Sasha watched the fight, on edge throughout it all. It didn't seem like either Damian or Lazarus were getting an edge and she wished she had any idea just how far they both could go. When the fight was over she was in a state of confusing, unsure who had overpowered the other, but Damian appeared to be standing, while Lazarus didn't.

It was confirmed as master Jamie spoke "the winner is Damian" and Sasha rose as it seemed the fight was over to go towards them, and make sure both were okay. "That was a great fight" she said brightly, "are you both okay? If you're injured, I'm sure Jarvis can help..." She said trailing off, stumbling as she nearly stepped on the blood stains still staining the ground from where Wes had landed, before being taken by the light. She cleared her throat and continued "you should both rest"

Damian drops to one knee and takes in a couple shallow breaths, holding his right side. His arm wasn't fractured like he had been sure it was, but that didn't matter with his ribs broken. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to stand and sheath his cutlass back on his hip. Dismissing the shield on his arm, he closes his eyes and focuses once more, the black magic seal appearing beneath him. "Reengage skill lock Omega, confirmation Beta thirteen. Reengage skill lock Alpha, confirmation Sigma six." As he spoke, the seal went back to green, then back to orange, the alpha and omega skills he'd used fighting against Lazarus once more dormant and he exhaled slowly.

Turning to Sasha with a forced smile, he keeps a hold of his left side and has a limp as he heads inside. "Don't know that Jarvis can help with me. Three broken ribs, left side. I," coughing, he keeps walking, his breathing growing sort of ragged, "I'm gonna need that healer." Reaching the door way leading inside, he stops to rest and inhale deeply a couple of times, keeping his vision focused until he reached an unoccupied table. Laying on it, he doesn't hardly move, but his breathing becomes easier.

Mayt stood up and looked over at Damian. He didn't come over, knowing he couldn't help. He silently turned and headed back through the guild. He moved out of the way of anyone heading to the battlefield to tend to the two fighters. He seemed worried, but also like he had a plan. He paused at the door for a moment, almost as if he didn't want to continue on. He went back to a table and sat down again, pulling out the letter and reading the last page. He let out a long sigh, and leans over the letter, biting his lip again. He ran his finger under a couple lines, then topped, pressing his finger into a word before folding it back up and putting it away and leaving, letting the door close loudly behind him.

Sasha watched Damian head inside, wanting to go help but not wanting to leave Lazarus alone. She appeared torn, but looked to Lazarus, who seemed like he could use all the help he could to get up. "You can't stay here, come on, I'll help you get inside" she said, holding out her hand on her uninjured side, and giving him a smile "it was an awesome battle, and once that was close" she said "the master should definetely consider you for S class rank"

The healer was already waiting, tutting and muttering about stubborn guilds and unnessacary force, approaching Damian as he fell on the table. The healer had some healing abilities, and she lay her hands gently on Damian's chest, feeling the breaks, tutting some more. She sighed, exerting some will, and at least healed the ribs enough so that Damian wasn't at a risk of piercing his lungs or heart. "Rest, although being apart do this guild, you probably don't know the meaning of it"

Damian chuckles as lightly as he can, wincing slightly at the pain it causes. "I won't be resting any time soon like I should. I've got one more bout to go, at latest tomorrow. Of course," he sits up as he speaks and eases his way into a chair, ordering a drink and some pie from Jarvis, "knowing the master, he'll not have the next bout until tomorrow so that both combatants can get some rest and heal up just a bit." Thanking Jarvis as he sets down Damian's food, he begins to eat to help rebuild his magic energy. "Overall, I'll get at least the rest of today to rest up."

Kelthar stood at the base of the waterfall as he focused. His eyes closed and fists clenched. He could feel sweat drip from his body as it landed on the dry ground causing small droplets ofwhat would appaear to anyone else , to be water. The waterfall made no noise, but all that could be seen was the falling of the water and the crash, but there was no noise. Kelthar concentrated hard as he focused on keeping the sound stored. His muscles started to give way as he could feel his grasp on the magic start to slip. "No, just a little bit more." he said to himself.

He could hear the fighting off in the distance, if they were training he had to train twice as hard. He wouldn't allow himself to be done in. He had to hold in just a little bit longer... But alas it was to no avail as a shockwave was sent out from his body. The sound of a waterfall over a couple of minutes filled the air all at once. It was extremely loud, but the shockwave sent Kelthar flying backwards as he landed the sound of foot to ground could be heard as he used that sound to send a shockwave sending him into the air. He Grabbed onto a tree branch and started to climb, and climb. He needed to push himself, but his muscles were weak. He got about halfway up the tree when he fell to the ground. Luckily he was still alive he turned over and was on all 4's, pouring sweat he looked angrily at the ground. He stood up as he let out such a bellow it could be heard from all over, "GAHHHH DAMN IT ALL!" he yelled as a shockwave was sent from his mouth ripping apart a couple trees in front of him.

