had probably already been here since early morning and nodded to her with a smile. Zane stopped in his tracks and turned to hear Holly on a bar stool yelling Sera's name. "Good, Sera's back as well..." he smiled and chuckled as he continued making his way to the bar noting to talk to Sera about how her trip went.

"You are absolutely right Hannah, people are not meant to be alone. That is why we work together to lighten the load." Shin felt his back beginning to ache, his earlier rounds were beginning to catch up with him.

" Now you girls enjoy yourselves, there's a seat with my name on it and tea to be had." He threw something of an apologetic smile towards the pair, just a hint of his old mischievousness visible beneath it all. Shin took the chance to take his leave and have a seat, the ache subsided somewhat. Sure enough he also placed an order of tea, specifically ginseng to help him ease back into things.

His tea had barely arrived before Holly arrived, her loud greeting to her fellow dragon slayer was something he'd rather expected. The girl had her own ways of showing affection, and it was always a sight he enjoyed seeing. His gaze continued to pan across the room, Seto and Aaron were having one of their usual youthful comparisons. Shin felt a slight pang of sympathy for Aaron when he remembered Hannah's gym equipment, she always seemed out to beef the young man up. The idea made him question whether or not he should consider his own youth wasted, after all when he was their age the closest thing to a friend he had was certain individual out to kill him. Shin shifted his gaze again to avoid falling into the embrace of nostalgia.

Virgil and Elizabeth were the next pair he came across, if he had to say so himself he felt the pair oddly suited for one another. After all, one could almost say his interactions with the two were rather identical. If anything, the biggest factor second to their gender was Virgil's own behavior; were he a bit less reclusive, his grandchild like impression on Shin would be equal to Elizabeth's impression as his own granddaughter. Despite his urge to tease the two a bit, Shin let the pair continue their own conversation...he could wait. From there he shrugged and focused on his tea, he'd catch up with his rambunctious 'family' after a bit of rest.

Aniada Quincy

Little but little the members of her guild walked through the large double doors. The first she saw was Roxie, who wore a look of determination on her face. Next came Johnathan, whom she returned his greeting of good morning. However something seemed a bit off about him. She could tell by the forced “happy” atmosphere he carried around him and she was about to question him when Elizabeth walked in. The poor girl still had a smudge of ink on the underside of her jawline which only meant she had fallen asleep at her desk again. Nodding back to her guild mate, Anaida was about to focus her attention once more on Jonathan when suddenly a pair of slender arms wrapped themselves around her waist. Those same arms were accompanied by a soft child-like voice of none other than Aina who seemed to take delight in calling her Baa-chan.

"Baa-Chan~! Baa-Can~! Can you guess what day it is, Baa-Nee-Chan??" The older woman looked down at Aina with something of a scowl, “It’s the day where you finally stop calling me Baa-chan.” she said dryly. "Today is the day Sera-Nee-Chan comes back! Aren't you happy Baa-Chan?!" Her eyes widened ever so slightly upon hearing that name. not that Anaida was surprised or anything it was simply the fact that she, the Guild Master, was not aware of this bit of information yet Aina was. Anaida was aware of Sera’s longing to find her adoptive father and every now and then she would give the red head some information she thought might be able to her Sera. A smile full of mirth appeared on her face watching Sera side step Aina’s hug but was really only glad that the pink haired girl had let go of her and focused her attention elsewhere.

Sera came walking over towards the bar and started to explain how her trip went. While listening to Sera explain her most recent lead, Anaida’s eyes looked elsewhere. This elsewhere soon turned out to be Virgil the quieter folk of her Guild but quite possibly the oddest in his ways. The man seemed adamant in always wearing that damned mask of his. Something she wanted to tear off his face, so that he could allow the world to see him as he was. Anaida raised her cup of coffee towards him as greeting since it would be rude to interrupt Sera. The older woman soon realized her second favorite beverage was beginning to disappear from her mug. Which then lead to the idea of maybe trading it for a keg of beer seeing as the more rambunctious of her guild were showing up.

Soon enough Shin took over the matter of dealing with Sera and was soon joined by Hannah. Both of whom she respected, although she saw Shin as more of an old friend than a simple guild mate. Anaida left the trio to themselves for the time being and went to looking around, just in case someone else came in before she got to talk to Johnathon. It turned out her intuitive proved right when Miyuu spoke her good mornings to her. A strained smile on her lips, Anaida returned the greeting to the younger girl. Not only that but it seemed she had to deal with something akin to a problem that involved one of her younger mages, Damia. Who, it seemed, told another mage a lie about her giving rewards to those who took the trash out. After staring him down for a little while, Anaida bonked him on the head and watched him as he grabbed the broom and began to sweep the guild flood. “Geez you’d think he’d have learned his lesson by now.”

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Anaida turned around and gave her mug to the bartender so he could refill it with coffee. Then turning to the side with one elbow leaning against the bartop, Anaida finally focused her attention on Johnathon. “So what seems-” before she could even finishing voicing her concern, Anaida was interrupted by a very loud name call. Cringing she raised one finger to Johnathan, almost like an apology, and turned to the bartender, “Actually turn that into a beer please, I might be getting a headache soon.” her words were low and one could tell form her tone that she was on the verge of getting upset. In her frustrated state she hadn’t noticed Shin had left the bar only to be replaced later by a youngster by the name of Julius Knoven.

Releasing a sigh Anaida took her mug of coffee, now turned mug of beer, and took a couple gulps from it. Once down she slammed the mug down onto the bar top, slightly glaring at the louder bunches of mages. It was as if she was daring them to ruin her mood but she knew in a few hours, maybe less, she’d ruin theirs with a certain subject that needed bringing up. However that was for a later time and right now someone needed to be questioned. “As I was saying Johnathon, what seems to be the problem? You look a bit down, did something happen this morning?” For a moment a soft expression settled on her face but it was fleeting and was gone as soon as it had arrived.

(*sigh* Sorry, wrong location)

Damia spent most of his morning sweeping the guild from top to bottom. He went upstairs, to where most of the S class mages lingered from time to time, and to his relief, it was pretty clean. However, the main floor was was not only dusty from people who entered from mucky trips, but sticky from the people who became too drunk to hold their liquor. For a second, even he pondered if he had learned a lesson from all this procrastinating and chore shoving, but that thought was quickly shaken off. He was determined to not have to do anything as boring as scrubbing again. Though as of now, scrubbing is what he did without mood. He decided that if he was going to do it, he was only going to do it once today, which made him actually work hard to get the place as shiny as it could be. He enjoyed eavesdropping on some of the conversations being held, even though the subjects weren't anything too special or thrilling. When Zane walked in from his own travels, he greeted him at the door since he was cleaning around there.

Everything was as it should have been. It was calm, at least as calm as it could be for their guild, and peaceful. Which was weird because apart from the minor howls hear and there, a usual banging noise was missing. Though it was still the morning and anything could happen during the course of the day. At any rate, the young man could not help but to feel as though he wouldn't start off this day any other way.

It was at this point that he thought about his past. To the day that his mom told him he'd have to take care of himself because she was doing something so important that he couldn't see her anymore. Even when he writes to her, he has no idea where his letters are going or where they're coming from. Only her bird knows. "I wonder where you are now?" He whispered looking towards the ceiling.

"Eeeeh. She'll be alright wherever she is," a silver tongued voice said.

Slithering out of his pocket in it's red shiny embrace, Ruby, the serpent spirit of the ruby crystal wrapped itself like a scarf around his neck. "Hey. I don't want to spend this whole entire morning reminiscing about mom okay? I much rather spend it eating. I'm starving," the fire snake hissed.

"Will you cut it out? You know you're supposed to stay inside your crystal unless I call you," Damia said, grabbing the creature.

"Awe, but you know I like to party. I'm bored you know. You may like sitting things out and lying around enjoying the sunshine and the sweet smell of roses and what not, but I want to find those other crystals and you're not going to do that lazing about. Not to mention you haven't unlocked my brothers from their crystals yet and you've had them for almost a year now."

"Come one Ruby. I'm working on it...... sort of...." Damia turned away from the snake as best he could, but to no avail.

Ruby zipped over to his other shoulder and met his gaze. "You remember what you said when you were a tot and accidentally awoke me from my slumber right? You said that if I became your crystal then you'd follow in your mom's shoes and reunite me with my family. Jeez, you crystal mages and your promises huh? I bet the Celestial spirits don't have to put up with this."

"Celestial spirit mages don't have to put up with their partners nagging all the time either."

Ruby tilted uncomfortably close into Damia's face. "Look. You're eighteen now. So it's time you stop being lazy and uphold your part of the bargain. If you do that, I promise I can help you find mom. Though, you know I can't do that without the other crystals."

Damia pondered his answer for a second. "Okay, you got me. I'll stop being lazy only for this. I'm not doing anything extra okay.....And this is only because we're friends."

The ruby snake crawled around Damia's body in a joyful dance. "Thanks, but you got one thing wrong. We're not friends. We're family. So don't think you can go ditching this." As soon as he arrived on top of his shoulder, Ruby was back into his crystal, dormant in Damia's pocket.

"How could I? You tell me about it everyday."

It wasn't as if he didn't want to help Ruby out. Mostly, it was because he didn't know where to look for all the crystals. As a crystal mage he can use the powers of any rock that classifies itself as a crystal, but for a crystal spirit to be inside one of them, well, that was one in a million. Not to mention that crystals vary and not all the spirits that are inside of a crystal can be called Ruby's family. There were just too many conditions surrounding the whole ordeal. Though, that wasn't really what kept him hesitant in putting forth his full effort to find them. There was also the matter of seeing his mother after so long. What if she was lying to him in her letters? What if she had found another family?

He quickly caught himself in his ''what if'' moment and shook it off. He knew it wasn't fair to Ruby that his crystal mage wasn't acting the part of a crystal mage. So he decided that the he would start, from this day on, working hard to fulfill Ruby's request. He had an idea that just might work in achieving his goal too. The only thing left was to see if his friend would agree to his idea.

Heading towards the bar he slipped past the counter and grabbed an apple from a nearby basket. "Morning Julius," he said biting into the juicy fruit. "You cooking anything that I can eat? I haven't ate all morning." This was his usual routine. Though he could cook for himself and even had food at home, he'd always skip breakfast to see if his friend would give him any of the food he was making, even though he knew it was for the people that were going on jobs, and he was one of the people who rarely went on jobs. Though he knew that his friend wouldn't let him starve so he always figured he'd end up getting fed.

Not really bothering to say good morning to the members of the Guild, Roxie went straight to one of the tables and sat down. Shifting about until she got comfortable, Roxie pulled her guitar from behind her and set the case on the table. Opening it she pulled out some paper full of what looked to be scribbles but were in fact music notes. Roxie thus began to reorganize the music sheets into a nice little pile and took out a small plumed pen. Taking her favorite guitar from its case, Roxie pulled the strap over her head and adjusted it so it pulled on her shoulder comfortably. With a small smile Roxie began to work on writing notes as she strummed on her guitar.

Every now and then she’d reach for one of the music sheets and scribble something down. Roxie had been so caught up in completing this activity, it hadn’t yet registered that someone was now sitting atop her head. "What ya doing? Wanna come on a small job with me later?". Jumping up in surprise Roxie voiced her surprise. “I’m writing down some notes and lyrics.” Turning her head to focus on the task before her, Roxie didn’t answer the latter half of Tiny’s question until a few minutes later. “I’ll have to think about it. I promised Mum that I’d be home tonight so maybe another time. Besides I have more important things to do than go on a silly mission.” She looked up at Tiny’s miniature face with her usual scowl.

Putting her chin in her hands, Roxie released a sigh and watched her fellow Guildmates. She now realized that quite a few people came in while she had been working and one of them was a good friend of hers, Damia. By the looks of it he was stuck having to clean up the place. Snickering to herself, Roxie grinned and sent Damia a scrunched up face with her tongue sticking out. It was done to tease her friend as well as to hopefully brighten up his day.

“Now get off my head Tiny. I’d like to work on my music for a bit. Unless you want to watch me. Oh actually do you think you could test some of these notes for me.” Looking up at her friend, Roxie lifted a piece of paper with different musical notes. Underneath the lines were scribbled words that might have been lyrics or just simple notes that Roxie jotted down for some unknown purpose.

---

Julius chopped some peppers and threw them into a large frying pan which sent an aroma of sautéed vegetables and fried meat through the guild. He was so lost inside his own world that he had almost forgotten about his friend Daima. He leaned underneath the wooden counter and ruffled through a few bottles of seasoning and spices; "Crap don't tell me we don't have anymore paprika!" Julius yelled to himself as he began rifling faster. With a sigh of relief he stood up with a bottle of red powder and saw his Daima sitting at the bar.

"Morning Julius," he said as he took a bite of the apple in his hand "You cooking anything that I can eat? I haven't ate all morning."

Julius turned to his friend as he smiled and gave him a knock on the head. Not out of anger but out of a goofy friendship which felt more like a brotherly bond. "You do realize you do this every morning right?" Julius sighed as he turned back to the pot that which contained his latest creation. He reached over the stove and grabbed a wooden container from a cabinet; gently placing some of the stir fry he just made inside he placed it in front of his friend and chuckled, "Don't eat too fast and die now." Julius said as he turned back to the stove.

Turning the fire off he grabbed another bowl and walked over to a girl who was sitting at a table. On top of it was a guitar case and scribbled on papers which seemed to be music notes. Holding out the bowl containing the warm aromatic food he offered it to her. "Are you hungry?" Julius asked as he smiled.

Johnathon Allen

John looked to Aniada when she first started talking to him. He smiled because she had the presence of a mother and it made him feel warm inside for some reason. He couldn’t help but let a small smirk creep across his face as some of his guildmates interrupted the conversation Aniada was trying to have with him. He sipped his coffee longer and waited for everything to settle down. However, it was rare that people settled down in Fairy Tail. When the environment was as mellow as it was going to get Anaida approached Johnathon and asked her question. “As I was saying Johnathon, what seems to be the problem? You look a bit down, did something happen this morning?”

John looked to Anadia and the smile that was on his face faded. He took another sip of his coffee and then let the words spill from his mouth. “The nightmares are starting to come back; it’s been over two years and I thought I had finally gotten over it. Well I know you don’t really get over something like that, but I thought I had finally been able to forgive myself.” After saying those words John thought about the mother of the boy and wondered if she could ever forgive him. It made him think that if he could barely forgive himself, she could never forgive him. This thought put a solemn expression of John’s face. John sat there looking at the floor for a second and sipped his coffee. He looked to Anadia and gave her a half smile “It doesn’t really matter though, it’s too early to be dealing with stuff like this lets just forget I said anything.”

He had a feeling Anadia wasn’t just going to let it go and a part of him wanted that. He wanted someone to set him on a path that wouldn’t be self-destructive. He knew that if he dealt with this himself he would let it eat him up inside, until he did something stupid and drastic. John could never really handle this type of thing in his life. He was never taught to handle grief as a child his father was focused on making him a stronger wizard and not a stronger person. The thought of his father made him tense up, he gripped the cup of coffee so tight that a crack appeared on it.

Elizabeth's lips merely twitched in amusement at rapid comeback from her friend before merely muttering "Please, you need me as much as I need you. God forbid you become a shut-in without my contestant prodding..Have I told you my theory that you are merely a phantom? ". Her tone was light in a joking manner, in truth she did worry about his constant determination to leave the guild behind. Her mouth twisted into a smirk as the elusive mage merely pushed his tea in front of her and observed as he began expecting her nearly ruined paper.

Lifting the warm cup to her lips, she silently watched with appreciation as the mage tested the capability of her paper. That was one of their shared interests..literature was a connection that words could never break. Glancing down at the cup in front her, she trailed a finger along the rim of the porcelain, not wanting to disrupt the concentration of her companion. As she heard a sigh come from Virgil, she returned her gaze to him, and her heart began to sink at his words of being unable to repair the paper. Repressing a sigh of her own she merely shook her head "it's alight Virgil..I..". His sudden halt of an apology gave her a tiny amount of hope as she watched his magic flow from his body. It was a sight she rarely got tried of seeing as supernatural vermilion eyes focused the flow of magic onto the drying ink characters..onto a pristine sheet of paper.

A warm smile graced her lips as she leaned against her chair in a relaxed manner, once again bringing the cup of tea to her lips as she continued to watch the mage perform life-saving magic on her precious papers. As a small apology came from Virgil's lips of his services being inadequate, she merely rolled her eyes and said "You have saved more of my papers than I can count, trust me my friend I do doubt there are any others who can be as successful at this as you".

As the commotion in the guild began increasing in volume she noted her friend's unease and his comment. Gently picking up one of restored papers she gently ran her finger along the dried ink before stating "Just another day for Fairy Tail. Virgil, after all this time you still are surprised at how 'rambunctious' everyone is even this early in the day..".

Her crimson eyes wandered throughout the guild, it was a typical day for many of them. Her lips quirked for a faint moment as she watched her ever valiant Guild master, begin to reprimand her more active guild mates and then order a beer. ~I too would drown myself in drink, if I had to put up with the blockheads..~ Elizabeth thought with amusement, before giving a small wave to Shin, who seemed to taking the part of a dog watching his flock. Typical of the old mage..

Hannah

After speaking to Sera, Hannah found her way through the guild hall to an unfortunate target. “Aaron!” Hannah shouted cheerfully across the room, frantically waving with her one hand and pulling her kart filled with training equipment with the other. On her way, she passed Seto, whom she asked; “Anything good today?” Although that was more of a casual greeting than a conversation-starter. After all, Seto and Hannah usually let their weapons and magic do their talking for them.

When she reached Aaron, Hannah put a hand on his bicep and smiled as she squeezed it. “Good. It's getting bigger.” Hannah grinned, complimenting the godslayer. “I have a surprise for you to get even stronger.” She stated cheerfully, although with all the noise she made, the new set-up Hannah brought along could hardly be called a surprise anymore.

“First you need to warm up. Twenty laps around the building.” Hannah suggested enthusiastically, before turning to Damia as well. The young crystal mage was even more scrawny than Aaron. That wouldn't do in Hannah's eyes. A strong mind in a strong body, was her motto and to that end she was willing to support all of the guild to buff up... Whether they welcomed her help or not, Hannah's enthusiasm was unwavering.

“You can use muscle too.” She stated bluntly. She snatched his breakfast right under his nose and put it on a different table, then pinched Damia's arm and shortly shaking her head. “Join Aaron on his runs.” She almost commanded the boy, despite having no authority over Damia whatsoever. “You can eat after exercises. It is bad to run on a full stomach.”

Seto returned Aaron's wave of goodbye and began to head towards the stairs, but turned when he heard the ear-splitting cry of "Aaron!". Hannah had arrived, and that could mean nothing good for the young godslayer. On second thought, he wasn't quite so young, he was a good six years older than Seto, but he seemed younger. He was a good three inches shorter than Seto and a rank below, not to mention the way Hannah treated him like a child. Or maybe it was just that Seto seemed older than he really was; the guild seemed to treat him that way. For a twenty-one-year-old he was remarkably serious and experienced, and looked a few years older than he really was, but having to kill for a living from the age of ten took its toll.

"Anything good today?"
Seto's train of thought was put back on track as Hannah passed him, lugging a cart full of training equipment (or instruments of torture, if you were on the wrong end) towards Aaron. Seto simply shook his head in reply, he didn't need to speak to answer a simple yes or no question. He watched with ever-growing pity as she lugged her cart over to Aaron and grabbed at his bicep and ordered him to run around the building. As much as Aaron did need more exercise, Hannah's training regimes were more likely to cripple him than to make him fit. Once she latched onto Damia as well he knew he had to intervene, lest Hannah accidentally hospitalised half of Fairy Tail.

"Hey, Hannah," Seto began as he approached her and her two victims, "I'd say it's rather unfair to expect these two to do so much while you do nothing yourself." Wisps of dark energy were now beginning to flicker and coil around Seto's hands, "We haven't fought in a while, and I've got nothing else to do today. What do you say to a duel?"
Seto tilted his head slightly and discreetly mouthed "Flee" to Hannah's two victims. While he was attempting to save Aaron and Damia from broken backs, he did need something to do today, and duelling Hannah seemed like the best option.

-

Hannah

“You are right.” Hannah accepted Seto's challenge eagerly. The display of Seto's black wisps made Hannah smile, she reciprocated the gesture with the orange aura of the eagle lighting up in her eyes. She and the shadow-make mage sparred often, but Hannah still learned something every match they had. It was good to have a regular training partner who was just as serious about growth as she was.

“You two start without me.” Hannah whisked away Aaron and Damia, somehow trusting they would work out even if she wasn't there to force it to happen. She took Seto by the wrist and pulled on him like he was the kart full of the so-called torturing devices (which she left in the middle of the room with the godslayer and crystal mage.)

“Come, let's find a spot.” Hannah said to Seto, as she guided him along towards the door. It'd been a while since she and Seto had last fought and the last time they'd sparred, Seto had the edge. It had only prompted Hannah to train even harder, and she couldn't wait to show the shadow-make mage the results...

Laughing at Julius's question, Damia let a small grin from on his face as the older lad bopped him on the head. "Oh do I now? Maybe I have a problem. A food problem that only you can solve," he said.
He accepted the food his friend laid out in front of him with open arms. "Thanks man. Don't know what I'd do without you."

"Don't eat too fast and die now."

" I won't. . ." Damia replied waiting for him to leave before eating as fast as he could. At least that was the plan until Aaron came over to him.

“Find a job first, maybe then you'll get to eat breakfast.” The older man lectured.

Damia turned around and said, "But, you know I can't work on an empty stomach and besides, I plan on getting real serious about work soon."

“Anyway, I couldn't help but notice your eagerness to clean the guild. What have you done this time?”

"Well, you see I...."

"Aaron!" a shout that was so loud, it would wake up anyone that lived in a guild on the far side of the map, called out to the man in front of the boy.

Damia peered over to see that it was none other than Hannah, the exercise guru, as he liked to call her. He tried to find a place to escape to before she realized he was in the area. He looked to Aaron's left and his right. He looked behind him. He even looked towards Julius who was talking to Roxie now. All points were escape routes he knew wouldn't work against the hunter. He listened to her talk to Aaron about his weakness and lack of muscles, hoping she wouldn't go to him next. Although it seemed it was to no avail as she soon called him out.

“You can use muscle too.” She noted taking his plate away before pinching his arm.

"But," The boy didn't ever get the chance to defend his lack of muscle. It wasn't really a bad thing in his eyes that he lacked any muscle. Honestly, he saw muscle as an exhausting thing to carry around all the time. He liked being thin and able to carry his own body weight. However, Hannah, for whatever reason, thought he needed to be bulky. Though he doubted skipping meals would help anyway.

“Join Aaron on his runs.” An urge of authority rung in her voice, “You can eat after exercises. It is bad to run on a full stomach.”

Luckily, Seto had come just at the right moment to take Hannah off to spar. That had to be another reason why Damia didn't want to be an S class wizard. He didn't really like sparring, but if Hannah or Seto asked him, how could he refuse? Yep, being A class was good enough. Though, even now he realized he had to change somehow. He turned to Aaron and laughed about being forced to exercise. "You know Aaron, I never thought I would say this..." he stated to say. If he was going to follow through with his all his being. "We should probably do what Hannah said."
Almost instantly, Damia felt a piece of himself die. He grabbed onto his chest and even lunged on the floor panting. After a few seconds he jumped up in triumph from having said something that went against his morals. "There. I have done the deed. Whew. I feel way better you know. Don't get me wrong bro, this doesn't mean I'm going to do this again anytime soon, but I kinda promised someone I would help them. Basically speaking, all I need to do is have a fight and I'll be that much closer to realizing my goal."

Moving his hand towards the case on his belt and reaching inside, Damia pulled out the emerald crystal that was inside of it. His eyes grew confident and a smirk planted on his face, making him look more mischievous than ever. "So I guess I should ask you. Aaron, how about we spar?"

---

---

Rune magic lit up the sheets of paper one by one as they seemed to float through the air to Virgil's hand and back to the table, neatly stacked into a calculated order in a single stack. Repetition had made the process increasingly fast as the last of the papers drifted into the pile. "Done." He declared in the usual nonchalant tone, his visible eye returning to its normal shade. There was no telling exactly how many papers he had tended to, but it really didn't matter as long as the job was done.

Sitting back to rest upright in his chair once more, Virgil turned his head slightly as he studied the rest of Fairy Tail. Elizabeth was right, there was never a dull moment in the guild, but at the very least, they could wait until after breakfast before trying to crush, batter, or maim something. Breakfast was, after all, a very important meal. Realizing he himself had not eaten anything, he felt a bit hypocritical in his own thoughts. "I guess it can't be helped..." It seemed everyone had their vices in the guild, he just wished a few of theirs were quieter.

As if on cue, a rumbling overtook the guild and in strode their wild mage as Hannah drug a cart full of, what could only be described as tools of cruel and unusual punishment, toward her typical target. Virgil cringed at the thought of what Aaron had to deal with on a daily basis with all of Hannah's training. He had no qualms with his guild mate, and had often had quite a few inspiring contests with Aaron, but wouldn't swap places with him even if he was paid. Somethings in life were just not worth spending a day aching over.

Returning his gaze to more important things, Virgil's vision focused once more on Elizabeth, vainly attempting to word anything witty enough to keep her attention of the papers in front of her for a moment longer. As he began to open his mouth to inform her of the carrot-shaped guitar he had seen in the market that would have been a hilarious edition to the young mage Roxie's collection, something grabbed at his consciousness and yanked his attention back toward Hannah and the others.

Seto had made his way toward the group and had sparked up conversation it had seemed, but Virgil's vision was averted toward his hands more than anything as the dark tendrils made themselves visible, coiling around his hands with dark energy. Seto's magic was like Virgil's. And in a way, Virgil could sense the dark energy as he could sense his own magic when it materialized.

Where Virgil's eyes narrowed at the emergence, Hannah's seemed to light up. 'As if the day hadn't gotten loud enough already....' He thought silently. Though, the development did pose some interest inside him. "Looks like things will get a bit noisy between those two." Pointing out what Elizabeth probably could already foresee. Virgil didn't particularly interested in the fight itself as the two began to leave, but it could provide useful information that he had yet to determine from Hannah's magic, as he was sure he could see in full effect against a wizard such as Seto.

"I think I'll watch this," Virgil announced to his literary companion. "Coming with?" Standing from his seat, he turned toward the door to follow the two out, waiting a moment on his companion if she decided to attend the fight as well.

Seto wasn't surprised when Hannah grabbed him by the wrist and allowed her to lead him on, but stumbled along behind her with a mildly irate look on his face. He had great respect for her, but her physical gestures always made him feel rather awkward; it was hardly fitting for one of Fairy Tail's highest ranking wizards to be led around by the wrist, and Seto just didn't like physical contact outside fights.

Fortunately, it wasn't long until they had found a suitable, open space outside the guild hall. Once Seto had his wrist back under his own control he put a suitable distance between himself and Hannah, turned, and adopted a fighting stance.

"Why don't you take the first shot?" Seto offered, the dark energy around his hands hissing and crackling with anticipation.

At his invitation, Hannah sprouted the turquoise swallow’s wings from her back and requipped a shortbow. Starting from a dash, Hannah flew low to the ground. She circled Seto, knowing that a direct attack rarely worked against her sparring partner, Hannah fired a salvo of arrows mid-flight; opening the fight with successive attacks from multiple angles; something she hoped would put Seto either on the run or the defensive.

Despite seeming trapped, Seto remained totally calm and took a moment to analyse the situation. There were arrows coming at him from all sides, even from above; dodging was not an option. So, Seto opened his right palm, gathering dark energy, and then clenched it shut.
"Shadow Make: Shockwave!"
A blast of dark energy expanded outwards from his hand, reducing the arrows to dust, as well as the ground beneath his feet, leaving him in a small crater.
"Surely you didn’t think that was going to do anything?" Seto taunted, gathering more dark energy in his hand, "Shadow Make: Locust!"
A thick, black cloud of small, insect-like creatures flew from Seto’s hand and began to encircle Hannah, almost obscuring her from view. There was no doubt that their bites would do very little damage to Hannah and that she could break out of the swarm with ease, but Seto had something else in mind.

In hindsight, Hannah hadn’t expected anything less from Seto. However, Hannah herself also wasn’t without tricks in her sleeves. Both she and Seto knew that the locusts were weak, but they worked as a double blind. Neither could see what the other was doing; and so Hannah readied another flurry of arrows; this time coating them in swallow aura’s; making them easily break through the locust whirlwind and track Seto to give him no time to make use of his cover. The attack didn’t come without it’s price; as it gave the locusts time to bite Hannah. She just had to grin and bear it. Hannah dismissed her shortbow and bursted upwards; as the locust gave chase; a second to see Seto was all she needed. She hovered mid-air and allowed the locusts to catch up. Hannah coated her one arm with the eagle’s talon and requipped a net and imbued it with the frog skin aura in her right. The aura made it nearly invisible and Hannah threw it in an arc with Seto’s own locusts covering her movement. A split second later, she tore through the locusts with her talon; so that neither party’s vision was obstructed. If her plan worked and her net hit; she’d disable Seto from using his shadow-make for a few moments; precious moments she could use to launch another attack…

Seto smiled as Hannah broke through the locusts, smashing many of them so that they reverted to their original state of pure dark energy. Seto had had no need to hide himself from Hannah, only a source of dark energy behind her. He extended an arm to direct his magic, and chanted: "Shadow Make: Fenrir!"
The destroyed locusts morphed into the head of a gargantuan wolf behind Hannah, a wolf that opened its maw and slammed it shut with great force, hoping to catch Hannah with its bite. However, Seto had failed to notice the net that Hannah had thrown earlier until he could hear it whooshing through the air above him. He jumped backwards, causing Fenrir to waver for a split second, and still not fast enough to stop the net from entangling his left leg, tripping him up. He didn’t spend effort on trying to free his leg, lest it disrupt Fenrir. If he landed a good hit on Hannah then he would have the time to untangle himself, so he’d need to concentrate, even if that meant lying on the ground.

When the shadows disperse and Hannah noticed no frontal attack, she used the opening and dove towards Seto with the talons on her hand straight out; ready to slash. It was thanks to her net she managed to avoid the Fenrir, as the second it flickered was enough for Hannah to escape it’s reach. The wolf’s maws clasped together, crunching on nothing but her dust. Hannah closed the distance quickly, hoping that between her speed and Seto’s position, she could score a clean hit.

Seto flinched slightly when Hannah avoided Fenrir; she’d gotten better since they’d last fought. He had to think fast if he was going to avoid a direct hit from her talons, but there was no way he could free himself and dodge in the short time he had. However, that didn’t mean he was just going to take the hit. He pulled himself up to one knee, waited for Hannah to come within striking distance and then pressed both palms against the ground beneath them.
"Shadow Make: Eruption!"
A pillar of darkness erupted from the ground, engulfing Seto and, with any luck, Hannah as well. Seto stood his ground; he could take a hit from his own magic with minimal damage, but the same could not be said of non-dark mages. Not only was there a good chance that he’d hit Hannah, but the magic destroyed the net that was binding his leg, allowing him to move freely again.

Hannah had put too much speed in her charge to dodge Seto’s eruption, and so it would come to trading blows. In the same second her talon connected; she felt Seto’s dark energy bulge underneath her and like a punch to the gut it caused Hannah to flinch before she was thrown up high into the air by the black energy. It was a good thing Hannah could fly; or else she’d have been suffered another hit on her way back down. Seto’s attack definitely stung, but as Hannah noticed cloth on her talons, she assumed that went two ways.

“That was good!” Hannah shouted at Seto, complimenting his reaction as the dust cleared. She wasn’t about to give up, however, as Hannah requipped a spear and coated it in the eagle’s drilling energy (thereby dismissing her talon.) It was a tenacious piercing magic that would not so easily be destroyed as her arrows. The moment she would spot movement, Hannah would lunge it straight down to keep the pressure going.

"Likewise." Seto replied as he brought his hand to his now bleeding right shoulder. He was rather irked by the fact that Hannah had torn his robe, but such things for bound to happen in a duel, so he wouldn’t hold it against her. In order to avoid any further damage to it he simply took it off and cast it aside; he wasn’t particularly bothered about his shirt getting torn since he could easily replace it. He used dark matter to stem his bleeding before drawing his sword and running his palm along the flat of the blade.
"Shadow Make: Corrosion."
Seto’s hand left a coating of dark energy on the blade, giving it an eerie, black glow. The dark energy acted like an acid, eating away even steel and stone as if it were mere foam. Hannah wasn’t the only one with powerful weapons at her disposal. Seto beckoned for Hannah to come down to attack him, for he could only strike her with a ranged attack while she was up in the air, and that would give her an opening while he was preparing for the next strike.

Although she had intended to throw the spear, when Hannah saw Seto challenge her to fight old school up and personal, she could not decline. Her wings kicked back the air and folded in a dive, as she put the spear in front of her charge and fell straight on down, putting even more force behind her attack. Hannah had the edge in range and mobility, but for some reason she couldn’t help but be curious of what Seto had planned…

Good, Hannah had taken the bait. Seto raised his katana above his head, clutching the hilt with both hands, and chanted: "Shadow Make: Guillotine!"
Guillotine was a spell that could just as easily be cast without a sword, but Corrosion’s power would give it some extra force. The dark energy lengthened greatly, and Seto swung it down at Hannah. She wasn’t close enough to stab at him with her spear, but she’d come close enough to lower her chances of dodging Seto’s attack.

Hannah wasn’t fond of his trickery, but it was Seto they were talking about. He likely wanted to win this as much as she did. Again, her diving speed made it impossible to dodge an attack reliably, even if it was as narrow as the guillotine. Instead; Hannah channeled her momentum into another aura; dismissing her wings and spear, she called upon the pangolin and used it to roll into a ball of armour. While it was a defensive spirit, the combination of it’s hard scales and her diving momentum practically made it a cannonball. She’d scold Seto for fooling her after she was out of immediate danger…

Seto recalled the guillotine once Hannah cast pangolin; he wouldn’t be able to break through the armour with guillotine, only a close-range, corrosion-assisted stab would have the power to break through her shields. Instead, Seto jumped to the side to avoid Hannah, but he wasn’t going to wait for her to uncurl. She was going to crash into the ground hard, and while it wouldn’t do her any considerable damage, it would give Seto a window of opportunity while the impact jarred her. He pressed a palm to the ground again and channeled dark energy from himself into the ground, but he wasn’t going for the area around himself this time.
"Shadow Make: Bind!"
Tendrils of dark energy spiralled out around Hannah; if Seto could bind her within her sphere he would limit her movement to almost nothing, almost assuring his victory.

The tendrils wrapped around the pangolin scales, trapping Hannah’s movement just as Seto had planned. However this was the tricky thing about Seidhr magic; the tendrils held onto the aura around Hannah and not the mage herself. Hannah summoned her frog’s eyes allowing her to see straight through the back of her own head (something made possible by Seto’s own magic, because if it hadn’t restricted Hannah’s movement and she’d still been rolling, this would have made her very dizzy.) She had to anticipate Seto’s next move, knowing that if Seto got one clean shot with his corrosion-fueled sword; this fight would be over. Instead, she’d pay him back for his trickery; she intended to drop the shields at the last moment and use the split second of mobility she would gain from it to attempt to parry the incoming attack and use her talons to rip through the tendrils and if possible; counter-attack Seto.

Seto examined Hannah for a moment; she was tightly bound within her shell by his magic, but the tendrils only wrapped around the shell, so if Hannah dispelled the magic she would have free movement for a split second. With most opponents this would not be a problem, but countless battles against Hannah had taught Seto that she was not to be underestimated. The obvious course of action would be to lunge at her with his sword; he could score a clean hit and defeat her with a single strike. However, if he did so he would run the risk of impaling her and causing her serious harm; he would need a different approach. Going near her could give her an opportunity to strike at him, so he’d need to keep his distance. He kept his palms pressed to the ground at proceeded to cast bind repeatedly, wrapping Hannah’s aura in tendril after tendril until her protective sphere was no longer visible under all the coils. Not only did the thick covering of tendrils bind Hannah more tightly, it gave Seto more strength for his next attack. He used his magic to have the bind force Hannah down into the ground, using the strength of her shield to crack the ground beneath her and force her down further.

It seemed Seto knew her well, so Hannah had to think fast. She couldn’t simply destroy the tendrils, because that would simply give Seto a clean shot with his Fenrir. The force of the mass of tendrils quickly accumulated, and she felt the power pushed her deeper into the ground… That gave Hannah an idea; once again Seto had used a double blind so he wouldn’t be able to see what she would do either. Hannah dispelled the lower half of her pangolin shell; something that put tremendous pressure on her legs to keep standing. Hannah roared at the top of her lungs to put forth the strength to keep herself from being crushed, but also to hide the sound of the move she was about to make. She requipped her spear, coated it in her eagle’s once more and drilled deep into the ground; digging a hole she would fit in. Seconds later, she finished and just in time. Hannah allowed her remaining pangolin scales to scatter and using the split second she gained from it, Hannah summoned a large amount of nets to take her place above ground and dropped herself into her hole below it. Pushed together, they would be indistinguishable from a human form in fetal position when bound by the tendrils; which snatched it with great force and wrapped it in a dark metallic bodybag; with Hannah hiding underneath…

Seto smiled to himself as Hannah roared, impressed that she was able to maintain such determination with the force of all the tendrils pushing down on her. However, his smile faded when he felt the tendrils suddenly met with less resistance; Hannah must have dispelled her shield. He couldn’t see anything different from his current position, so he inched slightly closer to the hole, but still nothing seemed different. The tendrils of dark matter were still wrapped around a sphere, just as they had been before. Was that sphere Hannah? He couldn’t think of what else it might be, but neither could he think of why she would drop her shields when in such a vulnerable position. Something here was amiss. Not willing to take any chances, Seto went no closer to the hole, and instead snapped his fingers and chanted: "Shadow Make: Tremor!" The tendrils dissipated into dark energy and forced their way into the ground below. If that had been Hannah the tendrils were wrapped around, he would have a clean, powerful hit on her.

It was a good thing Seto always chanted his attacks, or else he’d sure have hit Hannah hard. She reformed her pangolin scales skin-tight to defend against the coming tremor, as the the nets took the brunt of the blow. Learning his tendrils had caught nothing but nets would spell the end of her distraction. However, Hannah knew she could force Seto into a guessing game. The quake softened the ground and stone around Hannah and when felt the attack had passed her; she burst out of her hole and used her eagle’s wings to whip up the dust into a smokescreen that developed around both her and Seto. Afterwards she dismissed the wings and coated herself in her frog’s skin. Normally the aura wouldn’t deal well with fast movement; but inside the the blanket of sand she could move and keep her stealth advantage. Hannah moved quickly around Seto’s side, preparing for a straight punch to the jaw if he guessed wrong about where she was…

Seto took a step back in shock when he saw Hannah emerge unharmed from his attack, and things only got worse. The smokescreen prevented him from having any idea of where Hannah was, for all he knew she was above him. He strained his eyes for any signs of movement, but found none. Unfortunately for him, he had been looking completely the wrong way when Hannah burst from her cover and struck him square in the jaw, sending him staggering backwards.
"Not bad." Seto smiled as he rubbed his injured jaw, "You’ve gotten stronger, but so have I. Shadow Make: Gauntlets!"
Dark matter solidified around Seto’s arms within a fraction of second, and he swung his right fist down at the back of her head, adding speed and force to his punch with dark energy.

The disadvantage to the frog skin was that Hannah could not see herself well either and so was unable to parry Seto’s counter strike. The force propelled Hannah a few inches back as Seto’s strike connected. He too, was fast and if she wasn’t angry at Seto for fooling her earlier, she would have told him that.

Still, a bruise on her cheek wasn’t going to stop Hannah from attacking. Seto’s advantages were power and reach and Hannah couldn’t equip her talons to match them without dispelling the frog skin, but the sand hadn’t settled yet. Hannah leapt back into the fray and in an attempt to get under his guard, she ducked and swept with her leg at Seto’s, attempting to knock him off his feet.

Seto was prepared for Hannah’s counter strike this time, and jumped to avoid her kick. When he landed he pressed the heels of his hands together and curled in his fingers, mimicking a jaw. Now that he was in front of Hannah he had a good chance of hitting her with Fenrir, especially while she was recovering from her attack. He chanted the incantation and snapped his hands together, causing Fenrir to do the same with its maw.

Hannah was shocked to learn that somehow Seto had managed to predict a sweep, even while she should have still been invisible to him. Dark energy formed around her, and it was too late for Hannah to escape. Fenrir’s jaws closed and shadows pierced into her skin. Blood seeped from her arms and shoulders; which she had raised to protect her head. Hannah was not willing to throw in the towel yet. Her frog skin aura dropped, flashing Hannah’s condition to Seto for a brief moment, before a green aura wrapped itself around Hannah’s legs and a purple one around the right arm she stretched out; forming a grizzly wolverine’s head with it’s maws wide-open. Hannah launched herself straight forward towards Seto; with a leap that would either get her far out of Seto’s reach if he dodged; or tackle and push him by at least three yards between the wolverine’s jaws if it hit.

Seto cringed slightly at the sight of Hannah’s blood-soaked arms, rather regretting his most recent move. He wanted to tell her to stop, but she was a proud woman; she wouldn’t surrender until she could no longer move. If he wanted her to stop, he’d have to beat it into her. However, it didn’t seem that that chance was at hand; if she was using the wolverine spirit she was really getting serious. Seto almost wished that he could use his Darkness Embodied spells, but such magic was too powerful for friendly sparring; he’d already harmed Hannah enough. He braced himself as Hannah charged, clasped his hands together and chanted: "Shadow Make: Barrier!" A wall of dark matter burst from the ground in front of Seto, which ought to protect him from Hannah’s attack, providing she wasn’t riled up enough to smash through it.

The wolverine’s opened maw and the offensive and defensive dark magics met. A clash of forces made waves of magic repel everything from the collision but the two combatants as the two spells slowly destroyed one another. Hannah’s hand slowly forced itself through the shadow-make barrier that was being dispersed alongside the wolverine’s jaws and her finger’s reached for Seto’s chest; bared by him taking off his shirt earlier. Hannah’s intention never had been to fully unleash the wolverine upon her friend, it could be as disastrous for him as Seto’s Embodiment spells would be to her. Instead, as the tip of her finger almost touched Seto’s chest she chanted; “Seidhr Magic: Sloth.”

Seto took a step back as Hannah forced her arm through his barrier; it wasn’t often that anyone could break through his defences. Even more surprising was what happened next. As Hannah’s finger pressed against his chest he suddenly felt incredibly drowsy, and began to lose his balance. Was he really being brought down by what seemed like the most useless spell in Hannah’s repertoire? He sunk to his knees and began to close his eyes, but his willpower was strong enough to just about keep him conscious. With one last effort he extended his hand and chanted: "Shadow Make: Dart..." A magic circle appeared and released a half-arsed flurry of darts at Hannah, just before Seto slumped down on the ground, fast asleep, snoring like an earthquake and drooling slightly. It must have been quite a sight, because Seto barely even rolled around when he slept naturally.

At point blank, even a half attempt from Seto’s darts was a good attack. The needles stuck in Hannah’s skin. Hannah dropped to her knees, between the damage she had taken and the amount of strength she had used under his bind spell and the clash with the wolverine, Hannah had to catch her breath. As Seto dozed off, the needles dispersed and Hannah felt her heart thump loudly in her chest. She stared at their on-lookers (quite possibly blown away by the shockwave mere seconds ago) before she got up and dispelled the sloth’s aura from Seto.

“Never use my code to trick me again.” Hannah said sternly, referring to when Seto had beckoned her to come down and cross blades. She stretched out her hand in order to help Seto up.“Still, that was a close fight.” Hannah said and couldn’t help but show a glimpse of a smile. Part of her wanted to remain angry, but Hannah couldn’t hide she was thankful to Seto she could have such great sparring matches.

Seto awoke to the sight of Hannah’s extended hand, and a small pile of drool around his mouth. He recoiled at the uncouth display, but shook it off and allowed Hannah to help him to his feet.
"I wouldn’t quite say I tricked you." Seto protested, "I just challenged you to something you weren’t expecting. I won’t do it again, if you promise not to cast that on me again." Seto returned Hannah’s smile and shook her hand firmly, "You look like you could do with some patching up." Seto let go of Hannah’s hand and ran it over her wounds, sealing them with dark matter, "Well, I don’t know about you, but I could definitely do with a sit down after that."

Shin waved back when he caught Elizabeth waving towards, obviously she'd caught him during his little survey of the guild. It wasn't something he minded, after all in his mind if some of the kids knew they were being supervised they might behave better.

A little dispute between Hannah and Seto more than served to prove that belief wrong. However, instead of intruding on the matter given he no longer had the power to step in on the dispute he contented himself with finding a nice view point of the match. To say the least, he was impressed by the two younger's growth. To say the least, this had served as more than a little reminder of his age. There was however, one habit the two younger mages had indulged in...shouting out their spells. To his knowledge, Mages here found announcing their spell made gifted more power to it. However, he'd been trained on the battlefield and in open war that was more likely to get you killed or countered. To that extent, Shin himself favored silent casting and personally never found much of a drop in power after some training.It took a bit of effort to force himself back to his feet due to his back's noncompliance but he still forced himself towards the pair after they'd settled their affair.

[orange] "Don't you think it's about time the two of you stopped shouting out your spells like children? It might seem pretty, but casting without speaking is the better skill."[/orange] In demonstration of his point, Shin had simultaneously cast the spell Ih Ragdo upon himself during his speech. Space distorted into a bubble around himself upon completion and he took the chance to re-seat himself in the sphere.

[orange]"Sportsmanship aside, while spell calling is technically more 'fair'. I'm concerned that the two of your are depriving yourself of the skill to read your opponent."[/orange] He felt that he was just being a nagging old man by this point, but he still felt the words needed to be said.

“The nightmares are starting to come back; it’s been over two years and I thought I had finally gotten over it. Well I know you don’t really get over something like that, but I thought I had finally been able to forgive myself.”

She stared at Johnathan for a moment before coming up with something to say. "They're back, that's not too surprising. With the severity of the actions of your past, I don't expect you to just forget about it. These things take time to heal but sometimes they never do." Looking back at him, Anaida took on a more stern approach to the matter at hand.

“It doesn’t really matter though, it’s too early to be dealing with stuff like this lets just forget I said anything.”

Hearing this, Anaida sighed and stepped off her stool. It seemed Johnathan didn't think it mattered for it being so early. However that wasn't what made her sigh. It was the fact that he chose to brush it aside and let it take its course. As much as I want to help you Johnathan, I won't and I can't. You're none to special than the rest of my Guild Anaida turned her back to him and downed the rest of beer in one go. With an exaggerated sigh of content, it almost seemed like Anaida for once was in a good mood. However the words that passed her lips said otherwise.

" It's not a matter of you just forgetting about it and forgiving yourself. There's more to it than that."

With that being said, Anaida glanced over her shoulder breifly and noticed the crack in his cup. Shaking her head ever so slightly, she walked off to some other part of the Guild. To where she walk to was surprisingly enough outside. While talking with Johnathan she noticed an increase of magic and had glanced in the general direction. What she saw didn't sit too well with her but she kept her cool before Johnathan. And so now Fairy Tail's Guildmaster followed two of her mages outside.

Leaving the double doors open Anaida stood between two battle-ready mages. One of whom had the habit of challenging her while the other she admired for his skill. Hands on hips she looked at Hannah then Seto with a scowl. “I guess I should watch over you guys.” Closing her eyes for a moment, she rubbed the back of her head. With a mean smile on her lips Anaida crossed her arms and stood in a stable stance to keep from being knocked over if their fight got out of hand. Soon enough their dual began and Anaida couldn’t help but want to join in. Hmm maybe some other day. Every now and then she’d have to side step or move a bit to keep from getting hit by anything. For the most part Anaida enjoyed watching her mages dual with one another, each one showing what they had learned from their last mistakes.

Anaida did worry, if just a little, once Seto’s ShadowMake: Fenrir took hold on Hannah’s shoulders. A prideful smile overcame that worry the moment she saw Hannah fight back and took a few steps back from their dual the moment she saw two of her strongest mages getting ready to collide. The moment they connected, waves of magic erupted from where they stood pushing back anything that wasn’t grounded to the floor. Which included those who were foolish enough to get close to Seto and Hannah’s dual. As the shcockwave hit her, Anaida bent low bringing up her arms to shield her face. Unlike some of the other members Anaida didn’t get pushed back but stood in the same place. Straightening up, a mix between a scowl and a prideful smile settled on her face as if she didn’t know whether to be angry at them having nearly destroyed the area around them or to be full of a mothers pride when she sees her kids grow up.

Walking up to Seto and Hannah with her hands on her hips she beckoned behind her towards the Guild. “Although Shin has a point, for now I suggest you two, especially you Hannah, to go to the infirmary. I have something important to tell all of you and I need everyone’s help in this matter.” Not bothering to wait for their replies, she took them by the shoulders, being careful with Hannah’s wounds, and shoved them in the direction of the infirmary. Anaida walked back into the Guild’s hall then went to the second level. Standing by the corner of the stairway that would lead her to the balcony that opened up towards the hall, Anaida wondered how her Guild would take this news. Taking a deep breathe, Anaida stepped out from the shadows and walked to the middle of the balcony.

Leaning her elbows alongside the rails, Anaida watched her Guild with what could only be a mother’s expression of pride. That expression soon changed itself to a more serious look and she cleared her throat loudly. “Attention Fairy Tail!!” her voice boomed across the hall making some jump unexpectedly. Glad to have their attention she continued, keeping her voice loud.

“We have received a request from a small town by the name of Annandale. This request will be asking us to risk our lives for strangers and to possibly fight strong opponents, but I have confidence that as mages of Fairy Tail you will be able to confront your opponents. Now to the task we have been given, we Fairy Tail have been asked to deal with a guild by the name of Nightmare Hearts. They are a dark guild and have been terrorizing the town of Annandale. We have been given little information on the key members of this guild due to only the small fry going out into town. I need you lot to get into your teams and we will head out as soon as possible.” With that Anaida stepped back and let the information sink in.

Hannah

“Yes. Let's.” Hannah threw a friendly arm around Seto, the both of them could use a breather. Hannah nodded towards Shin, acknowledging his advice. It wasn't the first time she'd been told by the older mage and Hannah knew what his critique was directed at. While Hannah had practiced silent casting throughout most of the match, she had slipped up during her last move. Old habits died hard, and magic was simply easier to cast using vocal commands.

Hannah and Seto were pressed to the infirmary by their guild master. Although the shadow-make mage had bandaged the worst of her wounds, he was no healer. The nurses of the infirmary would take care of the two and Hannah and Seto's duels were infamous amongst them. They just needed a glimpse of their faces before they rolled out the ice-packs and disinfectants. As Hannah sat down with an ice-pack pressed against her cheek, gritting her teeth as a nurse took care of her wounds, she heard Anaida's booming voice come from the guild hall; announcing a new mission.

“There's a good mission after all today.” Hannah grinned at Seto, a spark twinkled in her eyes at the mention of dangerous opponents. When the nurse was done with her shoulders, Hannah stood up and put her leg up the infirmary's desk to stretch her muscles in the middle of the room (to the dislike, but no longer shock of the nurses.) “At least now we are warmed up for Nightmare Hearts.” She said, despite that their intense sparring match had put both of them out of their optimal fighting condition. Still, Hannah put her leg down and enthusiastically punched in the palm of her opposite hand. “We will show them the power of Fairy Tail!”

---

---

Virgil floated easily to the ground once more from his elevated position atop the roof of the guild, his selected vantage point for the brawl between Seto and Hannah, hovering for a brief second before letting his rune wings dissipate and dropping to the ground. Dissipate was a curious word to describe the process as he had explained it on previous occasions as the wings seemed to shatter like lavender glass into a thousand fragments before actually fading from sight. His musings about his own techniques aside, the wings had carried him to the top of a nearby roof to spectate on the S-Class sparring match. Close enough to analyze each detail, but far enough to keep the sand and debris from impeding his vision every five seconds as the two seemed to kick up enough of the stuff.

While most onlookers were quite pleased with the bout, Virgil's lips features ruffled into a ponderous frown as he compiled the information that had just played out in front of him. He was aware that every fight was solely based off the two combatants and the tactics used would be dependent off that fact, yet he had the sinking feeling that he would come up far short in talent and strategy if faced with the power the two mages before him had displayed. Shin's words only brought the feeling to a head once more at the advice he offered. 'Casting without speaking...?' His mouth opened to say his rebuttal to the opinion, but closed without doing so. Virgil's magic held considerable power when used in conjunction of both written and spoken word, but Shin knew his stuff and was more than likely referring to wizards apart from Virgil.

Shaking the thoughts off, Virgil followed the others as they assembled into the guild hall, cataloging the instances for later deciphering when he had more time. Positioning himself toward the back, Virgil leaned his shoulder against the wall as he turned his head in the direction of Anaida as she explained the situation, studying his guild mates from behind his mask. It was quite the inopportune time, a dangerous mission while two of their strongest members had depleted a large amount of magic trying to tear each other in half. Crunching the numbers and assessing the guild's current strength, he had no doubt that they would put up a strong front, no matter what was thrown their way. Yet there was one variable that still needed to be addressed.

Leaving his safe corner of obscurity, Virgil made his way to Seto and Hannah through the adoring crowd of onlookers and fan boys to take up a position behind Seto, still watching and assessing the rest of the guild. "Good fight, seems you two have gotten everyone quite fired up for the coming mission." And it was true, after the display outside, Virgil was even a bit ready to jump into the fray, but retained his calm demeanor as best he could. It was much simpler when his voice dropped and his tone took on a more serious note with his next words. "You threw quite a bit into that fight. How much magic do you have left?"

Before Seto could protest to Shinzaemon that casting creation magic spells without their incantations resulted in unstable products, he found himself being pushed off to the infirmary by the guildmaster. He didn't consider his injuries particularly serious, but he knew better than to argue with Anaida. He crouched down slightly so that Hannah could lean on him for support more easily and hobbled off to the infirmary.

The nurses rolled their eyes the moment they saw Seto and Hannah and scurried off to fetch bandages and other medical supplies. The blood soaked binding that Seto had used to stem the bleeding from Hannah's talons was replaced with a fresh, clean bandage after the wound had been sprayed with disinfectant. Surprisingly, that was the only serious wound Seto had received, everything else was just small, shallow cuts and bruises.

Despite not being in the guild hall, Seto could still hear the guildmaster's booming voice with no difficulty. He smiled at the mention of taking out a dark guild; as a former dark wizard he knew exactly what made them tick and how to take them out. Hannah's reaction was even more enthusiastic, and Seto couldn't help but have some of her enthusiasm rub off on him. However, what he was not so enthusiastic about was the idea of getting into teams. Seto had always worked alone, and had no desire to change that. Other people were just extra burdens, and more often than not couldn't keep up with him. If he were to team up with anyone it would probably be other S-Class wizards, but even then there would be problems. Hannah was completely incapable of subtlety, Jonathon had fantastical ideas of chivalry wedged into his head, and Elizabeth... Seto couldn't think of a reason not to team up with Elizabeth; perhaps he'd ask to join her if he couldn't slip off on his own without being noticed.

Seto turned when he heard Virgil's voice and smiled slightly at Virgil's first comment, a smile that only grew wider when Virgil expressed concern for him and Hannah.
"I've still got a fair bit left." Seto replied, releasing a few sparks of dark energy from his hands to prove his point, "I'll be back to normal in a couple of hours as long as I have something to eat. I wouldn't be able to call myself an S-Class wizard if one friendly scrap put me out of action."

Elizabeth observed quietly from her viewpoint leaning against the strong doors of the guild hall as the dust and magical energy in the air seemed to simmer like that of bacon in a frying pan..before fading into the still air. Her eyes narrowed at the bold declaration from Hannah, whose enthusiasm had landed others, namely herself in hot water just once. Elizabeth wasn't looking forward to getting scalded again by her 'feral' magical talents...Seto, however his talents were under control in his mindset. Running a hand through her hair she merely smirked at the loud whoops coming from the interior guildhall as the guild master announced the latest mission of ridding a town of a Dark Guild by the name of Nightmare Heart. ~Well, this will definitely be a cause for celebration ~ Elizabeth thought wearily as demands for caskets of ale rang out..it would only be a matter of time until some hothead threw a chair. Quickly pausing at the bar to swipe a piece of fruit before it was overtaken by alcoholic beverages.

Glancing around for Virgil, she guessed the quietest location in the guildhall at this possible moment as well as what the tactician would be doing after such a battle. Quiet conversation reached her ears as she reached the almost tranquil silence of the infirmary as she saw Virgil and Seto, looking a bit battered but nothing to the extreme. A faint smile reached her lips as she caught the last segment of his conversation "-wouldn't be able to call myself an S-Class wizard if one friendly scrap put me out of action.". Despite his quiet persona Seto did embody the Fairy Tail mentally of never knowing when to quit. Merely pulling a nearby wooden chair she straddled it in a relaxed position before voicing in a lazy tone " Would you really just call was I just witnessed a 'scrap' really Seto, I hope you aren't turning another Hannah with your enthusiasm..I think one of her would be enough..". Her tone turned a bit frosty at thought of the rambunctious female mage..before she tossed the bandaged man the apple she was planning on eating. Yet one glance at the injuries man, Elizabeth would consider her giving up her prized fruit as her good deed for the day.

A few seconds later, the sound of glass shattered rang outside the quiet refuge of the infirmary as an audible sigh escaped her lips as she felt annoyance flash in her mind as the possible arrangement of being stuck with short-tempered, irresponsible mages during the mission to confront Nightmare Heart, running a bandaged hand through her hair once again out of habit she merely posed this question to Virgil "Why exactly have we chosen this guild as our home Virgil. I doubt even someone of my patience would avoid accidentally punting one of these mages off the cliff side on the way to Nightmare Heart. That is unless I manage to get on a team I will be able to tolerate. Isn't that right Seto? I doubt you are willing to put up antics for very long..". Another piercing sound of glass breaking flooded her ears as she rubbed a hand across her face as if that moment merely proved her point, her crimson eyes blinked slowly as she observed Seto "Unless you are planning on working solo for this job..which I seriously recommend against Anaida would tear you a new one. Personally I find Virgil to be fairly tolerable most days..when I am not having to hunt him down for my books..". Her tone turned teasing as she mentioned Virgil, who did seem to leave often only to be reminded by her books. That being said, Elizabeth had been forced to track those she lent her books to..with extreme retribution.

Turning back to her music sheets, Roxie continued her work and eventually started to nibble on her pen. A scowl wore itself on her face as it seemed she had trouble coming up with inspiration. The smell of good food filled her nostrals, sniffing the air a bit Roxie didn't look up until someone offered her food. Raising her pale eyes to meet those of a peer, a grin crossed her face at the site of food., but then a scowl replaced it seeing that it was Julius who offered it to her. Despite her obvious displeasure in having Julius offer it to her, she took the bowl of food anyway. "What's up with you and always trying to feed people?" Setting the bowl aside Roxie returned back to her work.

However as it seemed she wasn't about to get any more inspiration just yet. Already she could hear the mumurs amongst the guildmates, of a dual. Curiosity finally getting the better of her she slid of the benchside and walked outside. Sadly due to her small stature Roxie had trouble getting past the throngs of people, so when she finally did the dual was just about over. Getting past everyone to be in the front involved a lot of kicking and hissing curses, which wasn't all that unusual coming from her. Pracically fall to the ground once she met no resistance, Roxie stared in awe as Seto and Hannah fought. "Awesome . . . " whispering quietly to herself. Realizing she had said it outloud she glanced around hoping to be inconspicious in hopes that no one had heard her.

Moving her eyes back to the dual taking place before her, Roxie noticed their guildmaster stood very close to the dual. I guess Anaida doesn't give a crap if something hits her. She'll probably just deflect it or something. A smirk found itself settling on her lips, as she took on a more defiant stance. After a while of hearing them shout their magics followed by the wanted result, Roxie started to get bored. Until suddenly, a large blast of magic energy radiated from the two and she was practically thrown of her feet. Landing on her butt a look of shock on her face, some of the guild who noticed this laughed only to get glared at by Roxie. A blush began to color her checks and her freckles stood out even more so than before. Getting up Roxie dusted herself down of any dirt and stayed only for a little while longer to watch the rest of the dual.