Kelthar once again stepped towards the Waterfall and got in his stance. The second the waterfall's sound started to fade he felt a pain in his abdomen where the shockwave was released from earlier. That didn't matter though, Kelthar needed to get stronger, he couldn't afford to be on the sidelines once again.

Scier continued munching on a sandwich when he heard that there was a battle going on outside, nodding slightly to himself he went to watch the battle between Lazarus and Damian, which was a shocking display of force that he could easily feel where he was sitting on the balcony. Seeing the use of some kind of god magic against Ethereal one certainly was a sight to behold. Yet it wasn't before the climax of the battle that he recalled being in one himself yesterday. Scratching his head slightly he wondered what had happened, but it soon started to slowly come back to him and he went slightly pale as he finally understood why his dagger was missing. The last time he had seen it... was when he left it impaled into Wes... whom now would be dead. Yet he was almost frightened that he felt no remorse today... he had killed another human being... yet he couldn't think about how it was anything different from killing an animal...

Lazarus strain himself lifting his face out of his arms. "My soul... is..." He dropped his head again not saying anything. "S class. It means nothing. Its just a fancy title. You dont need a title to use magic to protect your friends." He chuckled a little, panting. "I guess my magic is a sham. Angels don't exist." He kept his head in his arms, hidden. "I couldn't take him down for you... I didn't have enough magical power left in me." He laughed a little whilst saying this. He brought his head up, grinning and beaming at her. "But I tried my best." He started laughing, taking her help to get up. He hadn't been physically damaged in either battle too much. It was a question of how much magical power he used up in his attacks. He sighed, his arm around Sasha. "I really do need a stiff drink now."

Jarvis sighed, hearing Damian say that perhaps they'd finish the fights tomorrow, and sighed, "I don't think that's in the cards now Damian. The Master is working on something, trying to figure out what happened to Wes. A body just doesn't disappear, after all" Jarvis didn't mention that Master Jamie was worried. "Perhaps you will have a few hours to rest up. I imagine you can fight just as well in night time as in daylight". No one seemed to have noticed that Master Jamie had stepped out the guild.

Master Jamie walked calmly through the trees, and seemed to know just where she was going, and stood watching Kelthar. "Are you trying to kill yourself, kelthar?" She said softly, loudly enough to be heard as her voice carried. "Come on. You've missed a lot. But you can't stay out here, and you need to rest. If you won't come willingly, I'll just have to drag you to the guild"

Sasha didn't say anything aa Lazarus talked. "You don't need S Class to be strong. You just need friends. A reason to keep on fighting when everything seems pointless" She said softly, "But there's always going to be someone stronger, and Damian seems to just want S class more then either of us. Never say your magic is a sham. It isn't. Angel's do exist. Trying to take him down for me just wasn't the right reason, even if it was incredibly sweet. Because I don't hold a grudge against Damian for that, nor Angelo. I'm pleased that my friends have been successful" She spoke this all softly, feeling her face heat up as she spoke.

She looked up at Lazarus, and smiled softly, and because he had his arm around her, she managed to lean up and kiss his cheek. "Thank you" she said, "For trying. Angel's do exist" She repeated, "Because you are one" She helped him back inside, and settled him at a table, and ordered him a drink, quite happy to fuss.

"No!" He clenched his fist, before his voice welled up and started croaking. "How am I... supposed to..." He brought his head down to looking at the ground. He swore that he would return home once he become a holy angel. The make his father happy. The only way he could do that was to become S class. Lazarus almost choked when she kissed him on the cheek. The cheek she had kissed blushed scarlet red. His whole body stiffened up. "I... I dont need S class." Images of his father flashed through his mind. But he dismissed them. He had wronged the church, harmed all those innocent people. He guessed this was his punishment, to never return home as a guardian angel. He took the drink Sasha ordered for him. "Thanks." He forced a smile, still in thought. "Hey... Sasha come closer." He whispered into her ear, making it clear not to say anything. "I'm quitting the guild." He looked pretty sad, and he was probably saying it out of pain, but there was some serious base in his words.

Damian frowned when Jarvis said he'd be fighting the winner of Scier's and Angelo's fight later that evening, but nodded when he finished speaking. "That I can, especially since Angelo has a tendency to light up the night with his magic." Chuckling at his joke, Damian thanks the healer again and see's Lazarus and Sasha come in and sit down, with Sasha getting him a drink. Standing carefully and collecting his own drink and his pie, Damian works his way over to the pair and joins them at their table, sitting down just as carefully as he'd stood. Once he had all his stuff on the table, he offers a hand to Lazarus across the table.

"To good friends and a battle well fought." He smiled good naturedly. "That last spell you used hurt. Came away from it with three broken ribs." Taking a sip of his drink, he looks at Lazarus and then at Sasha. Could they be? I mean, I could be looking too far into it, but it is a possibility. Should I ask? Instead of asking about what was on his mind, he asks about Sasha's side. "So, how are the stitches holding up, Sasha?"

Sasha shook her head when he said he was quitting the guild. "No, you can't" She said "Beyond everything else, you can't quit. How can we be a team, if you aren't a part of the guild? Please..." She trailed off as Damian joined them, and she looked down, sighing softly, trying to compose herself so Damian didn't ask any questions.

She stared at her hands, and almost missed Damian asking how her stitches were. "They seem to be okay" She said, managing to keep her tone neutral, light. "Thanks. I just have to remember not ot move too quickly or hard" It was probably a good thing that she didn't have to fight anymore. She wouldn't have been able to, she suspected.

She fidgeted for a minute, before saying, "Actually, I'm tired, so I'm just going to see about catching a nap" She rose quickly, before either of them could realise that it was a lie, and fled to her room. She sat down on her bed, and wondered why when everything seemed good, and she was happy, that everything seemed to go to hell.

Lazarus nodded when Damian sat down. "I would hope so, That was all the magic power I had left." He sighed. "Your magic is very fast. It's hard to keep up with it." He grunted. Drinking. Sasha fled, and he didn't react. My mind is made up Sasha. "Excuse me Damian." He forced and smile, and also forced himself up, his bones cracking. He carried on, reassuring people who stopped him that he was fine. He left the front door.

Alright Lazarus. Be a real angel for fuck sake. Heaven, please lend me your power. His wings weakly sprouted and flapped a little. He grinned, it was enough. He heaved himself up a few floor looking through windows, in a non perverse way of course. And then he found what he was looking for. An open one, with the pretty ice mage inside. He clung onto the frame and perched himself on the window ledge, sitting down, legs hanging into the room, unnoticed. He grumbled. "You should really close this. Gets awfully cold in these rooms." He didn't look at her.

Sasha sighed. dropping her head into her hands. she tried to just push everything away, and to really just try and sleep, but it didn't work, and she sighed again, looking up when Lazarus spoke. but didn't meet his gaze.

"I don't really feel the cold" She said softly. "I can after all hold ice in the palm of my hands" she shrugged, falling silent. She didn't really have anything to say, and she looked away. And then she shook her head, furious. "We all have issues Lazarus, and yet none of us want to leave the guild. What, you want to quit because you found out that you aren't perfect?" she looked up, her face a neutral mask, but emotions bubbled under the surface, coming out in her voice. Pain. Loss. Fear, and resignation

He hovered over in front of her. "No." He said rather warmingly. "I dont want to leave. I have no choice." He sounded sad now. "Look." He knelt in front of her, his bones cracking and him wincing, but he made it. He took one hand and spoke friendly. "I came from a place far from here. No wizard guilds, no friends, no nothing. I cant even read that well." He looked to the side embarrassed. He sighed. "I... wronged a lot of people... before I came here... I... well i belong in hell." He grinned. "But Phoenix wing, has changed me. All the experiences i've had here, all the lessons i've learned, have made me into... well... an angel." He explained to her why gaining S class was so important to returning home. "I want to stay, but I will have to face all those i've wrong before this life comes to an end." He looked saddened. "I want to become a true angel, so I can return home." He gripped her hands tightly and his voice cracked and croaked. "Help me become that Sasha. I need to see him again." By that, he referred to his father.

Damian had been about to say something to Sasha about mainly just avoiding over extending the one side when she quickly excused herself to go and take a nap. She vanished up the stairs before Damian could even say he'd be happy to help her if she was that tired. "OK then, Lazarus how abo-" Lazarus also disappeared from the table, weaving his way in and out of the crowd and then out the front door, leaving Damian with a dumbfounded look on his face. Do I smell funny? Maybe something I said? Sniffing his armpits for good measure, nothing seemed amiss but that he smelled like sweat and maybe just a little bit like blood. He'd just noticed that the gashes on his leg from Sasha's tiger had reopened and soaked their bandages. Finishing the pie and drink, he headed upstairs to his room, telling Jarvis to let him know when Angelo and Scier were done.

Going upstairs himself, he opens his room and steps inside, closing and locking the door behind him and then removing his swords and putting them in their corner before removing his armor and then his clothes to climb in the shower. Then he just let warm water roll down him as he reviewed the events of the last two days. Damian's first day in the guild he'd made a couple new friends and participated in a small battle against a dark guild, which had already wiped out most of the village they'd gone to save in the first place. Then the next day, he wakes up to the start of the guild's first S class tournament. Winning his first match, he'd watched the match between Mayt and Lazarus, which had been one h-"Mayt."