Walking inside Roxie headed back to her seat so she could work on her music again. And for a while there was peace and quiet but then Anaida's voice boomed across the hall. Startled by the sudden loudness of it, Roxie listened to Anaida's announcement. After the announcement Roxie went in search of one the few mages she genuinly enjoyed being around. Looking for a mop of messy hair and upon finding it Roxie walked with a bounce in her walk over towards him. Raising her arm out, Roxie punched Damia on the arm a fierce grin plastered on her face. "So you wanna team up with me Dami?" Calling her friend by the most recent nickname she had given him this year. Lacing her fingers behind her head, she looked up at Damia expectently.

Johnathon Allen

John sat on his stool and listened to Anaida’s lecture. It made him feel good to get some kind of advice. However, her words weren’t going to help the nightmares go away. John pondered the words as Anaida walked away from him. “It’s not a matter of you just forgetting about it and forgiving yourself. There’s more to it than that.” He wondered what exactly she meant by that, sure there was more to it than forgiving himself. He wanted to be forgiven by everyone he had hurt, but it wasn’t as simple as saying sorry. A feeling of sadness washed over John for a few moments as he just sat there with his head down. When he picked his head up he saw everyone being rowdy and heading toward the door. He shook of the sadness and then decided he would see what everyone was looking at outside. As he made his way to the door he got the feeling that he needed to meditate; it was something he hadn’t done in several years. He believed it would help him clear his mind and relax a little. He decided to make that his goal for later in the day.

When he reached the door he saw that Hannah and Seto were sparing. Watching the two of them battle reminded him of the time he fought against Hannah. The thought of it brought a smile to his face, he then realized he was drifting off and needed to refocus on the fight in front of him. But after he escaped his short daydream the fight was already over. He let out a small sigh and walked back into the guild hall and sat back down at the bar. He ordered a drink and sucked it down leaving only a few drops left in the cup. He watched as the crowd reentered the guild hall, he turned himself around and ordered another drink. It wasn’t until he heard Anaida’s booming voice that he turned around in his stool to see what was going on. She talked about a mission for getting rid of a dark guild and John could do nothing but smile. He needed a good fight; it had been a long time since he fought an enemy that allowed him to use his full potential. He knew that this dark guild would have some S-class wizards so he would get the fight he wanted. The idea of being on a team didn’t bother John very much, but he didn’t know who would be a good teammate.

His eyes scanned the room looking for possible teammates. It was then that he noticed Shin, the man was an experienced combatant and knew his way around a fight. Sure, he was getting up in age and wasn’t the same S-class wizard John knew when he first joined the guild, but he would make an interesting teammate. John got up off his stool and made his way toward Shin, he placed his hand on Shin’s shoulder. “Hey Shin, I was wondering if you wanted to team up for this mission. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in action so this should be fun.”

{Wrong Location, sorry.}

---

---

Sera had slipped away after letting the guildmaster know how her mission went. She was honestly trying to avoid some of the more rowdy guild members and perhaps catch a nice nap somewhere. So she went to the infirmary. Sera took a quick shower there, trying to wash off the some of dirt and grime that tends to stick to you when you travel for a long period of time.

After her shower she changed into a pair of clean yet plain white pants and a light blue shirt that was a little too baggy for her. She was in the middle of applying some of the gentler medicines to the bruise on the left side of her face when a firm voice laced with authority cut through the air.

“Attention Fairy Tail!!”

Sera turned quickly and fled from the medicine room, with purpose she strode into the main bar, where everyone was gathering. Her wet hair left a trail of droplets in her wake.

“We have received a request from a small town by the name of Annandale.” Silence filled the room. “This request will be asking us to risk our lives for strangers and to possibly fight strong opponents, but I have confidence that as mages of Fairy Tail you will be able to confront your opponents.” Sera leaned back against the wall. It seemed she wouldn't be getting that nap anytime soon.

“Now to the task we have been given, we Fairy Tail have been asked to deal with a guild by the name of Nightmare Hearts.” Why did that sound familiar?

“They are a dark guild and have been terrorizing the town of Annandale.” Ah yes, they were in her bingo book. “We have been given little information on the key members of this guild due to only the small fry going out into town.” Sera opened her eyes and searched the faces of her comrades, seeing mixed emotions, some of them might need a push at the right time.

“I need you lot to get into your teams and we will head out as soon as possible.” Sera grimaced at the grim silence that soon filled with anxious chatter. Of course not everyone in the guild would be going to aid the town, no only the most skilled would be sent.

She let out a small sigh, and pushed away from the wall she had been leaning on. In a mere second the red head disappeared back into the infirmary, and a minute later reappeared in the main room, now wearing her normal get-up, which consisted of the plain white connected shorts and shirt, and her white fabric shoes.

"Help is on the way." She hummed under her breath, steam lightly raising off her her body as she dried her hair. Despite her faceaid, it bothered her when dark guilds took to bothering such peace full towns. It wasn't fair, and it needed to be put to a stop. One way or another.

---

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---

---

Aina sat silently and listened to Baa-Chans speech, and then she listened to all of the chatter in the room afterwards. Her faceade was failing and her mind was whirrling. It had been a long time since Baa-Chan had orginized such a large mission. They might as well be declaring war on this dark guild. Aina knew one thing for sure.

They would put down that guild like the dogs they were.

"So you wanna team up with me Dami?" Aina heard Roxie say to Damia. The small girl let loose a large squeal of complete glee, spun around, and threw her arms around Roxie. "Dai-Pyon and Roxie-Neesan!! We could all work together! " The small girl grinned in such a happy way that it would be hard to deny her child like face.

The girl hopped down from her seat and released Roxie so she could turn towards Damia, a pout taking up her full lips and her puppy dog eyes coming into play. "Pretty please, Dai-Pyon?" The pinkett cooed and batted her eyelashes, fake but surprisingly real small tears escaping from her large pink, smoldering eyes. Aina turned towards Roxie, her bottom lip trembling slightly. Other than Baa-Chan and Sera, Roxie and Damia had to be her two most favorite people, and she often claimed they were her favorites in the whole wide world.

"Pleaseeee~!?" The small girl swooned, practically ready to fall to her knees and beg.

---

Hannah

“We will be fine after we eat.” Hannah answered Virgil, echoing Seto's response. Her mind temporarily drifting off to she hadn't had even a single bite yet that day. Hannah's stomach growled. Between all the excitement, she had forgotten about how hungry she actually was. “Worry not, Virgil.” Hannah said as she put her hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. “We will be ready when we need to be.”

Hannah's enthusiasm however, somewhat dwindled as Elizabeth joined into their conversation. Hannah was often confused as to what the blood and paper mage was trying to achieve, but knew better than inquire by now. Elizabeth never had forgiven Hannah for a past mistake and the two had avoided each other ever since... Even in shared company, it seemed Elizabeth made a point out of it not to address Hannah, as she evidently did now. The huntress' eyes passed to Seto's, then Virgil's for a moment, glinting a hint on her feelings towards the off-hand remarks by slightly baring her teeth. Although she was eager to learn how it was to fight beside Seto rather than against him, and curious as to what Virgil's magic could bring to the table, the rift between Hannah and Elizabeth was still too big for them to work in one team.

“Good luck.” Hannah said resolutely, before suddenly leaving the infirmary in wide strides. If she was lucky, there would still be some of Julius' cooking left in the guild hall... Instead, however, Hannah's attention was drawn to Aaron asking their guild master to team up.

“You are making a team?” Hannah inquired, pleasantly surprised, as she shoved herself into the conversation. Anaida usually operated on her own. Any chance to see their guild master fight, Hannah knew would be a learning opportunity. At the same time, she was also curious about Aaron's improvements. Although he frequently tried to get out of Hannah's training schedule, he did have the ambition to become one of the wizard saints...

“I will join you.” Hannah declared, as she threw an arm around Aaron and Anaida each. “Together, we will let Nightmare Hearts taste the power of Fairy Tail.” Hannah cheered, eager for their mission. This was going to be good, she just knew it.

---

---

Considering the words, Virgil almost cast a questioning glance at Hannah as she assured him they would be fine and not to worry. It wasn't a matter of worrying so much as gauging the guild's current strength. It was a matter of importance instead of faith, a form of information to catalog....and then he realized it was just a mannerism to assure him of the power of the S-class mages before him. Nearly berating himself for having the mental rant he nearly tore off on, Virgil tried to cast an apologetic smile at the woman before he noted it would be pointless behind his mask.

Food was another issue though. The point of eating brought up first by Seto and again by Hannah was one that brought his stomach back to the forefront of his mind once more, remembering that he had skipped breakfast on this morning. At that moment, he could feel his stomach starting to tighten up and the inevitable beginning to happen. 'Don't growl, don't growl, don't growl....'

rrrraaarrrrRGGHHH

The awful sound making it's way through the silence in Hannah's departure broke through his mental commanding as it let loose from the depths of his body. "I don't mind being carried by the likes of two of our guild's stronger wizards," Virgil reached up and scratched behind his head as he addressed Elizabeth and Seto once more, "but food is kind of a must right now." I'm going to grab something to eat and then head out if possible." Moving toward the door once more, he placed a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder as he passed her, silently thanking her for including him in the plans of the stronger two mages of the guild.

If the guild was riled up before, it was exploding with energy and enthusiasm now that Anaida had made her announcement. Virgil would prefer people conserving their strength and preparing for the upcoming fight he was sure would ensue, but it wouldn't be Fairy Tail without the raucous.

The kitchen was generally empty due to the earlier fight, but Virgil looked around to see if Julius was anywhere to be found. While he had not spent much time with the man, his cooking was a marvel. A disappointed sigh left his mouth as the man was nowhere in sight at the moment. Virgil helped himself to a few things, packing some away for the trip later as well. With nothing else coming to mind that was needed as he walked away from the area, Virgil decided a timetable on events was the best course of information he could acquire at the moment. And to get that, Anaida was the woman to speak to.

Virgil found her among a few others, Aaron and Hannah the most prominent. Not wanting to intrude too much, Virgil hung a bit away as he approached and addressed the Guild Master. *cough* "Ma'am? Everyone seems ready to go, or close to. When do we depart?"

When Anaida was giving her announcement, Shin made his way into a seat to sit down. There was no reason to keep using magic, and given the proximity of Elizabeth, Seto and Hannah nearby it wasn't exactly like he was alone either. He let the three evaluate themselves, after all his role regardless of groupings would pretty much be negligible unless things got life threateningly serious. He had more than one little chuckle in regards to the talented young mage's conversation, especially when Elizabeth commented about punting team mates off a cliff to get to a good fight. It was something he was guilty of doing in a rather literal fashion around their age.

John's hand and question had actually caught him somewhat by surprise. In truth he'd expected either all the S-Class magic users to either go their own way or form something of a power team. To that result, he ended up pausing for a while before providing his answer. The abundant noise in the guild, particularly the words of the other S-Class mages helped him provide a proper answer.

"I'll gladly work with you, provided you don't mind taking things a bit easier...the legs aren't what they used to be." Shin threw a wide grin as he made his proclamation.

" Besides a strong, young man such as yourself would make keeping the younger ones safe much easier should Nightmare Heart prove stronger than expected."

Wrong place. sorry

Damia couldn't help but feel a little relieved that Aaron didn't want to spar. He was probably even secretly counting on it. Though it seemed the man misinterpreted the promise he had made. He couldn't help but to think how he was supposed to unlock the souls inside the crystals without using them. Though, it didn't take long before a loud sound echoed through the guild hall, making him go back inside. He saw that there were a few items misplaced and the exercise crazy woman, along with Seto, had been scuffed up a little. At that moment he was pretty let down that he missed the fight. It seemed every time there was a dual between the S classes he was either on a mission, cleaning, or dragged off by Hannah right before to train. Taking note of this thought, he decided to come up with a plan later to avoid being dragged off.

“Attention Fairy Tail!!”

The sound that silenced the room was none other than Anaida. Damia knew that if she was calling the ears and eyes of the guild then there was something really important about to said. Usually when this happens, instead of spending a relaxing day doing nothing, the young man has to spend a majority of his day and sometimes the week doing something. He sighed as he heard her call out the request to face a guild called the Nightmare Hearts. He seriously never even heard of them. Though, when you don't read the papers it's kind of hard to know allot about what goes on in the outside world.

Immediately people started forming teams left and right. He had his dream team already planned out. He'd be with Aaron the God Slayer, Zane the Dragon Slayer, and Julius the Kick all types of butt Slayer. Though, as soon as he thought of his team, he was rejected, seeing Aaron already trying to team up with Anaida. Looking around the room he also couldn't find Zane and before he could look for Julius, a familiar voice called out for him.

"So you wanna team up with me Dami?" Roxie asked looking as innocent as she ever was. Though, Damia knew different, he still couldn't say no to her.

That counts especially for Aina, who had showed up right after roxie saying, "Dai-Pyon and Roxie-Neesan!! We could all work together! " It was hard enough to be given such a nickname from someone as cute as she was, but with Roxie as her combo, Damia almost crumbled. The power of the words and cute faces struck harder with the girls puppy dog eyes and then the almost begging like manerism made him fall to his knees. "Oh no. I cant....Resist...The cuteness." He groaned as the power went deep into his very being. "Alright. You got me. I'd love to partner up with you gals." He raised his head smiling. It always amazed him how a girl two years younger than him had that type of power over him. Damia came to the conclusion that he'd need backup when dealing with these two girls. Not only that, but he was also doubting that if something were to happen he probably wouldn't be able to save them both. Turning his head towards the bar, he saw his friend, once again and smiled.

Well, I will be in need of some food later on.

"Come on girls, let's ask Julius if he wants to join us as well," he said, walking over to the bar. "Hey Julius, you want to team up with me, Aina, and Roxie?"

It was a little less than a year ago when they arrived, the guild known as Nightmare Hearts. They came like the night does after day, passing through the throngs of people as they celebrated the founding of their town, Annandale. They were completely oblivious of the coming doom that would soon befall them in a just a little over an hour. Their Guild mates were like water trickle through mounds of pebbles, their black cloaks and hoods stuck out like a sore thumb against the festive colors of the townspeople. However it wasn’t too difficult to spot them, aside from their cloaks, for their Guilds emblem had been stitched in gold on the back of the cloak. The emblem was that of a heart being crushed by what some thought were thorns and a single ghostly wing on the left side.

While others watched from the rooftops. A keen smile spread across a figures face once they reached the roofs edge that looked out upon the main street. For their celebration, the townspeople did a parade, nothing extravagant mind you, with multiple floats. It didn’t take them long to locate a certain man considering he was in the center of it all on the largest and possibly the ugliest float created. Their smile turned to one of distaste at the sight of the mayor, leaning over the edge of the rooftop they could see the outline of the round man. Stepping back they disappeared from the rooftop leaving nothing but a soft whistling sound to inform those in the crowd of their departure. The lone figure then took a team to the mayor’s home or at least they assumed it was since it was the largest and most well maintained building in town. It didn’t take them too long to reach the outskirts of the manor nor when they made themselves known.

A single figure stood before the black iron gates with their hands raised before them. They then brought their hands together in the form of a clap releasing in a loud crack one would associate with the coming of thunder. Waves of sound tore up the ground, but only in front of them, and then the gate. It would have been somewhat normal if it weren’t for the fact that the sound wave moved in a way only a mage could make it move. The people within the mansion all jumped at the loud sound and did so with a few screams when the sound echoed throughout the mansion. The windows and anything fragile nearby all shattered making people run out into the hallways in hopes of evading the flying pieces of glass and porcelain. However they were mistaken in that sense as the moment they left their chambers and the ringing subsided from their ears a low buzzing hum could be heard drifting through the halls. And with it was that same cloaked figure from before but this time they were accompanied by a few others.



As their top mages took control of the mayors mansion, the underlings were left with the task of kidnapping the mayor and bringing him to his home. They did just that and boy did they cause a ruckus. Some got carried away but then again no one had told them they couldn’t pillage the town while they were at it, while others destroyed a few buildings and floats for the fun of it. It wasn’t very hard kidnapping the mayor, they simply sent one someone to run up onto the float and take him by force through magic. The crowds of people began to scream in terror at seeing their mayor kidnapped by hooded figures before their very eyes. At the same time those who did not witness this screamed and ran but because of the attacking mages. As the townspeople scurried about trying to get away they found that they were unable to pass their towns borders. With little protection from the attacking mages all the townspeople could do was hope for the best and stay within their homes.



The mages who had broken into the large building ran about making sure to check every room for occupants. The few guards there, who hadn’t fallen under that buzzing hum from before, were later taken down by the mages who lagged behind their obvious leader. Said leader reached a large room and there they found the parade-crashers who held a shaking mayor between them. The mayor could see the coming grin that spread itself across the ringleader’s face which didn’t really surprise him much. What did surprise him was the gender of this ringleader. Allowing their hood to fall to their shoulders, the woman shook out her bangs with her fingers and let them fall back in place over her forever obscured right eye. “Well isn’t today festive.” she said, her voice cool while walking around the room. “I apologize for the intrusion Mayor but we’ll be taking over your lovely little town now. You have something that we want. Something only you know the location of which is why you’re still alive.”

Still walking around, the woman eventually found herself standing behind a large mahogany desk. With a cat-like smile she pulled the chair out and sat herself down, bringing her booted feet up on the desks edge. This seemed to bother the mayor a bit as his face turned a light shade of pink. She was well aware of this but she chose to ignore it, “Have they set it up yet?” focusing her attention on her companies. One of them turned away for a brief moment before answering with a yes, nodding her acknowledgement she spoke. [color= #BF40FF] “Well then, let’s inform the people of the well-being of their beloved mayor.”[/color] Bringing her feet back down to earth, she leaned forwards on her elbows before continuing, “Hello people of Annandale! As you may have witness my Guild members may have already begun pillaging your homes. Well I am here to tell you that this will not be the end, not for some time, not until we get what we want. And before I end this announcement I’d like to introduce my Guild to you all and you lend a good ear. We are the Guild Nightmare Hearts and we will get what we want.” With a snap of her fingers the intercom ended and she leaned back into the chair a devilish smile on her lips that was directed towards the mayor.





The sound of wind passing through an open window could be heard from a certain room on the left side of the hallway. The door to said room was slightly ajar, and if one were to look inside they’d see where the sound was coming from. Across the room was a large balcony window that had been left open. A curtain had been pulled across the large surface of the window but with the wind blowing it fluttered in the wind. With the moving curtain and open window, the morning light poured into the otherwise dark room. It fell across the four-poster bed and its occupant. Shifting in her sleep, a tanned shoulder could be seen as the covers slipped from their previous position thanks to the unwanted movement. Eventually a head pocked out, a shock of white contrasted against the dark red of the covers.

Rolling to her side and eventually finding herself in an upright sitting position. Kisara ran a hand through her hair, pushing aside the white strands away from her face. In that moment one would be able to catch a glimpse of what lay past those strands once it settled back in place. After staring out into the darkness of her room, she stood up to get ready for the day.

Once she finished lacing up her boots, the young woman stood to her full height and stretch. A yawn escaped her lips leaving time for an amused expression to settle on her face as she walked out of her bedchamber. The mansion was relatively quiet despite it being late, the only real audible sound she could hear were the soft thuds of her boots falling against the carpeted hallways. After turning a few corners and going down two flights of stairs Kisara came across a sight that most, if they weren’t aware of the situation, would have gawked at in horror. Limp bodies were scattered across the hallway of men and women, some of which had fallen against furniture to catch themselves when Kisara had first arrived. This hallway was not alone in that it was scattered with unconscious bodies, throughout the mansion the people who had worked within the mansion were knocked out. Smiling to herself, Kisara started to hum when she noticed that some of the people were beginning to shift in their sleep, ready to wake.

At this time of the morning it has become something of a routine to leave the mansion when Kisara started to hum. She did this due to the fact that the effects of her magic spell wore off after about a day had passed. However it only worked if you were awake or even slightly awake. If the victim was sound-asleep most likely the spell wouldn’t work. Once the spell had been reinforced those of her Guild walked back inside making it full of noise once more. With her hands held behind her back Kisara strode through the dining hall nodding her head at her guild-mates when required. At one point she found herself standing at the head of the table and eventually sitting down in the chair that was set there. Not long after someone came by whispering in her ear, losing her relaxed position, Kisara leaned forwards a sinister smile on her lips.

“Now, now everyone please quiet down.” Sadly she did not receive the desired result and so she waited for a bit longer after repeating herself; however that too fell upon deaf ears. With a frown her voice boomed across the hall in a menacing manner, “I said QUIET!. Hearing their leader shout, the mages immediately stopped in their activities and stood at attention. “Better, now it seems we have a little problem on our hands. Our dear mayor it seems has chosen to sell us out and has sent a request for help in overthrowing the dark guild known as Nightmare Hearts.” Almost immediately the mages stood up in an uproar and talking amongst themselves. “Sadly I have received this news two days late, the request has most likely reached some Guild and they are likely heading this way as we speak. So I shall say this once and only once. We will prepare to meet these unfortunate souls by mid-afternoon tomorrow. However most likely they will have their entire Guild so we will meet them with our entire Guild. You are dismissed to form teams or what have you.” Waving her hands at them, the rest of the Guild broke off into groups.

Standing away she caught side of a familiar robed figure and his accompanied mask. An almost kind smile settled on her lips as she approached him, “Oliver you’re with me whether you like it or not. I’ll need that eye of yours for later.”

"Would you really just call was I just witnessed a 'scrap'? Really, Seto, I hope you aren't turning into another Hannah with your enthusiasm. I think one of her would be enough."
Seto turned at the sound of Elizabeth's voice to see her slouched into a chair behind him. He did not reply immediately due to the exchange of angry stares between Hannah and Elizabeth. It was always awkward for him when he ended up in the crossfire, and he would very much have liked to just get up and leave to avoid any further awkwardness, but doing so would just cause more. The tension between the two was almost enough to stop Seto from noticing the apple Elizabeth had thrown to him, but he caught it at the last moment and offered her a nod of thanks. He wasn't going to take sides in an oestrogen-fuelled rivalry he didn't understand, so he just sat quietly and ate his apple until Hannah left. He gave her a small wave of goodbye before returning his attention to Elizabeth and Virgil.
"You won't have to worry about that." Seto reassured Elizabeth, "Confidence and lack of self-control are hardly the same thing. Besides, I've been through worse."
This was indeed true. Plenty of times, both during his current and previous career, had he scraped through life-threatening situations, not to mention the time Hannah had curb-stomped him when he had decided that the flu wasn't a good enough reason to take some time off.

Seto cringed slightly when Elizabeth mentioned that Anaida would "tear him a new one" if he tried to work alone. Seto had expected Elizabeth to put it more eloquently, but she was right, and Seto certainly didn't intend to end up on the wrong end of the guildmaster's wrath. Working with Elizabeth and Virgil seemed like the second best option, as nobody else in the guild was capable of being calm for more than a few minutes.
"Well then, it seems that we have a team." Seto commented, "But this is for this job only, once we're done I'm going back to working on my-"
Seto was cut off from a loud, gurgling noise emanating from Virgil's stomach. He almost gave Virgil a dry look, but stopped himself; Virgil couldn't control the workings of his stomach. Instead, he gave Virgil a wave of goodbye as the older mage went of to find some food.

Seto rose from his chair to stretch a bit; his whole body still ached slightly from the strain of fighting another mage of his calibre, so he did a few stretches to loosen up a bit.
"I know this is probably a silly question," Seto began as he turned to Elizabeth, still doing his stretches, "But I don't suppose you know anything about this 'Nightmare Hearts', do you?"

A soft smile settled on her facing seeing some of her mages perk up at the sound of a new challenge. “Some of them never change,” shaking her head she went back down below, hands clasped behind her as she watched her mages form their teams. Heading back to the bar she sat down to calm herself a bit and even ordered a drink. Taking a swig of her beer she saw out of the corner of her eye, Aaron, who approached her. Hm this doesn’t look good. she thought to herself with a slight frown.

“I have a couple of questions, Anaida" Looking out at him from the corner of her eye, “Course you do.” she said sarcastically. “The information on these miscreants, I'd like to have it. Unless you'd rather form a coherent plan of attack yourself.” Bringing the mug back to her lips ready to tip it into her mouth she paused, lowering her mug so that it rested on the bar. She gave him a raised brow before snorting at him pushing his glasses up to their rightful spot. ‘Information you say.” All the while she was teasing Aaron although he probably just thought she was being difficult. It seemed he wasn’t about to let her answer just yet so she returned to drinking what was left of her beer. “Also, I regard my chances of survival extremely low without the strength of the Guild Master at my side. I'd like us to join forces for this particular... problem, if you will indulge me.”


At hearing that, Anaida couldn’t help but choke on her beer. Coughing a couple times she wiped the corners of her mouth and looked at him. Even with the chuckle it was obvious how serious the young man was. Seeing this a look of acceptance settled on her face and she sat up straighter. “I-“ before she even managed to finish her sentence, Hannah burst into the conversation. “You are making a team?” Scowling at the younger woman Anaida questioned her words, “Surprise, surprise, but no I don’t need you two following after me. Although I have confidence in your magical abilities, what I’m aiming at isn’t something to bring kids along.” Motioning towards them it seemed Hannah didn’t hear, “I will join you.” Anaida stared at her, rubbing the bridge of her nose as an oncoming headache emerged. Sighing, she drew away from Hannah’s arm.


“Didn’t I just say no?” It didn’t look like Hannah was taking a no for an answer. “Together, we will let Nightmare Hearts taste the power of Fairy Tail.” Rolling her eyes, Anaida couldn’t help but smile at Hannah’s eagerness so with much effort she spoke. “Ugh fine, I’ll let you two tag along but don’t slow me down.”Her words weren’t directed to anyone in particular as for the time being her attention was elsewhere. Dark eyes shifted across the Guild hall taking account of how many had formed teams and how many have yet to do so. We’ll need to hurry it up.

Realizing she hadn’t answered Aaron’s question yet she shifted in her seat to face him. “Sad to say but there isn’t much information them individually. From what the request said no one has been able to leave or enter the town since they arrived. That and the entire mayor’s staff and guard were knocked out by a single mage, so I guess we’ll have to watch out for them. I’ll tell you more later. “

---

---

~At the final sounds of what seemed to be a duel, Miyuu quickly came back to life as fast as she had gone back to sleep. In front of her sat the now cold cup of coffee she ordered earlier that morning. Though she was a bit tired, she rose towards the wash closet to clean up her disheveled face from her collapsing on the bar for multiple hours. Looking into the mirror, a good bit of hair of hers was over her face and quite honestly completely out of place of where she had it this morning, her cheeks were red from resting them on her arms, and she had saliva on her face since her mouth was almost propped open from her face moving down into her arms. Whisking her hand through her hair real quick, solved most of the problems concerning her hair, the rest was fine with her. Next came her mouth and throat, which were both dry. To alleviate that, she had stuck her head under the water, taking a few sips before rinsing her face. Her red cheeks and dead asleep arms would just have to wait.

~After all that, Miyuu exited the wash closet with a stone cold face. She moved towards someone she mildly knew, and spoke to Damia, with a cold manner, "Damia. What did I miss while I was asleep?" she asked without any hesitation. Though the coffee was cold, she still drank it, best not to let things she asked for go to waste. At least she'll know what had happened from the best source for information in the guild, since most likely she is giving the information to the rest of the guild. Though something eerie hit her, she recalled the dream she had while napping on the bar, an actually nice dream for what she usually had, it was mostly here with all the colourful faces she has met. Maybe she didn't hate everyone here...

Before Damia had the chance of responding to her questioning, a loud squeal of excitement rang through the air. Cringing at the sound, she did her best to pull away from Aina’s arms. “Hey let go of me.” she growled at her friend. Dai-Pyon and Roxie-Neesan!! We could all work together” Finally being able to pull away, Roxie rolled her eyes giving Damia a look that said [i]Really?[/color] Sighing, Roxie scowled at Aina but was happy the girl finally released her.


Pleaseeee~!?" Surprised at the look she was giving Damia, Roxie couldn’t help but snicker at Damia’s performance. Roxie didn’t mind too much if Aina came along, she was of the same rank as her but Roxie considered Aina to be the strongest of the two. [color="Alright. You got me. I'd love to partner up with you gals.[/color] the fact that the older boy actually gave into Aina’s puppy look made her glare at her friend. “What! You retard! How can you say yes so easily!?” A slight look of embarrassment flashed across her face before changing to one of annoyance. Standing over him, Roxie had the urge to kick Damia but she knew that might make him change his mind.


“Ah forget it; we really need to fix that about you Dami. Realizing what she said, Roxie crossed her arms across her chest and looked away, “Not that I care really.” she said quietly. Following after Damia they got to the bar for what she thought was food but it turned out Damia wanted Julius to join them. Pulling at his arm she glared up at her taller friend, "Why do we need so many people Dami!? It’ll ruin all the fun.” she whispered fiercely.

---

---

Pests...

Everyone around the room was collapsed on the floor, seemingly dead, or as close to it as possible. But occasionally, there was a subtle twitch or gasp as pain racked their bodies from within, signifying that life was still present in them, no matter how small the source. At least a dozen bodies, both male and female scattered here and there with a smaller form of an adolescent, lay crumpled in a wrecked position around the room.

A dusky grey haze settled around the room, making visibility poor, no doubt the source of the suffering that burned through the helpless victims strewn about the room. A glowing ember cut through the haze, pinpointing the source of the sickness and pain in the room as Cind inhaled the smoke from his lit cigarette, breathing out more of the magically terrible haze a moment later. A satisfied smile upturned the corners of his mouth at the sight around him.

'This is the most fun I've had since we arrived in this pathetic to--'

A knocking at the entrance to the closed off room cut his thoughts off suddenly as the corners of his mouth turned down once more. There were no windows, no decent ventilation system, and only one door in the room, making it easy to pinpoint where the sound came from. "Go Away." Cind called casually, he was having too much fun and wasn't going to let the meaningless tasks of the other guild members spoil it now.

"Sorry, but I'm here to relieve you." The voice outside persisted after the knock, slightly muffled through the door. "You're wanted in the town. Word has gotten out to an official guild and they're on their way to try helping the town. The master is predicting a fight."