Then it clicked. When he'd been laying down and waiting for the healer to tend to him, he'd heard the door to the guild hall close loudly. He hadn't thought about it until just now, but Mayt must have left. I could go out and look for him. He seemed on edge about something. But then again, members of Phoenix Wing are more than capable of taking care of themselves, so maybe I can wait til tomorrow. Shaking his head, he leans against the wall with his shoulder and closes his eyes.

Sasha sighed, "There's always a choice Lazarus" She said, still not looking to him, but she let him talk. She sighed again. She looked up once more, "You don't have to quit the guild to fix the past" She said, "I don't know if I can help. Because that means you'll leave. And I don't want that" She knew it was a selfish thing to say. She just didn't want to lose anyone elsse. The guild was her family, and she didn't know if she could stand another loss. Her parents. Her brother, her mentor....She couldn't even keep a damn dog.

It was hard to say it, but she did, "But I will help" Because that's what friends did, they were there, even if it hurt. She had to look down, and was was glad when loose strands of hair covered her face, her eyes. "I'll do whatever you need me to" Lazarus hands in hers were warm, but for once, she didn't like the warmth. It was the cold she craved.

As she spoke he was down heartened. But then she said she would help. He grasped her hands so tight the blood started leaving his own hands. And he wept. Lazarus Rex. Ladies man, of sorcerer weekly, was crying in front of a woman. He lifted his head, making eye contact with her. "Sasha..." He beamed. "As soon as this is... over. I will not abandon Phoenix wing. I promise. Under heaven's gaze I swear it. I will just be gone for quite some time." He frowned, before remember she had been so sweet and kind to him. "You really are beautiful Sasha. In soul and in body." He smiled, before standing up, his bones cracking and him wincing. He put an arm out wide, before using the other hand, still linked with hers to pull her into a strong embrace. He whispered. "Angels do exist. I've found one." He knew it was corny, but what else was expected from a man such as himself?

Kelthar shook his head, "No master I'm just training, I need to get stronger, I need to get better." he said as he started to try to focus again but quickly dropped to a knee. "My focus has been lost I wasn't with you and Damian when you fought the Ragged Brotherhood, my focus was off and i was caught up with pesky little minions who tried to run. Had I been stronger I would've been able to stop all of them and keep them from escaping. Then I could have joined you two. And helped!" he said with a grimace of pain on his face. He said all this with shortened breath trying to take in what breath he could every time he took a moments of pause. "I am flattered that you would come all the way out here, but I am fine, I can handle myself." he said as he struggled to his feet.

He got back in his position as he focused and things around him except the waterfall went silent. "Besides," he said, "What could I possibly be missing, it sounds like everyone is training up there, if that's the case then I need to keep up with everyone else." he said as he punched out his fist and the sounds of wildlife all around was released into a shockwave that knocked over the tree in front of him. He dripped with sweat however, he knew though that he couldn't fight the master as he nodded, "Very well though." he said as he stumbled forward towards the master, "Let's go."

Sasha nodded and sighed, watching Lazarus get up, but she shook her head, not believing what he said, shifting slightly as he pulled her into a hug to avoid damaging her side. "I'm no Angel" She said softly with a small laugh, "Angel's don't think selfish thoughts" She smiled sadly, "Be safe, Lazarus. And don't die with what ever you're doing. I'd write, but I can't read well either" She stepped back, swallowing, but she didn't look away. She didn't know how much longer she could try and be strong, but she took a deep breath, and managed to smile.

---

Master Jamie smiled, "Its never a matter of strength Kelthar. Its a matter of heart" She said, sighing, watching Kelthar rise once more. "You're missing the S class advancement battles." He added, with a shrug as if it was no big deal, sighing as Kelthar continued, already moving to drag him away, and then Kelthar came over. "Good choice. I'd hate to have embarrassed you" She said with an amused smile, heading back to the guild, assuming Kelthar would follow.

---

In the sky, a flamed being flew. They seemed to have no issue with being completely covered in flames, and seemed to fly easily through the sky. It wasn't obvious how it was happening, but it was.

The girl looked down over the city of Magnolia, amazed at the size of it. She had never been to the city, and it was amazing to her, large and...alive. She lost concentration for a few minutes, and she started to fall, her flames dying out.

She let out a scream, as she continued to fall, beginning to mutter under her breath, trying hard to gain her concentration and engulf herself in flames again. It happened quickly as she caught herself, and rose in the air again, but it appeared she was in the marketplace, and drawn in by what was there, he angled back down, landing smoothly.

She did not appear to be burned. The girl was 22 years old. She had long, fiery red hair, and walked with confidence as she looked about the marketplace. She wasn't just here by chance, and she wanted to get something nice as she hunted up her half sister.

Her name was Penny.