'Hm?' That bit of information intrigued him. Another guild meant other mages to state the obvious. He could have some fun with them without having to suppress himself like he needed to with the scum laying about the room. Rising from his seat he had assumed in the room, he strode to the door. and opened it, the haze subsiding slightly around the pressure of the rushing air entering the room. A lesser wizard stood before him, throwing up his arm to cover his mouth as the smoke made its way out of the room following Cind.

"You weren't supposed to kill them..." The man said as he peered at the still bodies in the room, lowering his arm slightly to get a better view.

Cind's hand shot out and caught the man, pulling him closer and exhaling a large amount of burning smoke into his face. "Oh don't worry, they aren't dead, they only wish they were!" With a shoving kick, Cind sent the man sprawling into the room before shutting the door behind him. The sounds of the man's fit of coughing was music to his ears as he strode toward the outskirts of the town, preparing to meet the arrival of the Official guild.

“Any of you boys want to be on my team?” A pink-haired girl words dripped from her lips like honey. She wore a captain's hat with a pair of pilot's goggles strapped to it and her guild's trademark coat, with nothing but a white bikini, similarly coloured skirt and knee-high, black, high-heeled boots underneath. Most of the higher-up mages had been or seen through Winny Marvel's act before, but the her scandalous charm would easily put a spell on the lower ranked mages of Nightmare Hearts. “Li'l ol' me just can't bear to play alone...”

Her words prompted many of the lowly members of Nightmare Hearts to throw their selves at the girl. Cries like “Pick me, Winny-chan!” And “I'll protect you, Winny-chan!” Echoed throughout the mansion. Soon she raised a small army of admirers, who, though low in rank, were great in numbers. “We'll go ahead, guild master.” Winny spoke in a girlish, sing-song tone as she smiled and put her hand on her hip and looked over the battalion she had raised. Winny was quite content; with this many men she should be able to wipe out the mages without even lifting a finger.

“Follow me, boys.”

---

If the forebode of a fight between guilds wasn't enough to clear the streets, Winny's entourage sure was. The following morning they had set up shop near a park in Annandale. It was a large field of grass in the open air, with gravel paths crossing through leading visitors past the flowers and open art exhibitions Annandale was known for. The dark mages gathered below the shade of a number of trees. In sheer boredom, few of the pawns had destroyed park benches and statues. This did not please Winny however, and she now used the vandals as a chair. It wasn't as comfortable as she'd hoped, but the very idea amused her. Although she it wasn't quite effective as punishment; there were more than just a few volunteers to take their place...

Her army of admirers weren't the only impatient ones. As time passed, Winny herself too, got antsy. “What's keeping those goodies-two-shoes mages?” She complained, and proceeded to ignore all the suggestions she was handed. Instead, Winny opened up a bag she'd been carrying and took out eight wind-up ducklings. One by one, she wound their clockworks and set them off in different directions. The ducklings were some of the most useless toys in her arsenal. If they would come across any mages, they'd panic and waddle straight back to their owner. However, at this point, that was exactly what Winny wanted...

Boreas merely chuckled in response to his guildmaster's announcement. Despite having been part of a guild that was disbanded by a legal guild, he wasn't worried. Most legal guilds could only deal with small time bandits; Nightmare Hearts was a completely different matter. Boreas' grin only grew wider at the thought of tearing through weak legal mages from a small-time guild, and he almost began to shudder with anticipation. He doubted that the mayor could have got the message very far; he couldn't think of any strong legal guilds in the area. Then again, that guild that had disbanded Black Fang wasn't all that far way. Fairy something... He remembered that their name involved a bad pun. Even if it was them, it would give him a shot at revenge. He scoured his brain for any memories of their wizards, but could only remember three: some geezer who used some crazy, flashy magic, a young man who had control over metal, and a woman with unnatural strength. It had been six years, so he didn't remember them very clearly.

"Sir?"
Boreas snapped back to reality to see a lower-ranking mage stood next to him.
"What?" He scowled, "Don't waste my time."
"Well, sir, you've been sitting there for quite some time, and I was wondering if-"
"Don't rush me!" Boreas snapped as he shot from his chair and used his magic to send the lower-ranking mage flying across the room, "You must be dense if you think I'm just going to sit here while I have the chance to kill some upstart legal mages."

Boreas flung open a window and used his magic to levitate out of the room. It didn't seem like any of the legal mages had turned up yet, so he found a perch on the roof of a house in the town's residential areas, where there would be plenty of people (or meatshields, as Boreas referred to them), and waited, firing off the occasional blast of wind into a randomly chosen house to keep himself from being bored.

---

Difficult as always... Aaron thought casually, merely nodding and shrugging as Anaida metaphorically tore her way out of the man's questions and prods for information with sarcastic retorts and frowns.

“I can see-” He was about to respond with dismissal of his previous offer, only to notice that a certain S-class mage had caught wind of their conversation. Although he'd normally react with slight fear and nervosity, in regards to the task at hand it came as an opportunity.

“Hannah.” Aaron greeted, only nodding yes when the young woman inquired if he and Anaida were forming up a team. Contrary to popular believe, Aaron never really feared Hannah. He respected her, and that she was willingly adding her name to potential roster of team “badass” was welcomed with open arms.

Aaron couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth perk up in a content smile, though that may just have been Hannah's contagious eagerness to show the power of Fairy Tail. His smarts, Hannah's... tenacity and Anaida's immense power would make a deadly combination that was likely to overthrow this supposed Nightmare Hearts.

They only needed...

“Well?” Aaron asked with certainty, thought still unsure if the guild master would even want to join them. She did, albeit with great reluctance.

“Kid, huh? I'm hardly the mage I was ten years ago, you should know that.” Aaron retorted with a hint of hostility. He felt Anaida should never underestimate any of her mages, more so with himself and Hannah. They weren't children wanting to play at war. Not anymore.

“We'll go show these pathetic excuses for mages what a Fairy Tail mage can do. Won't we, Hannah?” Them godslayer gave her a quick look before turning to Anaida.

“That's fine. I was hoping to give each team an individual target befitting their strengths and weaknesses, but I guess we'll just have to take them as they come.” The man sighed.

“I'm not too worried, though.” He was confident in everyone's ability, even the small-fries.

Lilith

Lilith laid herself on the roof of a small house. She had been there for about an hour enjoying the day. It was silent; her guild didn’t bother to come by this side of town. It was a perfect place for her to find a little peace and relaxation. Lilith allowed her body to relax and closed her eyes, before she could find even an ounce of sleep a voice cried out. “Hey lady, you up there?!” Lilith rose reluctantly and made her way to the edge of the roof. She looked down over the edge and her eyes locked onto a young boy with a large grin on his face.

The boy was Lilith’s messenger and play thing. He knew better than to annoy her unless it was something important. “What is it boy, this better be good.”The boy let out a light chuckle and said “Well I overheard your guild talkin and some other guild is supposed to be coming to fight you guys.” A grin crept its way across Lilith’s face after hearing those words. It had been a long time since she had a good fight and this guild of mages would give her some enjoyment. Lilith used her magic on the boy and lifted him into the air; she brought him up far enough so he could be directly in front of her. She took a coin out of her pocket and threw it to the boy. “Good work pet.” Lilith floated down from the roof landing softly on her feet. She dropped the boy into a nearby bush and walked off.

“I’m not your pet!” The boy's statement simply made Lilith chuckle, she turned to see him jump out the bush and rush after her. “What are you doing boy?” The boy walked beside Lilith and gave her a smile “I want to watch this fight; I want to know if you are as strong as you claim.” Lilith scoffed at the boys comment “Don’t you have some parents to go bug?” The boy looked at the ground and said “No, I’ve never had parents.” Lilith was silent for a moment; she looked down at the boy. She started to reach out to put her hand on his head but simply said “Just don’t get in my way.”

Kisara & Oliver

”M’lady.” Oliver tipped his mask and bowed before his guild master theatrically. It was a habit he’d taught the servants of the mansions and it greatly amused Oliver. Every time he walked by, the housestaff bowed before him now. It was their best defence against many other of the dark mages as well, so in a way it had been a good deed by Oliver. Groveling before the more sadistic of Nightmare Hearts’ mages was the best way to avoid a beating, after all.

“My eye is yours, as always, master.” Oliver insinuated, as he followed Kisara in wide strides, and put his hands in his pockets. ”What would you need of me today?” He asked eagerly. Although his walk seemed nonchalant, it was quite obvious Oliver was psyched. He always grabbed any opportunity he could to serve Kisara, after all.

Her lips curled at the ends to form a hesitant smile at Oliver’s words. “I thought I had already asked you not to call me that.” She said as she walked away and towards the stairs that led to the cellar. Her tone was full of warning so hopefully he’d take heed to it. Paying him little attention after that Kisara walked down the cellar stairs. “Not today, later. Your ability isn’t of much use to me if the enemy isn’t going to arrive until tomorrow. “ Kisara’s words may have been a bit harsh but she rarely ever sugar-coated things. The pair finally reached the dank bottom of the stairs and onto cold stone. Grabbing a torchlight their shadows danced across the walls as they entered a recently made tunnel. Kisara didn’t make much effort in making conversation instead she whistled an odd tune. as the minutes ticked by the air started to hum with power “I don’t think I’ve taken you here yet Oliver.”

”Not yet, not yet.” Oliver hummed in the same melody according to Kisara’s tune. He was already whistling parts of it, even if it didn’t summon any magical effects like his master’s magic usually did. Because while Kisara had a tendency to keep to herself, Oliver always had a need of some kind of interaction.

Walking on further the two entered a large cavern; the floor was gone for the most part so the mages had built a makeshift bridge from where Kisara and Oliver stood to the other side. “Watch your step,” taking the lead in crossing the bridge. Once they crossed it they were met by another tunnel but unlike the one they had just passed through there were openings in the walls and it was in a spiral formation. As they got closer to the end of the stairs the sound of voices grew in volume. Soon enough Oliver would figure out the source the moment they entered an even larger cavern. The cavern was full of children, all of whom were either sitting or standing with scared and tired looks on their faces. For a brief moment a look of pain flashed across her face but she wouldn’t have been surprised if Oliver didn’t notice it.

This was due to the fact that the children weren’t the only ones in the cavern. Not very far from the group was large crystallized object stood surrounded by naturally made pillars of rock. Kisara walked onto a ledge that went all the way around the cavern, so she led Oliver closer to where the giant crystal lay. If one were to look close enough you could see, faintly, a shadow of some being that looked to be sealed within the crystal. “This is what we’ve come for. As for the children they will simply serve as its meal.” Looking over at Oliver she watched to see his reaction to all of it.

”But they’re so small.” Oliver gasped, as he set his eyes on the being in the crystal. ”Wouldn’t it be better to feed it adults?” He asked, wondering about how it would feel to be eaten by a creature trapped in a crystal. Would the crystal open like a large mouth? Was there a lid on top of it Kisara opened and dropped the children through a hole? Or maybe it sucked the life-force out of the room. Oliver shivered to look at his hand, but it seemed to have remained normal. He put them against the crystal and tried to stare deeper into it, to get some kind of idea what shape or form it had.

”Maybe we can feed it the mayor. He’s big and fat, so wouldn’t he be a good meal?” Oliver mused carelessly, not having noticed Kisara’s earlier show of emotion. ”And why are we feeding it at all? It all sounds like a big hassle. Why would you do that?”

“They don’t have the same vitality as the children do, so it would only result in failure and a lot more people would be needed.” Folding her arms, Kisara watched Oliver. “He wouldn’t be enough.” she said bluntly however her eye narrowed slightly at his questions. “A big hassle for maybe but I-we need to get this done. There’s a reason we do this, although I don’t particularly approve of the method it’s what he wanted us to do.” pausing for a moment, Kisara continued, “Hmm you haven’t met him yet have you. Of course not you’re too young. I’m sure you believe I’m the Guildmaster correct? Well that’s where you’re wrong, I’m only the stand-in the substitute if you will. He only lets a select few know of his existence but what he wants he gets. And he wants this crystal.”

”Another guild master?” Oliver shrugged casually at the reveal. It made sense, that. Nightmare Hearts was filled with sadistic and evil mages. While Kisara had enough crimes on her name to be a bonafide dark mage, she had an empathic streak others lacked. “Why doesn’t he show himself? And why does he want the crystal? There has to be a reason for both.” Oliver mused, even if he sounded somewhat disinterested. He couldn’t bring himself to care very much about a person he’d never seen.

There was something that did tickle Oliver’s interest though, and that was his presence in the caverns. ”And why are you showing me this, substitute master?” He asked, putting his index finger to his chin. ”And what should I call you now? Substitute master sounds silly.”

“Now why would I know that? He trusts very few people, so he probably doesn’t want the possibility of being overthrown is my guess. Power could be one of the reasons, however he hasn’t told me much as to what he plans to do with it and i could care less of what he does with it..” Kisara responded with a disinterested shrug of her shoulders to his question. Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure why she brought Oliver with her here. Her lips curled slightly at the ends after hearing substitute master, “Call me Kisara, that is my name. I care little for titles, makes me feel old.” With that being said, Kisara gazed at the large crystal before her for a little while longer before turning on her heel.

“Lets go, we have a fight with mages to prepare for.” Not waiting for a reply, Kisara left the way they came.

Oliver peeked one last time into the crystal, but he could still not see anything. ”Right behind you, Kisara!” Oliver affirmed, but he couldn’t help but be tickled by his unanswered question. Maybe the legal mages came for the crystal. They would certainly not like to find the children down in these dungeons. Oliver sighed… What was the point of going through the trouble of harvesting children for a guild master who never showed up anyway? It gnawed at the young mage, moreso than the part where innocents were being drained, but he didn’t have the time to wonder if he was supposed to catch up with Kisara.

Back at the manor, Oliver found it having emptied out. Perhaps it was Cind dragging victims into his room for playtime, or Winny seducing the lower of the guild members to be her playthings. Oliver wondered where Kisara and he would position their selves. As a last defence before the caverns? That would be odd, because very few in Nightmare Hearts even knew of the cave, if Oliver were to believe the substitute master, and they lived here. On the other hand, within a guild of thieves and assassins, there were more than a few magical artefacts stored in the manor… Perhaps it would make the perfect house of traps then… And Oliver’s ability was perfect for predicting their effect…

”What do we do now, Kisara? Should I wake some of the servants to help us prepare?” Oliver asked, or perhaps even begged because he just loved having people run around for him every once in a while. ”We sure have a lot of thingies we can use in preparation, don’t you think? Their owners won’t miss it when the command comes from you.”

She thought about his suggestion and it certainly seemed alright, "Why not but only a few of them lest they figure out how to wake the others up." Kisara glanced back at Oliver, a playful light in her eye. Turning her attention back forwards she bent down low and whispered something into a servants ear. The servant slowly woke up confused as to where they were until they saw Kisara and Oliver standing over them. Yelling in fright, she tried to get away but Kisara pulled her back by the shoulder a malicious look on her face. "Now, now, after all the trouble I went through to wake you up this is the thanks I get? No matter I have some things for you to do."

After telling the woman what to do, Kisara stood up and went in search for the next person to wake up. Eventually they had enough people, six to be exact, each one with their own set of instructions. They were to gather some of the artifacts a few of the mages had taken with them from either before they ransacked the town or from carrying out that very act. They didn't find as many as Kisara had assumed there to be but they would suffice. After they had gathered them, Kisara instructed the servants to place an artifact at every open hall in the manor. That way if and when mages stepped through they'd have to deal with the artifacts but it was unlikely that they'd come across each and every one of them.

In all honesty Kisara actually had little knowledge of what each and every artifact did. She knew one sealed a beast of some sort within it, another was a trap meant to teleport whoever stepped through its range to a random location within half a mile, the others she wasn't really sure what they did. Once the servants came back, Kisara found they only had about two more left so she kept them with her. Now that the servants had gathered around her once more she spoke to Oliver, "Cover your ears Oliver." The servants confused by what she said backed away slowly but it was already too late, Kisara had begun to hum her tune again.

Protecting his ears against the lullaby, Oliver watched as the servants fell one by one. Hopefully the legal guild would fall just as easily. Oliver never was one to favour fighting, so the having the manor traps and Kisara accompanying him were blessings. Nobody would stand a chance against their substitute guild-master on their homefront like this. Once all servants were back asleep, Oliver removed his hands from his ears and yawned jokingly, even though he hadn’t heard the spell at all.

”Anything else, or are we prepared for the goodie-two-shoes to come?” Oliver asked. ”Wouldn’t want them to get past us into the cave. I don’t think the mysterious true guild master would want such a secret unraveled. Not that many headlines make it far out of town, anyway...”

“No that will be all, now all we have to do now is wait for them to show up.” Glancing at the young man, Kisara shoved her bangs away from her face before letting them fall over her eye again. Sighing she turned to faced Oliver, “Come let us go, we’ll wait for them by the guardhouse.” There was a small guardhouse not far from the entrance to the manors grounds. Most often overlooked it due to it’s small size but what it made up in size it made up the watch tower it had, which was mostly hidden by tall trees surrounding the area. There they’ll wait until the mages come to take back the town from them.

Anaida was indeed reminded of how her mages have grown since they joined. In this case it was Aaron who showed improvement by questioning her previous words with what she assumed was hostility. Eh so you don’t like to be called kid uh? Watch you tone with me boy, you ain’t done growing just yet, she thought to herself with what may have been a smirk. A devilish grin on her face, Anaida reached out grabbing Aaron’s head and putting him into a headlock while messing up his hair. “You’re still but a kid Aaron, so stop acting like a know it all.” she teased. Looking up she saw Virgil approach her, something she found amusing seeing as he normally stayed away from the presence of people.

"Ma'am? Everyone seems ready to go, or close to. When do we depart?" Giving him a questioning glance, Anaida continued to hold Aaron in a head lock. Looking around the guild hall, Anaida realized Virgil was right so with that she let go of Aaron by pushing him aside. Of course the older woman made sure to glance back at him with a small smile on her lips. Clearing her throat Anaida stood with her hands on her hips and a mean smile, “Alright everyone! Time to get going! Hurry up into your groups, you can formulate plans as we reach Annandale!”

Looking back over at Virgil, “Let’s get going shall we?” Anaida waited for some of the other members to get on their way before getting some of her own things ad heading out.



Their trip to Annandale was relatively fast thanks to some of the other members magic. Soon enough they stood at the outskirts of the town’s perimeter, watching the town from a distance. Anaida had them stop since some didn’t realize there was a magical barrier around the town. Walking up to the barrier, Anaida looked up at it before placing her hands against it. “Looks like they were expecting us, or they just didn’t want anyone to leave. It doesn’t look strong,” she spoke to herself, “Lets test it out.” pulling her arm back, the air around it rippled with magic and it seemed to change shape, but just as quickly as it came it went. In that instance Anaida punched the barrier with all her might. Stepping back while shaking her hand, Anaida watched the barrier as it began to crack where she had punched it. Frowning a bit she walked forwards to it and gave it a good punch but without the use of her magic. The cracks finally began to spread outwards until finally the barrier shattered completely. With a triumph humph, Anaida smiled turning to look back at her mages, “Alright now, no need for me to tell you what to do. Go find these dark mages and drive em out of this town.”

Seto remained in silence for the majority of the trip, speaking only to answer any questions that were directed at him. He was rather annoyed that he couldn't just slink off and do his own thing, but if he had to be grouped with anybody, it would definitely be Virgil and Elizabeth. Fortunately, the trip wasn't a particularly long one, so it wouldn't be long before Seto could do what he did best.

Seto made sure to take a couple of steps back once Anaida drew her arm back to punch the barrier; it was never a good idea to get to close to her when she was punching things. Seto watched in admiration as she took down the barrier with only a couple of punches, expending a minimum amount of magic. Woe betide whichever dark mages were unfortunate to cross the path of the guildmaster.

“Alright now, no need for me to tell you what to do. Go find these dark mages and drive em out of this town.”
Seto definitely didn't need to be told, and began walking calmly but briskly into the town, resting his left hand on the hilt of his katana, and motioned for Virgil and Elizabeth to follow him with his right.

Seto hadn't gone too far into the town when a loud "Hyaaaaaaah!" erupted from behind a bush, along with its source, a man requipping an axe as he leaped. However, the process was stopped by a katana being driven through his gut, making him lose focus and drop to the ground, clutching at his wound in an attempt to lessen the blood loss. Seto knelt down and used the tip of the man's cape to wipe his katana clean, before pressing it lightly against the man's neck.
"Don't worry, you'll live. I know the human body's weak points like the back of my hand." Seto reassured his terrified victim, who was now dripping with cold sweat, "Providing you tell me what I want to know, that is."
The dark mage merely stared at Seto in dumbfounded terror, so Seto pressed his katana slightly harder against the man's throat, drawing a small droplet of blood.
"Anything!" The dark mage suddenly burbled, "I'll tell you anything, just don't kill me!"
"That's better." Seto stated with an eerie smile, "Who's in charge around here, are they feared and respected, and where can I find them?"
"G-guildmaster Kisara." The dark mage began, "S-she runs ev-everything here. W-w-we always do as she says, u-unless you say otherwise!" Seto drew his katana back from the dark mage's neck slightly to make it easier for him to speak, "I think she's in the manor house, but I'm not sure. I don't know any more than that, I swear!"
"If someone were to incapacitate this Kisara, would the rest of you have the sense to stop fighting?" Seto inquired, making sure that the edge of his katana was still gently grazing the dark mage's neck.
"P-probably?" He stammered, "I-I th-think..."
His head slumped backwards and his eyelids slowly closed. He was still breathing; he had merely passed out, most likely from a mixture of terror and blood loss. He had been nice enough to co-operate, and Seto had never really had any intention of killing the man in the first place, merely to make him frightened enough to talk. He sealed the man's wound with dark matter and returned him to his bush, so that he would be out of the way.

"Well, that was easy." Seto smiled to his team-mates as he sheathed his katana, hoping they weren't too horrified by his rather extreme methods. Old habits died hard.
Seto turned his gaze to the large manor house in the distance. He wondered how strong this Kisara was; it would be nice if she wasn't much stronger than her underlings, but if she was that weak she wouldn't have been able to take the town.
"So, shall we be off?" Seto asked before he began to make his way towards the manor.

Hannah

Although she had been all fired up before the trip, Hannah had enjoyed a fair amount of rest thanks to her guild members taking care of transport. Hannah normally wasn't fond of vehicles, and truth to be told she still did not like it, but after her bout with Seto it gave her a little time to refresh. Not that Hannah thought it was really needed, though. Or maybe that had been her pride talking... Nevertheless, when the town of Annandale came into sight, Hannah jumped up and met the view with the same excitement she had the mission back in the guild.

Hannah hung out of the vehicle's window as Fairy Tail's mages drew closer to the town. The party was about to get started... Hannah jumped out of the vehicle when it stopped and watched as Anaida shattered the barrier. The guild master was strong and it pleased Hannah to know she'd be teaming up with Anaida. She had to suppress her enthusiasm to shout and cheer on her guild as they all moved out.

“Let me scout ahead.” Hannah spoke to Anaida and Aaron softly. Because Hannah was a big part of what made Fairy Tail so loud and noisy, people often forgot that she was in fact an expert huntress and knew the value of subtlety and silence. She put a hand on each of their shoulders, wings popped from her back and Hannah's eyes flickered orange; and with a mighty beating of her wings she took off into the air; flying high above Annandale. So high that any on-looker wouldn't be able to differentiate Hannah a common bird...

Hannah's eagle eyes scoured the ground beneath them; seeing far further than any normal human. Hannah registered the positions of the people she saw, but other teams were already moving into their directions. However, there was one figure (Cind) moving towards the outskirts of town... Where they had just left the vehicles and likely exhausted transport mages. Hopefully Anaida and Aaron were still close, because Hannah did not like the idea of them being left alone with a potential dark mage... Hannah circled far above their heads. If a fight would break loose, Hannah would be in the perfect position to support Anaida and Aaron from above...

Damia Towa Dantz

Damia looked back to see Roxie rather disappointed at his attempt to bring along another member and sighed scratching the back of his head. "I guess you're right," he said. "It would ruin the fun. Though I don't know how dangerous this is going to be." Then again, he had guessed the guild master wouldn't put them all in any serious danger. The Nightmare Hearts didn't sound all too bad. Though, nothing really sounded bad until laying eyes on it. He looked around and dusted off his hands. Still hungry he grabbed a bite, spending the rest of the morning trying to steal food from the kitchen. Luckily he succeeded before Anaida called for them all to leave. Like troops, everyone in the guild left towards the town of Annandale. Trying not to seem to much like he was babying them, Damia kept his eyes on Roxie and Aina, making sure they were still close to him. He didn't really enjoy having to search for people when he needed them. Though, he also had a sense of alertness about him. This mission was different than most mission he was use to going on. Sure he had been on some pretty tough missions before, but he hadn't been on any ones he could call challenging with the girls. His concern was more for his well being then there's. If something were to attack them, he'd have to jump in to defend them. He shuddered at the reaction of Anaida if he were to come from a battle with one of them hurt and him not.
Once the day began to reach it's half, Anaida stopped everyone after breaking the barrier around town saying, “Alright now, no need for me to tell you what to do. Go find these dark mages and drive em out of this town." To which Damia nodded slightly and put his hands in his pockets, walking in a per-determined path.

"Come on girls," he said, looking over his shoulder here and there to make sure they were still with him. [color=grey]"In about an hour we should eat again. I'm starving." The boy had no idea where he was going, or who exactly he was looking to find. He came up with all sorts of ideas of the type of people that could be affiliated with a guild called Nightmare Hearts. Of course the images that ran through his mind were mostly things that you would find in a horror story of some sort. Mostly things that wouldn't be scary to meat in broad daylight. He snickered to himself at the thought of seeing a pale faced demon of a person. He actually wished he could see something like that. It'd give him something to laugh at. "Okay, so listen girls. If someone comes and they seem strong, let me fight in front okay? I don't want you two getting hurt by someone crazy." He realized he was sounding kind of like an adult. It wasn't a good feeling, but he figured it was what he was supposed to say at a time like this. Though, he wasn't going to leave that bad taste in his mouth. He grinned slyly and went around the girls and put himself in between them. Kneeling down he whispered,"I hope we don't have to go against the monster of Nightmare Hearts." Though he knew nothing of the guild and was pretty sure there wasn't a monster, he kept on his facade of knowing everything to give the girls a little scare. "Yes, I hear he especially likes to use his magic to summon demons that eats children to get stronger. I think I was told the ages range between thirteen and sixteen. Oh but, we have nothing to worry about." He tried to hold his composure and keep serious. "Well at least I don't. You girls should let me lead okay. I'll fend him off." Whether, the story worked or not, he didn't really care. It was more for his amusement anyway. However, he made sure to keep front during their walk.

A look of surprise crossed her face briefly before she grinned, “That’s the whole point silly.” Once Anaida called for their departure Roxie was a bundle of energy, constantly walking ahead or away from the main group which worried Dami as she knew it would. Heck the small girl would even play a couple pranks on some of them just to boost their morale. After about half a day had passed they finally arrived at the outskirts of the town they were to free. Roxie with her hands laced behind her head was about to walk right up to the barrier before Anaida stopped them. Frustrated at having been stopped upon closer inspection she could barely see the magical barrier that was inside, “Oh well good thing I didn’t hit that.” scratching her chin absent-mindedly. ““Alright now, no need for me to tell you what to do. Go find these dark mages and drive em out of this town."

Roxie grinned once more, running after Dami. While running towards him she hooked her arm around Aina so that she knew where they were at. “Wait up Damia!” she called out to him before finally catching up to her much larger friend. In about an hour we should eat again. I'm starving." Roxie frowned at this statement, “You’re always hungry Dami. I bet you’ll eat all of our food before we even need to.” she said condescendingly. The young girl raised a brow at the snicker that slipped through his mouth, Roxie knew him well enough that something wasn’t quite right. “"Okay, so listen girls. If someone comes and they seem strong, let me fight in front okay? I don't want you two getting hurt by someone crazy." Roxie could only stare him, her mouth slightly ajar at his statement. “For your information I am not a kid. I think I can handle myself if need be.” Glaring at her friend at the corner of her eye with her arms crossed.

She walked a bit quicker so she was now in the front but what he said next made her falter. "I hope we don't have to go against the monster of Nightmare Hearts." Roxie turned to look back at him a look of worry on her face at the word monster. Yes, I hear he especially likes to use his magic to summon demons that eats children to get stronger. I think I was told the ages range between thirteen and sixteen. Oh but, we have nothing to worry about,’ Roxie continued to stare at him, "Well at least I don't. You girls should let me lead okay. I'll fend him off." Finally Roxie put two and two together; she already knew that their Guild Master didn’t know much about their opponents to someone like Dami couldn’t possibly know who they were to go up against. “Okay so that’s how you want to play then so be it.” a mischievous glint in her eye Roxie walked up to him with her hands behind her and a smug smile on her lips. “Fine then, you stay in front oh Mr. Protector of the Children.” sarcasm seemed to drip from her tongue especially at the word children.


They walked for what Roxie considered to be forever until they finally reached the outskirts of a park. Roxie couldn’t really see anyone but the air had an ominous feel to it. “I wonder when we’ll come across those dark mage.” she asked to none in particular. Suddenly a duck or rather a toy duck waddled across their path. Upon seeing them the thing seemed to panic and waddled quickly in the direction Roxie and company were heading towards. “Hey, what’s with that duck? Should we follow it?” looking up to Dami. However she didn’t wait long for an answer before she began to walk at a brisk pace to catch up to the toy.

The toy duck startled at the sight of Roxie and began circling on it's tiny wheels before it darted off into the park. There however, Roxie would find herself suddenly staring in the depths of the abyss. Twenty or so dark mages leered right back...

“This isn't a place for little girls...” A lanky, hooded man stepped forward and snarled, “Especially not for fairies.” He took off his hood and revealed the mark of Nightmare Hearts tattoo'd right across his face. Quickly backing him up were other dark mages, all male, and most of questionable taste like the hoodlum. They slowly began to surround Roxie like a pack of cackling hyenas, “Especially not alone...”

“Just get on with it already.” A bored, female voice sounded from further back in the park. A woman with pink hair, still sitting on a guild mate crossed her legs and rested her chin in her hand. “The sooner you pluck their wings, the better.” She said, although she wasn't even looking at the men. Instead, her eyes followed the tiny duck-toy that scurried back to her and picked it up. It had been the woman that had lured the Fairy Tail mage into this trap...

[Wrong area]

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Aina smiled brightly at her two comrades, and quickly hurried off to her selected room within the Guild to ready a pack. However, once she was behind a closed door, alone, her facade dropped and Aina set into motion. She packed a bag, weather there was weapons or extra food in it, no one would know for sure, but she moved around her room swiftly and silently. She easily changed into more battle friendly clothes - a loose light pink shirt with a tighter fitting black undershirt and dark, tight fitting pants, with black boots - before she slung her bag over her shoulder and turned towards the picture by the bed of an old man.

She stared at it for a moment, her eyes hard and face stoic. "I remember my promise," She spoke aloud, her voice different from the one she had used earlier, her tone was hard and strong. "I wont fail you." She turned from the room then, not sure if she'd ever return, and headed out with everyone else.

. . .

It only took half a day for everyone to reach their appointed destinations. During most of that time, Aina had silently been following her teammates. She was certain she had chosen wisely in her team, if her true colors had to come out at any point during this mission, Aina would be able to convince both Daima and Roxie to keep their silence. At first Aina had been upbeat and talkative, but as they got closer to the dark Guild, she grew silent and grim.

With a dreadful feeling in her stomach, she watched as their guild master broke down a magic barrier, and then addressed everyone with oopth. “Alright now, no need for me to tell you what to do. Go find these dark mages and drive em out of this town.” Aina moved to follow her team. "Come on girls," Daima said, looking over his shoulder at the two of them. "In about an hour we should eat again. I'm starving." Aina glanced at Roxie, taking in the other girls words before she nodded in agreement.

"Okay, so listen girls. If someone comes and they seem strong, let me fight in front okay? I don't want you two getting hurt by someone crazy." Aina stopped short for a moment, her mouth opening and shutting as she titled her head to the side. She opted to not say anything on the subject, for fear that her true colors would show sooner than she would have liked today. Instead, Aina zoned out the twos bickering, and focused on where they were going.

The small girl watched their surrounding with keen, well trained eyes, she watched silently as the shadows of unseen figures danced around them, following them. She remained silent about the subject of them being followed, unless one of the others said something, she would like to see how this plays out.

“I wonder when we’ll come across those dark mage.” Roxie spoke suddenly, breaking Aina's focus. Suddenly a toy duck waddled across their path, however the sight of the group made the small toy waddle off in a hurried panic. Aina could already see where this was going. “Hey, what’s with that duck? Should we follow it?” Aina sighed as the two followed the duck. She stayed further behind, watching carefully, planning out her next move.

“This isn't a place for little girls...” Aina stood back as twenty of more dark mages suddenly appeared around her teammates. A lanky, hooded man stepped forward and snarled, “Especially not for fairies.” She watched as he took off his hood and revealed the mark of Nightmare Hearts tattoo'd right across his face.

Aina, taking the chance that she had yet to be spotted, quickly transformed to match the dark mages that surrounded her team. She moved forward to stand with the other mages, blending in easily and giving the impression to her teammates that she had abandoned them. The Nightmare Hearts mages had no clue. “Especially not alone...” She stood silently, taking in everything.

“Just get on with it already.” A female called out, sounding bored. “The sooner you pluck their wings, the better.” Aina stood silently for another moment, giving her teammates the time to asses the situation, before she set into action. She started at the back of the group, taking out as many Dark mages as possible before they started to notice their numbers dropping until she was closer to her team.

With a simple flick of her wrist purple fire shot from her finger tips, forming a circle around her team, blocking them from the mages. Silently, Aina walked towards the fire, and as she passed through it her disguise melted, allowing her true appearance to be shown. The flames lifted for the small girl, allowing her to pass through unharmed, and she stepped up beside her team.

"She's not alone, old woman." Aina's voice was hard and cold, very different then what her teammates were used to, and with a sweep of her hands, the purple flames shot outwards, away from her team, and onto the dark mages.

Pained screams echoed through the park.

To Damia's displeasure his tall tale didn't seem to sink into the young girls head. Not that he was expecting it to anyway. He heard a sigh and turned to see Aina. She was sure acting strange today, but that might've been because she was scared. 'Poor thing,' Damia thought. 'Probably isn't used to this kind of thing.' Then again it hit him that he didn't actually know what her rank was. He'd never seen her in any sort of action before. Looking to see Roxie taking off as soon as she spoke he followed her, walking faster than usual. "Roxie wait up," he yelled behind her. "You shouldn't go chasing animals. Especially not real ones."

“This isn't a place for little girls...” A lanky, hooded man stepped forward and snarled, “Especially not for fairies.”

Damia ran towards Roxie and stared at the man as if he was trying to threaten him with his gaze. He had a feeling in his gut they had just met face to face with there enemy. Especially when he took off his hood. He thought it'd be easy to just deal with the man until another one came out. “Especially not alone...” another man said and came out of the woodwork with his allies. Now that Damia was standing next to his friend he moved himself in front of her.

"Yeah, and what are you going to do about it," he asked, sounding quite mad at the fact that someone would pick on a little girl.

“Just get on with it already.” Damia looked around to see a woman, who was further from there location. The first noticeable detail was her pink hair and the second was the look of her chair. It was actually a person. A male by the looks of it. There was no way someone would let another person do that too them if they weren't the leader. “The sooner you pluck their wings, the better.”

Damia was about to reach in his pocket and pull out ruby before he was interrupted by a couple of the mages dropping to the ground, which surprised him and the other mages. Not long after flames circled around him and Roxie and he was sure that they didin't come from him, for he hadn't even touched Ruby yet, and he knew it wasn't an enemies magic, because it didn't seem to be a threat to him and the girl. Looking back at Aina, his eyes widened to see that she had walked through the flames as if she controled them, which would make a lot of sense. Though, even though he thought the surprises were over, her tone dumbfounded him as she said, "She's not alone, old woman."

As if that was the order, the flames flew away from their location and towards the dark mages, sending most of them in a panic frenzy of pain and confusion. Many of them were on fire and screaming loudly, which sort of made Damia feel sorry for them. The boy sighed and reached in his pocket, not for Ruby, but for the sapphire crystal. "You guys look like you need some water," he grinned. "Allow me to give you some. Sapphire water cannon!!!" With the words said, he pointed the crystal at one of the men and just like a cannon, water shot at the man drenching him and flinging him away. He repeated suit with the other screaming men and even some of the men who weren't burned. However, giving him more surprise, the fires didn't evaporate. With everyone on the ground he turned off the water and chuckled. "Hehe. Seems I went a little overboard. Sorry gents. Don't worry though, I still have enough water for your other friends."

Damia turned his gaze to the woman and her other men. "I hope you guys have learned your lesson. You should just give up and come in silently. I'm pretty sure the magic council will be lenient on you if you come quietly." In truth, he was hoping not to have to fight anyone. They had won the initiation with the element of surprise, but now that they were all known and the enemy was free to use their magic, it seemed as if the fight would be tough, to say the least. He also didn't know what the leader of the group could do herself and rather had not seen it. Though, he expected not have an easy ride. He was going to ask Aina to take off the fires, but only if they were going to surrender. There was no point in having more people to fight just for an act of kindness.

Shin had taken off later than most of the guild in aide to the town of Annandale. First he double checked to make sure the batch of scrolls he usually held on his person for emergency were still there (they were) but more importantly, he had to return home for his staff. It wasn't something he usually carried with him anymore, but back in the day it had served as his companion for long travels and many battles. He wasn't getting it for nostalgic purposes so much as recognition that his age wouldn't allow him to walk the distance without some form of help himself.

Trip to his house left him roughly thirty minutes behind schedule. The trip itself was also grueling, more than once he had to stop on account of his age. However, years of magical combat left him more than a little sensitive to such emanations even over vast distances.

"I'm getting far too old for this." Shin found himself cursing his age while willing the spell Meteor into being and increasing his speed. His bones protested the burden of the added force, but a trip that would have taken him many more hours was compressed into moments. Shin released his spell upon arrival, gasping for breath and trying to ascertain exactly where it was he needed to go to make the most use of himself. His better proximity now revealed that he wasn't picking up one magical emanation, but two massive pulses in two separate areas and a bunch of smaller ones in between forming too much background noise.

" Were I twenty years younger, this would be much easier," Shin more hobbled than walked through the town gate. He'd have to make his pick relatively soon, he saw an intersection coming up ahead. However, he found himself feeling younger with each step and eventually found himself calling out loud and healthily for all to hear.

" Yamamoto Shinzaemon reporting to the field, those who are brave- step forth for your punishment. Cowards who would attempt otherwise, leaving now may keep me from overtaking you!" Shin felt his heart pounding with his bold proclamation, even the potential thrill of combat dulling the aches and weaknesses of decades of life.

"Yamamoto Shinzaemon reporting to the field, those who are brave- step forth for your punishment. Cowards who would attempt otherwise, leaving now may keep me from overtaking you!"
Boreas' ears pricked at the call, causing him to turn his head and look towards its source. What was more, the voice seemed oddly familiar, but Boreas couldn't quite place his finger on where he had heard it before. Maybe it was just someone who sounded like one of his victims. The voice seemed remarkably composed, though, and Boreas' victims rarely were. He looked down at the voice's source; it appeared to be an elderly gentleman, one with a walking stick, no less. He had been right; the mayor had only found some second-rate guild that resorted to sending old men off to complete jobs. There was no way that the old crow would be capable of any resistance, so Boreas decided he'd have some fun with him.

However, the first to answer Shinzaemon's call was not Boreas. It was a lower-ranking mage, who charged out to face him, readying a fireball. However, it never left his hands, but not because Shinzaemon stopped him. Instead, a gust a wind caused the flame to gutter out, before a stronger gust slammed him face-down into the cobbles. Just as he began to try to pick himself up, Boreas descended upon him from above, using the palm of his hand to force the mage's head into the pavement. There was a sickening crunch as the mage's skull shattered between the cobblestone it lay on and the heel of Boreas' hand, killing him instantly.
"How irksome." Boreas sighed as he stood and kicked away his ally's corpse, showing not even the slightest hint of remorse as he did so, "It's such a pain when they get in the way. Oh well, there are more where he came from. For now, it looks like it's just the two of us, eh?" Boreas turned his gaze from his blood-stained glove to the old man's face, and his mild frown quickly morphed into an ear-to-ear grin once he got a better look at who his opponent was, "Oh, I remember you. You're part of that Fairy-something guild. Remember me? From Black Fang? I don't believe we ever got the chance to fight. Perhaps this will jog your memory!"
Boreas raised his right palm to the sky and swung his hand down in a chopping motion, firing down a gust of wind at Shinzaemon from above.

It was a short trip to the captured town with minimal problems as far as Elizabeth could see at least with her own group. Perhaps the only bump in the road was the fidgety nature of Seto, displaying his desire to go and be off as the dark hero to save the wayward town. Yet under the watchful eyes of Anaida, Elizabeth knew the swordsman would not even attempt to slink away from his team. As the guild master easily destroyed the barrier to the town with her fists alone, Elizabeth mentally praised Seto's willpower to resist his need to be the single hero as she could easily see that those punches were just the smallest of ones compared to Anaida's actual strength. Flexing her hands out of habit she silently followed Seto's lead as the trio walked into the seemingly deserted town.


A loud "HYAHHHHHHH" broke the unsettling silence as the owner of the voice attempted a 'sneak' attack only to be a victim of Seto's blade. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the attempt ~Sneak attacks only work when the target is attempting to be quiet~ she thought with amusement as Seto's interrogation tactics had the dark mage mentally pissing himself. Eventually the coward let a torrent of information fall from his lips at the request of Seto's none too polite tactics, effective but brutal. A scoff of disgust came from Elizabeth as the coward slumped forward into the dust of the road as Seto had gained all the information he had needed so it seemed. The swordsman merely put away his blade before gesturing the group forward with a 'Shall we be off?" and took the lead once more heading toward an extravagant mansion the supposed headquarters of the dark guild.

~What a bizarre town this is~ Elizabeth thought as the once again unnatural silence settled around the trio. Not even a single dog or bird had made any noise upon the group's arrival into the town. Pursing her lips for a moment Elizabeth decided to break the silence with an inquiry "So have your interrogation tactics always been so....forceful Seto? Not that I am surprised or anything you have always been a man of action rather than words." Her tone was polite enough with just a small amount of curiosity. A faint chill went up her spine as she suddenly stopped in her tracks as the trio reached the entrance to the mansion's courtyard "Is anyone else feeling..odd about this silence. It's not natural at all..". Easing her book from its halter at her waist, she wordlessly flipped through blank pages before settling on one. Placing the item on the dusty road, it's page fluttering slightly as a slight breeze came through the town as crimson droplets fell on the pristine pages as Elizabeth dragged the sharpened tip of her quill across her fingertips, clenching her fist allowing blood to flow faster onto the pages as words barely legible began to form on the page surrounding a bloodied emblem of a man shrouded in shadow

"Let the pages of past stories be continued through the gallant lies and words of the Rouge.Begin the chapter now" Elizabeth's voice broke the silence as a torrent of pages ripped from the book as the crimson words spread apart onto each torn page..the pages glided in an eerie fashion around the trio with an individual word in elegant penmanship was visible pickpocket..liar..thief...lover. The paper was the word "Lover" was quickly snatched out of view from Seto and Virgil by Elizabeth's quick hand as faint crimson spotted on her cheeks as her lips hissed at the book "Start the chapter now". A disembodied chuckle seemed to echo through the air as the pages once again conjugated along the book before slamming shut as the owner of the voice assembled behind it "Still not one for showmanship, Elizabeth...or telling secrets so it seems". The voice was warm and distinctly male as gentleman wearing a black top hat, torn and frayed yet matching an equally worn down suit. His eyes, a mischievous green behind shaggy auburn hair. A different type of crimson coloring appeared on Elizabeth's face as she struggled to control her surge of anger toward the 'showman' "Stop talking and get to work". Her tone was serious and cold as the Rouge merely shrugged nonchalantly before scaling up the side of a nearby building with ease. Elizabeth's hand clutched around the offensive paper before letting out a small sigh and picking up the leather bound book, dusting it off with her free hand. Returning the book to its proper place, she began bandaging her fingertips in silence, hoping her two companions were oblivious to the paper.

Minutes passed as nothing happened that was until a familiar face appeared from an alleyway dragging an unconscious mage behind him. A Cheshire smile was on the Rouge face as he presented the mage to the trio before stepping on the man's clutched hand, possibly breaking the bones that were of little concern though. Markings on the man's body faded as the unnatural silence of the environment surrounding the trio was broken, Elizabeth merely dismissed the Rouge with a wave of her hand as a job well done. The troublesome pickpocket merely pouted "What that's all I get for my troubles.." Elizabeth's mouth turned into a firm line as she clutched her hands together resisting the urge to punch the fool. Sensing the woman's temper flare up once again, the Rouge merely put his hands up in a defensive gesture "Relax, I was joking..". Fiddling with her hand wrappings, Elizabeth stated flatly "Chapter End". Nothing happened as the Rouge resisted the pull of the book before grinning once again "You seem to forget I am in fact a thief..I have a tendency to take what I want. What I want is a satisfactory reward for nabbing this moron". Rubbing the bridge of her nose in an effort to ignore her urges of throttling her ever-chatty summon, Elizabeth opened her mouth to dismiss the Rouge once again, her eyes widened as a faintest touch of his lips against hers, feather-light and fleeting. The Rouge form burst into shreds of paper as an amused echo came from the shreds "Thanks for the reward..". Elizabeth stood shell-shocked as the shreds of paper drifted down to her feet as her cheeks flushed the deepest red possible as her voice strained "Well shall we continue now.I doubt without that silence barrier it will be harder for 'stealthier' mages to sneak up on us...

Shinzaemon

Shin couldn't keep an amused, if somewhat sinister smile off his face when he saw a mage rushing towards him. A lifetime of combat experience told him that the opponent wouldn't be worth the effort. When a series of gusts of wind which were quickly followed by their creator eliminated the small fry, Shin's smile broadened just a little more.

"How irksome." Shin honestly agreed with the man's assessment of the situation. After all in his younger days, he'd done things worse than simply crushing a subordinates skull for much less reason than the individual had gotten in the way. "It's such a pain when they get in the way. Oh well, there are more where he came from. For now, it looks like it's just the two of us, eh? The man paused again before a smile of his own appeared before speaking one more time.

"Oh, I remember you. You're part of that Fairy-something guild. Remember me? From Black Fang? I don't believe we ever got the chance to fight. Perhaps this will jog your memory!" When Shin saw the younger man raise his hand for a chopping motion, he immediately warped his own space to match that behind the youth- put simply his body disappeared before reappearing behind the man who'd attacked him. This gave him a great view of the wind based attack, so far this confirmed the one-on-one scenario and he'd fought enough types of magic similar to this to find himself getting bored.

"Yes kid, I'm with Fairy Tail and much like yourself I hate having my time wasted especially by weaklings getting in my way." Shin reached out towards the man without haste or blood lust, his current plan consisted in trapping him in a sphere of space created by Ih Ragdo, but the line about Black Fang sounded vaguely familiar.

[color=orange] "I might have done something the like that, truth be told I honestly can't remember. By the time I was the age of the teenager you crushed, I'd killed and captured so many men it became like whistling, an insignificant thing to pass the time."[/orange] Shin's face became somewhat apologetic during his answer, after all he hadn't been able to answer the man's question. However, if the man lost his cool then things would also get easier on his end.

Boreas flinched slightly when Shinzaemon disappeared into thin air, but was able to use his magic to propel himself into the air in time to avoid the bubble formed by Shinzaemon’s Ih Ragdo. He decided to remain in the air, since it took little energy to levitate and he would be safer from Shinzaemon’s attacks up there.
"You know, for a doddering old geezer, you aren’t bad." Boreas lauded, "I wasn’t expecting to find anyone with a spine in a legal guild. It’s a shame your memory’s going. I was hoping that you’d understand why I’m going to take great pleasure in dismembering you, limb by limb. Other than the sheer thrill of it, of course." Boreas wasn’t about to simply shut up and get on with the fight, though, if he could make Shinzaemon regret his actions in his last moments then perhaps his death would be even more amusing, "Don’t you remember anything about Black Fang? We can’t have been that insignificant, considering you and your fairy friends came out personally to meet us. Do you remember any of the others? What about Gyges?"

Boreas extended a palm towards the ground and released wisps of mist towards the ground below. The wisps a few metres away from Shinzaemon to form a colossal, humanoid figure that stretched the limits of how big a human could possibly get. Despite being made entirely of silvery, translucent mist, it looked remarkably human. It had several distinguishing features other than its colossal stature, such as a long, wiry beard, heavy plate armour, and a battleaxe slung across its shoulders. Its face even seemed to be sculpted into a twisted sneer.
"Big guy with an axe." Boreas explained, rather redundantly, "Liked shouting and hitting things. Not very articulate. And how about Seto?"

Boreas produced more spirals that took form opposite his last creation. This time they formed a man of reasonable size, only he wasn't so much of a man as he was an adolescent. He was a lot more lightly dressed than his counterpart, and instead of a huge battleaxe he had a katana sheathed at his hip. His posture was rigid and upright, and his arms were folded neatly over his chest. His youthful features were marred by an angry scowl that was seemingly directed at Shinzaemon.
"Moody kid; used Shadow Make magic." Boreas continued, "More likely to stab you than talk to you."

Boreas took a moment to survey the scene below him; everything was in place. That of course relied on Shinzaemon not vanishing and somehow popping up behind him again.
"Well, if that wasn't a trip down memory lane, I'm not sure I can help you." He shrugged, "But it's not like you'll have long to remember, anyway."
With a snap of his fingers his creations suddenly sprung to life and slashed forwards with their blades; Gyges swinging his axe vertically towards the ground and Seto swinging his katana in a horizontal arc. Both figures remoulded into razor-edged arcs of wind that hissed through the air and towards Shinzaemon at a breakneck pace.

Before she knew it, she had been surrounded. A look of surprise appeared on her face but fear was not shown. “What the?” “This isn't a place for little girls...” At that moment the look of surprise disappeared and became one of anger as a scowl replaced it. ‘Who the hell you calling little you ugly little shit!?” she growled. "Yeah, and what are you going to do about it, Her anger subsided briefly as Dami stood in front of her which only fueled her anger even more. “Dami get out of the way so I can beat his ass.”

As she was about to attempt to push him out of the way, a woman’s voice was heard and she turned in the direction it had come from. Some old lady was using a guy as a chair, which Roxie personally thought was disgusting. Suddenly a wall of fire surrounded them along with the fall of a few mages. Then Aina showed up, She's not alone, old woman." Soon enough the fire flew away from them and towards the dark mages who panicked at their inability to douse the flames, not even Dami’s magic was putting them out but he sure was having fun spraying them with water.

I hope you guys have learned your lesson. You should just give up and come in silently. I'm pretty sure the magic council will be lenient on you if you come quietly." Roxie merely glared at the back of Dami’s head, stomping her foot as if she were about to throw a tantrum. “Well I for one hope they don’t. I still need to beat a couple of their asses for calling me little. I aint’ little got that.” In a way Roxie did throw a temper tantrum but it was a bit difficult to digest considering the smallest member of the trio still wanted to fight. For the first time in a while, Roxie requiped to her first guitar. The young girl hadn’t been on any missions lately that called for the use of her magic and it seemed today would be the day she finally got to let loose. “Come on can we just beat them up already?” stepping up to stand beside Dami.

“Old?” Winny's expression shifted from bored to annoyed. Her eyebrow twitched a little, but the pink-haired woman soon recomposed herself. With an exaggerated and fake sadness she asked, “Boys, am I getting old?”

The dark mages loudly disagreed. Even those on fire(!) Winny stood up from her chair (which was singing her praises) and summoned a large wind-up key she put in his back; something that put the dark mage into an ecstatic kind of joy. Winny twisted it a couple of times and the man began to shake rapidly and uncontrollably; as if he had a surplus of energy.

“Gustav, be a dear and change these fairies their diapers for me.” Winny instructed, before she let go and the ex-chair burst forward with incredible speed. He ran up a tree and from there jumped right over Aina's flame circle; preparing to deliver a series of kicks that could connect with all three mages at once if they didn't defend their selves.

Winny, meanwhile, retreated to what seemed to be a big bag full of toys. What was in it was a mystery for now, but it didn't spell much good...

((Please ignore, this post is null and void and shall be re-posted after edits are made. In accordance to what Polaris and I have spoken about in Private Messages. ~Lufia))

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Sera got a much later start than everyone else, she had some personal matters to attend to, and there for, she was rushing to catch up. If it were anyone else, they would be half a day behind their guild, since it always took that lot half a day to reach their destination, however Sera was pushing herself to catch up with them. She only rested once, right before she caught up with her guild - so she wouldn't fall over in the middle of a fight. However, when Sera did catch up, it wasn't what she expected at all.

Sera let out a sigh and rubbed the back of her neck. This place was like a silent wasteland, and she didn't seen anyone. "Next time I'm just gonna travel with them, back-up be damned." She grunted as she came to what appeared a cross roads. Sera let out a small growl. She wasn't sure which was to go now, and it wasn't like she could call out to anyone. "There a bunch of bloody grown people, they should be able to take care of themselves." She let out a sigh, and plopped down onto the ground right there, in-between the cross road.

Crossing her legs, Sera closed her eyes, made fists with both of her hands, and put them together as she focused. She could feel the fire in her stomach swirling around restlessly, and she could feel her power reserves slowing building from the three hours of meditation and rest she had prior to arriving here. If Sera could just find someone, she could be of help.

With her enhanced hearing Sera could hear talking not too far away, it was to the left, but to the right she could hear what sounded of a struggle. Two things happened at once though, screams pierced the air and the sound of wind picking up pushed her hair back from her shoulders.

Sera jumped to her feet, her eyes flying open in the process, she took off in a run towards the breeze, instead of the screams. She was following her gut. As she ran, she could make out a voice. "Well, if that wasn't a trip down memory lane, I'm not sure I can help you." There was a pause, she was getting closer. "But it's not like you'll have long to remember, anyway." Sera frowned as she came upon the scene below her, Shin, the old man who often gave her advice, was getting attacked by some weirdos.

In a flash of bright orange, Sera suddenly stood in front of Shin, her arms thrown out as fire gathered in each palm, before she slammed them both together, making one of her favorite yet slightly destructive moves; Dragon's Brilliant Flame. A large wall of fire shot towards the three figures in front of her and Shin, before the fire exploded all together where the enemies had once been, leaving a small but gaping crater in it's wake, though it was clear there had been a chance to escape.

"Woops," She mumbled, looking at the small hole before glancing back at Shin. "Sorry." Sera's face flushed. Undoubtedly he would lecture her for jumping in without thought and intervening in such a manner, but she would pay for the damage done, of course.

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Aina glanced at her teammates, ignoring the slightly disapproving looking on Dami's face, instead of lowering her fire, she extended it and morphed it, making it wrap around the dark mages and form cages over each of them. Not injuring them, but if any of them tried to touch the fiery purple bars, they would be burned.

“Boys, am I getting old?” Aina rolled her eyes at the woman. Clearly conceded.

She watched silently as she woman summoned what appeared to be a large wind-up key, and put it in what had once been her 'chairs' back. The woman twisted it a couple of times and the man began to shake. A bad feeling started in Aina's gut.

“Gustav, be a dear and change these fairies their diapers for me.” She ordered, and then the man burst forward with a new speed. He ran up a tree and from there jumped right over Aina's flame circle, which made rage fill the small girls stomach. She slamed her hands together as the man - thing prepared to deliver a series of kicks that could connect with all of her team.

Aina wouldn't stand for it. She didn't want to resort to this, but she had little choice. For a second, her pink eyes flashed purple, and then the fire was leaking out of her conjoined palms, and wrapping around her body.

"Gashadokuro, Purple Flare." Her voice rung out high, and then, with a burst of purple light a giant skeleton in-golfed in the purple flames stood in the wake of the small girl. The skeleton reached out and ex-chairs leg, and held it up side down, before throwing it towards the woman who was digging around in a bag.

"Surrender now." Her once high pitched voice came out as a deep leer as she gazed down at the dark mages through the gaping skeleton eyes.

Shinzaemon didn't achieve any further recognition until after his opponent made mention of Seto. The figure was of great likeness and while crude the description was spot on in regards to his 'son's' older character.

" Oh so you're-" Shin had to cut his words short as the figures attacked and merged into a sickle of wind. His defense was simply to step into the prison he'd made earlier with Ih Ragdo. The difference of an additional spacial boundary should easily keep him safe. A gout of flame washed over his sphere instead, from his best bet the heat or the accompanying explosion had been his barrier this time. He knew of only one mage that would be so reckless with that kind of firepower, and sure enough the read hair was cleanly visible as the dust settled. He dispelled his sphere, it would be easier than altering the properties to allow conversation.

"While I must compliment your sense of timing Sera," Shin reflexively crossed his arms while choosing which words to say towards the young dragon slayer. "It would be shameful of me to let you go without some form of lesson on restraint...or for that matter interrupting the conversation I was having with one of Seto's old playmates." At this point Shin turned to hunt for the man in question. From his own appraisal of Sera's explosion, a Wind Mage with that caliber was either smart enough to ride the explosion or fast enough to have gotten out of the way.

"However, in this case...a bit of shame might be necessary. If possible I want to draw more of them here." Shin quickly gave up his hunt, his artificial right eye could see just fine. But the overlap with his nearly blind, natural, left eye made such a task too difficult for him to properly trust his vision.

(Disregard this, I posted in the wrong location.)

The arrival of the dragon slayer was quite a surprise to Boreas, but not enough for him to lose his focus. A forceful gust was enough to extinguish the flames that were headed his way, but they had saved Shinzaemon from his attack. Annoyed as he was by the newcomer, the fact that Shinzaemon had now realised who he was brought a twisted smile to his face.
"So I'm not the only one you know." Boreas grinned, "I could ask you why you find Seto so special, but why ask now when I could ask you while you're gargling on your own blood? I'm sure it would make the story much more entertaining; it always does. I'm afraid I don't recognise the girl; perhaps your senility has rubbed off on me. Since this was going to be between the two of us, be a dear and crush her skull for me, would you?" Boreas took a slight pause to add more effect to his question, but didn't leave long enough for Shinzaemon to give him an answer, "No? I levelled the playing field for you, so it's only fair that you do the same, isn't it? Actually, scratch that, I'm sure you'll enjoy watching me tear her limb from limb while you await your own demise. I will, at least."

Boreas turned his attention to the pink-haired young woman, his eerie grin still plastered across his face. She was far younger than Shinzaemon, so with any luck she'd be an easier target, and easier to frighten; Shinzaemon's complete lack of shock after witnessing him murder his own ally in cold blood had been rather disappointing.
"So you're a fire mage, are you?" Boreas asked, but continued before she could give an answer, "I'll have you know the last fire mage I killed took me a grand total of five seconds to take out, but I suppose your righteousness inexplicably makes you better somehow. Just provide me with some entertainment!"
With that, Boreas extended a palm towards her, creating a magic circle that unleashed a flurry small, razor-like projectiles. With any luck this girl wouldn't be nearly as good at dodging as her ally; she didn't look the sort of person who would be. However, as Boreas well knew from working with all manners of peculiar people, looks could be deceiving.

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"While I must compliment your sense of timing Sera," Sera looked away from the older man, building up a sigh. "It would be shameful of me to let you go without some form of lesson on restraint...or for that matter interrupting the conversation I was having with one of Seto's old playmates." sera looked down, hopefully it wouldn't be a long lecture today.

"However, in this case...a bit of shame might be necessary. If possible I want to draw more of them here." Her head snapped back up, and she couldn't help but grin at the older man. "I can do that," She nodded her head, looking at the small hole before glancing back at Shin. "And old man...I can be your eyes." Sera's grin stretched. "You can trust me," She stood up strighter and turned towards the hole as the smoke began to clear, a figure could be seen.

"So I'm not the only one you know." The man grinned, "I could ask you why you find Seto so special, but why ask now when I could ask you while you're gargling on your own blood? I'm sure it would make the story much more entertaining; it always does. I'm afraid I don't recognize the girl; perhaps your senility has rubbed off on me. Since this was going to be between the two of us, be a dear and crush her skull for me, would you?" Sera tensed at the man words, her rage building as she clenched her fists. Steam began to roll off of her limbs. "No? I leveled the playing field for you, so it's only fair that you do the same, isn't it? Actually, scratch that, I'm sure you'll enjoy watching me tear her limb from limb while you await your own demise. I will, at least." He turned towards her.

"So you're a fire mage, are you?" He asked, but continued before she could give an answer, not that she was going too. "I'll have you know the last fire mage I killed took me a grand total of five seconds to take out, but I suppose your righteousness inexplicably makes you better somehow. Just provide me with some entertainment!" Sera crouched low as Boreas extended a palm towards her, creating a magic circle that unleashed a flurry small, razor-like projectiles.

She felt the heat building up in her feet, and so without a word, Sera pushed up, off of the ground, and into the air. Her body twisted and turned, evading the magical projectiles that flew at her, through she wasn't fast enough. Two of the razor sharp gusts of wind sliced through her left cheek and her right side, but that didn't stop her. She landed on all fours, and took off towards the male.

"You wont be ripping me apart," She snarled, dodging more of the projectiles as she got closer, flames began to rise from both of her arms. "Scum like you, who wold hurt your own comrades, don't deserve to be in a guild!" She pushed off of the ground completely as her body twisted in the air, completely in golfed in flames, she spun so fast only the flames were viable as she shot at the man, straight on. Even if she missed, he would feel the burn just from her close proximity.

---

The older woman put her hands on her hips, waiting for two individuals to reach her position. She gave no indication of acknowledging Hannah’s suggestion. Anaida rubbed her shoulder shortly after cracking her knuckles. Scowling at the smirk on Aaron’s face, she understood his intent and it was for this reason she didn’t really want to have them along. Looking up above where she assumed Hannah to be, it was near impossible to tell that it was her. The only reason Anaida knew it was her was because she saw her ascend to that location but she knew once they started moving she’d lose sight of Hannah.

Focusing her attention back to the front, she rubbed her shoulder again letting it roll a bit before taking the front position. “Then I guess I will, although I should have you take the lead since you seem intent on showing me your worth as an adult.” A scowl turned smirk made it somewhat obvious she wasn’t trying to be mean, merely stating the truth. Looking back up Anaida scanned the sky for Hannah already well aware of how useless it’d be. The woman just couldn’t help but worry, but mostly wonder, what the girl saw from her positon up above.

They walked for a short while but the distance they covered was a decent amount. The buildings around them seemed vacant in an eerie way. Hidden bodies and glancing eyes were the only hints that there were still people within the town. Anaida took notice of the small amounts of damage, which surprised her since normally Dark Guilds that take over a town ended up decimating most of it. What was not a surprise was a small house whose appearance made it obvious a fight had occurred there of the magical sort. Starting to get bored, Anaida wondered when they would meet a Dark Mage. She would be perfectly fine if they went straight to the center however Anaida wouldn’t mind having a little sparring match to make sure she hadn’t lost her touch.

Something up ahead caught her attention, a figure heading their way. Standing in place, Anaida squinted from where she stood trying to get a better look at this figure. She already knew that they were part of the Dark Guild since the townsfolk were too scared to even venture outside the safety of their own homes. “Looks like we have company” shifting so she got out of Aaron’s view, the figure was closer now and guessing from their physique their soon to be opponent was a man.

"So have your interrogation tactics always been so... forceful, Seto?"
"Oh, I used to be worse." Seto answered in a very matter-of-fact manner, "Much worse."
While Seto was hardly going to lie, he did not go into a great amount of detail, as he preferred to keep the details of his past to himself. The only members of the guild he had told about it were those who had already been there when he joined, and even then Shinzaemon was the only one he had told his life story to. Of course, Elizabeth could have been tipped off by someone who had been in the guild for longer, but she was a sensible woman, not the sort who might expect professional assassins to show any mercy.

"Is anyone else feeling... odd about this silence? It's not natural at all..."
"I admit, it is a bit odd," Seto replied, "But the villagers will all be hiding in their homes, waiting for us to finish our job. I would, however, expect to see more dark mages, but perhaps they just don't want to be stabbed."
Seto watched inquisitively as Elizabeth summoned the Rogue through what seemed to be a rather long ritual, part of which Elizabeth clearly didn't want her two companions to see, as she wasted no time in snatching one of the floating pages out of the air. Seto was able to make out a "ver" jutting out from under Elizabeth's tightly clenched fist. He was rather curious as to what the rest of the word was, but he doubted he'd get any answers from Elizabeth.

Seto watched the Rogue go about his work rather intently. He had never actually seen Elizabeth's magic in action before, and was rather interested in how it worked. Unfortunately, Seto didn't get to learn much about how it worked, as the Rogue scuttled off fairly quickly. What he did get to learn was that it did work; it didn't take long for the artificial silence to lift and the Rogue to return with an unconscious dark mage. While his work had been laudable, his actions against Elizabeth before allowing himself to be dispelled certainly were not; had he been a human as opposed to a magical spirit he would find himself facing (quite likely several) charges of sexual harassment. However, Seto could not pass up the opportunity to tease Virgil.
"Looks like someone has a competitor." Seto chuckled as he gave Virgil a knowing look.

"Well, shall we continue now?"
"I believe that would be best." Seto responded, and wasted no time in pressing onwards towards the mansion.

Upon actually reaching the mansion's front doors it seemed that they were locked, but that was going to be a problem.
"Shadow Make: Gauntlets." Seto chanted as he summoned dark matter around his arms, drew his left back and proceeded to strike the door at full force. The burst of dark energy was enough to reduce the door to a pile of splinters, and revealed a rather confused and shocked dark mage in the mansion's hallway. Before he could decide whether to run or defend the mansion, Seto was upon him. Seto's gauntleted fist sent him sprawling onto the floor, unconscious.
"How did this guild ever manage to take the town in the first place?" Seto mused aloud, "We haven't run into a single capable fighter so far."
Seto looked down the hallways and noticed no other dark mages, so he dispelled his gauntlets and turned back to his companions.
"Well, this mansion isn't exactly small, and this Kisara could be anywhere in it, so I suggest we split up." Seto suggested, his desire to slink off on his own becoming painfully obvious, "We'll cover more ground, and we need only shout to alert each other of this Kisara's location."

"Scum like you, who would hurt your own comrades, don't deserve to be in a guild!"
Boreas barely had time to avoid the girl's attack, but was able to lurch backwards and summon a wall of wind to protect himself from any flames that strayed to far towards him. However, he could still feel the intensity of the heat even through his wind barrier, as if it shared the dragon slayer's rage.
"Oh please, spare me your lectures." Boreas groaned condescendingly as he regained his footing, "Perhaps you're the one who doesn't deserve to be in a guild; you are acting rather recklessly. So recklessly in fact, that because of your impulsive actions," Boreas was suddenly silent as he snapped his fingers, releasing a powerful blast of air that smashed in the roof of the house behind him, causing him to grin maniacally, "Civilians might get hurt."

Boreas turned around to admire his handiwork, all but forgetting Sera's presence. The roof had completely caved in and the window panes had completely shattered. No noise but the sound of the occasional brick tumbling could be heard from within.
"I wonder how many people were in there." Boreas pondered aloud, "Maybe there was nobody in there, hence the dull lack of any reaction. Although that's being rather pessimistic, maybe there were a couple and their child in there, trying to cower away from the conflict outside, only to find themselves right in the middle of it. Perhaps the lack of noise is due to the fact that they were all crushed by the rubble instantly. Or maybe," The pitch of Boreas' voice was now beginning to rise slightly with excitement, "Maybe the child is still alive in there, but she is struck dumb by the pain of being buried under rubble and the horror of having to gaze upon her slain parents? Well, we'll never know until someone clears the rubble." Boreas turned around to face his opponents again, the sneer on his face growing ever wider, "Shall I do it again?"

Shin sighed when he saw Sera's reaction to the wind mage's provoking...at this rate he'd have to settle with one encounter at a time and risk running out of energy. However, one benefit of Sera's barrage of flames was that it allowed him to walk towards a location that gave him a straight shot behind him. Better yet, his good eye told him that he could cover the distance with one teleportation. The issue was the young man seemed rather adept at psychological warfare. Shin couldn't speak for Sera, but Shin's senses as a warrior told him the potential of civilians still being around was zero.

"Shall I do it again?"

Shin used that as his window to attack, his teleportation was off; he was more above the young man than behind.

" You talk too much," Shin resorted to his original magic at this point. He'd already put his hands forward before moving, as such he merely released the spell Heavenly Beams. It was his fastest attack and he'd launched at close range, however its power was very low. To prevent a strong gust from blowing his own attack back into his own face, Shin forced himself to warp his own space again to gain even more height. His maneuver more than doubling his current distance to the ground, belatedly he recognized this left him in his opponents territory.

Shin halted his momentum by solidifying the space immediately beneath himself. The improvised platform giving him both a better view, while simultaneously making him something of a target.

"Besides, any survivors would have already begun screaming long ago. They've either run or more likely, are dead... am I right?" Shin hoped to buy some time to reorient himself through conversation. His dulled reflexes were still trying to adjust to his former position. He took a knee, clearly his earlier state of excitement would be needed if he wanted to keep up or win. The sensation of his old staff pressed against his forehead brought him some focus, and he was at least grateful when the sensation of the world spinning began to fade.

He could see them, almost as clear as day, his new playthings. These Official Guilds and their need to save the day sickened him. They were just some annoying little pests that needed to be taught a lesson.

From where he stood, Cind could count two people. The idea of their being a third individual or even more crossed his mind, as well as the idea that these people may just be some townsfolk but of course he dismissed both ideas. There was no way any of the townsfolk would dare venture outside the safety of their own homes. Of course they were wrong in thinking they were safe by placing up some measly little brick walls between themselves and the Dark Guild. We'd just break it down in one way or another. What fools. Snorting with a shake of his head, the pair finally became clear.

There was an older woman accompanied by a young man. "Oh what’s this? An old cougar and her little boyfriend. Is this really all they had, this so called Fairy Tail. They send an old hag and a youngster to take us out. You must be mistaken and I'll show you." A sneer took place on his lips as he began to form his magic. A dark substance began to fall away from him, but it was airy and it didn't seem to have any solidity to it.

With that same sneer still on his face, Cind motioned with his hands towards the pair. In reaction the black substance followed his movements, swirling and kicking right for the two.

It didn’t take long for the first couple of mages to enter the area surrounding the mansion. Watching from the tower that was a part of the guard house, Kisara wasn’t all that surprised that the mages were unaware of Oliver’s’ and her presence. Sitting with one knee bent under her chin, Kisara watched them with amusement glittering in her eye. Now wouldn’t be the best time to confront these little mages, it’d be one on three. Glancing over at Oliver she knew he wouldn’t mind her counting him out in a fight. Even with his precognition, it wouldn’t be good to rely on solely his precognition in a fight against experienced mages.

Unlike those who had gone out to deal with those in wondering the town. Kisara was well aware of the surprises that come with fighting a mage. Just because they looked weak or were too young meant nothing in this world. The woman had seen it enough times as well as experienced it first-hand. Thinking back on it, Kisara realized she could also be counted in one of those surprises when she was younger but she wasn’t sure if it would count now that she was older and it was expected of her. The very idea of having some of the mages in her Guild assume she’s the guild master for being the strongest was a foolish notion.

From the looks of things the only female amongst the three mages had a rather interesting magic. From her vantage point it was a bit difficult to see what exactly she had done but there was some sort of commotion going on between her and whatever it was she had made. A man? That very man scaled the walls with ease. Standing up so to follow the movements of this man Kisara glimpsed at the scuffle between him and one of her mages. “Pitiful but they were smart in doing so.” looking over her shoulder at Oliver, “Looks like we can’t surprise them here.” she said with a shrug of her shoulders as she followed the man back to her original position. The silence barrier she had the mage put up was no more as the sounds of their surroundings came back.

Once the barrier was down the trio ventured off towards the mansions doors. Standing up once more, she turned to Oliver beckoning to follow her. “It would be best that we get moving.” Taking the stairs to the ground floor of the watch tower she made sure to keep hidden by whistling a soft tune. It was only temporary and it really wasn’t the greatest trick in the world but for the time being it would keep any mages from really seeing her and Oliver. They’d only be able to see them at the corner of their eyes but it would be near impossible to actually look at Oliver and her directly.

She caught up to the trio just in time to see one of the men reduce the main doors to nothing but splinters. Oh a shadow mage, this should be quite interesting. The ends of her lips curling to form a Cheshire like smile. Kisara followed after the trio making sure to keep her distance from them but enough for her to watch them. It began to annoy her that their apparent leader was referring to her as “this Kisara”. The small spell she put herself and Oliver under kept the trio from noticing their presence as well as any sound they made but she would soon have to dispel it in order to take a proper breathe. That was really the only downfall in using this particular spell, but that never kept her from using it.

As the trio eventually split up she followed the one who had yet to show their magic. Pausing just enough to speak to Oliver, a sly look on her face. “Why don’t we play a bit of cat and mouse.” Focusing her attention back at the man (Virgil) she quickly stepped around him making sure to brush against him lightly so he’d know of a presence. Making sure to stay just outside of his peripheral vision as she let go of her spell for just a moment, Kisara made a quiet sound that could have been a giggle but as soon as she did she took a proper breathe and resumed her spell from earlier. It seemed Kisara was having fun in playing with the fellow (Virgil) her spell’s effects and her randomly dropping it could make any one person rather paranoid about them not being alone. With Oliver’s help Kisara was able to stay out of range of some of his attacks to the being that was accompanying him but none met their mark. The fellow continued to unwilling follow Kisara as she led him to one of the artifacts. This one would be better suited in dealing with the fellow and soon enough they entered a large chamber.

Turning around to make sure where it was she had placed the artifact, a smile fell upon her lips when her eye caught hold of a small urn. There we go walking over to its location Kisara pulled Oliver close, “I need you to throw this at our friend here and then run.” kicking the urn to Oliver’s feet Kisara brought a hand to head as if in salute and dropped her spell. Virgil would finally be able to see who it was that had been tormenting him but it was already too late. “Now!” the moment Oliver threw the urn at Virgil Kisara raised her hand, snapped her fingers and motioned towards where Virgil stood. A small circle of sound formed around her fingers which then left her hand and straight for the urn. It was almost like throwing a rock but without the rock. The moment it came into contact with the urn it exploded.

Suddenly a flash of light could be seen accompanied by a strong pulling sensation like a black hole. The urn swirled sucking up everything within a few feet of where it was and one of those things was Virgil. Even the ground around him was taken with. The light then went out and the urn fell to the ground spinning a bit until it settled on the ground as if nothing happened. “Well that gets rid of one person now for the girl.”

---

"You talk too much."
"I like to think that I just have lots of interesting things to say." Boreas shrugged, "Besides, would you rather the last moments of your life were filled solely with the noises of conflict?"
Boreas responded to Shinzaemon's attack by shredding the beams with a wall of wind, smirking triumphantly as the beams of light broke against his shield of wind. He had not been expecting the old geezer to pull heavenly body magic from his sleeve, but he didn't seem too capable with it.

"Besides, any survivors would have already begun screaming long ago. They've either run or more likely, are dead... am I right?"
"Probably not." Boreas sneered, "They'd be screaming a year ago, but not any more. They have the sense to keep quiet if they want any chance of survival. Their screaming can be rather annoying, and you know how I deal with annoyances."
As he spoke, Boreas swirled his hands around in circles, creating a vortex of air that extended higher and higher until eventually it had completely encased all three combatants, the only exit seeming to be the vortex's opening, which seemed almost as high as the clouds.
"Why don't we make this a bit more interesting?" Boreas suggested with a playful smirk, "This is my Storm Wall. Anyone can enter from the outside, but anyone who tries to leave will be shredded by the winds. And it just so happens," Boreas left a short pause in which he snapped his fingers, "That you might be on your way out."
The wind suddenly intensified within the vortex to a strength that was easily enough to impair one's balance, and possibly enough to drive them right into the Storm Wall. Boreas, however, stood perfectly unaffected in the only space of calm air within the Storm Wall, commanding his magic away from himself.

Hannah

There were already fights bursting out and Hannah ached to join one of them. The team of Seto, Elizabeth and Virgil had vanished from her sight and for some reason Aina had summoned a giant skeleton to aid her. Aaron engaged the threat that had been moving towards them, releasing a flash of light. Hannah knew this was the perfect opportunity and needn't think twice to make use of Aaron's attack. Requipping her bow, she pulled back a swallow-infused arrow and fired it towards Aaron's target. The projectiles weren't the strongest, but they would add up. Cind would be assaulted from all kinds of directions, as Hannah released one arrow after the other; each coming from a different arc she ordered her spirit arrows to take. Between her and Aaron, Anaida wouldn't need to lift a finger, Hannah thought.

---

Oliver

Before Kisara could finish, Oliver jerked the back of her top and pulled her around a corner in the room. “We don't want them to see us.” He shrugged casually, as not a few seconds later, Elizabeth appeared where Kisara and Oliver had stood before. She had come running after the sound and would surely notice the urn laying, or more importantly; the gaping hole on the floor!

Oliver though, had a plan... And best of all he could confirm it just by walking around the corner. Stepping into Elizabeth's sight, with a casual smile and a wave, Oliver greeted her; “Welcome to our manor.” He said, making a bow while simultaneously putting his hand on his magic tool as if it was part of the bow. “Oliver L. Eisenhauer, S-rank disassembly mage, at your service.” He lied between his teeth. Oliver's range of expressions and body-language was limited to nonchalant; making it impossible to tell his emotion or intentions except for those trained to do so or very close to him. He could see through his eye the woman wouldn't act recklessly, and this was to his advantage... Because he could foresee what would happen up to five seconds in the future...

“Speaking of disassembly magic, look out, above you!” Oliver yelled as he stretched his hand out to the ceiling just in front of Elizabeth, correctly predicting for her to take a step back at the threat of the roof crashing down on her. Instead, Oliver whipped out his magic weapon as it transformed into a chain, grabbing the urn and flinging it at Elizabeth's position. He then flung it onto a chandelier, to counter-act the force pulling him towards the black hole that it created.

“Did I do good?” Oliver smirked as Elizabeth, like Virgil before her, vanished from the room completely. However, they wouldn't be able to pull the same trick on the third mage, as the urn had began smoking...

“I think this has ran out of magic power, though.”

---

---

Miyuu was relatively confused, especially when she, for some brilliant reason, followed her guildmates to Annandale. Now, she had kind-of figured that something was up, but nothing could prepared her for what was to come. First, was the force field, which looked enough to keep people from entering or exiting. Though from how easily Anaida took it down, a simple Lava Burst would have easily broken the pitiful barrier. Finally, Miyuu understood what her task was in Annandale, hunting down Dark Mages and drive them out of the city.

Miyuu was one of the last to move out, and of course, she was solo in her pursuit, yet she paused before really moving in and spoke, "Anaida, do I have permission to use my Magic?" she asked, knowing what her spells have done caused many lives to be lost, and have the chances to level the whole town. It's not something she wants to repeat again with the mass destruction and loss of life. Miyuu also had the problem of the town's buildings, most of them were wood, which needless to say, burned when extreme heat was close. That and the few times she used it, even her lava burst ability has slipped out of control and left a few craters in the landscape of Fiore.

"Use it if you need to Miyuu." Anaida replied, though continued, "But, try to keep your damage to a minimum, and stay from where you'll do irreversible damage. Soon after, Miyuu moved out, knowing what she has to do to keep all safe. Other than the Dark Mage, they won't get mercy from the little Lavamancer known as Miyuu. Terrorizing a small town reminded Miyuu of her home, where some bandits ran around for a few months. Though this time was different, instead of someone else dealing with them, Miyuu and Fairy Tail has to deal with them, good thing too, she wanted to do something other than sleep in the Guildhouse.

While Miyuu ran around the streets, which it wasn't a super hasty speed, more like a jogging pace, normal for Miyuu on a mission. Typically, Miyuu would be far more cautious, but this time she wasn't in more of a battle hunger, she wanted to punish the Dark Mages that were here. Eventually, Miyuu decided to get to the rooftops, in theory she could see far better with a higher vantage point. Slowly she climbed her way like an assassin onto the rooftop of a home before moving on the roofs leaping from building to building. She enjoyed runs like this, where there is an element of danger to them. Miyuu stopped looking around seeing how far the next bunch of buildings were from her, she thought to herself before nodding.

Miyuu walked back to the other side of the roof she was on and got into a more sprinter-like stance, she was going to jump across using her magma plume to propel her upwards with her momentum, easy enough in her mind. Though it wasn't, she began running at a full sprint using the rather light frame she had and decided to take out her staff and used it like in a pole vault to launch her a little further. All seemed to be as Miyuu had planned in her mind, and soon the magma plume to launch her up again and jump from it, that was the wrong part of her plan, she didn't anticipate the force of the plume launching her high into the air, and way off target.

After a few minutes of flying it seemed, when it was more of thirty seconds, she realized she was now falling to the ground, and noticed where she was going, the massive funnel cloud extending far above her height in the sky. Miyuu's mind raced as she thought of multiple outcomes of the impact, Oh great... I'm going to die- she thought before hitting the side of the wall and after being carried a little, and even slowed by the wind, she finally landed on the ground rather gracefully.

Rather, about as gracefully as a drunken horse. Miyuu got a foot down and tried to stop, but ended up on her face behind Shinzaemon with her arms splayed out. Miyuu sat up, figuring that her foot was caught up by a stone from the street, or just the amount of momentum she had gotten from her fall, as she rose, she looked at the three others, One was Sera, the other was Shinzaemon, and the third was unknown to Miyuu, he was dark and looked like a huge threat. Though she looked to Shin and spoke in a hushed tone,

"Sorry to intrude Shinzaemon, but may I ask whom the dark man is?" she asked keeping her eyes on the man in case of an attack.

Shin couldn't suppress his surprise at the statement given by the other mage. After all, if the man wasn't lying then Shin would have to also take care to avoid casualties- something that effectively sealed off his stronger spells at this point. The shock was enough for the man's next move to actually pull him off his platform. Only decades of experience allowed Shin to quickly sculpt another spacial prison to act as his safety against a gust that would otherwise force him into the wall of wind.

He belatedly realized that his opponent had been speaking, however it was probably to taunt or gloat in response to his most recent technique. Shin again felt excitement, he'd never fought a wind user of this caliber before. He looked around, from what he could see the gust was a constant. I can cover this much with a strong stance... who'd think an old fart like me would have to go back to the fundamentals Shin couldn't help but grin at the irony as he took a wide and low stance before dispelling his spacial barrier. However the arrival of a young woman from his guild, Miyuu if he wasn't mistaken took his attention.

"No need to be formal, Shin is just fine...as for him. Let's just say he's a wind mage in need of some discipline."

Beyond that he couldn't exactly think of anything to tell Miyuu, Seto's story wasn't his to tell and he didn't exactly recall the young man offering his name.

"Also, while I lost track of her Sera should be around here somewhere. Hate to say it, but I was really relying on her so far. This guy is too fast for my old eyes to keep up with and her fighting style was perfect to keep him from using that speed. Also if his words are to be believed, the entire town is effectively hostage...effectively sealing away my stronger techniques." Shin's grip tightened on his staff at the admission.If he wanted to win this fight, he'd have to either sacrifice town's folk or hope someone else can turn the tables for him. That much was as obvious to him as the ground beneath his feet.

That's it! Shin got an idea on how he could turn the tables himself- however given the circumstance he'd much rather avoid the attempt. After all if the wind mage had back up, Shin wouldn't have anything left over for the fight afterwards.

"Miyuu, I don't suppose you've got an ace up your sleeve...or a way to let us move the battlefield do you?"

((Wrong location))

Their opponents taunts made the older woman grind her teeth in irritation. It was one thing to assume she was Aaron’s woman but to call her old was crossing the line. Stepping forwards Anaida cracked her knuckles prepared to take down the sneering boy in one go. Then Aaron retaliated with his own bout of taunts as well as ordering her to stand back. Surprised by his muttered tone Anaida remembered that she did ask that he prove himself to her. That he had indeed grown since he joined the Guild.

Swallowing her pride Anaida brought her hands up as if she were surrendering. “He’s all yours Aaron. Show me what you got boy.” motioning towards the dark mage. Watching as Aaron extended his staff a light appeared before them showering them in a black light and then forming a shield to fend off the dark mages attacks. From her point of view it looked like shadow magic but the way it moved was too airy to be like that inky substance that made up shadow magic. Then what is it-oh I see. Thinking of telling Aaron the mages magic he called out her name but she stayed still as her eyes caught something moving above them. Oh right I forgot Hannah was up there.

Stepping forwards nonetheless Anaida leaned in close to his ear. “I don’t think you need my help here Aaron. Remember you have support up in the air and besides it shouldn’t be too hard in getting rid of this waste of air.” It wasn’t much of a hint but Aaron was smart so he may be able to figure out what she had meant.



Cind continued to sneer at the pair not caring for the mages own taunts. “Of course I do you fool. I’ve never regretted a thing in my life so good luck in that endeavor.” The smoke mage hated his casual tone but if that’s how he wanted to play it then so be it, Cind would simply do better. After that unconvincing taunt Cind simply chose to ignore the other mages words and instead focused on the attack coming his way. Although his first attack was easily dispersed he didn’t care much for that as he still had so much to show them.

As the rays of light shot towards him, Cind’s hand twitched upwards and the smoke whipped upwards and solidified. It took the brunt of the attacks holding for quite a bit but it was obvious the shield he had erected around himself was severely damaged. “Is that the best you got-“ before he could even finish his words a crap load of arrows came falling from the sky. “What the hell!?” Cind barely had time to avoid the first one but the next one sliced into his arm. Looking upwards he could barely make out a form up in the sky. Grinning a bit as if he came across a wounded animal Cind tightened his fist. The smoke around him began to formulate into small balls before elongating into long spear like projectiles. Then with a sharp motion of his arm the projectiles flew into the air with incredible speed. There were twelve in total but the arrows would either destroy some of the arrows and if he was lucky enough at least one would get to the mage in the air.

It was thanks to his earlier defense that he remained relatively unscathed until the arrows started to come at him from different angles. Surprised by the direction they were coming from Cind growled as a few more bit into his skin and clothing. “Dammit!” Stepping from side to side he managed to avoid a few but there was one or two that were lucky enough to hit him. Moving his arms again he formed a dome around him but it wasn’t quite solid but not quite gas like. It moved directions and for the moment he could focus on the mage in front of him.

From what he could tell the old hag wasn’t going to do anything so provoking her wouldn’t get him anywhere. Now to figure out what makes this kid tick. Grinning from ear to ear Cind formed two fists, with the smoke forming into two large smoky orbs, before spreading them open and moving his arms forwards. In doing so the orbs shot off as small little needles that headed right for Aaron and Anaida. “You scared of the dark kid!?” As the needles got closer they began to expand and thicken, forming a sort of dome over Aaron. The needles from the second orb remained as needles forcing Anaid to dodge them. However considering it was a rather complex attack Cind had to forget about his defense against the arrows from above.

Gravity took its natural course as Elizabeth fell victim to the bluntly obvious trap of the classic hole in the floor, what surprised her was the man's magic with his ease of reading her next step. As the wind whistled past her ears making it would be clear that this hole would not the softest landing or when exactly it would reach the bottom. Nausea creeped up through her stomach as she pictured the various injuries that would come of it as her body naturally tensed in stress. Soon fear flooded her face as her mind quickly connected that this never ending darkness could become her grave, unmarked if Seto would fall in the fight. Her life seemed to flash before her eyes in slow motion as faces of Fairy Tail and her beloved Bato, despite his overprotective nature, the kindly elder did raise her. Shaking her head as if that was the cure from her fall, her crimson eyes widened as the possible evasion from the reaper came to mind. Taking a deep breath, she quickly pulled the book from her belt along with her quill. Adrenaline numbed the pain as the pointed edge slashed through her palm, which she dragged clumsily along the open book. Words slipped from her lips in the darkness " Protector, heed my words and come shield your damsel..I don't want to die". Her voice cracked as warm tears spilled down her cheeks as she felt the form of the Damsel attempt to emerge..with no affect. The pages of the book ripped from the binding encircling its summoner as the arms of a plated knight grasped its summoner to its cold chest.


The summon's appearance was just in time as a plume of dust scattered into the air as the duo slammed into the cold earth below. A hiss of pain came from Elizabeth's lip as her teeth bit down on her lips in an effort to prevent herself from screaming out loud. The knight below her was silent as grey eyes looked back into crimson orbs. In one movement, Elizabeth found herself effectively pinned beneath the metal man as gloved hands gently prodded about her body, her face heating slightly as his hands continued their inspection. Another hiss escaped her mouth as a gloved finger prodded at her ribs, confirming at least three of them were fractured at its worst broken. Despite not being able to the knight's mouth, it was obvious that his mouth would be set in a firm line of disappointment, Elizabeth merely smiled before muttering "Nice catch...". The knight nodded before easing himself to his feet, pulling his mistress to hers as well. The duo was silent as they both took in their 'almost' grave as darkness slowly edged into actual shapes as their eyes adjusted to the lack of the light. A plated gauntlet was raised in the southern direction of the room, as if that was the actual way out. Swearing under her breath, Elizabeth walked in the direction before tumbling over a large stone. ~Wonderful now my knees and ribs are going to need medical attention.~ Elizabeth thought irritably as she waved away the offered hand of the knight "If only I had some type of light to see where the hell I was going". Inspiration struck her like a slap to the face as she quietly thanked the Knight for the rescue, pressing her bloodied lips to his helm.

With that farewell, the knight vanished into shreds of paper once again with a bow towards his lady. Her poor book was looking terribly battered with dust and its paper savagely torn from the binding. Running a gentle hand along binding, as she took the pages from the book in a much slower manner with a practiced movement. Soon a circle of paper formed on the ground as she dripped a crimson droplet of blood on each in a deliberate manner as she took a deep breath reaching within herself to steady her magical flow. This was one of her most dangerous summons, one she only used in dire situations either in a battle against living opponents or the environment. Her voice seemed to echo throughout the cave "Brimstone and bone bring forth your guardian. Let the reins of hell be given to me for this time. Allow me to chain my soul to destruction, its leash my offering of magic.".

The temperature of the cavern seemed to heat up a few degrees with a lingering scent of smoke emerging. A singular pair of eyes blinked in the darkness, crimson as its summoner, as warm breath brushed against Elizabeth's face none too pleasant. Reaching under her robe for a strip of fabric to bandage her hand, the canine-like creature merely huffed in impatience as its sat on his hunches, rubbing at large ears of the hound she muttered "Good dog..now help me find a way out of this place." The hound blinked once before opening another set of his eyes as it padded towards the hopeful exit. Wordlessly Elizabeth followed the creature with hope in her heart, her wish was granted as she found the faithful beast seated at the top of a stone staircase waiting just next to the wooden door that would lead to her return to the main floor of the manor. Wrenching the door open with her bandaged hand, a faint smirk appeared on her face as she muttered to the summon "How would you like to find me another person. He can be your new chew toy...". A single wag of the beast's tail confirmed its agreement as Elizabeth started off in the direction hoping that it would lead her back to the mage who nearly killed her..his end would be much worse.

After splitting up from Elizabeth and Virgil, Seto found himself in a large, well furnished hall on the manor's ground floor. In the centre of the room stood a long, mahogany dining table, upon which was set a dark, jagged crystal. As soon as Seto had come within a few metres of the table the crystal begin to glow with an eerie, purple light, and appeared to be expanding. Seto's left hand instinctively went for the hilt of his sword, and it seemed he was right to do so. The crystal had now expanded into a quadrupedal shape the size of a small horse, complete with a long, jagged tail and a maw lined with rows of razor-sharp, crystalline teeth. The part of it that seemed to be its head had two small but bright lilac lights where it would have had eyes had it been an organic life form.

As soon as its "eyes" had caught sight of Seto, and lurched forwards and began hurtling down the table towards him, its claws splintering they table's surface as it went. However, Seto remained motionless with his left hand gripping the hilt of his katana as the monster charged towards him. Only once it had leapt off the table towards him did he move; in one clean motion he drew his blade, cast Corrosion over it and swung it through the beast, causing it to drop to the floor in two halves. Seto dispelled the darkness from his blade and returned it to its scabbard as he turned around to examine his handiwork. The lights had faded and there were cracks in both halves of the monster, so Seto safely assumed that it was no longer a threat. He wondered why Nightmare Hearts would bother setting up such a weak trap; he was almost beginning to hope that this Kisara would provide him with more of a challenge.

As if in direct answer to his thoughts, an explosion sounded merely rooms away. Knowing that it meant conflict, he immediately ceased his examination of the crystalline beast and sprinted towards the sound as fast as his legs would carry him.

Seto's curiosity had not been misplaced; the source of the sound seemed to be two dark mages stood by a smouldering hole in the floor. Whether or not his guild mates he been there he did not know, but he certainly hoped that they weren't at the bottom of the hole.
"Kisara, I presume?" Seto asked in order to make his presence known, "I was not aware that you would have assistance, but if he's at the same standard as the rest of your lackeys, this is going to be over very quickly."
As Seto spoke he cast Gauntlets over both arms, and then beckoned for one of the two dark mages to make a move.
"Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Damia glanced down at Roxie upon hearing her request. "Sure, but let's give them a chance to surrender first. Kay?" Truthfully he didn't want to dive into too much fighting right away, especially since he was still hungry and hadn't had lunch yet. Though, it didn't seem like they were surrendering any time soon, as the woman put a key into this Gustav guys back and then retreated to a bag. The whole sight made the boy sigh and lower his head. Mostly because he would have to do more physical work then he had already done. "Fine. Let's kick there butts then," he said. He watched as the man jumped about, ready to give them all a kick from the air. His attention was taken away in an instant by the yell of Aina's magic. He stared at her for a second, but slowly, his eyes widened. "What in the..." He watched as she soon turned into a giant skeleton in-golfed in the purple flames. "Wow. I knew that being hungry can cause you to see things, but this is something else." The boy knew that it wasn't actually an illusion that he was seeing, but, never laying eyes on the girls magic before, he would have no other choice but to believe that the cute and innocent girl he knew could change into something as beastly as what he was laying his eyes on. "Very well," he said taking a few steps back. "How about you?" His eyes went towards Roxie. "Do you have any crazy things you can do that I don't know of?" This was almost like tagging her in. If it could be avoided he'd rather not have her miss out on the fun. That and, if he didn't have to use his trump card then that would also be nice. Besides, he didn't even know if he had enough energy to do it.

Roxie snorted at their opponent’s comment, "Well you're not exactly young either you old hag!" Watching the old hag put a wind up piece in the back of one of her chair guys, all Roxie could do was wonder. With the purple circle of fire getting to the people could be dangerous. She didn't know what the fire could do to her. Seeing the chair guy run towards them with monster speed, before Roxie could even bring up her guitar like a bat to swing at the guy the strangest thing happened.

Her closest friend turned into a giant purple flamed skeleton. Roxie let out a yelp of surprise. She never knew Aina had this kind of magic and for the time being, until she got used to it, she'd be somewhat wary of it. The chair guy was thrown back at the old hag who was rummaging through her bag again. "Since when could you do that Aina? But more importantly can we step out of this fire circle. There's no use in just standing in here and waiting for them to come to us, it takes longer to get this over and done with." Lowering her guitar Roxie had to lean back a bit to look up at her friend, then turning to Dami to address his earlier question.

“I couldn’t possibly be able to do that you idiot! If I could do you really think I’d be standing behind this wall of fire?” Aina looked down at them and gave the two or rather Roxie the go ahead to step out of the circle. Grinning from ear to ear it wouldn’t be surprising if the remaining dark mages assumed Roxie was one of those kids who loved the sight of blood and guts.


Gustav was far too wound up to even be able to surrender. Winny’s magic wasn’t just a speed buff; it was a bona fide adrenaline rush. Gustav was in his zone and felt beyond confident, not feeling the slightest hint of intimidation from Aina’s skeletal form. He quickly jumped to his feet again and ran straight back into the fray. Like a whirlwind of of legs, Gustav bypassed the skeletal defence; rushing the mages down at a speed that made him look like a blur.

Bringing up her guitar as she left the circle of fire. Roxie swung at the nearest person with all her might. The mage managed to jump back but not far enough as he still got hit by her guitar. He got hit in the leg but it wasn’t enough to render him incapable of fighting but it did cause him to fall as he stepped back. Seeing him going down Roxie swung her guitar again but she had been so absorbed in this attack she barely had time to register the kicks to her person. Yelling out in surprise the first few kicks knocked the breath out of her. In the end Roxie managed to bend low bringing her arms up in defence as the last kick came in but by then most of the kicks came into contact and she fell backwards from the last one. Roxie knew she wasn’t the most resilient of fighters but she was glad nothing was seriously broken.

Standing back up Roxie used her guitar as a cane of sorts. Her body felt sore all over but the damage hadn’t settled in just yet. Opening her mouth Roxie winced in pain, bring one hand up to carefully wipe at her lips she pulled it away in pain to see a little bit of blood. “Ow! You friggin wind up dude you’re dead!” Shifting her grip on her guitar Roxie rushed at the guy who had kicked her and swung hard and fast. However considering him being wound up Roxie ended up just swinging into the air but she continued to swing her guitar, each time adjusting to maybe hit him. “Dammit will you stay still!?” Bringing it downwards Roxie’s guitar smashed into the ground but the guitar itself was unharmed. The same couldn’t be said about the ground itself as it cracked a the smallest little crater was left behind. Pulling it back out she continued to attack the guy but made sure to wary of any attacks he sent her way.

Damia watched as Roxie left the circle of fire and went on to lay down a beating to one of the men who was still standing in front of her. He looked over to the leader, determining that if he could somehow get her to call her men off then the fighting would stop. He also took into note that seeing how things were, he’d also have to get his seemingly battle hungry friends to calm down as well. Reaching for his pocket for the ruby crystal inside, he flinched, feeling a sudden heat coming from it. “Ow. What the,” he hissed. “Ruby, stop being difficult.”

“Sorry boss,” the red fire serpent said while it slithered out of his pocket and onto his shoulder. Curling itself around his neck, Ruby continued by saying, “Call me picky, but I don’t want there to be another flame around while I work my mojo. Besides, don’t you have other crystals to use. I remember us talking earlier about mastering them. Don’t tell me you were planning on relying on me all this time?”
“What? No, you can’t be serious. Now isn’t the time to be amateur. I have to use what I know. Stop playing arou---”

The boys words were cut off by the sudden attack of kicks from one of the women's henchmen. One of the kicks landed on his face making him turn his head the other direction before flying in the air in a spiral. Hitting the ground a few feet from where he was standing, the only sound he could hear besides ringing was the sound of Ruby laughing at him. “Hahaha. Well boss, what do you know? If only you reached for Emerald instead. Well, I’ma let you get at it. Let me know when this battle is over, ‘kay.” With its last words the serpent then retreated itself back to its crystal in the boys pocket.

Sucking on his teeth and spitting to make sure there was no blood in his mouth, Damia rose up, staggering a bit left and right, trying to get himself to stop seeing double. Once his vision was back to normal he looked around to make sure everyone else was okay. He quickly glanced over Aina, who was still looking kind of unapproachable and darted his eyes toward Roxie who was swinging her guitar in anger at the fast henchmen. Damia knew that there was no use trying to hit the guy with a direct attack seeing as he was moving too fast, but quickly thought that maybe instead of hitting him, they could get him to hit something else. It was a long shot, but Damia followed his red friends advice and pulled the sapphire crystal from his pocket, gripping it tightly in his hand as he punched the ground. With a slight whisper, he spoke the crystals name and water began oozing from his hand like an overcharged stream of sweat. He opened his hand this time to shove the crystal deep into the soaked soil. “Sapphire waters. Water geyser.”

With his words said, water began springing up out of different areas of the ground, creating small geysers all around him and his friends. These geysers were meant to do two things. One, if someone were to crash into them at a high speed, it would probably be the equivalent of running into a tree,and two, it would make it easier to tell his attack pattern, for brushing up against the water would show his position before he made it to them. This would ultimately give them a few more moments to react to his speed. There was only one flaw in this plan. If Damia was making the geysers he wouldn’t be able to be the one to subdue the guy once he was stopped by it. He had to rely on his two friends to be able to follow up with him, or risk wasting too much energy creating the small geysers.

Damia’s plan worked perfectly, as Gustav was unable to stand still or even take a second to act on anything other but instinct. Forced to dodge the water sprouting from the ground, Gustav’s only choice to approach was through a corridor through the water; and so he did; heading straight down the path set out for him by the summoning mage.

However, Gustav wouldn’t be the only worry the mages would have, as a rapidly growing shadow was cast over the battlefield. Should the mages look up past the geysers, they would see a giant cymbal-banging monkey grow ever larger, until it’s head was up and above the tops of the buildings outside of the park… It was Winny’s magic, who had used Gustav to buy her time. The giant monkey stepped forward slowly, shaking the ground as it did. The giant toy separated it’s cymbals; before instantly mashing them together creating a shock wave that attacked both the ears and sent brute force down on everyone in the park; even Gustav and his fellow cronies. Only Winny shielded herself by standing at the back of her creation. The shockwave would even affect the excess water of the geysers; showering it down in the area. While it wouldn’t do any damage, it would take out Aina’s purple flare magic on both her circle and flaming skeleton.

Just as she missed again a geyser of water shot out of the ground. Jumping back and nearly falling from surprise Roxie quickly got out of the way of another geyser. “What the hell?” Turning to figure out the source of all the water she saw Dami and realized it was him who had caused the geysers. And he asked me if I had some crazy magic. Frowning Roxie remember the wind up guy and went in search of him. Unfortunately with all the water it was hard to pinpoint anyone’s exact location. Then she saw a flash of movement and darted towards it. It seemed she was right as Gustov had to keep away from the water. It was also obvious who his target was, “Dami you’re a sitting duck!” Running quickly she intercepted Gustov and swung her guitar just as a shadow appeared over them.

Blue eyes widening in shock at the sight of a giant toy monkey holding cymbals, Roxie barely had time to prepare herself as the toy struck its cymbals together. Bringing her guitar down just in time she grabbed hold of Dami’s hand tugging him close to her behind her guitar. Although it wasn’t very large it was pretty hardtop break considering how she used it but it managed to take the brunt of the shockwave. Her ear drums were a completely different matter. A loud ringing resounded in her ears but in a way Roxie was used to it thanks to her own magic. Of course she had never taken the brunt of her own attacks she could handle it a little better than the rest of them.

Standing on shaky feet, Roxie let go of Dami’s hand and saw that Aina had been knocked out by the shock wave. The wall of flame she had created not too long ago was snuffed out meaning their only possible defense was gone. Grinding her teeth Roxie realized she’d have to use her requip. It took up a lot of energy but they had to get rid of that monkey before it smashed those cymbals together again. “Ah Dami I’m gonna try using my blue guitar so in case that doesn’t work make sure you get rid of that stupid monkey.” A grin found itself on her face at the idea of using it again even if she had no control on how much sound was produced. Playing a few strings on the purple guitar there was a flash of light as it changed to that of a blue one. Roxie released a sigh of relief, she hadn’t actually thought she’d be able to requip it but it worked.

Taking a step forwards Roxie took a deep breathe in and closed her eyes. Her hand poised to strike down on the cords of the guitar. “Dami you may want to cover your ears if it comes out how I want it too.” Blue eyes snapping open Roxie’s hand strung the cords and a massive wave of sound erupted from the blue guitar. The force of it nearly made Roxie fall but it hit whatever was in front of it with brute force almost equal to that produced by the monkey. The sound was deep, potentially bursting the eardrums for those who were too close to the small girl and it struck the monkey at its feet. Since it went outwards in a spiral some of it got to the monkeys main body but it was weaker as it went outwards.

Damia wasn’t expecting a massive attack such as an overgrown monkey symbol sound attack. He was only able to cover his ears briefly before the aftershock of the soundwave popped them. It hurt a lot, but since he had his hands covered just in time he wasn’t knocked out. Not only that, but he had to thank the small girl who was able to pull him away. Though his lips moved, no sound came out and once he saw the girl turn to him he couldn’t register a single bit of what she was saying. On reaction he had reached in his hand for the ruby crystal in his pocket, only to have his fingers burned once more. It was apparent that no matter how bad the fight was going to get he wouldn’t have any source of fire to rely on. He was honestly beginning to wonder how he was going to do anything against that large mass. He saw Roxie equip a different guitar in time to know when he had to cover his ears. Hoping that it would be enough to finish the large toy monkey off, he was of course disappointed that it was still standing.

Quickly, he reached for the emerald crystal in his pocket and ran to a place that he considered the middle of Roxie and Aina. “Emerald Shield!!!” he yelled, mainly on accident because of his deafened ears. Though, the same result came from the matter and out of the crystal poured a green light that created a slight dome around them for protection. He knew that it wouldn’t be enough to hold off a direct attack for long. If something big were to hit it one too many times he would not only be out of energy from having it forced open, but he may even lose consciousness, leaving the small girl to fight for herself.

“Hey you,” he once again yelled due to the dampness of his hearing, “How come you just attacked liked that, knowing your own men would be hit? What kind of thing is that for a mage to do?!” Along with the emerald barrier, his words might have bought him enough time with conversation, which in turn would buy Roxie enough time to attack again. Once that happened he could lower the barrier and think about what to do whether the attack landed or not.

“Oh them, they don’t mind!” Winny shouted back, a little louder than needed as Roxie’s attack had left a ringing in the woman’s ears as well. “They would gladly sacrifice their bodies for the woman they love… Past their rough exterior they can be quite the gentlemen.” She laughed haughtily, “But you understand that, don’t you? Fighting to protect your little girlfriend… It’s how all you men are like. Though… I have to pull your tastes into question, Fairy Tail mage, aren’t these girls too young for you to date?” Winny taunted, “Why don’t you come over here, and devote yourself to a woman who doesn’t wet herself instead?”

She knew that Gustav, between being juggled by sound waves and the strain her magic put on his body was down for the count now. Her monkey had taken a big hit, but it wasn’t down for the count yet… And it wasn’t like it was her only toy. From the bag she’d gotten the monkey from, Winny pulled a small but colorful box she put another her wind-up keys in and began spinning it; gradually making it grow in size as she did…

Huffing as if she had just ran a marathon, Roxie was disappointed that her attack didn’t take down the giant monkey. Unlike the others her ears were more or less unaffected by her own attack but they still rang, albeit not as loudly as before, from the monkey’s attack. Leaning forwards on her knees, she let the go of the guitar to place her hands on her thighs. Thankfully the guitar had a strap but the guitar itself was a bit heavier than her usual one. Then Dami ran out in front of her and where Aina lay unconscious. The words Emerald Shield poured out his mouth as a loud yell. The very phrase made the girl snicker, “That the best you got Dami.” She was thankful she didn’t have to yell out her attacks. It’d be rather pointless if you gave away your next move, besides with her fighting style she normally just swung her guitar.

Wiping away the little bits of sweat that had begun to form on her skin Roxie straightened up at the sight of a green light. “Oh so then it wasn’t just some lame attack phrase.” Looking around she wondered how long the shield would even last. It could very well come crashing down if the monkey decided to just step on them. Listening to Dami as he questioned the old hags morals it was pointless to even say anything. From the looks of things Roxie guessed Dami was trying to give her time for her next attack. Frowning Roxie yelled just loud enough for Dami to hear her clearly, “I’ll ty one more time but after that I’m done Dami.”

Regardless of whether or not he registered what she said Roxie took that same stance as before. Still breathing a bit heavily Roxie concentrated for the next attack. However it was ruined by the taunting words of the old hag. Clutching the neck of the guitar harder Roxie trembled in anger and it was obvious to anyone close by that the old hag’s words had hit a nerve. Bring her arm upwards Roxie slammed her fingers against the chords her own words intertwined with the harsh sound from her guitar. “I AM NOT HIS GIRLFRIEND YOU OLD HAG!” It seemed the power behind this one was less than the attack before but this time it was a lot more concentrated.

Like a beam of solid sound the attack went right through the monkey. Although its power was lessened slightly it continued on forwards and right for the old hag. As a result her requip returned to its original purple guitar. Breathing much harder than before Roxie stood on shaky legs and fell to her knees. Throwing the guitar so that it was now slung around her back Roxie put her hands out to keep from falling face first into the ground. Roxie managed to lift her head up high enough to see the result done by her attack. The monkey finally came crashing down but she wasn’t sure about the old hag. “Did I get her?” focusing her attention on Dami before her arms gave out and she fell to her side. “I’m not small either stupid old lady.” she mumbled quietly as her eyes closed from exhaustion.

Damia looked as the woman's lips moved, squinting more and more as they did. Not only was she far away, but with his current hearing, if it weren’t for her body language he wouldn’t have been able to make out what she was trying to relay to him. Though, looking at his friend and hearing her yell of anger, he decided to spare himself the confused reaction and smiled blushing slightly to himself. Like planned he lowered the shield and watched as the death monkey crumbled. Though by the looks of it, she had more than just a giant toy monkey in that bag of hers.

“Geez boss, if only you practiced with the other crystals more, or, dare I say went on the hunt for other ones you’d have a bigger pallet right now,” the crystal serpents taunts echoed through his mind.

“I get it Ruby. So do me a favor and shut your mouth. I’m thinking.”

Luckily he was finally done yelling, for from the outside one would think he was just talking to himself. Unluckily, Roxie seemed to be pooped out and Aina was still a no go to rely on.

“You of noble stature. Use my power.”

Damia reached in his pocket wondering if Ruby had changed its mind, but once his fingers was tazed with heat there was a slight hiss followed by him sucking his forefinger. “Ruby, if you’re going to tease me, I’d rather not have you do it now.”

“I haven’t said anything since you told me to be quiet. Anyway. Why not use this guy next to me? The one glowing out of your pocket.”

Glancing down, a blue light did happen to glow at the young mans pocket. Reaching his hand in and retracting it, he saw that it was the sapphire crystal, though he didn’t know exactly what to do with it. It had been his mom that gave Ruby a physical form and he himself knew nothing about hatching a sleeping crystal. Though at the current moment it seemed like the only thing he really had going for him.

“Use me to help the people you care about. Use me for a noble task and I shall be the winter that freezes your enemies.”

The words sounded all good and everything, but without knowing what steps to take next, the quite amateur crystal mage ignored his opponent for a split second, holding the blue crystal in his hand. The more he stared at it the colder it got.

As the beam of sound tore through the monkey's leg, fluffy filling squirted out like a fountain; making it almost look as if it snowed. The monkey was brought to it's knees; slowly tumbling over forward. It was easy to predict where it would land, but it would force the mages to move outside of their geysers defenses. The giant stuffed toy's descent was slowed by them, but they cut through it's body; spreading more wool all around and piercing holes in through the monkey.

Winny who had been sheltering behind it was hit with the leftovers of the wave of sound. Unable to prepare herself, she tumbled over and fell flat on her behind. "Ouch, why you little-" Winny wanted to yell, but she couldn't even hear her own voice. "My ears! What did you do to my ears!” Winny cried, as blood seeped from them. The concentrated sound attack had done some serious damage to the woman’s hearing. “You are dead, you little crybaby!"

Winny put a wind-up toy to her own arm, and literally wound herself up over Damia’s and Roxie’s attack. Like Gustav before her, Winny’s movements sped up dramatically! Veins showed from her arm and on her forehead, but she didn’t use her newfound speed for a direct attack like the ex-chair; she used it to amplify her own casting speed! The box, as well as several other toys shortly after, grew to massive sizes. A giant caterpillar, drumming bunny and the box stood before the Fairy Tail mages within mere moments… Although it was evident this spell took a large toll on Winny’s stamina; as her breath had sped up just as much as her movements and the little she was wearing quickly drenched in her transpiration.

“Die!” She shrieked at the top of her lungs, even if she didn’t hear any sound come out of her own mouth. Her toys didn’t need any encouragement, though, the caterpillar was a heavy tank on wheels that would simply try to charge into the fray; smashing through the monkey if it had to (but would be purposely avoiding the geysers). The drumming bunny; rather than making soundwave attacks like it’s simian brethren, beat it’s instrument to inspire the fallen dark mages to raise like zombies (they didn’t seem to have even a tenth of their previous speed and strength) whereas the box… Simply stood there being huge… But as the wind up key in it kept on spinning, soft musical notes came from it…

While screams of their enemy were nice to hear, having experienced the pain of a sound wave for himself, Damia couldn’t help but wonder what exactly he was going to do at this very moment. It would have just been easier if he could just use the magic that he was used to, but the whole thing with contract mages was that their magic could decide not to work for them at a moments notice, just as Ruby was currently deciding to do. Though, he did have an idea of what type of magic he could get his hands on. On the other hand, he still didn’t know how to make a pact with a crystal that wasn’t hatched yet and was left staring back and forth nervously between his hand and the next attack the enemy mage was concocting. Soon, his eyes became stuck on the drumming bunning and the seemingly possessed mages. Though they moved slow, it didn’t necessarily mean that they weren’t a threat.

“Hey boss, could you hurry up the whole pact making thing. I’d at least like to have one of my brothers risen with me before you die. Hehehe. I’m just kidding, though, if you don’t make the pact you may end up dead, so maybe it’s not a joke. Ah well.” The snakes hissing voice spoke to him, but gave him no hints on how to exactly make the pact he was so wanting him to do.

“You know if you told me how to make the pact it would be easier than just taunting me.” The boy’s words didn’t seem to need a response from his red friend, but did seem to peak the interest of the cold one in his hand.

“Promise me that my power will only be used for noble purposes and my power shall be yours,” the deep voice of the sapphire crystal called.

“Um. Sure yeah. I don’t think I’ll be needing to use magic for bad causes anyways. So yeah, I promise.”

“Then the contract is filled and by your will, I shall freeze all who oppose us.”

Damia didn’t know what that meant exactly, but he decided not to care about it, seeing as it was holding him back. “Sapphire,” he called out the spells indication. “Freeze.” Unlike the geysers, this power didn’t seem to come from him, but from the crystal itself, which had melted out of his hand in a current of water, only to form in it’s true self, the Sapphire wolf. In its glory it looked like a wolf covered in ice, but still retained the look of the crystal in which it was named after. The wolf pointed its nose towards the sky, howling at it as if it was trying to call forth something. Though the next thing that happened wasn’t expected by the boy as his body had suddenly went numb. It had appeared that the crystal beast had taken all of its masters magical power and then some, summoning a blizzard with formed from a white void and cast itself down on the area like an ice storm. Not only could the boy not move, but he also couldn’t stop the attack from affecting him or his friends. In a matter of seconds, his body was slowly covered by the thick snow until the wolf had decided to stop howling.

“Sapphire, stop. He’s not strong enough to survive if you go all out. You’ll use all his magic,” the Ruby serpent hissed at his crystal brethren. The snowstorm died down and the wolf stopped his howl, leaving the area in a winter wonderland of sorts. Damia, shivering at the cold, fell backwards losing consciousness, not by the snow, but by the drain the storm caused on his body.

“Hmm. My apologies, noble one. I didn’t take into fact how much power you had left. It’s a good thing I only called forth snow. Otherwise you and your kin would be frozen.” The wolf nuzzled the boys hand, slowly melting back to its original crystal form.

“I hope you didn’t kill the boss Sapphy. I’d hate to be stuck in a dead mans pocket.”

Luckily for the Ruby serpent, the crystal mage had only fell asleep due the loss of energy, though how long he would be in his rested state was for no one to really know.

Snow alone, however, wasn’t going to stop the caterpillar tank from moving, much less her other toys. Even if Winny was freezing in what she could barely call an outfit, a change of weather wasn’t going to knock her out. Although it did seem to make her… Chill.

She released the magic on all but the drumming bunny, causing the caterpillar and box to shrink back to her normal sizes so Winny could preserve her magic. The drumming bunny shrunk as well, but only to half Winny’s own length. It’s drums weren’t powerful enough to force the entirety of knocked out dark mages to march, but three of them dug out Aina, Roxie and Damia.

“I know someone far better to torture you.” Winny hissed, willing to give that task to Boreas or Cind as she, under the support of an animated, but unconscious Gustav, lead the march back to the manor, while Winny pulled her guild’s coat around her, getting away from the cold before she would be undercooled...

As she was walking around the corner something pulled her back and turned to glare at Oliver who only shrugged in a casual manner. The woman from before was soon standing where they had once stood. It was obvious she had come to help at the ruckus they had caused but that just made things that much easier. His magic certainly does come in handy. What may have been a grateful smile curled the ends of her lips.

Brushing white strands away from the left side of her face Kisara was surprised by the actions Oliver then took. The boy turned the corner and introduced himself as a disassembly mage and immediately Kisara understood his intentions. Leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the corner the woman listened in on Olivers web of lies and couldn’t help but snicker softly at his warning to the space above their heads. Hearing the ground get torn up again Kisara peeked around the corner to see the woman to be nowhere in sight and a smoking urn.

Stepping closer to the urn Kisara examined it before picking it up. “I believe so, well we could always recharge it but it’s rather impractical to carrying around an urn. Besides we still have the other artifacts to use, we’ll just have to bring the other mage to them if we can. “

Placing the urn back on the ground Kisara wondered just were exactly the shadow mage was. It was rather difficult to find people within the mansion but she knew its halls better than they would. Looking at her options the woman opted to go by random. "Kisara, I presume?" Her head snapped up in the direction the shadow mage stood. I should have known better. The damn explosion gave away our position. A sly smile slipped onto her face as she turned to face him. [color= #BF40FF] “And if I am?”[/color] Her voice was on the playful side, the woman was curious as to what he’d do. "I was not aware that you would have assistance, but if he's at the same standard as the rest of your lackeys, this is going to be over very quickly.” Looking over to where Oliver stood, she was curious as to what he’d think of the mages words.

“The rest of my lackeys? Oh so then you met the fodder then, must have been boring no? Don’t worry he isn’t like the rest of them, why else who he be with me.” Shifting her stance Kisara stood so that if she needed to she’d make a run for it. however that seemed unlikely when the mage beckoned then to make the first move. Frowning if just the slightest Kisara had never been one to make the first move under such conditions, she preferred to do so under the element of surprise. “Well there goes my running away. I wish this urn was still working I could have just sent you away like the rest of your friends.”

Glancing at Oliver she hoped the boy would remember what they had discussed before. Stepping forwards Kisara brought her fists up like a boxer would even her stance was the same. Looking around she then whistled a very high tune and it seemed like everything about her had begun to shake. Let’s just test him first. Stepping forwards quickly Kisara covered the distance between the two of them with an astounding speed. Her fist went for his face but it soon became apparent that it was feint when she brought her leg up to kick him in his side. The vibrations she assumed he no doubt noticed was centered on her leg, regardless of whether he blocked it or not he’d notice the effect of getting struck by it. Kisara wanted to know how strong he was but one kick won’t tell her what she needs to know. Once again that high pitched tune slipped through her lips as a wall of defense came up in case he decided to counter attack. It was a weak defense but she really just wanted to test him.

For some reason it was cold, very cold and so like any normal person Roxie shivered. The feeling didn't last long, she could feel herself being moved but she didn't understand why she was moving. Maybe I'm dead. I'm sorry mother for lying to you. Roxie's eyes fluttered open but she was still too tired to get her vision as well as her body to move or focus. Looking up she saw white and she knew someone was carrying her and for a moment she thought maybe Dami was. Thinking this a small smile formed on her lips but the one carrying her probably wouldn't notice it. Letting herself relax Roxie drifted back into unconsciousness.

---

Suddenly she dropped but it wasn't from very high. It was more like someone was putting her down but hadn't bothered to make sure some part of her body was on the ground. What she landed on was cold and hard. The young girls head swayed as she tried to wake up this time but she simply couldn't. There were voices and a lot of movement. Then something was being wrapped around her wrists. Roxie could feel warmth at her back and she knew despite her tired body that she was being tied up with someone. Thinking further on the subject she deducted that it was Dami with whom she was being tired up with.

A bit confused her eyes started to focus and she caught a glimpse of that old hag lady. Frowning Roxie realized they hadn't defeated her at least Dami didn't. It's my fault as well. I should have been helping him. I'm sorry Dami. Her moment of guilt soon passed as she sighed quietly to herself. Her body was still tired and in a way it hurt almost like how it would if she had just come back from running a marathon. With her vision back somewhat enough Roxie looked around trying to figure out where it was they were. From the looks of it they were inside a room that could have been a sitting room at one point but now it was ransacked, with a lot of the furniture being moved or flipped over. Suddenly shivering Roxie tried to wiggle her toes but couldn't.

Concentrating a bit more her tongue poked out from between her lips, "Come on you stupid toes move." After a good ten minutes passed they bunched together and Roxie almost yelled out in joy. Biting her lips to keep from yelling out Roxie worked on getting the rest of her body to move. Out of nowhere the room shook as if it an explosion had occurred nearby. With a new worry Roxie tried to get the rest of her body to move but that took a while. The room shook one more time and she could faintly hear music but from where she was the girl couldn't figure out why sort of notes were being played. Is there a fight going on somewhere? Biting her lip again Roxie managed to get her arms working but getting out of the ropes was pointless. Grumbling to herself Roxie moved around trying to see if there was something for her to use to cut the ropes however with Dami still out it was difficult.

"Hey Dami wake up! Dami will you wake up! We need to get out of here!" She kept her voice low but loud enough for her friend to hear her well enough if he was drifting in and out. Then there was a new sound of the doorknob jingling and suddenly it burst open and a figure rushed inside. The door was slammed shut but from their position they couldn't see the door. Hearing footsteps Roxie began to panic trying to make the both of them move away from the footsteps. Sadly it was too late when said footsteps turned into boots flashing out from beneath a long white skirt. Seeing the kind of person it was Roxie almost laughed at herself for panicking. It was a young woman, a maid guessing from her appearance, and in her hands were a bunch of keys on a ring. The woman seemed hesitant to approach them and so Roxie decided to play her ace. Allowing her tears of frustration well in her eyes Roxie began to cry, "Finally someone has come! I miss Mama! I wanna go home! Please let us go! Please I wanna go home!"

Her words seemed to go well with the maid as she bit her lip looking around at the empty room and rushed to them. "Tsk such barbarians to have tied up two children and leaving them all alone." The maid worked at the ropes but it took some time to get them undone. Finally after a struggled effort the ropes slacked and fell away completely. Jumping up Roxie hugged the maid thanking her. Letting go, Roxie turned her attention on Dami who was still out of it. "Dami wake up! Wake up!" Shaking his shoulders she then slapped his face lightly in hopes pain would do it. She could tell that he was beginning to wake up but they didn't have water to pour on him. If they did that would certainly have done the trick. Frowning in frustration a devious smile came about and she leaned forwards close to his face and whispered in his ear. "Anaida's gonna punish you for getting caught Dami so you better wake up." Leaning back Roxie wondered if his fear for Anaida’s punishments would make him snap out of it.

Regardless of whether that trick worked or not Roxie would find some way to wake him. When he did Roxie chastised him and asked him how they managed to get here. Of course Roxie made sure he knew that the maid mustn’t know they were mages least she think they were on their side. The maid was happy that the two were awake now and beckoned for them to follow her. “Come we must hurry before they come.”[/color] The maid went to the door and peeked through the opening to see if the coast was clear. Stepping back in the room she looked over to where the pair stood, [b] “We’ll have to move quickly and quietly think you can manage that?” Roxie merely nodded making sure to keep up the charade of them just being random kids.

They followed the maid out into the hall as she navigated them away from all this turmoil. It seemed for the most part they’d be able to leave the mansion without a worry but it was ruined when the mansion shook again and a dark mage came running through the halls. He spotted them yelling at them to stop. Of course they didn’t take heed of his words and ran in the opposite of the dark mage. Apparently the mage did something for they ran into another mage, this time the maid turned to them “I’ll lead them away while you two get out.” At first the small girl thought of helping the maid but a third mage showed up with the first one, both sending spells their way. Even though they had been up for a short while Roxie was still tired from the amount of magic she used earlier and she knew Dami must still be depleted as well, so helping the maid wouldn’t be an option either way. Cursing under her breathe Roxie ran away from the fight turning corners and running down halls making sure to check if Dami was still behind her.

The idea of just blindly turning corners in hopes of getting out proved fruitless when a dark mage came out of a hidden passage way and stopped them. “Hey how the hell did you kids get out?” This made Roxie pause even though she herself was young she wasn’t stupid. The very nature of his question meant there were other kids here. Glancing back at Dami she whispered to him, “Dami we have to go with him. Remember Anaida told us that the kids were going missing, maybe this is what she meant.” Turning her attention back to the dark mage he had already walked up to them and she noticed his hands glowed in some weird green light. “It doesn’t matter how you got out you’re coming with me.” Waving his hand forward a band of green light encircled both Dami and her. Motioning with his hand again the two were propelled forwards.

She didn’t struggle in the least but instead focused on where it was they were going, which turns they took and the like. Roxie noticed they were going downwards by the set of stairs they were now walking along. Eventually they stood in what she assumed was the cellar but there was a hole in the back, a very large hole. The dark mage led them to it and shivered, “Geez I hate this damn thing.” He was one of the few who Kisara had told about the tunnel thanks to his binding magic. Stepping into the tunnel the two soon stood within a very large cavern and there were a bunch of children huddled below them. The ground wasn’t far below them but it would hurt if they fell in and that’s exactly how they got to the where the children were. The mage pushed them over making Roxie yelp in surprise. The two landed rather hard since the children had scattered to form a circle around them. Rubbing her bum Roxie now hurt all over, looking around she could see that the ledge they were just standing on was beyond the reach of any of these kids.

The kids looked at them with suspicion, “You’re not from this town are you? I don’t recognize you.” Roxie swallowed a lump in her throat and decided to let Dami take the spotlight for the time being. Pushing him forwards Roxie continued to look around the cavern and walked the amount of space they had to walk. That’s when she came upon the crystal the thing was huge making her gasp. It was dark but it had an almost ethereal glow to it that made it apparent something was inside the crystal. “Look Dami have you seen a crystal this big? Could this be why Nightmare Hearts is here?”

Damia felt chills while he was sleeping. He wasn't expecting that unlocking a crystal would drain a person so. Either that or he wasn't strong enough. Either way, he was having the strangest dream. A dream that his father was still home as well as his mother and the three of them were celebrating his birthday. Judging by the number of candles on the cake, he had just turned four. It was a peculiar thing. Damia couldn't say he had remembered anything about his time as a child. Maybe he was just trying to forget.

"Hey Dami wake up! Dami will you wake up! We need to get out of here!"

Why would he want to get away from his own party?

"Dami wake up! Wake up!"

'What the?' The boy thought as he blew out the candles on the cake. How could he wake up when he was in the middle of his birthday party? Wasn't that a cruel thing to ask.

"Anaida's gonna punish you for getting caught Dami so you better wake up."

Immediately the young mans eyes opened, but the light made them squint. He couldn't see very well and the things he could see wouldn't stop moving around in circles. As soon as Roxie realized he was awake she started talking to him about things he couldn't make out. Her voice seemed too low to understand her words. Once he realized that she was asking him questions he just shrugged his shoulder, that being the only thing he could focus on doing at the time.

Groggy, Damia followed Roxie and a lady who seemed to come out of thin air. He wasn't able to pay attention much, but it seemed by how they were moving around they were moving at an urgent pace. Plus the screaming of a man near them didn't help either.

“Dami we have to go with him. Remember Anaida told us that the kids were going missing, maybe this is what she meant.”

That was right. They were on a mission at the moment. Damia's eyes crept open a little bit more to focus on his surroundings. Seemed they were captured or something of the sort. From how the man made them move, he was a mage just like them, but unlike them he was a dark mage. Being pushed into an area of captured children. Maybe he was baby sitter. Whatever he was, Damia was about to burn him with Ruby. That was, until he realized he might not have been strong enough yet to give Ruby enough power.

“You’re not from this town are you? I don’t recognize you.”

It seemed Roxie was nervous about something, judging by the way she pushed him out towards them. "Hey now," he said trying to gain his footing. "I never knew you were the shy type." Though it did kind of seem weird that he hadn't seen her around a lot of kids who weren't able to join the guild.

"Whatever," he sighed while scratching his head. "Well, we're just a couple of travelers. See my younger sister here plays music and I was taking her to a concert, then we got grabbed by those guys."

The lie was intentional. There was no need to tell anyone they were mages on a rescue mission. At least not yet anyway.

“Look Dami have you seen a crystal this big? Could this be why Nightmare Hearts is here?”

Damia looked at the astonishing black gem that lied in front of them, It was perfectly shiny without a hint of dirt on it. Truly magnificent. He couldn't help but wonder though, if it was indeed a magic crystal. Usually, the magical ones weren't as big as the one in front of them, though it did make sense he'd never seen something like it before. Heck, he didn't even know an onyx crystal could be used for magic.

"Wow.... I wish I could carry it in my pocket and find out what type of magic it grants. Too bad though. If the other mages want this it could be dangerous. You shouldn't get to close to it okay?" While talking he made sure to keep his voice down low so that only she could hear him.

Hannah

As Cind challenged Aaron, Hannah couldn't help but be excited. She wanted to see the mage's progress, hoping to see what he wanted to prove Anaida. Still she had her own problem to deal with; a barrage of spears was launched back at her; countering many of her arrows and some even were aimed for her. However, his aim was rather sloppy considering he couldn't take his eyes off Aaron for too long, and Hannah was easily nimble enough to dodge them from a distance...

When Cind formed a dome around him; the smoke burned through Hannah's projectiles before they could reach him. That was an issue, Hannah reckoned, but not the kind of adversity she could not handle. Summoning a spear in place of her bow and arrow; Hannah pumped into it the aura of her most defensive spirit; the pangolin. If he thought the best offence was a good defence, Hannah would contest his guard. With a second to aim and one powerful throw; she launched the heavily plated projectile; capable the burning fumes.

-

“All of them?” Oliver whistled at Seto’s claimed feat. “He must be pretty strong, Kisara. Not as strong as you, though.” He shrugged casually, taking a back seat.

“No, no, that’s too much credit Kisara.” Oliver waved his hand, dismissing her praise. He hadn’t lied as much as he had in the past few minutes in ages, Oliver thought to himself as he shrugged. He took a step back, folded his arms to support his neck and leaned against a nearby wall. “I’ll just watch, I’d only be in Kisara’s way when she wipes the floor with you.” Oliver said, but he’d do more than watching… He’d predict Seto’s moves and signal them through to Kisara in a whisper only she could hear...

Glancing at Oliver, Kisara hoped the boy would remember what they had discussed before. Stepping forwards Kisara brought her fists up like a boxer would even her stance was the same. Looking around she then whistled a very high tune and it seemed like everything about her had begun to shake. Let’s just test him first. Stepping forwards quickly Kisara covered the distance between the two of them with an astounding speed. Her fist went for his face but it soon became apparent that it was feint when she brought her leg up to kick him in his side. The vibrations she assumed he no doubt noticed was centered on her leg, regardless of whether he blocked it or not he’d notice the effect of getting struck by it. Kisara wanted to know how strong he was but one kick won’t tell her what she needs to know. Once again that high pitched tune slipped through her lips as a wall of defense came up in case he decided to counterattack. It was a weak defense but she really just wanted to test him.

From how quickly she got in Seto read Kisara was strong in close quarters. She was fast, but Seto himself was no slouch either, as he had already began to weave with his hands. “Shadow Make: Shockwave!”

A powerful spherical blast released from his palm, with the strength to blow everything far away, but Seto wasn’t done yet. “Shadow Make: Pillar!” He followed up; summoning a tall, thick shadow construct behind his opponent. His shockwave by itself might not do much damage, but if Seto managed to knock Kisara into the pillar, it sure would hurt.

It was only due to her sound barrier that she wasn't flung back much. Considering how weak she had made it Kisara was pushed back with some force but much of it was kept from her face as she brought her arms up. Coming to a stand still his next move was forming a pillar right behind her, although with her back to it she wasn't quite aware of it being there. Glancing over her shoulder Kisara saw the pillar and smirked turning her attention to the man in front of her. "So close." Straightening Kisara pulled her arms back as far as they'd go before slamming her palms together to form a loud shockwave of pure sound. The wave of sound had more force behind it than Seto's previous attack and would not be stopped by some form of defense. It would then vibrate and continue forwards until it was past an obstacle, of course dodging it was a whole other matter as the wave itself did not cover much width compared to its area.

Jumping forwards right behind the shockwave Kisara drop kicked Seto. Dodging it would result in another wave of sound but of a much smaller scale as the entirety of her leg was covered in sound waves.

“Shadow Make: Forge!” Seto chanted, creating rather than a solid defence a soft one. A black pillow appeared in front of him, but not just one… An entire wall of pillows divided the two combatants! It absorbed the soundwave, even if most were destroyed and severed into particles of black energy; in and of itself making a smokescreen for Kisara…

“Disappointing.” Seto murmured, clasping his hands together once more for what he considered the final blow. Using the smashed pillows and their darkness as a cover, he forged the particles into a giant wolf’s maw behind Kisara, which surely would intercept her dropkick if she kept going… Weren’t it for a little warning. Oliver, who had been watching the whole fight both in the present and future, had tipped Kisara few seconds before before Seto’s spell would even be cast.

“Shadow Make: Fenrir!”

In a sense having that screen was to her benefit however she herself could not see her opponent. It was thanks to Olivers words of warning that she knew of Seto's oncoming attack. However it was difficult to change her trajectory so quickly. The first thing Kisara tried to attempt was bring her arms back down to form a new sound wave that was just a single beam of concentrated sound. Letting her body continue its course she used a loose wave of sound to stop her movement although she came to a jittering stop.

Barely catching herself Kisara whistled a pitch that would make those with sensitive ears cry and if one was too close their ears bleed a little. Suddenly her body seemed to vibrate just the slightest and she slammed her palms into the ground bringing her legs up into a single handstand.The action cause the ground to tear up as it rippled and moved to let the sound go its course. The sound filled the room cracking the walls and going so far as to shake most of the mansion.

Letting her body roll forwards she used her momentum to push forwards. Bring her fist up in hopes it would connect with its intended target as he would no doubt be stumbling to get himself balanced. After that shrill whistle most if her movements were incredibly fast with a little bit more power behind them. If Seto managed to evade the punch he'd still have to deal with the small push behind it. Following up after that punch Kisara would take as many chances she can to attack Seto before her spell ran out along with most of her energy and hopefully his.

The trembling caught Seto off balance; causing his attack to disperse. Quickly Seto widened his stance to remain on two feet, bracing himself for an oncoming attack, but Kisara was too fast for him to properly bring his guard up. Gutted in the stomach, the Shadow Make mage was sent sliding through the room. That Kisara was more perceptive than he’d thought… And fast too! Despite the gut-wrenching blow he’d suffered, Seto was still in decent shape to counter;

”Shadow Make: Bind!”

Tendrils spiraled from the the floor in front of Seto. He’d been observant enough to notice Kisara had only gone for frontal attacks at melee range so far… And no matter how fast she was, if she’d fall into his trap now she would be immobilised… If only Oliver didn’t whisper of these plans to Kisara as well...

Even with the shadowy tendrils now in her way Kisara merely let sound erupt from her body as a sort of armour that pushed and cut the inky black away. A smile broke out onto her lips. It had been a while since she had this much fun. If it weren't for Oliver she would have had quite a bit of trouble dealing with the mage. Once she figured out what his magic was exactly she understood how it worked for the most part but the spells capable of being cast were unknown to her.

Dropping down low she twisted her body so that her legs were in the air and kicking out at anything close to them. They destroyed a few of the tendrils before she used her arms to push herself upwards and onto her feet. The dark mage was curious as to how Oliver was holding up and was a bit surprised the Shadow Mage hadn't figured it out yet. Her speed was obviously diminishing but that didn't mean wasn't a force to be reckoned with. Standing still for once as her previous spell died away Kisara breathed heavy for a moment before it calmed down enough to not be so noticeable.

"Have you had enough boy? I'm a bit surprised you've held up for so long. Many of my opponents would have been out by now." A cheeky grin danced on her face as she awaited his reaction. All she was doing was giving her time to rest even if it was only a little.

”Hmph, you’re better than you let on.” Seto gritted. The flurry of attacks was taking the toll on his body, and it took Seto more than a little effort to stand up. When he got on his feet once more, however, his eyes had darkened and given Kisara a death glare. She needed time to recover, and he needed time to think. Sure, his opponent was fast, but it was as if she was acting on instinct; knowing exactly how to counter his Shadow Make at a second’s notice. He needed to corner her, focus on forcing an opening… But that was no easy feet against an opponent with that much speed… Unless…

”Shadow Make: Gauntlet.” Seto chanted, as shadows black as pitch wrapped from his wrists to his knuckles. Adapting a boxing stance, Seto gestured Kisara to come at him…

“Oh, he’s a tricky one.” Oliver whispered through Kisara’s linked spell, quite amused by what he’d seen. ”It’s a trap, Kisara.” He warned, already seeing what would happen if Kisara would continue her straight-forward attacks. “Once he touches you, he’s going to hit you good. Be careful.”

[color=BF40FF] “Is that so?”[/color] she said with a smirk. Wiping away a bead of sweat as it rolled down her jawline. The Sound Mage was somewhat surprised that her opponent would want her to make the first move this far into the game but she would nonetheless. However even if she had the heads up she’d have to be careful with how she approached it. The woman was already reaching into her reserves thanks to her last spell and her magic wasn’t exactly meant for sneak attacks. Now how to deal with this fellow. An idea then came to mind but she’d have to time it perfectly in order for it to work correctly.

Taking her own stance it was similar to Seto’s but more relaxed. Looking at him closely she could see that his stance was slightly off but it wouldn’t give him too much trouble considering how well he’s been doing so far. His magic’s a tricky one and annoying. Rolling her shoulders Kisara took quick steps forwards jabbing at his face. It was a feint meant to lessen the amount of area he hit with his attack as well as to keep him from noticing the two magic seals. One was hovering close to her body ready to move to where he attacked, while the other seal was being formed underneath him. The first defensive seal was weak in order to concentrate power in the offensive seal, so Kisara was taking a risk with this. Before Seto would even realize, hopefully, a barrage of concentrated sound would erupt from the ground below him.

Blasted up in the air, Seto realised something… Kisara’s ability wasn’t to quickly adapt… It was to predict his moves. His train of thought came to a halt as he was smashed into the ceiling, as dust dwindled down upon the scene as a lazy summer rain.

”Clever-” Seto groaned, feeling his body ache all over, especially when he barely caught himself dropping down. If anything, the sweat on Kisara’s brow proved she had underestimated his resilience, but the dark mage was still in far better shape than him. He circled his opponents slightly, placing Kisara between Oliver and him.

Seto rapidly made a sign, ”Shadow Make: Dart!” He chanted, launching a seemingly straightforward attack to Kisara, who easily dodged it thanks to Oliver’s warning… But then the spell continued on it’s way towards Oliver… Who also dodged it, even though the attack should have come from a blind spot for the masked mage.

”-I was wondering why you didn’t go for a direct attack last time.” Seto frowned, though even the expression itself hurt. He had to think quickly, but now he had figured out their secret, Kisara and Oliver would likely give him no quarter… He had to think fast… But the dust from the ceiling still lingering gave Seto an idea… But it was risky and would demand all his remaining magic supplies…

”Darkness Embodied: Titan!”

Dark energy sprouted from Seto’s skin like ribbons; strapping around his body layer by layer. His right arm grew fastest, and with a massive force it would rampage through the room; destroying the ceiling and walls alike. Unchecked, Seto would cloud the entire room with dust and debris… But it wouldn’t end there. From the amassed dark energy, locusts would sprout and swarm the room…

Oliver knew what was coming, as well as that he would be unable to stop it by himself. “Kisara! Don’t let him finish his move!” Oliver yelled at the sound mage, for the first time in the fight worrying about what was coming...

The dark Mage did all she could to get out of the way of the falling ceiling, letting loose a volley of short blasts of sound to destroy any falling debris. Taking note of Oliver's instructions Kisara rushed towards Seto just as a decently large chunk of the ceiling fell in between them. Jumping back in time to avoid it a cloud of dust burst into the air clouding her vision.

Coughing briefly for once in the whole time they were fighting Kisara seemed to be under strain. Knowing she wouldn't reach him in time, Kisara formed a new seal and brought it to her lips and then blew on it. The seal began to grow in size until it formed a near complete barrier around herself. A brief look of relief flashed across her face but she realized Oliver was no longer near enough to be within the barrier. Frowning Kisara began to whistle in order to keep the barrier up while moving towards Oliver. She couldn't risk running least her breathe stutter and lose the barrier. It was obvious she wouldn't be able to keep it up for long, not because she was running out of energy but the sheer fact that if she stopped to breathe the barrier would fall.

Kisara knew the barrier was weak since she made it so it could last. The sound Mage only had enough energy to do one or two more spells regarding sound but even her body was beginning to become sluggish.

A swarm of shadow locusts danced alongside the dust; an ill omen if there was any. Many would land on Kisara’s barrier, slowly but surely eating their way through her magical shield. However, Oliver was not so lucky…

“Ouch, ouch, ouch!” The boy squealed, rubbing his eyes and jolting around. While nobody could see anything, Kisara as a sound mage would probably realise Seto’s strategy at this point.

With nothing to see, there would be no predicting any of the shadow mage’s attacks… Whereas Seto would use sound as a rough locator… Specifically Oliver’s cries.

The titan’s arm swept across the room in Oliver’s direction, using it’s girth as a substitute for accuracy. It hit Oliver with it’s wrist and slammed him into - No, through the wall! In one hit, Oliver had been taken out and the playing field had been levelled. However, Seto understood that this trick wouldn’t work on Kisara. Not on it’s own at least. The titan’s hand reached for the whistling sound, but dispersed into a dozen of tentacles; each and every single one, once having found their way to the barrier, wrapped around it. Seto patiently waited for Kisara to drop her barrier, at which exact moment, the tentacles would make a full-body wrapper, leaving the sound mage no way to escape.

Shit her brow furrowed as her mind worked hard in deciding her next move. If she understood correctly the shadow mage was waiting for her to lose focus and lower her guard, thus weakening her barrier even more. Kisara could already see that the locust were eating away at it and she wouldn't be able to continue for very much longer. Her lips set into a grim line Kisara let her barrier drop and in those few seconds used the remainder of her magic to hopefully push back the tentacles.

Slamming her hands together a burst of sound exploded from her fingertips either destroying or pushing back anything out of her arms reach. It honestly wasn't strong enough to seriously injure a person let alone destroy the amount of tentacles to get her out this predicament. Cursing under breathe Kisara knew it was pointless to struggle since she not only had no more magical energy to rely on but she was now constricted with little to no room to move.

Kisara’s spell only delayed the inevitable. The darkness embodied spells were the strongest in Seto’s arsenal and resilient as well. Tentacle by tentacle wrapped her form in cold darkness, blocking her sight, chilling her skin and constraining her every movement. It was not hard to see where this branch of Seto’s magic got it’s title from…

Except for that of his tentacles arm, the mass of shadow muscles dispersed from Seto’s body, leaving a heavily panting mess of a man, clearly paler than his usual self. Coldly he stared at the grip he had on Kisara, for a sliver of a second lost in thought. With his muscles resisting every move, Seto used his free hand to weave one final sign.

“Shadow Make: Bind.”

The tentacles emitted dark energy, dispersing into the atmosphere and the remainders shrunk to the tendrils Kisara had cut through so easily before. They mummified her, putting emphasis on binding the ankles, wrists and jaws tightly together. Although it was evident the spell was inferior to it’s predecessor, it would still easily serve it’s purpose of keeping Kisara in check in her weakened state.

Exhausted, Seto dropped to his knees, grabbing the case of his katana to keep himself from falling over. Now the scene had settled, he looked at the wreckage around him. The destruction was a sight to behold, the room not even remotely reminiscent of how it had looked when he first entered it and some of the blackest of his magic still wandering in the air… But past that he could see the bound Kisara and the unconscious, but breathing Oliver, and Seto couldn’t help but smile.

“Fairy Tail wizards do not take lives, isn’t that right, master?”

Boreas watched with anticipation as a figure came falling from the sky. However what occurred next was near impossible considering the intentions behind him forming the funnel of wind. Instead of tearing the girl to pieces it actually carried her to the ground. Furious Boreas snarled at the newcomer, “I’ll have you flayed alive for that little stunt.” In saying that he swept his hand to the side as if to slap something and a sickle of wind went straight for Miyuu. He continued swiping at the air three more times before pausing long enough to see how they fared. Having been fighting the old mage for some time now he understood that he probably moved out of the way but he could tell that his age was getting to him.

“You still in one piece down there?” Peering over at their last location.

To further conserve energy, Shin was forced to use his own spacial distortion as a blade to slice through the sickles of wind before they reached him. He couldn’t afford to be more liberal with his magical usage until he got some form of confirmation from his teammates. With no direct answer forthcoming, he began trying to inch his way towards the nearest building. If he could get nearby or indoors, he might be able to actually check on whether there were really still people in the town. His old warrior self just couldn’t believe it since the entire notion was so impractical for a battlefield. However as a member of Fairy Tail, Shin couldn’t just shrug off the notion and fight on anyways. From his artificial eye, he eventually noticed his opponent looking in his direction.

“Sorry but I’m still here, something of an annoying skill you develop when reaching my age.” It was a poor attempt at banter, but Shin REALLY didn’t want to be the center of attention at the moment.

Miyuu glanced at Boreas with a mild determination, she managed to get through the wind, just to have three Sickles going for her as if to slice her. Noticing where they were she prepared a dodge and a possible counter, though, she noticed Shin handled them, she looked at Shin with a nice smile, “Thanks. And no, I cannot move the battlefield… But I could dissipate the vortex... ” she replied, keeping her eyes on Boreas, she continued with a sigh, “I could level the town. But then Innocent people could die, and I’d rather not have more than my fair share of blood on my hands.”

The thought of Miyuu destroying another town was horrifying to her to say the least… Since the last time she destroyed a town, her brother took the heat and she hasn’t seen him ever since then. Her mind raced, especially with the thoughts of more dying to her magic, clenching her arm, she thought of the outcomes of her magic that turned bad. It was noticeable Miyuu was absorbed into her thoughts of the destruction she could cause, pressing her hand on her leg, she relived her own past, where she killed many in a rage of losing her family. Slowly Miyuu’s body tensed up in her past, with her eyes welling up in her own self-pity and sadness. Ready to break down, as the heat in her body slowly welled around her body.

Boreas huffed in irritation upon seeing Shin and the other girl still standing. "And here I thought I had finally gotten rid of you." Folding his arms over his chest Boreas stayed in the air waiting until all was clear for him to see them well enough to attack again. Laughing at the girls words Boreas spread his arms wide as an open invitation to attack. "I dare you to break this barrier girl just know it'll be costly."

If Miyuu was able to break it the barrier wouldn't just dissipate but rather explode as the ferocious winds escaped their confinement to that specific structure.

Shin couldn’t help but internally groan at Miyuu’s response, he’d have to do things the hard way after all. Fortunately, the distance between him and her allowed the old man hastily regroup. More of a cautionary measure than anything he dropped a hand on the girl’s head- he’d already coated it with magic just incase she was hot enough to burn.

[color= orange] “Then I’ll indulge an old habit of mine...cover your eyes for a bit, this won’t be pretty.”[/color] He turned towards Boreas, offering one last sentence before he made his move.

“ Were I sixty years younger, this could have been much more interesting. Shame that this is just about the best I can show you these days.” Shin explosively rose his magic levels with the sentence. The old mage thrust his staff into the sky before lowering the head towards the ground. Shin once more refrained from calling out the spell Sema, since the spell took a while he wished to keep the attack unnoticed. After all, the force of a meteor would be more than sufficient to level a town this sized on its own. However, he couldn’t be too sure due to his lack of knowledge on the wall of wind. However, the hope was the wall would be strong enough to protect most of the outside town but still give out. While Sema drained most of his energy, he had enough to do one more large spell. To protect Miyuu and himself from Sema, Shin managed to pull the energy together to cast Yagdo Rigora. The two spells would annihilate each other in the air- but the power produced would be greatly increased without reaching the ground. The trick was Yagoo Rigora was the faster spell, he couldn’t afford to cast it until after the sky fully blackened before opening again to reveal the meteor.

“Young man, I do believe you’ll enjoy the result if nothing else.”

Boreas laughed aloud at Shin's words, "I'm sure it would have been old man." Thinking up a new way to get under Shin's skin was difficult and he also wanted to attack one more time. However he wasn't able to complete it due to the sudden darkening of the sky and a meteor falling from the sky. Knowing it was headed straight for him, Boreas reinforced his wind barrier. Upon contact it seemed his barrier would hold giving Boreas a sense of triumph until it shattered under the pressure of such a large force.

Eyes widening in surprise the dark Mage was pushed back by the sheer force behind the meteor. Grinding his teeth Boreas tried to cushion his landing and hopefully add a resistance to the pressure but that too fell away and he finally succumbed to the attack.

“Yagdo Rigora” much to his embarrassment, Shin actually had to vocalize his spell. The figure emerged around himself and Miyuu before erupting upwards like a cannon of light. As planned, his two attacks annihilated each other. However the flash of light temporarily left Shin blind- and he’d used up his reserves of magical energy. All effort aside, the combination still left none of the structures that had been within Boreas’ wind wall standing.

Miyuu, although distraught by the idea of killing so many people, saw the opportunity to end the fight. It was right after the dark mage hit the ground that Miyuu rushed forwards to close the distance between them. A seal formed a suddenly a piece of molten rock erupted from te ground the size of a large ball and kicked it with all her might. The dark mage barely had time to put up a small defense to protect himself from the incoming projectile. However the molten rock burned the air and hit him, it was cooler than before, right in the abdomen, sending him flying back.

The molten rock burned right through his clothes and bite into his skin. Screaming in pain beyond measure, Boreas soon passed out from the excruciating pain and shock from the heat produced from the attack. He was barely able to move it off him without burning his hands too badly but from the looks of it, the mage was finally down for the count.

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